Wang Hao wins 9th HD Bank Open 2019

by Irina Bulmaga
3/17/2019 – Chinese GM Wang Hao finished first in the 9th HD Bank Open in Vietnam's most populous city and most popular tourist destination, Ho Chi Minh City. IM IRINA BULMAGA was there and reports on this strong traditional Open tournament, which saw a star performance by the second youngest Grandmaster ever, the Indian prodigy D. Gukesh. | Pictured: Stanislav Bogdanovich, Wang Hao, Nandhidhaa P V, Wen Yang | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

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Wang wins, Gukesh shines

When thinking about how to entitle my report, something like “An overly excited WGM reports from Vietnam” came to my mind. It would probably best describe my whole experience while participating at the “9th HDBank International Chess Tournament” held from the 6th to the 13th of March in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

I once made myself a promise, that I will play one ‘exotic’ tournament per year, to reward my hard work. I did forget about this for quite some time, until coming across this tournament while checking the chess calendar. I remembered I heard only positive comments about it and given the fact that it had also an impressive starting list of players and prize fund I decided to give it a try. I must say that there was no moment in the whole week I stayed in Vietnam that I regretted this decision!

Ho Chi Minh City is the most populous city of Vietnam, with 8.4 million of inhabitants

Given my playing very actively, I have started to value the good organization of tournaments. Some years ago I couldn’t care less if there was tea, coffee and water in the playing hall, if there was good lighting and comfortable tables and chairs, if we would play in the same place where we lived, nowadays these are the first things I want to find out before going to a tournament and all was great in Ho Chi Minh City! There were even fruits and small bites available for the players! I was also very impressed to see advertising panels of the tournament everywhere in the city, like every five meters! Have you ever seen such thing before and in such a big city?

I can only hope that this tournament will be an example and inspiration to the organizers around the World, as chess will definitely benefit from it! I loved receiving a flower and a small gift as a present for the International Women's Day from the organizers!

Bulmaga gift

Irina Bulmaga receives a flower on March 8th | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

The schedule of the tournament was quite tough, given the two double-rounds and the morning hours we used to play at on daily basis, but hey, I came there to play chess, right? (And also, if I'm being completely honest, for the sunbathing and swimming sessions in the pool of the hotel's rooftop garden!)

From day one, I have decided that I would return for the tournament next year and also book some extra days, so I didn’t force myself to take any extensive visiting tours. I was happy discovering the restaurants in the area where I stayed, trying every day some new dishes and fresh juices. I must say that I have really enjoyed the ‘food experience’! Seafood, salads, rice, noodles, spring rolls, chilly dips- all yummy! It was quite hot there, around 35 C degrees, which made the walking and visiting possible only after the sun would go down, which was actually perfectly fine, as I have never seen such a sparkling and lively nightlife before!

As about the tournament itself, I must admit that I was quite worried before the first round. Most of the Europeans I know are worried when playing against Asian people, as there’s this ‘legend’ that they play strong despite their somewhat low ratings. My worries never stopped during the tournament, but I was lucky enough to have myself only one proof of ‘the legend’.

Wen and Wang

GM Wen Yang (left) facing Wang Hao, the winner of the tournament! | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

The fight for the 1st place was fierce. It seemed that nothing could stop GM Stanislav Bogdanovich from Ukraine, as he was on 6½ points after the seventh round, with two impressive wins vs GM Ivan Cheparinov and GM Sandro Mareco.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c6 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.c4 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Bd6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0 D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines Bg4 9...Nd7 10.Nh4 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Qb3 Qe8 13.Ne4 Bb8 14.Qxb7 Nb6 15.Rac1 Qh5 16.Nf3 g5 1-0 (26) Fischer,S (2296)-Rusakovsky,O (2031) Wuerttemberg 2011 10.h3 Bh5N Predecessor: 10...Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Ne4 Rf7 13.Qb3 Re7 14.Nc5 Bxc5 15.dxc5 Qd5 16.Qc3 Na6 0-1 (29) Voronkov,D (1960)-Kartsev,S (2114) Moscow 2009 11.g4 White is slightly better. Bg6 12.Nh4 Re8 13.Qf3 Nd7 14.Nf5 Nb6 15.Bb3 Qd7 16.h4 Bf8 17.h5 Bxf5! 18.gxf5 h6 19.Kh1 c5 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.Rg1 Black must now prevent Ne4. Re5! 22.e4 Kh7 23.Rad1 Qc7 24.Rg4 White wants a kill. Rg8 25.Ne2 a5 26.a4 Re7 27.Qg2 Rd7 Better is 27...Qb8! 28.Rg1± Bf8 29.Nf4 Qe5 29...Qb8! 30.Rh4? 30.Bxf7!+- Hoping for Ne6. Rxf7 31.Ne6 31.Rh4? Qe8-+ 30...Qe8= 31.Rg4? 31.Qf3= 31...Qe5+-
32.Bxf7! Rxf7
33.Ne6! Threatening mate with Rg6. Don't go for 33.Rh4? Qe8-+ 33...Bd6? Not 33...Kh8 34.Rg6 Qxe4 35.Qxe4 Nc8 36.Qg4 Ne7 37.Nd8 Double Attack Kh7 38.Nxf7 33...Qxb2 34.Nxf8+ Kh8 34.f4 Trapped Piece. Accuracy: White = 82%, Black = 37%.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bogdanovich,S2536Mareco,S26661–020199th HDBank Open 20197.1

Trompowsky for the attacking player

Tap into your creative mind and start the game on a fresh note. The Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) is an opening outside of conventional wisdom. Create challenges and make your opponent solve problems early on.


However, GM Wang Hao wasn’t as impressed as I was and he won with the white pieces in the decisive eighth round against the Ukrainian in a very tough ‘Spanish’ battle, taking the sole lead himself with 7 points before the last round.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 Be7 6.c3 0-0 C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence (3...Nf6), unusual lines and 4 0-0 Bc5 7.Re1 Bd7 7...a6 8.Ba4 Re8 9.Nbd2 Bf8 10.Nf1 h6 11.Ng3 b5 12.Bb3 Be6 13.Bxe6 Rxe6 14.a4 b4 15.d4 d5 16.dxe5 Nxe4 17.c4 Nxe5 18.cxd5 Nxf2 19.Kxf2 Ng4+ 20.Kf1 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Qxd5 22.Qe4 Qd1+ 23.Qe1 Qd5 24.Qe4 Qd1+ 25.Qe1 1/2-1/2 (25) Vachier Lagrave,M (2780)-Naiditsch,A (2721) Douglas 2018 8.a4 Re8 The position is equal. 9.Nbd2 Bf8 9...a6!? 10.Bc4 Na5= 10.Nf1 h6 11.Ng3 Ne7 11...a6!? 12.Bc4 Qc8= 12.d4 Ng6 13.h3N Predecessor: 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Nh5 c6 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.Bc4 Be6 17.Bxe6 fxe6 18.Qe2 Qd7 19.Nh4 Nxh4 20.Qg4+ Qg7 21.Qxh4 f5 1/2-1/2 (21) Grigoriants,S (2570)-Kobalia,M (2673) Moscow 2012 13...c6 14.Bd3 Qc7 15.Be3 a5 16.Qc2 Be6 17.Nd2 Nd7 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Nh5 f6 20.Bc4 Bxc4 21.Nxc4 Kh8 22.Ng3 exd4 23.cxd4 Much weaker is 23.Rxd4?! Nge5= 23...b5 24.Nd2 bxa4 25.Qxa4 d5 26.exd5 cxd5 27.Rc1 Qb7 28.Qc2 Ne7 29.Nf5 29.Nf3 29...Nxf5= 30.Qxf5 Bb4
Hoping for ...Rxe3! 31.Bf4 And now Rxe8+ would win. 31.Red1 feels hotter. Nf8 32.Nb3 Ne6 33.Ra1 Qb6 34.Qd3 31...Rxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Nf8 33.Rc1 Qd7 34.Qc2 Ne6 35.Be3 Ng5 36.Bxg5 hxg5 37.Nf1 Bd6 38.Ra1 Qb5 39.g3 Rb8 40.Ne3 Qxb2 41.Qxb2 Rxb2 42.Rxa5 Endgame KRB-KRN Bb4 43.Rxd5 Be1! 44.Ng4 Bc3 45.Nh2 Be1 46.Rf5 Kh7 47.Kf1 Kg6 48.g4 Rb1 49.Nf3 Bc3+ 50.Kg2 50.Ke2± 50...Rd1 51.Rc5 Bb2 52.Rb5 Bc3 53.Rb7 Rd3? 53...Kh6 54.Rb3+- Rxf3 54...Kf7 55.Ng1 Ke6 55.Kxf3 Bxd4 KR-KB 56.Rb4 Bc5 57.Rb5 Bd4 58.Ke2 58.Rd5 Be5 59.Rd7 58...Be5 59.Kd3 59.Ke3 Bf4+ 60.Kf3 59...Bd6 60.Ke4 Bc7 61.Rd5 61.Kd5 Bf4 62.Ke6 61...Bb8 62.Rd8 Bc7 63.Rh8 Be5 64.Kd5 Bc3 65.Ke6 Bd4 66.f3 Bc5 67.Rh5
Intending f4 and mate. 67...Bf2 68.Ke7 Bc5+ 69.Ke8 Strongly threatening f4! Bd6 70.Kd7 Ba3 71.Ke6 Bc1 72.Kd5 Bb2 73.Ke4 73.Rh8 Bc3 74.Ke4 73...Ba1? 73...Be5 74.h4 Bg3 75.hxg5 f5+ 76.Ke3 fxg4 77.fxg4 Bd6 74.Rh8 Bb2 75.h4 gxh4 76.Rxh4 f5+ 77.gxf5+ White mates. Kf7 78.Rh2 Bf6 79.Ra2 Bh4 80.Ra7+ Kf6 81.Kf4 Be1 82.Ra6+ Kf7 83.Kg5 Bf2 84.Rc6 Accuracy: White = 61%, Black = 31%.
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Wang,H2718Bogdanovich,S25361–020199th HDBank Open 20198.1

A solid draw to finish the tournament was enough to secure clear 1st place, becoming once again the winner of the “strongest chess open of the region”, as Mr. Arkadiy Dvorkovich, who honoured the closing ceremony with his presence, mentioned during his speech. Dvorkovich pointed out that he hoped that Vietnam would become a venue for international chess tournaments where “every country” will participate!

I must mention that the Closing Ceremony was simply amazing! There were traditional Vietnamese songs and ‘hat dances’ — a true show of colours!

closing ceremony

Colours of the closing ceremony | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

Dvorkovich

FIDE President Dvorkovich at the HD Bank Open | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

I had a quite good tournament myself, finishing on 5½ points and taking the 2nd prize among women.

[Irina selected her round seven win as her favourite -Ed.]

 
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1.e4 0 c6 34 2.d4 0 d5 0 3.Nc3 0 dxe4 10 4.Nxe4 2 Bf5 11 5.Ng3 6 Bg6 6 6.Nh3 18 Nf6 47 7.Nf4 11 Nbd7 0 8.c3 1:04 Qc7 47 9.Bc4 2:02 e6 34 10.0-0 2:33 10.h4!? another possibility 10...Bd6 54 11.Qf3 26 0-0-0 45 Black's idea is simple - to force White take on g6 and open the "h" file and then create an attack using it. 12.Be3?! 4:52 12.b4!? would maybe be a better way to start some counterplay 12...Nb6 9:44 13.Bb3 58 Nbd5 9 14.Nxg6?! 9 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Bg5 h5∞ 14...hxg6 4:07 15.Bg5 8:42 Bf4 1:25 16.Bxf4 1:50 Nxf4 5:57 17.Rfe1 8:34 Rh4 6:43 Black succeeded in his plan and the attack promises to be very dangerous! 18.Rad1? 1:23 18.h3 Rdh8 19.Ne4 18...Rdh8?! 10:29 18...g5! 19.Nf1 Rdh8 20.g3 Nh3+ 21.Kg2 g4 19.h3 7:21 Nh7 3:31 20.Qe3 0 Ng5 6:17 21.Bc4 5:56 Qd8 0 22.Bf1 4:07 Qf6 9:16 23.a4? 6 23.d5!? cxd5 24.Qxa7 Nfxh3+ 25.gxh3 Nf3+ 26.Kh1= 23...Nfxh3+ 32 23...Nf3+‼ 24.gxf3 24.Kh1 Nxe1 24...Rxh3! 25.Bxh3 Nxh3+ 26.Kf1 Nf4-+ 24.gxh3 50 Nf3+ 0 25.Kh1 7:06 g5 2:26 26.Rd3 2:47 26.Ne4 Rxh3+ 27.Bxh3 Rxh3+ 28.Kg2 Nxe1+ 29.Kxh3 Qh6+ 30.Kg3 Qh4# 26...g4 1:22 27.Red1?? 4 27.Qe4 Nxe1 28.Qxe1 gxh3 29.Re3∞ 27...Rxh3+ 12 28.Bxh3 3:20 Qh4 29.Qxf3 2 Qxh3+ 43 30.Kg1 4 gxf3 31.Rxf3 f5 26 0–1
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Huang,R2335Bulmaga,I24240–12019B019th HDBank Open 20197.23

The winner was the Indian WIM Nandhidhaa P V, who after losing to me in the second round didn’t lose any other game and scored a very impressive 6 points out of 9, making also an IM norm!

Winners and guests

The winners of the tournament together with the official guests | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn

The Indian delegation was quite vast and it was no surprise given the continuously rising popularity of chess there. I was very impressed by some really young boys giving hard times to experienced IMs and GMs. Amongst them, the ‘new’  12-year-old GM Gukesh was the one shining the brightest! He scored 7 points out of 9 with a performance of 2700 and shared the 2nd place!

Gukesh's eighth round win over GM Anton Demchenko was notable:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 Rb8 4.Nge2 4.Bg2 b5 5.d3 b4 6.Nd5 e6 7.Ne3 g6 8.a3 b3 9.c3 Bg7 10.Nf3 Nge7 11.Nd2 Na5 12.Nec4 0-0 13.0-0 1-0 (65) Li,R (2564)-Kantans,T (2456) chess.com INT 2017 4...b5 5.Bg2 b4 6.Nd5 B24: Closed Sicilian: 3 g3 sidelines e6 7.Ne3 Nf6 8.0-0 White is slightly better. Be7 9.a3 b3N Predecessor: 9...a5 10.axb4 axb4 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Qb6 13.Nxc6 dxc6 1-0 (38) Avramovic,Z (2238) -Nikolajevic,B (2170) Serbia 2008 10.c4 0-0 11.d3 d6 12.f4 Nd4 13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.Ng4 Nxg4 15.Qxg4 d5 16.cxd5 exd5 17.f5 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Bf6 19.Bf4 Rb5 20.Rac1 White is on the roll. Bb7 21.a4! Bxe4 22.dxe4 22.axb5 Bxd3 23.Rf2 Bc2 22...Re5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Rc5 d3 25.Rd5 25.Rxe5?! Qd4+ 26.Rf2 Qxe5 25...Qb6+ 26.Kg2 Bxb2 27.Qd1 Much weaker is 27.Rxd3?! Bf6= 27...Bf6 28.Qxd3 b2 29.e5 Bg5 29...Qc6± 30.Kh3 30.exf6 Rd8= 30...Bg5 30.Qb5 Threatens to win with Qxb6. Qe3 next ...Qe4+ is good for Black. 31.Qd3 31.Kh3!± Qe4 32.Qd3 Qxa4 33.Rb5 31...Qb6!+- 32.a5 32.Rb5!+- Qc6+ 33.Rf3 32...Qc6± 33.Kh3! Qh6+ 34.Kg2 aiming for Rd6. Qc6 White must now prevent ...Rd8. 35.Kh3 Qh6+! 36.Kg4! Bc1 37.h4! Qc6
38.Rb5! a6 38...g6 39.Rb3 Qa4+ 39...g6 keeps fighting. 40.Kh3+- h5 41.Kg2 Kh7? 41...Qxa5 might work better. 42.e6 Qe5 43.exf7+ Rxf7 42.e6 Rd8 43.Qxd8 43.Qf3 Qg4 44.Qxg4 hxg4 45.exf7 43...Qxb3 44.e7 Qb7+ 45.Kh3??
Weaker is 45.Kg1 Be3+ 46.Kh2 b1Q 45.Rf3+- Bg5 46.Qd3 45...b1Q!-+ ( -> ...Qxf5+!) 46.e8Q
46...Qxf5+! Double Attack 47.Kh2 47.Rxf5 Qh1# 47...Qc2+ Accuracy: White = 63%, Black = 58%.
0–1
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Demchenko,A2678Gukesh D25290–120199th HDBank Open 20198.5

Gukesh

This young man will go very far in my humble opinion | Photo: chess.hdbank.com.vn   

I don’t know if it was about the journey, the destination or my whole experience there, but my trip to Vietnam has been like a balsam on my soul and I’m just happy!

Final standings (top 5)

Rk.     Name Typ FED Rtg Pts.  TB1 
1
 
GM Wang Hao   CHN 2718 7,5 0,0
2
 
GM Wen Yang   CHN 2599 7,0 0,0
3
 
GM Bogdanovich Stanislav   UKR 2536 7,0 0,0
4
 
IM Gukesh D U16 IND 2529 7,0 0,0
5
 
IM Liu Guanchu   CHN 2445 7,0 0,0

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Correction March 18 — Hanoi, not Ho Chi Minh City, is the capital of Vietnam.


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Irina Bulmaga is a WGM/IM born in Moldova, currently representing Romania. She became the youngest Moldavian Champion among Women at the age of 14 years old. Since 2010, she has been a part of the Romanian Olympic team, successfully representing it at 5 Olympiads, winning an individual bronze medal in 2014.

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