Wesley So vs Hua Ni (2008) It's a So-Ni

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Wesley So vs Hua Ni
"It's a So-Ni" (game of the day Sep-28-2009)
Dresden Olympiad (2008), Dresden GER, rd 1, Nov-13
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. l'Hermet Variation Berlin Wall Defense (C67) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Mar-30-09		LaFreak II: Great Wall collapses..

Mar-30-09		kurtrichards: Actually there are two walls that collapsed here - The Berlin Wall and the Great Wall.

Jul-07-09		visayanbraindoctor: If GM So can consistently play like this, he will surely become a Candidate someday. I hope to see this day.

Jul-07-09		visayanbraindoctor: The play of GM So in this game is Capablanca-like. He plays the middlegame brilliantly in view of steering the game to an accurately won endgame. Ni Hua is the first super-GM caliber chessplayer So has played, I believe. However, there are younger Chinese players such as Yu and Ding who probably are underrated; and who I expect would be So's fiercest competitors in the years to come in his age bracket.

Jul-19-09		rjsolcruz: iNTERVIEW WITH WESLEY SO Chessdom: Can you single out your most memorable game? Wesley So: My game against Ni Hua in Olympiad which was my first win against a 2700 player.

Jul-19-09		wordfunph: <rjsolcruz: iNTERVIEW WITH WESLEY SO Chessdom: Can you single out your most memorable game? Wesley So: My game against Ni Hua in Olympiad which was my first win against a 2700 player.> GM Wesley So will have more memorable games to come coz this game won't be the last win over a 2700.

Sep-28-09		WannaBe: I thought the Berlin was draw-ish!

Sep-28-09		randomsac: cool exciting game

Sep-28-09		DrCurmudgeon: So this is what all the talk is about?

Sep-28-09		weisyschwarz: Fall of thr Berlin Huall. Great persistence by So.

Sep-28-09		Chessmensch: Black used an awful lot of tempi moving his king around.

Sep-28-09		playground player: So looks a little bit like Morphy in this game.

Sep-28-09		RandomVisitor: 3 minutes per move: looks like 17...c5 was black's last chance. Wesley So (2610) - Ni Hua (2710) [C67] 2008 Olympiad Dresden GER (1), 13.11.2008 [Rybka 3 ] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 last book move 10...b6 0.41/15 11.Ne4= 0.11/17 [Rybka 3 : 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Bf4 Be7 13.a4 Rd8 14.a5 Rxd1+ 15.Rxd1 bxa5 16.Ra1 Bb4 17.Ne2 h6 18.Kf1 g5 19.Bh2 Bc5 20.Rxa5 0.41/15 ] 11...Be6 0.43/18 [Rybka 3 : 11...Be7 12.a4 a5 13.Rd1 Be6 14.b3 Bd5 15.Re1 Rd8 16.Bb2 h6 17.Rad1 Bb4 18.c3= 0.11/17 ] 12.g4= -0.02/18 [Rybka 3 : 12.b3 Rd8 13.Bb2 h5 14.Rad1 Be7 15.c4 Rd7 16.g3 Kd8 17.Kg2 Kc8 18.Rxd7 Kxd7 19.Rd1+ Kc8 20.Neg5 Rd8 0.43/18 ] 12...Ne7= 0.17/16 [Rybka 3 : 12...Bd5 13.Re1 Ne7 14.e6= -0.02/18 ] 13.Re1= -0.05/17 [Rybka 3 : 13.Nd4 Bd7 14.f4 c5 15.Nf3 Bc6 16.Ng3 g6 17.Ng5 Bg7 18.e6 f5 19.Re1 Kf8 20.c3 h6= 0.17/16 ] 13...h6= 0.05/17 [Rybka 3 : 13...h5 14.Nfg5 Bd5 15.Nc3 hxg4 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.hxg4 Nb4 18.Re2 Rd8 19.Be3 Be7 20.Kg2 Nd5 21.Nf3 a5 22.Bc1= -0.05/17 ] 14.Nd4 0.05/17 Bd5 0.39/16 [Rybka 3 : 14...Rd8 15.Be3 Bc8 16.c4 h5 17.f3 hxg4 18.hxg4 Ba6 19.Rac1 c5 20.Nb5 Bxb5 21.cxb5 Nd5 22.Bd2 Ne7 23.Rc3 Ng6 24.f4= 0.05/17 ] 15.Bf4= 0.20/17 [Rybka 3 : 15.b3 c5 16.Nb5 Kd7 17.c4 Bc6 18.Ng3 Kc8 19.Bb2 Kb7 20.e6 a6 21.Nc3 fxe6 22.Rxe6 Rd8 23.Rae1 Nc8 0.39/16 ] 15...Kd7 0.82/17 [Rybka 3 : 15...Ng6 16.Bg3 h5 17.Nc3 hxg4 18.Nxd5 cxd5 19.hxg4 Nh4 20.Re3 Bc5 21.Rd1 c6 22.Rc3 Kd7 23.Nb3 Be7 24.Rcd3 Kc8 25.Nd4 Kb7 26.e6= 0.20/17 ] 16.Rad1 0.63/15 Kc8 0.82/17 [Rybka 3 : 16...h5 17.Ng5 hxg4 18.e6+ fxe6 19.Ndxe6 Ng6 20.Bg3 gxh3 21.Nxc7 h2+ 22.Bxh2 Bd6 23.Rxd5 cxd5 24.Bxd6 Rac8 25.Nf7 Rh5 26.Na6 Rf5 27.Nb8+ Rxb8 28.Bxb8 Rxf7 29.Bxa7 Nh4 30.Re3 d4 31.Re2 Nf3+ 0.63/15 ] 17.Bg3= 0.06/17 [Rybka 3 : 17.e6 Ng6 18.Bg3 Bxe6 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Nd2 e5 21.Nc4 Bc5 22.Nxe5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Rf8 24.Bg3 Rf7 25.Re6 Kb7 26.Kg2 Raf8 27.f4 Rf6 28.Rxf6 gxf6 29.Bf2 Bxf2 30.Kxf2 Rf7 0.82/17 ] 17...Kb7 0.86/18 [Rybka 3 : 17...c5 18.Nf5 Be6 19.Nxe7+ Bxe7 20.Nc3 Kb7 21.Nd5 Bf8 22.b3 Rd8 23.Nf4 Be7 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.f4 g6 26.Kf2 Kc6 27.Kf3 Kb5 28.c3= 0.06/17 ] 18.e6 0.75/17 Rd8 1.22/18 [Rybka 3 : 18...fxe6 19.Nc3 Nc8 20.Nxe6 Bxe6 21.Rxe6 Nd6 22.Ne4 Re8 23.Rxe8 Nxe8 24.Kg2 Kc8 25.Be5 Rh7 26.f4 g6 27.Kf3 Rd7 28.Re1 Rf7 0.75/17 ] 19.Nc3 1.09/17 f6 1.83/20 [Rybka 3 : 19...fxe6 20.Nxe6 Rd7 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22.c4 Kc8 23.Be5 Nc6 24.cxd5 Nxe5 25.Rxe5 c5 26.Rf5 Bd6 27.f4 c4 28.Kf2 Re8 29.Kf3 b5 1.09/17 ] 20.Nxd5 1.83/20 cxd5 1.83/19 21.Nb5 1.75/17 Rc8 2.53/20 [Rybka 3 : 21...c5 22.Nd6+ Rxd6 23.Bxd6 Kc6 24.Bg3 Ng6 25.Kg2 Bd6 26.Bxd6 Kxd6 27.Kg3 Ne7 28.f4 h5 29.Re3 h4+ 30.Kf3 Nc6 31.c3 g5 32.Re2 Re8 1.75/17 ] 22.c4 2.53/16 a6 2.53/22 23.Nxc7 2.53/21 Rxc7 2.53/20 24.cxd5 2.49/18 Nc8 2.53/24 25.Bxc7 2.53/24 Kxc7 2.53/23 26.Rc1+ 2.53/23 Kd8 2.53/21 27.Rxc8+ 2.53/24 Kxc8 2.53/23 28.e7 2.50/22 Bxe7 2.39/20 29.Rxe7 2.19/19 Rd8 2.93/22 [Rybka 3 : 29...Rg8 30.Ra7 Kb8 31.Rf7 a5 32.Kg2 Kc8 33.d6 h5 34.gxh5 Rh8 35.Rxg7 Rxh5 36.Kg3 2.19/19 ] 30.Rxg7 2.53/22 Rxd5 2.93/21 31.Rg6 2.53/19 Rd2? 4.94/20 [Rybka 3 : 31...f5 32.Rxh6 fxg4 33.hxg4 Rd4 34.Rg6 a5 35.Kh2 Rd2 36.Rxb6 Rxf2+ 37.Kg3 Rc2 38.g5 Kd7 39.g6 Ke7 40.Rb7+ Kf8 41.Kf4 Rf2+ 42.Ke5 Rg2 43.Kf6 Rf2+ 2.53/19 ] 32.Rxh6 4.14/19 Rxb2 5.12/16 33.Rxf6 5.12/17 Kd7 5.12/19 34.a4 4.72/19 Ke7 5.12/20 35.g5 4.72/19 Rb4 5.12/20 36.Kg2 5.12/19 a5 5.12/18 37.Kg3 4.72/18 Rxa4 5.12/19 38.Rxb6 5.12/17 Ra1 5.12/17 39.Ra6 5.12/16 a4 5.12/15 40.Kg4 5.12/15 a3 5.29/16 41.f4 5.19/15 a2 5.68/14 42.Kf5 5.54/13 1-0

Sep-28-09		WhiteRook48: after 42 Kf5 black's only mobile piece is the king- rook and pawn are stuck

Sep-28-09		pawneetribe: Wesley...a real crusher!

Sep-28-09		Starf1re: Ouch....was black ill? Things look awful after white's 8th move!

Sep-29-09		Gilmoy: <Starf1re: Things look awful after white's 8th move!> This line is book through <8.Qxd8+ Kxd8>, and fairly draw-ish: about +3=5-2 (0.553 ppg) over 1030 games. The main line goes through <10.h3>, 0.558 ppg over 186 games. Black plays this for the ~70% non-loss outcome, and/or to lure a strong attacker into a Queen-less positional mid-game (that you've studied and he hasn't). In the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik WC match, Kramnik used this line 4 times for 4 easy draws, which probably cemented its reputation as a drawing weapon for Black. <10..b6> and the K-walk to b7 are standard ideas. <11..Be6> is rare, and usually good for White. We see a possible reason why: this B becomes a target for White's Ns. <20.Nxd5> fixes Black's doubled pawns, but gains b5 for a very annoying outpost.

Sep-29-09		SugarDom: I submitted this game for game of the day... No explanation needed for the pun, unless you live in a cave and haven't seen a Sony commercial... By the way, i'm not the originator of this pun, i just submitted it...

Sep-29-09		kevin86: The black pawn is nailed on the one yard line while white's pawns march ahead.

Oct-11-09		tanuri: plays a little like carlsen when he was that young

Sep-28-11		visayanbraindoctor: This game, his first win against a super GM, IMO highlights GM So's main strength - maintaining a clear positional advantage all the way to the endgame. If he develops an opening repertoire that can get him into such middlegames consistently, he can probably slug it out with the best. This plus avoiding frequent losses in tactical games (for example the infamous W So vs A Giri, 2010 or the more recent V Laznicka vs W So, 2011, where he misses tactical shots) would probably be enough to get him to the Candidates.

Sep-28-11		SugarDom: Nowadays, everybody got a supercomputer and you can't make bread and butter at the opening anymore. Wesley has to be more versatile, he can slug it out on wild complications on the middlegame or simplifies to a winning endgame with fine technique not unlike Capablanca...

Sep-28-11		visayanbraindoctor: Here are GM So's losses this year in classical games in the CG data base: W So vs Li Chao, 2011 W So vs A Shomoev, 2011 B Adhiban vs W So, 2011 W So vs N Grandelius, 2011 V Laznicka vs W So, 2011 Negi vs W So, 2011 McShane vs W So, 2011 In all of them, he loses a tactical battle (missing tactical shots) or he walks into an inferior opening variation. In order to get to the Candidates, he (and his seconds) will have to find a way to decrease such losses. IMO the best way is to develop a solid opening repertoire that will get him into even or advantageous positional middlegames that still have scope for a complex struggle. This is where he is strongest. With such a repertoire, he should be able to get into the Candidates within the next 3 cycles. (Just my opinion.)

Sep-29-11		SugarDom: <In all of them, he loses a tactical battle (missing tactical shots) or he walks into an inferior opening variation> That's common to a lot of world class GMs. Otherwise, they will not incur any losses. Of course, you can develop a solid opening repertoire. It doesn't mean you will not walk into a variation that you did not sufficiently research. Actually, we think he's drawing a lot of games already with his solid opening repertoire. In your example above, he also lost his way in the complex struggle and that's why he missed the tactical shots. Actually it's not just the playing style, but the way he's planning the tournaments he join is one of the problems.

Jan-17-21		AngeLa: berlin wall, great walll , .. what about wall street?

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