Ding Liren vs Alexander Grischuk, English Opening, Tarrasch Defense, A35
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 11
Ding Liren has played his 11th consecutive draw! He should not be blamed for this one, though, as he played an absolutely brilliant attacking game against Alexander Grischuk. They played a symmetrical English Opening, which entered a Tarrasch by transposition, a variation which isn’t very popular on top level.
At one point in the middlegame Ding Liren went berserk, sacrificed two pawns and created such a strong attack that Grischuk was a move from resigning twice! The position was more than +15 for white according to the engines!
Sadly for Ding, he missed the winning variation and let Alexander get away with half a point. The worse thing is that by the end, Grischuk was too almost winning at one point, because Ding allowed him to march his passed pawn too close to queening, which almost ended costing him the game.
*Tarrasch Defense (named after Siegbert Tarrasch, 1862-1934) – the usual move order in the Tarrasch is
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 c5
And it’s a variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, but it often accurse after 1.c4 as well, as the English Opening often has both c4 and d4 played which then becomes some form of QGD in most cases.
Chess Candidates Tournament, standings after round 11:
Fabiano Caruana 7/11
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 6.5/11
Alexander Grischuk 6/11
Sergey Karjakin 6/11
Ding Liren 5.5/11
Vladimir Kramnik 5/11
Wesley So 4.5/11
Levon Aronian 3.5/11 ! (he was the pre-tournament favorite!)