Wei Yi's Immortal Game

[Sean Evans]

Wei Yi vs Lázaro Bruzón - Immortal Chess Game

An absolutely insane immortal chess game by Wei Yi ! - "Game of the Decade" is Susan Polgar's tweet!

Wei Yi vs Bruzon: A modern day case of 'Chess Immortality'

[reflectionofpower]

Remember Fischer's "Game of the Century" and it was backed up by history. Obviously this was an excellent game but "time will tell."

[S.Taylor]

[pgn][Event "6th Hainan Danzhou GM"]
[Site "Danzhou CHN"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wei Yi"]
[Black "Bruzon Batista, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2669"]
[Plycount "79"]
[Eventdate "2015.07.02"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 { Perhaps Bruzon was tricked into the Scheveningen via this
irregular move order. } 10.Kh1 O-O 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Qg3 Bb7 14.a3 { A well-known variation of the Scheveningen. } 14...Rad8 ( { Bruzon only had this
position as Black once in his career, twelve years ago: } 14...Bc6 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Bd3 e5 17.fxe5 Nh5 18.Qh3 dxe5 19.Be3 Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.e5 g6 { Zapata,A (2472)-Bruzon,L (2603) Santo Domingo DOM 2003 } ) 15.Rae1 Rd7 { This
funny-looking move is the most popular in this position. } 16.Bd3 Qd8 { This
might be inaccurate already, even though it was played before by several
grandmasters. } ( { Here the immediate } 16...Re8 { is played more often, e.g. } 17.Re2 ( 17.a4 b4 18.Na2 Qa5 19.Nc1 Qxa4 ( 19...Qh5 20.Nb3 Qg6 21.Qh3 Qg4 22.Qxg4 Nxg4 23.Na5 Ra8 24.Be2 Nf6 { Giri,A (2750)-Hou,Y (2629) Biel 2014 } ) 20.Qh3 h6 21.Nb3 Qc6 22.Na5 Qc7 23.Nxb7 Qxb7 24.Re3 Bd8 { Leko,P (2723)-Wang,Y
(2720) Beijing 2014 } ) 17...Qd8 18.Ref2 Bf8 19.Rf3 g6 20.f5 exf5 21.Rxf5 Nxe4 22.Qf4 Qe7 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qxe4 25.Rxf7 Qxf4 26.R7xf4 Bg7 { Giri,
A (2734)-Grischuk,A (2780) Beijing 2013 } ) 17.Qh3 g6 18.f5 e5 19.Be3 Re8?! ( { Here Black should go } 19...Nh5 20.Rf3 Bc6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Qxh5!? { Basically a draw offer. } ( 22.Nd5 { looks good for White. } ) 22...Bh4 ( 22...gxh5 23.Rg3+ Kh8 24.Bg7+ Kg8 { is nothing more than draw. } ) 23.Qg4 Bxe1 24.f6 Bxc3? ( 24...d5 { was just enough to draw here, as Benjamin Bok pointed
out: } 25.Bg7 Rd6! 26.Qg5 dxe4 27.Rh3 exd3 28.Qh6 Bxg2+! 29.Kxg2 Qa8+ 30.Kg1 Qa7+ { and Black gives perpetual. } ) 25.bxc3 d5 26.Bg7 dxe4 27.Rh3 Rd6 28.Qg5 Rxd3 29.cxd3 { 1-0 Bok,B (2520)-Hansen,E (2584) Oslo 2013 } ) 20.fxg6 ( 20.Qf3 Kh8 21.Bg5 { was also good for White in Alekseev,E (2698)-Jumabayev,R
(2561) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013 } ) 20...hxg6 21.Nd5 { A strong novelty. } ( 21.Bb6 Qc8 22.Re2 Nh5 23.Be3 Rc7 24.Qxc8 Rexc8 25.Ref2 Bf8 26.Be2 Nf4 { Sredojevic,I (2396)-Rajkovic,D (2474) Vrnjacka Banja 2008 } ) 21...Nxd5?! { Losing on the spot, but how could Bruzon know? } ( 21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Rb7 23.Qf3 { looks better for White too. } ) 22.Rxf7!! { It takes a while for computers
to change their 0.00. White wins on the spot. } 22...Kxf7 23.Qh7+ Ke6 24.exd5+ Kxd5 ( 24...Bxd5 25.Bxg6 { and Black's free move can't save him, for example } 25...Rf8 ( 25...Bf6 26.Bf5# ) 26.Qh3+ Kf6 27.Rf1+ Kg7 28.Qh7# ) 25.Be4+! { A classic
king hunt, dragging the king further into the danger zone with multiple
sacrifices. } 25...Kxe4 ( 25...Ke6 26.Qxg6+ Bf6 27.Qf5+ Ke7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Bh6+ Rg7 { and now e.g. } 30.Rf1! { and Black can resign. } ) 26.Qf7 { The first
"silent" queen move, threatening mate in one in different ways. } ( { The move } 26.c4! { was in fact a forced mate in 9: } 26...Kd3 ( 26...bxc4 27.Qxg6+ Kd5 28.Qf7+ Ke4 29.Qxc4+ Kf5 30.Rf1+ Bf3 31.Rxf3+ Kg6 32.Qf7# ) 27.Qxg6+ Be4 28.Rd1+ Kc2 29.Qxe4+ Kb3 30.Qd3+ Ka2 31.b4 { and so on. } ) 26...Bf6 27.Bd2+ Kd4 28.Be3+ { Just repeating moves; nothing wrong with that. } 28...Ke4 29.Qb3! { Another silent queen move, theatening Qd3 mate. } 29...Kf5 30.Rf1+ Kg4 31.Qd3! { And the third silent queen move! } 31...Bxg2+ ( 31...Rg7 32.Qe2+ Kh4 33.h3! Qd7 34.Kh2! Bxg2 35.Qxg2 { forces Black to give up his queen. } ) 32.Kxg2 Qa8+ 33.Kg1 Bg5 ( 33...Rg7 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Qd3+ Kg4 37.Qg3+ Kf5 38.Qh3+ Ke4 39.Qd3+ Kf4 40.Be1+ ) 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Be1! { And
another silent move to finish off the game. Just brilliant! Black resigned
here as the threat of putting pieces on the third rank is too much to bear.
For example: } 36...Rf8 ( { not } 36...e4 { cutting off protection of g2 } 37.Qg2# ) 37.Qd3+ Kg4 ( 37...Rf3 38.Rxf3+ Kg4 39.Rg3+ Kf4 ( 39...Kh4 40.Rg2+ Kh5 41.Qh3+ Bh4 42.Qxh4# ) ( 39...Kh5 40.Bd2! { and taking or moving the bishop leads to
catastrophe after Qxg6+ } ) 40.Bd2# ) 38.Qg3+ Kh5 39.Qh3+ Bh4 40.Qxh4#
1-0[/pgn]

My first reaction to move 22.Rf7, was Nf6.
And I don't see what's wrong with that now either.
That's the FIRST thing to check out.

[Uri Blass]

[pgn][Event "6th Hainan Danzhou GM"]
[Site "Danzhou CHN"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wei Yi"]
[Black "Bruzon Batista, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2669"]
[Plycount "79"]
[Eventdate "2015.07.02"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 { Perhaps Bruzon was tricked into the Scheveningen via this
irregular move order. } 10.Kh1 O-O 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Qg3 Bb7 14.a3 { A well-known variation of the Scheveningen. } 14...Rad8 ( { Bruzon only had this
position as Black once in his career, twelve years ago: } 14...Bc6 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Bd3 e5 17.fxe5 Nh5 18.Qh3 dxe5 19.Be3 Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.e5 g6 { Zapata,A (2472)-Bruzon,L (2603) Santo Domingo DOM 2003 } ) 15.Rae1 Rd7 { This
funny-looking move is the most popular in this position. } 16.Bd3 Qd8 { This
might be inaccurate already, even though it was played before by several
grandmasters. } ( { Here the immediate } 16...Re8 { is played more often, e.g. } 17.Re2 ( 17.a4 b4 18.Na2 Qa5 19.Nc1 Qxa4 ( 19...Qh5 20.Nb3 Qg6 21.Qh3 Qg4 22.Qxg4 Nxg4 23.Na5 Ra8 24.Be2 Nf6 { Giri,A (2750)-Hou,Y (2629) Biel 2014 } ) 20.Qh3 h6 21.Nb3 Qc6 22.Na5 Qc7 23.Nxb7 Qxb7 24.Re3 Bd8 { Leko,P (2723)-Wang,Y
(2720) Beijing 2014 } ) 17...Qd8 18.Ref2 Bf8 19.Rf3 g6 20.f5 exf5 21.Rxf5 Nxe4 22.Qf4 Qe7 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qxe4 25.Rxf7 Qxf4 26.R7xf4 Bg7 { Giri,
A (2734)-Grischuk,A (2780) Beijing 2013 } ) 17.Qh3 g6 18.f5 e5 19.Be3 Re8?! ( { Here Black should go } 19...Nh5 20.Rf3 Bc6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Qxh5!? { Basically a draw offer. } ( 22.Nd5 { looks good for White. } ) 22...Bh4 ( 22...gxh5 23.Rg3+ Kh8 24.Bg7+ Kg8 { is nothing more than draw. } ) 23.Qg4 Bxe1 24.f6 Bxc3? ( 24...d5 { was just enough to draw here, as Benjamin Bok pointed
out: } 25.Bg7 Rd6! 26.Qg5 dxe4 27.Rh3 exd3 28.Qh6 Bxg2+! 29.Kxg2 Qa8+ 30.Kg1 Qa7+ { and Black gives perpetual. } ) 25.bxc3 d5 26.Bg7 dxe4 27.Rh3 Rd6 28.Qg5 Rxd3 29.cxd3 { 1-0 Bok,B (2520)-Hansen,E (2584) Oslo 2013 } ) 20.fxg6 ( 20.Qf3 Kh8 21.Bg5 { was also good for White in Alekseev,E (2698)-Jumabayev,R
(2561) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013 } ) 20...hxg6 21.Nd5 { A strong novelty. } ( 21.Bb6 Qc8 22.Re2 Nh5 23.Be3 Rc7 24.Qxc8 Rexc8 25.Ref2 Bf8 26.Be2 Nf4 { Sredojevic,I (2396)-Rajkovic,D (2474) Vrnjacka Banja 2008 } ) 21...Nxd5?! { Losing on the spot, but how could Bruzon know? } ( 21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Rb7 23.Qf3 { looks better for White too. } ) 22.Rxf7!! { It takes a while for computers
to change their 0.00. White wins on the spot. } 22...Kxf7 23.Qh7+ Ke6 24.exd5+ Kxd5 ( 24...Bxd5 25.Bxg6 { and Black's free move can't save him, for example } 25...Rf8 ( 25...Bf6 26.Bf5# ) 26.Qh3+ Kf6 27.Rf1+ Kg7 28.Qh7# ) 25.Be4+! { A classic
king hunt, dragging the king further into the danger zone with multiple
sacrifices. } 25...Kxe4 ( 25...Ke6 26.Qxg6+ Bf6 27.Qf5+ Ke7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Bh6+ Rg7 { and now e.g. } 30.Rf1! { and Black can resign. } ) 26.Qf7 { The first
"silent" queen move, threatening mate in one in different ways. } ( { The move } 26.c4! { was in fact a forced mate in 9: } 26...Kd3 ( 26...bxc4 27.Qxg6+ Kd5 28.Qf7+ Ke4 29.Qxc4+ Kf5 30.Rf1+ Bf3 31.Rxf3+ Kg6 32.Qf7# ) 27.Qxg6+ Be4 28.Rd1+ Kc2 29.Qxe4+ Kb3 30.Qd3+ Ka2 31.b4 { and so on. } ) 26...Bf6 27.Bd2+ Kd4 28.Be3+ { Just repeating moves; nothing wrong with that. } 28...Ke4 29.Qb3! { Another silent queen move, theatening Qd3 mate. } 29...Kf5 30.Rf1+ Kg4 31.Qd3! { And the third silent queen move! } 31...Bxg2+ ( 31...Rg7 32.Qe2+ Kh4 33.h3! Qd7 34.Kh2! Bxg2 35.Qxg2 { forces Black to give up his queen. } ) 32.Kxg2 Qa8+ 33.Kg1 Bg5 ( 33...Rg7 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Qd3+ Kg4 37.Qg3+ Kf5 38.Qh3+ Ke4 39.Qd3+ Kf4 40.Be1+ ) 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Be1! { And
another silent move to finish off the game. Just brilliant! Black resigned
here as the threat of putting pieces on the third rank is too much to bear.
For example: } 36...Rf8 ( { not } 36...e4 { cutting off protection of g2 } 37.Qg2# ) 37.Qd3+ Kg4 ( 37...Rf3 38.Rxf3+ Kg4 39.Rg3+ Kf4 ( 39...Kh4 40.Rg2+ Kh5 41.Qh3+ Bh4 42.Qxh4# ) ( 39...Kh5 40.Bd2! { and taking or moving the bishop leads to
catastrophe after Qxg6+ } ) 40.Bd2# ) 38.Qg3+ Kh5 39.Qh3+ Bh4 40.Qxh4#
1-0[/pgn]

My first reaction to move 22.Rf7, was Nf6.
And I don't see what's wrong with that now either.
That's the FIRST thing to check out.

My second reaction to Nf6 is 23.Qe6

took me some seconds to find and it was not the first move that I thought about but found it.

Did not use an engine but this move seems to be strong and decisive.

[Sean Evans]

Remember Fischer's "Game of the Century" and it was backed up by history. Obviously this was an excellent game but "time will tell."

This GM analyst is calling the Wei Yi game the "Game of the Century"

[S.Taylor]

Uri,
OK maybe. I can see some good lines for white after that. I'm sure someone looked at it with a computer for a second or so.

[Sean Evans]

Chessbase has picked up on the game now. News of the game is spreading like wildfire across the Internet chess community

[S.Taylor]

[pgn][Event "6th Hainan Danzhou GM"]
[Site "Danzhou CHN"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wei Yi"]
[Black "Bruzon Batista, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2669"]
[Plycount "79"]
[Eventdate "2015.07.02"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 { Perhaps Bruzon was tricked into the Scheveningen via this
irregular move order. } 10.Kh1 O-O 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Qg3 Bb7 14.a3 { A well-known variation of the Scheveningen. } 14...Rad8 ( { Bruzon only had this
position as Black once in his career, twelve years ago: } 14...Bc6 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Bd3 e5 17.fxe5 Nh5 18.Qh3 dxe5 19.Be3 Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.e5 g6 { Zapata,A (2472)-Bruzon,L (2603) Santo Domingo DOM 2003 } ) 15.Rae1 Rd7 { This
funny-looking move is the most popular in this position. } 16.Bd3 Qd8 { This
might be inaccurate already, even though it was played before by several
grandmasters. } ( { Here the immediate } 16...Re8 { is played more often, e.g. } 17.Re2 ( 17.a4 b4 18.Na2 Qa5 19.Nc1 Qxa4 ( 19...Qh5 20.Nb3 Qg6 21.Qh3 Qg4 22.Qxg4 Nxg4 23.Na5 Ra8 24.Be2 Nf6 { Giri,A (2750)-Hou,Y (2629) Biel 2014 } ) 20.Qh3 h6 21.Nb3 Qc6 22.Na5 Qc7 23.Nxb7 Qxb7 24.Re3 Bd8 { Leko,P (2723)-Wang,Y
(2720) Beijing 2014 } ) 17...Qd8 18.Ref2 Bf8 19.Rf3 g6 20.f5 exf5 21.Rxf5 Nxe4 22.Qf4 Qe7 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qxe4 25.Rxf7 Qxf4 26.R7xf4 Bg7 { Giri,
A (2734)-Grischuk,A (2780) Beijing 2013 } ) 17.Qh3 g6 18.f5 e5 19.Be3 Re8?! ( { Here Black should go } 19...Nh5 20.Rf3 Bc6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Qxh5!? { Basically a draw offer. } ( 22.Nd5 { looks good for White. } ) 22...Bh4 ( 22...gxh5 23.Rg3+ Kh8 24.Bg7+ Kg8 { is nothing more than draw. } ) 23.Qg4 Bxe1 24.f6 Bxc3? ( 24...d5 { was just enough to draw here, as Benjamin Bok pointed
out: } 25.Bg7 Rd6! 26.Qg5 dxe4 27.Rh3 exd3 28.Qh6 Bxg2+! 29.Kxg2 Qa8+ 30.Kg1 Qa7+ { and Black gives perpetual. } ) 25.bxc3 d5 26.Bg7 dxe4 27.Rh3 Rd6 28.Qg5 Rxd3 29.cxd3 { 1-0 Bok,B (2520)-Hansen,E (2584) Oslo 2013 } ) 20.fxg6 ( 20.Qf3 Kh8 21.Bg5 { was also good for White in Alekseev,E (2698)-Jumabayev,R
(2561) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013 } ) 20...hxg6 21.Nd5 { A strong novelty. } ( 21.Bb6 Qc8 22.Re2 Nh5 23.Be3 Rc7 24.Qxc8 Rexc8 25.Ref2 Bf8 26.Be2 Nf4 { Sredojevic,I (2396)-Rajkovic,D (2474) Vrnjacka Banja 2008 } ) 21...Nxd5?! { Losing on the spot, but how could Bruzon know? } ( 21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Rb7 23.Qf3 { looks better for White too. } ) 22.Rxf7!! { It takes a while for computers
to change their 0.00. White wins on the spot. } 22...Kxf7 23.Qh7+ Ke6 24.exd5+ Kxd5 ( 24...Bxd5 25.Bxg6 { and Black's free move can't save him, for example } 25...Rf8 ( 25...Bf6 26.Bf5# ) 26.Qh3+ Kf6 27.Rf1+ Kg7 28.Qh7# ) 25.Be4+! { A classic
king hunt, dragging the king further into the danger zone with multiple
sacrifices. } 25...Kxe4 ( 25...Ke6 26.Qxg6+ Bf6 27.Qf5+ Ke7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Bh6+ Rg7 { and now e.g. } 30.Rf1! { and Black can resign. } ) 26.Qf7 { The first
"silent" queen move, threatening mate in one in different ways. } ( { The move } 26.c4! { was in fact a forced mate in 9: } 26...Kd3 ( 26...bxc4 27.Qxg6+ Kd5 28.Qf7+ Ke4 29.Qxc4+ Kf5 30.Rf1+ Bf3 31.Rxf3+ Kg6 32.Qf7# ) 27.Qxg6+ Be4 28.Rd1+ Kc2 29.Qxe4+ Kb3 30.Qd3+ Ka2 31.b4 { and so on. } ) 26...Bf6 27.Bd2+ Kd4 28.Be3+ { Just repeating moves; nothing wrong with that. } 28...Ke4 29.Qb3! { Another silent queen move, theatening Qd3 mate. } 29...Kf5 30.Rf1+ Kg4 31.Qd3! { And the third silent queen move! } 31...Bxg2+ ( 31...Rg7 32.Qe2+ Kh4 33.h3! Qd7 34.Kh2! Bxg2 35.Qxg2 { forces Black to give up his queen. } ) 32.Kxg2 Qa8+ 33.Kg1 Bg5 ( 33...Rg7 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Qd3+ Kg4 37.Qg3+ Kf5 38.Qh3+ Ke4 39.Qd3+ Kf4 40.Be1+ ) 34.Qe2+ Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3 36.Be1! { And
another silent move to finish off the game. Just brilliant! Black resigned
here as the threat of putting pieces on the third rank is too much to bear.
For example: } 36...Rf8 ( { not } 36...e4 { cutting off protection of g2 } 37.Qg2# ) 37.Qd3+ Kg4 ( 37...Rf3 38.Rxf3+ Kg4 39.Rg3+ Kf4 ( 39...Kh4 40.Rg2+ Kh5 41.Qh3+ Bh4 42.Qxh4# ) ( 39...Kh5 40.Bd2! { and taking or moving the bishop leads to
catastrophe after Qxg6+ } ) 40.Bd2# ) 38.Qg3+ Kh5 39.Qh3+ Bh4 40.Qxh4#
1-0[/pgn]

Oh ALL right then!
So it's a sound win.
White only needed to see a few moves ahead and estimate the rest.

[Kyodai]

[Oh ALL right then!
So it's a sound win.
White only needed to see a few moves ahead and estimate the rest.[/quote]

Yes, that is correct. From Black's point of view, the comments went like "21... Nxd5?! Losing on the spot, but how could Bruzon know?"

Well, knowing is one thing and seeing is another. It's a matter of the eyes - of vision. Like "if I play Nxd5 what happens - oh he has 22.Rxf7,
followed by Qh7+, thus making my King walk the line... As a GM of class he "should" have seen this... Easy to say of course, being just a spectactor,
but it's often surprising what these GM:s miss in their games. Now, I'm raised with tactics - and have a harder time grasping like the subtle moves of
Caruana or Carlsen - but anyways - these tactical themes are known!

And the psychological twist is that Bruzon probably would have seen it, playing white... As said you don't have to calculate much - just see
that Black's King is forced out into the wild land of cross fires... and could not survive there.

[S.Taylor]

AND that leaving the rook uncaptured is mate next move if not defended.
BUT, it might have been hard to see that by returning the Knight by Nf6, it is not good enough after white plays Qe6.

(I could well believe Bruzon looked at ALL this, but did not see the ramifications after 22....Nf6, 23.Qe6).