Plus and Minus

王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Vladimir Alekseevich Potkin
34th European Chess Club Cup; Porto Carras, October 18, 2018
4brk1/R1p1r1p1/1p1p1q1p/3P1p2/1PP1p3/2R1P1PP/3Q1PB1/6K1 w - - 0 29

Position after 28. ... Bd7-e8

In the end the Italian team “Obiettivo Risarcimento Padua” had to be content with a honourable fourth place, despite of the splendid parade of Daniele Vocaturo (who defeated Mikhail Aleksandrovich Antipov) and the stubborn tenacity of Chinese Grandmaster 王皓 (Wáng Hào), who today succeeded in pursuing a win from a sharply balanced game: 29. c5!? bxc5 30. bxc5 Bf7 31. Bf1 Qe5 32. Qc1 Bxd5 33. cxd6 cxd6?? And here comes Potkin’s irreparable blunder, which loses a clear piece on the spot. Correct was 33. ... Qxd6 34. Rcxc7 Rc7 35. Rxc7 Rf7 with approximate equality. 34. Ra5 Rb8 35. Rxd5 Qxd5. One piece was enough for 王皓 (Wáng Hào), but Potkin concedes even more than that, falling onto a deadly skewer of Queen and King on the a2-g8 diagonal. 36. Bc4 1 : 0.