Dominguez-Perez Wins Dortmund 2019

American Grandmaster comes out on top in 7-round round robin, which saw Nepomniachtchi attending as top seed. Rapport, Wojtaszek, and Radjabov also among the field.

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The 47th edition of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, ended over the weekend. The 7 round round robin, had been running since July 13 and saw Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS 2775) leading the seedings. Nepomniachtchi, of course, would be expected to be feeling pretty good following his victory at the FIDE Moscow Grand Prix in May.

However, keeping the Russian on his toes in Dortmund, were: Leinier Dominguez-Perez (USA 2760), Teimour Radjabov (AZE 2759), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL 2737), Richard Rapport (HUN 2735), Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (GER 2672), Daniel Fridman (GER 2638), Kaido Kulaots (EST 2560).

And this was shown straight off, when Nepomniachtchi lost his opening round to Hungarian Grandmaster Richard Rapport. I find Richard to be one of the most exciting and creative players to watch and he outplayed Ian with White in a Symmetrical English in their first round game. Nepomniactchi doesn’t appear to do all that much wrong when just playing through the game, yet he manages to end up with a completely ineffective position.

In the end position, there is no comparison, with the White pieces miles more active, not to mention a very legitimate advanced passed pawn. After Black’s move out of check (to b6 or c5), the White pawn’s promotion is a formality.

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Though Ian Nepomniachtchi would bounce back in round two, defeating Estonian Grandmaster Kaido Kulaots, his recovery would be short lived. In round three, he would come up against the American Leinier Dominguez-Perez.

Their game, (see below), was a Caro-Kann, and saw Dominguez-Perez playing White and getting the better of Nepomniachtchi in 25-moves. This would give Dominguez-Perez a half point lead over the rest of the field at the end of the round. He would hold on to it for the remainder of the tournament, to take victory.

Final Standings:

Dominguez Perez — 4.5
Rapport, Radjabov, Wojtaszek, Nepomniachtchi — 4.0
Kulaots, Fridman, Nisipeanu — 2.5

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Dominguez Perez, LeinierGM 2760
Nepomniachtchi, IanGM 2775
47th GM 20193.3
July 16, 2019 – Dortmund GER
Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com.1.e4c6This is likely to have been something of a surprise, Nepomniachtchi does not use this reply to 1.e4 often.2.d4d53.e5c54.dxc5e65.Bd3Bxc56.Qg4A rather obscure line, which shows very good results for White. Worrying signs already for Nepomniachtci’s preparation?6…Ne77.b4Dominguez takes the game into new territory.7…h58.Qf4Bb69.Nf3Nbc610.Nbd2a511.b5White was unlikely to find the prospect of exchanging pawns very attractive, when his Queenside would already be rather ugly. However, this is a very committal undertaking and Dominguez-Perez must watch that this pawn does not become cut off and rounded up on. Should it fall, Black can flood the Queenside with pieces very quickly.11…Nb4The fact that Black has this move available, threatening the Bd3, takes a lot of the bite out of White’s undertaking with his b-pawn.12.Ba3Nxd3+13.cxd3Bd714.Qa4A rather questionable piece setup for White on the Queenside, with his most powerful piece playing bodyguard to his advanced pawn.14…Nf5As well as developing the piece, this acts as something of a deterrent to White heading to d6 with his bishop.15.Rc1g516.h3Rc817.Rxc8Qxc818.Ke2Qb8The Queen jumps off of the c-file before she is forcibly removed, by Rc1.19.Nb3Qa720.Rc1Suddenly, White’s position has improved dramatically and he is extremely active. Black’s bishop pair look rather sorry for themselves now.20…g4? Perhaps Nepomniachtchi felt under some pressure to do something, but he was in no position to do this. This move would have been more potent had his rook been on g8, but here it proves very detrimental to his position.21.hxg4hxg422.Qxg4Now Dominguez-Perez has a good presence on both sides of the board.22…Bxf2The capture of this pawn (or the one on b5 for that matter) in inconsequential.23.Nc5Bg3The knight is safe and sound on c5, should Black capture with …Bxc5, it would be a very bad blunder. White replies Bxc5 and after the Queen moves, (or …b6, it matters not), plays Rh1. However, Rh1 is too nice a prospect to keep waiting anyway.24.Rh1!24…Rf8Black would be mated upon taking the Rh1 — Qg8+, Nxb7+, Qd8#.25.Rh5The White rook gets ready to sacrifice itself for the knight on f5, which is the only saviour for the bishop on g3. Black will be left with little to fight with and Nepomniachtchi resigned here.1–0

About John Lee Shaw 291 Articles
Total chess nut! I enjoy following the chess world and giving my two-penneth. I don't pretend to be an expert, I'm more a knowledgeable enthusiast. My chess writing can also be seen at www.chessimprover.com.