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FIDE Online Nations Cup 2020
May 10, 2020
Superfinal
Peter, Jan and Magnus commentating
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 1
Ding, Liren – Nakamura, Hikaru
C54 Giuoco Piano
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Nf1 a4 10.h3 Ra5 11.d4 Bb6 12.b4 axb3 13.Bxb3 Ra8 14.Ng3 Re8 15.Bb2 Bd7 16.Qc2 Nh7 17.Rad1 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.Kh2 Na5 20.Bc1 Qg6 21.dxe5 Nxb3 22.axb3 Rxe5 23.f4 Rea5 24.f5 Qf6 25.Bb2 Ra2 26.Re2 Qe7 27.c4 f6 28.Nh5 Be8 29.Nf4 c6 30.Qb1 R2a6 31.Rd3 Bf7 32.Rg3 Bc7 33.Ng6 Bxg6 34.Rxg6 d5+ 35.e5 Ra2 36.cxd5 cxd5 37.Re3 Rxb2 38.Qxb2 Bxe5+ 1/2-1/2
Magnus on Ding vs. Nakamura: "They're playing so quickly and so confidently and the position is very difficult to play"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 2
Caruana, Fabiano – Wei, Yi
B01 Scandinavian (Centre Counter) Defence
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.O-O O-O 8.h3 Nc6 9.Bf4 b6 10.d5 Na5 11.Be2 e6 12.dxe6 Bxe6 13.Qxd8 Raxd8 14.Bxc7 Rc8 15.Be5 Nc6 16.Bh2 Bf5 17.g4 Be6 18.Rad1 Na5 19.Be5 Bc4 20.Rfe1 Rfe8 21.Nb5 Bxe2 22.Rxe2 Nc4 23.Nxa7 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Rxc2 25.g5 Rxe5 26.Nxe5 Ne8 27.Nac6 Bxe5 28.Nxe5 Rxb2 29.Rd8 Kf8 30.Rd7 Re2 31.Rxf7+ Kg8 32.Re7 Re1+ 33.Kh2 Ng7 34.Nxg6 Ra1 35.Ne5 Rxa2 36.Ng4 Kf8 37.Rb7 Ne6 38.h4 Ra4 39.Kg3 Nd4 40.Nh6 Ne2+ 41.Kf3 Nd4+ 42.Kg4 Ne6+ 43.Kg3 1-0
4...g6 by Wei Yi struck Magnus as dubious - he cited Fischer-Robatsch 1962!
Our commentators describe Wei Yi's approach as, "you're a better opening theoretician than I am, Fabi, so I'm going to play some nonsense"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 3
Yu, Yangyi – So, Wesley
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.Qb3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.c6 Qa5 9.Bd2 bxc6 10.g3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.Bg2 O-O 13.O-O e5 14.Qc2 Qc7 15.Qe4 f6 16.Qc4+ Kh8 17.Be3 Nb8 18.Rfd1 Ba6 19.Qe6 Bxe2 20.Rd2 Ba6 21.Nh4 Bc8 22.Qc4 f5 23.Nf3 h6 24.Rad1 Kh7 25.h4 Rf6 26.Ng5+ hxg5 27.hxg5 Rg6 28.Bd5 f4 29.Be4 Bxg5 30.Rd6 Bf6 31.Kg2 f3+ 32.Kxf3 Bg4+ 33.Kg2 Bxd1 34.Rxd1 1-0
Position after Black’s 27…Rg6?
Yu Yangyi is beating So after 28.Bd5!
Svidler: "Yu Yangyi playing some kind of a modern masterpiece!"
Jan: "I understand them wanting to reward China for doing well in the round-robin, but draw odds is kind of anti-climactic"
Magnus: "It is for sure"
Yu Yangyi's win over Wesley So should wrap up #NationsCup victory for China!
Magnus: "This is really a beautiful game by Yu Yangyi, capping off a spectacular tournament for him!"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 4
Krush, Irina – Hou, Yifan
C01 French, Exchange variation
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.O-O Nge7 7.Re1 O-O 8.c3 Bf5 9.Bg5 Qd7 10.Qc2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 h6 12.Bh4 Nf5 13.Bg3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 Rae8 15.Nbd2 Nd8 16.Rxe8 Rxe8 17.Re1 Rxe1+ 18.Nxe1 Qa4 19.Qb1 Ne6 20.Ndf3 c5 21.Nc2 Qb5 22.dxc5 Bxc5 23.Ncd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Nxd4 25.cxd4 Qc4 26.Qf5 g6 27.Qe5 Qc1+ 28.Kh2 Qxb2 29.Qxd5 Qxf2 30.Qd8+ Kg7 31.d5 Qb6 32.Qe7 Qb5 33.d6 Qh5+ 34.Kg1 Qc5+ 35.Kh2 Qh5+ 36.Kg1 Qc5+ 37.Kh2 Qh5+ 1/2-1/2
Magnus says that this is a letdown for a Superfinal. There was no tie-break, no Anish Giri…
(WK -Indeed, one has a feeling of anti-climax.)
Jan and Peter talk about children’s names. This is occasioned by Elon Musk naming his new son X Æ A-12. The correct pronunciation is: “X Ash A Twelve.
Peter said that he and his wife had thought of naming one of their sons Arseny, which is a traditional Russian boy’s name.
___________
That wraps up the tournament.
Prize fund
The total prize fund is $180,000, sponsored by Chess.com.
Each participating team receives U.S. $24,000. The winner of the tournament receives an extra $24,000 and the runner-up receives an extra $12,000.
Each player receives the prize money as follows: his or her team's total prize divided by the total number of games played by the player's team multiplied by the total number of games played by the player.
May 10, 2020
Superfinal
Peter, Jan and Magnus commentating
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 1
Ding, Liren – Nakamura, Hikaru
C54 Giuoco Piano
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Nf1 a4 10.h3 Ra5 11.d4 Bb6 12.b4 axb3 13.Bxb3 Ra8 14.Ng3 Re8 15.Bb2 Bd7 16.Qc2 Nh7 17.Rad1 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.Kh2 Na5 20.Bc1 Qg6 21.dxe5 Nxb3 22.axb3 Rxe5 23.f4 Rea5 24.f5 Qf6 25.Bb2 Ra2 26.Re2 Qe7 27.c4 f6 28.Nh5 Be8 29.Nf4 c6 30.Qb1 R2a6 31.Rd3 Bf7 32.Rg3 Bc7 33.Ng6 Bxg6 34.Rxg6 d5+ 35.e5 Ra2 36.cxd5 cxd5 37.Re3 Rxb2 38.Qxb2 Bxe5+ 1/2-1/2
Magnus on Ding vs. Nakamura: "They're playing so quickly and so confidently and the position is very difficult to play"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 2
Caruana, Fabiano – Wei, Yi
B01 Scandinavian (Centre Counter) Defence
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.O-O O-O 8.h3 Nc6 9.Bf4 b6 10.d5 Na5 11.Be2 e6 12.dxe6 Bxe6 13.Qxd8 Raxd8 14.Bxc7 Rc8 15.Be5 Nc6 16.Bh2 Bf5 17.g4 Be6 18.Rad1 Na5 19.Be5 Bc4 20.Rfe1 Rfe8 21.Nb5 Bxe2 22.Rxe2 Nc4 23.Nxa7 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Rxc2 25.g5 Rxe5 26.Nxe5 Ne8 27.Nac6 Bxe5 28.Nxe5 Rxb2 29.Rd8 Kf8 30.Rd7 Re2 31.Rxf7+ Kg8 32.Re7 Re1+ 33.Kh2 Ng7 34.Nxg6 Ra1 35.Ne5 Rxa2 36.Ng4 Kf8 37.Rb7 Ne6 38.h4 Ra4 39.Kg3 Nd4 40.Nh6 Ne2+ 41.Kf3 Nd4+ 42.Kg4 Ne6+ 43.Kg3 1-0
4...g6 by Wei Yi struck Magnus as dubious - he cited Fischer-Robatsch 1962!
Our commentators describe Wei Yi's approach as, "you're a better opening theoretician than I am, Fabi, so I'm going to play some nonsense"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 3
Yu, Yangyi – So, Wesley
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.Qb3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.c6 Qa5 9.Bd2 bxc6 10.g3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.Bg2 O-O 13.O-O e5 14.Qc2 Qc7 15.Qe4 f6 16.Qc4+ Kh8 17.Be3 Nb8 18.Rfd1 Ba6 19.Qe6 Bxe2 20.Rd2 Ba6 21.Nh4 Bc8 22.Qc4 f5 23.Nf3 h6 24.Rad1 Kh7 25.h4 Rf6 26.Ng5+ hxg5 27.hxg5 Rg6 28.Bd5 f4 29.Be4 Bxg5 30.Rd6 Bf6 31.Kg2 f3+ 32.Kxf3 Bg4+ 33.Kg2 Bxd1 34.Rxd1 1-0
Position after Black’s 27…Rg6?
Yu Yangyi is beating So after 28.Bd5!
Svidler: "Yu Yangyi playing some kind of a modern masterpiece!"
Jan: "I understand them wanting to reward China for doing well in the round-robin, but draw odds is kind of anti-climactic"
Magnus: "It is for sure"
Yu Yangyi's win over Wesley So should wrap up #NationsCup victory for China!
Magnus: "This is really a beautiful game by Yu Yangyi, capping off a spectacular tournament for him!"
Superfinal, May 10
China-USA
Board 4
Krush, Irina – Hou, Yifan
C01 French, Exchange variation
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.O-O Nge7 7.Re1 O-O 8.c3 Bf5 9.Bg5 Qd7 10.Qc2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 h6 12.Bh4 Nf5 13.Bg3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 Rae8 15.Nbd2 Nd8 16.Rxe8 Rxe8 17.Re1 Rxe1+ 18.Nxe1 Qa4 19.Qb1 Ne6 20.Ndf3 c5 21.Nc2 Qb5 22.dxc5 Bxc5 23.Ncd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Nxd4 25.cxd4 Qc4 26.Qf5 g6 27.Qe5 Qc1+ 28.Kh2 Qxb2 29.Qxd5 Qxf2 30.Qd8+ Kg7 31.d5 Qb6 32.Qe7 Qb5 33.d6 Qh5+ 34.Kg1 Qc5+ 35.Kh2 Qh5+ 36.Kg1 Qc5+ 37.Kh2 Qh5+ 1/2-1/2
Magnus says that this is a letdown for a Superfinal. There was no tie-break, no Anish Giri…
(WK -Indeed, one has a feeling of anti-climax.)
Jan and Peter talk about children’s names. This is occasioned by Elon Musk naming his new son X Æ A-12. The correct pronunciation is: “X Ash A Twelve.
Peter said that he and his wife had thought of naming one of their sons Arseny, which is a traditional Russian boy’s name.
___________
That wraps up the tournament.
Prize fund
The total prize fund is $180,000, sponsored by Chess.com.
Each participating team receives U.S. $24,000. The winner of the tournament receives an extra $24,000 and the runner-up receives an extra $12,000.
Each player receives the prize money as follows: his or her team's total prize divided by the total number of games played by the player's team multiplied by the total number of games played by the player.
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