Invisible Chess Moves - Emmanuel Neiman, Yochanan Afek

Invisible Chess Moves

WINNER of the ChessCafe Book of the Year Award

"An excellent book that offers rare insights into unknown chess territory." Europa Rochade Magazine

"Highlights the limitations of the human mind and categorizes the typical sources of mistakes like missing diagonal backward queen moves. It has many

beautiful examples with really amazing points. A real gem!" Karsten Muller, a uthor of 'Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete

Games'

"An outstanding book." Lubomir Kavalek, The Buffington Post

"An entertaining and instructive book on an aspect of tactics that is not usually covered."

Joe Petrolito, Australasian Chess Magazine

"The many training exercises make 'Invisible Chess Moves' a tactics training book and, what's more, numerous games convey the beauty of chess."

KARL Magazine

"Why is a certain move an 'invisible chess move'? It can be for all sorts of reasons. I don't know that it is all based on scientific research, but based on

my experience I can understand very well what they mean." Richard Vedder, Schakers.info

"An interesting publication, quite different from standard books on combinations."

Max Euwe Centre, Amsterdam

"In fact, this book is about the price you pay for thinking like a machine, for thoughtlessly following some general rules. Time and again it turns out that

sticking to rules of thumb leads to chances missed." Hans Bohm, De Telegraaf

"A thoroughly delightful book, full of incredible examples that remind us how challenging chess can be."

Steve Goldberg, ChessCafe

"It's great to know about the types of 'blind spots' that occur in chess from time to time."

Arne Moll, ChessVibes

"Exercises in the course of each chapter and an extensive test at the end of the book give the reader the opportunity to engage in an organized way with diffi

cult-to-find moves, so one can get familiar with the instruction material." German Correspondence Chess Association

"There are lots and lots of games, extracts and exercises all devoted to why we miss moves."

Ian Marks, ChessSchotland

"It turns out there are interesting cerebral reasons for overlooking winning moves, like certain geometrical patterns and the aversion to

backward moves ( .. ) A unique book." B.H.Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad

"The authors deserve the highest praise for the idea behind this book. Something quite original, and I enjoyed it enormously." Luc Winants, former Belgian Chess Champion

"An interesting attempt to cover new ground ( .. ) All competitors should call here."

British Chess Magazine

"A thoroughly original and entertaining argument about why chess players overlook simple wins ( .. ) Through a series of tests Neiman and Afek ensure

the reader gets the message even more forcefully." Cecil Rosner, Winnipeg Free Press

Yochanan Afek & Emmanuel Neiman

Invisible Chess Moves Discover Your Blind Spots and Stop Overlooking Simple Wins

Second Edition New In Chess 201 2

©New In Chess First edition June 201 1 Second edition April 20 1 2 This eBook edition was first published in 2013 Translated and expanded from Les coups invisibles aux echecs (Afek & Neiman, Payot 2009) by Emmanuel Neiman Published by New In Chess, Alkmaar, The Netherlands www. newinchess. com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

Cover design: Volken Beck Supervisor: Peter Boel Proofreading: Rene Oithof Production: Anton Schermer

Have you found any errors in this book? Please send your remarks to editors@newinchess. com. We will collect all relevant corrections on the Errata page of our website www. newinchess. com and implement them in a possible next edition.

ISBN: 978-90-569 1 -448-9

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Part I- Objective Invisibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Ch apter 1 - Hard-to-see moves· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 22 A- Quiet moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 B- Intermediate moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The desperado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 C - Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 D - Forgetting the rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 E - Quiet positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Ch apter 2 - Ge ometrically invisible moves · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 71 A - Horizontal effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2 B - Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4

Rook circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4 Bishop circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5 Queen circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5

C - Changing wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 D - Backward moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 E - Backward knight moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 F - Pin and self- pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 G - Geometrical moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Part II - Subjective Invisibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1

Ch apter 3 - Invisible moves for positional re asons · · · · · · · · · · · · · 1 1 2 A- Pawn structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 13 B- Weakening of the king's defences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 18 C- Unexpected exchanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 23 D- Unusual position of a piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 26 E- Anti- developing moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 F- Residual image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

5


Cha pte r 4 - Invisible move s for psycholog ical rea sons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 A- Anticipa tion of the probable result. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 152 B- Blunders in World Championship matches 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 163 C - Forward moves in defence 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 7 D - Backward attacking moves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 176

Te st 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 Te st solutions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 205 Explanation of Symbols 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 7 Inde x of Players 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 238

6

Introduction

While the strength of top chess players has grown significantly, they still often miss apparently simple moves. How can it be that players who are capable of calculating ten moves ahead for hours on end, fail to see a one-move win? More remarkably, in many cases both players make these oversights. Of course, it is always possible for a high-level player to make an elementary mistake. But normally speaking the probability of double blindness should be very slight.

Nowadays (in 201 1) , players calculate like machines, since they are used to working with powerful computer programs. Most of them work directly on a computer, thinking up their moves on a virtual board while keeping a small part of the screen open for a strong program that calculates and evaluates the positions. When a move that is natural for the human analyst is not taken into account by the computer, in most cases the reason will be that some tactic has escaped the attention of the human player. Before checking this with the computer, any ambitious player will check the line for himself. Most of the time he will find the hidden trick and thus make significant progress in tactics. So, a player who keeps training in the oldfashioned way, with a real board, nice wooden pieces, and just books and bulletins, will be confronted with tactically nearly invincible opponents and will have to adapt to a playing level that is considerably stronger than it was in the 1980s, before the age of the computer.

The present book deals with positions where a simple move is missed - often by both players. Our hypothesis is as follows: in chess, certain moves are harder to spot for a human being than other moves. For a beginning human player, clearly knight moves are more difficult to envisage than rook moves. With the rook, forward moves are easier and more natural than backward ones, and horizontal moves are frequently missed.

The chess geometry and the handling of each specific chess piece are difficult for the beginner, but they are no secret for the experienced player. Nevertheless, even grandmasters miss a backward rook move more often than a forward move, and for them, too, horizontal moves are harder to find than vertical moves (see Chapter 2 , 'Geometrical invisibility') .

Also, a lot of elements in the games of experienced players are mechanical. In the opening: develop quickly and castle. In the middle game: be careful with unprotected pieces. In the endgame: centralize the king. The quality of a player can be established by the number of such integrated

7


principles that he knows. The stronger the player, the better he will be able to break such automatic rules if that is necessary. Professional players are always ready to take exceptions and paradoxical moves into account. Even so, in this book we will see many examples of missed opportunities, where such 'illogical' moves are not taken into account (Chapter 3, Technical invisibility') .

Another difficulty lies in the psychological aspect of the contest. Sometimes a player may focus on the probable result of the game. According to his state of mind, he will expect to win, draw, or even lose, for example against a superior opponent. In such situations, moves that question the 'normal ' result will be overlooked, even when they are elementary; they are 'repressed' , like in Freudian theories about the unconscious. Here technical factors are overpowered by psychological factors. They may depend on the evolution of the actual game, earlier confrontations between the two protagonists, their status, titles, ratings etc. Such psychological cases of blindness are frequently reinforced by technical or geometrical difficulties; then a hard-to-find move will become an invisible one due to certain stressful circumstances (Chapter 4 , 'Psychological invisibility') .

Obviously, other objective factors can explain mistakes, such as, especially, a lack of time to think. That is why we generally try to avoid showing mistakes from rapid , simultaneous and blindfold games as well as Zeitnot mistakes. We want to focus on games where both opponents had enough time to make a responsible decision.

The present book is organized as a treatise, but for each diagram the question is the same: What is the best move for White/Black?, and we can assume that probably the player was not able to find it in the actual game. For a good understanding of our theme, it is necessary to look for the right move for a certain amount of time - the same amount you would use in order to make a decision during a normal game. So before looking for the solution, try and discover the right move that Kasparov, Karpov, Kramnik, Anand, Topalov or Carlsen wasn't able to find. Only then will you be able to figure out how 'obvious' it was.

Let's look at some examples in order to specifY what we mean - and what we don't mean! - by an 'invisible move' .

Question 1 : What i s the difference between an invisible move and a blunder?

A blunder is a big mistake, like leaving the queen en prise in one move.

8

Petrosian, Tigran Bronstein, David Amsterdam ct 1956 (2)

• tL t J s

J - � -N . - j

I s N

0 J

I

B

m

J

K A well-known example is this game where the Armenian player, in an advantageous position, did not consider the threat concealed by his opponent's last move.

After

36 . . .. Ad4-f5

Petrosian played the cool

37. Ae4-g5

and resigned after

37 . . .. Af5xd6

Instead, 37.©c7 would have given White a decisive positional advantage.

This kind of mistake is called a 'blunder' . There 's nothing much to say about it - it happens at all levels. Such blunders are frequently decisive for the result of the game, while invisible moves are frequently the result of a double blindness, and generally do not affect the final result.

•

Introduction

Camp Deep Fritz 10 Kramnik,Vladimir Bonn m 2006 (2)

� 0 - - j

I

J j _ Q _

m

j

-

I

K Moments of distraction can happen to even the very best players. A more recent example is shown here. In this game, after a good opening Kranmik was constantly striving for the advantage. Black continues to press, forgetting that his opponent is threatening mate in one.

34 . . .. ©a7-e3

After 34 ... ®g8 White would have had to save half a point by giving perpetual check after 35 .Ag6 ©e3 36 .©d5+ ®h7 3 7.Af8+ ®h8 38.Ag6+ 1.

35 . ©e4-h7#

Still we can draw some conclusions from these two games: in both of them, the author of the blunder had been dominating throughout the game, and forgot to consider the first real threat of his opponent. Such blunders are not much unlike the positions we give in Chapter 4 ('Psychological invisibility') , but

9


their main characteristic is that they result from a kind of mental disconnection in a player, and the opponent will quickly seize the opportunity to take immediate advantage of it. We won't be dealing further with this type of move, since there is nothing invisible about it.

The following game may be interpreted differently, even if the result and the way in which it is reached are apparently similar. Here the position is extremely complex, with both kings in danger of being mated. You need a certain amount of time to understand what happens, to establish the material balance and the various threats from the adversary's forces.

Only one move wins for White, and it is very difficult to find. Another move loses immediately, but it is much more natural - precisely the move Ziiger played.

Ziiger,Beat Landen bergue, Claude Chiasso ch-SUI 1991 (9)

0 tM

JIS> _ . _ . � . £

I _ . _ l _ . j L I � I � B GI

K

10

1 . ©e5xg3?? ©h2-h l#

The winning line was difficult to calculate, and even more difficult to imagine. It begins with l .Og7+ ! Axg7 l . . .®h8 2.0xg5+ ®h7 3 . ©e7+ and mate. 2 .©xg7+ ! ! ®xg7 3.Axf8+ ®xf8 4 .Axh3.

. m .

J . £ .

I _ . _ l _ . j N I . � I B GI

K Analysis diagram

We have reached a strange position where the black queen is trapped while the black knight cannot move without allowing Af3, winning the queen. The game will now be a race between the black king and the white pawns, all other forces being occupied in the southeast corner of the board. 4 . . . Axh3 would threaten mate but s.Af3 defends. . . and wins the queen!

4 . . . ®e7!? And now the simplest solution is s .Af3 Axf3 s . . . ©xh3 6.Axh3 Axh3 may be stronger, but the knight ending is completely lost. 6 .exf3

The lone black king will find it impossible to deal with all of White's passed pawns.

In this case also, White was mated in one in a winning position. Yet the invisible character of the winning move is more pronounced here, because it is difficult to see that after the capture on g3 White is mated (see Chapter 2 on the pin) . The element that gives this mate its invisible character is the

Introduction

double pin on White's minor pieces that protect the hi-square.

In this book, we will look for several reasons that can explain why a strong player like Ziiger can be mated in one in a winning position, which does not happen so often to an international master!

Question 2 : What is the difference between an invisible move and a mistake?

Mistakes are part of the game. Among very strong players, they are frequently the result of a momentary incapacity to concentrate. Isolated errors or omissions do not interest us. They are frequent and depend mainly on the level of the players and the complexity of the position.

Here we show such a mistake, which pertains to the omission of a very visible candidate move.

Leko,Peter Bareev,Evgeny Elista 2007 (2)

• t . J Gt J M

J _ J � J j . � T

I I 19 R i I <9

R k . Black is attacking with an impressive concentration of forces on the kingside, and misses a quite natural win.

The game continued 28 . . . g5 29.Ag4 Ad6 30.g3 AhS 3 1 .Ae3 Axg3 32 .fxg3 Oxfl + 33.Axfl Od l 34 .0e3 1 -0 Leko-Bareev, Elista 2007.

28. Af6-e4 ! 29. Oe2xe4

If 29.Ag4 Black makes use of the pin by 29 . . . Ag3! 30.0eel and now the simple 30 . . . 0d2 1 with multiple threats: 31 .Acl Ae2+ 32.®hl ©xh2+ 33.®xh2 Axel 34.0xcl Oxa2 or the more sophisticated 30 . . . Ad6!? 31 .fxg3 Axg3 32. ©hl ©c5+ 33.0e3 Od3 1

(not 33 . . . 0xfl+ 34.®xfl Odl+ 35.®e2 Oxhl 36.Af6+ with a mess) is crushing.

29 . . .. Of5xf2

And wins (30.0xf2 Odl+ and mate) .

1 1


J 0 . J M J J . J - - J

. � . R

I I 19 . _ . �1 �

T . k Analysis diagram

Such a missed opportunity simply demonstrates that one of the two players was not at his best in the game at hand, which does not belong to our theme.

We also exclude mistakes like those made in the calculation of long variations, caused by the difficulty of the position and/ or tiredness after a long and hard-fought game, like in the following excerpt.

Gelfand ,Boris Shirov,Alexey Bazna 2009 (9)

0

L

M J

. lg j k J

Some moves require deep and accurate calculation. In this position Gelfand preferred to play an end-

1 2

game two pawns up, rather than sacrifice four and win:

58. f4-f5 !

58.a4 was tried in the game but led to a draw after 58 . . . Axa4 58.f5 .

58 . .. .

58 . . . gxf5 59.h5 e

5 9. e5-e6

e6xf5

Ab3xe6

59 . . . fxe6 60.®xg6 e . 60. h4-h5 g6xh5 61 . g5-g6 f7xg6 62. ®f6xe6

M

. IS> K J J J

The promotion square is located in the 'bad' corner, but White wins by denying the black king access to the drawing zone .

Gelfand told us that he had seen the whole line, but had mentally 'misplaced' the bishop. On this subject of blunders and chess blindness, several high-quality works have already been published. We'd like to mention the excellent Blunders and Brilliancies by Moe Moss and Ian Mullen, a remarkable collection of missed opportunities,

also very valuable for training purposes at club level.

62 . 63 . ®e6-d5 64. a3-a4 65. ®d5-c6

M

®e8-d8 ®d8-d7 ®d7-c8 1-0

K Is> . J J J

Other errors are more relevant for our book because they rely on the application of a general rule. Many players repeat such faulty applications of rules.

Vyzhmanavin,Alexey Lerner,Konstantin Lvov ch-URS 1984 ( 1 1)

0

. m .

t . K

. f'

J

This is a clear draw due to the position of the black king, which is too far away to assist the passed pawn.

Introduction

White logically approached the pawn with the intention of capturing it quickly, but in so doing he forgot about a classical trick.

1 . ®c2-d2??

The saving move was the paradoxical l .®b2 ! Og3 2 .®c2 ®dS If 2 . . . 0g2+ 3. ®d3 h2 4. ®e3 i. 3.®d2 Oa3 4 .®e2 h2 5 .®f2 ! and White will take the pawn in the end.

1 . 2 . ®d2 -e2

2.0xh2 Oa2+.

2 .

. m .

K t .

h3-h2!

Oa3-al !

. f'

J

This type of mistake interests us: a strong grandmaster forgets about an immediate win (for his opponent) because he obeys the general rule 'Centralize your king' (see Chapter 3).

This reminds us of the basic rule that states that when the rook of the stronger side protects its pawn from the front, the defending king must stay on b2/ a2 to avoid the skewer.

13


0

Theoretical position

M

K J T

1 . ®c2-b2

draws, by keeping the black rook from the a-file, and giving check when the black king appears on g3/ g2 to protect the pawn. l .®d2? loses after l . . .Oa l .

Question 3: What do we call invisibilit ?

The notion of invisibility is more a philosophical question than a chessic one. According to the classical definition that with chess all the information is there on the board, in our game the notion of invisibility can be seen as a blind spot, a zone that is not 'see-able' for reasons that are particular to either the position or certain human characteristics 1•

Overseeing a whole board is hardly possible (see the Notkin quotation in Chapter 2, on page 78) and since we don't have eyes on the side of our heads we cannot easily anticipate horizontal moves, especially if they reach from kingside to queenside or vice versa. These problems are dealt with in Chapter 2 , 'Geometrical invisibility' . We will see that this type of invisibility (and blindness) does not affect only weak players, but also the very best. That is why we have made a categorization of the main cases of geometrical invisibility, and we hope that the study of them will enable the reader to improve his tactical vision.

1 After a catastrophic 5.5-0.5 loss in a match against Garry

Kasparov, Anthony Miles, then ranked 6th in the world,

declared: 'I thought I was playing the world champion, not a

monster with a hundred eyes, who sees all!'. With one

hundred eyes fixed all over our body, perhaps certain moves

would become more clearly visible for us.

14

Introduction

Another type of invisibility relates to blindness of a psychological order. In a given situation, a player will not see certain possible moves for a specific reason. Sometimes such possibilities will appear 'forbidden' to him (see Chapter 3, 'Technical invisibility') and he will refuse to take them into account. In other conditions a move may appear inapplicable to him (Chapter 4, 'Psychological invisibility') . In such cases, the invisibility of a move is also the result of 'keeping one's eyes closed' . We should mention that there is a kind of nervous disease that can provoke temporary blindness. Woody Allen deals with this from a comical point of view in his movie 'Hollywood Ending' , where a stressed movie director suddenly turns blind just before starting the shooting of a movie that is crucial for his career. In this book we have dedicated a special section to world championship matches, which are sources of extreme stress and, consequently, many mistakes.

Invisible moves are relatively easy moves that are frequently missed by the best players, and generally also by their opponents, during the game. The invisibility of these moves is confirmed by numerous examples of the same type and by the quality of the players involved. In most cases such a move will even stay invisible during the joint analysis after the game. Often such an incident has no consequences for the logical result of the game - in some cases the result is even achieved 'thanks to' the invisibility of the move.

The purpose of this book is to show the reader the mechanisms that can make a move invisible. We hope that the reader, duly warned, will be able to see them more often and even to anticipate them. That is why we advise you to look for the best move in the training exercises at the end of each chapter and in the Test' chapter in the back of the book, but also every time you see a diagram.

Question 4: How did we select the examples?

Invisible moves are by definition hard to detect. Once the authors discovered the concept of hard-to-see moves, they used all the chess resources available to them: books, especially collections of games commented by the players themselves, comments by the players in reviews, articles on the Internet and their own games. The assistance of powerful computer programs was invaluable in order to discover, but also to discard certain interesting positions.

1 5


Here's a small example:

Benjamin,Joel Stripunsky,Alexander Philadelphia 2006 (7)

0 T . t M j J GJ L _ J _ .

. _ . _ J _ . <9 . £ 5

. � .

I k

This is a classical attacking position. White has sacrificed some material to destroy the black king's pawn cover. In order to win, it is enough to bring a rook to the g-file. How can we achieve this?

Benjamin played

33 . Ad4-f3

with the idea C>d4-g4/h4, and regretted not having played: • 33 .Ac6 ! ! (his exclamation marks)

T . t M j J GJ L _ J _ .

. _ N _ J _ . <9 . £ 5

ls> R Analysis diagram

16

I k

'This problem-like move wins a tempo to enable the rook to go to d4 quicker. It was keeping the advantage, but I could not find it during the game' , declared the American player.

33.Ac6 is certainly a superb move, but we could not categorize it as 'invisible ' since it is not the best move available in the position . In fact, many moves could be winning here.

Here are some possibilities: • 33.Ab3 with the same idea fails to 33 . . . Ae4 ! ; • 33 .Af5 is to White's advantage after 3 3 . . . exf5 34 .0xd5 Ae4 35 .f3 (if 35.Af4 , 35 . . . ©c6 defends) 35 . . . Ae6 36 .Af4 ©e7 37 .0dd l ; • 33.0e l wins easily, threatening to chase Black's knight with 34.b4 , in order to let the rook enter the party: 33 . . . ©d8 34 .Ag5 f6 3 5 .©g6+ ®h8 36 .©h5+ ®g8 37.Ah6 ©e7 38.©xd5 e ;

• The best move is the trivial 33 .©g5+ , see: A) 33 . . . ®h7 34 .Ab5 34.Ab3 is

also winning. 34 . . . Axb5 After 34 . . . ©d8 White uses an elegant staircase manoeuvre : 35.©h5+ ®g8 36.©g4+ ®h7 37.©h3+ ®g8 38. ©g3+ ®h8 39.0d4. 35 .0d4; B) 33 . . . ®h8 34 .Ab3 But not

34.Ab5 because of the hard-to-see defence 34 . . . Axb5 35.0d4 and now:

T . t . m j J GJ . _ J _ .

J _ L £ S _ . <9 .

. rr .

ls> . I k

Analysis diagram

35 . . . Ad3 ! ! 36.0h4+ Ah7. The flight of the bishop from d7 to h7 looks like a helicopter's. Now White has to content himself with a draw after 37.0xh7+ ®xh7 38. ©h6+ ®g8 39. ©g5+ i. 34 . . . Ab5 On 34 . . . Ae4 the most accurate is 35. ©h5+ ®g8 36. ©g4+ ®h8 37 . ©xe4 e . 35 .Axc5 35.0d4 e . 35 . . . ©xc5 36 .©e5+ ®h7 37.0d4 ; • 33.Ac6 Threatening to bring in the rook via d4 and forcing 33 . . . f5 , after which several moves give White an advantage, e.g. 34.©g6+ and here the logical follow-up is 34 . . . ®h8 35 .0d4 f4 36.0xd5 exdS 37 . ©h6+ ®g8 38.Ae7+ ®f7 39.Axf4 ©b6 40.Ad6 ! e With the threat of mate on g6. 40 . . . ®e8 4 1 .Axd5 Interestingly, all these complicated variations went unnoticed by Benjamin both during the game and later in the post-mortem analysis.

33. 34. Af3-g5 35 . Od lxdS

Ac5-e4 Ae4-f6 e6xd5

Introduction

36. ©h6xf6 ©c7-c2 37. Acl -e3

With an unclear game, won by White in the end.

The moves we are looking for must be the best, and must also constitute a clear improvement compared to the moves actually played. Here is a comparable example.

Afek, Yo chan an Blom,Vincent Haarlem 2008 (2)

0 m .

t . - . j J

L J

B . 0 .

_ Q i rr . K

White is in danger here. The rook is attacked, and there is a threat of pinning the queen along the long diagonal by l . . .AdS. Another possible problem lies in the defence of the bishop, in case the rook moves from the a-file. Nevertheless, two moves are clearly winning for White. Can you spot them?

One of the two was played in the actual game, and is quite sufficient to win:

37. Oal-d l ! ©d4xa4

17


rn .

D

t . - . j J

L J

_ Q i R K

38. Od l-d8!

38.©f2+ was played in the game, which Black won in the end.

38 . .. . ©a4-c4

If 38 ... ©al+ 39.©gl+ ©xgl+ 40.®xgl ®b7 41 .0xh8 e ; If 38 . . . Ac8 39.0xh8 Ab7 (on 39 . . . ©d7 40. ©c2 wins eventually) , of course 40.©xb7 + ! .

39. ©g2-a8+ ®a7-b6 40. ©a8-b8+ ®b6-a5 41. ©b8-a7 + e

There was an even stronger and prettier opportunity: 3 7 .Ad 1 + ! ! .

rn .

t . - . j J

L J

. GJ .

. _ . _ . _ Q i ��=' . B K

Analysis diagram

A) On 37 . . . ®b6 White goes after the king along the open lines with queen, rook and bishop, winning

18

easily: 38.0cl ! Ad7 38 . . . Ad5 39.Af3 e . 39.Af3 Oc8 40.©c2 AbS 4 l .©b3 Oxc7 42 .©e6+; B) After 3 7 . . . ©xa 1 , the brilliant

38.©g1 + ! ! is the key. The king has to move to a light square, allowing White to win the queen with a discovered attack: 38 . . . ®b7 39.Af3+ or 38 . . . ®a6 39.Ae2+. 37.Adl is a magnificent move, and it is the best one. Still , a simple win was also available, and that is why we have not selected this position as a pure example of invisibility. It does illustrate many geometrical themes that we will meet further on in Chapter 2 , like backward bishop moves, backward queen moves, and the self-pin.

The above example inspired the white player to compose the following study.

Afek,Yochanan 2008

J I

L

K

. l9 . White to play and vvin

I

M

J

The first move is straightforward.

1 . h6-h7!

Black's answer is forced.

1 . Ae8-g6+

And now the king has to go to the only square that does not obstruct any useful line. You have to play through the entire variation to see that the best square is:

2 . 3 . 4.

j I

®d3-c4!! d6-d7 d7-d8©

Ag6xh7 h3-h2 h2-hl ©

_ . <qJ . _ . _ L

M K

. Is> . D

Introduction

We now reach a position that has a lot in common with the previous game, with a similar theme.

5 . ©d8-d l +!

Setting up the same battery.

5 . ®h5-g6

The black king has to stay on the light squares, as did White's on move 2, the main tactical idea being a discovered attack on the black queen with a bishop check.

6. ©dl-bl+ ! ®g6-f7

Black has escaped the discovered attack, but he has landed on another mined square:

7. 8.

©b l-b7+! ©hlxb7 a6xb7 1 -0

We have selected those examples which appeared to us the clearest, irrespective of how old or how 'new' they may be. There are a lot of hitherto unpublished positions in this book, and we give special thanks to the friends who helped us to find them: Amatzia Avni, who kindly allowed us to make use of his collection and books, Alexander Baburin and his team of the daily 'Chess Today' , Artur Yusupov, Artur Kogan, Olivier Pucher, Nicolas Giffard, Jacques Bernard, and Romain Picard.

Top players are reluctant to speak about their missed opportunities, both because they are not linked with positive feelings and because their inability to find good moves are, you might say, professional 'secrets' . However, Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler agreed to speak with us about certain episodes - often unhappy ones. Thanks to both of them.

Thanks to French editor Christophe Bouton for his confidence and his friendship. Thanks to Justin Beplate, who kindly helped us polish the English version. Last but not least, big thanks to Stephanie Menase, who gave us some insights about invisibility and what it means from a philosophical point of view.

We wish you all the best in exploring the kingdom of invisible moves! The authors

19


About the second edition

The first edition of Invisible Chess Moves was well received and even won the ChessCafe Book of the Year Award.

For this second edition, we have made use of a number of corrections and other suggestions by readers, of whom we'd like to especially mentionjohn Bleau and grandmasters Karsten Muller and Frank Holzke.

The editors

20

Part 1- Objective Invisibility

In this part we will study moves that are difficult to find and hard to predict (Chapter 1 ) and moves that are invisible for geometrical reasons (Chapter 2).

Obviously such 'objective' cases, where the right move is difficult to find regardless of the player's personality or the specific conditions of the game, can sometimes be linked to circumstances belonging to the subjective aspects of invisibility (see Part II) ; this will only make them more difficult to find.

21


Chapter 1 - Hard-to-see moves

This chapter is a necessary preliminary to the study of invisible moves. We distinguish several types of invisibility, but there may be other obstacles for finding the best moves, in various circumstances; these difficulties are dealt with here.

Hard-to-see moves are objectively difficult to find, and even harder to anticipate. Quiet moves (Section A) and intermediate moves (Section B) in particular are very difficult to foresee. In certain cases, hard-to-see moves are very similar to invisible moves. For example, the line geometry in Section C is very close to the Geometrical invisibility we will deal with in Chapter 2. A player who forgets about certain chess rules (Section D) is not far removed from Technical invisibility (Chapter 3); and the change of rhythm investigated in Section E is very near to Psychological invisibil ity (Chapter 4).

22


A - Qu i et move s

The more 'brutal' a move is (a check, a capture, a direct threat) , the easier it is for a player to find it. A serious player begins his analysis by checking forced sequences - that is, series of moves that are the most compelling for the opponent and, in a wey, the easiest to calculate 1• It also happens that in a favourable position, there is no direct move that is satisfactory.

Take this position from the rapid game Kramnik-Leko. At this speed of play, the best move for White is virtually invisible 2•

Kramnik,Vladimir Leko,Peter Budapest rapid 200 1 (3)

0 T GJ . t M rr . _ S _ J j J

J _ . j L _ . _ .

. 19 . I

· '9 · - B R k

White is a pawn down, but the position is extremely favourable for him, with the advantage of the bishop pair and the great position of his rooks: one on the seventh rank and the other one on the open file, pinning Black's minor pieces.

It is precisely in this type of position that we should look for a forced win. Let's analyse some moves. The main idea is to take on d5 with the bishop and take back with the rook in order to win the pinned knight. A) The simplest option is to take

on d5 first. But after 20.Axd5 exdS 2 1 .0xd5 Black has 2 l . . .©b6 ! attacking queen and rook, enabling him to unpin with tempo. This is the basic variation; B) 20 .Ad6 Oe8 2 1 .Axd5

2l .©b5 Af6. 2 1 . . .exd5 22 .©b7 (22.©b5 AeS) looks strong, but Black can save himself with the surprising 22 . . . ©f6 ! 23 .©xd7 Ocd8; C) In case of 20.©b5 the same

counterattack on the a 7 rook and the queen does the job: 20 . . . ©b6! 2 1 . ©xd7 Axg2 and in case of the erroneous 22 .®xg2? the lack of protection of the other rook on d 1 tells after 22 . . . 0cd8c;: and suddenly Black is much better;

1 See 'L'oeil tactique', E. Neiman 2003, 2010, Payot.

2 In general we only deal with 'normal games' with a time

control of e.g. 2 hours per player. The beauty and subtlety of

the present example moved us to include it in the book.

23


D) In the game White played 20.e4 Ac6 2 1 .0d6 Oa8 ! Attacking the a7 rook. 2 2 . ©a3 Oxa7 23 .©xa7 and now simplest was to attack the queen by 23 . . . ©b8! i. The key is the splendid

20 . ©b2-al !a

Simultaneously protecting his three major pieces while maintaining the threat of taking on d5. After this prophylactic , harmonious move, Black is left without an adequate defence against White's threats and will lose at least an exchange.

2 0 . .. . ©d8-e8

20 . . . 0a8 2l .Axd5 Oxa7 22.©xa7 exd5 23.0xd5 e

2 1 . e2-e4

21 .Ad6a.

2 1 . Ad5-c6 22 . Af4-d6a

20.©al is a very 'Kramnikian' move, typical of his style; he would probably have found it with a 'normal' time-control. Still it is a remarkably difficult move to find, because in order to take it into account one must check all possible forced variations, then find all the defensive resources of the opponent, and only then look for other possibilities.

In such a position, if l .e4 or l .Axd5 were winning by force, it would be a mistake to play a 'quiet' move instead of the forcing one, and playing like this would only

24

reduce White's winning chances. We showed this game to many amateur players, and not a small number of them claimed that the solution was very logical and natural -in fact almost self-evident. Of course, once explained logically, the move ©b2-al is easily understandable. But neither Kramnik nor any of the players to whom we presented the position as a puzzle, was able to solve it. A paradoxical aspect of invisible moves is that they are difficult to find, and obvious once you see them. In Edgar Allan Poe 's famous story 'The Purloined Letter' (1844) , the best detectives in Paris are unable to find a stolen letter in a hotel room. The amateur detective discovers the half-torn letter hanging in a cheap card rack, clearly visible for everyone.

Here's another classical example, where the solution was found over-the-board by a great talent of the 20th century.

Maroczy, Geza Rami, Massimiliano San Remo 1930 (8)

0 L M . t j J - . i

. _ J _ . _ R <qJ

. rr .

I k

A piece down, White looks lost: his queen is en prise and the h3 pawn can be taken if she moves, with mating threats. From a position where he is attacked from all directions, Maroczy managed to mount a relentless attack with one quiet move:

1 . ©h6-h5! !

This little backward move enables White to repel the enemy's attacks while preparing a deadly discovered check.

1 . Od2xg2+

If Black takes the queen, her daughter on e8 gives White a winning initiative: l . . .OxhS 2.0g8+ ®d7 3.e8©+ ®c7 4.©xh5 e . With a pawn and an exchange up, this is an easy win.

2 . Og6xg2+

Protecting his own king while giving check to the enemy monarch.

2 . Oh8xh5 3. Og2xb2

White has won an exchange, while keeping his pawn on the seventh rank. The rest is routine.

3 . Oh5xh3+ 4. ®h2-gl Oh3-h7 5 . Ob2-h2 Qh7-g7+ 6. ®gl-f2 Og7-g8 7. Oh2-h6 ®e8-f7 8 . e7-e8©+ Og8xe8 9. Oh6-h7+ 1-0


'To vvithdravv is n ot t o run avvay1

(Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote)

D T M J . _ . _ J j J

L rr B s . . l9 .

I k

Black is not allowed to castle. What is the winning move for White?

1 . Ad5-e4! !

This finesse, attacking the knight while keeping an eye on the bishop, wins a piece.

1 . Ac6xe4

If l . . .f6 2.0xe5+ fxeS 3.Axc6+ wins the house.

2 . 3 .

Oa5xe5+ ®e8-d7 <5e5xe4 e

Spoelman, Wouter Krasenkow,Michal Hilversum 2009 (7)

0 j T _ . _ M _ .

J - . j D J

i I K<a . rr R

25


In this complex position, where both kings are under attack, it is not easy to remain in control and find the winning move.

White played the enthusiastic 32 .0xf6+? but was unable to gain more than a draw after 32 . . . ®xf6 33 .©h6+ ®f7 34 .©h7+ ®f8 35 .©h8+ ®f7 36 .©e8+ ®g7 37 .0e7 + Oxe7 38 .©xe7+ ®g6 39 .©xa3 ©fl + 40 .®a2 ©c4+ 4 l .®bl 4 l .©b3 ©a6+ is still a perpetual. 4 1 . . .©fl + 42 .®a2 ©c4+ 43 .©b3 ©a6+ 44 .©a3.

32 . Oel-eS! !

White coolly builds up his attack with the threat of 33.0xf6+ and 34.©g5+.

32 . .. . ©b5-b4

32 . . . 0al+ does not achieve anything: 33.®xal ©a6+ 34.®bl Oxb2+ 35.®xb2 (35. ©xb2? ©xfl+ 36.®a2 fxeS) 35 . . . ©b5+ 36.®c3 ©c4+ 37.®d2 ©d4+ 38.®e2 ©xeS+ 39.©e3 e .

33 . Oflxf6+! ®f7xf6 34. ©cl-g5+

26

The queen + rook duo gives White an unstoppable attack.

34. .. . ®f6-f7 35 . ©g5-h5+ ®f7-f6

35 . . . ®g7 36.0g5+ ®f8 37.©h6+ ®e8 38.©e6+ ®d8 39.0g8+ ®c7 40.0c8+ ®b6 4 l .Oxc6+ ®bS 42.©xd5+ e .

j T _ . _ . _ . J . rn .

_ . _ J f' . _Q . Gt . I t . . i I

K . I

36. ©h5-h8+! ®f6-f7

36 . . . 0g7 37.0f5+ ®e6 38.©h6+ ®d7 39.©xg7+ e ; 36 . . . ®g6 37.©g8+ e .

37. ©h8-e8+ ®f7-f6

37 . . . ®g7 38.0g5+ e .

38. Oe5-e6+ ®f6-g5 39. ©e8-h5+ ®g5-f4 40. ©h5-f5#


B - I nterme d i ate move s

An intermediate or in-between move (also called 'Zwischenzug') interposes itself in the flow of a forced series ofmoves3• For example, the players are involved in a series of exchanges; then one of the players introduces a new threat right in the middle of the series. It does not stop the exchanging process, but it slightly modifies the position. Such moves, which frequently cause a slight but decisive alteration of the position, we call intermediate or in-between moves.

Take another situation, say in economics. A farmer sells strawberries to a supermarket. The intermediary (i.e. the supermarket) will make certain slight modifications, like wrapping the strawberries in plastic , and will then sell them in shopping centres. Frequently in such cases we can notice that although the product is nearly the same, the price is often quite different!

Here is a characteristic example from chess.

Prins ,Lodewijk Lehmann,Heinz Leipzig Olympiad 1960 ( 1 1)

• J

J k M

f' .

Black could have won easily with l . . .®e7! 2.0f3 Og6+ 3.®xb7 Of6.

2 . c5-c6+!

The devil is in the detail!

2 . 3 . 4. 5.

Of6xf2 Of2-d2+ Od2-c2

b7xc6 ®d7-d6 ®d6-e5

J k J T j T - . m .

White is in a desperate situation. R 1. Og2-g6??

3 Forced in the broader sense, i.e. imposed by logic, like taking

back a piece when the opponent has just captured yours.

27


And the draw was agreed, as White will take the c- and then the a-pawn: 5 . . . ®d5 (5 . . . c5+ 6.®xc5 i) 6.0c5+ ®d4 7.0xc6.

1 . Ag4-h6+!! g7xh6

A great escape by Lodewijk Prins. 4

Berczes , Csaba Banusz,Tamas Zalakaros 2010 (5)

0 M R . J . - - - J

2 . Ob7-b8+

2 .

rr .

J 19

J T

M J

J L I

k

®g8-h7??

J L i

T N An unfortunate try to keep the rnaterial.

J 19

. k .

Black is better, because the pawns are stronger than the knight, but White has a trick that gives him an attack.

Black could have got a draw with the defensive Zwischenzug 2 . . . Ac8! 3.0xc8+ ®h7 and now the most accurate is 4. ® f3 i .

3 . Ob8-h8+ ®h7-g6 4. Oh8xh6+

And after s.Acl+ mate will follow.

4 Prins is one of the heroes of the great collection of Donner's

writing The King (New In Chess). About his team mate,

Donner gently wrote 'He cannot tell a bishop from a knight'.

Prins is also the star of another joke attributed to Mikhail

Botvinnik. During an exhibition game, Botvinnik and

Polugaevsky were playing against Keres and Prins. Botvinnik

observed that the game was unfair, because he and Polu had

four hands to play with, while Keres had only one, as he

needed the other to keep Prins from meddling in the game

(see Hans Ree, 'Enthralling Battles', New In Chess 2009/ 4).

28

Kavutskiy, Konstantin Wang,Philip Xiao Century City 2010 (5)

0

I rn .

R

. k . 1 . Ob5-b6?

l .®c2 ! would have won by one tempo: l . ..Aa 1 1 . . .AeS is now impossible because of 2.0xe5. 2.0b6 AeS 3.®d3 ®e7 4 .®e4 Ad6 5 .®d5

1 . Ac3-e5

Allowing Black to capture the pawn just in time.

2 . ®cl-d2 3 . ®d2-d3 4. ®d3-e4

®f6-e7 Ae5-d6 ®e7xe6 Vz-Vz

McNab,Colin Brunello,Sabino Edinburgh rapid 2007 (1 . 1)

D L . GJ T I M ' j J

. J J . -

I S is>

J J I G:iJN _

I

B R k


There followed 1. ©fS? cxd4 and ultimately Black, a pawn up, won the game.

What White missed was:

1 . Ag4-h6+! ! g7xh6

1 . . . ®h8 2. ©g4 ©e 7 3.dxe5 fxeS 4.Axe5! e .

2 . ©f4-g4+

An intermediate move which protects the rook.

2 . ®g8-h8 3 . d4xe5 ©d8-c8 4. e5xf6! e

The last Zwischenzug, winning on the spot. After 4 . . . ©xg4 5.f7 + OeS 6.Axe5+ ©g7 7.Axg7 + ®xg7 8.0al ! White collects a piece.

Saric,lvan Malisauskas,Vidmantas Novi Sad Ech-tt 2009 (3)

D T J M

. 19 . J i

D Q _

I

L K

In the game, White went for a draw with l .©g7+? ®e6 2 .©e7+ ®fS 3 .©h7+ ®xf4 4 .©h6+ ®fS 5 .©h7+.

29


The winning sequence included two in-between moves:

1. ©g4-d7+ ®f7-g6 2 . f4-f5+!

Closing the first emergency exit.

2 . ©e4xf5 3 . ©d7-g7 + ®g6-h5 4. g2-g4+!

And closing the second one.

4. ©f5xg4 5 . ©g7-h7#

A beautiful mating sequence.

Tal ,Mikhail NN Leipzig simul 1958

0 T M J L . - - J J I

J - . J £ J GJ £

rnl I rnl 19 1

I I � B _ K R

t

R

Here's a celebrated example from a simultaneous exhibition. In this position, probably the result of a Dragon Sicilian, the black king is still in the centre. Black has no advantageous retreat after

1. g4-g5

So he went for an in-between operation with

30

1. Oh8xhl

T M _ J _ L j J I J _ . j £ J GJ . . £ .

. rn� I . rn� . ls> l I I � B _ K R T

l . . .AhS is much better for White, with his well-centralized position and safer king: 2 .Ab3 ©d8 3.Ad4a.

Tal was ready for the intermediaries contest, and replied :

2 . g5xf6! !

Black followed up on his idea and probably felt he was winning after

2 . Ohlxd l+

T M _ J _ L j J I J - . j I J GJ . . £ .

. rn� I . rn� . ls> l I I � B _ . K T

only to be surprised by the great move

3 . Ac3xdl ! ©a5xd2

White has only a knight to match Black's queen and rook, but he is

completely winning after the consistent

4 . f6xg7 !

T M J L . J I - - j

J - . j J £ .

. rn1 I . l9 I

I I Gt B K N

Black is now unable to parry the threat of promotion with mate in one and the attack on the queen.

Rossetto, Hector Sherwin ,James Portoroz Interzonal 1958 (12)

• M _ J - . j J

. £ . I . J I

I l9 . - . j B

R K t .

One of the main characteristics of in-between moves is that they tend to provoke chain reactions. When a player interposes an intermediate move, his opponent will often also play one in reply. Here the perilous position of White 's bishops was tested by the obvious


1 . Oal-bl

It seems that White can save the bishop with an intermediate move:

2 . Ab4xd6

But Black counters with his own intermediate move:

2 . f4-f3+!

3. ®xf3 Oxb3+ 4. ®g2 exd6 1 .

The desperado

The desperado is a special type of in-between move. When it is a piece's destiny to be captured, it mey

make sense to turn it into a sacrifice to create inconveniences for the opponent. Before disappearing, like the heroes in Sam Peckinpah's westerns, the doomed piece brings chaos in the enenw camp.

0 t L GI . t M j J

I J - . j J . _ I j N _ . _

. l9 . i Q B i

F . R k .

White has two attacked pieces: the bishop on c3 and the queen on h3. The bishop will be lost, so like a real desperado, instead of accepting the inevitable he takes out his gun and wreaks havoc:

1 . Ac3-a5!

3 1


With a typical desperado move, the condemned piece, instead of passively giving up, sacrifices itself in order to kill as many men as possible in the process! Here this is the only winning idea, but it is quite sufficient.

The 'normal' follow-up would have been l .Axf6+ ©xf6

t L J

- . J . _ I j

. 19 .

IT:' . R

. t M J

. GJ J J

i Q i B . k

Analysis diagram

2 .©h4 2.Axd4 ! , another desperado, is better, with equality. 2 . . . ©xh4 3 .gxh4 dxc3 with a big advantage to Black.

1 . ©d8-e7

A) After the sequence l . . .Axh3 2.Axd8 Axg2 (2 . . . Axd8 3.Axh3) 3.Axf6+ ®g7 4.Ae7 Ac6 5.Axf8+ White is winning. Notice that the condemned bishop has killed queen and rook before accepting its inevitable fate; B) On l . . .©xaS 2.Axffi+ ®g7

3.©h4 wins, as does 3.Axh5+ gxhS 4.©xh5 with 5.0xd4 to follow.

2 . 3 . 4 .

Ae4xf6+ ©h3-h4 g3xh4 e

32

©e7xf6 ©f6xh4

Miles ,Anthony Camp Deep Thought Long Beach 1989 (1)

The English player Tony Miles was a kind of desperado by his behaviour and his unpredictable results. He once surprised Karpov, the reigning World Champion, by replying to l .e4 with the suicidal l . .. a6 - and won, of course. In a famous tournament played in the Netherlands , he suffered back pains, continued the tournament lying on a stretcher . . . and won it.

During the following game, in a desperado contest Miles defied an opponent who was not known for being timorous either. Both sides played according to the same motto: take no prisoners.

1 . d2-d4 d7-d5 2 . c2-c4 d5xc4 3 . e2-e4 Ag8-f6 4. Abl -c3 e7-e5 5 . Agl-f3 e5xd4 6. ©dlxd4 Af8-d6 7. Aflxc4 0-0 8. Acl-gS Ab8-c6 9. ©d4-d2 h7-h6 10. Ag5-h4 Ac8-g4!

T . Gt . t M . J . J . J J - J

S I . s . j

B L 19 � . N

<qJ i I

IT:' • k . R

1 1 . 0-0-0

1 1 .©e3 was wiser, but prudence was never the main virtue of the Englishman.

Black now launches an ultra-violent sequence beginning with

1 1 . Ag4xf3!

The in-between move 12 .Axf6 ©xf6, followed by a second: 13.Ad5, is not better due to 13 . . . ©h4 14.gxf3 AeS 15.Ae2 Oad8, for example: 16.®b1 c6 17.Ae3 ©xf2<; .

1 2 . g2xf3

The beginning of a tactical flurry, from which the program will emerge as the winner.

1 2 . Af6xe4!

T . Gt . t M . J . J J J . - J

S l . - . J

B s . 19 � . . � I k R R

After this move, Miles is used as punching-bag by the machine. In Chester Himes's novel If trouble


was money the heroes and victims are happily singing ' If trouble was money, I would be a million-

• • 5 aue . The attacked queen could try to

commit suicide in desperado fashion with the inventive 13.©xh6!?, but according to our computersupported analysis, Black keeps the edge after the typical desperado sequence 13 . . . gxh6 14 .Axd8 Axf2 15.0hg1+ ®h7 16.Af6 Og8 17.0dfl (1 7.Axf7 Axd1 18.Axg8+ Oxg8 19.0xg8 ®xg8 20.®xd1 ®f7 2 l .Ae4 Axh2<;) 17 . . . 0xg1 18.0xg1 Og8 19.0xg8 ®xg8 20.Ah4 AeS 2 1 .Ae2 Afd3+ 22.®c2 Af4<; .

1 3 . Ah4xd8 Ae4xd2 14. Ad8xc7!

T . J 19 J

. t M J . - J

S l

B � .

. - . J

. � I k R R

Another excellent in-between move, but Black rises to the occasion with a final and decisive desperado.

5 Another famous novel by Himes - also relevant to our theme -

is entitled Blind man with a gun and deals with black people's

fight for equal rights in the USA in the 1960s.

33


14 . . .. 1 5 . Ac7xh2

Ad6xh2! Ad2xc4

with a decisive advantage, and ultimately a win in the endgame.

Shirov,Alexey Svidler,Peter Foros 2008 (10)

• T . t M j J _ . _ . j J

J

1 0 1 R

_ Q _ R

I k

The position looks equal because of the mutual weaknesses ( c4 and e6) and also the material on the board (only major pieces gives drawish tendencies) . Svidler plays with fire and provokes a volcanic reaction, at his own expense, with the impatient:

24 . .. . b7-b5?

Black looks for a general liquidation, exploiting the pin on the c-file. 24 . . . b6, for example, was more solid , with a very slight plus for White.

2 5 . Oe4-h4!

A classical Zwischenzug; before taking the pawn White threatens mate.

34

25 . 26 . a4xb5

h7-h6 ©b4xb5

T t M j . - . - . j

J - . j D

_ Q _ R

27. Oh4xh6�

. rr

I k

If Black takes the rook, White gives a Zwischenschach on g6, saving his queen while retaining the option of taking Black's. After

27 . .. . ©b5-f5

Black had to play a pawn-down ending and eventually lost.

Krasilnikov Beckmann carr. 1974/75

• . t L M S t _ . _ . j J I J

GJ . rr . J . N . j j

B I

I _ Q _ I i . k . �n� R

White has just taken on d6, and Black resigned here, having calculated the deadly consequences of

1 . 2 . 3 .

Ae4-c6+ ©e2-e8#

e7xd6 ®e8-d8/f8

It appears that Black's decision to resign was premature. Can you spot why?

l . . .Ac3+ ! !

. t L M S t . j J _ J

Gt . f' . J . N . J J

B I I I _Q _ I i

. k . �n� R Analysis diagram


After this intermediate check it is White who has to resign. The variation is very simple : 2 .bxc3 exd6 3 .Ac6++ ®f8 4 .©e8+ ®g7 With the vacation of this escape square for Black's king, White 's attack ends and so should the game .

On quiet moves as well as intermediate moves, we advise the reader to consult the remarkable articles by Mark Dvoretsky named The Instructor on the website ChessCafe.com, which are a constant source of inspiration for many players and trainers all over the world.

35


C - An g n rn e nt

Most chess moves are made along vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines. It is useful to pay attention when several pieces are on the same line, because this is a potential motif for combinations. This is even more important when the king and the queen are involved.

Gelbmann,Norbert Gyimesi,Zoltan (variation) Siofok jr 1996 (1)

0 . t . t M _ . j . _ J j J J N

J . J

I I i B r- N e .

L ea . I r- K

White's position looks awkward in spite of his big material advantage (two pieces up) . There is a threat of mate on h4 or h3, and should White's rook move in order to make luft for the king, then Black could give mate on g2. 1 . ©f4 might be considered, but after ©x© , Black is winning.

So we should reconsider the position, in order to find motifs that could help White escape, i.e. tactical factors that might work against Black. Can you see a glimmer of hope? The only favourable factor for White is that the black king and queen are aligned on the same vertical, the g-file, which is also occupied by the gl rook. That said, it is

36

still necessary to get rid of the two g-pawns.

Hence the only defence - and also the winning move - is

1 . ©cl-h6 ! ! g7xh6

l . . .Ae4 2.©h2 ©xh2+ 3.®xh2 Axc2 4.Axd8 e

2 . g2xf3

This example is quoted from Martin Weteschnik's interesting book Understanding Chess Tactics (Quality Chess 2006) . The author states that the lining-up of several pieces (two or more) is always a significant factor, regardless how many obstacles may stand between them.

•

Acs,Peter Kortchnoi, V iktor Ohrid Ech 2001 (3)

f' . T m

J GI J J . r- I

. t . <9 ·

k .

Viktor Kortchnoi notices that White's king and queen are standing on the same line. He seizes the occasion and trades the menacing rook by

1 . ©f6xg5??

The winning move was suggested by Jacob Aagaard in Chess Defense (Quality Chess) : l . . .Of8 ! ! Attack is the best form of defence. 2 .hxg6 2.0xg6 is the same. 2 . . . ©a l+ 3 .®g2 Oxf2+ 4 . ©xf2 Oxf2 + 5 .®xf2 ©d4+ and wins.

2 . ©g3xg5 g6xh5

Alas for Black, his own pieces are also involved in an alignment:

3 . Oa7-a8!

Black resigned because after 3.0a8 Og4+ 4.©xg4 hxg4 5.0xg8+ ®xg8 6.a4 the pawn promotion cannot be averted.

Short,N igel Timman,Jan London 2008 (2)

0 t . m . t J j . £ j

. J D . J - - . J

I 19 .

� . N <9

I k

Once you notice the alignment of the two queens, you will tend to


look at possible combinations involving the knights.

After a long think, Short played l .©b3 and White retained some advantage, but lost in the end. But

1. Ae4-d6 ! !

threatening 2.Axc6+, was winning:

1 . c7xd6

l . . .©xd6 2.Af7+.

2. Ae5xc6+ ®d8-d7 3 . Ac6xb8+

'The magnificent knight move works because the rook is so badly placed on b8 ( . . . ) The fact that this combination was found at all has nothing to do with candlelight or traditional English breakfasts, but with a contemporary phenomenon: the computer. It is doubtful whether a human being would have found it.' (Timman in New In Chess 2008/7) .

Let's hope our readers will be able to contradict this assumption.

Gomes Filho,Jose Neto,Carolina Rio de janeiro 1942

. T J . - J

M . t J ' j - J

J I J GI S J L

B I � I N i I I I _Q i K _

f' R

37


Black can expose the fundamental defects of White 's position - an annoying pin and the dubious position of his king - in two ways, which lead to one and the same position.

1 . Oh8-g8!!

Bringing the rook on the same file as the white king. Now . . . Ah4 followed by . . . g7 -gS is inevitable.

l . . .Ah4+! ! first amounts to the same.

2 . c2-c3 3. g3xh4

Ag6-h4+! g7-g5!

T M T J . - J

J I J J J Gl .

J . J L B I I

� I N I I _ Q i K _

��=' R 4. Ofl-gl

Or first 4 . . . gxh4+.

5 . ©e2xf3 6 . ®g2-h2

Ah5xf3+

g5xh4+

In the event of 6. ©g4 Oxg4+ 7.hxg4 ©xf2+ 8 .®hl ©f3+ 9 . ®h2 Ae3 wins.

6 . .. . ©f6xf3 7. Oglxg8+ ®e8-e7 8. Og8xa8

8.0g7 was hopeless: 8 . . . 0f8 9.0fl Axf2 1 .

38

8. 9 . ®h2-hl 10. ®hl-h2 1 1 . ®h2-hl

©f3xf2+ ©f2 -f3+ ©f3-g3+ ©g3xh3#

The English author John Nunn pointed out in his book Secrets of Practical Chess that all moves with pieces played along a line controlled by the opponent are very difficult to see when no material is taken.

Here are some examples involving such vertical intrusions.

Andersson,Ulf Mestel ,Jonathan London P&D 1982 (13)

• J

. t . m

J J . _ J _ Q

J . Gl I

I R ll=' . k .

In this game, Black played the rook to d5 and lost eventually. There was an instant win with a pretty rook move:

1 . 2 . 3 . 4.

Odlxd2 ®gl-h2 g2-g3

Od8-d2 ! ©g3xel + Ag7-e5+ ©elxd2+

Qendro,Llam bi Shaw,John Turin Olympiad 2006 (12)

• T T M _ J _ . _ J j J J J I

D J N i � I _ . I i I

. f' . R k In this quite equal position, resulting from an Exchange Slav, Black plays for a win by setting a vicious trap.

1 . ©b5-a5!? 2 . Oclxc8+ ?!

2.©d6 was equal.

2 . 3. Ofl -c l?

Oa8xc8

T M _ J _ . _ J j J J J I Gt . J N � � -1 I

. f' . k


Both players were happy to reach this position. White seems to be on the road to an imminent draw; however Black has already anticipated a nice trick which forces the win. The next move came as a cold shower for White. 3. ©d6 was still playable.

3. Oc8-c2! Black is now threatening 4 . . . Ae7, deflecting the queen from the defence of the rook, as well as 4 . . . bS, pinning the knight. There 's no escape.

4. g2-g3

4.0dl bS 1 ; 4.0xc2 ©el+.

M _ J _ . _ J j J J J I Gt . J N i � I _ . I T

. f' . k 4. Af6-e7 5 . ©a3xe7 Oc2xcl +

And Black won .

39


Exerc i s e s

On the following pages we offer you a little test with six positions - from simple to difficult - dealing with the same theme: activating the rook on a controlled file.

The number of stars is an indication of the difficulty of the task: *easy, ** average, *** difficult, **** very difficult, and so on.

40


EXERCISE 1

*

Pahtz,Elisabeth Zawadzka,Jolanta

Antakya 2010 (1 .3)

0 . . t T M j L _ . _ . j J . j J

_ . _ . _ J _ Q I . cal .

B R F K

How can White make use of a back-rank motif to win a piece?

4 1


Solution 1 *

Pahtz,Elisabeth Zawadzka,Jolanta Antakya 2010 (1 .3)

. t T M j L _ . - . j J

. j . _ J _ . _ . _ J _ Q

42

I . GJ .

B R f' K

The classic invasion of the second rank, with a double attack, wins on the spot:

1 . Odl-d7! Oe8-f8 2 . Od7xb7 e 1-o


EXERCISE 2

* *

Grant, Alan Wohl,Aleksandar Hastings 2010/ 1 1 (8)

• . t . M J J

J J J .

. j I

. . j

N I I

. . GJ I I

0 R K

Try to take profit from the vulnerability of the white king.

43


Solution 2 * *

Grant, Alan Wohl,Aleksandar Hastings 2010/ 1 1 (8)

. _ . t . M J

J - . j . J .

J J J

N

I i . i Gt Q R K

44

1. Od8-d2! 0-1

•


EXERCISE 3

* * *

Bagirov,Vladimir Kholmov,Ratmir

Baku ch-URS 1961 (12)

M .

j . - . - . j . j . <di .

. j J t . _ J T

_ I G;j . _ . I I I

k .

Here is a classic example on this theme.

45


Solution 3 * * *

Bagirov, Vladimir Kholmov,Ratmir Baku ch-URS 1961 (12)

M J - . - . J

J . 0 . j J t . _ J

T _ l fqJ . _ I I I

46

R f' k .

After a preliminary exchange, the arrival on the second rank poses two unstoppable threats: of mate beginning by a check on f2 , and an attack on the queen, while the rook must stay protected.

1 . 2 . Odlxe l

Oe4xel + Oe5-e2 ! ! 0-1


•

.

j I

EXERCISE 4

* * * *

Janssen,Ruud Sokolov,lvan

Leeuwarden ch-NED 2002 (6)

t M J J

J J

I _ Q inl

B R

J

L

D . I

K

The key to this position is the fight for the d-file. Only one move wins for Black.

47


Solution 4 * * * *

Janssen,Ruud Sokolov,lvan Leeuwarden ch-NED 2002 (6)

. _ . t . J

J J j . - . I I .

_ Q � .

48

B R

M J J

L

D I K

1 . 2 .

.. . Odlxd2

Od8-d2 !

If 2.g4 , 2 . . . 0xe2 3.Axe2 and now the horizontal capture 3 . . . ©xb3! wins.

2 . . . . 3. Ae2xf3

3.®gl ©g2#.

3.

Ah5-f3+

©h3-fl #


EXERCISE 5

* * * * *

Beliavsky,Alexander Smeets ,Jan

Amsterdam 2007 (7)

0 t T . M S J j - -

D l

N j J �

Black seems to have his defences in order. Find the weak spot in his armour.

49


Solution 5 * * * * *

Beliavsky,Alexander Smeets,Jan Amsterdam 2007 (7)

. . t T j M _ S _ J _ .

D l . i . Is> .

N J J <9 · -

. f' k

1 . Oe l-e7! !a

Threatening to win ma_!erial _after 2.0dl . In the game l .Oxe8 Oxe8 2 .Ae3( was played, with a draw as a result.

50

1 . 2 . f6xe7

2 . . . 0b8 3.b3a .

3 . Oal-dl 4 . Ag5xf6

Ad6xe7 Od8-a8

f7-f6 Ad7xf6

4 . . . ©xa4 5 .©e4+ ! ®c7 6.Ae5+ ! AxeS 7.©xe5+ With the queen and rook in the open field White has a decisive attack. 7 . . . ®b7 8.©e4+ 8 . . . ®b6 9.0d6+ ®c7 1 0 .0d4 e ®b6 l l .Oxc4 aS 12 .©d4+ ®b7 13.©d5+ ®b6 14 .©d6+ ®b7 1 5 .0c7+ ®b8 16.©b6#. 8 . . . ®c7 9 .©xc4+

5 . Aa4-c5+ ®b7-c7 6. ©d4-e5+ ®c7-c8 7. Odl-d6 e


0 .

j

EXERCISE 6

* * * * * *

N ovikov,Stanislav Efimenko,Zahar (variation)

Moscow 2010 (8)

.

GJ T . M .

j - . j . j _ Q _

I . - j I

. j

R k

This position was investigated by Larry Christiansen in an ICC lecture. In his analysis of a variation of the game, Christiansen demonstrates that White can play for the win with a beautiful concept.

5 1


Solution 6 * * * * * *

N ovikov,Stanislav Efimenko,Zahar (variation) Moscow 2010 (8)

t:. . GI T . M . J J - . J

J _ Q _ I . - J . J

I

R k

1 . Ofl-f8! !

An almost quiet move to begin with. White is not really threatening anything, so it seems, but the

Why were all these moves invisible ?

rook is taboo due to the mate on e6.

1 . e5-e4

l . . .Oxf8 2.©e6# ; l . . .©e7 2.0f7. Now comes a hard-to-see move:

2 . Of8-g8!!

Moving to a controlled square and attacking g7. White gets an advantage in all lines: A) 2 . . . ©e7 3 .0xg7 ©xg7

4.©xg7+ Oe7 5.©f6 and the queen is very powerful in connection with pawn advances, for example : 5 . . . 0be8 6.®f2 e3+ 7.®e2 g4 8.a4 ! ®c8 9.a5 bxaS lO.cS ;

B) 2 . . . 0e7 3 .©c6+ ®c8 4.0xd8+ ®xd8 5.®f2a .

In all positions the invading rook plays along a seemingly well controlled file (or rank) , finally landing unprotected on an attacked square behind the enemy lines. In fact the opponent's control is just optical, as the overloaded defender is at the very same time also committed to the safety of the back rank - thus the intruder is untouchable.

52


D - Forg etti n g the ru l e s

In the heat of the battle it may happen that the players forget certain official FIDE rules. A famous example was when Kortchnoi asked the arbiter if White was allowed to castle kingside when the opponent was attacking the rook on hl6• Another story was told by Tal , who once in a game used all possible means to keep the opponent from castling, only to remember in the end that the enemy king had already moved twice earlier on.

It happens frequently that a player - or both players - forgets about a legal possibility because it does not seem to apply in the given situation.

Flear, Glenn Adams,Michael Hastings 1996/97 (3)

• M

. k . j N

. J

. � .

- . - . J

. t:. . Black has three pawns against a knight, a very advantageous material balance in an endgame. But the three white pieces, all protected from checks by the black pawns, can easily force a draw.

In this English duel, the players were ready for the traditional shake-hands concluding the peace and Adams carelessly pushed a pawn:

6 The answer is yes.

1 . b4-b3??

Any defensive move like l . . .Ofl or 1 . . . ®d8 would have secured the draw .

2 . Ad5-f6!

The threat is mate in one.

2 . ®c8-d8

And now White forced a draw with

3 . Og7-d7+7

Flear forgot about the rule of mate ! The black king is dead after 3 .®b7! b2 (or any legal move) 4 .0d7+.

3 . ®d8-c8 4. Od7-g7?

4. Oe 7! was winning.

4. ®c8-d8 s . Og7-d7+7

5.®b7!.

53


•

5 . ®d8-c8 6 . Od7-g7? Vz-Vz

Meshkov, Yury Maletin,Pavel Miass 2007 (8.2)

J I . GJ .

L s B k .

In this complicated position, both players have unprotected pieces. Black is better thanks to his Queen+Knight duo hovering dangerously near White's monarch. He could also take the g4 pawn at some point.

65 . .. . ®g7xg6?

Two moves were easily winning: 65 . . . Axg4 ! ; or first 65 . . . Ah3+ ! 66.®hl ®xg6 67.©xe2 Af2+ 68.®gl Axg4 There's no perpetual: 69 .©e4+ ®g7 70. ©d4+ ®h7 71 .©e4+ ®g8 72.©e8+ ®g7 73.©e4 Ae3 74.©d4+ ®h7 75.©e4+ ®h6 76.©c6+ ®g7 77.©e4 ©xg2+.

Now which move should have drawn for White?

66. ©e7-g5+! !

54

In the actual game White forgot about the stalemate and played 66.©xe2? after which Black gained a clear advantage by 66 . . . Axg4 .

66. .. . ®g6-h7

Another rule leads to a draw: perpetual check. 66 . . . ®xgS would be stalemate .

67. ©g5-h5+ ®h7-g7 68. ©h5-g5+ ®g7-f8 69. ©g5-d8+ ®f8-g7 70. ©d8-g5+ i Vz-Vz

Strating,Sybolt Van der Schilden,Eric Haarlem 1996 (4)

0 L GJ M I t J . 5 . _ J j J

J J

I 19 . . rnl .

I t I I 11-' . Q k B R

White has gained the advantage from the opening: better development, better pawn structure and a space advantage. Black wanted to get at least a material advantage and took a pawn on b2. What unpleasant surprise awaited him?

1 . ©dlxd8+ ®e8xd8

L m . I . t j . s . _ J j J

J J

I 19 . . � .

I t . IT:' •

. i I i . k B R

White now wins a rook thanks to a double attack, in one move with two different pieces.

2 . 0-0-0+! 1-0

Taimanov,Mark Polugaevsky,Lev Leningrad ch-URS 1960 (19)

1 . d2-d4 d7-d5 2 . c2-c4 d5xc4 3. Ag1-f3 Ag8-f6 4 . ©d1-a4+ Ab8-d7 5. Ab1-c3 e7-e6 6. e2-e4 c7-c5 7. d4-d5 e6xd5 8. e4-e5 d5-d4 9 . Aflxc4 d4xc3 1 0. e5xf6 ©d8xf6 11 . Ac1 -g5 ©f6-c6

T L M I . t . J s J . J J - - J

D _ . j . _ . 19 . Q _ B _ . _ . _

. N J

. k I R


In this classical game, the great Taimanov surprised his opponent with

12 . 0-0-0! !

Winning on the spot. In the two latest games with this

variation, this possibility was not spotted by two strong players. In Marzolo-Brethes, Vandoeuvre 2008 (Vz-Vz , 36) , and ArutinianGelazonia, Tbilisi 2007 (1-0, 21) , both white players opted for the casual 1 2 .©b3, after which 1 2 . . . f6 is unclear.

1 2 . . .. c3xb2+

If 12 . . . ©xa4 1 3 .0he 1 + Ae7 14 .0xe7 + ®f8 ( 14 . . . ®d8 1 5 .0exd7+ ®e8 16.0d8+) 15.0xf7+ ®g8 16.0fxd7+! ©xc4 17.0d8+ ®f7 Black would be OK were it not for the following fork: 18.Ae5+! e .

13 . ®c1xb2

13. ®b 1 is even stronger.

13 . . .. Af8-e7

13 . . . f6 14 .0he1+ ®d8!? 15 .Ab5 ©b6 16.Ae5 e .

14. Oh1-e 1 ! f7-f6 15 . Ac4-b5 ©c6-b6

15 . . . ©c7 16.Af4.

16. ®b2-c 1 f6xg5 17. Ab5xd7+ ®e8-f8 18. Oe 1xe7! ®f8xe7 19. ©a4-e4+ ®e7-d8 20. Ad7-f5+ ®d8-c7

55


2 1 . ©e4-e5+ ®c7-c6 22 . Od l-d6+ ®c6-b5 23. ©e5-b2+ 1-0

Zamarbide lbarrea,Borja Kononenko,Tatiana Pamplona 2006 (2 .5)

• T M J D . I .

. - . s J _ Q _ J

. J R

K

In this winning position, Black, a knight up, wanted to take the g 7 pawn with his queen, and in order to protect the e6 pawn, played the nonchalant

33 . .. . Oc8-e8?

33 . . . ©e 7 had_ to be played first, followed by . . . Oe8 and . . . ©xg7.

56

White missed a golden opportunity to exploit a rare yet simple motif:

34. Of3-f8+!

In the game Whjte played 34.©g5? ©xg7 35 .©h5 Of8 and resigned.

34. .. . Oe8xf8 35 . ©g6-h7 +! !

Double deflection in order to create the possibility of a knight fork.

35 . .. . ®g8xh7 36. g7xf8A+! ®h7-h6 37. Af8xd7

And the game should be a draw after

37 . .. . 38. Ad7-c5

Ad6-e4 Ae4xc5

38 . . . Ac3 40.Ac5 i.

39.Axb7 Axa2

39. d4xc5 40. ®g2-f3 41 . ®f3-g3 42 . ®g3-h3 i

®h6-g6 ®g6-g5 e6-e5


E - Qu i et pos it ion s

It sometimes happens that in a quiet and dull game, players forget to look for fighting opportunities. Here is an example.

Hartston, William Penrose ,Jonathan London 1963

0 . t T M J 0 . I J j

J s - . j - . - . j

I _ N _ B _ . <9 I I I I

R R K In this position, smelling a rat, the experienced Penrose offered a draw to young Hartston, who duly accepted. He missed a straightforward win:

1 . 2 . 3 .

Oflxf7 ! Ad3-c4+ Odl-fl+

®g8xf7 ®f7-f8 Ae7-f6

. t T rn . J 0 . j

J s j - . - . j

B I _ N _ . _ · <9 I I I I

R K And here there is a forced checkmate thanks to an elegant queen manoeuvre:

4. 5 . 6 . 7.

Oflxf6+! ©g3-g8+ ©g8-e6+ ©e6xf6+

g7xf6 ®f8-e7 ®e7-f8

And mate follows.

•

Levi tina ,Irina Marinello,Beatriz Bloomington ch-USA 1994 (2)

M J - . j I j . lg J

I L . k .

It looks like another boring opposite-coloured bishops endgame is awaiting both players. Black did what she was supposed to do and played the orthodox move

1 . ®g8-f7?

Centralizing the king, but missing an immediate win by 1 . . .Ae4 ! ! . As a result the b-pawn will be crowned. On e4 black's bishop incarcerates White's. The lone white king is able to reach the 'square' (b5-bl -fl -f5) but cannot stop the

57


pawn after 2 .®fl (2.fxe4 b4 3.Af4 b3) 2 . . . b4 3.®e2 b3 4 .®d2 b2.

Karpov,Anatoly Antunes,Antonio Ti!burg 1994 (3)

• . Gt . M _ . _ T I J j Q _ . _ J - . j J . J

S ls> N � i I

. k .

After a quiet game with a symmetrical pawn structure, White has just played ©c4 to a6, giving Black a golden opportunity to conclude the game immediately:

1 . b4-b3!

1. . .Af8? was played in the game, and White eventually won after 2.0c8a ©e7 3.©a8.

2. a2xb3

If 2 .0c8 bxa2 3.0xd8+ (not 3 . . . 0xd8 since 4.©xa5 wins for White) 3 . . . Axd8! 1 as the pawn promotion is inevitable.

2 . 3 . ©a6-c8 4. ©c8xc2

Ad3-b4 Ab4xc2 ©d8-c7

With a decisive advantage to Black.

58

Gashimov, Vugar Bacrot,Etienne Baku 2008 (1)

T t I M _ . _ . _ J j J

D J

. j N _ �_ . _ . _ I _Q _

I I . rr . k .

After a very quiet game. White has a slight advantage. Probably feeling sleepy, Black tried to prepare some sort of opening of the game by . . . b4-b3 and unwisely played:

33 . .. . Oc8-b8?

Note that 34 . . . b3 is not yet a threat because of 35.Aa5. Gashimov, who went on to win this tournament, continued to press slowly:

34. h4-h5?

Black then defended with

34 . .. . ©c6-c7

And drew after a long struggle. White had an elementary win with 34 . ©xf7 + ! , exploiting the lack of protection of the black queen: A) 34 . . . ®h8 35.Ae5 ! ©d5

(35 . . . ©d6 36.©c4 e ) 36.0f4 Obc8 37.0f5 ; B) 34 . . . ®xf7 35.Ae5+.

At the end of every chapter we present a number of exercises on the themes that we have studied:


EXERCISE 1

*

Premature Resignation

0 F

Fridstein,German Lutikov,Anatoly

Riga 1954 (2)

. rrhl . K J .

- j

Everybody knows that two connected pawns cannot be stopped by a rook as soon as they have arrived on the sixth rank (or the third rank in the case of black pawns) . The white player also knew this and resigned here. What should he have tried?

59


Solution 1

Fridstein, German Lutikov,Anatoly Riga 1954 (2)

. � .

J . - J m .

*

K

White correctly calculated that taking on b3 would lose because after

1 . Ob8xb3 c3-c2

the promotion cannot be averted :

60

2 . 3 . 4 .

Ob3-b4+ Ob4-b5+ Ob5-b8

®d4-d5 ®d5-c6 ®c6-c7

However, an in-between check (or Zwischenschach) would have drawn easily:

l .Ob4+ ! forces the king to stand on an unfavourable square, before taking the pawn. l . . .®d3 (l . . .®dS 2.0xb3 ®c4) 2.0xb3 The c3 pawn is pinned, and the draw is inevitable.

Why was this a hard-to-see-move?

It is a typical in-between move, without any apparent link with the main element of the position: the two dangerous passed pawns.


EXERCISE 2

* *

Parry-Riposte

Lapiken,Peter Reshevsky,Samuel

United States 1955

D T t . j J lb> M

J _ . j D _ J _

. I

K

J s

I G;� R B F

Black has interpolated a Zwischenschach before taking back the bishop on g 7. What could White have replied here?

6 1


Solution 2

Lapiken,Peter Reshevsky,Samuel United States 1955

T . t .

* *

. J 19 M j J _ . j D _ J _

I K

J s

l <qJ R B � .

White did not notice the surprising refutation of Black's unjustified intermediate move.

62

He could have interposed and attacked the queen with

1 . Afl -c4! ©e6xc4+

Or l . . .bxc4 2 .©h6+ followed by mate .

2 . b2-b3

And White wins.

Why was l .Ac4 ! a hard-to-see-move?

This is an attacking move in defence, a kind of 'parry-riposte ' like in fencing. It is also a real Zwischenzug because after the white bishop is taken, his king is still in check.


0

EXERCISE 3

* *

Too Early or Too Late?

Bartolovich Abkin

St. Petersburg 1902

T

_ J j D _ . J _ . j � i N I

K

. rrhl

J J

The title is a reference to a well-known story involving Bobby Fischer and Efim Geller (see Solution overleaf) .

In our game White resigned with the worst possible timing, at the very first move where he could force a draw, precisely thanks to his over-passive position.

63


Solution 3

Bartolovich Abkin St. Petersburg 1902

T

_ J j D _ . J _ . j . � i N I K

. t:. .

* *

. rn

J J

Geller, who was White and leading three to zero in their personal contest, offered a draw as early as move 9, with a smile. Fischer

64

laughed and replied 'Too early! ' . Then a long fight followed, and when Geller offered a draw for the second time, Fischer, who was enjoying a small advantage, was reported to have declared 'Too late ! ' . The American won this game.

1 . 2 . 3 .

©f4-f6+ ©f6-g7+ h5-h6+

®h8-g8 ®g8xg7

And wherever the king goes, White is stalemated.

Why is this a hard-to-see-move? Stalemate is surprising when there are so many pieces left on the board.


EXERCISE 4

* *

Poisoned Pawn

Mohr, Georg Zube,M

Nuremberg 1989

D T L GJ M I t j J j J _ . j J

I � J ts> .

I i J O k B

. I

R

White has a choice : to take back on g2 , or to capture on d7 first, with an intermediate check. What would you choose?

65


Solution 4 * *

Here's the integral game, where White, rated 2450 Elo, resigned after eight moves!

Mohr, Georg Zube,M Nuremberg 1989

1 . c2-c4 2 . Ab1 -c3 3 . Ag1 -f3 4. d2-d4 5 . Ac1 -g5 6 . d4-d5 7. d5xc6

e7-e5 Ab8-c6 f7-f5 e5-e4 Ag8-f6 e4xf3 f3xg2

T L GJ M I t j J j J _ . j J

I . � J ls> .

� . I i J I

rr Q k B R Here White had to take on g2, with approximate equality. Unfortunately for him, without giving it a second thought he decided to take the pawn with check, a mechanical in-between move.

8. c6xd7+7

He had to play 8.Axg2 dxc6 9 .©a4 ° . Now White was forced to resign after

66

8. Af6xd7!

T L GJ M I t j J j S _ . j J

J ls> .

� . I i J I

rr O k B R The only capture that he had not taken into account. Black is attacking both the rook - with a queen promotion - and the bishop, so he will remain a piece up after 9.Axg2 ©xg5 and a rook up after 9.Axd8 gxh1©.

Why was this a hard-to-see-move? White was not expecting a counterattack when he gave a check. He also underestimated the strength of a possible promotion, which wins a rook.

In fact it's so hard to see that two Soviet masters in 1970 overlooked it as well. Razuvaev (in the U18 Soviet Championship in Dubna) and later that year Doroshkevich in round 9 of the formidable 22-player Soviet Championship in Riga. The former played on till move 15 , the latter also resigned instantly.


•

EXERCISE 5

* * * *

A Technical Trick

Dolmatov,Sergey Kupreichik,Viktor (variation)

Minsk ch-URS 1979 (10)

rrhl .

A technical question. In this endgame, the black king is too far away to stop the white h-pawn. But Black has a way to gain a crucial tempo. Do you see it?

67


Solution 5 * * * *

Dolmatov,Sergey Kupreichik,Viktor (variation) Minsk ch-URS 1979 (10)

m .

. k .

t:.

1 . . . . Ob2-f2+! !

A superb intermediate move, and the only winning one. l . . .Oxg2 2.h5 ®b7 3.®f5 ®c7 4.h6 ®d7 5.h7 Oh2 6.®g6 ®e7 7.®g7 Og2+ 8.®h8 1 ; l . . .®b7 2.h5 ®c7 3.h6 ®d7 4.h7 Ob8 5.®f5 ®e7 6.®g6 i.

2 . ®f4-g5

m .

. k

t:.

68

Now Black has a small technical trick that enables him to win a valuable tempo. Without the g2 pawn, the solution would be exactly the same.

On 2.®g3 Of8 is a win, as you can easily check. Just bring the black king to the corner.

2 . 3 . ®g5-f6

Of2xg2+ Og2-h2!

This manoeuvre wins a tempo and the game, as the rook is now ideally placed behind the pawn while the white king is obliged to move backward in order to protect the passed pawn.

4 . ®f6-g5 5. h4-h5 6. h5-h6 7. ®g5-g6 8. ®g6-g7 9. ®g7-h8

®a7-b7 ®b7-c7 ®c7-d7 ®d7-e7 Oh2-g2+ ®e7-f6

9 . . . ®f7 also wins: 10.h7 ®g6 l l .®g8 Oa2 12 .h8A+ ®f6 1 .

10 . h6-h7 Og2-a2

And mate.

Why is this a hard-to-see-move ? Black gives an in-between check instead of taking the pawn. In so doing he gives White the choice to keep his material - with a poorly placed king, or to give it up to advance more quickly.


EXERCISE 6

* * * *

Fa tal Alignment

Harikrishna,Pentala Volokitin,Andrey

Bermuda 2005 (7)

0 t .

J J j � J L rrR .

� J F I@

I@ I B I

k

White missed a very difficult combination here, based upon the bad position of several black pieces, especially the black king and rook who are awkwardly situated on the same file. Can you manage to calculate the forced sequence that wins material?

69


Solution 6 * * * *

Harikrishna,Pentala Volokitin,Andrey Bermuda 2005 (7)

. t . j J s . _ . _ J

J L rn . s J

I � . I � .

B

. � I

I . k .

This is a typical example of a difficult combination for the human mind, whereas computer programs are able to solve it quickly.

The tactical themes are clear enough: White is in the driving seat, because Black's position lacks harmony. There is a weak pawn on f5 and the rook on f8 might fall victim to some combination exploiting the alignment with his king. Meanwhile, Black's knights are out of play, particularly the one on c 7. Bearing all this in mind, can you find the win?

1 . Ac2xf5 ! !

l .Ae2 was played in the actual game, with an equal position and a quick draw.

70

1 . 2 . Od4-f4

Ae6xf5 ®f6-g5

If 2 . . . ®e6 then 3.g4a. There follows a non-obvious move that you must have foreseen in the starting position, before sacrificing the bishop.

. t . j J s . _ . _ J

J . s L rn .

I I � .

3 . g2-g3! !

. � . � I

I . k .

A quiet, hard-to-find move. White takes the time to consolidate, and threatens 4.0xf5+ OxfS s .Ae4 , winning back the rook. There 's simply no defence against that, and White wins a pawn, with good chances of winning the endgame.

Why was this a hard-to-see-move? Here there are two difficulties : - The quiet move following the sac-rifice and the pin is not obvious;

- It is not easy to visualize the domination of the king by the two white knights.

Chapter 2 - Geometrically invisible moves

The human mind does not allow us to keep a neutral attitude while thinking and calculating moves - unlike computer programs, which are able to study every possibility with equal accuracy. There is a limitation to the number of moves that humans can deal with, and there is also another problem: some moves are harder to see for us than others.

We have not been able to find scientific proof on the topic; still , we dare venture that forward moves are easier to find than backward moves. Here's one hypothesis: human beings usually walk forward, they seldom walk backward and hardly ever horizontally (unless you practise some sport like tennis, or some form of dancing) .

Another idea is inherent to the game itself: at first all our men are standing at the back of the board. Then we learn to move pawns (always forward) and to develop pieces toward the centre and in the direction of the opponent's pieces. There is a general movement from the back to the front, and some players are even reluctant to go backward 'on principle' .

7 1


A - Hori zonta l ef'f'ect

Horizontal moves are the hardest to see. In chess clubs, sometimes players joke 'patzer cannot see the horizontal ' . In the following examples, we can see that this difficulty also affects players at a higher level.

•

lvanchuk,Vasily Svidler,Peter Nanjing 2008 (1)

B J

. t . M J . - J

s . t <9

L R � .

I GJ . rr K

White is two pawns up but his position looks critical. White 's king is surrounded by enemy pieces, including the black queen, and has no escape, e2 being under the control of the g4 bishop. The only protection against the imminent checkmate threat is the knight on g3. White 's pieces are scattered all over the board. Notably the rook on d3 and the bishop on b5 are exposed. Once you take into account the alignment on the fifth rank you may spot an immediate win. However, in this game, with eight minutes left on the clock, Black chose to give perpetual check with 34 . . . ©h3+ 35 .®gl ©h2+ 36.®fl ©h3+ 37 .®gl ©h2+ and a draw.

72

The move with the horizontal point

34. Oh6-h5! 35 . ©e5-e4

(35.Axh5? ©hl is mate)

35 . .. . Oh5xb5

won easily, as Black gains a material advantage while keeping strong attacking possibilities.

Naiditsch,Arkadij Svidler,Peter Khanty-Mansiysk 2009 (3.6)

This example is taken from a crucial game from the World Cup, during the rapid playoffs. Black had to win this game, but White, to move, missed a nice win here. Can you spot it?

0 t . _ . _ L j M _ . J J . - J

J S R

I K

. GJ .

. rr .


1. Oh5-h4! e

The rook is used with horizontal effect.

l .g6+ was played in the actual game, with an eventual win for Black, and with this victory Svidler qualified after the blitz session.

1 . ©d4-c5

l . . .©g7 2.0h7.

2. Oh4-f4+!

The point of the rook manoeuvre. With this exchange sacrifice White makes his way toward the black king. The knight holds Black's position together.

t:. . _ . _ L j M _ . J J . - J

J GJ S

I K

. rr

rr .

2 . .. . Ad5xf4

lf 2 . . . ®g8 3.g6 and mate ; If 2 . . . ®e8 3.0xf8+ ®xf8 4.©h8+ ®f7 5. ©h7+ ®f8 6.g6 Ae6 7.g7+ ®e8 8.©g6+! wins.

3 . ©h2-h7+ ®f7-e8 4. ©h7xe7#

73


B - C i rcu it

'Circuits' , which involve various moves by the same piece with changes of direction, are difficult to work out in advance. Here is an example of mutual blindness, described by the winner.

Rook circuit

Yusupov,Artur Kortchnoi, Viktor Pulvermuhle 2006 (2)

• T T M . D J . - - - J

J

J I J J L

I rr N Q _ I rr B k

J

In this tense position, White is attacking c6, while Black is dreaming of a battery involving the light-squared bishop on e4 with the queen on f3.

Yusupov told the authors that he had noticed a nice possible defence against this set-up, if Black had first taken on g3.

33 . .. . Af5-e4

Here are Yusupov's thoughts: 'I had seen that after 33 . . . hxg3

34.hxg3 Ae4 35.0xc6 ©fS 36.0xc8 ©f3 37.0xe8+ ®h7

74

I J J

R J . M - J

J i L N D i

i Q _ I . rr . B k

Analysis diagram

I could play 38.0h8+ ®xh8 39.©c8+ ®h7 40. ©h3+ and White repels the attack. But at first Kortchnoi's direct attempt looked very strong to me, and I only saw the defence afterwards.'

33 . . . ©e 7! was good, with the idea of starting a strong counterattack on the dark squares in case of 34.0xc6 hxg3 35.hxg3 Axg3 (35 . . . 0xc6 first is the same) 36.fxg3 Oxc6 37. ©xc6 ©xe3+ 38.Af2 ©xg3+ i 39.Ag2 Oe2, forcing 40.0fl 0 when Biack is notworse.

34. Oc3xc6 35 . Oc6xc8 36. Oc8xe8+

©d7-f5 ©f5-f3

Black resigned, as he saw - a little late - that his attack was non-existent because after 36 . . . ®h 7 White has the obvious 37.0xe4. That is,


obvious if you have the position on the board before you. Indeed, a resource that was also available in the previous variation quoted by Yusupov. This rare rook circuit Oc3xc6xc8xe8xe4 is very difficult to visualize in advance, as is illustrated by the lines calculated by the players during the game. For a similar circuit, see CapablancaThomas, Chapter 4, page 152.

Bishop circuit

Yusupov,Artur Pirrot,Dieter Germany Bundesliga 1994/95 (13)

0 T L J ls> S

J J J I T

. 0

I M J J

J

I R k

N B i R Q

The issue looks unclear. Black is a pawn up and appears to have a strong position, although his queen looks to be in danger. Can you find a way to trap it?

1. Ac7-g3! !

I t is not easy to imagine the manoeuvring of this bishop from c 7 to e 1 , in order to take the trapped queen on c3. Yet it is inevitable, once you grasp the idea. The text,

introducing the circuit Ac 7 -g3-e 1xc3, is also an invisible move.

1 . Oe4-e8 2 . f2-f3

Since 2 . . . 0xe3 3.Ae1 loses the queen.

2 . Ad7-c5!? 3. Ag3-e l e

l .©cl was played in the game, with better chances for Black at this point (although White later won) .

Queen circuit

0 T GJ T M j L _ . I J J

. j S _ J _ J 19 s I

� Q _ N _ B I

R f' k This is a well-known theoretical position that can be reached via various move orders: for example, the Nimzo-lndian Defence or the Panov Variation of the Caro-Kann.

1. Ac3-e4!?

Setting a beautiful trap. For example, l .Aa4 was played

in a game between two World Champions : l . . . a6 2 .Axd5 ©xd5 3.©e3 Af6 4.Ab3 ©h5? 5 .d5 ! e and 1 -0 , 29 in Smyslov-Karpov, Leningrad ch-URS 1971 .

75


1 . Ac6-b4?

This is the logical 'refutation' , but now a very strange queen circuit wins for White.

l . . .Ab4 !? is an interesting try.

2 . a3xb4 Ad5xb4

T GJ T M j L _ . I J J

J ls> . j J

. s . i N _ Q _ N _

76

B i I R � . k

3 . ©d3-b5!

3 . ©b3? i was played in the game Ruiz Jimenez-Gomez Esteban, Barcelona ch-ESP 2000 ( 0- 1 , 36) .

3 . Ab4xc2 4 . ©b5-e5 e Ae7-f8

4 . . . f6 5.©xe6+ ®h8 6.©f7 Af8 (6 . . . 0g8 7.Aeg5 fxgS 8.0xe7 e ) 7.Axf6.

5 . Ae4-f6+

Winning the queen .

The circuit ©d3-b5-e5, with decisive threats, is highly unexpected.


C - Cha n g i ng vvi n g s

Some moves are very difficult to see because they involve surprising operations on the opposite wing.

Such was the case in the variation missed by Veselin Topalov in the following game, found in Andrew Soltis's book The wisest things ever said about chess (Batsford, 2008) .

Kasimdzhanov,Rustam Topalov,Veselin Leon 2007 (2)

. T j R_ .

J - . J I

Gt . B

T M I J £

J i S j

ls> Q _ I I N R K

In this very rich and complex game, White has just played the thematic central break e4-e5, with an initiative. Nevertheless Black could keep his chances alive, with a pawn up, a solid position and some attacking chances on the kingside, if only the black queen were able to fly over the board in order to join the attacking knights.

1 . Ag4xh2!

A very difficult move! White has an edge after l . . .dxeS 2 .d6! e4 3.Ac4+ ®h8 4.Ac3�.

2. ®glxh2

2.0el is possible, but then, if anyone, Black has the advantage after 2 . . . A2g4.

2 . c5-c4 ! 0

With a beautiful point.

3 . Ad3xc4?

3.Ac3! cxd3 4.©xd3 Oab8 with chances for both sides. After 4 . . . Ag4+, in order to keep the equilibrium White has to play the unnatural but highly effective 5.®h3! (S .®gl?! ©c5+; S .®hl ©cS with some pressure) 5 . . . 0ec8 ° ; 5 . . . 0ab8? would lose to another demonstration of play on two wings: 6.0xg7 + ®xg7 7.e6+ ®h7

t:. T J M

- . J J I J

i S j Gt . ls> Q _ . _ K

I N R

Analysis diagram

and now 8.®xh4 ! ! , with the idea 9.®g5 and lO .Ohl+ , wins.

77


3 . Ah6-g4+ 4. ®h2-gl

And now 'Guess who is coming to dinner?'

4 . ©a3-g3!

And Black wins. Here's what Max Notkin declared about this game: 'If our eyes had the capability of taking in various sectors, probably we'd play stronger chess' (Soltis, The wisest things ever said about chess, Batsford 2008, Chapter 1 7: 'You can't see 64 squares at the same time') .

Here various themes make the task harder for the seeker. The horizontal action of the queen, the change of wings 'over' the d3 bishop in order to reach g3 (a square originally controlled by a white pawn) , also a change of rhythm (a knight sacrifice followed by a slower pawn move) and another thing that cannot be fathomed by a careful examination of the position: the history of the game, where the black queen had oscillated between various squares on the a-file, making her flight to the other side even more unexpected.

The great difficulty to see this move can only be explained by the very human difficulty to see the whole board simultaneously, because the main variation is neither long nor difficult to calculate. A high-level illustration of geometrical invisibility.

78

•

Saric,lvan Yakovenko,Dimitry Novi Sad Ech-tt 2009 (1)

L J . J

. t:. . M J I J

D J

. J s � - · C9 1

T 19 . I R f' B K

A simpler but less easy-to-see motif was missed by Yakovenko in this game. What is Black's best move in order to secure his winning advantage here? Compare with the Kasimdzhanov-Topalov fragment.

1 . Ag4-f2+ !

A beautiful idea, which you may find if you notice the lack of protection of the a3 knight.

l . . .Oxd2a was played in the actual game.

2 . ©g3xf2 3 . ®hl-gl

©e6xh3+ ©h3xa3

This looks like a billiards move; the black queen rebounds from the h-file to the third rank.

Black has a decisive advantage.

Here is an example from the practice of a very imaginative grandmaster.


Kogan,Artur Nataf,lgor France tt 2010 (3)

1 . e2-e4 2. Ag1-f3 3 . Ab1-c3 4. Af1-c4 5 . 0-0 6 . d2-d4 7. Af3xd4 8. Ac3-b5 9 . e4xd5

c7-c5 Ab8-c6 g7-g6 Af8-g7 e7-e6 Ac6xd4 c5xd4 d7-d5 e6xd5

T L GJ M S t j J _ . _ J I J

J N J

. _ B j . - . -

I 19 0

10 . Ofl -e 1 +!

i I R k

1 0.A.b3, played in the game, was good enough to ensure White a clear advantage which he was able to convert elegantly after 1 0 . . . Ae7 l l .Oe l a6 1 2 .Axd4 h6 1 3 .c3 0-0 1 4 .©f3 b5 1 5 .Af4 Oa7 1 6 .©e3 ! Nice piece harmony. 16 . . . g5 1 7 .Ae5 AxeS 18 . ©xe5 Od7 19 .Ac2 ©c7 20.©f6 ! , with a brilliant win for White.

Kogan writes: (The text) 'was also good and I wanted to play it, but only ifl would find .. .'

1 0 . . .. Ag8-e7

T L GJ M t j J _ . s J I J

J N J

. _ B j . - . -

I i I . I � . 19 0 � k

1 1 . Ac1 -g5!

Kogan: 'I saw this but was not sure . . .'

1 1 . . . . f7-f6 12 . Ag5-d2 !

1 2.Af4 ! dxc4 and now: A) 13.A.d6 is similar to the main

line; B) There is also 13.Ad6+ ! ! ®f8

14.©xd4 bS (otherwise, 15 .©xc4 wins) 15 .0xe7 ©xe7 (15 . . . ®xe7 16.0e1+ ®f8 17.©d5) 16.Axc8 Oxc8 17.A.d6+.

12. .. . d5xc4 13 . Ad2-b4 e

The change of wings by the bishop is very pleasing to the eye.

A rapid game by one of the authors illustrates both the horizontal effect and the change of wings theme.

Afek, Yo chan an Kogan,Artur Israel Cup rapid 1999

1. e2-e4 2. Ag1-f3 3 . d2-d4

c7-c5 d7-d6 c5xd4

79


4. Af3xd4 5. Ab1 -c3 6. Afl -c4 7. Ac1 -e3 8. Ac4-b3 9. ©d1-e2 10 . 0-0-0 1 1 . Oh1-g1 12. g2-g4 13 . a2xb3 14. g4-g5 15 . ®cl-b1 16 . ©e2-h5

Ag8-f6 e7-e6 Af8-e7 0-0 Ab8-c6 a7-a6 Ac8-d7 Ac6-a5 Aa5xb3+ ©d8-a5 Af6-e8 Ae8-c7 Ac7-b5

T t M _ J _ L I J j J J _ . j J _ GI S Q

. lr:rl I l lr:rl . ls> I I K R F

Classical strategy. With oppositecastled kings, both players bring their forces as quickly as possible in front of the enemy king in order to be the frrst to give checkmate. But here White opts for an odd move:

17. Ae3-d2!?

Sacrificing the knight on d4. This may not be the best move in a 'scientific' sense, but it reminds us that chess is, before all , a game!

1 7.0g3 would be the standard move, with the not so invisible idea 18.0h3 and 19.©xh7.

17. . .. Ab5xd4?

80

T t M _ J _ L I J j J J _ . j J _ Gt . Q

. £ I I lr:rl . I I Is> K R F

17 . . . ©c7 would have been correct, with a balanced game.

18. Ac3-d5 ©a5-d8

Now comes a bolt from the blue.

19 . Ad2-a5! !

A very difficult move to anticipate and an altogether crushing one, after which Black can resign in view of the following variations: A) 1 9 . . . ©b8 20.Af6+ Axf6

2 l .gxf6 with mate soon; B) 19 . . . b6 20.Axb6 does not

change the evaluation; C) 19 . . . ©xa5 and now:

T t M _ J _ L I J j J J _ . j J _ <21 . N Q

. £ I

I K R rr

C1) Not 20.Axe7 + ®h8 2 1 .0xd4 ©d8 ° 22.g6? (22.e5 ©xe7 23.exd6 ©d8 24.0h4 h6) 22 . . . h6<; ;


C2) 20.g6 ! ! Illustrating the danger of having the queens aligned on the same rank. 20 . . . fxg6 2 1 .Axe7+ ®f7 22.©xa5.

19 . . .. ©d8-e8

A) 19 . . . ©xa5 20 .g6 ! ! e (20.Axe7+? ®h8 2 1 .0xd4 ©d8 22.g6 h6 1 ) 20 . . . fxg6 2 1 .Axe7+ ®f7 22.©xa5; B) 1 9 . . . ©b8 20.Af6+ Axf6

2 l .gxf6 g6 22.©h6; C) 19 . . . b6 20.Axb6.

2 0. Ad5-f6+! Ae7xf6 2 1 . g5xf6 g7-g6 22 . ©h5-h6 1-0

A similar case was the following game from the Dresden Olympiad. This time the invisible move was a defensive possibility that went unnoticed by the attacker. The problem was a change of wings thanks to an intermediate move.

Charbonneau,Pascal Hussein,Hantoosh Dresden Olympiad 2008 (6)

1 . e2-e4 e7-e6 2 . d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Ab1-c3 d5xe4 4. Ac3xe4 Ab8-d7 5. �g1-f3 Af8-e7 6. Afl-d3 Ag8-f6 7. Ae4xf6+ Ae7xf6 8. ©d1-e2 0-0 9 . Ac1 -f4 c7-c5 1 0. h2-h4 c5xd4

T L GJ . t:. M . J s J . J J - - J

J I .

. - . j . 19 . B N

I _Q i � k . R

Isn't everything in order for the classical sacrifice on h 7?

1 1 . Ad3xh7+77

This move has been the only one played in this position, in two recorded games in our database. Alas, this is not a Greek gift, but rather a Christmas gift. 1 1 .0-0-0 is wiser, leading to lively play with chances for both sides.

1 1 . . . . 12 . Af3-g5+

®g8xh7 ®h7-g8

13 . ©e2-h5

T L GJ . t:. M . J s J . J - - J

J I . - · �n� Q

. - . j . 19 .

k R

13 . .. . ©d8-a5+

An intermediate check that allows the queen to unexpectedly join the defence of h 7 (the horizontal effect) .

81


If 13 ... 0e8 14.©h7+ 1 -0 because of 14 . . . ®f8 15.Ad6 and mate next (Rosen-N ietsch, Dresden 2 009) .

14. Af4-d2 ©a5-f5

And White has no attack to compensate for his missing piece.

Mogranzini ,Robert a

Caruana,F abiano Porto Mannu 2007 (2)

0 T _ L _ . _ . j M J j . GJ

J I B J I l9 - · <9 R

I I K

The two bishops are placed on diagonals aimed at the opponent's fortress.

Since the situation has changed, a change of wings by both bishops

82

ensures White a winning ad vantag e.

1. Aa3-b4!

The dark-squared bishop wants to reach el .

l .Af7 was played in the game.

1 . Oe8-d8

Best.

2 . Ac4-e2!

The light-squared bishop defends d 1 , and from its central position it can be moved in all directions.

2 . Od8-g8

2 . . . Af2 3.0xh6+ gxh6 4. ©xf2 e3+ is nice but insufficient: 5. ©g2 Axg2+ 6.®xg2 Od4 7.c4 Oxf4 8.Ae1 e .

3 . Ab4-e1 Ah4xe 1 4. Oh3xh6+ g7xh6 5 . ©e3xb6 Og8-g7 6. Ae2xa6 Ae1-f2 !? 7 . ©b6xb7! Og7xb7 8. Aa6xb7 e


D - B a c kwa rd move s

Backward moves are notoriously difficult to see1 • Bent Larsen even points out that especially backward moves on diagonals are difficult to see 'except for the long diagonal' (Larsen, 50 Selected Games.)

In the following game, White 's material advantage was offset by the activity of Black's army, who had the initiative and won the game. However, a single backward move could have forced a transition into a technically won endgame for White.

Levitt ,Jonathan Speelman ,Jonathan Torquay ch-GBR 1982 (1)

0 rn . t:. . J j Q

J . - . J . £ .

L

t:. k f' .

B

According to the winner (see his entertaining book Speelman's Selected Games) , none of the two players saw the straightforward win beginning with

1 . f2-f4

White is attacking the knight that defends the bishop on c4. Hence the answer is forced.

l .b3?! was played in the game, and Black won after l . . .Axb3.

1 . Od2-d l

And here the powerful defensive retreat

2 . ©h7-b l !

(or 2.©c2!) forces the line:

2 . Od lxcl

First 2 . . . Ab3 is the same.

3 . ©blxcl Ac4-b3

And now a very simple win available:

4. f4xe5 ! Od8-d l 5 . ©clxd l Ab3xdl 6. e5xf6

is

With a technically (and practically) easily winning endgame, e.g. 6 . . . gxf6 7.Af5 ®c7 8.Ag6 ®d6 9.h4 ®e7 10.h5 e .

1 In Chapter 1 we already studied a backward move in the

Kramnik-Leko example.

83


The line is not too difficult to calculate, but the defensive move ©h 7 -b 1 was not easy to anticipate.

Sumets,Andrey Golubev,Mikhail Odessa 2009 (3.2)

. T L . - J

. t M . GJ J

j j Q _ . · N s · J - J I

. � I B k .

The pin along the long diagonal is very awkward and Black lost after 1 . . . ©f7 2 . ©xf7 + Oxf7 3.0d3 e . However, there was a strong possibility involving a curious retreat:

1 . 2 .

. . . Ag2xd5

®g8-h8! Ab7-c8!

The queen is dominated.

3 . Ab5xc7

Best.

3 . .. . Ac8xe6 4. Ac7xe6 ©g7-d7 5 . Ae6xf8 Oa8xf8

And Black is not worse.

Interestingly, the best defensive move for White was not found in the following game either.

84

Bogdanov,Oleksi Tischbierek,Raj ObeiWart 2003 (6)

0 R s . t . M _ . _ . _ J j J

_ Q _ . _ . _ . . j S _

D i I 19 1

. k . I R

Instead, Bogdanov just resigned here. An understandable decision. But can you see the only chance for White to save the game?

He can continue with

1 . Af2 -g l ! !

Other possibilities fail to impress, for example : l .A.g3? ©xe3+ 2.®fl Ad2# ; l .Oal? ©c3+ 1 .

1 . ©d3-d l + 2 . ® e 1 -f2 Ac4xe3! 3 . Oa8-a2!?

Another retreat. If 3. ®xe3? (3 .®g3 ©d6+ 4 .f4 ©d2 <;:) 3 . . . ©d2+ 4.®e4 f5+ 5. ©xf5 Oe8+ and Black wins. The text looks more resilient. Objectively Black is still much better, but he has no forced win.

Extremely intriguing was White 's resignation in the following game, between two young members of the elite.

Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar Carlsen,Magnus Wijk aan Zee 2008 (1)

0 . t . M


After the coming l . . .Oxb2, or, after l .b3, l . . .Od8 and 2 . . . 0d2, there seems to be no escape for the bishop on g2, so White resigned. However, there was a simple solution.

- . J R

J - . J I N I J

. � . I B

K The position could have been included in another chapter, because in combinations, invisibility can cover various aspects.

White is two pawns up, while Black displays great activity and his pieces are better positioned. The infiltrated knight on e3 is particularly awkward to deal with, which adds to the specific problem of the lack of squares for the g2 bishop.

1 . b2-b3 2. ®hl-g l ! 3 . Ag2 -h l !

Ob8-d8 Od8-d2

And the bishop is saved. Black is still clearly better after

3 .

- . J R

Ae5xc3

M

J - . J N

. � . t

J

. k B but the game is not over yet and White can still fight.

85


E - B a c kward k n i g ht rnove s

Amongst all the possible backward moves, the hardest to spot are those by the knight. There is also a technical reason for this (see Chapter 3) : as a short-range piece, the knight must generally be centralized. It takes too much time to bring it back to the crucial areas once it is out of play. A psychological role is also played by several old maxims that are learned early by 'well-trained' players, like 'A knight on the rim is dim' or the French 'Cavalier au bard, cavalier mort' ('A knight on the edge is dead') . These are all possible causes for a (type of) move to remain invisible.

Morozevich,Alexander Movsesian,Sergey Sarajevo 2007 (9)

D t T m j J J

- . _ S j

B D

I f' I . Gl . R K

Black's doubled pawns are offset by his activity on the g-file, which gives him some attacking chances. Had White put his queen on c3, the game would have been equal. Instead, the natural , centralizing move played by White lost immediately.

1 . ©cl-e3?? Ae6-g7!

Retreating the knight with a 'backward attacking move' (see Chapter 4) . The knight now trots to g3, via f5 or h5.

2. Ofl-gl

86

2.©c3 Ah5 1 ; 2 .©e1 Af5 1

2 . Ag7-f5 3 . ©e3-e l Og8xgl+ 4. ®hlxgl Od8-g8+ 5 . ®gl-hl Af5-g3+ 6. ®hl-gl Ag3-fl + 7. ®gl-hl Aflxh2

Mates follows in three moves.

Rowson ,Jon a than Yermolinsky,Alex Philadelphia 2002 (4)

D j J _ . . _ Dj

<qJ . _ J

t M J ' j j

N i I

R . k . White was slightly better when Black deliberately offered him the a 7 pawn. Rowson (in Seven Chess Sins) was justifiably proud of this piece of accurate calculation. Can


you follow his steps and give the winning variation till the end?

1 . ©a5xa7! ©c6-c2

After this counterattack, the moves on both sides are virtually forced. l . . .Oc8 2.©a3 gives a big advantage to White.

2 . Od l-d2

White must keep the pawn, of course.

2 . 3 . ®gl-h2

©c2-c l+ Ae7-g5!?

The climax, from Black's point of view. It looks like he gains the edge.

4. Od2-e2

If 4.0d3 Af4+ 5.g3 ©fl and Black is winning.

4. 5 . g2-g3

Ag5-f4+ ©cl-dl

t M <9 J _ . _ J j J . - . J

J I

N I R k

D

All the variations are winning for Black, except one: the little, invisible

6. Af3-gl !

And White is winning.

Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar Carlsen,Magnus Baku 2008 (4)

• T I M D S J . - - - J

J j J - . j J i I I

_ Q _ . i ls> N i K

R

White 's last move was l .Ocl -fl , intending to launch a kingside attack with f2-f4. Black played l . . .bS and eventually lost. Instead, according to Mamedyarov in New In Chess Magazine 2008/4 ,

1 . ©b7-c6!

was very strong, inviting White to repeat moves with Ofl -cl : 'During the game, I thought that the a6 pawn would be lost and that the move was pointless, but in fact the capture of the pawn gives Black very good play.'

2 . ©d3xa6

T I M s J . - - J

Q . D J . J - - . J J I

I ls> N i K

R

87


2. .. . Ad7-b8!

'It was this simple move that we both overlooked ' , wrote Mamedyarov.

3 . ©a6-a7

3. ©d3 ©c2 i . Now, among other possibilities, 3 . . . 0c7!? gives Black a good game: 4. ©xb8 Oc8 5. ©a7 Oa8 6 . Ocl ©xc l 7 .©xa8 ©xd2 i .

In the following fragment, three black pieces are in precarious positions and in order to win it is suffident for White to find one good move. Kortchnoi did not manage it here.

(see right column)

88

Kortchnoi,Viktor Gipslis,Aivars Tallin zt m 1967 (3)

D T J . J

D i

I M J . - . - J

J - . j £ .

I _ Q _ R

N i i B . k

1 . Af3-e l !

One small step for the knight, and one giant leap for the win.

Kortchnoi preferred l .Ad4?, obviously with the same idea, but he failed to take into account the counterattack l . . .Od8 ! and Black was even better in the game.

After l .Ae 1 ! the variations are not difficult: l . . .Oc8 2.bxc5 e ; 1 . . . ©xc2 z.Axc2 Oc8 3.bxc5 e


F - P i n a n d s e l f'- p i n

Another type of 'hard-to-see move' is the pin. We all know that ' a pinned piece does not defend' but do we actually 'see' it?

Very pleasing to the eye is White's elegant last move in the following game:

Karjakin,Sergey Kosteniuk,Alexandra Brissago m 2003 (4)

• T T L

J <9 . j

M D . J - J

. _ I j J _ . I B

R f' . I

. k Black has a solid position and here she should have kept the integrity of her pawn structure intact, with an unclear, probably equal game.

2 9 . . .. Ab7xd5

29 ... ©e7 ° was more cautious.

3 0. ©b6xa6!?

The obvious 30.0xc8+ Oxc8 31 .©xa6a was simpler and probably better. But Karjakin felt in an artistic mood and was rewarded with a magnificent finish:

3 0 . . .. Oc8xcl +?

30 . . . 0cb8 31 .©d3 Axb3 32.0xb3 e4! would have enabled Black to equalize, for example after 33.fxe4 fxe4 34.©c4 (34.©dl may be better, with a slight advantage) 34 . . . ©xc4 35.0xc4 OxaS i.

31 . Ob lxcl Oa8xa6

M _ . _ . _ Dj J T - . j

. - L j J - . I B

. f' .

I . k

The following sequence is a lesson in chess geometry.

32 . Ocl-c8+ ©f7-e8

This forced answer seems sufficient.

33. Oc8xe8+ ®g8-f7

R _ . _ . _ Mj J T - . j

. - L j J - . I B

I . k

89


And now a superb cross-pin:

34. Oe8-a8! !

Had White been inspired by the classical game that follows? The finish is a charming variation on the theme of the pin.

Tal ,Mikhail Brinck Claussen,Bjorn Havana Olympiad 1966 (4)

0 . T s M j L _ . _ J j J . J

J �n� . GJ I I

I _ Q _ B !;' k

25 . ©d3-f3! f7-f6! 26 . Ae5-c4!

The first move directly linked to a pin. Mistaken would have been 26.Axd5+? because of 26 . . . Axd5 27.©xd5+ Oe6,

. s M ' j J J

J . - T j _Q �n� . GJ I

I .

Analysis diagram

90

even if White has a counter-pin with 28. ©d8! ©xhS 29.Ad3.

26 . .. . 27. Oal-el 28. Ac4-e3!a

Oe8-d8 Ab7-c8

L t:. . s M ' j J J

J . - . J J Gi l

I B

lnl Q i .

rr k 28. .. . Ac8-e6 29 . Oe l-cl Ae6-f7 30 . h5-h6!?

A slight deflection of the queen. 30.©f5a was simpler, but Tal wanted to extract more out of the position.

3 0 . .. . 3 1 . Ocl-c7

©g5xh6 ©h6-g5

3l . . .Ae6! was better, with hopes of equality for Black: 32.0xa7 (or 32 .0xf7 ®xf7 33.Axd5 ° ) 32 . . . Ags .

32 . Oc7xa7 Af8-g6 33 . Ae3xd5!?

The quiet 33. ©f5 would have brought White a safe victory with a decisive advantage, but once again Tal wants more.

33 . .. . Af7xd5 34. Oa7-a8!


R . t:. . M ' j j

. J . - . j S _ L . <21 . I

I _ . _ Q i B

k . Same causes, same effects. What a picture ! The bishop looks like it is drawn and quartered between the two diagonals.

34 . . .. Ad5xa2

34 . . . ©cl + 35.®h2 Axa2 36.0xd8+ ®fl is a better defence but White should win after 37.b3! ©e 1 38. ©d5+ ©e6 (38 . . . ®e 7 39.©d7+ looks like a winning endgame) 39.©xe6+ ®xe6 40.0b8 ®d6 41 .0xb6+ ®c7 42.0b5a. The rook and two passed pawns are vastly superior to the minor pieces.

35 . Oa8xd8+ ®g8-f7

. f' . _ . _ Mj J

. J . - . j S _ . <21 .

I _ Q L

k Here only one move wins.

36. ©f3-c6!

After this accurate move, White plays cat-and-mouse with the hapless black king .

36. . . . Ag6-e7 37. ©c6-e8+ ®f7-e6 38. Od8-c8 ©g5-d5 39. Oc8-c3 ©d5-d7 40. Oc3-e3+ ®e6-d6 41 . ©e8-b8+ ®d6-c6 42 . a3-a4 Ae7-d5 43 . Oe3-e 1 ©d7-d6 44. Oe 1-c l+ ®c6-d7 45 . ©b8-c8+ 1-0

White wins after 45 . . . ®e7 46.0e1 +.

On the same theme, here are some nice variations from the analysis of a well-known game between the two K's, during their first world championship match.

Karpov,Anatoly Kasparov, Garry Moscow Wch m 1984/85 (4)

• M - . - . _ Dj

. t:. . j J <9 . B

J J . rr I I

K

White has an undisputed advantage, because Black has no defence against the assault of the enemy pieces on his king.

9 1


58 . .. . ©f7-b7+

The best move is a paradoxical self-pin:

59 . Of4-e4+! ! Of6-e6!?

M D _ . - . j

T J J � . B

J j R _ . I I

K

In the game Black lost after 59 . . . ®f7 60.©c4+ ®f8 6 l .Ah7 Of7 62 .©e6 ©d7 63.©e5 e .

After the text, the quiet move

60. ©c5-c4!

ruins Black's hopes: 60 . . . 0xe4 6l .©g8+ ®e7 62.©xg7+ and 63.©xb7.

Hoolt,Sarah Martens,Martin Netherlands tt 2008/09 (2)

0 . s M t . _ . _ J j J J D I T j N j R _ . . _ Q _ I _ . _

I . 19 .

!;' .

92

I . k

How could White have won by exploiting a pin here?

l .b4?, as played in the game, lost part of the advantage. After 1 . . . Ad8 ! White kept a slight edge, though Black won in the end.

Absolutely winning was the other pinning idea:

1 . ©c4-a4!

Followed by 2.c4 this wins material.

1 . Aa5-d8 2. c2-c4 Ob5-b6 3. Ad5xb6 e

Gvetadze,Sopio Melia, Salome Tbilisi ch-GEO 2009 (7)

• T . t M j J _ . GJ J j J

L B

· - · � · -

I I rr K R

Black, a pawn down against a strong initiative, could have won by exploiting a pin. Which one?

The game saw l . . .Oad8? 2 .0e5? White could unpin beginning with the crucial 2.®gl ! ©gS 3.c4 , which would more or less have restored equality. Now the black win was simple after all: 2 . . . 0xd5


3.©xd5 Axd5 4.0xe7 Axhl 5.c4 Ac6.

Black had a forced win:

1 . 2 . Ad5-g2 3 . ®flxel 4. Ohl-gl

And now

4. 5 . ®el-dl

wins back the queen.

Ae6-h3+! ©e7xe l +! Ah3xg2

Of8-e8+ Oa8-d8

Here's a curious final from the game Dreev-Sakaev, which we found with the relevant explanations in Dreev's excellent collection of his best games.

Dreev,Alexey Sakaev,Konstantin Khanty-Mansiysk 2005 (6. 1)

0 M j

. _ D j 19 s · - j I

L I t � �

II=' k In this complicated position, the b6 pawn should be captured by Black, resulting in equality. However, White managed, on the last move before the time-control, to create problems for his opponent,

creating great confusion with the extraordinary

1 . ©f2 -d4!?

. _ D j 19 s · - j 1 _ . � .

L �

M j

• II=' . k . A vicious trap, which exploits the pin on the eS pawn while generating an attack against the opponent's rook and bishop. Can you rise to the occasion and find the best move for Black?

Black was taken by surprise, and with very little time left he blundered with 1 . . . © h3? and resigned immediately after 2 .©xd5+.

The right counter was:

1 . ©e6xb6!!

Quite a difficult move to conceive of. l . . .exd4 !? 2.0xe6 Ac3! was also playable, when White is only slightly better.

The only move for White after the text is 2 .©xb6! (2.Axb6 exd4 3.Aa5 Ac3<;:) 2 . . . Axb6 3 .Axb6 Oxb6 with a probable draw.

Another case of double blindness is this fragment, where the same Dreev faces Sadler, a top player in

93


the 1990s who decided to quit competitive play at the age of 2 5.

Sadler, Matthew Dreev,Al exey Groningen 1997 (3)

• M t T L _ . - . j

J GJ . s . j J R

I . I J � .

B I Re . k

This is a wild position from the Semi-Slav Defence, one of the more complicated modern openings. Material is equal and chances would also be equal had Black played his queen to b6.

But Black decided to leave the queen en prise and counterattack immediately:

1 . Oe8xe4

None of the players managed to find the simple refutation (if you're aided by the computer!)

2 . Af4-e2 !a

Both major pieces are under attack, so White gains material. The knight retreats and self-pins at the same time : also, in this case, the move proved invisible for two of the strongest players in the world.

94

In the game there followed 2.0xd6 Oxe l+ 3 .®f2 Oxd6 4 .0xc5+ ®d8 5 . ®xe 1 and now the important move 5 . . . g5 ! and Black went on to win.

Hiibner,Robert Pesch,Werner Detmold 1967 (7)

0 . t L t M _ J j S I . j J

. . J D - J - -J I J

I i S IS> . � Q _ N i I I i B

R R k Another fragment where White missed a strong move, as well as a defence for Black. Let's take the opportunity to recommend to our readers Robert Hubner's great book Twenty-Five Annotated Games (Marco) , where we found this example with Hubner's sincere comments. White has an edge, and can now gain a clear advantage.

1 . Af3-h4

White could have exploited the circumstance that the bishop on e 7 is unprotected with l .AeS ! AxeS 2 .dxe5 AcS 3 .Axc5 dxcS 4 .b6 cxb6 (4 . . . c6 5 .f4a) s .AbS !? (5.f4a) and Black cannot develop on the queenside, 5 . . . 0d8? ! being impossible due to 6 .©xd8+a.


1 . Ae7xh4 2. Ac3xe4

t L . t M _ J j S _ . j J

. . J D - J - -. I J J . I i N 19 . _ Q _ . i I I i B

R R k Black could now have obtained a good game with two accurate moves that were spotted by neither of the players.

2 . f5xe4

2 ... Ad8?! was played in the game, with a big advantage for White, who eventually won.

3 . Ag2xe4

. t L . t M _ J j S _ . j J

. . J D - J - -J I

I i B 19 . _ Q _ . I I

R 3 .

I R k

Of8-f5! !

And Black is OK! This is the very archetype of a hard-to-see move: Black's queen is under attack, indirectly his bishop is, too, and in some variations the h 7 pawn can be taken with check. And here Black puts another piece en prise with a very unnatural self-pin. Hubner confesses that neither in the game, nor during several analysis sessions afterwards, did he manage to see this move, which is instantly found by any computer

White is fine in all variations but program . . . one. Can you see the invisible Now White should keep the po-move? sition unclear with the strong 4.d5! .

95


G - Geometr ica l move s

There are purely geometrical types of move, like the one in Kramnik-Leko (p. 23) . Did you notice that the move ©b2-al was also a backward diagonal move? Finding such a move, which kills several birds with one stone, requires a harmonic vision of the board. We extract the best from our pieces while depriving the opponent of any active response.

Bologan,Viktor Milov,Vadim Moscow 2003 (7)

0 t J I M

T - . j I D

. - . - . _ N j N I

R K Black is an exchange up, against a far-advanced passed pawn on b6. Most of the black pieces occupy unfavourable positions, like the hemmed-in bishop on g7 and the unprotected rook on c6. The black queen's position is dangerous for two reasons: the queen is both 'stalemated' and at a knight's fork distance from its king. All these tactical weaknesses are laid bare by the splendid

1 . ©bl-d l ! !

The main threat is 2.Ad4, attacking the rook, followed by 3.Axf6 winning the queen. 1 . ©bS was

96

played in the game, and it was good enough to secure White a big advantage, which eventually brought him the win.

1 . Oc6xb6

l . . .©xf5 2 .Ad4 ©e4 3.Axc6 ©xc6 4 .©bl+! .

The best defence is 1 . . . Oc4 after which two moves win easily: 2.Ad2 Oxg4 3.hxg4 ©gS 4.©e2 or 2.Afe5 fxeS 3.Af6+ Axf6 4.©xh5+.

2. Af3-d2!

Now White threatens to give check on f6.

2 . ©h5-g5

If 2 . . . ®g8 3.Ae4 ! Oa6 (forced in order to cover the f6-square) 4.©d3 Oc6 (only square) 5.©d7 and White will win at least a rook on the next move. A clockworklike mechanism!

3 . Ad2 -e4 e

The queen is dominated (see another entertaining collection: Victor Bologan: Selected Games 1985-2004, Russell Enterprises) .


Plater,Kazimierz Johansson,lngi Randver Moscow Olympiad 1956 (7)

0 M j J _ . _ J

L fqJ I _ . _ .

k B . GJ .

A nice and simple geometrical move that would have won on the spot is

1 . ©c3-b4!

A double threat that wins a piece. l .©eS? was played in the game

and after l . . .Axe2 2.®xe2 ©xg7 3 .©b8+ the ending led to a draw.

Van den Berg,Carel Eliskases ,Erich Beverwijk 1959 (5)

0 T j J _ . rn J _ .

. _ . GJ . j . fqJ I . - . - J

B

K R

L

Here is a classical example, where White must find the right way to

exploit black weaknesses like the unprotected g4 bishop and the sensitive position of Black's king.

1 . ©h6-h4!

Thanks to the tempo-winning attack on the bishop, White reaches the ideal position where he can make optimum use of all his forces: queen, rook, bishop and the pawn on d5. A triumph of aesthetics and harmony.

l .©g7 was played in the game, allowing 1 . . .AhS l .

1 . Ag4-d7

l . . .Ae2 is the same.

2 . Oflxf6! ©d6xf6 3 . d5-d6+! e

A simple, yet beautiful theme.

Kryvoruchko, Yuriy Thomassen ,Joachim Novi Sad Ech-tt 2009 (3)

. T GJ . t . M _ . _ . _ J j J J

I i s J

_ R fqJ . _ I I B ls> l

. F . k . Black's advantage is overwhelming here, but what is the most efficient move?

1 . ©b8-b6!

97


Immediately winning. 1 ... Axf2 +

was played in the game, which ended in a draw at move 53.

After the text White can try: A) 2.Axg3 ©gl+ 3.Afl Axg3

will lead to mate : 4. ©c4 Oac8 etc . ; B) 2 .©c5 is the logical counter,

and now another piece of geometry: 2 . . . 0ac8! 3.©xb6 Oxc l+ , leading to another checkmate.

Shirov,Alexey Yakovenko,Dimitry Foros 2008 (2)

0 J

J

. t GJ . t J m .

I J . R J -B

K

R

I Q _

1 . ©g4-g2!

1 . Queen backwards! 'White should also win after

4 l .®c2 . . . but I liked the text a lot more because it combines the threats to win material with mating threats on the a 1 -h8 diagonal' wrote Shirov (New In Chess Magazine 2008/5) .

1 . a7-a6

l . . .©c6 2.0hl ! Oxhl 3.©xhl Oe6 4.©h6+ ®g8 5.f5 ! (5 . . . Af8 6.fxe6 Axh6 7 .0d8+ ®h7 8.e 7 e ) 5 . . . gxf5 6.g6 (6 . . . fxg6 7.0d4 ®f7 8. ©h7+ ®f6

98

9.©h8+! ®e7 10 .0h4) 6 . . . 0xg6 7.©xg6+ fxg6 8.0xd6+.

2 . ©g2-b2+!

2. The horizontal effect!

2 . ®g7-g8

M t GJ . t J

J . I J J . R J -B

I K � ·

R 3 . ®d3-c2!

3. King backwards!

3 . Oh8-h2+ 4. Od5-d2!

4. Rook backwards!

4. 5. Odlxd2 6. ©b2-f6

Oh2xd2+ b6-b5

Notice the beauty and harmony of White's artistic manoeuvres, in particular the circuit ©g4-g2-b2-f6, and ®d3-c2, in order to let the rooks do their duty. The mark of a great artist for whom aesthetics is an integral part of his vision of the game.

'I don't feel especially proud of this game' was Shirov's comment . . .

6 . 7. Od2-h2

b5xc4

with imminent checkmate.


•

EXERCISE 1

* *

Relative Pin

Baburin,Alexander Jessel,Stephen

Dublin ch-IRL 2008 (7)

. rrhl J J

- . - . j k S N I

T

White's last move, l .a4 (l .C)d4 was better) , allows Black to deal with the unpleasant pin on the d-file. Can you see how?

99


Solution 1

Baburin,Alexander Jessel,Stephen Dublin ch-IRL 2008 (7)

. F .

* *

J . rn J

- . - . j S N

T

. k I

Unpinning with l . . .Ab2? as played in the game brings no relief because the knight ending is lost after 2.0xd1 Axd 1 3 .®g4 ! and White wins thanks to the outside passed pawn.

100

Black could have exploited the precarious position of White's king by the pretty move

1 . Ad3-e 1 ! ! 2 . Od8xd 1 ?

After 2.Ad2 ! Oa1 Black is only slightly better.

2 . 3 . ®h4-g4

Ae1xg2+ h7-h5#

What makes this an invisible move? - The pin on the knight looks permanent, unless rooks are exchanged.

- The mating pattern is surprising, with a lone knight and pawns.

- e 1 is an unusual square for a black knight.


EXERCISE 2

* *

Shooting Star

Waffenschmidt,Joachim Eidinger,Helmut Baden Baden 1998 (6)

• T L t M j J _ . j J I J

J �

tb> B I <til I N

. I

R O k . R

The black queen is trapped after White's last move 14 .Ab4. However, she can find an unexpected refuge. Can you see where?

1 0 1


Solution 2 * *

Here's the complete game:

Waffenschmidt,Joachim Eidinger,Helmut Baden Baden 1998 (6)

1 . d2-d4 2 . c2-c4 3. Ab1 -c3 4 . c4xd5 5 . e2-e4 6 . b2xc3 7. Afl -c4 8. Ag1-e2 9 . Ac1 -e3 10. c3xd4 1 1 . Ae3-d2 12. Oa1-b 1 13 . d4-d5 14. Ad2 -b4?

Ag8-f6 g7-g6 d7-d5 Af6xd5 Ad5xc3 c7-c5 Af8-g7 Ab8-c6 c5xd4 ©d8-a5+ ©a5-a3 0-0 Ac6-e5

T L t M j J _ . j J I J

J I £ .

. ls> B I GJ . I

R

102

I R

White thought that he could cage the queen, but a surprise was awaiting him.

Better was 14 .©b3 or 14 .©c2 after which White, although he is slightly worse, has a quite playable game.

14. . . . ©a3-f3!! 15. 0-0

After 15 .gxf3 there is a cute mating pattern with bishop and knight: 15 . . . Axf3+ 16.®fl Ah3+.

1 5 . .. . ©f3xe4<;

And Black won.

What makes this an invisible move? - The queen moves horizontally. - There is a change of wings. - The f3-square is available only thanks to a surprising checkmate.


• T

EXERCISE 3

* *

White Lines

lllescas Cordoba,Miguel Morozevich,Alexander

Pamplona 1998 (3)

GJ T M . _ J j

. . j I L

_ Q £ J . j

lnl N lb> R R

. I

K

White has just played the standard Oad 1 , putting pressure on the isolated pawn on d5. But his opponent demonstrated that the real problems lie elsewhere. What was Black's strong point?

103


Solution 3 * *

lllescas Cordoba,Miguel Morozevich,Alexander Pamplona 1998 (3)

T . ca T M J . - j

. j I L _ . j _ Q £ J _ . _ .

� . N 19 I R R K

Black exposed White's weaknesses with the backward move

1 . Ae6-c8!!

The bishops will rebound on a6, attacking White's major pieces.

2 . Ac3xd5

2. ©b4 Aa6 3.Ab5 saved the exchange, but not the game after the forced line 3 . . . ©d7 4.Axd6 ©xd6

104

(5.0f2 loses after 5 . . . ©g6 6.Ael Ae4 7.0f4 Ag3+ 8.hxg3 ©h5+) S .Ofel Oe4! 6.©c3 Ad3 7.0f1 AeS 8.0fel Axf3 9.gxf3 Oh4 10.f4 d4, winning.

2 . 3 . ©b5xb6 4. Od lxfl

Ac8-a6 Aa6xfl Oa8xa2

What makes this an invisible move? - The backward bishop move, returning to its starting square, is difficult to foresee, especially since it was developed on a 'normal ' square, and was protecting the weakness.

- This is a change of wings that changes the focal point of the position.

- The weaknesses on the light squares, especially along the a6-fl diagonal, and the precarious position of the white queen are not immediately apparent.


EXERCISE 4

* * *

Defence and Attack

Luther, Thomas lvanchuk,Vasily

Kusadasi Ech 2006 (5)

0 T J rrhl .

J C9 <til

- . j

L lb> T rr

I k

. I

R

Though White is two pawns up, Black is attacking a bishop and has a dangerous passed pawn which ultimately won him the game. One move could have solved all White's problems. Can you find it?

105


Solution 4

Luther, Thomas lvanchuk,Vasily Kusadasi Ech 2006 (5)

T J m .

* * *

J _ . _ . � · . GJ .

- . J

L ls> T I

I R

f' . . k . In the game White played l .b4 and after l . . .©c4 2.0g3 (2.Ael is better, with chances for both sides) 2 . . . Oxd2 he was worse.

White had an unexpected, brilliant resource in

1 . Oh3-d3! !

Both defending the bishop and attacking the opponent's main weapon, the d-pawn. After this move, White is sure to win:

1 . ®c7-b8

The best move. The defence of the pawn by l . . .Oe4 fails to 2.Ab4 ! ! ©c4 (or 2 . . . ©xb4 3.0xc2+ ®b8 4.0xc8+ ®xc8) and at the end of

106

this series of forced moves the winning double attack 5.©f5+) 3.©d6#.

2 . ©f6xd4 e

After 2 . . . ©xd4+ 3.0xd4 Black may try his last chance with 3 . . . 0g8 but White replies with the cool 4 .®fl ! and if 4 . . . 0gxg2 5.0d8+! ®c7 (5 . . . ®a7 6.Ae3+ !)

. f' . J m .

J

i L is> T T . f' . K

Analysis diagram

6.0xc2+ ! ®xd8 7.Aa5+.

Why was l .Od3 an invisible move? - The rook is placed on a square apparently controlled by Black, which is possible thanks to a pin.

- It is a defensive move that attacks at the same time.

- The rook moves along an horizontal line.


EXERCISE 5

* * *

End of the Line

Uhlmann, Wolfgang Hennings,Artur

Weimar ch-GDR 1968 (7)

0 t t M J <dl � j " j j

J - . j B _ . _ Q I

I rr R k

White enjoys a dominating position, with well-centralized pieces and some pressure against f1 and cS. Is taking on cS favourable?

107


Solution 5 * * *

Uhlmann, Wolfgang Hennings,Artur Weimar ch-GDR 1968 (7)

. t t M J GJ . s J j J

J · s - . J -

I

. f' R

1 . OclxcS

_Q

I . k

Winning a pawn while keeping all his positional advantages. This move introduces a forced variation with a tactical trick further on, that was not foreseen by the East-German player.

l .Af3 was played in the game, with a small advantage for White.

1 . ©c7xc5

l . . .©b6 2.a5! e .

108

1 . . . ©b8a is more solid, but White is in the driving seat here.

2. 3. 4 .

Ad5xf7+ ©h5xc5 ®gl-f2

®g8-h8 Od8xdl + Of8xf7

r;:r;)

_ J _ . s T j J J

- · � · -1

k l T

Black would be better in this position, were it not for

5 . ©c5-h5 ! !

Attacking both rooks, thus winning one, and the game.

Why was this an invisible move? - It is a horizontal move. - The move affects both wings si-multaneously.


0 I

J

EXERCISE 6

* * *

Houdini Escape

Flohr,Salomon Grob,Henry

Arosa m 1933 (1)

M J - . _ J j

. . j

D B Q

L

White, one of the world's top players at the time, resigned here, not seeing any reply to the mate threat on f1 , as the white queen must protect the exposed bishop on d5. Still there was a defence. Can you see it?

109


Solution 6 * * *

Flohr,Salomon Grob,Henry Arosa m 1933 (1)

M I J _ . _ J j J J

D B Q i

L

k

White's king could have escaped the mate a Ia Houdini2•

1 . ®gl-h l !

This simple move does the trick, after which White is better:

1 . 2. Af2-gl

©b5-fl +

Why was 1 . ® hl an invisible move? - As there is a mating threat, it is hard to visualize the king moving.

- The possibility of moving the bishop backwards is also not easy to foresee.

- When defending, such coldblooded moves are difficult to conceive of.

2 Houdini was an American magician who was famous for his

escapes in public from jails, boxes or bags suspended in the

air or plunged into the water. His main trick, when tied

down in ropes or straitjackets, was to enlarge his shoulders

and his arms, and then dislocating his shoulders would gain

him some room.

1 10

Part II - Subjective Invisibility

In this second part, we will examine another type of move: invisible moves due to subjective reasons, either in a cultural or a psychological sense. In this case the invisibility is related to various effects, like the quality of the players or the context of the game. Obviously sometimes objective causes of invisibility (see Part I) can be found in certain examples that we classifY in this part under subjective invisibility. See for example the famous Capablanca-Thomas game in Chapter 4.

1 1 1


Chapter 3 - Invisible moves for positional reasons

High-level players have generally learned the principles of good positional play at a very early age, guided by experienced trainers who taught them the main axioms. Day after day they have repeated the same maxims; sometimes they learned them by heart, like golden rules. However, there are moves that seem to oppose the positional principles and therefore do not cross such a player's mind.

1 1 2


A - Pavvn structure s

The most important principle at a certain stage of the evolution of a player is respect for the integrity of the pawn structure. This is in itself a quite boring concept for many youngsters, who are mainly attracted by direct attacks against the enemy king. But as they reach higher levels, these former youngsters never forget the original lessons of their childhood. An interesting example occurred between two students of the great Soviet teacher Mikhail Botvinnik.

Kasparov, Garry Kramnik,Vladimir Wijk aan Zee 200 1 (5)

0 J J

' j J

t . . m J j

I T . £ N i . J

I I k I

. f' R We are dealing with a classical structure from the Spanish game, the Berlin Variation. White has a healthy 4:3 majority on the east side, like in the Exchange Variation, but Kramnik has managed to contain the enemy chain with the technical move . . . h5-h4 , which allows Black to destroy White's majority in case of g2-g4 thanks to the en passant rule. On the other hand, it would be very annoying for Black if he did not have this possibility, because if he could not take on g3 White would expand with g2-g4, f4-f5 and possibly e5-e6, with a nice advantage.

It is a stereotypical 'Kramnikian' position, involving a blockading strategy adhering to Nimzowitsch's proud motto 'Restrain, block, destroy! ' . The last black move, . .. Oh8-h5, contains the threat of activating the rook from the side, attacking the potentially weak f4 pawn by a possible . . . Oh5-f5.

Kasparov now played l .AgS , obstructing the black rook and demonstrating respect for his adversary's plan. This led to a quick draw. Meanwhile he missed a superb opportunity to gain a large advantage. The position contains a possibility that a less educated player would certainly not have discarded. Can you see the small tactical trick that enables White to get a strong position?

Had he calculated just three moves deep, White could have gained a decisive advantage with

1 . g2-g4! h4xg3+

l . . .Ohh8 2.f5a would give White a large superiority. He has a strong and mobile pawn majority and the black pawn on h4 might also become weak.

1 13


2 . Ae4xg3

Attacking the h5 rook.

2 .

Or elsewhere . . .

3 . Od lxd4

Oh5xh3

Winning a piece due to the knight fork on f5 , should Black take back on d4. A very simple tactic , missed by the two best players in the world at the beginning of this century. Probably we could find psychological reasons to explain this mutual blindness. After the London World Championship match of 2000, Kramnik felt invincible against Kasparov, especially when playing his favourite 'Berlin Wall' , which served him so faithfully in his conquest of the world title. This may explain his overconfident . . . Oh5.

On the other hand, Kasparov, usually so quick to refute tactical mistakes, had not managed to win a single game against Kramnik since his World Championship loss. This is another explanation for the slightly 'depressed' move LAgS.

But the main reason for this reciprocal blunder lies in an exagger-

ated respect for the pawn structure and its integrity. The two players, carefully educated in the great tradition of the Soviet chess school , simply refused to consider such an atrocious positional move as g2-g4, enabling Black to irreparably spoil White's formation, creating two weaknesses on h3 and f41 •

Euwe, a great connoisseur of pawn structures (see his book Judgement and Planning in Chess, dedicated to the subject) , missed the best move for the same reasons in the following game.

Euwe,Max Alekhine,Alexander Zurich 1934 (9)

0 T L t M - -

J £ J . - J J . J Gt £

J - - - -I - -

I �n� B I -I Q _ N I I

II=" k

-J

-

-

I R

A solid pawn structure and the possession of the good bishop give

1 'I can't possibly do that to my pawns' said an IM, analysing a

daring suggestion of Paco Vallejo Pons in the form of a

weakening pawn move. 'Never mind', replied Vallejo, 'Your

pawns will be in order for the start of the next game! '

1 14


White the advantage here. Black would probably like to play a quick . . . c 7 -cS. What would you play as White?

The great Max managed to convert his advantage after a long fight beginning with the technical l .b4, in order to fix the potentially weak c 7 pawn, and sometimes, especially after . . . c 7 -c6, to continue with a minority attack (b4-b5) .

The good move was

12 . e3-e4!

Threatening 13.e5, and winning a pawn.

1 2 . . .. d5xe4

12 ... Axe4 leads to the same position.

13 . Ac3xe4 Af6xe4 14. Ad3xe4a

T

J . J

L J

t M £ J ' j J

. Gt .

i B

Q _ N . k

I R

With a double attack on a8 and h 7. Hard to see this is not, but in the starting position , where White has a risk-free advantage , devaluating his own pawn structure and weakening the d4 pawn

by playing e3-e4 is very hard to consider .

Even such an agile mind as Anatoly Karpov's - the complete opposite of a rigid positional player - managed to forget (?, see the comment after the first move) a small combination, as we see in his following game against Judit Polgar.

Karpov,Anatoly Polgar,} udi t Linares 1994 (6)

D T M J

. t

. Gt J _ L j - · <9 J _ S _ J

IS> I

� . i I R k

White has an indisputable advantage , especially as regards the pawn structure - like in most of Karpov's games. The great Anatoly loves to have the more compact pawn structure and will try to make it prevail - for example, his ability to play against isolated pawns is proverbial. Here other factors also play a role: an advantage in development, and the fact that the black king is still stuck in the centre. What would you play as White?

1 1 5


1 . ©c5xb6!?

Karpov played l .Ab4 !? ®f7 2 .0a4 ©xeS 3.Axc5 a6 and achieved victory after a positional struggle. True , his positional advantage gives chances of a win here as well, in a more complicated position. So it is possible that he preferred his own version to the win of the b6 pawn.

1 . a7xb6 2 . Aa3-c5!

White exploits the fact that the enemy king is still in the centre not with a direct attack, but by taking advantage of the lack of connection between the black rooks after the exchange of queens.

Shirov,Alexey Timman,Jan Wijk and Zee 1996 (1 1)

• - . J . m . J

I J

K

In this position Black resigned. Commenting on this game, Shirov noticed that he had already won a nearly identical ending not long before (see next game) . Some

1 16

months later, an amateur from Switzerland analysed the position and discovered that it was a draw! A typical example of mutual blindness with two great players, who are hypnotised by a favourable pawn structure for White, i.e. the theoretical advantage of the protected passed pawn.

1 . 2 . h2-h4 3 . f4-f5

®e7-d6 ®d6xc6 ®c6-d6

And not 3 . . . gxf5 because White wins after 4.h5 ®d6 5.g6 e .

4. f5-f6 5 . ®g2-f3 6. ®f3-e4 7. ®e4-d5 8. ®d5-c6

®d6-d7 ®d7-d6 ®d6-d7 ®d7-e8 ®e8-d8

There is no way to make progress. The result is a draw.

Shirov may have been referring to this game:

Shirov,Alexey Akopian, Vladimir Oakham 1992 (8)

0 J

J I . m .

N K

J


1 . ®f3-g2! !

Certainly not the programs' first choice (in 201 1) ! Even the best can have blind spots . . .

1 . 2 . c4-c5!

®e5xe4 ®e4-d5

2 . . . bxc5 3.a5 ®dS

J

I j M _ . _ .

_ . _ . _ K j

Analysis diagram

4.a6! ! is the subtle point that had to be seen when White played his first move.

4 . . . ®d6 5.b6 ®c6 6.bxa7 and the black king is unable to stop the doubled pawns.

3 . c5-c6 ®d5-d6 4. ®g2xh2

J J I rn .

I

A similar structure as in the game with Timman.

4. ®d6-c7 5. ®h2-g3 ®c7-d6 6. ®g3-f4 ®d6-e6 7. ®f4-e4 ®e6-d6

1-0

1 1 7


B - Wea ke n i n g of' the k i n g' s d e f'e nc e s

One basic positional principle is to keep your king as safe as possible. A deterioration of the king's cover is known as a long-term disadvantage, and in this regard the pawns that are protecting the fortress are especially important. Therefore, strong players are reluctant to commit them.

Yusupov,Artur Gavrikov, Viktor Minsk ch-URS 1987 (12)

0 . t L I M J . _ . _ J j J

s J D

N I 19 . I

� B f' . k

White, who enjoys a space advantage, decides to force the opening of the long diagonal in a classical way, playing:

28. Ac4-d6 Af8xd6 29. e5xd6

White won in the game after 29 . . . f6 30.0d l with an edge. Yusupov told us: 'After the game, I was happy with the level of my play. I was analysing this position with my opponent, when an amateur player came by and suggested:

29. Od8xd6!

The venerable grandmasters, with their scientific knowledge of the game, can quickly and without

1 18

calculation discard such silly moves, which weaken their king . . .' Still , an objective analysis of the position after

30. Ac3xg7

(30.b4 is more cautious, maintaining approximate equality)

30 . .. . e6-e5!

shows that it is the white king who is in danger!

31 . Ag2xc6

The only try to save the trapped bishop.

31 . Ae8xc6 32. ©b2xe5 ©b5-d3!

J L t .

M J 19 J

- · - · � · - ·

D

f' . k With this brutal attack Black is threatening to give a lethal check on d 1 , and after the forced defence


33. ©e 1 he continues with 33 . . . ©£3 with mate - not mentioning the possibility of taking the unprotected bishop. There is no defence.

Grandmaster Epishin shows a similar respect for the established principles in the following game: enjoying a large space advantage and superior piece coordination, he could have won in one move. Which one?

Epishin, Vladimir Volokitin,Andrey Copenhagen 2002 (9)

0 T t M j J _ . j J I J . _ S j J

Gt . j L I S

I � i N 19 . B i I

R k . f' Q Epishin decided to play the active move l .Ad3 , reducing the activity of the black pieces while forcing some exchanges which will enable White to weaken the black fortress after l . . .Axc3 2.Axc3 followed by Axf5 , for instance 2 . . . ©b6� - not 2 . . . ©a3 3.Axf5a like in the game, which was won by White.

Can we expect more from a single move? In some cases, yes.

The trivial

1 . g2-g4!

wins a piece, by deflecting the defender of the central knight (if L.Axc3 z.Axc3 e ) .

1 . Ae4xf2 2 . Oflxf2 Af5xg4

gives Black fighting chances, but White has a clear advantage.

In the following game, played in a youth championship, two future grandmasters both failed to notice an elementary win.

Kasparov, Garry Yermolinsky,Alex Vi!niusjr 1975 (9)

• T S GI . t M _ J _ . _ J j J J S J I

J L

N 19 . � B i I . f' O R k .

Black committed a grave mistake, self-trapping the dark-squared bishop:

16. Ac8-e7?

Even more incredibly, the future world champion missed the obvious

17. g2-g4!

In the game Garry played 1 7.Ab3= and in the end he lost.

1 19


17. . . . 18. g4-g5

Ah5-g6 Af6xg5

This creates some difficulties to convert the advantage. Modern programs find some counterplay for Black, partly justifying the young Kasparov's 'prudence' . . .

19 . Af3xg5 Ag6-f5

Still White should win after 20.h4 Ag6 2 l .©b3 Axh4 22.©g3a.

Andersson, Ulf Velimirovic,Dragoljub Bar 1997 (10)

1 . 2 . 3 . 4. 5. 6 . 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 1 .

e2-e4 d2-d4 Ab1-c3 Ag1-e2 a2-a3 Ac3xe4 g2-g3 Afl -g2 Ae4xf6+ d4-d5 Ae2-c3

e7-e6 d7-d5 Af8-b4 d5xe4 Ab4-e7 Ab8-c6 Ag8-f6 e6-e5 Ae7xf6 Ac6-e7

T L GJ M t j J j . £ J j J

I I . - . - j

I B i

R In this seemingly innocent position, Black blundered a Ia Yermo-

1 20

Iinsky (see the previous example) and played

1 1 . . . . Ac8-f5??

Unlike Kasparov, Andersson did not miss the opportunity and the Swede proceeded to finish the game immediately with the 'classical'

12 . g3-g4!

Black resigned.

Leko,Peter Carlsen,Magnus Moreiia/Linares 2007 (14)

0 D T M j . _ . t J j J

- . j Q _ . £ .

I B

Black is threatening check on h3, with mate in three. White found the only way to parry the attack, and even to enter a winning position, with the self-weakening move

1 . g3-g4!

Comments by Marin in his report on ChessBase: 'This paradoxical move is the only way to prevent the deadly check on h3. Black cannot capture the pawn because of


2.©xe8!+ followed by mate; a curious way of coordinating White 's queen with the other pieces.'

l .Oxe7 was a mistake because of l . . .©h3+ (2.®gl? allows mate in two beginning with 2 . . . Af3+) 2 .®e1 Oxe7+c;:.

1 . 2 . Oclxe l 3 . h2 -h3

Oe7xe l + Oe8-f8

White is a pawn up and has a decisive advantage. He logically went on to win.

Shirov,Alexey Dominguez Perez,Lenier Wiik aan Zee 2010 (13)

0

GJ J

M . t . I

J I

. _ . _ Q _ . I I K R

Pressed for time, Shirov agreed a draw in this position. He missed a forced win, beginning with a self-weakening of his king:

1 . b2-b4! ©a5-c7

In the event of 1 . . . ©b6, 2. ©a8+ Af8 3.0£1 decides.

2 . ©f3-a8+ Ag7 -f8 3. Od l-fl

Sokolov,Andrey Speelman ,Jonathan Madrid rapid 1989 (3)

• M t T j J j . _ J j J

. s .

GJ I N

I I I f' . G1 . K R

How could Black have taken profit from his development advantage?

In the game after l . . .Oe4 2 .b3 Ode8 (also 3.g3!? with good chances of equalizing) 3.h3 (3 . . . 0e2 4.g3 ©b6 5.0h2) 3 . . . Ah5 4 .g3 Axg3+ 5 .fxg3 Oe3 (6.®g2 Oe2+ 7.®fl 02e3 8.®g2 was a draw) 6.Ag1?! ©d6! Black got the upper hand and won.

The daring

1 . b7-b5!

was necessary, in order to weaken White's pawn structure. Black has to self-weaken his own king's defences in order to play for an advantage.

2 . b2-b3

Now this is virtually forced (2.cxb5 ©xb5+ 3.®gl Oxd5c;:) .

2 . b5xc4 3 . ©clxc4

If 3.bxc4 Oe4 4.g3 ©xc4+ 5.®g2 ©xcl 6.0hxcl Oxd5c;:.

3 . ©b4-b6

1 2 1


Also possible is 3 . . . Axd5!? 4. ©xb4 Axb4 and Black is better thanks to his superior pieces.

4. ©c4-c6

4.C>dl Oe4 ! is too dangerous.

4. Od8xd5 5 . ©c6xb6 a7xb6

Now in this ending, Black is clearly better, with a solid pawn structure and the open f:tles in his possession.

6. g2-g3 Od5-c5

6 . . . g5!? 7.h3 h5 8.®g2 g4a.

7. ®fl-g2 Oc5-c2

With pressure.

Alexeev,Evgeny Radjabov,Teimour Sochi 2008 (4)

• . t M t . J

. _ J � L j J _ . J

D _ . j I I _ . _ Q _ I k I

F . rr .

Less obvious, but suggested by the computer programs, are the best moves in this position2•

Radjabov demonstrated the best move for Black here. Black has the advantage, but there are some prospects of an unwelcome pressure that White might engender by creating counterplay on the kingside, and from this perspective the safest move, revealed by the program, is the surprising

1 . h7-h5! !

With the idea of hiding the king on h 7 after the pawn exchange. Then the g-f:tle is available for the black rooks to invade White's king position.

l . . .©a3 was played in the game, and after 2 .©d2 f5 3 .gxf5 White obtained attacking chances against the black king: 3 . . . gxf5 4.exf5 Og7 + 5 .®h2 ©xf3 5 . . . Axf5! . 6.0gl .

2 . 3 .

g4xh5 ®g3-h2

g6xh5 ©a4-a3

With a clear advantage to Black.

2 'Who is your favourite player?' the strong GM Jan Gustafsson

was once asked in New In Chess Magazine 2009/2: 'Rybka 3,

alas .. . '

122


C - U n expecte d exc h a n g e s

Another important positional principle concerns exchanging operations. The art of trading the right pieces is an indispensable weapon in the armoury of a chess player. When the game begins, experienced players know already that in a given opening, a certain minor piece will prove superior to the others, as for instance the 'good' bishop in many positions.

Bohm,Hans Kortchnoi,Viktor Moscow 1975 (12)

1 . d2-d4 2 . c2-c4 3 . Ab1-c3 4. Ag1-f3 5 . c4xd5 6. Ac1 -d2 7. e2-e4 8. Ad2-e3 9. Afl-e2 1 0. g2xf3 11 . h2-h4

Ag8-f6 g7-g6 d7-d5 Af8-g7 Af6xd5 0-0 Ad5-b6 Ac8-g4 Ag4xf3 ©d8-d7 Ab8-c6

T t M . J . D . J I J J J J . � s J

I � 19 1

B i O k . R

In such a position, the prominent minor piece on both sides is the dark-squared bishop. Both the

white and the black dark-squared bishop influence both wings, and both are essential for attacking as well as defensive purposes, whatever the scenario according to which the game may progress. Such a minor piece is roughly as strong as a rook in most cases.

12 . d4-d5! Ac6-e5?

T t M . J . D . J I J J J J . � . J

I � . I

� . 19 1 B

Q k R 1 2 . . . Aa5 was forced, with an edge for White.

White now played 1 3 .©b3, discarding without any calculation the 'ridiculous' 13.Axb6, which exchanges a dominant bishop for a badly-placed knighe. This respect for principles honours the two

3 'A knight on b3 or b6 is always misplaced! ' Siegbert

Tarrasch.

1 23


players (Kortchnoi, fighting with Karpov for the chess crown in those days, obviously did not consider the possibility of the exchange) . It clearly demonstrates their knowledge, but also a certain tactical casualness, because after the exchange on b6, 14 .f4 wins a piece !

13 . Ae3xb6 a7xb6 14. f3-f4

Black can try to put up some resistance with

14. 15 . 16 .

d5xc6 b2xc3

Ae5-c6! Ag7xc3+! ©d7xc6

attacking c3 and c4, but after the cool

17. 18. 19 .

©d1-d3 Of8-d8 ©d3-e3 Oa8-a3 Oh 1-h3

White has a big advantage, and must be winning.

Another story on the same theme, where Black forgets about the possible exchange of the 'sacred' dark-squared bishop.

Ye Rongguang Van Wely,Loek Antwerp 1997 (2)

1 . d2-d4 2. Ag1-f3 3 . Ac1-g5 4. Ab1-d2 5 . e2-e3

1 24

Ag8-f6 g7-g6 Af8-g7 0-0 d7-d6

6. Afl-c4 7. c2-c3

c7-c5 b7-b6?

T £ L ca t M . . J I J J J . j . J . £ J

J Is> . B i I i N . !;;) .

O k I

R

This is a good positional idea, but it contains a serious tactical flaw.

7 . . . d5 or 7 . . . Abd7 were fine for Black.

8. Ag5xf6! Ag7xf6 9. Ac4-d5 e

And White won.

Gheorghiu,Florin Wirthensohn,Heinz Biel 1982 (1)

D T ca . t M . J . J J . - . j J

L l _ I _ S j J _ .

. £ . . !;;) I I

. 1;;1 1 i B R ls>Q R k

In this position from the English Opening, the black pieces are invading the centre while White is


counting on the long diagonal and his initiative on the c-file to keep the advantage.

Grandmaster Gheorghiu demonstrated his manoeuvring abilities after 1 .Aa4 and ground down his opponent with his superior strategic strength. Simpler would have been the win of a piece by

1 . Ag2xd5!

After l .Aa4 Black is slightly better according to the programs.

1 . 2 . e2-e3

Ae6xd5 Ad4-e6

2 . . . Ae6 is better, with a clear advantage for White after 3.exd4 ©xd4 4.©c2; or 2 . . . Af1 3.exd4 ©xd4 4.©c2 Ofd8 s .Aa4 ©xd3 6.©xd3 Oxd3 7.Ac5a.

3 . e3-e4 4. d3xe4

f5xe4

The bishop is trapped in the middle of the board. True, the fianchetto bishop in this type of position has a huge influence on the play as it is the main defender of the king and it is very active along the diagonal. But is it worth two pieces?

A similar possibility occurred in a game between two high-level players.

Kamsky, Gata Tiviakov,Sergey Daugavpils 1986 (9)

0 . t L GJ . t M _ . _ S j J I J

. _ S j J N

. J I . 19 . i

I N i B � 0 R k

Kamsky played the natural

15 . Ae2-d4?

This blunder has been recorded in 17 games, mostly at a high level.

15 . 16 . Ae3xd4 17. Ad5-e3 18. Ad4-a7

Ag7xd4! e7-e6 e6-e5 Ob8-b7

The bishop is trapped. Black wins a piece and the game, even though Kamsky fought on till the 68th move!

One must admire Tiviakov's clear-headedness. 13 years later, Matthew Sadler, member of the world elite, was content with 1 5 . . . Ab7 with equality and later on Slobodjan-Sadler, Germany Bundesliga 1998/99, ended in a draw.

125


D - U n u s u a l pos it ion of' a p i ece

Another positional dogma concerns the role of the chess pieces. For every piece there is an 'ideal' situation, for instance a strong central square for the knight or the seventh (second) rank for the rook. There are also 'nightmarish' situations. Many rules prescribe that you should not lock in your bishop with your own pawns, or bring out the queen too early; not put knights or rooks on a fianchetto square, etcetera.

The analysis of the following game and the interview with Kramnik (from New In Chess Magazine 2007 /8) enable us to understand this type of blindness a little better.

Kramnik, Vladimir Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar Moscow 2007 (8)

D T GJ M J . J . £ .

J J I

. _ . _ N _ Q _

I r- . k B

The position is favourable for White, thanks to the superior position of his Queen+Knight duo: ready to attack the black king which is still in the centre. If unassailable by enemy forces, such a centralized knight can display considerable power.

For the moment, the white rook is attacked. Where should we put it? Kramnik played 1 7.0d l .

1 26

The best of all possible lines would have been:

17. Oa1 -b 1 ! Oa8-b8 18. d5xc6 ©d8-d4 19. ©g4-d7 + ©d4xd7 20. c6xd7+ ®e8xd7

t . J . j M £ · - ·

J

I R

N

I . k B

All this was analysed by the Russian player during the game, but in his calculations he did not foresee that after 2 1 .Ac5+ ®c6 22 .Aa4 ! wins on the spot.

'For a classical player like me it was difficult to transfer my knight in two moves from e4 to a4 ' , wrote Kramnik.

Another case of a 'knight on the rim' is the following (see next page) :


Karpov,Anatoly Yusupov,Artur Moscow ch-URS 1983 (3)

0 _ . _ . _ . j M D T . - J

. J J i J

R 0

1 £ I k

The black pieces look menacing, but White can parry all threats with great accuracy. He has to play some quite unnatural moves with his king, queen and rook!

38. ®h2-g3!

Best, even though it requires strong nerves and perfect calculation.

38. .. . f5xg4 39. ®g3xh4

The king is now the most advanced white piece - not always a great achievement when queens are still on the board.

39 . . .. 4 0. f2-f4 41 . ©dl-hS!

g4xh3 ©a6-e6

The main threat was 4 1 . . . ©f5 followed by 42 . . . h5, and if 43.©xh5+ Oh6. There was also the drawing threat 41 . . .h2, forcing the rook to occupy the retreat square h2 : 42.0xh2 (otherwise 42 . . . h l © + wins) 42 . . . ©e7 + 43.®h3 ©e6+.

41 . .. . 42 . ®h4xh3

©e6-e7+ ©e7-f7

_ . _ . _ Dj M T . - J

J _ Q . J

K R

Now White must find another 'only move' to secure the win.

43 . Oc2-h2! e

Counter-intuitively, the rook blocks the king's retreat.

43 . . .. ©f7-d7+

Now in case of 43 . . . 0g3+ the queen is protected after 44. ®xg3.

44. f4-f5 1 -0

Polgar,] udi t Lazic,Miroljub Dortmund 1990 (10)

0 t . J . - J . t .

J I . - . - J

N

M I J J

i I R k

The position looks equal , with White 's good central knight com-

1 27


pensating for the weakness of his d-pawn. Which move gives White an edge?

The standard placing of the rooks would be Ofd 1 followed by Gae l , with some pressure on c 7. This would be 'ideal ' : one rook on the semi -open file and the other behind the most advanced pawn. Nevertheless, the young Hungarian player preferred the subtle :

22 . Oal-d l ! !

The normal 22.0fdl was worse, simply because after 22 . . . 0ed7a 23.0dcl? (23.Ac3 is better, when Black has the advantage after the typical pawn push 23 . . . e4 !a) 23 . . . 0xd5 wins a pawn, as after 24.0xc7?? there is a back-rank mate beginning with 24 . . . 0dl+ .

22 . Oe7-d7 23 . Od l-c l !�

Now White places the rook on the open file, with a slight advantage.

The king is the piece that can make the most surprising moves because of the following paradox: - Like the knight, it is a short-range piece that we ought to centralize for the maximum effect when the material on the board is limited.

- Before the endgame, the risks linked to checkmate or diverse multiple attacks involving checks are such that we nearly always look for security, and try to hide it in a corner.

Here are some possible surprises.

1 28

Cassidy,F. A Thousand Endgames 1910

0 . m .

J

k . White has several methods here: to go after the a-pawn, to prevent the typical defensive sacrifice . . . a4-a3 (turning the knight pawn into a rook pawn means an immediate draw) , or to try and slow down the comeback of the black king.

1 . ®cl-c2!

Threatening to collect the aS pawn.

1 . a5-a4!

A good move, thwarting White's plan to take the pawn while aiming for the . . . a4-a3 sacrifice. In order to prevent this, White must play the surprising

2 . ®c2-b l ! !

2 .®c3? a3! 3.b4 ®e7 4.®b3 ®d6 5.®xa3 ®c6 6.®a4 ®b6 i.

2 . a4-a3! 3 . b2-b3!

The only winning move. As the technique consists in bringing the king in front of his pawn, the less


far this pawn is advanced, the better.

3 . 4 . ®bl-a2 5. ®a2xa3 6. ®a3-a4!

6.®b4? ®b6 i.

6.

®f8-e7 ®e7-d6 ®d6-c6

®c6-b6

The only square for the black king to draw would be a6.

7. ®a4-b4 1-0

Topalov,Veselin Kramnik,Vladimir Elista Wch m 2006 (2)

. rrhl .

J . k .

I . 1n1 .

. t . White to play and dravv

1 . ®d6-d7!

l .Ae6+ was played in the game, where Black won: l . . .®e8 2 .Ac7 + ®d8 3 .Ae6+ ®c8 4 .®e7 and now: A) 4 . . . b5 5.d6 C>dl 6.Ac5 b4

7.d7 + Oxd7 + (7 . . . ®c7 s.Aa6+ 1) s.Axd7 b3 9.Ab6+ ®b7 10.Ac4 i ;

B) 4 . . . 0h l i was played in the game: s .Ags bS 6.d6 Od l 7.Ae6 b4 8.Ac5 Oe l + 9.®£6 9.Ae6 Oxe6+ 10.®xe6 ®d8. 9 . . . 0e3

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .

.. . Ag5-e6+ Ae6-d8+ Ad8-c6

K

b7-b5 ®f8-f7 ®f7-f6 Oel-bl

N . rrhl .

J

T Now a hard-to-see move draws:

5 . ®d7-d6!

With this switchback the king arrives just in time to stop the b-pawn. It is both a backward move and a paradoxical switchback of the king, who only four moves earlier went forward with l .®d7 .

Topalov makes a very interesting comment about this position, and about the concept of invisibility: 'I have to say it is practically impossible to decide on 55.®d7, as moves like 59.®d6 do not occur to human minds' (Topalov-Kramnik, 2006

World Chess Championship, On the edge in Elista, Russell Enterprises) .

5 . 6 . ®d6-c5

b5-b4 b4-b3

1 29


7. ®c5-b4 b3-b2 8. ®b4-b3 i

Kennard, Walter 1915

k . J j J _ . j rn . I J

R White to play and mate in 4

What is the ideal place for White's rook? Precisely the one that allows him to mate in four, isn't it?

The solution to this riddle is the paradoxical

1 . Ofl-c1

The rook moves to the most heavily obstructed file on the board : behind its own tripled pawns. But this bizarre placement starts to make sense after the following sequence :

1 . b6-b5

l . . .cS 2.0d1 bS 3.0d5 bxc4/b4 4.0xc5+.

2 . c4-c5 3. c3xb4+ 4. c2-c4#

b5-b4 ®a5 -b5

And the rook is not so useless on the c-file after all!

130

Miroshnichenko,Evgeny Ledger, Stephen Plovdiv tt 2010 (1 .8)

1 . d2-d4 2. Ag1-f3 3 . d4-d5 4 . Ac1-g5 5. Ag5xf6 6. c2-c3 7. a2-a4 8. a4xb5 9. Ab1-d2 10 . Oa1 -a4 1 1 . ©d1-a1 12 . e2-e4

Ag8-f6 c7-c5 b7-b5 ©d8-b6 ©b6xf6 ©f6-f5 Ac8-b7 Ab7xd5 e7-e6 Ad5-b7 ©f5-c2 f7-f5

T £ . M I t j L _ J _ . j J

J I . - J J

R I N

o � i 1

G1 . k B R Here more than one move is winning for White, but the most elegant is:

13 . ®e1-e2!

The white king makes way for the knight. Another road to success would be 13.Ae5 fxe4 14 .Aec4 Ae7 15.Ae3 ©xa4 16.©xa4 e .

13 . .. . a7-a6 14. Af3-e 1

14 .b3! was even stronger, in order to prevent the following queen sacrifice.


14. . .. 15 . ©a1xa4 16. ©a4-c2 17. Ad2xe4 18. Ae4-g5 19. Ag5xe6 2 0. ©c2-f5 2 1 . Ae1-d3 22 . g2-g3 23 . ©f5-f4+ 24. Afl-h3+

©c2xa4 a6xb5 f5xe4 d7-d5 Af8-e7 ®e8-d7 ®d7-d6 Ab8-d7 g7-g6 ®d6xe6 1-0

Compare with the game BoppRamini featured in the next chapter.

Short,N igel Timman,Jan Ti!burg 1991 (4)

0 T t M _ L j R_ J _ .

j D _ J <9 J _ J I J I I f' .

N i I . k .

White has a dominating position and ideally placed major pieces. They are controlling the only open file and have already infiltrated the seventh rank. In addition, the white queen is anchored in the close vicinity of the black king. Nevertheless, to convert this domination into something concrete is

not easy. How can we add an extra element to the attack on the kingside? The white knight cannot be brought along because of Black's threats on the long diagonal.

Short found a phenomenal solution.

3 1 . ®g1-h2 Oe8-c8

If Black reacts with 3 1 . . .Ac8 there follows: A) 32 .g4 ! hxg4 Or 32 . . . Axd7

33.gxh5 with unstoppable threats. 33.Ag5 ! Axd7 34.h5 ! With a winning attack, for example 34 . . . gxh5 35.©h6; B) Also winning is the cool

32 .Ag5 ! Axd7 33 .0f4 ©a8 33 . . . Ac8 34.Axf7 Oxf7 35. ©xf7 + ®h8 36. ©xg6 and the mate is near. 34 .Axf7 Oxf7 34 . . . ®h7 35 .©g5 ! . 3 5 . ©xf7+ ®h8 36.©xd7 e .

32 . ®h2-g3! 33. ®g3-f4 ! 34. ®f4-g5 ! !

Oc8-e8 Ab7-c8

Black resigned in view of 34 . . . Axd7 35.®h6! with mate to follow.

Another impressive variation consists in 34 . . . ®h7 35.©xg6+ ®h8 36.©h6+ ®g8 37.®f6! (37.®xh5 also mates) .

In the following wild position, White has a forced win following the same scheme.

(see next page)

1 3 1


Morozevich,Alexander Aronian,Levon Moreiia/Linares 2007 (3)

0 M J J

J . - . � L _ J J I

. � . rr . k I

I Gt . . t:. .

Morozevich has sacrificed two pawns in order to trap the enemy bishop, the white rook is under attack and both kings look in danger. How can White win?

1 . ©f6-d8+!

The game saw: l .Of3 Ofl Still possible was 2.©d8+ ®g7 3.f6+ ®h6 4.®h4 ! ! ©el+ 5.g3 ©e4+ 6.g4 ©el+ 7.0g3. Now Black escapes: 2 .fxg6? Oxf3+ 3 .©xf3 After 3.gxf3 hxg6 White has no winning chances due to his exposed king.

132

3 . . . © e l+ 3 . . . ©xd4?? 4 .©xf7+ ®h8 5. ©xh7+ 4 .®f4 hxg6 5 . ©xd5 ©f2+ 6.Af3 and a draw.

1 . 2 . 3 .

f5-f6+ ®g3-h4! !

®g8-g7 ®g7-h6

The white king is used as a gatekeeper .

3 . 4. g2-g4

©alxd4+ ©d4-b4

· - · � · - · -J J

J L r;:r;J j J

Gt . I k . rr . I

. t:. .

The only move to defend against the threatened mate on f8.

5 . ©d8-f8+! ! ©b4xf8 6. g4-g5#


E - Anti -deve l op i ng move s

In the opening, it is very important to develop your pieces as quickly as possible. This principle is not easy to contradict, even with good tactical arguments.

Bopp,Thomas Ramini ,Edgardo Correspondence 2000

1. e2-e4 2. e4-e5 3 . d2-d4 4. c2-c4

Ag8-f6 Af6-d5 e7-e6

In this correspondence game, Black thought that an intermediate check would come in handy, in order to force some exchanges.

4 . . .. Af8-b4+

T � L GI M t:. ' j ' j J ' j J J - J

J s

I i . . i I i r- N ls> Q k B � R

He had certainly not taken White 's answer into account . . .

5 . ®el-e2! !

After this move, which contradicts all developing principles, Black loses a piece : 5 . . . Ae7 5 . . . Ab6 6.c5 AdS 7.a3 leads to the same result. White snares the bishop using the 'Noah's Ark' trap, i.e. by advancing

his pawns like breaking waves: 6.a3 AaS 7.b4 A.b6 8.c5.

Porreca, Giorgio Bronstein, David Belgrade 1954 (10)

B . � .

I . ls> Q r-

� I k .

This is a classical example of retro-development. Though it seems slightly dubious, we can still appreciate the beauty of the idea. Black would like to castle queenside (but f7 is attacked) , and to play . . . e7-e6 (but there are winning sacrifices for White) .

So he chose to prepare both by the clever

1 . Ah7-g8!?

To defend f7 and e6 by . . . e 7 -e6. What is so difficult here is the decisian to move the bishop from an open diagonal to a non -existing diagonal, as John Emms put it.

133


Nowadays, the all-seeing programs would play the more direct (and better) l . . .Ab6! 2.Ab3 0-0-0 with the idea 3.Axf7 eS 0 .

2 . Af4-d3 e7-e6 3 . Ac1 -f4 Af8-d6 4. Af4xd6 ©c7xd6 5 . Ag3-f5 ©d6-f8 6 . ©d1-f3?!

A) White is better after 6.Af4!?, see: A1) 6 . . . g6 7.0xe6+ (7 . . . ®d8

8.0xf6 Axf6 9 .d5a) 7 . . . fxe6 8.Axg6 ©b4 9.a3a; A2) 6 . . . ®d8!?; A3) 6 . . . 0-0-0 7.Axe6 fxe6

8.Ag6 ©b4 9.a3 ©xb2 10.Afe7+ ®c 7 1 1 .Axh8. B) Or 6.Ae5 !?� AdS 7.Axd5

cxd5 8.Axd7 ®xd7 9.Ae3 ®c7 10.c4 dxc4 1 1 .©f3 Od8 12.Axc4 ®b8 13.0acl ®a8 14 .0e3 Od5 1 5 .0a3 ©d8 16.Ab6+ ®b8 17. ©g3+ eS 18.Axd5 1-0 JanesPedersen, Copenhagen 2005.

6 . 0 -0 -0 i

And Black eventually won the game.

134

Rabinovich,Alexander Tsuboi,Edson Kenji Sao Paulo 2007 (4)

0 T L . t M j J _ . _ . j J

J i S GJ . R s l

I .

. 19 . B i Q k � � R

Black has a big lead in development, in spite of his several hanging pieces. White would like to castle as soon as possible, of course. Had he shown less respect for positional principles, he would have played

1 . Ad2-c1 ! !

Bishop backwards, with the king in the centre!

l .Ah3? Ac6 l was played in the game, which was ultimately drawn.

1 . 2 .

. . . Ag1-f3 e

Ad4-c6


F - Re s i d u a l i ma g e

This is a classical calculation problem, but still we might regard it as another 'technical' problem. To fight against the image of a piece that has left a certain square (and the problem of removing it virtually in our head) is a difficulty that is similar to the fight against a positional principle.

Thanks to Luc Winants, who reviewed the French version of our book for La libre Belgique (8/ 1 112009) , we have managed to find the protagonists (and the real position) of this game.

Jadoul,Michel Rooze,Jan Hoei ch-BEL 1984 (10)

0 T L GI . t M j J _ . j J _ J

J £ S J I . � � .

B I 1 19 k .

In this position, White has the initiative and supremacy in the centre. We can characterize his advantage by comparing the respective positions of the knights. The first player has installed his two steeds in the best possible positions. On the other hand, the black ones on the sixth rank restrain the possibility of their own pieces. Somehow Black's position looks solid, were it not for the vulnerability of the e6 knight.

Can you see the combination that is possible here, with White to move?

1 . 2 .

Ae5xf7! ©d1-b3

®g8xf7 ©d8-b6

Black cannot defend e6 any further, but he will be able to get rid of one attacker, by exchanging queens.

3 . Af3-d 1 ! e

This retreat wins the e6 knight. The manoeuvre 2 .©d1 -b3 followed by the retreat Af3-d 1xb3 is very subtle. There are two difficulties: - The action is moved from one wing to the other, because the f3 bishop was originally pointing at the queenside.

- The support of the queen is assured via the crucial d 1 -square. The difficulty to see such moves is linked with the well-known phenomenon of the 'residual image' . During calculation, it is sometimes hard to use squares originally occupied by another piece because the image of the starting position sometimes stays in the mind as if printed there. When you consider the very natural sacrifice on f1 and examine

135


the possible defence . . . ©b6, it is hard to foresee that the bishop on f3 will be able to 'recharge' the attack via d 1 when this square is originally occupied.

Another example on the same theme in the following game.

Zubarev,Alexander Lechtynsky,J iri Pardubice Open 2006 (6)

1 . e2-e4 e7-e5 2 . Ag1-f3 Ab8-c6 3 . Afl -b5 a7-a6 4. Ab5-a4 Ag8-f6 5 . 0-0 Af8-e7 6. Ofl-e1 b7-b5 7. Aa4-b3 d7-d6 8. a2-a4 Ac8-b7 9. d2-d3 0-0 10 . Ab1-d2 Ac6-b8 1 1 . c2-c3 Ab8-d7 12 . d3-d4 c7-c5 13 . Ab3-c2 ©d8-c7 14. d4-d5 c5-c4 15 . Ad2-fl Ad7-c5 16. h2-h3 Of8-e8 17. Afl-g3 Af6-d7 18. Ag3-f5 Ae7-f8 19 . Af3 -h2 f7-f6 20 . Oe 1-e3 g7-g6 2 1 . Oe3-g3 ®g8-f7?

2l . . .®h8 would have been better, though 22.Ah4 looks threatening, for exampl� if 22 . . . Ab6 , (appar-ently, 22 . . . Ag7 23.©g4 Af8 still holds) 23.Axg6+! hxg6 24.0xg6 ©h7 25.0xf6 Ag7 26.0f5a.

136

T T l L GI S M J

J . . J - . J J -_ J s I j N _ . I J I

I .

B 19 0

rr I I � k .

22 . ©d 1 -h5! ! g6xh5

It's too late for 22 . . . ®g8 because of 23.0xg6+ hxg6 24. ©xg6+ ®h8 25.A�4 (or 25 .Ah6 e ) with the idea Agh6, or first ©h5, with mate.

23 . Ac2-d 1 !

Using the vacated square to give mate on the other side of the board.

23 . .. . 24. e4xd5

Ab7xd5 1 -0

The only remaining try for Black is 24 . . . Ag7 25.0xg7 + ®f8, but then comes 26.Ah6, threatening both Og3 and Ah5. Mate is unavoidable.

Here's another case of a residual image, with two pieces going to the same square several times.

Can you find the best move, which was missed by two strong grandmasters?

The comments in quotes are by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in New In Chess Magazine 2009/6.


Morozevich,Alexander Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime Biel 2009 (8)

0 T L I t . S M . - - - J

J N J - . J

. J I

_ Q £ 1 _ B D I

k R R 1. Ah3-e6+!

l .g6+ , played in the game, was good enough for a clear advantage.

1 . ®f7xe6

l . . .©xe6 2.Ad8+ ®e7 3.Axe6 ®xe6 (3 . . . Axd l 4 .0xd l ! e ) 4.©xe3 e and 'given the lack of coordination of the black pieces there is little doubt about the outcome.'

2 . ©d3-g6+ Ad7-f6 3. g5xf6 g7xf6

4. ©g6-e8+ ®e6-f5 5 . Ac6-d4+!

Backward knight move one.

5 . 6 .

. . . Ad4-e2+

®f5-f4

Backward knight move two, forcing a switchback by the king .

6 . ®f4-f5

'Here I thought that I'd get away with a draw, but . . .' 6 . . . ®xf3 7.©c6+ ! e .

7. Odl-d4! ! e

'The move that I had missed, and Morozevich probably too. The double threats of 8.Ag3, mate, and 8.0f4+ exf4 9.©e4, mate, are too strong.'

There 's a second solution: 7.Ag3+ ! ! ®f4 s.Ah5+ (this fourth knight's move from c6 to h5 is also a nice reminder of a study theme) 8 . . . ®f5 9 .0d4 leads to the same result.

137


EXERCISE 1

*

'My Kingdom for a Horse'

0

Shereshevsky, Mikhail Buslaev,Alexander

Tbilisi 1973

N J

J . rrhl

I K

White lost this game. It would have been enough to find one move in order to win it. Do you see which one?

139


Solution 1

Shereshevsky,Mikhail Buslaev,Alexander Tbilisi 1973

N J

. £ J

*

. s . m I

K

White played l .AgS , a standard position for the knight. For the win, it was enough to send the knight into the corner, the worst possible place from where it has only two moves available.

140

But who minds, if one of them is an unstoppable checkmate?

Effectively,

1 . Af7-h8 !

Mating on the next move, on g6.

Why was l .Ah8 an invisible move? - It is difficult to take into account the possibility of a mate when you have only one piece in the attack (but against two useless defenders) .

- The move l .Ah8, sending the knight into the corner, is antipositional. And its point is a 'backward attacking move' (see Chapter 4) , and a backward knight move (see Chapter 1) .


EXERCISE 2

* *

The Art of (Not) Playing Pawns

•

llyin Zhenevsky,Alexander Abramian,Suren

Leningrad 1938

. rrhl .

. _ . _ . j J j I

K

Black has three pawns against two, but his monarch is far away. As Black, shall we move forward immediately, or exchange a pawn and play for a draw?

1 4 1


Solution 2 * *

llyin Zhenevsky,Alexander Abramian,Suren Leningrad 1938

. m .

. _ . _ . j J j I

K

Black wins by sacrificing a pawn in order to be able to approach with the king. The surprising solution is:

1 . g4-g3! !

In the game, the tempting l . . .f3+?? was refuted by the simple 2 .®f2 ! (2 . . . fxg2 3.hxg4 h3 4.g5 and White queens. Also good enough for a draw was 2.gxf3 g3. Now let's assume that White does not move, the black king comes and takes f3 , then the white king moves to fl , or gl or hl . Should Black play . . . g3-g2 , then White can even hide on h2, ®f2 being stalemate) 2 . . . gxh3 3.gxh3 and Black can only draw, as he will lose all his pawns.

2 . ®e2-f3 3 . ®f3xf4

142

®b6-c5

Or 3.®g4 ®d4 4.®xh4 ®e3 5.®g4 f3 6.®xg3 f2 1 .

3 . ®c5-d4

The arrival of the king guarantees the win of the g2 pawn, and with it, the game.

4. ®f4-f3

4.®g4 ®e3 5.®xh4 ®f2 6.®g4 ®xg2 7.h4 ®f2 is the same.

4. 5. ®f3-g4 6. ®g4xh4 7. ®h4-g4 8. h3-h4

®d4-d3 ®d3-e3 ®e3-f2 ®f2xg2 ®g2-f2 i

Why was l . . .g3 an invisible move? - The move is anti-positional, because it loses the dynamism of the pawn structure. The basic principie, explained in Kmoch's Pawn Power, is to first move the 'candidate ' pawn (the one that has no enemy pawn on its file) , the basic rule being 'candidate forward! ' , as was played in the game.

- In the main variation, the arrival of the black king from a faraway square is surprisingly efficient.

- In the game variation, the correct defence (as was actually played in the game) was not easy to spot.


EXERCISE 3

* *

Hanging Pawns and Fragile Pieces

0 T -. L j s -

. -

. -

lnarkiev,Ernesto Moen,Andreas

Kallithea tt 2008 (7)

D t:. . - M . I J .

j -

. . � . -. J j I@ . -

. . l&> . -

_ Q inl . . . I -

I . I . B I . I -

. rr . R k

-

J -

.

-

.

. I

.

In this central structure, the two black pawns on cS and d5 frequently constitute an element of weakness. White can demonstrate that certain black pieces too lack protection. How?

143


Solution 3

lnarkiev,Ernesto Moen,Andreas Kallithea tt 2008 (7)

* *

T D t j L _ .

M I J . J j

s . s . _ . j J � . _ .

. Is> . _ Q � . - . i I I i B

f' . R k White could have won material by the 'invisible move'

1 . Ag2 -h3! !

A small bomb in an apparently calm, 'technical' position.

In the game, White played the positional l.(Jfd l with a small advantage.

1 . ©c8xh3 2 . ©b3xb7 e

Attacking two pieces.

144

2 . ©h3-e6

2 .. . Ad6 !? leads to some complications, the trap being: A) 3 .©xf7+ enables White to

keep a winning edge after 3 . . . ®h8 4 .AxdS AxeS s .AxeS Of8 6 .©b7 a Oab8 7.©xa7 Oa8 8.©e7 Ofe8 8 . . . 0ae8 9 .Axf6 Oxe7 10.Axe7 a. 9.©b7 Oab8 1 o.Axf6 ! Oxb7 l l .Axe8 ©hS l l . . .Oe7 12 .Ad6! . 1 2 .Ad6 Od7 1 3 .Af4 a; B) 3 .©xa6? AxeS 4.AxeS? Ag4

and mate.

3 . Ae5-c6

Winning the exchange.

3 . 4.

. . . Ac6xd8

Ae7-f8

With a decisive advantage.

Why was l .Ah3 an invisible move ? - The quiet-looking position does not call for immediate action.

- It is anti-positional to give up the beautiful fianchetto bishop.


EXERCISE 4

* *

Never Look Back (They Say . . . )

Bacrot,Etienne Relange,Eloi

France tt 2006 (6)

• T � L GJ M I S t j J _ . j J j J

- . j N _ . - . . - . j I

I i N i ts> O k B

. I

R

The brave little knight faces the entire black army on its own. Can you figure out Black's next move?

145


Solution 4 * *

Here's the complete game:

Bacrot,Etienne Relange,Eloi France tt 2006 (6)

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 .

e2-e4 Agl-e2 g2-g3 Abl-c3?! Ac3-d5?

c7-c5 d7-d6 d6-d5!? d5-d4

T s L GJ M I S t j J _ . j J j J

- . j N _ . - . . - . j I

I i N i I rr ls> Q k B R

146

5 . g7-g5!

Trapping the reckless knight.

6. d2-d3 h7-h6!

Not immediately 6 . . . e6? because of 7.Axg5 ©xg5 8.Ac7+ and if anyone, White is better.

7. Afl -g2 e7-e6<;

And Black won quickly.

Why was 5 . . . g5 an invisible move? - The move . . . g7 -gS is hard to conceive of, because it may saddle Black with a permanent weakness .

- A central knight trapped as early as move 5 is something of a surprise.

- The move that allows Black to trap it is a quiet move.


EXERCISE 5

* *

The Right File

0 rrhl .

. j K

R

White to play and mate in three. There are many weys of mating in four, but the shortest road is atypical.

147


Solution 5 * *

rn .

. j K _ . - . -

R

The solution is the strange

1 . Og2-c2!

Preventing the black king's escape via the c-file (see line B after the next move) .

148

1 . b6-b5

A) l . . .®a8 2.®c7 ®a7 3.0a2#; B) l . . .®b8 2.®xb6 ®a8 3.0c8#; C) l . . .®a6 2.0a2#.

2 . ®c6-c7 ®a7-a6

2 . . . ®a8 3.0a2#.

3. Oc2-a2#

Why is l .Oc2 an invisible move? - The rook moves to the only obstructed file (by its own king) .

- The move does not threaten anything, but makes use of zugzwang.


EXERCISE 6

* * *

Queens and Knights

Pucher, Olivier Brih,Sald

France tt 2004 (5)

0 T t M . J D . J J j - j -. - . j J

I l <qj F

N � s

. I

K

Both players would like to invade the enemy fortress. While preventing White 's intrusion, Black is threatening to invade via h3 and £3. How can White repel the attack and grab the advantage?

149


Solution 6

Pucher, Olivier Brih,Sald France tt 2004 (5)

* * *

T t M . J D . J J J - J -. - . j J

I 1 <9 IT:'

N . s S

- � I K

1 . g3-g4!

l .Ag4 !? was played in the game: L.f6 Not l . . .©xg4?? 2.Axe7+. 2 .f3�

1 . Ah5-g7?

1 50

Now for the second invisible move:

2 . ©b2-f6! e

The best move for Black was l . . .e6! after which the same spectacular 2. ©f6! gives White a good advantage: 2 . . . exd5 3. ©xg5 d4 4.Ad5 f6 5.©h4a.

Why was l .g4 an invisible move? - The move g3-g4 creates weaknesses in the white camp.

- It is justified by the clever 2. ©f6 ! , a nearly 'quiet' move that deliberately puts the queen en prise.

- There is another attractive move (l .Ag4 !?) and it is difficult to consider another move on the same square (see 'Residual image ' , page 135)

Chapter 4 - Invisible moves for psychological reasons

It frequently happens that the artistic or scientific aspect of a chess game is overshadowed by the sporting aspect. Here, psychological factors start to play an important role. The players may be influenced by the importance of the game, as is demonstrated by the relatively frequent blunders during World Championship matches. Some mistakes are also explained by tiredness of the contestants, but the main reason for mutual blindness lies in an anticipation of the probable result.

1 5 1


A - Anti c i pation of' the prob a b l e re s u lt

A chess game develops gradually. After a player gets the upper hand, he keeps it for hours, often already celebrating the expected win in advance. On the other hand, the player who is a victim of constant pressure throughout the game will anticipate a probable loss, and accept his fate more easily.

Here is a famous example where the psychological dimension started to play its part long before the game started. The opponent's reputation, his rating, and previous encounters between the players are also relevant factors. In 1919, Jose Raul Capablanca was in the middle of a period of invincibility that would last for eight years, until his defeat at the hands of Richard Reti during the 1924 New York tournament. His self-confidence, his charisma, even his nicknames ('The Chess Machine' , 'The Invincible') , gave him a great advantage over his opponents, even before the game started. Later, players like Tal and Fischer would also be known for their ability to frighten their opponents, most of whom were unable to display their usual strength in a game and would frequently lose quickly, making unusual blunders.

Capablanca,Jose Raul Thomas, George Alan Hastings 1919 (4)

1 . e2-e4 2. Ag1-f3 3 . Afl -b5 4. Ab1-c3 5. d2-d4

1 52

e7-e5 Ab8-c6 d7-d6 Ag8-f6 Af8-e7

6. 0-0 7. Ofl-e 1 8. Af3xd4 9. ©d1xd4 10. Ac3xb5 1 1 . Ab5-c3 12 . Ac1-g5 13. Ag5xe7 14. Ac3-d5 15. Oe1 -e3 16. Oe3-g3 17. f2-f4 18. ©d4-c3 19. f4-f5 20. ©c3-b3 21 . Ad5-f4 22. ©b3xb7 23. ©b7xa6 24. Og3-b3 25. Oa1-b1 26 . Af4-g6+ 27. f5xg6 28. Ob3-b8

Ac8-d7 Ac6xd4 e5xd4 Ad7xb5 a7-a6 0-0 Af6-d7 ©d8xe7 ©e7-d8 Ad7-e5 f7-f6 Ae5-c6 Of8-f7 ©d8-f8 ®g8-h8 Ac6-e5 Oa8-b8 Ob8xb2 Ob2xc2 h7-h6 Ae5xg6 Of7-e7 Oe7-e8

- . j Q _ . j

T GJ m j

T R

I . . j j

I . k


When Capablanca obtained this favourable position, after a logical game, both players were aware that there could be no doubt about the final result.

White's advantage is decisive for several reasons: - The domination of the open file and the invasion of the back rank.

- The mate threats induced by the white pawn encrusted on g6.

- The alignment of three black pieces on the same horizontal line.

- The lack of connection between the unprotected c2 rook and the rest of Black's army.

What would you play as White? The Cuban hero played

2 9. ©a6-a8

And Black resigned, although he could have claimed an advantage in the final position!

This is a typical 'Capablancan' game, where the stronger player dictates the proceedings, realizes a well-thought-out plan and finishes elegantly. The problem is that neither Capablanca nor Thomas could have imagined that Black might have counterchances in the final position, because White had been 'logically' winning all day long. Thomas estimated that here the demonstration should end, and resigned.

Nevertheless, after 29. ©a8, Black could have defended successfully. 1 . Can you see how Capa could have won in the diagram position?

2. Can you see a defence for Thomas after 29.©a8 ?

Here are the answers to these questions. 1 . Two other moves were easily winning for White : A) The most accurate is probably

29 . ©b5 ! and on 29 . . . 0c l + 30 .®f2 Oc2+ 3 l .®el Oc l + 32. ®d2 Oxb8 33. ©xb8 White wins; B) The more straightforward is

29.0xe8 ©xe8 30.©a4 ! . Black has to go for 30 . . . 0xg2+ 3l .®xg2 ©xg6+ 32.®hl when White is winning. 2. Had Black replied

29. Oc2xa2!

Q rr . T GJ . rn

T

. J J

R

I . J . J J

I . k

he would not have been lost anymore. Suddenly the offside rook comes back into play and defends the back rank after the surprising circuit Oc2xa2xa8xe8 (compare with the Yusupov-Kortchnoi fragment from Chapter 2) . This is certainly an unexpected move, but nothing invisible under normal conditions between two of the

1 53


best players of the time. The only saving move is a capture of a pawn, with which Black attacks

1 the queen. Even 29 . . . 0cl + comes into con

sideration; after 30.0xcl Oxb8 the game continues - granted, White is a little better here.

After 29 . . . 0xa2 30.©xa2 Oxb8 Black is very slightly better. The best move for White would have been 3 0. © b 7 ! . Thanks to his activity White has equality, for example: 30 . . . c5 31 .0xe8 ©xe8 32.©b8 Oa8 33.©xe8+ Oxe8 when the extra pawn is easily compensated for by the activity of his pieces.

The example that follows shows the fascination that was exerted by Capablanca on his contemporaries, and even on admirers long after his death. Sometimes admiration excludes the possibility of a critical perspective and thus constitutes another kind of blindness. The following case was - with right -regarded as a model game for eighty years.

Winter, William Capablanca,Jose Raul Hastings 1919 (5)

D T J . - J

J . J I

. t .

J I

M J J

J

I l9 I i K R

In Chess Fundamentals Capablanca explains that Black is mechanically winning with the white bishop jailed on g3. 'A simple examination will show that White is minus a bishop for all practical purposes.' This is a very attractive thesis, but a false one, as recently shown by Kasparov in My Great Predecessors Part 1 ; White probably had a quite simple draw. However, dozens of chess treatises gave this position without any further analysis or verification and took the conclusions of the famous player for granted.

1 Mark Dvoretsky, the famous Russian trainer, shows the

position to his pupils without the a2 pawn. This involves

certain changes of interest. Firstly, the variation 29.0xe8 is

less clear, because White has some difficulties winning as

Black has a lot of pawns against the rook. Still, a clear win is

offered by 29.©b5 ! . Secondly, and interestingly for our

topic, the defensive move is more difficult to conceive of

without the a2 pawn because captures are easier to see.

1 54


In the game White played l .Ohl . Capablanca then launched a pawn attack on the queenside ( . . . c6, . . . b5, ... c4) and won easily thanks to his virtual extra piece: l . . .®e6 2 .h4 Ofb8 3.hxg5 hxg5 4 .b3 c6 5 .0a2 b5 6.0ha l c4 i and Black won.

In the diagram position, Kasparov showed that White could also have jailed Black's bishop with

1 . c2-c4 ! !

Here's Kasparov's analysis:

1 . 2 . 3 .

.. . Ofl -c1 b2-b3

c7-c6 Of8-b8

White must keep everything blocked on the light squares.

3 . .. . b7-b5 4. Oc1 -c3! Ob8-b6 5 . ®g2-fl b5xc4 6. d3xc4 Oa8-b8 7. Oa1-a3 ! i

Of course one may argue that these are old examples and that the average level of play at the beginning of the 20th century was far from our modern standard - but this is debatable, at least as far as Capablanca is concerned.

Gelfand,Boris Lautier,Joel Belgrade 1997 (5)

1 . d2-d4 2. Ag1-f3 3. c2-c4

d7-d5 e7-e6 d5xc4

4. e2-e3 5. Aflxc4 6. 0-0 7. e3-e4!? 8. d4-d5 9. Ofl -e1 10. ©d1xd5 11. Ac4-d3 12 . Ac1 -f4

T � L GJ J

J �

Ag8-f6 c7-c5 a7-a6 Af6xe4 Af8-e7 e6xd5 Ae4-d6 0-0

t M J ' j j

- . j Q _ . - . . Is> .

B N I i F N F . k

1 2 . Ad6-f5?!

12 . . . Ae6!? 13.©h5 g6 14.©h6 Ac6 ° and now White has the choice of taking the draw with 15.0xe6 and 16.Axg6, or playing for an attack.

13 . Ab1-c3a Ae7-f6

13 . . . ©xd5 1 4 .Axd5 Ad8 15.Axf5 Axf5 16.Ad6a.

14. Ad3xf5 15 . Af5xh7+ 16. Ac3xd5

©d8xd5 ®g8xh7

White has regained his pawn, with a superior position.

16 . . .. Ab8-d7

16 .. . Ac6 offered better chances though White keeps a neat advan-

155


tage: 1 7.Axf6+ gxf6 18.Ad6 C)d8 19.Axc5a.

17. Af4-d6 18. Ad5xf6+ 19 . Ad6xc5

Of8-d8 Ad7xf6 Ac8-g4

White now introduces a clever exchanging operation, in order to get rid of the opposite-coloured bishops.

20 . Ac5-e7! 2 1 . Af3-g5+ 22 . Ae7xf6

Od8-d7 ®h7-g6 ®g6xf6

The paradoxical 22 . . . gxf6!? was a better practical saving chance.

23 . Ag5-e4+ ®f6-g6 24. f2-f3

T J T J . - - - J

J M

N L

!;' . rr . k White is a clear pawn up, without compensation for Black.

24 . .. . 2 5 . Oa1-d 1 26 . Od1xd7 27. ®g1-f2 28. Oe 1-e2 29. Oe2-e3 30. Oe3-b3 31 . ®f2-e3

Ag4-f5 Oa8-d8 Od8xd7 b7-b6 Od7-d3 Od3-d4 b6-b5 Od4-c4

31 . . . Od 1 was more resilient.

1 56

32 . Ob3-c3 e

Now it is completely over.

3 2 . .. . Oc4-b4

On 32 ... 0a4 simplest is 33.0a3 Oxa3+ 34.bxa3 Ae6 35.Ac5 Axa2 (35 . . . Ac8 36.®e4 e ) 36.Axa6.

33 . b2-b3

The rook is trapped.

33 . .. . Af5-e6 34. g2-g4

Closing the net. The rook will be taken after Ad2 and a2-a3 .

34 . .. . 35 . f3-f4

a6-a5 Ae6-d5

35 . . . Axg4 36.Af2 Af5 (36 . . . Ae6 37.Ad3) 37.a3.

36. Ae4-d2 37. a2-a3

a5-a4 Ob4xb3

38. Ad2xb3 a4xb3

This position has been reached after a brilliant demonstration by Gelfand in all phases of the game: daring opening play with a pawn sacrifice, well-calculated complications in the middlegame and a smooth conversion of the advantage with perfect technique - in short, a model game by White!

In order to deepen our understanding of this theme, we must consider a few psychological factors: Gelfand had an impressive score against Lautier, a superior rating, and he is playing with white. Throughout the game he has been


in a commanding position, and he has dominated his opponent quite easily. At the end of the game, it is as if Lautier is continuing mechanically, by inertia. One player is certain of the win, the other is convinced that he will lose.

If we look at the position, White is an exchange up, he has a wellcentralized king - the win is almost within reach. Black has only one trump, the advanced passed pawn on b3, which should be quickly eliminated by White.

What do you play here?

39. Oc3-c5??

_ . _ . _ J j M

J rr L

J . k

When asked about this game, Gelfand acknowledged that he relaxed, thinking the game was over: 'I thought that the position was totally won and missed an easy tactic' .

39.®d2 is the simplest win, with the idea ®c3-b2 and Oxb3, for example 39 . . . b2 40.®c2. Or first 39.0c 1 .

39 . . .. Ad5-c4??

The fantastic 39 ... b4! would have won for Black (40.axb4 b2 1 ;

40.0cl b2 1 ) 40.0xd5 bxa3

with a classical case of two pawns on the sixth rank being unstoppable for a lone rook.

40. ®e3-d2 1 -0

Another, more recent game involves the same Gelfand, several years later during the first round of the World Championship tournament played in Mexico.

•

Anand, Viswanathan Gelfand ,Boris Mexico City Wch 2007 (1)

. J . j j 0 . M

J . - j J I . j

L T N

I

I � ls> l . k . rr .

I

We are in the middle of a calm, relatively dull game, which has followed theoretical lines for a long time. Both players still have time and energy left. And both would show great form in this tournament (Anand ended first, Gelfand shared second) .

The psychological invisibility here is linked to those situations where a player - most often both players - 'accepts' the probable result of the game. By unconscious repression, in the Freudian sense of the term, they refuse to consider

1 57


any move that does not lead to the expected (desired?) result.

Anand, under slight pressure here, has just played the mistaken 1 . Og 1 -e 1 . Happy with a draw with black against the favourite of the event and following the logic of an equally matched game, Gelfand did not check whether his opponent had just blundered, he took:

1 . Oe4xe 1+

and drew. In an email to the authors he wrote : 'I saw the idea of Of4 in some other line, but did not spot it here. I did not believe that Black had an advantage, so I was not looking for it' . A typical explanation for not 'seeing' a move: you don't look for it! This is the key to psychological invisibility. Both players had anticipated a draw long ago, and that is why they did not notice that after the simple tactic l . . .Oxf4 ! 2 .Axf6+ (2. ©xf4? AgS 1 ) 2 . . . ©xf6

. J . J J M

J . - J J . GJ . j

L . t .

I

I � . l9 I . k . � .

Analysis diagram

I

Black has a clear advantage : 3.Ad4 3.Axa7 b6, with threats of . . . Of2 , is very dangerous. 3 . . . ©fS <;: .

1 58

Another case illustrates a variation on this psychological threat: in the next game, Kasparov needed a draw to ensure the tournament win. Let's not forget that Lautier was never an easy prey for Garry; he was the only contemporary player with a plus score against him.

Lautier,Joel Kasparov, Garry Ti!burg 1997 ( 1 1)

0 t � . I M j J . _ J _ J j

I k

In this highly simplified ending, a draw looks imminent after the disappearance of the queenside pawns, for example : l .®fl Ob8 2 .Ac3 eS 3.0c7 ®f8 4.0xc6 Axb4 s.Axb4+ Oxb4 1 . But the players forgot about the back-rank mate, and when Lautier offered a draw playing

1 . Oa7-c7?

Kasparov quickly accepted, but he could have obtained a clear advantage after l . . .cS (or l . . .Ob8 2.®f1 c5) 2 .®fl Ob8 3.b5 OxbS 4 .Ac3 Ob3c;:. The win is not certain, but Black is a pawn to the good and can press for a win without any risk.


Let's see another game where only one player was affected, but with the same psychological character-istics - and we urge the reader to try and find the decisive move (see diagram after 30.Ad7) .

Bradford ,Joseph Byrne,Robert Greenville ch-USA 1980 (1)

1 . Ag1-f3 Ag8-f6 2 . g2-g3 b7-b6 3 . Af1-g2 Ac8-b7 4 . 0-0 e7-e6 5 . c2-c4 Af8-e7 6. b2-b3 0-0 7. Ac1 -b2 c7-c5 8. Ab1-c3 d7-d5 9 . Af3-e5 Ab8-c6 1 0. c4xd5 Ac6xe5 1 1 . d5-d6 Ab7xg2 12 . d6xe7 ©d8xe7 13 . ®g1xg2 Oa8-d8 14. ®g2-g1 Ae5-c6 15 . d2-d3 Af6-g4 16. ©d1-d2 f7-f5 17. Oa1-d1 e6-e5 18. f2-f3 Ag4-f6 19. ©d2-g5 ©e7-e6 2 0. ©g5-h4 Ac6-d4 2 1 . e2-e3 Ad4-c2 22 . Ab2-c1 Ac2 -b4 23 . d3-d4 e5-e4 24. d4xc5 Od8xd1 25 . Oflxd 1 b6xc5

26 . f3xe4 f5xe4 27. Ac1 -a3

Clear positional domination by the grandmaster, who equalized quickly in the opening and then progressively built up a small and eventually decisive advantage leading up to this position, where he is obviously winning.

. t M J . _ . _ . j J

0 £ . - . J . s J <9 19 1 � . I

R . k

This is exactly the type of psychological circumstances that often provoke a lack of objectivity and lapses in concentration. Black is the stronger player (grandmaster vs amateur) , he has played better, and now has a 'crushing' advantage2•

27 . . .. ©e6-e5?!

27 . . . Ad3 would have given a big advantage ; 27 . . . Axa2! ! was completely winning: 28 .Axa2 ©xb3 29.0£1 ©xa3 30.0£2 ©xe3 and Black wins.

2 After the game, Byrne said angrily to his opponent: 'I had

you crushed like a chicken'.

1 59


28. Ac3-a4?!

28.Ab2! Ad3 29.Aal c4a offered some chances of resistance.

28. .. . Af6-d5 i 29 . Aa4xc5 Ad5xe3

lf 29 . . . ©f5 30.®hl ©f3+ 3l .®gl ©xdl+ 32.®g2 ©fl mate.

30 . Ac5-d7

. t M J . _ N _ . j J

. £ . 19 1 I

. Gt . J

. £ .

R . k Now is the time to put an end to White's resistance. How would you finish this game?

3 0 . .. . ©e5-d4??

A) 30 . . . ©d6 is game over. It has the same ideas as the game move, but without the latter's inconveniences, for example : 3 l .Ob 1 31 .0xd6 Ofl#; 31 .©h5 ©xd7 32.Axb4 ©xd l+ . 3 1 . . .©d2 3 1 . . . ©xd7 1 ; 3 1 . . .©d4 1 . 3 2 . ©h3 ©f2 + 33 .®h 1 Ad3 34.Axf8 ©f3+ 35 .®g1 Af4 ; B) Also, 30 . . . ©f5 , forcing the

variation 3 1 .Axf8 Axd 1 32 .©xh7+ ©xh7 33.Axh7 Ac2 34.Ag5 Axa3 35 .Axe4 , gives a big, probably winning advantage

160

to Black, e .g. 35 . . . Ab5 36.a4 Ad4 c;

Byrne's move looks like the most direct way to finish the game: Black attacks the rook and has the additional threat of a discovered check. Most players would first consider this move, which is attractive for many reasons: a queen sacrifice (which cannot be accepted) linked with various direct and indirect threats. It is difficult to resist such a powerful way to end the game. Unfortunately for Black, the game is indeed finished, but in White's favour!

. t M J . _ N _ . j J

. £ . Gt J 19 I . £ . I

R

31 . ©h4xh7 +!

Oh dear!

3 1 .

3l . . .®f7 32.0xd4.

32 . Ad7xf8+

With check. . .

32 . 33 . Odlxd4 34. Od4xe4

Black resigned.

®g8xh7

®h7-g8 Ab4-c2


Another example, from a game played during the unofficial World Championship between Kasparov and Short. The challenger was largely dominated in the match (he lost 6- 1 , though he offered good resistance in most of the games) and we can remember Kasparov saying when asked who his challenger would probably be : 'It will be Short and it will be short' .

At this point Kasparov was leading 4-0 (with 4 draws) and the match was basically over. In this game White is two pawns up, so it will soon be 5-0 . . . or so both players were thinking.

Kasparov, Garry Short,N igel London Wch m 1993 (9)

0

t . . m . I

K

f" .

The simplest technique consists in progressively advancing White's pawn and king while leaving the rook behind the passed a-pawn. Every time the black rook plays, the a-pawn advances. So the black king has to wait, and White can use zugzwang in order to force him to occupy unfavourable positions.

This is all quite obvious, and Kasparov had certainly seen it. But both players fell victim to the same illusion, that White could win whatever he played. So White impatiently played:

1 . e3-e4?

The technical U5a3 would put Black in zugzwang: l . . .®fS 2.e4+ ®eS 3. ®e3 with an elementary win, for example: 3 . . . ®e6 4.®d4 ®d6 5.®c4 ®c6 6.®b4 ®b6 7.C>d3 e OeS 8.0d6+ ®b7 9.0d4 etc.

Short answered in the same vein with the passive

1 . ®e5-e6?

Black could have drawn with the counterattacking move 1 . . . OcS ! .

. t . m .

K

Analysis diagram

Typically the kind of move that you must look for in a seemingly hopeless position. The variations are quite easy, but none of the pleyers could imagine that another result than ' 1 -0' was possible at this moment in the game, and in the match, so the move became invisible.

1 6 1


Black is threatening to give check on c3, then to take the e-pawn, with a draw: the a-pawn will be lost, and anyway an a-pawn isn't enough to win such a position: A) 2.0a3 Oc4 3.aS Oxe4 (3.0b3

Oxa4 is an elementary draw) 4.a6 Of4+! S .®e3 Of8 i and the second white pawn is quickly lost;

B) The other try 2.aS fails to 2 . . . 0c3+ 3.®f2 ®xe4 4.a6 Oc8 S.a7 Oa8 and draw.

Now White is winning again, which he did after

2 . ®f3-e3 ®e6-d6 3 . ®e3-d4 ®d6-d7 4. ®d4-c4 ®d7-c6 S . ®c4-b4 OaS-eS 6. Oal-c l+ ®c6-b6 7. Ocl-c4 1 -0

162

In his book Kasparov's Fighting Chess 1999-2005 the Hungarian writer Tibor Karolyi offered an interesting view on Kasparov's technical problems at the end of his career. Having dedicated all his opening preparations to finding violent attacking positions with both colours, thanks to his second Dokhoian, he lacked practice in the endgame because he hardly ever reached this phase of the game. His endgame play progressively deteriorated and became a relative weakness. Kramnik, for example, explained after and even during the London match that he was not afraid to deliberately enter inferior endings against Kasparov.


B - B l u n d ers i n Worl d C h a mpion s h i p matc h e s

World Championship matches are a rich source of mistakes, for several reasons. One is the objective pressure on the players' nerves, which affects their play and creates ideal conditions for blunders to occur. The second is a consequence of the match formula: extensive preparation is done in order to exploit one's own strengths, but the opponent's main goal will be to avoid this, so generally this is not very relevant.

Another big part of the preparation consists in detecting the opponent's weaknesses, and finding means to play in a style that does not suit him. Both players will try to go for positions where the opponent may play badly, even if his does not mean exploiting their own strong points. For example, against Topalov in 2010, Anand more or less repeated Kramnik's match strategy against the Bulgarian in 2006, playing a lot of the same openings. In two games he agreed to enter an open fight in the Griinfeld-lndian. He was crushed in the first game and in great danger oflosing in the second.

The third idea consists in a kind of mutual confidence between the two players. Once (in a rapid game) lvanchuk missed a mate in one. He explained his omission by the quality of his opponent: 'I could not imagine that he would let me mate him', he said.

Something similar happened in this 10. e3-e4 b5-b4 crucial last rapid game from the 1 1 . e4-e5 b4xc3 pley-offs of the World Champion- 12 . e5xf6 Ae7xf6 ship match in 2006, one of the most 13 . b2xc3 c6-c5 tense in history. Each pleyer had won 14. d4xc5 Ad7xc5 a game, a third one was drawn. 15 . Ae2-b5+ ®e8-f8 16 . ©d1xd8+ Oa8xd8

Kramnik,Vladimir 17. Ac1-a3 Od8-c8 Topalov,Veselin 18. Af3-d4 Af6-e7 Elista Wch m rapid 2006 (4) 19. Ofl -d1

1 . d2-d4 d7-d5 T t 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 m . 3. Ag1-f3 Ag8-f6 J L I J . J - J 4. Ab1-c3 e7-e6 J 5. e2-e3 Ab8-d7 B � 6. Afl-d3 d5xc4 rnl 7. Ad3xc4 b7-b5 19 8. Ac4-e2 Ac8-b7 I I 9. 0-0 Af8-e7 f' R k

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Here are Topalov's comments from the thrilling book On the Edge in Elista (Topalov and Ginchev) : 'Played without thinking. Strangely this natural move is a serious mistake as the combination Kramnik probably had in mind does not work tactically.'

1 9 . .. . a7-a6

'The start of my problems. This being a rapid game, I took a practical decision to save time, and trusted my opponent's calculation.'

On 1 9 . . . Ae4 ! 20.Axe6+? is faulty because after 20 . . . fxe6 2 1 .Axe7+ ®xe7 22 .0d7+ ®f6 23.0xb7 Black has the backward knight move 23 . . . Ad6 ! , winning. The combination is not a long one, but the final move is hard to spot, especially in rapid chess.

20.Axe7+ is better: 20 . . . ®xe7 2l .Ae2 with an edge for Black. Or the shrewd 20.Ab4!? 20 . . . Axb4 2l .cxb4 Ac3a; or 20 . . . Axc3 21 .Axe6+ fxe6 22 .Axe7+ ®xe7 23.0d7+ ®f6 24.0xb7 Ob8 25.0xb8 Oxb8a.

20. AbS-fl Ac5-a4 2 1 . Oal-b l Ab7-e4 22. Ob l-b3 Ae7xa3 23. Ob3xa3 Aa4-c5 24. Ad4-b3

White now has an advantage, and he gradually won after a nice positiona! squeeze.

24 . .. . 25. Od l-d4 26. c3-c4

164

®f8-e7 Ae4-g6

T . t _ . _ . m J j J J J L

. 5

F N I

I F .

i I B k

Here an invisible move could have given Black good chances of a draw.

26 . .. . Oc8-c6

'The anti-positional 26 . . . Axb3 was much better' , e.g. 27.axb3 Ohd8 28.0xd8 Oxd8 29.f3 Ob8.

27. Ab3xc5 Oc6xc5 28. Oa3xa6 Oh8-b8 29. Od4-dl Ob8-b2 30. Oa6-a7+ ®e7-f6 3 1 . Odl-al Oc5-f5

3l . . .Abl !? was worth trying, in order to cut the al rook off from the defence of the first rank: A) 32.a4? OeS ! a .

B) 32.0a3 with the idea Ob3 is best: 32 . . . Ac2�.

32. f2-f3 33. Oa7-a3 34. Oa3-b3 35. a2-a4 36. Ob3-b5 37. a4-a5 38. a5-a6 39. c4-c5 40. Oal -a5 41 . Ob5-b3 42. Ob3-b6+

Of5-e5 Ob2-c2 Oe5-a5 ®f6-e7 Oa5-a7 ®e7-d6 ®d6-c7 Oc2-c3 Oc3-cl ®c7-c6 ®c6-c7


43. ®g1-f2 Oc1-c2+ 44. ®f2-e3 Oc2xc5 45. Ob6-b7+ 1-0

This mutual confidence also had a dramatic influence on the second game of the match, when the first game had already been decided by a blunder from Topalov.

Topalov,Veselin Kramnik,Vladimir Elista Wch m 2006 (2)

1 . d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Ab1-c3 Ag8-f6 4. Ag1-f3 d5xc4 5. a2-a4 Ac8-f5 6. e2-e3 e7-e6 7. Aflxc4 Af8-b4 8. 0-0 Ab8-d7 9. ©d1-e2 Af5-g6 10. e3-e4 0-0 1 1 . Ac4-d3 �g6-h5 12 . e4-e5 Af6-d5 13. Ac3xd5 c6xd5 14. ©e2-e3 �h5-g6 15 . Af3-g5 Of8-e8 16. f2-f4 Ag6xd3 17. ©e3xd3 f7-f5 18. Ac1 -e3 Ad7-f8 19. ®g1-h1 Oa8-c8 20. g2-g4 ©d8-d7 21 . <?fl -g1 Ab4-e7 22. �g5-f3 Oc8-c4 23. Qg1-g2 �5xg4 24. Qg2xg4 Oc4xa4 25. Oa1-g1 g7-g6 26. h2-h4 Oa4-b4 27. h4-h5 ©d7-b5

28. ©d3-c2 29. h5xg6 30. g6-g7 31 . g7xf8©+

Ob4xb2 h7-h5 h5xg4

. rr K Up to this point, Kramnik had found a number of beautiful defensive moves, but here in his calculations he forgot a very hard-tosee move.

31 . .. . Ae7xf8

Here this is a tragic mistake, because White has a two-move win!

'Suddenly Paco (Vallejo) jumped up in triumph. "Look, Ivan, it's mate in two moves for Veselin! " Chep (Cheparinov) inspected the position, smiled happily, and ran quickly upstairs to his office to check what the computer programs said. He came back pleased, rubbing his hands. "Five more minutes at the most and the game is over! " ' (On the Edge in Elista) .

Necessary was 3 1 . . . ®x£8 l

32 .©g6 ©e2 33 .©xg4. Apparently White is mating quickly, but there's a miraculous defence which Topalov saw in th� game: 33 . . . Ag5 ! !

165


T m j J _ . _ . _ .

J J I

i Q _ ls> N

t:. . D . F K

Analysis diagram

Thanks to this obstructive move, mate is prevented. Now if the knight takes the bishop, Black mates on h2; if the queen takes, Black takes the knight with check, while if the pawn takes, White's attack comes to an end and Black can take the e3 bishop. Did Kranmik forget about this move, or was he the victim of momentary blindness?

Topalov played the incredible 32.©g6+. A unique occurrence: in a duel for the crown, a player allows the opponent to mate him and the latter doesn't see it. Topalov explained he had been so happy that his opponent had nit seen the AgS defence in the previous line, that he quickly played a move that offered him good winning chances. After 32 . . .Ag7 33 .f5 ! Oe7! 34.f6 ©e2 35.©xg4 Of7 36.0cl? ! (36.©h5! e ) the position was unclear and Black won in the end: 36 . . . 0c2 37.0xc2 ©dl + 38.®g2 ©xc2+ 39.®g3 ©e4 40.Af4 ©f5 4 l .©xf5 exf5 42 .Ag5 aS 43 .®f4 a4 44 .®xf5 a3 45 .Acl Af8 46.e6 Oc7 4 7.Axa3 Axa3 48.®e5 Ocl 49.Ag5 Ofl 50.e7 Oe l + 5 l .®xd5 Axe7 52 .fxe7 Oxe7 53.®d6 Oel

166

54 .d5 ®f8 55 .Ae6+ ®e8 56.Ac7 + ®d8 57.Ae6+ ®c8 58.®e7 Ohl 59.Ags b5 60.ct6 Oct l 6 l .Ae6 b4 62 .Ac5 Oe l + 63.®f6 Oe3 0- 1 .

Instead there was a win:

3 2 . Oglxg4+ Af8-g7

32 . . . ®f7 33.©h7+ Ag7 34.©xg7+; 32 . . . ®h8 33.0h4+ ®g7 34.©h7 + .

T M j J _ . - . I

J D J

i R ls> N

t:. Q _ K

Which move finishes the game?

33 . ©c2-c7

It is difficult to imagine the arrival of the white queen on c 7, on a file dominated by Black since the start of the game. Another thing that is difficult to see is the horizontal effect of the queen from the seventh rank, when its role had always been to create threats on the bl -h7 diagonal.

Apart from these specific psychological situations, there are other cases of invisibility; relative to certain situations during the game. Nicolas Giffard wrote to us: 'the most difficult to see moves are backward moves in attack, and forward moves in defence' . In such attack-defence situations we find an impressive number of omissions.


C - Forvva rd move s i n def'e nce

The task of the defender is especially tiring in a psychological sense. Focused on his defensive duties, he can hardly imagine attacking his 'torturer' himself.

Kortchnoi,Viktor Van der Stricht,Geert Plovdiv Ech-tt 2003 (7)

0 T m _ . _ . _ J j

J s D _ . j _ j _ J ls> . _ Q

S i R B

i K i

In this attacking position, White has four pieces directly involved in the assault against Black's king. White concluded with

36. Og4-g6

And Black resigned, unable to meet the mate threat on h6.

However after 36.0g6? not White, but Black could win with 36 . . . Axe5 ! (of course not 36 . . . fxg6 37.©xh6+) 37.0xe6 Axd3

T m _ . _ . _ J j

J s R_ . j _ j _ J _ . _ Q

I

s K

And now White is lost because on 38.0xh6+, the best move, Black can take back the rook with check (see Chapter 1 on Alignment, p. 36) . 38 . . . gxh6+ 39.®fl Og6 i . White can only wait, with his lone queen unable to create threats against Black's solid position, for example 40 .©h4 ®g7 4 l .©h3 Af4 42 .©h4 Of6 43 .©g4+ ®f8 44 . ©d7 Ac4 4 5 .©c8+ ®g7 46 .©g4+ ®h7 47 .©g3 Ad2+ 48.®el Ab l 49 .©g4 Axc3 i

etc. Instead of the game move,

36.f4( was better.

Shirov,Alexey Kramnik,Vladimir Groningen 1993 (8)

• . t L T j J _ . I J ls> M

J GJ .

B R rnl . . � I I k .

Black has to defend against mate. Can you find the best way of parrying the threat of 22.0h3?

167


In the game, the players agreed a draw after 2 l . . .Oxg7 22.0xg7+ ®h6 (certainly not 22 . . . ®h8? because of 23.07 g4 and White wins) 23.0g8+ ®h7 24.08g7 + l .

Kramnik was happy to force the draw, but forgot to win by

2 1 . .. . ©a5xc3! !

From c3, the queen defends h3 -horizontal effect - and White loses after either 22 .bxc3 when the surprising counterattack 22 . . . Aa3+ leads to mate after 23.®bl Odl# , or the hopeless 2 2. Oxc3 Oxg 7 with an easy win for Black with his extra piece.

Just as incredible seems the resignation of Topalov against Carlsen in the next game.

Carlsen,Magnus Topalov, Veselin Moreiia/Linares 2007 (5)

• M D . £ .

_ j _ J _ Q _ j J J � .

K

True, Carlsen is a nightmare opponent for the Bulgarian champion, he has an impressive record against him. But here Black is a pawn up

168

with a solid position, and Topalov had all the time to look for a defence against White's unpleasant threat of winning the fianchettoed knight with 65. ©h7+ and 66.©h8+. Topalov simply lost hope, when a two-move manoeuvre would have allowed him to defend successfully against White's only idea.

64 . .. . ©d7-d5+!

Again a forward defensive move!

65 . f2-f3 e6-e5! 66. ©g6-h7 + ®g8-f8 67. ©h7-h8+ ©d5-g8!

And now White has a choice : forcing a draw with 68.Ah 7 + ®f7 69.Ag5+ with perpetual check, or playing on in an unclear position after 68.©h6 ©dS 69.®g3 with compensation for the pawn, but no more than that.

Kramnik, Vladimir Morozevich,Alexander Mexico City Wch 2007 (2)

. T

J

Q

11=' •

M S _ . j J ca L

J . 19

I

R k How would you react to the various threats ?


The defensive 2 1 . . . ©f8 was played in the game, after which 22 .b6 e

was an easy win: 22 . . . AeS If 22 . . . Axb6 23. ©c6 with a double attack on b6 and e6. 23 .AxeS ©f3 24 .©dl ©e4 2S .b7 Of8 26.c8© AdS 27.f3 and White won.

2 1 . .. . ©d6-d5!

This counterattacking defensive move leads to an unclear position where White has to be very accurate in order to get a playable game.

Now 22.©xb4? loses to 22 . . . ©f3! , a quiet move preparing mate with 23 . . . AdS/h3. White 's best move is 22 .0ac l ! AcS (22 . . . Ah3 is ineffective due to 23.©b3!) and now: A) 23.©xa6!? Ab6 24 .0xcS

(forced. 24 . . . Ah3 was threatened, when moving the f-pawn is forbidden by FIDE) 23 . . . ©xcS 24 .Ae3! (24 . ©b7 AdS <;) 24 . . . ©xc7 2S .©xb6 ©xb6 26.Axb6 Ob8 1 ; B) 23.bxa6 Ab6 is unclear.

Lemmers,Oscar McShane,Luke Plovdiv tt 2010 (3.9)

• T GI S J

J N

. _ Q _ I

j

M T J

J

I R k

Black looks in danger here, mainly because three of his pieces (the knight, the queen and the rook) are out of play and seem unable to assist the king. Yet the resourceful McShane has anticipated a defensive possibility based on several unusual forward moves:

1. Ac8-d6 ! !

Defending the rook, attacking the queen and enabling Black to use his queen and rook in defence.

2 . Ab5xd6 ©b8-a7 +!

Another Zwischenzug that attacks White's king with tempo . . .

3 . ®gl-hl b7-b5!

Again the only move, a third intermediate one in a row, still attacking the white queen and defending the seventh rank.

4. ©c4-d5 Oa8-f8

And now a purely defensive move, which wins. The fourth attacking move in a row, 4 . . . ©f2 ! ! , would have been even quicker. The queen threatens the rook and protects f7, and taking it is taboo because of the back-rank mate : S .©xa8+ ®g7 and if 6.0gl ©xgl+.

5 . h2-h3 ©a7-d4!

Queen forward!

6 . ©d5-e6 ©d4xe5!

The queen is dominated. White has to accept the exchange and the loss of the game.

169


7. ©e6xe5 Of7xfl + 8. ®h1-h2 b2-b 1 © 9. ©e5-e6+ ®g8-h8 10 . ©e6-e5+ Ofl-f6 1 1 . Ad6-e4 ©b1-fl

0-1

Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime Wang Hao Wijk aan Zee 20 1 1 (1)

1 . d2-d4 d7-d5 2 . c2-c4 c7-c6 3 . Ag1-f3 Ag8-f6 4. Ab1 -c3 d5xc4 5 . a2-a4 Ac8-f5 6 . e2-e3 e7-e6 7. Aflxc4 Af8-b4 8. 0-0 Ab8-d7 9. ©d1-e2 0-0 10 . e3-e4 Af5-g6 1 1 . Ac4-d3 Ag6-h5 12 . e4-e5 Af6-d5 13 . Ac3xd5 c6xd5 14. ©e2-e3 Ab4-e7 15 . Ac1 -d2 Ad7-b8 16. a4-a5 a7-a6 17. Ofl-cl Ab8-c6 18. Af3-e 1 ©d8-d7

T t:. M J D l J . J - - J

J s J J I L I

_ B <qJ Is> I

� � � k 19 . Ad3-c2!?

170

White intends (or pretends to intend) to set up a pin on the queenside with Aa4. Positionally, this retreat allows the other white pieces to occupy the key d3-square, as we will see later.

1 9 . .. . ©d7-d8

First 19 . . . 0fc8 might have been more accurate.

20 . ©e3-h3 2 1 . Ac2xg6 22 . ©h3-g4

T GJ . J I

J s J J I

Ah5-g6 h7xg6 Oa8-c8

t:. M J . J

J

. _ Q _

I k

The pawn structure is very solid from Black's point of view. Yet there are potential dangers with the pawn on g6 instead of h 7. If White can manage to double his major pieces on the h-file, there are mating possibilities. The second attacking possibility is also dangerous. It consists in ©h4+ AgS with ©h7 with checkmate, or at least devastation.

23 . Ae1-f3 ©d8-d7 24. Ad2-g5

Trying to remove the defender of the two critical squares, gS and h4.


24 . . .. Ae7-b4!

A clever escape, because as long as the white bishop occupies gS, the f3 knight is useless.

2 S . ©g4-h4

So White is preparing plan B: bringing a rook to h3.

2 S . . .. Ac6-e7

White's last move involves the sacrifice of the aS pawn. On 2S . . . AxaS , 26.0cS!? is very dangerous. Black cannot take the rook: 26 . . . AxcS 27.Af6! e or 26 . . . 0xcS 27 .dxcSa and White attacks the b4 bishop horizontally! 26 . . . Ab3 !? looks like the best move, with a lot of complications ahead , for example 27.Ae7 ©xe7 28. ©xe7 AxeS 29.dxcS Axal 0 .

T . t M _ J _ D s J j J J J

J . lg . _ . <qJ N i I

rr . . k Now Black will bring the knight to fS , repelling the enemy forces. If White wants to attack, this cannot be tolerated, so 'MVL' played:

26 . g2-g4! 27. Oalxcl 28 . ®gl-g2

Oc8xcl + Of8-c8

A very useful move in most variations, because there will be no checks on the first rank.

But the incredible 28.0c3! would have given White a great ad vantage:

T M _ J _ D s J j J J J

J i . lg . . _ l <qJ

rr N I . . k

Analysis diagram

A) 28 . . . Axc3 29.Axe7 Ad2 30.Axd2a ; B) 28 . . . 0xc3 29 .bxc3 Aa3

30.Af6! e ; C) 28 . . . Ac6 29.Af6 ! gxf6

30.exf6 Ae7 3 1 .fxe7 ®g7 (forced) 32 .AeS ©xe 7 33.gS Oh8 (the only defence against the threat of 34 .0h3) 34 . ©f4 ! e ©c7 (34 . . . AxaS 3S.Axf7 !) 3S.b4 ! ! . The idea is b4-bS, a6xbS , aS-a6, winning thanks to the pin. There is no defence.

28 . . .. 29. Ocl-dl

Ae7-c6 Ab4xaS?!

If 29 . . . Af8 30 .0d3 ! Ab4 3 l .Ob3! Ac6 32 .Ad2 Ae7 33.Ags AxgS 34.AxgS , with 3S .Oh3 or 3S.Af6 to follow.

30. Od l-d3 Ac6-b4 31 . Od3-b3

1 7 1


31 .Ae7! was winning: 31 . . .Axd3 32 .Ags Af4+ 33.®g3 Ah5+ 34.gxh5 ©xe 7 35.hxg6 e .

31 . .. . ©d7-b5

If 3l . . .Ac6, the rook lift 32.Agl Axd4 33.0h3 is decisive : 33 . . . f5 34.exf6 ®f7 35.Af3 ! e or 35.©h7 e .

T M _ J _ . _ J j . J J J I D J i . 19 . . £ .

R . _ 1 <9

N K

Here two plans are winning: White can play for either AgS or Oh3. Which plan do you choose, and which move do you prefer?

32 . Ag5-e7?

Among many winning moves, Vachier-Lagrave selects the one that appears the safest, choosing a protected square for the bishop. The bishop on e 7 attacks the pinned enemy knight and keeps the king from f8. Alas for the attacker, the move allows an incredible defence. A) 32 .Af6! , threatening 33.Ag5

and mate, was the most spectacular: 32 . . . Ad3!? (32 . . . gxf6 33.exf6 with 34.©h6 to follow) 33.0xd3 ©xd3 (33 . . . g5 34. ©xgS with mate) 34.Ags e ; B) 32.Agl f5 33.exf6 is lethal ;

172

C) 32 .Ad2 e is the same; D) 32.Ael?! is less clear because

of 32 . . . Ac2 ! 33.0xb5 Axe l+ 34.®fl axbS.

T M _ J - . 19 J j . J J J I D J . £ .

R

I

. _ 1 <9 N

K

32 . .. . Ab4-d3! ! 33. Ob3xb5

The usually winning 33.0xd3? here fails to the incredible in-between move 33 . . . g5! ! 34.Axg5 ©xd3! and Black wins thanks to the surprising comeback of her majesty.

33 . .. . Ad3-f4+ 34 . ®g2-g3

34.®fl? is mate in two after 34 . . . 0cl+ , while 34.®hl Ocl+ 35.Agl Ae2 36.h3 (or 36.®g2 Oxgl+ 37.®f3 Axd4+ 38.®e3 Ac2+ 39.®d3 Ae l+ 40.®e2 axbS 0 and White has at best a draw) 36 . . . 0xgl+ 37.®h2 axbS is at least not worse for Black.

34 . .. . 35. ®g3-h3 36. ®h3-g3 37. ®g3-g2

Af4-e2+ Ae2-f4+ Af4-e2+ Ae2-f4+ Vz -Vz


In the following example, a great defensive move saved an apparently hopeless game, which had been beautifully conducted by White up to the crucial point.

Gutman,Lev Vitolins ,Alvis Riga 1979

1 . d2-d4 2 . c2-c4 3 . Ab1-c3 4 . e2-e3 5. Ag1-e2 6. c4xb5 7. Ae2-g3 8. Ac1 -d2 9 . Ad2xc3 1 0. Aflxb5

Ag8-f6 e7-e6 Af8-b4 0-0 b7-b5 a7-a6 Ac8-b7 Ab4xc3 a6xb5 Ab7xg2!?

The concept looks risky, to say the least.

1 1 . Oh1-g1 Ag2 -c6

T � . Gt . t M _ . j J _ J j J

L J � . B

19 lnl

I i . . I . I II=' . Q k . II=' .

1 1 . . .A.d5 ! was the best defensive try.

12 . Ag3-h5!?

1 2 .d5 ! ! AxbS and now the cool killer 13.Ae4 ! , see:

A) 13 . . . e5 14 .Axe5 Oa6 1 5 .0xg7 + 1 5 .d6 e ®xg7 16.©g4+ ®h8 17 .Axf6 Oxf6 18.©g5; B) 13 . . . Axe4

T � . Gt . t M _ . j J _ J j J

J L

s 19 . i

I . . I . II=' Q k . II='

Analysis diagram

With mate in four: 14.0xg7+ ®h8 15.0xh7+ ®xh7 16.©h5+ ®g8 17.©h8+; C) 13 . . . Ae8 14 .Axg7 e .

12 . .. . Af6xh5 13 . ©d1xh5 Ac6xb5

T � . Gt . t M _ . j J _ J j J

J L _ . _ Q

. k

14. ©h5-h6! 15 . d4-d5

g7-g6 e6-e5

15 . . . f6 16 .0xg6+! hxg6 1 7 . ©xg6+ ®h8 18 .0-0-0 e A.d3!? (Black tries to slow down White's attack) 19 .0xd3 ©e7

173


20.©h6+ ®g8 2 l .e4! (the rook joins the attack on the g-file) 2l . . .Of7 22 .0g3+ Og7 23.Axf6, winning.

16 . 17. 18.

Ac3xe5 Og1xg6+! ©h6xg6+

f7-f6 h7xg6 ®g8-h8

T s . GJ . t . m - . j J _ . . - . - . j Q _

L I 19 .

F . k How do you win with white?

19 . ®e1-d2?

Now Black has a splendid resource. A) The preliminary 19 .©h6+!

was the only winning move, because of a strange defensive resource that White had not taken into account: 1 9 . . . ®g8 and now the winning 20 .®d2 Or 20.0-0-0 e . 20 ... ®f7 20 . . . fxe5 2 1 .0g 1+ ®f7 22 .0g7 + ®e8 23. ©g6+ Of7 24. ©xf7#. 2 l .Og1 e Og8 22 .©h7+ and mate ; B) Not the immediate 1 9 .0-0-0

because of the same 'disrupting' move 1 9 . . . Ad3 ! Only move. 20.0xd3 fxeS 2 l .©h6+ l 2 l .e4? ©h4 1 . 2 l . . .®g8 22 .©g6+ etc. 22.e4? ©f6 1 .

1 9 . .. . Ab5-d3! !

174

Black manages to parry the mate threat by counterattacking with his seemingly useless bishop.

20 . ®d2xd3 ©d8-e7

If White continues logically with 2 1 . ©h6+ Black replies with 2 1 . . . ©h 7 + ! . Forcing the exchange of queens is the point of the defensive sacrifice of the bishop: the white king had to be brought to d3!

In the game, Black won after 2 1 .e4 ©g7 22 .©h5+ ®g8 23.Ad4 cS 24 .Axc5 Oc8 25 .f4 Aa6 26.Af2 Ab4+ 27.®e2 Oxa2 0- 1 .

lvanchuk,Vasily Seirawan, Yasser Ti!burg 1992 (1)

• T . GJ M t _ J _ . _ J j J . � L J

I

J . £ . B

. � . i I . F R k

What to do with the attacked rook on a8?

1 . Oa8-a5!a

A brilliant move. Black now attacks the cS pawn horizontally and the rook enters the game as an active piece.

2 . Oe 1-d1


A) 2.©xa5? allows a winning strike on the other wing by z . . . A£3+! : Al) 3.®hl ©h4 4.h3 ©f4! 1

5.g3 Axel+ 6.£3 ©xg3 7.©xel is winning, for example 7.©d2 Axf3 or 7 . . . Axf3+ ; A2) 3.gxf3 ©g5+ 4.®hl Ax£3#; B) lf 2.0e5 Ab3 3.©c3 Oxc5!a.

2. Oa5xc5

And Black was much better, though he had to be content with a draw in the end.

Srinivas Ravikumar,Vaidyanathan India 1984

D T . J . J J

I i r- N

T M J ' j - J

D

L i Q inl . . I I I

. k B R

White ' queen is under attack. What is the optimal solution?

Of course, the counter-attack

1. Afl-d3! !

l .©xb7?, taking a pawn, is a kind of attacking move, but it loses by

force: l . . .Oab8 2.©xa7 and now the decisive 2 . . . ©xbl + ! .

1 . ©g6xd3

On l . . .©g5, 2.©xb7 is now better for White : 2 . . . 0ab8 3.©xa7 Axg3

. t . T M � . j . _ J j J

. I

B i I i . r- N . k

. 0 . L I I I

R Analysis diagram

and now: A) 4 .hxg3 Oxe3+! 5 .®d2 Oxd3+ ! : AI) 6 .®c2 Od2+ 7 .Axd2

Oxb2+ 8.®xb2 ©xd2+ leads to mate: 9.®b3 Ae6+ 10.®a4 ©c2+ l l .®b4 ©c4+ 12 .®a5 ©c3+ 13 .®a6 Ac8+ 13.®b5 Ad7+ 14.®a6 ©c6+ 15 .®a5 ©b5; A2) 6.®xd3 ©b5+ 7.®e3

Oe8+ 8.®f4 ©f5. B) 4.Axh7+ ! ®xh7 5.hxg3+

®g8 6.0-0 e .

2 . ©f3xg4 Ad6-b4+ 3 . Abl-c3 Ab4xc3+ 4. b2xc3 ©d3xc3+ 5 . ®e 1-e2 ©c3-c4+ 6. ®e2-d2 ©c4-b4+ 7. ®d2-d l ! e

when White is a piece up.

175


D - B a c kward atta c k i n g rnoves

We already know the move ©b2-a1 ! from Kramnik-Leko (p 23) . Here are some other examples:

Filguth,Rubens De la Garza,Arturo Mexico tt 1980

0 T T I M . J . j j . - j

j . _ J GJ . j £ . . rnl .

L I . l9

R

B _ Q . rr k .

White has a clear advantage, with his domination of the centre and better piece activity. White 's minor pieces look as if they are magnetically attracted to the black king, and only two more moves are needed to ensure the win.

18. ©e2-e4 ©f6-f5

T T I M j j . _ J j

j J - . j £ . . rn� D L i Q l9

B

R . rr On 18 . . . g6 19.h5 e ;

k .

On 18 . . . Aa3, to provide an escape square for the king, White plays

176

19 . ©h7+ ®f8 zo.Ag4! ©d8 2 1 .©h8+ ®e7 22.©xg7 with an unstoppable attack, including threats like Oxe6.

Now comes a very surprising finish.

19 . ©e4-h1 ! !

A brilliant retreat that wins the queen, see: A) 1 9 . . . Ac6!? 20 .d5 e or

20.©h2 e ; B) Another justification is shown

after the attempt 19 . . . ©h5: White replies 20.g4 ! and the queen is trapped again, pawn h4 being protected; C) After 19 . . . © f6 the delicate

20.Ag5! forces the reply 20 . . . hxg5 2 1 .hxg5 with a double threat: on the queen, and of giving checkmate on h7.

Leko,Peter Carlsen,Magnus Monaco rapid 2007 (5)

• M t . I t _ J _ . _ J j J J J J

L . GJ

mi .

. k I

l9 . GI B R


In this strange position, Black has the choice between exchanging queens, with an unclear situation, or continuing in gambit style with

13 . . .. 14. Ac3xd5

Od8xd5+! ©h4-d8! !

A 'retro' move with two threats: queen takes knight, winning the h1 rook, and 15 . . . Ab4, winning the queen. There is no defence : A) 1 5 .®e2 Ag4+ 1 7 .®f2

©h4+ and wins; B) If 15 .®c3 ©xdS 16.Ac4

©aS+ 17.®b3 ©b6+ 18.®a4 Ac2+ 19.b3 ©cS and Black will mate with 20 . . . b5+. C) 15.Ag2 Ab4+; D) The best move for White

might be 15 .©g3, but Black wins anyway after 15 . . . ©xd5+ 16.®e2 ©xh1 with a positional and a material advantage and good attacking chances as well. In the game, after 1 4 . . . ©e4 , White could have equalized with 1 5 .®e2 ! with an unclear game.

lnarkiev,Ernesto Bakre,Tejas Gibraltar 2004 (7)

D

J

T t L ei .

M I J . J J

_ S j N ls> I J I I

I

K

B

R ca . R

Can you find how White could have gained a winning advantage?

1 . Ag5-h4! !

A brilliant quiet move that keeps the pressure on the diagonal while still attacking the enemy knight.

l .Axe7 + Axe7 2 .Acl b3 ° was played in the game, which was won by Black.

1 . Ad5-f6

l . . .Axh4 2. ©xh4 f6 3.exd5 e ; the computerish 3.g5 is even stronger.

2 . h5-h6! g7-g6

Now the pin is winning after the methodical

3 . 4. 5 . 6 .

Af5xe7+ Oh1 -fl ©e1-f2 Ad3-e2 e

©c7xe7 Od8-d6 Oc8-c6

The move is also an example of an invisible retreat by the bishop, as well as a move along a diagonal controlled by the opponent.

Si tnikov, Dimitry Kornev,Alexey Tomsk 2006 (1)

D - · � j J _ . _ J m J

T

J J �r=' S

. ls> I k I

I . el .

177


Black threatens mate on g2. What is the optimal solution for White?

Sitnikov decided to make a draw with the elegant 4 1 .©f6+ ®h6 42 .©g5+.

Black cannot play 41 . . .Axf6 42.exf6+ ®h6 (if 42 . . . ®g8 43.0c8#) as now the discovered check wins the queen with advantage after 43 .Ag5+ ®hS 44 .Ae3+ - White is a piece up.

But White had a splendid win here, beginning with

41 . Ah4-f6+! ®g7-h6 42 . Af6-g5+ ®h6-h5

42 .. . ®g7 is losing after 43.©f6+ Axf6 44.exf6+ because the h6-square is no longer available: 44 . . . ®f8 45.0c8#.

_ . <qJ . _ . _ j J _ . _ j _ J

J J f' S . 19 M

T I k I

I . 0 .

Now White is losing in all lines if he doesn't find the invisible move:

43 . Ag5-d2! !

A diabolical retreat that threatens mate in one (on gS or h4) while parrying the black attack and all the checks.

43 . n-m 44. ©d8-h8 e

178

•

Rrhioua,Tarik Bernard,] France tt 2005

J - . J J

ca . . _ . _ . _ Q k

R I I

Black chose to draw by perpetual check. Can you see a win for him?

1 . 2 . d6-d7!

®h8-h7!

The best defensive try consists in controlling the e8-square. The natural 2 .0e2 fails to 2 . . . Af2+ ! 3.0xf2 (3.g3 ©f6+ 4.®h5 g6+ 5.©xg6+ ©xg6+ 6.®h4 ©g5+) 3 . . . g5+ 4 .®h5 ©e8+ with mate in two.

What is the checkmating idea here?

2 . Agl-b6!

The bishop goes to d8, with inevitable checkmate. The bishop retreat is a hard-to-see move. It retreats from its attacking diagonal that allows it a crucial check on f2 in the other variation, to the other side of the board.

There is another win after 2 . . . ©f6+ 3.®g3 ©d6+! (4.©f4 Ah2+) 4 .®f3 ©d3+ s .®f4 g5+ 6.®e5 Ah2+ 7.®e6 ©d6+ 8.®f7 ©g6+ 9.®e7 Ad6+ 10.®d8 ©g8+.


In the series of exercises that follows, the first four are from famous matches. The third is not from an official world championship, but it might be considered as such.

EXERCISE 1

*

A Winning Liquidation (1)

0

J

Alekhine,Alexander Euwe,Max

Netherlands Wch 1937 (16)

M L l J .

j J �

J GJ I@

I@ �

White is a pawn up, but the bishop pair should give Black counterchances. There is a simple way to enter a winning endgame for White. How?

1 79


Solution 1

Alekhine,Alexander Euwe,Max Netherlands Wch 1937 (16)

M _ . _ L I J j J J s

J D

� .

. 19 .

. � . <9

k Max Euwe wrote about this game: ' . . . for almost a whole hour, during which the players each made two moves, Alekhine could have carried out a winning combination. It was seen by the entire audience, who waited with bated breath, but it was not noticed by either him or me' .

180

Black had on the previous move played the mistaken

1 . ©d5-e5??

l . . .©c4 2.©xc4 bxc4 gives drawing chances.

2 . Acl-b2??

2 .©h8+! ®xh8 3 .Axf7+ and after 3 . . . ®g8 4.Axe5 Axb4 s.Axd7 Axd7 6.Ae4 with a winning endgame .

2 . Ad7-c6??

'A unique case of mutual blindness ' , Kasparov in My Great Predecessors - Part I.

3 . a2-a3??

And the game ended in a draw a few moves later.

3.©h8+ would have been winning again.


EXERCISE 2

*

A Winning Liquidation (2)

0

Kasparov, Garry Karpov,Anatoly

London Wch m 1986 (2)

S rrlil . J j R _ .

. - . j J N I J

T K

White drew this game. How could he have won, using a simple tactic?

1 8 1


Solution 2

Kasparov, Garry Karpov,Anatoly London Wch m 1986 (2)

. t:. . S m .

J j R_ . - . J J N I J

K

Here Zeitnot must have been the cause of the mutual blindness of the players. Black made a mistake:

1 . Of8-f3?

l . . .Of6 (Kasparov gave l . . .bS , 'with good chances of a draw') 2.0c7 (2.0c8�) 2 .. . ®d8 3.0a7 bS 4.Ae3 Oc6 s .AdS Af6 1 .

2 . Ac4-e3

182

A winning pin was 2.0c7, after which Black can resign.

J . J � s m .

- . J J N I J

T K

Analysis diagram

In case of 2 . . . 0c3 (unpinning with 2 . . . ®d8 does not work due to 3.0xd7+ ®xd7 4.Axe5+) White plays 3.®d2 Ob3 4.Axb6 or 3 . . . 0f3 4.0xd7 +.

2 . 3 .

.. . Oc6xb6

Ad7-f6 Af6xe4

And in this difficult endgame, Black managed to draw.


0 T -J -

.

. I

.

F

EXERCISE 3

* *

Double Attack

-.

I J -

.

. I

Anderssen,Adolf Morphy,Paul

Paris 1858 (2 and 4)

. GJ . t M

. J . j . - j s L . - -

s . - - -. . I . . -

I@ . N - -. I . . I -B ts> O R k

-. .

j .

-I

-.

This position occurred twice during the 1858 match between Adolf Anderssen and Paul Morphy, and White was not able to find the forced win based on a double attack. Can you spot two weak points in the black position?

183


Solution 3

Anderssen,Adolf Morphy,Paul Paris 1858 (2 and 4)

T . Gt . t M . J . - . J . - J

J I S L _ . j J s

N i I R k .

Neither during the two games, nor in the first game's post mortem analysis either of the players spotted the simple idea

1 . ©dl-c2!

The queen attacks h 7 and c6 at the same time.

l .Ae2 was played once, and l .Ae3 was tried two games later.

184

1 . ©d3 is not as good due to the defence l . . .Af6 2.Ae4 g6 (if the queen were on c2, the c6 knight could now be captured) 3.Axh6 Ac4.

1 . f7-f5

This antipositional move looks the most resilient. l . . .g6 2.Axh6a; l . . .Af6 2.Ae4 Axe4 3.©xe4 winning a piece.

2 . Ofl-e la Of8-f6

2 . . . Af7 3.©xf5a; 2 . . . ©f6 3.0xe6 ©xe6 4.Axd5 e ; 2 . . . ©d6 3.0xe6 ©xe6 4.Axd5 since if 4 . . . ©xdS s.Aa2.

3. Oelxe6! 4 . Ac3xd5

Of6xe6 ©d8xd5

The weakening of the long diagonal is now decisive :

5 . Abl-a2! 6 . d4-d5 e

©d5-d7


EXERCISE 4

* * *

Forwards or Backwards?

Nimzowitsch,Aaron Tarrasch,Siegbert San Sebastian 19 1 1 (1)

0 t M

J _ . _ . j k R

There are two ways to parry the threatened checkmate. Which is the right one?

185


Solution 4

Nimzowitsch,Aaron Tarrasch,Siegbert San Sebastian 19 1 1 (1)

. t:. . M

J _ . _ . j . k R

Nimzowitsch chose the normal move, retreating the king in order to be able to enter the square of the passed pawn.

1 . ®h6-h5?

The attacking move l .®h7! achieves the draw, because the king helps its own pawns to promote: l . . .Ob5 2.0xb5 (l . . .Og8 2.0a5 Oxg2 3.0xa6 i) 2 . . . axb5 3.g4 b4 4.g5 i.

1 . 2 . ®h5-g4 3. ®g4xf5 4 . ®f5-e4

186

Ob8-b5 Ob5xf5 a6-a5

Nimzowitsch had seen all this, but now the 'Praeceptor Germaniae ' (Tarrasch's nickname) surprised him with the Zwischenschach

4 . f6-f5+!

This pawn move intends to disconnect the white pawns, before picking them up one by one. White now loses by force:

5 . ®e4-d4

On 5. ®xf5 a4 wins for Black.

5 . f5-f4 !

Now both white pawns are falling.

6 . ®d4-c4 7. ®c4-b5 8. ®b5xa5 9. ®a5-b4 10. ®b4-c3

®f7-g6 ®g6-h5 ®h5xh4 ®h4-g3 ®g3xg2

Why is 1. ® h7 an invisible move? - The orthodox way to play is to bring back the king in order to stop the passed pawn; advancing the king towards the edge of the board is unexpected.

- After a forced sequence of moves, a surprising intermediate move changes the evaluation.


EXERCISE 5

* * *

Saving Geometry

Geller,Efim Gufeld,Eduard Moscow blitz 1961

• T T M J I J

J J � . I

R .

N I

D I k

How can Black save the game when his major pieces are so far from the main action?

187


Solution 5

Geller,Efim Gufeld,Eduard Moscow blitz 1961

T T M J I J

J _ . _ J _ . <9 I

I

D

188

R N

I k

Two consecutive invisible moves enable Black to hold the position:

1 . ©a2-b l +!

A forward defensive move, with the idea of controlling a diagonal that leads to the queen's own king, on the other wing.

2 . Af3-e l Oc8-c4! !

Not 2 . . . Ag5?! since after 3.©xg5+ ®f8 4.g3 White is much better.

3 . Oe4-e3 Oc4-g4!


0

EXERCISE 6

* * *

A Straightforward Win

Kramnik,Vladimir Kasparov, Garry

London Wch m 2000 (4)

I@ I rrr-t1 .

K T

White drew this game. How could he have forced the advance of the a-pawn?

189


Solution 6

Kramnik, Vladimir Kasparov, Garry London Wch m 2000 (4)

. � . • 11=' • I m .

K t .

Black has built a miraculous fortress. If his rook stays on the a-file there 's nothing White can do to make progress.

1 . Chl-hl?

Now White can force a win.

2 . Og7-g8

2.®b2? was played in the game. After 2 . . . 0h8 3.®b3 Oc8 4.a7 ®xa7 5.®b4 ®b6 the draw was agreed.

2 . Ohl-al

2 . . . 0h7 3.0b8+ ®a7 (3 . . . ®xc7 4.a7) 4.0b7# is the variation that Kramnik mentions.

3 . Ac7-d5+! ®b6-a7

3 . . . ®c5 4 .0g5! ®bS (4 . . . 0a3 s.®b2; 4 . . . <5xa6 s.Ac7+) s .®b2 ;

190

3 . . . ®xa6 4.0a8+ ®bS S .Oxal .

4 . Ad5-b4

And White wins , because the a-pawn is protected by the knight from the back (a useful rule to remember in endings with knight + pawn versus lone king) .

' . . . after around six hours we started making mistakes, but this was natural - the stress was enormous. He'd already found the "drawing stance" when he suddenly leapt off it (58 . . . 0hl?) giving me the opportunity to win. The worst part was that I saw the possibility of a win after that move, but due to being unused to such intense stress I had one of my crazy ideas. It seemed to me that after 59.0g8 Kasparov could play 59 . . . 0h7 and after 60.0b8+ ®a7 I go 61 . Ob 7 and basically it is mate, but I was under the illusion that Kasparov could play ®a8 (It had slipped my mind that this square was covered by the knight from c 7 !) , after which he 'd be saved with the help of the "mad" rook -it's stalemate. The main thing was that there was no time trouble, I still had about nine minutes left ( . . . ) Obviously I'd cracked under stress' - Kramnik in From London to Elista (New In Chess) .

Test

A theoretical draw 1

R

Two diagonals 3

D . . k . . I M

_ . _ . G:iJ . _ . . 0

*

*

One step backwards 2

0 . <9 . . t:. . rn J

I 0 . j . j B _ J _ . . j · - · f' · -

L I k

*

A far advanced pawn 4 *

. R

T

J M . I .

K i

1 9 1


Files and diagonals 5

0 . T . m - . - . j . _ J

J !;' . 19 .

T l

Beat the magician 7

I i k .

0 . . t M R N I .

J _ T _ . _ J j

J _ . _ . _ Q D I I

R K

192

*

*

A long diagonal 6

0 T L . t M j . j S GJ J I J

. j . j . s J _

I i J 1n1 . i . I

I . lnl B i 1 19 !;' . 0 R k .

A vulnerable rank 8

O T L GJ . m . t _ . j . s . I J J _ . _ . j J I9 s J _ N j . _ .

I B N I I . i I

!;' . Q k . R

*

*

Clearing a square 9

0 . M t . j . rr S _ J <9 J L t . . s . - . - . j N _ .

D

I

K R

Successive forks 1 1

0 . T T M _ J _ . _ J j . J L GI . s . i . _ . j l lnl . . _ . j 1 _ . <9

I R N I

R K

*

*

Final move 1 0

0 . . m . K R l

. - . j . - . B I

. t .

The revival 1 2

• •

J L k

. m . J rr

193

Test

*

* *


Weaving a net 13

0 . T

* *

. � . J . _ . j . rrhl .

T I j .

A circuit 15

. I . . � .

k l

• . . rrhl .

* *

_ J <qJ . _ . _ . . _ j _ j _ J j

GJ � K B t:. .

194

Harassment 14

• • - . - . _ M j Q _ . _ . _ .

I . GJ

* *

. i I k L

Attacking the weakness 16 * *

0 . . s T M J

_ . _ . <qJ J _ j . _ J J

D

I

R B k

Multi-purpose move 17 * *

. · - · � · - · -rn J I J J J

Gt . J . R

I K

Diversion 19 * *

0 . . t . M _ J j . - . _ J J S D J

� · - · - · I . B F

. i L rnl I

. k .

Test

A tribute to Steinitz 18 * *

0 . . t M j J _ . _ j _ J

- · � J -<21 . i B s .

. F

T R k

Automatic recapture 20 * *

0 . R . I . . rn .

- . - . - . J T

_ . _ . _ l j K

195


Storming the fortress 2 1 * *

0 . . t . M _ L _ . _ J j .

J j . - . - . t .

B f' _ Q 0 I

. f' k .

Make room 23

• . T M t J j .

J - . j . _ S

* *

i . j I I . _ J . j B _ l _ I

_ Q _ . D

196

R i � . f' . K

Traffic jam 22 * *

0 . t . . m . t _ . GJ L _ J j

. I J s f' . J

J j . � . 19 . i _ . _ B _ I � . I I I I

K . f' .

Breakthrough 24

D . . t .

. I .

* *

m . J J . 19 I . I

K

Back door 25 * *

D T L M t . s J . - - - J

j _ j _ J _ . j . Gt .

. I . N . IS> _ . _ . <qJ . _ .

I B I i R R k .

Self-protection 27 * *

D . _ . <qJ . _ _ . _ . i . j M . - . - . - . J

J . i . . £ . i . Gt

T I I

. � K

Test

Ambush 26 * *

D . T M t j . _ S _ . j J L j . _ J - .

J i . IS> . D i .

. � I i S . I i � B 0 R k .

Royal safety 28

D . J . � .

. - . j . _ I T I M

J

i T K

. s I

. � .

197

* *


Introductory step 29 * *

• . t . . s M L J J

. GJ . i J . t J

� � B I . F

k .

The right diagonal 31

• . T M

R

* *

_ . _ . _ J j J J GJ . I .

R B J . s

I i I . s I R ls> . e . k .

198

Desperate measure 30 * *

• . D t . t M _ . _ . _ J j J J . 19 s

. I

I � . i I

R rr . k .

The invader 32

D T M j J GJ . _ N j . s J J

. I

* *

L J i I t _ . k Q _ .

I B F . R

In extremis 33

• •

M . 19 .

J K

Constant squeeze 35

D . . rn .

K

J R

J

* * *

* * *

J

Test

Majority attack 34 * * *

D . _ . _ . _ J j

M - . J . -

. k .

Geometry 36

J I

* * *

D . £ R _ . _ . _ Mj J T Gt . T

. _ . _ . _ Q _ . 19

R

199

I K


Unexpected brilliancy 37 * * *

0 . T M . � 0 J

_ . _ L � . j j · - · <9 · - · . - . j . _ J

B R I

k .

Sliding queen 39

0 . T M

* * *

_ J _ . i J j J J J

i D . i . - . <9 .

I

. f' . K

200

Interception 38

0 . T M

* * *

_ . _ . _ J j J R

J

- · - · - · <9 · . t I D I I f' . K

Additional attacker 40 * * *

O T � L S t . rn ' j j

J _ . _ . j . ls> _ J Gt N j . <9 . . _ . j · - · f'

B i I i . k .

Zugzwang 41

D .

. rn .

J

K

A troubled couple 43

* * *

* * *

• . t . ca M t J J

Q _ J _ J _ . _ j . I . - . - . I B L i S

N i N IT:' l9 .

I

R K

Test

The lion's den 42 * * *

D .

. _ . <qJ . _ . _ J I k rr .

. i J . I .

. Gt .

Liquidation 44

• • K S M

T

* * *

J . - . - . J . J . . l9 . I I

201


Pins 45 * * *

• . . t . T m D _ . j J

. j L _ . j J 19 j . I . i . _ . I I

_ I <9 R _ . _ . R I I

B K

Deflecting her majesty 47 * * *

D . . 0 . m . J

. t . . s T - . j . I Q _ . R B

- . j

R K

202

A missed skewer 46

• . . m .

* * *

N R J

. s . i . I I

j T _ . _ . _ .

Best defence 48

K

0 . t .

* * * *

. GJ J M rr J

j . j J i R _ J . I

· - · <9 · T I

K

Intrusion 49 * * * *

• • j

M

j . - . F D _ . _ J _ . j J

. i . � I .

k .

The undiscoverable draw 51 * * * * *

D . L J m .

. _ . <qJ . _ . _ J I K

. i N . t . J

D

Test

Alternating wings 50 * * * * *

• • t . . m .

J . GJ J _ . � . _ . _ Q . - . - . - . j

J k

Crossfire 52

R

* * * * *

• . T M . t D J

L B J j . � I _ . -

. I j I _ . _ N _ .

. k I F . Q F .

203


Tragicomedy

53 * * * * *

• T s . rrhl .

. � . GJ . _ R _ J

.

j

K

204

Test solutions

Exercise 1

Aka pian, Vladimir Kamsky, Gata Naichik 2009 (5)

M K T . 19 .

R

*

You have to look out for stalemates in such a position, and the draw was obtained after

1 . 2 .

Stalemate!

.. . Ob7xe7! Oe2xe7

In the actual game, there followed l . . .Ob8+?? 2 .®c7 Ob7+ 3.®c6 Oa7 4 .Ad8 Oh7 s .Ac7 Oh6+ 6.Ad6 and White is winning. Fatigue after a long game must be the explanation for Kamsky's lapsus.

Exercise 2

Kononenko, Tatiana Zhao,Zong Yuan Seville 2008 (6 )

· <9 · . t . m J

I Gt . J j B _ J _ .

J . rr .

*

L I k

A tiny step backward for a huge leap forward.

1. Of4-f3!

In the game an aggressive forward move ended in disaster: l .g4? c4 2 .gxf5 hS 3 .Ae4? 3.0f3 i. 3 ... Axe4 4.0xe4 ©xfS 5 .©g3+ ®h7.

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .

.. . Of3-g3+ ©b8-f4+ Ad5-f3+

c5-c4 ®g7-h6 ®h6-h5 1-0

205


Exercise 3

Karjakin,Sergey Gelfand,Boris Moscow Wch blitz 2008 (32)

. k M

_ . _ . <qJ . _ .

*

. GJ

White could have won in two moves:

1 . ©e5-h5+! !

l .©f5+ was played in this blitz game: l . . .®g7 2 .©f2 ©xf2 3.e8© and the game was drawn.

1. ©h4xh5 2 . e7-e8©+

With ©x© to follow. A simple combination, even in blitz, but of course the lack of thinking time is sufficient explanation.

206

Exercise 4 *

Grischuk,Alexander Lima, Darcy Khanty-Mansiysk 2007 ( 1 . 1)

R

T

J M I

K

White has just played l .a6, and Black missed an unexpected escape with

1 . Oa2xa6! 2. Oa8xa6

Stalemate. Instead, l . . .Oa3+?? was played

and White won after 2 .®f2 Oa2+ 3 .®e3 Oa3+ 4 .®d4 ®g4 5.0g8+ ®f3 6.0g6.

Exercise 5 *

Tischbierek,Raj Wahls,Matthias Bremen ch-GER 1998 (5)

T - . - . j

T l

. m J

J

I k

White resigned in this position as he seems to lose a rook, but he can exploit several weaknesses on the open lines to save the game:

1. Od2 -c2! Ac3xa5?

l . . .Od8! is better, with an equal game, e.g. 2.0al Axb2; l . . .Oxb2!? is also OK for Black: z .Ad4+ ®g8 1 .

2 . Ac5-d4+ ®h8-g8 3. Oc2xc8+

And now White even has the advantage.

Test solutions

Exercise 6

Szrnetan,Ricardo Nakarnura,Hikaru Buenos Aires 2003 (1)

T j . J

L . t:. M j S GJ J I J . j . £ J

J 1n1 I

*

. �n� B i 1 19 0 R k .

The last move of the future American champion was . . . b6? The Argentinian master seems to be captivated by the peaceful nature of the position as he completely ignores the possibility of winning a central pawn by either

1 . Ac3xe4!

or l .Adxe4!

1. 2 . 3 .

.. . Ad2xe4 Ae2 -f3 e

Af6xe4 ©e7xe4

Instead he played l .b4? and after a balanced game Black eventually won.

207


Exercise 7

Schneider,Lars Ake Tal ,Mikhail Luzern Olympiad 1982 (13)

. t M R N I .

J _ T _ . _ J j

J

*

_ . _ . _Q D I I

R K

1 . ©h3xh6 ! !

Unbelievable! The Swedish master drops a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to beat the Wizard from Riga with his own weapons! The threat 2.©h8+! is decisive.

1 . Of8xf7

l . . .gS 2.©xg5.

2 . Od7-d8+

Mating. Instead, the anaemic l .g3? was

played and White never got a second chance : l . . . hS 2 .Ag5 ©xb2 3.Ae6 Oxfl + 4 .©xfl Af6 5 .0d8+ ®f7 6.Ag5+ ®e7 7.Axe4 ®xd8 0- 1 .

208

Exercise 8

Levenfish, G rigory Tartakower,Savielly Karlsbad 191 1

*

T L GJ . m . t _ . j . s . I J J s J _ N j

I

. J l9 J

B N I I . i I

11-' . Q k . R In the game after l .Ae3? Black was able to equalize. White could have gained material with

1 . Ad5-b6 ! !

Playing on both wings.

1 . ©d8xd l +

l . . .Ag4 2.Axg7 + ®xg7 3.Axa8a.

2 . Oalxd l

Attacking the rook, and threatening mate.

2 . . . . Ag7xh6 3 . Ab6xa8 e

Exercise 9

Ulko,Yaroslav Chekhov,Sergey Voronezh Open 2007 (1)

M t . j rr S _ J � J L t . . � . - . - . j N _ .

D

I

K R

*

In the game, White had to be content with a draw after l .©gS? ©a4 2 .0xa7 Oxb2+ 3 .®xb2 ©b4+ 4 .®cl ©a3+ S .®bl ©b4+ Vz-Vz.

1 . ©g7xf6!!

Eliminating the defender while vacating the g 7 -square for White 's knight.

1 . Ob6xb2+

l . . .Axf6 2.Ag7# ! is the main idea; l . . .Oxf6 2.Ag7+ ®e7 (2 . . . ®d8 3.0dxd7#) 3.0cxd7# ! .

2 . ®blxb2 ©e4-b4+ 3 . ®b2-al e

Test solutions

Exercise 10

Tseitlin,Mark Gershkowich,David Givataim 2006

. rn .

K R l . - . J

B I

. t .

The intermediate move

1 . Of7-d7 +!

was necessary.

*

l .Oxg7? followed in the game and after l . . .Oc7 + ! 2.0xc7 Black was stalemated.

209


Exercise 1 1

Czarnota,Pawel Ri bli ,Zol tan

*

Germany Bundesliga 2006/07 (3.4)

T T M J . J . - - - j

J L GJ . j

s I � .

. - . j I

I

N R

- · <9 R

I

K l .Ogl was played in the game, when White is better, though not yet winning. He could have won instantly with

1 . ©h4-h8+!

A move reminiscent of the famous Alekhine-Euwe game (see p. 1 14) .

1 . 2 . 3 .

Ag5xf7+ Af7xd6

®g8xh8 ®h8-g8

The second fork in a row, winning on the spot.

2 10

Exercise 1 2 * *

Borisenko, Georgy Mekheniev Moscow 1950

J L k

. m . J rr

Black mistakenly assumed that he had to play carefully to avoid defeat and played l . . .®e4? to secure merely a draw after 2.0g8 ®f4 3 .h4 f2 4.0f8+ ®g4.

1 . f3-f2 ! 2 . Og3-g8

Preparing a deadly skewer, White is brushing up for the victory party when out of the blue the paralysed queenside comes to life!

2 . Aa2-b l ! !

An unexpected turning point! This uninvited guest is about to mask the skewer and if captured, a senior guest will pop up on the first rank with a lethal check!

Exercise 1 3 * *

Cebalo,Miso Velimirovic,Dragoljub Yugoslav Championship 1993 (17)

T . � . J

. - . j . m . T I j .

I .

. � . I . k I i

White played l .fxg5+ ®xgS 2.0f3 Od2+ 3 .0e2 Oxe2+ 4 .®xe2 Oc2+ 5 .®e3 Oxb2 6.h4+ ®f6 7.g4 h6 8.®f4 Ob4+ 9.®g3 Od4? Here Black could have achieved a draw with 9 . . . d5 ! 10 .0e3 Ob6 ! i. 1 0.0e3 e .

Instead, White could have set up a mating net with:

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .

g2-g4! Oe3-e6+ Oe7-g7+ Oe6-h6#

g5xf4 ®f6-g5 ®g5-h4

Test solutions

Exercise 1 4

lvanchuk,Vasily Gelfand ,Boris Monaco rapid 1999 (3)

- . - . _Mj Q _ . _ . _ .

I . GJ

* *

l k L

. IS> .

l . . .©xf4 was played in the game, and after 2 .©b7+ ®g6 3 .©b6+ ®h7 4 .Ag3 ©f6+? (4 . . . ©b4� was better) 5 .©xf6 gxf6 6.b6 Ae4 7.Ad6 ®g6 8.®g3 White won.

The draw could have been obtained with

1 . g7-g5+! ! 2 . ®h4-h5

Certainly not 2.fxg5?? because of 2 . . . ©xh2# ; 2.®g3 ©xf4+ 3.®h3 Afl# or 3.®g2 ©xg4+ 4.Ag3 ©e2+ s.Af2 Ae4+ 6.®h3 ©f3+ 7.Ag3 AfS#.

2 . ©e5-h8+!

2 .. . gxf4+ is not as good: 3.g5 ©e2+? 4.®h6 ©xf2 5.©f6+ ®e8 6.©e6+ ®f8 7.©d6+ e .

3 . 4.

®h5xg5 ®g5-h5

©h8-d8+! ©d8-h8+ i

A clockwork-like perpetual.

2 1 1


Exercise 1 5 * *

Braun,Arik Siebrecht,Sebastian Vienna 2005 (2)

• r;:r;) • _ J <qJ . _ . _ .

. _ j _ j _ J j

l ea . � K i B t:. .

Here Black had another perpetual with a rook sacrifice:

1 . Ogl-el +! !

In the game Siebrecht lost quickly after l . . .©b5+?? 2 .®f3 ©xb l 3.0d8#.

2 . ®e2xe l

Forced, for example: 2 .®f3 ©xd2; 2.®d3 ©xbl+ .

2 . 3 .

. . . Od2-d l

©b2xb l +

lf3.®e2 ©e4+ 4.®fl ©hl+ i.

3 . 4 . ®el-d2

4.®fl ©hl+.

4 . 5 . ®d2-c2 6. ®c2-bl

And so on.

2 1 2

©bl-e4+

©e4-d4+ ©d4-c4+ ©c4-b4+

Exercise 1 6

Georgiev,Kiril Van Wely,Loek Groningen 1997 (4.2)

* *

. £ T M J

_ . _ . <qJ J _

J J J

D

I

R B k

In the game, White made a draw with l .Ad7? Of8 (1 . . . ©xe2 was the best move. Even here White might still have won with 2 .g4 ! hxg4 3.h5 , but he played 2.0e3�.

White could have won by bringing another piece into the attack with the powerful

1 . Ah3-e6! !

Attacking f1 and g6. There is no defence.

1 . Oe8xe6

l . . .fxe6 2.©xg6+ ®h8 3.©xe8+; l . . .Axe6 2.©xf1+ ®h8 3.©xe8+.

2 . ©f6xd8+ ®g8-g7

And now there is a nice geometrical win:

3 . ©d8-c7! ! Oe6-f6 4. ©c7-e5 e

Exercise 1 7 * *

Marrero Lopez, Yaniet Perez, Angel Havana 2005 (7)

· - · <9 · rn J I J

<21 .

J J

J . - . - I

R K White had just blundered with l .©c8x.Ad8 (instead of l .©c2=) . Black replied with 1 . . . ©a 1 ?? and White won after 2 .©a8+! ®xa8 3 .d8©+ ®a7 4 .©d4+ ®a8 S .Oxa l .

Instead, Black had an easy win:

1 . ©a3-d3! !

Attacking the rook while keeping an eye on the d-pawn. There is no defence because of the lack of connection between the white pieces.

2 . h2-h4 3 . ®hl-h2 4 . ©d8-c8 5 . d7-d8© 6. ®h2-h3 7. g2-g3

7.®h2 ©bgl#.

7. 8. ®h3-g4

©d3xbl + ©bl-dl b2-bl © ©dl-g l+ ©gl-e3+

©bl-fl + h7-h5#

Test solutions

Exercise 18

Kurajica,Bojan Romanishin,Oleg Solin 2007 (2.2)

* *

. t:. M j J _ . _ j _ J

- · <9 J _ <21 . B £

. rr

T R k

Black has just brought the knight from c6 to eS. Are you able to spot the Steinitzian win?

1 . ®gl -fl ! !

Winning the knight or the rook. The king is a piece!

1 . 2 .

. . . Of4-b4

©a5-b5 1-0

The game saw l .h4?! ©xeS 2 .h5 ©b6 3 .©g5 ®g7?! 3 . . . 0e8. 4 .h6+ ®h8 S .®fl ! and now: A) Romanishin played 5 . . . f6

6 .®xe2 ©a6+? (6 . . . ©d6 7.0xf6 Oxf6 8.®fl a) 7 .Ac4 Axc4 8.©xf6+ ! ©xf6 9.0xf6 1 -0. B) Instead there was 5 . . . 0e8!

6.®xe2 ©b5+ 7.®e3 (the invisible self-pin 7.0c4!? was another interesting try for a win: 7 . . . Axc4+ 8.®f3 Ae5+ 9.®g2 ©b6 and after lO.Obl White is better) 7 . . . ©b6+ 8.0fd4!?� Ac6+ 9.®f3 Axd4+ 10.®g2.

2 1 3


Exercise 1 9

Kortchnoi, Viktor Krush,lrina Gibraltar 2007 (8. 13)

* *

. t . J . - J

M J

J S D J <:q) . _ . _ .

B rr I i L

. k White played the losing move l .Of2?? and resigned, not waiting for the forced sequence 1 . . . ©xe4 2.Axe4 Od l + 3.0fl Oxfl +.

He could have won by exploiting the alignment of Black's king and queen along the a2-g8 diagonal with

1 . Of4-f8+!

Deflection!

1 . Od8xf8

If l . . .®g7, 2.0xd8 Axd8 3.©xc7 gives White a winning advantage.

2 . Ae4-d5 1-0

2 1 4

Exercise 2 0

Khaunin Fridman Leningrad 1962

R

* *

. m .

- . - . - . J T

_ . _ . _ l j K

This is a draw if White has only a gar h-pawn along with the c 7 pawn (see Vyzhmanavin-Lerner in the introduction) , since Black's king can move to and fro between g 7 and h 7.

1 . ®h3xg3!

l .hxg3? was played in the game, when Black was able to force a draw with l . ..g4+ ! 2 .fxg4 and White, though three pawns up, is unable to win because the g-pawns are useless. Black's king just stands on g7, and if the king moves up to protect the c 7 pawn, the rook keeps giving checks from below.

1 . ®g7-h7 2. h2 -h4 !

Deflection of the g-pawn, in order to create a winning passed pawn on the f-file. 2 . . . gxh4+ 3.®h3 ®g7 4.f4 e ®h7 5.f5 ®g7 6.f6+ ®f7 (6 . . . ®xf6 7.0f8+) 7.0h8! and White wins.

Exercise 2 1

Foguelman,Alberto Olafsson,Fridrik Mar del Plata 1960 (1 1)

. t:. . M L . J . - - - j

J j t:.

* *

B rr _ Q Gt I I

rr k White panicked due to the threat on g2 and was tempted to win a piece: l .Ah7+? ®f8 2 .0b3 Axg2 ! 3 .©h4 ©eS?! 3 . . . ©f6 ! . 4 .0be3 4 .f4 ©d4+ 5.®h2 AdS ! . 4 . . . Ae4+ S .®fl ©b5+ 6.03e2 Axh7 7.©xh7 ©dS and Black soon won.

But he failed to see a nice trick:

1. Oe3xe6! !

Naturally!

1 . f7-f5

l . . .fxe6 2.©xe6+ ®h8 3.©e8+ Oxe8 4.0xe8#.

2. Oe6-e8+ ®g8-f7 3 . Ad3-c4+ Ab7 -dS 4. Ac4xd5+ Od8xd5 5 . Oe8-f8+! ®f7-g6 6. Oe 1-e6+ e

Test solutions

Exercise 22

Savchenko,Boris Zabotin,Alexander Ulan Ude tt 2009 (6)

* *

. t:. . . m t:. _ . GI L _ J j

I J S rr J

J j . � . 19 . _ . _ B _ I C9 I I I I

K . rr . White has two tactical ways to handle this situation. He chose the most obvious option, which proved efficient enough: l .AfS !? Og8 Since 1 . . . exf5 would enable 2.0e8+ Oxe8 3.Axd6+ winning the queen. 2 .Axd6 Axf4 3 .Axf7! Axd3 4 . cxd3 Oc8 5 .©f4 ! a3 6 .Ad8+ ®e7 7 .0xe6+ Axe6 8.0xe6+ ®xd8 9 .©g5+ and mate next.

Nevertheless there was a more forceful method, deciding much more quickly:

1 . Oe5xh5! Ad5xf4

Or l . . .Axf4 2 .0xh8+ ®e7 3.Af5+ ®f6 4.©xg7+.

2. Oh5xh8+ ®f8-e7 3 . Ad4-f5+ ®e7-f6 4. ©g3-g5#

2 1 5


Exercise 23

Krasenkow,Michal Tregubov,Pavel Nancy 2009 (3)

J - . j

T M t J j

s . I I J

. B I J -_ Q _

R . f'

* *

J I

D �

K The black knight is naturally opting for the outpost eS from where it might join its ideally posted queen in front of the enemy king. Almost any bishop move would be sufficiently met by 2.f4. Any but one!

1 . Ae5-c3! !

This intermediate move escaped the attention of the experienced Russian grandmaster, who preferred a more standard move which gave White the desired tempo: l . . .Ad4?? 2 .f4 Af8 The knight seeks new horizons - to no avail. 3 .©f3 g6 4 .©g2 ©xg2+ 5.®xg2 f6 6.Af3 The danger has passed and White patiently converted his endgame edge.

2 . b2xc3 Ag6-e5

The threatened queen cannot retreat and at the same time cover both the f3- and g4-squares which are fatally threatened by the black knight.

2 1 6

Exercise 24

Prusikin,Michael Gauglitz, Gernod Germany 2009

. t .

. 19 K

J

* *

J

The German GM chose the logical route to the kingside. Though this looks pretty promising, in fact it leads nowhere : l .®c4? ®a6 2 .Ae5 A key point is that 2.®d5 is sufficiently met by 2 . . . 0e4! . 2 . . . ®xb6 3 .®d5 Oe8 4 .®d6 ®bS 5 .®d7 Oa8 6 .®e6 ®c4 7 .®xf5 ®d3 8.Ad4 Oa5+ 9 .Ae5 ®xe3 l O.®gS ®e4 l

The only road to success is with a paradoxical sacrifice on the best protected spot:

1 . e3-e4 ! ! f5xe4+

l . . .Oxe4 2.b7 Oe8 3.Aes e .

2 . ®d3-e3 3. f4-f5

®a5-a6

A decisive passer. The white king will soon join in while its counterpart is still stuck on the other side of the board.

Exercise 25 * *

Makropoulou,Marina Banikas ,Hristos Athens 2007 (1)

T L M t . s J .

- - - j J J J j

. Gt . N . 19

- · <9 · -1 B I

R R k For a fairly high price of three pawns White has gained a considerable initiative, mainly based on the open files for his rooks. Nevertheless Black needs just one move to castle and get away. Therefore, rather forceful action is called for:

1 . ©e3-b6! !

With this surprising, powerful jump all the way to the queenside, which was overlooked by the Greek WGM, White threatens to give mate in one as well as to capture the black bishop.

Test solutions

White, however, chose the modest l .c3?, somewhat naively hoping for l . . .AcS 2 . ©xcS ©xeS+ 3.AxcS AxeS 4.C>d8+. l . . .Ae7 2 .©f3 fS 3 .©hS+ ®d8 4 .Ad6 Of8 and despite White's strong initiative against the uncastled king Black eventually managed to defend successfully. The game was eventually drawn.

1 . 2 . 3 .

©b6xc6 Ae2 -h5! !

Ab4-e7 Oa8-b8

3.Axe7 ®xe7 4.Ad6 fS s.Axc8+ Ohxc8 6.©xd7+ ®f6 7 .Ad3 should be good enough, but the text is much stronger.

3 . ©e5xh5

Or 3 . . . 0-0 4.Axe7 ©xhS s.Axf8 Axf8 6.©c7 Oa8 7.AcS and Black is doomed.

4. Ah4xe7 ®e8xe7 5. Od lxd7+ Ac8xd7 6. ©c6-d6+ ®e7-d8 7. ©d6xb8+ e

2 1 7


Exercise 26 * *

Adhi ban,Baskaran Hansen,Eric Vung Tau jr 2008 (1 1)

J L . J

T M t _ S _ . j J

J J

D . Is> .

I i S � B 0

. rnl

I R k

In the actual game White neutralized the double threat by simply eliminating the knight and thus missed the light-squared bishop lying in ambush against the uncastled enemy king: l .Axc2? ©xc2 2 .©h5+ ©g6 3 .©xg6+ hxg6 4 .0ac l Ab8 5.0xc8+ Axc8 6.0cl Ad7 and a draw was agreed.

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .

Ofl-f2 ! ! ©dl-h5+ ©h5xg6+ Ablxg6#

2 1 8

Ac2xal g7-g6 h7xg6

Exercise 2 7

Kozul ,Zdenko Bologan,Viktor Sarajevo 2005 (8)

J . £

T

* *

� -. j M

- . J

. GJ I

I . � K

White actually noticed the threat to h3, but erroneously chose to give his king a flight square by moving his rook as far away as possible: l .Oal? Oxh3+ ! ! 2 .gxh3 ©xh3+ 3 .®gl ©g4+ 4 .®hl (4 .®f2 ©f3+ S .®gl Ae2+ 6.®h2 ©g3+ 7 .®hl ©h3+) , but had to call it a day after 4 . . . Ae2 i .

The only way to meet Black's deadly sacrificial threat is with a cold-blooded quiet move with the king:

1 . ®hl-h2! ! ©h4-f2

Now with the new threat of 3 . . . Af3+, however as so often the king acts as his own best defender.

2 . ®h2-h l !

And Black cannot do better than a draw by repeating moves with 2 . . . ©h4.

Exercise 28 * *

Akshayraj , Kore Le Quang,Liem Gaziantep Wch-jr 2008 (3)

J � . . - . J

J T I M

. � I i T K . � .

Impressed by his world-class opponent White is content with perpetual check. The game ended peacefully after 1 . Of7 + ® e 5 2 .0e7 + ®fS 3 .0f7 + ®eS 4 .0e7 +.

His chess education seemed to have drawn a psychological barrier that stopped him from 'weakening' his own king's position and, subsequently, cashing in the full point.

1 . b2-b4! a4xb3 2 . Oe7xe3 Oc2-c8 3 . g6-g7 Oc8-g8 4. Oe3-e7 ®f5-f6 5 . Oe7-e6+ ®f6-f7 6. Oe6xd6 ®f7-e7 7. a3-a4!

Winning.

Test solutions

Exercise 29 * *

Sasikiran ,Krishnan Leyva, Hector Dresden Olympiad 2008 (3)

. t . . � M L J J

. GJ . J t J

<qJ 1n1 B I �

k R The actual game continued : l . . .Oxc3+? 2 .©xc3 Oc8 3.Ac4 ©c6 4 .0hd 1 dxc4 5 .e4 Oa8 6.a3 This hasty action has won some material, but led to no more than equality and later even to Black's defeat.

1 . d5-d4!

The first intermediate move is actually paving the way for . . . a second one.

2 . e3xd4

And only now

2 . Oc5xc3+! 3 . ©a3xc3

after which the second intermediate move

3 . ©d6-d5!

after 4.0el enables 4 . . . 0c8 while preventing the defence s .Ac4.

2 1 9


Exercise 30

Sutovsky,Emil Kamsky, Gata

* *

Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad 2010 (10)

D t . t M _ . _ . _ J j J J . Is> s

I l _ l <qJ .

R f' k Black carelessly lost a pawn in the opening and gave away another one to create slight saving chances with regard to the weakened pawn structure in front of the white king. White's last move l .f4? was aimed at reinforcing the kingside with a rook on the third rank. That was a serious mistake as it gave the American top player his one and only chance . . . but he failed to notice it!

1 . Ae6-g5! !

The actual game continued: l . . .AcS? 2 .©c3 ! Ofe8 3.0xe8+ Oxe8 4.f3 Od8 5 .0d5 ©e6 6.©xc5 Oc8 7.©xc8+ ! A nice move but 7.0e5 is equally good. 7 . . . ©xc8 8.Ae7 and Black resigned.

2 . Oe l-e3 3. ®gl-fl 4. ©d2-d5 5 . ®fl-e l 6 . ®el-e2

220

©c8-g4+ Ag5-f3! Af3xh2+ ©g4-g l+ ©gl-g6 i

Exercise 3 1 * *

Pruijssers,Roeland Afek,Yochanan Hoogeveen 2008 (9)

T M _ . _ . _ J j J J 0 . I

R B J . £

i I . £ I R ls> . GI . k .

1 . ©b6-b7! !

Black failed to spot this move, which abandons a lovely diagonal for an even lovelier one! The queen is threatening a mate 'Rontgenwise ' and thus Black wins material.

After lengthy thought Black coneluded that his powerful battery would not yield more than a couple of discovered checks and agreed the draw after l . . .Ag4+ 2.®hl Af2+ 3.®gl Ah3+ 4 .®hl Af2+.

2 . ©elxf2

2.0g5 Ah3+.

2 . 3 . 4. 5 . 6 . 7.

©f2xh4 ®gl-f2 ®f2-g3 ®g3-h3 ®h3-g4

©b7xd5 ©d5-d l + Ad6-c5+ ©dl-e l+ ©el-hl+

7.®g3 Af2+. Now also White is soon mated after 7 . . . ©xg2+ 8.®f4 ©fl+ 9.®g4 f5+.

Exercise 32 * *

Levitt ,Jonathan Flear, Glenn Plymouth ch-GBR 1989 (5)

T M j J GJ . _ N j . s J J

. I

L J I t k Q _ . I B

f' . R l .b4 was played in the game, which was ultimately drawn.

White missed an original win:

1. Af1-d8! !

Threatening to give check on f8.

1. ®e8-d7

l . . .©e7 2.Axe6! ®d7 3.Ac5+ ®e8 4.©f5 e ; l . . .Oxd8 2.©f8+ ®d7 3.0f7 + ®c8 4.0xc7+ ®xc7 S .©xg7+ e ; l . . .©xd8 2.©f7+; l . . .®xd8 2.©f8+ ®d7 3.0f7 +.

Test solutions

2. Ad8xe6! ®d7xe6

T j J GJ . _ . j . s J M

i L J I t

k Q _ I I

f' 3 . ©f3-f5+

3.Ah3+ e

B R

3 . ®e6-e7

3 . . . ®d6 4.©e5+ ®d7 S.Of7 +.

4. ©f5-f1+ ®e7-d8 5 . ©f1-g8+!

S .©f8+ e .

5 . .. . ®d8-d7 6. Ofl-fl+ ®d7-d6 7. e4-e5+ ®d6-e6 8. Of1-f8+ ®e6-d7 9. ©g8-f7#

221


Exercise 33 * * *

Savchenko,Stanislav Krivonosov, Oleg USSR 1989

M . l9 .

J K . I

l . . .AeS?? was played in the game when after 2 .Axe5 ®dS

M ls> .

J K

3.®d3 ! (3.Ag7?? ®c4! and Black wins) 3 . . . a2? (3 . . . ®xe5 is a draw) 4.Ad4 a l © 5 .c4+ won for White. Black could have won with

1 . a3-a2 !

l . . .®d6 1 ; l . . .®dS 1 2 .c4+ ®e6; l . . .®d7 1 .

2 . c3-c4 3 . c4-c5+ 4. Af6-b2

222

®c6-d6 ®d6-e6 Ah2-e5 i

Exercise 34

Lasker,Edward Moll,Kurt Berlin 1904

* * *

_ . _ . _ J j

M - . J . -

J I

. I .

. k . White creates a passed pawn:

1 . f5-f6!

l .f4? , played in the game, failed to the simple l . . .f6 ! 2 .g5 ®d4 and Black won.

1 . 2 . f2-f4 3 . g4-g5 4 . f4xg5 5 . g5xh6

g7xf6 ®c4-d5 f6xg5 ®d5-e6 ®e6-f6

J . rn .

- . J . - . - .

. k . 6. ®cl-c2 e

The zugzwang forces Black to play the king, losing immediately.

Exercise 35 * * *

Arulaid,Alexander Gurgenidze,Bukhuti Lugansk 1956

. m

K

j . - . - . j

R

J

The game was adjourned here and White resigned without resuming. In fact, a draw would have been the normal result after

1 . ®e6-d6!

The idea is to harass Black's king with constant mating threats. The only escape is to the corner square a 1 , when White has another trick enabling him to stop the enemy pawns just in time.

1 . ®d8-c8

l . . .®e8 2.®e6 ®f8 3.®f6 i.

2. Ob 1-cl + ®c8-b7

2 . . . ®d8 3.0bl .

3 . Oc1-b 1 + 4 . ®d6-c6 5. ®c6-c5 6. ®c5-c4 7. ®c4-c3

. k . M

R

Test solutions

®b7-a6 ®a6-a5 ®a5-a4 ®a4-a3 ®a3-a2

J

j j

It seems that Black has escaped, but White has another point.

8. Ob1 -fl !

And White's pieces manage to capture the black pawns just in time.

8. 9. ®c3-d3 10. ®d3-e2 11. ®e2xf2 i

h7-h5 ®a2-a3 g3-g2

223


Exercise 36

Tukmakov,Vladimir Gutman,Lev Ashkhabad 1978 (3)

* * *

. £ R _ . _ . _ M j J T Gt . T

. _ . _ . _ Q _ . l9

I I R K

In the game, White could not win after UJd7+ Axd7 2 .©xd7+ ®g6 3 .©g4+ ®f7 4 .©d7+ ®g6 5 .©g4+ ®f7 6.©d7+ l .

The geometrical move

1 . Ae3-c5!

was winning, thanks to a mate threat on f8.

1 . Oh5xc5

l . . .g6 2.0d7+ Axd7 3.©xd7+ ®f6 4.Ae 7 + ®eS 5.0c5+.

Now the little pawn fork

2 . b2-b4

gives White a decisive advantage: 2 .b4 ©xb4 (2 . . . ©a4 3.0xc5 ; 2 . . . 0xc8 3.bxa5) 3.©xb4 Oxc8 4 . ©b7+ Oc7 5 . ©d5+ Oe6 6.®xh2.

224

Exercise 37 * * *

Orlov,Andrey Pantaleoni ,Claudio Porto Mannu Open 2007 (4)

T M . 1n1 D J

_ . _ L £ . j j . _ . <qJ . _ . . - . j J

B R I

k . 1 . ©xf6 was played in the game, maintaining a great advantage : l . . .Oxc7 2 .©xh6 Oxc2 3.Ah7+ ®h8 4 .Axc2+ ®g8 s .Ah7 + ®h8 6.Ad3+ ®g8 7.©g5+ ®h8 8.©xa5 8 . . . ©d6a. 8 . . . Ad5?? 9.©c5 ! 1 -0.

But the key to the position is

1 . Ac7xe6!

with the point that on

1 . Oc8xc2

the surprising

2 . Ad3-h7 + ! !

wins, allowing White to either checkmate on g 7 or fork the king and the queen on f8 , depending on how Black captures the bishop. See: A) 2 . . . Axh7 3.©g7#; B) 2 . . . ®h8 3. ©xf6+ ®xh7

4.©g7#; C) 2 . . . ®xh7 3.Af8+ ®g8

4 .Axd7 Axd7 s .©fS Oc l + 6.®h2 Af8 7.©xg4+ e .

Exercise 38

Turapov Serper, Grigory Uzbekistan rapid 1994

* * *

T M _ . _ . _ J j J

R J

- · - · - · <9 t I D I I

IT:' . K White missed a superb interception that leads to a quick win.

1. Oc6-e6!!

In the game l .f6? ! was played, when after l . . . g6 the position was unclear.

1 . Oe8xe6

The main idea lies in the variation l . . .fxe6 2.f6 g6 and now the 'invisible' 3.©c7! forces checkmate.

2 . f5xe6 f7xe6

2 . . . g6 3.©c3! e ; 2 . . . h6 3.©b8+ ®h7 4.exf7 e .

3 . 4 . 5 . 6 .

Oal-a8+ Oa8-a7+ ©g3-f4+ h2-h4!

®g8-f7 ®f7-f6 ®f6-g6

Weaving a mating net. The natural 6. © f7 + also wins. Now, after 6 . . . 0bl+ 7.®h2 ©hS, White wins with 8.©f7+ ®h6 9.©xg7#.

Test solutions

Exercise 39 * * *

Kreiman,Boris Kaidanov, Gregory Key West ch-USA 1994 (4)

J J J

D

T M J ' j j

. _ . <q) . _ I

• IT:' . K In the game, White had to be content with a draw after l .©c7 f6 2 .©xb7 ®f7. The winning move was a 'long' one:

1 . ©f4-b8! ©d5-d7

And the winning retreat is

2 . ©b8-d6!

again forcing the defence

2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 .

Oe l-d l ! ©d6-d8 ©d8xc8 Od l-d8

©d7-c8 f7-f6 ®g8-f7 Oe8xc8

winning the rook and the game.

225


Exercise 40

Gdanski ,J acek Kern pinski , Robert Gdansk ch-POL 1994 (8)

* * *

T £ L S t . rn ' j j

J j . IS> _ J GJ N j . <9 .

. _ . j · - · rr B

I i I . i I . k

After l .Axg7 +?, Black replied l . . .Axg7 with an unclear game that Black won in the end.

With the invisible move

1 . Ad5-f4 ! !

White could bring another attacking piece in front of the enenw king.

1 . Ac8-f5

l . . .gxh6 2.Ag6+ hxg6 (2 . . . ®g7 3.©xh6#) 3.©xh6#; l . . .exf4 2.©xc5; l . . .fxgS 2.Ag6+ hxg6 3.Axg5#.

2 . ©g5xf5 g7xh6 3. Oh4xh6

3.Ag6+ ®g7 4.0g4 e .

3 . .. . ©c5-c7 4 . Af4-g6+ ®h8-g7 5. Oh6xh7 + ®g7xh7 6. Ag6-e7 + ®h7-g7 7. ©f5-g6+ ®g7-h8 8. ©g6-h6#

226

Exercise 4 1

Malakhov, Vladimir Naer,Evgeny Moscow 2007 (7)

J

. rn . K

. I .

* * *

In the game, after l .®eS? ®cS l 2 .f3 (2.®f6 ®d4 3.f4 ®e4 i) 2 . . . ®c6 3.f4 (3.®f6 ®dS 4.®xf7 ®eS i) 3 . . . ®d7 4 .®f6 ®e8 5 .®g7 f5 ! Black waited for White to take the pawn, took the opposition with . . . ® f7, and drew.

White must keep the black king from counterattacking his pawn, and wait with pushing the f-pawn.

1 . ®e4-d4! ! ®b4-b5

1 ... ®b3 2.f4! ®c2 3.f5 ®d2 4.f6 ®e2 S.®eS ®f3 6.®d6 ®f4 7.®e7 e .

2 . ®d4-d5!

2 .®e5 ®cS i.

2 . ®b5-b6

Or 2 . . . ®b4 3.f4 ®c3 4.f5 ®d3 5.f6 and White wins. But now

3 . ®d5-d6!

wins, for instance 3 . . . ®b5 4.f4 ®c4 5.f5 ®d4 6.f6 ®e4 7.®e7 e .

Exercise 42 * * *

Magalashvili ,Davit Lajthajm ,Barko Kavala 2008 (8)

. m

. _ . <qJ . _ . _ J I k rr .

J Gt .

T Which way should the troubled king go? The less likely road is apparently the one to glory.

1 . ®e5-e6! !

Pieces on the same rank.

1 . Ohl -h6+7

l . . .©e3+ 2.©e5+ ©xeS+ 3.0xe5 Oh6+ (3 . . . c3 4.d6 c2 5.d7 e ) 4.®d7 c3 5.d6 c2 6.0c5 e .

2 . ®e6-f7! ©c3-g7+

The point! 2 . . . 0xd6 3.0h5+ mating.

3 . 4 . 5 . 6 .

Og5xg7 Og7-g5 ®f7-e6 d5-d6 e

Oh6xd6 Od6-d7+ Od7-d8

In the game White missed all this with l .®fS? ©d3+ 2 .®e6? A bit too late ; however it wasn't yet too late for rescuing half a point with 2 .®g4! ©dl+ 3 .®f5 i. Now White even lost after 2 . . . 0h6+.

Test solutions

Exercise 43 * * *

Muir,Andrew Ragger,Markus Heraklio Ech-tt 2007 (2)

. t . GJ M . t J J

Q _ J _ J _ . _ . I J I B

N rr 19 .

L i S N

I

R K The white king seems to be the obvious target here, but in the game it proved safe enough: l . . .©d4?? 2 .Ae2 hS 3.Ac3 3.h4 e . 3 ... Af2+ 4.®g2 h4 s .Axe4 h3+ G.®gl ©xe4 7.0xf2 Ob3 8.©c4?? 8.©c8+ ®e7 9.©c7+ ®f6 10.©xf7+! would have finished Black off. 8 . . . ©xc4 9.Axc4 Oxf3 0-1 .

The key to success lies in fighting the royal couple all over the board!

1. Ag4-f2+ 2. ®hl-g2

2.0xf2 ©dl+ 3.®g2 Axf2 4.Ae2 ©gl+ s.®h3 Af5+ 6.®h4 ©g2 7.©xc6+ ®f8 and the white king will soon be mated.

2 . Ob8-b6! !

Transferring the action to the other side of the board with perfect timing! Now the white queen is in trouble : 3.©a7 (or 3.©xa5) 3 . . . Axf3+ 4. ®xf3 Ob3+ and wins.

227


Exercise 44 * * *

Anand,Viswanathan Hammer,Jan Ludwig Kristiansund 2010 (9)

K S M J

_ . _ . J J . 19 . I I

The miserable knight is about to be trapped by the dominating king +

bishop tandem. Should Black try to find refuge

in liquidating to what looks like a lost pawn ending? Yes, he should!

1 . Ad7-f8!

Wrongly estimating the resulting pawn ending as hopeless, Black sought activity with the desperate pawn sacrifice l . . .fS? 2 .exf5 e4 3.®c6 Ae5+ 4 .®d5 Ad3 in the game. The knight proves active_ indeed - alas, much too late ! 5 .Ad2 Af2 6 .Axg5 Axh3 7.Ae3.

228

2. Ab4xf8 3 . ®b7-c6 4 . ®c6-c7

. k . m .

®f7xf8 ®f8-e7

J _ . _ . J J

I I

4. ®e7-e6!

Not 4 .. . ®e8? 5.®d6 ®f7 6.®d7 when Black, being driven to the edge of the board, will soon lose all his pawns.

5 . ®c7-d8 6. ®d8-e8 7. ®e8-e7 8. ®e7xf6 9. ®f6xg5 10 . h3-h4 1 1 . h4-h5 12 . h5-h6 13 . h6-h7 14. h7-h8©

Drawing comfortably.

®e6-d6! ®d6-c5 ®c5-d4 ®d4xe4 ®e4-f3 e5-e4 e4-e3 e3-e2 e2-e1 © ©e1-d2 +

Exercise 45 * * *

Marinkovic ,I van Abramovic,Bosko Belgrade 1991

. t:. D _ . j

T m J

. J IS> J J L J I I I

_ I fqJ R_ . _ .

B 1 .

R I I

K Ac6xg2+! !

Unrolling the red carpet for the queen's visit.

Instead Black played L.Oxd3 and lost: 2.Axd3 Od8 3.exf6 Ad4 4 .Ag7 + ®g8 5 .fxe7 ©xe7 6.Axd4 e

2 . Oe2xg2

t:. - . J

J J I I I

©b7-f3! !

T m J

J J IS>

_ I fqJ R _ D _ . R i

B K Almost a quiet move, threatening mate in two. 3.©el Oxd3 4.Axd3 ©xd3 1 ; 3.Ae3 Axe3 4.0xe3 Odl+ ; 3.0xf3 Odl+ followed by mate on gl . The best try 3.h3 also loses to 3 . . . ©fl+ 4.®h2 ©xbl 1 .

Test solutions

Exercise 46 * * *

Smerdon,David Mikhalevski , Victor Queenstown 2009 (4)

. m N R

J . £ .

I I j T _ . _ . _ .

K

1. . . . Ae5xd7 !

The actual game saw L.®g8? 2.Af6+ ®f8 3 .Ad7 +. Here it comes again - however the Israeli grandmaster misses this second opportunity as well, and a draw was agreed!

2 . Oh7xd7 3. Od7-a7 4. ®e2-d2

a3-a2 Ob3-h3!

The geometry of the chess board keeps the white king just one square short of either b2 or g2 !

4. 5 . Oa7xa2

And wins.

Oh3 -h l ! Oh l -h2+

This game fragment inspired one of your authors to compose the following endgame study which was dedicated to all participants of the 2010 edition of the Wijk aan Zee festival (see next page) .

229


46a

Afek, Yochanan The Problemist 2010

M T

. £ .

* * *

R

k

1 . Oh7-a7 + ®a4-b5 2. h6-h7 Ael-f3+ 3 . ®h2-g2!

Not 3.®hl? Ah4! ! (3 . . . 0dl+ 4.®g2 Ah4+ 5.®f2 Ag6 6.0g7 loses as in the main line) 4.0g7! (4.h8©? Oh3+ S.®gl Af3+ i ) 4 . . . Ag6! (4 . . . 0h3+ S.®gl ®c6 6.d7 ®c7 7.d8©+ ®xd8 8.h8©+) 5.d7 Ahs 6.0g8 Oxd7 7.0xh8 Ob7! 1 .

3 . Af3-h4+ 4. ®g2-f2 !

4.®fl? Ag6 5.0g7 ®c6! 6.0xg6 Oh3 7.d7 + ®xd7 8.0a6 0f3+! 9.®g2 Of8 1 .

230

4 . .. . Ah4-g6 5 . Oa7-g7 ®b5-c6!

s . . . Ah8 6.0g8 An 7.<5f8 Oxd6 8.0x(1 Oh6 9.®g3 e ; 5 . . . 0xd6 6.0xg6 e .

6. Og7xg6

6.d7? Ah8! 7.0g8 Oxd7 8.0xh8 Oc7! i .

6 . Od3-h3

M R

T k

And now for the thematic finale:

7. d6-d7 +! ! ®c6xd7 8. Og6-a6! ®d7-e7

9.®g2 is just a waste oftime.

9. Oa6-a8! Oh3xh7 10. Oa8-a7 + 1-0

Exercise 47 * * *

Kortchnoi,Viktor Vallejo Pons,Francisco Gibraltar 201 1 (10)

. 0 . m . J . t . � T

_ . J Q _ . R B

- . J

R K Black has just played . . . Oxb6?? and immediately noticed the disaster. 'I had to spend 25 minutes at the board because if you leave the board it is suspicious! ' Paco (Francisco) Vallejo Pons told afterwards. To the astonishment of everyone Kortchnoi, who had played an excellent tournament so far, continued: l .Oda l ?? 'The commentators groaned as this was played' , wrote John Saunders in CHESS ' . . . A tragic miss for Kortchnoi who possibly missed also the best game prize.' l . . .®f8 2 .Ad5 e2 3 .©f2 Ad4 4 .©xe2 AxdS 5 .0a8+ ®g7 6.©f3 ®h6 7.0 1 a7 ©f4

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 .

Oa4-a7! ! ©f5xe5+ Odl-d8+ Od8-g8+ ©e5-f4+

And mate follows.

©c7xa7 ®e7-f8 ®f8-g7 ®g7-h6

Test solutions

Exercise 48 * * * *

Sokolov,Andrey Vovk,Andrey Cappelle Ia Grande 2007 (8)

. t . . GJ J M

f' J J . j J R J

· - · <9 T I

K

1. Of5xh5+! !

White avoided this lengthy yet straightforward calculation and went for a more solid continuation: LOgS? Og8 2 .©f3 Oe l+ 3 .®h2 ®g7 4 .©xh5 ©xeS+ 5.0xe5 gxhS Correct was 6.0ef5! . 6.0ff5? ! OxeS 7.0xe5 Od8 8 .®g3 f6 ! and Black converted his edge in a subtle ending.

1 . 2 . 3 .

Of6-f5! ©g3-f4+

3 . . . ®g6 4.0f6+ e .

g6xh5 ®h7-h6 ®h6-g7

Now after 4.0g5+ ®h6 5. ©f3! Oel+ 6.®h2 ©xgS 7.hxg5+ ®g7 8.©f6+ ®g8 9.g6 fxg6 10.©xg6+ ®h8 l l .©xh5+ ®g7 12.©g4+ ®f7 13.©f3+ ®e8 14. ©xd5 White is about to collect all remaining black pawns and win comfortably.

23 1


Exercise 49

Cheparinov,lvan Gashimov, Vugar Sochi 2008 (1)

J

* * * *

M

J . rr D _ J - . j J

. � I .

<9 · k .

An unusual infiltration enabled Black to create a mating net:

1 . ©g6-b l +!

In the game 1 . . . ©xf6 was followed by a draw after 2 .gxf4 gxf4 3 .©e2 ©xh4 4 .©e6+ ®g7 5 .©d7+ ®g6 6 .©e8+ ®g7 7 .©d7 + ®g6 8.©e8+ ®g7 9 .©d7+.

2. ®gl-h2 Af4-h3!

This strange beast creates mating threats, from a highly exposed position.

3 . Of6-g6+

Or 3.f3 ©gl+ 4.®xh3 ©hl+ 5.©h2 g4+ 6.fxg4 hxg4+ 7.®xg4 ©xh2 1 ;

232

3.®g2 is not better in view of 3 . . . g4 1 ; 3. ®xh3 is the quickest solution: 3 . . . ©hl#.

3 . ®g8-h7

Or 3 . . . ®f7.

4. f2-f3

J M J R

_ J - . j J I

s <9 k

D

4. .. . ®h7xg6! 5. ©d2-e3 ©bl-c2+! 6 . ®h2xh3?

6.®hl is better, but Black will eventually win after 6 . . . ©c8!? 7.®g2 g4 1

6. g5-g4+!

Forcing checkmate.

7. f3xg4 8. ®h3xg4

h5xg4+ ©c2-f5#

Exercise 50 * * * * *

Bobras,Piotr Maranda, Wojciech Lublin 2008 ( 1 1)

. t . . m .

J . Gt J _ . £ . _ . _ Q . - . - . - . j

J k R

In the game l . . .©c7? led to a draw after 2 .©xh4+ Of6 3.©h7+ Of7 4 .©h4+ 0f6.

Black had a beautiful geometrical win:

1 . 2 . ®a1xa2

AcS -b3+! ©d6-f4 ! !

This move by the queen, eyeing both wings, is decisive.

3 . ®a2xb3 Of8-b8+

Starting the hunt.

4 . ®b3-a2

Test solutions

4.®c2 ©f2+ 5.0d2 Oc8+ 6.®d1 ©f1# .

4 . S . ®a2-b 1 6 . ®b1-a2

t . . m .

J J

©f4-a4+ ©a4-e4+

_ . _ . _ . _ Q D _ . j

K R

6. Ob8-bS !

The crucial move. From e4, the queen attacks while controlling any attempt by the opponent, while the rook is able to assist with tempo.

7. ©hS-f3 ObS-aS+ 8. ®a2-b3 ©e4-a4+ 9. ®b3-c3 OaS-eS+ 10. ®c3-d2 ©a4-c2+ 1 1 . ®d2-e1 OcS-eS+ 12 . ®e1-fl OeS-fS

0-1

233


Exercise 5 1

Vescovi ,Giovanni l 'Ami,Erwin

* * * * *

Wijk aan Zee 2006 (12)

L J m . . _ . <qJ . _ . _

J I K N

. t J

D The drawing move is logical, but to calculate the whole variation during a game is very difficult.

1 . ©d6-h6+

l .f5? ! was played in the game. A) There followed l . . .©xg4+?

2.®xg4 i hxg2

L J m . . _ . <qJ . _ . _

J I I

. t . K

J

3.f6+ 3.©h2! Axd5 (3 . . . 0e2 4.®f3 Od2 s .©g3+ 1 ) 4.f6+! ®g8 5.©b8+ ®h7 6.©h2+ i. 3 . . . ®g6 4 .©h2 Oe5 ! 0- 1 ; B) l . . .h2 2. ©h6+ ®g8 3. ©g5+

®f8 4.©h6+ ®e7 5.©xe3+ ®d7 6.®g5 ©xg4+! (6 . . . h l© 7.Af6+

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®d8 8. ©b6+ ®c8 9. ©c5+ ®b8 10.Ad7+ draw) 7.®xg4 hl© 1

1 . ®g7-g8 2 . ®h5-h4!

The crucial unpinning move, which forces Black to sacrifice the queen for the sake of promoting the pawn.

2 . ©dlxg4+

2 .. . ©el+ 3.®h5 ©e2 4.®h4 f5 is only a draw: 5 .©g6+ ®f8 6 .©d6+ ®f7 7.Ah6+ ®g7 (7 . . . ®e8 8.©b8+ is even winning for White: 8 . . . ®e7 9.©xb7+ ®e8 1 0.©c8+ ®e7 l l . ©c7+ ®e8 12 .d6 e ) 8.Axf5 ®f7 9.Ah6+.

3. ®h4xg4 h3xg2 4. ©h6-g5+ ®g8-f8 5 . ®g4-f5 ! Ab7xd5

5 . . . 0e2 6. ©h6+ ®e7 7. ©b6 Ac8+ 8.®g5 Oel 9.©c5+ ®d8 10 .©b6+ i.

6. ©g5-d8+ Oe3-e8 7. ©d8xd5! g2-gl ©

T m . J

_ J _ Q _ K _ .

. GJ . 8. ©d5xf7 +!! ®f8xf7

Stalemate.

Exercise 52

Howell,David Michiels ,Bart Antwerp 2009 (9)

T M D

L B J . � I

J

� o � 1 .

N k

* * * * *

. t J

J

I

©b7-b6!!

An astonishing illustration of a rare motif. Your opponent has just built up a deadly battery which is about to come into operation. It takes a lot of courage to ignore such a battery and what's more, to counter it by setting up your own effective battery! It's hard to blame Black, who acted instinctively and desperately to dismantle the white battery: l . . . Axe6?? 2 .0xe6+ ®f7 3.Ag5+ ®g7 4 .©d4+ ®h6 5.©e3! Many roads lead to Rome, yet setting up another battery is not only a thematic concept here but also the most effective. 5 . . . 0c2+ 6.®gl Oe2 7.Af7+ ®g7 8.©d4+ ®xf7 9 .0fl + ®g8

Test solutions

1 0. ©f6 Oxg2+ l l .®hl Oh2+ 1 2 .®xh2 ©b8+ 1 3 .d6 Axfl 1 4 .0e7 ©f8 1 5 .©e6+

2. ®f2-g3

Or 2. ©d4 Ad3+ 3.®g3 ©xd4 4.Axc8+ Axel S .Oxe l+ ®d8 6 .Axd4 ®xc8 7 .0al Ab7 8 .0xa3 Axd5 9 .0xa5 Od8 1 0.0c5+ ®b7 and the position is still tenable.

Black's idea was obviously the surprising cross-checkmate 2.Axc8+ Ae4# !

2 . ©b6-d6+ 3 . ®g3-h3

T M t J

L GJ B J J � I

I

J N K

� o � 3 . Ac5-d3! ! 4. Ae6xc8+ ®e8-d8

with a very sharp, double-edged position.

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Exercise 53

Kagan,Shimon Partos,Charles Biel 1977 (7)

T

* * * * *

S . m . � . GJ . _ J _

j J

K . � . It's trivial, of course, but we wanted to conclude our book with a smile.

The main difficulty here is that it's so hard to believe something like the following can really happen. Twice Israeli champion IM

236

Shimon Kagan described the incident as follows:

1 . Oglxg6+ ??

' Realising the disaster at once, I sat at the board motionless. My rival , a Swiss IM , with twenty minutes for three moves to reach the time control, contemplated the position for three minutes , finally playing . . .'

1 . ©d6xg6?? 2 . ©b6xb7+ ®g7-h6 3 . ©b7xc8 ©g6-f6 4. a2-a4 ®h6-g5 5 . ©c8-c5+ ®g5-h4 6. ©c5xa5 ©f6-f3 7. ®b l-b2 1-0

Apparently there are no boundaries to the invisibility of chess moves . . .

Explanation of Symbols

0 •

! ! ? ?? ! ? ? ! ® © 0 A A

White to move Black to move Good move Excellent move B ad move Blunder Interesting move Dubious move King Queen Rook Bishop Knight

The chess board with its coordinates :

8 T � L <ai M I S t 7 " j " j " j " j j j j j 6 5 4 3

2 I I I I I I I I I rr N t9 0 k B �n� R

a b c d e f g h

237

Invisi ble Chess Moves

Index of Players Numbers refer to pages

A Brinck Claussen 90 Gauglitz 216 Abkin 64 Bronstein 9, 133 Gavrikov 1 1 8 Abramian 142 Brunella 29 Gdanski 226 Abramovic 229 Buslaev 140 Gelbmann 36 Acs 36 Byrne 1 59 Gelfand 12 , 155 , 1 57, Adams 53 206, 2 1 1 Adhiban 218 c Geller 188 Afek 17-18 , 79, 220, 230 Capablanca 1 52, 1 54 Georgiev 2 12 Akopian 1 16, 205 Carlsen 85, 87, 1 20, 1 68, Gershkowich 209 Akshayraj 219 1 76 Gheorghiu 124 Alekhine 1 14 , 1 80 Caruana 82 Gipslis 88 Alexeev 1 22 Cassidy 1 28 Golubev 84 Anand 1 57 , 228 Cebalo 2 1 1 Gomes Filho 37 Anderssen 1 84 Charbonneau 81 Grant 44 Andersson 38, 1 20 Chekhov 209 Grischuk 206 Antunes 58 Cheparinov 232 Grab 1 1 0 Aronian 132 Camp Deep Fritz 1 0 9 Gufeld 188 Arulaid 223 Camp Deep Thought 32 Gurgenidze 223

Czarnota 210 Gutman 173, 224 B Gvetadze 92

Baburin 1 00 D Gyimesi 36 Bacrot 58, 146 De Ia Garza 1 76 Bagirov 46 Dolmatov 68 H Bakre 1 77 Dominguez Perez 1 2 1 Hammer 228 Banikas 217 Dreev 93-94 Hansen 218 Banusz 28 Harikrishna 70 Bareev 1 1 E Hartston 57 Bartolovich 64 Efimenko 52 Hennings 108 Beckmann 34 Eidinger 1 02 Hoolt 92 Beliavsky 50 Eliskases 97 Howell 235 Benjamin 16 Epishin 1 19 Hubner 94 Berczes 28 Euwe 1 14 , 1 80 Hussein 81 Bernard 1 78 BJorn 17 F I Bobras 233 Filguth 1 76 lllescas Cordoba 104 Bogdanov 84 Flear 53, 221 llyin Zhenevsky 142 Bohm 1 23 Flohr 1 10 lnarkiev 144, 177 Bologan 96, 218 Foguelman 2 1 5 lvanchuk 72, 106, 174, Bopp 133 Fridman 214 2 1 1 Borisenko 210 Fridstein 60 Bradford 1 59 J Braun 212 G Jadoul 135 Brih 1 50 Gashimov 58, 232 Janssen 48

238

Index of Players

Jesse! 100 Ledger 130 N Johansson 97 Lehmann 27 Naer 226

Leko 1 1 , 23, 1 20, 1 76 Naiditsch 72 K Lemmers 1 69 Nakamura 207

Kagan 236 Lerner 13 Nataf 79 Kaidanov 225 Levenfish 208 Neto 37 Kamsky 125 , 205, 220 Levi tina 57 Nimzowitsch 1 86 Karjakin 89, 206 Levitt 83, 221 NN 30 Karpov 58, 9 1 , 1 1 5, 1 27, Leyva 219 Novikov 52

182 Lima 206 Kasimdzhanov 77 Luther 1 06 0 Kasparov 91 , 1 1 3, 1 1 9, Lutikov 60 Oiafsson 2 1 5

1 58, 161 , 182, 190 Oriov 224 Kavutskiy 29 M Kempinski 226 Magalashvili 227 p Kennard 130 Makropoulou 217 Pahtz 42 Khaunin 214 Malakhov 226 Pantaleoni 224 Kholmov 46 Male tin 54 Partos 236 Kogan 79 Malisauskas 29 Penrose 57 Kononenko 56, 205 Mamedyarov 85, 87, Perez 213 Kornev 177 1 26 Pesch 94 Kortchnoi 36, 74, 88, 1 23, Marinello 57 Petros ian 9

167, 214, 231 Marinkovic 229 Pirrot 75 Kosteniuk 89 Maroczy 24 Plater 97 Kozul 218 Marrero Lopez 213 Polgar 1 1 5 , 1 27 Kramnik 9, 23, 1 1 3, 1 26, Martens 92 Polugaevsky 55

1 29, 1 63, 1 65 , 167-168, McNab 29 Porreca 133 190 McShane 1 69 Prins 27

Krasenkow 25, 216 Mekheniev 210 Pruijssers 220 Krasilnikov 34 Melia 92 Prusikin 216 Kreiman 225 Meshkov 54 Pucher 1 50 Krivonosov 222 Mestel 38 Krush 214 Michiels 235 Q Kryvoruchko 97 Mikhalevski 229 Qendro 39 Kupreichik 68 Miles 32 Kurajica 213 Milov 96 R

Miroshnichenko 130 Rabinovich 134 L Moen 144 Radjabov 1 22

!'Ami 234 Mogranzini 82 Ragger 227 Lajthajm 227 Mohr 66 Ramini 133 Landenbergue 1 0 Moll 222 Ravikumar 175 Lapiken 62 Maranda 233 Relange 146 Lasker, Edward 222 Morozevich 86, 104, 132, Reshevsky 62 Lautier 155 , 158 137 , 1 68 Ribli 2 10 Lazic 127 Morphy 1 84 Romanishin 213 Le Quang 219 Movsesian 86 Rami 24 Lechtynsky 136 Muir 227 Rooze 135

239

Invisi ble Chess Moves

Rossetto 31 Sutovsky 220 Van Wely 124 , 2 12 Rowson 86 Svidler 34, 72 Velimirovic 120, 2 1 1 Rrhioua 1 78 Szmetan 207 Vescovi 234

Vitolins 173 s T Volokitin 70, 1 1 9

Sadler 94 Taimanov 55 Vovk 231 Sakaev 93 Tal 30, 90, 208 Vyzhmanavin 13 Saric 29, 78 Tarrasch 1 86 Sasikiran 219 Tartakower 208 w Savchenko, Boris 2 1 5 Thomas 1 52 Waffenschmidt 102 Savchenko, Stanislav 222 Thomassen 97 Wahls 207 Schneider 208 Timman 37, 1 16, 131 Wang Hao 170 Seirawan 1 74 Tischbierek 84 , 207 Wang,Philip Xiao 29 Serper 225 Tiviakov 1 25 Winter 1 54 Shaw 39 Topalov 77, 1 29, 1 63, Wirthensohn 124 Shereshevsky 140 1 65 , 1 68 Wahl 44 Sherwin 31 Tregubov 216 Shirov 1 2, 34, 98, 1 16, Tseitlin 209 y

1 2 1 , 1 67 Tsuboi 134 Yakovenko 78, 98 Short 37, 1 3 1 , 161 Tukmakov 224 Ye Rongguang 124 Siebrecht 2 12 Turapov 225 Yermo Iinsky 86, 1 1 9 Sitnikov 1 77 Yusupov 74, 75 , 1 1 8, Smeets 50 u 127 Smerdon 229 Uhlmann 1 08 Sokolov,Andrey 1 2 1 , 231 Ulko 209 z Sokolov,lvan 48 Zabotin 2 1 5 Speelman 83, 1 2 1 v Zamarbide lbarrea 56 Spoelman 25 Vachier-Lagrave 137 , 1 70 Zawadzka 42 Srinivas 175 Vallejo Pons 231 Zhao 205 Strating 54 Van den Berg 97 Zubarev 136 Stripunsky 16 Van der Schilden 54 Zube 66 Sumets 84 Van der Stricht 1 67 Ziiger 1 0

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Invisible Chess Moves - Emmanuel Neiman, Yochanan Afek

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