Former Ukraine chess champion Pavlo Eljanov pulled ahead by a half a point of the pack with a third round victory over fellow Kharkivite Oleksandr Moiseenko.
The two top-100 globally rated grandmasters
played into an endgame in which Moiseenko was made to play defensively,
eventually falling a pawn behind in material that lasted until his
resignation on move 82.
Both were contenders coming into the
nation’s chess championship but Moiseenko’s prospects dimmed having lost a
second game in a row.
Defending Ukrainian and former world
champion Ruslan Ponomariov was outplayed in the endgame against Yuriy Kuzubov
who is rated 100 points lower than him. Their match lasted just over 100 moves
in a grueling endgame that saw Ponomariov give up a knight for two pawns in a
slightly inferior position. The upset put Ponomoariov a full point behind the
leader.
The remaining games were draws.
The 81st Ukrainian chess championship is a
single-round robin event with a 90-minute time control (plus 30 seconds per move)
and a 30-minute sudden death after 40 moves.
The total prize fund is $75,000, with
$20,000 going to the winner.
Matches start daily at 3 p.m., except for
Aug. 7, which starts at 12 p.m. with a rest day on Aug. 2.
Round 4
30.07.2012 3 p.m.
1 Serhiy Fedorchuk – Oleksandr Moiseenko
2 Yuriy Kuzubov – Pavlo Eljanov
3 Zakhar Yefymenko – Ruslan Ponomariov
4 Andriy Volokytin – Yevhen Miroshnychenko
5 Oleksandr Areshchenko – Anton Korobov
6 Yuriy Vovk – Oleksandr Zubov
| Standings after round 3 | ||
| Place | Name | Points |
| 1st | Pavlo Eljanov (2693) | 2.5 |
| 2nd | Andriy Volokityn (2704) | 2 |
| 2nd | Anton Korobov (2683) | 2 |
| 2nd | Oleksandr Areshchenko (2691) | 2 |
| 3rd | Oleksandr Zubov (2621) | 1.5 |
| 3rd | Ruslan Ponomariov (2726) | 1.5 |
| 3rd | Yuriy Kuzubov (2629) | 1.5 |
| 3rd | Zakhar Yefymenko (2694) | 1.5 |
| 4th | Yevhen Miroshnychenko (2632) | 1 |
| 4th | Oleksandr Moiseenko (2706) | 1 |
| 4th | Serhiy Fedorchuk (2630) | 1 |
| 5th | Yuriy Vovk (2584) | 0.5 |
Kyiv Post’s Game of the Day
Ruslan Ponomariov (2726) – Yuriy Kuzubov
(2629)
French Defense
Round 3, Kyiv, 2012 Ukrainian Chess
Championship
e4 e6 (2.) d4 d5 (3.) Nd2 a6 (4.) Bd3 c5 (5.)
dxc5 Nf6 (6.) exd5 exd5 (7.) Nb3 Nbd7 (8.) Be3 Qc7 (9.) Nf3 Nxc5 (10.) O-O Be6 (11.)
Re1 O-O-O (12.) Bd4 Kb8 (13.) c3 Bg4 (14.) h3 Bh5 (15.) Be2 Ne6 (16.) Be5 Bd6 (17.)
Bxd6 Qxd6 (18.) Nfd4 Bg6 (19.) a4 Ne4 (20.) Bf1 Rhe8 (21.) a5 Qf4 (22.) Qf3 Qc7
(23.) h4 Rd6 (24.) Qe3 f5 (25.) Bd3 f4 (26.) Qh3 Qf7 (27.) Rad1 Bh5 (28.) Qf5
Qxf5 (29.) Nxf5 Bxd1 (30.) Nxd6 Nxd6 (31.) Rxd1 Nc4 (32.) Bxh7 Rh8 (33.) Bf5
Nc7 (34.) Re1 Rxh4 (35.) Re7 Rh5 (36.) Bg4 Rg5 (37.) f3 Ne5 (38.) Nc5 Nxg4
(39.) fxg4 Rxg4 (40.) Nd7+ Kc8 (41.) Nb6+ Kb9 (42.) Kf2 Rg5 (43.) Nd7+ Kc8
(44.) Nc5 Rg6 (45.) Rf7 Ne6 (46.) Na4 Rg5 (47.) Re7 Nc7 (48.) Nb6+ Kb8 (49.) Rd7
d4 (50.) Rxd4 Rxa5 (51.) Rd8+ Ka7 (52.) Nc8+ Kb8 (53.) Nd6+ Ka7 (54.) Kf3 g5 (55.)
Nc8+ Kb8 (56.) Nd6+ Ka7 (57.) Rd7 Kb8 (58.) c4 Ra2 (59.) b4 b6 (60.) Rd8+ Ka7 (61.)
Rd7 Kb8 (62.) Rg7 Rd2 (63.) Rg8+ Ka7 (64.) Rd8 Rb2 (65.) Rd7 Kb8 (66.) Rd8+ Ka7
(67.) Rd7 Kb8 (68.) c5 bxc5 (69.) bxc5 Ne6 (70.) Ne4 Rb4 (71.) Rd6 g4+ (Black
wins a knight for two pawns giving him the superior but still very difficult
endgame for a convertible victory) 72.) Kxg4 Rxe4 (73.) Rxa6 Re5 (74.) Kf3 Re3+
(75.) Kg4 Kb7 (76.) Rd6 Kc7 (77.) Ra6 Re5
(78.) Kf3 Kd7 (79.) Ra3 Rg5 (80.) Ra7+ Kc6 (81.) Re7 Rg3+ (82.) Kf2 Nxc5 (Black
gets rid of white’s last hope for a remote draw) 83.) Rf7 Nd3+ (84.) Kg1 Kd5 (85.)
Kh2 Ke4 (86.) Ra7 Nf2 (87.) Ra4+ Kf5 (88.) Ra5+ Kf6 (89.) Ra6+ Kg5 (90.) Ra5+
Kg6 (91.) Ra6+ Kh5 (92.) Kg1 Nd1 (93.) Kh2 Ne3 (94.) Ra2 Ng4+ (95.) Kg1 Rb3 (96.)
Ra1 Kh4 (97.) Rf1 Kg3 (98.) Kh1 Re3 (99.) Kg1 Ne5 (100.) Ra1 Nd3 (101.) Kf1
Re1+ 1-0
Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected]
