Live From The Field - Bedford Chess Club

Sometimes strong players make it all look horribly easy. This impressive win by 16-year-old Chinese prodigy Wei Yi was quoted by Leonard Barden in his column in the Guardian.

 [Event "Chinese League"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Zhao Chenxi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E39"] [PlyCount "51"]  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. e4 Nc6 {ChessBase has the ominous (for Black) statistic that of the 9 occasions this has appeared in top class games White has scored W5, D3, L1 (83%)} 9. b4 Nd4 {And by now, the record is P3 W3 for White, including Marcetic-Cabrilo, 1997, and Kannenberg-Womacka, 2015, where 2200-rated players have dispatched 2400-rated opponents. As Zhao Chenxi is rated 2035 (equivalent to ECF 178), We Yi (ELO 2700) was probably feeling quite happy by now.} 10. Qd2 {When we are starting out we are probably taught to be more bothered about doubled pawns than we should be. As will appear, the open lines and reinforcement of White's centre are much more significant than the termporarily ugly look of his kingside.} Nxf3+ ({Of course,} 10... Nb3 $6 11. Qb2 Nxa1 12. bxc5 $14) 11. gxf3 Be7 12. Rg1 {Fritz insists that this position is better for Black. But in the real world...} Ne8 ({Varying from the} 12... Kh8 {of Kannenberg-Womacka (and of Morozevich-Vitiugov, 2011) but with no better outcome}) 13. Bb2 Bf6 14. f4 d6 15. Qe3 Bb7 16. e5 {...it doesn't take long for White to work up an initiative. Black is already in serious trouble.} dxe5 17. fxe5 Be7 $2 (17... Bh4 {is better but White is still doing well after, e.g.,} 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. Rd4) 18. Rd1 Qc8 19. Nb5 Ba6 $2 ({Black had to try} 19... Bc6) 20. Nd6 Bxd6 21. exd6 Qd7 {If the queen has to blockade a pawn, all is not well. But much worse is to come.} 22. Bxg7 $1 Nxg7 23. Rxg7+ $1 {Using the file opened at move 11.} Kxg7 24. Qg5+ Kh8 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26. Rd3 1-0

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