World Rapid Teams: Al-Ain top the standings, Carlsen beats Ding

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/4/2024 – After 8 out of 12 rounds at the World Rapid Team Championship in Astana, the Al-Ain ACMG UAE have taken the lead with 14/16 match points - Daniil Dubov, Parham Maghsoodloo and Vladislav Artemiev play on the top three boards of the Emirati team. Decade China, led by world champion Ding Liren, stand in sole second place a match point behind, while Chessy (Richard Rapport) and Team MGD1 (Arjun Erigaisi) stand a match point further back. | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

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Al-Ain first, Decade China second

A sole leader emerged after two days of action at the World Rapid Team Championship - the Al-Ain ACMG UAE. The squad captained by Sami Khader has Daniil Dubov, Parham Maghsoodloo and Vladislav Artemiev on the top three boards. After 8 rounds, the leaders have scored 6 match wins and 2 draws, with victories over defending champions WR Chess and draws against two of the top contenders for the title, Decade China and Chessy.

Individually, the Al-Ain have in Maghsoodloo their top scorer with 7 out of 8 points. The Iranian star has collected victories over Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jorden van Foreest and Timur Gareyev, all achieved on Saturday. Also strong have been the performances of Artemiev and Dmitry Andreikin, on boards 3 and 4 respectively.

In second place, a match point behind, Decade China are very much in the race for the world rapid title. The squad led by world champion Ding Liren are unbeaten in Astana, with 5 wins and 3 draws. Ding's first loss of the event came in round 8, when he was defeated by none other than Magnus Carlsen. The best performances for the Chinese team have been achieved by Wei Yi on board 2 (6½/8 points) and by Pang Bo on the "recreational" board (7/7 points) - as per the tournament regulations, teams are forced to include a player who has never surpassed the 2000 rating mark in an official FIDE ratings list.

A match point behind Decade China, tied for third place, are Chessy and Team MGD1. Chessy remained unbeaten until round 7, but suffered their first loss in Saturday's final round, precisely against Team MGD1. Team MGD1, on their part, have suffered two losses so far in the event, against WR Chess and Decade China.

Pang Bo

Decade China's Pang Bo has a perfect 7/7 score | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

Ding Liren, Richard Rapport

Richard Rapport (Chessy) signed a draw in his game against Ding Liren (Decade China) - Rapport helped Ding to win the 2023 World Championship match, which also took place in Astana | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

Kateryna Lagno

Kateryna Lagno (Al-Ain) beat Hou Yifan, the highest-rated woman player in the world, in the fifth round | Photo: FIDE

Carlsen 1 - 0 Ding

Carlsen, Magnus28321–0Ding, Liren2745
FIDE WRBTC Rapid 2024
Astana03.08.2024[CC]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Nc3 The highest-rated player in the world and the world champion have entered a much-analysed theoretical line of the Ruy Lopez. The main variation is 9.c3 0-0 10.Bc2 Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Nbd2 9...Na5 10.Ba2 b4 11.Ne2 c5 12.Nd2
This knight jump prepares f2-f4 while opening up the possibility of Nd2-c4, exchaning the somewhat annoying knight on a5. Carlsen had played this very line against Peter Svidler back in 2010. Another plan is 12.Ng3 0-0 13.Nh4 g6 14.Bh6 Re8 15.Bd2 12...0-0 13.f4 Rb8 14.Nc4 Nxc4 15.Bxc4 a5 16.fxe5 dxe5 The stage is set for a nervy strategic battle - between two of the strongest chess players of this era! 17.Ng3 Ne8 18.Qh5 Nd6 19.Bd5 Bf6 20.b3 g6 21.Qf3 Bg7 22.Be3 Rc8 23.Qf2 Qc7 24.Bg5 Be6
A positional concession by Ding, though in the alternative line he would lose a pawn by force. Engines prefer 24...Bc6 25.Bxc6 Qxc6 26.Be7 Rfe8 27.Bxd6 f6 Worse is 27...Qxd6 28.Qxf7+ Kh8 28.Bxe5 Rxe5 25.Bxe6 fxe6 26.Qd2 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Bxf8 The rooks have left the board, so it is time for Carlsen to work his magic, looking to target Black's pawn weaknesses on c5 and e5-e6. Ding will need great defensive skills to keep the balance. 29.Be3 Nf7 30.Qf2 Nd8 31.Nf1 Qe7 32.Nd2 Nc6 33.Nc4 h5 34.h4 Kg7 35.g3 Kg8 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.g4 hxg4 38.Qg3 Qf6 39.Bg5 Qf7 40.Nxe5 Nxe5 41.Qxe5+ Kh7 42.Qf6 Qe8 43.Kg3 Bg7 44.Qe7 Qb8+ 45.Bf4 e5 46.Bg5 Qb6 47.Be3
47...Qc6 The lengthy manoeuvring battle has led to this critical position, in which White - already with a clear advantage - has finally managed to coordinate his queen and bishop and is ready to capture on c5. But how to capture? With the queen or the bishop? 48.Qxc5 It turns out that 48.Bxc5 is the better alternative, as Black is all but paralysed in this position - unlike in the game, where Ding gets some counterplay by transferring his queen to the f-file. 48...Qf6 49.Kxg4 Qf1 50.Kg3 Bf6 51.Bf2 Qh1 52.Qc7+ Kg8 53.Qc8+ Kg7 54.Qd7+ Kg8 55.Qh3 Black has run out of checks - White again takes over the initiative from this point on. Qc1 56.Qg4 Qxc2 57.Qxg6+ Bg7 58.h5 Qxd3+ 59.Kg2
Ding could have already resigned with a clear conscience at this point. 59...Qd2 60.h6 Qxh6 61.Qxh6 Bxh6 62.Bb6 Kf7 63.Kf3 Ke6 64.Bxa5 A remarkable win by Carlsen, whose team will need a strong showing on day 3 to defend their title in Astana.
1–0

Ding Liren, Magnus Carlsen

Ding Liren resigns the game against Magnus Carlsen | Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

Standings after round 8

Rk. Team TB1
1 Al-Ain ACMG UAE 14
2 Decade China Team 13
3 Chessy 12
4 Team MGD1 12
5 WR Chess Team 11
6 Ashdod Chess Club 11
7 Q4Rail Kingsofchess Krakow 10
8 Kazchess 10
9 Hunnu Air 10
10 Astana-1 10

...38 teams

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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