It was more bang than whimper as world champion Ding Liren returned to the chessboard after an absence of more than eight months.
The Chinese star, who has barely played since capturing the title over Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi last May, is competing again at the elite annual Tata Steel Masters tournament now underway in the storied chess burg of Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.
He opened with two well-played but low-key draws followed by a nice win in Monday’s Round 3 with Black against Indian GM Dommaraju Gukesh, who with Nepomniachtchi is one of the five players in the field who have qualified for the Candidates tournament this spring that will pick the challenger for Ding’s first defense of his world crown.
There has been intense interest in how Ding would fare at classical chess after such a long absence. There’s still a lot of chess to be played at Tata, but so far rust does not appear to be a problem for the champ.
Another of those challengers, Iranian-born GM Alireza Firouzja, who now competes for France, continued his hot recent play with a nice Round 2 win over new Iran No. 1 GM Parham Maghsoodloo, in a game that dramatically illustrated how much work and opening preparation a top GM must put in just to stay competitive.
The once-rare Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense (3…Nf6) has enjoyed a 21st century renaissance since Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik used it to masterful effect in dethroning longtime champ Garry Kasparov in their 2000 title match. One upshot has been a tsunami of theoretical research about the opening exploring new avenues for both White and Black, research that can trip up the underprepared grandmaster.
Here, according to Firouzja afterward, Maghsoodloo goes wrong in a highly intricate line only on Move 18, when 18…c6! is “known” to be the only path to equality after lines like 19. fxe5 cxd5 20. exf6 Nxf6 21. Bd3 Bd7, with play for both sides. Black “has to remember a lot of things in this line,” Firouzja told interviewers after the game. “It’s probably a draw at the end, but memorizing all of this is very difficult.”
The failure to stay current proves costly after 18…Be6? 19. Bc4! Bd4+ 20. Kh1 Bf7 (Qd7? 21. Nxf6+ Nxf6 22. Bxe6+) 21. Qe4! (dominating the center but also eyeing loose kingside) Bc5 22. Ne7+ Kf8 23. Qxh7!, and now disastrous for Black would be 23…Kxe7 (Qxe7?? 24. Qh8+ Bg8 25. Qxg8 mate) 24. Re1+ Kd7 25. Bxf7, and the attacked Black knight has literally nowhere to go.
Maghsoodloo actually gets a respectable haul for his lost queen after 24. Re1 Qxe7 (Be6!? 25. Rxe6 Qxe7 26. Rxe7 Kxe7 27. Qe4+ Kf8 28. Qxb7 may provide marginally better survival chances) 25. Rxe7 Kxe7 26. Qe4+ (a key tactic, as the loose bishop cannot be saved in the long run) Be6 27. f5 Rd8, but White’s pitiless 28. g4! c6 29. g5! underscores Black’s other — and fatal — problem: His jumbled pieces can’t stop the advance of White’s kingside pawns.
That becomes evident on 34. Bg3! Be5 (the threat was 35. Qf7 mate) 35. Bxe5 fxe5 36. h4!, and there’s nothing but clear skies and open squares in front of the passed pawn. Black can’t organize a counter and it’s over after 40. Qf4+ Kxe7 41. Qxe4+ Kd7 (Kf7 42. Qf5+ picks off the rook) 42. Qxd4+ Nd6 43. h6, and Maghsoodloo concedes as 43…Kc7 44. h7 Nf7 45. Qg7 is hopeless.
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The traditional year-end tournament in Hastings, England — officially known now as the Caplin Hastings Congress — no longer attracts the fabled fields of earlier editions. Still, it was a nice win in the 97th running of the Hastings for Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta, who took first place a half-point clear of veteran Chinese GM Pengxiang Zhang.
And since it was played on New Year’s Day, we can safely say that French GM Maxime Lagarde’s scintillating win over young Scottish FM Frederick Waldhausen Gordon in the tournament was one of the earliest nominees for 2024 Game of the Year.
Both players take a refined approach to this Benko Gambit, but Black’s freer play and clear lead in development put him in good stead despite the pronounced material deficit following 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxa6 Bxa6 13. Qxe5 0-0 14. f3?! (Qd5!, to stop Black’s freeing next move, was indicated here) d5!, with White’s queen subject to continued harassment as Black rapidly deploys his army.
Strikingly, both of Gordon’s rooks and his remaining bishop will prove entirely AWOL for the remainder of the fight, never leaving their home squares. White’s lonely queen will prove insufficient to hold back the Black attacking tide.
Thus: 20. a4? (it’s now or never for development via 20. Bd2 d4 21. e4 Be7 22. Qh3 [Qf5 Bg5] c4, though Black has a powerful initiative) Rh5 21. Qf6 (Qg4 f5) Rf5! 22. Qh4 (Qxd6 Qe4! leads to big trouble for White in lines like 23. Qxa6 Qxf3+ 24. Ke1 Qxh1+ 25. Kd2 Rf2+ 26. Kc3 Qd1 27. Qc8+ Kg7 28. Qxc5 Rc2+ 29. Kb4 Qe1+ 30. Kb5 Rxc5+ 31. Kxc5 Qa5) Qe6 23. a5 (see diagram; White was already powerless to stop the coming combination) Rxf3+! Kxf3 (Ke1 Qf5 25. Kd1 Rf1+ 26. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 27. Kd2 Qe2+ 28. Kc3 Qd3 mate) Qf5+ 25. Kg2 Qc2+ 26. Kh3 (Kg1 Qd1+ 27. Kg2 Qe2+ 28. Kh3 Bc8+ 29. g4 Qf3+ and wins) Bc8+, and the White king is drowning in a mating tar pit.
Having jettisoned the rook, Lagarde throws his two bishops on the sacrificial pyre to secure the win: 27. g4 Qe2! 28. Qd8+ Kg7 29. Qxc8 Qf3+ 30. Kh4 Bg3+! 31. hxg3 (Kh3 Bf2 is mate) Qxh1+ 32. Kg5 Qh6 mate. A brutal lesson for all on the dangers of failing to develop your pieces!
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Firouzja-Maghsoodloo, Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, January 2024
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Bf4 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Nc3 Bxd4 14. Nd5 d6 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bh4 Bxb2 17. Rb1 Be5 18. f4 Be6 19. Bc4 Bd4+ 20. Kh1 Bf7 21. Qe4 Bc5 22. Ne7+ Kf8 23. Qxh7 Bxc4 24. Re1 Qxe7 25. Rxe7 Kxe7 26. Qe4+ Be6 27. f5 Rd8 28. g4 c6 29. g5 Kf8 30. fxe6 Ke7 31. gxf6+ gxf6 32. Qg4 d5 33. Qg8 Bd4 34. Bg3 Be5 35. Bxe5 fxe5 36. h4 e4 37. h5 d4 38. Qf7+ Kd6 39. e7 Rc8 40. Qf4+ Kxe7 41. Qxe4+ Kd7 42. Qxd4+ Nd6 43. h6 Black resigns
Gordon-Lagarde, Caplin Hastings Masters 2023-2024, Hastings, England, January 2024
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 e6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. Nxd5 Be7 8. Nf3 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 Rxa6 10. e3 Nc6 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxa6 Bxa6 13. Qxe5 O-O 14. f3 d5 15. Kf2 Bd6 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Re8 18. g3 Re5 19. Qh4 Qe8 20. a4 Rh5 21. Qf6 Rf5 22. Qh4 Qe6 23. a5 Rxf3+ 24. Kxf3 Qf5+ 25. Kg2 Qc2+ 26. Kh3 Bc8+ 27. g4 Qe2 28. Qd8+ Kg7 29. Qxc8 Qf3+ 30. Kh4 Bg3+ 31. hxg3 Qxh1+ 32. Kg5 Qh6 mate
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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