HDBanks Round 6

The lead has changed hands with GM Le Quang Liem beating GM Mark Paragua and GM Zhou Jianchao beating IM Wei Yi to share the joint lead with 5.5 points. GM Oliver Barbosa is in sole third with 5 points. GM Le Quang Liem plays GM Mark Paragua in the seventh round while GM Zhou Jianchao plays GM Zhou Weiqi.

Yeoh Li Tian is on 3.5 points after drawing the 1995 rated Nguyen Anh Khoi in the fifth round and beating Chinese Liu Hongyan rated 2020. He plays Chinese untitled Liu Yijie but rated at 2400 in the seventh round due to start this morning at 10:00 AM. He needs to win to keep IM norm chances. Below is Li Tian's fifth round game with light comments.

HDBanks Round 4

Chinese sensation IM Wei Yi and Filipino GM Mark Paragua leads with full points after four rounds in the HDBank Cup International. They will play each other in the fifth round. Wei Yi beat Filipino GM Oliver Barbosa. Yeoh Li Tian lost to IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen , blundering a piece in time trouble.

Li Tian wins in Round 3

Yeoh Li Tian has beaten unrated Vietnamese Tran Nguyen Que Huong in the third round of the HDBanks Cup International in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. With this win, Li Tian has 2 points out of possible three.

His fourth round opponent is another Vietnamese , IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen rated 2422. The next round continues at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning. There will be two rounds tomorrow.

IM Wang Chen - Yeoh Li Tian

After the first round win, Li Tian could not continue the momentum and lost to IM Wang Chen from China. What is troubling is the way he lost. Simply put, he had no idea how to play the middle-game after a perfect opening.

[Event "HDBank Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.03.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wang Chen"]
[Black "Yeoh Li Tian"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bh5

Yeoh Li Tian - GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son is the number two player in Vietnam, rated at ELO 2647. A former strong junior just like Le Quang Liem, he reportedly learnt chess at the age of three. He attained the IM title at 12 years old and the GM title two years later. His most recent success was winning the Zone 3.3 tournament, thus qualifying for the World Cup.

[Event "HDBank Open]"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.03.19"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Yeoh Li Tian"]
[Black "Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Liew,Jimmy"]


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8.
c4 Nb6 9. Nc3 Ba6 10. b3 O-O-O 11. Bb2 Re8 12. f4 f6 13. Ne4 fxe5 14. fxe5 d5
15. Nd2 g6 16. O-O-O Bh6 17. Kb1 Bxd2 18. Qxd2 dxc4 19. Qa5 Kb7 20. g3 Rhf8 ?

I wonder if black purposely allowed the skewer. Without the black square
bishop, the white king will be exposed so maybe black is counting on this.

 21. Ba3 Qe6 22. Bxf8 Rxf8 23. Qc5 Rf5 24. Bg2 cxb3

Black rejects 24... Rxe5 25. Bxc6+ Kb8 26. Rd8+ Bc8 27. Rxc8+ Nxc8 28. Qxc4
Qxc4 29. bxc4 Nd6 30. Rf1 a6 31. Bd5 as this is drawish. However this is playing with fire.

25. Rhe1 g5 !?

A surprising move but has a point in that it sets a trap for white 

26. Rd8

White threatens 27.Bxc6 and 28 Rb8+ winning. The trap for white is (26. Bh3 Qg6
27. Bxf5 Qxf5+ 28. Ka1 b2+ 29. Kxb2 Na4+  and wins 

26... Rf6

The other alternative is 26... Nd7 27. Qb4+ Nb6 28. Bh3 wins for white as there is no tactical save as in the previous note.

27. Be4 Rh6 28. Rc1 Bc4 ??

28... bxa2+ 29. Ka1 Bc4 is still hold for black

29. axb3 Bxb3 30. Rd6 !

By now both players will be playing on increments which should explain the sub-optimal moves on both sides

Bd5 31. Bxd5 ?

White can go for the material win with 31.Rxe6 Bxe4+ 32. Ka1 Rxe6 33. Re1 wins for white as he retains the passed e-pawn

31... Qf5+ 32. Ka2 Rxh2+ 33. Ka3 cxd5 ??

This last mistake ends the game. black survives the mate after 33... Qd3+ 34. Bb3 cxd6 35. Qxc6+
Kb8 36. e6 (36. exd6 Rd2 wins the e-pawn) 36... Re2 37. Qc7+ Ka8 38. Qd8+ Kb7
39. Rc7+ Ka6  

34. Qc6+ Ka6 35. Qa4+ Kb7 36. Rxc7+ Kxc7 37. Qxa7+ Kc8 38. Qa6+ 1-0

HDBank Round 1

The live games feed from the tournament site showed that Yeoh Li Tian had beaten Vietnam grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son at around 3:00 PM today. I was not too sure because there can be errors using such online game feeds. So I thought it best to wait till the official results are posted to the chessgames site before making any celebratory announcements.

Li Tian played a sharp Scotch Game as white against the Vietnamese grandmaster. A very tactical game ensured with both players trading tactical blows. Li Tian's king castled on the queen-side was completely exposed while the GM king (also on queen-side) seemed well defended with his pawns on a7, c7 and c6.

The GM may have missed Li Tian's 30th move (30. Rd6!) which enleashed an irresistable attack on the black king. I cannot really do justice to this game without consulting an engine so game will be published later tonight with Houdini help :)  It really is that sharp.

This is the final position after Qa6+. The black king will be mated.

Li Tian plays Chinese IM Wang Chen next round, which is due to start ..well around now (there is two rounds today).