Korobov brilliant at Poikovsky

by Albert Silver
8/2/2016 – The Karpov Poikovsky tournament celebrated its 17th edition this year in Nefteyugansk, Russia, and it must be said that it was a singularly exciting event to watch. This was not simply because many of the players are justifiably famed for their creativity, but because a number of the games were wild speculative affairs to leave spectators gaping at the players’ courage. The event was won by Anton Korobov who signed a brilliancy against Sutovsky.
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Photos from official site

The playing hall has been consistent over the years, with a spacious area and elegant carpeting

An interesting curiosity is that although only three of the ten players sports a 2700+ rating, every single one of them has been over 2700 at some point over the past years. Maxim Matlakov is no exception, and had a solid plus one performance with 5.0/9.

Alexander Motylev only managed 50% this year, but is also the owner of the greatest (crushingest?) result ever at the European Championship when he won it in 2014.

Co-top seed Polish GM Wojtaszek played well with 5.5/9, but it was not enough to win the event

Dmitry Andreikin shared the top-seed status with 2733, but failed to shine with 5.0/9. Igor Kovalenko, the top player in Latvia, had a tough time and ended on 3.0/9.

Anton Korobov was the name of the event, winning it alone with 6.0/9 in spite of a loss. In round six he played a small brilliancy against Emil Sutovsky who is no stranger to amazing tactics.

Korobov - Sutovsky

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.e4 Nf6 9.e5 Nd5 10.dxc5 Nc6 11.Qa4 Qc7 12.Rd1 Be6 13.Nc3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Rfd8? White's pawns are certainly weak, and ripe for the picking, but Black needs to consider actually capturing them since at some point White isn't going to just leave them lying around. 14...Bxe5! 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 and the game is balanced, but perhaps that is precisely what Sutovsky was not seeking. Part of the problem is that while Sutovsky is rightly famed for his incredibly imaginative play, Korobov is no slouch in the creativity department either. 15.Bf4 Na5 16.Ng5 Qxc5 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Rd7!? Strong, and definitely not the most obvious choice in the position. Rxd7 19.Qxd7 Kf7 20.Rd1!
White's nasty plans for Black's king are no secret, but Black misses some of concrete threats he faces. There is a saying: "Defense is 98% tactics." This position illustrates that aphorism. 20...Bxe5?
White find a fantastic winner here. Can you do as well? White to play and win.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Korobov,A2656Sutovsky,E26221–02016D7517th Karpov Poikovsky6.1

Viktor Bologan had a very rough start and never really got his footing

Bologan, seen here watching the live boards as he waits for Andreikin to arrive, did score a win against his tardy opponent and did not leave the event without a win of his own.

It was an excellent, nay, superb result for Korobov, who adds a significant title to his resumé

A group shot of all the players

TV report of the event, simul and players

Final standings

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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