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Gambit Publications continues to produce the best chess books that we have seen in decades. One of the best of this lot is Igor Stohl's Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces. Here is a collection of 80 games from the period 1993-2000, all played by top GMs and all analyzed in a rigorous but instructive style. Each game features enough opening discussion to aid your understanding. And each game includes sufficient analysis to amplify your understanding of the game.
At the end of each chapter is a summary, explaining in simple terms many of the lessons to be gleaned from the game.
Here are all of the games that appear in the book, a marvelous collection by itself, and here is my analysis of one of them, a nice game by Kasparov in an unusual line of the French Winawer.
1.e4 e6 The French Defense 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Not 3.exd5? exd5 releasing the Bc8 to develop easily on f5 3...Bb4 The Winawer. The threat is dxe4 because the Nc3 is pinned 4.e5 So whie fixes the central pawn structure. Th result is that the Bc8 is "bad", trapped by its own pawns fixed on light squares. 4...c5 Attacked white's pawn chain at the base on d4 5.a3 Putting the question to black's good bishop. 5...Bxc3+ The alternatives 5...Ba4 and 5...cxd4 do not work well in practice 6.bxc3 Ne7 Usually with the idea of responding to Qg4xg7 with Rg8. The Ne7 hopes to develop later at f5 7.Qg4 Now that the dark squares are weakened (following the trade of Black's Bf8), white challenges the g7 pawn. 7...Kf8 More common is Qc7 or 0-0. Black defends g7 directly but how now to develop the Rh8? 8.h4 A typical manoeuver in the French, aiming for both h5 and Rh3-g3 or Rh3-f3 8...Qc7 The threat is cdx4 and Qc3+ winning the Ra1 9.Qd1 The queen has accomplished its task, weakening the black kingside and now returns to defend. Qd1 actually sacrifices the d4 pawn after cxd4 cxd4 Qc3+ Bd2, but white gets a huge lead in development in compensation. 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qc3+ 11.Bd2 [11.Qd2 Qxa1] 11...Qxd4 12.Nf3 White has sacrificed a pawn, but black's development is clearly lacking and the queen must move again. 12...Qe4+ 13.Be2 b6 Probably best, with the idea of trading off the light-squared bishops with Ba6. Two months later, Nikolic reached the same position against Kasparov and tried Nbc6 with the following disastrous result. [13...Nbc6 14.h5 Nxe5 15.h6 gxh6 16.Bxh6+ Kg8 17.Rb1 N7g6 18.Rb4 Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Qe5 20.f4 Qc3+ 21.Kf1 f5 22.Rb3 Qf6 23.c4 b6 24.cxd5 Bb7 25.Rd3 Re8 26.Rg1 b5 27.dxe6 Rxe6 28.Rd8+ Kf7 29.Rd7+ Re7 30.Rxb7 1-0 Kasparov,G-Nikolic,P/Paris 1994/CBM 43 ext (30)] 14.0-0 Ba6 15.c4 15.Bxa6 Nxa6 16.Re1 permits Qc4. INstead, white moves to blow open the middle of the board. 15...Nbc6 [15...dxc4 16.Ng5 Qb7 17.Bb4 (17.Bh5 g6 18.Ne4 Qxe4 19.Bf3 Qxh4 20.Bxa8 c3) 17...Nbc6 18.Bh5! g6 19.Qf3 Nxe5 20.Qf6+-] 16.Ng5 Qxe5 [16...Qxh4 17.cxd5 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 exd5 when it's not clear how to proceed, though Garry obviouslyhad something in mind... perhaps f4 and Rac1] 17.Re1 Threatening Bh5 17...Qf6 Taking the queen off the line of fire on the e-file. 18.Bh5 g6 Forced, though every pawn move creates weaknesses, here the dark squares on f6 and especially h6 19.cxd5 exd5 [19...gxh5 20.dxc6 Nxc6 21.Re3] 20.Bg4 h6 Diagram
The early 1980s also witnessed the emergence of a crop of talented British players, Miles, Short, Nunn, and Speelman. Speelman's rating reached the top 5 in the world, no easy feat, the product of hard work, a complex style, and a continuing willinginess to complicate.
In 1997, Speelman produced a fine book of his best games. It includes a number of games from his youth, as well as later contests against the finest players in the world. The book is very well annotated and, for our benefit, includes the time used on most moves. Its very instructive not only to see great chess, but also to observe the time budgeted for each move. In so many games, young players blitz through the whole game while masters know that there's simply no way to recover from an early inaccuracy.
Here are all of the games in Speelman's book, and here is one from 1982. I'm happy to say that it involves a queensac.
And here are some additional games from that line in the Albin Counter Gambit.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 The Albin Counter-Gambit. Black offers a pawn to weaken the white pawn structure. 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 Be6 6.Nbd2 Aiming for Nb3xd4 6...Qd7 7.a3 Nge7 A similar plan with Ng6 8.Nb3 Ng6 Obvious moves, but consuming considerable time 9.Nbxd4 0-0-0 After a 33 minute think. White has used 42 minutes. Black 58. 10.Be3 Ngxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bg2 [12.b3 Ng4] 12...Bxc4 13.Qc2 Bc5 14.Nf5 Bxe2 Both sides have used 1:45. Just 45 minutes left to get to move 40 15.Bxc5 [15.Qxe2 Nd3+ 16.Kf1 Qxf5; 15.Kxe2 Qb5+ 16.Ke1 Nd3+-/+] 15...Ba6 [15...Nd3+ 16.Kxe2 Qxf5 17.Rhc1 Nxc1+ 18.Rxc1 Rhe8+ 19.Be3 Qxc2+ 20.Rxc2+/-] 16.Nd6+ Kb8 17.0-0-0 cxd6 18.Bxd6+ Diagram
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bogojno was home to several world class, super-GM events. 1982 was no exception, save that Garry Kasparov emerged to dominate the field. He won the event by a clear point and a half, but more, he demonstrated a world calss ability to complicate and calculate. I offer all of the games from that event, the crosstable, as well the following game, an illustration of his emergent capabilities.
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 The King's Indian Defense 4.e4 Black makes no effort to prevent this move, preferring to counter-attack the center with ...d6 and ...e5 4...d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3 e5 7.d5 The battle lines are drawn. White will usually attack on the queenside; black will usually seek counter-play with ...f5 7...Na6 8.Be3 Nh5 Making way for f7-f5; in many lines, the knight moves to f4 9.Nh2 idea Be2 9...Qe8 10.Be2 Nf4 11.Bf3 Guarding g2, aiming to trap the Nf4 11...f5 12.h4 [12.g3 Nxh3] 12...Qe7 13.g3 Diagram
In 1972, Church's Fried Chicken sponsored an international chess tournament in San Antonio. Petrosian, Karpov, Keres, Larsen, Portisch, Gligorich, Hort, and Mecking took on many of North America's best, Browne, Suttles, D. Byrne, Evans, Saidy, Campos-Lopez, and Kaplan.
The surprise entry was Chess Digest's Ken Smith, a national master, a local favorite, and, of course, the namesake and chief exponent of the Smith-Morra Gambit. 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3
Smith tried the gambit three times in San Antonio, losing all three times. In his notes to Smith's game against Mario-Campus-Lopez after 1.e4 e6, Larsen wrote: "Stronger is 1...c5, which wins a pawn."
Here are all of the games in the 1972 San Antonio international, and here is the crosstable.
One key legacy of that event was the instructive way that Larry Evans defeated the Smith Morra Gambit. IM Tim Taylor took that game and turned it into a neat 1993 monograph: How to Defeat the Smith Morra Gambit with 6...a6
Here are all of the games in that book, and here are all of the games that have since tried that line.
In 1995, I tried it too. I end with that game in which white, Rick Melton, tried a recommendation from the last game in Taylor's book.
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 a6 This is the focus on Taylor's book. Black refrains from playing the normal e7-e6, and is ready to respond to Qe2 with Bc8-g4 and to Bf4 with e7-e5. 7.Bg5 A move mentioned only briefly by Taylor in the last game in the book. 7...Nf6 [7...h6?? 8.Qb3!+- hxg5 9.Bxf7+ Kd7 10.Bxg8] 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.0-0 e6 Black remains up a pawn, and the extra pawn is on d6. 10.Nd4 Bd7 11.Nxc6 bxc6 A Hedgehog player's delight. Black has all possible white pawn advances under observation. 12.Qe2 Two attacks on the isolated a-pawn. 12...Qa5 Defending the a6-pawn but ready to transfer to the g- and h-files. 13.Rfd1 h5 With the center under observation, black aims to weaken the white kingside with Qg5 and Rg8 14.Qf3 Qg5 15.Rac1 Diagram
Anatoly Karpov gained the World Championship title in 1975 by default when Fischer refused to agree to terms for a match. In 1978, Kaprov retained (defended?) his title in a thrilling 6-5 win over Kortchnoi. In 1981, Kortchnoi was back, but Karpov defended his World Championship by easily defeating him with 6 wins, 2 losses, and 10 draws.
Perhaps the most interesting event of 1981 was the super-GM Moscow tournament featuring Karpov, Kasparov, Symslov, and Polugaevsky. Karpov finished a clear first 1 1/2 points ahead of the field to confirm his position as the strongest player of the day. Here are the games from the Moscow tournament and here is the crosstable.
But Polugaevsky stole a bit of the show with this fine win over Torre.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 The Queen's Gambit 2...c6 The Slav Defense 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 Black has erected a solid defense, over-protecting the d-pawn but notable for the bad queen's bishop 5.Bg5 dxc4 Grabbing the pawn but ceding the center 6.e4 Threatening Bxc4 and e4-e5 6...b5 Defending the c4-pawn. 7.e5 h6 The only way to defend the Nf6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 Not really a sac, since the Nf6 will fall. 9...hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 Threatening the capture on f6 by covering the c6-pawn. [11...Nxf6? 12.Qf3 Bg7 13.Qxc6+] 12.g3 Setting the stage for the complications that follow. The g3-pawn will support h4 and f4 12...c5 Threatening Bxh1 13.d5 Nb6 Four attacks on the d5-pawn 14.dxe6 Sacrificing the Rh1, but white gets considerable compensation. 14...Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 Bxh1 16.e7 a6 Diagram
I introduced Ukrainian Grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky and his book, Uncompromising Chess in yesterday's BLOG. He became World Junior champion in 1973 and often won the USSR championship. He may be best known as Kasparov's trainer in the early 1990s.
The book contains 70 wonderful games that live up to the book's title, and many insights into the hard work required to sustain grandmaster strength.
Here are all of the games in the book, and here is another example of uncompromising chess:
1.e4 e6 The French Defense 2.d4 Taking the center 2...d5 The immediate Frech counter in the center 3.Nc3 Avoiding 3.exd5 exd5 freeing Black's Bc8 from its prison. 3...Bb4 The Winawer variation. Black's threat is dxe4 4.e5 sealing the central pawn structure. 4...c5 Attacking the white pawn chain at its d4-base. 5.a3 Putting the question tothe Bb4 now that its retreat has been blocked. 5...Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 White has doubled c-pawns but in compensation, a strong central pawn chain and the two bishops. 6...Ne7 The main line, preparing a response to Qg4 7.Qg4 Attacking the g7-pawn now that the Bf8 has left the board. 7...Qc7 Yes indeed, the main line of the French Defense is a gambit! [7...0-0 8.Bd3 (8.Bh6 Nf5!) 8...c4? 9.Bh6] 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 Up two pawns, but only for a moment. 9...cxd4 With two threats, Qxc3+ and Qxe5+ 10.Ne2 Covering both threats (...Qxe5 Bf4!) 10...Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 Black has recovered his material, but white usually regains a material edge with 12.Qd3 12.h4!? Bd7 13.Rh3 Novelty The idea is to recover the c3-pawn with Rh1-h3, but the idea is successfully met and never again repeated. [13.h5 0-0-0 14.Qd3 Nf5 (14...d4 15.h6 Rg6 16.h7 Rh8 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Nf5 19.Qxa7 Qc6 20.Be3 Qe4 21.Rh3 Rh6 22.0-0-0 Rxh3 23.Bb6 Qxf4+ 24.Kb1 Qa4 25.Qxa4 Bxa4 26.gxh3 Bc6 27.Rd8+ 1-0 Carleton,J-Sowray,P/London 1978/MCD (27)) 15.Rb1 d4 16.Rg1 Nh6 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Bb5 19.Qxa7 Bxf1 20.Rxf1 Rxg2 21.Rf3 Qc6 22.Qa8+ Kc7 23.Rxb7+ 1-0 Anderson,J-Player,E/Scarborough 2001/CBM 83 ext (23)] 13...0-0-0 14.Rxc3 Nf5 Cutting off the retreat of the Qh7 15.Qh5 Diagram
Careful readers will note that while Kasparov's game was highlighted yesterday, it was Alexander Belyavsky who won at Tilburg in 1981. Among the leading grandmasters for more than 20 years, Belyiavsky had a particularly good 1981. At the 49th USSR championship, it was Kasparov and Psakhis sharing first place, but Belyavsky had the great attack in the following game. I note in passing that he annotates the game carefully in his wonderful 1998 book, Uncompromising Chess
Here are the games from the 49th USSR championship, here is the crosstable, and here is the game of the day.
1.e4 c5 The Sicilian Defense 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 A very flexible approach by black. 6.Bg5 is the Rauser. 6.Bc4 is the Sozin 6.Bg5 The more positional approach, featuuring quick and effective development and the choice of f2-f3 or f2-f4 6...Bd7 ...e7-e6 is more common. Black prefers quick queenside mobilization and avois the weakening of the d6-pawn. 7.Qd2 Avoiding Bxf6 which doubles the black f-pawns but cedes the two bishops and gives black good dark-square mobility later in the game. 7...Rc8 Black prefers quick counterplay on the queenside to safeguarding his king. 8.0-0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Qa5 10.f4 With the idea of e4-e5 10...e6 11.e5 [11.Kb1 Qc5!] 11...dxe5 12.fxe5 Bc6 [12...Rxc3!? 13.Bd2! (13.bxc3 Bc5 and black with 0-0 with a powerful mating attack) 13...Qxa2 14.Bxc3 g6 15.Kd2 Bc5 16.Qc4 (16.Qxc5 Ne4+) 16...Qxc4 17.Bxc4 Ne4+ 18.Ke2 Nxc3+ 19.bxc3 Bc6 with compensation for the exchange sacrifice.] 13.Bb5 [13.Bxf6?! gxf6 14.Ne4 Rd8! (14...fxe5 15.Nf6+ Ke7 16.Qh4+/-) 15.Nxf6+ Ke7 16.Qh4 Rxd1+ 17.Kxd1 Kd8; 13.exf6 Qxg5+] 13...Nd5 14.Nxd5 Bxb5 15.Nc3 [15.Qxa7 Bb4! (15...Ba6 16.Qb6 Qxb6 17.Nxb6 Rb8 18.c4 h6 19.Be3 Bxc4 20.Nxc4 Rc8 21.b3 b5 22.Kb2 bxc4 23.Rc1 c3+ 24.Rxc3 Ba3+ 25.Kc2 Ke7 26.Bd4 f6 27.Rb1 Bb4 28.Rxc8 Rxc8+ 29.Kd3 f5 30.Rb2 Kd7 31.a4 g5 32.Rc2 Rxc2 33.Kxc2 Kc6 34.Bc3 Bc5 35.Kd3 Kd5 36.a5 Bg1 37.h3 Kc5 38.Bd2 Kb5 39.g4 f4 40.Ke4 Bc5 41.h4 Bf8 42.Be1 Bc5 43.Bd2 Bf8 44.b4 Ka6 45.Kd3 Kb5 46.h5 Be7 47.Be1 Bf8 48.Kc2 Be7 49.Kb3 Bf8 50.Bf2 Be7 51.Bg1 Bf8 52.Bd4 Be7 53.Bc3 Bf8 54.Be1 Be7 55.Bf2 Bf8 56.Bd4 Be7 57.Bg1 Bf8 58.Bf2 Be7 59.Bd4 Bf8 60.Bc3 Be7 61.Kc2 Bf8 62.Kd3 Be7 1/2-1/2 Salmensuu,O-Csom,I/Budapest 1999/CBM 69 ext (62)) 16.Qxa5 Bxa5 17.Ne3 (17.b4 exd5 18.bxa5 Bc4 19.Kb2 (19.a3 Kd7 20.Rhe1 Ke6 21.Kb2 Ra8 22.Bd2 Rhc8 23.Bb4 Bb5 24.Rd4 Rc4 25.Rxc4 Bxc4 26.Kc3 Rc8 27.Kd2 1/2-1/2 Yudasin,L-Dolmatov,S/Sverdlovsk 1984/MCL (27)) 19...Kd7 20.Bd2 Be2 21.Rde1 Bh5 22.Re3 Bg6 23.Rc1 Rc7 24.Rb3 Rhc8 25.Bc3 Be4 26.g3 Ke6 27.Rd1 Rc4 28.Rb6+ Kf5 29.Rb3 d4 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Bxd4 Rxc2+ 32.Ka3 Rxh2 33.e6 fxe6 34.Bxg7 Rg2 35.Re3 Bd5 36.Be5 Rxa2+ 37.Kb4 h5 38.Bd6 Kg4 39.Be5 Bc6 40.Bc7 Ra4+ 41.Kc5 Bd5 42.Kd6 Rc4 43.Bb8 Rc6+ 44.Kd7 Rc2 45.Bc7 Kf5 46.Re5+ Kg6 47.Kc8 Rc3 48.Kb8 Rb3 49.Kc8 Ra3 50.Kd7 Rf3 51.Kc8 Rf8+ 52.Kd7 Rh8 53.Bd8 Bc6+ 54.Kc7 Rh7+ 55.Kb6 Bd5 56.Bg5 Kf7 57.a6 bxa6 58.Kxa6 Rh8 59.Kb5 Rc8 60.Bf4 Bf3 61.Rc5 Rd8 62.Kc4 Rd1 63.Re5 Kf6 64.Kc3 Bg4 65.Rg5 Be2 66.Ra5 Bf3 67.Bg5+ Kg6 68.Bd2 Bd5 69.Ra7 Rg1 70.Bf4 Kf5 71.Rg7 Ke4 72.Rg5 Rh1 73.Re5+ Kf3 74.Re3+ Kg4 75.Bd6 Rd1 76.Re5 Rg1 77.Kd4 Rd1+ 78.Kc3 Rf1 79.Kd4 Rf2 80.Kc5 Rd2 81.Bb8 Rd1 82.Bc7 Ra1 83.Kd6 Ra7 84.Kd7 Bb3 85.Kd8 Ra6 86.Ke7 Ra7 87.Kd8 Ba2 88.Bd6 Ra8+ 89.Ke7 Ra6 1/2-1/2 Hort,V-Panno,O/Palma de Mallorca 1970/IZT (89)) 17...Rc5 18.Bf4 Bc7 (18...0-0 19.a3 Bc7 20.b4 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Rhe1 f5 23.c4 Ba4 24.Nc2 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Rc8 26.c5 b6 27.Rxe6 bxc5 28.bxc5 Rxc5 29.Re2 Kf7 30.Kb2 g5 31.Nd4 h6 32.g3 Bd7 33.Kb3 Kf6 34.Kb4 Rc1 35.a4 Rb1+ 36.Kc5 Ra1 37.Nb5 Rxa4 38.Nc3 Ra3 39.Nd5+ Kg6 40.Re7 Bc8 41.Kd6 Ra6+ 42.Ke5 Ra2 43.Kd6 Rd2 44.h4 f4 45.gxf4 gxh4 46.Rc7 Bg4 47.Ke5 Rb2 48.Kd4 h3 49.Rc6+ Kg7 50.Rc7+ Kf8 51.Ne3 h2 52.Rc1 Bf3 53.Rc8+ Kf7 54.Rc7+ Ke8 55.Rc8+ Kd7 56.Rc1 h1Q 57.Rxh1 Bxh1 0-1 Zezulkin,J-Groszpeter,A/Norresundby 1992/EXT 2000 (57)) 19.Rhe1 Bxe5 20.Bxe5 Rxe5 21.c4 Bd7 22.b4 Re4 23.b5 f5 24.Kb2 Ke7 25.Rd4 Ra8 26.Kb3 Be8 27.Rxe4 fxe4 28.Rd1 Kf6 29.a4 Ke5 30.c5 Bh5 31.Nc4+ Kf4 32.Rf1+ Kg5 33.Re1 Kf4 34.Kb4 e5 35.a5 Bg4 36.g3+ 1-0 Zaichik,G-Groszpeter,A/Katerini 1992/CBM 32 ext (36); 15.Rhf1 Bc5 16.Qf4 Rf8 17.Nc3 h6 18.Bf6 gxf6 19.exf6 Bxf1 20.Qxf1 Be3+ 21.Kb1 Rxc3 22.bxc3 Qb6+ 23.Ka1 Qc6 24.Qd3 Bb6 25.c4 Rg8 26.Qh7 Qxg2 27.Qd3 Qc6 28.Qh7 Bd4+ 29.Rxd4 Rg1+ 30.Kb2 Qb6+ 31.Kc3 Qa5+ 32.Kd3 Rd1+ 33.Ke3 Qg5+ 34.Rf4 Rf1 35.Qe4 Re1+ 0-1 Cordovil,J-Bilek,I/Praia da Rocha 1969/EXT 2001 (35); 15.Qg4 h5 16.Qh3 Bc6 17.Qc3 Qxd5 18.Rxd5 exd5 19.Qd4 b6 20.Qd3 Bc5 21.Rf1 Bd7 22.Qxd5 Be6 23.Qf3 a5 24.b3 a4 25.Rd1 0-0 26.h3 b5 27.g4 axb3 28.axb3 h4 29.Bxh4 Bb4 30.Be1 Be7 31.Kb1 b4 32.Qb7 Rfe8 33.Qe4 Rb8 34.Bf2 Rb5 35.Qc6 1-0 Korkina,S-Ivanov,T/Vladivostok 1994/CBM 43 ext (35)] 15...Bc6 [15...Bc5! 16.Qg4 Bb4 17.Nxb5 (17.Nd5 Rc4 18.Nf4 0-0 19.Bh6 g6 20.Bxf8 Bxf8 21.Qg5 Qxa2 22.Rd8 Rxf4 23.Rhd1 Rf1 24.Rxf1 Qa1+ 25.Kd2 Qxf1 26.Qe7 Qxg2+ 27.Kc3 Qh3+ 28.Kb4 Qh4+ 0-1 Wagman,S-Ceschia,I/Reggio Emilia 1982/EXT 2002 (28)) 17...Qxb5 18.Qe4 0-0 19.Rd4 a5 20.h4 Rc5 21.Bf4 Rfc8 22.Rhd1 Rxc2+ 23.Qxc2 Rxc2+ 24.Kxc2 h6 25.g3 a4 26.a3 Bc5 27.R4d3 Qc4+ 28.Kb1 Qe4 29.Ka1 h5 30.R3d2 b5 31.Rd3 Kh7 32.R3d2 Kg6 33.Rd8 b4 34.axb4 Qxb4 35.R1d3 Qe4 36.Ka2 Qe2 37.Kb1 Bb6 38.R8d6 Qe1+ 39.Ka2 Qb4 40.Rd7 Qc4+ 41.Ka1 Bc5 42.Rc3 Qb5 43.Rd1 Qe2 44.Rcd3 a3 45.R1d2 Qe1+ 46.Ka2 axb2 47.Rxb2 Qe4 48.Rbb3 Bd4 49.Kb1 Kf5 50.Kc2 Bxe5 51.Bxe5 Kxe5 52.Kd2 Qg2+ 53.Ke1 Kf5 54.Rf3+ Kg6 55.Rbe3 e5 56.Rf2 Qc6 57.Rfe2 f6 58.Kf2 Kf5 59.Re1 Qc5 60.Kf3 Qd4 61.Kg2 e4 62.R3e2 Ke5 63.Re3 f5 64.R1e2 Kf6 65.Re1 g5 66.hxg5+ Kxg5 67.Kh3 Qd7 68.R3e2 f4+ 69.Kh2 f3 0-1 Dolmatov,S-Yudasin,L/Frunze 1981/URS-ch (69)] 16.Rhf1 Bb4 [16...h6 17.Bh4 Qc7 18.Qg4 g5 19.Bf2 h5 20.Qg3 b5 1/2-1/2 Ksieski,Z-Bielczyk,J/Zielona Gora 1982/MCD (20)] 17.Ne4 N 17...Bd5 BLack has the two bishops and the makings of a nice attack. Beliavsky surprises us with a sudden attack. [17...0-0 18.Nf6+ Kh8 (18...gxf6 19.Bxf6+-) 19.Qh4+-] 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.exd6 f6 Diagram
Many of you may have noticed that I have archived many of the BLOG pieces in appropriate places on the web site. For example, I've added openings, endgames and tactical themes to the Great Game Archive, and I have expanded my coverage of featured books," a page that accumulates many books with online games.
To continue to kill two birds with a single stone, I will begin to augment the tournament archive itself right here. The archive of tournment games currently goes through 1980. Here's are the games from the Tilburg tournament of 1981 in which a young Gary Kasparov only achieved an even score. Here's the crosstable. But the following game from that event makes clear that this young man had World Championship abilities.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 Ne4 6.Nxe4 Bxe4 7.Nd2 Bg6 8.g3 Nc6 9.e3 a6 10.b4 b5 11.cxb5 axb5 12.Bb2 Na7 Kasparov is a formidable opponent. Black judges his position safe and embarks upon a slow reorganization with c7-c6 and Nf8-b6 or Nf8-e7. Kasparov is quick to react. 13.h4 Threatening to trap the Bg6 13...h6 making luft on h7 14.d5 A pawn sacrifice to open lines for the Qd1 and the Bb2 14...exd5 15.Bg2 c6 Black's up a pawn, but check out the Na7 and Ra8. Even the Bf8 cannot move with consequences for the Rh8. It's chess magic. 16.0-0 f6 To try to activate the kingside by blocking the long diagonal, but every pawn move creates a weakness, here on e6 and especially g6. 17.Re1 To support e3-e4. 17...Be7 18.Qg4 Taking aim on the new kingside weaknesses. If the Bg6 moves, white will play Qxg7 18...Kf7 19.h5 Forcing the Bg6 back to its newly created sanctuary on h7, but the black king is horribly exposed. 19...Bh7 20.e4 Opening lines for the attack. White will have five pieces moving in for the kill. Black can only defend with four 20...dxe4 21.Bxe4 The exchange of the light-squared bishops will permit the white queen to take the g6-entry square. 21...Bxe4 22.Nxe4 Nc8 Trying to rush in another defender. 23.Rad1 Two attacks upon the backward d-pawn. 23...Ra7 Diagram
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It is said that not all great players make good teachers. Undoubtedly true also about journalists. J.H. Donner is the exception. From 1955 onwards, Donner produced a chess column for the saturday edition of De Tijd. A collection of these writings appears in a wonderful 1997 publication, The King. It is expensive, and it's worth it! More wit than chess, but always with care.
I offer all of the games covered in the book, and, for those who have struggled with chess, I offer some hope. Here are two games from the book. One involves a significant blunder sure to make you smile. The other is the sort of oversight that is sure to resonate with all who have struggled with king and pawn endgames.
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.d4 d6 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Be3 Nd7 10.Qc1 Nd4 11.Rd1 e5 12.Bh6 Qa5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Kh1 Rb8 15.Nd2 a6 16.e3 Ne6 17.a4 h5 18.h4 f5 19.Nd5 Kh7 20.b3 Rf7 21.Nf3 Qd8 22.Qc3 Qh8 23.e4 fxe4 24.Nd2 Qg7 25.Nxe4 Diagram
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qf3 h6 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.Be2 Qc7 10.Qg3 b5 11.f4 b4 12.Na4 Nc5 13.e5 dxe5 14.Nxc5 exd4 15.Bxd4 Bxc5 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 17.Qxg7 Ke7 18.Qxh8 Bb7 19.Qxh6 Bxg2 20.Qg5 Qxg5 21.fxg5 Bxh1 22.gxf6+ Kxf6 23.Kd2 Be4 24.Bd3 Bxd3 25.cxd3 Rh8 26.Rf1+ Ke7 27.Rf2 Rh3 28.Kc2 a5 29.Rd2 Kd6 30.Kb3 Kc5 31.Ka4 Kb6 32.d4 Rh4 33.b3 Rh3 34.d5 exd5 35.Rxd5 Rxh2 36.Rb5+ Kc6 37.Rxa5 Rxa2+ 38.Kxb4 Rxa5 39.Kxa5 Diagram
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Yugoslav Grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric wrote a regular column for Chess Life magazine. The column, "The Game of the Month" was a keeper. He surveyed important new games, often theoretical contributions in great detail. For years, he was my main source of chess information. In 1970, he turned many of those columns into a wonderful book, Selected Chess Masterpieces. It's hard to find today but worthy of any chess book collection.
He has a long and acclaimed chess career and, his new book I Play Against Pieces does not disappoint. Here are 130 games against the world's toughest competition, including Botvinnik, Tal, Smyslov, Fischer, Petrosian, Keres, and Korthnoi. The title itself reflects Gligorich's approach, an objective evaluation of every position and strategies based upon meaningful criteria. Of special interest is the fact that he has clustered games by their opening, more easily to identify his style over time and to aid readers who especially want to see games in their favorite lines.
Here are the games in the book, and here is one that may be of some interest, an old and somewhat forgotten line in the French Defense
1.e4 e6 The French Defense 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 The Winawer variation 4.e5 Holding on to the pawn and fixing the central pawn structure, Note Black's characteristic bad light-squared bishop 4...c5 Attacking the central pawn chain at its base. 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 Most common, usually with the aim of defending the g7-pawn with Rg8 7.Qg4 Nf5 Note the year. Not often seen today, and this game may be the reason why. 8.Bd3 Threateniong Bxf5 and Qxg7 8...h5 9.Qf4 Qh4 Hoping for a favorable endgame. 10.Ne2! The threat is 11.Bxf5 Qxf4 12.Nxf4 exf5 and 13.Nxd5 10...Qxf4 11.Nxf4 Ne7 ...g6 would further weaken the dark squares on the kingside 12.Be2 The second attack on the h-pawn. ...g6 defends, but weakens the dark-squares, so... 12...h4 13.Nh5! Kf8 14.Bg5 cxd4 [14...Nbc6] 15.cxd4 b6 with the usual aimof trading off the weak Bc8 on a6 16.g4 [16.Bxh4? Nf5 17.Bg5 Nxd4] 16...hxg3 17.fxg3 Ba6 18.g4 Bxe2 19.Kxe2 Nbc6 20.c3 Diagram
Fred Wilson of WilsonBooks has helped bring forward a new algebraic edition of Michael Stean's Simple Chess. The book provides an readable introduction to chess strategy and planning. The book reveals many of the secrets of modern master play, the slow accumulation of small advantages, holding back on the attack until the conclusion is all but certain.
Here are all of the games in the book, and here is one of the examples. It's Botvinnik as the author of a strategic masterpiece, so straight-forward as to appear almost, well, simple. I also provide a collection of games that use the same pawn structure found in that game. That way, you can try to apply what you learn here to a large collection of games.
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 In many of these pawn formations (pawns on c6 and d5), Black's light squared bishop is bad, so why not just trade it off? 4.d3 Nd7 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 White now has the "two-bishops." Is that enough to win? It is, if you are Botvinnik. 6...e5 7.Nd2 Guarding e4. 7...Ngf6 8.e4 dxe4 9.dxe4 Bc5 10.0-0 Qe7 11.c3 A key move, watching the d4-square. Certainly not c2-c4, blocking out the light squared bishop and proving black with the d4-entry square. 11...0-0 12.b4 Bb6 13.a4 Rfd8 14.Qc2 Rac8 Diagram
When I teach, I stress the ideas of two of the greatest players. I stress Capablanca, because he had the unique ability to know exactly where his pieces belonged. And I stress Nimzovitch, because his concepts, if not his play, provide a way of thinking about the game that is very instructive.
Aron Nimzovitch's My System is widely recognized as a classic of chess literature. Part one covers the "elements" of chess, part two reviews Positional Play, and part three provides 50 illustrative games. The modern edition (edited by Lou Hays) provides algebraic notation and more readable English.
If you sincerely want to improve, I wholeheartedly recommend that you study parts two and three. To make your job a bit easier, I provide all of the games in part and one of the illustrative game below.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 [3.Nc3] 3...c5 4.Qg4 An innovation by Nimzovitch, but not best. 4. c3 4...cxd4 5.Nf3 over-protecting e5 5...Nc6 6.Bd3 The queen, developed perhaps too early, restrains the development of the black kingside. 6...f5 7.Qg3 Nge7 8.0-0 Ng6 9.h4 Black is untangleing, but this move (with the threat of h5) prevents normal devekopment with Be7 and 0-0. 9...Qc7 10.Re1 Over-protecting e5, confident that the space advantage offered by the e5-pawn will permit him to recover the pawn he ascrificed earlier. 10...Bd7 Not impressive. Bc5 was needed to complete development before the h5-Ne7 move pair. [10...Bc5] 11.a3 0-0-0 12.b4 [12.h5 Nge7 13.Ng5 Re8 14.Nf7 Rg8 15.Nd6+] 12...a6 13.h5 Nge7 14.Bd2 h6 15.a4 g5 16.b5 f4 17.Qg4 Having secured e5, white is in full command 17...Nb8 18.c3 [18.Nxd4 also wins easily] 18...Re8 [18...dxc3 19.Rc1] 19.cxd4 Rc1 is coming 19...Kd8 20.Rc1 Qb6 The black king cannot move... alll white needs is check 21.a5 Qa7 22.b6 Qa8 Add a bad queen to black's woes 23.Rc7 Brutal. 23...Nf5 24.Nc3 Be7 Diagram
Timman won in the final round to tie Dreev for first. I'll try to provide additional coverage of those games in the days and weeks ahead. In the aftermath of the Reykjavik open is the Reykjavik Rapid. This speed tourney starts today and runs through March 21. Players include Garry Kasparov, Nigel Short, Anatoly Karpov, Alexey Dreev, Johann Hjartarson, Hannes Stefansson, and Margeir Petursson.
Two interesting items for today's blog. They have in common double attacks, although in a subtle way. The first is a composition of Reti's (yes, another on the same theme as we covered here a month or so ago). This is not quite as pretty as his classic K+P composition, but it may still surprise a few of you. The key is gaining time to catch the passed pawn. And finally, a nice game of Alekhine's with one of the finest moves ever to grace a chessboard. In the diagram, it looks as if black has a vicious double attack. But, as I tell my students, sometimes the best response to a threat (or even a double threat) is a bigger threat!
Diagram
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 White has sacrificed a pawn for quick development and command over the center. 4...Nc6 5.Bc4 d6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Ng5 Ne5 9.Bb5 c6 10.f4 cxb5 [10...Neg4 11.h3 cxb5 12.hxg4 b4~~] 11.fxe5 dxe5 [11...Ng4 12.e6! fxe6 13.Nxb5 a6 14.Nd4 e5 15.Nde6] 12.Be3 Bd6 13.Nxb5 0-0 14.Rd1 Ne8 15.0-0 [15.Nxd6 Nxd6 16.0-0 h6 17.Rxf7 Nxf7 18.Rxd7 Bxd7 19.Nxf7 Rxf7 20.Qxb7 Rd8 21.h3 Bxh3 22.Qa6 Bd7 23.Qa5 Rb8 24.b4 Bc6 25.a3 Re8 26.b5 Bxe4 27.Bxa7 Re6 28.Be3 Rg6 29.Qd2 Rf3 30.b6 0-1 Milla de Marco,C-Mitkov,N/Burgas 1998/EXT 2002 (30)] 15...Qe7 [15...h6 16.Nxf7 Rxf7 17.Nxd6 Nxd6 18.Rxd6 Qxd6 19.Qxf7+ Kh7 20.Qd5 Qg6 21.Rf3 a5 22.Qxe5 Be6 23.Bd4 Rg8 24.a3 a4 25.Rg3 Qf7 26.h4 Bc4 27.h5 Be2 28.Qf5+ Qxf5 29.exf5 Bxh5 30.f6 gxf6 31.Rxg8 1/2-1/2 Lehtivaara,R-Ojanen,K/Helsinki 1990/EXT 2000 (31)] 16.Nxd6 Nxd6 17.Qa3 [17.Rxd6 Qxd6 18.Rxf7 Be6 19.Rxf8+ Qxf8 20.Qxe6+ Kh8 21.Nf7+ Kg8 22.Nxe5+ Kh8 23.Nf7+ Kg8 24.Nd6+ Kh8 25.Bd4 1-0 Casa,A-Belkadi,R/Lugano 1968/MCD (25); 17.Qd5 Rd8 18.h3 Be6 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Qxe5 Nc4 21.Qg5 Qxg5 22.Bxg5 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Nxb2 24.Rb1 Na4 1/2-1/2 Kerr,S-Janetschek,K/Siegen 1970/EXT 2002 (24)] 17...Rd8 18.Nxf7 [18.Rxf7] 18...Bg4 19.Rxd6 Re8 20.Bg5 Qc7 21.Qb3 [21.Nh6+ Kh8 (21...gxh6 22.Qb3+ Kh8 23.Bf6++-) ] 21...Be2 22.Nxe5+ Kh8 23.Rc1 Rf8 Diagram
As an aspiring young player, I heard much about "light-squares" and "dark-squares" but I'm sure that I did not understand. So lets take a BLOG-day and look at an important theme.
Most players are aware of the simple mate with a white pawn on f6 and a white Qh6-g7#. Change the f6-pawn to a Bf6 and the result is the same. Place the same checkmate within a black pawn structure with pawns on f6,g7, and h6 and you can immediately see that white has dominated the dark-squares on the black kingside. Here are two dozen games that involve this theme. All involve a Q(x)h6 sacrifice that succeeds in most (but not all) of the games. I hope that you play through at least the following two games if not all of the games in this small collection. You may find that your chess improves as a result. You'll certainly begin to see the connection between some fun chess concepts, dominating the center with e4-e5, forcing black to weaken te kingside with g7-g6, and taking advantage of the dark-square weaknesses that result.
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 The pawn on e5 is key to what follows. By forcing the Nf6 from its defense of the kingside, white gains space and the opportunity to force further kingside weaknesses. 4...Nd5 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d6 8.cxd4 To make sure that a white pawn remains on e5 8...Nc6 9.Qe2 overprotecting e5 9...dxe5 10.dxe5 It is becoming clear that black has a bad light-squared bishop and that white has an obvious space advantage in the center 10...Bb4+ 11.Nc3 Nd5 12.Bd2 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Be7 14.0-0 0-0 Sure seems safe to 0-0 kingside, right? 15.Rfd1 Threatening discovered attacks down the d-file 15...Qc7 16.Qe4 b6 Diagram
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.e5 Same theme. Establish the pawn on e5 6...Nd5 7.Bd2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Ba5 9.Qg4 Weaken the kingside 9...0-0 10.Bd3 Qc7 11.0-0 Nc6 12.Nxc6 dxc6 13.Qe4 Force the advance of a kingside pawn 13...g6 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.Bh6 dominate the subsequent dark-square weaknesses 15...Re8 16.Qf4 Bxc3 17.Bg5 Qb4 18.Be4 Avoid exchanges 18...Qa5 19.Bf6 Bb4 Diagram
Opening books today are much better than the tomes I studied as a young learner. In my day, there were lines to memorize, but how to place all that material into context? Many of us got great positions out of the opening but had no idea whatever how to continue.
Today, the emphasis is on complete games. Advantages gained out of the opening are more likely as a result to become wins on the scoresheet.
Gary Lane's book on the Vienna Game is an excellent example of the new genre. More than 70 games illustrate the opening's main principles and demonstrate what to do once you're doing well. And what a comfort to see that the line has been played by leading stars like Nigel Short, Michael Adams, and Boris Spassky.
I play many of these lines myself with aslightly different move order... I adore the Bishop's opening... here's one of my efforts.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 The idea is ...d5 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bd6 Defending e5 6.Nc3 Beginning to pressure the black center 6...Be6 7.Bg5 Qa5 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Re1 Diagram
England's first grandmaster, Tony Miles (1955-2001), was also one of England's most charismatic players. He died all too young, but thanks in part to a book, It's only me compiled by Geoff Lawton, he will be long remembered. Here are the games in the book.
There was the famous Tilburg tourney of 1985 with Miles, in pain, lying flat upon a message chair during his games. But my favorite memory as a fan comes from Skara in 1980. Imagine taking on the reigning World Champion with the St. George's Defense!
1.e4 Expecting a Dragon, perhaps. 1...a6 Excuse me. Against Karpov? 2.d4 b5 Miles has succeeded in avoiding Karpov's well known preparation. Miles writes: "By this time, the spectators' laughing was becomiong embarrassing." 3.Nf3 Bb7 "It's only 1...b6 with a bit more space really." 4.Bd3 Surely white is very fine after Qe2, c3, Nd2-f1, etc. 4...Nf6 5.Qe2 e6 6.a4 Placing tremendous pressure upon the advanced b-pawn, though c3 is an obvious alternative. 6...c5 Threatening c5-c4 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Nbd2 [8.axb5 axb5 9.Rxa8 Bxa8 when the pressure on the white e-pawn holds the b-pawn 10.e5 Ng4 11.Bxb5 Bxf2+] 8...b4 9.e5 Nd5 10.Ne4 threatening Nxc5 and, in many lines, Nd6 10...Be7 11.0-0 Nc6 A very sicilian-like position has emerged. Miles dares not ...0-0, but he has generated some pressure on the queenside thanks to the advanced Nd5 outpost 12.Bd2 Qc7 13.c4 bxc3 14.Nxc3 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 White retains an obviousadvantage thanks to the e5-stronghold. The white rooks will soon be placed on c1 and d1 15...Nb4 16.Bxb4 Better, I think, to blunt the power of the Bb7 with Be4 16...Bxb4 White's advantage remains pronounced, but black now has the two bishops in an open board. 17.Rac1 Qb6 18.Be4 Perhaps Rfd1 or Ng5. 18...0-0 Having exchanged two minor pieces, Miles is comfortable enough to castle. Perhaps reacting to the demands of the audience, Karpov presses ahead 19.Ng5 h6 20.Bh7+ Kh8 21.Bb1 Be7 [21...hxg5 22.Qh5+ Kg8 23.Qh7#] 22.Ne4 Rac8 23.Qd3?! Diagram
On our Message Board, One of our newbies offered their first win, a nice five move checkmate made easy by an opponent who insisted only in moving pawns at the start of the game.
I offered some annotations there, and it was clear that, even in a short game well outside the scope of chess opening theory, there are some useful lessons. Capture the center. Develop your pieces. And, also, don't castle into an attack.
Rather than repeat that game, I offer a more classic example from 1858, a product of a Paul Morphy simulateneous exhibition. Enjoy
1.e4 Occupying the center. The threat is 2.d4 1...h6 The first of many mistakes. This pawn move makes no effort to counter white's threat or to challenge white's control in the center 2.d4 Carrying out the threat. 2...a5 Ugly. Morphy will now have complete control over the middle of the board. 3.Bd3 3.Nc3 was also fine, but Bd3 is highly flexible, retaining the possibility of both c4 and f4 3...b6 Lot's of pawn moves, but no organized resistance. Perhaps the idea is Ba6 to trade off the bishops. 4.Ne2 4.f4 and Nf3 are also playable. Morphy, already smelling blood, aims for f4. 4...e6 That's four straight pawn moves. All of black's pieces remain "in the box." 5.0-0 Ba6 We teach "knights before bishops" because we usually know where the knights are going. This is a comital decision and is easily parried. 6.c4 With a huge lead in useful development and impressive central control, Morphy avoids exchanges, holding onto the strong Bd3 in support of f4-f5 6...Nf6 Finally moving a knight, but oblivious to white's control over the center. 7.e5 Very strong, opening up the Bd3 towards black's kingside 7...Nh7 A humorous picture, taking advantage of black's first move. Obviously 7...Ng4 merets h3 trapping the knight 8.f4 Or Qc2 forcing another pawn move (g7-g6) 8...Be7 [8...d5 9.cxd5 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 exd5 11.f5] 9.Ng3 Preparing f4-f5 rather than playing it. 9...d5 10.Qg4 Threatening the g7-pawn. Note the poor coordination of black's kingside. g6 or even Bf8 are now needed. 10...0-0 Diagram
Jan Timman is likely to be remembered as one of the strongest players, with Keres, Bronstein, and Kortchnoi, never to become World Chess Champion. His fighting style has yielded victories at many top tournaments in the 1970s and 1980s. His selected games includes 80 of his best games since 1983, including fine wins at Linares, Wijk aan Zee, and Tilburg. Here are all 80 of the games in the book.
I honor Timman today in no small part because he shares the lead in Reykjavik with four wins and a single loss to Dreev. I've fallen a bit behind in my Reykjavik coverage, so please allow for two games of the day, Timman's wins in rounds one and two.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 The Advanced variation of the French Defense. 3...c5 Attacking the white pawn chain at its weakest point. If dxc5, both white pawns become weak 4.c3 So white reinforces the chain. 4...Nc6 Attempting to pressure the d4-pawn. 5.Nf3 Bd7 Unusual. Qb6 is more common, placing even more pressure upon d4 6.Be2 Nge7 or ...f6 to try to blow open the center. 7.Na3 or 0-0 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 threatening Bxa3 9.Nc2 Qb6 10.0-0 a5 11.b3 [11.g4 Nfe7 12.Nh4 Ng6 13.Ng2 Be7 14.f4 0-0 15.Be3~~] 11...Rc8 12.Bb2 over protecting d4 [12.Bf4 Nb4 13.Nce1 Bb5 14.Rc1 Rxc1 15.Bxb5+ Qxb5 16.Qxc1 Nc6 17.g4 Nfe7 18.Be3 h5 19.h3 hxg4 20.hxg4 Ng6 21.Qc2 Kd7 22.Nd3 Rh3 23.a4 Qa6 24.Nfe1 Nh4 25.Qe2 Bb4 26.Nc2 Be7 27.Rc1 Ng6 28.Kg2 Qxd3 29.Qxd3 Nf4+ 30.Bxf4 Rxd3 31.Rb1 Nxd4 32.Nxd4 Rxd4 33.Kg3 Rd3+ 34.f3 g5 35.Bc1 Rd1 36.Ra1 Bc5 37.Bb2 Rxa1 38.Bxa1 Be3 39.Kg2 Kc6 40.Bc3 b6 41.Kf1 d4 42.Ke2 dxc3 43.Kxe3 Kd5 44.Kd3 Kxe5 45.Kxc3 Kd5 0-1 Afek,Y-Gulko,B/Lugano 1988/EXT 97 (45)] 12...Nb4 13.Nxb4 axb4 14.Re1 Bb5 Trying to exchange off the bad light-squared bishop, but black's backward development is showing. [14...Be7 15.Bd3] 15.Rc1 Rxc1 [15...Rc6] 16.Qxc1 With a dangerous entry square on c8 16...Be7 17.g4 Nh6 18.Qc8+ Bd8 19.h3 Bc6 20.Qb8 0-0 threatening Bc7 trapping the queen 21.Qd6 Re8 22.Qc5 Qxc5 23.dxc5 Black's pieces are poorly placed. Bc6 and Nh6 are particularly bad. 23...Be7 Diagram
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 A very flexible move order. Black can play kan-like formations with a6 and Qc7, but Timman has something else in mind. 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 Nge7 Unusual. Over-protecting the Nc6 in order to play d6 and Bd7 7.Nb3 d6 8.Bg2 Bd7 Very solid, with many options for further development... g6 and Bg7; Qc7 and Rc8; 9.0-0 Nc8 Unusual and most interesting. Overprotecting the d6-pawn, and making way for b5 and Nb6; or Be7, 0-0 and Na5 10.a4 Inhibiting b7 and Nb6 10...Be7 11.Qe2 0-0 12.Be3 In 1984, Timman faced this system with white against Romanishin 12...Na5 [12...Qc7 13.f4 Bf6 (13...Nb4 14.Qf2 Rb8 15.Nd4 Nc6 16.f5 Bf6 17.g4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 b5 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rf2 b4 22.Nd1 e5 23.Qd2 f6 24.g5 Bc6 25.gxf6 gxf6 26.Qh6 Ne7 27.Bf3 Kh8 28.Ne3 Ng8 29.Qh4 Qb6 30.Re1 Rb7 31.Kh1 Rg7 32.b3 Qc5 33.Rg2 1/2-1/2 Tiviakov,S-Romanishin,O/Istanbul 2003/CBM 96 (33)) 14.Rfd1 Rb8 15.a5 Rd8 16.Na4 N6e7 17.c3 e5 18.f5 b5 19.Nb6 h6 20.h4 b4 21.c4 Be8 22.Qf2 h5 23.Qf3 Nxb6 24.Bxb6 Rxb6 25.axb6 Qxb6+ 26.Qf2 Qc7 27.c5 Bb5 28.Rac1 Nc6 29.cxd6 Rxd6 30.Rd5 Qd8 31.Qd2 Nd4 32.Nxd4 Rxd5 33.exd5 exd4 34.Qxb4 d3 35.Bf3 Be5 36.Kg2 Qf6 37.Bxh5 Qxf5 38.Qg4 Qf6 39.Rf1 Qh6 40.Bxf7+ 1-0 Timman,J-Romanishin,O/Sarajevo 1984/MCD (40)] 13.Nxa5 Qxa5 14.Qd2 [14.Bd4 Bc6 15.Qg4 g6 16.Rad1 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rfe1 b4 19.Nb1 e5 20.Be3 Qc7 21.Bh6 Re8 22.c4 Nb6 23.Nd2 Na4 24.Rb1 Nc5 25.Nf1 Qb7 26.Qe2 b3 27.f3 Ra4 28.Ne3 Ne6 29.Qd3 Nd4 30.Rec1 Qa6 31.Kh1 Bd8 32.Qd2 Bd7 33.f4 Qa5 34.Qd3 Be6 35.Nd5 Bxd5 36.cxd5 Bf6 37.Qf1 exf4 38.Qxf4 Be5 39.Qg4 Nc2 40.Rf1 Qa7 41.Qf3 Qb7 42.Bh3 Nd4 43.Qd3 Bg7 44.Bxg7 Kxg7 45.Rf2 Re7 46.Rbf1 Qb4 47.Bg2 Raa7 48.Rd1 Nc2 49.Rff1 Kg8 50.Rc1 Rab7 51.Rfd1 Re5 52.Qf3 Ree7 53.Qf6 h6 54.Rd3 Ra7 55.h4 h5 56.Kh2 Re8 57.Rc3 Rb7 58.Rf1 Qd4 59.Qf3 Qe5 60.Qf2 Ree7 61.Rd1 Rbc7 62.Rxc7 Rxc7 63.Qb6 Qxb2 64.Qxc7 Ne3 65.Rg1 1/2-1/2 Subasic,I-Zapata,A/Zenica 1986/EXT 97 (65); 14.Rfd1 Bf6 15.Rd3 Bc6 16.f4 g6 17.Qf2 Bg7 18.g4 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.g5 Qc7 21.Rad1 Bxg2 22.Qxg2 d5 23.Ne2 Qxc2 24.Nd4 Qxg2+ 25.Kxg2 Re8 26.Rc1 Nd6 27.Rc7 Nc4 28.Bg1 Rab8 29.b3 Nd6 30.Rdc3 Rbd8 31.Rc2 e5 32.fxe5 Rxe5 33.Nf3 Re4 34.Rd2 Rg4+ 35.Kf1 Ne4 36.Rd3 Nxg5 37.Nxg5 Rxg5 38.Rxb7 d4 39.b4 Rg6 40.b5 axb5 41.Rxb5 f4 42.Rf5 Rg4 43.Bf2 Rc8 44.Rd1 Rc4 45.a5 Ra4 46.h3 Rg6 1/2-1/2 Kindermann,S-Pekarek,A/Prague 1988/CBM 08 (46)] 14...Qc7 No advantage here at all for white. 15.Ne2 Bf6 One of the advantages of the Nc8 is activity for Black's dark-squared bishop which no longer needs to defend the d6-pawn 16.c3 Rd8 17.f4 Rb8 18.g4 b5 19.g5 Be7 20.a5 d5 21.f5 [21.e5 b4 22.Nd4 bxc3 23.Qxc3 Qb7=] 21...dxe4 22.f6 Bc5 23.Kh1 Bc6 Black's position has come alive. All of his pieces are active, except the mysterious Nc8 which set the stage. 24.Qc1 Diagram
Dreev beat Timman in round 4 to take the lead at Reykjavik. Timman had gone out to a quick 3-0 lead! Round 5 today.
Published in 1978, Leonid Shamkovich's The Modern Chess Sacrifice was one of the first books to classify sacrifices and combinations. Whether you own the book or not, I recommend that you enjoy this collection of the games used in the book.
Chapters include Sacrifice of pursuit, the Developing sacrifice, the Preventative sacrifice, the retarding sacrifice, and the strategic sacrifice. A fun read, with interesting annotations and an excellent selection of games.
I offer one of the games in the book and two additional games that also tried the same sacrifice. Enjoy.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Bc4 A frequent reply to the Najdorf, though less played today. 6...Qc7?! ...e6 is more prudent, to shut down the a2-g8 diagonal 7.Bb3 e6 8.f4 Be7? [8...Nc6] 9.g4! Nc6 10.g5 Nd7 Diagram
Perhaps the most interesting (and certainly the longest) post on the new Chess is Fun Message Board was from Joseph Amaral on the Latvian Gambit.
The post appears in the Reader's Corner. I hope that others of you will be motivated to share your games. You too may appear in the Chess BLOG!
One of the most memorable portions of the post was the account of playing the Latvian Gambit against Kamsky in a simul. Well written, most enjoyable.
Here's one of the games included in the post with the author's annotations in parenthesis and mine as well. It's a good advertisement of competitive, local chess. The result is a perpetual check despite a win on the board... but ticking clocks and hanging flags have a way of doing that. Here are also a few games in this most interesting line. 2...f5 is quite a bit like a King's Gambit for black. Although the opening gained popularity as the Greco Counter Gambit, a group of Latvian masters in the 1930s invigorated the opening and captured its name. Here is a larger collection of games in the Latvian Gambit. For those who want more, be sure to check out The Latvian Gambit Lives!, by Tony Kosten, the most up-to-date and available book on the gambit.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 ("Aiming straight down the a2-g8 diagonal, weakened by Black's second move. This move was the favorite of Paul Keres, and is one that appeals to players of the white pieces who are intent on winning rapidly, and who are not afraid of giving up a few pieces to force mate. The slightest inaccuracy from White, however, and he may find himself material behind with no compensation." (Kosten)) 3...fxe4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 (Oh, I know you should not bring your queen out early, but in the world of the Latvian Gambit moving the queen early is expected. 4/\d5 is the alternative.) 5.Nf7 (Tartakower: "The art of chess is simple: you play Nf3-e5 and then, sooner or later, Nxf7 is decisive." Except in this case the f-pawn has already vacated the square! 5. d4 is better than either 5.Bf7 or the text) 5...Qxg2 6.Nxh8 JRE: Rf1 or Qh5+ are needed here. Black is now winning... not bad after just 6 moves! 6...Qxh1+ (Saving the rook 6.Rf1 is needed.) 7.Ke2 Qxh2 (The Latvian player does not want to trade queens.) JRE: Probably the best move, and certainly in keeping with the opening, but pragmatically, the queen exchange is simplest. I guess that's why I'm not a Latviain player ;-) 8.Qe1?? (8.Bf7+ Kd8 9.Bxg8 Qh5+ 10.Ke1 Qh1+ draws, but 9/\d5 gives Black an advantage.) 8...d5 [8...Qh5+! 9.Kf1 (9.Ke3 Qf3+ 10.Kd4 Nc6+ 11.Kd5 e3#; 9.f3 Qxf3#) 9...Qh1+ 10.Ke2 Qf3+ 11.Kf1 d5 With Bh3# coming] 9.Bxd5 Bg4+ (9/\Qh5+ wins the bishop, but Black is still better with this inferior alternative. Latvian players attack.) Bout the pursuit of truth and beauty demands accuracy... next time, Qh5+ is a felony! [9...Qh5+ wins the Bd5 10.Ke3 (10.Kf1 Bh3+ 11.Kg1 Qg4+ mates) ] 10.Ke3 Nf6! (Threatening /\Bc5 which mates in eight, not that I saw that at the time. 10/\Qh3+ would begin a king hunt where White's king eventually perishes on the queenside.) Well played! 11.Bxb7 Diagram
The highest ranked player at Reykjavik, Alexey Dreev, was a student of Dvoretsky's. He obtained the GM title in 1990 and now sports a near 2700 rating. He's clearly in good form as the game of the day clearly shows. We may be in for some wonderful chess in this event if the first two rounds are any indication. Here's the game. Unlike many, you will be able to renjoy this game even if you you zip through it. Focus please on Dreev's thematic use of the d5-square. His technique is very instructive!
1.c4 c6 2.e4 Transposing to a Caro Kann (1.e4 c6 2.c4) 2...d5 It may be that Black is already fine here. In the resulting variation, white winds up with an isolated d-pawn that structurally defines the rest of the game. 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 The point is obvious. Black will re-capture on d5 with the natural blockader of the white-d-pawn. 5.Nf3 White might instead try to hold the d-pawn with 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Nc3 5...Nxd5 6.Nc3 Black is fully equal, especially if he avoids Nxc3 straightening out white's pawn structure 6...Nc6 7.Bb5 e6 Inviting white to nick the black structure but at the cost of giving up the two bishops 8.0-0 Be7 9.d4 The battle plams are set. Black has already blockaded the white d-pawn and will try to use the d5 square to shuttle the Nd5 and Q for further development. White wants to use e5 and, if possible, to play d4-d5. The immediate threat is Ne5 9...0-0 10.Re1 Nf6 11.a3 Qd6 12.Bd3 Rd8 13.Be3 b6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Rad1 h6 16.Bb1 Bf8 17.Nb5 Qb8 18.Qc2 Ne7 Black's devotion to the d5-square is obvious. d4-d5 is not playable here. 19.Ne5 With the idea of Ng4 aiming for Qh7# 19...Be4 Strong! 20.Qc1 Bxb1 Exchanging his bad bishop for white's good one! 21.Qxb1 Qb7 And now black has the better queen! 22.Rc1 Diagram
It may be hard to make a transition from a tourney in which 34/42 games ended in a draw... to a tourney in which the players are out for blood in every game!
The 21st Reykjavic open is now taking place through March 16. The top ten rated players are:
1 Alexey Dreev GM 2682 RUS
2 Emil Sutovsky GM 2666 ISR
3 Vladimir Epishin GM 2658 RUS
4 Levon Aronian GM 2649 GER
5 Michal Krasenkow GM 2607 POL
6 Bu Xiangzhi GM 2600 CHN
7 Jaan Ehlvest GM 2599 EST
8 Ian Rogers GM 2582 AUS
9 Jan Timman GM 2578 NED
10 Hannes Stefánsson GM 2572 ISL
Games are available live at the Internet Chess Club and at the tourney web site.
The game of the day comes from Reykjavik... a hard fought game in which GM Epishin uses my favorite defense, the Hedgehog, to triumph. There's much to learn here, from the opening with an interesting Bc5-e7 manoeuver that wins an tempo to a nice middlegame counter-attack that nets black significant winning chances in an interesting endgame. Here's the game:
1.e4 c5 The Sicilian Defense 2.Nf3 e6 my favorite approach, heading toward a Kan, Paulsen, or Hedgehog 3.d4 The usual try on move three for white. Slow systems with d3 place no pressure on black. 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 The advantages for black: White cannot safely develop the Bf1 to b5 or c4 in this line. 5.c4 Not the best move... Bd3 is more challenging, preserving the option of playing c4. The idea here for white is to inhibit counterplay with b7-b5 and d7-d5 5...Bc5 A modern treatment... force the Nd4 to move before playing Be7 6.Nb3 Be7 Is the Nb3 well placed? Time will tell... Nb3-d4 at some point only justifies black's approach. 7.Nc3 d6 With the idea of preventing e5 and developing the Nb8-d7 8.Be3 Nf6 9.Be2 Nbd7 The correct square for the knight, which aims at Nc5 and Ne5, depending upon white's set-up. 10.0-0 b6 There's the Hedgehog, with Bb7 and Qc7 to follow 11.Rc1 Bb7 Two attacks upon the e-pawn, and Nc5 can make it three if white refused to play f3 12.f3 0-0 13.Qd2 Qc7 An alternative idea is Rc8-c7, and Qa8 directly 14.Kh1 Rfe8 15.Nd4 And black has gained a tempo with the early Bc5-e7 manoeuver. 15...Rac8 All standard stuff, aiming for a queen tuck to b8 16.Rc2 Qb8 Next steps often involve Bf8, g6, and Bg7, a late fianchetto so long as white places no pressure upon the key d6-pawn. 17.Rb1 Preparing b4, an unusual and dangerous idea for both sides. 17...Bf8 18.b4 The plan appears to be Nb3, Na4, and c5. Can black survive? 18...Qa8 Removing the queen from the danderous b-file and intensifying the pressure down the long diagonal 19.Na4 Two attacks upon b6 and with the idea of c4-c5 19...h6 20.Nb3 threatening Nxb6 20...Rb8 21.c5 There's a critical square... imagine calculating this over-the-board! [21.Nxb6 Nxb6 22.Bxb6 Bxe4 23.fxe4 Rxb6 24.Bf3 Reb8 25.c5 dxc5 with chances for both sides] 21...bxc5 22.bxc5 dxc5 So often in the Hedgehog, the board opens up after exchanges to black's satisfaction 23.Naxc5 Nxc5 24.Nxc5 Bxc5 25.Rxc5 Diagram
It's not every day that I get a game of mine in Chess Life. Check out the March 2004 issue on page 40... a nice game of mine in the 13th Correspondence Chess Olympiad. My kids are proud that Dad's "in the Olympics" even if it is, without question, the slowest of all the events in the Olympic movement.
You can win a gold medal in less than 10 seconds in the sprints. In Correspondence chess, it takes about 7 years.
The United States is finishing up its schedule in the preliminary round and, I'm happy to say, we have a chance to qualify for the final. The following game was the fourth to the last to finish. Needless to say, we needed a win here to have a chance to go on. The game is quite instructive. Check out Black's Bc8. Structurally bad in the line of the French Defense, the bishop never moves!
Enjoy please. It's certainly one of the best games I ever played and it's always nice to get the notoriety in Chess Life ... thanks to FIDE master Alex Dunne, our great team captain!
1.e4 e6 The French Defense 2.d4 Take the center when they don't prevent you 2...d5 Here's the main idea in the defense... but the structure often locks in the Bc8 3.Nc3 Defending e4, pressure on d5 3...Nf6 The Classical French 4.Bg5 An invitation to 4...Be7 5.e5 when white can trade his "bad" dark-squared bishop for black's "good" bishop. 4...dxe4 Black has other ideas 5.Nxe4 Be7 The Burn variation 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 By controling e5, the Bc8 remaions bad. 7...0-0 8.Qd2 Be7 9.0-0-0 White will easily complete development and begin operations on the kingside 9...Nd7 Preventing Ne5 10.Bc4 a6 11.Bb3 The bishop will eventually return to the b1-h7 diagonal at c3 11...c6 Preventing d5 12.Qf4 b5 13.h4 With many ideas, notably Ng5 and Rh3-g3 13...Ra7 14.Neg5 Nf6 Defending h7 15.c3 idea Bc2 and defending the center 15...Qc7 16.Ne5 White has no desire to exchange queens... keep the fuel on the board to support the attack. 16...c5 17.Bc2 cxd4 18.Qxd4 A novelty, with an interesting prepared sacrifice. 18...Bc5 19.Qf4 Bd6 Diagram
It is perhaps fitting that Linares, 2004, ended its final round with three more draws. Out of 42 games, only 8 decisive results! Here is the final crosstable. Kramnik agreed to an early offer from Topalov, who needed a win to retain any hope of a first place tie. Even a casual look at the position will convince you that white had some interesting play against the black kingside in the final position. Kramnik was obviously satisfied with a draw.
Kasparov again developed significant winning chances, this time with Black against Vallejo Pons, but again he could not convert to a win to tie Kramnik at the top. By virtue of better tie-breakers, Kramnik would still have placed first, but I am not alone in thinking that Garry produced the best chess overall at Linares and deserved more than a shared second to Kramnik.
Here are all of the games from Linares, 2004 including the final round. And here is a small collection of the games that Kasparov has played in the line used in the following game.
1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 Aiming simply to gain some time on Kasparov's clock. Garry's response steers the game right back into the main Najrorf lines 2...Nf6 3.Nbc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 Transposing to the Najdorf Sicilian 6.f3 The English attack, with the idea is Be3, Qd2, 0-0-0, and g4-g5. with this move order, white avoids Be3 Ng4 6...e5 ...e6 is also fine. ...e5 is aggressive, but creates a hole on d5 and the backward d6-pawn. Blac's dark squared bishop will have less mobility in the early middlegame. 7.Nb3 Be6 Quick development is in order, aiming at the d5-hole. 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.g4 launching an immediate kingside attack. Qd2 is also playable, and tranpositions are likely. 9...Nb6 Aiming for Rb8 and Nc4, but also creating an escape square for the Nf6 after g5. 10.g5 Nh5 Kasparov knows that it will be hard to dislodge the Nh5 from this perch. Ne2-g3 is slow, and Be2 and f4 are unthinkable because the Nh5 eyes f4. The main idea is to blunt white's kingside assault by sealing in the g- and h-pawns. 11.Qd2 The usual plan, with 0-0-0 and Qf2 11...Be7 12.0-0-0 Rc8 Nc4 is coming, and Kasparov will consider Rxc3 if white tries Qf2. 13.Kb1 Defense first! 13...0-0 14.Rg1 Qc7 15.Qf2 Two attacks upon b6 15...Nc4 16.Bxc4 Giving up white's "bad" bishop for the aggressive knight, but retaining the strong Be3 16...Qxc4 17.h4 This is the new move in the position. More interesting is Nd5. h4 does not impress, and black seems to gain a slow initiative over the next ten moves. [17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Rxd5 f5 with lively play.] 17...g6 This may seem ugly, but it simply seals the kingside and anchors the Nh5. How can white now make progress? 18.Qd2 Placing the focus upon the d5-hole and the backward pawn on d6. 18...Qc7 Most of us would have continued forward with b7-b5, encouraging Na5. Instead, Garry carefully prepares the queenside assault. 19.Na4 perhaps Nd5 instead 19...b5 20.Nb6 Rb8 21.Nd5 Entering the hole a few tempi down, but with the black rook on b8. 21...Bxd5 22.Qxd5 a5 Black's attack is very dangerous. Unlike the kingside where the white pawns have been sealed, the queenside pawns remain fluid. 23.Rd3 a4 24.Rc3 Qd8 25.Nc1 Diagram
Another frustrating day for Kasparov, who played a magnificent game in the Ruy Lopez only to miss a winning shot as his time wound down in the first time control.
Kramnik leads with 6.5, 1/2 point ahead of Kasparov and Leko with just one round (today) to play! The pairings suggest an exciting final round... even Topalov has a chance with a win over Kramnik. And you can be sure that Kasparov will be out for blood after two narrow misses in the past week.
Vallejo - Kasparov
Shirov - Leko
Topalov - Kramnik
Here are all of the games in round 13, and here is a wonderful game, save that the fantastic finish winds up only in the notes to the game.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 The Ruy Lopez 3...a6 4.Ba4 The standard retreat, preserving the bishop for later actions against the Black kingside 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 Inviting the Marshall Gambit with 8.c3 d5 8.a4 The anti-Marshall. 8...Bb7 9.d3 White prefers a slower approach to the already patient lines with c3, Bc2, d4, and Nb1-d2-f1 9...d6 10.Nbd2 Nd7 idea Nc5xb3 11.c3 To preserve the Bb3-c2 11...Nc5 12.axb5 axb5 13.Rxa8 Qxa8 14.Bc2 b4 15.d4 Typical of the Spanish torture. White's bishops will thrive in an open board. 15...bxc3 16.bxc3 Avoiding exd4 cxd4 when white has a substantial advantage owing to unchallenged central control. 16...Nd7 17.Nf1 TYpical in the Ruy, heading for g3 or e3 17...Bf6 Typical defense, over-protecting e5 18.d5 Sealing in the Bf6 and his own light-squared bishop, but gaining central space. 18...Ncb8 19.h4 With four black puieces on the queenside, Kasparov lashes out against Topalov's kingside. 19...Nc5 20.Ng3 The tables have turned... just a few days ago, it was Topalov leading the charge in the Spanish torture. Now he must defend. 20...Bc8 Hoping for Bg4, exchanging one of white's dangerous knights 21.Ng5 h6 Diagram
Linares is winding down. It's looking quite a bit like a Kramnik victory. His chess, though uninspiring, seems far too solid to offer much hope to the other players.
I offer another look today at Vasily Smyslov. Here, a wonderful win in 1941. There's great complexity, but more important, perhaps, a purity of play that is worth a look.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 The French Winawer. Black threatens immediately to win a pawn with dxe4 4.e5 The best and most accurate response. 4...c5 Attacking the white pawn chain at its weakest point, the base. 5.a3 Challenging the dark-squared bishop. dxe4 and Ba5 do not fare well , but that's a story for another day. 5...Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 White has secured the center at the cost of weakened c-pawns. The absence of the dark-squared bishop has weakened the black kingside... and the e5-pawn and the weak black g-pawn often emboldens white into playing Qg4 6...Ne7 Preparing for 7. Qg4 with Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 with counterplay that is, in my opinion, not sufficient for the pawn. 7.a4 White tries a different path, restraining black's Qa5-a4 counterplay and providing a strong square on a3 for white's dark-squared bishop. 7...Qa5 8.Qd2 Defending the c-pawn and reserving the possibility of Ba3 8...Nbc6 9.Nf3 c4 Not a recommended move. Black releases all of the tension in the center and gives white an unimpeded attack on the kingside and the possibility of Ba3-d6 10.g3 Simple development, aiming for Bg2, 0-0, and f4 10...0-0 The black king makes for quite a target, though at least black will not have to deal with Bd3. Check out Black's awful light-squared bishop! 11.Bg2 f6 Attacking the chain at the head... needed, but not often a good idea. 12.exf6 Corrct response... note now the weakness of black's backward and isolated e-pawn. 12...Rxf6 13.0-0 Bd7 14.Ba3 Re8 Not Qxa4 Bxe7+- 15.Nh4 Preparinf f4 15...Nc8 16.f4 And white can follow with Nf3-e5 16...N6e7 17.Rfb1 Or just Rfe1 17...Qc7 18.a5 Bc6 19.Nf3 Ng6 20.Ne5 Nce7 [20...Nxe5 21.fxe5 Rf7 22.Rf1 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Qxa5 24.Bb4 Qc7 25.Qf4 with the idea of Qf8 +-] 21.Bc5 a6 22.Ng4 Rf7 23.Re1 Nf5 24.Re2 Nimzovitch: Identify the weakness (e6); fix it; attack it with your pieces (the rooks)... and then and only then, attack it with a pawn (f4-f5) 24...h6 25.Rae1 Qc8 26.Bf3 Kh7 27.Rf1 Qc7 28.Qe1 Nf8 29.Ne5 Rf6 30.g4 Nd6 31.Qg3 Nf7 Diagram
Today at Linares, round 12, Kasparov gets to take on the leader, but with black.
Results just in... an uneventful game between Kasparov and Kramnik... only one decisive result.
Vallejo - Radjabov
Topalov - Leko
Kramnik - Kasparov
Rest day: Shirov
It's hard to believe that Kramnik is now in the lead. He has taken very few chances and, to say the least, has not inspired the chess faithful. But his chess is solid, if uninspiring. It may be difficult for this field to catch him. We'll see what Gary has in mind this morning.
Here's the decisive game from yesterday. It sure looked as if Leko had good winning chances before the roof fell in.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 The Sveshnikov (or Pelikan). A controversial opening... the ...e5-pawn push creates important weaknesses on d6 and d5, but the opening has become a key grandmaster response to the Sicilian. 6.Ndb5 Aiming to play Nd6+ which would gain the bishop pair 6...d6 Preventing Nd6 but establishing d5 as a central hole for white to eye. 7.Bg5 To exchange off Black's Nf6 which exercises some control over the key d5-square. 7...a6 Taking the opportunity to force the Nb5 to retreat to the rim 8.Na3 b5 The obvious threat is b5-b4 winning a piece. White has two good ways to sidestep the threat. 9.Bxf6 Most grandmasters swear by Bxf6, but Nd5 is also playable. 9...gxf6 The double pawns actually assisdt black in gaining counterplay with f6-f5 and down the open g-file with Rg8. 10.Nd5 Having taken the Nf6, white occupies the key central square. 10...f5 The immediate counter attack, hoping for exf5 eliminating white's d5-anchor. 11.Bd3 A popular continuation, though the bishop; interferes with the Qd1's communication with the key d5-square. 11...Be6 And so now this is a problem for white... Bxd5 will place the e-pawn in the hole. And by attacking the Nd5, Black answers the threat of exf5. 12.0-0 Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 The variation with Nd5 permits white to maintain the knight on d5. This variation is far more double edged and black has hope for a counter-attack with e5-e4 and f5-f4 14.Qh5 Kuzmin's plan [14.Nxb5? Bg7 15.Nc3 e4] 14...e4 15.Be2 Bg7 16.c3 Diagram
Linares round 11 has the following pairings:
Round 11 ... Here are today's games... Kramnik moves into first with a win over Leko!
Peter Leko - Vladimir Kramnik
Teimour Radjabov - Vesselin Topalov
Alexei Shirov - Paco Vallejo
Rest day: Kasparov
One of the suggestions on the Chess is Fun message board was to follow the games and developing style of some of the chess greats. Of course, that's exactly what Gary Kasparov is doing in his three volume series My Great Predecessers.
I can't really rival that, but I love the idea of following a player for a while and, at least, providing easy access to some great chess. In the Great Game Archive, I have already provided games from many chess grandmasters. Permit me, as Linares permits, to begin some coverage of a great player whose wonderful games may be little known to many of you.
Vasily Smyslov reigned as World Champion from 1957-1958, defeating Botvinnik but losing the title in a re-match. He may have held the world title for only a year, but for more than 60 years, Smyslov ranked as one of the world's top grandmasters. I provide here all of the games in his wonderful book, 125 Selected Games and here is a closer look at one of his earlier efforts.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 The Sicilian Najdorf 6.Be2 A less popular reply, but quite worthy as this game well illustates 6...e6 ...e5 also makes sense owing to the earlier ...a6 stopping Nd4-b5 7.0-0 b5 But this is premature. Black begins his counterplay on the queenside well before completing his development. 8.Bf3 An aggressive posting made possible by the early Be2 8...Ra7 [8...Bb7 9.e5 Bxf3 10.Qxf3+-] 9.Qe2! Aimed at preventing Rd7 9...Rc7 [9...Rd7 10.e5 dxe5 11.Nc6 Qc7 12.Nxb8 Qxb8 13.Bc6+-] 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.a4! The early advance of the black b-pawn creates a target for white's attack. 11...bxa4 [11...b4 12.Na2 a5 13.Nb5] 12.Nxa4 White now has a huge lead in development 12...Bb7 [12...Be7 13.Bd2 With the devastating threat of Ba5] 13.e5! Nxe5 [13...dxe5 14.Bxb7 exd4 (14...Rxb7 15.Qxa6 Rc7 16.Nf3+/-) 15.Bxa6] 14.Bxb7 Rxb7 15.Qxa6 Qb8 16.Nc6 Nxc6 [16...Qc8 17.Nxe5+-] 17.Qxc6+ Nd7 Diagram
March 1 is a rest day at Linares. Kasparov has a bye tomorrow and so gets a full two days to rest up. We're heading into the home stretch with Leko, Kasparov, and Kramnik tied at 5... but Leko has played only 8 games, while Kasparov and Kramnik have played 9.
Here is the nice game played yesterday between Topalov and Shirov. I recommend that you play this over a few times. It may be the best game played thus far at Linares and shows off quite well the power of the Spanish Game, the Ruy Lopez.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 The Ruy Lopez 3...a6 Standard stuff. Putting the question to the Bb5 4.Ba4 Avoiding the exchange which leads only to a small advantage for white. [4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 Recovers the pawn.] 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 Preferring a closed approach to ...Nxe4 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 No Marshall Gambit with 7...0-0 c3 8...d5 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Preparing d2-d4, avoiding...Bg4 9...Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 The Chigorin variation of the Ruy. 12.d5 A positional treatment, but not forced. Nbd2 is also playable. 12...Nc4 13.b3 Nb6 14.a4 Seeking either to open the a-file or to seal the queenside. 14...Bd7 15.a5 Nc8 16.c4 A new move in the position (at least according to my database) and putting black in a quandry right off the bat. ...b5-b4 seals the queenside, much to white's favor since Tolpalov wants to reposition all of his forces towards the Black king. 16...g6 17.Nc3 Nh5 ...g6 and Nh5 usually aim to break free with ...f5; here, Shirov intends Ng7 with a defensive shell. 18.Ne2 Re8 or do they... This move surprised the faithful on ICC expecting f5. 19.Ra2 Standard stuff... the rook will relocate later to f2 or g2 19...Bf8 The usual way to exchange off this bad bishop is on g5. Shirov holds on to it, though later attempts the exchange on h6 20.g4 Gaining space quickly and making room for Ng3 20...Ng7 21.Ng3 f6 White has stopped the idea of ...f5 cold and now has all day to redeplay for his own f4 pawn break. 22.Nh2 Making way for f4 and Raf2 or Rag2. Black is already in trouble here 22...Re7 23.h4 Rf7 24.f4 Wit the idea of f4-f5, which black cannot permit 24...exf4 25.Bxf4 Many ideas for white here... notably h5, and e5, making room for Qe4 and mating possibilities on h7 25...Qd8 26.Rf1 Nicely played... in many lines with h5, black can respond with ...f5 with counterplay based in part upon the undefended Bf4 26...Qe7 With a payer to release some tension with ...Ne8, Bg7, Qf8 and Bh6 27.h5 Ne8 [27...g5 Gives up the key f5 square to the white knight.] 28.Bd3 Making room for Raf2 or Rag2 28...Bg7 29.Kg2 White has all day to achieve optimal placement for his pieces before trying e5 or g5 29...Qf8 30.Qc1 Quickly played, to prevent ...Bh6 30...bxc4 Black's only possible counterplay will now be on the b-file. 31.bxc4 Rb8 Eyeing the b3 entry square 32.Raf2 Rb3 Threatening the Bd3 ands hoping perhaps for Qc2 Ba4, but white is fine even there after e4-e5! 33.Rf3 Avoiding any complications... white need not be in a rush. 33...Ne7 34.Bd2 Black is just about out of constructive moves here. All pawn moves on the kingside are further weakening, and Shirov surely does not want to retreat his only good piece, the Rb3. 34...Bc8 35.Qc2 e5 works, but it permits black to get some counterplay by sacrificing the exchange with Rxd3 35...Rb8 36.Kh1 And even here, e5 and g5 are clearly advantageous. [36.e5 dxe5 (36...fxe5 37.Rxf7+-) 37.hxg6 hxg6 38.Bxg6 Nxg6 39.Qxg6+/-] 36...gxh5 Suicide, but what else is there? 37.Nxh5 Ng6 Diagram
Happy leap year! Happy to say that Topalov provided some needed excitement at Linares with a crushing win over Shirov. I'll try to look at that game tomorrow. Here are this morning's games from Linares.
The focus today is upon another theme, in this case a nice attacking chance against a castled king. The attack comes against a nicked black pawn structure with pawns on g7 and h6. That happens often enough. In many of the games here, white will check with Bh7 (supported by a Qc2 or elsewhere along the diagonal. The check forces the black king to h8. In some positions, white then proceeds with Ng6+. In other positions, white first must remove the f-pawn with Nxf7 or even Rxf7. The resulting check from the Ng6 forces Kh8xBh7 and either a double check (Nf8) or a powerful discovered check winning back material. Note that in all of these examples, black was unsuccessful in using his light-squared bishop to counter white's influence upon the key b1-h7 diagonal.
Here are two fun examples, and about 50 games that use this nice manoeuver.
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 b6 5.c4 Bb7 6.Nc3 a6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rc1 Nh5 11.Ne2 Nxf4 12.Nxf4 Rc8 13.Qe2 a5 14.Rfd1 0-0 15.Qc2 h6 16.Bf5 c5 17.Ne5 cxd4 Diagram
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 e6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.Rd1 b5 11.Be2 Qc7 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.b4 a5 14.a3 axb4 15.axb4 Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd5 17.Bd3 h6 18.h3 Nb6 19.e4 Qe7 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Re1 dxe4 22.Bxe4 Qf6 23.Ne5 Rc8 24.Re3 Rc7 25.Rf3 Qe6 Diagram
Here are today's pairings at Linares. Here are the games, again all draws... After a very tough battle, Kasparov had a win but played 555...Rf2 rather than 555...Rb1 in a rather routine endgame...
Radjabov - Kasparov
Shirov - Kramnik
Vallejo - Topalov
Day off: Leko
I probably ought to annotate Kasparov's game against Shirov, a complex affair that nearly and probably should have resulted in a Shirov win. But I continue to pine for victories, so let rain dance continue.
One of the coolest things about maintainiong this BLOG is that it improves MY chess too. On January 27 and 28, I devoted the BLOG to Rh7 sacrifices. Lo and behold, just yesterday, I got to do it too! Having reviewed these games, the sacrifice was really easy to find. Proof, I think, that this method of reviewing games works... at least for me. Here's the game.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Re8 10.g4 a6 11.h4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.h5 Bb7 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.g5 Nd7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 Diagram
So, let's try a different theme, here an opening trap by black in the Caro Kann. I think that you will be amazed by just how many people, including some really good players, fell for this one! Note that while most of the games in this collection began as Caro Kann's, there is one Sicilian!
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.Ng5 e6 7.Qe2 Nb6 8.Bd3 h6 9.N5f3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Ngf3 Qc7 13.Bd2 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Diagram
Three draws today ... Shirov achieved perhaps a winning position against Kasparov, but failed to convert despite Garry's horrible time pressure. Here are the games.
Today's pairings at Linares include a premier match between Kasparov and Shirov
Vladimir Kramnik - Paco Vallejo
Garry Kasparov - Alexei Shirov
Peter Leko - Teimour Radjabov
Rest Day: Topalov
Three conclusive results yesterday including this game of the day, Kasparov's first win at Linares, 2004. I was very surprised by Kasparov's 14th move. At first glance, it seems anti-positional, opening up the d5 square. But it sure worked out well! The game ended with quite a time scramble. Garry missed a great shot on move 34, but still an impressive achievement!
1.d4 Again, with the idea of c4, Nc3, and e4 1...d5 One of three ways (with Nf6 and f5) of stopping 2.e4 2.c4 The Queen's Gambit. White offers a pawn for quick development. If 2...dxc4, white has 3.Nc3 and 4.e4 2...c6 The Slav Defense. 2.e6 is the main line of the Queen's Gambit, but e6 blocks in the Bc8 [2...Nf6? 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4] 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 Solid chess, though the Bc8 gets locked in. Black will pursue a Catalan formation with Nbd7, Qc7, b6, Bb7, Rc8, Be7 and 0-0. 5.e3 To develop the Bf1-d3, preparing for a later e3-e4 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 The Bb7 looks awful, but black will often be able to gain space later with c6-c5. 8.0-0 Be7 9.b3 Rc8 [9...Qc7 10.Bb2 Rd8 11.Rfe1 h6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 0-0 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.c5 bxc5 16.dxc5 Qa5 17.b4 Qc7 18.Qe2 a5 19.a3 axb4 20.axb4 Ra8 21.Ne5 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 Ra8 23.Re1 Bc8 24.Qf3 Bd7 25.Nc4 Nd5 26.Qe4 f5 27.Qf3 Ra4 28.Bxf5 Qf4 29.Qxf4 Nxf4 30.g3 Rxb4 31.gxf4 Rxc4 32.Rxe6 Bf8 33.Re4 Rxe4 34.Bxe4 Bxc5 35.Kg2 Kf7 36.Kf3 Be7 37.Bc3 Bf6 38.Bxf6 Kxf6 39.Ke3 c5 40.Bd5 Kf5 41.f3 Kf6 42.Be4 Bb5 43.Bc2 Ke6 44.Be4 Kd6 45.Bg6 Bc6 46.h4 Bd7 47.Be4 Be8 48.Kd3 Bf7 49.Ke3 Kc7 50.Kd3 Kb6 51.Kc3 Kb5 52.Bd3+ Kc6 53.Be4+ Bd5 54.Kd3 Kd6 55.Ke3 Bc4 56.Kd2 Bf1 57.Ke3 Kc7 58.Kd2 Kb6 59.Kc3 Kb5 60.Bd5 Be2 61.Be4 c4 62.Bd5 Kc5 63.Be4 Bf1 64.Bg6 Kd6 65.Kd4 Ke6 66.Be4 Kf6 1/2-1/2 Grabarczyk,M-Najer,E/Polanica Zdroj 1999/EXT 2000 (66)] 10.Bb2 Qc7 The positions are similar, but white has more activity owing to the c4-pawn and the Nc3 11.Rad1 h6 12.e4 dxe4 Black cannot allow e4-e5 13.Nxe4 0-0 Encouraging Kasparov to attack. Better is Nxe4 Bxe4 Nf6 Bd3 and c6-c5. 14.c5 Garry thoought for a long time. He may have been aware of the above game; he surel;y wanted to take advantage of the fact that black has delayed the capture on e4 and ...c6-c5. 14...Nxe4 15.Bxe4 a5 Trying to prevent b3-b4, but black surely had to play Nf6 to drive back the Be4. [15...bxc5 Black can win a pawn, but the resulting pawn structure will favor white. 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 With good attacking chances. Black's extra pawn is the weak c5-pawn.] 16.Rfe1 Rfd8 17.Bh7+ Kh8 18.Bd3 Kg8 No draw offer... just gaining time on the clock before the mad time-control scramble. 19.Bh7+ Kh8 20.Bd3 Kg8 21.Ba3 The threat is cxb6 and Bxe7 21...Qb8 22.Qc1 Demonstrating white's large advantage in time and space 22...bxc5 23.Bb1 Consolidating. cxd4 meets Bxe7 23...Qa7 24.Qc2 Garry doesn't really think that Vallejo will miss the mate on h7 and h8. But there's no good way to stop it! 24...Nf6 [24...Nf8!? 25.Ne5 With an obvious advantage and the possibility of Nxf7] 25.Ne5 Rd5 26.Ng4 The Nf6 must not move or white will win quickly with Qh7+ 26...Rf5 Blocking the queen's access to h7 27.Nxf6+ gxf6 [27...Bxf6 28.g4 Rd5 29.Bxc5+-; 27...Rxf6 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh8#] 28.h4 Threatening rather than playing g4, with the idea of preventing ...Rf5-g5. But 28.g4 does win nicely too. [28.g4 Rg5 29.Qh7+ Kf8 30.Bxc5 Bxc5 31.dxc5 Rxg4+ 32.Kh1 Qxc5 33.Rd7+-] 28...Kh8 29.Qe2 Trying to force the Rf5 to move, [29.Bxc5 Bxc5 30.dxc5 Qb8 31.Qc3 Re5 32.Rxe5 Qxe5 33.Qxe5 fxe5 34.Rd7+-] 29...Ba6! 30.Qe3 Rh5 Hanging on by a thread! 31.Bxc5 Both sides are very short of time, but this is the right idea! 31...Bxc5 32.dxc5 Qxc5 [32...f5 33.Bxf5 Rxf5 34.Qxh6+ Kg8 35.Re3+-] 33.Qf3! Too many threats! 33...Kg7 Diagram
Today's pairings at Linares... Here are the results... THREE WINS! With his win over Shirov today, Leko remains in first place with 4.0 points just ahead of Kasparov and Kramnik (both at 3.5).
Leko - Shirov
Kasparov - Vallejo
Kramnik - Topalov
Free day: Radjabov
Shirov beat Radjabov yesterday at Linares in grand style to tie Leko for first place. I've briefly annotated the game below, but I am sure that it will be subjected to intense scrutiny in the days and years ahead. There is no doubt that it will figure priminently in Shirov's next volume of Fire on Board.
Here is the game and, here are about a dozen or more games in this line. It will be obvious that the line is a Radjabov favorite. There's no doubt that he had a sleepless night trying to resuscitate his main line defense!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Preparing Nc3 and e4 2...g6 The King's Indian, a Radjabov favorite 3.Nc3 Threatening e4 3...Bg7 Black welcome the breoad white pawn center and will counter-attack with d6 and e5 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 One of Fischer's favorite opening lines. Inviting d4-d5 Nc6-e7 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 The battle lines are drawn. White will usually attack on the queenside... black on the kingside with ...f7-f5 9...Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 A frequent recent visitor and no surprise to Radjabov. The database shows that he has faced this several times before. 11...Nf6 12.Bf3 Overprotecting e4 12...c6 Unlike many King's Indian lines, the battle is joined in the center 13.Bb2 Countering black's strong dark-squared bishop 13...h6 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.dxe6 All still book. The e-pawn will fall, but white expects counter-play in the center and on the kingside. 15...fxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Rxe4 d5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Rxe5 Even this exchange sacrifice has been played before. 19...Bxe5 20.Bxe5 For the exchange, white expects compensation against the weakened Black kingside. 20...Qb6 21.Bb2 Here's Shirov's new move. Qd2 to protect the b4-pawn had been previously played. 21...Kh7 Seeking safety behind the pawns [21...Qxe6 22.Qd4; 21...Qxb4 22.Rb1] 22.Qe2 d4 Attempting to block the Bb2 on its very strong diagonal. 23.h4 Charge. The idea is to break apart the black kingside with h4-h5 23...Rf6 Aiming to capture the advanced e-pawn. 24.Re1 Defending e6 24...Qxb4 Black judges his position sound enough to grab a pawn. 25.a3 or Qe5... Shirov first forces the black queen to retreat 25...Qd6 26.h5 Blowing open the kingide. If gxh5?, white will gain anoher diagonal for the light-squared bishop. 26...Raf8 Bringing up the reinforcements. If necessary, black can return the exchange with Rxf3 27.Qe4 Pinning the g-pawn and adding to the pressure upon d4 27...Nc6 28.hxg6+ Kg7 Black can't take... Rxg6 Bh5 29.Bc1 Turning his attention now to the isolated h-pawn 29...Qe7 Diagram
Round 6 at Linares: Happy to report that the Fire is Back on Board! Shirov triumphed in grand fashion. Here are the round 6 games.
I invite you all to contribute your own games to this web site. One of our readers has begun a "Reader's Corner" on the Chess is Fun Message Board.. I promise to highlight at least one game from there every month... maybe more if the quality is as high as the first post... be sure to check it out!
A day off Linares, so here's one of my games in an interesting Sicilian line. Many players like to avoid the main lines and play openings like the c3 Sicilian. The lines are very different from the open Sicilian and, I suppose, there's less to learn. With black, most players try immediately to take advantage of the c2-c3 move. For example, 2...d5 2.cxd4 Qxd5 takes advantage of the fact that white cannot now post the Nb1-c3 to attack the Qd5. Or 2...Nf6, since after 3.e5 Nd5, white would not normally want to lose a tempo by playing c3-c4 to attack the Nd5.
But for about a decade, I've been experimenting with a third alternative that is barely mentioned in the literature. I present one of games, a sample line with a remarkable defense for black, and a collection of about 16 games in this new line. Enjoy.
1.e4 c5 2.c3 A very popular approach against the Sicilian. The usual responses are 2...d5 and 2...Nf6 2...e5 Here's a third idea that has not (yet) caught on. 3.Nf3 Nc6 Just like a typical 1.e4 e5 opening but with a funny c3, c5 move pair 4.Bc4 Nf6 Just like the two knights' defense, but again with that funny move pair 5.Ng5 Playing it the same way as the Two Knights. How will the pawns on c3 and c5 effect this variation? 5...d5 Defending the f7-pawn 6.exd5 Na5 As in the two knights' line, attacking the Bc4 prior to re-capturing. Black is playing a gambit 7.Bb5+ Bd7 In the normal line, black can play c7-c6 here. Bd7 is normally a less-favored alternative 8.Qe2 Bd6 Quick development is in order. Black is down a pawn, but will gain time by forcing the Ng5 to retreat. 9.d4 Ambitious... trying to develop the queenside pieces and attack in the center before Black can consolidate the hold in the center 9...cxd4 10.b4 Trapping the knight, but at the cost of permitting black to continue his rapid development. 10...h6 11.Nf3 0-0 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.bxa5 So, white is up a whole piece, but white still has five pieces "in the box" 13...d3 Time to play like Morphy. Qxd3 meets e5-e4 14.Qd1 e4 With a threatening pawn center. Nxd5 and f5 are coming 15.Nfd2 Nxd5 16.Nc4 [16.Nxe4 Rae8 wins back the piece] 16...Bc7 Three squares from the knight, a typical manoeuver. 17.Qb3 Kh7 Preparing f7-f5-f4 by taking the king off the a2-g8 diagonal 18.0-0 The white king couldn't safely stay in the center, and the queenside remains relatively undeveloped, but this is dangerous too. Three of black's pieces are aimed at white's kingside, and the Rf8 is about to join in too. 18...f5 19.Nba3 Understandable, but heading the wrong way. 19...Rae8 Otherwise the Nb5, Bb8 move pair seals in the Ra8 20.Nb5 Bb8 Again, three squares away from the knight 21.Rb1 Diagram
And here's a new idea that I've been toying with and about 16 games in this line.
1.e4 c5 2.c3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Same as in the last game4...Qc7 Diagram
The play at Linares was exciting yesterday, but the result was the same... Yet another three draws. A bit like the year that Mike Wilder won the US championship... after winning 2 or 3 games, he coasted to victory with many consecutive draws. Leko's one point lead looms larger and larger.
No games today at Linares... a day off. Guess all those draws have exhausted them!
Tomorrow's's pairings:
Topalov - Kasparov
Vallejo - Leko
Shirov - Radjabov
Free day: Kramnik
Here are my notes to the yesterday's game between Kasparov and Kramnik. Many on ICC thought that Garry had some winning chances but, in the end, he was fortunate to hold the draw. And here are some games in this interesting line of the Queen's Indian.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 The usual idea is Nc3 preparing e2-e4. 2...e6 Now if Nc3, black can prevent e4 with Bb4 3.Nf3 b6 The Queen's Indian. Black can prevent e2-e4 with Bb7 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 Preventing Bb4 5...d5 Normally, in d4 d5 openings, Blacl's light squared bishop is a problem. Here, black is prepared to activate it with d5xc4 6.cxd5 An importany capture. If exd5, black's Bb7 will be a problem 6...Nxd5 So black tries a more modern course, but this permits white to capture the center with e2-e4 7.Qc2 First, preparing the advance. If e4 first, Black wins the pawn with Nxc3 and Bxe4 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.e4 0-0 10.Bd3 c5 Seeking counter-play by attacking the established pawn center. 11.0-0 Qc7 Often with the idea of c4 with a 3 on 2 pawn majority on the queenside. 12.Qe2 Eyeing both e4 and c4 12...Nd7 13.Bb2 Rac8 And again with the idea of c5-c4 14.Nd2 Not only preventing c4, but also with the possible idea of f4 and a strong central attack 14...Rfd8 15.Rfd1 A new move, and a surprise. At best, we will see f3 to secure the center. Why not Rad1 and f4? 15...Nf6 Now, if e5, Black will play Nd5 16.a4 Tring to activate the Ra1 with a5 and to create a safe haven for the knight on c4 16...cxd4 17.cxd4 Bb4 Are white's d- and e-pawns strong or weak? The Bb4 aims to undermne white's support for the e-pawn. 18.Nf3 Qe7 19.h3 Preparing Qe3 19...h6 20.Qe3 a5 Securing the Bb4 and preventing the a5-advance 21.Rdc1 Ne8 22.Ne5 Nf6 In effect, offering a draw. Garry is well down on time and welcome a repetition 23.Nf3 Ne8 24.Ne5 Nf6 25.Nc4 Cheers on up on ICC. Garry is playing for a a win! The threat is Nxb6 25...Rc6 26.Qg3 With powerful threats... d4-d5 would activate the Bb2 and eye the f6 and g7 squares 26...Nh5 27.Qe3 Nf6 Again, another repetition to buy time until the time control on move 40. 28.Rc2 Rdc8 29.Rac1 Qd8 30.Qe2 Bf8 31.Qe3 R8c7 32.Qe2 Rc8 Trying to avoid action until the time control. 33.Ne5 R6c7 Diagram
Today's 5th round results at Linares: Another three draws, but my rain dance nearly had some effect. These were hard fought and nearly produced some results!
At least one of the games at Linares was interesting yesterday. Topalov nearly won, but Radjabov held on thanks to the complications associated with a simple f3+Qg2 mate threat. The pairings today (the 23rd) have
Teimour Radjabov - Paco Vallejo
Peter Leko - Vesselin Topalov
Garry Kasparov - Vladimir Kramnik
Let's hope for a bit more action. Meanwhile, rather than annotating more draws, I register my personal protest by waiting to annotate some far more hard-fought struggles.
Here are all of the games in Bobby Fischer's 60 Memorable Games. If you have not played through this magnificant collection, you are in for the chess treat of a lifetime. My original edition is nearly in shambles. It makes just about every top player's top 5 list of great books.
And since that volume is rather hard to find, here are the games in Andy Soltis's Bobby Fischer rediscovered. Soltis takes a critical look at some of the games in Fischer's book, which ends in 1967, and then adds a good number from later events right right through Fischer's 1992 return match against Spassky. 100 games, all right here!
That's my rain dance for more action this morning. Let's see if it works! As usual, look for the Linares games at the Internet Chess Club and at www.chess.fm... and check back later for my usual coverage. Good chess!
Three more games today. Be sure to watch on ICC and listen to the broadcast on chess.fm. Here are the pairings:
Kramnik - Leko
Topalov - Radjabov
Vallejo - Shirov
Here are the games, another three draws!
Observant readers will note that Kasparov has the bye today. I will post notes to his interesting game against Leko, but I'm first off to get some sleep after a long trip to New York City this afternoon. I stopped at Fred Wilson's bookshop, a hard to find, small 3rd floor one-room office on 11th street just off Broadway. I bought R.N. Coles' Amos Burn: The Quiet Chessmaster. It's a limited edition, scarce biography with 62 games of this little known master from the turn of the century. One day soon, I hope to present some of Burn's games here.
OK... here's the Leko Kasparov game... and here are about 50 games in this interesting line. You'll notice that Leko has played this line before, so his choice would not have been been a surprise to Garry.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Once again, the Najdorf Sicilian 6.Be3 An invitation to ...e6 and the English attack 6...e5 Attacking the Nd4 once it no longer has b5 as a square 7.Nb3 The point is that, unlike in the Sveshnikov (with Nb5-a3-c2, it's hard to coordinate the knights upon the d5-square. The retreat of Nf3 would block the advance of the f-pawn 7...Be6 And black gets quick counter-play, here fighting for d5. 8.f3 The idea is as in the English attack, with f3, Qd2, 0-0-0, and g4-g5. If Qd2 first, Black can ttry Nc6 and d6-d5 8...Nbd7 All carefully prepared and often played before. The Nbd7 will head to b6 to fight for the d5-square and with Nb6-c4 as an option. 9.g4 Trying to play g4-g5 when the d7 square is already occupied. 9...Nb6 10.g5 Nh5 This is dangerous to black when black has castled and white can open the h-file with Ng3. But the white knights are on the queenside and black has time, if needed, to consolidate with g7-g6 and Ng7. Meanwhile, Kasparov gets ready to attack the g-pawn with Be7 and controls the f4-square. 11.Qd2 Be7 Two attacks upon the g5-pawn and getting ready foir a d5-pawn break. 12.Qf2 Two attacks on the Nb6 12...Nc4 White must take the Nc4 to preserve the Be3 13.Bxc4 Bxc4 14.h4 Defending the g-pawn 14...0-0 Garry decides that, especially with the Nh5 sealing the pawns, his king is safe on the kingside 15.Na4 In these lines, white has to play a4 against the advanced b5-pawn. Here, the Nc3 heads directly for the well controlled b6-square. 15...f5 16.Nb6 Diagram
update: Three more draws today... again, Kasparov had the most interesting game. Here are today's games.
Three draws yesterday, but not for want of effort. As you will see, Kasparov had a nice advantage but could not defeat Radjabov. Garry certainly must have wanted to win in no small part to avenge his loss to Radjabov last year.
Today's pairing:
Shirov - Topalov
Radjabov - Kramnik
Leko - Kasparov
Free day: Vallejo
The Kasparov - Radjabov game was the one I watched. Here is the game and here are about 100 games in this interesting line. I feel confident that white had good winning chances. See if you can find what Garry missed.
1.e4 c5 The first surprise... not his usual French. Garry had to have been ready for that! 2.Nf3 Nc6 The second surprise... not the usual ...d6. Is this an invitation to the Sveshnikov? 3.Nc3 Avoiding the main line (d4), for a move at least. 3...e5 This gives the gave a non-Sicilian character, more akin now to the Italian game with a funny ...c5-pawn 4.Bc4 The most aggressive square in this pawn structure, aiming for control over the key d5-hole. 4...Be7 This dark-squared bishop is another key weakness in black's set-up because the central black pawns will be fixed on dark-squares. Very often, black will try later to trade it off with Be7-g5 5.d3 By contrast, white's "bad" bishop on c4 is outside the pawn structure with impressive control over d5. d2-d3 aims to complete white's development with Nd2-f1-e3. 5...Nf6 Preparing to 0-0. This line is remarably similar to those reached in the Bishop's Opening and Vienna Game save for the funny pawn on c5 (which for black usefully stops d3-d4). 6.Nd2 again, with the idea of Nf1-e3 with additional control over d5 6...d6 To develop the Bc8, usually to e6. The pawn of course is backward, but how to get at it? 7.Nf1 Nd7 With the idea of Nd7-b6 (hitting the Bc4 and defending the d5-square) and releasing Be7-g5 8.Ne3 Nb6 9.Ned5 0-0 Nxc4 is playable, but only barely. White's pawn structure is not that weak, and white would gain an easy attack straight down the d-file with Qd3 and the rooks to the d-file 10.0-0 Bringing the king to safety and the rook to f1 is preparation for f4 10...Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Nimzovitsch: "Occupy the hole with a piece, not a pawn" 11...Rb8 With the idea of ...b5 12.a4 Be6 13.f4 The usual idea in these positions. The White threatens to push f4-f5 with a kingside attack. The exchange of pawns will open the f-file 13...exf4 14.Bxf4 Bg5 To exchange black's bad-bishop for white's good bishop. If Bg3, black will pursue with Bh4. Since the bishops will be exchanged, will Garry play Qh5 15.b3 The fans on ICC expected Qh5 or Qd2 and seem disappointed. 15...Bxd5 16.Bxg5 Qxg5 17.Bxd5 Nb4 Garry has a relatively good bishop against a pretty good knight. But there are no open files (yet) for the rooks. 18.Bc4 Holding on to the bishop, but black can now break with ...d6-d5 18...d5 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Qf3 Pressure building on the f7-pawn. 20...Qe3+ But black has this resource to exchange the queens and relieve the pressure. 21.Rf2 [ 21.Qxe3? Nxe3 attacking the Bc4, the Rf1 and the c2-pawn] 21...Qxf3 22.Rxf3 Dominating the Nd5, which must now be defended or retreat. Rae1 or Raf1 coming soon 22...Nb6 The most natural try. Double rook endgames are very drawish 23.Bb5 Preserving the bishop and inviting the ...a6 a5 move pair. Double rook endgames are drawish, but check ot the pawn weaknesses that black would have there! Meanwhile the Bb5 also cuts off black rooks from challenging on the e-file. A long think here by Radjabov. 23...a6 24.a5 axb5 25.axb6 Rfc8 [ 25...Rfe8 26.Rf5 Rbc8 27.Ra7 g6 28.Rd5 Re7 29.Kf2 Rc6 holds for Black, but a tough line to adopt] 26.Ra5 Attacking the loose pawns 26...c4 27.Rxb5 cxd3 [ 27...cxb3 28.c4+-] 28.c4 The black d-pawn will fall 28...Rd8 Forcing the excvhange of rooks and making sure that white does not have connected pawns 29.Rd5 Rxd5 30.cxd5 Rd8 Some ICC players favored ...d3-d2 Rd3 31.Rxd3 Rd6 Black must capture the b-pawn to restore material equality, but Kasparov can use the time required to bring up his king and to threaten d5-d6 32.Kf2 Kf8 33.Ke3 Rxb6 34.Kd4 Ke7 35.Kc5 An active posting for the king with the idea of d5-d6 35...Rh6 36.h3 Rg6 37.g4 The Rd3 has become the anchor for all of white's pawns. White can patiently prepare b4-b5 and Ra3-a7 or play more actively with Rd4-b4 37...Rg5 Diagram
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