Wang Yue wins Hastings
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
POSITION AFTER 28 MOVES:
Black seems to have contained the Chinese star’s initiative and is about to play …Rc7 followed by a lot of wood chopping. However, Wang had a very unpleasant surprise waiting for his opponent:
29. c6! (threatening Bc5 winning the exchange) 29…b6 30.Ng5!
Black can not retreat to the back rank because of 36.Rd8! So he quietly played the feeble 35…f6. Find out how Wang finished off the Ukranian star!
The pre-tournament favourite, Wang Yue, won easily the 2011-12 edition of the Hastings International tournament with 7.5 points in 9 games. He lead from the beginning to the very end. The traditional English event took place between December 28 and January 5. The 24 year old chinese superstar is still developing as a player and it would not surprise me if he becomes a world championship contender sometime in the near future.
Wang’s style of play is like many of the other chinese grandmasters: based on a very profound knowledge of endgames and possessing tremendous patience and poise. However, he seems to have taken this endgame school a step further by developing a penchant for coming up with surprising tactical twists.
Witness Wang’s performance against the Ukranian gm Vovk:
POSITION AFTER 28 MOVES:
Black seems to have contained the Chinese star’s initiative and is about to play …Rc7 followed by a lot of wood chopping. However, Wang had a very unpleasant surprise waiting for his opponent:
29. c6! (threatening Bc5 winning the exchange) 29…b6 30.Ng5!
Ouch! Perhaps Vovk overlooked this. In anycase, the move is decisive. Not only does White now win a pawn, but he maintains the strong passed c-pawn. Black fought on bravely but could not keep up with Wang’s energetic play:
30…Rc-c7 31.Nxh7-ch Kg7 32.RxRe7 RxR 33.Rd7! Bd6 34.Ng5 Bb4
White now has a forced win
35.Bd4-ch!
Black can not retreat to the back rank because of 36.Rd8! So he quietly played the feeble 35…f6. Find out how Wang finished off the Ukranian star!