[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"] [White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Site "Yekaterinburg"] [Round "2.4"] [Annotator "Stephen Gordon"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2020.03.18"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2805"] [PlyCount "73"] {Well, who would have predicted this before the start of the tournament? Just goes to show how tough the field is when one of the pre-tournament favourites goes 0 for 2. A really nice game by MVL, who came up with an effective novelty on the 13th move and followed it up in a very instructive way. It's obvious to see Ding is very out-of-shape by the way these first two games have gone. Hopefully he can start showing soon the sort of form he was in in the lead up to this tournament. Take nothing away from Maxime however - this really was a brilliant game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 (9... d5 { is a topical line and most in the spirit of the Marshall. It's notable that in earlier games Ding was going with 9...d5, but his more recent games indicate he favours 9...d6.} )10. a3 Qd7 11. Nc3 Rfe8 12. Bd2 {Maxime deviates from Ding's previous encounters in this line.} (12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Na7 14. d4 exd4 15. Qxd4 c5 16. dxc6 Nxc6 17. Qd3 Bf6 18. Bd2 Ne5 19. Rxe5 Rxe5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. c3 Qc6 22. f3 d5 23. Re1 Bc7 24. Bc2 g6 25. Bh6 Re8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27. Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Bxe3 f5 29. f4 Kf7 30. g3 Ke6 31. Kf2 h5 32. h4 Bc6 33. Ba7 Bd8 34. Ke3 Bf6 35. Bb6 Kd6 36. Kd2 Bd7 37. Kd3 Bc6 38. Bd1 Bd7 39. Bf3 Bc6 40. Kc2 d4 41. Bxc6 Kxc6 42. Bxd4 Be7 43. Kd3 Kd5 44. Be3 Bd6 45. Bd4 Be7 46. Be3 Bd6 47. Bd4 Be7 {½-½ (47) Nakamura,H (2743)-Ding,L (2805) Saint Louis 2019.} )(12. Ne2 Nd8 13. Ng3 Ne6 14. Nf5 Bd8 15. Ng5 c5 16. Qf3 d5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5 Nxg5 19. Bxg5 Qxd5 20. Qg3 g6 21. Qh4 Re6 22. Nh6+ Kg7 23. Re3 Ng8 24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25. Qxh7+ Kf8 26. Rf3+ Bf6 27. Qxg6 Qd6 28. Re1 Ra7 29. Rg3 Rg7 30. Qh5 Bxg5 31. Rxg5 Rxg5 32. Qxg5 Qe7 33. Qf5+ Qf6 34. Qe4 Ne7 35. Re3 Ke8 36. Rf3 Qg6 37. Qa8+ Kd7 38. Rf8 Rc6 39. Qd8+ Ke6 40. Re8 Qf6 41. c4 Rd6 42. Qc8+ Rd7 43. Qxa6+ Rd6 44. Qc8+ Rd7 45. cxb5 Qf4 46. Qc6+ Kf7 47. Qxd7 Qc1+ 48. Kh2 Qf4+ 49. Kg1 Qc1+ 50. Kh2 Qf4+ 51. Kg1 {½-½ (51) Shankland,S (2705)-Ding,L (2811) chess.com INT 2019.} )Nd8 13. Nd5 $5 $146 {This may look like a strange decision from White - why offer an exchange of knights in the centre and block out my Spanish bishop on b3? White's reasoning is that if the exchange on d5 happens then there will be hopes to highlight the poor positioning of the black minor pieces - specifically the bishop on b7 and the knight on d8.} Nxd5 14. exd5 {So Ding goes for the exchange. If White is able to maintain this structure and start to get some lines opened up, then it is likely to become apparent that the black minor pieces are not well placed.} c5 $6 {Maxime commented that he was surprised by this. I don't want to mark this as dubious, but I think at this level it might be justified to point to this one as a decision that leads to a downwards trend for Black over the next few moves. It's actually very commital to give White the option to hold a pawn on d5 and play against the black minor-piece placement. Easy to judge after the game has been played, but I suspect Black players in future will look for alternatives here.} (14... c6 15. c4 {may have been Maxime's idea. Obviously, further investigation is required to determine whether White can demonstrate an advantage.} )15. a4 $1 f5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Bxa8 18. c4 {Maxime felt that by this stage it was difficult for Black to demonstrate full equality. His assessment matches that of the engine. At first glance it doesn't look so bad for Black, but it's the time it is going to take to get the minor pieces into good positions that could prove to be costly.} Nf7 ({MVL covered the following line in the press conference:} 18... Bf6 19. cxb5 Qf7 20. Bg5 $1 { A very important move that could be easily missed. Now if Black wants to pick up on d5, he has to accept some structural damage.} Bxd5 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Nh4 {Again Maxime correctly evaluated this as practically winning for White.} )19. cxb5 {White's structure looks to be damaged after this, but the problem for Ding is that the coordination of the pieces is so bad that he cannot target any of the potential weaknesses White has.} g5 {Maxime felt this was too fast, as after 20.Nh2 White is able to prevent any kingside counterplay.} 20. Nh2 $1 {Very accurate.} Kg7 21. Bc4 {This bishop on c4 is possibly the best 'big pawn' I have ever seen. It secures the advanced white pawns and locks out the a8-bishop for the foreseeable future. Ding has really fallen into a prospectless position by this point.} Kg6 22. g4 {Another bold pawn push - White fights for further light-squared control on the kingside.} Nh6 23. Qf3 Bd8 24. Qg2 f4 25. b4 {Continuing to play energetically. If Black had time to re-route some of the pieces (say getting the knight from h6 to f6), then things may not be so bad - but MVL never gives Ding any time to get organised.} Bb6 26. Qe4+ Kg7 27. bxc5 dxc5 (27... Bxc5 28. d4 $1 {Another time-gaining break.} Bxd4 29. Nf3 $18 {was a nice line mentioned by MVL in the press conference.} )28. Nf3 Nf7 29. Bc3 {Black is completely dominated, with all of White's pieces having an agressive role and Black's doomed to defending. } Bc7 30. b6 Bb8 31. Qf5 {A good practical decision.} Qxf5 32. gxf5 Kf6 33. Nd2 (33. Bb5 {was also good.} Re7 34. Bc6 Bb7 35. Nd2 Kxf5 36. Ne4 Nd8 {MVL did get to here in his analysis, sensing that it was winning but struggling to see a clean finish. His instinct was correct, but the most precise continuation from here was nearly impossible to spot from a distance.} 37. d6 Rg7 38. Ng3+ $3 fxg3 39. Rxe5+ Kg6 40. Be8+ Kh6 41. Rf5 {with the point being that Black has to give the rook up for a bishop, and following that will be forced to give up at least one of the minor pieces to stop the white passers.} )Rd8 34. d6 {Unsurpisingly all three captures have defects.} Rxd6 (34... Nxd6 35. Rxe5 Nxc4 36. Re8+ )(34... Bxd6 35. Ra1 {followed by Ra7 or Ne4.} )35. Rb1 Nd8 (35... Bb7 36. Ne4+ Bxe4 37. dxe4 {It's only a matter of time before White converts from here.} )36. b7 Bxb7 37. Ba5 {Black is dropping a piece and so Ding throws in the towel. A very nice game from MVL, who came armed with an effective idea in the opening that led to a very pleasant middlegame for him. Very tough day for Ding, who was unable to equalise and was not putting up the level of resistance we are used to seeing from him. A huge game for him tomorrow against the tournament favourite awaits.} 1-0