CHESS #1370

The semi-final line-up at the World Cup pits Ding Liren against his compatriot Yu Yangyi while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave plays Teimour Radjabov. Game one had been drawn at the time of writing. Therefore, at least one Chinese GM will make it to the Candidates since both finalists are assured a spot.  

The Quarters saw both Lagrave and Yu riding their luck. Lagrave won a rapid game from a completely lost position versus Levon Aronian while Yu won a losing Armageddon game against Nikita Vitiugov. Obviously lady luck favours the player with better nerves at such high stakes. Ding won inside normal classical time versus Alexander Grischuk while Radjabov also eliminated Jeffery Xiong in classical ending the American teenager’s dream run.

Aronian will have to try his luck in the Grand Swiss in October. That event also features Viswanathan Anand and many others. It offers at least one candidates spot. FIDE has set a requirement for a total prize fund of at least USD $400,000 (net of local taxes) and a first prize of $70,000. A maximum of 100 players will be able to take part, mostly selected based on one-year average Elo ratings. 

Humpy Koneru won the Skolkovo leg of FIDE’s 2019 Women’s Grand Prix by making a draw in the final round against reigning Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun. This was her first major championship since returning to competitive chess in the Batumi Olympiad of 2018. Humpy finished at 8.0/11, gained 160 Grand Prix points and received ^15,000 for winning the tournament. Ju and Aleksandra Goryachkina tied for second- third (both 7.5). 

In further developments in the Bengal Chess Association imbroglio, the Secretary, Atanu Lahiri has been removed from his post and his membership of BCA terminated. Lahiri failed to respond within the stipulated period of 21 days to a show cause notice detailing various allegations against him. The BCA controversy could cause a lot of awkwardness since Kolkata is scheduled to host a Grand Chess Tour event in November and needs to hold elections before that. The World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, Anand and many other top players have confirmed participation. 

At the diagram, White To Play ( White: Grischuk Vs Black: Ding, World Cup 2019) Grischuk tried the tricky 14. Qf3 relying on 14. — Bxc4 15. Qxc6+. White is afraid of being overwhelmed by an attack on his king before he completes development. Ding responded 14. — Rb6!? 15 Nxb6 cxb6 and the game was drawn after many twists and turns. Instead, 14— Bd5!! wins. White Is forced into 15. Rxd5 cd5 16. Qxd5 Qf5! Black has a winning attack with the threats of Qc2 and h4. This is highly complicated with lines like 17. f3 Qc2 18 Qc6+ Kd8 19. Nd2 Qd1+ 20. Nf1 Nxh2!  

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player