This week, I chose to annotate a beautiful game played by Anton Kovalyov in the second round of the world cup. Throughout the game, he showed a superior understanding of the position than his opponent and employed phophylaxis quite nicely at the end of the game. I hope you enjoy it!
[Event "FIDE World Cup 2015"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2015.09.15"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Black "Mareco, Sandro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2616"]
[BlackElo "2599"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2015.09.11"]
[SourceDate "2012.06.06"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 O-O 7. Re1 {This
strange looking move seems to score very well for White. It seems to give
White extra options than developping the Knight to c3.} Na6 8. b3 {This move
has only been played once before in my database.} (8. Ne5 Bxg2 9. Kxg2 c5 10.
d5 Qc7 11. Nf3 {is how the game can normally proceed}) 8... c5 9. Bb2 d5 10.
cxd5 Nxd5 11. a3 Rc8 12. e4 Nf6 13. Nc3 Re8 $14 {White seems to have emerged
with a slight spatial advantage, and the black knight on a6 is slightly
misplaced.} 14. Rc1 Bf8 15. Qe2 cxd4 16. Nxd4 $5 {Giving up three pieces for
the queen. Typically three pieces are much more powerful than a queen, but
White realized that Black still needed to co-ordinate his pieces.} Qxd4 17. Nd5
Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Qxb2 19. Qxb2 exd5 20. e5 Nd7 (20... Ng4 21. f4 $2 (21. b4 Nxe5
22. Re1 $4 Nd3) (21. Qe2 Nxe5 22. f4 Bxa3 23. Rd1 Bc5+ 24. Kh1 Nb4 25. fxe5 $13
) 21... Bc5+) 21. f4 {White plays the rest of the game perfectly} Ndc5 22. Qc2
Ne6 23. b4 b5 (23... Rc8 24. Qxc8 Bxc8 25. Rxc8 Nec7 {and black is practically
in zugwang!}) 24. Bf1 Rd8 25. Qd3 Nec7 (25... Nac7 26. f5 $18) 26. Qd4 Ra8 27.
f5 g6 28. e6 $1 fxe6 29. Qe5 Rc8 30. Bxb5 exf5 31. Bxa6 1-0
