By A.E. Boy Espejo Jr.
China increased its lead in the ongoing FIDE Online Nations Cup which is being played online on the chess.com server after winning its Rounds 3 and 4 assignments on May 6.
The Cup is playing the preliminary phase two rounds a day, and China defeated India, 2½-1½, in Round 4 after drawing with Russia, 2-2, in Round 3.
Team USA, on the other hand, lost to Europe 1-3 in Round 4 after beating the Rest of the World (ROW), 2½-1½, in Round 3.
The results enabled Europe to share the 2nd and 3rd places with the Americans, while Russia kept the 4th slot by beating ROW in Round 4. The top two finishers in the preliminary round will advance to dispute the overall championship.
The standings after Round 4 (preliminary board points): 1. China, 10½; 2-3. USA, Europe, 8½; 4. Russia, 8; 5. India, 6½ 6. Rest of the World, 6.
Ding, L (2791)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2784) [D85]
chess.com (3.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 Qa5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.d5 b5 12.Bxc5 Rc8 13.Bd4 Bxf3 14.Bxg7 Bxe4 15.Bh6 Qb6 16.f3 Bf5 17.g4 Bd7 18.h4 Be8 19.h5 f6 20.hxg6 Bxg6 21.Be3 Qd6 22.Bxb5 Nd7 23.Kf2 Rab8 24.Be2 Qa3 25.Bd4 Rb2 26.Qe3 Ne5 27.Bxe5 fxe5 28.Qxe5 Qd6 29.Qxd6 exd6 30.Rhe1 Re8 31.Rcd1 Rc8 32.Kg3 Rxc3 33.a4 a5 34.Bf1 Rb4 35.Re6 Rxa4 36.Rxd6 Raa3 37.Rf6 Kg7 38.d6 Rc8 39.d7 Rd8 40.Re6 Rb3 41.Re5 Rb7 42.Bb5 Bc2 43.Rd2 Bg6 44.Re8 Rbb8 45.Rde2 1-0
Artemiev, V (2716)-Wei, Y (2732) [A10]
chess.com (3.2) 2020
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 0-0 5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb3 e6 9.d3 Nc6 10.Qb5 Qb6 11.Qc4 Qb4 12.Ne4 Qxc4 13.dxc4 Nb6 14.Rb1 Nxc4 15.b3 N4e5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bh6 Rd8 18.Rfd1 Rb8 19.Nxc5 Bc7 20.Bg5 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Kg7 22.Ne4 Be5 23.Nd6 h6 24.Be3 Nb4 25.Bxh6+ 1-0
Aronian, L (2773)-Vidit, SG (2726) [A06]
chess.com (3.2) 2020
1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 c5 3.c4 d4 4.exd4 cxd4 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Bc2 Bg4 8.Ba4 Nd7 9.h3 Bh5 10.d3 e5 11.Re1 Be7 12.Nbd2 0-0 13.Ne4 Qc7 14.a3 a5 15.Ng3 Bg6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Nxd4 exd4 18.Rxe7 Qd6 19.Re2 Nc5 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.dxe4 Rfe8 22.f3 a4 23.c5 Qxc5 24.Bf4 Qb6 25.Rc1 c5 26.Rc4 f6 27.Qc1 Ra5 28.Rec2 f5 29.Rxc5 Rxc5 30.Rxc5 fxe4 31.fxe4 d3 32.Be3 Qe6 33.Rc7 Qxe4 34.Bd2 h6 35.Qc5 Bf7 36.Bc3 Qg6 37.Re7 Rxe7 38.Qxe7 Kh7 39.Qe5 Be8 40.Kf2 Bf7 41.g4 Bb3 42.Ke3 Bc2 43.Kd2 Bb3 44.Ke3 Bc2 45.Kd2 Bb3 46.Qe7 Bc2 47.b4 axb3 48.Bb2 h5 49.g5 h4 50.a4 Kg8 51.a5 Kh7 52.a6 Bd1 53.Kxd1 d2 54.Qxg7+ Qxg7 55.Bxg7 Kxg7 56.Kxd2 1-0
Nepomniachtchi, I (2784)-Radjabov, T (2765) [D37]
chess.com (4.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Nh5 8.Bd3 Nxf4 9.exf4 b6 10.b4 a5 11.a3 c6 12.0-0 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Rxa6 14.Qe2 Qa8 15.b5 cxb5 16.Qxb5 Ra7 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.cxb6 Nc4 19.bxa7 Qxa7 20.Ne2 Rb8 21.Qa4 g6 22.Ra2 Qb6 23.g3 Kg7 24.Rc1 Bf6 25.Qd1 Nb2 26.Qc2 Nc4 27.a4 Qb3 28.Qxb3 Rxb3 29.Rd1 h5 30.h4 Nd6 31.Rc1 Nc4 32.Kg2 Rb4 33.Rd1 Nd6 34.Rdd2 Nc4 35.Rd1 Nd6 36.Kf1 Nc4 37.Rc1 Rb3 38.Ke1 Rb4 39.Raa1 Nd6 40.Rcb1 Rc4 41.Ra2 Nf5 42.Rb5 Bd8 43.Rb7 Nxd4 44.Nxd4 Rxd4 45.Rc2 Kf6 46.Ke2 Rxa4 47.Rc8 1-0
Karjakin, S (2752)-Cori, J (2652) [B47]
chess.com (4.3) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Qd3 Nf6 9.Qg3 Qxg3 10.hxg3 d5 11.g4 Bb4 12.Bd2 d4 13.e5 Nd7 14.Ne4 Bxd2+ 15.Nxd2 c5 16.Nc4 Ke7 17.Bf3 Rb8 18.0-0-0 Nb6 19.Na5 Bd7 20.g5 Na4 21.Bb7 Kd8 22.Rd3 Kc7 23.Rf3 Be8 24.Rb3 c4 25.Rb4 Nc5 26.Rxc4 Kb6 27.Bc6 Bxc6 28.Nxc6 Kxc6 29.b4 Rb5 30.Rh4 Rhb8 31.Rhxd4 a5 32.a3 axb4 33.axb4 Kc7 34.Rxc5+ Rxc5 35.bxc5 Kc6 36.Rd6+ Kxc5 37.Rd7 h6 38.gxh6 1-0
Vidit, SG (2726)-Wang, H (2763) [D20]
chess.com (4.2) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.0-0 Be6 7.Bb5 Bc5 8.b4 Bb6 9.a4 a6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.a5 Ba7 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Nbd2 0-0 14.Qc2 Re8 15.Rad1 Rb8 16.Ne5 Bd7 17.Ndc4 Rxb4 18.Qd2 c5 19.Bxd4 Rxc4 20.Ba1 Rd4 21.Bxd4 cxd4 22.Qf4 Bb5 23.Rfe1 Qd6 24.Nd3 Qxf4 25.Nxf4 Rxe4 26.Rxe4 Nxe4 27.Nd5 d3 28.Nxc7 Bxf2+ 29.Kh1 Bc4 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Bc7!. Black’s futile options are: 1…e5 2.Sd6#; 1…Be5 2.Sg3#; 1…Sxd3 2.f3#./PN
