Igor Kovalenko wins Zalakaros Open

[Event "Zalakaros Open A"] [Site "Zalakaros"] [Date "2015.05.22"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Black "Ragger, Markus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2650"] [BlackElo "2668"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4r1k1/3R1p1p/6pP/1p3n2/3B1P2/1r2PKP1/8/4R3 b - - 0 36"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2015.05.14"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [Source "MSSZ"] [SourceDate "2015.05.21"] {The position is just equal. The fun in the game starts from this point onwards. We are nearing the 40th move, so mistakes are inevitable with less time on the clock.} 36... Rd3 {Black threatens to take twice on d4.} 37. Re2 $4 {With very little time on the clock, Kovalenko makes a huge blunder. This might well have sealed his fate with regards to winning the tournament.} (37. Rb1 {was better but how do you give up your all-important e3 pawn.} Nxd4+ 38. Rxd4 Rexe3+ 39. Kf2 Rf3+ 40. Ke2 Rxd4 41. Kxf3 Rd5 42. Ra1 $11 {and White will hold this endgame thanks to the h6 pawn.}) 37... b4 $2 (37... Nxd4+ $1 { Transposing it into a pawn endgame would have been a trivial win.} 38. Rxd4 Rxd4 39. exd4 Rxe2 40. Kxe2 Kf8 {The concept of outside passed pawn is not something that needs to be taught to a 2650+ player!} 41. Kd3 Ke7 42. Kc3 Kd6 43. Kb4 Kc6 $1 (43... Kd5 $2 44. Kxb5 Kxd4 45. Kc6 $11) 44. g4 f5 45. g5 Kd5 46. Kxb5 Kxd4 47. Kc6 Ke4 $19 {What a miss by Ragger!}) 38. g4 Nxe3 39. f5 $5 { [%csl Rd4,Re3][%cal Re8e2,Rd3f3,Rd7d3] A look at the board reveals what a crazy position of pins and discovered attacks this is! The knight is pinned by the e2 rook but it can also launch a discovered attack thanks to the d3 rook. On the other hand the d4 bishop is also pinned! The threat now is to move the king to f4 which is promptly stopped by Black.} g5 $1 40. Kf2 Nxg4+ 41. Ke1 { The rook on e2 cannot be taken because after Kxe2 there will be an attack on the d3 rook and a back rank mate. At the same time if the e8 rook moves then Rg2 is pretty strong. That explains Black's next move.} Ne5 {[%csl Rd4,Re5] [%cal Rd3d7,Re2e8] The game of pins continues!} 42. Kf1 Rd1+ 43. Kg2 Rd2 $1 { With this move Black is able to extricate himself from the dangers and start pressing for the full point.} 44. Rxd2 Nxd7 45. Rc2 (45. Bb2 Nc5 46. Kf3 $44 { In spite of being two pawns down, White should draw this because of his immense activity.}) 45... Kf8 46. Kf3 b3 $6 (46... Rb8 $17 {would have been much better.}) 47. Bg7+ $1 Ke7 48. Re2+ $1 Kd8 49. Rb2 {Now the rook cannot come to b8. Very smart play by Kovalenko.} g4+ 50. Kxg4 Re4+ 51. Kf3 Rb4 { Black managed to save his crucial pawn by giving up the g-pawn. He is still in the driver's seat.} 52. Bc3 Rb5 53. Kg4 f6 (53... Nc5 54. Re2 Kd7 $1 $17 (54... Na4 55. Bf6+ Kc7 56. Re7+ Kc6 57. Rxf7 {is the typical kind of counterplay that Black must prevent.})) 54. Kf4 Ne5 55. Ke4 Ke7 56. Rg2 {The rook becomes active and the bishop is ready to sacrifice itself for the b-pawn.} Nf7 57. Kd3 Ne5+ (57... Rxf5 58. Kc4 Rh5 59. Re2+ Ne5+ 60. Kxb3 Ke6 61. Bd2 Kd5 {could have been a better try. The black pieces are co-ordinating much better and the h6-pawn is weak.}) 58. Ke4 Kf8 (58... Nf7 {followed by Ng5 was much better.}) 59. Bb2 Nc4 60. Bxf6 {This is exactly what White was looking for.} b2 61. Bg7+ Ke8 62. Bxb2 Rxb2 63. Rg8+ Ke7 64. Rg7+ Kf6 65. Rxh7 {The final pawn is lost. Black played on for another 57 moves before the game was drawn!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Zalakaros Open A"] [Site "Zalakaros"] [Date "2015.05.17"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Boruchovsky, Avital"] [Black "Banusz, Tamas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2590"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2015.05.14"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [Source "MSSZ"] [SourceDate "2015.05.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. h4 {Of course this move no longer comes as a surprise. We have many high quality games in this line starting from 2011. White's caveman approach is not so easy met. He currently threatens to take on h7 followed by Ng5 and Qh5 and game over!} g6 (9... h6 10. Bb1 {followed by Qc2 is also not without danger for Black.}) 10. h5 cxd4 11. Nb3 $5 {The latest tweak in this line introduced by David Navara in his game against Timman from Wijk Aan Zee 2015. That ended in a 19-move win for the Czech player. The logic of this move is very simple: the d3 bishop is the most important piece on the board for White and Black always wants to get rid of it with Nc5, which will move it off the important diagonal or allow the blocking move d3. But with this move White stops Nc5 and intends to follow up with Qc2 and pressure on the g6 point.} Nc6 {A logical developing move putting pressure on the e5 pawn.} (11... Na6 {I was wondering whether we could get our knight on c5 in any case. But it turns out to be a huge mistake due to} 12. cxd5 $1 exd5 13. e6 $1 $18 {and the black position is ripped to shreds.}) (11... dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 $2 13. Bd3 Bb7 14. Qd2 $1 $40 {was Navara-Timman, where the Dutch player was completely crushed.}) 12. Bf4 { Defending the e5 pawn.} dxc4 13. Bxc4 g5 {Banusz is well prepared in the line and makes all the computer moves.} 14. Bg3 g4 15. Nfxd4 Ndxe5 {So Black has gained the important e5 pawn, but his king is weak and he must remain extremely careful.} 16. O-O $5 Bf6 (16... Bh4 $5 $13 {looks like a possible improvement.}) (16... Nxc4 17. Qxg4+ Kh8 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Qxc4 $16 {is just better for White.}) 17. Re1 {White already threatens taking on c6 followed by taking on g4.} Nxc4 (17... Kh8 18. Nxc6 Qxd1 (18... Nxc6 19. Qxg4 $16) 19. Bxe5 $3 $18 {is the neat tactical point.}) 18. Qxg4+ Kh8 19. Nxc6 bxc6 20. Rad1 $1 { A very strong intermezzo, getting all the pieces into the game.} Qb6 21. Qxc4 $16 {White has a clear advantage.} Qb5 22. Qf4 {Of course keeping the queens on.} Qg5 23. Qf3 e5 24. Qxf6+ {Transposing into a winning endgame with an extra pawn.} Qxf6 25. Bxe5 Qxe5 26. Rxe5 Rb8 27. Nc5 Rxb2 28. h6 Be6 29. Rg5 Re2 30. Rd6 Rc8 31. f3 Ba2 32. Rd7 a5 33. Ra7 Rd8 34. Rc7 Bd5 35. Nb7 Rde8 36. Nd6 Rf8 37. Rg7 Re1+ 38. Kf2 Rh1 39. Nxf7+ Bxf7 40. Rgxf7 {Avital's opening preparation was excellent, his feel for attack and initiative was great and his endgame technique was nearly flawless. That's why he is a very strong player.} 1-0

[Event "Zalakaros Open A"] [Site "Zalakaros"] [Date "2015.05.21"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Boruchovsky, Avital"] [Black "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E08"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2650"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2015.05.14"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [Source "MSSZ"] [SourceDate "2015.05.21"] {This was the crucial eighth round encounter on the top board. Boruchovsky was going strong and leading the tournament by half a point. It was now in the hands of Kovalenko to stop him.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. d4 {This move order is usually preferred by white players in order to prevent the Bb4 followed by Be7 ideas. Now that the bishop is on c1, it can be used in a much better manner on the b2 square, and also the d2 square can be utilized by the b1 knight.} O-O 6. O-O c6 7. b3 b6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 {Black develops his knight before the bishop to keep open the option of developing Ba6 or Bb7.} 9. Nc3 { Now that the knight has developed itself on c3, the c4 pawn is relatively undefended and that explains Black's next move.} Ba6 10. Bb2 $5 {A bold decision to sacrifice the c4 pawn.} Rc8 (10... dxc4 {was a valid option for Black. A forcing line from this point onwards could go something like this:} 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd5 13. bxc4 Bxc4 14. Ne4 b5 15. Rfd1 $13 {and White's compensation is beyond doubt, with his two strong bishops. But Black with an extra pawn and central control is not doing so badly. In short it is a big fighting game ahead.}) 11. e4 dxc4 12. Rfd1 Qc7 (12... cxb3 13. axb3 $14 { [%cal Ga1a7] Opening up the a-file would not be a good idea for Black.}) 13. e5 {A risky move. But the danger exists for both sides now. White gets good attacking chances.} (13. Ne2 {was more prudent.} b5 (13... cxb3 14. axb3 $44 { [%cal Ga1a7]}) 14. bxc4 bxc4 $11 {Sooner or later the c4 pawn will fall, but by that time Black would be able engineer the c5 break and equalise the game.}) 13... Nd5 14. bxc4 (14. Ne4 {would be met with the strong central break} c5 $1 15. bxc4 cxd4 $15) 14... Bxc4 15. Ne4 {This is a position which computers assess clearly in Black's favour, thanks to the extra pawn. But over the board things are entirely different. When your king is under attack the -/+ 0.74 evaluation is not of huge help!} b5 16. Neg5 g6 17. Qe4 {White has the intention of playing Qh4.} Kg7 (17... c5 {looks like the natural reaction. Let's continue the white attack.} 18. Qh4 h5 19. g4 Kg7 $1 {A not so difficult, yet very important idea to foresee.} 20. gxh5 Rh8 $1 21. Qg3 Rxh5 $17 {And Black has a super solid king position. At the same time the white center is falling apart.}) 18. h4 {White introduces a new character to keep the attack alive.} (18. Qh4 h6 $19 {is completely winning for Black.}) 18... N7b6 19. h5 Na4 {The black knights start to cause mayhem in White's position.} 20. Bc1 Nac3 {A deadly knight fork and it seems as if the game is over.} 21. Qh4 {There are some threats on the kingside and Black has to be careful not to blunder.} Ne2+ (21... h6 {is a nice solution. The point being after} 22. hxg6 {Black has the ultra strong} Rh8 $1 $19 {and White is losing just about everything.}) 22. Kh2 Nxc1 {A very human way to play the position.} 23. h6+ (23. Raxc1 h6 24. hxg6 Qd8 $19) 23... Kg8 24. Rdxc1 {The chances of a kingside attack have almost vanished for White and he stands a pawn down with a completely lost position.} Bd3 25. Bf1 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 c5 $1 $19 {The final nail in the coffin. After this break Black is no longer passive, and his extra pawn starts marching down the board.} 27. Qg4 c4 28. Ne4 c3 29. Rfc1 a5 30. Nfd2 a4 31. a3 Qb6 32. Nf1 Kh8 33. Qd1 Rc4 34. Ne3 Rxd4 35. Qf3 Qb8 36. Nxd5 Rxd5 37. Nd6 f6 38. Rxc3 fxe5 39. Nf7+ Kg8 40. Qg4 Qb6 41. Ng5 Bxg5 42. Qxg5 Qxf2+ 43. Kh3 e4 {A nearly flawless game from Kovalenko, and he judged it to be one of his best from the tournament. It was this game that gave him the sole lead going into the last round.} 0-1