A chess study from Turin

Two boys from Turin, Italy, sent to "Messaggero Scacchi" an instructive chess study: a 2R+3P vs 2R+3P endgame where White, with two pawns on the 7th rank, can't avoid a forced loss. I report here their creation... Oh, I almost forgot: authors of this studio are Joshua Cova (14 years old) and Manuel Miglietta (15): they both don't have a Fide rating, but if they keep so much enthusiasm for chess I'm sure they will become strong players very soon. Forgive possible mistakes in their analysis: only Rybka or Fritz can "think" better than human players :-)

Black to play and win
Here is the solution Joshua and Manuel give:
1...Ra2 2.Kd1 Rd2+ 3.Kc1
3.Ke1 b2 4.f8Q+ Rxf8 5.Rc7+ (5.Rb7 Re8+ 6.Kf1 c2 7.Rc7+ Kd6–+) 5...Kb6 6.Rxc3 b1Q+ 7.Kxd2 Qxh1–+
3...Kb4 4.f8Q+
4.Rg8 b2+ 5.Kb1 Kb3 6.Rg3 d4–+
4...Rxf8 5.Rb7+
5.h8Q b2+ 6.Kb1 Rxh8 7.Rxh8 Rd1+ 8.Kc2 b1Q#; 5.Rg4+ Ka3–+
5...Ka3 6.Rxb3+
6.h8Q b2+ 7.Rxb2 (7.Kb1 c2#) 7...cxb2+ 8.Kxd2 (8.Kb1 Rxh8 9.Rxh8 Rd1+ 10.Kc2 b1Q+ 11.Kc3 Rd3#) 8...Rxh8 9.Rxh8 b1Q–+
6...Kxb3 7.h8Q Ra2 8.Kd1
8.Qh7 Ra1+ 9.Qb1+ Rxb1+ 10.Kxb1 d4–+
8...Rxh8 9.Rxh8 Ra1+ 10.Ke2 Rxa4–+

In the 2007 European championship, Italian IM Giulio Borgo missed his great chance by losing a probably won game against Nikola Sedlak. This allowed the Serbian GM to take the solitary lead with 5.5/6; tomorrow he will face Italian champion GM Michele Godena, the only player who follows him half a point behind, thanks to his brilliant win against IM Carlo D’Amore. Anything can still happen, anyway, because fifteen players are on 4.5: among them you can find German GM Thomas Luther, Swedish GM Evgenij Agrest, Croatian GM Nenad Sulava, Lithuanian GM Sarunas Sulskis and some Italian players, IMs Fabiano Caruana, Sabino Brunello, Giulio Borgo, Pierluigi Piscopo and Daniele Vocaturo. Official site: www.scacchivda.com.
I remember you that many other strong tournaments are in progress: see yesterday's post for links to official sites.
And now here is a short and nice win by Anatolij Karpov in round 8 of the Gorenje tournament in Valjevo, Serbia.

Karpov,A (2668) - Stojanovic,M (2588) [C10], Valjevo 20.6.2007
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.0–0 Ngf6 8.Ng3 Be7 9.Re1 0–0 10.Qe2 b6?!
A poor move. After 10...Re8 11.Bd2 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 c5 13.Qxb7 cxd4 (Hellers-Hodgson, Reykjavik 1990) the position is about equal.
11.Ba6!? Rb8 12.c4 Bb7?!
A serious mistake. The ugly 12...Ba8 looks safer.
13.Bxb7 Rxb7 14.Ne5
Karpov misses the chance to play 14.d5! and after 14...Bb4 15.dxe6 Re8 16.Ng5! fxe6 17.Nxe6 Qe7 18.Bd2 Qxe6 19.Qxe6+ Rxe6 20.Bxb4 White has a permanent advantage.
14...Qc8
14...Nb8 15.Qf3 c6 16.Ne2! was better for White anyway. Now Karpov estabilishes a very strong knight on c6...
15.Nc6 Re8 16.Bg5 Bf8
It's not simple for Black to find a good defence, but 16...Bd6 was probably more precise.
17.Bxf6!
A smart move: now the Nc6 becomes even stronger, and the Rb7 weaker.
17...Nxf6 18.Nh5 Nd7
18...Nxh5 19.Qxh5 Bd6 20.Rad1 was very strong for White anyway.
19.Qg4 Kh8 20.Re3 Nb8?!
20...g6 is more stubborn, but after 21.Rh3 f5 22.Qg5 Bd6 23.Nf4 Bxf4 24.Qxf4 Nf6 25.Qg5 Kg7 26.b4 White would keep a huge advantage.
21.Rg3 f5?
Another mistake: 21...e5 22.Nxe5 Qxg4 23.Rxg4 c5 was the only chance to put up a resistance.
22.Qh4! Nxc6??
A blunder in a lost position: 22...h6 is forced, although 23.Nf6! Be7 24.Nxe7 Rxe7 25.Rxg7! Kxg7 26.Nh5+ Kf8 27.Qf6+ Kg8 (27...Rf7 28.Qh8++-; 27...Ke8 28.Qh8+ Kd7 29.Nf6++-) 28.Qxe7 c5 29.Qf6 is hopeless for Black.
23.Nf6
Now White mates by force.
23...h6
23...gxf6 24.Qxf6+ Bg7 25.Qxg7#
24.Qxh6+!
The decisive blow.
24...gxh6 25.Rg8# 1–0