Untitled player wins open tournament - The Underdog

by Arne Kaehler
7/4/2024 – Recently, a Chinese chess player won the Arona International Chess Festival. Surprisingly, the winner has no title yet, and started at rank 29. Alan Pichot, Bartosz Socko, and Felix Blohberger couldn't keep up with Haowen Xue. Last year, the then 15-year-old, beat Hans Niemann in the Dubai Open 2023. Time to have a more profound look at this Underdog, before he has 2700+!

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

The Underdog!

with IM Robert Ris

We all love stories where a vastly underrated player surprises everyone by beating a much stronger player. Fortunately, we are all human.

But how do these things happen? What are the moves that lead to success? And what can we learn from these examples for the times when we face a stronger opponent?

Dutch IM Robert Ris presents us with real-life examples of such encounters from the past month. Together with his co-host Arne Kaehler, they look at the tactics and strategies that led to the upset victory.

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1.c4 e6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Ne5 c5 7...Nc6 8.Bxc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6 Rb8 8...bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 8.dxc5 Qc7 8...Bxc5 9.Nxc4 Rd8 10.Qc2 Qxc5 10...Nc6 11.Bf4! e5 12.Be3 Nd4 13.Bxd4 exd4 14.b4 11.Be3 11.b3 Nc6 12.Ba3 Nb4 11...Qh5 12.Rd1! 12.Nc3 Ng4 13.h3 Nxe3 14.Nxe3 Nc6 15.Rfd1 Bd7 12...Rxd1+ 13.Qxd1 Nc6 14.Nc3 e5 14...Ng4 15.h3 Nxe3 16.Nxe3 15.Nd5 15.Qa4!? 15...Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Nb4 16...Bg4 17.f3! Bd7 18.Bxf7+ 18.Qb3 Rb8 19.g4 Qg6 20.Bxc6 Bxc6 21.Nxe5+- 18...Qxf7 19.Qxd7 Qxc4 16...Bd7 17.Qb3 b6 18.Bf3 Qf5 19.Rd1 Be8 20.Nd6 Bxd6 21.Rxd6 17.Bf3 Bg4 18.Bxg4 18.Bxb7 Rd8! 18...Bxe2? 19.Qd7+- 19.Qa4 Bxe2 18...Qxg4 19.Nxe5 Qe6 20.Nd3 20.Nf3 Nxa2 21.Qc2 Nb4 22.Qc7 Nc6 23.Qxb7 Rb8 24.Qa6 Rxb2 25.Rc1 Nd8 26.Qxa7 20...Rd8 20...Nxa2? 21.Qa4 21.Qa4 Nxd3 22.exd3 a6? 22...h5! 23.Qxa7 23.h4 Rxd3 24.Qe8+ Kh7 23...h4 24.Qxb7 Rxd3 25.Qb6 Qd5 26.gxh4 Rd1+ 27.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 28.Kg2 Qg4+ 29.Kf1 Qd1+= 22...Rxd3 23.Qe8+ Bf8 24.Qxe6 fxe6 25.Bxa7 Rd2 26.b3+- 23.Qe4 Qd7 23...Qxe4 24.dxe4+- 24.Rc1 Bf6 24...Qxd3 25.Qxe7 25.Bb6 Rc8 25...Bxb2 26.Rc7 26.Bxd8 Bxc1 26...Qd6 27.Rxb7+- 25...Qxd3 26.Qxd3 Rxd3 27.Rc8+ 25...Re8 26.Rc7! Rxe4 26...Qb5 27.a4 Rxe4 28.axb5 27.Rxd7 26.Rxc8+ Qxc8 27.b4 Qd7 28.d4 g6 28...Qe7 29.Qxe7 Bxe7 29.d5 h5 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.h4 Bc3 32.Qc4 32.Bd4+ 32...Be5 33.Bd4 Qf5 34.Bxe5+ Qxe5 35.Qd3 Kf8 35...Qd6 36.Qd4+ Kh7 37.Qc5 Qe5 38.a4! 38.d6 Qe4+ 39.Kh2 b5 38...Qe4+ 39.Kh2+- 36.d6 Ke8 37.d7+ Kd8 38.Qf3! 38.Qf3! f6 38...b5 39.Qxf7 39.Qxb7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Xue,H2452Stremavicius,T25381–02024A14Arona Open 20249.1

Robert Ris has authored plenty of FritzTrainers for ChessBase — these are his newest, and perfect for every "Underdog"

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.

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