The top two seeds in the ongoing 2020 GM Clarion Congress Hotel Tournament in České Budějovice, Czech Republic won their respective penultimate round games and remain on top of the standings with a round to go.
GMs Alexander Donchenko and Peter Michalík subdued Round 8 opponents GM Oliver Mihok and IM Dominik Horváth, respectively, which enabled the duo to firm up their hold on the first and second spots in the overall standings.
Donchenko maintained his half-point lead over Michalik and just needs to draw with his last round foe Jan Mikes to win the event.
In the other Round 8 matches, GM Hannes Stefansson ripped Mikes; IM Karel Malinovský defeated fellow IM Lev Yankelevich; while IMs Karel Malinovský and Tomáš Kraus halved the point.
The standings after Round 8: 1. Donchenko, 6½; 2. Michalik, 6; 3. Malinowsky, 5; 4-7. Kraus, Mihok, Černoušek, Stefansson, 4; 8. Horváth, 2½; 9-10. Mikeš, Yankelevich, 2.
Stefansson, H (2542)-Mikes, J (2373) [D11]
Ceske Budejovice (8.1) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Nc3 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Bd2 g5 11.Qb3 Qb6 12.f3 Be7 13.0-0-0 0-0-0 14.Kb1 Nf8 15.Qa4 dxc4 16.Bxc4 Qb4 17.Qxb4 Bxb4 18.a3 Be7 19.Ne2 Ng6 20.e4 Nd7 21.Ba2 Nh4 22.Rdf1 Ne5 23.Ba5 b6 24.Be1 Nexf3 25.Bxh4 Nd2+ 26.Kc2 Nxf1 27.Bf2 c5 28.Rxf1 Rxh3 29.dxc5 bxc5 30.Bg3 Bd6 31.e5 Bxe5 32.Bxe5 Re3 33.Nc3 Rxe5 34.Rxf7 Rd7 35.Rf8+ Rd8 36.Rxd8+ Kxd8 37.Kd2 Ke7 38.Bc4 Kd7 39.b3 Ke7 40.Bd3 Kd7 41.Be4 a5 42.Kd3 Kc7 43.Kc4 a4 44.b4 cxb4 45.axb4 Kd6 46.Kd3 Kc7 47.Kc2 1-0
Donchenko, A (2646)-Mihok, O (2552) [D11]
Ceske Budejovice (8.2) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg4 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Bf4 Nb6 8.Qd3 Nbd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Nd2 Bf5 11.Qb3 Qxb3 12.Nxb3 e5 13.dxe5 Nd5 14.Bd2 0-0-0 15.a3 Nb6 16.e3 Rd5 17.f4 Be7 18.Be2 Be4 19.Rg1 Rhd8 20.Bb4 c5 21.Rc1 Na4 22.Nd2 Rxd2 23.Bxd2 Nxb2 24.Bc3 Nd3+ 25.Bxd3 Rxd3 26.Ke2 b5 27.Bb4 Kb7 28.Bxc5 Bxc5 29.Rxc5 Kb6 30.Rc8 Rxa3 31.Rd1 Ra2+ 32.Rd2 Rxd2+ 33.Kxd2 a5 34.g4 b4 35.f5 Bd5 36.e4 Bb3 37.Re8 Kc6 38.e6 fxe6 39.fxe6 Kd6 40.e7 Be6 41.g5 a4 42.Ra8 1-0
Malinovsky, K (2459)-Yankelevich, L (2461) [C95]
Ceske Budejovice (8.3) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 c5 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4 exd4 15.Nxd4 Re8 16.Ng3 Bf8 17.Bf4 Nc5 18.f3 g6 19.Qd2 Qb6 20.Kh2 h5 21.Rad1 Kh7 22.Bg5 Bg7 23.Ndf5 gxf5 24.Nxf5 Ng8 25.Nxg7 Kxg7 26.Bh6+ Kh8 27.Qg5 Ne6 28.Qxh5 Nf6 29.Qh4 Nh7 30.e5 Qd8 31.Bg7+ Kxg7 32.Qxh7+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ Ke7 34.Qf6+ Kf8 35.Qh6+ Ke7 36.Bf5 Bc8 37.Qf6+ Kf8 38.Qh6+ Ke7 39.exd6+ Kd7 40.Qg7 Kc6 41.Qc3+ Kd7 42.Be4 Qb6 43.Bxa8 Rg8 44.Qf6 1-0
Kraus, T (2449)-Cernousek, L (2458) [B00]
Ceske Budejovice (8.4) 2020
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3 c5 4.dxc5 Qa5+ 5.Nc3 Qxc5 6.Qd3 Nc6 7.Be3 Qa5 8.Qb5 Qd8 9.0-0-0 a6 10.Qb6 Qxb6 11.Bxb6 Nd7 12.Be3 e6 13.Nge2 Be7 14.Na4 b5 15.Nb6 Nxb6 16.Bxb6 Bb7 17.Nd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 0-0 19.Bd3 Rfc8 20.Kb1 b4 21.b3 a5 22.Bc4 Kf8 23.Rhe1 Ba6 24.Bxa6 Rxa6 25.Re2 h5 26.f4 Bf6 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Rd3 Rc5 29.Rh3 Ke7 30.Kc1 Ra8 31.Kd1 a4 32.Kc1 axb3 33.Rxb3 Rxa2 ½-½
Michalik, P (2585)-Horvath, D (2446) [D02]
Ceske Budejovice (8.5) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.c4 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0 a5 8.Ne5 Nfd7 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.b3 b6 11.Bb2 Ba6 12.Rc1 b5 13.c5 b4 14.Nb1 Bb5 15.Nd2 a4 16.Nf3 axb3 17.axb3 Ra2 18.Rc2 Bf6 19.Qd2 Qa5 20.g4 Bd8 21.g5 Qc7 22.Ra1 Rxa1+ 23.Bxa1 f6 24.Ra2 e5 25.gxf6 Bxf6 26.dxe5 Nxe5 27.Bxe5 Bxe5 28.Qxb4 Bf6 29.Nd4 Qf4 30.e3 Qg4 31.Qd2 Bxd4 32.Qxd4 Qg6 33.Ra1 Qc2 34.e4 dxe4 35.Bxe4 Qxb3 36.Ra7 Rf7 37.Ra8+ Rf8 38.Bxh7+ Kxh7 39.Rxf8 Qb1+ 40.Kg2 Qg6+ 41.Kf3 Qh5+ 42.Kg3 Qg5+ 43.Qg4 Qe5+ 44.Qf4 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qh8! Black’s futile options are 1…b4 2.Qe5#; 1…Kd6 2.Qd8#; 1…Kc4 2.Qd4#./PN
