Ding Liren Turns a Small Edge Into a Win Against Keymer at the Samarkand Olympiad

Here is a strange fact about chess. Sometimes you win a pawn and the game is still equal.

Look at the board below. White has just captured a pawn on f6. White has three pawns and Black has two. Our engine, Stockfish 17.1, still scored the position as level.

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Position after 33.Bxf6, with Black to move. White has won a pawn: three pawns to two. The white bishop on f6 and the black bishop on d5 travel on different colours of squares.

So why is it level? The answer decided the game between Ding Liren and Vincent Keymer, and it is a good thing for every young player to know.

Ding Liren 1-0 Vincent Keymer 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad, Samarkand 2026 · Open Section, Round 6 · 21 September 2026 White: Ding Liren, China (2733) · Black: Vincent Keymer, Germany (2764)

Ding is a former World Champion. Keymer is one of the top players in Germany and had the higher rating here. The win helped China beat Germany 3-1 in the match. Xu Xiangyu also won for China against Alexander Donchenko, while Wei Yi against Matthias Bluebaum and Yu Yangyi against Frederik Svane were draws.

A quiet game for 30 moves

The game began with 1.Nf3, a calm and flexible first move.

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c5 4.O-O g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7

Both players tucked their kings away and traded pieces. The queens came off the board on move 15. After that, our engine never rated either side as better than about half a pawn until move 34.

There was one big difference, and it was not on the board. It was on the clock.

From move 27 to move 40, Keymer's clock never showed more than 1 minute 32 seconds after any of his moves. It dropped as low as 33 seconds. Ding, in the same stretch, had between about 14 and 33 minutes left. That means every choice had to be quick. Playing well with very little time is hard for everyone, including the very best.

Move 33: a pawn is not always a win

Ding took a pawn with his bishop on move 33.

33.Bxf6 Rf7 34.g5

That is the position at the top of this article. Why did the engine still say "level"?

Because of the bishops. White's bishop stands on a dark square and Black's stands on a light square. Bishops only ever stay on their own colour. When each side has one, and they are on different colours, they are called opposite-coloured bishops. Neither bishop can ever attack or trade with the other one.

That makes it very hard for the side with the extra pawn to win. The other player can park pieces on squares that the enemy bishop can never reach.

Ding did not try to break through on one side. He made a second problem for Black.

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Position after 34.g5, with Black to move. The pawn on g5 protects the bishop on f6. The bishop covers g7, h8, e7 and d8, so Black's king has less room.

Look at what 34.g5 did. The pawn on g5 protects the bishop on f6, so Black's rook cannot win it. The bishop also watches g7, h8, e7 and d8. That takes squares away from Black's king on g8.

Rook and pawns together

Now Ding brought his rook to the fight.

34...Rb7 35.Ra5 Bc6 36.Rc5 Bb5+ 37.Kf2 a5 38.h4 Kf7 39.f4

The rook went to a5, where it attacked the pawn on a7. It went on to c5, where it attacked the bishop on c6. Each move made a small threat that Black had to answer. Then Ding pushed his pawns. Count them in the next picture.

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Position after 39.f4, with Black to move. On the kingside White has three pawns, on f4, g5 and h4. Black has one, on g6.

On the kingside, White has three pawns against one. When you have more pawns than your opponent on one side of the board, you can push them to make a passed pawn. That is a pawn with no enemy pawn in front of it or beside it to stop it. A passed pawn is a great thing to have, because the other side must use pieces to stop it.

Our engine looked at this position and liked 39...Bd7 for Black. After that move it had White ahead by about 0.9 of a pawn. Keymer played something else.

Move 39: the pawn that could not stay

39...a4 40.f5

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Position after 39...a4, with White to move. After 40.f5, the pawn on f5 will attack Black's pawn on g6, and the h-pawn is ready to join in.

After 39...a4, our engine rated the position as White ahead by about 3.0 pawns, a big jump. The reason is what happens next. When White plays 40.f5, the pawn on f5 attacks the pawn on g6. The pawn on h4 is ready to come to h5 and attack it as well.

Black's a-pawn had moved forward too, but that pawn was on the other side of the board, a long way from the action.

40...Bd7 41.h5 gxh5 42.Bd4 Bxf5

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Position after 42...Bxf5, with White to move. Nothing protects Black's bishop on f5, and White's rook on c5 attacks it. Taking it, 43.Rxf5+, is also check.

Black's bishop took the pawn on f5. But no black piece protected it, and Ding's rook on c5 attacked it along the fifth row. He took it with check.

43.Rxf5+ Kg6 44.Ra5 a3 45.Kf3 Rb4 46.Be3 Rb3 47.Ra6+ Kf5

White was now a bishop up for a pawn. Black's a-pawn on a3 was a danger, but Ding's g-pawn was on its way, and it was White's turn to move.

The g-pawn finishes it

48.g6 Rb4

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Position after 48...Rb4, with White to move. The pawn on g6 is protected by the rook on a6 along the sixth row. Next comes 49.g7.

The pawn on g6 was protected by Ding's rook on a6. Now it stepped forward.

49.g7 Rg4 50.Bd4

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Position after 50.Bd4, with Black to move. The pawn on g7 is protected by the bishop on d4 and will become a queen on g8. The only way to stop it is 50...Rxg7, and the bishop takes back.

The g-pawn stands on g7 and the bishop on d4 protects it. Next move it can promote on g8. Black's only way to stop it is to take it with the rook, and then the bishop takes the rook back. Our engine still had White ahead by more than five pawns after that.

The game record ends here with the result 1-0 for Ding.

What this game teaches

1. A pawn up is not always a win. Opposite-coloured bishops make extra pawns hard to use. If you are the one who is ahead, make a second problem for the other side.

2. Three pawns against one is a plan. Count the pawns on each side of the board. Where you have more, push them to make a passed pawn.

3. Pieces can guard a pawn from far away. Ding's rook on a6 protected the g-pawn along the sixth row, and later his bishop on d4 protected it from the other side of the board. Pieces that guard from a distance are hard to attack.

4. Look for pieces with no defender before you grab. Black's bishop took a pawn on f5, and the rook took the bishop with check. Before you capture, ask what protects the piece you are moving.

5. The clock is part of the game. Learn to play good moves quickly. Ding kept making problems that needed careful answers, and the other side had very little time to find them.

The next time you win a pawn and the game still feels level, do what Ding did. Do not rush. Find the second problem, and give it to your opponent.