Title: In Cold Blood! - Duda vs Wesley So | Fide Grand Prix Moscow Rd.1 Opening: Giuoco Piano
Hello Chess Friends and Welcome to the Channel. Today it's round 1 of the Fide Grand Prix in Moscow, the first of the four tournaments of the Grand Prix series. 22 of the world's top players are fighting for two spots in next year's Candidates Tournament to select a challenger for the World Championship title. The format is not the usual round robin but a 16 players knockout with all players that will attend 3 of the four competitions. I always prefer round robin tournaments but I can't deny that the format is exciting. Anyways ... as you can imagine some of the games were strategic draws that favour the players with the black pieces while other games were really interesting. Probably the most surprising game was Duda against Wesley So and that's why we are going to review it together.
[Event "Fide Grand Prix Moscow"]
[Site "
[Date "2019.05.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Annotator "Gabriele"]
[PlyCount "52"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 {the Giuoco Piano} Nf6 {threatening e4
and d3} 5. d3 {this is the Tabiya that we all know so well} O-O 6. O-O d5 {
an aggresssive push in the center that seems to give Black good practical
results and that Wesley So already used many times.} 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a4 {
gaining space on the queenside but because the d-pawn is not on d6, the dark
square bishop won't be trapped. What can happen is that after b5 this same
bishop is forced to leave the good long diagonal. That's why Wesley answer with
} a6 9. Re1 {a two versus one against e5. It's already an important moment of
the game. How to defend e5? Let's watch a couple of options} Bg4 {pinning the
Knight} (9... Re8 {doesn't work} 10. d4 exd4 {a blunder because the queen is
overloaded} (10... Bb6 11. dxe5 {and the pawn is lost. That's why after Re1
Black's best move is what Wesley So played}) 11. Rxe8+ Qxe8 12. Bxd5 {it's
already game over. So after d4 the best move is}) 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nbd2 {why not
g4? (the best move and also this is the move that Anand played in 2017 against
Welsey So. In their game that ended in a draw, Wesley played probably the
strongest move)} (11. g4 Bg6 12. Nxe5 {white wins the pawn but White's
position is difficult. Behind in development and a weak structure in front of
the king} Nxe5 13. Rxe5 c6 {protecting the knight} 14. Qf3 Bd6 {and if White
retreats the rook to e1} 15. Re1 Kh8 {and later f5. Black's initiative is
strong and Black is better}) 11... Kh8 {probably with the idea of speeding up
the kingside's initiative} (11... Nb6 12. Ba2 Qxd3 13. a5 {with equality. Now
not Knight back to d7 because} Nd7 (13... Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qxf3 15. Nxf3 {and now}
Nd7 {But in today's game Wesley So made a terrible mistake}) 14. Ne4 Qxd1 15.
Rxd1 {In fact to avoid problems with Ne4 Black is forced to lose the bishop
pair, that's why the game is equal even with a pawn up}) 12. Ne4 {with tempo
against the bishop} Ba7 13. Ng3 {attacking the second bishop. Same idea of g4
but without creating weakness in front of the king. the bishop pair or The e5
pawn are lost} Bg6 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Nb6 16. Qf3 {improves the Queen
without caring of double pawns on the c-file} c6 17. Bf4 Bb8 18. Ree1 Nxc4 19.
dxc4 {With Rook to d1, Duda will take complete control of the center. So tries
to regain some activity} Qh4 20. Ne2 {even if the simple bishop captures on b8
is the best idea} Ba7 {reconnects the rooks but it's just a tragic position.
Let's watch what happens} 21. Bd6 {with tempo} Rfe8 22. Nf4 {exchanging rooks
is a bad move} Bc2 (22... Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 {and Duda will move the rook to e7
winning the game}) 23. c5 {closes the diagonal} a5 24. Re2 Bb3 25. Ra3 {
doubling the rooks on the e-file is even better because Black will be forced
to exchange on e1 and as we said before Duda will win the game with the rook
on e7. But even Ra3 is strong and Wesley So resigns. Let's make another couple
of moves} Be6 26. Nxe6 fxe6 {then Duda will move the second rook to e1 against
the weak pawn. IT's almost plus 4.} *
A great win by Duda that didn0t miss a single move but also a terrible loss for Wesley that tomorrow must win at all costs with the white pieces. The Fide Grand Prix begins with a great upset but also with many great games. Tomorrow morning I will post another video from round 1 so, don't forget to subscribe to the channel!. Today analysis is over, thank you very much for watching and goodbye.
Photo Credits:
Wesley So Photo by Niki Riga
Duda Photo
under creative commons
Photo by GFHund
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