HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY 6. Tiviakov (NED, 2669) - Zhang (CHN, 2623)
Spectacular highlights happen rarely. It is prosaic manouvres that are usually decisive. This one is typica: White employs "small tactics", not much breathtaking perhaps, but still ample to take a point. 27. Nxg7! Kxg7 28. h3 Qd5 29. Qe3! decisive shot. It's idea is just to grab the b6 pawn. 29... Rh8 30. Bxb4 in order to avoid Bc5 and Nd3 30... axb6 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. Qxb6 +- So, nothing special happened. White has just an extra passed pawn. But this is enough. 1-0 after 62 moves.
11. Morozevich (RUS, 2730) - Avrukh (ISR, 2633)
No, the diagram position is not a joke. White Queen ransacked the board to find herself in the very corner. Black unleashed his Queenside potential. 18... d4! 19. Rxd4 Rxb2! 20. Kd2!? Taking up the challenge. 20. Kxb2 led to a bizarre draw: 20... Rh7! 21. Qg8 Rg7! of course the idea is to release Queen's pin on the Bishop so white Queen cannot leave eigth rank. 20... Nb6 21. Bd3? Leaving the Knight unprotected. 21... Nd5 22. Rc4 Bb7? Rb4 was immediately winning 23. Re1 Rb4 too late 24. Ree4 c5 =+ The position is sharp and unclear. A lot of mistakes were made under time pressure and Black all in all won 0-1 after 51 moves. You should take a look at the entire game.
24. Czarnota (POL, 2529) - Moiseenko (UKR, 2662)
Black was outplayed in a sharp Sicilian line and White just has to complete a few protective steps. Black's threats abated and pair of passed white pawns is unstoppable. White has only to prevent black pieces from infiltrating his back ranks. Here 36. Bc6 is simple and powerful refutation of the threat, e.g. 36... Qg6 37. Nb5 Rcc8 38. a6 fxg3 39. hxg3 Bg7 40. a7 Bxb2 41. Nd4 Bxd4 42. Qxd4+ Qg7 43. Qxg7+ Kxg7 44. Ra4 +- Or just anything. Instead Czarnota blundered a piece 36. Rc4?? Qh3? A Moiseenko courtesly does not take Be8 which cannot be recaptured due to Qh3. 37. Qxf3? Another serious mistake. There was (little) hope for White after 36. Qf1 Qxf1+ 37. Kxf1 Rxc3 38. Nxc4 Rxe8 40. d6 Black is a Rook up but it is not so easy to win under time pressure. 37... Rxc4 38. Nxc4 Rxe8 0-1 Had the result of this game been reverted Poland would go up some six positions and Ukraine would go from 8th down to 13th!
33. Bruzon Batista (CUB, 2652) - Jobava (GEO, 2646)
TACTICS TEST (not very hard). White to move and win. Drag your mouse between the brackets to reveal the answer. [ 34. Rxg5! Giving away the Rook and the tempo. 34... Rxd1+ 35. Kh2 A revoir! Black is to move and he is helpless. Mate will follow. 35... Bh6 36. Rh5 1-0 By the way, 34. Rxd7? fails: 34... Qxd7 35. Rxg5 Bh6 36. Rh5 Qd1+ and Qxh5 ]
65. Agrest (SWE, 2570) - Kulaots (EST, 2557)
White to move. The idea is apparent but no forced win is in sight. Let's try anyway: 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qh5 Ke6 Risky move. Perhaps it was safer to shelter the King on g7 or g8. 19. Rad1 Bxd6 20. Qg4+ Ke7 21. Qg7+ Kg6 22. Ne2! Only chance to carry on with the attack. 22... c5 23. Nxf4 Bxf4 24. Rxf4 A horrific story for Black: his only developed and centralised piece is the King! 24... Rf8 Losing, but still causes least evil 25. Rxf8 Nxf8 26. Rxd8 and 1-0 after a few moves. I am not sure Agrest calculated all of the lines but he was brave enough to take a try and he succeeded.
71. Brunello (ITA, 2339) - Ganguly Surya (IND, 2578)
This game is really shocking for me. A 2300 bullies a 2600 with ease. Ganguly violated basic principles of French removing pressure from d4 and e5 pawns. Sabino Brunello finishes the game stylishly: 21. b4! cxb3 or 21... Nb3 22. Nxc4 Qxc4 23. Qb2 +- 22. c4! Nxc4 23. Rc1 +- Qb5 24. Nxc4 Bd7 25. Qf3! Creating mate threat 25... dxc4 26. Rxc4 b2 27. Rc2 Bg5 28. Rbxb2 Qxd5 29. hxg5 1-0 Ganguly was simply pulverized. Hats off Sabino!
80. Jenni (SUI, 2510) - Darbanvaighani (IRI, 2396)
White decided to take the risk 20. Nf5?! Objectively this is rather dubious move which can probably be refuted. But there's also a human factor behind it. 20... gxf5 21. Qg3 Kf8 22. Qh3 Qa4? +- White's play is caustic. Black could well defend but he had to be very precise. After 22... Kg8 White has nothing better than a perpetual check at his disposal. 23. Bh6 f6 24. Qh5 fxe5 25. Qxf5+ 1-0 Obviously it paid to take the risk.
163. Cawdery (RSA, 2235) - Grigoryan (TKM, 2411)
TACTICS TEST (rather easy). White to move and win. [ 20. Rh5! Nxe3 20... Kg8 21. Bd3 f5 22. Bh6 g6 23. Bxf8 +- or 20... g5 21. Bd3 Rd7 22. Qh3 Bd6 23. Rxf6 Rg7 24. Bxh7 Rxh7 25. Rxh7+ Qxh7 26. Qxc8+ +- 21.Qg6 Kg8 22. Rxh7 Bc5 23. Qh5 1-0 ]
309. Radziewicz (POL, 2439) - Dzagnidze (GEO, 2454)
White was prevailing but she ran a risk to conduct ferocious attack: 21. Nd6? Nxd6 22. Bxf6 Nf5! -+ refute all the threats. This leaves White helpless. 0-1 after 41 moves.
See online games from round 12 . (, 2) - (, 2)