The 4th Danzhou Grand Master Chess Tournament is taking place in Danzhou, Hainan, from 20 May to 29 May 2013. Ten Chinese Grandmasters compete in the round robin tournament.
Ni Hua is leading the field as the only player that maintained a perfect score after three rounds. Two of these victories were achieved with the black pieces.
The first victim of the fourth seeded player was Xiu Deshun. A very long and hard-fought battle finished with Ni Hua getting the faster passed pawns on the queenside.
In the second round the leader had to face the Dutch put up by Lu Shanglei. After a series of simplifications the players went into a queens and rooks endgame where white’s initiative was enough to get ahead. Shanglei resigned on move 41 when he is about to lose his rook.
Young GM Wei Yi was the last one to fall. He played white and agreed to get in a sharp Ruy Lopez. A tactical sequence around move 22 left him a piece down and he decided to resign instead of suffering any longer.
Rating favorites Bu Xiangzhi and Ding Liren are sharing second place with 2.5/3.
Standings after 3 rounds:
1 GM Ni Hua 2646 3
2 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2662 2.5
3 GM Ding Liren 2707 2.5
4 GM Zhou Weiqi 2590 1.5
5 GM Yu Yangyi 2675 1.5
6 GM Zhou Jianchao 2607 1
7 GM Xiu Deshun 2534 1
8 GM Wen Yang 2618 1
9 GM Wei Yi 2530 0.5
10 GM Lu Shanglei 2551 0.5
Where’s Nakamura?