Biel: Ding Liren Crushes Vachier-Lagrave

With aggressive gambit play in a Symmetrical English, Ding Liren of China crushed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Thursday's fourth round at the Biel Chess Festival. Equally sharp was the game between Alexander Moiseenko and Etienne Bacrot, who drew by perpetual check in a Queen's Gambit Declined. Richard Rapport and Ian Nepomniachtchi also split the point, in a 3.Bb5+ Sicilian that was recently seen in a game between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand.

The Breisachter Memorial in Biel is definitely hotting up, with three more great fights played in the fourth round. The game of the day was of course Ding Liren vs. Maxime-Vachier-Lagrave, where sharp, almost coffeehouse play by the Chinese grandmaster had a deadly effect on the opponent. It start with 7.h4!? which ensured a fun game, and after a somewhat passive reaction from Black, 11.b4! was a truly great move. White's compensation was clear from the start, and Ding then refuted Black's Nf6-g4xh6 as well. Impressive play!

Here's the post-mortem of the game, hosted by GM Danny King:

Alexander Moiseenko and Etienne Bacrot didn't shy away from a real fight either. Whereas the 5.Bf4 QGD usually leads to quiet, positional games, here too it was a double push with the h-pawn (by both players!) that put fire on board. At first White was preventing Black from castling, but in the end it was his own king that had to stay in the centre. Both players could have won this game, but mostly Bacrot, who missed a clear win. You can find this in a puzzle below the game.

Here's the post-mortem:

Richard Rapport and Ian Nepomniachtchi's Sicilian was the same as Carlsen-Anand, Sandnes 2013 where the World Champion played 9...bxc4. Black's 9...Rb8 was quite a risky choice, and indeed White could have reached a great position if he had played 13. Rd1 Nc6 14. cxd6 Bxd6 15. Be3 O-O 16. Rac1. In the game Black had no problems.

Here's the post-mortem:

Here's GM Danny King's round report video:

Biel 2013 | Breisacher Memorial | Pairings & results

Biel, Breisacher Memorial 2013 | Round 4 standings

Photos courtesy of the official website, games via TWIC