[Event "Olympiad-41"]
[Site "Tromsoe"]
[Date "2014.08.05"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2014.08.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 162"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Latvia"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "LAT"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2
Nc6 9. Rd1 Qa5 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Be7 12. O-O a6 13. a3 Nh5 14. Bd6 Bxd6 15.
Rxd6 Rd8 16. Rxd8+ Qxd8 17. Rd1 Qe7 18. Ne4 Nf6 19. Bd3 h6 20. Nd6 Nd5 21. Qc5
Qc7 22. Bb1 b6 23. Qc2 Qxd6 24. Qh7+ Kf8 25. Qh8+ Ke7 26. Qxg7 Bb7 27. e4 Qf4
28. exd5 Rd8 29. Ba2 exd5 30. h3 Rd7 31. Rxd5 Rxd5 32. Bxd5 Nd8 33. Bxb7 Nxb7
34. Qc3 Nc5 35. Nd2 Qf6 36. Qb4 a5 37. Qb5 Kf8 38. Nc4 Qd4 39. Ne3 Ne6 40. Qe2
a4 41. Nf5 Qf4 42. Ne3 Qe5 43. Qd2 b5 44. Ng4 Qf4 45. Qc3 h5 46. Nf6 Qf5 47. g4
hxg4 48. hxg4 Qb1+ 49. Kg2 Qd3 50. Qe5 Qc4 51. g5 Ke7 52. Ne4 Kd7 53. Kg3 Nd4
54. f3 Qc7 55. Nf6+ Kc6 56. Ng4 Qd6 57. f4 Qd5 58. Qf6+ Kc5 59. Ne5 Qe4 60.
Qe7+ Kb6 61. Nd7+ 1-0

[Event "Corsica Masters op 18th"]
[Site "Bastia"]
[Date "2014.10.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Edouard, Romain"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E61"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2659"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.10.18"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2015"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.11.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.11.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. e3 Nf6 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Nge2 Bd7 8. O-O
Qc8 9. Re1 Bh3 10. Bh1 Bg4 11. b3 e5 12. f3 exd4 13. exd4 Bf5 14. Be3 Re8 15.
Bf2 Nb4 16. g4 Bd7 17. Qd2 a5 18. Ng3 h6 19. Bg2 Nh7 20. h3 Nf8 21. Rxe8 Qxe8
22. Re1 Qd8 23. a3 Nc6 24. f4 Rb8 25. d5 Ne7 26. Ba7 Ra8 27. Bd4 Nh7 28. Bxg7
Kxg7 29. Qd4+ f6 30. Nce4 b6 31. f5 gxf5 32. Nxf6 Kg6 33. Nxh7 fxg4 34. Qf6+
Kxh7 35. Rxe7+ 1-0

[Event "Zalakaros op 34th"]
[Site "Zalakaros"]
[Date "2015.05.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Efimenko, Zahar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2656"]
[PlyCount "175"]
[EventDate "2015.05.14"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 166 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.06.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.06.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. b3 Bd6 8. Ba3
c5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Nc6 11. Rc1 Nb4 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Bb1 Qa5 14. Bb2 Rfd8
15. a3 Nc6 16. Qc2 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Qf5 Bd6 19. b4 cxb4 20. Ne4 Nxe4 21.
Bxe4 Kf8 22. Bf3 Kg8 23. Be4 Kf8 24. Bf3 Kg8 25. axb4 Bxb4 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27.
Qe5+ Kg8 28. Rc7 Qb6 29. Bh5 Rf8 30. Qf4 Qe6 31. Rxb7 Bd6 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33. Bf3
Be5 34. Re7 Bf6 35. Rxe6 Bxg5 36. Ra6 Rad8 37. Rd1 Rd7 38. Rxd5 Rfd8 39. Rxd7
Rxd7 40. g3 Bd8 41. Bg4 Re7 42. Rd6 Bb6 43. Bd7 Kg7 44. Kg2 h6 45. Rd5 Kf6 46.
Bc8 Rc7 47. Ba6 Rc6 48. Bd3 Ke7 49. Re5+ Re6 50. Rb5 Rd6 51. Bc4 Rc6 52. Bb3
Rf6 53. h4 Rc6 54. Re5+ Kf6 55. Re4 Bc7 56. Re8 Rb6 57. Bd5 Rb5 58. Rc8 Bb6 59.
Rc6+ Kg7 60. Rd6 Rc5 61. Kf3 Rc7 62. Kg4 Rc8 63. Bb3 Rc3 64. Bd5 Rc8 65. Be4
Rc4 66. Kf3 Rc8 67. Rd2 Rc7 68. Bd5 Rc5 69. e4 Ba5 70. Rb2 Bb6 71. Kg4 Rc3 72.
h5 Kf6 73. f4 Ke7 74. Rg2 Rc1 75. e5 Rd1 76. Ba2 Rf1 77. Kf5 Rf2 78. Rxf2 Bxf2
79. g4 Bb6 80. g5 hxg5 81. fxg5 Kf8 82. h6 Bd8 83. Bd5 a5 84. Bb3 Bc7 85. Bxf7
Kxf7 86. g6+ Kg8 87. g7 Kh7 88. Kf6 1-0

[Event "Warsaw Najdorf Memorial op-A 13th"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "2015.07.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Efimenko, Zahar"]
[Black "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2652"]
[BlackElo "2682"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2015.07.10"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 167 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.09.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.09.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8.
dxe5 Nf5 9. Qe4 g6 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Rb8 12. Nbd2 c5 13. Rad1 Rb6 14. Nc4 Bb7
15. Qd3 Ra6 16. a4 Qa8 17. Rfe1 Re6 18. Qc3 Rd8 19. Ne3 Be4 20. Ng4 Bxf3 21.
Qxf3 Qxf3 22. gxf3 Nh4 23. Re3 h5 24. Nf6+ Bxf6 25. exf6 Rxe3 26. fxe3 Nxf3+
27. Kg2 Ng5 28. Bc3 d5 29. Ba5 Ne6 30. b4 cxb4 31. Bxb4 c5 32. Ba5 Rd6 33. Rb1
Ra6 34. Bc3 g5 35. a5 Kh7 36. Rb5 Kg6 37. h4 d4 38. exd4 cxd4 39. Bd2 g4 40. c3
Rc6 41. Rb3 Kxf6 42. Kf1 dxc3 43. Bxc3+ Kg6 44. Bd2 Nd4 45. Rb8 Rf6+ 46. Kg2
Nf3 0-1

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 20th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2015.11.20"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[BlackElo "2694"]
[Annotator "Pavlovic,M"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 170"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[BlackTeam "Latvia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "LAT"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 {
A dangerous line, (I am talking here from my own experience), in the sense
that White must be really vigilant in order to meet the line. It is all about
plans and ideas in this line. I learned that lesson the hard way a long time
ago in this line when I lost to Psakhis in a last round game for first place
in the Andorra open. I had another tough game in this line with WGM Lagno in
Wijk an Zee a long time ago; she played brilliantly for her age then.} 8. Qb1 {
My preference would be 8.Qg4! and I did play that against Huzman in the last
round of the Biel Open 2002; this time it was sucessful.} (8. h4 Nc6 9. h5 Nge7
10. h6 gxh6 11. Nf3 cxd4 12. Rh4 Ng6 13. Rxh6 dxc3 14. Bxc3 Bd7 15. g3 Rc8 16.
Bd3 d4 17. Bd2 Ncxe5 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Qe2 Nxd3+ 20. cxd3 Rc5 21. Bb4 Qc6 $5
22. Bxc5 Qxc5 $44 {0-1 (39) Almasi,Z (2689)-Kovalenko,I (2700) Bastia (rapid)
2015}) 8... c4 {Kovalenko has obviously been very sucessful with this line
recently.} 9. Nf3 (9. Nh3 Nc6 10. Nf4 Bd7 11. Nh5 g6 12. Nf4 O-O-O 13. Be2 f6
14. exf6 Nxf6 15. O-O Ne4 16. Be1 Rhf8 17. g3 g5 18. Ng2 e5 19. f3 Nf6 20. dxe5
Nxe5 21. Bf2 Bh3 22. Bd4 Nc6 23. Bc5 Rfe8 $17 {0-1 (33) Kogan,A (2540)
-Kovalenko,I (2700) Bastia (rapid) 2015}) 9... Nc6 10. h4 Bd7 11. h5 h6 12. Be2
({Another possible plan is} 12. g3 O-O-O 13. Bh3 Nge7 14. O-O Kb8 15. Nh4 Rdg8
16. Qd1 g6 17. Kh2 Nf5 18. Ng2 Ng7 19. hxg6 fxg6 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. Ng4 g5 22. Nf6
Rf8 23. f4 gxf4 24. Bxf4 {1-0 (40) Najer,E (2653)-Demchenko,A (2613)
Vladivostok 2014; with complicated play but at least in this game White showed
a good plan.}) 12... O-O-O 13. Nh4 (13. O-O Nge7 14. Nh2 Rdf8 15. Ng4 Be8 16.
Qb2 b6 17. Bf4 Nf5 18. Ne3 Nfe7 19. Bg3 f5 20. exf6 gxf6 21. Bd6 Kd7 22. Bf4
Kc8 {1/2-1/2 (40) Alekseev,E (2683)-Bauer,C (2664) Eilat 2012; with a highly
interestesting and complicated game.}) 13... Nge7 14. Qc1 $6 {He wants to
prevent g5, but that is not possible.} (14. Be3 Kb8 15. f4 Nc8 $5 16. O-O N8e7
$5 {Coming back!? obviously not satisfied with the Nb6-a4 manoeuvre.} 17. Rf2
Rdg8 18. g4 g6 $1 19. Kh2 gxh5 20. gxh5 Nf5 21. Nxf5 exf5 22. Bf3 Qa5 23. Qe1
Ne7 24. Rf1 Be6 25. Bf2 Re8 26. Rg1 Rhg8 27. Rxg8 Rxg8 28. Bh4 Nc8 {1/2-1/2 
(42) Najer,E (2652)-Al Modiahki,M (2579) Moscow 2006; with unclear play.})
14... Rdf8 15. Bf4 Qa5 16. Bd2 (16. Qd2 g5 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Bh2 g5 19. Nf3 Be8
{Black is more than fine.}) 16... g5 $1 17. Nf3 f6 18. exf6 Rxf6 {Black has
already achieved a perfect position in this line.} 19. O-O Qc7 20. Nh2 Nf5 21.
Ng4 Rff8 22. Qb2 {Sad, but Radjabov's play in this game was conducted without
any plan...} (22. Be1 {wih the idea to advance f4} Be8 $1 {Black is better.})
22... Nd6 23. Rae1 Ne4 24. Bc1 Be8 25. Ne3 Nf6 26. g4 Ne4 $17 {Black provoked
g4 on purpose to weaken the kingside.} 27. Ng2 Rf6 28. Bd1 Rhf8 29. f3 Qg3 $1
$19 30. Be3 Rxf3 31. Bxf3 Rxf3 32. Rxf3 Qxf3 33. Rf1 Qxg4 34. Qa1 Qxh5 35. Rf8
Kd7 36. Qe1 Ke7 37. Rf1 Qh3 38. Bf2 Bh5 0-1

[Event "EU-ch 17th"]
[Site "Gjakova"]
[Date "2016.05.22"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Fressinet, Laurent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2644"]
[BlackElo "2692"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.05.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "KOS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 173"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8.
Rb1 {White intends carrying out his queenside attack in an accelerated form.
If he manages to play b4-b5, the threat of Nxe5 will be real since the rook
will have already evacuated the dangerous long diagonal.} a5 {The most solid
defence, preventing White's plan radically. True, in the reversed Dragon Black
usually does not meet a2-a3 with ...a7-a5, since this slightly weakens the
queenside and White is supposed to get some advantage, but the usefulness of
Rb1 in the resulting structure is lower than that of a2-a3.} (8... O-O {allows}
9. b4 {Here is a recent example in which after the pawn exchange White used
his central mass in an original, truly hyper-modern, way:} e4 10. Nxe4 Bf5 11.
Qc2 Bxb4 12. a3 Bd6 13. e3 h6 14. Nh4 Bh7 15. f4 {Quite a nice pawn display.}
Be7 16. f5 Ne5 17. Bb2 f6 {[%csl Gh7]} 18. a4 Nec4 19. Bd4 a5 20. Nc5 $16 {
Nakamura,H (2816)-Sevian,S (2556) Las Vegas 2015 (1-0, 35), with a positional
crush.}) (8... f6 {defends e5 thus preventing b2-b4 but has the drawback of
taking the f6-square away from the bishop, allowing} 9. d4 exd4 10. Nb5 {
No ...Bf6 unfortunately.} Bf5 11. Bf4 $36 {Khalifman,A (2635)-Tiviakov,S (2625)
Linares 1995 CBM 046 [Ribli] (1-0, 74)}) 9. d3 O-O 10. Be3 a4 $146 {An
interesting pawn sacrifice which White does not have to accept, however. It
looks tempting to gain queenside space, but in the long run this will allow
White to open the b-file with b2-b4 ...axb3, Rxb3. Black's main idea probably
was preventing the thematic Nc3-a4 and allowing ...Ra5 if necessary to defend
the c5-square against the intrusion of the minor pieces.} ({The normal move is
} 10... Be6 11. Bxb6 {This exchange always leads to an interesting structure,
but White's advantage is hard to prove. In fact, the double pawns are not that
weak and the dark-squared bishop is a potential threat.} (11. a3 {practically
transposes to a genuine classical Dragon with reversed colours but without an
extra tempo, since White will need to play Rb1-c1in order to be perfectly
coordinated.} Nd5 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qa4 Qd6 14. Rbc1 {Gurevich,M (2620)
-Stefansson,H (2560) Tilburg 1994 CBM 044 [Ribli] (1/2-1/2, 42)}) (11. d4 exd4
12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Nc4 14. Bxb7 Rb8 15. Bd5 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Bxd5 17. Nxd5
Qxd5 18. Qxe7 Qxa2 19. Qxc7 Rxb2 20. Ra1 Qe6 21. e3 Ra2 22. Rxa2 Qxa2 23. Qe5
Qd2 24. Ra1 Ra8 25. Kg2 g6 26. Ra4 Qd8 {1/2-1/2 (42) Jones,G (2645)-Bromberger,
S (2532) Reykjavik 2016}) 11... cxb6 12. Qa4 (12. Nd2 b5 $132 {Gabriel,C (2475)
-Georgiev,K (2605) Altensteig 1995 CBM 049 [Ribli] (0-1, 20), reveals the
hidden force of the doubled pawns.}) 12... f5 13. Rfd1 Bf6 14. Rbc1 {Once
again, this is a genuine Dragon after this more or less forced loss of time.}
Kh8 15. e3 Bf7 16. d4 e4 17. Nd2 Nb4 18. Bf1 {White has done everything right
and some endings could be very pleasant for him. But Black's control over d5
and the potential threat of a kingside pawn attack make the position
double-edged} Bh5 19. Re1 Be8 20. Qd1 a4 21. a3 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Qxd5 23. Nc4 Ra6
24. Ne5 Ra8 25. Nc4 Ra6 26. Nd2 {After some display of force in the centre,
leading to nothing more than a move repetition, the knight embarks on the most
logical path in order to unblock the d-pawn.} Ra8 27. Nb1 Qa5 28. Nc3 Be7 29.
Ne2 {This is excessive manoeuvring already.} ({The knight was perfectly placed
already and everything was ripe for} 29. f3 exf3 30. Qxf3 Bc6 31. Qf4 Rad8 32.
Bc4 {with some chances to take over the initiative.}) 29... b5 $1 {Ding,L 
(2749)-Karjakin,S (2753) Heixiazi 2015 (½-½, 75), with active black play.})
11. Qd2 (11. d4 $5 Bf5 {reveals a negative side of moving with the rook so
early.} (11... exd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 $14 Qxd4 14. Bxd4 c5 {Black needs a
way to rid his queenside of the pressure from the bishops.} 15. Be5 Nc4 16. Bf4
$14 {[%csl Gb7,Gd5]}) (11... Nc4 12. d5 N6a5 {[%csl Ge5]} 13. Bc1 $14) 12. d5 (
12. Rc1 Nc4 {[%csl Ge3]} 13. d5 N6a5) 12... Nb4 (12... Bxb1 {Accepting the
sacrifice leaves White with a dangerous pawn on b7.} 13. dxc6 Bf5 14. cxb7 Ra5
15. Qc1 $14) 13. Bxb6 Bxb1 (13... cxb6 14. e4 $16) 14. Qxb1 cxb6 15. Rd1 Bd6
16. a3 Na6 17. Nxa4 f5 {With a strong central pawn for the exchange White
should have compensation for the exchange but I do not see any reason for
worries for Black.}) ({Accepting the pawn sacrifice is dangerous:} 11. Bxb6
cxb6 12. Nxa4 b5 13. Nc3 b4 14. Na4 {[%csl Ga2]} e4 $1 15. Ne1 e3 16. Bxc6 (16.
fxe3 Bg5 17. e4 $2 b5 $19 {[%csl Ga4]}) 16... exf2+ (16... bxc6 17. fxe3 Bg5
18. Ng2) 17. Rxf2 bxc6 $44 {With his knights badly placed and the structure
seriously weakened, White will have to endure the pressure of the black bishop
pair.}) 11... Be6 12. Ng5 $5 Bxg5 {Even though the white dark-squared bishop
will be partly restricted by the black pawns, this exchange looks like a small
concession. White will get more manoeuvring space for his remaining minor
pieces and the bishop will play an important part in the long run.} ({But} 
12... Bd7 $5 13. f4 $5 {also offers White active play.}) 13. Bxg5 Qd7 14. Rfc1
{White anticipates the exchange of the light-squared bishops and leaves the
queen's rook on b1 in order to open the b-file at the right moment.} f6 15. Be3
Nd5 {Black feels like restricting the g2-bishop's activity.} ({If, for instance
} 15... Rfd8 {he might have feared} 16. Bxc6 bxc6 (16... Qxc6 17. Ne4 {[%csl
Gc7]} Qd7 18. Nc5 Qf7 19. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. Rxc7) 17. Bc5 {leaving Black with a
shattered queenside structure.}) 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. b4 $1 {
The point behind all White's previous play, yielding him a slight but lasting
initiative.} axb3 (18... Rfc8 19. Rc5 Qd7 20. b5 Nd8 21. a3 Ne6 22. Rc4 $14)
19. Rxb3 b6 ({Black is not prepared for counterplay yet.} 19... f5 20. Rxb7 f4
21. Bc5 Rxa2 22. Qc3 Rc8 23. e4 fxe3 (23... Qe6 24. d4 $14) 24. Bxe3 $14) 20.
Qc2 Na5 21. Rb4 Rf7 {Black has managed to withstand the first wave of the
white initiative but his knight is badly placed on the edge of the board.} 22.
d4 $1 {With all his pieces optimally placed, White finally opens the centre.}
Nb7 ({Black cannot enjoy the blockade on d5 for too long after} 22... e4 23. a4
$14 {[%csl Ra5,Rc7][%cal Gb4b5,Ge3d2]}) 23. a4 c5 $6 {Unnecessarily opening
the b-file for the white rook.} ({Black should have kept the structure intact
with chances to hold his own in the long run.} 23... Nd6 $5 24. dxe5 fxe5 (
24... Qxe5 {opens new horizons for the bishop:} 25. Bf4 Qe6 26. Rd4 $36 {
[%cal Gc2c6]}) 25. Rd1 Qe6 26. Qc6 {White's position is more pleasant, of
course, due to his better structure and active pieces. But I remember a
comment of Botvinnik: "If you have pawn weaknesses, you should at least keep a
knight". This is the situation here and Black has chances to withstand the
pressure while controlling with the knight all the squares around his
weaknesses. Things would be entirely different if Black had a bishop on d6 and
White a knight on e4, but this is not the case.}) 24. dxc5 bxc5 (24... Nxc5 25.
Rxb6 $16 Nxa4 $2 26. Rb4 $18 {[%csl Ra4]}) 25. Rb6 $36 {Black's back rank is
weak, White's pieces are more active and the a-pawn is a permanent danger. On
top, even the bishop is active now by putting pressure on c5.} Rc7 26. Rcb1 {
White's position is so pleasant that move by move he will have good
alternatives.} (26. Rd1 $5 Qf7 27. Rdb1) 26... Rd7 27. h4 {White's domination
is such that he can afford to start a slow kingside attack. Black will not be
able to avoid the weakening of his king's position.} (27. R6b5 $5 {[%cal Gc2b2,
Gf2f3,Gg1g2]}) (27. R1b5 $5) 27... Nd8 28. h5 (28. Rb8 $16) 28... h6 (28... Ne6
29. h6 g6 30. Rb8+ Kf7 31. Rxa8 Qxa8 32. Qa2 $16) 29. Qg6 (29. Rb8 $16) 29...
Qf7 (29... Ne6 30. Rb8+ Rxb8 31. Rxb8+ Rd8 32. Rxd8+ Qxd8 33. a5 $16) 30. Rb8
Rxa4 $2 {The decisive mistake in a bad position.} (30... Rxb8 31. Rxb8 Rd1+ 32.
Kg2 Qd5+ 33. f3 $16) 31. R1b7 $1 {A simple but elegant combination} Ra1+ (31...
Rxb7 32. Rxd8+) 32. Kh2 Qxg6 33. hxg6 Rad1 34. Rxd7 Rxd7 35. Bxc5 1-0

[Event "Poikovsky Karpov 17th"]
[Site "Poikovsky"]
[Date "2016.07.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Smirin, Ilia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E84"]
[WhiteElo "2667"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.07.23"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 a6 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. Qd2
Rb8 9. Rc1 Bd7 10. h4 h5 11. Nd1 e5 12. d5 Ne7 13. Nf2 Nh7 14. c5 f5 15. Qb4
fxe4 16. fxe4 Rf6 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Ng1 b5 19. Be2 Rc8 20. Rxc8 Nxc8 21. Nf3
Rf7 22. Qd2 Bf6 23. Ng5 Nxg5 24. hxg5 Bg7 25. Rh4 Be8 26. g4 Rc7 27. gxh5 gxh5
28. Qd1 Ne7 29. Bxh5 Rc8 30. Bg4 Ng6 31. Be6+ Bf7 32. Qh5 Bxe6 33. Qxg6 Bd7 34.
Qh7+ Kf8 35. Rh1 Qa5+ 36. Bd2 Rc1+ 37. Nd1 1-0

[Event "Olympiad-42"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Van Wely, Loek"]
[Black "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 175"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.10"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.11.10"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]
[BlackTeam "Latvia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "LAT"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 d5 6. cxd5 ({Deviating from
releasing the tension by means of} 6. Bg2 {is more challenging, but} dxc4 7.
Ne5 Bb4+ {might lead to a very sharp play. Possibly, Loek didn't want to enter
into such complications without proper home preparation.}) 6... exd5 7. Bg2
Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Ne4 10. Qb2 {This is the safest retreat.} (10. Qc2
O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. Ne5 {Jakovenko,D (2721)-Kovalenko,I (2643) Khanty-Mansiysk
2013} (12. Re1 c5 13. e3 Nc6 14. Qd1 Qf6 $15 {Potkin,V (2621)-Efimenko,Z (2648)
Dubai 2014}) {could be met by} 12... c5 13. Qb2 Qd6 $15 {with strong pressure
on White's centre.}) 10... O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. Re1 {A somewhat modest choice.}
({In comparison to the above-mentioned note, now White has more control over
the centre, so} 12. Ne5 $5 {deserves serious attention:} Nd7 (12... c5 13. Nd2
Nf6 14. Rfe1 $14 {Christiansen,L (2575)-Kavalek,L (2560) Los Angeles 1987}) 13.
Rd1 Ndf6 14. e3 c5 15. Nd2 Qe7 16. Rac1 $14) 12... c5 13. dxc5 ({After} 13.
Nbd2 Nc6 {White would have nothing better than} 14. dxc5 bxc5 {, transposing
to the text.}) 13... Nc6 $1 ({The natural-looking} 13... bxc5 $6 {can be
strongly met by:} 14. Nfd2 $1 Qa5 15. Qa3 Qxa3 16. Nxa3 Nd7 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18.
Rac1 $14 {Bruzon Batista,L (2662)-Ibragimov,I (2605) Buenos Aires 2005, and
Black was doomed to passive defence.}) 14. Nbd2 $146 {Connecting the rooks is
the most natural decision.} ({One preceding game saw} 14. Nfd2 Nxc5 15. Nc3 Qf6
16. b4 $6 (16. Bxd5 $142 {was better, but even then after} Rad8 17. Bxc6 Qxc6
18. Rad1 h5 {Black gets excellent compensation for a pawn.}) 16... Nd4 $1 $36 {
Polak,T (2514)-Babula,V (2563) Kouty nad Desnou 2012}) ({The ''greedy''} 14.
cxb6 $2 Qxb6 15. e3 Nb4 $17 {definitely should be rejected.}) 14... bxc5 $11 {
The vulnerablity of Black's hanging pawns is now fully compensated for by
active piece play.} 15. Rac1 (15. Rad1 Qe7 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Nd2 f5 18. Qa3 Bb5
19. Rc1 Nb4 20. Nc4 $11) 15... Qa5 16. Nxe4 {This exchange makes the play
sharper.} ({The quiet} 16. e3 Rad8 17. a3 $11 {would lead to an approximately
equal position.}) 16... dxe4 17. Ng5 f5 {It's necessary to protect the Pe4 and
leave the opponent's bishop locked in.} 18. a3 ({A more energetic way would be:
} 18. Red1 $5 Rad8 19. Bf1 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 h6 21. Rd6 Nd4 22. Nh3 $13 {The
subsequent position contains definite danger for both sides.}) 18... h6 (18...
Qb6 19. b4 c4 20. Red1 Ne5 21. Nh3 $132) 19. b4 (19. Nh3 {could have led to an
equal endgame after} c4 20. bxc4 Bxc4 21. Qc3 Qxc3 22. Rxc3 Ne5 $11) 19... Qb6
20. Qa2+ $6 {The first step in a wrong direction. Loek's move was connected
with an ambitious sac, but the consequences can be dangerous only for White.} (
{A safer way was:} 20. Nh3 cxb4 21. axb4 Rad8 (21... Nxb4 $6 22. Nf4 Re7 23.
Red1 $36) 22. Nf4 e3 23. fxe3 Qxe3+ 24. Kh1 Rd2 25. Qb1 Nd4 26. Qa1 Bb5 27.
Qxa7 Nxe2 28. Qxe3 Rxe3 29. Nxe2 Rexe2 30. Rxe2 Bxe2 {with a drawish endgame.})
20... c4 21. Rxc4 (21. Nh3 g5 22. Kh1 Ne5 $17) 21... Bxc4 22. Qxc4+ Kh8 23.
Nf7+ Kh7 24. g4 $2 {This desperate attempt to unlock the Bg2 leaves White's
king too exposed.} ({The only way of mantaining the balance wasn't easy to
find:} 24. Qd5 $1 Ne7 25. Qe5 a5 (25... Qb8 26. Qc5 Qc8 27. Nd6 Qxc5 28. bxc5
Red8 29. Nxf5 Nxf5 30. Bxe4 $11) 26. Nd6 Ng6 27. Qc5 Qxc5 28. bxc5 Re5 29. Nxf5
Rxf5 30. Bxe4 Rff8 31. Bxa8 Rxa8 32. f4 Ne7 33. Rb1 $11) 24... Ne5 25. Nxe5
Rxe5 26. gxf5 Rae8 27. Bh3 Qf6 28. Rd1 Qh4 (28... Rd8 $5 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. e3
Qd1+ 31. Bf1 Qg4+ 32. Bg2 Qxf5 $17) 29. Kg2 Qh5 $6 ({A much stronger move was} 
29... Qg5+ 30. Kh1 Qh5 31. Kg2 Kh8 $17) 30. Rd7 $2 {Returning the favour. Now
White's setup lacks harmony.} ({Had Loek played} 30. Rc1 $1 Qg5+ 31. Kh1 $15 {
it would be difficult for Black to make further progress.}) 30... R5e7 $6 {
I guess, both players were short on time at this moment.} ({The correct} 30...
Qg5+ $1 31. Kh1 Rd8 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Qc2 Qh4 34. Kg2 Qg5+ 35. Kf1 Qf4 $19 {
would yield Black access to the king.}) 31. Rd1 Rf8 32. a4 {There are no
serious threats, so White has time for advancing the pawns.} Rff7 33. a5 Qg5+
34. Kh1 Qf4 35. Kg2 Rc7 36. Qe6 Rf6 $6 {Missing one more opportunity of
swapping the rooks!} ({Much better was} 36... Qg5+ 37. Kf1 Rc1 38. Qg6+ Kg8 39.
Rxc1 Qxc1+ 40. Kg2 e3 $17) 37. Qe8 $2 {Unluckily for Loek, he is the last to
err in this spectacular game!} ({At the same time,} 37. Qb3 $1 Rd6 38. Rxd6
Qxd6 39. b5 Rb7 40. Qc4 $15 {would offer White excellent drawing chances.})
37... Rc2 38. Kf1 ({Or} 38. Qh5 g6 $1 39. fxg6+ (39. Rd7+ Kg8 40. Rd8+ Kg7 41.
Rd7+ Kf8 $19) 39... Rxg6+ 40. Kf1 Qd6 $1 $19) 38... Rd6 $19 39. Re1 Rc1 40. f3
Rxe1+ 41. Kxe1 Qh4+ 42. Kf1 Qxh3+ 0-1

[Event "Bundesliga 1819"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2019.03.03"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B45"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2644"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2018.11.10"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 189 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.06.03"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.06.03"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Viernheim"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 Be7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8.
e5 Nd5 9. Ne4 Qc7 10. f4 f5 11. Nd6+ Bxd6 12. exd6 Qb8 13. b3 O-O 14. Bb2 c5
15. Be5 Bb7 16. Qd2 Qd8 17. O-O-O Nf6 18. Rg1 Bd5 19. g4 Nxg4 20. Bb2 Qh4 21.
Bg2 Bxg2 22. Rxg2 Rf7 23. Kb1 Re8 24. Rdg1 Qh6 25. Qc3 Rc8 26. Qc4 Rc6 27. Rd2
a6 28. Ka2 Kf8 29. Rg3 e5 30. Rxg4 fxg4 31. Bxe5 Qg6 32. Qc3 Kg8 33. Rd5 h6 34.
Rxc5 Rxc5 35. Qxc5 h5 36. Kb2 h4 37. Qc4 Kh7 38. a4 Rf5 39. Qxa6 g3 40. hxg3
hxg3 41. Qa7 g2 0-1

[Event "Saint Louis Summer-B"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2019.06.27"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2651"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2019.06.18"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 191 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.09.30"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.09.30"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 Bf5 8.
Be2 Nbd7 9. O-O c6 10. Qb3 Qa5 11. Nd2 c5 12. a3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Rac8 14. Ra2 Be6
15. Rd1 b6 16. a4 h6 17. Bf4 Rfd8 18. f3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Qc3 20. Ba6 Qxb3 21.
Nxb3 Rc3 22. Nc1 Bf5 23. Ne2 Rb3 24. g4 Bb1 25. Ra1 Bh7 26. h4 Nf8 27. Nc1 Rc3
28. Kf2 Ne6 29. Bg3 h5 30. g5 Ne8 31. Ne2 Rc2 32. Rdc1 Nd6 33. Rxc2 Bxc2 34.
Nc3 Nf5 35. Ra3 Nxg3 36. Kxg3 Nc7 37. Bb7 a5 38. Ne2 Ne6 39. Bc6 Kf8 40. Nf4
Nxf4 41. Kxf4 Ke7 42. Rc3 Rc8 43. Rxc2 Kd6 44. e4 Rxc6 45. e5+ Kd7 46. Rxc6
Kxc6 47. g6 fxg6 48. Kg5 Kd7 49. Kxg6 Ke7 50. Kxg7 b5 51. axb5 a4 52. b6 a3 53.
b7 a2 54. b8=Q a1=Q 55. Qd6+ Ke8 56. Qe6+ Kd8 57. Qxd5+ Ke7 58. e6 Qg1+ 59. Kh6
Kf6 60. Qe5+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty Mansiysk"]
[Date "2019.09.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Lupulescu, Constantin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2643"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 192"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Bd7 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4
Rc8 9. Be3 Nh6 10. Bd3 Ng4 11. O-O Be7 12. Nbd2 Nxe3 13. fxe3 Nb8 14. Qe2 Ba4
15. h4 Qd8 16. Rac1 O-O 17. g3 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Qd7 19. Nb1 Rc8 20. Rc3 Qd8 21. g4
g6 22. g5 Be8 23. Qc2 Rxc3 24. Nxc3 a5 25. Qb2 axb4 26. axb4 h6 27. gxh6 Bxh4
28. Qg2 Be7 29. Ne2 Nc6 30. Nf4 Kh8 31. b5 Nb4 32. Bb1 Qc8 33. Qd2 Qc4 34. b6
Qc6 35. Kh2 Qxb6 36. Qf2 Qc7 37. Qe1 Qc4 38. Kg3 Qb3 39. Qc1 Qc4 40. Qe1 Nc6
41. Kg4 Qb4 42. Qf1 Nd8 43. Bd3 b5 44. Qc1 Nc6 45. Qc2 Kh7 46. Nh3 Kh8 47. Nf4
Kh7 48. Nh5 Kxh6 49. Nf4 Kg7 50. Qe2 Qb3 51. Ng5 Nb4 52. Qh2 Bxg5 53. Kxg5 Kf8
54. Kf6 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty Mansiysk"]
[Date "2019.09.12"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Lupulescu, Constantin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A18"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2643"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2019.09.10"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 192"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Be2 d4 8.
Nxe4 Bxe4 9. Bc4 Bd5 10. Qb3 Bxc4 11. Qxc4 Nc6 12. O-O Qd7 13. d3 Be7 14. a3
O-O 15. b4 a6 16. Bb2 Rad8 17. Rfe1 Qd5 18. Rac1 Rd7 19. Re4 f5 20. exf6 Bxf6
21. h3 Rfd8 22. Qc2 Re7 23. Rxe7 Bxe7 24. Re1 Bf6 25. Bc1 Ne5 26. Nxe5 Bxe5 27.
Re4 c6 28. h4 Bf6 29. Qe2 Kf7 30. g4 Qd7 31. g5 Be7 32. Bb2 c5 33. bxc5 Qc7 34.
Bxd4 Bxc5 35. Qa2+ Kf8 36. Be5 Qe7 37. Bg3 1-0

[Event "Bundesliga 1920 final"]
[Site "Karlsruhe"]
[Date "2020.09.19"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Lagarde, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A31"]
[WhiteElo "2645"]
[BlackElo "2657"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2020.09.16"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2021"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2020.10.23"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.10.23"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Viernheim"]
[BlackTeam "Deizisau"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d5 6. cxd5 Bc5 7. N5c3 O-O 8.
g3 Qb6 9. e3 Bf5 10. Bg2 Nbd7 11. O-O e4 12. Nd2 Rfe8 13. Qa4 Qb4 14. Qxb4 Bxb4
15. Nb5 Rec8 16. a3 Bf8 17. Nc3 Re8 18. h3 h6 19. b4 Nb6 20. Bb2 Nbxd5 21. Nxd5
Nxd5 22. g4 Bg6 23. Nc4 Rac8 24. Rac1 Nb6 25. Na5 Na4 26. Bd4 b6 27. Nc6 a5 28.
Rfd1 axb4 29. axb4 Nc5 30. Ne5 Nb3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Bxb6 Bh7 33. b5 f6 34. Nc6
Bg6 35. Rd8 Rxd8 36. Nxd8 Bd6 37. Ba7 Bc5 38. Bxc5 Nxc5 39. b6 Nd7 40. b7 Nb8
41. Kh2 Kf8 42. Ne6+ Ke7 43. Nxg7 Kd6 44. h4 Ke5 45. Kg3 1-0

