Wang Dominates Al Ain Classic 2015

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The 4th Al Ain Chess Classic, was held in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates, between December 22nd and 31st. Top seed was Yuriy Kryvoruchko, but only just over Wang Hao. Other competitors included, Alexander Areshchenko, Alexei Shirov, Alexander Motylev and Zahar Efimenko.

The event was won by Chinese Grandmaster, Wang Hao. And won convincingly — his score of 8-points from the 9-rounds meant that he claimed the title by a point and a half over his nearest rivals.

The following win over Vladimir Onischuk, from the opening round, got Wang’s tournament off to a flying start.

   [Event "4th Al Ain Chess Classic"]  [Site "Al-Ain UAE"]  [Date "2015.12.26"]  [Round "4.1"]  [White "Onischuk, Vladimir"]  [Black "Wang, Hao"]  [Result "0-1"]  [BlackElo "2707"]  [BlackFideId "8602883"]  [BlackTitle "GM"]  [ECO "C00"]  [EventDate "2015.12.23"]  [Opening "French"]  [Variation "Schlechter variation"]  [WhiteElo "2612"]  [WhiteFideId "14114038"]  [WhiteTitle "GM"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com } 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 { As a French Defence player, I can't say I am much a fan of this move, I prefer 3.Nd2. } 3...dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 { Moving a piece 3 times in the opening, is it really worthwhile just to place it on the long diagonal? } 5...Nbd7 { This is arguably a bit slow, but Black wants to reinforce the e5 and c5 squares, and stay flexible. } ( 5...c5 6.Ne2 { Other moves are not quite up to scratch. } 6...Nc6 7.Be3 e5 { The computer likes this move, but I am not sure. I think I would be tempted to go for the quieter ...Qc7. } ( 7...Qc7 8.Nbc3 Be7 { This is about equal, with dxc5 and O-O both good continuations. Bf4 might tempt a few, but I don't think Black would be unhappy at this, after ...Qb6 he is perfectly fine. } ) 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.dxe5 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Ng4 { is probably quite drawy actually, Black has good activity for his doubled pawns. } ) 6.Ne2 e5 { ...Bd6 was an alternative, but it makes sense to not delay striking at White's e-pawn due to development being pretty equal. } 7.Nbc3 Bd6 8.Be3 { A bit of a tame square, this. The g5-square was a little more forward. Castling was also a very good alternative. } 8...O-O { Black's position is just starting to have a little sparkle to it now. If we look at White's piece setup, it seems to me a little unambitious, especially the Be3, which appears to be an up-market pawn, defending d4 at the moment. White is also uncastled. This is in stark contrast to Black, who is castled, ready to play ...Re8, and has the option of playing ...Nb6, ...c6, ...Nbd5, for example, when White's Bf3 will look a little silly. Considering that Onischuk invested 3-moves especially to put it there, it would be a little embarrassing. } 9.d5 { This move mainly targets the c6-square, I think, covering ...c6 an ...c5 ideas. It is true that it also opens up the g1-a7 diagonal for the e3-bishop, but I would guess that this is a secondary consideration if any. } 9...Nb6 10.h3 ( 10.Qd3 { would stop the easy development of the c8-bishop with ...Bf5, which the text move actually allows. } 10...Ne8 ( { Attempts by Black to develop his c8-bishop regardless, via ...Bg4, would allow White to improve his position via } 10...Bg4 11.Bg5 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 ) 11.g3 f5 { is interesting. A possible continuation is } 12.Bg2 e4 13.Qd4 Nf6 { sees perhaps a slight edge to Black, but Queenside castling might give White a nice game if he can get things moving on the Kingside. } ) 10...Bf5 { I am not quite sure why White has allowed this development of the bishop. I can only speculate that Onischuk considered that Black was vulnerable to his Kingside pawns. } 11.g4 e4 12.Bg2 Bg6 { With a superior position. By contrast, White's lacks harmony. } 13.Bg5 { This is largely inappropriate. White is severely lagging behind in development and activity. He needs to get castled, and Queenside is looking the place for his King to go. } ( 13.Qd4 Nfxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.O-O-O { Obviously, not Qxd5, which would be a humungous blunder because of ...Bb4+ } 15...Nxe3 16.Qxe3 { With a better stance to Black, but White has done some damage limitation. } ) 13...Re8 14.O-O { Far be it for me to argue with a GM, but I don't agree with this move. I think there is too much air on the Kingside for optimum safety of White's King. However, this move is also the computer recommendation. } ( 14.Qd4 Be5 15.Qc5 h6 16.Bh4 Nbxd5 17.O-O-O c6 18.Rhe1 Qb6 19.Qxb6 axb6 { with an undeniable advantage to Black. } ) 14...h6 15.Bh4 { The bishop is awkward and annoying for Black, it makes sense to maintain it. } 15...Bh7 16.Re1 Bc5 17.Nd4 g5 { Again, not to my taste this move, but it seems best, breaking the pin and freeing the knight. } 18.Bg3 Nbxd5 { Black nets a pawn. } 19.Nb3 Bf8 20.Qd4 { Qd2 might have been a little better, covering f4. } 20...Nb4 { As hinted at in my previous comment, ...Nf4 was an option, here. } 21.Re2 c6 22.Be5 Qxd4 { Exchanging Queens makes a lot of sense, here, due to the comparative quality of the Black and White pieces. White's knights are mere observers in the game, and I think that White may have over-estimated the effect of his setup. Black's minor pieces are way more active, so it is good chess to exchange off the nicely centralised Queen. } 23.Bxd4 Nfd5 24.Bxe4 Bxe4 25.Nxe4 Nxc2 { Black seems to be getting the better of White in tactical exchanges. Either that, or White is making some rather questionable sacrifices. } 26.Rd1 Nxd4 27.Nxd4 { At first glance, White does not seem to be doing too badly here, he has centralised pieces, and perhaps he had balanced this against the loss of the pawn. However, one has to consider potential and compared to Black's knight and bishop, Whites are rather impotent. } 27...Kh7 28.Nf5 Kg6 { Preparing h6-h5. } 29.f3 h5 30.Red2 h4 { Giving White the consideration of a backward pawn -- and unless he can get the f-pawn moving, that would be two of them. } 31.Kf2 { The only thing I can think of to explain this move (seemingly deserting the backward pawn on h3) is to facilitate Ne3. I have to say, though, that I am not sure why as after and ...Nxe3 Kxe3, ...f5 would look rather inviting. } 31...Re5 { Currently, White's trump is the doubled rooks. Here, Hao is already targeting them, the rook ready to go to d5 after ...Nf4. Nice strategic play. } 32.a3 a5 33.Ne3 Nf4 { The best move here, it would be poor to cooperate with White's wish to exchange, especially with the Backward pawns, which knights are so efficient at blockading and attacking. } ( { Also perfectly good for Black would be } 33...Nxe3 34.Kxe3 f5 35.gxf5+ Rxf5 ) 34.Nc4 Rd5 35.Nb6 Rxd2+ 36.Rxd2 Re8 { ...Nxh3 was also perfectly viable. } 37.Nd7 { White is doing his best to try and generate some kind of activity, his knights continue to be rather embarrassing and Black is dominating the position. } 37...Nxh3+ { and so Black picks up another pawn -- but to be honest, the way that White has played on would have to say he surrendered it. Was this a misguided decision seeking activity? If so, it didn't really work out. } 38.Ke3 Nf4 { Why not ...Bg7, would be a good question here, I think it is worthwhile preserving that piece. But I also think that Hao felt, quite rightly, that his advantage warranted exchanging where he could, and so is just content to reactivate his knight from h3 and of course, clear the marching path for the pawn. } 39.Nxf8+ Rxf8 40.Rd6+ f6 41.Kf2 Nd5 42.Rd7 f5 { Starting to probe the minority position. White's game deteriorating steadily. } 43.Rd6+ Nf6 44.Nc5 Rf7 45.Kg2 Re7 46.b4 axb4 47.axb4 fxg4 48.fxg4 Kf7 49.Kf3 b6 50.Nd3 Nd5 51.Kf2 { Rxc6?? ...Re3+ and White can resign. However, Kf2 changes little, and in a few more moves Onischuk's game is over. } 51...Re6 52.Rxc6 Rxc6 53.Ne5+ Ke6 54.Nxc6 Kd6 55.Nd8 Ke5 56.Kf3 Nxb4 57.Nf7+ Kf6 58.Nd6 Nc6 { and with only King and knight to contend with two passed pawns, while having the isolated g4-pawn to worry about, White is just over-taxed and resigned. 0-1. } 0-1

As you can see by the table, below, the event was extremely competitive, a whole line of players with the second best score of 6.5/9. However, Wang was clearly in a class of his own.

Top Final Standings:

[table id=8 /]