Bilbao: Ding Liren Saves R vs RB Ending After 174 Moves

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Sean Evans
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Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:58 pm
Location: Canada

Bilbao: Ding Liren Saves R vs RB Ending After 174 Moves

Post by Sean Evans »

Analysis by Peter Doggers

The third round of the Bilbao Masters Final saw two more draws. In one of them, Ding Liren saved a R vs RB endgame against Anish Giri in a game that lasted 174 moves.

With two draws the standings didn't change in the third round in Bilbao, but there certainly was no lack of fighting spirit, at least one one of the boards!
Ding Liren and Anish Giri played no fewer than 174 moves before splitting the point, while the game could have ended much earlier. In a Fianchetto Grünfeld, Giri expected 27.Nf3 when “in three moves we would have shaken hands,” as the Dutchman told Chess.com. (The next hurdle would have been the Sofia Rule.)

Ding's 27.Rxa6?! was followed by a number of tactical blows by Giri, who quickly won a healthy pawn.

Right after the time control Ding could have gone for the R vs RB endgame, a known theoretical draw, but he decided to avoid it. This second mistake should have been punished; between moves 45 and 48 Giri missed two not-so-easy wins.

After yet another practical mistake by the Chinese GM (Ding missed a chance to trade one pair of rooks), Giri got the chance to play RRB vs RR and tried for almost 50 moves.

“Somewhere there was a win,” said Giri. “But playing on increment it was like a blind squirrel trying to find a nut,” as Giri quoted his compatriot Loek van Wely.

He traded rooks just before Ding could have claimed a draw (which was pure luck, as Giri wasn't aware!), then tried to win RB vs R for more than 50 before the game was finally drawn!