[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/EM54ADet"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2806"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackElo "2764"] [BlackTeam "Hungary"] [Annotator "Aagaard"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D86"] [Opening "Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/EM54ADet"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,80,27,27,27,-5,32,37,51,36,41,42,42,42,42,34,57,31,46,33,30,21,99,44, 53,-2,36,14,29,44,43,34,51,0,25,-10,9,15,18,-9,26,1,-10,-8,88,49,95,27,58,50, 67,85,104,104,93,60,65,64,74,79,72,44,54,48,60,57,61,14,28,46,48,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 7,0,0,0,13] Rapport was a bit worse in the Grunfeld, but a blunder put him on collision course with the full force of the world number two. He took the proper decision to mess things up, correctly assuming that the Chinese would struggle more with tactical play than technical conversion, even though he failed at both. This has to be a disappointment for Ding fans. It was a perfect chance for the Chinese number one to return to 50%. If we are honest, however, it showed the limitations in his play that have existed for quite some time. } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Bb5 Rc8 13. Qd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Qd6!? (14... e6 { , which is close to equalizing, as things usually go in the opening. One game went } 15. Rfd1 Na5 16. Rxc8 Qxc8 17. Bg5 Qc7 18. d5 exd5 19. exd5 Qc5 20. Qd3 $14 Qd6?! { Giri – Ding, Internet 2020. } 21. h4! $16 h5?! 22. Ng3! $18) 15. Rfd1 { Ding is clearly out of preparation and thought for almost 15 minutes. } 15... Qb4 $146 { What is surprising is that Rapport also seems to be out of preparation, also spending 15 minutes. It seems that both players were surprised by the opponent's choices. } (15... Rfd8 { in an internet game between Sjugirov - Mischuk, played in 2021. White can now either play the AZ move 16.h4!?, or } 16. d5! Ne5 17. Nd4 $14 { , which looks rather pleasant. }) (15... Na5!? 16. Qd3 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Rc8 { is the engine recommendation. Black is close to equality. But it is a sad way to play and not without risk either. }) 16. Qd3! e6 17. h4! { The standard AlphaZero plan of putting the pawn on h6 and squeezing Black. } 17... Rfd8? { [#] A simple blunder. Rapport misses Ding's next move. } (17... h5!? $14) 18. Bg5! { Ding had seen it and played this quickly. Rapport now realized he had messed up and found a way to change the cause of the game. } 18... Nxd4!? { An exchange sacrifice out of desperation. After } (18... Rd7? 19. d5 $18 { , White wins on the spot. And after }) (18... Rd6? 19. Rb1 Qa5 20. Bd2 Qxa2 21. Ra1 { the queen is trapped. }) (18... f6 { is the computer's choice, but also looks horrible. The downside compared to the game is the absence of complications after } 19. Bf4 Ne5!? { (a move it is not obvious Rapport seriously considered) } 20. Rxc8 Bxc8 21. Qb1! Qxb1 22. Rxb1 $16 { and Black is about to make more concessions, with the c-line already lost. }) 19. Bxd8 Rxd8 20. h5?! { I honestly do not understand the purpose of this move, besides it looking "normal". The issue is that the h5-h6 idea is not really happening with the absence of a white dark-squared bishop. And exchanging pawns with h5xg6 later makes no sense whatsoever. Black is likely to have to rely on passive defense, where getting rid of the potentially weak h-pawn is a relief. } (20. Ba6! { was the right move. Black has to take, or White plays 21.Qe3, now the bishop is no longer hanging. After } 20... Bxa6 21. Qxa6 { White has reduced the counterplay immensely. And after } 21... Qb2 22. Kf1 $16 { , the knight on d4 is about to get exchanged off as well. It is not totally winning, but the tipping point is close. Whether White is objectively winning, or Black would draw with immaculate defense, is hard to tell. My money is on the position being winning. }) 20... Be5 { [#] } 21. a4!? (21. Ba6 { was strong again. It is important to have a look at this endgame: } 21... Nxe2+ 22. Qxe2 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qxe4 24. Qxe4 Bxe4 25. Re1 f5 { A point is that 26.f3 Bg3 or 26...Bd4+ does not achieve anything. } 26. Bc4! { An important move, not allowing the black bishop to go to d5. } 26... Kf7 27. f3 Bg3 28. Re2 Bd5 29. Bxd5 exd5 30. Rc2 Ke6 31. Rc8 gxh5 32. Rg8 Bd6 33. Rg7 a5 34. Kf1 $16 { This endgame is very close to winning, if not just winning. With an extra h-pawn for White, things would have looked rosy. }) 21... Kg7?! { This should have lost by force, but the strategy of relying on complications to provide an escape saves Rapport.. } (21... Nxe2+ 22. Qxe2 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Kg7 $16 { was the best try, objectively, but White looks good. }) 22. Kf1! { An important move, compared to the long variation at move 21. If Black takes on e2, d1 and e4, White would now have Rd1-e1 followed by f2-f3, when the king is out of the checks and White wins a piece. } 22... Nxe2!? 23. Qxe2? { Ding is the world number two player and, on principle, I had to include him in the pre-tournament predictions. But thinking a bit further, I don't think he ever overcame his two main weaknesses: poor time allocation and tactical misses. In the 2018 Berlin Candidates he was one of the leaders with lots of draws and a single win. But more wins were there for the taking. (See the game Ding - Grischuk for an outrageous example of ruining an advantage.) Spending too much time in situations where decisions had to be taken, he did not see the relatively simple tactical wins he was given. The same happens here. Ding spent 52 seconds on this move, believing Rapport and missing the win. } (23. Qxd8 { won. I think that Ding just saw } 23... Nxc1 { and rejected the option. He was not scared of, or looked at } (23... Qxe4 24. Bxe2 Qxg2+ 25. Ke1 Qh1+ 26. Kd2 Bf4+ 27. Kc3 { , which goes not give Black enough counterplay anyway. }) 24. Qg5!! { . }) 23... Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 a6 { As Black cannot take on e4 directly, he has to give up the a-pawn. } 25. Bxa6 Bxa6 26. Qxa6 Qxe4 { [#] This endgame is close to balanced. It is all about the placement of the black bishop. If it manages to get to f6 without suffering problems with the b-pawn, Black will just have to avoid stupidity to hold. But if he does not get his pieces organized, he could lose. Ding thus had a terribly difficult win, one that is hard to understand and even more difficult to find with a ticking clock. } 27. Re1? (27. Qe2! { forcing the black queen to a worse square. After } 27... Qf5 28. hxg6 hxg6 29. Kg1! { White is threatening Qe2-e3. And after } 29... Bc3 30. Qd3 { he is seeking a rook vs. bishop endgame, which would win. After the queens are off, the white rook will seek to get to b7, when the bishop will be stuck on a5 and Black will face zugzwang. And after } 30... Qe5 31. g3 Bb2 32. Qc4 Bc3 33. Rd7 Qf6 34. Qf4 { , there is no avoiding the endgame. }) 27... Qd4 28. Qe2 Bf6 29. hxg6?! { This makes life easier for Black. But it was holdable anyway. } (29. Qe4!? { would not allow Black to put the queen on d2. } 29... Qc5 $16) 29... hxg6 $14 30. Qe4 Qd2 31. Re2 Qd1+ 32. Re1 Qd2 33. g3 Bd4 34. Qe2 Qc3 35. Rd1 Qc6 36. Qg4 e5 37. Rxd4 exd4 38. Qxd4+ Kg8 39. Qd8+ Kg7 40. Qd4+ Kg8 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2