Final Ranking 6 Rounds

Kovacs Marton(2141) took first on tiebreak ahead of Fodor Balazs after both finished with 5/6. FM Mihok Laszlo took third on tiebreak with 4.5/6.

I finished with a modest 3.5/6. Thanks to Thomas Heyl(GER) for the nice pictures taken in rd4.

Thirty-five players came by the ‘Castle’ to battle it out in another edition of the Rakosmente Open. There will be more pics later.

The ‘Castle’-the super venue

Top boards in action in Rd4

Horvath Csaba(left)-Yip(right) in rd4

Yip,M-Kovacs,M Rd2

I played the top seed and eventual winner, Kovacs  in rd2. During the last month I worked quite hard on solving tactical problems and had some minor sucesses in other games but when it counted the most, I could not navigate the tactical problems that my opponent gave me.

I started with my usual 1.d4 and was met by the solid Nimzo-Indian. After 17..c5(diagram) I had good reason to be optimistic

After 17..c5 Yip(1925)-Kovacs,M(2141) Rd2

I found the strong 18.Bb5! and Black replied with the meek 18..Rf8 and followed up with a draw offer, which I quickly declined. White has a strong mobile pawn center and the bishop-pair to work with while Black’s minor pieces lack stable posts.

A bit later Black played 21..Bxf3?(diagram) The position is now winning for White and all I had to do was find the correct sequence in a ‘White-to-Play-and Win’ type of problem. But alas I could not.

After 21..Bxf3 Yip-Kovacs

I played 22.Qh4? to get the queen out of forking range(..Nh3+ trick) and to attack the hanging Ng5. Black replied 22..Ng4! and eventually I lost my way in a complex tactical fight.

Winning outright was 22.Bxf6! Qxf6 23.Qa2!(getting out of the f-file pin).