Hikaru
Wei Yi
Hikaru
 
Wei Yi
 
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
1
12
23 turns without comments
12

Overall a very solid approach here by Wei Yi in the opening, going for a very classical choice. He's okay with giving Hikaru a little more space for now in this Catalan System position.

-06:-42 Rc8
13

A clever little tactical point by Hikaru. The pawn isn't hanging because of the x-ray on Wei Yi's bishop.

-06:-18 b4
13

A typical idea, looking to get rid of the strong active bishop.

02:29 Nh5
14

Not allowing the trade of knight for bishop. But the drawback is that now the bishop's on a bit of a poor square.

-04:-48 Be3
14
16
5 turns without comments
17

An odd-looking retreat from Hikaru, but the idea is that he was worried about the pawn being pushed. But for now that's no longer possible.

03:07 Ne1
17

Wei Yi recycles his knight, figuring its job has been done earlier on when it harassed the bishop.

-06:-04 Nhf6
18

Hikaru happy to see that last move. Now he's able to get his bishop away from the odd-looking square it sat on earlier. Overall, a healthy position for Wei Yi with the center but then again Hikaru has a passed pawn on the left hand side!

-05:-40 Bg5
18

Wei Yi pressures the base of the pawn chain, at the same time blockading the advance of Hikaru's passed pawn.

-04:-57 Nb6
19
21
5 turns without comments
21

This pawn center looking like the key feature of the position. From a human point of view, the position feels much harder to play for Hikaru than for Wei Yi.

-03:-01 a4
22

Retreating with the knight, but with aggressive intent. Hikaru's got his eye on that somewhat loose advanced pawn on the left hand side.

-01:-13 Nb2
22
1 turn without comment
23

Interestingly, Hikaru returns with his knight, highlighting that the pawn is no longer defended.

-04:-17 Nd3
23

Wei Yi drops back with his own rook to its starting point. Could we be about to see an early draw in game 1?!

-03:-52 Rc8
24

Hikaru flirting with a draw by repetition. The ball in Wei Yi's court now.

-02:-33 Nb2
24

Wei Yi rejects the draw!

It's not a guarantee that Hikaru was going to play into the 3-fold repetition, but it's telling of Wei Yi's ambition in this game that he goes for more straight away, in spite of having the Black pieces!

-04:-10 Bxb2
25
27
5 turns without comments
27

A very harmonious setup here, with the rooks defending the strong central pawns. Hard to get something going here for Hikaru.

03:17 Rfd8
28
1 turn without comment
28

Wei Yi sets up a protected passed pawn, and threatens a deadly fork at the same time.

-02:-17 c4
29
30
3 turns without comments
30

Wei Yi shows his idea! Powerful outposts set up by his advanced pawn structure, and now some potential damage on the cards for Hikaru to deal with.

06:57 Nc5
31
1 turn without comment
31

Hikaru under serious pressure!

Wei Yi is the one with the stronger knight and more dangerous structure. Pressure firmly on Hikaru Nakamura!

05:06 Nb3
32

LOW ON TIME!!

Down to two minutes for each player, as Hikaru sharpens up the game with a threat of mate in one!

-01:-27 Nf5
32
37
10 turns without comments
37

Wei Yi emerges from the time scramble one pawn up but twenty seconds down! Anybody's game here, but perhaps Hikaru may even be the favorite here given the clock situation!

-01:-05 Qxb5
38
42
10 turns without comments
43

A nightmare for Wei Yi all of a sudden. Hikaru no risk in this slightly better endgame, and he's down on time to boot.

00:-29 Rad1
43
48
10 turns without comments
48

The problem for Wei Yi is that Hikaru can sit on this position for a lot more moves, and aim to flag Wei Yi on the clock!

08:35 R8d7
49
53
10 turns without comments
54

Wei Yi has had a close shave where Hikaru had one winning tactic that he missed. But now it's back to completely level.

00:-23 Ra7
54
96
85 turns without comments
97

Wow!

Wei Yi actually played his way into a winning endgame in that time scramble, showing complete fearlessness by the Chinese grandmaster after declining the option to repeat moves on more than one occasion throughout the game! Onto the crucial game 2!

01:42 Kxh4

Can Wei Yi take down Hikaru Nakamura?! 

If you were to ask a room full of grandmasters, few would be brave enough to bet against Hikaru Nakamura in this format when he’s facing off against anyone who’s not called Magnus Carlsen! But the American may be coming into the day with his confidence slightly shaken by yesterday’s topsy-turvy battle against Javokhir Sindarov, the same player that Wei Yi just eliminated 2-0 to earn a shot at Hikaru Nakamura! 

That’s something that will certainly give the Chinese no.1 a lot of confidence, and he’ll know that so long as he can keep up the good form he’s shown so far today, then he’s got as good a chance as anyone of upsetting one of the pre-tournament favorites!

Will Hikaru continue to assert his historical dominance in this fast-paced format and punch his ticket to the quarterfinals? Or will Wei Yi find a way to push the American beyond his limit?!