MARCH 18, 2020
Nepomniachtchi and Wang Hao become early leaders at the 2020 Candidates
First round was played in Yekaterinburg.
Round one of the 2020 Candidates Tournament opened with a Chinese upset as the underdog Wang Hao, playing with black pieces, defeated his compatriot – and one of the favorites of the tournament - Ding Liren. The second decisive outcome was produced in the game between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi in which the local player prevailed. After the first round, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Wang Hao (China) lead the field, with four players on half a point and two on zero.
The 2020 Candidates Tournament is probably the only high-profile sporting event taking place in the world. In light of the concerns regarding the coronavirus, various measureshave been put into place. Players and arbiters are supplied with masks, sanitizers, and the audience is not allowed in the playing venue. In chess terms, this event is unique given that it has the highest prize fund ever for a Candidates Tournament (500,000), and that for half of the players (Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Kirill Alekseenko, and Wang Hao) this is their debut at the event.
Traditionally, the opening round started with the first-move ceremony. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move in the game Ding Liren – Wang Hao, Russian football star Dmitri Bulykin made the first move in the game between Vachier-Lagrave and Caruana, the head of Yekaterinburg City Chess Federation Mikhail Vakhrushev did the honors in the Russian duel between Alexander Grischuk and Kirill Alekseenko and the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov opened the game between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Interestingly, while Giri did shake hands with Karpov, Nepomniachtchi refused, in light of the concerns about the global coronavirus pandemic.
The biggest upset of the day came in the Chinese duel where Wang Hao (who is playing his first Candidates event) defeated Ding Liren (who finished the 2018 Candidates without a single loss!).
For the first time in the Candidates, two Chinese players were playing each other. Following the English Opening, the compatriots ended in a seemingly peaceful position in the midgame, with the queens exchanged. White (Ding Liren) had a tiny advantage - a strong knight on c4 and good control of the flow of the game, while Black had a passive bishop on c7. The position was, however, roughly equal.
White then decided to open the position with 30.f4, but it allowed Black's pieces to spring to life. Wang Hao got a chance to take the initiative, and several moves down the road he was dominating on the kingside, while at the same time blocking any chances for White.
Facing an imminent collapse of his position Ding Liren decided to resign.
Ding Liren did not appear at the press conference after the game. In his analysis of the position, Wang Hao highlighted 30.f4 as a bad move, pointing out that White had some advantage before that.
This game was interesting for one other reason: over a million people tuned in from China to watch the live broadcast on the official website. The Chinese commentary being provided by non-other than the highest-rated female player in the world Hou Yifan, and three-time champion of China and 14-time champion of the Netherlands, Peng Zhaoqing.
The 2020 Candidates Tournament is probably the only high-profile sporting event taking place in the world. In light of the concerns regarding the coronavirus, various measureshave been put into place. Players and arbiters are supplied with masks, sanitizers, and the audience is not allowed in the playing venue. In chess terms, this event is unique given that it has the highest prize fund ever for a Candidates Tournament (500,000), and that for half of the players (Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Kirill Alekseenko, and Wang Hao) this is their debut at the event.
Traditionally, the opening round started with the first-move ceremony. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move in the game Ding Liren – Wang Hao, Russian football star Dmitri Bulykin made the first move in the game between Vachier-Lagrave and Caruana, the head of Yekaterinburg City Chess Federation Mikhail Vakhrushev did the honors in the Russian duel between Alexander Grischuk and Kirill Alekseenko and the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov opened the game between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Interestingly, while Giri did shake hands with Karpov, Nepomniachtchi refused, in light of the concerns about the global coronavirus pandemic.
The biggest upset of the day came in the Chinese duel where Wang Hao (who is playing his first Candidates event) defeated Ding Liren (who finished the 2018 Candidates without a single loss!).
For the first time in the Candidates, two Chinese players were playing each other. Following the English Opening, the compatriots ended in a seemingly peaceful position in the midgame, with the queens exchanged. White (Ding Liren) had a tiny advantage - a strong knight on c4 and good control of the flow of the game, while Black had a passive bishop on c7. The position was, however, roughly equal.
White then decided to open the position with 30.f4, but it allowed Black's pieces to spring to life. Wang Hao got a chance to take the initiative, and several moves down the road he was dominating on the kingside, while at the same time blocking any chances for White.
Facing an imminent collapse of his position Ding Liren decided to resign.
Ding Liren did not appear at the press conference after the game. In his analysis of the position, Wang Hao highlighted 30.f4 as a bad move, pointing out that White had some advantage before that.
This game was interesting for one other reason: over a million people tuned in from China to watch the live broadcast on the official website. The Chinese commentary being provided by non-other than the highest-rated female player in the world Hou Yifan, and three-time champion of China and 14-time champion of the Netherlands, Peng Zhaoqing.
The first game to finish was the one between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (who got a place in the event after Teimour Radjabov decided to withdraw) and Fabiano Caruana(the #2 in the world and the winner of the 2018 Candidates).
The opponents had a discussion in the sharp Arkhangelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez. As Caruana commented after the game: "it was one of the most double-edged lines in the opening, and it's a double-edged opening in general".
The opening did not go as planned for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and, in his own words, "the position was very unpleasant". In a tactically challenging battle, it seemed that Caruana was better prepared and had a more solid knowledge of the lines. However, the Frenchmen played patiently and managed to find the right moves to maintain the balance in a sharp position.
The most critical moment of the game came on move 32 when White played 32.Qd3 after 23 minutes of thinking!
This move seemed very dangerous for White, but there was still no sign of a distinct advantage for Black: "I looked at a number of options without finding anything with a clear cut. I didn't see anything I liked so much. After that it was a clean draw", said Caruana in an interview after the game.
The opponents sealed a draw after 45 moves in an ending with rooks and opposite-colored bishops.
The opponents had a discussion in the sharp Arkhangelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez. As Caruana commented after the game: "it was one of the most double-edged lines in the opening, and it's a double-edged opening in general".
The opening did not go as planned for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and, in his own words, "the position was very unpleasant". In a tactically challenging battle, it seemed that Caruana was better prepared and had a more solid knowledge of the lines. However, the Frenchmen played patiently and managed to find the right moves to maintain the balance in a sharp position.
The most critical moment of the game came on move 32 when White played 32.Qd3 after 23 minutes of thinking!
This move seemed very dangerous for White, but there was still no sign of a distinct advantage for Black: "I looked at a number of options without finding anything with a clear cut. I didn't see anything I liked so much. After that it was a clean draw", said Caruana in an interview after the game.
The opponents sealed a draw after 45 moves in an ending with rooks and opposite-colored bishops.
The Russian duel between Alexander Grischuk and Kirill Alekseenko started with a handshake and ended in a draw. There was a technical issue at the beginning when Grischuk asked for his chair to be replaced, as he found it uncomfortable.
The same opening was played as in the game between Ding Liren and Wang Hao. However, by move eight the game transpired into a position that has never been played before.
After a slow but pressuring play in the center and the kingside White (Grischuk) managed to create a strong formation, towering over the central squares.
Despite White's building a secure and powerful structure in the center, Black (Alekseenko) had sufficient firepower (combining the queen and the bishop) and enough open diagonals to engineer some counterplay and threaten the white king. The duel ended in a perpetual check, confirming an even outcome.
While the engines and chess pundits gave many opinions about this game and others from Round 1, Grischuk – in his style – gave a sweeping blunt summary of the first day: "Everyone played horrible today, except maybe Ian [Nepomniachtchi]".
The same opening was played as in the game between Ding Liren and Wang Hao. However, by move eight the game transpired into a position that has never been played before.
After a slow but pressuring play in the center and the kingside White (Grischuk) managed to create a strong formation, towering over the central squares.
Despite White's building a secure and powerful structure in the center, Black (Alekseenko) had sufficient firepower (combining the queen and the bishop) and enough open diagonals to engineer some counterplay and threaten the white king. The duel ended in a perpetual check, confirming an even outcome.
While the engines and chess pundits gave many opinions about this game and others from Round 1, Grischuk – in his style – gave a sweeping blunt summary of the first day: "Everyone played horrible today, except maybe Ian [Nepomniachtchi]".
Grichuk had a point in praising Ian Nepomniachtchi's play as the latter managed to defeat Anish Giri with Black pieces. This was the longest game of the First Round, lasting over five hours.
In yet another English opening, the players went for a very sharp line. As the game was developing, commentators around the globe – from Danil Dubov and Evgenij Miroshnichenko in Yekaterinburg (who are doing the English commentary for the event) to Viswanathan Anand in India and Hikaru Nakamura in the States – were guessing how far did Giri's preparation go. It was noticeable that the Dutchman spent quite a lot of time before playing (what seemed clear) – 20.g5. The position was very complex but it seemed that Nepomniachtchi had more confidence, finding the most pragmatic and most solid moves.
By move 32 White was forced to give up his queen for a rook and a bishop but had some chances to build a fortress. The game transpired into a queen vs rook endgame, in which Nepomniachtchi skilfully prevented White from reaching the desired drawing setup and scored a well-deserved victory on the move 62.
"I played badly", said Giri after the game. "I thought that if I played passively with the rook on the fourth rank, it should have been a draw. It's not a 100 percent easy draw." Asked whether he will change anything in his approach to the rest of the tournament, Giri gave a somber comment: "It's hard to adjust. Probably it's too late."
Round Two of the 2020 Candidates Tournament starts at 4 PM local time on March 18. The pairings for the second round are:
Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Kirill Alekseenko (Russia)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) – Alexander Grischuk (Russia)
Wang Hao (China) – Anish Giri (The Netherlands)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – Ding Liren (China)
About the partners:
Sima Land - the title sponsor of the FIDE Candidates Tournament
Algorand - official blockchain partner
Kaspersky - official cybersecurity partner
PJSC PhosAgro - General partner of the CFR
Mercedes-Benz Russia - official auto partner
Pine Creek Golf Resort and SILA International Lawyers - partners
You can find more information about the partners at www.en.candidates-2020.com/partners
Text: Milan Dinic
Photo: Maria Emelianova and Lennart Ootes
In yet another English opening, the players went for a very sharp line. As the game was developing, commentators around the globe – from Danil Dubov and Evgenij Miroshnichenko in Yekaterinburg (who are doing the English commentary for the event) to Viswanathan Anand in India and Hikaru Nakamura in the States – were guessing how far did Giri's preparation go. It was noticeable that the Dutchman spent quite a lot of time before playing (what seemed clear) – 20.g5. The position was very complex but it seemed that Nepomniachtchi had more confidence, finding the most pragmatic and most solid moves.
By move 32 White was forced to give up his queen for a rook and a bishop but had some chances to build a fortress. The game transpired into a queen vs rook endgame, in which Nepomniachtchi skilfully prevented White from reaching the desired drawing setup and scored a well-deserved victory on the move 62.
"I played badly", said Giri after the game. "I thought that if I played passively with the rook on the fourth rank, it should have been a draw. It's not a 100 percent easy draw." Asked whether he will change anything in his approach to the rest of the tournament, Giri gave a somber comment: "It's hard to adjust. Probably it's too late."
Round Two of the 2020 Candidates Tournament starts at 4 PM local time on March 18. The pairings for the second round are:
Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Kirill Alekseenko (Russia)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) – Alexander Grischuk (Russia)
Wang Hao (China) – Anish Giri (The Netherlands)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – Ding Liren (China)
About the partners:
Sima Land - the title sponsor of the FIDE Candidates Tournament
Algorand - official blockchain partner
Kaspersky - official cybersecurity partner
PJSC PhosAgro - General partner of the CFR
Mercedes-Benz Russia - official auto partner
Pine Creek Golf Resort and SILA International Lawyers - partners
You can find more information about the partners at www.en.candidates-2020.com/partners
Text: Milan Dinic
Photo: Maria Emelianova and Lennart Ootes
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