Four men can decide tomorrow who will win the Hoogeveen Open. If they don’t – if they draw each other – then there are nine more players lurching half a point behind.
Of the hard-fought draw by Abhijeet Gupta against Erwin l’Ami, Benjamin Bok, Das Neelotpal and Jan Werle profited by catching up on the leader from India. Tomorrow the two Dutchmen and the two Indians play each other.
Bok’s victory on board 2 was convincing.
Bok - Arghyadip
19.Qg3
This is a new move. 19.Bd4 had been played once: 19...f6 20.Qf3 Kg8 21.Qg3 Kf7 22.Bf5 Qb4 23.Bc3 Qb6 24.Bd4 Qb4 25.Bc3 Qb6 26.Rad1 Rce8 27.Bc2 Qc6 28.Bxa5 with a draw on move 58 in Bauer-Edouard, Nancy 2012.
19...f6 20.Rac1 Kf7
21.Bf5!
The killer move, according to commentator Robert Ris. The motif was already known from the French game, as we saw.
21...Qb4
21...exf5 22.Bxc5 and 23.Re7+ is game over immediately.
22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Bxe6+ Bxe6 24.Qe3 Rxc1 25.Qxe6+ Kg6 26.Rxc1
26...Rd8
Das played this quickly, but according to Bok 26...Qe4! would have been more tenacious. There can follow: 27.Qd7 d4 28.g3 Rg8 29.Qc7 d3 30.Qxa5 Qd4 31.Qc5 Qxb2 32.Rc4! with an attack, while White also has sufficient time to keep the d-pawn under control after 32...Qe2 33.Rd4.
27.Rc3 h5 28.Rg3+ Kh6
29.h4!
And the black king is caught in a mating net:
29...Qe4 30.Qf7 g6 31.Qxf6 1–0
Benjamin Bok. Photo: Harry Gielen
Werle joined the contenders again after his opponent slipped.
Werle - Debashis
10...Nxe4?!
Debashis had often studied this variation extensively, including even this morning, but here he mixed up two moves. ‘I wanted to play 10...Re8 first’, he said. The text move amounts to an incorrect piece sacrifice.
11.Bxe4 Re8 12.Ng5 Qa5+
The point of this move is 12...h6 13.Ne6! fxe6 14.Qxe6 Rxe6 15.0–0! Rxe4? 16.Qd5+, said Werle.
13.Nc3 Ba6 14.f3
14...Nd7
14...f5 15.Kf2 fxe4 16.Ncxe4 and Black has more material, but less compensation. White will put his knight on e6.
Werle suggested 14...Bd4, to prevent the king’s march to f2 and g3. Now, 15.Bd2! is strong, for instance: 15...Nd7 (15...f5 16.Ne6 fxe4 17.Nxe4 is, again, unplayable for Black) 16.Ne2 Qb6 17.Nxd4 and White will escape again with Kf2, when he will be clearly better.
15.Kf2 Rab8 16.Qc2 Bd4+ 17.Kg3
The king is safe. White won after nine more moves.
We conclude today with two games that were submitted for the brilliancy prize.
Van Dorp - Losekoot
12.Qe1
Black now wins the exchange, but at the cost of some big holes in his position.
12...Bd4+ 13.Kh1 Ne3 14.Rf2 Nxc4 15.bxc4 Bxf2 16.Qxf2 Ne5 17.Ncd5 Rb8
This plan is too slow. Necessary was 17...f5; or possibly 17...b6 followed by ...Ra7 and ...f7-f5.
18.Qg3! b5? 19.Nh5!
Suddenly the white attack is very strong.
19...Be6
19...f5 20.Bxe5 dxe5 21.Qxe5 and Rb8 is hanging.
20.Nhf6+ Kg7 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.Qxe5 Bxd5
23.Ne8+ Kh6
The start of a long stroll, ending in an abyss.
24.Qg7+ Kg5 25.Rf1 Bxe4 26.h4+ Kg4 27.Nf6+ Kg3 28.Nxe4+ Kg4 29.Nf6+ 1–0
Jan Werle. Photo: Harry Gielen
Schoppen - Van Kooten
In a Benoni which was already quite successful for Black, White has just put his knight on the unfortunate square g3, instead of exchanging it on f6.
20...Nxg4+! 21.hxg4 Qh4+ 22.Bh3 h5
Black could afford the luxury of 22...bxa4! here, which would have been even stronger.
23.f5 Be5 24.Rg1 gxf5 25.gxh5 Kh8 26.Qf3 Rg8
It’s perfectly clear that this position is untenable for White.
27.Bd2 f4 28.Ne4
28...Rg3! 29.Rxg3 fxg3+ 30.Kg1 Qxh3 31.Bc3 Qh2+ 32.Kf1 g2+ 0–1
So we’re going to sleep on this, and we’ll let you know tomorrow in the playing hall.
