Off the Chart

Zdenko Kožul – Robert Zelčić
21st Croatian Chess Championship; Vinkovci, June 25, 2020
1Q6/1b3ppk/6r1/3p1q1p/2pB3n/P3RPP1/1P5P/3R2K1 w - - 5 30

Position after 29. ... Kg8-h7

Yesterday, in the round seven of the 21st Croatian Chess Championship, Zelčić overtook Kožul thanks to a lucky win as Black. In the position of the diagram, White, who is to play, should capitalise on his extra Exchange (for instance with 30. Kh1!±), but instead gets ensnared into his own mirage of mate: 30. Re8?? Nxf3+ 31. Kh1. Kožul is not tempted by 31. Kg2 Qc2+, but it’s doubtful that his move will work any better. 31. ... Rf6? (31. ... Re6! 32. Rh8+ Kg6 33. Bxg7! Re2! 34. Rh6+! Kg5! 35. g4 Qxg4 36. Qd8+ Kf4 37. Qf6+ Qf5−+) 32. Rh8+? Of course, 32. Bxf6?? loses right off to 32. ... Qc2, but 32. g4! hxg4 33. Bxf6 Nd2!∞ would have very likely ended in a draw. 32. ... Kg6 33. Qg8. Threatening Qg8-h7+ followed by mate. Now 33. g4 hxg4 34. Bxf6 would no longer be of any help to White on account of 34. ... Qe4! 35. Qg3 d4!−+ winning by force. 33. ... Ng5! 0 : 1.

Nothing but Time

Robert Zelčić – Ante Šarić
21st Croatian Chess Championship: Vinkovci, June 24, 2020
Sicilian Defence B48

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. 0-0 Nxd4 9. Bxd4 Bc5 10. Be2 d6 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Rfd1!?TN (13. Rad1 Bc6 14. Qf4 ½ : ½ Kadrić – Matlakov, 27th European Chess Club Cup, Rogaška Slatina 2011) 13. ... Bc6 14. Rab1! a5 15. a3 Ke7? Right place but wrong time. Black had hardly anything better than 15. ... Qb6 followed by ... a5-a4. 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 Bb6 18. Rb3. 18. b5 Bd7 19. e5! seems even stronger (19. ... dxe5? 20. Ne4+−). 18. ... Rhd8 19. Qh6 Rg8 20. Bf3? 20. Bh5! would have kept Black tied up. 20. ... Ba4 21. Nxa4 Qxc2?? Simply after 21. ... Rxa4 there wasn’t much left for White to claim as a winnable advantage (22. Qxh7 Bxf2+!). Now it’s over for Šarić. 22. Nxb6 Qxb3 23. Qd2+− d5 24. Qf4 e5 25. Qf5 dxe4 26. Qd7+ Kf8 27. Bxe4 Re8 28. Bxh7 Rh8 29. Qd6+ Kg7 30. Bf5 Rh5 31. Bg4 Rg5

32. h3? A grave inaccuracy which throws away the win. Instead, first 32. Qd7 Qxb4 and then 33. h3 would have left Black without resource. 32. ... f5! 33. Qd2 Kg6? Due to time shortage, Black misses his key chance: 33. ... Rg6! 34. Bxf5 Rxb6 35. Qg5+ Rg6! saving everything. 34. Bf3. Among other things, it also threatens h3-h4. 34. ... Qxf3 35. Qxg5+ Kxg5 36. gxf3+− Re6 37. Nd5 Rc6

38. f4+! exf4 39. Kg2 Rc4 40. Kf3 b5 41. Rg1+ Kh4 42. Rg8 Rd4 43. Rh8+ Kg5 44. h4+ Kg6 45. h5+ Kg5 46. Rd8 Rd3+ 47. Ke2 Rb3 48. Rg8+ Kh6 49. Rh8+ Kg5 50. h6 f3+ 51. Kd2 Rb2+ 52. Ke3 Rb3+ 53. Kd4 Kg6 54. Nf4+ Kf6 55. Nh5+ Kg6 56. Nf4+ Kf6 57. Nd3 Kg6 58. h7 Kg7 59. Rf8 Kxh7 60. Rxf7+ Kg6 61. Rb7 1 : 0.

After six rounds, Zdenko Kožul is still in the lead, only half a point ahead of Zelčić. Screenshot from the live stream. Courtesy of Patrick Nikić.