MVL Decisive Win in World Blitz 2021 !! Happy New Year !!
I just wanted to go back and share key moments of the MVL vs Duda Final Tie-break Game.
This was the game to decide the world blitz champion title in Warsaw.
FYI Chess.com event coverage here ->
White : MVL
Black: Duda
Those of you who followed the action live noticed the DGT boards had trouble with several games in rapid and blitz.
It was nice to see OTB blitz chess with several cameras capturing the action. The next best thing would be to witness it live. Blitz and Rapid chess is fairly spectacular, as opposed to classical games where you could wait 30 minutes and see 1 move or 2 with roughly the same position.
MVL went for a Ruy Lopez with d2-d3. It is similar to d2-d3 in the italian Giuoco Piano or Pianissimo I blogged about. White builds the center and prepares d3-d4.
The standard classical way would be to play c2-c3 and d2-d4 directly, but the Marshall with ..d7-d5 seems to be an excellent choice for Black. The legend has it that Kasparov asked Efim Geller to look for compelling variations for White and Geller came back after several months stating White didn't have a break-through. Wondering if AlphaZero and Stockfish14.1 confirm this opinion ?
Position after 16..Ra7
This is the critical moment of the game and of the championship !
In Tie-Break Game 1, MVL went for 17 d3-d4. This is exactly White's plan but after 17..ed4 18.Nd4 Bd719 Qc2 Qe8! Duda was able to hold ,let's see why
..Qe8 was a Grandmaster Class move ! Black is targetting a4 and e4, and is preparing c7-c6, to move the strong white bishop from its outpost on d5 . MVL tried 20.Nb3 but after exchanging on b3 the game fizzled down into a draw
the AMAZING part was this: after game 2 ending also with a draw, the players continued to play blitz 3 minutes + 2 seconds until a winner would emerge. While they were waiting to start game 3, MVL thought in his head where he could improve. Players were not allowed to communicate with others outside the playing hall nor could they check Stockfish14 lines.
And in chess, one of the super IMPORTANT themes is the MOVE ORDER. sometimes you have to try a combination in a different move order to make it work. For instance, if you are trying to checkmate on h7, you can do Ng5 and Qh3, or Qh3 and Ng5. Most of the times, it does make difference how you start because this may avoid a possible defense. I am giving here a basic example to make the point, but this appears in many other cases as well.
Going back to game 3, MVL, who has more EXPERIENCE than Duda at TOP level, thought of starting with 17 Qc2!? before the game 3 started. Not playing 17d3-d4 but preparing it a bit more !
DUDA's main mistake was to repeat the same line. Yes, it worked Game 1 but he had to change somewhere.
MVL really managed to get the upper hand right away in game 3.
POSITION after 17 Qc2
17.Qc2!? threatens to take on e5 twice and the Nc5 would be captured, so you threaten to win a pawn.
The move Qc2 appeared later on in game 1, so it fits with the position, MVL decided to improve by playing it first -> MOVE ORDER
The other key factor are black pieces activity or lack thereof. The knight on c5 is unstable, meaning you can undermine it with White. The rook on a7 looks kind of stuck. It could be a target and doesn't attack anything. The pawn on a5 and c7 are vulnerable.
The position is not winning for White, but definitely unpleasant for Black for the reasons I mentioned. Duda relying on it again, repeating the same line, made his life more difficult.
Duda played 17..Bg4?! while 17..Ne6 ( to prepare Ne6-d4) was the best answer to MVL's idea. Note that on 17..Ba6 18 Rfd1 and White will prepare d3-d4
MVL played quickly 18.d4! and here we go, we have another key moment.
Black could not take on f3 because White would take on c5 and build a strong advantage on the queenside. Black took on d4 which led to increase White's advantage, White can increase the range of the Bishop on d5, while Black is left with 2 pieces Ra7 and Nc5 which are awkwardly placed.
Position after 23 Qe3
As you can see on the diagram above, White can threaten 24 b2-b4, and if the knight on c5 moves, the rook on a7 is lost. White has a dominant bishop on d5. Black could challenge the bishop with c7-c6 but with the white pawn on b5 it is not possible.
The rook on a7 is still badly placed. While the position looked balanced, it is very unpleasant to play for Black and objectively better for White.
In my mind, it is clear that MVL had an advantage on the clock and a better position, and the final result was no longer in doubt. It is really about positional domination, the bishop on d5 and pawn on b5 prevent Black from any real counterplay.
By the way, I believe both players are extremely strong in blitz format. This is why the opening choice was so important here. I could easily see Duda winning against MVL in a different opening.
Here are the top 20 blitz players according to FIDE Over The Board blitz rated games ( different from online chess.com of course). [ Please note that Alireza Firouzja finished 3rd with the bronze medal for the blitz championship. Erigaisi Arjun showed he belongs to blitz chess elite, while Dubov came close to the top but lost Round 20 to Firouzja. Aronian also was in the lead before losing 3 games in a row. ]
Here is the rest of the game
all photo credits courtesy of : FIDE, www.fide.com and official press photographers.
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Happy New Year !!
