Ding Liren’s extraordinary intuition

The Ordinary Superstar!

The 26 year old chinese superstar needs little introduction. He is rightfully considered to be one of the 3 or 4 players most likely to un-crown Magnus Carlsen sometime in the near future. Ding is currently participating in the Shenzhen tournament.

In yesterday’s game against  , Ding was able to demonstrate his high class when, at the critical position, his opponent mis-evaluated his chances in a 2-Rooks vs Queen middle game position. Ding Liren never gave his opponent a chance to save his game after that.

The game is instructive and I give it below with a few short, but relevant, comments. Enjoy!

gm Ding Liren – gm Dmitry Jakovenko
Shenzhen 21.4.2019 (1-0)

Convincing play in the middlegame by Ding Liren. What escaped Jakovenko? Nothing. He had seen Rd5. But the key factor here is that Ding Liren had correctly evaluated the position that would later result, Jakovenko had probably just shrugged off the entire idea in his head.

It does not take a lot to lose a game at the elite level! One can never afford to lose one’s concentration, even for just one move.