Skovbo GM 2012 - Part two

A position on the diagram looks like an easy winning for White, and it seems that there is no need to explain something there, but we will see a little later in the text what is going on.
I should first talk about results and performances in the tournament, but as I wrote before the event this was not the primary thing for me in this tournament.
I could not imagine that my planed primary thing and was what really going on were two completely different things.
More about that later in the text.
I finished on the very good 4-14 place (when I was rated number 15) with very good score of 6 out of 9 points.
Feels good?
Not really, as I won my last three games and everyone who played in Swiss-system tournaments knows what that means.
My very good place didn´t matched my performance (and I didn´t made any plus in rating).
I was thinking couple of days should I wrote just about games or should I mention playing conditions.
Before criticizing organizer, I have to say all things which were positive in the tournaments.
Every IM in our delegation got acceptable financial conditions and as I heard we got that a little better  than rest of the players ( IMs).
Playing venue was excellent , even better than in 2010 and 2009 (they didn´t organize the tournament in 2011) and the whole enthusiasm by organisers left a good impression on me.
Very well organised tournament.
Our accommodation was not good, but acceptable to some degree.
With one or two additional things it could be acceptable to stay there again.
Only really bad thing was that we need to go out (with all the stuffs) of the accommodation on Friday morning (reason is absolutely unimportant) before 8 A.M. and Friday´s round started 6 P.M.
That means that we could not rest a whole day as other participators, and were uneven compared to our opponents during Friday´s game (I should say that we played a game on Thursday evening, and we came to our accommodation pretty late.
What happened to me is that I played completely melancholic and blundered a few things.
I pushed hard in the last three rounds, but I could do much except winning three games against lower rated opponents (Saturday was double round).
I will never again accept these conditions and never would, but we were informed about that during the first round.
All right, enough about that as nothing can be changed now.
Let´s see what happened in my games.

                                                          Round 5
                              Bejtovic Jasmin (E2390)- Vitaly Kunin (E2511)

 I simply didn´t played well in this game. I got nothing out of opening and position on the diagram is already more pleasant for Black. My last move was queen on e1 (instead I should play on g1) and I missed very nice move by my opponent which gave him slight advantage. Later on he opened queenside and started attack on my king. I tried with an exchange sacrifice (just to complicate matters) but it was not enough.
I missed:
21...Nh2!
He will get a knight on f3 and his position is superior.
After this defeat I was on 3 out of 5 and was expected lower rated opponent. I got the opponent from the upper group (3,5) and was Black.

                                                        Round 6
                       Wijayalakshmi Subbaraman (E2387)- Bejtovic Jasmin (E2390)

I didn´t expect any hard theoretical battle, as she is just playing chess not paying to much attention on opening variations. Still my opening play was good, and I got this promising position.
I have some problems with b-pawn but my stability on dark squares gave me a possibility to even open up a centre with d4-d3.
What I play next is that I transferred my knight on d4 (maybe mistake). In that position it is only Black who can play for a whole point.
Instead of building my position further I started an attack....but on my own king. A few moves later it was all over.

                                                      Round 7
                     Bejtovic Jasmin (E2390)- Molvig Julius (E1904)

This was a game which I should win by all means.
Still there are a few interesting things. I was playing Sicilian-Sozin and I got the big advantage.
Here, I was just thinking how to convert it into full point.
I played:
20. Nd5
and he answered with no so critical
20...Qa7
I checked him with:
21. Nf6+
...and after
21...Kh8
it was a first position in the game when I thought a little more.
I was sure that I found winning continuation but I was just not brave enough to execute it on the board. Well, if it was an only promising continuation I would play it, but I found a way to play without much risk and with a very clear advantage. I am not sure was my decision right or wrong.

I played:
22. Ne8, Qe7
23. Nxd6, Qxd6
24. Qxe5, Qe7 (24...Qxe5 25. Rf8#)
25. Bd5, Bb7 (25...Ra7 26. Qb8 +-)
26. Bxb7, Qxb7
27. Qxe6 
and with a two extra pawns I won in the couple of moves.
What was a better continuation?

22. Nxh7!
Destroying the shield in front of black king.
22...Kxh7
Absolutly only move, as in the next move White would play Ng5 with a mate in the couple of moves.
23. Qh3+!

I calculated "only":
23. Qh4+, Kg8
(23...Kg6 24. g4! with Dh5#. In the matter of fact, I missed 24. g4 and calculated 24. Qg4+ which also mates but a bit slower)
24. Qd8+, Kh7
25. Qxd6
(I looked at 25. Rf3 as well but correctly calculated to a draw after 25...Bd7! and rook has to give checks on f3-g3-h3)
25...Qd4 
Here, I was dissatisfied as I felt that I had more in the position, but I pointed out in analyse after the game that I still had winning advantage with 
26. Qc6

23...Kg8 (23...Kg6 24. g4 with 25. Qh5#)
24. Bxe6+, Bxe6
25. Qxe6+, Kh7
26. Rf3 with a completely winning position....

As Houdini pointed there is one more winning move in the diagram position (not as good as Nxh7).
22. Qh4, h6
23. Qh5
I missed the second move in this  variation.

                                                        Round 8.
                     Jensen Dahlgård (E1846) - Bejtovic Jasmin (E2390)

It seems that I was a bit lucky in the pairing for eight round as I got much lower rated opponent.
This was the second game on Saturday and I was aware and focused. 
Still my play was not impressive and only here he made decisive mistake.
26...Rxf6
...and now he played
27. Nb7+??
just to resign a move later after
27...Ke7 
defending my rook on f6.
He pointed out that he could play:
27. Ne4+
I think this is also mistake (not as big as Nb7+) as after
27...dxe4 
I had an extra pawn and a much better king. Enough for a victory.
He actually should play:
27. Rxf6, Kxc5
28. Rf7
Winning a pawn back, but black is much more active and has an advantage (I am not sure how big).

                                                      Round 9.
                    Bejtovic Jasmin (E2390) - Jorgensen Jorgen (E2244)

I got a decent opponent in the last round, and I was White.
A good chance for nice final place and positive impression from the tournament.
I played an instructive game based on the dark square strategy and control of the squares. My d-pawn was moved first time in the move 58. It has to be a some kind of record.
However, a quality in my play was low, as I missed one clear winning continuation in the time trouble, and one close to winning continuation earlier in the game.
When my opponent exchanged the last pair of rooks I thought that a winning with a knight against a bishop is trivial.
We got a position on the diagram and he played:

49...Ke6?
giving away a square c5.
50. Kc5!, g5
51. hxg5+, hxg5
52. Nf3, gxf4
53. gxf4
and black is losing all his pawns.....

We should look back on the diagram-position.
Black is in some kind of a zugzwang. He will either lose his g6-pawn or lose control over c5 square. Only possibility is :
49...h5
but after
50. d3
Black needs to do something.
If we look at the position hypothetically, as White is on move, than something very interesting occurs.
Yes, White need to lose (or win) a tempo in order to win the game, but is it possible?
No it is not, because of the defect of the knight as a chess piece. It can never win a tempo.
Than, Black can try some interesting defensive idea.
To sacrifice a pawn on g6 and not the c5-square!
After all the pawn on g6 is unimportant as White can not attack pawns on f5 and h5 in a good way and there is no reasonable way to make a free pawn on the kingside.

50...Bb5!
60. Nxg6, Be8
61. Ne5, Lb5

White can never win a tempo in this position and can never win an additional pawn. His only chance is to try with a king transfer via c3-b4 but black will than wait with his king on b6. White pawn on d3 is weak too, and if it is moved on d4 than it is just a draw, as Na4+ (in order to win either a5 or c5 square) can be answered with Bxa4 and Ka6 with a draw!

Does this means that black could make a draw with 49...h5 50. d3, Bb5!  ???
Yes!
Does this means that a position on the diagram is a draw ???
No!

It sounds very contradictional, but here is an explanation.

Whites 50. d3 is just a big mistake.
If Black played:
49...h5
White should (and would) play:
50. Kc3!
...with idea of playing Kb4 and further in the black position via a5 and b6 ( first securing c5 square against counterplay, probably with Nd3 but possibly with d2-d4)
When White king comes to b4 Black needs to play Kb6.
50...Kc5
Only move! But...
51. Nd3+
Now, Black needs to play against both ideas Kd4-Ke5 and Kb4-Ka5. Only move is:
51...Kc6
52. Kd4, Kd6
52. Ne5
What happened!? White won a tempo thanks the triangulation of Black´s king !!
This doesn´t means that everything is over....as black can give up his g6 pawn. 
White only trump in the position is that his pawn is still on d2!! 
52...Bb5
53. Nxg6, Be8
54. Ne5, Bb5
So, now we have the main position, just without black´s pawn on g6. Does it means something?
Yes, as White can now take advantage of weak f5 pawn.
White´s plan is now to transfer his knight to e3 attacking both pawns, d5 and f5. In that moment black needs to put his bishop on e6.
White will win with simple tempo move d2-d3 !
When everything is explained the solution is trivial.
55. Nd3
The pawn endgame is dead lost for Black.
55...Bd7
56. Nb4, Be6
57. Nc2, Lg8
58. Ne3, Be6
...and now White has all the advantages of not moving his d-pawn earlier
59. d3!
wins the second pawn and the game!

I strongly recommend the readers to go trough this endgame as this is highly instructive example!