Game Of the Week: GM Mamedyarov vs. GM Vallejo Pons

GM Mamedyarov vs. GM Vallejo Pons

Opening: D39: QGD

Player(s): Mamedyarov, Vallejo Pons

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Magnus Carlsen won the World Rapid and World Blitz Championships in Dubai, which added to his conquest of the Classical title gives him a rare triple. His stated strategy in blitz chess was rather simple: Play quickly, and don't blunder. But grandmasters occasionally play the blitz games full tilt, trying to produce a game of real quality.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov went for a sacrificial attack against Spanish GM Francisco Vallejo Pons. Calculating everything simply wasn't possible, and there were errors on both sides. Still, you wouldn't necessarily know it was a blitz game from looking at the moves.