Создать аккаунт

Новый пользователь? Создайте свой аккаунт и вы сможете покупать продукты ChessBase, видеть ваши заказы, получать новости и участвовать в жизни сайта.

Корзина

0 позиций
на сумму 0

Главная страница Шахматисты Шахматисты Швеции Эмануэль Берг

Эмануэль Берг

(0)

Berg, Emanuel
Звание ФИДЕ: GM (Гроссмейстер)
Федерация: Швеция
Дата рождения: 28.12.1981
Рейтинг стандарт: 2502
Рейтинг рапид: 2570
Рейтинг блиц: 2502
ФИДЕ ID

[Event "SWE-chT 0001"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "2000.10.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Hellers, Ferdinand"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2561"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2000.10.13"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2006"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.11.24"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.11.24"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Lunds"]
[BlackTeam "Wasa"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. g3 f5 12. Bg2 fxe4 13. Bxe4 Be6 14. Qh5 Rc8
15. Rd1 Ne7 16. c3 Rc5 17. Nb4 Qb6 18. Qg5 Kf8 19. Qe3 h5 20. O-O f5 21. Nd5
Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Rxd5 Qc6 24. Rxc5 dxc5 25. Rd1 Ke7 26. c4 h4 27. Rd5
hxg3 28. hxg3 Rc8 29. Qg5+ Bf6 30. Rxe5+ Kf7 31. Qxf5 Rd8 32. Qh5+ Kf8 33. Qh6+
Kf7 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Qh6+ Kf7 36. Qh5+ Kf8 37. Rxc5 Qe6 38. Qf5 1-0

[Event "SWE-chT 0304"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "2004.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Hector, Jonny"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C15"]
[WhiteElo "2631"]
[BlackElo "2587"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2003.10.??"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2005"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2004.11.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Limhamn"]
[BlackTeam "Sollentuna"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2 Nc6 5. a3 Ba5 6. e5 Nge7 7. b4 Bb6 8. Na4
O-O 9. b5 Ba5+ 10. c3 Nb8 11. Nc5 a6 12. bxa6 Nxa6 13. Nb3 c5 14. dxc5 Nc6 15.
f4 f6 16. exf6 Qxf6 17. g3 Nxc5 18. Nxa5 Nxa5 19. Be3 b6 20. Bg2 Nc4 21. Bd4
Qf5 22. O-O Bd7 23. Qb1 Qf7 24. Ra2 Ra5 25. Nc1 Rb5 26. Qc2 Ra8 27. Nd3 Nxa3
28. Ne5 Nxc2 29. Rxa8+ Qe8 30. Rxe8+ Bxe8 31. f5 Kf8 32. fxe6+ Ke7 33. Bf2 Kxe6
34. Nf3 Bg6 35. Bd4 Bd3 36. Bh3+ Kd6 37. Be5+ Ke7 38. Rc1 Nb3 39. Rb1 Ne3 40.
Rb2 Nc4 41. Rf2 Nc5 42. Bd4 Ne4 43. g4 Rb1+ 44. Kg2 g6 45. g5 Nxf2 46. Kxf2 Kd6
47. Bg7 Rb2+ 48. Kg3 Ne3 49. Be5+ Kc6 50. Nd4+ Kc5 51. Ne6+ Kc4 52. Nf8 Nf5+
53. Bxf5 Bxf5 54. Nxh7 Re2 55. Bf6 Re3+ 56. Kg2 b5 57. Bd4 Re2+ 0-1

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 15th"]
[Site "Gothenburg"]
[Date "2005.08.07"]
[Round "9.3"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C13"]
[WhiteElo "2539"]
[BlackElo "2688"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2005.07.30"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 109"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.11.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.11.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sweden"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 {Usually I play 4.e5, but as I knew Bareev
would take on e4 I decided to go for this variation.} dxe4 {A very solid
variation for black that gives white a small but stable advantage.} 5. Nxe4 Be7
({The main alternative is} 5... Nbd7 {as my opponent has played in some other
games.}) 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 {The most solid move.} (6... gxf6 {is interesting and
leads to a more unbalanced game, but it's not really Bareevs style of play.})
7. Nf3 O-O 8. Qd2 {White starts preparing the long castle as} (8. Bd3 {is bad
in view of} Bxd4 {winning a pawn for black.}) ({However} 8. Bc4 {is another
interesting line.}) 8... Be7 {Black chooses to get away with the bishop at
once.} (8... Nd7 9. O-O-O Be7 10. Bd3 {also leads to the game.}) 9. Bd3 Nd7 10.
O-O-O b6 11. h4 Bb7 {Somewhere around this point my preparation came to an end.
I had checked a few games some hours before the game just to get some ideas
and couldn't remember any concrete variation sitting at the board. Instead of
trying to memorize and copy some other game, I decided to get into the
position on my own. I tried to get a grip on what was going on to find the
right plan how to continue. At first there were a lot of moves coming across
my mind such as Neg5, Nfg5, Qf4, Rh3 and g4. But after calming down my
attacking eager a bit I realized that some more preparations would be needed
before my attack would be real dangerous. Instead I started concentrate about
how to prevent black from playing the freeing move ...c7-c5 which would give
him more space and also open up for his potential strong pair of bishops.} 12.
Qe2 $5 {The queen leaves the d-file as to answer ...c5 with dxc5 with an x-ray
attack along the d-file which means white is winning a pawn. Moreover the
queen is strategically well placed on e2 pointing the e6 pawn and protecting
the f3-knight which could be useful in case of a later g2-g4. From here the
queen might also be going to h5 in some variation, starting a direct mate
attack on the black king.} ({The most concrete move in the position is} 12.
Neg5 {In the game Anand-Bareev, Corus Wijk aan Zee 2004 there followed} Nf6 13.
c3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 $1 {and white got a very promising attack along the g-file
and later on he also won the game. Instead black should play 12...h6! which
happened when Bareev met Tseshkovsky in the Russian Championship later the
same year. Black equalized without any problems and later on won the game.}) (
12. Rh3 {is another interesting move with good score for white. The idea is to
continue with Rg3 and sometimes also double the rooks on the h-file with Rdh1.}
c5 $1 ({After} 12... Nf6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Ng5 {white has a crushing
statistic with 89% wins. Of course the statistics can deceive it self, but
still its clear that white has a strong and dangerous initiative.}) 13. dxc5 (
13. Rg3 {has been played in five games, but here black has done well both
after 13...Qc7 and 13...Kh8.}) {The game Ristic-Kovacevic, SCG-chT Budva
continued} 13... bxc5 14. Nfg5 h6 15. Nd6 Bxd6 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Qxd6 Bxg2 {
with a very unclear position which finally ended with a win for white. I
believe that black is able to keep the equilibrium, but it is possible he
should search for improvement earlier, for instance 13...Qc7 instead of 13...
bxc5.}) ({Also} 12. c3 {is an interesting move. The idea is to go with the
queen to c2, putting some pressure against h7 trying to force some weaknesses
in front of the black king.} c5 13. dxc5 {Now 13...Sxc5?? looses to 14.Sxc5
Lxc5 15.Lxh7+ Kxh7 16.Dc2+! and the black queen will hang. Instead black
should sacrifice a pawn playing} Qc7 14. Qc2 h6 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Kb1 Ra5 {
White has won a pawn, but lost his activity. Black has good compensation with
the pair of bishops and a dangerous attack on the white king. Its hard to say
who is objectively better, but at least I can say that black has the easier
game.}) 12... c5 {This came as a surprise to me as I thought I had prevented
this. I understood quite soon that my opponent planned a pawn sacrifice, but
the move didn't look completely sound at least not in my point of view.} ({
The natural move} 12... Nf6 {I had planned to meet with} 13. Neg5 {and after}
h6 (13... Bxf3 {gives away black only trump, the pair of bishops. White has a
small edge after} 14. Nxf3 {but even} (14. gxf3 {is interesting with attacking
chances along the g-file.})) 14. Ne5 $1) 13. dxc5 {Now Bb5 is a serious threat
and black is forced to leave the d-file with his queen.} Qc7 14. Neg5 $1 {
It is important for white to maintain the initiative and avoid black getting
counter play.} ({After} 14. cxb6 $2 axb6 {black has a strong initiative and
good compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 14... Nf6 (14... h6 {seems to be
a bit too provocative, but perhaps it was still a better option.} 15. Nxe6 $1 (
{It's also interesting first to play} 15. c6 $5 {to disturb blacks piece
co-ordination.} Bxc6 (15... Qxc6 16. Bb5 {wins for white.}) 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17.
Qxe6+ Rf7 18. Bc4 Qf4+ 19. Kb1 Bxf3 $1 20. gxf3 Nc5 21. Qg4 {After taking the
rook on f7 white will have rook and two pawns for blacks two pieces. Anyway
black seems to be fine here as the white pawn structure is weakened. For
example} Qf6) 15... fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Rf7 17. Bh7+ (17. Bc4 $2 {doesn't work
because of} Qf4+ 18. Nd2 Nxc5 19. Qxe7 Qxc4 $1 20. Qxb7 Nd3+ 21. Kb1 Rxb7 22.
Nxc4 Nxf2 {and black is winning an exchange with a winning position.}) 17...
Kxh7 18. Qxf7 Nxc5 19. Rhe1 ({After} 19. Kb1 Rf8 {the tricky} 20. Ng5+ {
doesn't work because of} Kh8 21. Qg6 Bxg5 22. hxg5 Be4 $1 {and black wins.})
19... Bd6 (19... Rc8 $4 {looses to} 20. Rxe7 Nd3+ (20... Nb3+ 21. Qxb3 {
gives white two solid pawns up and a winning position.}) 21. Kd2 Qxc2+ 22. Ke3
$18 Qxf2+ 23. Kxd3 Ba6+ 24. Ke4 {The king escapes and white is a whole rook up.
}) 20. Qf5+ {White has a small material advantage with rook and two pawns for
blacks pair of bishops. A tough fight lies ahead.}) 15. Ne5 $1 ({White won
quickly in Vehi Bach-Almeida Toledano, Badalona Open 2004 after} 15. Kb1 h6 16.
cxb6 axb6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Ne5 {and black resigned as there is
no defence against Ng6+. However instead of 15...h6 black could have played 15.
..Bxf3 and white can't count on any big advantage.}) 15... h6 {Black is in
serious trouble now and is forced to weaken himself in front of the king. In
case of recapturing the pawn with} (15... Bxc5 {there will follow} 16. Nxh7 $1
Nxh7 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Rd7 {With a dangerous initiative for white that at
least will be enough for perpetual checks, but most probably more than so.} Qb8
{Here the queen is better placed than on c8 in defensive prospects. Now it
threatens towards the center and Nxf7 doesn't work in view of ...Qf4+.} (18...
Qc8 {is best answered by} 19. h5 $1 {with a crushing attack.}) 19. h5 $3 {
Nevertheless this is the strongest move. A very simple way of completing the
final attack. Now h6 is threatened and black has no defence.} ({After the
natural} 19. Qh5+ {it seems as black is doing fine.} Kg8 20. Rh3 (20. Rxf7 $4 {
looses to} Qe8 $1 {as} 21. Ng6 {can be answered with} Kxf7 $3) ({On the other
hand} 20. Kb1 {is fully playable and black must act correctly to avoid defeat.}
Qc8 $1 {Prevents Nxf7.} 21. Rh3 {Now Rxf7 is a threat.} (21. Rxf7 {is again
met by} Qe8 $1 {winning for black.}) 21... Be4 $1 {The only move, but still
enough to save the draw.} 22. Rxf7 Rxf7 23. Qxf7+ Kh8 24. Qh5+ Bh7 25. Nf7+ Kg8
26. Ng5 Bf5 27. Qf7+ {with perpetual.}) 20... Bxf2 {Prevents Rg3.} 21. Kb1 {
White eliminates the queen check on f4 and so he threatens to play Nxf7.} Be4
22. Nxf7 Bxc2+ $1 ({Not} 22... Bh7 $2 23. Ng5 Bf5 24. Rf3 $1 {with a winning
attack, for instance} Qe5 25. Rxf5 Qxf5 26. g4 $1 {and black looses his queen
and the game.}) 23. Ka1 Bh7 24. Ng5 Bf5 25. Nf7 {leading to repetition.} ({Now
} 25. Rf3 {doesn't work any longer in view of} Qe5 26. Rxf5 Qxf5 27. g4 {
and black has the c2-square for his queen.})) (19. Rxf7 {leads to a draw after}
Kg8 20. Rxg7+ Kxg7 21. Qg4+ Kh8 22. Qh5+ Kg8 23. Qg6+ Kh8 24. Qh6+ {etc.}) {
A very instructive variation is} 19... Bxg2 20. h6 $1 Bxh1 (20... g6 21. Rh4 {
with a decisive attack. Now the queen check on f4 is prevented and Nxf7 is a
threat. A possible continuation is} Qe8 22. Qg4 $1 {threatening Qxg6+} Be7 23.
Qxg2 {and white has regained the sacrificed material with a remaining still
strong attack.}) 21. Qd3+ Kg8 (21... Kxh6 22. Qh3+ Kg5 23. Qg4+ Kf6 (23... Kh6
24. Qh4#) 24. Qf4#) 22. Qg3 g6 (22... Qxe5 23. Qxe5 gxh6 24. Rd1 $1 {and the
h1 bishop will be lost with a winning position for white.}) 23. Qxg6+ $3 fxg6
24. Rg7+ Kh8 25. Nxg6#) 16. Bg6 $3 {Maybe not the strongest move in the
position, but still the move that has to be played!} hxg5 ({I had planned to
meet} 16... fxg6 {with} 17. Nxg6 ({but also} 17. Nxe6 {is interesting and
should give white the advantage as well.}) 17... Bxc5 (17... hxg5 18. Qxe6+ Rf7
19. hxg5 Nh7 20. f4 $1 {See comments to blacks 18...Ne4.}) (17... Bc8 {looks a
bit too passive, but should not be underestimated as it protects the important
e6-pawn. However white seems to get an advantage after} 18. Nxe6 Bxe6 19. Qxe6+
Rf7 20. cxb6 axb6 21. Ne5 Bc5 22. f3 Rxa2 ({In case of} 22... Re8 23. Qxf7+
Qxf7 24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25. Rhe1 {white has a won endgame.}) 23. Rd8+ $1 Bf8 24.
Rxf8+ $1 Kxf8 25. Ng6+ Kg8 26. Qxa2 Kh7 27. Qb3 $1 {White now saves the knight
on g6 by tactical means and has two pawns up with a winning position.}) 18.
Qxe6+ Rf7 19. Ne5 Raf8 ({After} 19... Re8 20. Qxf7+ Qxf7 21. Ngxf7 Bd5 {
white has more than one way to win. The simplest I guess is playing} 22. Nd7 ({
Of course also} 22. Rxd5 Nxd5 23. Rd1 Nf6 24. Rd2 {wins as does}) (22. Nxh6+
gxh6 23. Nd7 Nxd7 24. Rxd5 Nf6 25. Rf5) 22... Bxf7 23. Nxc5 bxc5 24. Rhe1 {
with a technical won endgame for white. Black has big problems to keep all his
weak pawns after the forced rook exchange.}) (19... hxg5 $4 {shortens the
suffering drastic after} 20. hxg5 Re8 21. Ng6 $1 Qf4+ 22. Kb1 $1 Nh7 23. Rxh7
Kxh7 24. Rh1+ Kg8 25. Rh8#) 20. Ngxf7 Rxf7 21. Rd7 $1 Qxd7 $1 (21... Nxd7 22.
Qxf7+ Kh7 23. Nxd7 {and white wins.}) 22. Nxd7 Nxd7 23. f3 $1 {White has a
clear material advantage with a winning position, but black can still fight on
for some time.}) ({Black could have avoided the coming attack by playing} 16...
Ba6 {After the forced variation} 17. Bxf7+ Rxf7 18. Qxa6 Qxe5 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 (
19... Qxc5 $2 20. Nxh6+ gxh6 21. Rhe1 {gives white a superior position.}) 20.
cxb6 Rb8 21. Qxa7 Nd5 {Black is clearly behind in material, but he has a
strong initiative and white must prove his advantage.}) 17. hxg5 fxg6 18. Nxg6
$1 Ne4 $2 {This was the loosing move. With this move black forces white to
carry out a nice combination.} ({The alternative} 18... Nh7 {was better, but
not enough} 19. Qxe6+ Rf7 20. f4 $1 {Threatens Rxh7 and black is forced to
sacrifice back one of his two extra pieces.} Bxg5 21. fxg5 {Renews the threat
Rxh7.} Bxg2 {Once again the only move.} ({if black tries with} 21... Rd8 {
he allows white to show off with another nice sacrifice.} 22. Rd4 $1 Rxd4 23.
Qe8+ Rf8 24. Ne7+ Qxe7 25. Qxe7 {with a totally won position for white. Black
is unable to protect himself against all the threats, for instance} Bd5 26. Qe5
bxc5 27. g6 {winning.}) 22. Rxh7 $3 {A very concrete move that needs exact
calculation, but it is also the strongest move and forces the win for white.} (
{Also the more silent} 22. Rh5 {should lead to a win for white, but it gives
black far more chances of survival. Most of blacks pieces are blocked and
moreover white threatens to play Rd4 followed by Rxh7 with a coming mate on h8.
So black has only two moves to choose from, 22...Rd8 and 22...bxc5. It doesn't
matter which one he chooses as both of them leads to the same position in the
end.} bxc5 ({After} 22... Rd8 {there will follow} 23. Rd6 $1 (23. Rd2 {is bad
in view of} Rxd2 24. Qe8+ Rf8 25. Ne7+ Qxe7 26. Qxe7 Rff2 $1 27. Qe6+ Kf8 28.
Rxh7 Rxc2+ 29. Kb1 Rxb2+ 30. Ka1 Rxa2+ 31. Qxa2 Rxa2+ 32. Kxa2 bxc5 {and black
saves the draw.}) 23... bxc5 {There are no good alternatives.} 24. Ne7+ Qxe7
25. Qxe7 Rxe7 26. Rxd8+ Nf8 27. g6 $1 Re1+ 28. Kd2 Rd1+ $1 (28... Rf1 29. Rxc5
{also wins for white.}) 29. Kxd1 Bf3+ 30. Kd2 Bxh5 31. Rd5 Bxg6 32. Rxc5 {
White has a won endgame. The black a7-pawn will soon be lost and white's three
connected passed pawns on the queenside decides the game.}) 23. Rd6 $1 Rd8 {
In lack of other options black must enter the above mentioned endgame.} ({
If black tries the desperate} 23... Be4 {white plays} 24. Qxe4 Qxd6 (24... Rf1+
25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Kxd1 Rd8+ 27. Kc1 {is no improvement.}) 25. Qxa8+ Rf8 26.
Nxf8 Qf4+ 27. Kd1 Qg4+ ({there is no perpetual checks as after} 27... Qf1+ 28.
Kd2 Qf2+ 29. Kd3 $1 {the white king escapes.} ({Not} 29. Kc3 $4 Qd4+ 30. Kb3
Qb4# {mate!})) 28. Ke1 Qxh5 {It might look as if black has got away with
reasonable drawing chances, but after the follow-up} 29. Ne6+ Kf7 30. Qe4 $1 {
it all becomes clear. White is totally controlling the board and all black
queen checks are prevented. Even the g5-pawn is protected as white now has a
queen check on f5. Black can fight on for a while with} g6 {but it doesn't
change the final result.})) 22... Kxh7 23. Ne5 Rf2 ({After} 23... Rf1 24. Rxf1
Bxf1 25. g6+ Kh6 (25... Kh8 {looses to} 26. Nf7+ Kg8 27. Nd6+ Kh8 (27... Kf8
28. Qf5+ Kg8 29. Qd5+ {looses the rook.}) 28. Qe4 $1 {and white wins. Black
can't defend against al the threats, for instance} Rb8 29. Qh4+ Kg8 30. Nf5 $1
{with mate to follow.}) 26. Qf5 $1 {Black is unable to defend both against
Ng4# and Nf7+ and so he must give his queen with a simple win for white.}) 24.
Rd4 Rf1+ ({After} 24... Rxc2+ {white continues cold-blooded with} 25. Kd1 Rc1+
26. Kd2 Rh1 (26... Rc2+ 27. Ke3 Be4 28. g6+ Kh6 29. Qh3+ Kg5 30. Qg4+ Kf6 31.
Nd7+ {winning.}) 27. g6+ Kh8 (27... Kh6 28. Nf7+ Kh5 29. Qf5#) 28. Rd7 Qxd7+
29. Qxd7 {White is totally controlling the game and his queen is superior to
blacks to bad coordinated rooks. A possible continuation is} bxc5 (29... Rf8
30. Qe7 $1) 30. Nf7+ Kg8 31. Nd8 Rf1 32. Ne6 $18) 25. Kd2 Rd8 (25... Rf2+ 26.
Ke1 Rf1+ 27. Ke2 Rh1 28. g6+ Kh8 29. Rd7 Qxd7 30. Qxd7 {leads to the above
mentioned variation except that white's king now is on e2 instead of d2, which
is of no particular importance.}) ({Also} 25... Rh1 26. g6+ Kh8 27. Rd7 Qxd7+
28. Qxd7 {leads to an earlier mentioned variation. But here white has got his
c2-pawn left, which can't be bad for him.}) 26. g6+ Kh6 (26... Kh8 {is met by}
27. Ke2 $1 Be4 28. Rxe4 Rf2+ 29. Ke1 $1 {and white wins.}) 27. Nf7+ Rxf7 28.
gxf7+ g6 (28... Kh7 29. Rd6 $1 $18) 29. Rd6 Be4 30. Qh3+ Kg7 (30... Kg5 31.
Qg3+ Kh5 32. f8=Q $1 Rxf8 33. Qh2+ Kg5 34. Rxg6+ {winning!}) 31. f8=Q+ $1 Rxf8
32. Rd7+ Qxd7+ 33. Qxd7+ Kh6 34. c6 {The c-pawn will decide the game.}) ({
The best move in the position seems to be} 18... Kf7 $1 {Black protects the
e6-pawn and in the same time gets his king in a safer position. Indeed there
are many pieces hanging for black, but he has already taken two so he still
has some to spend.} 19. gxf6 (19. Ne5+ Kg8 {is no more than a repetition of
moves.}) 19... Bxf6 (19... Kxg6 20. fxe7 Qxe7 21. Qh5+ Kf6 22. Rd4 $1 (22. Rh4
$2 {is worse because of} Qxc5 $1 23. Rf4+ Ke7 24. Qh4+ Ke8 25. Rxf8+ Qxf8 26.
Qa4+ Kf7 27. Rd7+ Kg8 28. Rxb7 Qxf2 {and black has equalized.}) 22... Qxc5 (
22... g5 $2 {looses to} 23. Qh6+ Kf7 24. Qh7+ Ke8 25. Qd3 $1 {with a decisive
attack for white, for instance} Bd5 26. Re1 Rd8 27. c4 {and black must give
back the piece while white's attack still will be running.}) 23. Qh4+ g5 (23...
Kg6 24. Rd7 {forces a won rook endgame for white.} Rh8 25. Qg4+ Qg5+ 26. Qxg5+
Kxg5 27. Rxh8 Rxh8 28. Rxg7+ {followed by Rxb7 with two pawns up for white.})
24. Qh6+ Ke7 25. Qg7+ Rf7 26. Rd7+ $1 Kxd7 27. Qxf7+ Qe7 {forced as after} (
27... Kc6 28. Rd1 {black still has to give up his bishop with 28...Kb5. After}
Bc8 29. Qf3+ {the rook on a8 is lost.}) 28. Qxe7+ Kxe7 29. Rh7+ Kd6 30. Rxb7 {
White has a rook endgame with a clear pawn up and an active against passive
rook. Black might still be able to cause some trouble, but the win should not
be too difficult.}) 20. Qh5 ({After} 20. Nxf8 Rxf8 {white has rook and two
pawns against blacks pair of bishops. It's rather difficult to make a correct
evaluation of the position, but I think black is doing fine here and might
even get the better chances. The white attack is almost over the blacks bishop
pair starts becoming a threat.}) 20... Rfd8 $1 {Black saves the rook and in
the same time prevents Rd7+ as was threatened.} 21. Nf4+ ({After} 21. Ne5+ Kf8
{white is risking to loose the game and must play correct to keep the balance.}
22. Rd6 $1 Bxg2 (22... Bxe5 23. Qxe5 Rxd6 24. cxd6 Qc4 25. Qg5 $1 Be4 $1 {
Only move} 26. Rh8+ Kf7 27. Qf4+ Kg6 28. Qg4+ {with perpetual checks.}) (22...
Bd5 $2 {is bad in view of} 23. c4 $1 Bxe5 24. Qxe5 Rxd6 25. Rh8+ $1 Kf7 26.
Qf4+ Ke7 27. Qd4 $1 {with excellent winning chances for white, for instance}
Kf7 28. cxd6 Qd7 29. Qf4+ Kg6 30. Qg3+ Kf6 31. Rh4 {winning back material with
a contuous strong attack.}) 23. Rxe6 $1 ({In case of} 23. Ng6+ Kg8 24. Rxe6 Rd5
$1 ({not} 24... Bxh1 $2 {loosing to} 25. Rxf6 gxf6 26. Qh8+ Kf7 27. Qh7+ Ke6
28. Qxc7 $18) 25. Qh7+ Kf7 26. Rhe1 Bf3 {black has got the winning chances.})
23... Qxe5 (23... Bxe5 {forces the draw immediately after} 24. Qf5+ Kg8 25.
Qh7+ Kf7 26. Qf5+ Kg8 (26... Bf6 $4 27. Rxf6+ gxf6 28. Rh7+ $18)) 24. Rxe5 Bxh1
25. Qh8+ Kf7 26. Qh5+ Kf8 {with a draw.} (26... Kg8 $2 {gives white chances
again after} 27. Rf5 Bb7 28. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 29. Qg6+ Kf8 30. Qxf6+ {followed by
cxb6 with advantage to white.})) 21... Kg8 $1 ({After} 21... Ke7 22. Qg4 Rxd1+
23. Rxd1 {white has two pawns and a strong initiative for the sacrificed piece.
I think it's very good winning chances for white.}) 22. Qh7+ Kf7 23. Qg6+ Kg8
24. Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. Qh7+ Kf7 26. Qh5+ {with perpetual checks.}) 19. Rh8+ Kf7 20.
Ne5+ $1 {White now sacrifices a third piece to continue the attack against
black's king.} Qxe5 21. Qh5+ g6 22. Rh7+ Qg7 {Black must give back his queen
to avoid mate, but he will get rook and three pieces for it which is far more
than enough materially speaking. However blacks kings position and piece
co-ordination is not the very best as will soon be revealed.} 23. Rxg7+ Kxg7
24. Qh6+ Kf7 25. Qh7+ Ke8 26. Qxg6+ Rf7 27. c6 $3 {A genius move that also
seem to be the only winning move in the position. The objectionable pawn on c5
suddenly becomes useful.} Bxc6 ({Objectively seem the best continuation would
have been} 27... Bxg5+ 28. Kb1 Bxc6 29. Qxe6+ Kf8 30. Qxc6 Re8 {and black can
still fight on for a while, but the final result would still be the same. After
} 31. f3 {white has a decisive advantage. With queen and three pawns against
rook and two pieces and in addition a hollow position the battle is lost for
black.}) 28. Qxe6 Bb7 29. g6 $1 ({Not} 29. Qd7+ Kf8 30. Qxb7 $4 Bxg5+ {and
black wins.}) 29... Rg7 {Black must keep his rook on the seventh rank to
prevent Qd7+.} 30. Rh1 $1 {The rook has done his work on the d-file and so he
comes over to the kingside to finish the final attack.} Nf6 ({In case of} 30...
Kd8 {there will follow} 31. Rh8+ Kc7 32. Qe5+ {winning the g7 rook.}) 31. Rh8+
Rg8 (31... Ng8 {is not much better. White has many ways leading to a win, but
the easiest is to play} 32. c4 $1 {with this pawn advance, white takes control
over the important d5 square, which will soon become useful.} (32. Rh7 Kf8 33.
f4 $1 {is another possibility.}) {After} 32... Rc8 33. Rxg8+ Rxg8 34. Qxg8+ Kd7
35. Qxc8+ $1 Kxc8 36. g7 {is it impossible for black to stop white's g-pawn.})
32. g7 $1 {Black's position is hopeless and so he resigned.} 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 7th"]
[Site "Kusadasi"]
[Date "2006.04.14"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Delchev, Aleksander"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2661"]
[BlackElo "2540"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2006.04.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "TUR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 111 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.05.09"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.05.09"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Bd3
Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3 Nce7 12. h4 Bd7 13. Qg4 f5 14. Qh3 cxd4 15.
cxd4 Bb5 16. Bxb5 Qa5+ 17. Bd2 Qxb5 18. h5 Nh8 19. Bb4 Rfe8 20. Qh4 Qd7 21. Rh3
Nf7 22. Rg3 Kh8 23. O-O-O Ng8 24. Ng1 a5 25. Be1 Qa4 26. Ne2 Rac8 27. Rd2 Re7
28. h6 g5 29. Qh3 g4 30. Qh5 Ngxh6 31. Kb2 Rec7 32. Rb3 Rc4 33. c3 b5 34. Qh4
Ng8 35. Nf4 b4 36. Rc2 bxa3+ 37. Ka2 Rb4 0-1

[Event "EU-Cup 22nd"]
[Site "Fuegen"]
[Date "2006.10.13"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Zhang, Pengxiang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2636"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2006.10.08"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AUT"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 115"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.11.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.11.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sollentuna"]
[BlackTeam "Taldea Gros Xake"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 {The latest try
for Black in the Winawer variantion. The idea is to put the Queen on a4,
blocking the advance of the White a-pawn. This keeps the c1-bishop away from
its favorite diagonal a3-f8 at least at the first stage. Moreover the Queen
attacks c2 and the central d4-pawn. Ofcourse there are also some drawbacks. As
a Queen is not the best blocker it can easily be threatened away by a White
piece sooner or later. The Queen might also become a bit ofside on the
queenside allowing White to create an attack on the other side of the board.}
7. Bd2 Qa4 8. Qg4 {A stright forward move that forces Black to weaken his
kingside. The alternative is the rook solid} (8. Qb1 {threatening both Bb5+
and Qb3 thus forcing Black to reply} c4 {closing the position. White has some
advantage because of the pair of bishops that will become useful after opening
up on the kingside. However Black has a solid position without weaknesses so
it's not easy for White to break though.This might be suitable for the
positional player with a lot of patience, but I definitely prefer to play more
active.}) 8... g6 {The usual reply. Also} (8... Kf8 {has been played with the
idea to keep the pawn formation intact. The drawback is ofcourse that the king
no longer is ina safe position.}) 9. Qd1 {The Queen has done her work and now
it's time to go back protecting the c2-pawn. The d4-pawn is now left en prise,
but this is included in White's plan. An opening of center is favorable to the
pair of bishops.} Nc6 (9... b6 {is a worthy alternative with the idea of
playing ...Ba6 getting rid og the "bad bishop".} 10. h4 h5 (10... Ba6 11. Bxa6
Nxa6 12. Ne2 (12. h5 cxd4 13. hxg6 fxg6 14. Rh4 Ne7 15. cxd4 Rc8 16. c3 Nc5 $1)
12... h5 13. Bg5 Rc8 14. O-O Ne7 15. Bf6 Rf8 16. Qd2 Nb8) 11. Nf3 Ba6 12. Bxa6
(12. Bd3 Nd7 13. O-O Bxd3 14. cxd3 Qxd1 15. Rfxd1 Ne7 16. Bg5 Nc6 $11) 12...
Qxa6 13. Bg5 Nd7 14. Qd3 Qxd3 15. cxd3 Rc8 16. Kd2 Ne7 17. a4 Nc6 18. dxc5 bxc5
19. Rhb1 Rc7 $11 {Chandler-N.Pert British Team Ch 2001.}) (9... cxd4 {will now
be met with} 10. Rb1 $1 {with good compensation for the pawn.}) 10. Rb1 $5 {
An interesting move, putting pressure along the b-file and threatening Bb5..
Usually} (10. Nf3 {is played, but then Black gets time for} b6 {and ...Ba6 to
swap off the bishops.}) 10... a6 ({In case of} 10... c4 {White can continue}
11. h4 Qxa3 (11... h6 {is met by} 12. Qc1 {giving Black some problems to
fullfill his kingsde development.}) 12. h5 {with good compensation for the
sacrificed pawn.}) 11. Nf3 b5 12. h4 {Trying to provoke some more weaknesses
in the Black camp.} (12. Bd3 {was also worth thinkning about, but I didn't
like to allow Black playing} c4 {winning tempo and after} 13. Be2 Qxa3 {
Black ahs at least a pawn to the good. Ofcourse White has obvious compensation
with control over the Black squares, but it's hard to find anything convincing.
}) 12... h6 ({After} 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 Nxd4 14. Bd3 Nxf3+ 15. Qxf3 {White
has a strong initiaitve and the pawn deficit doesn't mean much in this
position.}) 13. dxc5 $6 {A try to open up the position, but this is not the
right way. Better was} (13. Bd3 c4 14. Be2 Qxa3 15. h5 g5 16. Ra1 Qb2 17. O-O {
with compensation.}) 13... Nge7 (13... Qe4+ 14. Be3 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Qd4
$14 {gives White a solid plus in the endgame.}) 14. Bd3 ({A strange-looking,
but rather interesting move is} 14. c4 $5 {with the idea to open up some lines
and close the connection for the Black Queen on the fourth rank. After} dxc4
15. Qc1 {the Black Queen has no squares and White starts putting some pressure
on the Black kingside.}) 14... Nf5 {Black prevents White from castling as now
the h4-pawn will hang and soon Black is about to tranfer his Queen to g4.} ({
Eliminating pawns by means of} 14... Qxa3 15. O-O (15. Rb4 $5 {might also come
into consideration.}) 15... Qxc5 {only helps White and after} 16. Qc1 {with
excellent compensation on the black squares.}) (14... Qg4) 15. Rb4 $5 {An
interesting positional exchange sacrifice that makes life a bit easier for
White.} Qxa3 ({Taking the exchange at once with} 15... Nxb4 $2 {is bad in view
of} 16. axb4 {[%csl Ra4,Rc8] and Black faces problems both with his Queen and
bishop.}) 16. O-O {There is no need to move away the rook. The exchange
sacrifice will still give White good compensation.} Bd7 17. Qe2 d4 $5 {A smart
move. Black sacrifices a pawn to open up a diagonal for his "French Bishop".
Now White will get a pawn for the exchange, but keeping the position closed
would be preferable.} 18. Rxd4 {Probably a mistake. At first sight it doesn't
look too bad, but Black will soon get a solid block in the center giving some
more stability to his position. Even though White still has reasonable
compensation it's hard to proceed and any misstake might give Black the
advantage.} ({Better was} 18. Rb3 Qxc5 19. Ra1 {and Black is unable to defend
all his pawns. Now b5 is hanging and if he protects himself with} Ra7 {he will
soon face other trouble.} (19... O-O {is bad in view of} 20. g4 {and the
h6-pawn will falll.}) 20. g4 Nfe7 21. Qe4 $1 {A strong move winning back the
pawn as ...dxc3 falls to Be3. White will win back d4 with a stable plus.}) ({
Another interesting idea was} 18. h5 dxc3 ({After} 18... g5 {White can play}
19. Nxd4 {as now Black can not recapture with his g-.pawn on f5 in case of 19..
.Nxb4 20.Nxf5.} Nfxd4 20. Rxd4 Qxc5 (20... Nxd4 21. cxd4 {[%csl Ra3] gives a
clear advantage to White as the BLack Queen is left offside and White also
threatens to break up the kingside with f2-f4!}) 21. Re4 $16 {Here too White
is clearly better. NOw Black is more active, but on the other hand White has
not given the Exchange and he has a strong pair of bishops.}) 19. Rb3 Qxc5 20.
Rxc3 $44 {with compensation for the sacrifices pawn.}) 18... Ncxd4 19. cxd4 Bc6
20. Be4 Rc8 21. Bxc6+ Rxc6 22. Qe4 ({A worthy alternative was} 22. c4 $5 {
putting direct pressure to Black's position.} b4 ({After} 22... bxc4 23. Rb1
O-O 24. Qxc4 {White has good compensation for the exchange.}) 23. Qe4 Rc8 24.
Qb7 O-O 25. Qxb4 Qxb4 26. Bxb4 {White has two pawns for the exchange and is
materially leading so his position must be preferable, allthough Black isn't
without chanses either.}) 22... Ne7 23. Nh2 $1 {A smart manouvre that forces
Black to further weaknesses.Now Ng4 is a threat.} h5 24. Bg5 Nd5 25. Bf6 Rf8 ({
Far too risky is} 25... O-O $5 {for instance} 26. Rd1 b4 27. Nf1 Rcc8 28. Rd3
Qa1 29. Rg3 Kh7 30. Rg5 {with a decisive attack for White.}) 26. Nf3 {The
knight heads back for g5 to get closer to the Black position.} Qc3 27. Ng5 Qc4
{Protecting the knight.} ({After} 27... a5 {White has at least a draw with} 28.
Nxe6 $5 fxe6 29. Qxg6+ Rf7 30. Qg8+ {but also possible is 28.Rb1 with the idea
...b4 29.Qe2 and Blacks king is not so safe any longer.}) 28. Rd1 ({It was
also interesting to play} 28. Qf3 {at once with the idea of Ne4 with good
attacking prospects. However giving away the d4-pawn is also very risky. In
case the White atttack doesn't crush through his position might be a disaster.}
Qxd4) 28... Kd7 29. Qf3 Qxc2 ({Also interesting was the strange-looking} 29...
Nxf6 {Black gives up his most important piece, the blocking knight on d5, but
this might well be enough as White has not so many pieces left to attack with
for instance} 30. Qxf6 Qxc2 31. Qf3 Qf5 32. d5 exd5 33. Qxd5+ Kc7 34. Ne4 Qe6
35. Qd2 Kb8 {and the Black king is now in safety. Still White has compensation
for the exchange but it's not easy to find a clear plan.}) 30. Bg7 Re8 31. Ne4
$1 ({Ofcourse not} 31. Nxf7 Qf5 $1 {forcing exchange of Queens and Black is
winning.}) 31... Kc7 {Naturally Black want to transfer his king to the
Queenside as here it will be less exposed, but yet it cannot go safe anywhere
as the game will show.} 32. Kh2 {Preparing Rd2 without allowing a check on the
back rank.} Re7 33. Rd2 Qc1 {Black keeps the rook under control not to let the
White knight to d6.} 34. Bh6 {Defending the rook and preparing for Nd6} ({
Less convincing is} 34. Bf8 Rd7 35. Bd6+ Kb7 {and the bishop on d6 is not very
useful even though it's in an attractive position. This is worth thinking
about only if White will be able to tranfer his Queen to the 8th rank.}) 34...
Rd7 35. Nd6 Qb1 ({Giving back the exchange here is not an alternative as after
} 35... Rcxd6 36. exd6+ Kb7 {White can sacrifice his bishop with} 37. Ra2 Qxh6
38. Qa3 {and White wins. Black can fight on with 37...Qc3, but in the long run
White will still be winning. The Black rook is doomed to passivity and the
queenside pawns can never advance as then the Black King gets vulnerable and
will soon be mated.}) 36. Rd1 {At this stage we were both in timetrouble. As I
couldn't see anything clear for White and wasn't sure whether I was better or
not I decided to g for some repetion to pass the 40 moves.} (36. Qa3) 36... Qc2
37. Rd2 Qc3 {My opponent clearly didn't like to repeat position, but now he is
already in real danger.} 38. Rd3 Qb2 39. Rd2 $2 {A misstake caused by the
timetrouble. Ofcourse White should go for the win immediately with} (39. Nxf7
$1 $18 {with a similar position as followed in the game. White has a winning
advantage, because of the opening of the f-file and weaknesses on e6 and g6.})
39... Qb4 $4 {It's not easy to make the correct 40th move, but now Black
forces White to play the best and winning move. Better was 39...Qb1 trying to
repeat the position.} 40. Nxf7 Ne7 41. Nd6 Nf5 42. Bg5 $22 {Black is in
Zugzwang. It's not easy to undrstand this, black has so many pieces on the
board, but no one of them, not even the pawns can do any move without worsen
the position.The knight on f5 must stay there not to allow WHite's Queen to
get in to f8. The King cannot move as then it would loose the guard on the
c6-rook. The rooks cannot move unless giving exchange sacrifice on d6. There
is the exception of 42...Rh7, but this will loosse important control as shown
in the variation below. The Queen do have a few moves, but any of them will
loose control of c5 allowing White to play d5! witha crushing attack.} a5 ({
After} 42... Rh7 {White has several winning ways. I will give a line including}
43. Bd8+ {to give a good reason why the rook was realy needed on d7 for
protaction.} Kxd8 (43... Kd7 {doesn't help. After} 44. d5 {everything opens up
and Black is completely lost.}) 44. Qxc6 Nxd6 45. Qb6+ Ke8 46. Rd3 Nf5 47.
Qxe6+ Ne7 48. Qxa6 {White takes the pawns one after one and Black has no sign
of any counterplay.} Qc4 49. Rf3 Qd5 50. Qxb5+ $18 {Black is still alive, but
with four pawns and a very good attacking prospects White is totally winning.})
43. Rd3 {All ways leading to victory, but easier was} (43. d5 exd5 44. Qxd5 {
forcing} Nxd6 45. cxd6+ {with atotally crushing position, for instance} Kb6 46.
Qe6 Qg4 47. Qe8 a4 48. Qa8 $18 {and so on. Having two connected passed pawns
and dangerous attack against the Black King White has aclear win.}) 43... Nxd6
{This is more or less forced as Rb3 was threatened and after} (43... a4 {
White reply with} 44. Bd2 {and Ba5+ comming next winning the rook on c6.}) 44.
exd6+ Kb7 45. Qh3 Rdxd6 {The last desperate try, but still giving White some
technical trouble because of Black's connected passed pawns on a5 and b5.} ({
After} 45... Qc4 46. d5 {Black also have to give up a rook to survive.} Rcxd6
47. cxd6 Rxd6 {Perhaps this was a better try, but here too White should be
winning rather easy i.e.} 48. Qf3 Rxd5 49. Rc3 Qd4 50. Bd8 a4 51. Rc7+ Kb8 (
51... Ka6 52. Rc6+ Kb7 53. Rxe6 $18) 52. g3 b4 53. Rh7 Rd7 54. Bf6 Qd5 55. Be5+
Ka8 56. Qf8+ Ka7 57. Qb8+ Ka6 58. Qc8+ {etc.}) 46. Bd2 $1 {A strong
intermediate move that forces the Black Queen away before capturing the rook,
not to give unnecessary counterplay.} Qc4 47. cxd6 b4 ({Ofcourse} 47... Rxd6
48. Bxa5 $18 {is totally hopeless for Black.}) 48. Qf3 ({Also possible was} 48.
Bf4 Rc8 49. Be5 a4 50. Qf3+ Qd5 51. Qf7+ Kb6 52. d7 $18 Rd8 53. Qe7 Rxd7 54.
Qxb4+ Qb5 55. Qc3 $18) 48... Qd5 49. Qxd5 (49. Qf7+ Ka6 {is less clear.}) 49...
exd5 50. Bf4 {threatening d7!} Rc8 (50... Kc8 {is met by} 51. Re3 Kd8 52. Re7
b3 53. Ra7 b2 54. Bg5+ $18) 51. Rd1 $1 {From the first rank the rook has a
better distance and can easily take care about the passed Black pawns when the
start running.} Rd8 (51... Kb6 {looses to} 52. Bg5 Kc6 53. Rc1+ Kd7 54. Rxc8
Kxc8 55. Bd2 Kd7 56. f4 Kxd6 57. g4 $1 hxg4 58. Kg3 $18 {nad Black has not
enough time to tranfer his King to the queenside and the pawns cannot advance
by them self as} b3 {is met by} 59. Bc1 {with a solid block.}) 52. Rc1 Kb6 (
52... Ka6 53. Rc6+ Kb5 54. Rc5+ Ka4 55. Rxd5 b3 56. Bc1 Kb4 57. d7 a4 58. Bg5
$18) (52... b3 53. Ra1 Kb6 54. Ra3 a4 55. Rxa4 Kb5 56. Ra1 Kc4 57. Be5 b2 58.
Rb1 Kc3 59. Kg3 Kc2 60. Rxb2+ Kxb2 61. Kf4 $18) 53. Rc5 b3 54. Bd2 $1 {Using
the tactics now wins by force. Less clear is} (54. Bc1 Rxd6 55. Ba3 Rc6 {
with counterplay for Black.}) 54... b2 55. Bxa5+ Ka6 (55... Kb7 56. Bxd8 b1=Q
57. Rc7+ Kb8 58. d7 Qf5 59. Bg5 $18) 56. Bxd8 b1=Q 57. Rc6+ Ka7 58. d7 Qf5 {
Funny enough Black has no threats at all as the d7-pawn is protected by the
check on c7 winning the Queen!} 59. Bb6+ (59. Rc7+ Kb6 60. Bg5 $18 {was
another option.}) 59... Kb7 60. d8=Q ({During the game I was also considering
to play} 60. d8=N+ $5 {but ofcourse I had no good reason for this.} Ka6 ({
In case of} 60... Ka8 {White wins easy with} 61. Bc7 Ka7 62. Rc5 Qf6 63. Ra5+
$18 {winning the Queen and}) (60... Kb8 61. Rc7 Qf4+ 62. Kg1 {also forced
Black to give up the Queen not to get mated.} Qxc7 63. Bxc7+ $18) 61. Bc7+ Kb5
62. Bg3 $18 {Ofcourse White is still winning, but here there is nothing
obvious.}) 60... Qf4+ 61. Kg1 {Fortunately the check on c1 is still protected
by the hanging rook on c6.} Kxc6 {Black resigned.} 62. g3 ({Ofcourse} 62. Qc7+
$18 {is also winning, but I saw no reason to give up material.}) 1-0

[Event "SWE-chT 0607"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "2007.03.18"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Brynell, Stellan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[WhiteElo "2649"]
[BlackElo "2619"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2006.10.20"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2009"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.11.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.11.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sollentuna"]
[BlackTeam "Limhamn"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 Bxg5 7. hxg5 Qxg5 8.
Qd3 g6 9. Nf3 Qe7 10. O-O-O Nb6 11. Qe3 Bd7 12. Rh6 Nc6 13. Bd3 Nb4 14. Be2 Na4
15. Nxa4 Bxa4 16. b3 Bd7 17. Kb2 O-O-O 18. Rdh1 Rdf8 19. c3 Nc6 20. Ng5 Nd8 21.
Nxh7 Re8 22. g4 b6 23. g5 c5 24. Nf6 Rxh6 25. gxh6 Rh8 26. h7 Qf8 27. Ba6+ Kc7
28. Qf4 Nc6 29. c4 Nb4 30. cxd5 Nxa6 31. d6+ Kc8 32. Qf3 Qd8 33. Qa8+ Nb8 34.
Qxa7 Bc6 35. Rc1 Nd7 36. dxc5 Nxe5 37. cxb6 Nd3+ 38. Kb1 Nxc1 39. d7+ 1-0

[Event "SWE-chT 0708"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "2007.11.17"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Hermansson, Emil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2662"]
[BlackElo "2543"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2007.10.19"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2009"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.11.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.11.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sollentuna"]
[BlackTeam "Stockholm Rockaden"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ng5 Ke8 12. f4 h6 13. Nge4 h5 14. f5
Nxe5 15. Bf4 f6 16. Bxe5 fxe5 17. Rae1 Bd6 18. Ng5 Bd7 19. Nce4 Ke7 20. f6+
gxf6 21. Rxf6 Raf8 22. Ref1 Bc5+ 23. Kh2 Be3 24. Rf7+ Rxf7 25. Rxf7+ Kd8 26.
Rf3 Bxg5 27. Nxg5 Rg8 28. Nf7+ Ke7 29. Nxe5 Be6 30. a3 c5 31. Nd3 c4 32. Nf4
Bf7 33. Rg3 Rd8 34. Re3+ Kf6 35. Kg3 Rd4 36. Rf3 Kg5 37. Ne2 h4+ 38. Kf2 Rd7
39. g3 hxg3+ 40. Rxg3+ Kf6 41. Rf3+ Kg5 42. Rf4 Bh5 43. h4+ Kg6 44. Rd4 Rxd4
45. Nxd4 Bd1 46. c3 Kf6 47. Nb5 c6 48. Nxa7 Ke6 49. Nc8 b5 50. Nb6 Kd6 51. a4
Kc7 52. a5 Bh5 53. Ke3 Be8 54. Kd4 Kb7 55. Kc5 Ka6 56. Nc8 Kxa5 57. Nd6 Bg6 58.
Kxc6 Ka4 59. Kc5 Kb3 60. Nxb5 Kxb2 61. Kxc4 Kc2 62. Kd4 Kd2 63. Nd6 Ke2 64. Ne4
Kf3 65. Nf6 Kf4 66. h5 1-0

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 16th"]
[Site "Heraklion"]
[Date "2007.10.29"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Pelletier, Yannick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[WhiteElo "2593"]
[BlackElo "2609"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2007.10.28"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 121"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sweden"]
[BlackTeam "Switzerland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SUI"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8.
O-O Nxd4 9. Bxd4 Bc5 10. Bxc5 Qxc5 11. Kh1 d6 12. f3 O-O 13. Qe1 e5 14. f4 exf4
15. Rxf4 Be6 16. Qd2 Qg5 17. Rf2 Qxd2 18. Rxd2 Rfd8 19. Be2 Kf8 20. Rad1 Ke7
21. Bf3 Rac8 22. Kg1 Rc5 23. Kf2 Rd7 24. Rd4 h6 25. R1d2 Nh7 26. Na4 Rb5 27. c4
Rb4 28. b3 b5 29. Nb6 Rb7 30. Rxd6 bxc4 31. Nxc4 Bxc4 32. bxc4 Rxc4 33. Rxa6
Ng5 34. Re2 Rbb4 35. Ra7+ Ke6 36. Ra6+ Ke7 37. Ra7+ Ke6 38. Bg4+ Ke5 39. Ra5+
Kf4 40. Bf3 Nxf3 41. Rf5+ Kg4 42. gxf3+ Kh4 43. Rxf7 g5 44. e5 1-0

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 16th"]
[Site "Heraklion"]
[Date "2007.10.30"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Kotronias, Vasilios"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2614"]
[BlackElo "2593"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2007.10.28"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 121"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Greece"]
[BlackTeam "Sweden"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GRE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. c3 c5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4
f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. O-O Bd6 12. Bg5 O-O 13. Rc1 {This is the most
common move in the position nowadays. It's also the move used regularly by
Tiviakov, who is one of the experts with White in the 3.Nd2 French lines. This
was my second encounter against Kotronias with the Black pieces. In all his
previous games in the database he had choosen 13.Bh4, so Rc1 came as a small
surprise to me. Our last game in Rilton Cup 2006/2007 went} (13. Bh4 Nh5 14.
Nc3 (14. Qc2 {does not give White much of an advantage. Recently in Calvia
Open 2007 my Black game against Godena went} h6 15. Bh7+ ({White can win an
exchange playing} 15. Bg6 Rxf3 16. gxf3 Bxh2+ 17. Kh1 ({The alternative} 17.
Kg2 $5 {gives good compensation for Black after} Nf4+ 18. Nxf4 Bxf4 {Stronger
than} (18... Qxf4 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. fxg3 {Black will get two pawns for the
exchange. However practice has shown that White has the better chances and
especially the pawn break f3-f4-f5 is very dengerous for Black.}) 19. Bg3 Bd7 {
followed by...Rf8. Black has a pawn for the given exchange and also a better
pawn structure.}) 17... Nf4 18. Ng3 {with a crazy-looking position. However
this is very well know and totally outanalysed. After the very strong reply} e5
$1 {Black is at least equal and it's already White who is fighting for
survivial.} {The game Can,E-Berg,E/Kusadasi 2006/CBM 111 ext went} 19. Bh7+ Kh8
20. Kxh2 g5 21. Bf5 gxh4 22. Bxc8 Qxc8 23. Nf5 Qd7 24. Rh1 Nxd4 {and White was
ready for resignition.}) 15... Kh8 16. Bg6 Rxf3 17. Bxh5 Rf8 (17... Bxh2+ 18.
Kh1 Rf8 19. f4) 18. Bg3 Bd7 19. Rac1 Rf6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. Qc5 Qxc5 22. Rxc5
Be8 23. Bxe8 Rxe8 24. f4 Kg8) 14... a6 15. Rc1 g6 16. Na4 {when I came up with
the strong novelty} Qa5 $1 {with a comfortable game for Black. The main idea is
} 17. a3 (17. Nc5 $2 {is bad in view of} Rxf3 $1 18. gxf3 Nxd4 {wuth excellent
compensation for the given material.}) ({Instead the game continued} 17. b3 Bd7
18. Bb1 Rae8 {and Black was doing fine in 1/2-1/2 Kotronias,V-Berg,E/Stockholm
2007/[Berg,Emanuel] (64)}) 17... Rxf3 18. gxf3 Qc7 19. Bg3 Nxg3 20. fxg3 Bxg3 {
after which White does best in accepting the draw with} 21. hxg3 Qxg3+ 22. Kh1
Qh3+ {and perpetual checks.}) 13... h6 {This is a rather odd move that has
grown in popularity the last few years- I have started to play it regularly
myself with very good results.} 14. Bh4 {The most challenging move. The
alternative} (14. Bd2 {doesn not give Black any real problems. Azarov,S-Berg,E/
Moskva 2006/[Berg,Emanuel] went} Bd7 15. Ng3 (15. b4 $5) 15... Rae8 16. Bc3 Qb8
17. Bg6 Re7 18. Re1 Be8 19. Bb1 Bf4 20. Bd2 Bd6 21. a3 a6 22. Qc2 Bxg3 $1 {
Black takes control over the white squares.} 23. hxg3 Ne4 24. Bf4 Qd8 (24...
Rxf4 $2 25. gxf4 Qxf4 26. Qe2 $16) 25. Qd3 g5 (25... Bg6 $2 {is bad in view of}
26. Rxc6 $1 bxc6 27. Ne5 Be8 28. Qxa6 {whith a clear advantage to White who is
totally dominating the position.}) 26. Be3 Qd6 27. b4 Bh5 28. Nd2 Nxd2 29. Qxd2
Rg7 30. Rc5 Bg6 31. Ba2 Be4 32. Rec1 {and a draw was agreed.}) 14... Nh5 15.
Bg3 Nxg3 16. Nxg3 (16. hxg3 {is a worthy alternative to cover the f4-square,
but here the knight on e2 becomes a bit more passive.}) 16... Qf7 17. Qe2 {
White is preparing Ne5.} (17. Bb1 {was played in Tiviakov,S-Berg,E/Mallorca
2004/CBM 104/[Tiviakov/Berg] (40) After} g5 18. Qd3 Bd7 19. a3 (19. Rce1 a6 $1
$13 (19... Rae8 20. Ne5 $14)) 19... Rae8 20. Rce1 $146 Re7 21. h3 (21. Ne5 $5
Nxe5 22. dxe5 Bc5 23. Re2 $13 (23. Qe2 Be8)) 21... Be8 22. Re3 Qg7 23. Rfe1 {
Black should have played simple with} Rf6 ({Instead the interesting exchange
sacrifice} 23... Rxf3 {was played, but Black didn't get enough compensatrion.})
24. Ne5 Bxe5 25. dxe5 Rf4 (25... Rf8 26. b4 a6 27. Qd1 $14) 26. Ne2 Rh4 $1 $11
{and the game is in balance.}) 17... Bd7 18. Bb1 {Now White threatens Ne5.} ({
The immediate} 18. Ne5 {fails after} Nxd4 {and Black wins a pawn.}) 18... g5 $1
{A very risky move, but also necessary to be played. Black covers h7 with his
Queen and hinders White from playing Ne5.} (18... Rae8 $2 {would have been a
mistake due to} 19. Ne5 {and now} Nxd4 $4 {looses to} 20. Qd3 $18 {with
multiple threats.}) 19. Rcd1 {White protects his d4-pawn and once again
prepares to play Ne5.} Bf4 $1 {Strenghtens the position of the Bishop. Now
Black is prepared for Ne5 as the Bishop on f4 now blocks the planned pawn
advance f2-f4.} ({The natural looking} 19... Rae8 {would give Black a lot og
headaches after} 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Bc5 22. Nh5 {with a clear advantage tp
White.}) 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Be8 $1 {Prevents White from playing Nh5 and
also preparing the pawn advance ...h5.} 22. Rde1 h5 23. f3 h4 {This is very
stright forward. A waiting move like ...a6 or ...Rc8 would have been
interesting as well.} 24. Nh1 {Threatening to trap Black's Bishop with g3.} g4
$1 {The idea behind Blacks last move. Blacj sacrifices a pawn for active
counterplay.} 25. g3 ({Grabbing the pawn with} 25. fxg4 {looks very risky for
White after} d4 {followed by ...Be3 and White is under heavy pressure.}) 25...
hxg3 26. hxg3 gxf3 (26... Qg7 $2 27. fxg4 {is good for White. Black doesn't
have enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 27. Rxf3 Qg7 28. Qh2 (28.
Qf2 {is well met by} Bh6 ({Not} 28... Bg5 $4 29. Bh7+ $1 {when White is
winning.}) 29. Rf6 Bf7 {followed by ...Bg5. White is quite active at the
moment, but he cannot do much about it as his Knight on h1 is totally
missplaced.}) 28... Bh6 29. Rxf8+ Kxf8 $1 {The King is heading for a safe
place on the queenside. This is the first step in the right direction.} 30. Qh3
{White forces Black to passivity and prepares the Knight manuvre N-f2-g4. The
drawback is that the Queen is rather poorly placed on h3.} Bf7 31. Rf1 ({
The immediate} 31. Nf2 {was also interesting. Then Black should play} Rc8 $1 {
with the idea of ...Rc1 to exchange the Rooks.}) 31... Be3+ 32. Nf2 ({After} 
32. Kg2 $2 {Black can simply take a pawn} Qxe5 {as after} 33. Bg6 Qxb2+ {
White is forced to block the f-file and unpin the Bishop on f7.}) ({in case of
} 32. Kh2 {Black has a draw with} Qxe5 33. Bg6 Qxb2+ 34. Qg2 Qh8+ 35. Qh3 Qb2+
{but 32...Ke8 looks even stronger.}) 32... Ke7 {According to the plan of
taking the King to the Queenside, but now it was stronger to play} (32... Bd4
$1 {and then simply grab the pawn on e5 with a clear advantage to Black.}) 33.
Qh4+ Kd7 34. Kg2 (34. Qa4+ {was worth trying as after} Kc7 35. Qa5+ {Black
must make some brave decisions if he likes to avoid a draw.} Bb6 (35... Kd7 36.
Qa4+ {is equal.}) 36. Qc3+ Kd7 37. Kg2 {The position is far from clear and
Black need to be careful, but the pair of Bishops should give him the
advantage.}) 34... Rg8 {Putting pressure along the g-file and also freeing the
way for the Black King.} 35. Ng4 Bg5 (35... Qxg4 $4 {looses to} 36. Rxf7+ Kc6
37. Qxg4 Rxg4 38. Kf3 {winning a piece.}) 36. Qh7 {Now Black gets a very nice
endgame.} ({The alternative} 36. Nf6+ Kc8 37. Qd4 Bxf6 38. Qc3+ Kb8 39. exf6
Qg5 {is also good for Black. White's passed pawns are blocked and cannot do
any harm and Black's King is in safety which is not the casefor the White
Monarch on g2.}) 36... Qxh7 37. Bxh7 Rg7 38. Bd3 Kc6 $1 {Black's King is
heading for d4 ti attack the e5-pawn.} 39. Nf6 $2 {White tries to do something
active in the timetrouble, but this backfires as it just weaken his position
and gives Black extra time.} (39. Rh1 {would have been clearly better. The
Rook is getting active along the h-file and also prevents ...Bh5. Black still
has some advantage, but is far from winning the game.}) 39... Kc5 {Threatens ..
.Kd4.} 40. Nh7 {White is playing for tricks, but the tricks doesn't work.} (40.
Nd7+ Kd4 (40... Kc6 41. Nf6 {repeat moves.}) 41. Rd1 {would have given better
chances.}) 40... Be3 41. Nf8 Kd4 42. Bg6 Bg8 $1 {A very strange-looking move.
Here the bishop is stalemated, but White cannot make use of it and his
position is about to fall apart. Moreover the light White pieces on f8 and g6
also looks rather funny and the bad placement of the g8-Bishop is just very
temporarly.} 43. Kf3 {White starts a KIng march to h5 to protect the Bishop on
g6, but Black is just in time.} Bg5 {Threatening ...Be7.} 44. Kg4 Be7 45. Kh5
Bxf8 46. Rxf8 {White is now threatening Kh6 winning a piece.} Bh7 {Finally the
Bishop gets out forcing a won Rook ending.} 47. Bxh7 Rxh7+ 48. Kg6 Rh2 $1 49.
Rb8 $1 {White goes away from the f-file and threatens to play Kf6.} (49. Kf6 {
is not possible because of} Rf2+ 50. Ke7 Rxf8 51. Kxf8 Kxe5 {winning.}) 49...
Kxe5 $1 {Black can easily give his queenside pawns now as his connected passed
pawns in the center soon will be decisive.} (49... Rxb2 $2 50. Kf6 {would have
been a big mistake.}) 50. Rxb7 d4 51. g4 (51. Rxa7 Rxb2 {would not have
changed much.}) 51... Kf4 {Activates the King and prepared the advance of the
e-pawn.} 52. g5 e5 53. Rf7+ Ke3 54. Rxa7 d3 55. Kf5 e4 56. g6 (56. Ra4 d2 (
56... Rf2+ 57. Ke5 Rf4 $19) 57. Rxe4+ Kd3 58. Re5 Rh4 $19) 56... Rxb2 57. g7
Rf2+ 58. Ke6 Rg2 59. Kf7 d2 60. Rd7 Ke2 61. a4 e3 62. a5 d1=Q 63. Rxd1 Kxd1 64.
a6 e2 65. a7 e1=Q 66. a8=Q Rf2+ {White resigned in view of} (66... Rf2+ 67. Kg6
Qe6+ 68. Kg5 Rf5+ 69. Kh4 Qh6+ 70. Kg3 Qg6+ 71. Kh2 Rh5#) 0-1

[Event "Warsaw Najdorf Memorial"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "2008.08.09"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Balogh, Csaba"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B65"]
[WhiteElo "2592"]
[BlackElo "2624"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2008.08.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[EventCategory "15"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 126"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.10.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.10.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8.
O-O-O O-O 9. f4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qa5 11. Bc4 b5 12. Bxb5 Rb8 13. Bc4 h6 14. Bh4 e5
15. Qd3 exf4 16. Bb3 Be6 17. Rhf1 Rfc8 18. Kb1 Rxc3 19. bxc3 g5 20. Bf2 Nd7 21.
Kc1 Nc5 22. Bxc5 dxc5 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Qc4 Qa3+ 25. Kd2 Kf7 26. Rb1 Rb6 27. e5
Qa5 28. g3 Ke8 29. gxf4 gxf4 30. Ke2 Bg5 31. h4 Bxh4 32. Rxb6 Qxb6 33. Qxf4
Qa6+ 34. c4 1-0

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 7th"]
[Site "Gibraltar"]
[Date "2009.02.05"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2614"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2009.01.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 128 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.03.05"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.03.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 Nbd7 8. g4
h6 9. Bg2 b5 10. O-O Bb7 11. Ng3 g6 12. f4 Be7 13. Be3 exf4 14. Bxf4 Ne5 15. a4
b4 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Rc8 18. a5 Nfd7 19. Qd2 Rc4 20. b3 Rc5 21. Ne4 Rb5 22.
Bxh6 Rxa5 23. Rae1 Rb5 24. Qf4 Qb6+ 25. Kh1 Rxd5 26. Bg7 Rh7 27. Bf6 Bxf6 28.
Nxf6+ Nxf6 29. Qxf6 Rc5 30. Rd1 Qd8 31. Qf4 a5 32. Rd2 Kf8 33. Rfd1 Qe7 34.
Rxd6 Rxc2 35. Qe4 Rc7 36. Rd8+ Kg7 37. Qa8 Rc3 38. Rg8+ Kh6 39. Re1 f6 40. h4
Rg3 41. g5+ Kh5 42. Re8 Qd7 43. gxf6 Nf3 44. Bxf3+ Kxh4 45. Bg2 Kg5+ 46. Kg1
Qd4+ 47. Kf1 Qxf6+ 48. Ke2 Qb2+ 0-1

[Event "Oslo Eikrem Memorial"]
[Site "Oslo"]
[Date "2009.04.07"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Macieja, Bartlomiej"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "2610"]
[BlackElo "2601"]
[PlyCount "157"]
[EventDate "2009.04.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 129 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.05.05"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. h4 a5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Nxa4 Be6
15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. b3 Qc7 17. Qc3 Qb7 18. Qc4 d5 19. Qe2 dxe4 20. O-O-O Rac8 21.
Kb1 Rfd8 22. Rhe1 Qc6 23. fxe4 Rb8 24. Be5 Rxd1+ 25. Qxd1 Rb4 26. Qd8+ Kf7 27.
Bxf6 exf6 28. Rd1 Rb7 29. Qxa5 Qxe4 30. Nc5 Qg4 31. Qd8 Re7 32. Rd7 Bf8 33. Nb7
Rxd7 34. Qxd7+ Kg8 35. Nd8 Qb4 36. Qf7+ Kh8 37. Qxf6+ Kg8 38. Qf7+ Kh8 39. Qf6+
Kg8 40. Nxe6 Bh6 41. Qd8+ Kf7 42. Ng5+ Bxg5 43. Qxg5 Qd4 44. Qg3 Qd1+ 45. Kb2
Qd4+ 46. Ka2 Qa7+ 47. Kb1 Qg1+ 48. Ka2 Qa7+ 49. Kb2 Qd4+ 50. c3 Qd2+ 51. Ka3 h5
52. Qc7+ Kg8 53. g3 Qe1 54. b4 Qa1+ 55. Kb3 Qd1+ 56. Kc4 Qf1+ 57. Kc5 Qf5+ 58.
Kb6 Qe6+ 59. Ka7 Qb3 60. Kb8 Kh8 61. Qe5+ Kh7 62. b5 Kg8 63. Qc5 Kh7 64. c4 Kh6
65. Qf8+ Kh7 66. Qe7+ Kh6 67. Qe5 Kh7 68. Qc7+ Kh6 69. b6 Qb2 70. Qf4+ Kh7 71.
c5 Qb3 72. Qe5 Qb5 73. Qe7+ Kh6 74. Qf8+ Kh7 75. Qf7+ Kh6 76. Qg8 Qb2 77. Kb7
Qe5 78. c6 Qe7+ 79. c7 1-0

[Event "Sigeman & Co 17th"]
[Site "Malmo"]
[Date "2009.06.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2610"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[PlyCount "167"]
[EventDate "2009.06.03"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[EventCategory "15"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 131"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.07.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.07.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd3
Nc6 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nb3 Bd7 11. Be2 h5 12. Rf1 O-O-O 13. O-O-O Kb8 14. Kb1 Na5
15. Qh3 Rc8 16. Nd5 exd5 17. Qxd7 dxe4 18. Qxf7 Nxb3 19. Qxb3 Qxb3 20. axb3 Be7
21. Rd5 Rc5 22. Rfd1 h4 23. Bg4 Rg8 24. h3 f5 25. Rxc5 dxc5 26. Bxf5 e3 27. Re1
Rxg2 28. Rxe3 Bd6 29. Re8+ Kc7 30. Rh8 Rf2 31. Rh7+ Kb8 32. Be4 Bc7 33. f5 Rf1+
34. Ka2 Rf4 35. Re7 b5 36. Re6 Bd8 37. c3 Kc7 38. Kb1 Kd7 39. Kc2 Rf2+ 40. Kd3
Bg5 41. Bc6+ Kc7 42. Rg6 Rxf5 43. Be4 Re5 44. Rxa6 Be7 45. Rc6+ Kd7 46. Rh6 b4
47. Ra6 Rg5 48. Kc4 Ke8 49. Bd5 Rg3 50. Ra8+ Kd7 51. Ra7+ Ke8 52. Ra8+ Kd7 53.
Ra7+ Ke8 54. Be6 Kf8 55. Ra1 Re3 56. Rf1+ Ke8 57. Bg4 Re5 58. Kb5 Rd5 59. Kc6
Rd6+ 60. Kb5 Rf6 61. Bf5 Rd6 62. Rf2 Kd8 63. Re2 Rd5 64. Bg4 Rd3 65. Kc4 Rd6
66. Kxc5 Re6+ 67. Kb5 Rxe2 68. Bxe2 Kc7 69. c4 Bf8 70. c5 Bg7 71. Kxb4 Bxb2 72.
Kc4 Bf6 73. b4 Bd8 74. b5 Kb7 75. Bf3+ Ka7 76. Kd5 Kb7 77. Kd6+ Kb8 78. Kc6 Bg5
79. b6 Bf4 80. Kb5 Bg3 81. Bg4 Bh2 82. c6 Bg3 83. Kc4 Bh2 84. Kd5 1-0

[Event "SWE-ch"]
[Site "Kungsor"]
[Date "2009.07.03"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "2610"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2009.06.28"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[EventCategory "8"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 131 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.09.03"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.09.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 {A few weeks
earlier in the Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament I won a game against Tiger in
this same variation. Then he tried the declined Poisoned Pawn and I was eager
to see what he would come up with this time.} e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O
Nbd7 {This is a solid setup for Black which avoids White's otherwise common
piece sacrifices that may often happen in the 6.Bg5 Najdorf.} 10. Bd3 h6 11.
Qh3 $5 {This is a way for White to complicate matters.} ({After the main move} 
11. Bh4 {Black follows up with} g5 12. fxg5 Ne5 13. Qe2 Nfg4 {with a solid and
perfectly playable position. Black will soon return his sacrificed pawn on g5
and has an excellent outpost for his knights on e5. The drawback is that White
is slightly ahead in development, but I have been unable to find a good way to
make use of it, so in my opinion Black has succeded with his opening.}) 11...
Nb6 $1 (11... Nc5 {is the main option.}) ({Black should definitely avoid} 11...
Rg8 $2 {which I was confronted with just two weeks after this game in the
Politiken Cup. White soon got an overwhelming position after} 12. e5 $1 dxe5 ({
No better is} 12... hxg5 13. exf6 gxf6 14. f5 $36 {with a strong initiative
for White.} ({Also interesting is the piece sacrifice} 14. Nxe6 $5 fxe6 15.
Qxe6 Rg7 16. Nd5 Qd8 17. Rhf1 $1 g4 (17... Ne5 18. Nxf6+ Kf8 19. Nh7+ (19. Nd7+
Nxd7 20. fxg5+ Nf6) 19... Ke8 20. Qh6 $18) 18. Qf5 Nb6 19. Qh5+ Kd7 20. Nxb6+
Qxb6 21. Qh6 Bf8 (21... Rf7 22. Qg6 Rf8 23. Rfe1 $18) 22. Qxf6 Qd8 23. Qc3 $16)
) 13. Nxe6 fxe6 (13... Qb6 14. Nxg7+ Rxg7 15. Qxh6 Rg8 16. Rhe1 $36 {White has
two pawns and a strong initiative for the sacrificed piece. Black will
probably have to wait with his castling until the next game.}) 14. Bg6+ Kd8 15.
Bxf6 gxf6 (15... Bxf6 16. Qxe6 $1 (16. Bf7 Rf8 17. Bxe6 exf4 18. Rxd7+ $1 (18.
Bxd7 Bxd7 19. Rxd7+ Qxd7 20. Rd1 Rf7 $13) 18... Bxd7 19. Rd1 $16) 16... Rf8 17.
Rhe1 $16) 16. Bf7 Rg7 17. Bxe6 Bf8 $2 (17... Qc6 18. Nd5 $1 {[%csl Rd8]} (18.
Bd5 Qc7 19. Qxh6 Bf8 20. Rhe1 $36) 18... Rxg2 19. Qxg2 Qxe6 20. Rhf1 $1 $16)
18. Nd5 Qc6 19. Nxf6 Rxg2 (19... exf4 20. Rhe1 Rxg2 21. c3 Rg7 22. Qh4 $1 Kc7
23. Ne8+ Kb6 24. Nxg7 Bxg7 25. Qd8+ $18) 20. c3 Qb6 21. Qxg2 Qxe6 22. Nxd7 Bxd7
23. Qxb7 {1-0 Berg,E (2610)-Thomassen,J (2300)/Helsingor 2009/[Berg,Emanuel]} (
23. Qxb7 Rc8 24. Rxd7+ Qxd7 25. Rd1 Bd6 26. Qxd7+ Kxd7 27. fxe5 $18) (23. Rxd7+
Qxd7 24. Rd1 Bd6 25. fxe5 $18)) 12. Rhe1 (12. Nf3 e5 13. f5 Bd7 $15) 12... e5 {
With this move Black forces some exchanges and ends up with a solid position
allthough White has the somewhat better chances.} ({A much more challenging
move would be} 12... Rg8 $5 {which has been played in a few games before, but
not yet tested at high level.} {Here White should probably go} 13. Bh4 ({
The spectacular} 13. e5 $5 {looks interesting, but might well be good for
Black unless White has something very concrete after} hxg5 14. exf6 Bxf6 {
Black has an extra pawn and the pair of bishops and so White is in a hurry to
do something before Black consolidates with ...Bd7 and 0-0-0.}) 13... g5 14.
fxg5 hxg5 15. Bg3 $1 e5 (15... g4 16. Qh6 {leads nowhere for Black.}) 16. Nf5
g4 17. Qh6 Bxf5 18. exf5 O-O-O {An interesting position which is rather hard
to assess. Black has a seemingly strong pawn centre, but at the moment the
white pieces prevent the pawns from moving forward. It's a battle of who will
control the e4- and d5-squares in the end. Will Black be able to push his
d-pawn forward or will White be able to set up a blockade?}) 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14.
exf5 {(=) Here I offered a draw in view of the tournament situation and also
because I judged the position as pretty equal. However after a closer look
White still seems to have a slight initiative and can create some more
problems for Black.} O-O-O {My opponnent quickly decided to continue the
battle.} 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. fxe5 Bxe5 $5 {This came as a slight surprise to me.}
({I was waiting for} 16... dxe5 17. Ne4 $1 {when White is completely fine. The
knight is a good blocker on e4 and at some point it might exchange the black
bishop on f6 to weaken the pawn structure on the kingside.}) 17. f6+ Kb8 18.
fxg7 (18. Rxe5 $5 {was an interesting option. White has compensation for the
exchange after} dxe5 19. fxg7 Rhg8 20. Qxh6 {but during the game this position
didn't really suit me.}) 18... Bxg7 19. Be4 $1 Bxc3 $2 {A clear misjudgement
of the position from the black side. This exchange leads to an endgame where
White has all the chances in view of his bishop that is clearly stronger on
two flanks than the knight. White gets a slight weakness in his pawn structure
on the queenside, but Black has already several weaknessess, especially f7 and
h6 on his kingside.} (19... Rc8 {would had been an improvement.}) 20. Qxc3 Qxc3
21. bxc3 Rhe8 $6 (21... Na4 $1 {seems to give Black enough counterplay to hold
the draw, but he will still have a tough time after} 22. Rd4 Nxc3 23. Bf3 $14 {
with a strong initiative for White.}) 22. Bf3 Kc7 23. Rxe8 $6 (23. Bh5 $1 $16 {
would had been much better and Black is struggling to save his f7-pawn.}) 23...
Rxe8 24. Rd4 f5 $1 {Thanks to this move Black holds on to his position. Now
the black rook can protect all the weaknessess from the sixth rank.} 25. c4 $5
({White could force a draw with} 25. Rh4 Re6 26. Rf4 Re5 (26... Rf6 $2 27. Be4
$16) 27. Rh4 {but there was no need and the game continuation shows that only
White has winning chances in the endgame.}) (25. Kd2) 25... Nd7 (25... Nc8 {
would have been better in order to place the knight on e7 after a rook
transfer to either e5 or e6.}) ({Also} 25... Re1+ {was an interesting option.
This ends up with a pawn race after} 26. Kd2 Ra1 27. Rf4 Rxa2 28. c5 $1 dxc5
29. Rxf5 Nd7 30. Rh5 a5 31. Rxh6 Rb2 32. Kc1 Rb4 33. c3 Rb3 34. Kc2 a4 {
and now it might be time for White to force a draw with} 35. Rh7 Kd6 36. Rh6+ {
before the black a-pawn gets too far.}) 26. Rh4 Re6 27. Bd5 Rf6 28. Kd2 Kb6 29.
Rf4 Ne5 30. Kc3 Ng4 {A tricky move, but White's tricks are better!} 31. Rf1 $1
({In the event of} 31. h3 $2 Ne3 32. g4 Nxd5+ 33. cxd5 Kc5 {Black is doing
well and now it's White fighting for the draw instead.}) 31... Ne3 $2 {After
this move Black is probably already lost.} ({Better was} 31... Kc7 32. Re1 Ne5
33. c5 $16 {with a clear edge to White, but Black is still in the game.}) ({
Also} 31... Kc5 {was an option, but here White ends up with an extra pawn after
} 32. Bxb7 Nxh2 33. Rf4 Ng4 34. Bxa6 Ne3 35. Bb7 $14) 32. Rb1+ Kc5 33. Bxb7
Nxc4 34. Bxa6 Ne3 35. a4 $1 Nd5+ 36. Kd2 Rg6 37. Rb5+ Kd4 $4 {This loses on
the spot, but Black's position was beyond salvation in any case.} (37... Kc4
38. Rb7+ Kd4 39. g3 $18) 38. c3+ $1 Nxc3 (38... Ke4 39. g3 $1 $18) 39. Rb4+ Kc5
40. Kxc3 Rxg2 $4 41. Rb5+ 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 11th"]
[Site "Rijeka"]
[Date "2010.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A61"]
[WhiteElo "2675"]
[BlackElo "2594"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2010.03.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 136"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. h3 (7. Bf4 {
is a tricky move-order by White as Black will now have difficulties reaching
the position in the game.} {The main point is that White can answer} Bg7 {
with Qa4+!?} ({Black can also avoid complications by playing} 7... a6 8. a4 {
but only White can profit from this.}) 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 {Now Black is forced
either to put his queen to c7 in order to protect both b7 and d6 or to play
the risky pawn sacrifice 9...b5} Qc7 (9... b5 {leads to a sharp game where
Black gives a pawn in exchange for some initiative. The question is if it's
enough compensation for Black when White defends correctly. The latest top
level game Gelfand-Gashimov continued} 10. Bxd6 Qb6 11. Be5 O-O 12. e3 b4 13.
Nb1 a5 14. a4 Bg4 15. Nbd2 Nbd7 16. Bb5 Rfd8 17. Bg3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 {1/2-1/2
Gelfand,B (2761)-Gashimov,V (2759)/Linares ESP 2010/The Week in Chess 797 (54).
when White was holding a clear advantage having the pair of bishops and a full
extra pawn.}) 10. e4 $14 ({The tactics after} 10. Bxd6 $4 {simply don't work
for White because of} Qxd6 11. Qxb7 Qb6 {with the counterthreat against b2
winning a full piece and the game.} 12. Qxa8 Qxb2 13. Rb1 Qxc3+ 14. Nd2 O-O 15.
f3 Bh6 {0-1 Richter,H (2144)-Sepulveda,J (2241)/Las Condes 2005/EXT 2006}))
7... Bg7 8. Bf4 O-O {Now Black can do without ...a6 and use this tempo to a
better purpose.} 9. e3 {This setup became rather popular for White in Rijeka
where it occurred several times during the championship. White has a simple
path to follow, while for Black its rather hard to create counterplay.} Qe7 {
A relatively unusual move in this position, but it has a clear idea. Black
simply wants to protect his d6-pawn in order to play ...Nbd7 followed by..Ne8
and ...Ne5.} (9... a6 {is the main move, while the second choice}) (9... Na6 {
has also been played regularly.} 10. Nd2 Nc7 11. Nc4 Nfe8 12. a4 f5 13. Be2 b6
14. O-O Bb7 15. Bf3 Ba6 16. Qd3 Qf6 17. Rac1 Rb8 18. Rc2 Bc8 19. Rb1 Na6 20.
Na2 h5 21. Bh2 Rf7 22. b4 cxb4 23. Nxb4 Nxb4 24. Rxb4 Ba6 {Vovk,O (2145)
-Evertsson,L (2159)/Stockholm 2010/CBM 134 Extra/0-1 (38)}) (9... Re8 {is
unusual but was tried by Gashimov last year, however without sucess. The idea
is simplar to the ones with ...Qe7. Now Blacks is ready to play ...Nbd7 as
then Bxd6 can be met by ...Nb6 with counterplay against the d5-pawn.} 10. Nd2
Nbd7 11. Be2 Ne5 12. O-O a6 13. a4 $14 {1-0 Sokolov,I (2655)-Gashimov,V (2740)/
Mainz 2009/CBM 131 Extra (41)} {RR} Rb8 14. e4 Nfd7 15. Bh2 g5 16. f4 gxf4 17.
Bxf4 Nf8 18. Rf2 Nfg6 19. Be3 Bd7 20. a5 b5 21. axb6 Rxb6 22. Qc2 Qh4 23. Nf1
Reb8 24. Qc1 Rxb2 25. Rxa6 Bh6 26. Bxh6 Nd3 27. Qe3 Nxf2 28. Bg5 {Sokolov,I 
(2655)-Gashimov,V (2740)/Mainz 2009/CBM 131 Extra/1-0 (41)}) 10. Be2 Nbd7 $146
(10... a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. O-O Nh5 13. Bh2 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Nhf6 15. c4 Ne4 16. Bd3
f5 17. Qc2 Nef6 18. Rab1 Re8 19. Nd2 a5 20. Rfe1 Ne5 {0-1 Sokolov,I (2650)
-Gonzalez Menendez,I (2405)/Leon 2008/CBM 127 Extra}) 11. O-O Ne8 $146 {
Preparing ...Ne5.} ({Black has also tried out} 11... Nh5 12. Bh2 f5 {with the
hope of a kingside attack. However objectively I do not trust this approach
for Black as he is not fully developed and ready. White should be able to hold
back Black's forces rather easily.} 13. Nd2 $14 {0-1 Yahya,M (2145)-Gozzoli,Y 
(2429)/Abu Dhabi 2004/CBM 103 (43)} (13. Nb5 $5 {is also a critcal move for
Black when after} Ne5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 Qxe5 16. Bxh5 gxh5 17. Qxh5 $14 {
White has a healthy extra pawn.})) 12. a4 {Since Black has not yet played ...
a6 there was no hurry for White to play this move. But it might also be good
to forestall Black's ideas of ..Nc7 and ...a6-b5.} Ne5 {Black is ready to
exchange off some pieces in order to free himself from his slightly cramped
position.} 13. Nd2 {White decides to avoid the exchange of knights and plans
to redeploy this knight to the c4-square later on.} f5 {Black prepares a
kingside offensive with ...g5 and ...f4.} 14. Bg3 {White retreats with his
bishop in order to meet ...g5 with f4.} g5 ({I also considered playing} 14...
h5 {with the idea} 15. f4 Nd3 $5 16. Bxd3 Qxe3+ 17. Kh2 Qxd3 {winning a pawn,
but there was no need for White to play 15.f4.}) 15. f4 Ng6 ({Here too} 15...
Nd3 $5 {was possible, but now White gets good compensation for the pawn after}
16. Bxd3 Qxe3+ 17. Kh2 gxf4 (17... Qxd3 18. Rf3 Qd4 19. fxg5 f4 20. Bf2 Qe5)
18. Bxf4 Qxd3 19. Qb3 $44 {planning Nc4 with pressure against the d6-pawn.
Black has serious problems in activating his pieces.}) 16. Nc4 gxf4 17. exf4
Nf6 {An active way of playing. The N is heading for e4 in order to force an
exchange and open the diagonal for the bishop on c8.} (17... Nc7 {was a more
solid option, but also a passive one.}) 18. Bd3 (18. Bf3 Ne4 19. Re1) 18... Ne4
19. Bxe4 ({After} 19. Re1 {I had planned to play} Bd4+ 20. Kh2 Qg7 21. Nxe4 (
21. Bxe4 fxe4 22. Rxe4 {gives White an extra pawn, but Black has the pair of
bishops and an active position after} Bf5 23. Re1 Rad8 {with chances of
counterplay on the kingside.}) 21... fxe4 22. Bxe4 ({In case of} 22. Rxe4 Bf5
23. Re1 (23. Re2 Bg4 $1) 23... Bxd3 24. Qxd3 Nxf4 25. Qb3 Nh5 $36 {Black has a
strong initiative and chances of a kingside attack.}) 22... Nxf4 23. Nxd6 Bd7
$44 {Here I believe Black has reasonable compensation for the pawn he has
given up with all the pieces active and attacking chances aganst the white
king.} (23... Be5 {with the idea of a queen sacrifice on g3 doesn't work out.}
24. Nxc8 (24. Nc4 $16) 24... Qxg3+ 25. Kxg3 Ne2+ (25... Ng6+ 26. Kg4 Rf4+ 27.
Kh5 $18) 26. Kg4 Rf4+ 27. Kh5 Ng3+ 28. Kh6 $18)) 19... fxe4 20. Nb5 (20. f5 $5
{was a worthy alternative in order to open the diagonal for the bishop on g3.}
Bxf5 (20... Rxf5 21. Rxf5 Bxf5 22. Nxd6 Bd4+ 23. Kh1 Rf8 24. Qh5 {is good for
White as now Black cannot hold on to his e4-pawn.}) 21. Bxd6 (21. Nxd6) 21...
Qg5 $36 22. Kh1 (22. g4 $5) 22... e3 23. Bxf8 (23. Qe2 Rfe8) 23... Rxf8 {
Black has a strong passed pawn on e3, the pair of bishops and all pieces
active which can cause a dangerous attack against the white king in the near
future. However when playing the correct} 24. d6 Bd4 25. Nd5 {White seems to
get the upper hand, e.g.} Be4 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Qf1+ Kg8 28. Nc3 Bc6 29. Na5
$1 {when Black's activity is decreasing and White can be optimistic about the
future.}) 20... Nh4 $1 {A strong pawn sacrifice, that gives Black good
compensation in his pair of bishops, a strong passed e4-pawn and the weak
white pawn on d5.} 21. Nbxd6 (21. Ncxd6 Bd7 (21... Nf5 22. Nxf5 Bxf5 23. d6 Qf7
24. Bf2 b6)) 21... Bd4+ 22. Kh2 Nf5 23. Nxf5 (23. Nxc8 $2 Raxc8 $36 {[%csl Gf5]
also gives Black excellent compensation with the very strong knight on f5.})
23... Bxf5 24. Bf2 {White challenges the strong bishop on d4 and might also
start thinking of advancing the kingside pawns with g4 and f5 at some point.}
Qf6 ({The direct attempt} 24... e3 {looked interesting, but could soon
backfire. White gets the upper hand after} 25. Re1 Qe4 26. Bxe3 Bxe3 27. Nxe3
Qxf4+ 28. Kh1 $16 {when Black lacks compensation for the pawn.}) 25. Qb3 Bg6 {
The bishop is heading for f7 to put pressure against the d5-pawn. At the same
time the black queen threatens the f4-pawn.} 26. Bg1 (26. Bxd4 cxd4 27. Ne5 {
was worth considering, but giving Black two connected central passed pawns
does not usually feel right. However White has an active knight on e5 and is
controlling the black pawns for the moment. Perhaps Black should continue} Qd6
28. Qc4 Rxf4 $5 29. Rxf4 Qxe5 30. Raf1 Rd8 {when the two connected pawns at
least start looking a bit threatening for White.}) 26... Bf7 27. Ne3 (27. Qxb7
$2 Bxg1+ 28. Rxg1 (28. Kxg1 $4 Qd4+ {[%csl Rc4]}) 28... Qxf4+ 29. Kh1 (29. g3
Qf2+ 30. Rg2 Qd4 $15 {[%csl Rc4,Rd5]}) 29... e3 $36) (27. Ne5 Rad8 28. Rad1
Rxd5 29. Qxb7 Rfd8 $36) 27... b6 28. Ng4 Qg7 (28... Qd6 29. Rad1 $1 Bxd5 30.
Qg3 $16 {[%csl Rd4,Rg8]}) 29. f5 Rad8 (29... h5 $2 30. f6 Qg6 31. Bxd4 cxd4 32.
Ne5 Qg5 33. Qg3 Qxg3+ 34. Kxg3 $16) 30. f6 Qg6 31. Rf5 h5 32. Ne5 (32. h4 Rxd5
$1 33. Rxd5 Qxg4 $36 {[%cal Gf7b3]}) 32... Qxf5 $5 {An attempt to complicate
matters in time trouble.} ({Black could also play the solid} 32... Bxe5+ 33.
Rxe5 Qxf6 34. Qg3+ Kh7 35. Rxe4 Rxd5 {with a fairly level position.}) 33. Qg3+
Bg6 34. Nxg6 Kf7 $6 {With this move Black keeps the exchange, but White gets
more than enough counterplay.} ({During the game I also considered} 34... Qxf6
35. Nxf8+ Kxf8 {which looked playable, but didn't quite like my exposed king
position. Actually the position is a draw after the forced line} 36. Bxd4 cxd4
37. Kg1 Rxd5 38. Rf1 Rf5 39. Qb8+ Kg7 40. Rxf5 Qxf5 41. Qxa7+ Kg8 (41... Qf7 $6
42. Qxb6 {would only give White winning chances.}) 42. Qb8+ $11 (42. Qxb6 e3 {
doesn't bring White any winning chances.})) 35. Bxd4 ({After the game
Sargissian mentioned the line} 35. Nh8+ {leading to a forced draw after} Kxf6 (
35... Ke8 {is possible, but looks extremely risky for Black.} 36. Bxd4 cxd4 37.
f7+ {with a strong initiative for White and practically good winning chances,
although the engines seems to find a path to equality even here.}) 36. Bxd4+
cxd4 37. Rf1 $1 Qxf1 38. Qg6+ Ke5 39. Qe6+ Kf4 40. Qh6+ $1 $11) 35... Qxg6 36.
Qc7+ Kg8 37. Ra3 $2 {An error in time trouble.} ({White would be slightly
better playing the simple} 37. Bc3 Rxd5 38. Qxa7 $1 {when Black has to play
accurately to hold a draw.} Rg5 39. Rg1 Rxf6 $1 (39... Rf7 40. Qxb6 $16 {
[%csl Ga4]}) 40. Bxf6 Qxf6 41. Qa8+ Kg7 42. Qxe4 Qe5+ 43. Qxe5+ Rxe5 $14 {
White is a full pawn up, but the reduced material and Blacks's more active
rook gives him excellent drawing chances in this endgame.}) 37... Rxd5 38. h4
$4 {The decisive mistake.} ({After} 38. Rg3 Rg5 39. Rxg5 Qxg5 40. Bc3 {the
strong protected f6-pawn seems to be enough to hold the balance for White.
Black gets nowhere after} Rxf6 41. Qd8+ $1 Kf7 42. Qd7+ Kg6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44.
Qe5+ {with perpetual checks.}) 38... e3 $1 {By sacrificing his pawn Black
clears the way for his rook to protect against the pin on the g-file.} 39. Bxe3
(39. Rxe3 Rxd4 40. Rg3 Rxh4+ 41. Kg1 Rg4 $19) 39... Qxf6 40. Bf4 Rf7 {Now
White cannot avoid material losses or the exchange of queens and decided to
resign. It was still possible to continue the fight for a few moves after} (
40... Rf7 41. Rg3+ Kh7 42. Bg5 Rxc7 43. Bxf6 Rf5 44. Bc3 {but the technical
task shouldn't be too difficult for Black here.}) 0-1

[Event "EU-ch 11th"]
[Site "Rijeka"]
[Date "2010.03.16"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Savchenko, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B75"]
[WhiteElo "2594"]
[BlackElo "2652"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2010.03.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 136"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.05.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 d6 8. f3
Qb6 $5 {An interesting, but unusual move that forces White to give up a pawn
in order to fight for an opening advantage. I met this variation for the first
time in the Arctic Chess Challenge last year against the winner of the Event,
Monika Socko. So I was far from surprised by this opening choce as Savchenko
had also played it before.} 9. Nf5 {The most principled move, grabbing the
pair of bishops and putting the black king in an insecure position. This is
obviously good compensation for giving up the pawn on b2, but can White hope
for more?} Qxb2 10. Nxg7+ Kf8 11. Nd5 ({Going for the black queen with} 11. Kd2
$2 {would backfire after} Kxg7 12. a3 Na5 13. Qe2 Be6 14. Bxe6 Rhc8 $1 15. Bxc8
Rxc8 {0-1 Farago,S (2342)-Boros,D (2296)/Budapest 2003/CBM 094 ext (61). when
Black will win back material soon with a crushing position.}) 11... Nxd5 12.
Bxd5 Kxg7 13. O-O {This is the main move. Instead my game against Socko went} (
13. Rb1 Qc3+ 14. Kf2 {1/2-1/2 Berg,E (2610)-Socko,M (2449)/Tromsoe 2009/CBM
131 Extra (134). which is also interesting. However now White's play is more
directed to the queenside as pushing f4 is not that relevant with the king on
f2.}) 13... Qc3 14. Qc1 {White now threatens Bg5+ forcing the black king to g8
when the rook on h8 will be a prisoner.} ({The main alternative is} 14. Re1 {
which also has very good statistics for White.} Bd7 15. Rb1 Rab8 16. Rb3 Qa5
17. Qc1 Rhc8 18. Bd2 Qc7 19. Bh6+ Kg8 20. Qb2 e5 21. f4 Nd4 22. fxe5 dxe5 23.
Rxb7 Rxb7 24. Qxb7 Qxb7 25. Bxb7 Rxc2 26. Bd5 Be6 27. Rb1 f6 28. Rb8+ Kf7 29.
Rb7+ {Kulaots,K (2557)-Macieja,B (2584)/Turin 2006/CBM 113/1/2-1/2 (110)})
14... Be6 $146 {A surprising novelty. Black simply doesn't worry about Bh6+
for the moment, but tries to release the tension in the centre and complete
development before White gets time to set up pressure against the b7-P} (14...
h5 {is the most common reply from Black.} 15. Rb1 f6 16. Rb3 Qa5 17. Qb2 Qc7
18. f4 h4 19. f5 (19. h3 Rh5 20. Bf2 b6 21. Rc3 Bd7 22. Re1 Rc8 23. a3 Qb8 24.
Ba2 Nd8 25. Rxc8 Qxc8 26. e5 Be6 27. exf6+ exf6 28. Bb3 d5 29. Bd4 Rf5 30. Qc1
Qc7 31. Rf1 Bf7 32. Be3 Qc3 33. Rf3 d4 {Haag,E-Ostojic,P/Debrecen 1967/EXT
1999/0-1 (48)}) 19... Ne5 20. c4 a5 21. Bb6 Qd7 22. Bd4 Ra6 23. Be6 Qc6 24. Bd5
Qd7 25. Bxb7 Nxc4 26. Bxc8 Rxc8 27. Rb7 Rc7 28. Rxc7 Qxc7 29. Qc1 Qc6 {Robson,
R (2491)-Socko,M (2449)/Tromsoe 2009/CBM 131 Extra/1/2-1/2 (40)}) ({Also} 14...
h6 {is a standard reply.} 15. Rb1 f6 16. Rb3 Qa5 17. Qb2 Qc7 18. f4 Rb8 19. e5
dxe5 20. Bxc6 Qxc6 21. fxe5 Rf8 22. exf6+ exf6 23. Rc3 Qe8 24. Rc7+ Bd7 25.
Bxa7 Rc8 26. Qxb7 Rxc7 27. Qxc7 Rf7 28. Qg3 Qe2 29. Qf2 Qxf2+ {Gulko,
B-Steinberg,M/Kharkov 1967/URS-ch/1/2-1/2 (55)}) 15. Rb1 {After a long thought
I chose not to give the check on h6, but instead to first activate my rook on
the b-file.} ({After} 15. Bh6+ Kg8 {Black threatens to win a pawn by ...Bxd5
followed by ...Qd4+. Black can also get out with his pieces rather simply by
playing ...f6 and ...Kf7 and it's not sure that the bishop trip to h6 has
brought anything for White.}) 15... Rhc8 {Now Black prepares himself against
the check on h6, but lets the b7-pawn remain hanging and instead searches for
counterplay on the c-file.} ({An interesting alterative was} 15... Bxd5 16.
exd5 Nd4 17. Bh6+ ({White can also force an endgame by playing} 17. Qe1 $5 Qxe1
18. Bxd4+ Qe5 19. Bxe5+ dxe5 20. Rxb7 $14 {with a slight edge.}) 17... Kg8 18.
Qd2 $1 ({In the event of} 18. Re1 {Black can play} Nf5 {and get rid of the
bishop on h6.}) 18... Qxd2 (18... f6 {is met by} 19. Rxb7 Qxd2 20. Bxd2 Kf7 21.
c3 $16 {when Black has great coordination problems.}) (18... b6 19. Rfe1 Qxd2
20. Bxd2 {transposes to 18...Qxd2.}) 19. Bxd2 b6 20. Rfe1 e5 21. dxe6 Nxe6 22.
Bc3 $14 {[%csl Rh8] Now Black is forces either to give up an exchange with ...
Rc8 with some compensation or playing passively with ...Ng7, in both cases
with a slight edge for White.}) 16. Rb3 {A natural move that forces the black
queen to chose side.} ({Another move that came to my mind was} 16. Rd1 {
when after} Kg8 17. Rxb7 Bxd5 18. exd5 Nb4 19. Bd4 Qxc2 20. Qxc2 Nxc2 21. Bxa7
$14 {[%csl Ga2] White has some endgame advantage thanks to his activity and
the passed a-pawn.}) 16... Qa5 {My opponent was still playing his moves fast,
indicating preparation. However I was not very impressed and felt very pleased
with my position. Although I saw a few promising possibilities I couldn't find
anything convincing and it took me plenty of time to make up my mind.} (16...
Qf6 17. Rd1 $36 {[%csl Rf6,Rg7] gives White a strong initiative.}) 17. Ra3 $1 {
A strong move, played after 43 minutes thought. As this move was not included
in my opponent's preparation it also had a good surprise effect.} ({In the
event of the natural continuation} 17. Qb2+ Kg8 18. Bh6 (18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Rxb7
$14 {is possible with a slight advantage according to the computer, but I am
not convinced by this. Black can continue with ..Kf7 with a solid position and
chances for counterplay on the c-file later on.}) {Black has the resource}
18... Qc5+ {with the idea of ...Qd4 defending against the mate threat.} 19. Be3
{leads to repetition of moves.}) 17... Qc7 $8 {The only move whic does not
lose material immediately.} (17... Qd8 $2 18. Qa1+ Kg8 19. Bh6 Qb6+ 20. Kh1 Qd4
(20... Nd4 21. Rd3 Bxd5 22. Rxd4 $18 {[%csl Rg8]}) 21. Qxd4 Nxd4 22. Bxb7 $16)
(17... Qb4 $4 18. c3 Qb5 19. c4 Qb4 20. Rb3 Qa5 21. Qb2+ Kg8 22. Rb5 Qa4 23.
Bh6 Ne5 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Rxe5 $1 dxe5 26. Qxe5 Kf7 27. Qg7+ Ke8 28. Bg5 Rc7 $8
29. Qh8+ Kd7 30. Qxa8 $18) 18. Qa1+ Kg8 19. Bh6 Ne5 20. Bxe6 fxe6 $2 {This
move was played far too quickly in the game. After this move Black is in
serious trouble. He should have considered} (20... Qc5+ $1 21. Kh1 ({Also
interesting is} 21. Re3 $5 fxe6 22. Kh1 {with the idea of Rb3 followed by f4.}
b6 ({An important detail is that after} 22... Kf7 $2 {White wins after} 23. f4
Ng4 24. Qg7+ Ke8 25. Bg5 $1 {Blocking the way for the black queen to h5.} Rc7
26. Ref3 $16 {with a crushing position for White.}) 23. Rb3 Qxc2 24. f4 Qd2 25.
Rbf3 $1 $36 {[%cal Gf1d1] with a continuous strong initiative, e.g.} ({In the
event of} 25. Rd1 {things are not so clear after} Qxd1+ $1 26. Qxd1 Ng4 27. Kg1
Nxh6 $44 {when Black has enough material for the queen.}) 25... Rc5 (25... Rc2
26. R3f2 Qxf2 27. Rxf2 Rxf2 28. fxe5 Rf7 29. h4 $18) 26. R3f2 Qe3 27. fxe5 Qxh6
28. exd6 exd6 29. Qf6 Rc1 30. Qxe6+ Kh8 31. Qxd6 Rxf1+ 32. Rxf1 $14) 21... Qxa3
22. Bb3 $1 $14 {[%csl Re5,Rg8][%cal Gf3f4] A strong move that I had overlooked
during the game. The white bishop pair works perfectly and Black cannot keep
his knight because of the threat f4. The best defence seems to be} ({After} 22.
Bxc8 Rxc8 23. f4 {it might look like Black will just lose a piece, but Black
has the defensive resource} Qe3 $1 {when White has to force a draw so as not
to get a worse position.} 24. Re1 Qd2 25. Rd1 Qe3 26. Re1 $11) 22... Kh8 (22...
a5 $2 23. f4 a4 24. Bd5 e6 25. fxe5 exd5 26. e6 {wins for White.}) 23. f4 f6
24. fxe5 dxe5 {when things are not so clear despite the two bishops for a rook.
Black has two extra pawns in compensation. However after} 25. Qe1 $36 {White
has an initiative with chances of an attack on the kingside and his position
should be preferable.}) 21. Kh1 (21. Rb3 {was the other option, also with the
idea of pushing f4.} Qxc2 (21... Qc5+ 22. Kh1 Qxc2 (22... g5 23. Rxb7 $16) 23.
f4 Qd2 24. Rd1 Qxd1+ 25. Qxd1 Ng4 26. Qe1 Nxh6 27. Rxb7 $16) 22. f4 Qd2 23. Rd1
Qe2 24. fxe5 Rc2 25. Rg3 dxe5 26. Rf1 Rd8 27. Qe1 $16 Qxe1 28. Rxe1 Rxa2 (28...
Kh8 29. Rf1 Rg8 30. Rgf3 b5 31. Rf8 Rc8 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. Rd1 $18) 29. Rf1 Rc2
30. Rgf3 Rcc8 31. Rf7 $18) 21... Kf7 {Black sees no other option then to run
with the king and search for safety in the centre. A risky option, but there
were no good alternatives.} ({Not even} 21... g5 {can stop White.} 22. f4 $1 (
22. Bxg5 $14) 22... gxf4 23. Rxf4 Kh8 $8 24. Rf7 Rg8 25. Rc3 Qd8 26. Rh3 Rg6
27. Bf8 h6 28. Bxh6 Kg8 29. Rf8+ $16 {And White wins the queen and has a clear
advantage.}) 22. f4 Nc4 23. Qg7+ Ke8 24. Rc3 Kd7 25. f5 {White breaks in front
of Black's king to make it even more vulnerable, before Black gets time to
consolidate with ...b5 and ...Re8.} gxf5 26. exf5 exf5 27. Re1 (27. Qf7 $5)
27... Re8 28. Qf7 $1 Rac8 (28... b5 $2 29. Qxf5+ Kd8 (29... Kc6 {loses on the
spot after} 30. Re4 $1 $18 Kb6 31. Rexc4 bxc4 32. Be3+ $18) 30. Bg5 Qd7 31.
Qxh7 Rc8 32. Rg3 Kc7 33. Bxe7 Kb8 34. Rg7 Rc7 35. h4 $18 {The white h-pawn
will soon decide the game as Black is without counterplay.}) 29. Bg5 b5 30.
Qxf5+ $6 {A slight error which gives Black a second chance.} ({Better was} 30.
a4 $1 a6 (30... Qa5 $4 {fails for Black after} 31. axb5 $1 $18 {[%csl Rc4,Rd7,
Re7] when the mate threat on e7 decides the game, e.g.} Ne5 32. Qxf5+ e6 33.
Qxh7+) ({Black might try} 30... Kc6 {but after} 31. Qxf5 $1 ({Less clear is} 
31. axb5+ Kb7 32. Bxe7 Qd7 {with chances of survival for Black.}) 31... Kb7 (
31... Qa5 32. Rxc4+ $18) 32. Qxb5+ Qb6 33. Qd7+ Qc7 34. Rb1+ Ka8 35. Qb5 d5 36.
Qxd5+ Qc6 37. Qd3 $18 {with a winning position for White.}) 31. axb5 axb5 32.
Bxe7 Kc6 33. Rxc4+ $1 bxc4 34. Qxc4+ Kd7 35. Qb5+ (35. Qe6+ Kc6) 35... Qc6 36.
Qxf5+ Kc7 37. Qxh7 $16 {White has two pawns for the exchange and in addition
Black has serious problems with his king which doesn't have any shelter
anymore.}) 30... e6 $1 (30... Kc6 31. a4 a6 32. axb5+ axb5 33. Re4 $1 $18) 31.
Qxb5+ Qc6 32. Qxc6+ {A practical decision in time trouble. White now gets two
connected passed pawns on the kingside, which in combination with B vs N
should give excellent winning chances.} ({Perhaps the move} 32. Qb3 {keeping
the tension was objectively better, but it's also hard to play in the upcoming
time trouble.} Rg8 33. Rg3 $14) 32... Rxc6 33. Rh3 e5 $2 {A serious error from
Black.} ({Much better was} 33... Ra6 $132 34. Rxh7+ Kc6 $132 {when Black keeps
his a7-pawn and has good counterplay.}) 34. Rxh7+ Ke6 35. Rxa7 Nb2 36. Re2 Rec8
37. h4 Rxc2 38. Re7+ Kf5 (38... Kd5 39. Rxc2 Rxc2 40. h5 $16 Nd3 41. h6 Nf2+
42. Kh2 Ng4+ 43. Kh3 Nxh6 44. Bxh6 Rxa2 45. g4 $18) 39. Rf7+ Kg6 $2 {Although
the position is lost anyhow, it's very hard to justify this move. Now White
doesn't face any problems at all in order to collect the full point.} (39...
Kg4 $4 40. Re4+ Kh5 (40... Kg3 41. Rf3#) 41. Rf6 $1 $18 {[%csl Rh5][%cal Gg3g4,
Gf6h6]}) (39... Ke6 {would at least have complicated matters for White and
given Black possible practical chances.} 40. Rf6+ Kd5 41. Rxc2 Rxc2 42. h5 $16
Nd3 43. h6 Rc7 (43... Rxa2 44. h7 Ra8 45. Kg1 $1 Nc5 46. Rh6 Ne4 47. Be7 Rh8
48. g4 $18) 44. Rg6 (44. g4 e4) 44... Rh7 45. Rg7 Rh8 46. h7 Ke6 47. Kg1 (47.
g4 Nf2+ 48. Kg2 Nxg4 49. Kf3 Kf5 50. a4 e4+ 51. Ke2 Ne5 52. Bd2 Kf6 53. Rb7 Kg6
(53... Ke6 54. Bc3 Rc8 55. a5 Ng6 56. Rg7 Nf4+ 57. Kd1 Kd5 58. a6 Ne6 59. Rg8
Rxc3 60. h8=Q $18) 54. Bc3 $18) 47... Kf5 48. Bh4 Nf4 49. g4+ Ke4 50. Rd7 Kf3
51. Rf7 Rb8 52. Kf1 $18) 40. Rf6+ Kh7 41. Rh6+ Kg8 42. Rxc2 Rxc2 43. Rxd6 {
White is two pawns up and has a relatively easily won position.} Rc7 (43... Nc4
44. Rc6 e4 45. a4 Kf7 46. h5 e3 47. Bxe3 Nxe3 48. Rxc2 Nxc2 49. a5 Nb4 50. g4
$18 Kf6 51. h6 Kg6 52. g5 Kh7 53. Kg2 Kg6 54. Kf3 Na6 55. Kf4 Nb4 56. Ke4 Na6 (
56... Kh7 57. Kf5 Na6 58. Kf6 Nc7 59. Kf7 Nb5 60. a6 Nd6+ 61. Kf6 Ne8+ 62. Ke5
Kg6 63. a7 Nc7 64. Ke4 Na8 65. Kd5 $18) 57. Kd5 $18) 44. Kh2 Nc4 45. Rg6+ Kh7
46. Re6 Kg8 47. Rg6+ Kh7 48. Re6 Kg8 49. Kh3 Ra7 50. h5 Rxa2 (50... Ra3+ 51.
Kg4 Rxa2 52. h6 Ra7 53. Kh5 Kf7 54. Rf6+ $18) 51. Re8+ Kf7 52. h6 $1 (52. Re7+
Kg8 53. h6 Rf2 54. Kg4 $18) 52... Ra3+ 53. Kh2 (53. Kg4 $18) 1-0

[Event "Arctic Chess Challenge"]
[Site "Tromsoe"]
[Date "2010.08.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Ivanisevic, Ivan"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2611"]
[BlackElo "2612"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2010.07.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 137 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.09.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.09.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Ne2 Nb4 6. Nbc3 Nxd3+ 7. Qxd3 g6 8.
h4 h5 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. O-O-O d6 12. d5 e5 13. Kb1 Nf6 14. f3 Nd7
15. Ng3 Nc5 16. Qc2 a5 17. Nf1 Ba6 18. Ne3 Qd7 19. a4 O-O-O 20. Rdf1 f5 21.
exf5 gxf5 22. f4 Rde8 23. Rh3 Kb8 24. b3 Bc8 25. Ne2 exf4 26. Rxf4 Re4 27. Rxe4
fxe4 28. Qc3 Rf8 29. Nd4 Kb7 30. Rg3 Qf7 31. Ndc2 Bg4 32. b4 Nd3 33. bxa5 Qf2
34. Rxg4 hxg4 35. axb6 cxb6 36. Ka2 Qf7 37. Qd4 Qe8 38. Kb3 Nc5+ 39. Kc3 Nxa4+
40. Kd2 Nc5 41. Kc3 Rf7 42. Qd1 Qe5+ 43. Qd4 Qe8 44. Qd1 Qa8 45. Qa1 Qh8+ 46.
Kb4 Qxh4 47. Kb5 Qf2 48. Qa3 Rf8 49. Qc3 Qf7 50. Nd4 Qg7 51. Nec2 Ra8 52. Qg3
Qd7+ 53. Nc6 Nd3 0-1

[Event "Olympiad-39"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2010.10.01"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Amonatov, Farrukh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2616"]
[BlackElo "2602"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2010.09.21"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sweden"]
[BlackTeam "Tajikistan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "TJK"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2
O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. Bb3 Rc8 11. O-O-O Ne5 12. Kb1 Re8 13. h4 h5 14. Bh6 Qa5 15.
Bxg7 Kxg7 16. g4 Rxc3 17. bxc3 Rc8 18. gxh5 Nxh5 19. Rhg1 Qxc3 20. Qg5 Nf6 21.
h5 Nc4 22. Bxc4 Rxc4 23. Rd3 Qb4+ 24. Rb3 Qc5 25. Qxc5 dxc5 26. Nf5+ Bxf5 27.
exf5 b6 28. hxg6 Rd4 29. Rd3 Rxd3 30. cxd3 Ne8 31. Re1 Kf6 32. Kb2 Ng7 33. gxf7
Kxf7 34. Re5 Ne8 35. Kc3 Nd6 36. a4 Kf6 37. Re6+ Kf7 38. Re5 Kf6 39. Rd5 Kg5
40. Kd2 Kf6 41. Kc3 Kg5 42. d4 cxd4+ 43. Kxd4 Kf6 44. Re5 Nxf5+ 45. Kd5 Nd6 46.
Re1 Nb7 47. Re6+ Kf7 48. Rc6 Nc5 49. Rxc5 bxc5 50. Kxc5 Ke6 51. Kc6 Ke5 52. Kb7
a5 53. Kb6 Kf4 54. Kxa5 e5 55. Kb4 1-0

[Event "GRE-chT 39th"]
[Site "Eretria"]
[Date "2011.07.04"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Kritz, Leonid"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2615"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2011.07.03"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 143 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.08.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.08.29"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Ptolemaida Ptolemaios"]
[BlackTeam "Heraklion CC"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GRE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GRE"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bxf6 Nxf6 8.
Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. Bd3 Bd6 10. Qe2 Bd7 11. O-O-O O-O-O 12. Be4 Kb8 13. Kb1 c5 14.
Qc4 Qe7 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Ne5 Bc8 17. Nxf7 Rxd1+ 18. Rxd1 Rf8 19. Ne5 Bxf2 20.
Ng6 Rd8 21. Qxc8+ 1-0

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 10th"]
[Site "Caleta"]
[Date "2012.02.02"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2699"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2012.01.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "GGB"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 147"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.03.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.03.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4
Qb6 {Playing the delayed Poisoned Pawn Variation seems to have become quite
popular lately. Although my opponent has several openings in his repertoire
this was the one I expected to come. I have faced this position twice before
as White without getting much out of the opening. In both those games I
continued with 9.a3 which I believe does not give White any advantage. In the
last round of Politiken Cup 2011 I had a sad loss against Marc Tyler Arnold
where I didn't get into the game before it was all over.} 9. Qd3 $1 {This move
has become rather popular within the regular Poisoned Pawn variation where I
have tried it myself with great success. Here 9.Qd2 is the more popular move,
but I'm sure we will see a lot more of 9.Qd3 in the future.} Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3
11. f5 {Now the question is what the important differences are compared with
the white bishop on g5 instead of h4 and the black h-pawn back on h7. I have
concluded that Black has weakened the square g6 as well as the diagonal h5-e8
which is a clear drawback for him. On the other hand the white bishop on h4
has lost control over the c1-h6 diagonal which might be an important fact in
some lines although I think that Black's concessions are worse.} (11. e5 {
is the main move according to my database, but it has not been tested on a
high level lately. However there are some high class games from the past
before the influence of computer engines.} {The game Mikenas,V-Tal,M Riga 1959
continued} Nd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd3 13. Bxd3 exd5 14. e6 Nc6 (14... fxe6 {is also
interesting} 15. Bg6+ (15. f5 $5 $146) 15... Kd7 16. f5 e5 17. Ne6 {1/2-1/2 
(34) Janosevic,D-SofrevskiJ Kragujevac 1959. With interesting play.}) 15. Nxc6
bxc6 16. exf7+ Kxf7 17. Rb6 $44 {1-0 (60) Mikenas,V-Tal,M Riga 1959. White has
at least full compensation for the sacrificed pawn and Black has a difficult
defensive task.}) 11... Be7 {This position has been reached seven times
according to my database. Before my game Black had an outstanding statistic of
4.5 points out of 5 games. However when having a short look at the position
during my preparation the same morning I didn't find that result to be a fair
reflection of the games.} 12. fxe6 ({It's essential not to start with} 12. Be2
$2 {due to} Nxe4 $1 $15 {0-1 (40) Vedmediuc,S (2422)-Wojtaszek,R (2711)
Aix-les-Bains 2011. With an advantage to Black.}) 12... fxe6 ({Black also has
the opportunity to give the pawn back in order to be able to develop his
pieces:} 12... Bxe6 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Be2 ({After} 14. Rxb7 Nbd7 {White has
won back the pawn, but lost his initiative and Black is soon ready for
counterplay. However it's worth noticing that ...Nc5 is not yet a threat due
to Rxe7+.}) (14. e5 $5 $146 {is a move worth investigating further. White
needs to act quickly before Black consolidates in order to keep the initiative.
However, it seems as if Black has enough defensive resources.} dxe5 15. Qg6+ (
15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Qg6+ {also deserves attention.}) 15... Kd8 $1 {This is the
move that puts most questions to White's position. It might look more natural
to go to f8, but the king is safer on this side. Now it seems difficult to
find a good continuation for White although the position looks pretty
interesting.} ({The natural move} 15... Kf8 {almost loses by force after} 16.
Rb3 Qc5 (16... Qc1+ 17. Nd1 Nc6 18. Be2 Nd4 19. Bxf6 Nxc2+ 20. Kf1 Bxf6 21. Bh5
Qf4+ 22. Rf3 Qc4+ 23. Rd3 Qc7 24. Rc3 $18) (16... Qa5 $4 17. Bc4 $18 {[%csl
Re6]}) 17. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 18. Be2 h5 (18... Qe7 19. Bh5 Nc6 20. O-O Nd4 21. Rb6
$18) 19. Bxh5 Qe7 20. Rxb7 Nd7 21. O-O Rh6 22. Qg4 $16) 16. Rb3 (16. Qd3+ Kc7
$17) (16. Nd1 Bb4+ 17. Ke2 Rf8 $15) 16... Qc1+ 17. Nd1 Nbd7 (17... Nc6 18. Bd3
$13) 18. Bd3 Qf4 $15) 14... Nbd7 15. O-O {And here instead of 15...Nc5 (1/2-1/
2 (42) Huschenbeth,N (2521)-Van Kampen,R (2519) Haarlem 2011)} Rc8 $5 $15 {
looks like a better continuation}) 13. Be2 O-O (13... Nxe4 $2 14. O-O $1 {
gives White a crushing attack.}) 14. O-O Kh8 $146 {Black hides his king in the
corner so as not to allow any tactics connected with Nd5. The drawback is that
ideas like e5 followed by Qg6 become even more dangerous now.} (14... Nc6 {
is the only move that has been played before my game. This forces an endgame
after} 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Nd5 Qxd3 17. Nxe7+ Kf7 {and here I believe} 18. cxd3
$146 {to be stronger than} (18. Bxd3 {0-1 (54) Solodovnichenko,Y (2629)-David,
A (2597) Milan 2011}) {After} 18... Kxe7 19. e5 $1 dxe5 20. Bf3 {was what I
had a brief look at during my morning preparation. White has full compensation
for the sacrificed material and good practical chances although Black should
be able to hold with correct defence.}) ({After} 14... Nbd7 $5 {White can
force a middlegame without queens since he has the bishop pair and some
initiative in exchange for a pawn. He also has the option of winning back the
pawn, but then he will lose some coordination.} 15. Nd5 (15. Nxe6 Ne5 16. Qh3 {
levels the material, but the N on e6 stand in a serious pin.}) 15... Qxd3 16.
Nxe7+ Kf7 17. cxd3 Kxe7 18. Bf2 $44 {White's pair of bishops and active piece
play compensate for the sacrificed pawn.}) 15. Kh1 {White needs to prepare
before going for any action.} ({After} 15. e5 dxe5 16. Qg6 Qxc3 {Black is in
time to defend because of White's king's vulnerability along the g1-a7
diagonal.} 17. Bd3 Qxd4+ 18. Kh1 e4 $19) 15... Nbd7 $2 {Actually this move
almost loses the game by force.} (15... Nc6 $2 {also runs into trouble after}
16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. e5 $1 dxe5 18. Qg6 Bd7 (18... Qxc3 {loses after} 19. Rf3 Qd4
20. Rg3 Rg8 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Bd3 $18) 19. Bxf6 Rxf6 20. Rxf6 Bxf6 21. Bd3 e4
22. Nxe4 (22. Qxe4 Kg8 23. Qh7+ Kf7 24. Qg6+ Ke7 25. Ne4 {is less clear}) 22...
Be8 23. Qg4 $14 {White has a very dangerous initiative which more than
compensates for the sacrificed pawn.}) ({The ugly-looking} 15... e5 {was
necessary and Black keeps his extra pawn and keeps his king out of any
immediate danger. Here I cannot see any immediate way forward for White.
However with some help from my silicon friend I found the astonishing move} 16.
Qd2 $1 {which certainly deserves attention. This is a serious way for White to
try to keep his forces as active as possible. It also makes perfect sense when
Black's queenside is totally out of the game. Now White is ready for either
Bxf6 followed by Nd5 or the immediate Nd5.} exd4 {The most critical
continuation, but this actually seems to give White a crushing attack after}
17. Nd5 {when Black faces serious problems. I'll give a few possible lines.}
Bd8 (17... Nxd5 {might lead to an endgame, but this rather increases White's
pressure since after} 18. exd5 Qe3 19. Qxe3 dxe3 20. Bxe7 Rxf1+ 21. Rxf1 {
Black is left with his undeveloped queenside and is now forced to play} Nd7 $14
{Things are not yet completely over, but it's clear that White has a solid
advantage and perhaps even a winning one going down the lines a bit further.})
18. Nxf6 Qe3 (18... Nc6 19. Nh5 $1 Rxf1+ 20. Rxf1 Bxh4 (20... Be6 21. Rf8+ Kh7
22. Qf4 Bxh4 {leads to 20...Bxh4 by transposition.}) 21. Rf8+ Kh7 22. Qf4 {
forces Black into the concession} Be6 23. Rxa8 Be7 {to avoid immediate defeat.
Now White keeps a clear advantage after} 24. Qf1 $16) 19. Qxe3 dxe3 20. Nd5 $14
{Still after the exchange of queens White's advantage continues with great
power.}) (15... Qa5 {is another possible defensive move to get the queen back
into the game, but White will receive an advantage by energetic play after} 16.
e5 $1 {This is a thematic move in almost every line of the Poisoned Pawn and
should usually be played at any cost to stop Black from getting a blockade on
e5. Black is now still undeveloped on the queenside which makes a sacrifice of
a second pawn possible.} dxe5 $4 ({After} 16... Qxe5 17. Bf3 {White will win
back at least one pawn with a continous strong initiative. The main threat is
not Bxb7 but Rbe1 or Rfe1 when the e6 pawn is lost.}) 17. Ne4 $1 {This is
another key move that is common for the Poisoned Pawn variation. Going for the
kill with this brutal sacrifice leads to a won position for White.} Nbd7 (17...
exd4 18. Nxf6 Bxf6 19. Qg6 $1 $18 {[%cal Ge2d3]}) 18. Nxe6 Rf7 19. Nxg7 $1 Kxg7
20. Nxf6 Nxf6 (20... Bxf6 21. Bh5 $18) 21. Qg3+ Kf8 22. Bc4 $18) 16. Nxe6 $1
Ne5 17. Nxf8 $1 {White sacrifices his queen for a rook and a knight, but most
important a devastating attack on the black Monarch.} ({There was no need to
consider} 17. Qh3) 17... Nxd3 18. Ng6+ Kh7 19. Bxd3 Kxg6 (19... Bd8 {On http://
www.huffingtonpost.com Lubomir Kavalek mentioned the line 19...Bd8 20.e5 dxe5
21.Nxe5+ Kg8 22.Bc4+ Kh7 23.Bd3+ when he wrote that "it's hard to see White
has more than a draw".) However, White has improvements on the way.
Surprisingly exactly this position was seen in the Bundesliga just three days
later. I certainly don't believe that this was a prepared novelty from Black,
but White seemed to know what he was doing.} {The game concluded} 20. Nd5 $1 ({
Also interesting is} 20. e5 dxe5 21. Ne4 $14 {with a strong initiative for
White.} (21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. Rf8 Qxf8 23. Nxf8+ Kg8 24. Bxd8 Kxf8)) 20... b5 21.
Nge7 Bxe7 22. Nxe7 Bb7 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Rxf6 Qxa2 25. Rbf1 Kg7 26. Rg6+ Kh8
27. e5 {1-0 (27) Bobras,P (2544)-Maksimenko,A (2553) Germany 2012}) 20. e5+ Kh5
{This move looks like a little bit too much, but actually it's already all
over and my opponent probably hoped to get some practical chances.} ({After} 
20... Kf7 21. exf6 gxf6 22. Nd5 $40 {White carry on attacking undisturbed.
Black is still unable to develop his queenside and remains in a completely
hopeless situation.}) 21. exf6 Bxf6 {During the game I had regarded this move
as completely hopeless for Black, but also after} (21... Qxc3 {White has a
straight win after} 22. fxe7 Bd7 23. Be1 $1 Qe5 (23... Qc7 24. Rf7 $18 {
[%csl Rh5]}) 24. Rxb7 $18 {and the black position will collapse.}) 22. Bxf6
gxf6 23. Rb3 ({White could also achieve a won position after} 23. Nd5 f5 24.
Nb6 Rb8 25. Nxc8 Rxc8 26. Rxf5+ Kg4 27. Rbf1 $18) 23... Qa5 24. Rxf6 {[%csl
Rh5] White keeps the Black king cut off. This move also activates threats like
Bg6+ and Ne4.} Bd7 {Finally Black tries to develop, but it's far too late by
now. Anyway there was nothing to be done.} 25. Ne4 ({White could also win by} 
25. Bg6+ $1 Kh4 (25... Kg4 26. h3+ Kh4 27. Ne4 Qe1+ 28. Kh2 Qxe4 29. Bxe4) (
25... Kg5 26. Ne4+ Kh4 (26... Kg4 27. Rg3+ Kh4 28. Rf4+ Bg4 29. Rh3#) 27. Rf4+)
26. g3+ Kg4 (26... Kh3 27. Rf4 Bc6+ 28. Be4 Qg5 (28... Bxe4+ 29. Rxe4 Qh5 30.
Ne2 $1 $18 {with mate to follow very soon.}) 29. Bxc6 bxc6 (29... Qxf4 30. Bd7+
Qg4 31. Rb4 (31. Ne4) 31... Rg8 32. Nd1) 30. Rbb4 $18 {[%cal Gf4h4]}) 27. Ne4
$1 Qe1+ 28. Kg2 Qe2+ 29. Rf2 $18 {and Black must give up his queen to avoid
mate.}) 25... Bg4 (25... Rg8 26. Be2+ Kh4 27. Rh3+ (27. Rxh6+ Qh5 28. Rxh5#)
27... Bxh3 28. g3+ Rxg3 29. hxg3#) (25... Qe1+ 26. Rf1 $19) 26. h3 Rg8 27.
hxg4+ Rxg4 28. Be2 $1 (28. Rf5+ {leads to a technical win after} Qxf5 29. Ng3+
Rxg3 30. Bxf5 $18) 28... Qe1+ 29. Kh2 {Black resigned in view of} (29. Kh2 Qxe2
30. Rh3+ Rh4 31. Rxh4+ Kxh4 32. Rf4+ Kh5 (32... Qg4 33. g3+ Kh5 34. Nf6+) 33.
Ng3+) 1-0

[Event "Gothenburg Manhem"]
[Site "Gothenburg"]
[Date "2012.08.17"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nyback, Tomi"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A32"]
[WhiteElo "2638"]
[BlackElo "2576"]
[Annotator "Berg,E"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2012.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[EventCategory "9"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 149 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.08.24"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.08.24"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {Into the this final game of the tournament a win
was badly needed for me to be able to catch up with the sole leader Rozentalis.
In Fischer style I intended to bring out "The son of Sorrow" Benoni to
surprise Nybдck.} 4. g3 {Nybдck decided to decline my challenge for a sharp
battle and went for a Catalan.} cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Nc3 {It was now clear to
me that my opponent rather wanted to be on the active side and even sacrifice
a pawn for it. However it is wise not to grab this pawn too early for Black.}
a6 (6... Qxc4 $6 {runs into trouble after} 7. e4 Qc7 8. Bf4 Qd8 9. Ndb5 Na6 10.
Nd6+ Bxd6 {when} 11. Bxd6 $1 $146 {would be an improvement upon} (11. Qxd6 $14
{0-1 (60) Berkemer,R (1925)-Olofsson Dolk,M Helsingor 2009. After 11.Bxd6 my
friend Houdini claims that White is already winning, which is not a big
surprise.})) 7. Bg2 Qxc4 {I grabbed this pawn pretty quickly, having in mind a
game of mine against Vadims Daskevics from 2010. In a similar position I also
grabbed that c4-pawn and managed to defend and eventually convert my advantage
into a win. White obviously has compensation, but there is nothing very
concrete.} 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nb3 (9. Be3 Ng4 $1) 9... Qb4 $6 {It felt logical to
me to try to get the queen back into safety immediately. However it seems that
Black doesn't have time for this here. Better was} (9... d5 {which is the main
move and has been played by Kramnik, Leko, Svidler and Alekseev among others.})
(9... Be7 {and}) (9... Bb4 {are two other fully playable moves.}) 10. e4 $146 {
A novelty. The only previous game saw} (10. a3 Qd6 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. e4 Be7 {
when Black managed to defend and eventually convert his extra pawn into a full
point in 0-1 (58) Maki,J (2280)-Gurevich,D (2545) Las Vegas 1994.}) 10... Qb6
$6 (10... h5 $5 {might have been an improvement, keeping the queen flexible on
b4 for the moment.}) 11. Be3 $6 ({A stronger move was} 11. Bf4 $1 {when
White's strong initiative gives him a slight edge. Black's best now seems to be
} h5 $1 {in order to create some squares for the knight on f6. However after}
12. Rc1 {White is well ahead in development and has more than enough for the
sacrificed pawn.}) 11... Qd8 12. Nd5 $5 {An interesting try, but Black can
simply liquidate material like in the game when White still has compensation,
but not more than that.} ({A more challenging try was} 12. Rc1 {keeping Nd5 as
an option for later.}) 12... exd5 13. exd5 Bb4 $1 ({The alternative} 13... Bd6
14. dxc6 dxc6 15. Bb6 $1 Qxb6 (15... Bc7 $2 16. Qe1+ $1 Be6 17. Rd1 $16) 16.
Qxd6 Be6 {looks very risky for Black who is not able to castle.} 17. Rfe1 Rd8
18. Qa3) 14. dxc6 ({After} 14. a3 {it's a different story, since now the
knight on b3 is loose.} Bd6 15. dxc6 dxc6 16. Bb6 Qxb6 17. Qxd6 Qxb3 $1 18.
Bxc6+ bxc6 19. Qxc6+ Ke7 20. Qxa8 Rd8 $1 $132 {with mutual chances, but
objectively speaking Black is rather somewhat better.}) 14... bxc6 15. a3 Be7
16. Nd4 {White hurries to exchange the black e7-bishop for his knight. This
gives full compensation for a pawn, but perhaps the quiet} (16. Qc2 $5 O-O 17.
Rad1 $44 {would have brought even more. Although there are still no concrete
threats from White, Black has difficulties solving the problem of his c8
bBishop and White's piece play is powerful.}) 16... O-O 17. Nf5 (17. b4 $5 $44)
17... d5 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 19. Rc1 Bg4 $6 {A logical developing move in a way,
but there is a drawback.} (19... Qe6 {was better:} 20. Re1 Re8 {when White has
full compensation, but Black remains solid and keeps his extra pawn.}) 20. Qa4
$6 ({The seemingly drawish} 20. Bc5 {would actually bring White some winning
chances after} Qxc5 21. Rxc5 Bxd1 22. Rxd1 Rfb8 (22... Rfc8 23. Rdc1 a5 24.
Rxc6 $14) 23. Rxc6 Rxb2 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. Rxd5 {and due to the back rank
problem, Black will lose his a6-pawn and has to fight for a draw a pawn down.}
g6 26. Ra5 $14) 20... Qb7 21. Bd4 Bd7 22. Qc2 {White transfers his queen to c3
to put further pressure against f6 and g7.} Rfe8 23. Qc3 Re6 24. Rfe1 Rae8 25.
Rxe6 Rxe6 26. Bh3 Re4 $1 {A nice defensive resource. Here Nybдck totally
missed the main point of this move and kindly allowed me to enter a superior
ending.} 27. Bxd7 $2 (27. Bg2 {would force a repetition from Black while after}
) (27. Bf1 $1 $14 {[%csl Ra6,Rc6,Gd4,Gf1] White could even claim a small
advantage despite the minus pawn. The superior pair of bishops in combination
with Black's many weaknesses gives White the upper hand.}) 27... Qxd7 28. Bxf6
Rc4 {The moves missed by Nybдck.} 29. Qd2 $2 {White continues the bad trend.
Instead} (29. Qxc4 $1 dxc4 30. Bc3 {would have brought him excellent drawing
chances, thanks to the blockade on the queenside.} g5 $1) ({Worse is} 29. Bxg7
Rxc3 30. Bxc3 d4 $17 {when Black's passed d-pawn is likely to bring him
victory.}) 29... Rxc1+ 30. Qxc1 gxf6 {I regard this endgame as winning for
Black, although it's not yet all that simple.} 31. Qf4 Kg7 32. Kf1 (32. Qa4 d4
$1 33. Qxa6 d3 34. Qa4 Qe6 $1 35. Kg2 h5 $1 $19 {[%cal Gd3d2]} 36. Qd4 Qe2 37.
Qc4 Qd1 {[%cal Gd3d2]} (37... Qc2 38. Qe4)) 32... c5 33. Qe3 Qb5+ 34. Ke1 a5 $1
{Black takes more space on the queenside to hold down White's weakness, the
b2-pawn.} 35. Kd1 $6 (35. b3 {was better, when} a4 {is not all that clear and
would at least give White much better practical chances than the game, e.g.} (
35... h5 $5) 36. bxa4 Qb1+ {[%csl Gc5,Gd5]} 37. Kd2 Qb2+ 38. Kd1 c4 39. Qf3
Qd4+ 40. Kc2 h5 $1 {when things looks good for Black, but it's still not all
over.}) 35... a4 36. Qf4 h5 $1 37. Kc1 Qf1+ 38. Kd2 Qb5 39. Kc1 Qf1+ 40. Kd2
Qb1 {The time trouble was over and now Black's win is rather obvious.} (40...
Qb1 41. Qb8 (41. Qxa4 Qxb2+ 42. Ke1 c4 $19) 41... c4 42. Qb5 d4 $1 43. Qxc4
Qxb2+ 44. Ke1 Qxa3 45. Qxd4 Qc1+ 46. Ke2 a3 $19 {A nice victory for me after
an interesting fighting game. Finally I managed to catch up with Rozentalis
and claim the first place on the better tiebreak.}) 0-1

[Event "SWE-chT 1516"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "2016.03.18"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[BlackElo "2644"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.11.06"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2017"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Stockholm Viking"]
[BlackTeam "Eksjo"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
O-O b6 9. Nc2 Ne5 10. Be2 N5g6 11. g3 Bb7 12. Nd2 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 d5 14. Bf3 Rad8
15. Qe2 d4 16. cxd4 Qxd4 17. Nb3 Qa4 18. Rfc1 Ba6 19. Qc2 Ne5 20. Bg2 c5 21.
Qc3 N5c6 22. Rd1 Nd4 23. Nxd4 cxd4 24. Qc2 Qb4 25. Nd5 Nxd5 26. exd5 d3 27. Qd2
Qd4 28. Rac1 Rfe8 29. Qc3 Qxc3 30. Rxc3 Kf8 31. Bf3 Rd7 32. Kg2 Re5 33. a4 g5
34. b4 h5 35. h3 Bb7 36. Rcxd3 g4 37. hxg4 hxg4 38. Bxg4 Rdxd5 39. Bf3 Rxd3 40.
Rxd3 Bxf3+ 41. Kxf3 a5 42. Rd6 b5 43. Kf4 Re2 44. bxa5 Rxf2+ 45. Ke3 Ra2 46.
Rd4 Ra3+ 47. Kf4 Ra1 48. a6 Rf1+ 49. Kg5 1-0