Hungarian TCH 2012-13

Here is a strong game from GM Berkes against veteran GM Farago,Ivan from the Hungarian TCh. The game features the strong technical endgame play of Berkes an his slow positional building style.

GM Farago,Ivan at the Arco World Senior Ch

Photo Chessbase

Berkes,F (2685) - Farago,I (2486)
King's Indian Attack vs Slav Triangle with ...Bg4[A07]
TCh-HUN 2012–13 Dunaharaszti HUN (4), 18.11.2012
This is an unspectacular game which on the surface contains nothing really remarkable. The game can be broken down into the following stages.

–12.Nxg6 fg creates a structural imbalance and gains the bishop pair for long-term chances

After 12...fg

-A general advance on the queenside
-The ending with 30..Qxb2? gave white all the chances
-Gaining the a-file,  the 7th rank and maintaining a rook on a7(32.Rba2)

After 32.Rba2

-33.Rxa8 eventually won a pawn and began the technical P+ phase conversion phase

The key endgame plan
-The play only on the kingside stage is of key importance. The key to breaking black's position is to play 74.e5! to cut off the dark bishop from the g7 pawn and then play on the light square to infiltrate the kingside.

White to Play
Black has just played 73..Bb2

-76...gh? 77.Nxh4 is the straw that breaks black's position. From here on white has the simple plan of pushing pawns and infiltrating on the light squares on which black is effectively fighting a piece down as the bishop lives in the wrong color universe

After 77.Nxh4