Essen
The A-Tournament in Essen has featured rather strong players (Category 15). Before the beginning, the main favorites of the tournament should be considered the recent winner of Pula zonal tournament A.Beliavsky and Russian duo: A.Dreev- V.Zvjaginsev. Actually, this was how it happened. In the first half of the tournament, A.Dreev and A.Beliavsky defined the major tempo of the competition. Bet, the main events took place in the last Round, when A.Dreev (who had +2) could be reach by several players. As a result, the tournament table was headed by triumvirate of grandmasters: A.Dreev, V.Zvjaginsev and K.Bischoff who managed to win two of the last games. A.Beliavsky - the Pula hero, had less luck here. He over pressed in his game with R.Dautov in the last Round and lost. Berger coefficient brought the 1st place to V.Zvjaginsev. You may have a look how the decisive victory was made, in the game below:
Tournament table
| Rank | Name | Title | Nat. | ELO | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts |
| 1 | Zvjaginsev, Vadim | GM | RUS | 2641 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
5,5 | |
| 2 | Dreev, Alexey | GM | RUS | 2680 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
1 |
1/2 |
1,2 | 5,5 | |
| 3 | Bischoff, Klaus | GM | GER | 2544 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
1 |
5,5 | |
| 4 | Rustem Dautov | GM | GER | 2602 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
5,0 | |
| 5 | Beliavsky, Alexander | GM | SLO | 2640 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4,5 | |
| 6 | Sutovsky, Emil | GM | ISR | 2597 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
1 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
1/2 |
4 | |
| 7 | Hansen, Curt | GM | DEN | 2618 |
1/2 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
4 | |
| 8 | Hubner, Robert, Dr. | GM | GER | 2620 |
1/2 |
0 |
0 |
1/2 |
1 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
4 | |
| 9 | Vadim Milov | GM | SUI | 2653 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1 |
4 | |
| 10 | Glek, Igor | GM | RUS | 2554 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
1/2 |
0 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
1/2 |
0 |
3 |
Zvjaginsev, V.- Milov, V. [B85]
Round 9
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 d6 9. f4 Be7 10. Kh1 Bd7 From the expected Paulsen Variation of Sicilian, the game went into the Scheveningen Variation. By his last move, Black shows that he intends to bring an unordinary character to this game. 11. Qe1 h5?! A sharp and rather responsible decision. Move 10 of Black showed that he intends to move b pawn, returning to usual lines after 11... b5 12. a3 0-0. 12. Rd1 By over-protecting d4 knight, White makes his position even more solid, for the case of side operations of the opponent. After 12. Bf3 Ng4 13. Bg1 which was played in the game Lombardy - Feuerstein, New York, 1972 Black managed to get a counter play by 13... g5. 12... h4 Now 12... Ng4 13. Bg1 (13. Bxg4 hxg4 14. Qg3 is not so forceful because of 14... Bf6) and now 13... g5 is not possible because of 14. fxg5 Bxg5 15. Ndb5! and White has a decisive attack. 13.h3 Rc8 14. a3 Nxd4 Side game, for instance 14... Nh5 does not work because of 15. Bxh5 Rxh5 16. f5 Ne5 17. Nce2 with an uncomfortable threat Nf4. 15. Bxd4 Bc6 16.Bf3 e5 17. Be3 Kf8 If 17... b5, White may choose between a solid 18. Qf2 and more concrete 18. fxe5 dxe5 19. Bg5 with an idea - if 19... Ng8 then 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. exd5 with obvious advantage. 18... Kg8 19. Rd2 Rf8 20. Rfd1 g6 21. Bb6 Qb8 22. Ba7 Qc7 23. Bb6 Qb8 24. Ba7 Qc8 So, no answer to the question: "How would White play after 24... Qc7?" was given. Possibly, they would play 25. fxe5 dxe5 26. Bb6 Qb8 27. Nd5 Bxd5 28. exd5 with an advantage.
25. Rxd6! Many Black pieces are at the kingside, and white manages to develop a strong initiative in the center at black squares. Probably, white did not like the alternative 25. fxe5 dxe5 26. Nd5 Bxd5 27. exd5, because of 27... Bd6 and if 28. c4 then the following should be considered: 28... Qxc4 29. Qb6 Ne8 30.Qxb7 Qf4 and Black has a certain counter play. 25... Bxd6 26. Rxd6 Ne8 27. Rd1 f5 It is hard for Black to involve pieces that are frozen at the kingside. Moreover, the threats Bc5 and f4xe5 are rather serious. After 27... exf4 28. Bc5 Ng7 29. Bxf8 Qxf8 30. e5 the Black's position would still be hard, and after 27... f6 - just lost, because of 28. Bg4 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Be2 . 28. Qc5! Again, a very strong attacking resource. White threatens Nd5. 28... Nf6 The following line leads to the decisive advantage of White: 28... fxe4 29. Bxe4 Rxf4 30. Nd5. 29. fxe5 Nxe4 30. Nxe4 fxe4 Black has a hopeless position after 30... Bxe4 31. Bxe4 fxe4 32. Qd5+ Rf7 33. Qxe4. 31. Bg4 Qe8 32. e6 Rh7 33. Qe5 b6 Bc5 threatened here. 34. Bxb6 Qb8 35. Qxb8 Rxb8 36. Bc5 White has two pawn for an exchange and the strongest initiative. 36... Rhb7 37. b4 Ba4 38. Rd6 Re8 39. c4 Bb3 40. Rd4 Bc2 41. Rd7 Rbb8 It is not possible to change pieces here. After 41... Rxd7 42. exd7 Black will have to give a rook for the White's passed pawn. 42. Bd4 e3 43.Rg7+ Kf8 44. Bf6 Rb6 44... Bf5 changes nothing because of 45. Bxf5 gxf5 46. e7+. 45. e7+ Rxe7 46. Rxe7 Black resigned.
