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.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Daniele Vocaturo – Pavel Vladimirovich Eljanov
34th European Chess Club Cup; Porto Carras, October 17, 2018
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 0-0 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Rxe8+ Nxe8 12. d5 d6 13. Nd2 c6 14. Nc4!? A new note in an old song, as 14. Ne4 Be5 15. Ng5 Nf6 16. dxc6 bxc6 17. Nf3 Bg4 shouldn’t worry Black too much, 万云国 (Wàn Yúnguó) – 马群 (Mǎ Qún), 11th “映美杯” (“Yìng Měi Cup”) Chinese Chess League, 杭州 (Hángzhōu) 2015. 14. ... cxd5 15. Qxd5 Qc7 16. c3 Be6 17. Qd3 d5 18. Ne3 Be5 19. g3 Nf6 20. Nc2 Qd7 21. Nd4 Bh3 22. Bg5 Bxf1 23. Rxf1 h6 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. Rd1 Qa4 26. a3 Rd8 27. Kg2

27. ... a6? Eljanov badly mixes up his priorities. The immediate 27. ... g6(!) seems perfectly playable for Black. 28. Nf5 g6? But now it’s too late! 28. ... Qc6 was probably the less worst, though after 29. Qf3 Kf8 30. h4 White enjoys a definite edge. 29. Nxh6+ Kg7 30. Qf3! Bg5. After 30. ... Kxh6 31. Qxf6 Qxd1 32. Qxd8 Kg7 33. Qb6 White gains a second Pawn with a relatively easy won endgame. The text does not offer anything better, and Vocaturo very convincingly brings home the point. 31. Ng4 f5 32. Ne5 Qe4 33. Nd3 d4 34. c4 Rc8 35. c5 Re8 36. b4 Kf6 37. h4 Bh6 38. Re1 Qxf3+ 39. Kxf3 Rxe1 40. Nxe1 Ke5 41. Ke2 Kd5 42. Kd3 Bc1 43. Nc2 Bb2 44. f3 Bc1 45. g4 fxg4 46. fxg4 Bb2 47. h5 gxh5 48. gxh5 Bc1 49. Na1 Ke6 50. a4 Kd5 1 : 0.

Pictured seated, from left, are Julio Ernesto Granda Zúñiga, Daniele Vocaturo, and Sabino Brunello, who, together with Alberto David, Danyyil Dvirnyy, Péter Lékó, Francisco Vallejo Pons, and 王皓 (Wáng Hào) are representing — in the most cosmopolitan form — the Italian team “Obiettivo Risarcimento Padua” at the 34th European Chess Club Cup in Greece. Photo © Niki Riga.

Realpolitik in the Eastern Mediterranean

Krishnan Sasikiran – Daniele Vocaturo
34th European Chess Club Cup; Porto Carras, October 17, 2018
8/R4Rpk/6qp/4p3/p7/5PP1/5KP1/8 w - - 0 39

The Italian team “Obiettivo Risarcimento Padua” is still striving for first place in the 34th European Chess Club Cup, thanks to today’s draw against the Czech team “AVE Nový Bor”. The equaliser was scored in extremis by Grandmaster Daniele Vocaturo — who looks in very good form — only thanks to an inexplicable and awful blunder by his opponent, who threw away a clear draw and condemned his team to defeat — needless to say, the whole thing caused some harsh comments from the chess “netizens” here and there: 39. Rxg7+?? Qxg7 40. Rxa4 h5 41. g4 h4 42. Kg1 Qd7 43. Re4 Qd2 44. Kf1 Qc1+ 45. Re1 Qf4 46. Re4 Qg3 47. g5 h3 0 : 1.