The Living Age

Zdenko Kožul – Marin Bosiočić
21st Croatian Chess Championship; Vinkovci, June 21, 2020
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

The first signs of (chess) life on earth — after the coronavirus aftermath — come from Vinkovci, in the Vukovar-Srijem County of eastern Croatia, where is underway the 21st Croatian Chess Championship, which is being tamely staged in the offline world. After the first three rounds, Grandmaster Zdenko Kožul (twice Yugoslav Chess Champion and twice Croatian Chess Champion) is leading with full score. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 0-0 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. dxc5. 10. 0-0 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. Qh5 Nc6 14. Nb3 Be8 15. a3 f5 16. Qe2 Bxa3 17. bxa3 fxe4 18. Nc5 Ne5 19. Ba2 Nf3+ 20. Kh1 Qh4∞ is a very double-edged variation in theme, So – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2015. 10. ... Nd7 11. 0-0 Nxc5 12. Nb5 Ba5!? A novelty in place of 12. ... a6 13. Nbd4 b5 14. Be2 e5 15. Nc2 Rd8 16. Nxb4 Rxd1 17. Rfxd1 a5 18. Nd5 Qd6 19. Nxe5 Bb7 20. Bf3 Rc8 21. Ng4 Qf8 22. h4 Nd7 with dynamic equilibrium, Carlsen – Navara, 51st International Chess Festival, Biel/Bienne 2018. 13. Be2 Qe7? An obvious mistake. 13. ... Rd8 14. Qc2 Bb6 was quite reasonably sound.

14. Qd6! Qxd6 15. Nxd6 Na4 16. Ne5 Bb4 17. Ndxf7 Nxb2 18. Bh5 a5? 18. ... b5 19. Rc7 Nc4 may be a little better, but after 20. Nc6 White maintains a very powerful bind. 19. Rc7 Na4

20. Bg6! 1 : 0. In fact, Black has no good answer to the threat of 21. Nxh6+ gxh6 22. Bh7+ Kh8 23. Ng6#.

Indeed, it might be said that Kožul’s opponent took a bit too seriously health guidelines about social distancing. Photo: Croatian Chess Federation.