Ding Liren’s 2017 game against Bai Jingshi is widely considered as his Best Game. It is also Gukesh’s favourite game of his opponent. Let us look at the critical positions from this spectacular game:
GM Bai Jingshi (2553) vs. GM Ding Liren (2774), Chinese Team Championship 2017
( Diagram 1 ) Position after 15.Ne5. Black’s turn to play
The key of this position lies in the White King being in the centre. White is a pawn up currently, and would like to develop his f1 Bishop to e2, after which he will be ready to castle Kingside.
Time is crucial. Here onwards, with every move, Black deprives his opponent of time to breathe!
15…dc3! Not caring about the pin on the d file – It’s a Queen sacrifice! 16. Rd8 cb2 Discovered Check! 17. Ke2 Rd8
Material wise, Black sacrificed his mighty Queen, and received a Rook, Knight and a Pawn in return. Since he had already sacrificed a central pawn on e5 earlier, the material value of this exchange is slightly in White’s favour. However the positional value of Black’s pieces drastically outweighs White’s. The pawn on b2 is only 1 square away from Queening, the Rook occupies the Open d-file now – which was in White’s control earlier, and the Bishop on b4 co-ordinates wonderfully with d8 Rook and the Black knights, creating further threats on the White King. On the other hand, White’s King has weakened further since we removed 2 of his defenders from the Board, along with his right to castle. The Bishop on f1 and Rook on h1 will struggle to join the place of action: the central files. We can conclude that White’s position is miserable.
This sequence is a good example of evaluating a position based on what REMAINS on the board, rather than what was exchanged or given up.
A few moves later the players reached the following position:
Position after 20.Kf3. Black’s turn to play
The White’s King being on f3 suggests that Black would like to give check, which prods us to find the pawn move to g4. However g4 here is met with Ng4 ( Knights also move back! ) and the game isn’t over yet. If we play h5 here, intending g4, then White plays h3 preventing it, and what next?
Black found a brilliant way to continue the attack:
20…Rd4!! A Rook sacrifice but not quite! Picking up the Rook with the e3 pawn will lose the Queen to a fork, as it allows Nd4 Check! The Rook is poisoned, and now Black is ready to play g4 – Ng4 – Bg4 Checkmate, on the next moves!
21. h3 h5! Continuing with the threat of g4 check 22.Bh2 g4 23. Kg3 Rd2! Once again the Rook is poisoned due to the fork on e4 i.e. Qd2 will run into Ne4 Check! So many tactical motifs in one game!
White survived a few more moves and the players reached the following position:
Position after 27.Bf4. Black’s turn to play
The White King on h5 is completely on his own, with only the Bishop on f4 and Knight on e5 being of any help in his defence. Notice how the Bishop on f1 and Rook on h1 are still out of play. It’s striking how useless the White Queen feels right now. For example imagine the White Queen had been on h6, how proud she might have been. Alas she is stuck on b3, neither attacking nor defending.
Meanwhile Black’s Queenside pieces join the party:
27…Bf5! The idea is to deliver Checkmate with Rh8!
28. Bh6 Check Kh7 29. Qb7 (29. Nc6 instead would run into 29…Bg6 check 30. Kg4 f5 31. Kf4 Bd6 Check 32. Ne5 Rf2 Checkmate.) Rf2! Intenting Ng3 Checkmate 30. Bg5 Rh8 31. Nf7 Bg6 Check
32. Kg4 Ne5! Check. Sacrificing the Knight. How many pieces has Black sacrificed in this game! The follow up would have been 33. Ne5 Bf5 Check 34.Kh5 Kg7 Discovered Check 35. Bh6 Rh6 Checkmate!
White had enough of the suffering and resigned after 32..Ne5. Black won!
A game so full of optimism and energy.
