It's been an exciting match thus far, with Donchenko winning the first game and forcing Liem Le Quang to win on demand. But that he did, and so we now move to the second set of rapid games, this time played at a slightly faster time control of 10+10!
Both sides place their rooks behind the queenside pawns, sidestepping the pressure along the diagonal and at the same time prepping a potential push of the pawn in the future.
Donchenko still cannot push the pawn forward, as for now his knight would be hanging if he did so. But he'll likely prepare this soon.
Donchenko brings his bishop out in support of the knight, preparing to push his pawn forward on the queenside.
So far in these kind of technical positions Donchenko has more than held his own against Liem Le. So the German player is likely not unhappy here.
This move is a little risky for Liem Le in the long term, as it leaves some holes in the queenside that Donchenko might be able to make use of down the line.
Liem Le has an opportunity to try to build a strong central pawn presence, but this could blow up in his face too as it block his light-squared bishop and leaves his structure a bit less stable.
Donchenko sets up some tactical ideas against Liem Le's undefended knight, which is now being x-rayed by the enemy queen.
Objectively, the position is around equal. But in practice it's harder to play Donchenko's side here, as Liem Le has some easier squares to maneuver around in the center.
Donchenko has traded off a bunch of pieces, but still has some work to do to completely neutralize Liem Le's slight initiative.
If Donchenko can trade the knights under good circumstances, then it should be relatively straightforward for him to hold the draw.
Donchenko sets up some outside attacking chances here, if he can get in the pawn break by pushing his pawn forward one more square.
A good move and a typical reaction to Donchenko's last pawn push. Now if Donchenko keeps pushing the pawn, then Liem Le can push back in return.
This looks slightly imprecise, and allows Donchenko some relief as the knights get immediately exchanged. Invading with the rook while keeping the tension looked more convincing.
Donchenko has a big chance here to start getting a little activity, by fighting for the open file.
Donchenko is back in the game fully now, with the rook activity making it difficult for Liem Le to make any real progress here. Complete equality again!
Liem Le has to watch out here, as there is a big threat of bringing the rook down to the seventh rank.
Liem Le understood that he no longer had any edge, so he liquidated the rooks and is now likely guiding the game towards a draw.
If any side has the better placed pieces now, it's Donchenko. But there's not enough material on the board and not enough weaknesses to target, to believe that either side will be able to generate winning chances.
Donchenko has made some progress here, even though for now it's still largely optical. But he has more space, an active queen, and his bishop has now gotten active. Liem Le has to be on guard.
Liem Le breaks under pressure! If Donchenko spots the bishop push, he can get a winning queen endgame!!
Donchenko misses the crushing move, which was admittedly quite inhuman. But still, Liem Le still has to be careful here now that his structure has been shattered.
Now even more material is going to come off the board.
Crazy! Liem Le willingly goes into a losing bishop endgame!!
Liem Le might have missed that he cannot bring his bishop forward to guard the pawn in the desirable way, because the outside passed pawn will decide matters!
We find ourselves in a winning endgame, but not a trivial one to win. Donchenko already missed a golden chance to end the match in the classical, failing to convert a winning rook and pawn ending. Will lightning strike twice?
This is a blunder, taking the game back to a theoretically drawn endgame. But still difficult in practice, so still possible for Liem Le to lose.
Pushing the pawn seems simplest, when the very advanced position of Liem Le's last pawn will make it impossible for Donchenko to advance either of his own pawns.
Donchenko needs to spot the plan where the king goes to the center, to support his bishop coming in.
Donchenko has found the right plan, and looks like he's about to convert this!
Now Donchenko even has a trick where he can push the pawn forward, since if Liem Le approaches with the king then there's a typical tactical idea involving a bishop sacrifice to promote the pawn (or win Liem Le's own bishop).
Now that Donchenko has anchored his bishop on the ideal square, he is looking to activate his king once again to support the pawn on the right hand side.
Looks like Donchenko is now running to an advanced post on the queenside.
Both of Liem Le's pieces are stuck, each one guarding each of Donchenko's passed pawns. While Liem Le's own passed pawn can never move as it will run into bishop takes pawn!
Beautiful technical play from Donchenko, turning around what seemed to be a really challenging middlegame for him and eventually securing the full point after nearly 100 moves of play!
It was one for future endgame manuals, as Donchenko showed how to make the most of just a one-pawn advantage. Beautiful play from the German grandmaster, and now Liem Le will need to immediately strike back with the Black pieces in the next game.
He's already done it once before. Will we see a repeat?!