GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568) vs FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387) · 1-0
Board 3, Switzerland vs Scotland · Scotch Game (C45)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round five, board three, Switzerland against Scotland, both teams arriving on six match points. Peng Li Min had White against a FIDE Master rated 2387, 181 rating points below him on paper, and was shown an opening idea that has become rare at this level: Black brought the queen out on move four and walked her via f6 and g6 to h5.
On move twelve she stood there, and a single knight move took her off the board. What followed were six forced moves that left Black with an isolated pawn and a king in the corner, one careless king move on move twenty-five that cost that pawn, and a rook ending that finished three pawns to none.
Four queen moves and one knight move: 12.Ng5
The black queen had spent four moves on , and and looked active there. In the same time Peng had planted a pawn on d5 with , which drove the knight from c6 to e7, and pointed the bishop at the black king with .
looks like an attacking move and is above all a departure. The knight vacates f3, and with that the white queen on d1 and the black queen on h5 stand on the same diagonal. There is exactly one answer: , and the queens are off. Stepping aside loses her, because gives up the queen for bishop and knight, and helps just as little.
An attack is created not only when a piece moves onto a square, but just as much when a piece leaves one. Before you put your queen anywhere, go through your opponent’s pieces and ask of each one which line opens the moment it steps away.
FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387)
GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568)
A pawn that falls anyway: 14.d6
The d5 pawn cannot be held. The knight on e7 attacks it, and the rook on d1 cannot defend it because White’s own bishop on d3 sits in between. If you want to save the pawn you play , putting the bishop in front of your own rook, and you stand comfortably afterwards. Peng gave it away instead, and that is worth about a third of a pawn more.
is the reason. The pawn is not lost, it is traded, for the a2 to g8 diagonal and for a blocker. On that diagonal there is exactly one square to interpose on, and only the d6 pawn can get there. The alternatives cost more: is already a discovered check of the same pattern, the knight steps away and the bishop on c4 gives the check. So it was, and that pawn now stands undefended in the middle of the board.
A pawn you cannot hold is not a loss, it is currency. Do not ask how to defend it, ask what it still does on its way forward: open a line, force a blocker. Hardly anyone at this level plays , most players defend.
FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387)
GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568)
Which piece ends up on d5: 16.Rxd5
Almost everyone captures with the bishop here. wins the pawn back, and after it the position is roughly level. Peng took with the rook, which in the same position is worth about three quarters of a pawn.
is the same exchange in the other order, and the whole difference lies in which piece ends up on d5. The bishop on d5 covers f7. That is why the check leaves only two replies, and loses, because the knight on f7 is protected by that bishop. So , and material is level again.
Level, but not the same. After Black has an isolated pawn, a king in the corner and a rook on a8 with nowhere to go; White has six pawns in two healthy groups and the more active bishop. So when two of your pieces can capture on the same square, do not ask which one you can spare, ask which one you want standing there afterwards.
FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387)
GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568)
The c5 pawn is waiting for 25...b6
After the isolated d-pawn had become a pawn on c5. That is no disaster for Black, as long as the b-pawn comes up beside it. I would have preferred and delayed the exchange by a move, but the difference is a tenth of a pawn and therefore a matter of taste.
After the rook on the fifth rank attacks two pawns, f5 and c5. f5 is covered by g6, c5 by nobody. defends it, holds everything together and leaves White with no more than a small pull. The move played was , which improves nothing, and took the pawn for free. Black had a good seven minutes left on the clock at that point, White around thirty.
This is a counting job, not a calculating job. The moment an enemy rook arrives on a rank, count the defenders of every pawn of yours on it before you do anything else. And defend a loose pawn with a pawn rather than with a piece: costs nothing and ties nothing down.
FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387)
GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568)
The check first, the pawn second: 33.Rc6+
Black offers a pawn with , and almost everyone takes it straight away. wins it too, and costs a good pawn of the advantage. Peng collected the check first. The black king stands on h6, so the check comes on the sixth rank and the rook lands on c6, where it attacks the b6 pawn: , and the g5 pawn is gone all the same, only now the rook stands better.
The rest is harvesting, with one detail you cannot afford to miss. On move thirty-seven, after , the white king has three squares to choose from and one of them is mate: ends it on the spot, because the pawn on f4 takes g3 away and the black king takes g4 and h4. White played . Then the frozen pawns fell to and , and after it was three white pawns against a single black one; collected that one too.
A word about move thirty: was not the cleanest route. The extra pawn was on the queenside, so that is where the majority belonged in motion, with . After the queenside froze solid, and White had to gather the pawns with the rook instead of pushing one through. That cost about a pawn of the advantage; the rule stands: the wing where you have more pawns is the wing where you play.
FM Rishi Vijayakumar (SCO, 2387)
GM Peng Li Min (SUI, 2568)
Verdict
A full point on board three, and the work behind it sits between moves twelve and nineteen. took the black queen off the board because the knight vacated f3; gave away a pawn nobody could have held and bought a diagonal with it; put the bishop rather than the rook on d5, because only the bishop covers f7. After that White was permanently better without Black being lost, and it took instead of to turn it into a won rook ending. Not one spectacular move, just the right piece every time the material came back. Switzerland and Scotland both came into this round on six match points, and board three went to Switzerland.
Moves
1-0
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