The Week in Chess

Daniil Dubov beat Sergey Karjakin 3-0 and Ding Liren won a dramatic Armageddon tie-break against fellow countryman Yu Yangyi to set up a semi-final match against each other starting tomorrow in the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge online tournament hosted by Chess24.

The tennis style sets being used means that although Dubov beat Karjakin 8-2 in rapid games won the match felt an awful lot closer than that. Dubov felt he played less well than yesterday but today he won all three games. Dubov went for Karjakin's solid Queen's Gambit with 8.g4, a sharp move he played in an aborted game in the Aeroflot Open and a move since played by Grischuk. Karjakin used all his time trying to defend in a wild position, the computers like 22...Qc7 better than his 22...Qd6 but white was having all the fun.29...Rc8? cost the Karjakin game immediately after 30.Qh2. The second game really should have been won by Karjakin who reduced Dubov to a pitiful state of development. but Karjakin couldn't put him away and then in a completely winning position Karjakin dropped a rook with 32.Kf1? (32.Kf3 was one move that would have caused near immediately resignation from Dubov). In the third game Dubov, like yesterday, again needed a draw with white to win the match. Dubov was much better after a strange opening from Karjakin but while he was better throughout as long as the game continued there was tension. Eventually, and quite suddenly Karjakin's position fell apart and the match ended. Dubov was obviously pleased to get through but he also explained at length what bad results he has against the Chinese players, and in this lock down they have been awful, this didn't seem good for his prospects.

Ding Liren eventually prevailed against Yu Yangyi but it looked very bad for him at one stage. In game one Ding's King fled the kingside for the centre of the board, Yu must have been winning perhaps 40.Qb7 looking for mate was not the best and the game was drawn by repetition. There was no such escape in game two where Ding gave up his d-pawn for the initiative but later overlooked a second pawn going after which his position rapidly fell apart. Yu probably erred by going for an extremely sharp game with white in game three trying to finish the match, but this was just the kind of fight Ding needed to get back level and he was winning by move 25. Game four was drawn. Yu had the choice of colours for the Armageddon game and again chose white as he did on the first day of this match. This meant Yu had to win. Yu was better throughout and was unlucky his 25.Nxe6 tactic, clearly overlooked by Ding, didn't just win. Unlike in their last Armageddon Ding was ahead on the clock in the end, the position was a fortress and Yu accidentally repeated for a draw but he had no winning chances on the board or clock anyway.

Thursday will see the first of three days of the semi-finals Carlsen-Nakamura and Ding-Dubov.