Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th May, 2020, 03:00 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 19, 2020

Rounds One to Four

Results

Round One

Carlsen-Grischuk 1-0
Aronian-Firouzja 1-0
Ding Liren-Dubov 1-0
Nakamura-Karjakin 1-0
Yu Yangyi-So 0-1
Wei Yi-Duda 0.5-0.5

Round Two

Grischuk-Duda 1-0
So-Wei Yi 1-0
Karjakin-Yu Yangyi 1-0
Dubov-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Firouzja-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
Carlsen-Aronian 1-0

Round Three

Aronian-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Ding Liren-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Firouzja 1-0
Yu Yangyi-Dubov 1-0
Wei Yi-Karjakin 0-1
Duda-So 0.5-0.5

Round Four

Grischuk-So 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Duda 1-0
Dubov-Wei Yi 0.5-0.5
Firouzja-Yu Yangyi 0.5-0.5
Carlsen-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5

Standings after Round Four

Nakamura, Carlsen, Karjakin, So 3
Ding Liren 2.5
Grischuk, Aronian 2
Yu, Yangyi 1.5
Wei Yi, Duda, Dubov, Firouzja 1

The commentators are Jan Gustafsson, Peter Svidler and Lawrence Trent

Format

15 minutes + 10 seconds per move

2 Stages: Preliminaries (May 19-21) & Knock-out (May 23-June 3)

Top 8 players advance to the knock-out stage

Knockouts are the best-of-3 matches (1 per day), 4 games per match

All rounds begin at 16:00 CEST (10:00 EST)

Selected Games

Round 1, May 19
Carlsen, Magnus – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bg5 Qe7 9.h3 Re8 10.g4 Qe6 11.Nh4 Nd7 12.Nf5 Nc5 13.h4 Bf8 14.h5 f6 15.Be3 Qf7 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 b5 18.Qf3 Ne6 19.Be3 Bb7 20.O-O-O b4 21.Na4 c5 22.h6 g6 23.Ng7 Bxg7 24.hxg7 c4 25.Nc5 Nxc5 26.Bxc5 cxd3 27.cxd3 a5 28.Bf8 Rxf8 29.gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 30.Kb1 Qd7 31.Rc1 a4 32.Qe3 Rf7 33.Rc4 b3 34.a3 Qxg4 35.Rxa4 f5 36.Rd4 fxe4 37.Rd8+ Rf8 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Qc5+ Ke8 40.Qxc7 Bc8 41.Qe5+ Kd8 42.Qh8+ Kc7 43.Rxh7+ Kc6 44.Qc3+ Kd6 45.Qd4+ Ke6 46.dxe4 1-0

Round 1, May 19
Aronian, Levon – Firouzja, Alireza
D05 Queen’s Pawn game, Rubinstein variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nbd2 c5 5.b3 Bd6 6.Bb2 O-O 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.O-O Qc7 9.c4 cxd4 10.exd4 Bd7 11.Re1 Rfd8 12.c5 Bf4 13.g3 Bh6 14.a3 g6 15.b4 Bg7 16.Rc1 Rac8 17.b5 Ne7 18.a4 Be8 19.Rc2 Nf5 20.Qe2 Qb8 21.Bc3 h5 22.Ra1 h4 23.a5 hxg3 24.hxg3 Nh5 25.Nf1 Nf6 26.Rb1 Ne4 27.Bxe4 dxe4 28.Qxe4 a6 29.bxa6 Bc6 30.Qe2 Qa8 31.Ne3 bxa6 32.d5 Nxe3 33.Qxe3 Rxd5 34.Bxg7 Rh5 35.Nh2 Kxg7 36.f3 Rch8 37.Rb6 Qd8 38.Rd2 Qf6 39.Rbb2 Rh3 40.f4 R8h5 41.Ng4 Rh1+ 42.Kf2 g5 43.Qe5 Qxe5 44.Nxe5 Bd5 45.Ke3 R5h3 46.Kd4 Rxg3 47.c6 f6 48.Rb7+ Kh6 49.fxg5+ fxg5 50.Kc5 Re3 51.Ng4+ 1-0

Round 1, May 19
Ding, Liren – Dubov, Daniil
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 f5 9.e5 Nf7 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bb7 12.Na3 c5 13.dxc5 Qa5 14.Be3 Qb4 15.Nc2 Qxb2 16.Ncd4 Be4 17.Re2 Qb7 18.Rc1 Rac8 19.Bf4 e6 20.Rd2 Bd5 21.h4 h6 22.Bg3 Rfe8 23.a4 a6 24.Rd3 Rc7 25.Qd2 Be4 26.Rdc3 Qd5 27.Qe3 Bf8 28.c6 dxc6 29.Nxc6 Bxf3 30.gxf3 Qa2 31.Qb6 Rd7 32.Qxa6 Ba3 33.Rf1 g5 34.f4 g4 35.Qc4 Qxc4 36.Rxc4 Ra8 37.Ra1 Rd3 38.Kg2 Ra6 39.h5 Bb2 40.Ra2 Rc3 41.Ne7+ Kf8 42.Ng6+ Kg7 43.Rxc3 Bxc3 44.Bh4 Bb4 45.Bf6+ Kg8 46.Rc2 Ra8 47.Rc6 Nd8 48.Rc7 Nf7 49.Rc4 Ba5 50.Rc6 Re8 51.f3 Rb8 52.fxg4 Rb2+ 53.Kf3 Rb3+ 54.Ke2 fxg4 55.Rc8+ Kh7 56.Nf8+ Kg8 57.Nxe6+ Kh7 58.Nf8+ Kg8 59.Ng6+ Kh7 60.e6 1-0

Round 1, May 19
Nakamura, Hikaru – Karjakin, Sergey
A28 English, Four Knights, Nimzowitsch variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.Na4 Bg4 9.Nxb6 axb6 10.Bb2 Nd7 11.Be2 h5 12.O-O Qf6 13.Ne1 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Nd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.f4 c5 17.Nf3 Qxf4 18.Nxd4 Qe5 19.Nb5 O-O 20.Rae1 g6 21.Qf2 Kg7 22.Re3 Ra4 23.Qd2 Qe7 24.d4 Kh7 25.Ref3 Kg8 26.Nc3 Raa8 27.Nd5 Qh4 28.Rf4 Qd8 29.Qf2 f6 30.Qg3 Kh7 31.e5 dxe5 32.dxe5 Nxe5 33.Rxf6 Re8 34.Rf7+ 1-0

Round 1, May 19
Yu, Yangyi – So, Wesley
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.a3 g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Be2 Nc6 10.e5 b6 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 Bb7 13.O-O Qc7 14.Nd2 Rd8 15.Rc1 O-O 16.h5 g5 17.f4 gxf4 18.Rxf4 Ne7 19.Rg4 Nf5 20.Bf2 Kh8 21.Bf3 Rg8 22.a4 Rc8 23.Bxb7 Qxb7 24.Nf3 cxd4 25.cxd4 Rxc1 26.Qxc1 Rc8 27.Qf1 Qc6 28.Rf4 Kg8 29.Nh4 Ne7 30.Be1 Qxa4 31.Kh2 Qd1 32.Rxf7 Nf5 33.Rxf5 exf5 34.Qxf5 Rf8 35.Qe6+ Rf7 36.Nf3 Qc2 37.Qe8+ Rf8 38.Qe6+ Rf7 39.Qe8+ Rf8 40.Qe6+ Kh7 41.Nh4 Rf1 42.Bg3 Qd1 43.Qg6+ Kg8 44.Qe8+ Bf8 45.Qe6+ Kh7 46.Qg6+ Kh8 47.Kh3 Qxd4 48.Nf3 Rh1+ 49.Bh2 Qf4 50.e6 Bd6 51.Qe8+ Qf8 52.Qd7 Bxh2 53.Nxh2 Qf5+ 54.Kg3 Qe5+ 55.Kf3 Qf6+ 56.Kg3 Qg7+ 57.Ng4 Qxd7 58.exd7 Rd1 59.Ne5 Kg7 60.Kf3 a5 61.Ke4 Rd6 62.Nc4 Rxd7 63.Nxb6 Rb7 0-1

Round 1, May 19
Wei, Yi – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b5 10.Nd5 Nbd7 11.Nec3 Nb6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.b3 Qc7 14.Qd3 Be6 15.Ba3 Rfc8 16.Bb4 Qd7 17.Rfd1 a5 18.Bxd6 b4 19.Nb5 Nc4 20.bxc4 Bxc4 21.Qe3 Qxb5 22.a3 bxa3 23.Bxa3 Be6 24.Bf1 Qc6 25.Rd2 h6 26.h4 Bd8 27.c4 a4 28.c5 Rab8 29.Rd6 Qe8 30.Qd2 Be7 31.Rb6 Qf8 32.Rxb8 Rxb8 33.Qc2 Bb3 34.Qc3 Qc8 35.Bc4 Qc7 36.Bd5 Bf6 37.Rb1 Be7 38.Bxb3 Rxb3 39.Rxb3 axb3 40.Qxb3 Bxc5 41.Qc2 Bd6 42.Qxc7 Bxc7 43.h5 Bb6 44.Kg2 Bd4 1/2-1/2

A bloody start to the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge. Three more rounds of rapid chess today.

Svidler: "If [Levon] never gets to play a [World Championship] match it really will feel like we're all missing out. I think it would be a sight to behold - Lev with the title within his grasp! ... I think it would have been wonderful to see"

Svidler: "Dubov is arguably the best idea-generator in top-level chess"

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th May, 2020, 03:01 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 19, 2020

Rounds One to Four (continued)

Round 2, May 19
Grischuk, Alexander – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 Nbd7 7.O-O Bd6 8.Qc2 O-O 9.e4 e5 10.Be3 Qc7 11.h3 exd4 12.Bxd4 h6 13.Nbd2 Re8 14.Rfe1 Ne5 15.Bxe5 Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Nf3 Qh5 18.e5 Nh7 19.e6 Bxe6 20.Re5 Ng5 21.Nxg5 hxg5 22.Rae1 Re7 23.f4 Qh4 24.f5 Qd4+ 25.Kh1 Bxc4 26.Rxe7 Bd5 27.Re8+ Rxe8 28.Rxe8+ Kh7 29.Qe2 Qh4 30.Qg4 Qxg4 31.hxg4 Bxa2 32.Re7 b5 33.Rxa7 Bd5 34.b4 f6 35.Rd7 Kg8 36.Kg1 Kf8 37.Kf2 Be4 38.Rc7 Bd5 39.g3 Kg8 40.Ke3 Bg2 41.Rd7 Bh3 42.Kf3 Bf1 43.Rd6 Bc4 44.Ke3 Bb3 45.Rxc6 Kh7 46.Rc5 Ba4 47.Kd4 g6 48.Rc7+ Kg8 49.fxg6 Bb3 50.Kc5 Bc4 51.Rb7 1-0

Round 2, May 19
So, Wesley – Wei, Yi
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 h6 8.a4 O-O 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.Nf1 c6 11.Bb3 Ng6 12.Ng3 Bb6 13.d4 exd4 14.cxd4 Bg4 15.h3 Bxf3 16.gxf3 d5 17.e5 Nh7 18.f4 Qh4 19.Nf5 Qxh3 20.Bc2 Nh4 21.Nxh4 Qxh4 22.Ra3 f5 23.Kg2 Rae8 24.Rb3 Qd8 25.Qh5 Nf6 26.Qxf5 Ne4 27.Qg6 Bxd4 28.Rxe4 dxe4 29.Rg3 Qd7 30.Qxh6 Rf7 31.Bb3 Kf8 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qh4+ Kf8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qh5 Kf8 36.Rg6 Rxe5 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Bxf7 Rc5 39.Be6 1-0

Round 2, May 19
Karjakin, Sergey – Yu, Yangyi
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 g6 4.e3 Bg7 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.c3 b6 7.Be2 c5 8.O-O Bb7 9.b4 c4 10.Ne5 Nbd7 11.Bf3 Qc8 12.a4 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Bh6 14.Qc2 Nd7 15.Bf4 Bg7 16.e4 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Bxe5 19.exd5 Qc7 20.g3 Rac8 21.Rfd1 Rfd8 22.Nf1 h5 23.Ne3 Qd6 24.Be2 Qf6 25.Rac1 h4 26.Bxc4 Bd6 27.Rd4 hxg3 28.hxg3 Re8 29.Qd2 Qg5 30.Bb5 Red8 31.Bc6 Bxc6 32.dxc6 Bxg3 33.fxg3 Qxg3+ 34.Ng2 Re8 35.b5 Qe5 36.Rd5 Qe7 37.Rd7 Qc5+ 38.Qf2 Qc4 39.Rf1 Rf8 40.Qd4 Qe6 41.Rf6 Qe2 42.Rxg6+ 1-0

Karjakin had the reputation of dominating Chinese players. It was earned in 2015. This from chess24 then:

“Sergey Karjakin has single-handedly defeated China 4:0 in the first half of an unusual new China-Russia match held from 29 July to 1 August. It began with Karjakin playing rising star Wei Yi, and as he won their first-day encounter he continued to represent Russia on the second day as well. He went on to beat Ding Liren, Ni Hua and then Yu Yangyi, meaning his Russian teammates Evgeny Tomashevsky and Alexander Morozevich had effectively travelled to China as tourists!”

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/kar...my-beats-china

Round 2, May 19
Firouzja, Alireza – Ding, Liren
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Nd7 7.Nc4 f6 8.Bd2 Nf8 9.b4 Be7 10.Nh4 g6 11.O-O Ne6 12.g3 O-O 13.Ng2 b6 14.Kh1 c5 15.a3 Bb7 16.Bh6 Rf7 17.c3 Qd7 18.Qe2 Rd8 19.Rad1 cxb4 20.axb4 c5 21.bxc5 Nxc5 22.f3 Nxd3 23.Nb2 Qh3 24.Nxd3 Qxh6 25.Qa2 a5 26.Nb2 Qf8 27.Qe6 Bc5 28.Na4 Bc8 29.Qc4 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Kg7 31.Nxc5 Qxc5 32.Qxc5 bxc5 33.Ra1 Ra7 34.Ne3 Be6 35.Kg1 a4 36.Ra3 f5 37.Kf2 f4 38.Nd1 Bb3 39.Ke1 Bxd1 40.Kxd1 c4 41.g4 g5 42.Kc2 Ra6 43.Kb1 Rb6+ 44.Kc2 Rh6 45.Rxa4 Rxh2+ 46.Kd1 Rf2 47.Ra7+ Kg6 48.Ra6+ Kf7 49.Ra7+ Ke6 50.Ra6+ Kd7 51.Ra7+ Kc6 52.Ra6+ Kb5 53.Re6 Ka4 54.Rxe5 h6 55.Re6 Kb3 56.Rxh6 Rxf3 57.Rg6 Rd3+ 58.Ke2 Kxc3 59.Rxg5 Re3+ 60.Kf2 Rxe4 61.Rg8 Kd3 62.g5 c3 63.Rd8+ Kc2 64.Kf3 Re7 65.Kxf4 Rg7 66.Rc8 Kb2 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 60.Kf2

60….Rxe4??, better is Kd4

- Firouzja saves a lost position against Ding Liren, making it only the 3rd draw in 12 games so far!

Round 2, May 19
Carlsen, Magnus – Aronian, Levon
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.O-O-O c6 10.h4 d5 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Rde1 Nf6 13.Ng5 c5 14.c4 h6 15.cxd5 c4 16.Bxc4 hxg5 17.hxg5 Ne4 18.Qd1 Bxg5 19.Qh5 Bxe3+ 20.Rxe3 f5 21.d6+ Be6 22.Qh7+ 1-0

- Magnus in form, makes it look soooo eeeeasy

Round 3, May 19
Aronian, Levon – Grischuk, Alexander
D04 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Nbd2 cxd4 5.exd4 Bf5 6.c3 e6 7.Nh4 Bg4 8.Be2 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Qc7 10.Nb3 Nbd7 11.g3 Be7 12.Bf4 Qb6 13.O-O a5 14.Nc1 Qa6 15.Qxa6 Rxa6 16.a4 Ne4 17.Ng2 g5 18.Be3 h5 19.Nd3 h4 20.f3 Nd6 21.Bf2 Nc4 22.Rfd1 Rb6 23.Ra2 hxg3 24.hxg3 Bd6 25.Ne3 Bxg3 26.Nxc4 Bxf2+ 27.Nxf2 dxc4 28.Ng4 Ke7 29.Ne3 Rc6 30.Ra3 Nf6 31.b3 Nd5 32.Nxd5+ exd5 33.bxc4 Rxc4 34.Rb1 Rhc8 35.Rxb7+ Ke6 36.Ra2 f6 37.Re2+ Kf5 38.Rb5 Rxc3 39.Rxd5+ Kf4 40.Rxa5 Rxf3 41.Rc5 Rxc5 42.dxc5 Rc3 43.a5 Rxc5 44.Ra2 Rc7 45.a6 Ra7 46.Kg2 Ke5 47.Kf3 Kd5 48.Kg4 Kc5 49.Kf5 Kb5 50.Kxf6 Rxa6+ 51.Rxa6 Kxa6 52.Kxg5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 19
Ding, Liren – Carlsen, Magnus
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 a5 6.Nf3 dxc4 7.Qc2 b6 8.Ne5 Ra7 9.O-O Bxd2 10.Qxd2 Bb7 11.Bxb7 Rxb7 12.Nxc4 Nc6 13.Rd1 O-O 14.Nc3 Qa8 15.d5 exd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Rbb8 18.Rac1 Rfd8 19.Qe4 Nb4 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Qxa8 Rxa8 22.a3 Na6 23.Rd1 Nc5 24.f3 a4 25.Kf2 f6 26.g4 Kf7 27.h4 Ke6 28.h5 g6 29.Ne3 gxh5 30.gxh5 Rg8 31.Nd5 Rg7 32.Nf4+ Ke7 33.h6 Rf7 34.Nd5+ Ke6 35.Nf4+ Ke7 36.e4 c6 37.Ke3 Nd7 38.Ne2 f5 39.Nd4 fxe4 40.fxe4 Ne5 41.Nf5+ Kf6 42.Rd6+ Kg5 43.Kd4 Kf4 44.Ng7 Nf3+ 45.Kc3 Ne5 46.Kd4 Nf3+ 47.Kc3 Ne5 48.Kd4 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 19
Nakamura, Hikaru – Firouzja, Alireza
D05 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 e6 4.b3 Be7 5.Bb2 O-O 6.Bd3 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.a3 Nc6 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.c4 a5 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Qc2 a4 14.Rad1 axb3 15.Nxb3 Qb6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.Nh4 Ne5 19.Nf5 Rxa3 20.Qe2 Ra4 21.Qh5 1-0

- Hikaru moves to 2.5/3, Alireza is still struggling on 0.5/3!

Round 3, May 19
Yu, Yangyi – Dubov, Daniil
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 h5 11.f3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Qd6 13.g4 h4 14.Bd3 Nc6 15.Nh3 Qg3+ 16.Kf1 Rg8 17.Qb3 Qd6 18.c4 dxc4 19.Bxc4 Qe7 20.Nf2 Kf8 21.Qc3 Bd7 22.e4 Rd8 23.Rd1 b6 24.Kg1 Na5 25.Ba2 Ba4 26.Rd2 c5 27.d5 c4 28.e5 Re8 29.Ne4 Rg6 30.Kf2 Nb7 31.d6 Qxe5 32.d7 Bxd7 33.Qxe5 Rxe5 34.Rxd7 Nc5 35.Nxc5 Rxc5 36.Rc1 b5 37.Bb1 Ra6 38.Rc3 Ke8 39.Rb7 Rd5 40.Ke3 Re6+ 41.Be4 a6 42.a4 Kf8 43.Ra3 bxa4 44.Rxa4 c3 45.Rc4 Rd2 46.Rxc3 Rxg2 47.Rcc7 Rf6 48.Rb8+ Kg7 49.Rc5 Rh6 50.Rxg5+ Kf6 51.Kf4 1-0

Round 3, May 19
Wei, Yi – Karjakin, Sergey
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Bb4 15.a3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 h4 17.Kh2 Kf8 18.Re4 Bd5 19.Ra4 Rg6 20.Bc1 b5 21.Ra6 Re8 22.a4 bxa4 23.Rxa4 f6 24.exf6 gxf6 25.c4 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 fxg5 27.Rxa7 Rg7 28.Ra5 Rf7 29.Rd3 Re2 30.Rf3 Nd6 31.Bxg5 Rxf3 32.Kxf3 Rxc2 33.c5 Nc4 34.Ra8+ Kf7 35.Bf4 Nb2 36.Be3 Nd3 37.Rc8 Ke6 38.Rxc7 Kf5 39.Rf7+ Kg6 40.Rc7 Kf5 41.Rh7 Ne1# 0-1

Position after White’s 41.Rh7??

- That's gotta hurt!!! In a better position Wei Yi blunders into mate-in-1: 41...Ne1#

Round 3, May 19
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – So, Wesley
C50 Guioco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bg3 d6 9.a4 Na5 10.Ba2 c5 11.h3 Nc6 12.c3 Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Na3 Qe8 15.Rb1 Nh5 16.Bh2 Nf4 17.Bxf4 Rxf4 18.b4 cxb4 19.cxb4 d5 20.b5 dxe4 21.dxe4 Rd8 22.Qb3 Nd4 23.Nxd4 exd4 24.Nc4 Rxe4 25.Qf3 Qg6 26.Nd2 Rh4 27.Qxb7 Bd6 28.Kh1 Qf5 29.Rb3 d3 30.Qf3 Qe5 31.g3 Rf8 32.Qg2 Rxa4 33.Rxd3 Bb4 34.Qe4 Qxb5 35.Qxe6+ Kh8 36.Rd5 Qa6 37.Qxa6 Rxa6 38.Nc4 Ra2 39.Kg1 a5 40.Ne5 Kh7 41.Nc6 Bc3 42.Rc5 Bd2 43.Nd4 a4 44.Rc7 Ba5 45.Rb7 Rf6 46.g4 Rb6 47.Ra7 Bc3 48.Nf5 Bf6 49.Rd1 a3 50.Rd3 Ra1+ 51.Kg2 a2 52.Rda3 Rb2 53.R3a6 Kh8 54.Ra8+ Kh7 55.R8a7 Kh8 56.h4 Rb4 57.Nxh6 Rab1 58.Nf7+ Kg8 59.Rxa2 Rxg4+ 60.Kf3 Rxh4 61.Nd6 1/2-1/2

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th May, 2020, 03:11 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 19, 2020

Rounds One to Four (continued)

Round 4, May 19
Grischuk, Alexander – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Ba4 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.c3 Ne7 8.h3 Ng6 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bc2 c6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Nbd2 Bc7 13.Nf1 d5 14.Bg5 dxe4 15.Rxe4 Bf5 16.Re3 Bxc2 17.Qxc2 h6 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Rae1 Re7 20.dxe5 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Bxe5 22.Nd2 Rae8 23.Nf3 g6 24.Nxe5 Rxe5 25.Rxe5 Rxe5 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.h4 Qe1+ 28.Kh2 Kg7 29.g3 Kf6 30.Kg2 Ke5 31.Qb3 Qe4+ 32.Kg1 Qe1+ 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kg1 Qe1+ 35.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 19
Karjakin, Sergey – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B97 Sicilian, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Be2 Be7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Bh5+ g6 17.Ne4 O-O 18.O-O Bg7 19.Rxf8+ Qxf8 20.Bf3 Ra7 21.Rb8 Rd7 22.Qa5 Qd8 23.Qxd8+ Rxd8 24.Bg4 Kf7 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Nd6+ Kf6 27.Nxc8 Bf8 28.Bf3 Kf5 29.Bxc6 e4 30.Kf2 Bc5+ 31.Ke2 Kf4 32.a4 a5 33.Kd2 Bb4+ 34.c3 Bc5 35.Ke2 Kf5 36.g3 Ke5 37.Kd2 Bg1 38.h3 Bf2 39.Bb7 Bc5 40.Kc2 h5 41.Kb3 g5 42.Kc4 Bf2 43.g4 h4 44.Ne7 Kf4 45.Nc6 Kg3 46.Nxa5 Kxh3 47.Nb3 Kxg4 48.a5 Ba7 49.Nd4 h3 50.Bxe4 e5 51.Ne2 Kh4 52.Kd5 g4 53.c4 g3 54.Nxg3 Kxg3 55.c5 1-0

Round 4, May 19
Dubov, Daniil – Wei, Yi
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Bg5 Bc6 10.Rd1 b5 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Nc3 Qe8 13.d5 exd5 14.Nd4 Qe5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Bxe4 Ra7 18.axb5 Qc5 19.Nc6 Nxc6 20.Bxc6 axb5 21.Rxa7 Qxa7 22.Bxb5 Qa2 23.Bxc4 Qxb2 24.Qxb2 Bxb2 25.Rd7 Be5 26.f4 Bd6 27.Kg2 g6 28.Kf3 Kg7 29.h3 h5 30.h4 Kf6 31.Bd5 Kg7 32.Bc4 Kf6 33.Bd5 Kg7 34.Bc4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 19
Firouzja, Alireza – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Bf5 9.O-O-O Qd7 10.h3 O-O 11.Kb1 Rae8 12.Rg1 a6 13.g4 Be4 14.Be2 Bd8 15.h4 b5 16.Ng5 Bxg5 17.hxg5 Ne5 18.Rg3 Qc6 19.f4 Nc4 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Qe2 Rb8 22.Bc1 Rb5 23.Rd4 d5 24.Re3 Rfb8 25.Rexe4 dxe4 26.Rxe4 Rxb2+ 27.Bxb2 Qb5 28.Kc1 Qxb2+ 29.Kd2 Rd8+ 30.Ke1 Qxc3+ 31.Kf2 g6 32.Re8+ Rxe8 33.Qxe8+ Kg7 34.Qe4 h6 35.gxh6+ Kxh6 36.Qh1+ Kg7 37.Qe4 c5 38.g5 Qd4+ 39.Kf3 Qd1+ 40.Qe2 Qh1+ 41.Kg3 Qg1+ 42.Kf3 Qh1+ 43.Kg3 Qg1+ 44.Kf3 Qh1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 19
Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
D35 QGD, Exchange (by tempo transposition)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c6 7.Qc2 g6 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.h4 Nb6 12.Ne5 Qc8 13.O-O-O Qe6 14.Kb1 Ne4 15.Qc2 Bb4 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.h5 g5 18.Bxg5 f6 19.Rh4 fxg5 20.Rxe4 O-O 21.Ng6 Qf7 22.Nxf8 Rxf8 23.Re5 h6 24.g4 Bd6 25.Rf5 Qe6 26.e4 Re8 27.f3 Bf4 28.Rd3 Nc4 29.Qc3 Nd6 30.d5 Qe7 31.Rf6 Be5 32.Rg6+ Kh7 33.Qc2 c5 34.Re6 Qc7 35.Rxe8 Nxe8 36.d6 Nxd6 37.Rd5 Nf7 38.Rxc5 Qb6 39.a4 a6 40.a5 Qe6 41.Rd5 Kg7 42.Qc5 Qf6 43.Rd7 Bxb2 44.Rxb7 Bc3 45.Kc2 Be1 46.Qd5 Qxf3 47.Qe5+ Kg8 48.Qe8+ Kg7 49.Qe5+ Kg8 50.Qe8+ Kg7 51.Qe5+ 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 45….Be1

Round 4, May 19
Aronian, Levon – Ding, Liren
B50 Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.d3 Nc6 7.h3 O-O 8.Be3 e5 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.a3 a5 11.a4 b6 12.Re1 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Bg5 Qc7 15.Bh4 Nf4 16.Bf1 Ba6 17.Qc2 h6 18.Rad1 Nh5 19.Qb3 Rab8 20.Ne4 Bb7 21.Ng3 Nf4 22.Ne4 Nh5 23.Ng3 Nf4 24.Ne4 Nh5 1/2-1/2

**Hans Jung** · Wednesday, 20th May, 2020, 11:34 AM

My favorite game of round 5. I torn between Wei Yi - Firouzja (look at that opening!) and Yu Yangyi - Magnus. How did Wei Yi not win that game?? Thats my favorite but checkmating Magnus is also very sweet.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 20th May, 2020, 03:02 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 20, 2020

Rounds Five to Eight

Peter Leko, Jan Gustafsson and Tania Sachdev are the commentators. Tania with her black dress, earrings and her hair up is much like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Results

Round Five

Ding Liren-Grischuk 0-1
Nakamura-Aronian 1-0
Yu Yangyi-Carlsen 1-0
Wei Yi-Firouzja 0.5-0.5
Duda-Dubov 1-0
So-Karjakin 0.5-0.5

Round Six

Grischuk-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Dubov-So 1-0
Firouzja-Duda 1-0
Carlsen-We Yi 1-0
Aronian-Yu Yangyi 1-0
Ding Liren-Nakamura 0.5-0.5

Round Seven

Nakamura-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Yu Yangyi-Ding Liren 1-0
Wei Yi-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Duda-Carlsen 1-0
So-Firouzja 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Dubov 0.5-0.5

Round Eight

Grischuk-Dubov 0-1
Firouzja-Karjakin 0-1
Carlsen-So 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Duda 0.5-0.5
Ding Liren-Wei Yi 1-0
Nakamura-Yu Yangyi 0.5-0.5

Standings after Round Eight

Nakamura, Karjakin 5.5
Carlsen, So 4.5
Aronian, Grischuk, Yu, Ding 4
Duda, Dubov 3.5
Firouzja 3
Wei Yi 2

Selected Games

Round 5, May 20
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
E02 Catalan, open

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.dxc5 Bc6 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.Be3 Bd5 10.Qc2 Be4 11.Qc1 Nd5 12.c6 bxc6 13.O-O Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Bd5 15.Nbd2 Be7 16.Qf4 e5 17.Qf5 O-O 18.Rfd1 Qc7 19.Rac1 Rad8 20.Nc4 e4 21.Ne3 Bxa2 22.Qxe4 Nf6 23.Rxd8 Nxe4 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Nd4 Qb6 0-1

Position after White’s 23.Rxd8

Ouch! A strange blunder by Ding Liren of his queen that was on e4

Round 5, May 20
Nakamura, Hikaru – Aronian, Levon
C01 French, Exchange

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.h3 Bd6 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Nc3 c6 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.Re1 Rxe1+ 13.Qxe1 Nf8 14.Ne2 h6 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Qb6 17.b3 Bd7 18.Qd2 Re8 19.Ne5 Bc8 20.Re1 Qc7 21.c4 dxc4 22.Bxc4 Re7 23.Nfg6 Nxg6 24.Nxg6 Re8 25.Rxe8+ Nxe8 26.Qe3 Nd6 27.Qe5 Qd7 28.Ne7+ Kf8 29.Nxc8 Nxc8 30.Qb8 g6 31.Qf4 Kg7 32.Qe5+ f6 33.Qb8 b5 34.Bd3 Ne7 35.Qf4 c5 36.Qe4 cxd4 37.Bxb5 Qd6 38.Qb7 Qb4 39.Qxa7 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Qe5+ 41.g3 h5 42.h4 g5 43.hxg5 fxg5 44.Kg1 h4 45.gxh4 gxh4 46.Qd7 Kf6 47.Bd3 Qg5+ 48.Kf1 Qc1+ 49.Ke2 Qb2+ 50.Kf3 Qc3 51.Qd6+ Kf7 52.Qf4+ Ke6 53.Qe4+ Kd6 54.Kg4 Qc8+ 55.Kxh4 Qh8+ 56.Kg3 Nd5 57.a3 Nc3 58.Qg6+ Kc7 59.Qh7+ Qxh7 60.Bxh7 Kd6 61.Bd3 1-0

Round 5, May 20
Yu, Yangyi – Carlsen, Magnus
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 a5 7.a4 Bd6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O dxc4 10.Bxc4 e5 11.Ba2 Qe7 12.h3 Bb4 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd4 c5 15.Ndb5 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.e4 Nh5 18.Ne2 g5 19.Be3 g4 20.Ng3 Qh4 21.Nxh5 Qxh5 22.f4 gxf3 23.Nc7 fxg2 24.Qxg2+ Kh8 25.Nxe6 Rg8 26.Bg5 Rxg5 27.Qxg5 Qxg5+ 28.Nxg5 Rg8 29.h4 h6 30.Rf5 Nd3 31.b3 hxg5 32.hxg5 Kg7 33.Rd1 c4 34.bxc4 Nc5 35.Re5 Rc8 36.Kg2 Rc7 37.Rd8 Nxa4 38.Ree8 Nc5 39.Kf3 a4 40.Kg4 a3 41.Rg8+ Kf7 42.Kf5 Nd7 43.g6+ Ke7 44.e5 1-0

Position after White’s 40.Kg4

Carlsen gets caught in a mating net

Anish Giri: Don’t worry Magnus, Yu can’t win em all!

Round 6, May 20
Dubov, Daniil – So, Wesley
C26 Vienna, Falkbeer variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd3 d5 6.Bf4 dxe4 7.Qxd8+ Nxd8 8.Bxc7 Bb4 9.O-O-O Nc6 10.Bb5 Bxc3 11.Rd8+ Ke7 12.Rxh8 Be5 13.Bxc6 Bxc7 14.Ba4 a6 15.Ne2 b5 16.Bb3 Bb6 17.Rf1 Bb7 18.Rxa8 Bxa8 19.c3 Ng4 20.Nd4 Nxh2 21.Rh1 Bc7 22.Nf5+ Kf6 23.Ne3 Bf4 24.g3 Bxe3+ 25.fxe3 Ng4 26.Rf1+ Kg6 27.Rxf7 Nxe3 28.Ra7 Bd5 29.Rxa6+ Kf5 30.Kd2 Nf1+ 31.Ke1 Bxb3 32.Kxf1 Bc4+ 33.Kf2 h5 34.a4 bxa4 35.Rxa4 Bd3 36.Rd4 g5 37.b4 h4 38.gxh4 gxh4 39.b5 Kf4 40.Rxd3 exd3 41.b6 1-0

- Wesley couldn't recover from the earlier blunder and it's Dubov 1-0 So, a big win for the player who was in last place before the round

Round 6, May 20
Firouzja, Alireza – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D24 QGA

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 Na6 7.e4 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.exd5 Bd6 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nc7 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Re8 14.a4 g5 15.Bg3 Bxg3 16.hxg3 Ncxd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Rxe2 19.Rad1 Re7 20.Ne5 Be8 21.Qxd8 Rxd8 22.Rxd8 Rxe5 23.Rb8 Re7 24.a5 Kg7 25.Rc1 a6 26.Rxc5 Re1+ 27.Kh2 Bc6 28.g4 Re2 29.Kg3 Rd2 30.b4 Rd3+ 31.f3 Rd2 32.Rc8 Rd7 33.R8xc6 bxc6 34.Rxc6 Rd4 35.Rb6 f6 36.Kf2 Rd2+ 37.Ke3 Rb2 38.Kd4 Kf7 39.Kc4 Rc2+ 40.Kb3 Rxg2 41.Rxa6 Rf2 42.Rc6 h5 43.a6 Rxf3+ 44.Kb2 Rd3 45.a7 Rd8 46.Ra6 Ra8 47.b5 hxg4 48.b6 g3 49.Ra1 g2 50.Rg1 1-0

Position after White’s 19.Rad1

- Duda has walked into a trick vs. Firouzja, and he doesn't look thrilled!

Round 6, May 20
Carlsen, Magnus – Wei, Yi
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Attack)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.a4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Bb7 9.O-O e6 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.Be3 Be7 12.Nd2 O-O 13.Nc4 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bf4 Qb7 17.Nd6 Bxd6 18.Bxd6 Rfc8 19.Ra3 Qc6 20.Rg3 g6 21.Bf4 Qxc2 22.Bh6 f6 23.Re1 Qe4 24.Qd1 Qc2 25.Qd4 Qe4 26.Qd1 Qc2 27.Qa1 Ne5 28.h4 Nf7 29.Be3 Nd6 30.Bxb6 Qc6 31.a5 Nf5 32.Rc3 Qb7 33.f3 Nxh4 34.b4 e5 35.Rec1 Rxc3 36.Qxc3 Nf5 37.Qc7 Nd4 38.Bxd4 Qxc7 39.Rxc7 exd4 40.Rd7 Bc6 41.Rxd4 Kf7 42.Rd6 1-0

- Carlsen's 27.Qa1!? against Wei Yi made a big impression!

- And Magnus is back in business!

Round 7, May 20
Yu, Yangyi – Ding, Liren
D97 Grunfeld, Russian, Alekhine variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 a6 8.e5 b5 9.Qb3 Nfd7 10.e6 fxe6 11.Ng5 Nb6 12.Nxe6 Bxe6 13.Qxe6+ Kh8 14.Be3 Qd6 15.Qxd6 exd6 16.h4 Nc6 17.O-O-O b4 18.Ne4 h6 19.d5 Ne7 20.Bxb6 cxb6 21.g3 Nf5 22.Bh3 Nd4 23.Rhe1 b3 24.Kb1 bxa2+ 25.Kxa2 a5 26.f4 a4 27.Rc1 b5 28.Nxd6 b4 29.Rc8 b3+ 30.Kb1 a3 31.bxa3 Rfxc8 32.Bxc8 Nc2 33.Re5 Ra5 34.Be6 Nxa3+ 35.Kb2 Nb5 36.Nf7+ Kh7 37.Kxb3 Bxe5 38.fxe5 Nd4+ 39.Kb4 Ra7 40.Nd8 Ra8 41.Kc4 Rxd8 42.Kxd4 Kg7 43.d6 Kf8 44.Bd5 Ke8 45.Bc6+ Kf7 46.Kd5 1-0

Round 7, May 20
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Carlsen, Magnus
A28 English, Four Knights, Stean variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 O-O 6.Nd5 Re8 7.Qf5 d6 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.Qh5 d5 10.a3 Bf8 11.Bd3 e4 12.cxd5 exd3 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.b4 a5 15.Bb2 Re4 16.Nd4 Qd5 17.Qxd5 cxd5 18.f3 Re8 19.Nb5 Re7 20.Bxf6 Rd7 21.Kf2 Ba6 22.Nd4 Bc4 23.Rhb1 Ra6 24.Be5 f6 25.b5 Rb6 26.Bf4 a4 27.g4 Bc5 28.h4 Kf7 29.Kg3 Bxd4 30.exd4 Bxb5 31.Rb4 Re7 32.Rab1 Bc4 33.Rxb6 cxb6 34.Rxb6 Bb3 35.Bd6 Rd7 36.f4 f5 37.g5 Bd1 38.Bc5 Kg7 39.Kf2 Rd8 40.Rb7+ Kg6 41.Re7 Rb8 42.Re6+ Kh5 43.Kg3 1-0

- Jan mentions he learnt the line in Duda-Carlsen over 20 years ago from Kotronias' "Beating the Flank Openings" (1996) - the conversation turns to how incredibly well-read Magnus is

- As Jan pointed out - when you see this doubled c and doubled f-pawns position once it's hard to forget!

- Jan on the weird structure in Duda-Carlsen: "If this was in a movie we would complain that they should at least hire one chess player as a consultant!"

- Poland's Jan-Krzysztof Duda catches Magnus Carlsen in a mating net and beats the World Chess Champion!

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 20th May, 2020, 03:03 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 20, 2020

Rounds Five to Eight (continued)

Round 8, May 20
Grischuk, Alexander – Dubov, Daniil
C41 Philidor, Exchange variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O Re8 8.h3 Nbd7 9.a4 a5 10.f4 Nc5 11.Qf3 Bf8 12.Re1 d5 13.e5 Nfe4 14.Be3 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bd7 16.c4 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Bb4 18.Red1 dxc4 19.dxc4 Bc3 20.Ra3 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Qe7 22.c5 Bc6 23.Qf2 Rad8 24.Rd2 f5 25.exf6 Qe1+ 26.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 27.Kf2 Re4 28.Be3 Rxd2+ 29.Bxd2 gxf6 30.Bxa5 Rxf4+ 31.Ke3 Re4+ 32.Kd3 Re7 33.g4 Kf7 34.Bc3 Bg2 35.h4 Re4 36.c6 Rxg4 37.cxb7 Bxb7 38.Be1 f5 39.Rc3 c6 40.a5 Ke6 41.Kd2 Rd4+ 42.Rd3 Ra4 43.Re3+ Kf7 44.Kc2 f4 45.Re5 Ba6 46.Kb3 Ra1 47.Bc3 Rb1+ 48.Kc2 Rf1 49.Kd2 Rf2+ 50.Ke1 Rf1+ 51.Kd2 Rf3 52.Rh5 Rd3+ 53.Kc2 f3 54.Rh6 Rxc3+ 55.Kxc3 f2 0-1

Position after White’s 54.Rh6?

A painful end to the day for Grischuk, who blundered with 54.Rh6? Our commentators called it a "high-class blunder", as it seems a sophisticated move, but 54...Rxc3+! 55.Kxc3 f2 gave Dubov a vital win!:

Round 8, May 20
Firouzja, Alireza – Karjakin, Sergey
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Nh5 8.Bd3 Nxf4 9.exf4 b6 10.b4 a5 11.a3 c6 12.O-O Ba6 13.Bxa6 Rxa6 14.Qe2 Qa8 15.b5 cxb5 16.Qxb5 Ra7 17.c6 Nb8 18.Rfc1 Rc7 19.Ne5 Bd6 20.Na4 Qa6 21.Qxa6 Nxa6 22.g3 Bxe5 23.fxe5 b5 24.Nc5 Rxc6 25.Nb7 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 a4 27.Rc6 Ra8 28.Rb6 b4 29.axb4 Kf8 30.Rb5 a3 31.Ra5 Nc7 32.Nc5 a2 33.Nb3 Rxa5 34.bxa5 Ke7 35.f4 Nb5 36.Kf2 Nxd4 37.Na1 Kd7 38.Ke3 Nc6 39.a6 Kc7 40.Kd2 Kb6 41.Kc3 Kxa6 42.Kb3 Kb5 43.Kxa2 Kc4 44.Nb3 Kc3 45.Nc5 Kc2 0-1

Karjakin beats Firouzja and joins Nakamura in 1st place before tomorrow's final day

Round 8, May 20
Ding, Liren – Wei, Yi
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 b6 6.O-O Bb7 7.Nc3 d5 8.b4 Nbd7 9.Bb2 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.b5 Nb6 12.cxd5 Nfxd5 13.Qc1 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Qc7 16.Rfc1 Rfc8 17.a4 a6 18.bxa6 Bxa6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6 20.a5 Nd7 21.Nd2 Rca8 22.Nc4 Nf6 23.h3 R8a7 24.Nb6 Nd7 25.Nxd7 Qxd7 26.Qxc5 Ra8 27.Qb4 Qd6 28.Rc5 Kg7 29.Qc3+ Qf6 30.Qxf6+ Kxf6 31.g4 Rd8 32.Ra2 h6 33.Kg2 Rd1 34.Rb5 e6 35.h4 g5 36.h5 Kg7 37.Kf3 Kf6 38.Rb7 Rd8 39.Rb6 Ra7 40.a6 Rd1 41.Ke4 Rd5 42.Ra4 Re5+ 43.Kd3 Rd5+ 44.Kc3 Rd1 45.Rb7 Ra8 46.a7 Rc8+ 47.Kb2 Rd2+ 48.Kb3 Rd3+ 49.Ka2 Rd2+ 50.Rb2 Rdd8 51.Ka3 Rd3+ 52.Rb3 Rd1 53.Kb4 Ra8 54.Kb5 Ke7 55.Kc6 1-0

Nakamura & Karjakin lead the #HeritageChess prelims with just 3 rounds to go tomorrow, but it's Wei Yi, Firouzja, Dubov & Duda who are in most danger of being knocked out before the knockout!

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 21st May, 2020, 01:51 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 21, 2020

Rounds Nine to Eleven

Peter Svidler and Lawrence Trent are back for what's sure to be a tense final day of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge prelims! There are just 3 rounds and 4 players must be eliminated

Results

Round Nine

Yu Yangyi-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Wei Yi-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Duda-Ding Liren 0-1
So-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Dubov-Firouzja 0.5-0.5

Round Ten

Grischuk-Firouzja 0-1
Carlsen-Dubov 0-1
Aronian-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
Ding Liren-So 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Duda 1-0
Yu Yangyi-Wei Yi 1-0

Round Eleven

Wei Yi-Grischuk 0-1
Duda-Yu Yangyi 0.5-0.5
So-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Karjakin-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
Dubov-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Firouzja-Carlsen 0-1

Final Standings

Nakamura 7.5
Karjakin 7
Yu, So, Carlsen, Ding 6
Dubov, Aronian, Grischuk 5.5
Firouzja 4.5
Duda 4
Wei Yi 2.5

Selected Games

Round 9, May 21
Wei Yi – Nakamura, Hikaru
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Bb4 15.a3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 h4 17.g4 hxg3 18.fxg3 Ne7 19.h4 Nd5 20.Bc1 Nxc3 21.Rd3 Na4 22.Rf3 Bd5 23.Rf4 Nb6 24.Ref1 Bc4 25.Nxf7 Rg6 26.R1f3 Bxf7 27.h5 Rg4 28.Rxf7 Rxg3+ 29.Rxg3 Kxf7 30.e6+ Kxe6 31.Rxg7 Rh8 32.h6 Nd5 33.Kg2 Ne7 34.h7 Nf5 35.Rxc7 Ne7 36.Rxb7 a6 37.Ra7 Rxh7 38.Rxa6 Rh4 39.Bd2 Rc4 40.c3 Nd5 41.Kf3 Nxc3 42.Bxc3 Rxc3+ 43.Ke4 Kd6 44.Kd4 Rc1 45.Ra8 Kc7 46.Rh8 c5+ 47.Kd3 Kb6 48.Rb8+ Ka5 49.Rb3 c4+ 50.Kd2 Rh1 51.Rb4 Rh3 52.Rxc4 Rxa3 53.Rc3 Rxc3 54.Kxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Ding, Liren
A22 English, Bremen, Smyslov System

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ng5 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Re8 8.f3 exf3 9.Nxf3 d5 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.O-O Nc6 12.Nd4 Qh5 13.e3 Bg4 14.Qc2 Bh3 15.Qd1 Qxd1 16.Rxd1 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Ne5 18.Rb1 b6 19.Nf3 Nd3 20.Kf1 Rad8 21.Ke2 c5 22.a4 Ne4 23.a5 Re6 24.Rb3 g5 25.g4 h5 26.axb6 axb6 27.Ba3 hxg4 0-1

- Ding Liren crushes Duda in 27 moves with Black, putting the Chinese player on course to qualify for the 1/4-finals while Duda is in great danger with two games to go!

Round 9, May 21
Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 e5 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.Nf5 h5 10.gxh5 Nxh5 11.Nd5 Nc6 12.Bg5 g6 13.Ng3 Bg7 14.c3 Nf4 15.h4 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 Bh6 17.Bf6 Ne7 18.Qd3 Rh7 19.Rd1 Rd8 20.h5 Bf4 21.hxg6 Rxh1+ 22.Nxh1 fxg6 23.Ng3 Qe6 24.Qb5+ Rd7 25.Bxe7 Kxe7 26.Ne2 Bg5 27.Qd5 Qxd5 28.Rxd5 Ke6 29.Rd3 Rh7 30.Rg3 Rh1+ 31.Rg1 Rxg1+ 32.Nxg1 d5 33.f3 b5 34.Ke2 dxe4 35.fxe4 Bc1 36.b3 Bb2 37.Kd3 g5 38.Kc2 Ba3 39.b4 a5 40.Kb3 Bc1 41.bxa5 Be3 42.Ne2 Kd6 43.c4 Kc5 44.cxb5 Kxb5 45.Kc3 g4 46.Kd3 Bf2 47.Nc3+ Kxa5 48.Ke2 Bh4 49.Nd5 Ka4 50.Ne3 g3 51.Kf3 Ka3 52.Nc4+ Kxa2 53.Nxe5 Kb3 54.Ng6 Bf6 55.Kxg3 Kc4 56.Kf4 Kd4 57.Kf5 Ke3 58.Kxf6 Kxe4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21
Dubov, Daniil – Firouzja, Alireza
B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Bd3 Ba5 10.O-O Ndb4 11.Qe2 Nxd3 12.Qxd3 O-O 13.Ng5 f5 14.Rd1 Qf6 15.Nf3 Bb6 16.Bf4 h6 17.d5 Nb4 18.Qc4 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 exd5 20.Qxd5+ Be6 21.Qe5 Qf7 22.b3 Rfe8 23.Qb2 Bd5 24.Ne5 Qe6 25.Re1 Be4 26.h3 Rad8 27.Rad1 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 g5 29.Nd7 gxf4 30.Nf6+ Kf7 31.Nxe8 Qxe8 32.Rd6 Qe7 33.Rxh6 Qg5 34.Rh7+ Ke6 35.Qg7 Qxg7 36.Rxg7 Kf6 37.Rh7 f3 38.g3 Bb1 39.Rxb7 Bxa2 40.b4 Bd5 41.Rb8 Be4 42.h4 Bd5 43.Rf8+ Kg6 44.Rb8 Kh5 45.Rf8 Kg4 46.Rf6 Be4 47.Rg6+ Kh5 48.Rg5+ Kh6 49.Rg8 Kh7 50.Re8 Kg7 51.Re6 Kf7 52.Rd6 Bc2 53.Rd7+ Kf6 54.Rd6+ Ke5 55.Rg6 Bb3 56.Rg7 Kf6 57.Rd7 Bf7 58.Rd3 Bh5 59.Rd6+ Kg7 60.Rd7+ Kf6 61.Rd6+ Ke7 62.Rh6 Bf7 63.Rc6 Bd4 64.Rc7+ Kf6 65.Rd7 Bb6 66.Rd3 Bh5 67.Rd6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 10, May 21
Grischuk, Alexander – Firouzja, Alireza
E98 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 a5 10.bxa5 Rxa5 11.a4 Ne8 12.Rb1 f5 13.Ng5 b6 14.Bd2 Ra8 15.Bf3 Ra6 16.Be2 Ra8 17.Bf3 Bf6 18.Ne6 Bxe6 19.dxe6 f4 20.Nd5 Ng7 21.a5 bxa5 22.Bg4 h5 23.Bh3 g5 24.f3 a4 25.Rb7 a3 26.Bc3 a2 27.Qc2 g4 28.fxg4 Nxe6 29.Ra1 Nxd5 30.cxd5 Ng5 31.Rxa2 Rxa2 32.Qxa2 Qc8 33.Qa7 Bd8 34.Rb8 Qd7 35.gxh5 Nxh3+ 36.gxh3 Qxh3 37.Be1 Kh8 38.Qf2 Rg8+ 39.Kh1 Qd3 0-1

Round 10, May 21
Nakamura, Hikaru – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O a6 6.c4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.h3 O-O 9.d3 Rb8 10.Rb1 Qa5 11.Bd2 Qc7 12.a3 e6 13.b4 b6 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.Qc2 Nb6 16.Bb3 Nfd7 17.Na4 Na8 18.Bc3 Bxc3 19.Nxc3 Nab6 20.Qd2 Bb7 21.Qh6 Rfd8 22.Ng5 Nf8 23.f4 f6 24.Nf3 Bc6 25.Qh4 Qg7 26.Rfe1 Rd7 27.Qf2 Rdb7 28.Ba2 f5 29.d4 fxe4 30.Nxe4 Na4 31.Rxb7 Rxb7 32.d5 Rb2 33.Qh4 exd5 34.Nf6+ Kh8 35.cxd5 Bb5 36.Bc4 Bxc4 37.Re8 h5 38.Nd7 Bxd5 39.Rxf8+ Bg8 40.Qd8 1-0

Svidler: "The saddest thing for Black is that White didn't have to sacrifice anything to get this" Nakamura is absolutely crushing Duda, who really needed a win

Round 10, May 21
Carlsen, Magnus – Dubov, Daniil
C41 Philidor, Exchange variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 Re8 8.O-O c6 9.a4 a5 10.h3 Na6 11.Re1 Bf8 12.Bf4 Nc5 13.Qd2 h6 14.g4 Qb6 15.Rad1 Bd7 16.b3 Rad8 17.Bg3 Bc8 18.Kh2 g6 19.f3 Bg7 20.Qf2 h5 21.g5 h4 22.Bxh4 Nh5 23.Nce2 d5 24.exd5 Rxd5 25.f4 Rdd8 26.Nf3 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 Qc7 28.Nfg1 Ne4 29.Qe3 Bf5 30.Bf3 Re7 31.Qc1 Qb6 32.Bxh5 gxh5 33.Rf1 Re6 34.Nf3 Qc5 35.Re1 Nc3 36.Neg1 Na2 37.Qd2 Qxc2 38.Rxe6 Qxd2+ 39.Nxd2 Bxe6 40.Ne2 Nc3 41.Bf2 Nxe2 0-1

Position after Black’s 27…Qc7

Wow! Magnus Carlsen blunders a piece in a tricky position against Daniil Dubov and now has to be careful in the next round... when he plays Alireza Firouzja!

Round 10, May 21
Yu Yangyi – Wei Yi
D97 Grunfeld, Russian, Alekhine variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 a6 8.e5 b5 9.Qb3 Nfd7 10.e6 fxe6 11.Qxe6+ Kh8 12.Qd5 Nb6 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Bf4 Ra7 15.O-O-O Nc6 16.Be3 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Rxd5 18.Bd3 Bf5 19.Bxf5 gxf5 20.Ne5 Nd8 21.Kb1 Ra8 22.Nd3 Rd6 23.Nf4 Ne6 24.d5 Nxf4 25.Bxf4 Rd7 26.Rhe1 Bf6 27.Re6 Rad8 28.Rxa6 Rxd5 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 30.Rc6 Rd1+ 31.Rc1 Rd4 32.g3 Re4 33.Be3 e5 34.Rxc7 f4 35.Bb6 Re1+ 36.Kc2 e4 37.Rf7 fxg3 38.hxg3 Bg7 39.Be3 Kg8 40.Rb7 1-0

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 21st May, 2020, 01:52 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 21, 2020

Rounds Nine to Eleven (continued)

Round 11, May 21
Wei, Yi – Grischuk, Alexander
B66 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Rauzer Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.O-O-O Be7 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Bc4 Bb7 12.Bb3 Qc7 13.f4 O-O-O 14.Rhf1 d5 15.Qe2 Kb8 16.a3 h5 17.Kb1 h4 18.f5 Rde8 19.Rf3 Qe5 20.exd5 Qxe2 21.Nxe2 exd5 22.c4 d4 23.Ba4 c5 24.Rb3 Rc8 25.Nf4 Bd6 26.Nd5 Ka7 27.Rh3 Be5 28.Rd2 Rhd8 29.Rxh4 Bxd5 30.cxd5 Rxd5 31.Rh7 Rc7 32.Be8 Rd8 33.Ba4 c4 34.Ka2 d3 35.Rh4 Rb8 36.Re4 c3 37.bxc3 Bxc3 0-1

Round 11, May 21
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nbd2 Nxd2 9.Bxd2 Bg4 10.c3 O-O 11.h3 Bh5 12.g3 Qd7 13.Kg2 Bg6 14.Bxg6 fxg6 15.Nh2 Rf7 16.Qg4 Rf5 17.Rae1 Raf8 18.Qe2 Bd6 19.Qb5 Qc8 20.Ng4 a6 21.Qb3 Na5 22.Qc2 Nc4 23.Bc1 h5 24.Nh2 c5 25.b3 Na5 26.dxc5 Bxc5 27.Re2 Nc6 28.f4 d4 29.Nf3 Qd7 30.Rd1 Rd5 31.cxd4 Nxd4 32.Qe4 Rd8 33.Red2 Qc6 34.Ne5 Re8 35.Nxc6 Rxe4 36.Ne5 g5 37.Nf3 gxf4 38.Bb2 Nf5 39.gxf4 Ne3+ 40.Kg3 Nxd1 41.Rxd5 Bf2+ 42.Kh2 Nxb2 43.Rd8+ Kf7 44.Ng5+ Ke7 45.Nxe4 Kxd8 46.Nxf2 Kd7 47.Kg3 Ke6 48.Kf3 Kf5 49.Ke3 b5 50.Kf3 a5 51.Ke3 a4 52.Kf3 axb3 53.axb3 g5 54.fxg5 Kxg5 55.Ke4 Kh4 56.Kf3 Kg5 57.Kg3 Kf5 58.Kf3 Kg5 1/2-1/2

Round 11, May 21
Firouzja, Alireza – Carlsen, Magnus
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.c4 dxc4 4.Na3 Bg7 5.Nxc4 Nc6 6.d3 e5 7.Bd2 Nge7 8.h4 h6 9.Bc3 f6 10.Bg2 Be6 11.O-O O-O 12.Rc1 a5 13.Qa4 Qd7 14.Rfd1 Rfd8 15.a3 b6 16.e3 Rab8 17.Qc2 a4 18.Ne1 b5 19.Nd2 Bg4 20.Ndf3 Be6 21.Qb1 Bb3 22.Nc2 Qe6 23.Nd2 Bd5 24.Ne4 f5 25.Nc5 Qf7 26.e4 fxe4 27.dxe4 Ba2 28.Qa1 Bc4 29.Ne3 Nd4 30.Bxd4 exd4 31.Nxc4 bxc4 32.Bh3 Rd6 33.Qa2 Rb3 34.Nxa4 d3 35.Nc5 Bd4 36.Nxb3 Qxf2+ 37.Kh1 Qxg3 38.Rd2 Qxh3+ 39.Rh2 Qf3+ 40.Rg2 cxb3 41.Qxb3+ Kg7 42.Qd1 Qxe4 43.Qe1 Qxe1+ 44.Rxe1 Nf5 45.h5 Be3 46.hxg6 d2 47.Rd1 Bg5 48.Rf2 Kxg6 49.a4 Rd4 50.a5 Ra4 0-1

- Firouzja was forced to accept a worse position rather than take a draw that would knock him out - "it's becoming very sharp!"

- Firouzja-Carlsen remains insanely tense!

- Jan: "This kid can play!"

Peter: "If Magnus can win this game after playing Rb3! some of the mojo should be back!"

Knockouts

Grischuk, Firouzja, Duda and Wei Yi are out.

The matchups in the Quarterfinals are:

Nakamura-Aronian
Carlsen-So
Yu Yangyi-Ding Liren
Dubov-Karjakin

Tomorrow is a rest day, before the quarterfinals (each a best of three 4-game match series) begin on Saturday.

Knockout consists of Quarterfinals, Semi-Finals and a Final

All rounds are best-of-3 series of matches: the players play 3 matches (one per day); the player who wins 2 matches advances to the next round.

Each match consists of 4 rapid games

In case of a 2-2 tie, an Armageddon game shall be played

https://explore.chess24.com/tour/

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 23rd May, 2020, 04:54 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 23, 2020

Quarterfinals

Round One

The commentators are Peter Leko, Jan Gustafsson and Tania Sachdev. Each round there is going to be a set of quiz questions. That would be May 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31. Today’s are:

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge

1. Which World Champion also won a World Amateur Chess Championship?

2. Which country hosted the World Championship match in which a Russian and an American player met for the first time?

3. What are the three longest games in the history of World Championship matches?

(Look at No. 2 carefully!)

The prize is a chance to win a chessboard designed by Karpov.

Answers to be given at a later date.
_______

On the Chat someone wrote this: “Magnus is to Hikaru as Hikaru is to Eric Hansen”. This is the type of statement they used to give you in high school and then say Discuss.
________

ChessBase: A new format is being tried out at the quarter-finals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge. Each match consists of three mini-matches — winning two of these is enough to go through — with each of them consisting of four rapid games and an Armageddon decider in case of a tie. After beating Aronian in their first mini-match, Nakamura gave his thoughts about the format, noting that it should lead to players taking more risks:

I think it lets you be a little bit looser. For example, in the third game of this match, when I got a bad position, my attitude was kind of ‘if it's losing, it's losing, I'll just play some random moves and whatever’, as opposed to thinking for a minute or two minutes in some critical positions, because I know that even if I lose game three I will have another shot in two days.
‘Naka’ lost game one and, after drawing games two and three, managed to tie the score with white in game four. He then won the right to choose a colour in Armageddon, and chose black. He explained that he would make this choice against most players, unless he came from having a lot of trouble with black in the match. The American was in trouble at some point in the sudden-death decider, but ended up restoring the balance and finally getting a win when Aronian blundered on move 60.

Meanwhile, the all-Chinese encounter between Ding and Yu was balanced throughout, with four draws leading to sudden death. Ding had the black pieces and achieved a completely winning position by move 69. Unfortunately for him, though, his time ran out, giving Yu the victory — after all, the player with black does get draw odds but also less time on the clock (White gets five minutes to Black's four).

https://en.chessbase.com/post/lindor...challenge-live

QuarterFinals, May 23
Game 1
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.h3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 h6 11.Bd3 Ba6 12.O-O Qc8 13.Na4 Qb7 14.Qc2 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ne4 16.Rfb1 axb4 17.axb4 b5 18.Nc3 f5 19.Ne2 Bf6 20.Ne5 Ng5 21.Nxd7 Qxd7 22.Nc1 Nf7 23.Qc3 Rfe8 24.Nd3 Qb7 25.Rb3 Ra4 26.Rxa4 bxa4 27.Ra3 Qb5 28.Qc2 Ra8 29.Bc7 Bd8 30.Ba5 Bf6 31.f4 g5 32.g3 h5 33.Qxa4 Qxa4 34.Rxa4 h4 35.gxh4 gxf4 36.Nxf4 e5 37.Ng6 exd4 38.exd4 Bxd4+ 39.Kf1 Bf6 40.Ra2 Kh7 41.h5 Ng5 42.Nf4 Ne4 43.Nd3 Bd4 44.Rg2 f4 45.Nxf4 Rf8 46.Bc7 Rf7 47.Ke2 Bc3 48.Ne6 Bxb4 49.Bd6 Bc3 50.Ng5+ Nxg5 51.Rxg5 Bb4 52.Rg4 Rb7 53.Kd3 Rb5 54.Kd4 Ba3 55.Rg6 Rb3 56.Ke5 Rxh3 57.Ke6 Rxh5 58.Rg3 Bb4 59.Kd7 d4 60.Kxc6 Rf5 61.Rd3 Bc3 62.Kd7 Bb4 63.Kc6 Bc3 64.Rg3 Bb4 65.Kb5 Be1 66.Rh3+ Kg6 67.Kc4 Ba5 68.Kxd4 Kf7 69.Rh7+ Kf6 70.Ke4 Rf1 71.Kd5 Rd1+ 72.Kc6 Bb4 73.Rh4 Ba3 74.Rh3 Bb4 75.Rb3 Rd4 76.Kb5 Bxc5 77.Kxc5 Rd1 78.Re3 Rc1+ 79.Kd5 Rd1+ 80.Kc6 Kf5 81.Rf3+ Ke4 82.Rf4+ Ke3 83.Rh4 Kf3 84.Kc5 Ke3 85.Be5 Rd8 86.Bd6 Ra8 87.Kd5 Ra5+ 88.Bc5+ Kf3 89.Rc4 Rb5 90.Ke5 Rb8 91.Rc2 Re8+ 92.Kf5 Rc8 93.Rc3+ Ke2 94.Ke4 Re8+ 95.Kf4 Rd8 96.Rh3 Re8 97.Bd4 Kd2 98.Be5 Kc2 99.Ke4 Rd8 100.Rc3+ Kd2 101.Rb3 Rc8 102.Rh3 Kc2 103.Rh2+ Kb3 104.Rb2+ Ka3 105.Rb7 Re8 106.Kd5 Rc8 107.Bc7 Rh8 108.Bd6+ Ka2 109.Kc4 Rc8+ 110.Bc7 Rf8 111.Be5 Rc8+ 112.Kd3 Rc1 113.Rb2+ Ka1 114.Rf2+ Kb1 115.Bd4 Rd1+ 116.Kc3 Re1 117.Kb3 Kc1 118.Bc3 1-0

Position after White’s 116.Kc3

Game 2, May 23
Nakamura, Hikaru – Aronian, Levon
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.O-O-O c6 10.h4 d5 11.Bd3 Nc5 12.Ng5 h6 13.Rde1 Nxd3+ 14.Qxd3 f5 15.f4 Bd6 16.Nf3 Re8 17.g3 Re4 18.Nd2 Be6 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.Qd2 Qa5 21.Kb1 h5 22.f5 Bxf5 23.Bf4 Bf8 24.Rhf1 Bg4 25.Be5 Bf3 26.Qf4 Qd8 27.Bd4 c5 28.Be5 Qd7 29.Rxf3 exf3 30.Qxf3 Re8 31.Rf1 Qe6 32.Bf4 g6 33.a3 Qe4 34.Qd1 Bg7 35.Bc1 b6 36.g4 Qxg4 37.Qxd5+ Qe6 38.Qg2 Qe4 39.Qg3 Be5 40.Qg5 Qg4 41.Qd2 Bg7 42.Qd3 Qe4 43.Qd7 Re7 44.Qd6 Kh7 45.Bg5 Qc4 46.Rg1 Rf7 47.Qd1 Qb5 48.Qd5 Rf1+ 49.Rxf1 Qxf1+ 50.Ka2 Qf5 51.Qb7 Qe6+ 52.Kb1 Qe1+ 53.Ka2 Qe6+ 54.Kb1 Qe1+ 55.Ka2 Qe6+ 1/2-1/2

Game 3, May 23
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.h3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 h6 11.Qb1 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Qd5 15.Qb2 b5 16.Be2 a4 17.O-O Bd7 18.f3 f5 19.Qd2 Be8 20.fxe4 fxe4 21.Rxf8+ Bxf8 22.Bd1 Bg6 23.Bc2 Be7 24.Bb1 Rf8 25.Ba2 Qd7 26.Qe1 Kh7 27.Qg3 Bd8 28.Rf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Qf7+ 30.Ke1 Qf5 31.Qf4 Qf7 32.Bb1 Kg8 33.Qxf7+ Kxf7 34.Kf2 Bf5 35.g4 Bh7 36.Kg3 g5 37.Bc2 Bg6 38.Bd1 Kg8 39.Be2 Be8 40.Bf1 Kf8 41.Bg2 Bg6 1/2-1/2

Game 4, May 23
Nakamura, Hikaru – Aronian, Levon
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.O-O-O c6 10.h4 Re8 11.Bd3 Nf6 12.h5 Bg4 13.Rde1 Qd7 14.h6 g6 15.Nd4 a6 16.f3 Be6 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Kb1 b5 19.g4 e5 20.c4 Qe6 21.Qe2 Rab8 22.g5 Nd7 23.Ka1 bxc4 24.Bxc4 d5 25.Bb3 Nc5 26.Bxc5 Bxc5 27.Qxa6 Bf2 28.Re2 Bg3 29.c4 d4 30.c5 Rxb3 31.axb3 Qxb3 32.Qxc6 Rb8 33.Kb1 Qf7 34.Qf6 Qxf6 35.gxf6 Kf7 36.c6 Kxf6 37.c7 Rc8 38.Rc1 Ke7 39.Rc4 Kd7 40.Rec2 g5 41.b4 g4 42.fxg4 Be1 43.Re2 Bg3 44.b5 Rxc7 45.Rxc7+ Kxc7 46.g5 d3 47.Re4 1-0

Game 5, May 23
Armageddon
Aronian Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nd5 11.Rfc1 f6 12.Na4 Re8 13.Bc5 Bd6 14.a3 Nb6 15.Qd1 Bd5 16.Be3 Bf8 17.b4 Nd4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Nc5 Rb8 20.Nb3 Bxf3 21.exf3 c6 22.f4 Na4 23.Nd2 Nc3 24.Qb3+ Kh8 25.Re1 Qd7 26.Ne4 Nxe4 27.dxe4 c5 28.bxc5 Bxc5 29.Bf1 g6 30.Bb5 Qe6 31.Bc4 Qd6 32.Kg2 Re7 33.Qf3 Rbe8 34.h4 a6 35.a4 Bb4 36.Re2 Qc6 37.Bd5 Qc3 38.Rd1 Qxf3+ 39.Kxf3 Bc3 40.Rb1 Rd8 41.Bc4 d3 42.Re3 d2 43.Bd5 Ba5 44.Ke2 Rc7 45.Rd1 b5 46.axb5 axb5 47.g4 Bc3 48.Bb3 b4 49.g5 fxg5 50.hxg5 Rf8 51.Rf3 Re7 52.e5 Kg7 53.e6 h6 54.gxh6+ Kxh6 55.Rg1 Rf6 56.Rfg3 Rexe6+ 57.Bxe6 Rxe6+ 58.Re3 Rf6 59.Re4 Kg7 60.Rc4 Re6+ 0-1

Aronian-Nakamura 2-3

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 23rd May, 2020, 04:56 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 23, 2020

Quarterfinals

Round One (continued)

Game 1, May 23
Yu, Yangyi – Ding, Liren
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 Re8 6.a3 Bf8 7.Ng3 d5 8.Be2 b6 9.O-O Ba6 10.b3 Nc6 11.Qc2 Na5 12.cxd5 Bxe2 13.Ncxe2 exd5 14.Bd2 Nb7 15.Qc6 Nd6 16.Rfc1 Rc8 17.Nf4 Nde4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bb4 Bd6 20.Bxd6 cxd6 21.Qb7 Rxc1+ 22.Rxc1 Qa8 23.Qc7 d5 24.h4 h6 25.h5 Rd8 26.Rc6 Rd7 27.Qc8+ Qxc8 28.Rxc8+ Kh7 29.b4 g5 30.hxg6+ fxg6 31.b5 Ng4 32.a4 g5 33.Ne6 Rf7 34.Rc7 Rxc7 35.Nxc7 Nf6 36.Na6 Ne8 37.Nb4 Nc7 38.Nc6 a5 39.Ne7 Kg7 40.g4 Kf7 41.Nc6 Ne8 42.Kf1 Nd6 43.Ne5+ Ke6 44.Ke2 Ne8 45.Kd2 Nf6 46.Ke2 Ke7 47.Kd2 Ke6 48.Ke2 Ke7 49.Kd2 Ke6 1/2-1/2

Game 2, May 23
Ding, Liren – Yu, Yangyi
A20 English, Kingside Fianchetto

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.e3 d5 6.cxd5 Nb4 7.d3 Nfxd5 8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.O-O O-O 11.b3 c6 12.Bb2 Bd6 13.Nd2 Ba3 14.Bxa3 Qxa3 15.Nc4 Qe7 16.Qd2 Rd8 17.Qb2 Nb4 18.Qxe5 Qxe5 19.Nxe5 Nxd3 20.Rfd1 Bf5 21.Nxd3 Bxd3 22.Rd2 Bf5 23.Rad1 Rxd2 24.Rxd2 a5 25.e4 Be6 26.f4 g6 27.Bf1 b5 28.Rc2 a4 29.Rxc6 axb3 30.axb3 Ra1 31.Kf2 Ra2+ 32.Ke3 Rxh2 33.Bxb5 Bxb3 34.Bc4 Bxc4 35.Rxc4 h5 36.Kf3 Ra2 37.e5 Ra3+ 38.Kg2 Ra2+ 39.Kf3 Ra3+ 40.Kg2 Ra2+ 41.Kh3 Re2 42.Rc7 Kg7 43.Rb7 Re1 44.Rc7 1/2-1/2

Game 3, May 23
Yu, Yangyi – Ding, Liren
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 Re8 6.a3 Bf8 7.Ng3 d5 8.Be2 b6 9.O-O Ba6 10.b3 Nc6 11.Qc2 dxc4 12.bxc4 Na5 13.Nce4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 f5 15.Nd2 Rc8 16.Rd1 Qe7 17.Nb3 Nxb3 18.Qxb3 Bb7 19.d5 Qf7 20.Bb2 exd5 21.cxd5 c6 22.Bh5 g6 23.Bf3 cxd5 24.a4 Rc4 25.a5 Bc5 26.axb6 Bxb6 27.h3 Rec8 28.Be2 Rc2 29.Bd3 R2c7 30.Be5 Re7 31.Bd4 Bxd4 32.exd4 a6 33.Bxa6 Bxa6 34.Rxa6 Kg7 35.Ra5 Rc4 36.Rc5 Rc7 37.Qb6 Qd7 38.Re1 R4xc5 39.dxc5 d4 40.Rd1 Qe7 41.Qd6 Qxd6 42.cxd6 Rd7 43.Rxd4 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Game 4, May 23
Ding, Liren – Yu, Yangyi
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Be2 Ke7 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.e4 b6 12.e5 Ng4 13.Bf4 f6 14.exf6+ gxf6 15.h3 Nge5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 fxe5 18.Bf3 Ra7 19.Rac1 Bd7 20.Rc2 Bd4 21.Rfc1 Rc8 22.g4 h6 23.Kg2 a5 24.Ne2 Rxc2 25.Rxc2 Bb5 26.h4 Rd7 27.Ng3 Bd3 28.Rd2 Bc4 29.b3 Bb5 30.a4 Ba6 31.Be4 Rd8 32.Nh5 Rg8 33.Kg3 Bc8 34.Bc6 Kd6 35.Be4 Ke7 36.Rd3 Ba6 37.Rd2 Bc8 1/2-1/2

Game 5, May 23
Armageddon
Yu, Yangyi – Ding, Liren
C58 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Be2 f5 12.d3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 e4 14.Nd4 Qf6 15.O-O Qe5 16.f4 Qe7 17.Kh1 Bd7 18.Rb1 Rad8 19.Bd2 c5 20.Nb5 Bb8 21.dxe4 fxe4 22.Qe1 e3 23.Bc1 Bxf4 24.c4 Nc6 25.Bf3 Kh8 26.Nc3 Qe5 27.Nd5 Bxh2 28.Qxe3 Nd4 29.Qxe5 Bxe5 30.Be3 Bc6 31.Be4 Ne2 32.Rxf8+ Rxf8 33.Bf3 Nd4 34.Bxd4 Bxd4 35.Re1 g6 36.Re6 Bxd5 37.cxd5 Kg7 38.d6 Rd8 39.Bc6 Kf7 40.Bd5 Kg7 41.c4 h5 42.g3 g5 43.Kg2 g4 44.Bc6 Kf7 45.Bd5 Kg7 46.a4 a5 47.Be4 Kf7 48.Bd5 Kg7 49.Re7+ Kf6 50.Rf7+ Ke5 51.d7 Kd6 52.Rh7 Rxd7 53.Rh6+ Kc7 54.Rc6+ Kd8 55.Rh6 Re7 56.Rxh5 Re2+ 57.Kf1 Rf2+ 58.Ke1 Rb2 59.Rg5 Ra2 60.Rg8+ Ke7 61.Bf7 Kxf7 62.Rxg4 Rxa4 63.Rf4+ Ke6 64.Kd1 Ra1+ 65.Kc2 a4 66.Kd3 a3 67.Re4+ Kd6 68.Re2 a2 69.Ke4 1-0

Final Position

A heartbreaking loss on time for Ding Liren in Armageddon (in a won position), but despite losing the mini-match he can still come back if he wins the next match in the series on Monday!

Yu Yangyi-Ding Liren 3-2
_________

The QuarterFinals Schedule

May 23: Nakamura-Aronian & Yu-Ding, Match 1
May 24: Carlsen-So & Dubov-Karjakin, Match 1
May 25: Nakamura-Aronian & Yu-Ding, Match 2
May 26: Carlsen-So & Dubov-Karjakin, Match 2
May 27: All pairings, Match 3 (if needed)

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 24th May, 2020, 03:13 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 24, 2020

Quarterfinals

Round One

Trent, Svidler and Gustafsson are on board today. The Lindores Abbey Chess Heritage site is running an interesting series. This describes it:

With the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge, the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour is celebrating the global heritage of chess. Over the course of the tournament, we will take a look at the rich chess history of the participating players' countries and the biographies of the players from a special heritage angle: Whose shoulders do these giants of chess stand on? Which legacy are they creating in their countries?

See: https://explore.chess24.com/tour/#lp-pom-text-55

On the site now is A History of Chess in Russia, The Armenian Chess Miracle and biographies of Alexander Grischuk and Ding Liren.

From the Russian history essay, this paragraph struck me forcibly:

The first book (or, rather, brochure) about chess in Russian was published in St. Petersburg in 1791, at the end of Catherine the Great’s reign. It was a translation of the essay “The Morals of Chess”, written by Benjamin Franklin. That’s right – the first publication about chess in Russian was penned by one of the Founding Fathers of the United States!

Andrey Terekhov (twitter) - Who was the author of the first chess book in Russian? Who starred in the movie “Chess Fever”? And what does Russian chess and Boston Red Sox have in common?

Everything you always wanted to know about Russian chess (but were afraid to ask)
________

Jan Gustafsson: The most anticipated quarterfinals since Clippers-Spurs start soon!

Carlsen-So and Karjakin-Dubov.

Round One, May 24
Game 1
Dubov, Daniil – Karjakin, Sergey
E10 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nc3 dxc4 7.Ne5 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bxc5 10.Ne3 c3 11.bxc3 Nbd7 12.Nd3 Rb8 13.Nc4 b6 14.Bf4 Bb7 15.Bxb8 Bxg2 16.Bd6 Bxh1 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.f3 Bg2 19.Nf4 Bh1 20.Kf1 b5 21.Nb2 e5 22.Nfd3 Ba3 23.Nd1 e4 24.N3f2 Bxf3 25.exf3 exf3 26.Rb1 a6 27.Rb3 Bc5 28.c4 bxc4 29.Rxf3 Ne5 30.Rf5 Nfd7 31.Ne4 Bd4 32.Ke2 g6 33.Rf1 Ke7 34.Ne3 f5 35.Nd5+ Ke6 36.Nf4+ Ke7 37.Rd1 Bb2 38.Nd5+ Ke6 39.Ng5+ Kd6 40.Nf6+ Kc6 41.Nxd7 Nxd7 42.Nxh7 Nb6 43.Nf8 Nd5 44.Rf1 c3 45.Nxg6 c2 46.Kd2 Nb4 47.a4 Kd6 48.h4 c1=Q+ 49.Rxc1 Bxc1+ 50.Kxc1 Nd3+ 51.Kc2 Nf2 52.h5 Ng4 53.Kd3 Kc5 54.Nh4 Kb4 55.Nxf5 Kxa4 56.h6 Nf6 57.Kc4 Ka5 58.Ne3 Nh7 59.Nd5 Ka4 60.g4 a5 61.Nc3+ Ka3 62.Ne4 a4 63.Kc3 Ka2 64.g5 Nf8 65.Kc2 a3 66.Nc3+ Ka1 67.Kb3 a2 68.Nxa2 Kb1 69.Nb4 Kc1 70.Kc3 Kd1 71.Kd3 Ne6 72.h7 1-0

Position after White’s 54.Nh4

Game 2, May 24
Karjakin, Sergey – Dubov, Daniil
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.c3 g5 6.a4 g4 7.Nfd2 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.a5 Bg7 10.a6 b6 11.h3 Nf4 12.Ne4 gxh3 13.g3 Ne6 14.Qf3 Bd7 15.Rxh3 Qe7 16.Rh5 O-O-O 17.Be3 Rhf8 18.Rf5 Kb8 19.Na3 Nf4 20.Nd2 Bxf5 21.Qxc6 Bc8 0-1

"That's actually pretty awesome" says Magnus of the 20.Nc5!! that could have saved Karjakin in the 2nd game vs. Dubov!

Sergey Karjakin loses on time in a tough position and Dubov now has a 2:0 lead in the first mini-match and needs only a draw in Game 3!

Game 3, May 24
Dubov, Daniil – Karjakin, Sergey
A53 Old Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bd3 Bc8 7.O-O O-O 8.e4 Nc6 9.d5 Nb4 10.Be2 c5 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nd7 14.Be2 Na6 15.Qd2 Re8 16.Be3 Nc7 17.Rad1 Rb8 18.g3 a6 19.a4 e6 20.Kg2 exd5 21.exd5 Na8 22.b3 Qb6 23.Qc2 Rxe3 24.fxe3 Qd8 25.Rf2 Qe7 26.Rdf1 Rf8 27.Qd2 Bh6 28.Nd1 Ne5 29.a5 Nc7 30.Nb2 Ne8 31.Nd3 Bg7 32.Nxe5 Bxe5 33.e4 Nf6 34.Bd3 Nd7 35.Bc2 Bd4 36.Rf4 Bg7 37.R4f2 Ne5 38.Qe2 h5 39.Qd2 Kh7 40.Bd1 Bh6 41.Qc3 Bg7 42.Qd2 Rc8 43.Bc2 Rc7 44.Qe1 Kg8 45.Qd2 Kf8 46.Bd1 Ke8 47.Bc2 Kd8 48.Bb1 Kc8 49.Bc2 Kb8 50.Bb1 Ka7 51.Bc2 Kb8 52.Bb1 Rc8 53.Bc2 Rh8 54.Bb1 Bh6 55.Qc3 Rh7 56.Bc2 Bg5 57.Bb1 Qf8 58.Bc2 Qe8 59.Bb1 Qd7 60.Bc2 Rg7 61.Bd1 Rg8 62.Bc2 Re8 63.Bb1 Re7 64.Bc2 Kc8 65.Bb1 Kd8 66.Bc2 Ke8 67.Bb1 Kf8 68.Bc2 Kg8 69.Bb1 Re8 70.Bc2 Rb8 71.Bd1 Bh6 72.Bc2 Bg7 73.Qd2 b5 74.axb6 Rxb6 75.Bd1 Qb7 76.Qg5 Qc7 77.g4 hxg4 78.Bxg4 Rb7 79.Rxf7 Nxf7 80.Be6 Qb8 81.Qxg6 Qe8 82.e5 dxe5 83.d6 Kf8 84.Qf5 Qc6+ 85.Bd5 Qd7 86.Bxf7 Qxf5 87.Rxf5 Rxb3 88.Bd5+ Ke8 89.Rf7 Bh6 90.Re7+ Kf8 91.Rf7+ Ke8 92.Rf6 Bg7 93.Bc6+ Kd8 94.Re6 1-0

Magnus on Dubov's 78.Bxg4! "This I feel like is showing more talent than the position requires!"

Sergey Karjakin - Strange match today as in the second game there was something wrong with the clocks and we played without increment. In the third game I disconnected and thought that I already lost, but arbiter said to resume. Anyway, played badly and hope to do better next match

Dubov reveals that he decided to play for a win at the end instead of making a draw because he was a bit annoyed at Karjakin disconnecting earlier!

Daniil Dubov ends a brilliant day in the office by beating Sergey Karjakin 3:0!

Game 1, May 24
Carlsen, Magnus – So, Wesley
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 c5 6.Rc1 cxd4 7.Nxd4 h6 8.Bh4 d5 9.cxd5 g5 10.Bg3 Qxd5 11.e3 Qxa2 12.Qc2 Bxc3+ 13.Qxc3 Ne4 14.Qc2 Qa5+ 15.Ke2 Nxg3+ 16.hxg3 Kg7 17.f4 Bd7 18.b4 Qxb4 19.fxg5 Rc8 20.gxh6+ Kh8 21.Qxc8+ Bxc8 22.Rxc8+ Kh7 23.Nf3 f6 24.Kf2 Qb2+ 25.Be2 Na6 26.Rxa8 Nc5 27.Rd1 Ne4+ 28.Kg1 f5 29.Bd3 Qf2+ 30.Kh1 Qxe3 31.Bxe4 fxe4 32.Rd7+ Kg6 33.Rg8+ 1-0

Game 2, May 24
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Nc4 Nd7 10.a3 a6 11.b4 Ba7 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 f6 14.Nf5 Qf8 15.Ng3 Bf7 16.Qd2 g6 17.Nh2 h5 18.f4 exf4 19.Qxf4 O-O-O 20.e5 f5 21.Nf3 Qe7 22.Rae1 Rde8 23.h4 Bd5 24.Ng5 c5 25.Re3 b5 26.Ne2 Bb7 27.Nc3 cxb4 28.axb4 Nf6 29.Rfe1 Ng4 30.R3e2 c5 31.e6 cxb4 32.Nf7 Qc7 33.Qxc7+ Kxc7 34.Nxh8 Rxh8 35.Nd1 Re8 36.e7 Bd5 37.Ne3 Nxe3 38.Rxe3 a5 39.Kf2 a4 40.Kg3 a3 41.Kf4 b3 42.cxb3 b4 43.d4 Kd6 44.Re5 a2 45.Ra1 Bxb3 46.Rb5 Rxe7 47.Rxb4 Re4+ 48.Kg5 Rg4+ 49.Kf6 Rg3 50.Rb5 Bc4 51.Rc5 Bd5 52.Ra5 Bb3 53.Rc1 Rxg2 54.Rcc5 Rg1 55.Ra6+ Kd7 56.Ra7+ Kd6 57.Ra6+ Kd7 58.Rca5 Bc4 59.Ra7+ Kd6 60.Ra8 f4 61.Rd8+ Kc7 62.Rda8 f3 63.Rxa2 Bxa2 64.Rxa2 Kd6 0-1

- It seems Wesley had a brief chance to win here if he'd defended his b3-pawn with his rook, but he let the moment slip:

- Wesley had great winning chances but ultimately blundered and goes 2:0 down against Magnus! He needs to win the next two games to force Armageddon

Game 3, May 24
Carlsen, Magnus – so, Wesley
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange, Rubinstein variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Be7 10.O-O Bh5 11.Rae1 Bg6 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.h4 a6 14.a4 Nh5 15.Bh2 Nf6 16.Bf4 Nh5 17.Bh2 Nf6 18.Bf4 1/2-1/2

- Wow! Wesley So just repeats the position and loses the mini-match with a draw - he'll now have to come back and win mini-matches on both Tuesday and Wednesday!

Dubov-Karjakin 3-0

Carlsen-So 2.5-0.5

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 25th May, 2020, 03:29 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 25, 2020

Quarterfinals

Round Two

The answers to the quiz questions of Round One:

1. Which World Champion also won a World Amateur Chess Championship?

Max Euwe

2. Which country hosted the World Championship match in which a Russian and an American player met for the first time?

Cuba. The match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin took place in Havana in 1889.

3. What are the three longest games in the history of World Championship matches?

124 moves, Karpov-Korchnoi (Bagio, 1978)
122 moves, Carlsen-Anand (Sochi, 2014)
121 moves, Tal-Botvinnik (Moscow, 1961)

And the questions for this round:

1. Which World Chess Champion was the first to have a cameo appearance in a feature film?

2. In which World Championship match was an electronic chess clock used for the first time?

3. Which players played their first official game in a World Championship match?

___________

I seem unable to grasp the meaning of Question 3. Does it mean that this was the first time the players met or is there some other meaning. Comment is welcome!

Round 2, May 25
Game 1
Nakamura, Hikaru – Aronian, Levon
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5 12.Bg5 Qa5 13.Re1 Nd7 14.Nh4 Nb6 15.Bb3 Rae8 16.Nxf5 Rxe1+ 17.Qxe1 Qxf5 18.Bd2 Nd5 19.Qe2 Nf6 20.Re1 h6 21.f3 Re8 22.Qd1 Rxe1+ 23.Bxe1 Nd5 24.g3 b5 25.Qe2 Qd7 26.a4 a6 27.c4 Nc7 28.Kg2 Ne6 29.Bf2 Qe7 30.Qe4 bxa4 31.Bc2 Qg5 32.c5 Bc7 33.Bxa4 h5 34.h4 Qd2 35.Bb3 Nd8 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Bxf7 Nxf7 38.Qxf7 Ba5 39.Qf5+ 1-0

Game 2, May 25
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.h3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 h6 11.Qc1 Bb7 12.Be2 Qc8 13.O-O Ba6 14.Re1 Qb7 15.Rb1 axb4 16.axb4 Bxe2 17.Rxe2 Ra7 18.Rc2 b5 19.Nd2 Rfa8 20.g4 Bd8 21.Bg3 Bc7 22.f4 Ra3 23.Kg2 R8a7 24.Nb3 Qa8 25.Na5 Rxc3 26.Rxc3 Bxa5 27.bxa5 Rxa5 28.Be1 Ne4 29.Rcb3 Ra2+ 30.R1b2 Ra1 31.Rb1 Ra2+ 32.R1b2 Ra1 33.Rb1 Ra2+ 1/2-1/2

Game 3, May 25
Nakamura, Hikaru – Aronian, Levon
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5 12.Bg5 Qa5 13.Re1 Nd7 14.Nh4 Rae8 15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.Be3 Nf6 17.Bd3 Qd7 18.Qf3 Qg4 19.Qxg4 Nxg4 20.g3 Nxe3 21.Rxe3 c5 22.Be4 cxd4 23.cxd4 Re7 24.Rae1 g6 25.Bd5 Rd7 26.Bb3 Bb4 27.Rd1 Kg7 28.d5 Bc5 29.Rc3 b6 30.Ba4 Rd6 31.Kg2 Rc8 32.Bc6 Rc7 33.Rc2 Re7 34.Rdd2 Rd8 35.Re2 Kf8 36.a4 Rc8 37.Rxe7 Kxe7 38.a5 Kd6 39.axb6 Bxb6 40.f4 Rc7 41.Kf3 Re7 42.Re2 Rxe2 43.Kxe2 a5 1/2-1/2

Game 4, May 25
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Bd6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Bg4 9.Nbd2 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Nc4 Nxg3 12.fxg3 Qe7 13.c3 O-O-O 14.b4 Kb8 15.a3 h5 16.Ne3 Bc8 17.c4 f5 18.Nxf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 e4 20.Re1 e3 21.Qc1 g4 22.Nh4 Rhe8 23.c5 Be5 24.Qxe3 Qd7 25.Qc1 Bd4+ 26.Kh1 Rxe1+ 27.Qxe1 Bxa1 28.Qxa1 Qxd3 0-1

Hikaru Nakamura wins today's match vs. Levon Aronian 3:1 and is the first player into the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge semifinals, where he may play Magnus Carlsen!

Game 1, May 25
Ding, Liren – Yu, Yangyi
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.Be2 Be7 8.dxc5 O-O 9.b4 a5 10.b5 Bxc5 11.Nc3 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 a4 13.Ne5 Nbd7 14.Nd3 Be7 15.e4 a3 16.Be3 e5 17.f3 h6 18.Rab1 Rd8 19.Nb4 Kf8 20.Kf2 Ra5 21.Nbd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Ra4 23.Rbc1 Ra8 24.Nxe7 Kxe7 25.Rc7 Ke8 26.Bc4 Ra4 27.Bb3 Ra8 28.b6 Ra6 29.h4 Ra5 30.g4 Kf8 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 g6 33.Rdc1 Ra8 34.Bc5+ Kg7 35.Be7 Re8 36.Rxd7 Bxd7 37.Bf6+ 1-0

Game 2, May 25
Yu Yangyi – Ding, Liren
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nf4 Re8 9.Bd3 c6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Bd2 Nf8 12.Nce2 Bd6 13.f3 g5 14.Nh3 Bxh3 15.gxh3 Qd7 16.Ng3 Qxh3 17.Rf2 Ng6 18.Nf5 Bc7 19.Qf1 Qxf1+ 20.Raxf1 Nh4 21.Nxh4 gxh4 22.e4 Bb6 23.e5 Nh5 24.Rg2+ Kh8 25.Rg4 Rg8 26.Kh1 Rxg4 27.fxg4 Ng7 28.Rxf7 Bxd4 29.Rxb7 Bxe5 30.Kg2 Rb8 31.Rxa7 Rxb2 32.Ra8+ Rb8 33.Rxb8+ Bxb8 34.Be3 Ne6 35.Bf5 Nf4+ 36.Kf3 Ng6 37.a4 Ne5+ 38.Kg2 Nc4 39.Bd4+ Kg8 40.Bd7 Na5 41.Bc3 Bc7 42.Bxa5 Bxa5 43.Bxc6 d4 44.Be4 h6 45.Kf3 Kf7 46.Bd3 Ke6 47.Ke4 Bc3 48.h3 Kd6 49.Kf5 Bd2 50.Kg6 Kc7 51.a5 Kb8 52.a6 Bg5 53.Kf5 Ka7 54.Ke6 Kb6 55.Kd7 Ka7 56.Kc6 Be3 57.Kc5 Bf2 58.Kd5 Be3 59.Ke4 Kb6 60.Kd5 Ka7 61.Ke4 Kb6 62.Kd5 Ka7 1/2-1/2

Game 3, May 25
Ding, Liren – Yu, Yangyi
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.Nbd2 Nc6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.a3 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.b4 Be7 12.Bb2 O-O 13.Nb3 a5 14.Nc5 Bxc5 15.bxc5 Qxd1 16.Rfxd1 b4 17.axb4 axb4 18.Nd2 Na5 19.Ra4 Nd5 20.Rda1 Nc3 21.Bxc3 bxc3 22.Rxa5 cxd2 23.f3 Rxa5 24.Rxa5 Bd5 25.Bd1 f5 26.Kf2 Rd8 27.Ra4 Rb8 28.Ke2 Rb5 29.e4 fxe4 30.fxe4 Bc6 31.Rc4 Rb2 32.Rc2 Rb4 33.Kxd2 Bxe4 34.Rc3 Bxg2 35.c6 Bxc6 36.Rxc6 Rh4 37.Rxe6 Rxh2+ 38.Re2 Rxe2+ 39.Bxe2 g6 40.Ke3 Kg7 41.Kf4 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Game 4, May 25
Yu, Yangyi – Ding, Liren
C58 Two Knights Defence, Blackburne variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 cxb5 9.Qxa8 Be7 10.O-O h6 11.Ne4 Qd7 12.Nxf6+ gxf6 13.Qe4 Rg8 14.f3 Bc5+ 15.d4 Bxd4+ 16.Be3 Qh3 17.Rf2 Bb7 18.Qh7 Rxg2+ 19.Rxg2 Bxe3+ 20.Kh1 Qxf3 21.Qg8+ Ke7 22.Nc3 Bg5 23.Rg1 Qf2 24.Qb8 Bxg2+ 25.Rxg2 Qf1+ 26.Rg1 Qf3+ 27.Rg2 Qf1+ 28.Rg1 Qf3+ 29.Rg2 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2

Ding Liren-Yu Yangyi 2.5-1.5

Ding Liren takes the pragmatic approach and forces a draw by repetition that wins him today's match and sets up a deciding match on Wednesday!

**Stephen Wright** · Monday, 25th May, 2020, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

3. Which players played their first official game in a World Championship match?

I seem unable to grasp the meaning of Question 3. Does it mean that this was the first time the players met or is there some other meaning. Comment is welcome!

I believe you interpreted the question correctly; Lasker and Steinitz don't seem to have played before their 1894 World Championship Match.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 25th May, 2020, 11:12 PM

Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020

May 25, 2020

Originally posted by Stephen Wright View Post

I believe you interpreted the question correctly; Lasker and Steinitz don't seem to have played before their 1894 World Championship Match.

Thanks, Stephen. I was thinking it might Tal and Botvinnik. I could not remember any games between them prior to 1960.