cewn 1 à 70

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 1 2nd of March 2012


Editorial Preface

combined with a nice puzzle section, plus endgame lectures and a surprise section that will change every week. Enjoy!

Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter (CEWN) is here! In the beginning of February, during my stay in Budapest, I had a few nice dinners with my “old” friend Balogh Csaba. In our talks about the Chess Evolution books, and what changes could be made in the future for their improvement, we came to the idea to create a “light version” product for a larger audience, aiming to help the chess development of the “chess lovers” of all levels. This is how the idea of CEWN was born. Of course the road from an idea to a complete product was long, it required a lot of work and will require even more in the future as it has to be updated every week. But we are both very enthusiastic about CEWN and we truly believe it is going to be a great addition to any chess player’s daily fun! For that we promise our readers a full dedication, bringing you the most exciting read in your email every week. You can judge for yourself whether our efforts are worthy by yourselves after the first issue of CEWN J To make it especially enjoyable for our readers, we decided to start with six different languages, as we believe that reading in the mother language is a lovely extra for every chess fan. In our weekly newsletter we will try to be creative and not only present “dry” chess material, but interesting articles, making the reading experience enjoyable for all. Readers will be able to find four of the most interesting games from the past week, a rare game from a World Champion

The most important events of the Chess Week 1. German Bundesliga, rounds 11 to 15

My club Baden-Baden continues its domination in the German Bundesliga with 1 point lead ahead of Bremen. Next weekend, March 17th and 18th , will take place the clash between the two teams and we can expect a very exciting battle for the pole position. The surprising team of Eppingen, which has been sharing until the last round the 2nd place with Bremen, lost surprisingly to the team of Hamburg and is now without chances to reach the golden medals. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

OSG Baden-Baden 20 Werder Bremen 19 SC Eppingen 17 SG Solingen 15 SF Katernberg 15 SG Trier 13 SV Wattenscheid 13 SV 1930 Hockenheim 11 SF Berlin 11 Mülheim Nord 10 Turm Emsdetten 8 SK König Tegel 7 Hamburger SK 6 SC Hansa Dortmund 5 2


15. USV TU Dresden 4 16. SC Remagen 2 2. Polish Championships 2012

A particularly exciting event with a dramatic finish came to an end. Mateusz Bartel and Bartlomiej Macieja shared the first place with the amazing score of 7 out of 9. In the tiebreak luck was on the side of Bartel, who makes with this result his hat-trick at the Polish Championship. Just a few weeks ago Mateusz managed to win the Aeroflot Open and qualified with it for the Super Tournament in Dortmund. An amazing year for the Polish GM!! For that we have dedicated a special featured game by the champion in this first edition of CEWN.

4-7. WGM Jaracz Barbara 2281, WIM Worek Joanna 2234, WFM Kulon Klaudia 2238 and WGM Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina 2377 — 5.0 8. WFM Iwanow Anna 2180 — 3.5 9-10. Chrząszcz Malvina 2074 and WIM Matras-Clement Agnieszka 2305 — 2.0 Arkadij Naiditsch

The clear 3rd place in the tournament was taken by Miton Kamil with 6,5 and 4th is Radoslaw Wojtaszek with 6 points. 1-2. GM Bartel Mateusz 2658 and GM Macieja Bartlomiej 2617 — 7.0 3. GM Miton Kamil 2623 — 6.5 4. GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2706 — 6.0 In the female section the first place was shared as well. Rajlich Iweta and Majdan-Gajewska Joanna finished with 6 points from 9, the 3rd place went to Zawadzska Jolanta with 5,5. 1-2. IM Rajlich Iweta 2428 and WGM Majdan-Gajewska Joanna 2387 — 6.0 3. WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2358 — 5.5

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4 best games of the past week

with tempo. 10...c5! Black prepares for counterattack on the queenside with a6 and b5. He tries to give a role for his knight on a5.

(1) Naumann,Alexander (2546) — Rapport,Richard (2547) [E62]

11.e4 d7 12.c2 a6 13.b3! For White it is necessary to hold the c4 pawn. If Black could force him to take on b5, then he would achieve big advantage. However, if White manages to keep his structure, then the a5 knight will be out of the game forever.

Schachbundesliga 2011/2012 (11), 26.02.2012 [Balogh Csaba] After checking numerous games, Arkadij and I agreed without any doubts, that the following game was the best of the week. The White player is a solid GM from Germany, Alexander Naumann, while Black is the 2nd youngest grandmaster in the World, Richard Rapport! He is currently the prodigy of Hungary, and is only 16 years old. In a very complicated and difficult middlegame, both players found the strongest moves and the game finished with a spectacular perpetual check. Let’s get it on!

13...b5 14. b1 h5 15. b2 e5! After White successfully stabilized the queenside pawn structure, Black is forced to find another plan. Rapport finds an excellent way to do this, he organizes his play on the kingside. 16.e2 f5! 17.f4!

1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 g7 4.g3 0–0 5. g2 d6 6.0–0 c6 7.c3 The starting position of the King’s Indian defence, 4.g3 system. Black has many different setups, from which, the main move is 7... a6, with the same idea as the text move, preparing for queenside action with b5. 7... b8 8.h3 After preventing g4, White wants to occupy the center with e4. [8.e4 g4] 8... f5 A very rare move! According to my database, only 9 times it has been tried before. The idea is simply to stop e4. [The main move is 8...a6 9.e4 b5 with very long theory, and hundreds of games.]

The tension has grown to the maximum! All the pawns and pieces have prepared for the battle. So it is time for immediate action! 17...bxc4 18.bxc4

9.d5 a5 10.d2 Logical reac tion by White. He sends the knight to the edge of the board, where in general it is poorly placed, and at the same time, he wants to push e4 4


25... d4! [25...xf4+? 26.xf4 xf4 27. b8+ suddenly Black king would get into danger.] 26. f3 Seems like, Black can resign, but...

18... xb2!! A fantastic intuitive exchange sacrafice by Rapport! He wants to clarify the situation and opens up the center for his bishops, in order to lunch a mating attack. The value of the King’s Indian bishop on g7 will be much higher than the rook on b2. 19. xb2 exf4 20.gxf4 fxe4 21.xe4 h4!? Black could have reset the material equality, but he prefers to save his bishop for the attack! [21... xb2 22.xb2 would lead to more or less balanced position in both lines. 22...e7 (22... xc4 23.c3 b6 24. xd6) 23.c3] 22. bb1 Naumann tries to save his exchange advantage for the future, but with this he gives an important tempo to his opponent. 22... xh3 23. xh3 xh3 Only the a5 knight seems to be out of the game, but it has a very important role, to prevent White from playing b3, bringing in this way an important defender around his king.

26...xc4!! Lightning from a clear sky! White cannot accept any of the hanging pieces because he would lose more material. However, he also comes up with a brilliant idea! 27.xd6!! Naumann tries to lure the knight, if he manages then the queen could be taken. Meanwhile, he threatens to take on c4 with both pieces, since e4 is not hanging anymore. So, Black needs to act urgently! [27.xc4? xe4–+; 27. xe3?? xe3+–+]

24. f2! The only move! Tries to protect the king. 24... e3!? Very talented and resourceful idea. He had to foresee his 26th move and, and also the consequences of it. 25.g2 White threatens to trap the queen with f3, however, Rapport had this idea in mind.

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27... xf4!! Amazing! Another sacrafice!! Let’s count! From White’s point of view, his rook and knight are hanging, while on the other side queen, rook, and knight are in the air. 28.xf4! White chooses to take the right piece! 28...xf4+ 29. xf4 xf4 30.xc4 g4+! And after a plenty of only moves by both sides, White ended up with a rook more, but Black can give perpetual check with the cooperation of his remaining pieces. 31.h2 [31.f1 White cannot escape this way 31...g1+ 32.e2 f2+ 33.d1 f1+ 34.d2 f2+ 35.c1 (35. d3 f5+=) 35...e1+ 36.d1 c3+ 37.c2=] 31...h4+ 32.g2 g4+ 33.h2 h4+ 34.g2 g4+ Draw! A very exciting game, where both players deserved to get the full point, but unfortunately it was not possible for any of the sides, they had to share it. My experience strangely shows that in games likes this, when all the pieces are hanging, there is very high percentage for draws. But in any case a fantastic game, truly deserving to win the title game of the month! 1/2

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(2) Lauber,Arnd (2464) — Baramidze,David (2591) [E50]

positions it is usually important to start first some action on the king side. 11...g6 12.xg6 hxg6 13. g5]

BL 2011/2012 (11), 26.02.2012

8...e5 9.dxe5?! This is a very concrete play, but a serious mistake. Better would have been of course to move 9.d5 and White might be still a bit better. [9.0–0?! cxd4 10.cxd4 g4 And only Black can be better; 9.d5 bd7 10.0–0 h5]

[Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.d4 We do not witness often a win for black in “Nimzo” in 24 moves! For this help from White is needed and of course a great play by Black. In the current game White problems are starting by being greedy with 9. dxe5 e 10.xe5. On this Black reacts with the right idea, but a wrong concrete play giving White a chance for a great tactical blow 12. xf7!!. Instead White is choosing the wrong 12.xd7 and getting very quickly under deadly attack. Let’s see details of how the game developed.

9...dxe5 10.xe5

1...f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.e3 More usual is the move order 4....0–0, and at 5. f3 c5. In the current game it makes no difference, but in general it could... 4...c5 Back to the main lines, another option for White is 5.f3 [5.ge2 cxd4 6.exd4 0–0 7.a3 e7 8.f4] 5...0–0 6. d3 xc3+?! I don’t think this can be the right desicion. Black is giving away his bishop and White has not even asked Black for it by playing a3. We can find thousands of games played after [6...d5 7.0–0 c6]. 7.bxc3 d6 8.e4 White is too impatient. Better is first to wait for the Black knight to come out to c6 and then play e4, and at Black’s e5 to have d5 with a tempo. [8.0–0 c6 9.e4 e5 (9...cxd4 10.cxd4 e5 11.d5 b4 12.c5! a very important move, in case Black would have managed to play d7 and made the blockade on c5, Black would have been the one smiling) 10.d5 e7 11.h4! In this type of

Who said A must say B. [10.0–0 c6 still probably with more or less equal position.] 10... e8?! The most logical, but not the correct one. Here we see a clear example of how vast the game of chess is. Probably almost all of us would have played here the move that we see in the game and eventually would have ended up with a 0 instead of having a stable advantage and push for a full point. [10...d6! a hard move to find over the board. 11.f4 a) 11.f3 d8! Here we can see the idea of 10...d6 12. e2 (12.e5 xd3 13.xd3  xd3 14.exf6  xc3 con With a big and clear advantage in the endgame) 12... xd1+ 13. xd1 xe4 14. c2 e8 15. e3 c6 16.0– 7


0 b6 White’s position is really unpleasant and probably the pawn on c3 will fall soon. Not often we can see the case when the combination of + is dominating against + , of course White’s horrible pawn structure is heping that.

11...bd7

b) 11. f4 e8 12. c2

12.xd7? Giving away a sudden chance. [12.xf7!

12...c7! A silent but very strong move. White cannot save the exchange of two light pieces against the Blacks rook, which gives Black a clear advantage 13.0–0 xe5 14. xe5 xe5 15.d8+ e8 16. fd1 c6 17.c7 g4 18.f3 c8; 11...c6 Black needs to act very quickly, not giving White a “free” move to castle. 12.0–0 (12. xc6 xc6 13.0–0  xe4) 12...xe5 13.fxe5 xe5 14.e1 g5! Amazing move! Not often we can see moves like that, but in the concrete situation it is giving Black a stable advantage. With the move 14...g5 Black is not letting White’s bishop out of c1 to f4, which is disturbing White’s development. Black’s idea is easy, to be safe on the kingside and by playing d7-c6, ae8 eat away White’s pawn on e4. But of course a move like “g5” is clearly a move from the category “dont try this at home”.] 11.f4 [11. f4 c7]

A fantastic move! White is giving away a piece for just a pawn, but getting in exchange enough time to castle and now be the one with dangerous threats! 12...xf7 13.0–0 Due to many tactical threats, Black is not able to keep a piece up, even to give it back for 2 pawns. Now we can feel clearly the power of White’s bishop pair combined with White’s central pawns! 13...g8 14.e5 b6 It might be that Black has chances for escaping, but White is doing clearly much better.] 12...xe4! A great move based on exact calculation. [12... xd7? 13.e5 and White is just a pawn up.] 8


13.e5 Probably better chances for escape would give [13.0–0 xd7 14. e1 c6 White’s position is very bad, but still not lost.] 13...h4+ 14.g3 xg3 15.hxg3 [15. g1 e4+-+]

20... d7! White is not able to defend one of his bishops, which is leading to immediate loss of the game. 21. b1 de7 22.g1 xe2+ 23.xe2 xe2 24. xb7 g2 0–1

15...xh1+ 16.d2 xd1+! The most simple win. 17.xd1

17...f6! The key move of Black’s idea started with 12... xe4! White’s knight does not have other squares for escape than to go back to f3 , which is giving enough time to create deadly threats. 18.f3 g4 19. e2 ad8+ 20. d2

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(3) Bartel,Mateusz (2658) — Markowski,Tomasz (2612) [B40] Polish-ch Warsaw POL (9), 26.02.2012

13...b4 Both sides have their plans. White needs to concentrate on kingside attack, while Black must try to find counterplay on the queenside, with a5, a6 ideas.

[Balogh Csaba] The second game that we will look into this edition of CEWN is from the last round of the Polish individual Championship. Bartel had to win, in order to win the event. His opponent was the strong and experienced GM Tomasz Markowski. Bartel played the game with huge self-confidence because he has just won the strongest open of the season - Aeroflot Open in Moscow. Let’s enjoy the game! 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.c3 a6 4.g3 White decides to play a non-theoretical position to force his opponent into thinking right from the start of the game. 4...b5 5. g2 b7 6.d3 d6 7.0–0 f6 [Practice shows that it is better to start with 7... e7 to prevent White’s next move.] 8.g5! White lunches immediate attack, frees the way for his f-pawn. 8...c6 9.f4 e7 10.e2 White wants to occupy the center with his pawns. He is intending to play c3 and then d4. 10...0–0 11.c3 d5 Markowski wants to open up the position, but of course Bartel is not partner in this plan. White has to keep the center closed, in order to attack on the flank. This is an important rule! 12.e5! d7 13.d4 Prevents Black from pushing d4 by doing it himself.

14.h4! Protects the knight and But in any case a fantastic game, truly deserving to win the title game of the monthin that way creates the dangerous threat of f5! It forces Black to send away the attacker from g5, but with this he weakens his own kingside. 14...h6 15.h3 a5 16.f5! The attack is coming anyway, even if it is less dangerous than with the knight on g5. Now the knight might appear on f4, and later on h5 with potential sacrifices. White wants to play f6!, this forces Black to take on f5. 16...exf5! 17. xf5 bxc3 [In my opinion, here Black should have chosen a different direction for his bishop with 17...b6 18. f2 c8! 19.ef4 (19.hf4 g4!) 19... bxc3 20.bxc3 cxd4 21.cxd4 f5! with double-edged position.] 18.bxc3 cxd4 19.cxd4 a6 White protects his knight on e2, attacks the d5 pawn, and brings another piece into the attack. However, it might seem, that he closes the way back for his rook on f5, where it could be trapped. 10


20.hf4! b6 [interesting tactical lines arise after 20... g6!? 21.xg6! fxg6 22. xd5+ h7 23. xf8 (23.d2 g5!) 23...xf8 24. xc6 xe2 25.xe2 xd4+ 26.e3! c5! (26...xa1 27.xh6+ g8 28.d5+ e6 29. xe6#) 27.h2! which favours for White at the end.]

22.xg6! The fireworks begin with an intuitive knight offer which destroys the defenders of the king! 22...fxg6 23. xf8+ xf8 24.f4! Bartel is not in a hurry! He is a piece down and plays a quiet move. However, this kind of quiet moves are sometimes the most unpleasant. In one move White has created so many threats (xg6, e6, c2, g4, xb6) that Black is unable to defend himself. 24... b8 [Even the computer’s most stubborn move gives no chance to save the game: 24... c8 25.xg6! f5 26.xf8 xb1 27. xh6! xb1, and g4 threats 27... f5 28.f3! xd4 29.f2+-] 25.g4 [25.c2! was more precise, according to the computer as well 25...e7 26.xg6+- with winning attack.]

21. b1!! Bartel prepares for a sacrifice with both of his rooks. Now, he is ready to take on b6, and then on d5. 21...g6? [21... c8 22. xb6! xb6 23.xd5 d8 24. f2 would have given more than enough compensation for White, but still, this should have been the way for Black to play.]

25...e8 26.xg6 g7 This allows White to finish the game beautifully. [26...h7! would have been the only move, but still after 27.f4 White has only a small material disadventage (2 pawns for the piece), yet his strong attack continues. (27.h5!? also very interesting. 27... d3 28. xb6! xb6 29.f4 Despite being a rook down, the threat of xd3 and xd5 gives white better position.)]

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27. xb6!! After eliminating the defender of the d5 pawn, White’s bishop enters the battle and decides the outcome of the game. 27... xb6 28. xd5+ h7

29.f5!! [29.f5 and Black resigned because after 29... xg6 (otherwise f8+ double check and then h7 mate) 30. g8+! xg8 31.xg6+- and Black cannot do anything against the threats xh6 and d5. Great victory from Bartel, who continued his winning streak! Right after winning the Aeroflot open, he became Polish Champion as well!] 1–0

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(4) Lenic,Luka (2641) — Zherebukh,Yaroslav (2580) [E81]

tion after 12...a5 a 13.e5!) 13.a5 now Black wanted to play a5 13...b4)]

BL 2011/2012 (10), 25.02.2012

9. d3 [9.g4 a6 10.h4 (10.h6?!  xh6 11.xh6 b6 12.0–0–0 b3!) 10...h5 11.g5 d7 12.0–0–0 With a very sharp play and chances on both sides. White will try to create an attack by pushing the f pawn forward, Black instead will search his counter chances by playing c5 or trying a break through by playing b5.]

[Arkadij Naiditsch] We are facing a very interesting and exciting game with many culmination moments! It seems like the opening battle was won by Black, who managed to get a nice position. Afterwards in a very complex position Black made a mistake, instead of 23... e6 ? Black should have played the 23... xd4 with a better position. Then we see a rare position where White is material down, but is totally dominating the board. A great example of a typical game of a Kings-indian defence! Let’s get it on! 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6. e3 c6 [6...c5 This is the main move of the theory.] 7.d2 a6 a relatively rare continuation. Black is avoiding a concrete play against White center for a while-instead they are trying first to create some pressure by playing b5 and only after to continue with e5 or c5moves.

9...a6 10. d1 A profilactical move against the Blacks threat b4. [10.ge2 b4 11. b1 To exchange the bishop for black’s knight is not an option for White. After the exchange Black will do perfectly fine 11...e5= And White’s rook on a1 is out of play.] 10...e5 11.ge2 e7 To me this move is looking a little strange. Why not to choose the 11...exd4 or 11...d7, both of these moves seem to be more logical. 12.0–0 exd4 13. xd4 [13.xd4 d7 and due to the weak field on b4, Black is doing well.] 13... e8

8.a4 a radical action against Black’s plan, but it is leaving a whole on the b4 square and probably leaving White without any opening advantage. [8. d3 b5 9.ge2 is another way for White to continue the game.] 8...a5 [Why not 8...bd7 9. d3 e5, and the answer is bacause is probably because of the 10.d5! (10.ge2 exd4 11. xd4 c5!? an interesting tactical try to get immediatelly a comfortable positions. (11...a5 this would lead us to a similar position as we can see later in the game) 12. c2 b6! (Black is not in time to get the ideal posi-

14.h1 White is putting the king on the safe square h1 and preparing for the future attack by plaing f4-f5. 13


14... f8 Black is trying to get the knight to c5 without exchanging the bishops. A dangerous plan because it costs Black at least a tempo and White is fully prepared to start a strong play on the kingside. More safe was. [14... d7 15. xg7 xg7 16.g3 dc5 17. e2 d8 18.f4 f6 White has more space and some attacking chances on the king side, but the position is far away from clear. In case Black manages to play e6-f7 then d7-d8 then b4 and maybe to break through with d5 — Black will do very nicely.] 15. de1 in my opinion an “over preparation” from White, it was time to start some action by playing [15.g3 d7 16.f4 and we are having a very unclear position. The first assessment says Black’s position is looking very passive and dangerous, but Black’s position has also many pluses. In case Black manages to develop pieces like: dc5, b4, h6 Black will create a strong pressure on White’s center, and each movement in the center will generate a hole in it which Black immediatelly would make use of. In fact, here we are facing a very typical king indian position with very good chances for both sides. May the stronger player win :)] 15...d7 16.f4 Finally White is starting to march forward. 16... h6 17.g3

17...ac5?! [17...dc5! letting also the bishop on c8 to participate in the game 18. c2 b4 and here we can clearly see why White should have not played 8.a4. 19. xc5 (19.e5 dxe5 20. xe5 e6 even if the position is still super complicated, it looks like Black’s chances are not worse than of his opponent.) 19...dxc5 20.e5 White is trying their last hope, to bring the  to f6, but it seems that White is too slow for that. 20... e6 21.b3 (21.ge4 ed8 22.e2  xc2 23.f6+ h8 24.xc2 d4 and Black is dominating the game.) 21... ad8 22.f2 f5! a very important move, often used as a “blocker” against the White attacking attemps.] 18. c2 b6! absolutely correct play by Black, he needs to try to be as solid as possible in the center, and wait for the White’s break through hoping to have enough rrsistance against it. 19.f2 f8

20.e5 White had enough of moving around and starts the concrete action — finally! 20...dxe5 21.fxe5 g7 The culmination of the game. There is not a single major exchange until now, all pieces except a few pawns are on the board, and White has a 14


very wide range of attacking possibilities. It is very hard to take the right desicion over the board. 22.ce4?! White is choosing the wrong knight move [a very interesting sacrifice was 22.f5!? gxf5 23.xf5 f6 24.f4 g4 25.e4 xe4 26. xe4 With a strong attack.] 22... xe5

development.) 24.xd7 xe1 25.xd4 xf1+ 26.xf1 xd7 27.xd7 c5 In this a bit unusual position, probably only Black is the one who can fight for a win due to the bad White pawn structure plus very uncordinated position of White pieces. In case Black manages somehow to get out the rook from a8 to d or e file, the position of White could get from dangerous into bad.] 23... e6? [23... xd4! would have been the correct reply, Black needs to change pieces and the more the better, for it the main goal is to reduce White’s attacking power. 24.xd4 xe1 25. xe1 e6 We can see that Black is doing now very solid again. 26.d2 a6 27.b3 (27.df5 b4!) 27...dc5 and it is quite unclear if White has anything for the pawn. Black is doing clearly better!] 24.xf7 f6

And here White goes for a very spectacular move 23.d6!? Probably the decisive mistake of the game.

[24... xd4 25.xd4 and the mate on h8 is deadly.]

[Also 23.xc5 would bring White no winning chances after 23... xd4 (23...bxc5 24. xe5  xe5 25.e4 for a pawn White has a strong initiative due to Black’s bad

25.xe5! Great play by White. White will be material down, having only Rook + piece against the Black queen, but the open position of the Black’s monarch plus the under development of the a8+c8 gives White enough time to create a deadly net around Black’s King [Too 15


passive way to bring Black into trouble is 25.e3?! xf7 26. xe5 xe5 27.xe5 e6 ] 25... xf2 26. xf2 e7 [26...d6 This move is giving White a chance for a very beautiful finish

Black is hopeless against the White attack.

27.g4! xd4 28. e8+ g7 29.h5+! gxh5 30. e7+ g8 31.h6+ h8 32. xh7#] 27. fe2 xe5 [27...d6 28.xc6 xc6 29. e8+ f8 30. 1e7 ce6

28...e6 Best way to fight in a lost position, more quickly the game would end after. [28...d6 29. e8+ f7 30. e5 d2 31. c3! With a deadly attack on the naked king.] 29.c5 a pretty move, White wants to bring an extra piece into the attack by playing b3, but White’s position is already strong enough to end the game even without it. [29. c3 and the next White move is e4 after which White threat will lead to a loss of some material for Black and the loss of the game consecutively.] 29...bxc5 30. c3 c4 The only move to block the  [immediately loosing is 30... b8 31. d3! The bishop is reaching his final destination, the diagonal a2-g8] 31.e4 f8

31.h5!!] 28. xe5+-

16


32. b1 White is bringing the bishop to a2 where Black will not be able to protect his c4 pawn. [Another move with the same idea would have been 32. d1 Black cannot defend against the multiple White threats like g4 or e2 and in case of 32...c7 33. e2 d5 (33...a6 34.f1+-) 34. xc4 a6 35. xd5 xc4 36. d7+- White is obviously winning.]

2 tempos in the last 2 moves doesn’t help Black to have a chance for an escape. 36... d8 37.h3 [37. f1 Again the same winning move would end the game instantly, probably such an inaccuracy can be only explained by the deep time trouble.] 37... d7 38. e6 g7 39.f6+ f7 40.xd5

32...c7 33. a2 d5 This move is losing immediatly. [White would have a chance for a pretty combination now 33... a6 34. xa5 d5 35. xa6! a very typical, but anyway beautiful sacrifice 35... xa6 36. xc4 Black is a queen up for only 2 light White pieces, but nothing can save Black from a 0 in the tournament table 36... xa4 37.f6+ f7 (37...xf6 38. xd5+ With just a piece up for White) 38.xd5 xc4 (38...cxd5 39. xd5# a very nice mate!!) 39. f1+ e8 40. xf8+ xf8 41.f6+-] 34. xc4 b7

Too much is too much, Black resigns 1–0

35.g5 This move doesn’t change much, but why not to finish the game immediatly by playing [35. f1! h6 36.f6+ h8 37.xd5+-] 35...h6 36.e4 We can rarely see such a domination of the White pieces over the Black ones. Even loosing 17


Puzzle section

(7) Henrichs,T (2473) — Fontaine,R (2552) Schachbundesliga, 25.02.2012

(5) Vallejo Pons,F (2716) — Maiwald,JU (2459)

[Balogh Csaba]

Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012



[Balogh Csaba] 

(8) Fontaine,R (2552) — Najer,E (2637) (6) Wegener,D (2364) — Nisipeanu,LD (2638)



[Balogh Csaba]

[Balogh Csaba]



=

18


(9) Huschenbeth,N (2510) — Postny,E (2622)

(11) Moranda,W (2568) — Gajewski,G (2616)


Warszawa, 23.02.2012

[Balogh Csaba]

[Balogh Csaba]





(10) Volokitin,A (2686) — Steingrimsson,H (2562)

(12) Moranda,W (2568) — Mista,A (2587)


Warszawa, 26.02.2012

[Balogh Csaba]

[Balogh Csaba]





19


(13) Kempinski,R (2610) — Jaracz,P (2542) Warszawa, 24.02.2012 [Balogh Csaba] 

(14) Jaracz,P (2542) — Kuzmicz,K (2451) Warszawa, 26.02.2012 [Balogh Csaba] 

20


Endgame section (15)

1. g7+! f8 2. h7! The winning technique! Because of the mate threat, Black is forced to move into the f7 check, but then he quickly loses he rook. 2...g8 3.f7+ f8 4. h8+ e7 5. xb8 1–0

[Balogh Csaba] In the first month, we will study theoretical rook endgames. It is really useful to remember all these examples because despite the small amount of pieces on the board, we can very often meet these situations in practice! 1... h6 Occupying the 6th rank is a very important defensive method. This is the so-called Philidor position. White’s only try to improve his position is to push his pawn, but then the king will have no shelter against the vertical checks, and Black holds the draw. 2.e6 h1= 1/2

(17) [Balogh Csaba] In contrast to the previous example, in case of g- and hpawns, Black can hold the draw, even with passive defense. 1. g7+ h8 2. h7+ g8 White’s only winning chance could be i7, however the chess board is not wide enough to make this move. 1/2

(16) [Balogh Csaba] In case the defensive side had no possibility to take the active position, and gives perpetual check vertically, then White has a winning position, if he has e- or f-pawn. 21


(18) [Balogh Csaba]

have 5 pawns on the same file, against the Philidor defense, he could not win the game. 1/2

Useful to know, if White has 2 g-pawns, and Black is forced to defend passively, then White can convert his adventage into winning. 1. a6! Very precise move to avoid stalemate! [After 1.g7? Black would survive in spectacular way 1... c6+ 2.g6 xg6+! 3.xg6 stalemate] 1... b8 2.g7! This time, there is no danger of giving stalemate. 2... c8 3. f6! b8 4. f8+! The 2nd g-pawn gets its role. This is the only way to win! 4... xf8 5.gxf8Q+ xf8 6.h7 1–0

(19) [Balogh Csaba] If Black has the chance to defend with the Philidor method, he holds the draw even against doubled pawns. White could have double e- or f-pawns as well, against the right defense, he can not win the game. 1.g6 b1! And, as we already know, Black holds the draw with vertical checks. 2.h6 h1+ 3.g5 b1 4.g7 b6 5.h5 c6 6.g5 b6 7.g6 b1 The funny thing is, White could 22


Clash of the Titans (20) Alekhine,Alexander — Opocensky,Karel [D10] Paris Paris, 1925 [Balogh Csaba] I would like to present you a game played by the 4th World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine. The game was played in 1925, when he was 43 years old. Two years later he won the Title against Capablanca. Alekhine played this game in his usual tactical style, bringing all his pieces into the attack, and when the moment arrived he made a final decisive blow.

e7 should have been played, but still after 11. b3 0–0 12. e3 f6 13.f3˛ White has a small advantage, thanks to his nice central pawns.] 11.d5!! The World Champion immediately opens the files on Black’s king, which is stuck into the center. 11...exd5 12.g3! This subtle in-between move is needed before taking back on d5, in order for the bishop on c4 not to hang 12...f6 13.exd5 c5 Black decides to find shelter for his king on f8. [We will see, if he wants to castle, it would not help as well. 13... e7 14. e1 e5 (14...0–0 15.dxc6!+-)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.c3 f6 4.e3 f5 An inaccuracy in the Slav defence. Because of this, Black loses the fight for the center. Alekhine finds the best way to exploit it. 5.cxd5! xd5 By taking with the knight, Black admits his mistake in the previous move, and enters a slightly worse position. [Still it is a better decision than taking with the pawn since after 5...cxd5 which would be the necessary reaction, if Black wants to equalize in the opening, White quickly attacks the weakend b7  with 6.b3 and the typical defence with 6...b6 would not work, because of 7.xd5! xb3 8.xf6+! check, and White wins a pawn.]

15. f4! very nice temporary piece sacrifice 15...xc4 16.d6 0–0–0 (16...0–0 17.dxe7 fe8 18.d7

6. c4 e6 7.ge2! The right de velopment of the knight. White’s plan is to push e4 in the next move, since then after xc3, he can take back with the kningt, controlling the e4 square. 7...d7 8.e4 xc3 9.xc3 g6 10.0–0 h4?! Hard to explain this move, Black starts kingside action with his queen. However, he loses important time in development, which Alekhine effectively exploits. [10... 23


Black has serious problems with activating his pieces, due to the e7 pawn.) 17.d5!! In order to be able to take on e7, White must first close the d-file. 17...cxd5 18.dxe7 de8 19.xd5+- and mate is coming soon, all the lines are open in front of the Black king. Alekhine would definitely find all these hard moves, this kind of play was in his vain.] 14. e1+ f8 15. f4! Developing, and defending the f2 square at the same time. 15...b6 16. b3 [16.dxc6!? bxc6 17.e4 xe4 18. xe4 xc4 19. xc4+- Would lead to big adventage for White, but Alekhine prefers to keep many pieces on board, in order to mate his opponent.] 16...h5 Black tries to push h4, trying to create some attack on the h-file. At the same time he opens the h7 square for his king. If he could reach there, then he could make some kind of artificial castling and connect the rooks. [16... d8 17.e2 xd5 18.xd5 cxd5 19. ad1+-] 17.h4! Alekhine does not give any counterplay to Black. 17...g8 18. c1! Great move, brings the last unemployed piece into the fight. This is a typical sign of a great player!

20.e4! Forces Black to give up his defending bishop on g6. Of course, our hero happily sacrifices his b2 little pawn. 20... xe4 21. xe4 c5 [21... xb2 22. c5+-] 22.e2! Small, but brutal move. White wants to penetrate on the e-file with his rook. e7 and e8+ are the main threats, this forces Black to make another weakening around his king. 22...g6 23. g5 d6 24.f3! White lunches decisive attack against the Black king, by attacking the f7 and g6 pawn. 24...f8

18... d4 19.dxc6 bxc6

24


[24... h7 25. f4 f8 26. h6! not the only possible win, but definitely the nicest 26... xh6 27. xf7 and the pin decides the game 27...c4 28. xc4!! to keep open the diagonal for the bishop on b3. 28... xf7 (28... xc4 29. xc4+Black is a rook up, but simply unable defend his king from the mating attack.) 29. c8+! xc8 30.xf7+ h8 31.g8# A picturesque mate!]

Surprise section / study (21) Evreinov 1971 

25. xd4! White destroys the main defender, and opens the file for the other rook to finish the game. At this moments, we can realize how great was theGrandmaster’s 18th move. 25...cxd4 26. c6!! The final blow. The rook unexpectedly stops on c6! Probably Black was waiting for c7, which is also winning, but the text move is much stronger. 26...h7 [26... h7 27. xg6+ g7 28.xh5+-] 27. xf7 c8 28. xg6 and xh5 is coming with mate, so Black resigned. A beautiful crush by Alekhine, who showed in this game again how fantastic tactical abilities the great Champion had. 1–0

25

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 2 9th of March 2012

Issue 2 Editorial Preface

9th of March 2012

A warm welcome to our premium subscribers of Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter!

Table of Contents »» Editorial Preface

2

»» 4 best games of the past week

3

First of all, we would like to thank you for investing your trust into CEWN, we promise that we will be working hard to make it even better! We will also be very happy about any kind of feedback, we highly appreciate your opinion! First steps are not easy, but we are working hard to make out of our content a superb and useful combination of chess material.

»» Puzzle section

14

»» Endgame section

17

»» Clash of the Titans

19

»» Surprise section / study

22

In the end of the current issue are the solutions for the previous puzzle section that You can find in CEWN Nr 1.

»» Solutions

22

With the slogan “less words-more chess” enjoy our CEWN Nr 2!!

In the current issue, we have a very nice study in the “surprising section”! In case You manage to solve it, it means You have quite nice tactical and imaginational skills!

Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Volokitin,Andrei (2695) — Jobava,Baadur (2704) [B12] 1. Bundesliga 2011/2012 (4), 01.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] This game was played between two great fighters, the Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin, and the Georgian GM Baadur Jobava. Both players like tactical struggles, so we could expect a very sharp duel. Right after the opening, the game entered into unreal complications, where both players could use their abilities! After a very nice battle, the position was simplified to a drawish endgame. Let’s see the details from this exciting encounter. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Lately the most popular setup against the Caro-kan defence, both players are considered to be big experts of the variation. 5...c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.Nd2 Nbc6 9.N 2f3 Be4 10.0–0 Until this moment there are plenty of games in the database, but here Black tries a really fresh idea, which has been played only once before. 10...Qd7!? Black’s problem is his king, which is stucked into the center. White wants to play c4 now or in the near future, to open up the position. In general, the complications favour him. Therefore, Black’s plan is to prepare for the fight in the center and bring his rook to d8, which could be very useful.

improvement on the previous game, where Bologan played in positional manner, and easily outplayed his opponent. 11. Rc1 Rd8 12.c3 Bxf3 (12...Ng6 could hardly be the Jobava’s idea, since after 13.Ng5 Ngxe5 14.f4 Ng6 15.N xe4 dxe4 16.f5 exf5 17.N xf5 White gets very strong compensation for the sacrificed pawn.) 13.Nxf3 Ng6 14.Qb3 Ngxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bxa7 and White was slightly better, thanks to the pair of bishops in BologanKrush, Gibraltar 2012.] 11... Rd8 12.Nb5! White finds the most challenging move! He has to act urgently, before Black finishes development. Created double threats with Nd6 and Nxa7. 12...Nf5 Jobava gives a pawn for activity! [The passive defence with 12...Nc8 would lead to nice adventage for White after 13.Ng5! a6 14.Nxe4 dxe4 (14...axb5 15.cxd5 Qxd5 16.Qc2 Qxe5 17.Rad1 and Nc5 is coming in the next move, Black will be punished for being undeveloped.) 15.Nc3 Nxe5 16.Nxe4] 13.cxd5! [The immediate 13. Bxa7 would lead to very strong compensation for Black after 13...Nxa7 14.Nxa7 Bc5 15.Nb5 0–0 ] 13...Nxe3 [However, on 13... Bxd5 White can already take the pawn with 14. Bxa7 since after 14...Nxa7 15.Nxa7 he has the very unpleasant threat of Bb5!] 14.dxc6!? After long calculation, Volokition chooses the most concrete way. [However, I think it was better to play simple 14.fxe3! to open the f-file for the rook, and launch an attack against the f7 square 14... Bxd5 15.Ng5! Nxe5 (15... Bc5

11.c4 Volokitin plays in his style, and goes into the complications. [It would also be interesting to see Jobava’s 3


16.Qc1! defends and attacks in the same time! (on 16.N xf7 Black has a nice response with 16...B xe3+ 17.Kh1 Qxf7! 18.R xf7 B xg2+ 19.Kxg2 R xd1 20.R xd1 Kxf7 21.Rd7+ Kg6=) 16...Qe7 17.Nxf7 0–0 18.Nxd8 Rxd8 19.Nc3) 16.Qd4! Black's position is falling apart, the main line is beautiful! 16... Bd6 (16...Nc6 17.Qc3; 16...f6 17.Bh5+! g6 18.R xf6!+-)

20.Nd6+!! A fantastic sacrifice! The kamikadze knight! 20... Bxd6 21. Bb5!! Bc6 22. Bxc6 bxc6

23. Rxd6!! like in giveaway chess. :) 23...Nxd6 24.Qxh8+ Ke7 25.Qf6+ Ke8 26.Qf8#] 14...Qxd1! [14...Qxc6 would be a mistake because of 15.Qa4! Nxf1 16.Nc7+! Ke7 (16...Kd7 17.Bb5+-) 17. Rad1! very difficult move to find, but the idea is simple. White wants to push e4 and win a piece. 17... Bb8 (17...0–0 18.N xd6 Qxd6 19.e4) 18.Nxf7!! Nxf7 19.Qxg7 Be5 (19...Rf8 20.Bh5+-)

4


19. Rc1! This is the point, seems like White is winning, but Jobava finds a very nice way to survive. 19...Na4! The only move! [19... Bxa7 20.c8Q! instead of taking the rook, he promotes queen, and so the h8 is also falling.] 20.cxd8Q+ Finally, he took it! [20. Bb5+ Ke7 21.cxd8Q+ Rxd8 22. Bxa4 Bxa7] 17. Bb5! Qc5 (17...Qxc7 18.Qb4++-) 18. Rc1! Qxc1 19.Qb4++-] 15. Rfxd1 Nxd1 16.c7! This was the point of the 14th move! 16...Nxb2!? Jobava preffers to give up the rook and save his knight, in order to get rid of the dangerous c7 pawn. [16... Rc8 17. Rxd1 Bd5 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.exd6 Kd7 20.Ne5+ Kxd6 21.Nxf7+ Kxc7 22.Nxh8 Rxh8= would lead to equality.] 17.Ng5!? in the next moves, White simply ignores the rook. [17.Nxa7 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Bc5 19.cxd8Q+ Kxd8=] 17... Bg6 18.Nxa7!? Volokitin sets an amazing trap, but Black finds the only moves to survive! 18... Bc5!

20...Kxd8 21.Nb5 b6 The position got simplified, they ended up in an even situation. 22.h4 Volokitin does not give up the fight for the advantage and finds a very nice trick. However, Jobava does not fall into it and finds the best defence again! 22...h6! [22...h5 23. Bd1! Nb2 24. Bc2! this is the idea of the 22nd move. 24...Ke7 25. Bxg6 and Black cannot take back with the h-pawn. 25...fxg6 26. Rc3 White could have still hope for some initiative.] 23.h5! Bxh5 24.Nxe6+ fxe6 25. Bxh5 Ke7 26. Rc4 Nb2 27. Rf4 Rf8 28. Rxf8 Kxf8 and after plenty of precise moves by both sides, the position became dead draw. The fight continued, but the rest is not interesting anymore because of the opposite colored bishops. 29. Be2 Ke7 30.g3 g5 31.Kg2 h5 32.Nc3 h4 33.Ne4 hxg3 34.fxg3 Bd4 35.Nxg5 Bxe5 36. Bg4 Na4 37. Bxe6 Kf6 38. Bb3 Kxg5 39. Bxa4 Bd4 Draw agreed! A very interesting game, full of beautiful ideas! Both players deserve congratulations! 1/2

5


(2) Negi,P (2639) — Wirig,A (2481) [C11] Cappelle la Grande Helsinki (4), 05.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The young Indian GM Negi Parimarjan (19 years old) has won a very nice game against his French GM opponent. We will see a very deep strategical idea in the opening, combined with nice tactical play and mating attack in the middlegame! Let’s enjoy it! 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Lately we see this position often, even on the highest level. Black has a number of different setups, all with very complicated fight. 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0–0 10.0–0–0 Bxd4 11. Bxd4 Qa5 This move belongs to the very original Russian GM Vadim Zvjaginsev, who is famous for his weird openings. (For example, he beat some top players with 1. e4 c5 2.Na3) He played this move successfully in 2010 against top GMs. After that, this variation enjoyed many followers. Let’s understand the point of this move! First of all, Black’s main problem is his bishop on c8. They call it „the bad French bishop”. In many systems Black would have a perfect position, if he could do something with his bishop. So, in the current position, the idea is to play Rb8, followed by b5, b4 and then Ba6 to exchange the bad piece.

ideas. After that, it is already very easy to understand this move. White stops the only plan of his opponent, to push b5. Black, has no choice, he must play a6, in order to continue his plan, but then after the bishop retreats to d3, the b5-b4 and Ba6 idea is not working anymore since the pawn occupies the square! 13...a6 14. Bd3 b5 15.Kb1 b4 16.Ne2 Here we are! The bishop is stuck on c8! It would cost too much time for Black to move away with his queen, then push a5, and prepare for Ba6. 16...Nc5 17.h4! Negi took away his opponent’s counterplay and lauches kingside attack! 17... Bd7 [17...Nxd3 18.cxd3 This structure is always better for White. He can occupy the c-file with his rooks, and later the d4 square with the knight.] 18.b3 [It was time to make a defensive move against Na4-c3, however I preffered 18.Nc1!? with the idea of Nb3 and cxb3 or just continuing the attack on the kingside. The text move weakens the c3, a3 squares.] 18... Rfc8 This loses an important tempo! [18...Na7 was the right move to use the inaccuracy of the previous mistake.] 19.h5 Na7

12. Bf2 White prepares for his next move. We will see the point soon. [Most of the games continued with 12.Kb1 Rb8] 12... Rb8 13. Bb5! Very deep strategical idea by Negi! After the 11th move, we got familiar with Black’s 6


20. Bxc5 [Negi should have kept his bishop on the board, as it is very useful in the following lines: 20.h6! g6 (20... Nb5 21.hxg7) 21.f5! exf5 (21...Nb5 leads to an incredible mate 22.fxg6 fxg6 23.B xc5 R xc5 24.B xg6! hxg6

the queen, and opens the e-file for the rooks. 25... Bxe6 (25...fxe6 26.B xg6! hxg6 27.h7+ Kg7 28.Rdf1 is the easiest mate.) 26.Nd4 with incredible dangerous attack! Too many threats, Bxg6 is just one of them.] 23... Be6 Wirig tries to block the pawn, but Negi has another way to access to the king! [Computer’s recommendation 23...Nc6 does not save Black neither, because of 24.g4! Re8 (24...fxg4 25.Qf2! and Qd8 does not prevent Qf6, since the c5 rook is hanging.) 25.gxf5 Nxe5 26. Rhe1! very difficult move to find for a human, which is directed against the opponent’s back rank. Here even the machine admits that the attack will break through.]

25.Qg5! leads to forced mate, but unexpectedly, White gives it! 25...Na3+ 26.Ka1! N xc2+ 27.Kb2! Qa3+ 28.Kb1+and the king dances out from the checks, so mate is coming in the next moves.) 22.e6! in almost all the lines, Black’s main problem is on the g1–a7 diagonal, where one of the knights is always hanging. 22...fxe6 a) 22... Bxe6 23.Qg5! Nd7 (23...Qd8 24.Qxd8+ R xd8 25.B xc5+-) 24. Bxa7+-; b) 22...Nxe6? 23. Bxa7; 23.Qg5 Kf7 (23...Qd8 24.Qxd8+ R xd8 25.B xc5+-) 24. Bd4] 20... Rxc5 21.f5! White intuitively sacrifices a pawn in order to open up the position of the king. 21...exf5 22.h6 g6 23.Qe3!? The Indian wants to play e6, to free the e5 square for the queen. [However 23.g4 was even better 23...fxg4 24.Qf4 Qd8 25.e6! such sacrifices people should play by heart. The quantity of the pawns does not matter much. It frees the e5 square for

24.g4! fxg4 25.Qf2! And the point is the same as in the 23...Nc6 line, the Qd8 defence against Qf6 is not working because c5 is in the air! Wirig finds the only move to avoid mate immediately, but he cannot save the game anyway. 25...f5 26.exf6 [26.Nd4 was easier way to win 26... Re8 27.Nxe6 Rxe6 28. Bxf5! gxf5 29.Qxf5 with mating attack!] 26... Bf7 27.Nd4 Nc6 7

Issue 2 (3) Naiditsch,Arkadij — Kula,Robert [C61]

9th of March 2012

Dziedzic Memorial (3), 04.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

28. Rde1! After the e- file has been opened, the White rook immediately occupies it. It might appear on e7 and support the coming move. 28...Qb6 [28...Nxd4 was the only move, but it does not give big chance to survive neither. 29.Qxd4 Qb6 30. Re7]

It is a recent game from my rapid tournament in Poland, so please no hard judgment about the mistakes on both sides:) It was an exciting game with chances on both sides and a pretty mating attack for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 my opponent is choosing a rare line in Spanish, which actually was played few times on a very high level by players like Radjabov or Morozevich 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.0–0 Bc5

29.Ne6! Negi transfers his knight to g5, from where it will help more in the attack! 29... Rc3 [29... Bxe6 30.f7+! Bxf7 31.Qf6] 30.Qf4! Mate is coming soon, too many threats are in the air. 30...a5 instead of resignation. White gets a chance to finish the game in style. 31. Bxg6! [31.Ng5 was also winning, but the text move is nicer!] 31... Bxe6 [31... Bxg6 32.f7+ Bxf7 33.Qf6+-; 31...hxg6 32.h7+ Kh8 33.Qh6+-] 32.f7+ and Black resigned, in view of 32...Kf8 33. Rxe6. An instructive game, where in the case of opposite side castling White was clearly faster in the attack! 1–0

6.b4!? I like this move a lot and I think it fits quite well into the type of position. White is better developed and should try to make use out of it. [More often White is choosing here 6.d3 c6 7. Bc4 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 11.Nd2 Ne7 12.Nb3 Bb6 13. Bg5 With maybe a little bit better position for White]

8


6... Bxb4 Most critical move, in my game against Rapport Black played more carefully [6... Bb6 7.Na3! White’s idea is to take away Black’s bishop on b6, after which after the move Bb2 the pawn on d4 is going to be very hard to protect 7...a6 8. Bd3 Ne7 9.e5 0–0 10.Nc4 Ba7 11.a4 Of course I didn’t want to allow Black playing b5 11... d5 (11...b5 12.axb5 axb5 13.Be4 and the bishop on a7 is falling due to the open a-file) 12.exd6 cxd6 13. Ba3 and I been clearly better] 7. Bb2 Bc5 8.c3! Here is the key of the White’s move 6.b4 The current idea with sacrificing on b4 followed by Bb2 and c3 taking control over the center is nothing new. For example in the Italian opening we have it as well 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.b4!? 8...c6 Black is deciding to give immediately away the extra pawn, it would be bad idea to keep the pawn by playing [8...dxc3?! 9.Nxc3 and I have reached exactly what I wanted, my all pieces are developed for „just” a pawn down 9...c6 10.Nd5! leading to a very dangerous position for Black; 8...Qf6 9.Qh5! It is important to have the Queen on h5 before playing cxd4, and soon we see why... 9... Bb6 10.cxd4 Bxd4? (10...c6 11.e5 and White is doing clearly better) 11.e5 Qb6

12.e6! and White is totally winning after this beautiful move] 9.cxd4 now pawns are equal and it is clear that Black didn’t solve the opening problems 9... Be7 the idea of Black is to sort of „blockade” the White Bishop on b2 by playing d5 move and then fulfill the development with Nf6 and O-O. 10. Ba4 [another choice is to play here 10. Bd3 but it seems this move is too slow to give White any advantage 10...d5 11.e5 Nh6 12.Qc2 g6 and I think Black is doing fine here] 10...d5 11.exd5 looks ugly, but probably good play. During the game I was very happy with my position 11...Qxd5 12.Nc3! Of course! The continuation of the idea „no mercy for the undeveloped one” :) 12...Qxd4 this move I played very quickly, too quickly.

13.Qf3?! a logical move, I wanted to continue doing moves that should target something in the Blacks position, now it is the pawn on c6 plus I always have the idea of playing Nd5 in hand. [13. Re1! was the right one to continue White’s initiative, Black is totally paralyzed, at 9


13... Be6 14. Bb3! is very strong, White is taking the only protection figure of the e-file with a little hidden threat of playing Na4 and pawn on g7 is now a target 14...Qd7 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16.Qh5+ and it is obvious that just for a pawn White is achieving a very dangerous attack] 13...Qf6?! [13... Bg4! a very strong move based on an exact calculation 14. Bxc6+ Kf8 15.Qe4 Qxe4 16. Bxe4 Nf6! The key idea of Black which me and my opponent both have missed. White is not able to take the pawn on b7 because of Rb8, and after a 17. Bc2 Rd8 Black is doing fine. The position is probably around equal] 14.Qg3 again not the best, stronger was 14.Qe3 with attack 14... Bd6 the move I was hoping for, but Black had a very hidden defence resource [14...Nh6! after this super strong move the game would be open again 15. Bc2 (15.Nd5 Qxb2 16.Nc7+ (16.Rae1 0–0 17.N xe7+ Kh8) 16...Kd7 17.Nxa8 Bd6 and it seems that White’s attack is coming to an end, Black is doing better) 15...Nf5 16. Bxf5 Bxf5 17. Rfe1]

15...Kf8 [15...Ne7 16.Ne4! Finally the Knight is joining the attack 16... Bxg3 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bxf6] 16.Qe3 again not the best, stronger was [16.Qd3! and Black is almost helpless against the Whites next move Ne4] 16... Be6 17.Ne4 This move I played very quickly again and actually exactly following the line that I calculated, but Black had a big improvement on the way... [17. Bb3 was clearly objectivly the better move for White. The evaluation of the position would stay the same, Black is a pawn up but White has a strong initiative for that] 17...Qxb2 18.Nxd6 Qb4 My opponent played this move very fast, maybe thinking I had blundered

15. Rae1+ 19.Qe5 but this is what I was hoping for and answered almost instantly 19...Qxa4? logical play, especially for rapid chess, but a decisive mistake. What we again missed is another Black’s move [19... Rd8! 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.Qxf5 g6! and Black is doing much better. How fast things can change in chess and what kind of difference a single move can make is amazing!] 10


20.Nf5! now all my ideas are coming true! The Pawn g7 is hanging.

(4) Ragger,Markus (2655) — Bromberger,Stefan (2513)

20...Qg4 [and after 20...Nf6 21.Qd6+ Kg8 22.Ne7+ Kf8 23.Ng6+ Kg8 24.Qf8+ Rxf8 25.Ne7# game would end with a very beautiful check-mate] 21.Qc5+ [21.Qd6+ Ke8 22. Rxe6+ fxe6 23.Qxe6+ Kf8 would not bring White more than a draw]

(4.1), 01.03.2012

21...Ke8 22. Re4! White is bringing both rooks into the attack! 22...Qg6 23. Rb1! Black is hopeless against the White threats. 23... Rb8 probably is losing on the spot, but what else to play? As a chess saying goes „in a bad position there are no good moves”. 24.Qe5 Rd8 25. Rxb7 Nf6 26.Qc5 Nd5 27. Re7+! a pretty finish of an exiting, not very high level but instructive game 1–0

[Arkadij Naiditsch] An interesting and fighting game was played in the Austrian league between the local number 1 and a German GM. After the opening Black was not accurate and got quickly into deep trouble. White played a great game until move 24 where instead of making a full point Markus Ragger let the advantage slowly slip away. From a strategic point of view, a very nice example of how to play this kind of structures with White. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.Nc3 now it was the last chance for White to go into the main lines of the closed Kings indian by paying 6.d4. It seems like White is not very ambitious about the opening and wants to try to overplay the 150 ELO points lower opponent in the later parts of the game 6...e5 [6...c5 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 and we are in a well known Maroczi structures] 7.d3 Nc6 the most standard way of developing the pieces. Another possibility for Black is to play c6, h6, Be6, Nbd7 8. Rb1

11


White’s plan is quite clear-try to develop a play on the Queen side 8...a5! Absolutely good desicion. By playing a5 Black is gaining an open a-file, as well an exchange of one pawn which can be useful in the future 9.a3 Bd7 [9... Nd4 is definitely an option as well for Black 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Ng4 with a very fighting position] 10.b4 axb4 11.axb4 Qc8!? A good multi-functional move! Black is doing two things in one - preparing the move Bh3 with the exchange of the white square bishops and defending the pawn on b7 12.b5 Nd4 13. Bg5 the first critical moment of the game. Black is having a safe position, but to find the right way to play is not that simple.

17.b6! an excellent play by White. With the 17.b6 White is crushing all Black’s pawn structure which is making White’s knights super dangerous. A very typical example of how to play this type of positions with the White pieces

13... Re8 [13...Ne6 could be the other Black’s choice 14. Be3 Re8 (14...Ng4?! would be a typical way for Black to go wrong 15.Bd2 f5 16.Ng5! and White is doing better)]

17...c6?! [also to a worse position for Black leads 17...exd4 18.Nd5 c6 19.Nc7 Bf5 20.Nxa8 Qxa8 21. Ra1 Qb8 (21... Qd8 22.B xc6!) 22.Nf3 and White is better, but Black remains with chances to save the game]

14.Nd2 keeping the position complicated [a bit simple, but not a bad choice is now 14.Nxd4!? exd4 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Bd8 (16...Bg7 17.b6!) 17.Qd2 and White is keeping hopes for a small advantage]

19...f5!? under pressure Black is making a decision to go into complications rather than continue to be passive.

18.Nde4 Qb8 19.d5 a great play by White until now, Black’s position is getting more and more dangerous.

14...Ng4?! Black’s play is too aggressive [14... Bg4 15. Re1 Nd7 would have been a much safer way] 15.e3! strong move [15.Nd5 an interesting position appears after 15...h6 (the logical 15...f6 is getting countered by 16.e3! fxg5 17.exd4 exd4 18.Ne4 with very good play for White) 16.Ne7+ Rxe7 17. Bxe7 Nf5 18.h3 Nxf2 19. Rxf2 Nxe7 20.Kh2 the position still remains very unclear, but probably the prefference should be on the White’s side] 15...h6 16.exd4 hxg5 12


[19...c5 20.Nb5! Bxb5 21.Qxg4 Ba4 22.Nxg5] 20.Nxg5 [20.h3 was maybe a bit more accurate choice, now Black has to move back their only active piece, the knight on g4 20...Nf6 (20...fxe4? 21.hxg4 exd3 22.Qxd3 Ra3 23.dxc6 bxc6 24.Qd2 and White is close to a win) 21.Nxg5 White is a clear pawn up] 20...e4! in a bad position Black is searching for chances in the complications. Absolutely right decision. [20... Bh6 21.dxc6 bxc6 22.h4]

28.Qxc4? White is totally out of the position and making a „final” inaccuracy after which position is equal. [better was 28.Qb4! a very difficult move to make during the game, but a very strong one as well 28...gxf5 29.Kh1! this prophylactical move is the key to White’s success. White is preparing an attack on the Black’s king 29... Bf6 30.Nce4! bringing the last White piece into the attack 30...fxe4 31. Rxf6 Ra1+ 32. Bf1] 28...Qxb6+ 29.Kh1

21.dxc6 [21.Qb3 would lead to a much better position for White as well... 21... Bxc3 22.Qxc3 Qd8 23.h4 e3 24.c5 exf2+ 25. Rxf2 Nxf2 26.Qc4!] 21...bxc6 22.Qb3 e3 23.c5+ Kh8 White’s position is totally dominating. An extra pawn plus a free pawn on b6 and a weak Black king is giving White almost a winning advantage. 24.f3? a very passive move, exactly what Black was hoping for [much more in the style of the position would be 24.cxd6! exf2+ 25.Kh1 Bf6 26.b7 Ra7 27.Qf7 Bxg5 28.Qxd7 and White is totally winning] 24...e2 25.fxg4 exf1Q+ 26. Rxf1 dxc5 still Blacks position is dangerous but he is an exchange up and position is far away from „easy playing” one 27.gxf5?! another inaccuracy [27.b7! this move would have put big problems infront of Stefan Bromberger 27...c4 (27...Ra7 28.Qf7 R xb7 29.Qxg6 Bd4+ 30.Kh1 Re7 31.Nd5!+-) 28.Qxc4 Qxb7 29.Qf7; 27.Qf7 Qd6 ]

29...Qd4! another good move by Black! White has nothing more than a perpetual check 30.Nf7+ [30.Qf7 Bxf5 31. Rxf5 gxf5 32.Qh5+ Kg8 33.Qf7+ Kh8 34.Qh5+ would be just another way of making a draw] 30...Kg8 31.Nh6+ Kh8 32.Nf7+ Kg8 33.Nh6+ Kh8 34.Nf7+ 1/2

27...c4! Black is fighting very well and is back in the game [after 27... Bxf5 would lead to a better position for White after 28. Bxc6 c4 29.Qxc4 Qxb6+ 30.Kg2] 13


Puzzle section

(7) Koepke,C (2404) — Pinter,J (2546) Austrian league, St. Veit, 04.03.2012

(5) Arabidze,M (2337) — Romanko,M (2416) Gazientep, 05.03.2012

[Chess Evolution] +-

[Chess Evolution] +-

(8) Lalic,B (2468) — Vorobiov,E (2580) (6) Dzagnidze,N (2559) — Mammadova,G (2324) Gazientep, 02.03.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012 [Chess Evolution] +-

+-

14


(9) Petrosian,T (2643) — Arutinian,D (2553)

(11) Mammadova,G (2324) — Repkova,E (2416)

Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012

Gazientep, 03.03.2012

[Chess Evolution]

[Chess Evolution]

+-

+-

(10) Fauland,A (2452) — Bosiocic,M (2580)

(12) Tazbir,M (2513) — Amin,B (2608)

Austrian league, St. Veit, 03.03.2012

Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012

[Chess Evolution]

[Chess Evolution]

=

-+

15


(13) Siebrecht,S (2463) — Dranischnikov (2327) Osterburg, 03.03.2012 [Chess Evolution] +-

(14) Kaspret,G (2292) — Diermair,A (2429) Austrian league, St.Veit, 04.03.2012 [Chess Evolution] +-

16


Endgame section

(16) [Balogh Csaba]

(15) [Balogh Csaba]

This week we will study the kind of rook endgames where White’s pawn has already reached the 7th rank and Black’s king is squeezed out from behind the pawn. As we will see, the defensive side can only hold the draw, if his king stands on the „shorter” side of the board, and he gives checks with his rook from the „longer” side. 1... Ra8+ 2.Kd7 Ra7+ 3.Kd6 Ra6+ 4.Kd5 Ra5+ 5.Kc6 Ra6+ 6.Kb7 Re6= 1/2

If the defensive side has not managed to set up the right defensive method, and his king gets to the „longer” side, then the „short” side is not wide enough for the rook to give checks. 1... Rh8+ 2.Kf7 Rh7+ 3.Kf6 Rh8 4.Kg7 Ra8 5.Kf7 1–0

17


(17)

(18)

[Balogh Csaba]

[Balogh Csaba]

Black to move. Seemingly, he got the ideal setup, but his rook stands only on the b-file, which is not far enough for checks. 1... Rb8+ [1... Ra2 2. Rf7+ Kg8 (2...Kg6 3.Kf8+-) 3. Rf8+ We often can see that in rook endgames with small number of pawns, to occupy the 8th rank with the rook is the key to win the game. 3...Kg7 4.Kd7 Ra7+ 5.Kd6 Ra6+ 6.Kc5+-] 2.Kd7 Rb7+ 3.Kd6 Rb8 [3... Rb6+ 4.Kc7 Re6 5.Kd7+-] 4.Kc7 Ra8 5. Ra1!

In case Black wants to cut the king’s way out from behind the pawn, White wins the game with the so-called „bridge building” method. 1. Rf4! We will see the idea of this great move soon! 1... Rd2 2. Rg4+ Kh7 [2...Kf6 3.Kf8+-] 3.Kf7 Rf2+ 4.Ke6 Re2+ 5.Kf6 Rf2+ 6.Ke5 Re2+ 7. Re4 And the bridge has been built up. 1–0

Very important motif, the only way to win! White achieves, that the rook has to leave the „long” side. 5... Re8 6.Kd7 1–0 18


Clash of the Titans

6.h3 Bh5 7.c3 Nf6 8.d4 White threatens to play d5, forces Black to push b5, unpin his Knight, but with this he weakens his queenside pawn structure.

(19) Geller,Efim P — Spassky,Boris V [C79]

8...b5 [8...Nxe4? is taboo, because of 9.d5 b5 10. Bc2! winning a piece.]

Moscow zt Moscow, 1964 [Balogh Csaba] This week I would like to show you a game between two fantastic chess players! On the White side is the great Geller Efim, he has never been World Champion, but has positive score against Botvinnik and Smyslov, and finished even against Petrosian! Boris Spassky was leading the Black army. The 10th World Champion of the chess world! The game was played in 1964 when Boris was 27 years old. 5 years later he defeated Petrosian for the crown, and was wearing it until 1972, when he lost his match against Fischer. In this game Black did not play the opening part well and White achieved some advantage, but after small mistakes by Geller, Spassky took the initiative and won in a beautiful style.

9. Bb3 Be7 [9...Nxe4? is still taboo, because of 10. Bd5!] 10. Be3 Geller develops his pieces to the best squares. Before bringing the Knight to d2, he protects his d4 pawn. 10...0–0 11.Nbd2 White obtained a small advantage from the opening. He could stabilize his pawn center, and after the knight arrives to d2, he can move out with the Queen from the annoying pin of the h5 Bishop. 11...d5!? Spassky realized, that he should take some immediate actions, otherwise White simply will have a very comfortable advantage. Now the game gets very interesting! Great players always find a way to make complications, where they could outplay their opponents!

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 The Spanish opening, which is the most popular line by White against Black’s 1...e5 move for more than 100 years, thanks to the complex positions which arise in all the lines! 3...a6 4. Ba4 d6 This is the so-called Steinitz system, which gets its name after the 1st World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz. He played this line in 1894! 5.0–0 Bg4 [But here, Steinitz preffered to develop with 5... Bd7 and then g6, Bg7, which is a very solid system even nowdays. The move played by Spassky leads to sharper positions.]

12.g4! Excellent reaction by Geller! Unpins his knight with tempo, and after the bishop retreats to g6, the exchanges in the center will favour for him. Other moves

19


leaded to very unclear positions. [12.exd5 Nxd5; 12.dxe5 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qd5!? exf3 15.Qxc6 fxg2] 12... Bg6 13.dxe5?! but here, White makes a mistake. He was pinning his hopes to the next move, aiming to win the pawn on d5. However, Black finds a great idea to counter White’s plan. [13.Nxe5 should have been played 13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.a4 would have led to a small, but comfortable advantage for White. Suddenly the bishop on g6 is out of the game, and it is not easy at all to bring it back. Practically, it plays a role of a pawn right now.] 13...Nxe4 14.Nb1!? Very unnatural idea, going back with a developed piece to its initial square. Normally, we can say, that such moves are never good, but the point here is that Black cannot defend his d5 pawn and then his position is falling apart! But the great Champion finds a nice way to create counterplay.

g6 bishop. His idea is simply to play f4-f5, creating another difficult problem to solve for the Champion! [15. Bxd5 Rd8! White cannot solve the problem on the d-file. 16.Qb3 Na5!; 15.Qxd5 Na5! and suddenly Rd8 threatens to trap the queen! 16.Qd1 Rd8 17.Nbd2 h5! and here we can see the other point of the 14th move! The g4 move becomes a big weakening. Black would have more than enough compensation for the pawn.] 15...Nxe5! Spassky’s excellent tactical abilities pay off again! At first sight White can play f4 with tempo, and when the knight goes away, f5 wins a piece. But our hero has seen more! 16.f4 [16. Bxd5 c6]

16...c5! What a counterattack! Instead of taking care of his own knight, Spassky counters the opponent’s pieces. Amazingly resourceful idea! 14...Qc8! Freeing the d8 square for the rook, where it causes big problems for the White queen, in case he takes on d5. 15.Nd4 After Black’s nice move, White changes his mind and instead of taking on d5, starts to play against the

17.fxe5 [17.Ne2 Nxg4! 18.hxg4 Qxg4+ 19.Kh2 Bf5! and White’s unharmonic pieces are unable to defend the king, despite being a piece up.; 17.Nc2 c4 traps the B.(17... Ng3!?) ]

20


17...cxd4 18.cxd4 Qd7 Suddenly White’s king became very weak. The idea of Black is to play f6 and open up the position for all the pieces. Before this, he had to defend his d5 pawn. 19.Nd2 f6! Dark clouds are coming over the K! 20. Rc1 [20.exf6 Rxf6 21. Rxf6 Bxf6] 20...Kh8 Very patient! Black wants to use his queen in the coming complications, but the bishop taking on d5 with check was always too annoying. 21. Bf4?! Geller probably misses the 23rd move of his opponent, but anyway his position was very unpleasant.

23...Qxc7!! Fantastic queen sacrafice, after which Black’s minor pieces dominate the whole board. Let us enjoy the way they do this! 24. Bxc7 Be3+! Forces the king to move into a vulnerable square. 25.Kg2 Nxd2 26. Rxf8+ Rxf8 We can see now, that the rook might arrive to f2 with check, just as the bishop on e4, thanks to the 24th move. 27. Bxd5 Rf2+ 28.Kg3 Geller decided to go into mating net, otherwise he would have lost his queen and the game as well. [28.Kh1 Rf1+ 29.Qxf1 Nxf1–+]

21...fxe5 22. Bxe5 Bg5! The bishop arrives to the battle, but it had to be very well calculated because Geller had something in his mind! 23. Rc7 When White made his 21st move, probably he stopped his analyses at this moment. He attacks the queen and if it goes away, then simply takes on g7 and wins the game. However, when you play against a World Champion life is not so easy. 28...Nf1+! Hunting the king! White’s queen has no chance to enter into the battle! 29.Kh4 h6! Creating the threat of Bg5 mate! 30. Bd8 Rf8! and White resigned, in view of the fact that he cannot prevent Bf2 mate! Beautiful “team work” of the pieces. A fantastic victory for Boris Spassky who has mated many opponents in this same style. He is one of the biggest Masters of attacking chess! 0–1

21


Surprise section / study

Solutions

(20) Gurgenidze,D

(21) Vallejo Pons,F (2716) — Maiwald,JU (2459)

1977


[Chess Evolution]

[Solutions]

+-

22. Bxa7! 1–0[22. Bxa7 Rxa7 23.Nb6+ Kb8 24. Rxd8+ Bc8 25. Rxc8#] (22) Wegener,D (2364) — Nisipeanu,LD (2638) Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 [Solutions]

22


27. Re6+!! Bxe6 28.Qf8+ Kd7 29.Qe7+ Kc8 [29...Kc6 30.Qxe6+ Kc5 31.Qe7+ Kb6 32.Qd6+=] 30.Qxe6+ Kb8 31.Qd6+ Ka7 1/2:1/2[31...Ka7 32.Qd4+ Kb8 33.Qd8+ Ka7 34.Qd4+ b6 35.Qd7+=]

(24) Fontaine,R (2552) — Najer,E (2637) Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 [Solutions]

(23) Henrichs,T (2473) — Fontaine,R (2552) Schachbundesliga, 25.02.2012 [Solutions]

15.f4!! Na6 [15...exf3? 16.e4!+-] 16. Bg2 Bb4 [16...Nb4 17. Bxb4 Bxb4+ 18.Ke2] 17.a3 Bxd2+ 18.Kxd2 e5 19. Bxe4 Qe6 20.fxe5

20...f3!! 21.Nxf3 [21. Bxf3 Rxf3! 22.Nxf3 Nd4!! (22... N xb4 23.N xg5+! hxg5 24.axb4 Bf3 25.Kf1) 23.exd4 (23. Nfxd4 exd4 24.Bb2 Ne5–+) 23... Bxf3 24.Kf1 exd4–+] 21... Rxf3! 22. Bxf3 Nxb4! [22...Nd4? 23.Nxd4!] 23. Bxb7? [23.axb4 Bxf3 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Ke1 Rf8!–+ …26.Kd2 Bxe2 27.Kxe2 Rxf2+! 28.Kxf2 Qxh2+–+] 23...Nxc2 24. Be4 Nxa3 25. Rb3 Qa4 0–1

(25) Huschenbeth,N (2510) — Postny,E (2622) Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 [Solutions]

23


18. Bh6! gxh6 [18...f6 19.Qxe6+ Qxe6 20. Rxe6 gxh6 21. Rd1 Rad8 22. Red6 Rxd6 23. Rxd6 Re8 24.Kf1] 19. Ra3! Qg5 [19...f6 20. Rg3+ Kh8 (20...Kf7?? 21.Qh5#) 21.Qxe6 Qxe6 22. Rxe6] 20. Rg3 Bg4 21.h3 Qxe5 22. Rxe5 Rfe8 23. Rxg4+ Kf8 24. Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Kf1 Re5 26. Rd4 Ke7 27.f4 Rc5 28.c3

(27) Moranda,W (2568) — Gajewski,G (2616) Warszawa, 23.02.2012 [Solutions]

(26) Volokitin,A (2686) — Steingrimsson,H (2562) Schachbundesliga, 25.02.2012 [Solutions] 16.Nc4! a4 [16... Re8 17.Nxb6 Qxb6 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5±] 17.Nxb6 Qxb6 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 axb3 21.axb3± (28) Moranda,W (2568) — Mista,A (2587) Warszawa, 26.02.2012 25.Nb6! Kxb6 26. Rxd8 Ka7 27.Nd5 c6 28.Kf4! cxd5 29.Kxe5+- d4 30.g5 e3 31.f6 gxf6+ 32.gxf6 1–0

[Solutions]

27.Nf7! Rg8 28.Nde5+! Kh5 29. Rf3! 1–0 24


(29) Kempinski,R (2610) — Jaracz,P (2542) Warszawa, 24.02.2012 [Solutions]

35...Nb4+! 36.cxb4 [36.Nxb4 Qxb2#] 36...Qc4+ 0–1[36...Qc4+ 37.Kb1 Qxd3+ 38.Ka2 cxb4!–+] (31) Evreinov,V 1971 [Solutions]

19.Nf4!± Nxe3?! [19... Rad8 20.Nxd5+-; 19...c6 20.Nxd5! Qxd5 (20...cxd5 21.Nc7+-; 20...cxb5 21.Nc7+-) 21.Nc7+-; 19...Nxf4 20.gxf4 Qxf4 21.Nxc7±] 20.fxe3 c6 21.Na3! Qb2 22.Nc4 Qxe2 23.Nxe2+(30) Jaracz,P (2542) — Kuzmicz,K (2451)

1.g4 Kb4 2. Bf8 Bd8 3.Kg6 Kc5 4.Kf7 Kd6 5. Bxe7+!! Bxe7 6.Ke8! 1–0

Warszawa, 26.02.2012 [Solutions]

25

Weekly Newsletter



16th of March 2012

So we are already in the 3rd CEWN! We hope you have enjoyed the first editions and we continue with our promise to make every next edition better.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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A few technical details in front for our readers: For those who don’t receive the email immediately on Friday evening: a small amount of emails are getting blocked by “spam” filters. In case somebody is not receiving the CEWN Nr 3 until Friday night — no panic, please write us an email and we will send it immediately one more time. Puzzle section: thanks to valuable feedback, a few modifications were made, so now everything should be more easily visible and handier. Starting next week we will play in the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv. Let’s hope we will play some good games and we could also comment something from the “first person” perspective, which is of course the most valuable one. Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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4 best games of the past week (1) Cmilyte,Viktorija — Muzychuk,Anna European Women’s Championship GAZIANTEP, 12.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A decisive battle between the former European Champion of 2011, Viktorija Cmilyte and the new bronze medallist Anna Muzychuk. Anna is leading the tournament with a half a point ahead and only 2 rounds till the end, so it is clear, it is going to be a sharp game. White needs the full point. And indeed, in a very complicated position White is getting her chance to make a full point with a fantastic tactical blow-but White is missing it and missing also the chance on the next move still to do better. In the second half of the game, probably being very happy to survive such “turbulences” Black is playing just great! 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 lately the move 4... dxc4 got very popular here 4...e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5

Diagram # so we are in the main line of the Moscow variation. White got a wide choice of continuations here 9. Be2 the main move [9.Ne5; 9.h4 are the 2 other main choices of White] 9... Bg7 a relatively rare line [You can find hundreds of games been played on the highest level in this position 9... Bb7] 10.Qc2 probably not the best. Seems like White been a bit surprised by Blacks move 9... Bg7 [a great game been played after 10.e5!? Nh5 11.a4 Nd7 12.axb5 Nxg3 13.hxg3 c5 14.Ne4 g4

15.dxc5! gxf3 16.Nd6+ Kf8 17. Bxf3 Rb8 18. Rxa7 Maletin,P 2617-Najer,E 2672 Ch-RUS 2010] 10...Nh5 a logical move, but now the break d5 is getting more effective [maybe 10...Na6!? trying to make use out of the position of the White Q on c2] 11. Rd1 and of course White is playing for the d5 push! Now the question is will Black have enough time for consolidation to be prepared for the d5 move, or Blacks position will fall apart like a card house...

3


11...Nxg3 again I think it been good time to play 11... Na6 [11...Na6 12.a3 (12.d5 N xg3 13.hxg3 cxd5 14.exd5 Nb4 15.Qd2 N xd5 and Black is doing good) 12...Nxg3 13.hxg3 Bb7 and Black sort of half a tempo with by including the moves Na6-a3]

good here) 17... Rb8 18. Rfe1 Kf8 (18...0–0? 19.N xb5!+-) 19.Qc1! and position is not clear at all]

12.hxg3 g4

16...Qxc6 [a very cool computer move is also not saving Blacks position any more 16...a6

13.Nh2?! this is not the right direction for winning the game!! [13.Ne5 h5 (13...B xe5 14.dxe5 Qc7 15.B xg4 Qxe5 16.Qd2) 14.b3! with a very complicated position] 13...f5? [why not the simple 13...h5! White N on h2 is dead now, so White is having one piece less for the future attack which is a very positive news for Black]

16.dxc6 Blacks position is falling apart. White got only one problem, the knight on h2, but here it is not playing any role, White got enought pieces to create deadly threats

17.Nxg4!! fxg4 18.Nd5 Qxc6 19.Qe4+ with a deadly attack] 17.0–0?! White is missing their chance! [17.Nxg4! fxg4

14.exf5 exf5 15.d5! finally we see the move d5! now we can also feel a big difference between the Black pawn on f7 and f5. Black king is now feeling himself very “naked” 15...Qf6?! in a very complicated position Black is making a mistake [15...Qc7 this move would lead to a crazy position, which is very hard to play with out the metal friend... 16.dxc6 Nxc6! 17.0–0 (17.N xb5 Qa5+ 18.Nc3 Be6! hard to imagine, but it seems to be truth. Black is doing very

18.Nxb5!! this is just an amazing combination! A double knight sacrifice on different parts of the board. This 4


kind of things we dont see very often 18...0–0 (18...Qxb5 19.Qg6+ Kf8 20.Rd8+ Ke7 21.Qd6+ Kf7 22.Qc7++-) 19. Rd6 Bf5 20. Rxc6 Bxc2 21. Rxc4 Bf5 22.Nc7 in case Viktorija would find this, she would truly deserve to be the winner of the European Championship!] 17...a6! bravo for Black, this move is showing good nerves and has a hidden idea in itself 18.Nd5 [18.a4! been the last chance for White to stay in the game 18...0–0 19.axb5 axb5 20.Nxb5 Bb7 21.Qxc4+ Kh8 22.Qxc6 Nxc6 White is better, but Black got good drawing chances due to their bishop pair plus the knight on h2 who is completely out of game] 18... Ra7! and here we see it. Suddenly the rook from a8 came into the game with a very important effect, protection of the square e7, Black is doing better now 19.b3 c3 20. Rd3 White is getting greedy at the wrong moment. Whites chances are in the active play... [20. Rfe1 0–0 21.Nf1 followed by Nfe3 next been still an option to continue the game in more or less unclear position]

23... Rd7! 24. Re3 Rdc7 25.Qd2 Nd7 White got no moves... Black knight is comming into game and the end is near... 26. Bd1 Ne5 27.Ne2 Nc4 28.Qe1 Qd6! Black is playing excellent 29. Rb3 Nb2 30. Rxc7 Rxc7 31.Nf4 Rc1! precise till the end! 32.Qxe6+ Qxe6 33.Nxe6 Rxd1+ 34.Nf1

20...0–0 from this moment Black is playing a great game! 21. Rc1 Be6 22.Nxc3 Rc8 White won the pawn back but position is very bad. Blacks bishop pair is totally dominating the board and it is not easy for White to avoid immediate material losses 23.b4?! [23.Qd2 Rd7 24. Bf1! would still give White some chances to fight for half a point] 34...Nc4 and it is time for White to resign. White can not avoid a loss of a knight on f1, next Black move is Nd2 35.Nxg7 Kxg7 36. Rc3 Nd2 37. Rc7+ Kf8 38. Rc6 Nxf1 39. Rxh6 Nxg3+ 0–1 5


(2) Brodsky,M (2558) — Jojua,D (2507) [D31] Cappelle la Grande, 09.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] In the following game, we will see an interesting strategical pawn sacrifice in the opening, which might be very unpleasant for Black in future. The experienced Ukrainen GM, Mikhail Brodsky, got really nice compensation, lead in development, powerful centre and a dangerous attack against the Georgian GM’s king.

Spassky: 8.h4!? White continues the plan, started in the previous move. 8...Nd7 [Accepting the sacrifice would be a mistake, because of 8... Bxh4 9.Qb3 and Qb6 does not work anymore, due to the h4 bishop. Black is forced the weaken his queenside decisively. 9...b6 10.Nf3 Be7 11.Ne5 with more, than enough activity for the pawn.]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 Black plays the rock-solid Queen’s Gambit, which is recently, definitely the most popular opening against 1.d4 on the highest level.

9.g5 A beautiful strategical idea, introduced by Morozevich in 2012, instead of the 9.h5 line! At first sight, the text move seems to be a mistake, since after 9...h6 10.gxh6 Nxh6, White only created weakness on h4, and helped Black to finish the development. As we will see, White has a different idea!

4.cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 [5...Nf6 is the other mainline.]

9...h6

6.e3 Bf5

7.g4 This great move belongs to Botvinnik, who tried it 3 times in the World Championship match against Petrosian, back in 1963. White is planning queenside castling, when he must organize his play on the kingside, and the centre. 7... Be6 In the aforementioned match, Botvinnik played 8.h3, however in 1970, he came up with a new idea against

10.g6! Shocking move! The idea is the create stronghold on e5 for a minor piece. Lures the pawn from the f-file, when the attack in the centre with e4 will be very dangerous. In addition, if Black accepts the sacrifice, he must defend passively to keep his advantage. 10...fxg6 [Because of the last reason I mentioned before, Giri decided to not take on g6, rather to finish the development. In my opinion, this is the right approach from 6


Black point of view. 10...Ngf6 11.gxf7+ Bxf7 12. Bd3 Nh5 with an unclear position in Morozevich-Giri, Reggio Emilia 2012.]

17.e4! Using the pin on the h-file. Brodsky does not waste time on bishop moves, and immediately opens up the center ahead of the king...

11. Bd3 Nf8 12.Qc2 g5 The most logical move, to get rid of the doubled pawns. [12... Bxh4 13. Bxg6+ Nxg6 14.Qxg6+ Bf7 15.Qxg7 Bf6 16.Qg2 Ne7 17.Nf3 and the e5 square yield White a comfortable advantage.; In an other game between two GMs, Barsov tried different move, but had no success for equalizing. 12... Bf6 13.0–0–0 Ne7 14.Nge2 Bf5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Peralta-Barsov, Catalunya 2012]

17...Nh6 18. Bf4 g5 [On 18...dxe4 I generally prefer 19. Bxe4 which helps White in further opening of the center with d5.; The computer’s suggestion 18...Ng4 strongly met by 19. Rhf1! g5 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.f3! when, even the machine realizes how bad his position is.]

13.hxg5 Bxg5 14. Bg3 [14. Be5 was an alternative 14... Bf6 15.0–0–0 and the centre starts to march.] 14... Bf6 15.Nge2 It is difficult to say, which development of the g1 knight was more advisable. Both has very big pluses, without minuses. The text move prepares for Nf4 and e4. [15.Nf3 with the idea of Ne5 has also guaranteed an edge.] 15...h5 Black wants to save his bishop pair, which he would have lost after the normal 15...Ne7 [15...Ne7 would strongly met by 16.Nf4 Bf7 17.Nh5! getting the pair of bishops 17... Bxh5 18. Rxh5] 16.0–0–0 h4

19. Bd2 [19.exd5 led to promising positions as well. 19... Bxd5 20.Nxd5 cxd5 (20...Qxd5 21.Nc3) 21. Be5] 19...dxe4 20. Bxe4 Just as in the 18th move, I prefer the bishop take, in order to push d5 in the near future. Black must make a difficult decision, about where to put his king. As we will see, both Kf7, or playing for 0–0–0, have their problems. 20...Kf7 The Georgian GM, decides to find shelter for his king on the kingside, where he has not too many pawns, but can use his minor pieces for defending. The next moves are all about d5! White wants to push it, while Black must prevent is at any cost. [20...Qc7 with the idea of 0–0–0 21.f4! g4 22.f5 Bf7 23. Bf4 and d5 is coming in the next move; 20...Qd7 21. Rhe1 Kf7 has a nice refutation with diagram (21...0–0–0 22.d5!) 22.d5! cxd5 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Bc3!+-] 21. Be3 Rc8 Black pins two pieces in one move, White has to lose some time to refresh the threat. 22.Kb1 Qd7 23.Qd2! Rg8 24. Bc2! After the queen left the g5 without her protection, White rightly changes his mind, and frees the e4 square for the knight, which will attack the g5 pawn and f6 bishop in the same time. 7


[Black prepared a cold-blooded idea against 24.d5 cxd5 25.Nxd5 Nf5! after which, it is not that easy to break through.] 24... Bf5 25.Ne4 Ne6 [25... Bxe4 26. Bxe4 without the white squared bishop, the d5 move is even more decisive!]

following moves, White uses all the light squares, which became vulnerable after the bishop is taken. 28...Kf8 29.Qe2! heading to f3 or h5, in addition frees the way for the d1 rook, when d5 becomes even more crucial. 29... Rg6 30.d5 [30.Qf3 was also winning] 30...Neg7 31.Nc5 Qc7 [31... Bxc5 32. Bxc5+ Nd6

26.N 2g3! Parade of the knights! 26... Be7 [26...hxg3 27. Rxh6+-] 27.Nxf5 Nxf5

33.f4! Opening the f-file. Not so nice position for players who prefers to knights to bishops.] 32.dxc6 bxc6 33.Qc4 and mate is coming soon! A great game by Mikhail Brodsky. It will be interesting to see, what the big guys, like Aronian, Kramnik and the others will find out against the 10.g6! move. In my opinion, they will search for new ideas in the other mainline with 5... Nf6. 1–0

28. Bb3! It is clear, that Black has lost this battle. He can only wait, how his opponent is going to finish him. In the 8


(3) Hou,Yifan (2639) — Stefansson,Hannes (2531) [C26] Reykjavik Reykjavik, 11.03.2011 [Balogh Csaba]

11.cxd4 Nb6 Logical play by the Icelandic GM. He tries to create a blockade on c4 with Be6. If he manages to do so, he would be fine. However, Hou Yifan finds a very nice idea, which allows her to push c4, before Black could set up his ideal position.

In our next example, we can enjoy a nice positional game with a neat finish by the current Women World Champion, Hou Yifan! 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 This is the so-called Mieses variation. Black can decide now the character of the game. The text move leads to an opened position, while the Bc5, d6 setup is rather for positional players. 3...d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bd6 7.Nf3 0–0 8.0–0 Nd7

12.Qd3! A positional double threat! The main idea, what Black must parry is Ng5, but after that, White is in time to play the importantc4move! 12...h6 [12... Be6? 13.Ng5] 13.c4 White achieved a small advantage from the opening. She has the better pawn structure, and more space, which gives her the possibility for more comfortable piece play.

9.d4 So far, Black played the most common moves of the variation, which is a bit strange to me, since I already don’t see the way, how he could equalize. 9...c6 10. Re1 exd4 [Black could not hold the tension in the center with 10... Re8 since after 11.dxe5 he is losing material.]

13... Bb4 14. Bd2 By exchanging the dark squared bishops, White keeps the initiative, but in the same time eases Black’s defending task. [The principled move was 14. Re2 to keep all the pieces on board, since it is very hard for Black to coordinate them.] 14... Bxd2 15.Nxd2 Qf6

9


17... Rad8 18.a5 Nc8 19.Nb3 [19. Re5 came into consideration] 19...b6 Black would like to exchange some pawns on the queenside, but he can not get rid of all of them! [19... Rfe8 was better chance] 20. Re5! c5 This was the point of the previous move, White can not take on c5... 21. Rae1 [21.dxc5? Rd3] 16.a4! We must remember on this move, it is very typical for this pawn structure! White would like to play a5a6, creating weaknesses on the queenside, where she is clearly better. The b7 and c6 pawns are too much vulnerable, Black can not hope in equality. 16... Bf5 17.Qc3 The human move, keeping the strong bishop on board. [However an interesting plan was suggested by the computer: 17. Be4 after exact hanging the strong bishop, the knight arrives to the center with a tempo, and it can quickly create serious problems on the d6 square. 17... Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Qg6 19.a5 Nd7

21...cxd4 22.Nxd4 Bd7 23.c5! bxc5

24.Qxc5 The a7 pawn remained on board, which actually causes all the problems of Black’s positions. He can not escape to any kind of endgames, since a7 pawn might be hardly defendable. In addition, the c8 knight is forced into passivity. 24...g6 [24... Rfe8 25. Rxe8+ Bxe8 26.Nc6 Bxc6 27. Bxc6] 25.h4 Opening the back rank, and trying to weaken the kingside.

20.Qa3! very subtle move. Nd6 is going be really annoying for Black.]

25...h5

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32...Kg8 33.Nf6+ Kf8 34. Rc5 White opens the diagonal for the queen, so she creates hidden threats after different knight jumps. 34...Nf5? Black is aiming for further activation of the knight by jumping to d4, but it was already necessary for him to take care of his king, by offering exchange of the queens. [34...Qd1+ 35.Kh2 Qd4 36.Qxd4 Rxd4 37. Rc7 Rd2 Black could have good chance to save the game.] 26.Ne2! Very nice play by Hou Yifan! She transfers her knight to f4, where it might be sacrificed on g6 and on h5 with different kind of mating attacks, and also wants to jump to d5, when the f6 check could be decisive. [26. Bc6!? was an alternative]

35.Nh7+ Kg8 36.Nf6+ Kf8

26... Rfe8 [26...Qd6 27.Nf4 Qxc5 28. Rxc5 The exchange of the queens would only save Black from getting mated, but the endgame will be still lost for him.] 27.Nf4 Rxe5 28. Rxe5 Qd6 29.Qc3? This a mistake, which gives Black a chance to survive. [29.Qe3! should hav e been played, when Black is simple paralyzed. He has no useful move, while Nd5 is coming.] 29...Ne7! Thanks to the mistake in the last move, Black can finally activate his knight. Stefansson starts to find the only moves. 30.Nd5 Be6! [30...Nxd5? 31. Rxd5 Qe7 32.Qd4 the pin would be deadly for Black.] 31.Nf6+ Kf8 32.Nh7+ Probably, White was in time trouble, so now and in the next move, she repeats two times, to approach to the 40th move.

37.Nd5!? [37. Bd5! was even better 37...Ne7 only move, but still after (37...B xd5 38.R xd5 Qe7 39.N xh5+-) 38. Bxe6 Qxe6 39.Nh7+ Kg8 40.Ng5! Rd1+ (40...Qd6 41.Qc4 Qf6 42.Rc7+-; 40...Qe2 41.Qf6 Rd1+ 42.Kh2) 41.Kh2 Qe1 42.Qxe1 Rxe1 43. Rc7 a6 44. Ra7 the endgame must be winning.] 37...Kg8?! This move allows to the World Champion to finish the game beautifully! [37...Ne7 would have been the only move, which is practically impossible to find for a human. The position remains difficult for him anyway. 38.Nf4!?]

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38. Rc6! Qb8 [38...Qf8 39.Nf6+ Kh8 40.Nxh5+ (40. Rc7!?) 40...Nd4 41.Nf4]

(4) Avrukh,Boris (2591) — Navara,David (2700) [D76]

39.Nf6+ Kf8

Reykjavik Open 2012 Reykjavik (4.2), 09.03.2011 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

40. Rxe6 [Pretty finish! In the last move of the time trouble, when people usually commits the most foolish mistakes, Hou Yifan finds a brilliant way to finish the game. Black resigned immediately, seeing the line 40. Rxe6!! fxe6 (40...Qb1+ 41.Re1) 41.Nd7+! Rxd7 42.Qh8+ Ke7 43.Qxb8+- An instructive game, about how to handle this pawn structure. In my opinion, Black is more clever, if he chooses the closed system against the Mieses variation with 3... Bc5 and d6.] 1–0

We are facing an interesting game from one of the biggest opens in the world, the Reykjavik Open. The second seed David Navara is coming out with a slightly worse position out of the opening, due to a very interesting idea 11. Qc2!?, I guess, we will see more often this move in the future games. Unexpectedly, White is loosing the control over the game from move 19 and getting quickly in a lost position by a very nice tactic by Black 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 0–0 9.0–0 Re8 10. Re1 a5 we are still in the opening part. Actually only in the beginning of it!!

11.Qc2!? Avrukh is a very well prepared player and one more time he is showing it with his interesting idea 11.Qc2!? This move is almost a novelty!! [11.Qe2 is the main continuation for White 11... Be6 (11...e5 12.dxe5 N xe5

12


13.N xe5 B xe5 14.e4 is the another main line) 12.Nd2 Nb4 13. Rd1 c6 14.a3 N4d5 15.Nce4 with a fighting position] 11...e5 a standard reply in this kind of positions 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bxe5 14.e4 c6 a move with a hidden trap [14... Be6 15.f4 Bd4+ 16. Be3 Bxe3+ 17. Rxe3 Qd4 18.Qf2 and maybe White is doing little better] 15. Bh6 [now 15.f4?! is not working cause of 15... Bd4+ 16. Be3 Bxe3+ 17. Rxe3 Nc4 18. Rd3 Qb6+! the key is the check on b6 that is now possible after Black played 14...c6] 15...Qe7 Black continues to play against f4, to make it less effective 16.f4 [16. Rad1 Bg4 17.f3 Be6 18.f4 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Bxc3 (19...Bd4 20.f5!‚ typical break through for White) 20.bxc3 Nc4 with a very complicated position] 16...Qc5+ 17.Kh1 Bxc3 18.bxc3 [18.Qxc3?! exchange of Queens is a bad idea for White 18...Qxc3 19.bxc3 Na4! usually all the endgames are fine for Black]

coming to h5 19... Be6 (19...Bg4 20.h3 Be6 21.Bf6 Qh5 22.Kh2 and White is doing better) 20. Bf6 Qh5 21.Kg1! Bh3 22. Bh1 and White is in time to avoid the exchange of the bishops]. 19...Qh5! Black is using their sudden chance! A high class player like Navara, You don’t need to ask twice 20. Bg5 Bh3 21.Qf2?! quite a senseless move, White lost totally control over the position [much more solid has been 21. Bf6 Bxg2+ 22.Kxg2] 21...h6?! A very important moment in the game! White got 2 options, to take on h3 first and then to play Bf6, or to continue with immediate Bf6 [21... Bxg2+! the correct move order for Black! 22.Kxg2 (22.Qxg2 Ne3) 22... h6! (22...R xe4 23.R xe4 Qxd1 24.Rd4!) 23. Rd4 (23.Bf6 R xe4! see the game) 23...hxg5 24. Rxc4 gxf4 With a clear advantage for Black]

18...Nc4 [18...Qh5 19. Bg5 Nc4 20. Bh4 and again White is in time to avoid Bh3 move]

19. Rad1?! a too standard play, White should have been more careful [right would be 19. Bg5! to avoid Blacks Q

22. Bf6? a blunder [22. Bxh3! would be the right move 22...Qxh3 23. Bf6 Qe6 24.e5 b5 25. Rd4 Position is quite hard for an evaluation. White is controlling the dfile, what is of course super important and in case White manages to create any threats on the king side, it could get really dangerous for Black. On the other hand, Black 13


managed to exchange the White squared bishops, which is very good. The knight on c4 is having a great position. But what to do next for Black — this is hard to say... that’s why the evaluation of the position should be with a small advantage for White] 22... Bxg2+ 23.Kxg2

23... Rxe4! a very nice tactical trick! 24. Rxe4 Qxd1 25. Rd4 Qh5! probably White blundered this move. White again can not take the knight on c4 26.Qe1?! [26.f5! the last chance to fight, and probably a good one!! 26...Qxf5 27.Qxf5 Ne3+ 28.Kf3 Nxf5 29. Rd7 Rb8 30.c4! with good chances for a draw] 26...Qf5 27. Bh4? [27.Qe7 Ne3+! 28.Qxe3 Qxf6 29. Rd7 Whites position is bad, he is a pawn down, but still Black will have a long way to win this position. White always got the idea of playing Qe5 after which a rook endgame is arising, and as we know, in rook endgames the drawing chances are increasing!]

a better knight against Whites bad bishop, which is taking a horrible position on h4 28.Qe7 Maybe White is in a time trouble... anyway it would probably not make anymore a big difference 28...Kg7 29.Qe2

29...c5! a nice finishing move [29...g5 30.fxg5 hxg5 31.g4! Black is still much better, but White didn’t loose the bishop] 30. Re4 g5! 31.fxg5 hxg5 32.a4 [now at 32.g4 Qd5 is simply winning, that’s why Black needed to include 29... c5] 32... Rd8 [32...gxh4 would win of course as well] 33. Rf4 gxf4 34. Bxd8 f3+! easy but pretty 35.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 36.Kxf3 bxa4 0–1

27...b5! now Whites hopes are almost down to 0 to save the game. Black is not only a healthy pawn up, but having

14


Puzzle section

(7) Fridman,D (2653) — Huschenbeth,N (2509) 83rd ch-GER 2012 Osterburg GER, 06.03.2012

(5) Barbosa,Ev (2399) — Andriasian,Z (2616) 28th Cappelle Open Cappelle la Grande FRA, 03.03.2012

[CEWN] 1...=

[CEWN] 1...–+

(8) Iordachescu,V (2644) — Saidov,B (2389) (6) Cheparinov,I (2664) — Akshayraj,K (2422) Reykjavik Open Reykjavik ISL, 08.03.2012 [CEWN]

6th Agzamov Memorial Tashkent UZB, 09.03.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1.+-

15


(9) Socko,B (2636) — Naumkin,I (2443) Moscow Open 2012 Moscow RUS, 31.01.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(10) Hoang Thanh Trang (2438) — Paehtz,E (2459) Gazientep Gaziantep TUR, 12.03.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(11) Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2662) — Li Shilong (2549) HD Bank Cup, 06.03.2012 [CEWN] 1.+/-

(12) Kozul,Z (2602) — Brkic,A (2587) Zagreb, 10.03.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

16


(13) Papin,V (2575) — Thorhallsson,T (2398) Reykjavik Open, 11.03.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Gunnarsson,J (2424) — Hess,Ro (2635) Reykjavik Open, 08.03.2012 [CEWN] 1...–+

17


Endgame section

8. Rc6+! Kd5 (8...Kb5 9.Rc8 Rh8+ 10.Kc7 Rh7+ 11.Kb8+) 9. Ra6 Rh8+ 10.Kc7+-] 3. Rb8 Ra1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Ka6 Ra1+ 6.Kb6 Rb1+ 7.Kc5 1–0

(15) [Balogh Csaba] (16) [Balogh Csaba]

This week, we study rook endgames with a- or h-pawns! In these cases has the defensive side the biggest drawing chances. However, in this example, Black’s king is too far, and White’s rook has enough time to rescue the king from the corner. Black king should stay on e7, in order to make a draw, as we will see in the next diagram. 1. Rc2 Ke7 2. Rc8 This is the winning technique! 2...Kd7 [2... Kd6 3. Rb8 Ra1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Kc8 Rc1+ 6.Kd8 Rh1 Black’s trickiest try, but it does not save him. 7. Rb6+ Kc5

In practice, we can very often meet with this endgame. Black’s king is now close enough to the corner, White has no winning chance at all. 1. Rh2 [1. Rd3 Rb2; 1. Rc2 Kd7] 1...Kd7 2. Rh8 Kc7 3. Rb8 Ra1 White has managed to send away the rook from the b-file, but Black king has just arrived, and the king will remain squeezed into the corner. 1/2

18


(17)

(18)

[Balogh,Csaba]

[Balogh,Csaba]

This is the so-called Vancura position. By attacking the pawn from the side, Black does not allow White to activate his rook, and get out from the corner. And when the white king is trying to approach to the pawn, he could not hide himself against the side checks. 1.Kd5 [1.a7 Ra6 2.Kd5 Ra1 If the pawn is pushed to a7, then Black can hold the draw with vertical checks, if his king is on g7 or h7! 3.Kc6 Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc7 Rc1+ 6.Kd6= (With rook on b8 and pawn on b7, the outcome is the same)] 1... Rf5+ 2.Kc4 Rf6 3.Kb5 Rf5+ 4.Kc6 Rf6+ 5.Kb7 Rf7+ If White does not push his pawn until a7, and so, keeps a square on a7 for his king against vertical checks, Black holds the draw, by giving horizontal checks. 1/2

White pawn has reached the 7th rank, but there is no time for vertical checks, because of the bad position of Black’s king. 1... Rg7+ [1... Rd1+ 2.Kc6 Rc1+ 3.Kd5 Rd1+ 4.Ke4 Re1+ 5.Kd3 Rd1+ 6.Ke2 Ra1 7. Rh8++-] 2.Kc6 Kg5!! Black hides his king behind his own rook from the treating check! [2...Kh7? 3. Rh8++-] 3.Kb6 Rg6+ 4.Kb5 Rg7 1/2

19


Clash of the Titans

7. Bxe4 Black could not be too happy with his opening. He gave up his bishop pair, and weakened his queenside pawn structure might be a problem in the future.

(19) Tal,Mihail — Gurgenidze,Bukhuti [B15]

7...Nf6 8. Bd3!? Amazing! I think, almost everybody would have retreated the bishop on f3, and develope with Ne2, to make pressure against the weakened c6 pawn, and having a better position. However, Tal was always thinking about giving mate. He played Bd3, offering the same “gift” on d4, and he expects his opponent to castle short side, when his d3 bishop will eye dangerously on the h7 square. [8. Bf3]

URS-ch36 Alma-Ata, 1968 [Balogh Csaba] The next game, I would like to present, is played by the “magician of Riga”! Yes, yes, the 8th World Champion, Mikhail Tal! His amazing fantasy for combinations, has put him to the top of the chess world. He won the title against Botvinnik in 1960, when he was only 24 years old! Unfortunately for him, Botvinnik took a revenge on him in the next year, and he was not able to win back his crown, but anyway we will never forget his fantastic victories, from which I would like to show you one. His victim was Bukhuti Gurgenidze, Grandmaster from Georgia.

8...e6 [In my opinion, the sacrifice should have been accepted for the 2nd time. 8...Qxd4 9.Nf3 Qd8 10.0–0 e6 11. Re1 Be7 12.a4 b4 13.Ne5 when, White definitely gets strong compensation, but at least, Black could have said, that he was a pawn up!]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 b5 A rare move in the Caro-kan defense, which the Georgian grandmaster has tried several times.

9.Nf3 Be7 10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.0–0 0–0 12. Re1 Re8 13.Ne5! After both players have developed their pieces to their logical places, it is time to have some action! Tal scares his opponent with the possibility of the sacrifice on f7.

4.a3! White reacts precisely, after stopping his opponents idea to push b4, the c5 square becomes a weakness in Black’s camp.

13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nd5 15.Qg4! Of course, the pieces are going into the attack. Where also could have they gone, if Tal is leading them?! :-)

4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bf5 6. Bd3!? Typical Tal! He does not care about losing a pawn in the opening, if he gets 2 tempi for that. Gurgenidze respected his opponent, and did not accept the “gift”.

15...a5

6... Bxe4 [6...Qxd4 7.Nf3 Qd5 8.Qe2 White gets very strong initiative for the pawn, Black’s pieces are completely undeveloped.] 20


16.h4!! What?! A blunder from the World Champion? Of course not! It is an intuitive pawn sacrifice, just as the d4 pawn in the opening phrase. This time, the Georgian decides to take it, otherwise h5, and the king is under mating attack. 16... Bxh4 17.g3 Be7

21. Rxh7!! Tal does not want to waste time on doubling the rooks on the h-file. He is crushing immediately.

18.Kg2!! And here we get the point of the sacrafice! The magician just wanted to get rid of his h-pawn, in order to use the h-file for mating with the rook.

21...Qxe5 [If Black takes the rook 21...Kxh7 22. Rh1+ Kg8 23.Qh4 Bg7 24. Bf6! Qh8! threats with mate 24... Nxf6 25.exf6 now Qh7 threats with forced mate 25...Kf8 26.Qh8+! Bxh8 27. Rxh8# would have been another nice finish!]

18...g6 Black must try to close the diagonal of the d3 bishop. 19. Rh1 Bf8 Gurgenidze tries to bring defenders around his king, but he is just too late. 20. Bg5! Developing with tempo, and opens the 1st rank for the a1 rook, to join into the attack. 20...Qc7

22. Rxf7!! When the Magician starts to sacrifice, then it is really hard to stop him! This time, Black has no other choice, must take the rook. [22. Rah1 Bg7 would not be so easy.] 22...Kxf7 21

Issue 3 Surprise section / study

16th of March 2012

(20) Benko,P 1984 [Chess Evolution] 1. +23. Bxg6+! Of course! What else! 23...Kg8 If the bishop is taken now or in the next move, Black loses his queen. [23...Kxg6 24. Bf4+ Kf6 25.Qh4+! Kf7 26. Bxe5+-] 24. Bxe8 Bg7 [24... Rxe8 25. Bf6++-] 25. Bd7 [25. Bxc6+-] 25...Nc7 26. Bxc6 Black has managed to not be mated, but he ended up with 2 pawns down and lost position. The rest is matter of technique. 26... Rf8 27. Rd1 Qc5 28. Bf3 Qxc2 29. Rd7 Rf7 30. Rd8+ Rf8 31. Bf6! Even is completely winning position, Tal is playing for the spectators! 31...Qh7 32. Be4 Qh6 33. Bg5 Qh8 The queen is pursued into the corner. 34. Rd7 and Black resigned. Typical victory by Tal! When he had a good day, he won all his games in this style. And he had quite often a good day, luckily for chess fans! :-) 1–0

22


Solutions (21) Arabidze,M (2337) — Romanko,M (2416) Gazientep, 05.03.2012 [Solutions]

16.Nxf7!! [16.Qa6 Nxf4 17.gxf4 Be7 18. Rxd4 Bb5! 19. Rxd8 Bxa6 20. Rxf8+ Kxf8] 16... Rxb7 [16... Rxf7 17. Bxc7 Nxc7 18.bxc5+-; 16...Nxf4 17.Nxd8 Rxb7 18.Nxb7+-] 17.Nxd8 Rxd8 18.bxc5+(23) Koepke,C (2404) — Pinter,J (2546) Austrian league, St. Veit, 04.03.2012 [Solutions]

45. Bf6+! 1–0[45. Bf6+ Kxf6 46.Qe5#] (22) Dzagnidze,N (2559) — Mammadova,G (2324) Gazientep, 02.03.2012

23. Bxg5! Qxg5 24. Bxf7+! Rxf7 25.Qxg5 Bxg5 26. Rxe8++-

[Solutions]

23


(24) Lalic,B (2468) — Vorobiov,E (2580) Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012 [Solutions]

55.Nxe5+! Nxe5+ 56.Kf4 Kd5 [56...Nf7 57.Kxf5+-] 57.Kxf5 Kd6 58.h5! [58.Kf6? Ng4+ 59.Kg5 Ne5 60.h5 Ke6=] 58...Nf7 59.Kf6 Nh6 [59...Ne5 60.h6+-] 60.Kg6! Ng4 61.h6 Ke7 62.h7 Ne5+ 63.Kg7 Nf7 64.g4! 1–0[64.h8Q? Nxh8 65.Kxh8 Kf6=]

(26) Fauland,A (2452) — Bosiocic,M (2580) Austrian league, St. Veit, 03.03.2012 [Solutions]

24.Qf7!! [24.Nf7+ Rxf7 25.Qxf7 Bc6! 26.Ne6 Qg8 27.Qxg8+ Kxg8 28. Rab1 Be5] 24... Rxf7 [24... Bg7 25.Nce6!] 25.Nxf7+ Kg8 26.Nxd8 Bf3 [26... Bxa1 27. Rxa1+-] 27.Nde6 Bxd1 28. Rxd1 Rxa2 29. Rd3 1–0 (25) Petrosian,T (2643) — Arutinian,D (2553) Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012 [Solutions]

58...Qf5+? [58...Qe7+!! 59.Kxf4 Qh4+ 60.Ke5 (60. Ke3?? Qd4#) 60...Qe7+ 61.Kf4= (61.Kd5? Qb7+ 62.Kxc5 Qxf3) ] 59.Kd6 Qf6+ 60.Kd7 Qf5+ 61.Kc6 Nxe2? [61...Qc8+ 62.Kb5 Nxe2 63.Qxe2 Qd7+ 64.Kxc5 Qf5+ 65.Kxb4 Qxb1 66.c5] 62.Qxf5 gxf5 63.Kxc5+-

24


(27) Mammadova,G (2324) — Repkova,E (2416) Gazientep, 03.03.2012 [Solutions]

Qxc2 [29... Re8!?–+] 30.Qxc2 Ne3+ 31.Kf2 Nxc2 32.fxg6 Be5 33.gxf7+ Kxf7–+ (29) Siebrecht,S (2463) — Dranischnikov (2327) Osterburg, 03.03.2012 [Solutions]

23.Nb3! gxf5 [23... Bxe6 24.Qxc5! Qxc5+ 25.Nxc5 Bxf5 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27.gxf5+-] 24.Nxc5 Bc6 25. Rxf5+(28) Tazbir,M (2513) — Amin,B (2608) Cappelle la Grande, 05.03.2012 [Solutions]

27... Rxe4! 28.f5 [28. Bxe4 Bxe4+ 29.Nhf3 Qxb1–+; 28.bxc4 Rxe2+ 29.Nxe2 Bxc2–+] 28... Rxe2+ 29.Nxe2

11.e5! dxe5 [11... Bxg2 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Kxg2+-] 12. Bxb7 Ra7 [12...exd4 13. Bxa8 dxc3 14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.bxc3]

13.Nc6! Qxd1 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15. Rxd1 [15.Nxd1! Rxb7 16.b3! Rxe7 17. Ba3+-] 15... Rxb7 16.b3! b5 [16... Rxe7 25


17. Ba3+-] 17. Be3! bxc4 [17... Re8 18. Bc5] 18.bxc4 Re8 19. Bc5 Rc7 20. Bd6 Rxc4 21. Rac1+(30) Kaspret,G (2292) — Diermair,A (2429)

(31) Gurgenidze,D 1977 [Chess Evolution]

Austrian league, St.Veit, 04.03.2012 [Solutions]

39.d6!! Rxd6 40. Bc3!! Rxc3 [40... Rxd2 41. Bxd2 Bxd2 42. Bd5+ Ne6 43.Qe8+ Qf8 44. Bxe6+ Kg7 45.Qg6#] 41. Rxd6 Bxd6 [41... Rc1+ 42.Kg2 Rxh1 43. Bd5+ Ne6 44. Bxe6+ Kf8 45. Rd8+ Ke7 46.Qe8#] 42. Bd5+ Ne6 43.Qe8+ 1–0

1. Rb5+! Ka6 2. Rb6+! Ka5 3. R 3b5+! Ka4 4. Rb4+! Ka5 5. R6b5+! [5.b3 Rh5!=] 5...Ka6 6.b3! Raa8 7. Rb6+! Ka7 8. Rb7+! Ka6 9. R4b6+! Ka5 10. Rb5+! Ka6 11.b4! 1–0

26

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 4 23rd of March 2012


23rd of March 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17


19


22


24

»» Solutions

25

The most interesting moment of the week was the match between Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga. The two strongest teams played together for the first place and they arrived with their heavy artillery. Baden-Baden won the battle to 4.5-3.5, with a decisive victory of Michael Adams over Laurent Fressinet. On the first board, spectators could enjoy a fantastic game, Anand drew against Eljanov, a game that is also central for this issue of CEWN. Other games included in this edition are the fascinating finish of the Reykjavik Open between the young stars Caruana and Yifan Hou, the Efimenko-Gonda encounter from Schachbundesliga, and the EIWCC decisive game Gunina-Muzychuk. The classic game is by the great Smyslov, while in the puzzle section you will find out how sometimes a silent move can be much stronger than an eye-catcher. Meanwhile the European Individual Championship has just begun. We are playing there, so expect a nice report from the venue with the most interesting games in the weekly newsletter. As usual, we wish you fun, and hope you will enjoy the new issue of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Anand,Viswanathan (2817) — Eljanov,Pavel (2683) Schachbundesliga 2011/2012 (12.1), 17.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the 12th round of Bundesliga, in the decisive match between the teams of Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen. Both teams arrived with an almost full line up. Anand-Eljanov was the most interesting and spectacular game of the round. The World Champion had a clear advantage after the opening, but slowly Eljanov managed to come back into the game and even had a chance to make a full point after the first time control.

7.e5!? Not the main move here. Much more often we can see 7. Bxc4 or 7. Bg5 7...Nd5 8. Bd2 b5! Black needs to hold the c4 pawn! 9.axb5 Bxc3 10.bxc3 cxb5 11.Ng5 h6 this move is almost a novelty [11...Nc6 12.Qh5 Qe7 13.h4!? is the usual continuation here with a very sharp and unclear play] 12.Qh5 g6?!N this is already a novelty, but hard to say if Eljanov really prepared it... [in the game of the fresh woman European Champion Gunina.V happened: 12...0–0 13.Ne4 Nc6 14. Bxh6 (14.h4!? with the idea Rh3-g3 could bring Black in quite some danger) 14...gxh6 15.Qxh6 f5 16.Qg6+ with a draw] 13.Qh3 f5 Black needs to act quickly. It cannot let White play Ne4 14.exf6

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Another game in the Slav defense, which recently enjoys high popularity. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 currently a very fashionable line 6.e4 Bb4

14...e5?! Black is trying to continue active play, but blundering one of the opportunities for White [more solid been 14...Nc6 15.g4 Qxf6 16.Ne4 Qe7 17. Bg2 with a strong initiative for the pawn] 15.f7+? White is missing his chance! Even the World Champions sometimes make a mistake :) [the right choice 3


would be 15.g4! Black cannot do anything against the deadly threat Bg2... for example 15...exd4 16. Bg2 Nc6 17.0–0 Kf8 18. Rfe1 with a deadly attack] 15...Kf8 16.Ne6+ Ke7! probably this move White underestimated [16... Bxe6 17.Qxe6 exd4 18.Qxg6 Would lead of course to a winning position for White] 17.Nxd8 Bxh3 21.0–0! strong play by White. In case Black manages to put: a5, Ke6, Nce7, Nf5 Black will be doing well. White needs to try to open the position as fast as possible to give the bishops space to act. Also the Black’s king position will be very open and dangerous.

We are facing a “crazy” position. Everything is totally unbalanced and the position is very hard to play. Every move White and Black have several choices how to continue and “the choice” is one of the hardest things in a chess game. Objectively speaking, White should still do better here 18.gxh3 [18.f8Q+!? pretty move, even if it is very unclear if it is the strongest one 18... Rxf8 19. Bxh6 Rf5 20.gxh3 Kxd8 (20...exd4 21.Nb7 Re5+ 22.Kd2 Nc6 23.Bg2 dxc3+ 24.Kc1 in this very complex position probably White still has better chances) 21.dxe5 Rxe5+ 22.Kd2 Black has a better pawn structure, but the White’s bishop pair plus the better development should bring them some edge.] 18... Rxd8 19.dxe5 Kxf7 20. Bg2 Nc6

21...Nxe5 Black accepts the battle! [more careful would be 21...a5!? 22.f4 Ke6 23.h4! White needs to destroy the blockade pawn on g6 at any costs 23...b4 24.h5 bxc3 25. Bxc3 Nxc3 26. Bxc6 Ra6 and it is hard to say even who is doing better here] 22.f4 a very human move [22. Rfb1! would be a choice of the computer. Black cannot hold the b5 pawn 22...a6 23. Rxb5 axb5 24. Rxa8 Rd6 25.Kf1 and finally we have a “human” position. White is having a bit more pleasant endgame] 22...Nd3 23.f5 gxf5? this is a serious mistake by Black. Now White is getting what he was hoping for. A very open play where the bishop pair is turning into a deadly weapon [23...g5! Black needed to keep the position closed 24. Ra6 N3f4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rfa1 and again we continue to facing a very unbalanced game. One thing is sure, it is very hard for Black to play in such a position.] 24. Rxf5+ [24. Ra6 f4!] 4


24...Ke6 25. Rh5 a5 26. Rxh6+ Ke5

27.Be1! another great move by the World Champion. White is bringing the bishop to g3. Black king is standing “naked” in the middle of the board, this cannot end well for him.... 27...N5f4 28. Bg3 Kf5 29. Rf1! there is no reason for White to win the exchange by playing [29. Bxa8 Rxa8 30. Rf1 Ke4 and Black has some drawing chances because of the b4 push that will leave Black with very dangerous pawns...] 29...Kg5 30. Rb6 Rab8 31. Ra6 it is hard to give Black an advice here. And to play this position with out a “computer” help is almost impossible. From the human point of view, White position looks close to winning.

35... Rbd8! short on time, Black finds great defensive moves 36.Kf1? another big mistake by White [36.Kh1 Ne5 37. Rf1 Rxg3 38.hxg3 Nd5 with a very unclear position] 36...Ne5! suddenly Black is the one who is doing better! 37. Rxf4 Rxd1+ 38.Ke2 Rgd8 39. Rxa5 R1d2+ 40.Ke3 Ng4+ 41.Ke4 The time trouble is over. It is easy to see that Black is doing better, but it is by far not easy to convert this advantage 41... Re8+

31... Rf8 32.h4+! Kg4 33. Bf3+ Kh3 Black king trapped, pieces are hanging and it seems that nothing could save Black anymore... but game of chess is unpredictable even at the highest level 34. Bd1? a big mistake, probably based on a miscalculation [the simple 34. Rxa5 Rb6 (34...b4 35.Rg5) 35.Kh1 Rg8 36.h5 and it is clear, this game will not last for a long time. White is winning] 34... Rg8 35. Rf3

[41...b4! 42.cxb4 c3 43. Rc5 c2–+ and probably Black would have won the game. The bad position of the White 5


king, plus the c2 pawn is giving Black decisive advantage. Funny to see that for the last 20 moves the Black king was on a run and all White pieces were around him, now the situation has changed and the White king is the one under attack in the centre of the board]

(2) Gunina,Valentina (2511) — Muzychuk,Anna (2583) [D43]

42.Kf5 Ne3+? [still here it was not too late for the b4 push 42...b4 43.cxb4 c3 44. Rc5 Ne3+ 45.Kg6 c2 and Black is keeping some winning chances]

The following battle was the decisive game of the European Individual Women’s Chess Championship in 2012 in Turkey. It was played in the last round, when Anna Muzychuk was a full point ahead of competition and just a draw was enough for her to secure the victory in the tournament. Her opponent was Valentina Gunina from Russia, who had the chance with this win not only to catch the leader, but to become champion with better tiebreak! So the stake was amazingly high and the players started a real fight!

43.Kg6 Nd5 44. Rxb5! a nice idea to escape. White is giving the exchange, but getting rid of the dangerous b pawn. The position of the King on g6 plus the bishop, which will protect the White’s king from checks plus will hold the Black’s c pawn, is giving White almost a draw 44...Nxf4+ 45.Bxf4 Rd3 [last try to play for a win been 45...Rf2!? 46.Bg5 Re6+ 47.Kg7 Ra2 probably the position is close to a draw, but Black could still keep on trying...]

European Women’s Championship GAZIANTEP, 13.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 Anna is following the “old rule”, if you need to make a draw, you must play actively, playing for the draw often leads to punishment... 6. Bxf6 White avoids the very sharp Moscow variation with 6. Bh4, the text move leads the game into more calm waters. 6...Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10.0–0 Bg7 Nothing new so far, you can find hundreds of games in the database.

46.h5! last technical move. The white pawn is as dangerous as the Black c pawn, and as we know, a bishop on a long diagonal is as good as a rook in such endgames. 46... Rxc3 47.h6 Rb3 a very exiting and interesting game! 1/2 6


14...b5! Very strong response! Black wants to play Nb6, with the threat of b4 confusing the pieces around the d5 pawn. 15.dxc6! This is the only way to have a piece on d5, but after losing the c4 bishop, it already has much smaller effect. [15. Bb3 Nb6 and Black is fine.]

11. Re1 This move used to be a rare sideline, only GM Miso Cebalo played it a few times in the 90s. Then in 2010, Leko tried it against Gelfand, and achieved a comfortable advantage, which brought many high-class followers to the line. The move has a very subtle point (typical for Leko), what we can understand, if we take a look at the 11.e4 variation. [On 11.e4 Black’s standard reaction is 11...e5 12.d5 Nb6 13. Bb3 Bg4 when he takes on f3, swaps the queens, worsens the pawn structure, and with the help of the opposite color bishops makes a draw. With 11. Re1, White prepares for this plan to be able to play Re3 after Bg4! In that way he could keep the queens on board, and achieve an edge due to the strong d5 pawn.] 11...0–0 12.e4 e5 13.d5 Rd8 The whole fight is around the d5 square. White would like to install a piece there, while Black should try to force his opponent to take back with the e4 pawn. [13...Nb6 14. Bb3 Bg4 15. Re3! As we mentioned, this is the whole idea behind the 11th move.] 14. Re3 An interesting novelty to 14.h3. The rook stands well on e3, it might be doubled on the d- or c-file in the future, and prevents the Bg4 counter plays forever.

15...bxc4 16.Nd5 Qd6?! This is a mistake. It moves into Nd2, when Nxc4 is coming with tempo. [16...Qe6 was the right move 17.cxd7 (17.Nc7? Qxc6) 17... Rxd7! followed by Bb7, when Black is completely fine.] 17.cxd7 Bxd7 18.Nd2! Gunina rightly points out the fault of the 16th move. Still, Black had a fantastic opportunity to maintain the balance...

18... Bb5?! Too passive. [18... Bf5!! A fantastic idea to get rid of the d5 knight. 19.Nxc4 Qc5 and White has no good way to parry the Bxe4 threat.] 19.Qc2 [19.a4! it was better to include the a4-Ba6 moves to avoid the 20th move. 19... Ba6 20.Qc2 Rab8 21. Rc3 Rdc8 22. Rb1! White is going to have a healthy pawn up in the next move.] 19... Rab8! 20. Rc3 Qa6! Very resourceful idea... 7


21.a4! [21.Nxc4 Bxc4 22. Rxc4 Rxb2!] 21... Bf8! Using the pin on the a-file, Black tries hold the c4 pawn by Rdc8 and also wants to activate the bishop through c5-d4! Of course the later idea has a big disadvantage as well, that it leaves the king without its main defender. [21... Bc6 22.Ne7+ Kh7 23.Nxc6 Qxc6 24. Rxc4] 22.Nf1 [22.Nf3! was the right move, immediately attacking the e5 pawn and on 22... Bd6 the same idea would work, what we will see in the game...]

23... Bc6 24.Nf6+! another very strong move, other lines were not easy at all. [24.Qxh6 Bxd5 25. Rh3 Qf6 Black could have prevented the immediate threats; 24. Rxc4 Bxd5 25. Rxc5 Bxe4 26. Rxe5 Bd3 the activity of the Black pieces would give him decent drawing chances.] 24...Kg7 25.Ng4 g5 Only move! [25... Bxe4 26.Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Rh3+-] 26. Rxc4! And it seems that White won a piece and the game, but...

22... Bc5 Allows a great move to her opponent... [It was time to exchange a pair of minor pieces and only then to activate the f8 bishop. 22... Bc6! 23.Nfe3 Bxd5 24.Nxd5 Bc5 25. Rb1 (25.R xc4 R xb2! 26.Qxb2 Qxc4) 25... Rdc8 with unclear position.]

26... Rd1!! This beautiful idea forces White to find further strong moves to collect the full point. In general, we can say that if somebody defends in the most precise way in bad positions, he usually gets a chance from destiny...

23.Qc1!! This great move was probably missed by Black, otherwise she would play 22... Bc6!. White protects the a1 rook, so the b5 is already hanging and at the same time attacks the h6. [23.Nc7 would lead to nowhere 23...Qa5 24.Nxb5 Rxb5 25. Rxc4 Bd4 Black has enough activity for the pawn.]

27.Qxd1 Qxc4 28.Qf3 and here it is! [Only 28.Ng3! would have won instantly, when the knights (and later the queen joins) would decide the game against the “naked” king... 28... Bxe4 (28...Bd4 29.Qf3+-)

8


29...Qg6 [There is an elegant win after 29...Qxf3 30.gxf3 Bxf3 (30...B xf2+ 31.Kxf2 R xb2+ 32.Kg3 B xa4 33.Rc7) 31.Nxe5 Rc8

29.Qe1!! A similar move to 23.Qc1!!, which had to be foreseen before playing 28.Ng3!] 28...Qxe4 Black is too greedy and Gunina finds an excellent way for punishment. [28...Qe6! would have given saving chances 29.Ng3 Rb3! 30.Qe2 Bd4 31.Nf5+ Kh7 32. Rc1! When White is undoubtedly better, but still a long way to win the game...]

29. Rc1! Just like in the 26th move, White uses the unfortunate situation of the bishops, but there are no moves like 26... Rd1!! anymore. White is winning material in all the lines... [29.Qf6+ would be a mistake to leave the g2 pawn without protection... 29...Kg8! 30.Nxh6+ Kh7]

32.Nd3!+- wins a piece.; 29...h5 30.Qf6+! Kg8 31.Qxg5++- check is a big difference to the 29.Qf6+] 30.Qc3 Qe4

31.Qxe5+! Qxe5 32.Nxe5 One of the bishops is falling, Black tries to get as many pawns as possible, but she cannot eliminate all of them. 32... Bxf2+ 33.Kxf2 Rxb2+ 34.Ke3 Bxg2 35.Ng3 Bd5 36.Nh5+ The king remains in mate net.

9


36...Kf8 37. Rd1 Be6?? A terrible blunder in a lost position... [37... Rxh2 38. Rxd5 Rxh5 39. Ra5]

(3) Hou,Yifan (2639) — Caruana,Fabiano (2767) [C78]

38. Rd8+ And Black resigned, because of the Nc6 mate. With this picturesque mate, Valentina Gunina became the new European Women Champion, while Anna Muzychuk took “only” bronze medal. The Russian Grandmaster, Tatiana Kosintseva finished second place. Congratulations to all of them! 1–0

Reykjavik Open 2012 Reykjavik, 13.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The following was the crucial game of the Reykjavik Open! In the last round Fabiano Caruana had half a point advantage, but he had to face Hou Yifan, and we already know how dangerous she is. In an interesting battle in Ruy Lopez, the Women World Champion outplays the Nr. 7 in the World in a complex middle game, but in the last moment she fails to convert the decisive advantage into full point. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 This is the Modern Arkhangelsk Defense, which lately has become very popular. 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.h3 0–0 10. Be3 h6 11.Nbd2 Re8 12. Re1 Bd7

13.Qb1 Until this moment the players are following the Navara-Caruana game from Wijk aan Zee, 2012, which continued with 13. Bc2. Hou Yifan tries an interesting novelty. White had to protect the e4 pawn... We will un10


derstand the big plus of the move compared to Navara’s idea in the 13...Qb8 line. 13...Na5 [13...Qb8 This is the standard plan for Black, Caruana played it in the mentioned game. He transfers his queen to b7 to put the e4 pawn under pressure, and tries to invite White for pushing d5. That would be a big achievement for Black to provoke this move because after leaving with the knight, he could play c6 and obtain a prefect position. This is the whole idea behind Black’s concept. 14.a3! And here we get the point of the 13th move, White does not want to leave the a2-g8 diagonal with the bishop. 14...Qb7 (14...Na5 15.Ba2 c5 16.b4) 15.Qd3 it seems that White’s chances are slightly preferable.]

16...cxb3 [16...Nb7 17.a4 Here Black has serious problem with the terrible b7 "Ruy Lopez knight", which has no future.] 17.axb3 Bxe3 18. Rxe3 Nb7 19.b4! White got a small advantage out of the opening. He has a clear plan on the queenside, with Bd3 and c4, while Black’s only chance to create counter play is on the kingside by playing on f5. Of course, to prepare this will take some time, and also, it is not that effective with the poor knight on b7. 19...Nh5 [19...a5 White would not touch this pawn since that would bring back the knight to the game... 20. Bd3! Qc7 21. Bf1] 20. Bd3! Nf4 21. Bf1 Rf8

14. Bc2 c5 This is another typical plan in the Ruy Lopez, but now White can happily play d5, since he does not need to worry about c6 undermining the center. 15.d5 c4

22.c4! Both players followed their plans. Now the game gets to more concrete fight with many interesting ideas. 22...bxc4 [22...f5 would be a mistake because Black loses his important central pawn. 23.c5! dxc5 24.Nxe5] 16.b4! White plays on the queenside, where he is better and has more space, thanks to the d5 pawn.

23. Bxc4 White protects the d5 pawn (after f5 it might be weak), and attacks the a6 weakness, but on the other hand gives a chance to get rid of it. [In my opinion it was better to take 23.Nxc4 f5 (23...Bb5 24.Nfd2) 24. Rea3 11


fxe4 25.Qxe4 Bf5 26.Qe1 Exchanging the d5 pawn for the a6, but even after that the d6 remains weak, the b7 knight is still terrible and White has a dangerous b4 passed pawn for the future, which guarantees an advantage.]

30.Qxd7; 29...B xh3 30.Ne3!) 30. Rd1 Qc2! 31. Rxd3 Qxd3 32.Nfxe5 Qb1+ 33.Kh2 Bb5 would be very unclear.]

23...a5! [23... Bb5 24. Rea3]

29... Rc8! Very strong play by the World Nr.7, in each move he prepares different trick against taking on d6... [29...Nd3? 30.Qb1!]

24.bxa5 Nxa5 25.Qb4 Black did not solve all the problems, the d6 pawn causes him lot of headaches.

30. Re3 To control the d3 square. [30.Qxd6? did not work 30... Bb5!; 30.Nxd6? Nd3 31.Qb1 Qxd2]

25...Nxc4 [25...Nxg2!? Trying to use the pin on the afile, Black had an interesting piece sacrifice to complicate the matters. 26. Rea3! (26.Kxg2? N xc4 27.R xa8 N xe3+ check!) 26... Bxh3 (26...Nf4 27.R xa5 R xa5 28.Qxa5 Qf6 29.Kh1 B xh3 30.Rg1 followed by Nh2. Black should not have enough compensation...) 27. Rxa5 Rxa5 28.Qxa5 Qd7 29. Ra3! and Nh2 in the next move.] 26. Rxa8 Qxa8 27.Nxc4 Qa1+ Caruana has no chance to save his d6 pawn, so he is looking for counter play around his opponent’s king. 28. Re1 [28.Kh2? Qf1!] 28...Qa2

30...Qc2! Another devilish trick by Black, but he is facing a very strong opponent. 31.Kh2! Hou Yifan is very patient, prevents the checks on the back rank... [31.Nxd6? Qd1+ 32.Kh2 Rc1–+; 31.Qxd6? loses in a nice way 31... Rxc4! 32.Nxc4 Qd1+ 33.Kh2 Qf1! 34. Rg3 Ne2! and Qg1 mate.]

29.Nfd2! Consolidating the pieces, using the fact that Nd3 is not a real threat. [29.Qxd6 Nd3! (29...Qxc4

31...Nd3? In mutual time trouble Caruana blunders, he should have continued the plan he started... [31...Qd1! when White has nothing better than 32.Qb3 (32.Qxd6? R xc4! 33.N xc4 Qf1! 34.Rg3 Ne2!) 32...Qa1! 33.Qa3 (33. Nb6 Rc1 34.N xd7 Rh1+ 35.Kg3 Qg1 36.Qb8+ Kh7 37.Nf8+=) 33...Qd1! 34.Qb3!= to make a draw by repetition!] 12


32.Qb7 This is the easiest win! [But 32.Qxd6 is also very spectacular 32... Bb5 33. Rg3! Bxc4

34.Qf6! g6 35. Rxg6+! fxg6 36.Qe6+ Kg7 37.Qd7+! Kf6 38.Qxc8 Qxd2?! 39.Qf8+! White gives beautiful mate with a single queen! 39...Kg5 40.Qe7+ Kf4 (40...Kh5 41.g4#) 41.Qh4#] 32...Nc5 33.Qb6 Nd3 Now, Hou Yifan misses some easy wins, but we should not blame the players for the mistakes, since we know how hard is to play under the time pressure... especially when the stake is to win such a big tournament as Reykjavik! 34.Nxd6 [Black could resign after 34. Rg3! Rxc4 35.Qd8+ Kh7 36.Qf8+-] 34... Rf8 35.N6c4 [35.N 2c4 Nxf2 36.Nxe5+- was also winning.] 35...Nxf2 36.Qb1!? She simplifies the position into clearly better endgame. Black has problems with the e5 pawn and also the rescue of the f2 knight from the cage. 36...Qxb1 37.Nxb1 Bb5 38.Nba3 Ba6 [38... Bxc4 39.Nxc4 f6 40.d6 Kf7 41.Kg3 Nd1 42. Rd3+- The knight would be trapped.]

39.Nxe5 Re8

40.d6! A great last move of the time control, indirectly protecting the e5 knight. 40... Bb7 Finally the time trouble is over! The players get extra 30 minutes, so it is time to calm down, relax a bit, and then find the way to win. 41.Nxf7?? Hard to explain this move, White decides to force the draw, when she had a simple win after the most logical continuation. [41.Nac4! White ends in a piece up in all the lines: 41...f6 (41...N xe4 42.d7 Rd8 43.Na5! This is always the key move. 43...Ba8 44.Nac6 B xc6 45.N xc6 R xd7 46.R xe4+-) 42.Na5 the human win (computer suggest 42.Nd7 which might be even stronger) 42... Bxe4 (42...Ba8 43.Nec6+- and the d-pawn promotes) 43.Ng4! Nxg4+ 44.hxg4 and Black cannot get rid of the d6 pawn without losing the bishop... 44...Kf7 (44...Bc6 45.N xc6! R xe3 46.d7 Rd3 47.d8Q+ R xd8 48.N xd8+-) 45.d7 Rd8 46. Rxe4 Rxd7 47.Nc6+-] 41...Kxf7 42. Rf3+ Ke6 43.Nb5

13

Issue 4 (4) Gonda,Laszlo (2520) — Efimenko,Zahar (2703)

23rd of March 2012

Schachbundesliga 2011/2012 (13.2), 18.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

Rb8! Probably, White missed this move, but it seems to me that 43...Ke5 also held the draw. 44. Rxf2 Bxe4 45. Re2 Rxb5 46. Rxe4+ Kxd6 47.Kg3 Draw agreed! As first seed, Caruana won the event and gained further 5,5 points to his rating, with which he is already Nr. 6 in the World according to the live rating list! 1/2

In this game we will see a great attack by White! Especially nice is the fact that in a very complex position White is managing to continue their play with silent moves, where it seems something concrete has to work out... 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 The English opening has been played lately a few times by Vladimir Kramnik, who brought it back to fashion. 3...g6 [3...Nf6 4.e3 see Kramnik’s games] 4.g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 d6 6.0–0 e6 7.a3!? in the English opening the move order is very relevant! White’s plan is usually to push the b2-b4 or d2-d4 moves. Black is usually trying to be solid, avoiding or preparing against this threats 7...Nge7 [7...a5 would have been a more careful move. Black should have tried to avoid White’s b4 move]

8.b4! excellent move!

14


8...0–0 [seems not to work 8...cxb4 9.axb4 Nxb4 10. Ba3 Nbc6 11.Ne4! a very typical exchange sacrifice for this type of positions 11...0–0 12.Nxd6 Bxa1 13.Qxa1 and White got more than enough compensation for the exchange down] 9. Rb1 White succeeded in the first step - to bring the pawn to b4, so we can clearly say: White is doing a bit better now

14...e4 15.Nd2 cxb4?! this is a mistake [15...cxd4 following the old chess rule, always exchange the pawns towards the center :). 16.exd4 d5 17.f3! a very important push for White. White can not allow Black to consolidate the center-after which Black would be better 17...Nd8! Black is of course trying to keep the central pawns at any cost! The position is very unclear] 16.axb4 d5

9...b6 10.e3 in my opinion the wrong plan, better was the immediate [10.Qb3 Bb7 11. Bb2] 10... Bb7 11.Qb3 Qd7 12. Bb2

17.f3! also here this move is very strong. Black’s center is falling apart... f5?! Black is trying to act against the White move Ne4, but is it really a reason to weaken that much the pawn structure?! [12... Rad8 13.d3 (13.Ne4 f5! and White would have nothing better than to go back to 14.Nc3) 13... Ba8 14. Rfd1] 13.Ne2 [13. Rfd1 the d4 idea could have been another try for White...]

17...Nd8 18.fxe4 dxe4 [18...fxe4 19. Rxf8+ Kxf8 20. Rf1++-] 19.d5! again an absolutely correct play by White. The pawn on d5 will distract Black a lot in the development of their pieces. By exchanging the dark squared bishops, White chances for attack are increasing enormously! 19... Bxb2 20.Qxb2 Rf7

13...e5 14.d4 a very dynamic move. A positional solution could have been to play d3, Nc3, Nd2 with exploring the weak square d5 15


26...Qg5 27.Nf4 [27.Nd4 was a bit more precise 27... Bc8 28.Nf3! Qf5 29. Rf1 and Black is collapsing under the White threats] 27... Bc8 Black is trying to find some ways to fight. It is obvious, that in case White manages to play Ne6 the game will be over

21. Bxe4!? The beginning of a very nice sacrifice, but from a practical point of view, there was no need for it... [21.b5! not giving Black any hopes for a b5 move, next Nd4-c6 is coming. Black’s position is very bad] 21...fxe4 22. Rxf7 Nxf7 23.Nxe4 Qf5 how to continue the attack now... seems not that easy at all, but White is finding a great continuation 24.Nf6+ Kh8 25.Ng4+ Kg8

28.Ne6 Bxe6 29.dxe6 h5 [29... Rf8 30.Nf6+ Kh8 31.Nd7+ Ne5 32.Qxe5+ Qxe5 33.Nxe5 With a winning endgame for White] 30. Rf1 [30.Nf6+ Kh8 31.Ne4+ Qe5 32.exf7 Qxb2 33. Rxb2+-] 30...Ne5 31.Qxe5 Qxe5 32.Nxe5+- White is 2 pawns up, plus having all the pieces standing perfectly. No hopes for Black... 32...a5 33. Rf7! last exact move 33...Nf5 34.Nd7 Kh8 35.Nf6 even if Black made it a bit easy, a great strategical and tactical game by White! 1–0

26.h3!! the key move of the whole White’s idea starting with 21. Bxe4!! White wants now to play Rf1 and then Nf4-e6.

16


Puzzle section

(7) Socko,B (2628) — Sandipan,C (2640) Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012

(5) Berkes,F (2706) — Bogner,S (2534) Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012

[CEWN] 1... =

[CEWN] 1. +/-

(8) Muse,D (2388) — Teske,H (2547) (6) Medvegy,Z (2531) — Dinstuhl,V (2408)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... -/+

17


(9) Swiercz,D (2585) — Bacrot,E (2705)

(11) Eljanov,P (2683) — Cyborowski,L (2543)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +/-

1. +-

(10) Naiditsch,A (2707) — Brandenburg,D (2522)

(12) Fressinet,L (2696) — Gordon,S (2535)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

18


(13) Gajewski,G (2607) — Goloshchapov,A (2580)

Endgame section

Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Zherebukh,Y (2580) — Firman,N (2517) Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(15) [Balogh Csaba]

In this week’s study we will take a look at rook endgames, where the pawn has not crossed the middle of the board yet (the 4th rank). In practice we meet quite often with this kind of examples. I can even show you a game from my own experience, where I could succesfully use the knowledge, what I had from the given diagrams. The rook keeps the Black king 2 files away from the paws, so he cannot approach them However, in this seemingly hopeless position, Black can hold the draw thanks to the so-called „frontal attack”. In general, in rookendgames both attacking and defensive sides should aim for active play and staying with the rooks behind the pawn. However, in this case, the only way to survive is the passive defense from the front of the pawn. I would like to draw your attention to the position of the Black king, it must stay on e6 or on e5! Let us see, why it is so! 1. Rd4 Defends the pawn and in that way prepares the march of his king. Without this 19


move it was not possible because the rook checks would have forced back the king behind the pawn. [1.Kc4 Rc8+ 2.Kb5 Rb8+ 3.Kc5 Rc8+ 4.Kb6 Rb8+=] 1...Ke5! This is why it is so important that in the starting position the Black king must stay on e6 or on e5, to be able to attack the rook. In the initial position if Black king were on e7, we could see the win in the 2nd diagram, and with king on e4, in the 3rd diagram. 2.Kc3 [2. Rd7 Ke6 3. Ra7 Kd6 4.Ka4 Kc6 The king arrives! 5.Ka5 Rb5+ 6.Ka4 Rb8=] 2... Rc8+ White must let Black king to come closer to the pawn. 3. Rc4 [3.Kd3 Rb8=] 3... Rb8 4. Rc6 Kd5 5. Ra6 White tries to prevent from the 6th rank that the king goes in front of the pawn. However, with the 2 very strong moves, Black saves the game. 5... Rc8+! 6.Kb3 Rc6! Forcing the rook to leave its good position, since the pawn endgames are drawn. 7. Ra7 [7. Rxc6 Kxc6 8.Ka4 Kb6=; 7.b5 Rxa6 8.bxa6 Kc6=] 7... Rb6 8. Rc7 [8.Ka4 Kc6=] 8...Kd6 9. Rc4 Rc6! Thanks to the drawish pawn endgame, the Black king gets in front of the pawn. 10.b5 Rxc4 11.Kxc4 Kc7 Important to know, the „frontal attack” works only if White has a- or b-pawns, and his king is cut off with less than 3 files from the pawn! 1/2

(16) [Balogh Csaba]

This time Black’s king is not standing on the ideal e6 or e5 squares, he cannot hold the draw anymore. 1. Rd4! [1.Kc4 would lead to nowhere 1... Rc8+ 2.Kb5 Rb8+ 3.Kc5 Rc8+ 4.Kb6 Rb8+] 1...Ke6 2.Kc4 Finally the king can help the pawn, he does not need to worry about the checks. 2...Ke5 [2... Rc8+ 3.Kb5 Rb8+ 4.Kc6+-] 3. Rd5+ Ke6 4.b5 The pawn has crossed the middle of the board. 4... Rc8+ 5. Rc5 Kd7 Black is hoping for the usual drawish pawn endgame, but this time it is too late. [5... Rb8 6. Rc6+ Kd7 7.Kc5+-] 6.b6! and the pawn endgame is winning 6... Rxc5+ 7.Kxc5 Kc8 8.Kc6 Kb8 9.b7 Ka7 10.Kc7 1–0

20


(17) Balogh,Csaba — Kempinski,Robert Warszawa, 2008 [Balogh Csaba]

From now on, White can push his pawn until b7 and then as we have already studied in the Chess Evolution Newsletter, 9th of March edition, he is winning with the technique of „bridge building” 10... Rc1 [10...Kc6 11.b5+ Kc5 12.b6 Kc6 13.Ka7+-] 11.b5 Rh1 12. Rg7 Rh2 13.b6 Kc6 14. Rc7+ Kd6 15. Rc1 Kd7 16.b7 Black resigned, he did not want to wait until the bridge is built up.[16.b7 Ra2+ 17.Kb6 Rb2+ 18.Ka7 Ra2+ 19.Kb8 Ra3 20. Rd1+ Ke7 (20...Kc6 21.Kc8+-) 21. Rd4! Ra1 22.Kc7 Rc1+ 23.Kb6 Rb1+ 24.Kc6 Rc1+ 25.Kb5 Rb1+ 26. Rb4+-] 1–0 (18)

I played this game against the Polish Grandmaster Robert Kempinski. If Black defends well, he holds the draw, but as we will see, my opponent makes a mistake. White king cannot help the pawn because of the avtive position of Black’s rook. If my opponent starts passing on the 3rd rank with his rook, I would have no chance to win the game. 1.Ka2 Rg3 2. Rd2 [2.b5 Rg5=] 2... Rg8?? Robert decides to hold with „frontal attack”, but as we already know, his king should have been on e5 or on e6. Let us see how White can win in the case. [2... Rh3 3.b5 Rh5 4. Rb2 (4.b6 Ra5+ 5.Kb1 Ra8 and the pawn falls) 4...Kd5 5.b6 Rh8=] 3.Kb3+- Rb8 4. Rd7! This is the difference, Black should play Ke6 now for the draw! 4...Ke5 5.Kc4 Ke6 [5... Rc8+ 6.Kb5 Ke6 (6...Rb8+ 7.Kc5 Rc8+ 8.Kb6 Rb8+ 9.Rb7 The usual method does not work anymore.) 7. Rb7+-] 6. Rd4 And we already know this position from diagram number 3! 6... Rc8+ [6...Ke5 7. Rd5+ Ke6 8.b5 Rc8+ 9. Rc5 Kd7 (9...Rb8 10.Rc6+ Kd7 11.Kc5+-) 10.b6!+-] 7.Kb5 Ke5 8. Rd7 Ke6 9. Rb7+- Kd6 10.Ka6

[Balogh Csaba]

In case of a- and h-pawn, Black can hold the draw with the „frontal attack”, even if his king is cut with 4 files from the pawn, due to the drawish pawn endgames. 1.Kb4 Re8! 2. Rd1 Ke7 3.a5 Rd8! 4. Rc1 Kd7 5.a6 Rc8! 6. Rd1+ Kc7 Just in time! 1/2

21


Clash of the Titans

6... Be6! Every tempo is very important to punish White for his inaccuracy.

(19) Pytlakowski,Andrzej — Smyslov,Vassily (2620) [D23]

7.Qd3 [7.Qb4 Qb6 8.Qxb6 axb6 would lead to a really comfortable endgame for Black. This kind of changes of the pawn formation (with axb6), is something what White always should try to avoid.]

Helsinki ol (Men) prel-C Helsinki (3), 1952 [Balogh Csaba] This week I would like to present you a great attacking game from Vassily Smyslov, the 7th World Champion! It is not easy to say what was his biggest strength in chess. He was simply fantastic in all the parts of the game! He played three World Championship matches with Botvinnik. In 1954 the score was tied and the old Champion retained his title. However in 1957, at the age of 36, Smyslov managed to win and completely deservedly took the crown! Here is an interesting game by Smyslov, with a great pawn sacrifice, he forces the king of his Polish opponent to stay in the center, against which he launched a devastating attack. Let’s sit back and enjoy! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 [2...c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 it is more common to reach the game’s position, from this move order.]

7...Nbd7 8.Nxd7 Bxd7 9.Nc3 Despite being Black, Smyslov is ahead in development! But how to use this advantage? 9...Qb6! Black suggests that he wants to play a quick O-O-O, to set the d4 pawn under pressure. However, the main idea is different as we will see... 10. Bd2 White would be happy to exchange his b2 pawn for the opponent’s b7, and on the other hand, he is ready to play O-O-O next move and then e4. However, our hero had a devilish idea, started in the previous move. [10.e3 was the only move to defend Black’s idea, but this passive way of play was not in accordance to White’s opening handling. 10...e6 11. Be2 c5=; 10.e4 e5! 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.Qg3 Bc5!; 10.g3 e5! 11.dxe5 Ng4]

3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+ c6 5.Qxc4 Bg4 The popularity of this line is growing very fast recently. Even top grandmasters are trying to find new ideas for both sides. However, if White wants get some advantage out of the opening, he must definitely search it in the 6.Nc3 or 6.Nbd2 move. 6.Ne5 This move leaves the d4 pawn without its main guide, and in addition, Black will win very important time in the development by playing Nbd7. 22


10...e5! Smyslov sacrifices a pawn in order to open the diagonal for his f8 bishop, for the b6 queen which is eyeing dangerously on f2, and the d-file for his rook. White has no choice, it is a “must accept offer”. 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.Qg3 White is too gready, he does not want give back so easily the “gift”. His plan is to play h3 in the next move, and if the knight retreats to h6, Black would not have enough compensation... Let’s see what the great Champion had against it! [It would have been safer to play 12.e3 but still after 12...0–0–0 13.Qc2 Nxe5 Black is fine, but at least he has enough time to O-O after Be2.]

house is burning, and he is cleaning the window” move?! 14...Nh6 15.e4 f5! 16.exf6 gxf6 with very big initiative for the pawn.] 14...Qxb2! Black continues the fireworks! He does not want to waste important time with knight moves. 15.hxg4 Bb4! Prepares for Rxd2, against which White finds the only move! 16. Rh3! Remarkable defense, however, it does not help!

12...0–0–0! It is logical, but what to do after h3? [12... Qxb2? 13. Rb1 Qc2 14.h3] 13.h3

16... Rd4! Smyslov brings all his pieces into the attack! 17.Qe3 Rhd8 18.f4! The polish finds again the only move, against the treating 18... Rxd2 19. Rxd2 Qc1! mate, but it is too late to save the game. 13... Be6!! Black must act as fast as possible! With a harmless move, he would just spoil all his compensation. By giving up his knight, Smyslov prepares for another sacrifice! 14. Rd1 [14.hxg4 Rxd2! this was the point of the last move! Black is winning after taking on b2.; 14.0–0–0? Nxf2; 14. Bc1! was the most stubborn continuation, according to computer. But who could play such a “the

18... Bxg4! The easiest win! Black does not want to give any counter chance, which might occur by pushing f5. 19. Rg3 Bf5 Bc2 is coming, White can in fact resign the game. 20. Rf3 Ba5 [20... Bc2–+] 21.g4 Bc2 22.e6 fxe6 23.Qxe6+ At least, he could give an “angry check” before capitulation. 23...Kb8 24. Rd3 Bxd3 25.exd3 Bxc3 26.Qe5+ one more! 23


26...Ka8 and finally White resigned! As you could see, just a very small inaccuracy by White in the opening (6.Ne5), was enough for Smyslov to take the initiative and use his brilliant fantasy! 0–1

Surprise section / study (20) Kalandadze,V 1964 [CEWN] 1. =

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Solutions

(23) Fridman,D (2653) — Huschenbeth,N (2509) 83rd ch-GER 2012 Osterburg GER, 06.03.2012

(21) Barbosa,Ev (2399) —Andriasian,Z (2616)

[Solutions]

28th Cappelle Open Cappelle la Grande FRA, 03.03.2012 [Solutions]

20... Bxb2+! 21.Kxb2 Rb8+ 22.Ka2 Nb4+! 23.Qxb4 Rxb4 24. Bd2 Rhb8 0–1 (22) Cheparinov,I (2664) — Akshayraj,K (2422) Reykjavik Open Reykjavik ISL, 08.03.2012 [Solutions]

28.Nxb6!! Nxb6 29. Bxa5 Rb8 30. Rxc6 Rd6 31. Rdc1! Rb7 32.e5 1–0

30...Nxg2! 31. Bxg5 [31.Kxg2 f6=] 31...Ne1! [31... Nh4 32.Qb8+ Qf8 33.Qxf8+ Kxf8 34. Bxh4] 32. Bxe7 Nxf3+ 33.Kf2 Nxe5 34.dxe5 Bxg4 35.Ke3 1/2–1/2 (24) Iordachescu,V (2644) — Saidov,B (2389) 6th Agzamov Memorial Tashkent UZB, 09.03.2012 [Solutions]

24.Nxd6! cxd6 25.Qf5! Kc7 [25... Bg7 26. Rf6+!] 26. Rxf6 Qe8 27.Qxg5+25


(25) Socko,B (2636) — Naumkin,I (2443)

(26) Hoang Thanh Trang (2438) — Paehtz,E (2459)

Moscow Open 2012 Moscow RUS, 31.01.2012

Gazientep Gaziantep TUR, 12.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

23. Rxd7! Qxc4 [23...Qxd7 24.Qxg6+ Kh8 25.Qf6+! Kg8 26. Re1!+-] 24.h4! Qb5 [24...Kh7 25. Rad1! Rac8 26. R1d6 Qe4 27.h5+-] 25. Rad1! e4 26. R7d5!? [26. R1d5! Qxb2 27. R 5d6! Qb1+ 28.Kg2 e3 29.h5 exf2 30. Rxg6+! fxg6 31.Qd5+ Kh8 32.Qe5+ Kg8 33.Qg7#] 26...Qe2 27.h5 e3 28.fxe3

37.Ng3! Rhf8 [37... Rxg3 38.Qe5++-] 38.Qe5+ Kh7 39.h5!+- gxh5 40. Rh1 Rxg3 41. Rxh3 Rxh3 42. Rg1 Rf7 43.Qe6 Rhf3 44.Qh6+ 1–0

26


(27) Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2662) — Li Shilong (2549)

(28) Kozul,Z (2602) — Brkic,A (2587)

HD Bank Cup, 06.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15. Bh6!! [15.Qxa8? Qxf1+! 16.Kxf1 Ba6+ 17.Ke1 Rxa8; 15.Ng5? Nf6! 16.Qxa8 Qxf1+ 17.Kxf1 Ba6+ 18.Ke1 Rxa8] 15... Ba6 [15...Qd5 16.Qg4 g6 17. Bxf8 Kxf8 18. Rfc1; 15...gxh6 16.Qxa8] 16.Qg4! g6 17. Rfc1 Qd5 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19.Qg5 Qd6 20.Qg3+-

Zagreb, 10.03.2012

17. Rxh8+! Kxh8 18.Qf4!! Qc7 [18... Re6 19.Qxf7 Rxe4+ 20.Kd2 Qxa2+ 21. Rc2+-] 19. Bf6+? [19.Qh2+! Kg7 (19...Kg8 20.Bf4!+-) 20. Bh6+ Kg8 21. Bf4+-] 19... Kg8 20.Qh2? 1–0 [20.Qh2? Bh3!! 21.gxh3 (21.Qxh3 R xf6–+) 21...dxe4]

27


(29) Papin,V (2575) — Thorhallsson,T (2398)

(31) Benko,P

Reykjavik Open, 11.03.2012

1984

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

19. Bxb5+!! axb5 20. Rd4!+-

1.d3!! [1. Bh4? d3 2.c3 (2.cxd3 Kd4) 2...Kc4 3.Kb7 a4 4. Be7 Kb3 5.Kb6 Kc2 6.c4 Kxd2 7.c5 Ke2 8.c6 d2 9.c7 d1Q 10.c8Q=] 1...a4 2. Bh4! a3 [2...Ke6 3. Bg5! a3 4. Bc1 a2 5. Bb2+-] 3. Bf6! a2 4.c4+! Kc5 [4...dxc3 5. Bxc3+-] 5.Kb7 a1Q [5...Kb4 6. Bxd4+-] 6. Be7# 1–0

(30) Gunnarsson,J (2424) — Hess,Ro (2635) Reykjavik Open, 08.03.2012 [Solutions]

27... Rxb1! 28. Rxb1 Ra2! 0–1 [28... Ra2 29. Rbd1 Rxd2! 30. Rxd2 Bxe4–+] 28

Weekly Newsletter



30th of March 2012

Dear friends,


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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We are both playing on the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv. The tournament is very strong again, with 100 players above 2 600 rating. There are 23 qualification places for the World Cup. The finish will be very exciting, we both try to do our best to have a nice result. As we have promised, we present You some of our games, so we can share with You not only analyses, but our feelings and calculations during the game as well. The puzzle section was very difficult on the previous week, but we hope, that You managed to solve a few of them. This week we made a more „friendly” selection. From the next month in the surprise section, we will publish interviews with Super Grandmasters, stay tuned for them! We would like to draw Your attention, that we launch a special newsletter about the Anand-Gelfand World Championship match. It is going to be 14 issues. One before the match, 12 after each game, and a final one with the conclusions. We offer for our yearly CEWN subscribers for 7 euros. Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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4 best games of the past week (1) Naiditsch,Arkadij (2702) — Sokolov,I (2653) [C84] ECC 2012 Plovdiv (6), 25.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the 6th round of the European Championship. Ivan and I have a good 4/5 points in the standings. I was preparing myself for a very fighting game — like every game of Ivan Sokolov, who is playing very exciting chess and is trying to „push” in almost any kind position. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Ivan wrote a great book on „Spanish gambits” in which he introduced moves like 3. ..f5, 3.... Bc5. His latest invention against Caruana was 3... Nge7 4.c3 d5!?. From the practical point of view all these lines are playable — of course if we look objectively, White is doing better. Against me Ivan is going for the main Spanish, it was a a small surprise for me... 3...a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 Of course the main line here is 6. Re1, but lately 6.d3 got very popular, especially often played by Magnus Carlsen and Anand. Personally, I like the 6. d3 already for many years 6...d6 [The main line starts with 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 (8...b4)]

7.c4!? a rare move, but interesting one. I already had some practice with this line in a few rapid games and was very happy about the outcome of it, so during the game I thought „Why not to try it in a normal game as well”!? [7.c3 0–0!? 8. Re1 b5 9. Bc2 d5 would lead us to one of the main positions. For those who want to check it, see games of Carlsen and Aronian] 7...0–0 [7... Bg4 is the other possibility for Black here 8.h3 (8.Nbd2?! The White knight on d2 will be very badly placed. 8...0–0 9.h3 Be6 10.B xc6 bxc6 11.d4 exd4 12.N xd4 Bd7 With a very comfortable play for Black. (In case the White knight would be on c3, White would be a little better)) 8... Bxf3 9.Qxf3 0–0 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nc3 Nd7 12. Be3 Re8 followed by Nf8-e6. Maybe White is doing a bit better due to a better pawn structure, but Black is very solid] 8.h3 Be6 [seems that White has better play after 8... Rb8 9.Nc3 Nd4 the point of 8... Rb8, now Black is having the b5 move a tempo 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Ne2 b5

3


Ndxe5 15.Qd5+ Kh8 16.N xe5 N xe5 17.f4 Nd7 18.exf5) 12.d5 fxe3 13.fxe3 (13.dxe6 exf2+ 14.R xf2 Nc5) 13...Nc5 14.dxe6 Bg5 and we have again a position that might be better for White, but could be the opposite as well...] 11... Bxf5

12.Nxd4! a nice tactic 12...bxa4 13.Nc6 Qe8 14.Nxb8 Bb7 15.Nxa6 Bxa6 16.b4! and it seems that White is having a better play even if the position is very complicated] 9.Nc3 Nd7 first moment in the game, where I took some time for a thinking. Basically I have two oportunities. 10. Re1 or the move from the game 10. Be3. 10. Be3 [10. Re1 Nc5 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd4 Bd7 I thought for a while about this position. Not easy to evaluate who is actually doing better. White has a better structure, but the bishop pair of Black could become very strong in the future. Also Black could try to play next moves Bf6 and Ne6 trying to take a control over the d4 square. All this was too unclear for me and I decided for the move in the game] 10...f5 in case Ivan can push something forward — you don’t need to ask him twice :) 11.exf5 The most logical move in the position [11.d4 I spent quite some time calculating this move. Finally, I didn’t want to make it from practical reasons. Black has too many different options and all of them are very complex and lead to positions which are very hard to evaluate 11...f4! (11...B xc4 12.Bb3! Na5 13.B xc4+ N xc4 14.dxe5

12.d4! of course I should not lose time and need to fight for the center. During the game I was very happy with my position and was sure, that I should do a bit better here [12.Nd5 would be the other option for White, but I wanted to search my chances in a more direct play] 12... Bf6? this is probably a mistake [12...exd4! would be the right reaction 13.Nxd4 (13.B xc6 dxc3!) 13...Nxd4 14. Bxd4 With a slight advantage for White] 13.d5 Na5! a great move by Black to stay in the game. Black is trying to make the things tacticaly work — which is definitely their only chance now. In this position White is doing much better, in case White will manage to put a „blocker” on e4 square, Black’s position will get worse. [13...Ne7 14. Bc2 with a clearly better position for White(14.g4? a try to win the Black bishop would give White only troubles 14...Bg6 15.g5 Bh5! creating a deadly pin 16.Ne4 Ng6! 17.gxf6 Nh4 and Black is doing better)] 4


14.Nd2! It is very important to cover the square e4 at any costs. With a knight on e4 White would block many of the Black’s attemps and the dark squared bishop of Black would get very passive, Black’s knight position on a5 could also get at some moment very dangerous, White’s move b4 could be a serious threat in the future 14... Bd3 15.Qg4 [15. Re1!? would be another possible move 15...Nxc4 16.Nxc4 Bxc4 17.Qg4 (17.B xd7 a try to catch the bishop on c4 doesn’t work 17...Qxd7 18.b3 e4! Black is doing great) 17...b5 here I stoped my calculation — too early 18. Bc2! a difficult move to find during the game. White is a clear pawn down, but the Black bishop is having a very dangerous position on c4 and could be potentially caught. In addition, White is having control over the e4 square and the knight will have just a great position on e4. All this is giving White clearly a better play; 15. Bc2!? a very interesting positional exchange sacrifice 15... Bxf1 16.Qxf1 b6 it is clear that White has enough compensation for the exchange, but wether White is doing better here is under big question mark] 15...Nb6 16. Bxb6 cxb6

17. Rfd1 [17. Rfc1 would lead to unnecessary complications after 17...b5! (too early would be 17...Bg5? 18.Bc2! B xd2 19.B xd3 B xc1 20.R xc1 and White is almost winning!) 18.cxb5 Bg5 19. Bc2 Bxb5 with an unclear position] 17...Kh8 it is hard for Black to find a better move. The check on e6 is really unpleasent in many lines, so my oponents decides for a profylactical decision 18.Nde4! Finally I reached the first step of my plan. The square e4 is blocked. But an exact calculation was needed. White is just in time to protect the pawn c4 18... Bxe4 19.Qxe4 g6 [19... Rc8 20. Bc2! The key move. White is using the tempo (the h7 pawn is hanging) to bring the bishop from a4 to d3 after which the knight on a5 will be in big danger. 20...g6 21. Bd3 would lead to about the same 21...Qc7 22. Rac1! The only way for White to protect the pawn on c4, but everything seems to work 22...Nxc4 23.Ne2 b5 24.b3+-] 20. Bc2! I continue sticking to my plan. Next White’s moves are Bd3, Qe2 and finally fulfilling my plan with Ne4.

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20... Bg7 21. Bd3 Rf4 22.Qe2 Rd4 23.Ne4

27. Bxg6! easy but pretty Finally I am done with my plan. All my pieces are standing at good places, Black is having a bad bishop on g7 and a knight on a5 which is very close to being caught by the b4 move.

27... Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 hxg6 29. Rxd6! Qc7 30. Rxg6 Ra6 the last trick of my opponent

23...b5 suddenly B lack’s position is very bad. Ivan is short on time, decides to give a pawn in hopes for any kind of play [23... Rc8 24. Rac1 Bh6 25. Rc3 would not change much as well].

31...bxa6 32.Qh5+ Kg8 33.Qh7+ and Black resi gned because of the 33...Kf8 34.Ne6. A nice positional win and super important one because of the situation in the tournament. 1–0

31. Rxa6 [31.Qh5+?? Kg8 32. Rxa6 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Qf4+ with a perpetual check]

24.cxb5 Qb6 25. Rab1?! in a winning position and having 25 minutes against my oponent’s 1, I decided to make a small trap. But there was no need for that. [25.bxa6 bxa6 26.Ng5 would simply lead to a winnning position] 25...axb5 26.Ng5! this was my idea. Now I want to play Bxb5 and have the b4 move „in my pocket”. 26... Rxd5 Ivan in falling in my trap... [26...e4 27. Bxb5 Rb4 28.a4 and White’s position is of course winning as well...]

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(2) Balogh,Csaba (2664) — Sharafiev,Azat (2433) [B90] Plovdiv, 20.03.2012

the mentioned position, that now the pawn is on b7! In the Sveshnikov variation White’s main idea is to play a4 and playing on the queenside. Now this does not work.

[Balogh Csaba] In the first round of the European Individual Chess Championship in Plovdiv, I had a really tense fight against my Russian opponent Azat Sharafiev. I got a small positional advantage, but after a great bishop sacrifice, the game became amazingly complex... 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 [I wanted to avoid the very long theoretical lines arising after 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3] 7...Nf6 8.h3 So I switched to the 6.h3 line against the Najdorf, which recently enjoys very big popularity, even on the highest level. White wants to play g4 and Bg2 against almost all the setups. 8...e5 9.Nde2 h5!? This is considered to be one of the best option for Black, preventing the g4 plan. 10. Bg5 After Black weakened the d5 square, White tried to occupy it with the minor pieces, but first the f6 knight must be eliminated. On the other hand, Black gets the pair of bishops, which will compensate him for the structural deficit. [10.g3 is the other main move.]

15.a3 A novelty. Of course it was not prepared, I just wanted to keep the a2-g8 diagonal under control and preserve the bishop for the future. [15.0–0 Rc8 16. Bb3 Nd4 my 15th move was directed against this idea, when Black takes my other bishop as well.] 15... Rc8 16. Ba2 g6 17.0–0 0–0 18.Qd3 Bh6 Black prepares to install his knight to d4. [It would have been very dangerous to do it immediately, since after 18...Nd4 19.f4 White can launch an attack with the quick f4-f5 against the king. The a2 bishop becomes very strong.]

10...Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Nd5 Bg5 13.Nec3 Be6 14.Bc4 Nc6 Both players are developing logically. The position might remind us of a typical game of the Sveshnikov variation. (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6) There is one relevant plus for Black, compared to 7


19.Nd1!! Great regrouping of the pieces! Actually, I was surprised when I saw that this is the first move of the computer as well. The idea is to transfer the knight to e3 and then cover the d4 square with c3. [The most logical move 19. Rad1 would meet by 19...Nd4! when all my pieces are tied, and the attack with f4 does not work anymore. 20.f4 Bxd5! 21. Bxd5 (21.N xd5 R xc2) 21...Qb6 Black is better.] 19...Qh4 20.N1e3 Rcd8 21.c3 Kh8! My opponent plays correctly, he must organize his play on the kingside. Before playing f5, Black leaves with the king from the bishop’s diagonal. [21...f5 would be premature, because of 22.exf5 gxf5 23.Nc7 Bxa2 24. Rxa2 By exchanging the light-colored bishops, White could create many holes in Black’s camp.] 22.Nb6! White must try to exchange the bishops, to minimize the effect of the kingside attack. [22.Nb4 with the same idea would be a mistake because of 22... Bc8! when Black saves the important bishop.; On queenside play with 22.b4 and a4, b5, Black could already create counterplay with 22...f5 23.exf5 gxf5]

it, since I prepared a hidden trick on the 25th move, but I underestimated the power of the 26th move of my opponent. [22...Kg7 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Rad1 Despite solving the problem around the d5 square, Black is slightly worse due to the his worse structure. In the next moves, b4 and a4 are coming.; 22... Bxa2 23. Rxa2] 23.gxh3 Qxh3 24. Rfd1 Bf4

25.Ng2! This was my hidden idea, Black cannot win the knight because the queen will be trapped. [25.Nf1 Qg4+= Black gives perpetual check.] 25...Qh2+ 26.Kf1 f5! Very strong reaction! I have seen this move, but for some reason I thought it should not be so dangerous... Black opens the f-file for the rook. [26... Qh1+ 27.Ke2 Qxg2 28. Rg1 Qh2 29. Rh1 Qg2 30. Rag1+The queen is falling.] 27. Bd5 The bishop joins to defend, the knight remains indirectly protected. [27.Nxf4 would free the e5 square for the Black knight 27...exf4 28.Qf3 Ne5 29.Qg2 Qh4 with a very sharp position.]

22... Bxh3!! A great sacrifice, which completely changes the character of the position! Actually, I was hoping for 8


27...fxe4 [27...Qh1+ 28.Ke2 Qxg2 29. Rg1 Qh2 30. Rh1 Qg2 31. Rag1 fxe4 32. Bxe4+- and the queen is trapped again.] 28.Qxe4 Bg3!

32.Nxf4 Qg3+! 33.Qe3 exf4 34.Qxg3 fxg3 and Black should be fine.; 30... Rxb2? 31. Rh1+-] 31. Rh1! [31.Qxg6? would be a blunder to leave the e4 square, because of 31...e4+! vacating the important e5 square for the knight 32.Qxe4 Ne5+ 33.Kd4 Re8–+] 31... Bh2+ 32.Ne3! Keeping the blockade on e4. [32. Qe3 Of course, with such a king I would have wanted to get rid of the queens, but unfortunately at this moment, it was not possible. After the b2 pawn falls, in both lines the king remains in very big danger: 32...e4+! 33.Kc4 (33. B xe4 Ne5+ 34.Kd4 Qxe3+ 35.Kxe3 R xb2) 33...Qxe3 34.Nxe3 Rxb2]

29.Ke2! White tries to find shelter in the middle of the board and creates Rh1 threat. [29. Rd2 Ne7! After protecting the g6 pawn, Black cuold slowly continue the attack. All the White pieces are tied.]

32...Ne7 Black brings another piece into the attack through f5. [32... Rdf8 33. Bxc6 bxc6 34.Qxg6] 33. Raf1

29... Rxf2+ 30.Kd3 The king escaped from the direct threats, but still we could hardly say that it is safe. It would be great to play b4 and Kc4-b3, but of course Black will have some words against it. 30...Qh3?! Black correctly avoided the Rh1 threat, but he should have done it in a different way. At this moment, my opponent was already low on time, which made his task much harder to find the strongest moves. [30... Bf4! was the right move, when it is hard to explain what is happening. The computer shows some different lines which are leading to draw... 31.b4 Ne7 (31...Qg3+ 32.Ne3 B xe3 33.Qxe3 e4+! 34.B xe4 Ne5+ 35.Kd4 Nf3+ 36.Kc4 Nd2+ 37.Qxd2 R xd2 38.R xd2 is a draw according to computer.)

33... Rxb2? A terrible blunder in a worse position. [33... Rdf8! was the only move, but after 34. Rxf2 Rxf2 35.Nbc4! Nf5 36. Bxb7 White can cold-bloodedly take on b7 to prevent the b5 move forever. Computer confirms, that White has a big advantage, but anyway this would have been the only chance for Black.] 9


34. Rf3! The queen is trapped out of the blue, but my opponent tries a last a devilish trick... 34...Nxd5 35.Nbxd5! After this simple takeback, Black queen survives, but the position collapses. [To play for a big material advantage would be a decisive mistake 35. Rxh3? Nf4+ 36.Kc4 (36.Qxf4 B xf4)

36... Rc8+!! A fantastic move! Black is queen and rook down, but he gives pawnmate with b5! (36... Rxb6 Actually, during the game I thought about this move, and Rc8 mate is the next, but as usual the computer found a fascinating defense.

37. Rxh5+!! gxh5 (37...Kg8 38.Qxf4 B xf4 39.Rh8+ Kf7 40.R xd8) 38.Qf5! White could defend against Rc8.) 37.Nxc8 b5# I would not be happy to lose like this. :)] 35...Qe6 [35...Qd7 36.Qxg6 Qb5+ 37.Ke4 Qa4+ 38.c4+-

Suddenly, White king is protected by the knights and pawn, while Black will be mated.] 36. Rf6 Qe8 37. Rxg6 Qf8 38. Rf1 Black resigned. A tough game right in the first round! 1–0

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(3) Shirov,A (2713) — Horvath,Cs (2517)

10.c3 Bxd4 11. Bxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 d6 Kosintseva,NJavakhishvili, Gaziantep 2012]

HUN-chT, 25.03.2012

8...Ng4 Black tries to lure the queen, when the b2 pawn could already be taken. [8... Bc5 leads to a clearly worse endgame for Black. 9.exf6 Bxd4 10. Bxd4 Qxd4 11.Qxd4 Nxd4 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.0–0–0 Nc6 14.Ne4 Rxg7 15.Nd6+ Ke7 16.g3 too many holes in Black's camp; 8...Qxb2 is risky, because the queen will have serious problems to not be trapped 9.Ndb5 Bb4 10. Bd2! Nd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 12.Kxd2! exd5 13. Rb1 Qxa2 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxa8+the queen survives, but rook is lost.]

[Balogh Csaba] The next game is from the Hungarian league, where Alexei Shirov, aka „Mr. Fire on the board”, true to his name crushed his GM opponent. We can see an excellent novelty in the opening, which seems to refute the whole line. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 7.f4 Qb6 A recent n ovelty by the Georgian Javakashvili, which could be very dangerous, if somebody receives it over board. However, Shirov is always ready for such challanges... [7... Bb4 8.Ndb5 Qa5 9.e5 is the mainline, which is considered to be slightly better for White after long lines.]

8.e5! From now on, all the pieces will start to hang. It is impossible to calculate all the variations until the end, it is more important to feel, that it must be good forWhite! [In the first test, Nadezhda Kosintseva avoided the complications, and Black easily equalized... 8.a3 Bc5 9.Na4 Qa5+

9. Bg1! Shirov pre serves his bishop, the pin might be deadly! Now Black must act concretely, otherwise the d4 jumps away and the g4 knight is also in the air. [9.Qxg4 Qxb2] 9... Bc5 [After 9...Qxb2 White can choose between two tempting moves: 10.Ncb5 is the easier way to win (10. Ndb5 this is the stronger move, but also the harder to find 10... Bb4

11.Kd2! Rb1 threats, when the g4 knight is hanging 11... f5 12.h3 Nh6 13.a3! A very important in-between move. (13.Rb1 B xc3+ 14.N xc3 Qa3 would not be that easy) 13... 11


Ba5 (13...B xc3+ 14.N xc3+-) 14. Rb1 Bxc3+ 15.Kd3! Qa2 (15...Qxb1 16.Qxb1+-) 16.Kxc3+- Black cannot avoid losing huge material.) 10... Bb4+ 11.Ke2! 0–0 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bd4 White traps the queen, but Black gets some pieces for it, which might give him some practical hopes. 13... Qxa1 14.Qxa1 cxb5 15.Qb2] 10.Qxg4! After the f8 bishop left the g7 unprotected, Shirov already takes the knight. He makes no mistake in the calculations.

14.Qxh8+ Ke7 15.Qf6+ [15. Be2! was the most precise win now or in the next move 15...Qxh1 16.Qf6+ Kf8 17.Nd6! Black can give only a few checks, while White is mating. 17...Qe1+ 18.Kd3 Nb4+ 19.Ke4+-] 15...Kf8 16.Nd1 Shirov does not even want to give the opportunity to Black to give any checks... [16. Be2! would lead to the 15. Be2! line.; I just have found a beautiful mate in 16.Qh6+ Ke8 (16...Ke7 17.Be2 Qxh1 18.Qf6+ see again in 15. Be2!) 17.Nd6+ Kd8

10...Qxb2 [10... Bxd4 loses as well after 11. Bxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxg7 Qxb2 (12...Rf8 13.0–0–0+-) 13.Qxh8+ Ke7 14.Qf6+ Kf8 Here are several ways to win, the easiest is probably: 15. Bd3 Qxc3+ (15...Qxa1+ 16.Nd1+-) 16.Kf2 Qd2+ 17.Kg3 Qe3+ 18.Kh4+- when White has big material advantage and it would be hard to find a safer place for his king.] 11.Ndb5! Qxa1+ 12.Kd2 Black is an exchange up, but his position is hopeless. The g7 is hanging, the knight is threating on d6 and on c7, and the queen might be also easily trapped. 12... Bxg1 [12... Bf8 was probably the most stubborn, but also not big fun for Black. 13. Bd3; 12... Ba3 13.Qxg7 Qc1+ 14.Ke2 Qxc2+ (14...Rf8 15.Ne4 Qxc2+ 16.Kf3+-) 15.Kf3 Rf8 16.Ne4+-; 12...Qxf1 13. Bxc5 Qxh1 14.Qxg7+-]

18. Ba6!! Qxh1 19.Qf8+ Kc7 20.Ncb5+ Kb6 21.Nc4+ here we get the point of the 18. Ba6!! move, the b5 knight is protected. 21...Kxa6 22.Nc7#

13.Qxg7 White wins back the rook. Both kings seems to be in danger, but actually it is only Black who has to worry, White can always slalom between the pieces. 13... Bf2 [13... Rf8 14.Nd6+ Kd8 15.Qxf8+ Kc7 16.Ncb5+ Kb6 17. Rxg1+-] 12


We usually can only meet in studies with this kind of mates.]

(4) Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2693) — Nabaty,Tamir (2559) [D20]

16... Bc5 17. Bd3 The human win! White finishes the development.

13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (4.32), 23.03.2012

17...Qxa2 [17... Bb4+ 18.Ke2 Nd4+ the exchange of the great b5 knight does not save Black 19.Nxd4 Qxd4 20.Qd8+ Kg7 21. Rf1!+- and the rook joins to the battle through the 3rd rank, and decides the game.] 18.Ndc3! Qa5

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Here we are facing an amazing game from the European Individual Chess Championship. From the 25 moves of the game, Black made 9 moves with their King and got mated finally on the a1 square! Let’s take a look how this could happen!! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 We are in the beginning of the Queen’s Gambit lines. This opening is considered to be „ultra-safe” and it is hard to imagine, Black king being mated in only 22 moves on the a1 3.e3 more often we see the move 3.e4 which considered to be „main” here. Other option is 3.Nf3

19.Nd6! The most precise win. 19... Bxd6 20.exd6 Qh8 threats. 20...Kg8 21.Qh6! f5 22. Re1! and Black resigned, since he has nothing against Re3-g3 mate. From Black point of view it is quite painful to look at the a8 rook and the c8 bishop... Great attacking game by Shirov, after which this 7...Qb6 line will not have too many followers. 1–0

3...e5!? Black is going into a positioin with an isolated pawn 4. Bxc4 [Of course 4.dxe5? would be a mistake 4...Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Nc6 with a very nice endgame for Black]

13


4...exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 [More often Black is choosing this move order 5...Nf6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.h3 (8.0–0 Bg4) 8...Nbd7 9.0–0 Nb6 10. Bb3 c6 with a complicated position]

sition with a development advantage! [10. Bxe6?! Would be a clear positional mistake 10...fxe6 11.Nc3 Nc6 Black next moves are clear, Nb4-d5, then put the King on d7. This endgame is no way better for White]

6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qe2+ a rare move [more popular are this lines 7.0–0 0–0 8.Nc3 Bg4 (8...Nc6 9.h3 h6 10.Re1 Bf5) 9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 Bg6 11.Ne5 c5]

10...Kd7 11.Ne5+! White is not giving Black any time for consolidation

7...Qe7?! in my opinion it is not a great idea for Black to go into an endgame, where they are not in time to fulfill their development. It is a big risk and there is absolutely no reason to take it [7... Be7 this move is looking like a lost of a tempo, but it is not. The White Queen on e2 is not standing better than on d1, so Black is basically back into the main line with Be7 — with only small difference, White has his Queen on e2.]

11... Bxe5 a risky choice, already not an easy position [11...Kc8 12.Nc3 Would lead rly to a better position for White, but maybe it was the toughest way to continue the fight for Black] 12.dxe5 Bxc4 13.exf6 gxf6

8.Qxe7+ Kxe7 [8... Bxe7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nc3 Nc6 11. Re1 Bd6 12. Bg5 seems to give White a plus in the endgame.] 9.0–0 Be6

14.Nc3 White is a pawn down, but the Black king is feeling himself very uncomfortable on d7, plus the pawn structure is terribly demanaged. It is clear, that White is having a solid advantage. After the game, I asked Vallejo until which moment he was in his preparation, and he said until exactly here. The move 14...c5 was new for him 10. Re1! White is trying to make use out of the shaky position of the Black king and choosing a forced contiuation. An absolutely right choice — this is the way to play a po-

14...c5?! [14...Nc6 was the only way to continue the game in more or less normal conditions for Black 15.b3 Be6 16.Ne4 f5 17.Nc5+ Kc8 18. Bf4! It is nice to see how much is white dominating in the position. Black’s extra 14


pawn gives Black maximum some chances for a draw (18. N xe6? Re8) 18... Re8 19. Rac1 It is hard to find for Black a move, that would improve the position. A very typical example how to play in domination even in a position without Queens on the board] 15. Bf4 [Another interesting move was 15. Rd1+ Ke7 (15... Kc6 16.Bf4 b6 17.a4! a super strong move. White wants to play next Rd6 and Nb5. In case of 17...Kb7 18.Nb5! and Black is not in time toplayNc6) 16. Bf4 Rd8 17. Rxd8 Kxd8 18. Rd1+ Nd7 19.Ne4 Again the same story, White’s activity and development advantage is playing a descisive role 19...Ke7 20.b3 Be6 21. Bd6+ Ke8 22. Rd3! a great move! Now the threat is coming from the unexpected Rg3-g8!]

on a3, b2, f3,g3,h2, King to e3 and maybe knight to f4. Blacks position is very unpleasent-not to say more. Probably a World Champion A.Karpov would consider it to be close to lost :).] 17.b3 White is starting a series of forced moves. Step 1: to bring away Black bishop from the center 17... Ba6? this is leading already to a forced mate! [17... Kf5 the only chance to fight 18.bxc4 Kxf4 19. Rd5 would give White close to a winning position] 18. Rd6+ White is starting the step 2: The hunt at the Black’s king begins 18...Kf5 [18...Ke7 is of course loosing as well 19.Nd5+ Kf8 20. Bh6+ Ke8 21. Re1+ Ne5 22. Bg7+-]

15...Nc6 16. Red1+ [of course not 16. Rad1+? Nd4 17. Be3 Rhe8 and the rook on e1 is hanging]

19.Nd5! Next White’s move Rxf6 is unstopable 16...Ke6?? Black is starting their king march. It is hard to say what exactly Black had missed. [16...Nd4 the only move 17. Be3 Ke7 18. Bxd4 cxd4 19. Rxd4 Be6 20.f3 White is having a very comfortable advantage. The idea of playing such an endgame could be: To exchange one pair of rooks (best would be both pairs), put the pawns

19...Nd4 20. Rxf6+ Ke4 21.f3+! Kd3 [21...Kxd5 22. Rd6# Would be a very beautiful mate] 22. Rd1+ Black king is fighting alone against the rest of the White pieces. This can’t end good... 22...Kc2 23. Rd2+ Kb1 24.Nc3+ Ka1 25.a4

15

Issue 5 Puzzle section

30th of March 2012

(5) Movsesian,S (2702) — Kotronias,V (2597) Plovdiv, 22.03.2012 [CEWN] 1. +Just a fantastic final position ! 1–0

(6) Pancevski,F (2470) — Volokitin,A (2695) Plovdiv, 20.03.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

16


(7) Hovhannisyan,R (2600) — Codenotti,M (2328)

(9) Pap,Gy (2538) — Khenkin,I (2632)

Plovdiv, 20.03.2012

Plovdiv, 21.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(8) Popovic,Du (2561) — Kryvoruchko,Y (2666)

(10) Volokitin,A (2695) — Schiendorfer,E (2349)

Plovdiv, 21.03.2012

Plovdiv, 21.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... -/+

1. +/-

17


(11) Sutovsky,E (2700) — Kozul,Z (2602)

(13) Sutovsky,E (2700) — Grigoriants,S (2561)

Plovdiv, 25.03.2012

Plovdiv, 23.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(12) Mchedlishvili,M (2626) — Michalik,P (2529)

(14) Kulaots,K (2585) — Roiz,M (2652)

Plovdiv, 25.03.2012

Plovdiv, 22.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +/-

18


Endgame section (15) [Balogh Csaba]

We have reached the last lesson of the month, when we will study those kind of rook endgames, where White has a connected g-h-pawn adventage. These kind of positions are winning in general, but as we will see, there might be exceptions. White must mainly take care of the Black king, not to let him stay between his pawns. First, let us see the winning technique! 74... Rb4+ 75. Rg4 Rb1 Black tries to make the task harder by threating vertical and horizontal checks. 76. Rf4 White must hold his rook close, so he can restrict Black’s checks. 76... Rh1+ 77.Kg4 Rg1+ 78.Kf5 Ra1 79.h6+! Finally we could push our pawn, but the continuation remains difficult. 79...Kh7 80.Kg4! Tries to find shelter on h5! 80... Rg1+ [This time, it would only make the job easier, if the king goes between the pawns with 80...Kg6 because of 81. Rf6+ Kh7 82. Rf7+ Kg8 (82...Kg6 83.Rg7#) 83. Rd7+-] 81.Kh5 Rh1+ 82. Rh4 Rg1 Here we are! How should White continue?

83. Rh2! Very import ant move, which puts Black into zugzwang! He has only one way, in which he could prevent the g6 move: 83... Rg3 however with this move, the rook gets too close to the king, and the checks will not be threating anymore. 84. Re2! Rh3+ 85.Kg4 Ra3 86. Re7+ When Black’s king is forced back to the backrand, the win is very close. 86...Kg8 [86...Kg6 87. Rg7#] 87.g6 Ra4+ 88.Kf5 Ra5+ 89.Kf6 Ra6+ 90. Re6 Ra8 Due to the threating mate on the 8th rank, the rook is forced into passive defense. 91. Rd6 Rc8 92.Ke7! And White exchanges the rooks in the next move, and wins the game. 1–0 (16) [Balogh,Csaba]

19


Black holds the draw, even without staying with his king between the White pawns. The rook is obliged to defend passively the pawns, however in this case his king remains unprotected from the side checks! 1. Rg6+ [1.Kf4 Ra4+=] 1...Kh7 White must settle for the draw! 1/2 (17) Kling,Josef 1851

take 5...Kh8 6.Kf5 Rf4+! 7.Kg6 Rf6+! 8.Kh5 Rxh6+! due to this nice stalemate idea!) ; 3... Rb5+ also draws, but in a more difficult way, than 3... Rb7! 4. Rd5 (4.Ke6 Rxg5) 4... Rb7 5.Ke6 Ra7 6. Rd7 Ra6+ 7. Rd6 (7.Ke7 Kxg5 8.h7 Ra8 9.Kf7 Kh6=) 7... Ra7= as Dvoretzky showed it in his book.] 4. Rg8+ Kh7 5. Re8 Kg6 [With the help of a nice trick, Black has the chance to force draw immediately 5...Rb5+ 6.Kf6 Rxg5!=] 6.Kf4 Rb4+ 7. Re4 Rb6= And we are back into the initial position. 1/2

[Balogh Csaba] (18) [Balogh Csaba]

The following example is probably the most important defensive position, where Black can hold the draw by several exact moves. Kling and Horwith have published this endgame in 1851, 161 years ago! Let us see, why White can not win! 1. Rd4 Rb6 Black defends agaisnt the 6th ranked checks, and by passing with his rook, wait for White to find a plan. 2. Rd8! The best chance! The point is that after the check, the g5 pawn cannot be taken, since the h-pawn is promoting. At the same time, he threatens Rg8 check! 2... Rb4+ 3.Ke5 Rb7! An extremely important move, controls the h7 square, so the g5 pawn is hanging now. [3... Kxg5?? 4.h7+-; Instructively loses 3... Rg4? 4. Rg8+ Kh7 because of 5.Kf5!+- (5.Rg7+? would have been a mis-

Finally, let us get acquinted with this kind of self-helper pawns. The h-pawn promotes to queen, even without the help of the king. Black cannot stop him. Anything could happen, White’s next moves are h6, g5, Rg7, and then, h7, g6, Rg8, and finally h8Q. 1.h6 Rh1 2.g5 Kf5 3. Rg7 Black has no chance to get closer with his king. With this example, we have finished our first month rook endgame lesson, from the next week, we arrive with a new theme! Stay with us! 1–0 20


Clash of the Titans

now: to allow White to take on e6 with a possible improvement on the pawn structure after fxe6, to take on c4, or to save his bishop for the future.

(19) Petrosian,Tigran V — Yudovich,Mikhail Jr [A05]

9...h6? Black chooses the worst one. He wants to improve his structure, but actually he just makes the opposite. [I don’t like 9... Bxc4 neither, because of 10.dxc4 h6 11.Nh3! when the knight on h3 is slightly misplaced, but after Be3, Qd2, f3 and Nf2, white has some advantage.; 9... Bg4! should have been played, with perfect position for Black in all lines 10.f3 (10.Qd2 h6 11.Nf3 Qd7=; 10.Qe1 Nd4) 10... Bd7 11.f4 exf4 12.gxf4

Moscow Spartak-Iskra Moscow, 1953 [Balogh Csaba] The next game, I would like to present you is played by Tigran Petrosian! The 9th World Champion, who had the nickname of „Iron Tigran” because of his positional style and his intention to be as safe as possible! It was incredibly hard to beat him. He became the Champion by defeating Botvinnik in 1963, when he was 34 years old, and owned the crown for six years, until 1969! Afterwards, Spassky managed to win over him, in his second attempt, since in 1966, Tigran could hold his throne. This game perfectly shows his inimitable style! Let’s see how he broke the resistance of the Russian master Yudovich Mikhail Jr! The opening part was not so exciting, but after Black’s mistake on move 9, Petrosian starts to improve his position move by move until he wins the game. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4.0–0 Right from the beginning, he secures the position of his king. 4...0–0 5.d3 d6 6.e4 He needed six moves to finally reach the 4th rank! 6...e5 Black plays symetrically, but this is not a great idea against the Champion. It was more advisable to have a more open position against him, let’s say with 6...c5. 7.Nbd2 Nc6 8.Nc4 Be6 9.Ng5!? Forces Yudovich to decide the character of the game. He has three options

12...d5! very important to break the pawn chain in the center 13.exd5 Bg4!] 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.c3 Kh7 [11...d5 12.Ne3] 12.Ne3 Qe7 13.f4! The most ambitious move, White wants to push f5, to create a very dangerous attack. 13...Nd8 [13...exf4 was better, but Black did not want to open the position for the bishop pair. 14.gxf4] 14.a4 A bit strange decision from Petrosian, he does not continue the plan started with the previous move. Instead of the mating attack, he prefers to win the game 21


in a positional way. What to do, that is his style! Creates a very strong square on c4 for his knight. [14.f5!] 14...c6 15.fxe5!? Creates fixed doubled pawns for Black, which are sometimes quite useful because they are controlling all the central squares. But this is not the case. [15. f5 was still possible] 15...dxe5 16.b4 Taking ground on the queenside. White is better on all the parts of the board, in addition, he has the bishop pair. 16...Nf7 17.Qe2 Rad8 18.Nc4 Tigran can organize the ideal setup for his pieces, since his opponent is without counterplay. He has no chance to activate his bishop on g7, and the knights have no squares to occupy. 18...Qd7 19. Rf3! Such kind of „ugly” moves are normally very difficult to play, but not for Petrosian! 19...Ne8 Trying to exchange the powerful knight on c4. 20.Qf2! White forces further weakening on the queenside and creates an unpleasant pin on the f-file. 20...b6 [in case of 20...a6 21. Be3 the bishop would arrive on the b6 and c5. 21...Qxd3 22. Bb6! Qxc4 23. Bxd8+-] 21.a5! Forcing to push b5, but then Black’s camp remains full of holes! 21...b5 22.Nd2 heading to c5! 22...Ned6 connects his rooks, so he threats to play Ng5. Watch how the World Champion destroys this attempt for a counterplay!

23.Qe2! White leaves the f-file and prepares for his next move. 23...Ng5 24.Re3!! White had other good possibilities as well, but I like the idea of this move so much, that I decided to give it „!!” mark. The point is, Black’s position is so cramped that Petrosian wants to keep all the pieces on board. Currently the rook is only a defender of the d3 pawn, but in the future it might penetrate on the f-file. [24.Rxf8 Bxf8 25.Nb3 Ne8 26.Bxg5 hxg5 27.Rf1 was also fine of course.] 24...h5 Tries to activate the bishop from h6. 25.h4! The only good piece of Black, has to retreat as well. 25...Ngf7 26.Nb3 Qe7 27. Rf3 And the rook is back to the f-file, so he frees the e3 square for the bishop. Very interesting, that White only with his a5 pawn has crossed the middle of the board, but his position is completely winning. 27...Nh6 Finally, there is a hole in White’s base, so the knight tries to settle there. [27...Bh6 28.Bxh6 (28.a6!?) 28... Nxh6 29. Raf1 Rxf3 30.Qxf3+- and in the next to move, Nc5 and Bh3 will decide the outcome of the game.] 28. Bg5 Bf6 29. Rxf6! creates deadly pin for the g5 bishop. 22


29... Rxf6 30. Bh3! The target is the e6 pawn. 30...Ne8 31.Nc5 Ng7 32.Qe3! The weakness of the e6 and e5 doubled pawns is deciding the game.


32...Nf7 [32...Ng8 33. Bxf6 Nxf6 34.Qg5!+- and the e5 falls.]

(20) Amaker,N

33. Bxf6 Qxf6 34. Rf1 Qe7 35.Qf2 Nh6

[CEWN]

1973 1. =

36.Qf6! I think Petrosian really enjoyed to play this position. He can do whatever he wants, while Black is out of counterplay. 36...Qxf6 37. Rxf6 Rd6 [37... Re8 38.Nd7+-] 38. Rf8 and Yudovich resigned, as he found himself in complete zugzwang in material equality! White can simply go for the a7 pawn, and then promote the queen. It was very instructive to see, how after the 9th move mistake by Black, the great Champion crushed his opponent! He created many holes and weaknesses with „small” moves, and Black was unable to defend all of them. Typical victory from Petrosian, where he has slowly „chocked” his opponent. 1–0

23


Solutions

(22) Medvegy,Z (2531) — Dinstuhl,V (2408) Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012

(21) Berkes,F (2706) — Bogner,S (2534)

[Solutions]

Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012 [Solutions]

34.Ng5!! hxg5 [34... Be6 35.f5! Kf6 (35...hxg5 36.fxe6 Kxe6 37.h6) 36.Nxe6! fxe6 37. Rg6+ Kxf5 38.e4++] 35.h6 Bf5 [35...Nf6 36.fxg5+-] 36.e4! Nxf4? [36... gxf4 37.exf5 Nf6 38.h7 Nxh7 39. Rxh7 Rxa3 (39...R xf5 40.Bh5) 40. Bh5] 37.exf5 Kf8? [37...Kf6 38. Rg8+-] 38.f6 1–0

34...Qb3!! 35.Qxb3 axb3 36. Ra1 Rc8 [36...b2! 37. Rb1 Kf7 38.Kf2 Ra8 39.c6 Ke7–+] 37. Rb1 b2 38.Ne1 Rxc5 39.Nd3 Rb5? [39... Ra5! 40.Nxb2 Rb5 41.a4 Rxb2 42. Rxb2 Nxb2 43.a5 Na4 44.a6 Kf7 45.a7 Nb6] 40.a4 Rb3 41.a5 1/2–1/2 (23) Socko,B (2628) — Sandipan,C (2640) Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012 [Solutions]

24


30... Rd1? [30... Bxa5? 31. Bxd5 cxd5 32. Ba3+-; 30... Rh5!! 31.Nxc6 (31.Ba3 c5) 31... Rxh2+ 32.Kf1 Rh1+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+=] 31.Nxc6!+- Re2 [31... Rxc1 32.Nxe7+-] 32. Ba3+ Bd6 33. Bb3! Rdd2 34. Bc1! Rc2 35. Bxc2 Rxc2 36.Nd4 1–0

(25) Swiercz,D (2585) — Bacrot,E (2705) Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [Solutions]

(24) Muse,D (2388) — Teske,H (2547) Schachbundesliga, 17.03.2012 [Solutions] 19.Nd6+! [19. Rhe1 0–0 20. Rxd7 Rxd7 21.Qxd7 f5] 19...exd6 [19...Kf8 20.Nb7] 20. Rhe1 0–0 21. Rxe5 Nxe5 22.Qxa6 bxc3 23.bxc3? [23.b3! d5 24.Qb5] 23... Rc8 24.Qxd6 Rxc3+ 25.Kb1 Re3 26.Qc7 Kg7 27.a4 Ra8 28.a5 [28. Rd5] 28... Rb3+ 29.Kc2 Rb5 30. Ra1 Ra6 31.Kd1 Rd5+ 32.Ke1 Nc6= 37...c5! 38.bxc5 b4! 39.c6 Ke7! 40.c7 Kd7 0–1

(26) Naiditsch,A (2707) — Brandenburg,D (2522) Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [Solutions]

25


20.Ne3 [20.Nf6!! gxf6 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Qh5! Bxg5 23. Bf5!! exf5 24. Bxg5 Qe6! 25. Rxe6 fxe6 26.b3 Nc3 27.bxc4 Nxb1 28.Qh6+-; 20.Nxh7 Kxh7 21.Nf6+ gxf6 22.Qh5+ Kg8=]

(28) Fressinet,L (2696) — Gordon,S (2535) Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [Solutions]

(27) Eljanov,P (2683) — Cyborowski,L (2543) Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [Solutions]

21.Nb3!! Qb6 [21... Be6 22.Qc5+-] 22.Nxa5! Qxa5 23.Qxc6+ Ke7 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Bxd5+- Ba6 26. Bb3 Rd8 27.Qf3 1–0 (29) Gajewski,G (2607) — Goloshchapov,A (2580) 32. Rb1 [32.Qe2!! Bxd1 33.Qe6+ Kg7 34.Qe7+ Kh6 35.Qxd8 Bxf3 36.gxf3+-; 32.Qe1!!] 32... Rxd6 

Schachbundesliga, 18.03.2012 [Solutions]

35.Qe7! [35.Ne5 Qd1; 35.Qd7 Qd5] 35...Qd5 36.Nf4 1–0 36...Qc6 37.Ne6 26


(30) Zherebukh,Y (2580) — Firman,N (2517)

(31) Kalandadze,V


1964

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27.Qxf6! 1–0

1. Rf1!! Rxf1+ 2.Kb2 Rb1+ 3.Ka3

3... Rd1! [3...Ke7 4.d8Q+ Kxd8 5.b8Q+ Rxb8] 4.d8N+!! [4.d8Q? Nb1+! 5.Kb4 Rxd8 6.Kc5 Ke7 7.Kc6 Nc3– +] 4... Rxd8 [4...Kf6 5.Nc6 Ra1+ 6.Kb2 Rb1+ 7.Kxc3 Rxb7=] 5.b8Q Rxb8

27

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 6 6th of April 2012


6th of April 2012


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3

»» Puzzle section

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21


24

»» Solutions

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The European Individual Chess Championship came to a dramatic end. In the last round Jakovenko won the final battle against the leader Laurent Fressinet and took the clear first place with 8,5/11. Second place was shared by 14 players, after tiebreak Fressinet was second, 3rd place went to Malakhov. One of Your favorite commentator has probably qualified for the World Cup as well: after a disastrous start, Csaba Balogh managed a great come back with 4/4 in the round 6-9 and then with 2 draws against Caruana and Vitiugov completed a perfect second half. Now it is time for yet another issue of CEWN. The game of the week should be clearly the Jakovenko-Fressinet, a battle for the Title of European Champion! From the current issue, we start with “practical endgames”. Enough of knowledge and theory, time for practice! We discuss only one bishopendgame, but hopefully You will find it very instructive. We wish You as usual a lot of fun and good reading! Don’t forget to reserve some free time from May 12th on. We will comment live the World Championships games on Chessdom.com, a fantastic match between the World Champion Anand and the great Match player Boris Gelfand!!! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2



the opening point of view. [8. Bd3 is the most often seen in practice.]

(1) Jakovenko,Dmitry (2729) — Fressinet,Laurent (2693) [D38]

8...Qa5 9. Rc1 Bxc3+ [The mentioned game continued with 9...Ne4 10.Qxd5 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bxc3+ 12.Kd1 0–0 13. Bc4 Nf6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Ke2 when Kramnik obtained a small advantage.]

Plovdiv, 31.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The decisive game of the European Individual Championship. We are in the last round, when Laurent Fressinet is leading by a half point, but he had to face the Russian Super GM, Dmitry Jakovenko with Black. Let’s see what happened... 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 Nf6 Black chose the Ragozin defense.

10.bxc3 0–0 11.Nd4 Qxc5 [The other line is 11...Ne4 12. Bf4 with several games in the database, but it is not clear, how Black should play to equalize.] 12. Bd3 Re8 A novelty, which does not solve Black’s problems. [Players tried before 12...Ne4 but after 13. Bf4 Nb6 14.Qh5 Re8 15.0–0 g6 16.Qh6 White got and edge in Vitiugov-Alekseev, Saratov 2011.] 13.0–0 Ne4

5.cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 lately this is considered to be the most ambitious setup against Black’s opening. 6...Nbd7 7.e3 c5

8.dxc5 This move was a rare sideline until Kramnik won a nice game against Ponomariov back in 2009. Since then this is already one of the most critical lines for Black from

14. Bf4 Lets make a summary of the opening. White has the bishop pair, powerful knight on d4 and a small weakness on c3, while Black tries to compensate it with active pieceplay with his knights. White threats to play c4 now, to get rid of the weakness and open the position for the bishops to make their strength even more effective. Black must prevent it at any cost. 3


14...Ne5?! Black wants to occupy the c4 square with a tempo, otherwise he manages to get one of the bishops. However, Fressinet probably underestimated the strength of White’s response. [14...Nb6 was the better way to prevent c4, which transposes to the 12...Ne4 line.]

19.f3 Be6 Black not only goes for a bad knight vs good bishop position, but also worsens his pawnstructure. However, it was already very difficult to recommend something else for him. [19... Bh5 has a nice refutation 20.cxd5 Qxd5 21.Nf5 Rd7

15. Bxe5! Jakovenko rightly decides to give up his bishop, in order to be able to play c4.

22.Ne7+! Rxe7 23. Bxh7+! Kxh7 24. Rxd5 Nxd5 25.Qxd5+- White is a queen up.]

15... Rxe5 16.c4! Black got into trouble, which is bigger than it might seem at first sight. By playing c4, White solves the problem of his isolated pawn, opens the c-file for the rook, which will become the most important line and also destroys the fortess of the e4 knight. Black has problems with the development of his c8 bishop, while all the White pieces have a clear future.

20.cxd5 Qxd5 21.Bc4 Qe5 22.f4! Qe4 23.Nxe6 fxe6 Here we are! Jakovenko plays now according to the classical Russian school, but he misses a forced way to win a pawn.

16...Nf6 [16... Bd7 would lose a pawn after 17.Nb3! Qe7 18.f4! Rf5 19.Nd4] 17.Qb3 Re7 Black protects the b7 pawn, to be able to put out his bishop. 18. Rfd1 All the pieces are working now. 18... Bg4 [18...dxc4 19. Bxc4]

24. Be2?! White wants to transfer his bishop to f3, but he gives small hope for Black to survive. Actually, this was 4


the only inaccuracy by Jakovenko in the whole game. [24. Rd4! Qf5 25. Rd6 Rae8 26. Bd3! Qa5 27. Bb5! Rf8 28. Rxe6 white could have won a pawn.]

34.hxg6 hxg6

24...Nd5 25.Kf2! White brings his king closer to the center, since he sees that his opponent has no choice and must go for a bad endgame due to the Bf3 threat. 25...Qb4 26. Bc4! White transfers the bishop back to the a2-g8 diagonal, when it will make a strong pressure on the e6 weakness. 26...Qxb3 27. Bxb3 Nc7 28. Rc5! The rook goes to e5, where it ties the Black pieces. 28...Kf8 29. Re5 g6

35. Bc2! wins a pawn and also the game. 35...Kf8 [35... Rxd1 36. Rxg6+ Kh7 did not save Black, since after 37. Rxe6+! Black has no good square to leave from the check 37...Kh8 38. Rh6+ Kg7 39. Rg6+ Kh7 40. Rg5+! Kh6 41. Bxd1 after collecting all the pawns, White takes back the rook!] 36. Rxg6 Rxd1 37. Bxd1 Rh7 [37... Rd7 38. Bb3+-] 38. Bb3 The situation has not changed, White still has the strong bishop against the bad knight and already an extra pawn, which means Black is hopeless. 38...Ke7 39.f5 Creates connected passed pawns.

30.h4! Please notice Jakovenko’s play on the kingside, the way he plays according to the two weaknesses rule. Black has enough force to defend the e6 pawn, so White creates another target.

39...exf5 40.gxf5 Ne8 41.e4 Nd6 42.f6+ and e5 in the next move and one of the pawns will promote soon. Black resigned. Jakovenko deservedly took the 1st place, Fressinet finished 2nd and Malakhov 3rd. Congratulations! 1–0

30...Kg7 31.h5 Rf8 32.g4! Rff7 33. Rg5 White awaits the best moment for exchanging on g6. 33... Rd7? A blunder in a terrible position. [33... Rf8 34.Kf3] 5


(2) Fressinet,Laurent (2693) — Akopian,Vladimir (2684) [E43] Plovdiv, 30.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Laurent Fressinet won a great game in the 10th round of the European Individual Championship. White achieved an edge from the opening. It created strong pressure, which Black could not handle and allowed White to finish the game with a nice combination.

9.Nd2! Typical plan in the Nimzo, White wants to occupy the center with e4. The mentioned plan in the 8th move (8...c5) was directed also against this setup. 9...Nbd7 10.e4 e5 11.f3 By overprotecting the e4 pawn, White prepares for the idea, which we will see in the next move. 11... Re8

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 0–0 7.0–0 We are in one of the main positions of the Nimzo Indian, 4.e3 variation. 7... Bxc3 Black wants to avoid long theory and goes for a positional battle. [7...c5 and; 7...d5 are the main moves.] 8.bxc3 d6?! Despite being the main line according to the database, in my opinion this is a mistake. Black goes in a wrong direction with the knight. [Black should have organized his play against the doubled pawns on the c-file 8...c5 9.Nd2 Nc6 later Rc8, Na5, Ba6 and d5 could be a plan.]

12. Rf2! The first step is done, White occupied the center. Thanks to this he enjoys space advantage. The second step is to improve the pieces. The most important question, what to do with the knight, which currently disturbs the development? With his last move, White gives place for the knight to transfer it to the ideal g3 square. 12...c6 Black prepares for a central break, however, it cannot be a good idea since it opens the center and the position, when after that the bishop pair starts to work. Other plans do not equalize either, but anyway one of the knight moves should have been tried. [12...Nh5 13.g3 and then Nf1–e3 gives White a small advantage.(13.Nf1!? Nf4 14.Bc2) ; 12...Nf8 13.Nf1 Ne6 14. Bc2 with the initiative of White.] 6


13.Nf1 d5

14.Ng3! Very strong play by Fressinet! He holds the tension and does not „touch” any of the pawns. He uses the fact, that all the pawn takes by Black would only improve White’s position. In addition, by the c6, d5 plan, Black weakened the d6 square, where the knight is heading to.

21.Bf6!! prevents f6 and threats with Nh6 mate 21...N xf6 22.Qg5+ Ng6 23.Qxf6+-) 20. Bxg7 e3

14...Qc7 [Both 14...dxc4 15. Bxc4; and 14...exd4 15.cxd4 would just allow White to get rid of the doubled pawns,; while 14...dxe4 15.fxe4 would open the f-file for the rook.] 15. Bg5! Very deep idea by Fressinet! The bishop on g5 confuses the Black’s pieces, so it should be sent away. However, the move h6 weakens the kingside very much. The knight arrives to f5 with even bigger effect, all the sacrifices on g7 and h6 will hang in the air. 15...h6 16. Be3 Rad8 17.Nf5! dxc4? Akopian desperately tries to complicate the matters, but it still just improves White’s position. [17...Nf8 was probably the only chance, but still after 18.Qd2! and Black cannot prevent the different sacrifices 18...dxe4 (18...Bc8 19.N xg7! Kxg7 20.B xh6+ Kh7 21.B xf8 R xf8 22.exd5++-) 19. Bxh6! (19. fxe4 Ng4) 19...exd4 (19...exd3 20.B xg7 N6h7

21. Bxf6! Ng6 (21...exd2 22.Nh6# picturesque mate) 22.Qc1 exf2+ 23.Kxf2 Nf4 24. Bxd8 Rxd8 (24...N xd3+ 25.Kf1) 25. Bf1 and White has an advantage.] 18. Bxc4 b5 19. Bb3 Nc5

7

Issue 6 (3) Akopian,Vladimir (2684) — Khalifman,Alexander (2649) [B90]

6th of April 2012

13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (11.12), 31.03.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

20. Rd2! Fressinet calculates precisely. White wins now in a more or less forced way... 20...Nxb3 21.axb3 Now, Black must waste an important tempo on defending the a7 pawn. 21...a6 22.dxe5! Forces Black to take on d2, which invites the White queen to its ideal square! 22... Rxd2 23.Qxd2 Qxe5 24. Bd4! Qe6 25.Nxh6+! Kh7 [25...gxh6 26.Qxh6 The mate is unavoidable on the long diagonal.] 26.Nf5 and Black can not prevent the Qg5 and Nxg7 threats, so he resigned. An easy, but very instructive game. 1–0

We are in the last game of the European Championship. Both players have 7/10 points, and a victory would mean good money and sure qualification to the World Cup. It is a funny coincidence that exactly these two players were fighting for the World Chess Crown in 1999 and the Russian player came out as a winner and was announced FIDE World Champion. 1.e4 c5 a clear sign already on the first move, that there is going to be a fighting game. Usually Khalifman preferes more solid openings like „Petrov”. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 We are in the Najdorf. Probably in one of the most popular openings in the chess game. Hundreds and thousands of hours have been spent on analysing this opening and still we see in many games with new ideas or positions where no concrete „solution” has been found on „how to get better for White” 6. Be3 One of the main moves, another main move is 6. Bg5 6...e6 [6...e5; 6...Ng4 were the 2 other main options for Black]

8


20. Bxf8+ Kxf8 21. Bd5 Kg7 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23.Qe7+ At this moment White had only 10 minutes left on their clock and Black even managed to gain some time!!! 23... Kxg6 24. Rg1+ Kh5 25.0–0–0 Be6–+ Sutovsky,E 2700– Zhigalko, A 2590 ECC 2012 Black managed to get a totally winning position with out doing any moves himself!] 7...b5 8.Qd2 [8.a4] 8...Nbd7 9.g4 [9.a4 another main line in the position] 7.f3 [7.g4 this move got lately very popular, but it is leading to very forced positions, where both White and Black need to remember very well their analyses. Here one example of what can happen in case Your analyses are bad or You just forget something 7...e5 8.Nf5 g6 9.g5 gxf5 10.exf5 d5 11.Qf3 We are in a well known forced position 11...Ne4!? a rare move with a huge preparation behind it! 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 Nc6 14. Bc4 Qd7 15.g6 fxg6 16.fxg6 Qf5 17. Bf7+ Ke7

18. Bc5+?? this move almost loses the game. But how to play such a position without a computer support. Almost impossible... (18.Qh4+ Kd6 19.Bb6 would lead to a craziness on the chess board :)) 18...Kf6 19.Qh4+ Kg7

9...b4!? beginning of quite a tricky line ... [9...Nb6; 9...h6] 10.Nce2 [10.Na4 h6!? this small differences of move orders in the opening are sometimes very hard to understand. For this deep analyses are needed and from time to time players prefer to have one line more than another...] 10...h6 White wanted to push g5 which has to be stopped

11.0–0–0 Qc7 12.h4 White’s play is clearly on the king side. It is all about the question: Can White be on time to push g5 and just smash Black defence lines, or Black will be quicker in the center to create a big counterplay

9


12...d5! No time to lose, White wanted to play Bh3 followed by the deadly g5

one) 16...Nh5 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5 with a very comlicated and unclear position]

13. Bf4!? [13.Ng3 a pretty move, but not an effective one 13...e5! (13...Qxg3?? 14.Bf4 not often we can see the Black Queen having no moves) 14.Nb3 (14.Ndf5 d4 15.Bf2 g6 and the White knight is caught on f5) 14...d4 15. Bg1 a5 16.Nf5 a4 17.Nbxd4 a very typical piece sacrifice for Najdorf positions 17...exd4 18. Bxd4 b3! a very good move! White was one move late to play Kb1. Black was faster this time]

15.g5! An excellent move, even if a logical one. Suddenly Black’s position is getting very dangerous

13...e5

14. Bh2! a great idea by White! Bishop on h2 is attacking the center, at the same time White is ready now for the g5 move. 14...dxe4? hard to blame Black for such a logical move like 14... dxe4. But it is probably a serious mistake in this very concrete position. Every loss of tempo, even such a move as taking a pawn, can change radically the whole evaluation [14...Nb6!? Black should not lose any time! Development is everything 15.b3 (15.exd5 Nfxd5 16.Qe1 Be7 leads to a clearly good play for Black) 15... Bd6 16.g5 (16.Nf5 B xf5 17.gxf5 0–0! and Black seems to be the faster

15...hxg5 This logical move is leading to a bad position for Black. But what else to do? [15...exf3 16.Nxf3 (16.gxf6 fxe2 17.Qxe2 gxf6 18.Bh3 Rb8 19.Rhf1 with a strong attack for White) 16...Ng4 17. Bh3 Nxh2 18. Rxh2 All the White pieces are attacking the Black’s position. It cannot have a happy end for Black...] 16.hxg5

16... Rxh2! Searching for practical chances [16...Nh5 17.fxe4 With an equal material on the board Black’s position is clearly very bad. White has million threats for no compensation for that. Next White moves could be g6, Bh3, Nf5.] 17. Rxh2 exd4 18. Rh4?! a bit strange desicion for White, or maybe he just underestimated next Black’s move?! [More logical was 18. Rh8! Nd5 19.Qxd4 Black has 2 pieces for the rook, but all White pieces are in the attack and Black cannot avoid serious material losses 19... Bb7 10


20.fxe4 Ne7 21. Bh3 (21.Qxd7+ Qxd7 22.R xf8+ Kxf8 23.R xd7 with a clearly better endgame for White) 21... Nc5 22.Qc4 And probably the game will end soon with a mate!; 18.Nxd4 This move would not be the best one. 18...Nd5 19.Nf5 Qf4! Black is changing the main attacking piece, White’s Queen 20.fxe4 Qxd2+ 21. Rdxd2 Nf4 22. Rh8 g6 Probably White is still doing better, but the position remains very unclear]

19...Nge5 20. Rxe4 Bb7 Black is ju st in time to complete development. Now things are looking much brighter for them

18...Ng4! a great move by Black [Black would not solve their problems after 18...Nc5 19.gxf6 b3!? 20.Kb1! a very cool and strong move 20...g5 21. Rh8 bxc2+ 22.Qxc2 d3 23.Qd2! and it seems White is having almost a winning position 23...dxe2?? is leading to a pretty mate after 24.Qd8+ Qxd8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Rxd8#]

22.f4 Ng6? wrong direction. From here on things start to go very badly for Black [22...Nc4! 23. Bxc4 (23.Qf2 Ndb6) 23...Qxc4 24.g6 Nc5 with a good position for Black]

19.Nxd4 [19. Rxg4!? would be probably objectivly the best choise for White, even if we have to say that Black is already doing fine 19...Nc5 20.Nxd4 Bxg4 21.fxg4 0–0– 0 and Black is doing fine; 19.Qxd4 Nge5 20. Rxe4 Bc5 21.Qd5 (21.Qd2 f5!) 21... Bb7 22.Qxd7+ Qxd7 23. Rxd7 Kxd7 24. Rxe5 Kd6 in this endgame only Black can be better]

21. Ree1 0–0–0 Black managed to solve their main problem — to get away with the king from e8. Now Black is having a slight material advantage which gives him at least even chances. I personally would say, Black is doing better

23. Bh3! White is using their chance! 23...Kb8 Black has to do something about the pin [23... Qxf4? is losing because of 24. Bxd7+ Rxd7 25.Qxf4 Nxf4 26. Re8+ and Black is simply an exchange down] 24. Bxd7! another great move by White, based on exact calculation 24... Rxd7 [not working is 24...Qxd7 25.f5 Nh8 26.Nb5!! What a great trick 26...Qxd2+ 27. Rxd2 Rc8 28.Nd6 with big chances for a win for White]

11


25. Re8+

29.Qc7! Akopian is finishing the game in a great style 25...Ka7? Black’s panics in already very dangerous position [The only chance to continue the game was 25... Bc8 26. Rxf8 (26.f5 is a bad move now because of 26...Bc5 27.fxg6 R xd4 and Black is doing well) 26...Nxf8 27.Qxb4+ Ka8 28.Qxf8 Rd8! a very strong and only move, probably Black has overlooked it 29.Qb4 Qxf4+ 30.Kb1 Qxg5 31.c3 Material is equal, but it is clear that White is doing better due to the very open position of Black’s king. Black can save this, maybe, but still a lot of work in front of him]

29...Ka6 30. Rxf8! The last exact move 1–0

26.Nb5+! axb5 27.Qxd7 White got material advantage plus an attack. The game is basicly over 27...Qxf4+ 28.Kb1 Black can not do much here anymore, especially in a practical game. White has simply too many threats 28...Qxg5

12


(4) Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2643) — Azaladze,Shota (2419) [B06]

5... Bg4!? Black is playing according to the idea of the opening — attacking White’s center

13th EICC Plovdiv BUL (11.24), 31.03.2012

6. Be3 Qb6 This is the idea of Black’s 5... Bg4. Now White cannot avoid a smalldestruction of their pawn structure, which is clearly good forBlack

[Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.e4 We are again in the last round of the European Championship. Blacks needs to make a draw to qualify to the World Cup because of the great tiebreak, for White only a win is an option. We will see a great attacking game by Nisipeanu, who loves to give mates and proves one more time how good he is in that 1...g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 [4.Nf3 is the other main option, now at 4...d5 5.h3 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd7 7. Bc4 Ngf6 8.Nxf6+ Nxf6 9.0–0 0–0 10. Re1 with a small, but stable advantage for White]

4...d6 seems like Black doesnt want to go into the main lines [Clearly the main would be 4...d5 5.e5 h5 6.Nf3 Bg4 with long theoretical lines to follow] 5.Nf3 [To avoid a double pawn structure, White could start gere with 5. Be2!? and only at 5...Nf6 6.Nf3 followed by Be3,Qd2, long castle or just a short castle. For sure White is doing a bit better]

7.Qd2 Bxf3 8.gxf3 Nf6 White has a strong center and a bishop pair. For this Black has a better pawn structure and quite a safe position. It is clear, that White must search their chances in attack in the center, Black has to hurry to finish their development in castle long if possible 9.0–0–0 Of course the long castle! White needs to act quickly

9...Qa5?! Black obviously was afraid of White’s d5 push, but in my opinion there is no reason for that. 9...Nbd7 would have been abetterchoise 10.Kb1 a good prophylactic move before starting the real action 10...Nbd7 11.e5 White is statring concrete action in the center [11. Rg1!? with the idea Rg5 would have been another interesting option for White]

13


11...Nh5? this is a big mistake [11...Nd5! this move is almost always the right way to go for this kind of structures! 12.Ne4 (12.N xd5 Qxd2 13.R xd2 cxd5 in this endgame Black should be doing fine. White pawn structre f4,f3 is very bad and not letting White with big hopes for any advantage) 12...Qxd2 13. Bxd2 b5! Black should try to keep their beauty on d5 alive at any costs, White theatened to play c4 14.exd6 f5 15.Ng5 Bxd4 With quite an unclear position] 12. Bh3 a move with multiple threats. White wants to push f5, attacking the knight on d7 and at the same time wants to play silent Bg4 and take on h5 after which Black’s position would be a disaster 12...Nb6 13.Qd3 Of course White should not allow the Black knight to jump to c4 13... Bh6 a very risky move in already a hard position [13...Qb4 not solving the problems 14. Bg4 Nc4 15.b3 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 and because of Bxh5 next White is doing much better] 14.exd6! White is opening the Black’s king position 14...exd6

15.f5! Bg7 16.Qe4+ To be sure that Black will not castle in this game anymore 16...Kf8 17. Rhe1 Every move of White is looking very logical and strong. White is putting all their pieces in the center, preparing for the final blow 17...d5!? probably the best chance to fight [not helping much 17... Re8 18.Qh4 Nc4 19. Bc1! silent but very effectfull move. White is making a use out of their „extra” rook in the attack 19... Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Nf6 21.Ne4! and probably Black is lost!] 18.Qh4 Nc4 19. Bc1?! [why not 19. Bg5! Kg8 20. Rd3 protecting against the Qb4 move 20...Qb4 21.b3 and White is having a huge advantage because of the Black rook on h8 which will probably never come into the game anymore] 19...Qb4! Black is almost back in the game. 20.Ka1 such a move is hard to play in a position where White should look for a direct attack. But probably there is nothing better. Black wanted to make a draw by playing Na3 check

14


20... Bf6 21.Qf2 Somehow Black survived the very hard moments, but still their position is clearly worse. They need to solve the huge problem with the rook on h8

24.c3! Qa5 25.e5! really a beautiful position! Black is a piece up but totally lost. All White pieces are standing just perfect!

21...a5 [21...Kg7!? Is leading to a clearly better position for White, but with some chances for Black. It is not an option to play with the rook on h8 22. Bg4 Rhe8 23. Bxh5 gxh5 24.Ne2!]

25...Nxe5 Nothing helps already [25...a3 26.b4 Qd8 27.exf6 Nxf6 28.Qh4 With a mating attack] 26.dxe5 Bxe5 27. Bh6+ getting the king in a deadly corner 27...Kg8 28.Qe3! [28. Rd7 would win immeaditly as well, Black cannot defend the weakness of f7 28... Bf6 29.Qe2 Ng7 30.Qc4 Rf8 31. Re8! would have been a pretty end of a nice game] 28... Re8

22.Ne4!? a typical Nisipeanu move. When there are 2 choices, to make a position pressure and a chance to sacrifice something for the attack, it is an easy choise for Liviu-Dieter! [22. Bf1 with a better position for White] 22...dxe4 23.fxe4 Probably one of the critical position of the game. Black is a piece up for just a pawn, but in case White manages to bring their pawn in movement, the game can have a quick end. Black needs to act very quickly! 23...a4?! Beginning of an end [23... Bg5! been the only way to continue the game 24.fxg6 (24.c3 Qe7) 24...hxg6 25. Be6 Bf6! looks like a loss of a tempo, but no! Black managed to activate the rook on h8 by forcing White playing fxg6 fxg6 26.c3 Qb5 27. Bg4]

29.Qxe5! A great finish by Nisipeanu! 29... Rxe5 30. Rxe5 Qa8 White is practically material up. Black rook on h8 will never play a role in this game anymore 31.a3?! a strange inaccuracy by White — of course White is still winning [31. Re3 followed by Red3 and Black resigns]

15


31...Nf6 32. Re7 Black is totally paralized. And earliar or later White will connect their rook on the d file and the game will end

Puzzle section

32...b5 33. Bg2 [33. Rd6+-]

(5) Roiz,M (2651) — Rechlis,G (2467)

33...Ng4 34. Bxc6 Qc8 35. Rde1 Nxh6 36.f6!

Israelian league, 03.02.2012 [CEWN] 1...–+

Just a fantastic end position! 1–0 (6) Sutovsky,E (2696) — Finkel,A (2499) Israelian league, 03.02.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

16


(7) Godena,M (2548) — Gershon,A (2499)

(9) Hou Yifan (2639) — Zhou Jianchao (2625)

Israelian league, 24.02.2012

Xinghua, 30.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(8) Li Shilong (2549) — Lu Shanglei (2514)

(10) Ding Liren (2660) — Lu Shanglei (2514)

Xinghua, 27.03.2012

Xinghua, 31.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

17


(11) Wang Yue (2702) — Bu Xiangzhi (2668)

(13) Can,E (2476) — Nyback,T (2636)

Xinghua, 02.04.2012

Plovdiv, 27.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.–+

(12) Navara,D (2700) — Jianu,V (2497)

(14) Erdos,V (2636) — Perunovic,Mio (2481)

Plovdiv, 27.03.2012

Plovdiv, 29.03.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

18


Endgame section (15) Khalifman,A (2649) — Laznicka,V (2702) Plovdiv, 29.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

At this moment, I was walking around the boards and I saw this position. I thought that the players will agree to draw soon, since there are almost no pieces on the board. Later, when I checked the results, I was shocked to see, that White won this game. I suspected some terrible blunder, or losing on time. .. Then I downloaded the game and I just had to realize, that the former FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman simply outplayed his 2700+ opponent. Let us study, what happened...

stands on a more active place. These are all the pluses of the White side, however the position should be drawish of course, since there are only 3-3 pawns on board without any crucial damage on Black’s side. White prepares for creating the passed pawn on the kingside, while Black has nothing better than to wait. 37... Bf8 38.h4 Be7 39.h5 Bf8 40. Bf4 Be7 41.Ke4 Bd8 Black rightly expects that his opponent will push g5 and he wants to keep that pawn under attack. As we will see, this does not prevent White from creating a passed pawn. [Occupying the long diagonal would lead to the same position after 41... Bb4 42.g5 Bc3 43. Be3 Bb2 44.Kf4 (44.Bd4 leads to forced draw 44...B xd4 45.Kxd4 Kf5 46.g6 hxg6 47.hxg6 Kxg6 48.Kc5 Kf5 49.Kxc6 Ke4 50.Kb6 Kd4 51.Kxa6 Kc3=) 44... Bc3 45.Kg4 Bb2 46.g6! hxg6 47.hxg6 Kf6 48.Kh5 Kg7 49.Kg5 we will see this position later.] 42.g5! Be7 43. Bd2 Bd8 44.g6! At first sight White blunders the pawn, but of course, there is a trick behind the move. 44...hxg6 45.hxg6 There are only 2-2 pawns left on the board, but White saved all the advantages, what we discussed before.

37. Bg3 First of all, let’s summarize what we see. White has a passed pawn on the kingside, which is in every endgame a big plus for the attacking side, while Black’s a and c pawns are well blockaded by the b3 pawn. If Black pushes any of his pawns, that will get to a dark square, when it becomes a potential target. In addition, White king 19


45... Be7 [45...Kf6 does not work 46. Bg5+! White wins.] 46. Bc3 Ba3 Sooner or later, Black had to change the diagonal... [46... Bd8 47.Kf4 Be7 48.Kg4 due to the threat of Kh5-h6, Black must transpose to the game with Ba3.] 47.Kf4 Bc1+ 48.Kg4 Be3 49.Kh5 Bc1

50... Be3? Decisive mistake, he should have gone with his king to g7, and get the position we mentioned in the 50. Bg7 line. [50...Kf6 51. Bd8+ Kg7] 51. Bd8+- Suddenly, it seems to be over. White manages to play Bg5 and Kh6, after which his position is winning. 51... Bf4 52. Bg5 Be5 53.Kh6 Laznicka realized, that he lost, he tries his last chance to create a passed pawn, but he is too far... 53...c5 54. Bd2

50. Ba5 [50. Bg7 would have been a very tricky continuation as well 50...Ke7! Only move! Black king must go behind the pawn. (50... Bd2 would lose instructively 51. Bh6 Bc3 52. Be3 White threatens to play Kh6 and transpose to the game 52... Bg7 53.Kg5 Now, Black can only move with his king, but he soon gets into zugzwang... 53...Ke5 54. Bd2 Ke6 55. Bb4 Here is the zugzwang! Black must allow Kf5, after which White transfers his bishop to f6. 55...Kd5 56.Kf5 c5 57. Bd2 Kd6 58. Bg5 Kd7 (58...Kd5 59.Bf6 Bh6 60.Be5!+- Black has nothing against the plan of Kf6, Bb2, Kf7 and Bc1.) 59. Bf6 Bh6 60.Ke5+and Kd5 collects the pawn.) 51. Bh6 Bb2 52. Be3 Kf8 53.Kh6 Kg8 54.Kg5 Kg7 55.Kf5 Bc3 56. Bc5 Bb2 This is the only way for Black to hold. The passive defense, which is very hard to find for many players in general. Here, I did not find any plan for White to improve his position.]

54...Kd5 [54... Bd4 55.Kh7 Be5 56. Bh6 Bd4 57. Bg7! Be3 58. Bc3 and the g-pawn promotes.] 55.Kh7 c4 56.bxc4+ Kc5 57.Kg8! Not the on ly way to win, but the prettiest. White plays Kf7 and Bg5-f6 in the next moves. 57... Bd4 58.Kf7 Kxc4 59. Bg5 Black resigned. A very instructive endgame! I guess players on each level has learnt a lot from this. 1–0

20


Clash of the Titans

The textmove weakens the position of the king too much. [4...c5 is the main move of recent theory.]

(16) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Ragozin,V [C16]

5.Nf3 c5 Consequent move, which leads to further weakenings.

Leningrad, 1927

6.a3! White would like to stabilize his center with 7.bxc3.

[Balogh Csaba]

6... Ba5 [On 6...cxd4 White has a pleasant choice between 7.axb4 (or 7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.B xc6 B xc3+ 10.Qxc3 B xc6 11.0–0) 7...dxc3 8. Bd3!? cxb2 9. Bxb2 in both lines, with a nice advantage. Here, we can see a pawn sacrifice aiming quick development and two strong bishops. 9...f5 10.Nd4 Ne7

The next game I present you, is from my big idol, Mikhail Botvinnik! His incredible understanding of chess, very deep opening and psychological preparation for the game, and the ability never to run out of energy to study chess, have altogether made him the 6th World Champion! He took the title in 1948, when he was 37 years old, and was fighting for the crown through 15 years against the strongest chess players in the wordl! In 1951 and 1954, he defended his Title against Bronstein and Smyslov, but in 1957, Smyslov defeated him. However, in 1958 he took a revenge and owned the throne until 1960, when Tal was able to beat him. However, Botvinnik has managed to win the rematch again in 1961. At the end, only Petrosian could stop him in 1963. I know Botvinnik’s games very well, and I have wide choice of them to present from. I decided to show you a game from his young years. You can see that being 16 years old, he understood well the principles of chess! (At that time 16 years old without computers, I could only compare to a guy from today, around 9–10 years old!) The game is very instructive, it is about the center. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 f6?! At that time, theory was just about to develop. Sometimes people tried unsuccessful ideas. The plan itself is correct, to undermine White’s central pawns, but Black chooses wrong target.

11.Qh5+! trying to create some holes in the Black camp. Later there might be two promising plans for White, one is to open the center with c4 immediately, the other is to play b5 with the idea of activating the bishop on a3, and only then c4.] 7.b4! Nowdays, it is an obvious and well-known move, but 85 years ago, only with knowing principles well, players could find such moves. With this pawn sacrifice, White saves his very strong center, which guarantees him a huge advantage. 21


7...cxb4 [7...cxd4 8.Nb5! Bc7 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Qg4 with very strong attack!] 8.Nb5! This is the point of the previous move. The d6 hole is very unpleasant from Black’s point of view. 8...Nc6 [8...bxa3+ 9.c3 and Bxa3 is coming in the next move! Black could not hold the pressure.] 9.axb4 Bc7 Black continues the game in the same spirit, tries to force White to take on f6, and obtain a nice central pawn-chain, at the same time he wants to keep the e7 square for the knight. [9... Bxb4+ 10.c3 Be7 11. Bd3 Despite being a pawn up, Black suffers with the development, due to the strong e5 pawn.]

12...0–0 [The direct 12...e5? has a nice refutation with 13.Nxe5! fxe5 14.Qh5+ Kd7 15. Bf5+ Nxf5 16.Qxf5+ Ke8 17.Qh5+ Kd7 18.Qg4+ Ke8 19.Qg7!+-] 13.0–0 Bd7 [13...e5 is still premature, because of 14.Nxc7 Qxc7 15.b5! e4 (15...Nd8 16.dxe5 fxe5 17.b6! Qxb6 18.N xe5) 16.bxc6 bxc6 17. Bc2 exf3 18.Qxf3] 14. Bh6 Developing with tempo. 14... Rf7 15.Qd2

10.c3 Nge7 [10...fxe5 would be bad as well, because of 11.Nxc7+ Qxc7 12.b5 Nd8

11.exf6 gxf6 Finally Black achieved his aim! He has strong center, and wants to make it even stronger with e5. However, we will see, that in the next moves, he must prepare for this.

15...e5 Black succeeds to continue his whole idea, but soon it becomes clear, that is was bad, right from the beginning. Inspite that he managed to create nice center, the pawns will be rather vulnerable than strong because of their immobility (they cannot move, since after e4, White will have the very strong resource f3, which destroys the center), and it is already White who can undermine the central pawns with c4, or the other one with f3 (after pushing e4). The main creator of all these problems for Black is the king! There is no pawn left to defend his royalty! Please look at the position after the 18th move, to understand, what I mean.

12. Bd3 [12.Nh4!? was also very dangerous.]

16.dxe5 Nxe5 [16...fxe5? 17.Ng5]

13.Qb3! e4 14.b6! White could use the pin on the a-file.]

22


17.Nxe5 fxe5 18.Nxc7 Qxc7 Let’s stop or a moment! Here we can understand much easier the problems, which I explained after the 15th move. 19.Qg5+ Kh8

[21...Nf5 does not work 22. Bf4! and after Black is forced to give up his center, his position collapses! 22...exf4 23. Rxe6+-] 20.Qh5! Very subtle play! Prepares for the next move, and creates complications in Black’s camp, due to the fact that the f7 rook cannot leave its square because of the necessity to defend the h7 pawn. [The direct 20. Rae1? would be a big mistake 20...Ng8!! Black takes the initiative!] 20... Be6 [On 20...Kg8 21. Ra3! is very strong, with the idea to push c4, and use the rook on g3!]

22.c4! Using the pin on the e-file, Botvinnik immediately undermines the center! 22... Rf5 [22...exd3 23. Rxe6+-; 22... Rg8 would have been the only chance, but after some exact moves by White, the position remains terrible. 23.cxd5 Nxd5 24. Bxe4 Nf6 25.Qf3! Ng4 26.Qh3+-] 23.Qe2 Qe5 Black tries to protect the center with his full army, he knows if it collapses, he can resign the game.

21. Rae1! The f1 rook might be very useful in the future by playing f3 or f4, and the f-file opens. 21...e4

23


24. Bc1! Not the only win, but definately the nicest! The great Champion transfers the bishop to the long diagonal, against what Black has no defence. [24.cxd5 was also winning 24... Bxd5 25. Bxe4 Rh5 26. Bf4! Qxf4 27.Qxh5 Bxe4 28.Qc5!+-]

Surprise section / study (17) Grinfeld,M

24...Qd6 25.cxd5 exd3 [25... Bxd5 26. Bxe4+- The center falls apart!]

1903

26. Bb2+ Kg8 27.Qg4+! The most precise move, which leads to forced and spectacular mate!

1.+-

[CEWN]

27...Ng6 28. Rxe6 Qxd5

29. Rxg6+! hxg6 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31.Qg7+ Ke8 32. Re1+ Kd8 33.Qe7+ Kc8 34. Rc1+ Black resigned! We can see how people played chess 85 years ago! Without any serious theory, they tried to play according to principles. Ragozin’s idea in itself is fully justified, that center is very important! But there is one very important thing, that Botvinnik nicely demonstrated to us, that the center must be supported by pieces, otherwise it might collapse! 1–0

24


Solutions (18) Movsesian,S (2702) — Kotronias,V (2597) Plovdiv, 22.03.2012 [Solutions]

41. Bxd6! Nb7 [41...Qxd6 42.Qxf7+ Kh8 43. Re7+-] 42. Be7 Rf8 43. Bf6+ Kg8 44.Qxh4 Bxf6 45.gxf6 1–0 (20) Hovhannisyan,R (2600) — Codenotti,M (2328) Plovdiv, 20.03.2012 [Solutions]

21.b4! cxb4 [21...Qc7 22.b5!+-] 22. Rxd4 Rfc8 23.Qb3+(19) Pancevski,F (2470) — Volokitin,A (2695)

23.fxe6! fxe6 24.Nxe6! Rxe6 25. Bxd5 Rae8 26. Bxe6+ 1–0[26. Bxe6+ Rxe6 27. Rd8+ Kf7 28.Qf4+ Ke7 (28...Kg6 29.Qf5+ Kh6 30.Qh5#) 29.Qf8#]

Plovdiv, 20.03.2012 [Solutions]

25


(21) Popovic,Du (2561) — Kryvoruchko,Y (2666) Plovdiv, 21.03.2012 [Solutions]

[24... Rae8 25.e5+-] 25.Qg3 fxe4 26. Rxe7! Raf8 [26... Rxe7 27.Qh4++-] 27.h4! 1–0 (23) Volokitin,A (2695) — Schiendorfer,E (2349) Plovdiv, 21.03.2012 [Solutions]

40... Rxe5! (22) Pap,Gy (2538) — Khenkin,I (2632) Plovdiv, 21.03.2012 [Solutions]

30.Qg4!! Kf7 [30...Qxg4 31.Nxd6#; 30... Rf5 31.Nde3+-] 31.Nxd6+! Qxd6 32.Ne3! Nf6 33. Rxd6 Nxg4 34.Nxg4

22.Nf5+! Qxf5 [22...gxf5 23.Qh3+ Kg6 24.Qxh7+ Kg5 25. Rg7+ Kf6 26.Qh6+] 23. Rxf5 gxf5 24. Rxb7+- Rf7 26


(24) Sutovsky,E (2700) — Kozul,Z (2602)

(26) Sutovsky,E (2700) — Grigoriants,S (2561)

Plovdiv, 25.03.2012

Plovdiv, 23.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28. Rxf6! Bxf6 29.Nc5! Bh4 [29...Qc8 30.Nd7!+-] 30.Qxh4+-

32. Re8+! Kh7

(25) Mchedlishvili,M (2626) — Michalik,P (2529) Plovdiv, 25.03.2012 [Solutions]

33. R1e5!! Nxe5 [33...Qxf3 34. Rh5#] 34.Nf6+!! 1–0[34. Nf6+!! gxf6 (34...Kh6 35.Ng8+ Kh7 36.Qh5#) 35.Qh5+ Kg7 36.Qh8#]

27. Rh3! 1–0[27. Rh3 Rxh3 28.Qf6+ Kh7 29.Qg7#] 27


(27) Kulaots,K (2585) — Roiz,M (2652)

(28) Amaker,N

Plovdiv, 22.03.2012

1973

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

18.Ne7+! Bxe7 [18...Kh8 19. Rxd6 cxb5 20.fxg7+ Kxg7 21.Nf5+] 19.fxe7 Re8 20. Bc4+ d5

1. Ba4+!! Kxa4 [1...Kc4 2. Bb3+] 2.b3+ Kb5 3.c4+ Kxc6 4.d5+ Kxd7 5.e6+ Kc7 6.f5=

21. Rxd5!! cxd5 22. Bxd5+ Be6 [22...Kh8 23. Rf8++-] 23. Bxe6+ Kh8 24. Rf7 h5 25.Kf2! Kh7 26.Ke3 Kg6 27.Ke4+- Rac8? 28. Rf5! 1–0

28

Weekly Newsletter



13th of April 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

15

Right after finishing the European IndividualChampionship, Arkadij took part in the Neckar-open Deizisau, from where he comments two of his nice victories. He scored 7/9, which sounds good, but actually was a bit disappointing for him. Meanwhile, the Russian Team Championship has just started. The cream of the chess world is playing there. Next week we will collect our examples from this event and as usual present you the most interesting part of it. This week we include a really funny study in the surprise section. We hope you manage to solve it, use your imagination!


18


23


26

We also analyse two instructive practical endgames. The examples of the puzzle section are easier than the previous weeks. Enjoy!

»» Solutions

26

As usual, we wish You lots of fun with the new edition of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Naiditsch,A (2702) — Kurmann,O (2458) [A15] 16th Neckar Open Deizisau GER (9.6), 09.04.2012

4...d6?! First when I saw my opponent making this move, I thought he just has missed the field d5 — which is very possible after such a tough schedule :). After the game I asked my opponent what went wrong?! He told me, that he didn’t want to go against me for the main lines appearing after 4...d5

[Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the last round of Neckar Open. It is the biggest and probably the hardest German open, with close to 800 participants, 5 days — 9 games schedule. It was a disappointing tournament for me having at the current moment 6/8 and no chances to fight for the first places. Anyhow, in order to not to lose too many ELO points I tried at least to make a „pretty operation” and to win my last game having then not that terrible 7/9 points. 1.c4 it was the second game of the day and I had only 30 minutes break between my games. I had no idea what my opponent is playing and decided that it would not be a bad idea of having a „silent” opening 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.Nc3 e6 4.e3 [of course the main move here is 4.g3 d5 (4...b6 is the other main option for Black which is leading to hedgehog structures 5. Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Be7 7. Re1 Ne4 the only way to avoid Whites e4 push (7...0–0 8.e4 d6 9.d4 cxd4 10.N xd4 Qc7 11.b3 a6 12.Bb2 Nbd7 13.Rc1 And we are in the double fianchetto hedgehog, which is usually evaluated as a promising one for White) 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.d3 Bb7 10.e4 with a little bit better position for White) 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7. Bg2 Be7 8.0–0 here we are in the main line of Tarrasch]

5.d4 Nbd7 6. Bd3 a6 7.0–0 of course White should not go for the e4 move, after which we would be again in the hedgehog with just a tempo down for White 7...g6?! This is a very dangerous way to develop pieces for Black. It gives White enough time to start some action on the queenside. [Much more solid was 7... Be7 8.b3 White has many plans of developing, the most simple one is with b3-Bb2, another one could be to try to play b4 by: a3,Bd2,b4 8...0–0 9. Bb2 b6 10. Rc1 Bb7 11.Qe2 Qc7 12. Rfd1 With small, but stable plus for White] 8. Rb1 Here I was already very happy with my opening outcome. To play for the b4 push is definetely making sence now 8...Qc7 Quite quickly played by my opponent. Is it a real defence against the White’s push b4?! 3


9. Bd2?! generally a useful move, but now too careful [Of course I should have played 9.b4! cxb4 10. Rxb4 d5 in case Black doesn’t try something forced, it is clear that White has very big advantage 11.c5 b6 12.cxb6! a nice tactical solution, that I actually saw during the game — just after playing 10 hours of chess, it is hard to be 100% sure in any calculation 12...Nxb6 (12...Qxc3 13.b7! the key move of the line 13...B xb7 14.R xb7) 13. Rb3 Bd6 14.e4! and Black’s position is falling apart] 9...b6

14. Ba5 Qa7 15. Bb6 Qb8 16. Bxd4 Bb7 and it seems that Black is doing fine] 13...0–0 [13...Nxe4?? loses on the spot 14. Bxe4 Rb8 15. Ba5 Qa7 16. Rxb8 Qxb8 17. Rb1 Qa7 18. Bb6 Qb8 19. Bxd4+-] 14. Ba5 Qa7 15.exd4 White is dominating in the centre and in development, which gives me a big advantage 15...Nxe4 not a nice move to make, but there was no other way to defend the pawn d6 16. Bxe4 Rb8

10.b4 One move too late — still better than never 10... Bg7 Black is trying to fulfill their development, but one tempo is missing until castle and it gives me just enough time to reach almost a decisive advantage 11.bxc5! it’s time for some concrete action 11...bxc5 12.Qa4 cxd4?! [The only way to fight was 12... Bb7 13.d5! 0–0 14.e4 with a clear advantage for White] 13.Ne4! Probably this is what my opponent has missed [for some time I was not sure if White can play 13.Nd5 a spectacular piece sacrifice, but not a good one 13...exd5

17. Rxb8 Nxb8 [At 17...Qxb8 White has a very nice continuation 18.Qc6 d5! a great move by Black to stay in the game 19. Rb1 (the most natural 19.cxd5? would give Black good chances for escape 19...Nf6 20.Rb1 Qf4 21.Bd3 N xd5 White should be still better, bu the position is far from clear) 19...Qf4 20. Bc2!+- an amazing move! White wants to trap the Black Queen by playing Bd2 — and there seems to be no escape! White is close to winning here 20...dxc4? 21. Bb4! Re8 22. Bd2 Qg4 23. Rb8+-] 18. Bb4 Bd7 [18... Rd8?! 19. Bxd6! a little, but nice combo 19... Rxd6 20.Qe8+ Bf8 21.Qxc8+-] 4


19.Qa3 Rc8 20. Bxd6 Rxc4 [20... Bxd4 Would lead as well to a very bad position 21.Nxd4 Qxd4 22. Bb7 Re8 23.c5 White has bishop pair, a passed c pawn, plus all the pieces are centralized — this should be enough for a big advantage]

One of the rare cases in my chess career, when I could finish the game with a mate on the board :) 1–0

21. Rb1! Suddenly the Black’s 8th rank is very weak 21... Bb5 [21... Rc8 22. Bb7 Re8 23. Bc5 Bf8 24.Ne5!+What a domination on the board!; 21...Nc6 22. Bd3 White wins an exchange] 22. Bd3! The last precise move. The game is over [Definetely I would be not happy after 22. Rxb5?? axb5 23.Qxa7 Rc1+ 24.Ne1 Rxe1#] 22... Ra4 allows me to finish the game in a beautiful way 23.Qxa4 Bxa4 24. Rxb8+ Bf8 25.Ng5 Kg7 [would lose of course as well 25...Qxd4 26. Rxf8+ Kg7 27. Rxf7+ Kh6 28.h4+- with a very soon mate] 26. Bxf8+ At this moment my opponent looked at me, smiled and played 26...Kf6 27.Nxh7#

5


(2) Naiditsch,A (2702) — Bluebaum,M (2407) [B13] 16th Neckar Open Deizisau GER (7.9), 08.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Here we face a typical game of Caro-Kann Panov variation. My opponent was a young German talent. The first surpise of the game he made when he arrived to the board in just a T-Shirt, when I was freezing even with warm clothes on. The second one, when he started to bang from time to time on the clock — to be honest not very impressive... The third surprise was a nice one though, he gave me an extra tempo in the opening :) 1.c4 c6 2.e4 My opponent plays the Slav on 1.d4 and the French on 1.e4. So I made a little trick in the opening by playing 1.c4 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 and we are in the Caro-Cann, Panov line which was obviously not very known to my opponent. 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 The very main move. [Just 2 weeks ago, D.Solak tried against me quite a dubious plan 6...Ne4?! 7.Nxe4 dxe4 8.d5 f6?! what a crazy idea... When I was learning chess, I think my trainer would have adviced me to change the sport after intentionally playing f6!? in my preparation :) 9. Bd2 Ne5 10.f4 Ng6 11.Qc2 and White is doing clearly better; 6...e6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.c5 0–0 9. Bb5 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. Rc1 is the other main line]

7. Bxc4 e6?! Now White got a very good version of Panov or some others would say Queen’s Gambit. Big speciallists in this positions are for example: Rublevsky and Dreev, who have been playing it almost through their whole chess career. [7...Qxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.0–0–0 e5 10.f4 Bg4 11.Nf3 This is the main position of a very forced and sharp line started with 6....dxc4. For long time it seemed like Black is ok, but lately probably White is doing better] 8.Nf3 [The early wish to win the game would not bring anything 8.d5 exd5 9.Nxd5 Be7! Black is doing perfectly fine] 8... Be7 9.0–0 0–0 So we are in a very often apprearing position with an isolated pawn on d4. A few basic ideas: Black will try to make a blockade on the d5 square, by bringing their knight from c6 in best case over b4 to d5, or over e7 to d5. Also b6-Bb7 would be a normal development. An exchange of any piece is very positive for Black. White should try to create pressure on the center and combine it with the attacking ideas on the Black king. In the best case Qe2-Rad1, Bb1, Ne5 would be perfect places for the pieces. Another White’s idea is to break through with the d5, but this is very hard to manage. 6


10. Re1 a standard move. White is putting more pressure on the center and letting Black decide if they go for Nb4 or play b6 10...b6 [10...Nb4?! would let White put the pieces to perfect positions 11.Ne5 Nbd5 12. Rc1 Next White’s moves could be Bd3-b1, Qd3 with a very dangerous pressure on the Black’s king] 11.a3 [again too early would be 11.d5?! Nxd5! The only move, but more than enough 12. Bxd5 exd5 13.Qxd5 (13.Nd4 B xg5 14.N xc6 Qd6 15.Qxd5 Qxd5 16.N xd5 Bb7 and the bishop pair gives Black at least equal chances in this endgame) 13...Qxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxg5 15.Nxg5 Bb7 also here White has no objective chances to hope for an advantage] 11... Bb7 Here was the first moment, when I thought for a while. I had a choice of two moves that seemed to be very logical to me, 12.Qd3 and 12. Ba2. Both moves follow the same idea, but still there is little differencebetweenthem 12. Ba2 [12.Qd3! in my opinion the better move 12... Rc8 13. Rad1 (Logical 13. Ba2 is not the best because of the 13...h6! in general this move is very dangerous for Black

because it weakens the pawn structure, but here everything seems to be working for Black. Chess is a forced game :) 14. Bh4 (14.Be3 Bd6 15.Rad1 Ne7 16.Ne5 B xe5 17.dxe5 Qxd3 usually an exchange of Queens is always good for Black — here as well 18.R xd3 Nfd5 with at least an equal position) 14...Nh5! the key idea of Black’s play 15. Bxe7 (15.Bb1 g6 16.R xe6 Nf4! a very cool defence) 15...Nxe7 and Black reached what they wanted. The Black knight from c6 is going to d5, plus one piece has been exchanged. This means good position for Black) 13...h6 14. Bf4! By this exact move order, 12.Qd3, 13. Rad1, 14. Bf4 White seems to reach a very pleasent position. During the game, not easy moves to play!]

12...Nd5?! this is generally not a good move [12... Rc8 13. Rc1 would lead us to a complicated position which I personally prefer to play with White] 13. Bxd5! This is the right way to act at moves like 12... Nd5 13... Bxg5 [13...exd5 14. Bxe7 Nxe7 15.Qd3 We have another typical position here. White is doing clearly better and even if the position is looking like „should be somehow OK for Black” it is by far not. The bishop on b7 is very 7


bad and the clear advantage in the development is giving White very good chances to bring the full point home] 14. Be4 another typical type of position. Black has the bishop pair but White is better developed and it is not going to be easy for Black to manage the coordination of the pieces. Now it is all about the time. In case Black manages to consolidate — their position is fine 14... Bf6 15.Qa4! very logical. White is putting pressure and at same time developing their pieces very naturally. Next White moves are easy, Rad1, Ne5 and hope to make d5 working 15...Na5 16.Ne5 Qe7 [16... Bxe5 17.dxe5 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Would lead to a position with "good White knight" against the "bad Black knight". Also the square d6 secures White a solid advantage]

17... Rfc8 [17... Rfd8 seems not to solve all problems 18.Ng4 Bxe4 19. Rxe4 Bg5 20.d5! and Black’s position is quite dangerous] 18.Nd7! before playing 18.Nd7 I took a lot of time for thinking. Many options to continue the game and I needed to make quite an exact calculation 18... Bc6 Very quickly played by my oponent, and exactly the move I was hoping for.... [18... Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Bh4! only move! Very unhuman 20.Ne5 Would lead to a better position for White, but maybe still Black would be a bit in the game] 19. Bxc6 Nxc6 20.Nxf6+ Qxf6

17. Rad1 Probably here was the critical moment of the game. Can Black somehow hold their position?! [a mistake would be 17.b4? Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Nc4 and Black’s knight finally gets into the game]

21.d5! This is the decisive move! White is using the temporarily unlucky position of the Black pieces 21...exd5 [The game would last longer after 21...Ne5 22.Qe4 Ng6 23.dxe6 fxe6 24.Qxe6+ Qxe6 25. Rxe6 and White is just a pawn up in the endgame] 22.Nxd5 Qg5 [22...Qxb2 23. Rc1+- This had been my calculation starting with 18.Nd7! It was very important to see 23. Rc1 move because it is the only winning move and fundamental for White’s advantage] 8


23. Re3! a precise move. White wants to play Rc3 or just h4 making a „hole” for the King and after taking some more forced action. Black cannot avoid loss of material 23...h6? this makes the win easy [23...Kf8 would have been one of the computer’s suggestions here, but also after 24.b4 Black’s position is probably lost] 24. Rc3 Quite a nice example of play of position with isolated pawn and what can happen to Black in case of inaccurate play...

(3) Dominguez Perez,L (2730) — Ibragimov,I (2539) [C02] Russian league, 09.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are facing a typical battle in the French advance variation. Black gets a good position out of the opening, but does not find the right plan. With nice maneuvering White overtakes the initative and finishes the game with a pretty mating attack. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nge7 The third most common move after [5...Qb6 and; 5... Bd7] 6.Na3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nf5 8.Nc2 Qb6 9. Bd3 There are still many games for the given position, but now Black deviates from the mainline with a logical move.

[24. Rc3 Ne7 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26.h4 Qe5 27.Qd7+-] 1–0

9... Bd7 Prepares to bring the rook to c8. [One of the biggest experts in the French defense, the Armenian GM Rafael Vaganian, has played an instructive game against Nigel Short 9... Bb4+!? 10.Kf1 in this opening, it is not a big problem for White to move with the king, since the position is closed and in a few moves he can make an artificial castling with g3 and Kg2 (10.Nxb4 would lose a pawn 10...Qxb4+ 11. Bd2 (11.Kf1 Nfxd4) 11... Qxb2) 10... Be7 11.g3 the d4 pawn is always poisoned in this line, now after exchanging all the pieces on d4, Bb5 checks thequeen 11... Bd7 12.Kg2 Rc8 (12...Nfxd4? loses again after 13.Nfxd4 N xd4 14.Be3! Bc5 15.b4!+winning a piece) 13. Bxf5 exf5 we will see this structure in our game as well 14.b3 0–0 Black equalized and after 15. Bg5? big mistake, he already has a big advantage 15... Bxg5 16.Nxg5 9


12.Ne3! Dominguez plays logically. He has a nice square on f4, which he is going to occupy with the knight. 12... Be6 13.g3! Be7 14.Ng2! h6 A useful move. Black should keep his dark squared bishop, not letting White to exchange it in a given moment with Bg5. 15.h4

16...f4!! the bishop ming to f5 and the d4 pawn cannot stay for a long time on the board 17.gxf4 Ne7! Qg6 threatens to win one of the knights 18.Ne3 and at this moment Black missed the win in the Short-Vaganian, Montpellier 1985 game 18...h6! 19.Nf3 Qg6+ 20.Kf1 Bb5+ 21.Ke1 Qe4 Black is completely winning.] 10.0–0 a5 Strong move, Black should organize his play on queenside. [10...Ncxd4? just as in the previous line, the d4 pawn is indirectly protected: 11.Nfxd4 Nxd4 12. Be3! Bc5 13.b4! Nxc2 14. Bxc5+-] 11. Bxf5 exf5 Here we have this structure. Generally, we can say it is fine for Black, and the fans of the French defense should never be worried about this slightly strange pawn structure, but still the position requires exact play.

15...0–0 [I have seen some games in this structure, where Black kept his king in the center. It is in complete safety there. 15...Kd7!? 16.Nf4 Rhc8] 16.Nf4 Rfc8 Black prepares for the invasion on the c-file after Nb4, something that White must prevent... 17. Re1! Just to have Re2 on Nb4. Until this point Black played well, but now he chooses a wrong plan... 17... Rc7 It is logical to double on the c-file, but White can easily neutralize the threats there... [In my opinion, it was better to play 17...a4 to install the knight to c4 18. Re2 Na5 Black seems to be completely fine 19. Bd2 (19. Qxa4? is not working 19...Nb3!; 19.Kg2 Nc4 20.Ne1 Rc7) 19...Nc4 20. Bc3 an d now we can see a typical plan for the structure, which could be a bit scary for somebody 20...g5! 21.Nxe6 Qxe6 with a comfortable game.] 10


18. Re2 White defends the b2 pawn in order to develope with Be3. 18... Rac8 19. Be3 The position of the Black’s rook seems to be nice, but in fact it does not do anything. Black does not have anymore the a4, Na5-c4 plan. It is already not easy to suggest something for him, while White has a clear idea now, what we will see in the game...

23... Bf8?! Another bad idea, but the position was already quite unpleasant. Black underestimates the g4 plan... The bishop was better placed on e7, where it was looking at the h4 pawn. [Even after the logical 23... Rc4 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.g4! was working. White is better anyway.]

19...Nb4 20.Ne1! The plan was anyway to transfer the knight to d3. 20...Qb5 [20...g5!? was possible again, but now it is more risky than before 21.Nxe6 Qxe6 22.hxg5 hxg5 23.a3 Nc6 24.f4! could be slightly better for White.] 21.a3 Na6 22.Ned3 Black is out of counterplay. He tries to maneuver with the pieces, but there is no weakness in White’s camp. 22...a4 it is already too late, the knight has no chance to arrive to a5.

24.g4! Creates two threats. The direct one is to take on e6 then on f5 and attack with Qh5, Nf4. The positional idea is to push g5, disturbing Black’s king. 24... Bd7 [24...Qd7 was more logical, but the position is bad anyway 25.g5! hxg5 26.hxg5 g6 27.Kg2 White prepares to bring the rooks to the h-file, just as in the game and 27...Qe7 would drop a pawn 28.Nxe6 fxe6 29.Qxa4] 25.g5! hxg5 Black did not want to open the h-file, but to receive gxh6 is not much fun either. [25...g6 26.Qf3 Be6 27.gxh6+- 27... Bxh6 loses to Nxe6] 26.hxg5 g6 27.Qf3 Developing with a tempo. 27... Be6

23. Rd2! Very deep move! It opens the diagonal for the queen, so White prepares for kingside attack with g4!

11

Issue 7 (4) Shanava,K (2586) — Bacrot,E (2706) [C50]

13th of April 2012

Deizisau, 09.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] This game is from the 8th round of the Deizisau open, where the top seed Super GM Etienne Bacrot had run into a painful defeat. 28.Kg2! Prepares for Rh1. You can notice that the Black rooks on the c-file still don’t do anything.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.0–0 Nf6 5.d3 0–0 6.Nbd2

28... Rc4 [28... Bg7 29. Rh1 Rc2 White only gives up his strong knight for the bad bishop, when it is winning on the spot. 30.Nxe6! fxe6 31. Rxc2 Rxc2 32.Nf4 Qe8 33.Qh3+-] 29. Rh1 Nc7 30. Rdd1! Really nice maneuvering! Dominguez prepares for doubling. 30... Bg7 31. Rh4 Qd7 [31...Kf8 The king has no chance to run away from the dangerzone 32. Rh7! say stop to the king! 32...Ne8 33.Nxe6+ fxe6 34.Nf4+-] 32. Rdh1 Qd8 33.Qg3! White has time for everything. First he defends the g5 pawn and wants to play Rh7, Qh4. Black cannot do anything against it... 33...Nb5 34. Rh7 Nxd4 35.Qh4 Black resigned! Very nice game by Dominguez... It is really enjoyable to watch his games because all his moves are very easy to understand. 1–0

6...d5 Bacrot’s favorite move, which recently became an alternative of the standard d6 setup. He played it 4 times in 2011. 7.exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Nf6 9.h3 a6 A strong improvment on the first try... [His first game went with 9... Bd6 10.a3 a6 11. Ba2 Bf5 12.b4 Re8 13. Bb2 h6 14.Ne4 (14.Nc4) 14... Be6 15. Bxe6 Rxe6 16.c4 Nxe4 17.dxe4 White achieved a small advantage, which later manged to convert into full point in Radjabov-Bacrot, Khanty Mansiysk 2011.] 10.Nxe5 A tricky novelty. [The expert of the Italian opening, Sergei Movsesian has played 10.a3 but after 10...b5 12


11. Ba2 Bb7 12.Nf1 e4! 13.dxe4 Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Nxe4= Black easily equalized and soon they agreed to draw, Movsesian-Bacrot, Rogaska Slatina 2011] 10...Bxf2+? A terrible reaction. Probably also affected by the fact, that the game has started at 9 in the morning, which is generally still sleeping time for most of the top players. [10...Qd4! would have been the only move, but enough to maintain the balance 11.Qe2 (11.Nxc6 Qxf2+ 12.Kh1

12.Kg3! This brave run with the king is based on exact calculation... [12.Kf1 with the same idea as in the game is not that effective 12...Nxe5 13.Nb3 Qd6 14. Bf4 Nfd7 Black has the important Qf6! resource and the f4 bishop is not protected by the king 15. Rxe5 seems to win at first sight, but after (15.Qh5 Qf6!) 15...Nxe5 16.Qh5 b5! 17. Bxe5 Qd8 the c4 bishop is trapped] 12...Nxe5 13.Nb3! Qd6 14. Bf4 Nfd7 [14... Re8 15.Qe2+- wins a piece] 15.Qh5! b5 Black finds the only moves to not lose a piece immediately, but his position remains terrible. [15... Re8 16. Bxf7+!+-] 16. Bxe5 Nxe5 17.Qxe5 Qg6+ [The endgame with a pawn down was hopeless after 17...Qxe5+ 18. Rxe5 bxc4 19.dxc4+-]

12... Bg4!! Maybe Black missed this great move, which actually wins on the spot. 13.Nf3 (13.hxg4 Qh4#) 13... Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nh5–+) 11...Nxe5 12.Nb3! Qxf2+! 13.Qxf2 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Nxc4 15.dxc4 Bf5 and the game would have simplefied to a drawn endgame.] 11.Kxf2 Qd4+

18.Kh2 bxc4 19.dxc4 Qxc2 Black maintains the material equality, but we will soon realize the main defect of his position... [19... Be6 Black would not have any compensation for the pawn 20.Nd4 Bxc4 21.b3 Bb5 22.Qxc7] 20. Rac1 to protect the c4 pawn with tempo. 20...Qf2 On other retreats of the queen, White could simply take on c7. Now the b2 pawn would hang as well.

13


21.Nc5! After the big mistake by Black in the 10th move, we got this position by more or less forced way. Black’s position is actually much worse than it might seem at first sight. With the last move White created the threat of Re2 and after any queen moves Qxc7. The main problem is that the bishop on c8 is practically dead. The c5 knight dominates it completely. There is not even a small chance to develop it in order to connect the rooks. 21...Qd2 [21...h6 22. Re2+- and Qxc7; 21... Ra7 would be too ugly 22. Rcd1 with serious problems on the backrank.] 22. Rcd1 Qb4 [22...Qa5 has a refutation 23.Qe7! with the threat of Qxf8 or Rd8 23... Bf5 24. Rd5!+- and White wins material, after the knight jumps away to d7]

24...Qxc4 Black sacrifices his bishop, it means he resigns the game...The rest is easy. [24... Bc6 25.Ne6!+- mate is coming soon.] 25.Nxb7+- Qxa2 26. Rxc7 h6 27.Nd6 Rab8 28.Nf5 [28.Nxf7!? was also good 28... Rxf7 29. Rxf7+- and the b8 is hanging.] 28...Qxb2 29. Rc3! Of course no exchange this time. 29...f6 30.Qg3 Black resigned. A very annoying loss from Black’s point of view, since he made only one mistake right after the opening and in fact he had no chance anymore to come back in the game. On the other hand, the Georgian GM Shanava showed very nice performance, you can rarely beat a 2700+ player in this fashion. 1–0

23. Rd8!! Excellent move! The mate on the backrank can only be avoided with Bb7, but it gives up the d7 square. 23... Bb7 [23... Rxd8 24.Qe8+ Rxe8 25. Rxe8#] 24. Rd7 and Black cannot do anything against Ne6! [The direct 24.Ne6 would lead winning position as well, but the text move wins even bigger material 24...fxe6 25. Rd7 Rf6 26.Qxc7 and the bishop falls because of the mate threat on the 7th rank.] 14


Puzzle section

(7) Hauser,C (2209) — Perunovic,M (2582) Deizisau, 06.04.2012

(5) Motylev,A (2683) — Geller,J (2544) Russian league, 09.04.2012

[CEWN] 1... -/+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Naiditsch,A (2702) — Mladenov,S (2419) (6) Li Shilong (2549) — Bu Xiangzhi (2668) Xinghua, 04.04.2012 [CEWN]

Deizisau, 07.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1...-/+

15


(9) Baramidze,D (2612) — Grandadam,N (2361)

(11) Burg,T (2464) — Bischoff,K (2521)

Deizisau, 09.04.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +/-

1... –+

(10) Bosch,J (2386) — Shishkin,V (2464)

(12) Gopal,G (2572) — Baron,T (2497)


India-Israel rapid match, 03.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... -/+

1. +-

16


(13) Shankland,S (2580) — Prasca Sosa,R (2420) Philadelphia, 06.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Vajda,L (2597) — Zeng,C (2435) Doeberl Cup, 08.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

17


Endgame section (15) Riazantsev,A (2710) — Macieja,B (2605) Plovdiv, 30.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

This interesting endgame arose in the 10th round of the European Championship. White has an extra pawn and more active pieces, but the appearance of the opposite colored bishops always increases the chances of the defending side. In addition, the only way for White to make progress is on the kingside, but after pushing forward the pawns, the Black queen might give perpetual check. The exchanging of the queens always leads to drawn endgame. Riazantsev plays this game with excellent technique, but still in one moment, by very accurate defense, Black could have hold the draw. 35.Qe7! White tries to squeeze Black’s king into the corner by centralizing the pieces. 35... Bc4 With the idea to play Qf7.

36.Qe4+! The only way to avoid Qf7. [36.f4 Qf7 Black eases his defense.] 36...Kh8 37.Qf4 White approaches to the timecontrol. 37.Qg6 could have come immediately... 37...Kh7 38.Qf5+ Kh8 39.Qg6! Black has only one way to prevent Qxh6. 39...Qh7 40.Qg3

40...Qg8! The only move! Black must transfer his queen to f7, otherwise the f4-f5-f6 is crushing. The bishop moves along the a2-g8 diagonal would give up the b5 pawn after Qb8, while 40... Bd3 loses to 41. Bxg7. [40... Be2 41.f4! Bc4 (41...Bd3 42.B xg7+ Qxg7 43.Qxd3+-) 42.f5 and mate is coming after f6.] 41.Qe5! After confusing a bit Black’s pieces, White is in time to push up his pawn to f5! 41...Qf7 42.f4! Kh7 [42... Bd3 would just temporarily prevent f5 43.Kf2 and g4, f5 in the next moves would transpose to the game...] 43.f5! Bd5 [43...Qf6 The opposite colored bishop endgame with two pawns down is already losing... 44.Qxf6 18


gxf6 45. Bxf6 here is one line to demonstrate it: 45... Bd3 46.g4 h5 the same would happen if Black waits for Kf2g3-f4, h4 and g5. 47.Kf2 hxg4 48.hxg4 Bc4 49.Ke3 Kg8 50.Kf4 Kf7 51.g5 Bd5 52. Bd4 Kg8 53.g6 Bc4 54.f6 White wins the bishop after f7 and due to his remaining c3 pawn, wins the game as well.] 44.Kh2 Qd7 45.g4 Ba8 If we compare the current position to the initial one, we can clearly see, how big progress White has already made. The threat is now to play h4-g5, creating mating net against the squeezed king.

46.Kg3! Qb7! The correct defense against h4-g5, but now White can occupy the important f7 square. [46... Bc6 47.h4! Bb7 48.g5 would be decisive] 47.Qe6! Qc7+ 48. Be5 Qc6? and this is the losing move, White shows flawless technique. [However, I was unable to break the computer’s stubborn defense: 48...Qa7!! 49.Kh4 Qf2+ 50.Kh5 Qa7

I tried many different ways for break through, without success: 51.Qg6+ Kg8 52.Qe8+ (52.f6 always lead to opposite colored bishop endgame with two pawns up, but now with the ideal version for Black.. 52...Bd5! 53.Qxg7+ Qxg7 54.fxg7 Kh7! and the king manages to stay between the pawns, White cannot make progress.; 52.B xg7 is not working, because the c3 pawn is hanging at the end. 52...Qxg7 53.Qxh6 Qxc3) 52...Kh7 53. Bd4 (53.Qxb5?? would be too gready, suddenly Black creates the mating net 53...Qe3! 54.h4 Qe4!! g6 threats and on 55.B xg7 Bc6! with Be8 mate!; 53.f6 Bd5! leads to the same drawish endgame 54.Qg6+ Kg8 55.Qxg7+ Qxg7 56.fxg7 Kh7=) 53...Qc7 54.Qg6+ (54.Qxb5?? here again is a blunder 54...Qe7–+; 54.f6 Bd5! draws again; 54.Kh4 Bd5) 54...Kg8 55.f6 Bd5 56.Kh4 Qf7 57.Qxg7+ Qxg7 58.fxg7 Kh7 Black holds the draw, but I must say, I would wonder if any human could find all these moves!] 49.Qf7! Qb7 50.Qg6+ Kg8 51.Qe8+! Kh7

19


61...Qd7 was the onl y way to get out of the zugzwang, but now Riazantsev elegantly transposes to a winning endgame.

52.Kh4! Black can resign now. Incredible, in the 48...Qa7 line, the king was on h5 and it was draw, now with the king on h4 Black is in sort of zugzwang, cannot prevent the f6 threat. Black queen has too many defensive tasks, it must control the g7 square against Qg6-g7 and also has to protect the bishop. Now Black is not in time to play Bd5... 52...Qc6 [52...Qa7 53. Bd4 Qb7 54.f6! after destroying the king’s main defender, the computer shows forced mate in all the lines.] 53.Qf7! Qb7 54.Qg6+ Kg8 55.Qe8+ Kh7 Until this moment, White played perfectly, but now and a few more times later on, he misses the f6 possibility. However, the way he plays is also winning.

62.Qxg7+! Qxg7 63. Bxg7 Kxg7 64.b5! Important to push the b-pawn as far as possible, before creating other passers on the kingside. 64...Kf6 65.Kh5 Kg7 66.b6 Bd5 67.g5! hxg5 68.Kxg5 Kf7 69.h4 Bb7 70.h5 Bh1 71.h6 Bg2 72.f6 and Black resigned. Kg8 would have been the only move to stop the h-pawn, but then the king might calmly go to promote the b-pawn. A very instructive endgame! 1–0

56. Bd4 [56.f6!+-] 56...Qc6 57.Qf7 Qb7 58.Qg6+ Kg8 59.Qe8+ Kh7 60.Qf8 This was White’s idea istead of the mate after f6. Black got into zugzwang. He has no piece to move with. The a8 bishop or the g7 pawn is hanging. [60.f6!+-] 60...b4 61.cxb4 [61.f6+- was still mate.]

20


(16) Drenchev,P (2499) — Balogh,Cs (2664) Plovdiv, 25.03.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

the corner.) 70.Kb3 Rb5+ 71.Kc3 Rxb6 72.Kd2 Re6= and as we already know from the 3rd CEWN, the position is a theoretical draw.(72...Rb1 would be winning with the pawn on h2. This is also known from the 3rd CEWN. 73.Ke2 Rg1 74.Rh8 h2 75.Kf2 but now it is just a draw.)] 63...Kg5 An amazing moment! Normally in such positions we don’t need to think and save some time for the rest of the game. Who could believe, that we are in the critical position of the game...

In the 6th round of the European Championship, I got this seemingly easy, but very difficult rook endgame. The mutual timetrouble also made our task much harder... The position should be drawn because White seems to be in time to sacrifice his rook for the h-pawn and then with the help of the king promote his own pawn. Right in the beginning my opponent is facing a very difficult decision. To play slowly with b3, Ka3-a4 and b4, or the quick b4, which cuts his own king from the support. After b5, Black will be able to win the pawn with Rf5... 63.b3? The wrong plan, but still after some accurate moves, White could have held... [63.b4 was the precise move 63...Kg5 64. Rh8 Kg4 65.b5 Rf5 Seems to win because White’s king is too far from the h-pawn, but... 66. Rg8+! Very important to force the king behind the pawn! 66...Kf3 (66...Rg5 67.R xg5+ Kxg5 68.b6=) 67. Rh8 Kg2 68. Rg8+ Kh1 69.b6! Ra5+ (69...Rb5 70.Rg6 is easy draw. Black rook cannot help for the king to escape from

64. Rh8? The losing move, only 64. Rh7! would have save the game. We will soon understand the difference... [64. Rh7!! Kg4 65.b4! White has no time to play Ka3, it would lose in the same way as the game. 65...Kg3 66.b5 h2 (66... Rf5 leads to the same draw as in the 63.b4 line.. 67.Rg7+! Kf2 68.Rh7 Kg2 69.Rg7+ Kh1 70.b6 Ra5+ 71.Kb3 Rb5+ 72.Kc2 R xb6 73.Kd2 Re6=) 67.b6! and here comes the difference... 67... Rf7! This is the winning idea, the 64. Rh8 line, but now... (67...Rf6 is easy draw after the known technique 68.Rg7+ Kf2 69.Rh7 Kg2 70.Rg7+ Kh1 71.b7=) 68. Rxf7! h1Q

21


and now compared to the mainline of the 63.b4 line, the pawn has reached the h2 square and Black is winning 76.Kd2 Rb1 77.Ke2 Rg1 ...and the king escapes in time, as it was mentioned in the 3rd CEWN.] 65...Kg3 66.Ka4

69.b7 White pawn reaches to b7 square after which Black has no chance to win 69...Qd5+ 70.Kb2 Qb5+ 71.Kc3 Kg4 72. Rd7!! and the king cannot approach the the pawn because of the rook checks along the d-file. A study-like escape by White.] 64...Kg4 Black is winning now! 65.Ka3 [65.b4 Kg3 66.b5 h2 67.b6

66... Rf4+! The easiest win. 67.b4 Rh4 68. Rc8 [68. Rg8+ Black king could control the 1st rank and hide himself behind the b-pawn... 68... Kf2 69. Rf8+ Ke2 70. Re8+ Kd2 71. Rd8+ Kc2 72. Rc8+ Kb2–+ and the h-pawn promotes.] 68...h2 69. Rc1 h1Q 70. Rxh1 Rxh1 The king is too close to the pawn. 71.Kb5 [71.b5 Kf4 72.b6 Rb1 73.Ka5 Ke5 74.Ka6 Kd6 75.b7 Kc7–+]

67... Rf8! is the big difference 68. Rh7 (68.R xf8 h1Q–+ The pawn can not reach the b7 square.) 68... Ra8+ 69.Kb2 Rb8 70. Rg7+ and here Black is not forced to go behind the pawn 70...Kf4! 71. Rh7 (71. Rf7+ Kg5! 72. Rh7 (72. Rg7+ Kh6–+) 72... Rxb6+ 73.Kc2 Rh6!–+) 71... Rxb6+ 72.Kc2 Kg3 73. Rg7+ Kf2 74. Rh7 Kg2 75. Rg7+ Kh1

71...Kf4 72.Kc6 Rc1+ 73.Kd6 Rb1 White resigned. An interesting endgame. Good example of why it is relevant to know theoretical endgames. 0–1

22


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Rinaldo,John [C97]

play 14.b3, in order to exclude the a5 knight from the game, followed by Ng3. This is what I would prefer, but Fischer and the theory considers the other direction of the f1 knight to be stronger.

USA-ch op 58th Cleveland (4), 08.08.1957 [Balogh Csaba] We dedicate the rest of the month of April to probably the most popular World Champion of all times, Robert Fischer! He was the one who managed to break the Soviet hegemony in chess! Fischer took the crown in 1972 after defeating Spassky. The first game that we will see from the World Champion is from his childhood, we will see how deeply he understood chess already at the age of 14. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 One of the most complex openings of the chess game is the Spanish. Fischer played it all his life and was one of the biggest experts of it. 3...a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 The initial position of the main lines. Black can choose between many setups. All of them lead to different kind of positions. Here Black chose probably the most famous, the Chigorin variation. 9...Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Bd7 Now or in the next move cxd4 is the mainline. 13.Nf1 Rfe8 Standard place for the rook in the Spanish! A multipurpose move, it prepares for the g6, Bf8-g7 plan, protects the e5 pawn to free the queen and in some moments, Black can take exd4 and press the e4 pawn. Now, White must choose between two plans. One is to

14.Ne3 This move has two aims. The main is to organize a play against the a5 knight, connected with b4. This is what we will see in the game. The other idea, which I consider to be less dangerous is dxe5 and on dxe5 Nh2-g4, trying to create a stronghold on d5 for the knight. 14...g6 15. Bd2 White slowly prepares for the b4 plan. 15... Bf8 16. Rc1! The last preparation. A bit strange that four years later Fischer deviated from this game and pushed b4 immediately, which was premature... [16.b4 cxb4 17.cxb4 Nc4 18.Nxc4 bxc4 19. Rc1 and here Matanovic found a very strong plan and equalized right away.. 19...exd4 20.Nxd4 d5! 21.exd5 Rxe1+ 22. Bxe1 Qd6 Fischer-Matanovic, Bled 1961] 16... Bg7 Black was not impressed by the great preparation and allowed White to continue his plan... [16...Nc6 was the principled move in my opinion 17.d5 Ne7 18.c4! and white is slightly better due to his space advantage.] 23


17.b4! Black is facing a very difficult decision now... 17...Nc6?! and he fails... There was only one way to stay in the game, but it was against the character of the Chigorin players. In general, the players who play this opening with the Black color prefer to have a closed position. However, the only move was to take twice on d4 and open the position. [17...Nb7? the Hungarian grandmaster also failed to find the correct move

18.bxc5! Black is forced now to take out of the center and with this he does not destroy White’s central pawns. This is a very bad sign for him... 18...exd4 19.cxd4 dxc5 20.e5! Nh5 21.Nd5! Qd8 22. Be4! c4 23. Bg5 Qa5 24.g4!+- and White won soon in Smyslov-Barcza, Zagreb 1955; 17...

cxd4 18.cxd4 exd4! was the only way to play (18...Nc4 including the Rc1 and Bg7 moves, this does not work anymore because of 19.N xc4 bxc4 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Bb3 Be6 22.Ng5) 19.Nxd4 (19.bxa5 is interesting 19...dxe3 20.B xe3 Qxa5 21.Qxd6 Be6 22.a4 could be slightly better for White.) 19...Nc4 20.Nxc4 bxc4 And the computer defends Black’s position, even if it seems quite bad for me after Bb1. (20...Qxc4? 21.Nf3) 21. Bb1 I would be happy to stay like this, but the position is unclear.(21.Bb3 Bb5 22.a4 Nxe4)] 18.Nd5! An excellent move by Fischer! He foresees the conseqences of the exchanges in the center...The position opens up and White is much better prepared for that. 18...Nxd5 19.exd5 Ne7

20.dxc5! I like the way how White handles the position! This is rather positional way, while the computer move 20.dxe5 is a tactical solution. [20.dxe5 Nxd5 (20...dxe5 21.Be3 this could arise after 20.dxc5 dxc5 as well..) 21. Be4 Bc6 22. Bg5! Qb7 23.exd6 h6! when White should be better, but he needs to play precisely, otherwise the Black bishops might be unpleasant...] 20...Nxd5 [20...dxc5 21. Be3] 24


21. Bb3! He chooses the right diagonal for the bishop! There might be some problems around the f7 square, Ng5 is in the air. [21. Be4 would lead to rather unclear situation after 21... Bc6 22. Bg5 Qb7 23.cxd6 Re6!]

26.Ne4! White either wins the h6 pawn, or he takes the bishop pair. 26...Nxe4 [26... Bf5 27.Nxf6+ (27.Nd6 also very unpleasant...) 27... Bxf6 28. Bxh6]

21...Nf6 [21... Be6 was the best chance, but White is better after both 22.cxd6 (22.Ng5 dxc5 23.N xe6 fxe6 24.bxc5 Qxc5 25.c4 bxc4 26.R xc4) 22...Qxd6 23.Ng5; 21... Bc6 the same defense as after 21. Be4 does not work because 22. Bg5 Qb7 23.cxd6 Re6 24.c4! is probably the strongest move 24...bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxd6 26.Nxe5+-]

27. Rxd7 Rac8 28.c4!+- It is easier to understand the 25th move now, why the e-rook took on d1. Black collapses, too many weaknesses in his position. The power of the bishops is also deadly.

22.cxd6 Qxd6 23.Ng5! Rf8 [23... Re7 24. Be3! similar to the game]

29. Bxg5 Not bad, but I would have kept the bishop... [29.c5+-]

24. Be3! Creates the Bc5 threat and a small tactical trick!

29...hxg5 30.c5 [and Black resigned. It might seem a bit premature, but he has nothing against c6-c7 and then Bd5-b7. Just for demonstration: 30.c5 e4 (30...Bf6 31.c6 Kg7 32.c7 Bd5-b7 next) 31.c6 Bb2 32. Rc2 Ba3 33.c7 Bxb4 34. Bd5+- A great positional achievment from a 14 years old! Please don’t forget, that there were no computers at that time, that 14 years old chess player is like 9–10 now. This game shows how great was Fischer and what talent he had from early age. Next two weeks we will study tactical crushes by Fischer!] 1–0

24...Qxd1

28...Ng5 [28... Rfd8 29. Ra7+-]

25. Rexd1! This is much stronger, than the other takeback. Fischer sees, that the other rook will be very useful on the c-file after pushing c4! 25...h6 There was no other move to prevent Bc5, but this allows a small combination for White.

25



Solutions

(18) Simkovitch,F

(19) Roiz,M (2651) — Rechlis,G (2467)

1940


[CEWN]

[Solutions]

1. =

19... Bd8! 20.Qb5 Bxa5! 0–1[20... Bxa5 21. Rxa5 Rxa5 22.Qxa5 Qc6+ 23.Kg1 Ra8–+] (20) Sutovsky,E (2696) — Finkel,A (2499) Israelian league, 03.02.2012 [Solutions]

21. Rxe7+! Nxe7 22.Qxe7+ Kb8 23. Ra3!! 1–0 26


(21) Godena,M (2548) — Gershon,A (2499)

(22) Li Shilong (2549) — Lu Shanglei (2514)


Xinghua, 27.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24.Nxh7!! Kxh7 25. Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qxf6+ Kg8 [26... Kh7 27. Rd3+-] 27.Qxg6+ Rg7 28.Nf6+ Kf8 29.Nh7+ Kg8 30.Nf6+ Kf8

30. Rxg7! d2 [30...Kxg7 31. Be5 d2 32. Bxf6+ Kxf6 33.Qe6+ Kg7 34.Qe7++-] 31. Rh7+! Kg8 32. Be6+! Kf8 [32...Qxe6 33.Qxe6+ Kxh7 34.Qf7+ Kh8 35. Be5#] 33. Rh8+! 1–0[33. Rh8+ Qxh8 34.Qf5+ Ke7 35.Qf7#]

31.Qh6! Qe6 [31...Kf7 32.Nh5+-] 32. Rd3! Ne7 33.Nh7+ Kf7 34. Rf3+ 1–0

27


(23) Hou Yifan (2639) — Zhou Jianchao (2625)

(24) Ding Liren (2660) — Lu Shanglei (2514)

Xinghua, 30.03.2012

Xinghua, 31.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26. Rxf7! Bf8 [26...Kxf7 27.Qc7+ Ke6 28.Ng7+! Kd5 29.Nxe8 Rxe8 30.Qd7++-] 27.Nh4 [27.Qh4! Kxf7 (27... h5 28.Qf6+-) 28.Ne7+! Ke6 (28...Kg7 29.Qf6+ Kh6 30.Nf5+ Kh5 31.Qh4#) 29.Qe4+ Kd7 30.Qxb7+ Kd6 31.Qd5+ Kc7 (31...Kxe7 32.Rf7#) 32.Qc6+ Kb8 (32... Kd8 33.Qd6#) 33.Qb6#; 27. Rxb7+-] 27... Bg7

14. Bxg6! fxg6 15.Nxg6! hxg6 [15...Qc7 16.Ne5+ Bg7 17. Rf3+-; 15...e5 16.Qg3+-] 16.Qxg6+ Kh8 17. Bg5! [17. Rf3! Rg8 (17...B xd4+ 18.Kh1+-) 18.Qh5 Bxd4+ (18...Qe8 19.Bg7+! Kxg7 20.Rg3+ Bg5! 21.R xg5+ Kf6 22.Qh7!+-) 19.Kh1 Qe8 20.Qh4! Rg6 21.cxd4+-] 17... Bxg5 18.fxg5 Re7 19.Qh6+ Kg8 [19... Rh7 20. Rf8+] 20.g6! Nd7 21. Rf3 Nf8 22. Raf1 Nxg6 23. Rg3 Rg7 24. Rxg6 1–0

28


(25) Wang Yue (2702) — Bu Xiangzhi (2668)

(27) Can,E (2476) — Nyback,T (2636)

Xinghua, 02.04.2012

Plovdiv, 27.03.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28.Qxb3! Rxb3 29.bxa3! Rxc3+ 30.Kb2 Rxe3 [30... Rc4 31.Kb3+-] 31. Rxe3+-

27... Rxe5! 28.dxe5 Qb6+! 29.Ke1 [29.Kf1 Nde3+–+] 29...Nf4! 30.Qe4 [30.Qxf5 Nxg2+ 31.Kf1 (31.Kd2 Qe3#) 31...Ne3+–+] 30...Nxg2+ [30... Rc2!! 31.Qxc2 (31.Qxf4 Qg1+ 32.Bf1 Qf2#) 31...Nxg2+ 32.Kd2 Qe3#] 31.Kd2 g6

(26) Navara,D (2700) — Jianu,V (2497) Plovdiv, 27.03.2012 [Solutions]

34. Rb1! exd4+ 35.Kf4! Bf7 36.Kxg5+29


(28) Erdos,V (2636) — Perunovic,Mio (2481)

(29) Grinfeld,M

Plovdiv, 29.03.2012

1903

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

22. Bxg7! Bxg7 23.Nd6! Qb8 [23...Qe6 24. Rxf7!+(24.N xb7) ] 24. Rxf7! Ng5 [24... Re6 25. Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Nxb7 Qxb7 (26...Nf6 27.Nd6+-) 27. Rd7+ Kh8 28.e5+-]

1. Ra3!! [1.axb5? Kxa1 2.b6 a4 3.b7 a3 4.b8Q a2=; 1. Re1 bxa4=] 1...Kxa3 [1...b4 2. Rg3 b3

25. Rxg7+! Kxg7 26.Nxb7 Nf7 [26...Qxb7 27. Rd7+ Nf7 28.Qf2 Rf8 29.e5+-] 27. Rd7 Ne6 28.Nd6 Qxd6 29. Rxd6 Nxd6 30.e5+-

3. Rg5! Ka3 4. Rxa5 Kb4 5. Ra8 b2 6. Rb8++-] 2.axb5 Ka2 3.b6 a4 4.b7 a3 5.b8Q Ka1 6.Qe5+ Kb1 7.Qe4+ Kb2 8.Qb4+ Ka2 9.Kg3+-

30

Weekly Newsletter



20th of April 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

14


17


21


25

»» Solutions

26

Probably, the two strongest leagues have come to an end this weekend. In Germany, the favorite Baden-Baden won the Championship again. There was a big sensation when Anand lost his game against Tiviakov. He is definitely focusing now on the World Championship match. Second was Werder Bremen and the bronze went to Solingen. The Russian league had a dramatic finish. Before the last round, the Team of St. Petersburg was leading, but had to face against the top seed ShSM-64 Moscow. The victory of either team would grant them the gold medal, but in case of a 3–3 score, Tomsk — 400 would get the sudden chance to be ahead of them thanks to a better tiebreak. After an amazing fight, the main match finished 3–3, and Tomsk was the happy winner of the Championship! The average rating of the 1–5 Teams was over 2700!! We could enjoy many interesting battles, so we have collected our main games from this event and we hope You will enjoy them. As usual, we wish You lots of fun with the 8th CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Svidler,P (2744) — Jakovenko,D (2729) [D37] Russian league (3), 11.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The new European Champion Dmitry Jakovenko has proved that his success was not accidental. Peter Svidler chose a very sharp line against the Queen’s Gambit, but the complications clearly favored Black! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 The mainlines are 5. Bg5 and 5. Bf4. Two days later Svidler drew in a fantastic game against Morozevich in the 5. Bf4 line. We analysed this game for you as well... 5...c5 6.dxc5 This is the sharp handling of the position. [The calm 6.cxd5 leads to equality after 6...cxd4 7.Nxd4 0–0! 8. Bg5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Nxe7 10. Rd1 Qb6=] 6...d4 7.Nb5

7...e5! A great sacrifice, which is actually well-known. We explain the point of it in the 8.Nxe5 line. 8.e3 Practically a novelty. White has accepted the sacrifice in the previous games. [8.Nxe5 a6! Black pushes back the knights, since the standard reaction with Nd6+ loses a piece. 9.Na3 After such an ugly move it is obvious that Black gets more than enough compensation for the pawn. (9.Nd6+? B xd6 10.cxd6 Qa5+ is the idea of the 7...e5! move.) 9...0–0! 10.g3 Qa5+! 11. Bd2 Qxc5 12.Nd3 Qc6! By three precise queen moves, Black prevented Bg2. White is already in danger. 13. Rg1 (13.f3 Bf5) 13... Bf5 14. Bg2 So far we were following the KhalifmanTopalov, Dubai rapid 2002 game, where Black could have played even stronger. 14...Qd7! and Nc6, Rfe8 are coming with an advantage.] 8...Nc6! Logical developing. [8...a6?! would be a mistake now 9.Nd6+ Bxd6 10.cxd6 Qxd6 11.c5! Qe7 12.exd4 exd4+ 13. Be2 followed by O-O, White is better.] 9.exd4 exd4 10. Bf4 White has to act directly, since after the normal developing moves Black gets an advantage. [10. Be2 0–0 11.0–0 Bxc5 a6 is next.] 10...0–0 11. Bc7 Svidler found a really unusual idea, but it was not working well for him... neither I found equality for White after other moves. Probably that is why White decided to complicate the matters. [11.Nc7 runs into the very strong 11...Nh5! 12. Bd6 (12.N xa8? N xf4 the a8 knight is trapped.) 12... Rb8 and Black takes on d6 and gets an advantage.; 11.0–0–0 Bxc5 The b1 king is unsafe.] 11...Qd7 12.Ne5 [On 12. Bd6 Black has 12...b6! followed by bxc5, creating a protected passed pawn on d4.]

3


12...Qe6!

13.0–0–0 This was the idea behind 11. Bc7. Now Nxe5 would be a mistake because of Nxd4 and the next move Bxe5. Unfortunately for him, Jakovenko found its refutation! [13. Be2 with the same idea as 13.O-O-O 13... Bxc5! (13...N xe5? 14.N xd4! Qa6 15.B xe5) ] 13...Ne8!! Svidler prob ably missed this move! Suddenly all his pieces get confused. Each defends another, but all of them are on vulnerable places. Black is winning now, after only 13 moves. [13...Nxe5? 14.Nxd4 Qa6 15. Bxe5 Qxa2 16. Bd3; 13... Bxc5?! 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Nxd4] 14.f4 Qh6? but this is a mistake. Now White could have come back to game. [14... Bxc5!? 15.Nd3 b6–+ is one way to win.; It would be interesting to know, why Jakovenko rejected to play this move. Seems like winning a piece. He definitely saw it, but who knows what was he afraid of... 14...a6 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Nxd4 Qe3+! after this important check, Black can take on c7. 17.Kb1 Nxc7 18. Bd3 (18. N xc6 Bf6–+) 18...g6 19.Nxc6 Bf6–+] 15.Nxc6! bxc6

16.Qe4? Human move, but losing one. [The computer suggested an amazing move: 16. Be5! The position becomes amazingly complex with many different options. Finally I found only one way for an advantage. 16...d3!! This is of course another move, which is almost impossible to play for a human. a) 16... Bg4 17.Nxd4 f6! (17...B xd1 18.Qxd1 White gets very strong initiative for the exchange. 18...B xc5 19.Nf5 Qe6 20.Bd3‚) 18.Nxc6 Bxc5 19. Bd4! Bxd1 20.Qxd1 Qxf4+ 21.Qd2 Qd6 22. Bxc5 Qxc5 23.Qd5+ Qxd5 24.cxd5 White has only one pawn for the exchange, but the c6 knight is really powerful. Black is slightly better, but the logical outcome should be draw.; b) 16... Bxc5 17. Bxd4! (17.N xd4? f6! would trap the bishop out of the blue) 17...Qxf4+ 18.Qd2 Qxd2+ 19.Kxd2! (19.R xd2 would be a mistake because of 19...Be7! 20.Nc3 Bg5 21.Bc5 Bf5 22.B xf8 Rd8! with attack!) 19... Be7 20.Nc3 Nc7 with a small initiative for Black, but probably White can hold.; c) 16...cxb5 17.Qe4 White traps the a8 rook! 17... Bg4 (17...Bf6 18.Qxa8 B xe5 19.Qxc8 Qxf4+ 20.Kb1 This is a position which we would like to get in the 16...d3!! line, but without the d-pawn which closes the diagonal of the bishop. Without the d-pawn Qf2 wins im4


mediately, now White is fine.) 18.Qxa8 Bxd1 19.Kxd1 bxc4 20. Bxc4 Nd6 21.Qd5 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qc6 with approximately even position.; 17. Bxd3 (17.Qxd3 cxb5 18.Qe4 Bf6! Black goes for the same line as in 16... cxb5, but now he managed to get rid of the d-pawn. 19.Qxa8 Bxe5 20.Qxc8 Qxf4+ 21.Kc2 (21.Kb1 Qf2–+ This is the big difference and also the idea of 16...d3!!) 21...bxc4–+) 17...cxb5 18. Be4 f6! a more or less forced line is coming 19. Bd6 (19.B xa8 fxe5) 19... Bxd6 20.cxd6 Qxf4+ 21.Kb1 Nxd6 22. Rxd6 (22.B xa8? Bf5–+) 22...Qxd6 23. Bxa8 bxc4 24. Be4 (24.Qxc4+ Be6) 24...h6 25.Qxc4+ Be6 When Black has a clear advantage. He can create many problems against the White king.; 16. Bd6 would have probably been the best practical decision 16... Bxd6 17.Nxd6 Nxd6 18.cxd6 c5! and try to defend this worse position.(18...Qxf4+ 19.Qd2 Qxd6 20.Qxd4) ] 16... Bxc5! Black is winning again now. 17. Be5 [17. Ba5 was better, but also not much fun. 17... Bg4]

18.b4!? Desperate attempt. [18. Rd2 f5!–+; 18.Nxd4 Bxd1 19.Nf5 Qg6 20.Kxd1 Nf6!–+] 18... Bxb4 19. Rxd4 f6 [19...f5!? was winning as well.] 20. Bd6 Black is winning by force after the most natural moves. [20.Qxc6 fxe5 21.Qxa8 exd4–+]

20...Nxd6 21.Nxd6 Bxd6 22. Rxd6 Rae8! and the Blac k rook invades to the backrank and decides the outcome of the game. The queen has only one square to cover the f4 pawn, but it moves into another idea... 23.Qd4 Re1+! 24.Kc2 Rd1! 25.Qc5 Qxf4! Black finished the game with a small combination. An impressive win by Jakovenko, after which probably the 5. Qc2 c5 6.dxc5 line will not enjoy too many followers.[25...Qxf4 26. Rxd1 Bxd1+ 27.Kxd1 Rd8+ 28.Kc2 (28.Ke2 Rd2+ 29.Ke1 Rc2!–+ after this subtle move, mate is coming soon.) 28...Qd2+ 29.Kb3 Rb8+–+] 0–1

17... Bg4! with the idea of f5!, when the queen has to leave the diagonal and then the b5 knight is hanging. Black is winning big material now. 5


(2) Svidler,P (2744) — Morozevich,A (2765) [D37] Russian league (5), 13.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

not because of the opening 9.e3 c5 10. Bd3 Nc6 11.Qc2 h6 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.0–0 c4 14. Be2 Be6 15. Rfd1 Qb6 16. Rab1 Rac8 17.h3 Bf6 and Black was completely fine.] 9...c5 10.dxc5 bxc5

Two days after the defeat against Jakovenko, Svidler had to face the same opening, this time against Alexander Morozevich. A fantastic battle which ended in draw after excellent moves of both sides. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5. Bf4 It was enough from 5.Qc2. 5...0–0 6.a3 A very small sideline, which was tried by Carlsen and Topalov as well. [6.e3 is the mainline with thousands of games in the database.] 6...b6 The most c ommon move, however Anand and Kramnik played 6...dxc4 in 2011. Now, Black wants to occupy the center with pawns and prepares for c5. 7.cxd5 [7.Qc2 happened on the highest level in a quite recent game 7...c5 8.Rd1 Nc6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.e3 (it would be interesting to know Aronian’s idea after 11.e4 Black gets compensation in both lines, but not obvious if it is enough or not. 11...Nxf4 (11...Nd4!? 12.Nxd4 cxd4) 12.Rxd8 Rxd8) 11...Qa5 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Rd8 14.Bd3 Ba6! 15.0–0 (15.Bxh7+ Kh8 White loses too much time in the development.) 15...Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxc3 18.Bxc3 Kf8 Black equalized and the players soon agreed to draw in Topalov-Aronian, Wijk aan Zee 2012.] 7...Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.Qc2 Svidler prepares to undermine Black’s strong central pawns... [Carlsen beat Anand in a blitz game back in 2009, but it was definitely

11.e4 The point behind the 9.Qc2 move. If Black could consolidate his center, he quickly overtakes the initative. There were two games in the database for this position, in both Black equalized quite easily... However Morozevich came up with a very interesting novelty. 11...dxe4! Of course, it is very logical to open the center against the e1 king, but what happens with the a8 rook? [11... Bb7 12.exd5 Qxd5 13. Bc4 Qh5 14.Qb3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Qxf3 16.gxf3 Nc6 with more or less balanced endgame in Gyimesi-Naiditsch, German league 2010.; 11... d4 12. Bd3 Ba6 13. Bxa6 (13.0–0 could be an improvement on White’s play.) 13...Qa5+ 14.Nd2 Qxa6 15. Bxb8 Raxb8 16.Nc4 d3! 17.Qxd3 Rfd8 18.Qe2 Bg5 Black got very strong initiative for the sacrificed pawn. WojtaszekRoiz, Lublin 2011.] 12.Qxe4 Just as in the game against Jakovenko, Svidler tries to trap the a8 rook. Such coincidence happens sometimes in chess. 6


12... Re8! Well played by Morozevich. It would be interesting to know, until which move it was the preparation of the players... 13. Bd3 Prepares for O-O-O and Qxh7. Seems like White is crushing, but... [Let’s see what happens if he accepts the sacrifice: 13.Qxa8 Bf6+

(15.Bc4 Bb7) 15...Qxb2 16. Rd1 Bb7! All the pieces are joining now to the attack, but strangely Black has only draw on White’s best moves. 17.Qxc5 Bxf3 18. Rc1! the only way to avoid Bc3! (18.gxf3? Bc3+–+) 18... Bh4!? 19. Rc2 Qb1+ 20. Rc1 Qb2= with repetition.; 13.Ne5 Bf6 14. Bd3 would be a transposition to the game.] 13... Bf6 Now it is all about the calculation. Chess principles don’t help here. Both players find the best moves until the end. 14.Ne5! [14. Be5 would be a mistake because of 14... Nd7! 15.Qxh7+ (15.Qxa8 N xe5 16.N xe5 Qxd3!–+) 15... Kf8 16.0–0–0 Nxe5 17. Bb5 Bf5! Only, but good! White is in trouble. 18.Qh8+ (18.Qxf5 Qb6) 18...Ke7]

14. Be3 is the only move a) Really nice lines arise after 14. Be2 Rxe2+!! Black must keep the king in the center, but it costs to him the other rook! 15.Kxe2 Ba6+ 16.Ke1 Qe8+! Very important to have the Qb5 option on Be3! 17. Be3 (17.Be5 B xe5 18.N xe5 Qxe5+ 19.Kd1 Qxb2; 17.Ne5 B xe5) 17...Qb5! Three pieces are attacking the king and White has no defense. 18.Ng1 Bxb2 19. Rd1 Bc3+ and Qf1 mate.;

14...Nc6 It is an interesting moment of the game. Black has two choices, both lead to draw. One is a very simple and short line, while the other is amazingly sharp, and one mistake could be fatal for both sides. Most of the people would prefer the first one, but Morozevich faithful to his style goes for the complications. [14... Bf5 was the calm reaction 15.Qxf5 g6 16.Qe4 Nd7! 17.0–0 Bxe5= with an equal position.] 15.Qxh7+ Kf8

b) 14.Ne5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 Qa5+! Black is winning in both lines despite being currently a rook down. 16.b4 (16.Kd1 Rd8+ 17.Bd3 R xd3+ 18.Ke2 Qd2+ 19.Kf1 Ba6!–+ this is the point! Black has too many threats and on 20.Qxb8 Rd8 is check.) 16...cxb4 17.Qxb8 b3+ 18.Kd1 Bg4+–+; 14...Qb6! with the idea of Bb7, trapping the queen. (14... B xb2? would give enough time for White to solve the problems around his king 15.Bc4! B xa1 16.0–0+-) 15.Qd5 7


16.Qh8+! Svidler also calculates precisely! [The tempting 16.0–0–0 would be bad in view of 16... Bxe5 17.Qh8+ (17. B xe5 R xe5) 17...Ke7 18. Bg5+ Kd6!! and Black is about to be winning. Any moves of the d3 bishop would met by Nd4! 19. Be4+ Nd4] 16...Ke7 17.Nxc6+ Check-Queen! 17...Kd7+ Countercheck-Queen! Incredible position! 18. Be5! [18.Kf1 Kxc6 19.Qh7 g6! 20. Rd1 Black wins with a nice queen sacrifice 20... Bf5! 21. Bb5+ Kxb5 22. Rxd8 Raxd8–+ White’s pieces are not coordinated.] 18...Kxc6! Other moves were bad. [18... Rxe5+? 19.Nxe5+ White takes back with check.; 18... Rxh8 19.Nxd8 Bxe5 20.Nxf7] 19.0–0–0! There is no time to take care about such small things like the h8 queen. :) White had prepared for Be4! [19. Be4+? Kb6–+] 19... Bxe5 [19... Rxh8 would be similar to the game 20. Be4+ Kb6 21. Rxd8 Bxe5! (21...R xd8? 22.B xf6 gxf6 23.B xa8) 22. Rxh8 Bf4+! and we have the same position as in the game, only the king is on b6 and not on c7, but does not make any difference...] 20. Be4+ Kc7 21. Rxd8 Rxh8 22. Rxh8 Maybe at this moment some of the „Moro” fans gave up their hopes today, he is an exchange and a pawn down. But here comes the cold shower, which had to be foreseen after the 18th move!

22... Bf4+! and the king has no good square, it has to move into a motif. 23.Kc2 23.Kb1 was the same. [23.Kd1 Bg4+=] 23... Bb7!! This was the whole point! White has nothing better, than to go for a drawn endgame. 24. Bxb7 [24. Rxa8? Bxe4+] 24... Rxh8 25. Bd5 Rd8 The most accurate draw, Black holds the material equality. [25... Rxh2 26. Rxh2 Bxh2 27. Bxf7 Bg1 was of course also easy draw, but at least White could have said, that he was a pawn up.] 26. Rd1 [26. Bxf7 Rd2+ 27.Kb3 Rxf2=] 26... Bxh2 27. Bxf7 [27.g3 Bg1=] 27... Rf8! Black sets back the balance. 28. Bd5 Rxf2+ 29. Rd2 Rxd2+ 30.Kxd2 Be5 31.b3 Bf6 What a game! Both players deserve congratulations! 1/2

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(3) Morozevich,A (2765) — Jakovenko,D (2729) [D16] 19th TCh-RUS 2012 Sochi RUS (2), 10.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Another spectacular game by Morozevich, who just mated his opponent in the middle of the board. In this game White will show us a great example of how to fight for the initiative, and afterwards a great way of finishing the game. The chess of Morozevich is a bit „unusual”, but truly creative and very strong! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Another game on the Slav. This opening is really the hit of the last 6 month. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e4 Bb4 7.e5 And we are in the relatively rare line, which got lately attention of top players of the world. We already have commented the game Anand-Eljanov in CEWN Nr4 from German Bundesliga where White manages very quickly to reach almost a winning position from the opening.

9.axb5 Bxc3 10.bxc3 cxb5 11.Ng5 Nc6 [11...h6 12.Qh5 g6 13.Qh3 f5 14.exf6 e5 was in the game Anand-Eljanov where White could almost immediatly end the game by playing 15.g4! With a big advantage] 12.Qh5 Qe7 13.h4 a good move! White is bringing the rook over h3 into the game. It is clear that in case Black manages to consolidate, he will have just a pawn up. White should act fast. On the White’s side, at some moment, a move like Ne4 followed by Nd6 can be very unpleasent for Black. At the current position, at Ne4 Black would escape into a short castle 13...b4 a beginning of quite a forced play with extremely dangerous position for Black [Would be a mistake 13... h6?! 14.Ne4 0–0

7...Nd5 8. Bd2 b5 In case White manages to get the c4 pawn, of course the advantage of White will be sure.

15. Rh3! followed by Bxh6 with a mating attack; 13... Bb7 Would have been more of a safe choice, even if the position remains very unclear and sharp 14. Rh3 a5 It is hard for Black to find a move better than 14...a5 even if it is like a lost of a tempo. In the future this move will allow Black to be more prepared for the b4 push, and also in many lines the rook on a8 will be more free for action 15. Rf3 g6 16.Qh6 f5! a great move to protect the pawn on f7 17.h5 9


Kd7 18. Rh3 gxh5 19. Be2 We are facing a crazy position in which it is very hard to say, who is doing better] 14. Bxc4! [14.Ne4?! a try to keep the pawn would bring White absolutely nothing 14...0–0 15. Bxc4 bxc3 16.Nxc3 Nxd4 And Black is doing fine] 14...bxc3 15. Bc1 the bishop is going to a3, where he will avoid Black’s short castle in the future 15...Nxd4 18...hxg5!! a very beatiful move! Black is a Queen down for just a piece, but the position is a draw!! 19. Bxe7 Rxh4 20.Qd1 c2! the key move! Black needs the White Queen to get away from d1 to gain control of the f3 square 21.Qe1 Nh3+ 22.Kh2 (of course losing is 22.gxh3? Nf3+ 23.Kg2 N xe1+) 22...Nf4+ with a perpetual check. What an amazing line!]

16.0–0! a great play by White. First it seemed as if White is going for Rh3, and suddenly White castles short. The explanation is easy: White is trying to do everything to avoid Black’s short castle. For that White played h4, but now there is no need anymore for the rook to go over h3 to f3, nor the bishop from c1 is taking over. The White’s threat Ba3 is not letting Black any hopes for a short castle anymore

17...exd5 18. Ba3 Qc7 19.e6! another great move by Morozevich! White should not let the „emotions” down and even is giving another pawn away just to open the position to the maximum 19... Bxe6 The only move 20.Nxe6 Nxe6 21.Qxd5 White is 2 pawns down, but the Black King is in the center of the board, plus the rook on h8 is out of play. This gives White a clear advantage, but further energetic play isrequired

16...h6 What else to do?! White wanted to play Ba3 followed by Ne4 17. Bxd5! White is not falling into Black’s trap [This logical move would lead to nothing for White after 17. Ba3? Nf4 18.Qg4 10

Issue 8 (4) Tomashevsky,E (2736) — Landa,K (2645) [D02]

20th of April 2012

19th TCh-RUS 2012 Sochi RUS (7), 15.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

21... Rd8 [21... Rc8 22. Rab1! would put a huge problems in front of Black. Another funny thing, the h4 move is now extremely useful for White. We can see a typical Morozevich style, everything is a bit strange, but fits together!] 22.Qb3 h5 Black is trying to bring his rook from h8 into the game. To play without the rook is not really an option 23. Rfe1 Rh6 White is mating Black from every side! 24.Qb4! Kd7 25. Rac1 Rb8 26.Qa4+ Kc8 27. Bb4

Usually we are trying to comment games with a lot of action and sacrifices, but this time let’s take a look on a great positional win of the Russian Super GM Tomashevsky. From this game we will be able to learn a lot of „how to play” few structures and what is definately needed to be avoided by Black 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 We are in a Catalan. Landa is actually a big expert in the opening 4... Bb4+ [4...dxc4 Is the other main line] 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 c6 7.Qc2 b6 8.0–0 Ba6 9.b3 Nbd7 We are in one of the oldest theoritical lines. The position is looking symetrical. White is standing a bit more „free” and Black is having basicly one „main” plan, to castle short, then to play Rc8 and c5, after which the exchanges in the center will be not possible to avoid, which normally is leaving White with nothing.

An amazing final position! The white pieces are taking all perfect position, meanwhile the Black ones are standing extremely bad. It is not a game from a simul, but from the Russian Team Championship against an opponent of 2730 ELO. What a great win by Morozevich! 1–0 11


10.a4!? A nice plan by Tomashevsky to active the rook from a1 10...c5 Don’t ask Landa twice for the main ideas, he knows them for sure :) 11.a5 0–0 12. Rd1!? I like this White’s move a lot! White is keeping the tension in the center, meanwhile bringing their rook to the d file which is not very „typical”, much more standard is the move Rc1. Let’s see how this will affect the game 12...cxd4?! this is a mistake. It was too early for Black to release the tension in the center and bring the White knight with a tempo into the very hot place [a very solid 12...Qc8! 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Nc3 with quite a solid positon for Black; or a more risky 12...b5!? 13.dxc5 bxc4 14.b4 Ne4 with a very unclear position, were clearly the better options for Black] 13.Nxd4 Bc5 14.Be1 a logical move by White, but not the best one. It is easy to understand White, who wants to prove that Rd1 was a very „deep” move, but a more concrete action would be the right one at this moment [14. Nc6! Qc8 15.Nb4 and White is having clearly a better position — Black can’t avoid an exchange of one of his bishops]

15.Qb2! White is taking away the Queen from the dangerous c file and preparing for concrete action. At first sight, the position looks optimistic for Black, but in fact things are by far not that good. White has 2 concrete threats: to play cxd5 or to play axb6, it forces Black to take some decision. We are only at move 15, until now Black has only one little inaccuracy 12...cxd4 and this inaccuracy leads already to difficult disicions. 15... Bxd4? A moved called „don’t try it at home”! Never give away a black squared bishop! [of course 15...dxc4? 16.Nc6 Qc7 17.b4! Would lead to a much better position for White; Amazingly 15... Re8! Would keep Black in the game! A typical computer move, almost impossible to do at the board. What we learn from that, to keep the tension in the center is usually a good decision — in case if it ispossible] 16.Qxd4 e5 17.Qb2 d4? Black continues their strategy — which is very wrong. [17...dxc4 18.bxc4 Bxc4 19.Na3! would lead to a worse, but playable position for Black] 18.axb6 Qxb6

14... Rc8

19.Qa3! just few moves have passed, and from an unclear position we can give a completely different evalu12


ation to the game — probably lost for Black! And White demonstrates very well why it is so. 19...Nb8 The only move to keep the pawn on a7 alive 20. Bb4! Another important moment, White is bringing his Black squared bishop into the game 20... Rfe8 21. Bd6 Nfd7 22. Bxb8! White is just playing a great game! A very untypical, but great decision to play 22. Bxb8! Black is basically hopeless against the White’s next knight maneuver. It is great to see, all the material is equal at the board, but Black is having almost a lost position. From moves like 22. Bxb8! we can learn

25.Nc3! basicly after this move the game is over. When we look back at the game, White won it without calculating much and by doing logical moves, unsing Blacks misunderstanding of the position. Not often we can see such a clear example of „how to play with White and what to avoid doing with Black” 25... Rcd7 26.Na4 Qg6 27.Nc5 Rd6

22...Nxb8 23.Nd2 Rc7 Black is hoping to play next Bc8 and finally free a bit the knot around the a file 24.Ne4 The white knight came it wants to be. White wants by playing Nd6 or just Qd6 to reach a position with a huge advantage. It seems that Black is already in time trouble, which is very easy to explain. It is hard to play a position with equal material, but with no moves that could save the game 24... Rd8?!

28.Qa5! the last precise move, Black is totally pinned and the loss of material is very visible 28... Re8 29.Qc7 Bc8 30.Qxb8 h5 31. Rxa7 A great example of how to play a Catalan with „dynamic” centre. 1–0

13


Puzzle section

(7) Matlakov,M (2632) — Khismatullin,D (2656) Russian league, 12.04.2012

(5) Moskalenko,A (2451) — Andreikin,D (2689) Russian league, 11.04.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Grachev,B (2705) — Poluljahov,A (2505) (6) Ibragimov,I (2539) — Savchenko,B (2580) Russian league, 11.04.2012 [CEWN]

Russian league, 13.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

14


(9) Tregubov,P (2599) — Morozevich,A (2765)

(11) Kempinski,R (2604) — Berg,E (2575)

Russian league, 15.04.2012

German league, 14.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Mozharov,M (2474) — Malakhov,V (2705)

(12) Gustafsson,J (2642) — Venkatesh,M (2509)


Bangkok Open, 15.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... =

1... –+

15


(13) Margvelashvili,G (2547) — Finegold,B (2505) Saint Louis, 11.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Young,An (2321) — Sevillano,E (2502) Saint Louis, 12.04.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

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Endgame section (15) Jakovenko,D (2729) — Karjakin,S (2766) Russian league, 13.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

We are in an opposite color bishop endgame that normally should be a draw, but the appearence of rooks on the board gives Black some winning chances. Is it so?! The Russian Top GM did not manage to find a way to make a fortress. It sounds a bit unreal, but the current endgame might be winning for Black! A great endgame to analyse for You, dear reader. We would be happy about Your feedback on this endgame! 45.Bd5 With this move White is starting their plan, which is to put the bishop on e4, King to e2 and wait — this was a bad idea. This plan is leading to a lost position and Karjakin is showing us why in the game. [let’s take a look if another „fortress would bring White a draw” 45.Bb3 Rb4 46.Bc2 Kf6 47. Rf1 Rb2 48.Bd1 Be5 49.h3 Rb1 50. Rg1 Rc1 51. Rf1 Bf4 52. Rg1 Ke5 53. Rf1 Kd4 54. Rg1 Kc3 55. Rf1

55... Rxd1! 56. Rxd1 Kc2 and Black is winning; 45.Kf1 Kf6 46. Bd7 Ra7 47. Bc8 Re7–+ In case Black manages to bring the rook to e1, the game is immediately over; 45.f4 a radical decision. By giving away the f pawn, White will try to build a fortress by having their bishop on squares f3-e2 45... Rxf4 46. Bd5 Kf6 47. Bf3 Ke5 48. Be2 Rb4 49. Bf3 Rb2 50. Be2 Rc2 51. Bf3 Rc1 52.Kf1 Ba5 53.Kg2 Kd4 54.Kf1 Kd3 followed by Kc2, and Black is winning again] 45... Rd4! a nice move by Black. No reason to give White even a small hope to free the rook from d1. Also Black will bring now the bishop from c3 to the perfect position on f4

46. Be4 Bb4 The bishop is going to f4 17


47.Kf1 Bd6 48.Ke2 Bf4 49.h3 It would be nice for White to keep the pawn on h2, let’s see if this is possible to manage [49. Bc6 Kh6 50. Be4 Kg5 51. Bb7 Kh4 52. Bc8 Rd8 followed by Kh3 and the pawn h2 is getting lost, with it the game]

(16) Holzke,F (2506) — Ftacnik,L (2570) German league, 15.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

49...Kh6 50. Rg1

50... Rc4! Another precise move by Black. No reason to give White a chance for Bc2-d1 even if the position is probably lost anyway 51. Bd3 Rc1 52. Rd1 Kg5 The Black King is going to h4 and the pawn h3 is going to fall. White’s position is hopeless 53. Bb5 Kh4 Now at 54. Bd7 Rc7! is coming. 0–1

We are facing a very interesting endgame from the German league. After analysing it deeply, I came to the conclusion that the position is objectively drawn, but in a practical game, White has more chance to win, than Black to hold the draw. I must admit, that GM Holzke played with excellent technique. 52. Bd6 First, let’s summarize what we have! White has material advantage, a target on h4 and a weakness on f4. White cannot use his king to convert the advantage because its duty is to protect the g2 pawn. The g5 would be an ideal square for the bishop, where it protects the f4 pawn and attacks the h4, but there are technical difficulties to transfer there because it must guard the f4 pawn. In addition, with bishop on g5, Black has a potential stalemate possibility with Rxg2 or Rh1. White has only one plan, try to squeeze out the Black king from h5 with the knight.

18


52... Ra4 53.Ng5 Ra8 54. Be7 Ra4 55. Bd6 Ra8 [Black could not hold for long the rook on the 4th rank 55... Rd4 56. Be5 Ra4 57.Nh7 Kh6 58.Nf6 and now the rook must leave, because on 58... Rc4 59. Bd6! Bf8 threats with mate. 59...Kg7

transfer the knight to f3. 60...Kf6 (60...R xd6? 61.Nf7+) 61. Bc7 Ra7 62. Bb6 Ra6 63. Bd4+- and Nf3 is next.] 58. Be5 White had to change his plan for a while. [58. Be7 did not work because of 58...Kf7 59.Nd5 Ra5 60.Nb4! Rb5 61.Nc6 Rb6 62.Nb4 Rb5 draw.] 58...Kh6 59. Bc3 Be1 is the threat now. 59... Rd8!? A tricky move, Black does not want to let the knight escape. [However, I did not manage to find a win after 59... Ra6 60.Ng8+ (60.Nd7 Ra4 61.Be5 Ra7) 60... Kh7 61.Ne7 Kh6 White can maneuver for long, but I don’t see the way of progress. Of course the position requires accurate defense from Black point of view.]

(59...g5 we will analyse this idea in the game at 57...g5) 60.Nd7! Ra4 61. Bf8+! Kh7 (61...Kf7 62.Bh6+- White has managed to transfer the bishop to g5 and also squeezed out the Black king from h5. This is the winning plan!) 62.Nf6+ Kh8 63. Bh6+-]

60. Bb4! [60. Be1 would meet by 60...g5 and White has problems with the knight.] 60...Kg7 This logical move seems to be the decisive mistake. Black could have held the draw with the computer’s suggestion. [60...g5! 61.fxg5+

56.Nh7 Kh6! Only move. [On 56... Rc8 57. Be7 with the threat of Bg5 57...Kh6 (57...Rc7? 58.Nf6+ Kh6 59.Bf8++) 58.Nf6 First White rescues the knight, then he occupies the g5 square. Black can not avoid this. 58... Ra8 59.Nd7 Ra4 60. Bg5+ Kg7 (60...Kh5 61.Nf6#) 61.Ne5+- and Nf3 wins the pawn and the game.] 57.Nf6 Kg7 [57...g5 Black could get rid of one pawn, but then the target on h4 becomes more vulnerable. 58.fxg5+ Kxg5 59.Nd7! Ra6 (59...Kh5 60.Ne5+- Sooner or la ter White will get his knight to f3 and attack the h4 with the bishop.) 60.Ne5! Small tactical trick in order to

61...Kg6!! The problem is still the same, hard to rescue the knight. (but not 61...Kxg5 62.Be7+- because we get the position that we discussed in 57...g5.) 62. Bc5 Rd3 63.Ne8 Rd2! The knight is on the way to get out from 19


the cage, but the f4-f3 plan gives enough counterplay for Black to save the game.]

67... Rd1 Black realized, that he is lost, he tries his last trick.

61. Be1!! Probably Black missed this move! Even with so little material on board, we must look for tactical motifs. 61... Rd4 [The passive defense cannot be good. 61... Rh8 62.Nd7 and Ne5-f3.] 62. Bc3! and the bishop is back to the long diagonal. White can use the pin for winning an important tempo to transfer the knight to a better position. The computer still tries to hold, but I think it is already too late. 62... Rd3 [62... Rc4 63.Nd5+ Kf7 Black tries to prevent Bf6. It is already a big achievment for White to get the king to f7, but the win still requires very exact play. (63... Kh6 64.Bf6+-) 64. Be5 Ra4 65.Nc3! This is the shortest way for the knight to f3. 65... Rb4 66.Ne2 with the idea of Ng1–f3. 66...g5 67.Nd4! (67.fxg5? Re4) 67...gxf4 (67...g4 68.hxg4 fxg4 69.Nf5 h3 70.gxh3 gxh3 71.Kxh3+- I was not sure about this position. But thanks to the „Tablebase” we know the correct evaluation. White gives mate in 48 moves. :) I am sorry for the readers, I will not demonstrate it. The point is, the bishop and the knight cover the pawn and the king and White can promote his pawn without giving a chance to Black to sacrifice the rook for the pawn and one of the pieces.) 68.Nf3 White collects all the pawns.]

68. Be7! But of course, White does not fall into that and sets up a new mate threat with Nf6 and Bf8, what could only avoid by playing g5, which is kind of resignation as well. [68. Bg5?? Rh1+ 69.Kxh1] 68... Rf1 69.Nf6+ Kh6 70. Bf8# Very nice play by the German grandmaster! It was very instructive also for me, I have never studied such kind of endgames. 1–0

63. Be5 Kh6 64.Ng8+! Kh7 [64...Kh5 65. Bf6+- transposes to the game.] 65.Ne7 The end is near now. 65...Kh6 66. Bf6 Kh5 67.Ng8! [67. Bg5? is premature because 67... Rd2 and stalemate threat on g2.] 20


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Myagmarsuren,Lhamsuren [C00] Sousse Interzonal+ (3), 1967 [Balogh Csaba] As I promised, we study two nice tactical crushes by Robert Fischer. In this week, White nicely builds up his attack and finishes the game in a beautiful fashion! Please, forgive me for showing some computer lines, which are sometimes hardly understandable for me as well. The correct analysis of the position requires it. 1.e4 e6 2.d3 The King’s Indian attack. Fischer liked playing this opening, since in many lines it is similar to the King’s Indian defence, which was his favorite choice against 1.d4 as Black. He often played against 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6, 3.d3 as well. 2...d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Be7 7.0–0

7...0–0 The main continuation, however, some experts consider it to be an inaccuracy. After castling short, White can organize his attack on the kingside quite comfortably (as we will see in the game). [It is more careful to develope the queenside first and see, what White is going to do 7... b6 8. Re1 Bb7 9.e5 Black has an extra option here 9...Nd7 10.Nf1 Qc7 11. Bf4 h6 12.h4 0–0–0! to castle queenside and prepare a counterattack with g5. For example: 13.c3 Rdg8 14.h5 g5 15.hxg6 fxg6; 7...Qc7 8. Re1 b6 is another possibility, if Black is afraid of the e5 plan...] 8.e5 Nd7 9. Re1 Both sides have their clear ideas. White plays on the kingside with Nf1, h4, Bf4, Ng5 and Qh5, while Black must create his counterplay on the queenside with b5, a5, b4, Ba6 etc... Actually, I would always prefer White, but the machine gives plus for Black in almost all the positions, suggesting unhuman moves and saves him. It is amazingly hard to convince the computer... So, from this point of view, I recommend you to try this opening with White, but never against a machine... :-) 9...b5 [The main move is 9...Qc7 10.Qe2 to include is pair of moves, when later the typical Nd4 plan for Black might come with a tempo... 10...b5 11.Nf1 a5 12.h4 b4 13. Bf4 Ba6 with many games in the database.] 10.Nf1 b4 [10...a5 11.h4 b4 is just a transposition.] 11.h4 a5 12. Bf4 a4 [12... Ba6 13.Ne3 a4 14.a3 would also be a transposition.]

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17.cxd5! Nxa1 18.Qxa1 exd5 19.Nxd5 White got one pawn for the exchange and all his pieces stand perfectly. 19... Bxd3 20.e6! Nice tactical shot! 20...Nf6 (20... fxe6 21.Bc7! Qe8 22.R xe6 Rf7 23.Qe1+-) 21.Nxe7+ Qxe7 22.Ne5 Bg6 23.Nc6! the queen is almost trapped 23... Qb7 (23...Qe8 24.e7+-) 24. Bd6 Ne7 threats 24... Be4 25. Rxe4! Qxc6 (25...N xe4 26.B xe4+-) 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 Black did not wait 27.Qxf6!! gxf6 28. Rg4 and resigned the game. Gheorghiu-Uhlmann, Sofia 1967] 13.a3! Strong reaction by Fischer, which was at that time a novelty! Recently, if somebody is familiar with this opening, he knows the rule that when Black plays a4, push a3 immediately! But of course it is much easier to copy than to create the right plans... Fischer understood that if he allows his opponent to push a3 himself, Black’s counterplay could come much faster. [13.N1h2 a3 14.b3 Ba6 with the idea to play Rc8 and in the right moment Nd4 and c4. Black won many nice games this way.] 13...bxa3 14.bxa3 Na5?! I did not manage to find the idea behind this move. [There was a very instructive game between two great players 14... Ba6 15.Ne3 Nd4 logical plan, but White countered it elegantly! 16.c4! Nb3

15.Ne3 Ba6 16. Bh3? The bishop was doing fine on g2. This gives enough time for Black to generate counterplay. [White should have continued the attack 16.Ng5! with the idea of Qh5 and on 16...h6 17.Nh3! Qh5 and Ng4 are coming with mating attack.] 16...d4 17.Nf1 White did not want to close the Queen’s way to h5 with Ng4. 17...Nb6 Logical decision to transfer the knight to d5. [17... Bb7!? came into consideration 18.Ng5 c4 with counterplay.] 18.Ng5 Nd5 19. Bd2 Bxg5 Sooner or later Black had to take the knight. [19...c4 20.Qh5 Bxg5 21. Bxg5 Qd7 would be a transposition to the 21...c4 line.] 20. Bxg5 Qd7

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21.Qh5 Rfc8 Black frees the f8 square. As we will see in the game, the queen went there to protect the g7 pawn and in some other variations, it might be useful a square for the king as well to run away from the checks. [I could not convince the computer about the attack after the principled 21...c4 22.Bg2 seems to be the most dangerous

22...Nc3 Black naturally prevents is.

a) 22. Bf6 was premature 22...gxf6 23.exf6 Kh8 24. Bg2 Rg8 25. Bxd5 (25.Be4 Rg6) 25...Qxd5 26. Re5 unusual way of winning back the piece, but Black is fine anyway 26...Qb7 27. Rxa5 cxd3 28.cxd3 Bxd3; b) 22.Nd2 I only managed to give perpetual check, for example: 22...cxd3 23.Ne4 dxc2 The computer is not impressed, that all the pieces are attacking :-) This is what I called, unhuman moves. 24.Bf6 gxf6 25.Nxf6+ Nxf6 26.Qg5+ Kh8 27.Qxf6+ Kg8 28.Re4 Bd3 29.Qg5+=; 22...cxd3

23. Bf6! Seems to be over, but Black found resourceful defense. 23...Qe8! In order to neutralize the Qg5 threat by Qf8! [23...gxf6 would lose quickly after 24.exf6 Kh8 25.Nf3! Rg8 26.Ne5!+- wins the queen] 24.Ne4 The 22...Nc3 was not successful enough because after taking the knight on e4, Rxe4 decides the game. 24...g6 This is the first moment when computer finally admits White’s attack. [24...Nxe4 25. Rxe4+-; However after 24... Bb7! it is still very hard to convince the machine. Most of the lines lead to unclear positions, but...

23. Be4 with initiative in all the lines: 23...h6 a) 23...f5 24.exf6 gxf6 25. Bh6 Rf7 26.Nd2 (26.cxd3) ; b) 23...g6 24.Qh6 f5 25.exf6; 24.Nh2! and try to mate him after Ng4!(24.B xh6? f5!)] 22.Nd2! Fischer brings the knight into the attack through the e4 square. 23


25. Bxg7!! (25.Ng5 h6 26.f4 hxg5 27.Qxg5 Qf8 28.Be7 Qe8 29.Bf6 Qf8=; 25.N xc3 dxc3 26.Qg4 Qf8; 25.Nd6 Qf8 26.N xc8 R xc8) 25...Kxg7! a) 25...Nxe4 loses to the great 26.Qh6!! Nd2 27. Bg2! the only way 27... Bxg2 28.Kxg2 Qc6+ 29.Kh3 Qf3 30. Bf6 Qf5+ 31.Kg2 Qg6 (31...Qf3+ 32.Kg1 Qg4 33.Qxd2+-) 32.Qxd2; b) 25... Bxe4 has another nice refutation 26. Rxe4! f5 (26... N xe4 27.Qh6+-) 27.exf6!! Qxh5 28. Bxe6+ Qf7 29. Bxf7+ Kxf7 30. Re7+ Kg6 31. Rae1+-; 26.Qg5+ Kf8 27.Nf6 Qc6 28.Kh2! and the computer confirms White’s advantage] 25.Qg5 Nxe4 26. Rxe4 c4 It is clear that now the counterplay is not coming in time. 27.h5 cxd3 28. Rh4! Threats with hxg6 fxg6 Rxh7 Kxh7 Qh4 and mate in two moves. By leaving the d3 pawn on the board, Fischer avoids the Black’s bishop joining of the defense through d3. 28... Ra7 Horizontal defense with the rook. [28...dxc2? 29.hxg6 fxg6 30. Rxh7 Kxh7 31.Qh4+ Kg8 32.Qh8+ Kf7 33.Qg7#; 28... Rc7 was better chance to counter the textmove 29. Bg2 by Bb7. However, the machine suggests an unreal winning line: 29. Rc1!! (29.Bg2 Bb7!) 29... Rac8 (29...dxc2 30.R xc2! R xc2 31.hxg6 fxg6 32.R xh7+-) 30.Qh6! to lure the queen from the defense of the e6 pawn. 30...Qf8 31.Qd2! Nb3 32.hxg6! fxg6 33. Bxe6+! Rf7 34.cxb3+- Of course, if somebody finds all these moves he will be disqualified for cheating with computer! It is impossible to play like this for a human.]

29. Bg2!! Fantastic winning move! Using the fact, that Bb7 does not work now. 29...dxc2 [29... Bb7 would close the 7th rank. 30.hxg6! fxg6 31. Rxh7+-] 30.Qh6! Qf8 [On 30...c1Q+ 31. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 32.Kh2! and the same finish as in the game...] 31.Qxh7+!! Beautiful finish of a great game! Mate is coming in two more moves. The game demonstrated very well the plans in the opening for both sides.[31.Qxh7+ Kxh7 32.hxg6+ Kxg6 (32...Kg8 33.Rh8#) 33. Be4#] 1–0

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Surprise section / study (18) Troitzky,Cheron 1962 [CEWN] 1. +-

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Solutions (19) Motylev,A (2683) — Geller,J (2544) Russian league, 09.04.2012 [Solutions]

28.Qc4! Rad8 29. Rxd5 Qxd5 [29... Rxd5 30. Rd1+-] 30. Rd1! Qxc4 31. Rxd8+ Kh7 32.bxc4+(20) Li Shilong (2549) — Bu Xiangzhi (2668)

20...Nxf3+! 21.Qxf3 [21.gxf3 Qg3+ 22.Ke2 Rxg5–+] 21... Rxg5 (21) Hauser,C (2209) — Perunovic,M (2582) Deizisau, 06.04.2012 [Solutions]

22...g5!! [22... Rh6 23.h4] 23.h3 [23. Bf3 Rh6 24.h4 Bxf3 25.exf3 gxh4 26.g4 Rg6] 23... Bxh3 24. Bxh3 Qxh3 25.Qxg5+ Rg6 26.Nf4 Bxf4 27.Qxf4 Rh6 28.Qf3 Qh2+ 0–1

Xinghua, 04.04.2012 [Solutions]

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(22) Naiditsch,A (2702) — Mladenov,S (2419) Deizisau, 07.04.2012 [Solutions]

23. Rxh7! Kxh7 [23...fxg5 24.Qh3 Qxh3 25. Rxh3] 24.Qh5+ Kg8 25.Qxg6+ Ng7 26.Qh7+ Kf7 27.g6+! [27. Bg6+ Ke7 28.Qxg7+ Kd8] 27...Ke8 [27...Ke7 28.Qxg7+ Kd6 29.Ne2!?] 28.Qxg7 Rg8 29.Qh7 Nf8 30.Qc7 Nd7 31.Ne2! Ke7 32.Ng3 1–0 (24) Bosch,J (2386) — Shishkin,V (2464) Deizisau, 09.04.2012 [Solutions]

24. Be6! Kh8 [24...fxe6 25.Nf6+! Qxf6 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27.Qg6+ Bg7 28.h5! Rxd5 29. Rg1 Rd7 30.h6+-] 25.Ng5 [25. Rxf7!+-] 25...e4 26.Nxf7+ Qxf7 27. Rxf7 Bd6+ 28.Kg2 exd3 29. Rxb7 dxc2 30. Rc1 (23) Baramidze,D (2612) — Grandadam,N (2361) Deizisau, 09.04.2012 [Solutions]

10...Nc5!! 11. Bd3 [11.Qc2 Bxd4!; 11.dxc5 Bxc3–+; 11.Qe3 h6! 12. Bf4 Ne6] 11...Nb3! 12.axb3 Qxa1+–+

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(25) Burg,T (2464) — Bischoff,K (2521)

(27) Shankland,S (2580) — Prasca Sosa,R (2420)


Philadelphia, 06.04.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

30...b5! 31.Ng1 [31.axb5 axb5 32. Bxb5 Bxb5 33.Qxb5 Qf1+ 34.Ng1 Qxb5–+] 31...bxc4 32.Qxc4+ Kd8–+

53. Rxb7! Rxb7 54.Qxc6! Bxb3 [54...e6

(26) Gopal,G (2572) — Baron,T (2497) India-Israel rapid match, 03.04.2012 [Solutions]

55.Qxb7!! Bxb7 56. Bxe6+ Kh8 57.d5++-] 55.Kxb3! 1–0[55.Kxb3! Qd7 (55...Rb8 56.Qe6+ Kh8 57.d5++-) 56.Qxd7 Rxd7 57.c6+-]

41.Nh7+! Kg8 42.Nf6+! Kf8 43. Rh8+! 1–0[43. Rh8+ Bxh8 44.Qg8#] 28


(28) Vajda,L (2597) — Zeng,C (2435)

(29) Simkovitch,F

Doeberl Cup, 08.04.2012

1940

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

31.Nxe5! [31.d7+ Kd8] 31...Qxd6 [31...Qxc5 32.Qa8+ Rb8 33.d7+! Kd8 34.Qxb8+ Ke7 35.Qxf8+! Kxf8 36.d8Q++-] 32.Ncd7! [32.Ned7+-] 32...Qxd7 [32... Bxd7 33.Qa8+ Rb8 34.Qxb8#] 33.Qa8+ 1–0[33.Qa8+ Rb8 34.Qxb8+! Kxb8 35.Nxd7+ Kc8 36.Nxf8+-]

1. Bf5! [1. Bf3 Ra4! 2. Bd1 Kf8! 3.Kh3 Ra1! 4. Bxg4 Rh1#] 1... Rc4 [1... Ra4 2. Bd7!!] 2. Be6! Kf8! 3.Kh3! Rge4 4. Bd5! Kg7 5.Kh2! Ra4 6. Bc6! Rec4 7. Bb5! Rg4 8. Bd7! Rae4 9. Bf5! 1/2

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Weekly Newsletter



27th of April 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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Clearly, the main event of the week is the match between Aronian and Kramnik. The match is taking place at the neutral territory of Zürich. It is the first match in history between 2 players with an ELO rating higher than 2800. Even if the match is considered to be friendly, it is ELO counted, so we can be sure that both players are giving their best! A very strong open in Dubai came to an end with 5 players sharing first place, Ni Hua winning on tiebreak. It had a dramatic last round. The Austrian League had also its last weekend, and the team of one of Your commentators Balogh Csaba, the “Advisory Invest Baden”, took the first place again, on better tiebreak. In the “surprise section” of the newsletter, we are presenting for the first time a short interview with the Spanish number one Francisco Vallejo. Please don’t judge the interview for being too short, it’s not easy to make this GMs answer the questions :). As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with this edition of the Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter. Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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4 best games of the past week (1) Kramnik,Vladimir (2801) — Aronian,Levon (2820) [D43] Zurich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (1), 21.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the first game of a “friendly” match between world’s number 2 and 3, Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik. It is the first match in the history of chess between 2 players with an Elo rating higher than 2800. We can be sure about one thing, both players want to win this match like hell! We will see probably one of the worst games of Kramnik in a long time. Bad preparation, bad play, resignation. On the other hand, great play by Aronian. Let’s see how it is possible to beat a 2800+ Elo player with the Black pieces!

6...Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10.0–0 Bg7 Until here both players were playing pretty fast. And of course, nothing new. We are in a well known position. 11. Re1 [11.e4 could be the other choice here. 11...e5 12.d5 Nb6 13. Bb3 Bg4 with almost an equal position.] 11...0–0 12.e4

1.Nf3 One of Krmanik’s favourite first moves. 1...d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 Maybe Black’s 3...c6 was a little surprise for Kramnik. 3...e6 was most likely to be played by Aronian. 4.Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Just like in his previous matches, Kramnik usually chooses “silent” lines in his first games. [6. Bh4 would be the move to get a “real” fight. 6... dxc4 7.e4 b5 And we are in the very sharp Botvinik lines.]

12...e5! In my opinion, the right way to play here. [12... b6 is also a possible continuation, with evaluations that are by far less clear. 13.e5 Qe7 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. Be4 Rfd8 Could be the other main position for analysis.] 13.d5 Rd8 The first moment of the game where Aronian had his first small thought. [The wrong plan would be 3


now to play 13...Nb6 14. Bb3 Bg4 15. Re3 ! += and we can clearly see why White included the 11. Re1 move before playing e4.] 14. Re3 Quickly played by White. We are in the game Gunina-Muzychuk, that was analyzed in the CEWN Nr4. It was practically the final battle for the Female European Title. 14...b5! A good move, now things are getting forced. 15.dxc6 After this move, White is not doing better, but what else to play?! [15. Bb3 Nc5 and only Black can hope for an advantage.; 15. Be2 Nb6 is clearly not an option for White, as well.] 15...bxc4 16.Nd5

17.cxd7 Before making this move, Kramnik thought for almost 30 minutes. I don’t think that he was evaluating “what to play next”, but asking himself “how could I have missed 16...Qe6 in my analysis?”. A very unpleasant feeling — especially when 16...Qe6 is the first choice of the computer. [17.Nb4 a5! would be definitely a bad choice for White.] 17... Rxd7 An easy move, but a nice one! This is why the Queen has to stand on e6 and not on d6, in order not to be under “attack” after White’s Nd2-c4. 18.Qa4?! One thing is clear, White is not doing better. In fact, he needs to be quite precise to make a “correct” draw. The move in the game is not working towards getting it. [18.b3! In my opinion the right way to play for a draw was 18...cxb3 19.Qxb3 Bb7 20. Rd1 Rad8 21. Red3 Black might be doing a bit better, but White definitely has a very solid position.; 18.Qe2 would not equalize. 18... Bb7 19. Rd1 Rad8 20.Qxc4 Bxd5 21.exd5 Rxd5 And we are again in a typical endgame, where Black is doing a bit better.] 18... Bb7 19.Qxc4 [19. Rae1 Rc8! and Black is doing better. The plan for Black should be to play Bf8-c5, or to try to develop the bishop by playing h5-Bh6.]

16...Qe6! N This novelty was played after Black took some time to think, but I’m quite sure that Aronian knew it, and the readers of CEWN knew it as well! We suggested this move in one of the analysis of CEWN Nr4, and evaluated it as “giving an equal position for Black”. [16...Qd6 was played in the ladies’ game. 17.cxd7 Bxd7 18.Nd2 with some advantage for White.]

19... Bxd5 [Another interesting option would have been 19... Rc8!? 20.Qa4 Probably because of this move, Aronian didn’t want to play it, but I think here Black clearly has a very strong initiative. 20... Bxd5 21.exd5 Rxd5! (Of course not 21...Qxd5 22.N xe5! with a draw.) 22.Qxa7 e4! Black is a pawn down, but all the pieces are perfectly placed. Plus, he has reached the dream structure with the

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“pawns on e4-f5”. All these factors clearly give Black more than enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn.]

a draw are huge.) 25.Nxg6 Rxg4+ 26. Rg3 and White almost escaped with a draw.]

20.exd5

24.g5!? A very risky move from a human point of view, even if most of the engines are happy with it. [A waiting move would leave White in a bad position. 24.h3 f5 25.gxf5 gxf5 26.Nh2 e4 with a big advantage for Black.] 24...hxg5 Of course Black should not let White play h4. 25.Nxg5+ Kg8

20...Qxd5! A good estimation of the position by Black. The endgame is looking drawish, but by far it is not! Black is doing better, and maybe some optimist would say “much better”. 21.Qxd5 Rxd5 22. Rae1 Re8 We are in a typical position. Black’s idea is clear, to play f5 followed by e4. In case White doesn’t do something quick, the game could be over pretty soon. The White knight on f3 could stay without squares to go, Black rooks could take over the 2nd rank — a lot of bad things could happen to White. That’s why Kramnik’s next move is very logical! 23.g4! Good play by White! The only way to stop the direct f5 push. Besides, the White King feels a bit better having a place to escape on g2. 23...Kh7! Not falling into a deep trap. [Why not to play 23...f5?! 24.Nh4! This is White’s idea. 24... Rd4 (24...fxg4 25.N xg6 Bf6 26.Nf4 and again White’s chances to get

26.f4?? What a terrible move by White. Such a mistake is even hard to explain, but let’s try to understand it from his point of view. Of course by playing 24.g5, White didn’t help his pawn structure at all. In case the game would go on with this “slow play”, Black will be just much better and will have good winning chances. So, the only way for White to be back in the game is to do something concrete, this makes sense! ...But not by playing 26. f4?? [26. Ra3 f6 27.Ne4 f5 with a clearly better position for Black, but anyway White is still in the game.] 26... Rb8! Exactly! Now White is simply losing a pawn.

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27.fxe5 [27.b3 exf4 28. Re8+ Rxe8 29. Rxe8+ Bf8 30.h4 Kg7 and we can evaluate the position as winning for Black.] 27... Rxb2 28.Nf3 What else to do? At [28. R 3e2 Rxe2 29. Rxe2 Bxe5 Black is a pawn up, and he has the advantage of bishop vs knight. The position is winning!] 28... Rxa2 29.e6! The only chance. White needs to exchange as many pawn-pieces as possible. 29...fxe6 30. Rxe6

dering something big?! On the other hand, it shows the great self-confidence Aronian has regarding himself and his play! [The simple 32... Rxe4 33. Rxe4 Kf7 would probably lead to a winning position. The a-pawn will Queen and White can’t do much about it.] 33. Rg4! Getting the Black king to “free-waters”. 33...Kf7 To put the king on h7 was also possible, but then after White’s 34. Ng2, he would be under constant attack on the h-file. White could also try the maneuver 34. Rg3 with the idea of Nf3 and Ng5 check. 34. Rc1 Bh6! No fear in Black’s moves! Black continues his strategy, to keep the White’s knight on h4 out of play, even if he will need to run a bit with his king by doing so. 35. Rc7+ Ke8 36. Re4+ Kd8 37. Rh7

30... Rf5! Black is really playing a great game. A very exact move, killing almost any hope Kramnik might have had. The White knight doesn’t have a better move than to go to the corner of the board, where it will have to face its destiny in about 10 moves :). 31.Nh4 Rf4 [A very nice computer way of winning would be 31... Bd4+ 32.Kh1 Rff2! 33. Rxg6+ Kf7 34. Rg2 a5 A great position! White is totally hopeless against Black’s a4-a3-a2 and Queen.] 32. R6e4 Rf6 This move surprised me a lot during the live transmission. Why to leave 4 rooks at the board, have a running king and have a theoretical chance of blun-

37... Bf8! Another very precise move by Black. Now we can already call the position winning! The White’s rooks can not create any serious threat against the Black king. At the same time, the White king on g1 is in big danger of getting mated. The knight on h4 is still out of play and Black’s a-pawn will start to move eventually.

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38. Rd4+ Kc8 39. Rc4+ Kb8 The king march has ended in a safe square, b8!

(2) Aronian,Levon (2820) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2801) [C67]

40. Rd7 Allowing Black’s strategy to show its glory.

Zurich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (2), 22.04.2012

40...g5! Trapping the White knight!!

[Arkadij Naiditsch]

41.Ng6 Bd6

The second game of the match was also very interesting. Aronian started with 1.e4, a very unusual first move for him, and Kramnik answered with the usual unbreakable weapon of his, the Berlin defence. It seemed like after the opening Kramnik managed to get an almost equal position, but suddenly he had to face a few difficulties. A great game on how to defend a worse position! 1.e4 Is really Aronian playing White?! :) 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 The beginning of the Berlin!

What a perfectly played game by Black! 0–1

4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Be6!? Quite a rare move [9... Ke8 10.h3 h5 We can find this position in almost every game featuring the Berlin, and it seems like Black is doing pretty well here.]

10. Rd1+ Immediately played by Aronian — so he seemed to be well prepared. [10.Ng5 is the other possible move for White.] 7


10...Ke8 11.Ng5 Bc8 12.h3 So we have reached one of the main positions in the current line. The Berlin Wall is a very complex opening, and sometimes it is very hard to say who is actually doing better. If White manages to play g4, f4 and f5, we can usually say that White should be better. Of course, Black won’t allow these pawns to advance so fast. On the other hand, if Black manages to force the exchange of knights, he should be doing very fine. 12... Be7 13. Bf4 N This is an official novelty by White. The move is very logical: White develops a piece, threatens to play Rd2, Rad1, or to break through with the e6 push at the right time!

14...f6! [The risky 14...Ng6 15.exf7+ (15.N xf7 N xf4 16.N xh8 B xe6 would lead to a crazy position, I have no idea who is doing better.) 15...Kf8 16. Be3 h6 17.Nge4 Kxf7 It seems like Black managed to reach what he wanted, but... 18.f4! A very strong move! Black can not stop White from playing f5 in the next move, which would lead to a clear advantage for White! Chess is a tactical game after all :).; 14...fxe6? This would be a big position mistake. 15.Nge4 followed by Bxc7 the next move, with a big advantage for White.] 15.Nf7 Rg8 Another exact move. Now the rook won’t be under attack in case of 15... Rf8.

13...Nh4! A very atypical, but very strong, reaction by Black. [The more typical 13...h6 14.Nf3 Be6 15.g4! Nh4 16.Nxh4 Bxh4 17.f3 would lead to a position with a small plus for White.]

16. Bxc7 Bxe6 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18. Bxd6 Kf7 It seems like Black got the maximum out of his chances, and the game is coming to an end, but no! White still has a few tricks in his magic box.

14.e6! White needs to do something, Black intended to play Ng6. [14.Nge4 is usually not the right place for the White knight. It doesn’t support in any way the g4 move, and it takes away the e4 square from his colleague on c3. 14...h6! Avoiding White’s Bg5 — Black is doing very fine.]

19.f3 A harmless looking move, but with a nice idea behind it. 19...Nf5 20. Bc5 b6 This kind of move is never easy to play. The Black pawns are fixed on dark squares, becoming potential victims. Now we can see the idea behind White’s f3 move. [If Black looks for an immediate draw with 20... Rgd8 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Bxa7 Rd2 23. Rc1 Ng3 (23...Nh4 24.Bf2) 24.b3! A great move, White needs to take away the c4 square from the Black bishop. 24...Ne2+ 25.Nxe2 Rxe2 26.Kf1 White keeps good winning chances with just an extra pawn.; Of course 20...a6? 21. Bb6! and White gets control over the d-file forever.]

8


21. Bf2 Rgd8 The Black rook has to be placed on the dfile. 22.a4! White’s key idea! Suddenly, a position that looked very calm and safe for Black is getting very dangerous. How to prevent the a5 move?! 22...Ne7! The beginning of a series of 12 moves, which leads to a forced draw. Fantastic calculation by Black, or just good calculation with some luck?! We will never know. 23.a5 c5 A very forced and almost only move that gives Black a clear draw. [23... Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 bxa5 25. Ra1 would lead to a clearly better position for White.] 24.Nb5 White accepts Black’s challenge and goes for direct play. [24.g4!? is a very tricky suggestion of the computer. White keeps the pieces back, improves the position of his King, and at the same time takes control over the f5 square. I guess Black would need to continue very precisely to achieve a draw.]

24...Nc6! Only move. [24...Nd5? would be countered by 25.c4! Nb4 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Nxa7 bxa5 28. Bxc5 and White is a clear pawn up.] 25. Rxd8 [25.Nc7 would have been a trickier move for White. 25... Rac8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27.axb6 axb6 28. Ra6 Rd1+ 29.Kh2 Rd2 Black is on the edge, but surviving. 30. Rxb6 (30.N xe6 also leads to nothing more than a draw. 30...R xf2 31.N xc5 bxc5 32.R xc6 R xc2 33.b4 c4 =) 30... Bd7! Only move to hold the position! I wonder if Kramnik had seen this move when he played 22...Ne7!? 31. Bxc5 Rxc2 32.b4 Nxb4! making the draw official.] 25... Rxd8 26.axb6 [A wrong decision would have been 26.Nxa7?! Nxa7 27.axb6 Nc6 28. Bxc5 The White pawns are blocked and only Black can be better here.] 26...axb6 27. Ra6 Rd1+ 28.Kh2 Rd2 29. Rxb6 Rxc2! It is very important to take on c2 first. [29... Rxf2? 30. Rxc6 Rxc2 31. Rc7+ Kg6 32.Nd4 and White is winning.]

9

Issue 9 (3) Balogh,Cs (2664) — Bromberger,S (2513) [B12]

27th of April 2012

Austrian league, 19.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] I played a short, but nice, attacking game in the Austrian league. 30.Nd6+ [The draw would be unstoppable after 30. Rxc6 Rxf2 31.Nd6+ Ke7 32.Ne4 Rxb2 33. Rc7+ Kf8 34.Nxc5 Bf7 = and there is nothing left to play with.] 30...Ke7 31.Ne4 Nd4! Another key move that Kramnik should have seen when he played 22...Ne7, or no later than 24...c5. What a great calculation!! 32. Rb7+ [At 32.b4 Bd5! is very strong.] 32...Kf8 33. Rc7 No more chances left for White, the position is drawn.

33... Rxb2 34. Rxc5 Nf5 35.Ng3 Rxf2 36.Nxf5 Bxf5 37. Rxf5 Ra2 A great defense by Black based on very exact calculation! 1/2

1.e4 c6 A surprise from my opponent, who generally plays the Najdorf. I was sure that he was prepared for some of my recent games in the Caro-Kan, so I decided to try my old line... 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 I used to play this until 2009. Nowadays I use it only occasionally, when I try to surprise my opponents. 4...h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 [Currently 6...Ne7 is considered to be the best, when White has a choice between 7.Nge2 (and 7.Bg5); I remember that I started playing the 4.h4 line after I saw the following game: 6...Nd7 7.cxd5 cxd5 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Ne7 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.0–0 Be7

12. Bg5! White plays on the weakened dark squares, g5 and f4. 12...a6 13. Rac1 Nb6 14.Ne2! Qd7 15.Nf4 Nc4 10


16.b3 Na3 17. Rfd1 Rc8 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Rc5 Improving all the pieces to the maximum. 19... Rc7 20. Rdc1 g6 21.Ng5 Now, all pieces have reached perfect positions and Nigel Short finishes the game with great style. 21... Rd7 22. Rxc6! bxc6 23.Nxg6! fxg6 24.Qxg6+ Kd8 25. Rxc6 and Black resigned the game. Short-Johannessen, Torino 2006. This victory impressed me a lot!] 7.cxd5 cxd5 8. Bd3 The move enjoys popularity since Gulko beat Karpov back in 1994. White exchanges the strong f5 bishop and goes for a slightly better position with a space advantage due to the e5 pawn. The current game is already my 4th win in this position.

how I won my previous 3 games.; Now on 11... Bb4 I have 12.Ne2! trying to play like Nigel Short!] 12.Nb5! A strong novelty, based on the next move! [12. Nxh4 Qxh4 13.Nb5 Kf8 Black was fine in the PerunovicRuck, Vogosca 2007 game.] 12... Be7 [On 12... Rb8 13.Nd6+ Kf8 14.Qc3!? Be7 15.Nxb7! Rxb7 16.Qxc6 White balances the material and enjoys a small advantage.]

8... Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Rc8

13. Bg5!! A spectacular move, which forces the creation of big weaknesses in Black’s camp.

11.0–0! White tries to win a tempo by sparing g3, but it leaves the h4 pawn unprotected. [11.g3 is the main move, but here Black has 11... Bb4 and developing with Nge7.] 11... Bxh4 [11...Nh6 12. Bxh6 Rxh6 13.g3 This is a standard position of the line. White has a small positional advantage. The h6 rook is out of the game. Black must play Kf8, g6, Kg7 and Rh8 to bring it back, but this gives enough time for White to organize his play on the queenside with a3, Rfc1, b4 and Na4-c5. Actually, this is

13...f6 I had to make a very difficult decision, to include Qg6 check or to play without that. After thinking for 40 minutes, I managed to come to the right conclusion. [13... Kf8 14.Nd6 Rc7 15. Bxe7+ Qxe7 The powerful knight on d6 gives more than enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn. Here, the computer recommends a very strong plan: (15...Ngxe7? 16.Ng5 Nc8 17.Ndxf7! R xf7 18.N xe6+ +-) 16. Rfc1! Nh6 17.b4 +/- with huge pressure on the open file.; 13... Bxg5? does not work, because of 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.Nxg5 Qxg5 (15...Rc7? 16.Ndxf7! R xf7 17.N xe6+ +-) 16.Nxc8 +/- with an exchange up.] 11


14.exf6! [14.Qg6+ gave no advantage 14...Kf8 15.exf6 gxf6 (15...B xf6!? is also possible.) 16. Bf4 a6! 17.Nc3 This is the critical position of the 14.Qg6 line. Seemingly the queen on g6 is very annoying for Black and Rae1 is a serious threat, but... 17... Bd6!

(In case of the logical 17...Qe8 18.Qg3! with the threats of Rae1 and Nh4.) 18.Nxd5!? exd5 19.Ng5! A double knight sacrifice! 19...fxg5 20. Bxd6+ Nce7! It’s very important to free the c6 square for the rook! (20...Nge7 would lose nicely to 21.f4! g4 22.f5 +-) 21. Rae1 (Now on 21.f4 g4 22.f5 Black has 22...Rh6!) 21... Rc6! 22.Qf5+ (22.f4 g4 23.Qf5+ =) 22...Ke8 23.Qg6+ = with perpetual check.] 14...gxf6 15. Bf4 The most logical move, but it gives Black a chance... [The passive looking 15. Bd2! would have given White a very big attack 15...a6 16.Nc3 The point is that Black can not play Bd6 with a tempo (when the bishop is on f4) freeing the e7 square for the knight. This half tempo gives White enough time to build up an enormous attack! 16...Kf7 17. Rae1! and Nh4 or Ne2-f4 are coming!]

15...Kd7? Black tries to find shelter for the king in the center. Logically it can not be good. The position might seem to be lost for a human, but as usual, the computer finds an amazingly stubborn defense. [15...a6! Trying to send away the active knight. 16. Rfe1!? I was about to play this move and felt the attack to be decisive! But... (On 16.Nc3 Black has 16...Bd6! 17.Qg6+ Kf8 which transposes to the 14.Qg6 line.) 16...axb5 17. Rxe6

17...Qd7! (17...Kf7 18. Rae1 Probably this is where my opponent had stopped his calculations of the 15...a6 line and chose another move due to Qf5 in the next move, with the threat of Ng5. Actually he was right, but the computer shows some unreal lines: 18... Bb4 19. R1e2! (On 12


the direct 19.Ng5+ Black has 19...Kg7! (19...fxg5 20.Qg6+ Kf8 21.Qf5+ +-) 20. R1e3 Qd7 21. Rg3 Nce7! Seemingly Black is completely lost, but according to the machine, he is just winning. Incredible!) 19...Nge7 20.a3! Ng6 (20... Ba5 21.Bd6 +/-) 21. Bg5! Be7 22.Qf5 Increasing the pressure to the maximum. 22... Rc7 23. Rxe7+! and striking at the right moment! 23...Ncxe7 24.Qxf6+ Kg8 (24... Ke8 25.Qxg6+ +-) 25.Qe6+ Kg7 26. Bf6+ Kf8 27.Ng5 +- Black can not defend himself.) 18. Rae1 Normally, this is a moment when humans turn to another move due to the Nh4 threat. However, once again, the machine shows a brilliant cold-blooded only move, which I was unable to refute... 18...h4!! Simply prevents Nh4... 19.Qf5 Kf8 and I did not find more than draw after 20. Be5 Rh6 21. Bf4 Rh8 =]

17. Re2! On the other hand, White starts to double the rooks on the e-file. Now the threat is to play a3, sending away the bishop, and then to bring the rook to e1. 17...a6 18.a3!! The best move. Of course 18.Nc3 also gave a big advantage, but the text move is much better! Black loses in all the lines. 18... Bf8 [18... Ba5 19.Nd6 +-; 18...axb5 19.axb4 +-; I felt 18...Qa5 to be the critical, but correctly saw the winning move 19.Qg6! +- The checks on the 7th rank are decisive!]

16. Rfe1! The e6 pawn is too vulnerable. Now the threat is the simple Qe3. 16... Bb4 [On 16...a6 White retreats with the knight. 17.Nc3! +- Black has no defense against Qe3. Now the knight on c3 is well placed, because it’s threatening a sacrifice on d5.]

19. Rae1! axb5 20. Rxe6 and Black resigned.[20. Rxe6 Be7 (20...Nge7 21.Rd6+ +-; 20...Nh6 21.Qxb5 +-) 21.Qf5 Ke8 22. Rd6! +-] 1–0

13


(4) Wojtaszek,R (2706) — Fedorov,A (2609) [E62]

11.Qc2 Standard plan. White prepares to fianchetto his c1 bishop.

Czech league, 23.04.2012

11...e5 [11...a6 would lead us to the main pawn structure of the King’s Indian g3 system. 12.b3 b5 13. Bb2 Rb8 14. Rab1 e5 With thousands of games in the pawn formation. In general, theory considers White’s chance to be slightly better.]

[Balogh Csaba] Radoslaw Wojtaszek, one of Anand’s seconds has won a nice game in the Czech league. We will study typical maneuvers of the King’s Indian defense combined with great tactical elements at the end. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.g3 The g3 system is one of the most popular setups against this opening. 5...0–0 6. Bg2 Nc6 7.0–0 Bf5 A “sideline”, but still almost 1500 games in the database. On neutral moves, Black wants to play Ne4. [7...a6 is the most often seen move.; Another sideline is 7... Rb8 We analyzed a game like this in the 1st edition of the CEWN.]

12.b3 Ng4 Instead of creating tension on the queenside with a6 and b5, Fedorov — who played this opening his whole life — initiates direct play on the kingside. 13. Bb2 f5 Black wants to push f4 with a very dangerous attack, which has to be prevented. In the game of the 1st CEWN, in a similar structure, White reacted with a typical response by pushing f4 himself. It is clear that now White is not prepared well for this move, so Wojtaszek plays the other known method of countering the f4 threat.

8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 Logical reaction, White defends the c4 pawn and intends to occupy the center with e4. [The mainline is 9.Nd4 ,though it would fall into the idea of 7... Bf5. 9... Bd7! Black retreats with the bishop to d7 and after White protects the c4 pawn, he pushes c5 and achieves a comfortable position.] 9...c5 10.e4 Bd7 14.exf5! gxf5 Black, of course could not give up control over the e4 square. 15.h3 Nf6

14


16.f4! Forces Black to close the center, and the maneuvering part of the game might start. 16...e4 [16...exf4 Opening the position would be punished in an instructive way: 17.Ne2!! fxg3 18.Nf4!! With this double pawn sacrifice, White completely paralyzes Black’s pieces. The next move would be Rae1 or Rf3-g3. Very nice picture, how the White pieces are dominating the whole board!] 17.Nd1! The knight is a great blockading piece, which is heading to e3. In general, White has a really long-term idea, to play on g4! It would open the position of his own king, so it needs huge preparation. However we can see in the game, how effective it could be if White pushes it in the right moment. 17...Qe8! Black plays logically as well. He transfers his queen to its ideal square on g6. It temporarily prevents the Ne3 idea, due to the concrete Qg6, Nh5 threat. The next two moves by White will be prophylactic against this idea.

19...Kf7? A logical move, which is actually a serious mistake. Black should have forced the knight to go to f1, we will soon understand why... [19...Nh5! 20.Nf1 Rf7 21.Nde3 Kh8 22. Bh1 Rg8 23. Rg2 With a really sharp, double-edged position.] 20.Ne3 Rg8 21. Rg1! This is the point! That is why, the 19th move was a mistake. By having the rook on g1, White’s chances to push g4 in the right moment increase a lot. 21... Bh6? Another mistake, after which the g4 push becomes deadly. White was already better anyway. Let’s see what happens, if Black fights differently against g4. We will see a really nice regrouping of the pieces in both cases. [21... Bh8 22. Bf1! Qh6 23. Be2 Rg6 Black pins the king and doubles his rooks on the g-file, which was actually the idea behind the 19th move. However, White has a great knight maneuver! 24.Ndf1! Rag8 25.Ng2! One knight is going to h4 and the other one to e3. The f5 pawn becomes a real weakness!; 21...h5

18.Kh2! Qg6 19. Rf2! [19.Ne3 Nh5]

15

Issue 9 has to stay on h1 now — which means the collapse of Black’s position!

27th of April 2012

23...fxg4 24. Rg3!! This was the brilliant idea! Stops the g3 threat, and Black is helpless against Nxe4. 24... Rae8 [24...Qh5 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26. Bxe4 gxh3 27. Bf3! +- opens the diagonal for the queen to take on h7!; 24...Nh5 does not work, because of 25. Bxe4 +-] 25. Bxf6! White wins huge material now on all the lines. White uses the same plan that we saw in the other line: 22. Bf1! Ke7 23. Be2 b6 24.Ndf1 Rae8 25.Ng2! Kd8 The Black king would like to run away from the “battlefield”, but as we will see, there is no safe place for him in this game. 26.Nh4 Qh7 27.Ne3 Kc7 28.a3! += After paralyzing Black’s pieces, White can organize a queenside attack.]

25...Qxf6 26.Nxe4 Qe7 To protect the d6 pawn. 27.Nxg4 [27.Ng5+ was even easier 27...Kf8 28.Nf5 +-] 27... Bxg4 28.hxg4 and g5 is coming, Black is hopeless. 28...Qh4+ 29. Rh3 Qxg4 30.Ng5+! Bxg5 31.Qxh7+ Very instructive game. We learned many ideas on how to play this pawn structure. 1–0

22. Bh1! Wojtaszek already foresaw his next two moves. We understand soon why the bishop went to h1! 22...b6 [On 22...Ke7 happens the same that did in the game...]

23.g4!! Seems like committing suicide, but in reality it leads to winning the e4 pawn — that is why the bishop 16


Puzzle section

(7) Vysochin,S (2550) — Grinev,V (2404) Nabokov memorial, 19.04.2012

(5) Ahmadinia,E (2379) — Amin,B (2608) Dubai Open, 22.04.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... -/+

(8) Hamitevici,V (2436) — Nyzhnyk,I (2585) (6) Baklan,V (2612) — Sachdev,T (2414) Dubai Open, 23.04.2012

Nabokov memorial, 22.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +/-

[CEWN] 1. +-

17


(9) Belous,V (2524) — Predke,A (2461)

(11) Thiede,L (2458) — Siebrecht,S (2468)

Sochi, 21.04.2012

Austrian league, 22.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +/-

1... –+

(10) Bromberger,S (2513) — Likavsky,T (2486)

(12) Bacallao Alonso,Y (2550) — Gonzalez Garcia,J (2529)

Austrian league, 21.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

Catalanian league, 17.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

18


(13) Movsesian,S (2715) — Swiercz,D (2585) Czech league, 22.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Radulski,J (2552) — Rusev,K (2516) Bulgarian Championship, 22.04.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

19


Endgame section (15) Balogh,Cs (2664) — Baramidze,D (2612) Austrian league, 21.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

After a long and tough middle game, I got this endgame with an extra pawn. However, converting the advantage was still going to be really difficult due to the relatively small amount of material on the board. In order to make progress, White has to push his pawns forward, but this would lead to further exchanges. At this moment, both me and my opponent were living on the 30 seconds increments, which made our tasks even harder. After my last move 79. Bd4, Black was facing a critical decision, to defend passively or to transpose to a bishop endgame. 79...e5? Short on time, Black chooses the wrong direction... [79...Qf7 was the correct move. I don’t know who has better chances, White to win or Black to hold the draw.]

80.Qxf6 gxf6! This is the critical moment of the game! White has to find the right plan to win the game, which I missed with 30 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, two moves later, when I realized which was the right path, it was already too late... [Of course not 80... Bxf6? 81. Bc3 Kg8 82.Kd3 Kf7 83.f4 +- wins another pawn, since Black can not go for the pawn endgame.]

81. Bb6? [81. Bc3! Kg6 82.f3! Bc5+ 83.Ke2 Bb6 84.g4! This is the winning position, but it still requires good technique. Black has nothing else than passing with the bishop. 84... Bc5 85. Be1! White prepares the plan with Kd3c4-d5, but first he had to prevent Bf2. 85... Bb6 86.Kd3 Ba7 87.Kc4 At this moment, due to the gxh5, Kd5-e6 threat, Black is forced to take on g4, which is clearly an improvement for the attacking side. 87...hxg4 (87... Be3 88.gxh5+ Kf7 (88...Kxh5 89.Kd5 Kg6 90.Ke6 +- White is going to exchange his h-pawn for the f6 pawn, after that, e5 will fall as well.) 89.Kd3 Bh6 90. Bd2 Unfortunately for Black, the pawn endgame loses with just one tempo... 90...Kg7 (90...Bf8 91.Kc4 +-) 91. Bxh6+ Kxh6 92.Kc4 Kxh5 93.Kd5 Kxh4 94.Ke6 Kg5 95.Kf7! f5 96.Ke6 fxe4 97.fxe4 Kf4 98.Kd5 +-) 88.fxg4 Be3 20


(88...Kf7 89.h5 Be3 90.Kd3 transposes to the main line.) 89.Kd3 Here it’s another important moment to find the right plan. After forcing Black to take on g4, the King must change his direction! (89.Kd5 Kf7 90.h5 Bc1 would be hard to make progress, but of course with 91.Kc4! White can change his mind at any time.) 89... Bf4 90. Bd2 Bg3 91.h5+ Kf7 92.Ke2 Kg7 93.Kf3 Bh4 94.Kg2 Kf7 95.Kh3 Bf2 96.g5! This is the point. White penetrates through the f5 square and collects the e5 pawn as well. The position is winning, thanks to the dark square bishop, which corresponds to the promoting square in h8. 96... fxg5 97.Kg4 Bd4 (97...Bc5 98.B xg5 Ke6 99.h6 Bf8 100. h7 Bg7 101.Bh4 Bh8 102.Kg5 Kf7 103.Kf5 Bg7 104.Bg3 +-) 98. Bxg5 Kg7 (98...Ke6 99.h6 Kf7 100.Kf5 +-) 99.Kf5 Bc3 100. Bf6+ Kh6 101. Bxe5 Be1 102.Kg4 +- and the two extra pawns secure an easy win.]

82...f5! [82...Kf7? 83.f3 +-] 83.f3 [83.exf5+ Kxf5 84.f3 (84.Be3 e4+ = Despite being a healthy pawn up, White has no chance to bring home the full point, because Black succeeded to set up an ideal blockade position with the pawns. Any sort of pawn moves lead to exchanges and soon White gets out of material...) 84...Bb4 85.Bf2 Ba5 = White can not make progress. He must cover the e1 square with the bishop, the pawns are immobile, while on 86.Kc4 Black can simplify with e4.] 83... Bb4 [83...Kf6 was also draw 84.Kc4 Ke6 85.exf5+ Kxf5 86.Kd5 Bb4! Accurate move! 87. Bc7 Bc3 = and again, Black has managed to build a fortress!] 84. Bf2 Kf6 85.Kc4 Bd2

81...Kg6! Now the position is drawn! Black can push f5! 82.Kd3!? At this moment, I already saw the f3-g4 plan, so I tried this tricky move, trying to lure the Black king to e6, which again would give me time to play f3 and g4. [On 82.f3 f5! is in time!; 82. Bc7 does not stop neither 82... Bc5+ 83.Ke2 f5! with a draw. We will discuss this positions below!] 21


86.Kd5 Now, my king has reached the nice looking d5 square, but still after a great only move, Black holds the draw. 86...f4! Other moves were losing easily, but now unfortunately, I could not play 87.g4, which means that Black builds up a successful fortress again. [86... Bc1 87. Bb6 fxe4 88.Kxe4 Ke6 89. Bd8 Bd2 90.g4 +-; 86... Ba5 87. Be3 +-]

(16) Socko,B (2636) — Kraemer,M (2492) Austrian league, 22.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

87.gxf4 [87.g4 hxg4 88.fxg4 Be3! This is the key move to save the game. 89. Be1 f3=] 87... Bxf4 88. Bb6 Ke7 89. Bc7 Kf6 90. Bd8+ Kf7 91.Kd6 Bg3 92. Bg5 Bh2! = and White has no chance to improve his position. Black is either passing with Bg3h2 or with Kf7-f6. I tried several more moves, then a bit disappointedly, agreed to a draw. 93.Kd7 Bg3 94.Kd6 [94.f4 leads to a draw as well 94... Bxf4 95. Bxf4 exf4 96.e5 f3 97.e6+ Kg7 98.e7 f2 99.e8Q f1Q 100.Qxh5 Qf7+ =] 94... Bh2 95.Kd5 Bg3 96. Bd8 Bf4 97.Kd6 Bg3 98. Bg5 Bh2 99.Kd5 Bg3 1/2

In this position Black suddenly resigned. Lets take a look, if he was right or not! 1... Rb4 2. Rf6+! The only move, which is leading to a win for White. [Looks logical, but would throw away the full point. 2. Ra7+ Kf8 Black wants to give a check on b5, the only chance for White to play for a win is 3. Rd7 (3.Kf6 Rb6+ draw) 3... Rb5+! a very important check, all Black moves are forced and only 4. Rd5 (4.Kf6 Rb6+ 5.Ke5 Rb5+) 4... Rb3! attacking the pawn e3, by this Black wins an important tempo 5.e4 Ke7! and Black is just in time to put the king to e7, the only way to save the game 6. Ra5 Rb7! 7. Ra6 Rb5+ 8.Kf4 Kf7 with a draw.] 2...Kg7 3. Rd6! Again the only way for White. 3...Kf7 Black is trying to block with his King the route of the opponent’s King — it is the only chance. In case, if it was Black’s move, Rb5-Rd5 and Rb7 would hold the draw. [3... Rb5+ doesnt leave any hopes for Black 4. Rd5 Rb4 5. Rd7+ Kf8 6.Ke6! Rb5 7. Rd5 (7.e4 would be a mistake 7...Rxg5 8.Kf6 Ke8! 9.Re7+ Kd8 10.Rg7 Rg1 11.e5 Rf1+ 12.Ke6 Re1 22


13.Rxg6 Kc7 with theoretical drawn position.) 7... Rb3 8.e4 and White wins easily. Lets check one line: 8... Rf3 9. Rd8+ Kg7 10. Rd7+ Kf8 11.e5 Rf5 (11...Rf1 12.Rd8+ Kg7 13.Kd7 Rd1+ 14.Ke7 Ra1 15.e6 Re1 16.Kd7 Rd1+ 17.Ke8 Ra1 18.e7 Ra7 19.Rd6+-) 12. Rd8+ Kg7 13.Kd6 Rxg5 14.e6 Rg1 15.e7+-; 3... Rg4 4. Rd7+ Kf8 5.Kf6+-] 4. Rd7+ [A terrible mistake would be 4.e4? Rb5+ 5. Rd5 Rb7! 6. Rc5 (6.Kd6 Rb6+ 7.Kd7 Rb7+ 8.Kc6 Re7 9.e5 Ke6 draw) 6...Ke7! and we are back to our drawish lines 7. Rc6 Rb5+ 8.Kf4 Kf7 9. Rc7+ Kf8 White can not make progress... 10. Rd7 Ra5 11. Rd5 Ra7 12.Ke5 Ke7] 4...Ke8 [4...Kf8 doesn’t save Black 5.Ke6 Ra4 6. Rd4! always the winning technique — Rd4! 6... Ra6+ 7. Rd6 Ra4 8.Kf6+-]

5. Rd4! Rb3 6.Kf6! Rxe3 7.Kxg6 And we reached a well known winning rook endgame. Lets us demonstrate the way to promote the pawn: 7...Kf8 8. Rd8+ Ke7 9. Rg8 Rg3 10.Kh7 Kf7 11.g6+ Ke7 12. Rb8 Rh3+ 13.Kg8 Rg3 14.g7+- and White wins with the help of the “bridge building”, what we already discussed in the 2nd CEWN. So, the resignation of the game was premature, it would have been worth a try, if White finds all the only moves to win the game... 1–0 23


Clash of the Titans

(10.a3 and b4 is the right move.) 10...exd4! 11.Nxd4 (11. exd4? Bf5)

(17) Nikolic,Emil — Fischer,Robert James [E61] Vinkovci, 1968 [Balogh Csaba] We will enjoy a fantastic victory of Robert Fischer. An intuitive piece sacrifice, followed by many silent moves... 1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 e5 4. Bg2 d6 5.e3 Nf6 Black’s setup might remind us of the previous Fischer game against Myagmarsuren, except this time he leads the opposite color. 6.Nge2 0–0 7.0–0 c6 8.d4

8... Re8 Black shows a clear intention to push e4, White did not consider important to prevent it. In my opinion, this was a bad idea... 9. Rb1?! The plan itself is correct, to play b4-b5. White should play on the queenside, while Black will launch an attack against the king. [9.Qc2 was better, but still after 9...Na6 Black should be fine... 10. Rb1?! moves into Bf5.

11...c5! An unusual motif to win a pawn. 12.Ndb5 Bf5 13.e4 Nb4! 14.Qe2 a6 15.Na3 Nxe4! 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 f5] 9...e4! 10.b4 [10.f3 would be the principled reaction by White in order to undermine the center, but now he does not have enough pieces to control the e4 square... 10... exf3 11. Bxf3 Bf5 and Black is better, since White has no e4 move.] 10... Bf5 [10... Be6 was another idea to force White to open the diagonal for the g7 bishop. 11.d5 (11.N xe4 N xe4 12.B xe4 B xc4 and d5 in the next move, would be fine for Black.; 11.Qb3? does not work 11...b5 12.d5 bxc4) 11...cxd5 12.cxd5 Bg4 13.h3 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Nbd7 Black is OK after Rc8, Nb6.] 11.h3 Sooner or later the h3-h5 pair of moves had to be included. If Black plays h5, White anyway must play h3 in order to push g4 on the h4 move. [On 11.b5 the game could continue with 11...Nbd7 12.bxc6 bxc6 13.Qa4 This is premature because of 13...Nb6! 14.Qxc6 Rc8 =+] 24


11...h5 12.Nf4 Nbd7 Please notice, that Fischer puts his pieces in the same squares as in his game against Myagmarsuren. 13.a4?! In my opinion, this seems to be a loss of tempo. [13.Qb3 was more logical. 13...Nf8 14.b5 (14.d5 N8d7! After White gave up the control over the e5 square, Black changes the direction of his knight.) 14...N8h7 15.bxc6 bxc6 16.Qb7 Rc8 The a7 pawn is not that relevant, Black must focus his play on the kingside. 17.Qxa7 Ng5 18. Rb7 Nd7 with a really unclear position.] 13...Nf8

17. Rb2 White prepares for the invasion on the b-file. [17. bxc6 bxc6 18. Rb7? runs into a double attack: 18...Qc8] 17...Qd7 18.Kh2 [18.h4?! is never an option for White. It would give up the light squares. 18... Bg4! 19.Qb3 Nf3+] 18... Bh6 19.a5

14.c5? This is a terrible positional mistake. White closes the center, after which it is much easier for Black to develope his attack. The move is also against the old chess rule, which says: against a flank attack, in case of same side castling, you should aim to open the center! [14. Bb2 was the correct plan, followed by d5 in the next move.] 14...d5 15.b5 N8h7 16. Bd2 Ng5

19... Bg4!! I wanted to give more exclamation marks to this move :). A brilliant idea. We can not see any concrete threats yet, but soon we will understand what it is for... 20.hxg4 [The attack remains dangerous, even if White ignores the bishop. 20.Qb3!? Nf3+ 21. Bxf3 Bxf3 22.bxc6 bxc6 23.Qb7 Qf5 Of course, Black needs the queen. 24.Qxc6 25


24... Bxf4 25.gxf4 (25.exf4 Ng4+! 26.hxg4 hxg4 and mate is coming soon.) 25...Ng4+ 26.Kg1 (26.hxg4 Qxg4) 26... Ne5! and Black mates after Qxh3!.] 20...hxg4 21. Rh1 The only defensive way, trying to run away with the king. [21.a6 would be a bit optimistic. 21... Nf3+ 22. Bxf3 gxf3 23.axb7 Black does not even need to waste time on rook moves... 23...Ng4+ 24.Kg1 Bxf4 25.exf4 Qf5 26.bxa8Q Rxa8 and Qh5 decides the game.]

Here I found a fantastic move. The point is, White’s only chance for counterplay is a6, but Black can stop it before continuing his own plan. (25.a6 B xe3 26.B xe3 R xh3) 25... a6!! (25...Rh7 26.a6 Rah8 27.axb7 Qxb7 28.b6 might be also good for Black, but I think 25...a6 is easier.) 26.bxc6 bxc6 27.Na4 Rag8 Black has to lose another tempo before doubling on the h-file, but this has no significance, since White’s pieces are completely paralyzed...]

21...Nf3+! 22. Bxf3 gxf3 This pawn formation was the point of 19... Bg4!! White has no chance to sacrifice his knights for the f3 pawn. Otherwise, Black can slowly play Kg7, Rh8, doubling the rooks on the h-file and giving mate. 23.Kg1? [The computer move 23.Nh3!? was the only chance, but 23...Kg7! 24.Kg1 Rh8 25.Qf1 23... Bxf4! Precise calculation! After eliminating the knight, Black saves a tempo to bring the rook to the h-file. White is not in time to run away with the king. 24.exf4 Kg7! 25.f5 A desperate try to open the bishop’s diagonal. [25.Kf1 Rh8] 26


25... Rh8! 26. Bh6+ White temporarily closes the h-file. [26.Qc1 Rxh1+ 27.Kxh1 Rh8+ 28.Kg1 Qxf5] 26... Rxh6 27. Rxh6 Kxh6 28.Qd2+

28...g5! Black does not give the chance for playing Qf4. 29.bxc6 Qxf5! Qh3 threats with mate on g2, White has only one way to prevent it. 30.Nd1 Qh3 31.Ne3 But now again, the rook comes to the h-file... 31...Kg6! 32.cxb7 Rh8 A brilliant victory! 0–1

27


Surprise section / study (18) Horwitz,B 1884 [CEWN] 1. +-

For now I have won just Spanish, French and German league, but also true that I played only at these championships, plus the Italian, where we became second :) Is Spain a good country for being a chess professional? I don’t think it is a bad one, but of course now with the big economic crisis many tournaments are collapsing. To be honest I don’t even remember the last time I gave a simul, 15–20 years ago, things were much easier. But I still like what I do, it is paid decently, and you travel a lot, I think I don’t have the right to complain. Would You advice a young kid who has talent to continue the chess career or better switch to the usual, school, university ? It depends on his level, nowadays you need at least 2600 to have a nice future in the chess world, otherwise for sure University is a better option. So if you are talented and have 2600 perspective in the future, go ahead. Everyone knows chess at top level is exhausting. What is your favorite food and drink before the game and during?

Interview with Vallejo Pons

Fresh juice is clearly my favorite drink, and for eating in general I like any kind of food if it is a good quality one. Let’s say my favorite is Lobster Soup (typical from Menorca) and during the games I like bananas and chocolate.

GM Vallejo, you have just become champion of Germany with Baden Baden. In how many countries have you already won the Team Championship? 28


Solutions (19) Moskalenko,A (2451) — Andreikin,D (2689) Russian league, 11.04.2012 [Solutions]

32... Rg6!! 33.Qh5 [33.Qf4 Qxh3+!! 34. Rxh3 Rg1+ 35.Ke2 Re1#] 33... Re5 0–1 (20) Ibragimov,I (2539) — Savchenko,B (2580) Russian league, 11.04.2012

33...Qxf1+! 34.Kxf1 Bxg2+! 0–1 (21) Matlakov,M (2632) — Khismatullin,D (2656) Russian league, 12.04.2012 [Solutions]

32. Rxg6+! [32. Be6+ Qxe6 33.Qxf8+! Kxf8 34.dxe6] 32...hxg6 33. Rh8+!! Kg7 [33...Kxh8 34.Qh6+ Kg8 35.Qxg6+ Kh8 36.Qh7#] 34.Qh6+ Kf6 35. Rxf8+ Ke7 36.Qg7+ [36.d6+ Kxd6 37.Qf4++-] 36...Kd6 37. Rf6++[37.Qf6+! Kc5 38. Rc8+ Kb5 39.Qc6+ Ka5 40. Ra8++-]

[Solutions]

29


(22) Grachev,B (2705) — Poluljahov,A (2505)

(24) Mozharov,M (2474) — Malakhov,V (2705)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24.Nd7! 1–0[24.Nd7 Rfc8 25.Nxf6+! gxf6 26.Ne7+!+-]

(24...Re8 25.Ne7+!+-)

(23) Tregubov,P (2599) — Morozevich,A (2765) Russian league, 15.04.2012

41...Ng4+!! 42.hxg4 Qh6+ 43.Kg1 Qe3+! [43...Qc1+? 44. Bf1 Qe3+ 45.Kg2 Qd2+ 46.Kf3! Qc3+ 47.Ke2 Qc2+ 48.Ke3+-] 44.Kf1 Qc1+ [44...Qd3+=] 45.Kf2 Qd2+ 46.Kg1 Qe3+ 47.Kh2 Qh6+ 48. Bh3 Qd2+ 49.Kg1 Qe3+ 50.Kh2 1/2–1/2

[Solutions]

37... Rf5!! [37... Re6? 38. Rxd6!] 38. Rfd1 [38. Rxf5 Re1+ 39.Kh2 Nxf5–+] 38... Rxf6 39. Rxd6 Rxd6 [39...a3! 40. Rd7+ Rf7–+] 40. Rxd6 a3 41. Ra6 Re3 30


(25) Kempinski,R (2604) — Berg,E (2575)

(26) Gustafsson,J (2642) — Venkatesh,M (2509)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

41... Rg3+!! 42.Kxg3 Qxe1+ [42...Qg4+!? 43.Kh2 Be5+! 44.Kh1 Qh3+ 45.Kg1 Bd4+ 46. Rf2 Qg3+ 47.Kh1 Bxf2–+] 43.Kh3 Qf1+ 44. Rg2 [44.Kg3 Be5+–+] 44... Qf3+ 45.Kh2 [45. Rg3 Qh1#] 45... Be5+ 46.Kg1 Qd1+ 47.Kf2 Bd4+ 0–1[47... Bd4+ 48.Kg3 Qg4+ 49.Kh2 Qxh4#]

27... Bd3! 28.Nxc2 [28.Qb7 Qc1!–+] 28... Bxa6 29.Nb4 [29. Rc1 Bd3–+] 29... Bxf1 30.Kxf1 Rc5–+ (27) Margvelashvili,G (2547) — Finegold,B (2505) Saint Louis, 11.04.2012 [Solutions]

17.a3!! [17. Rxd4? Rxd4 18.a3 Qd6!] 17...Qc5 18. Rxd4! Rxd4 19. Be3 Red8 20.Nxd4 [20.b4+-] 20... Rxd4 21. Rd1 Rxd1 22. Bxc5+31


(28) Young,An (2321) — Sevillano,E (2502) Saint Louis, 12.04.2012 [Solutions]

16...Qa5+!! 17.b4 [17.Nc3 exd4 18.Qxd4 Bf6 19.Qd2 Rxc3!–+] 17...Qxa2!! 18.Nb3 [18. Rxa2 Rc1+–+; 18.f3 Qxa1+ 19.Kf2 Bd7–+] 18...Qxa1+! 0–1 (29) Troitzky,Cheron 1962 [Solutions]

1.Kc4! Ka5 [1...Ka3 2.h7 Rh3 3. Rb3+! Rxb3 4.h8Q+-] 2. Rb5+! Ka6 3. Rh5!! gxh5 4.h7+- 1–0 32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 10 4th of May 2012


4th of May 2012

Table of Contents

The great match between Kramnik and Aronian finished with a “friendly” outcome of 3–3. This was the first match in history that featured two 2800+ rated oponents. We saw great fighting spirit from both players! You will find 4 out of 6 games in the 9th and 10th editions of the Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter.

»» Editorial Preface

2


3

After offering a very hard selection of puzzles in the first editions, we have switched to a selection of easier ones.

»» Puzzle section

19


22


25

In less than 10 days, the battle for the World Championship between Anand and Gelfand will begin. Don’t forget that You can subscribe to the special Chess Evolution Newsletter that will be provided for this match with a 50% discount (7 Euro!), only available to CEWN subscribers.


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»» Solutions

28

As usual, we wish You lots of fun and we hope you make the most out of the 10th edition of the Chess Evolution Newsletter! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Kramnik,V (2801) — Aronian,L (2820) [C47]

able to show how to play for an advantage in the last 30 years? Usually, White chooses this line to make a draw out of the opening. In the interview after the game, Aronian said that he wanted to create some „action” — well, he achieved his goal!

[Arkadij Naiditsch]

6. Be3!? Yes, finally we see something out of Kramnik’s preparation. [The main choice would be 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3]

We are in the 3rd game (out of 6) of the friendly match between Kramnik and Aronian. The first match in history between two players with a 2800+ ELO rating. This game was, probably, one of the most spectacular ones in the match!

6... Bb6 7.Qd2 From here on we are in an almost totally unknown position, only after 7 moves! [Sort of a main line here is: 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Nd5 with a crazy position.]

1.e4 We don’t see Kramnik playing 1.e4 often, but maybe he chose to change his first move after losing a horrible game in the 1st round, when he played 1.d4.

7...0–0 8.0–0–0 Re8 Very logical play by Black.

Zurich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (3), 24.04.2012

1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 What a surprising choice of opening by White! Who could expect that such an opening Guru like Kramnik would choose this „boring” line? 3...Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4

9.f3 d5!? From here on the game is getting forced. [If black chooses a slow move 9...d6 10.g4 White is doing better.] 10.exd5 [10.Nxc6?! clearly wouldn’t give White any advantage 10...bxc6 11.g4 Be6 Black finished his development and got active in the center — everything is looking very nice forhim!] 10...Nxd5

5... Bc5 This came as a huge surprise to me. Why not 5... Bb4 going into the old lines, where nobody has been 3


11. Bg5! A very strong move by White! Probably the only chance to fight for the advantage. 11...Nxc3!? A very interesting move by Aronian, which leads to a very crazy position! [Leads to a worse endgame 11...f6 12. Bc4 A lot of pieces are hanging in the center, and all the coming moves seem quite forced 12...Nxd4 13.Nxd5 Be6 14. Bxf6! A very nice tactical blow! 14...gxf6 15.Nxb6 axb6 16.Qxd4 Qxd4 17. Bxe6+ Rxe6 18. Rxd4 Rxa2 19.Kb1 and we are in an endgame where White is clearly doing a bit better due to the pawn structure.] 12. Bxd8 Nxd1 13. Bxc7! Kramnik is howing once again his great calculation skills in a position that’s not easy at all! [13. Bh4 Nxd4 14.Kxd1 and we are in a position where Black has at least 3 moves that make the evaluation completely uncler: 14... Bf5, 14.. Be6 or 14...Nf5. Yes, White is a Queen up, but all the Black pieces are standing in great positions, clearly giving him good counterplay. For the computer fans it is important to know that almost all engines evaluate the advantage of the queen as „too strong”.] 13... Bxc7 14.Nxc6 Ne3

15. Bb5! A very important, and very strong, move by White! It is very difficult to calculate all the lines here... [A mistake would be 15.Nd4? Bf4! 16. Bb5 Nf1! and White is losing his Queen!] 15...bxc6!? [15... Bf5!? This is the first choice of the engines, but it’s almost impossible to make this move during a practical game. 16.Nd4 Bf4 and again we are facing a long forced line. 17. Bxe8 Nxg2 18. Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Nxf5 Bxd2+ 20.Kxd2 Rd8+ Probably Black has good chances to save this endgame.; A very interesting human move would be 15...a6 16. Ba4 Nc4 but it seems not to work because of 17.Qb4! b5 18. Bb3 and it looks like White’s material advantage is too big] 16. Bxc6 Nc4 [Doesn’t work 16... Bf4 and White needs to make 3 amazingly cool moves. 17.Kb1! Bf5 18. Bxa8! Rxa8 19. Re1! White is winning, but this sequence is far from obvious!] 17.Qd4 Other queen moves were also possible, but probably the move in the game is the best one — Why? Hmmm, probably it’s just a feeling :)

17... Be6! Good and logical 4


18. Bxa8 [18. Bxe8?? Be5! and the White queen doesn’t have any good squares. 19.Qh4 Bxb2+ 20.Kd1 Rxe8 with a mating attack!]

here! And it’s hard to say what’s going to be White’s next move. In case of: 22.b3 Bc5 23.bxc4 Ba3+ 24.Kb1 Rb8+ the position is drawn.]

18... Bb6 [18... Be5 19.Qxa7!]

22.c3! Whites keeps on playing great chess! 22.c3 A very important multi-functional move. The White king gets an escape square on c2, and the b3 move becomes a potential threat from now on.

19.Qd3 [If White t ries to hold the piece on a8, he could end up creating ugly complications for himslef. 19.Qe4 Be3+ 20.Kd1 Nxb2+ (A bit optimistic would be 20... Rd8+ 21.Ke1 Bb6 The position looks super dangerous for White, but the computer finds great defensive resources. 22.Bb7! An amazing move that’s hard to find in a practical game. 22...Ne3 23.Ba6! and probably White is doing better.) 21.Ke1 Bd7 If somebody is better here, probably it’s Black!] 19... Rxa8 20. Re1 Rd8 21.Qe4 Somehow, the position seems to have stabilized. Black has 3 pieces for a queen and 2 pawns. All of Black pieces are standing very active giving a lot of chances for tactical ideas. How to evaluate such a position? It’s very hard to say. I would say about equal, maybe just a little bit better for White.

22... Bc5 Reacting against the b3 move. 23. Re2 White keeps on improving his position. 23...h6 24.g3 [24.h4 was another way to weaken the pawn structure around the Black king.] 24...a5 Black has nothing to improve anymore, the apawn is the „last hero”. 25.f4 a4

26.f5! Another important moment, White solves in a great way. 21...g5? In my opinion, a terrible mistake by Black. He’s weakening the king for no reason, and the g-pawn would stand much better on g6! [21...g6 would be the right move

26... Bd5 27.Qd3 Bb6 28.b3! Finally the pawns are starting to move. 28...axb3 29.axb3 Na5 30. Re8+! White continues with his great play. [The computer move: 30.Qb5 Nxb3+ 5


31.Kb2 Na5 leads to a very strange position. 32. Re8+ Rxe8 33.Qxe8+ Kh7 34.Qd7 Bb3 35.Qb5 and the computer gives White a clear win, but don’t ask me why! This is very strange, it’s a very funny thing. Imagine the position: Black gives his knight for the pawn on c3. Is the position winning for White?!. Let’s see, Black has: Kg7, Bf6 and Be4. White has: Queen, King, and pawns. Can White win this? Doesn’t seem likely!]

37.c5 Bc7 [The last chance to fight would have been 37... Nc6! 38.Qa4 Bc7 39.b5 but it seems that here White will probably win the game, as well.] 38.Qd7 Nc6

30... Rxe8 31.Qxd5 Now Black has only one chance to make a draw, to give a a piece for 2 pawns. Is it possible to do?! Let’s see the game.

39.b5! The last precise move! 39...Na7 40.Qxc7 Nxb5 41.Qe5 Na7 42.Kd3 The White king is going to g3, then White will play h4, hxg, hxg, and Qe3. Black is totally paralized against this plan. A very interesting game and a well deserved winner! 1–0 31... Rd8 32.Qb5 Rd6 Black is getting the rook to the 6th rank, more precisely to f6, where it will be protected by the King on g7. At the same time, he will try to give one of his pieces for the 2 pawns, precisely on this 6th rank. 33.Kc2 Kg7 34.b4 Nb7 35.c4 Rf6 36.g4! White has no reason to hurry and to risk giving away the f5 pawn. [A big mistake would be 36.c5? Bxc5 37.bxc5 Rxf5! 38.Qxb7 Rxc5+ The Black rook is going to e6, and the position becomes a theoretical draw!] 36...Nd8 Black is trying to fight, but the position is hopeless. He can’t coordinate his pieces correctly. 6


(2) Aronian,Levon — Kramnik,Vladimir Zuerich (6), 27.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are in the last round of the historical match between two 2800+ players. The score is 2.5–2.5 and Aronian has the White pieces. It was obvious that he would press hard to win the match, but on the other hand, he had to be careful not to go too far.

7...Ne7!? Typical idea in the Ruy Lopez — to transfer the knight to g6. It wasconsidered as premature, since after 8.d4 Black has to give up his center. 8.h3 Aronian does not try to refute Kramnik’s idea. [8.d4 was the critical test of 7...Ne7. Let’s check what could have been Black’s preparation. 8...exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.h3 White has to prevent Bg4, it would have put big pressure on the central pawns. (10.Re1 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 Black is fine.) 10...Ng6

1.e4 This is the 3rd time that Aronian played 1. e4 on the match. I guess it was quite a big surprise for everybody. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 Kramnik had no reason to deviate from his pet Berlin line. It was Aronian who had to show something more. 4.d3 Here we are! In their previous games, Aronian went for the mainline with 4.0–0. Now, he is aiming for a more complex middlegame with more pieces on the board. 4... Bc5 5.Nbd2 d6 6.c3 0–0 7.0–0 The first critical moment of the game. In a well-known theoretical position, Kramnik practically comes up with a novelty.

11. Re1 The critical position. The computer suggests slow plans, but I don’t like it at all. However, a quick break in the center might solve Black’s opening problems. 11...d5!? 12.e5 Nh5! I like this move a lot, with the idea of quickly undermining the e5 pawn with f6! 13.Nb3! (The logical 13.Nf1 is probably a mistake. 13...c6 14. Bd3 (14.Ba4 f6 =+ 15.e6 Re8) 14...Nhf4 15. Bc2 f6 =+ Everything works as expected for Black.) 13...c6 14. Bd3 Nhf4 (14...f6? is too rush. 15.B xg6 hxg6 16.Nh4 +/-) 15. Bxg6 (White can’t keep his important bishop with 15.Bc2 because 15...f6! arrives in time.) 15...fxg6!? 16. Bxf4 Rxf4 and I like Black’s position. He has two bishops, the e5 passer will be blockaded with Be6 and the heavy pieces might cause prob7


lems on the f-file. A potential idea in the future could be g5-g4, with an attack.] 8...Ng6 9. Re1 White also prepares for the standard plan of driving his knight to g3. 9...c6 Kramnik decides to go back to one of the main lines by transposition. [In my opinion 9...a6 is worth a try in the future. 10. Ba4 b5 11. Bc2 Bb7 12.Nf1 (12.d4 Bb6 13.Nf1 c5) 12... Bb6 13.Ng3 d5 Black is fine in both lines.]

(19.f4 f6) 19...f5! 20. Re2 g5! 21. Bh2 f4! Closing the bishop out of the game. 22. Rae1 Bf5 with initiative.) 16. Bf4 Re8 17.e5 Nh7 18.Qd3 Nf8 Radjabov-Kramnik, Kazan 2011 (blitz). White could have gotten an advantage after 19.Qg3] 13... Be6 14.Nf1

10. Ba4 Re8 11.d4 Bb6 We usually get this position from the 7... Bb6 move order. 12. Bc2 White must overprotect the e4 pawn in order to transfer the knight to g3. 12...h6 13.a4!? is considered to be the critical move. White keeps his knight on d2 in order to prevent the 13.Nf1 d5 possibility. [13.Nf1 There was already a blitz game of Kramnik in this position. 13...d5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Rxe5?! was a mistake. (15...Nxe4 would have equalized comfortably. 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17.Qxd8 Bxd8 18. Rxe4 Bc7 19. Bf4 White can keep his extra pawn, but the activity of Black’s pieces will give more than enough compensation.

14...exd4! Very strong novelty! Black begins concrete actions in the center. [In the previous game Black got into trouble very soon. 14...Qc7 15.Ng3 Rad8 16. Be3 d5 and the central break ran into a strong refutation: 17.Nxe5! Nxe5 18. Bf4! Nfd7 19.a5! Bxa5 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.dxe5 +/- and White soon won in Alekseev-Jumabayev, Moscow 2012; 14...d5? 15.exd5] 15.Nxd4 It was a difficult decision, to obtain a strong center with 15. cxd4 or to play the f4 plan after 15.Nxd4. Black had his ideas after both captures. [15.cxd4 d5! 16.e5 Ne4 17.N1d2 (White wins a pawn only temporarily. 17.Bxe4? dxe4 18.Rxe4 Bd5) 17...f5! Very important move, either to keep the powerful e4 knight or to break White’s center. 18.exf6 Nxd2! 19.Bxd2 (19.Bxg6 Qxf6! 20.Bxe8 Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Qxf3 22.gxf3 Rxe8 =+ This exchange sacrifice was the whole point of 14...exd4!) 19...Qxf6 Black is fine.] 8


16...d5! If White had enough time to play Ng3, he could have prevented the d5 break forever.

19... Bxa5 20.Ng3 Bb6 21.Kh2! Prophylactic against the Qh4 ideas. [21.Nxe4?! would be a mistake. 21...Qh4! 22.Nd6 Nxf4! 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 24.Nxe8 Rxe8 Despite only having one pawn for the exchange, Black is clearly better due to his bishop pair and the weak e5 pawn.]

17.e5 Ne4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 Another critical position. White has to choose between three options. Black’s main idea is f6 or f5.

21...c5!? [In my opinion 21...Nh4 was a safer way to equality. 22.Nxe4 c5 23.Nf3 Nxf3+ 24.Qxf3 Bc6 with a balanced position.]

15... Bd7 Again, Black is ready for the d5 break. 16.f4! In order to have 17.e5 on 16...d5.

22.Ndf5 Bxf5 23.Nxf5 Qxd1 24. Rxd1

19.a5!? A really creative pawn sacrifice. We will get the point a few moves later. [19.Ng3 was the most logical move to take the e4 pawn with the knight. 19...f5! 20.exf6 Qxf6 Here we get the point of Aronian’s 19.a5 move. He wanted to avoid this recapture, because the bishop would hang on a5. 21.a5! (21.N xe4?! Qh4 again with very strong compensation) 21... Bxd4+ 22.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 23.cxd4 Nh4! 24. Rxe4 Nf5 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 White is a pawn up, but due to the appearance of opposite colored bishops and the activity of Black’s pieces, a draw would be the logical outcome of the game.; 19. Rxe4 was the least promising alternative, Black gets very strong initiative after 19...c5 20.Nf3 Bc6 21. Re1 c4+ 22.Kh2 (22.Nd4? Qh4 causes huge problems around the f4 pawn.) 22...f6 Black is fine.]

24... Rad8 Black is still a pawn up, but it is him who must be careful not to stay worse, due to the weaknesses of the e4 and b7 pawns, the bad b6 bishop and the hole on d6. When Aronian played 19.a5, he was hoping to get an advantage thanks to these factors. On the other hand, Kramnik is playing on f6, which could solve his problems. 25. Be3 [On 25. Re1 Rd5! 26.Nd6 Re7 and f6 is coming next.; 25.Nd6 f6! 26. Be3 Rf8 Black seems to equalize.] 25... Rd3! Very strong move, to complicate the matters. [The principled 25...f6 was premature. 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27.exf6 gxf6 28. Ra4! += with a clear advantage.] 26. Re1 Aronian refreshes the threat of Nd6. 9


26...f6! Black had to undermine the center, even if it costs him the h6 pawn. With this, he also gets rid of the d6 stronghold. 27.exf6 gxf6 28.Nxh6+ Kf8? The first mistake of the game! Black should have sent the knight to f5, we will soon understand why. [28...Kg7 was the right move. 29.Nf5+ Kf7 30. Ra4 Ne7! The exchange of knights was an important idea, which leads to complete equality!] 29. Ra4! Really strong move, Black has serious problems with his e4 pawn, due to the f5 threat! That’s why he should have forced the knight to f5 first. 29... Rd5 30.c4? A miscalculation by Aronian. [30.f5! would have given White a big advantage. 30... Bc7+ (30... Nh4 31.c4! and the knight is trapped.) 31.Kg1 Bg3 32. Rf1 Ne5 33. Rxe4 +/-] 30... Rd3! 31.b4?! The previous move was based on this idea. Aronian was hoping for 31...cxb4, but Kramnik found a brilliant idea!

32. Bxb6 axb6 33. Rxb4 Nxf4 34. Rxb6 Kg7 35.Ng4 += This unpleasant endgame was Aronian’s idea.] 32. Rxe3 cxb4 33. Rg3 There was no increment of 30 seconds in the match, and the time pressure made the tasks of both players even harder. [33. Re1 Nxf4] 33...e3 Logical move, but White survives. [33...Ne7!! was the winning move. Of course for computers this is an easy one. The next moves of the line are also amazingly hard to find for a human. 34.Ng4 (34.R xb4 Bc7 is the idea. White’s pieces are really poorly placed, he can not avoid losing big material.) 34...Nf5 35. Rb3 (35.Nxf6 Nxg3 36.Kxg3 (36.N xe8 Nf1+ An important „zwischenzug”!) 36... Re7 37.Nd5 Rg7+ 38.Kh2 e3 White can not stop the pawns.) 35...e3 36. Rb1 e2 37.Nxf6 (37.Re1 b3 38.N xf6 Bf2) 37... Re7 38.Nd5 Ne3! 39.Nxe7 Nd1! Black promotes a queen after this nice rank closing combo!] 34. Rxg6 e2 35. Ra1 [35. Rg8+ Ke7 36. Rxe8+ Kxe8 37. Ra1 Bf2 of course was not the way to play for White. The queenside passers decide the game.] 35... Bf2! [But not 35...e1Q?? 36. Rg8+ Ke7 37. Rxe1+] 36. Rg8+ Aronian logically goes for the b7 pawn. But at the same time, he helps the Black king to support his own pawns. [36. Rxf6+ Kg7 37. Rd6 e1Q 38. Rxe1 Rxe1 Black’s a- and b-pawns seem more dangerous than the f-g-h trio.]

31... Rxe3!! Black gets two very dangerous passers after this great exchange sacrifice. Suddenly, Black has a winning advantage. What a turn in the game! [31...cxb4

36...Ke7 37. Rg7+ Kd6 38. Rxb7 e1Q 39. Rxe1 Bxe1 40.Nf5+ [40. Rxa7 Kc6 41.Nf5 transposes to the 40.Nf5+ Kc6 line.]

10

Issue 10 (3) Sutovsky,E (2700) — Olszewski,M (2539) [B43]

4th of May 2012

Italian league, 29.04.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A typical Sicilian battle, with lots of tactical ideas. On the White side Emil Sutovsky, one of the bigest expert of attacking chess. 40...Kc5 The last move of the time trouble. An inaccuracy. Kramnik could have checked a bit more Aronian’s defensive abilities. [On 40...Kc6! 41. Rxa7 b3 42.Nd4+ Kb6 White has to find the only move to hold the draw. 43. Ra1! (However 43. Ra3 seems to lose after 43...b2 44. Rb3+ Kc5 45.Nc2 (45. Rxb2 Kxd4 46. Rb6 Re3!! Bg3 threatens with mate. (46...Bh4 47.g3!) 47.g4 Bh4 and on g5, Black always has f5.) 45... Bc3! 46.Na3 Ra8! 47.Nb1 (47.R xc3 R xa3!) 47... Bd4 48.Nd2 Ra4! and the Rb4 idea decides the game. Here is one line to demonstrate: 49.h4 Rb4 50. Rxb4 Kxb4 51.h5 Kc3 52.Nb1+ Kc2 53.Na3+ Kb3 54.Nb1 Ka2 55.c5 Kxb1 56.c6 Bb6 57.h6 Kc2 58.h7 b1Q Black should win.) 43... Bc3 44.c5+! Kb7 45. Rb1 Bxd4 46. Rxb3+ Kc6 47.g4 and White will be able to exchange the f6 pawn, and hold the draw.]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 b5 We are in the Paulsen variation. 6. Bd3 Qb6 Black wants to develope his queen to c7, but first he sends away the active d4 knight. This is a wellknown motif in this line. 7.Nf3 Theory considers this retreat of the knight as best. [7.Nb3 Qc7 and; 7. Be3 Bc5 are the other mainlines.] 7...Qc7 8.0–0 Bb7 9.Re1! White must ay in the center. The game does a good job in showing the ideas of this setup. 9... Be7 [9... Bc5 is an alternative for Black.]

41. Rb5+! Thanks to this small tactical trick, White forces a draw. 41...Kc6 [41...Kxc4?? 42.Nd6+] 42.Nd4+ Kc7 43. Rc5+ Draw agreed after a very interesting battle. We could see that both players had their chance to win the match, but it finished with a 3–3 result after all.[43. Rc5+ Kb7 44. Rb5+ Kc7] 1/2

10. Bd2! In the Sicilian defense, we can sometimes meet with this move. The idea is always the same, White wants to push a4, so he prepares for the b4 response. 11


10...d6 Black would like to develop his knight to d7 and prepare for Nf6. [10...b4 11.Na4 Nf6 12.c3! bxc3 13.Nxc3 and the rook comes to c1, which is going to be really annoying.; The direct 10...Nf6 would run into the dangerous 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxd5 Bxd5 13.Ng5 when Qh5 might cause serious problems.] 11.a4! bxa4 Black can rarely be happy with this capture. The optimal answer would be b4, but thanks to the 10. Bd2 move, White can build a very strong position. [11... b4 12.Na2 Black is forced to weaken his structure with 12...a5 13.c3 bxc3 14.Nxc3 and the knight on b5 creates big problems.(In this case the direct 14.Rc1! is even stronger. 14...Nf6 15.B xc3 Qd8 16.Qb3 White is already close to winning.)] 12.e5! I like this move a lot. White does not want to allow Nd7 to his opponent. [12. Rxa4 Nd7 13.Qe2 Nc5 14. Rc4 Qd8 would be unclear, if Black manages to finish his development with Nf6, he is completely fine.]

14...0–0 Black finally managed to finish his development, but as You can see, due to the Bd2-a4 idea, the rook joins the attack. 15. Bf4 Strong move, but I feel 15. Rh4 was more principled. The text move cuts the rook from the attack. [15. Rh4!? Nc6 (15...Nbd7? 16.Bf4! Qd8 17.N xd7 Qxd7 18.B xh7+ +- wins the queen.) 16. Bf4 Qd8 and here, from the many good-looking options 17. Rh3 is the one I like the most, with the main idea of Bxh7 and Qh5 mate, and Rg3 might be also very unpleasant.] 15...Qd8 16. Rd4? I don’t like this at all. It moves into the Nc6 move, with tempo. I think Sutovsky had already seen his 18th move and could not resist the temptation. [16. Re3! Nc6 17. Rh3! should be a winning attack.] 16...Qe8 17. Bg5 Nc6! Here comes the idea:

12...dxe5 [12...Nd7 is met with 13.exd6 Bxd6 14.Ne4! Bxe4 15. Bxe4 and White gets the bishop pair. 15... Rd8 16. Rxa4 Nc5 loses the a nice queen sacrifice. 17. Ba5!! Bxh2+ 18.Nxh2 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Qc8 20. Rc4 +-] 13.Nxe5 Nf6 [13...Nd7 14. Bf4 +/-] 14. Rxa4 18.Nd5!? Beautiful move, but unfortunately only leads to a draw. [18. Rh4 Nxe5 19. Rxe5 g6 Black has enough time to reduce the power of the attack.] 18...Nxd4! Only move! [After 18...Nxd5 the nicest part of the game is coming: 19. Bxh7+! Kh8 (19...Kxh7? leads to a quick mate. 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Rh4 +-) 20. Rh4! (Strange12


ly, White has nothing after 20.Qh5 B xg5! The bishop defends everything from h6.) 20... Bxg5 Critical moment. Where to jump with the h7 bishop?

23. Rxh6 f5 Here we get the point. We realizae why the bishop had to retreat to e4 in the 21st move. 24. Bxd5! Nxe5 (24...exd5 25.N xc6 +-) 25. Bxe6+ Nf7 26. Rg6 +White wins.) 23. Rxh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. Rxe5 Qa4 Another very important moment. The Black queen wants to join the battle through f4, how to avoid it? (25...gxh6 26.Qxh6 +-; 25...Nf6 26.Bd3+ Kg8 27.R xf6! gxf6 28.Rg5+ fxg5 29.Qxg5+ Kh8 30.Qh6+ Kg8 31.Qh7#)

21. Be4+!! (21.Bd3+ Bh6 and on the winning idea 22.Qc1 Kg8 23.R xh6 Black has 23...f5!! with an extra piece.) 21... Bh6 (21...Kg8? 22.Qh5 Bh6 23.Ng4 +-) 26. Be4+! Kg8 27.b3!! and this is why the queen must stay on c1. There is no mate on a1 now. 27...Qd4 (On 27... Qb4 28. Bh7+ Kh8 29. Re4! Qe7 30. Bf5+ Kg8

22.Qc1!! An incredibly hard move to find. The idea itself is obvious, but why not 22.Qd2 ?? The answer is, White must protect his backrank! Who could care about it in this position?... (22.Qd2 N xe5 23.R xh6+ Kg8 24.Bh7+ Kh8 25.R xe5 Black has 25...Qa4!! and the same win seen after 22.Qc1 does not work anymore. White must give perpetual check. 26.Bd3+ Kg8 27.Bh7+) 22...Nxe5 (22...Kg8

31. Reh4! Nice position, but it still requires accurate moves. 31...g6 (31...gxh6 32.Rg4+!) 32. Rh7!! with the idea 13


of Qh6, and on 32...exf5 (32...gxf5 33.Rh8+ Kg7 34.Qh6#) 33. Rh8+ Kg7 34.Qb2+!! Black must push f6, when mate follows.) 28. Bh7+ Kh8 29. Bd3+ Kg8 30. Re4 Here again the same idea: to transfer the rook to the h-file with tempo. 30...Qc3 (30...Qxe4 31.B xe4 gxh6 32.Qxh6 f5 33.Qxe6+ +-) 31. Rc4! Qe5

20...Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22. Bxg7! Destroying all the defenders, although there is nothing more than perpetual check. 22...Kxg7 23.Qg4+ Kh7 24.Qh5+ [24. Re3?? would be too optimistic. 24...Nf3+! 25.Nxf3 Rg8 The king finds shelter on f8 and Black wins the game.] 24...Kg7 25.Qg4+ Kh7 26.Qh5+ Kg7 27.Qg4+ 1/2

As usual, White can win another big tempo with the bishop check: 32. Bh7+! Kh8 33. Bg6+! This time to g6 33...Kg8 34. Rh5!! Qf6 (34...Qe2 35.Bh7+! Kh8 36.Rh3 +-) 35. Bh7+ Kh8 36. Rch4 +- And mate is coming. Wonderful line! Of course, it is quite impossible for us human beings to find it, but we can still enjoy the accuracy of the machines!; 18...exd5 leads to a bad position. 19.Nxc6 Qxc6 (19...B xc6 20.B xf6 +-) 20. Rxe7 +/-] 19. Bxf6! Bxd5! The young Polish grandmaster finds all the only moves! [19... Bxf6 would lose to 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Qg4+! Kh8 22.Qh4 f5 23.Qf6+ Kg8 24. Re3! Black has nothing, other than 24...Nf3+ 25.Nxf3 Qd8 26.Qh6! Bxf3 27. Rxf3 Qd4 28.c3! Qe5 29. Re3! and White wins the queen or gives mate.] 20. Bxh7+! Who says A must say B as well!

14


(4) Sanikidze,T (2587) — Naiditsch,A (2702) [A61] Nancy,Rapid, 29.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] This is my game from a recent rapid tournament in Nancy. We will see a big fight in the Benoni with many interesting tactical motifs and, of course, a lot of mistakes — which are difficult to avoid when you play with a time control of 15 min + 3 sec. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 My first attempts to play the „Benoni” went quite horribly wrong. I was simply losing in all of my games. Lately, things are getting better and, of course, it is a great fighting opening to use in rapid chess, especially when You are looking for an open fight against an specific opponent! 4.d5 d6 [4...exd5 would not be precise now. 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4! and White uses a pleasent move order.] 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 a6 I like to include the moves a6-a4, some players don’t, I guess it’s matter of taste.

7.a4 g6 8. Bf4 This is already quite a rare move. Usually White plays Bf4 when Black doesn’t include the moves a6-a4. 8... Bg7 9.e3 0–0 [An attempt to trap the bishop doesn’t work out well here. 9...Nh5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 0–0 12.Nd2! This is a typical move for many different kinds of structures. White’s next move is Be2 or g4, and the knight on h5 is going to face big trouble.] 10.h3 A profilactic move against Nh5. 10...Nh5 [10... Re8 11. Bd3 against Black’s Ne4. 11... Nbd7 The attempt to develop the pieces in a „standard way” is not going good. 12. Bxd6! Qb6 13. Bh2 Qxb2 14.Qc1! The key move! Now White is doing clearly better. (14.Rc1 Ng4!)] 11. Bh2 f5 12. Be2 It’s usually hard to say what’s the best place for the bishop, e2 or d3. In this position I also think that 12. Be2 looks very logical and human. 12...f4 In case You play the Benoni, there is no time to lay back! No hesitations are allowed! 13.0–0 [13.e4 Nd7 and Black is doing very fine.]

15


13...fxe3?! A very risky move by me. [13...Qe7 would have been the right choice. I was a bit afraid of 14.Qd2 Bh6! This is the move I underestimated, White is now basically forced to play e4 and the bishop on h2 is almost dead, besides the center is stable — which is definitely a big achievement for Black. (14...fxe3 15.Qxe3! and White has a big advantage.) 15.e4 Nd7 with a very fighting position.]

18.Nde4. 18... Bxc3! But then I found this move, not an easy one. It is hard to give away such a piece. 19.Nxc3 Ng3+ 20. Bxg3 Qxg3 21. Bg4 Ne5! 22.Ne4 Qh4 With an unclear position.]

14.fxe3 Qe7 If I was in time to play Nd7-e5 my position would be very nice! 15.Kh1 Nd7 Just one move left to get the Ne5 move. 16.Nd2! Good move by my oponent. White acts with concrete play, now things are getting very sharp. 16... Rxf1+ Before playing Rxf1 I thought for some time. I didn’t know if I should go for the immediate 16... Qxe3, but this looked too dangerous, so I decided to play the move in the game first. 17.Qxf1 Qxe3 A dangerous move that leaves White with a big choice of interesting moves, but once again, the Benoni is not the right opening if You want to be safe. [17...Ne5 This move looks more solid, but Black has to face some problems. 18.g4 (18.B xh5 Usually this kind of move doesn’t give White any advantage, Black is in time to develop his pieces nicely. 18...gxh5 19.Nf3 Bd7 The development is finished. 20.N xe5 B xe5 21.B xe5 Qxe5 with a good position for Black. Re8 will be the next move, then the exchange of Queens if possible. Only White is taking a risk here.) 18...Nf6 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Nc4 Qe7 21.Qf4 Ne8 22.Qe4 Qd8 23. Rf1 Bd7 24.a5]

18...Ng3+ I’m taking away my opponent’s strongest piece, the black square bishop. 19. Bxg3 Qxg3 20.Ne4 Qh4 21.Nexd6 Nf6 I calculated up to this position, and was quite happy with it, waiting for my oponent to play Nb6. 22.Nb6 And indeed 22.Nb6 was played, I had the feeling that my opponent blundered my next move.

18.Nc4! [18.Nde4 I spent some time before playing 17...Qxe3, because I could not find what to do against 16


22... Bxh3! A nice and typical tactical idea! Black is sacrificing a piece for a direct attack on the king!

doesn’t give anything for White. 26... Rxd6 27. Ra8+ Bf8 28.Ng4 h5 and Black is close to winning.]

23.gxh3! [23.Nxa8? After the gam e Tornike asked me what would I have play against 23.Nxa8? and I told him 23... Bf5+ 24.Kg1 Ng4! Black is winning thanks to the double mate threat on h2 and d4. A very beautiful position!]

26...Ne4 27. Ra3 A very logical move — and a mistake. [27.Qg2! Rf8 28.Kg1!! The computer evaluetes this position as almost winning for White. Well, in a practical rapid game, it doesn’t look clear at all. And of course, to find 27.Qg2 and 28. Kg1!! in the next move is very very hard.]

23... Rd8! Nothing else seems to work for Black. [23... Rf8 would be a mistake because of 24.Qg2 Nh5 25. Bxh5 Rf2 26.Qg4! and of cour se White is winning, although a move like Qg4 is not easy at all to see in a rapid game!]

27... Rf8 28.Qg1 [28.Qg2? Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Rf2]

24.Nbc4 What else to do for White?!

29.Kh2 At first, I thought this move loses for White [29. Kg2 Rf5! with a very strong attack.]

24...b5 [24... Bf8 This move w as the other option I had considered during the game, but somehow I felt that it looked very unnatural. Maybe it would have been a good option for Black. 25.Nxb7 Ne4 26. Ra3 Rd7! This is the key move, Black is attacking the knight on b7 and at the same time preparing to play Rf7!]

28...Nf2+ [28... Bh6!? was an interesting option here, but short on time, I decided to go for more concrete play where I thought, I was almost winning.]

29... Bh6 [29...Nxh3! Of course, I wanted to play it. 30.Qg4 but after I saw 30.Qg4 I could not find anything for me... too bad, I missed an amazingly beautiful win! (30.R xh3 Rf2+) 30... Rf2+ 31.Kh1 Rf1+! 32.Kh2

25.axb5 axb5

26.Nxb5! It’s hard not to panic with White, all the Black pieces are placed in perfect attacking positions. [26.Ne5?

32... Rh1+!! This is the move I blundered! 33.Kxh1 Nf2+ and of course Black is winning.]

17


30.Qg2 From here on the game became completely hectic. Both of us had less than 2 minutes on the clock. 30...Ne4 [30... Rf5!? was probably the right move here!] 31. Rf3 Bf4+ 32.Kg1 Ng5? [It wasn’t too late to play 32... Rf5! Again, the right move, why dind’t I play it!? :)] 33. Ra3 Qe1+ 34. Bf1 39...Qc1+ 40. Bf1 Qf4 41. Bg2 And we reached a drawn position. 41...Qc1+ 42. Bf1 Qf4 43. Bg2 Qc1+ I think it a very interesting game with a lot of tactical motifs for both sides. A typical game in the Benoni! 1/2

34...Ne4 [I was afraid of playing 34... Bh2+ 35.Kxh2 Rf2 36.Kg1 Rxg2+ 37.Kxg2 and here I thought I should be clearly worse, but 37...Qe4+ 38.Kg1 Qf4 probably gives Black good drawing chances, even if it looks a bit strange.] 35.Qe2? My oponent panics and it’s hard to blame him, he was short on time and under the attack of all the Black pieces. The cool [35.d6! Bg3 36.d7 Bf2+ 37.Kh2! +would have probably given the full point to White, even though everything is still more or less open, and there’s such a little amount of time left ‚til the end of the game.] 35... Bh2+ 36.Kxh2 Rf2+ 37.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 38. Bg2 Qf4+ 39.Kg1

18


Puzzle section

(7) Safarli,E (2645) — Rasulov,V (2526) Nakhchivan Open, 29.04.2012

(5) Collutiis,D (2493) — Brunello,M (2263) Italian league, 28.04.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Mammadov,Z (2378) — Guseinov,G (2616) (6) Antoniewski,R (2559) — Olszewski,M (2539) Italian league, 28.04.2012 [CEWN]

Nakhchivan Open, 29.04.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1. +-

19


(9) Czebe,A (2477) — Arun Prasad,S (2517)

(11) Xiu Deshun (2492) — Wen Yang (2549)

Melaka Open, 29.04.2012

Chinese league, 29.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Vaibhav,S (2494) — Maze,S (2577)

(12) Motylev,A (2683) — Wan Yunguo (2441)

Lille Open, 25.04.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

20


(13) Nozdrachev,V (2449) — Stukopin,A (2485) Sochi, 26.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Bukavshin,I (2504) — Fedoseev,V (2548) Sochi, 26.04.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

21


Endgame section (15) Brunello,Sabino — Caruana,Fabiano CIS 2012 — Serie Master (3), 28.04.2012 [Chess Evolution] 65...Kc3 The Black king starts his march to g1. 66.Ng4 Bb6 A waiting move, now White needs to move the knight away from g4, allowing Black to start the king march.

Black has been better throughout the game, but White fought relentlessly. So it took Black quite some time to reach this winning endgame. Let us take a look at it.

67.Nh2 [67.Ne5 Wouldn’t get anything 67...Kd4 68.Nc6+ Ke4 69.Nb4 and Black can finish with a nice mating idea. 69...f1Q+! 70.Kxf1 Kf3 71.Nd3 e2+ 72.Ke1 Ba5+ 73.Nb4 Bxb4#] 67...Kd4 68.Nf1 Ke4 White is hopeless and can only watch the Black king going to g1.

62...e3 63.a7 The only move. 63... Bxa7! 64.Ne5 The last chance for White to try to blockade the Black pawns on the black squares. [64.Nxa7 f2+ 65.Ke2 f1Q+ 66.Kxf1 Kd2] 64...f2+ 65.Ke2 We reached a position which doesn’t like a simple win, but in fact it is! White has no chance to hold the fortress and the position of zugzwang will arrive inevitably. 69.Ng3+ Kf4 70.Nh5+ Kg4 71.Nf6+ Kh3 72.Nd5 Kh2! Of course, some level of accuracy is needed. [72... 22


Kg2? 73.Nf4+ Kg1 74.Nh3+ and White keeps on fighting.] 73.Nf4 Black wanted to play Kg1. 73... Bc7! 74.Nd5

74...Kg1! The Black king has reached his final destination. 75.Nxe3 Bf4 76.Nf1 Kg2 Great technique by the young Italian Super GM! 0–1

(16) Yu Yangyi (2615) — Wang Rui (2407) Chinese league, 30.04.2012 [Chess Evolution]

We took this bishop endgame from the Chinese Team Championship. Is it a draw or is it winning? The White king should squeeze out the opponent’s king to get access to the pawns. We can quickly realise that it is only possible with the help of zugzwang. 56.Ka6 Bg8 Black would like to see the winning plan and starts passing with the bishop. [If Black transfers his king to e7 and, only then, starts the waiting policy: 56... Kd8 57.Kb7 Ke7 58.Kc7 Bg8 59. Bc6 Bf7 60. Bd7 Bg8 61. Be6! White can transpose to a pawn endgame with precise calculation. 61... Bxe6 62.fxe6 Kxe6 63.Kc6! f5 (63...Ke7 64.Kxd5 Kd7 65.c4 Due to the paralized kingside pawns, the endgame is hopeless for Black. 65...Ke7 66.c5 dxc5 67.dxc5 Kd7 68.c6+ Kc7 69.Kc5 +-) 64.gxf5+ Kxf5 65.Kxd5 g5 66.hxg6 Black has to lose an important tempo to take back the g-pawn... 66...Kxg6 67.Kxd6 h5 68.Ke5! The only way to win! 68...Kg5 (68...h4 69.Kf4 +-) 69.d5 h4 70.d6 h3 71.d7 h2 72.d8Q+ +-] 23


57.Ka7 In the next few moves, White is thinking about his plan. This is the right technique, if you have time for everything, don’t hurry to a decision! 57... Bf7 58. Bb5

mote a queen. 70.Kxg7 d3 71.Kxh6 d2 72.Kg7 d1Q 73.h6 +- Black has no chance to stop the h-pawn, while the bishop covers the king from the checks on both sides. But of course, there was no need for such a big amount of „risk”.] 1–0

58... Bg8 At this moment, White found the way to win, realising the existence of the zugzwang position. 59.Ka6! The king must stay on a6, we will soon understand why... [59. Be8 Kd8 60. Bg6 Now the Black bishop is paralyzed, but Black can block the king’s route, using the opposition. 60...Kc7 61.Ka6 Kc6] 59... Bf7 60. Ba4! Bg8 61. Be8! Kd8 [61... Bh7 62. Bf7! +-] 62. Bg6! Kc7 63.Ka7! Here we are! Black has to move with his king, but this opens the path for White. Just like in a pawn endgame, White wins with the opposition. 63...Kc6 [63...Kc8 64.Kb6 +-] 64.Kb8! Kb5 65.Kc7 Kc4 66.Kxd6 Kxc3 67.Ke7! Kxd4 68.Kf8 The poor Black bishop is trapped. 68...Kc3 69.Kxg8 d4 70. Be8 Black resigned.[It’s quite funny that White wins even after allowing Black to pro24


Clash of the Titans (17) Bolbochan,Jacobo — Euwe,Max [E86] Mar del Plata Mar del Plata, 1947 [Balogh Csaba] In the next two editions, we will study the games of the 5th World Champion, the one who could defeat Alekhine, Max Euwe. He got to the top of the chess world in 1935 at the age of 34 and kept his title for 2 years, when Alekhine beat him in the rematch.

8...c6 Black’s opening strategy is clear. He wants to open the center while the White king is stucked on e1. 9.Qd2 d5 10.cxd5! cxd5 11.e5 The Argentinian Master reacts correctly! This is the only way to fight for the advantage. He creates a blockaded isolated pawn on d5... if he can solve the position of his king, he gets a clear edge. 11...Ne8 12.f4 f6! Of course, Black must try to open the position as quickly as possible.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 The Saemisch system of the King’s Indian defense enjoys big popularity even in our days! 5...0–0 6. Be3 Black can choose between several different setups. Theory considers 6...c5 as the best option. 6...e5 7.Nge2 [7.d5 is the other mainline.] 7...exd4 A rare sideline compared to 7...c6 for example, but don’t forget that we are in 1947 now. 8.Nxd4

13.Nf3?! This is a mistake. [The correct way of handling the position was showed by the great Hungarian Grandmaster, Lajos Portisch, 20 years after the current game! 13.e6! Nc6 (On 13...f5 14.e7 Qxe7 15.N xd5 Qd8 16.Nc3 Nf6 17.0–0–0 White enjoys a big advantage: his pieces are much better placed and the bishop arrives to c4 soon.) 14.f5! White blocks the g7 bishop and disturbs the pawn structure. 14...gxf5 15.0–0–0 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Bxe6 17.Kb1! White sacrificed two pawns and made a silent move. He is much better due to the superiority of his pieces. 17...Nc7 (Opening the long diagonal does not solve the problems. 17...f4 18.B xf4 f5 19.Be5 B xe5 20.Qxe5 +/- The king remains vulnerable.) 18. Bd3 Qd7 19.Qh4 a6 20.Na4 (The positional 20.Ne2 +/- followed by Nd4 25


was also good, but the text move is even better.) 20...Qf7 (20...d4 21.Nc5 Qd5 22.N xe6 N xe6 23.Bc2! was the idea behind 20.Na4!) 21.Nc5 Bc8 22.g4 +- White won in an excellent style, Portisch-Bouaziz, Sousse 1967. After this defeat, strong players never repeated Euwe’s idea.] 13...Nc7 14.0–0–0 Too brave. White should have prefered castling kingside. [14.exf6 Bxf6 15. Be2 Nc6 16. Rd1 Re8 17.0–0 Qe7 18.Ne5 with counterplay.(Or 18.Bd4 )] 14...Nc6! Development is more important than the d5 pawn! White consequently goes for the challange. 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5+ [16. Bc4 would give up the bishop pair. 16...Nce7 17. Bxd5+ Nxd5 18.Qxd5+ Qxd5 19. Rxd5 Bf5! with more than enough compensation for the pawn. The rooks are joining the battle and Be4 is also a threat.] 16...Qxd5 17. Rxd5 fxe5 18.fxe5 [The saying „less pieces, less problems” does not help this time. 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.fxe5 Be6 20. Ra5 b6 21. Ra4 Bxe5 Black wins back the pawn. It’s easy to feel the difference between the bishops of each side.] 18... Be6! Developing with tempo is something that should never be missed. :)

19... Rac8! Despite having no queens on the board, the White king is under a serious attack. 20.Kb1? [20.Kd2 The only safe place for the king was f2, even if he needed to run through the board after doing this. 20...b6 21. Be2 Rfd8+ 22.Ke1 Here, the computer suggests the subtle 22... Rd5! (22...B xa2 =+ Black can, of course, take back the pawn at any moment.) 23. Rxd5 Bxd5 24.Kf2 Nxe5 with a big advantage.] 20... Rxf3!! Great tactical idea! We soon understand why Euwe eliminated the knight. [20... Bf5+? 21.Ka1 White is fine.] 21.gxf3 Bf5+ 22.Kc1 [And now on 22.Ka1 Black has 22...Nd4!! It is over now, that was the reason for the exchange sacrifice.] 22...Nd4+ 23.Kd1 Nxb5 24. Bxb5 Bxe5 Black restored the material balance and preserved the superiority of his pieces. 25.b3 [On 25. Bxa7 Black has a very strong response with 25... Bf4! 26. Re1 Rc1+ 27.Ke2 Rc2+ 28.Kf1 Bh3+ 29.Kg1 Bxh2+ 30.Kh1 Bg3 Everything was more or less forced, and now the h-pawn joins the attack and decides the outcome of the game.]

19. Rb5

26


25... Rc2! Activity is the most important factor! 26. Bc4+ Kg7 27.a4 Ra2 From now on, we can enjoy the spectacular domination of the Black pieces.


28. Re1 Bc3! Euwe does not give a chance for counterplay.

(18) Weenink,H

29. Rf1 [29. Re2 Ra1+ 30. Bc1 Bb4! followed by Ba3.]

[CEWN]

29... Rxh2 30. Bxa7 Rd2+! Black wins a tempo due to the mating net.

1. =

1918

31.Kc1 Ra2 32.Kd1 h5! There is nobody that can stop the h-pawn! 33.f4 Bc2+! Improving the bishop with the same mating net trick. 34.Kc1 Be4 35.Kd1 h4 And White resigned! A nice game by Euwe, showing a great use of the activity of his pieces. 0–1

27


Solutions

(21) Vysochin,S (2550) — Grinev,V (2404) Nabokov memorial, 19.04.2012

(19) Ahmadinia,E (2379) — Amin,B (2608)

[Solutions]

Dubai Open, 22.04.2012 [Solutions]

25. Rdxd5! Qb7 [25...exd5 26.Qxc8+ Rxc8 27. Rxa6+-] 26. Rdb5! Qe4 27.Qe3 Qc2 28.Qe1 1–0 18...Nxd4!! 19.Qxd4 [19.Kg2 Nxf3 20.Qxf3 Bd7] 19...Nf5! 20.Qf4 g5!–+

(22) Hamitevici,V (2436) — Nyzhnyk,I (2585) Nabokov memorial, 22.04.2012

(20) Baklan,V (2612) — Sachdev,T (2414)

[Solutions]

Dubai Open, 23.04.2012 [Solutions]

27.Nxf7! Kxf7 28.Qg6+ Kf8 29. Rg3! Bd6 30. Bxf6+-

36.Nxe7!! Kxe7 [36...Qd8 37.Nc6 Nxd5! 38.Nxd5 Nxc6 39.Qb7] 37.Ne4! Qxd5 38.Nxd6! Qd1+ [38...Qxd6 39. Bc5+-] 39.Kh2 Bf8 [39...Kd7 40.Ne4+-] 40.Ne4++28


(23) Belous,V (2524) — Predke,A (2461)

(25) Thiede,L (2458) — Siebrecht,S (2468)

Sochi, 21.04.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21. Rxh7! Qxh7 [21...fxg4 22. Rh8+ Kg7 23. R1h7#] 22.Qc4+ Qf7 23. Rh8+! Kxh8 24.Qxf7 Bxc5 25.e6! b6 [25... Bxe6 26.Qxe6+-] 26.Qe8+ Kg7 27.Qc6 Bxe6 28.Qxa8+-

25...e4!! 26. Be3 [26.dxe4 Nxe2+ 27.Nxe2 Rxd2–+; 26.Nxe4 Nxe2+ 27.Kg2 f5–+] 26...exd3 27. Bxd4 dxe2 [27...cxd4–+] 28.Nxe2 cxd4–+

(24) Bromberger,S (2513) — Likavsky,T (2486)

(26) Bacallao Alonso,Y (2550) — Gonzalez Garcia,J (2529)


Catalanian league, 17.04.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27.Nf8+! 1–0[27.Nf8+ 28.Qh6#]

Kh8

(27...R xf8 28.gxh4+-)

33. Rxf7+!! Kxf7 [33...Kg8 34.Qc6!+-] 34.fxe6+ Kxe6 35. Bxd5+ Qxd5 36. Re1+ Kd6 37.Qa6++29


(27) Movsesian,S (2715) — Swiercz,D (2585)

(29) Horwitz,B


1884

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

29.Qxh7+! Qxh7 30. Bd5+!! Rf7 [30...Qf7 31. Rh8+ Kg7 32. R1h7#] 31. Bxf7+! 1–0[31. Bxf7+ Qxf7 32. Rh8+ Kg7 33. R1h7#] (28) Radulski,J (2552) — Rusev,K (2516)

1. Bf2+! Kh5 2.g4+! Kh6 3.Kf6! Kh7 [3... Bh7 4. Be3#] 4.g5 Kh8 5. Bd4! Kh7 [5... Bh7 6.Kxf7#] 6. Ba1 Kh8 7.g6! fxg6 8.Kxg6# 1–0

Bulgarian Championship, 22.04.2012 [Solutions]

16... Bxh3!! [16...exd4?? 17.Qxe8+ Nxe8 18. Rxe8#] 17.gxh3 exd4 18.Qf1 Rxe1 19.Qxe1 d3! [19... Re8? 20.Qf1!] 20. Bb3 [20. Bd1 Re8 21.Qf1 Ne4–+] 20...Qf3 21. Be3 Re8 22.Nd2 Qxh3 0–1 30

Weekly Newsletter



11th of May 2012

A great month of chess is ahead of us. The Gelfand-Anand WCC match, a super-tournament in Malmo, the US Championships, the Capablanca Memorial. All events of high interest and great chess!


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3

»» Puzzle section

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25

»» Solutions

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In the current 11th issue of CEWN, we made a little exception: instead of the usual 4 games from the past week, we selected only 3, and Balogh Csaba commented his game from 2011 against Delchev — it was a request from a CEWN subscriber. In the current issue, we advise You to pay more attention to the endgame section, we have put together a very interesting one this time. Dear subscriber, in case You have a special request, or a wish too see a commented game of one of your “heroes”, please don’t hesitate to drop us an e-mail. We cannot promise to fulfill every wish, but we will try. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the CEWN Nr 11! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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7...Nc8 This move has pros and cons. The con is that after c6-c5, Black will be never able to develop the knight nicely to c6. The pro is that White can’t play Nh4 anymore.

(1) Caruana,Fabiano (2767) — Genov,Petar (2463) [B12]

8.Nbd2 Be7 Black managed reach a very solid position, Nh4 doesn’t work anymore. Black will try to use this time to castle short, play c5, and have a very normal position.

TCh-ITA 2012 Arvier ITA (5), 30.04.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will be now spectators of a great game by the current number 7 in the World showing us how to crush the CaroKann. Fabiano demonstrates many typical ideas with his almost perfect play! This game is like a lecture! 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6.c3!? This is Caruana’s specialty! The position is not easy to play at all! There are many tricks that we will discover in the coming moves. [6.0–0 is another main line here.]

9.Ne1! A very strong move by White with a “double” idea! He wants to play g4 followed by f4-f5, and at the same time, the Nd3-f4 maneuver is always possible. 9... Bg6?! The first clear inaccuracy. [9...h6 10.g4 Bh7 11.f4 Qb6! would lead to a slightly worse, but normal position for Black.]

10.Nd3 If the first idea doesn’t work, you always have the second one :). 6...Nd7 7.0–0 [Can White give an early try to exchange the bishop on f5?! 7.Nh4 Be4! . Black should not give the bishop away for “free” 8.Nd2 Ng6! . Here we see a typical “Caro-Kann trick”. 9.Nxe4 (9.Nhf3 Bf5 and Black managed to save the bishop.) 9...Nxh4 10. Bg5 Nxg2+ 11.Kf1 Qb6 with a very unclear position.]

10...c5 11.Nf4 cxd4 12.Nxg6 White completed his first mission, to exchange the knight for the strongest Black piece, the White square bishop. 12...hxg6 13.cxd4 In this position, White is doing a bit better — maybe even more than a bit better. His idea is clear, to block the queenside, and try to develop some

3


play on the kingside. Caruana is doing it impressively good. 13...Qb6?! Probably, this move is not really necessary for Black. [13...a6 14.Nf3 Na7 The Black knight’s place is on c6, and Black should get there as soon as possible.] 14.Nf3 a6 Finally, the right plan. 15.g3! Against the Black pawn structure with d5-e6-f7g7-g6, it is very good to put the pawns on g3-h4! 15...Na7

16.h4 The second part of White’s plan is done: the pawn structure is perfect. Now it is important not to give Black any counter play on the queenside. 16... Rc8 17. Rb1 A very good preventive move. White is not in a hurry to play b3 or a3, which would immediately create a weakness in the pawn structure. He prefers to stay flexible. 17...Nc6 18.Kg2 Nb4 Black has basically no plan. To castle short is always too dangerous because White’s Rh1 and h5.

19.a3 Nc6 Black managed to create a little attacking spot on White’s pawn structure, but lost 2 moves doing this Nb4-c6 maneuver. 20. Be3 Na5 21.Nd2! and White is again just in time to block the b3 and c4 squares. 21...Qc7 Now we can clearly see that 13...Qb6 was not the best Black could do. 22. Bd3 Now that everything is “safe” on the queenside, White starts with the final step — to attack the Black king. 22...Nc4 23.Qg4 We can immediately see how dangerous Black’s position suddenly is. Now Black has to be always very careful with moves like Bxg6, or Rh1 and h5.

23...b5 [23...Nxe3+ 24.fxe3 would only lead to a deadly attack for White. Black has no “entry” path on the queenside.] 24.Nf3! White is bringing another piece into the attack, now Bxg6 is already a threat! 24...Ndb6 25. Bg5 Another good move by White. The Black knights are standing very nicely, but are quite useless! White doesn’t only have the attack options now, but 4


also b3 could be a very dangerous for Black in the right moment.

32.Nxg5 Rh6

25...a5 This move allows White to finish the game in style. [25...Qd7 26. Rh1 with a big advantage for White.]

33.Nh7+! A great game by White! 1–0

26. Bxg6! The beginning of Black’s end. 26...fxg6 27.Qxe6 a4 It is amazing, but Black has no moves! White just wanted to play b3 and after Nxa3 win the game with Rbc1. Black is totally paralized. 28.b3! +- A nice finishing move! White brings another piece into the attack. 28...axb3 [28...Nxa3 29. Rbc1! Qd7 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31. Bxe7+ Qxe7 32.Qxb6 +-] 29. Rxb3 And the rook will end the game soon with the Rf3 check. Funny to see a rook from a1 on f3 in a CaroKann! 29...Qd7 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 31. Re1 Bringing the last piece into the attack. Great, and very cool, play by White. 31... Bxg5 This move looses immediately, but other choices would just make the game longer, without any effect on the result. 5


(2) Postny,E — Stojanovic,D [D19] Saraevo, 07.05.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very interesting game from Sarajevo. White sacrificed a pawn to get the bishop pair. Almost during the whole game, he had to play with a material disadvantage, but the activity of his pieces gave very strong compensation. The position was really sharp, so we will see serious mistakes from both sides. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 The Slav defense with 5.. . Bf5. This is the mainline, but recently we see more often 5...e6. 6.e3 [6.Ne5 is the other option for White, which usually leads to a more sharp game.] 6...e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Qe2 We are at the beginning of the line, Black has a wide choice of moves now. It is a matter of taste to choose one or another. 9... Bg4 [Theory considers 9...Nbd7 to be the main move 10.e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 with many games, even on the highest level.] 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3

11...Nbd7 Black gave up the bishop pair, but has a very solid position. His future plans are connected with the e5 and c5 pushes, while White should try to play e4 in the right moment to open the diagonal for the c1 bishop, and gain space in the center. 12. Rd1 [12.e4 is premature because of the standard reaction 12...e5!] 12... Rc8 The most frequent move used in practice. Black prepares for the c5 break. [12...e5 was played by Carlsen in 2008, but after 13.d5 Bxc3 14.dxc6 e4 15.Qe2 Be5 16.cxd7 Qe7 Black usually has to suffer for a draw against the two bishops, and he has no chance to win at all.] 13.Qe2 White prepares for the e4 push, but it seems to be too slow. [13.e4 e5! 14. Be3! is the critical line, Black has to show some new ideas, because the previous games gave an advantage for White.(14.dxe5 N xe5! was the tactical explanation of the move.) ] 13...Qe7 This is the novelty in this current game, but I think it was not a good one. It’s always a big question for Black in the opening, where to develop his queen, to a5 or e7. Due to concrete lines, we will see that 13...Qa5 was preferable in this situation. [13...Qa5 14.Na2 Be7 15. Bd2 Qc7 16.b4 e5 17.Nc1 Nb6 18. Bb3 e4 19.Qe1 Nbd5 20.Ne2 Bd6 Black was fine in Ljubojevic-Bareev, Monte Carlo 2003 rapid game.] 14. Bb3 Another slow move. White does not use his chance to punish his opponent for the previous inaccurate move. [14.e4! was correct, and on the standard 14...e5 15.d5 Nb6 16. Bb3 cxd5 White has the important 17.a5!. If White to take with the knight on d5, he obtains a clear

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advantage, while after 17... Bxc3 18.bxc3 White wins an exchange with Ba3!] 14...e5 This is the sharp way to handle the position. [14... c5 was safer.] 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16. Bc2 Only the e4, f4 and e5 idea could give an advantage, but it needs serious preparation. The c3 pawn is indirectly defended now. 16...Nb6 [On 16... Rfe8 White plays the same plan as in the game 17.e4 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Nc5 19.f4 Qxc3 20. Ra3! Qb4 21.e5! with very strong compensation for the pawn. The rook on g3 joins the bishops for the attack.; 16... Bxc3?! 17.bxc3 Qxc3? is a big mistake, because of 18. Bb2! Qa5 (18...Qxb2? 19.B xh7+ +-) 19. Rxd7! Nxd7 20.Qd3! +- . This is the point.]

20. Ra3? It is logical to throw the rook into the attack, but it moves into concrete tactical ideas. As we will see, the a3 rook becomes vulnerable. [20. Rb1! with a really unclear situation. I personally prefer White, but the machine suggests unnatural moves that balance the evaluation.] 20...Qc4 [20...Qc5+!? was very strong as well, with the idea of 21.Kh2 Nbd5! and it is hard to deal with the different threats of the knight on c3 and f4. 22.e5 is met with 22...Nxf4! 23. Bxf4 Qxa3 Black takes too much material.]

21. Bd3 Qc5+? Black included the Qc4-Bd3 maneuver into the 20...Qc5 and Nbd5 idea, but it gives an extra possibility for White! [21...Qd4+! was logical and strong, to keep the pressure over the e4 pawn 22. Be3 Qb4! with a double attack on e4 and a3.] 17.e4! No choice, White has to play this move, even if it costs him a pawn. 17... Bxc3 18.bxc3 Rfe8 Well played! Black prepares for central actions. [18...Qxc3 19. Rb1 and Bb2 is coming next with more than enough compensation.] 19.f4! Qxc3 We have reached a critical moment in the game:

22.Kh2 Nbd5 23.e5! Nxf4 [23...Nd7 24. Be4 with an attack.] 24. Bxf4 Qxa3 25.Qf3! This is the point! White leaves the pin of the rook and pins the queen himself. Black is forced to give up his knight, but he still maintains some material advantage. 25...Qe7 26.exf6 Qxf6 7

Issue 11 32...c4 [32...b6 33. Rxa7 +/-; 32...Qc6? 33. Rd6 +- wins the queen!; 32... Re7? 33. Bg5 +-]

11th of May 2012

33. Rxb7 Materially, Black is still fine, but his main problem with the bishops and the rook are still not solved. 33... Re2 34. Bd1!

27.Qg3! How to evaluate the position? Black has a rook and three pawns for the two bishops, but the presence of the queens and the d1 rook on the board gives very good attacking chances for White. As we will see, Black has serious difficulties to defend. 27...Qe6 Black would like to control the open files. He wants to play Rcd8, which was not possible before due to Bg5. 28. Bc2! Very strong move! White wants to transfer his bishop to b3, where it could create decisive threats on f7 with the help of the rook. 28...c5 In order to have c4 on Bb3. 29. Rd6! Improving the pieces to the maximum! 29...Qe7 [29...Qe1 The exchange of the queens does not save Black. The power of the bishops would tell in the endgame as well. 30.Qxe1! Rxe1 31. Rd7 +/-] 30.Qd3! Forcing weaknesses and preparing for Rd7. 30...g6 31. Rd7 Qf6 32.Qg3! Powerful play by White. He had to get away from the Rcd8 threat. The exchange of the rooks would have eased Black’s task a lot. White wins a pawn now.

34... Re4 White played excellent chess in the last stage of the game and obtained a winning position, but it took all his time. In the time trouble he makes a serious mistake, which remained unpunished by his opponent. 35. Bd6?? Black gets a sudden chance. [35. Bh6 c3 (35... Qe5 36.Qxe5 R xe5 37.R xa7 +-) 36. Rxa7 +- White is completely winning. The Black king is too weak under the pressure of the bishops. Black can not promote his cpawn due to the weak back-rank.] 35...Qf1? But he missed it. Now, White is winning again. [35...h5!! Incredible, but suddenly Black is better. What a turn of it would have been. White can not hold the h2b8 diagonal after the threatened h4 move. 36. Bxh5 (36. Bb4 h4!) 36...c3! is the point. White does not have Bb3 anymore.; Not 35...c3 36. Bb3 +-]

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36. Bf3 Re6 37. Bd5 [37.Qf4 +- would lead to immediate resignation.]

(3) Iordachescu Viorel (2643) — Shanava Konstantine (2596)

37... Rf6 38. Be5 Rf5 39. Be4 Rf2 40.Qg5 Black can not hold the threats, Qh6 is the idea now.

Naxcývan OPEN Naxcývan — AZERBAYCAN (3), 30.04.2012

40...Qe2 Tricky move against 41.Qh6, but after move 40, White got some extra time, so he was able to find a way to win. 41. Rc7!? White wants to play Bd4-Qe5, which was not working immediately. [41. Rd7 +- was the most precise according to the computer.; 41.Qh6? Rxg2+! was the idea. 42. Bxg2 Qxe5+; 41. Bd4?? Qxe4 42. Bxf2 Qxb7] 41... Rf8 [41... Rxc7 42.Qd8#]

[Arkadij Naiditsch ] A very interesting and fighting game in the “Pirc”. At first, it looked like White was taking over, then Black cameback, but with the sacrifice of a piece, White managed to develop a deadly attack. From there on, all moves were perfect. A very useful game to collect some new ideas and plans. 1.e4 g6 The Georgian player Konstantin Shanava is a big specialist in the “Pirc”. 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 White chooses the 3.Nc3 move more often. 3...d6 4. Be2 Nf6 5.Nc3 c6 6.0–0 0–0 7. Re1 We are in a more or less “safe” position. White has a bit more space due to his pawn structure. As usual, in the “Pirc”, Black will try to compensate by playing Nbd7 and e5, or b5-b4.

42. Bd4! Black loses a huge amount of material. 42...Qxe4 [42... Rf1 43.Qe5 +-] 43. Bxf2 This is the first moment in the game when it is White who enjoys the material advantage. This is of course a decisive one. 43...c3 44. Rxc3 Qxa4 45.Qf6 An interesting game! 1–0

7...Qc7 A dangerous move. [7...Nbd7 looks more typical and logical to me. 8.e5! The only way to avoid Black from playing e7-e5, after which Black’s position should be fine. 9


8...dxe5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.e6 White can not hold the pawn on e5, so he employs a typical sacrifice. 10...fxe6 We face quite an unclear position. The pawn on e6 will fall, but now the Black bishop on g7 is very strong, and compensates for a lot of Black structural minuses.] 8. Bf4 Nbd7 9.e5 Nh5 The most fighting move! [Doesn’t seem to work 9...dxe5?! 10.Nxe5 (Of course not 10.dxe5 Nh5 and White looses the pawn on e5.) 10... Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 and it looks like White should be doing better.] 10. Bg5 [10.exd6 would lead to no advantage for White. 10...exd6 11. Be3 Nb6 and Black should be OK.] 10...dxe5 The beginning of a sharp position. 11. Bxe7 Re8

standing very pretty, but on the other hand, the Black pieces could go “around” him, and after Qf5-Bd7, the e7 bishop could became a target with Nc8 coming next.] 13.Ba3?! Not a bad move, but it’s too “slow”. [Looks much more energetic to play 13.d6! 13...Qb6 14.Bxf6 Nhxf6 15.Bc4! . White is trying to make use of Black’s bad development, and a clearly weak king — his main guardian is gone from g7. 15...Qxb2 16.Qd2 and in my opinion, White should be able to create a very dangerous attack.] 13...Nf4 [13...e4 would be the wrong moment to open the position for Black. 14.d6 Qb6 15. Bc4 White is doing clearly better.] 14.d6 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Qd8 White’s position is looking clearly better, but things are not “clear” at all. Black got the bishop pair, and the knight on d7 is a great blockading piece. Most likely White is doing better, but not “much “ better at all. 16. Rad1 Bg7 17.h4 [17.Ne4 h6 18.Ng3 with the idea of h4-h5 would have been another option for White. It is clear that the Black king is the target for White.] 17...a5! Black starts a tricky development on the queenside. 18.Ne4 b5

12.d5! Maybe this is the first critical moment of the game. 12... Bf6? In my opinion this is a big mistake, Black should never give up his “beauty”. [12...Nb6! looks quite interesting. 13.d6 Qd7 and even though White’s position looks quite dominating, it is by far not that clear. In case Black manages to play Qe6 or Qf5, followed by Bd7, it would be not clear who is doing better ... The bishop on e7 is 10


19.b3?! This logical move probably lets the rest of White’s advantage slip away. [19.c3!? Same idea — but a better version.]

24.Ne7+ Rxe7 Black needs to give back some of the material. [If Black plays 24...Kh8 25.Nxe4 White gets a deadly attack.]

19...f5 20.Ng3 Ba6? This is a big mistake. [Black could have tried to play the very risky 20...e4 21.Nd4 Bxd4 . It’s never a good feeling to give away the bishop from g7. 22. Rxd4 Qxh4 Black is a pawn up, but after 23. Bb2 all the black squares are very weak and White has clearly more than enough compensation for the lost pawn.; 20...a4! After this move, it wouldn’t have been easy for White to find a good move, at: 21. Bb2 axb3 22.axb3 Ra2 23. Ba1 Nf6! Black would be suddenly the one that gets the active pieces.]

25.dxe7 Qxe7 26.Nxe4 Nf8 [Also doesn’t help 26... Bg7 27.Nd6! and White exchanges the queens, but due to the very unlucky position of the Black pieces, White is in time to make use of it. 27...Qxe2 28. Rxe2 The bishop on b7 is hanging. The White rook will go to e7 next. Black can’t hold such a position for a long time...]

21. Bb2 e4 22.Nd4 [22. Bxg7 exf3 23.Qd2 Kxg7 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. Re1 Ne5]

27.c3! White is playing just perfect, no reason to be greedy now and play [There’s no reason to be greedy now and play 27.c4?! Bg7 28.cxb5 cxb5 29.Qxb5 and even though White is better, Black has chances to get the draw.] 27... Ba3

22... Bb7 In this not that clear looking position, Whites starts to play just great! [22...b4 23.Qd2 Bb7]

28.Qf3! Another great move by White! Nf6 is threatened now. 28...Qf7 The only move that doesn’t lose immediately. 23.Ndxf5! [23.c4 would probably leave White with some advantage as well.] 23... Bxb2 [23...gxf5 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25.Nxf5+ is, of course, just losing for Black.]

29.Qg3! Now Nd6 or b4 is threatened. At 29... Be7, 30.Qc7 is coming! 29...Qg7 30.b4! White is uses the fact that after 30... axb4? 31. cxb4 Bxb4 32. Qb3! check, and the bishop on b4 falls. 11


30...Kh8 31.Qd6 The finishing move of White’s great sequence! Black is totally paralyzed, the bishop on a3 is out of the game and all the White pieces are just standing perfectly. The direct threat now is Ng5. 31...axb4 32.cxb4 c5 Black starts to give away the material, but what to do?! It is better to die fighting! 33.bxc5? [33.Nxc5! Bxb4 34. Re7 would finish the game immediately.] 33... Rc8 [33... Ra6 would leave Black some chances — of course, the position is very bad.] 34.Qd3 Probably both players were already in big time trouble.

(4) Balogh,Cs (2662) — Delchev,A (2628) [C41] European Team Championship, 11.11.2011 [Balogh Csaba] Listening to the wish of one of our subscribers, I would like to present you my game against Delchev from last year. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 This is the socalled Philidor defense. The opening is a bit passive, but it requires careful handling by White, otherwise Black can “jump out” and create very strong counter play.

34... Bxe4? [34... Bxc5 and again, it would not be so easy for White to bring home the full point.]

5. Bc4 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.a4 White prolongs the decision of playing the setup with Re1 or the one with Qe2-Rd1. Anyway on 7...c6 or 7...a6, White has to prevent b5, so it is just a transposition.

35.Qxa3! White is has 2 pawns and a rook for 2 Black’s pieces, which gives him a small metrial advantage. But the dangerous position of the Black king, plus the perfect position of White’s pieces, finish the game quickly.

7...a6 [7...c6 8. Re1 Here Black has a choice between 4–5 more or less equivalent moves. The main one is 8...b6 which could lead to our current game through a different move order... 9. Ba2 a6 10.h3 Rb8 11. Be3] 8. Re1 I think this is the right place for the rook, and not d1 after Qe2. At least I prefer this one. 8...b6

35... Bb7 36. Rd6 g5 37.h5 g4 38.h6 Qc7 39.c6 It was too much even for Shanava:). A nice fighting game! 1–0 12


9.h3 A very useful move. White prepares to develop the bishop to e3. [In my previous game, I played the other setup, but after all, I believe it is less effective 9.b3 Bb7 10. Bb2 c6 11. Bd3 Re8 12.Ne2 . This is the point of the 9.b3 system. White plays the position like in the Ruy Lupez and transfers the knight to its ideal g3 square. Black has enough time to make the correct regroupings as well, and equalizes. 12... Bf8 13.Ng3 g6 14.c3 Qc7 15.Qc2 Bg7 = Black has also reached his optimal position. He is ready to push d5. Balogh-Alvarez Pedrasa, Pamplona 2010.] 9...c6 Black’s idea is to gain space with Rb8 and b5. [On 9... Bb7 I consider 10.d5! to be the strongest move, in order to close the bishop. White enjoys a huge space advantage and starts to organize his play on the queenside. Black’s position is cramped, he can only hope for some counter play on the kingside, but in my opinion, it is quite harmless. A possible plan could be Bf1, with the idea of a5 and on b5, Na2-b4 and c4.] 10. Ba2 A very useful move to avoid giving b5 with tempo. It prepares again for Be3, which could have be met with Nxe4 Nxe4 and d5, fork. This is a typical trick of the Philidor. 10... Rb8 [10... Bb7 The bishop stands better on c8, where it controls the f5 square. White should immediately use this inaccuracy. 11.Nh4! with the idea of Nf5. The other typical tactical trick with 11...Nxe4 does not work, because of 12.Nxe4 Bxh4 13.dxe5! (but not 13.N xd6 B xf2+! 14.Kxf2 Qf6+ 15.Kg1 Qxd6) 13...dxe5 (13...N xe5 14.Qxd6 +/-) 14.Qg4 with a winning attack.]

13.b4! This is a very important move to stop b4. After this, I don’t see how Black could equalize. He might have two plans, one is to play for the d5 push with the idea of Bxb4, but this idea somehow never works tactically. The second one is to try to make use of the weakening of the c4 square, this is what my opponent tried. In both cases, he must overprotect the e5 pawn first. 13...Qc7 14. Bb3 Improves the piece and opens the afile for the rook. There are 18 games in the database with terrible statistics for Black. 14...Nb6 [The central break with 14...d5 is met with 15.dxe5! Nxe5 a) 15...Nxe4 White has the very strong 16. Ra7! Bb7 (16... N xc3 17.R xc7 N xd1 18.R xd1 B xb4 19.R xc6 +-) 17.Nxe4! dxe4 18.e6! exf3 19.Qxd7 +- with a winning advantage. 19...Qxd7 20.exd7 Bxb4 21. Rd1 Black can resign.; b) On 15... Bxb4 16.exf6! Bxc3 17.fxg7 Re8 18.exd5 +Black collapses.; 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17. Bd4 +/- and White takes on d5 the next move.]

11. Be3 b5 12.axb5 axb5

13


15.Qd3! Logical development, controlling the c4 square. It is quite hard to suggest an idea for Black due to his space disadvantage. 15... Bd7 Logical, but takes the d7 square from the knight. White immediately makes use of it! 16.dxe5! dxe5 17. Bc5! The position has opened up a little bit, now we can clearly see the superiority of the White pieces, especially the difference between the lightsquared bishops. 17...Be8 Ugly move, but it was hard to advice something better. It frees the d7 square for the knight. Actually, only this was the novelty of the game, but we both already spent about 1–1 hour. [17... Rfe8? loses right away 18.Ng5!; 17...Bxc5 18.bxc5 Nc8 19.Na2 +/- Black has no moves.] 18. Red1 A small mistake, which gives my opponent some “freedom”, after exchanging a pair of rooks. The idea itself, that the e-rook should occupy the d-file, was correct. The a1 rook can penetrate sometimes on the file. [18. Qe3! was better 18... Bxc5 19.bxc5 Nc8 (After 19...Nbd7 Black cannot move his pieces.) 20.Na2 Ne7 21.Nb4 +-] 18... Rd8 19.Qe3 Rxd1+

20.Nxd1! There was only one piece that could be improved, the c3 knight. Now it is heading to d3! 20...Nc8! Black finds the only chance to transfer his knight to g6. 21.Nb2 Bxc5 22.bxc5 White should not be afraid of the doubled pawns, because it limits the movement of Black’s pieces. In addition, White gets the b4 square for the knight. 22...Ne7 23.Nd3 Ng6

24. Ra8!? I set up a small trick... I knew, that my opponent would be happy with any kind of exchanges, since it improves his chances to survive. As the principle says, “don’t exchange pieces if you have a space advantage”. With this seemingly illogical move, I invited him to exchange a pair of rooks, but as we will see, it falls to my trap. 24... Bd7?! Delchev falls into my idea. [24...h6 should have been played, but White has an obvious advantage anyway. 25.c4 bxc4 26. Bxc4] 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Nfxe5! This was the trick! White takes the most important pawn. I thought, that the game

14


was over, but Delchev found a way to restore the material equality.

33.gxf7 Bd7 Of course, there are many different wins, but the nicest was definitely:

26...Nxe5 27.Qf4 Be8! 28.Nxe5 Qe7 White cannot protect the c5 pawn, but suddenly an attack against the king creates huge problems.

34.Qxh7!! I must admit that it was really a good feeling to be able to finish the game with this move. I rarely have the chance of doing such things.[34.Qxh7 Nxh7 (34... Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Qxe5 36.Qh8+ Ke7 37.f8Q#) 35.Ng6#] 1–0

29.g4! Qxc5 Invites me to make a spectacular combination, which would spoil the win. However there was another solution... [29...g6 30.Kg2 +/-; 29...h6 30.h4 +-] 30.g5! Nh5 31.Qf5! White creates too many threats. The knight checks or Bxf7 would decide the game. [31.Qxf7+ wins a pawn, but 31... Bxf7 32.Nd7+ Ke7 33.Nxc5 Bxb3 34.Nxb3 Nf4 and Black gets very good drawing chances.; 31.Nd7+ Ke7 32.Qxf7+ is the same as 31.Qxf7] 31...Qa7? This loses in a nice way. [31...Qd4 would have been the only move, but White has a clear advantage anyway after 32.g6! (But not 32.B xf7? because 32...Ng3! would save the game!) 32...Qd1+ 33.Kg2 hxg6 34.Nxg6+ Kg8 35.Ne5 +/-; 31...Qd6 32.Nxf7 +-] 32.g6! The pins are deadly. 32...Nf6 [32...hxg6 33.Nxg6+ Kg8 34.Qxh5 +-]

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Puzzle section

(7) Le Quang Liem (2703) — Xiu Deshun (2494) Asian Continental Championship, 05.05.2012

(5) Antipov,M (2433) — Jankovic,A (2564) Saraevo, 07.05.2012

[CEWN] 1... -/+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Volkov,S (2623) — Iskandarov,M (2305) (6) Predojevic,B (2637) — Bistric,F (2383) Saraevo, 07.05.2012

Nakhchivan, 05.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

16


(9) Babaev,T (2344) — Aleksandrov,A (2604)

(11) Miralles,G (2471) — Schiendorfer,E (2349)

Nakhchivan, 04.05.2012

Suisse league, 29.04.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. =

1. +-

(10) Popovic,Du (2561) — Milanovic,D (2520)

(12) Borgo,G (2397) — Bindrich,F (2542)

Serbian Championship, 04.05.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. –+

17


(13) Szymanski,M (2416) — Gajewski,G (2622) Polish league, 05.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Tomczak,J (2549) — Mista,A (2538) Polish league, 05.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

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Endgame section (15) Lenic,L (2637) — Jones,G (2635) [A15] TCh-ITA 2012 Arvier ITA (2), 28.04.2012 [Chess-Evolution]

34...Ne5 We are in a very interesting endgame. It is clear that White has very good winning chances. On the other hand, it is not an easily winning position, the Black’s bpawn is giving him some counter play. 35.f4 This move gives Black very good chances for a draw. But, how to win here? Does White have a better choice? [35.f3! looks much stronger, but at the same time, it’s not easy to see a clear winning plan. 35...Kc7! Only move, Black needs to get his king to d6. 36.e4 a) 36.d6+ Kd7 37.f4 (37.e4 Nf7) 37...Nf7 38. Bxb7 Nxd6 39. Bd5 Ke7 and again, Black has good drawing chances.; b) 36.g4? The attempt to get free central pawns is not working either. 36...fxg4 37.f4 b6+ 38.Kd4 Nf3+! and already Black is winning.; 36...Nd7+ (36...fxe4 37.d6+!)

37.Kd4 fxe4 38.fxe4 Kd6 39. Bf1 Ne5 and probably the position is a draw!; 35.Kd4 Kd6 36.e4 Doesn’t seem to bring White anything good either. (36.Bf1 Nf3+ with a draw.) 36...fxe4 37. Bxe4 Ng4! It’s very important for Black to bring the knight to f6. 38.f3 Nf6 39.g4 b5 and probably the position is a draw.; 35. Bf1 Ng4! Black is winning a pawn. 36. Bb5+ Ke7 37.d6+ (37.f3 N xe3 38.Kd4 f4! The only saving move, if White would manage to put his king on e5, the game would be over.) 37...Ke6! Black’s position looks very dangerous, but everything seems to work out. 38. Bc4+ Kd7 39. Bb5+ Ke6 40.f3 Nxe3 41.d7 Ke7 42.Kb6 Kd8 and again, White has reached nothing more than a draw.; 35.e4! Nd3+! The only move to keep on fighting. (35...fxe4 36.Bh3+! followed by Kd4, and it seems that White should win here.) 36.Kd4 fxe4 37.f4 Nf2 38.Ke3 (38.B xe4 N xe4 39.Kxe4 h5) 38...Ng4+ 39.Kxe4 Kd6 and again, Black has good chances to make a draw.] 35...b6+? A terrible mistake [35...Nd3+! This move would probably give Black a draw. 36.Kd4 Nf2 37.e4 White needs to do something, if Black manages to play Kd6, everything should be fine. 37...fxe4! (Losing is 37...N xe4? 38.B xe4 fxe4 39.g4! not allowing Black to fix the structure with h5.) 38.Ke3 Ng4+ 39.Kxe4 Kd6 with good drawing chances.] 36.Kxb6 [36.Kd4!? Nf7 (36...Ng4 Black is not in time for the usual maneuver Ng4-f6. 37.e4! +-) 37.e4 fxe4 38. Bxe4 Nd6 39.g4 The Black knight should be on f6 and the king on d6. The combination of Kd7-Nd6 doesn’t give Black big hopes. White is winning.] 36...Nc4+ 37.Kc5 Nxe3

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38. Bh3! It looks like Black got some drawing chances here, but that’s not the case, the position is totally winning for White. Why?! Because all the Black pawns are standing on White squares, making them easy target for the bishop. White only needs to get the bishop to g8. 38...Nd1 White wanted to play Kd4-e5 with a winning position. 39. Bf1 Nf2 40. Bg2 [40. Bb5+ Kd8 41.Kd4 Nh1 42.Ke5 Nxg3 43.d6 and White is winning because Black can not hold the pawns h7-g6-f5. White will play Bc4-g8 or Kf6-g7.] 40...Ng4 41.d6 Nf6 42. Bf3? This move is a bit strange... and practically gives Black a draw. [42. Bd5 Nh5 43. Bc6+ Kd8 44.Kd5 Nxg3 45.Ke5 Seems to win immediately because Black has no defense against the maneuver Bd5-g8.] 42...h6? [42...h5! could have been Black’s last chance 43. Bd5

43...Ne4+! . This is why the h5 move is necessary. 44. Bxe4 fxe4 45.Kd4 Kxd6 46.Kxe4 Ke6 with a drawish pawn endgame.] 43. Bc6+ Ke6 44. Bg2 Kd7 45. Bc6+ Ke6 46. Bg2 Kd7 After repeating moves twice, finally White makes the right choice. 47. Bd5 Nh5 [47...Ne4+ doesn’t give Black a draw now 48. Bxe4 fxe4 49.Kd4 Kxd6 50.Kxe4 Ke6 51.g4 Kf6 52.Kd5 h5 53.g5+ Kf5 54.Kd6 Kxf4 55.Ke6 with an easy win for White.] 48. Bc6+ Ke6 [48...Kd8 49.Kd5 Nxg3 50.Ke5 and we have comeback to the usual winning position.] 49. Bf3 Nf6 50.Kc6! White is totally winning — the rest of the game needs no comments. 50...Kf7 51.Kc7 Ne8+ 52.Kd7 Nf6+ 53.Kc6 h5 54. Bg2 Ke6 55. Bf1 Kf7 56. Bc4+ Kf8 57. Be6 Ke8 58.Kc7 We saw a very interesting endgame with a lot of mistakes on both sides, which clearly shows that endgames are really difficult to play! 1–0

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(16) Yu Yangyi (2626) — Laylo,D (2502) Asian Continental Championship, 06.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Despite the little amount of material on the board, the position is amazingly complex. These kind of positions are very useful to improve our calculating abilities! 57.g5? Here is the next question: How to defend with Black? [57.Kf6!! We must calculate really deeply to be able to find this move! The idea is to give a check on the d-file and then to approach with the king to the c-pawn. 57...c4 (57...Kd5 58. Rd2+! Kc4 (58...Ke4 Trying to block the route of the White king would block the diagonal for the bishop. 59.g5 c4 60. Rd7 Bg8 61. Rd8 Bd5 (61... Bh7 62.Rh8 +-) 62. Rxd5! and the pawn promotes with check.) 59.g5 Kb3 60. Rd7 Bc2 61.Ke5 +-) 58.g5 c3 (58... Kd5 59.Rd2+ Kc5 60.Rd7 Bb1 61.Ke5 +-; 58...Kc5 59.Ra7 Bb1 60.Ke5 The technique is always the same. Practically, if you find 57. Kf6, the win is already in your pocket.)

59. Ra3! The last important move. White is a tempo ahead. 59...c2 60. Rc3 Be4 (60...Kd5 61.g6 +-) 61.g6 Kd5 62.g7 +-; 57. Ra5 Trying to cut the king along the 5th rank does not help. 57...Kd5! First, the king crosses the line and then Black can push his c-pawn. (But not 57...c4? 58.g5 c3 59.g6 B xg6+ 60.Kxg6 c2 61.Ra1 +-) 58.g5 Kd4 59.g6 Bxg6+ 60.Kxg6 c4 61.Kf5 c3 with a draw.] 57...Ke5!! Very strong reaction. Black does not allow the cut along the 5th rank, and at the same time, he blockades the path of the White king. [57...c4? 58. Ra5 +- transposes to 57. Ra5.] 58. Rh2! [58.g6 Bxg6+ 59.Kxg6 c4 leads to a draw.]

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58... Bd3! The most logical, which is, actually, the only move to save the game. [58... Be4? is not an option. 59. Re2 c4 60.g6 +-; 58... Bf5 loses to the great 59. Rh5!! Bg4 . Only move, otherwise g6 decides the game. 60. Rh1 Bf5 61. Re1+! Kd4 62.Kf6 Very important tempo, which allows the same win that we saw in the 57.Kf6 line. 62... Bh7 63. Rd1+ Ke4 (63...Kc3 64.g6 B xg6 65.Kxg6 c4 66.Kf5 Kb2 67.Ke4 c3 68.Kd3 c2 69.Rd2 +-) 64. Rd7 +-] 59. Rh5 [59.g6 Bxg6+ 60.Kxg6 c4 There is no win... 61. Re2+ Kd4 62.Kf5 c3 =] 59...Kd4 60. Rh4+ White tries all his tricks, which takes away Black’s energy. 60...Kd5! It was another moment to go wrong, but Black defends precisely. [60...Ke5? 61.g6 Bxg6+ 62.Kxg6 Kd5 63.Kf5 c4 64.Kf4 Kd4 65. Rh8 +- White is in time.] 61. Rh5 [61.g6 Bxg6+ 62.Kxg6 c4 63.Kf5 c3 =]

63...Kc5?? and suddenly Black blunders. After finding a couple of difficult moves, he fails in an easier moment. [63...Ke3 would have secured the half point. 64.Kd5 c3 65. Rh3+ Ke2! is the last required exact move. (65...Kd2? 66.Kd4 +-) 66.Kd4 c2 67. Rh2+ (67.Rh1 Kd2 =) 67...Kf3 68. Rh1 Bg6 = and the handshake is coming soon.] 64.Ke5! c3 65. Rh8! We arrive agai n to the winning position. The White king catches the pawn, while the rook supports the g-pawn. 65... Ba6 [65...c2 66. Rc8+ Kb4 67.Kd4 Bf5 68. Rc7 Kb3 69.Ke3 +-] 66.g6 c2 67. Rh1 It is all over now. 67...Kb4 68.Kd4 Kb3 69. Rc1 Bc8 [69...Kb2 70. Rxc2+ Kxc2 71.g7 +-] 70.g7 Be6 71.Kd3 Bf5+ 72.Kd2 Bh7 73. Rxc2 1–0

61...Kd4 After Black found the important 60...Kd5, White tries a different plan. 62.Ke6!? c4 63. Rh4+

22


Clash of the Titans (17) Speijer,Abraham — Euwe,Max [A48] Amsterdam Amsterdam, 1923 [Balogh Csaba] We will see a great positional exchange sacrifice by Max Euwe. A nice example for recognizing when a bishop is stronger than a rook... 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 Euwe is heading for the King’s Indian defense.

8.dxe5 [On 8.0–0 Re8 we would reach a similar structure to the Nikolic-Fischer game, discussed in the 9th CEWN.] 8...Ng4! This is the point of the previous move. Black equalizes after successfully undermining the center. 9.Nc4 White does not handle the opening too ambitiously, he wants to get rid of the pieces. [9.0–0 Ndxe5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 = with the idea of Nf3+, getting the bishop pair.] 9...Ngxe5 10.Ncxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12. Ba3 [12.0–0 = leads to complete equality.]

3.b3 Of course, we don’t want to study theory by watching this game. This move is not as bad as it might look, a few moves later we get a completely “natural” position. 3...g6 4. Bb2 Bg7 5.Nbd2 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 White already has a normal position, the defect of the 3.b3 move has disappeared. 12...e4!! Brilliant idea! An intuitive exchange sacrifice for long-term compensation. [12... Re8 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.e4 = was White’s idea, with a draw soon.]

7...e5 After finishing the development, Black starts to fight for the center with this typical King’s Indian break.

13. Bxf8 White accepts the challenge, which was a mistake in my opinion. [13.0–0! was much safer, but accurate calculation was needed. 13...Qg5!? (13...B xa1 14.B xf8 = gives nothing.) 14. Bxf8 Bh3 15. Bf3! . Strong move, followed by a forced line which leads to equality. (15.g3 R xf8 is very unpleasant for White.) 15... Rd8 16.Qe2 exf3 17.Qxf3 Bxg2! 18.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Bxa1 20. Be7! It’s very important to fight for the only open file. (20. 23


R xa1? Kxf8 =+) 20... Rd7 21. Rxa1 Rxe7 22. Rd1 f5 23.c4 Kf7 = with an even endgame.]

15... Be6! Another strong move. Of course, Euwe keeps his c3 bishop!

13... Bc3+! An important intermediate check to take away the short castle.

16.h5 At least consequent, but it gives an important tempo for Black. Even after opening the h-file, the h1 rook remains out of the game.

14.Kf1 Qxf8 Here we are! Black gave an exchange for the c3 bishop, which disturbs the communication between White’s pieces. It’s hard to find a future for the heavy pieces, not only for the rooks, but for the queen as well. 15.h4? White would like to get rid of the strong bishop by giving back the material advantage, and wants to generate play for the h1 rook, but it gives Black too much time. He will be able to activate his rook. [15. Rb1 was the best move, with the idea of Kg1, Qf1 and Rd1, developing artificially, which is actually not easy to refute with Black.

16... Rd8 17.Qc1 Qc5 It is never a question whether to take on a1 or not. [17... Rd2!? was also good.] 18. Rb1 Rd2! Black is ready for concrete threats now. Rxe2 is in the air. 19.b4 Trying to “breath”. [19.hxg6 loses in a spectacular way 19... Rxe2! 20.gxh7+ Kh8 21.Kxe2 Qb5+! . It’s important to prevent the king from going to f1. 22.Kd1

22... Bg4+ (I was shocked by the 2nd strongest move of the computer: 22...Qh5+!? 23.R xh5 Bg4+ 24.f3 exf3 15...c6! with the idea of paralyzing the White pieces, by pushing b5. It prevents the important Bc4 plan. (On 15...Be6 16.Kg1 Rd8 17.Qf1 and Rd1 or Bc4 is coming.) 16.Kg1 (16.a4 a6!) 16...b5! 17.a4 a6! Black seems to have more than enough compensation. Even the materialistic computers like this idea.] 24


11th of May 2012

(18) Liburkin,M 1981 [CEWN] 1. = with mate in three!!! An amazing position.) 23.f3 exf3 Take a look at the White pieces and at the Black bishops.; 19.a4 to prevent Qb5 check. The rook sacrifice would meet with 19...Qd6! refreshing the same threat, but now it is followed by Qa6!] 19...Qe5 20. Rb3 White could not live with the bishops anymore and decided to give back the exchange, even at the cost of some pawns. 20... Bxb3 Euwe plays simple chess, although there was a more spectacular way to get the victory. [20... Rxe2! 21. Rxc3 (21.Kxe2 Bc4+ 22.Kd1 Qd6+) 21... Bg4!! due to the double threat of Qxc3 and Qf6, it is over now. 22. Rc5 Qf6] 21.axb3 Bxb4 22.hxg6 hxg6 Black is completely winning anyway. He is not only a pawn up, but his pieces are superior as well. 23. Rh4 Qc3 24. Rxe4 Rxc2 An instructive win by Max Euwe that shows how the quality of the pieces can overcome a material disadvantage. 0–1

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Solutions

(21) Antoniewski,R (2559) — Olszewski,M (2539) Italian league, 28.04.2012

(19) Weenink,H

[Solutions]

1918 [Solutions]

1. Bh4! d3 2. Bxf2! d2 3. Be1!! d1R [3...d1Q =] 4.Ke2 Ra1 5. Bh4 1/2

38.Nef5+! Bxf5 [38...gxf5 39.Qxg5+ Kf8 40.Qxh4+-] 39.Nxf5+! gxf5 40.Qxg5+ Kf8 41.Qxh4+(22) Safarli,E (2645) — Rasulov,V (2526)

(20) Collutiis,D (2493) — Brunello,M (2263)

Nakhchivan Open, 29.04.2012

Italian league, 28.04.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

20.b4!! Qxb4 [20...Qc7 21.Ncd5!+-] 21.Ncd5! [21.Ned5!] 21...exd5 22.Nxd5 Qc5 23.Nxe7+ Kh8 24. Rd5 Qc7 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.c5!+-

36... Bd3+!! 37. Rxd3 Rg1+!! 0–1[37... Rg1+ 38.Kxg1 Rb1+ 39. Rd1 Rxd1#] 26


(23) Mammadov,Z (2378) — Guseinov,G (2616)

(25) Vaibhav,S (2494) — Maze,S (2577)

Nakhchivan Open, 29.04.2012

Lille Open, 25.04.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28...Ng3!! 0–1[28...Ng3 29.fxg3 fxg3+ 30.Kxg3 Qf4#] (24) Czebe,A (2477) — Arun Prasad,S (2517) Melaka Open, 29.04.2012 [Solutions]

24. Rd8+! 1–0

17. Rxf6+! Qxf6 18. Rf1 Qxf1+ 19.Kxf1+(26) Xiu Deshun (2492) — Wen Yang (2549) Chinese league, 29.04.2012 [Solutions]

24... Rb8!! [24... Rd2? 25.Kb1!! Rxd5 26.c6! Rd1+ 27.Kc2 Rd2+ 28.Kb3=] 25. Rd8+ Rxd8 26.Kb1 Rd2 27.g3 [27. c6 Rb2+ 28.Kc1 Bh6+ 29.Kd1 c2+–+] 27... Bd4 0–1[27... Bd4 28.c6 Rb2+ 29.Kc1 Be3+ 30.Kd1 c2+–+] 27


(27) Motylev,A (2683) — Wan Yunguo (2441) Chinese league, 28.04.2012 [Solutions]

Qc6 25.Qd4++-] 25.Qxd7+ [25. Rd5+! Nc5 26.a4++-] 25...Qxd7 26. Rxd7+(29) Bukavshin,I (2504) — Fedoseev,V (2548) Sochi, 26.04.2012 [Solutions]

25.Ng5+! hxg5 26.hxg5+ Kg8 27. Rh2! Nxd4 28. Rah1 Nf3+ 29.Qxf3 1–0[29.Qxf3 Rxf3 30. Rh8+ Kf7 31. Rxd8+-] (28) Nozdrachev,V (2449) — Stukopin,A (2485) Sochi, 26.04.2012

26.fxe5! Qd3 [26...Nxh5 27. Rxf8#; 26...Qxf1 27.exf6+-] 27.Qh4 [27. Rf3+-] 27... Rg4 28.Qh3+-

[Solutions]

18. Rh6!! [18. Bh3 Qb8 19.Qd2] 18...Qc8 19. Rxf6! gxf6 20. Bh3! Nb8 21.Qxf6+ Kc7 22.Qe5+ Kb6 23. Bxd7 [23. Rd6++-] 23...Nxd7 24.Qd6+ Kb5 [24... 28

Weekly Newsletter



18th of May 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The main event of the month is definitely the World Championship Match between Anand and Gelfand. After the first four games, the score is 2–2. Anand missed a serious chance to win in game 3, we show you this game in the current CEWN. We analyze all games in details and give predictions for the coming rounds in our special WCC newsletter. You can see more information about it on our website: www.chess-newsletter.com. Meanwhile, the Capablanca memorial has come to an end. As it’s already usual, Ivanchuk won the event with 6.5/10, this was his 6th victory in a row in Havana. The US Championship is just getting to an end. As it was expected, there will be a very interesting run for the first place between the two favorites, Nakamura and Kamsky. The tournament in Malmo has come to an end as well. The top seed Italiano, Fabiano Caruana, has convincingly won the event! As usual, we wish you lots of fun with the 12th edition of the Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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9.d5 c6! Black needs to start his play in the center immediately. In case White manages to castle long and play h4-h5, Black’s position will be very bad.

(1) Anand,V (2791) — Gelfand,B (2727) [D70]

10.h4 Let the actions begin! [10.d6? doesn’t work now because of 10... Re8 11.0–0–0 Re6 12. Bg5 Black wanted to play Bf8 and the pawn on d6 would be lost 12...f6 13. Be3

WCC 2012 Moscow, 14.05.2012 [Chess Evolution] We are in the 3rd game of the WCC match and, just like in the first round, Anand opens with 1.d4. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 and here comes the change in comparison to game 1, where White played 3.Nc3.

3...d5 Maybe in the next games Black could try the 3... Bg7 4.e4 d6 line going into the King’s Indian, where Anand usually chooses the lines with Nf3 and not f3! 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 This is the very main position of the Gruenfeld with 3.f3. 8...e5!? This move is not the main option. [8...Nc6 is the usual choice with long and sharp lines.; 8...Qd6!? 9.f4 Rd8 10.Nf3 Qb4 ~ happened in the recent game between Jobava-Caruana from 2012.]

13... Bf8! a great sacrifice! 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. Bc4 b5! 16. Bxe6+ Bxe6 White is an exchange up, but he’s doing clearly worse! There is no decent defense against Black’s b4 move. Besides, all of Black pieces are perfectly in the game and the knight from b8 will take a very good square on d7.] 10...cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 [11...f5 Of course it would be very nice for Black to get the pawn to f5, but it seems like White is just too fast 12.h5 N8d7 13.hxg6 hxg6 14. Bh6 White’s threats over the Black King are very dangerous already.; 11...h5 This move is quite interesting and deserves attention, Black blocks his opponent’s play on the file, and wants to continue his development in a normal way by playing N8d7-Nf6. White has quite a big range of moves here, for example: 12.Nh3 then Ng5, or maybe 3


the direct 12.0–0–0 followed by g4 is possible as well. We can be sure of one thing: this position has been very well analyzed by Gelfand’s team as well as, of course, by Anand’s team, so we should just simply believe them that 11...Nbd7 is the best move here :).] 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 Both players have played their moves very fast until this point. It’s a bit strange that almost all the engines give White quite a big advantage — which is not obvious at all with “human eyes”! This makes the position very tricky and hard to analyze. [13...hxg6 14. Bh6 with a mating attack.] 14.0–0–0 Bd7 After this move Anand had his first thought. Let us take a look at the position from the logical point of view: 1) It is clear that positionally White is doing better. A strong pawn on d5 gives White a clear advantage in the center. Also, in case White manages to develop his pieces by playing, for example, Nh3-g5, he will be better as well. 2) It is clear that Black’s chances lie in creating dynamic play. 15.Kb1 A standard prophylactic move. The White king will have to move away from the c-file eventually. 15... Rc8 I think we are at the first critical position. White has a huge range of moves that need to be considered, Anand took around 25 minutes of thinking before playing his next move. 16.Ka1 [One of the options should definitely be 16.d6 Be6 This is why d6 might not be the best, the bishop on e6 is standing perfectly, even if it looks like a lost tempo, just 2 moves ago Bc8-d7 was played. 17. Bg5 Black wanted to play Nfd5. 17...Qd7 The Black queen is going to f7 and, at the same time, Black keeps his desire to play

Nfd5. Once again, White had a lot moves to consider. As we can see, the position is super complicated and it is really hard to say who is doing better.; Another interesting move is 16.Nh3 e4 (A typical sacrifice doesn’t work now 16...R xc3?! 17.Qxc3 Nfxd5 18.Bc4! and some of Black’s pieces will be lost on the d-file.) 17.Nf4 and we are again in a totally messy position, but I feel that White might be better here. The knight on f4 is in a very powerful position.]

16...e4! An excellent move by Black! And it was very quickly played by Gelfand. Great preparation by the Gelfand team. 17. Bd4! After another long thought, Anand finds what is probably the best reaction! [A mistake would be 17.fxe4? Rxc3! this time works: 18.Qxc3 Nxe4 19.Qe1 Na4 and the Black pieces are going for the White king 20. Bd4 Nxb2! and this is the finishing move. The White King is going to be mated soon.; Would also be a mistake 17.Nxe4? Nxe4 18.fxe4 Rxf1! a pretty move that Anand can see immediately 19. Rxf1 Nc4 and again the b2 pawn is the troublemaker, Black is winning.]

4


17...Na4 This move was also quickly played by Black, and it seems like it leads to a forced draw — amazing preparation! [17...Nc4 This move gives White the chance to develop completely 18. Bxc4 Rxc4 19.Nge2 and White should be doing a bit better, he managed to keep his strong d pawn, and will have dangerous attacking chances in the future with his king in a very safe position.; 17... Re8!? Personally, I like this move a lot, now Black wants to play e3 18.fxe4 and the sacrifice on c3 is a constant threat 18... Rxc3! 19.Qxc3 Nxe4 We are in a totally unclear position. A very deep analysis would be necessary to know who is doing better here. Computers probably don’t give a correct evaluation in many lines, which makes it even harder to find the truth, but again, we should just believe in Gelfand’s team and conclude that 17...Na4 is the better choice.]

19.Nxe4 It is difficult to find something better for White. [19.fxe4? doesn’t work again 19...Nxc3 20. Bxc3 (20.N xc3 N xe4 21.N xe4 Qxd2 22.N xd2 B xd4) 20...Qa4 and White can not protect the pawn on e4 — so Black should be doing great.]

18.Nge2 [An interesting move would be 18.Nxe4!? Nxe4 starting a long forced line, it’s possible that instead of 18... Nxe4 Gelfand planned to do something else!? but it’s not easy to understand what’s the plan actually... 19.fxe4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 Qg5 Of course Black’s chance lies in his the development! 21.Kb1 The white King plays a role in the game, protecting c1! 21... Rxf1 What else?! 22. Rxf1 Qxg2 23.Ne2! Maybe Anand blundered this nice protective move?! 23...Qxe2 24.Ka1 We are in a very crazy position. From the material point of view, Black is doing better, but probably in a practical game, Black’s position can be very dangerous. White has good attacking chances plus 2 central pawns that can start advancing very soon. I think White’s position is even objectively better.]

20... Rxf6! A very precise move by Gelfand. [In case of 20... Bxf6 21. Rxd2 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Rc2 23.b3 Black would still have to fight for a draw.]

18...Qa5! A very good move by Black, practically forcing White to go into a drawn endgame.

19...Qxd2 20.Nxf6+

21. Rxd2 Rf5! Black’s target is the lonely d5 pawn, and it is very difficult for White to find anything to protect it. 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 Black simply wanted to win the pawn back by playing Nb6 and, if Nc3 Nxd5 comes. 23... Rfc5?! The first inaccuracy by Gelfand after a great sequence of moves. [The not very difficult 23...Nb6 24.Nc3 Rd5! = leads immediately to a draw 25. Rxd5 Nxd5 and White has nothing better than allowing Black to take twice on c3.] 24. Rd1 += The beginning of what looks like the end for Black...

5


24...a5 [Still 24...Nb6 25.Nc3 Nd5 probably would have been the best option for Black.] 25. Rh4! Finally, the White rook from h1 joins the game. White wants to play Re4-Re7. 25... Rc2 Probably the last chance for Black to start some action.

31.Kb1 Bf5+ The only move 32.Nxf5+ gxf5 33. Re7+ Kg6 And we are in a position where Anand made a terrible miscalculation. Having only 5 minutes for 6 moves, Anand makes a very strange decision — practically agrees to a draw.

26.b3 Nb2!? A very risky move by Black, but probably the best chance to fight. [In case of the silent 26...Nb6 27. Re4 a4 28. Re7+ Kf6 29.Ng3! White seem s to be close to winning. The knight on e4 is going to become a beast!]

27. Rb1! [The tempting 27. Rdd4 leaves the Black knight without moves, but 27...a4 28.bxa4 Black wanted to play a3 28...b5! leads to quite a complicated position. Especially in a practical game, it is very hard to evaluate!]

34. Rc7? [34.d7 Rcc2 35. Rc4! It is clear that Anand saw this move 35... Rxa2 (35...R xc4 is not saving the game either 36.bxc4 h5 37.Kc1 Rd4 38.Kc2 Kf6 39.Rh7 Ke6 40.Kb3! R xd7 If Black doesn’t take on d7, the White king will anyway go to b5. 41.R xd7 Kxd7 42.Ka4 b6 43.Kb5 followed by c5 with a totally winning pawn endgame.) 36. Rc8 Rdb2+ 37.Kc1 Rf2 38. Re6+ Kh5

27...Nd3 28.Nd4 Rd2 29. Bxd3 Rxd3 30. Re1! So, White is a pawn up, and Re7 is a very dangerous threat. Black’s only hope seems to be the White King. 30... Rd2! Black tries to use all the tricks in the fight for survival. To have both rooks on the 2nd rank is the best chance.

6


39.g4+! and this is the key move! Not an easy move to foresee, especially with so little time on the clock. White promotes the queen with check 39...fxg4 40. Rc5+ Kh4 41.d8Q+] 34... Re8 35. Rh1? It was not too late to play 35. Re7, and probably Black has nothing better than to come back with 35... Rc8 and pray for a repetition. 35... Ree2! Now the game is just a draw! 36.d7 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Rxa2 A very interesting game. Black was clearly better prepared, but strangely enough, missed a very easy draw and found himself in a very difficult endgame. It still looks like Anand is not in his top shape. 1) Today, he got into a little bit of time trouble and 2) He missed quite an easy win with 34. d7. Usually, the World Champion does not miss such opportunities! 1/2

(2) Nakamura,Hi (2775) — Robson,R (2614) [B75] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (3), 10.05.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very interesting — typical for the Dragon — battle between the top US player Nakamura Hikaru and the rising star Ray Robson. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 The starting position of the Dragon variation in the Sicilian. 6. Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0–0

9.g4!? Recently, the 9.g4 line has enjoyed a lot of popularity. Still, the mainlines are 9. Bc4 and 9.0–0–0. 9...Be6 The main move, which tries to use the fact that White has weakened his f3 pawn in the previous move. Creating doubled pawns and taking the bishop pair has its drawback as well, it opens the f-file. In addition, after playing 9.g4, White has no longer the option of 0–0, and castling queenside moves into the diagonal of the strong “dragon bishop”. 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.0–0–0 White is of course ready for the complications and prepares for a kingside attack with h4-h5. 7


11...Ne5 12. Be2 Qc8 Black prepares for Nc4. Both players knew the position very well, since Robson already had a game on this position in 2012. Nakamura deviates from that game, which continued with 13. Bh6.

was about equal in Cornette-Delgado Ramos, Montcada i Reixac 2011.]

13.h4 Nfd7 Before playing Nc4, Black opens the diagonal of the bishop and attacks the f3 pawn.

19.Qh2 Seems to be all over, but Robson finds the best practical chance to stay in the game!

14.f4 Nc4 15. Bxc4 Qxc4

16.e5! By temporarily closing the bishop’s path, White wins enough time to push h5. 16...Nb6? A novelty, but definitely a bad one. [It would be very interesting to know what was Nakamura’s improvement over the previous game, in which Black found the strongest move and played 16... Rad8 17.exd6 (I suspect Nakamura’s novelty to be somewhere around this point 17.h5 but after 17...dxe5 I could not find a convincing way to continue. For example: 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Qh2 Nf6 20. Rdf1 (20.fxe5 R xd1+ 21.N xd1 N xg4 22.Qh7+ Kf7) 20...e4 Black seems to be fine.) 17...exd6 (17...Nb6!? is also interesting 18.dxe7 R xd2 19.exf8Q+ Kxf8 20.B xd2 B xc3 21.B xc3 Qxf4+ 22.Kb1 Qxg4 and the knight becomes a very strong blocking piece on d5.) 18.h5 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 Nf6 21.hxg6 hxg6 The position

17.h5! dxe5 18.hxg6 hxg6 [18...exf4 is refuted nicely by 19.Qh2! h6 20. Bd4! e5 21. Bxe5! +-]

19... Rxf4! Nice exchange sacrifice. Black gets 2 pawns, which would be fine materially, but of course, with the tripled pawns on the e-file, Black can not pretend to have achieved equality. [On 19...exf4 White can choose between two spectacular wins 20. Rd4! and after the check on h7, the rook takes on f4!(20.Bd4!)] 20. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 21.Kb1! Naturally, White does not solve his opponents structural problems. 21...Qxh2 22. Rxh2 Rf8 23.Ne4 +/- White is better, but the win requires good technique. As we will see in the game, small mistakes might give Black good counter play. 23... Rf4 24.Ng5 Here is the first inaccuracy. In my opinion, it would have been more important to take the b7 pawn, in order to create a passed c-pawn. [24.Nc5 Rxg4 25.Nxb7 +/-] 8


24... Rxg4 25.Nxe6 Bf6

26.b3! Strong positional move. White wants to restrain the movement of the b6 knight. 26...Nc8! Of course, Robson immediately finds another path to activate his knight. [26...e4 27.c4 +/-] 27.c4?! A mistake, after which the game opens up again. [Obviously 27. Rd8+ does not win a piece 27...Kf7; 27. Rf2! would have been a great prophylactic move against Nd6, after this White could start his play on the queenside with c4, Kc2. 27...Nd6? 28. Rxd6! is the whole point! 28...exd6 29. Rxf6 +-] 27...Nd6 Now the knight is back in the game. 28.c5 Nb5! Probably Nakamura underestimated the strength of this move. Now the game becomes amazingly complex. [28...Ne4 29.Kc2 +/-] 29. Rd7 White pinned his hopes to this move, but leaving the 1st rank with the rook gives Black many tactical possibilities. 29...Kf7?! Robson misses the sudden chance he got. [A study-like draw could have appeared after 29... Rg1+

30.Kc2 e4! 31. Rxb7 Ra1! This was the idea of the previous moves. White gets an opportunity to queen his c-pawn with check, however it is only enough for the draw. Let’s see how it happens! 32. Rxb5 (32.Rh3!? R xa2+ 33.Kc1 Here, White could probably still hope to get some advantage.) 32... Rxa2+ 33.Kc1 Rxh2 34.c6 e3 35.c7 Rh1+ 36.Kc2 e2 37.c8Q+ Kh7 Here we are! White is a queen up, but the draw is inevitable. 38. Rb8 (38.Re5!? B xe5 39.Ng5+ Kg7 40.Nf3 e1Q 41.N xe1 R xe1 Black is safe.) 38... Rc1+! 39.Kxc1 e1Q+ 40.Kc2 Qe2+ 41.Kc1 Qe1+ = Perpetual check.] 30. Rxb7 Rg1+ A couple of only moves are coming from both sides. Nakamura calculated precisely that the cooperation between Black’s pieces is not enough to create real threats. [30... Rb4 is refuted by the silent 31.Nd8+! Ke8 32.Kc1! Kxd8 33.a4! +-] 31.Kc2 Na3+ 32.Kb2 Nb1! Spectacular move, which prepares for e4. 33.Nd8+ Ke8 34.Nc6 e4+ 35.Kc2 Na3+ 36.Kd2 Nb1+ 37.Ke3 Due to the very sharp middle game, the players got into time trouble, which affected their play in this difficult position. 9

Issue 12 chance. [40.Ke3 would have easily won 40...Nc3 41.Ne5!! is definitely the best, and the nicest move of the position, with the threat of Rb8 mate. 41... Bxe5 42. Rbxe7+ Kd8 43. Rxe5 +-]

18th of May 2012

37... Re1+? Somehow, Robson misses the logical Nc3 now, and a few moves later as well. [37...Nc3 At the end, I came to the conclusion that White’s best option is 38. Rc2 followed by a forced line 38... Rg3+ 39.Kf2 Rf3+ 40.Kg1 e3 41. Rxc3 Bxc3 42. Rxe7+ Kf8 43. Re4 += White is better, but it is not obvious if he can win after 43... Rf5!]

40... Rc3+? Finally, the players got extra time and Nakamura found a really beautiful way to win. I am quite sure that he had already foreseen the final position! [Just as in the 37th move, Black missed 40...Nc3! The subtle point is that 41.Nxe7?? loses the h7 rook after (41.Rhxe7+ B xe7 42.R xe7+ Kf8 should be draw.) 41... Be5+! 42.Kg4 Rg2+ 43.Kh3 Rh2+] 41.Kg4 e3 42.Nxe7 e2

38.Kf2

43.Nd5!! [43. Rb8+ Kd7 44.Nxg6+ Kc6 45. Re8 +- was less spectacular.] 38... Rc1 39. Rh7! Rc2+ We have reached the most critical position of the game, and as it happens so often, we are in the last move of the time trouble! [39... Rxc5 40.Nxe7 +-] 40.Kg3? This mistake could have cost the full point to Nakamura, but Robson didn’t make the most out of his

43... Rg3+! 44.Kf4! Bg5+ 45.Ke5!! e1Q+ 46.Kd6 Just as in the 29... Rg1 line, one side promotes a queen with check and obtains huge material advantage. In that case, it was only enough for draw, while now he can not avoid being mated. Robson gives a few checks, but soon, he runs out of them.

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Issue 12 (3) Nepomniachtchi,I (2716) — Quesada Perez,Yu (2625) [A18]

18th of May 2012

47th Capablanca Mem Elite Havana CUB (6), 10.05.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A highly impressive performance by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is known for his fast playing style, spending between 30 and 60 minutes for the whole game! 46... Bf4+ 47.Nxf4 Rd3+ 48.Nxd3 Qg3+ 49.Ne5 1–0

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 Generally, White plays this move order to avoid the Nimzo-Indian variation (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4), but it gives some extra options for Black. 3...d5 [3...c5 is the other move.] 4.e5 d4 A well-known push with thousands of games in the database. 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.d4 e5 8.Nf3 exd4 9. Bg5 Qe6+ 10. Be2 Be7 We are in the first critical position of our current game. We can still meet with more than hundred games that include players like Kasparov, Aronian, Kramnik and Karpov. Anyway, Nepomniachtchi deviates from the mainline, which was played by all of the top guys; a move that seems to give White an advantage.

11


11. Bxe7!? [Let’s first take a look at a very instructive rapid game from the highest level. 11.cxd4 Bxg5 12.Nxg5 Qf6 13.Qd2 0–0 14.0–0 White is better developed and has the advantage in the center. However, Black’s idea in the whole line is to quickly put pressure on the d4 pawn, forcing the center to move, giving him different kinds of counter play. For example, in case of d5, Black gets the possibility to undermine it with c6. 14...Nc6 15.d5 Nd4 16.Ne4 Nxe2+ 17.Qxe2 Qg6?! This seemingly logical move got punished by Aronian in a really nice fashion! (I found 17...Qe5 to be an improvement, and on 18.Rfe1 Bf5 Black seems to equalize. Probably this is the reason why Nepomniachtchi looked for an alternative for White, and found the 11. Bxe7 move.) 18. Rfe1 Bf5 Black seems to be fine, but Aronian comes up with a temporary pawn sacrifice.

28. Red1 Rad8 29.d6 +/- Black has huge problems. The end of the game was also very spectacular: 29... Bc6 30.d7 Re6 31.Nc4 Qf6 32.Qxf6 gxf6 33.Na5 Kg7 34. Rd4 f5 35.Kf2 b6 36.Nxc6 Rxc6 37.Kg3 The White king is going to support the d7 pawn, and also would like to collect weak kingside pawns. 37... Rc2 38.Kf4! Kg6 39.Ke5! Re2+ 40.Kd6! Great run! 40...Kf6 41. Rd5 Rxg2 42.Kc7 Rgg8 43.f4 Rgf8 44. Rg1 Ke7 45. Rd6 1–0 Aronian-Kramnik, Moscow 2011. It is very rare to see Kramnik losing in such a way, even if it was “just” a rapid game!] 11...Qxe7 12.cxd4 0–0 13.0–0 Just as it was explained in the previous line, Black has to put pressure on the center. 13... Bg4 The most logical move to eliminate the defender. [13... Rd8 seems to be a bit too slow 14. Rb1! White provokes weaknesses, and after 14...b6 15.Ne5! is very strong 15... Bb7 16. Bf3 c5 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18.d5 +/- with a clear advantage, thanks to the protected passed pawn on d5 and the powerful knight.] 14.h3 Bxf3 Black decides to force matters, but as we will see, he is not in time to consolidate the position. [If Black decides to hold the tension with 14... Bh5 White must react energetically 15. Rb1! b6 16. Re1! Nc6

19.Ng3! Bd3 20.Qe5 Bxc4 21.Nf5! White threatens with Ne7, and on 21...Kh8 (21...Qf6 22.Ne7+ Kh8 23.Qxc7 +/-) 22.Ne3! This move was the point of the maneuver that started with 19.Ng3! White obtains a very strong passed pawn on d5 after taking on c7. 22... Bd3 23.Qxc7 Be4 24.Qf4 Rfe8 25.f3 Bd3 26. Rad1 Black could be only fine, if he had a blockader knight on d6. 26...h5 27. Rd2 Bb5 12


17.Qa4! I think that this concrete move is the only way to get an advantage. (On 17.d5 B xf3 18.B xf3 Ne5 Black is fine! This is what he is aiming for in this opening.) 17...Qf6 18.Ne5! Bxe2 (18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qg5 (19...Qxe5? 20.Bf3 +-) 20. Bxh5 Qxh5 21.Qc6 += with an obvious advantage.) 19.Nxc6 +/- Just as in the Aronian-Kramnik game, the knight becomes much stronger than the bishop. The knight restrains Black’s pieces, while the bishop has no real target.]

18... Rxd4 [18...Nxd4 19. Rxc7 Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 Qxf3 21.gxf3 +/- The endgame looks quite promising for White, he is not only a pawn up, but also has an active rook on the 7th rank.] 19.Qe2 It is very hard to hold the c7 pawn, Black is in serious trouble. 19... Rd7 [19...Qd6 met with the very strong 20.c5! Qxc5 21. Rxc7 Rd6 22.Qe8!! winning the c6 knight!]

15. Bxf3 Nc6

16. Rb1! [16. Bxc6 bxc6 Black does not need to worry about the doubled pawns, they are holding well the c4d4 pawn, so he can start to attack the d4-pawn.] 16... Rad8 [16... Rab8 would cost a pawn 17. Bxc6! bxc6 18. Rxb8 Rxb8 19.Qa4 +/-] 17. Re1 Qf6 Things are developing very logically, but unfortunately for Black, complications are working badly for him. 18. Rxb7! By exchanging the pawns, White opens the position favoring the bishop against the knight.

20.Qe8!! Nepomniachtchi play is extremely strong! He uses the weak back-rank. Imagine how bad it would be to have around 10 minutes, while your opponent makes such moves with 1 hour and 30 minutes on his clock. Black has to find only moves to avoid losing immediately. 20... Re7! [20...Qd6 would not solve the danger on the 8th rank 21. Bxc6 Qxc6 22.Qxf8+ Kxf8 23. Rb8+ +-] 21. Rxe7 Nxe7 22.Qd7! Black can not keep the material balance for long. White pieces are dominating the board, while the c7 and a7 pawns are just falling. 22...Qa1+ 23.Kh2 Qe5+ 24.g3 Rc8 [24...Ng6 25. Rxc7 Qf6 26.Qc6 +-]

13

Issue 12 (4) Onischuk,Al (2660) — Nakamura,Hi (2775) [A40]

18th of May 2012

ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (4), 11.05.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

25. Rb3! Not the only winning move, but the best practical one for sure. Black is forced to exchange queens due to the Re3 threat, transposing into a losing endgame. 25...Qd6 [25...Qe6 26.Qxe6 fxe6 27. Rb7 +-] 26. Rd3! Qxd7 27. Rxd7 Kf8 28. Bb7! The first pawn falls. Black is lost. 28... Rb8 29. Rxc7 Ke8 30. Ba6 Kd8 31. Rxa7 Rb2 32. Bb5! The f2 pawn does not play an important role with queens off the board. Black cannot create any threats around the king, while the a- and c-pawns start to run.

From the first moves of the game, it is clear that Nakamura wants to win today, provoking White a lot during the opening phase. On the other hand, Onischuk does everything he can to keep the position as calm as possible, finally reaching a draw in a clearly worse position. A good example on how dangerous it can get when You play for a draw in a better position. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 From Nakamura it is possible to expect almost any opening — sometimes it is even hard to call “opening” to what he is doing. The b6 move, of course, does nothing but tells his opponent, “I am ready to play a worse position against you — I will win anyhow, because I am the better player”. 3.Nc3 Bb7

32... Rxf2+ 33.Kg1 Re2 34.c5 Re5 35.a4! Black resigned, since he can not take on c5 due to Rd7! I am pretty sure, that after this convincing victory by White, we will see the move 11. Bxe7 more often in practice. 1–0

4.e4! Why not to take over the center!? [4.Nf3 f5 This is usually the idea of 2...b6, instead of the usual development of the knight to 2...Nf6] 14


4... Bb4 5.f3 A bit too passive — this is not the way to play for the advantage, even if the move is super solid. [The main move in the position is 5. Bd3 In case White manages to play Nge2 now, the Black’s position is going to be very problematic. In chess, to play without a pawn center usually is not a smart choice. 5...f5!? Probably this is the move that Onischuk was afraid of. It is a very rare line — almost never played on the high level -, probably for good reasons, but as a surprise weapon it is not a bad try. For example, Caruana (the current Nr.7 in the World) founded no way to get an advantage is his game against Erdos 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qe2 Nf6 8. Bg5 fxe4 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Bxe4 Bxe4 11.Qxe4 0–0 = Caruana-Erdos 2011]

very dynamic play, if White manages to develop the pieces normally, Black’s position will be clearly worse.

5...Ne7 Black keeps the pawn structure as flexible as possible. White has to take care of d7-d5, and f7-f5 as well

8...0–0 9. Be3 White is planning to castle long.

6. Bd3 A very standard way to develop the pieces. Another possible choice for White is to play Nh3-f2. 6...f5 [6...d5 could have been another option for Black 7.Qa4+! It is very important to block Black’s c7-c5 move 7...Nbc6 8.cxd5 (8.Nge2 dxe4 9.fxe4 0–0 gives Black good play.) 8...exd5 9.Nge2 White is keeping the center, and that means he should be better(9.e5 Qd7 Seems like Black is totally fine here. 10.Nge2? would give Black the chance to show a pretty trick 10...N xe5!) ; 6...c5 7.d5 This type of position is always better for White. The bishop on b7 is now very badly placed.] 7.Nge2 [Seems like White is not in time for 7.e5 c5! and Black’s dream came true — White can not hold the center 8.a3 Ba5 and probably Black is already doing better.] 7...fxe4 Good move. White wanted to castle short, and Black would be in trouble again. Black needs to show

8.fxe4

9...e5!? Very original play by Black. He is clearly going to play on the dark squares. On the other hand, he takes a very big positional risk, the bishop on b7 is not going to play anymore in this game. 10.d5 Na6 11.Qd2 White wants to get “everything”: to castle long, to keep all the pieces on the board, and to play a3-b4. Well, this would be perfect, but Black has an Ace in the hole. [11.a3 Bc5 (11...B xc3+ 12.N xc3 Nc5 13.Bc2 followed by the b2-b4 move. White has a very clear advantage) 12. Bxc5 (12.Qd2 B xe3 13.Qxe3 Nc5 14.Bc2 a5 The only move. In case White manages to play b4, he is going to be better 15.b3 Black wanted to play a4 15...Ng6 16.g3 d6 followed by Bc8-Bd7. Maybe White still has a small advantage, but the position is quite unclear. This is exactly what Nakamura was trying to reach with his opening choice.) 12...bxc5! This move was probably Nakamura’s idea. Black is blocking the b4 move, having exchanged the Black squared bishops — which is very 15


good. In the next moves, Black is going to play d6 and Nb8-Nd7, with about an equal position] 11...Nc5 12. Bc2

12...Nc8! Very inventive and strong play by Black, in a position that seemed to be clearly worse for him. [12... a5 would be too slow 13.0–0–0 White’s next move is Rhf1 and we can clearly see: White has a strong center, space advantage, and in the future, the bishop pair (the Black bishop on b4 will take the knight on c3), White is doing clearly better] 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 [14.Nxc3 Nd6 Black is attacking the c4 pawn, and he wants to double take on e4, with Qh4+ winning back the piece. White has no decent defense against Black’s threats — Black is doing perfectly fine.] 14...Nd6 15.Ng3 a5 16.0–0–0

16...a4! Black has reached his maximum. The Whites pawns on the queenside are blocked, and the pawns on c4 and e4 are potential weaknesses. The bishop from b7 will finally come into the game via a6. Suddenly we have to say that White needs to act accurately not to be worse... [16... Ba6 17.b4!] 17.Nf5 White goes into a clearly worse position, trying to make a draw. 17...Ncxe4! 18. Bxe4 Nxf5 [Of course not 18...Nxe4? 19.Qxe5 Qf6 20.Ne7+! Kh8 21.Qxe4 Rfe8 22.Qf4 and only White can be better here, even if the position is close to equality.] 19. Bxf5 Rxf5 20.g4 Rf3 21.Qxe5 Qe8! Suddenly White is in big danger, the pawn chain c4-d5 that was so strong has become the weakness of the position, and the bishop on b7 has become the hero! Black wants to play Ba6 and it is very hard for White to find a way to defend the central pawns. 22. Bd4 Qxe5 [22...Qg6 would deserve attention here.] 23. Bxe5 d6 24. Bc3 Ba6 25. Rd4

16


25... Re8 Black has both open files (f- and e-) under control, which gives him a big advantage. Now, he only needs to play Bc8-d7, and I guess it would be very hard for White to save the position. It is strange how quickly things can change in chess; a very safe and better position got into big trouble just by doing natural moves... 26.c5! I think this was a good decision by Onischuk, to stand and wait for Black to improve would lead to a “slow death”. 26...bxc5 [26...dxc5 27. Rxa4 Bb5 28. Ra7 Rf7 29. Rd1 White wants to play d6, getting excellent drawing chances.]

29. Re1! Another very important move by White. Onischuk is very strong if it comes to technical positions, especially if he is defending slightly worse ones. 29... Rc8 [29... Rxe1+ 30. Bxe1 with only one rook on the board, Black has no real winning chances.] 30. Re4 Black wanted to play Bc4. 30...Kf8 It seems like the position should be an easy draw, but in fact it is far from “easy”. The pawn on d5 continues to be a potential victim and White needs to play quite precisely to hold. 31.Kd2

27. Rxa4 Bb5 [It’s not better to play the logical 27... Bf1 28. Ra7 Re7 29. Ba5! and Black can not defend the pawn on c7 29...Kf7 30. Rxc7 Rxc7 31. Bxc7 Ke7 32. Ba5 Of course in this endgame only Black can be better, but at the same time, his advantage is too small, and objectively is nothing more than “ a bit more pleasant for Black, but a draw”.] 28. Ra7 Rf7?! Black probably underestimated White’s next move. [28... Rc8 Would keep some advantage for Black.]

31... Bf1! The bishop is going to g2 17


32. Rea4 Ke7 33. Ra8 Kd7! Again, Black gets very tricky! [Not enough for a win would be 33... Rxa8 34. Rxa8 Bg2 35. Rg8! White exchanges the last pair of rooks 35...g6 36. Rg7 Rxg7 37. Bxg7 Bxd5 38.g5! White should not let Black play g5, fixing the pawns on light squares. 38...Ke6 39.b4!]

39. Bf6 Bg2 40. Re8 Bxd5 41. Re7 Rxe7 Black played clearly better in the middle game and had some chances in the end, but White took over and showed great play in a worse endgame to get a clear draw. 1/2

34. Rxc8 Kxc8 35. Ra8+ Kb7 36. Rh8 [Not enough for a draw would be 36. Rg8 Bc4! 37. Rxg7 Rf2+ 38.Ke3 Rxh2 and Black continues pushing.] 36...g6 37.g5! With a very nice idea of trapping the Black’s rook. 37... Rf5?! This move allows the smallest winning chance to slip away. [37... Bc4 38. Bf6 Bxd5 39. Re8

White wants to play Re7 next. Objectively, the position is a draw, but still Black could push a little in the oppositecolored bishops endgame. In comparison to the game, Black is at least 2 tempi up.] 38.h4 A cool and good move. 38... Rf7 [38... Rxd5+ 39.Ke1 Bd3 40. Rxh7 makes no sense for Black]

18


Puzzle section

(7) Navara,D (2706) — Lechtynsky,J (2382) Czech Championship, 13.05.2012

(5) Cordova,E (2566) — Papin,V (2570) Capablanca memorial B, 07.05.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Predojevic,B (2637) — Kovacevic,A (2557) (6) Kamsky,G (2741) — Onischuk,A (2660) USA Championship, 10.05.2012 [CEWN]

Saraevo, 10.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

19


(9) Lajthajm,B (2493) — Kozul,Z (2593)

(11) Wen Yang (2550) — Dao Thien Hai (2514)

Saraevo, 11.05.2012

Asian Continental Championship, 11.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Xiu Deshun (2494) — Lu Shanglei (2522)

(12) Ibarra Jerez,JC (2523) — Larino Nieto,D (2469)

Asian Continental Championship, 09.05.2012

Salou Open, 10.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +/-

20


(13) Kislinsky,A (2532) — Voloshin,L (2434) Czech Championship, 14.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +/-

(14) Stojanovic,Da (2485) — Sutkovic,D (2357) Saraevo, 11.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

21


Endgame section

55.Kf4 Rf3+ [55... Rxa3 56.Kxf5 Rf3+ 57.Kxe4 =] 56.Ke5 e3

(15) Kraemer,M (2505) — Meier,G (2639) Norderstedt, 12.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

57.Kf6! This was the point! We can see that even in the endgames, activity is sometimes much more important than material! White can create different kinds of threats against the unfortunately-situated king of Black. An interesting rook endgame was played in the German Cup. Seemingly, White is completely lost, but as we will see, the misplacement of the h5 king gives him good counter chances.

57...e2 58. Rg5+ Kh6 59. Rg6+ Kh7 60. Rg7+ Kh8 The king is squeezed to the corner! 61. Re7

54.Ke3! The move might look like it is equal to resignation, but in reality there is a deep idea behind that... Black must find the only move to win the game! 54... Rd3+? Black played the most obvious move, but it throws away the win. [54... Rd1!! was the winning move! In rook endgames, we can meet many times with the fact that occupying the 1st (or 8th) rank with the rook is very important, because it supports the promotion of a pawn. This is the case in our current example as well. 55.Kf4 Rf1+ 56.Ke5 e3 57.Kf6 e2]

61... Rxg3 [A really nice line arises after 61... Rxa3 62.g4!! and on the too greedy 62...fxg4?? 63.Kg6 +- White suddenly mates!] 22


62.Kxf5 [62. Re8+! was the most precise way to draw, giving Black not even the smallest hope to convert his advantage. 62...Kh7 63. Re7+ Kh6 and only now 64. Rxe2 when White creates a mate threat on the h-file. 64...Kh5 65.Kxf5 Rf3+ 66.Ke6 Rxa3 67. Re5+ =] 62... Rxa3 63. Rxe2 Rb3 64. Re4?! After this inaccurate move, the position remains drawn. [But the active defense combined with a small tactical trick was much easier 64. Re5! Rxb4 65.Kg6! as usual, White uses the poor placement of his opponent’s king. 65... Rg4+ 66.Kf5 = and White takes on b5 with a draw.] 64...Kg7! Black had to be really happy to finally escape from the corner. 65.Ke5 a3 [65... Rd3 Going behind his own pawn might be a better try, but White should be able to hold the draw anyway 66.Ke6 Rd8 67.Ke7 Ra8 68. Rg4+ Kh6 69.Kd6 = Still, Black’s main problem is his cut king.] 66.Kd5?! [66.Kd6 would have secured the draw, as we can see in the lines: 66...Kf6 (66...a2 67.Re7+ Kf6 68.Ra7 Rb2 69.Kc5 =) 67. Re6+ Kf5 68. Re5+ Kf4 69. Rxb5 Ke4 70. Ra5 Kd4 71.b5 =]

66...Kf7! Black prevents the check on the 7th rank to go behind the a-pawn! Now a2 threatens with a win. White has only one move to save the game, which is already very difficult to find... 67. Rf4+? He fails. [67.Kd6!! Refreshing the Re7 idea was the correct move! 67...Kf8 (67...a2 68.Re7+ Kf6 69.Ra7 =; After 67...Rd3+ 68.Kc6 a2 69.Re1 Black does not have Rb1 anymore.) 68. Rf4+ Kg7 (68...Ke8 69.Re4+ Kd8 70.Rf4 =) 69. Re4 =] 67...Kg6! Black is winning now! Let’s see the differences: 68. Rf2 [68.Ke5 is met with 68...Kg5! with the same problem as 68. Re4.; On 68. Re4 Kf5 White can not take the b5 pawn after check, like we saw in the previous lines...] 68... Rxb4 It is over now! Black obtained the “self-helped” pawn, what we already discussed in the 5th edition of the CEWN newsletter. Black can promote the pawn without the help of his king! 69. Ra2 Rb3 70.Kd4 b4 71.Kc4 Rb2 72. Ra1 a2 0–1

23


(16) Seirawan,Y (2643) — Ramirez,Alej (2593) [D11] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (4), 11.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

We are in a very interesting endgame from the US Championship. This game was already quite a long one, we are at move 77. All game long, White was pushing but never could find a concrete way to finish the game. Let us evaluate if the current position is a winning one! 77... Rc5 78. Ra7! White starts with a perfectly good move: the White rook is going to the 8th rank, and the Black King is getting into a mating net. 78...Kg7 79. Ra8 f6 Probably the only move. [In case Black keeps waiting, White has a very simple way of finishing the game 79... Rc4 80. Rg8+ Kh7 81. Rf8 and the f7 pawn. Of course, with 2 extra h- and g-pawns, Black’s position is hopeless.] 80. Rg8+ Kh7 81. Rf8! A good move! White continues building a mating net around the Black king. 81...fxg5

82. Rf7+? The check came too early [82.hxg5! would have been the right play, now White wants to play Nf5 with the deadly threat of g6. 82...Kg7 83. Rf7+ Kh8 84.Nf5! and again the move Nf5 decides the game! 84...Kg8 85. Rf6 White will play Kg6 and the mate is coming very soon.] 82...Kh8 83.hxg5 Can Black find a way to give up the bishop for the g5-pawn?! Usually it should be possible, but the Black king on h8 is under constant mating threats! 83... Ba5! Black is planning to play Bd2. 84. Rd7 At first sight, this is a very good move. White defends against the Bd2 move, and at the same time, if Black plays Rc7, he can play Rd8. On the other hand, White gives the Black king a chance to escape from the “corner of death”. [If White tries to avoid the escape of the Black king 84.Nf5 Kg8 85.Kg6 (In case of 85.g6 Bb4! it is very hard for White to make progress.) 85... Rc6+! 86. Rf6 Rxf6+ 87.gxf6 At first sight, it looks like the position is winning, but it is a draw. 87...Kh8 88.f7 Bb4 From now on White can not make any kind of progress, the position is a draw.]

24


84... Bc3! The only right diagonal for the Black bishop. Black has to be prepared against White’s maneuver Ng4f6

87.Ng4! Now, White has just enough time for the Ng4f6 maneuver.

85.Kg6 Giving Black an amazing chance to draw! [The logical 85.Ng4 Rc6 86.g6 could be met with 86...Kg8! Black King is starting the run 87.Nh6+ Kf8 88.Nf5 Ke8 89. Rb7 Kd8! and the position seems to be a draw. In case of g7, Black will always have the Bxg7 resource, with a theoretically drawn position of R+N versus R.]

89.gxf6 Kh7 If Black rook would be on a6, the position is a theoretical draw! But the rook is on c6, and White makes use of it.

87... Bc3 88.Nf6 Bxf6 [88... Rc8 89. Rd3 +-]

90.Ke7 Rc8 White wanted to play f7. 91. Rd8 Rc7+

85... Rc6+ 86.Kf7 After playing 3 great moves in a role, Black makes a terrible mistake — and the draw was sooo close already. 86... Be5? This moves allows White to win by force. [Black had here a study looking draw 86... Rc5! The first step is to bring the White pawn to g6 87.g6 Rc8 88.Nf5

92.Kd6! And here w e see the difference, if the Black rook would be on a7, Black could have played Kg6 with a draw. 92... Rf7 [92... Ra7 93. Rd7+ +-]

It looks like the position is totally lost, White wants to play Rd2 with mate on the h-file, but 88... Bg7!! gets a very beautiful draw! 89.Nxg7 Rc7!! (Of course not 89...Rf8+? 90.Ke6 and White is winning.) 90. Rxc7 The Black King is in stalemate.]

93.Ke6 We faced another very interesting endgame. As we could see, it is quite hard to defend a worse endgame, so from the practical point of view: to win such an endgame is much “easier” than holding the draw. 1–0

25


Clash of the Titans (17) Stein,Leonid — Spassky,Boris V [C09] URS Soviet Union, 1967 [Balogh Csaba] The “Titan section” is back with a great fight between the 10th World Champion, Boris Spassky, and Leonid Stein, who was clearly a top 10 player in the 60s! 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 Black goes for the Tarrasch line in the French defense. In this variation, Black accepts to play with an isolated pawn, but he tries to compensate with active piece play.

Bc7 13.Nfd4 White created nice squares for the knights, but the bishop pair compensates for Black.] 9.cxd5? White falls into the positional trap. [9.dxc5 should have been played 9... Bxc5 10.cxd5 axb5 11.dxc6 An important moment: 11...0–0! (But not 11...bxc6 because of 12.Ne4! Qxd1 13.R xd1 and Black has problems with his king.) 12.cxb7 Bxb7 Black sacrificed a pawn, but due to the open position where the pair of bishops can work with full effectiveness, he does not need to worry about staying worse.] 9...axb5 10.dxc6

6. Bb5 Bd6 7.0–0 Nge7 8.c4 [White should definitely prefer 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nb3 when we reach the starting position of the whole line. Black can choose between two retreats of the bishop, to d6 or b6.]

10...c4! This was Spassky’s idea when he played 8...a6!

8...a6!? An excellent idea based on a positional pawn sacrifice! [The before-mentioned game continued with 8...0–0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nb3 Bb6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12.c5

11.cxb7 Bxb7 Let’s summarize what we have for the small material deficit... Black has the bishop pair, the bishop on b7 controls the relevant long diagonal, the d5 square might be occupied by any of the pieces, an excellent pawn structure on the queenside — the b5, c4 pawns are clearly dominating the a2, b2 counterparts — and an isolated pawn on d4 which becomes a real target. After analyzing all this factors, we come to the conclusion that Black’s compensation is not only enough to secure a draw, but he already overtook the advantage as well! 26


White is missing his light squared bishops, which could reduce the power of the bishops with Be4! 12. Re1 0–0 13.Ne4 Re8!? This move is a matter of taste. Spassky decides to give up his “weaker” bishop, it is more important to save the one on b7 for the long-term. However, it was possible to keep both bishops as well. [13... Bc7 gave an advantage as well.]

17...Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Rae1 By giving back the pawn, White at least could activate his pieces. Unfortunately for him, Spassky finds a nice combination to obtain material advantage:

14. Bg5 [After 14.Nxd6 Qxd6 Black is better anyway, but maybe the “less pieces, less problems” strategy could help White to survive.]

19...f5! At first sight it might look like a blunder, but 20.Nf6+ Qxf6 21. Rxe8 Qg6! with this double attack, Black wins back the exchange. 22. Rxf8+ Rxf8 23.f3 Only with this sacrifice, White could prevent the mate. [23.g3? Qc6] 14...f6! Taking the e5 square under control to reduce the movement of the White knight. Without the light squared bishop, White can not make use of this weakness.

23... Bxf3 24. Bc3 Be4 25.Qf2 Until this moment, Black played a perfect game, but now he blunders a small tactic, which could have cost him the victory...

15. Bd2 Nf5! Going for the d4 target! 16.Qc2 [16.Nxd6 would have been the last chance to take the bishop, but position the remains quite bad... 16...Qxd6] 16... Bf8! White cannot defend the pawn... 17. Re2 [17. Bc3 is refuted nicely by 17...b4! 18. Bd2 (18. B xb4 does not work 18...B xb4 19.Qxc4+ Kh8 20.Qxb4 B xe4) 18...Qd5! 19.Ng3 Nxd4 Nicely illustrates the power of the b7 bishop!] 27


25...f4? [25... Rd8 Black is up a pawn and has the more active bishop, which is a really important factor at the appearance of the opposite colored bishops.]

32.Qf2 Rg5 Now, final ly White survives getting mated by exchanging the queens, but it costs him another pawn, which is already too much to have any hopes...

26. Rd1? White logically tries to activate his rook, but it throws away the sudden chance! [26. Bxg7! Both players missed this small tactical trick. White restores the material equality and saves the game.]

33.Qxe3 Rxg2+ 34.Kf1 fxe3 35. Rd6 Be4 36. Rd4 [36. Re6 loses to 36...e2+ 37.Ke1 Bd3]

26... Bc6 Now Black is winning again. 27.h3 [27. Bb4 Re8]

36... Bf3 37. Rf4 e2+ [White resigned in view of 37...e2+ 38.Ke1 Rg1+ 39.Kf2 Rf1+ 40.Kg3 Bc6 and the pawn promotes! A fantastic achievement by Spassky, even if there was a blunder in the 25th move.] 0–1

27...h6 Both players opened their back-ranks. [27...f3 was another way to victory 28.g3 Re8! 29. Re1 Re2! 30. Rxe2 fxe2 31.Qxe2 Qxg3+ 32.Kf1 Qxh3+ 33.Ke1 h5 should be easily winning.] 28.Kh2 Rf5! Black continues the attack by transferring the rook to g5! White can not hold the threats. 29. Rd8+ Kh7 30.Qc2

30...Qg3+! Clever way to unpin the b1–h7 diagonal. 31.Kg1 [Of course not 31.Kh1 Qxh3+!] 31...Qe3+! And on every possible king move, Be4 decides the game!

28



Solutions

(18) Weenink,H

(19) Antipov,M (2433) — Jankovic,A (2564)

1918

Saraevo, 07.05.2012

[CEWN]

[Solutions]

1. +-

27.Nd5! Kd8 [27...Qxc2 28.Ndxf6+ Kd8 29.Qg3+-; 27...Qxd5 28.Nxf6++-] 28.Ndxf6 Qxc2 29.Qg3 Qxb2 30.Qxe5 1–0 Line (20) Predojevic,B (2637) — Bistric,F (2383) Saraevo, 07.05.2012 [Solutions]

29


18.g3! Nxh3+ 19.Kg2 1–0[19.Kg2 Qg4 20. Bxd6 cxd6 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.f3+-] Line (21) Le Quang Liem (2703) — Xiu Deshun (2494)

(22) Volkov,S (2623) — Iskandarov,M (2305) Nakhchivan, 05.05.2012 [Solutions]

Asian Continental Championship, 05.05.2012 [Solutions]

30...g5! [30...dxe4? 31. Rd8+!] 31. Rxe6 [31.fxg5 dxe4–+] 31...gxh4–+ Line (23) Babaev,T (2344) — Aleksandrov,A (2604) 20...Qxd5!! 21. Bxc2 g5! 22.Qh3 [22. Be4 Qxd4 23. Bxh7+ Nxh7 24.Qxd4 Bxd4] 22...Qxd4 23.Ke2 [23. Rd1 Qe3+ 24.Kf1 Qxf3+ 25.Kg1 Qxa3!?–+] 23...g4! 24.fxg4 Qb2 [24... Rc8–+] 25. Rac1 Rc8 26.Kd1 Ne4! 27.Qxh7+ Kxh7 28. Bxe4+ Kh6 29. Rxc8 Qd4+ 0–1 Line

Nakhchivan, 04.05.2012 [Solutions]

44. Ra4!! Qf3 [44...Qxa4 45.Nxh5+ gxh5 46.Qxf6+ Kh7 47.Qf5+ Kh8 48.Qf6+=] 45. Ra3!! Qf4 46. Ra4 Qf3 47. Ra3 Qf4 48. Ra4 Qf3 49. Ra3= Re8?? 50.Qxf7+! Kxf7 51. Rxf3+- Line 30


(24) Popovic,Du (2561) — Milanovic,D (2520)

(26) Borgo,G (2397) — Bindrich,F (2542)

Serbian Championship, 04.05.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26. Rxe6! Red8 [26... Rxe6 27. Rc8+ Bf8 28. Bh6!+-] 27. Ree7+- Line

15...Ncxe4! 16. Bb3 [16.Nxe4 Nxc4+–+] 16...Nxd2 17.Kxd2 Bf5–+ Line

(25) Miralles,G (2471) — Schiendorfer,E (2349)

(27) Szymanski,M (2416) — Gajewski,G (2622)


Polish league, 05.05.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27. Bb5+! Ke7 [27... Rxb5 28. Ra8+ Ke7 29. Rxh8+-] 28. Ra7+ Kd8 [28...Kd6 29. Rd7#] 29. Ra8+ Ke7 30. Rxh8 Rxb5 31. Ra1+- Line

19...Nxf2! 20.g4 [20.Kxf2 Qe3+! 21.Qxe3 dxe3+ 22.Kf1 exd2–+] 20...Qe3 21.Qxe3 dxe3 22.Nb3 Be6 23.Nxc5 Bxc4 24.Nxb7 Rd2–+ Line 31


(28) Tomczak,J (2549) — Mista,A (2538)

(29) Liburkin,M


1981

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27. Re8!! Qxe8 [27... Rxe8 28.Nf7++-; 27...Qxd6 28.Qxd6 Rxd6 29. Rxf8#; 27...Qf6 28. Rxf8+ Qxf8 29. Re1! Rxd6 30.Qxd6 Qxd6 31. Re8++-] 28.Nxe8 Rxe8 29. Rd1+-

1.Ka5! g3 2. Rb5!! cxb5 3.cxb5 g2 [3...b6+ 4.Ka4 g2 5.b4 g1Q 6.b3 Qg2 7.a3=] 4.b6+! Kb8 5.b4! g1Q 6.b5!= Black cannot avoid stalemate. 6...Qg8 [6...Qe1+ 7.b4=; 6...Qb1 7.a4 Qxb2=] 7.a4 Kc8 8.b4 Kd7= 1/2

32

Weekly Newsletter



25th of May 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

18


21


26


29

»» Solutions

29

The World Championship match between Anand and Gelfand is still tied 4-4. We have seen 1 victory for each side. We present you one of them. The tension is growing from round to round, since there are only 4 games left, and a small mistake could be decisive. The US Championship has come to a dramatic end! The two favorites, Nakamura and Kamsky, were dominating the field, scoring one win after another. After the 9th round, Kamsky had the lead with 7 points, while his rival was just a half point behind him. In the penultimate round, they faced each other and Nakamura won a very interesting battle with the Black pieces. In the last round, he secured the first place with a fine win over Seirawan! In the current CEWN, we demonstrate 3 critical games from this event. In the “surprise section”, try to calculate as long as you can. The final strike — the whole point of the puzzle — comes only after a long and forced line. We wish you lots of fun with the 13th edition of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Gelfand,B (2727) — Anand,V (2791) [D45] WCC (7), 20.05.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] So long we’ve been waiting for this day, and finally THE day has arrived. Gelfand has won the 7th game of the match very solidly. Anand helped him to get the full point — where he could. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 Another game on the Slav, and probably some of the spectators thought here „another short draw...”. Gelfand had different plans 6.c5 Nbd7

7.Qc2!? A very rare move in a well known position. [7. Bd3; 7.b4 are the main moves here.]

c2 might be very useful. [7...e5 8.dxe5 Ng4 9.Na4! and here we see why the Queen on c2 is a useful piece, to protect the pawn on c5! 9...Ndxe5 (9...N xc5?! 10.N xc5 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxc5 12.Bc3 followed by h3-g4 cutting out the Black knight from the game. White is doing clearly better here.) 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.b4 and it seems like White got a small advantage. I guess this „advantage” is not enough to have real hopes of getting the full point...] 8.cxb6 Nxb6 [8...c5 would have been the other option for Black, but in case of 9. Bd2 Nxb6 we would go back to the game.] 9. Bd2 c5 10. Rc1!? Until this oment, Gelfand blitzed out his moves while Anand had been spending some time starting from 7.Qc2. [10.dxc5 looks very tempting but doesn’t work 10... Bxc5 11.Nb5 Ne4! and, of course, Black is doing more than fine.] 10...cxd4 Here we had the first very interesting moment, to take on 10...cxd4 or to play 10...c4, both seem to lead to a slightly worse position, but which one too choose? [10...c4 11.b3! Of course White needs to open the queenside immediately. (Moves like 11.e4 Bb7! 12.e5 Ne4 usually lead nowhere for White) 11...cxb3 12.axb3 += Black would give a lot to have the knight not on b6, but on c6! This is the right place for the knight. Now White will play Bd3, 0–0, Ne5, with some pressure] 11.exd4 Bd6 The first move after which Gelfand started thinking.

7...b6 Basically, Black only has 2 major ideas here, to push b6 or to push e5. In case of e5 now, the Queen on 3

Issue 13 21...Nc8! This fantastic move solves all Black’s problems. The knight has finally reached the right square, c6, and we get to an endgame where only Black could claim to have an advantage.]

25th of May 2012

12. Bg5! In my opinion a very good move, showing a deep understanding of the position. [First it seemed like 12.Na4 Nxa4 White wanted to play Ba5 13.Qc6+ Bd7 14.Qxd6 . This looks clearly better for White, but Black can improve his situation by playing 14...Ne4 15.Qa3 Nxd2 16.Kxd2 f6! . This move is super important and typical for many types of positions. Black doesn’t allow the White knight to jump to e5. (16...Qe7?! would be too early 17.Qxe7+ Kxe7 18.b3 Nb6 19.Ne5! The White knight managed to reach his destination on e5 19...f6 20.N xd7 Kxd7 21.Rc5 += . The a6 pawn is week, White controls the c-file, and the bishop is better against the knight — all these factors give White a clear advantage.) 17. Bd3 White can’t do anything better than to play Bd3 17...Qe7! and only now comes the exchange of queens 18.Qxe7+ Kxe7 19.b3 Nb6 20. Rc5 Kd6 21. Rhc1

12...0–0 13. Bd3 h6 14. Bh4 From the first look, the position looks very harmless for Black. But things are by far not so clear here... Black has a big problem, the bishop on c8. Eventually, White could be better in the endgames due to the pawn structure and the weak Black pawn on a6. 14... Bb7 A logical move by Anand. [It’s hard to say if 14... Bf4 15. Rd1 Bb7 would be the right way for Black to react, in order to include the moves Bf4-Rd1.] 15.0–0 Qb8 A very risky move. [15...Nbd7 Here, it looks much more solid to play 16. Bg3 Bxg3 17.hxg3 and we would be back to a position similar to the one in the game.] 16. Bg3 White continues his opening strategy, to play with as less risk as possible. Maybe here White had a good chance to try to play a bit more active. [16. Bxf6!? From a positional point of view, this move is clearly a „bad choice” for White. Anyway, chess is a tactical game and the Black king is open now, which usually gives a lot of tactical opportunities. 16...gxf6 17.Ne2! This is the key move of 16. Bxf6, the White knight is going to h5! (Of course, in case of 17.Qe2 Rc8 followed by Bf8-g7, only Black can be better.) 17... Rc8 18.Qd2 Bf8 19.Ng3 and I think White has very dangerous play on the kingside. The knight is going to h5, attacking the f6 pawn, which will be very hard to defend. If Black plays f5, the e5 square will be free for White to play Ne5, followed by Qf4.] 4


20. Rfc1 At first look, this position should be equal, but what can Black do here. How to get rid of the bishop on b7, how to get the guy into the game?!

16... Rc8 Another risky move by Black that gives White an extra opportunity. [16... Bxg3!? 17.hxg3 Qd6 leaving Black with a much wider range of possibilities for the next move. Black could try the Nbd7-Rfe8 and e5 idea, which would lead, in the worst case, to a slightly unpleasant position.] 17.Qe2 [Why not 17.Ne5!? Ne4! This is clearly what Gelfand might have been afraid of. (17...Nbd7 18.Qe2!? would have clearly been an interesting choice for White. In case of 18...B xe5 19.dxe5 Ne8 20.f4! followed by f5, White has a dangerous attack.) 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19.Qe2 f6! Black has an open king, but he got the d5 square. In my opinion, we are in a very complicated position.] 17... Bxg3 18.hxg3 Qd6 19. Rc2 Nbd7

20... Rab8!? I think this was a very strong move by Black, forcing White to act. [20... Rc7 21.Na4 Rxc2 22. Rxc2 and White is doing a bit better. On 22... Rc8 23. Rxc8+ Bxc8 24.Qc2 we get to a typical position which is quite unpleasant to play for Black. Even if the queens are exchanged, the game would not be a draw at all, due to the pawn structure, that always gives White some edge.] 21.Na4 Ne4? From here on, Anand starts to do very strange moves... We can rarely see the World Champion (maybe never) in this shape. Did he drink or eat something wrong during the game?! [21... Rxc2! During the live game, I though this might be Black’s idea 22. Rxc2 (22.Qxc2 doesn’t bring any advantage either 22...Rc8 23.Qd1 R xc1 24.Qxc1 Ne4 and Black is just in time to block White from playing Nc5.) 22... Bc6! Black is getting rid of the bad bishop, the troublemaker 23.Nc5 Bb5 and in my opinion, Black should be doing fine here. I don’t see any reason for White to claim an advantage.] 22. Rxc8+! This logical move leads to a big advantage for Black. 22... Bxc8 23.Qc2 [Another very good option for White was 23.Qe1!

5


23... Bb7 24.Qa5 and White places the queen just in a perfect place! Black got no Rc8 because of Rxc8 and Qd8. The next White move will be Qc7 or Rc7. The position is a clear +/-.; 23. Bxe4? would be too greedy 23... dxe4 24.Qxe4 Bb7 and due to he great bishop on b7, Black shouldn’t have any problems. There’s enough compensation for the pawn.] 23...g5? What a shocking move by Black... It’s hard to say what was the idea of Anand, but in any case, this kind of moves should not be played at all. [23...Ndf6! was probably the only way to continue the game, even though White is doing already better 24.Nc5 Nxc5 25.dxc5 Qc7 26.Qc3 blocking the dark squares. White will play b4 next, it will be possible to play a4-b5, otherwise, just Ne5 followed by f4. It’s clear that White is doing better, but how much better? Well, this would have been seen had Black played 23...Ndf6.] 24.Qc7! Excellent answer by Gelfand, who just probably said „thanks” to the g5 move. White reaches an endgame with a huge advantage. 24...Qxc7 25. Rxc7

25...f6?? An amazing mistake by Anand. After this move, Black can basically resign. It’s interesting that at this point Anand only had 15 minutes left until the time control. This is clearly a very bad sign, we can rarely see the World Champion spending more than an hour for the whole game! Probably Anand was very tired, or maybe he was pretty disappointed with his play?! We will never know, but one thing is clear, something is very wrong with V. Anand... [25...Ndf6 26.Ne5 Nd6 was the only choice not to lose immediately. Of course, Black is doing very bad here.] 26. Bxe4! The winning move! We cannot imagine how Gelfand felt like at this moment. Since 1993, he hadn’t won a game against Anand with a normal time control, and to go ahead an win in the 7th round of the WCC match.. . Well, better than a dream! :) 26...dxe4 27.Nd2 White’s knights are dominating the board and Black is still „sitting” with his bad bishop on c8. 27...f5 28.Nc4 Nf6 29.Nc5 Nd5 30. Ra7 For a while I thought that Anand would just resign the game. It is really a „disgusting” position from Black’s point of view. No moves... 6

Issue 13 36...Kh8 [36...Kg6 37.Ne5+ Kh5 38.Nxe6 +-]

25th of May 2012

37.Ne5 e2 38.Nxe6 Followed by Ng6, Kg8, and Rg7 mate. Black is hopeless! A very solid game by White, and an incredible performance by Black. 1–0

30...Nb4 31.Ne5 Nc2!? In a lost position, Anand finds some practical chance, even though White is still totally winning and it is not easy to go wrong... 32.Nc6 Rxb2 33. Rc7! The easiest winning move. Of course 33.Ne7 and 33. Ra8 were winning as well. 33... Rb1+ Allowing White a very beautiful finish. [Of course, 33...e3 34. Rxc8+ Kh7 35. Rc7+ Kh8 36.fxe3 Nxe3 37.Ne5 clearly doesn’t save Black from a 0! 37... Rxg2+ 38.Kh1 Rf2 39.Ncd3 and White should easily convert with a piece up.] 34.Kh2 e3 35. Rxc8+ Kh7

36. Rc7+! A move that’s too easy to be missed. 7


(2) Kamsky,G (2741) — Seirawan,Y (2643) [B19] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (9), 17.05.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Gata Kamsky won a nice game against the Caro-Kann defense. The game is interesting from a theoretical point of view as well. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 Recently, the Caro-Kann lives its best period ever. We very often meet with this opening, even on the highest level. The advance variation with 3.e5 is White’s favorite nowadays, but fashion changes from time to time. 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12.0–0–0

12... Be7 This is considered to be the basic position of the 3.Nc3 line, where White can choose between 3 big setups. Black’s other main option with 12...Qc7 followed by 0–0–0 is out of fashion now. 13.Ne4 [13.Kb1 and; 13.Qe2 are the two other setups.]

13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qd3 0–0 [For the Caro-Kann fans, I would probably suggest 15...Ng4 this is how the big opening expert, Alexey Dreev, played few month ago. 16.Qe2 0–0 The knight is very annoying on g4. It prevents the typical g4 pawn sacrifice, which we will see in our current game as well. 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qb6 19.Kb1 Rfd8 20.g4 20...Qb5! This is Black’s defensive resource. 21.Qxb5 (If White wants to keep the queens on the board with 21.c4 Qc5 22.f4 b5! Black creates his counterplay against the provoked weakness with c4.) 21...cxb5 22.Be3 b6 23.c3 Rac8 Black was more or less fine in Guseinov-Dreev, Plovdiv 2012.; The standard 15...Qd5?! is not advisable here 16.c4 Qe4 because of 17.Qb3! b5 18. Rhe1 Qf5 19.Ne5! and Black has serious problems on the queenside.] 16.Kb1 Preparation for the g4 sacrifice. [On 16.g4 , a theoretically very important game was played 2 months ago 16...Nxg4 17. Rhg1 Nxf2 18.Qe2 Nxd1 19. Bxh6 Bf6 20. Bxg7 Bxg7 21.h6 Qf6 22.Qh2 (22.R xg7+ Kh8 23.Ng5 Qxh6 24.Rh7+ Qxh7 25.N xh7 Kxh7 26.Qh5+ leads to draw as well.) 22...Qxf3 23.hxg7 Qe3+! 24.Kb1 (24.Kxd1 Qxd4+ 25.Kc1 Qxg1+ 26.Qxg1 Rfe8 =+) 24...Nc3+! The only way to avoid mate 25.bxc3 Qxg1+! 26.Qxg1 Rfd8 Everything was more or less forced until this moment. I remember, that I was watching this game live, and both players were blitzing out the moves until this moment. This is what we call computer chess. 27.Qg5 Kh7 28.Qf6 Rd7 29.Kb2 Rg8 30.Qh4+ Kxg7 31.Qg3+ Kf8 32.Qb8+ Kg7 33.Qg3+ Kf8 34.Qb8+ Kg7 35.Qg3+ 1/2–1/2 Hovhannisyan-Akopian, Plovdiv 2012.] 16...c5 Black’s main strategy in this opening is to open the position with this c5 break, and in the endgames (after the heavy pieces get exchanged on the d-file) the h5 8


pawn might become a real weakness. Black won many games this way...

axb4 24.axb4 followed by Bf4. White’s prospects seem to be slightly preferable.]

17.g4! And this is White’s strategy! He must launch an attack against the Black king, which is also very natural in case of opposite side castling. Of course, giving mate has higher value than one pawn. :) 17...Nxg4 Black must accept the sacrifice. Allowing White to play g5 is too dangerous. [17...cxd4 18.g5 hxg5 19. Bxg5 followed by an attack on the g-file.] 18.Qe2! Kamsky protects the f2 pawn before playing Rhg1. Seirawan reacts with the first move of the machine, probably they were both still in their preparation. 18...Kh8 Moving out of Bxh6 after Rhg1–Nf6. [Another idea could be 18...Qb6 to defend the e6 pawn after 19. Rhg1 f5 but here, White plays the energetic 20.Ne5! Nxe5 21.dxe5‚ with huge pressure on the g-file.]

22. Bxh6!! gxh6 23. Rd7!! A fantastic tactical shot, to lure the knight from the defense! [23.Qd2? Qxe5 24.Qxh6+ Nh7 White has nothing.] 23...Qxd7! Only move to avoid mate, but it loses material. [23...Nxd7 24.Qd2! Kh7 25.Ng4!! This is the whole point! The mate is unavoidable.]

19. Rhg1 Nf6 20.dxc5 [20. Bxh6 would have been premature 20...gxh6 21.Qe3 Rg8 22.Qxh6+ Nh7 23.Ne5 Qf8 Black defends against the concrete threats and preserves the extra piece.]

24.Nxd7 Nxd7 25.Qd2! This double attack finishes the game.

20...Qc7 Black had to leave from the pin on the d-file.

26... Rad8 27.bxc5 Nf6 [27...Nxc5 28.Qf4 +- with the threat of Qf6.]

21.Ne5! Kamsky brings his pieces into the attack, but Caro-Kann players know that Black’s defensive possibilities are excellent in this opening. 21... Bxc5? [21... Rad8! should have been played, when it is not easy at all to continue the attack 22.b4 might be the strongest move for White, but of course it has its minuses as well. (22.Rde1 B xc5; 22.f4 does not work with the idea of Qg2 22...B xc5 The bishop controls the g1 square; 22.Rg3 B xc5 23.Rdg1 R xd2! 24.Qxd2 Qxe5) 22...a5 23.a3

25...Kh7 26.b4 [There was nothing wrong with 26.Qxd7 +-]

28.Qf4 Black could resign at this moment, Seirawan tries for few more moves. 28...Ne8 [28...Nxh5 29.Qe4+ Kh8 (29...f5 30.Qxe6 +-) 30.Qe5+ +-] 29.Qe4+ [29. Rg6! was the computer finish!] 29...Kh8 30.Qxb7 Ng7 31.Qxa7 Rc8 32. Rd1 Nf5 33. Rd7 Kg7 34.a4 Kf6 35.a5 1–0 9


(3) Kamsky,Gata (2741) — Nakamura,Hikaru (2775) [B90] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (10), 18.05.2012

that the knight on f3 is out play. So, in the best case, White will transport the knight via Nd2-Nf1–Ne3 and Nd5. This would be the perfect scenario.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Only 2 rounds to go in the US Championship. The usual battle between Kamsky and Nakamura for the tittle. Before the game, Kamsky was a half point ahead. As we know, playing for second place is definitely not Nakamura’s style. We will see a fighting game, with a lot of mistakes, and a lot of emotions! 1.e4 c5 Nakamura is playing a lot of different openings against 1.e4, and it’s hard to guess his first move. In the current game he chose the Najdorf, maybe a bit surprising for Gata, because he didn’t seem to be well prepared in the opening. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Is Gata playing for a win?! 3. Bb5 would be a very safe move, and the draw is enough to be half a point ahead before the last round.

8...0–0 9.0–0 [It would be too early to play 9. Bg5 Be6! White wanted to play Bxf6 and Nd5 with a slightly better position 10. Bxf6 Bxc4 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 and Black is doing perfectly fine. The pawn on d6 is a little weak, although White cannot create any serious threats. Black will play Nc6, Rd8 and will probably push through with d5.]

3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4!? And Gata plays his favorite move, 6.a4, which he already used in his World Championship match against Topalov.

9... Be6! Here we see the weak point of the a4 move. In case of the usual Bb3, Black will take Bxb3; White doesn’t have the usual option of axb3, and will have to take with the c-pawn.

6...e5 In my opinion, 6...e6 or 6...g6 are make more sense now. Now, in the game, White is sort of „half a tempo” up in comparison to the 6. Be3 e5 7.Nf3 line.

10.Bb3?! Maybe the usual answer. [10.Qe2!? looks interesting to me, trying to save a tempo on Bb3 10...Nc6 11. Rd1 and maybe White will be able to avoid playing Bb3.]

7.Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4 And we can see that the a4 move is a very useful one, it stops Black from playing b5. The idea of the whole system for White is to exchange the bishop on c1 for any Black piece by playing Bg5, and then start to take over the d5 square. The only problem could be

10...Nc6! Another very important move that clearly shows the weakness of White’s play, the bishop on b3! 11. Bg5 Na5 The idea of Black is to force White to take with Bxe6 fxe6, and of course White’s hopes for an advantage just disappear. 10


(Of course not 15.Nb3 Nc4!) 15... Bg5 and we are in a position similar to the game.] 15. Re1 White continues to follow the opening plan... 15...Bg5! Until now, Black is playing a great game. Attacking the knight on d2, he wants to win control over the c4 square, and finally get the knight from a5 into the game.

12. Bxf6 White continues with the plan, but he had to lose one tempo with Bb3, and another one on the next move with Bd5.2 tempi in the opening are just too much to have hopes to get the advantage. 12... Bxf6 13. Bd5 [13.Nd5 Nxb3 14.cxb3 Rc8 would lead to no avantage for White. The knight on f3 is standing very badly, and it’s not clear why the knight is better than the bishop on f6.] 13... Rc8 Black is preparing the Nc4 jump. 14.Nd2 If we look at this position from a logical point of view, we can easily figure out that something went very wrong in the opening for White. He managed to block the d5 square with a piece, but with the wrong one, a knight should be standing there. The bishop on d5 has no options except to take on e6, which would lead to a better position for Black. 14...Qc7!? A very interesting move. Black fixes the c2 pawn as a potential victim, and at the same time, he frees the d8 square for Rd8. Also, Bxd5 could be a threat given that White would not be able to play Nxd5 because of Qxc2, and of course, in case of exd5, Black would be doing very good. [Also possible would be 14...Qb6 15. Rb1

16.Nf1 [16.Nf3 Bh6 would have no effect on Black.] 16...Qb6 Black tries to keep the position complicated. [The simple 16...Nc4 17. Bxc4 is the only move for White. On 17. Rb1, Nxb2 would follow 17... Bxc4 18.Ne3 Be6 and Black is doing at least equal — probably a bit better. White finally covered the d5 square, but had to give up both bishops.] 17. Rb1 Nc4 18.Qe2 Not an easy task to find a useful move for White. [A clear mistake would be 18. Bxc4? Rxc4 19.Ne3 Rd4 and White will not be able to avoid some material losses.] 18...Bh6 A good positional move by Black. Nakamura is bringing the bishop „just in case” to a safe position. And indeed, Black has no need to hurry. White has no obvious ways to continue. [18...Nxb2? 19.Nd1! and Black is a piece up.] 11


19.h4 A clear sign that Kamsky could not find a clear plan. 19...Qb4 Black continues to improve his position. 20.g3

20... Rc7! The rook on c7 is standing just great. In case of Bxe6 fxe6, Black will have the move Rcf7! with big pressure over the f2 pawn. Also, Rfc8 could be a future response. 21.Kg2 Nb6 Time for action. Black wants to play Nxa4. 22. Bb3!? Probably the only way to get some counter chances in a bad position. [22. Red1 Nxa4 23.Nxa4 Qxa4 24.c3 Qd7 looks like a pawn down for nothing.] 22... Bxb3? In my opinion, this is too greedy. [22...Nc4!? Now Black really wants to take with Nxb2 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24.Ne3 Bxe3 25.Qxe3 f5 with a very dangerous initiative. All Black pieces are standing on very good positions. And suddenly White can get in big trouble.] 23.cxb3 Qxb3 24.a5! Suddenly, things aren’t clear at all. White is going to have a fantastic knight on d5, plus the bishop on h6 could be in danger after Nh2-g4. 24...Na4

25.Nh2?! What a strange decision. [Why not 25.Nd5! . What can be more logical than to play Nd5? 25... Rc2 26.Qd1! Maybe this is the move that White missed?! 26... Nxb2 27.Ne7+ Kh8 28.Qxd6 and White is already taking over the game. Ng6 is a big threat. Black’s pieces are pinned and the bishop on h6 is out of play.] 25...g6 [In case of 25...Nxc3?! 26.bxc3 Qxc3 27.Ng4 Qxa5 28. Red1! , we are facing a very funny position. Black is 3 pawns up, but things are not that clear at all. White has many potential ideas for an attack. Besides, the d6 pawn could fall after Rd5 and Rbd1. In my opinion, the position is very unclear here.] 26.Ng4 Bg7 27.Nd5 Rc2 Black needs to force the exchange of queens as fast as possible. With 2 strong knights, White always has good chances for an attack. 28.Qe3 [28.Qd1 doesn’t work now 28...Nxb2 29.Ne7+ Kh8 30.Qxd6 Qa4! and Black can simply move the Queen away from the b-file, threatening Nd3. The bishop on g7 takes away White’s idea of Nxg6.] 28...Nc5 This allows White to get a forced draw. [Probably, after 28...Qxe3 29.Ngxe3 Rxb2 30. Rxb2 Nxb2 31. Rb1 White has a clearly better endgame.] 12


29.h5? What a mistake! Could it be that White was playing for a win?! [29.Ndf6+! would have been the correct decision 29... Bxf6 (29...Kh8

dangerous a pawn, White is doing clearly better here. Yes, 2 pieces aren’t always a winning combination, especially when they are so uncoordinated.] 34.Nxb7 Nxe1+ 35. Rxe1 White has a pawn and 2 very strong knights for the exchange, it’s very hard to say who is doing better here. Probably, the position should be about equal. We can imagine both players suffering here, in big time trouble and with the pressure that was there from move 1. Blacks needs to win, but I guess Kamsky was also quite ambitious and wanted to win the US Championship with one round to spare.

30.Nd7! Probably, this move was blundered by White 30... Rd8 (30...Qxe3? 31.Nxe3 and Black is losing an exchange.) 31.Nxc5 Qxe3 32.Nxe3 Rxc5 33.b4 and we have reached a typical position, something White wanted to get from the first moves of the opening. The White knight on d5 will totally dominate the Black bishop, and even being a pawn down, White has a clear advantagehere!) 30.Nxf6+ Kg7 31.Nh5+! and Black cannot avoid the perpetual check.] 29...Qxe3 This move starts a very long line of forced moves. It’s hard to say if Black calculated it all, or just was a bit lucky... 30.Ngxe3 Rd2 31.Nc4 White needs to do something regarding the pawn on e4. 31... Rd4 32.Nxd6 Rd8 Another forced move. White wants to play b4. 33.b4 Nd3! The first moment when Black had 2 choices. [The good looking 33...Nxe4? 34.Ne7+ Kf8 35.Nxb7! would lead to big trouble for Black 35...Kxe7 36.Nxd8 Kxd8 37.b5 Nc5 38.hxg6 hxg6 39. Rec1 and due to a very

35... Ra8

36.f3? This move allows Black to cut the knight on b7. [36. hxg6 hxg6 37.Nd6! would have been the correct idea. And probably Black has nothing better than to make a draw by repeating moves with Rd8-Nb7-Ra8-Nd6.] 36... Bf8! The White knight on b7 has no moves, plus the b4 pawn is hanging. 37. Rc1 White can not keep the b4 pawn. [37. Rb1 Rb8] 37...Bxb4 38.Rc7 gxh5 39.Kh3 Kg7 40.Kh4 Ra7 Time trouble is over. Black is a clear exchange up, plus the knight on b7 and Rc7 are pinned. Seems like White’s only chance for a draw is the knight on d5, which could jump to f5 via Ne3-f5. 13


41.Kxh5

52...f5! and Black is in time to make a new passed pawn. Great calculation by Nakamura!] 43... Bb6 44.d6 a5 45.Kg5 White looks for chances, but there aren’t any. [Black also wins after 45.Nd8 Kf8! Again, we have the same idea, the White knight cannot stop Black’s a-pawn 46. Rxa7 Bxa7 47.Nc6 Bb6 48.Nxe5 a4 49.Nc4 Bc5 50.d7 Ke7 51.Kh6 Kxd7 52.Kxh7 Ke6 53.g4 Kd5 and again, White cannot stop Black from queening the a-pawn.] 45...a4 The winner of the game is: the a-pawn

41... Rxd5! From a human point of view, a logical decision. Black kills the main enemy, but White gets a few tactical chances. Also 41... Rxd5 shows big confidence in his own calculation, which was not easy at all. [41... Rd3! would end the game immediately 42.Nxb4 Rb3 Black is winning the piece back, getting 2 rooks against rook and knight. White is totally hopeless.] 42.exd5 Bxa5 43. Re7 [43.d6 is a losing move, but the variation is not obvious at all 43... Bxc7 44.dxc7 Ra8 45.Nd6 a5 46.c8Q Rxc8 47.Nxc8 a4 48.Nd6 a3 49.Nf5+ Kf6 50.Ne3 a2 51.Nc2 White is just in time to stop the a-pawn, but Black has a few more pawns 51...Ke6 52.g4

46.Kf5 a3 47.Nd8 a2 48.Ne6+ Kh6 49.Ng5 a1Q 50.Nxf7+ Kg7 In the last round of the US Championship, Nakamura completed his victory with a win over GM Seirawan. Anyway, in the current game he had a few „difficult” moments. The luck of a champion :). 0–1

14


(4) Nakamura,Hi (2775) — Seirawan,Y (2643) [C00] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (11), 19.05.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Nakamura had a half point advantage over Kamsky in the last round. Let’s see how he handled the tension. 1.e4 e6

2.f4!? Nakamura likes pretty weird openings. These are especially good against players who can get into time trouble, because they must start to think right from the beginning. 2...d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 White would like to get a „healthy” pawn structure with d4. 5...Nge7 Standard developing of the knight, f5 is its ideal square. 6.Na3 Before play ing d4, White overprotects it with his knight from c2, in order not to get under a quick attack with Nf5 and Qb6. 6...Nf5 7.Nc2

7...h5 Seirawan stabilizes his knight on f5. [Two years ago, Nakamura himself had to face this opening against Stripunsky. He reacted with 7...d4 8. Bd3! White immediately makes use of the previous move and transfers his bishop toe4. 8...Qb6 9.Qe2 (It was better to play 9.cxd4 cxd4 10.0–0 Bd7 11.b3 += followed by Bb2. White should be better.) 9...Nfe7 10. Be4 Nd5 11.g3 (Here again, White should have taken on d4 11.cxd4! Nxf4 (11...cxd4 12.d3 +=) 12.Qf2 cxd4 13.0–0 with the initiative.) 11... Bd7 12.c4 Ndb4 13.d3 Nxc2+ 14.Qxc2 f5! 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Nh4 f5 17. Bg2 0–0–0 Black was fine and later won the game.; I like the most, how the big expert of the French defense has handled the position: 7... Bd7 8. Bd3 and here, I like the idea of (8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Qb6 Black would be fine. He has a very good version of the advance variation (3.e5 line), where the only difference is that the pawn is on f2 and not on f4. Now, the pawn on f4 restricts the mobility of White’s pieces.) 8...Nh4 9.0–0 Ng6! The position is very unusual and it requires unusual handling as well 10.g3 Qc7 followed by 0–0–0 and f6.] 8. Bd3 g6 9.0–0 Be7 White ran out of useful moves, he must take a concrete decision. 10. Bxf5 gxf5 15


11.d4 White gave up the bishop pair, but the position is closed, where the knights are not worse. 11...h4? A serious positional mistake by Seirawan, who is a great player, but in this tournament was definitely in a terrible form. [11...b6! Black should have kept his center! He can play a5 and Ba6 next with a perfectly fine position.] 12.dxc5! Excellent decisi on by Nakamura! By taking on c5, he obtains the important d4 square for his knights!

15...Nb8? A very nice idea, but unfortunately for Black, White is ready to counter it. The move supports Ba6 and intends to drive the knight to e4 through d7 and c5. [15... a5 should have been played, followed by Ba6. 16.Qf2 Rb8 17. Rfd1 Ba6 with a pla yable position for both sides, but White’s chances should probably be slightly preferable.] 16. Rfd1 Ba6 17.Qe1 Nd7

12... Bxc5+ 13. Be3 Be7! Black must keep his dark squared bishop to control the weakened Black squares (h4, g5, f6, d6, d4). [13... Bxe3+ would be another serious mistake 14.Nxe3 +/- and we get the typical bad „French bishop” against a good knight position.] 14.h3 I like this move! White fixes the h4 weakness. It might restrict the movement of Black’s pieces after Bf2 and Qe1, as we will see in the game. 14...b6 15.Qe2

18.b4! White wants to play on the queenside with a4. Seirawan has definitely seen this when he played his 15th move, but probably he thought that he could make use of the c4 hole with the bishop.

16


18...Nf8 We can see now that the h4 weakness has annoyed Seirawan a lot, and he transfers his knight to g6. [18... Rc8 is met with 19.a4 Qc7 (19...Bc4 20.Ncd4 is similar to the game.) 20.a5! The rook is going to penetrate on the a-file.] 19.a4 Bc4 Otherwise, a5 would have been unpleasant. 20.Ncd4 Qd7 21.b5! The knight on c6 becomes a beast. 21...Ng6 22.Nc6 Kf8 26.Nb1! Nice regrouping of the pieces, using the unfortunate situation of the bishop. 26... Bc4 [26... Be4 27.Nc3 +-] 27.Qc3! Black can parry the double threat of Qxc4 and e6. 27...Qe6 28.Nd2! And the bishop is trapped.

23.Nd2! Probably this was the whole concept that was missed, or at leastunderestimated by Black. He hoped that the c4 bishop would stop White’s play on the queenside, but actually the case is exactly the opposite. It becomes a target, which just supports White’s plans. 23... Bd3 24.c4! Nakamura demonstrates with perfect play the deficiency of Black’s strategy. The c6 knight is the key of the position, it paralyzes Black’s pieces.

28... Rhc8 A tactical blunder in a hopeless position. The c8 square should have been preserved for the queen to retreat. [28...Kh7 29.Nxc4 dxc4 30. Rac1 +- It is over. Black’s main problem remains the same, the c6 knight neutralizes all hopes for counterplay.; 28... Be2 29.Nd4 +-] 29.Nd4! Qd7 30.e6! Black resigned! A nice victory by Nakamura, who completely deserved to win the US Championship. 1–0

24...Kg7 [24...dxc4? 25.Nxc4 Black can not hold the pin.] 25.cxd5 exd5 [25...Qxd5 would have been met with 26.Nxe7 Nxe7 27.Nf3 +-]

17


Puzzle section

(7) Szabo,K (2540) — Fodor,T (2502) Baia Mare, 21.05.2012

(5) Dimitrijevic,I (2125) — Milanovic,D (2532) Serbian Cup, 14.05.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Danielsen,H (2498) — Rusev,K (2525) (6) Hagen,A (2445) — Maksimenko,A (2554) Odense, 19.05.2012

Odense, 20.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +/-

[CEWN] 1. +-

18


(9) Rogic,D (2577) — Zecevic,D (2275)

(11) Biolek,R (2412) — Bernasek,J (2476)

Croatian Cup, 19.05.2012

Czech Championship, 19.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Al Zendani,Z (2377) — Jumabayev,R (2556)

(12) Akobian,V (2625) — Ramirez,A (2593)

Asian Nations Cup, 19.05.2012

USA Championship, 16.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. –+

1. +-

19


(13) Ramirez,A (2593) — Kaidanov,G (2594) USA Championship, 15.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Brkic,A (2569) — Cvitan,O (2541) Croatian Cup, 17.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

20


Endgame section (15) Seirawan,Y (2643) — Robson,R (2614) [A16] ch-USA 2012 Saint Louis USA (6), 13.05.2012 [CE Team]

17. Bxf3 Rfc8 This move is also hard to understand, it seems like Black has chosen a passive approach. 18.Kg2 A solid move, but a waste of time. White could have immediately played Rfb1–Kf1–e3-Ke2. 18...e6 19.a4 a5 Black continues to be ultra passive. After 19.. .a5 Black’s only chance to have some play is to get the knight to b4, but this is practically impossible. 20. Rfb1! Good move. Black pieces ran out of moves now. 20...Kf8 21.Kf1 And White is back in the right path. 21...Ke7 22.Ke1 Kd6 23.Kd2 Kc7 24.e3 h6

We are in a practical endgame, White is probably doing a bit better, but nothing more. During the next moves we can clearly see how fast things can change... 16... Bxf3? In my opinion, a terrible mistake. Now White is doing clearly better. [16... Rfe8! could have been the right move, with the idea of e5! After all the exchanges on e5, we would most probably reach a rook endgame which is just slightly better for White, but clearly a draw 17.a4 White’s idea is, of course, to push a5 17...e5! forcing the major exchanges on e5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.fxe5 Rxe5 20. Bxb7 Rxb7 21.a5 Rbe7! White puts pressure on the b6 pawn, and Black on the e2 pawn. The position is close to a draw.; 16... Rfd8 could have been another idea for Black, in order to play next Nf8-Ne6 and f5! next. This is, as well, a typical structure of the pieces.]

25.h4! There is no reason to give Black any counterplay with g5. 25... Rg8 26. Rg1 Blocking against the g5 move and theatening to play h5 eventually... 26...h5 Black is closing the only possible play they had, but the position remains, of course, very solid. 27.d4! Seirawan plays the endgame really good. He has nothing to fear now, the Black knight almost has no moves from d7, except to f6, where it’s not well placed. The White pawns at f4 and h4 are going to look weak 21


now, but like the chess saying goes: „A weak pawn is a pawn that can be attacked”. 27...cxd4 Black is trying to protect himself against White’s d5 move. After the exchange on d4, White will never be able to play d5 because of Nc5, but some other ideas are comming ahead! [27... Rbe8 28.d5! As we can see, the d5 move was really a powerful threat 28...e5 29.fxe5 Rxe5 30. Bh1 with the idea of f4 and e4 next. Black’s position is really bad.] 28.exd4 Kd6 Now it is clear, White is going to play for the c5 push...

R xb8 37.R xb8 N xb8 38.dxc5 Nd7! and we can see again that White is clearly not in time) 33...bxc5 34. Rxb8 Nxb8 35.dxc5 Na6 and Black saves the position thanks to the ONLY move Na6! Yes, Black is lucky, but as we can see, it is very hard to win a game if the opponent doesn’t commit major mistakes. On the other hand, it is super difficult to just move Kd6-Ke7 for the next 30 moves, and White might find a winning plan eventually. Maybe it could be to put the rook on h1 and then try to push f5!?] 32. Bc6! And here comes the immediate punishment. Black is losing the b6 pawn, and the game.

29.Kc3 Rgc8 30. Rgb1 Ke7 31.Kd3

32...Kf6 33. Bxd7 Rxd7 34. Rxb6 Rbd8

31... Rd8? This move is almost losing immediately. [Black should have continued what he started: a passive defence, and it is not easy at all to break through for White 31...Kd6 32. Rb5 (32.f5 White always has the idea of the f5 push, but it seems like it never works 32...gxf5 33.B xh5 Rh8 34.Bf3 R xh4 35.c5+ Kc7! and the Black king protects the pawn on b6.) 32...Ke7 33.c5 (33.f5 This time f5 doesn’t work for a different reason 33...gxf5 34.B xh5 Rh8 35.Bf3 R xh4 36.c5 e5! The White King on d3 is under check...; 33.Be2 Kd6 34.Kd2 Ke7 35.c5 bxc5 36.R xb8

35.d5! Maybe the young Robson has blundered this move?! 35...Kf5 36. Rb7! The most accurate. With one rook on the board, White’s win is almost automatic. 36...Kxf4 37. Rxd7 Rxd7 38.Kd4 White wants to play Rb6. 38...g5 [In case of 38...Kg4 39.Ke5! is the winning move. 39...exd5 40.c5 Kxh4 41.c6 Rc7 42.Kd6 Rxc6+ 43.Kxc6 d4 44.Kb5 +-] 22


39.hxg5 h4 40. Rb8! The best way to hold the free pawn on Black is to attack it from „behind”. 40...Kxg5

51.f3!! Of course, the position is winning anyway, but 51.f3 is just fantastic.] 41.Ke5! another very strong move. The White king joins the action at the right moment — when the Black king is badly placed on g5.

46...Kh4 47. Rh1 Kg4 48.d7 Rh8 49.Kxf6 Really well played by Seirawan. From such instructive endgames we can learn a lot! 1–0

41...exd5 42. Rg8+ Kh5 43.cxd5 Black can not stop White’s d-pawn from queening. 43...h3 44.d6 White combines the mating threats to the Black king with queening the d-pawn. Black is totally hopeless. 44...f6+ A desperation move. 45.Ke6 Rh7 46. Rg1 [46.d7 would win as well, with a very nice „computer finish” 46...h2 47.d8Q h1Q 48.Qxa5+ Kh6 49.Qd2+ Kh5 50.Qe2+ Kh6

23


(16) Acs,P (2587) — Horvath,Ad (2473)

43...Kg6 44.Ke3

Hungarian league, 20.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

What would you think about this seemingly hopeless position? White is two pawns down and it is only Black who can create different kind of threats. However, the Hungarian GM held the draw, not even giving the smallest hope for his opponent to score. Let’s see how could this happen! 42.Qg3!! White tran sposes into a bishop endgame and, at the same time, improves his pawn structure. 42...Qxg3 Black had no choice... [42...Qh1 would be too passive 43.Qf4 with an easy draw.]

44...Kg5 [After the game, GM Horvath told me that his original intention was to play 44...h4!? and by sacrificing one of the h-pawns, Black frees the path for the f-pawn 45.gxh4 Kf5 The idea is Ke5 and f5-f4, but Horvath realized his opponent’s saving resource: 46. Bh5!! The only move! (46.Bb3 f6) 46...f6 (46...Ke6 is met with 47.Kf4 = We will see similar position later in the game.) 47. Be8! This is the point, White generates counterplay 47...Ke6 (47...Ke5 48.Bc6! B xc6 49.bxc6 Kd6 50.Kxe4 Kxc6 51.Kf5 =) 48.Kf4 (Of course not 48.Bc6? B xc6 49.bxc6 f5) 48...f5 49. Bg6 =] 45. Bb3!

43.fxg3 White built up an excellent blockading position. The pawn on g3 stops the h- and the f-pawn, while the king goes to e3 or, if Black allows it, to f4. However the key factor is the pawn on b5, which allows White the relevant counterplay, to transfer his bishop to c6. All this facts make it possible for White to save the game with accurate play. 24


45...f5 Another important moment, where it is very easy to go wrong. [On 45...f6 White has enough time for the usual plan with 46. Be6 f5 (46...h4 47.gxh4+ Kxh4 48.Kf4 h5 49.Bf5 =) 47. Bd7! Only move, but good enough. 47... Kg4 48.b6 and Black cannot make progress. 48...Kg5 49. Be8 =]

51... Ba6 52. Be2 Bb7 53. Bf3 Bc8 54.Kxe3 Kg3 55.b7 f4+ 56.Ke2 Bxb7 57. Bxb7 f3+ 58. Bxf3 h5 59. Bxh5 1/2

46. Bd1! Black cannot use his bishop to increase the advantage, since it must take care of the b-pawn, while in other cases, Black must allow the White king to occupy the f4 square. [The tempting 46. Be6? would lose after 46...h4! 47.gxh4+ Kf6! and Black is in time to mobilize his passers in the center by putting his king to e5. 48. Bd7 Ke5] 46... Bc8 Black protects the f5 pawn before pushing h4. [46...h4 47.gxh4+ Kxh4 48.Kf4 Kh3 49.Kxf5 Kg3 50.b6 e3 51.Kg6 =] 47.b6 h4 48.gxh4+ Kxh4 49.Kf4 Kh3

50. Bh5! e3 [50...Kg2 could have been the last try, but White is just in time 51. Bg6 Kf2 52. Bxf5! e3 53. Bxc8! and the pawns promote at the same time. 53...e2 54.b7] 51. Bf3 From now on, Black has no more chance to win... 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Alekhine,Alexander — Bogoljubow,Efim [E11] Budapest Budapest, 1921 [Balogh Csaba] This week we’ll study once again a heavyweight battle between Alexander Alekhine and Efim Bogoljubow. The players faced each other twice for the World Champion title, both times Alekhine came out victoriously, just as in our current game. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+ This is the so-called BogoIndian defense, which got its name after the Black player. 4. Bd2 Here Black has a wide choice of moves. 4...Qe7 is the mainline, but 4...a5, 4.. .c5 or the text move are also moves with huge theory.

7...Nbd7 [7...Qe7! is the right setup, and also how the mentioned experts are playing. The idea is Rd8, and a quick dxc4 and c5. White has to work hard to prove some advantage.] 8. Bd3 This move is always questionable, since it allows dxc4 with a tempo. White usually makes some useful moves like Rc1 before developing the bishop. [Anatoly Karpov won a nice „squeezing game” against Andersson in 1984 with his usual style: 8.cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Re8 10.0–0 Ne4 11.Qc2 Ndf6 12.b4 White launches a minority attack to create weaknesses on the queenside 12...c6 13.Ne5 Bf5 14.Na4 g6 15.Qb2 a6 16. Rfc1 Re7 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.bxc5 Bxd3 19.Nxd3 += and Karpov got a small but stable advantage, which he converted in 84 moves. First, he transferred his king to a1, then started to move with his kingside pawns, which were supported by his heavy pieces, then as usual, he preferred to bring back his king to g1 :), and slowly but surely brought home the full point.] 8...c6 [8...dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 would have been logical after 8. Bd3, with the idea of Nb6 and cxd4.] 9.0–0 Black must do something in the center, otherwise e4 arrives, which guarantees a small advantage for White. 9...dxc4 10. Bxc4 e5! Excellent reaction by Bogoljubow based on a small tactical trick.

4... Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.e3 0–0 7.Nc3 This setup is in its heydays, two 2700+ GMs play it frequently successfully nowadays. For whom is interested, I recommend to check Jobava and Vitiugov games.

11. Bb3 Typical reaction. Black’s idea is to take exd4, and on exd4, create a blockade on the d5 square with Nb6. White is moving out from this tempo. [On 11.dxe5 Nxe5! was Black’s idea, with equality.]

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11...Qe7? [11...exd4 should have been played anyway 12.exd4 Nb6 13. Rfe1! followed by Ne5 with some initiative for White, although the position is playable for both sides.]

pared his next move and evaluated the consequences perfectly! [The pawn on e4 is indirectly protected in the same way 14...Nfxe4? 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Qe3 f5 17.f3 +-] 15. Rad1! Bg4 Bogoljubow is aiming to finish his development, but this gives enough time for White to consolidate his center, which secures an advantage. [On 15...Ne6 White has 16.Nf5! and the queen is hanging with check! 16...Qc7 17.Qe3 +/- with a clear advantage.] 16.f3 Ne6 This was the point behind the previous move, but White keeps his calmness.

12.e4! Excellently played! But the move had to calculated precisely. Black must accept the challenge and needs to go for the complications, otherwise, he cannot develop his pieces. 12...exd4 13.Nxd4 Nc5 [After 13...Nxe4? 14.Qe3 Black loses a piece due to the pin.] 14. Bc2

17.Qf2! There is a hidden weakness in Black’s camp, the small a7 pawn. Black cannot take control over the d-file, because this pawn is hanging. 17...Nxd4 18. Rxd4 Be6 [18... Rxd4 19.Qxd4 Rd8 20.Qxa7! Black must waste an important tempo on protecting this guy.] 19. Rfd1 b6 White got enough time to control the dfile. Black has no chance to change all the heavy pieces, which could give him real hopes for the draw. This is all very nice, but how to improve on White’s position? Alekhine shows us!

14... Rd8 This was the critical line. At first sight, White can hardly handle this pin, since he cannot escape with 15.Qe3, because of Ng4. However Alekhine has pre27


20.h3! +/- Another excellent move, White prepares for f4 and prevents the Ng4 ideas. If White manages to mobilize his central pawns, they can very quickly decide the game, as we will see in the present case. From Black’s point of view, the big problem is that he cannot do anything against it, he must wait and watch how the pawns swap him away.

rifice, but of course, against Alekhine, it is not a serious try.

20...c5 21. R4d2! Of course, White must keep the d-file under control! This was the only way to do that.

27...h5 28.Nd5 Qh4 29. Rh1 Qd8 30. Bd1 A real positional masterpiece by Alekhine, who clearly showed that, despite being considered a brilliant tactician player, his positional strength was also outstanding! 1–0

21... Rxd2 22.Qxd2 c4 It is very hard to suggest something clever for Black.

25... Bxg4 [25...Qc5 does not help, because of 26.f5 Bd7 27.Qxc5 Rxc5 28.g5 +- winning a piece.] 26.hxg4 Nxg4 27.Kg2! The easiest, in order to meet Qh4 with Rh1.

23.f4! Now e5, and when the knight moves, f5 comes with concrete threats. 23...g6 Black tries to prevent the f5 push, but he only manages to do it temporarily. 24.Qd4! Centralizing the queen, Black is in a kind of zugzwang anyway. 24... Rc8 Tries to ease his suffering with Qc5.

25.g4!! It is practically over! The pawn-storm decides the outcome of the game. Bogoljubow tries a desperate sac28



Solutions

(18) Kurjatnikov,A

(19) Cordova,E (2566) — Papin,V (2570)

1965

Capablanca memorial B, 07.05.2012

[CEWN]

[Solutions]

1. +-

33. Rd7 1–0[33. Rd7 Qxd7 34.Qxf8#] (20) Kamsky,G (2741) — Onischuk,A (2660) USA Championship, 10.05.2012 [Solutions]

45. Rxf8+! Bxf8 46.Qxf8+ Kh7 47.Qf7+ Kh8 48.Qe8+! 1–0[48.Qe8+ Kh7 49.Qd7+! Qxd7 50.exd7+-] 29


(21) Navara,D (2706) — Lechtynsky,J (2382) Czech Championship, 13.05.2012 [Solutions]

42. Ra6+ 1–0[42. Ra6+ Qxa6 (42...Kc5 43.Rc7++-) 43. Rf6++-] (23) Lajthajm,B (2493) — Kozul,Z (2593) Saraevo, 11.05.2012 [Solutions]

30. Ra7! Rxa7 [30...Qc8 31.Qa2 Rxa7 32.Qxa7+-] 31.Nd8+! Ke8 32.Nxb7+- Rxb7 33.g3! g5 34.h4! Be7 [34...h6 35.hxg5 hxg5 36.Kh2 Be7 37. Bh3+-] 35.hxg5 Bxg5 36. Bc5! Be7 [36...dxc5 37.Qxe5++-] 37.gxf4 dxc5 38.Qxe5 Rb6 39.Qxc7+(22) Predojevic,B (2637) — Kovacevic,A (2557) Saraevo, 10.05.2012 [Solutions]

30... Rxe2+! 31. Rxe2 Rxe2+ 32.Kxe2 Qe4+! 33.Kd2 Qxd5+! 34.Kc2 [34.Kc1 Qxh1+–+] 34...Nd4+! 35.cxd4 Qxg5–+ (24) Xiu Deshun (2494) — Lu Shanglei (2522) Asian Continental Championship, 09.05.2012 [Solutions]

30


26... Rxd3! 27.Qxd3 Nxg3! 0–1[27...Nxg3 28.Qxg3 (28. hxg3 Qxf2+–+) 28...Ne2+–+] (25) Wen Yang (2550) — Dao Thien Hai (2514) Asian Continental Championship, 11.05.2012

16.Nxd5! Qg5 [16...exd5 17. Be7 Re8 (17...Qb6 18. Bxd8 Qxd8 19. Bxh7+! Kf8 (19...Kxh7 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Re8++-) 20. Bg6+-) 18. Bxf6 Rxe2 19. Bxd4 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Nxd3 21.cxd3] 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18.h4! 1–0[18. h4! Qxh4 19.Nf5! exf5 (19...Qf6 20.Be7+-) 20.Qe8+ Rxe8 21. Rxe8#; 18.Nxc8+-]

[Solutions] (27) Kislinsky,A (2532) — Voloshin,L (2434) Czech Championship, 14.05.2012 [Solutions]

33.Nxh6+! Kg7 [33...Qxh6 34.Qxf7+ Kh8 35.Qg8#] 34.Qxf6+ Kxf6 35.Nxf7+(26) Ibarra Jerez,JC (2523) — Larino Nieto,D (2469) Salou Open, 10.05.2012 [Solutions]

17.Nc7! Rb8 [17...Qxc7 18.Qf5+-] 18.Ne8! [18.d4! cxd3 19. Bxd3] 18...d6 19.Nxg7 Qxg7 20.d3 f5 [20...cxd3 21. Bxd3] 21.dxc4 e5 22.c5 dxc5 23. Be3+31


(28) Stojanovic,Da (2485) — Sutkovic,D (2357) Saraevo, 11.05.2012 [Solutions]

h3 6.f8Q h2 7.Qf5+ Kb2 8.Qe5+ Kb1 9.Qb5+! Ka1 10.Qa5+ Kb1 11.Qb4+ Ka1 12.Qd4+ Kb1 13.Qd1+ Kb2 14.Qd2+ Kb1 15.Qxg2+- 1–0

18.Qh6!! Qxc2+! 19.Kxc2 Bf5+ 20. Bd3! gxh6 21. Bxf5 hxg5 22. Rde1! Rfe8 23. Re3 [23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Bd7+-] 23...Kf8 24. Rh3+(29) Weenink,H 1918 [Solutions]

1. Bg2!! Bxg2 2.f4!! g3 [2...gxf3 3.Kf2!+-; 2...h5 3.f5 h4 4.f6 h3 5.Kf2! Bd5 6.Kg3+-] 3.f5 h5 4.f6 h4 5.f7 32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 14 1st of June 2012


1st of June 2012


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3

»» Puzzle section

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25


28

»» Solutions

29

The World Championship has finished with a dramatic rapid tie-break. The score after the normal games was 6–6. So, 4 games of rapid with the time control of 25 minutes, with additional 10 seconds per move, have decided the title. Vishy Anand won the match with a score of 2.5– 1.5 and retained his crown! We must admit that Gelfand dominated through the whole tie-break. He always had the upper hand in the games, but being short on time, missed his chances. Anand used the mistakes of his opponent in the time trouble extremely well, and managed both to win a drawn endgame and to save lost and clearly worse positions. Congratulations for both players. I am sure that in the next few months they will not even look at a chessboard, and will enjoy their well-deserved vacations. In the current CEWN, our special guest GM Georg Meier, has analyzed his fine positional victory over Sergei Tiviakov, which he needed to win the very strong rapid tournament in Pfaeffikon. There is a real “pearl” in the puzzle section this week, please pay attention to the game Chighlidze-Lomsadze, where Black won after a beautiful combination. We wish you lots of fun with the 14th edition of the CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2



known and has been analyzed and played by almost all the Top players.

(1) Gelfand,B (2727) — Anand,V (2791) [E54]

10. Bg5 Bb7 White has many possibilities. All are similar, many of them lead only to transpositions. For example, most often we get the game’s position from the 11. Rc1 Nbd7 12. Qe2 move order.

WCC Moscow 2012 (9), 23.05.2012 [Naiditsch Arkadij] 1.d4 [It’s interesting that we can get the game’s position from a completely different line as well 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 0–0 9.0–0 b6 This is the Caro-Kann „Panov” move order.] 1...Nf6 Anand is changing his opening, no more Slavs. Is it because he lost the previous Black game or just because he had enough of defending slightly worse positions?!

11.Qe2!? Nbd7 [I think 11... Bxc3!? should be the main line for Black. In comparison to the game, Black does not include the Rc8-Rc1 moves — which I think should favor him 12.bxc3 Nbd7 13. Bd3 Qc7 14.c4 h6 15. Bd2 Ng4! A very typical idea that can be seen in many lines. It forces White to make an unpleasant decision. Either he must weaken the long diagonal with g3, or exchange his strong light-squared bishop 16. Be4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Ngf6 with an equal position in Giri-Nakamura Dortmund 2011.]

2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 The starting position of the Nimzo with 4.e3. A very complex opening with a lot of different setups for both sides. If there is a huge preparation behind it — and Gelfand definitely did it — it is a very dangerous weapon. 4...0–0 5. Bd3 [5.Nge2 is the other option.] 5...d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 Thousands of games have been played here and we still don’t know if White is better or not... This time it is Black’s turn to decide which continuation to choose. 7...dxc4 [7...Nc6 is the most popular line at the moment.] 8. Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 Until now both players have been playing very quickly. This position is very well

12. Rac1!? Very quickly played by Gelfand. I think it is a very good move. Black now has to count on 12... Bxc3 13. Rxc3! and suddenly the position could becomedangerous. White can continue with Ne5 followed by Rg3. Another thing, Black has no Qc7 so he needs to lose time for Rc8 — which clearly is not the best move here.

3


12... Rc8 13. Bd3 General ideas: White is planning to play on the kingside by playing Ne5 next and searching for tactical blows. Black has 2 major ideas, either to make a blockade on d5 or to play Bxc3 and then try to create pressure against the central pawns, or to break them with an e5 push. 13... Bxc3 Anand chose the latter idea. 14.bxc3 Qc7 15.c4 We reached a standard pawn structure. White got the center and the bishop pair, on the other hand Black would like to make holes in it with e5. In general, such structures are evaluated as a bit better for White but it is very difficult to increase the advantage. Black’s position is stable, always ready for counterplay.

15... Bxf3? It is very hard to explain this move... Maybe the World Champion missed that he has no e5 in the next move? We will never know. One thing is for sure, this is a move with a „don’t try it at home”sign! [15...Qd6; 15... Qc6 Both moves would give Black a normal game.] 16.Qxf3 Rfe8 Probably now Anand realized that after [16...e5 17. Bf5! is not the most difficult move to blunder — winning the exchange 17...exd4 (17...Rce8 18.Qg3 and

all the pieces are pinned.) 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. Bxc8 Rxc8 20. Rfd1 +/- and Black can hold only by miracle!] 17. Rfd1 White got the bishop pair and very pleasant play. The Black knights are getting nicely blocked by White’s center and the move e5 almost never works. 17...h6 18. Bh4 Qd6 So we have probably reached „the critical” position of the game. 19.c5? In my opinion, a big mistake! Gelfand is going for the queen which guarantees him the possibility of „torturing” Anand for the next 30 moves, with no real winning chances. [19. Bg3 would have been the right choice here 19...Qe7 20. Re1 No reason to give Black any hopes for e5. White’s next move could be Rcd1, then maybe h4h5 and Bh4 back. White should not hurry with anything and enjoy the position. Black has basically no idea how to improve and is forced to wait for White’s actions.]

19...bxc5! Only move, still it deserved the !. You can have my queen, Anand says it with pleasure :). 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21. Bh7+ Kxh7 22. Rxd6 Rxc1+ 23. Rd1 So White is a queen up, but of course it is easy to see that Black got very good chances for a fortress. Idea of Black: 4


to exchange one rook, to exchange one knight for the bishop, then to put the knight on d5 and the rook on c7, which should guarantee a draw. Ideas of White: the major goal is to keep the bishop of h4 alive. In case it is possible, Black will have big problems defending the pawn a7; with both knights on the board, only one of them can occupy the square d5.

and puts his rook on d5. It would be impossible to break trough.

23... Rec8 Of course no need to hurry with Rxd1. 24.h3 White needs to make the first rank safer. 24...Ne5! Following the main goal, the exchange of the bishop on h4. 25.Qe2 Ng6! White can not keep the bishop on the board.

26. Bxf6 [26. Bg3 Ne4! The bishop is going to be taken!] 26...gxf6 27. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kh2 If the Black pawn was on g7, both players would agree to a draw, but with a damaged pawn structure, White is getting some chances. Besides, the Black knight hasn’t arrived to d5, so White has a few „free” moves to try to prevent it. Another relevant fortress idea could be a setup, when Black plays a5

28... Rc7! The fortress with a5 would cost that pawn after Qb5, so Black protects the pawn and the 7th rank. 29.Qb2 Kg7 30.a4 Sooner or later, White needs to push his pawn to a6 to tie Black pieces. [30.Qb8!? was a tricky idea 30... Rd7 31.Qc8! trying to force the rook to e7, and after 31... Re7 White plays (31...Rd5! Here comes the other fortress idea. Black wants to push a5 to secure the draw. 32.Qa6 is the only way to avoid it, but now 32...Rd7 and the knight is heading to d5 again.) 32.g3! taking away the f4 square which could bring the knight to d5, while the other route, through e7, is also blocked 32...f5 33.h4 Nf8 34.Kg2 Rd7 35.a4 Re7 36.a5 Rd7 37.a6 Re7 Even if th is position is a draw — and probably it is — it is clearly better for White to have the Black knight on f8 instead of on d5.] 30...Ne7! The knight is heading to its ideal position! 31.a5 Nd5 32.a6 Of course, pawn on a6 is standing very good. White got now the idea of Qb7, but at the moment this ideas bring nothing for White, since Black can simple start passing with the king on g7-g8. 5


32...Kh7 Black is asking White „do you want to play g4?” 33.Qd4 I think this is an absolutely correct try from White, seems like after 33.g4 Black holds the draw by „doing nothing”. [33.g4 Kg7 34.Kg3 Kh7 35.Kh4 The only plan for White is to go with the king to h5 and attack the h6 pawn. (35.h4 Rc3+ 36.f3 Rc7 37.f4 Rc3+ 38.Kf2 Rc7 and again White can not break through.) 35... Rc3! 36.Qb7 Kg7 with a deadly threat: Nf4.] 33...f5 Black puts the pawn on f5. Why? Very simple reason: the exchange of all the pawns brings Black closer to a draw, and now White has no other idea to win than to play g4, which would mean the exchange of one pawn. 34.f4 Rd7 35.Kg3 [35.g4!? would have been a better try to win the game 35...Kg6! Probably the only move (35... fxg4 36.hxg4 Kg8 37.Kg3 Rc7 38.f5 and maybe White has some chances to win the game) 36.Kg3 (36.gxf5+ exf5!

followed by the next move Nf6, here White is hopeless, the position is a draw) 36...Nf6! and probably also here White can not reach anything better than a draw. The Black pieces are too stable.]

35...Kg6 36.Qh8 Nf6 37.Qb8 h5! Black prevented the g4 option forever. 38.Kh4 Kh6 As we will see further in the game, Anand has switched to 38... Re7 which gives a draw as well. 39.Qb2 [39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 Nxg4 41.Qh8+ Kg6 42.Qg8+ Kh6 is just a draw.] 39...Kg6 40.Qc3 Ne4 The time trouble is over, Gelfand had a long thought here, tried to find a winning plan, but there is no objective chance to score. 41.Qc8 [It was not too late to lose the game by playing 41.Qf3 Nf6 42.Qg3+ Kh7 43.Qg5 and it seems like White is winning the h-pawn — this is correct, but by losing the h-pawn, the White king gets into a mating net! 43...Ne4! 44.Qxh5+ Kg7 and White cannot do anything against Rd8-Rh8! Black is winning.] 41...Nf6 42.Qb8 Re7 Of course 42...Kh6 would lead to a draw as well.

43.g4 The last try. 43...hxg4 44.hxg4 fxg4 [Of course not 44...Nxg4? because of 45.Qg8+ Kh6 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxe7] 6


45.Qe5 At first sight it seems to be dangerous, but Anand prepared the cold blooded

(2) Nguyen Ngoc Trungson (2656) — Harikrishna,P (2693)

45...Ng8! [The active 45...Nd5? loses to 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.f5! exf5 48.Qxf5+ and the knight on d5 falls.]

Asian Nations Cup ZaoZhuang, China, 24.05.2012

46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxg4 f6 Another precise move leaving White with no hopes. 48.Qg2 Kh8 49.Qe4

[Balogh Csaba] An impressive win in the Asian Nations Cup! Black probably mixed up something in his preparation and got into deep trouble right after the opening. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 The Nimzo with 4.e3 is getting really popular again. Probably the fact that Gelfand obtained an advantage with it in two games against Anand in the WCC match will also improve the opening’s popularity. 4...b6 [4...0–0 and; 4...c5 are more common moves.] 5.Nge2

49...Kg7 An interesting game! Objectively judging the game, the move 19.c5? gave out the advantage, but it gave us a very instructive example on how well can the R+N cooperate in endgames to createfortresses! 1/2

5... Ba6 This is the old main line. Probably Harikrishna wanted to surprise his opponent, but White was prepared perfectly for it. [However recently, if somebody plays 4... b6 it usually continues with 5...c5 6.a3 Ba5 7. Rb1 Na6 with very sharp lines to follow.]

7


6.Ng3 [6.a3 is the other way to handle the position in order to keep a healthy pawn structure.] 6... Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d5 This is Black’s idea! Otherwise the move Ba6 loses its point. Black had to take on c3 before playing this move, because of the check on a4. Fischer played a few games on the 60s with this setup. 8. Ba3! The young Vietnamese GM knows the theory well. White prevents 0–0. [There was a giant game on move 8.Qf3 0–0 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 in this moment, Fischer came up with a fantastic idea. 11... Qd7!! Prepares for the Nc6-a5 maneuver, launching an immediate attack against the weak doubled pawns. White has a chance to obtain 2 rooks for the queen, but in this case as well, the weakness of the queenside pawns willtell 12. Ba3 Re8 13. Bd3 Developing and forcing some weaknesses before taking the rooks 13...f5 14.Qxa8 Nc6 15.Qxe8+ Qxe8 16.0–0 Na5! This is the point, White loses a pawn and in addition, the black knight is going to dominate the a3 bishop 17. Rae1 Bxc4 18. Bxc4 Nxc4 and Black won later in the game Portisch-Fischer, Santa Monica 1966] 8... Bxc4 9. Bxc4 dxc4

10.e4! White tries to make use of the fact that the Black king is still stuck in the center. [White could have taken back the pawn, but this would give enough time for Black to solve his opening problems 10.Qa4+ Qd7 11.Qxc4 Qc6 White has to exchange the queens and the endgame is about even.] 10...Qd7 Black wants to castle queenside, and also would like to keep his extra pawn on c4. We are still in theory. 11.0–0 Qc6? This is a terrible novelty, which just helps White to initiate an attack against the king. [11...Nc6?! is less exact, because of 12.Qe2 Na5 13. Bb4 when White is going to win back the pawn and enjoy a comfortable advantage due to his superior pawn formation.; 11... Qb5! is definitely the right move, with the idea of Nc6 and 0–0–0. White must act quickly here with 12.e5! Nd5 13.Qg4 creating holes in Black’s camp, and the knight could use them from e4 13...g6 14.Ne4 Nd7 15. Bc1! h6 16.a4 with a complex position. I personally prefer White’s position. I think this is more than enough compensation for the pawn.] 12.d5! Of course, White opens the position with tempo. 12...Qb5 White has to play energetically, otherwise after Nbd7 and 0–0–0 Black enjoys a pawn up. [12...exd5? would be too optimistic to open the e-file 13.exd5 Qxd5 14.Qe2+ Qe6 15.Qf3 +- Rooks are joining the game with a winning attack.] 13.dxe6 fxe6

8


19.Ne4! Nxe4 20. Rxe4 Re8 and here White gets the opportunity for a nice finish with 21.Qf3+ Kg8 22. Rxe6! +with mate on f8.] 17. Rad1 Qc6 18.Nf5! White creates many different threats (Nxg7, Nd4, Ne7) using the fact that Black has no 0–0–0, due to Ne7. [18.Qxe6+ Qxe6 19. Rxe6+ Kd8 20.Nf5 +/- is also very good, but why to exchange queens?!] 14.e5! The amount of pawns does not count now! White has to open the lines at any cost! Unfortunately for Black, he must cooperate with his opponent because against any moves with the knight, Qg4 is decisive.

18...e5 [On 18...Kf7 19.Ne7 +- is the strongest. Black can not hold the e6 pawn.]

14...Qxe5 [14...Nd5 15.Qg4 +-] 15. Re1 Qd5 Black defends well, but his mistake in the 11th move was too grave. White cruelly punishes him for that. 16.Qe2! Of course, White needs the queens for the attack. 16...Nbd7 [The logical 16...Kf7 is met with 17. Rad1 Qc6 18. Rd4! is the „key”, which is necessary for the advantage. White brings another piece into the attack 18...b5 (18...Re8 19.R xc4 Qb7 20.Ne4! +-)

19.g4!! A fantastic move, with a double threat, that Black cannot prevent! The obvious threat is g5 and the knight has no good square to escape, while the hidden idea becomes clear in the 19...h6 line. 19...Kf7 [19...h6 20.Qxe5+!! great queen sacrifice! 20... Nxe5 21. Rxe5+ Kf7 22. Re7+ +- followed by Rxg7 mate. Thanks to the excellent 19.g4!!, the knight on f5 is protected.] 20.g5 Rhe8 Black preferred to give up the piece, which is basically equal to resignation. [20...Nd5 21.Qf3 +-; 20... Ng8 21. Rxd7+ Qxd7 22.Qxe5 +-] 9


21.gxf6 Nxf6 Black has 3 pawns for the piece, but his pawns are weak and White pieces are standing perfectly.

(3) Korobov,A (2678) — Socko,B (2635)

22.Ne3 b5 23.Ng4 Nxg4 24.Qxg4 Re6 25.Qe4 White simpli fies the position to a winning endgame. From now on, all the moves are winning, Black just continues playing on, because in a team tournament it is especially a bad feeling to resign a game...

Lublin, 26.05.2012

25...Qxe4 26. Rxe4 Ra6 27. Bc5 Kf6 28.a3 Kf5 29.f3 Rg6+ 30.Kf2 c6 31. Rd7 a5 32. Rf7+ Rf6 33. Rxg7 b4 34.cxb4 axb4 35. Bxb4 c5 36. Bc3 Re6 37. Rxc4 Rxa3 38. Rxh7 Ra2+ 39.Ke3 Kg6 40. Rhh4 Kg5 41. Rh8 Finally Black resigned. A nice attacking game, I especially liked the 19.g4 move with the idea of Qxe5. 1–0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Black chose the Queen’s gambit accepted and White reacts with the most aggressive move.

[Balogh Csaba] A really high-level performance by the Ukrainian GM with the White pieces.

3.e4 e5 The most forcing line. Other possibilities like 3... Nf6 or 3...Nc6 are also playable. Black can choose his setup according to his style. 4.Nf3 Theory is developing very quickly recently, due to the arising sharp positions, where the computers are coming up with many new ideas. 4... Bb4+ [4...exd4 is the mainline. It’s interesting that Socko won a nice game with this just a few weeks ago, and now he deviates from that game.] 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 A sideline compared to the the main 6. Nbxd2. The move was considered to be harmless, but maybe after the present game, it will be time to take it seriously. 6...exd4 7.Nxd4 Qe7 Black could have started with 7... Nf6, the difference will be only in the move order. 8.Nc3 Nf6

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Issue 14 trouble. The threat is b4 and the knight is hanging on e4.) 12.Qe3 (12.Qe1 Nd6! Black can sacrifice an exchange 13.N xc7 N xc4 14.N xa8 Nc6 15.N xc6 Qh6+! This is the key! 16.Kb1 Qxc6 and the knight is trapped in the corner.) 12...Nxf2 and Black is fine.) 11...Qc5! Another only move 12. Bxf7+ Rxf7 13.Qxe4 Na6 and the position seems to be around even, but of course, without the computer, it is very hard to find these moves.]

1st of June 2012

9.0–0–0 and this is the novelty! I must say, a very logical one. [In the previous game, between two great players, White played much more carefully with 9.f3 0–0 10. Bxc4 c5! (10...Rd8 is a mistake! Seems like Black pins the queen, but after 11.0–0–0! it is not easy at all to avoid the Nf5 threat. Suddenly Black finds himself in a pin.) 11.Nde2! The knight is heading to the weakened d5 square, but Black has an important resource to parry the threat 11... Rd8 12.Qe3 Be6! and after 13. Bxe6 fxe6! 14.0–0 Nc6 15. Rad1 b6 with a more or less even position in Andersson-Seirawan, Tilburg 1990.] 9...0–0 10. Bxc4 This is the point! White does not waste time on defending the e4 pawn and wants to rush Black in the center with Rhe1 and e5. It is very unpleasant to face such a novelty. Taking on e4 looks very suspicious and also the opponent might have prepared something. This is how Socko was probably thinking, and decided to avoid complications. 10...c5 [However, after analyzing the position, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to fight for equality was in taking the „poisoned” pawn. 10...Nxe4! White has two options: 11.Qe3 (On 11.Nd5 Black must react precisely with 11...Qh4! (After 11...Qc5 12.Qc2 Black is in deep

11.Ndb5! Thanks to 0–0–0, White supports the invasion on the d-file with his rook. A positional threat could be Qd6, transposing to a better endgame. White had to evaluate the consequences well since the move might meet with a quick a6-b5 attack, when all the moves are coming with tempo. 11...a6 [On 11...Nc6 the most accurate is 12. Rhe1! Ne5 13. Be2 and Qd6 is coming in the next move, even after 13...a6, with a clear advantage for White.] 12.Nd6 Nc6 Black also tries to use his d4 square. [12...b5 does not work 13. Bxf7+ Rxf7 14.Nxc8 +/-] 13. Rhe1! Very well played! Black has no good way to prevent e5, after which his position might immediately collapse if he doesn’t find something clever now. 11


13... Be6 The best chance, but it does not solve the problems. [13... Rd8 is punished elegantly by 14.e5! Nxe5 15. Rxe5! Qxe5 16.Nxf7 +- winning material.; 13...Ne5 just temporarily stops e5, because after 14. Bb3 White is going to push f4-e5 with tempo.] 14.e5

19...f6 Black tries to stay in the game. He wants to play Nf7 to get rid of the strong d6 knight, which paralyzes his pieces. White must play really energetically, otherwise his advantage can quickly spoil.

14...Ng4 Black must try to complicate matters, otherwise White’s active pieces in the center quickly swaps him away. [14...Nd7 15.Nd5! Bxd5 16. Bxd5 with a huge advantage 16...Ncxe5 loses to 17.Nxf7! Rxf7 18.f4! +- Black cannot hold the pins...] 15.f4 Bxc4 16.Nxc4 Nd4 At least Black temporarily pushed back the pieces, but it costs him to get a really poor knight which lands on h6 soon. 17.h3 Nh6 18.Qd3 White would like to play g4 to exclude the knight on h6 forever from the game. First he had to leave from the Nf3 fork. [A rather positional way would have been 18.Nd6 and after 18...Nhf5 19.Nxf5 Nxf5 20.Qd7 +/- White has a clearly better endgame.]

20.b4!! I really like this move! White wants to keep his d6 knight at any cost, and at the same time wants to get rid of the strong d4 knight. [Once again, there was a more positional way to keep the advantage 20.Qe4 ! 20...fxe5 21.fxe5 Nf7 22.Nxf7 Qxf7 23.e6! +/- and White supports his e-pawn with all his forces. The knight on c3 also joins through d5.] 20...fxe5 21.bxc5 [The tactical solution 21. Rxe5 was also good enough 21...Qf6 (21...Qxd6 22.bxc5 White takes back the piece on d4.) 22.Nd5! this is the key 22...Qxd6 23.Ne7+! Kh8 24.bxc5 +/- and again White takes on d4 next.] 21... Rxf4

18...b5 19.Nd6

12


26...Qh4 27.c7 White is winning anyway. 27... Rc8 28. Rc2 Nd6

22.Qe3! White creates some threats using the pin on the e-file, f4 and the d4 are hanging, Black must leave with the queen. [The tempting 22.Nd5? would change the outcome of the game 22...Qe6! 23.Nxf4 Qxa2! and suddenly White is in trouble.] 22...Qg5 [22... Raf8 23. Rxd4 Rxd4 24.Qxd4 exd4 25. Rxe7 dxc3 26.c6]

29.g3! Black resigned since he cannot cover the e7 square. A really great achievment by White, who combined the positional ideas with strong tactical play! 1–0

23. Rd2 By unpinning the king along the c1–h6 diagonal, White creates again many different kind of threats, like Nd5, g3 or Qxe5. The move covers the important c2 square, where Black could set some tricks. [23.Nd5? would be a blunder again 23...Qxg2 and mate threat on c2...; On 23.g3 Black had 23...Qg6] 23...Nf7 24.Nd5 Nf5 [24...Nxd6 25.cxd6 Rc8+ 26.Kb2 +- White wins. The knight takes some big material on f4 or through e7.] 25.Nxf5 Rxf5 26.c6 [26.Qxg5 It would have been more practical to exchange the queens first, then there is no chance to blunder anymore. 26... Rxg5 27.c6 +- and thanks to the powerful d5 knight, the pawn promotes soon.]

13


(4) Tiviakov,Sergei (2656) — Meier,Georg (2637) [C10] Pfaeffikon rapid, 28.05.2012 [Meier,Georg] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 No, I am not playing for a draw. In this opening, I usually try to get to some equal endgame, where I hope to outplay my opponents. To be honest I was expecting a higher level of resistance than usual in this game, but it turned out to be easier than expected.

17... Rac8 Here I realized White could exploit my extra move h7-h6.

4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Bd3 c5 8.0–0 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Nf3 0–0 11. Bg5 Tiviakov made all these moves quickly, confidently aiming for the ensuing endgame.

18.g3?! [18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. Rd2 Rxd2 20.Qxd2 and Black must lose a tempo to protect the h6 pawn, but anyway it seems to be fine after 20...Kg7 21. Rd1 Be7 followed by Rd8.]

11...h6 [11...b6 12.Qe2 Bb7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Be4 Rfd8 16.g3 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 f5 18.Qe2 Be7 19.c3 Bf6 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 In principle, this is the best White can get. With Q+N vs. Q+B he is hoping to prove that the Black king is weak. Although Tiviakov succeeded 15 years ago, I don’t think that black has any serious problems. 22...Qc4 23.a3 b5 24.Ne1 a5 25.Nd3 e5 26.Qd2 Qd5 27.Qe2 Kg7 28.g4 Bg5? (28... Kf8 = would have led to equality 29.gxf5 e4) 29.Nxe5 f6 30.Nf3 fxg4 31.Nd4 f5 32.Nxb5 and later White managed to convert his advantage Tiviakov-Speelman, Beijing 1997.]

18... Bxe4 19.Qxe4 Rd7! = After this move, I take the d-file under control, which guarantees equality.

12. Bh4 b6 13.Qe2 Bb7 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Be4 I guess my opponent was happy, and I was too!

20. Rxd7 [White could have forced an immediate draw with 20.Qg4+ Kh7 21.Qh4 Kg7 22.Qg4+ =] 20...Qxd7 21. Re1 Rd8 22.Kg2 b5 I start to improve my pawn structure, giving White chances to create problems for himself. 23.a3 a6 24. Re2 Qd1 25.Qc2 Kf8 The endgame is approaching, so the right place of the king is in the center. 26.Qxd1 [On 26.c4 my intention was to push 26...b4 and Black has no reason to worry.] 26... Rxd1 27. Rc2

16... Rfd8 17.c3

14


30... Bd6 31.c4 Ra1 32. Rc3 Be5 Due to the weakness on a3, White’s pieces are getting tied up. 33. Rb3

27...Ke7 I started to feel that I was going to outplay my opponent, who is famous for his strong play in technical positions. By now I reached the maximum Black can hope for: R+B vs. R+N, a centralized king and a few white pawns on dark squares. Nothing has gone seriously wrong yet for White, his structure is flexible enough. But Tiviakov didn’t realise that it was time to play for a draw, as only White can possibly lose this kind of positions... 28.Nd2 f5 29.Kf3 Re1! Cutting off the White king! I had no intention to force a draw with 29... Rh1, I wanted to see if White assesses the position correctly or if he still thinks that he can be better... [29... Rh1 30.Kg2 Rd1 =] 30.b4? A serious mistake, now White has a chronic weakness on a3. White had to find a way to exchange pawns to get closer to a draw. [30.c4?! is inaccurate 30...b4 31.Nb3 (31.axb4 B xb4 I am going to push a5-a4 and put my king on c5.) 31...bxa3! Important tactical motif to keep the advantage 32.Nxc5 a2 33.Nb3 a5! 34. Rc3 a4 35.Na1 Rxa1 36. Ra3 Rc1 37. Rxa2 Rxc4 with a winning endgame.; 30.Nb3! was the right move, and only after 30... Bb6 31.c4! bxc4 32. Rxc4 Kd6 is still comfortable for Black, but objectively equal.]

33... Bd4! I begin to play for domination. This was the most important decision I had to take in this endgame. [The straight forward 33... Ra2 34.Ke3 Bb2 35.cxb5 axb5 36.Nb1 e5 37.Nc3 Bc1+ 38.Kf3 Rxa3 39. Rxa3 Bxa3 40.Nxb5 Bxb4 would have allowed White to exchange too much material. With all the pawns on one side, White should be able to make a draw after 41.Nc7 when the knight gets out of danger.] 34.cxb5? Another huge mistake by Tiviakov! He was probably hoping to get to an endgame like in the last line and exchange pawns, but I was not planning on letting him get out of the box! White had to create a protected passed pawn with c4-c5, which promises him a lot of saving resources. Obviously White was afraid too lose all his queenside pawns in that case though, as they would all be fixed on dark squares. [34.c5 e5 35.Ke2 Ra2 36. Rd3 It’s obviously very nice for Black, but with the entry square d6 for the White rook, there will be counterplay when Black decides to go Bb2] 15


34...axb5 Now Black gets a free hand and will gradually squeeze out the win. 35.h3 Looks miserable, but its hard to find any saving chances for White by now. [35.Kg2 Ra2 36. Rd3 e5 I need to keep the bishop on d4, which paralyzes White’s pieces. (36...Bb2? 37.Nf3) 37.Kf1 Ke6 38.Ke1 Kd5; 35.Ke2 Ra2 36.f4 Due to the pin on the 2nd rank, I have enough time to collect the a3 pawn 36... Bb2 37.Kd3 Bxa3 38.Nf3 Bb2 and the bishop gets back to the game in time. 39.Nd4 Bxd4 40.Kxd4 Rc2] 35...e5 36.g4 Ra2

37.Ke2 f4 The more natur al and elegant way to conclude the game was 37...e4! but I was sure that White could not stabilize on the light squares. [37...e4! 38.gxf5 Kf6] 38. Rd3 Ke6 39.f3 [39.h4 f5 40.gxf5+ Kxf5] 39... Be3 40.Ke1 Bxd2+ 41. Rxd2 Rxa3 42.Kf2 Rb3 White could have resigned with a clear conscience here. 43. Rd8 Rxb4 44. Rh8 Rb2+ 45.Kf1 Kd5 46. Rxh6 Kd4 47. Rh5 f6 48.g5 fxg5 49. Rxg5 b4 50.h4 b3 51. Rg8 Rc2 0–1

16


Puzzle section

(7) Mammadov,Z (2393) — Akopian,V (2697) Albena Open, 27.05.2012

(5) Jobava,B (2721) — Shanava,K (2589) Georgian Championship, 13.05.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Zhou Jianchao (2609) — Kazhgaleyev,M (2595) (6) Chighladze,I (2390) — Lomsadze,D (2345) Georgian Championship, 22.05.2012 [CEWN]

Asian Nations Cup, 24.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

17


(9) Amanov,Z (2401) — Adams,M (2728)

(11) Dambacher,M (2484) — Knol,G (2130)

Chicago Open, 26.05.2012

Limburg Open, 27.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... -/+

1, +-

(10) Shulman,Y (2571) — Amanov,Z (2401)

(12) Mogranzini,R (2461) — Naumkin,I (2472)

Chicago Open, 27.05.2012

Gallipoli Open, 25.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

18


(13) Zherebukh,Y (2632) — Macieja,B (2614) Lublin, 26.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

(14) Swiercz,D (2585) — Korobov,A (2678) Lublin, 28.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

19


Endgame section

68.Ne2 Kf5 69.Ng3+ Ke5 70.Nh5

(15) Shabalov,A (2523) — Sargissian,G (2679) Chicago Open, 27.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

70... Bc6! Before starting action, Black improves a bit on his bishop. 71.Ng3 Kd5! Black wants to go for the a-pawn!

63...Kg6! Of course, Black must preserve his g-pawn. Otherwise, if White can sacrifice his knight, the a1 corner would be the wrong one for the Black bishop. 64.Ne4 g4 65.Kd4 Bf3! Forces White to decide the direction of the knight. [65...Kf5? would run into 66.Nf2! when White could finally give his knight for the pawn, since 66...g3? does not work because of 67.Nxd1! g2 68.Ne3+]

72.Kd3 Bb5+! and this is the point! White is facing a really unpleasant decision, he must give a free way to his opponent’s king! This could be a very important moment because many times in similar situations, one move draws, while the other one is losing. In this particular case, I came to the conclusion that Black is winning in both cases. 73.Ke3 [73.Kc3 Ke5! 74.Kd2 Kf4 75.Nh5+ Kf3

66.Ng3 Kg5 67.Ke3 Seems like everything is fine, but with the help of zugzwang, Black can improve his position. 67... Bb7 White is in zugzwang! He must allow Black to transfer his king to the ideal e5 square. We’ll understand soon why this is so important. 20


76.Ng7 Black must play accurately to convert the advantage. As we will see, the knight is very tricky... This is positive from Black’s point of view, it’s not a problem if he doesn’t find the win, since he can try as long as he wants. White can only pass with the knight anyway 76... Bc4 (76...g3? is of course premature 77.Nf5 g2 78.Nh4+ =) 77.Nf5 (77.Nh5 Bf7 78.Ng7 Kf2 79.Nf5 and here Black has a nice maneuver to transfer the bishop to b1, which is actually not the only way to win, but the fastest one. 79... Ba2 80.Nd4 (80.Ng7 Bb1 81.Nh5 Kf3 to control the f4 square. 82.Ke1 Bd3! and White is in zugzwang 83.Kd2 Bg6 and then again, the pawn promotes.; 80.Nh6 loses quickly after 80...g3 81.Ng4+ Kf3 82.Ne5+ Ke4 and the pawn promotes.) 80... Bb1 81.Ne2 Bf5 transposes to 77.Nf5.) 77...Kf2 78.Nd6 (78.Ng7 Bf7 79.Nf5 Bg6 and g3 next, except on Ne7 Be4.) 78... Bd5 79.Nf5 Be4 80.Nd4 (80.Ng7 Bg6 81.Ne6 g3 82.Nf4 Bf5 White always finds himself in zugzwangs.) 80... Bh7 81.Ne2 Bf5 82.Kd1 (82. Nf4 g3 83.Kd1 Kf3 84.Ne2 g2 85.Ke1 Ke3 86.Ng1 Bg4; 82.Nd4 g3)

Black only needs to waste a tempo, and then the pawn promotes automatically. 85...a6 86.Kd2 Bg6 87.Ng7 g3 Of course, it is very hard to find this shortest way to win, but Black cannot spoil the advantage, probably even accidentally, he would employ the winning concept.] 73...Kc4 74.Kf4 We reached the critical moment, where Sargissian, who is very strong in technical positions, made a very strange decision...

74...Kb3?? [74... Bd7 Why to give up the pawn? Black could have postponed going for the a3 pawn. First improving the position to the maximum 75.Ne4 a5 ! 76.Kg3 a4 and after pushing the pawn to a4, Black collects the pawn 77.Kf4 Kb3 is the elegant win (77...Bc6 is also easily winning.) 78.Nc5+ Kxa3 79.Nxd7 Kb4 80.Ne5 Kc3 and the next 3 Black moves will be made by the a-pawn.] 75.Kxg4 Kxa3 Suddenly we reached a theoretical drawn position, but White must defend precisely. First he must obviously approach to the pawn.

82...Ke3! This is the key square for the king. Now again, Black can sometimes just go for the a3 pawn 83.Ke1 Bd3 84.Ng3 Kf3 85.Nh5 and here again, White has no moves.

76.Kf4 a5 77.Ne4 Kb4 78.Ke3 a4 79.Kd2! Naturally the king should try to reach the corner.

21


79...a3 80.Nc3 Be8! Black needs to cut the king along the b1–h7 diagonal.

95.Nd3+! Kb3 96.Nc1+ Kc4! We came to another very tricky position, where only one move saves White.

81.Na2+ [81.Kc1 Bg6 82.Kd2 is the same.] 81...Kb3 82.Nc1+ Kb2 83.Nd3+ Kb1

84.Nb4 The knight is standing perfectly on b4, where the king cannot disturb him in one move. White is going to play Kc3-d2. Black tries for a while, then changes to a more tricky plan. 84... Bf7 85.Kc3! This is important. White must only use the c3 and d2 squares for passing. [85.Kd1? loses to 85... Bg6 86.Kd2 Kb2 This is the winning position and Kb3 is coming next. That is why the king must stay on c3, to have the Kb3 option if the bishop stops controlling that square. 87.Kd1 Kb3] 85... Be6 86.Kd2 Bg4 87.Kc3 Bd1 88.Kd2 Bb3 89.Kc3 Ba4 90.Kd2 Bd7 91.Kc3 Be6 92.Kd2 Bg8 93.Kc3 Bf7 94.Kd2 Black realized that there is no break trough, so he tries another idea. 94...Kb2 This move must always be met with...

97.Na2! The knight must go to c3, otherwise White gets into zugzwang and loses. [97.Kc2? Bg6+ 98.Kd2 Bb1! This is the winning position. White must allow Kc3, slowly squeezing out the c1 knight. You can see the win in the game’s 98... Bb1 line.] 97... Bg6 98.Nc1?? After making only moves during an hour, White gets out of energy and makes a losing move. [98.Nc3 was the way to draw, but White had to see that after 98...Kb3 he has 99.Ne2! Only move! 99...Kb2 100. Nc3 and the position is drawn.] 98... Bf5?? Black spoils the win! [He could have taken control of the a2 square with 98... Bb1 99.Kd1 Kc3 100. Ne2+ Kb2 101.Nc1 and Black wins by transferring the bishop to c4. White gets into zugzwang again! 101... Be4 102.Kd2 Bg6! Losing a tempo to force the king to d1. (102...Bc2?? seems to win on the spot, but White has 103. Na2!! and the knight gets to c3, which is a draw as we already know.) 103.Kd1 and now the bishop goes to c4 103... Bf7! 104.Kd2 (104.Nd3+ Kc3 105.Nc1 Bc4) 104...

22


Bc4 105.Kd1 Kc3! This is the winning position. White is in zugzwang, he must allow Kc2 in the next move.] 99.Na2 Kb3

100.Nc1+?? Shabalov fails to play Nc3 again, but this time he gets punished for the mistake. [100.Nc3 =] 100...Kb2 101.Kd1 and as we know, the bishop must go to c4. 101... Be6 102.Kd2 Bc4 and White resigned. A tough endgame![102... Bc4 103.Kd1 Kc3 104.Ke1 Kc2] 0–1

(16) Zarkua,D (2446) — Jobava,B (2721) Georgian Championship, 14.05.2012 [Chess Evolution]

An instructive rook endgame. At first sight, the game is unclear, but in reality Black is easily winning. Jobava plays with excellent technique and gives a nice lesson for us. 48... Rh1! Obviously Black needs to support his h-pawn. 49. Rh5 [Trying to create counterplay by using the central pawns is a bad idea here. The pawn cannot leave the e2 square, we will soon understand why... 49.e4? h3 50. Rh5 h2 followed by Ra1 next move.; 49. Rf6+ Kd5 50. Rf5+ Ke4 51. Rc5 Kxf4 52. Rxc4+ Kg3 53. Rc7 h3 54. Rg7+ Kf2] 49...h3! 50.Kc3 h2! We must always think twice before making this move. It is a committing move, since from now on the king cannot help in promoting the queen. If he goes to g3 for example, White gives a check on the g-file and on Kf2, Rh7. While with the pawn on h3, Black can temporarily hide his king to h2 and escape his rook from behind the pawn. In our present game, Black per23


fectly realizes that he wins all the pawns with the help of zugzwang. 51.Kc2 c3 The White king cannot move anymore. On any kind of e-pawn moves, Ra1 decides the game. White can only pass with his rook on the h-file, or push his f-pawn, which is useless without the e-pawn. 52. Rh6+

62. Re8+ Kf3 63. Rf8+ Ke4 64. Re8+ Kd5 White resigned, since he soon gets out of checks! It’s very important to mention that Black is winning only because he has the c-pawn. If it was on the b- or a-file, and the White king is on b2 or a2, the position would be a theoretical draw, since the only winning idea with Ra1 does not work anymore! 0–1

52...Kd5 Whatever White does, Black is going to win the f-pawn soon. 53.f5 Ke5 54.f6 Ke6 and here we are in zugzwang! Not a mutual one, since Black can pass with Kf7 in any case. 55.f7+ Kxf7 The next step is to take the e-pawn with the same method. 56. Rh3 Kg6 57. Rh8 Kg5 White has no chance to save it... 58. Rg8+ Kf4 59. Rh8 Kg3 60. Rg8+ Kf2 61. Rf8+ Kxe2 Mission complete! The last step to conclude the game is to leave the 2nd rank with the king and to play Ra1. Again, White can only watch this.

24


Clash of the Titans (17) Tal,Mihail — Wade,Robert Graham [B77] Palma de Mallorca Palma de Mallorca (1), 1966 [Balogh Csaba] We are going to study an interesting game by Tal! As we will see, there will be many mistakes from both sides, but on the other hand, the game is full of nice tactical ideas. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 Black chose the Sicilian Dragon defense, which guarantees us a very sharp fight. We must admit that this was a really brave decision by Black, to go for this opening againstTal! 6. Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0–0 9. Bc4 Bd7

12.h5 Of course, in case of opposite side castling White happily sacrifices his h-pawn in order to open the file for his rook. As we will see, it is more effective after some preparation with 12.0–0–0. [White could have transposed to a very good line, but of course, at that time theory had just started developing. Let’s see what happens in case of the standard „Dragon moves” from both sides 12.0–0–0! Ne5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15.h5 The same pawn sacrifice like in the game, but this time it works in a much better version 15...Nxh5 16.g4 Nf6 and here comes the difference: 17.Nb3! it is another standard idea in the Dragon, which sometimes wins the game on the spot. After each move of the queen, White plays the same 17... Qa6 18.e5! dxe5 19.g5 +- is the point! White wins a piece.] 12...Nxh5 13.g4 Nf6 [13...Nxd4!? was an interesting alternative to make some simplifications before retreating with the knight 14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 Nf6 16.0–0–0 Be6 17.Kb1 with chances for both sides.] 14.0–0–0 Ne5 In most of the lines against the 9. Bc4 setup of the Dragon, Black has to neutralize the strong b3 bishop with the maneuver Ne5-c4. 15. Bh6

10.h4 This move was played by Fischer in 1956, but it usually just leads to a transposition of the 10.0–0–0 mainline. 10... Rc8 11. Bb3 Qa5 [11...h5 is considered to be the main recently 12.0–0–0 Ne5 was played by Carlsen and Radjabov.] 25


15... Bxh6! Excellent decision by Black, who uses the fact,that White cannot take back with the queen.

he would have played 17... Bxg4!! 18.fxg4 Nxe4 19.Qe3 and here comes the fantastic idea 19...Qa3+ 20.Kb1

16. Rxh6 [16.Qxh6?! is mets with the typical exchange sacrifice 16... Rxc3! 17.bxc3 Qxc3 18.Kb1 Rc8 with a perfect position for Black! He can slowly push a5-a4. It might seem a bit strange but the f6 knight holds all the threats. White cannot get rid of it, while g5 is met with Nh5, closing the h-file.] 16... Rxc3! Another typical motif in the Dragon! Black takes the c3 knight, which plays a very important role in the attack. It was the only piece that could have taken away the f6 defender with Nd5. In addition , Black destroys the pawn structure. [16...Nc4 meets the same motif, which we have already seen in the 12.0–0–0 line 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 18.Nb3! But the lack of the dark squared bishop gives an additional option for Black 18...Qe5! is the only move to stay in the game, although White gets a dangerous attack anyway (18...Qa6 19.e5! dxe5 20.g5 +-) 19.f4! Qe6 20.g5 Nh5 (20...N xe4? 21.Qh2! wins.) 21.Nd4 Qg4 22.Nd5 Re8 23. Rh1 with a complicated position, although White’s chances should be preferable.] 17.bxc3? Of course, Tal would like to keep the queens on the board with the hope of a mating attack, but it could have cost him to the game.... [17.Qxc3 Qxc3 18.bxc3 Rc8 19.Kb2 This is one of the typical endgames in the Dragon. Black has only one pawn for the exchange, but his superior pawn structure and pieces give him enough compensation for the material deficit 19...g5 The position should be evalutated around even.] 17... Rc8 A „reflex” move after the sacrifice on c3, but it spoils a beautiful win! [I think, if Tal was on the Black side,

20...Nc4!! White is forced to accept this sacrifice as well 21. Bxc4 Nxc3+ 22.Ka1 Qb2+!! This is the whole point! 23.Kxb2 Nxd1+ Black got 4 pawns for the piece, which guarantees him a big advantage, maybe even a winning one.] 18.Kb2 b5? Too slow! [18... Bxg4 should have been played again, but now we are in a different story 19.fxg4 Nxe4 20.Qh2! The only way to save the game. Otherwise, White loses in a study-like way again. (the logical 20.Qe3 loses after 20...Nxc3 21. Rdh1 Nc4+! 22. Bxc4 Rxc4 23. Rxh7 Black’s attack arrives on time 23...Qxa2+ 24.Kc1 24...Qa1+ 25.Kd2 Ne4+! 26.Ke2 (26.Qxe4 R xd4+) 26...Qxd4! Black is safe against all the threats and he has obtained a decisive material advantage...) 20... Qxc3+ (20...N xg4 21.Qh4 N xh6 22.Qxe4 Black has 5 pawns for the piece, but with the queens on board, White has good attacking chances.) 21.Kb1 Nc4 22. Bxc4 Rxc4 23. Rxh7 Rxd4 and White has nothing better than perpetual check. Optimistic attempts might cause problems only to himself. 24. Rh8+ Kg7 25. Rh7+ (25.Qh7+ 26


The Black king runs away 25...Kf6 26.Rf1+ Ke6 27.Qxf7+ Kd7 28.Qe8+ Kc7 29.Qd8+ Kc6 30.Qc8+ Kb6 31.Qxc3 N xc3+ and Black is better.) 25...Kg8 =] 19. Rdh1 Nc4+ 20. Bxc4 bxc4 Black was op ting for this position when he played 18...b5 and hoped that the f6 knight would defend him from any trouble. 21. Rxh7! Tal, probably without too much hesitation, sacrificed his rook... 21...Nxh7 22.Qh6 e6? [Black was still fine after 22... Qe5! controlling the h8 square 23.Qxh7+ Kf8 24.Qh6+ (White cannot transpose to an endgame, because 24.Qh8+ Qxh8 25.R xh8+ Kg7 26.R xc8 B xc8 27.Nc6 Kf6 28.N xa7 Bd7! and the knight is trapped, while the Black king soon collects the kingside pawns.) 24...Qg7 25.Qh4 with a very complex position. Probably the correct evaluation is about even.]

23...e5 [The counterattack doesn’t give any hope 23... Rb8+ 24.Kc1 Qxa2 (24...Qxc3 25.Qxh7+ Kf8 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Nc6+ wins the queen.) 25.Kd2! Rb1 26.Qxh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.f5! gxf5 (28...R xh1 29.f6# Nice mate!) 29.gxf5 exf5 30. Rh6 +- with a mating attack.; 23... Be8 is the computer’s recommendation, but it does not help 24.g5 Rc7 25.Qxh7+ Kf8 26.f5 +- White is going to mate.] 24.g5 Be8 [24...exd4 25.Qxh7+ Kf8 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Qf6+ followed by mate.]

25.Ne6!! The only winning move![Black resigned in view of 25.Ne6 fxe6 26.Qxh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28. Rh7+ Bf7 29.Qf6+ Kd7 30.Qxf7+ Kc6 31.Qb7+ +- An instructi ve game that demonstrates many typical ideas in the Sicilian Dragon variation!] 1–0 23.f4!! Incredibly strong move! White prevents the Qe5 and Qg5 defensive ideas and prepares for g5, when he creates the threat of Qxh7 Kf8 Qh8 Ke7 Qf6! Ke8 Rh8 mate. Black has two „free” moves, but he cannot prevent this threat. [23.Qxh7+ is nothing after 23...Kf8] 27


Surprise section / study (18) Kivi,V 1936 [CEWN] 1. =

28


Solutions

(21) Szabo,K (2540) — Fodor,T (2502) Baia Mare, 21.05.2012

(19) Dimitrijevic,I (2125) — Milanovic,D (2532)

[Solutions]

Serbian Cup, 14.05.2012 [Solutions]

18.Nd5+! 1–0[18.Nd5+ cxd5 19.Qd7+ Kf8 20.Qxe8#] 24... Rxf3! 25.gxf3 Qh3+ 26.Kg1 Qxg3+! 0–1 (20) Hagen,A (2445) — Maksimenko,A (2554) Odense, 19.05.2012

(22) Danielsen,H (2498) — Rusev,K (2525) Odense, 20.05.2012 [Solutions]

[Solutions]

26.Nxe6! Qxh5 [26...Qxe3 27.Nxd8+ Rxd8 28.Rxe3+-; 26...Rxe6 27.Bxe6+ Kxe6 28.Qxc5 dxc5 29.Rxd8+-] 27.Nxd8++-

25.Nxg6! fxg6 26. Re6 Nxd4! 27.Nxd4 Kf7 [27... Bxd4 28. Rxd4] 28. Ra6 b4 [28... Bxd4 29. Rxd4] 29.Nc6 bxc3 30.bxc3 1–0 29


(23) Rogic,D (2577) — Zecevic,D (2275)

(25) Biolek,R (2412) — Bernasek,J (2476)

Croatian Cup, 19.05.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34. Rxd5!! exd5 [34...Qxd5 35. Rxf8+! Kxf8 36.Qh8#] 35.e6 Qd6 36.exf7+ [36.e7!? Rcxe7 37. Rxf8+! Kxf8 38.Qh8#] 36... Rxf7 37. Bg7+(24) Al Zendani,Z (2377) — Jumabayev,R (2556) Asian Nations Cup, 19.05.2012 [Solutions]

28... Rxg2+!! 29.Qxg2 [29.Kxg2 Bxf1+–+; 29.Kh1 Qxf6!–+] 29... Bxf1! 30.Qf2 [30. Rxh7+ Kxf6 31.Qxf1+ Ke7 32.Qxb5 Rb8–+] 30...h6–+ (26) Akobian,V (2625) — Ramirez,A (2593) USA Championship, 16.05.2012 [Solutions]

52...Nf1!! 53. Rxc2 Qxg2+! 0–1 30


19.Nxg5! Bf6 [19... Bxg4 20. Rxf8+ Bxf8 21.Qxg4+Qg7 22.Qh3 h6 23.Ne6 Qf7 24.Nc7+-] 20. Rg3 [20. Ne6!? Bxe6 21.dxe6 Qxe3+ 22.Kh1 Qxe6 23. Bxh7! Kxh7 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.Qh3++-] 20... Bxg5 21. Rxf8+ Qxf8 22. Rxg5+-

(28) Brkic,A (2569) — Cvitan,O (2541) Croatian Cup, 17.05.2012 [Solutions]

(27) Ramirez,A (2593) — Kaidanov,G (2594) USA Championship, 15.05.2012 [Solutions]

16.exd6!! Bxd4 17.Qxe6+ Kg7 [17...Kh8 18.dxe7! Bxf2+ 19.Kh1 Bxe1 20.exf8Q+ Rxf8 21. Rxe1+-] 18.Qxd7! Bxf2+ 19.Kh1 Bxe1 20. Rxe1+-

32... Rg8!! [32...Qe3+ 33. Rf2 Rg8 34. Bf5] 33. Bh3 [33.Qxa8 Qe3+ 34. Rf2 (34.Kh1 Qg3–+) 34... Rf8!–+] 33... Raf8 34. Rxf8 Rxf8–+

31


(29) Kurjatnikov,A 1965 [Solutions]

1.Kg7! [1.Kg8? Rb1 2.h8Q Rb8+ 3.Kg7 Rxh8 4.Kxh8 a3 5.h7 a2=] 1... Rg1+ 2.Kf7 Rf1+ 3.Ke7 Re1+ 4.Kd7 Rd1+ 5.Kc7 Rc1+ 6.Kb7 Rb1+ 7.Ka7 a3 8.h8Q a2 9.Qa1!! Rxa1 10.h7+- 1–0

32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 15 8th of June 2012



3


4

»» Puzzle section

18


21


27


30

»» Solutions

31

2


Editorial Preface The biggest ongoing event is definitely the French Team Championship. A lot of top GMs are participating and it has a very interesting format, they play on 8 boards and the teams can mix up the order of their players in each round. They publish the pairings only an hour before the game, to avoid long preparations. Arkadij plays for the team of Marseille. He had a great start, scoring two nice wins, which he is going to demonstrate in this edition. The other two games, and both endgames, are also from this event.

The next two CEWNs will be mainly dedicated to this tournament! This week, the “Titan section” goes back to the 19th century with a nice game by Lasker. Once again, we wish you lots of fun with the 15th edition of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

Right after the World Championship match, all eyes will be focused on Moscow again, because from the 8th of June, the Tal Memorial is going to start. Take a look at the list of players: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Carlsen, Magnus Aronian, Levon Kramnik, Vladimir Radjabov, Teimour Nakamura, Hikaru Caruana, Fabiano Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Alexander Tomashevsky, Evgeny McShane, Luke J

GM GM GM GM GM GM GM GM GM GM

NOR ARM RUS AZE USA ITA RUS RUS RUS ENG

2835 2825 2801 2784 2775 2770 2769 2761 2738 2706

3


4 best games of the past week (1) Naiditsch,Arkadij (2698) — Schlosser,Philip (2596) [D24] Top 12 France (1), 31.05.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] In the first round of the French League I had to face my teammate from Baden Baden. Philipp is a good chess player, but he’s mainly dedicated to teaching, giving a lot of lessons to young players. In Baden Baden, he is famous for playing with his cap! Once we asked him to take it off but he refused, he said he had achieved a score of 15,5/17 with it. Respect! Luckily, in this game, he didn’t have it on :). 1.d4 d5 Usually Philipp doesn’t play the Queen’s Gambit, so I was a bit surprised.

8...Nf6!? After a bit of thinking, my opponent played an interesting move. This move makes a lot of sense. In comparison to the main line without a4-a6, White got no Qa4 check! [8...Nxc3 This would be the other main move 9.bxc3 Be7 10.Ne5 0–0 11.Qg4 and again we are in a very well known position, without a4-a6. It’s very hard to say who benefits from these 2 moves!]

3.Nf3 a6 In my opinion, this is a very interesting line! In the main lines after 4.e3 b5, Black is doing quite well.

9. Bg5 0–0! 10.Qe2 We have quite a strange position. It seems like White is just a pawn down, but things are not that simple. White has a big advantage in development, and it’s not easy for Black to find an adequate place for the bishop on c8!

4.a4 This is a rare move, but this is exactly what I wanted. By now I was quite sure that my opponent was out of his book, or would be soon...

10...c6 Philipp decides to stop White’s d4-d5 push forever. Well, it’s a logical decision, but White gets some extra squares.

4...Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.e4 Bb4 [6...c5 is probably the most concrete continuation here. It seems like White doesn’t get any advantage here.]

11. Rad1 Be7 12.Ne5 Nd5 13. Bc1 Of course, White should avoid any kind of exchanges.

2.c4 dxc4 And for sure, never the Queen’s Gambit Accepted!

7. Bxc4!? We are in a very well known position, except that it usually appears without the a4-a6 moves included. 7...Nxe4 8.0–0

13...Nd7 14. Rfe1 In my opinion this is the critical moment of the game. Black needs to make a decision, what to do next? No more easy moves. [Looks tempting but it’s too early, now Black can play 14. Rd3 N7b6! 15. Bb3 f6 and White has no Nd3-Nc5 maneuver.] 4

Issue 15 ture is very bad, plus he’s not completely out of danger, White’s next moves could be Rh3, Bd3 and the Black king would be under attack once again.]

8th of June 2012

14...Nxe5 The wrong choice, in my opinion. [It would also be wrong to play 14...N7f6 15. Rd3! and the White rook will stand very dangerously on g3, becoming very helpful in a future attack!; 14...Qc7!? A silent move that allows White to act first! I think a move like Qc7 is needed anyway, and why not to make it now?! The position is very complicated and White has a lot of different ideas; the main one is, of course, to play 15. Rd2 or 15. Ba2-Bb1, bringing the bishop to the attack. A great position for practical games, with a lot of options for both players!] 15.dxe5 White has a very strong pawn on e5, which gives him excellent attacking chances! Black’s main defensive move, f7-f5, is not that effective anymore, White is always ready to take with exf6. 15...Qc7 16. Rd3 White needs more material for the attack and the rook will be perfectly placed on h3 or g3! 16... Rd8? This is already a serious mistake. Black doesn’t feel the danger. It was already time to think about „how to avoid getting mated”. [16...f5! Not a nice move to make, but probably the only chance to continue the game. White’s mating threats are very dangerous! 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.Ne4 It’s obvious that White has a very comfortable position despite being a pawn down. Black’s pawn struc-

17. Rh3! White threatens to play Qh5 and in case of h6, Bxh6 would finish the game. 17...g6 18.Qf3! Philipp told me after the game that he had blundered this move. Indeed, this move is almost decisive! Whites wants to play Rxh7 now. 18...Nxc3 19.bxc3 [Here I thought for a while if I should play the direct 19. Rxh7 but I found the resulting position very unclear, and there is no reason for me to go for such crazycomplications 19...Ne2+!? (Would lead to a very unclear position 19...Kxh7 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21. Bh6 (21.Bg5!? See below.) 21...Ne2+! and again the Ne2 move! (21...Rg8?? gives White the chance to give a pretty mate 22.Re3 Bd8 23.Bg7+ R xg7 24.Rh3+) 22. Bxe2 Rg8 23. Bd3 Bd8 24.Qf4 Black is a rook up, but White intends to play Re3-Rh3, the position is very unclear.) 20. Bxe2 Kxh7 21.Qxf7+ Kh8 22. Bg5 Rd7 23.Qe8+ Kg7 24. Bh6+ Kh7

5


22. Re4 Black resigned because of Reh4.[Here I missed a chance to give a nice mate 22.Qh5 gxh5 23. Rg3+ Bg7 24. Rxg7+ Kf8 25. Rxh7 with Rh8 mate.] 1–0

25. Bh5! gxh5 26.Qxh5 and it’s hard to say if White has more than a draw here.] 19... Bf8 White wanted to take on h7. 20. Bg5 Rd5 [Also loses 20... Be7 21. Rxh7! Bxg5 22.Qh3 Kf8 and it seems like the Black king has escaped from the dangerous corner, but White has 23. Bd3!! An amazing move! White wants to play Bxg6 and Black doesn’t have any defense against it 23... Rxd3 24.Qxd3 and White is winning due to the big amount of threats.] 21. Bf6 The mating net around the Black king is getting tighter. 21... Bd7

6


(2) Naiditsch,A (2698) — So,W (2659) [C42]

has come! The move 12. Re2 is quite tricky. The idea is to get control over the e-file.

Top 12 France (2), 01.06.2012

12...Qd6 [Black is not in time to exchange both rooks on e8 12...Qd7 13. Bf4 Rae8 14. Rae1 The fight for the e file! 14... Bd8 15. Rxe8 Rxe8 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Qb5! and we see a typical double attack, on b7 and d5, which gives White the advantage.]

[Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the 2nd round of the French Team Championship. I am playing for the current champion, „Marseille”, while my opponent plays for the strongest club ratingwise, „Clichy”. We lost the match but I managed to win a nice game against my young and talented opponent. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 The opening choice surprised me a little bit, Wesley is playing a lot of different openings, but he’s not choosing the „Russian” very often. 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Nc3 We are in the very main line. There are a lot of games by Gelfand, Kramnik and other top GMs here.

13. Bd2 Bf6 14. Rae1 I managed what I wanted, to control the e-file, which will always give me dangerous play on the kingside. 14...h6 Seems like my opponent is not really impressed with my play and feels nodanger. 15.Qf5 Transferring the queen closer to the Black king. 15... Rad8

8... Bf5 [8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bg4 is the usual main line, but of course, the move in the game is not a surprise.] 9. Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 0–0

12. Re2!?N This is a novelty that I had in mind for a long time, and never had a chance to use it! So finally, the time

16.Qh5 [Another tempting move was 16. Bf4 Qd7 17.Qh5 Now White fixes the Black pawn on c7 17...Ne7!? Black needs to transfer the knight to g6, where it will defend the king. Another important factor is that Black will be able to finally play c7-c6. White needs to act quickly! 18.Ne5!? It’s hard to find a better move for White 18... Bxe5 19.Qxe5 with a double attack, on e7 and c7. Black 7


needs to give away the pawn 19...Ng6 20.Qxc7 Qxc7 21. Bxc7 Rc8 22. Ba5 b6 23. Bb4 Rfd8 24. Re3 In this endgame, White is a clear pawn up, but Black keeps excellent chances for a draw. The doubled pawns on c2 and c3 are weak, and in case of an exchange of bishop and knight, Black will probably manage to make a draw in the rook endgame.]

to play f4-f5 with a devastating attack, Black is hopeless. (20.f4 would give Black some chances 20...Bh4! This is the point 21.f5 B xe1 22.R xe1 Rde8! Probably, White is still doing better, but things are by far not that clear.)] 19.Qg4! This is the key move! During the game I was very happy to find this Nh2-Qg4 idea.

16...Qd7 [After the game my opponent told me that probably the immediate 16...Ne7 would have been a much better move. Yes, this is true, but White still keeps some advantage 16...Ne7 17.h3 (17.Qg4 Qd7) 17...Ng6 18.Nh2 The usual maneuver! White is clearly the one putting pressure.] 17.h3 Ne7

18.Nh2! My opponent clearly underestimated this move. White wants to play Ng4 and it is very hard to find any defense against it! Wesley thought here for more than 30 minutes, and found nothing better than to give his queen away. 18...Qf5 [18...Ng6 19.Ng4 Qc6 would have been another option, but now Black is totally pinned and has no moves 20.g3! A very cool and strong move. White wants

19...Qxc2 My opponent finds nothing better than to give his queen. Probably the best practical choice. [It’s easy to miss White’s win after 19...h5 20.Qxf5 Nxf5 21.g4! winning the whole piece! Not often we see the bishop getting trapped on f6 21...hxg4 22.hxg4 Nh4 23.g5 and White is winning the bishop.; 19... Rd7 20.Bxh6 is winning now.; Doesn’t help either: 19...Qxg4 20.Nxg4 Nf5 21.Nxf6+ gxf6 22.g4 and White is winning the h-pawn 22...Nh4 23.Bxh6 Nf3+ 24.Kf1 Nxe1 25.Bxf8 Kxf8 26. Rxe1 and of course, this rook endgame should be winning.] 20. Bg5 Qxe2 I have to m ake a choice, to play Qxe2 or Rxe2. Both seem to be close to winning. 21. Rxe2 I think this was not the best, I need my queen on the other side, to attack Black’s pawns and king. [21. Qxe2! Bxg5 22.Qb5 and it is almost impossible for Black to find a defense against Qxb7, and against f4, at 8


the same time 22...b6 23.f4 Bh4 24.g3 Bf6 25.Ng4 and White’s position should be completely winning!]

28. Re2 b6 Continues with the plan of exchanging as much as possible.

21... Bxg5 22.h4 Bf6

29.Ng4! Now I felt that it was time for me to be very careful. A few more inaccurate moves and the position could already be a draw. If Black manages to force the exchange of knights, I think the position should be a draw! The good thing is that if I can keep the knights on the board, I should probably be winning. [This line shows how easy it is to make a draw 29.cxb6 Bxb6 30.Nf3? Nd4! and the position is a draw!]

23.Qh5 Another imprecise move, blundering Black’s next defense. [23.Qg3! would have been the right decision. Of course, I saw this move but somehow I didn’t want to give Black any counterplay. Well, next time I should not be so lazy and calculate until the end 23...Nf5 Only move, White wanted to play Ng4 24.Qxc7 Rc8 25.Qd7 Nxh4 Here I stopped my calculation, thinking: I am much better, why to let Black have some play? 26.Ng4 Bg5 27.Qxd5 Rxc3 28.Qxb7 and in fact, Black’s play is not dangerous at all and White should be easily winning here.] 23...Kh8! A great defense by my opponent, probably the only move to stay in the game. 24.g3 [24.Ng4 Ng8! and Black continues the fight!] 24...c5! Another good move, Black needs to fight! If White manages to play Qf3 and Ng4, Black’s position would be totally lost. 25.dxc5 Nc6 26.Re3 d4 27.cxd4 Bxd4 With every exchange, even of a pawn, Black’s chances to get a draw increase.

29...Kh7 [Of course not 29... Bxc5 30.Nxh6! My idea is coming true 30...gxh6 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Qxc6 and White is totally winning.] 30.Qf5+ Kg8

31.Qe4! A good move. I want to force the exchange of a pair of rooks and play Q+N against R+B+N, which should be winning. 31... Rc8 Only move, otherwise White would play c5-c6. 32.cxb6 Bxb6 33. Rc2 And I am close to completing my plan.

9


33... Rfe8 34.Qa4 h5! Again, a good move by my opponent! [In case of 34...Nd4 35. Rxc8 Rxc8 36.Ne5 we are in a position where I think it’s impossible for Black to hold 36... Rd8 37.h5! It is important to fix the Black pawn structure. Now White wants to attack the f7-pawn, to exchange the knight for the bishop, and to bring the a-pawn to a6. All these factors give White a winning position!]

39. Rxc6 Rxc6 40.Qxc6 Re2+ 41.Kf3 Rxa2 We made the time control and I had enough time to figure out a nice way to win. If Black manages to put the rook on e6 or f5, the position is a draw! So I must be very careful... 42.Qc8+ Kg7

35.Ne3! [35. Rxc6 hxg4 leads to a position where it’s very hard to say if it’s winning or not... I decided better not to try it...] 35... Bxe3 Nothing else to do, the knight on c6 is hanging and I wanted to play Nd5 next. 36.fxe3 Re6 37.Kg2 g6 Here I felt I was already very close to winning. Black’s pieces cannot move and the arrangement of the pieces is winning for me. 38. Rc5 I didn’t have much time here and played this move quite fast. [38.e4 This was more exact, not giving Black any chances. White plans to play Rc5, to bring the White a-pawn to a6, or to open the kingside with g4. The position should be winning.]

43.Qc4! A good move, now the Black rook will remain passive, while the White king advances one line up, closer to his target. 43... Ra3+ Any other move would lose the rook. 44.Kf4 Now White’s idea is to combine the threats of winning the rook and creating a mating attack. 44...Kg8 Black has no moves 45.Kg5! The king is a strong piece in the endgame! 45...Kg7 Black can not allow the White king to go to h6. 46.Qd4+ Kh7 47.Kf6 If not to h6, then to f8! 47... Rf3+ 48.Ke7 Kg8 Black just needs one more move to play Rf5, but...

38... Rxe3!? This move leads to a lost position, but it is a good practical chance! 10

Issue 15 (3) Le Quang Liem (2703) — Navara,D (2706) [D90]

8th of June 2012

French league, 03.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A perfect game by Le Quang Liem. After achieving a small advantage, White found all the strongest moves — which were not easy at all — and took home the full point. 49.g4! This is the winning move! White crushes Black’s pawn structure, getting a mating attack or a materialadvantage! 49...hxg4 50.h5! Kh7 [In case of 50...gxh5 51.Qe5 followed by Qg5 and Kf8, with mate.] 51.Kf8 And the White king reaches his final destination! 51...Kh6 52.Qh8+ Kg5 53.h6 The second queen is coming.

1.Nf3 Recently everybody is facing serious difficulties against the Grünfeld, so people are trying to create different tricks, using various move orders right from the beginning of the game. 1...Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Navara sticks with the Grünfeld anyway. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 This is one of the characteristics of keeping the pawn on d2. Now in case of the typical Nxc3, White takes back with the queen, attacking the rook. 5...Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 7. Bf4 Be6

53... Rb3 54.Kg7 A very nice fighting game! My opponent’s play was not very fortunate in the first 20 moves, but then he was very inventive in the defense! 1–0

8.Qa3 We are just at the start of the lines, when Black comes up with an interesting pawn sacrifice, which is actually not a novelty, just a rare move. Navara had to be 11


well prepared, because his opponent already played this in 2012. 8...c5!? Black wants to get some important tempi in development to compensate for the pawn. This idea really makes sense, since White needs a lot of moves to castle short. [8...Nc6 is considered to be the main line 9.e3 0–0 10. Be2 a5 11.0–0 Nb4 12. Rfc1 c6 with a complex position.] 9.Qxc5 [9.dxc5 It’s not really an option to open the diagonal for the g7 bishop 9...Nc4 Black is fine.] 9...Nc6 10.e3 Rc8 11.Qa3 White had to make 2 queen moves, while Black put out his pieces, and as the famous saying goes, „two tempi in the opening have the same value of a pawn”. 11...0–0 12. Be2! White has no more time to waste. [A nice illustration of what could happen if White makes some careless moves 12. Rd1 a5! Black would like to play Nb4 in some occasions 13.Ne5 Nd5 14.Nxc6 Rxc6 White is facing serious problems 15. Bb5 Rb6 ! 16.Qxa5 Nxf4 17.exf4

17... Bb3!! Black won an exchange due to the Re6 threat and obtained a winning position in Sadorra-Ganguly, Subic 2009.] 12...Nc4 Black must also play actively, otherwise he’ll just end up a pawn down. 13.Qa4! Excellent decision to give back the pawn, trying to achieve a positional advantage. [13. Bxc4 would have been too greedy 13... Bxc4 when White must forget about castling short, which does not predict a nice future for him.] 13...Nxb2 14.Qb5 Nc4! As a Grünfeld player, you must always stay focused on tactical ideas. Black uses a small trick to escape with his knight. [14...Qb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16. Rb1 += is slightly better for White, due to the weaknesses on the b-file.] 15.0–0 Finally the king is safe. From a positional point of view, White has a beautiful position. The e3-d4 pawn structure neutralizes the g7 bishop. Black has no chance to use the typical break with e5. The bishop on f4 stands perfectly, it restricts the movement of Black’s pieces. White can start to put pressure on the queenside and in the center. [The piece is immune, since after 15. Bxc4? Bxc4 16.Qxc4 Nxd4 Black wins.] 15...Qa5 Actually this is the novelty of our present game, and this had to be Navara’s preparation, but it seems like White can keep a small advantage. [The passive 15...Nb6 was played before 16. Rac1 (16.Rfc1 would have more logical, since the a-rook could be used effectively after a4-a5, or on the b-file...) 16...Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 (17... Qxd5 was better, but still after 18.a4 += White has the advantage. Black doesn’t have any active plans, while White 12


puts pressure on the queenside.) 18. Rc5 e6 19. Rfc1 +/White enjoyed a clear advantage. Shchekachev-Safarli, Zuerich 2009]

White gets a big advantage 18... Rc6 19. Bf3 Rc4 20.Ne4! Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Nxa2 22. Ra1 +- and White is going to take on e7, or to play Nc5.]

16. Rfc1 And again White correctly brings his f-rook to c1, because the other one is needed on the a- and b-files to get good queenside play.

19.g4!! White defend s resourcefully. Black has no way to make use of this weakness and the bishop on g3 is going to be a great guard of the king. 16...Na3? As a real Grünfeld player, Navara plays dynamic chess, but unfortunately for him, complications favor White this time. [Black should have gone into a slightly worse endgame 16...Qxb5 17.Nxb5 Nb6 18. Bg3 += After removing the bishop from the Nd5 threat, White can start his play with a4. He enjoys a small, but long-term advantage.] 17.Qxb7! Not afraid of anything! Le Quang Liem had very deep defensive ideas in mind. An important detail is that the bishop on f4 is still standing perfectly, it covers the b8 square and the Rc7-Rfc8 plans. 17...Nb4 18.Ne1! A necessary retreat against the Nc2 threat.

19...Nac2 [On the passive 19... Be6 20.Qxe7 White simply collects the 2nd pawn.] 20.Nxc2 Bxc2 [20...Nxc2 White can choose between two wins: 21.Nd5 is the computer’s suggestion (21.gxf5 N xa1 22.Qb2 +- is the human way.) 21...Nxa1 22.Nxe7+ Kh8 23.Nxc8 +-] 21.Nb5! White continues to play a perfect game, he is not giving any chance to his opponent. 21...Nxa2 [On 21...a6 the strongest move is 22.Nd6!! exd6 23. Bxd6 +- and too many pieces are hanging.] 22.Nxa7 A cold-blooded capture. Attacking the c8 rook and intending to play Nc6.

18... Bf5 [I tried to on Black’s play with doubling on the c-file, but it does not help. After some accurate moves, 13


22...Qd2 23. Re1! White had other winning move as well, but he does not want to give any chance for counterplay. [23.Nxc8 Nxc1 24.Nxe7+ Kh8 25. Bf3 +-] 23... Rce8 [23...Nc3 24. Bf3 +- Suddenly Black’s pieces got confused, and remained without any targets.] 24.Qb2! Black is not only clear a pawn down, but he also must worry about his pieces on the queenside. 24...Nc3

29.Qc1! [Black wanted to lure the knight 29.Nxb8 to have 29...Ne4! and the bishop on f3 is not protected after Nxe5, but still White has a win: 30. Re2! Bxb2 31. Rxd2 Nxd2 32. Ra2 Nxf3+ 33.Kh1! Be4 34. Rxb2 +- and th e knight doesn’t have any good squares, so White wins with the exchange up.] 29... Bxh2+ 30.Kg2 Black resigned. A typical battle in the dynamic Grünfeld defense, which this time ended with an impressive victory by White. 1–0

25. Bf3 e5 Finally Black manages to open his „Grünfeld bishop”, but it is already too late. Anyway, we must be aware of this idea against the e3-d4 pawn structure. 26.dxe5 Rxe5 A desperate attempt. [26... Bxe5 27. Bxe5 Rxe5 28. Rac1 +-; 26... Rb8 27.Qc1 +-] 27. Bxe5 Bxe5 28.Nc6! It seems like Le Quang decided to play this game without any mistakes. Even in this completely winning position, he plays the most precise moves. 28... Rb8 A last trick. [28...Ne2+ 29. Rxe2 Bxb2 30. Rxd2 Bxa1 31. Rxc2 +-; 28...Ne4 29.Nxe5! Qxf2+ is just one check 30.Kh1 +- White is a rook up.] 14


(4) Fedorchuk,S (2634) — Bauer,C (2672) [B01] French league, 04.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Christian Bauer, one of the biggest experts in the Scandinavian defense, got into serious trouble against a harmless-looking setup. 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 And here, instead of the standard 3.Nc3 and 4.d4, White played calmly. 3.Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2

reached the critical position where Black can choose between 3 moves. It seems to me that White has some advantage in any case 9...Nxe5 a) 9...Qxd4 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11. Be3 White is seriously ahead in development and the c6 pawn is a real weakness 11...Qd7 (11...Qb4 12.Qa6 Ne7 is the only move to defend the c6, but now the knight blocks the bishop, so it is going to be very difficult to finish the development. White can continue in „gambit style” 13.0–0 Qxb2 14.Bd4 with an attack.) 12. Rd1 Another piece comes with tempo 12... Bd6 13.Ne4 Nf6 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.c4! with big problems for Black. He cannot leave the pin with 15...Qe7 because of 16.Qf3!; b) 9...Nxd4 10.Qd3 Qd8 (10...Qd6 just steps into 11.Bf4) 11. Be3 Nc6 12.Qb5 a6 13.Qa4! with a very strong compensation once again.; 10.dxe5 Bb4 11. Bd2 += followe d by 0–0–0. I think White should be slightly better due to the space advantage with the e5 pawn, but possibly Black can hold with accurate play.] 6.h3 Bh5

4...Nc6 [The idea of White’s concept becomes clear after 4...Nf6 5.d4 e6 6.0–0 Be7 and before developing with Nc3, White creates a much more favorable pawn structure with 7.c4! Qd8 8.Nc3 followed by Be3, with a small but long-lasting advantage.] 5.Nc3 Qa5 Compared to the main Scandinavian (3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4), White can make use of having the pawn on d2. Therefore, I believe this time the queen should have gone to d7. [5...Qd7 6.h3 Bh5 7.d4 d5 is a threat now 7...e6 and here White has the very strong 8.Ne5! Bxe2 9.Qxe2 We

7. Rb1!! A great idea! Suddenly the Black queen feels uncomfortable, because of the b4 threat.

15


7...e6 [7...0–0–0 is met with the sacrifice 8.b4! Nxb4 9.a3 The idea is to win the h5 bishop after 9...Nc6 10. Rb5. 9...Nd5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5 (10...R xd5 11.c4 +/- with serious problems.) 11. Rb5! +/- forcing the crucial weakening of the king with c5.] 8.a3! White calml y prepares the b4 push, after which the queen has no good square to retreat. After Qb6 Na4 traps it, and Qf5 is met with g4. Therefore, Black was forced to make a really unpleasant decision. 8... Bxf3 This is generally the last thing Black wanted to do, but there was simply nothing better. 9. Bxf3 Nge7 10.b4 Qe5+ The Black queen does not find its place on the board. It is clear that White has won the opening battle. 11.Ne2 0–0–0 12.0–0 Qd6 Black frees the e5 square for the knight to get rid of the powerful light-squared bishop.

15.Qe2! with an amazi ng dangerous attack. White simply wants to play Be3 or Bb2, followed by Rfd1 or Qb5. Black can hardly hold the threats.] 13...h5 14.b5 Nd4 Black was hop ing for „less pieces less problems”, but he can never equalize in this game. [On 14...Ne5 White simply wanted to react whit 15. Bg2 h4 16.g4 Black could only temporarily push back White’s pieces. Now it is White’s turn, he is going to play d4 and Black has to retreat.] 15. Bg2 Nef5 16.a4 A logical move again, but maybe here White could have played in similar style to the 13.d4 line. [16.Nxd4 Qxd4 Bauer probably wanted to take back this way (16...N xd4 is met with 17.c3 Nf5 18.d4 +/- with a big advantage.) 17. Bb2! Qxd2 18.Qf3 Qd5 19.Qxd5 exd5 20. Rfd1 leads to a very unpleasant endgame, where the 2 bishops start to work on the long diagonals, while defending the pawn with 20...c6 leads to dangerous attack after 21.bxc6 bxc6 22.c4! opening the diagonal 22...dxc4 23. Rdc1! White needs to keep all his remaining pieces in order to lead an effective attack.] 16...Qb6 Creating some small trick on g3, but of course, White easily parries it. 17.Kh1 Nxe2 18.Qxe2 White simple wants to play c3 and d4 with a big advantage, and Black cannot prevent it... At least, I don’t see the way to do it.

13.g3 A logical move, but probably White could have played much more energetically. [13.d4! White threatens to play c3, where Black has practically no moves, so he is forced to accept the sacrifice 13...Nxd4 (13...Ne5 is met with 14.B xb7+! Kxb7 15.Bf4! wins.) 14.Nxd4 Qxd4

18... Rd4?! 19. Ra1 After this calm response, the c3-d4 plan is coming with tempo. 19...a5 White could have transposed to a superior endgame, but he preferred to keep the queens on board. It is up to our style, which one we like more... 16


20.c3 [20.bxa6!? Qxa6 21.Qxa6 bxa6 22.c3 Rd8 23. Rb1 +/- The weak a6-pawn is Black’s main problem.] 20... Rd7 21.d4

27. Bc5! Suddenly the queen is trapped! White wins a huge amount of material. 21... Be7 White has many tempting plans. In fact, he can do whatever he wants, because Black will soon get out of moves. Fedorchuk decides to overprotect the d4 pawn, in order to swap Black off the board with c4-c5.

27... Bxc5 28.dxc5 Rxd3 29. Rxd3! Rxd3 30.cxb6 Nice positional game, and an interesting line to avoid the complications of the Scandinavian defense. 1–0

22. Bb2 Kb8 23. Rad1 g6 24. Rd3 Rhd8 25. Rfd1 Bf6? Black fights against the c4 push, but this is the start of a blunder. [Passing with the bishop on f8-e7 was probably the only plan, but it cannot lead to anythinggood 25... Bf8 26.h4!? Be7 27.Qf3 +/- followed by c4, when the d4 pawn is not hanging anymore.] 26. Ba3! Be7? [26...Qa7 was the only move, but after 27. Bc5 Qa8 the queen ends up in the corner, which does not mean anything good.]

17


Puzzle section

(7) Dubessay,B (2384) — Skoberne,J (2535) Mitropa Cup, 02.06.2012

(5) Bogner,S (2569) — Nataf,IA (2544) French league, 03.06.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Tan Zhongyi (2430) — Zhao Xue (2549) (6) Battaglini,G (2412) — Bogner,S (2569) French league, 04.06.2012 [CEWN]

Women’s World rapid Championship, 31.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

18


(9) Guo Qi (2360) — Ushenina,A (2454)

(11) Cramling,P (2478) — Harika,D (2508)

Women’s World rapid Championship, 01.06.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Khurtsidze,N (2456) — Gunina,V (2530)

(12) Ovsejevitsch,S (2572) — Kuijf,R (2419)


Liechtenstein Open, 18.05.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

19


(13) Flores,D (2604) — Molina,R (2423) Panno Masters, 21.05.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Nanu,C (2520) — Shishkin,V (2492) Baia Mare, 26.05.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

20


Endgame section (15) Fargere,F — Miton,K [B30] Top12, 2012 [Chess Evolution] 52. Bc6 Bg4 53. Bb7 h5 54. Bc6 h4 55. Bb7 h3 56. Bc6 Bf5 57. Bb7 = Black has no chances to achieve any more progress, the position is a draw.] 40...Kh5 [A very interesting try to play for a win would have been 40...Kg6

We are in a drawn-looking bishop endgame, but it is by far not an easy draw... 39...Kh6 40.f4?! This seems to be the first inaccuracy of White. [40. Be8 would be the right way to continue 40... Bg6 41.Kh2 Kg5 42.Kh3 Bf5+ (42...Kf4 43.Kxh4 Kxe5 44.g3 = The White king is going back to g2 next, and Black cannot do anything about it. It’s always very important for White to keep the pawn on f2!) 43.Kh2 Kf4 44. Bxf7 Kxe5 45. Be8 Kf4 46. Bc6 Again, a very important moment. White chooses a passive tactic to keep the pawn on f2! 46...e5 47. Bb7 e4 48. Bc6 h6 49. Bb7 h3 50.gxh3 Kf3 51.Kg1 Bxh3

41.g4! An amazing resource for White a) 41. Be8 Kf5 42. Bxf7 Bc4 and both the f4 and e5 pawns are going to fall.; b) 41.Kf2 Kf5 42.Kf3 (42.Ke3 Bc4) 42...h5 43. Bb7 Bc2 with the idea of Bd1, and Black is winning.; 41...h5 (41... Be2 Also after this move, it looks like White has a study looking draw 42.Be4+ Kh6 43.g5+ Kh5 21


45...Kf5 46. Bxh5 Kxf4 47. Bxf7

44.Kf2! White needs to stop Black from playing Kg4 44... Bd1 45.Ke1! Bg4 46.Kf2 Bf5 47.Bf3+ Kg6 48.Kg2 h6 49.gxh6 Kxh6 50.Kf2 = and Black can not make any further progress.; 41...hxg3 42.Kg2 Kf5 43.Kxg3 h5 44.Be8 and it seems like White is just in time to hold the draw.) 42. Bf3 hxg4 43. Bxg4 Bf5 44. Bf3 f6 45.exf6 Kxf6 46.Kf2 Ke7 47. Ba8 Kd6 48. Bb7 Kc5 49. Ba8 Kd4 50. Bb7 (50.Bg2? h3) 50... Be4 51. Bc8 Bd5 52.f5 e5 53.f6 e4 54. Bg4 e3+ 55.Ke2 Bc4+ 56.Kf3 =] 41. Bf3+ Kg6

47... Bf5! 48.Kf2? Decisive mistake! White could have held the position after: [48.Kh2! Bg4! (48...Kxe5 49.g3 h3 50.Bh5 followed by g4, with a draw.) 49. Be8 Kxe5 50.g3 h3 51. Bb5 White wants to play Bf1 and Bxh3 51... Kd4 52. Bd7! This is the point! Anyway, it’s not easy to see this idea during a practical game. (52.Bf1 e5 53.B xh3 B xh3 54.Kxh3 e4 and Black is queening first.) 52...Ke4 53. Bc8 Kf5 (53...Kf3 54.Bb7+ Kf2 55.Bc8 =) 54. Bd7 Kg5 55. Bb5 e5 56. Bf1 and only now. the bishop is going to f1 56...e4 57. Bxh3 =] 48... Bg4! 49. Be8 Kxe5 50.Ke3 Black’s task is to achieve a zugzwang position in order to get the f4 square for his king. 50...Kf5 51. Ba4 The bishop controls d1 and doesn’t allow Kg4-Kg3. 51...Kg5 52. Bb3 Bf5 53. Bd1 Bb1 The idea is Ba2Bd5.

42. Bg4?! [42.Kf2 Kf5 43.g3! = would give White a draw now.(43.Ke3?? Bc4) ]

54. Bb3 e5 55. Bd1 Bf5 [55...e4 An interesting idea to play for a zugzwang that seems to win as well 56. Be2

42... Bf5 43. Bf3 Bc2 44. Bg4 h5 45. Bf3 [45. Bh3 Bf5] 22


Kf5 57. Bd1 Bd3 58. Bh5 Bf1 59.Kf2 Bb5 60.Ke3 (60. g3 h3 61.Kg1 e3 62.Kh2 Kg5 63.Bf3 Bd7)

60... Bd3 wins a tempo 61. Bd1 Kg5 and White is in zugzwang. He is forced to let the Black king penetrate.]

60...Kf4 And Black is winning very easily. 61. Bb7 Bd3 62. Bc6 e4 63. Bb7 e3+ 64.Kg1

64...Kg3 0–1

56. Bf3 Bg6 57. Be2 Be8 58. Bf3 Bb5 Finally Black takes control of the h1–c6 diagonal, or is able to win the g4 square for his king!

59. Bd5 [59.Ke4 Bc6+] 59...Kg4 60.Kf2 [Doesn’t help 60.Ke4 Kg3 61.Kxe5 Bf1 62.Kd4 Bxg2 63. Be6 Bh3! 64. Bd5 (64.B xh3 Kxh3 65.Ke3 Kg2) 64... Bg4 65.Ke3 h3 with the plan of h2-Bh3-Bg2 –+.] 23


(16) Fressinet,L (2715) — Nanu,C (2520) French league, 03.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

to block ideally the pawns, and what is even more important, he cannot avoid Kd4-c5. 93...Nxa6 94. Bxb5 Nc7 95. Be2 Be8 Black finds the best chance. [95...Kd7 96.b5 is hopeless. Black’s pieces are standing horribly. In fact, he can only watch how White promotes his pawns.] 96.Kd4!

From a positional point of view, White is clearly better because of his superior pawn structure, stronger pieces, and the a6 and e6 weaknesses. Of course these are all very nice, but how to break through Black’s rock solid position? The knight on c6 is an excellent blockading piece, which also prevents the penetration of the king through d4-c5. After a long maneuvering without being able of cracking Black’s defense, White found a last trap... 91.Nb7 [91.Nxb5? is not enough 91...axb5 92. Bxb5 Kd7 Black easily stops the pawns.] 91... Bf7? Black blunders, or underestimates his opponent’s idea, and makes a decisive mistake. [91... Bd7! 92.Nc5 Bc8 would have held the draw. White cannot improve his position.] 92.Nc5 Nb8 93.Nxa6!! After this great sacrifice White is winning, but converting still requires perfect technique. Compared to the 91.Nxb5 possibility, Black is not in time

96...Nb5+ This is again the best chance. Black cannot create any counterplay, while random moves are losing after Kc5 and b5. [96... Bb5 loses after 97. Bxb5 Nxb5+ 98.Kc5 and the pawns start to march.] 97. Bxb5! Excellent decision! We will soon understand why the knight had to be eliminated. [It would have been easy to go wrong with 97.Kc5 but after 97...Nc3! 98. Bd3 Na4+! 99.Kd4 Kd8! 100.b5 Kc7 Black has built up an unbreakable fortress, due to the knight on a4, which prevents all the king maneuvers.] 97... Bxb5 98.Kc5 Bf1 We are in the critical position of the game. After more than 5 hours and 99 moves of fighting, Fressinet wanted to play for a win without taking any risk, but it could have cost him the full point. 24


99.h4? This gives a very important tempo for Black. [99. Kb6! was the way to win 99... Bxh3 (99...Kd7 100.a6 d4 Black must sacrifice this pawn to be able to stop the apawn, but it does not save the game 101.exd4 Bxh3 102. b5 White’s main idea is Ka7 followed by the unstoppable b6-b7-b8 102... Bf1 (102...Bg2 103.Ka7 +-) 103.d5! White closes the diagonal and wins.) 100.a6 Bg2 101.Kc7! Now, both pawns are promoting at the same time, but at the end White collects the e6 pawn with check, which decides the outcome of the game. 101...h5 102.b5 h4 103.b6 h3 104.b7 h2 105.b8Q h1Q 106.Qd8+! Kf7 107.Qf6+! This is the point! 107...Kg8 108.Qxe6+ Kg7 109.Qf6+ Kh7 110.e6 +- and Black cannot stop the pawns.] 99...Kd7 Now the position is drawn, but Black needs to defend precisely. 100.b5 [100.Kb6 was an alternative 100...Kc8 101.b5 h5!! The key move! We will understand its point in the 102... Bc4 line. 102.a6 Kb8 103.Kc6 Bc4 104.Kd6 Ka7 Black holds, as the 102.... Bc4 line shows.]

the best practical way, to hold the draw. This sacrifice is very logical because the bishop could have held the a-b pawns from g2, and White cannot make use of his extra pawn after exd4... 102.exd4 Bg2 103.b6+ Kd7 White cannot improve his position, he must settle for draw.; 101... h5! was the other way to draw, but we’ll discuss it again in the 102... Bc4 line.] 102.Kd6 Bxb5? The position was lost anyway, but after this move, White in fact cannot spoil the win. [102... Bc4 A very interesting position. Who would guess that the right evaluation of the position is set around the h5 move. If White plays it, he wins; if Black does it, he draws. It is much easier to understand the idea behind it than to find this move with any color. It is all about the h6 weakness. White would like to fix it and then take it, while if Black puts it to h5, he can defend it with the bishop

100...Kc7 101.a6

101...Kb8? Probably because of tiredness, Black loses the game in 2 moves. [101...d4! was the easiest, and also

103.h5!! (The logical 103.b6 trying to exchange the a6 pawn for the e6 one would spoil the win after the excellent response by Black 103...h5!! 104.Ke7 (104.Kd7 Ka8!! When the White king is on the d-file, the bishop cannot leave the c4 square, where it fulfills two functions: it protects the e6 square and on a7, Kb7, a8Q, Kxa8, Kc7, 25


Black must have the Ba6 resource.) 104... Ba2 105.Kd7 (105.Kf6 Bc4 106.Kg5 Be2 =) 105... Bc4! 106.a7+ Kb7 107.Kd6 White tries to create some zugzwang, but Black is ready to hold (107.a8Q+ Kxa8 108.Kc7 Ba6!) 107...Ka8 (107...d4!? is also completely fine now 108.exd4 Bd5 109. Ke7 Bc4 110.Kf6 Bd5 111.Kg5 Bf3 with a draw, since the overoptimistic breakthrough 112.d5?? loses after 112... exd5 113.e6 d4 114.e7 Bc6) 108.Kc6 Ba6 109.Kc7 Bb7 110.Kd7 d4! 111.exd4 Bd5 = See the 107...d4 line.) 103... Ka7 104.Ke7 Kb6 105.Kf6 Bxb5 106.Kg6 Black’s bishop is really unfortunate. He cannot win any tempi when catching the h-pawn, he can only take it on h5, otherwise it would be too late 106... Be8+ 107.Kxh6 Kxa6 108.Kg5 Bxh5 109.Kxh5 Kb5 110.Kg6 Kc4 111.Kf6 +-] 103.Kxe6 Bxa6 [103... Bd3 104.Kf7 +-] 104.Kxf5 +- It is over now. [Black’s last hope was in the too direct 104.Kf7 Kc7 105.e6 Kd6 106.e7 Bb5 107.e8Q Bxe8+ 108.Kxe8 when Black can hold the pawn endgame after the strong 108...d4! 109.exd4 Kd5 110.Kf7 Kxd4 111.Kg6 Ke4 112.Kxh6 Kxf4 = with a draw.] 104...Kc7 105.Kg6 Kd7 106.Kxh6 Ke6 107.h5 Too many pawns are running. The king and bishop cannot stop all of them. 107...Kf7 Otherwise, Kg7 and h6. 108.f5 Bd3 109.Kg5 Kg7 110.e6 Kh7 111.f6 1–0

26


Clash of the Titans (17) Porges,M — Lasker,Emanuel [C67] Nuremberg Nuremberg, 20.07.1896 [Balogh Csaba] We go back to the 19th century! A nice game from the 2nd World Champion, Emanuel Lasker. He won his title in 1894 at the age of 26, by defeating Steinitz, and held it through 27 years, which is a record in chess history. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7!? This is the so-called Rio de Janeiro variation of the Spanish opening, which was the favorite weapon of the famous 19th century chess player Adolf Anderssen. He played it for the first time in 1862! 6.Qe2 Nd6 7. Bxc6 bxc6! 8.dxe5 Nb7 This is the point behind Black’s idea. Usually the knight has a hard time trying to find a safe place on the board, while now it is heading to e6. Black has a bit cramped position, but he has gained the bishop pair as compensation. This opening went out of fashion due to the passive middlegame positions, but since the Russian top GM Malakhov started to play it in 2009, the variation is alive again! Many strong players tried to refute it, but it’s still not clear how to achieve an advantage for White. Now White can choose between at least 6 different setups, I doubt that the text move can create real problems for Black. 9.b3 0–0 10. Bb2 d5

11.exd6?! This cannot be a good idea. Black gets rid of his doubled c-pawns and the position opens up, which favors the bishops. [I think 11. Rd1 is the only way to fight for an advantage, with the idea of c4 and Nc3.; Lasker won another nice game as Black after 11.Nd4 Qd7! prepares for c5, but first prevents Nc6 12.Nd2 c5 13.N4f3 Qf5 14. Rac1 c6 Black is already completely fine, but let’s see how Black outplays his opponent 15. Rfe1 a5 16.a4

16...Nd8! Generally the Black knight lands on e6 in this opening, but usually it goes through the c5 square 17.Nf1 Ne6 18.Ng3 Qg6 19.Qd2 h5 20.Ne2 Qf5 21. Ba3 Re8 22.Qe3 h4 23.h3 Ba6 White already has serious problems. A nice lesson from Lasker, against Teichmann, who 27


was also one of the best players during that time 24.Kh1 d4 25.Qd2 Red8 26.Neg1

12... Re8! 13. Rfe1 Bd7! Both players are developing logically. Black needs to slowly put out his pieces and then the bishop pair will automatically start to work. 14.Ne4? A serious mistake, which might be called as decisive against a player like Lasker. [Let’s see what happens after some „normal” moves: 14.Nc4 Nc5 15. Rad1 Bf8 16.Qd2 Rxe1+ 17. Rxe1 d5 18.Nce5 Be8 Black has the initiative: he has a healthy pawn structure, the bad b7 knight turned out to be a strong piece on e4 or e6, and the bishops start to work soon as well, let’s say after f6 and Bg6.]

26...Nf4 and in this completely cramped position, White thought that the World Champion had blundered a tactical motif, but Lasker calculated one move further... 27. Bxc5 Bxc5 28.Nxh4 Qg5 29.Ngf3 Seems like White wins back the piece and ends up with material advantage, but... 29... Bb4!! (29...Qh6? 30.Nf5 +-) 30.Qxb4 Qxh4! 31.Qd2 Qh6 and Black kept his extra piece. TeichmannLasker, Nuremberg 1896.] 11...cxd6 12.Nbd2

14...d5! Probably White just missed this move. He is lucky not to lose immediately... 15.Ned2 Ba3 Seems to be over, but White finds a way to stay in the game. 16. Be5 f6 17.Qa6! The only way not to lose material, but it improves Black’s pawn structure so much, that the position becomes close to winning. 17...fxe5 18.Qxa3 e4 19.Nd4

19...Qf6! A very strong positional idea. Lasker forces White to play c3, which is another crucial weakness in his 28


position. It gives up the control over the d3 square, and the knight is going to occupy this square soon.

25...Nf4 In the last four moves, Black managed to transfer his b7 knight to f4! A remarkable achievement!

20.c3 Rf8 Another very unpleasant move. White is facing a difficult decision again. The only move not to lose material is 21.f3, but it is another weakening move.

26.Ng3 h5! With each move, Black creates a threat. Lasker does not give a „free” move for White to consolidate his position.

21.f3 [21. Rf1 loses to 21...Qg5 and White cannot parry the Bh3 threat.]

27.Nde2 The time has come the finish the game with a nice combo!

21...Qg5! Small but brutal moves. Black creates the threat of c5, and after the knight goes away, the f3 pawn is hanging. White has only one move to avoid losing a huge amount of material, but again it has its drawbacks...

27...Nxg2! 28.Kxg2 exf3+ 29. Rxf3 Bh3+! This is the point.

22.Qc1 Only move, but it gives up the c5 square. Black immediately activates his knight. [22. Re2 c5]

30...Qg4+! 31.Kg2 Qxf3+ 32.Kg1 [On 32.Kh3 h4 is coming anyway 33.Kxh4 Rf6 and mate soon.]

22...Nc5! [22...c5 is tempting, but White can hold after 23.Nc2 Bh3 24. Re2 Ugly, but White is alive.] 23.Nf1 White is defending tenaciously, but his 14th move was so bad that he can never get back into the game. 23...Qg6 Of course, against such a weak king Black needs to keep the queens on board. 24. Re3 Nd3 25.Qd1 [25.Qd2 would be met with 25... c5! 26.Nc2 Rxf3! 27. Rxf3 exf3 and Black wins.]

30.Kxh3 Black wins by force now: [30.Kf2 Rxf3+ 31.Kxf3 h4 The White king is too naked.]

32...h4 33.Nh1 [33.Nf1 Qf2+ 34.Kh1 h3] 33...Qe3+! [White did not want to wait 33...Qe3+ 34.Kg2 h3# Nice mate! At the beginning of the game Lasker showed great positional understanding, while in the middlegame he proved his excellent tactical abilities. Anyway, the most remarkable thing is that this game was played 116 years ago!] 0–1

29


Surprise section / study (18) Neuschwander,B 1989 [CEWN] 1. =

30


Solutions (19) Jobava,B (2721) — Shanava,K (2589) Georgian Championship, 13.05.2012 [Solutions]

13.Rxd6! cxd6 14.Nc7! b6 [14...Rb8 15.Bxa7+-] 15.Nxa8+(20) Chighladze,I (2390) — Lomsadze,D (2345) Georgian Championship, 22.05.2012 [Solutions]

21... Rxd5!! 22.exd5 Nb4! 23. Bxd3 Rc1+!! 24.Kxc1 Nxd3+ 25.Kd2 Nxf2 26.Ke2 Nxh1 27.Kf1 Bd8

28.Nh3 Bb6 29.g4 fxg4 30.fxg4 e4 31.d6 [31.Kg2 e3–+] 31...e3–+ (21) Mammadov,Z (2393) — Akopian,V (2697) Albena Open, 27.05.2012 [Solutions]

27... Rxc3! 0–1[27... Rxc3 28.bxc3 Qd2–+] (22) Zhou Jianchao (2609) — Kazhgaleyev,M (2595) Asian Nations Cup, 24.05.2012 [Solutions]

43. Be8! Rxe8 44. Rxc8+31


(23) Amanov,Z (2401) — Adams,M (2728) Chicago Open, 26.05.2012 [Solutions]

26.Qxh7+ Kf7 27.Nf3! Rh8 28.Qxh8 [28.Qxg6+!? Kxg6 29.Nxe5+ Kf6 30. Rxh8+-] 28...Nxh8 29.Nxe5+ Kf6 [29...Kg8 30. Rxh8+! Kxh8 31.Nf7++-] 30. Rxh8+(25) Dambacher,M (2484) — Knol,G (2130) Limburg Open, 27.05.2012 [Solutions]

20... Rxe2+! 21. Bxe2 Re8 22.Qe3! [22.0–0 Rxe2 23.Qd1 Qg6+ 24.Kh2 Bd5–+] 22... Rxe3 23.fxe3 Bd5! 24. Rg1 Qe6 25. Rg3 [25.Kf2 Qxh3–+] 25...Qb6! 26. Rd1 Qa5 11.Nd6+! 1–0[11.Nd6+ exd6 12.Qe1++-] (24) Shulman,Y (2571) — Amanov,Z (2401) Chicago Open, 27.05.2012

(26) Mogranzini,R (2461) — Naumkin,I (2472)

[Solutions]

Gallipoli Open, 25.05.2012 [Solutions]

24.e5! dxe5 [24...fxe5 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Qh8+ Kf7 28.Ne4!+-] 25. Rh4!! f5 [25...Kf7 26. Rf1+-] 32


25. Bf6! gxf6 26.exf6 Rg8 27.Qxg8+! 1–0[27. Rd8!+-; 27.Qxg8+ Kxg8 28. Rd8++-]

34.Nc4!! Kf8 [34... Rxc4 35.Qd8#; 34...Qxc4 35.Qe7#] 35.Nd6+-

(27) Zherebukh,Y (2632) — Macieja,B (2614)

(29) Kivi,V

Lublin, 26.05.2012

1936

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25...h4! 26. Bxh4 Bb6! 27.cxb5 [27. Bg3 Qa7–+; 27. Bg5 f6–+] 27...Nxh4 28.bxa6 Ba8 (28) Swiercz,D (2585) — Korobov,A (2678) Lublin, 28.05.2012

1.Ng5+! Kg2! [1...Ke3 2.Ne6! a2 3.Nd4 Kd3 4.Nb3 Kc3 5. Ba4= (5.Kc5 Kxb3 6.Be6+ Kb2 7.B xa2 Kxa2 8.Kb5=)] 2. Bh3+! Kh1 3.Nf3! a2 4. Bg2+! Kxg2 5.Ne1+ Kf2 6.Nc2 Ke2 7.Kc4 Kd2 8.Kb3= 1/2

[Solutions]

33

Weekly Newsletter



15th of June 2012


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3

»» Puzzle section

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26


29

»» Solutions

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The main event of the past few weeks came to an end: the French Top 12 tournament. The team Clichy totally dominated the league with Ivanchuk playing the top board, and won the French Team Championship with a perfect score! Congrats. The Tal Memorial is being played with an amazing lineup this year. The only player that doesn’t fit in terms of ELO is McShane, but he got in thanks to a poll that was done over the Internet. In this super-tournament, we will see a battle between world’s number 1, Magnus Carlsen, and number 2, Levon Aronian, who is just 10 ELO points behind in the rating list. The tournament is super exciting. Another stage of the Women Grand Prix has begun as well, with both Koneru and Hou Yifan participating. If the young Chinese super star can prove once again that she is the number one (after Polgar, who doesn’t participate in female tournaments), we are going to see this news during the next few weeks. At the moment, we are trying to get some small interviews with the seconds of the Anand-Gelfand match, but it seems not as easy as it sounds. Such a match is really exhausting. As usual, we wish You lots of fun with the CEWN Nr16! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

2



11...Nf6 12. Bf3 This is a fresh approach by White. By far the main move is 12.f3, but Kramnik introduced this idea in another nice victory against Giri in 2011.

(1) Kramnik,V (2801) — Grischuk,A (2761) [E97]

12...c6

Tal memorial (2), 09.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A great novelty based on very deep ideas by Kramnik against the King’s Indian defense... 1.Nf3 Kramnik starts the game with the „Anti-Grunfeld move order. 1...Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 By not playing 3...d5, we transpose back into the King’s Indian defense. 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7

13. Bg2! Kramnik improves on his own game! [13. Ba3 was played before 13...cxd5 14.exd5 This takeback is quite a risky move in general, since it allows to open the diagonal of the King’s Indian bishop. 14...e4 15. Be2 In my opinion, Grischuk’s novelty was in this moment 15...Ne8? Kramnik brutally punished this move (15...h6 seems to lead to a more or less forced draw in a tactical line 16.Ne6 Bxe6 17.dxe6

9.b4 The 9.b4 line is the so-called Bayonet attack. Kramnik is definitely the biggest expert of this opening. Usually all the developments with White are based on his games. 9...Nh5 10.g3 White prevents the Nf4 idea. 10...f5 11.Ng5 This maneuver connected with the Ne6 jump is a well-known idea in this line. We will see it in this game as well. 3


17...d5! Black would like to push d4, this forces White to go for the simplifications 18.cxd5 Nfxd5 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 Nxd5 21. Bc4 It is very hard to improve on the play with any color. (21.Rac1 es met with the very unpleasant 21...Nc3! 22.Bc4 Rfc8 White cannot control the e2 square with the bishop.) 21...Nb6 22. Bb3 Bxa1 23.e7+ Rf7 24. Rxa1 Re8! 25.b5 Kg7 Black already threatens to take on e7 26. Bxf7 Kxf7 27. Rd1 Nc8 28. Rd7 b6 = and we reached a drawish endgame. Black is going to play Ke6 and take on e7. Probably, Grischuk had analyzed this line and decided to go for it...) 16. Rc1 h6 17.Ne6 Bxe6 18.dxe6 Nc7 This was the idea behind the 15th move, but White is in time to organize counterplay in thecenter 19.b5 Be5

27... Bg7 (27...B xd6 28.Bb2+ +-) 28.Nf4 +-) 27...Qxd6 28. Rxb7 +- and White won a few moves later. KramnikGiri, Hoogeveen 2011.] 13...h6 Grischuk reacts the most logical way, but actually I did not find a way to equalize after this move. [13... fxe4 is the computer’s recommendation, but it is not in the spirit of the King’s Indian, because White manages to consolidate his center. 14.Ngxe4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 (15. B xe4 The best was if White could take back with the knight on d5, but Black has the concrete 15...Bh3 16.Re1 Qb6 with a double attack on f2 and b4 17.Be3 Qxb4) 15...cxd5 16.cxd5 Nf5 I personally think White should be slightly better, mainly because of the bad g7 bishop, which has no future in this game, but the machine believes in Black’s position.] 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.dxe6 Nxe4 Grischuk is a King’s Indian specialist and plays the position in style, but unfortunately for him, Kramnik knows all the details of the position... [15...fxe4 Keeping 2 knights on the board is met with the same 16.b5! preparing for Ba3 16...d5 17. Ba3 Re8 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Qb3 followed by Rd1, with an advantage for White. Black cannot hold his center.]

20.Qb3! Kg7 (20...N xe6 21.Rfd1! Nd4 22.R xd4 B xd4 23.c5+ might be a transposition into the game, since on 23...d5 24.N xd5! 24...Qxd5 loses the queen 24...N xd5 25.Rd1! and White wins.) 21. Rfd1 Nxe6 22.c5! Nd4 23. Rxd4! A necessary exchange sacrifice, but of course, after foreseeing the ensuing position, White joyfully gives the material 23... Bxd4 24.cxd6 Ng8 25.Nd5 The game is practically over. The White rook invades on the 7th rank. 25...Kh8 26. Rc7 Be5 27. Bb2 (27. Re7 was even easier

16.Nxe4 fxe4

4


17.b5! The situation has changed. A few moves ago, Black was fighting to undermine White’s strong center. He successfully fulfilled his plan, so this time it is White’s turn to do the same. He already has no pawns to go for this plan, but he can focus all his pieces into the attack. White wants to continue the game with Ba3, trying to force the d5 move and then launch a quick attack against it with Qb3 and Rd1. If Black cannot hold his center, his position collapses vey fast. [After 17. Bxe4 the opening would end with Black’s triumph 17...d5 ! 18.cxd5 cxd5 19. Bg2 Qd6 collecting the e6 pawn.] 17... Rf6 [Protecting the e4 pawn would help White to continue his plan 17...d5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19. Ba3 Re8 20.Qb3 followed by Rd1.] 18. Bxe4 Rxe6 Black is a pawn up, but he has serious problems with the coordination of his pieces, and his pawns are vulnerable in the center.

on the queenside and an isolated pawn on e4 (it had to be pushed there sooner or later to activate the bishop) is also a potential target.] 21.cxd5! White must be precise. [The tempting 21. Ba3 would spoil the advantage 21...Qe8! 22.cxd5 cxd5 23. Bxe7 dxe4 24. Bc5 a6 Black gets counterplay.] 21...cxd5 22.Qb3! And only in the next move Ba3. Of course, the d4 push for Black is always bad, because of the same reasons as in the 20th move. 22... Rb6 Grischuk tries a trick, but such things do not work against Kramnik... [22...Qd7 23. Ba3 d4 24. Rac1 and again White’s pieces are dominating the board.] 23.a4! One more tempo had to be „wasted” before playing Ba3. [23. Ba3? would fall into Black’s trap 23...Qe8! leaving the pin on the d-file and attacking b5 at the same time.]

19.Qa4! White develops with a tempo in order not to waste any time. He attacks the c6 pawn and prepares for Rd1 in the next move.

23...a6 Black tries to get counterplay by opening the afile, but it is too late.

19...d5 [19...Qe8 20. Rd1 += and Ba3 is coming next.]

24...axb5 25. Bxe7 Qxe7 26. Rxd5 In case of opposite colored bishops in middlegames, the principle says, that side with the more active bishop is better, and material is not that important. Now it is impossible to compare the two bishops, Grischuk collapses in a few more moves.

20. Rd1 Kh7 [20...d4 Black could have saved his extra pawn, but only in a really anti-positional way. Please compare the g7 bishop and the one on e4, after this, there is no need to think about White having enough compensation for the pawn or not... 21.bxc6 bxc6 22. Ba3 Rc8 23. Rab1 with complete domination.; The best option could have been to give back the pawn and try to save a worse endgame after 20...Qe8 21.cxd5 cxd5 22. Rxd5! This is why Black played 20...Kh7. 22...Nxd5 23. Bxd5 Rd8 24. Bxe6+ Qxe6 25. Be3 += Black has weaknesses

24. Ba3 Finally!

26...b4

5

Issue 16 (2) Mamedyarov,S (2726) — Shanava,K (2589) [D45]

15th of June 2012

Tbilisi, 09.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba]

27.a5! Another excellent decision. White wants to have the Rb5 option. 27...Qf7 This loses, but objectively the position was hopeless anyway. [27... Rf6 28. Rb5! Ra7 is very passive 29. Rd1 +-] 28.h4! h5 29.Qd1! The triple threat of axb6, Rd7 and Qxh5 was too much for Black, so he resigned the game. Kramnik showed, once again, his deep understanding of the Bayonet attack! 1–0

The game is taken from the Georgia-Azerbaijan friendly match. However, as we will see, the only friendly thing about it is the name — they played really sharp chess. We are facing a very interesting game, especially knowing the circumstances. Mamedyarov „improved” on his previous game in the 13th move with a dubious novelty, which seemed to be a great bluff, but Black fell right into its beautiful idea. If Black would’ve reacted better, he would have obtained a clear advantage. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 The starting position of the Meran. White goes for one of its sharpest lines... 6.Qc2 Bd6

7.g4!? This is Mamedyarov’s favorite move, which enjoyed huge popularity around 5-6 years ago, even on the highest level. Recently it went a bit out of fashion, mainly because of the strong computers that are suggesting 6


very good ideas for Black. He can choose between many sharp options, and all of them lead to complex positions. 7...dxc4 [7...h6 is another move that is considered to be fine for Black.; White gets very strong compensation if Black accepts the sacrifice 7...Nxg4 8. Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10. Rxg7 Nf8 11. Rg2 Bd6 12.e4 followed by Bg5 and 0–0–0. White gets a very strong initiative for the pawn. Black’s pieces are undeveloped and the lines are opening towards the king.] 8.g5 [8. Bxc4 is just a transposition to the game after 8... e5 9.g5 Nd5] 8...Nd5 9. Bxc4 e5 Actually, this is a very logical response. Black opens the center against the attack on the flank. 10. Bd2 [Giving up the light squared bishop for a pawn is not an advisable idea 10. Bxd5 cxd5 11.Nxd5 0–0 12. Bd2 Re8! with the threat of e4. The White king gets in trouble.; 10.Nxd5? cxd5 11. Bxd5? does not work because of 11...Qa5+] 10...0–0 11.Nxd5 cxd5 12. Bxd5

12...exd4 Shanava was well-prepared, since Mamedyarov had a game not so long ago in this theoretical position. 13.Nxd4 White deviates from his previous game, but this is not a novelty yet. [13. Be4 dxe3 14. Bxe3 Qa5+ 15.Kf1 (On 15.Bd2 Bb4 Black is fine according to the machine.) 15...f5 could be a very strong improvement for Black (probably this was Shanava’s idea). (15...Ne5 happened in the game Mamedyarov-Zherebukh, Khanty-Mansiysk 2011.) 16.Qb3+ is probably the best, but still after (16. Bd3 meets with 16...Ne5 17.N xe5 Qxe5 followed by f4 or the simple Be6 and Rac8. Black has a big advantage.; To open the f-file and the diagonal of the c8 bishop would be a serious mistake 16.gxf6? N xf6 with a big attack.) 16... Kh8 17. Bd5 f4 18. Bd2 Qc7 only Black can be better. His pieces are coming out with tempo, first the d7 knight, then the c8 bishop.] 13...Qxg5 14.Qf5 This is the novelty of the game. White would like to transpose into a superior endgame, but of course, Black keeps the queens on the board. 14...Qe7! [14...Qxf5? 15.Nxf5 Be5 White wins a pawn after 16. Bb4 Rd8 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18. Bxf7 +/-] 15. Rg1 Very suspicious move. The White queen is pinned. At first sight White could immediately make use of it. 15...Nb6 [After 15... Be5 I think, Black has a clear advantage... 16.Qg5 is probably White’s best option to go for a worse endgame (16.Be4 g6 and the d7 knight jumps in the next move.; 16.Bc3 Nf6) 16...Qxg5 17. Rxg5 h6 18. Rg1 Nf6 =+]

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ter 17...Qxd5 18. Rxg7+! Kxg7 19.Nf5+! Kg6 (19...Kg8 20.Nh6#) 20.Ne7+ +-] 18.Nf3!! The 3rd incredibly strong move in a row, but not the last one. Only with this double attack against the queen, White can continue pressing the g7 pawn.

16. Bc3!! This great queen sacrifice is the start of Mamedyarov’s ingenious play, but it was not too late for Black to obtain a good position. 16...Qe5? Just as in the previous move, Black plays the most logical move. After the shocking 16. Bc3, Black would like to exchange the queens... [16... Bxf5? simply loses after 17.Nxf5 The best that Black can achieve is 17... Qe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19.Nh6+ Kh8 20.Nxf7+ +/-; Just as in the previous move, Black should have played 16... Be5! 17.Qxe5!! (The elegant 17.Nc6? would win, if taking on c3 didn’t come with check! 17...B xc3+ and Black takes the knight.) 17...Qxe5 18.Ne2! and Black has nothing better than giving back the queen and simplifying to a drawish endgame 18...Qxc3+ 19.Nxc3 Nxd5 20.Nxd5 Be6 Black is slightly better, but the game should end in a draw.]

18... Bf5 [18...Nxc3 19.Nxe5 +-; On 18...Nf4 White has many different wins, but the nicest is definitely 19.Qxd6!! Qxd6 20. Rxg7+ Kh8 21. Rxf7+ Kg8 22. Rg7+ Kh8 23. Rg6+ +-]

19.Qxd5!! This final decisive blow „puts the dot over the i”. White ends up with material advantage after a forced line. 19...Qxd5 20. Rxg7+ Kh8

17.Qd3!! After this fantastic and completely unexpected move, White is winning. Black cannot neutralize the power of the c3 bishop connected with the threats around the g7 square. 17...Nxd5 [17...g6 18. Bb3! Too many threats are in the air. One of the possible winning sequences could be 18...Qh5 19.Nf3! Qd4 and Qxd6 are threats 19...Qxf3 20. Rxg6+! hxg6 21.Qxg6#; White wins the queen af8


21. Rxf7+! First, the f-pawn had to be eliminated to avoid the f6 resource.

(3) Kulaots,K (2578) — Naiditsch,A (2698) [E32]

21... Be5 [21...Kg8 22. Rg7+ Kh8 23. Rg5+ Be5 24.Nxe5! is the most precise way to win 24... Rf6 25.Nd7!! +-]

Top–12 French league (11), 10.06.2012

22. Bxe5+ Kg8 23. Rg7+ Kh8 24. Rg5+ Maybe Black could have continued a bit more with two pawns down, but he was so impressed with White’s play that he resigned immediately. 1–0

[Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the last round of the French league. My team was quite unlucky, so we finished in 4th place. The first move of my opponent was a bit surprising to me, his main move is 1.e4 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 Lately, I’ve been playing 4...d5 more often, maybe this is what he was hoping for...

5.e4 The beginning of a sharp line. The main line is of course 5. a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 d5. 5...d5 6.e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 I like this line with Qh4. Lately, it seems to lead to a force draw, but things are quite complicated. 11.g3 Qh5 It seems like 11...Qh3 is very playable for Black as well.

9

Issue 16 12...g5 Until here, both me and my opponent played quite quickly. It is a well known line which appears almost by force.

15th of June 2012

13.cxd5

12.0–0 Castling looks a bit dangerous for White, but it is the correct move. About a year ago I played a game against Parligras where he continued: [12. Be2 Qg6 Blacks wants to play Nxc3 13.a3 It is already a clear sign that things went wrong for White. He hasn’t castled yet, giving Black some tactical ideas! 13... Bc5 14. Rd1

14...f6! A very nice move. Black is crushing White in the center and the e5 pawn is the key one, without it White’s position is falling apart 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 17.Kd2 Re8 18.Nc7 fxe5 19.Nxa8 exf4 and Black is close to winning.]

13...gxf4!? Before this move I started to think. I could remember the famous game Mamedyarov-Efimenko, where Black managed to make an easy draw after: [13... Bxc3 14.bxc3 exd5 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16.e6 gxf4 17.exd7 Bxd7 18.Qxe4 fxg3 19.fxg3 b6 and the position seems to be equal, but I was in a rather fighting mood, and wanted to play an interesting game. I didn’t want to get a draw by force.] 14. Bxe4 Before playing 14. Bxe4 my opponent though for about 15 minutes and I think he made the wrong choice. [14.dxe6! This is the critical move! 14...Nxe5 (14... fxg3 15.hxg3 The inclusion of these 2 moves doesn’t give anything for Black.) 15.Nxe4 and here we see the main idea, White forces Black to take on e6 with the pawn, so the bishop on c8 becomes a very bad piece that cannot support Black’sattack 15...fxe6 White has a lot of moves here and the position is very complicated. Anyway, I feel that this should be better for White.] 10


14...Nxe5 15.dxe6

Black is just in time for 20... Bxc3. Anything else would lose immediately due to White’s Rxf7 threat 21.Ne2!! An amazing move, which I have blundered during the game! a) 21. Rxf7? looks logical, but I saw that it loses due to 21... Bxd4+ 22.Kh1

15...Ng4! A very important move that needed a very precise calculation! Let’s take a look at few lines, some of them very beautiful! 16.Nf3?! [The main move here should be 16.exf7+ Rxf7 17.h4 White is a pawn up and the Black king is quite open as well — the position is very forced! 17...fxg3 18.fxg3 Black has 2 options here 18... Bc5! A very difficult move to make during a practical game (18...Ne3 This is the move I wanted to play 19.Qb3 White needs to give up the exchange, but the pin on f7 is super dangerous! 19...Nxf1 20. Rxf1 Bxc3!

22... Be6! The only move, but a winning one! Black is simply a rook up. (22...Qxf7 23.Bd5) 23.Qxe6 Qxf7; b) 21.bxc3 Kg7! Escaping from the pin 22. Rxf7+ Qxf7 White got some counterplay, but it is clear that Black is doing better.; 21... Bf6 and here we see the idea of 21. Ne2!, in case of 21.bxc3 White had no use for the a1–h8 diagonal, and the knight on d4 is useless. With 21.Ne2! White brings the knight to f4 and, at the same time, wants to play Rxf7 and Qxc3! leaving the Black king under checks! An amazingly strong move, but almost impossible to find during a practical game! 22. Rxf6 Kg7 23. Rxf7+ Qxf7 24.Qc3+ and White is out of danger because of the open Black king. 24...Qf6 25.Qc7+ Qf7 26.Qc3+ The position seems to be a draw.) 19.Nce2 White needs to protect the knight on d4 19...Ne3 and now the Ne3 wins a lot of strength 20.Qb3 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Black is an exchange up, and in 11


comparison to the previous lines, the bishop on b4 is not hanging, so Black has time for: 21...Kg7! 22. Rxf7+ Qxf7 23.Qc3 Bb6 The position remains quite complicated, but Black should be doing better.; 16.h4 During the game I was mainly afraid of this move... The position is super complicated but my bishop on c8 is still out of play... 16... Bxe6! Black needs to go for the White king, but to do this, a complete development is needed 17.Nce2 (17. N xe6 fxe6 18.Qb3 fxg3! and Black is the one who starts the mating attack first.) 17...fxg3 18.fxg3 Ne3 19.Qa4

18. Bxb7? This move was a shock. Such greediness in a very dangerous position, this can’t be good for White. [18.Qc1! it was really time for some defensive actions 18...fxg3 19.hxg3 White wants to play Qg5+ with the exchange of queens. Probably Black should be doing somehow better here, but the position remains quite unclear.]

18... Rc7! Now Black is in time to put the queen on h3, where it will be perfectly placed! 19. Be4 Nothing else to do... 19...Bc5 According to the computer, Black is doing very good here, and probably it is true, but during the game I was not that sure. If White managed not to lose immediately, Black’s position could became very bad. Luckily, it seems like White is going to lose some material in the next moves.]

19...fxg3 20.hxg3 Qh3 Now Black has multiple mating ideas. Here are a few: to play Bc5 followed by Qxg3, or to play Rc5-h5, also the f5-f4 push is very dangerous. White’s position is on the edge.

16... Bxe6! I was so happy with my position here! All my pieces are very well placed and things are getting „darker” around the White king.

21...f5! No time for hesitations! I am starting a direct mating attack. [21... Rc5! This move would be an easier way to victory, but again, it’s not easy to find 22. Bd5 h6!! This is the key move! To take with 22... Bxd5 23.Qg5 Kh8 24. Rxd5 brings nothing for Black, but after 22...h6!! White is totally hopeless.]

17. Rad1 White wants to play Nd5. 17... Rac8 A very logical move. I am avoiding the Nd5 move, plus I want to play the Rc5-Qh3-Rh5 maneuver, which could be deadly for White.

21.Qc1 The right idea, but 2 moves too late...

22. Bd5 The only move... 12


22... Bxd5 23. Rxd5

26...Ne3! [26... Bb6 would win as well, but why not to take the queen by force?] 27.fxe3 Bxe3+ 28. Rf2 Rc1 29.Qxc1 Bxc1 White’s position is totally hopeless. A nice attacking game! 0–1

23...f4 Black starts a mating attack with all his pieces against the poor White king. This can’t end well... 24. Rg5+ Kh8 25.Qd1 [I was expecting 25.Qd2 with the same idea of checking on d4 25... Bc5 26.Ne4 Bb6! and I thought that somehow I will mate White during the next few moves. And indeed, it was a correct feeling, White has no defense against fxg3.] 25... Bc5 26.Ne4 [26. Rxc5 doesn’t work because of 26... Rxc5 27.Qd4+ Re5! White can’t win back the exchange because of the mate on h2. Black should be winning here.]

13


(4) Aronian,L (2825) — McShane,L (2703) [D15]

the variation?! [5...Ne4; 5...e6 would be the other 2 possibilities.]

Tal Memorial (3), 10.06.2012

6.a4 [6.e4 b5 and we are in the usual unclear positions that appear in a lot of lines, where Black takes on c4 and protects it with b5. White will develop his play in the center, while Black will try to be solid]

[Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see an amazing game! I can’t remember Aronian losing with White and especially being crushed in the opening like this! It is the 3rd round of the Tal Memorial, McShane started with a double 00, and Aronian with the solid 1,5/2. Not many would have put money on a victory by the talented Englishman, but things went far from what was expected! 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 And we have another game in the Slav. 4...a6 McShane chooses a very solid line with a6. 5. Bg5 [5.e3 is the main move in the position.]

5...dxc4!? McShane is going for the most forced line! Strangely, after 5...dxc4 almost no games were played on the high level, so it’s hard to say if Aronian knew this move or not, maybe he knew it and made a mistake in

6...h6! A very important move that will be very helpful for Black soon. White needs to decide what to do with the bishop on g5. 7. Bh4 The most natural reply. [7. Bxf6 exf6 These positions can never be better for White even if he manages to recover the pawn on c4. Black’s bishop pair will always give enough counterplay!; 7. Bd2 Can this be the right move?! 7. Bd2 looks just ugly. Why did White play 5. Bg5?] 7...b5! I don’t know if McShane knew this idea or just found it over the board, in any case, it’s a very strong move.

8.axb5 this move is a clear sign of huge self confidence of the White player. It was still not too late to switch to moves like 8.e4 with quite an unclear position.

14


8...cxb5 9.Nxb5 axb5! Otherwise, White is doing much better.

pieces are well placed. All Black needs to do is to open some extra lines and the game will be over.

10. Rxa8 Bb7 Can it be that Black is doing already better in just 10 moves?... Amazing!

14...Nc6 A good choice, McShane brings his knight to b3 where it will be perfectly placed!

11. Ra1?! [11. Ra7 would bring nothing for White 11...Qb6 12.Qa1 e6 and White is not in time for Qa5.; 11. Ra2!? Maybe this move would have been a better option for White. The rook on a1 will be under attack (Na5-Nb3), so why not to put the it on a2?]

15.Ne1 White is trying to develop his pieces a little bit, at least. White’s idea is to play Nc2 forcing the Bb4 to go away and then develop by playing Ke1–Be2. But all this plan looks very slow — in fact, too slow...

11...g5!? And here we see why 6...h6 was such an important move. [Anyway, after 11...e6 12. Bxf6 Bb4+ 13.Nd2 Qxf6 14.e3 0–0 it seems like Black has more than enough compensation for the exchange. His next move could be e6-e5.] 12. Bg3 e6 13.e3 White doesn’t have any other defense against the Bb4 threat.

15...Na5 16. Be5?! This move probably already leads to big trouble. Much better was: [16.Nc2 Be7 17.f3! A very logical move. White blocks Black from playing Ne4 and, at the same time, the White king will finally find a more or less safe square on f2 17...0–0 18.Kf2 Nd5 Black wants to play f5-f4. The position is quite complicated but we can feel that it should be very nice to play for Black, even if a lot of engines might probably disagree.] 16...0–0! No time to waste, Black needs to play actively. 17.h4 [17. Bxf6 would not solve White’s problems 17... Qxf6 18.Nc2 Nc6 Black is still very active and White has a horrible development. I would prefer to play with Black here.(18...Qe7?! 19.N xb4 Qxb4 20.Qc2!) ]

13... Bb4+ 14.Ke2 White’s position looks very ugly. For just an exchange Black managed to put the White king on e2 in front of the bishop on f1 (I can’t remember seeing this kind of lack of construction before on the high level), the Black pawn structure is just great and all the

17...g4 It’s hard to say if the inclusion of 17.h4-g4 is good for White — probably not. Aronian is a very optimistic player and I am sure that in the current position he was not thinking about „how to escape today?”, instead „how to trick my opponent?”. 18.Nc2 Be7 Of course there is no reason for Black to give away the bishop on b4. 19.Ke1 Nb3! McShane is playing a great game. [19...h5 would have been possible as well.] 15


20. Ra2 [At 20. Ra7 Qb6 White would have no better move than to come back to a2.]

20...h5 Looks like an easy move, and in fact it is! White is slowly getting into deep trouble. Black’s pieces keep on rolling forward, and it’s hard to say how to stop them! 21. Be2 White is trying to develop anything he can, but it is too late! 21... Bd6! Another great move by Black. White only has one active piece, so it is time to exchange it! There is no reason for Black to even look at 21... Bxg2, which would give White some play on the g-file. Black has to stick to the main idea: to play for domination. McShane is doing it perfectly!

23... Bxe5! 24.dxe5

24...Qb6 White is hopeless against the Black threats. Black wants to play Nxe3, or Rd8, winning the Queen on d1. The White rook on a2 is totally out of the game. 25. Bf3 [25. Rh3 Rd8 White has no defense against Nf4 26.gxh5 Nf4] 25...Nxe3?! This move gives White some hopes... [25... Rd8! would have been the correct play, and it is a bit strange that McShane got away from his mainidea 26. Bxd5 White has no other move... In case of 26.Qe2, Nc1 wins the rook on a2 26... Rxd5 27.Qf3 Rd2 and White’s position is lost.]

22.f3 White is trying to create something... [22. Bxd6 Qxd6 and White simply has no moves!]

26.Nxe3 Qxe3+ 27.Qe2 Qc1+ 28.Qd1 Qe3+ 29.Qe2 Qc1+ Probably Black was in time trouble and decided to repeat the moves.

22...Nd5 McShane sees it well, after 22.f3 the weakness is the pawn on e3!

30.Qd1 Bxf3! Of course, continuing the game. White’s position is still very very bad.

23.fxg4 Maybe this move is already loosing, but what else to do? White is trying to search for chances with his activeplay [23. Bxd6 Qxd6 24.Kf2 f5 and White’s position simply looks horrible.]

31.gxf3 Qe3+ 32.Qe2 Qc1+ 33.Qd1 Qe3+ 34.Qe2 Qf4 Black wants to play Rd8 next. The White king is still in the center, and the rook on a2 is always in danger of getting caught! 16


35.Qh2 [35.Kf2 would have been a better way to fight, but also here Black is close to winning 35... Rd8 36. Rd1 Qh2+ 37.Ke3 Qxe5+ 38.Kf2 Qh2+ 39.Ke3 Qxh4! Black got 2 pawns for the exchange, and probably the knight on b3 is worth more than the rook on a2. The position should be winning for Black.] 35...Qxf3! As Kasparov once said, greediness is a positive characteristic in a chess player.

36. Rf1 Qe4+ 37.Kf2 Nd2 38. Rg1 Qf3+ White resigns because of 39.Ke1 Qe3! What a game by McShane, I think he will not forget it soon. The same goes for the World’s Number 2, this was Aronian’s toughest lost in maybe a couple of years... 0–1 17


Puzzle section

(7) Carlsen,M (2835) — Aronian,L (2825) Tal memorial (blitz), 07.06.2012

(5) Aronian,L (2825) — Nakamura,H (2775) Tal memorial, 08.06.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +/-

(8) Vallejo Pons,F (2697) — Topalov,V (2752) (6) Grischuk,A (2761) — Morozevich,A (2769) Tal memorial, 10.06.2012 [CEWN]

Leon (rapid), 09.06.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. -/+

18


(9) Brochet,P (2383) — Le Quang Liem (2703)

(11) Wang Yue (2690) — Yu Yangyi (2626)

French league, 10.06.2012

Danzhou GM, 06.06.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Swiercz,D (2585) — Akshat,K (2400)

(12) Martinovic,S (2504) — Straka,J (2373)

Golden Sands Open, 05.06.2012

Mitropa Cup, 04.06.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +/-

19


(13) Delgado Ramirez,N (2591) — Cubas,J (2534) Luque GM, 08.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Miskovic,I (2186) — Kovacevic,A (2557) Bosnian league, 04.06.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

20


Endgame section

only reason for Black to go into the bishop endgame, otherwise Be4 wins easily... 42.gxf3 h3

(15) Morozevich,A (2769) — Carlsen,M (2835) Tal memorial (2), 09.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Morozevich outplayed Carlsen in the middlegame, but he allowed the World Nr.1 to escape into this endgame with a pawn down, where the active position of Black’s pieces and the limited number of pawns guarantee very good chances for survival. It’s important to mention that we are in serious time trouble, only 2 moves left, but Morozevich makes a terrible mistake in the calculation... 39. Bc4 This must be the right approach. White should eliminate the strong d5 bishop. 39... Bxc4 [Probably Morozevich has only calculated that the bishop endgame is winning for him in a studylike way... 39... Rc8 40. Bb3 Rxc2? (40... Rg8 leads back to a similar position like in the game. 41. Re2 f6 (41...B xb3 42.Kxb3 Kd5 43.Kc3) ) 41. Bxc2 Bxf3 This could be the

43.f4! The only way to stop the h-pawn. (43.Be4 would spoil the win after 43...f5! 44.B xb7 f4! and the h-pawn promotes, but White is lucky to hold the draw with 45.a6 Kc7 46.d5! h2 47.d6+ Kxd6 48.a7 h1Q 49.a8Q Qe1+ = and the game ends with perpetual check. Black gives the checks on the e-file. White’s pieces are standing poorly to protect the king.) 43...Kd5 44. Bd1! Ke4 Seems like Black can control the diagonal, but... 45. Bg4! h2 46. Bc8! +- wins for White.] 40. Rxc4?? This kind of blunders are possible on any levels. Morozevich had only seconds left on his clock, when Carlsen took Bxc4. He realized, that after the planned takeback with the king, the pawn endgame might be losing for him. In this kind of shock, he decided to go for a worse rook endgame, that he can hold... [Lets see what happens after 40.Kxc4 Rg5! Probably Carlsen would have continued to stay in the rook endgame and save it with an active defense. (Let’s examine what would happen after 40... Rc8+ 41.Kd3 Rxc2 42.Kxc2 Kc6 This was the sudden fear of Morozevich. Black intends to take the 21


a-pawn and obtain a pawn endgame with a far advanced passed pawn, which could be easily winning for Black. But... 43.Kd3 Kb5 44.Ke4 White king must run to support the d-pawn 44...Kxa5

pawn arrives with check and the usual queen endgame with a pawn up arises 47...b4 48.Ke7 b3 49.d6 b2 50.d7 b1Q 51.d8Q+ +/- Of course, it was impossible to calculate all these lines with a few seconds. Now we can understand Morozevich’s shocking take-back in move 40.) 41. Ra2 Rf5 Black pins the White rook to a passive defense on a2, while the a6 push leads to further exchanges of the pawns, which increases the probability of the draw...] 40... Rxg2 Black is better now. He has the better king, a dangerous h-pawn and the d4, f3 pawns are weak. What a turn of the game! But Morozevich received his extra hour after move 40, so he got the time to calm down and save the game with good technique.

45.Ke5! In this moment, the d-pawn promotes with check, but things are by far not that clear... 45...b5 (45... Kb4 is the other option, when White must react precisely 46.Kd6!! Only this way (46.d5 Kc5 wins for Black.) 46...Kc4 47.d5 Kd4!? Tricky move. Black tries to win the d-pawn. (47...b5 leads to a queen endgame with a pawn up for White. 48.Kc6 b4 49.d6 b3 50.d7 b2 51.d8Q b1Q 52.Qxh4+ +/- Probably White’s winning chances are bigger than Black’s drawing possibilities.) 48.f4! Kc4 49.f5! b5 (Black cannot wait longer with 49...Kd4 50.f6 Kc4 51.Ke7 and the f-pawn promotes faster.) 50.Kc6 b4 51.d6 b3 52.d7 b2 53.d8Q b1Q 54.Qd5+ Kc3 55.Qxf7 +/- Again with a pawn up with good winning chances.) 46.d5 Kb6 (46...b4 47.d6 Kb6 48.Kf6! A well known motif in pawn endgames, how the king helps his own pawn 48...Kc6! The only way to promote in the same time, otherwise White queens with check. 49.Ke7 b3 50.d7 b2 51.d8Q b1Q 52.Qd6+ +/-) 47.Kd6! Only this way! White only temporarily blocks the route of the pawn. Now again, the d-

41. Rc5! The rook must stop the h-pawn from behind. Besides, it cuts the Black king along the 5th rank! 41...h3 42. Rh5 h2 43.Kc4! [To go for the b7 pawn would be decisive 43.Kb5? Rg5+] 43... Rc2+ [If Black tries to approach to his h-pawn, White’s d-pawn becomes dangerous as well. 43...Ke6 44.d5+ Kf6 45.Kc5 Kg6 46. Rh3 Kf5 47.Kb6 =] 44.Kd3 Ra2 45.Ke4 [45.Kc4 should also be enough to draw.] 45...f5+!? Carlsen tries a last trick. By exchanging his fpawn for the d-pawn, he manages to „breaktrough” on the 5th rank. But on the other hand, this gives White a free f-pawn, which allows him to hold the draw. 46.Kf4 Kd5 47. Rxf5+ Kxd4 48. Rh5 Rg2 Kg3 had to be prevented. [48...Kd3 49.Kg3 =] 49. Rh7 Kd3 50.Ke5 The rest of the game is forced and obvious... 22


50...Ke2 51.f4 Kf1 52.f5 Ra2 53.f6 Rxa5+ 54.Ke6 Ra6+ 55.Ke7 Rxf6 56.Kxf6 Kg1 57.Ke5 h1Q 58. Rxh1+ Kxh1 59.Kd4 The game contained 3 different kind of instructive endgames. One rook endgame, one bishop endgame and a pawn endgame. 1/2

(16) Naiditsch,A (2698) — Edouard,R (2625) [A37] TCh-FRA Top 12 2012 Belfort FRA (7.2), 06.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

After a long and not very good game, my opponent finally gives me a chance. 59... Rd3?

60.h5! The only chance for White to play for a win is to get a passed pawn and there is no other way to do it than to play h5. 60...gxh5 Of course Black can’t allow White to play h6. 61.Kh4 Of course, I need my king to support the g-pawn. 23


61... Rxf3 A risky move, but it gives a draw for White. The one-rook endgame is going to be super forced and very hard to play for Black during a practical game. [61... Rd1 would probably give Black a draw... not an easy one, though. 62. Rh3 (62.Kxh5? would be too greedy 62... Rh1+ 63.Kg4 Rg1+ 64.Kh5 Rh1+ with a draw.) 62...b4!? 63.axb4 R1d4+ 64.Kxh5 Rxb4 with good chances for a draw, even if the position is not so simple.]

64... Rd4+? The first imprecise decision. [64... Rd5! would be the easiest way to a draw, and a very logical move. Black needs to open the possibility of crossing the 5th rank with his king 65. Rf8 Rd4+ From here on, all the lines are very forced 66.Kxh5 Rxb4 67.g6 Rb7 68. Rf5 (68.Ra8 Kb5 69.Kh6 Kb4 70.g7 R xg7 71.Kxg7 a3 72.Kf6 Kb3 73.Ke5 a2 74.Kd4 Kb2) 68...a3

62. Rxf3 b4! The only move! Black’s idea is to exchange the b-pawn for White’s a-pawn and to give the rook for the g-pawn, trying to queen the a-pawn with the support of the king. It is very important for Black to be in time to cross the 5th rank, otherwise, the White rook alone will be able to stop the a-pawn. 63.axb4

63...Kc6! Another very good move by my opponent. Black’s dream is almost coming true... 64. Rf5! The only chance to win the game is to cut the Black king. [64.Kxh5? leads to a forced draw after: 64... Kb5 65.g6 Rxg6 66.Kxg6 Kxb4 67.Kf5 a3 68.Ke4 a2 69. Rf1 Kb3 70.Kd3 Kb2 =]

69.Kh6 a2 70. Ra5 Rb2 71.g7 Kb6 72. Ra3 Rg2 73.Kh7 Rh2+ 74.Kg6 Rg2+ 75.Kf7 Rf2+ with a draw. The White king has no place to escape from the Black rook.; 64... Rd1 gives Black a draw as well, but a very difficult one 65.g6 a3 66. Ra5 Ra1 67.Kg5 (67.g7 Rg1 68.Rg5 R xg5 69.Kxg5 a2 70.g8Q a1Q 71.Qc4+ Kb7 and of course, this queen endgame is a draw.) 67...h4! An amazing move, and the only one that leads to a draw. Black needs to get rid of the h-pawn to be able to check the White king on the h-file 68.g7 h3 69.Kg6 Rg1+ 70. Rg5 Rxg5+ 71.Kxg5 a2] 65.Kxh5

24


65... Rxb4?? After this move, it’s all over. [65... Rd1! would still give a draw for Black 66. Ra5 (66.g6 Rh1+ 67.Kg5 a3 68.g7 a2) 66... Rh1+! The only move (66...Ra1? would be the losing move 67.g6 a3 68.g7 Rh1+ 69.Kg6 Rg1+ 70.Kf7 Rf1+ 71.Kg8 Ra1

66... Rb1 67.g7 An easy drawn-looking endgame turns into a fierce battle. Once again, we can see how complicated rook endgames are. Every mistake could be the last one, and a lost position can suddenly become a draw! 1–0

72.Rg5! and we see a very typical maneuver, the White rook is going from a5 to g2, and then to f2, in order to free the White kingfromg8 72...a2 73.Rg2 Kb5 74.Rf2 Kxb4 75.Kf7 and White is just in time to win the game!) 67.Kg6 Ra1 68.Kh6 a3 69.g6 a2 70.g7 Rh1+ 71.Kg6 a1Q 72. Rxa1 Rxa1 73.g8Q Rg1+ 74.Kf7 Rxg8 75.Kxg8 Kb5 Draw.] 66.g6 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Tal,M — Matanovic,A [C97] Alekhine Memorial Moscow, 1963 [Balogh Csaba] The next game is a nice example of the main line in the Ruy Lopez. White got a positional advantage by some strong (already quite typical) maneouvering. And when the moment came, Tal made a decisive blow in his usual style.

10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 This is the main move again. [Recently 11...Nd7 12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 is more common and very sharp. But of course, fashion is always changing. „The best setup” doesn’t exist.] 12.Nbd2 The typical Spanish maneuver, transferring the knight to the kingside through f1. 12... Bd7 [12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 leads to more opened positions. The Black player can choose a setup according to his style, this is the best part of the Spanish.] 13.Nf1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0

13... Rfe8 We are still in quite a big line of theory. Black would like to achieve the typical transfer of the bishop to g7, after g6 and Bf8.

9.h3 The initial position of the main Spanish, where Black has a wide choice between around 10 big continuations. Each of them lead to different kinds of structures. This is the reason why this opening is so complex and popular, rich in positional and tactical ideas. 9...Na5 This is the Chigorin variation, considered to be the main line of all Spanish.

14.b3! I like this move very much! The main idea is to get the a5 knight out of the game, White prevents the Nc4 possibilities. White never wants to develop his bishop to b2, it is strictly against the a5 knight. There is a very deep idea behind the move as well. White does not want to decide where the f1 knight should go. It usually jumps to g3, but as we will see, it has a different direction as well. 14...g6 Black continues his plan. [14... Bf8 would meet with the unpleasant 15. Bg5! Black has problems with the knight.] 26


15. Bg5! And here comes the point of the 14th move. White wants to play Ne3 using the weakened d5 square and Black cannot prevent it with Nc4-b6, for example. 15...Nh5 The exchange of the dark-squared bishops is always a hard decision. White would miss this piece in the future and it is his stronger bishop, but on the other hand, Black’s kingside might become really weak. 16. Bxe7 Rxe7 17.Ne3! The knight goes to e3 and is ready to jump to d5. 17...Nf6 18.Ng5?! This is typical in the style of Tal. He immediately wants to launch an attack against the king... but this time it would have been more advisable to continue the game in a positional manner, as GM Stein demonstrated one year later against the same opponent... [18. Rc1! White prepares for the b4 push and the opening of the c-file. 18...Nb7 19.b4! White managed to create the „typical bad spanish knight” on b7, which cannot join the game 19...c4 20.a4! Rae8 21.axb5 axb5 22. Ra1 White slowly improves his position. Black remains without counterplay, since 22...exd4 is met with 23.Qxd4. 22... Bc6 23. Ra6 Qc8 24.d5! Bd7

25.Nh2 This is the right moment to start the next step of the plan. White prepares to open a second front with f4. 25...Kg7 26.Qf3 Rf8 27. Rea1 Ng8 28.Qg3! Kh8 29.f4! exf4 30.Qxf4 After White successfully undermined the e5 pawn, he obtained a very useful square for his knight on d4 30... Rfe8 31.Nf3! Kg7 32.Nd4 Black is already completely lost, he desperately tried to find some counterplay 32...f5 but this just accelerates the end of the game 33. Ra8! Qxa8 34. Rxa8 Rxa8 35.exf5 The e3 knight is not hanging anymore, so White has won a pawn 35... Re5 36.Ng4 Rae8 37.f6+ Kf7 38.Nh6+ Nxh6 39.Qxh6 Kxf6 40.Qxh7 1–0 Stein-Ma tanovic, Tel Aviv 1964. An excellent positional game, which included many typical plans of the Ruy Lopez.] 18...cxd4 19.cxd4 Rc8?! Black fails to make use of the inaccuracy in the 18th move. [19...Nc6! The f3 knight left the d4 square unguarded, so Black should have immediately go there with the knight. 20.Nf3 exd4 21.Nxd4 Rae8 with even chances.] 20. Rc1

20...h6?! and this is a tactical mistake, which of course, Tal does not leave unpunished... [20...Qb8 was better, but 27


after 21.Qd2 Nc6 22.dxe5 dxe5 23.Nf3 White has a small plus anyway. He is going to install his knight to d5 and if Black takes it, he recaptures with the pawn.]

29.Qf6+ Kg8 and here comes the fantastic strike: 30.d7!! A really unusual motif 30...Qxf6 31.dxe8Q+ Qf8 32. Rxe5 +- White wins.; 23...hxg5 24.d6 +-]

21.dxe5! dxe5 Black should try to keep his center, but it has concrete problems. [21... Rxe5 22.Nf3 Ree8 23.Qd4 +/- is also very unpleasant.]

24.Nxf7! Rxf7 [24...Kxf7 25. Bxg6+ +-]

22.Nd5! Nxd5 23.exd5 With the use of the d6 threat, White created many dangerous ideas that Black cannot really parry. Let’s see a few lines: 23...Nb7 Black tries to block the d-pawn, but this allows White to use the pin on the c-file. [On 23...Qb6 24.d6 Ree8

25. Bxg6 White wins material and continues attacking. 25...Qd6 [25...Qxc1 26. Bxf7+ Kxf7 27.Qh5+ Kf8 28. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 29.Kh2 +- White takes more pawns. Black cannot coordinate his pieces.] 26. Bxf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxc8 Bxc8 Here, of course, White can choose between many different wins. Tal finds the most effective solution: 28.Qc2 Bd7 29.Qh7+ Kf8 30. Re3 and Black resigned. 1–0

25. Bxg6!! White wins in all lines. Probably the most spectacular is after 25...hxg5 a) 25... Rxc1 26. Bxf7+ Kf8 27.Qxc1 hxg5 28. Bxe8 +-; b) 25...fxg6 26.Qd5+ Kh8 27. Rxc8 Bxc8 (27...R xc8 28.Qxe5+) 28.Qf7 +-; 26.Qh5! Everything is forced now 26...fxg6 27.Qxg6+ Kf8 28. Rxc8 Bxc8 (After 28...R xc8 The White rook joins and decides the game. 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.R xe5 +-) 28


Surprise section / study (18) Osintsev,S 1988 [CEWN] 1. +-

29


Solutions

24... Rxe7! 25. Rxe7 Nf4! 26. Be4 [26. Bf1 Nxh3+ 27.Kh1 Nxf2+ 28.Kg1 Ng4+–+] 26... Bxf2+! 27.Kf1 [27.Qxf2 Nxh3+–+] 27... Bxe1–+

(19) Bogner,S (2569) — Nataf,IA (2544) French league, 03.06.2012

(21) Dubessay,B (2384) — Skoberne,J (2535)

[Solutions]

Mitropa Cup, 02.06.2012 [Solutions]

25... Rxd6! 26.cxd6 Qh3! 27. Bh5 [27. Bf1 Nf3+–+] 27...Qxh5 28. Bxe5 Qxe5 29.Qd4 Qe2 0–1 (20) Battaglini,G (2412) — Bogner,S (2569) French league, 04.06.2012

26...Nxc5! 27. Bxe8 Bd4! 28.Ng4 [28. Rf1 Bxf2+ 29. Rxf2 Nd3+–+] 28... Bxg4 0–1[28... Bxg4 29.fxg4 Nd3+ 30.Kd1 Be3–+]

[Solutions]

30


(22) Tan Zhongyi (2430) — Zhao Xue (2549) Women’s World rapid Championship, 31.05.2012 [Solutions]

23. Rxg7+!! [23.Nxc5 Bf6 24. Rd7 Qxc5 25. Bxd4] 23...Kxg7 24.Nxc5! Nf3+ [24... Rad8 25.Qxd4+ Qxd4 26. Bxd4+ Rxd4 27.Ne6++-] 25.gxf3 Qxd1 26. Rxd1+(24) Khurtsidze,N (2456) — Gunina,V (2530) Women’s World rapid Championship, 02.06.2012 [Solutions]

26... Rxe5!! 27. Rf1 [27.fxe5 Rf8! 28.e6 (28.Qe2 Qf2+ 29.Kh1 Bg2#; 28.Re2 Qf1+ 29.R xf1 R xf1#) 28...Qf2+–+] 27... Bxf1 28. Rxf1 e2!?–+ (23) Guo Qi (2360) — Ushenina,A (2454) Women’s World rapid Championship, 01.06.2012

27. Bd7! Rxd7 [27...Qxd7 28.Qxd7 Rxd7 29. Rxc8++-; 27... Rxc3 28. Bxh3+-] 28. Rxc8++-

[Solutions]

31


(25) Cramling,P (2478) — Harika,D (2508)

(27) Flores,D (2604) — Molina,R (2423)


Panno Masters, 21.05.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28... Bd3!! 29. Rxd3 [29.Qf2 Bxf1 30.Kxf1 (30.Qxf1 Rc1 31.Rd1 R xd1 32.Qxd1 Qxa2–+) 30... Rc1+ 31.Ke2 Re8+–+] 29... Rxd3 30.Qxd3 Qxa2–+

21. Bxg7! Bg5 [21...Kxg7 22.Nf5+ Kh8 (22...Kf8 23.Qb2! f6 24.Qd2!+-) 23.Nxe7+-] 22. Bh6 Bxh6 23.Nxh6+ Kf8 24.Qg4 [24.Qh5+-] 24...Nf6 25.Qg5 1–0

(26) Ovsejevitsch,S (2572) — Kuijf,R (2419) Liechtenstein Open, 18.05.2012 [Solutions]

17. Bf6! 1–0 32


(28) Nanu,C (2520) — Shishkin,V (2492)

(29) Neuschwander,B

Baia Mare, 26.05.2012

1989

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

49... Rxe6!! 50. Rxe6 [50.dxe6 Qf1+! 51. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 52. Rg1 Bb7#] 50... Bxe6 51.dxe6 Qe4! 52.h3 Rf1+ 53.Kh2 Qf4+ 0–1

1.Kf6! h3 2.g7 h2 3.g8Q h1Q 4.Qh7+! Qxh7 1/2

33

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 17 22nd of June 2012


22nd of June 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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33

»» Solutions

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The very exciting and amazingly strong “Tal Memorial” has come to an end with the second consecutive victory of Magnus Carlsen, who managed to win his last game with Black against McShane, while at the same time Aronian won his game against the tournament leader till then, Caruana. We saw a lot of very interesting games, and sometimes the result was very unpredictable. Who would’ve bet before the tournament that McShane would beat Aronian, Morozevich and Kramnik! We comment a few games from the Tal Memorial for You, we hope You will enjoy these very high level games. The Female Grand Prix is still being played. The most exciting part is still to come and the winner will be decided in the last rounds. In this issue we want to present You one study from GM Sergey Grigoriants, who has sent his composition to us. We are really grateful for this! It is totally crazy, and in case You can find a winning idea-don’t get dizzy! As usual, we have a couple of interesting practical endgames and the puzzle section. Enjoy the CEWN Nr 17! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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7...Nd7 We are in an often played position, and 7...Nd7 is probably the best way for Black to continue. The Black knight is going to d4!

(1) McShane,Luke J (2706) — Carlsen,Magnus (2835) [C85]

8.b3 The usual setup for White as well. White develops the bishop on b2 to provoke Black’s f6 move in order to play Nh4 later...

7th Mikhail Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (9), 18.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] The last round of maybe the most prestigious event of 2012, the Tal Memorial. Magnus Carlsen is on+1, and needs badly a full point to get at least the shared lead in the tournament. His opponent McShane had won 2 games in a roll, against Morozevich and Kramnik! In this game the World’s number 1 gives us a great example of how to play structural positions! 1.e4 e5 It’s a bit funny that Carlsen chooses 1...e5 to play for a win. All his wins in the Tal Memorial were with Black, and with 1.e4 e5. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Bxc6 McShane likes to play „slow” positions and this is exactly what he is getting after 6. Bxc6, but of course, probably White accepts not getting any opening advantage. 6...dxc6 7.d3

8...0–0 9. Bb2 f6 10.Nc3 This is something new. Usually, White was trying to continue with 10.Nbd2. Then, he would have 2 different plans, to play for f4 or to play with Nc4-a4-a5 trying to fix Black on the queenside. On the other hand, Black usually chooses to play Re8-Nf8-Ne6 or c5-Nb8-Nd4, in any case. The key in this line is to bring the knight to d4! [10.d4 exd4 This kind of moves bring nothing at all for White.] 10... Re8 This move is hard for me to understand. Why does Black want to play Nf8-Ne6 and not the immediate 10...Nc5 followed byNe6? [10...Nc5 In my opinion, the most logical move. 11.Nh4 In case of any other move, Black just plays Ne6 11...g6! A very typical reaction. Black blocks the White knight on h4 and threatens to play f6-f5 at some moment 12.f4 exf4 13. Rxf4 f5 and Black is doing very good.] 11.Kh1 This is a useful prophylactic move, but why not to go immediately for Ne2-Nh4 and f4... 11...Nf8 12.Ne2 c5 Probably 12... Ne6 was also possible, because 13.d4 can never bring White any advantage, but why to make an extra calculation? 12.. .c5 is definitely a good move and will be needed in the future

3


13.Nh4 Ne6 [13...g6? would be to passive now 14.f4 exf4 15.Nxf4 and the White knights are getting very dangerous!]

16... Be6! An easy-looking move that is very important. From this moment on, Black completely takes over the game. 14.Nf5?! I don’t like this move at all, McShane brings the knight to e3, but what for? [14.f4!? If You say A, sometimes it’s good to say B as well 14...Nd4 (Of course doesn’t work: 14...exf4? 15.N xf4 N xf4 16.R xf4 g5 17.Nf5! and White is almost winning.) 15.fxe5 (15.f5 This move looks quite interesting as well. The idea of White could be just to play Nxd4 next, then, Rf3-Rh3-Qh5 and try to give mate...) 15...fxe5 16.Nf5 with maybe a slight advantage for White. Now we can see very well that the Black rook has nothing to do on e8. It would be better placed on f8!] 14... Bf8 Of course Black doesn’t give White the chance to play Nxe7 followed by f4, with a slightly better position for White. 15.Ne3 Nd4 The Black knight reached his final destination! 16.f4

17.fxe5 [17.f5 Bf7! This is the key idea. It’s very important for Black to have the bishop on f7 after White’s f5. The bishop will protect the Black king and support Black’s play on the queenside. 18.g4 b5 with good play for Black.] 17...fxe5 18.Ng1 Still, the position remains about equal, although White is in big positional danger. It’s funny to see how many moves McShane made with his knights! The knight from b1: Nc3-e2-g1. The knight from g1: Nf3Nh4-Nf5-Ne3. A total of 7 out of 18 moves! 18...g6! A great move by the World’s number one! It’s not easy at all to understand why the Black bishop’s best square is on g7! I think the idea is quite simple, it is clear that Black will start playing on the queenside very soon, so White’s only chance is going to be to play on the kingside. As we know from the King’s Indian structures, the king on g8 is very safe if the bishop is on g7! 19.c3?! I think this is a serious positional mistake. Now Black is getting a clear target in White’s pawn structure. [19.Nf3 would have been a better move. The next Whites 4


moves could be Bc1–Bd2. Of course White has no advantage, but it’s time to think „how to make a draw”.] 19...Nc6 20.Nf3 Bg7 Black is not in a hurry and starts by putting his pieces in good squares.

21.Qe1 McShane had less than 15 minutes for the last 20 moves! And the position is already very hard to play for White, Black has the very unpleasant threat of playing a5-a4. Usually, White can block the a-pawn by playing a4, which doesn’t work now because the pawn on b3 is hanging. This is why 19.c3?! was a very risky decision. Black has a clear target now! 21...a5! Don’t ask Carlsen twice! 22. Rd1 It’s already hard to give an advice for White... The position is quite unpleasant. 22...a4 23.bxa4 Rxa4 24.a3 Rf8! Another very good move by Black. His best scenario is to exchange one pair of rooks and the queens, to get a clearly better endgame. The rook on f8 supports that idea and protects Black from any attacking ideas of his opponent.

25. Bc1 Ra8! Another easy-looking and very strong move. Carlsen doesn’t give McShane even a slight hope for a successful attack. 26.Qg3 It’s hard to blame White for doing this move with only 10 minutes left on the clock and in a position that is very hard to play...

26... Bb3! And probably this is already a winning move. It’s really amazing to see that until now Carlsen hasn’t done any „difficult” moves, and seems to be winning! This is real high class chess! 27. Rde1 White panics and starts a last attack... [27. Rd2 Bh6! 28.Qe1 would still be playable for White, but of course, Black is doing much better.] 27...Qxd3 And Black is just a pawn up 28.Ng4 Be6 A very solid move. Black’s position looks a bit dangerous, but again, the structure with the pawns on h7-g6 and the bishop on g7 is almost indestructible! 29.Nh6+ Kh8 30.Qh4 Bf6 Maybe this move is not the most effective one, but it’s very logical from a human point of view. Black exchanges one piece and takes away the g5 square for the White knight... 5


31. Bg5 Bxg5 32.Qxg5 Kg7 33.Qc1

33... Rf4?! In a winning position and with his opponent having no time on the clock, Black takes a very risky decision. [33...Qd6! By bringing back the queen, Black gives White no chances for any tricks, the game is basically over. ..]

38.Nf5+ gxf5 39.Nh3 Re2 40.Qg5+ Kh8 Magnus Carlsen managed to win this game almost without calculating anything. A really great positional game of the World’s Nr.1! This game brought him a clear first place, after Caruana lost his last game against Aronian. This is the game we are going to analyze next. 0–1

34. Rd1 [34.Ng5! The first and only chance of White in this game. Suddenly the game would become quite complicated 34... Bc4 (34...R xf1+ 35.R xf1 Bc4 36.Rd1 and the White rook enters on d7.) 35. Rxf4 exf4 36.Ng4 Black’s prob ably still doing better, but the position is very sharp! This is definitely a very unnecessary risk!] 34...Qc4 35. Rfe1 Raf8 And the game is totally over. Black is not only a pawn up, but now he controls the f-file as well. 36.Ng5 [36.Nf5+ doesn’t work for White 36...gxf5 37.Nxe5 Nxe5 38.Qxf4 Ng6 39.Qxc7+ Rf7 and Black is winning.] 36... Bc8 The knight on h6 is going to drop. 37.g3 Rf2 I guess this was the right moment to resign, but McShane decided to make 3 more moves. 6


(2) Aronian,L (2825) — Grischuk (2761) [E15] Tal memorial, 16.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Despite the fact that the game finished in only 28 moves, we are facing a very interesting and eventful draw. Actually, it seems like both sides played perfect chess. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 Recently Grischuk plays all the openings. This time he chose the Queen’s Indian defense. 4.g3 And Aronian went for his favorite 4.g3 system. 4... Bb4+!? This was probably the first surprise. The move is a sideline compared to the 4... Ba6 and 4... Bb7 options. However, in my opinion, we will see this more often, because Aronian played the critical line and Grischuk seems to have refuted it. 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 This is the right capture. The ideal development of the b1 knight is to c3. 6... Ba6 7.b3 c6 Black would like to build a strong center with d5, but first he prepares for a possible capture with the c-pawn.

9.e4! This temporary pawn sacrifice is a typical motif in the Queen’s Indian to undermine Black’s center. 9...Nxe4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Ng5 This is the point. Black cannot protect his e4 pawn and if he doesn’t do something concrete, he’ll end up in a bad position... 11...c5! At first sight it’s a very risky move, since it weakens the h1–a8 diagonal, where the White bishop could penetrate. However, in our current era, computers make many dubious-looking moves possible. [11...Nd7 happened more often 12.Nxe4 Nf6 13. Bg2 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Bb7 15.0–0 0–0 16. Rfd1 and White has a small, but longlasting advantage. Black must stay in passivity. 16...Qf6 17.Qe3 Rfd8 18. Rd2 Rd7 19. Rad1 g6 20.h4 h5

8.Nc3 This is considered to be critical. [A normal development leads to equality after 8. Bg2 d5 9.0–0 0–0 (9...dxc4 is not good, because of 10.Ne5) 10.Ne5 (10.Rc1 Nbd7=) 10...Nfd7 11.Nxd7 Nxd7 12.cxd5 cxd5= with complete equality and a lot of draws in the database.] 8...d5

7


21.c5! This is a well-known motif to increase the advantage. White fixes the weakness on c6, stops Black’s counterplay with c5 and kills the b7 bishop. 21... Rc8 22.a4 Ba6 23. Rc1 with a clear advantage in Tkachiev-Bauer, France 2007.]

15. Bxa8 Qxa8 16.0–0 h6! Forcing the knight to the unfortunate h3 square. 17.Qxd4 Nf6 18.Nh3

12. Bg2 [12.Nxe4 is White’s other option, but probably Grischuk prepared a nice exchange sacrifice 12...cxd4 13. Bg2 0–0! White has two different ways to win the exchange, but Black gets enough counterplay in both lines

18... Bb7! This is Grischuk’s point! Very deep preparation! Black doesn’t even get a pawn for the exchange, but he doesn’t need to worry about being worse. Let’s examine some concrete variations to understand why it is so... 19.f3 This strange move is probably the best option, but after this, it becomes clear that White cannot be better. 14.Ng5 (14.Nf6+ Qxf6 15. Bxa8 Qe5+! and if White wants to avoid the perpetual check, he must give up his right to castle 16.Qe2 (16.Kf1 Qc5! In order to put the knight to c6. If White needs to give up his bishop, Black punishes him on the light squares, so he must retreat, 17.Bf3 Nc6 and Black got only one pawn for the exchange, but the d4 passer and the superior pieces give more than enough counterplay. In addition, Black cannot connect his rooks with 18.Kg2 because of 18...Ne5 and White either give up his bishop, or allows Black to occupy the long diagonal.) 16...Qa5+ 17.Qd2 Qe5+=) 14... Nd7! White must give up his strong bishop, so Black will be able to use the weak light squares with accurate play.

a) 19.Nf4 Ne4! with the idea of Ng5! 20. Rfd1 (20.h4 e5! 21.Qxe5 Nd2 with serious threats on the diagonal.) 20... Ng5 with very unpleasant threats. b) The most logical 19. Rfd1 is met with 19...Qc8!! with the double threat of e5 and Qc6. White is already in deep trouble. 19... Bxf3 20.Nf4 Bb7 Black already got a pawn, and wants to play Qc8-c6, Rd8 or Ne4. The position is unclear, but from a practical point of view, it is much easier to play with Black.] 12...Nc6 13.dxc5! Only move, otherwise Black gets a decisive advantage. [After 13.Nxe4 Black can sacrifice the exchange in an even better version 13...Nxd4! 14.Nd6+ 8


Qxd6 15. Bxa8 0–0 16. Bg2 Qe5+! and Black wins due to the tactical trick: 17.Kf1 Nxb3!; 13. Bxe4 is refuted in similar fashion 13...Nxd4! 14. Bxa8 Qxa8 White has an extra option now: to castle queenside, but it doesn’t help either. 15.0–0–0 h6 16.Nh3 Bb7! 17. Rhg1 Bf3! The bishop sends both rooks to bad squares. 18. Rde1 Bg4! 19.Nf4 0–0 and Nf3 will be the next move, with a big advantage.] 13...Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 The e4 pawn is the key in Black’s position, he must protect it at any cost. 14...f5! 15.Nxe6 Actually, only this was the novelty of the game. [There was only one game before with the 11...c5! idea, which continued with 15.cxb6 Ke7! 16.bxa7 Rhd8+ 17.Kc1 White is a pawn up, but all his pieces are terribly placed and the pawns on the queenside are immobile. Obviously, Black should have enough compensation. 17... h6 (17...R xa7 is also fine for Black 18.Rd1 R xd1+ 19.Kxd1 Nd4) 18.Nh3 Nd4 19. Rd1 e5 20.Kb2 Rxa7 21. Rd2

Rb8+ 24.Kc1 (24.Kc3 Ra3#) 24...Nb3+ wins) 23... Bxb3! 24.Ne2 (24.axb3 R xa1 25.Kxa1 N xb3+) 24... Ba4 and Black won soon in Saric-Riazantsev, Budva 2009.] 15...Kf7 16.Nf4 Aronian wanted to control the d3 square in order to be able to move to c3 with the king after the check. [16.Nc7 was an alternative, but Black has no reason to complain after 16... Rad8+ 17.Kc1 (17. Kc3 Rd3+) 17... Bb7 18.cxb6 axb6 with a similar position to the 15.cxb6 line. White is a pawn up, but Black has enough compensation, mainly due to the g2 bishop and the forthcoming Nd4 move.] 16...bxc5 Finally Black restored the material equality, but he still needs to play precisely to equalize. Aronian sets very difficult problems to solve. 17.f3! Very logical move, trying to activate the poor bishop on g2. If White manages to open the diagonal, suddenly the bishop on d5 would start to dominate the position. Black cannot allow this. 17... Rad8+ 18.Kc3

21...g5! Black’s kingside pawns are looking much more dangerous than the ones on the queenside. White tried to improve his knight on h3, but he missed a nice tactical blow: 22.Ng1? Bxc4!! 23.g4 (With the idea of 23.bxc4

18...e3! Excellent decision! Of course it’s very logical to close the g2 bishop, but it had to be deeply calculated, 9


because White gets access to the c5 pawn and the e3 pawn might become weak as well. [18...exf3? 19. Bxf3 Nd4 20. Bd5+ Kf6 21. Rae1 Bc8 22.b4+/- White’s dream would have come true.] 19.Nd3 [19. Rhe1 Rhe8; 19.Nd5 was an alternative, but Black seems to be fine after 19... Rhe8 20. Rhe1 e2 21.f4 Bb7 followed by Nd4.] 19... Rhe8!! Of course, Grischuk had to foresee all these lines and its consequences before pushing e3. 20.Nxc5 [20.f4 was an alternative again, but just as in the opening part, Black sacrifices an exchange and gets enough compensation 20...e2!! 21. Bd5+ (21.B xc6 Re3! 22.Bd5+ R xd5! This is the point! 23.cxd5 R xd3+ 24.Kb2 R xd5 Black has only one pawn, but with such a protected e2 pawn, he cannot be worse. It’s important for Black to keep his rook on the board so that the most probable outcome of the game will be a draw.) 21... Rxd5! leads to a position similar to the one in the previous line 22.cxd5 Re3 23.dxc6 Rxd3+ 24.Kc2 Ke7 and again, the game should end in a draw.]

after the subtle 21. Bf1! Bc8 22. Re1! Rxa2 23. Re2! Rxe2 24. Bxe2+=] 21.Nxa6 Re3+ 22.Kc2 [22.Kb2 loses after 22... Rd2+ 23.Ka3 Nd4! Nc2 is coming 24.Nb4 a5 ! 25.Nd5 e1Q 26. Rhxe1 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Nc2+ wins.] 22... Red3!! Grischuk had to calculate until this moment when he played his 18th move! Already now, Aronian is the one that has to make only moves to achieve a draw. 23. Rae1! Of course Aronian is also a great player, and finds the only way to draw. 23... Rd2+ 24.Kc1! [24.Kb1 leads to problems for White after 24... Rd1+! 25.Kb2 R8d2+! and after both king moves, Nd4 sets huge problems for White. For example: 26.Kc3 Nd4 27.f4 (27.Nc5 Rc2+ 28.Kb4 Rcc1) 27... Rd3+ 28.Kb2 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 Rd1] 24... Rxa2! Preparing for the invasion of the 2nd rank. Aronian has to find another only move... 25.f4! [25.Nc5? loses elegantly to 25... Rdd2 26.f4 Nb4! 27. Bd5+ Nxd5 28.cxd5 Rab2! with a mate threat.] 25... Rdd2! 26. Bxc6 Rac2+ [26... Rab2 leads to draw as well 27.Nb4 a5 28. Bf3 axb4 29. Rxe2 and Black gives perpetual check again 29... Rbc2+ 30.Kb1 Rb2+=] 27.Kb1 Rb2+ 28.Ka1 Ra2+ A fantastic game! All the lines after 11...c5 are more or less forced and at the end it seems to be perfectly fine for Black. This means that the 4... Bb4 setup is playable! Congratulations to both players! 1/2

20...e2! The most precise again. [20... Rd2 was a tempting alternative, but White can obtain a small advantage 10


(3) Morozevich,A (2769) — McShane,L (2706) [D15] Tal Memorial Moscow RUS, 17.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A sensational comeback from McShane, who lost 3 games in the tournament, but after defeating Aronian (the game was analyzed in the previous CEWN), Kramnik and Morozevich, he came back to 50 percent. On the other hand, a disaster for Moro, who seemed to be unstoppable after 5 rounds (he had 4 points at that point), but after losing 3 games in a row, ended up „catching up” with McShane at 50 percent. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 The Slav with 4...a6 is considered to be a very solid opening, Black is fighting for the draw. However, it seems to be a very dangerous weapon in the Englishman’s hands, because he beat Aronian in the same line. 5.e3 In the mentioned game, Aronian played 5. Bg5. 5...b5 6.b3 Bg4 This is a well-know n theoretical position, where the main move is 7. Be2, although Morozevich tried another setup in this game. 7.h3 Bxf3

8.gxf3!? White’s gen eral plan with this capture is to limit Black’s chances to get counterplay in a number of ways — with c5 and f4. This way, White closes the position and enjoys a nice space advantage. Anyway, it’s usually really difficult to break Black’s rock-solid wall. [8.Qxf3 is the other variation. Here the fight becomes extremely sharp right from the beginning. 8...e5 9.dxe5 Bb4 with many ga mes in the database, some of them even on the highest level. The outcome of the whole line is still not clear, the players are searching and finding many new ideas even nowadays.] 8...Nbd7 9. Bg2 This is practically the novelty of the game. Morozevich’s idea is to keep the position open, which is a principled one, due to his bishop pair. [9.f4 e6 10.c5 is how the games usually proceed.] 9...e6 White wanted to play f4, but he was reasonably afraid of Bb4... 10. Bd2 [10.f4 Bb4! 11. Bd2 bxc4 12.bxc4 Nb6 This is a typical way to activate the knight, we will see it in the game as well. In this particular position, White has the possibility to win the pawn, but Black gets very strong counterplay: 13.c5 Nc4 14.Qa4 Rb8! 15.Qxc6+ Nd7 and White is facing serious problems.] 10... Be7

11


11.f4 0–0 [11...bxc4 12.bxc4 Nb6 13.c5 Nc4 was an option here as well, but McShane delayed it by one move, giving White an extra chance to obtain the usual slightly better but closed position withc5.] 12.0–0 [On 12.c5 Black probably reacts with 12...a5! 13.Qc2 Ne8! followed by f5! Black closes the position on both flanks and waits for White to find a breakthrough. Usually this kind of games end up in 100 moves draws, when White maneuvers for 50 moves, then tries something, Black easilyneutralize s, and they agree to a draw.]

15...Kh8! Prepares for Rg8 and g5! White cannot prevent this plan, the question is how to make it the least effective. 16.Ne2! Morozevich sees that the kingside is going to be opened soon, therefore, he brings a defender. 16... Rg8 17.Ng3 g5

12...bxc4 13.bxc4 Nb6 14.c5 Nc4

15.Be1 White would like to preserve his bishop pair, a longterm idea could be to play Bf1 and the knight could not easily escape from c4. Let’s summarize some general ideas about the doubled pawns on the f-file. The f4 pawn is standing perfectly, since it prevents Black’s main idea for counterplay with the e5 push. A lot of times White can use the g-file for an attack with the rooks (this is not the case in the current game). However, it gives Black the „famous” plan to undermine it with g5, because White cannot hold it with the g3 pawn anymore. McShane was clearly familiar with this idea and he effectively executed it in the game.

18.Qf3?! Probably this was not the best idea by White. [He should have kept the g-file closed with 18.f5! g4 19.h4! Nd7 (19...e5 is an alternative for Black, but here again White has an an important resource 20.e4!! opening the position for the bishops. Bc3 is coming soon and White controls both diagonals.) 20. Rc1!! This extremely strong move, with the idea of an exchange sacrifice, keeps the position open for all 3 results. (20.h5 meets by 20...Bh4! Qg5 and Nf6 are the next moves. Black leads a very dangerous attack.) 20...Bxh4 (20...Rc8 protecting the c6 pawn does not prevent the sacrifice. 21.Rxc4! dxc4 22.Qa4 Bxh4 23.Bxc6 Nf6 24.Bg2+= White has very strong compensation. He is going to take the c4 pawn, the g2 bishop dominates on the board and also defends the king from any kind of attacks.) 21. Rxc4! dxc4 22.Qa4+= and White’s chances seem to be preferable for me, but of course, the position remains sharp.] 12


18...g4! 19.hxg4 Nxg4 Black wants to create mate threats by transferring his queen to the h-file. 20. Rc1 Morozevich had the same exchange sacrifice in mind, the one we examined in the 18.f5 line, but there, it was a much better version. [20. Bh3 f5! Black locks the position and enjoys a clear advantage. 21. Rc1 Qe8! protects the c6 pawn and brings the queen to the attack.]

23... Rxg3!! A very tempting sacrifice. It’s strange that Morozevich allowed it... McShane was down on time, and probably White hoped that he would be unable to continue the attack precisely, so he could preserve his material advantage in the future. 24.fxg3 [is not an option, since the f4 pawn falls soon 24.Qxg3 Nxe4 25.Qd3 Qh6]

20...Qf8! 21. Bh3 [21. Rxc4? Qh6! is over.]

24...dxe4 White is in trouble.

21...Nf6! Excellent decision. Black has an important resource against Rc4. [Now on 21...f5 22. Rxc4! dxc4 23.Qxc6 and White gets strong counterplay.]

25.Qc3 [25.Qe2 Rb2 26. Rc2 Rxc2 27.Qxc2 Ne3 wins back he exchange.]

22.Kh2 [22. Rxc4 dxc4 23.Qxc6 Qh6! 24.Kg2 (The bishop cannot occupy its ideal position because of 24.Bg2? Ng4) 24...Nd5! This is the point of 21...Nf6, the queen gets out of the game. Black plays Bh4 and the attack is very dangerous.] 22... Rb8! The last passive piece joins the game as well. [Helps White now, because after 22...Qh6?! 23. Rh1! he might launch an attack on the h-file.] 23.e4? [23. Bc3 was the right move to prevent Rb2 23... Bd8 with a possible exchange of the dark squared bishops. The position remains complex, but objectively it’s about even.]

25...Nb2? This gives sudden counter-chances for White. [25...Qh6!! would have been extremely strong, but McShane failed to find it with only 1 minute on his clock. 26. Rh1 (26.Qxc4 Ng4+ wins because of 27.Kg2 (27.Kg1 Qxh3) 27...Ne3+) 26...Ne3!! 27.Kg1 Nfd5 28.Qd2 Qg7 followed by Bf6. It’s easy to see that Black has complete domination with his knights.] 26. Rb1! [Another very strong idea could have been 26.d5! exd5 27. Bf2! McShane pointed out this idea as his fear during the press conference. 27...Nd3 28. Bd4 Rb2+! is the best for Black, the game seems to lead to a draw after: (28...Qh6? 29.Rb1! Black is suddenly in trouble. 29... Rg8 30.Rb7+-) 29. Rc2 Rxc2+ 30.Qxc2 Qh6 31.Qc3 Kg8 32. Rb1 White seems to win, but... 32...Ng4+! 33.Kg2 f5! giving air to the king on f7 34. Rb7 Kf7 35.Qa5 Qh5! 36.Qd8 Ne1+ 37.Kg1 Nf3+ 38.Kg2 Ne1+ with perpetual check. This was a more or less forced line, which was of course impossible to find for a human, especially with 30 seconds on the clock.] 26...Nd5 27.Qd2 Nc4 28. Rxb8 Qxb8 13


29.Qe2 [29.Qc1! should have been played, with the idea of 29...Nce3 30. Rf2 ! activating the rook along the b-file. White is suddenly better, due to the serious mistake in the 25th move.] 29...Nce3 30. Rh1 Bf6 Black’s position is much easier to play in time trouble and Morozevich collapses in a few moves. However, the position was still very unclear... 31. Bg2? White blunders a tactical motif. [31. Bc3!? An ugly move, but it saves the important d4 pawn.] 31... Bxd4 32. Bxe4?! This loses immediately, but position was already very bad. [After 32.Qd2 Black would have had to find a study-like win, which is actually the only way to win the 32...Ng4+! 33.Kh3

33...Qf8!! Brilliant move! Two pieces are hanging, but White gets mated. 34.Qxd4+ (34.Kxg4 Nf6+ 35.Kg5 Qg7+ 36.Kh4 Qh6#; 34.B xe4 Nde3!! 35.Qxd4+ Kg8 and Qh6 mate next.) 34...Kg8!! Only move again! (34... e5 35.fxe5 Qh6+ 36.Kxg4 Qg6+ 37.Kh4 Qh6+ is just a draw.) 35.Kxg4 (35.Qxe4 Nde3) 35...f5+ 36.Kg5 Qe7+! 37.Kh5 (37.Kh6 Qf7) 37...Qf7+ 38.Kh4 Qg6!! Black is a rook and a piece down and continues the game with subtle moves... 39.Qd1 Qf6+! 40.Kh5 (40.Kh3 Qh6+) 40...Ne3!! 41.Qe2 Qg6+ 42.Kh4 Ng4!! is the final blow! Fantastic line. Of course, only for computers.] 32...Nxf4! Killing. 33.gxf4 [33.Qd2 Ng4#! is a picturesque mate!] 33...Qxf4+ 34. Bg3 Qxe4 Black is already ahead in material, the fact that his pieces are standing perfectly is even more important. 35. Re1 Qf5 White is practically in zugzwang. [35...f5 followed by f4 was an even easier win.] 36. Bd6?! A mistake, but it was already over anyway. 36...Ng4+ 37.Kg2 Ne3+ A time trouble repetition. 38.Kh2 e5! The bishop is excluded from the game. 39. Rg1 Qf4+ 40.Kh3 Qh6+ [White resigned in view of 40...Qh6+ 41.Kg3 Nf5+ 42.Kg4 Qf4+ 43.Kh3 Qh4+ 44.Kg2 Qg3+ 45.Kh1 Qxg1# A great fighting game.] 0–1

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(4) Aronian,Levon (2825) — Caruana,Fabiano (2770) [D70] 7th Mikhail Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (9), 18.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] In this game, the World’s number 2 player gave a hand to the number 1, allowing him to win the tournament. Aronian, with this victory, helped Magnus Carlsen to get the title. We’ll see another great prepared line by Aronian, who was quite unlucky in this tournament. However, he didn’t conclude the game for a long time, until Black collapsed under big time and positional pressure. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 We saw this line being played twice by Anand in his WCC match against Gelfand, so probably we’ll see a lot of new games following this line in the future . 3...d5 The beginning of a long forced line. Black has 2 more options: 3...c5 with a sort of Benoni and 3... Bg7 4.d4 d6, going back to the King’s Indian 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 0–0 8.Qd2

8...Nc6 The beginning of a quite forced line. [8...e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.0–0–0 with very unclear play. Anand,V — Gelfand,B WCC Moscow 2012.] 9.0–0–0 Qd6 10.Kb1 This is the main move given by the theory, and don’t ask me why... Only a lot of hours of analysis can prove such things. 10... Rd8 11.Nb5 Qd7 12.d5 a6 13.Nc3N And here comes the novelty! [13.dxc6 This move seems to lead by force to an equal endgame 13...Qxd2 14. Rxd2 Rxd2 15. Bxd2 axb5 16.cxb7 Bxb7 17. Bxb5 f5 18.exf5 Bd5 19.Ne2 Bxa2+ 20.Kc2 gxf5 with an about equal endgame, Vituigov,N — Giri,A 2011.] 13...Qe8 The most natural move for Black. [13...Ne5?! seems to lead to a bad position 14. Bxb6 (14.b3!? might also be interesting, with the positional idea of Nge2-Nd4 next.) 14...cxb6 15.f4 and the knight from e5 doesn’t have the d7 square. 15...Ng4 16.h3 Bxc3 It never feels right to give up the bishop from g7, but Black has no choice here. 17.bxc3 Nf6 18. Bd3 and White should be doing better.] 14.Qe1 This move was also very quickly played by Aronian. 14...Ne5

15


15. Be2!? This move clearly shows how deep the preparation of the current World’s Number 2 is. This move is hard to understand and it looks more like a question for Black: „What do You want to do next?” At the same time, 15. Be2 is a move that develops a piece, and in some lines, White will be able to play f4 without being afraid of Ng4. Let us take a look at a few lines that could happen in this very complex position. 15...e6?! After a long think, Caruana takes the wrong decision. [15...Nec4 In my opinion this move should be critical 16. Bd4 (16.Bc1 is too slow now 16...e6! and Black will crush White’s center.) 16...e5! (Of course doesn’t work: 16...B xd4? 17.R xd4 e5 18.R xc4; 16...e6 The exchange of the g7 bishop is a very dangerous idea for Black. Usually, this can only lead to a better position for White. 17.B xg7 Kxg7 18.B xc4 N xc4 19.Nge2 and White should be doing clearly better. The Black king can get in big trouble very soon, after White advances with h4-h5. Besides, the black squares around the Black king are quite weak. This can be useful for White as well...) 17. Bxb6 (17.Bf2 Qf8!? leads to a very unclear position, but I feel that Black should be doing fine here...) 17...Nxb6

18.h4 At first sight, Black should be doing fine here, but things are not that simple. White is very quick on the kingside. The Queen on e1 is perfectly placed after White’s h5, and can join the attack immediately through h4. 18...c6 Black is trying to do something active on the queenside. (18...h5?! 19.g4) 19.Qf2 Nd7 20.h5 Nf6 21.hxg6 hxg6 It’s hard to say who is doing better... further analysis are needed. But we can be sure that Aronian knew who is better here.] 16. Bxb6! And here comes the immediate punishment. 16...cxb6 17.f4 Indeed, 15. Be2!? is a useful move now. 17...Nd7 Ugly move, but where else to go?! [17...exd5 It doesn’t look very promising for Black to give away a piece. 18.fxe5 dxe4 19.Qh4 Probably White has different ways to achieve an advantage. 19... Rxd1+ 20. Bxd1 Bxe5 21.Nge2 e3 22. Bc2 Black has 3 pawns and the bishop pair for White’s extra piece, but it’s hard to imagine Black being OK here. I think White is doing much better.] 18.dxe6 Qxe6

19.Nf3?! An interes ting moment. It’s very obvious that White is doing better. White has few ways to proceed 16


here: [19. Bf3 followed by Nd5 looks very tempting. White is doing much better, but Aronian chooses a different way.] 19...Qe8 Obviously, after this reply White is close to winning. Then, 19.Nf3 should have !! marks.. . But Black had a different choice, and even though it looks very dangerous, it was preferable to take it. [19... Bxc3 The only way to go on 20.Qxc3 Qxe4+ 21. Bd3 Qxf4 and we reach a critical position. Computers are happy with Black here, but from a human point of view, Black is fighting on the edge. Let’s take a look to a few lines... 22. Rhf1 (22.Bc4 Rf8! An ugly, solid and protective move! 23.Rhf1 Nc5 24.Ne5 Qe4+ 25.Ka1 Be6 and it looks like Black is in time to protect the f7 pawn.) 22... Rf8 Again, the usual defensive move! 23. Bc2 It’s clear that White has very good play here, but it’s hard to say if he has more than that.

21.Ng5 Nf8 The only move to defend h7. 22. Bc4 [It’s very tempting to play 22.Nd5? Rxd5! A great counter move! (22...B xg5 23.fxg5+-) 23. Rxd5 Be6 24. Rd3 Rc8 and Black is totally back into the game! The White king will get under a heavy attack in the next moves.] 22...Kg7 23.Qg3 This move has a great idea behind it. [23.e5?! Be7 and Black wins the f5 square for the bishop.] 23... Bxg5 Black is practically forced to take on g5 because of the hanging pawn on f7.

24.fxg5!! A great idea by White, very original and strong play. Of course, after 24. Qxg5 White would be doing better, but now he’s probably close to winning. White will use the f-file for the mating attack, and the f6 square is controlled by the pawn on g5. Maybe 19. Nf3!? was just a bluff by Aronian. At least after the simple 19. Bf3, White would be doing very good without any risk.] 20.Qh4! A very strong move. 20... Bf6 [20... Bxc3 21.bxc3 Qxe4+ 22. Bd3 and White is winning.]

24... Be6 25.Nd5 White is forcing Black to give away the bishop. Qe5 is a deadly threat now. 25... Bxd5 26. Bxd5 Let’s take a look at the position. The White bishop on d5 is a beast, the Black king is weak and White has many different ideas to develop a deadly

17


attack. The position should be already evaluated as winning for White.

32... Rcc7 33.Kb1 This is already a clear sign that White doesn’t really have a plan...

26... Rd7 27.h4 Rc8 28.a3 A nice prophylactic move, but why not to end the game immediately by playing the logical: [28.h5 gxh5 29.Qf3 followed by Rh5-Rdh1 with a quick mate...]

33...a5 34.g4 a4 [34...b4 would maybe give Black slightly better chances to survive.]

28...Qd8 29.Qf2?! Once again onian doesn’t play h5... this is really strange. In my opinion, after 29.h5 the game would end very quickly. It would be really interesting to know why Aronian didn’t play the most obvious move in the position.

36...Qc5 37.Qg3 White doesn’t go for a much better endgame, but wants to end the game on the spot.

29...Ne6 30.Ka2 Of course, White is doing much better and Black is still quite hopeless, but it’s time to finish the game... 30...Qe7

31. Rhf1?! White could just take with 31.Qxb6 Rc2 32. Rhf1 and get a winning position. 31...b5 If White doesn’t want to take, why to give then... 32. Rd3 Black’s position remains very bad... but he’s still fighting and doesn’t have a material disadvantage.

35. Rf3 Qd6 36. Rf6 And finally White is entering Black’s position.

37...b4 38.axb4 A human decision by Aronian, but a forced winning line would be: [38.Qe5 Qc2+ 39.Ka1 Qc1+ 40. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 41.Ka2 Rxd5! The only resource Black has! 42. Rxg6+! Of course White can’t take on d5 because of b3 mate! 42...Kf8 43.Qh8+ Ke7 44. Rxe6+ fxe6 45.Qf6+ Kd7 46.Qf7+

46...Kc8 47.Qxe6+ Kc7 48.Qe7+ Kb8 49.Qxb4+-] 38...Qc2+ 39.Ka1 a3 40.bxa3 It seems like the White king is a bit open, but everything is under control. White still wants to play Qe5, or Rxf7 followed by Qe5. 40... Rxd5 Black tries his last chance. 41.exd5 Nd4 18


the chance to play 19... Bxc3!, with unclear play. After that, Black never had a real chance to comeback to the game. An interesting game and a very important one for the current theory! 1–0

42. Rxf7+! The finishing move. 42... Rxf7 43.Qe5+ Kf8 44.Qb8+ Kg7 45. Rxf7+ Kxf7 46.Qxb7+ Ke8 47.Qb8+ Kd7 48.Qa7+ Kd6 49.Qxd4 White is in a queen endgame with 3 extra pawns... 49...Qc1+ 50.Ka2 Qc2+ 51.Qb2 Qc4+ 52.Ka1 Qxg4 [52...Qf1+ 53.Qb1 and there are no more checks... The next White moves could be Kb2-Qc2 and the position is totally winning.]

53.Qf2! The most precise move. 53...Kxd5 54.Qc5+ Aronian showed great preparation and maybe a nice bluff, playing 19.Nf3 and giving Black 19


Puzzle section

(7) Swapnil,S (2445) — Esen,B (2568) Golden Sands Open, 11.06.2012

(5) Morozevich,A (2769) — Nakamura,H (2775) Tal memorial, 14.06.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... -/+

(8) Hayrapetian,A (2372) — Grigoryan,A (2581) (6) Bezgodov,A (2508) — Andreikin,D (2700) Russian Higher league, 16.06.2012 [CEWN]

Asrian memorial, 18.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1.=

20


(9) Lenderman,A (2587) — Zierk,S (2483)

(11) Koneru,H (2589) — Stefanova,A (2518)

Las Vegas Open, 16.06.2012

Kazan, 18.06.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(10) Perunovic,M (2577) — Lenderman,A (2587)

(12) Al Sayed,M (2525) — Georgiev,K (2689)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. -/+

1... -/+

21


(13) Romero Holmes,A (2521) — Zelbel,P (2377) Pula Open, 15.06.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Gabuzyan,H (2457) — Cheparinov,I (2673) Golden Sands Open, 12.06.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

22


Endgame section

pawn. 65...Ng7 66.e7 Kxf4 67.Ne6++-) 64.Kd8! White must give give up all his pieces to send away the g8 knight. 64...Kg4

(15) Kramnik,V (2801) — Tomashevsky,E (2738) Tal memorial, 14.06.2012 [Chess Evolution Team]

We are in move 60, when the players have just passed the 2nd time control. They received their extra 15 minutes. Despite the small amount of pieces, the position is full of beautiful ideas, and requires very deep play from both sides. It was practically impossible to continue the game flawlessly... The position is objectively drawn, but probably in a practical game, White has bigger chances to win, than Black to hold it. 60...h6! Tomashevsky finds the only move. He prevents the Rg5 threat. [Exchanging the rooks would win for White with very precise play 60... Rg6 61. Rxg6 hxg6 (61... Kxg6? 62.Ne5++- The pawn endgame is hopeless.) 62.e5 Nh6 63.e6 Ng8! The critical move, where the knight is quite safe against the attacks from his White counterpart. (63...Nf5 64.Kd7 Kg4 65.Nd4! White easily promotes the

65.Ke8!! Kxf4 (65...Kxf3 66.Kf7 Nh6+ 67.Kxg6 Ng8 68.f5+- wins.) 66.Kf8 Nf6 (On 66...Kf5 White can first protect the pawn, then take the knight. 67.Nd4++-) 67.e7! Kxf3 68.Kf7 Ne4 69.Ke6!+- The last exact move to prevent Nd6.; The double attack with 60...Nf6 loses after 61. Rg5+ Kh6 62.Nd4!+- with a picturesque mate.] 61.e5 Obviously, White should push his passers. 61...Nf6 After this move, the position is still drawn, but it becomes much more difficult to hold... [61...Ne3! with the threat of Nd5. 62.Kd7 (62.Rd8 This allows the Black king to approach... 62...Kg4! 63.Nd4 Kxf4 64.e6 Ra7+! The only move. 65.Kd6 Nc4+ 66.Kc5 Ne5 and Black saves the game.) 62... Ra7+ 63.Kd6 (63.Ke6 Ra6+ The White king has no shelter to hide.) 63... Rf7! wins the f-pawn and at the same time the knight catches the e-pawn 64.e6 Rxf4

23


64.Kd6! [64.Kb6 is met with 64... Rd7! 65. Rxd7 Nxd7+ 66.Kc7 Kxf4 This was the point of the check in the 63rd move.] 64...Ne4+ 65.Kd5 Nc3+! [65...Kxf4 loses the knight by force... 66. Rf8+ Ke3 67. Rf3+ Kd2 68.Kxe4+-] 66.Kc4 Kxf4! Black chose the right moment to take the pawn. [66... Rc7+? would move into the e6 check. 67.Kd3+- 67...Kxf4? 68.Ne6+] 65.e7 Nf5+! 66.Ke5 Nxe7!= and the rook on g8 hangs as well.] 62. Rd8 Kramnik uses his imagination greatly and sets up very difficult tricks for Black to solve. [62.exf6? did not come into consideration 62... Rxf6 White cannot defend the f4 pawn.; 62. Rf8 Nd5+ 63.Kd7 (63.Kb7 Rb6+ 64.Ka7 Rb3 65.Nd4 Rb4 66.Ne6 Kg4=) 63...Kg4] 62...Kg4 63.Nd4

67.e6 Rc7+ 68.Kd3 Until this moment, Tomashevsky defended tenaciously, but he failed to find the last exact move to secure the draw. We must add that the players were already fighting for 7 hours, were completely exhausted and lived only with the 30 seconds of increments. 68...Ke5? White wins in a study-like way after this move. [68...Na4 followed by Nc5 was the way to draw.] 69. Rd7! Nd5 [69... Rc8 70.e7+- followed by Rd8 wins.] 70.e7! After this great move, it is a bit strange, but Black is simple unable to stop the pawn. 70... Rc3+ 71.Kd2 Rc8

63... Ra7+! Tomashevsky defends very well, but it takes all his time and energy to stay focused until the end of the game. [The tempting 63...Kxf4 loses immediately 64.Kb7!+- and the rook has no square on the 6th rank to defend the knight.] 24


72.Nc6+!! Tomashevsky has missed this motif in the 68th move. Of course, we cannot blame him for this mistake, especially with only seconds on his clock. [72. Rd8? Nxe7 was a draw.]

(16) Stefanova,A (2518) — Yildiz,B (2333) [A09] 4th WGP Kazan 2012 Kazan RUS (9), 20.06.2012 [Chess Evolution Team]

72...Ke6 73. Rxd5!! Rxc6 [73...Kxd5 74.Nd8! was the whole point, and the pawn promotes.] 74.e8Q+ Kxd5 We reached a winning endgame, but it still requires some accurate moves. Of course, such technical task is not a challenge for a player like Kramnik. 75.Kd3 Re6 76.Qb5+ Kd6 77.Kd4 Ke7 78.Qf5! The White king and queen cooperate well to squeeze the Black king to the 8th rank. 78... Rf6 79.Qh7+ Kf8 80.Ke5 Ra6 81.Qb7 Rg6 82.Qh7 Ra6 83.Qd3! Black resigned because he must give up the 6th rank with his rook and will lose his h-pawn soon.[83.Qd3 Ra7 84.Qd6+ Kg7 85.Ke6! The shortest way to win. Black has serious problems with his rook to avoid being checked by the queen. 85... Rf7 86.Qg3+ Kf8 87.Qg6 Re7+ 88.Kd6+- White wins the h-pawn, and the game. A very interesting endgame with many studylike motifs.] 1–0

After not playing a great game, the players reach a quite interesting bishop endgame. The position looks like a draw, but not an easy one. White’s b-pawn gives White some chances. 45.Kf2! [Of course not 45. Bxc5+? This move is nothing but a tempo lost. 45...Kxc5 46.Kf2 Kd4 With the Black king on d4, it should be easy not to make a draw...] 45...Kc6 Black needs to get rid of the pin. 46. Bxc5 Kxc5 47.Ke3 Kd5 And we are at the first critical moment of this endgame. White has a couple of choices. The first question is if White should play 48.g5!? blocking the black pawns on the White squares, which can be in general a very good idea. Another question is, what is the best place for the White bishop?!, but this of course is not an urgent task. Another serious question could be, if 48.g5 is not the best option, maybe 48.h4!?, and if none of them are good, does Black want to play g5 next?! Let’s take a look! 25


48.b4 Of course the right idea, but could White maybe try to be a little more tricky to accomplishment this?! [48. g5! I feel this is the right move, and it’s the right one even if the position probably remains a draw! White blocks the Black pawn on h7-g6 and the h7 pawn becomes a target!

48...Ke5 49.b4 Kf5 (49... Bd5 50.b5 Bb7 (50...Ba8 51.b6 Bb7 52.h3 Bc8 53.Bc4 Bb7 54.Bg8 Kf5 55.h4 Kg4 56.B xh7 goes back to the main line.) 51.b6 Kf5 52.h4 Ke5 53. Bc4 Kf5 54. Bg8 goes back to the main line.) 50.h4 Ke5 51.b5 (Doesn’t help much: 51.Ba6 Bd5 52.b5 Bc4! and White has pinned himself.) 51... Bd5 52.b6 Bb7 This seems to be a central position in this line...

53. Bc4 It seems like White cannot get a better move order or a better version than this. (53.Bg4 Ba6 54.Bd7 Bb7) 53...Kf5 54. Bg8 Kg4 55. Bxh7 Kh5! Amazing move that might save the draw! (55...Kxh4 seems to loose by force, but again we have a position where each tempo matters 56. Bxg6 (56.Kf4? e3=) 56...Kxg5 57. Bxe4 Ba6

58.Kd4! The White king is just fast enough to get to the c6 square. 58...Kf6 59.Kc5 Ke7 60.Kc6! White wants to play Kc7 next with a winning position. 60...Kd8 61. Bf5! creating a freeway to a7 for the White king! 61... Be2 Black has no moves and needs to remove the bishop from a6. 62.Kb7! Bf3+ 63.Ka7 and we reached an easy winning theoretical position. The winning idea is to bring the bishop to b7 getting control over the diagonal a8-h1 63... Bd5 64. Bd3 Bf3 65. Ba6 Be4 66. Bb7! The rest is easy 66... Bf5 67. Bf3 Bc8 68. Bg4) 56.Kf4 Bc6! Probably the only waiting move that saves the game! Amazing — yes, impossible to see — yes! 57. Bg8 Kxh4 58. Be6 e3 (58... Bb7! 59.Bf5

26

Issue 17 49.h3?! Still, 49.g5 would give good practical chances.

22nd of June 2012

49...h5?! With this move, Black is risking quite a lot. Of course the idea is right: to exchange as many pawns as possible. But again, 49...g5 would lead to a much safer draw. 50.gxh5! The only chance for White is to block the Black pawn on white squares. 50...gxh5 51.h4 Bf7 59...e3! seems to give Black a draw as well...) 59.Kxe3 Kxg5 60.Kd4 Bb7! A really very nice move, White wanted to play Bd5 and b7 61.Kc5 Kf4 62. Bd5 Ba6 63.Kc6 63... Ke5! Another only move! (63...g5? 64.Bc4 Bc8 65.Kc7 and White is winning.) 64. Bb3 g5 65. Ba4 g4 66. Bb5 g3 67. Bxa6 g2 68.b7 g1Q 69.b8Q+ Ke4 White is a piece up, but of course it is a theoretical draw. Quite an amazing end to an amazing line!] 48...Ke5?! [48...g5! would lead to quite an easy draw! 49.b5 Ke5

52. Bb5 [52.b5!? would have been a better try, even though it leads to a forced draw 52...Kd5! A really difficult move to make over the board. (The logical 52... Be8 and Black wants to give the bishop for a pawn, reaching an easy draw because of the wrong colored bishop and the h pawn. 53.b6 and Black loses by a single move 53... Kd6 54.Kf4! White needs the king as close as possible to the h7 square. 54...Kc6 (54...e3 55.Bf3! and White is winning the e-pawn for free, and with it, the game.) 55. Bb5+

50.b6 Bc8 51. Bc4 Bb7 White is not able to make any further improvement. 52. Bg8 h6 53. Bc4 Bc8 54. Be2 Bb7 55. Bb5 Kd5] 27


55...Kxb6 56. Bxe8 Kc7 57. Bxh5 Kd6 58.Kg5 Ke7 59.Kg6 Kf8 60.Kh7+- and White is just in time!) 53.Kf4

60...Kf8 61.Kh6 Kg8 and again Black is in time.] 52...Kd5 53. Bd7 Kd6? [53...Kc4 would be the easiest way to make a draw 54.b5 Bd5 White will need to give away the b-pawn to be able to take the h-pawn in exchange. And this would mean of course no winning chances. 55. Be8 Kc5 56. Bxh5 Kxb5 57. Bg6 Kc5 58.h5 Kd6 59.h6 Bg8 60.Kxe4 Ke6 with a draw.] 54. Ba4! And suddenly White is winning! 54... Bg6 [54...Ke5 55. Bc6 Bg6 56.b5 and Black is losing the e-pawn and with it, the game!]

53...e3! The only move . By sacrificing the e-pawn, Black pushes the White king one step back, giving him just enough time to bring the king to g8! 54.Kxe3 Be8 55.b6 (55.Kf4 B xb5 56.B xb5 Ke6 57.Kg5 Kf7 58.Kh6 Kg8 Draw.) 55...Kc6 56. Bb5+ Kxb6 57. Bxe8 Kc7 58.Kf4 Kd8 59. Bxh5 Ke7 60.Kg5

55.Kd4! White manag ed to make a huge improvement, to put the king on d4. Now there’s only one precise move left to win the game. 55...Kc7

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winning the game 62... Be8 63.Kf5 The Black e-pawn is getting lost. Black has no more life saving Bc6! 63...e3 64.Kf4+-] 61... Be8! Now the Black bishop is going to b5 next, securing a draw. 62.Kf5 Bb5 63. Bxb5 Kxb5 64.Kxe4 Kxb4 65.Kf5 Kc5 66.Kg5 Kd6 67.Kxh5 Ke7 68.Kg6 56. Bb5? [56. Bc2! This move would win on the spot! 56...e3 (Also loses: 56...Kb6 57.B xe4 B xe4 58.Kxe4 Kb5 59.Kf5 Kxb4 60.Kg5 Kc5 61.Kxh5 Kd6 62.Kg6 Ke7 63.Kg7 and White is in time to put the king on g7.) 57. Bd1 Kb6 58. Be2 The e-pawn s gonna drop, and with it the game. White would bring the king to g5 next, and win another pawn by playing Bxh5.] 56...Kb6 57. Be2 Kc6 58.Ke5 Kb6 59.Kd5 Bf5 60.Ke5 Bg6

68...Kf8 And Black is as usual „just” in time. 69.Kh7 Kf7 70.h5 Kf8 A super interesting endgame! A lot of draw and winning motifs! Really something to learn from. It was a bit fun to analyze this endgame, hopefully without any major mistakes! This endgame is really a super complicated one! 1/2

61.Kf6? It is quite amazing, but the position is still winning for White! [61. Bc4! would have been the right move. Black is in zugzwang and needs to take away the square c6 with his king. 61...Kc6 62.Kf6 and only now, Kf6 is 29


Clash of the Titans (17) Petrosian,Tigran V — Pirtskhalava,A [A90] Tbilisi Tbilisi, 1947 [Balogh Csaba] A typical victory against the Stone Wall setup, where Petrosian has managed to execute all the basic principles, obtaining the strong knight against the poor light squared bishop. 1.d4 f5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 This is the Stone Wall. Black builds a very solid and hardly breakable structure in the center with c6. This has its drawbacks as well, Black practically gives up the fight for the dark squares. That’s why White’s main plan is to exchange the dark squared bishops and occupy the weakened e5 and f4 squares with the knights, playing against the remaining c8 bishop.

5.Nf3 This obvious move is not the best setup for White. [5.Nh3! is already a well-known move in this position. The point is that White wants to occupy the e5 square with the knight. Of course, you can ask the logical question, why

not Nf3 then? The answer is, if White develops the knight to f3, Black can control the e5 square with a knight from d7, however with Nh3 White prepares for the long term maneuver: Nf4-d3 and the other knight goes to Nd2-f3. Due to the closed position, White has time for this strategy... Let’s examine a nice game by Anand: 5...c6 6.0–0 Bd6 7.Qc2 0–0 8.Nd2 The knight is going to f3. 8... Bd7 Black generally has two plans to develop the bishop on c8. One is with b6-Bb7 and the other is Bd7-e8 and later activate it from g6 or h5. In this game, Nikolic chose the latter idea. 9.Nf3 Be8 10. Bf4! Before transferrin g the h3 knight to d3, White exchanges the dark squared bishops to make the hole on e5 even „bigger”. 10...h6

11.Qb3! Anand creates a weakness on the queenside. After the c8 bishop left that part of the board, it might become vulnerable. (Of course there was nothing wrong with 11.B xd6 Qxd6 12.Nf4+=) 11...b6 12. Rfc1 (12.B xd6 Qxd6 13.Nf4+= was, of course, still fine.) 12... Be7 A typical move. Black tries to confuse White’s pieces. He threatens with g5-g4. (Black could have only temporarily excluded the h3 knight from the game with 12...g5 because after 13.B xd6 Qxd6 14.Ne5+/- the knight might comeback any time through f2.) 13.cxd5! Nxd5 Usually, if Black 30


cannot keep his strong center with a pawn capture on d5, it’s very bad news for him. (13...cxd5? 14.Bc7+-; 13... exd5 14.Ne5+/-) 14. Bd2 g5 15.Ne5 It’s clear that something went wrong with Black’s position. White’s pieces are dominating. Only the h3 knight is out of the game, but soon it also joins... 15...a5

16.e4! White opens the center against his opponent’s weak king. 16...fxe4 17. Bxe4 Ra7 18.f4!+/- White changed the character of the game. After opening the position, he launched an attack against the king, instead of playing positional chess on the queenside. White won later in Anand-Nikolic, Wijk aan Zee 2000.] 5... Bd6 6.0–0 c6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.b3 Fianchettoing the bishop on b2 followed by the knight maneuver that we will see in the game is the classical way of handling the position. Theory already knows that here Black can achieve his „dream position”, but at that time people were not that familiar with the positional finesses of the opening... After a few developing moves, Black chose the wrong plan... 8...Qe7 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10.e3 This is the preparation for the mentioned knight maneuver. White is going to trans-

fer his c3 knight to d3. We can see now that compared to the 5.Nh3 move, White is 2 tempi down and at the same time, he cannot exchange the dark squared bishops. 10...Ne4

11.Ne2! With the idea of Nf4-d3. We might know this motif from the Queen’s Indian defense as well. In some lines, Black plays d5, jumps with his knight to e4 and protects it with f5, weakening the e5 square. 11...Qf6?! Black tries to organize some attack, but it cannot be effective since the White king is very safe. [11...b6! is the right plan 12. Rc1 Bb7 13.Nf4 a5!? (13...Rac8 is also possible. The idea is to push c5 and then hold the tension in the center. This leads to very complex positions, which are completely playable for both sides. In general, this is what Black is playing for when he plays the Stone Wall.) 14.Nd3 c5 with counterplay.] 12.Nf4 Qh6 [12...g5 is definitely a better try for Black, with the idea of stabilizing the knight on e4 13.Nd3 g4 Now, White cannot get rid of the knight with f3, but he can simply ignore it and continue his plans on the queenside... 14.Nfe5 Qg7 15. Rc1 followed by b4, with better prospects for White.] 31


13.Nd3 Ndf6 Black leads some kind of „shadow attack”, allowing White to execute all the good plans.

17. Rae1 Petrosian is not in a hurry, since Black has no useful plan. [17.e4+/- was fine as well.]

14.Nfe5 White prepares for Qe2 (to protect the e3 pawn) and f3. Black realized that he cannot hold his e4 knight anymore and decided to exchange it for the one on e5.

17...a5 [17... Bd7 18.e4+/-]

14...Ng5

18.e4! It’s always a bad sign for Black to receives this move. White has many concrete threats like Nxf7 and e5, for example, and if Black takes everything on e4, his king will be under a mating attack (even if he had his pawn on g7). Practically, Black plays without the c8 bishop and the a8 rook, which cannot bring anything good for him. 18... Bb4 19. Rd1! Petrosian does not even give the smallest hope for counterplay by opening the a-file. From a positional view, the game is over. Black tries to create some complications but with such bad pieces, he just accelerates his defeat... 19...dxe4 20.fxe4 Nxe5 21.dxe5!

15.f3! After successfully occupying the e5 square, the next goal in White’s strategy is to push e4. This is also a wellknown method of increasing the advantage in such kind of positions. Petrosian presents us a model game on how to handle this structure. 15...Nf7 16.Qe2 The e4 move needs to be well prepared. 16...g5 [Developing the pieces with 16... Bd7 does not help 17.e4! and the Black position collapses soon, unless he does something concrete... 17...dxe4 18.fxe4 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Ng4 but White counters it with very strong play 20.h3! Qe3+ (20...Ne3? 21.Bc1) 21. Rf2! fxe4 (21...Qxe2 22.R xe2+- with such a bad bishop on d7, Black is hopeless.) 22.Qxg4 exd3 23. Bd4! Qh6 24. Raf1+/- followed by Be4 with serious problems for Black.]

21...Nxe4 22. Bxe4 fxe4 23.Nf2! Of course, the e4 square should be occupied by the knight. 23... Bc5 Black tried to escape to some opposite colored bishop endgame (which should be also lost with heavy pieces on the board), but probably White’s reply came without thinking... 32


24. Bd4! Keeping the strong knight on the board. 24... Be7 25.Nxe4 Bd7 Finally, Black starts to develop and to connect his rooks, but it is too late... 26. Bc5!+- The e7 bishop was the last piece that held Black’s position together. After exchanging it, Black cannot hold the dark squares... Game over. The rest is a matter of technique. 26... Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Bxc5+ 28.Nxc5 Be8 29. Rf6 Bg6 Black definitely made a huge improvement in the last 5 moves by transferring his c8 bishop to g6, but White already starts collecting the pawns.

Surprise section / study (18) Grigoriants,Sergey 2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

30.Nxe6 g4 31.Nf4 Qg5 32.Nxg6 hxg6 33. Rf4 Kg7 34.Qe3 Qd8 35.e6 Qe8 36. Rf7+ 1–0

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Solutions

(20) Grischuk,A (2761) — Morozevich,A (2769) Tal memorial, 10.06.2012

(19) Aronian,L (2825) — Nakamura,H (2775)

[Solutions]

Tal memorial, 08.06.2012 [Solutions]

50... Rxg6! [50... Rg5 51.Qd4!+-] 51.fxg6 Qc8!! 52. Rg1 [52.Qf3 Bg7–+] 52...Qf5+ 53.Ke1 Re8 54.Qg3 Ne6–+ 22. Bd7!! Re6?! [22... Red8 23. Bxc6 bxc6 24. Rxc6! (24. N xb6 Rab8 25.R xc6 g4 26.Nh4 B xh4 27.gxh4 g3) 24... Bxd5 25.exd5 Rxd5 26.Qb3 Rad8 27.d4! exd4 28.Qxd5!+-] 23. Bxe6 Bxe6 24.Nxf6 Qxf6 25. Rxc6! bxc6 26.Qa1! a5 27.Qxe5 Qxe5 28.Nxe5+-

(21) Carlsen,M (2835) — Aronian,L (2825) Tal memorial (blitz), 07.06.2012 [Solutions]

31... Bf6!! 32. Rxa3 Bxd4 33.Nxe8 Bxc5!–+ 34. Rd6 Rxe8! 0–1 34


(22) Vallejo Pons,F (2697) — Topalov,V (2752) Leon (rapid), 09.06.2012 [Solutions]

45.Qd6! [45.Qxb8+? Kxe7 46.Qc7+= (46.Qxa7+?? Kf6 47.Qd4+ Qe5+) ; 45.Ng6+! Qxg6 46.Qxb8+ Ke7 47.Qxa7+ Ke8 (47...Kf6 48.Qd4++-) 48.Qb8+ Kd7 49.b6!! d1Q 50.Qc7+ Ke8 51.b7+-] 45...d1Q? [45...Ke8! 46.Nc8!! Qg5 47.Qxd2] 46.Ng6+! Kg8 47.Qxb8+ Kh7 48.Ne7!! 1–0 (24) Swiercz,D (2585) — Akshat,K (2400) Golden Sands Open, 05.06.2012 [Solutions]

31.Qb6!! [31. Rg8+?? Kxg8 32.Qg1+ Kf8 33.Qg7+ Ke8 34.Qg8+ Kd7 35.Qxf7+ Kc6] 31... Bc6 [31... Qc6 32.Qd8+ Qe8 33. Bxd6++-] 32. Rg8+! 1–0[32. Rg8+ Kxg8 33.Qg1+ Kf8 34.Qg7+ Ke8 35.Qg8+ Kd7 36.Qxf7+ Kd8 37. Ba5++-] (23) Bacrot,E (2695) — Svetushkin,D (2597) French league, 05.06.2012 [Solutions]

28.Nd5! Nxd5 [28...axb5 29.Nxb6+-] 29. Rxf7+! Kg8 [29... Rxf7 30. Rxe8#] 30. Bxe8 1–0[30. Rxe7+-]

35


(25) Wang Yue (2690) — Yu Yangyi (2626)

(27) Delgado Ramirez,N (2591) — Cubas,J (2534)


Luque GM, 08.06.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

31... Rxd4! 0–1[31... Rxd4 32.exd4 (32.N xd4 R xf2+–+) 32...Qe4–+]

31...Ng3!! 0–1[31...Ng3 32.Qxg6 Rd1+ 33.Kh2 Nf1+ 34.Kg1 Nxe3+ 35.Kh2 Nf1+ 36.Kg1 fxg6–+]

(26) Martinovic,S (2504) — Straka,J (2373)

(28) Miskovic,I (2186) — Kovacevic,A (2557)

Mitropa Cup, 04.06.2012

Bosnian league, 04.06.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

19. Bxd5!! Qxd5 20.Qxg6+! Kxg6 21.Nf4+ Kf7 22.Nxd5

26. Bxc6!! Bxc6 27.Ndxc5! Bf3 [27...dxc5 28. Rxd8+ Rxd8 29. Rxd8+ Qxd8 30.Qxe6+ Kh7 31.Qxc6+-] 28.Nxe6! Bxd1 29.Nxd8+36


(29) Osintsev,S 1988 [Solutions]

1.Nc2+! Nxc2 2.h8Q Nd4+! 3.Qxd4 d1Q+ 4.Qxd1+ b1Q+ 5. Bb2#!! 1–0

37

Weekly Newsletter



29th of June 2012

The main event of the female chess came to an end. The Grand Prix in Kazan had 2 winners, Muzychuk and Koneru, they both scored 7,5/11. Third came Hou Yifan and Cmilyte with 7/11.


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»» Puzzle section

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21


27


30

»» Solutions

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Another interesting event is in progress. The qualification tournament for the Russian Super Final with players like Nepomniactchi, Jakovenko, Vitiugov and many other strong GMs participating in it. Peter Svidler won his match against David Navara 3–1. From this event we comment the two decisive games. In the “special” section of the newsletter, we present You a 3 vs 3 pawn endgame. Try to calculate till the end, there is only one winning way. Such kind of exercises help a lot to improve the calculating abilities! Have fun and enjoy the CEWN Nr18! Arkadij Naiditsch Balogh Csaba

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4 best games of the past week (1) Svidler,P (2741) — Navara,D (2706) [C65] Prague match Prague CZE (2), 21.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Svidler comes up with a new plan against the rock-solid Berlin defense, but it appears to be just a „one-game idea”. If Black would have reacted well, he seems to be completely fine. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 A surprise by Navara, who is not really a Berlin specialist, he plays it only occasionally. Therefore, Svidler prefers to avoid the endgame that arises after the main move 4.0–0, and goes for a line, where all the pieces remains on the board — he hopes to outplay his opponent by being more familiar with the middlegame ideas.

9. Re1 This is the novelty. A really harmless-looking move, with the typical Spanish plan to transfer the knight to g3. It has the poison inside, that Black calms down, because he successfully equalized the opening part of the game, makes some „handy” moves and suddenly finds himself in trouble. This happened in this game as well. [9.d4 is a very sharp continuation with many recent games even on the highest level. Navara was definitely very well prepared for this.] 9... Re8 10.h3 Another typical move to avoid the Ng4 and Bg4 ideas. 10... Bb6 Black quits from the d3-d4 tempo, this is also a known plan. 11.Nf1 [11.Nc4 h6 12. Be3 Be6 seems to be nothing for White.] 11...h6 Black also prevents the pin with Bg5. Both sides made their useful moves so far. 12.Ng3

4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0–0 6.0–0 d6 7.Nbd2 a6 8. Bxc6 [8. Ba4 was the stand ard move, but Berlin players already worked out the right setups to achieve a comfortable position.] 8...bxc6

12... Be6?! I don’t like this move. Black decides the placement of his bishop too early. [I would clearly prefer the standard 12...a5 13. Be3 (13.d4 Probably Navara wanted 3


to avoid this move by 12... Be6, but Black seems to be in time for undermining the center. 13...exd4 14.cxd4 c5 15.d5 Bb7 This plan is also known in the 9.d4 line. Black needs to play c6. 16.Qc2 (16.Bf4 c6 17.dxc6 B xc6 18.Qxd6 Qxd6 19.B xd6 N xe4 with equality.) 16...c6 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18. Bf4 By playing c6, Black weakened the d6 pawn, but also got a target on e4. From this point of view, the next move suggests itself: 18... Re6! 19. Rad1 Qf8! followed by Rae8, pushing the e4 pawn. Black has no problem.) 13...c5! This is another typical „Spanish” idea. Black fights against the d4 push. On the other hand, it is always hard to make this move, because the b6 bishop gets out of the game, but all other pieces are doing well. Black can play on d5, White will avoid this by pushing c4, closing the position. But after c4, Black has good maneuvering possibilities with the transfer of the knight to e6, or preparing for an f5 push. Also the b6 bishop could be improved by a4-Ba5.]

ture. As the principle says: „It’s better to have the smallest amount of pawn islands”. Now White has two against three. 17... Bd7 18. Rc1 c5 19.Nde2 followed by Nc3 and pushing the d6 pawn.] 15...Nd7 [The prophylactic 15... Bd7 was probably more advisable, but still after 16.d4 (16.Rd1 one more preparation is also possible.) 16...cxd4 17.cxd4 exd4 18.Nxd4 White is better.] 16.d4! cxd4 17.cxd4 exd4 18.Nxd4 White is clearly better now. We must admit that the e3 rook is excellently placed. It might be useful all along the 3rd rank. We can see how difficult it is to play the Spanish opening. After the novelty in the 9th move, Black made very logical moves and got into trouble, in 5 moves, right after 14. Rxe3.

13. Be3 [13.d4 was an alternative 13...exd4 14.cxd4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 Probably this pawn sacrifice is the reason for 12... Be6, if White accepts it, Black plays c5 and Bd5 and obtains a confortabe position. But after 16. Be3! I think White has some advantage, because of the poor b6 bishop and the weakness on the c-file.] 13... Bxe3?! After this move, I think White is better. Black is not able to react well against the d4 push. [13...c5 was the right move again. I am sure that Navara saw it, but psychologically it is a difficult decision to close the b6 bishop.] 14. Rxe3 c5 15.Qc2 [15.d4 was possible immediately as well 15...cxd4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Nxd4 White is slightly better. He has better pieces and a superior pawn struc-

18...a5 [Fighting against the c6 square with 18...c5 would weaken the d6 pawn too much. 19.Ndf5; Computer suggests a nice idea on 18...Ne5 19.Qc3! eying at the g7 square after Ndf5 and f4. 19...Qf6 20.f4!! Qxf4 21. Rf1 Qg5 22.Ngf5 ! and the rook arrives to g3. 22... Bxf5 23.Nxf5 Qf6 24. Rg3 g5 25.Qxc7 +/-]

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19.b3 [19. Rd1 was probably even better. Svidler did not want to allow a4 to fix his pawn structure on the queenside, but he could have launched a quick attack after that: 19...a4 20.Ngf5 Bxf5 (20...B xa2 21.Rg3) 21.Nxf5 and Rg3 next.] 19...Nc5 20. Rd1 Bd7 This was Black’s aim, to consolidate his position with Qf6, but Svidler found a very strong idea. It is not difficult to see the move, it is much harder to judge its consequences correctly...

24.a4 Another human move. Fixing the weakness on a5, Black has no useful move. [24.Qc3 with the idea of Nh5 was also good.] 24... Be6 [24...f6 in order to get rid of the strong e5 knight 25.Nxd7 Qxd7 26. Rc3 Ra7 27.Ne2 and the knight goes to d4 with a big advantage.]

21.e5! White creates a lot of concrete threats connected with Ndf5. 21...dxe5 [21...g6 22.Nf3 +/-] 22.Nf3 Really subtle play, but.. [The computer move 22.Ndf5! was even better 22... Bxf5 (22...Ne6 23.Nh5! too many threats are in the air and if Black wants to ease his task by 23...Nd4 24.N xd4 exd4 25.Rg3 wins, because of 25...g6 26.R xg6+ +-) 23.Nxf5 Qf6 24.Nxg7! Kxg7 25.Qxc5 +- Despite the material equality, Black is lost. His pawns and the king are just too weak.]

25.Qc3 Qg5 26.Nf3! Svidler does not want to give any counter-chance. [26.Qxc7 Rec8 was Navara’s idea 27.Qb6 (27.Qxd6? Rd8) 27...Nf5 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 to get some activity for the pawn. Still, after 29.Nc6! White is better.] 26...Qd8 [26...Qe7 27.Nd4 +-] 27.Nd4 Black is in big trouble. The only „normal” move 27... Bd7 in order to simplify the position, loses.

22...Nb7! Only move! Black needs to block the d-file. 23.Nxe5 Nd6 5


27...Kh8 [27... Bd7 28.Ndf5! +- White wins due to the pin along the d-file.]

35. Re3! Rc1+ 36.Kh2 Rc2 37.f3 Now Black is forced into passivity, otherwise he ends up two pawns down.

28.Nh5! White wins material now.

37... Rc6 [37... Rb2 38. Rxe6 Rxb3 39. Re5 +-]

28...Qg5 29.Nxe6 Rxe6 30. Rxe6 fxe6 31.Qxc7 Qxh5 32.Qxd6 [32. Rxd6 +- was better, White is a pawn up, he has more active pieces and better pawns.]

38. Re5 Ra6 and now the position is easily winning. Svidler demonstrates it with perfect technique. [38... Rb6 39. Rb5!]

32...Qe2 33.Qd3 After playing a perfect middlegame, Svidler transfers into a winning rook endgame.

39.Kg3 Kg8 40.Kf4 Kf7 41. Rb5 First, he activated his pieces.

33...Qxd3 34. Rxd3

41...Kf6 42.h4 Ra8 43.g4 Then he limited Black’s counterplay on the kingside. 43... Ra7 44.Ke4 g5 45.hxg5+ hxg5 46.Kd4 Rd7+ 47.Kc4 And he went to support his extra pawn on the queenside. 47... Ra7 48.b4! and the final breakthrough decides the game.

34... Rc8?! This eases White’s task, because the Black rook gets into passivity soon. [34... Rb8 was a better chance, but White seems to be winning after transferring the king to the queenside. 35. Re3 Rb6 36.h4 gaining some ground before starting the action. 36...Kg8 37.Kf1! (37. Re5?! would be a bad idea. 37...R xb3 38.R xa5 Kf7 Black has very good chances to survive. White has to exchange the b3 pawn for a5 in a much better version.) 37...Kf7 38.Ke2 g5 39.hxg5 hxg5 40.Kd2 Kf6 41.Kc2 Rb8 (41... Kf5 moves into 42.Rc3! followed by Rc5.) 42. Re4! Rb6 43.b4! This is the key, and the White king supports the apawn. 43...axb4 44.Kb3 +-]

48...axb4 49.Kxb4 Ke7 50. Rxg5 Kd6 51.a5 Rf7 52.a6 Kc6 53. Ra5 Rf4+ 54.Kc3 Rxf3+ 55.Kd2 A fantastic performance by White! Congratulations! 1–0

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(2) Navara,David (2706) — Svidler,Peter (2741) [A15] Cez Trophy 2012 Prague CZE (3), 23.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the third of the 4-game mini match played in Czech Republic between Navara and Svidler. This event is already traditional; Navara plays different Super GMs each year. Svidler is leading at the moment with his nice win in the second game and it’s clear that Navara has to show something with White, so we will see a very sharp game, where Svidler shows once again how strong his „Grunfeld” is! 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 And we are in the AntiGrunfeld. The Grunfeld has been Svidler’s favorite defense for as long as I play chess, and he shows great results in it.

7... Bg4 The new trend of this line, not so long ago the main line was: [7...0–0 8. Be3 Bg4 9. Rd1 This is a very complicated and interesting position. 9...e6 (9...B xf3?! 10.gxf3 This would be just good for White. Now White would have an extra plan with f4-f5 next, which is quite unpleasant for Black.) 10. Be2 Nc6 11.Ng1! A nice tactical trick to protect the d4 pawn, the main attacking pawn in White’s pawn structure. 11... Bxe2 12.Ngxe2 Qe7 13.0–0 Rfd8 We are in the game Aronian-Kamsky, where White managed to win. Probably White is doing a bit better here, but of course, Black has a very fighting position.] 8. Bb5+!? A tricky move. White uses the chance to force Black to play c6 — and to avoid Nc6 in the future. 8...c6 9.Ng5 This is the main point of 8. Bb5. White, of course, can’t allow Black to play Bxf3 with Bxd4 to follow.

4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 Lately, White is trying a lot of different lines, trying to break Black’s defense, but probably the Grunfeld is one of the best standing openings nowadays. During the WCC it was also Gelfand’s favorite choice.

9...0–0 10. Be2 We are still in the game Aronian-Navara from Wijk ann Zee 2012.

5...Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 7.e4 Quite a fu nny thing: not so long ago Navara played this position against Aronian with Black and managed to win!

11...e5!? This is Svidler’s novelty. [11...Na6 12. Be3 Qd6 13.0–0 Qb4 and Black managed to reach an endgame,

10... Bxe2 11.Nxe2

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which is usually a good thing in the Grunfeld. This is how Navara managed to win not so long ago. But we can be sure that both players analyzed this position for some time. I think that in case of 11...Na6, an option is to play 12.0–0 c5!? 13.d5 with a very complicated position.] 12.Qh3?! [12.dxe5! seems to be the critical move here. 12...h6! (12...B xe5? 13.Qh3! The winning move 13...h5 14.Ne6! and Black loses material) 13.Nh3! (13.Nf3 N8d7 and it looks like Black is doing fine. The e5 pawn will fall and with it, the advantage of White.) 13...N8d7 14.f4 and White is in time to defend the e5 pawn. 14...Nc5 15.Qc2 Nd3+ 16.Kf1 The position looks a bit dangerous for White, but I think that the extra pawn should give White better chances. 16...f5 17.exf6 Bxf6 18. Be3 The position remains quite forced, but White should be doing better.] 12...h6 Now the position becomes very forced, but I clearly prefer Black. 13.Nf3 exd4 Black managed to get the most important pawn — this can’t be good for White. 14. Bxh6 Re8! A very strong and cool move. Black is not afraid to start defending his king immediately. The White pawn on e4 is hanging, and in some lines, the Black king could use the f8 square to escape. 15.0–0–0 White starts to go all-in, which is logical. No way back anymore... [In case of the simple 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Nfxd4 Rxe4 17.0–0–0 Qf6 the position s seems to be equal to me, but it’s clear that Navara needed the full point, and an equal position with a draw as the most likely result was definitley not an option for the top Czech player.]

15...c5! Black remains very cool, again. Of course, this move seems to be easy and logical, but things are by far not that easy over the board. White has direct threats and Black needed to calculate precisely to know that he won’t get a lost position.

16.Ng5 The last chance to create something... 16...Qd7 17.Qh4 Of course White needed to avoid the exchange of queens. In case of an endgame, Black would be doing much better. 17...f6! This is the key move, which I think Navara blundered. The Black queen from d7 is now protecting the bishop on g7! Not an easy thing to see from far away, but Svilder seems to be in great shape. 18. Bxg7 Qxg7 It’s hard to give White an advice now. Black got the central pawns, plus White’s attack came to an end, and the pawn on e4 can fall any moment. Black is doing clearly better now. 19.Nh3 Nc6 20. Rd3 White decides to „die with a scream”. The position looks quite sharp now, but actually, it is quite easily winning for Black. 20...g5 Why not to win the pawn on e4 if it’s possible... 8


21.Qh5 Rxe4

22.f4! The only chance for White. White tries to open the position of the Black king at any costs. [22.Ng3 Rh4 and Black kicks out the White queen, keeping his extra pawn.] 22...Qf7 Black is suddenly loosing the coolness, and the full point was so closealready. [22...Nb4! would have been the right choice. 23. Rg3 Qf7! and only now Qf7. The knight on b4 is now the killer around the White king. 24. Rxg5+ Kf8! (Of course not 24...fxg5 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7 26.N xg5+ and the rook on e4 is falling.) 25.Qh8+ Ke7 and Black is winning.] 23.Ng3! Excellent move. White looks for chances in a bad position. To take on f7 is not an option, to go for an endgame with a pawn down would be similar to resigning the game. 23...Qc4+ [A more solid, though not a better choice would be 23...Qxh5 24.Nxh5 Rf8 I have to admit that this looks quite dangerous, but everything seems to work. Black should be doing better. 25. Rg3 (25.fxg5 fxg5 26.Rg3 Re5! A critical move which is hard to see... 27.N xg5 Kh8 and the Black king is suddenly very safe on h8. Black is doing clearly better, even though the position remains

dynamic and complicated.) 25... Re3! and Black should be better again.]

24. Rc3! [24.Kd2? would be a mistake 24...Nb4! A very beautiful move! Black gives mate first. 25.Qg6+ Kf8 26.Qxf6+ Ke8 The Black king escapes and White can’t do anything against the double threat of Qxd3 and Qc2Nxd3.] 24...dxc3 We see a couple of forced moves. 25.Qg6+ Kf8 26.Qxf6+ Ke8 27.Qg6+ Kd7 28.Qxe4 cxb2+ 29.Kb1 Everything was forced until here. How to evaluate this position? It’s not that easy. The only thing we can say is that probably Black is still doing better thanks the pawn and the dangerous position of the White king, that is surrounded by the Black knights... However, things are very complicated and an exact calculation is needed. 29... Re8?! This logical human move is a mistake. [29... Nd4! would have been the right choice. The Black knight on d4 dominates the game. 30.Qxb7+ (30.Re1 Nd5 It’s amazing how strong the knights can be in the center.) 30...Kd8 31.Qe4 Nd5

9


36. Rc1 A losing move in a position that was probably lost anyway. [36.Ka1 would have been a better chance 36... Rb6 37.Qc1 Nd6! Finally, the Black knight is coming into the game, but Black has to exchange queens... 38.Qxc4 Nxc4 39.a3 Kc7 and probably Black should be winning here. Two knights and a rook should be enough to mate the White king.]

and Black is winning.] 30. Rd1+ White takes his chance.

36...Qa4! Black is taking the last preparation steps. It’s getting very dark around the White king. 37.Ka1 Rb6 38.Qd2 Nd6 The mate is unstoppable.

30...Nd4 31.Qxb7+ Kd8 32.Qb8+ Kd7 33.Qb7+ Kd8 34.Qb8+ Nc8 Great fighting spirit by Black. It would be a pity for Black to make a draw in this game, after having a clearly winning position earlier. The main point is that the White knights on h3-g3 are totally out of the game. 35.Qxb2

39. Rc3 Nc4 40.Qd3 Qb4 41. Rb3 Qe1+ A slightly crazy game where White clearly didn’t have his best day, getting into big trouble almost out of the opening and not managing to come back into the game. It would be very interesting to know what Svidler actually planned to do after his novelty 12...e5, 13.dxe5... 0–1 35... Re6! Black cont inue the attack. Of course, it is a pity to have the knight on c8 instead of on d5, but it might still be enough to mate the White king.

10


(3) Kosteniuk,A (2457) — Danielian,E (2484) [C13] FIDE Women GP Kazan 2012 Kazan, RUS, 20.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are in the 9th round of the Women’s Grand Prix in Kazan, when the current leader, Danielian (with 6/8), faced the former World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Recently, 4... Bb4 and 4...dxe4 are more popular. 4... Be7 5.e5 Nfd7

Here White has many different options. The following line seems to be the best to me: 8.Qd3 g6 (Black quickly collapsed after 8...Nc6 9.Nf3 Qg6 10.Qxg6! Black probably missed this „simple” move, since it is not obvious at all to exchange queens while being a pawn down. 10... fxg6 11.Nb5! and Black cannot protect the c7 pawn. 11... Ke7 (11...Kd8? 12.Ng5 +- wins.) 12.Nxc7 Rb8 13.Nb5+/with a big advantage in Kasparov-Kortschnoj, Zuerich (rapid) 2001.) 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.0–0–0 White already finished the development, enjoys a nice space advantage due to the e5 pawn and has a very simple plan against the h7 pawn... At the same time, Black is stuckedn his camp and needs a lot of time to secure the king’s position. 10...Nb6 11.Qe3 Bd7 12. Rh6! Nc6 13. Bd3 0–0–0 14. Rdh1 +/Finally, Black finished his development, but White wins back the pawn and holds a nice positional advantage.] 7. Bxe7 This is the defect of the 6...c5 move. Black cannot take back with the queen. However, White’s center is under attack, the position is very far from clear.

6.h4 This very interesting gambit line is known since the beginning of the 1900’s. It was the favorite of Euwe and Alekhine. [6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 is the main line, with a small advantage for White.] 6...c5 This is the most principled move. It tries to undermine White’s center and also to open the center against the flank attack, but it has concrete problems... [6...h6 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 is the way the specialists of this line play with the Black pieces nowadays.; It is not advisable for Black to accept the pawn sacrifice. 6... Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5

7...Kxe7 Black quickly wants to play Qb6, Nc6, so White doesn’t have enough time to consolidate his center. [7... Qxe7?! is met with 8.Nb5! and if Black does not want to give up the right for castling, then he must play 8...0–0 9.Nc7 and Black does not get enough compensation.] 8.dxc5 We are sti ll in theory. I don’t know whether the next move was still preparation or not, but it seems to be an inaccuracy. 8...Nc6 [Black should have taken 8...Nxe5 9.Qe2 Nbc6 10.0–0–0 is the start of the line. Sakaev won a nice game against French defense specialist Ulibin in Dubai 2000. He analyzed this position in details over many pages. At 11


the end he comes to the conclusion that position is very unclear with chances for both sides. That game continued with 10...Kf8, but 10...Qa5 is an alternative as well.]

9.Qd2 White gives back the favor. [It would have been logical to protect the pawn on e5 and achieve a typical French defense structure, where generally White has a small advantage. 9.f4 Qa5 10.Qd2 Nxc5 11.Nf3 Rd8 and here White has the important resource to stop Black’s counterplay with d4. 12.Nd4! +=] 9...Nxc5? This is a clear mistake. From now on White’s strategy starts to dominate. [Black could have gotten a better version than the 8...Nxe5 line, because now the queen is on d2 and it does not pin the king along the e-file. 9...Ndxe5 10.0–0–0 Qa5 11.f4 and in this position, a very „inhuman” move leads to a more or less forced draw: 11...Ng4! (11...Nd7 12.Bb5! creates real problems, because of the threat Bxc6 and Nxd5.) 12. Bb5 Nb4! This is the point. It is hard to deal with the Na2 threat. It arrives even after 13.a3 and Black takes the bishop on b5. 13.Qe2 Attacking the knight on g4 and preparing for a3, but Black has... (13.a3 Na2+; 13.Kb1 a6 14.Ba4 Qxc5) 13... Nxa2+! 14.Nxa2 Qxa2 15.Qxg4 Qa1+ 16.Kd2 Qa5+

17.Kc1 Qa1+ = and the one who avoids the perpetual gets into an inferior position.] 10.0–0–0

10...Qa5 [Now 10...Nxe5?! is simply answered with 11.Qe3! and Black cannot hold the threats. Nxd5 is in the air.] 11. Rh3! Very nice and strong move! I personally was always a fan of the h4-Rh3 or a4-Ra3 plans in the middlegame. The rook causes serious problems in Black’s camp along the 3rd rank. 11...h6 Against the annoying Qg5 check. [11...d4 is countered by 12.Qg5+ Kf8 13.Nb5! Qxa2 14. Ra3! You see the 11. Rh3 move. :) 14...Qd5 15.Nc7+- White wins.] 12.Nge2! Another spectacular and strong move. White brings a blockader to d4 and keeps the 3rd rank open for his rook. 12... Rd8 [12... Bd7 13.Nd4 is also horrible for Black. He cannot even ease his position with 13...Nxd4 because of 14.Nxd5+! +-]

12


13.Qf4 Prepares for an attack against the kingside pawns with Rf3 or Rg3. 13...Nd7 This is a kind of desperation in a really bad position. [After the „normal” 13... Bd7 White simply plays 14. Rg3 Rg8 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4+/- with a big advantage. The king became really vulnerable on e7.] 14. Rg3 Rg8

17.Nc3! and Black cannot escape if the knight arrives to d5, while 17...Nb6 loses after 18.e6! Bxe6 19.Qc7+ Kf8 20.Qxc6 +-] 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17. Rxd4 g5 Black’s only chance is to complicate the matters. [Stabilizing the d5 square with 17... Nb6 is met with 18.b4! Qa3+ 19.Kb1 +- and the queen is trapped on a3. Nb5 is coming next.] 18.hxg5 hxg5 19.Qg3 [It was better to play 19.Qg4 but the text move does not spoil the advantage.] 19...Qc5 Now Black improved a bit with a tempo. 20.Qg4

15. Re3 Kosteniuk had the right idea in mind, to play Nd4. First she protects the e5 pawn, but as we will see, it was not necessary. [The tactical 15.Nd4! was even stronger 15...Ndxe5 (15...Ncxe5 is refuted elegantly by 16.Re3 f6 17.N xe6! Kxe6 18.Bc4!! Not the only win, but definitely the nicest. 18...dxc4 19.Qxc4+ Ke7 20.Qxg8 +-) 16.Nf5+! exf5 17. Rxd5 Qc7 18. Rxe5+! This is the point. White wins the queen in both cases. 18...Qxe5 (18...N xe5? 19.Nd5+) 19. Re3 Qxe3+ 20.Qxe3+ Be6 21. Bd3 and Black cannot avoid losing material, while his king is still in the danger zone.] 15... Rb8 A waiting mo ve, because b5 did not work immediately. The position looks really terrible for Black, but actually White must play powerfully to convert the advantage. [15...b5? 16.Nxd5+! exd5 and now the „silent”

20...b5 [20...f5 temporarily pushes back White’s pieces 21.exf6+ Nxf6 22.Qd1 +/- but the king remains in the center.] 21.b4! Very strong response! Depriving Black of his only counterplay with b4! 21...Qc6 22.Qh5 White prepares for the tactical blow, which she managed to play in the game.

13


22...a5? [The ugly 22... Ba6 was the only move according to computer, but still after 23.f4 White launches an enormous attack against the f7 pawn.] 23.Nxd5+! exd5 24.e6! It is over now. Black cannot survive the opening of the lines. 24... Rg6 [24...fxe6 is simply met with 25.Qh7+ +- and the rook falls.] 25.exd7+ Kxd7 White restored the material equality, and continues the attack. The only question remains, how long can Black prolong the resignation? 26. Bd3 Rg7 27.Qh8 Qf6 28. Rxd5+ Kc6 29. Rc5+ Kd6 30.Qf8+ A nice attacking game, after which Danielian collapsed and lost the last 2 games as well, dropping back to the 6th place. 1–0

(4) Lahno,Kateryna (2546) — Kosintseva,Tatiana (2532) [E56] 4th WGP Kazan 2012 Kazan RUS (11), 22.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the last round of the Grand Prix. Both players are out of contention for the medals, but this game was very exciting anyway. After a good opening outcome, Lahno made a great combination and... lost the game. Let us take a look at what exactly happened. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 We are in the main line of the Nimzo. 4...0–0 5. Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.0–0 Nc6

8.cxd5 [8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 would lead to the very main position of the Nimzo.] 8...exd5 White has opene d the bishop on c8, but the idea is to play against the isolated pawn on d5 now. 9.dxc5 Bxc5 [9... Bxc3 10.bxc3 Bg4 This is another typical way of handling these positions, but not with this move order. Here White is a tempo up compared to the main lines, so even after an easy move like 11. Be2 White is doing a bit better.] 14


10.h3 This is an often played position. Lahno will demonstrate perfectly White’s main idea. On the other hand, Black’s play will not be great at the beginning. Usually, Black looks for a fast d4, trying to force a draw by exchanging a lot of material, and exploiting the isolated pawn. 10...a6 [10...Qe7 this should be the best way of handling this position. 11.b3 Rd8 12. Bb2 Ne4 13.Ne2 Nb4 14. Bb1 Bf5 with a fighting position, Roiz-Fressinet, 2011.] 11.b3 White needs the bishop on b2, this is clearly its best place. 11... Be6 12. Bb2 Ba7 13.Ne2 Another correct strategical decision. White needs to take care of the d5-d4 threat, and to keep the option of putting a „blocker” on d4 is never a bad idea. 13... Rc8 From this moment on, the game starts to get exciting. We can already say that White should be quite happy with the outcome of the opening. If the White player is not creative, by playing 14.Ned4, he would get a typical slightly better position. 14.Ng5!? White uses the chance for tactical play! Suddenly, the Black king is quite in danger! White wants to play Bxf6 and the pawn on h7 drops.

14...g6 [14...h6? would not help because of 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Nh7 and White is a clear exchange up.] 15.Nf4 All the light White pieces are in the attack! 15...Qe7 16.h4! I like this move a lot! White’s h-pawn is going to be „the” little extra White needs to make the attack even stronger. [16.Qf3 would have been another logical continuation. 16...d4 Black is forced to act, to close the bishop on b2 is the first priority. 17.Ngxe6 fxe6 18. Bc4 Kh8 White is doing better, but the position is still a fighting and quite complicated one.] 16... Bb8 A nice move by Black! It’s clear that he needs to do something about the bishop on b2, and will simply try to play Be5 next. 17.h5 Bd7? This is a real surprise. A shocking move by Black, giving White a few interesting opportunities. [17... Be5! would have been the only move. 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 White needs to act quite fast as well... If Black gets a „free” move now, White wouldn’t be doing better at all. 19.hxg6 This leads to the forced win of a pawn, but it’s not evident that it leads to a clearly better position. 19...hxg6 20.Ngxe6 fxe6 21.Nxg6 If You say A, You need to say B and get the pawn. 21...Nxg6 22.Bxg6 Qg7 It looks like Black is simply a pawn down, but things are by far not that simple. 23.Bd3

15


23...Qh6! A very important move, now White doesn’t have 23. Rc1? because of 23... Rxc1 24.Qxc1 and Ng4! The next Black’s move will be Kf7 followed by Rh8. In my opinion, Black has enough compensation for the pawn.] 18.hxg6 With this move, White starts a very beautiful combination. However, shed had many different moves as well. Let’s take a look at a few of them! [The typical 18.Nxh7! would be a very interesting option. 18...Nxh7 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.Nxg6 The Black position looks really dangerous, but it seems that White doesn’t have any forced win. 20...Qf7 (20...Qd6 21.Qh5 Rf7 22.f4! A key move here, White wants to play Rf3-Rg3 next with a basically killing attack. I would not like to be Black here...) 21.f4 And again, the f4 move! The position doesn’t look simple at all, but I think in a practical game it is almost impossible to hold this with Black. White’s play is so simple — just to go for the Black king with all You got. Objectively, I think White is doing clearly better.] 18...hxg6 19.Nxd5!? This is what White wanted by playing 18.hxg5. A great tactical blow, very beautiful. 19...Nxd5

move would lose the game on the spot, and by accident the game gets quite unclear now... [20...gxh5 21. Bh7# What a mate!] 21. Bxg6 [21.Qxg6+!? Qg7 22.Qh5! It looks like White is winning, but Black has a great defensive move: 22... Rfd8! and we are in a really crazy position. I feel White should be doing better, but to prove this would still be very hard.] 21...Ne5?! [21... Be5 This move looks quite logical, but it leads to some super deep complications as well. 22. Bh7+ Kg7 23.Qg6+ Of course, White tries to play for the mate. 23...Kh8 24.Qh6 Qg7 The only defense, White wanted to play Be4. 25.Qh1! The only square for the queen. An easy move to blunder. When was the last time you saw the h-file open and the White Queen onh1?! 25...fxg5 26. Be4+ Kg8 27. Bxd5+ Rf7 with a very strange and unbalanced position. The game would just begin here, all 3 results are possible.] 22. Ba3! A beautiful move! Seems like White is close to get the full point! 22... Bg4 The only move, freeing the d7 square for the Queen, any other move would lose on the spot.

20.Qh5! What a great tactical mating idea! 20...f6! I have the eeling that Kosintseva was very lucky — and happy — when she saw the move f6. Any other 16


23.Qh1?? A horrible mistake. [23. Bh7+ This would have been the other option 23...Kg7 (23...Kh8 is losing on the spot due to the usual 24.Qh1! Qg7 25.Be4+) 24. Bxe7 Bxh5 25. Bxf8+ Kxf8 26. Be4 fxg5 27. Bxd5 The endgame is still not a simple one, but only White can be better here.] 23...Qd7 And suddenly White is very bad, probably close to lost... How to avoid the loss of material? White is already a piece down... This is really a tragic end, and a very beautiful combination. 24. Be4 What to do? White tries to keep some pieces on the board, in order to have practical chances. [Doesn’t help 24. Bxf8 fxg5 White will lose one more piece on the next move, which would give Black 3 pieces for a rook and 2 pawns, this is clearly easily winning.]

27...Qg7!? The safest move, Black forces White to exchange queens and get in a position where the best choice is to resign. 28.Qxg7+ Kxg7 29. Bxb7 Nd3 The game is over! What a position... The next 8 moves need no comments... 30. Rfd1 Ne2+ 31.Kf1 Ng3+ 32.Kg1 Ne2+ 33.Kf1 Ng3+ 34.Kg1 Rh8 35. Rxd3 Rh1+ 36.Kf2 Rxa1 37.e4 Rxa2+ 38.Ke1 Be6 We saw a very interesting game with quite an interesting opening for those who are playing the Nimzo with White. From this game we have to learn that not every beautiful tactical blow leads to a full point... Chess is a cruel game :). 0–1

24...Nc3! Another very strong move by Black! Suddenly, Kosintseva is the one who wants to give mate by playing Ne2, and after Kh2, Nf3! 25.Qh6 This move saves White from a direct mate, but not from a lost position. 25...fxg5 And another White piece has been taken. 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27.f3

17


Puzzle section

(7) Ziska,H (2450) — Hebden,M (2512) Svein memorial, 25.06.2012

(5) Prizant,J (2524) — Nepomniachtchi,I (2716) Russian Higher league, 24.06.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +/-

(8) Gusain,H (2271) — Paragua,M (2521) (6) Mokshanov,A (2429) — Inarkiev,E (2707) Russian Higher league, 24.06.2012 [CEWN]

Mumbai Open, 08.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1. +-

18


(9) Ram,S (2303) — Stupak,K (2513)

(11) Gabrielian,A (2573) — Grigoriants,S (2557)

Mumbai Open, 10.06.2012

Voronezh Open, 15.06.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Gomez,J (2507) — Chadaev,N (2563)

(12) Kovalenko,I (2560) — Dmitriev,I (2393)

Mumbai Open, 14.06.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

19


(13) Fedoseev,V (2546) — Zubov,A (2617) Voronezh Open, 16.06.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Lysyj,I (2644) — Tihonov,J (2446) Voronezh Open, 19.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

20


Endgame section (15) Galliamova,A (2484) — Hou Yifan (2623) WGP Kazan, 20.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

At this seemingly drawn position, Hou Yifan, the Women’s World Champion, found very good practical chances to win. 27... Rxd4! [27... Rxe3?! with the idea of transposing into a pawn endgame. This doesn’t work well for Black. 28.fxe3 f5!! In order to prevent e4 and prepare for Bb7. 29.Kf2 Bb7 30.Nc6! By precise calculations, White enters into the simplifications. Now the correct defense is 30...Kg7f6 and then start passing with the bishop. Probably the game would end in a draw in this case. 30...Kf8 31.Ke2!

31... Bxc6? Still, 31...Kg7 would hold the draw. 32.dxc6 Ke7 33.Kd3 The king arrives just in time. 33...Kd8 (33... d5 34.Kd4 Kd6 is met with 35.c7! Kxc7 36.Kxd5+- when the superior position of White’s king decides the outcome.) 34.Kd4 Kc7 35.Kd5 This had to be calculated beforehand. Both sides can only move with their pawns, but as we will see, Black loses the fight for a tempo. 35...b4 (35...g5 36.g4! is the easiest win. 36...f4 (36...fxg4 37.hxg4 b4 38.b3 h6 39.e4 +- and zugzwang.) 37.exf4 gxf4 38.Ke4+- and White wins with the help of the kingside pawns. Black must hurry to catch them with the king, but this leaves the queenside unprotected. Passed pawns are very important factors in all the endgames, especially in pawn endgames.) 36.b3 g5 37.g4! f4 38.exf4 gxf4 39.Ke4 Kxc6 40.Kxf4 +- White wins as it was explained in the 35...g5 line.] 28. Re8+ Kg7 29. Rxc8

21


29...Kf6! Black uses the more active situation of his king and tries to save the important pawns on the queenside, sacrificing the less useful ones on the kingside. [29... Rxd5 leads to a more or less forced draw after 30. Rc6 Rd1+ 31.Kh2 Rd2 Black takes one more pawn, but his complete queenside is vanishing. 32.b4 Rxf2 33. Rxa6 Rb2 34. Rxd6 Rxb4 35.a6 Ra4 36. Rb6 b4 37.a7 Rxa7 38. Rxb4 with an easy theoretical draw.] 30. Rc6 Ke5 31. Rxa6

31... Rb4 Here we ca n get the point of Black’s play. He wants to save either the d- or the b-pawn, which could become very dangerous with the support of the king. The position is still drawn, but time trouble is approaching and White must make a difficult decision.

32. Rb6 [Creating counterplay by obtaining a kingside passer would have been the right idea, but Galliamova was afraid of losing too many tempi with the rook moves, allowing the b-pawn to promote. 32. Ra7! Rxb2 (32...f5!? is an alternative, but White can hold the draw here as well. 33. Rxh7 Rxb2 34.a6 Kxd5 35.a7 Ra2 and here, I think the best way to save the half point is to stop the b-pawn with the king. 36.Kf1 b4 (36...Kc6 37.Ke1 Kb6 does not win a pawn, because of 38.Rd7 =) 37.Ke1 Kc4 (37...b3 38.Kd1 = Just in time, the a-pawn gives enough counterplay. 38...Ra1+ 39.Kd2 b2 40.Rb7 Rxa7 41.Rxb2=) 38.Kd1 Kd3 39.Kc1 and the b-pawn is stopped, while going for the kingside pawns is not dangerous. 39...Ke2 40.g4 Kxf2 (The tempting 40...f4? is too optimistic. Black causes problems only to himself. The h-pawn runs very fast. 41.h4 f3 42.h5 gxh5 43.gxh5 Kxf2 44.h6 Ke2 45.Rf7+- and White wins.) 41.gxf5 gxf5 42. Rf7 =) 33. Rxf7 Ra2 Probably, Hou Yifan would have tried this way, because now the a-pawn does not reach the 7th rank, so it’s not that dangerous. Anyway, White holds the draw. 34. Rxh7 Kxd5

35.h4 Not the only way, but it seems to be the easiest one to create a passer on the h-file. 35...b4 36.g4 b3 37. Rb7 Kc4 38.h5 gxh5 39.gxh5 Rxa5 (On 39...b2 White 22


must deal with the Ra1 threat first. 40.Kg2 Kc3 and here comes a very important and often-seen motif in the rook endgames. Black defended the b2-pawn and is ready to activate the rook, but 41.Rc7+! White sends the king away 41...Kd3 42.Rb7 and attacks the pawn again. Black cannot make progress.) 40.h6 Rh5 41.h7 Just as in the 32...f5 line, White reaches the 7th rank. This always gives very good counterplay, since it restricts the mobility of the rook. 41...Kc3 (41...d5 42.Kf1 =) 42.f4 b2 43. Rc7+! The same motif as before. 43...Kd3 44. Rb7 Kc2 45. Rc7+ = and again, there is no way to progress.]

36. Rb7! = and this move is the point! In the game, with the pawn on a7, White did not have this option.] 34... Rb1+ [34... Ra2 is also good.] 35.Kh2 Ra1 36. Rxb5+ [On 36. Rb7 Ke6 sooner or later White has to exchange his a-pawn for the one on the bfile.] 36...Kc6 37. Rb2 Rxa7 And Black is winning with the extra pawn, which is supported by the king. 38.g4 [38.Kg3 d5

32...Kxd5?! This is an inaccuracy, which could have led toan immediate draw. [32... Rxb2 33.a6 h5! evacuating the 7th rank 34. Rb8 Ra2 35. Rxb5 Rxa6 Despite the material equality, Black still has chances because of the weak d5 pawn. 36. Rb7 Here we get the point of the 33...h5 move. Black can save all his pawns. 36...f6 37. Rg7 Kf5 38. Rd7 h4 and Black still can press for a while, but the objective result should rather be a draw.] 33.a6 Rxb2

39.Kf4 Re7! Very important move, to cut the White king along the e-file. Now the d-pawn is practically unstoppable. 40.Kg5 d4 41.Kf6 Rd7 wins in similar fashion to the game.] 38...d5 39.Kg3 Re7 Again, the same cut, but Black could have delayed it by one move. The rest comes automatically. [39...d4 40.Kf4 Re7!]

34.a7? The most logical move, but it is a big mistake. We’ll soon understand the subtle point... [34. Rb8! was the way to draw. The a-pawn threatens to promote, so Black has no choice. 34... Ra2 35. Rxb5+ Kc6 (35...Ke6 36.Rb6 =)

40.Kf4 d4 41.Kg5 Kc5 42.f4 [42.Kf6 Rd7] 42...d3 43.f5 Rd7 44. Rb1 d2 45. Rd1 Kc4 46.f6 Kd3 47.Kh6 Ke2 48. Rxd2+ Kxd2 Another instructive rook endgame. 0–1 23


(16) Lahno,Kateryna (2546) — Koneru,Humpy (2589) [A25] 4th WGP Kazan 2012 Kazan RUS (9), 20.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

44.Kf1 Bf6 45.Kg2 The best White can do is to wait — every pawn move only creates weaknesses in the structure. 45... Rb2 Of course, the Black rook belongs in b2! This is the right place for the rook. 46. Rc4 Be7 The second step of the Black plan should be to bring the king to e1 or e2. This is the only way for Black to create some threats. 47.Kf1 Bd6 48. Rc6 Bb4 49. Ra6 Rd2 50. Rb6 Bc3 51. Rc6 Be5 52. Ra6 Rd6 53. Ra7 Kf6 54. Rb7 Ra6 55.Kg2 Ke6 56. Rb4 Bc3 57. Rc4 Be5 58. Rb4 Kf5 59. Rb5 Ra2 60.Kf3 Ke6 61.Kg2 Bc3 62.Kf1

The position looks totally winning for Black, but is it so?! The only attacking point in the White structure is the pawn on f2, and it’s really hard to get a triple attack on that square. An exchange of rooks would, of course, win the game on the spot, but it is hard to achieve. Koneru shows good technical play. Let’s take a look at the winning plan. 43... Rb4

62...Kd6 The last 15 moves were not too exciting and Black didn’t make any progress, but now finally Koneru decides to move the king forward. Probably, Black wanted to keep the f7-g6 pawn structure, but this is not possible. Another option for Black is to put the pawns on f5g4, but it would make the f5 pawn weak, so there is no sense in doing that either. 63. Rb7 White uses the chance to put the pawn on f6, which can be useful in the future. The g6-pawn is getting 24


weak and White will have some ideas connected with Rg7 g5, and now f,4 trying to exchange as many pawns as possible.

72... Rc2 [Anyway 72... Rf1! 73.f4 Rf2+! 74.Kh3 Kf3

63...f6 64. Rb3 Rc2 65. Rb5 Kc6 66. Rb8 Kd5 Finally, the Black king crosses the 5th rank. 67. Rc8 The only move to fight. White can’t take the king away from f1, because Be1 would win the pawn on f2 on the spot. With the move Rc8, White finally gets the possibility of freeing the king. 67...Ke4 68.Kg2 Kd3

The entrance of the Black king decides the game. Black is winning.] 73.f4 Black wanted to win the pawn on f2 by playing Ke1. 73...Ke1+ 74.Kf3 Kf1 Black slowly enters White’s defense lines. Now Black wants to play f5, followed by Rf2 mate. 75.g4 Rf2+ 76.Kg3 Bc3! A nice move. Suddenly, the White king is in a deadly mating net!

69.Kf1 Again, the only move. In case of 69.Kf3, Be1 is winning.

77.g5

69... Rc1+ 70.Kg2 Ke2 Finally, Black managed to bring the king to e2. Half way is done! Now Black needs to get rid of the pin on the c-file and threaten to play Be1 or Rf1. 71. Rc6 [71. Rg8 Rf1 loses for White immediately.] 71... Bb2 Black is ready for the final action. Rf1 and Rc2Ke1 are the main ideas. 72. Re6 White is trying to get as ready as he can to face the Rf1 move.

77...f5! A great way to finish the game. 25


78. Rxg6 Rg2+ 79.Kh3 [79.Kf3 Be1] 79...Kg1 Black wants to mate by playing Rh2-Be1–Rf2. 80.e4 The only chance, but nothing helps anymore. 80...fxe4 81. Re6 Be1! The last prec ise move. Black wants to play Bf2 followed by e2. White has no moves. Against 82.g6, Rg3 83.Kh4 Rxg6 is coming. 82.f5

82... Rh2+ Followed by Rh4 mate. What can we say about the endgame? It’s quite easily winning for Black, but it’s important to know the plan! 0–1

26


Clash of the Titans (17) Martinez,D — Steinitz,W [C45] Philadelphia Philadelphia, 1883 [Balogh Csaba] This week, we’ll examine a game from the first undisputed World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz. He was the one who established the positional play in chess. He was the first who outplayed his opponents in a mainly positional manner. However, in our present game, Steinitz decided to play in „19th century style”. .. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 White goes for the Scotch. [3. Bb5 d6 was the favorite of Steinitz, and it was also named after him.] 3...exd4 4.Nxd4

concretely, otherwise the queen gets to be misplaced on h4. 5... Bb4 6. Be2! A pawn sacrifice for development. 6... Qxe4 7.Ndb5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3! and Black has serious problems with the c7 pawn, he has nothing better than 8... Kd8 but after 9.0–0 White has very strong initiative for the small material deficit. It’s very important for White to have the bishop pair in such positions.] 5...Qxe4+?! A bit too greedy, but 139 years ago, theory was just about to develop. [5... Bb4+ is the right approach, and Black seems to be fine after every move. The main idea is to defend the c7 pawn with the bishop. 6. Bd2 (6.c3 Ba5 7.Be3 Nf6 8.b4 a6! A nice in-between move, which solves Black’s problems.; 6.N1c3 Ba5) 6... Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Kd8! 8.0–0 Bxd2 9.Nxd2 Qf4 and compared to the 5.Nc3 line, Black managed to exchange the dark squared bishops, which clearly improves his defensive chances. After one mistake by White, he might remain without any compensation.] 6. Be3?! A logical developing move, White intends to play N1c3 and a quick 0–0–0, but after this, Black seems to be fine. [6. Be2 is the critical move. 6...Kd8 7.0–0

4...Qh4 A tricky sideline compared to the two main moves: 4... Bc5 and 4...Nf6. 5.Nb5 [5.Nc3 is probably the reason why we don’t see this queen rush on the highest level. Black has to play 27


7...a6 and here 8.N1c3! At first sight, a slightly suspicious move, because the b5 knight has no retreating square, but who said it has to come back in any case?! 8...Qe5 Black pinned his hopes to this move, but... (8...Qg6 9.Nd4 would be very nice for White. Black has no time to consolidate.; 8...Qh4? 9.g3! and the queen has no square, it must move into the Nd5 tempo.) 9.Nd5! axb5 10. Bf4 Qd4 11. Bxc7+ Ke8 12.Nb6 +- and the game is over. This could have been another very typical game for the 19th century.] 6...Kd8 It sounds a bit strange, but now Black seems to be all right. 7.Nd2 [7.N1c3 was definitely more logical, but Black is alive after 7... Bb4 8.Qd2 (8.a3 forcing Black to give up his good bishop 8...B xc3+ 9.N xc3 Qg6 10.Qd2 d6 11.0–0–0 Nge7 and undoubtedly White has compensation, but the Black king soon finds a safe shelter on c8.) 8...Qe7 9.0– 0–0 Nf6 and here again, it is not clear how should White continue...] 7...Qg6 8. Bd3 White plays in „Morphy style”! The legendary Paul Morphy has mated all his opponents in this style (giving away his pieces) in the middle of the 19th century, but at that time people could not defend very well. Against Steinitz, such kind of chess did not pay off. [8.Nf3 was an alternative, but Black can calmly finish his development 8...d6 9.Qd2 Nf6 10.0–0–0 Bd7 and the Black pawns are safely guarding the king.] 8...Qxg2! Steinitz is not afraid. He lures the bishop to e4, in order to develop his g8 knight with tempo. 9. Be4 Qh3 10.Nf3 [10.Qe2 Nf6]

10...d6 A bit ugly, but effective defense. [10...Qh5 was the computer’s suggestion 11.Ng5 (11.Nc3 Nf6) 11... Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 Nh6 White doesn’t have enough compensation.] 11.Ng5 Qd7 That is why I called it ugly. All the White pieces look dangerous, but actually, Black threatens to send them away one by one. First a6, then h6 and then Nf6. 12.Qd5 [12. Bd5 was probably the only chance to stay in the game, but Black has an advantage anyway after 12...Ne5 13.Nxa7 Be7 14.Nxc8 Kxc8 15.Nxf7 Nxf7 16. Bxf7 White won back both sacrificed pawns, but suddenly, his king gets in danger. 16...Nh6! with an advantage for Black.] 12...Ne5 With his last move, White made an aggressive move once again. One more time losing time in a number of ways, like c6 or Nf6. At first sight, it might be hard to believe, but the objective evaluation of the position is that Black is completely winning. 13.0–0–0

28


19. Bf3 After the big melee, White managed to restore material equality, but his knight got trapped in the corner. 19... Bd6 Ke7 is the threat. 20. Rg1 [20. Bxa7 Rd8] 20...Kf8 Now Kg8 is the threat. 21. Bg5 [21. Bxa7 Rd8] 13...Nf6 14.Qxe5 White goes for a forced line, after which the endgame clearly favors Black. [14.Qb3 was not much better either, but definitely with queens on board, White has more practical chances to set some tricks against the d8 king. 14...h6 15.Nf3 Neg4! After this strong defensive move, Black pushes back the remaining attacking pieces and comfortably enjoys his two extra pawns.] 14...dxe5 15.Nxf7+ [15. Bf5 is not better 15...Qxd1+ 16. Rxd1+ Bd6 17.Nxf7+ Ke7 and White has no good piece to take. 18.Nfxd6 (18.N xh8 B xf5; 18.B xc8 Rhxc8) 18...cxd6] 15...Ke8 16. Rxd7 Bxd7 17.Nxh8 Bxb5 [17...Nxe4?? 18.Nxc7+] 18. Bxb7 Rb8

21... Bc4 [21...Ke7 was much easier. White cannot save the knight.] 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Be4 Bc5 [Again, Black could have won in a more accurate way: 23...f5! 24. Bxf5 Ke7! and by getting rid of the f-pawn, Black has the Kf6 move against 25. Rg7. Black wins a piece.] 24.b3 [24. Bxh7 would have been more resistant, but Black is winning anyway. The following line nicely demonstrates the power of the bishop pair: 24... Bxf2 25. Rg2 Be3+ 26.Kb1 Rd8 Black has good alternatives in each move, but this line seems to be the most straight forward. 27.b3 Rd1+ 28.Kb2 Bd5 29. Rg3 Bf2 White must be very careful not to lose immediately 30. Rg4 and here probably the easiest is to play 30... Rh1 31.h4 Bd4+ 32.c3 Rh2+ 33. Bc2 Bf3! 34. Rg3 Be4] 24... Bg8 25. Rg2 Rd8! Ba3 threatens with mate. 26.c3 Rd7! The last strong move of the game. Rg7 is coming next and the knight falls. 27.Ng6+ Instead of resignation. 27...hxg6 28. Rxg6 Bh7 29. Rxf6+ Kg7 30. Re6 Ba3+ 0–1 29


Surprise section / study (18) Damele 1966 [CEWN] 1. +-

30


Solutions

(20) Bezgodov,A (2508) — Andreikin,D (2700) Russian Higher league, 16.06.2012

(19) Morozevich,A (2769) — Nakamura,H (2775)

[Solutions]

Tal memorial, 14.06.2012 [Solutions]

17. Bxh7+! Kxh7 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19. Rh6! gxf2+ 20.Kf1! [20.Kh2? Qc7+ 21.g3 gxh6–+] 20...gxh6 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Kg8 23.Qg6+ Kh8 24.Qh6+ Kg8 1/2–1/2 38...c3!! 39.bxc3 Ne3! 40.Qe2 [40.Qf3 Qa4–+] 40... Nd5! [40...Qxg6 41.Qd3 Qxd3 42. Rxd3] 41.Qd3 a4!! 42. Rb2 [42.c4 Rb3–+; 42. Rh2 Qd7! 43. Rxh6 Nxf6!–+ (43...N xc3+? 44.Ka1!!+-) ] 42... Rxb2+ 43.Kxb2 Qb8+ 44.Kc1 Qb3–+ 45.Qa6 Qxc3+ 46.Kd1 Ne3+ 47.Ke2 Qc4+ 0–1

(21) Swapnil,S (2445) — Esen,B (2568) Golden Sands Open, 11.06.2012 [Solutions]

36... Rxf2+! [36...Qe5? 37. Rxg7+! Qxg7 38.Qxe8++-] 37.Kxf2 Qh2+ 38.Kf3 [38.Kf1 Rf8+–+] 38...Qe2+ 39.Kg3 Re3+ 0–1 31


(22) Hayrapetian,A (2372) — Grigoryan,A (2581)

(24) Perunovic,M (2577) — Lenderman,A (2587)

Asrian memorial, 18.06.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15... Bh3!! 16. Rg1 [16.0–0–0 Bxg2! 17.Nxg2 Qxf3–+] 16... Bxg2 17. Rxg2 Qxf3 0–1

36...Ng3+! 37.Kh2 Ne4! 38.Qh4 [38.Qg7 Ke7!!–+ 39.Qxh7 Rh8 40.Qg7 Rcg8–+] 38... Rc2

(23) Lenderman,A (2587) — Zierk,S (2483)

(25) Koneru,H (2589) — Stefanova,A (2518)


Kazan, 18.06.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17. Bf6!! gxf6 18. Re3! e5 [18...Kh8 19. Rh3+-; 18... Rd8 19.Qh6!+-] 19.Qh6! [19. Rg3+? Kh8 20.Qh6 Rg8] 19... Kh8 20.dxe5! Qd8 21. Rd3!! 1–0

32. Rxf8+! Kxf8 [32... Bxf8 33.Nf6++-] 33.Qxe2!! Qe6 [33...Qxe2 34. Rc8#] 34.Nc3+32


(26) Al Sayed,M (2525) — Georgiev,K (2689)

(28) Gabuzyan,H (2457) — Cheparinov,I (2673)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

20... Rb8! 21.Nxa7 Ba4! 22.b4? [22.Kf2 Rxb2] 22... cxb4 23.axb4 Rb7 24.Nc8 Rc7 0–1 (27) Romero Holmes,A (2521) — Zelbel,P (2377) Pula Open, 15.06.2012

65.Qh5! [65. Rh8+? Kxh8 66.Qh5+ Kg8 67.Qh7+ Kf8 68.Qh8+ Ke7 69.Qxc8 Bxb2!! 70.Kxb2 a) 70.Qd7+ Kf6 71.Qxf7+ (71.Qd8+ Ke5; 71.gxf7 Qa3+ 72.Kb1 Qa1+ 73.Kc2 Qc1+ 74.Kb3 Qc3+=) 71...Kg5; b) 70.f6+ Kxf6!; 70...Qb4+ 71.Kc2 Qd2+ 72.Kb3 Qd1+=] 65... Bxh4 66.Qh7+ Kf8 67.Qh8+ Ke7 68.Qxc8+-

[Solutions]

29.Qxd5! [29. Rxb8? Bxc4] 29...Qxd5 [29... Rxb3 30.Qxf5+-; 29... Rxd5 30. Rxb8+-] 30. Rxb8+ Bf8 31.Nxf8+33


(29) Grigoriants,S 2012 [Solutions]

1.Qb2+!! Kxb2 2. Bc1+! Ka1 [2...Kxc1 3. Rxe1+ transposes to the game] 3. Bb2+! Kxb2 4. Re2+! Kc1 5. Rxe1+ Kb2 6. Re2+! Ka3 [6...Kc1 7.Nxa2+ Kb1 8.Nc3+ Kc1 9. Re1+ Kb2 10.Nxa4+ Ka3 11.Kc3 (11. Ra1+ Kb4 12. Rb1+ Kxa4 (12...Ka5 13.Nc6+ Kxa4 14.Kc3!!+; 12...Ka3 13.Kc3+-) 13.Kc3!!+-) 11...Qf7 12. Ra1+ Qa2 13.Nc2+ Kxa4 14. Rxa2#] 7. Rxa2+ Kb4 8. Rxa4+ Kc5 9. Rc4+ Kd6 [9...Kb6 10. Rb4+! Ka6 11.Ke4+ Ka5 12.Nc6#] 10. Rc6+ Ke5 11. Re6+ Kf4 12. Re4+ Kg3 13.Nce2+ Kf2 [13...Kh4 14.Nf3#] 14. Rf4+ Ke1 15.Nc2+ Kd1 16.Nc3+ Kc1 17.Na2+ Kb2 18. Rb4+ Kxa2 19.Kc3!!+-

34

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 19 6th of July 2012


6th of July 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

18


21


26


29

»» Solutions

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As usual, we had quite an interesting week of chess. The Russian Semifinal tournament came to an end with one very big surprise: Daniil Dubov managed to qualify for the Super Final sharing the first place after losing his last game! The other 3 qualifiers are: N. Vitiugov, S. Sjugirov and D. Andreikin, all with 7.5/11. The yearly and already traditional match between Russian and China has started. As usual, 5 men and 5 women from each country are participating in it. It’s going to be exciting! We already have commented a game from this event. As usual, in this issue we have nice puzzle and practical endgames for You. Sometimes things seem to be easy, especially when using an engine. In a practical game it is often much harder to make a decision. We would advice You to watch all the CEWN without any computer assistance. We try to explain the most critical moments as good as we can. We want to get Your attention one more time: In case You do not receive the CEWNs till Saturday morning, please do not panic and just write an email to us. We will immediately resend it. The PDF files are around 5 MB big, so sometimes they are getting blocked by the spam filters. There’s nothing we can do about it. Have fun with the CEWN Nr. 19! Arkadij Naiditsch Csaba Balogh 2



10. Bxf6 White uses the fact that the queen cannot recapture. This is just the beginning of theory, with more than a thousand games in the database.

(1) Alekseev,E (2677) — Dubov,D (2569) [B67]

10...gxf6 [10...Qxf6? 11.e5 dxe5 12.Ndxb5+/-]

65th ch-RUS HL Tyumen RUS, 27.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are in the last round of the Russian Higher League, where the first 5 players qualify to the Russian Super Final. The young Russian talent Daniil Dubov (16 years old) surprisingly led the field with half a point, and already had a guaranteed place in the „Super Final”. However, to get the tournament victory, he still needed to make at least a draw, while Alekseev had to win at any cost to have some chances of qualifying. (Alekseev was 1.5 points behind the leader). 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 This is the starting position of the Sicilian Rauzer defense. 6. Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0 Bd7 A very sharp and tactical line, where the Black king usually stays in the center. This is where White organizes his play, while Black tries to attack on the queenside.

11.Kb1 A prophylactic move. The king stands safer on b1 and White wants to push f5, which would have been a mistake if played immediately. [11.f5? Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bh6+! 13.Kb1 Bf4 and Black obtains a powerful bishop on e5.] 11...Qb6 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 In this line, White’s main idea is to put pressure on the e6 pawn, forcing it to do something. Usually, when Black cannot hold his pawn anymore, he needs to push e5, which weakens the d5 square. In an optimal scenario for White, he can jump to d5 with the knight and after the bishop takes it, he has better prospects in the opposite colored bishop middlegame thanks to his stronger bishop. 13.f5 White follows his plan, which involves a pawn sacrifice. It is not advisable to accept it since it opens the center against the Black king. 13...b4 14.Ne2

9.f4 b5

14...e5 This is the right moment for Black to push e5 because the White knight has no way to occupy the d5 3


square. Otherwise, White would have played Nf4, and e5 would be met with Nd5, reaching the ideal position. [14... Bxe4 is a mistake. 15.Ng3! is probably the most precise. 15...Bb7 (15...exf5? 16.Bd3+/- Black is temporarily 2 pawns up, but his position will collapse soon.; 15...Bd5?! moves into a tempo 16.Nh5 Be7 17.Nf4! with a big advantage.) 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Bd3 0–0–0 The king must escape from the danger zone, but this gives White enough time to harass the e6 and f6 pawns, and if one of them falls, Black gets in trouble. A nice triangle by the queen is coming: 18.Qf4! Be7 19.Qg4! White must act quickly. 19...f5 (19...Bd5 is nicely refuted by 20.Bf5!+-) 20.Qe2 and due to the pin on the e-file, White wins back the pawn in the next move.] 15.Ng3 White would like to play Nh5 and Bc4-d5 obtaining a good knight vs. bad bishop middlegame. Black has only one way to prevent both. 15...h5! Now the e4 pawn hangs after 16. Bc4 h4. 16.h4! White fixes the weakness on h5 and refreshes the threat of Bc4. We are still in a theoretical position.

of Bh6. 20.Bxb5 Qxc2+ 21.Ka1 axb5 22.g4 and White seemed to be in control, but after 22... Rc3!! 23.Qf1 (23. bxc3? loses to 23...b3! 24.axb3 Bh6 and Ra8 mate.) 23... Rc5 24.Qd3 Qxd3 25. Rxd3 Rg8 26. Rhd1 Rxg4 27.Rxd6 Rc1+! 28. Rxc1 Kxd6 29. Rd1+ Kc6 30.Nxf6 Rxh4 the game finished with a draw soon in Adams-Czarnota, Germany 2009] 19... Bh6 [The same doesn’t work now because of 19... Rc8 20. Bxb5! Qxc2+ 21.Ka1 axb5 and here is the key move: 22.Nxf6!+- and the knight reaches the excellent d5 outpost.] 20. Rd5 Actually, only this move is the novelty of the game, which seems to be very unpleasant from Black’s point of view. White wants to consolidate his position with Qd1 in any move. [Earlier 20.Bd3 was played, but Black could have gotten strong counterplay with 20...Be3! transferring the bishop to d4, followed by the a5-a4-a3 plan. This is a typical method to deal with the loss of the h5 pawn.]

18.Nxh5 Bb5 We have reached an important position, where it’s easy to go wrong...

20...Qe3? Dubov want ed to find counterplay against the e4 pawn (in this line, Black must always look for counterplay) and definitely missed the 24th move. [Otherwise, he would have played 20...Qc7 21.Qd1! White could not open the a-file. 21...Bc6! 22.Bc4! White should sacrifice an exchange instead of giving up the e4 pawn. 22... Rac8 (22... Bxd5 23.Qxd5) 23.g4 (23.b3!? is also interesting, in order to be able to recapture with the queen on d5. 23...Bxd5 24.Qxd5 Rh7 25.g4 with strong compensation on the light squares, in exchange of a small material deficit.) 23...Bxd5 24. Bxd5 with very strong compensation again. White should play on g5. The d5 bishop has the value of a rook.]

19.Qg4! [Michael Adams went wrong with the logical 19.Qf3 Rc8! The rook cannot protect the pawn because

21.Qd1! [21. Bxb5? is a mistake at this moment 21...axb5 22. Rxb5 Qa7!]

16...Qc5 17.Qe2! White wins a pawn now, because the queen protects the e4 pawn. In this line it’s quite normal for White to win the h5 pawn, but Black usually finds strong counterplay on the queenside. 17...Ke7! The king defends the f6 pawn and connects his rooks after developing with Bh6. This is the right place for the king in this line.

4


21...Qxe4 Dubov trusts his calculations that started from 20...Qe3 and continues walking into Alekseev’s trap. [Black cannot protect the d6 pawn, because of 21... Rhd8 22. Bxb5! axb5 23.Qd3! This is the big difference. White is in time to play Qb3 and enjoys a clear extra pawn. 23... Qa7 24.Qb3+-] 22. Bxb5 axb5 23. Rxd6 Rad8 This was Blac k’s idea. He seems to be more than fine in all the lines. However, one move was missed in his mind...

27... Rg8 [27...Kd5 is not good immediately. 28.Nf6+ Kd4 29. Rd1+ Ke3 30. Rd3+ and here Black cannot follow his plan of supporting the e-pawn with 30...Kf4 because of the spectacular mate with (30...Ke2 31.h5+-) 31. Rf3#] 28.g3 Rg4 29. Re1 Bg7! Dubov fights very well. He temporarily goes to passivity with the bishop in order to be able to play Kd5. The f6 square had to be taken under control. 30. Re3! White protects the g3 pawn after the retreat of the knight. 30...Kd5 [30... Bh6 is met with 31.Nf2! and the endgame after 31... Rxh4 32.gxh4 Bxe3 33.Ng4 is winning. 33... Bf4 34.c3! White needs to bring his king to e4, and on 34...bxc3 35.bxc3 Kd5 36.h5+- the pawn promotes.] 31.Nf2

24. Rd7+!! After this excellent trick, White gets a winning endgame with two extra pawns. However, converting this advantage is still difficult. [24.Nxf6 Qxf5; 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Qf3 Qxf3 26.gxf3 Rd2 In both lines Black is more than fine! The two b-pawns blockade well the three pawns on the queenside. White has no chance to create a passer there, while on the kingside it’s clear that only Black can be better.] 24... Rxd7 25.Qxd7+ Kxd7 26.Nxf6+ Kc6 27.Nxe4 White is two pawns up, but he has technical difficulties because of the e5 passer which is supported by the bishop and the king. Another problem for White is his king, which is cut off from the game.

31... Rd4 White play ed a perfect game until this moment, but now he starts to go wrong. Probably, time trouble was also affecting his play. 32.a3?! [32. Re1! was the precise technique in order to have 32...e4 33.Ng4! with an easy winning position. Black cannot support his pawn.] 5


32...e4 33.Ng4? With the same idea as before, but now Black can occupy the d4 square with the bishop. Objectively speaking, despite being two pawns down, Black is completely fine after this mistake. [The most logical 33.axb4! was still winning. White wants to play c3 and bring his king, so Black must do something quickly 33... Bh6 34. Re1 e3 35.Nd1 Ke4 was probably what Alekseev was afraid of, but 36.g4! Bf4 37.g5! Kf3 (37...Kxf5 leads to a winning rook endgame with 2 vs. 1 by force. 38.N xe3+ B xe3 39.R xe3 R xh4 40.Rf3+ Kxg5 41.R xf7 R xb4 and here White collects the b5 pawn. 42.Rb7 Kf6 43.c3+-) 38.g6 fxg6 39.fxg6 should be winning.] 33... Rd1+ 34.Ka2 Bd4 35. Rb3 bxa3 36. Rxa3

37... Rd2 when c3 does not work anymore. 38.h5 (38.R xb4 e3! 39.N xe3+ B xe3 with 4 pawns for the piece, but they are not far advanced yet.) 38... Rxc2 39.h6 Kc4 Black had other moves to draw as well. Strangely, it’s already White the one that needs to secure the draw somehow. The d4 bishop and the e4 pawn dominate the game. 40.h7 Kb5 41.Ne3 (41.f6 Rc8) 41... Rh2 42.Nd5 Rxh7 43.Nxb4 Kc4 Only Black can be better.; 36... Rc1 is probably the „easiest” draw. On 37.c3 e3! 38.cxd4 e2 and in comparison to the game, Black controls the promoting square. 39.Ne3+ Kxd4 40.Ng2 Rg1! 41.Ne3 Rc1!= with a repetition.] 37.c3 Bc5 [37... Bf2 38. Ra8+- with the unpleasant threat of Rd8.; Now 37...e3? loses to the simple 38.cxd4 e2 39. Re3+-] 38. Ra8 e3 39. Re8 e2 Black still creates some problems for White to solve, but Alekseev does not let the win slip away.

36... Rd2? Black spoils his sudden chance. Actually, the superiority of the Black pieces and the dangerous e4 pawn give more than one way to draw. [36...b4 37. Rb3 and now a) 37. Ra5+ Kd6 38. Ra8 Rg1=; b) 37. Ra8 Rg1!= and after Black takes on g3, he does not need to worry anymore. (Of course not 37...e3?? 38.N xe3+ B xe3 39.Rd8++-) ;

40.h5 b4 The time trouble is over! White gets some time to avoid the last traps of his opponent. 41.Kb3! It’s neces sary to control the a1–h8 diagonal, to keep the bishop off. Now the h-pawn has the same value as the one on e2. [41.cxb4? would lead to another turn in the game. 41... Bd4! Black is fine again.] 6


41... Rd3 Black sets up a last clever trick... 42. Rxe2 bxc3 43.Nf6+! But Alekseev does not fall into it. White can protect his c3 pawn with Ne4 now. [43.bxc3 was the last chance for a blunder. 43... Bd4 Black gets very good chances to survive. He starts collecting pawns, and the g4 knight is really poorly placed now.] 43...Kc6 44.bxc3 Now it is over! 44... Rxg3 45.Ne4 Alekseev decides to simplify the game into a winning rook endgame... [45. Re8 Rh3 46. Rc8+ Kb5 47.Ne4+- was also good.]

(2) Kamsky,G (2741) — Istratescu,A (2636) [A40] 40th TCh-GRE 2012 Achaea GRE (1.2), 30.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.d4 In this game we will see how easily White outplays Black in quite a strange position. Gata Kamsky still remains one of the best chess players in the world, after he stopped playing chess in 1996, when he was number 2 in the world. He returned to professional chess in 2004.

45... Rh3 46.Nxc5 Kxc5 47. Re7 Rxh5 48. Rxf7 And Black has no hopes against these two pawns.

1...e6 By playing 1...e6, Istratescu is ready to play the French after White’s 2.e4, but it’s clear that Kamsky is a 1. d4 player and most probably his choice will not be 2.e4

48... Rg5 49. Rf8 Kd6 50.f6 Black resigned. A nice fighting game. At the end, Dubov finished 2nd place with a worse tiebreak than GM Andreikin, and Alekseev finished in the most annoying 6th place. (1st-5th qualified to the Super Final.) [50.f6 Ke6 51.c4+-] 1–0

2.c4 Bb4+ Here we see the little difference with the main lines, Black retains the possibility of playing f5 and only then Nf6. Usually it is not a great setup in any case, so Black returns to the main lines by playing Nf6.

3. Bd2 [3.Nc3 f5 Maybe this was the idea of Istratescu?!] 3...a5 [3... Bxd2+ 4.Qxd2! For White it’s important to put the knight on c3, in case of 4. Nxd2, the White knight will be badly placed. Black usually plays d6-e5 later, after 7


which White would give a lot to have the knight on c3, to be able to play Nd5.] 4.g3 d5 5. Bg2 dxc4 6.Nf3 Nc6 In case of 6...Nf6 we would be back in the main Catalan. With the 6...Nc6 move, Istratescu tries to make a difference by keeping the knight on g8, where it can still develop to e7 as well. We’ll see if this is a good idea.

7. Bc3!? Nice and logical. White protects the pawn on d4, and against 7...Nf6, 8.Nbd2! seems to be strong. 7...Nge7 8.0–0 [In case of 8.Nbd2 b5!? Black needs to try to hold the pawn at any costs. 9.a4 Usually, such positions are better for White, but here it seems like Black has counterplay. 9... Bxc3! 10.bxc3 b4 with a very unclear position.] 8...0–0 The Black knight , instead of his usual square on f6, is now standing on e7. Usually, White’s play is connected with the e4 move, but here it doesn’t seem to make much sense. So probably Gata is making the best choice: to try to win the c4 pawn. 9.a4!? White wants to play Nbd2-Nxc4 and the position would be clearly better for White.

9...b6 10.Qc2 Another typical move in the Catalan. White doesn’t hurry with Nbd2. First, he puts the rook on d1, to keep a wider range of options in the future. Maybe even the idea of e4-d5 could be dangerous eventually. 10... Ba6 11. Rd1

11...Qe8 A logical move, but it gives White a chance to spoil Black’s pawn structure on the kingside. [11...f6!? This move doesn’t look great, but maybe it’s not that bad. It’s clear that White has enough counterplay for the pawn, but a pawn is a pawn. The next Black’s moves could be Qe8 and Rd8.] 12.Ng5!? I like this move a lot. It’s clear that White’s play should be on the kingside, and to weaken the pawn structure is definitely a good idea! 12...g6 [12...Ng6 would be countered by a typical 13.h4! h6 14.h5 hxg5 15.hxg6 and Black’s position looks very dangerous.] 13.e4 Rd8 14.Na3 All the White pieces are developed, Black’s king structure is weak and White has a strong and stable center. This is too much for just a pawn. We have to say that the experiment of putting the knight to e7 was 8


not successful. Black needs to do something now. White has a lot of useful moves like: h4-h5 or Rd2-Rad1, with the idea of d5. 14... Bxc3 And Black panics. After this move, White gets a big advantage. It doesn’t matter what Black should do, ho should not give up the c4 pawn — the only plus he has in the position. [14...h6!? was probably the best way to fight. 15.Nf3 (15.Nh3 would give Black a chance for 15... Rd7 16.Nb5

17...c5 Black is trying to look for complications in a difficult position. [17...Qc6 18.Qe2! Of course, White should keep the queens on the board. 18...Qc2 19. Rd2+/-] 18.dxc5 [18.d5? This move would be a big positional mistake. 18...exd5 19.exd5 Nf5! and the Black knight takes a perfect place on d6.]

16... Bxc3! This move is only possible with the White knight on h3. If the knight would stand on f3, White would have the move Ne5. 17.bxc3 (17.Qxc3 Nb4! and White doesn’t have Ne5.) 17...e5 with a very unclear position.) 15... Rd7 16.Nb5 and White is doing better.] 15.Qxc3 Nb4 16.Nxc4 The pawns are equal, White’s position is clearly better. 16... Bxc4 17.Qxc4

18... Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Qxa4 20. Bf3! A good move. White had a couple of choices here: [20. Rd6 This move looks nice, but it doesn’t seem to bring anything for White. 20...Qa1+ 21. Bf1 Qxb2 22.cxb6 Nc8! Black is winning the b6 pawn, which almost means a draw. 23. Rd1 Nxb6 24.Qb5 Qc2! The last exact move. The position is a draw.] 20...Qc6? After this move, White’s attack will be decisive. [20...bxc5 21.Qxc5 Nbc6 22.e5 leads to a much better position for White.; 20...h6! This move is the only one for Black. It looks super dangerous but maybe it just works. In any case, Black had to try it. 21.Nxf7 White needs to give a piece. In case of 21.Nh3 Qc6, Black is doing fine (21.N xe6 b5) 21... Rxf7 (21...Kxf7 22.Rd6) 22. Rd8+ Kg7 23.Qc3+ Rf6 White has a lot of moves here. Here’s one of the logical long lines that probably leads to a draw: 9


24.cxb6 Nbc6 25.b7 Qb5 26.e5 Rxf3 All the moves are forced. 27.Qxf3 Nxd8 28.Qf6+ Kg8 29.Qxe7 Nxb7 30.Qxe6+ Kf8 31.Qf6+ Ke8 32.Qxg6+ Maybe White is better, but I think the position should objectively be a draw.] 21.e5! White is going for a mate! 21...Qxc5 22.Qh4 h5 28...Ne3+! What a move! 29.Kh3! (29.fxe3 After the logical 29...Qe2+ 30.Kh3 Kg7 the position might even be close to equal!) 29...Qf1+ 30.Kh4 Ng4 31.f3 and White is probably winning! A very nice line :).] 25.Nf6+ Kg7 [25...Kh8 26.Nd7] 26.Nxh5+ Kh8 27.Nf6 White wants to play Nd7 and g4. There is no defense against this double threat. 23.Ne4 Very good play by White! The knight is going to f6, the Queen to g5. [Of course it doesn’t work to play 23. Bxh5? gxh5 24.Qxh5 Qc2!] 23...Nf5 24.Qg5 Qxe5 This move is losing immediately. [24...Qc2! A strange looking move, but probably the only one. 25.Nf6+ Kh8 This is the critical position. Seems like White should mate somehow, but things are by far not that easy. Black wants to start some counterplay by playing Nd3. 26.Kg2! A nice move, White is preparing to play Be4. (The direct 26.B xh5 Nd3 27.R xd3 Qxd3 28.Bg4 Qb1+ 29.Kg2 Kg7 30.Nh5+ Kg8 31.Nf6+ Kg7 seems to only lead to a draw.) 26...Nd3 27. Rxd3! Qxd3 28. Be4 Probably, every human player would stop the calculation saying: „Black is lost”, but in fact, White still needs to fight to get the full point.

27...Qxb2

28.g4! The Black knight is falling. 28...Kg7 29.Nh5+ Kh7 30.gxf5 exf5 [30...gxh5 leads to a mate 31.f6 Rg8 32. Be4+ Kh8 33.Qxg8+ Kxg8 34. Rd8#] 10


31.Nf4 The game is over. White is a piece up and has a deadly attack.

(3) Motylev,A (2683) — Wang Hao (2733) [B94]

31...Qg7 32. Rd7 Re8 33.Kg2 Kg8 34. Bd5 A very nice game by White. Slow opening, good positional play and an excellent mating attack! Gata Kamsky, like in his best years! :). 1–0

Chinese league, 28.06.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very interesting theoretical battle, which should have finished in perpetual check, but ended with a blunder by Black. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 The sharpest and the most aggressive setup against the Sicilian Najdorf defense. Alexander Motylev is an excellent theoretician, who used to be the main second of the Russian team at the Olympiad, and is currently the second of GM Sergei Karjakin. 6...Nbd7 A modern li ne, instead of the main 6...e6. Black waits for a while with his e-pawn, because in some lines, he can counter White’s f4 with e7-e5, which could save a tempo. In this game, the Chinese Nr.1 gives a new idea for keeping the pawn on e7... 7.Qe2

7...b5 Wang Hao is a real specialist of this rare move. In 2012, it’s already his 3rd game in this position, except that once he was playing with the White pieces. For the players that 11


are interested in the Najdorf defense, I really recommend to use this setup with Black. It looks easy and it’s good! [7...e6 8.f4 would transpose back to one of the main lines.] 8.Nd5 There was only one game with this move. We will see Motylev’s deep preparation in the main line at 10... gxf6. [8.0–0–0 happened in the first Wang Hao game. 8... Bb7 9. Bxf6 (Here is an example where Black uses the tempo he saved by not playing e6. 9.f4 e5! 10.Nf5 Qb6 followed by Rc8 with the unpleasant threat of the typical Sicilian exchange sacrifice Rxc3. Black is completely fine!) 9...Nxf6! Keeping the healthy pawn structure seems to be a strong improvement on Black’s play. (9...gxf6 10.Qh5 Rc8 11.Nd5 with a very sharp position in Kokarev-Wang Hao, Russian league 2012.) 10.e5 This was White’s idea, otherwise there was no reason to give up the g5 bishop, but now Black has the calmreply 10...dxe5! and on 11.Ndxb5 Nd7! At first sight, this looks dangerous, but White has nothing better than to retreat with the knight. 12.Na3 g6! the right way to develop the bishop. 12...e6 would have weaken the d6 square after Nc4. 13.Nc4 Bg7=+ and Black already overtook the initiative.; Wang Hao as White played 8.a4 and according to computer analysis, a more or less forced line is coming, which was known by both players. 8...b4 9.Nd5 Bb7!

10.Qc4! Trying to force Black to take the d5 knight, after which the d5 pawn would paralyze Black’s development and the c6 square would be critically weakened. However, Black reacts with a powerful pawn sacrifice: 10... Rc8! 11.Qxb4 Rb8! White should probably settle for a draw with 12.Qc4 Rc8, because the concrete 12.Nxf6+ gxf6 13. Be3 Bxe4 seems to work well for Black. 14.Qc4 Qa5+! 15. Bd2 Qc5 16.b4 Qxc4 17. Bxc4 Bxg2 18. Rg1 Bb7 Black had the initiative in Wang Hao-Le Quang Liem, Chinese league 2012.] 8... Bb7 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Nxf6+

10...exf6!! A really unusual and unexpected recapture. The idea is simple, Black would like to play g6, Bg7, 0–0 and Re8, putting pressure on the e4 pawn. Later on, Black can easily solve the problems of his pawn structure with d6-d5 or f6-f5, and the diagonals open for the bishop pair. White must do something concrete, otherwise Black gets a big advantage. [10...gxf6 happened before. 11.0–0–0 Qc7 12.Kb1 0–0–0 and here Motylev prepared a great novelty instead of 13.g3. 13.h4! Kb8 14. Rh3! with a dangerous attack. The bishop stands excellently on f1, it is going to be a strong attacker after an a2-a4 push.] 12


11.a4! White must act while the king is stuck into the center. [The most logical 11.0–0–0 would allow Black to obtain his dream position. 11...g6! 12.h4 Probably, this is not the best idea, Black is fine anyway. 12... Bg7 13.h5 0–0 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Qg4 Re8! and White’s attack is easily neutralized by this move. Now the move Qh4 has no threat at all. After the check on h7, the king is going to be completely safe on f8! 16.f3 d5! Now the diagonals start to open for the bishops. 17.exd5 f5=+ followed by Qxd5 with an advantage.] 11...bxa4 12.Qc4! [12. Rxa4 gives enough time to continue the plan with 12...g6]

and the bishops have no target. If White could exchange the light colored bishops, his advantage would grow to a very big one.] 13. Rxa3 Anyway, this is White’s best option. [13.Qa4+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15. Rxa3 d5 transposes to the game.] 13...d5! 14.Qa4+ Qd7 15.Qxd7+ [15. Bb5? is spectacular, but it leads to a bad endgame for White 15...axb5 16.Qxa8+! Bxa8 17. Rxa8+ Ke7 18. Ra7! This was the point of the combination, but the knight is going to have problems to escape from a7... 18...Qxa7 19.Nc6+ Kd6 20.Nxa7 Kc5! 21.exd5 Bd6=+ and the knight escapes through c6, but Black preserves a positional advantage with the superior bishop after taking the d5 pawn.] 15...Kxd7 16. Rb3! The concrete fight continues... 16...Kc7 17. Rc3+ Kb6 18. Rb3+

12...a3! An excellen t decision. Trying to worsen White’s pawn structure, otherwise the rook moves into the pin of the f8 bishop. [The e4 pawn is taboo 12... Bxe4? 13.Nc6! d5 14.Qxa4 Qd7 seems to hold, but 15. Bb5! is very strong.; 12...g6 leads to a worse endgame for Black. 13.Qxa4+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15. Bc4 White would like to play Bd5 and exchange the strong bishop, getting a big advantage, so the next move is forced: 15... Bxe4 16.f3 Bb7 17. Bxf7+= followed b y 0–0–0, with a small advantage. The Black king and the d6 pawn are weak

18...Ka7?? Wang Hao got overoptimistic with the bishop pair and blundered a beautiful tactical blow. [18...Kc7 was the correct move with a perpetual check to follow. It could have been a flawless game.]

13


19. Bxa6!! After this shocking move, Black resigned![19. Bxa6 Kxa6 (19...B xa6 20.Nc6#) 20.0–0 20.Ke2 or 20.Kd2 are equally good. Black cannot avoid getting mated. 20...Ka7 21.Nc6+!! This check was the point of the sacrifice! 21... Bxc6 22. Ra1+ followed by mate.] 1–0

(4) Vitiugov,Nikita (2703) — Ding,Liren (2680) [E81] 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Classical St Petersburg RUS (1), 02.07.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] This is the first game of what has become almost a traditional yearly training match between Russia and China. We’ll see a nice and typical attacking game by White. This is a good example of what Black should clearly avoid... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 Lately, a few Russian players have started playing 5.f3 against the King’s Indian. We can see a lot of games of Tomashevsky and Vitiugov in this line. Maybe they work together!? 5...0–0 6. Be3 c5

7.Nge2 [7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6 10.Nge2 Nd7 11. Ba3 with a fighting position.; 7.d5 are the other 2 main moves here 7...e6 8.Qd2] 7...b6 To be honest, this move looks a bit strange to me. White wanted to play d5 anyway, and it’s not clear how the pawn on b6 helps Black. Also, the knight on b8 14


doesn’t look great at all, especially if we compare it to the 7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 line, where it takes a central position. [7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Ng3 a6 10.a4 e6 11. Be2 exd5 12.cxd5 h5 13.0–0 Bd7

9...exd5 Black has to act. If White gets 2 more moves, he would play Bd3 and 0–0 and Black’s position could become clearly worse. 10.Nfxd5 Of course, White takes on d5 with a knight, using the fact that Black can’t play 10...Nxd5 11. Qxd5! because the rook on a8 would fall. 10...Nc6 White has only one weakness in his structure, the d4 square. So, of course, Black is going to make use of it and place his knight there. 11.Qd2 This move is a play against Black’s Nxd5, now the pawn on b2 is not hanging anymore...

14.Nh1!? This is the game Vitiugov-Cheparinov from the ECC 2012, where after some sharp play, White managed to get the advantage and win the game. A few more moves of this exciting fight: 14...b5 15.Nf2 b4 16.Nb1 c4 17. Bd4 Rc8 18.Nd2 c3 19.bxc3 bxc3 20.Nb3 Nc4 21.Qc2 The c-pawn is blocked and the bishop on d4 is standing very well; White is doing clearly better.]

11...Nxd5 12.Nxd5 It’s hard to say who is doing better here. Probably White has a very small advantage, but the position is very playable for both sides. From this moment on, Black starts making „positional” mistakes that lead to a deadly attack against his king.

8.d5 A very logical move, why not to take the center if You can... 8...e6 9.Nf4 White switches from the usual 9.Ng3. [In case of the logical 9.Ng3 Na6!? and maybe this was Black’s main idea when he played 7...b6. Now the Black knight goes to c7, where it can support the b5-push. 10. Bd3 exd5 11.cxd5 Nc7 12.a4 a6 13.0–0 Bd7 followed by b5. In my opinion, White should be doing better anyway.]

12... Be6 [Why not 12...f5!? This move looks much more logical to me. Black uses his better development and starts to play actively. 13. Bg5 White has many different moves here, but the position is very complicated. 13...

15


Qd7 14.exf5 Qxf5 15.0–0–0 and we are in a very sharp and complicated position.] 13. Bd3 Bxd5? This move is a serious positional mistake. It looks like Black will have a huge knight on d4, but this gives White too much play on the kingside. Black had clearly better options: [13... Bd4!? At first sight, this is a strange-looking move, but also quite a tricky one. In case of the logical 14.0–0 Bxd5! 15.cxd5 Bxe3+ 16.Qxe3 Nd4

Black gets a great position! The bishop on g7 was exchanged for the e3-bishop, which is great. Now nothing can move the knight from d4 and all of White attacking chances on the kingside are not as effective without the bishops on the board. From a practical point of view, I would probably choose Black here.; 13...b5!? This tactical option is a good choice as well. 14.cxb5 Bxd5 forcing White to take on d5 with the e-pawn, which is usually good for Black. 15.exd5 (15.bxc6 B xc6 looks like an equal position to me.) 15...Ne5! This is the key move! Not so easy to see during a practical game. In case of 16.0–0 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Bxb2 or 17... Re8 first, Black is totally fine. 16. Be2 It seems like White defended everything,

but... 16...Nc4! Black uses the unfortunate position of the White king on e1. A nice tactical trick. 17. Bxc4 Qh4+ 18.g3 Qxc4 and only Black can be better here.] 14.cxd5 Nd4 15.0–0 Now White’s plan is clear: attack the Black king. Black’s plan is clear as well: try to create something on the queenside while not getting mated. 15...b5?! Black clearly underestimates his opponent’s plan. It was time to think about how to stop White from playing f4-f5. [15...f5!? This move is not as good as it was before, but it still leads to a slightly unclear position. Probably White is doing a bit better and can continue with 16.Kh1 threatening to play Bxd4 and exf5 next, but the game remains quite unclear.]

16.Kh1 White is preparing the deadly f4-f5 push. 16...Qd7 17. Rae1! There is no need to hurry. Black’s play on the queenside is clearly too slow. [17.f4?! The right move, but in this unprepared version, it doesn’t work that well. 17...f5! Black cannot allow White to play f5. 18. Bxd4 Bxd4 19.exf5 gxf5 20. Rae1 Rae8 and Black is just in time to stop White from playing Re6. The position might be a bit better for White, but it’s nothing special, and the game would probably end in a draw.] 16


17...b4? This move is a serious mistake. [17... Rae8! Black prepares to counter White’s f4 with f5. 18.b4!+/- This st rong positional move gives White a clear advantage. Black’s central pawns look shaky, and White’s f4 move might become very dangerous now.] 18.f4! Finally!

21.e5! A small and pretty final combination. 21... Bxe5 22. Rxe5 dxe5 23.f6 White wants to play Qh6. 23...Kh7 24. Rf5! A beautiful last move!

18...h5 It’s difficult to give an advice in such a bad position. [Doesn’t work 18...f5 19. Bxd4! Bxd4 20.exf5 gxf5 21. Re6! and White is in time to put the rook on e6, which almost gives him a winning position.; If Black tries to „do nothing”: 18...a5 19.f5 Be5 20.f6 would also lead to a very bad position.] 19.f5 White wanted to play f6. 19... Be5 20. Bxd4! It’s never nice to give up such a bishop, but this move seems to win by force. 20... Bxd4 Now White can show his tactical skills. [In case of 20...cxd4 21. Rf3 White is going to mate the poor Black king with all his pieces... It’s hard to imagine how Black would survive this.]

White is mating Black. In case of 24...gxf5 25.Qg5 mate. We saw quite an instructive game; Black played badly and White played well. Let’s hope that we don’t make the same mistakes that the Chinese player Ding Liren made. 1–0

17


Puzzle section

(7) Papadopoulos,I (2417) — Berg,E (2587) Greek league, 01.07.2012

(5) Kosteniuk,A (2472) — Ju Wenjun (2518) Russia-China match, 02.07.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Berg,E (2587) — Hagen,A (2445) (6) Khismatullin,D (2664) — Khairullin,I (2631) Russian Higher league, 17.06.2012 [CEWN]

Svein memorial, 22.06.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1... –+

18


(9) Gupta,A (2644) — Sarkar,J (2411)

(11) Pelletier,Y (2589) — Heimann,A (2480)

Philadelphia Open, 29.06.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(10) Zapata,A (2484) — Battaglini,G (2412)

(12) Istratescu,A (2633) — Mohajerin,P (2429)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

19


(13) Yu Ruiyuan (2511) — Zhao Jun (2583) Chinese league, 27.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Caruana,F (2767) — Godena,M (2508) Suisse league, 24.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

20


Endgame section (15) Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2718) — Li,Chao b (2687) [D10] 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Classical St Petersburg RUS (1), 02.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Let’s take a look at this practical endgame. The position seems to be winning for White, but the protected pawn on c4 and the fact that there are only 3 White pawns left make the task not that easy. 39. Bc5! A good move by White. The exchange of bishops is very good for him and it follows a golden rule in chess: „Simplify the winning position as much as possible”. 39... Bxc5 40. Rxc5 Nd6 What is the best chance for Black to survive?! Of course, an exchange of pawns would be nice, so the move f6-f5 is sort of a little threat. Can it be that Black also wants to play Ne4 now?! In order to ex-

change the knight by giving away the c-pawn, let’s take a look 41.f3 [This is not the best move, but we want to reach the position with Rook vs. Bishop. 41. Rc6 Ne4 42.Nxe4 Bxe4 43. Rxc4 Bd3 Is the position winning and what can be White’s plan? Yes, this is quite an easy winning position and White has a couple of plans. The easiest one might be to put the pawn on f5, then to give a check on the 7th rank with the rook and finally bring the king to e6 and win the f-pawn. 44. Rd4 Bb1 45.f3 Bc2 Black can’t do much more than wait... On Kg6, White always has Rd6, not allowing h5. 46.Kf2 Bb1 47.Ke3 Bc2 48. Rd6 Bb1 49. Rb6 Bg6 50.g3 Bc2 51. Rb4 (51.f4 Bd1 and the g4 pawn is going to fall.) 51...Kg7 52.f4 Kf7 53.f5 Bd1 54. Rd4 Bb3 55. Rd7+ Kg8 56.Kd4 and the White king is going to e7, the game is over.] 41...f5!? The best ch ance for Black. It doesn’t make sense to wait, the White king could go to d4 and Rc6 would decide the game. 42.gxf5 Nxf5 43.Ne4?! Not the most precise move, but still winning. [43.Kf2 would be the easiest technical way. 43...h6 White wanted to play g4 and win the g5 pawn. 44.Na4! and the c4 pawn drops, and with it, the game. 44...Nd4 45.Nb2] 43... Bxe4 44.fxe4 Nd6! Another White pawn is falling. 45. Rxg5 [45.e5? would be a serious mistake that would probably lead to a draw. 45...Nf5 46. Rxc4 Ke6 47. Rc5 g4! 48.Kf2 h5 and it seems like the position is a draw. Black will exchange a pawn by playing h4-h3 next, then he’ll play Ne7-Ng6 and Nxe5.]

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45...Nxe4 [45...c3 46. Rc5 Nxe4 47. Rc4 would lead to the same type of position.]

54...Nd6 55.Kg2! And the king is going back to collect the h-pawn.

46. Re5! A good move by White. The Black knight will be badly placed on d6 and any other knight moves would lose the c-pawn immediately.

55...Ne4 56. Rxc4 Ng5 57. Rf4! The last precise move. The next moves of White will be Rf5 followed by Kh3. The endgame must have looked like an easy winning one, but in a practical game it’s not so simple! All in all, good technique by White. 1–0

46...Nd6 47. Rc5 Kf6 48.Kh2 Is this position winning?! Probably it is, but it’s simple at all. If White manages to win the c-pawn, the position is winning, but it’s not an easy task. White’s plan is not to play Kh3-Kh4-Kh5 and eat away the h7 pawn. Black can never play Kg6 because of Rc6, winning the piece. 48...h5! A very inventive idea. 49.Kh3 Ke6 50.Kh2 White is too afraid to go into a forced line, and this is easy to understand. In a long calculation it’s not difficult to make a mistake. [50.Kh4! Anyhow, this move is winning by force. 50...Nf5+! This is Black’s main idea, the knight is going to e3. 51.Kxh5 Ne3 52.g4 Kd6 53. Ra5! The White rook is going to a1 to hold the Black pawn. 53...c3 54.g5 c2 55. Ra1 and White is winning. But to go for this line in a practical game is a difficult decision.] 50...Kf6 51.g3 Ke6 52.Kg2! White changed the plan and now tries to bring the king to f4. 52...Nf5 The Black knight is freeing itself, but this doesn’t help. 53.Kf2 h4 The last chance. [53...Kf6 is not saving now. 54. Rxc4 Kg5 55.Kf3 Ng7 56. Rc5+ Nf5 57. Ra5! and Black is in zug-zwang. 57...Kg6 58.Kf4+-] 54.g4 Of course, White doesn’t exchange the last pawn.

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(16) NN — Balogh,Cs Training blitz game, 30.06.2012 [Chess Evolution]

I got this incredibly difficult endgame in a training blitz game against my friend, who asked me to not reveal his name... We only had a couple of seconds left to finish the game... 1.Kf4?! A mistake, which allowed me to hold the draw comfortably. [We had no idea about what is the correct evaluation of the critical move, sacrificing the knight for the pawns. It was very instructive to analyze this (probably theoretical) position. After all, it became clear that Black can hold the draw by extremely precise defense. 1.Nxf5+! gxf5 2.f4!? A very tricky attempt, in order to prevent the Kh6 move after 2.Kxf5. (2.Kxf5

2...Kh6! The only way to draw! The Black king should try to get between the pawns. If it was his move, Kh5 would easily secure the half point. (First, let’s examine why other moves are losing... 2...Ng6 3.f4 The waiting policy is not a good idea, White slowly advances his pawns. 3...Nf8 (3...Ne7+ 4.Ke6 Nc6 5.f5 Nd4+ As we will see, this idea of going around with the knight is correct, but now Black gave too many tempi for White to advance his pawns... 6.Ke5 Nf3+ 7.Kf4 Nd4 8.g4+- followed by g5 and then h5.) 4.g4 Ng6 5.h5 Nh4+ (5...Nf8 6.g5 Nd7 7.h6+ Kh7 and here the easiest is to transfer the king to h5, and the pawns promote automatically. 8.Kg4+-) 6.Ke6 Ng2 The right strategy is to create a hole between the pawns and then occupy it with the king. Unfortunately for Black, he is already too late to arrange the correct setup. (6...Kh6 7.f5+- Black cannot stop the f-pawn.) 7.f5 Black should play now Kg5, but it is illegal. That is why it is so important to play 2...Kh6! 7...Nf4+ 8.Kd6! Kf7 has a very nice refutation. (8...Nh3 9.Ke7 Ng5 10.f6+ Kg8 11.h6+- and Black is in zugzwang!; 8...Kf6 9.h6 Nh3 is also late by just one tempo. 10.h7 Kg7 11.f6+ Kxh7 12.f7 Kg7 13.Ke7+-) 9.h6 Kf6 (9...Nh3 10.h7 Kg7 11.f6+ Kxh7 12.f7 Kg7 13.Ke7+-)

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10.Kd7! and the king goes around to support the h-pawn. 10...Nd3 (10...Kf7 11.g5+-) 11.Ke8! Ne5 12.Kf8! The king arrived in time to control the g7 square. 12...Nxg4 13.h7+-) 3.g4 (3.Kf6 Kh5 White cannot make progress.) 3...Ng6! Another only move! As it was mentioned before, Black should try to create holes between the pawns and occupy it with the king! 4.h5 Nh4+ 5.Kf4 Ng2+ 6.Kg3 (6.Ke4 Kg5= Black reaches the ideal blockading position.) 6...Ne3 7.f4

7...Nd5! This is a very important defensive method! Black must prevent the Kh4, g5 plan... 8.Kf3 Nf6! and using the fact that the pawn endgame is drawn, Black ties the king to his pawns. This motif also works well if we move all the pieces one rank up. 9.g5+ Kxh5 10.gxf6 Kg6 11.Ke4 Kxf6=) 2...Ne6+! This and the following two moves are the only way to survive! 3.Kxf5 Nd4+! The knight must disturb White’s plan of pushing his pawns. 4.Ke4 (4.Ke5 Nf3+! 5.Ke4 Nh2! This is a nice achievement for Black. This way he gets enough time to rush with the king to h5. 6.f5 Kh6 (But not 6...Kf6? because of 7.Kf4+- and the pawns are rolling.) 7.Kf4 Kh5 The draw seems to be close, but White can still create some problems... 8.Ke5! Nf3+ 9.Kd5 The king must control the d4 square. (9.Ke6

Nd4+=) 9...Kh6! and the White king got far from the hpawn, so the Black king must also turn back to stop the f-pawn. I know that this is very difficult! 10.Ke6 (10.Ke4 Nh2 11.Kf4 Kh5= We already saw this.) 10...Kg7! (After the tempting 10...Nd4+? White gets his winning position again. 11.Ke5! Nf3+ 12.Kf4+- and g4 next.) 11.f6+ Kf8 and White cannot improve his position. 12.h5 (12.Kf5 Kf7=) 12...Nd4+ 13.Ke5 Nc6+ 14.Kf5 Kf7 15.g4 Nd4+ 16.Ke5 Nc6+=) 4...Nb3! Probably the most difficult only move in this whole endgame. Of course, it would be amazingly hard to play it over the board without computer assistance. 5.g4 Nd2+ 6.Ke3 (6.Kf5 would ease Black’s defensive task. 6...Nf3 7.h5 Kh6= with an easy draw. 8.Kf6 Nh2) 6...Nc4+ 7.Kd3 White should try to keep the knight away from bothering his h-pawn. (7.Kd4 Nd2 8.h5 Kh6= The same as before.) 7...Nd6 8.Kd4 Everything seems to go well for White. He is progressing with the pawns step by step without making a hole, but Black has an amazing difficult only move again... (8.h5 Kh6=)

8...Kf6! 9.h5 Trying to make use of the fact that Black has no Kh6. (9.Kd5 Nb5 10.h5 Nc3+ 11.Kd4 (11.Kd6 White cannot let the pawns alone... 11...Ne2=) 11...Nb5+ transposes to the main line.) 9...Nb5+ 10.Ke3 Nd6 11.Kf3 24


Nc4 All the Black moves have a goal. The knight is heading now to the e3 square... 12.h6 (12.Kg3 Ne3 This is the ideal position for the knight. It attacks one of the pawns and prepares for the Ng2 check after Kh4.) 12...Kg6 13.g5 Nd6 14.Kg4 and again, it seems to be over, but... 14...Ne4! (Of course not 14...Nf5? 15.h7+-) 15.f5+

15...Kh7 and just like in the 12.Kg3 Ne3 line, Black has managed to get his ideal setup. The king is ahead of the h-pawn, while the knight attacks the g-pawn and prevents the Kh5 move by Ng3. 16.Kf4 (16.Kh5 Ng3+=) 16...Nd6 17.Ke5 The last attempt to make progress. 17... Nf7+ 18.Kf6 Nd6 and White must settle for a draw. 19.Ke6 (19.g6+ Kxh6 20.g7 Ne8+=) 19...Ne4 20.g6+ Kxh6=; 1.h5?! Trying to win another pawn would lead to an immediate draw after 1...Ne6+ 2.Kh4 f4=] 1...Kf6 With the threat of Ne6. 2.Nd5+ Ke6 The knight must move now, and the king will retreat to f6, refreshing the threat of Ne6. 3.Nc7+ Kf6 ...White is practically in zugzwang, he must either allow me to play Ne6 or exchange a pair of pawns. Black has quite an easy draw from now on. We continued blitzing, but the moves had no real value. 1/2 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,M — Makogonov,V [E06] URS-ch semifinal Leningrad, 1938 [Balogh Csaba] A nice positional masterpiece by Botvinnik. The game nicely illustrates his playing style. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 A rare system against the Queen’s gambit, which usually transposes into the Catalan opening. 5...0–0 6. Bg2

play, Black usually manages to equalize.) 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 White wins a pawn, but he gave up his strong bishop on the long diagonal, which gives Black strong compensation. 11...c5 12.Qxc4 cxd4 13.Qxd4 e5 14.Qh4 Otherwise, Bh3 and the king is stuck in the center. 14... Rb8 Black prepares for the very unpleasant Rb4 move. This theoretical position is objectively evaluated as even.] 7.0–0 We transposed to the closed system of the Catalan, with the difference that there the bishop is on d2 and the knight is on b1. This is obviously a better version for White. Now the bishop can develop to b2 and the d2 square is free, which allows the plan of Nd2 and e4. 7...b6 This is an inaccuracy, which Botvinnik makes use of. [Black should have started with 7...Nbd7 to prevent Ne5, and only then b6-Bb7. At that time, even strong players were sometimes unfamiliar with the subtleties of the move orders.] 8.Ne5! White immediately wants to open the long diagonal and break Black’s strong center with e4!

6...c6 [6...c5 7.cxd5 exd5 is a transposition to the Tarrasch defense, which is only good for the players who like playing with the isolated pawn on d5.; 6...dxc4 is the right move against the 5.g3 system, and against 7.Ne5 Black can choose between two different setups: 7...Nc6! This is a known pawn sacrifice, we can meet it in other openings as well. (7...c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.N xd1 B xc5 leads to a slightly better position for White, but with accurate

8... Bb7 [8...Nfd7? would fall into a theoretical trap: 9.cxd5! Nxe5 (9...cxd5 10.N xd5! exd5 11.B xd5 N xe5 12.dxe5+- and White wins.) 10.dxe5 exd5 and here again the same 11.Nxd5!+- wins a pawn.] 9.e4! dxc4 Black cannot be happy to give up the tension in the center, but the logical 9.. .Nbd7 would fall into another trap. [9...Nbd7?

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Issue 19 from Black’s point of view.; 12...b5 was the only chance to fight for equality. 13.Ne3 (13.Ne5? would be a positional mistake, Black would immediately overtake the advantage. 13...N xe5 14.dxe5 Nd7=+ Such Ne5 ideas can be good only with the pawn on e2, when the long diagonal would be opened and the knight could jump to d6 through e4.) 13...Qb6 Thanks to the b5 move, Black got some space to develop his pieces, but still after 14. Bb2 Rfd8 15.Qc2 followed by Rad1, White should be better.]

6th of July 2012

10.Nxc6! This elegant trick was missed even by strong GMs. 10... Bxc6 11.exd5 exd5 12.cxd5 Bb7 13.d6! This is the point! White wins back the sacrificed piece and ends up with an extra pawn. 13... Bxg2 14.dxe7 Qxe7 15.Kxg2+/-]

13. Bd2 b5 Too late. The bishop on b4 got into tactical ideas. 14.Ne3

10.Nxc4 Ba6 Black needs to take some concrete operations, otherwise, White’s big space advantage in the center would tell. 11.b3 Nbd7 [Black could have won a pawn by playing 11...b5 but after 12.Ne3 b4 13.Ne2 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Qxd4 15. Bb2 White gets more than enough compensation. Black destroyed his own pawn structure (created many holes in his camp) and gave up his strong bishop. 15...Qb6 16.Nc4 Qb5 17. Bxf6! White wants to squeeze Black with e5, but it would have immediately given up the d5 square. 17... Bxf6 18.e5 Be7 19. Rad1 followed by doubling on the d-file. Black is doomed.] 12. Re1 White quits forever from the b5-b4 motif. 12... Bb4?! Makogonov realized he was in trouble and tries to confuse a bit the development of White’s pieces. Objectively, unless Black has something concrete, such moves can never be good. [12... Rc8 13. Bf4 looks terrible

14...Nb6 [Now on 14...Qb6 White has 15.e5! and Black must give up his important bishop, after which all the dark squares become weak in his camp. 15... Bxc3 16. Bxc3 Nd5 17.Qd2 will be similar to the game.] 15.e5! Black has the same problem as in the 14...Qb6 line. 15... Bxc3 [15...Nfd5 does not work because of 16.Ncxd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd2 18.Nf6+! This great in-between check prevents Black from consolidating his pawn struc-

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ture with cxd5. 18...gxf6 19.Qxd2+/- White is close to be winning.] 16. Bxc3 Nfd5 17.Qd2+/- [17. Ba5 was also possible.] 17...Nd7 This allows White to take the last triumph of Black, to get rid of the knight on d5. Anyway, his position was already critical. [17... Rc8 18. Ba5 Qd7 19. Rac1 with a big antage. Black has only one good piece, the knight on d5, but White can easily maneuver around it with, for example, Rc5-Rc1 or a4.; Taking the bishop does not solve any of the problems. 17...Nxc3 18.Qxc3 Bb7 19.a4+/- It’s easy to see that something went wrong for Black.]

22. Bf1 After Black stabilized his center, the g2 bishop had no role anymore on the long diagonal. Botvinnik immediately improves it by pressing the b5 pawn. Another idea could be to play Bd3-b1 and Qd3 in the future, creating a very dangerous attack. [22. Bc7 was equally good to transfer the bishop to d6.] 22...Nb8 Black threatens with Nc6, so Botvinnik quickly transfers his bishop to d6. 23. Bb4 Qb7 24. Bd6

18.Nxd5 cxd5

19. Bb4 Re8 20. Rac1 It’s hard to find something positive in Black’s position. White can do whatever he wants. Botvinnik converts his advantage with perfect technique. 20... Rc8 21. Ba5 Qe7 [21...Nb6 is not much better 22. Rxc8 Qxc8 23. Bxb6! axb6 and White soon collects the weak b5 pawn 24. Rc1 Qd7 25. Bf1! with the simple threat of Qb4 and a4. 25... Rc8 26.a4 Rxc1 27.Qxc1 White wins the pawn.]

24...h6 Black has no useful plan, since the only idea of exchanging the rooks leads to the loss of a pawn. [24... Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Bxb8! Qxb8 28.Qb4+followed by a4.] 25.a3 White enjoys the situation. He sees that Black is suffering, so he gives back the right to move. White has many other moves like h4-h5. 25... Rc6 This leads to a concrete defeat. [On 25...Nc6 I like the idea of 26.b4 Ne7 27. Bxe7! followed by installing a rook on c5. Despite the material equality, Black is completely lost.]

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26. Bxb8! A very strong and concrete move, which was not obvious at all. It exchanges the nice-looking d6 bishop for the poor knight on b8.


26... Rxb8 27. Rxc6 Qxc6 28. Rc1 Qb6 On other moves, Qa5 would have come.

(18) Taniev,R

29.Qb4! Black is in zugzwang. He has nothing better than passing, but the outcome of the game is already decided.

1986 [CEWN] 1.+-

29... Bc8?! This quickens the resignation. [For example, on 29... Re8 White can improve his position on the kingside, but he can also win a pawn by 30.Qc5 Qxc5 31. Rxc5 Rb8 32. Rc7 Rb7 33. Rxb7 Bxb7 34. Bxb5+-] 30.Qe7! And the rook enters the Black camp, so he resigned. 1–0

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Solutions (19) Prizant,J (2524) — Nepomniachtchi,I (2716) Russian Higher league, 24.06.2012 [Solutions]

27.Qxd5! [27. Bd3 Qxf2+ 28.Kh1 Nxg5] 27...Nc3! [27...Qxf2+ 28.Kh1+-] 28.Qxf7+!! Kxf7 29. Bc4+ Kf8 30. Be7+ Ke8 31. Bc5+ Kd7 32. Bxb6 Rxb6 33.b5! Nxb5 34. Rb1 [34.Ng5! h6 35. Bxb5+ Rxb5 36.Ne6 Bc3 37.Nf8++-] 34...Kc6 35.Ng5 h6 36.Ne6 (21) Ziska,H (2450) — Hebden,M (2512) Svein memorial, 25.06.2012 [Solutions]

21.Nxc6! Qxc6 22.e5 Qc7 23.exf6 Bxf6 24.Nd5 [24. Bd4! Bxd4 25.Qxd4+-] 24... Bxd5 25.Qxd5 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Rb8 27. Ba7 Ra8 28. Bd4 Bxd4 29.Qxd4 (20) Mokshanov,A (2429) — Inarkiev,E (2707) Russian Higher league, 24.06.2012 [Solutions]

23... Bxb4! [23...Nxb4? 24. Bb1!] 24. Bxf4 [24.cxb4 Nd4–+] 24...exf4 25.Ne2 Ne5! 26.Qxf4 Bxh3 27.Qg3 [27.g3 Bxc3–+] 27...Qxg3 28.fxg3 Bxc3 0–1[28... Bxc3 29.Nxc3 Rxc3 30.gxh3 Rxc2–+ 31. Rxa6 Rxh2!]

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(22) Gusain,H (2271) — Paragua,M (2521) Mumbai Open, 08.06.2012 [Solutions]

23.Kxg2 Bxb2–+; 18.Qg2 Rxd4 19.Qc6+ Rd7] 18... Bc5 19.Qh4 Qd5! 20.Na3 [20.Qf4 Nh5! 21.Qe3 f6–+] 20...g5–+ 21.Nxc4 gxh4 22. Bxf6 Rg8–+ (24) Gomez,J (2507) — Chadaev,N (2563) Mumbai Open, 14.06.2012 [Solutions]

15...Nxc2! 0–1[15...Nxc2 16.Qxc2 Qxa4!–+] (23) Ram,S (2303) — Stupak,K (2513) Mumbai Open, 10.06.2012 [Solutions]

35.Qh2!! [35.hxg6? Rxh3+ 36. Bxh3 Rxg6 ] 35... Rxg4 [35...gxh5 36. Bxh5+-] 36.hxg6 Rxh3 37.gxf7+ 1–0[37. gxf7+ Kxf7 38.Qxh3+-]

16...Nxf6! 17.Qxh3 Rxc4! 18. Be5 [18. Be3 Bc5 19.Na3 Rxd4! 20. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 21.Kf1 Qd5! 22.Qg2 Qxg2+ 31


(25) Gabrielian,A (2573) — Grigoriants,S (2557)

(27) Fedoseev,V (2546) — Zubov,A (2617)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

30.Nfxh6+! 32. Bxh6+-]

1–0[30.Nfxh6+

gxh6

31.Nf6+

(26) Kovalenko,I (2560) — Dmitriev,I (2393) Voronezh Open, 15.06.2012

Kh8

19. Rxf7! Rxf7 20. Rxf7 Qc5 [20...Kxf7 21. Bc4+! (21. Qd5+ Qe6) 21...Kf8 22.Qd5!+-; 20...Qxf7 21. Bc4+-] 21.Qd7! [21.Qxc5 bxc5 22. Bc4+-] 21...dxc3+ 22.Kh1 Bxe5 [22...Qxe5 23. Rxg7+! Qxg7 24.Qd5+ Qf7 25.Qxa8++-] 23. Rxh7 Rf8 24.Qe6+! 1–0[24.Qe6+ Kxh7 25.Qxg6+ Kh8 26.Qh7#]

[Solutions]

30. R1a6+! 1–0[30. R1a6+ bxa6 31. Rc7#] 32


(28) Lysyj,I (2644) — Tihonov,J (2446)

(29) Damele


1966

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24... Bd4! 25.Qg1 [25.gxf5 Bxe3+ 26.fxe3 Qxe3+ 27.Kc2 Qxe2+ 28.Kb3 gxf5–+; 25.Ke1 Rh8! 26.gxf5 Rh1+ 27. Bf1 Qd3!–+] 25... Bc3+! 0–1[25... Bc3+ 26.bxc3 (26.Kxc3 Qc2+ 27.Kb4 Qxb2+ 28.Ka5 Qa3+–+) 26... Qc2+ 27.Ke1 Qxc3+ 28.Kf1 Qxa1+–+; 25... Bxe3+ 26.fxe3 Qc2+ 27.Ke1 Qxb2 28. Rd1 Bc2–+]

1.h3!! [1.b5 axb5 2.cxb5 Kd5 3.b6 Kc6 4.Kxe4 Kxb6 5.Kf5 Kc6 6.Kg5 Kd6 7.Kh6 Ke7 8.Kxh7 Kf7=; 1.h4 h5! 2.b5 (2.c5 Kd5=) 2...axb5 3.cxb5 Kd5 4.b6 Kc6 5.Kxe4 Kxb6 6.Kf5 Kc6 7.Kg5 Kd6 8.Kxh5 Ke7 9.Kg6 Kf8=] 1...h6 [1...Kf5 2.b5! axb5 3.cxb5 Ke5 4.b6 Kd6 5.Kxe4 Kc6 6.Kf5 Kxb6 7.Kg5! Kc6 8.Kh6 Kd6 9.Kxh7 Ke6 10.Kg6! (10.Kg7 Kf5=) 10...Ke7 11.Kg7 Ke6 12.h4+-; 1...h5 2.h4 Kf5 3.b5 axb5 4.cxb5 Ke5 5.b6 Kd6 6.Kxe4 Kc6 7.Kf5 Kxb6 8.Kg5 Kc6 9.Kxh5 Kd6 10.Kg6 Ke7 11.Kg7+-] 2.b5 axb5 3.cxb5 Kd5 4.b6 Kc6 5.Kxe4 Kxb6 6.Kf5 Kc6 7.Kg6 Kd6 8.Kxh6 Ke6 9.Kg6+1–0

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Weekly Newsletter



13th of July 2012

First, we have to say that this was a especially exciting week.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The match between Russian and China came to an end. The Russian men managed to win their match, and the women lost. The overall match, with rapid and blitz games included, was won by Russia. Now we come to the main events of the past few days, the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Astana. The line-up was amazingly strong with Magnus Carlsen on the very top. Rapid: After a lead of 1,5 points over his nearest rival, Magnus Carlsen suddenly started to lose games and found himself on the second place, leaving the gold for Sergey Karjakin who scored 4,5/5 in his last games. Congrats to the young and very talented Russian, second was Magnus Carlsen followed by Veselin Topalov. The World Blitz Championship was dominated and finally won by Alexander Grischuk. The second place was for Magnus Carlsen again, who managed to win his last 8 games! Karjakin took the third place. We saw a lot of very exciting and nerve-wrecking games — for those who like to see action on a chessboard, it definitely makes sense to download the games in a pgn and replay them. In the special section of the newsletter we have a game from Paul Morphy for You! In my opinion, this is one of the greatest chess players in the history who, for many years, was ahead of his rivals, playing “almost modern” chess. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with Your weekly CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2



7...0–0 [7...b6 8.b4 Bb7 is a very stabl e reaction by Black, in order to continue controlling the central squares.]

(1) Svidler,P (2749) — Carlsen,M (2837) [A10]

8.b4!? This is a well-known pawn sacrifice against which Carlsen prepared a very strong blow! White’s plan is to take control over the center by giving a pawn. It would have been more careful to start with 8. Rb1.

World Rapid Championship Astana KAZ, 06.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very interesting and high quality game. Both sides played great chess despite the 15 minutes time control. 1.c4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.g3 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5.0–0 In rapid chess, it is absolutely normal that top players try to hide their real openings and just play something harmless to obtain a playable middlegame. 5...Nh6 The knight is going to f5, where it controls the central action very well. Other setups are e6-Nge7, e5Nge7 or Nf6. All of them are playable and have different strategies. 6.Nc3 Nf5 White’s ideas connected with d4 are not possible. The e4 move would give up the d4 square, so he must play on the queenside.

8...Nxb4! Black acce pts the sacrifice, but by doing it this way, he exchanges a pair of knights, which clearly favors him. [8...cxb4 9.axb4 Nxb4 10.d4! This was Svidler’ s idea, trying to swap off Black from the board in the center with e4. 10...Nc6 11.Nb5!? e4 is coming next.] 9.axb4 cxb4 10.d4! White continues his strategy and occupies the center. [10.e4 is met with the very strong 10... Nd4! and Black will win the piece back anyway.] 10...bxc3 11.e4 Nd6! [11...c2 would just help White to protect the c4 pawn with 12.Qd3] 12.Qd3 At this moment Black is two pawns up, but we cannot count the one on c3 to be a „long-living” one... Despite the material disadvantage, it might look like the opening part has finished with a clear triumph for the White side, but Carlsen came up with a very strong plan.

7.a3

3


12...b5! Black immediately undermines the central pawns. Slow development would have led to a quick defeat. 13.cxb5 [13.c5 looks tempting, but 13...Nc4 14.Qxc3 d6! and Black can put the pawns under pressure.]

is closed after this move, but it opens the other one on a1–h8! 17...Qc8 18.e5 Nc4 19.B xe7 Re8 20.Bf6 N xe5 and Black is better thanks to his small material advantage.) 17...Nb5 18.Ne1 and compared to the 16.e5 Nf5 line, Black has a very strong possibility:

13...Qb6 The game becomes really concrete now, but according to my analysis, the complications favor Black. 14. Ba3! The bishop stands excellently on a3, the pressure on the e7 pawn is really unpleasant. 14...Qxb5! 15.Qc2! [15.Qxb5? Nxb5 16. Bxe7 Re8 17. Bc5 d6! and Black wins the key pawn on d4.; 15.Qxc3? Nxe4 followed by d5! Black will end up with an extra pawn.] 18...d5!! 19.exd6 Nxa3! 20. Rxa3 Qxd6! and Black survives the loss of a piece with the counter-attack against the a3 rook. Black is much better.] 16.e5! Nf5 17.g4! Very well played by Svidler, creating serious problems to solve. With the bishop on b7, Black could take on f3 and the d4 pawn is hanging.

15... Ba6?! Carlsen could not calculate the variations precisely, which would have been really difficult even with a normal time control. Now White gets theinitiative. [The very suspicious 15... Bb7! was the right move. 16. Rfb1 (16.e5 Be4! is an important in-between move (16...Nf5 is wrong immediately because of 17.Rfb1 Qc6 18.Ne1!) 17.Qxc3 Nf5 Now the queen has a nice square on d5, Black is better.) 16...Qc6 17.e5 (17.d5 The a8-h1 diagonal

17...Nxd4! Another great decision! Black gets many pawns for the piece (he already was 2 pawns up) and his bishops get alive. [After the passive 17...Nh6 18. Bxe7 Rfe8 19. Bc5 Nxg4 20.h3 Nh6 21.Qxc3 White is better, because of the poor placement of Black’s pieces.] 18.Nxd4 Qxe5

4

Issue 20 23.f4! Of course! On the other hand, it leads to the exchange of a pawn.

13th of July 2012

23...e5 24.fxe5 Qxe5 [24... Bxe5 was also possible. 25.h3 Rfe8 The position is about even, the three pawns compensate for the piece.] 25. Bf2

19. Rfd1! White should keep his pieces on the board to be able to win back the pawns... [19. Bxa8 Bxf1 20. Rxf1 Rxa8 Four pawns would be too many to hold.] 19... Rac8 20. Bc1! White collects the a7 pawn. He would have a very big advantage if his pawn was on g3. Now, he must continue playing flawlessly. [20. Bb4 was more active, but it allows Black to play 20... Rc4! 21. Bxc3 Qc5! creating strong counterplay.] 20... Bc4 21. Rxa7 d5 So far, things were going well for Svidler, but here he spoils his advantage. It was almost impossible to find the strongest move (especially with this time control)... White should have realized Black’s very strong idea with Qd6 and e5. 22. Be3 The most human move to stabilize the important blockading piece on d4. [22. Rd7!! to prevent Qd6 would have preserved White’s advantage. 22... Rfe8 23. Be3+= The Black pawns are less mobile now, the one on d5 is also under pressure.] 22...Qd6! Carlsen lives with the chance and prepares for e5-d4... White must prevent it at any cost.

25... Rfe8 26. Ra3! Svidler happily gets rid of the annoying c3 pawn. 26...Qf4! 27. Rxc3 Be5?! [Black should have simply restored the „3-pawns against piece” position. 27...Qxg4=] 28. Rg3! Maybe Carlsen overlooked this ugly move. Now he has only 2 pawns, so he must search for activity. 28... Ra8 Both players are in serious time pressure. The complex middlegame has taken all their time. 29.Ne2?! A very nice and natural move planning to transfer the knight to c3, where it controls the a2 square and attacks the pawn on d5. [The cold-blooded 29. Be3 suggested by the machine, was better. 29...Qf6 30. Rf3 Qd6 31.h3 Ra2 32.Qc1+= and everything is under control!] 29...Qg5 5

Issue 20 on their clocks. [38... Rd8 could be met by 39.Nf6+ Kg7 40.Nd7+! Kg8 41. Bb2 followed by Nf6, solving the problem of the pin.]

13th of July 2012

39.Nf6+ Kg7 40.Ng4+?! This was the only serious mistake in the game. Svidler missed a small tactical trick... [40. Nxh7+! Kg8 (40...Kxh7 41.Rh2+ Kg8 42.Rh8#) 41.Nf6+ Kg7 42.Kg2 with a very unpleasant endgame. Anyway, I’m not sure if it’s objectively winning.] 30.Nc3! Bxg3 31.hxg3 Svidler was probably happy that he managed to neutralize all the concrete threats, and that he can slowly press the d5 pawn. On the other hand, after taking the exchange, Black should not be worse. 31... Rac8?! Carlsen creates some tricks on the c-file, but Svidler easily parries them with only seconds on his clock... [After the correct 31...Qxg4! 32.Nxd5 Bxd5 33. Bxd5 Ra3 the game should end in a draw. Black wants to sacrifice on g3.] 32. Rd4! Re5 33.Qd2! Exchanging the queens to reduce the tension. 33...Qxd2 34. Rxd2 Rd8 35. Bd4 Re6 36.g5! Creating a blockade on the dark squares. Black has to suffer in an unpleasant endgame, but objectively it should be a draw due to White’s limited number of pawns on the board.

40...Kf8 41.Kf2 Rec6 42.Kf3 Rd8 A deep trick by Carlsen to imitate a blunder... 43. Bg7+ Svidler falls in the trap. [43.Nf6 was still possible, to continue pressing.] 43...Kxg7 44. Rxd8 Rc5 White cannot protect his pawn and after g5 falls, the game is a dead draw. 45.Ne3 Rxg5 46. Rd7 h5 47. Ra7 Rc5 48. Rb7 Kf6 49. Rb6+ Kg5 50. Rd6 Rc3 51. Rd5+ f5 52. Rd6 Ra3 53. Rb6 Rd3 54. Ra6 Rb3 55. Rc6 Ra3 56. Rb6 Rc3 57. Ra6 Rb3 A „cool” fighting game. There were some mistakes of course, but we should not blame any of the players. The hard moves that both managed to find with so little time were rather remarkable. 1/2

36... Rde8 37. Bxd5 Bxd5 38.Nxd5 Black’s main aim should be to exchange a pair of rooks, and White would not be able to create any serious threats with his minor pieces. But of course, this is not an easy task... 38... Rc8 From now on, I don’t want to comment the game in details, because the players had just seconds 6


(2) Topalov,Veselin (2752) — Radjabov,Teimour (2788) [E94]

for a d5 push or to move his pieces in this manner: Nbd7a5-Nc5-Qe7, Bd7-Rad8-Bc8.

World Rapid Final Astana KAZ (7), 07.07.2012

10...Nh5!? This move is still theory. Lately, there was a game Gelfand-Grischuk 2011.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Another very exciting game from the World Rapid Championship. Shortly after the opening, it looked like Black had clearly managed to outplay his opponent, but then White found great counter-chances and managed to give mate. A very fighting and exciting game! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7.0–0 As usual, we see Radjabov playing his favorite King’s Indian! It’s amazing but I think that for a couple of years he obtained a clearly positive score with Black, and this against the absolute elite! 7...exd4 The main move of Radjabov is usually 7...Nc6, but of course, the move in the game is not a surprise at all.

8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 10.Kh1 Lately, this line has become quite popular. White is trying to get a position like: Be3, Qd2, Rad1, Rfe1, Bf1, Bf2, and Black usually tries to play

11.g4 The idea of Black was simple, to play Qh4. 11...Nf6 Now it looks like Black has lost 2 tempi with Nh5-Nf6 back, but in fact, things are not that simple. By playing g4, White created huge weaknesses in his structure, and right now, it’s not easy for White to make use out of his better development. 12. Bf4 White stops Black from playing the natural Nbd7. Besides, a move like Nb3 could be a threat now. 12...h5 This is still theory... 13.g5 Nh7 14.Qd2 Qe7 15. Rad1

15...Nd7 So, I guess that from this moment, both players were out of book. Let’s take a look at the position. First, I have to say that the position is very complex with many interesting ideas for both colors. White has a clear target, the d6 pawn. Black will clearly search for counterplay on the kingside, trying to get White’s g5 pawn. The 7


Black knight maneuver Ndf8-Ne6 could be dangerous for White as well.

push is a very hard task because the e4 pawn e4 will become very weak.

16. Rg1?! A strange move, in my opinion. [An option was the natural looking 16.Nc2 Be5 ...Very often this move saves the d6 pawn. 17. Be3 Of course, the exchange of bishops is good for Black. 17...Nc5 18. Rf2! with the idea on Ne6 to have Rg1! In my opinion, White should have good play here.]

19.Qe1 White brings the queen to the kingside. All of this all is a preparation for the f4-f5 push, but is it a realistic plan...?

16...Ne5! Black shows very good understanding of the position. The Black knight is standing much better on e5 than on c5. Now, the other one could come into the game via Nf8-Ne6. The only problem is the d6 pawn, but Black is just in time to protect it. 17.Nc2 Be6 The White pawn is hanging on c4 and this gives Black enough time for Rad8.

19...a6 Black wants to play b5. 20.Qg3 This move was made to avoid Black’s b5. 20... Bc8 [20...b5 would be too early, due to 21.c5!] 21.h4 [If White would try to block the b5 move with 21.a4 Nf8! he would get in big trouble. Black wants to play Ne6 and Nxf4 getting an obvious advantage. We can see how well Radjabov understands what he is doing! So, for the King’s Indian fans, I think this game is very productive! (For now...)]

18.Ne3

18... Rad8 Black stands perfectly. All the pieces are in the right places. Now Black’s idea is to start shaking the White central pawns. Usually, he does it by playing a6-b5, or by trying to break through with d5. The negative side for White is that he has no clear play. To play for the f4-f5

21...b5 Black’s dream came true, the b5 move is made and White’s center is falling apart. 22.cxb5 axb5 23.a3 It’s already hard to give an advice for White! Suddenly, things are going very bad. White is still very far away from playing f4-f5 and Black has already begun to crush White’s position. 8


23...Nf8! Radjabov brings the last piece that was standing a bit out of play. It’s clear that Black is doing much better here.

ing chances for White. I guess it would be a nice conclusion to a very well played game by Black.]

24.Qh2 As I mentioned before, to give away the bishop from f4 is not an option.

30...Nxa3 The correct move. [30...Ne3 This move seems to lead to quite a forced line: 31.Nxe3 Qxe3 32.f5! White has no time to waste! 32... Bxf5 Any other move leads to very unclear play. 33.exf5 Bxc3 34.fxg6 fxg6 35. Rd3 Qxe2 36.Qxe2 Rxe2 37. Bxc3

24...Ne6 25. Bg3 Nc5 Slowly, the Black pieces are taking perfect positions and White’s f4 is still nothing more then a dream.

30.f4! Finally, the pawn has moved. Better late than never.

26.Qg2 What we’ll see in the next 5 moves is horrible from White’s point of view, but it’s impossible to propose an improvement. The White pieces are very badly placed. 26... Be6 Black wants to play Nc4, or Bb3 and d5. 27.b4 Nb3 28. Be1

and probably this endgame is about equal.] 31.Nxa3 Qxa3 32.f5! Don’t ask Topalov what to do twice in a dynamic position...

28...Qa7! Black kicks another White piece away from the center. The a3 pawn is hanging. 29.Nc2 Until this moment, Black almost played a perfect game! 29...Nc4?! This gives White some theoretical chances. There was no need for that. [29... Bc4! This move would lead to a huge advantage for Black and much less attack-

32... Bc4?! A very logical move, but a mistake. [32... Bc8 would have been the right option. Black needs the bishop on the c8-h3 diagonal to protect his king.] 33. Bxh5! Another great move by White. What a turn in the game. Instead of having a much better position without any risk of losing, suddenly things got very very sharp. 33...gxh5 34.f6! White is just playing great. The queen on g2 and the rook on g1 are standing perfectly.

9


34... Bh8 [34...Qa6 with the idea of Qc8-Qg4 35.g6! would not change much in comparison to the game.] 35.g6 Bxf6

36.Nd5!? And another very strong move by White. Especially in rapid chess, such a move is a killer! [Another option was the direct 36.gxf7+ Kxf7 37.Qg6+ Ke7! Only move. (37...Ke6 a mistake would be 38.R xd6+! Pretty move! 38...Kxd6 39.Qxf6+ Now White is mating by force: 39...Kc7 40.Rg7+ Rd7 41.Bg3+ Kb6 42.R xd7 And Black can’t escape from the „multi-mating” ideas of White.) 38.Nd5+! The usual knight sacrifice. 38...cxd5 39.Qh7+ Ke6 40.Qf5+ Ke7 41.Qh7+ Ke6 42.Qf5+ Ke7 with a draw.]

38.gxf7+ Kf8 [38...Kxf7 39.Qg6+ Ke7 40.Qh7++-] 39.Qg8+ Ke7

40.f8Q+! A pretty end to a slightly undeserved victory. Black managed to outplay his opponent in the first 30 moves and, by being imprecise, gave White great chances to attack. In chess, things can really turn very quickly and every move is decisive! 1–0

36... Bxd5?? [In case of 36...cxd5! 37.gxf7+ (37.exd5 Nd4 Black is winning.) 37...Kxf7 38.Qg6+ Ke7 39.Qh7+ Ke6 40.Qf5+ Ke7 we would return to the already known draw.] 37.exd5 [Also possible would have been 37.gxf7+ Kxf7 38.Qg6+ Ke7 39.exd5! with a mating attack!] 37...Qb2 This move loses, but nothing seems to save Black anymore. 10


(3) Morozevich,Alexander (2770) — Bologan,Viktor (2732) [B12] World Rapid Final Astana KAZ (3), 06.07.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] The World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Astana were clearly the 2 main events of the past week. The line-up was amazingly strong, with Magnus Carlsen leading the pack. We will now see a very exciting game in the CaroKann where Morozevich was the one who had the better insight. It’s really great to see Morozevich playing „strange” positions! 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 Right now, this is the most played line in the Caro-Kann. We saw an amazing amount of games lately, especially in games from the very top played by Anand, Karjakin, Grischuk, Morozevich... 4.h4!? This is not the main move, but it’s quite a tricky one. For many years, it was one of the main weapons of Your CEWN author Csaba Balogh. 4...h6 [4...h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 is the main position in this line.]

5... Bd7 [The logical 5... Bh7 gives White quite an interesting chance with 6.e6!? fxe6 7. Bd3 White wants to play Bxh7 followed by Qd3-Qg6. Another idea is to play Nf3Ne5 fixing Black’s pawn structure. The position is quite dangerous for Black...] 6. Be3 Now the ideas of White and Black are clear. White will try to do everything to keep the center, and Black will try to rip White’s central pawns apart with a dynamic play against the center, usually by playing c6-c5. 6...e6 7.Nc3!? A really unusual move by Morozevich. He is not trying to protect the central pawns but wants to have Nb5 against Black’s c5 move. Interestingidea! [7.h5 is too slow now. 7...c5! 8.c3 Qb6 and Black is starting the action on the queenside first.; 7.c3 h5! and again White gets countered with 8.gxh5 Nh6 and probably Black is doing fine.] 7...h5!? The usual idea, Black destroys White’s pawn structure. 8.gxh5 Of course not a nice move to do, but it was the only option... 8...Nh6

5.g4 Now White starts looking for „space” domination. 11


9. Bh3!? I guess a lot of players would have played 9. Bd3 almost automatically, forgetting to fight against the main threat, the c5 move! 9...c5 [In case of 9...Qxh4 10.Qf3! White has this nice way of developing the pieces. It’s especially important that the White knight goes to Nge2! where it will support his colleague on c3. 10...Qd8 11.0–0–0 Qa5 12.Nge2 and White is doing clearly better. The c5 push would lead nowhere for Black. White is too active and the Black center would fall after some sacrifice on d5.] 10.dxc5 [Another option was to play 10.Nf3!? waiting for the Black move... 10...Nc6 and now 11.dxc5 avoiding the tricky lines in the game.]

12. Bxd4 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Qxd4 14.Qxb7 Bxc5 15.0–0 A great move that’s not easy to see at all... The position looks dangerous, but all seems to work out for White 15...0–0 16.Qxa8 Qxh4 17.Qg2 White defended the kingside. The extra exchange should bring the full point home.] 11...Nd7 12.b4 The only move to defend the c5 pawn, but now White is too „open”. 12...b6?! The right idea but a wrong way to use it. [The right move would have been 12...a5! Black loses a piece but gets a lot of pawns and very dangerous play.

10... Bc6!? Black uses this chance to put the bishop on c6 and the knight on d7! 11.Qd4 [11.Nf3! This is a hard move to make during a practical game, but it seems to work

11...d4 (In case of 11...Nd7 12.Qe2! White is preparing to castle long 12...B xc5 13.0–0–0 and White is doing better. The next move, Rg1, will be very unpleasant for Black. Black still needs to think where to go with the king.)

13.b5 The only move... 13... Bxc5 14.Qd2 (Doesn’t work 14.Qf4 Bb4! 15.Nge2 B xb5) 14... Bxe3 15.fxe3 (Of course not 15.Qxe3?? d4) 15...Qxh4+ and here we can see why it’s extremely dangerous to make too many pawn moves in the opening. All of them could fall if Black finds a way to play actively. 16.Kf1 Qxh5 17.bxc6 bxc6 Black got 3 pawns for the piece, and the White pieces are uncoordinated. The position is very unclear.] 13.cxb6 Nxb6 Black wants to play Nc4 or a5, White should act very quickly now. 12


14. Bg5!? A logical move, taking the bishop from e3 with tempo.

Bxh6 and staying on e8 forever might not be the best idea...

14...Qc7 15.Nf3 And here we have probably reached the critical moment of the game. Black continued with the standard 15...Nc4 and will soon get in big trouble.

17...axb4 [Doesn’t help 17... Rb8 18. Rfb1 axb4 19.axb4 Bxb4 20. Rxb4! A nice little combination. 20... Rxb4 21.Qc5 and White is winning]

15...Nc4 [15...a5! and again, Bologan misses the a5 move. 16.bxa5 (At 16.b5 Bd7 White has no decent defense against Bb4 or Bc5.) 16... Rxa5! (Too slow is 16...Nc4 17.0–0 Qxa5 18.Ne2 and White is in time to put the pieces all together.) 17.0–0 Bc5 18.Qf4

18.axb4 Bxb4

19.Nb5! Nice tactic. White brings the knight from c3 to d6, creating a mating attack. 18... Ra3 By making 5 very dynamic moves in a roll, we get to a very unclear position. Black has great play in exchange of the 2 pawns; all the pieces are active and the position of the White king could become very dangerous.] 16.a3! A cool and very strong move! 16...a5 The right idea, but it came too late. 17.0–0! Another strong move by White, taking the king away from the center. Suddenly, the Black king could became a target. Castling short is not an option because of

19...Qd7 20.c3 [The easy 20. Rxa8+ Bxa8 21.Nd6+! forces Black to give White a strong pawn on d6: 21... Bxd6 22.exd6 0–0 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.Qxe5 An extra pawn, standing on d6. The coming kingside attack gives White a much better position.] 20... Be7 21.Nd6+ Bxd6 22.exd6 [22. Rxa8+ Bxa8 23.exd6 0–0 24.Ne5 would lead to the already known better position for White.] 22...0–0 23.Kh1! White is preparing a mating attack. 23...Kh7 The Black king can’t stay on the g-file. White wants to play Bxh6 followed by Rg1 and Qg7 mate.

13


24. Rxa8 Rxa8 [24... Bxa8 would lead to about the same.]

30...e5 [30... Bd7 31. Bf4 and the rook is going to give mate on h6.]

25. Rg1 The g7 pawn is White’s target!

31.Qxe5 d4+ 32.Kg1 Black’s position is totally hopeless...

25... Rg8 26. Bf4 White is a pawn up, and the Black pieces almost have no moves. The position is close to winning. 26...Nxd6 This move allows White to end the game in a beautiful way. [Of course doesn’t help 26...f5 27. Rg6] 27.Ng5+ A pretty move but there was no reason to go for it... [Simpler would have been 27.Ne5 Qb7 28.Qc5 and White is winning a piece.] 27...Kh8

32... Ra8 33. Bxg7+ Kg8 1–0

28.Nxe6 fxe6 [28...Ndf5! would have been the only move to fight here. 29.Nxg7! A nice tactic. 29...Nxd4 30. Bxd7 Bxd7 31.cxd4 Nf5 32.h6! and White has good chances to win this endgame.] 29. Bxh6 Now the game is over... The Black king is not going to live very long. 29...Qf7 [29...Kh7 30. Bf4+-] 30. Rg6! A nice final move.. 14


(4) Jakovenko,D (2736) — Yu Yangyi (2656) [E11]

nesses of the queenside pawn structure. Of course, despite this fact, the position remains very complex.

RUS-CHN match, 04.07.2012

8...d6 Black tries to make use of the fact that the bishop is protected on b4. In the other line, Qa4 would win a piece. [8...g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 is the start of the lines without the a5 move.]

[Balogh Csaba] Jakovenko nicely outplays his young Chinese opponent in positional style... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ The Bogo-Indian Defense. [3...b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 h6 7. Bh4 is a huge main line of the Queen’s Indian defense. In comparison to the game, the Black pawn stands on a5. As our game flows, we will understand who benefits from this difference.] 4. Bd2 a5 5.Nc3 [5.g3 is the main line. Recently, strong players have tried 5...d6 6. Bg2 Nbd7 and the theory is developing nowadays.]

9. Bd3 Nbd7 10.0–0 After White unpins himself, Black must give up the bishop pair, otherwise, the c3 knight jumps away and the bishop is trapped. 10... Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qe7 [Another nice game that demonstrated well the ideas of this opening... 11...g5 12. Bg3 Ne4 (12...h5 is not dangerous now, because of 13.h4!) 13.Qc2

5...b6 6. Bg5 Bb7

7.e3 h6 8. Bh4 Here we are! In the Queen’s Indian defense with an extra tempo: a5. In my opinion this clearly favors White, since all of Black’s best setups are connected with 0–0–0, where the pawn on a5 is a serious weak-

13...Nxg3 (13...f5 is usually met with the powerful 14.d5! breaking Black’s pawn structure and freeing the d4 square for the knight. 14...exd5 15.cxd5 B xd5 16.Nd4 Qf6 17.f3! N xg3 18.hxg3 and White is going to win back the sacrificed pawn.) 14.fxg3! This is anot her known motif in this opening. White can use the f-file effectively with his rooks. Note that if you want to study these positions in detail, it’s better if you search for games with the pawn on a7. 14...Qe7 15. Rf2 0–0 Because of the a5 weakness, 15


Black did not dare to castle queenside. 16.g4! Fixing Black’s pawn structure. 16...Nf6 17.h3 Ne8 In such positions, there exists a strong re-grouping with Nh2-f1–g3, but Navara decided to play another plan. 18. Raf1 Ng7

15. Bf2! A necessary prophylactic move against the h4h3 threat. 15...h4 [15...g4? is always a mistake because of 16. Bh4! the bishop gets very strong on h4.] 16.h3! Black’s attack is stopped now. 16...Nh5! Black would like to play f5, followed by Rg8 and g4 with a very dangerous attack. White must do something against it! 17.e4! The only way to fight against f5, even if it gives up the f4 square.

19. Bh7+! Kh8 20. Be4 Exchanging the light squared bishops usually favors White. Black’s standard reaction is c6-d5 in such situations, but now thanks to the pawn on a5, White could quickly attack the b6 weakness with Rb1! 20... Bxe4 21.Qxe4+= 21... Rae8? This allows a beautiful strike: 22.Ne5!! Nf5 (On 22...dxe5 the best is the calm 23.dxe5!+- followed by Rf6. Black can only avoid being mated by giving up huge material.(23.Rf6 would not be that clear, because of 23...Nf5! 24.dxe5 Qxf6! 25.exf6 Ng3)) 23.gxf5 exf5 24.Qc6 1–0 Navara-Polak, Czech Republic 2012.] 12.Nd2 White’s strategy is to occupy the center with e4 and f3. 12...g5 13. Bg3 0–0–0 Black plays the position like his pawn was on a7. 14.f3 h5 [I would personally prefer 14...Nh5 15. Bf2 f5! We will understand how important is to have the pawn on f5 if we continue following the game.]

17...Nf4 If it was possible, the bishop should go to f1, but White had no time to evacuate the rook from f1. 18. Bc2

18...Nf8 In my opinion, this logical plan to improve the knight is a mistake. It defends well against White’s main idea with c5. On the other hand, it is very difficult to suggest something clever for Black. He can’t attack on the kingside and White is clearly better in the center. The only useful plan seems to be to play on f5... [18...f6 with the idea of Qf7 and f5. 19. Re1! White prepares for the 16


typical maneuver Nf1–e3. 19...Qf7 and now on 20.Nf1?! (20.Qb1! is definitely the right move. It continues fighting against f5. The queen stands well on the b-file because his main idea is to push c5 with an attack on the queenside.) 20...f5! 21.Ne3 (21.exf5 exf5 22.Ne3 g4! Suddenly, Black got a pretty strong attack.) 21...fxe4 22.fxe4 Rhf8 23.Ng4 (23.Rf1 Qg6 By harassing the e4 pawn, White is forced to move his center, which creates holes in the position.) 23...Nf6=+ By opening the f-file, Black achieved a perfect position.]

23. Ba4! A strong concrete decision. By exchanging the light squared bishops, the Black king gets significantly weakened. White is in time to open the lines against it. [23. Rb1 was also good.]

19. Re1! Jakovenko prepares for the regrouping of the knight.

26...f6

23... Bc6 24. Bxc6 Qxc6 25. Rb1 Kc8 Now it became clear that the 22nd move was not the best... [25...Ka8 would have been met with 26. Rb5! followed by Qa4.] 26. Rb5! An excellent place for the rook, where it supports the c5 breakthrough.

19...N8g6 20.Nf1! Qd7 21.Ne3 Just in time. White achieved the maximum. Black is out of useful ideas, or at least I don’t find any... 21...e5?! Giving up the control over the f5 and d5 squares can’t be an advisable idea. Black wants to create some concrete tricks connected with Nxh3, but White can easily neutralize them. 22.Kh2! Kb8?!

27.Qb1! The last preparation for concrete actions. Jakovenko protected his rook on b5. 27...Kd7 [27...Ne7 can be met with the typical break 28.d5!? (28.Rd1 is also very strong.) 28...Qa8 29.c5! dxc5 (29...bxc5 30.Nc4+/- creating a powerful knight on c4. White will recover the a5 pawn soon.) 30.Nc4+/- and d6 is coming next, destroying the king’s guards...] 28.c5! The game is practically over. Black cannot stand the pressure...

17


28...dxc5 [28...bxc5 is not better. 29.dxc5 Ke8 30. Rd1 For example: 30...Kf7 31.cxd6 Rxd6 (31...cxd6 32.Nf5+-) 32. Rxd6 Qxd6 33.Nf5+- White can do whatever he wants. The least is simply to take the a5 pawn.] 29.dxc5 Ke7 [29...bxc5 30. Rd1+ Ke8 31. Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Nd5+- followed by Rxc5.] 30.cxb6 Rd2 The last tricks, but of course, against a player like Jakovenko, these are not serious attempts. 31.Nd5+! Nxd5 32.exd5 Qe8 The only square to protect the g6 knight. 33.b7 Jakovenko demonstrated very well the deep ideas in this opening. 1–0

18


Puzzle section (5) Karjakin,S (2779) — Grischuk,A (2763) World Rapid Championship, 06.07.2012 [CEWN]

(7) Kazhgaleyev,M (2589) — Ismagambetov,A (2471) World Rapid Championship, 07.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1.+-

(8) Kurnosov,I (2663) — Topalov,V (2752) (6) Svidler,P (2749) — Kurnosov,I (2663)

World Rapid Championship, 07.07.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

19


(9) Analysis of Kurnosov,I (2663) — Topalov,V (2752)

(11) Matlakov,M (2668) — Wang Yue (2697)


[CEWN]

[CEWN] 1.=

(10) Topalov,V (2752) — Carlsen,M (2837) World Rapid Championship, 08.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

Russia-China match, 03.07.2012 1...=

(12) Wang Hao (2739) — Jakovenko,D (2736) Russia-China match (rapid), 07.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

20


(13) Li Chao (2687) — Matlakov,M (2668) Russia-China match (rapid), 07.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Erenburg,S (2624) — Friedel,J (2503) Philadelphia Open, 07.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

21


Endgame section (15) Carlsen,M (2837) — Bologan,V (2732) World Rapid Championship, 06.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

44...Na6+ 45.Ka5 Nxc5 46.Kxb6 Nb3! Bologan finds the only chance to stay in the game. Black collects the d4 pawn. I don’t think that Carlsen blundered this move, since after the coming moves, it all seems to be over. 47.Ka7? Still following the wrong path... [47.Ka6 should have been played, even tough after 47...Nxd4 48.b6 Nc6 49. Bb1 Nb4+ 50.Kb5 Nc6 I don’t see the winning plan for White.] 47...Nxd4 48.b6 Nc6+ 49.Ka8 This was Carlsen’s idea when he played 43. Bf5. White promotes the b-pawn soon and the bishop covers the a2 and f3 pawns, which might give somecounter-chances for Black. I’m sure that at this moment, both players accepted that White won the struggle. But chess is a more difficult game...

Carlsen obviously has a completely winning position with an extra pawn, and the days of the a3 pawn are also numbered. However, while converting the advantage, White allowed a miraculous escape to his opponent... 43. Bf5+? In my opinion, Carlsen had already seen the final position of the game. Everything seemed to be quite forced, so the World’s Nr. 1 had to be confident with his calculations. [43.Kb4! was probably the easiest way to victory. 43...Na6+ 44.Kxa3 Nxc5 45.dxc5 Rb8 46.Kb4+and there is nothing that can stop the pawn avalanche on the queenside, supported by the bishop and the king.] 43...Kd6 44.Kb4? Continuing with the wrong plan. [44. Bd3! Repeating the moves would have been objectively better.]

49...d4? [49...Na5!! would have led to an amazing position... 50.b7 Nxb7 51.Kxb7 In my opinion, many players would just resign here after a short hesitation. Who would believe that Black is close to be winning in this position!!! At first sight, I thought it was a mistake of the computer. Then, after checking a few logical lines, everything became clear...

51...Kc5! Let’s summarize the main ideas: The White king has no access to the d-pawn, Black simply wants to pro22


mote the d-pawn with the help of the king. It seems like even if he manages to do it, White will sacrifice his bishop, capture the a3 pawn and his a-pawn will queen automatically. But in this case, Black is in time to collect the f3 pawn and promote his own f-pawn... 52.Ka6 Trying to catch the pawn and approaching to a3 seems to be the most logical attempt. a) 52.Kc7 is a tricky option to rush to the e-file with the king. 52...d4 53. Bc2 Kc4 54.Kc6 (54.Kd6 requires precise moves by Black. 54...d3 55.Bd1 Kd4! in order to keep the king away from the e5-e4 path. Black wins an important tempo to push d2 in the next move, and only then he goes with the king. 56.h3 d2 57.Ke6 Ke3) 54...d3 55. Bb3+

55...Kd4! Again, it is very important to prevent the Kd5e4 idea. (55...Kc3? is a mistake because of 56.Kd5! d2 57.Ke4 Kb2 58.Kd3 Kc1 59.Ke2+- just in time.) 56.Kb5 (56.Kd6 d2) 56...Kc3 and again White has nothing better than transposing to the main line with 52.Ka6. b) 52.h3 d4 53. Bc2 White needs to move into this tempo to control the promoting square on d1. 53...Kc4 54.Kb6 d3 55. Bb3+ Kc3 This is a transposition to our main line.

52...Kb4! A necessary move. The idea is to block to king’s route on the a-file and save an important tempo to push d4. (52...d4? immediately is a mistake. 53.Ka5 Kc4 54.Ka4 d3 55.Kxa3 Kc3 56.Be6+-) 53.h3! White must already understand that „this ship is gone” and try to defend the inferior endgame, where the pawn must stay on h3. (53. Kb6 d4 White can achieve the same queen endgame, but with his pawn on h2. Everything is forced from now on... 54.Kc6 (54.Bc2 Kc3 55.Bb3 d3 56.Kb5 d2) 54... Kc3 55.Kc5 d3 56. Be6 d2 57. Bb3 Kb2 58.Kb4 Kc1 59.Kxa3 d1Q 60. Bxd1 Kxd1 61.Kb4 Ke2 62.a4 Kxf3 63.a5 Kxg4! That is why the pawn should be on h3. 64.a6 f3 65.a7 f2 66.a8Q f1Q with a winning endgame.) 53... d4 The next moves are Kc3 and d3. White cannot do anything against it... 54. Bc2 Kc3 55. Bb3 d3 56.Kb5 d2 57.Ka4 Kb2 58.Kb4 Kc1 59.Kxa3 d1Q 60. Bxd1 Kxd1 61.Kb4 Ke2 62.a4 Kxf3 63.a5 Kg3 64.a6 f3 65.a7 f2 66.a8Q f1Q and in the coming endgame, Black’s winning chances are better than White’s drawing ones. Most probably, a Q+1 pawn against a Q endgame will arise, which could continue for 100 moves. A shocking endgame which shows excellently how difficult chess is.; 49... Nd8! is also fine, with the same idea.] 50.b7 Kc7 51. Bd3! The bishop is heading to b5 and the knight cannot hold the b-pawn. 51...Nb8 52. Bb5 Black is in zugzwang. 52...d3 53. Bxd3 Nd7 54.Ka7! Black resigned in view of 54...Nb8 55. Bb5. Everything went like Carlsen expected, but there could have been a big surprise for him... 1–0

23


(16) Carlsen,Magnus (2837) — Karjakin,Sergey (2779) [C65]

37...Kg8

World Rapid Final Astana KAZ (10), 07.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

38.h4! White’s id ea is to bring the pawn to h6, and try to get the h7 pawn, winning the game. 34. Rf7 This game could have been the most decisive in the tourney. Carlsen was leading the tournament and a victory would have given him a 1.5 points lead ahead of Karjakin. This endgame looks like a total draw, but Carlsen managed to win it quite easily. Let’s take a look at how this could happen. 34... Rd1+? This move is hard to understand. Why to bring the White king out of the corner?! [34... Bd4! would have been the right decision here! The game is immediately a draw. Maybe Black blundered that White can’t play 35. Rxc7 (35.Rd7?? Rd1+ 36.Kg2 Rg1+! leaving Black a piece up. 37.Kf3 B xc5) 35... Bxc5 36. Rxc5 Rd1+ 37.Kg2 Rd2+ 38.Kg3 Rxa2 with an easy draw.] 35.Kg2 Rd2+ It wasn’t too later for 35... Bd4 36.Kf3 Rxa2 37. Rxc7 And things are not as simple as before.

38... Rc2! This is a very good move by Black! Now White is pinned on the c-file and Black just wants to play Bf8, or move the a-pawn. 39. Rc8+ Kf7 40.Ke4

40... Rc4+? Another very strange move by Black. [40...a5! followed by a4-a3 with a total draw.] 41.Kf5 Bd4 Again, it was not too late for 41...a5 42. Rf8+! Could it be that Black blundered this move!? 24


42...Kg7 43. Bd6 Rc6 44. Rd8! Suddenly, Black is facing some serious trouble. White wants to play Rd7 or h5-h6 first. 44... Bc5?! Black should not remove the bishop from the long diagonal. [44...Kf7! would still hold the draw. 45. Rd7+ Ke8 46. Re7+ Kd8 and Black is holding.]

51...Ke8 52. Ra8+?! Played a bit too quickly. [52.f5 would have put bigger pressure on Black.] 52...Kf7 53. Rh8

45. Be5+ Kf7 46. Rd7+ Be7

53... Rc4+? The losing move. [53... Bf6! would have been the only move to save the game. 54. Bxf6 Kxf6 55. Rxh7 Kg6 56. Rh8 Rc4+ with an easy draw.] 47.h5! Black is clearly under pressure but the position is still a draw... 47...Ke8 48. Ra7 Rh6?! Another little mistake that allows White to put the pawn on h6. [48...Kf7 A passive defense would have been a better choice, even if things are getting sharper than Black would have wanted. 49.Ke4! White finds a new plan, to play f5-f6. 49... Rh6 50.f5 Ke8 The Black king needs to leave the 7th rank. 51.Kd5 Rb6 52. Bd4! And the ga me would continue. The position is still a draw, but to hold this it not easy at all...] 49. Bg7! White uses this chance to put the pawn on h6.

54.Kf5! And Black’s position is lost. 54... Rc5+ 55. Be5 The h7 pawn is falling. 55... Bf8 56. Rxh7+ Kg8 57. Rh8+ Kf7 58. Rxf8+ Followed by 58...Kxf8 59.h7 Rxe5 60.fxe5 Kg7 61.e6. Probably, in the beginning of this endgame every club player would announce that he would hold this endgame easily, which would be a big mistake. Endgames tend to look very „easy” and are not „easy” at all! We just saw a 2779 player losing such an endgame, in a rapid game. White showed nice technique and good winning ideas which led, step by step, to a better and betterposition! 1–0

49... Rc6 [49... Rxh5+?? 50.Ke6 and White is winning.] 50.h6 Kf7 51.Ke4! With the already known idea of f5-f6. 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Morphy,Paul — Muarian,C [C37] New Orleans New Orleans, 1866

5.d4!? This brave crifice is typical of Murphy. He tries to use the fact that Black is completely undeveloped and gaining 2 tempi (d4 and Qxf3) is worth a piece for him. [A similar game was played by Alexei Shirov, who is also famous for his brilliant attacking skills 5.0–0 with the same idea as in 5.d4. 5...gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qf6

[Balogh Csaba] This week we give a big jump in time. We’ll examine a game from the strongest player of the mid 19th century, Paul Morphy. He is known as the first unofficial World Champion, since at that time this title didn’t exist. Murphy has crushed the whole chess world, with his „romantic” style. He sacrificed all his pieces and mated his opponents in very short games. We must admit that 150 years ago, the defensive abilities were quite poor. After a while, it was not a challenge for him to mate his opponents, so he started to play handicap matches, starting the games without the a1 rook and things like this. Still, his opponents were unable to resist against his incredible attacking fantasy. 1.e4 e5 2.f4 At the time, only two openings existed against 1.e4 e5. The King’s gambit and [2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 the Evans Gambit.] 2...exf4 3.Nf3 g5 This is still the most popular setup from the Black side. He would like to preserve his material advantage for the future. 4. Bc4 g4 Not a bad move, but very risky. [4... Bg7 5.d4 d6 6.h4 h6 followed by Nc6 is a solid and safe system for Black.]

7.e5!? Opening the central lines. Material does not matter anymore, the question is whether the attack breaks through or not... 7...Qxe5 8. Bxf7+! Shirov lures the king into the danger zone and his pieces join the attack with tempo. This is all nice and good, but it is already the 2nd piece... 8...Kxf7 9.d4! Qxd4+ (9...Qf5 would have been a more tenacious defense 10.B xf4 Nf6 11.Nc3 d6 and Black has good defensive possibilities.) 10. Be3! White cannot waste more time. 10...Qf6 11. Bxf4 This is what Shirov was playing for. The f-file seems really dangerous and the remaining pieces are also coming fast (Nc3 with the threat of Nd5, and Rae1). 11...Ke8 12.Nc3 Nc6 13.Nd5 Qg6 Black has enough material to give back. The question is whether he can defend the mate. 14. Rae1+

26


7. Bxf7+! With the same method as in the Shirov game. Murphy makes the king more vulnerable...

14... Be7? This loses nicely! (14...Nge7! 15. Bxc7 (15.N xc7+ Kd8 16.N xa8 d6 is rather good for Black.) 15...d6 and here I didn’t find more than perpetual check. 16.Nf6+ Kf7 17.Nd7+ Ke8 18.Nf6+= (18.N xf8 Qf5 would be fine for Black.)) 15. Bd6!! and Black has no good defense against the threat Qf8! 15...Kd8 (15...cxd6 16.Qf8#) 16.Qf8+! Bxf8 17. Bxc7# A picturesque final position. 1–0 ShirovLapinski, Daugavpils 1990.] 5...gxf3 6.Qxf3 Nc6?! [Computers easily neutralize such attacks, but chess is a game of humans... 6...d6 7. Bxf4 Qh4+! 8. Bg3 On other moves, Qg4 would come. 8...Qf6 9.Qd3 Nc6 It is already a bad sign if Black can develop with tempo...]

7...Kxf7 8.Qh5+ Ke7?! It’s pretty hard to understand this move, unless Black was playing for a win, but I doubt it... [After the logical 8...Kg7 White has nothing better than settle for the draw with 9.Qg4+ Kf7 10.Qh5+= (I am quite sure that Murphy would have played 10.0–0 and mate his opponent in a few moves, but against the correct defense, he cannot hope for a real attack. 10...Nf6 11.Qxf4 d6 12.e5 (12.Qh4 Bg7 followed by Rf8 and Kg8.) 12...dxe5 13.dxe5 Qd4+ Black exchanges the queens by giving back a piece, but he still has an extra piece.) ] 9. Bxf4 Suddenly, the Bg5 threat is very unpleasant, but it was still not too late to save the game. 9...Nf6? This is the decisive mistake, Murphy cruelly punishes his opponent... [9... Bg7 should have been played, in order to meet Bg5 with Bf6. 10. Bg5+ (10.e5 Qe8! 11.Bg5+ Bf6! 12.B xf6+ N xf6 13.Qh4 Qg6 14.0–0 Rg8 15.g3 d5 and the king has avoided the main danger.) 10... Bf6 11.Nc3 Qe8! An important defensive resource to free the d8 square for the king.] 10. Bg5 Bg7 11.e5 Qe8! 12.Qh4! Similar to the 9... Bg7 line, but with the bishop on f6, it was more forcing for White to take on f6. Now White takes only when it hurts the most... 12...Qg6 [12...Kd8 loses to 13.0–0! with the threat of exf6 13...h6 14. Bxf6+ Bxf6 15.Qxf6+ Ne7 16.d5!+- Crushing.] 13.0–0! White increases the pressure to the maximum. 13...d5 [13...Kf7 14. Bxf6+-; 13... Rf8 leads to the nicest mate in this game... 14.exf6+ Bxf6 15.Nc3! Qxg5 27


16. Rae1+ Ne5 White can choose between many winning lines, but the nicest is definitely (16...Kd8 17.Qxg5 B xg5 18.R xf8#)

Surprise section / study (18) Bondar,I 1987 [CEWN] 1.+-

17. Rxf6! Qxh4 (17...Qxf6 18.Nd5++-) 18.Nd5+! and mate in a few moves. 18...Ke8 19. Rxe5+ Kd8 20. Rxf8#] 14.exf6+ White wins th sacrificed pieces and the mating attack continues. The game is over. 14...Kf7 15.fxg7+ Kxg7 16. Rf6 Bf5 17. Rxg6+ hxg6 18. Bf6+ A nice victory, but this kind of chess would hardly pay out nowadays. 1–0

28


Solutions

(20) Khismatullin,D (2664) — Khairullin,I (2631) Russian Higher league, 17.06.2012

(19) Kosteniuk,A (2472) — Ju Wenjun (2518)

[Solutions]

Russia-China match, 02.07.2012 [Solutions]

33... Re3! 34. Bxe3 fxe3 35.Ng4 [35.Qxe3 Nxf3+–+] 35...Qf4+ 36.Kh1 Nxh3–+

41. Rxa5! [41.Qh8+ Ke7 42.Qxg7 Qg8!] 41... Rc7 [41... Rxa5 42.Qxf7#; 41...Qxa5 42.Qxg5 Kg8 43.Qh5 Kf8 44.Qh8+ Ke7 45.Qxb8+-] 42.Qh8+ Ke7 43.Qxg7 Qg8 44. Rh7?? [44.Qxg8 Rxg8 45.Kf1+-] 44...Qxg7 45. Rxg7 Kf6 46. Rh7 Rxb3=

(21) Papadopoulos,I (2417) — Berg,E (2587) Greek league, 01.07.2012 [Solutions]

25...Rxf4! 26.gxf4 Qxh4+ 27.Nh3 [27.Kg1 Qh1+ 28.Kf2 Qg2+ 29.Ke3 Qe2#] 27...Nd4! 28.Qxd3 Qxh7!–+ 29.Nef2 [29.Re1 Qg6 30.Nhg5 Qh5+ 31.Nh3 Bxe4 32.Qxe4 Nf3+–+] 29...Qh4! 30.Re1 [30.Rg1 Bc6–+] 30...Bc6 31.Re3 Qh5–+ 29


(22) Berg,E (2587) — Hagen,A (2445)

(24) Zapata,A (2484) — Battaglini,G (2412)

Svein memorial, 22.06.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36.Nf7+! Kg8 37.Nh6+! gxh6 38. Rg3! 1–0 (23) Gupta,A (2644) — Sarkar,J (2411) Philadelphia Open, 29.06.2012 [Solutions]

25.Nxe6! [25.Nh5 Qh6] 25...h5 [25...fxe6 26. Rxe6 Qf8 27.Qh5 g6 28. Bxg6 Rb7 29.Qxd5+-] 26.Qxh5! [26. Qh3+-] 26...fxe6 27. Re3! g6 [27...Qh6 28.Qxh6 gxh6 29. Rxe6+-] 28. Bxg6 Rc7 29. Rf3 Qh8 30. Bf7++(25) Pelletier,Y (2589) — Heimann,A (2480) Suisse league, 24.06.2012 [Solutions]

31.Nxe6! Kxe6 32. Rh5! Qf8 [32...Ke7 33.Qxf5 Qf8 34.Qxg4+-] 33. Bxc4 dxc4 34.Qxc4+ Kd7 35.e6++[35.d5!+-]

34. Rxc6! g6 [34... Rxe3 35. Rc8+ Re8 36.Qxe3!+-] 35. Rxe6 Rxe6 36. Rc8+ Kh7 37.Qd4+30


(26) Istratescu,A (2633) — Mohajerin,P (2429)

(27) Yu Ruiyuan (2511) — Zhao Jun (2583)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

16.Ndxb5! [16.hxg7 Bxg7 17.Ndxb5! is the same.] 16...axb5 17.Nxb5 Qd7 18.hxg7! Bxg7 19.Nxd6+ Kf8 20. Bb5! Nc6 [20...Qc7 21.Ne8!! Qc5 22.Nxg7+-] 21.Nf5? [21. Be3! Be5 22. Bc5+-; 21.Nc4! Qxd1+ (21... N xc4 22.B xc6 Qxc6 23.Qd8+ Qe8 24.Be7++-) 22. Rxd1 Nxc4 23. Bxc6+-] 21...exf5? [21... Bxb2!] 22. Bxc6 Qxd1+ [22...Qxc6 23.Qd8+ Qe8 24. Be7++-] 23. Rxd1+-

33...Qxf2+! 0–1[33...Qxf2+ 34. Rxf2 Rc1#] (28) Caruana,F (2767) — Godena,M (2508) Suisse league, 24.06.2012 [Solutions]

43...Ne1! [43... Be6+? 44.Kg3 Ne1 45.Nd4!] 44.Kg3 [44. Rgh2 Be6+ 45.Kh4 (45.Kg3 Rf3+ 46.Kh4 Ng2+! 47.R xg2 Rh3#) 45...Nf3+–+; 44. Rg3 Be6+ 45.Kh4 Rh1+–+] 44...Nxg2 45.Kxg2 Rb1–+ 31


(29) Taniev,R 1986 [Solutions]

1.Ke6 [1.g6+? Ke8 2.Ke6 Kf8!=] 1... Be7 [1... Bf8 2.Kf7 Be7 3.g6 Bxh4 4.g7+-] 2.g6! Ke8! 3. Bg5!! [3. Bf6? Bxf6 4.Kxf6 Kf8=; 3.g7? Bf8!! 4.g8B Bc5=] 3... Ba3 [3... Bf8 4. Be7 Bh6 (4...Bg7 5.Bd6 Bh6 6.Kf6 Kd7 7.Bf4+-) 5. Bc5 Bg7 6. Bd6! Bh6 (6...Bd4 7.Be5! B xe5 8.Kxe5 Kf8 9.Kf6 Kg8 10.g7+-) 7.Kf6! A theoretical winning position, but it is instructive to see the technique. 7... Be3 8.Kg7! Bd4+ 9.Kg8 Bc3 10. Bf8 Bd4 11. Bg7 Be3 12.Kh7 Bc5 13. Bc3 Bf8 14. Bb4+-] 4.g7 Bf8 5.g8B!! Ba3 6. Bf7+ Kf8 7. Bh6# 1–0

32

Weekly Newsletter



20th of July 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17


20


24


28

»» Solutions

29

The main story of the week is definitely the Dortmund Chess Festival. The system is back to a 10 players single round-robin, instead of the 6 players double round-robin. For the first time, 4 German players are participating in the event, exactly the 4 players that won the European Team Championship 2011. As usual, many Top 10 players are invited as well, with Kramnik, Karjakin, Caruana, Leko, Ponomariov making the tournament super strong. M.Bartel, who qualified in the Aeroflot Open, seems to be in a bad shape. Until now, there have been a lot of fighting and exciting games, it’s a clear must for a chess fan to have a look at a few of them. Of course, we comment games from the event for You. Another female Grand Prix has started, Koneru is a clear favorite to take the first place. The Turkish league is another chess event with a few super starts participating, like Adams, Mamedyarov and Polgar. The Dutch Chess Championship has begun, Giri is dominating the tournament until now. Instead of Arkadij Naiditsch, this week Kamil Miton commented the 2 games for You. He is the usual analyst in the Chess Evolution book issues, so we hope You will enjoy his comments as well. Also, we hope that you understand that Arkadij is playing the Dortmund Super Tournament, and in such events, full concentration is required. Another important announcement, please keep around 6MB of free space in Your email box! Every CEWN issue is around this size. In case there is no way to make this space free, please contact us. We will send out “Zip” files. As usual, have fun with the new material included in the CEWN Nr. 21! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Gustafsson,J (2629) — Kramnik,V (2799) [E94] Dortmund, 14.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] In this game, we can see the fruits of Kramnik’s great research work. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 What a surprise! Kramnik plays the King’s Indian defense. He employed it in 3 normal time control games during his whole career (according to my database at least). The last time he used it was in 1997.

11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13. Rc1!? This is the „new way”. [13.Qb3 was the old line, but after 13...Nc6 14. Rad1 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 16. Rxd4 Qf6! Black solves his problems according to the theory.] 13...a5!! [13...Nc6 This natural developing move happened in Gustafsson’s first game. 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15. Rxc6 Bb7 16. Rc1 dxe4 17.Qxd8 Raxd8 18.f4! and White got a small advantage. He has a great blockade on e3 and he can slowly use his pawn majority on the queenside. 18... Bd4 19.Kf2 Bxe3+ 20.Kxe3+= Gustafsson-Maze, Aixles-Bains 2011.; 13...dxe4 14.fxe4 Rxe4 (14...B xd4 15.B xd4 Nc6 After analyzing the game, it’s an interesting question what White can do here...) 15.Ne6!! is White’s point behind 13. Rc1, the bishop on c8 is hanging.]

4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 Gustafsson does not like deviating from his well analyzed lines. This, of course, made Kramnik’s task much easier. 7...c6 8.0–0 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.f3

10...d5 A very concrete line, in which Gustafsson came up with a nice novelty in 2011, which was analyzed in many articles as the new way to go.

14.Qb3 Objectively not a bad move, but from a psychological point of view, it was exactly what Kramnik expected. [14. Bb5 was my first idea, using the b5 square, but after 14... Bd7 Black develops comfortably. 15.a4 dxe4 16. Bc4 Bxd4! As we will see, this is always Black’s defensive idea. 17. Bxd4 (17.Qxd4 Nc6 18.Qc3 Rc8 19.fxe4 Ne5 Black is fine.) 17... Be6 18.fxe4 Nc6 After exchanging the queens, Black does not need to worry about getting mat3


ed.; 14.Nb5 Black can easily parry the threats around the c7 square. 14...Nc6 15. Bf4 Be5 is the easiest. 16. Bxe5 Rxe5 followed by Be6 and dxe4. Qb6 check is also annoying in many lines.; 14.Kh1 is the machine’s recommendation. Probably Kramnik prepared 14...dxe4 15.fxe4 (15.Bc4 is met with the usual 15...B xd4 16.B xd4 Nc6) 15... Bxd4! 16. Bxd4 Nc6 17. Bf6 Qxd1 18. Rfxd1 Rxe4 and Black holds the material balance in a miraculous way. 19. Rxc6 (19.Bf3 Re8 should be a draw after Bxc6.)

to exchange queens, which was clearly not his intention.) 20...Ke7! 21.exf5 The pair of bishops have an incredible power against the e7 king, but Black is lucky to save the game. (21. Bc5+ is also possible 21...Kf6 22.exf5 Qd1+ 23. Bf1! (23.Kf2 loses to 23...Re5! 24.Bd4 Qe1+ 25.Kf3 g5!) 23... Re1 24.fxg6+ Kxg6 25.Qg3+ Kf7 26.Qc7+ is probably a draw.) 21...Qd6! 22. Be5! (22.f6+ Kd7 The king is heading to safety.) 22...Qd1+ 23.Kf2 and here, according to the machine (I think, we can believe it in this kind of positions), Black has nothing better than to settle for a draw with 23...Qc2+ 24.Kg3 Qxf5 25.Qd4! Qg5+ 26.Kh3 Qh5+ 27.Kg3= I am pretty sure that Kramnik has also analyzed until this moment, but his analysis were going much deeper and detailed.] 14...a4! 15.Qxd5 Qxd5 16.exd5 White proves the point of his 13. Rc1 move again. The e3 bishop is not hanging.

19... Bf5!! Two pieces are hanging, and on 20. Rc2 Re6! Black recovers the bishop.; 14.Qd2 would be a very logical response. The idea is simple: to protect the e3 bishop. White wants to take on d5, followed by, for example, Qxd5 Bc4. 14...dxe4 15.fxe4 (15.Bc4 B xd4 16.B xd4 Nc6) 15... Bxd4 16. Bxd4 Nc6 And in comparison to all the lines we examined before, White has a very dangerous alternative: 17. Rxc6! bxc6 18. Rxf7!! A really spectacular double rook sacrifice, unfortunately it only leads to a draw. 18... Kxf7 19.Qf4+ Bf5! Only move! Black has enough material to give back. (19...Kg8 20.Bc4+! followed by Qe5 after both possible blockading moves on e6...) 20. Bc4+ (20. exf5? is not good. 20...R xe2 21.fxg6+ Kxg6 22.Qg4+ Qg5 23.Qxe2 Qc1+! After this important check, White is forced

16...a3!? [16...Nc6!? was an interesting alternative, after which White must be very careful not to stay worse. 17.Nc2! Only move. 17...Nb4! 18.Nxb4 Rxe3 White is a pawn up, but the Black bishops start to work. 19.Kf2 Re8 20. Rfd1 The check on d4 had to be prevented. 20... Bxb2 21. Rc7 and the d-pawn gives enough counterplay for White to hold the draw. For example_ 21... Rd8 22.d6 Ba3 23.d7 Bxb4 24.dxc8Q Rdxc8 25. Rxb7=] 17.b3? [Following the „less pieces, less problems” principle with 17.bxa3! would have been the right decision to try to make a draw. This was much more principled from a practical point of view as well, because Gustafsson has already spent all his time. He only had about 15 minutes, while Kramnik had around 1 hour and 30 minutes. 17... Rxa3 18. Bf2 Rxa2 19. Rfe1 with a drawn position.] 4


25. Rxe3 Nxd1 26. Bxd1 Bf5 27.b4! and White holds the draw after putting the bishop on b3.] 20...Nxa2 21. Ra4?! [21.Nc2 gave better practical chances, but still, after 21...Nc3 22. Bd3 a2 the position does not look great.]

18.Nc2! Just as in the previous case, this is the only move. [18.Nxc6 Rxe3; 18.dxc6 Rxe3 19. Rfd1 Bxd4 20. Rxd4 Rxe2 21. Rd8+ Kg7 might seem a bit suspicious, but Black is winning.]

21... Rxa4 22.bxa4 Bd4 23.Kf2? The final mistake! Once again, White made the most obvious move (chess is sometimes a strange game). [The machine’s 23.Kh1! would have forced Kramnik to show his excellent technique. 23...Nb4! (23...B xe3 is not precise, because of 24.Ra1) 24. Bc4 Bxe3 25. Ra1 Bc5 26. Rxa3 Nxd5 when Black is clearly better, but White has very good chances to get rid of the queenside pawns with a5-a6, which definitely increases his chances to survive.]

18... Rxe3! Probably Gustafsson missed this move when he played 17.b3.

23...Nb4 Now the a-pawn promotes! It made a nice career in this game.

19.Nxe3 Nb4 Black is going to take the a2 pawn and his a-pawn will be amazingly dangerous, thanks to the support of the dark squared bishop and the rook. In addition, the Bd4 threat is also in the air.

24. Rc1 a2 Kramnik was in sacrificing mood today. [24... Bd7 was also good enough.]

17...Nc6! From now on Kramnik shows no mercy.

20. Rc4 Gustafsson went under 5 minutes, not a good sign in such positions... He made the most logical move again, but it was bad once again. White prevented the Bd4 threat... [The computer could still have saved the game by playing 20. Rc7! Bd4! (20...N xa2 21.d6 The dpawn compensates again. Strangely, the computer shows a White advantage here.) 21. Re7 Nxd5 22. Re8+ Kg7 23. Rd1! This kind of chess is, of course, not for human beings. Especially with so little time on the clock. 23... Bxe3+ (23...Nc3 24.Kf1 B xe3 transposes.) 24.Kf1 Nc3

25. Rxc8+ Kg7 26. Rc1 Nxd5! And White cannot avoid ending up with a huge material disadvantage... 27. Rd1 Nxe3 It will be interesting to follow this line in the future, to see how the players try to refute the 13...a5 move. 0–1

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(2) Kamsky,G (2744) — Le Quang Liem (2693) [A31] Amsterdam, 14.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Recently, all the top players are varying their first moves. Theory is already so huge that they must bring the surprise factor in their games. 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.g3

5...e5!? It was a forgotten sideline until 2011, when Grischuk successfully employed it against Kramnik. It gives up the d5 square, but in our computer era, the machines find concrete sense behind all the moves. It was impossible to meet such a move from a top player 20 years ago... 6.Nb5 Bb4+ 7.N1c3 [The point of the 5...e5 move excellently comes out after 7. Bd2 a6 8.N5c3 d5! Despite that seemingly White did everything well, Black overtook the initiative. 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bg2 Be6] 7...a6?! A dubious novelty to the mentioned game. I hardly believe this was a prepared one by the strong Vietnamese GM, I think he mixed up something in his memory. [7...d6 8.Bg2 (8.a3!? could be Kamsky’s improvement. 8...Bxc3+

9.Nxc3 (After the concrete 9.bxc3 0–0 10.Nxd6 Qa5 Black gets very strong counterplay.) 9...Be6 Black must act. He attacks the c4 pawn and prepares for the break with d5, which could solve his opening problems. At this moment, maybe Kamsky has prepared a pawn sacrifice, which would fit his style. 10.Bg5!? Bxc4 11. Rc1 Be6 12.Bg2 creating very strong counterplay on the light squares. I don’t think White can be worse, the question is whether he can be better if Black plays correctly. Probably future games will show us.) 8...a6 9.Na3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 0–0 11.0–0

11...h6 An interesting position. Both sides have their pluses and minuses. White is doing well on the light squares, but the doubled pawns on the c-file are weak. Black has a backward pawn on d6, but has a quick counterplay against c4 with Be6 and Na5. The a3 knight is standing poorly, White must waste some important tempi to improve it. 12.Nc2 Qc7 13.Ne3 Be6 14.Ba3 Rfd8 with a more or less balanced position in Kramnik-Grischuk, Kazan 2011.] 8.Nd6+ Ke7 9.Nf5+! White wants to consolidate his position and organize his play around the d5 square. [9.Nxc8+ would allow a quick counterplay against the c4 pawn. 9... Rxc8 10. Bg2 Na5!] 9...Kf8 6


10.Ne3! Otherwise, Black had the d5 break. Now, it’s Black’s turn to do something quickly, otherwise he’ll get a much worse version than the Kramnik-Grischuk game. The White knight stands excellently on e3 and Black has lost the right to castle. 10...Ne4 11.Ned5 Nxc3 Black preserves his bishop and creates the usual weaknesses on the c-file. 12.bxc3! [12.Nxc3 would allow a quick counterattack against the c4 pawn. 12...d6 13. Bg2 Be6 ] 12... Bc5 13. Bg2 d6 14. Be3! The right decision! White must exchange the strong dark squared bishops, after which the d6 and b7 pawns, and the b6 square, are more vulnerable. [14.0–0 was also good, but the next move should be Be3 anyway.] 14... Bxe3 [On other moves, like 14... Be6 White wanted to play 15. Bxc5! dxc5 16. Rb1 Rb8 17.0–0 followed by Qd3, Rfd1 with big pressure.]

16...Ke7 [On 16...Na5 White probably prepared an intuitive sacrifice 17.c5! 17...dxc5 18.Qa4! and Black cannot avoid the invasion of the rooks on the d-file. 18...g6 19. Rfd1 Qc7 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Kg7 22. Rd7+/-] 17.Qd3! I really like this move, despite it’s not the only one that gets a big advantage. White develops logically, and at the same time, sticks the h8 to defend h7, which will cost another important tempo to Black. [17. Rb1!? Qc7 18.Qa4 was in a completely different style, but also very good. 18... Rac8 19. Rfd1 with a big advantage. Black cannot finish his development with 19... Rhd8 because of 20.Nd5+! Bxd5 21.cxd5 Na7 22.Qh4+! and h7 falls. This kind of hidden checks are very easy to blunder.] 17... Rc8 18. Rab1! Developing with a tempo against the opponent’s weakness is always nice. 18...Qc7

15.Nxe3 Be6 16.0–0

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Issue 21 and decided to open the position himself. [For example, after 23...Kd8 24.fxe5! and either the rook invades on f7 or the opening of the d-file decide the game.; On 23... Qe8 24.Qg4+- wins.]

20th of July 2012

24. Rxf4 Rc5 [24...Kd8 in order to find shelter for the king on the queenside would be refuted by 25. Be6! Qxe6 26.Qxa5+ followed by Rxb7. This is the reason why Black played 24... Rc5.] 19.f4! This attack was in Kamsky’s mind when he played 17.Qd3. For such decisions, you must have strong intuitions, because if the attack does not break trough, White just creates weaknesses on his own camp. Now the concrete threat is f5, winning a piece because of Nd5. 19...Na5 [19...exf4 20.Nd5+ Bxd5 21. Bxd5 will be similar to the game.; 19...f6 loses to the nice 20. Bh3! and Black has no move.] 20.Nd5+! Bxd5 21. Bxd5 It will be rd for Black to neutralize the power of the d5 bishop. Note that the h8 rook is still paralyzed because of the Qd3 move. Any kind of attempt to activate it with h6 or g6 would just create new weaknesses. 21...f6 22.Qf5! A very nice regrouping. Kamsky simply plays this game perfectly. 22...Qd7 23.Qh5! The new threat is fxe5 opening the lines against the Black king, against which Black cannot do anything. The game is practically over. 23...exf4 This had t o be really hard difficult to make, since Black should have kept the position closed at any cost. But Le Quang could not find a way to deal with fxe5

25. Rxf6!! This beautiful tactical blow puts the point at the end of the game. 25...gxf6 [Black loses even more material after 25...Kxf6 26. Rf1+ Ke7 27. Rf7+ Kd8 28.Qg5+! The most accurate way to win. 28...Kc8 29. Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Qxg7++-] 26.Qf7+ Kd8 27.Qxf6+ Kc7 28.Qxh8 The game is over! White has a huge material advantage and his pieces continue dominating. 28...Qe7 29.e4 It is always a pleasure for an 1.e4 player, to play e2-e4 in the later period of the game. 29...Qd7 30. Rf1 Kb6 31. Rf7 Qa4 32.Qd8+ Ka7 33.Qxd6 Qa3 34.Kg2! Of course, l the moves were win-

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ning, but I like this a lot, to avoid giving the smallest hope of some kind of perpetual check.

(3) Karjakin,Sergey (2779) — Fridman,Daniel (2655) [B12]

34...Qxa2+ 35.Kh3 Rc8 36.Qb4 An impressive victory by Kamsky, although it’s a pity for him that it didn’t count for the rating. 1–0

40th GM Dortmund GER (5), 17.07.2012 [Kamil Miton] We are in the 5th round of the tournament. Lately, I would say that playing the Caro-Kann against Karjakin is similar to have a race at 1 km/hour against a Bugatti Veyron. He is simple winning all his games in it... We see another great attacking game of White! Bravo Sergey. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 Another option is: [5...Ne7 The favorite move of A.Karpov, with the idea of playing the thematic c5 a bit later.] 6. Be3 Qb6 A very shar p move that leads to complex positions. The queen is very well placed on b6 because it immediately puts pressure on b2 and d4. The problem for Black is that White gets much better development. A more quiet alternative is: [6...cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 but Fridman already tested it in the same tournament against Caruana with a bad result, so probably he wanted to change the line.] 7.Nc3 We know that usually in this structures the c3 square is reserved for the pawn to support the central pawns on d4-e5, but in this case, the development is more important. 7...Nc6 8.0–0 If you said A you have to say B. Black has no choice and has to take the pawn because Na4 is a threat. After 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4, White gets strong activity. 8...Qxb2 9.Qe1 [9.Nb5

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Issue 21 17...Ne7 18. Rc3 Rc8 19. Rxc8+ Nxc8 20. Rd1 Ne7 21.f4 g5 22.fxg5 h6 23.c4 hxg5 24.cxd5 Ng6 25. Rf1 f4 26.d6 Kg7 27. Re1 Nf8 28. Bd3 Ne6 29. Bf5+= 1–0 Svidler,PPostny,E/ Ningbo CHN 2011 (37).]

20th of July 2012

9...c4! 10.Nc7+ Kd7 11.Nxa8 Bxc2  The king can feel safer now because Black managed to close the position. Black will win the knight on a8 anyway, and thanks to the strong pawns on the queenside, he should have enough compensation.]

12... Ba5 Logical move. Black avoids the Nc7 threat and maintains the unpleasant pin. In the previous Karjakin game, his opponent played: [12... Bxc3 13.Nxc3 but now, the problem is that Black will not castle on time. 13...a6 (13...Ne7 14.Rb1 Qxc2 15.R xb7+/-; 13...Nh6 14.Rb1 Qxc2 15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.Qe3+/-; 13...Qxc2 14.Rb1) 14. Rb1 Qa3 15. Rxb7 Ne7

9...cxd4 [9...c4 The same idea in order not to allow the White pieces to get stronger activity. 10.Rb1 Qxc2 11. Rxb7 Now, White should try to improve the pieces with Bd1–Ba4 or Qa1–Rb1, getting a guaranteed initiative.] 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Bb4 12.Ndb5 In the previous games, White played: [12. Rb1 Bxc3 13. Rxb2 Bxe1 14. Rxe1 b6 15. Bb5+ Kf8 16.Nxf5 exf5 17. Rb3 In this endgame, Gashimov and Svidler managed to score the full point, but objectively, after deep analysis, the position is probably drawish.

16. Bb5+! Thanks to this trick, Black will need to lose time in order to secure the king. 16...Kf8 17. Bd3 Rc8 18.Ne2 Bxd3 19.cxd3 g6 20.Qd2 Kg7 21. Rfb1 Rhe8 22.h4+/The Black position is very bad. 1–0 Karjakin,S-Tukhaev,A/ Plovdiv BUL 2010 (30).] 13. Rb1 Qxc2 14. Rb3 Ne7 [14... Bg6 is too slow. 15.Nd4 Bxc3 16. Rxc3 Qb2 (16...Qe4 17.Qd1 Qxe5 18.Qa4+ Kf8 19.Qb4+ Ne7 20.Rfc1+-) 17. Bb5+ Kf8

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Issue 21 The strong knight on d6 and the time to play h6-Kh7 gives White compensation, but nothing more. 23. Ba4 h5 24. Rfc1 Kh7 25. Rc7 Nf5 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 27. Rxf7 Rc8 Finally, White recovered the pawn, but Black solved all his problems. 28. Rxc8 Qxc8 29.h3 Qc1+ 30.Kh2 Rc8 1/2–1/2 Caruana,F-Postny,E/Achaea GRE 2012 (40).]

20th of July 2012

18.f3 and the Black queen is trapped! 18...a5 19.a3+-] 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Nxb7 Bb6

17.Nd6 N [17. Bd1 This move was played a few weeks ago during the Greek Team Championship. I spoke about this interesting game with Postny (he played in my team). He told me that the engines show all the time an almost equal position, and that Black should be fine here, but of course, from a practical point of view, it’s much easier to play with the White pieces. 17...Qc1 18.Na4 Qc7 The most human move. Finally, the Black queen escaped from the trap and found a safe place. (18...Bd4 Black saved the bishop and puts pressure on the e5 pawn. 19.Nd6 Qf4) 19.Nd6 Bg6 20.Qb4 Kg8 21.Nxb6 axb6 22. Rc3 Qd8

17... Ba5 [17... Bg6 18. Bd1 Qc1 19.Na4 It’s very important to eliminate this strong bishop for White to get pressure on the dark squares. 19...Qc7 Similar to the CaruanaPostny game. (19...h6 20.Rc3 Qf4 21.N xb6 axb6 22.Rc7; 19...Bd4 20.Nb5 Bb6 21.N xb6 axb6 22.a4 with the idea of Rc3-Rc7-Qb4.; 19...Bd8!?) 20.Nxb6 axb6 21.Qb4 h6 (21...Nc6 22.Qc3 (22.Qf4

22...Ra5! Very nice move! The rook on the 5th rank is perfectly placed to create counterplay against the e5 pawn, and the knight on d6 after d4. Besides, it defends against the White pressure on the c-file, because after 23. Rc3, Black can play 23... Rc5.) 22...d4 23.Qc4 Ra5 24.f4 Rc5 25.Qa6 Ke7 26.Nb5 Qb8 27.Nxd4 Nxd4 28. Rxb6+-) 22.Qxb6 (22.Rc3=) 22...Qxb6 23. Rxb6 Kg8 24.a4 Kh7=] 18. Bf3 Logical move. White is going to improve his pieces after Qe3-Rc1. The threat against d4 is stopped 11


because the rook on a8 is hanging. [18.Qc1?! After the queen exchange, White still has some initiative but it’s not as strong. 18...Qxc1 19. Rxc1 g5] 18... Bd3 This move forces White to exchange queens. 19.Qc1 Qxc1 20. Rxc1 Ng6? A mistake, Black immediately looks for counterplay on e5. I’m sure that Fridman saw the next Karjakin’s move but I suppose he missed something in his deep calculation. He should play: [20... Bg6 escaping from the Nxd5 threat. 21.h4 (21.Rb5 Bb6 22.Na4 Bd4 It’s not easy to exchange the bishop! 23.Nc5 Kg8 24.Nd7 h5 A logical move that we saw already many times. The rook on h8 is also out of play. 25.Rb4 Rd8 26.Rc7 Ba1! ; 21.Rb7 Bd3!? with the idea of keeping the possibility of taking out the rook from the 7th rank after Ba6. 22.Bd1 Ba6 23.Rd7? Bc8 24.N xc8 R xc8=+) 21...h5 (21...Nc6 22.N xd5 N xe5 23.Nc7 N xf3+ 24.gxf3 Rd8 25.Nb7 B xc7 26.R xc7+/-) 22. Rb7 Bd3 (22...Nf5!?) 23. Be2 The bishop didn’t play on f3. 23... Bxc3 24. Rxc3 Bxe2 25. Rcc7 and now both options lead to a draw. 25... Nf5 (25...Ba6 26.R xa7 R xa7 27.R xa7 Bc8 28.Rc7 Ba6=) 26. Rxf7+ Kg8 27.Nxf5 exf5 28. Rxg7+ Kf8=]

21.Nxd5!+/-

21...Nxe5 [21...exd5 22. Rxd3 Nxe5 23. Rxd5 Nxf3+ 24.gxf3 Bb6 The more active pieces and the badly placed king on f8 give White a strong initiative. 25.a4! White is going to take out the bishop from its nice square.

25...g6 26.a5 Bd8 27. Rb5 (27. Rc8 Rxc8 28.Nxc8 Bc7 29. Rc5 (29.N xa7

29...Ke7! Black gets good counterplay against the pawn. 30.Nc6+ Ke6 31.Rd1 Ra8=; 29.Rd7 B xa5 30.Nd6 Bb4 31.N xf7 Rg8 32.Ng5 Be7 33.N xh7+ Ke8 34.R xa7 g5= XNh7) 29... Bb8 30. Rb5 Bf4 31.Nxa7 Kg7 32.Nc6 Ra8) 27...Kg7 28. Rb7 Rf8 (28...B xa5 29.R xf7+ Kh6 30.Rc4) 29. Rc5+= The Black position is very passive, but he still has drawish chances.] 12


22.Nf4 Nxf3+ [22... Rd8 23.Nb7+-] 23.gxf3 Bg6 [23... Bd2 24. Rc7 (24.N xd3 B xc1 25.N xc1 Ke7 26.Ne4 Rhd8 ) 24... Bxf4 25. Rxf7+ Kg8 26. Rxf4 Bg6 Maybe this was a better option for Black. Anyway, the White position is much better thanks to his very active pieces.] 24. Rb7 Bb6

33... Bc2 34.a5 Bg6 [34...Kb7 35.Ne4 Ka6 (35...h6 36.Nc5++-) 36. Rxh7 Bd4 37. Rh8 Kxa5 38.Ng5+- The Black king is too far away.] 35.Ne4 Kb5 36. Ra8 h6 37.Kg2 f5 Now the e6 pawn is weak. White can win in many ways, the rest needs no comments. We can watch and enjoy. 38.Nd2 Bd6 39.a6 Bf4 40.Nc4 Bh5 41.a7 Ka6 42.Na5 Bc7 43. Rc8 Kxa7 44. Rxc7+ Kb6 45. Rxg7 Kxa5 46. Rh7 An interestin g game and the second Fridman lost with the Caro-Kann. We can see that 12.Ndb5 recently played in two occasions is an important theoretical moment, so probably You can expect more about this line in Your next Chess Evolution book! 1–0

25. Rc8+! After this exchange, White can create additional threats on the 8th rank. 25... Rxc8 26.Nxc8 The next moves in the game are quite forced. Black is lost... 26... Bd4 27. Rb8 Be5 28. Ra8 [28.Nxg6+ hxg6 29.Nd6+ Ke7 30. Rxh8 Bxd6 31. Ra8 Bc5 If this endgame is winning for White, it’s quite unclear...] 28... Bxf4 29.Nxa7+ Ke7 30. Rxh8 Kd7 31.Nb5 Be5 The two bishops are always strong pieces. In this case, a pawn guarantees the victory for White. 32.a4 Kc6 33.Nc3 Good move. White is going to play Ne4 eventually, in order to limit the bishop on g6. The knight is not hanging because of Rc8. 13


(4) Leko,Peter (2730) — Gustafsson,Jan (2629) [C84] 40th GM Dortmund GER (3), 15.07.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 In this game, we will see Leko demonstrating many useful motifs on how to play the great „Spanish”, and what should White try to reach, and Black to avoid!

action in the center. It seems more logical to develop this way: [11... Bb7 which leads to very similar positions as the Zajcev Variation. The difference is that White didn’t play h3. On the other hand, he played d4 in 2 moves. 12.d5 (12. a4 exd4 13.cxd4 Nb4 14.Bb1 c5 15.d5; 12.Nf1 exd4 13.cxd4 Nb4= Xe4) 12...Ne7 13.b3 c6 14.c4+=] 12.h3 Important move. If White plays 12.d5 first, then the Black bishop can go back to d7. [12.Nf1

1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0! Be7 6.d3 The idea of this line is to slowly prepare the d4 move. For example, White plays first Re1–Nbd2-Nf1–Ng3 according to the Italian game and eventually takes advantage in the center with d4.The main line is 6. Re1. 6...d6 More often black plays 6... b5 to disturb White so that ha can’t put the bishop on c2 in one move. 7.c3 0–0 8. Re1 Re8 9.Nbd2 Bf8 The idea of this thematic plan (Re8-Bf8) is to improve the bishop by g6-Bg7. Also, the rook on e8 is well placed to fight in the center (pressure on the e4 pawn) after White pushes d4.

12...d5! The Black pieces are ready to hit the center, now Black easily equalizes the position. (12...B xf3 13.gxf3 Nh5  Black should be fine thanks to the counterplay on the dark squares. Especially, the f4 square can be weak.) 13.exd5 Qxd5 14.Ne3 Bxf3 15.Nxd5 Bxd1 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Rxd1 exd4 18.cxd4 Nxd4=+] 12... Bh5 13.d5 Ne7 14.Nf1 After closing the center, White’s idea is to gain a space advantage on the queenside. Black should look for counterplay with f7-f5 (but in this case, the Black pieces are very badly placed to do it), or with c6.

10.d4 b5 11. Bc2 Bg4!? The bishop on g4 is not perfectly placed, but the Black idea is to force White to start some

14...h6 [14...Nd7 15.Ng3 Bg6 16.a4+=; 14...c6 15.dxc6 (15. Bg5 cxd5 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17.Ng3 Bg6 18.exd5 White wants to create a blockade on the light squares. (18.Nh4 14


dxe4 19.N xe4 Bg7 20.N xg6 hxg6 21.N xd6 Rf8= with the idea of f5-e4, activating the bishop.) 18...f5 19.Nh4 f4 (19... e4

20.f3! Qb6+ (20...e3 21.f4+= and the Black pawns on e3 and f5 are weak.) 21.Kh2 exf3 22.Qxf3 f4 23.Ne4 Bg7 24.Qxf4 Be5 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.Qxf6 Nxd5 27.Qf3 Bxc2 (27...Ne3 28.N xg6 hxg6 29.Be4 d5 30.R xe3 dxe4 31.R xe4 R xe4 32.Qxe4+=) 28.Qxd5 White should be better thanks to his better structure.) 20.Ne4 Bg7 The Black position is fine, the next plan is f5-e4 with good play according to the Sveshnikov ideas.) 15...Nxc6 16.Ng3 Bg6 17.Nh4 White can exchange the bishop on g6 or play the typical plan in this structures: Nhf5-Qf3. 17...Na5 (17...d5 18.N xg6 hxg6 19.exd5 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 N xd5 21.Bg5+= White has an stable advantage thanks to the bishop pair.) 18.Nxg6 hxg6 19.Nf1+= After hxg6, there’s nothing to do for the knight on g3. The White position is much more pleasant because of the two bishops and the weak d5 square.] 15.a4 Logical move, with the idea of creating some weaknesses on the queenside. 15...c6 Black has to make some space for his pieces.

16.dxc6 Nxc6 17.Ng3 Bxf3 18.Qxf3+=

18...b4 Black looks for some chance to get counterplay on the c-file against the c3 pawn. 19.Nf5 bxc3 20.bxc3 It’s obligatory for White to recapture on c3 with a pawn to control the important squares d4 and b4. 20...Na5 Not a bad place for the knight, which doesn’t allow to put the bishop on b3 (to pressure f7) and makes the c-file useful for the rook. 21. Rd1 White starts creating pressure against the d6 pawn. 21... Re6 22. Ba3 g6 [22...Nc4! Why not this natural move? 23. Bb3 (23.Bb4 a5 ) 23... Rc8 24.Ne3 a) 24. Bb4 a5 Otherwise, White will play a5. 25.Qe2 Qc7 26. Bxc4 Qxc4 27.Qxc4 Rxc4 28. Bxa5 Nxe4 29.Ne3 Rc6 Thanks to the control over the d5 square, it’s hard to improve the Black bishop. White’s position is slightly better.; b) 24.Qd3 Qc7 25.Ne3 Nxa3 (25...N xe3 26.B xe6 N xd1 27.B xc8 N xf2 28.Kxf2 Qxc8 29.a5+=) 26. Bxe6 fxe6 15


27. Rxa3 Qc6 Black has compensation, the pawns on e4 and c3 are weak. Besides, d5 is a threat, but the most important factor is that the character of the position has changed, which can have a psychological meaning as well.;

29.a5 Step by step, Leko improves his position. He doesn’t need to hurry because Black cannot do anything. Now the a6 weak pawn is fixed and there’s an additional useful square on a4 for the bishop. 24...Nxa3! Probably, the German player missed this nice practical chance! 25. Bxe6 fxe6 26. Rxa3 d5 27. Raa1 (27. Rb3 N xe4 28.Qxe4 dxe4 29.R xd8 R xd8 30.Rb6 Rd3=) 27... Nxe4 28.c4 Nc3 29.cxd5 Nxd1 30. Rxd1 exd5 31.Nxd5 White has some small advantage thanks to the weak light squares, but Black should draw this position without serious problems.] 23.Ne3+/- The knight is very well placed on e3 because it controls the important d5 and c4 squares. Now Black is out of counterplay. The Rc8 idea to pressure the c3 pawn is not really dangerous. 23...Kg7 [23... Rc8 24. Bb4+/-] 24. Bb4 Ra7 25. Rab1 Re8 26. Rd2 Nc6 27. Bc5 Rd7 28. Bb6 Qa8

29... Rc8 30. Rbd1 Nb8 31.Nd5 Nxd5 32. Rxd5 Qc6 33. R 5d3 Rb7 34. Bb3 Qe8 35. Bd5 Re7 36.Qe2 White is dominating the whole board. He has a few winning plans: the c4-c5 break, penetrating on the b-file with the rooks, or just win the a6 pawn after, for example, Rf3-Bc4. 36...Nd7 37. Rf3 Nc5 Black activates his knight but this doesn’t change the evaluation. We can agree that one of the reasons for Black to lose this game is the bishop on f8, which was very limited during the whole game. This kind of the bishops can be called „big pawn”. 38. Ra1 [38. Bxc5 would win as well... 38... Rxc5 39.Qxa6 Qd8 40. Ra1+-] 38...Na4 39.Qc2 Nc5 40.Qe2 Na4 41.Qxa6 Nxc3 42.Qd3 Nxd5 43.Qxd5 Qc6 44. Rb3 Qxd5 45.exd5 Finally, Black changes the structure, but it’s too late now. The a-pawn is wining the game. A good technical game of Leko. 1–0

16


Puzzle section

(7) Ipatov,A (2581) — Firat,B (2408) Turkish league, 11.07.2012

(5) Mamedov,R (2628) — Gagunashvili,M (2578)

1... –+

Turkish league, 14.07.2012 1.+-

(8) Grandelius,N (2570) — Cramling,P (2486) Swedish Championship, 13.07.2012 (6) Shimanov,A (2606) — Safarli,E (2623)

1.+-

Turkish league, 15.07.2012 1...=

17


(9) Dunnington,A (2386) — Hera,I (2586)

(11) Stany,G (2393) — Sargissian,G (2685)

Scottish Championship, 15.07.2012

Rethymno Open, 09.07.2012

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Kalezic,B (2439) — Kosic,D (2536)

(12) Sargissian,G (2685) — Kryvoruchko,Y (2672)

Montenegro Championship, 12.07.2012


1.+-

1.+/-

18


(13) Hracek,Z (2624) — Margvelashvili,G (2552) Benasque Open, 13.07.2012 1... -/+

(14) Sandipan,C (2618) — Baron,T (2452) Benasque Open, 13.07.2012 1.+/-

19


Endgame section (15) Kramnik,V (2799) — Bartel,M (2674) Dortmund, 15.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

White is a pawn up, but the weakness of the d4 and a3 pawns give Black very good surviving chances... Black’s queenside pawns seem to be pretty safe, while exchanging all of them and playing a 3 vs 2 on the kingside would be theoretically drawn. In this position, where Black felt to be close to a draw, Kramnik came up with a shocking idea! 32.Nd3!! Kramnik would like to exchange his d4 weakness for Black’s key pawn on b7, which holds the whole position together. If b7 falls, the life of the c6 pawn would be also limited. [After the passive 32. Re4 Ra8 33. Ra1 Nd5 followed by doubling on the a-file, Black should objectively hold the draw.] 32... Rxd4?! The most natural, but a bad decision by Bartel. His best chance would have been to win the a-pawn

and keep the d4 as a potential target in the future. [32... Ra8! 33.Nc5! (33.Re7 leaving the 2nd rank gives Black additional possibilities for an active defense. 33...Nd5 34.R xb7 R xa3 35.R xc6 R xb3 36.Ne5 Rb2! Black is close to survive.) 33... Rxa3 (33...Rf7 34.Rce1 R xa3 35.Re8+ Rf8 36.R1e7!+/- Exchanging a pair of rooks is always clearly in White’s favor. This reduces Black’s chances for a successful counterplay.) 34.Nxb7 Rxb3 35. Rxc6 Nd5 White must lose an important tempo because of the Ne3 threat. 36.Kg2 Rb4 37.Nc5! White is obviously better, but it is not clear if his winning chances or Black’s drawing ones are better...; 32... Rf7 would have been also logical, trying to save the important b7 pawn, but White has a concrete way to increase the advantage. 33.Nc5! The d4 pawn is indirectly protected now. 33...h6 (33...R xd4? 34.Re8+ Rf8 35.R xf8+ Kxf8 36.Ne6++-) 34. Rce1! and just as in the game, White manages to exchange d4 for b7. 34... Rxd4 35. Re8+ Kh7 36. R1e7!+/- White retains excellent winning chances.] 33.Nc5 Rb8 [33... Ra8 is met with 34. Re7 Rxa3 35. Rxb7 Nd5 36.Ne6! Black collapses.] 34. Re7 The c5 knight is excellently placed. It not only attacks the b7 and threatens with Ne6, but also prevents Black’s main counterplay against the queenside pawns with Rd3. 34...Nd5 35. Rxb7 Rxb7 36.Nxb7 Ne7 [After 36... Rd3 it is important to protect the b3 pawn. 37.Na5 (37.Nc5 is also fine.; 37.R xc6?! would leave Black much closer to a draw. 37...R xb3) 37...Ne7 38.Ke2+/- White consolidated his position, he can start to slowly convert his advantage.]

20


37.Ke2+/- If we compare this position to our initial one, it is clear that White has done a great job. He seriously increased his advantage. The next step is to create a passed pawn on the a-file, something that Black cannot really prevent. 37... Rd7 38.Nc5 Ra7 39. Ra1 Kramnik decided to delay the a4 pawn. First he wants to improve his king’s position. [39.a4+/- was perfectly fine as well.] 39...Nd5 40.Kd3 Nb6 It is not clear what was the aim of this move. 41.Kd4 Kf7 42.f4 White improves on his kingside pawn structure as well. 42... Ra8?! [42...h6 43.Ne4 frees the c5 square for the king 43...Nd7 44.a4+- Black cannot resist long.]

43.Nb7!+- Great technique by Kramnik. [43.a4?! bxa4 44.bxa4 Ra5! was Black’s hope. White pieces are sticked to defend each other.] 43...Nd7 [43... Rb8 loses to 44.Kc5! Tactics are present even in endgames with a small amount of pieces. 44... Rxb7 45.Kxc6 Rb8 46.Kc7+- White wins back the piece.] 44.a4 bxa4 45.bxa4 Black cannot stop the pawn. It automatically goes to a6. The game is over! 45...Kf6 46.a5 Kf5 47.h3 It was not necessary at all, but Kramnik even prevented the Kh4-h3 plan. 47...h5 48.Nd6+ Ke6 49.Ne4 Kf5 50.a6 Black resigned. 1–0

21


(16) L’Ami,E (2615) — Sokolov,Ivan (2676) [C78] ch-NED 2012 Amsterdam NED (3), 17.07.2012 [Kamil Miton]

70.Kd4 Bf7 71. Be4+ Kd7 72. Bc1 Not allowing Rb2. An interesting alternative was to play with an active king. [72.Ke5 Rb2 73.h4 Re2 (73...gxh3 74. Bf5+ Ke7 75. Bg5+ Ke8 76. Bxh3 Rb3 77.Kf4 (77.Bf4 h4) ) 74.Kf5 Bg6+ (74...Be6+ 75.Ke5 Ke7 76.Bg5+ Kf7 77.Bf4 Bc8 78.Kd4 Rb2 79.Bd5+ Be6 80.Be4 To win this position, Black has to try exchange the light-squared bishops, but it’s not an easy task.) 75.Kxg6 Rxe4 76. Bg5 (76.Kxh5 R xf4; 76.Bb8 Rb4 77.Be5 Ke6 78.Bc7 Rb5 79.Bf4 It’s not easy to say how to improve the position.) 76...Ke6 77.Kxh5 Kf5 78.Kh6=] 72... Rb6 73. Bf5+ Ke7 74. Bg5+ Kf8

65... Rb5 Logical move. Black prepares Rb2 with the idea of putting pressure on the h2 pawn and not allowing the White king to come to f6. [65... Rf8 This move looks worse. 66.Ke5 Re8 67.Kf6 Bd5 68. Bf5 Re2 69. Bf4 Rxh2 70. Bg6 Bf3 (70...h4 71.gxh4 R xh4 72.Kg5=) 71.Kg5 Ra2 72.Kxh5=] 66. Bc4 [66.h3 h4!] 66... Rb2 67.Kc3 Rb7 68. Bf4 Bd5 The idea of this move is to put the bishop on f7 to protect the h5 pawn. If Black tries to attack the h2 pawn immediately, White will get counterplay attacking the h5 pawn (Bf7). [68... Ra7 69. Bg5 Ra1 70. Bf7 Rh1 71. Bxh5 Rxh2 72. Bf7 Kd6 73.Kd4=] 69. Bd3 Of course, after the bishop exchange, the Black position is simply winning. 69... Rb3+ [69...Kc5 70. Be3+ Kd6 71. Bf4+ Ke7 72. Bg6 Bf7 73. Be4 Rb3+ 74.Kc2 Kf6 Black improves the position.]

75.h3 White reduces the material on the board. It’s very logical to get rid of the weak h2 pawn, which was the main Black target. 75... Rb4+ 76.Kc5 [76.Ke3 Rb3+ and White loses the pawn.] 76... Rc4+ 77.Kd6 [77.Kb5 gxh3 78. Bxh3 Kg7 The White king is cut very far from the kingside. Black has two ideas to win this position: to exchange the light-squared bishops, which is not an easy task, or win the g3 pawn and promote the h-pawn in the bishop endgame.] 22


77... Rd4+ 78.Kc6? [78.Kc7 More accurate to avoid the Rd6 check (look at the line below).] 78...Kg7? Black missed an easy win after: [78... Rd5 79.hxg4 hxg4 80. Bh6+ Ke7 White loses the bishop.] 79.hxg4 hxg4 80. Bf4

a simple win.) 88...Kg5 89.Ke3 Kh4 90. Bf1 (90.Be6 Bg4 with an easy winning plan: the king goes to h2, then Black puts the bishop on g2 winning control of the h1–a8 diagonal.) 90...Kg4 91.Kd2 Bd5 92.Ke3 Bc6 Zugzwang, the Black king can get to f3.] 81.Kb5 This is the beauty of chess! Black’s idea was very logical, to put the king farther and then get to the bishop endgame. Paradoxically, the White king will be on time compared to the 80... Rxf4! line. 81... Rxf4 82.gxf4 g3 83. Bh3 Kf6

80... Rc4+ [80... Rxf4 81.gxf4 g3 82. Bh3 (82.Be4 Kf6 83.Kc5 Bg6 84.Bg2 Kf5 85.Kd4 Kxf4 In this line, the Black win is even easier because White doesn’t have Kd2-Kd3. 86.Bc6 Bh5 87.Bg2 Bf3 88.Bf1 Bb7) 82...Kf6 83.Kc5 Be6 84. Bg2 Kf5 85.Kd4 Kxf4 86.Kd3

84.Kb4! With the king placed on c6, this move is not possible! 84... Be6 85. Bg2 Kf5 86.Kc3 Kxf4 87.Kd2 And if now: 87... Bc4 [87... Bg4 88.Ke1 Bf3 89.Kf1= and White is on time!]

86... Bg4 ! 87.Kd2 Bf3 88. Bh3 (88.Bf1 Bc6 89.Ke1 Ke3 90.Bh3 Bb5 91.Bg2 Bd3 White will play Be4 next with

88. Bc6 Bf1 89. Bb7 Black can’t improve the position because it’s not possible to get the h1–a8 diagonal. The White king is very close and Ke1–Kf1 always guarantees a draw.

23


89...Kg4 90.Ke1! White can’t allow Black to put the king on h2.

Clash of the Titans

90... Bb5 91. Bg2 Bc4 92.Kd2 Kh4 93.Ke1 Kg5 94.Kd2 Kf4 95. Bc6 Ba6 96. Bd5 Bf1 97. Bc6 Bh3 98.Ke2 Bg4+ 99.Kf1 Bf3 100. Bb5 Ke5 1/2

(17) Capablanca,J — Chajes,O [C83] New York New York, 1915 [Balogh Csaba] A fine positional achievement by Capablanca. Curiously, the game was played 97 years ago, an it is still interesting from a theoretical point of view. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 The Opened Spanish variation, which has belonged to many World Champions’ repertoire because of its complex middlegames. Nowadays, it went a bit out of fashion. 6.d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 This is basically the starting position in this opening. From now on, both players can choose between several playable continuations in each move.

9.c3 Currently 9.Nbd2 and 9. Be3 are more popular. If somebody wants to play the 9.c3 system, it is advisable to start with 9.Nbd2 to avoid the complications of 9.c3 Bc5, other lines usually lead to transpositions. 24


9... Be7 [A very concrete and sharp line arises after 9... Bc5 10.Nbd2 0–0 11. Bc2 Nxf2! 12. Rxf2 f6 13.exf6 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Qxf6 when Black has a small material disadvantage, but the activity of his pieces, the undeveloped White queenside and the shaky king’s position give very good compensation for Black. There are still hundreds of games in the database, for the ones who are interested, I recommend to check Jussupow’s games.] 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bc2 d4 This is probably Black’s best option, but it is pretty much about playing for a draw with simplifications in all the lines. 11... Bg4 was more often tried, but theory considers it to be better for White. 12.Ne4 [More precise is 12.Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 is the start of the critical line about the correct evaluation of the variation. Currently, it is given to be equal, but the position is rich in resources.] 12...dxc3 White is back to the fight for the advantage after this move. [12...d3! is the right move, which almost leads to a draw by force. 13.Nxc5 dxc2 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16. Be3 Rd5 17. Rfc1 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Rxc2 White is a tiny better because of his pawn structure, but it should not be enough for the full point.] 13.Nxc5 Bxc5

14. Be4! Very strong in-between move, which confuses the coordination of the Black’s pieces. 14...Qd7! Black wins a very important tempo in comparison to the 14...Qxd1 move. [14...Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Bd7 16.bxc3 is a much better version to the game.] 15.bxc3 Rd8! Another strong move! [15...0–0–0 suggested to connect the rooks, but despite the fact that the queens will soon get off the board, White can launch a very dangerous attack with 16.Qxd7+ Bxd7 17.a4! The e4 bishop plays a key factor in the position.] 16.Qxd7+ Bxd7 17. Rd1 Capablanca played this twice, but maybe it is not the best... Black has a healthy position, the only problem to solve is the situation of his minor pieces (c6 knight and d7 bishop). Of course, it would great for him to get rid of the e4 bishop, but it will not be easy. [17.a4 could be an improvement, to bring the a1 rook into the game. If White is better, the advantage is minimal.] 17...Ne7 [17...Nb8 happened in the 2nd game of Capablanca just one year after this one, but 18.Nd4 Be7 White could have get an edge with 19.Nf5! Bxf5 20. Rxd8+ Bxd8 21. Bxf5 pressing in the long-term with the bishop pair.; After connecting the rooks with 17...0–0! I could not find any way to fight for an advantage. It’s important to mention that 18. Rxd7 does not work because of the mate on the back-rank. 18. Bg5 simply meets by (18.a4? in order to improve the a1 rook is a mistake now. 18...Bf5!) 18...Ne7! and Black can unpin himself by playing h6 next. For example 19.Nd4 h6 20. Be3 Bb6 Black is OK!]

25

Issue 21 20...h5! Black wants to bring his rook along the 6th rank and also restrict White’s pawn mobility on the kingside, where White has a majority.

20th of July 2012

21. Rd3 White wants to double on the d-file, so the d7 bishop must move to exchange one pair of rooks. [On 21.Nc5 the simple 21... Bc8 and it’s not easy to increase the advantage.] 18.Nd4! The move is mainly against Bc6, but it also creates the unpleasant threat of Nb3 and the bishop retreats with Ba3! 18...h6 This is a mistake. Black was afraid of the Bg5 ideas, but the c1 bishop wants to develop in another direction... Black’s position was already a bitunpleasant . [18...0–0 19.Nb3! Bb6 20. Ba3! (20.Bg5 Probably that is why Black played 18...h6, but it was not dangerous because of 20...f6! 21.exf6 gxf6) 20... Rfe8 21. Bxe7 Rxe7 22. Bc6 and White doubles his rooks on the d-file.; 18... Bf5 19. Bf3! White must keep his strong bishop for the advantage!; 18... Bg4 is a tricky move. The idea is to provoke f3, after which Bf5 and the White bishop cannot retreat to f3 anymore. But White react calmly with 19. Rd2! (19.f3 Bf5) 19...0–0 20.a4 and he enjoys a small advantage.; 18... Bc6 is the most principled move to exchange the bishops, but White has a strong tactical response 19. Bxc6+ Nxc6 20. Bg5! Ne7 21.Nf5 !! 21... Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 with a comfortable position.] 19.Nb3! Bb6 20. Ba3 Suddenly, Black feels a bit uncomfortable, but he starts to defend resourcefully.

21... Bg4 I don’t like this move. The passive 21... Bc8 was clearly better, because White gets a very useful tempo by playing h3. [21... Bc8 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Rd1+ Ke8 24.Nc5 Rh6 25.Kf1 with the intention to play f4. White is a bit better, but it is playable for Black.] 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.Nc5 Rh6! The idea of 20...h5 came out. 24.h3 [24.Nxa6?! is a contradictory move, because it takes the bishop pair, but, on the other hand, it gives up the f2 pawn, which significantly worsens White’s pawn structure. 24... Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Rxa6] 24... Bc8 25. Rd1+ Ke8

26.Kf1! Capablanca prepares to play f4. First, he removes his king from the pin. After achieving f4, White could 26


slowly improve his position with Ke2-f3. The advantage would slowly grow. 26...g5 Logical move to prevent White’s idea, but on the other hand, this creates a big weakness. White immediately uses it. 27.Nd3! A very nice and deep move. White wants to win a pawn with Bc1! [27.Nb7 looks attractive, with the Rd8 threat, but Black is not obliged to give up his bishop and simplyplays 27... Bd7!] 27...f5? This is a blunder. Black opens the center on his own king. Despite we are close to the endgame, White can create serious threats. [27...g4 should have been played, but White can preserve a small advantage with 28. Bc1! Re6 29. Bg5! and on 29...f5 Fortunately for White the diagonal is long enough to preserve the bishop (29... gxh3 30.gxh3+=) 30. Ba8! The machine thinks this is nothing special for White, but I think the kingside pawns could be real targets in the future, for example with Bf6 and Nf4.] 28.exf6 Rxf6

29. Re1! With this „small” move, White created the threat of Bf3, which is very hard to prevent. [Black expected 29. Bc1 and after 29...g4 he is fine.] 29... Be6 [29... Re6 is met with the very strong 30.h4!! making a big hole on f4. 30...gxh4 31.Nf4 Re5 and 32.Ng6! wins material.] 30. Bf3! Rh6 [30...h4 31.Ne5! with the threat of Bc1. Black will lose material soon, because of the dominating White pieces.; The key line comes after 30...g4 31.hxg4 hxg4 32. Bxg4! Bxg4 33. Rxe7+ Kd8 and here 34. Rg7!+is necessary. Otherwise, the two bishops would compensate well for the pawn, but now White wins because of the double threat of Rxg4 and Be7.] 31. Bxh5+ White won a pawn. Practically the game is over, the rest is a matter of technique. 31...Kd7 32. Bg4 Capablanca still uses the pin on the efile. 32...Nc6 33. Rxe6 Rxe6 34. Bc1! This is the second pawn. The three pawns will march quickly on the kingside, while Black is very far from creating a passed pawn on the queenside. 34...Kd6 35. Bxe6 Kxe6 36. Bxg5 Ba5 37. Bd2 Kd5 38.h4 Ne5 This of course eases White’s task, but it was over anyway. 39.Nxe5 Kxe5 40.h5 c5 41.g4 Kf6 42.Ke2 c4 43.f4 Kf7 44.Kf3 Bd8 45.Ke4 a5 46.Kd5 Be7 47.g5 Kg8 48.f5 1–0

27


Surprise section / study (18) Kubbel,L 1927 [CEWN] 1.+-

28


Solutions (19) Karjakin,S (2779) — Grischuk,A (2763) World Rapid Championship, 06.07.2012 [Solutions]

30.Qg4?? [30.g6!! Rxb7 (30...Ne3 31.fxe3 R xb7 32.Bb4+!+-) 31. Bh6++-] 30...Qxd2! 31.Qc8+ Kg7 32. Rxe7 Qe1+? [32...Qc1+! 33.Kg2 Ne1+–+] 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kg1 Qe1+ 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kg1 Qe1+ 1/2– 1/2 (21) Kazhgaleyev,M (2589) — Ismagambetov,A (2471) World Rapid Championship, 07.07.2012 [Solutions]

32.Nxf5! gxf5 33.Qxf5!! 1–0 [33.Qxf5 Qxf5 34. Rg8+ Kh7 35. R1g7#] (20) Svidler,P (2749) — Kurnosov,I (2663) World Rapid Championship, 06.07.2012

35.Qe3? [35.Nxa5! Rxa5 36.Qd2! Rb5 37.Qh6 Qf8 38.Qxf8+ (38.Rd8+-) 38...Kxf8 39. Rd8#] 35...Qf8! 36.Nxa5 Rxa5=

[Solutions]

29


(22) Kurnosov,I (2663) — Topalov,V (2752)

(24) Topalov,V (2752) — Carlsen,M (2837)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

40... Bg3+! 41. Rxg3 Ree1! 0–1 40.Nh5+!! gxh5 [40...Kf8 41.Nf6 Nxf6 42.Qxf6+-] (23) analysis of Kurnosov,I (2663) — Topalov,V (2752) World Rapid Championship, 07.07.2012 [Solutions]

41.Qxh5? [41. Rg5+! Kf8 42.Qxh5+-] 41... Rd6? [41...Nf4! 42. Rg5+ Ng6 43. Re6! Kg8! (43... Rd6 44.Rgxg6+ fxg6 45.Qe5+ Kf8 46.R xg6! R xg6 47.Qxc7) 44. Rexg6+ fxg6 45. Rxg6+ Rg7 46. Rh6 Kf8 47.Qf5+ Kg8! 48.Qh5=] 42. Rg5+ [42. R1e4!] 42... Rg6 43. Rxd5

41.Ne7+! Kh7 42. Rh5+!! gxh5 43. Rg7+ Kh8 44. Rg8+= 30


(25) Matlakov,M (2668) — Wang Yue (2697)

(26) Wang Hao (2739) — Jakovenko,D (2736)

Russia-China match, 03.07.2012

Russia-China match (rapid), 07.07.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

37...f4!! [37...Qd1+? 38.Qe1+-; 37...Qf1+? 38.Kh2+-]

22...cxd4!! 23. Rxa5 dxc3! 24.Qxd7 [24.Qxc3 Qxd2+ (24...Nc4!?) 25.Qxd2 Rxd2! 26. Rxa7+ Kxa7 27.Kxd2 Nc4+ 28.Kc3 Nxe5]

38.Qxf4 [38.Qe1!? Ne4] 38...Qd1+ 39.Kh2 [39.Kf2? Nh1+! 40.Ke3 Qe1+ 41.Kd3 Qxe6–+] 39...Nf1+ 40.Kg1 Ng3+ 41.Kh2 Nf1+ 42.Kg1 1/2–1/2

24...cxd2+! 25.Qxd2 Rxd2 26.Kxd2 Nc4+ 27.Kc3 Nxa5

31


(27) Li Chao (2687) — Matlakov,M (2668)

(29) Bondar,I

Russia-China match (rapid), 07.07.2012

1987

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

9...e5! 10.0–0 [10. Bxe5 Nxd3+ 11.Qxd3 Qxe5–+; 10. Bg3 e4!–+] 10...exf4–+

1.Nh8+!! [1.Ng5 fxg4 2.Kxg4 Kh6=]

(28) Erenburg,S (2624) — Friedel,J (2503) Philadelphia Open, 07.07.2012 [Solutions]

1...Kg7 2.g5!! Bh7 [2...Kxh8 3.g6 transposes to the game.] 3.Kh5! Bg8 [3...Kxh8 4.Kh6! (4.g6 Kg7! 5.gxh7 Kxh7=) 4... Bg8 (4...Kg8 5.g6 Kh8 6.Kg5! Bg8 7.Kf6+-) 5.Kg6! (5.g6? Bf7! 6.gxf7= (6.Kg5 Be8=) ) 5... Bh7+ 6.Kf6! Bg8 7.g6+-] 4.g6 Kxh8 5.Kh4!! [5.Kh6 Bf7=] 5...Kg7 6.Kg5 Kf8 [6...Kh8 7.Kf6+-] 7.Kh6! [7.Kf6? Bf7] 7...Ke7 [7... Bf7 8.gxf7 Kxf7 9.Kh7 Kf8 10.Kg6 Ke7 11.Kg7 Ke8 12.Kf6 Kd7 13.Kf7+-] 8.Kg7+- 1–0

21. Bxf6! Bxf6 [21...gxf6 22.Qg4+ Kh8 23.Nxf7++-] 22.Nxf7!+- Qb8 [22... Rxf7 23.Qe8#] 23.Qh5 1–0 32

Weekly Newsletter



27th of July 2012

Another very interesting week full of high-class chess games.


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»» Puzzle section

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29

»» Solutions

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The Dortmund Super Tournament came to an end, with Caruana and Karjakin sharing the first place with 6/9. Four players shared the 3rd-6th places with 5.5 points: Kramnik, Ponomariov, Naiditsch and Leko. We saw a very dramatic last round with 5 players fighting for the victory of the tournament. The ACP Chess Tournament, with adjournments, came to an end. Ivanchuk clearly dominated the event. It’s hard to see the idea of the ACP with the adjourned games. This gives the players a chance to make very exact computer analysis. The FIDE Woman Grand Prix is on the way, some interesting chess games were seen here as well… The Biel Super Tournament has began. Of course, the main focus is on Magnus Carlsen. Can he win this tournament as well?! Next to the Super Tournament, we have a very interesting Open section, with a lot of GMs participating in it. It’s going to be very interesting. I think this week we have very exciting analyzed games for You! As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the CEWN Nr 22. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Naiditsch,Arkadij (2700) — Leko,Peter (2730) [B12] 40th GM Dortmund GER (9), 22.07.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the last round of the Dortmund Super-Tournament. Five players with 5/8 are in the lead. What a dramatic last round! Among these 5 players are my opponent and me.

6.0–0 c5 7.c4 Before this move I had to think a little bit and try to remember some lines. Luckily, I analyzed this position for one of my Chess Evolution books, but the funny thing is that the game on which I based my analysis was Leko-Roiz! During the game I really hoped that Leko didn’t have a big trick in his pocket. 7...Nbc6 8.Na3 This move is the idea behind the c4 push. Now 8... dxc4 9.Nxc4 Nd5 10. Bg5 probably leads to a slightly better position for White. 8...a6 9.dxc5 d4 10.Qa4 Ng6 11. Rd1 Until here, both Peter and me made our moves quite quickly and were still following the game Leko-Roiz.

1.e4 c6 Usually, Leko is using the Marshall as his main weapon. I was a bit surprised with his opening choice... 2.d4 d5 3.e5 My main opening against the Caro-Kann is the Panov Attack, but I felt that I would not be able to create any problem for Black. It’s very well known that Leko’s preparation is extremely good. 3... Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5. Be2 11...d3!? And here comes the change that disappointed me. I expected Leko to repeat his own game, in which I had some improvement in mind. [11... Bxc5 12.b4 Ba7 (12...B xb4 13.g4! seems to bring a serious advantage for White.) 13.c5 0–0 14.Nc4 Be4 15. Be3 d3 16.Ne1 Qd5 17.Nd6 Ngxe5 with a complicated, but probably equal position. Leko-Roiz, 2011 World Team Championship.] 5...Ne7 A relatively rare move. We see the line with 5...c5 more often.

12.b4 N I thought for a long time before playing b4. [12. Be3!? could be another interesting choice...; 12. Bxd3 This move doesn’t give White any advantage. 12... Bxd3 3


13.Qb3 Bxc5 14. Rxd3 Qc7 Black is winning back the e5 pawn, the position should be equal.]

18...0–0 19.Nc2 Here I had no choice, I need to bring my knight back into the game.

12... Be7 Played quite quickly by Peter. So, my opponent was not really surprised by my move 12. b4, and it seems that 12.b4 is a novelty!. Amazingly deep preparation by Leko!

19...a5 Black needs to open the a-file.

13. Bxd3 The most logical move and the beginning of some exchanges. [13.Qb3 This move gives away the e5 pawn and with it, probably any chances to be better. 13... Ngxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Bb2 Bf6 and Black is doing perfectly fine.] 13... Bxd3 14.Qb3 White is winning back the piece.

20. Re1!? It took me a while to realize that maybe I was not doing better at all. Take a look at the logical [Let’s take a look at the logical 20.a3 Rfd8! and Black brings the rook to the important d-file with a tempo. 21.Qb3 Not a nice place for the White queen, but where else to go?! 21...axb4 22.axb4 Rxa1 23. Rxa1 Bf6 I am still a pawn up, but what to do next? My queenside pawns are blocked and it seems almost impossible to mobilize them. The Black pieces are all very active and Black has a clear plan of improvement with h5-h4, starting to put pressure on my king. I think only White is in risk of getting in trouble here. Black is perfectly fine!] 20...Qb2! A very strong move by Leko! The idea of this move is to bring the White rook from the a- to the b-file, in order to free the a-file for the Black rook. [20...Qf6 would be a normal move too. 21.a3 Rfd8 22.Qe3 Qb2 23.Qe4 would maybe lead to the same position that we got in the game.]

14...Ncxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bb2 Qc7 17. Bxe5 [Of course not 17.f4? Bxc5+! 18.bxc5 Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 Ng4 and Black is winning.] 17...Qxe5 18.Qxd3 After a massive exchange of pieces, White seems to be a pawn up. But everything not clear at all. The Black bishop is a very strong piece and the White knight still needs to find a good place. Besides, Black will start to play against the White pawns on the queenside quickly. 4


21.a3 I had no choice. I needed to maintain my pawn structure.

27...Qf4!! what a fantastic move, with a very spectacular drawing idea.

21... Rfd8 22.Qe4 [In case of 22.Qe2?! Qc3! Black enters into the second rank. 23. Rad1 axb4 24.axb4 Ra2 and probably Black is doing better.]

28.Qxe7 I played this with a slightly sad feeling, but what to do... [Doesn’t get anything: 28. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 29.Kh1 Re2! It’s important for Black to push the White knight to f1 first. 30.Nf1 and only now to play 30... Rb2! Too many thing are hanging in White’s position, and probably, I will lose all my extra pawns on the queenside. It’s clear that I have no chances to play for a win!]

22...axb4 23. Rab1 Not a nice move to make, but a necessary one. [23.axb4? would have been a horrible blunder. 23... Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Qxa1+! 25.Nxa1 Rd1+ and I would get mated.] 23...Qf6 24.axb4 Ra2 Another interesting moment. Where to put the White rook from e1, to e2 or to f1? The position is getting very sharp and every move could be decisive. It looks like I will get the b7 pawn, and Black is clearly going to base his counterplay on the strong rook on a2.

28... Rxg2+! The key move of Black’s drawing idea. 29.Nxg2 Rxg2+ 30.Kxg2 Qg4+ My king can’t escape from the checks on the 4th rank. What a beautiful draw. 31.Kh1 Qe4+

25. Rf1 [25. Re2 Qc3! This strong move gives Black great play. He wants to play Rd2. 26.Ne1 It looks like I have nothing better than this. 26... Rxe2 27.Qxe2 Rd4 Black is winning the c4-pawn, getting a good position.] 25... Rd2 Things star t to look quite dangerous for White, but on the other hand, if I get the b7 pawn I might just be winning. 26.Ne3 Rxf2 27.Qxb7 After some thinking I took the b7 pawn. I thought I needed one more move to be perfectly fine: to play Qb8 followed by Qg3 and it seems like all my pieces are protected. In case of winning this game I would share the first place in the tournament and get the first prize after the tie-break! However, Leko crushed my dreams with an amazing idea!

32.Kg1 Qg4+ 33.Kf2 Qf4+ 34.Ke2 Qe4+ 35.Kd2 Qd4+ 36.Ke2 Qe4+ 37.Kd2 Qd4+ 38.Ke2 With this result, we both shared the 3rd-6th place. 1/2

5


(2) Kramnik,V (2799) — Meier,G (2644) [A16] 40th Dortmund GER (9), 22.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are facing a spectacular victory by Kramnik from the final round. There is a funny part in the opening, because the same position might arise after 3 completely different move orders. 1.c4 [1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Nc6 7. Bc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7; 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bc4 Nc6] 1...Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Nc6 5.d4 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 Here we are! :) 9.0–0 0–0

blockade on the d5 square, in order to avoid White from getting rid of it with a d4-d5 push. In general, any kind of piece exchange that doesn’t alter the pawn structure favors Black, because then, he can more comfortably organize his play against the d4 pawn. He does not need to worry about different kinds of active counterplay. Black has many different setups, but practice gives preference to two of them. 10... Bf6 Black has two ideas after this move. One is to quickly put pressure on the d4 pawn with Nde7 and an occasional Nf5 (of course in this case he must count with the d5 push), or to develop with Nce7 and b6-Bb7. The move’s disadvantage is that it gives White the opportunity to obtain the bishop pair with Ne4, taking the strong bishop. However, Black believes in the principle mentioned above (all exchanges favor him). [10...Nf6 11.a3 b6 is the alternative.] 11. Bb3 A very rare and tricky move by Kramnik, who definitely wanted to get his opponent out of his preparation. [There was a fresh high-level game on the main line: 11.Ne4 b6 12.Nxf6+ (12.B xd5 exd5 13.N xf6+ Qxf6 is nothing.) 12...Nxf6 13. Bg5 Bb7 14. Rc1 Rc8

10. Re1 This is the starting position of the line. A typical middlegame with the d4 isolani. Both sides have their own plans. White is generally aiming for active piece play in order to compensate for the d4 weakness, while Black wants to finish his development and secure a safe 6


15. Rc3 Both sides developed logically and here comes a typical regrouping that we should remember. 15...Ne7! Of course, the move is obvious, but the point is that Black shouldn’t worry about Bxf6 gxf6, because if White is not able to launch a concrete attack, it only improves Black’s position. 16.Bb3 (16.Bxf6 gxf6) 16...Qd6 17.Ne5 We were following the game Tomashevsky-Sasikiran from Sochi 2012, and here Black should have continued with 17... Rxc3 This move solves the problem of the d4 pawn, but creates another weakness on c3. The fact that he can exchange a few more minor pieces is more important for Black. 18.bxc3 Ne4!= getting a comfortable equality. 19.Qf3 f6!] 11...Nde7! Meier chose the right plan! [11...Nce7 is the other plan, but here Kramnik probably prepared a very strong idea. 12.Ne4 b6 13.Ne5! Bb7 14.Qg4! This is how White should play, activity is very important for him. The idea is Bg5, which can’t really be prevented. 14...Ng6 15.Bg5! Nxe5 (15...Bxg5 16.Nxg5 and the knights are looking very dangerous.) 16.dxe5 Bxg5 17.Nxg5+= and White achieved an advantage. He kept his attacking possibilities, but th3 d6 square is more important, where the White knight is heading to. It’s going to become really annoying there.; It’s important to note that after 11...b6 Black seriously weakens his queenside if he can’t take back on d5 with a piece. 12.Nxd5! exd5 13.Ne5+= Thanks to the b6 weakness, White has a small but stable advantage. Later, Ba4 and Rc1 may come, the knight has no stability on c6, while taking on e5 improves White’s pawn structure. There is also no point in putting the bishop on b7 anymore.] 12.Bf4!? This involves a very deep pawn sacrifice with long-term positional compensation! I don’t think this gives any advantage, but as we will see, the shocking ef-

fect brought Kramnik a nice point. Black must accept the pawn. I think both captures are possible and good, it’s hard to choose between them. [On 12.Be3 Nf5 Black is fine.] 12... Bxd4 Meier prefers to have a knight on d4, which cannot be disturbed by Nb5, but on the other hand, it gives up the bishop pair. [12...Nxd4 White has two options: 13.Nxd4 (13.Ne4 Here, Black should take the correct piece 13...Nxb3! to make the d5 square safer for the knight. (13...N xf3+ 14.Qxf3 White gets more than enough compensation here. For instance 14...B xb2 15.Rad1 Nd5 loses to 16.Rd2! and the bishop has no good square. 16... Bf6 17.B xd5 exd5 18.R xd5!+- White wins.) 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qxb3 Kh8! to prevent the mating ideas with Bh6 and Qg3, followed by Nd5. Black is fine.) 13... Bxd4 (13...Qxd4 is a bit scary, but also possible. 14.Qxd4 B xd4 15.Bd6 Re8 16.Ba4 Nc6 17.Nb5 The White pieces are coming dangerously. 17...Bb6 Black holds his extra pawn. White will retreat his bishop from d6 to free the square for the knight, but the compensation should only be enough for a draw.) 14.Nb5 Bb6

15.Qf3 Meier might have been afraid of something like this, which seems really dangerous for the human eye, but the machine, as usual, shows great defensing possi7


bilities. 15... Bd7! 16. Rad1 Ng6! 17. Bg3 It looks like Black can’t hold the pins, but 17...Qe7!! and Black sacrifices an exchange for activity and an attack. 18. Bd6 Bc6!! 19.Qg3 (19.B xe7 B xf3 20.B xf8 B xd1=+) 19...Qf6 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 21.Nd6 h5 with a huge attack. Both bishops are pressing, the knight will also join trough f4, and h4 is the concrete threat. White is in trouble.] 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Bc4! This is really calm play. White preserves his two bishops. This shows the deepness of Kramnik’s idea, he gives a pawn and then just continues the game like nothing happened... 14...Nec6 Black wants to hold his d4 knight. [14...Ng6 was also possible 15. Bg3 (15.Be3 leads to draw. I don’t believe this was Kramnik’s desire. 15...e5 16.B xd4 Qxd4 17.Qxd4 exd4 18.Nb5 Bd7 19.N xd4=) 15...b6 and Black tries to finish the development.] 15. Rc1! Keeping the calmness. Bringing the last missing piece to the game. 15...Qf6! [Trying to force a draw with 15...e5 leads almost to equality, but 16. Bxe5 Nxe5 17. Rxe5 Nc6 18. Re1 and White still can press a little bit; his pieces are more active.]

16. Bc7! To prevent Rd8. 16...e5? Very tempting move, but Kramnik was ready to counter it, thanks to the Nd5 tempo. White can initiate concrete play to open the position. [16...Qe7 Black should have brought his rook to d8 first. 17. Bg3 Rd8 18.Qh5 Nf5! Trying to take the bishop and also to prevent the Bh4 ideas. 19. Bf4 White must keep his main triumph. 19... Bd7! Black finally manages to connect his rooks, and after 20. Bg5 he manages to consolidate his position. 20...f6 21. Bf4 Ncd4 with a complex position, but Black’s chances are not worse.] 17.Nd5! Qg5 The only place to defend the e5 pawn. 18.f4! There was no more time for calm moves, Black wanted to develop his c8 bishop. The move is justified by principles as well. White must open the position for the bishop pair and had to break the stronghold of the d4 knight as well. Without proper support, it might become a potential target for White. 18...exf4 19. Bxf4 White has freed the c7 square for the knight with tempo. 19...Qh4?! After this, there’s no more equality for Black. [Exchanging the queens seems to be very suspicious as well, but it looks like Black could have kept his position together. 19...Qg4 20. Bd6 (20.b4!? is also possible, trying to win a piece with b5. Black cannot prevent it with a6 because of the b6 hole, but still: 20...Qxd1 21.Rexd1 Bg4! and on 22.b5 N xb5 23.B xb5 B xd1 24.R xd1 seems to be playable, even tough White should be slightly better.) 20... Rd8 21.Ne7+ Nxe7 22. Rxe7 looks like a win, but Black just survives after 22...Qxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Be6! 24. Rxd4 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxd6=] 8


20. Bg3 Qd8? [20...Qg5 was the last chance, but after 21. Re4! White achieves a better position. 21... Be6 22. Rxd4! Nxd4 23. Bf4! to protect the c1 rook 23...Qg4 24.Qxd4 Rad8 25. Rf1+= and Black retains practical chances.]

(3) Bartel,Mat (2674) — Caruana,F (2775) [D85] 40th GM Dortmund GER (9), 22.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The decisive game of the Dortmund tournament! With this victory in the last round, Caruana took the first place. This is probably the biggest success so far for the young Italian GM. His opponent, Mateusz Bartel, is a strong fighting player with a very sharp style, but when he is out of form he can run into some quick defeats.

21.Nc7! Kramnik already foresaw the final blow! 21... Rb8 22.Nb5! Ra8 23. Bd6! Finally, the dark squares caused too many problems for Black. He should have sacrificed an exchange, but the outcome of the game would have been clear anyway.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 In the Aeroflot Open in February, Caruana lost to Bartel in 22 moves in the Slav defense. This time, he decided to try the Grunfeld. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5

23... Re8 [23...Nxb5 24. Bxf8+-] 24. Bxf7+!! Kxf7 25.Qh5+ The king must run into the center, but too many pieces are hunting him there. 25...g6 26.Qxh7+ Kf6 White can choose between many different wins. Kramnik found a spectacular mate. His opponent kindly allowed him to show it over the board. 27.Nxd4 Nxd4 28.Qh4+ Kf7 29. Rc7+ [29.Qxd4+-] 29... Bd7 30.Qh7+ Kf6 31. Rf1+ Ke6 [31...Nf5 32. Rxd7 Qb6+ 33.Kh1+-] 32.Qxg6+ Kd5 33. Rc5# Not an ordinary mate, which finishes a great game. 1–0

8. Rb1 Bartel realized in his preparation that Caruana was suffering against the 8. Rb1 system. In 2012, he already ended up twice in practically losing positions right after the opening. He managed to save both games, but it was mainly due to his tenacious defense. This time the Italiano seemed to find a decent way to equality. 9


8...0–0 9.Be2 cxd4 [Against Li Chao in May he tried 9... Nc6 10.d5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Qd2 e6 13.f4 Bc7 The point of this system is that White cannot stabilize his central pawns with c4 because of Ba5. Actually, I find this setup a bit artificial, but many strong players use it. 14.0–0 exd5 15.exd5 Ba5 This is the starting position of the line, where White can choose between at least 8 different moves... 16.d6 This is the new wave to follow with White. 16... Rb8

17. Rb5!! White wants to sacrifice the exchange and launch a very dangerous attack with f5. 17... Bd7 (17...a6 is also met with 18.R xa5! Qxa5 19.f5!+/- and the Black king is really missing the dark-squared bishops...) 18.f5!! It’s really unpleasant to face such preparation over the board. 18... Bxb5 19. Bxb5 White threatens with f6 and Qh6. The bishop stands excellently on b5, where it covers the e8 square. 19...Qh4 20. Rf4 Qg5 21.Qe1 Qd8 22.Qe5 Re8 23.Qd5! White doesn’t even want to win back the exchange, the light squared bishop has a very important role in the attack. 23... Re1+ 24.Kf2 g5 (24...R xc1 25.fxg6+) 25.f6! h6 26.Qf5 and White was winning, because of the Bd3 threat, but in the time-trouble, he failed to finish the game. Li Chao-Caruana, Malmo 2012.] 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Qd2 This is a solid sideline. [The main line is 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 Bg4 with several hundreds

games. Currently, theory considers it to be drawish. The only problem is that Black has to remember many forced lines until move 30 to hold the draw.] 11...Qxd2+ 12. Bxd2

12...e6! This is Caruana’s new approach. [Just a month ago, he unsuccessfully tried 12... Rd8 13.d5 Na6 14. Rc1 ! White controls the movement of the a6 knight. 14...f5 This is a typical break of White’s pawn chain, but now White can react with 15.e5! The d5 pawn is indirectly protected by Bc4. 15...h6 16. Bc4 Kh8 17.0–0 g5 18. Rfd1 f4 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Ba5 Rg8 21.e6+/- and Black was lost due to his c8 bishop. The White rook invades on c7. Radjabov-Caruana, Moscow 2012.] 13.0–0 b6! The idea is the same, trying to put pressure on the central pawns, but this time with the pieces. 14. Rbc1 This is the main move to penetrate with the rook on c7. 14... Bb7 We are in the critical position of our game, White has plenty of choices to continue the game, but only one of them can create problems for Black. 15. Rc7? A very concrete pawn sacrifice based on a concrete line, but Caruanacalculated one move further than 10


his opponent! [15. Rfe1!? I found this very deep alternative in order to fight for the initiative. Black must be careful. 15...Na6! Black simply prevents Rc7 and prepares to occupy the c-file. a) 15... Rd8 is met with 16. Bg5! a typical move, after which it’s not easy to find a good square for the rook.; b) In case of the greedy 15... Bxe4 White’s idea is shown in a very nice variation. 16. Bb4 Rd8 (16...Nc6 Maybe it was better to sacrifice an exchange: 17.B xf8 R xf8 and Black has good chances to hold the draw.)

17. Be7! The line gets very concrete now. 17... Re8 18. Bb5! Everything is based on the undeveloped b8 knight. 18... Bc6 (18...R xe7 19.Rc8+ Bf8 20.R xe4 Black can hardly survive the pin along the 8th rank.) 19. Rxc6! White seems to win now, but Black has a hidden resource. (19.B xc6? N xc6 20.R xc6 R xe7 is a pawn up for Black.) 19...a6! Suddenly, Black seems to be more than fine, but this time White comes up with a great response. (19...N xc6? 20.B xc6+-) 20. Rcxe6!! White protects the e7 bishop with the e1 rook. (20.Ba4 b5) 20...axb5 21. Rxb6 Rxa2 22.Kf1! with serious initiative for White. The b-pawn is weak, while the d-pawn might cause real problems.(Not 22.R xb5?! because of 22... Nc6); 16. Bb5 Rac8 17.a4 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Rc8 19. Rxc8+

Bxc8 and the position is equal.; 15. Bd3 is too passive. 15...Nc6 16.d5 exd5 17.exd5 Na5!? The Black bishops are getting stronger, while the d-pawn is rather weak.; 15.e5 is a sign of success of Black’s strategy. After this move, the White pawns lose their mobility and the holes on the light squares start to tell. 15...Nc6 followed by Rfd8, Rac8, Bf8 and Na5 or Ne7. Black is fine.; 15. Bb4 is a concrete attempt to catch the rook. 15... Rd8 16. Bb5 with the idea of Be7. The position looks very suspicious, but Black is in time to play 16... Ba6! (16...B xe4 17.Be7) 17.a4 Bxb5! 18.axb5 a6!= which solves all his problems.] 15... Bxe4 16.Ng5 Bartel follows his plan that started with 15. Rc7. [16. Bb4 is similar to the game, but Black is fine here as well. 16... Rd8 17. Be7 (17.Ng5 Bd5 transposes to the game.) 17... Re8 18.Ng5 (18.Bb5 Nc6! This kind of concrete tactical play is typical in the Grunfeld.) 18... Bd5 19. Bb5 Nc6! 20. Bxc6 Bxc6 and Black ends up with an extra pawn, or after 21.Nxf7 Rec8 22. Rxc8+ Rxc8 23.Ne5 Bd5=+ he ends up with an endgame with very good perspectives thanks the bishop pair and the occupied open file...] 16... Bd5 17. Bb4 Rd8

11


18. Bb5 This was the idea of the Polish grandmaster when he sacrificed his e4 pawn. White threatens to take with Nxf7 or to trap the rook with Be7. The b8 knight still can’t develop, Black seems to be in deep trouble, but Caruana has calculated one move further! [18.Nxf7 Rd7! 19. Rxd7 Nxd7] 18...a6!! With the same idea as in the 15. Rfe1 Bxe4 line, but what to do now? 19.Nxf7 [19. Ba4 b5] 19...axb5! 20.Nxd8 Na6 This is the point! Suddenly White collapses! Right now he is an exchange up, but three of his pieces are hanging. 21. Rxg7+ Kxg7 22. Be7 This was the only way not to lose a lot of material, but Black is winning here as well. 22...b4 White cannot hold the a2-square for long, so the b-pawn will fall as well. The situation of White’s minor pieces is not too fortunate either.

(4) Muzychuk,Anna (2606) — Ivanchuk,Vassily (2769) [C45] ACP Golden Classic Amsterdam NED (7), 22.07.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Here we will see Ivanchuk at his best! A short, very intense and beautiful game! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Lately, the Scotch has become quite popular. We saw a couple of games played by Radjabov, Karjakin and Caruana. This might have something to do with the fact that people can’t find any advantage for White in the Spanish game. It’s hard to say... but it’s a fact that the Scotch has returned to the highest level. 3...exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 [4...Nf6 This is Kramnik’s favorite move.] 5.Nxc6 Qf6

23. Rc1 [23. Ra1 Nc7] 23... Bxa2 24. Rc6 b5 The rest is easy. 25.h4 [After 25.Nxe6+ Bxe6 26. Rxe6 Black has many ways to win, but the nicest is the strongest as well: 26... Nc5! 27. Re1 Nd3 28. Rd1 b3] 25...b3 26. Ba3 Nb4! And Black wins material. 27.Nxe6+ [27. Bxb4 b2] 27...Kg8 0–1

6.Qf3 This line h as been played many times by Radjabov and Rublevsky. These players made it popular again. 6...bxc6 [6...dxc6 This is another possible move which leads to an unclear position. Once, I tried it to play it myself against the already mentioned Rublevksy. The game continued with 7. Bc4 Ne7 This move looks slightly strange, but it’s the main one. 8.Qxf6 gxf6 9. Bf4 Bb6 10.Nc3 12


Ng6 11. Bg3 h5 12.h4 Ne5 13. Be2 Be6 14.Na4 Ba5+ 15.c3 0–0–0 16.Nc5 Bb6 17.Nxe6 fxe6 with a quite complicated position.] 7.Nd2 d6 8.Nb3 Bb6 9.Qg3 This move seems to be a novelty! The main moves are 9.a4 and 9. Bd2.

it’s not easy to protect the pawn on e4.) 12...Qxb2 A very risky move, but if Black doesn’t take on b2, the Ng6 move makes no sense. 13.a4! A very strong reaction! 13...a5 and only after a5, White plays 14. Bc3 Qxc2 15.Nd2

9...Ne7 A very logical reply by Black. The knight gets into the game and Black prepares to castle short. 10. Be2 A normal move, but how can such an opening bring White any advantage? To me, the idea with Qg3 remains unclear. [If White would try to save a tempo and develop the bishop to c3 as fast as possible, Black should remain cool and eat away all the pawns. 10. Bd2 Qxb2 11. Bd3 (11.Bc3? Qxc2 Two pawns up and Bxf2 is being threatened!) 11...Ng6 12.0–0 Qe5 Black is in time to return the Queen and remain a clear pawn up.] 10...0–0

11. Bd2 We can clearly see that White’s opening was, at least, not great, not to say „non sense”. Black is fully developed and probably already doing a bit better. [On 11. Bg5? Black always has 11... Bxf2+] 11...a5!? Ivanchuk is famous for his creative and strong play. [11...Qg6 followed by f5 looks solid for Black.; 11... Ng6?! would be a clear mistake: 12.0–0! (12.Bc3 Qe7 and

and the Black queen is trapped. Now we can see why the move a2-a4 is needed. White took away the a4 square from the Black queen.] 12. Bc3 Qg6 13. Bd3 [I think it was time to think about safety and play 13.Qxg6 Nxg6 Of course, Black is doing pretty well here, but White is solid as well. 14.0–0 Re8! A strong move, White doesn’t have any nice way to protect the e4 pawn. Against 15. Bd3, Nf4 is coming, and Black will have the advantage of the bishop pair.] 13...f5!? Black starts the action and, of course — why not? He’s better developed and can put big pressure on White’s position. 14.f3? One of the best female players in the world doesn’t feel the danger coming. [It was the last chance to take away the queens from the board. 14.Qxg6 Nxg6 The Black knight is going to f4 where it will have almost a perfect position. 15.0–0 Nf4 Black wants to take on d3, after which Black is doing clearly better. Also, White needs to be careful, 13


in many lines, the a5-a4 push could be dangerous. 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.e5 d5 and of course, Black is doing better.]

17...d5! Black prepared this move before playing 15...f4. [A big mistake would be 17...Kh8 18.Ne2 and White is back in the game.] 18.exd5 cxd4 A nice forced line. 19.d6+ White is winning back the piece, and will be even an exchange up, but... 19... Be6! The quickest finishing move! Great play by Black.

14...Qh6! After this move, the White king remains in the center under the attack of all the Black pieces. This can’t be good... 15.Nd4 This move proba bly loses by force, but it’s already hard to give White any advice. 15...f4! Usually, a move like 15...f4 is not a good one. It closes the position, but it can be made only in one case, if there’s a concrete win! And Ivanchukcalculates a nice winning line until the end! Try to find it yourself! :).

20.dxe7 Bxc4 21.exf8Q+ Rxf8 Black is an exchange down, but White is under a mating attack. The bishop on c3 is hanging and a loss of material is unstoppable. 22. Bxd4 [22. Bd2 Re8+ 23.Kd1 d3 and the White queen on f2 has no squares! Rarely, we see a queen being caught so easily.] 22... Re8+ The last exact move. 23.Kd2 Rd8 24.c3

16.Qf2 c5 17. Bc4+ The only move to avoid Black from playing c4 and winning a piece.

24...c5 White misplayed the opening, didn’t feel the danger and got under a crushing mating attack. Don’t make the same mistake in your own games! :) 0–1

14


Puzzle section

(7) Kohler,A (2229) — Antal,G (2511) Amsterdam Open, 18.07.2012

(5) Morozevich,A (2770) — Giri,A (2696) Biel, 23.07.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Mamedyarov,S (2726) — Inarkiev,E (2707) (6) Muzychuk,A (2606) — Ivanchuk,V (2769) Amsterdam, 22.07.2012

Turkish league, 18.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1... –+

15


(9) Zhao Xue (2556) — Kosintseva,N (2516)

(11) Tomczak,J (2556) — Przybylski,W (2330)

Jermuk, 18.07.2012

Gniota memorial, 19.07.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

(10) Danielian,E (2480) — Koneru,H (2598)

(12) Shomoev,A (2582) — Dzhangobegov,V (2360)

Jermuk, 19.07.2012

Izhevsk, 17.07.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

16


(13) Ibragimov,I (2539) — Shomoev,A (2582) Izhevsk, 23.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Milosiev,T (2216) — Georgiev,V (2562) Macedonian league, 17.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section (15) Kramnik,V (2799) — Leko,P (2730) Dortmund, 20.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

White is currently two pawns up, but he must give back one of them. Still, his position remains completely winning. As the game proceeds, we will see many instructive motifs. We must say that the game was in progress for 7 hours, and both players spent most of their energy. At this moment, Kramnik had about 15 minutes, while Leko was living from the 30 seconds increments... 75. Rg7+! Forces the king to the back rank, which is clearly an achievement for White. [The tricky 75.Ne6 does not change much. 75... Rxh4] 75...Kc8 [75...Kc6 loses more easily, White simply promotes his d-pawn. 76.d5+ Kb6 77. Rg6+ Kb7 78.d6! Rxh4 79.Nf7! Black cannot stop the pawn.]

76.Ne6 Rxh4 77. Rh7 Black is in a kind of zugzwang. If Black moves his rook along the h-file, White simply pushes his f-pawn. [77. Rf7+- was also perfectly fine. After defending the f4 pawn, White simply wants to go to c6 with his king.] 77... Bd6

78.Kd5! Instead of the simple Rf7 followed by Kd5, Kramnik sacrifices his f-pawn. This was the strongest move in the position, but maybe from a practical point of view, it was more clever to keep the f-pawn. After Black takes on f4, one mistake by White can spoil the full point and after 7 hours of tough fight, we cannot blindly trust ourselves. 78... Bxf4 79.Kc6! This is the point! White creates a mating net with his pieces. 79...Kb8 80.Kb6 The sign of tiredness. White repeats moves in his opponents time trouble. [The most precise way to win was 80. Rd7! and Black is simply unable to parry the threat of Kb6 and Rd8 mate. The Black rook should go down to be able to give checks, but it leaves the bishop unprotected... 80... Rg4 81.Kb6 White wins.; Of course, it was possible to miss Rd7, it is not an easy 18


move at all. What was a bit strange to me is that Kramnik didn’t go to the rook endgame, which is easily winning for him. We might have thought that players on Kramnik’s level know this kind of theoretical positions „by heart”... 80.Nxf4 Rxf4 81. Rh8+ Ka7 82.d5 Black cannot prevent the winning method: 82... Rc4+ 83.Kd7 Kb7 84.d6 Rg4 85.Kd8

83... Rg4! To be able to give checks on the g-file. [83... Bg3 84.Nc7+ Bxc7 85.Kxc7+-; 83...Ka7 is refuted by 84.Nc5! Now the threat is Ra5 Kb8 Nd7 Kc8 and Ra8 mate. 84... Bd2 85.Nd7! and the same mate follows after every move: 85... Rxd4 86. Rb7+ Ka6 87.Nc5+ Ka5 88. Rb5#] 84. Ra5+?? This check spoils the win. Black successfully escaped from the mating nets, but the rook endgame was still losing for him. [84.Nxf4! Rxf4 85.d5 Rc4+ 86.Kd7 White has the same winning strategy that we saw in the 80.Nxf4 line, but Black has an extra option to defend.

85... Rg7 (85...h4 86.d7 The king wants to leave from ahead of the pawn, and after 86...Re4 87.Re8 Rg4 88.Ke7 White wins.) 86.d7 Kc6 87. Rh6+ Kb7 88.Ke8+- The pawn promotes.] 80...Kc8 81.Kc6 Kb8 82. Rb7+ Ka8 83. Rb5

86...h4! A very important moment, White has to find the only move to win. 87. Rb3! As we already know, simply to wait is hopeless for Black, he must try to make use of his h-pawn. (The most logical 87.d6 would spoil the win because of 87...h3! 88.Rh5 Usually, in rook endgames, the right place for the rook is behind the pawn, but here is an exception! 88...Rc3 and the position is drawn. 89.Ke7 Kb7 90.d7 Re3+ 91.Kd8 Rg3 The winning idea would be to escape from d8, with the help of the rook (as we have seen in the 80.Nxf4 line), but now the Black pawn is too far advanced. 92.Rh8 Re3 93.Re8 h2! and Black holds the 19


draw.) 87... Rc1 (87...Rg4 88.d6 Rg3 White has 89.R xg3! which is the only win, otherwise the pawn reaches the 3rd rank. 89...hxg3 90.Kc6! Another only move. After other king moves there is simply no mate... 90...g2 91.d7 g1Q 92.d8Q+ Ka7 93.Qe7+ Ka6 94.Qa3#) 88.d6 Ka7 89.Kd8 Rh1 90.d7

90...h3 Very often, we meet the following motif in practice. It’s useful to remember it! 91. Re3! White prepares for Ke7 and prevents the checks. At the same time, it attacks the h-pawn, paralyzing Black’s rook. 91...h2 92. Re2! followed by Ke7, White wins.] 84...Kb8 85. Rxh5 Bg3 This position is quite an easy draw. There are no mates anymore, while Black will be able to sacrifice his bishop on d6, but there was one more big turn in the game! 86. Rh8+ Ka7 87. Rh7+ Kb8 88. Rb7+ Kc8 89. Rf7 Kb8 90.d5 Rc4+ 91.Nc5 Rc2 92. Rb7+ Ka8 93. Rb5 We are in a critical moment again. Black’s pieces are optimally defending, only the king is standing suspiciously in the corner...

93... Bh2?? [After 93...Ka7 we’ll soon reach the position of the game. 94.d6 Bxd6 95.Kxd6 Rh2 96.Kc7 Rh7+ 97.Nd7 Ka6= The king escapes from the corner.] 94. Rb1?? Kramnik allows Black to correct his last mistake. [94.d6! Bxd6 95.Kxd6 and White wins in a studylike way because of the unfortunate situation of the Black king. 95...Ka7 It’s too late now... (95...Rh2 96.Kc7 Rh7+ 97.Nd7+- Black should play Ka6 for the draw...) 96.Kc7 and Black’s rook is forced into passivity. 96... Ra2 White has the following winning strategy: to transfer his knight to c6, so that Black cannot prevent the mate either on b6 or on b8. There is one technical difficulty to prevent Black’s check on the c-file, but White is able to solve this. 97. Rb4! Ka8 (After 97...Ra5 there are no more checks on the c-file. 98.Nd7! Ra2 99.Nb8!+- and the knight arrives to c6.; 97...Ra1 moves into a tempo. 98.Nb3! covering the c1 check. 98...Ra3 99.Nd4!+- wins) 98. Rc4!! Ugly, but effective! 98...Ka7 (98... Ra7+ 99.Kb6 Ra2 100.Nd7! There are only two ways to prevent the mate: 100... Ra6+!? (100... Rb2+ 101.Kc7 Rb7+ (101...Ra2 102.Nb8! Ra7+ 103.Kc8+The same as the 100... Ra6 line.) 102.Kc8 Ra4 threats. 102... Ra7 103.Nb8+-) 101.Kc7! White simply ignores the stalemate trick. 101... Ra7+ 102.Kc8 Ra5 103.Nb8!! and again, the knight arrives to c6. 103...Ka7 104.Kc7! in order to squeeze the king 104...Ka8 105.Nc6! and there are no stalemate ideas. 105... Ra6 106. Rb4+-) 99.Nd7! White wants his usual Nb8-c6. 99...Ka6 100. Rc5! and the king is stuck in the mating net. 100...Ka7 101.Nb8! Ra1 102. Rc2 (102.Nc6+ is also good 102...Ka6 103.Nb4+ Ka7 104.Rb5+-) 102... Ra3 103. Rb2 Rc3+ 104.Nc6+ Ka6 105. Rb6#]

20

Issue 22 (16) Gustafsson,Jan (2629) — Ponomariov,Ruslan (2726) [D45]

27th of July 2012

40th GM Dortmund GER (8), 21.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

94...Ka7! 95. Rb7+ Ka8 96. Rg7 Kb8! Again, the right move, leaving from the corner! 97. Rg8+ Ka7 98. Rg7+ Kb8 99. Rg6 Ka7 100.d6 Bxd6 101. Rxd6 Rc1 And the rest is easy for Black. There are many good defenses, in fact, it’s impossible to go wrong. Kramnik continues playing on, because he hoped for a blunder after 7 hours and 30 minutes, or just couldn’t accept that he managed to spoil the win... 102. Rd2 Kb8 103. Ra2 Rc3 104. Rb2+ Kc8 105. Re2 Kd8 106.Kd6 Rc1 107.Nb7+ Kc8 108. Re7 Rd1+ 109. Kc6 Rc1+ 110.Nc5 Kd8 111. Re2 Rc3 112.Kd6 Rc1 113.Ne6+ Kc8 114. Rd2 Rc3 115.Nc5 Rc1 116. Re2 Kd8 117. Re3 Rc2 118.Ne6+ Kc8 119. Rd3 Rc1 120. Rd5 Rc2 121. Rd1 Rc3 122.Nf4 Rb3 123. Rc1+ Kb7 124.Nd5 Rb2 125. Rc7+ Kb8 126. Rh7 Rb1 127.Nc3 Rb6+ 128.Kc5 Rb3 129.Ne4 Rb7 130. Rh8+ Kc7 131. Nd6 Rb1 132. Rh7+ Kd8 133.Nb7+ Ke8 134.Kc6 The longest game of the tournament, which lasted 7 hours and 40 minutes. 1/2

This endgame looks like an easy draw. But... it’s much trickier than it looks. We will see how quickly Gustafsson managed to lose it... 30.Kf1 ustafsson decided to put the king on e2. I’m not sure if this was a good idea. It’s clear that Black will start his play on the kingside, so there’s no reason to move the king away to e2?! The White bishop has to control the knight — mainly the b4 square. The pawns on the queenside should stand on a2-b3 and, for example, the bishop on d2 or maybe on d6. Let’s take a look at a few options. [30. Be1 Ne7 31. Bd2 Nc6 32.b3 Kf7 33.Kf2 Now Black 2 plans, to play with g5 or without it. Maybe another idea could be to play b5-a5-a4, but right now it wouldn’t achieve anything at all. White would just keep on waiting... 33...Kg6 (33...g5 34.g3 Kg6 35.Kg2 h5 seems to be the only way to break through... (35...f5 36.gxf5+ Kxf5

21


37.Kf2! (37.g4+?! White has to be careful until the end. This logical-looking move could get White in some trouble. 37...Kg6 38.Kf2 h5 39.Kg2 hxg4 40.hxg4 Kf7 The Black king is going to b5, and Black will try to play a5-a4, trying to create weaknesses in White’s pawn structure. If the White king goes to b2, Black could react very fast with Ne7-Ng8-Nf6, winning the g4 pawn. Probably, the position is still a draw, but it would get tricky...) 37...h5 38.Ke2 By keeping the pawns on g3-h3, White is ready to react against Black’s g4 with h4, and against Black’s h4 with g4. 38...g4 39.h4 Ke6 40.Kd1 Ne7 41. Be1 Nf5 42. Bf2 Kd6 43.Kc2 Kc6 44.Kb2 Kb5 45.Kc3 with a draw.) 36.gxh5+ Kxh5 37.g4+! (37.Kf2?! Now the waiting strategy could lead to a lost position. 37...f5 38.Bc3 Kg6 39.Ke2 Nd8! Black brings the knight to e6 before starting the action with f4. 40.Kf2 Ne6 followed by f4 with good winning chances.) 37...Kg6 38.Kg3! White wants to play h4 trying to exchange both pawns on the kingside. 38...f5 39.gxf5+ Kxf5

40.h4! g4 41.h5 with a draw.) 34.g3 h5 (34...f5 35.gxf5+ Kxf5 36.Kg2 and we already know that White makes a draw just by waiting and keeping the pawns on g3-h3.) 35.gxh5+ Kxh5 36.g4+! allowing Black to play f5. 36... Kg6 37.Kg3 followed by h4, with an easy draw.. .] 30...Kf7 31.Ke2 The White king goes in the wrong direction. 31...Kg6

32. Bg3? White is playing completely without any plan. [32. Be1 followed by Kf2, with a draw.] 32...h5 33.gxh5+ Kxh5 And it’s too late. g4 is no longer possible, so Black is in time to put the pawns on g5-f5. 22


34. Bc7 Ne7 There is no hurry to play f5 because against White’s g4, Black now has Kh4. 35. Bd6 Nc6 36.b3 g5?! A logical move, but not the most precise. [36...f5 37.Kf2 Nd8 38.Ke2 Ne6 39.Kf2 Kg5!? Black could try to keep the g5 option in mind. In case of White’s g3, Black would have the winning maneuver Ng5-Nf3. 40. Be7+ Kg6 41. Bd6 Kf7 The Black king is going to b5. In comparison to the game, the Black pawn is standing very well on g7 or g6. White has no h4 push, which would give him a free passed h-pawn in case of Black’s g5.] 37.g3 f5 We can clearly see that it’s not going to be easy to make a draw anymore...

39.gxf4 [39.exf4 g4! A very strong reaction! 40.hxg4+ Kxg4 41.Ke3 Kxg3 42.f5+ Kg4 43.f6 Nd8 Black is in time to stop the f-pawn. Now the Black king is going to e6, and White would lose the f-pawn. The position is lost for White.] 39...gxf4 40. Bxf4 Kh4 41. Bd6 [Doesn’t work: 41.Ke2 Nb4! and White is probably lost.] 41...Kxh3 42.Ke2 Kg2! We have a very interesting position. Black’s winning idea is clear: to bring the knight to g3 or g1, and the White king would have to move, allowing Black to get to f2, getting the full point. Can White stop the Black knight from jumping to g3 or g1? Let’s take a look. 43. Bc5 a6 44. Bd6 Gustafsson tries to use the passive tactic, and of course, there’s nothing else to do. 44...Nd8 The knight starts getting closer.

38.Kd2? [38.Kf2 White should not let Black play f4. 38... Nd8 39.Kg2 Ne6 40.Kf2 Kg6 41.Kg2 It looks like Black doesn’t have the f4 move, and to find another idea seems to be a difficult task. Probably the position is a draw, but a very tricky one. If Black manages to find an idea, White could simply be lost.] 38...f4! Of course! A very typical move.

45. Be5! A very good defensive move. White cuts the knight with the bishop. 45...Nf7 [45...Ne6 46. Bf6 Kg1 47.Ke1 Kg2 48.Ke2 Kg3 49. Be5+ Kg2 50. Bf6 would bring nothing for Black.] 23


46. Bf4 Again, the knight is cut. 46...Nd8 47. Be5 Kg1 48.Ke1 Nc6 49. Bd6 It looks like Gustafsson managed to create a fortress... 49...Na7 The last try for Black. As we saw before, Nd8 didn’t achieve anything.

57.Bc7+! kicking out the Black king from the control of the f2 square. 57...Kh3 58.Kf2 Nh4 59.Bd6 Nf3 60.Bc7 Black managed to put the knight of f3, but in exchange, had to give the f2 square. The position is still a draw. 60... Nh2 61.Bf4 Ng4+ 62.Kf1) 52.Ke2 a5 53. Be1 Kg2 54.a4! fixing the Black pawns on the squares b6-a5. 54...Nd6 55. Bh4 with an easy draw. Now the White bishop is not worse than the Black knight, the pawn on b6 is a nice target.] 50...Nc6! Black provoked the White pawn to come forward... 51.b4 What else to do? Black wanted to play Na5 and against Bc7, Nb4 would finish the game.

50.a4? What a terrible mistake... Why didn’t White just continued with his „standing” strategy? [50. Bc5 Nb5 51. Bb4 b6 (51...Nc7 If Black would try to go back, the position seems to be a draw. 52.Be7 Ne6 53.Bf6 Kg2 54.Ke2 Nf8 The only attempt to do something new. 55.Be7 Ng6 56.Bd8 Kg3

51...Kg2 52.Ke2 Na7! What a great move! Black wants to play Nc8 and the White bishop is hopeless. Black would have 2 threats, Nb6 and Ne7-Nf5-Ng3. The only way to avoid it is to keep the bishop on c5. In this case White is in zugzwang after Black’s Kg3. Probably, the position is lost!

53. Bc5 Nc8! 54.a5 Kg3 And White is in zugzwang. 55. Bf8 Nothing else to do... 24


55...Na7 56. Bd6+ Kg2 57. Bc5 Full attention to the Black knight.

Clash of the Titans

57...Nb5 58. Bf8 Na3 59. Be7 Nc4 60. Bc5 Nb2 61. Be7 Nd3 62. Bd6 Nf2 63. Bf4 Nh1 and the final destination has been reached!

(17) Rubinstein,Akiba — Alekhine,Alexander [E16] Semmering Panhans Semmering (8), 17.03.1926 [Balogh Csaba] An interesting, but far from flawless, game by two great players. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 The 4.g3 system is, even nowadays, the most popular setup against the Queen’s Indian defense.

64.Kd2 Kf3 65.b5 axb5 66.Kc3 Nf2 67. Bg5 Nd1+ 68.Kb4 Nxe3 69.Kxb5 Nc4 70.Kc5 e3 What an endgame... 0–1

4... Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ This check went a bit out of fashion. Recently, people prefer the main 4... Be7 or the tricky and sharp sideline with 4...c5. The point of the move is either to get rid of the dark squared bishops or to lure the White knight to an unfortunate place. 6.Nbd2 This probably gives away the opening advantage. Generally, this knight belongs to c3, but now it would damage White’s pawn structure. [White should play 6. Bd2 I have recently seen a very nice game by Polugaevsky... 6... Bxd2+ An interesting modern alternative for Black is 6...c5. 7.Qxd2 0–0 8.Nc3 White would like to occupy the center with d5 followed by Nd4 or e4. This would give White a comfortable game with the space advantage. The bishop on b7 could be closed as well. 8... Ne4 This is a typical move. Black fights for the center on the light squares, but now it runs into the strong

25


9.Qd3! f5 a) The point is that 9...Nxc3? is refuted by 10.Ng5!! This is a comm on motif in this system, but still sometimes strong players might blunder this trick. Black cannot avoid losing an exchange. 10...Qxg5 (10...Ne4 is better, but White gets and advantage in this case as well. 11.B xe4 B xe4 12.Qxe4 Qxg5 13.Qxa8 Nc6 14.Qb7 N xd4 and here, after 15.Rd1!+= Black doesn’t have enough compensation.) 11. Bxb7+/-; b) 9...d5 is the best, but after 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Ne5 White is slightly better.; 10.Ne5! A strong positional move based on tactical ideas. White tries to force a crucial weakening with d5, and the Black position stays with a lot of holes. 10...Nc5 (This is the first move that White had to check before playing Ne5, but he has 10...d6? 11.Nxe4! fxe4 (11...dxe5 12.Nf6+!+- The undeveloped b8 knight causes serious problems in all the lines.) 12. Bxe4+- and again, the a8 rook is hanging at the end.) 11.dxc5 Bxg2 12. Rg1 After the d-file has being opened, d7 became a real target. It seems to be a nice achievement to gain control over the long diagonal, but in fact, the bishop does nothing there, White is playing on the dark squares. 12... Bc6 (12...Nc6 is refuted tactically: 13.Qxd7! N xe5 14.Qxe6++-; 12...Bb7 13.0–0–0+/-)

13.0–0–0 Now, Nxc6 threatens to win a pawn that’s very hard for Black to deal. 13...Qf6 (13...bxc5 14.N xc6 N xc6 15.Qxd7+/- The endgame with the weak c5 pawn looks terrible...) 14.f4! This great move leaves Black in some kind of zugzwang. (14.N xc6 looks good, but after 14...dxc6 and Na6 is coming next.) 14...bxc5 (Now on 14...Na6 White can simply take the pawn. 15.N xd7 B xd7 16.Qxd7 N xc5 17.Qxc7 Rfc8 18.Qe5 Black doesn’t have enough compensation.) 15.Nxc6 dxc6 A picturesque pawn structure! Black is a pawn up, but his position is close to being hopeless. Beside his pawns, he has real problems with the knight, which has no future in this game. (15...N xc6 16.Qxd7 is a similar story to the 13...bxc5 we saw before. 16...Nd4 17.e3+/-)

26


16.e4! White takes even more space. 16...Na6 17.e5 Qe7 18.Qf3 Qe8 19. Rg2! Doubling the rooks. The a6 knight is just watching the events, Black is practically a piece down... 19... Rf7 20. Rgd2 h6 21.Na4 Kh7 22.a3! Further paralyzing the knight. 22... Rb8 23.Qc3! It’s time to catch it with Qa5, White can do whatever he wants. 23...Qc8 24.Qa5 Rb3 25. Rd3! Rxd3 26. Rxd3 The game is over, but let’s see the conclusion... 26...Qb7 27.Kc2 Re7 28. Rd8 Kg6 29.Qd2 Kf7 30.Qd1! Polugaevsky changes the direction, creating mating threats, because the queen and the knight have no chance to defend. 30...Kg6 (30...g6 31.Rh8+- followed by Qd8.) 31.g4 fxg4 32.Qxg4+ Kh7 33.f5 exf5 34.Qxf5+ 1–0 A great game! PolugaevskyDokhoian, Beograd 1988.] 6...0–0 7.0–0 d5 8.a3 Be7! Of course, Black has to keep his bishop. It might seem like Black lost a tempo, but the bishop has done a great job! The knight on d2 stands poorly. White’s ideal setup in such structures is the knight on c3 and the bishop on f4, but now he’s far from getting this. 9.b4 c5 Black is well developed and is ready for the challenge in the center. [9...a5 10.b5 c5 is another standard reaction in such situations. Black equalizes here as well.] 10.bxc5 [It’s important to mention that after 10.cxd5 Bxd5 is the only way to take back! Black continues controlling the long diagonal and the e4 square, while keeping the tension in the center.(10...N xd5 11.bxc5 bxc5 12.Bb2 White is ready for an e4 push.; 10...exd5 is the worst. 11.bxc5 bxc5 12.Rb1 followed by dxc5 and Nb3 with a clear advantage for White against the isolated pawn.) ]

10...bxc5

11.dxc5 [White should have played 11. Rb1 This move is very unpleasant. It is hard to hold the long diagonal with the bishop, because Bc6 is met with Ne5. In this particular case, Black has 11...Qc7! 12.Qb3 Bc6! followed by Nbd7. On 13.Ne5 dxc4! is coming with tempo. 14.Qxc4 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nbd7= with an equal game, but White should have played like this anyway.] 11... Bxc5?! This is an inaccuracy. [11...Nbd7 It was better to take with the knight on c5. A typical trick in such cases is 12.c6!? Bxc6 13.Nd4 but now it doesn’t lead anywhere... 13... Bb7 Black is fine.] 12. Bb2?! This allows Black to finish his development comfortably. [Rubinstein should have played 12. Rb1 Qe7 13.Qb3 and the bishop must leave the diagonal. 13... Ba6 (13...Bc6 14.Ne5 works now.) 14. Bb2 looks slightly better for White.] 12...Nbd7 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Things were developing more or less logically, but suddenly, Alekhine takes over the initiative with concrete tactical play.

27


14...Ng4! A quick attack against the f2 weakness creates unexpected difficulties for White. 15. Bc3

15... Rb8 Alekhine must have miscalculated something leave his plan. The move he made is also logical, after defending the b7 bishop. He wants to push d4 and e5, improving his pawn structure. [15...Qb6! 16.e3 (16.Qe1 is really ugly, but probably the only move. Black is more than fine after, for instance 16...Rab8)

with the unpleasant 18...Bh6! with the threat of Qe3 mate.) 18...d4! and on 19. Rb1 dxc3!! Great queen sacrifice! Black takes back the pieces one by one after this. 20. Rxb6 Bxg2 Black wins. For example 21. Rd6 Bxd2+ 22.Ke2 Bxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Rab8 Rb2 is coming next.] 16. Rb1 [16.cxd5 was more logical, to avoid d4. Black is fine, justified by tactical play. 16... Bxd5 and on 17.e4 Nxf2! this is a worse version than the 15...Qb6 line, but the attack is still very dangerous. 18. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 19.Kxf2 Qb6+ 20.Kf3 An unpleasant necessity, to run with the king. (20.Kf1 Bb7 Ba6 is threatened. 21.Bf3 f5! with a huge attack.) 20... Ba8 followed by f5 looks more than fine!] 16...d4 17. Rxb7? A tactical oversight! Rubinstein did not feel the danger... [17. Bb4 was the right move. 17... Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Rc8 Black has a healthier pawn structure, but probably the objective evaluation is rather equal.(Somehow, White can create a quick threat after the more logical 18...Qc7 19.Nf3! e5 20.Qc2 with the idea of Qf5 and Qe4, with counterplay.) ] 17... Rxb7 18. Bxb7 Black can choose between two very nice ways to win.

16...Nxf2!! would have been the point. 17.Kxf2 (17.R xf2 B xe3 18.Qf1 dxc4 Black is even materially ahead, but he has an attack as well.) 17... Bxe3+ 18.Ke1 (18.Ke2 is met

18...Nxf2!! A great in-between move! [18...dxc3 is also good, if Black sees 19.Ne4 Ne3!! Another pretty combination. The c-pawn queens in all the lines. 20.Qxd8 (20. fxe3 Qxd1 21.R xd1 B xe3+ 22.Kg2 c2 is the point!) 20... Rxd8 21.fxe3 (21.N xc5 N xf1; 21.Rc1 c2 and Rd1 next.) 21... Bxe3+ 22.Kg2 c2 23.c5 Rd1!] 19.Kxf2 This is equal to resignation. [A „counter twin move” would have been really nice, but Black is winning if he finds the right moves... 19. Ba5!? Nxd1! 20. Bxd8 28


d3+! Black wants to take on e2 with tempo, and take back the piece afterwards. 21.e3 (21.Kh1 dxe2 22.Re1 R xd8 23.R xe2 Black will end up with two extra pawns after taking the one on a3.) 21...Nxe3 A funny moment, the d8 bishop is trapped. 22. Bg5 (22.Bc7 Nd5+) 22...Nxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Rb8 and after every bishop move 24. Be4 f6 25. Bf4 e5]


19...dxc3+ 20.e3 cxd2 The game is practically over! Black is a pawn up, has an strong attack and can preserve his d2 pawn.

1.+-

(18) Prokes,L 1942 [CEWN]

21.Ke2 Qb8 [21...Qg5 was even stronger 22.Qxd2 Rd8 followed by Qh5!] 22. Bf3 Rd8 23.Qb1 Qd6 24.a4 f5 25. Rd1 Bb4 26.Qc2 Qc5 27.Kf2 a5 28. Be2 g5 29. Bd3 f4 0–1

29


Solutions

(21) Ipatov,A (2581) — Firat,B (2408) Turkish league, 11.07.2012

(19) Mamedov,R (2628) — Gagunashvili,M (2578)

[Solutions]

Turkish league, 14.07.2012 [Solutions]

31.e6! fxe6 32.Ne5! Rxf6 33. Rd7+! Kf8 34.gxf6+(20) Shimanov,A (2606) — Safarli,E (2623) Turkish league, 15.07.2012 [Solutions]

27... Rd1+!! 28. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 29.Nxd1 Bf5+ 30.Ka2 Nc1+ 31.Ka1 1/2–1/2

24...exd5! 25.Nf3 [25. Rxe7 Rc1+–+] 25... Be2 26.Nd4 Qe5 27.g3 [27.Nxe2 Qxe2–+] 27...Qxd4–+ (22) Grandelius,N (2570) — Cramling,P (2486) Swedish Championship, 13.07.2012 [Solutions]

22. Bh4! g5 23.fxg5! Rxh4 24.g6! Rxg6 25.Qxh4+30


(23) Dunnington,A (2386) — Hera,I (2586)

(25) Stany,G (2393) — Sargissian,G (2685)

Scottish Championship, 15.07.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

22...Ng5! 23. Bxc7 [23.Nxg5 Bxe5–+] 23...Nxf3+ 24.Kg2 Qe4! 0–1 [24...Qe4 25.Kh1! Qe6!? (25...Nd2+?! 26.f3 N xf3 27.Qg2) 26.Kg2 (26.g4 h5–+ (26...f5–+) ) 26... Qd5! 27.Kh1 Nd2+–+]

60... Rh1+! 0–1 [60... Rh1+ 61.Kxh1 Ng3+–+]

(24) Kalezic,B (2439) — Kosic,D (2536)

(26) Sargissian,G (2685) — Kryvoruchko,Y (2672) Rethymno Open, 10.07.2012 [Solutions]

Montenegro Championship, 12.07.2012 [Solutions]

35. Bxf6! gxf6 36.Nh7 [36.Ne4+-] 36...Nh6 37. Rg7+ Kh8 38.Nxf6 1–0

15.cxd5! exd5 [15...cxd5 16.Nb5+-] 16.Nxd5!! cxd5 17.Nxd7 [17. Rc7! Nxe5 (17...Bc8 18.N xd7+-; 17... Qxc7 18.Nf7+ R xf7 19.Qxc7+-) 18.Qxe5!+-] 17...Qxf4 18.gxf4 31


(27) Hracek,Z (2624) — Margvelashvili,G (2552)

(29) Kubbel,L

Benasque Open, 13.07.2012

1927

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

13... Bc3! 14. Ra2 Bxd4! 15.Qxd4 Rxc1

1.c3+! Kc4 2.Na3+! [2.Nd2+? Kd5–+]

(28) Sandipan,C (2618) — Baron,T (2452)

2...Kd5 3.c4+! Kd4 4.Nb5+! [4.Nc2+? Kxc4 5.Ne3+ Kd3 6.Kxc5 Kxe3 7.Kd5 Kxf3! 8.Ke5 Kg4–+]

Benasque Open, 13.07.2012 [Solutions]

4...Kxc4 5.Nc7!! Rd5 [5... Rxc7 6.Kxc7 Kd3 7.Kd6 Ke3 8.Ke5+-; 5...Kd4 6.Ne6++-; 5...Kb4 6.Na6++-] 6.Nxd5 Kxd5 7.Kc7! Kd4 8.Kd6 Ke3 9.Ke5+- 1–0

20. Bxf7+! Kh8 [20... Rxf7 21. Re7!+-] 21. Be8! Rd3 22.Qc4 Rc8 [22... Bxb2 23. Rab1 Bg7 24.Qxc6] 23. Re7 Qd6 24.h3! 32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 23 3rd of August 2012



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»» Puzzle section

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29


32

»» Solutions

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2


Editorial Preface Clearly, the main focus during the last week was on Biel. Carlsen and Wang Hao are crushing their opponents round by round. Giri is in the fight for the first place as well, but this is more due to luck than to his good play. Etienne Bacrot is playing a very sad tournament, losing a lot of positions with good perspectives. Nakamura is not having a great tournament either, a double 00 against Wang Hao was clearly not what he imagined. Morozevich had to leave the Biel Chess Festival after losing his first 2 games. Viktor Bologan joined the elite group to replace him. For Bologan, it’s just a horror what’s going on; from the first 6 games, he managed only to get a draw against Etienne Bacrot…

ry, especially for S. Feller, who cannot participate in any FIDE event for the next 2 years and 9 months. For a young player like him, it means the end of his chess career. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the games from Biel and the Ukrainian Championship that we commented for You! And don’t forget to make the weekly puzzle section, it’ll keep Your brain alive! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

Only 2 rounds left, the situation is very exciting! The traditional Biel Open is very strong as well. At the moment, two French players: Romain Eduard and his colleague in the National Team, Vachier-Lagrave have the best chances to get the 7 000 CHF first prize. The Ukrainian National Championship is on the way with all the top players (except Ivanchuk) participating in it. A lot of good and fighting games were produced there. After the 5th round, Eljanov is on top. Another very strong open is on the run, the Politiken Cup. Here, the number 1 ranked is V. Malakhov. Another change in the FIDE raiting list was made. Now, it comes out monthly instead of every 2nd month. Probably the biggest story of the week is the suspension of S. Feller, Hauchard and Marzolo, who got banned for cheating during the 2010 Chess Olympiad. A very sad sto3


4 best games of the past week (1) Bacrot,E (2713) — Morozevich,A (2770) [D31] Biel, 24.07.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very complex game! Morozevich introduced a novelty in a very sharp line, which seems to lead to a fine position for Black. Due to his opponent’s time trouble, he was over-pressing and instead of getting a perpetual check, he allowed Bacrot to finish the game with a fantastic combination. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 A complex setup, which might transpose to many openings. Black can usually decide between playing a Stone Wall structure with f5, or to transpose to the Meran with Nf6... 4.e4!? This is the only way for White to avoid the transpositions to the main lines, but here White has to sacrifice a pawn and agree to play for compensation. Otherwise, White should play 4.e3.

8. Be2 [8.Ne2 was considered to be less dangerous, but after Ian Nepomniachtchi beat the specialist of this opening, Dusko Pavasovic, this move had to be taken seriously as well. The idea is 8...Na6 9. Bf8! A really nice move, but this is just the beginning of the whole story...] 8...Na6 9. Bd6 Bacrot goes for the second most popular continuation. [The mainline is 9. Ba5 ; 9. Bf8?! is still nice, but less effective here, because of 9...Qxg2 10.Qd6 with the idea of a quick 0–0–0. Black can calmly play 10... Bd7 11.0–0–0 0–0–0 and Black is better.] 9...Qxg2 10.Qd2! [10. Bf3 Qg5 followed by Ne7, is known as good for Black.]

4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ This is the starting position of the Marshall Gambit, who played this opening for the first time in 1902! White sacrifices a pawn for the bishop pair and the Black king usually has serious difficulties to find safety, mainly because of the strong dark-squared bishop. Of course, such kind of positions are ideal for modern computer chess. We have seen many great novelties for both sides recently. The materialistic machines stubbornly help Black to hold his advantage... 4


10...e5!? This is practically a novelty, but of course, one of the computer’s main advice. Black frees the way for his bishop in order to develop it quickly and play 0–0–0. [However, there were almost a hundred games with 10... Nf6 11. Bf3 Qg6 and Black’s results are really good with it. It’s rather White who usually avoids this line. I, unsuccessfully, tried to refute this line over many pages, but the computer holds for Black. The maximum that I could reach was a draw. It would be interesting to know what Morozevich and Bacrot knew here... In my opinion, Morozevich just wanted to try another move (with 10...e5), because it seems playable. The bigger question is why Bacrot went for this line,especially when he spent 40 minutes on Qd2?!; 10...Qxh1? would be too greedy. 11.0– 0–0! Bf3 threatens to trap the queen, and after 11...Qe4 12. Be7! wins.] 11. Bxe5 [11.0–0–0 is an interesting alternative, Black must react precisely with 11...Qe4! with two ideas. The main is to exchange the queens with Qf4, or develop Bf5 with tempo. 12. Bxe5 The following moves are forced. (12.Qg5 Qf4+) 12... Bf5! 13. Bd3! Qxd3 14.Qxd3 Bxd3 15. Bxg7

15...Nb4! The critical position of this line. White seems to be better, he will be an exchange up after taking on h8, and the Black knight is intending to jump to a2, where it is questionable if it will come out. Despite all these facts, concrete variations show that Black is OK! (15...B xc4 16.B xh8 B xa2 17.Nf3+= is probably slightly better for White.) 16.b3 a) 16.a3 Na2+! 17.Kd2 0–0–0 Just in time! This solves all of Black problems. 18.Nf3 Otherwise Be4. 18... Bxc4+ 19.Kc2 Nh6! 20. Bxh8 (20.B xh6 does not work, because of 20...R xd1 21.R xd1 Be2!; 20.Ne5 with the idea of taking on h6, but mainly, it avoids the Be2 threat. 20...Be6 21.B xh6 f6! and the knight has no good square to retreat, since Nd3 is met with Bf5, while 22.Nf3 R xd1 23.R xd1 Bg4) 20... Rxh8 21. Rhe1 Bd5 White will only be able to win the knight if he sacrifices the exchange on d5, but of course, then he can’t dream about an advantage.; b) White should not hurry with 16. Bxh8 Nxa2+ 17.Kd2 Bxc4 getting two pawns for the exchange, and only Black can be better. The knight will be rescued via b4 later.; 16... Be4 17.f3 Bf5 is the easiest. (17...Nd3+ is also possible. 18.Kd2 Nf2 19.Rf1 N xh1 20.fxe4 0–0–0+ 21.Ke3 Ne7 22.B xh8 R xh8 23.Ne2 and the game should end in a draw.) 18. Bxh8 Nd3+ 19. Rxd3 Bxd3= with an even position.] 11... Bf5 12. Bf3 [12.0–0–0 Qe4 is a transposition to the 11.0–0–0 line.] 12...Qg6 13.0–0–0 White wanted to avoid Rd8, but it moves into some dangerous threats after Nc5. [13.Ne2 was possible, but it allows 13... Rd8 14.Nf4 (14.Qe3 Ne7 15.Nf4 Qh6 is a transposition.) 14...Qh6 15.Qe3 Ne7 5


Black is ready to castle kingside, White has to force a draw with 16.Nh5! (16.Rg1 is refuted by 16...Nb4!) 16...Qxe3+ 17.fxe3 f6 18.Nxg7+ Kf7 19.Nxf5 Nxf5 20. Bf4 Nc5= After a couple of only moves from both sides, a drawn position arose.] 13...Nc5! Black must continue to play concretely! Nd3 is the threat. [Calm developing moves like 13...Ne7? give enough time for White to build up an attack. 14.Ne2! f6 15. Bd6 0–0–0 16.Qf4+/- White is doing great here. Concrete moves don’t save Black anymore. 16... Bb1 17. Rd2 Bxa2 Qb1 is the threat, but 18.Nc3!+-]

because of the simple threat of Rhg1, but 17...B xa2! An unexpected blow! 18.Qxa2 Qg5+ and Black wins the f3 bishop with Qf5 check.) 17...Nc5! (17...bxc6 18.Qb8+ Kd7 19.Bc7++-) 18. Bxc5 Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1! It’s very important to have the Qg4 resource. 19...Qxc6 (19...bxc6 20.Nf3+/-) 20.Qg4+! f5 21.Qxg7 and White has the same points on both lines. 21...Qe4!? This in-between move doesn’t help. (21...Qxh1 22.f3!+/- protecting the knight on g1, to be able to take the rook.) 22.Qc3 Qxh1 23.f3! White is a rook down at the moment, but he is doing better.)

14.Qe3

14... Bb1! A really spectacular move, creating the threat of Qc2! [Of course, now 14...Nd3+? doesn’t work: 15. Rxd3 Bxd3 16. Bxg7++-] 15. Rd2 [15. Bd6+!? Ne6 16.Qb3! was a very tricky alternative, because the most logical move for Black is a mistake. It’s really hard to play the position correctly with both sides. Training to calculate such positions are very useful to improve our skills. 16... Rd8! (I think most of us would be happy to finally leave with the king from the center, but White can get an advantage here after couple of very strong moves. 16...0–0–0 17. Bxc6! (17.Ne2 seems to win,

17.Nh3!? (17.Ne2 moves to the same trick. 17... Bxa2! but here White has an extra option: 18. Bxc6+! (18.Qxa2 Qg5+ and Qf5 next.; 18.Qxb7 loses to 18...Qb1+ 19.Kd2 R xd6+ 20.Kc3 R xd1) 18...bxc6 19.Qxa2 and, for example, after 19...Ne7 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 21.Qxa7+ Kf6 the position is about even. Both kings are equally safe now.) 17... Nf6! (The difference is that after 17... Bxa2 White has 18.Qxb7!! (18.Qxa2 Qh6+ would be fine for Black.) 18... Qb1+ 19.Kd2 Rxd6+ 20.Kc3! and the d1 k is protected in comparison to the position where the knight is on e2. 20...Qf5 21.Qb8+! Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Nxd8 23. Re1+ Ne7 24. Bxc6+!+- „Doublepin”, and mate to follow.) 18. Ba3 An interesting situation. The computer evaluates the first 6


4 moves as 0.00, but for human eyes, one mistake could decide the game... (18.Rhe1 R xd6! 19.R xd6 0–0 Suddenly, the White king became really weak.) 18...c5 seems to be the most logical to me, closing the bishop on a3. 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20. Rd1+ Nd7! White can force a draw by 21.Nf4 (21.Rd2 leads to draw as well. 21...b6 22.Qa4 Nd4 23.Qxa7 Re8 White seems to be in trouble, but he can survive with 24.Qa8+! Ke7 25.Qd5! with the threat of Qxd4! 25...N xf3 26.Nf4! Qf5 27.Qd6+ Kd8 28.Qb8+ Ke7 29.Qd6+=) 21...Nxf4 22. Rxd7+! Kxd7 23.Qxb7+ with perpetual check. Even after the brave attempt, White holds the draw 23...Ke6 24.Qc6+ Kf5 25.Qxc5+ Kf6 26.Qe7+ Kf5 27.Qc5+=]

18...Nf6 19.Nf3! Strong play by Bacrot, even tough he had only a few minutes on the clock. He calmly started to develop his pieces and intends to play Re1 and f5. [The bishop could not be trapped with 19.b3? Nxe4 20.Qxe4 Bxb3] 19... Bxc4 [19...Nxe4 leads to a perpetual check as well, if both players find the best moves. 20.Qxe4 0–0–0 21.Ne5 with the threats of Nxc6 and Nxf7. 21... Rhe8! 22.Nxf7! (22.N xc6 leads to a slightly better endgame for Black after the forced line 22...R xd6! 23.R xd6 Qxf4+ 24.Qxf4 N xf4 25.N xa7+ Kb8 26.Nb5 B xc4 with some advantage.)

15... Bxa2! Black creates the double-threat of Qb1 and Nb3. So, White has to play: 16. Bd6+ Ne6 17. Be4

17...Qh6 Both sides have parried the concrete threats. Black is a pawn up, but his king is still in the center and 0–0–0 is always met with Qxa7. 18.f4 Of course, White cannot exchange queens.

22...Nd4! Another spectacular move! 23.Qxd4 (23. Qxe8?! Nb3+ 24.Kd1 Qh5+ 25.Qe2 Qxf7 Black has a strong attack.) 23...Qg6 refreshing the mate on b1 idea. 24.f5 Qxf7! (Black should not be too greedy with 24... Qxf5 25.Rf2! Qb1+ 26.Kd2 Re4! 27.R xb1 R xd4+ 28.Ke3 R8xd6 29.N xd6+ R xd6 30.Rf8+ Kc7 31.Rf7+ and White has some advantage.) 25.Qxa7 Rxd6! The only move, and the game ends with a perpetual check. 26.Qa8+ (26. R xd6? Qxc4+) 26...Kc7 27.Qa5+ Kc8=]

7


20. Re1 White wants to win a piece with f5. Here, both players had just a few minutes left, which increases the tension to the maximum.

22...Nxg5 The final mistake , but it was over anyway. Now, there are many different way to win the game, but Bacrot played the most spectacular one!

20...0–0–0! [20...Nd5? loses to 21. Bxd5 Bxd5 22. Rxd5! cxd5 23.Qc5! The Black pieces are unable to defend the king. For example 23... Rd8 24.Qb5+ Rd7 25.Ne5 Qxf4+ 26.Kb1+-]

23. Bd7+! And mate to follow in all lines.

21. Bxc6! Excellent calculation and nerves! Now the game should end in a perpetual check again, but Morozevich got over-optimistic... [On 21.Qxa7? Black has 21... Rxd6! followed by Qxf4.]

23...Kxd7 [23... Rxd7 24.Qc5+ Kd8 25. Be7+ Ke8 26.Qc8++-; 23...Nxd7 24.Qc3++-] 24.Qe7+ Kc6 25.Qc7+ [25.Qc7+ Kb5 26.Qc5+ Ka4 27.Qb4# A very hard fight with a lot of tension!] 1–0

21... Ba6? [21...bxc6! 22.Qxa7 Rxd6! 23.Qa8+ and draw. The player who tries to avoid that, loses... (23.R xd6? Qxf4+) 23...Kc7 (23...Kd7? 24.Qb7+ Ke8 25.Qb8+) 24.Qa7+ Kc8]

22.Ng5! This extremely strong move was missed by Morozevich! White is attacking on the queenside and suddenly he makes a move on the other flank. The point is to avoid the usual Rxd6 and Qxf4 check ideas! White is winning now. [22.Qxa7? Rxd6 23. Rxd6 Qxf4+ was again in Black’s mind!] 8


(2) Moiseenko,Alexander (2711) — Ponomariov,Ruslan (2726) [D58] 81st ch-UKR 2012 Kiev UKR (2.2), 28.07.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will now see a great game with many typical ideas and nice tactics. Already, more than 10 years have passed since Ponomariov became the youngest FIDE World Champion — he was 18 years old. It’s a little strange to me not to see him in the World Top 10... 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 [2...dxc4 Right now, the „Queen’s Gambit Accepted” is super popular and hard to break.] 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 [4...dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 leads to the main lines of the well-analyzed „Vienna”.] 5. Bg5 we are in the classical lines of the Queen’s Gambit. This opening is very old and can be clearly considered to be one of the „classical” openings in chess. If we open any chess book from the 60s, 70s, 80s or even 90s, it’s sure that we’ll find some games on it.

5...h6 6. Bh4 [Another option is 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e3 0–0 8. Rc1 c6 9.h4!? This is sort of a „fashionable” move that

leads to an extremely unclear position. White’s next moves are usually g4-g5, which makes the game extremely unbalanced.] 6...0–0 7.e3 b6 We are in the very main lines... 8. Bd3 Bb7 9.0–0 Nbd7 White has quite a wide range of choices here. 10. Bg3 [The main move is 10.Qe2 Ne4 (10...c5 is another possible way of playing for Black 11.Bg3 cxd4 12.exd4 dxc4 13.B xc4 a6 This position is very complicated. Only 2 pawns are exchanged, which gives a wide range of ideas for both sides. Usually, in a position with the isolated pawn, White should try to create some attack or to push d5, and Black should try to exchange as many pieces as he can and make a blockade on the d5 square. 14.a4 Re8 A few moves of a very interesting game: 15.Rad1 Bb4 16.Bd3 Nh5 17.Bb1 N xg3 18.fxg3 B xc3 19.bxc3 Qc7 20.g4

Cheparinov-Adams, ECC 2011. The game ended in a draw after a great fight.) 11. Bg3 (11.B xe7 Qxe7 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Rac1 c5 probably leads to an almost equal position.) 11...Nxg3 (11...c5 is also possible.) 12.hxg3 and Black needs to be quite precise to equalize the position completely.] 9


10...Ne4 11. Bxe4?! A very rarely played move that I don’t like. White gives his opponent a very concrete play. [11.Qe2 would take us back to the main lines.]

15...Nd3 Logical and good. [Of course not 15...Qxd1? 16. Rfxd1 Nd3 17.Nxc7 Rac8 18.Nd5 and White is just 2 pawns up.]

11...dxe4 12.Nd2 f5 The game is getting quite forced now! If White can’t do something quick, Black will be simply better. In spite of the bishop pair, the attacking ideas on the kingside should be more than enough of a threat.

16.N3d4 White is not fighting against the main Black piece, the knight on d3. This will bring him a lot of troubles very soon. [16.Nc1!? would have been a decent move. White wants to play Nd4 next. 16... Bc5!? This move stops White from playing Nd4, and f3 as well. (16... g5 looks logical but is not the best. 17.N xd3 exd3 18.f3! The position remains very complicated, but I feel White should be doing better here.) 17.a3! A cool move that makes Black think twice about what to do next. White wants to provoke Black’s a6, to make the position of the knight on b5 safe — no more a6. If Black does nothing, White wants to play b2-b4.

13.Nb5 This move is clearly the main idea of White, after he played 11. Bxe4.

13...e5! Strong and correct play. Actually, we are still in the game Gelfand-Topalov from 2000. It’s hard to say if Moiseenko went intentionally for this line or just forgot something... 14.dxe5 [14. Bxe5 This is a very safe move, but clearly not to play for an advantage. 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 c5 shouldn’t give any advantage for White. Black will slowly capture the extra White pawn on e5, which would probably lead to some exchanges, and to a draw.] 14...Nc5 15.Nb3 This move is probably a novelty. [15. Nd4 Qc8 16.Qh5 Kh7 and I think Black has good play, Gelfand-Topalov, Monaco 2000.]

17...a6 (Doesn’t work: 17...f4 18.N xd3! exd3 19.B xf4) 18.Nc3 a5! It’s hard to say if White can be better here, maybe... But I think Black should be fine.(Black should not try to win the pawn back: 18...N xb2 19.Qb3! Nd3 20.N xd3 exd3 21.Nd5 and White is doing better.) ] 16...Qc8 A typical move. Actually, there aren’t many options here... White wanted to play Ne6. 10


17.Qb3 Bc5! We already know this idea, but anyway, it’s a strong move. Black wants to play a6 now, and after Nc3, to continue with Bxd4 exd4 and f4. 18.Ne2 [Maybe 18.f4 could be a possible move here, but it’s hard to make such an ugly move...] 18...g5 Of course! Now f4 is a very serious threat. The game is getting very tactical. 19.e6 White accepts the challenge, and actually there is no choice. The Black pieces stand very dangerously and the f4 threat can be a killer. 19...f4! The tactical battle begins! [Another option was 19...c6 but of course, this move doesn’t seem „right” even if it leads to a very unclear play. 20.Nc7 (Slow moves like 20.Nbd4? f4 21.exf4 gxf4 22.Bh4 B xd4 23.N xd4 c5 lead to a very bad position for White.) 20...f4 21.Nxa8 fxg3 22.Nxg3 Qxe6 23.Nc7 Qe5 and it is hard to say who is doing better here. The position is very unclear]

one as well. In a practical game, it’s very difficult to calculate all the lines, but let’s take a look at some of them: 21.fxg5 (21.N xc7 Qg4! What a domination of the Black pieces! White is in big trouble... Ne2 is hanging, gxf4 is a threat and all the Black pieces are looking in thedirection of the White king...) 21...Nxf2!! Not an easy move to find! The idea is typical, but a very long and precise calculation is needed. 22. Rxf2 (22.Ned4 Nd3 23.Kh1 Qg6 and Black’s initiative should be decisive.; 22.B xf2 e3! followed by Qe4 with mate on g2!) 22... Rxf2 23. Bxf2 e3! Black is opening the deadly bishop on b7. 24.Nf4 Probably the only move. 24...Qe5 (24...exf2+ 25.Kf1 Qf5 should be better for Black as well.) 25. Bg3 e2+

26.Kh1 hxg5! looks like a computer line. Yes, it is! :) 27.Nd5 Rf8 and White can’t stop Black from mating on f1. Of course, to see such a line is almost impossible — at least before playing 20...Qxe6.] 20.exf4 a6 A good move. Black probably had another interesting option. [Of course not 20...gxf4 21.Nxf4! and White is winning. 21...Nxf4 22. Bxf4 Rxf4 23.Qg3+; 20... Qxe6! A crazy looking move, but probably a very strong

21.Nbc3 [Doesn’t help: 21.Nbd4 gxf4 22.Nxf4 (22.Bh4 Qe8 with a very strong attack.) 22... Rxf4! 23. Bxf4 Bxd4 Black has a clear advantage: 2 pieces for the rook plus a monster knight on d3. What else can be needed?]

11


21...gxf4 I think Moiseenko was very upset about his opening choice. And indeed, it’s already quite unclear how to save the position... 22.Nxf4 The only move to fight. 22...Nxf4 23. Bxf4 Rxf4 24.Nd5

Rh5! This is the idea of the e3 push. The g2 square is very hard to protect. 29. Rf6! (29.Qg3 B xe3+! would lead to a nice finish of the game.) 29... Bxe3+ 30.Kh1 Qg7 All this looks a bit scary, but it seems to be winning for Black. 31.Qe6+ Kh7 and White has no decent way to protect the g2 square.] 28. Rad1 Rf8

24... Rf5! A very precise move! [A less good move would have been 24... Rf8 25.Qg3+ Kh7 26.Qe5! White is getting the 3rd pawn for the piece. 26... Bxd5 27.cxd5 Qd8 The Black queen needs to come back to the game. 28.Qxe4+ Kg7 29.b4 Bd6 30.f4 Black probably still has an advantage, but the fight would continue here!]

29. Rd7? This move loses immediately. [The best way to fight would have been to play 29.Qg3 Qxg3 30.hxg3 Bc6 Of course, Black is much better, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in order to get the full point.]

25.Qh3 [25.Qg3+ would bring nothing 25...Kh7 26. Rad1 Bd6]

29...e3! And, of course, a nice finishing move! 30.Kh1 [30.fxe3 Bxe3+ 31.Qxe3 Qxg2#]

25...Qxe6! Black doesn’t care about giving back some material. The amazingly strong bishop pair combined with big attacking possibilities will make Black’s victory perfect.

30...e2 31. Rg1 Bxf2 A very nice game by Ponomariov! 0–1

26.Nxc7 Qg6 27.Nxa8 Bxa8 A logical human move, leaving Black with a very stable advantage. [27...e3 is a computer move, which is probably winning on the spot, but for a human, such a move is very hard to play. 28.fxe3 12


(3) Carlsen,M (2837) — Wang Hao (2739) [E32]

with b6, because he should have already put pressure on the center with d5 and c5.

45th Biel GM Biel SUI (2), 24.07.2012

6...c5 [6...d5 is the right move in the 5.e4 line, but now it’s just bad, because of 7.e5 Ne4 8. Bd3]

[Balogh Csaba] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.Nf3!?

5...b6?! The Chinese Nr.1 wanted to avoid theory and long preparation, so decided to get Magnus out of book with a strange move. I must say that this is not a clever idea in general. [5...c5! is the critical move. 6.dxc5 Na6 This was considered to be completely fine for Black, but in 2008 Morozevich introduced a very interesting novelty: 7.c6!? There are many possibilities with playable positions for both sides. Ponomariov, who was facing this novelty, reacted really badly and lost in a few moves. 7... dxc6 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Nc5 10. Be3! White is already slightly better, but just in two moves White won a piece! 10...Nce4 11.Qe5 b5 12.g4!!+- and Black could, in fact, resign the game. Morozevich-Ponomariov, Moscow 2008] 6.e4! White achieved a much better version in comparison to the 5.e4 line. Now the knight stands well on f3, it protects the central pawns, while Black just gave a tempo

7.e5 Ne8 Black’s idea is to undermine the center with d6 or f6. White must play accurately. [7...cxd4 is an alternative, but White gets a dangerous attack here as well. 8.a3! This well-known idea works here as well, in order to unpin the knight! 8...dxc3 9.axb4 cxb2 10. Bxb2 Ne8 Black is a pawn up, but his pieces are standing poorly. 11. Bd3 with the threats of Be4 and Bxh7. 11...f5 12.exf6 Nxf6

13.Ng5! This is the most effective way to increase the advantage. 13...h6 (13...g6 14.B xg6+- wins.) 14.Nh7! Nxh7 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 We were following the Shabalov-Naumkin, Vilnius 1988 game, where White missed the direct win with 16. Bxg7+! Kxg7 17.Qg6+ Kh8 18.Qxh6 Black has no defense. 18... Rf6 (18...Qe7 19.Be4++-) 19. Bg6+ Kg8 20. Ra3! and the rook joins the attack and decides the game. 20...Qe7 21. Rg3 Qxb4+ 22.Kf1+-] 8.d5?! I don’t like this move. It allows Black to get a successful counterplay in the center. [8.a3! was the right move, after which Black is in a difficult situation. 8... Bxc3+ 13


(8... Ba5 trying to keep the bishop. 9. Be3 Qe7 (9...cxd4?! 10.N xd4 and Black must give up his bishop.) 10.dxc5! Not the only move, but I like this the most. The arising weakness on c5 is really annoying from Black’s point of view. 10...bxc5 11. Bd3 f5 Now, either opening or keeping the position closed is very good for White. 12.exf6 (12.0–0 Bb7 13.Be2+= c5 is weak.) 12...Nxf6 13.0–0 Bb7 14.Ne4! Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Bxe4 16.Qxe4 Nc6 17. Rad1+= White has clearly better perspectives.) 9.Qxc3 It’s a nice achievement for White to gain the bishop pair, because nothing compensates for Black. For example 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bb7 11. Be3! f6 (11...d6 12.Rd1+=) 12. Rd1! Nxe6 threats 12...Qe7 13.Nb5! White takes the d6 square under control. 13...fxe5 14.Qxe5 Nc6 15.Qg3+=] 8...exd5 9.cxd5 d6! Black came back to the game. The fight is open again.

12.0–0–0 Probably Carlsen put his hopes on this move when he played 8.d5. Black has to give up his b4 bishop, because of the Ne4 threat. But I think he underestimated Black’s counter-chances. [On 12. Bd3 Qe7+! It’s not easy to deal with this check. 13.Kf1 Ba6! Black is OK!] 12... Bxc3 13.bxc3! It’s important for White to control the b1–h7 diagonal, and also the b4 square. [On 13.Qxc3 h6 14. Bh4 Na6 (14...Bf5 is also possible.) 15. Bd3 Nb4! 16. Bb1 Bf5! Black solves all his problems by exchanging the light squared bishops. White cannot build up a successful attack without that. 17.a3 Bxb1 18.Kxb1 Na6 with counterplay.] 13... Bg4 [Now on 13... Ba6 14.c4 White can preserve his bishop.; 13...Na6 came into consideration, transferring the knight to c7.]

10. Bg5 Black could have easily parried the concrete threats after [10.Ng5 g6 or; 10. Bd3 h6] 10...f6 11.exf6 White, at least, managed to hold his d5 pawn, which squeezes Black a bit. Also, the e6 hole might be weak later on. 11...Nxf6 14. Re1! A high-class move! By leaving the pin, Carlsen wants to play Nh4 followed by an attack with h3 and g4. [The thematic 14. Bd3 helps Black to create counterplay. 14...h6 15. Bh4 Nbd7 16. Rde1 Bxf3 (16...b5!? is also interesting. 17.B xb5 Qa5) 17.gxf3 c4! This is the main problem of Bd3. Black puts his knight to e5 and, suddenly, his attack starts to roll as well. 18. Bxc4 Ne5] 14


14... Bxf3 [14...Nbd7 would be met with 15.Nh4! h6 16. Bd2 Because of this, Wang Hao decided to take on f3.] 15.gxf3+= White has worsen his structure, but the g-file is open, and the bishop has a nice square on e6. White has good attacking possibilities. 15...Nbd7 16. Bd3?! Carlsen wanted to create a weakness in the Black camp, with the threat of Bxh7, but just like in the 14th move, it helps to create counterplay for Black. [16.f4! Controlling the e5 square, followed by Rg1 and Bh3-e6 was promising. At the end, the rook transfer Re3-h3 could be really dangerous.] 16...h6 17. Bf4 [17. Bxh6 is not enough. 17...gxh6 18. Rhg1+ Kh8 19.Qd2 Nh7! 20.Qxh6 Rf7 Black has enough material to defend.; 17. Bh4 c4 transposes to 14. Bd3.] 17...c4!? [17...Ne5!? was another way to create counterplay. 18. Bxe5 dxe5 19. Rxe5 (19.c4 Nh5 Black has very nice control over the dark squares. The game is unclear.) 19...c4! I like this move a lot, even if the computer suggests other move. Black has great play on the dark squares. 20. Bxc4 (20.Bf5 Nd7 21.Be6+ Kh8 22.Re3 Nc5) 20... Qc7 21.Qe2 Rfc8 with a double edged position.] 18. Bf5! [18. Bxc4 Qc7 followed by Ne5 and Rac8, and Black gets activity.]

18...Nc5?! Now White has some „handy” moves. [The text move is slower than 18...Ne5! Even tough Black’s position looks a bit shaky, it looks like he can still hold it together. Wang Hao was afraid of one of the following lines: 19. Be6+ (19. Rhg1 Kh8 20.Qd2 is very nice, but probably only leads to a draw after a forced line. 20...Nxf3 21. Bxh6! Qc7! Only move! (21...N xd2? 22.B xg7+ Kg8 23.B xf6+ Kf7 24.B xd8+-) 22. Bxg7+! Qxg7 23. Rxg7 Nxd2 24. Ree7 and here, two moves lead to a draw. 24... Nf3 (24...Rae8 25.Kxd2 R xe7 26.R xe7 N xd5 27.Rh7+ Kg8 28.Rh5=) 25. Rg3 Ne5 26. Rh3+ Kg8 27. Rg3+=) 19... Kh8 20. Rxe5!? dxe5 21. Bxe5 This looks really scary for Black, but 21...Nxd5! 22. Rg1 (22.Qg6 Rf6! Black happily gets rid of one of the powerful bishops. 23.B xf6 Qxf6 24.Qxf6 N xf6=) 22...Nf6 23.Qg6 Qe7! 24. Bd6 Qb7! After some only moves, it’s not easy to break through for White, while taking the rook is not necessarily enough to win the game.] 19. Rhg1! Kh8 20. Rg6! Rf7 21. Reg1 Qf8 After some good attacking and defensive moves, we reached another critical position. 22. Be3 Carlsen wanted to leave the dangerous f-file, and also to transfers his bishop to d4. But this allows Black to 15


get back to the game, once again. [22.Qd2! was the right move! Because of the Bxh6 threat, Black probably has to play 22...Nd3+ 23. Bxd3 cxd3 24.Qxd3 and White is better now, because the Black pieces are pinned to the defense, and the knight can’t leave from f6 because of the d6 pawn.]

25. Rxg7! Qxg7 This was a must! [25... Rxg7 26.Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Bh7+!! was the point! 27...Kh8 28. Bxf6+-] 26. Rxg7 Kxg7 27.Qf4! The d4 bishop is dominating the board. Black cannot even sacrifice his rook for it. 27...Nd3+ 28. Bxd3 cxd3 29.Kd2+22...Nxd5? This is the decisive mistake. Black’s position was looking awkward, but in reality it was very far from clear. [22...Nh5! 23. Be4 Nf4! was the right plan. 24. Bxf4 (24.Bd4 N xg6 25.R xg6 Kg8 Black can take on e4 any time he wants.) 24... Rxf4 Black is compensating well on the dark squares. 25.Qd2 (25.R xg7 Qxg7 26.R xg7 Kxg7 ) 25... Rf6 After 26. Rxg7 Qxg7 27. Rxg7 Kxg7 I can’t believe in White’s advantage.] 23. Bd4 [23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Be6+- was also good.] 23...Nf6 24.Qd2! Rxg7 is too big a threat to deal with! 24... Re8 [Now it’s too late for 24...Nd3+ 25. Bxd3 cxd3 26.Qf4! and Rxg7 is coming next!]

29...Kg6 30.Kxd3 Re6 31.h4! A brutal move with the simple threat of h5! Black cannot parry this. If he takes it with the king, Qf5 comes, and in case of Nxh5, Qg4 wins a lot of material. 31... Rfe7 32.h5+! Here again. 32...Kf7 33.Qf5 [There was nothing wrong with 33.Qxh6+-] 33... Re5 34.Qg6+ Ke6 35.f4! Black resigned in view of[35.f4 Rf5 36. Bxf6! White only gives up his bishop when it’s concretely winning. 36... Rxf6 37.f5+ Ke5 38.f4+ Kxf4 39.Qxf6+- A nice game, but a closer look showed us that it was not without mistakes!] 1–0

16


(4) Bacrot,Etienne (2713) — Nakamura,Hikaru (2778) [D45] 45th Biel GM Biel SUI (9), 01.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Usually we try to comment a decisive game where a player works to get the victory from the beginning, or if there was a big fight. But let’s take a look at a very normal thing in chess: „You play good, You outplay your opponent, You blunder-You lose”. Chess can be a very cruel game sometimes and I think here is an excellent example of it! 1.d4 Just the day before, Etienne Bacrot started his game with 1.e4 and lost in a winning position against A. Giri. 1...d5 I think this is a surprising opening choice of Nakamura. Usually, he prefers to go for a more dynamic opening, especially when he feels he can win. For example, he played 1...f5 many times. 2.c4 c6 An interesting psychological moment. White can make a draw now by playing 3.cxd5, which would not be a bad decision if we take into account the terrible tournament he had, but Etienne decides to go for a „full” game, and I guess this is exactly what Nakamura hoped for. 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 And we are in one of the main lines of the Slav. 4...e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3

7...dxc4 Why to take first with 7...dxc4 without castling? Actually, I have no idea. I think it should lead to about the same position if White wants too... [The normal move order would be 7...0–0 8.0–0 dxc4 with thousands of games played before. (8...e5) ] 8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10.e4!? White tries to get an improved version of the line. [Would lead to normal lines: 10.0–0 0–0 11.e4 e5 and we are back to the known paths.] 10...e5 The only right reaction against White’s e4 push. Black can’t allow White to play e5. 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 This is where the „real” game begins! 13.f4 An interesting move, but I think it gives Black quite a good play. [13.Ne2!? I think this move could have made a difference! White wants to play the quick f4-e5 with a clearly better position. 13... Bc7 14.0–0 (Against the logical 14.Be3 Black is in time to 14...Ba5+!) 14...0–0 15. Rd1 Qe7 16.a4 The position is very normal but it might have been a decent try for White.] 13... Bd4 Of course, Black has to stop White from castling. 17


14.e5 White needs to act dynamically. [A slow move like 14. Bd2? Ng4! and Black is doing great.] 14...Nd5 [Leads to a clearly better position for White: 14...Ng4 15.Ne4! 0–0 16.Nd6 The monster knight on d6 gives White a clear edge.] 15.Ne4 The White knight is going to d6, clearly the best place to be. [15.Nxd5 would lead to nothing. Black is in time to push c5. 15...Qxd5 16. Be4 Qd7! It’s important to cover the bishop on b7, now c5 is unstoppable. 17. Bd2 c5 and Black is perfectly fine.]

19.Kd1! The key move of the line. White needs to protect the square c2. 19...Qxh7 20.Qxh7+ Kxh7 21.Nxb7 Rab8 Probably, Black is doing fine here as well, but there’s no need to calculate such a long line.] 16.Qb3 Nxd3+ 17.Qxd3 0–0 18.Nd6 Bc5! Black has to exchange the strongest White’s piece, the knight on d6. [In case of 18... Bb6 19. Be3 c5 20.0–0 I think White is doing clearly better. The knight on d6 is just standing perfectly! And White will develop a strong attack by playing f5-f6 soon, or bringing the rook to g3.] 19. Be3 Bxd6 20.exd6 We are entering a very interesting position. The main question is, can White be better here?! It’s obvious that if Black does „nothing”, White will castle, play Bc5 and Re1–Re7, with a big advantage. [Of course not 20.Qxd6? Qh4+ 21.g3 Qg4 22.0–0 Rfd8 followed by c5 next. The light squares are terrible weak, which would give Black a great attack.]

15...Nb4! Nakamura takes an absolutely correct decision. [A normal move like 15...0–0 16.Nd6 Nb4 gives White an extra option: 17. Bxh7+!? (17.Qb3 This would lead to the same position we got in the game. 17...N xd3+ 18.Qxd3 Bc5) 17...Kh8 18.Qe4 Qh4+

20...Qh4+?! Nakamura chooses a risky plan... Probably, the American started to play for a win, but I don’t see many reasons to do this. [20...c5!? In my opinion this was the objectively correct way to go. 21.0–0 Finally, White managed to castle... 21...c4 22.Qd2 Re8! If possible, Black 18


should aim to exchanges the rooks! 23. Rfe1 Qd7 24. Bc5 f6! Black wants to play Kf7 next, followed by Rxe1 and Re8, exchanging both rooks, which automatically leads to a draw. Probably, we can say that White’s experiment with 13.f4 doesn’t bring much.] 21.g3 Qh5 Black should not allow White to castle long, which would make the d6 pawn much stronger immediately. [21...Qh3?! 22.0–0–0! To castle long is a great present for White. 22...c5 23. Rhe1 and due to the very strong d6-pawn, White is doing clearly better.] 22. Rc1?! [Why only not to play 22.0–0! c5 The last chance for Black to play c5 and free the bishop from b7. White wanted to play Rc1, or b4, or f5. 23.f5 c4 24.Qd1 White is trying to force an endgame.

24...Qxd1 (24...Qh3 25.Rf2 and I think Black is in some trouble! The Black queen should be on d7 and not on h3.) 25. Raxd1 Bc6 26. Rfe1 White may try to win this — probably the position is closer to a draw — but in any case, White is playing with 0 risk and with some winning chances.] 22...c5?! Black misses a great opportunity! [22...Qh3! This apparently shocking move is actually an extremely

strong one. White can’t castle long anymore and the king is stuck on e1. 23. Rc5 White has to try to stop the c5 move, but it’s not easy to do it... (23.Bc5 Rfe8+ 24.Kf2 Bc8 and suddenly, the White king is in a lot of danger. Black will play Bg4 next, followed by Re2. The d7 move is blocked. A draw would now be a fantastic outcome for White.) 23... Qg2 (23...Rad8 24.Kf2 and White is safe.) 24. Rg1 Qxb2 and I think only White is risking here.] 23. Rxc5 Why not to take a pawn with tempo? 23...Qh3 24. Rg1 Qxh2 take a look at this position. White has a free passed pawn but the opposite colored bishops clearly increase the drawing chances for Black. The king is badly placed on e1, but it can be quickly removed to a safer place on the queenside. If White manages to exchange the Queens, the endgame could be very bad for Black. All in all, White is clearly with a plus, Black has a tough defense ahead. But not today, the game will end in only 6 moves...

25. Rc2! A very strong move. Before entering into the 7th rank, White pushes the Black queen from her nasty position on h2. [An attempt to reach the endgame with 25.Qe2 Qh6 would get Black back in the game.] 19


25...Qh3 26. Rc7 The rook on c7 is just perfectly placed! 26... Bf3

27.Kd2! Another very good move by White. The king is going to b2 where he will be in full safety. Slowly, Black is getting in trouble... 27...Qe6?! I don’t see any idea behind this move. [27... Rfd8 with a tough defense, but it’s clear that the position is very unpleasant.]

32... Rd8! A fantastic defensive idea! (A losing move would be 32...Rxc7? 33.dxc7 Rc8 34.Bd6 Kf7 35.Kc5 and the White king reaches the c6 square and gets the full point.) 33. Rc6 with quite an unclear endgame.(33.Ke5? Rxc7 34.dxc7 Rd5+) ) 29...Bd5 30.Qe3! White doesn’t care about the a2-pawn, it’s much more important to reach the endgame. 30...Bxa2 31.Qxe6 Bxe6 32.g4! and we can clearly see that Black is in big trouble! White’s next moves are f5 and Re1–Re7. Things are really looking bad for Black.] 29.b3! As planned, White creates an escape road for the king to b2. Re1–e7 is the next move. It seems like Black is really bad. 29... Bf5 [Doesn’t help much to plat 29... Rfe8 30. Re7! blocking the e-file. 30... Rxe7 31.dxe7 Qc6 32.Qd8+ Qe8 33.Qd6 and it’s easy to see that White is clearly better.]

28. Bc5 Bg4 [Another option was to play 28... Be4 29.Qb3 (29. Re1?! This interesting exchange sacrifice doesn’t seem to work for White. 29... Bxd3 30. Rxe6 fxe6 31.Kxd3 Rf7 32.Kd4 (32.Ke4? R xc7! Now, the White king is not in time to go to the c6 square. 33.dxc7 Rc8 34.Bd6 Kf7 35.Ke5 g6 and only Black can be better here.) 30. Re1?? What a blunder after 10 great moves in a roll! 30...Qxe1+ Nakamura just says „thank you”. Such games give a chess player sleepless nights! You play good, get a better position step by step, and suddenly, blunder and lose... This happens much more often than it should, even to high class professionals! 0–1 20


Puzzle section

(7) Vovk,Y (2562) — Volokitin,A (2704) Ukrainian Championship, 27.07.2012

(5) Vachier Lagrave,M (2686) — Meins,G (2475) Biel Open, 24.07.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Fedorchuk,S (2634) — Eljanov,P (2693) (6) Wang Hao (2739) — Nakamura,H (2778) Biel, 25.07.2012 [CEWN]

Ukrainian Championship, 28.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1.+/-

21


(9) Efimenko,Z (2689) — Ponomariov,R (2726)

(11) Koneru,H (2598) — Lahno,K (2537)

Ukrainian Championship, 30.07.2012

Jermuk, 25.07.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... -/+

(10) Zhao Xue (2556) — Mkrtchian,L (2450)

(12) Lillo Ferrer,J (2127) — Georgiev,K (2680)

Jermuk, 25.07.2012

Andorra Open, 21.07.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+/-

1... –+

22


(13) Baches Garcia,G (2389) — Marin,M (2548) Andorra Open, 24.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Toth,E (2477) — Pap,G (2566) Pardubice Open, 25.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

23


Endgame section (15) Ponomariov,Ruslan (2726) — Volokitin,Andrei (2704) [E60] 81st ch-UKR 2012 Kiev UKR (5.4), 31.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

27...Qxd4! A move based on good calculation. [The more silent 27...f6 28.Qxe5 fxe5 29. Bd3! is the only move to stay alive. (29.e4 g5 and the game is over.) 29... Bf5 Black can’t allow White to play Be4. 30.e4 Be6 31.Kf2 It seems like the position is a draw, but the Black king has a different opinion. 31...Kf7 32.Kxf3 Ke8! The Black king is going to c7-c6-c5. 33. Bc2! not allowing the king to go to c6. 33... Bxc4 34. Ba4+ Kd8 35.a3 Kc7 36.Ke3 It’s hard to say if this position is winning or if it’s a draw. I think White has good chances tohold] 28.exd4 g5 Of course, Black is not going to give away his f3 pawn. 29. Bd3 g4 30.a3 [30. Be4 would not change much. 30... Bc8 31.c6 b6 Next, Black would bring the king to d6 and get the pawn c6. If White plays d4-d5, Black would go with the king to c5. I think the position should be easily winning.]

This endgame would not win a price for its precision, but it would clearly win a beauty contest. I think I never saw such an end position! Black is a pawn up and, of course, wants to win the game. 27.Qd4

30...f5! The beginning of a very nice plan. 31.Kf2 Kf6 32.h4 This move doesn’t change anything because Black’s idea is to play e5! 32... Bd7 33. Bc2

24


33...e5 34.d5 h6? It’s not easy to understand this move... [The logical 34...e4 35. Bb3 (35.Ke3 Now Black has a couple of winning ideas, which are focused on the f4 push, but the simplest one is: 35...Ba4!

43.c5 Kd4 Just an amazing end position! Chess can be really beautiful! 0–1 36.B xa4 f4+! The Black pawns are unstoppable! 37.gxf4 g3 38.c6 bxc6 39.dxc6 g2 40.Kf2 e3+ 41.Kg1 e2 and queen!) 35...f4 36.gxf4 Kf5 37.Ke3 g3 38. Bc2 f2 39. Bxe4+ Kg4 40. Bg2 Kxh4 and the future moment of the h pawn decides the game.] 35.Ke3 e4 And Volokitin continues with the right plan. 36.c6 A move of desperation...but the game is lost. 36...bxc6 37. Ba4 Black has a lot of winning moves here, but Volokitin chooses the most beautiful one! 37...cxd5 38. Bxd7 d4+ Have You ever seen so many pawns around the White king?! 39.Kd2 e3+ 40.Kd3 e2 41.Kd2 d3 42.Ke1 Ke5! And again, Volokitin is going for the beauty price!

25


(16) Eljanov,P (2693) — Moiseenko,A (2706) Kiev, 29.07.2012 [Chess Evolution]

White is winning with his extra pawn and more active pieces, but right in the beginning, Eljanov makes a dubious decision. He decided to exchange his active rook, and the position still remains winning for him, but Black gets excellent chances to save the game. 65. Rf7 [From a practical point of view, the best move was 65. Rh8! Ke7 66.Ke4 Rd6 (On 66...Ng6 it’s very important to take the king away from its good place with 67. Rh7+! Kf8 (67...Kd6 68.R xh6 R xf4+ 69.Ke3 Rf6 70.h5+-) 68.f5! Nxh4 69. Be6+- Ke5 next.) 67.h5+- and the rook is coming out from the corner through g8. White should easily convert his advantage.; 65. Rb7 is not good, because of 65...Ng6!] 65... Rxf7 66. Bxf7 Ke7 67. Bc4

67...Kf6 Suddenly, things are not easy at all. The two main problems are to deal with the concrete threats of the knight and the wrong color of the promoting square on h8. If Black takes the f-pawn, he only needs to sacrifice his knight for the b-pawn and run with the king to the h8 corner to secure the draw. 68.Ke4 White probably still remains winning after this move, but there was a better solution... [68.h5! in order to prevent the counterplay with Ng6. 68...Kf5 (68...Nd7 69.Ke4 Nb6 Black controls the squares of the breakthrough right now, but White can always try to make progress with zugzwang. 70.Bb5 Ke6 71.Be2 Kf6 72.Bg4+- and the White king will advance to e5 or d5.) 69. Ba6 Kf6 70.Ke4 Ne6 71. Bc8 Nc7 White can break the fortress with the help of zugzwang, once again. 72. Bg4 Kf7 73.Ke5 Ke7 The win is still not obvious, but after some maneuvering, Black cannot prevent the invasion of the king on d6 or on g6. 74. Bf3 Ne8 (74...Ne6 75.f5 Nd4 76.Bd5+- f6 is next.) 75.Kf5 Kf7 76. Bd5+ Kg7 77.Ke6 Nf6 78. Bf3+- White soon collects the c5 pawn.] 68...Ng6 We reached nother critical moment, where the most obvious move could have cost the full point to Eljanov. 26


69.h5? I think White is not winning anymore, if his opponent creates a correct defense. The problem of this move is that Black is always in time to attack the f4 pawn, and after taking it, h5 is hanging. Of course, only deep and detailed analysis can show us the correct evaluation of the position. Over the board, we can only trust in our intuitions, which unfortunately sometimes lead us in the bad direction. [69.Kd5! Nxf4+! This is more tenacious. (69...N xh4 70.Kxc5+- In this case, sacrificing the knight for the b-pawn is not enough for Black to save the game.) 70.Kxc5 Ke7 (70...Ng2 is too slow. 71.b4 Nxh4 72.b5 Black can’t stop the pawn... 72...Ke7 73.b6 Kd7 74. Be6+! Kxe6 (74...Kd8 75.Kd6+-) 75.b7+-) 71.Kc6! Trying to keep the king away from the pawn... (71.b4 Kd7) 71...Ng6 It’s a nice moment to improve our calculation. The question is, which one is better, to takes the pawn on h4 or onh5?

72.h5! (72.b4 would spoil the win 72...N xh4 73.b5 Nf5 74.b6 Nd6= d6 is the best square for the knight. Black only wants to push his pawn and if the bishop leaves the f1–a6 diagonal, Nc4 b7 Na5 draws the game.) 72... Nf4 73.b4 Kd8 (73...N xh5 Black is in time to catch the pawn, but it reaches the 7th rank, which is enough for the win. 74.b5 Nf6 75.b6 Nd7 76.b7 The Black pawn is not ad-

vanced enough. 76...h5 77.Kc7 h4 78.Bb5+- Just in time.) 74. Ba6! Another very precise move! 74...Ne6 (74...N xh5 loses again, after 75.b5 Nf6 76.b6 Nd7 77.b7 h5 78.Be2 h4 79.Bg4 Nb8+ 80.Kb6 and Black is in zugzwang. 80...Ke7 81.Kc7 Na6+ 82.Kc8 Kf6 83.Bh3!+- White keeps control of the h3 square and his next move will be Bf1!)

75.Kd6! Ng7 (75...Nf4 76.b5+-; 75...Nc7 76.Be2) 76. Be2! The last accurate move! White now simply wants to collect the h6 pawn. (76.b5? was the last moment to make a mistake. The game is drawn after 76...Ne8+! 77.Kc6 Nc7= with the threat of Nxb5 and Ke7.) 76...Nf5+ (76... Kc8 77.Ke5+-) 77.Ke5+- It was really difficult to find this win over the board.] 69...Ne7 I think the position is objectively drawn now. White should try to create zugzwang, but each bishop move allows Black to activate his knight. 70. Bd5 [70. Ba6 is probably the most critical. 70... Nc6! (70...Nf5 is a mistake now, because of 71.Kd5 Nd4 72.b4!+- In comparison to the 70. Bb5 line, the bishop is not hanging now.) 71. Bb5 (71.Kd5 Na5= 72.Bc4 transposes to 70. Bb5.) 71...Nb4! 72. Bd7

27


74.Kd6! The bishop and the king give a perfect support for the b-pawn, but here comes the role of the h-pawn. 74...h5! 75.b4 h4 76. Bf1!

72...Na2! A very important resource! White can hardly disturb the knight there, which either wants to pass on b4 (where it controls the d5 square), or after Kd5, is ready to play Nc1. 73.Kd3 (73.Kd5 Nc1 74.Kc4 is the same.) 73...Nc1+ 74.Kc4 Ne2 and here, the problem of the 69.h5 move becomes clear. Black wins a very important tempo by taking the f4 pawn, which allows him to make a draw... 75.Kxc5 Nxf4 76.Kd6 (76.Bg4 Ke5!= is a draw, since b4 is met with Nd3, followed by Nxb4 and Kf6.) 76...Nxh5 77.b4 Ng3! 78.b5 (78.Bc6 Nf5+ 79.Kc5 Ke7 80.b5 Kd8=) 78...Ne4+ 79.Kc6 Ke7 80.b6 Nd6= and the knight reached the ideal d6 square. We have already met with this in the 69.Kd5 line.; 70. Bb5 Nf5! 71.Kd5 Nd4 72. Bc4 Kf5 73.Kxc5 Nxb3+! 74. Bxb3 Kxf4 Black is in time to get back to the corner. 75.Kd4 Kg5! An important tempo. 76. Bd1 Kf6=; 70. Be2 Nc6 71.Kd5 Na5 with the same draw as in the 70. Bb5 line.] 70...Nf5! 71. Bc4 Ng3+ [71...Ne7 was also possible. White wanted to improve on his play, but of course, taking the pawn should be easier.] 72.Kd5 Nxh5 73.Kxc5 Nxf4 [73...Ke7 was also possible. 74.f5 Ng3 75. Be6 h5 76.b4 h4 77.b5 Ne4+ 78.Kd4 h3! 79.b6 Nd6= Everything is under control.]

76...h3? [76...Ne6! was the only move. 77.b5 Nd8! is the only move, again. White cannot win... 78. Bg2 A last attempt to prevent the Nb7-a5 ideas, but... a) 78.b6 Nb7+ 79.Kc7 (79.Kc6 Na5+ 80.Kb5 Nb7=) 79... Na5= A good place for the knight, where the bishop can’t disturb it. The king is also far away.; b) 78.Kd7 Nb7 79.b6 Ke5 80.Kc7 Na5=; 78...Nf7+! 79.Kc7 Ke7 80.b6 Nd6= and we reached the drawn position with the knight on d6.] 77. Bxh3! White is winning now! 77...Nd3 [77...Nxh3 78.b5 Ng5 79.b6 Ne4+ 80.Kc6!+-] 78.b5 The knight cannot be sacrificed for the pawn. 78...Nb2 [78...Ne5 79. Be6+- Controlling all the squares!] 79. Be6! Na4 80. Bb3 Nc3 [80...Nb6 81.Kc7 Na8+ 82.Kb7+-] 81.b6 Ne4+ 82.Kc6 Black resigned. 1–0 28


Clash of the Titans

Later on, the management of the Black pieces is going to be difficult... White can develop his pieces the same way as in the game.]

(17) Tal,Mihail — Kolarov,Atanas S [B15]

7. Bc4! Before I start ed analyzing this game, I thought for some reason that the right place for the bishop was on d3. Now I clearly see that Tal’s setup is preferable.

EU-chT (Men) 04th Kapfenberg (3.6), 12.05.1970 [Balogh Csaba] In this game, we meet with a typical intuitive exchange sacrifice in the hands of Mikhail Tal! 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 This is quite a passive system. White has two promising ways to fight for the advantage. 4.Nf3 This leads to an open position, where White is in time to develop his pieces ideally. [4.e5 is an alternative, followed by f4, when White obtains a position with a huge space advantage and a long maneuvering fight begins.] 4... Bg7 5.h3 An important prophylactic move against Black’s active counterplay with Bg4. 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4

7...Ngf6 8.Nxf6+ Nxf6 9.0–0 0–0 10. Re1 The Black position is worse than it seems. White has a space advantage with his d4 pawn. Besides, he has a very easy development, for example: c3, Qe2, Bg5, Rad1 and Ne5. At the same time, Black will get out of useful moves. He should undermine the d4 pawn with a c5 push to gain more space for his piece play, but this always leads to an inferior position for him. The first question is, what to do with the c8 bishop? 10... Bf5 [10...b6 is the other option, but White achieves an advantage after a logical development. 11.Qe2 e6 12. Bg5 Bb7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14.Ne5+= White is better. The two most obvious moves for Black are close to being losing... 14...c5 would ease Black’s task, but... (14...Rad8 is met with 15.Qf3! c5 16.Qf4+/- and Black loses material.) 15.Nxf7! Rxf7 16.Qxe6+- and Black can’t parry the simple threat of Bxf6.]

6...Nd7 Black prepares for Ngf6 to be able to recapture with the knight. [6...Nf6 immediately would leave Black with an unpleasant choice after 7.Nxf6+ exf6 is a bad structure, while Bxf6 is clearly a bad place for the bishop. 29


11.Ne5 Tal immediately starts to harass the f7 pawn. [11. c3 is more calm and also good.] 11... Be4 Black wants to neutralize the c4 bishop by playing Bd5. [11...Nd5 was possible, but White is better anyway. 12.c3 Qc7 13.Qf3 Rad8 14. Bb3+= White has a clear plan with Bd2, Re2 and Rae1, while it’s very difficult to suggest something for Black.; 11...Nd7? would close the bishop’s way back. 12.Nxf7! Rxf7 13.g4!+-] 12. Bg5!? Tal plays in his usual style, allowing his opponent to get different kinds of risky counterplay with Qb6. [12.c3 was safer. 12... Bd5 13. Bd3! Just as in e game, White has to keep the pieces on the board to maintain his advantage. 13...Nd7 14.Ng4 ! Any exchanges would just give space for Black to maneuver. 14...Nf6 15. Bg5! Nxg4 16. Bxe7] 12... Bd5 13. Bd3! Without the light-squared bishops, Black would be fine. Now, he must always reckon with a potential c4 threat. The bishop is misplaced on d5. 13... Be6 [On 13...Qb6 Tal probably wanted to reply with 14.c4 Be6 15. Be3 Qxb2 (15...Qa5 is the right move, but White is slightly better anyway.) 16. Rb1 Qxa2 17. Rxb7+/with a big advantage. The Black pawns are hanging and there is still no future for his minor pieces.]

15.Nf3! Black got serio usly tricked! He cannot move with his e6 bishop because of the e7 pawn, and all the other moves are met with the same sacrifice... 15... Re8 16. Rxe6! A great, but on the other hand, typical exchange sacrifice, which seriously weakens the Black king, and crushes his pawns structure. Black has no chance to create any kind of counterplay, his rooks are completely useless. I am quite sure that Tal took on e6 without any hesitation. 16...fxe6 17.Qe2 White does not need to hurry. Calm moves simply smother Black. 17...e5 Black tries to breathe... [After the passive 17...Nf8 White has a lot of good moves. I like the computer’s suggestion: 18. Bf4 (18.Bc4 Qd6 19.Qe4 followed by Bf4 and Ne5 is also very good.) 18...Qd5 19.Ne5 followed by Bc4 and Re1, or just h4-h5.] 18. Bc4+ Kh8 19.dxe5 White got a pawn, but materially he’s still behind. His main triumph is still the superiority of the pieces. 19...Qc7 [19... Rf8 has a fantastic refutation. 20. Rd1 Qe8 and here

14.c3 Nd7

30


21. Bf7!! White was better after other moves as well, but this is just great. 21...Qxf7 22.e6 Qf5 23.exd7 The d7 pawn decides the game, but some accurate moves are still needed. 23... Bf6 (23...Rfd8 24.Qxe7+-) 24.g4! Qb5 25. Bxf6+ exf6 26.Qe7 White is winning. His knight will arrive to e6 soon. 26...Qb6 (26...Rad8 27.Rd6 Qc5 28.Nd4+-) 27.Nd4+-]

22...Qa5 [22... Rad8 23.Qh4+-] 23. Re1 [There was nothing wrong with 23.Qh4 Qf5 24. Re1+-] 23...Qd5 A desperate try either to exchange queens or to give back the exchange on f7, but Tal counters it nicely... 24.Qh4 Rxf7 [24...Qf5 25.Ne5+-]

20. Bf7! Rf8 21.e6 The f7 bishop would not be necessarily strong, but in this particular case, it helps a lot in the attack. The game demonstrates it well. 21...Nf6 [21...Ne5 Exchanging some pieces would have been more logical, but it leaves the e7 pawn hopeless. Black will be unable to protect it from e8 or d7 with the rooks. So, White needs to slowly attack it. 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 (22...Qxe5 23.Qxe5 B xe5 24.B xe7+-) 25.Ne5! Great tactical play, after which Black can practically resign. [25.exf7 Qxf7 26.Qb4 wins as well, but the text move was much stronger.] 25...Nh5 [25... Rff8 26.Nxg6+ Kg8 27.Nxe7++- and the queen falls. This was the point.]

23.Qe3! Now, Bxe7 is already a threat. (23.B xe7? would be a serious oversight. 23...Bh2+! 24.Kh1 Qxe7 25.Kxh2 R xf7! It’s so easy to lose in 3 moves from a winning position.) 23... Bg7 24. Bh4! Rad8 25.Qg5 and e7 falls, since after 25... Bf6 26.Qxf6+! exf6 27. Bxf6#] 22.Qc4! The queen is heading to h4, when Bxg6 threatens to win on the spot.

26.Nxf7+ Kg8 27. Bxe7+- White ended up with two extra pawns. From now on, many moves are winning in each position. 27... Re8 28.Nd6 Bf6 29. Bxf6 Qxd6 30. Bg5 [30. Bd4 c5 31. Be3 Rxe6 32.Qc4+-] 30... Rxe6 31.Qc4 White gave back one of the pawns, but the Black king became vulnerable with the absence of the dark squared bishops. 31...Ng7 32.Qb3! Preparing for Rd1! 31


32...Kf8 33. Rd1 Qe5 34. Bh6 Rd6 35. Rxd6 Black resigned because of Qxb7. An easy but instructive victory by Tal.


1–0

(18) Kubbel,L 1926 [CEWN] 1.=

32


Solutions (19) Morozevich,A (2770) — Giri,A (2696) Biel, 23.07.2012 [Solutions]

15...f4! 16.Qf2 c5! 17. Bc4+ [17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5 c4 19. Bxc4+ d5–+] 17...d5! 18.exd5 cxd4! 19.d6+ Be6 20.dxe7 Bxc4! 21.exf8Q+ Rxf8–+ 22. Bxd4 Re8+ 23.Kd2 Rd8 24.c3 c5 0–1 (21) Kohler,A (2229) — Antal,G (2511) Amsterdam Open, 18.07.2012 [Solutions]

33.f4? [33.Qh6+!! Kg8 (33...Kf6 34.Qf4++-; 33...Kxh6 34.N xf7+ Kg7 35.N xd6+-) 34.Qh8+! Kxh8 35.Nxf7+ Kg7 36.Nxd6+-] (20) Muzychuk,A (2606) — Ivanchuk,V (2769) Amsterdam, 22.07.2012 [Solutions]

12.Qxh5? [12. Bf6!! Nd7 (12...exf6 13.Qxh5 h6 14.Qf5+-) 13. Bxh7+! Kxh7 14.Qxh5+ Kg8 15. Bxg7 f6 (15...Kxg7 16.Qg5+ Kh7 17.Nf5+-) 16.Qh8+ Kf7 17.Qh7+-] 12... f5

33


(22) Mamedyarov,S (2726) — Inarkiev,E (2707)

(23) Zhao Xue (2556) — Kosintseva,N (2516)

Turkish league, 18.07.2012

Jermuk, 18.07.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34. Rd7! a2 35. Rfxf7+! Kg8 36. Rg7+! Kh8 [36...Kf8 37. Rdf7+ Ke8 38. Rxb7 a1Q+ 39.Kh2+- is the same as the game.] 37. Rh7+ Kg8 38. Rdg7+! Kf8 39. Rxb7! a1Q+ 40.Kh2 Rxg2+ [40...Kg8 41. Rhg7+ Kh8 (41...Kf8 42.Rbf7+ Ke8 43.Ra7+-) 42. Rge7 Qa8 43. Rh7+ Kg8 44. Rbg7+ Kf8 45. Rh8+ Kxg7 46. Rxa8 Rxb4 47. Re8 Kf7 48. Re5 Kf6 49. Rf5+ Kg7 50. Rf4+-]

19...Qxa2! [19...Qa4+? 20.Ke2 Qxa2+ 21. Rc2] 20. Rxb4 Nd3! 21.Qb5 Nxb4 22. Re1 [22.Qxb4 Qa1+– +] 22...Nc6 0–1 (24) Danielian,E (2480) — Koneru,H (2598) Jermuk, 19.07.2012 [Solutions]

41.Kxg2+- Qb2+ 42.Kf3 Qf6+ 43.Ke2 Qb2+ 44.Kd3 Qb3+ 45.Kd4 Qb2+ 46.Kd5 Qb3+ 47.Kd6 Qg3+ 48.Kd7 Qh3+ 49.Kc7 Qc3+ 50.Kb8 Qe5+ 51.Ka8 Qa1+ 52.Kb8 Qe5+ 53. Rhc7+-

30.f6? [30. Re8!! Qxc7 31. Bxd5! Rxd5 32. R1e7!+-] 30... Bxf3 31.Qxf3 Qxc7 32.fxg7 Kxg7 34


(25) Tomczak,J (2556) — Przybylski,W (2330) Gniota memorial, 19.07.2012 [Solutions]

f5 24. Bxf5! Qe8 [24...Kg7 25.Ne6++-] 25. Be6+ Kg7 26.Qxh7+ Kf6 27.Qh6+ [27.Ne4+ Ke5 28.Qg7+ Kxe4 29.Qxb2+-] 27...Ke5 28.Nf3+ Ke4 [28...Kd6 29. Bf7++-] 29.Qh7+ 1–0 (27) Ibragimov,I (2539) — Shomoev,A (2582) Izhevsk, 23.07.2012 [Solutions]

20. Bb8+! 1–0 (26) Shomoev,A (2582) — Dzhangobegov,V (2360) Izhevsk, 17.07.2012 [Solutions]

32... Bxb5!! 33.Qxb5 Nxe4 34. Bg2 [34.Qe2 Qxa4–+] 34...Qxf2+ 35.Kh1 [35.Kh2 Qxg3+ 36.Kg1 Nf2–+] 35...Nxg3+ 36.Kh2 Ne2 0–1

22.Nf3!! gxf4 [22...h6 23. Bxg5! hxg5 24.Nxg5+-; 22... Qxd5 23.Qxd5 Nxd5 24. Rxd5 gxf4 25. Rxa5+-] 23.Ng5! 35


(28) Milosiev,T (2216) — Georgiev,V (2562)

(29) Prokes,L

Macedonian league, 17.07.2012

1942

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15...Ng3+! 0–1[15...Ng3+ 16.hxg3 Qh5#]

1.e7+!! [1.g7? d6+! 2.Kxd6 Rg8 3.e7+ Ke8 4.Ke6 Rxg7 5.d6 Rg6+–+] 1...Kxe7 2.d6+ Ke8 [2...Kd8 3.g7 Re8+ 4.Kf6 Re6+ 5.Kf7 Rxd6 6.g8Q+ Kc7 7.Qg3! Kc6 8.Qc3+ Kb5 9.Ke7+-] 3.g7 Rg8 4.Kf6 Rf8+ [4...Kd8 5.Kf7 Re8 6.g8Q Rxg8 7.Kxg8 Kc8 8.Kf8 Kb7 9.Ke8 Kc6 10.Ke7+-] 5.Kg5!! [5.gxf8Q+ Kxf8=; 5.Kg6 Rg8] 5... Rg8 [5...Kf7 6.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 7.Kf6+-] 6.Kg6 1–0

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Weekly Newsletter

Issue 24 10th of August 2012


10th of August 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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One of the main events of the week came to an end with a big surprise. Anton Korobov became the new Ukrainian National Champion with a score of 8/11, a full point ahead of Volokitin and Areschenko. There were disappointing results for the Top favorites: Ponomariov, Eljanov and Efimenko. The Biel Tournament had a dramatic finish. At the end, Wang Hao made use of the tournament system (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) winning his last game against his direct rival Giri, and finishing the tournament with 19 Points (6,5/10). Carlsen didn’t manage to beat Etienne Bacrot with White and obtained the best score with the Classical Scoring System (7/10), but just got the second place with the Football Scoring System (18 total points). The 3rd-4th place was shared by Giri and Nakamura. After the dramatic last round in the Open Section, the tournament had 3 winners: Kurnosov, Movsesian and Edouard, all with 8/11. The Russian Super Final is on the way with a lot of draws. It’s hard to predict who is going to be the winner at the end. In the female section, there are a lot of decisive results, and it’s also hard to say who is the favorite, probably Pogonina and Gunina. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with Your new issue of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Eljanov,Pavel (2693) — Areshchenko,Alexander (2691) [D70]

9...Qd6 This is the new „wawe”! Black wants to play Rd8 to put quick pressure on the d4 pawn. Theory is just about to develop here. The biggest specialists play like this nowadays. The two main lines: 9...e5 and 9... f5 are in some crisis now.

[Balogh Csaba]

10.Kb1 [The pawn sacrifice with 10.Nb5 Qd7 11. Bh6 Bxh6 12.Qxh6 a6 13.Nc3 Nxd4 14.f4! followed by Nf3 is a very interesting alternative.]

A very sharp game following the real spirit of the Grünfeld defense.

10... Rd8 White has to deal with the d4 pawn. He cannot protect it with 11.Nge2 because of Nc4.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Eljanov was a second in the Gelfand team during the WCC match against Anand. As Anand tried the 3.f3 system twice, Eljanov must be very well prepared for this variation. However, he fell against a nice novelty anyway.

11.Nb5! We are still following some high level games. [11.d5 opens the diagonal for the „Grünfeld bishop”. 11... Qb4! Black wants to play Ne5-c4, and the tempting 12.Nb5? loses to a fantastic queen sacrifice...

81st ch-UKR 2012 Kiev UKR (7.4), 03.08.2012

3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 Gelfand played 8...e5 in the third game of the match, but Eljanov goes for the main line. 8...Nc6 9.0–0–0 A typical Grünfeld position, where White has a huge center and Black tries to create counterplay against it.

12...Nxd5! 13.exd5 (13.Qxb4 Ncxb4! Only move, but good enough. 14.exd5 Bf5+ 15.Kc1 N xa2+ 16.Kd2 R xd5+ 17.Ke1 R xd1+ 18.Kxd1 B xb2 and the queenside pawns start to march. The White pieces are „a bit undevelopod”.) 13... Rxd5! 14.Qxb4 Rxd1+ 15.Kc2 and now 15... Rxf1!! followed by Bf5 and Rd8. Black has a winning attack.; 11.e5 would give up the light squares. 11... Bf5+ 12.Ka1 Qd7 Black is more than fine.] 3


11...Qd7 12.d5 Just now d5, because Qb4 does not work anymore. White sets a nice trap with this move... 12...a6 [Mamedyarov fell into the trick against Anand in a rapid game. 12...Ne5? 13.Qc2! and Black is lost, because after 13...c6 14.Nxa7! wins. Anand-Mamedyarov, Corsica 2011.] 13.Nc3 Aronian scored a very important victory over Caruana a few months ago with this move. Areshchenko, as a big expert of the Grünfeld, had to be well prepared for this. That game was analysed by Arkadij in the CEWN Nr.17. [13.dxc6 leads to a draw after some complications. 13...Qxd2 14. Rxd2 Rxd2 15.Bxd2 axb5 16.cxb7 Bxb7 17.Bxb5 White is a pawn up, but Black can quickly activate his pieces, obtaining enough counterplay for a draw. 17...f5! 18.exf5 Bd5 19.Ne2 Bxa2+ 20.Kc2 gxf5= Vitiugov-Giri, Reggio Emilia 2011. This game was very deeply analysed by Kamil Miton in the January 2012 Chess Evolution edition.] 13...Ne5 The biggest drawback in Black’s position is the pawn on a6. His ideal move would be c6, in order to undermine the d5 pawn, but this never works because of the b6 knight.

14...c5! A great intuitive sacrifice by Areshchenko! This was the only way to preserve the strong bishop. I cannot recall, but I have seen somewhere the same idea before, so for a Grünfeld player such things should automatically come to mind. In the next few moves, we will get all the ideas behind the move. [14...e6 is another l attempt to undermine the center, but White achieves some advantage after 15.f4 Nec4 16.Qf2+=] 15. Bxc5 Nec4 16. Bxc4?! I don’t like this move at all. I agree that White is undeveloped and this is a chance to get rid of one of the pieces with tempo. But on the other hand, he gives up the bishop pair and what is more important in this case, Black finally solves his problem with his b6 knight, which had no moves before. Suddenly, the c4 knight becomes powerful and it might be supported by a pawn on b5. [16.Qc1! was the right move in my opinion, to protect the c3 knight. 16...Qc7 17. Bd4 Bxd4 (17...e5 is completely different to the game, because of the poor b6 knight. 18.Bf2+/-) 18. Rxd4 Qc5 Black must play actively, otherwise he’ll simply end up a pawn down. (I tried 18... e5 but the computer refuted it nicely with 19.Rd3! Bd7

14. Bd4

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20.Nd1! Beautiful regrouping! The rook will stand perfectly on c3! 20...Rac8 21.Rc3+/-) 19.Nge2 Bd7 Black needs to bring his pieces as fast as possible. Still, his main problem is the b6 knight, because this avoids him from launching an attack with b5-b4. It’s not easy for White either, because his pieces are still undeveloped, but suddenly, he can start an effective attack. 20.h4! e5 (20...h5 just helps White. 21.g4! hxg4 22.h5! White wins. For example, after the greedy 22...gxf3 23.hxg6 fxe2 24.Rh8+! Kxh8 25.Qh6+ Kg8 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8#) 21.dxe6 Bxe6 and now a hidden point of the 20.h4 move comes out with 22.Qg5!+= White has the advantage, but Black has compensation.; 16.Qf2 is countered by 16... Bxc3! 17.bxc3 Na4! A temporary piece sacrifice, which leaves the White king a bit „naked”. 18. Bxc4 Qc7! wins back the piece with counterplay.] 16...Nxc4 17.Qc1

tion. The game might continue with 19.b3 Rac8 20. Bd4 b4 21.bxc4 Rxc4] 18. Bd4 e5! This is the point! Black does not want to exchange pieces. At first sight, this move „kills” the g7 bishop, but it might easily join the fight in the future, from f8 or from h6. 19. Bf2 b5 White can hardly make use of his extra pawn, while Black has a very easy attack with Bd7 and b4. White is forced to do something, otherwise he’ll get crushed. 20.b3! A small weaken ing, but it pushes back the knight, getting some space for maneuvering. 20...Nd6 21.Qe3 White wants to occupy the c-file, and to create some threats connected with Qb6 and Bc5 could be also dangerous. Now, it’s Black’s turn to act! 21...f5! This is the way to play the Grünfeld! Actively! The e4 pawn seemed to be the safest square for White, but actually it’s weak. Black wants to push b4, and after the knight moves, take twice on e4 and Bf5! 22. Rc1 Qe7 23.Qb6? A huge mistake in the calculation, which gets cruelly punished. [23.Nh3 It was time to finish the development. 23... Bd7! refreshing the threat of b4 and the double-take on e4. A double edged position. (23...b4 immediately did not work, because of 24.Na4! fxe4 25.fxe4 and on 25...N xe4? White has 26.R xc8!) ]

17...Qc7!? Areshchenko found an interesting plan to preserve his dark-squared bishop. [17...b5 was also playable. 18.Nge2 Bb7 followed by Rac8 and b4, using the unfortunate situation of the c1 queen, with a very sharp posi-

23...fxe4 24.Nxe4 A sad necessity. [Eljanov definitely wanted to take back with the pawn, but he missed something in the following line: 24.fxe4 Nxe4! 25.Nxe4 Bf5 26. Re1 Qb4! Only move, but strong! 27.Qe3 Rxd5 and Black wins. For example, after 28.Nf3 Bxe4+! 29.Qxe4 Rd1+! Qxe4 and Rxh1 next.] 5


24... Bf5 It’s clear Black is doing great now, but he still needs to play very strongly if he wants his attack to break trough! 25.Qe3 Admitting the mistake of 23.Qb6. 25...a5! Because of the mistake on the 23rd move, Blacks get enough time to make use of the b3 weakness! It’s very difficult to deal with the a4 threat. 26.g4 This loses, but it was hard to advice something clever.

32.b4 Only move. Taking pieces was losing. [32. Bxd8 axb3; 32. Rxh1 axb3] 32...a3+ 33.Ka1 Bf3! Black wants to get the d4 square for the queen. 34.Nc3 [34. Bxd8 Bxe2 Double threat of Qd4 and Rxd8.] 34...Qd4! 35. Bxd8 Rxd8 White resigned! Too many threats to parry. The main ones are Rc8 and Qxb4. A great game for the topic: How to play theGrünfeld! 0–1

26...Nxe4! [26... Bxe4+ 27.fxe4 a4 is also good.] 27.fxe4 Bh6! Nice combo! Black wins an exchange! 28.Qxh6 Bxe4+ 29.Kb2 Bxh1 30. Bh4 Qa7! 31.Ne2 [White cannot balance the material with 31. Bxd8 Qd4+ This was the point of the combination. White gets mated. 32.Ka3 b4+ 33.Ka4 Black has only one winning move here! 33...Qxd5! and Qc6! with mate to follow.] 31...a4! You must push until your opponent collapses! Black doesn’t lay back with his material advantage, he continues playing for mate!

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(2) Korobov,Anton (2678) — Miroshnichenko,Evgenij (2621) [D43] 81st ch-UKR 2012 Kiev UKR (8.6), 04.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We’ll follow a nice game played by the surprising winner of the Ukrainian National Championship, which was amazingly strong, with a rating average over 2660! All the best players participated, except Ivanchuk. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Like we’ve seen so often in the latest games, the Slav defense is played. I have no idea why, but this opening got extremely popular, especially in the last 2–3 years. Almost all the Top players have it in their Black repertoire. 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6

6...Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8. Bd3 This move looks like a „tempo lost”, but in fact we are in a very well known line. White gets a strong center; Black gets the bishop pair and tries to react against his opponent central position. The game will get much sharper very soon! 8...dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 This move is still the main line... 10.0–0 Bg7 We are in a position where White gets a wide range of possibilities. 11.Qc2 With this move, White wants to put all the pieces in the center before playing the e4-e5 idea. [11. Re1 0–0 12.e4 e5 was seen in one of the latest games between Kramnik-Aronian. This game was analyzed in a previous issue of the CEWN.] 11...0–0 12. Bb3 Another prophylactic move. Now, if Black pushes e5, White will be able to play d5 and Black will not have the move Nb6, attacking the d5 pawn and the bishop on c4 at the same time. 12...Qe7 Black needs to do something with the bishop on c8. While the queen stands on f6, the b6 move is never possible because of White’s Ne4, and Black’s e5 push would be countered by White’s d5 counter-punch. 13. Rad1 [13.e4 is still a bit too early. 13...e5 14.d5 Nc5 and Black is in time to develop his pieces nicely.]

6. Bxf6 This move was very popular around 10 years ago, but it seems like Black found a way to get a good position afterwards. In the latest games, the 6. Bxf6 line is having a sort of comeback, showing new and fresh ideas! [6. Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 and we are in the very forced lines of the Meran.]

13...b6 14.e4 Bb7 Black and White managed to fulfill their plans. White made the e4 push, while Black managed to develop the bishop to b7 and will start his play against the White center. Usually, Black’s ideas are connected with the c5 push. White will try to develop an attack on the kingside by playing e5, using the idea of h4-h5. It’s important to note that the Black pawn is stand7


ing on h6! A small but very important detail. If the pawn would be standing on h7, Black would be doing very fine.

doesn’t have any other reaction. If he does „nothing”, Black will just play cxd4 and get a better position. 16... Ne5! and Black uses the same idea once again, to play Ne5. 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 In this position, I would prefer to play with the Black pieces.] 16.e5! Obvious and strong!

15. Rfe1 This move was only made to prepare the e5 push. But was it really necessary? [In case of the immediate 15.e5 c5! Most of the times, this is the correct reaction for Black. 16.d5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.dxe6 c4! This is the trick! 19.exf7+ Kg7 and Black is doing very good. In case of 20. Bxc4?? Qh4 Black is simply winning a piece. We can say that 15. Rfe1 is, in fact, necessary.]

16...a6?! Black reacts too passively, giving time for White to develop a strong attack. [Of course not 16...c5 17.d5 and White gets what he wanted.; 16...b5!? This move might be an idea for Black here. He wanted to play c5-c4, and sometimes b4 can be a good plan as well. 17.Ne4 c5! The position is not that clear. Of course, the idea behind the move 15... Rad8 remains a bit unclear.] 17.Qe4 White chooses the right plan: to attack the Black king. The queen leaves the c2 square for the White bishop, and the „wall-breaker” h-pawn will come into the action soon. But the move order is wrong. Clearly, to play h4 first would have been the right decision. 17...b5 Finally the b5 move, but it’s clear that a6 was just a loss of tempo.

15... Rad8?! I have some doubts about this move, I don’t see what’s the idea behind it. It’s obvious that White wants to play e5, so why not to try to act against it? [15... c5!? The most logical move in the position. 16.d5 White 8


18.h4?! And here comes the h-pawn. What to do now for Black? The h5 threat is super unpleasant, and to play h6h5 is definitely not a great idea because of Ng5 followed by g4, with a mating attack. However, Black has an easy move which could totally change the whole evaluation of the position. [18.Qf4 with the idea of Ne4 next would have been the right solution for White, and only then to play h4-h5.] 18... Ba8? Preparing the move c5, but giving White the possibility to push d5. [18...Nb6! This easy-looking and logical move would have been clearly the strongest one. Black wants to play c5 and White can’t stop black from playing it. 19.Qe3 The only move, trying to avoid the c5 push. 19...c5! Probably Black missed this move in the game. 20.dxc5 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Nd7 and both White pawns, on c5 and e5, are hanging. Black is doing better here.]

21...exd5 [21...b4 looks dangerous, but White can simply take with 22.hxg6 and Black is clearly too late.] 22.Nxd5 It doesn’t feel good to give away the bishop, but Black doesn’t have any other choice. hxg6 is a deadly threat. 22... Bxd5 23. Rxd5 Nc5 Sid Black solve his problems?! [Of course 23...Nxe5 24. Rxe5 Bxe5 25.Nxe5 is just losing for Black.] 24. Rxc5! No, he didn’t. A typical and strong exchange sacrifice crushes Black’s hopes. 24...Qxc5 25.hxg6

19.h5! White is doing a good calculation job. 19...c5 20.d5 The game is getting very sharp. 20...c4 Black closes the bishop on b3 forever, but it finds a nice place on c2. 21. Bc2

25...f5?! A clear miscalculation in a difficult position. [25... f6! would have been the only way to fight. 26.e6 (26.exf6 R xf6 Black is fine here.) 26...f5! The Black bishop is freeing itself. 27.Qf4!? (27.Qb7 brings nothing but a draw for White. 27...Rb8 28.Qd7 Rbd8 29.Qb7; 27.Qe2 Qe7 28.Nh4 A nice tactic, but it’s not clear if it’ll bring the full point. 28... Qxh4 29.e7 Qf6 30.exf8Q+ R xf8 White is still better, but is it really enough to win the game? This is very unclear, the position should be closer to a draw.) 27...Qd6 28.Qe3 Even being an exchange down, the very strong e6 pawn plus the tactical ideas on the kingside give White a clear 9


edge, but Black is far away from resigning. The fight has just begun.]

32...Kf8 33. Re2 [33. Re3 would have been a slightly better solution, but a tempo doesn’t matter anymore.]

26.Qf4! Black can’t defend the f5-pawn.

33...b4 34.Kf1 Rb6 35. Re3 White brings the king to e2 and the knight to e5. Black will lose some of his pawns or more material. The game is over.

26...Qb6 Black kills one of the biggest dangers, the g6pawn, but loses more material while doing so. [In case of 26...Qb4 27. Bxf5 Qxb2 28.e6 White would be winning immediately.] 27. Bxf5

35...a5 36.Ne5 Rd4 37.Ke1 White wants to play g3, and f4 next. 27...Qxg6 The game is getting forced again. [27... Rde8 would not lose on the spot, but would lead to a horrible position. 28.Qe4 and Black is going to suffer before resigning.] 28. Bxg6 Rxf4 29.e6! White will get a full piece for the e-pawn. 29... Bf6 Black has no other way to stop White from playing e7-e8Q. 30.e7 Bxe7 31. Rxe7 We can easily say that White is winning here. Korobok finished the game in a smooth way. 31... Rd6 32. Bc2! Good technical move, not allowing any of the Black rooks to enter through the d-file, in order to attack the b2 pawn.

37...b3 This move forces some exchanges, but nothing changes in the evaluation of the position. 38.axb3 cxb3 39. Bxb3 a4 40. Bxa4! The last simple tactic. 40... Rxb2 [40... Rxa4 41.Nd7++-] 41. Bd1 The first time trouble is over. White is totally winning. Actually, it’s a good moment resign, but Black decided to make a few more moves. 41... Ra2 42.g3 Kg7 43. Bb3 Rb2 44.Kf1 h5 45.Nf3 Not a great game, but one with many typical ideas and nice tactics. 1–0

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(3) Laznicka,V (2683) — Shirov,A (2706) [D47] Shirov-Laznicka m Novy Bor CZE (4), 06.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] In this mini-match of 6 games, the score was equal before this game, 1,5–1,5. We see another Slav, but this time a very sharp line. Shirov keeps a clearly superior perspective of the position and gets a perfect victory. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6

10...c5 Black doesn’t have time to waste and needs to play c5. 11.d5 The only move that makes sense for White. In case of moves like 11.e5 Nd5, Black is doing perfectly fine. 11...Qc7! This is the key idea of Black’s play. He’s going to castle long! [11...e5? 12.b3! leads to a bad position for Black. The next White’s move could be a4, in order to provoke Black’s b4, and then to play Nb1–Nbd2-Nc4 with a clear positional domination.] 12.dxe6 I think this is the best move order for White. [12. Bc2 is the other option in the position. It’s hard to say what’s the difference... Black has the option to play 12... Bd6 here as well, but other forced moves don’t look bad at all either. 12...0–0–0!? 13.Ng5 (It’s too late for White to take: 13.dxe6 Ne5! with a fine position for Black.) 13...Nb6 14.a4 h6 15.Nxf7 Qxf7 16.axb5 a5! The position remains very sharp, but Black should be doing better here. A. GiriM. Ragger, Bundesliga 2012.]

4.e3 In the Slav, we often see many different move orders that lead to the same position. 4...e6 [4...a6; 4... Bf5; 4... Bg4 are other main moves.] 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 [6...Bd6 is another main move.] 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 Shirov chooses a very sharp line. [8... Bd6 and here, Black usually chooses this move.] 9.0–0 a6 Black’s idea is clear: to play c5, getting a perfectly fine position. 10.e4 This is just the beginning of a very forced and sharp line.

12...fxe6 13. Bc2 [13.Ng5 This move was tried in a couple of games on a not very high level. It seems like Black has good play after 13...Qc6] 11


13... Bd6 All of this was played before. 14... Bd6 is made against the White threat of playing Ng5. [The immediate 13...0–0–0 14.Ng5! with the double threat of Nxe6 and Nf7 14...Ne5 15.Qe2 leads to a better position for White.] 14.Ng5 White needs to act quickly, in order to avoid Black from castling long, which would make his position almost perfect.

18.a4!? N A very interesting novelty by Laznicka! [18.e5 This move been made by Mamedyarov. He managed to win the game but the position was very unclear. 18... Bxf3 (18...B xc1 looks dangerous for Black as well. 19.Rfxc1 Nd5

14...Nf8 15.f4 And we are still folowing theory. It’s easy to see how sharp the position already is, and it’s going to get even sharper. 15...0–0–0 16.Qe2 Not so long ago, this position was seen in the game Mamedyarov-Esen in the Turkish league. I guess both players knew this game well. 16...h6 White wanted to play the deadly e5...

17.Nf3!? A move that leads to a super sharp position! [17.Nh3 e5 is another way to continue the game, but the White knight is now totally out of play, so Black should be doing good here.] 17... Bxf4 We can feel the tension inreasing! And as we know, Shirov usually feels like a fish in the water in such crazy positions!

20.a4!? A typical idea. White breaks the pawn structure with the a4 push. 20...b4 21.N xd5 exd5 22.Bd3 and I think Black is in a lot of danger.) 19.Qxf3 Bxe5 Black’s position looks very dangerous, but the 2 extra pawns plus the solid central pawns make everything very complicated. 20.Qa8+ Kd7 21.Qxa6 Ke7 22.Kh1 Personally, I would choose White here. The Black king has a too dangerous position on e7!] 18...b4 Black doesn’t really have a choise, axb5 was a very strong threat. 19.e5 And we see the exact same idea as in the Mamedyarov game, with the only difference that now the queen from e2 can take immediately on a6. 19... Bxf3 [The other main option in the position is 19... Bxc1 20. Raxc1 Ng4 (20...bxc3?! looks bad for Black. 21.exf6 cxb2 22.Rb1 gxf6 23.R xb2 followed by Rfb1, with a mating attack.) 21.Na2! Rarely, a move like Na2 is the 12


right one, but in this case, everything seems to work for White. The knight on g4 is very badly placed... (21.Ne4!? is a possible option as well. 21...N xe5 22.N xe5 Qxe5 23.Bd3! A strong and important move. 23...Qd4+ 24.Nf2 Qd6 25.Rfd1 The position is not that clear, but White is risking nothing here.)

21...Kb8 22. Be4] 20. Rxf3 He takes with the rook on f3 now because he has the direct Qxa6 next. 20... Bxe5 21.Qxa6+ Kb8 [Doesn’t help 21...Qb7 22.Qe2! and White’s attack is going to deside the game.] 22. Rxf6? A clear miscalcu lation by White in a very interesting position. A lot of time is needed to create a clear opinion about who is actually doing better here, but I think that from a practical point of view, it’s easier to play with White. [22.Ne4!? This is clearly one of the main moves to analyse. 22...Ng4 (A wrong desicion would be to get greedy with 22...B xh2+?! 23.Kh1 N xe4 24.B xe4 Rd1+ 25.Rf1 R xf1+ 26.Qxf1 Nd7 27.Be3 and White gets a very strong initiative for the 2 pawns. It’s always the Black king the one that is in big trouble.) 23.Nf2! A great move! At the same time defending from Bd4 and forc-

ing the exchange of the Black knight on g4. 23...Nxf2 (Doesn’t work 23...Bd4

24.Bf4! White is just in time. 24...e5 25.Be4 Qa7 26.Qb5+ Kc7 27.Qc6+ Kb8 28.Bg3 The knight on f2 is protected and the Be4+ Qc6 combination is deadly.) 24.Kxf2 The position is very forced again. (24.R xf2 Bd4) 24... Bd4+ 25. Be3 Bxe3+ 26. Rxe3 Rd2+ 27. Re2 Rxe2+ 28.Kxe2 Another line that ends with an unclear position, but we can say that only Black is risking here.; 22.Qb5+ A check on b5 is not stupid at all, but seems to lead to a forced draw. 22...Ka7 23. Be3 White develops a piece with a tempo. 23... Bd4 24.Ne4 N8d7 Finally, Black brings the knight from f8 back into the game. 25. Bxd4 cxd4 26.Qxb4 This move leads to a draw, but does White have something better? It’s quite unclear. 26...Qxc2 27.Qa5+ Kb8 28.Qb5+ Ka7 with a perpetual check.] 22...gxf6 23. Be4 This is White’s idea, but it doesn’t work! 23...Qa7 24.Qb5+

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last precise move.(28...Rc7 This would be a horrible mistake. 29.Rd1! and White is back in the game!) ] 27... Rd7! Making place for the Black king.

24...Kc8! [Of course not 24...Kc7 25.Qc6+ Kb8 26.Nb5 and White is winning.] 25. Be3 White can’t find a way to keep the attack, and goes „all in” giving one more piece. [25.Qc6+ looks logical but doesn’t bring much either. 25...Qc7 26.Qa6+ Kd7 All the moves are forced but Black is „luckier”. 27.Nb5 (In case of an attempt to play slowly 27.Ne2 Ke7 the king finds a very safe position on e7 and Black is just an exchange up.) 27... Bxh2+ 28.Kf1 Qe5 29.Qb7+ Ke8 Bg6 would give mate, but the knight on f8 is covering this square. Maybe this is what Laznicka blundered?!] 25...bxc3 Why not to take a piece when you can... 26.bxc3 [26. Bxc5 Bd4+! would end the game in Black’s favor on the spot.] 26... Bd6! Cool and stron g play by Black. The position looks totally winning, but Black still needs to be quite careful. The king isn’t safe yet and the dangerous open b-file can be nicely used by White to get some action.

28.a6 Kd8 And here we can clearly say that the game is over. From now, if Black doesn’t make any big mistake, nothing should happen. 29.Qc6 f5 Making the move Rh7 possible. 30. Bf3 Ng6 All the Black pieces are out, and with an extra rook, it’s too much even to continue the game. White could have resigned here, but Laznicka decided to make a few more moves. 31. Be2 Ne7 32.Qf3 Nd5 33. Bf2 Qb8 The Black pieces slowly take over, because they’re just more in number. A full rook up! 34.c4 Nf6 35.Qa3 Rhh7 Super safe until the end.

27.a5 [27. Rb1 would not save the game, but would give White some practical chances. 27... Rd7! The Black king escapes through Kd8-e7 into safety. 28. Bc6 Kd8 The 14

Issue 24 (4) Wang,Hao (2739) — Giri,Anish (2696) [A15]

10th of August 2012

45th Biel GM Biel SUI (10), 02.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The decisive game of the Biel Tournament. The player who wins this game will finish in first place, ahead of Magnus Carlsen. 36. Bh4 Be5 37.Qxc5 Qa7 And finally, it was too much even for Laznicka. A very interesting game for the theory of this sharp line. I think that Laznicka’s novelty 18.a4!? is very interesting and we’ll see more games with it in the top level! 0–1

1.Nf3 Wang Hao starts with the Anti-Grünfeld move order. Recently, it has become very difficult to find something against the Grünfeld on the highest level, so the White players are trying different opening move orders to trick their opponents. [We can reach the game’s position from the „normal” move order as well. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 a6 8.Be2 b5 9.Qb3 c5 10.dxc5 Be6 and we are in the game.(However, in this move order, Black has an extra option: to play 10...Bb7 ) ] 1...Nf6 Due to the huge amount of interesting possibilities for White, many Grünfeld players prefer to play 1...c5 against 1.Nf3. 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qa4+ [The other option is 4.cxd5 Nxd5 and here as well, White has many alternatives to keep the pawn on d2. 5.Qa4+!? (5.Qb3!?; 5.Qc2!?) ] 4... Bd7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 a6 This is the precise move! [After the obvious 6... Bg7 White gets a good position with 7.e4 0–0 8.e5! with many games in the database, however, the outcome is fine for White.] 7.d4 [If White wants to play the same as after 6... Bg7, Black has 7.e4 b5 8.Qe2 c5 taking quick control over the d4 square with Nc6. 9.e5 Nh5 Here are some games as well, and Black is doing fine.] 15


7...b5 8.Qb3 [Kramnik recently tried 8.Qd3 which is also very interesting.] 8...c5 As usual, in the Grünfeld, Black needs to undermine the center, even at the cost of a pawn. Active piece play should compensate for the small material deficit. 9.dxc5 Bg7 10.e4 0–0

11. Be2 Be6 Now we got the same position as in the 1.d4 line, but we avoided the Bb7 setup. Until this position, you could see how many alternatives White had with the Anti Grünfeld, so it’s easier to understand the players who play 1...c5. On the other hand, after 1.Nf3 c5, Black must be ready to play the Sicilian after 2.e4, which isn’t necessarily in everybody’s repertoire. [If Black puts his bishop on the h1–a8 diagonal, it would occupy the knight’s square on c6. 11... Bc6 White gets an advantage after 12.e5 Nfd7 13. Be3 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.0–0 The knight cannot develop to c6 now. 15...e6 16.a4!+= with a clear initiative on the queenside.] 12.Qc2 Nbd7 Recently, we have seen many high level games on this position. White can’t hold his pawn, it’s better for him to give it back and try to get the initiative with a quick development.

13. Be3 [13.b4 is met with 13...a5! White’s queenside collapses.; 13.c6 is an interesting try. 13...Nb8 14.Ng5 Nxc6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 looks nice for White, but the holes on the dark squares are telling. Nd4 is the threat and the concrete line leads to a draw: 16.Nxb5 Rc8 17.Nc3 Nd4 18.Qd3 Nd7! Black has huge compensation, the Grünfeld bishop starts to work as well. 19.0–0 Nc5 20.Qd1 Nxe2+ 21.Qxe2 Qd3 After the simplifications, a drawn endgame arises. 22. Re1 Qxe2 23. Rxe2 Nd3 24.Kf1 Nxb2 25. Bxb2 Bxc3= Meier-Le Quang Liem, Dortmund 2011.] 13... Rc8 14. Rd1 Black must act urgently, because White wants to defend the pawn with b4! [White can get the bishop pair with 14.c6 Rxc6 15.Nd4 Rd6 16.Nxe6 Rxe6 but Black creates quick counterplay 17.f3 Qc7 18. Rc1 Rc8 19.Qb1 Rc6 20.0–0 Nb6 Black has no problems. He can jump to c4 with his knight, or just open the diagonal for the bishop with Nfd7, which is also good.; Now 14.b4 is met with 14...Nxe4!] 14...b4! 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Black seems to collapse, but as it’s usual in the Grünfeld, he has a tactical idea...

16...Nxc5! 17.0–0 This is the starting position of this opening. It’s not clear yet if White can hope for an advan16


tage, or if Black has enough counterplay. The big plusses of White are the bishop pair and the c6 square, where a knight or a bishop could be really powerful. Black, on the other han,d is very active. [Black easily wins back the piece after 17. Bxc5? Qa5 18. Rc1 Nd7=+] 17...a5 A double-edged move. Black would like to transfer his knight to d6 and the pawn on a6 is not hanging anymore, but the drawback is that it gives up the b5 square, and the bishop could arrive to c6. The game becomes concrete now. .. [Recently, Svidler played twice 17...Nce4 but just one day after our current game was played, he got a slightly worse endgame against Jakovenko. 18.Qd3 All the following moves are the recommendation of the computer. It’s clear that both players were following their preparations. 18...Qd6 19.Qxa6 Rc2 20. Bd4 Nc5 21.Qxd6 exd6 22. Bb5 Nfe4 23.Ne1

23... Rd2! Of course, it’s very hard to find all these moves without the machine... 24. Bxg7 Rxd1 25. Bxf8 Kxf8 26.Nf3 Rxd5 27. Bc6 Rd3 28. Ra1 This is what the computer suggests to get an even position (yes, this is how the top GMs are prepared today — the first 28 moves without thinking, but actually, I think that White should be slightly

better. The bishop is better than the knight and he can create a passer with a4. 28...g5 29.h3 h5 30. Re1!+= White was doing better, but Svidler managed to hold the draw. Jakovenko-Svidler, Moscow 2012.] 18. Bb5 White had other moves, but this one is the most principled. 18...Nce4 19. Bc6 And here comes the very strong and deep novelty of Giri, which seems to solve all of Black’s problems.

19...Qc7! Black creates some concrete threats against the c6 bishop. He wants to play e6 now. The other point is quite hidden... As we will see, White has some problems with his dark squared bishop. Black took control over the h2-b8 diagonal, and the bishop has no good square if it gets attacked. We will soon understand what is going on... [19...Nd6 was played before, but after the strong novelty 20. Bf4! White seems to be better. 20...Qb6 21.Qa4!+= with the plan of Nd2, playing against the a5 weakness.] 20. Rc1! White had to defend the bishop against the e6 threat.

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20...Nd6! Black creates another concrete threat: Nxd5! It didn’t work before, since the e4 pawn was hanging. The White queen must leave the pin now, but then, after Nf5, White has problems with his bishop. 21.Qe2 Black must play concrete chess. If White manages to consolidate, he’ll enjoy a stable advantage. [21. Qa4 Nf5! 22. Bd2 (22.Bc5 is met with 22...Ne4!) 22... Qb6 and the bishop stands poorly on d2. It occupies the knight’s „transfer square”. Black wants to play Ne4 in the next move.] 21...Nf5 White is facing the same problem with the bishop, once again. 22. Bc5! We are in the critical position of the game, where Giri makes a serious mistake, probably based on a miscalculation. [22. Bd2 was worse 22...Qd6! and it’s not easy to protect the d5 pawn, and e6 is also in the air to undermine the fortress of the c6 bishop. 23.Qb5 Ne4 Black is OK!]

22... Bh6? Black initiates concrete play against the d5 pawn with Rfd8 and e6, but as we will see, the complications favor White here. Black had two good alternatives instead. [22...Nd7 was the easiest move, taking the c5

bishop next move, achieving equality easily. 23. Bxe7? doesn’t work, because of 23... Rfe8 24.d6 Qxd6! A very nice combo! 25. Bxd6 Rxe2 26. Bxd7 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Nxd6 Black ends up with a superior endgame.; 22... Rfd8 is objectively the strongest move, but it’s more complex. 23. Rfd1 (23.Qa6 Nd7) 23...e6 Black plays the same as in the game, without including the Bh6-Rc2 pair of moves. White must show very strong chess to avoid getting in trouble. 24.dxe6! Black has two concrete possibilities: 24...Qxc6 (24... Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 Qxc6 26.exf7+ Kh8 and here 27.g4! the Black knight has no good square and the pawn can’t be taken. In addition, White opens the backrank. 27...Qd7!? Black must accept to lose the knight and should eliminate the dangerous f7 pawn. (27...N xg4? loses to 28.f8Q+! B xf8 29.Bd4+! This check is the point of the g4 move. 29...N xd4 30.Qxd4++-) 28.f8Q+ Bxf8 29. Bxf8 Qxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Nxg4 31. Bd6= with an even position.) 25.exf7+ Kh8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 And here, just as in the previous line: 27.g4! An amazingly hard move to be found by a human brain. (27.Ng5 has a nice refutation, using the weakness of the weak back-rank. 27... Rd5! 28.Ne6 Nd4! 29.N xd4 R xc5! Black is better. 30.R xc5 Qxc5 31.Qe8+ Bf8=+) 27...Nxg4 28. Rc4! This frees his c5 bishop to move, since the rook is protected now. Black has to give back the piece for the f7 pawn again. 28...Qd7 29. Rxg4 Qxf7 and Black is slightly better, but objectively, the game should probably end in a draw.] 23. Rc2 Rfd8 24. Rd1 e6? [24... Bf4 was the best chance, but White is better anyway. 25.g3 Bd6 26. Rdc1 Bxc5 27. Rxc5+= Obviously, it’s a much better version for Black if he takes this bishop with the f6 knight (like in the 22... Nd7 line) and enjoys the game with his strong g7 bishop.] 18


30.Qd6! Bg7 31.f8Q+!+- and one of the knights is falling.] 27. Ba4! Suddenly Whi te is about to be winning. The c2 rook is protected, the concrete threat is Be3, and Black is positionally lost with his e6 pawn... 27...Qd8 28.Qe2! Black has no good way to deal with the e6 pawn. There is only one move to protect it, but it’s really ugly. 25.dxe6! Here, pure calculation was needed+ some inutition! 25... Rxd1+ [25...Qxc6 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.exf7+ Kh8 White has other moves as well, but again, the strongest one is 28.g4! Qd5 (28...N xg4 29.Be7+-) 29.gxf5 Qxf7 and here White has 30.Ne5! followed by fxg6, with a winning advantage.] 26.Qxd1 fxe6 Of course, this was not Giri’s intention... [But 26...Qxc6 loses to 27.exf7+ Kh8 Giri has missed either the next move

28...Ng7 There was simply no other move. 29.Ne5!+- The domination continues! It’s not easy to deal with the Nc6-e7 threat. 29...Ne4 Black tries some desperate trick connected with the weak back-rank... [29...Qd5 loses to 30.Nc6! Rxc6 31. Bxc6 Qxc6 and White can choose which piece he wants to win. 32. Be3+-(32.Bd4+-) ] 30.Nc6! Rxc6 31. Bxc6 Nxc5 32. Rxc5 With this victory, Wang Hao won the tournament! 1–0

28. Be7! Nxe7 (28...Qxc2 29.B xf6+ Black must lose control over the f8 square. 29...Bg7 30.Qxc2 R xc2 31.f8Q#) 29. Rxc6 Nxc6 or the following pretty combination: 19


Puzzle section

(7) L’Ami,A (2372) — Timman,J (2575) Politiken Cup, 01.08.2012

(5) Melkumyan,H (2639) — Meins,G (2475) Biel Open, 31.07.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Alburt,L (2550) — Gulko,B (2532) (6) Jones,G (2655) — Hawkins,J (2499) Brittish Championship, 31.07.2012 [CEWN]

Platonov memorial, 30.07.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1.+-

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(9) Hernandez Carmenates,H (2570) — Guerra Mendez,J (2434)

(11) Llaneza Vega,M (2424) — Korneev,O (2577)

Montcada Open, 27.06.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN] 1.+-

(10) Perez Mitjans,O (2471) — Peralta,F (2590) Montcada Open, 28.06.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

Spanish league, 30.07.2012 1... –+

(12) Smirnov,P (2592) — Geller,J (2555) Polugaevsky memorial, 08.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

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(13) Ivekovic,Z (2320) — Grandelius,N (2562) World Junior Championship, 05.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Battaglini,G (2419) — Nanu,C (2528) Arad Open, 29.07.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

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Endgame section (15) Zubov,A (2617) — Ponomariov,R (2726) Kiev, 04.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

A very nice example, where Ponomariov outplays his strong opponent step by step from a dead drawn position. 29.Qf6?! The first inaccuracy, which allows Black to occupy both open files. [29.Qa5 with the idea of playing Qb5 would have led to a quick draw.; If White stucks to his Qf6 idea, he should have included 29.h4 h5 and now 30.Qf6 Qb6 The difference is 31.g4! White opens the king’s position with a temporary sacrifice. 31...hxg4 32.h5 gxh5 33.Qg5+ Kf8 34.Qxh5 with an equal position. On Qb2, Qxc5 hangs with check!] 29...Qb6! White has definitely missed this move. Suddenly, he must be a little careful, since his rook cannot be activated. [29... Rd2 30. Rb1! was in White’s mind.]

30.Qa1?! [On 30.h4 Black is not obliged to the line above with h5, but he has 30... Rd2! 31.h5 Qb2! and Black has a better rook endgame due to his more active rook.; 30.Qc3 was probably the right move, to prevent Qb4. 30...a5! refreshing the threat of Qb4. After Qxb4 axb4, the rook endgame with the a2 and c4 weaknesses would be very bad for White. 31.a3! in order to control the b4 square again. Black is pressing a bit, but it’s not easy to increase the advantage. 31...a4 32.Qc2]

30...Qb4! c4 is hanging after both rook moves (Rd1 or Rb1). Just in two moves, Black achieved serious progress, but of course, the position is still close to a draw. 31.g4?! It’s not easy to stop when a series of inaccuracies start. White wants to take ground on the kingside, but he makes serious weakening moves. [31.h4 h5 32. Rc2 Trying to control the invasion on the 2nd rank. 32...a5 Black’s best chance to improve on his position is to push the a-pawn to a3. 33.Qc1! with the idea of Rb2, after protecting the c4 pawn. 33... Rb8 34. Rd2 a4! Black keeps his initiative.] 31...Qd2 The Black pieces are dominating. The concrete threat is Qe2 and on h3, Qf3! [31...a5 was also possible.]

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32.h3 a5 By pushing the pawn to a3, all the endgames become unpleasant for White. The a2 pawn gets really vulnerable. 33.Kg2 a4 34.g5 As far as I remember, Steinitz said that every pawn move should be considered twice, because they cannot retreat anymore. In this case, White creates another small weakness. [White can only temporarily activate his rook, because after 34. Rb1 Qd3 the rook should retreat to c1.] 34...e5! I like this move a lot! It prevents the only active plan with Qf6. Now, if Black could transfer his queen to f5, the g5 pawn would fall immediately. 35.Qc3?! A mistake again, but the position was already very unpleasant. [35.Qb1 a3 White is too passive.; 35. Rb1 Qc2 with the idea of Qf5 and Qxc4.] 35...Qxa2 Ponomariov happily exchanges his e-pawn for the one on a2, now the a4 becomes very dangerous. On the other hand, White at least got some activity.

not have perpetual check after 37. Rd1 Rxd1 38.Qe8+ The king escapes after plenty of only moves 38...Kg7 39.Qe5+ Kf8 40.Qb8+ Ke7 41.Qc7+ Ke6! 42.Qc8+ Ke5! One queen won’t be enough to makes a miracle this time. 43.Qe8+ Kf5 44.Qxf7+ Ke4 White will soon get out of checks. 45.Qf3+ Kd3 46.Qxd1+ Kxc4 and once again, the a-pawn wins the game for Black.] 37... Rd2 38.Kg3 Qb2! Black transposes to a winning rook endgame! White cannot avoid the exchange of queens. 39.Qxb2 axb2 40. Rb1 Kf8 It’s time to bring the king. The Black rook is very active, it can harass all the White pawns. 41.Kf3 Ke7 42.e4! The only way to have access to the b2 pawn. 42...Kd6 43.Ke3 Rc2

36.Qxe5 a3

37.Qf6 [Quality is more important than quantity. The apawn decides the game after 37.Qxc5 Qb2; White does

44.h4 Black has the possibility to win a pawn. The question is, which is the most favorable moment to do it... [44. f4 Rc3+ 45.Kd2 Rxh3 leads to the same pawn endgame as in the 44. Rd1 line.; 44. Rd1+ Ke5 45.f4+ Ke6 Rc1 is threatened. 46. Rb1 Rh2 Black wins a pawn, since the 24


pawn endgame is winning for him. 47.h4 Rxh4 48. Rxb2 Rh3+ 49.Kd2 Rh2+ 50.Kc3 Rxb2 51.Kxb2 f6! Only this move wins! 52.gxf6 (52.Kc3 fxg5 53.fxg5 Ke5 54.Kd3 Kf4) 52...h5 The White king is too far away!] 44... Rc3+ [44...Ke5!? was an alternative, provoking the f4 move. 45.f4+ Ke6 46.Kf3 f5 47.gxf6 Kxf6 48.Ke3 and at this moment, winning the pawn with 48... Rc3+ 49.Kd2 Rxc4 50. Rxb2 Rxe4 looks quite good for Black.] 45.Kd2 Rxc4 46. Rxb2 Rxe4

48...Kd5 49.hxg6 hxg6 50. Rf6 Rxg5 51. Rxf7 Rf5! Black wins the pawn just as in the 48.hxg6 line. 52. Rd7+ Kc6 53. Rg7 Rxf2+ 54.Kd3 Rg2! This endgame is completely winning. The two pawns are too far from each other, the White king cannot hold both of them. Black only needs to bring his king and help the opposite pawn, where the White king is. 55. Rg8 Rg3+ 56.Kc4 Rg4+ 57.Kd3 g5 58. Rd8 Rg1 59. Rc8+ Kd6 60. Rd8+ Ke5 [White resigned in view of 60...Ke5 61. Rc8 Rg3+ and now the Black king decides its direction. It depends on where Wite goes... 62.Kc4 (62. Ke2 Kd4) 62...g4 63. Rxc5+ Kf4 The White king is standing poorly, he cannot hope for a draw. It was nice to see how easily Ponomariov brought home the point from the initial position.] 0–1

47.h5 White loses another pawn now. [47. Rb6+ seems to be a better chance, but still after 47...Ke5 48. Rc6 c4! it’s not easy for White. (48...R xh4 is a mistake, because of 49.R xc5+ Kf4 50.Rc7 White reaches a 2 vs 1 endgame, which is drawn.) 49. Rc7 Rf4 50.Ke3 Black seems to have problems with the defense of both the c4 and f7 pawn, but here comes the key move: 50...Kd6! 51. Ra7 Rf5 with the idea of Kc5 should be winning for Black.] 47... Rg4! 48. Rb6+ [48.hxg6 hxg6 49. Rb7 Rxg5 50. Rxf7 Rf5! is the point, f2 is hanging with check, while the pawn endgame is winning for Black. 51. Rg7 Rxf2+ 52.Kd3 Rg2 with the same position as in the game.] 25


(16) Moiseenko,Alexander (2711) — Vovk,Yuri (2562) [E70] 81st ch-UKR 2012 Kiev UKR (9.4), 05.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

We are in an interesting starting position. It’s clear that White wants to try to win this game. A 150 ELO difference and the White pieces give at least a phsychological advantage. But how to continue here?! Black wants to play Bd7 followed by Re8, with a draw. 24.b6! The only chance to play for a win! White has no other idea in the position. 24... Bd7 [of course not 24...cxb6? 25.Nb5 The d6 pawn is falling, leaving White with a winning position.] 25.Nb5! A great idea of White — and probably the only way to play for a win! Another option was: [25.Ne6+ but this move simply leads to a draw: 25... Bxe6 26. Rxe6 Rc8 ! A precise move which forces the exchange of pawns, making the result quite clear. 27.bxc7 Rxc7 28. Rxd6 Rxc4 with a clear draw.]

25... Bxb5 26.cxb5 cxb6 27. Re6 And now we can see the main idea of 25.Nb5!?. White has no pawn on c4, which would fall after Black’s Rc8. The position on b5 is, of course, much better.

27... Rc8! Black is trying to find a way to escape with active play. Let’s take a look at what would happen if Black would keep the passive defense. [27... Rd8 28.a4! White should not allow Black to play a4. 28...Kf7 29.Kf2 Black has no moves to improve his position. This is usually a bad sign. 29... Rd7 30.Kg3 h6 31.h4 followed by h5 or Kh3, g4-h5. It’s clear that Black’s position is close to being lost.] 28. Rxd6 The critical moment of the endgame. Can Black hold this position?! There are no simple ways and a mistake could mean the loss of the game. 28...a4?! Not the best decision in an extremly complex rook endgame. [It looks like this move also leads to a very difficult position for Black. 28... Rc1+ 29.Kf2 Rc2+ 30.Kf3 Rxa2 31. Rxb6

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31...Ke7! Black needs to get the king out of the 8th rank. (31...Rd2? To keep the Black king passive would be equal to resignation. 32.R xb7 R xd5 33.Ke4! and it’s the White king’s show! 33...Rh5 34.Kd4! The White king is going to support the movement of the b-pawn and is just in time to stop Black from moving the a-pawn too far. 34... a4 35.Kc4 followed by Ra7 and b6-b7. White is winning.) 32. Rxb7+ Kd6 33. Rxh7 Kxd5 Can Black hold this? I don’t think so. The position is very forced and very complicated, with a lot of winning and drawing ideas. Let’s take a look at a few lines. This is a great position for further analysis for the endgamefans! 34.h4! White has to start pushing his pawns. (If White tries to win the pawn immediatly, Black has a nice drawing idea: 34.Rg7 Ra3+! getting the White king away from the pawns. 35.Kf4 Ra4+ 36.Kg5 Ra2 Now, the White king on g2 is blocking his own rook... 37.g4 R xh2 38.R xg6 Kc5 39.b6 Rb2 and Black is just in time to make a draw.)

34...a4 35. Rg7 Kc5 36. Rxg6 Kxb5 We have a move by move position. It looks like White is in time to win the game. 37. Rg8 Ra1 38.h5 From now on, everything is forced! 38... Rh1 39.g4 a3 40. Ra8 Kb4 41.Kg2! This moves win a tempo. 41... Rh4 42.Kg3 Rh1

43. Ra6! White is in time to bring the pawn to h6, and then to g5! 43...Kb3 44.h6 a2 45.g5 Kb2 46.Kf4 a1Q 47. Rxa1 Kxa1 48.Kf5 Kb2 49.Kg6 Kc3 50.Kh7 Kd4 51.g6 Ke5 52.g7 Rg1 53.g8Q Rxg8 54.Kxg8 Kf6 55.h7 White is winning.; 28... Rc5!? I have no idea whether this move leads to a winning or to a drawing position. A lot of drawing and winning ideas make this rook endgame extremly complex! 27


29. Rxb6 Rxd5 30. Rxb7 Rd1+ 31.Kf2 Rd2+ 32.Ke3 Rxa2 33.Kd4 a4 34.b6 Rb2 (34...R xg2? 35.R xh7 and White is winning.) 35.Kc5 a3 36. Ra7 a2 37.g3! An important move, Black is not in time to get both White pawns. (The beginning of a very forced line which leads to a draw! 37.Kc6 Rc2+ 38.Kd7 Rd2+ 39.Kc8 Rc2+ 40.Kb8 Rxg2 41.b7 (Doesn’t change much 41.h3 Rh2 42.b7 R xh3 43.Ka8 Rb3 44.b8Q+ R xb8+ 45.Kxb8 and we are back to the main line.) 41... Rxh2 42.Ka8 Rb2 43.b8Q+ Rxb8+ 44.Kxb8 g5 45.Kc7 Ke7 and here comes the Black king!

46.Kc6+ Ke6 47.Kc5 Ke5 48. Rxa2 g4 with an easy draw!) 37...Ke8!! What an amazing drawing idea! (37... R xh2 38.b7! forcing the Black rook to go back to b2. 38... Rb2 39.Kc6 Rc2+ 40.Kd7 Rd2+ 41.Kc8 Rc2+ 42.Kb8 Rb2 43.Ka8 and White is easily winning.) 38.Kc6 Rc2+ 39.Kb7 Kd8!= Black is in time to stop White from playing Kb8 and b7. 40.Kb8 Rc8+ 41.Kb7 Rc2 An amazing draw.; 28... Rc2 Another interesting option for Black, but it seems to lose. 29. Rxb6 Rxa2 30. Rxb7 Rb2 31.d6 Ke8! Again, we see the typical idea. The Black king takes an active part in the defense. 32. Re7+! (32.b6 Kd8 and draw.;

32.R xh7 It’s quite unclear if this move is winning or not, but it’s just a worse version than the move Re7, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense for White. 32...R xb5 33.Rg7 a4 34.Ra7 Rd5 35.R xa4 R xd6 36.Rf4) 32...Kd8 33. Rxh7 Rxb5 34. Rg7 a4 35. Ra7 Rd5 36. Rxa4 Rxd6 37. Re4! Cutting the Black king from the g-pawn. The position is easily winning for White!] 29. Rxb6 Now Black is not in time...

29...a3? This move is already clearly losing. [29...Ke7 would be the best way to fight, even though the position is lost. 30. Rxb7+ Kd6 31. Rxh7 Rc1+ 32.Kf2 Rc2+ 33.Kf3 Rxa2 34. Rg7 Kxd5 35. Rxg6 and as we saw already, White is winning here.] 30. Rxb7 Rc1+ [Black is too late for cutting the White king. 30... Rc2 31. Rxh7! White doesn’t take the pawn... 31... Rxa2 32. Ra7 with an easy win for White.] 31.Kf2 Rc2+ 32.Ke3 Rxg2 33. Ra7 [33. Rxh7 would win as well.] 33... Rxa2 34.Kd4 and Whtie wins with an already wellknown idea.

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Issue 24 Clash of the Titans

10th of August 2012

(17) Simagin,Vladimir — Petrosian,Tigran V [E24] Moscow-ch Moscow, 1950 [Balogh Csaba] 34... Rd2+ 35.Kc5 a2 36.b6 As we saw in the lines above, the White king is going to a8! And the extra dpawn of White gives him an easy win. 36... Rxh2 37.b7 Rb2 38.Kc6 White wants to take on a2, so Black is forced to check. 38... Rc2+ 39.Kd7 Rb2 40.Kc8 Rc2+ 41.Kb8 Rb2 42.Ka8 a1Q 43. Rxa1 Ke7 44. Ra6! The last precise move! What a complex rook endgame. Great play by Moiseenko, even though Black made it slightly too easy!

I consider the following game to be very important from a theoretical point of view. Petrosian showed the right way to play against the 4.a3 system of the Nimzo-Indian defense more than 60 years ago. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 A tricky setup, which should not be underestimated. The idea is to gain the bishop pair and to create a big center with bxc3 and f3e4, which can be very dangerous if Black doesn’t react correctly. The obvious drawback is the doubling of the pawns on the c-file. Black should quickly put pressure on the c4 pawn.

1–0

4... Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Nc6 Despite that it’s a rare sideline, I believe this is the easiest and maybe the best way for Black could play. The idea is a quick b6, Ba6 and Na5. The main move is 5...c5. 29


6.f3 [6.e4!? is an interes eting alternative, even though it was only played once in a high-level game. Jobava beat Carlsen in 2010 in a nice game, but it was definitely not because of the opening. 6...Nxe4 7.Qg4! This double attack is the point. 7...f5 8.Qxg7 Qf6 9.Qxf6 Nxf6 I don’t believe that in the endgame thar arose, White could objectively hope for an advantage. 10.Nf3 b6 Black continues his plan against the c4 pawn. 11.d5 (On 11.Bf4 Ba6! is very strong. 12.B xc7 Rc8 13.Bf4 Na5 Black wins back the pawn and overtakes the initative.) 11...Na5 (11...exd5 is also possible. 12. Bg5 (12.cxd5 N xd5 13.c4 Nde7 14.Bb2 Rg8 followed by Ba6 and 0–0–0, White does not have enough compensation.) 12...0–0 13. Bxf6 Rxf6 14.cxd5 Na5 Black is OK!) 12.Nd4 Kf7 13.dxe6+ dxe6 14. Bf4 and here, for example, Carlsen could have forced a draw with 14...e5 15. Bxe5 Re8 16.f4 Ng4 17. Be2 Nxe5 18.fxe5 Rxe5=] 6...b6! 7.e4 Ba6 Both players have accomplished their plans. White got the center, while Black is pressing the c4 pawn. It’s time for White to develop his pieces. 8. Bg5 [8.e5 is the other move. 8...Ng8! A standard reaction, which might look a bit passive, but Black has no need to worry, the knight goes to e7 and he is still far ahead in development. 9.Nh3 (On 9.Bd3?! Na5 10.Qe2 c5 Black is better. He threatens to take on d4 followed by Rc8 and after 11.d5? Black wins a pawn with a small combination: 11...B xc4! 12.B xc4 Qh4+) 9...Na5 10.Qa4 A sad necessity, but this was the ony way to protect the pawn. 10...Ne7 11.Ng5 By transferring the knight to g5, White wants to counter the main counterplay with c5-Rc8, by occupying the d6 square with his knight. But there is another nice motif to increase the pressure on the c4 pawn:

11...Qc8! with the idea of Qb7-c6. 12.Ne4 Qb7 13. Bg5 Ng6 14.h4 h6 15. Be3 Ne7 Black is ready to play Qc6 again, and White can’t avoid it anymore. 16.h5 Qc6 17.Qxc6 Nexc6 18.Nd2 d6 19.f4 Ne7 20.g4 d5! Nice play on the light squares. 21.c5 Bxf1 and here, suddenly, the game Jobava-Khairullin, Martuni 2011 ended in a draw, but Black was already slightly better.] 8...Na5! Petrosian correctly realized that e5 is not a real threat, he can calmly continue his plan. [8...h6 9. Bh4 Na5! is the same.] 9.e5 [9.Qa4 meets with the same motif that we have seen before. 9...h6 10. Bh4 Qc8! The queen goes to c6 again. 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nh3 Qb7=+ Black is better. He has the option to castle queenside as well.] 9...h6! We can meet this idea in many different openings. Black can solve the problem of the pin by attacking the bishop. 10. Bh4 Provoking a g5 weakening move, against which White can start to create counterplay. [10.exf6 hxg5 11.fxg7 Rg8 Black is better.] 10...g5 11. Bf2 Nh5 30

Issue 24 Sokolov, St Petersburg 1993.; 13.g3 was met with very strong play. 13...f4! 14.hxg5 (14.g4 Ng3 This might cost a pawn on g3, but Black will recover it soon on c4.) 14... Qxg5 15.Nh3 Qg8 16.gxf4 and here after (16.g4 Ng3 17.B xg3 fxg3=+) 16...Qf7! Black could have obtained an advantage in Berkes-Almasi, Kazincbarcika 2005 game.]

10th of August 2012

13...Qxf6 12.h4! Here it is! Finally, White also got a target. Black must react accurately, otherwise he might get into deep trouble. 12...f5! A very strong positional move, which restricts White’s possibilities on the kingside. [The greedy 12... Bxc4 would lead to the triumph of White’s opening strategy. 13.hxg5 Qxg5 14.Nh3 in order to control the f4 square to be able to push g4. 14...Qg6 15.Bxc4 Nxc4 16.g4! Ng7 This is a really sad place for the knight. It’s a sign that something went wrong in Black’s position. 17.Qe2 Na5 18.Nf4 Qh7 (18...Qg5? loses to 19.Qe4 Bh4 traps the queen.) 19.Bh4!+/- White installs the bishop on f6.] 13.exf6? A very bad decision which gives Black a big advantage. It helps in the development, but the biggest drawback is that it allows the h8 rook to be protected. Now on hxg5, Black has the „healthy” recapture with the pawn. [The main 13.hxg5 has concrete problems. 13... Qxg5 Black wants to play Ng3. 14.Nh3 Qg6! 15.g4 fxg4 16. Bd3 (White’s whole idea with 16.fxg4? is refuted by 16...Qe4+!) 16...Qf7 17.fxg4 Now the knight has a much better place than on g7. 17...Nf4! 18.Nxf4 Qxf4 19. Bg6+ Kd8! Looks ugly, but the next moves are Kc8-b7... artificial castling. 20.Qe2 Kc8 Black was better in Agrest-

14.c5 White gets rid of the doubled pawns, but he gives up the bishop pair and remains with his bad bishop on f2. His queenside pawns remain weak and new holes are created on the light squares. White’s only hope could be on the kingside, but after a nice move by Petrosian, Black overtakes the initiative on that flank as well. [14.hxg5 hxg5 with the idea of 0–0–0. 15.g4 Nf4 16. Rxh8+ Qxh8 White cannot hold the c4 pawn for long.] 14... Bxf1 15.Kxf1

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15...g4! White is in big trouble. All his pieces are poorly placed and without future, while taking the pawn would cost a rook.

19...Qf5! Black takes full control over the light squares with the help of a fantastic mate.

16.Qd3 White threatens to take on g4 after controlling the g3 square, but Black protects it indirectly again, without changing the pawn structure. [16.fxg4? Ng3+]

20...Qd3+ Petrosian decides to win the game in the endgame... [A player with different style, for example Mikhail Tal, would have played 20...Nd3 21. Rd1 Nxf2 22.Qxf2 (22.Qxf5 Ne3+! is the point, White loses big material. 23.Kxf2 N xd1+) 22...gxf3 keeping the queens on the board and Black wins.]

16...0–0! 17. Re1?! Giving a free tempo in such a squeezed position cannot be a good idea, but the position was already quite hopeless. [17.Qe4 was probably the most resistant, but Black can choose between two good moves: 17...Qf5 transposing into a much better endgame. (Or keeping the queens on the board with 17...Qg7 ) 18.Qxf5 Rxf5; 17. Ra2 refreshing the idea of fxg4. 17...bxc5 18.dxc5 Rab8! and now on 19.fxg4 Ng3+! 20.Qxg3 Rb1+ 21.Ke2 Black has many winning moves. One of them is 21...Nb3] 17...Nf4! 18.Qc2

20. Rc1 [20.Qxf5 Nd2# Not bad. :-)]

21.Qxd3 Nxd3 22. Rd1 Ndb2! Black wins a pawn and continues dominating. 23. Ra1 gxf3 In the whole game, cxb6 would have been met with axb6, leaving the a3 pawn alone. 24.Nh3 bxc5! 25.Kg1 [25.dxc5 e5 followed by e4-e3.] 25...Nd3 The game is practically over, White is two pawns down and has many weaknesses... The rest is a matter of technique.... 26.Kh2 Rab8 27. Ra2 Rb3 28.dxc5 e5 Nothing can stop the e-pawn. 29.g4 e4 White should have resigned showing respect to his opponent. It might be that Petrosian was in some small time pressure and his opponent decided to wait until the time control.

18...Nc4! Petrosian brings his knights to the game. If you look at the position, it’s easy to feel that the end is near! 19.g3 [19.fxg4 loses to 19...Nd3! 20. Re2 Ne3+! 21. Rxe3 Qxf2+ 22.Qxf2 Rxf2#; Probably 19. Bg3 was the best, but still after 19...Nd5 20.Qd3 b5 White has no moves. The next moves could be simply Rf7 and Raf8. Black can do whatever he wants.]

30.g5 e3 31.gxh6 exf2 32.Nxf2 Nxf2 33. Rxf2 Kh7 34. Rd1 Rf7 35.c6 d6 36. Rd3 Rb2 37.Kg3 Rxf2 38.Kxf2 Ne5 39. Rd4 Nxc6 40. Ra4 Kxh6 White resigned. A nice lesson by Petrosian. We must add that his opponent was a very strong grandmaster. 0–1 32



Solutions

(18) Holm,E

(19) Vachier Lagrave,M (2686) — Meins,G (2475)

1917

Biel Open, 24.07.2012

[CEWN]

[Solutions]

1.=

11.Nfe7+!! Rxe7 [11...Nxe7 12.Nxf6++-] 12.Nxf6+ Kg7 13.Nxe4+(20) Wang Hao (2739) — Nakamura,H (2778) Biel, 25.07.2012 [Solutions]

33


27. Rxd5!! Qxd5 28. Bxe6! fxe6 29.f7+! Kd8 [29... Nxf7 30.Nf6++-; 29... Rxf7 30.Nxd6+ Qxd6 31.Nxf7 0–0! 32.Qf3! Qe7 33.Nxh6+ Kg7 34.Qxf8+ Qxf8 35. Rxf8 Kxf8 36.Ng4; 29...Ke7 30.Qxh6!! Rdd8! 31.f8Q+! Rdxf8 32.Qg7+ Kd8 (32...Ke8 33.Nf6+ R xf6 34.Qxh8++-) 33. Rxf8+ Rxf8 34.Qxf8+ Kc7 35.Qxd6+ (35.Qf3!?) 35...Qxd6 36.Nxd6 Kxd6 37.g3]

(22) Fedorchuk,S (2634) — Eljanov,P (2693) Ukrainian Championship, 28.07.2012 [Solutions]

30.Nxe6+ Kc8 31.f8Q+ Rxf8 32. Rxf8+ Bd8 [32... Kb7 33.N6c5++-] 33.Nxd6+ Kb8 [33...Qxd6 34. Rxd8+ Rxd8 35.Nxd8+ Kxd8 36.Qd3!+-] 34. Rf1 Rxd6 35.Nxd8 Qc4 [35... Rxd8 36.Qxh6+-] 36. Rg1 Rxd8 37.Qg3+ Kb7 38.Qxg6+(21) Vovk,Y (2562) — Volokitin,A (2704) Ukrainian Championship, 27.07.2012 [Solutions]

35...g5! 36.hxg5 [36.Kxc3 gxh4–+] 36...h4! 37.Ke1 h3 38.Kf1 Kg6 39.f4 Nd5 40.Kf2 Nxf4 0–1

27...Nxd4! 28. Rdb1 [28.cxd4 Qxd2! (28...c3? 29.Qe1!) 29. Rxd2 c3–+] 28...Nxf3+ 29.gxf3 d4–+ (23) Efimenko,Z (2689) — Ponomariov,R (2726) Ukrainian Championship, 30.07.2012 [Solutions]

45... Rf4!! [45... Re8 46.Qd5+ Re6=; 45... Re6 46.Qd8+ Re8 47.Qd5+ Re6=; 45... Re5? 46.h7+! Kh8 (46...Qxh7 47.Qd8+ Kg7 48.Qd7+ Kg8 49.Qxh7+ Kxh7 50.N xe5) 34


47.Qd8+ Re8 48.Qxd4+] 46.Qd5+ [46. Bxf4 Qb1+–+] 46...Kh7 0–1[46...Kh7 47.Qd7+ Rf7–+] (24) Zhao Xue (2556) — Mkrtchian,L (2450)

(26) Lillo Ferrer,J (2127) — Georgiev,K (2680) Andorra Open, 21.07.2012 [Solutions]

Jermuk, 25.07.2012 [Solutions]

19...Nxb4! 20.0–0–0 [20.axb4 Bxb4+ 21.Kf1 a3 22. Bc1 Bc3 23. Rxa3 Rxa3 24. Bxa3 Qa4–+] 20...Na6–+ 16.Ncxd5! Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Qd6 18.Ne3 (25) Koneru,H (2598) — Lahno,K (2537)

(27) Baches Garcia,G (2389) — Marin,M (2548) Andorra Open, 24.07.2012 [Solutions]

Jermuk, 25.07.2012 [Solutions]

15...Nxe5! 16.dxe5 Qc6! 17.f3 Qxc4

13... Rxe2!! 14.Nxe2 Qe7! 15. Re1 [15. Be3! Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qxe3+ 17. Rf2 Ne4 18.Qd4 Qxf2+ 19.Qxf2 Nxf2 20.Kxf2] 35


15... Re8! 16.Kf1 Ne4!–+ 17. Be3 [17.f3 Qh4–+]

(29) Kubbel,L

17... Bxe3 18.fxe3 Qf6+ 19.Kg1 Qf2+ 20.Kh1 Qxe3 [20...Ng3+!? 21.hxg3 Re6–+; 20... Bf3!? 21.gxf3 Re6! 22.fxe4 Rh6–+]

1926 [Solutions]

21.Qd4 Nf2+ 22.Kg1 Nd3+ 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24. Red1 [24.Kf1 Nxe1 25. Rxe1 Rxe2 26. Rxe2 Bxe2+ 27.Kxe2 f5 28.Ke3 Kf7–+] 24... Bxe2–+ (28) Toth,E (2477) — Pap,G (2566) Pardubice Open, 25.07.2012 [Solutions]

1. Rxb3! Qe4+ 2.Ka2 Qxf5 3.Nc6+ Ka6 4.Nb8+ Ka5 5.Nc6+ Ka4 6. Rb4+!! cxb4 7.b3+! Kb5 8.Nd4+! Bxd4 1/2

25.Ng6+!! hxg6 26.h5 g5 27.h6 Kh7 28.hxg7+ Kg6 29. Rh6+!! Kxh6 30.Qf5! Nxg7 [30...d4 31. Rh1+ Kxg7 32. Rh7#] 31. Rh1+ Nh5 32.g4! 1–0

36

Weekly Newsletter



17th of August 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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32

»» Solutions

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The main event of the past weeks came to an end, the Russian Super Final, with a very surprising conclusion. Six players shared the first place with only 5/9! I think it never happened before that it was only needed to score plus one to share the first place in the Russian Super Final. On the next day, a tie-break that looked like a round robin — 5 rounds — was played: Andreikin managed to score 4/5 in the rapid games and was officially declared the Russian Champion of 2012. The 2nd place went to Sergey Karjakin with 3,5/5 and the 3rd place to Peter Svidler with 3/5. The World Junior Championship came to an end. Rapport, Ipatov and Ter-Sahakyan dominated it. Ipatov ended up winning the gold medal. The French National Championship is on the way with all the best players participating in it. It’s a very interesting event with a lot of exciting games! The next 2 weeks will be a bit more “silent”, all the Top Nationals are preparing for the event of the Year, the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, which starts on 27.08. We will see almost all the Top players participating in it, and of course, your 2 commentators as well. We’ll write directly from the heat of the battles with the most interesting games and maybe even some stories. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with this edition of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Svidler,P (2749) — Vitiugov,N (2705) [C02] 65th ch-RUS Moscow RUS (8), 11.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] In this game we’ll see that even top players sometimes can miss a mate in 4 moves! Vitiugov, who is probably one of the current biggest experts on the French (although his results have not been that great lately), shows us how dynamic this opening can be. Svidler, evidently misunderstands the position from the beginning and falls quickly under a mating attack. Let’s take a look at this very interesting game!

3...c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 We are in the main position of the 3.e5 line. 6.a3 The main move as well. The ideas of both White and Black are quite easy. White tries to be solid in the center, usually trying to push b4 and to hold the central pawns, while Black tries to play against the White center, especially against the pawn on d4. 6...Nge7!? An interesting and rare move which leads to a very fighting position. [Black usually plays 6...Nh6 7.b4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 and the results show that White is doing a bit better here.; 6...c4 This is another option in this position, but I think that White should be doing better here.]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Svidler tries a move that he hasn’t played lately. [3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 This is clearly the most popular line at the moment. Vitiugov and Potkin showed that things here are by far not that clear. For those who are interested in the line, the game from the current Russian Championship GrischukPotkin is very interesting from the opening point of view.] 7.dxc5!? I guess Svidler was very surprised by 6... Nge7 and tried to make use of it immediately. It would be interesting to see what Vitiugov had in mind against 7.b4 cxb4 8.cxb4. In case of 8...Nf5, we would be back to the main position with a slightly different move order. 7...Qc7! A strong reaction. [If he simply took: 7...Qxc5 8.b4! A typical move in these French structures. White quickly gets active with 8...Qb6 9.c4 Qc7 10. Bb2 and White is in time for Bb2, which is very important. We can 3


see that White is more active here and even though the position is far from clear, the advantage should be on his side.]

king on e1 will feel quite uncomfortable very soon.) 9... Ngxe5 10.0–0! (Doesn’t work 10.Bf4 Nd3+! 11.Qxd3 Qxf4 12.0–0 Be7 and Black has a nice position.) 10... Be7

8. Bb5 The only move for White to hold the pawn on e5.

11. Bf4 and I think White is more active.] 8... Bd7!? Another str ong move by Vitiugov. Black doesn’t care about winning the pawn back immediately, but instead tries to play with a better development. [8... Ng6 This was the other choice Black had. Now the pawns on e5 and c5 are hanging... one of them is going to fall. 9.b4! It’s very typical for this structures to hold on to the c5 pawn. If White allows Black to take with Bxc5, Black would be perfect. (9.Qd4 An attempt to hold both pawns would end in nothing. 9...b6! At first sight, it’s a very strange move, but a typical motif as well. Black uses the bad position of the White queen on d4 to develop all his pieces and have a flexible and accelerated play. 10.cxb6 axb6 Black creates a double threat: to play Bc5 and win the c5 pawn, or to play Ba6 and force White to play Bxc6, after which all the white squares would feel very empty. 11.b4 Ba6 12.B xc6+ Qxc6 And we reached a position where Black has good compensation for the pawn. The next Black’s moves could be Be7 0–0 and f6! The White

9.Qe2 If you want to protect the extra pawn, then do it until the end! [The devolut ion of the pawn would lead to a not very comfortable position for Black. 9.0–0 Nxe5 10. Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.b4 g6! and the Black bishop finds a way out through g7. 12.Nd4 a6 Black is doing fine here, moreover, I think White needs to be quite careful to avoid getting in trouble. If Black manages to play Bg7, 0–0 and e5, his center will be just huge!] 9...f6 Very creative play by Black, but I think that a simpler and more logical move would leave him with a great position : [9...Ng6! There’s no reason not to attack the pawn on e5 one more time! 10. Bxc6 The only move to hold the e5-pawn. In all other cases Black would play Nce5 or Nge5 with a great position. 10... Bxc6 11.b4 Be7 12.0–0 0–0 13. Bb2 It seems that White is just a pawn up. Where is Black’s play?! 13...f6! Black is crushing the rest of what’s left of the White center. All the Black pieces are suddenly

4


standing on just the right positions. Black is clearly the one who is pushinghere!] 10.exf6 gxf6

11.Nbd2?! The right idea, but clearly the wrong move order. [11.c4! This is the right way to act against the Black central pawns. 11...d4 (11...0–0–0 12.Nc3! and we can clearly see why the move 11.Nbd2 was wrong. The White knight on c3 is a beast! If Black pushes d4, White always has the maneuver Ne4-Nd6.) 12.Nbd2 followed by Ne4Nd6. The position remains complicated, but in my opinion, the advantage should be on White’s side.] 11...0–0–0 Black is going to play for the initiative. 12.c4 Rg8! A very nice move by Black going against the White pawn structure in a very unpleasant way. The White knight on d2 is suddenly a very bad piece that only has one move: Nb3, which looks quite senseless. To castle short is very dangerous, Black could counter with e5! We can see how, in 2 moves, White got in trouble out of a better position.

13.g3 [13.0–0 e5! The Black central pawns are very strong now. 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Nb3 Bh3 and White is on the edge of being very bad.] 13...e5! Of course! Black shows why he played 9...f6.

14.cxd5 Not a pleasa nt move to make, but there’s no other way to defend against Black’s e4 threat.. . 14...Nxd5 It’s amazing to see what happened to White’s position in merely 5 moves! 15.Nb3 Bg4 Not a bad move, but Black had another nice attacking option. [15...e4! Black uses the bad position of the White king with immediate action. 16.Nfd2 (16.B xc6 Not making place for the knight on d4 doesn’t work due to 16...exf3! 17.B xd7+ Qxd7 18.Qxf3 Re8+ and Black is winning.) 16... Bh3! keeping the White king in the center. All the Black pieces are ready to attack. It’s hard to imagine White surviving it.] 16.Qc2?! This was the last moment to think about castling. [A good move in a bad position. 16.0–0 a6 17. Bc4 Bxc5 18. Rd1! and White is still in the game, even if the position is very dangerous. (18.N xc5 Nd4)]

5


16...Nf4! Black had a lot of nice moves here, but Vitiugov chooses the most spectacular one, and probably one of the best options as well. [The simple 16...Kb8 17. Be2 Qf7 would lead to a horrible position for White as well.]

20.gxf4 If the death is inevitable, then at least with a rook up!

17.Nbd2 What a positio n! We can rarely see Black crushing White like this after just 17 moves! [17. Bxf4? would allow Black to play 17... Bxf3 and the game is over.; It isn’t much better to play 17.Nfd2 Ng2+ 18.Kf1 Bh3 19.Kg1 Qd7 and White is in a total bad situation. It’s even hard to find a move for White! Black should be just winning here.]

21.Ne4 Nf3+? This move let the whole advantage of Black slip away. [21...Qe7! following the correct plan of using the e-file. 22. Bd3 f5 Cool and strong. Black is winning some material back, and continues attacking the White king. 23. Bxf4 fxe4 24. Bc4 Rf8 Just an exchange down for such an attack — a dream position for every attacking player. Objectively, Black should win very soon.]

17... Rxd2! „No mercy for White” says Vituigov, in a position with at least 10 moves which lead to a clear advantage for Black! 18.Nxd2 Nd4 It’s really beautiful to see how the Black pieces dominate the game.

19.Qa4 Bxc5 Black continues his very „pretty” play. Sometimes it’s one of the hardest things to choose a move in a position where it looks like everything should win. [19...Ng2+! This move would finish White’s suffering on the spot. 20.Kf1 Bh3 21.Kg1 Nf4! The mate on e2 decides the game. 22.Qd1 Qc6! would be a fantastic finish of the game!]

20...exf4! Now Black wants to finish White with a check on the e-file.

22.Kf1 Only move. 22... Bh3+ 23.Ke2 Only move. 23...Nd4+ 24.Ke1 Only move. 24... Bg2 25.Qc4?? After 4 only moves, White makes a terrible mistake. [25.Nxc5! The only move to continue the fight! It looks very dangerous of course, but I think White should not think about cakes and candies.

25...Qxc5 (25...Qe5+ 26.Kd2 and it seems like White is doing good!; 25...B xh1?? 26.Bd7+ Kb8 27.Qxd4+-) 26.Qc4! Probably the only move that saves White. 26... 6


Re8+ 27.Kd2 A rook move is a rook move, and this is what gives White just enough time to escape. 27...Qxc4 (27...Re2+ It seems that White is doing fine in this forced line as well. 28.Kd1 Qxc4 29.B xc4 Rc2 30.Bd3 Bf3+ 31.Ke1 B xh1 32.Kf1 Bd5 33.B xf4 with about an equal endgame.) 28. Bxc4 Bxh1 29.Kc3! and again, just in time to recover the pawn on f4, probably with a draw.] 25... Rd8! And the evaluation is: Black is winning! White can’t escape from a deadly net around the White king. Besides, Black just wants to play Bxe4 winning the material back. 26.Nxc5 The only move for White, but it gives Black a chance for a very beautiful mate! 26...Nf3+? Oh no! With only a few minutes on the clock, Vitiugov misses again how to finish his opponent! [26... Qa5+! Not a difficult but a very spectacular combination. 27.b4 Qxb5 28.Qxb5 Nc2+ 29.Ke2 f3#

An amazingly lucky draw for Peter Svidler. All in all, Black clearly dominated the game and played in a great style, but couldn’t finish his opponent. I guess Vitiugov got a few extra gray hairs after he came back to his room, turning on his computer which told him: You missed a mate in 4! I can only repeat myself: Chess is a tough game! 1/2

Wow, what a mate!] 27.Ke2 Nd4+ 28.Ke1 Nf3+ And a double: oh noooo! Still, it was not too late for Qa5. 29.Ke2 Nd4+ 30.Ke1 7


(2) Andreikin,D (2715) — Sjugirov,S (2635) [B17] 65th ch-RUS Moscow RUS (6), 09.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A beautiful attacking game! We might think that computers have killed such kind of games from the highest level, but as we will see, they are still seen occasionally. White caught his opponent with a slightly forgotten line in the opening. Black made some normal-looking moves, which appeared to be decisive mistakes.

8...h6! Black should not take the poisoned pawn... [8... Qxd4 is very risky 9.N1f3! with the idea of Ne5 and Black cannot protect the f7 pawn. 9...Qd5 Only move! (9...Bb4+? has a nice refutation: 10.c3! and on 10...Bxc3+ 11.Kf1! An intermediate move, followed by bxc3 with a piece up.) 10.Ne5! At least Black can take another pawn here, but his position remains shaky... 10...Qxg2 11. Rf1 with a strong initiative. The game may continue with 11...Be7

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 This was Karpov’s favorite move in his best years. Recently, it went a bit out of fashion. Caro-Kann players prefer the 4...Bf5 line. 5. Bc4 Probably this move caught Black as a surprise. 5.Ng5 is considered to be the only critical line for Black, but of course, if somebody plays an opening, he/she must be familiar with the subtleties of the sidelines as well, otherwise he can face such painful defeats as in this game. 5...Ngf6 6.Ng5 e6 7.Qe2 Quite a concrete line, Black must react precisely against the direct threat of Nxf7! 7...Nb6 8.Bd3 [8.Bb3 is another move with a huge theory, where Black should play the same way as in the game. 8...h6 9.N5f3 c5...]

12.Nef3! Due to the threat of trapping the queen with Rg1, Black must move into another motif. 12...Qg4 13.Nxf7! Rf8 (13...0–0 could have been Black’s idea, but it doesn’t work. 14.Nh6+! gxh6 15.Rg1+-) 14. Rg1 Qh5 15.N7e5 Followed by Bd2 and 0–0–0 with a strong attack. The e5 knight dominates the position, Black cannot get rid of it with an f6 push.] 9.N5f3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 Probably Sjugirov knew the theory until this moment and thought Black was fine. From now on, he can play with his own mind, since they have reached a comfortable middlegame... But the subtleties are just about to come... 11.Ne5 0–0?! This most logical move is the first inaccuracy... As the famous saying of GM Evgeny Bareev says: 8


„Castling is a waste of tempo”. This should only be done if you cannot improve any of your pieces. Actually, in this case, that’s exactly the situation. [I think we can believe Karpov that 11...Nbd7 is the most exact move, forcing White to castle kingside by pressing the e5 knight. White should hold it there at any cost if he wants to hope to get an advantage. 12.Ngf3 Qc7 13.0–0 Bd6 14. Re1 and only now 14...0–0 followed by b6-Bb7 with an equal position. Note that Bf4 is usually met with Nh5. White cannot hold his e5 knight that way...] 12.Ngf3 a6? [12...Nbd7 was better again, but here White already has time to castle queenside. 13. Bd2 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 I prefer White’s position.]

to hold.. 15...Qa5+ Against the check, White can always calmly respond with (15...Be7 16.Rg1 Nc5 17.0–0–0+- If Black eliminates the strong d3 bishop, the rook will join the attack along the 3rd rank.) 16.Kf1! The king is safe here, while Rg1 is coming in the next move.; 13...Nfd5 trying to keep the g-file closed, but this brings other problems. 14.g5 h5 15.Qe4! with deadly threats again. 15...g6 16.Nxg6+- wins.; 13...Qc7 14.g5 hxg5 15. Bxg5 Nfd7 16. Rg1 White is crushing.] 14. Rg1! This move is even more precise than the direct g5. White has not decided yet with which piece he wants to recapture on g5. Black cannot prevent the g5 threat anyway. [14.g5 hxg5 15. Bxg5 was also good.] 14... Bb4+ [I tried 14... Re8 with the idea of hiding the king on f8, but of course it did not work in theend 15.g5 hxg5 16.Nxg5! is the strongest. (16.B xg5 Kf8 17.0–0–0) 16... Re7 And here, similarly to the game, White wins with a great tactical firework.

13.g4!! Great move, which shows another drawback of Black’s 0–0. White makes use of the serious weakening of h6, which helps White attack to roll. After this move, White has very easy play, while Black’s defensive task is extremely difficult. 13...Nbd5 I have tried other moves as well, but they don’t help either. [13...Nbd7 Black can eliminate one knight on e5, but the other one jumps to its place... 14.g5 hxg5 15. Bxg5 The open g-file hides too many threats

17.Nh7!! Opening the g-file, the threat is Bh6! 17...Nxh7 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20. Rxg7+!! These moves are already automatic after Nh7. 20...Kxg7 21. Bh6+ Kh7 and here the fastest way to mate is 22. Be3+! Kg8 9


23.Qg5+ Kf8 24.Qh6+ Kg8 (24...Ke8 25.Qh8#) 25.0–0– 0! Bxe3+ 26.fxe3+- and mate in a few moves.] 15.Kf1! The king is completely safe here, while the attack continues with g5! 15... Be7 [15...g5 does not help. 16.h4! White is crushing anyway.; On 15... Bd6 16.g5 hxg5 17. Bxg5 b5 the strongest is 18.Qd2! The idea is to take the queen to h6. Black has no good defense against the following threat: 18... Bb7 19. Bh6! Ne8 20. Bxg7! Nxg7 21.Qh6+- and mate.] 16.g5 hxg5 17.Nxg5! This is even stronger now! Black cannot parry the fantastic threat that we have already seen in the 14... Re8 line. 17... Bd6 [17...Qc7 is refuted in the same way. 18.Nh7!! Nxh7 (18...Rd8 19.Bh6+-) 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qh5+ Kg8 and the mate is forced after 21. Rxg7+! Kxg7 22. Bh6+ Kh7 (22...Kg8 23.Qg4+ Kh7 24.Qg7#) 23. Bxf8+ Kg8 24.Qxf7++-]

21. Rxg7+! Kxg7 22. Bh6+ Kh7 (22...Kg8 23.Qg4++-) 23. Bxf8+ Kg8 24.Qxf7++-; 18... Re8 19. Bh6+-; 18...Ne8 Black tries to survive with an exchange sacrifice, but actually, White can play for more... 19.Nxf8 Kxf8 20.Nxf7! After this strike, Black has no chance to fight back in the game. 20...Kxf7 21.Qh5+ Ke7 22. Bg5+! and Black gets mated in both cases. 22...Nef6 (22...Ndf6 23.B xf6+ gxf6 24.Qh7++- Rg8 next.) 23. Bxf6+ Nxf6 24. Rxg7+ Kf8 25.Qf7#] 19. Bh6! Ne8 Try to find the final blow of the game! Everything is forced, it only requires some spectacular calculation... [19...g6 Here the sacrifice on g6 screams for itself. 20.Nxf6+ Nxf6 21.Nxg6! fxg6 22. Rxg6+ Kh8 and the easiest is 23. Bxf8 Bxf8 24. Rxf6+- Material advantage and mating attack.]

20. Bxg7! Nxg7 21. Rxg7+! Kxg7 22.Qg4+ Kh8 [22... Kh6 23.Qg5#] 18.Nh7!! The usual motif. The simple threat is Bh6. Black cannot prevent it... 18...Qc7 [18...Nxh7 leads to the same mate we saw in the 17...Qc7 line. 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qh5+ Kg8

23.Nf6!! Worthy finish to a great game![Black resigned in view of 23.Nf6 Nxf6 24.Qh4+ Kg7 25.Qg5+ Kh8 26.Qxf6+ Kg8 27.Qg5+ Kh8 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Qh7# Bravo!] 1–0

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(3) Grischuk,Alexander (2763) — Svidler,Peter (2749) [C84] 65th ch-RUS Moscow RUS (9), 12.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A huge duel between two „big guns” in the last round of the Russian Superfinal. It’s very nice for them, that despite being very good friends, Svidler and Grischuk always play „bloody” games against each other. It happened this time again. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 The game had a calm start in the Spanish opening. Recently, the 6.d3 system became very popular, mainly because it avoids the Marschall gambit, against which nobody is able to prove anything. The 6.d3 system has no real theory, and it keeps all the pieces on the board. It allows the players to use their strength to play for the win with both colors. Black can choose between various setups. It’s not clear yet which one is the best. 6...d6 7.c3 0–0 8. Re1 White plays like in the standard Spanish games, he prepares for the transfer of the knight to g3 (Nb1–d2-f1–g3) and later on, when the time comes, he’ll push d4. 8...b5 9. Bc2

9...d5 This concrete approach of trying to equalize immediately was made popular by Carlsen with an easy draw against Ivanchuk in 2011. 10.Nbd2 dxe4 11.dxe4 Be6 Many games were played on the highest level in this position. Grischuk follows the latest attempt of White and plays... 12.Qe2 White generally wants to play on the queenside, mainly against the b5 weakness, with a4 and Bd3. For Black the optimal would be to hold his structure (b4 or bxa4 would be another weakening moves), but to do this he must concentrate his pieces on the queenside. This allows White two different kind of plans, either to continue pressing on the queenside, or quickly transfer the pieces to the kingside. Let’s take a closer look... 12...Qc8 I think this is the right plan! Black needs to transfer his queen to b7 in order to hold his b7 pawn. 13.a4 Qb7 14. Bd3 Rab8! We are in the critical moment of the game. White can either fix the b5 weakness with b4 or continue the knight’s journey to g3. We often face this question in the Spanish and usually, it’s very difficult to decide. [If Black pushes 14...b4?! White has more ways to get an advantage 15. Bc4 (or 15.Nc4 Nd7 16.Ng5+= gaining the bishop pair.) 15... Bxc4 16.Nxc4+=]

11


15.b4 In my opinion, in the current position, this is the less dangerous plan. [15.Nf1 Black also has different plans. At the end I found only one of them to be playable. 15...Rfd8 a) 15...Nd7 with the idea of Nc5-b3 is met with 16.b4! and White can change his mind and play Ne3 next, since the d5 square became weak.; b) 15... Bd6 This is the standard plan. Black’s idea is to play Nc6-e7-g6, after which he can solve the problem of the b5 pawn with c6. If he achieves this, he is completely fine, but White can play aggressively here: 16.Nh4! with the idea of Nf5 or Bg5 first, and only then Nf5. 16... Ne7 17.axb5 axb5 18. Bg5! Nd7 19.Nf5! and White obtained a small advantage. 19...Ng6 (19...N xf5 20.exf5 Bd5 21.Ne3! White either takes the bishop or pushes f6 with a dangerous attack.) 20. Ra5! Concrete and strong play, Black cannot consolidate with c6. 20...b4 21.Nxd6 cxd6 22. Rb5+= and Rxb4 next.; 16.Ng3 h6! Very useful move against the potential Ng5 or Bg5 moves. 17.h3 Another useful move. White wants to develop his bishop to e3 and prevent Ng4. 17... Bf8 Black prepares against the Nf5 threats. 18.axb5 (White needs to include axb5, since 18.Be3 is met with 18...bxa4 ! and b2 is hanging.) 18...axb5 19. Be3 and here comes another typical Spanish plan.

19...Ne8! Black transfers his knight to d6, trying to use the c4 square in the future. We could see many interesting maneuvers, and the fight is just about to begin, all the pieces are still on the board. The stronger player wins the game...] 15... Bd6 Svidler prepares for the Ne7-g6 maneuverer, that we have already discussed in the previous note. [15... Rfd8 was also possible.] 16. Ra3?! The beginning of the wrong plan. The plan itself is very logical and looking nice, but he underestimates something... [16.Nf1 was even better.] 16... Rfd8! Svidler recognized White’s idea and trickily improved his rook before starting the knight’s trip... Grischuk falls to the trap. [After 16...Ne7 the previous rook move would get its point. 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nb3! followed by Be3. The c5 and a5 squares are weak.] 17.Nb3? This allows Black to grab the initiative with a nice sacrifice!

17...Nxb4! 18.cxb4 Bxb4 Suddenly both rooks are hanging. I don’t believe that Grischuk has blundered this, he rather underestimated the strength of the next move... 12


19.Nbd2 c5! Great play by Svidler! To mobilize the queenside pawns is much more important, than taking the rook. White is in trouble suddenly. [Grischuk probably expected 19... Bxa3? 20. Bxa3+= and despit e having a small material disadvantage, White is better. He threatens to take on e5 and to play Be7. Black cannot use his pawn majority.]

25. Ra5 Here again, Black could have continued playing slowly with h6, but Svidler found a direct way to obtain a winning advantage.

20.axb5 axb5 21. Ra1 Black has only 2 pawns for the piece, but it’s clear that the b- and c-pawns give more than enough compensation. The only thing he must be careful about is to avoid White’s attempt to sacrifice one of the pieces for the pawns and survive with a draw. 21...c4 22. Bc2 Qc7! Black does not need to hurry, White has no moves anyway. Svidler protected the e5 pawn. [The direct 22... Bc3 was not good, because of 23. Ra3 b4 24. Rxc3! bxc3 25.Nxc4 White gets a good blockading position.] 23. Rd1 Bc5 Giving free way for the b-pawn. [23...h6! was even more circumspect, depriving White’s from his only counterplay with Ng5, and only the next move will be Bc5. 24.Nf1 Rxd1 25.Qxd1 Bc5 with a big advantage.] 24. Ra6? Grischuk tries to sacrifice an exchange, but this is easily parried with a tempo. [24.Ng5!? Bg4 25.Ngf3 Here the best is 25...h6! preventing Ng5 after h3-Be6. 26.h3 Be6 27. Bb2 Nd7 After consolidating the position, Black can start advancing his pawns.; On 24.h3 h6 is the best again,followed by b4.] 24...Qc8! Taking on h6 could have been a good business only if it would have destroyed the pawn structure. Now the rook must retreat.

25...Ng4! 26. Rf1 c3! Of course, this move only is good if it’s winning. Otherwise, it gives White a perfect blockading position on b3. 27.Nb3 Bc4 This was the point! 28.Qe1 Bb6 Black preserves the bishop to prolong the problems around the f2 square. 29.h3 A desperate attempt to complicate matters. [29. Ra1 Bxf1 30.Kxf1 Qc4+ 31.Qe2 and here the best is 31... Ra8 White cannot avoid the penetration of the rook on a2. 32. Rxa8 (32.Rb1 Ra2) 32... Rxa8] 29... Bxf1 30.Kxf1 [On 30.hxg4 the nicest is 30... Bxg2! 31.Kxg2 Qxg4+ 32.Kf1 Qxf3 with a huge material advantage and a mating attack.] 30... Bxa5 [30...Nxf2! was even stronger, but its beautiful point had to be foreseen... 31. Rxb5

13


40.Qh1 Qa2 41.Ne1 Grischuk still tries to hold the blockade, but with his next move, Svidler mobilizes his pawns. 41... Ra3! The knight must leave, sad news for White. 42.Nc1 Qe6 43.f4 A last desperat e attempt, but of course, Black has many ways to score the win. Svidler continued to play a bit for the spectators. 43...exf4 44.e5 [44.gxf4 Qg4+ and Bxf4.] 31...Qa6! (31...Qc4+ 32.Qe2 White is OK!) 32.Qe2 Only move and now: 32...Nh1!! This great move would have been the fair way to finish the game. 33.Qc4 All the moves are winning. For example: 33...Qa2]

44...fxe3! 45.Qxh7+ White has only 2 checks there... 45...Kf8 46.exd6 Rxd6 47.Ned3 b3! A spectacular position with the pawns on the 3rd rank.

31.hxg4 Qc4+ 32.Kg1 [32.Qe2 Bc7] 32... Bc7 The complications are over. Black ended up with a material advantage: 2 rooks and 2 pawns for 3 minor pieces. The pawns are temporarily blocked, but White has no active plan, while Black sooner or later will invade with his rook on a2! 33. Bg5 Rd7 34. Be3 Bd6! Black does not give any chance for activity with Nc5 and Bb3. Ra8-a2 is coming soon. 35.Qa1 Qc6! Refreshing the plan, White cannot prevent it anymore. 36.g5 Ra8 37.Qb1 b4 White has no moves. Black only needs some support to invade on the a-file.

48.Nf4 [48.Nc5 Rd2+ 49.Kg1 Qd5] 48... Rd2+ 49.Kh1 Qc6+ 50. Be4 And the final blow was: 50... Ra1! Nice game! 0–1

38.g3 Rdd8! Nice prophylactic move to control the back rank. 39.Kg2 Qa6! Qa2 is coming. 14


(4) Rapport,R (2605) — Grandelius,N (2562) [E30] 51st World Juniors Athens GRE (11), 13.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the 11th round out of 13 in the World Junior U-20 Championship. Around 10 years ago, the best Juniors stopped to compete in this event, which of course lost a lot of prestige. Nevertheless, a few of the Top Juniors still arrived and one of them is Rapport, who is just 16 years old. In the current game, he was leading the event with a half point, and a victory in this game would have put him as close to the gold medal as one can be. We’ll see a very interesting game with a lot of tactical motifs! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 The Nimzowitsch variation has remained as one of the main openings for at least 100 years! 4. Bg5 A relatively rare move which usually leads to quite a sharp game.

4...c5 The main move for Black. He starts to play against the White central pawns.

5.d5 Bxc3+ I’m not sure about this move and as the game will show, it can turn out as quite a bad choice for Black in just a few moves. As we saw in the latest games, Black can play trickier moves. [5...exd5 6.cxd5 0–0 7.e3 d6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nge2 h6 10. Bh4 Ne5 11.0–0

11...Ng6! 12. Bg3 Nh5 with a very unclear position Moissenko,A-Bacrot, E 2012.; 5...h6 6. Bh4 0–0 7.e3 b5 8.cxb5 exd5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10.Nge2 d6 11.0–0 Nbd7 and here Black is doing fine as well. Ivanisevic, INaiditsch,A 2011.] 6.bxc3 d6 We have a strategical position in which both sides have a clear plan. The White plan is to start some active play on the kingside; he has a bit more space in the center, and the bishop pair gives sort of a guarantee, that if the game opens up, he’s clearly going to dominate. In case of Black, the plan is to hold the position as closed as possible, making White’s bishop pair look „stupid”. Usually Black also tries to castle long making use of the bad White pawn structure: c3-c4. 7.e3! A good move! Rapport will show during the next moves exactly how White should play in this type of posi-

15


tions. The idea of 7.e3 is to keep the 2 development options for White: Bd3, Ne2 and f4; and Nf3-Nd2 and f4 7...Qe7?! Black decides to force White to play Nf3. I’m not sure if it was the best choice. In the game, it looks more like a lost tempo. I think the simple 7...e5, followed by Nbd7-Nf8-Ng6, should be the right approach in this position. 8.Nf3 Black wanted to play exd5 and Qe5.

11...e4?! And this is the move where we can say: never try it in Your own games! A big positional mistake. Now White gets an extra attacking spot, the d6 pawn! [11...g5 12. Bg3 Nh5 13. Bd3 Ndf6 would lead to a forced, but quite decent position for Black.] 12. Be2 White is preparing the devastating f3 or f4 push, and Black can only observe how his position gets crushed. 12...g5 13. Bg3 Nf8

8...e5 The e5 move needs to be done eventually — no choice here. 9.Qc2! Another good positional move by White which stops Black from castling long. [In case of the immediate 9.Nd2 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bf5! followed by Nbd7 and 0–0–0, Black gets quite a comfortable position.]

14.0–0! The safest and best for White. The next move f4 is unstoppable. Of course, optional moves like 14.h4!? were interesting as well, but why not to follow the main plan? 14...Ng6 15.f4! Until this moment, White has played great game! 9...h6 This move should be questioned as well. I think it was better for Black to play Nbd7-Nf8-Ng6, and only then h6. I guess White is doing a bit better but the game is quite open. 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11.Nd2! White is again showing Black he understands the opening clearly better. Now against Black’s 11...Nf8, White is ready for 12. Bd3!

15...exf3 [15...gxf4 16. Bxf4 and the Black position is falling apart.] 16. Rxf3! A correct decision by Rapport. Actually, White could take on f3 with any piece keeping an advantage, but 16. Rxf3 is the most forced and dynamic way of showing that there are big problems in Black’s position. 16...Ng4 Only move, Black is trying to hold his position with the strong knight on e5. 16


17.Ne4 N6e5 18. Raf1! There is no stop sign for Richard Rapport. Really a fantastic game by the young Hungarian GM. 18... Bd7 Grandelius is trying to escape with his king [In case of 18...Nxf3+ White needs to calculate precisely, but the position is winning! 19. Bxf3! Nxe3 (19...Ne5 20.Bh5 and game over.) 20.Qf2! Chess can be beautiful. 20...Nxf1 21. Bxd6 Qd8 22. Bh5

19...Qxd6 20. Rxf7 This was the White’s idea of White, but Black is fighting. 20...Nxe3! The only move! Like the saying goes: „If you suffer, at least get some material in exchange”. [Immediately loses 20...0–0–0 21. Bxg4! Nice little tactic. 21... Bxg4 22.Qe4 with a double attack on e5 and g4. 22... Rhe8 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24.Qxg4+ and White’s advantage of two pawns should be enough to win the game.] 21.Qe4 Correct play by White [21. Bh5 Funny-looking move that doesn’t work. 21...Nxc2 Cold and hungry move! (21...0–0–0 gives White quite a good play. 22.Qe2 N3xc4 23.R 7f6 with a big initiative.) 22. Rh7+ Kd8 23. Rxh8+ Kc7 24. Rxa8 Ne3 and Black is clearly doing better.]

What a fantastic final position! White is winning even though he has a huge material deficit.; 18...f5 is countered by 19. Rxf5! Bxf5 20.Nxd6+ Qxd6 21. Rxf5 and Black is hopeless against Bxg4. He’ll start losing material from the next move. 21...Qe7 (21...Qd7 22.h3; 21...N xe3? 22.R xe5+ Qxe5 23.Qg6++-) 22.d6! and again we can see how nicely all the White pieces dominate the board.] 19.Nxd6+?! This spectacular move is not the best. [Why not to simply play... 19.Bxe5! Qxe5 (19...Nxe5 20.Rf6) 20.Rg3 and suddenly the knight on g4 is in trouble. 20...f5 21.Bxg4 Maybe White has other choices, but this is the simplest one. 21...Qxe4 22.Qxe4+ fxe4 23.Bxd7+ Kxd7 24.Rf7+ and we can clearly see that this rook endgame is easily winning!]

21...Nxf1 22. Bxe5 [It’s not enough for White to play: 22. Rxf1 0–0–0! and the Black king escapes. 23. Bxe5 Rhe8 and Black’s still an exchange up.] 22...Nd2 23.Qe3! Again, the only move that allows White to try to win the game. [It’s not enough to play 23. Bxd6+ Nxe4 24. Re7+ Kd8 25. Rxe4 Re8! It’s very important for Black to exchange the last White rook. 26. Rxe8+ Kxe8 27. Bxc5 Bf5 and we are in an endgame which is better for White, although I think it should be a draw.] 17


23...Qg6 24. Rf2 Qb1+ The only move. [24...Qe4? loses by force. 25. Bh5+ Kd8 26. Bf6+ Kc7 27.Qxc5+ Bc6 28.h3! and White starts to take away the material.]

30.Qxc5 Rexe5 31.Qxa7

25. Bf1 We are still in a forced line. 25...Nxf1 26. Rxf1

26...Qxf1+ 27.Kxf1 0–0+ 28.Kg1 The forced line that started with 19. Nd6 finally ended with 28.Kg1! Almost 10 moves of forced action. Did Rapport calculate all until here? I think it’s very doubtful. We can clearly say that White is doing better but Black has good chances to hold the position. 28... Rae8 29.h3?? What a shocking move. If White wanted to make a draw, he could have played 29.Qd3 Rxe5 30. Qg6 with a perpetual check, but I think he should have tried to play for a win. [29.Qg3 The only move to continue the fight 29...b5 Black is searching for counterplay. 30.h4 Rf5 31. Bb8! A typical computer move which is very hard to make during a practical game — leaving White some winning chances. With the Black king open, White should have no risk of losing, thanks to the perpetual check ideas.]

31... Re2? Black seems to have so much respect for White that a draw seems to be the best possible result he can achieve. But why? To play for a win would be a normal choice here. [31... Re1+! 32.Kh2 Rb1 protecting the very important b7 pawn. 33.Qb8+ Kg7 34.Qc7 Rf7 Black managed to put all his pieces together. The White pawns don’t have a clear way forward and Black will slowly start to get closer to the White king or to attack the White pawns. Maybe White can hold a draw here, but it’s clear that Black is risking nothing at all and even might get a chance to get a full point.] 32.Qxb7 Rff2 33.Qxd7 Rxg2+ A really interesting game. in the first 19 moves, White showed a really fantastic play which can be copied on any level! With a small miscalculation 19.Nd6?! White gave Black good chances for a draw, and then with a big blunder 29.h3, he should be happy to reach a draw. 1/2

29... Rf5 Just winning a full piece! 18


Puzzle section

(7) Karjakin,S (2785) — Potkin,V (2651) Russian Championship (rapid tiebreak), 13.08.2012

(5) Kovanova,B (2408) — Ubiennykh,E (2367) Russian Woman Championship, 07.08.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+/-

(8) Svidler,P (2749) — Potkin,V (2651) (6) Galliamova,A (2465) — Ovod,E (2419) Russian Woman Championship, 07.08.2012

Russian Championship (rapid tiebreak), 13.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

19


(9) Potkin,V (2651) — Alekseev,E (2673)

(11) Markos,J (2559) — Ehlvest,J (2601)

Russian Championship (rapid tiebreak), 13.08.2012

Riga Open, 10.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.=

1.+/-

(10) Fier,A (2582) — Rausis,I (2507)

(12) Ehlvest,J (2601) — Neiksans,A (2537)

Riga Open, 09.08.2012

Riga Open, 11.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

20


(13) Simantsev,M (2526) — Krejci,J (2503) Olomouc GM, 02.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Shimanov,A (2596) — Wei Yi (2418) World Junior Championship, 11.08.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

21


Endgame section (15) Karjakin,S (2785) — Alekseev,E (2673) Moscow, 10.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

At the moment, White is a pawn down, but his rooks on the 7th rank allow him to enter into a 2 vs 1 endgame practically by force. 32. Rg7+ Kh8 [32...Kf8 will transpose to the game after 33. Rxh7] 33. Rxh7+ Kg8 34. Rdg7+! Kf8 35. Rxc7 The rooks have cleared the 7th rank, but now Black got the chance to get rid of one of the rooks, solving all the threats on the back rank this way. 35... Rb4+! 36.Kc2 Rc4+ 37.Kb2! Very good decision to allow Black to trade the rooks. [37. Rxc4?! bxc4 would seriously increase Black’s defending chances, because of the potential checks on a2.] 37... Rxc7 38. Rxc7 Here we are! Despite the small number of pieces, this endgame is very complex. It’s very

hard to evaluate correctly the position. When I started to analyze, I was pretty sure that the game should be drawn, however, as I dug deeper into the position, the more I thought that this is winning for White. As the game proceeds, we will face the critical positions. The point of Black defense would be to sacrifice the b5 pawn and to get his king between the White pawns. We have already analyzed such kind of connected g-h pawns rook endgames in CEWN Nr.5.

38...b4 [38... Rf3 will lead to more or less the same as in the game. 39. Rc3 Rf2+ 40. Rc2 Rf3 41.Ka2! This is the right plan! White wants to play Rb2 and then he can take on b5, given that the rook might retreat to the 2nd rank to protect the pawn. 41...Kg7 42. Rb2 Rf5 43.Ka3 White will win the pawn with Kb4-a5 and Rxb5.] 39.Kb1! I like this move a lot. It frees the b2 square for the rook. The same plan could have been achieved with a different move order as well... 39... Rb3+ [39... Re3 does not change much. 40. Rc4 b3 (40...Re2 41.Rc2 Re3 42.Rb2 will be the same as the game.) 41. Rf4+ Kg7 42. Rf2 Kg6 43.Kb2 will also transpose to the game.] 22


40.Kc1 Ra3 [Black can try to hold his pawn more trickily: 40... Re3 41. Rc4 Re1+ 42.Kb2 Re3 But now again, White has a subtle maneuver: 43.Kb1! Now the threat is to take on b4. 43... Re1+ 44. Rc1! Re3 45. Rc2 followed by Rb2, leads us to the game.] 41. Rc2 Finally the rook leaves the 7th rank, so it’s time for Black to bring his king closer to the pawns... 41...Kg7 42. Rb2 Rf3 43.Kb1! Black is forced to push his pawn, otherwise White will simply take it. 43...b3 44. Re2 Kg6 45.Kb2 Kg5 46.Ka3 The game proceeded logically until now, and we have reached the critical position. White will soon win the b-pawn, while Black has some different options to stay between the pawns. I did not manage to find the right setup for Black, but I still have the feeling that I missed something. Maybe you can find a way to survive! 46...Kg4 This way the Black king does not reach the h3 square and will have to defend on the 5th rank... [46... Rd3 is also interesting, but... 47. Rb2 Rd8 48.Kxb3 Kg4 49. Rf2 Kh3 White is winning in this position! Black cannot prevent the king reaching the f-file. With the help of the rook, White can bring it closer to the pawns.

50.Kc4 Rd7 51.Kc3! White wants to play Rd2 and come closer rank by rank with this technique... 51... Rd8 52. Rd2! Re8 53.Kd3 Re7 54. Re2 Rd7+ 55.Ke3 Rf7 White has completed the first part of the plan! The next steps are the following: White occupies the ideal d2 square with the rook and then he can run forward with the king to the 6th or 7th rank. Black has nothing better than watching all this. 56. Rd2! Rf8 57.Ke4 Re8+ 58.Kf4 Rf8+ 59.Ke5 Re8+ 60.Kf6 Rf8+ 61.Ke7 These would have been White moves even if Black does not give any checks. The 2nd step is done. The next one needs precise calculation. White has to improve his rook, using the fact that Black cannot take on h2 because the g-pawn is too fast. 61... Ra8 This defense is more tenacious than the continuous cutting of the king along the f-file. (61...Rf1 is met with 62.Rd4! followed by Rh4, and on 62...Kxh2 63.g4! Rg1 64.Kf6! White is easily winning.) 62. Rd5! White plays with the same technique, threating with Rh5, but now Black can complicate matters with side-checks. 62... Ra7+ (62... Kxh2? loses again to 63.g4) 63.Kf6 Ra6+ 64.Kg5 Ra4 This could be another blockade for Black, but White can break it through!

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65.Kh5! With the threat of g4! Black cannot take it because of Rd3. So the next move is forced. 65... Ra8! 66. Rb5 Rc8 67.Kh6! Refreshing the idea of Rh5. 67... Rc6+ 68.Kg7 Rc7+ 69.Kf8 Rc2 (69...Kxh2? is still hopeless. 70.g4; Black quickly loses the control over the h-file after 69...Rh7 70.Kg8 Rh6 71.Kg7 followed by Rh5.) 70. Rh5+ Kg4

71. Rh4+ White made s by squeezing the king out from h3. Now the pawns become mobile, although they must be pushed carefully after both king moves. 71...Kf3 (71... Kg5 72.h3! Rc3 73.Rg4+ Kh5 74.Rg8 and this position is winning for White! It’s important to mention that if both White pawns are standing on the 4th rank, the position is drawn. We will see it in the 72.g4 line. 74...Rb3 75.h4 White brings his king back and it has an important shelter on h3 against the checks. 75...Rb5 76.Ke7+-) 72.Ke7! White needs to active his king again! (The tempting 72.g4? would spoil the win. The defensive technique is quite instructive... 72...Kf4 73.h3 Kg5 74. Rh5+ Kg6 As we have seen, the position with the pawns on h4-g3 is winning. Let’s see the difference... 75.h4 (75.Ke7 The king could have a shelter on h4, but it can’t reach it now. 75... Re2+ 76.Kd6 Re3 77.Kd5 Rd3+ 78.Ke4 Rc3 and White can’t make progress. 79.h4 Rc4+ 80.Kf3 Rc3+ 81.Ke2 Rc4

82.Rg5+ Kh6 with a theoretical drawn position. We have examined a similar situation in the 5th CEWN. The big difference to the 71... Kg5 line, when the pawns were on the 3rd rank, that now on 83.Rg8 with the idea of h5 and Rg6, Black has 83...Kh7! 84.Rg5 Kh6=) 75... Rc4 76. Rg5+ Kh6 77. Rg8 Rf4+ 78.Ke7 Kh7 79. Rg5 Kh6= As it was explained in the previous line.) 72... Rc6 73. Rd4 Kg2 74.Kf7 and White simply wants to push his g-pawn. Black is helpless against it. 74...Kh3 75. Rh4+ Kg2 76.g4+- and the king is not in time to go to f4.] 47. Re4+! Kf5 [47...Kh3 doesn’t work now because of 48. Rh4+ Kg2 49.g4 Rf4 50.Kxb3 Kf3 51.h3 and Black could only hold with his king on g6 and the rook on the 3rd rank, like we have seen before. Now he’s too far to reach this position. 51... Re4 52.Kc3 Kg3 53. Rh5 Kf4 54.g5 Kf5 55.h4+- The pawns are too far advanced, Rh6 and Kd3 are coming next, followed by g6-h5.] 48. Rb4 Rf2 [The tricky 48...b2+ does not change much 49.Ka2! and the pawn will be taken by the rook.] 49.h4 Rg2 We have reached our next critical position. White needs to play precisely again!

50. Rb5+! To avoid the king reaching the g4 square. 24


50...Ke4 [50...Kg4 51. Rg5+ and the „se lf-pushing” pawns are arising, when they are promoting even without the help of the king. Step by step, h5-g4 and Rg6, then h6-g5 and Rg7...; 50...Kf6 51. Rxb3 White wants to bring his king and after 51...Kf5 52. Rb5+! transferrin g the rook to g5, followed by bringing the king, is winning easily with the g3-h4 pawns.]

62. Rg5 The White pawns are advanced enough to leave the g-file with the rook. The main idea is to advance one rank at a time with the same technique. 62... Rd1 An inaccuracy, which could have accelerated the loss.. [More tenacious was 62...Kf6 63. Rf5+ Kg7

51. Rxb3 Rc2 [On 51...Kf5 White again would play 52. Rb5+! Kg6 53. Rg5+ Kh6 54.Kb3+-] 52. Rb4+ Ke5 [52...Kf5 53. Rb5+ will be the same as in the game...; 52...Kf3 53.g4+- is hopeless.] 53.Kb3 Rf2 54. Rb5+! The rook goes to g5 again. 54...Kf6 55.Kc4 Rg2 56. Rg5 White wants to get his king to f3. The only chance for Black is to cut it. 56... Rd2 57. Rg8! Using the fact that Black can’t use his rook. White can advance his pawns by one rank, which is definitely an achievement! 57...Kf7 58. Rg4 Kf6 [58... Rh2 59.Kd3+-] 59.h5! Rh2 60. Rg6+ Kf7 61.g4 Here we are! White wants to bring his king again, so Black needs to cut the way... 61... Rd2

64.g5! White must always be careful with such moves, because the king can get between the pawns after 64... Rh2 White is for ced to push one of the pawns. Be careful, because only one of them is winning. We already know this from the 5th CEWN... 65.g6! (65.h6+ Kg6 is the famous theoretical drawn position.) 65...Kh6 66.Kd5 Black must prevent Ke6-f7 now 66... Re2 and here 67. Rf8! Black cannot take the pawn. 67... Re1 68. Rh8+ Kg7 69. Rh7+ Kg8 70. Rc7 followed by h6, while after 70... Rh1 we get the same final position as in the game...] 63. Rd5 Not the shortest win, but of course also good... [63.h6 was easier, but Karjakin had calculated the same win as we examined in the previous line. 63... Rh1 64. Rg7+ Kf8 65.g5+-] 63... Rg1 64. Rf5+ Kg7 65. Rg5+ Kh6 66. Rg6+ Kh7 67.Kd5! The king got one rank closer. 25


67... Re1 and now the king is close enough to force matters. 68.g5! Ra1 [68... Rh1 is met with 69.Ke6! Rxh5 70.Kf7 and Black can’t avoid the following threat: 70... Rh4 71. Rg7+ Kh8 72. Rg8+ Kh7 73.g6+ Kh6 74. Rh8++-]

(16) Potkin,V (2651) — Vitiugov,N (2705) [B42] 65th ch-RUS Moscow RUS (7), 10.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

69. Rc6 Rg1 70. Rc7+ Kg8 71.g6! The final blow! White wants to play Ke6-f6 and hide the king on h6 against the checks... 71... Rg5+ 72.Ke6 [Black resigned in view of 72.Ke6 Rxh5 73.Kf6!+- Great technique by Karjakin!] 1–0 61... Rxe6 After a fighting game where White was trying to win already for around 30 moves, we finally reached a rook endgame. White is a pawn up and the rook on b5 is standing very well. This should give White great winning chances. 62.Kg3! White is wasting no time. It’s the first priority to bring the king into play! [In case of 62.h4? g5! would give Black good chances to save the game. Now Black is in time to bring his king out. 63.hxg5 Kg6 64.Kh3 White is try ing to get to the h4 square with his king — which Black, of course, tries to avoid. 64...Kxg5 65.g3! Zugzwang. Black needs to let the White king pass the 4th rank. 65...Kg6 66.Kh4 (It’s not dangerous for Black: 66.Rd5 Kg5 67.Rd6 R xe5 68.R xb6 Rd5 and even though White is a pawn up, Black has very good drawing chances.) 66... Rc6! The only move that saves the game. White wanted to play Rd5-Rd6 next. 67. Rd5

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moves are simple: Rb8 followed by b4-b5-b6, which wins almost instantly.]

67... Rc1! and Black is holding! Suddenly the mating threat on h1 forces the White king to go back to h3 — which obviously can only lead to a draw. In case of 68. Rd6+ Kf5 the mating threat of Rh1 gives Black enough counterplay to hold the draw.] 62... Rc6 The only move to continue the fight. Black is using the typical motif: to block the free pawn with the king to free the rook. [62...g5 now comes too late. The White king is in time to get to e4. 63.Kf3 Kg6 64.Ke4 Rc6 65.g4 and Black is hopeless. White’s Kd5 is a deadly move.] 63.Kf4 White wants to play Ke4-d5. 63...Kf7 64.Kg5 Now Ke4 would be blocked by Ke6, so the White king takes another great place on g5. The idea of White is quite simple, to play Rd5-Rd6 forcing the Black rook to move from the 6th rank, which would lead to a loss of the g6 pawn... and the game.

65.g4 A nice move. White controls the situation to 100% and there is no need for fast action. 65...hxg4 66.hxg4 Kf7 Black is totally paralyzed and the best he can do is to „wait”. 67. Rd5! White starts the final winning plan. 67...Ke7 [At 67... Rc2 68. Rd7+! finishes the game quite fast. 68...Ke6 69. Rd6+ Kxe5 70. Rxb6 Rxb2 71. Rb5+ Ke6 72.Kxg6 and we are in a theoretical easy winning position.] 68. Rd6 Of course Rd6: the key idea of everything White has been doing.

64...Ke7 [Would give better chances for Black to play 64... Rc2 65.g4 hxg4 66.hxg4 Re2! The main enemy of Black. The e5 pawn is falling — but the position remains lost. 67. Rxb6 Rxe5+ 68.Kh6 g5 69.b4! The last precise move. White extra pawn plus the weakness of the g5 pawn give an easy win. 69...axb4 70. Rxb4 The next White 27


68... Rc5 69. Rxb6 Rxe5+ 70.Kxg6 Two pawns up plus a free g-pawn is more than enough. Black is totally hopeless. 70... Re2 71.g5 Rxb2 72. Rb5 Great technique until the end. Black wanted to play a4. 72...Kf8

73. Rf5+! White forces Black to play 73...Ke7, after which 74. Rxa5 Rxb3 75. Kg7 gets the game into an easy theoretical winning position. Great endgame play by Vladimir Potkin! Things that look so natural and easy, and sometimes are far more difficult over the board, specially in rook endgames! 1–0

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Clash of the Titans (17) Spassky,Boris V — Foguelman,Alberto [B18] Mar del Plata Mar del Plata, 09.04.1960 [Balogh Csaba] A nice attacking game by Boris Spassky. The game was based on an intuitive pawn sacrifice in the opening. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 Black chose the Caro-Kann defense. 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.N1e2 A tricky sideline, which could be dangerous if you don’t know a lot of theory. And 52 years ago, these positions were not explored at all. [7.Nf3 is considered to be the only critical line nowadays.] 7...Nf6 8.Nf4 Bh7 9. Bc4

9...e5!? In my opinion, this is an interesting move. Due to some nice victories that White has scored against it, mainly due to the big difference in strength. This line has very bad reputation. But in my view it’s completely fine

for equality... [Recently all the games continue with 9...e6 followed by Bd6, which is also an equalizer.] 10.Qe2! A fantastic pawn sacrifice, which shows great feeling for chess. White invites Black to take on d4, when the queen moves into some logical developing moves. Spassky follows the principle that 2 tempi in the opening have the value of a pawn. [10.dxe5 leads nowhere after 10...Qa5+! White should play 11.Kf1 now, but he is very far from penetrating with a rook on e1 after Qxe5. (10... Qxd1+ is also tempting, but it’s bad because of 11.Kxd1 Ng4 Black wins back the pawn, but after 12. Re1! Nxf2+ 13.Ke2 White will push e6 and suddenly the e8 king gets into big danger despite the fact that the queens are off the board... 13...Ne4 (13...Ng4 14.e6!) 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.e6! with an attack.) 11.c3 Qxe5+ The position has simplified a bit. Black can calmly finish his development and achieve a good position.] 10...Qxd4 A calm response after the sacrifice. [4 years later, Foguelman improved on his play against Mikhail Tal with 10...Nbd7 11.0–0 And at this moment, Black should have played the normal developing move (On 11.dxe5 Qa5+ works again.; 11.Bd3 Qe7! is good now, because White must trade queens. 12.dxe5 Qxe5) 11... Bd6! Black needs only one move to secure his king’s position and obtain acompletely fine position. White must do something urgently, until the king is in the center. (11...Qe7 This strange-looking move happened in the game, and after many mistakes by both sides, Tal managed to trick his opponent and win the game at the end...) 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13. Bd3 This seems to be the best chance after all, creating some threats with the knight on the f5 square. (13. Nd3 could win the bishop pair, but the active e5 knight 29


fully compensates. 13...B xd3 14.B xd3 0–0 15.Bf5 Re8 Black has no problems at all. In this case, the h4 move became a huge weakening move as well.) 13...0–0 14. Bxh7+ Kxh7 15. Rd1 White creates some concrete threats with energetic play, but Black can parry them. (On 15.Nf5 simply 15...Bc7 followed by Qc8 or Re8.) 15...Qc7 16.Nf5 Bc5 17.Nh5 and here Black has different options, but from a human point of view, the easiest seems to be 17... Nxh5 18.Qxh5 f6! followed by Qf7! with equality.] 11.0–0! With the idea of Rd1 and Be3, bringing the pieces with tempo. Black needs to protect the e5 pawn and should also hurry to castle.

15. Bxf7+! Kxf7 16. Rxd7+ Ke8 (16...Kg8 17.Qxh5 g6 18.Qf3 with mate to follow.) 17.Qg4! c5 18.Nxh5+- White won back the piece and continues attacking.]

11...b5? I believe this was a serious mistake, which deprives Black from castling queenside forever. White can always destroy the pawn structure with a4. [11...Nbd7 was the right move, which leads to a very unclear position after 12. Rd1 Qc5 13. Be3 Qe7 14.Nfh5 Nxh5 15.Nxh5 White definitely has serious compensation for the pawn, but Black has good defensive potential as well. For example 15... Bf5! with the idea of Be6 or g6-Bg7.]

13. Be3! Qd6 14. Rad1! These two moves were the fruits of the d4 pawn sacrifice!

12. Bb3 Bc5? Another mistake, which objectively speaking is the decisive one. It was already quite difficult to suggest something good, White has excellent attacking chances. [After 12... Be7 White plays similarly to the game. 13. Rd1 Qc5 14. Be3 Qb4 15.a3! to prevent the queen’s „jump” to the kingside along the 4th rank. 15... Qa5 16.Nfh5 with a huge attack.; 12...Nbd7 13. Rd1 Qb6 (13...Qc5 14.a4! is very unpleasant.) 14.Nfh5 Black is in deep trouble, since he cannot finish the development... 14...Nxh5

14...Qe7 15. Bxc5 [It was even better to keep the bishops. It gives additional possibilities for White. 15.Nfh5! Nxh5 16.Nxh5 0–0 and the difference is 17. Bxh6! White wins, due to the pin of the b3 bishop... 17...gxh6 18.Qg4+ Bg6 19.Qxg6++-] 15...Qxc5 16.Nfh5! The attack is breaking trough here as well. 16...Nxh5 17.Nxh5 0–0

30


18.Qg4! Forces Black to a very sad move, since Bg6 loses again due to the pin on the a2-g8 diagonal. 18...g6 As they usually say, the bishop on h7 is a strong pawn. It has no chance to be activated. White has no direct win, but he has all the time to bring all his pieces into the attack, since Black is totally undeveloped. The only good thing for Black is that he’s up a pawn. 19. Rd3! Spassky prepares for doubling his rooks on the d-file. [19. Rfe1! was probably even stronger with the same idea: to use the last unemployed piece. Black cannot hold his e5 pawn, Qg3 is one of the threats. 19...Kh8 (19...Qe7 20.Qg3+-) 20.Nf6 a5 The best chance is to bring the rook into play via a7. Black hopes that he’ll win an important tempo with the a4 threat, but White stands so well that he can focus on his plans and ignore the opponent’s ideas... (20...Qe7 Black is trying to provoke some exchanges, but this is elegantly refuted by 21.Qf4! exf4 (21...Kg7 22.N xh7 Kxh7 23.R xe5+-) 22. Rxe7 Even without the queens on the board, Black is just lost. For example after 22...Kg7 23.Ne8++- and Nc7 next.) 21.h5! a4 loses nicely to (On 21...Qe7 22.Qf4! again! 22...exf4 23.R xe7+-; 21...g5 22.N xh7 Kxh7 23.Qf5+ Kg7 24.R xe5+-) 22. Bxf7! Rxf7 23. Rd8+ Rf8 24.hxg6! Rxd8 25.g7# A picturesque mate.] 19...a5 Black tries to defend with the same ideas, as it was mentioned in the previous line. [19...Kh8 20.Nf6 Qe7 Qf4 does not work now, but White can still keep his knight on f6. 21. Rf3! a5 22.h5 Black cannot hold the attack. Some illustrative examples: 22...g5 (22...a4 23.N xh7 White only takes on h7, if it’s winning on the spot! 23... Kxh7 24.R xf7+ R xf7 25.hxg6++-) 23. Rd1 a4 and here again, this is the right time for the final strike!

24.Nxh7! Kxh7 25.Qe4+ Kh8 26. Rxf7! Rxf7 27. Bxf7 Qg6 is threatened, and on 27...Qxf7 28.Qxe5+! Kh7 29. Rd8 the mate is coming soon.] 20. Rfd1! Here again, White doesn’t need to waste time on preventing a4. 20... Ra7 [20...a4 All the pieces are working, it’s easy to feel that something works now. 21. Bxf7+! Kxf7 (21... R xf7 leads to a forced mate. 22.Rd8+ Rf8 23.Qe6+ Kh8 24.Qf6+ Kg8 25.Qg7#) 22. Rf3+ Not the only way to win, but probably the easiest. 22...Ke7 (22...Kg8 23.Qe6+ Kh8 24.Rf7 Here again, this is just one of many ways to win. 24...R xf7 25.Qxf7 gxh5 26.Rd8++-) 23. Rxf8 Kxf8 24.Qf3+ Ke8 25.Qf6+- with the double threat of Rd8 and Ng7.] 21. Rd6! Rxg6 is the new threat. 21...Kh8 22.Nf6 a4 The time has come to finish the game. Spassky, of course, did it in style!

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17th of August 2012

(18) Perelman,M 1930 [CEWN] 1.= 23.Nxh7! Just because it’s winning. 23...axb3 [23...Kxh7 24. Bxf7! Raxf7 25.Qxg6+ Kh8 26.Qxh6+ with mate in a few moves.] 24.Nxf8 bxc2 This is where Black pinned his hopes to, but of course, it does not save him... 25.Nxg6+! fxg6 26. Rd8+ Kg7 [On 26...Kh7 simply 27. Rc1!+- with a winning advantage.] 27. Rg8+! Kxg8 28.Qxg6+ Rg7 [28...Kf8 29.Qf6+!+followed by forced mate with Rd8.] 29. Rd8+ Qf8 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qxc2 Kg8 32.Qc5 Nice attacking game. Spassky’s excellent intuition has again paid off! 1–0

32


Solutions

(21) L’Ami,A (2372) — Timman,J (2575) Politiken Cup, 01.08.2012

(19) Melkumyan,H (2639) — Meins,G (2475)

[Solutions]

Biel Open, 31.07.2012 [Solutions]

29...Qxh3+! 0–1[29...Qxh3+ 30.Kxh3 Rh1#] 26. Rxe6! fxe6 27.Qxg6 1–0[27.Qxg6 Qf7 (27...Ke7 28.Qxg7+ Kd6 29.Nb5++-) 28. Rf3+-]

(22) Alburt,L (2550) — Gulko,B (2532) Platonov memorial, 30.07.2012

(20) Jones,G (2655) — Hawkins,J (2499)

[Solutions]

Brittish Championship, 31.07.2012 [Solutions]

43. Bf4! Nxf4 44. Re8+! Qxe8 45.Qg7# 1–0

19...Ng4! 20.h3 Nxf2! 21.Kxf2 Bf6!–+ 22. Bf3 Rb2+ 23. Be2 Bxd4+ 24.Ke1 Qe5 0–1 33


(23) Hernandez Carmenates,H (2570) — Guerra Mendez,J (2434) Montcada Open, 27.06.2012 [Solutions]

31. Rd5! Qxd5 [31... Rf3 32.d7+-] 32.Qxd5 1–0[32.Qxd5 Nxd5 33.d7+-]

(25) Llaneza Vega,M (2424) — Korneev,O (2577) Spanish league, 30.07.2012 [Solutions]

23... Bxa2+! [23...b3 24.a3! bxc2+ 25.Nxc2 Rab8 26.Nb4] 24.Kxa2 b3+ 25.Ka3 [25.Kb1 a3!–+]

(24) Perez Mitjans,O (2471) — Peralta,F (2590) Montcada Open, 28.06.2012 [Solutions]

25...bxc2 26. Bc4 Rab8! [26... Rfb8? 27.Qxf7+! Qxf7 28. Bxf7+ Kxf7 29.Nxc2=] 27.Qe5 Qb4+ 28.Ka2 Qb3+!! 29. Bxb3 [29.Ka1 Qxe3–+] 29...axb3+ 30.Ka3 Rb7! 0–1[30... Rb6!; 30... Rb5!]

24... Rxf4! 25.Qxd5+ [25.gxf4 Qg6+ 26.Kh1 Qg2#] 25... Rf7!–+ 26. Rf1 Rg2+ 0–1 34


(26) Smirnov,P (2592) — Geller,J (2555)

(28) Battaglini,G (2419) — Nanu,C (2528)

Polugaevsky memorial, 08.07.2012

Arad Open, 29.07.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

32. Bc4+! [32.Qxg6+ Rg7] 32...Kg7 33.Qxe5+-] 33. Rf7+! Rxf7 34.Qxd8+-

[32...d5

24. Rxh6! gxh6 25.Qg6+ Qg7 26.Qxg7+! Kxg7 27.Nxc4+ 1–0

(27) Ivekovic,Z (2320) — Grandelius,N (2562)

(29) Holm,E

World Junior Championship, 05.08.2012

1917

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26...Qe5! 0–1[26...Qe5 27. Rxe5 Rd1#]

1.Nb4! Kxb4 2.g7 c1Q [2...c1R? 3.h6] 3.g8Q Qh1+ 4.Kg5 Qg1+ 5.Kh6 Qxg8 1/2 35

Weekly Newsletter



24th of August 2012


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»» Puzzle section

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34

»» Solutions

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With this issue of CEWN, we are celebrating half a year of our Newsletter! In the beginning, it was not easy for us, but now it’s almost a routine job which we do with great pleasure. We love to present the best games of the week and other great chess material. We hope You enjoyed the first 6 month with us, because we are not going to stop! C. The main event of the past week is clearly the French National Championship. All the French elite players are participating in it. As expected, we see the usual players on the Top. The tournament is going to have a very exciting conclusion. The Husek Wien Open was won by the “Austrian National Hero” Markus Ragger, who has more sponsor logos than his T-shirt can take! Chess Olympiad: as we found out in the press, Morozevich and Gashimov canceled their participation due to health reasons. Also, Magnus Carlsen is not going to play. With the usual “enjoy the CEWN Nr 26”, we say goodbye. Our next report will come directly from Istanbul, Turkey where the Chess Olympiad will take place! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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7.0–0 g6? [7...d6 should have been played again.]

(1) Vachier Lagrave,M (2686) — Lagarde,M (2505) [A19] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (3), 15.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are facing a sharp battle, definitely not without mistakes, but full of nice and instructive motifs. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5. Be2 This line enjoys quite a big popularity nowadays. Despite looking completely harmless, there is no obvious way for equalizing with Black. White’s idea against random moves is to play 0–0 and d4, obtaining a slightly better middlegame with a space advantage. 5...e5!? In my opinion, this is quite a decent system. Black closes the position and normally a long maneuvering fight begins, where White’s extra tempo does not count that much because of the symmetrical position. [5...d5 is the mainline, but I am not sure if the text move is a worse continuation.] 6.d3 h6 There is no need for this move... [Black should develop with 6...d6 and after 7.0–0 decide where he wants to put his f8 bishop... 7... Be7 is the main, but 7...g6 and Bg7 are also possible. Now White has two plans, either to initiate some play on the queenside with Rb1, a3, b4 — Black has to prevent this with a5 -, or opening the position with f4, but Black is ready to face it. 8.Ne1 (8.a3 0–0 9.Rb1 a5) 8...0–0 9.f4 exf4 10. Bxf4 and here for example 10... Be6 followed by Nd7-e5. The game is about even.]

8.b4!! A famous m otif. Black is facing a difficult decision. He can exchange his central pawn for the one on the b-file, which is by principle not a great idea. The value of a central pawn could easily be the same as two side pawns (for example a- and b-pawns). The effect of cxb4 is also similar, Black takes out from the center, which gives White many possibilities. The analysis below demonstrates them well. 8...Nxb4 [8...cxb4 9.Nd5 White’s main idea is to attack the b4 pawn and provoke an a5 weakening. Soon, he will manage to do so if Black wants to keep his extra pawn (otherwise, if White wins back the pawn, he is just better) and then with the a3 move, White creates many holes in Black’s camp. His pieces are excellently prepared to be used. We must note that Black can hardly touch the powerful knight on d5, it always leads to serious difficulties after cxd5. 9... Bc5 The most logical move, playing on the d4 square with d6 and Bg4 and also to keep the b4 pawn protected. However, it has a concrete refutation.. . (After 9... Bg7 White can execute the basic ideas connected with the b4 pawn sacrifice. 10. Bd2 Black is forced to create 3


the weakness. 10...a5 11.Qa4! Provoking further weakening moves due to the threat of Nxb4. 11... Ra7 (11...0–0 12.N xb4+=) 12.a3! bxa3 13.Qxa3 This is a clear triumph of White’s strategy. The game might continue with 13... d6 14. Be3! Ra6 15. Rfb1! 0–0 16. Bb6+/- with a clear advantage.) 10.Nxe5!! This is another famous motif that can be seen in many different openings. The idea is to avoid Black’s consolidation in the center! 10... Bd4 is met with the fantastic (10...Nxe5 11.d4 White wins back the piece and the center pawns are rushing Black; f4 can also join them... An illustrative line is 11...Nxd5 12.exd5 Bd6 13.c5! White does not need to hurry to take the knight. 13... Bb8 14.d6! closing the bishop. Black cannot save his knight with (14.Bb2!? is also possible, since the knight is trapped in the middle of the board.) 14...Nc6 15.d5! Ne5 (15...Na5 16.Qd4+- and 16...0–0 loses to Bxh6.) 16.f4+- trapping the knight again.) 11.Nxc6 dxc6

12. Be3!! Precise calculation was needed. 12... Bxe3 (12... B xa1 13.Qxa1 cxd5 14.Bd4! This is the point. White wins back a piece, he still remains an exchange down, but the dark squared bishops and the strong central pawns give him more than enough compensation... 14...0–0 Only move. 15.B xf6 Qd6 16.cxd5+/- White has a strong attack,

for example with f4-f5. The Bh8-Qg7 trick is also always in the air.) 13.Nxe3+= White has a clear advantage, since he won the fight in the center. Those pawns can easily swap off Black from the board...] 9.Nxe5+= White achieved his goal! The extra pawn in the center gives him a clear edge. 9...d6 [On 9... Bg7 White can simply retreat with 10.Nf3 0–0 (The tactical idea 10...N xe4 does not work 11.N xe4 B xa1 12.Be3! followed by Bxc5. White is winning.) 11. Rb1+= with a positional edge.] 10.a3?! Vachier plays the whole game with a very tactical style. The idea itself is correct, but White could have done it in a much more favorable version... [10.Nf3 Here again White could have retreated the knight and enjoyed a comfortable advantage. 10... Bg7 11. Rb1+=; Probably the best was 10.Qa4+ Nd7 and here comes the same idea that White employed in the game... 11.a3!! This is an intuitive pawn sacrifice. Arises a similar position to the one we saw in the 8...cxb4 line. 11...dxe5 12.axb4 cxb4 13.Nd5 In order to keep the material advantage, Black needs to make the same huge weakness with 13...a5 14. Be3! Bb6 is threatened. 14... Ra6 15.f4! with a very strong attack. Black still needs a lot of time to secure the king's position.] 10...dxe5 11.axb4 cxb4 12.Nd5 The difference is that Black can exchange the knights, and then finish the development. Of course, White has very strong compensation in the center in this case as well, but with the absence of the knights, Black has more resources to defend... 12...Nxd5 13.cxd5 Qb6?! [13... Bd7! was the right move, preparing for Bg7 and to prevent Qa4... The game should

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continue with 14.d4! Bg7 15. Bb2 Qe7 with a doubleedged position.]

effective. 20... Bf8 21.e6! fxe6 (21...B xh6 22.Qxf7+ Kh8 23.Qxg6+- wins.) 22. Bxg6 Re7 and here for example: (22...B xh6 23.Qf7++-) 23.dxe6 Bxe6 24.Qxh5+- with deadly threats.] 17. Bc4 White prepares for the e6 move. [17. Bd3!? It was also possible to exchange the good defender and then again play for the e6 break. 17... Bxd3 18.Qxd3]

14.d4!! Just fantastic! This mobilizes the center again. White could not allow his opponent to consolidate his position, because he would simply end up a pawn down.

17...g5 18. Bg3 h5 [18...0–0 Probably the most dangerous continuation is 19.d6 Kg7 20.Qf3! Bg6 21.h4 The attack should break through. Even for the stubborn computers this is too much. For a human, this is kind of impossible to defend.]

14...exd4 [14...Qxd4 15. Bb5+! and the king must lose its right to castle. White will have a very strong attack after avoiding the exchange of queens.] 15. Bf4! Be5 is the threat. 15... Bc5! Black tries his best to hold hid position. [The handy 15... Bg7 is met with the really unpleasant 16. Rc1! 0–0 17. Bc7! Qf6 18.f4! and e5 next. Despite being two pawns up, Black is in trouble.] 16.e5! The power of the center is increasing! By developing the bishop to c5, Black must lose further tempi to castle kingside, since the h6 pawn is unprotected. 16... Bf5 [16...h5 is too slow, White can build up a very strong attack with 17. Bd3! 0–0 18.Qf3! With the idea of Bh6 and e6, crushing Black’s defense. Black would really need a bishop on g7 now. An illustrative line is 18... Bd7 19. Bh6 Rfe8 20. Rfe1! to make the e6 break more

19.e6! White continues his plan and also prevents h4, trapping the bishop. 19...fxe6 [19...h4 is refuted by 20.Qa4+! Kf8 21.Qd7! Rh7 22. Bc7+- trapping the queen out of the blue.; 19...0–0–0 is a bit risky... White wins, for instance, after 20.Qf3 Bg6 21. Rfc1+-] 20.dxe6 Ke7 Black tries to create a blockade, but of course, any kind of check is going to be decisive.

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21.Qf3 [21. Re1 It was also good enough to bring another piece into the attack.] 21... Raf8 22.Qd5 Black must parry the Qd7 threat and Rd8 does not work because of the f5 bishop. 22...Qc6 23.Qe5! Very nice position. The direct threat is Qg7, but there are also more hidden ideas to attack the Black king.

24. Bd5 Qb5 White can choose between many winning moves... [24...Qc8 25. Bxb7! Qxb7 26.Qg7++-; 24...Qb6 25.Qg7+ and mate on d7.] 25.Qc7+ Kf6 26. Be5+ Kg6 27. Bxh8 White already has a material advantage, but after Qf7, Black will lose even more pieces. 1–0

23...h4? This eases he job, since it allows Qg7, but the game was already objectively over. [23... Rf6 The easiest and most logical win is 24. Rfc1! White needs the other rook on a1. The hanging a7 pawn is the key in many lines. (Now on 24.Ra5 Rc8 works, since the f5 pawn is protected in comparison to the 23... Rh7 line.; 24.h4 should also be enough to win...) 24...Qd6 (24...Bd6 25.Qxd4; 24...h4 25.Bb5 Qxb5 26.R xc5+-) 25. Rxa7!! This is a very important point! 25...Qxe5 26. Rxb7+ Kd6 27. Rd7+ Kc6 28. Bxe5+-; 23... Rh7 The strongest is 24. Ra5! using the fact that b6 does not work because of the a7 pawn. 24... Bb6 (24...Bd6 25.Qxd4+-) 25. Rd5+- and Rd7 decides the game.]

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(2) Bacrot,E (2713) — Istratescu,A (2647) [D10] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (6), 18.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We’ll see an interesting game which was very important for the standings in the French Championship. Etienne Bacrot with White was a clear favorite. However, Istratescu is in quite a good shape, so he’s not an easy opponent to beat. 1.c4 c6 This move takes the game into a Slav. It’s amazing how often we’ve seen this defense lately. 2.d4 [2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 would lead to the Panov attack of the Caro-Kann with a different move order.] 2...d5 3.Nc3 Nf6

4.e3 A silent but tricky line in the Slav, and I think it’s a bit strange to see Istratescu choosing to play this line with a6 against Bacrot, who’s one of the biggest specialists in this opening with Black. 4...a6 5.Nf3 b5 [5... Bf5 would lead us to the „very main position”.]

6.c5 Bg4 A rare move by Black. I don’t think this is a serious try to equalize in the opening. Bacrot himself preferred to play 6...Nbd7, which is clearly the main move in the position. 7.Qb3 A very natural move with a few ideas in it. First, of course, White is forcing Black to take on f3, which could take Black to a very dangerous strategic position (we’ll see it in the game) and the second idea is to start something on the queenside with a4 — which is a very standard plan here. 7... Bxf3 [7...Nbd7 8.a4 and Black will have to take on f3 anyway.] 8.gxf3 e5 This is the idea of Black’s 6... Bg4 — to push e5 as quick as possible.

9.a4 Of course, White proceeds with the standard plan. 9...Nbd7 10.Na2! A very good move! Nb4 is almost a deadly threat in this kind of positions. Bacrot knew this knight maneuver from his game against Bologan where Black got in deep trouble very quickly. 10...Qc8 [10... Be7 11.Nb4 Qc8 would just lead to a different move order.] 7


11.Qa3! Strong play by White! Black is not in time to keep his pawn structure in a solid order. [11.Nb4 An interesting option for White as well. 11...a5! What else... (In case of 11... Be7 12.Qa3 White can get back into the game. (12.Nxc6!? This time, the knight sacrifice deserves some attention. 12...Qxc6 13.axb5 axb5 and now comes the slightly unexpected 14.Qxb5!? (14.B xb5 just leads to a draw. 14...R xa1 15.B xc6 R xc1+ 16.Ke2 R xh1 17.Qb8+ Bd8 18.Qxe5+ Be7

19.Qb8+ With such a material disadvantage, White should be happy with a draw...) 14...Qxb5 Other moves are possible for Black as well, but this one should be the main option. 15. Rxa8+ Qb8 16. Rxb8+ Nxb8 17.dxe5! Important move! 17...Nfd7 18.b4 Nxe5 19.f4 and we can clearly see that White is doing better here. Can Black can hold the position? Maybe...) ) 12.Nd3 (12.N xc6 A typical blow, but this time it’s not the best. 12...Qxc6 13.axb5 Qe6 The strong c5-b5 pawns are not enough compensation for a full piece.) 12...exd4 13.exd4 b4 14. Rg1!? Disturbing Black from developing in a normal manner. I think White should be better here — more space plus the bishop pair.]

11... Be7 Not a nice move to do, but it looks like other moves don’t really help Black. [This move that tries to solve the problems in a tactical way doesn’t seem to work. 11...Nb6 12.Nb4 Nxa4 The pawn on a4 is not tasty... but what’s left?! 13.b3 Now Black got 2 ways to give the piece. 13...Nxc5 (13...exd4 14.bxa4 B xc5 15.Qb2

Black has some counterplay, but I think the White pieces should dominate the game.) 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Qa5 Only move for White, and it leads to a better position for him. 15...0–0 16.Nd3 Bd6 17. Ba3! It’s very important to exchange the Black bishop so that the Black squares get highly weakened. White is better here as well.; 11...exd4 12.exd4 An attempt to be tricky, exchanging first on d4 and only then playing Nb6 doesn’t work. 12...Nb6? 13.Qe3+! winning a full piece.] 12.Nb4 Black can’t avoid the destruction of his pawn structure. To take back with axb5 is simply impossible. 12...0–0 13.axb5 cxb5 The first step for White is done — Black’s pawn structure is destroyed. Now it’s time to avoid some tactical tricks and bring the king to a safe place.

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18... Bd8?! The right idea, but why not to start with... [18...Nc6 Black needs to avoid White from keeping the knight on e5. 19.Nxc6 (19.Be3 is a possibility here, but somehow this move looks strange. Maybe Black can try to play 19... Bd8.) 19...Qxc6 20.Qd3 Rfe8 21. Bd2 White is clearly better, but Black can fight!]

14. Bh3 Easy and good. White develops the bishop and opens the possibility of castling. 14...a5 It’s hard for Black to find a better move.

19.Qd3! White recognizes very well what to do. However, White is not going to exchange the knight in e5, of course. 19...Nc6 20. Re1 A solid move. [20. Bf4 would have been another option.]

15.Nd3 exd4 [15...e4 16.fxe4 dxe4 17.Ne5 doesn’t help Black at all...]

20...a4 21.Kh1 This prophylactic move might be „too deep”. It was simpler to finish the development by playing 21. Bf4.

16.exd4 Qb7 I think this was a good move by Black. It’s clear that White is much better, but Black finds interesting ideas to fight.

21... Re8 Both players are putting their pieces on the center, which is definitely the right plan. The action will happen there.

17.0–0 Nb8! An excellent move. Black can’t stand with the knights on f6 and d7 forever. The Black knight belongs on c6!

22. Bf4 Ba5 23. Re3

18.Ne5

23...Nh5!? Black is using this chance to try to get rid of one White bishop.

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24. Bg3 I think this move is an inaccuracy. White is still better, but Black is gets good chances for a draw. [24.Nxc6!? White should have accepted Black’s invitation see „who could eat more”. 24...Nxf4 (24...Qxc6 25.Bd6 and Black is just completely pinned!) 25.Nxa5 Qa6! The only move, any other move loses material. 26.Qf5 Nxh3 27. Rxe8+ Rxe8 28.Qxh3 Qxa5 29.Qd7 After a big „feast”, nobody got any material advantage. 29... Rd8 30.Qe7 and White dominates the only open file. 30...g6!? 31.Kg2! White doesn ‚t need to hurry. The passed c-pawn and the domination on the e-file give a clear advantage.]

28...Qxe4 29. Rxe4 Black reached the endgame, but the troubles have no end. 29... Rd2 [Doesn’t help much to play 29... Bc7 30.f4 Rd5 31.c6 White is a clear pawn up, and the next move, Bd7, is quite unpleasant forBlack.]

24...Nxg3+ Of course, you don’t need to ask Black twice. 25.hxg3 Nxe5 [To put more pressure on e5 doesn’t work. 25... Bc7 26.Nxf7! A nice tactical blow. 26... Rxe3 27.fxe3 Kxf7 28.Qxh7 White only has two pieces on the attack, but here it’s more than enough. 28...Ne7 29.Qh5+! White is close to winning.] 26.dxe5 After two pieces have been exchanged, we have to take a sober look at the position. The material is equal, but it’s clear that White’s play is better. The e6 push can be very dangerous and as the chess saying goes: „If there are opposite colored bishops, the attack is always going to be stronger”. 26...d4!? Black is trying to force a draw by sacrificing the d-pawn and reaching an endgame! [In case of a passive move like 26...Qc6 27.Qd4 b4 28.e6! fxe6 29. Rae1 White gets a decisive initiative.] 27.Qxd4 Rad8 28.Qe4 White would have liked to keep the queens, but there is no place for them.

30.b4! Everything just seems to work for White! If Bacrot calculated everything when he played 24. Bg3, we will never know :). 30...axb3 Black is going into an endgame with an exchange up, but White’s two extra pawns plus the pawn on c6 seem to be enough to win the game. [30... Bc7 A double attack on e5 and f2 would probably give Black better chances to escape. 31. Bf1! Both of the Black pawns, on b5 and a4, are going to fall. 31... Rxe5 32. Bxb5 Rxe4 33.fxe4 Rxf2 34.g4! This strange move gives White good chances to win the game.(34.R xa4 h5! and Black has some chances to escape!) ] 31. Rxa5 Rd1+ 32.Kg2 b2 33. Rxb5 b1Q 34. Rxb1 Rxb1

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36.c6 Rc7 37. Bd7! Rb8 [Black can’t take on e5. 37... Rxe5 38. Rb4! threatening a mate on b8 and Rb7 at the same time. 38...Kf8 39. Rb7 Rxd7 40. Rxd7 Ke8 41. Rc7 with an easily winning rook endgame.] 38.f4 We reached a position that I don’t think Black can save. White will slowly improve by playing f5-e5, or g4 creating another weakness on the kingside. 38...f6 39.e6! Now White got a second passed pawn. 35. Rc4?? What a blunder by White in an almost winning position. [It was not hard to see 35.c6 Rc1 36. Bd7 Rb8 37.f4 followed by the f5-e6 push, or just by Ra4-Ra7-c7, with an easily winning position for White.]

39...Kf8 40.f5

35... Rb7? What a present for White! [35... Rxe5! It’s strange that Black could not find this 2-moves combination. 36.c6 Ree1! Black is threatening to give mate with Rg1, and... 37. Bf5 Rbc1 38. Bc2

40... Rb5?! Another unlucky move by Black. Would give better chances just to wait with [40...Ke7 and Black is still fighting...] 41. Ra4! Forcing Black to go back, White wants to play Ra8-Re8 and e7. 38...f5! Protecting from the Bh7 check and, at the same time, threatening to play Rg1 with mate. 39.f4 and only now 39... Re8 and Black is just in time to get a draw. 40. Rc5 Kh8 41.c7 Rc8 42. Rd5 Rg8! Black is holding!]

41... Rb8 42. Rh4! Creating a very important weakness in the Black structure. 42...h6 43. Ra4 Ke7 44.Kh3! White shows a great way to win a winning position, which is not that easy sometimes. The White king is going to g6.

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44... Rb2 45. Rg4 The last exact move, even though it didn’t matter anymore. 45...Kf8 46. Rf4 Re2

(3) Fressinet,L (2714) — Tkachiev,V (2644) [C15] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (3), 15.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] An important game from the French Championship where both players have a decent chance to fight for the top places... The game has started with a mutual surprise... Fressinet, who clearly became a 1.d4 player in the last few years started with. 1.e4 And Tkachiev, who almost always plays 1...e5, decided to go for the French defense.

47.Kh4 The White king finally gets into the game. It was too much for Black and Istratescu resigned the game. We saw quite a good game with a very interesting opening and middle game! 1–0

1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.exd5 A harmless looking, but very tricky sideline. [The main move is 4.e5 ] 4...exd5 5.Bd3 Here Black can choose between various setups. Tkachiev went for the one which was recently played by the expert of the French defense, GM Nikita Vitiugov. 5...Nc6 6.a3 Be7 [6... Bxc3+ is by far the most common move, but by all means not the best one...] 7. Be3 Fressinet goes for the critical continuation. [In the mentioned game, White played 7.Nge2 Bf6! Black’s best setup is to get his bishop to f6 and develop the knight to e7, then he wants to exchange the light-squared bishops with Bf5. White allowed all of this, and Black equalized comfortably. 8. Be3 Nge7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Qd2 Bf5= Alekseev-Vitiugov, Moscow 2012.] 7... Bf6! [On 7...Nf6 White has a very strong plan: 8.h3! not only to prevent the Ng4 and Bg4 ideas, but also to prepare for the following idea... 8...0–0 9.Qf3! followed b y Nge2 and Nf4, putting unpleasant pressure on the d5 pawn. 0–0–0 and g4 could also be very good for White.] 12


11.Ne4! The only wa y to fight for the advantage. The other move, 11.Nge2, would lead to equality after Nxe2, followed by Nf6. Now the d4 knight must retreat, which means an extra tempo for White. 11...Ne6 12.0–0–0 Nf6 13. Bb5+! This is the advantage of being ahead in development! 13...Kf8 [13...c6? is refuted by 14. Bxc6+!+- and the a8 rook hangs.] 8.Qh5! White knows the subtleties of the position. By temporarily leaving the knight on g1, White can arrange a much better development of his pieces. Again, the idea is to play Nge2 and Nf4 later. White wants to castle queenside in this line. I believe he managed to retain the initiative. 8... Bxd4 Black tries to equalize directly, but White is better prepared for the simplifications... [8... Be6 9.Nge2; 8... Nge7 9.Nge2 In both lines, White has a small, but stable advantage.]

14.Nxf6 Qxf6 15.Nf3 White seems to be really fine, but actually he only has a small advantage. Black has no weaknesses and he wants to solve the problems of castling with an artificial maneuver: g6 and Kg7. White cannot prevent this. As we’ll see, the main problem of Black is his bishop on c8, which is very difficult to develop, because the e6 knight is forced to stay there for a while. This means that also the a8 rook can hardly join to the game.

9. Bxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd5! A strong move due to the fact that the endgame is better for White. It’s interesting that Fressinet already had a game in 2001 against Apicella... but in that game he offered a draw at this moment. Now the fight continues. [10.Nxd5 with the idea of a quick 0–0–0 does not work, because of the concrete 10... Bf5! 11.Ne3 Only move! (11.B xf5? loses to 11...Qxd5!) 11... Bxd3 12.cxd3 Ne7 and Black is slightly better.] 10...Qe7+! Unfortunately for Black, he’s forced to avoid the exchange of the queens, which should normally be his intention, since he is behind in development. [After 10...Qxd5 11.Nxd5 Black cannot solve the problems around the c7 pawn. 11...Ne6 is met with 12. Bf5!+/-; 10... Be6? doesn’t work. 11.Qxb7+/-]

15...g6 [15...c6 still loses to 16. Bxc6! bxc6 17.Qxc6 Qf4+ Only move, but doesn’t help. (17...Rb8? 18.Qd6++-) 18.Kb1 Qb8 This is already very suspicious, but the refutation is very nice. (18...Rb8 and the point is 19.g3!+- Black cannot control the d6 square, his rook is going to be lost.) 19.Ng5! h6 13


20. Rhe1!! This nice combo had to be foreseen before playing 19.Ng5! 20...hxg5 21. Rd8+! Ke7 (21...N xd8 22.Re8#) 22. Rxh8+-] 16.h4 Very logical move! Of course, Black can simply prevent this attack. White just wanted to improve his pawn structure. 16...h6 [16...Kg7 is not advisable 17.h5 Rd8 and here 18.h6+! A very unpleasant move, after which Black’s backrank starts to tell. 18...Kg8 19.Qe4+/-; At first I thought that Black could solve most of his problems by 16...Qf4+ 17.Kb1! looks like a mistake, because of (17.Qd2 this would be a more favorable way to exchange the queen, in comparison to the game... But of course, White still keeps some initiative.) 17...c6 but White is still doing fine after the concrete 18. Bxc6! bxc6 19.Qxc6 Rb8 20.Qc3! This is the key move of the sacrifice. White had to prevent the Kg7 move. (Now on 20.g3? Black has 20...Qc7) 20... Kg8 21.h5 with a serious attack. Rh4 could be very unpleasant. White is materially behind, but the two pawns and the h8 rook, which has no chance to return to the game, fully compensate him.]

17.Qe5! Very well played! Psychologically a difficult move because White could have had the urge to punish Black’s king somehow. Fressinet realized that in the endgame his advantage is bigger than in the middlegame. 17...Kg7 18. Rhe1 It’s not easy for Black now. The c8 bishop and the a8 rook are stuck... 18... Rf8 A slightly mysterious move, but it’s not easy to recommend something... [18...a6 19. Bc4 b5 White can simply take the pawn with 20. Bxe6 Bxe6 21.Qxc7 and Qe5 is coming next.; 18... Rd8 19. Rxd8 Qxe5 20. Rxe5 Nxd8 21. Re8 doesn’t look great for Black either.] 19. Re3 White continues improving his pieces. The rook is ready to harass the queenside pawns along the 3rd rank and to double them on the d- or e-file... [19. Bc4 was even stronger, the bishop had already nothing to do on b5.] 19...a5 [19...Qxe5 20.Nxe5+= is also better for White.] 20. Bc4! This is the best place for the bishop! Black is still without any useful plans, so White has time for maneuvering. However, Black’s position is still very stable, it’s not easy to create a weakness in it.

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20... Re8 There are two ways to treat the position: one is to press in a superior endgame, or White can also preserve the queens and launch a dangerous attack. [20... Qxe5 21.Nxe5+=]

26...b5 [26...g5 is met with 27.Ne3! The h6 pawn is weak. For example, Nf5-Kh7 and Bd3, or Nd6 are winning threats.]

21.Qxf6+!? [21.Qg3+/- was probably even stronger with the idea of Ne5 and Rf3.]

27. Ba2! Fressinet holds the pressure on the e6 knight. This makes the threat of hxg6 decisive. Despite the material equality, Black is probably lost.

21...Kxf6 22. Rde1 [22.Ne5 Re7 23. Rde1 transposes to the game.]

27... Raa7 [27...gxh5 was more tenacious, but after 28. Rxh5 the h6 pawn falls.]

22... Re7 Black defends against the Ne5, Rf3 threat, however, he should have done it with the rook on f8. Now Black moved into tactical motifs...

28.hxg6 Kxg6

23.Ne5 [23.h5! would have pointed out the inaccuracy of the previous move 23...g5 (23...gxh5 24.Nd4! with the threat of Rf3 and Nf5.) 24.Nd4! and again it’s not easy to parry the Rf3 — Nf5 idea.] 23...a4! A resourcef ul idea! Black wants to get his rook into the game through the 5th rank, but Fressinet manages to keep the rook in passivity. 24.Ng4+ Kg7 25. Re5! Not only prophylactic against Ra5, but also preparing to play h5! Black was already in time trouble. Usually, defending such a bad position consumes a lot of time and energy... 25...c6?! This allows White to execute his plan. [25...h5 should have been played, but it doesn’t solve all the Black problems either. 26.Nh2 Bd7 27.f4! For example, after (27. Nf3 also gives a small advantage.) 27... Ree8 28.f5! gxf5 29. Rxf5+=; 25... Bd7 26.h5+=] 26.h5! Black is in much bigger trouble than it might look at first sight.

29.f4! This wins on the spot! Nothing to do against f5. 29...f6 [29...f5 30. Bxe6+-] 30. Bxe6! Some calculating job at the end of the game. 30...fxe5 [30... Bxe6 Now the most precise is 31.f5+! (31.R xe6 R xe6 32.R xe6 Kf5 is also winning for White, but Black can prolong the resignation a bit.) 31... Bxf5 32. Rxe7 Rxe7 33. Rxe7 Bxg4 34. Rc7+-] 31.Nxe5+ Kf6 32. Bxc8+- White ended up with a huge material advantage. 32...h5 33. Rd1 Rg7 34. Bh3 Nice positional game! 1–0 15


(4) Mullon,J (2404) — Fressinet,L (2714) [B04] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (5), 17.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Usually, we analyze games between two chess giants, but this time I want to make a small exception. We are in the game between the player who is in last place and the one with the lowest Elo rating in the tournament, Jean Baptiste Mullon (the boss of the French League Champion, Clichy), and one of the pretenders for the French Title, Laurent Fressinet, rated more than 300 Elo points higher. We’ll see a game with the topic: „How to beat a much weaker opponent”, something that’s very usual in any big open tournament. 1.e4 Nf6 Fressinet doesn’t play the „Alekhine” very often, but for today’s special situation, it’s not a bad choice at all... 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6

4...g6 We are still in one of the main lines, with many games that were previously played. 5. Bc4 c6 6.h3 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Qe2 Not a bad move, but a bit usual here. [8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Nbd2 leads to a normal slightly better position for White.] 8...dxe5

9.Nxe5? A bad move. Actually, almost a blunder. [9.dxe5 and we are in a very normal position.] 9...Nb6! Of course, Black tries to make use of the situation with a double attack. If White tries to defend the d4 pawn, Black will simply get the bishop pair after Nxc4.

4.Nf3 White chooses the most solid line, which makes perfect sense. As a weaker player, you should try to be as solid as possible avoiding complications as far as possible. In an „easy position”, the 300 Elo points difference is less effective than in a position with a lot of different possible moves.

10. Bb3! What a great play by White. Not because the move is good — the move is bad -, but because this is the only move that gives practical chances. In case of 10. Rd1 Nxc4 11.Nxc4, there is no way J.B.Mullon would save this position against such a strong opponent. A slightly worse position with a lot of play usually equals a slow and unpleasant death... 10...N8d7?! What an interesting psychological moment. Black doesn’t take on d4! He’s afraid to blunder something. If Fressinet would be playing against an equal opponent, I have no doubts he would take on d4, but play16


ing the lower rated Mullon, Black thinks that he will win the game without risking anything. [10...Qxd4! It looks like Black can just win the pawn! 11.Nxf7 In case of any other move, Black is just a pawn up. 11... Rxf7 12. Rd1 Qf6! The only square for the black queen. Black needs to have the e6 move in the future.

13. Rd8+ Bf8 14.Bxf7+ Not a great move to do, but Black wanted to play e6 next. 14...Kxf7 15.Nc3 e5 Two pieces for the rook and an equal number of pawns, this should be enough to be better. Yes, White still has some tricks in the position, but objectively, the position is better for Black.] 11.Nd2 A bit top passive. 11.Nc3 would have been a better solution. 11...a5! A typical positional move. Black is provoking White to play a4. And to include the a5-a4 moves is definitely good for Black. 12.a4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 c5?! An ugly move. [It’s not much better to play 13...Qc7 14.e6! f5 15. Re1 The bishop on c8 is completely blocked. This gives White very good chances for a future attack. In my opinion, White should be clearly better here.; 13...Nd5! This would be the most normal reaction for Black. 14.Nf3 Now we can see why

a5-a4 was so useful for Black. White has no c4 push anymore. 14...Qb6 with a very normal position.] 14.Nf3? White has too much respect for his opponent. [Why not to play the most logical? 14.e6 f5 (14...Bxe6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Qxe6+ Kh8 17.Nf3 After these obvious moves, we can clearly see that Black has quite a few problems. The pawn configuration with a5-b7-c5-e7 is just a disaster, the knight on b6 is badly placed and all that White needs to do is to play Bg5. White is clearly better here.)

15.Nc4 If this would’ve happened in the game, I think Fressinet would have regretted a lot not having taken the pawn on d4 before... Black’s position is just horrible and there’s no risk for White at all.] 14...Qc7! And here comes the immediate punishment, Black wants to play c4 now. 15.e6 Too late for an active play. [A normal move like 15. Be3 e6 16.c3 would still lead to a slightly more pleasant position for White, but of course, the best part of the advantage has already passed away.] 15...f5 Black doesn ‚t take on e6 because this would give White a clearly better position. Now the game becomes very concrete. 17


16. Re1?! This move has the right intention, to keep the e6 pawn at any cost, but it doesn’t seem to work tactically. [It was much better to play the simple 16.c3 The White bishop belongs on c2. 16...c4 17.Bc2 Ra6! We can see again how important was the a5 move for Black. The rook is attacking the e6 pawn. The position is very complicated.] 16...c4 Of course! 17. Ba2 Nxa4! This time Fressinet takes the „free” pawn.

zero practical chances and decided to sacrifice the exchange expecting to get some tricks in exchange.] 20... Bxa1 21.Ng5 b5 Black gives a pawn to develop the bishop from c8 — not a bad thing to do being a clear exchange up! 22. Bxb5 Bb7 Not the most precise move by Black. [22... Bf6 23.Nf7 a4 pushing the a-pawn as far as possible would give Black a winning position on the spot. The White knight on f7 is well placed, but it can’t create any dangerous threats to the Black king. Also, just in case, Black has the move Ra5 to protect the 5th rank.] 23. Rd1?! The idea of Rd7 is nice, but it’s more like a dream for White... [The only chance to continue the game would have been to play 23.Nf7 Bf6 24.c4! protecting all the pieces. 24...a4 25. Bb2! and White has some small hopes for tactical tricks — even if the position remains lost.]

18. Bxc4? White total ly lost control over the game. This move already leads to the loss of more than just a pawn, and it was not too late to start playing „normal chess”. [18.Ne5! and the position is still totally unclear. Black has a lot of options here. To hold on to the c4 pawn doesn’t work. 18...b5?! 19. Bxc4! bxc4 20. Rxa4 and even Black has the bishop pair. The defense of the c4 pawn is not an easy task. The position should be around equal here.] 18...Nxb2 19. Bb3 Nc4! Strong move by Black. [In case of 19...Nd3 20.cxd3 Bxa1 21.d4! probably Black’s position is winning, but White will get some counterplay on the kingside, which is really unnecessary for Black.] 20. Bxc4 [20. Rb1 b5 would lead to a position with a clear pawn up for Black. J.B. Mullon thought that here he had

23...Qe5?! What is Fressinet doing? It seems like White managed to get Black to play badly by playing badly himself. [23... Bc6 This simple move just gives Black a winning position. 24.Qc4 White needs to play for tricks... 24... Rac8 25. Bf4 (25.Qh4 h5) 25... Bxb5! It’s not a difficult line to calculate for a 2700 ELO player. 26.Qxc7 Rxc7 27. Bxc7 18


Bf6 28.Nf3 a4 and we are in quite an easily winning endgame for Black.] 24.Qf1! Easy and good, White is back in the fight. 24... Rab8?! Another strange move by Black... but it seems like both Fressinet and Mullon just dropped their chess level to a minimum. 25. Bd7? [After the easy 25. Ba3 Qf6 Black already needs to find „only” moves. Luckily, it’s good enough to keep the advantage. 26.Nxh7 Kxh7 27. Rxa1 and we can clearly see that the game is by far not over. White got the bishop pair plus an extra pawn for the exchange.] 25...Qc7! In chess, it’s very important to recognize the mistakes one has done, and Fressinet is doing it. The Black bishop belongs on f6 to cover the king. The Black queen should attack the White pieces. 26.h4 White is starting a suicidal attack, but there’s not much else to do. Black wants to play Bf6 followed by a4a3-a2 and queen.

27...Qxc2! Black is back, playing cool and strong moves. 28.hxg6 hxg6 29. Bf4 Ba6! Easy but nice tactic. Now the position is completely winning. 30.Qe1 Qe2! The most technical way to end the game. There were many others winning moves, but Black decides to give away the exchange, leaving him in a totally winning endgame anyway. The a-pawn will be worth at least a full piece! 31. Bxb8 Qxe1+ 32. Rxe1 Rxb8 33.Nf7 [33.Nf3 Rb4 would lead to about the same.] 33... Rb4 The a-pawn starts to move. 34. Re3 Rb1+ [Would lead to a nice winning line: 34... Bd4 35. Ra3 Rb1+ 36.Kh2 Bxf2 37. Rxa5 Bg1+ Black starts to build a mating net around the White king. 38.Kg3 Rb3+ 39.Kf4 Kg7! What a nice mating motif! 40. Rxa6 Kf6 and the mate is coming from all sides!] 35.Kh2 Rb2 36. Ra3 Rxf2

26... Bf6 Finally, the Black bishop has reached his destination. 27.h5

37. Bc6 [37. Rxa5 Bb7 and the g2-pawn is gonna fall.] 37... Bc4 38. Rxa5 Bxe6 Now it was a good moment to resign, but White decided to make a few more moves. 19


39.Nd8 Bc4 40. Ra4 Be5+ 41.Kh3 Rf1 42.g4 Rf2! A nice mate! 43.Kh4 Bf4 44.gxf5 gxf5 45.Kh5 Kg7

And finally the game has finished with a predictable result. What can we learn from this game? It happens very often, and to any kind of player: You drop Your level of play to the one of Your opponent. It’s very important to stay focused even in a winning position against a much weaker opponent! 0–1

20


Puzzle section

(7) Cori,J (2487) — Huschenbeth,N (2532) World Youth Championship, 15.08.2012

(5) Tkachiev,V (2644) — Maze,S (2573) French Championship, 18.08.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Ivekovic,Z (2320) — Salem,AR (2546) (6) Hansen,E (2472) — Grigoryan,K (2529) World Youth Championship, 14.08.2012

World Youth Championship, 13.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

21


(9) Beckhuis,G (2288) — Horvath,J (2536)

(11) Fedorchuk,S (2639) — Markidis,K (2351)

Vienna Open, 18.08.2012

Ishtmia Open, 18.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

(10) Gajewski,G (2628) — Antoi Royo,J (2398)

(12) Pruijssers,R (2514) — Broekmeulen,J (2410)

Sants Open, 19.08.2012

Roosendaal Open, 17.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

22


(13) Fier,A (2582) — Kulaots,K (2558) Riga Open, 12.08.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Romanishin,O (2509) — Nguyen,P (2388) Najdorf memorial, 14.08.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

23


Endgame section (15) Lagarde,Max (2505) — Vaisser,A (2556) [A40] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (6), 18.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

What an endgame! Rarely we see such a constellation: 5 pawns for a rook. It’s clear that White is doing better, but is this position winning? And what’s the best way to fight for a win with White? To leave the rook on the first rank, or to start attacking from „behind” in order to allow the king to help on the queenside, or to leave the king controlling Black’s f-pawns... Let’s take a closer look. 58.Kxd4 Black chooses the most natural move, but it actually leads to a very tricky draw. 58...b3 [58...f3! It seems that this move makes the easiest draw... The idea of Black is to leave the White king busy with the a- and b-pawns, and to start pushing the f-pawn together with the king as far as possible. 59. Rg6+ White needs to try to get the Black king on a distance, any other attempt would lead to an immediate draw. (59.Ke3? To

try to hold the f-pawn with the king would even lead to a loosing position for White! 59...a3! 60.Ra1 Black wanted to play a2-b3-b2 and queen. 60...Kd5! The Black king is on the way to help his pawns on the queenside. 61.Kxf3 Kc4 62.Ke3 Kb3 63.Kd2 Kb2 with an easy win for Black.) 59...Kf7 60. Rg3!? The only chance to fight for a win. (60. R xh6 It could be important to help the h-pawn, but again White is just not in time to achieve more than a draw. 60... b3 The usual b3... 61.Kc3 The White king has to get away from the f-pawn. 61...f2 forcing White’s rook to leave the 6th rank. 62.Rh1 Kf6 and here comes the Black king.

63.Rf1 f4 64.R xf2 Kf5 White is cl early not in time to capture the a- and b-pawns and to return back with the king to help the rook in its lonely fight. 65.Kb4 Kg4 66.Kxa4 Kg3 with a draw.) 60...b3! This b3 that we see in almost all the lines tends to be the best move. 61. Rxf3! White is holding the Black pawns for a second with the rook. 61... Kf6 (61...b2?! still leads to a miraculous draw, although it would be a bad move for the heart :). 62.R xf5+! The fpawn is gone. 62...Kg6 63.Rb5 a3 64.Kc3! The White king is going for Black’s a- and b- pawns. 64...h5 65.Kc2 h4 66.Kb1 Kh6 67.Ka2 Kg6 and we have a very funny position. Black has no other moves than Kh6-Kg6, but how 24


can White improve the position?! There is no way except to play Kxa3, which leads to a „move by move” draw.

68.Kxa3 b1Q! Black needs to cross the 5th rank with the king at any cost. 69.R xb1 Kg5 70.Kb3 Kg4 71.Kc4 Kg3 The run of the king ends with Black being on time. 72.Kd4 h3 73.Ke3 h2 Draw.) 62. Rf1 Kg5 63.Kc3 and again White can do nothing better than to play Kc3... and this is exactly what Black wants... 63...f4 64.Kb4 Kg4 65.Kxa4 f3 66.Kxb3 Kg3 67.Kc3 Kg2 68. Ra1 f2 and once again, Black is just in time to make a draw.]

59...Kd7? A natural move, which is a losing mistake! [59...Kf7! would be the right way to go. For a human this is not an easy move to make. It’s very hard to calculate all the lines until the end, and this move has to be done more intuitively. 60. Rb6! White stops the advance of the Black pawns with the rook, which gives White a chance to keep the king in the center — the f-pawn just can’t move! (An attempt to capture the h-pawn ends in a draw as well. 60. Rxh6 b2! As usual, Black gets the White king away from the center, which gives him time to bring his own king and to advance the f-pawn as far as possible. 61. Rh1 (61.Rb6 a3 62.Kc3 f3) 61...a3 62.Kc3 Kf6 63.Kb3 We have another move by move position. 63...f3 64.Kxa3 Ke5 65.Kxb2 Ke4 66.Kc2

59. Rg6+! Absolutely correct. White needs to cut the Black king on the 7th rank. [59.Kc3 Kd5] 66...f2! It’s a bit funny that the second Black pawn on f5 secures a draw. Without it, the position would just be lost. 67.Kd2 Kf3 68. Ra1 f4! 69. Rb1 Kg2 70.Ke2 f3+ and this is why Black needed the second f-pawn. What a nice line!) 60...h5! It’s amazing but this is probable the only move thats saves Black’s position. And what else to do!? Against f3, White is always in time for Ke3. 61. Rb4 The rook can capture both pawns by itself! 61...h4 62. Rxa4 h3 63. Ra1 It looks like White has some winning chances, but the po25


sition is a draw. 63...Kf6! The Black king starts his movement. 64. Rh1 b2! forced White to move the king close to the b-pawn, which of course means a draw. 65.Kd3 (65.Kc3 We already saw many times that this leads to a draw. 65...Kg5 66.Kxb2 Kg4 67.Kc3 Kg3 68.Rg1+ Kf2 69.Rg5 h2 70.Rh5 Kg2 71.Rg5+ Draw.) 65...f3! It’s very important to be careful until the end! (It was not too late to make a huge mistake by playing 65...Kg5 ?? 66.Ke2! and White is winning! The White king is getting to f3, and all the Black pawns are gonna fall!) 66.Ke3 Ke5! The Black king is going to c2! 67. Rd1 cutting on the d-file. 67...h2 68.Kxf3 h1Q+! Typical, but anyway a nice move. 69. Rxh1 Kd4 70.Ke2 Kc3 The Black king reached the c2-square. Draw!]

61...f3 62. Rxa4 Kd6 63. Rb4 Ke5 Here the game was stopped with the result of 0–1. First I thought it must have been a mistake. White is completely winning! Later on I found out that White lost on time! With a 30 second increment per move, it’s amazing! How unfortunate for the young French player. Of course, 64.Kd2 wins on the spot. 0–1

60.Kc3! This is exactly why Black should not have played Kd7?. Now White just wants to play Rxh6-Rf6 and capture all the Black pawns. Black has nothing better to do than to lose a very important tempo and to go back with the king. 60...Ke7 61. Ra6! Very good play by White! The game is over, White is in time to capture both pawns and to go back with the king to stop the f-pawn.

26


(16) Saric,I (2638) — Fischer,AK (2244) Vienna Open, 15.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

In the first rounds of an open tournament, a strong GM was facing a much lower rated opponent, but the game was always about even. Suddenly, they simplified the game to this amazingly complex pawn endgame. The position is full of fascinating motifs. One of the best ways to improve your calculating abilities is to solve pawn endgames. This is also an excellent example. First of all, let’s try to find out who is better and why... Black has a seemingly more active king, but his pawns are squeezed down, they cannot move. The a5 pawn blocks excellently the queenside and if the Black king goes to take it, White appears to be faster to collect the kingside pawns and promote his own pawns. White’s only winning attempt is the following: to play g5, Kf5 and h4-h5-h6, making an „entrance square” on f6 for the pawns. 30.g5! Very strong move. Just like the a5-pawn on the queenside, the g5-pawncompletely restricts the mobility of the kingside pawns. [Other moves with the same idea

were not so dangerous. For example: 30.Kf5 h6! Black prevents g5 and starts moving with his king on the d-file.] 30...Ke6! Only move! Black needs to create a passed pawn, he intends to play f5 next. [30...g6? is probably the most logical move to prevent Kf5 and the h4-h5-h6 plan, but it has a huge drawback as well: it gives up the f6 square. The a5 pawn does such a good blockading job that White can lure the king to the queenside and he will be still ahead in time to promote his g-pawn... 31.c4+! Kxc4 White gets a winning queen endgame by force after the big pawn race. (31...Ke6 This is too passive, it cannot lead to anything good for Black... 32.b4 Kd6 33.Ke4 Ke6 34.b5! White has a well-known breakthrough in this kind of 3 vs 2 situations, which he can comfortably execute here... 34...Kd6 35.Kd4 Ke6

36.c5! with the idea of 36...axb5 37.c6! This is the point. 37... bxc6 38.a6+-; After 31...Kd4 32.h4!+- Black is in zugzwang. He must allow White to play Ke5.) 32.Ke5 Kb4 33.Kf6 Kxa5 34.Kxf7 b5 35.Kg7 b4 36.Kxh7 Kb5

27

Issue 26 31.c4 White correctly advances the queenside pawns. Other moves like b4 and h4 will lead to the same positions as in the game.

24th of August 2012

37.h4! White will d up with a g5 pawn, which is clearly much better than the one with h3, after Kxg6, and promoting the g-pawn. 37...a5 38.h5 a4 39.hxg6 a3 40.bxa3 bxa3 41.g7 a2 42.g8Q a1Q 43.Qd5++- with a theoretically winning endgame.; 30...Kd4? 31.Kf5 Ke3 The active try had to be calculated precisely, but if we do a good job, we come to the conclusion that White wins by one tempo... (31...Kd5 The waiting policy of passing on the dfile is a very bad idea now. White can simply execute his winning plan. 32.h4 Kd6 33.h5 Ke7 34.h6 gxh6 35.gxh6+and by pushing the queenside pawns, White lures the king and he can simple penetrate with the king.) 32.h4! Kd2 33.h5 Kxc2 (33...g6+ does not help. 34.hxg6 fxg6+ 35.Kf6 Ke3 (35...Kxc2 36.Kg7+- The a5-pawn is an excellent blockader.) 36.Kg7 Kf4 37.Kh6+- followed by pushing on the queenside again.) 34.h6 The usual winning technique. 34...gxh6 35.gxh6 Kxb2 36.Kf6 Kc3 37.Kxf7 Kb4 38.Kg7 Kxa5 39.Kxh7 b5 40.Kg6 b4 41.h7 b3 42.h8Q+-; 30...Kc5? is too slow. 31.Ke5 Kb5 32.Kd6 Kxa5 33.Ke7 f5! Black wins a few tempi with this, but still fails to save the game. 34.gxf6 gxf6 35.Kxf6 b5 36.h4 b4 37.h5 Kb5 38.h6 a5 and here comes the key move: 39.b3!+- This stops the a-pawn. Black needs to go around with his king, but of course, White is much faster here.]

31...f5! Principled defense! Black needs to make use of his pawn majority on the kingside. [The passive defense is not recommended here either, but the refutation is really difficult now: 31...Kd6? 32.b4 Ke6 33.h4 f5! Only chance. (Black could not wait any longer with 33...Kd6 34.Kf5 Ke7 35.h5+- and h6 next.) 34.gxf6 Kxf6 35.b5 Ke6 We are at another critical moment, where we really need to use our calculating skills.

36.b6!! Pure calculation is needed. With the help of the c5-c6 threat, White wants to enter in the opponent’s camp. It’s important to notice that if Black goes for the a5pawn, it’s enough for White to reach the c7-square with the king and he’ll still queen faster with his b-pawn. 36... Kd6 37.Kf5 Ke7 (37...Kc5 is not an option. 38.Ke6 Kxc4 (38...Kb4 39.Kd6 Kxa5 40.c5+-) 39.Kd6 Kb5 40.Kc7+-) 38.Ke5 Kd7 39.c5! Despite being with a plus on the kingside, Black cannot create a passed pawn. The move h6 is always met with h5, and he doesn’t have enough time for g6 and h6, because of Kf6... 39...Kc6 (39...h6 40.h5+- is easy.) 40.Ke6 h5! (40...Kxc5 41.Kd7+-) 28


41.Ke7!! A similar ending arises after 41. Kf7, but there will be a huge difference... 41...g5 Black needs to play this move, otherwise White just plays Kd8-c8. 42.hxg5 h4 43.g6 h3 44.g7 h2 45.g8Q h1Q and here White has the fantastic 46.Kd8!! The idea is simply to collect the b7 pawn. He can go with the king to a7 if it’s needed and then the pawn automatically falls. 46...Kxc5 47.Qb3!! is the most precise, but not the only move here. Next is Kc7 or in case of 47...Kc6 48.Qc4+ Kd6 49.Qc7+ Ke6 50.Kc8+- wins.] 32.gxf6! White has no choice of course. If Black manages to create a protected passed pawn with g6, he cannot have any more problems in this game... [32.b4? g6] 32...Kxf6 33.b4 And we have reached another critical moment, The most critical one, from the game point of view. After finding a few only moves, Black makes a mistake and loses. There was only one way to save the game...

33...g5+? [33...Ke6? will lead us back to the previous line with 31...Kd6. 34.h4! Ke7 (34...Kf6 35.b5 Ke6 36.b6+- We transposed to 31...Kd6.) 35.b5 Kd6 36.b6! Ke6 and here again, we end up in the same position after 37.c5! Kd5 38.Kf5 Kxc5 39.Ke6 h5 40.Kd7 g5 41.hxg5 h4 42.g6 h3 43.g7 h2 44.g8Q h1Q and again White has some good possibilities, but the strongest is 45.Qb3! Qc6+ 46.Kd8+with the threat of exchanging the queens. Black must allow the king to have access to the b7 pawn. The game is practically over.; 33...h6!! The only move to draw! Black’s idea is to get rid of the kingside pawns, after which he can calmly walk to the other side with the king. At any moment, when White plays h4, he needs to push g5 and White is forced to take it. As we saw in the 31...Kd6 and 33...Ke6 lines, the key was that White managed to get his pawn to h4 and was ready to play h5 against h6... 34.b5 (34.Ke4 Ke6; 34.h4 g5+!) 34...Ke6! Otherwise, the c5-c6 break works... 35.Ke4 (35.c5?? would be a terrible blunder. 35...axb5 36.c6 Kd6! 37.cxb7 Kc7 Black stopped the pawns and the passers on both flanks to win the game. 38.a6 g5+)

29


35...Kd6! Another only move! (After the other candidate move 35...g6 White wins again with subtle play. 36.Kd4! g5 (36...Kd6 loses by one tempo. 37.c5+ Kd7 38.bxa6! bxa6 39.Ke5 Kc6 40.Kf6 Kxc5 41.Kxg6 Kb4 42.Kxh6 Kxa5 43.Kg6+- and both pawns are promoting at the same time, but White does it first and controls the a1 square...) 37.Ke4 h5 Black seemingly manages to finish his plan and exchanges the kingside pawns, but White is in time again. Now he wins even by two tempi... 38.b6! Kd6 39.Kf5 g4 40.hxg4 hxg4 41.Kxg4 Kc5 42.Kf5 Kxc4 43.Ke6 Kb5 44.Kd7 Kxa5 45.Kc7 Kb4 46.Kxb7 a5 47.Kc6 a4 48.b7 a3 49.b8Q++-) 36.Kf5 (36.Kd4 would ease Black’s task. 36...axb5 37.cxb5 g5 Now the draw is clear. The two kings will remain alone on the board soon... 38.Ke4 h5 39.Kf5 g4 40.hxg4 hxg4 41.Kxg4 Kc5 42.a6 bxa6 43.bxa6 Kb6=) 36...Kc5 37.b6 (After 37.bxa6 it is White who needs to be very careful to hold the draw. The way he does this is very instructive, again! 37...bxa6 38.Kg6 Kb4! By not wasting time on the c4 pawn, Black promotes his queen first and controls the h8 square. However, with a pawn on h7 and the king on g8 against the queen, the position is a theoretical draw, with a well-known stalemate trick. Yes, but this stalemate does not exist with the exist-

ence of the c4 pawn. After all, it’s clear what White has to do... (38...Kxc4?? is a blunder 39.Kxg7 Kb4 40.Kxh6+) 39.Kf5!! (39.Kxg7? Kxa5 40.Kxh6 Kb4 41.h4 a5 42.h5 a4 43.Kg7 a3 44.h6 a2 45.h7 a1Q+ 46.Kg8 Qa8+ 47.Kg7 Qb7+ 48.Kg8 Qc8+ 49.Kg7 Qd7+ 50.Kg8 Qd8+ 51.Kg7 Qg5+ 52.Kf7 Qh6 53.Kg8 Qg6+ 54.Kh8 and here, due to the c4 pawn, Black wins with 54...Qf7! and there is no stalemate. 55.c5 Qf8#) 39...Kxc4 (39...Kxa5 also leads to a draw. 40.Ke6! White goes to support the c-pawn. 40... Kb6! Only move. 41.Kd6 Kb7! Only move again. Black wants to play Kc8, so White is also forced 42.Kd7! Kb6 43.Kd6= with a repetition.) 40.Kg6! After the c-pawn disappeared, White can go for the mentioned endgame, but the execution still needs precision! 40...Kb4

41.h4!! White has to push his pawn to h5 first! (41.Kxg7? loses to 41...h5! lures away the White king. 42.Kg6 Kxa5 43.Kxh5 Kb6 44.Kg6 a5 45.h4 a4 46.h5 a3 47.h6 a2 48.h7 a1Q) 41...Kxa5 42.h5! Kb4 43.Kxg7 a5 44.Kxh6 a4 45.Kg7 a3 46.h6 a2 47.h7 a1Q+ 48.Kg8 Qg1+ 49.Kh8= with a theoretical draw.) 37...h5! This is the most precise! (37...Kxc4 also leads to a draw, but Black needs to suffer for a long time. 38.Ke6! g5 39.Kd7 h5 40.Kc7 g4 41.hxg4 hxg4 42.Kxb7 g3 43.Kxa6 g2 44.b7 g1Q 45.b8Q This is 30


theoretically drawn, but of course, I don’t wish anyone to have this kind of queen endgame. Usually, it lasts for about 100 moves.) 38.h4 Kxc4 39.Ke6! Only this direction! (39.Kg6 is too slow. 39...Kb5 40.Kxh5 Kxa5 41.Kg6 Kxb6 42.Kxg7 a5 The Black pawn arrives with check!) 39...Kb5 40.Kd6 Kxa5 41.Kc7 g5! 42.hxg5 h4 43.g6 h3 44.g7 h2 45.g8Q h1Q = This is our final position! If both sides play flawlessly from this initial position, they will reach this position and agree to a draw soon. An excellent exercise for practicing calculation, but I believe that to find all these moves with a limited time control is only possible with some luck... (maybe even with an unlimited time control :-). )] 34.Kg4 Kg6 35.b5 And White is breaking through! 35...h5+ 36.Kg3 Kf5 37.c5! Black resigned because of 37...axb5 38.c6! A very instructive endgame! 1–0

31


Clash of the Titans

example d6, later c5-Nc6, or even f6 is possible sometimes. White must try to consolidate his pawns...

(17) Letelier Martner,Rene — Fischer,Robert James [E70]

6.f4 d6 7. Be3 This is the right way to develop. [The logical 7.Nf3 would allow Black to increase the pressure on the center by pinning the knight with Bg4... 7...dxe5 8.fxe5 and here probably the best is 8...c5 and on 9.d5 Bg4 followed by Nd7. White's center collapses.]

Leipzig ol (Men) Leipzig, 24.10.1960 [Balogh Csaba] This week, we’ll examine Fischer’s immortal mate from the 1960’s Olympiad. He was only 17 years old and already was the leader of the US Team.

7...c5! Consequent play, otherwise it’s hard to „breath”. 8.dxc5

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 The King’s Indian defense was Fischer’s favorite weapon against 1.d4. 4.e4 0–0

8...Nc6! Fischer knows that the number of pawns doesn’t matter, he must open the files on his opponent’s king. Black must play energetically to prove thecompensation.

5.e5 White goes for it, but in my opinion it’s better to avoid this kind of complications. 5...Ne8 Looks ugly. That’s why White could not resist the temptation. However, the position is more tricky. White went forward with his pawns, which is very nice, but they should be supported by the pieces. Black’s idea is to undermine the center, and he has various ways to do it. For

9.cxd6 exd6 10.Ne4? This is a bad decision! Making a second move with a piece, instead of developing. [10. Nf3 should have been played, when it’s not obvious if Black can reach more than equality. 10... Bg4 11. Be2 Qa5 (The problem is that after 11...dxe5 White has 12.Qxd8 R xd8 13.Bc5!) 12.0–0 (12.exd6 is met with 12... Qb4! with a double attack on b2 and d6. Black is OK!) 12... dxe5 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5!= and the position is about even.] 32


10... Bf5! Probably arrived without thinking. Black develops another piece with tempo.

e3 and enjoys a big advantage, but his attack still needs some time to break through.]

11.Ng3 [11.Nxd6 White should have gone for the exchange of queens. 11...Nxd6 12.Qxd6 Qxd6 (12...f6!? is also possible. 13.Qxd8 Rfxd8) 13.exd6 Bxb2 14. Rd1 Rfe8 15.Kf2 Rad8 16.Nf3

13.Qb1 White wants to avoid the opening of the lines and intends to push f5 after dxe5. As we will see, he doesn’t succeed. [13.exd6 Nxd6 is kind of hopeless for White. All the lines and diagonals are open only for one pawn.; 13.f5! was the only chance for White. 13...gxf5

16... Ba3! The key resource for Black. He wins back the pawn and keeps his initiative, since after 17.c5 a great exchange sacrifice works 17... Rxe3!! 18.Kxe3 Bxc5+ 19.Ke2 Re8+ 20.Kd2 Bxd6 Even without queens on the board, it’s possible to lead an effective attack. The White king is slaloming between the diagonals of the Black bishops. 21. Bd3 Bxf4+ 22.Kc3 Be6 Black has a small material advantage and still has the initiative.]

14. Bd3 Here Black has several ways to achieve some advantage, but none of them is completely clear. I believe the best option is the elegant play. Probably, Fischer would have played it as well. 14...Nxe5 15.Nxe5 f4!! Nice intermediate move, which allows Black to occupy the center. 16. Bxf4 dxe5 taking with tempo and f5 is coming next! Black must be better!]

11... Be6 12.Nf3 Finally White takes out a piece.

13...dxe5 14.f5 Diagonal

12...Qc7 Trading queens was not Fischer’s intention! [12...dxe5!? However, it would have probably been objectively the strongest move. 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Bc5 exf4 15.Ne4 and now (15.B xf8 loses to 15...B xb2! 16.Rd1 Bc3+ 17.Ke2 B xc4+) 15... Bf5 16. Bxf8 Bxf8 17.Nc3 Nb4 18. Rd1 Nc2+ 19.Ke2 Rc8 Black installs a knight on

14...e4! A great move again, probably arrived without thinking again. The e-file and the a1–h8 diagonal has to open up. 15.fxe6 [15.Qxe4 gxf5 and White cannot capture on f5, due to Qa5!]

33


15...exf3 16.gxf3 Here Black has many tempting moves, one of them is better than the other... Fischer continued to play instyle!


16...f5!? 16...fxe6, 16...Ne5 or 16...Qe5 were also good.

(18) Selesniev,A

17.f4 Nf6! Ng4 and Re8xe6 are in the air! The White king cannot find shelter, the end is near.

1921

18. Be2 Rfe8 19.Kf2 Rxe6 Game over! But the end is just fantastic!

1.=

[CEWN]

20. Re1 Rae8 21. Bf3 And here comes the fantastic blow! 21... Rxe3! Not the only way to win, but definitely the nicest! 22. Rxe3 Rxe3 23.Kxe3 And... 23...Qxf4+!! White resigned![23...Qxf4+!! 24.Kxf4 (24. Ke2 Nd4+; 24.Kf2 Ng4+ 25.Kg2 Ne3+ 26.Kf2 Nd4 27.Qh1 Ng4+) 24... Bh6# Amazing mate!] 0–1

34


Solutions

(20) Galliamova,A (2465) — Ovod,E (2419) Russian Woman Championship, 07.08.2012

(19) Kovanova,B (2408) — Ubiennykh,E (2367)

[Solutions]

Russian Woman Championship, 07.08.2012 [Solutions]

26. Rxf6!! [26.Nxf6+ gxf6 27. Rxf6 Nh7!]

23. Rae1!! [23. Rfe1? Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Kg8–+] 23... Ra8?! [23... Bxf1 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25.Qb8+ Kd7 26.Qb7+ Ke8 27.Qc8+ Qd8 28.Nxd8+-; 23... Rxe1! 24.Qb8+ Re8 25. Bxd6+ Qe7! (25...Kg8 26.Qxe8+ Kh7 27.Qxh8+ Kxh8 28.R xf6+-) 26. Bxe7+ Bxe7 27.Qc7 Bxf1 28.d6 h3! (28...B xd6 29.Qxd6+ Kg8 30.Ne7+ Kh7 31.Kxf1+-) 29.dxe7+ Kg8 30.Kh2! Bg2 31.Ne5 (31.Nd8!?) 31...f6 32.Qd7; 23... Bxf4 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25.Qb8+ Kd7 26.Qb7+ Ke8 27.Qc8++-]

26...gxf6 27.Nxf6+ Kf7 [27...Kg7 28.Nxe8+ Kg6 (28... R xe8 29.R xg5++-) 29.Ng7+-] 28.Qf2! [28.Nxe8!?] 28...Nh3+ [28...Kg6 29.Qh4+-] 29. Bxh3 Bxh3 30.Ng8+! Ke6 [30...Kxg8 31. Rg5+ Kh8 32.Qh4#] 31.d5+ 1–0[31.d5+ Kd7 32.Qf7++-]

24.Qb7! Kg8 25. Bxg5! [25.Qxa8+? Kh7] 25...Qxg5 26. Rf5!! 1–0[26. Rf5!! Qxf5 (26...Qg4 27.Qxf7+ Kh7 28.Rh5++-) 27.Ne7++-; 26.Qxf7+? Kh7 27. Rf5 Bxd5+!]

35


(21) Karjakin,S (2785) — Potkin,V (2651)

(23) Potkin,V (2651) — Alekseev,E (2673)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35.e6! [35.Kd4? Ke7 36.Kxd5 Rd8+ 37.Kc4 Rd2] 35...fxe6 36.Kd4 Rg7 37. Rxg7! Kxg7 38.Ke5 Kf7 39.Kd6 a4 40.a3 1–0 (22) Svidler,P (2749) — Potkin,V (2651)

30. Rxe7+! Rxe7 31. Rxe7+ Kxe7 32.Qg7+! Kd8 [32... Kd6? 33.Ne4++-; 32...Ke8 33.Qg8+ Ke7 34.Qg7+=] 33.Qh8+! [33.d6? Qc1+ 34.Kh2 Qf4+ 35.Kg1 Qxd6–+]


33...Ke7 [33...Kc7 34.Qe5+ Kd8= (34...Kb6? 35.Na4++-); 33... Be8 34.Qf6+ Kd7 35.Qe6+ Kc7 36.Qe5+=]

[Solutions]

34.Qg7+ Kd8 35.Qh8+ Ke7 1/2–1/2

31...Nh3+? [31...Nd3! 32. Bg2 (32.Kg2 B xe4 33.B xe4 Rf2+–+; 32.Rf1) 32... Bxe4 33. Bxe4 Bc5+ 34.Kh1 (34. Kg2 Rf2+–+) 34...Nf2+–+] 32.Kg2 Bxe4 33. Bxe4 Nxg5 34. Bxg5 Bxg5 35. Rd1 36


(24) Fier,A (2582) — Rausis,I (2507)

(26) Ehlvest,J (2601) — Neiksans,A (2537)

Riga Open, 09.08.2012

Riga Open, 11.08.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Ba5! b6 25.Nxb6+! Nxb6 26. Bxf5 exf5 27.Ne5!+Re8 [27...Nfd7 28. Rb3+-] 28. Rb3 Nfd7 29. Bxb6 [29. Qf1+-] 29...Nxb6 30.Qa5 Kb7 31.Nd7! 1–0

19.Nxe6! Nxf4 [19...fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Kg7 21. Bxd5+-] 20.Nxf4 Bxe4 21. Rxd7 Qe8 22.e6+(27) Simantsev,M (2526) — Krejci,J (2503)

(25) Markos,J (2559) — Ehlvest,J (2601)

Olomouc GM, 02.08.2012

Riga Open, 10.08.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17.Qxe5! [17.Qd6? Qxd6 18. Rxd6 e4] 17...Qxe5 18. Bxe5+-

25...Nd5+! 26.exd5 Rxe5+! 27.Qxe5 [27.Kf4 Rxf5+ 28.Kxf5 Qxf3+ 29.Ke5 Qf6+–+] 27...Qe2+ 28.Kf4 [28. Kd4 c5+–+] 28...g5+! 29.Kg4 Qxe5 0–1 37


(28) Shimanov,A (2596) — Wei Yi (2418)

(29) Perelman,M

World Junior Championship, 11.08.2012

1930

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25. Rc3!! [25. Rcd1 Bh3!! 26.Qxh7 Bxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Qe4+ 28.Qxe4 dxe4]

1.f5!! [1.fxg4? h4+! 2.Kf3 gxf4 3.Kxf4 Kg2–+; 1.hxg4? h4+ 2.Kh3 gxf4 3.g5 (3.Kxh4 Kg2–+) 3...Kg1 4.Kg4 (4.Kxh4 Kf2 5.Kg4 Ke3–+) 4...Kf2 5.Kxf4 h3–+]

25...d1Q [25...Qxc3 26.Qh6+ Ke8 (26...Kf7 27.Qg7+ Ke6 28.Qe7#) 27.f7++-] 26. Rxd1 Qxc3 27.Qh6+ Kf7 [27...Ke8 28.Qg7+-] 28.Qg7+ Ke6 29.Qe7+ Kf5 30. Rf1+ Kg4 31.Qg7+ Kh5 32.Qxh7+ 1–0[32.Qxh7+ Kg5 33.h4+ Kg4 34.Qg6+ Kxh4 35. Rf4++-]

1...gxf5 2.hxg4! hxg4 [2...h4+ 3.Kh3 fxg4+ 4.fxg4 Kg1=; 2...f4+ 3.Kh3 h4= (3...hxg4+ 4.fxg4 f3 5.Kg3=) ] 3.fxg4 f4+ 4.Kh3! Kg1= [4...f3 5.Kg3=] 1/2

38

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 27 31st of August 2012



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4

»» Puzzle section

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29


33

»» Solutions

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2


Editorial Preface The 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey has begun! Almost all the teams came with their best possible lineup, including Kramnik playing for Russia on board 1. There are also a few that are missing: Anand, Carlsen, Gashimov and Morozevich.

Stay updated with us, enjoy the games and in the next issue we will report about the chess activities, plus the famous traditional “Bermuda Party”! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

Like most of the players, we are staying at the WOW Hotel, a good 4**** star hotel. The food is very average and if you want to have a coffee in the bar, you have to be ready to spend 6 Euro. The opening ceremony was nice, with a lot of traditional music and dancers. The first round of the Olympiad got very chaotic, the entry to the playing hall is much too small for 3000 people wanting to get inside at the same time, so the round was postponed to 15.20 to avoid the zero-tolerance rule (it means that when You are even 1 second late at your board, you get a 0 immediately). This rule makes no sense to me at all. Another rule is that both players are not allowed to agree to a draw before move 30! Why to have it in a team event? The playing hall is quite big, so the playing conditions are quite good, but another big disadvantage is that it’s impossible to get any water or coffee during the game. While I am writing this, only the 1st round has passed, the favorites made their job, so the big fights will begin on the second round. Already now, in the 4 commented games, You can find 2 games from the recent Chess Olympiad. 3



8...Nbd7 9.f4 Jakovenko is following the latest fashion...

(1) Jakovenko,D (2736) — Fernandez,F (2287) [B90]

10.0–0–0 [To hurry with f5 would be a mistake now: 10.f5?! Bxb3! A very atypical move, but a very strong one in this concrete situation. (10...R xc3? 11.fxe6) 11.axb3

Olympiad 2012, 28.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

9... Rc8!? An interesting move. More often we see Black playing 9...exf4 10. Bxf4 Ne5.

First round of the Olympiad and we already see a nice fighting game! Jakovenko playing board 4 for Russia with an ELO of 2736 managed to win in great style a typical Najdorf game. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Be3 The Najdorf with 6. Be3 has always been one of the main chess openings. Millions of hours of analysis have been made here and we still have no clear conclusion...

11...d5! This is the key move! Black is crushing the White position in the center. In case of 12.exd5, Black will play 12... Bb4 and Ne4. In case of 12.Nxd5, Nxe4.] 10...b5 Black continues the attempts to create direct play against the White king combined with a pressure on the e4 pawn. 11.Kb1 Jakovenko stays cool!

6...e5 [6...e6 7.f3 and we would go back to other main lines.] 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Lately, White started not to hurry with the usual 8. f3 to keep in his pocket the immediate f4 move.

11... Be7 Probably the best move for Black... he will need to castle short in the future, and move likes 11... b4, of course, don’t work because of 12.Nd5. 12.f5 White starts to play for the light squares. 12... Bc4

4

Issue 27 15...Nxg4 Of course, Black takes the pawn. If there’s no Nxg4, White wanted to play g5.

31st of August 2012

16. Rg1 following the usual ideas.

13.g4! This move is still theory! And it was even played on the highest level. White’s idea is simple: by giving a pawn, he wants to create a quick play on the kingside and combine it with the weakness of the d5 square „bad” Black bishop on e7. The position is very complex. 13... Bxf1N This move is a novelty, but I think Black played it because he didn’t know the position. [13...Nxg4 is clearly one of the main moves here. 14. Rg1 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qb6 16.Qg3 Nf6 with a very unclear position.] 14. Rhxf1 Black is following the plan he started with 13... Bxf1. 14... Rc4 15.Qd3 A slightly strange-looking move. Why to give away the pawn when it was possible tokeepit? [15. Qg2! Simple and good. Never give away material in if you don’t really need to :). 15...b4 Probably, Jakovenko been a bit afraid of this move, but everything seems to work out very well for White. 16.Nd5 Nxd5 (16...N xe4 17.Qe2! Important move. 17...Rc6 18.g5! All the White pieces are in the attack and he has a very strong knight on d5. It’s clearly too much play for just a pawn.) 17. Rxd5 Nf6 Maybe White stopped his calculation here, but it’s one move too early. 18.Nd2! protecting everything and attacking the rook on c4. White is doing clearly better.]

16...Nxe3?! I think this move leads to big trouble. Black should have tried to play: [16...Ndf6! The only way to stay in the game. White now has a lot of moves, 17.h3, or 17.Nd2 followed by Nf1 and h3, or maybe just something crazy like 17. Ba7! with the idea of h3 next. Everything is very playable and this is a nice position for future analysis.] 17.Qxe3 Now Black is getting in trouble with the g7 pawn. How to solve it? To play g7-g6 looks very ugly, then the short castle will never be possible again... 17...h6 Blacks tries to cover the g-file with the bishop on g5. It’s a try, but the pawn on d6 can become weak. 18.Qe2 A preparation for Rxg7. [On 18. Rxg7 Black has prepared a little trap. 18... Bg5 19.Qd3 Kf8! The White rook on g7 is falling, which leads to a very unclear position.] 18...Nb6 A very difficult position for Black to play. White has a very simple plan and Black needs to be careful with 5


a lot of tactical motives. The move 18...Nb6 defends the pawn on d6 and, at the same time, Black acts against White’s Nd5 move. 19. Rd3! A very nice move by Jakovenko. White is not in a hurry to start action on the kingside — and why to be? Black can’t solve his problems easily with the g7 pawn easily, and now in case of a move like Bf6, White will always have Qd1 with a very unpleasant attack on the d6 pawn. 19...0–0 This move is the start of a tactical battle which doesn’t end in Black’s favor. If Black can’t castle short, his position with the king on e8 can’t be promising. White is clearly dominating the game.

knight on d6, White’s attack becomes decisive. 23...Bxd6 24. Rxg7+ Kxg7 25. Rg3+ Kh7 26. Rh3 with mate.] 20... Bf6 The only way to defend g7. 21.Qg2 Kh8 22. Rxg7 White managed to take the pawn and the holes around the Black king are very dangerous, but chess is a forced game and we are in a tactical position. 22... Bg5! And suddenly we see that White needs to give up an exchange. The game is sharp! 23. Rxg5 Qxg5? This move loses by force. [The only way to continue would be 23...hxg5 24.h4! A small but nice tactic. 24... Rg8! leaving the Black king with the escape square f8. 25.hxg5 Kg7 We can see t White is doing better, but there’s still a lot to fight for in the position!] 24.Qf2 Attacking the knight on b6. 24...Qd8 25.Qe3 The pawn on h6 and the knight on b6 are under attack. 25...Kh7

20. Rdg3?! A logical move, but White is missing a nice tactic. [20.Na5! After this , White’s position is winning immediately. The key idea is that the Black rook doesn’t have any good squares and White has a crushing move: De3, with a double attack on b6 and on h6. 20... Rc8 (A much better place for the rook would be on c7, but 20...Rc7 21.Qe3! and White is winning on the spot.) 21.Nb7 The knight is going to die, but this will give White a mating attack. 21... Qc7 22.Qh5 The queen is coming into the attack. 22... Kh7 23.Nxd6 ! and the game is over. By sacrificing the

26.f6! Black is losing material! 26... Rg8 Nothing else is left. Against 26...Qxf6, 27.Qxb6 and White has a simple winning position. 6


27. Rxg8 Kxg8 28.Qg3+ The White queen is entering with a crucial effect.

(2) Edouard,Romain (2652) — Tkachiev,Vladislav (2644) [E47]

28...Kf8 29.Qg7+ Ke8 30.Qg8+ Kd7 31.Qxf7+ Kc8 Black is still an exchange up, but White is winning. The super-strong pawn on f6, plus the weakness of the Black king make it possible.

87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (9), 22.08.2012

32.Qa7! White quickly spots another weakness in Black’s position. The a6 pawn! The Black position is falling apart.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 The Rubinstein variation of the Nimzowitsch defense enjoys big popularity, after Gelfand successfully gained an advantage with it in 2 games in the WCC match against Anand. Black has plenty of different setups here, in this game he went for the Hübner variation...

32...Qc7 Nothing helps anymore... 33.Qxa6+ Kd8 34.Nxb5 And here comes the 3rd pawn! 34...Qc6 35.Na5 I think this would be a great moment for resignation. What a nice position! All the light pieces are collected in 9 squares :).

[Balogh Csaba] An instructive game with many mistakes.

4...0–0 5. Bd3 c5 Recently the main lines are considered to be the setups with d5. Here, Black has another idea in mind.. . 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6 This is the initial position of the Hübner variation. Black would like to build up a safe wall in the center with e5 and then slowly create his counterplay against the c4 weakness, which is typical for the Nimzo Indian. White has the bishop pair and he should try to open the position to make it more efficient.

35...Qxe4 36.Qxb6+ Kd7 37.Qxd6+ And this was too much even for Fernandez. An interesting game on the Najdorf, where of course, the 450 Elo points difference made Jakovenko a big favorite in any kindofpositions! 1–0

7


9.e4 e5 10.d5 Ne7 After the position got closed, both sides start to organize their play on the kingside. White should definitely play f4 with the intention to push f5 followed by an attack with g4-g5. The exchange with exf4 Bxf4 always favors White... Black must prevent this at any cost. His main resource is connected to Ng6 and in the future the Ne8 — followed by f5 — idea could yield the initiative for him... 11.Nh4! Well known motif! White prepares for the f4 push and gets ready to counter the Ng6 move. 11...Kh8?! Black misses a tactical idea... [11...h6! is the right move, which was demonstrated in a very famous game... 12.f4 This move is already known as an inaccuracy...

12...Ng6!! This great move, which seemingly completely destroys Black’s pawn structure gives a comfortable game for Black. White is forced to take on g6, otherwise Black takes twice on f4. 13.Nxg6 fxg6 14.fxe5 dxe5 15. Be3 b6 This position arose in the Spassky-Fischer, Reykjavik 1972 game. It’s instructive to follow how the game proceeded. 16.a4 a5 White has no chance to activate his light-squared bishop. 17. Rb1 Bd7 18. Rb2 Rb8 19. Rbf2 Qe7 20. Bc2

After some defensive moves, Black overtakes the initiative. 20...g5! 21. Bd2 Qe8! 22. Be1 Qg6 Black has clear targets on e4, a4 and c4, while White cannot improve his position. 23.Qd3 Nh5 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Bd1 Nf4 and in this endgame where Black has a minimal advantage, Spassy horribly blundered and lost the game in one move: 27.Qc2?? Bxa4 White resigned in view of 28.Qxa4 and Qxe4.0–1 Spassky-Fischer, Reykjavik 1972.; 11...Ng6?! is met with 12.Nf5! This is a very important reaction, which deprives Black from any kind of counterplay. White can slowly continue with g3, Qf3 and h4...] 12.g3?! White prepares for the f4 move, but he fails to make use of the mistake. [12.f4! would have pointed out the mistake of the previous move. 12...Ng6 and here comes the big difference, the idea of the 11...h6 move. (12...exf4 13.B xf4 is not an option for Black.) 13.fxe5! Nxe5 14. Bg5! This works now, as the legendary Svetozar Gligoric has demonstrated. He passed away last week. A strong attack follows: 14...h6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16.Qd2 Kg7 Gligoric-Keene, Hastings 1973 and now the easiest would have been to play 17. Rf2 +/- and doubling on the f-file.] 12... Bh3 13. Re1 Qd7?! Too slow. [Black should have prepared for the f5 move with 13...Nfg8 Suddenly avoiding the h6 move is a big advantage for Black, since there is no hole on g6 after f5... 14.f4 (14.g4? Trying to trap the bishop does not work because of 14...N xd5! and h4 is hanging.) 14...Ng6! 15.Nf5 Black can take the advantage by playing (15.N xg6+ fxg6 is an even better version for Black, since the h3 bishop is standing excellently.) 15... exf4 16.gxf4 Bxf5! 17.exf5 Nh4 followed by Qf6 and Nh6, winning the pawn.] 8


14.f3! Excellent preparation. White’s general plan in such position is to play Ng2 and then to execute the f4 break. Black must act quickly... [14.f4 would have been met again with 14...Ng6!]

ers probably missed (18...g5 19.e5! is very bad for Black.) 19.Qxf4! gxf5 20.exf5 +/- A temporary piece sacrifice, but Black can’t save his bishop against Kf2-g3 or Qg3.) 17.gxh5 N6e7 18.Nh4 and we transposed to the 15...h5 line.]

14...Nfg8 The difference in comparison to the previous move is that White has

16...fxg6 17.Kh1 h5 A sad necessity to save the bishop. [17...Qe7 18. Rg1 Qh4 19. Rg3 also looks bad for Black.] 18.gxh5! The h3 bishop is safe now, but suddenly Black king is facing a strong attack. 18...Qf7 [18...gxh5 19. Rg1 will be similar to the game.] 19. Be2 gxh5

15.g4! Suddenly this anti-positional move traps the bishop on h3. Black must weaken his position in order to save it. White threatens to play Kh1 and Rg1–g3. 15...Ng6 White has a pleasant choice now. Both continuations lead to a promising position. [15...h5 is not good because of the simple 16.gxh5! and on 16...Nf6 17.f4! preserving the extra pawn. 17... Bg4 18. Be2 +=; 15...Nf6! should have been played, with the idea of h5. 16.Kh1 h5 17.gxh5 Nxh5 18. Rg1 Looks very dangerous for Black, but with a nice pawn sacrifice, he can obtain very good compensation on the f4 square. 18...Ng6! 19.Nxg6+ fxg6 20. Rxg6 Rf6! with mutual chances. 21. Rg5 (21.R xf6 gxf6 Opening the g-file is too risky for White.) 21...Qf7] 16.Nxg6+ [16.Nf5 was also good. 16...h5 (16...Nf4 was probably what Black was intending to play and White was afraid of, but after 17. Bxf4 exf4 18.Qd2! g6 both play-

20. Rg1! Black’s position is much worse than it looks! He cannot prevent the upcoming plan with Qe1–h4. The h5 pawn is the only reason for Black’s bad position. If it was on h7, he could simple play Ne7-g6 obtaining a small advantage. 20...Nf6 Black tries to consolidate his position, but the attack is rolling very fast. [20...Ne7 21.Qe1 Ng6? does not work now, because of 22.Qg3!] 21.Qe1! Nh7 22.Qh4 Bd7 23.Be3! Very well played! The idea is simple: Raf1 and f4! Black has no good way to prevent it... The h5 pawn also restricts the mobility of the pieces. 9


23...g6 24. Raf1! Qf6 The exchange of queens would solve all the problems. Of course, White is not going to accept it. 25.Qg3 Rg8 26.h4! Excellent prophylactic move, depriving Black from his only counterplay. Black cannot prevent the f4 push anyway, so White pushes it when all his pieces have reached their ideal squares. [26.f4 h4! Black can decrease the pressure on the e5 pawn. Still, of course, White has the initiativeafter 27.Qg2 but the text move is much better.] 26...Qe7 [26... Raf8 27.f4; 26... Rae8 27.f4] 27.f4! Black’s position collapses now, but the mutual time trouble starts to affect the quality of the moves. 27... Rae8 [27...exf4 28. Bxf4 Qxe4+ 29. Bf3 Qxc4 30. Bxd6 +- The loss of the d6 pawn means the end of the game. Black gets mated on the long diagonal.] 28.fxe5 dxe5 When I was watching this game live, I also came to the conclusion of the following move. [After 28... Qxe5 Black cannot save the d6 pawn. 29. Bd3! is the easiest, and Bf4 is coming next. 29...Qxg3 30. Rxg3 +- Black can actually resign, because of Bf4...]

29.Kh2!? A prophylactic move! The point is clear: White wants to play Bh6, occupying the f-file and leaving the opponent without his potential counterplay that might appear after the direct Bh6... [29. Bg5!? would have been in Karpov’s style. 29...Nxg5 30.Qxg5 Qxg5 31. Rxg5 Rg7 32. Rf6 Kh7 After reaching this position by force, Black has practically no other moves than passing with the rook on e8-e7. But how to break through with White?! 33. Bd1! Ree7 34.Kg2 Re8 35.Kf2 Ree7 36.Ke3 Re8 37.Kd2 Ree7 38.Kc1 Re8 39.Kb2 Ree7 40.Ka3 Re8 41. Ba4! Bxa4 42.Kxa4 and White easily wins the endgame after Kb5!; 29. Bh6 Nf6!? was probably what White was afraid of. Black eases on the pressure by putting a piece on g4,andafter 30. Bg5? Nxe4 and the queen on g3 is hanging with check. This is the reason why White played 29.Kh2.] 29...b6 30. Bh6! Nf6 does not work because of Bg5, so White simply wants to double his rooks on the f-file. [30. Bg5 would lead to the same Karpovian win.] 30... Ba4 The last desperate attempt to create some counterplay. 31. Rf2 Bc2 32. Rgf1! The attack is too strong, White does not need to worry about losing the e4 pawn. 32... Bxe4 [32...Qd7 trying to control the 7th rank with Re7 does not help. 33. Bg5! refreshing the Rf7 threat. (33.Rf7 Re7) 33... Rg7 and here the easiest is 34. Bxh5! Bxe4 (34...gxh5 35.R xc2 +-) 35. Bg4 +- followed by Bh6 and Be6.] 33. Rf7 Qd8 White can choose between many winning moves. 10

Issue 27 37... Bxh3 38.Kxh3 g5! Tkachiev tries to use his best chance in the time trouble to confuse his opponent.

31st of August 2012

39.hxg5? This mistake could have spoiled the win. [39. Rf5! was the winning move. 39...gxh4 40.Qxe5+ Qxe5 41. Rxe5 +-] 39...Nxg5+ 40. Bxg5

34. Bxh5 [The best and the nicest way to victory was 34. Rxh7+!! Kxh7 35. Rf7+ Kxh6 (35...Kh8 36.Bg5 +- wins.) 36.Qe3+ g5 37.Qxe4 Black can’t prevent the threats! Bd3 is coming in case of 37... Rg7 38. Bd3! Qh7 is the threat! 38... Rh8 (38...R xf7 39.Qg6#) 39.Qxe5! Rxf7 40.hxg5+ Qxg5 41.Qxh8+ Rh7 42.Qxh7# But of course, finding this with around 2 minutes on the clock was not easy at all.] 34... Re7 [34...gxh5? 35. Bg7+ +-] 35. Bg4? This is the moment when White starts to go wrong... Usually, it’s not easy to stop when a bad series starts... [35. Bd1! was the hidden winning move. 35...Qc7 and here comes out the difference that made the bishop retreat to d1 and not to e2. (35...Bf5 does not work now, because of 36.R1xf5! gxf5 37.Bg7+ +-) 36. Rxe7 Qxe7 37. Re1! +- wins.] 35... Bf5! Suddenly the win is not obvious at all, but Edouard built up the winning advantage again with several precise moves... 36. Rxe7 Qxe7 37. Bh3! White prepares to play Re1. [37. Re1 would be met with 37...Nf6 and the g4 is hanging with check.]

40... Rxg5? The last mistake of the time trouble belongs to Black... [40...Qxg5 41.Qxg5 Rxg5 The big difference compared to the game is that the White king is cut along the g-file. This allows Black to hold the draw. His task is to take his king in front of the d-pawn (even if it costs a pawn), then his rook can start attacking the weak White pawns. 42.Kh4 (42.Rf7 Kg8 43.R xa7 Kf8 44.Ra6 looks winning, but Black is just in time 44...Rf5! 45.R xb6 Rf4 Black collects the pawns.; The d-pawn can be easily stopped after 42.d6 Rg8) 42... Rg7 43. Rf5 e4 44. Re5 Kg8! 45. Rxe4 Kf7 The Black king is close enough, now he can start to activate his rook. Black should be able to hold the draw. 46. Rg4 (46.d6? Kf6 Rd7 will be played next.) 46... Rh7+ 47.Kg3 Ke7] 41.Qh4+ Kg8 [41...Kg7? loses on the spot. 42. Rf5! Kg6 43.d6! Qd8 44.Qxg5+ +- and the d-pawn promotes.] 11


42. Rf5! Rg7 43.Qxe7 Rxe7 44.Kg3! Now the White king has a safe path to the center, while the Black one is unable to get closer. Black collapses in a few moves, but he still could have put up some resistance.

(3) Hertneck,G (2521) — Ganguly,S (2629) [D00]

44...e4 [44... Rh7 would have given some chance for survival. 45.Kf3 Rh4 46.Ke2! After this subtle move, White is able to protect his pawns. 46...Kg7 (46...R xc4? is untouchable. 47.d6 +-) 47. Rxe5 Kf7 48.Kd3 +/- and White should be winning.]

2600+ GMs are rarely crushed in miniatures.

45.Kf2 Rh7? This is equal to resignation. With the help of the king, the d-pawn easily promotes. [45...Kg7 46.Ke3 Kg6 47. Rf4 looks quite hopeless as well.] 46.Ke3 Rh3+ 47.Kxe4 Rxc3 48.d6 Rxc4+ 49.Kd5 Rd4+ 50.Kc6 c4 51.d7 Black resigned in view of Rd5. 1–0

Dresden Open, 23.08.2012 [Balogh Csaba] 1.d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ganguly is a known theoretician, one of the main member of Anand’s team. His experienced opponent cleverly decided to avoid a long theoretical battle. 2...d5 3.e3 Not an ambitious line, but perfect to avoid preparation. 3...c6 Very solid reaction, I think the easiest one to achieve equality. 4. Bd3

4...h6!? How to punish the opponent is in Black’s mind. He already wants to overtake the initiative. [4... Bg4 is the most common move. 5.Ne2 (5.f3 Bh5) 5...Nbd7 6.0–0 (6.c4?? This incredible blunder happened on the highest level in a rapid game. 6...dxc4 7.B xc4 Qa5+ Black won a piece on move 7! Aronian-Radjabov, Monaco 2007.) 6... e5 Black is OK!] 12


5. Bh4 [5. Bxf6 exf6 is also fine for Black. He develops his pieces with Bd6, f5 and Nd7-f6.] 5...Qb6 Very interesting play by Black. Such kind of Qb6 or Qb3 moves are quite unpleasant when the the c1 or c8 bishop leaves its initial position. 6.b3 Nbd7 Another good move, Black prepares for the e5 push. [6...e5?! is a common trick in some openings, but it doesn’t work well here. 7.dxe5 Qb4+ This would be the point, but White gets a huge lead in development. 8.Nd2 Qxh4 9.Ngf3 Black obtained the bishop pair, but his pawn structure starts to crumble. 9...Qg4 10.exf6 gxf6 11.0–0 and White opens the position with e4 or c4. 11... Rg8 12.g3] 7.Nf3 g5 Black wants to take the advantage of the bishop pair. This is absolutely correct, but he could have done it in a much better version, combining with great tactical play. [7...Nh5! Quite an unusual move, Black wants to play g5 now. White should try to prevent it by using the pin of the queen on d1. 8.Nfd2 (8.Ne5? doesn’t work because of 8...Nxe5 9.Qxh5 (9.dxe5 Qb4+) 9...Nxd3+)

8...Nf4!! With this great move, Black overtakes the initiative. 9. Bf1 is the best, but of course, such move can’t be

good. (9.exf4? loses material after 9...Qxd4 10.Na3 (10.0– 0 Qxa1 White has no chance to trap the queen.; 10.c3 Qxd3) 10...g5! 11. Bg3 gxf4 12. Bh4 e6! This subtle move is the point! White can’t do anything with his knight on a3.) 9...Ng6 10. Bg3 e5] 8. Bg3 Nh5 Here White has an extra option to get compensation for losing the bishop pair. 9. Be5! Nxe5 10.Nxe5 White got a very strong knight on e5 and he can think about a very dangerous attack in the near future with f4. 10...Nf6 11.0–0 Nd7?! A logical move in order to get rid of the strong knight, using the fact that after 12.f4 gxf4, White can’t take back ideally with the e-pawn. Everything seems to be great for Black, but he missed something... [11... Bg7 should have been played. 12.Nd2 with mutual chances.] 12.f4! gxf4? Following the plan.

13.Nxf7!! A brutal blow, which was probably completely missed by Black. Or maybe he just blundered the upcoming silent move?!

13


13...Kxf7 14.Qh5+ Ke6 [14...Kg8 loses after the forced line: 15.Qg6+ Bg7 16.Qe6+ Kf8 17. Bg6 Ne5 18. Rxf4+ Bf6 19. Rxf6+! is the best. (19.Qxe5 also wins.) 19...exf6 20.Qxf6+ Kg8 21.Qxe5 +- with the threat of Qe8-f7 mate or just the simple Nc3 and Rf1 is also decisive.]

15.c4!! With the idea to push c5, cutting the route of the king. [15.Qf5+ Kd6 16.Qxf4+ looks winning, but 16...e5! 17.dxe5+ Kc7! and Black saved his extra piece, because (17...N xe5? 18.Qf6+ +-) 18.e6+? leads nowhere. 18... Bd6!] 15... Rg8? This is equal to resignation. Black had only one move to stay in the game... at least for a while. [15... Bg7 leads to the line above. The only difference is the pawn on c4, but it does not affect the evaluation. 16.Qg4+ Kf7 17. Bg6+ Kf8 18.Qe6 Ne5 19. Rxf4+ Bf6 20. Rxf6+ (20. Qxe5 +-) 20...exf6 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 22.Qxe5 +- wins.; 15... Nf6 16. Bf5+ Kd6 17.c5+ +- wins the queen with check!; 15...Kd6 16.c5+ Nxc5 17.Qe5+ Kd7 18.Qxh8 Nxd3 19.Qxf8 +- is also hopeless for Black.; 15...Qb4! could set up resistance. White’s win requires precise play. 16.c5! Nxc5 17.Qe5+ (17.dxc5 Qxc5 is not clear.) 17...Kd7 White must avoid a very hidden trap!

18. Bf5+! (The tempting 18.Qxh8? would fall into the trap 18...N xd3 19.Qxf8 fxe3! 20.Qf5+ Kc7 21.Qxd3 This is where most of the players stop their calculations before taking 18. Qxh8, but the cold shower comes with 21...e2!! and Black suddenly has no problems. 22.Qxe2 Qxd4+  A new game starts, with mutual chances.; 18.dxc5 Rg8) 18...e6 19.Qxh8 White has a winning advantage, but Black can still hope to create some complications... 19... Be7 20. Bg6 Ne4 21. Bxe4 dxe4 22.exf4 +-] 16.Qf5+ Kd6 17.Qxf4+ e5 18.c5+! Game over! The mate is more or less forced. 18...Nxc5 19.Qxe5+ Kd7 20. Rf7+ Kd8 21.Qf6+ Ke8 22. Bg6! White had many other wins as well, but this is the shortest one.[Black resigned in view of 22. Bg6 Rxg6 23. Rxf8+ Kd7 24. Rf7+ Ke8 25.Qe7#] 1–0

14


(4) Naiditsch,A (2712) — Dive,R (2337) Olympiad 2012, 28.08.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] First round of the Olympiad. Germany is playing New Zeland, and we are a big favorites to win the match. My opponent is an international Master, who lost a lot of ELO points during the last few years... which can be due to lack of chess activity. I could only find a few games of his in my database. 1.c4 I like to start with 1.c4 against opponents whose opening repertoires I’m not sure about.

I wanted to try a different idea, and a weaker opponent can sometimes become a good training-partner :). 5...Ngf6 The usual development, but I think it might be more interesting to play 5...g6 followed by Bg7 creating pressure against the d4 pawn. 6.0–0 Be7 Black gets completely developed — but not in the best way... 7.Nc3 0–0 8. Re1 A very usual way of developing pieces for White. The rook on e1 can be very useful in many lines. 8... Re8 9.h3 Another useful move for White. Now Black will not have Bg4 in the future.

1...c6 2.e4 e5 After this move White is already a bit better, but probably my opponent didn’t want to play... [2... d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 would take us to my favorite „Panov”.]

3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 We are in a sort of King’s Indian structure, but the move order is clearly a good one for White. Black still has the bishop on f8 and to put the bishop on g7 is not always possible. 4...Nd7 5. Bd3 5. Bd3 — a tricky move. Usually White develops his pieces with 5.Nc3 followed by Be2 but

9... Bf8?! I think this is already a small mistake. Now Black gets into a clearly worse position. [9...exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11. Bc2 Now we can see that putting the bishop on d3 was a useful move. 11...a5 and even though White is doing better, Black can still fight.] 10.d5! A good moment to close the center. The bishop on f8 is going to be now a bad piece, and all the White pieces are standing on the right places.. 10...a6? This is a very serious mistake. [10...Nc5 11.Bc2 a5 Black needs to keep White from playing b4 at any cost. 15


12.Be3 and again we see how useful was Bd3 instead of Be2 in the opening. The bishop is protecting the pawn on e4 which gives me the possibility of developing my other bishop to e3. Of course, White is doing clearly better here.] 11.Be3 The basic idea of White is to put the bishop on e3 and to play Nd2, then to start playing on the queenside. In the usual King’s Indian, Black would already push f5-f4-g5 so we can clearly see how much better I am it in this game. 11...cxd5 Black continues a very wrong plan with b5... 12.cxd5 b5 13.b4! This is a dream for every White player in a closed position: to always have b4 against Black’s — typical and strong. Black’s position is already on the edge of being completely lost! 13...Nb6 Nowhere else to go... 14.a4 [Another option was to play 14.Nd2 Bd7 stops White from playing a4. 15.Qe2 and again White got a huge advantage, but with no direct play, that’s why I thought 14.a4 looks simpler.] 14...Nxa4 All the sacrifices on d5, of course, don’t work. 15.Nxa4 bxa4 16. Rxa4 White’s idea is very simple, to attack the pawn on a6 with all the army — it’s going to be almost impossible to defend.

16... Bd7 Black is using the fact that I can’t take on a6 because my pawn on e4 is hanging, and bringing his bishop to b5 — but it doesn’t help much. 17. Ra5 Qb8 18.Qa1 [Also 18. Bd2 Bb5 19.Qe2 forcing Black to take on d3 19... Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Qb7 21. Rea1 would bring White a big advantage, but I wanted to bring my knight from f3 into the game, and the right square to do this is d2, which is not available now.] 18... Be7 [18...Qxb4?? 19. Rb1 and Black is losing a full queen.] 19.Nd2 The easiest way to play for White. I continue putting my pieces in the most logical squares. 19... Bb5 [Would not be much better to play 19... Bd8 20. Rxa6 I need to exchange the a6 pawn for the one on b4, which is usually not a good deal, but this time things are quite forced and I’m in time to create big troubles to my opponent. 20... Rxa6 21.Qxa6 Qxb4 22. Rb1! An easy but important move. The d6 pawn is very weak now. 22... Qc3 23. Rb3 and White is crushing on the queenside!] 20. Bxb5 axb5 21. Rc1 last free file. My next moves are simple, to play Rc6 followed by Qc3 and to force Black to take on a5. Then, after bxa5, get a passed a pawn and probably a winning position.

16


21...Nd7? A mistake in a bad position. [21...Qb7 22. Rc6 Reb8 23.Qc3 and Black could suffer a bit longer...]

30.Kh2 f5 31. Ra5 The simplest win. I didn’t want to calculate other moves in detail.

22. Rxa8 The easiest winning move. I’m going into an endgame with a clear pawn up.

31... Rb1 32.Nxe7 Again, I chose the simplest solution which leads almost by force to a 2 pawns advantage for me — I though it should be enough, at least for one game :) .

22...Qxa8 23.Qxa8 Rxa8 24. Rc7 Forcing Black to go back to d8. 24... Rd8 25.Nb3!? I like this move, the right place for the White knight is on c6! [25. Rb7 Of course, I could have been greedy and just get the b5 pawn, it would be good as well, but I like when all my pieces are standing perfectly...] 25...Kf8 Black can’t find a much better move. 26.Na5 Ke8 27.Nc6 Finally, my knight got from the starting g1 square to c6! What a beautiful place for a knight! 27... Ra8 28. Rb7 And now it’s time to collect the b5 pawn. The game is over, but my opponent kept on playing for many more moves.

32...Kxe7 33. Bg5+ Ke8 34. Ra8+ Kf7 35. Rd8 And I am winning the second pawn. 35...Nb6 36. Rxd6 Rxb4 37.exf5 [37.f4 would have been the most beautiful solution, but at this moment of the game, I just wanted to win and go back to the hotel. I don’t enjoy much playing totally winning endgames, and I was a bit surprised that my opponent didn’t want to resign the game.] 37...gxf5 38. Rf6+ Kg7 39. Rxf5 White is 2 pawns up, Black has no chance to get a draw, or to create any king of counterplay...

28...g6 It’s too late to look for any counter-chances... 29. Rxb5 Ra1+ [29...f5 30. Ra5 and Black can’t even get an active rook.]

39...Nd7 [39...Nxd5 40. Rxe5 is completely hopeless for Black.] 40. Be7 Rd4 41.d6 The winning plan was easy to me. I need to get the kingside pawns are far as possible, 17


then bring the rook to c7, which would force the Black king to stand on e6. Afterwards, I have to create another free pawn on the kingside. I did this very smoothly in the game.

very clearly what Black should avoid in this kind of pawn structures! 1–0

41...h6 42.g4 I need to put my pawns on g4-h5. 42...Kg6 43.Kg2 Rd3 44.h4 Rd4 45.h5+ Kg7 46.Kg3 The first stage of the plan is done, now comes the second part. 46... Rd3+ 47. Rf3 Rd4 48. Rc3 I’m threatening to play Rc7, so the Black king has no other choice than to go to e6. 48...Kf7 49. Rc7 Ke6

50.g5! And my second passed h-pawn decides the game. 50...hxg5 51.h6 Rd1 [Also loses 51... Rh4 52. Bxg5 Rh1 53. Rc1 and one of the pawns is going to become a queen :).] 52.Kh2 I don’t allow the Black rook to take the h-file. 52...e4 53. Rxd7 A very easy game for me this time, I almost had to make no calculations which is nice — saving energy for the next rounds. Also in this game, we saw 18


Puzzle section

(7) Hungaski,R (2486) — Gajewski,G (2628) Sants Open, 20.08.2012

(5) Tiviakov,S (2674) — Bezgodova,M (2206) Botvinnik memorial, 25.08.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Lillo Castay,V (2303) — Cifuentes Parada,R (2496) (6) Grigoryan,A (2579) — Kukhmazov,A (2154)


Botvinnik memorial, 25.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

19


(9) Georgiadis,I (2445) — Svetushkin,D (2569)

(11) Janev,E (2457) — Arun Prasad,S (2531)

Isthmia Open, 22.08.2012

Bratto Open, 22.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... =

1. +-

(10) Svetushkin,D (2569) — Sethuraman,S (2546)

(12) Burg,T (2471) — Kuzmicz,K (2464)

Isthmia Open, 23.08.2012

Haarlem GM, 25.08.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +/-

1. +-

20


(13) Hess,R (2624) — Arnold,M (2540) Metro GM, 07.08.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Guido,F (2409) — Zelcic,R (2552) Schwarzacher Open, 25.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

21


Endgame section (15) Fressinet,Laurent (2714) — Bauer,Christian (2682) [E15] 87th ch-FRA 2012 Pau FRA (8), 21.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

52...Ng8! A very nice move by Black. The knight has nothing else to do on f6, so Black is starts a knight maneuver to the d6 square, and he is getting the option of playing f5-e4 in the future. 53.Kg2 Ne7 Black brings the knight to d6. If Black would hurry with f5, it could lead to unnecessary complications. [53...f5?! The right idea, but executed too early. 54.Qa2! (To stand passively would be wrong because of 54.Kg1 Nf6 55.Kg2 e4 followed by Ng4-Ne5 and I think Black should be easily winning.) 54...Qd6 55. Bd5 and White is still fighting because of the relatively weak Black king.] 54. Bb7 White can’t do anything about it. Against 4. Be4, Nc8 would come. 54...Nf5 55. Bd5 Nd6 The knight is standing perfectly. Now Black wants to start moving the f-pawn forward.

We are in the 8th round of the French Championship in a very important game for the medals. After a slightly strange game, Black managed to achieve this „almost winning” endgame. Let’s take a look at how good is Christian Bauer in a technical position. 51...h5 This move can’t be bad. The Black pawn structure is very good, the Queen on d4 is very powerful and the knight is clearly a better piece than the bishop. Everything is great, but how to win the position? An exchange of queens would lead most probably to an easy win, but how to take the ladies away from the board? 52.Kg1 With this move, White is showing that the next moves are going to be Kg2-Kg1 — passive defense. Time for Black to show some play...

56.Qa2 Fressinet can’t keep doing „nothing”, and he tries to bring the queen to a7.

56...Ne4! Another good move by Black. Now the exchange of light pieces is forced. White can’t allow Black to play Nc3 followed by e4.

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57. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 58.Kg1 This queen endgame looks like a very easily winning one. Black got a super queen placed in the middle of the board, and a clear pawn up. Besides, the White king position can’t be great and leads to the loss of another pawn... 58...Qe1+ 59.Kg2 Qe4+ 60.Kg1 Probably B lack was in a slight time trouble, so he decided to repeat the moves once. 60...Qd3 Black has to start moving the pawns, specially the e- one. So Qd4 or Qd3 are clearly the best moves. 61.Qa4 e4 62.Qb5 Qd1+ 63.Kh2 Qd4 64.Kg2 What to do next for Black? Can he win without playing e3? It doesn’t seem so. In case of the f5 move, the Black king gets under White checks. 64...e3! Until here, Bauer is playing a great game. 65.fxe3 Qxe3

66.Qb2+ What is the next plan for Black?! Very often we see such a queen endgame without the c- pawns. It’s a draw, but not an easy one. Black usually tries to bring the king to e2 and White gives a lot of checks hoping to get a perpetual. In our situation, the c-pawns are still on

the board, which makes a big difference. If Black could bring the king to d3, the game would be over immediately because White would lose the c-pawn. So, we can expect Black to go out with his king in the next moves. 66...Kg8 67.Kh2 White puts the king in a position with no checks. 67...Qd3 [67...Qe4 Before going with the king to the center, Black should try to put his queen to an optimal position, and this is usually in the middle of the board — e4 or d4. 68.Qb3 Qd4 followed by Kg7-Kf6 with an easily winning queen endgame] 68.Qb8+ Kh7 69.Qf4! A good move by White, who is not allowing Black to win the game „too easily”. Now the White queen took the best possible square on f4, which makes it a bit more complicated for Black. 69...Qe2+ 70.Kg1 Kg7 71.Kh1

71...Qg4 Black has to start from the beginning. Getting the White queen out of f4 is the first step. Of course, all the pawn endgames are winning for Black. 72.Qf1 Qe4+ [72...Qxg3?? 73.Qxf7+ Draw...; 72...Qd4! followed by a king walk should bring an easy victory to 23


Black, but it seems like Bauer, for some strange reason, tries to win without his king...] 73.Kh2 Qc2+ 74.Kg1 Qf5 75.Qe2 [The exchange of queens loses, of course! 75.Qxf5 gxf5 76.Kf2 Kf6 77.Kf3 Ke5 78.Ke3 f4+ 79.gxf4+ Kf5 80.Kf3 f6] 75...Qg4 76.Qe5+ Kh7

83...g5! The second Black pawn decides the game immediately. 84.Kg1 [It doesn’t help to play 84.c7 Qc1+ 85.Kh2 Qxc7+ and Black takes the c-pawn with check.] 84...g4 85.c7 g3 We saw a very nice play by Bauer in the endgame. We can learn a lot from it! 77.Qxc5?? White panicked! But only because... Black made no improvements at all in the last 15 moves. [77. Qc3 and we are back in a position which we already saw. 77...Qd4+?? would of course lose for Black. 78.Qxd4 cxd4 79.c5 and White makes a queen...]

0–1

77...Qxg3+ 78.Kf1 Qxh4 This position is very easily winning. Probably White was hoping for the c-pawn, but even an exchange of the c-pawn for the Black h-pawn would lead to a lost endgame... 79.Qd5 Qf4+! Black is putting his queen in the best possible position! 80.Kg1 h4 And here comes the Black pawn... 81.c5 Kg7 82.c6 h3 83.Kh1

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(16) Meier,G (2667) — Prohaszka,P (2562) Dresden Open, 25.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Nc6 38. Bd5 Clearing the way for the king to c4. The bishop simply dominates the knight. 38...Nd4 (38...Ne7 39.Be6 +/- Kd3-c4 is coming.; After 38...Nb8 39.Kd3 Ke7 40.Kc4 Kd6 White suddenly wins the other weakness by 41.Bg8! h6 42.Bh7 +/-) 39.Kd3 Ke7 40.Kc4 Kd6 41.b4 +/- Black is in trouble.] 34.a3 A sad necessity by White, who could not play 34.b3 immediately. [34. Be1 is met with 34...Nc2!] 34...Nc6 35.b3 We reached the first critical position, where Black successfully found a subtle move!

White has a really promising endgame with the two bishops — probably in Karpov’s hands we could say it is winning — , but Black had a concrete way to exchange the dark-squared bishops and achieve a drawish endgame. After he spoiled this chance, White nicely converted his advantage. 32...Nb4! [32... Bf6 with the idea of exchanging the bishops with Bd4 fails to 33. Be4! Nb4 34.a3 White preserves both bishops.] 33. Bc4 Bf6! Very well played! Even in such an „easy” endgame, precise calculation is very important. White is forced to help his opponent. [33... Bc5 would achieve the main goal, but it’s still bad, since it worsens the pawn structure. 34. Bxc5 bxc5 35.Kf2 Kf8 36.Ke3 White is probably winning here. The threat is to play Ke4, followed by a3 and Kd5. 36...f5 is the only move to stop White’s plan, but he still has access to the c5 weakness... (36...Ke7 37.Ke4 f6 38.a3 +/- Kd5 is coming next.) 37.a3

35... Bb2!! Black provokes the a4 push before exchanging the bishops. It’s very difficult to feel that the b4 square has such a big importance in this endgame. [It’s interesting to see that even after exchanging the bishops, White retains his initiative due to the dominance of the bishop over the knight. The chess principle is right again, that in case of pawns on both flanks, the bishop is stronger than the knight. We must add that the White king is closer to reach the important squares in the center. 35... Bd4 36.Kg2 with the idea of saving the bishop with Be1– 36... Bxf2 37.Kxf2 Kf8 38.Ke3 Ke7 (38...f5 can’t really stop the invasion of the king. 39.Bd5 Nb8 40.Kd4 25


Ke5 will be played next.) 39.Ke4 and here I have very bad feelings for the position. Maybe he could save the game with some amazing plan, but I don’t see it. He must allow Kd5, because Kd6 would drop the f7 pawn. 39...f6 (39...g6 40. Bb5 Nd8 (The pawn endgame is easily winning for White after 40...Kd6 41.B xc6 Kxc6 42.Ke5 +-) 41.Kd5 Black will get in zugzwang.) 40. Bg8 h6 41.Kd5 with good winning chances.]

40.Ke4 Ke7 41.g4! It’s time to improve the pawn structure on the kingside. Black can only watch... 41...f6 42. Bc3 Bb4 43. Bb2!

36.a4 White had nothing better. 36... Bc3? But this is very strange! Why didn’t Black continue his plan and played Bd4? Even if it’s losing, he must go for that, since suffering against the two bishops is pretty much hopeless. [36... Bd4! Let’s see the difference with the previous line. 37.Kg2 Bxf2 38.Kxf2 Kf8 39.Ke3 Ke7 40.Ke4 and here Kd5 is not a threat, because of Nb4. Black can play for instance 40...Nb4 followed by f6 and Kd6. The endgame may continue with 41.g4 f6 This is not necessary, but it looks the most logical to me 42. Bg8 h6 43.h4 Kf8 44. Bc4 Ke7 and White cannot invade on the queenside, while on the other flank, Black can easily parry the threats... 45.Kf5 Nc6 46.Kg6 Kf8 The game should end in draw.] 37.Kg2! No more chances to exchange the bishops. 37... Bd4 Too late! 38. Be1! I believe this endgame is objectively lost. Let’s see how the game proceeds. 38... Bc5 39.Kf3 Kf8 [39... Bb4 40. Bf2 Bc5 doesn’t work. The c5 pawn becomes too weak. 41. Bxc5 bxc5 42.Ke4 Nb4 43.Ke5! +- and Kd6 next.]

43...Nd8 [I tried another kind of defense with 43... Nb8 but it slowly fails. 44.Kd5 Bd6 45. Bc1 Bb4 46.h4 Black can only pass with the bishop. Nd7 is always met with Kc6. 46... Bd6 47. Bd2 Bc5 48.h5 Bd6 White has strengthened his position to the maximum, i’s time to finish the game. 49. Bd3! h6 50.g5! +- White wins. Black cannot parry the simple threat of taking on h6, followed by f5!] 44. Bg8! Good technique! Creating a hole on g6, where the White king can penetrate soon. 44...h6 45.h4 [45.Kf5! would have allowed even less counterplay for Black. 45...Kf8 46. Bd5 Nf7 (46...Bd6 47.h4! +- with the idea of pushing to g5, and after the exchanges, Black cannot prevent Kg6 and g7 falls.) 47.Kg6 Nh8+ 48.Kh7 Nf7 49.h4! with the same idea again. White will play g5 next. Both Bd2 and Be1 lose to Ba3!]

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45...Nb7 [45...Nf7 was probably more resistant, but still quite hopeless. 46.h5 (46.Kf5!? is also possible. 46...Kf8 47.Bh7) 46...Nd6+ 47.Kd5

47.g5! The final phase of the game, collecting the full point. 47...hxg5 48.fxg5 Nd3 [48...fxg5 loses a pawn. 49.hxg5 Kf8 50. Bc4 +- Kg6 is next.] 49. Bd4 Ne5 Black tries to escape to an opposite colored bishop endgame, but of course. White is not obliged to take the knight. 50.gxf6+ gxf6 51.h5 [51. Bd5! was more circumspect, and h5 only in the next move!]

47... Bd2! Black has more chances to survive, if he blocks one flank. 48. Ba3! (48.f5?! would allow Black’s idea. 48... Kd7 preventing Kc6. 49.Be6+ Kc7 50.Ba3 Bf4 It seems like Black successfully built a fortress. He starts passing with the bishop, and Bg8, with the idea of invading with Ke6 is always met with Kd7.) 48... Bxf4 49.Kc6 The White king has access to the queenside pawns. 49... Be5 50. Bd5 Bg3 51.Kc7 Bf4 52.Kb8 Kd7 53.Kxa7 Kc7 54. Bb4 White simply wants to create a passer on the queenside. 54... Be3 55. Be1! with the idea of playing Bg3, and on Bf4, Bf2 pressing the b6 pawn. 55...b5+ 56.Ka8 bxa4 57.bxa4 +/- The a-pawn should bring the victory for White.] 46.Kf5 Nc5 [46... Be1 with the same idea as before. Trying to block the kingside was a better practical chance, but 47. Ba3+ Nc5 48.h5 Bd2 49.a5! A small tactical trick to improve the pawn structure. 49... Be3 50.a6! Ke8 51. Bc4 and b4 is coming next. Black cannot stand the pressure.]

51... Bd2 [51...Kf8! gave some practical chance. 52. Bd5 Kg7 53. Be3 Nf7 would have at least stopped the pawn, but the upcoming endgame instructively wins for White.

54. Bxf7! Kxf7 55. Bd4 Be7 56. Bc3! Black is in zugzwang! 56...a6 a) 56... Bd8 loses easily to 57.h6! Be7 58.h7 Kg7 59.h8Q+ Kxh8 60. Bxf6+ Bxf6 61.Kxf6 +-; b) 56...Kg7 allows 57.Ke6! Bc5 (57...Bd8 58.Kd7 +- traps the bishop.) 58. Bxf6+ Kh6 59.Kd5 Kxh5 60. Bd4! The Black king is too far, White collect the pawns. 60... Bb4 61.Kc6 +-; 27


57. Bd4 b5 58.a5! After fixing the a6 weakness, the White king can go to collect it... 58...b4 (58...Bb4 59.B xf6 B xa5 60.h6! Kg8 61.Kg6 +-) 59.h6 Bf8 60.h7 Kg7 61.h8Q+ Kxh8 62. Bxf6+ Kh7 63.Ke6 Black cannot resist anymore. 63...Kg6 64. Bd8 +-] 52. Bd5 The game is over now. White nicely finishes the game. 52...Kd6 53. Bc4 Ke7 54. Bb2! Ba3 is threatened and on Bb4, the h-pawn runs. 54...Kd6 55. Ba3+ Kc6 56. Be2 Kd5 57. Be7 1–0

28


Clash of the Titans (17) Toran Albero,Roman — Tal,Mihail [A21] EU-chT (Men) 02nd Oberhausen (1.2), 21.06.1961 [Balogh Csaba] In this game, Tal plays a sharp and risky setup against the English opening. White has different ways to get an advantage, but on the other hand, as the game shows, a few inaccuracies are enough to pass the initiative to Black. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 f5 This aggressive move is a clear sign that Black wants to win this game. 4.d4 I like this move a lot. It leads to an open position, where White’s chances are preferable. [4. Bg2 is also possible. 4...Nf6 5.d3 g6 6.e3 Bg7 7.Nge2 with a different type of position.] 4...e4 I believe this is a mistake, because Black is unable to hold his pawn on e4. It’s probably better to play 4. ..Nf6 or 4... Be7 first. 5.f3 Sooner or later, White must undermine this pawn. Why not to do it immediately?! [Kramnik showed another promising way to play: 5.Nh3 Nf6 6. Bg2 White finishes the development before playing f3. The only thing he must take care of is that if Black plays c6, with the idea of consolidating his central pawn with d5, White must always play d5 himself. 6... Be7 7.0–0 0–0

8.d5! Very nice and logical, creating problems around the e6 hole. 8...c5 9.Nf4 Na6 10.f3! exf3 11.exf3 Nc7 12. Re1 White got a huge advantage. The best that Black can do is to retreat the f5 pawn to f7. Now he must suffer. Black has managed to win this, but it only happened because it was a blitz game. Kramnik-Svidler, Moscow 2008.] 5...Nf6 [5...exf3 will transpose to the game.] 6. Bg2 Forcing Black to give up his main triumph in the center. [6.fxe4 could only be advisable if White would win the pawn. Black is ready to protect it now, 6...Nxe4! (Not 6...fxe4 because of 7.Bg2 Qe7 8.Bg5 and the e4 pawn falls.) 7.Nxe4 fxe4 8. Bg2 d5! looks really suspicious, but Black is just in time to hold everything together. 9.cxd5 Bb4+! 10. Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 Qxd5 12.e3 Bg4! This is the key move! Otherwise, after Ne2-c3, White gets a big advantage. 13.Ne2 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 0–0 The plan is Nd7f6, with mutual chances.] 6...exf3 7.Nxf3 With this recapture, White wants to use his big lead in development. [7.exf3!? is also possible, with the idea of obtaining the same position that Kramnik had in his blitz game. 7... Be7 8.Nh3 0–0 9.0–0 followed by Nf4 and d5.] 29


7...g6 8.0–0 Bg7

9.e4 The most tempting move, but an inaccuracy, after which Black solves all his problems. [The idea itself was correct, but White should have prepared it with 9. Bg5! 0–0 (9...h6 10.B xf6 and e4 is next.) 10.e4! Black is forced to unpin... 10...h6 but this seriously weakens the g6 square, and White is ready to make use of it with the Nh4 resource... 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 (11...B xf6 is met with 12.exf5 B xf5 13.Nh4! with a big advantage, because 13...B xh4 loses to 14.B xb7 +-) 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Nh4! White not only takes the light-squared bishop, but also destroys Black’s pawn structure. 14...Nc6 Black’s only chance to create some counterplay against the d4 pawn. 15.Nxf5 Rxf5 Black wins the pawn, but White gets more than enough compensation for it. (15...gxf5 16.Rf4 +/-) 16.Qd3! Nxd4 17.Nf4 +/- followed by Be4 with a big attack.] 9...fxe4 10.Ng5 0–0 11.Ngxe4 After this, the initiative passes to Black. [11.Ncxe4 was more dangerous, but here Black is able to solve his problems with 11...Nc6! 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 and 13. Bd5+ looks only scary, but 13...Kg7 is safe.] 11...Nxe4 12. Rxf8+ Qxf8 13.Nxe4 Nc6! White cannot continue playing actively, while Black’s undeveloped kingside is coming out with tempo.

14. Be3! White must hold his d4 pawn at any cost. Of course, it would have been much better to do it with a c3 move, but it was not possible. [14.d5? closes the diagonal of the g2 bishop and allows Black to occupy nice squares with his pieces as well. 14...Ne5 c4 is under attack and Bg4, Re8 are coming.] 14... Bf5 15.Qd2 Re8 16.Ng5! This allows a very nice tactical motif — of course, Tal did not miss it. Still, this is the best chance. [16.Nf2 would be met with 16...Qe7! and White is in trouble, since Re1 drops the d4 pawn.] 16... Rxe3! The game is not over, it’s just starting! [16...h6 17.Nf3 would stabilize the d4 pawn.] 17. Bd5+ Kh8 18.Nf7+

18...Qxf7!! Tal sacrifices his queen and gets two pieces and a pawn for it, but the activity of his pieces give him a risk-less compensation. Objectively the game remains drawn, but it’s much more difficult to find the correct moves with White. [18...Kg8 White doesn’t have more than draw.] 19. Bxf7 Rd3! A very tricky move that gives White a wide range of choices. Most of the moves are bad. You must 30


always give the opportunity to your opponentstogowrong! [Black could have forced a draw with 19... Bxd4 20.Kg2 Be4+ 21.Kh3 Bf5+ 22.Kg2 Be4+ = with a perpetual check.] 20.Qe2 The most logical move, but it objectively leads to a bad endgame... [20.Qe1! was the right move, but I believe that for a human it’s only possible to find this move with luck. 20... Bxd4+ 21.Kg2 Ne5! This is Black’s main resource in all lines, the reason why Tal continued to play on instead of agreeing to draw. The knight joins the attack with tempo and the bishop has no good square to go... 22. Bd5 c6 23. Rd1! Black gets 3 pieces for the queen, with a seemingly big advantage, but somehow White gets very good counterplay with his single queen... (23. Be4? loses to 23...Re3) 23...cxd5 (23...Re3 is also possible, but it leads to a draw after a fantastic line. 24.Qf1 Bb6

25.Be6! Black seems to get in trouble, but... 25...Be4+ 26.Kh3 Rf3 27.Qe2 and now 27...Rf2!! 28.Qxe4 Nf3! with a double threat of Ng5 and Rh2. White is forced to sacrifice his queen. 29.Qxf3 R xf3 30.R xd6 =) 24. Rxd3 Bxd3 25.Qb4 Be4+ 26.Kf1 White has good chances to save the game after taking either on d6 or on b7.; 20.Qf4? los-

es to 20... Bxd4+ 21.Kh1 (21.Kg2 Be3 22.Qh4 with the threat of Qf6, but it suddenly leads a loss of the queen. 22...Kg7! 23.Bd5 Rd4 Black wins.) 21... Be3! and White must move into a fork to control the e4 square. 22.Qf3 (22.Qh4 g5) 22...Ne5!; 20.Qg2? is refuted by 20... Bxd4+ 21.Kh1 Ne5! and White should give up his bishop, because 22. Bd5 loses to the nice 22...c6 23. Be4 Rd2! Black ends up with a winning material advantage.] 20... Bxd4+ 21.Kg2 Ne5!

22. Rd1! [22. Bd5 is also possible, but it leads to a worse position after 22... Bg4! (22...c6 is similar to the 20.Qe1 line... 23.Rd1! cxd5 24.R xd3 B xd3 25.Qd2! and the queens creates good counterplay for a draw. The problem is that 25...dxc4? doesn’t work because of 26.Qf4! and suddenly White wins.) 23.Qf1 (23.Qc2 Re3! It’s not easy to parry the Re2 threat.) 23... Rd2+ 24.Kh1 Rf2 25.Qe1 Rxb2 with a very unpleasant position for White.] 22... Re3! We are in the critical moment of the game. The queen has 3 squares to go, but only one of them is good. 23.Qf1? White miscalculates and fails... [23.Qd2! was the only move 23... Be4+ 24.Kh3 Nf3 25.Qf2 White survives by miracle. 25... Rd3!? A nice attempt to win. (25...Ng5+ 31


It’s worth it to try to repeat the moves once. 26.Kh4! (26.Kg4? loses to 26...Bf3+ 27.Kxg5 Re5+ 28.Kf4 Rf5#) 26...Nf3+ 27.Kh3) 26.Qe2 Rxd1 27.Qxd1 Even without the rook, the minor pieces create nice threats. 27...Ng1+! 28.Kh4! Black has nothing better than (28.Kg4? Trying to escape into an opposite-colored bishop endgame after Bf3, but Black has a much better continuation. 28... Bf5+! 29.Kf4 and now (29.Kg5 Nh3+ 30.Kh6 Be3#) 29... Nh3+! 30.Kf3 Bg4+! 31.Kxg4 Nf2+ wins.) 28... Bf6+ 29.Kg4 Bf3+ 30.Qxf3 Nxf3 31.Kxf3 Bxb2 As we know, in opposite-colored bishop endgames the defensive side has good chances to hold even with a big material disadvantage. I believe that White can successfully build up a fortress here... 32. Be6 Kg7 33. Bc8 b6 34.Ke4 Kf6 White controls the light squares in order to avoid the Black king to access the pawns. White should be able to hold, but of course, there are still many moves ahead of him to achieve success.; 23.Qf2? loses in a fantastic line. 23...Ng4! 24.Qd2 (24.Qf1 Re7! It’s easy to miss this retreat with both sides. It frees the e3 square for the knight.) 24... Be4+ 25.Kh3

Kg7!! and Black wins in both lines. 29.Qxd3 (29.B xg6 R xd2 30.R xd2 hxg6) 29...h6+ 30.Kh4 Bf6#] 23... Be4+! 24.Kh3 Rf3! Black will end up with a big material advantage soon. 25.Qe2 [25.Qe1 does not change anything. 25... Bf5+ 26.Kg2 Rf2+ 27.Kh1 Nf3 and White is forced to give up his queen.] 25... Bf5+ [White resigned in view of 25... Bf5+ 26.Kg2 Rf2+ 27.Qxf2 Bxf2 28.Kxf2 Nxf7] 0–1

25... Rd3!! 26.Kxg4 (26.Qxd3 Nf2+) 26... Bf5+! 27.Kf4 and here (27.Kh4 R xd2 28.R xd2 Bf6#) 27... Be5+! 28.Kg5 32


Surprise section / study (18) Rubesamen,H 1938 [CEWN] 1. =

33


Solutions

(21) Cori,J (2487) — Huschenbeth,N (2532) World Youth Championship, 15.08.2012

(19) Tkachiev,V (2644) — Maze,S (2573)

[Solutions]

French Championship, 18.08.2012 [Solutions]

39.Qh1+!! Kg5 40.Qh4+ Kf5 41.g4+ 1–0[41.g4+ Ke6 42. Rd6+!+-] (20) Hansen,E (2472) — Grigoryan,K (2529) World Youth Championship, 14.08.2012 [Solutions]

35. Re1! Bd5 [35...Qxb3 36. Rxe8+ Kf7 37. Re7+ Kg8 38.axb3+-] 36. Rxe6+-

17...Nc2! 18. Ra2 [18. Bxc2 Bxa3–+ 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 20.bxa3? Qxg2#] 18...Nxd4! 19. Rxd4 Nxc3! 20.bxc3 [20. Rxd8 Nxe2+–+] 20...Qxd4! 21.cxd4 Rxc1+ 22.Qf1 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Rd8–+ (22) Ivekovic,Z (2320) — Salem,AR (2546) World Youth Championship, 13.08.2012 [Solutions]

32... Rg2!! 0–1[32... Rg2 33.Bxg2 hxg2+ 34. Rxg2 Rxe3–+] 34


(23) Beckhuis,G (2288) — Horvath,J (2536)

(25) Fedorchuk,S (2639) — Markidis,K (2351)

Vienna Open, 18.08.2012

Ishtmia Open, 18.08.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15...Ne4! 16. Bxb4 Nf6!! 17.Qh4 Re4!–+

20. Bxg6! Bxh6 [20...hxg6 21.Qg4! Bxh6 22.Qxg6+ Bg7 23.Nh5 Re7 24.Nf6+ Kf8 25. Rf3+-] 21. Bxe8 Qxe8 22.Nh5! Kh8 23.Nf6 Qf7 24. Rh3+-

(24) Gajewski,G (2628) — Antoi Royo,J (2398) Sants Open, 19.08.2012

(26) Pruijssers,R (2514) — Broekmeulen,J (2410)

[Solutions]

Roosendaal Open, 17.08.2012 [Solutions]

26. Re8+! 1–0[26. Re8+ Kxe8 27.Qg8+ Bf8 (27...Kd7 28.Qxg7+ Kd8 29.Qe7+ Kc8 30.Qc7#) 28. Re1+ Be6 29. Rxe6+ Rxe6 30.Qxe6+ Kd8 31.Qf6++-]

35. Rd7!! Rxf3 36. Rxg7 Rxf2 37. Rxh7+ Kg8 38.Nd5!! [38.Kxf2 Ne5] 38... Rg2 [38... Rf3 39.Ne7+ Kf8 40.g7++-] 39.Nf6+ Kf8 40. Rf7# 1–0 35


(27) Fier,A (2582) — Kulaots,K (2558)

(29) Selesniev,A

Riga Open, 12.08.2012

1921

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

40. Re5! fxe5 41.Qxe6+ Kh7 42.Qe8 1–0

1.Nh5! g2 2.Nf4! g1N! 3.Ne2+!! Kd2! [3...Nxe2=] 4.Nxg1 Ke3 5.Nh3!! Bxh3 1/2

(28) Romanishin,O (2509) — Nguyen,P (2388) Najdorf memorial, 14.08.2012 [Solutions]

16.Nf4!! exf4 17. Rh7! Nc7 [17...Nc5 18. Rxg7 Ne6 19. Rxg6 Nxg5 20. Rxg5+-; 17... Rg8 18. Bxd5+- (18. R xg7+-) ] 18.Nxc7 Kxc7 19. Bxf4+ Kc6 20. Rxg7+36

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 28 7th of September 2012



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Editorial Preface Chess Olympiad, this is what it’s all about now! The best teams of all around the world fighting for their goals. After the 8th round, it seems like nothing is going to stop the Russian team from taking the gold medal. With an overwhelming team and 2 killing boards (2nd Grischuk and 3rd Karjakin), the Russian players seem to be simply unstoppable! It would be a great achievement for Russia since it’s been quite a long time since they are very unlucky at team events. The fight seems to be much tougher for the second place. 4 teams are sharing it with 13 Points.

Still 3 rounds to go at the Olympiad and many things could happen! As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the CEWN Nr28, which includes fresh games from the Olympiad. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

In the 8th round it came to a collusion between Hungary and Germany. Balogh Csaba didn’t get more than a draw against Jan Gustafsson and I managed to win my game against Peter Leko, so the overall result was 2,5–1,5. These are sad news for the 4th seeded team of Hungary, who spoiled a great tournament in just 2 rounds by not winning against Philippines and losing against Germany. In the female section, everything is still open. Probably it will be a fight between the Russian and the Chinese girls for the gold medals. Side events of the Olympiad: This time the famous Bermuda party was clearly not a success. Everything started at around 22h and the party was over at around 1.30am. Somehow, the organizers in Turkey don’t really care at all about the chess players. A very disappointing thing is of course that we have no water or coffee in the playing hall, and not even toilets! The organizers decided that “Dixie toilets” should be enough, well… 3


4 best games of the past week (1) Kramnik,V (2797) — Aronian,L (2816) [D10] Olympiad, 03.09.2012 [Csaba Balogh] The game between the current World Nr.2 and Nr.3. I must say that Aronian clearly had a day off today, but it doesn’t take anything from Kramnik’s glory. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 Here comes the first surprise of the game... 4.cxd5 White goes for the exchange Slav, which is generally considered to be an opportunity to make a draw, however, as we’ll see this is a dangerous weapon in Kramnik’s hands. 4...cxd5 5. Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 a6 [6... Bf5 is the other main move.]

Black has no chance to open the long diagonal and he can’t put pressure on the d4 pawn. The best he could do is to transfer it back to f8-d6, exchanging the strong White bishop... [7... Bg4 8.f3 (8.Nge2 e6) 8... Bh5 is the start of the lines. Kramnik definitely had some deep idea in mind, but anyway Aronian should have gone for this.] 8.h3 A prophylactic move against Bg4 which also frees the h2 square for the bishop against Nh5 in the future. 8... Bf5 A logical m ove to get rid of the bishop, but it could have had some direct problems. However, Kramnik prefers to lead the game to calm waters... [8... Bg7 9.Nf3 0–0 10.0–0+= White is better because of his superior dark-squared bishop. He’s going to initiate his play on the queenside.] 9.Nf3 [9. Bxf5! This kind of move is always questionable, since it helps Black to bring a pawn towards the center, but White has concrete reasons to take it. 9...gxf5

7. Bd3

7...g6? This is a real shocking move by a player of Aronian’s level. He probably wanted to avoid Kramnik’s preparation, but the bishop has nothing to do on g7 in this opening.

10.g4! This is the point! Suddenly Black’s position is really unpleasant 10...Qd7 (10...fxg4 11.hxg4+= The exchanges on the kingside clearly favor White. He wants to push g5, followed by developing with Nf3.) 11. Be5! Without this move, the whole idea would be wrong, but now Black 4


is in trouble. White wants to destroy the pawn structure with Bxf6, andon 11... Bg7 loses a piece after (11...N xe5 12.dxe5 Ne4 13.Qxd5+/- with a pawn up.) 12.g5 Nxe5 13.gxf6!+/-]

a big pressure on the queenside. 20... Rc7 21.Qb6! Rac8 22.Ne5+=]

9... Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Bg7?! This is another strange decision by Aronian. [Black should have played 10...e6 followed by exchanging the other bishops. Black is very close to equalizing. 11.0–0 Bd6 12. Bh6 Bf8 13. Bg5 Be7 The Black bishop always follows its counterpart.] 11.0–0 0–0 12. Rfc1 e6 13.Na4 White plays in typical exchange-Slav fashion. He tries to make use of the weakened dark squares on the queenside. 13...Ne4 14.Nc5 [14.Nd2 was principled as well, to exchange the strong knight, but Kramnik did not want to allow any kind of counterplay. Aronian definitely wanted to react with 14...f5! on (14...N xd2 15.Qxd2+=) 15.f3 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 g5! 17. Bh2 f4 Black gets counterplay against the d4 pawn.; 14.Qb3!? was quite unpleasant as well.] 14...Nxc5 15. Rxc5 White secures the control over the only open file. 15...Qd7 [15...Qb6 was another defending option, but White keeps an edge here as well. 16.Qc2 Rfc8 17. Rc1 Bf8 18.Rc3 with the idea of playing Ne5 next. Black cannot fight for the c-file with 18...Bb4 because of 19.Qb3! Qa5 20. R3c2+= White is better, the b7 pawn is also vulnerable.]

19.Nd2! Another excellent positional move. The knight has nothing to do on e5 anymore, Kramnik takes it to the c5 square. 19... Bd6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Nb3 Rc7 [21...b6 would be a serious weakening of the queenside. The knight loses its stability on the c6 square and the a6 pawn becomes very weak! 22.Nd2! After the knight provoked the weakness, it gives a freeway for the b-pawn. 22...Kg7 23.b4 White is much better.] 22.Na5! With the threat of Nxb7 and on 22... Rac8 Black is close to a draw, but...

16. Rac1 Rfc8 17.a3! Depriving Black from any kind of counterplay connected to Bf8 and Nb4, and the plan with b4-b5 might increase his advantage in the future as well. 17... Bf8 18. R 5c2 f6 [18... Bd6 does not solve Black’s problems either. 19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20.Qb3 White has 5


23.Nxb7!! Kramnik had a really good day! The pins on the c-file and the 6th rank allow White to gain a decisive advantage.

32.b6! White does not even need to take back the knight. Black cannot stop the pawn and it also promotes with check. [32.Qxc1 was also good, of course.]

23... Rxb7 24.Qxa6 Rbc7 25.b4! Qd7 Only move, but it doesn’t help...

32...Kf7 33.Qc7+ [33.b7+- was also good.]

26.Qb6! This is the most accurate move, Black cannot prevent b5! [26.b5 was also good enough 26...Ne7 (On 26...Nd8 the point is 27.Qxc8!! Rxc8 (27...Qxc8 28.R xc7 Qb8 29.Rc8 wins.) 28. Rxc8+- The rooks and the b-pawn are dominating.) 27. Rxc7 Rxc7 28. Rxc7 Qxc7 29.Qxe6+ White already has three pawns for the piece, but his pawns are also rolling. Black cannot create counterplay. 29...Kf8 (29...Kg7 30.a4+-) 30.Qxf6+ Ke8 31.a4+-]

33...Ke8 34.Qa7! d4 35.b7 Nice game by Kramnik! 1–0

26...Qe8 Aronian has a fantastic creativity, but now it doesn’t take him out of trouble... Other moves were hopeless as well. [26...Kf7 27.b5 Rb7 Now the best is 28.Qxc6! Qxc6 (28...R xc6 29.bxc6+-) 29. Rxc6 Rxc6 30.bxc6+- is easily winning.; 26... Rb7 is refuted by 27. Rxc6! Rxb6 28. Rxc8+ Kf7 29. R1c7+-; 26... Rb8 doesn’t help either. 27.Qxb8+! Nxb8 28. Rxc7 Qb5 (28...Qd6 29.b5+- The knight is trapped. White simply wants to play Rb7 with a mate on the back-rank.) 29. R1c5 Qb6 30. Re7+-] 27.b5! Kramnik calculates precisely! 27...Nxd4 28. Rxc7 Ne2+ 29.Kh1! It’s important not to allow any checks. 29...Nxc1 This was Aronian’s idea, but... 30. Rxc8 Qxc8 31.Qc6! The b-pawn promotes soon. 31...Qd8 [31...Qxc6 32.bxc6+-]

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(2) Aronian,Levon (2816) — Ivanchuk,Vassily (2769) [E15] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR, 01.09.2012 [Csaba Balogh]

This is an important theoretical position with hundreds of games. Personally, I slightly prefer White’s position... 11.Qc2 (11.Bc1 transferring the bishop to b2 is another plan.) 11...Na6 12. Rfd1 followed by Bf4 and Ne5 is the main line.]

We are facing the decisive encounter between two potential medalists, Armenia and Ukraine. 1.Nf3 The big advantage of the 1.d4 players is that they can confuse their opponent’s preparation by starting with 1.c4 or 1.Nf3. A lot of times these first moves lead the same positions, just with a different move order. With 1.e4 there are no such transpositions. 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 b6 We ended up in the Queen’s Indian defense and Aronian played his favorite: 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 Ivanchuk goes for the old main line. Black has lured the bishop to d2, which is not a great place. It should normally develop to the long diagonal, but now the move Bc3 would occupy the b1 knight’s ideal square. [6... Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 c6 is a modern approach for Black. We have analyzed the game AronianGrischuk, Moscow 2012, in the CEWN Nr.17.] 7.Nc3 The critical line, and it’s still not clear how to play with Black to equalize... He has a wide range of setups, but the solution is not obvious yet. [The most common move 7. Bg2 is considered to be harmless nowadays after some very long theoretical lines. 7...c6 ...] 7...Bb7 Black stops the e4 plan, which was the main idea of the previous move. [7...c6; 7...d5 and; 7...0–0 are also possible.] 8. Bg2 0–0 9.0–0 Na6 [9...d5 is probably a better start, or at least it avoids the game continuation. 10.cxd5 exd5

10.d5!? This is a well-known idea in the g3 system of the Queen’s Indian, however in this particular position, I found only one good game in the database. White wants to occupy the center with e4, so Black is forced to accept the challenge. 10...exd5 11.Nd4 Usually, the d5 break comes after Black’s c5 move, and Nh4 is the usual way to recover the pawn. With the pawn on c7, Black can keep his pawn, at least for a while. Actually, he’s forced to fight for it, since if White simple takes back on d5 and plays e4, he achieves the maximum from the opening. 11... Bc5 [11...c6 happened in the earlier game, but White gets an advantage after 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 Black is temporarily a pawn up, but it cannot be long-lasting. 14.Nf5! The idea is Bf4 and Ne3. After the d5 pawn falls, White obtains a better pawn structure because of the d7 isolated pawn. 14... Re8 15. Bf4 Bf8 16. Bxd5 7


Bxd5 17.Qxd5 Qf6 (17...R xe2? did not work, because of 18.Qc4 Double attack.) 18.Ne3 White was better in Kanstler-Psakhis, Israel 1999. The knight was heading to d5.] 12.Nc2 As we have seen in the previous line, to win back the d5 pawn, White needs to take his knight to e3. [12. Bf4 was also possible. 12...c6 (White recovers the pawn after 12...Ne4 13.N xd5! looks like a blunder, but... 13... B xd5 14.cxd5 Nc3 15.Qd3 B xd4 does not win the piece, because of 16.Qxa6+=) 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Nf5 followed by Ne3 with the usual small advantage.] 12...c6 13.cxd5 cxd5 Actually it seems to be a slightly dubious decision to allow White his next move... [13...Nxd5 was more logical. 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15. Bf4 Nc7 16.Ne3 Rc8 (It’s not advisable to keep the extra pawn with 16...B xe3 17.B xe3 Black must suffer with his passive pieces. White simply develops with Qd2, Rac1 and Rfd1 with an unpleasant pressure.) 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Bc6 with a small but stable advantage for White.] 14. Bg5! Suddenly this pin becomes very annoying. That’s why it would have been better to get rid of a pair of knights. 14...Nc7 15.Ne3 Black is facing a difficult choice now, but he can still fight for equality...

15...d4? Probably Ivanchuk pinned his hopes to this move when he took on d5 with the pawn, but he blundered one of the following moves... [15...h6 leads to a worse position after 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Ncxd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Qe5 19.Nf6+! Qxf6 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Bg2+= This opposite colored bishop position is unpleasant for Black, as lacks an active plan. White plays e3 and Qe2 followed by doubling the rooks on the d-file.; This illogical move, giving up the bishop, was the best chance. 15... Bxe3! Ivanchuk was probably afraid of 16.fxe3 (16.B xe3!? Ne4 17.Rc1 gives decent compensation for White, but he must still fight for the advantage.) 16...Qe8! This is the key resource in Black’s defense. (16...Nce8 17.B xd5! is good for White.) 17. Bxf6 Qxe3+ 18. Rf2 gxf6 Black has some really ugly pawns, but at the moment he’s two pawns up. 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20. Bxd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 After the simplifications, Black has good chances to hold...] 16. Bxb7 Rb8 Black wins back the piece, but his kingside pawn structure gets destroyed... [16...dxe3 17.fxe3! (Not 17.B xa8? exf2+ 18.Kg2 Qxa8+ Black is better.) 17... Rb8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Be4 The exposed Black king becomes vulnerable. A simple but strong idea is Bc2 followed by Qd3! 19... Bxe3+ 20.Kh1+/-] 17.Ng4! dxc3 [17... Rxb7 is also bad. 18.Ne4 Ncd5 19.Nexf6+ Nxf6 20. Bxf6! The knight causes much bigger problems on the holes around the king. 20...gxf6 21.e3! The most precise way to increase the attack. 21... dxe3 22.fxe3 Be7 Here comes a really spectacular way to win

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Issue 28 20...f5! Only move.

7th of September 2012

21.Nh6+! White retains the idea of Qd3 by taking the f5-pawn with the knight. [21. Bxf5 Qg5] 21...Kh8 22.Nxf5 Qf6

23.Nh6+ Kh8 24.Nxf7+!! Rxf7 25.Qd5! wins an exchange with this unexpected double attack.] 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Be4! White is a pawn down, but the exposed Black king gives more than enough compensation for the pawn.

23.a3!! Just a fantastic move, opening a new front to battle! White wants to send the only Black active piece into passivity by b4. [23.Qd3 Rg8 24.a3 is the same.] 23...a5 The most logical move, but it supports White’s idea. [23... Rg8 is also quite hopeless. 24.b4 Bf8 25.Qd3 The days of the c3 pawn are counted. 25... Rg6 Now the easiest is probably 26.e3 Rd8 27.Nd4+/- winning the pawn and keeping all the advantages of the position as well.]

19...d5 [19... Re8 is met with 20. Bf5 Black cannot prevent Qc1, which threatens with Qh6 and Qxc3 at the same time. 20...h5 doesn’t change anything. 21.Qc1! Bf8 (21... hxg4 22.Qh6+- wins.) 22.Nh6+ Kg7 23. Bb1!+- This is the most precise, creating the decisive threat of Qc2-h7.] 20. Bc2 Qd3 is the threat. Black is forced to give back his pawn in order to gain some time to defend his king.

24.Qd3 Rg8 25.b4! Aronian found the fastest way to bring his rook into the attack with this great pawn sacrifice. 25...axb4 [25... Bf8 26.Nd4+- wins the c3 pawn.] 26.axb4 Bxb4 27. Ra7! The game is practically over. Black cannot stand the attack. 27...Ne6 [27... Rbc8 also loses to 28.Ne7!+-] 9


28.Ne7! White wins material now! 28...Qg7 [28... Rg7 loses even bigger material after 29.Nxd5 Qd4 30.Qxd4 Nxd4 31.Nxb4+- protecting the c2 bishop.] 29.Nxg8 Kxg8 30.Qxd5 Black could have calmly resigned here. Besides being an exchange up, White retains his attacking chances. The c- and b-pawns are perfectly neutralized by the bishop. 30... Bc5 31.e3 Not giving any chance for counterplay.

40. Rxf8+! White wins the knight in all lines. [40. Rc8+-]

31...b5 [31... Rd8 32. Ra8+-]

40...Qxf8 [40...Kxf8 is refuted by 41.Qxb4+ Ke8 (41... Kg8 42.Qb8++-) 42. Ba4+ Kd8 43.Qb8++-]

32. Ra8 Rxa8 33.Qxa8+ Qf8 34.Qe4! Of course, White has no reason to exchange the queens, since he can continue his very dangerous mating attack.

41.Qg4+ Kh8 [41...Qg7 42.Qc8++-]

34...Qh6 35. Ra1 b4 36. Ra5 [36. Ra8+ was even more precise. 36...Nf8 (36...Bf8 37.Qxb4+-; 36...Kg7 loses the queen after 37.Qe5+ Qf6 38.Rg8+!) 37. Rc8 Bd6 38. Rc6+- wins the bishop soon.]

42.Qf5! Ivanchuk resigned after this great quiet move, in view of the following lines:[42.Qf5 Qg7 (42...Qg8 43.Qe5+; 42...Kg7 43.Qe5+) 43.Qc8+ With this nice victory by Aronian, Armenia won the match 2.5–1.5, taking a big step towards the medals.]

36... Bf8 37.Qg4+ Qg7 [37...Kh8 38. Rh5+- was the idea of 36. Ra5.]

1–0

38.Qh4 h6 39. Ra8! Black cannot protect his hanging b4 pawn. 39...Nc7 This allows an elegant little combination to finish the game.

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(3) Naiditsch,Arkadij (2712) — Mchedlishvili,Mikheil (2659) Olympiad 0:41.09–0:19.19 (2), 29.08.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.0–0 e5 9.d5 A very similar plan to the one used in the game against the grandmaster Viktor Laznicka. [9.Nd2 0–0 10. Rb1 White is going to play d5. That’s why he included Rb1–b6, to avoid some b5 ideas in the future. 10...b6 11.d5 (11.f4!? More often in this line, White doesn’t close the position with d5, but instead tries to activate the dark-squared bishop in a different way. For example, by sacrificing the d4 pawn.) 11...Ne7 12.Qc2 g6 13.f4 exf4 14.h3 Nf5 15.Bxf5 Bxf5 16.e4 Bd7 17. Rxf4 Qe7 White is looking to get some pressure on the dark squares, but the pieces are completely not ready to do it. 18.Bb2 Nh5 19.Rf2 f5! 20. Re1 Rae8 21.Bc1 f4 22.Qd1 Qg7 23.Nf1 Re5 24.Nh2 Qe7 25.Qd3 Rg5 26.g4 fxg3 27. Rxf8+ Qxf8 28.Nf3 Re5 29.Kg2 Re7 30.e5 dxe5 31.d6 Re6 32.Qd5 Nf6 0–1 Laznicka,V-Ivanchuk,V/Havana CUB 2012] 9...Ne7 [9...e4 10.dxc6 exd3 11.cxb7 Bxb7 12.Qxd3 Black doesn’t have full compensation for the pawn. More about this position can be found in our Chess Evolution book.] 10.Qc2 0–0

11.Nd2 [11.Ne1 Qc7 12.a4 Bd7 13.f4 exf4 14.exf4 Kh8 15.f5! Usually, if white manages to push the pawn to f5, the position is good. 15...Neg8 16.h3 Bc8 17.Qf2 Nd7 18.f6! Nice move. Thanks to the pawn sacrifice, the White pieces become very active. 18...Ngxf6 19.Qh4 Ne5 20. Rxf6 1–0 Kuzubov,Y-Palliser,R/Port Erin IOM 2006] 11...h6 12.f4 The beginning of the plan. The main idea is to activate the dark-squared bishop! 12...exf4 13.exf4 g6 Of course Black can’t allow f5 so easily. [13... Re8 14.f5 Ng4 15.f6 We already saw this thematic idea! 15...Nxf6 16. Rxf6 gxf6 17.Ne4 Ng6 18. Bxh6+/-; 13...b5 Seems strange because it gives White the possibility to get rid of the doubled pawns, but on the other hand, the Black pieces will improve. 14.Ne4 (14. cxb5 Nexd5 15.Ne4 Bb7 16.N xf6+ Qxf6 17.Bd2 Rfe8 The Black pieces are well placed. He shouldn't have any problems.) 14...Nxe4 15. Bxe4 bxc4 16.f5 f6 17. Rb1 Re8 18. Bf4 White is better due to the space advantage and the fact that Black can't transfer the knight to e5. The doubled pawns don't have any meaning.] 14.h3 White prepares the g4-f5 plan. [14.Ne4 Nf5 (14... N xe4 15.B xe4 Bf5 16.B xf5 N xf5 17.g4 Nh4 18.Qf2 h5 With the idea of winning the f5 square for the knight. 19.gxh5 Qf6) 15.Nxf6+ (15.Bd2) 15...Qxf6 16.g4 Nh4 17.f5 (17.h3!?) 17...g5 18. Bd2 Bd7 19. Be1 Rfe8 20. Bg3 Re7 The knight on h4 is out of play, but the position has a closed character and without the knight, White has problems to create some threats.] 14...Nf5 [14... Bf5 We have to check this move because usually the exchange of bishops is good for Black. Let’s try to guess why the Georgian grandmaster didn’t go for 11


it. 15.g4 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Black can’t stop f5. White will get a strong initiative. 16...Qd7 a) 16... Re8 17.f5 (17.Nf3 b5 18.cxb5 c4 19.Qxc4 Nexd5 with Qb6-Rc8 next, Black gets some nice counterplay.) 17...g5 18.h4 gxh4 19.Qh3 Kg7 20.Nf3; b) 16...h5 Black is fighting for the light squares. 17.Qg3 (17. f5 hxg4 18.hxg4 N xg4 19.Ne4 N xf5 20.Qh3 Qh4 21.Qxh4 N xh4 22.N xd6 Nf5 23.N xf5 gxf5 24.R xf5 f6=) 17...hxg4 18.hxg4 Qd7 19.f5 Kg7 20.Nf3 Rh8 21.Ng5 gxf5

on g3 is very badly placed. 19. Be3 (19.Kh2 fxg4 20.hxg4 B xg4 21.R xg3 N xg3 22.Kxg3 B xf3 23.Kxf3 Qh4 24.Qg2 Qh5+ 25.Kf2 Qh4+ 26.Qg3 Qxg3+ 27.Kxg3 Re1 and Black is not worse.) 19...fxg4 20.hxg4 h5 21.gxh5 Bf5 It’s very important for Black to get control of this square. 22. Bf2 (22.hxg6 Qf6=) 22...Nxh5 23. Bh4 Finally the bishop comes into play this way. 23...Qd7 24.Nd2 and Black can’t hold the e4-f5 squares. White is winning. 24... Nxf4 25.Nxe4+/-; 15...Ng3 16. Re1 Bf5 17. Bxf5 gxf5 18. Be3 Qd7 19. Bf2 Nge4 20. Bh4 Rae8 21.Kh2] 16. Bd2 Re8 17. Rfe1 Bd7 18.Nh2 White is playing according to the main plan of activating the dark-squared bishop after the g4-f5 break.

22.Ne6++-; 17.f5 (17.Nf3 h5 18.g5 Qxh3 19.gxf6 Qg3+=) 17...Kh7 18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.Qxe4 g5 20.h4 f6 21. Bd2+/- Black can’t avoid the transfer of the rook to e6. After that, Black’s position will be very unpleasant.] 15.Nf3 h5 Correct. The most important thing for Black is not to allow the g4-f5 break. The g6-h5 setup weakened the dark squares and White can’t take advantage of this because the a1–h8 diagonal is not available for the bishop. [15... Re8 Provoking the g4 move. Let’s see if White’s main task works at this moment. 16.g4 Ng3 (16... Ne3 17.B xe3 R xe3 18.B xg6+/-) 17. Rf2 Nfe4 18. Rg2 f5 An original idea. Black manages to stop f5, but the knight

18... Rxe1+ [18...h4 This was a promising option for Black. After h4, White is not able to advance the kingside pawns anymore. Probably Mchedlishvili was afraid that the pawn on h4 could become weak but it won’t be easy for White to create pressure against it. 19. Rxe8+ (19. Nf3 Nh5=) 19...Qxe8 20. Re1 (20.Ng4 Kg7 21.Re1 Qf8 22.Ne3 Qc8 Again, fighting for the f5 square! If White manages to take out the Black pieces from f5 and push the pawn to this square, then his position will be very good. 23.N xf5+ B xf5 24.B xf5 Qxf5 25.Qxf5 gxf5 26.Re7 Re8 This is not the only move for Black, but it leads to an interesting endgame by force. 27.R xe8 N xe8 28.Be1 Nc7 29.B xh4 f6 Not allowing Be7. 30.Kf1 Na8 31.Ke2 Nb6 32.Kd3 a5 This is very important. We’ll understand why soon. 33.Bf2 Na4 34.Kc2 Nb6 35.Kb3 a4+ This is the point. 36.Ka3 Kg6=) 20...Qf8 21.Nf3 Re8 22.Qc1 Nh5 23. Bxf5 Bxf5 24.Nxh4 Bd3=] 19. Rxe1 Qf8 [19...h4 It was the last chance to disturb White’s main plan.] 12


Qh2.) 28...Kh8 29.Qh2 Bxf1 30.Qh6 Ng4 31.Qh4 Nf6= This is a draw because of 32. Bxf6 Qe3+ 33.Kh2 Qe2+ 34.Kg3 Qg2+ 35.Kf4 Qh3] 25...Qe5 26. Bf4 Qe7 White wins a tempo 27.Qg2 Nfh5 28. Bd2 Qh4 [28...f6 29.Ng4+-]

20.g4! Now White starts putting pressure. 20...hxg4 21.hxg4 Ng7 22.f5 gxf5 23.gxf5 Finally the bishop on d2 is happy. 23... Re8 24. Rf1! Of course, White will need the rook to attack.

29.f6? White is winning but the position is still complicated and it’s easy to make some mistake. [This option was a simpler way to win: 29. Rf3 and Black can’t do anything! One threat is Rh3.] 29... Bh3 30.Qf2 Ng3?? The losing mistake! [Black missed a chance to save the game: 30...Qg3+ 31.Qxg3 Nxg3 32.fxg7 (32.Rf3 N 7h5 33.Kf2

24...Qe7 [24...Ngh5 25. Rf2 Kh8 26.Nf3 Qe7 27.Ng5 Rg8 28. Re2 Qd8 29. Rg2 Rg7 30.Qd1+/- White improved his pieces step by step. The Black king is in danger.] 25. Bg5 [25.Nf3 This natural move gives Black some counterplay: 25...Ng4 with idea Ne3 26.f6 Nxf6 27. Bg5

33...Nh1+ Thanks to this move, Black survives. 34.Kg1 N1g3=) 32...Nxf1 33.Nxf1 Bxf1 (33...Kxg7 34.Ng3+/Thanks to the fact that the knight is still on the board, White is better.) 34.Kxf1 Kxg7 35. Bf4 Rd8= Usually a pair of bishops is much stronger than a rook, but in this case. without the knight and with the doubled-pawns, White doesn’t have any chance to improve.] 27... Bh3! (27...Ngh5 28.Qh2+-) 28. Bh7+ (28.Re1 Qd7 29.B xf6 Qg4+; 28.Rf2 Ngh5 and now White has no

31. Re1 Rxe1+ 32.Qxe1 Bf5 33. Bxf5 N7xf5 34.Qe8+ Kh7 35.Qxf7+ Kh8 36.Qe8+ 1–0 13


(4) Naiditsch,A — Leko,P [E54] Chess Olympiad, 2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5. Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 cxd4 Leko decides to play a line where White plays with an isolated pawn. The other option is: [7...Nc6] 8.exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 We know that the positions with an isolated pawn can occur in a lot of openings. In this case, compared to the Panov System, Black already managed to solve his main problem, he’s controlling the d5 square. The disadvantage is that the bishop is placed on b4. 11. Rc1 In the next move Leko decides to put the knight on c6. More often the knight goes to d7. Let’s see some examples. [11. Re1 Nbd7 12. Bd3 Rc8 13. Rc1 Re8 14.Qe2 Both sides put the pieces on their optimal squares. 14... Bxc3 Now the structure has changed. Black gives the bishop and helps White to improve his structure, but it wasn’t easy to find a better option. (14... Be7 15. Ba6 Bxa6 (15...Qc7 16.Nd5+-) 16.Qxa6 Bb4 17. Bf4+= Black has uncoordinated pieces and some problems with the a7-pawn.) 15.bxc3

15...Qc7 This setup is very solid. It’s very hard for White to take advantage of the pair of bishops and his better center. Usually those pawns get under pressure. 16. Bh4 (16. c4 h6 17.Bd2 Qd6 18.Bc3 Ng4 19.h3 B xf3 20.Qxf3 Qh2+ 21.Kf1 Ngf6 22.Qg3 Qxg3 23.fxg3 Red8 24.Red1 Re8 25.Re1 Red8 26.Red1 Re8 27.Re1 1/2–1/2 Wojtaszek,RMeier,G/Mulhouse FRA 2011.) 16...Nh5 17.Ng5 g6 Creates a weakness around the king, but now the White knight will be out of play. 18.Nh3 Qd6 19. Bg5 e5 20.f3 Ng7 21.Qf2 exd4 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.cxd4 Ne6 24. Be3 Nf6 25. Bc4 Nd5 26. Bxd5 Bxd5= 1/2–1/2 Potkin,VHarikrishna,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2012 (66).] 11...Nc6 Usually the knight is placed on d7 to allow the bishop from b7 to control the important d5 square. 12. Re1 I saw some games in the database where White plays a3. Well, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea because Black has to play Be7 anyway, to solve the problems with the pin. You can say that the a3 move is made in order to avoid the typical maneuver Nb4-Nbd5, but it doesn’t seem to be very dangerous. [12.d5 The break doesn’t work. 12...Na5] 12... Rc8 13. Bd3 Be7 14. Bb1 Re8 [14...Nb4 15.Ne5 Nbd5 (15...Nfd5 16.Bd2) 16.Qd3 g6 17. Bh6 Yes, in the isolated pawn positions, the attack and the pressure should be done on the kingside! 17... Re8 18.Qf3 Nxc3 19.Qxb7 Nxb1 20.Nc6 Rxc6 21.Qxc6 Qxd4 22. Rxb1+/-] 15.h4 This kind of moves always create some weaknesses. 15...g6 16.a3 Finally White decides to play this move not only because of Nb4-Nd5 but to make the a2 square useful for the bishop and just give Black the move. 14

Issue 28 19...Kg7 [19...f5 20. Bxe7 Rcxe7 21.Neg5 h6 22.Nh3 The knight on h3 is temporarily badly placed. The e6 pawn and the e5 square should be weak in the long-term. 22... Nd7 23. Ba2 N7f6 24.Ne5+=]


20.h5 Bxg5 21.Nexg5 Nd7 [21...Nf4 It’s interesting that Leko didn’t play this active move. Maybe because of:

16... Rc7 Logical, Black is looking for counterplay against the weak pawn. So White responds: 17. Rc2 Nd5 18.Ne4 Of course White keeps the pieces on the board in order to support attack. Black has less space, so for them it’s good to exchange some pieces. [18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19. Rc3 Bxg5 20.hxg5 Qd6 (20...Rd8 21.Be4 Qd6 22.Qc1 Rdc8 23.Rd1) 21.d5 Rd8 22. Ba2 exd5 23. Bxd5 Rcd7 24. Rd3 Qf4] 18...Nb8 [18... Rd7 19.Qc1+/-; 18...f6 Of course this kind of moves are not easy to make during the game. This move weakens the king a bit but Black takes control over the important e5 and g5 squares. 19. Bh6 Qd7 With the idea of Nd8-Nf7 in order to bring the knight to the kingside to give some more protection to the king. 20.h5 (20. Nc3 Nd8; 20.Qd3 Nd8 21.R xc7 N xc7 22.h5 Nf7 23.Bf4 Ba6 24.Qc2 Nd5 25.Bg3 f5) 20...g5 21.Nexg5 fxg5 22. Rxc6 Qxc6 23.Ne5 Ne3 24.Nxc6 Nxd1 25.Nxe7+ Rexe7 26. Rxd1 Bd5=+]

22.d5 Famous motif. White gets rid of the pawn to activate his pieces (rook and queen). 22...exd5 (22...B xd5 23.Qa4 Rc4 24.h6+ Kg8 25.Qxc4 B xc4 26.R xd8 R xd8 27.Ne5 f6 28.N xc4 fxg5 29.g3 Nd5 30.R xe6+/-) 23.h6+ Kxh6 24. Rd4 Rxe1+ 25.Qxe1 f6 (25...Nh5 26. Rh4 Kg7 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28. Rxh5 gxh5 29. Bxh7+ Kf8

19. Rd2 [19. Ba2 Rxc2 20.Qxc2 Na6 with the idea of supporting knight on d5 after Nc7. (20...Nd7? 21.Nd6+) 21.Ne5 Nac7 22.Nc6 Bxc6 23.Qxc6 Bxg5 24.hxg5 Kg7=] 15


30. Bc2 Very nice trick. Otherwise, Black will play Rc1 and Qc7 exchanging the queens. 30... Rxc2 31.Nh7+ Kg8 32.Nf6+ Kg7 White is a rook down but the knights and the queen create a killing team! (32...Kf8 33.Ng5+-; 32...Kh8 33.Qxh5+ Kg7 34.Qh7+ Kf8 35.Qh6+ Ke7 36.Qe3+ Kf8 37.Ng5+-) 33.Nxh5+ Kf8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qf6+ Ke8 36.Ng7+ Kd7 37.Qxf7+ Kc8 38.Qf5+ Qd7 39.Qxc2++-) 26.Nxh7 Rc4 (26...g5 27.Nfxg5 fxg5 28.R xf4 gxf4 29.Qe6+ Kg7 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Nf6 Qf8 32.Qh5+ Kg7 33.Ne8++-) 27. Rxf4 Rxf4 28.Qe3 Kxh7 29.Qxf4 Nd7 White has the initiative thanks to his very active pieces. 30.Nh4 Nf8 31.Qh2 Kg7 32. Bxg6 Nxg6 33.Nf5+ Kg8 34.Qh6 Kf7 35.Qg7+ Ke6 36.Qxg6 d4 37.Qg4] 22. Rc2 White decides to make this move because he needs to activate the queen. 22... Rxc2 [22...Nf8 The knight on this square is a good defender (it protects many potential threats like h7 or e6). 23. Rxc7 Qxc7 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Qd2 Qf4=] 23. Bxc2 Qe7 [23...Nf8 24.Qd2 Good place for the queen. White controls f4 and eventually, the queen can join the attack though the dark squares. (24.Ba4 Re7=) 24...h6 25.Nxf7 We’ll see this blow a few times! 25...Kxf7 26.Qxh6 (26.B xg6+ N xg6 27.Qxh6 Ngf4 28.Ng5+ Qxg5 29.Qxg5 Rg8) 26...Qf6 27. Bxg6+ Kg8 28. Re4 Nxg6 29. Rg4 Nde7 30.Ne5 Qg7 31.Qe3] 24.Qd2 Nf8 Leko unders tands well which square is the best for the knight. Other options are worse. [24... h6 25.Nxf7 Again! 25...Qxf7 26. Bxg6 Qe7 27. Bxe8 Qxe8 28.Qe2 Nf4 29.Qe3 Qf7 30. Rc1+=; 24...N5f6 After this move, White gets a huge initiative on the dark squares. 25.Ne5 Nxe5 26.h6+ (26.dxe5 Nxh5 27.g4 Rd8

28.Qe3 h6 29.Nh3 (29.Ne4 B xe4 30.B xe4 f5 31.exf6+ N xf6=+) 29...Qh4 and Black takes the initiative. 30.gxh5 Rd2 31. Be4 Bxe4 32.Qxe4 Qxh3 33.hxg6 Qh5 34.gxf7 Qxf7=+) 26...Kg8 27.dxe5 Ng4 28.Qf4 Nxh6 29.Qh4 Kg7 30. Re3 When I flip the board and see the position from the Black side, it looks really ugly! This might be good for an engine because Black is a pawn up. It’s strange but I didn’t find a win for White here. 30... Rh8 31.Qf4 (31.Rh3 Ng8) 31...Ng8 a) 31...Nf5 Bad move. White is winning by force now. 32. Bxf5 exf5 33.e6 f6 34.Nf7 Rc8 35.Qh6+ Kg8 36. Rh3 Qxe6 37.Qxh7+ Kf8 38.Nd8 Rc1+ (38...R xd8 39.Qh8+ Qg8 40.Qxf6+ Ke8 41.Rh8+-) 39.Kh2 Qd6+ 40. Rg3 Qxd8 41.Qh6+ Kf7 42.Qxc1+-; b) 31... Bd5 32. Rc3 Ng8 33. Be4 h6 34.Nf3 Bxe4 35.Qxe4 Qd7=; 32. Be4 h6 33.Nxe6+ Qxe6 34. Bxb7 h5] 25. Bb3 White’s idea is to eliminate the knight on d5 and bring the queen to the attack. [25.hxg6 hxg6 26.Ne5 f6 27. Bxg6 Nxg6 28.Nxg6 Kxg6 29.Nxe6 Qxe6 30. Rxe6 Rxe6 31.Qd3+ f5= and the three pieces are better than the queen.; 25.h6+ Kg8 26.Ne4 Rd8 27. Bb3 Nd7 28.Ne5 N5f6 29.Nxf7 Nxe4 30. Rxe4 Bxe4 (30...Kxf7 31.R xe6 Qxe6 32.B xe6+ Kxe6 33.Qe3+ In this case, the queen is stronger because White has extra two pawns, the Black pieces are not coordinated and Black has a weakness on h7.) 31.Nxd8 Qxd8 32. Bxe6+ Kf8 33. Bxd7 Qxd7 34.Qf4+ Qf5 35.Qd6+ is only a draw. 35...Kf7 36.Qc7+=]

16


25... Rc8?! Very strange move! It’s hard to say what was Leko’s idea. [He could have played 25...h6!? with the idea of fighting for the dark squares. 26.Ne4 g5 Of course, y could say that black should not advance the pawns weakening the king even more, but in this case it’s most important not to allow White to develop pressure on the dark squares. 27.Ne5 Rd8] 26.Ne4 [26.h6+ Kg8 27.Ne4] 26...Nd7 27.Nfg5 [White could develop a very promising attack after: 27.Ne5 N5f6 (27...N 7f6 28.Ng5 Rf8 29.Nexf7 R xf7 30.N xe6+ Kh8 31.hxg6 hxg6 32.Ng5 Qf8 33.N xf7+ Qxf7 34.Qg5+/-) 28.h6+ Kg8 (28...Kf8 29.Ng5+-) 29.Qg5 Kf8 (29...Re8 30.N xd7 N xd7 31.d5+) 30.Nc3 The d5 break is coming. 30...Nxe5 31.Qxe5 Qd8 32.g4 (32.d5 exd5 33.Nb5 Rc6) 32...Ke7 33.g5 Nh5 34.d5 Qd6 35.Qxd6+ Kxd6 36.dxe6 fxe6 37. Rxe6+ Kd7 38.Ne4 Bxe4 39. Rxe4 Rc5 40.f4 Ng3 41. Rd4+ Ke7 42.Kf2 Nf5 43. Rd2+/- The weak h7 pawn should decide the game in White’s favor.]

31...Nf4 and if White wins the bishop, but after Qg5, White is not able to stop both threats: Qg2 and Nh3.; 27...h6 28.Nxf7 Qxf7 (28...Kxf7 29.Qxh6+-) 29.Nd6 Qf4 30.Qxf4 Nxf4 31.Nxc8 Bxc8 32. Bxe6 Kf6 33. Bc4+/and Black can’t take on h5. 33...gxh5 34. Re8 Bb7 35. Bb5+-] 28.Ng3 Kh8 The final mistake. Black could still fight after: [28...Kg8 Looks very an but compared to the game, the king now protects the f7 pawn. Anyway, White is very close to get a winning position. 29.Nxh5 (29.Nf5 Qf8 30.B xd5 B xd5 31.Qf4 exf5 32.Qxf5 Nf6 33.Qxf6 Qg7) 29...Kh8 30. Bxd5 Bxd5 31.Qf4 f6 32.Ne4 (32. N xe6 B xe6 33.Qe4 Nf8 34.Nf4 f5 35.Qe5+ Qg7 36.N xe6 Qxe5 37.R xe5 N xe6 38.R xe6 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 Rc2=) 32... Rf8 33.Nc3] 29.Nf5 Qf6 [29...Qf8 30.Nd6 Anyway!] 30.Nd6 Rg8 31.Ndxf7+ Kg7 32. Rxe6 Qf4 33.Qxf4 Nxf4 34. Re7 1–0

27...gxh5? This move can’t be good! [27...N7f6 28.h6+ Kg8 29.Nxf6+ Qxf6 30.Ne4 Qh4 Black has counterplay, White can't play 31.Nd6 because of 17


Puzzle section

(7) Stellwagen,D (2630) — Shanava,K (2569) Olympiad, 30.08.2012

(5) Aronian,L (2816) — Rahman,Z (2516) Olympiad, 29.08.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Wang Yue (2685) — Grischuk,A (2763) (6) Ziska,H (2469) — Radjabov,T (2788) Olympiad, 30.08.2012 [CEWN]

Olympiad, 31.08.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

18


(9) Ivanchuk,V (2769) — Wojtaszek,R (2717)

(11) Bologan,V (2734) — Munoz,L (2428)

Olympiad, 31.08.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(10) Berkes,F (2685) — Pacher,M (2442)

(12) Cubas,J (2507) — Illescas Cordoba,M (2601)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1... –+

19


(13) Muzychuk,M (2466) — Zhao Xue (2549) Olympiad Women, 30.08.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Cheparinov,I (2681) — Leiva,G (2283) Olympiad, 01.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

20


Endgame section (15) Kramnik,V (2797) — Shirov,A (2706) Olympiad, 30.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

This easy looking endgame brings us many surprises even on the highest level. White has more active pieces, but of course, the limited material should allow Black to hold the draw... 40...b4 Logical move. Black either exchanges the queenside pawns, after which their is no reason to continue the game, or creates a passed pawn for himself. 41.c4 White has a theoretical advantage. His king can support the c-pawn and be close enough to stop the bpawn... 41...h5?! This is the first inaccuracy. Shirov probably underestimated White’s reaction... [41... Rb1 was the right way to draw 42.c5 b3 43.Kd4 and here Black can execute Shirov’s idea in a much better version. (43.Rb6 is noth-

ing after 43...b2 44.Kf5 Rc1=) 43...h5! Not the only way to draw. 44.g5 (44.gxh5 Kh6 with an easy draw.) 44...fxg5 45.fxg5 (In comparison to the game 45.hxg5 is risky now, because of 45...h4) 45...b2 46.Kc3 Rh1 47.Kxb2 Rxh4 Everything developed logically and the players should shake hands soon... 48.Kc3 Rh1 49. Re6 h4= The draw is inevitable.] 42.g5! fxg5 43.hxg5! This is what Shirov probably underestimated. Suddenly White creates very dangerous mating threats, which neutralizes the power of the h-pawn. From now on, Black must be really careful to avoid losing.

43... Ra3 Defending against the mate... [43...h4? leads to a forced mate after 44.g6+ Kh6 45.Kf5! and Black is simply unable to prevent Rc8-h8. 45... Ra3 46. Rc8 Ra5+ does not help 47.c5+-] 44. Rb6! By realizing that Black can parry the concrete threats, Kramnik stops the b-pawn and frees the way for his c-pawn... [44.g6+ Kh6 45.Kf5 Ra8! This was the point behind 43... Ra3, Black solves all his problems. 46. Rb6 Ra5+ 47.Ke4 h4= The game will soon end in a draw.; 44.Kf5 is also met with 44... Ra8!]

21


44...b3 45.f5 Squeezing the Black king into the corner. White has a tactical solution to stop the h-pawn.

Kg8 54. Rxh4 A pawn up, but of course, the game is easily drawn. 54... Rc6+=]

45...h4 46. Rb8! Kramnik creates another kind of mating net: 47.g6 Kh6 48.Kf4 and Rh8 are inevitable. [46.Kf4 with the same idea as the game, but Black can play once again 46... Ra4; 46. Rb7 with the idea of f6 is too slow. 46... h3]

48.c5! It’s objectively winning now, but it requires precise calculation andtechnique. ..

46... Ra4 Black has to lure the king to prevent Kf4... 47.Kd4

47... Ra5? According to my analysis, this is the losing move. [47...h3? is also bad. 48. Rxb3+-; 47... Ra1! should have been played and the position is suspicious, but Black seems to hold in all lines. The move itself is pretty principled, since generally, in rook endgames, the weaker side should look for an active defense! 48.c5 (48.R xb3 Rd1+ 49.Ke5 Rc1 Black starts to harass the pawns... 50.Kd5 Rf1 White cannot improve because he must take care of the h-pawn as well.) 48... Rd1+ 49.Ke5 Rc1 We’ll see a typical defending technique now. 50.Kd6 Rd1+ Black tries to force the king ahead of the pawn in order to block its way... 51.Ke6 (51.Kc7 Rd3 followed by h3!) 51... Rc1 and the maximum that White can get is 52. Rxb3 Rxc5 53. Rb4

48... Ra4+ [48...h3 is the other attempt, but it also fails to hold. 49. Rxb3 Ra4+ 50.Kd5 Rh4 51. Rb1 White goes into passivity, but the c-pawn is even more dangerous... The main problem is the Black king, which stands awfully still.

51... Rf4 Black’s only chance to save the game is to take the f- and g-pawns and sacrifice the rook for the c-pawn. Then, with the help of the king, to promote his own gpawn. (51...h2 just helps White. 52. Rh1 Rh3 53.c6 Kg8 54.c7 Rc3 55.Kd6 Rd3+ Black must send the king in front of the pawn, but this does not help here. (55...Rc2 56.R xh2!+- is a well-known trick!) 56.Kc6 Rc3+ 57.Kd7 Rd3+ 58.Kc8 Rd2 59. Rb1!+- followed by Kb8.) 52.c6 Rxf5+ 53.Kd6 Rf3 Black could not waste time on taking g5, this is his king’s job. Now it’s White’s turn to find the way to win. White has two candidate moves, but only one of them is winning. It’s very easy to go wrong...

22


54. Rc1!! This move order wins the missing tempo in comparison to the 54.c7 line. (54.c7 fails to win by one tempo. The following couple of moves are forced... 54... Rd3+ 55.Kc6 Rc3+ 56.Kb7 Kg6 57. Rh1 White must go for the h-pawn, otherwise it’s just an easy draw. 57...Kxg5 58. Rxh3! Rxc7+ 59.Kxc7 Kf4 Here we are! Black miraculously survives in all the lines.

Rc8 57.Kf5! transposes to 55... Re3.) 56.Kf4 Re8 57.c7 Rc8 (57...h2 58.Rh1+-) 58.Kf5! Suddenly Black is facing different kind of mating threats again... 58...h2 (58... Rf8+ 59.Kg4 h2 60.Rh1+-; 58...Kg8 59.g6! Kf8 60.Ke6!+squeezing the king to the back-rank, followed by Rb1– b8.) 59.g6+ Kh6 60. Rh1! Rxc7 61. Rxh2#) 55.c7 Rf8 56. Rh1! Kxg5 (56...Rh8 57.R xh3 R xh3 58.c8Q White is winning here, because he can transfer his king behind the g-pawn. 58...Rg3 59.Qb7! This is the most precise way. 59...R xg5 60.Qe4+ Kh6 61.Ke6+- followed by Kf7. It’s important to mention that if the Black king was on h8 and his rook could pass to the f6-h6 squares, the position would be a theoreticaldraw!) 57. Rxh3 Kf4 58. Rh1! The key move! White is winning, because of the Rf1 threat. This allows White to force the Black king closer to the gpawn. 58... Ra8 (58... Rc8 59. Rf1+ Kg5 (59...Ke4 60.Rg1+) 60.Kd7+-) 59. Rf1+ Kg5 (59...Ke4 doesn’t work. 60.Rg1 and g7 falls.) 60.Kd7+- Black cannot push his pawn.] 49.Kd5 Rf4! Shirov tries the same idea, to eliminate the f-pawn followed by giving up the rook for the c-pawn... [49...h3 50. Rxb3 Rh4 51. Rb1 transposes to the 48...h3 line.] 50.Ke6 Kramnik repeats once. 50... Re4+ 51.Kd5 Rf4

60.Kd6 g5 61. Ra3 (61.Rh8 is less dangerous. 61...g4 62.Rf8+ Ke4 63.Rg8 Kf4 64.Kd5 g3 65.Kd4 Kf3 66.Kd3 g2=) 61...g4 62. Ra4+ Kf3 63.Ke5 g3 and we reached a theoretical drawn position with the help of a stalemate idea... 64. Ra3+ Kf2 65.Kf4 g2 66. Ra2+ Kg1! 67.Kg3 Kh1! this is the point! 68. Rxg2=) 54...Kg6 (54... Rd3+ does not affect the result. 55.Ke5 Re3+ (55...Rd8 56.c7 23


52.f6!! Brilliant calculat ion! In such kind of positions, there are no principles, pure calculation is needed. [52.c6 Rxf5+ 53.Kd6 Rf7! This is the point that White avoided by pushing f6. Black is in time to take the king to support his pawns... 54.c7 Rxc7 55.Kxc7 Kg6 56. Rxb3 Kxg5 57.Kd6 Kg4 58.Ke5 h3 59.Ke4 h2 60. Rb1 Kg3=]

rank and when the moment comes, play Kg2... 64.Rh1+) 59. Rb8 Kxg5 60.Ke4 Kg4 61. Rxb2

52...gxf6 53.c6 Rf5+! Another great technical move! The White king must be sent as far as possible from the kingside pawns before sacrificing the rook. [53...h3 54. Rxb3+wins easily.] 54.Kd6 Rf1 55.c7 Rc1 We are at the last critical position of the game, where Kramnik spoils the win after playing such an excellent endgame...

56.gxf6? [56.c8Q! would have won the game. 56... Rxc8 57. Rxc8 Kg6 58.Kd5! White is simply ahead with this tempo in comparison to the game. Still the win is quite instructive.. . 58...b2 The best chance. This prevents White from squeezing the Black king to the h-file as we’ll see in the other lines. (58...Kxg5 59.Ke4 Kg4 60.Rg8+ Kh3 61.Kf3+- is easy.; 58...h3 59.Rc1! Kxg5 60.Ke4 Kg4 61.Rg1+! Kh4 62.Kf3 h2 63.Rb1 Kh3 Black gets out of moves. White only needs to pass with his rook on the 1st

61...h3 and White is winning only because of the appearance of the f6 pawn. Let’s see why it is so... 62.Ke3 Kg3 63. Rb8 Kg2! Without the f-pawn, this move would lead to a theoretical draw! (63...h2 loses easily. 64.Rg8+ Kh3 65.Kf2 h1N+ The only move, but the knight is trapped in the corner. 66.Kf3 Kh2 67.Rg2+ Kh3 68.Rg6 Kh2 69.R xf6+-) 64.Ke2 (64.Rg8+ Kf1! would be the point without the f-pawn.) 64...h2 65. Rg8+ Kh1 and now we see the difference. Black would be stalemated without the f-pawn, but now he gets simply mated in 3 moves... (65...Kh3 66.Kf2 h1N+ 67.Kf3+- wins as we saw in the 63...h2 line.) 66.Kf2 f5 67. Ra8 f4 68. Ra1#] 56...Kg6! 57. Rxb3 [57.c8Q leads to a draw as well. 57... Rxc8 58. Rxc8 b2 59. Rb8 Kxf6 60.Kd5 h3 61. Rxb2 Otherwise h2... 61...Kf5 The Black king blocks the route of the White monarch to approach the corner... 62. Rb8 Kf4 63. Rh8 Kg3 64.Ke4 h2 65.Ke3 Kg2 66. Rg8+ Kf1 67. Rh8 Kg2=] 57...Kxf6 Black is safely in time to secure the draw, the rest is easy for him. 24


58. Rb8 Rd1+ 59.Kc6 Rc1+ 60.Kd7 Kf5 61.c8Q Rxc8 62. Rxc8 h3 63.Kd6 Kf4 64. Rc3 [64. Rh8 Kg3 65.Ke5 h2 66.Ke4 Kg2=] 64...Kg4 65.Ke5 h2 66. Rc1 Kf3 67.Kf5 Kg2 68.Ke4 h1Q An instructive endgame with many nice motifs.

(16) Fridman,Daniel (2653) — Guseinov,Gadir (2613) [E91] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (4.3), 31.08.2012 [Chess Evolution]

1/2

50... Be1 [50...Kg5 51.Ke4 Bd2 (51...h4 52.gxh4+ Kxh4 53.Kf5+-) 52. Be2 Kg6 53. Bd1 (53. Bxh5+ Kxh5 54.Kf5

54...e4! A very strong move which gives Black a draw. Now if the White king captures the d6 pawn, Black has counterplay against the f2 pawn. If White wins the e4 pawn, then the Black king will sucesfully blockade the advance of the White side-pawns. 55.g4+ (55.Kxe4 Kg4 56.f4 (56.Kd3 Ba5 57.Ke2 Bb4 58.Kf1 Kf3! Otherwise, 25


White might have a plan with Kg2-f3-Kh3-f4, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to win.) 56... Bc3 57.f5 Kg5 58.g4 Ba5= and White can’t improve his position.) 55...Kh6 (55...Kh4? 56.g5 B xg5 57.a5 Bd8 58.a6 Bb6 59.Ke6 Kg4 0. 60.Kxd6 Kf3 61.Kc6 Ba7 62.Kb7 Kxf2 63.Kxa7 e3 64.Kb7 e2 65.a7 e1Q 66.a8Q+- and the endgame is easily winning for White.) 56.g5+ (56.Ke6 Be1 57.Kxd6 B xf2 58.a5 e3 59.a6 e2 60.a7 e1Q 61.a8Q Bd4  and it's hard to say who is better.; 56.Kxe4 Kg5=) 56...Kg7 57.Kxe4 Kg6 58.f4 Bb4 59.Kf3 Kf5= Not allowing Kg4 with a draw.) 53... Bc3 54.f4 exf4 55.gxf4 The chance to win this position. (55.Kxf4 Bd2+ 56.Ke4 Be1 57. Bxh5+ Kg5 (57... Kxh5 Of course, Black can’t allow Kf5-Ke6. 58.Kf5+-) 58. Be8 Bb4= and Black simply keeps the g-pawn instead of the f-pawn. White can’t improve the position.) 55...h4 56. Bg4 Bb4 57.Kf3 Bc3 (57...Be1) 58. Bc8 Bb4 59.Kg4 Bd2 60. Bd7 (60.Kxh4 B xf4 61.a5 Bg5+ 62.Kg4 Bd8 63.a6 Bb6= and Black is on time.; 60.f5+ Kf6 61.Kxh4 The f-pawn is too far advanced. Black has an easily drawn position because he can’t improve the king. 61... Bc3 62.Kh5 Bd2 63.Be6 Otherwise, Kh6-Kh7 and White wins. 63...Kg7 64.Kg4 Kf6=) 60... Be1 Only move! (60... Kh6 61.Kxh4 B xf4 62.a5 Bg5+ 63.Kg4 Bd8 64.a6 Bb6 65.Kf5+- and the king is coming.; 60...Kf6 61.Kxh4 B xf4 62.a5+- There’s no Bg5.) 61. Bc8 Bd2 (61...Kf6 62.Kh5 Ke7 (62...Kg7 63.Kg5 Kf7 64. Bg4 White is winning after some small maneuvers. 64...Kg7 (64...Ke7 65.Kg6 Bd2 66.f5 Bc3 67.f6++-) 65. Be6 Kf8 66.Kf6 Bc3+ 67.Kg6 Be1 68. Bh3 Bc3 69.f5 Ke7 70.f6+ Kf8 71.f7 Be1 72.Kf6+-) 63.Kg6 Bd2 64. Bg4 Bxf4 65.a5 Kd8= In this case, the king catches the pawn.) 62. Bd7 Be1 63. Be8+ Kf6= 64.Kh5 h3 65. Bg6 h2 66. Be4 Kf7 (66...h1Q+? 67.B xh1 Kf5 68.Kh6 Kxf4 69.Kg6 Ke5 70.Bg2 White is

winning because the king will leave the back-rank with Kf8-Ke8-Kd7-Kc6. 70...Kd4 71.Bf1+-) 67.Kg5 Kg7=] 51. Be2 Kg5 52.Ke4 Ba5? A blunder! [Black should play: 52...Kg6 and we have more or less the same position that we saw in the previous comment. 53.f4 exf4 54.gxf4 (54.Kxf4 Bd2+ 55.Ke4 Kg5=) 54...h4 55. Bg4 Kf6] 53.f4+ exf4 54.gxf4+ Kf6 [54...Kg6 55. Bxh5+ Kxh5 56.Kf5+- and in the endgame, the king is a very strong piece!] 55. Bxh5+- The po s ition is simply winning because Black can’t avoid the transfer of the White king to the queenside! 55... Bb4 56. Be2 Ba5 57. Bd3 Bb4 58.Kf3 Bc3 59.Kg4 Ba5 60.Kh5 Bb4 61.Kh6 Bc3 62.Kh7 Bd2 [62...Kf7 63. Bg6+ Ke7 64.f5+-] 63.Kg8 Ke7 64.f5 Bc3 [64...Kf6 65.Kf8+-] 65. Bc2 Bd2 66.Kg7 Bc3+ 67.Kg6 f6 is coming next and the White king will go to e6. 1–0

26


Clash of the Titans (17) Savon,Vladimir A — Spassky,Boris V [B47] URS-ch30 Yerevan (14), 11.12.1962 [Csaba Balogh] We are facing a typical Sicilian battle, with a lot of nice tactical motifs. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 Spassy went for the Taimanov variation and his opponent chose a very safe setup against it. 6.g3 [6. Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0–0–0 is definitely the sharpest and the most critical line for Black. Current theory shows that White’s attack is faster on the kingside, but still, the opening hides many unexplored ideas...] 6...a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 [7...d6 8.0–0 Bd7 followed by Nf6 and Be7 is considered to be the safest system for equality nowadays.] 8.0–0

8... Be7 This is the old main line, however, it’s facing some difficulties against White’s best reaction now. 9.b3 Quite a common move in the g3 systems. White wants to fianchetto his other bishop too, and his plan in the future involves to play Nce2 and c4, obtaining a hedgehog type of position with a space advantage. [The concrete 9. Re1! is followed by 9...d6 and this is met with 10.Nxc6! bxc6 11.e5! dxe5 12. Rxe5! White obtains a better pawn structure. 12...0–0 (12...Qxe5? 13.B xc6+) 13. Bf4 White gets the initiative.] 9...0–0 10.Nce2?! White chooses the wrong move order, Spassky nicely makes use of it... [10. Bb2 should have been played 10...d6 (The difference is that now on 10... b5 White has 11.e5! Qxe5 12.Ncxb5! and Black loses material 12...Nxd4 (12...axb5? 13.N xc6 Qxb2 14.N xe7+ Kh8 15.B xa8+-) 13. Bxd4+/-) 11.Nce2 and here, instead of going into a slightly inferior hedgehog with 11... Bd7 12. c4, Black has a strong move to counter White’s idea: 11... e5! 12.Nxc6 (While the knight was on c3, White always had 12.Nf5 B xf5 13.exf5 and the knight would jump to d5. However now Black is in time to play 13...Qc8 With knight on c3, White could play g4! 14.Qd3 d5! Black is OK.) 12...bxc6 (12...Qxc6!? is also interesting here. 13.Qd3 Be6 with the idea of playing Rac8 and Rfd8, and on 14.c4 (14. Nc3 Rac8) 14...b5! with counterplay.) 13.c4 a5 with a comfortable position for Black. His next move is going to be Nd7 and continue the minority attack on the queenside. It’s important to mention that if White plays f4, Black simply ignores it and follows his plans.] 10...b5! Black can develop his bishop to its ideal square on the long diagonal. 27


11. Bb2 [11.Nxc6 The bishop stays on c8, and Black always takes back by 11...dxc6 followed by e5 in the next move.]

14.Qd3 e5! It looks like Black destroys himself, first he drove his knight to g4, than he gave up the f5 square, but the point is just coming...

11... Bb7 12. Rc1 White prepares to play c4, but of course, such move shows that Black has solved the opening problems. [12.Nxc6 when the bishop is developed. 12... Bxc6 is usually the right way to take back. Pressing the e4 pawn and preparing for the typical central break with d5.]

15.Nf5 [15.fxe5 leads to a very bad position for White. 15...Nxe5 16.Qe3 Neg4 17.Qd3 Rfe8! attacking the weakness on e4 and preparing for the d5 break. White is in trouble... 18.h3 Ne5 19.Qe3 d5!; 15.h3! was the right move! This way White can preserve his central pawns. 15...exd4 16.hxg4 Nxg4 17.Nxd4 Black anyway keeps some initiative. 17...Qb6 18. Bf3 h5! The knight is very well placed on g4, White cannot get rid of it with h3. Black needs to put pressure on the e4 pawn, trying to provoke the e5 push, after which he can start to undermine it by d6 or f6 in some occasions. 19.Kg2 Bf6 20.e5 (20.Rh1 g6) 20... Be7 21.Nf5 Bc5 Black is objectively slightly better. He’ll push back the knight with g6 next.]

12...Ne5! In the Sicilian, you must always play actively! Spassky immediately overtakes the initiative. White must accept the challenge and go for the complications, since he cannot really prevent the e4 pawn. 13.f4

15... Bc5+ 16.Kh1

13...Neg4! White must waste an important tempo on preventing Ne3, which allows Black to execute a typical Sicilian break! Black had to calculate the next 3 moves precisely, otherwise if he gets an h3 and needs to retreat to h6, it would be a huge trouble for him.

16...d5! This was the whole point that Spassky had to foresee before playing 13...Neg4. Everything looked so well for White, but suddenly his position collapses. 17.exd5 [17.fxe5?! is met with 17...dxe4 18.Qd1 (18.Qc3 Nd5) 18...Nxe5 with a pawn up and a better position.] 28


17...e4! After the previous moves, this is already an obvious one. Black recovers the pawn.

23...Kxg7=+ White has compensation, but I doubt that it’s enough.]

18.Qd2 [18.Qc3 b4! Black sends the queen away from the dangerous diagonal.; 18. Bxe4 simply loses to 18... Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Rae8 20.Qf3 Bxd5! 21.Qxd5 Rxe2 wins.]

19... Bxd5 e3 is coming in any case.

18...Qd7 Black wants to get rid of the annoying f5 knight, before taking back the pawn, but it allows a sudden chance to create counterplay. [After 18... Bxd5! Black has a big advantage. The game could, for example, proceed with 19.h3 e3! 20.Qc3 b4 21.Qe1 Nf2+ 22.Kh2 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 and here Black already has a direct win: 23...Qc6+ 24.Kh2 Qe6! and the knight cannot move, because of Qxh3, while on 25.g4, Black simply takes twice with the knight and plays Qxf5.] 19.Ned4 White fails to use the chance. [19.Nxg7! would lead to a big mess, but if Black finds the strongest moves, he can still keep some advantage. 19...Nxd5! (19...Kxg7? would turn the game. 20.h3! Nf2+ (20...Ne3 loses to 21.B xf6+ Kxf6 22.Qc3+ Kg6 23.f5+!+- and Black gets mated after freeing the f5 square.) 21. Rxf2 Bxf2 and here comes the whole point of White’s action! 22.Nc3! if White takes on f2, his amazingly strong dark squared bishop would give more than enough compensation for the exchange, while 22...e3 is met with 23.Qd4! with the idea of playing Ne4. Black cannot stand the pressure.) 20.c4!? (20.f5 Nf2+ 21.R xf2 e3! 22.Qd3 exf2 A bit suspicious. Black is all right! 23.Nh5 f6! Black prevents the direct threats and enjoys a material advantage.) 20... Be3! 21.Qd1 Bxc1 22.Nxc1 (22.Qxc1? Nde3) 22...f6! It’s time to close the a1–h8 diagonal. (22...Ndf6? 23.Qxd7 N xd7 24.Nf5! with the threats of Ne7 and Nd6, gives White the advantage. 24...Rfe8 25.Nd6) 23.cxd5 (23.Nh5 Qf5!)

20.h3 [20.Qe2 e3] 20...e3!

21.Qc3 Black has two good ways to continue. 21...Nf2+ [21... Bxd4 was the other move. 22.Qxd4 (22. N xd4 loses to 22...Nf2+ 23.R xf2 Otherwise, Bxg2 and Qxh3 win, but now 23...Qxh3+! decides the game. We’ll see this motif a few times in the game... 24.Kg1 exf2+ 25.Kxf2 Qxg2+) 22... Bxg2+ 23.Kxg2 Now the strongest is 23...Qb7+ 24.Kg1 Rad8 and Black’s attack is faster 25.Qc5 (25.Qc3 Rd2) 25...Nf2! The attack should break through.(The tempting 25...Rd2 is not clear yet, because of 26.Ne7+ Kh8 27.Nc6! with a double threat on f8 and g4.) ] 22. Rxf2 A forced sacrifice. [22.Kh2 is refuted by 22... Bxd4 23.Nxd4 (23.Qxd4 Qxf5) 23... Bxg2 and Qxh3 next.]

29


22... Bxd4? A miscalculation, which led to a quick victory for Spassky. [22...exf2! 23.Qxc5 Rfe8! was the way to go. Re1 is the direct threat. 24. Rf1 Ne4! and after every queen move, the same sacrifice wins the game. For example 25.Qb4 Nxg3+! 26.Nxg3 Qxh3#] 23.Qxd4 exf2 24.Nh6+?? The GM playing with White pieces thought that he was winning with a great queen sacrifice, but right after he gave this check, he realized his blunder and resigned the game.[24.Nh6+?? gxh6 (24...Kh8 25.Qxf6 was Savon’s idea, but here again Black has 25...Qxh3#) 25.Qxf6 but White missed 25...Qxh3# A painful blunder!; 24. Bxd5 is also bad. 24... Rae8 25.Kh2 Qxf5; However 24.g4! would have given a good chance for White to survive. 24... Bxg2+ 25.Kxg2 Qxd4 26. Bxd4 Rfe8 27.Kxf2 Black is obviously better, but White has one pawn, active pieces and no weaknesses, which give him real hopes for a draw. 27...Ne4+ (27...Rad8) 28.Kf3 g6 29.Nh6+ Kf8 30.g5=+]

Surprise section / study (18) Moravec,J 1929 [CEWN] 1.=

0–1

30


Solutions (19) Tiviakov,S (2674) — Bezgodova,M (2206) Botvinnik memorial, 25.08.2012 [Solutions]

25.Ne5! g5 [25...fxe5 26.Qg6+ Kd7 27.Qf7++-; 25...Qc7 26.Qg6+ Kd8 27.Nf7+ Kd7 28.Nxh8 Rxh8 29.Qxg7++-] 26.Qh3 1–0[26.Qh3 fxe5 27.Qxe6++-] (21) Hungaski,R (2486) — Gajewski,G (2628) Sants Open, 20.08.2012 [Solutions]

17. Bxh6! gxh6 18.Qd2 Nb3 [18...Kg7 19.Nh5++-] 19.Qxh6 f5 20.exf6 Bd6 [20... Bxf6 21.Qxf6 Nxa1 22. Re5+- (22.Nh5+-) ] 21.Ne5 Bxe5 22. Rxe5 Nh7 23. Rh5 1–0 (20) Grigoryan,A (2579) — Kukhmazov,A (2154) Botvinnik memorial, 25.08.2012 [Solutions]

32... Rxe2! 33. Bxe2 Qxf2+ 34.Kh3 [34.Kh1 Qxg3! (34...Qxe2) 35. Rf1 (35.Bg4 Bb7+! 36.Qxb7 Qh4+ 37.Kg2 Qxg4+ 38.Kf1 Qg1+ 39.Ke2 Qxc1–+) 35... Bb7+! 36.Qxb7 Qh3#] 34...Qxe2–+ 35.Qd8+ Kh7 36.Qxg5 Bc8+ [36... Bb7–+] 37.g4 Qf3+ 38.Kh2 Bf2! 39.Qe5 Bb7 0–1

31


(22) Lillo Castay,V (2303) — Cifuentes Parada,R (2496)

23...Qh2+! 24.Kf2 Rxf3+!! 25.Kxf3 Qf4+ 26.Ke2 Qe4+ 27.Kf2 [27.Kd2?? Rxd8+]


27...Qf4+ [27... Bd4+ 28. Rxd4 Qxd4+ 29.Kg3 Qe5+=]

[Solutions]

28.Ke2 Qe4+ 29.Kf2 Qf4+ 1/2–1/2 (24) Svetushkin,D (2569) — Sethuraman,S (2546) Isthmia Open, 23.08.2012 [Solutions]

15.Na5!! Nxa5 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Nxg6+ fxg6 18. Bxd8+- Line (23) Georgiadis,I (2445) — Svetushkin,D (2569) Isthmia Open, 22.08.2012

17.Nd4!! Qxa3 [17...cxd4 18. Bxe7+-]

[Solutions]

18.Nxb5 Qb4 19.Nc3 [19.exf6! Bxf6 20.Nd6 Bd7 21. Bh3] 19...fxe5 20.Na4

32


(25) Janev,E (2457) — Arun Prasad,S (2531) Bratto Open, 22.08.2012 [Solutions]

26. Rd7!! Qxd7 [26...Nxd7 27.Qa6+ Kc7 (27...Kd8 28.Nc6++-) 28.Qxa7+ Kc8 29.Qa6+ Kc7 30.cxb6+! Nxb6 31.Qa7++-; 26... Rxe5 27. Rxe7 Rxe1+ 28.Kd2+-] 27.Nxd7 Nxd7 28.c6! Nc5 29.Qxa7+(27) Hess,R (2624) — Arnold,M (2540) Metro GM, 07.08.2012 [Solutions]

10.Nb6!! Qc6 [10...Qxb3+ 11.axb3+-] 11.Nxa8+(26) Burg,T (2471) — Kuzmicz,K (2464) Haarlem GM, 25.08.2012 [Solutions]

26. Rxg6+!! [26.c5 Nf4] 26...hxg6 27. Rxg6+ Ng7 28.c5!! Ra7 29.b3! Re8 30. Bc4 1–0[30. Bc4 Re6 31. Rxf6+-]

33


(28) Guido,F (2409) — Zelcic,R (2552) Schwarzacher Open, 25.08.2012 [Solutions]

38...Ne3+! 39.Qxe3 [39. Rxe3 Qxf2+ 40.Kh3 Qh2#] 39... Rxe3 40.R5xe3 Rxe2 41. Rxe2 bxc5 (29) Rubesamen,H 1938 [Solutions]

1.d6! Bxd6 2.b8Q+! Bxb8 3.c7! Kxc7= [3... Bxc7=] 1/2 34

Weekly Newsletter




The Chess Olympiad came to an end. And again it is the Armenian team who holds the gold! From the last 4 Olympiads, they took gold 3 times. Just an amazing achievement. Congratulations to them.


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»» Puzzle section

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29

»» Solutions

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Second came Russia who had a little bit worse tie-break. The Russian team played great chess and only a very unnecessary lost in the round 9 against the Americans took away the gold medal. 3rd came the team from Ukraine who managed to beat China in the last round, a bit unlucky for the Chinese team-would they have won, they would have taken gold. The teams of Your 2 “hard workers” lost in the last round and became 9thth and 12th. Sad results for Hungary and Germany… but what to do. The fight on the top is very tight, and the difference between a loss and win in the last round can mean more than 10 places in the standings. In the female section, it was a fight between China and Russia. Both teams clearly dominated the event and finally Russia was the team with a clearly better tie-break to take the gold medal. As in the open section, the 3rd place goes to the team from Ukraine. All in all, I think this Olympiad was a big disappointment for the majority of the participants. Playing directly at the airport was really not a good idea, but we are happy and look forward to 2014 when the Chess Olympiad will go to Norway! As usual we give in this issue the freshest games from the Top matches! Have fun reading the CEWN Nr 29. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Mamedyarov,S (2729) — Brkic,A (2587) [D45] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (6.2), 03.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A great attacking game by Mamedyarov, who made the highest performance of the Olympiad. He scored 8.5 point out of 10 games against a 2585 average rating, which was equal to a 2880 performance. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 We are at the starting position of the Meran. 6.Qc2 [6. Bd3 is the other main line.] 6... Bd6

9...e5!? Black decided to accept the challenge and went for the most concrete line. He’s aiming for a simplification in the center, which would yield a completely drawn position. White must do something extraordinary if he wants something... [9...c5 is a more calm reaction, which usually continues with 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxe7 Qa5+! 12.Ke2 Kxe7 13.g3 White intends to castle artificially with Bg2, Rhd1 and if necessary Kf1. 13... Rd8 14. Bg2 cxd4 15.Qxd4 Nf6 This is just the start of the lines, but it’s considered to be equal at the end.] 10.dxe5 0–0! This is the point! Black wants to take twice on e5, followed by Re8. 11.exd6! This queen sacrifice is the only chance to fight for the advantage. [11. Bd3 is met with 11...f5! 12.Qe2 (12. exf6?? Re8) 12...Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5=; On 11. Be2 the easiest is 11...Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qa5+ with equality.]

7.e4!? This is a tricky sideline. If somebody is not familiar with its subtleties, that could easily end up in a bad position out of the opening. 7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4

11... Re8 12.Qxe8+ Qxe8+ 13. Be3 Let’s summarize what we see. White has a rook, bishop and pawn for the queen. Additionally, the bishop pair and the dangerous passed pawn on d6 are also important factors. On the other hand, Black can build up an excellent blockading position on d7 and has very good chances to create 3


counterplay on the queenside. It’s very hard to judge who is better objectively. The computer clearly favors Black’s position, but for a human eye, things are much more complicated.

13...Nf6 14. Bd3!? This is a rare, but clever move order. White wants to castle queenside in any case, but he prevents the bishop’s development to f5 first. [14.0–0–0 Bf5 is a good alternative for Black, compared to 14... Be6 which would transpose to the game.] 14... Be6 15.0–0–0 b5 This is a double edged decision, since it allows White to protect d6 safely, with a pawn being given for another pawn. [A much safer choice is 15... c5 16.b3 (16.B xc5 is not good because of 16...Qc8 and the exchange of the c-pawns is good for Black.) 16...Qc6 Black can later create his counterplay with a6-b5, for example. The position is unclear.] 16.c5! Bxa2 According to the computer, Black’s advantage is close to be decisive, but I think that’s very far from reality. Actually, it’s clear that both players were following their preparations, since there were still some games played according to my database.

19. Be3! This is the novelty. Quite a logical one, White simply protects his c5 pawn, which was not possible with 19.b4 because of a5! [In the previous game 19.Nd4 was played, but Black was much better after 19...Nxc5 20. Bf5 Qd7 Ivkov-Panchenko, Sochi 1983. Still it was a nice achievement to reach this position 30 years ago without any computer assistance.] 19...h6 Black prevents Ng5. 20. Bc2 White prepares for the action that we’ll see in the game. 20...Qc8!? Leaving the pin on the e-file. [20...a5!? would have also made sense. The idea is to make use of the pawn majority by advancing with a4-b4-a3. Probably Mamedyarov planned to play in a similar style as in the game. 21.Nd4!? Nxc5 22.Nxe6 Nxe6 23.d7 Qd8 with a very unclear position. White should kick out the blockading e6 knight with f4-f5 in order to penetrate with the rook. (23...Qe7? 24.Bb6) ] 21.Nd4 White tries to mobilize his d6 pawn even if it’ll cost him the one on c5.

17. Bg5 Nd7 18. Rhe1 Be6 4


21...Nxc5 22.Nf5!? White wants to exchange the minor pieces, after which the d-pawn would become unstoppable. Black is forced to give up his knight because of the Ne7 threat, but he can still keep his bishop. 22... Bxf5 23. Bxc5 Be6 Mamedyarov continues the game in brilliant style! [23... Bxc2? loses to 24.d7+-] 24.f4! With the idea of playing f5, followed by Re7. 24...g6 25.g4!! This is a really fantastic move. White had to foresee all the forthcoming complications. Black is forced to accept the sacrifice, otherwise White will play f5. 25... Bxg4 26. Rd4! The rook occupies the 4th rank, which is key in the game! The threat is Re7, and Black must react against it. 26... Be6 27.f5!! Really energetic play! The number of pawns doesn’t matter, Mamedyarov wants to explode the blockade. 27...gxf5? This is a decisive mistake. White can create crucial threats against the king on the opened g-file. [27... Bxf5 would have been the only chance. 28. Re7 Be6 (28...B xc2 is met with 29.d7 Qf8 30.Kxc2) 29.d7 Qd8 and White can obtain a superior endgame with 30. Re8+ Qxe8 31.dxe8Q+ Rxe8 32. Rd6+= Black has a lot of pawns for the piece, but they are weak. White can start to collect them with the harmony of the bishop pair and the rook.]

29. Rdg4! Now and in the previous line we can understand why the rook had to stay on the 4th rank! Black can’t escape from the mating ideas. 29...Qf8 30. Bd4! f6 [30...h5 doesn’t change much. 31. Rg7+ Kh6 32. Be3++-] 31. Rg6! Black is hopeless against Rxf6. 31... Rd8 32. Rxf6 Black resigned in view of[32. Rxf6 Qxd6 33. Bxf5+ Bxf5 34. Rf7# White played like Mikhail Tal!] 1–0

28. Rg1+ Kh7 [28...Kh8 is refuted with 29. Rh4! Qf8 30. Bd4+ f6 (30...Kh7 transposes to the game.) 31. Rg6! Black can’t hold the threats. For example: 31...Kh7 32. Rxf6 Qg7 33. Rxf5!+- White ends up with a winning advantage.] 5


(2) Ivanchuk,V (2769) — Wang Hao (2726) [E52] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (11.1), 09.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are examining a very important game from the last round. The Chinese team was leading the tournament, but they were facing the 2nd seed Ukraine, and only a win would have given them the gold medal. However on the top board, Ivanchuk won a very nice game against Biel winner Wang Hao. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 The Rubinstein variation of the Nimzowitsch Defense enjoys of a really high popularity now. 4...0–0 5. Bd3 d5 6.Nf3

11.Qb3 Qe7 is the start of the critical lines, but recently Black achieved good results in some high level games.] 7... Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 This move was played without thinking. Clearly a prepared novelty by Wang Hao, however after Ivanchuk’s strong response, White retains the initiative. Black’s idea is to play Ba6, and after exchanging the bishops, to take back on d5 with the c-pawn. [I would personally prefer 8... Ba6 9.cxd5 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qxd5! 11.c4 Qe4! as it was played in Aleksandrov-Tomashevsky, in Moscow 2012. If White has something, it’s really symbolic.] 9.cxd5! Great prophylactic move by Ivanchuk! [After the natural 9.0–0 Black’s novelty would reach its point. 9... Ba6! 10.Nd2 (10.Ne5 is met with 10...Nfd7! exchanging the strong knight.; 10.cxd5 B xd3 11.Qxd3 cxd5 12.c4 Nc6 with equality.) 10...c5! 11.Qe2 Nc6 12.cxd5 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Qxd5= with a comfortable position for Black.] 9...cxd5 10.Qe2! The previous move was connected with this one. White preserves his strong light-squared bishop.

6...b6 This is qu ite a rare move, but by no means a bad one. I personally believe it’s a good alternative if somebody doesn’t want to learn theory and wants to obtain a playable position. [6...c5 is the main line.] 7.a3 Ivanchuk also reacts with a sideline. [7.0–0 is the most common move. 7... Bb7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 Bd6 10.b4 a6

10...Nc6 Black changes his mind and tries to create an outpost on the c4 square, but I think he should have continued with his original plan. [10...a5 with the idea of Ba6 is a huge weakening move. The b5 square and the b6 weakness will tell in the future... 11.0–0 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Nxa6 13.c4! followed by Rb1, Bd2, Rfc1 and Ne5. White has an advantage.; 10... Bb7 11.0–0 Qc8 was the right move in my opinion, even tough White can achieve some edge with energetic play. 12.a4! Ba6 Black successfully exchanges the bishops, but he spent too many tempi doing it. White is in time to retain the initiative by play6


ing (The c3 pawn is poisoned 12...Qxc3 13. Ba3 Rc8 14. Rfc1 Qa5 (14...Qb3? 15. Bc2! Black loses material. 15... Rxc2 (15...Qc4 16.B xh7++-) 16. Rxc2+-) 15. Rxc8+ Bxc8 16.Qc2! White is pe netrating on the c-file. It’s easy to see that White has more than enough compensation for the pawn. 16... Ba6 (16...Bb7 17.Qc7+-) 17.Ne5 Black has ser ious problems on the back rank, so the following line is more or less forced. 17...Nbd7 (17...B xd3? 18.Qc8+) 18.Nxd7 Nxd7 19.Qc6! Rd8 20.Qc7 White wins material. Black can still resist a bit with 20... Rc8 21.Qxd7 Qc3 but it doesn’t save him, because of 22. Bxa6! Qxa1+ 23. Bf1+/-) 13. Ba3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Re8 15. Rfc1 Nc6 16.c4 White is slightly better, but Black still should have gone for this line.] 11.0–0 Na5

side. His plans are connected to the a5 and c4 moves, which could be supported well by the knight transfer to Nd2-b3, or by the simple Ne5.; 12... Bd7 meets by 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bb4+= is also better.] 13.Ne5! Ivanchuk activates the knight, using the fact that Black can’t get rid of it by Nd7, because the f7 pawn stays unprotected... 13...Ne4 Black wants to send away the knight with f6. [13...Nd7? is refuted elegantly by 14.Nxf7! Kxf7 15.Qh5+ The king cannot stand the pressure of the bishops and the queen. 15...Kf8 16. Ba3+! Re7 17.Qxh7+- wins. If Black manages to parry the direct threats, f4-f5 is killing.] 14.f3 An inaccuracy! Actually the only one in the game by White. [14.Qc2! was much stronger, forcing the Black knight to go back to f6. 14...f6 (14...Bb7 is met with 15.f3 Nf6 16.e4!+/- with a huge attack. Bg5 is the main idea now.) 15.f3! is the key move! 15...fxe5 16.fxe4 Opening the position clearly favors White. The Black king becomes vulnerable!] 14...Nd6 [Of course not 14...Nxc3? and the knight has no way out. 15.Qc2+-]

12.a4! White wants to activate his bishop by Ba3. 12... Re8 Black prepares for Ba3, but I think it would have been more advisable to wait until White plays that move, because now he gets a strong alternative. However, other continuations were also quite unpleasant for Black. [12... Nb3 gaining the bishop pair. 13. Rb1 Nxc1 14. Rfxc1 is also better for White. He has a big initiative on the queen-

15. Ba3! Great play by White! Ivanchuk found a very dangerous attacking possibility, which he managed to execute in the game. [15.e4 is not the same as before. Black can simply play 15...Nb3! 16. Rb1 Nxc1 17. Rbxc1 Bb7! with a double edged position. 18.exd5 is always met with exd5 and Black is ready to kick out the knight with f6.] 15... Bb7 [On 15...f6 Ivanchuk probably wanted to play the same as in the game: 16. Bxd6 (16.Ng4 Ndc4 17.Bb4 is also possible.) 16...Qxd6 7


17.f4!! with the idea of Qh5, while accepting the sacrifice leads to a crushing victory for White. 17...fxe5 18.Qh5! The following moves are forced. 18...g6 19. Bxg6! Re7 20.fxe5 Qd7 and now, White can slowly build up his attack. Black is too passive to neutralize... 21. Bd3! Rg7 22. Rf6 Qe7 23. Raf1 Bd7 24. R1f3! bringing al l the pieces. Black can’t hold the attack. I am pretty sure, that Ivanchuk had foreseen this line. One illustrative finish could be 24... Rc8 25. Rh6 Black is hopeless against the threats. 25... Rxc3 (25...Rf8 loses to 26.B xh7+ R xh7 27.R xh7 Qxh7 28.R xf8+ Kxf8 29.Qxh7+-) 26. Bxh7+! Rxh7 27. Rxh7 Rc1+ 28.Kf2 Qxh7 29.Qg5+ White wins, for example with 29...Qg7 30.Qd8+ Kh7 31. Rh3+ Kg6 32. Rg3++-]

18...Nc4? Black tries to open the c-file and gain counterplay there, but White is not obliged to accept the pawn, since Nxe5 is not a threat for him because of fxe5 followed by Rf6 and h4-h5. [18... Rac8 allows 19.f5! exf5 20. Rxf5; 18...f5!? would have been the only move. 19.Qe2 Rec8 followed by doubling the rooks on the c-file. White should continue the attack with g4! Black seems to be safe now, but actually the attack is rolling very fast. White takes on f5, when the opening of the g-file would be dangerous after the heavy pieces occupy it, while exf5 leaves the g6 pawn vulnerable. White will push h4-h5.] 19.Qg3 [19. Bxc4 dxc4 20.Qg5! was an alternative, with the idea of Ng4!] 19...Qc7? This is the decisive mistake, but in a bad position there are no good moves! Ivanchuk finishes the game in style. 20. Bxc4 dxc4

16. Bxd6! Qxd6 17.f4! Suddenly there is a big difference between the minor pieces. The White ones are extremely well placed, while Black’s are standing passively. Black must parry Bxh7 now, followed by Qh5-Qxf7 and Rf3. 17...g6 Good move, but on the other hand creating a new weakness. Without the dark-squared bishop, the f6 and h6 squares might cause huge problems. 18.Qg4 White wants to continue his attack by playing f5!

21.f5! f6 The last try to kick out the knight, but it loses due to a nice combination. [21...exf5 does not change the outcome of the game. 22. Rxf5 Bd5 23.e4! Be6 24. Rf6+with a decisive attack after Raf1 and h4-h5.] 8


22.fxg6! fxe5 23. Rf7! [But not 23.gxh7+? Kh8 and the Black king is safe behind the h7 pawn.] 23...Qc6 [23... Re7 loses to 24.gxh7+ Kxf7 25. Rf1+ Ke8 26.h8Q++-] 24.gxh7+! Small calculating job, which was perfectly done by White. 24...Kxf7 25. Rf1+ Ke7 26.h8Q! A strong intermediate move, but it could have been played anytime in the following moves as well... 26... Rxh8 27.Qg7+ Kd6 28.dxe5+! Black resigned in view of the forced mates in all lines...[28.dxe5+ Kc5 (28... Kd5 29.Rd1+ Ke4 30.Rd4+ Kxe3 31.Qg3+ Ke2 32.Qf2#) 29.Qe7+ Kd5 30. Rd1+ Kxe5 (30...Ke4 31.Rd4+ Kxe3 32.Qg5+ Ke2 33.Qd2#) 31.Qg5+ Ke4 32.Qf4#] 1–0

(3) Movsesian,S (2698) — Almasi,Z (2713) [C84] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (11.2), 09.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] The most decisive game of the last round. We are examining the second board of the Armenia-Hungary match. Armenia had to win for the first place, while my teammate Almasi was fighting to bring the bronze for Hungary. The steaks were really high! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 We can say that this is the „main line” of the Spanish opening nowadays. All the top players prefer this to the real main move 6. Re1. The idea is simply to avoid long theoretical battles and the computer hasn’t been able to suggest a clear way for Black to equalize, while White can use more or less the same plans that he learned from the complex Ruy Lopez structures. 6...d6 7.c3 0–0 8.Nbd2 Black has many different setups here. Almasi follows the one that looks for the most direct way to equality. 8...b5 9. Bc2 d5 10. Re1 dxe4 11.dxe4 Be6 The big drawback of Black’s position is the pawn on b5. It’s a clear target for White in this opening.

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12.a4 Movsesian immediately tries to make use of the b5 weakness. [The game Grischuk-Svidler continued with 12.Qe2 and we have analyzed it in details in the 25th CEWN.] 12...b4?! Black gives up the c4 square... It’s very strange that the same mistake was made by Ivanchuk against Kamsky last year. Black got rid of the b5 weakness, but created a new one on a6, which could be attacked by Qe2 and Bd3. [Black must try to hold his pawn on b5, even if it decoys his heavy pieces. 12...Qc8! 13.Qe2 Qb7 14. Bd3 Rab8 is the right way to play with Black, as it was shown in the afore-mentioned Grischuk-Svidler game.] 13.Qe2 Qc8 14.Nc4 Nd7

15.a5 This is a typical move in the Spanish, when Black has played b4. It has two main ideas: one is to fix the weakness on a6, and the other is to create the threat of Ba4 which can be very annoying in a lot of situations. [Kamsky played 15.Ng5 and gained the advantage of the bishop pair. 15... Bxg5 16. Bxg5 Nb6 17.Nd2 and White was slightly better.; 15.Ne3 and the same idea we’ll see in the game also came into consideration.]

15...f6 16.Ne3! Very well played! White transfers his knight to d5. 16...b3 A questionable move. Black wants to win some space on the queenside, and this pawn could be very disturbing in many endgames. However, White has many potential ways to attack it, by for example Bd3-c4, Nd2, Qd1, Nd5 (closing the defender bishop), or sometimes Ra3... In my opinion, this pawn is rather a weakness. But other moves also lead to better positions for White. [16... Nc5 17.Nd5+= followed by Be3.; 16... Bd6 17.Nd5 Rb8 18. Be3 White has a much easier play in all the lines.; In general, Black should wait as long as he can with 16... bxc3 since the opening of the b-file usually disfavors him. 17.bxc3+=] 17. Bb1 [17. Bd3!? had its point of exchanging the lightsquared bishops. 17...Nc5 18. Bc4 White has the advantage, because 18...Nxe4 ?! doesn’t work. 19.Nd5! Nd6 (19...Nc5 20.Be3! Nxe7 threatens to win a piece and on 20...Bd6 21.B xc5 B xc5 22.N xc7! Qxc7 23.B xe6+ Kh8 24.B xb3+/- with a clear pawn up!) 20.Nd4! White had to foresee this, when he played 17. Bd3. 20...Nxd4 (20...exd4 21.N xe7++-) 21.Nxe7+ Kf7 22.cxd4 Kxe7 23. Bd3!+/The Black king ended up in the center and has to face a strong attack now.] 17... Bd6 18.Nd5! Bxd5 This move is definitely a mistake, but the position was already worse for Black. [18... Ne7 suggested itself, but White gets an edge after 19.Qc4! Nc5 20. Be3 c6 21.Nxe7+ Bxe7 22.Qe2! White’s next move is the same in any case, for instance 22...Qb7 23. Bxc5! Bxc5 24. Bd3+= followed by Bc4 and Nd2, b3 is a real weakness.] 10


19.exd5 Ne7 20. Bd3! Almasi has missed this plan. White transfers his bishop to c4, the d5 pawn is indirectly protected. [20.c4 Nc5 was in Black’s mind, when he took on d5. Black is doing well in the dark-squares. Even if White wins the b3 pawn after Be3-c5, the Black bishop will compensate well for the material deficit.] 20...Qb7 [20...f5 21. Bc4 Black’s main problem is that he can’t use his nice looking center, since he just creates holes in his own camp. For instance 21...e4 is met with 22.Nd4 and the knight jumps to e6.] 21. Bc4 Nxd5 [21...Kh8 22. Rd1 Nc5 23. Be3+= followed by Nd2 is also better for White.]

the efforts to activate it will cost some material as the game will show... 26... Rfe8 27. Bf4 Black has 3 critical weaknesses on a6, b3 and d5. 27...Qb5 [27...Nf8 is always met with 28.Qb6!+/-] 28.h3! Opening the back rank! 28... Rac8 [28...Nf8 29.Qb6 Qd3 30. Rac1+/- is also horrible for Black.] 29. Rxe8+! Rxe8 30. Rc1! White is dominating, Black has no chance to create any kind of counterplay. 30...Nf8 31.Qb6! As usual. 31...Qd3 32.Qc6! Suddenly Black’s back rank got into serious trouble. 32...Qe4 [Black had to leave the a6 pawn, since after 32... Rd8 33. Bc7! Rc8 34.Qb7! Re8 35. Bd6! Qf7 and Rc8 is the double threat. Black loses a lot of material. 35...Ng6 36. Rc8+-] 33. Be3 Ng6 Finally the knight is activated, but White will soon destroy all hope...

22.Nd4!! It’s possible to blunder such moves. White is penetrating on the light squares, demonstrating well the drawback of 18... Bxd5. 22...exd4 [If Black leaves the pin 22...Kh8 the idea was 23.Qe4! c6 24.Nxc6 !+/- with a big advantage.] 23.Qe6+ Kh8 24. Bxd5 c6 25.Qxd6 cxd5 26.cxd4 After a couple of forced moves, the position has simplified a bit. White is close to being winning. Black’s main problem is the poor knight on d7, which can’t move, while all

34.Qxa6! Nh4 35.Qf1! As easy as that, there is no way to continue. The game is practically over. 35...h6 [35...Nf5 is met with 36. Rc3 Nxd4 White can choose between two ways to win. 37.a6+-(or 37.Qd3+with a winning endgame.) ] 36. Rc3! White prepares his next two moves... 36... Ra8 37.f3! and Bf2 is coming next, sending back the pieces. [The last trick was 37.a6? Rxa6]

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37...Qe6 [37...Qg6 38. Bf2+-] 38. Bf2 Ng6 39.Qb5 Nf4 Black tries some new tricks, but the bishop neutralizes them easily once again. 40. Be3! Qf5 41.Kh2 Ng6 [41...Qg5 is refuted with 42.g3+-] 42. Rxb3 [42.a6 would have won as well.] 42...Nh4 43. Bf2 Qg5 44. Bg3 White does not even want to exchange his bishop. 44...Nf5 45.f4 Qg6 46.Qxd5 Finally all three weaknesses are falling. 46... Re8 47.a6 h5 48.a7 h4 49. Bf2 With this victory, Armenia won the match 2.5–1.5, taking the 3rd gold medal from the last 4 Olympiads! Congratulations forthem! 1–0

(4) Ivanchuk,Vassily (2769) — Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2686) [B96] 40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (9.1), 06.09.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch ] A game between two players as creative as these is always exciting. And this time as well, !we won’t be disappointed! 1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 We are back in the Sicilian. It’s hard to say why did Ivanchuk decide to start the game with 1. Nf3?!. Vachier-Lagrave is playing exclusively the Sicilian against 1.e4. 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7.f4 We are in one of the main position of the Sicilian Najdorf. Thousands of games have been played here. The position is very sharp and was analyzed for generations without any concrete results!

7...Qc7 Lately, this move went out of fashion. Black has been trying more often to play 7...Qb6, or 7...h6 8. Bh4 and Qb6 now. Of course, one of the main moves is 7... Nbd7. 12


8. Bxf6 This is the main option to „punish” Black. White is losing the bishop pair, while getting a very clear plan: to play against Black’s central pawn structure. Usually, they play f5-g3-Bh3 applying maximum pressure. 8...gxf6 9.Qd2 Another move can be 9. Qd3 with the idea of bringing the Queen to h3, where it would increase the pressure against the e6 pawn, plus the Be2-Bh5 maneuver could be unpleasant for Black. 9...b5 Quite a risky move by Black. [9...Nc6 10.0–0–0 Bd7 leads to well known positions.] 10. Bd3!? Very creative play by Ivanchuk. I think almost everyone would castle long without thinking much! To put the bishop on d3 is very unusual in these structures. More „main stream” would be Be2, forcing Black to play h5 — Black can’t allow White to put his bishop on h5, it’s a well known rule in the Najdorf.

10... Bb7 11.0–0 The key of hite’s idea — to castle short. It’s difficult to say if the idea gives some advantage — but it’s clear that it’s very interesting. Black doesn’t have his usual play on the queenside anymore.

11...Nc6 [Of course not 11...Qb6?! 12.Kh1! protecting the knight on d4 indirectly. 12...Qxd4 13. Bxb5+] 12.Nb3 White needs to keep as many pieces on the board as possible to support his future attacking plans. Another plan for White could be connected with playing a4. 12...h5?! I don’t like this move too much, even though it’s a „standard” plan for Black. Why not to hurry with h5 now? White’s bishop is on d3 and not on e2. I think that moves like 12... Be7 followed by b4 or Rc8 would be a better reaction here. The position is very complicated of course, but I think Black should be doing fine. 13.Kh1 h4 14.h3 Of course, White doesn’t allow Black to play h3. 14... Be7 15. Rae1 White prepares everything for the action in the center.

15...b4 Black says with this move: either You play Nd5 now, or you’ll never do it. 16.Nd5!? A very interesting and sharp sequence is beginning. The White pieces are standing almost at their

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maximum best, but Black has a full extra piece, which is huge material advantage. Let’s see how things develop. 16...exd5 Anything else than taking on d5 would just lead to a bad position, 16...Qd8 17. Nxe7 and White is much better. 17.exd5 Na7! Nice move by Black. The knight from a7 can always jump to c8 if there’s a need to protect the bishop on e7 urgently.

19.Nf5 Where will the Black knight go now? To c8 or c6... 19...Nc6?! [19...Nc8! Sometimes the more passive move can be the better one — but a move like Nc8 is very hard to play. 20.Qxb4 (20.Rf2 doesn’t bring much now. 20... Qc5! The Black queen is perfectly placed. 21.Rfe2 Ra7 The e7 bishop is very well protected as well. Black should be doing better here.)

18.Nd4! I like this move a lot. White doesn’t care about giving away the d5 pawn for immediate action. This is the way to play the Sicilian — no slow play!

20...Kf8 21. Rf2 Qc5 and I think that Black is fine. Of course, the position is stills complex with a lot of tactical motifs, which always give White good practical chances.] 18... Bxd5 Black needs to take the pawn on d5. [In case of a passive defense with 18...Kf8 19.Nf5 Nc8 20. Re3 White creates extra pressure on the e-file by doubling the rooks. 20... Bxd5 21. Rfe1 Be6 22. Rxe6! A strong and typical sacrifice on e6. 22...fxe6 23.Nd4 Even though White is a full rook down, White’s attack is more than dangerous here. Black can’t stop White from playing Nxe6, and White will combine the threats against the Black king with the weakness of the white squares to create some super-dangerousplay!]

20. Be4 [Another option was 20. Bb5!? axb5 21.Qxd5 A lot of Black pieces are hanging, but Black has a defensive move: 21... Rd8! protecting from a lot of threats at the same time. 22. Re2 Kf8 23.Qf3 with quite a similar position to the one in the game, except that the rook on e2 is better placed than on e4. There’s no d5 push with tempo.] 20... Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Black is a full piece up, but the position remains very unclear. The White knight on f5 is worth at least „half a piece”.

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21...Kf8 The Black king finally escapes from the dangerous position on e8 — now the Black rook is going to stand there. 22. Rfe1 Re8

preparing to give away a full knight in order to exchange queens — but I could not find a better defense. 26.g3! Opening the g-file. 26...Nd4 It’s never great to give the full piece for „nothing”. 27.Nxd4 Qxg4 28.hxg4 hxg3+ 29.Kg2 Rh2+ 30.Kxg3 Rxe2 31. Rxe2 with a very big advantage for White in the endgame.] 26.g3 Following the already known idea, but why not to win the piece back immediately? [26.Nxe7 This move is too simple not to see it. It’s strange that both players thought the position is fine for Black. I think White is doing much better. 26...Nxe7 27. Rxe7! Easy but nice 27... Rxe7 28.Qc8+ Kg7 29. Rxe7 Qf2 30.Qg4+ Kf8 31. Rd7! With this horirble pawn structure, it’s hard to imagine Black surviving here.]

23.Qe2 White brings the Queen to g4, where it will create additional threats. 23... Rh7 [23...d5 24.Qg4 Rh7 25. R4e2 would lead to the position in the game.] 24.Qg4 d5 25. R4e2 We are facing a funny position. White has no „direct” threats, but Black has no „direct” plan to get rid of the nasty pin on the e-file either. It’s sort of a double-zugzwang position. The question for Black is: What can I do to get out of the pin? For White: How can I improve my position? 25...Qb6?! This move already gives away the material, but strangely enough, Black seems to have no plan! Very rarely we see someone with a piece up, having an almost hopeless position — but that seems to be the current situation. White’s idea is to play g3 next, getting the gfile to have some extra mating threats. [25...Qd7 Black is

26...Nd4 Black’s only hope [26...hxg3 27.Qxg3 and Black has no defense against Rg2-Qg8 mate.] 27.Nxe7! Nice calculation by White! Now everything is forced. 27...Nxe2 28.Qg8+ Kxe7 29. Rxe2+ Kd6

30. Rxe8! [30.Qxe8? Qd4! And Black is back into the game. It’s very difficult to mate the Black king, and the 15


White king is suddenly open as well. Of course, White’s still better, but the game could end very easily with a draw.] 30...hxg3 31.Qf8+! The only winning move! [The logical looking 31. Rd8+? leads to nothing more than a draw. 31...Kc7 32. Rc8+ Kd6 33. Rd8+ Kc7] 31...Kc6 32. Rc8+ Kd7 33.Qe8+! White is playing just perfectly. 33...Kd6 34. Rd8+ Kc5 35.Qe3+ And finally Black loses his Queen. 35...Kc6 36. Rd6+

What an interesting game! Great play by White. We saw a typical knight sacrifice on d5 followed by the „usual” attacking motifs with the great additional idea of opening the g-file by playing g3! Let’s hope we can use some of these principles in our own games! 1–0

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Puzzle section

(7) Negi,P (2664) — Rodshtein,M (2642) Olympiad, 03.09.2012

(5) Georgiev,K (2682) — Barbosa,O (2554) Olympiad, 03.09.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Navara,D (2691) — Dizdarevic,E (2499) (6) Kosic,D (2526) — Eljanov,P (2693) Olympiad, 03.09.2012 [CEWN]

Olympiad, 04.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1... –+

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(9) Stellwagen,D (2630) — Nikolov,M (2563)

(11) Tikkanen,H (2570) — Sharavdorj,D (2446)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(10) Sutovsky,E (2687) — Van Wely,L (2691)

(12) Macieja,B (2594) — Babula,V (2595)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

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(13) Milos,G (2593) — Carlsson,P (2511) Olympiad, 09.09.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Kozul,Z (2616) — Abdel Razik,K (2448) Olympiad, 06.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

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Endgame section (15) Hansen,S (2577) — Leko,P (2737) Olympiad, 07.09.2012 [Chess Evolution]

62. Ra6 White tries to restrict the knight and prepares the Rxf6 or Bd4 ideas. [In comparison to the previous line, now on 62. Bd4 Black has 62... Re1 63. Bb2 Re2! 64. Ba1 (64.R xa2? Nf7! This is the difference. Now the knight is protected, White cannot leave the pin with Ra7. Ne5-d3 is coming next. 65.Kf3 Rc2 66.g4 Ne5+ 67.Kg3 Nd3) 64... Nc6 65. Ra6 Rc2 Black has good winning chances, anyway this would have been the only try for White.] 62...Nc6! This great move was probably missed by Hansen. White is forced to take the knight. 63. Rxc6

Black has a winning advantage, but converting it requires very good technique. Normally Leko makes no mistakes in such positions, but at this moment both players were living from the 30 seconds increments, which made their tasks much more difficult. 61...Nd8!! Leko would like to take his knight to e5, which was the only way to improve his position. [The same idea with 61...Nf8 was less effective, because of 62. Bd4 Re1 63. Bb2! White collects the a2 pawn. 63... Rxe4+ (63...Re2 64.R xa2 White holds, because if Black brings his knight to e6 or d7, the rook can leave the unpleasant pin on the 2nd rank by attacking the knight.) 64.Kf3 Rc4 65. Rxa2 Rc2 66. Ra8! White is again able to leave the pin. Objectively the position is drawn, but of course, Black can still create some problems...]

63... Rd1?! I thought this move spoils the advantage, but as we’ll see, it just makes it much harder to convert it. [The study-like 63... Re1!! would have won on the spot. 64. Bd4 (64.e5 is probably the best practical chance, but it also leads to a theoretical losing position after 64... a1Q 65.R xf6+ Kh7 66.B xe1 Qxe5! 67.Rf5 Qxe1 68.R xg5 Qe4+ 69.Kh3 Kh6 Black has a long-term winning position, by using zugzwangs in the future...; 64.B xe1 a1Q White should be able to hold the draw here, if his king was not in a mating net. 65.Bc3 Qd1+ 66.Kh3 Qh1+

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67.Kg4 Qh5#!) 64... Rxe4+ 65.Kf3 Rxd4 66. Ra6 Rd2 is hopeless for White.]

them. This case is not an exception... One of the pawns promotes. 80.Ke5 f2 81. Rg8+ Kh6]

64. Bd4! Only move.

68.Kf3 g4+ 69.Ke3 fxe5 We have reached a very drawish rook endgame. White has various defensive options...

64... Rxd4 65. Ra6 Rd2! [65... Rxe4+ is much weaker 66.Kf3 Rb4 67. Rxa2 White has an easy draw here.] 66.e5 Any exchange of the pawns generally favor the defending side, but now it doesn’t help White to survive. 66...a1Q! 67. Rxa1

70. Rf1?! White tries to cut the king, but this was not the most accurate move. [Probably the easiest would have been 70. Ra8 trying to keep the g4 pawn under attack. 70... Rb4 71. Rg8+ Kf5 72. Rf8+ Ke6 73. Rg8= Black can’t improve his position.] 67... Rd4+? This is a mistake, which could have cost him the victory... [With only 30 seconds on the clock, Leko missed the opportunity to play 67...f5+! 68.Kf3 g4+! 69.Ke3 Rg2! Black wins the g3 pawn, and obtains a winning rook endgame. 70.Kf4 Rf2+ 71.Ke3 Rf3+ 72.Kd4 Rxg3 White’s last chance is to create counterplay with the e-pawn, but both attempts fail as we will see. 73. Re1 (73.Ra8 Kg5! 74.e6 Kf6 Black wins.) 73... Rb3! 74.e6 Rb8 75.Ke5 (75.e7 Re8) 75...Kg5! Both sides are focused on his own pawns. 76.e7 f4! 77.Kd6 and now (77.Kd4 Re8 is hopeless.) 77...g3! 78.e8Q Rxe8 79. Rxe8 f3! As the rule says, if two pawns reach the 3rd rank, the rook can’t stop

70... Ra4 71. Rf8 Ra3+ 72.Kf2! Only the passive defense saves the game! [72.Ke4? Rxg3 wins for Black, because after 73. Rg8+ (73.Kxe5 Re3+! Black cuts the king with two files from the pawn, which means an easy win for him. 74.Kd4 (74.Kf4? Rf3+) 74... Re1) 73...Kf6 74. Rf8+ Kg7 75. Rf5 Kg6 76. Rxe5 Rf3! This is a known position from rook endgame books. The winning line is the following: 77. Ra5 White tries to cut the king along the 5th rank, otherwise the Black king goes ahead of the g-pawn and wins with the „bridge building” method. 77...Kf6 78. Rb5 Rf1! 79. Ra5 g3! Black wins because of the g2 threat, which forces White to allow the king to come with Ra2 and Kg5...] 21


72... Ra2+ 73.Kf1! Generally it’s not a good sign if the king is squeezed to the back rank, but here this is the only move to survive. [73.Ke3? Rg2]

83. Ra2 Rd3 84.Kf2 Ke4 85. Ra4+ Rd4 86. Ra2 White found a very safe defensive setup. Black can’t really break it, but of course he can try as long as he wants.

73... Ra6 Leko frees his king from the cut, with the idea of Rf6...

86... Rc4 87.Ke2 [87. Re2+ Kd5 88. Rd2+ Rd4 89. Ra2= was completely fine.]

74.Ke2 Ra2+ Black makes some time-winning random moves. This is the right technique when we play with the 30 seconds increment time control.

87... Rb4 88. Rc2 Rb3 89. Rc4+ Kf5 90.Kf2 Rf3+ 91.Kg2 Rd3 92.Kf2 Rd2+ 93.Kf1 Rd4 Leko is try ing to confuse his opponent by maneuvering, and suddenly, after a stubborn defense, Hansen decides to defend differently... It was a slightly strange decision...

75.Kf1 Rb2 76.Kg1 Rb6 77.Kg2 Rd6 78.Kg1 Rf6 79. Ra8 Kf5 Finally the king is out, but the position is still drawn... 80. Ra4 [The idea introduced in the 70th move was good enough here as well. 80. Rg8 Rd6 81.Kf2 Rd2+ 82.Kf1 Ra2 with the idea of playing Ke4! (Would be the winning move, but here White has the concrete 82...Ke4 83.R xg4+! Kf3 84.Ke1!= avoiding the mate on the back rank.; 82...e4 83.Re8= Black can’t make progress.) 83.Kg1! Avoiding the trap of Ke4 Rxg4 Kf3! The only try for Black is to give up the pawn with 83...Ke4 84. Rxg4+ Kf3 85. Rg8 e4 but White makes a comfortable draw after 86. Rf8+ Ke3 (86...Kxg3 87.Kf1=; 86...Ke2?? 87.Rf2+) 87.g4 Kd3 88. Rd8+ Ke2 89.Kg2! The idea is to sacrifice the rook for the e-pawn and promote the g-pawn with the help of the king. Black has nothing against it. 89...e3 90.Kg3 Ke1 91.g5 e2 92. Re8=]

94. Rc3?! [94. Rc2 was the right move!] 94... Rb4 [94...Ke4 95.Ke2] 95.Ke2? Black is winning after this move. [95. Rc2! was still the right move. Probably the only one to save the game.] 95... Rb2+ 96.Kf1 Ke4 Black wants to play Rd2-d3, followed by penetrating with the king on the 3rd rank. White can’t avoid this threat.

80... Rd6 81.Kf2 Rd2+ 82.Kf1 Rd4 [82...e4 83. Ra5+ Kf6 Without the king, Black can’t make progress. 84. Rb5=] 97. Ra3 [97. Rc4+ is met with 97...Ke3! (97...Kf3 98.Rc3+ Black has to retreat.) 98. Rc3+ (when the pawn is untouch22


able 98.R xg4? because of 98...Kf3) 98...Kd4 and e4 is the next.] 97... Rd2 98. Ra4+ Rd4! Black gets his king to e3 in any case, then he can calmly advance his e-pawn. 99. Ra2 [99. Ra3 Rd3 100. Ra5 Kf3! wins.; 99. Ra5 Rd5! 100. Ra4+ Ke3! We already know this trick well, e4 is coming next. 101. Rxg4 Kf3] 99... Rd3? This is a strange mistake, which would never happen if the players had more time or if the game would have been played for less than 6 hours already. Now the game is drawn again! [99...Ke3! would have easily won.] 100.Kf2 Rf3+ 101.Kg2 Rc3 102. Ra4+ Kd3 Leko tries his last attempt, giving up the g-pawn... 103. Rxg4 e4 104. Rg8 Rc2+

105.Kf1!! Excellent move! I must say, pretty much an illogical one. Most of us would have gone with the king to h3, where it can support the g-pawn. [However Black is winning after 105.Kh3 e3 106. Rd8+ Kc3 107. Re8 e2 108.g4 (108.Kg4 Kd2 109.Kf5 e1Q 110.R xe1 Kxe1 111. g4 This is very similar to the final position of the game. The huge difference is that the rook is on the 2nd rank,

which leaves the g3 square free for the Black king. The only winis 111...Rf2+! 112.Ke6 Rg2 113.Kf5 Kf2! 114.g5 Kg3! 115.g6 Kh4 116.Kf6 Kh5 117.g7 Kh6) 108...Kd2 109. g5 (109.Kg3 transposes to the previous line. 109...e1Q+ 110. Rxe1 Kxe1 111.Kf4 (111.g5 loses to 111...Rc4! An important motif, cutting the king and when White pushes his pawn, the Black rook attacks and wins it.) 111... Rg2! 112.g5 Kf2 113.Kf5 Kg3 114.g6 Kh4 115.Kf6 Kh5 116. g7 Kh6) 109... Rc3+ (109...Rc4 cutting the king works as well. 110.g6 e1Q 111.R xe1 Kxe1 112.g7 Rc8 and Rg8 next.) 110.Kg4 Re3 wins.] 105... Rc1+ 106.Kg2 e3 107. Rd8+ Ke2 108. Ra8?! This is just a waste of time, but not a decisive mistake. [108.g4 leads to an easy draw. 108...Ke1 109. Re8 e2 Here White has different ways to draw. The easiest one is 110.g5 Kd2 (110...Rc5 is met with 111.Kf3! Rf5+ 112.Kg4=) 111.Kf3 e1Q 112. Rxe1 Rxe1 113.Kf4! and Black must give up his rook for the pawn. 113... Rg1 114.Kf5 Ke3 115.g6=] 108...Ke1 At this moment, White lost on time, but right after it happened, Hansen admitted that the game was over anyway. However, White has a study-like way to draw..[108...Ke1 109.Kf3! (109.g4? loses to 109...e2 110.g5 Kd2 111. Rd8+ Kc3 112. Rc8+ Kb2 113. Rb8+ Ka3 The Black king seems to be very far from the g-pawn, but it’s still on time to catch it. 114. Re8 e1Q 115. Rxe1 Rxe1 116. Kf3 (116.g6? Re6) 116... Rg1 117.Kf4 Kb4 118.Kf5 Kc5 119.g6 Kd6 120.Kf6 Rf1+ 121.Kg7 Ke7 122.Kh7 Rg1 123.g7 Kf7) 109...e2 110. Re8 Rc3+ 111.Kf4 Kf2 This is the position that both players had foreseen. Unexpectedly, White can save the game with

23

Issue 29 (16) Gustafsson,Jan (2610) — Stupak,Kirill (2523) [A40]


40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (10.4), 07.09.2012 [Chess Evolution]

112. Rxe2+! (Not 112.g4? because of 112...Rf3+! 113.Kg5 Re3) 112...Kxe2 113.g4! The following line confirms the evaluation: 113... Rf3+ This is generally the principled method. a) 113... Rc4+ 114.Kf5 Kf3 115.g5 Rc5+ 116.Kf6 Kg4 117. g6 Rc6+ 118.Kf7 Kh5 119.g7 Rc7+ 120.Kf8=; b) 113...Kd3 114.g5 Kd4 115.g6 Kd5 (115...Rc1 116.Kf5 Kd5 117.g7 Rg1 118.Kf6=) 116.g7! Rc8 117.Kf5=; c) 113...Kf2 114.g5 Rg3 115.Kf5; 114.Ke5 Rg3 115.Kf5 Kf3 116.g5 and now, compared to the 105.Kh3 line, Black doesn’t have Kg3, he must waste a decisive tempo on it. 116... Rg2 117.g6 Kg3 118.Kf6 Kh4 119.g7 Kh5 120.Kf7= White is just on time!] 0–1

After a long fight, Gustafsson could reach nothing more than this knight endgame. This game was very important for the match outcome — so there was no choice for White, he had to win. It was a must! Let’s take a look at how Jan managed to do this. 52.Kh3 Kf6 Black can’t do much more than just keep waiting. 53.Ng3 White is threatening to place the knight on f5, attacking the pawn h6. 53...Nh4 And of course, Black doesn’t allow him to do it. 54.Kh2! The beginning of the right plan! 54...Ke6 55.Kh1! White is preparing to play f3. 55...Kd7

24

Issue 29 63...Kb4! Now the question is: if White plays Nxf3, will he have a winning or a drawn pawn endgame? Let’s take a look:


64.e4! [64.Nxf3? would have been a terrible mistake! 64...Nxf3 65.Kxf3 65...Kc4! Only this move gives Black a draw! The White king cant get to the d2 square. 66.Ke2 Kc3 and White can’t do anything. Against e4, Black always has Kxd4.] 56.f3! Here comes the break through. Black still can’t play Nxf3 because of Nf5, with an easily winning position. 56...exf3 57.Kg1 White is going to collect the f3 paw. now. 57...Kd6 58.Kf1 This move makes no sense. Of course, Kf2 was possible immediately.

64...dxe4 [64...Kc3? 65.e5] 65.Nxe4 Kc4 Black did the maximum he could. The pawns are still equal and every exchange of pawns gets closer to a draw. 66.Ke3

58...Kd7 59.Kf2 Kc6! Black needs the king on b4! 60.Nf1 Kb5! 61.Ng3 Gustafsson repeats moves to win some time — they got 30 seconds everyadditional move. 61...Kc6 62.Nf1 [Of course not 62.Nf5 Nxf5?? 63.gxf5 g4] 62...Kb5 63.Nd2 66...Ng2+? A terrible mistake, and the draw was so close. [66...f2! would give Black the result he expected. 67.Kxf2 at 67.Nf2 Ng2 with an immediate draw. 67...Kxd4 68.Nf6 Ke5 69.Ng8 Kf4 70.Nxh6 Nf3 71.Nf7 Nh2! Probably Black blundered the move Nh2 in this long forced line. But now the position is a complete draw!] 67.Kxf3 Ne1+ 68.Kg3! Black is losing both pawns now. 68...Kxd4 25


69.Nxg5! And Black, unfortunately, will lose the h6 pawn as well. 69...Ke5 70.Nf7+ [Of course not 70.Nf3+? Nxf3 71.Kxf3 Kf6 72.Kf4 Ke6 and this pawn endgame is a draw.] 70...Kf6 71.Nxh6 Nd3 72.Kh4 he rest needs no comments. It’s too easy, the h- and g- pawns are just too much to give Black any chance for a draw.

72...Ne5 73.g5+ Ke6 74.Kg3 Nd7 75.Kf4 Ne5 76.Ng4 Nd3+ What an interesting endgame with a dramatic finish! I guess both players will remember this game because of its importance... 77.Ke3 1–0 26


Clash of the Titans (17) Pirc,Vasja — Alekhine,Alexander [D32] Bled Bled, 31.08.1931 [Chess Evolution] A classical attacking game by Alekhine. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 A tricky sideline of the Tarrasch defense, where Black sacrifices a pawn right in the 4th move in order to gain some tempi in the development. At that time, without the computers, it had the shocking effect even on such good players as Pirc.

compensation for the pawn. [As practice showed later, White should play 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Qd1 Bc5 and here a new generation top GM, Wang Yue, came up with a strong novelty 10.a3 The idea is to have Na4 against the Qb6 attempts in order to prevent the Bb4 check. 10...0–0 (10...Qb6 11.e3 Be7 Black had to retreat with an active piece to prevent Na4. (11...0–0–0? loses to 12.Na4) 12. Be2+= White successfully finishes the development.) 11. Bg5 (The computer’s suggestion 11.Bf4!? is also good 11...Qb6 12.e3 and White is better. 12...Qxb2? 13.Na4+-) 11...Qb6 12.e3 Be7 (12...Qxb2? 13.B xf6 gxf6 14.Na4 traps the queen.) 13. Bd3 Bg4 14.Qc2 h6 15. Bh4 Rfd8 16.0– 0 Bxf3 17.gxf3+= White had a healthy extra pawn. The game showed well that such kind of chess doesn’t work anymore in the 21st century.] 8...Nf6 9.Qd2 h6! Leaving White in a very difficult situation. Both possible continuations have their big drawbacks... 10. Bxf6 White decided to gave up the bishop pair and help Black to finish the development with 0–0–0. [However 10. Bh4 is not much better either. Black plays 10... g5 11. Bg3 Qa5 followed by 0–0–0, with strong counterplay.]

5.Qa4+!? [5.Qxd4 leads to the game by transposition after 5...Nc6! 6.Qd1 exd5 7.Qxd5 Bd7] 5... Bd7 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Qxd5 Nc6 This is the starting position of the line. Black’s next move is Nf6, followed by a quick development with Bc5 and 0–0. Sometimes castling queenside is also possible. 8. Bg5?! This logical developing move is already a big mistake, after which Black probably already has enough

10...Qxf6 11.e3 0–0–0! We can clearly see that Black won the opening battle. His position is clearly worth a pawn. 12.0–0–0? This is objectively the decisive mistake. White probably blundered the 14th move of the World Champion. However a move like 12. Qc1 doesn’t look much better either.

27


12... Bg4! 13.Nd5 This intermediate move was White’s hope, but Alekhine nicely out-calculated his opponent.

ened diagonal.) 18... Rd8 19.Qf5+ Rd7! Black wins.(But not 19...Kb8 20.Qf4+! and the bishop falls on a4.) ]

13... Rxd5! 14.Qxd5

18.Nf3 Bxf3! No mistakes in the attack by Alekhine! [It was not too late to spoil the advantage with 18... Rd8 19.Qe2 forcing the exchange of queens.] 19.Qf5+ [19.gxf3 Qxf3 20. Rg1 Rd8 is equally hopeless.] 19...Kb8 20.Qxf3 Qe1+ 21.Kc2 [21.Qd1 was objectively better, but 21...Qxe3+ 22.Qd2 Black has an extra pawn and keeps his attacking chances with 22...Qe5]

14... Ba3!! Probably came as a thunder from the blue sky for Pirc. The Black rook is coming to d8. White has to pay for his undeveloped pieces on the kingside. 15.Qb3 White starts to defend resourcefully, but his position is already hopeless. [15.bxa3 loses to 15...Qa1+ 16.Kc2 Bxd1+ 17.Qxd1 Qxa2+ 18.Kc3 Rd8! Black is winning. A nice finish could be 19. Bd3 Qxa3+! 20.Qb3 Rxd3+!] 15... Bxd1 16.Qxa3 [16.Kxd1 doesn’t help either because of 16...Qxf2 Black equalizes the material and his attack continues to roll. 17.Nf3 Rd8+ 18.Kc1 Bxb2+! 19.Qxb2 Rd1+ 20.Kxd1 Qxb2] 16...Qxf2! With the double threat of Qc2 and Qxf1, White has only one move to keep resisting.

21... Rc8! Blundering White’s idea?! 22.Qg3+ Ne5+!! Of course not! Alekhine prepared this great counter-check! White gets mated soon. 23.Kb3 Qd1+ 24.Ka3 Rc5! It was enough for White. Too many shocking moments in only 24 moves. 0–1

17.Qd3 Bg4 [On the most obvious 17... Rd8 White prepared 18.Nh3!; However 17... Ba4 was also winning. 18.Nf3 (18.b3 Rd8 19.Qe2 Qf6! penetrating on the weak-

28


Surprise section / study (18) Rinck,H 1920 [CEWN] 1.+-

29


Solutions (19) Aronian,L (2816) — Rahman,Z (2516) Olympiad, 29.08.2012 [Solutions]

Rb3#) 34... Ra8+ 35.Kb4 Ra4+ 36.Kb5 (36.Kc3 Rc4#) 36... Bd7+ 37.Kb6 Ra6#] 31... Rcc8 0–1 (21) Stellwagen,D (2630) — Shanava,K (2569) Olympiad, 30.08.2012 [Solutions]

35.Qxf7+! 1–0[35.Qxf7+ Rxf7 36. Rd8++-] (20) Ziska,H (2469) — Radjabov,T (2788)

27... Rxc3!! 28.exf7+ [28.Qxf7+ Kh8–+]


28...Kh8 29. Bg5 Bb3 [29... Bf8–+]

[Solutions]

30.a3 Bf8! 31.Ne5 Bc2 0–1

30... Rxc2! 31.b3 [31.Kxc2 Bf5+ 32.Kb3 (32.Kc1 Rc8+–+) 32...Nc5+ 33.Kxb4 Rb8+ 34.Ka3 (34.Kc3 30


(22) Wang Yue (2685) — Grischuk,A (2763) Olympiad, 31.08.2012 [Solutions]

36.Qg3+ Kh7 [36...Kh8 37.Nxf7+ Rxf7 38. Rc8+ Kh7 39.Qg8#] 37. Rxf7+ 1–0[37. Rxf7+ Rxf7 38.Qg6+ Kh8 39.Nxf7#] (24) Berkes,F (2685) — Pacher,M (2442) Olympiad, 31.08.2012 [Solutions]

25... Rh2+! 26.Kf1 [26.Kxh2 Nf3+–+] 26... Rh1+ 27.Kg2 Rh2+ 28.Kf1 Qh7! 0–1[28...Qh7 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.Qg5+ Kf7–+] (23) Ivanchuk,V (2769) — Wojtaszek,R (2717) Olympiad, 31.08.2012 [Solutions]

19. Bxg5!! d5 [19...hxg5 20.Qh5+-; 19... Rxf1+ 20.Qxf1 hxg5 21.Qf7+ Kh8 22.Qh5+ Kg8 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24. Rf1++-] 20. Bc2 Rxf1+ 21.Qxf1 dxc4 [21...hxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh8 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24. Rf1+-] 22. Rd1 [22.Qf7+ Kh8 23. Rd1!+-] 22...Qe8 23. Bxe7 Qxe7 24.Qf5+-

35.Nf6+! gxf6 [35...Kh8 36.Ng6+! fxg6 37.Qxh6+! gxh6 38. Rh7#]

31


(25) Bologan,V (2734) — Munoz,L (2428)

(27) Muzychuk,M (2466) — Zhao Xue (2549)


Olympiad Women, 30.08.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28. Bxf7+! Qxf7 [28...Kxf7 29. Rdf1+-] 29. Rxd8+ Kxd8 30.Qd4+ [30. Rd1+ Ke8 31.Qd4+-] 30...Kc7 31. Rc1+ Kb8 32.Qxh8++-

22.Nh5! Nxh5 23. Bxh7+!! Kh8 [23...Kxh7 24. Rxh5+ Kg8 25.Qh4+-] 24. Rxh5+-

(26) Cubas,J (2507) — Illescas Cordoba,M (2601) Olympiad, 01.09.2012 [Solutions]

23...Qxd4! [23...Qxa2 24. Rxb4] 24.cxd4 g6! 25.Kd2 Rxc2+ 26.Kxc2 Rc8+ 27.Kd3 Kg7 0–1 32


(28) Cheparinov,I (2681) — Leiva,G (2283)

(29) Moravec,J


1929

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17.Nxe6 [17. Bxe6!]

1.Ka1! Bc4 [1... Ba2 2. Bc2! b3 3. Bxb3!=]

17... Bxe6 [17...Nxe6 18.Nd5+-]

2. Bd3! Bd5 [2... Bxd3=; 2...Kb3 3. Bc2+! Kxc2=]

18. Bxe6+ Nxe6 19.Nd5 Qc5 [19...Qd7 20.Nb6++-]

3. Be4! Bg8 4. Bh7 Bxh7= 1/2

20.Nxe7++-

33

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 30 21st of September 2012


21st of September 2012

The week after the Olympiad seems like an empty one. But of course, this is not true. Many exciting tournaments are going on all around the world.


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3

»» Puzzle section

17


20


24


27

»» Solutions

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From the main events, the female Grand Prix is definitely the most important. Once again, the best female players are fighting for prizes and the possibility to qualify to the WCC match against the current World Champion Hou Yifan. The Balkan Grand Prix Final is a new event and immediately got a lot of attention. The first seed, Baadur Jobava, had a bad tournament, but the Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov showed some really great chess! During the next week, a lot of league events are starting: the Bulgarian league, the Serbian league, the Croatian league (where both of Your commentators are playing). The Bilbao Final Masters starts on September 23rd and in a little more than 10 days, the male Grand Prix begins in London. A lot of events where we will certainly see very exciting games! As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the current issue of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2



d5! 9.exd5 Nxd5 and White has nothing better than to make a draw by playing 10.Qb3 Na5 11.Qa4+ Nc6 12.Qb3 Na5]

(1) Jobava,Ba (2734) — Malakhov,V (2700) [C53]

6...d5 The main move for Black.

Black Sea Countries Burgas BUL (1), 12.09.2012

7. Be2!? This move was tried before as well, by Vallejo. [7. Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 This is the main line which is considered to be OK for Black.]

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Baadur Jobava is a very creative and aggressive player, especially when he has the White pieces. On many of his games we can find new ideas and some great fighting middlegames. In this game, from a position that was about equal, Baadur tries to keep a lot of tension in the center and blunders a great tactic by Malakhov. We’ll see a short and very spectacular game. 1.e4 Jobava’s main move is 1. d4, but he likes to play 1.e4 against players that mainly answer with 1...e5. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Jobava’s favorite Italian. 3... Bc5 4.c3 [4.b4 In a few of his previous games, Baadur tried this move, but it seems that he had enough of it, and instead goes for one of the main lines.]

7...Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 [8... Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 0–0 11.0–0 Black got the bishop pair, but White’s much better pawn structure gives him a slightly better position. This was seen in the game Vallejo,P-Ponomariov 2011] 9.Nc3N Jobava is improving on his own game that was played just a few months ago against Kamsky. [9.0–0 Bg4 10. Be3 f5! Typical and important move for Black in many lines. 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.Nc3 0–0–0 and Black was doing fine, and even managed to win the game. Jovaba, B-Kamsky, G. Amsterdam 2012.]

4...Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 Probably the only try for White to get an advantage. [6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2

9...0–0 [9... Bg4 10. Be3 and we can see a clear difference, Black doesn’t have the f5 move because after exf6, Black can’t take back with the queen due to the simple Nxd5.] 3


10.0–0

10... Bf5 A slightly unusual play by Black. More normal is 10... Bg4 or maybe even 10...f5. [10... Bg4 11. Be3 and now the very important! 11...f6! (The usual 11...f5 would be the wrong choice now. 12.Qc1! This is what White was hoping for! Now he’s threatening to play Nxd5 and at the same time stopping Black from pushing f5-f4. 12...B xf3 The only chance for Black is to force matters. 13.gxf3! N xd4 14.fxe4 White is a piece and doing clearly better, but some tension still remains in the position.) 12.exf6 Nxf6 I think this position should be close to equal. But here we find an important psychological moment: usually White has this position a tempo down, because instead of 7. Be2, the main move is 7. Bb5, but I think that a tempo shouldn’t matter much here and that Black should be doing fine.] 11.Na4 As usual, Jobava is being very creative — the main idea for White is to try not to exchange the knight from c3 for the bishop on b6. The usual move 11. Be3 would lead to about an equal position after 11... Bg6, followed by f5. 11...f6!? Of course! White takes away a piece from the center, to a4 — and Black immediately starts his play in the center.

12.a3 Wow, what a move! Baadur is telling Malakhov: „You don’t have any move to improve Your position and I’m not afraid of fxe5”. Well. .. of course, objectively, a move like 12.a3 can’t be good, but from a practical point of view, it makes some sense — it’s really hard to find the right continuation for Black. [12.exf6 Qxf6 would just lead to some good play for Black.]

12...fxe5?! White’s dreams are starting to come true. It would be very interesting to see what Baadur had prepared against 12...Qe7!, basically forcing White to play 13.exf6, after which White’s position can never be better. 13.Nxb6 [Of course not 13.dxe5? Bxf2+! 14. Rxf2 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Nxe5 A rook and two pawns plus an attack are clearly more than enough to be very well here with Black.] 13...axb6 14.Nxe5 Black has to face his first small problems. 14...Nxe5 Malakhov is going for a very sharp position. [In case of the usual 14...Qf6 15.Nxc6 (15.f4 Nd6 followed by Be4 and Nf5 is good for Black.) 15...bxc6 16. Bf4 The White bishop is going to occupy a perfect square on e5. White will develop good play on the kingside in the future with g3 and f4. I think that White’s position should be 4


better here. However, probably this better is just „a little better”.]

weakening of the White king could almost lead to mate! White needs to be very careful now.

15.dxe5 Nc5! The right place for the Black knight is on e6, but the question is: is Black in time to do it?

19.Qb3? White doesn’t feel the danger and doesn’t realize he needed to stay „alive”. [19. Bf3! To get rid of the bishop on e4 should be clearly the first priority. 19... Bxf3 20.Qxf3 d4 21. Rad1 Ra5! The Black rook is coming into the game through a5. The position is very complex, but from a practical point of view, it’s much easier to play for Black... White has a lot of things hanging and it’s very easy to blunder a tactical blow.]

16. Be3 Ne6 We are at a critical position. If Black doesn’t lose anything during next move, his position will be very good, but it’s still White’s turn...

19...Qh4! The beginning of White’s end! Black is of course bringing his queen closer to the White king. Suddenly, the threat of playing Qh3 has become deadly...

17.g4? White is starting the action, but on the wrong side! [17.Qb3! would have been a very unpleasant move for Black. White wants to win the d5 pawn by playing Rad1 next. 17...Kh8 It’s hard to find a better way to defend the d5 pawn. 18. Rad1 d4! Now we see why Kh8 was necessary. It’s never good for Black to push d5-d4. Now the Black bishop will be under attack on e4. 19.f4 The position is very complex, but I think that White should be doing a bit better here. White’s idea of playing g4 followed by f5 is strategically very dangerous for Black.]

20. Rf2 Nothing else to do, White can’t stop Black from playing Qh3 next. In case of 20. Bd2?, Nd4! almost finishes the game. 20...Qh3! The Black queen takes a perfect position. The bishop on e3 is pinned. Black is just threatening to play Nd4 or Nxf4 next.

17... Bg6 [17... Be4 18.f3 Bg6 19.f4 Be4 would lead to the same position as in the game.] 18.f4 Be4! White’s center is dangerous, but at the same time, in danger. The Black bishop on e4 is a beast and any

21. Bd1 This logical move is already losing. White blunders a very nice tactic. [21.Qc3 was the only way to con5


tinue the game — even if to do such a move is very difficult because it just leads to a bad position. 21...d4 Easy and good. 22. Bxd4 Nxf4 23. Bf1 Qxg4+ 24.Qg3 Black is a pawn up, but White is still fighting. The bishop pair gives White good chances for a draw.] 21... Rxf4! What a beautiful tactic! 22. Bxf4 28... Rf4 What a final position! I think Jobava was very upset after losing this kind of game, but he had his chances. All in all, the line with c3-d4 is not a real attempt to get an opening advantage, and probably we won’t see Baadur playing it again for a while... 0–1 22...Nxf4 White is completely paralyzed. 23. Bf3 Giving Black a chance to finish the game in great style. [Of course, it doesn’t help to play 23.Qxh3 Nxh3+ 24.Kf1 Nxf2 25.Kxf2 Rf8+ and Black is totally winning.] 23...Ne2+! Malakhov is in good tactical shape and doesn’t allow any chance to slip away from him. 24. Rxe2 Bxf3 And we can clearly see that Black is just destroying White. Just a few moves ago, the whole position was very unclear. 25. Rf2 Qxg4+ 26.Kf1 Rf8 Bringing the last piece into the game. Black has two pawns for the exchange plus a very strong attack. White is just hopeless. 27. Re1 Qh3+ 28.Kg1 6


(2) Kosic,D (2517) — Balogh,Cs (2668) [D05] Hungarian league, 16.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] I played an interesting game in the Hungarian team championship. My opponent is a very safe, hard-to-beat GM, but today he was in sacrificing mood. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 My opponent’s favorite opening. I have already lost a game against him, where I played 3...b6. This time I was much better prepared, and I believe I managed to find a very solid setup against this whole system. 3...d5 4. Bd3 c5 5.b3 White’s general idea is to develop with Bb2, Nbd2, 0–0, Ne5 and f4, building an aggressive attacking position. I decided to allow all this. 5...Nc6 6.0–0 Bd6 7. Bb2 0–0 8.Nbd2 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.f4 Here we are, both sides have finished developing, it’s time to find good plans in the middlegame. In my preparation, I met with a great game played two years ago by the Russian Super-GM Evgeny Tomashevsky. When I saw the game, I immediately decided to follow it. A very important detail is that Black must keep the tension in the center, waiting for cxd4 until the right moment. We’ll understand the subtleties soon.

10... Rc8! Black threatens to take with cxd4 and on exd4, Nb4, capturing the strong light-squared bishop. White must parry this by: 11.a3 Ne7! Black plays on the weakened light squares, e4 and f5. The drawback of White’s setup is that if Black installs a knight on e4, he can’t kick it out with f3, while on the other hand, Black will be ready to play f6. So, the plan is to play Ne4 and now we understand why it was so important not to include the moves cxd4 exd4. In that case, White could simply play Qe2 or Qf3, preventing Black’s idea. 12.Qe2 [The whole point of Black’s strategy comes out after 12.Qf3 b5! with the threat of c4, which forces White to make unfavorable exchanges. White generally would like to avoid changing the pawn structure in the center. 13. Bxb5 (13.dxc5 B xc5 14.B xb5 Black wins a pawn and obtains a better position with 14...Qb6!) 13...cxd4 14. Bxd4 Rxc2 =+ with a slightly more comfortable position for Black.] 12...Ne4! Black successfully finished his plan. 13.dxc5 At this moment, it was already clear to me what was my opponent’s intention, but I was not afraid of the attack. [13.Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bc4 happened in the „ideal game”, but Tomashevsky overtook the initiative with 14... cxd4 15.exd4 Nf5! =+ Black is better, the e4 pawn is very strong. The White bishops are not well coordinated (if he had a pawn on c4 and a bishop on c2, White would enjoy a big advantage), while the knight will be soon sent away from e5. 16.a4 Qe7 By protecting the e6 pawn, Black prepares to play f6 in the near future. First, he can activate his rook with Rfd8 or Rc7-Rfc8. 17.Ng4?! This is definitely 7


not a good move, White should have waited until Black pushes f6, creating a small weakness on e6. Now Black has a „free hand” on the position. 17... Rc7 18.g3?! White protects the f4-pawn in order to win the e4-pawn with Nf2, but this seriously weakens the h1–a8 long diagonal. 18... Rfc8 with the idea of playing Bd5 and the c2-pawn falls. 19.c3 Rd8 20.Nf2 And here Tomashevsky obtained a decisive attack with

Ndf3 f6 15.Ng4 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Qd7 =+ with a dreamed position for Black.] 14...Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16. Rf3 At first sight, it looks scary, but there are many resources to defend. 16...f6 Black must give „air” for the king on f7. 17. Rh3! Who says „A” must say „B” as well. [17.Ng4 is completely harmless after 17...Qe8! and the sacrifice doesn’t bring anything. 18.Nh6+ gxh6 19.Qxh6 Nf5! dealing with the Rg3 threat.] 17...fxe5! [I gave an exclamation mark to the text move because during the game I thought 17... Bxe5 was also promising, but the machine found a brilliant idea: 18.fxe5 f5 This is the idea, closing the b2 bishop, and on Nf3, with the threat of Ng5, Black can simply play Ne4. However, the computer found a really deep move:

20...e3! 21.Ng4 Rxc4! 22.bxc4 Ba8! Followed by Qb7 next. White is in deep trouble. 23. Rad1 Qb7 24.d5 Bc5! White can’t hold the e3 pawn and the bishop on c5. Black simply wants to take on d5. 25.Kg2 exd5 26.cxd5 Rxd5 Black is completely winning, but the finishing line was also nice: 27.Kh3 Qc8 28. Rxd5 Bxd5 29.c4 Be6 30.Kg2 Nh4+! 31.gxh4 Bxg4 32.Qd3 Bh3+ 33.Kf3 Qg4+ 0–1 Cori-Tomashevsky, Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad 2010.] 13...Nxc5! [13... Bxc5 was also possible 14.b4 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Bd6 = with equal chances.] 14. Bxh7+!? This was the point of 13.dxc5, otherwise Black simply takes on d3, getting an obvious advantage with the bishop pair and a better pawn structure. [14.

19.a4!! Only move! Completely unexpected, but after all, it’s very logical. White wants to play Ba3. According to the machine, Black has nothing better than forcing a draw with 19...Qe8 Normally, Black should avoid playing this move, since it blocks the escape route of his king.

8


20.Qh7+ Kf7 21.Qh5+ = and draw by perpetual check, since g6 is a selfmate after Qh7.] 18.Nf3?! Very agressive, but objectively the losing move. Black found some cold-blooded defensive moves later. [The critical line starts with 18.fxe5

18... Bc7!! The whole line is practically forced for White. (I’m pretty sure that 99 GMs from 100 would play 18... Bb8 without thinking , keeping the c-file open for the rook. Of course, I would have also played this, but it probably spoils the advantage after 19.Qh7+! (19.Nf3 is White’s other attacking idea, but this is less dangerous. 19...Ne4 20.Rf1 with the idea of Qh8 and Ng5 giving a double check. 20...Rf5! and on 21.Qh7+ Kf7 22.g4 Black has a big enough material advantage to give something back from. 22...Qg8! 23.Qxg8+ Kxg8 24.gxf5 N xf5 wins.) 19... Kf7 20.Qh5+! White wants to give a perpetual check... 20...Ng6 The only try for the win. (20...g6? is bad in view of 21. Rf1+ Nf5 (21...Ke8 22.R xf8+ Kxf8 23.Qh8+ Ng8 24.Rf3+ +/-)

22. Rxf5+! White has no choice, he must sacrifice, but now everything works well for him. 22...exf5 23.Qh7+ Ke6 (23...Ke8 24.Qxg6+ and the rook penetrates on the h-file.) 24.Qxg6+ Rf6 25.exf6 White already has 3 pawns for the piece and his attack continues.) 21. Rf1+ Ke7 22.Qxg6 Rxf1+ 23.Nxf1 During the game, I saw this position, but I stopped here because my intuition told me that White can’t have enough compensation for the piece (also the b2 bishop is out of play). However, I was wrong... Black must protect the g7 pawn... 23...Qg8 24. Rh7 Kf8 White still has energy to improve his position by 25.Ng3! and against the computer’s suggestion 25...Qf7 26.Qg5 Kg8 27.Qh4 Qg6 A really nice defense, not afraid of anything, but... 28. Rh8+ Kf7 29. Rxc8 Bxc8 30.Qd8! This is the difference. This is why the machine suggests 18... Bc7!1 as the only move, which leads to an advantage. Just an incredibly deep calculation! 30...Qxc2 31.Qxc8 Qxb2 32.Qxb8 Nd3 Black has a tiny edge, but the game should end in a draw.) 19.Qh7+ Kf7 20.Qh5+ Ng6! 20...g6 would have been bad, just as the 18... Bb8 line showed. 21. Rf1+ (After 21.Rg3 Black preserves his extra piece with 21...Qe8 22.Qxg6+ Ke7) 21...Ke7 22.Qxg6 Rxf1+ 23.Nxf1 Qg8! 24. Rh7 Kf8! 25.Ng3 The whole line 9


goes like the variation with 18... Bb8, but now the coldblooded defense bares its fruits. 25...Qf7! 26.Qg5 (26. Rh8+ Ke7 27.Qg5+ Kd7 28.Rh7 Rg8) 26...Kg8! 27.Qh4 Qg6! and White’s counterplay has ran out of strength.] 18...Ne4! To prevent Ng5. 19. Bxe5 Still, it looks a bit dangerous. White wants to take on g7 followed by mate, and Bxe5 loses to Nxe5, but the knights are excellent defenders now. 19...Nf5! In order to protect the g7 pawn. The knight also might go to h6 to close the h-file, in some situations. 20.g4 [20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Ne5 Black prevents the mate with 21...Nh6!]

[But not 22...Ke8 because of 23.Nxe6! would complicate matters.] 23. Bxf6+ Rxf6 24.Qh7 Black is two pieces up and completely winning. The last trick is that he should not be greedy and give back one of the pieces. 24...Kd7 [24...Qg8 25.gxf5 Rxf5 is also winning.; However, it was not too late to blunder the game away with 24...Nh6?? 25.Qxg7+ Nf7 26. Rh6!! +- and the game is over again, but suddenly White wins.] 25.gxf5 exf5 26.Qxg7+ Qe7 White is forced to exchange queens. 27. Rh7 Qxg7 28. Rxg7+ Be7 The rest is not interesting anymore. The extra piece decides the game. 29. Rc1 Rc3! 30.Nh7 [On 30.Kf2 the best is 30... Rh6 31.h3 d4! 32.exd4 Rh4 The king falls into a mating net 33. Re1 Rxf4+ 34.Kg1 Rg3+ 35.Kh2 Rg2+ 36.Kh1 Rxg5+] 30... Rh6 31.Nf8+ Kd6 32.Ng6 Bf6 33. Rxb7 Rxg6+ 34.Kf2 Bh4+ 35.Kf3 d4 0–1

20...Nf6! My opponent told me after the game that he had missed this move when he played 18.Nf3. The game is over now. White only has a few checks... 21.Qh8+ Other moves are equally hopeless: [21. Bxf6 Qxf6; 21.Qg6 Qe8; 21.Qg5 Nxe3] 21...Kf7 22.Ng5+ Ke7 The queen is trapped. White is forced to give up one of his attacking piece to save it.

10


(3) Wojtaszek,R (2713) — Jakubowski,K (2511) [E42] Polish league, 16.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A real fighting game from the Polish league. Anand’s second, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, nicely outplayed his opponent positionally, but Black resourcefully succeeded to create counterplay and save the game.

9...b5! Black needs to undermine the strong central pawns. There is nothing new so far, they are following the theory. [9...exd5 leads to a better position for White. 10. Bg2 0–0 11.0–0 White wants to take on d5 with the knight and the a5 bishop is stuck out of play. Black is forced to take on c3. 11... Bxc3 12.Nxc3 Nc7 13.cxd5 += White achieved the maximum, e4 is coming next.] 10. Bg2 bxc4 11.0–0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Wojtaszek definitely had analyzed this opening very deeply, because this was Gelfand’s main weapon on the WCC match against Anand. He must have analyzed it over many sleepless nights. Black bravely goes for one of the sharpest lines... 4...b6 5.Nge2 c5 6.a3 Ba5 7. Rb1 Na6 This is the initial position of the whole line. Both sides have made some artificial moves around the a5 bishop. Black needs to preserve it and quickly create tension in the center, otherwise his pieces get out of play.

8.g3!? This is the new direction. Earlier, Bd2 was the mainline.

11...exd5 Black introduced this novelty here, but I’m not sure if it was a prepared one... [11...0–0 happened mainly in the previous games. 12.e4 d6 (12...exd5!? seems to be the critical move here. 13.e5 Ng4 14.B xd5 Looks very good for White with human eyes. He’s going to protect the e5 pawn with f4 and the g4 knight is out of play, but on the other hand, the machine doesn’t feel any danger for Black. I’m quite sure that the Anand team has a huge analysis in the position, and it means something: they preferred to play it with White.) 13. Bg5 exd5 happened in a Gelfand-Anand rapid game in 2011, but then, this was a quite unexplored territory. White could have gotten an edge with 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qxd5 +=]

8... Bb7 9.d5 A known temporary pawn sacrifice idea from the Queen’s Indian with 4.g3.

12.Nxd5 Nxd5 [12... Rb8 was the alternative, but White keeps his initiative with energetic play: 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11


14. Bxb7 Rxb7 15.Qd5 White wants to restore the material balance and create a blockade on the d5 square with Nf4 and Rd1. Black must try to do something against it. 15...Qc6 16.Qxc4 d5 seems to be great for Black, but a small tactical trick changes everything: 17.Nd4! dxc4 18.Nxc6 Bc7 19. Bd2! Kd7 20.Na5 += with a better endgame for White.] 13. Bxd5 Qc8 Here again, White recovers the pawn. 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15.Qa4 Bb6 16.Qxc4 Black is facing a difficult decision, he must choose between two bad lines. One is to allow White to create a fortress on the d5 square, achieving his maximum potential, and the other is to push d5, losing the right to castle. 16...d5 I agree that in a practical game this is the correct decision. [16...0–0 17.Nc3 Nc7 18. Rd1 += is also good for White.]

21.Qd1!! +/- First, White transfers his queen to g4 or h5 and only then puts pressure on the d5 pawn with his rooks.] 19.axb4 h5! Black pinned his hopes to this move when he played 16...d5. He tries to bring his rook to the game along the 6th rank. 20.h4 Obviously, the h4 threat had to be prevented. 20... Rd8 21. Bb2 Nc7 White has a clear advantage. His minor pieces ar standing perfectly, it’s time to activate the rooks. 22. Rbd1 Rh6 23. Rd2! White focuses his forces against the d5 pawn with Rfd1 and, if necessary, Qa2. Black must try to find some counterplay. 23...Ne6 24. Rfd1

17.Qa4+ Kf8 18.b4! A strong positional move, creating weaknesses and holes in Black’s position. The bishop will find its ideal place on the long diagonal. Another difficult choice for Black: to take on b4 or to push c4. 18...cxb4 [18...c4 is also ugly. 19.Nf4 Rd8 20. Bb2 Nc7 White can execute a brilliant regrouping idea. 24...g5! Black found his best chance. A passive waiting policy would have led to a slow defeat. He wants to open the king’s position with gxh4. hxg5 would be met with Ng5 and the f3-h3 squares are weak. Another idea could be to open the long diagonal with a d4 pawn sacrifice. 25.b5! Very nice move, neutralizing all the direct threats along the 4th rank. 12


25... Rg6 We have reached the critical position from White’s point of view. Wojtaszek found the right plan, but executed a wrong version of it. White could seriously increase his advantage with hxg5 Nxg5 and Nf4, but this would be met with Nf3 at the right moment. [The tempting 25...d4 doesn’t work now because of 26.Nxd4 Bxd4 27. Bxd4 and the original idea 27...gxh4 loses to 28. Bc5+! +-]

avoid the Bc5 check... [26...d4 did not work immediately 27.Nxd4 Bxd4 28. Bxd4 and White wins because of the Bc5 threat!] 27.hxg5 There was nothing better already, but now 27...d4! 28.Nxd4 Bxd4 29. Bxd4 Nxg5! The Black king is completely safe, thanks to the great 26th move. 30. Ba1 White is forced to allow a perpetual check. 30...Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qf3+ 32.Ke1 Qh1+ [Black can’t dream with more after 32... Re8 33. Rd8 and this is the last moment to finish the game with a perpetual check. 33...Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Qf3+] 33.Ke2 Qf3+ 34.Ke1 Qh1+ Great escape by Jakubowski! 1/2

26.Kf1? Black’s situation looks quite bad here as well, since 26...d4 doesn’t work, and hxg5 Nf4 is in the air. What can he do? [According to the machine, the strongest move was 26. Rd3! +/- and hxg5 Nf4 is coming next with a big advantage.; In my opinion, a more human solution would have been 26.Qb4+! Kg8 27.Qc3 and Black must try to close the diagonal, but 27...d4 28.Nxd4 Bxd4 29. Rxd4! By sacrificing an exchange, White can preserve his battery! 29...Nxd4 30. Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Qxd4 f6 The only defense. 32.hxg5 Rxg5 33.Qxf6 Qxb5 34.e4! +/- White is much better. Over the board, it’s practically hopeless to stand the pressure with such a weak king.] 26...Kg8!! After this fantastic cold-blooded move, Black has no problem at all. The idea is to push d4 and 13


(4) Muzychuk,Anna — Ju,Wenjun FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Anna Myzychuk is one of the few female chess players that managed to get an ELO rating over 2600 points. Her opponent is a young Chinese prodigy with an ELO already close to 2550. We can expect an interesting battle! 1.e4 I don’t know why, but the most female players prefer 1.e4 than the more closed systems that arrive after 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3. 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 We are in the Najdorf. 6. Be3 is definitely one of the main moves.

6...Ng4 [6...e5; 6...e6 are the other two main continuations.]

10...Nc6 11.Nb3 Be6 12.h4 White is following the game Carlsen-Grischuk from the rapid WCC 2012. [In case of 12.0–0–0 Qb6 we could have a similar position to the game, but with the h-file closed, which is clearly favorable for Black.] 12... Rg8!? In the game, Grischuk played 12...gxh4 13. Bxh4 and had a worse position. I think 12... Rg8 is an interesting move which keeps a lot of tension. 13.hxg5 Of course, White opens the h-file. This can be useful before castling long. 13...hxg5 14.0–0–0 I think we arrived at the first critical position of the game. Black has a lot of moves... 14...Qb6 A standard move. The Black queen is standing nicely on b6, attacking the f2 pawn, defending from White’s f3 because of Ne3 coming. At the same time, Black can escape by castling long if needed... [Maybe an interesting option is: 14... Bxc3!? This paradoxical move is better than it looks. The usual rule of „never give up the Black square bishop” is right of course, but chess is a tactical game, so rules can be broken sometimes :). 15.Qxc3 Qb6 winning a tempo. Now the pawn on f2 is hanging and Black’s next move could be Rc8 followed by Nb4 with a very quick attack.]

7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 Until here nothing exciting has happened. But we can already see that both players are ready to fight! The position is very sharp, but there’s still a lot of theory to come. 10.Qd2 Quite a rare move for White. 10.h3 was much more often played, and should be considered the „main” choice here. 14


15.Nd5! This is the main reason why 14...Qb6 might not be the right move. 15... Bxd5 16.exd5 Nce5 Computers like a lot White’s position, but things are much more unclear than they seem. The bishop on g7 is a very strong piece which could compensate a lot. Black’s main problem is that both of his knights don’t seem to be doing well. If Black manages to solve this problem, her position should be perfectly fine. 17. Re1 White is preparing the f3 move. [17.Kb1!? Probably this simple move would put Black in front of some difficult decisions. White doesn’t want to force anything, but in many lines Qxg5 can be a real threat, or Nd4-Nf5. 17...Nd7! Black is leaving the e5 square for the g4 knight. 18. Bd3 with the threat of Bh7 and Qxg5. I think White should have an advantage here even though things are far from clear!] 17...f5?! The wrong answer, as we saw in the previous explanation. Black should just play 17...Nd7 followed by Nge5. 18.f3? White misses a big chance to get an almost decisive advantage after. [18.f4! Of course, White shouldn’t allow Black to play f4. 18...gxf4 19. Bxf4 (19.Qxf4 looks very strong. White wants to take on f5 or to give a check on a4, leaving Black’s king without the possibility to castle, but Black has some counter-chances. 19...0–0–0! (19... Rf8 20.Qa4+ and White is clearly better.) 20.Qxf5+ Kb8 21.Kb1 Rdf8 White is a pawn up, but all the Black pieces are in the game. The position seems to be very unclear.)

19...0–0–0 20.Kb1 Now things are different. White wants to play Bd3 or Nd4-Ne6. The position is complex, but I think that the advantage is clearly on White’s side.] 18...f4! Absolutely correct! Strategically, it’s very important for Black to exchange White’s black-squared bishop. 19.fxg4 fxg3 Black managed to get rid of the main enemy, the bishop on g3. Now we can clearly see how much better is the bishop on g7, than White’s on f1. I think that White needs to be very careful not to fall behind here. 20. Bd3! Development is first priority! [If White gets greedy: 20.Qxg5 Qf2 21. Re4 0–0–0 as we often see, castling long is a very strong idea in a lot of cases. 22.Qf5+ Kb8 and I think only White risks being worse.] 20...Qf2 Of course, Black tries to reach an endgame — his main idea in this opening. 21. Rhf1 Already it’s hard to find anything better for White. At least Anna is bringing her knight from b3 back into the game. 21...Qxd2+ 22.Nxd2 And we are at another critical moment. Can Black be better here? It’s hard to say, the position is still very dynamic. White wants to play Bf5 followed by Ne4-Nxg3. 15

Issue 30 24...Kd8! Important and good move. [24... Rd8 25. Re3! would lead to nothing good for Black. The king on e8 is very badly placed and is a clear target for the White pieces.]


25.Nb6 Rf8! Probably the last precise move — reaching equality.

22...Nxg4?! The Chinese talent doesn’t choose her best possibility. [22...Nxd3+! Why not to create another doubled-pawn in White’s camp... 23.cxd3 Rc8+ putting the Black king on b1! 24.Kb1 Rc5 and the Black rook comes into the game. 25. Rf5 Be5 The position is forced... 26.Nf3 Rxd5 27.Nxe5 (Doesn’t work 27.d4? e6!) 27... Rxe5 28. Rexe5 dxe5 29.Kc2! The exact move that probably secures a draw.(It was not too late to make a mistake with 29.R xe5? Rf8! and White would have a long fight ahead to reach a drawish result.) ]

26. Be6 [26.Nxa8? Rxf5 Black already got a pawn for the exchange, plus she has a very strong knight on f2 and a great bishop. We have quite a typical position for the Sicilian, where Black sacrificed an exchange and this sacrifice was clearly a good one!] 26... Ra7 Black wants to play Bd4 or Kc7 with a clearly better endgame — White has nothing better than to make a perpetual attack against the a rook. 27.Nc8 Ra8 28.Nb6 Ra7 29.Nc8 Ra8

23. Bf5 The White bishop is going to take a very nice position on e6. 23...Nf2 Blocking the f-file and not allowing White to play Ne4 or Rh1–Rh7. 24.Nc4 30.Nb6 Ra7 31.Nc8 An interesting fighting game in the Najdorf, with a funny ending! 1/2

16


Puzzle section

(7) Malakhov,V (2700) — Jobava,B (2734) Black Sea Cup, 16.09.2012

(5) Jamrich,G (2311) — Borocz,I (2365) Hungarian league, 16.09.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... -/+

(8) Castellanos Rodriguez,R (2491) — Zhou,Y (2414) (6) Malakhov,V (2700) — Nisipeanu,LD (2648) Black Sea Cup, 14.09.2012

Livigno Open, 17.09.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

17


(9) Gajewski,G (2622) — Tomczak,J (2549)

(11) Leniart,A (2458) — Bartel,M (2677)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Dziuba,M (2590) — Jakubowski,K (2525)

(12) Maksimenko,A (2554) — Szelag,M (2470)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +/-

1... =

18


(13) Gelashvili,T (2578) — Matikozian,A (2411) US league, 10.09.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Pap,M (2513) — Popovic,D (2583) Serbian league, 17.09.2012 [CEWN] 1... =

19


Endgame section (15) Rozentalis,E (2570) — Jaracz,P (2543) Polish league, 16.09.2012 [Chess Evolution]

been possible to find the solution with some logical thinking. White’s only plan to make progress is to get his king behind the c-pawn with the help of zugzwang. White should play Kb6, and on Kd6 Kb7 Kd7, a3 puts Black in zugzwang. Black is forced to play Kd6, which is met with Kc8 Kd5 Kc7. The game will be forced to continue with c5 bxc5 Kxc5 and Kb7, and here again, Black will be forced to push b4, clearing completely the queenside, after which a race to collect the kingside pawns will begin. When we have foreseen this, we must think about how to improve our chances in the final stage of the game: the race to the kingside. If we reach this point, we easily come to the conclusion that both sides should aim to advance their pawns on the kingside before the action on the queenside begins...

Obviously the position is dead drawn, but let’s take a look at how easily it can be lost even on the GM level... 32. Ra3 Ke6 [Black has various ways to achieve the draw. One of them is 32... Re6+ 33.Kd4 Kd6 34. Ra7 Rg6 35.g4 and here Black can choose between two direct draws: 35...h5 (Or 35...Rh6 36.R xg7 R xh3 =) 36.gxh5 Rg5 = and the kingside vanishes soon.] 33. Ra7 Rf7?? This could have been the decisive mistake, but the idea itself is already dubious. Why to take the unnecessary risk of transposing into a pawn endgame, where one possible calculation mistake could be crucial?! 34. Rxf7! White feels his chance. 34...Kxf7 35.Kd4 Ke6 36.Kc5 Kd7 We have reached a critical position. White is winning and it would have

37.Kb6?? White is the first one who fails... [37.h4! +- was the winning move. All of Black’s possible reactions will be discussed after 38.h4.] 37...Kd6?? Black gives back the chance, but from now on, White plays perfectly... [37...g5! was the right move, as it was explained above. 38.Kb7 Kd6 39.Kc8 (39.g4 Kd7 40.a3 h6 = The same story as after 39.a3.; 39.a3 would 20


spoil White’s extra tempo, and there will be no zugzwang anymore... 39...Kd7 40.g3 h5 =) 39...c5 40.bxc5+ Kxc5 41.Kc7 Now Black can reach a draw in different ways. One of them is 41...b4 keeping the decision open regarding which direction should the king take. 42.g3 h5 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 Kd5 ! is the right direction. (However 44... Kb5? loses very instructively. 45.Kd6 Ka4 46.Kc5 Ka5 Black seems to control the situation, but White can set him into zugzwang by triangulation. (46...Ka3 47.Kb5 +is over.) 47.Kd4! Ka4 (47...Kb5 48.Kd5 will be the same.) 48.Kc4! Ka5 49.Kc5! Ka4 50.Kb6! Ka3 51.Kb5 +- White successfully finished his plan.) 45.Kb6 Ke4 46.Kc5 Kf4 47.Kxb4 Kxg4 48.a4 Kf4 = The pawns promote at the same time.]

c5 44.bxc5+ Kxc5 45.Kd7 Kb4 46.Kd6 +- is hopeless.) 44.Kc7 Kf5 45.Kxc6 Kxg5 46.Kxb5 Kf5 (46...Kh4 47.a4 +- White queens first and he can exchange the queens with Qh8 and Qg8 at the end.) 47.Kc4 The White king catches the g-pawn. 47...g5 48.Kd3 Kf4 49.b5 +- and b8Q arrives with check.; 38...h6 is the worst, because after 39.h5 White preserves 3 extra tempi for the following fight. 39...Kd7 40.a3 Kd6 41.g4 This is not necessary, but wins easily. 41...Kd7 42.Kb7 Kd6 43.Kc8 Ke5 Black loses by one tempo. (43...c5 44.bxc5+ Kxc5 45.Kc7 Kc4 46.Kc6 +- with the usual win.) 44.Kc7 Kf4 45.Kxc6 Kxg4 46.Kxb5 Kxh5 The pawns seem to promote at the same time, but White has a well-known and instructive winning method:

38.h4! White has found the right idea! From now on he has a very easy task. The winning method is the same in all thevariations! 38...h5 It’s time for White to execute the winning method again, but the move order is really important! [38... Kd7 39.g4! Kd6 40.g5 advancing the pawns as far as possible. 40...g6 (40...Kd7 41.h5 Kd6 and now White can execute the usual plan: 42.Kb7 Kd7 43.a3 Kd6 44.Kc8 Ke5 45.Kd7 Kf5 46.Kxc6 Kxg5 47.Kxb5 Kxh5 48.Kc4! g5 White wins because his king is close enough to catch the g-pawn, while the Black one is too far away from the b-pawn. 49.Kd3 Kg4 50.b5 Kh3 51.b6 g4 52.b7 +-) 41.a3 Kd7 42.Kb7 Kd6 43.Kc8 c5 44.bxc5+ Kxc5 45.Kc7 Kc4 46.Kc6 +- White wins.; 38...g6 is met with 39.g4! h6 40.g5! Black has two choices, but both of them lead to the same result. 40...hxg5 (40...h5 41.a3 Kd7 42.Kb7 Kd6 43.Kc8 c5 44.bxc5+ Kxc5 45.Kc7 Kc4 46.Kc6 White wins.) 41.hxg5 Kd7 42.Kb7 Kd6 43.Kc8! (43.a3? Kd7) 43...Ke6 (43...

47.Kc4 g5 48.b5 g4 49.Kd3! The White king threatens to catch the pawn. Black is forced to support it with his king. 49...Kh4 50.b6 g3 51.Ke3 Black must use his king again. 51...Kh3 52.b7 g2 53.Kf2! and after 53...Kh2 White promotes with check. 54.b8Q+ +-]

21

Issue 30 (16) Zhao,Xue — Stefanova,Antoaneta


FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012 [Chess Evolution]

39.a3! This is the only way to win. [39.Kb7? with the same plan would spoil the win, because of 39...c5 ! 40.bxc5+ Kxc5 41.Kc7 (41.a3 is not the same anymore. 41...b4 42.axb4+ Kxb4 Black is a tempo ahead in comparison to the game, which is enough to save the game. 43.Kc6 Kc4 44.Kd6 Kd4 45.Ke6 Ke4 46.Kf7 Kf4 47.Kxg7 Kg4 =) 41...b4! 42.Kd7 Kb5 43.Kd6 Ka4 44.Kc5 Ka3 45.Kb5 Kxa2 46.Kxb4 and the race ends with a draw. 46...Kb2 47.Kc4 Kc2 48.Kd4 Kd2 49.Ke4 Ke2 50.Kf4 Kf2 =] 39...Kd7 40.Kb7 Kd6 [40...g6 does not change much after 41.g3 +-] 41.Kc8 Everything is easy and forced from now on... 41...Ke5 42.Kc7 Kd5 [42...Kf4 is very slow now. 43.Kxc6 Kg4 44.Kxb5 Kxh4 45.a4 Kg3 46.a5 +-] 43.Kd7 c5 44.bxc5 Kxc5 45.Kc7 Kc4 46.Kc6 b4 47.axb4 Kxb4 48.Kd5 Kc3 49.Ke6 Kd3 50.Kf7 Ke3 51.Kxg7 Kf4 [51...Kf2 52.Kg6 Kxg2 53.Kxh5 +-] 52.Kg6 [And Black resigned in view of 52.Kg6 Kg4 53.g3! +- The final subtlety!] 1–0

We are in the 1st round of the female Grand Prix. After the opening, White had a totally winning position, but somehow, Black managed to come back and get to this endgame. 28.f3 Re3 Black chooses a very forced continuation which doesn’t lead to anything good. [28... Bc6 followed by Kc7-b4-Re8-Rb8. It’s important to bring the rook to the b-file, which would lead to about an equal endgame. If there’s a side that can try to play for a win, it would probably be Black.] 29.Kf2! A very dif ficult move to make for White, and the right choice! It’s hard to say if White was lucky or if Zhao Xue calculated everything until the end. In any case, a strong play by the Chinese! [Less good would be 29.Kd2 Rb3 30. Rb1 (30.Kc2 c4! followed by c3 and Black can try to push a bit in this position.) 30...c4 31. Bd1! No fear from c3. 31...c3+ 32.Kc1 cxb2+ 33. Rxb2 Rxa3 34. Rxb5 and the position should be a draw.] 22


29... Rb3?! [29... Re7 It wasn’t too late to return to e7 and play an almost equal position, but it seems that Stefanova had a positive attitude after surviving the first 20 moves of the game in a very critical position for her.] 30. Rd1+! White is taking the rook to d2, after which the Black rook on b3 is suddenly trapped! 30...Ke7 31. Rd2 White wants to play Bd1. 31...b4!? The best try and actually everything still looks quite tricky! [31...c4? is of course very bad. 32. Bd1 Rd3 33. Rxd3 cxd3 34.Ke3 with an easily winning bishop endgame.]

41...Kd4 42. Re8 Combination of threats: the advance of the a-pawn, the attack on the h-pawn by playing g4, this is just too much for Black... 42...f5 43. Rd8 Kc5 44. Rc8+ Kd4 45.a4 Finally the apawn starts to roll. 45...Ke3 46.a5 f4 47.a6 Kf2 48. Rc5 Ba8 49. Rg5 This would be a good moment for resignation, but Black decided to continue the game. No more comments are needed from here...

32...bxa3 33. Bxb3 axb3 34.bxa3 c4 Until here, every move was quite forced. Black has two very dangerous pawns, but White is in time to stop them!

49... Bc6 50.a7 Bb7 51.Kc1 Bc6 52.Kd2 Ba8 53. Rg8 Bd5 54.a8Q Bxa8 55. Rxa8 Kxg2 56. Rh8 Kxf3 57. Rxh5 Kg4 58. Rh8 f3 59. Rf8 And again we saw how quickly an equal endgame can turn in one side’s favor. That happens when the losing side starts to feel too safe and doesn’t pay full attention to the opponent’s possibilities.

35.Ke3! The White king has to support the rook.

1–0

32. Bc4 [32.axb4? Rxb4 and Black is OK.]

35...c3 36. Re2! Whites is playing very well. Her idea is to bring the rook to e1 and, by playing Kd3 or Kd4, start attacking the Black pawns. 36...Kd6 [36...b2 37.Kd3+ Kd6 38. Re1 +-] 37. Re1 The last precise move! Now White’s position is winning. Black is just one move too late to stop White from playing Kd4 or Kd3, which will easily block the dangerous Black pawns. 37...Kc5 38.Kd3 The White plan came to a successful conclusion. 38...c2 39.Kc3 Bd5 40.h4 h5 41.Kb2 The White king is blocking both Black pawns, giving her a very easy winning position. 23


Clash of the Titans (17) Tolush,Alexander V — Botvinnik,Mikhail [D83] URS-ch11 Leningrad (2), 1939 [Balogh Csaba] A great game by Botvinnik, which shows that despite being considered a master of positional chess, he was a genius to attack as well. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The Grünfeld defense. This is the first sign that we will see an exciting game. 4. Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0–0 6. Rc1 White concentrates his forces in the center, where the fight will begin soon. 6...c5 At the time, this was a novelty. The move is in the true spirit of the Grünfeld. Black sacrifices a small amount of material to open the position, by breaking the solid central pawns. [White’s setup went a bit out of fashion nowadays because of the 6... Be6!? continuation. The critical line starts with 7.Qb3 c5! 8.Qxb7 Qb6! and theory considers it to be equal in 25-30 moves lines.]

9.Qd2?! Black overtakes the initiative after this mistake. [9. Bc4! Be6! The d5 pawn must be re-captured before the one on c5. The move had to be carefully calculated, because at first sight it’s tactically refutedby (Not 9...Qxc5 10.Bb3 and White consolidates his position.) 10.b4! Qxb4 11.Qb3 White leaves the pin on the d-file with tempo. 11...Qxb3 12. Bxb3 Nxd5 13.Nxd5

7.dxc5 Qa5 A standard move in the Grünfeld. Black must play actively, otherwise, he’ll end up in a bad position. 8.cxd5 Rd8! White’s already two pawns up, but if Black starts recovering the central pawns, White might collapse quickly because of his undeveloped kingside.

13... Rxd5!! This is the point! Black sacrifices an exchange, but the two bishops are dominating the board. Black will probably win the a2 pawn, and the a-pawn will start to run supported by all the Black pieces. White can hardly block it. (13...B xd5? drops a piece after 14.Rd1 e6 15.e4 +-) 14. Bxd5 (14.Nf3 Rd7 15.B xe6 fxe6 =; 14.B xb8 R xb8 24


15.B xd5 B xd5 16.Nf3 B xa2 followed by the advance of the a-pawn.) 14... Bxd5 15.Nf3 Nc6! This is an important detail! (On the direct 15...B xa2 White can neutralize the „Grünfeld bishop” with 16.Be5!) 16.a3 Bb2 17. Rd1 e6 18.a4 Ba3 The position is objectively about even.] 9...Nxd5 White seems to be in deep trouble, but Tolush had a nice idea in mind. 10. Bc7! [10.Nxd5 leads to a horrible endgame after 10... Qxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Rxd5+ and b2 falls.] 10...Qxc7 11.Nxd5

12.Qxd5 Be6 [Black should not be in a hurry to collect the pawns. 12... Bxb2 13. Rc2 White would get a free tempo to develop.; However, to start with 12...Nc6! would have been a bit more accurate 13. Be2 giving a free square on f1 for the king. (13.Nf3? is just bad, because of 13...Be6 14.Qd2 Rd8 and Qa5 next.) 13... Be6 14.Qd3 This is always the correct square to retreat, otherwise, Black gets too many tempi. (14.Qd2 Rd8 15.Qc2 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Rd2 White collapses.) 14... Bxb2 15. Rd1 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Qxc5 17.Nf3 Bxa2 with better prospects for Black.] 13.Qd2 This completely logical move to protect the b2 pawn is probably the decisive mistake. [13.Qd3! Bxb2 (On 13...Nc6 the idea of Qd3 comes to life. 14.Qa3! After parrying the Qa5 threat, White will be able to finish his development.) 14. Rc2 Bf6 15.Nf3 Nc6 16.Qa3! White seems to survive, but Black can still increase the pressure with 16...a5! 17. Be2 Nb4 18. Rd2 Qxc5 =+ Only Black can be better with such bishops.] 13...Nc6 White cannot prevent Rd8 and Qa5 now. He can only try to focus on reducing its damage.

11... Rxd5!! Just brilliant! Botvinnik plays the whole game like the biggest experts of the opening, even though the Grünfeld never belonged to his main weapons. Black sacrifices an exchange for quick development of the pieces. The idea is to develop the pieces with tempo (Nc6, Be6, Rd8) combining with the threat of the Qa5 unpleasant check. White’s undeveloped kingside guarantees Black the capture of the a2 and b2 pawns at least, which is already enough to restore the material balance. [11...Qd7 12. Rd1 Nc6 was also possible.(But not 12...e6? because of the tactical blow 13.Nc7! +-) ]

14. Rd1 This is the best try, where Black has the biggest chance to go wrong... But of course, Botvinnik does not let his opponent out of the cage. [14. Bc4 loses to 14... Rd8 15.Qc2 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Rd2] 14... Rd8 15.Qc1 Now, at least, the queen cannot be harassed by Nb4 or Bf5... 15...Qa5+ 16. Rd2 [16.Ke2 is not better either. 16... Rxd1 17.Kxd1 Qxa2 Even without the rooks, the attack is rolling. In the worst case, Black just takes on b2 with the bishop and pushes his a-pawn.] 25


23.Qb1 [White can’t chase the queen with 23.Qb5 anymore, because of 23...Qc1+ 24. Rd1 Qc3+; 23. Rd3 was recommended by the computer as the only move, but Black is winning here as well. 23... Rxa2 24.Qc3 It’s a pleasant choice now: 24...Qxc3+ simplifying to a winning endgame (24...Qf5 or keeping the queens on board is also good enough.) 25. Rxc3 Ra1+ 26.Kd2

16... Rd5!! Another great move! After taking on c5, the queen has no good square to leave. 17.Ne2 White always finds the best chance, but in this game it’s not enough to save the day. He wants to put his knight on c3 in order to get rid of the dangerous g7 bishop. 17... Rxc5 18.Nc3 Other moves are even worse: [18.Qd1 Bxb2; 18.Qb1 Nb4] 18... Bxc3 [18... Bf5 was even more precise according to the machine. 19. Be2 (19.Bd3 B xc3 20.bxc3 R xc3 and the bishop will fall on the next move.) 19... Bxc3 20.bxc3 Rxc3 21.Qd1 Rc2 This was the idea of Bf5. White can escape from the pin, while Black simply wants to play Qc3 and Rc1, or Rxa2 and Ra1. 22.g4 Be4 23.f3 Rxa2 24.fxe4 Ra1 with a winning material advantage.]

26...Na5! White can’t prevent Bc4. 27.g3 Bd5! First, sending the rook to a bad square in order to avoid Bg2. 28. Rg1 and only then 28... Bc4]

19.bxc3 Rxc3 20.Qb2 Ra3 The game seems to be over because of the Rxa2 crucial threat, but White finds a chance again, at least to unpin his rook. 21.Qb5! Of course, White would be happy to get rid of the queens, but Botvinnik is not going to help with this.

23... Bxa2! The final little tactical shot!

21...Qc3 22.Qb2 Qc5! Refreshing the Rxa2 threat.

24. Rxa2 [24.Qb2 Be6! is equally hopeless for White.] 26


24...Qa5+ 25. Rd2 Ra1 Black ended up in a completely winning endgame. The rest is a matter of technique. In this part of the game, Botvinnik never made mistakes.


26. Bd3 Rxb1+ 27. Bxb1 Ne5 28.Ke2 Qb5+ 29. Bd3 Nxd3 30. Rxd3 Black only needs to push his connected passed pawns. There’s nothing that can stop them.

(18) Mattison,H

30...a5 31. Rhd1 Qc4 32.Kf3 b5 33. Rd7 b4 34. Ra7 [34. Rxe7 is not an important pawn. 34...b3]

1914 [CEWN] 1. =

34...a4! 35. Rd8+ [35. Rxa4 Qc6+] 35...Kg7 36. Rda8 a3 37.g3 Qb5 White finally resigned. A great illustration of how to play the Grünfeld. You must always increase the tension to the maximum in the position. Otherwise, your opponent will slip away. 0–1

27


Solutions (19) Georgiev,K (2682) — Barbosa,O (2554) Olympiad, 03.09.2012 [Solutions]

27...Qe3+! 28.Kh1 Qf4! [28...Qf2?? 29.Qd6+!] 29.Qd3 [29. Rxf4 Re1+–+] 29...Qg5 0–1[29...Qg5 30.Qg3 Qxg3 31.hxg3 Re2–+] (21) Negi,P (2664) — Rodshtein,M (2642) Olympiad, 03.09.2012 [Solutions]

57... Rh1+!! 58.Kg3 [58. Bxh1 Ng6+–+; 58.Kg5 h6#] 58... Rh3+ 59.Kf2 Ng6+ 0–1 (20) Kosic,D (2526) — Eljanov,P (2693)

34.Nf6! Rf8 35.Qxd8! Qxf6 36.Qd4! Kg7 37.Qc4! Rfe8 38. Rd6+-

Olympiad, 03.09.2012 [Solutions]

28


(22) Navara,D (2691) — Dizdarevic,E (2499)

(24) Sutovsky,E (2687) — Van Wely,L (2691)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

39. Bxd7! Qc1+ [39...Nxd7 40.Qxf7+ Kh8 41.Qxe6+-] 40.Kg2 Qd2 41. Bxe6 fxe6 42.d7 1–0[42.d7 Nxd7 43.Qf7++-] (23) Stellwagen,D (2630) — Nikolov,M (2563) Olympiad, 04.09.2012 [Solutions]

11... Rxd2!! 12.exf6 [12.Kxd2 Bd5! 13.Qd3 Ne4+ 14.Kc1 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bxh1–+] 12... Rxc2–+ 13. Bd3 Rxb2 14. Rc1 exf6–+ (25) Tikkanen,H (2570) — Sharavdorj,D (2446) Olympiad, 06.09.2012 [Solutions]

29. Rxh7+! Kxh7 30.f6+! g6 [30... Rxe4 31.Qxg7#] 31.fxe7 Rh8 32.Qh3+ Kg7 33.Qxd7+-

31.Qg8+! 1–0[31.Qg8+ Qxg8 32.Ng6#] 29


(26) Macieja,B (2594) — Babula,V (2595)

(28) Kozul,Z (2616) — Abdel Razik,K (2448)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

72.Ne4?! [72. Ra8!! Nxd7 73. Re8+ Kf5 74.g4+ Kxg5 (74...Kg6 75.Rg8#) 75.Ne4++-]

29. Rexe7! Bxe7 30. Rxe7 Rf8 31.Ne5! Rd6? [31... Rxe5 32.dxe5+-] 32. Rxf7+ 1–0

72... Rd5 (29) Rinck,H (27) Milos,G (2593) — Carlsson,P (2511)

1920


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1. Re4+! Kc3 2. Rd4! Kxd4 3.d7 Ke3 4.d8R! [4.d8Q d1Q! 5.Qxd1=] 25...Qh1+!–+ [25...Qh1+ 26. Bxh1 Nh2+ 27.Ke1 Rg1#]

4...Ke2 5.Kh3 d1Q 6. Rxd1 Kxd1 7.Kg4+- 1–0 30

Weekly Newsletter




Chess, chess and chess! A crazy amount of strong tournaments are going on.


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17

The first tournament of the new FIDE Grand Prix is going on with a lot of Top games, new ideas and very touching wins. We bring You a few examples from this great tournament in our analysis. The Bilbao Chess Masters Final with Carlsen, Aronian, Anand… Do we need to say something else?! If you don’t follow this tournament, You are not a chess fan!


20

The Chinese League with the best Chinese players, and some very good Europeans competing, is also going on.


25

Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian leagues... (we are both playing in Croatia).


28

»» Solutions

29

I guess we could find enough material to work on chess for the whole year in these events, but we are only able to take a small piece from them, with their most sparkling moments. As usual we wish You a lot of fun with this edition of CEWN! P.S. Again, for those who didn’t receive or just got a full mail box: please don’t panic, just write us an email and we’ll resend You the issue of CEWN that is missing! :) Best regards Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2



6.Ne5 And this is the 3rd time that I get the answer 6.Ne5, which is strange to me. Clearly the main move is [6.0–0 Nc6 7.e3 with thousands of games played...]

(1) Avrukh,B (2596) — Naiditsch,A (2712) [E04]

6... Bb4+ [6...c5 is another option for Black, but according to the current evaluation of this line, White is doing slightly better.]

Croatian Team Ch (1), 23.09.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the 1st round of the Croatian league, and my opponent is the Israeli player Boris Avrukh. During the last few years, Boris dedicated to be a trainer and a book author... this is clearly visible on his ELO. Just 3 years ago he was over 2650. It’s been a very long time since I haven’t made a „Jackpot” opening, so here comes one finally. I knew everything until the 25th move! Welcome to modern chess. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 In my preparation I guessed we would play a Nimzo, but this is another game on the Catalan. Luckily, just before the game, I had reviewed my lines... 3.g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 a6 This is my 3rd game in a roll with 5...a6. Actually, I tried almost all the lines for Black — suffering a bit in the worse positions I was getting, so maybe Boris expected some other line.

7.Nc3 [Aronian once tried 7. Bd2 Qxd4 8. Bxb4 Qxe5 but two pawns were too much and Mamedyarov managed to win this game.] 7...Nd5 8.0–0 The beginning of a very sharp and forced line. Over the board, I was a bit scared that Avrukh had a big novelty in his pocket. Just a few months ago, I had already played this position against Fridman. 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10. Rb1 Qxd4 I have to take what I can... 11.Qa4+ [The exchange of queens brings doesn’t give White any advantage. 11.Qxd4 Bxd4 12.Nxc4 Nd7 Black is ready to give away some of his pawns to fulfill his development. 13.Na5 Bb6 14.Nc4 Bc5 15.Na5 with a draw.] 11...b5 12.Qa3 This looks crazy, but it’s all well analyzed with the help of our metal friends.

3


12...Qxe5 13. Bf4 Qf6 14. Bxc7 b4 Both of us played quickly until here. We are at the first critical moment. White has two moves: 15.Qa5 and 15. Rxb4.

17... Be6 Please don’t ask me why 17... Be6 is the best move after my considerations. We are living in the computer Era, so we follow his suggestions :).

15.Qa5 N [This move lead to a forced draw in my game with Fridman: 15. Rxb4 Bxb4 16.Qxb4 a5! An important move to remember. 17.Qb5+ Bd7 18.Qxc4 Na6 19. Bxa8 Nxc7 20.Qxc7 Qd8! and Black is just in time to be fine. 21.Qa7 0–0 22. Bf3 Ba4 not giving White the chance to play Rd1 and Qd2. The position is very close to a draw.]

18.Qd6 Before playing the absolutely correct 18.Qd6, my opponent started to think a bit. I was very surprised and started to have some hopes that he didn’t know the 17... Be6 line. This is a little strange to me because it’s clearly the main move, but sometimes wonderful things happen! :).

15...0–0 Of course I knew the 15.Qa5 line. That’s the first suggestion of the computer and I’ve been preparing this line of the Catalan for a while...

18... Bf5 Another move that I just had to remember.

16. Bxa8

16...e5! Black has quite a few moves here, but 16...e5 is the best. It’s very important to get the bishop from c8 into the game. For the fans of „long lines”, please push the middle button on Your keyboard :) . 17.Qd5! White’s best chance to play for an advantage, which was quickly played by my opponent. I started to really hope that my lines were fine... The position is extremely forced and Black is „just” holding.

19. Rbc1?! After a quite long thought, Boris plays „not the best move”. [19.e4 This was the main move on which I focused my attention during my analysis. 19... Bh3 20.Qxf6 gxf6 21. Rfc1 The position remains very forced, but it’s clear that Black is fighting for a draw. (21.Rfd1 Nd7 22.Bd5 Nc5 and Black is perfectly fine.) 21...Nd7 22. Bd5 Nc5 23. Ba5 Nd3 24. Rc2 Rc8 25.a3 Bd4! Everything seems to work for Black. 26. Bxb4 c3 with the threat of Bxf2 next. Black is holding the position.] 19... Bg4 I could remember this move only because I had repeated my lines just before the game — it seems like this was my lucky day :). 4


20. Rc2 [20.f3 Bh3 21. Rfd1 Qg5 looks dangerous for White.] 20...Qf5 And this is the key move! Black’s play looks so strange: the last 4 moves were Be6, Bf5, Bg4 and Qf5, but probably they are the best! Does it have any logic? — NO! 21. Rfc1 My opponent already spent around 45 minutes of his time here. I didn’t spend anything until this moment. 21... Bd4 I played 21... Bd4 quickly because I remembered it was the right move. [Another option was to play 21...Nd7 22. Bb7! Very strong!(The logical 22.Bc6 Nf6 23.R xc3 White tries to give back the exchange hoping to return to a more normal position. 23...bxc3 24.f3 Bh3 25.Qxe5 Qc8! Thanks to the crazy move 25...Qc8, Black might still have some hopes of being better. Of course, the position remains very forced.)] 22.e3 [Of course 22. Bxb8? Qxf2+ 23.Kh1 b3 and Black is just winning.]

23.axb3 cxb3 24.exd4 bxc2 25.dxe5 The position seems to be close to equality. If White manages to get the c2 pawn, maybe the bishop pair could even give him some advantage, but Black has the very strong: 25... Be2! This was the last move I remembered with the evaluation of an equal position. During the game I started to think why the position was actually equal... I’m a pawn up, want to play Qd3 and always have the option of playing Bd3, protecting the c2-pawn. My opponent had only 30 minutes left, and he spent 20 in his next move: 26.Qc5? This is already a mistake. [26.Kg2! This computer move would crush most of Black’s hopes to win the game. 26...Qd3!? The best chance for Black to achieve something in a very slightly better endgame. 27.Qxd3 Bxd3 28. Bd6 Rc8 29.Kf3 (29.Bd5 Bf5 not allowing White to play e6.) 29...Nd7 30.Ke3 Bf5 31. Bb7 How to play like this during a practical game?! Impossible! 31... Rc3+ 32.Kd2 Rd3+ 33.Ke1 Rd4! and Black is still a little better, even tough the position is close to a draw; 26. Bxb8 loses to 26...Qd3! and White can’t stop Black from playing Qd1. In case of 27.Qxd3 Bxd3, one of the White bishops on the 8th rank is going to fall, leaving Black in a winning situation.] 26... Bd3 Of course I have to keep my c2 pawn. [26...Nd7? would have been clearly the wrong choice. 27.Qxc2 Qxc2 28. Rxc2 Rxa8 29. Rxe2 would lead us to a typical equal endgame. The passed Black a-pawn is compensated with a strong bishop on d6. Black still keeps some practical chances, but of course, the position is a draw.]

22...b3 White can’t hold the b-pawn and Black is getting the exchange back.

27. Bd5 White is trying to play for the e6 push. This is the right plan if it works... 5


27...Nd7

28.Qe7? With less than 10 minutes on his clock, my opponent makes the decisive mistake. [28.Qd6 This was the only move. 28...Qh5 Black wants to give mate by playing Qd1–Kg2-Bf1–Kg1–Bh3. 29.f3 Bf5! stopping the e6 push. Objectively, the position is still quite unclear, but it’s very hard to play with White. The Black pawn on c2 is very annoying. (It doesn’t help to play the logical 29...Qg5 30.f4 Qg4 31.B xf7+! R xf7 32.Qxd3 and White is close to winning.) 30.e6? An immediate attempt to force a draw leads nowhere. 30... Bxe6 31. Bxe6 Qxf3! Nice tactic. Black is winning] 28...Qg4! No more f3 for White because of Qd4 check. The position is lost.

33...Qe4+ 34.Kh3 [34.Kg1 Qb1+ 35.Kg2 Qb7+ 36.Kg1 Rc8 and the bishop on c7 is falling.] 34...Qf3 Fixing the Black king on h3. Now Black’s plan is easy: to start pushing the a-pawn. White is completely hopeless. Against e6, Black always plays Qf5+, followed by Qxe6. 35.Qd4 h5 36.Qb6 Ra8 37. Bd6 a5 After the game I could not say I „won” the game, because I just had to make 5 moves and my position was already winning. However, it was a good feeling that the work that mostly stays „undiscovered”, sometimes gets rewarded :). 0–1

29. Bb3 Defending from Qd1 29...Qf3 With the deadly threat of Be4. 30. Bxc2 [Nothing helps anymore. 30.e6 Be4 31.exf7+ Kh8 32.Kf1 Qh1+ 33.Ke2 Qxc1] 30... Bxc2 31. Rxc2 Qd1+ 32.Kg2 Qxc2 33.Qxd7 Black’s exchange advantage and the passed a-pawn absolutely secure a win. 6


(2) Aronian,L (2816) — Karjakin,S (2778) [E15] 5th Final Masters Sao Paolo Bilbao ESP (1), 24.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Aronian scored another important win in his pet line. If somebody just goes through this game, he might think it was a very easy one. However if we take a closer look, we realize how difficult it was in reality. It would be interesting to know when the players left their preparations. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 Just as against Ivanchuk in the Olympiad, Aronian plays the 7.Nc3 line, which we have analyzed for you in a previous issue of CEWN. Karjakin was definitely well prepared. 7...0–0 That game continued with 7... Bb7, but Karjakin went for the main line. 8. Bg2 c6 A typical move in the Queen’s Indian. Black would like to recapture on d5 with the c-pawn to achieve complete equality. [8...d5 9.cxd5 exd5 is a playable position, but White is considered to be slightly better.]

9.e4! This is the critical test of Black’s setup and it also is the main idea of the 7.Nc3 move. [9.0–0 d5 would be fine for Black.] 9...d5 10.exd5 This was probably a small surprise for Karjakin, since it happened only once before according to my database. [10.Qe2 c5 This is how the games proceed usually. We can guess whom it’s good for, given that Aronian avoided it, while Karjakin was ready to play it. They both definitely had huge analysis here.] 10...cxd5 This is the novelty. A very interesting one. [On the previous 10...exd5 Aronian probably had prepared the novelty 11.0–0! dxc4 12. Re1! A very strong pawn sacrifice, based on the undeveloped Black queenside. The g2 bishop might become really strong after Ne5. Accepting the pawn is very risky: 12...cxb3 (12...Re8 13.Qc2 cxb3 14.Qxb3 Even with the rook on e8, Black is facing difficulties because of the approaching Ne5.; On 12...Nbd7 White can win back the pawn with 13.Qe2 Re8 14.bxc4 Bf8 15.Qd3 with an advantage.) 13.Qxb3 followed by Ne5 promises excellent chances for White.] 11.Ne5! The only mo ve to fight for the edge. Otherwise, Black finishes his development ideally with Nc6 and Rc8. 11...Nfd7!? This knight had to go to d7 to cover the c6 square. Black gets rid of the strong e5 knight. The idea involves a typical exchange sacrifice in many lines. [The alternative 11... Bb7 would lead to a slightly favorable game for White. 12.0–0 Nbd7 13. Re1 Rc8 14. Rc1 White improves all his pieces, waiting for the best moment to trade everything on d5, achieving a better position with the strong e5 knight.]

7

Issue 31 looks very dangerous, but White continues with the cold-blooded moves: 18.f4! (18.bxc5 R xe5+ 19.Ne3 Qg5! and Re3 is in the air, so Black still can increase the pressure with Rae8.) 18... Bf8 19.Kf2 After castling artificially, White has preserved his extra pawn. After this more or less forced line, I doubt that Black has enough compensation.]


12.0–0 Human decision! Aronian cares about the safety of his king. [The computer’s suggestion might be objectively better. 12.cxd5!? but of cou rse it’s very risky to play materialistic chess and leave the king stuck in the center. 12...Nxe5 13.dxe5 exd5 14.Nxd5 (On 14.B xd5 Nd7! is very strong, followed by Nc5 or Nxe5. Taking the exchange would be a kind of suicide with such a weak king.)

12...Nxe5 Black has no choice, he must go for the complications, otherwise he will lose material on the h1–a8 diagonal soon. 13.dxe5 Nd7! 14. Re1 Unpinning the rook and protecting the e5 pawn. Black is forced to sacrifice the exchange, and it also looks very promising at first sight! 14...dxc4! [14...d4 is a much worse version of the exchange sacrifice. 15.Nb5! An important intermediate move. 15... Bxb5 16. Bxa8 Qxa8 17.cxb5 Qd5 18.Qe2! Black doesn’t have enough compensation without the light-squared bishop.] 15. Bxa8 Qxa8 This looks very promising for Black. He has many different resources, for example Qc6-Bb7, Bb7Bh1, or Rd8 and Nc5. White must find out something clever, otherwise he might quickly collapse. Aronian had to use his imagination!

14...Nd7 Probably at this moment both players finished their calculations with the conclusion that Ne5 or Nc5 are coming and that Black is fine. However the computer advices a cool defense! (14...Nc6 White defends calmly with 15.Bc3 Re8 16.f4!+/- It’s very hard to increase the pressure with Black.) 15. Bb4!! Nc5 (15...B xb4+? loses to 16.N xb4 Bb5 17.a4) 16. Bxc5 Bxc5 17.b4! Re8 It still 8


16. Bh6!! Very spectacular move. The only chance to generate counterplay. 16... Rd8! Karjakin correctly keeps the tension! [16...gxh6 17.Qxd7 Bb4 18.Qd4! White holds his advantage in all the lines after very precise moves: 18... Bb7 (The other attacking idea is 18...Qc6 19. Re4! Bb7 (19...B xc3 20.Rg4+ Kh8 21.Qxc3 Bb7 22.f3 White preserves his material advantage.) 20. Rg4+ Kh8 21.Ne4+/- successfully closing the long diagonal.) 19.Qxc4 Bh1 White should transpose into a favorable endgame by giving back the material: 20.Qg4+ Kh8 21.Ne4! Bxe1 22. Rxe1 Bxe4 23. Rxe4+= The Black king is weak!] 17.Qg4 Bf8 18. Rad1 Nc5! Both players show their best in a very difficult position. Calculation is the crucial factor in such kinds of positions. [18... Bb7 was tempting, with the idea of Bf3, but White has a very strong response: 19. Bg5! Bf3 20.Qd4! Bxd1 21. Bxd8 with material advantage!] 19.bxc4 Bb7! Finally the bishop appears where it belongs. Black doesn’t even have a pawn for the exchange, but objectively this single bishop solves all his problems. 20. Rxd8 Qxd8 21. Rd1 Qc7 22. Bf4 The less pieces there are, the better chances White has to convert his advantage. 22...Qc6 23.f3 We have reached the most critical moment of the game. White finally seems to consolidate his position. The Black threats seem much less dangerous than before. I’m sure that Karjakin also had the feeling that he messed something up earlier, however, with a fantastic blow, Black could have saved the game.

23...Nd7 [23...Nd3!! Just amazing, giving a piece for nothing. 24. Rxd3 Qxc4 If Black takes on c3, he gets a fine position, so White must play Rd8, Rd7 but both moves are metwith 25. Rd8 Ba6!! This is the whole idea! White must play (25...Qxc3? loses to 26.Bh6! Qxe5 27.Qb4+wins.) 26.h4 allowing the perpetual check. 26...Qf1+ 27.Kh2 Qf2+=] 24.Ne4 Creating the threat of Rxd7! Black collapses. 24...Qa4? [24...Qc8 controlling the d8 square. This still gave some practical chances, even tough White is already doing well after 25.Ng5!] 25. Rxd7! Bxe4 [25...Qxd7 26.Nf6++-] 26. Rd8! That’s why the queen should have gone to c8. Black can’t even give a check, his back-rank is weak and his bishop needs to leave the h1–a8 diagonal to prevent the Bh6 threat. 26... Bg6 27. Bg5?! The only mistake in the game by Aronian. He could have given unexpected practical chances for Black. [After 27. Be3 followed by Qe3-d6, Black has to resign.]

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Issue 31 (3) Li Shilong (2549) — Ni Hua (2637) [D85]


Chinese league Hangzhou CHN, 23.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A nice attacking game that was played in the Chinese league. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Black chose the Grünfeld defense. 27...Qa3? Karjakin thought that the game was over, but the machine still found some hidden idea... [Black could have tried 27...h6! 28.Qd4! This is the precise move! (Against the most obvious 28. Be7 Bd3!! there’s an incredible resource: 29. Rxd3 (29.R xf8+ White is a rook up, but he must be satisfied with the draw. 29...Kh7 30.f4 Otherwise, Qd1. 30...Qc2 Qc1 Kf2 Qd2 is the threat. 31.Qf3 Be4! 32.Qf2 Qd1+ 33.Qf1 Qd4+ with perpetual check.) 29... Bxe7 30. Rd2 White is better, but he must work hard to convert his advantage.) 28...hxg5 29.Qd6 Kh7 30.Qxf8 Kh6 and now White has to find 31.h4!! Qxc4 (The point of the previous move becomes clear after 31...gxh4 32.Qh8+ Bh7 33.Rd4!+- The rook delivers mate.) 32.hxg5+ Kxg5 33.Qd6+- with the threat of Qd2. White is ready to exchange the queens. If Black accepts this, then the endgame is winning for White.]

4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 A very sharp system. Its point is to develop with Be2, which is less accurate directly, because of Nc6! And on d5 Bxc3, the a1 rook is hanging. 8...0–0 9. Be2 b6 A solid system, which tries to avoid the long computer lines after [9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 (11.Qd2 is much safer. Black has to react with 11...Qxd2+ 12.B xd2 e6 as Caruana played against Bartel in Dortmund this year. The game was commented in a previous CEWN.) 11...Qxa2 12.0–0 According to theory, Black is fine after all, but he must remember exactly some 25–30 moves in many lines.] 10.0–0 Bb7

28.Qd4! The queen goes to d6 in any case. 28...h6 29.Qd6 Kh7 30.Qxf8 1–0

10


11.d5!? A very interesting pawn sacrifice in order to get a strong center and create a dangerous attack. Black must accept the material, or otherwise White will consolidate his center with c4 and will achieve his dreamed position. [11.Qd3 is the mainline, and it continues with 11...e6 12. Bg5 Qc7 13.Qe3 Nd7 with a double-edged game.] 11... Bxc3 12. Bc4 White’s main ideas in general are to strengthen his center, prepare for the advance with e5, exchange the dark-squared bishops because it’s an important defender of the Black king, and launch an attack with, for example, h4-h5. Black usually exchanges the light-squared bishops with Ba6 and if he manages to protect his king, to convert his material advantage. 12... Bg7 13.Qe2 A useful developing move, which prevents Ba6 temporarily. 13...Qc8! Black also continues with his plan. 14. Bb2! GM Vitiugov had introduced this idea back in 2008 against Morozevich. I think it’s much more logical than the previously played Bg5. 14... Ba6 This is the novelty. [Morozevich played similarly with 14... Bxb2 15. Rxb2 Ba6 but White got very strong compensation after 16.e5! Bxc4 17.Qxc4 e6 18.d6 Nd7 Black has pinned his hopes to this blockading position and wants to continue with Qc6, followed by the mobilization of his queenside pawns. 19.h4 h6 and here White should have played 20.h5! g5 21. Re2! protecting the e5 pawn, in order to execute the knight maneuver Nh2-g4, followed by f4 with a strong attack.]

16. Rfc1 A deep attacking plan. White prepares for the exchange of bishops and he intends to take back with the rook on c4 and to push e5, after which the rook switch to h4 could be very dangerous. I must say that the computer stubbornly defends Black’s position and prefers it with his extra pawn, but with human eyes it’s much better and easier to play with White. [16.e5!? seriously came into consideration with the same ideas as in the VitiugovMorozevich game.] 16... Rd8 Black prevents the e5 move by attacking the d5 pawn. [The freeing attempt 16...e6 creates a huge weakening. 17. Bxa6 Qxa6 (17...N xa6 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Rd1 Rd6 is coming next. The Black king becomes really vulnerable after Qb2 and Ne5-g4, for example.) 18.Qb2+ Kg8 19.dxe6 fxe6 20.Ng5 with a strong attack.] 17. Bxa6 [17.e5? Rxd5] 17...Qxa6 This is the right way to take back. The Black knight should try to defend his king via d7-f6. 18.Qb2+ Kg8

15. Bxg7 Kxg7

11


21. Rc7 Nxe5 22. Rxb7 Rd7! This was his key resource to neutralize the rook on the 7th rank. 23. Rxd7 Nxd7=] 20...Nd7 It’s time to bring the knight. 21.Ng5 Rf8 Ugly, but only move!

19.Qe5! White leads the attack aggressively. He transfers the queen to the kingside with tempo (attacking the e5 pawn). [19.Ne5 was tempting as well, but Black can successfully defend with 19...Nd7 20.Ng4 (20.Nc6 Re8 The knight is only looking nice on c6, but it should rather participate in the attack.) 20...Nf6! (20...f6 is probably also possible.) 21.Nxf6+ exf6 22.Qxf6 Qxa2 Black has no problems. The attack is not dangerous anymore without the knight.]

22. Rb3! White concentrates all his forces on the kingside! [The direct 22.Qh4 h5 23.g4 could be easily parried with 23...Nf6!] 22...Qb8 This was Ni Hua’s idea with 19...Qb7, but he probably missed or underestimated the following two moves. [Black can’t send the knight away with 22...h6 because of 23. Rh3 ! 23...hxg5 24.Qxg5 and the mate is coming soon after Qh6.]

19...Qb7?! This is a mistake according to the machine, who suggests some very deep defensive resources. [19... Re8 should have been played. White should play like in the game: 20.Qf4 Nd7 21.Ng5 Rf8 In comparison to the game, the queen stands on a6 and it could be transferred much easier to the defense as the following lines show: 22.e5 (The game’s move 22.Rb3 is less effective now. 22... Qxa2! 23.Rh3 h5! and Black plays Qb2 next. The queen suddenly becomes an excellent defender.) 22...h6 23.Nf3 Kg7 with an unclear position. White definitely has compensation, but it’s not easy to lead the attack.]

24...Nf6 [The queen can’t be driven to the kingside with 24...Qd6 25. Rg3 Qf6 because of 26.e5! Qf5 27. Re1!+/with the simple, but strong threat of Ne4 and Rg5, trapping the queen.]

20.Qf4! [Black was probably hoping for 20. Rxc5 which leads to simplifications and a drawish endgame 20...Nd7

25. Rg3 c4 Black’s only chance is to create some counterplay on the queenside, but it’s too slow. The White pieces

23.Qh4 h5 24.f4! Very strong move. It’s attacking and it’s prophylactic against Qe5 at the same time.

12


are well concentrated for the attack. [25...Nh7 Exchanging one of the main attackers doesn’t help anymore. 26.f5! Qe5 27.Nf3! Black is facing too many problems. 27...Qg7 (27...Qf6 is refuted with 28.Qxh5!) 28.e5 Black can’t stand the pressure for long.]

27.e5! Nxd5 28.Ne6!! Qc6 [28...fxe6 loses to 29.Qxh5! with mate in a few moves.(But not 29.R xg6+? Kf7 30.Qxh5 Ke8! and the king runs away.)]

26. Rf1 Bringing the last piece into the attack. [White should not be greedy with 26. Rxc4 Rc8 Black achieved the counterplay he wanted.; However 26.f5! was the most precise move. 26...Qe5 27. Re1! protecting the e4 pawn in order to move with the knight. The threats are Nf3, or fxg6 and Ne6. 27...Qd4+ (27...Kg7 protecting g6 doesn’t help. 28.fxg6 fxg6 29.Ne6+ Kh7 and White must keep his strong attacking knight and continue the attack with 30.Rg5! followed by e5, wherever the queen moves.) 28.Kh1 Qf2 This tricky resource fails to 29.Nf3! creating a new threat of Rxg6 besides e5.]

29...Nc7 The last desperate attempt, but White nicely finishes the game. [29...fxe6 loses again to 30.Qxh5+-]

29.f5! No mistakes by White. Obviously, the great e6 knight has much bigger value than the rook on f8.

30.Qxh5! Nxe6 31.fxg6 A nice attacking game by the Chinese GM! 1–0

26...Qc7 This loses nicely. # White elegantly concludes the attack! [The only move would have been 26...b5 with the idea of having Qb6 against the combination which was executed in the game. White’s best option is to turn back to the previous line with 27.f5! Qe5 28. Re1! The bpawn is advanced, but it doesn’t save the Black king.]

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(4) Mamedyarov,S (2729) — Giri,A (2730) [D11] 1st FIDE GP London 2012 London ENG (3), 23.09.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see a great win by Mamedyarov over the young Dutch talent Anish Giri. It’s nice to see Shakhriyar back with his usual super-aggressive style! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Again and again, I can only say: „And another game on the Slav” :). 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 A relatively rare but tricky line. White wants to stop the development of the bishop on c8, protecting the pawn on c4 at the same time, while keeping in mind the possibility of playing Bg5. A lot of positive ideas are connected with 4.Qb3, but there’s one huge disadvantage: The queen will have to make at least 3 moves, and this in the first 8 moves — can this be good?!

4...e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 A logical move by Black, and probably the most critical one as well. 7.Qxc4 b5 Black’s idea is simple: to play Bb7, Nbd7 and c5. Let’s see how White will fight against it.

8.Qc2 Bb7 9.Nbd2 White probably only has one idea in this position, to play e4 or Black is totally fine. [In case of the immediate 9.e4 g5 10. Bg3 g4 Black is winning the pawn on d4. The position remains dynamic, but a pawn is a pawn...; 9.Nc3!? I like this move a lot personally. I think that White’s play should always be connected to the e4d5 push, and of course, the knight supports this idea better from c3 than from d2. 9...Nbd7 10.e4 Qb6 11. Be2 A silent but nice move. White still keeps both options open: to castle short or long... 11...Nh5 12.d5! and White is doing clearly better, Jovaba-Potkin, ECC 2011.] 9...Nbd7 Black is ready for the c5 push. 10.e4 We are probably at the first critical moment of the game. [10.e3?! Rc8 followed by c5 or a6, and then c5. Black solved all his opening problems.]

10... Rc8 N It’s hard to say if Black had prepared this novelty or if he just played this logical move over the board... [10...Qb6 This move counts as the main choice here, 11. Be2 and now Black has a lot of options. Let’s take a look at the most concrete one: 11...c5 The situation is clear. White has to do something urgently, or position will become equal. 12.a4! Typical and very strong! It’s hard for 14


Black to find the right reaction. 12...cxd4 (12...a6 13.axb5 axb5 14.R xa8+ B xa8 15.0–0 White’s advantage in development gives him better play.) 13. Bxb5 Rc8 14.Qb3 with the threat of playing a5 or Nc4 next. I think that White should be doing clearly better here.; 10...a6!? Maybe this simple move is the strongest one. Black wants to play c5 next and save a tempo on the „not really” needed move Rc8.] 11. Be2 Preparing to castle short. Black can’t play c5 still.

The usual push. (It would be a bit too early to start forcing things. 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.e5 B xe5 16.N xe5 N xe5 17.Bg3 Nf7 and Black is somehow holding.) 14...c4 15.axb5 axb5 16.dxe6 fxe6 17. Rfd1 Black’s position is falling apart due to the huge amount of threats.] 14.e5! This is the exact way to play the positions with an advantage in development: fast, aggressive and in the center!

11...a6 [It doesn’t work to play 11...c5? 12.d5! exd5 13. Bxb5

14...g5 The only move that saves the piece.

and everything is hanging in Black’s position. Let’s not forget that White can still castle long on the next moves, in order to increase the pressure on the d-file.] 12.0–0 c5 Finally... but too late. White has already castled and is ready for: 13.d5! This move basically crushes the Black position. 13...exd5 Black is opening the e-file, and what else is there to do?! [13...e5 14.a4! White starts his play on the queenside. Black’s position looks very bad.; 13... Bd6 doesn’t look very dangerous, but it is dangerous! 14.a4

15. Bg3 Good move! [The very tempting 15.exf6?! gxh4 16. Rfe1 ends with nothing after 16...Qxf6! and the Black king will feel more or less safe on d8.] 15...Ne4 [15...Nh5 16.e6! and the game is over.] 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Nd2! Mamedyarov hurry to finish his opponent and takes one step back to make a jump during the next moves. White wants to play the deadly Nxe4 and Black is hopeless against it. [17. Rfd1!? could also be an option for White, with the idea of playing e6 next.] 17...h5 Black wants to bring the rook from h8 into the game, and at the same time to play h4. A good idea, but

15


it came too late. White has enough time to finish what he started. 18.Nxe4 Rh6 [18...h4 19.e6! What else?! 19...fxe6 20.Nd6+ Bxd6 21.Qg6+ Ke7 22.Qg7++-] 19. Rad1 bringing one more piece into the attack. White wants to play Nf6 next.

19... Be7 20. Bxh5! And a nice tactic at the end! 20... Rxh5 21.e6 Now against 21...fxe6, 22.Nd6+ is coming, followed by Qg6 with mate. A great game by White, even though Black made it a bit too easy. The questions about the opening — regarding Black’s options to equalize — remain. I guess that we’ll see some games on this line in the future. It looks very interesting to me! 1–0

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Puzzle section

(7) Guseinov,G (2613) — Bajarani,U (2436) Baku Open, 23.09.2012

(5) Grischuk,A (2754) — Mamedyarov,S (2729) London GP, 24.09.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+/-

(8) Socko,M (2463) — Ju Wenjun (2528) (6) Mamedov,R (2634) — Nasri,A (2319) Baku Open, 22.09.2012 [CEWN]

Ankara WGP, 18.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.=

1.+/-

17


(9) Zhao Xue (2549) — Cmylite,V (2520)

(11) Bogosavljevic,B (2497) — Antic,D (2476)

Ankara WGP, 18.09.2012

Serbian league, 19.09.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

(10) Xiu Deshun (2524) — Wan Yunguo (2474)

(12) Pavlovic,M (2531) — Sargissian,G (2693)

Chinese zonal, 19.09.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

18


(13) Saric,I (2637) — Roiz,M (2618) Croatian league, 23.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Mu Ke (2286) — Malakhov,V (2705) Chinese league, 23.09.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

19


Endgame section (15) Gelfand,B (2738) — Wang Hao (2742) [E10]

Rg2. At d5, exd5 Kf5 Rh3! and moves like Kg3 don’t bother much because of Rh1. 45.Ke4 White wants to play d5 or Kd3-Kc4-Kc5. 45... Rh3! Stopping all of White’s attempts!

1 FIDE GP London 2012 London ENG (4), 24.09.2012

46. Rb7 Kf8 Black is waiting...

[Chess Evolution]

47. Rd7 Ke8 48. Rc7 Kf8 White sees no chances of improving his position and tries the last trick...

st

49.f4 f5+? What a mistake! [49... Rh5 50.Kd3! White wants to play Kc4. 50... Ra5 (50...Rh3 51.d5!? using all the practical chances. 51...exd5 52.Kd4 Rg3 53.Rc3 It’s a pity to leave the 7th rank, but what else is there to do... 53... Kf7 54.Kxd5 The position should still be a draw, but White has some practical chances...) 51.Kc4 f5 and I don’t see how White wants to improve his position. It should be an easy draw.] After a long and tiring defense, Wang Hao finally reached a rook endgame of 3 vs 2. As we all know, the rook endgames can be very tricky, but the drawing chances are pretty good! Let’s take a look at White’s and Black’s plans. White: to get the king to g6 or d6. Maybe also to push e4e5, followed by Kg5-Kf6. This can be very dangerous for Black sometimes. Black: to keep the rook on the 5th rank or to start attacking the White pawns, not allowing the White king to move, or to force the White rook to leave the 7th rank, which would allow the Black king to leave the 8th rank. 43.Kxf4 Rb2 The beginning of a nice defensive idea! 44.f3 Rh2! Great play by Black. Now against White’s e4, Black always has a check on h4. On Kg4, there’s always

50.Ke5! Gelfand’s king is reaching his final destination. [50.Kd3 Rh1! This is Bla ck’s idea! White doesn’t have any way to push d5 because of Rd1, and on Kc4, the check on c1 is always there. The position is a simple draw.] 50... Rxe3+ 51.Kf6 Kg8 52. Rg7+?? Once again a good example of how complicated rook endgames are. Even on the very Top level, such „easy looking” mistakes happen a lot of times. [52. Rc8+ Kh7 53.Kf7! should have been the right way to go on for White. The position is simply winning. Black can’t do anything against Rc1 in the next move. 53... Re2 54. Rc1 threatening mate on h1. 54... Rh2 55.Kxe6 winning both Black pawns, and with it, the game!] 52...Kf8 53. Rh7 It was still not too late to come back to c7, or b8, or a7, or even d7 :). 20


53...Kg8 54. Rh1? Gelfand follows the wrong plan...

(16) Wang Hao (2742) — Adams,M (2722)

54... Re4! And the position is a draw! But...

Grand Prix, London, 21.09.2012

55. Rd1 Kh7?? Do wonders happen?! :) [Why not just to take a pawn... 55... Rxf4! 56.Kxe6 Rf2 57.d5 Kf8 58.Kd7 Kf7 59.d6 f4 with a simple draw. White is going to win the rook for the d-pawn, but Black’s f-pawn supported by the king is going to be worth a full rook as well...]

[Chess Evolution]

56.Kf7 And the next move will be Rh1 mate! An amazing endgame. I guess that after checking this endgame at home, both players were quite depressed... 1–0 Black is a pawn up, but in the rook endgames, the defensive side has good drawing chances with active play. This happens in the following game as well. Adams tries his best, but Wang Hao safely holds the draw. 48. Rd7 White shoul d exchange his a4 pawn for the b7 one. The rook is perfectly placed on the 7th rank, where it keeps g7 under attack. [48. Rd8 was also possible. 48... Rc4+ 49.Kg3 Kh7 50. Rd7 This will transpose to the game.] 48... Rc4+ 49.Kg3 Rc3+ Black just repeats once to get closer to the 60 moves time-control. 50.Kg4 Rc4+ 51.Kg3 Rb4 52. Rf7 White is passing now, until Black decides what he wants to do. 52...b6 53. Rf8! An important intermediate move to lure the Black king from the h5 square. [53. Rb7 Rxa4 54. Rxb6? would lose after (54.Rb8! is still possible.) 54... Kh5!] 21


53...Kh7 54. Rb8 g6 Adams tries to rescue his king from the corner, but this reduces the material, which usually helps the defensive side. [The alternative was 54... Rxa4 55. Rxb6 Ra1 (55...Rb4 is not a good try, because 56.Ra6 a4 57.Ra8 Black can’t improve his position.) 56. Ra6 a4 This is a very tricky attempt, White has only one way to draw.

fend actively to hold the draw. 60.h5+ Kh7 61.Ra7+ Kh6 62.Ra6! taking the f-pawn with check. 62...a3 63.R xf6+ Kg7 Now the easiest draw is 64.Ra6 a2 65.Ra7+ giving thousands of checks. 65...Kf6 66.Ra6+ Ke7 67.Ra7+ Kd6 68.Ra6+ Kc7 and when the king is far enough... 69.h6 Rg1+ 70.Kf5 a1Q 71.R xa1 R xa1 72.h7= draw) 60.h5! a2 61. Ra7! A nice tactical solution even with a small amount of material. 61... Rg1+ 62.Kh4 Rh1+ 63.Kg4 Black must give up his a-pawn to prevent the mate on h7. 63... Rxh5 (63...f5+ 64.Kxf5) 64. Rxa2=] 55. Rb7+ [55.fxg6+ was a bit more accurate to avoid Black’s extra possibility in the 56th move. 55...Kxg6 56. Rb7 transposes to the game.] 55...Kh6 56. Rf7

57.Kg4! White hides kis king in front of his h-pawn against the threatened check. Then the pawn reaches the 2nd rank. (Passively waiting with 57.Ra8? leads to a defeat after 57...a3 58.Kg2 a2! 59.Kh2 g6! It’s very important that Black ends up with an f-pawn, which is an easy theoretical win shown here: 60.fxg6+ Kxg6 61.Kg2 f5 62.Kh2 f4 63.Kg2 f3+! and the White king must leave the key h2g2 squares. 64.Kf2 Rh1 If Black had an h- or g-pawn, the game would be theoretical drawn, even without White’s h4 pawn, because White keeps his king on g2 or h2 and starts passing with the rook.) 57...Kh6 (57...a3 58.Kh5 with a draw. The maximum Black can do is to exchange his apawn for the f-pawn, but the arising 2 against 1 endgame is also drawn.) 58. Ra8 g6 White must still be very careful. 59.fxg6 a3 and now the unexpected (59...Kxg6 White can’t hide his king now. He must use his h-pawn and de-

56...gxf5 [I believe that both players had missed 56...g5!? which was objectively the best chance. 57. Rxf6+ Kh5 White must be very careful now. 58. Rg6 !! Other moves with the rook on the 6th rank lead to the same. (However, the most logical 58.hxg5? is a decisive mistake. 58...Kxg5 The rook must move into another tempo. 59.Rc6 Kxf5 60.Kf3 Ke5 61.Ke3 Kd5 This is the important tempo, and Black wins. 62.Rh6 Kc4) 58...gxh4+ (58...Rg4+ is less dan22


gerous. 59.Kf3 R xh4 60.R xb6 R xa4 61.Kg3 leaving from Rf4. White has quite an easy draw, he can exchange his fpawn for the g-pawn. 61...Ra3+ 62.Kg2 g4 63.f6 Kg6 and now, for instance 64.Re6 a4 65.Re4 Kxf6 66.R xg4= This kind of theoretical endgames were studied in the 3rd CEWN.) 59.Kh3 Rxa4 60. Rxb6 Ra3+ 61.Kh2 Kg5 62.f6 Kg6 At first sight, this seems to be a win, but White can achieve another known theoretical drawn position by 63. Rc6 a4 64. Rc4! The right method of holding the draw is to keep the a-pawn under attack with the rook from the side. 64...h3 65. Rf4 Kf7 White is in zugzwang, but it’s not a problem if the f6 pawn falls. 66. Rc4 Kxf6

67. Rd4 This is the so-called Vancura position, which we have studied in the 3rd CEWN. 67...Ke5 68. Rg4 Ra1 69.Kxh3 a3 70.Kh2 White wants to attack the pawn from the side and when it reaches the a2 square, then go behind it. If the Black king goes to support the pawn, White can always give side-checks. Black has an extra option now to rescue his rook with 70... Rb1 (70...a2 71.Ra4=; 70... Kd5 71.Rg3!=) 71. Ra4 Rb2+ 72.Kg3 a2 but the game is drawn after 73.Kf3 Kd5 74.Ke3 Kc5 75.Kd3 Kb5 76.Kc3! Rh2 77. Ra8=]

57. Rxf6+ Kg7 The following moves are more or less forced. 58. Rc6 Rg4+ 59.Kh3 Black can’t improve his position. He must exchange the a4 pawn for the b6 one. 59... Rxa4 60. Rxb6 Ra3+ 61.Kg2 a4 Adam’s last attempt is to play Ra1, push the pawn to a2 and advance his f-pawn. So, the waiting policy doesn’t work. White must find an active plan.

62. Rb7+ The way Wang Hao played was a bit risky, but good enough for a draw. Anyway, it’s a bit illogical to send the opponent’s king forward, but he has calculated everything until the end. [Much less calculation was needed on 62.h5! Ra1 (62... Rb3 is not dangerous. 63. Rg6+ Kf7 (63...Kh7 64.Rf6 Rb5 65.Ra6=) 64. Ra6 a3 65. Ra7+ Kf6 66.h6= and Black gives up his a-pawn to stop h6.) 63. Rg6+ Kf7 Now it’s very important to play (63...Kh7 64.Rf6=) 64. Rg5! Kf6 65. Rg6+! and Black must retreat to f7, otherwise the h-pawn runs quickly. 65...Kf7 66. Rg5=] 62...Kg6 63. Rb6+ Kh5 64. Rb5 Kg4 65.h5! White must ce his h-pawn in order to force Back to exchange it for one of his pawns. 23


65...f4 [The last chance would have been 65... Ra2+ White must find the correct square.

66.Kf1! Only move, but at this level it’s not a problem to find. (66.Kg1? loses to 66...Kg3! 67.Kf1 (67.R xf5 Ra1+ 68.Rf1 R xf1+ 69.Kxf1 a3 Black is faster.) 67... Ra1+ 68.Ke2 a3 69. Ra5 a2 70.h6 Rh1 Black is in time to promote a queen and to catch the h-pawn.) 66...f4 67.h6 White must give up his a-pawn. The best try is 67...Kf3 (67... Rh2 68.Ra5=) 68.Kg1 Rg2+ 69.Kh1 Rg8 70. Ra5 Rh8 71. Rxa4 Rxh6+ 72.Kg1= with an easy draw. White has the correct setup with the king on the shorter side of the board and the rook giving check from the long side. Such endgames were studied in our first issues.] 66.h6 Adams had to accept that Wang Hao defended well, but he found the most elegant way to finish the game. 66... Rh3 67. Rb4 a3 68. Ra4 a2 69. Rxa2 f3+ 70.Kg1 Kg3 71.h7 Rxh7 And now comes the famous motif! 72. Rg2+! fxg2 Stalemate! 1/2

24


Clash of the Titans (17) Alekhine,Alexander — Wolf,Heinrich [A31] Bad Pistyan Bad Pistyan, 14.04.1922 [Chess Evolution] We’ll examine a convincing victory by Alekhine. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 At that time, the theory was just about to develop. Black wanted to simplify the position right from the beginning with the hope of getting a draw.

antees him a small advantage. 8...Qxd1+ (8...a6 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Na3 The king is unsafe on d8, White wants to play Nc4 and Be3 occupying the b6 hole, and 10...B xa3 doesn’t solve the problems 11.bxa3+= followed by Rb1, putting pressure on the b7 pawn. Whenever Black plays b5, White gets rid of his doubled pawn with a4.) 9.Nxd1 Na6 Black had to prevent Nc7, but this has a huge disadvantage: Black can’t kick the b5 knight out with a6 anymore, because it paralyzes the pieces a lot. 10.Ndc3+=]

3.c4 cxd4 4.cxd5! White finds the best challenge to his opponent’s play. He’s ready to open the position, as he’s ahead in development. 4...Nf6 Logically, k wants to take with the knight on d5, not allowing White to develop with tempo... [4...Qxd5 moves into 5.Nc3! Qd8 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Black can’t hope for equality even though he managed to exchange the queens.] 5.Nxd4 [5.Qxd4 Qxd5 6.Nc3 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 is another story in comparison to 4. ..Qxd5 line. Black would be a full tempo ahead here.] 5...a6?! The idea its elf is very clever: to make a useful waiting move and to take on d5 according to the circumstances in the next move. However, Black probably missed the following great move. [The drawback of 5... Nxd5 is 6.e4 Black wanted to prevent this move by playing 5...a6 and, for example, after 6. Nc3 Nxd5, White can’t play e4. Now the game could continuewith 6...Nf6 7.Nc3 e5 8.Ndb5 White’s lead in the development guar-

6.e4!! Excellent move! Alekhine realized that the d5 pawn causes Black a big headache, since it hinders his development. 6...Nxe4 7.Qa4+! White needs to secure his d5 pawn first. In order to do this, he lures a piece to d7. 7... Bd7 [On 7...Nd7 probably the strongest is 8. Be3 g6 9.Nb3! Whenever Black plays g6 (since he can’t develop his bishop to e6, because of the d5 pawn), he must reckon with the temporarily unprotected rook on h8. White can make use of this in many occasions. 9...Nd6 The knight belongs to this square, blockading well the d-pawn, but now this is met with (On 9...Nef6 the simple 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.Be2 0–0 12.Rd1 and White is better. The d5 pawn is 25


very strong.) 10. Bd4! forcing a huge weakness.; 7...Qd7? loses nicely to 8.Nb5!+-] 8.Qb3! It’s not easy to deal with the b7 pawn. 8...Nc5 [8...Qc7 moves into the c-file. 9. Be3 followed by Na3 and Rc1 is very unpleasant.; 8...Nd6 is met with 9. Bf4 The problem around b7 are still not solved.]

an interesting alternative, but White can get a big advantage here as well, with some powerful play. 12. Be3! (Not 12.Qxh8? because of 12...Nd3+! 13.B xd3 Qxc1+ 14.Ke2 B xd3+ 15.Kxd3 Qxh1)

9.Qe3! Great maneuvering with the queen. The knight on c5 is misplaced, and Black must be careful to avoid getting it trapped. It has no way back to d6... 9...g6 How else could Black finish his development?! But now, he must face the same problem on the long diagonal as before. 12...Nd3+ and now 13.Kd2! is very strong. Black has serious problems to rescue the knight. 13...Qxc3+ 14.Nxc3! (14.bxc3 Nb2 is not convincing.) 14...Nxb2 15.a4!+/- and Ra2 will trap the knight.] 12. Be3 b6 [Black ends up with a material disadvantage in the line with 12... Bg7 13.Qxc5 Qxc5 14. Bxc5 Bxb2 15. Bd4! The key move that had to be foreseen. 15... Bxa1 16. Bxa1+/- The minor pieces will dominate the rook.] 10.Nf3! All the moves are very concrete and perfectly executed. 10...Qc7 11.Qc3!? [11. Bd2 was also very strong, with the idea of 11... Bg7 12. Bc3! and the only „normal” move 12...0–0 drops a piece after 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Qc3+!+and b4 next.]

13.Nbd2 Bg7 14. Bd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 Black has managed to hold the material balance, but he’s still very far from finally laying back on his chair. New problems have come up. All his pieces are completely uncoordinated and his king is stuck in the center.

11... Rg8 Black could not be happy at this moment. At least he prevented 12.b4, because of Bg7. [11... Bf5 was 26


21.d6 Ne6 This allows a small tactical blow, but objectively the game was already over. [21...e6 loses as well, for instance, to 22.Qc3 Nb7 23.Qc6 Ra7 24.Nd4+-] 22. Rxe6! This probably was played without thinking. 22...fxe6 23.Ng5 Qb8 24.Nxe6+ Kf7 25.Ng5+ Kf8 [25...Ke8 26. Re1+- is equally hopeless.] 26.Qd5 [There was nothing wrong with 26.dxe7++- and Re1 next.] 15... Bb5? „Less pieces, less problems” was probably in Black’s mind, but the doubled b-pawns become really vulnerable. This also helps White to finish his development. [15...a5 with the idea of developing the knight to a6 is also bad in view of 16.Nc4 Nba6 17.d6! and Black collapses.; 15... Bf5 was probably the best chance, but White is much better anyway if he can save his face. 16. Be2 Nbd7 17.0–0! followed by Rfe1.(White should not be too greedy with 17.g4 because of 17...e5 !) ] 16. Bxb5+ axb5 17.0–0 Ra4 [17...Nbd7 18. Rfe1 is also horrible.] 18.b4! The queen is excellently placed on d4, White wants to keep it there at any cost.

26... Rg7 27.Ne6+ Kg8 28.Nxg7+ Kxg7 29.dxe7 The rest is a matter of technique. I think that Alekhine was disappointed because his opponent didn’t resign here, so he lost his concentration a little bit. Otherwise, he would have finished the game much faster... 29...Nf6 30.Qxb5 Ra7 31. Re1 Qd6 32.e8N+ Nxe8 33.Qxe8 Qxd2 34.Qe5+ Kf7 35.h4 Rxa3 36.Qe8+ Kg7 37. Re7+ Kh6 38.Qf8+ Kh5 39. Re5+ Kg4 40. Rg5+ [Finally Black resigned in view of 40. Rg5+ Kxh4 41.Qh6#] 1–0

18...Qd8 Black leaves the Rac1 threat. 19.a3 Alekhine is not in a hurry to finish the game. Of course, this move was not obligatory at all, Rfe1 was probably slightly more accurate. 19...Nbd7 20. Rfe1 Kf8 [20...Nb7 doesn’t change too much. 21.d6 e6 22.Qd5 Ra7 23.Nd4+- followed by sacrifices on e6, or just Nc6.]

27


Surprise section / study (18) Gurvitch,A 1927 [CEWN] 1.=

28


Solutions

(20) Malakhov,V (2700) — Nisipeanu,LD (2648) Black Sea Cup, 14.09.2012

(19) Jamrich,G (2311) — Borocz,I (2365)

[Solutions]

Hungarian league, 16.09.2012 [Solutions]

20.e5! Qxa4 21.exf6 e5 [21...Nxf6 22. Bxd6+-] 22. Bh6! 1–0[22. Bh6 Nxf6 (22...gxh6 23.Qxh6 N xf6 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Qxf6+ Kg8 26.Bd5+-) 23. Bxg7! Kxg7 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Qxf6+ Kg8 26. Bd5+-] 22... Rxe3! 23.Qxe3 Ng4 24.Qg3 [24.Qe2! Qa7+ 25.Kh1 (25.Kf1 N xh2+ 26.Ke1 Bh4+ 27.Kd1 Qg1+–+) 25...Nf2+ 26.Kg1 Nxe4+ 27.Kh1 (27.Kf1 N xd2+ 28.Qxd2 Bc4+ 29.Ke1 Qg1#) 27...Nf2+ 28.Kg1 Nd3+ 29.Kh1 (29.Kf1 Nxf4 30.Qf2 Qa6+ 31.Kg1 Ne2+ (31...Bd5–+) 32.Kh1 Nxc1 33. Rxc1 Qc6–+) 29...Nxf4! (29...N xc1 30.R xc1 exf4) 30.Qf1 (30.Qe1 Bd5 31.Nf3 Nh3!–+) 30... Qe3 31.Nf3 g5!; 24.Qb6 Bd8! 25.Qxd6 Qa7+ 26.Kh1 Nf2+ 27.Kg1 Nh3+ 28.Kh1 Qg1+ 29. Rxg1 Nf2#]

(21) Malakhov,V (2700) — Jobava,B (2734) Black Sea Cup, 16.09.2012 [Solutions]

24...exf4 [24...Qa7+ 25.Kf1 (25.Kh1 Nf2+ 26.Kg1 N xe4+–+) 25...exf4 26.Qxf4 Bg5! 27.Qxg5 Qf2#] 25.Qf3 [25.Qxf4 Qa7+ 26.Kh1 Nf2+ 27.Kg1 Nh3+–+] 25...Qa7+ 26.Kh1 Nf2+ 27.Kg1 Nh3+ [27...Nxe4+ 28.Kh1 Nxd2 29.Qxf4 Nc4–+] 28.Kh1 Bg4!–+

18.Nc2!! Qb3 19. Ba2 [19.Nxa4!? Qxa4 20.Qc3 c5 21. Rxd6+-] 29


19...Qxb2 20.Nxa4 Qxa2 21.Nb6! Be6 22. Ra1 Qb3 [22...Qb2 23. Bd4! Qb3 24. Ra3+-] 23. Rfb1 1–0

29. Rxd6! Qxd6 30. Be4!!+- [30.Nxf5 Qg6] 30...Qa6 [30...Qd4 31. Bxf5 Qd5+ 32.Kg1 Qd4+ 33.Kg2 Qd5+ 34.Kh3+-]

(22) Castellanos Rodriguez,R (2491) — Zhou,Y (2414)

31. Rf2 h6 32.Nxf5! Rxf5 [32...hxg5 33.Nd6! Rxf2 34.Qh7#]

Livigno Open, 17.09.2012

33. Bxf5 Qc6+ 34.Kg1+-

[Solutions] (24) Dziuba,M (2590) — Jakubowski,K (2525) Polish league, 14.09.2012 [Solutions]

30.c6! Rxc6 31. Ba3 1–0 (23) Gajewski,G (2622) — Tomczak,J (2549) Polish league, 14.09.2012 [Solutions]

19. Bxe4! [19. Bh1? Kf7!] 19... Rxg1 [19... Rf8 20. Bd3] 20. Rxg1 fxe4? [20...Ng6 21. Rg5+-] 21.Qh8+ Qf8 22. Rg8+-

30


(25) Leniart,A (2458) — Bartel,M (2677) Polish league, 14.09.2012 [Solutions]

21... Bd7? [21... Bxg2+! 22.Kxg2 Qg4+ 23.Kxh2 Qh4+ 24.Kg2 Qg4+ 25.Kf1 Qh3+=] 22.Qxd5 Bc7 23. Re4 [23.f4!+-] (27) Gelashvili,T (2578) — Matikozian,A (2411) US league, 10.09.2012 [Solutions]

42... Bxa6! 43. Rh6+ Kf5! [43...Ke5? 44. Rxa6 e3 45. Ra8!] 44. Rxa6 e3–+ 45. Ra8 e2 46. Rf8+ Kg6 47. Re8 e1Q 0–1 (26) Maksimenko,A (2554) — Szelag,M (2470) Polish league, 15.09.2012

23. Rd8? [23. Rd2!+- a5 24.Qxe7!]

[Solutions]

23... Rxd8! [23... Bxg2? 24.Qxe7!+-] 24.Qxe7 Qd2! 25. Rc7! Qd1+! 26. Bf1 Qd5! 27. Rxb7=

19... Bxh3! 20.Qxc6 Bh2+!! 21.Kf1! [21.Kxh2 Bd7+– +; 21.Kh1 Bg4!! 22. Rxe8+ Kg7!–+] 31


(28) Pap,M (2513) — Popovic,D (2583)

(29) Mattison,H


1914

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35...h4!! 36.e6 hxg3! 37.hxg3 [37.e7? gxh2]

1. Rf3!! [1.Kf7 f3! 2. Rb5 Nd8+! 3.Kf8 Kh7–+; 1. Rb5 Kh7 2. Rg5 Kh6 3. Rg4 Ne5!–+]

37...Nf2! 38.e7 Ne4+ 39.Kc1 Nd6 40.Kxb2 Kxg3 41.Kc1! g4 42.Nc4! Ne8 43.Ne5?! [43.Kd2! Kf2 (43... Kf4 44.Ke2 Kf5 45.Na5) 44.Ne5 g3 45.Nxg6 g2 46.Nf4 g1N (46...g1Q? 47.Nh3+ Kg2 48.N xg1 Kxg1 49.Ke3) 47.Kd3 Kf3 48.Ne6 Kg4 49.Nd8=]

1...g2 2. Rxf4 Ne5 [2...g1Q 3. Rh4+ Kg7 4. Rg4+! Qxg4=] 3. Rf5! g1Q 4. Rh5+ Kg7 5. Rg5+! Qxg5= 1/2

43...Kf4 44.Nxg6+ Kf5 45.Nh4+ Kf6 46.Kd2 Kxe7

32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 32 5th of October 2012


5th of October 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

16


19


23


26

»» Solutions

27

We saw a lot of great games on the highest level during the past week. Almost every Top chess player is somewhere in action: Bilbao Final Masters, Grand Prix in London, Poikovsky. There are 30 GMs with a 2700+ Elo participating in these 3 tournaments! Compared to these Top events, the Croatian league — where both of Your commentators were playing — looks pretty unimportant. Anyhow, the Team of Arkaidj Naiditsch (Liburnja Rijeka) won the Championship for 3rd time in a row. The team of Balogh Csaba was less successful and didn’t manage to stay in the league. The player of the week is definitely Fabiano Caruana. He is just smashing the Bilbao Masters having got some serious luck in some of his games. In the first round, he won his game against the World’s Number 1 Magnus Carlsen in an endgame with a pawn down. In the FIDE Grand Prix there were 3 winners: Mamedyarov, Gelfand and Topalov. All of them showed great chess and great fighting spirit. Mamedyarov was the sole leader for quite a while, but his peaceful play during the last round gave his opponents a chance to catch him. With wins in the last round, Topalov and Gelfand joined him on the podium. In Poikovsky, the Russian Super GM Dmitri Jakovenko is dominating the event. As usual, we bring You some games from the most recent events with great chess from the very Top! Enjoy the CEWN Nr 32. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Jakovenko,D (2724) — Onischuk,A (2672) [D37] Poikovsky GM Poikovsky RUS, 01.10.2012 [Balogh Csaba] Dmitry Jakovenko continues his impressive performance this year. He’s on the way to get back to his peak rating of 2760. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 Onischuk chose the rock-solid Queen’s Gambit. 5. Bf4 0–0 6.e3 c5 This is the most common move. [However, all the top players prefer 6...Nbd7 nowadays.] 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 We are still following the main line, with hundreds of games played. White goes for the fashionable positional move:

10... Be7 11. Be2 White has more active pieces. He’s aiming to finish the development and get a small advantage. 11...dxc4 [11...Ne4 is the other move, but it doesn’t equalize either. 12.cxd5 Nxc3 13.bxc3 exd5 14.0–0 Be6 15. Rb1! Black has problems with the protection of his b7 pawn, while after 15...b6 the queen might get into some danger. 16.a4+= The threat is Rb5.] 12. Bxc4 Nh5 This is how Carlsen tried to equalize against Kramnik in 2009. 13.0–0! A known motif from many 1.d4 openings that allows Black to take the f4 bishop. Black’s main problem is the undeveloped bishop on c8. The White knights start to jump dangerously on the central squares (Ne4-d6 or Ne5). [The only way to avoid losing the bishop pair is 13. Bd6 but it leads to a drawish position after 13... Bxd6 14. Rxd6 Nf6 followed by Rd8.] 13...Nxf4 14.exf4 g6 Black fixes the pawn structure in order to prevent any f5 plan in the future, which would open the diagonal of the c4 bishop and would free the d5 square for the knight. 15.g3

10. Rd1 Jakovenko himself is a great specialist of this opening, and plays it with both colors. [10.0–0–0 is the main line with very sharp continuations.]

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15...a6 This is Black’s improvement, with the idea of b5 and Bb7. [Carlsen played 15... Rd8 16. Rxd8+ Qxd8 17. Rd1 Bd7 18.f5!? A brave decision, which had its fruits in the game, but it leads only to a draw. (Objectively, stronger was 18.Ng5! Qe8 (18... Rc8? is nicely refuted by 19.Nxf7! Kxf7 20.f5! gxf5 21.Qxf5+ Kg7 22.Qg4+ White wins in both lines. 22...Kf7 (22...Kh8 23.R xd7! Qxd7 24.B xe6+-) 23.Qh3! decoying the king from the e6-pawn. 23...Kg7 24. Rxd7! Qxd7 25. Bxe6+-) 19.Nb5! The knights are dominating the weak squares in Black’s camp. 19... Rc8 20.Ne4!) 18...gxf5 (18...exf5 19.Qb3 with a double attack.) 19.Qd2 Qb6?! Carlsen set a trap, but made a mistake. (After 19...Be8 20.Qh6 Qb8 with the idea of Ne5, Black has no problems at all. 21.Ng5 Qe5! is very strong 22.Qxh7+ Kf8 Black starts exchanging pieces with Qg7 or Rd8. He’s doing fine.) 20.Qh6! (Of course not 20.Qxd7?? Rd8; The tempting 20.Na4 is met with 20...Ne5!! was in Carlsen’s mind.) 20... Be8 21.Ng5 Bxg5 22.Qxg5+ Kf8 23.Qh6+ Kg8 24.Qg5+ Kf8 25. Rd6! Qc7? (25...Qc5 was still playable according to Kramnik.) 26.Qh6+ Ke7 27.Qh4+! Kf8 (27...Kxd6? 28.Nb5++-) 28.Qh6+ Ke7 White can play for more than a draw with 29.Nb5! Qa5 30.b4! Nxb4 (30... Qa4 loses in similar fashion. 31.R xe6+! fxe6 32.Qxe6+ Kd8 33.Qd6+ Bd7 34.Be6!+-)

31. Rxe6+! wins on the spot (31.axb4? Qa1+ 32.Kg2 B xb5 ) 31...fxe6 32.Qxe6+ Kd8 (32...Kf8 33.Qf6++-) 33.Qf6+ Kc8 34.Qxf5+ Kd8 35.Qf6+ Kc8 36.axb4 Black resigned in view of 36...Qxb4 37. Be6+ Bd7 38.Qh8+ 1–0 Kramnik-Carlsen, Dortmund 2009.] 16.Ne4 The knight is heading to the holes again. 16...b5 17. Be2 Qb6 Black doesn’t want to give up the control over the d7 square. He intends to consolidate his position first, but this allows White to increase the pressure. [17... Bb7 was suspicious, but possible. 18. Rd7 Qb6 19.Qc3! The direct threat is Rxe7 followed by Nf6-d7, winning the queen. 19... Rac8! Cold-blooded defense, counter-attacking the c3 queen. White has nothing better than (19...Rfd8 allows the combo: 20.R xe7! N xe7 21.Nf6+ Kf8 22.N xh7+ Kg8 23.Nf6+ Kf8 24.Ne5! Nd7 is the threat, Black has to play

24...Qd4 25.Qc7! Bd5 26.Nfd7+ Kg7 27.Nb6!+- White wins material, since Qe4 can easily be parried with Bf3!) 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.Qxf6 Nb8! kicking off the rook, otherwise Ng5 decides the game. 22. Rd2 Qc6 23. Rfd1 White’s chances seems to be preferable, but Black also has some potential. For instance, with Qe4-f5.] 4


18.Qc3! White immediately shows the drawback of the previous move.

weakness. 24... Bd7 25.f5! gxf5 26.Nxf5 Black’s position collapses.]

18...f6?! With human yes, the weak dark squares looked too dangerous, but this seriously weakens the pawn structure, especially the e6 pawn. [18... Bb7 should have been played. 19.Nf6+ is less dangerous. (Probably Jakovenko wanted to play 19.Rd7 which transposes to the 17... Bb7 line.) 19... Bxf6 20.Qxf6 Rad8 Black wants to simplify the position with Rxd1 and Rd8, while the concrete threats don’t break through. 21.h4 (21.Qh4? with the idea of Ng5, but 21...Nd4!) 21...Qc5 and Qf5 next.]

24. Rfe1! All eyes on e6.

19.b4! Black successfully solved the problem with te f6 hole, but the e4-knight has a new direction to c5, where it immediately attacks the e6 weakness. The critical test of the move is

24... Rc7 25. Bf1!? Jakovenko prefers to hold the tension. [The direct 25. Bxb5!? Qxb5 26.Nxe6 was also possible. The main idea is really fantastic. 26... Bxe6 (26... Qxb4 is the best, but White gets a clear extra pawn after 27.Qe3! (27.Qxb4 is less accurate. 27...B xb4 28.N xc7 B xe1 29.N xe1 Nd4 Black has saving chances.) 27... Bxe6 28.Qxe6+ Kg7 29. Rxc6 Rxc6 30.Qxc6+/-) 27. Rxe6 Kg7 And here comes the point!

19...a5 [19... Ra7 was probably the best, but White is better anyway after 20. Rc1 Rc7 21. Rfd1+=; 19... Bb7? is very bad now. 20. Rd7 Rac8 21. Rxe7! Nxe7 22.Nxf6+ Kh8 23.Qb2!+- Black can’t hold the long diagonal.] 20. Rc1! A subtle intermediate resource! It’s very important for White to keep his b4 pawn in order to occupy the c5 hole with theknight! [20.Nc5 didn’t work, because of 20...axb4 21.axb4 Nxb4!] 20... Ra6 Ugly, but what else?! [20... Bb7 is met with the same 21.Nc5 axb4 22.axb4+/-] 21.Nc5 White successfully holds the b4 pawn. 21...axb4 22.axb4 Ra7 23.Qb3! White puts the maximum pressure on the e6 pawn.

28.Nd4!! Brilliant! 28...Nxd4 29. Rxc7 Nxb3 30. Rexe7+ White mates with the rooks. 30... Rf7 (30...Kh6 31.R xh7#; 30...Kg8 31.Rg7+ Kh8 32.R xh7+ Kg8 33.Rcg7#) 31. Rxf7+ Kg8 32. Rfd7+-] 25...Nd8 26.Nd2 White wants to stabilize his c5 knight and sets a very deep trick. Oniscuk falls into it. 26... Bxc5? [26...Kg7 27.Nde4+/- is also very bad.] 27.bxc5 Rxc5

23...Kf7 A sad necessity, but other moves to protect the pawn were even worse. [23...Nd8 24.Nd4! b5 is another 5

Issue 32 (2) Karjakin,Sergey (2778) — Caruana,Fabiano (2773) [C78]

5th of October 2012

5th Final Masters Bilbao ESP (2), 25.09.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A very impressive game by Caruana, who overtook the initiative right after the opening and converted his advantage with a spectacular double exchange sacrifice. 28.Qe3! Black loses a lot of material in all the lines. Jakovenko has calculated until the end! 28...Nb7 [28... Rc6 29.Qxb6 Rxb6 30. Rxc8+-; 28... Rxc1 29.Qxb6 Rxe1 30.Qc7++- The bishop falls.] 29.Ne4! Rc6 30. Rxc6 Qxc6 31. Rc1 Qd7 The only place to control the c7 square, but it moves into another trick. 32.Nxf6! Black resigned in view of[32.Nxf6 Kxf6 33.Qe5+ Ke7 34. Rc7+-] 1–0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 A very complex opening, which is excellent to play for the win. Its only problem is that weaker players have various different ways to force a draw with White in some long lines. But of course, top players try to play ambitiously. 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9. Be3 0–0 10.Nbd2 This was considered to be one of the main options, but I believe that after this game it’s better to forget about it as White. Caruana deviates with a sideline from his previous games.

10... Bb7! [Theory suggested to play subtle chess with 10...h6 11.h3 Re8 12. Re1 Bd7 but Hou Yifan introduced a strong novelty against Caruana: 13.Qb1! This seemed 6


to give an edge. The game was analyzed in detail in the CEWN Nr 4.] 11. Re1 exd4 Another very rare move. Generally it’s better to keep the tension in the center, but now Black seems to be excellently prepared to gain a strong counterplay. [11...h6 was the main line.] 12.cxd4 Nb4 A typical reaction after exd4. Black must immediately put pressure on the central pawns.

pled move, protecting e4 followed by the knight maneuver, but Blac has 16...Ng4! 17. Bf4 c4! The dark squared bishop becomes really powerful. 18. Bg3 Ng6 19.h3 Nf6 Black is fine!] 16... Re8 17. Bc2 Ng6 Probably it was all analyzed by Caruana, he’s already slightly better. White must search for another plan than the knight transfer. It could only work on the queenside.

13.Qe2 This is the novelty. White prepares a pawn sacrifice that gives him more than enough compensation, but Black is not forced to accept it, he can calmly continue his plan. [The move 13.d5 must always be countered by undermining it: 13...c6! 14.dxc6 Bxc6 with a balanced position.; 13.Qb1 leads to a similar position to the game after 13...c5 14.a3 Nc6 15.d5 Ne7] 13...c5! [13...Nxe4?! is what Karjakin was hoping for 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Bd2 Black is forced to give up his strong bishop and his knight gets out of the game. 15... Bxf3 16.Qxf3 c5 17.Qg3!+= with a promising position.] 14.a3 White is forced to send away the knight, because it was threatening to occupy the d3 square after c4. [14. d5? c4!] 14...Nc6 15.d5 Karjakin plays the most ambitious way. If he gets to transfer his d2 knight to g3, he’ll get a comfortable position. However, Black is just in time to put enough pressure against e4. [The most direct 15.dxc5 dxc5 16.e5 is always a question, but now Black is ready to play 16... Ng4! trapping the bishop, since Bf4 loses to c4.] 15...Ne7 16.h3 White must use an important tempo to prevent the Ng4 threat. [16. Bc2 would be the princi-

18.b3 White wants to play a4, but it allows Black to improve his position seriously. [18.a4 immediately, would have been met with 18...c4 Black is OK!] 18... Ba5! Very well played! Caruana installs his bishop on c3, where it completely confuses the coordination of the White pieces. 19. Rab1 [19.a4 leads to a similar position like in the game. 19... Bc3 20. Rac1 b4 Karjakin preferred to get his e1 rook out of the pin to free his play a bit.] 19... Bc3 20. Rec1 b4! Stabilizing the bishop. White can’t make use of the c4 square, because both the d2 knight and the c2 bishop must protect the e4 pawn.

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21.a4 [21.axb4 is not much better. 21... Bxb4 22. Bd3 h6 The bishop is equally well placed on b4 and on c3.]

h1, but it would lead to the same result as in the game. 26.Kh1 ]

21...a5 Black wants to improve his bishop and White needs to prevent this. 22. Bd3 h6 A very useful waiting move. It’s hard to suggest a plan for White. 23.Qd1? This is clearly a mistake, but in a bad position it’s hard to be clever. White wanted to play Qc2 to overprotect the e4 pawn in order to execute the knight transfer to g3. [On 23. Bb5 Black has two good options: 23... Nxe4! I like this exchange sacrifice a lot. According to the game, we can be quite sure that Caruana was also intending to play it. Black will collect the d5 pawn soon as well. (23...Re7 is also good.) 24. Bxe8 Qxe8 25.Nc4 Qe7 26. Rd1 Nf6 White’s rooks have no future in this game.] 23... Ba6! Probably Ka rjakin underestimated this move. White can’t exchange his bishop, since he will be unable to protect the e4 weakness. 24. Bc2 If we look at the White pieces, we get a terrible picture. It’s all because of the monster on c3 and the weak e4 pawn. Everything goes perfectly for Black, but he must work hard to convert the advantage. [24.Qc2 Bxd3 25.Qxd3 Ra7! followed by Rae7. White collapses.]

26...Nxe4! A great exchange sacrifice, using the fact the the White rooks are completely dominated by the Black bishops. White’s position simply collapses. [Actully, Black could also have waited for a better moment, since 26... Qd7 27.g5 only helps Black. 27...hxg5 28. Bxg5 Nxe4! 29.Nxe4 (29.B xe7 N xf2 and h3 falls.) 29... Rxe4 30. Bxe4 Rxe4 followed by Qf5. The game is over.] 27.Nxe4 Rxe4 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29.Qc2 Qe7 What to do as White? Actually, Black wants to play the same against any move. 30. Rg1

24... Ra7! Activating the rook through e7. This is a famous plan from the Benoni structures. 25.Kh2 What else? 25... Rae7 26.g4?! Of course, such a weakening move only helps Black, but White had no useful moves anyway. [Probably the best was passing with the king on g1 and 8


30... Rxe3!! Just brilliant! Another exchange sacrifice destroys White’s position.

(3) Caruana,Fabiano (2773) — Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2697) [C02]

31.fxe3 Qxe3 32. Rbf1 White would like to get rid of one of the bishops, but their values are much bigger than the rooks, so Black increases the pressure.

5th Final Masters Bilbao ESP (4), 28.09.2012

32... Be2! Caruana wants to break the stability of the f3 knight, since the Be5 check would be decisive. 33.Qf5 Black can already choose between many different ways to win. 33... Bd3 [33...Nh4 was also very nice. 34.Nxh4 Be5+! and mate is coming soon. 35.Kg2 (35.Kh1 Qxh3#) 35... Qg3+] 34.Qd7 Be5+ Black only gives up one of his bishops because it leads to a forced win. 35.Kh1 [35.Nxe5 Qxe5+ 36.Kh1 (36.Rg3 B xf1) 36... Be4+ 37. Rg2 Nf4 finishes the game.] 35... Be4 36.Qe8+ Nf8 A brilliant victory by Caruana. It’s rarely seen that a player of Karjakin’s level gets crushed this way.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Another crush by Fabiano Caruana, who seems to be in a great shape lately. After the opening, things in the game got quickly sharp and far from being unclear as the result shows us. Let’s take a look at what exactly happened and why did Black lose in only 24 moves... 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Lately, Vallej o has started to play the French Defense more and more often, especially the line with 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5, going for very crazy lines. It seems like Caruana himself had been analyzing this — watch his game against Leko from Dortmund — and decided not to go for it, and played the more solid 3.e5 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 5...Qb6 is the most played move, but maybe not the most popular one currently. A lot of games have been played lately in the 5... Bd7 line, with the slightly original idea 6. Be2 f6!?.

0–1

6.a3 Nh6 The main move as well. One of the biggest French experts, Nikita Vitiugov, tried 6...Nge7, but after 9


7.dxc5!?, he didn’t get a great position against Svidler. Later on, Black was winning the game, but it was not because of the opening outcome. 7.b4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9. Be3 Still thousands of games were played here. Black’s idea is to act against the strong White center with f6 or a5. White’s ideas, on the other hand, are to develop Bd3, 0–0, and hope to keep a space advantage, which would certainly give him some edge. 9... Bd7 [9...f6 10.exf6 gxf6 11. Bd3 is probably the main line here.] 10. Bd3 Nxe3 11.fxe3 g6!? This move seems to be Vallejo’s preparation, at least he is by far the strongest player that ever did it. And indeed, it mostly looks very bad from a logical point of view. Black creates a huge „hole” on f6, and gives White time for development. But still 11...g6!? has a point. If Black is in time to play Be7, followed by 0–0 and f6, everything should be fine. Another idea could be to develop the bishop to h6 to stop White from playing Qe1–Qh4 in the future.

14...Qd8! A very strong move, Black is preparing to play b6 against White’s Nb3, and maybe to push f6 at the right moment. I think the position is unclear, but it could be very playable for Black.] 12...Nxb4!? Black accepts the challenge. A brave choice, but not the best. It looks like White’s play is just crushing! [12... Bh6 13.Qe2 and I think White is doing slightly better. The knight on c3 is better placed than on d2.] 13.axb4 Bxb4 Of course it’s not possible to keep the piece on c3. Black can attack it two more times if needed, with Rc8 and Qc7 or Qa5. 14.0–0 Bxc3 We are facing a very interesting position. White sacrificed two pawns for the initiative. White’s play will be clearly connected with the Ng5 move and an attack against the Black king, meanwhile Black should try to bring back the bishop from c3 to e7. A very interesting battle begins!

12.Nc3! I like White’s move a lot! He’s taking immediate action against Black’s Bh6 plan — White would just defend on e3 and play Na4-Nc5, which is strategically very important. [In case of the usual... 12.Nbd2 Bh6 13.Qe2 0–0 14.0–0

15. Rc1 [The immediate 15.Ng5 Bxa1 16.Nxf7 Rf8 (It was also possible to play 16...B xd4 ) 17.Nd6+ Ke7 doesn’t seem to work for White.; Too slow would be 15. Rb1?! Qd8! and Black has covered the g5 square.]

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15... Rc8 Correct play by Black! [In case of 15... Bb4 16.Ng5 0–0! 17.Qg4 with ideas like Qh3 followed by g4, or Rf3-Rcf1. I wouldn’t like to be Black here...] 16.Ng5 0–0

19.Qxh6 B xe3+ 20.Kh1 B xg5 21.Qxg5 R xc1 22.R xc1 gives Black a very important defensive resource. 22... Be8!) 19... Bxc8 20.Qxh6 Bxe3+ 21.Kh1 Bxg5 22.Qxg5 and White has a mating attack. The threat of h4 followed by Rf6 or h5 is too much for Black to handle.] 19. Rxc8?! [Again, it would be a better choice to keep the rooks on the board. 19. Rcd1! Qb4 White wanted to play g4 next. 20.g4 We are in a quite forced line that leads to a winning position for White. 20...Qe7 21. Rf6 Qa3

17.Qg4?! Probably Caruana made this logical move instantly, but a better choice would have been to think for a while. Black can now exchange a pair of rooks — which is very good for the defensive side, of course. [17. Rb1! would have been the right way to continue for White. Now against a future Bd2 move by Black, White will not be obliged to the exchange on c8. 17...Qd8 18.Qg4 Bd2 and now White got a nice tactical blow! 19.Nxh7! Quite typical and not too difficult, but pretty anyway! 19... Bxe3+ 20.Kh1 Kxh7 21. Rxf7+ Rxf7 22.Qxg6+ Kh8 23.Qxf7 and White is close to have a winning position.] 17... Bd2! Of course Black uses his chance to exchange a pair of rooks! This can be very important. Now all of White’s sacrifices will just be half as efficient. 18.Qh3 [An attempt to comeback to the Rb1 line would fail. 18. Rb1 Bxe3+ 19.Kh1 Qxd4]

22. Rxd2! Who cares about an exchange when you play for mate?! 22...Qc1+ 23. Bf1 Qxd2 24.gxh5 and White’s attack should finish the game quickly.] 19... Bxc8 20.Qf3 [It doesn’t work to play 20.g4 Qb3!] 20...Qd8?? A terrible blunder by Black when it seems that most of the danger is already in the past... [The easy 20...Qc7 would have been the right choice. 21. Bxg6 (21. Kh1 Bb4 and Black protected the rook on f8.) 21... Bxe3+ 22.Qxe3 fxg6 23. Rf6

18...h5 [The interesting 18...h6? would give White a winning position after 19. Rxc8! (The incorrect move order: 11

Issue 32 (4) Ponomariov,R (2729) — Short,N (2698) [E06]

5th of October 2012

13th Karpov GM Poikovsky RUS (5), 02.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

We face quite a strange position. Black is two pawns up, but White should still be doing a bit better. The queen and the knight are cooperating very well together and the Black bishop on c8 is not much more than just a pawn. From a practical point of view, clearly White is the side to choose, even if the computer would probably hold a draw here with the Black pieces...] 21.Nxf7 And the game is completely over...

Ruslan Ponomariov became the youngest World Champion in the World, with just 18 years. He definitely was one of the most talented chess players in history. Somehow, during the last few years he has not been fighting for the chess crown. In the current game, he shows once again how great his technique is. From almost a drawish looking position, he manages to create some pressure first, and then to secure a full point with a nice tactical blow. If we could all play like him... :) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5. Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 We are in the very main line of the Catalan!

21... Bxe3+ 22.Kh1 Qh4 23. Bxg6 It’s hard to say what did Vallejo blunder... The position is completely lost and it even seems that there are no tricks... 23... Bg5

7...a6 8.a4 [8.Qxc4 is the very main here.]

24. Bh7+ Against 24...Kg7, 25.Qd3 finishes the game. I think this game might be important from an opening point of view. I doubt that anybody else will try 11. ..g6 in the future. 1–0

8...b6 Short is trying something new. [8... Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 leads us to a well known position with thousands of games. The latest Karjakin-Leko game could be important for the evaluation of this line...]

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9.Ne5!? I would say: if I were White, I would have played it too! [Black prepared a little trick: 9.Qxc4 Bb7 10.Nc3 b5! and of course, Black is doing more than fine.] 9... Ra7 10.Qxc4 White is pla ying for a small plus, Black is trying to equalize. This is a very normal story for the Catalan. Black’s main idea is usually connected with the c5 push, and White’s with being prepared for it. White also hopes to get a small plus in some endgame. More often than not, the knight on e5 is Black’s main enemy because of the weakness of the c6 square. 10... Bb7 [Maybe 10...c5 11. Rd1 and now 11...Nfd7! getting rid of the knight on e5. I think Black should be very close to equality.] 11. Bxb7 Rxb7 12.Nc3 c5

13. Rd1 We face quite a typical position with a small plus for White. Black needs to play quite precisely to achieve complete equality. 13...cxd4 14. Be3 b5?! I think this is a small positional mistake. [14...Qc8!? This move is quite typical. Again, I want to point that Black needs to get rid of the knight on e5. While knight is „alive”, White has objective chances

of being better. 15.Qxd4 Nc6! forcing the exchange of knights. 16.Nxc6 Qxc6 17. Rac1 Rbb8! A cool and strong move! Black is recovering the coordination of his pieces. Qb7 is to follow and then Rfc8. I think Black should be very close to equal here...] 15.axb5 axb5 16.Qxd4 White is doing sloghtly better and we’ll soon understand why. 16...Qxd4 [Again 16...Qc8 with the idea of Nc6 was probably a better choice for Black.] 17. Bxd4 How to proceed now for Black?! The position is much trickier than it looks like. Some would say, it has to be a draw. I would say, not at all. White has a small plus, which is very unpleasant for Black.

17...b4 It’s not great to allow the White knight to go to a4, but what else to do... [At 17...Nfd7 18.Nxd7 Nxd7 19. Ra7! and White would win a pawn.] 18.Na4 Nfd7 Finally Black exchanges the White knight from e5, but the suffering continues. 19. Rac1 f6 [In case of 19...Nxe5 20. Bxe5 Nd7 White has 21. Rc7! Rxc7 22. Bxc7 Nf6 23.Nb6 and the draw is far

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ahead again. White will play f3-e4 next. It’s really an unpleasant endgame for Black.]

27.Nxf6!! What a pretty tactical blow! We don’t see such a motif so often!

20.Nc6 [20.Nd3! I like this move better. Why to exchange a piece? The Black knights don’t have enough squares! I think White should be doing clearly better here.]

27... Rxb6 [It doesn’t help to play 27...gxf6 28. Rxd7 Rxb6 29. Rxe7+ Kxe7 30. Bxb6 with a winning endgame for White.]

20...Nxc6 21. Rxc6 It’s not an easy job to equalize completely with Black here.

28.Nxd7 Rb5 White is winning, but there’s still some job to do. Ponomariov shows us how things should be done.

21...e5 [21...Kf7 22.b3 Rd8 23. Rdc1 White is controlling the c-file, which gives him some advantage.]

29.Nxb8 Rxb8 30. Rc1! White has a very nice plan. He’ll put the rook on the 7th rank, after taking the bishop from e3 to c3.

22. Be3 b3?! Black allows the White knight to go to d5. This is clearly the wrong idea. It was better to play 22... Kf7. This move is necessary in any case.

30... Bf6

23.Nc3! Of course, White brings his knight to d5. 23...Kf7 24.Nd5 Rd8 25.Kg2 White has no reason to hurry things up, Black has no counterplay at all. 25...Nb8 26. Rb6! A good move by White once again. 26... Rdd7? And as it happens so often in chess, after some bad play, a blunder occurs. [26... Rxb6 was probably the only move. 27. Bxb6 Rd7 28.e4 with an already very unpleasant position for Black. White will win the b3 pawn, sooner or later.]

31. Bd2 Black wanted to play e4. 31...e4 32. Rc7+ Ke6 33. Bc3 Now Black can’t avoid the rook endgame. 33... Rd8 34. Rc6+ Kf7 35.e3! Another nice technical move, fixing Black’s pawn structure. 35... Rd3 36. Bxf6 gxf6 37. Rb6! And the Black rook can’t move from d3. Now White will just come to e2 with his king and play f3.

14


37...h5 38.Kf1 Kg6 39.Ke2 Kg5 40.f3 The game is completely over.

40... Rd5 [40...f5 41.h4# Nice checkmate :)] 41.fxe4 Rc5 42.Kf3 It’s strange that Black continues playing. With 3 pawns up, Ponomariov is very very strong :). 42...h4 43.gxh4+ Kxh4 44. Rxb3 A great game by White on the Catalan! 1–0

15


Puzzle section

(7) Korobov,A (2705) — Zhigalko,S (2667) Baku Open, 28.09.2012

(5) Carlsen,M (2843) — Aronian,L (2816) Sao Paulo, 28.09.2012

[CEWN] 1. –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Mamedov,R (2634) — Esen,B (2588) (6) Safarli,E (2620) — Korobov,A (2705) Baku Open, 26.09.2012 [CEWN]

Baku Open, 28.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1... –+

16


(9) Kosintseva,T (2524) — Ju Wenjun (2528)

(11) Flores,D (2593) — Blanco Ronquillo,H (2430)


San Cristobal Open, 27.09.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

(10) Beliavsky,A (2609) — Dobrov,V (2481)

(12) Cordova,E (2554) — Martinez Romero,M (2368)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1...=

1.+-

17


(13) Shankland,S (2597) — Bhat,V (2511) Konig memorial (rapid), 23.09.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Navara,D (2691) — Sax,G (2451) Croatian league, 29.09.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

18


Endgame section (15) Vallejo Pons,F (2697) — Carlsen,M (2843) Sao Paolo, 25.09.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Black has some space advantage, a better pawn structure and his bishop is stronger than the knight. However, White has built up a very solid defensive wall, which seems to be unbreakable. As a real number 1, Carlsen finds his only chance. 26...d4!! At first sight, it’s slightly suspicious to open the e-file against his own king, but the knight doesn’t have any good way to jump with discovered check. Black tries to create a passed d-pawn.

ferring the knight to f2, followed by waiting moves with the rooks. White has good drawing chances.(29.g4 is always met with 29...h4 fixing the weakness on g2.; 29.Nc2 Rd6) ] 28...exd4 29.Nc2+ Kd5 Black made serious achievements in comparison to the initial position. 30.Nb4+ Kd6 31. Rc1? This logical move is objectively the losing mistake, although White’s position was already very difficult. Black was threatening to push a5 and to penetrate with the rook on c2. [31. Rd1 should have been played, when Black must react precisely with 31...Ke5! (On the tempting 31...a5 White has a hidden resource: 32.R xd4+ Ke5 33.Rd8! This tactical trick seems to solve all problems. 33...R xd8 34.Nc6+ Kf6 35.N xd8 Bd3 Black regains the pawn with Bf1, but White builds up a fortress with 36.Kc3 Bf1 37.Kd2 B xg2 38.Ke3 The knight starts to harass the queenside pawns.) 32. Re1+ Kf6 Black is better. 33.Nd5+ leads nowhere. 33...Kf7 The c2 square and the d-pawn are very dangerous together.; 31.Nxa6 loses to 31... Rc2+ 32.Ka3 Rxg2 Black gets too many passed pawns.] 31... Rxc1 32.Kxc1

27.cxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4? I believe it’s a mistake to allow Black to obtain a strong d-pawn. Also, White will face problems to cover the c2 invading square. [Passively waiting with 28. Rde2 was better. 28...Kf6 Black’s position remains preferable, but he must work hard to make progress. 29.Nd1! looks like a good defensive plan, trans19


32...h4! Excellent calculation by Carlsen, who had to foresee his 37th move. Black fixes the weakness on g2 and is winning now. The bishop dominates the knight. 33.gxh4 [33.Nc2!? could have been the last chance. 33...Kc5! keeping the minor pieces on the board. (Black should not be greedy and go for the pawn endgame with an extra pawn. 33...B xc2 34.Kxc2 hxg3 35.b4! White blocks all the invading squares. All he needs to do is to meet Kd5 with Kd3, and hold the draw. 35...Kd5 36.Kd3

36...Ke5 37.Kd2=) 34.gxh4 gxh4 Bd3-f1 is threatened. 35.Ne1 b4! fixing more weaknesses on the queenside. The king must cover the b1 square and the knight must cover d3, while Black simply wants to march with his king to g3.]

35.Nb4 Bf1 36.Kd2 [After 36.Nc2 White can’t stop the h-pawn. 36... Bxg2 37.Nxd4 h3] 36... Bxg2 37.Ke2 We have reached the critical position, where Black has to find the only winning move. Carlsen had seen it when he played h4.

37... Bh3!! Before making use of the two passed pawns, Black transfers his bishop to f5, where it excellently supports both pawns. [37...h3 38.Kf2 The bishop is stuck, White holds.] 38.a4 [38.Nd3 doesn’t change anything. 38... Bf5 39.Nf2 b4! This is the most accurate, fixing the a2 weakness, followed by Ke5-f4.] 38... Bf5 39.axb5 d3+ One of the pawns will promote.

33...gxh4 Black threatens to play a5 and the arising pawn endgame is winning for him, since in comparison to the 33.Nc2 line, he has an invading square on g3 for the king.

40.Ke3 h3 [40...d2 was also possible. 41.Kxd2 h3 and a new queen is coming.]

34.Nxa6 [34.Nc2 Bxc2 35.Kxc2 Ke5 wins like in the 34.Kd2 line.; 34.Kd2 a5! 35.Nc2 Bxc2 36.Kxc2 Ke5 37.Kd3 Kf4 Black wins the pawn race. 38.Kxd4 Kg3 39.Ke5 Kxg2 40.f4 h3]

41.Nxd3 Bxd3 [White resigned in view of 41... Bxd3 42.Kf2 Bxb5 43.Kg3 Bd7 The Black king collects both pawns and the h1 promoting square matches the bishop’s color.]

34... Bd3 The bishop collects the g2 pawn and obtains a second passed pawn.

0–1 20


(16) Short,N (2698) — Rublevsky,S (2693) [A28] 13th Karpov GM Poikovsky RUS (1), 28.09.2012 [Chess Evolution Team ]

37.a4 Kd7 38.Kd4 Bb3?! It’s hard to understand why Rublevsky decided to go away with his bishop to b3 and not to keep it on the c8-h3 diagonal. [38...Ke7 39.a5 Bd7 40.h3 Bc8 41.g4 Bd7 White still can’t play g5 because the pawn on h3 is hanging. 42. Bf1 Bc8 43.g5 Finally White managed to push g5, but Black keeps his passive defense. 43... Bd7 44.h4 Bc8 White can’t improve much more his position. The only try is to get the bishop to g8. 45. Bc4 Be6 and this seems to be a total draw.] 39.a5 Ke6 Black continues with his incorrect plan, it wasn’t too late to play Ke7 followed by Be6-Bc8.

After quite a dynamic game, we arrived to this bishop endgame. White is a pawn up, but the doubled a-pawn doesn’t look too good. We can say, even though White is better here, that the game probably much closer to a draw than to a win. 33... Bxe4 34.c5! Very strong and probably the only chance to continue playing for a win. [Now it would be too slow to play 34.g4?! c5! It’s very important to take the d4 square under control. 35.a4 b6 leaves Whi te without any chance to win this game. The White king doesn’t have the d4 square anymore, with the idea of going to e5 — which is the only plan in the position.] 34... Bd5 Black is winning a full pawn back — this can’t be wrong. 35.Kc3 Bxa2 36. Bd3 Be6 Black is acting against White’s only idea — to play g4-g5 followed by Kd4-Ke5.

40. Be4! Black wanted to play f5 with a draw. Now the threat of Bxc6 forces the Black king to retreat. 40...Kd7 41.g4 The usual fight for the e5 square. 41... Ba4 [It was the last chance for 41... Be6 42.g5 Ke7 43.gxf6+ Kxf6 44.a6 ! 44...bxa6 45. Bxc6 Bc8 The computers can hold this position, but from a practical point of view, it can be very unpleasant. The position is on the verge of being lost...] 42.h4 There’s no reason to hurry with the g5 push anymore. The Black bishop is very badly placed on a4. 21


42...Ke7 43.g5 Bb5 44. Bg2! And here we see what Black may have underestimated. White is bringing his bishop to c8! 44...Kf7 45. Bh3 Kg7 [The attempt to close everything doesn’t work. 45...f5 46.Ke5 Ke7 47.h5 followed by h6, and White’s threat of Bxf5 followed by g6, or to bring the bishop to the a2-g8 diagonal should be enough to win the game.] 46. Bc8 Ba6 Black is completely paralyzed but it’s not easy to break through still. 47.Ke4 White has all time in the world and is preparing to crush Black’s position. 47...Kf7 48.f5! Pawns crushing pawns :). 48...Kg7 49.Kf4 Kf7 50.fxg6+ hxg6 51.Ke4 Kg7 52.gxf6+ Kxf6 53.Kf4 The first zugzwang. Black needs to retreat with the king.

58. Bd1! The second try on the d1 square. 58... Be6? After this move the game is lost. The only attempt to continue was to play [58... Bd3 but after 59. Bf3! puts Black in zugzwang. In case of 59... Bb1, 60. Bxc6 is winning. In case of 59... Bc4, 60. Be4 Kf7 and 61.Kd6!.] 59. Bc2 Bf7 60. Bd3! The last precise move. Black has no moves. 60... Be8 And only now 61. Be4 Bf7 62. Bxc6 We saw a well played endgame by White and a wrong defensive idea by Black, which led the endgame from a close to drawn position to a losing one, step by step. 1–0

53...Kf7 54.Ke5 Ke7 55. Bg4 White wants to combine the threat of playing Bc8 and to bring the bishop to the b1–h7 diagonal. 55... Bc4 56. Bf3 Bd3 Black doesn’t allow it. 57. Bg4 Bc4

22


Clash of the Titans

7. Rc1 White focuses his forces on the central files to prepare for the dxc4 and c5 breaks.

(17) Smyslov,Vassily — Hort,Vlastimil [D64]

7...c6 8.Qc2 Re8 One of the main equalizing ideas in this opening is dxc4 followed by e5. The last move supports this plan.

Leipzig ol (Men) fin-A Leipzig, 04.11.1960 [Balogh Csaba] A real „heavy-weight” game. The 7th World Champion against one of the strongest player of the 1960s and 70s, Vlastimil Hort. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 Black decided to play the Queen’s Gambit. 5.e3 Nbd7 Recently this setup went slightly out of fashion. [The players prefer 5...0–0 6.Nc3 h6 7. Bh4 and one of the following two continuations here. 7...Ne4 (or 7...b6 both with a huge amount of theory.) ] 6.Nc3 0–0 A psycho logical fight begins over the dxc4 move. White would like to make as many useful developing moves as possible before „touching” the f1 bishop, in order to save a tempo on recapturing on c4. Black’s idea is more or less the same, he wants to improve his position until the f1 bishop leaves its place.

9.a3 Another very useful, multi-purpose move. White frees the a2 square for the bishop (the game demonstrates this well) and prepares to play b4 later in the middlegame stage. 9...dxc4 Finally, Black could not hold the tension. [9...a6 It was still possible to wait, but White would have improved his position anyway. 10.h3! opening the back-rank and saving the dark-squared bishop against the h6 Bf4 Nh5 ideas with Bh2.] 10. Bxc4 Nd5 This is Black’s main resource in this line. White needs to react accurately, otherwise the advantage quickly disappears. 11. Bxe7 Qxe7

12.Ne4! It’s very important to save the knight and prevent Black’s plan. [On the „normal” 12.0–0 Black imme-

23


diately solves his opening problems with 12...Nxc3! 13.Qxc3 e5!=]

Black was afraid of 17.e4 but here he has a very strong resource: 17...Nf8! 18.dxc5 Rec8!= solving all his problems.]

12...h6 [The 12...e5? break is refuted tactically by 13. Bxd5! cxd5 14.Nc3 ! White wins a pawn, since d5 can’t be protected with the queen because of Nb5, and on 14...e4 15.Nxd5! Qd6 16.Nc7+- wins.] 13.0–0 b6 Black finishes his development, and starts to prepare for the other break (after e5 was prevented) with c5. 14. Ba2!? Here you can see one of the points of the 9.a3 move. Smyslov transfers his bishop to b1 to create direct threats. [I believe 14.Ne5! was even stronger. 14... Bb7 15. Be2! Rec8 (Black must be careful with 15...Rac8 16.Qa4! with a double-attack.; 15...N xe5 16.dxe5 is never an option for Black because of the d6 square.) 16. Bh5! forcing a huge weakness. 16...g6 17. Bf3 White’s pieces are perfectly coordinated, he must have the advantage here.] 14... Bb7 15. Bb1 Nc5 is the threat. Black must cover the h7 square. 15...N5f6 16.Ng3 White consequently avoids the exchanges of knights and also prepares to play e4-e5, but at the same time allows Black to free his position. [16. Nxf6+!? might be a better option. 16...Nxf6 17.Ne5 Rec8 18.Nd3 controlling both e5 and c5 breaks, with a small advantage.] 16...g6? Hort preferred to execute the e5 move and took control over the f5 square, but it was too slow. [However, the other idea would have equalized. 16...c5 Probably

17.e4! White is in time! The idea is e5 followed by Ne4, occupying the d6 square. 17...e5 18.Qd2!! Very deep move, which was probably overlooked by Hort, otherwise he would have preferred to play 16...c5. White wants to exchange everything on e5, followed by f4 and e5, but first he takes control over the d4 square with a tempo by attacking the h6 weakness. [18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.f4 Qd4+ 18.Qd2 was directed against this. 21.Kh1 Rad8 White should be better here as well, but now Black always has Ng4 against the e5 move.] 18...Qf8 [18...Kh7 is even worse. 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.f4+/- and e5, f5 are coming next, destroying Black’s kingside pawn structure.] 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.f4 Re7 22.e5 Clearly something went wrong for Black, his counterplay is very far away. 22... Rd8 23.Qc3?! I don’t understand this move. Why did White move into the Nd5 tempo? [23.Qc2 was prob24


ably the best. 23...Nd5 24. Rf3 covering the e3 square, followed by f5 next with a huge attack.] 23...Nd5 24.Qb3 White is ready to push f5, how should Black react?

27...Kh7 Black protects to queen to refresh the Nxf4 idea, but it moves into other threats. [27... Ba6 28. Rf2 Nxf4 29.Qe3+-; 27...Nxf4 28.Qe3+- and g5 doesn’t work because of Nf5.] 28.f5! Nxf7 is threatened, followed by fxg6. 28... Ba6 [Exchanging the queens doesn’t help. 28... Qe3+ 29.Qxe3 Nxe3 30.fxg6+ fxg6 31. Rxf8 Nxd1 32. Rf6! Black’s position collapses, for instance: 32...Nxb2 33. Rxg6 Kh8 34.e6+- and Nf7 next.] 29. Rfe1 Nf4 A desperate attempt to do something with Qg5, but White keeps everything under control.

24...h5?! Hort wants to generate counterplay with Qh6, but it further weakens Black’s kingside. [24...f5! was the only chance to stay in the game. Black wants to play Qf7 and c5, so White should try to continue the attack with 25.exf6 Qxf6 26.f5 g5 Black has a terribly suspicious position, but it’s not clear yet how White should continue. For instance, after the straight forward 27.Nh5 Qd4+ 28.Kh1 Re2 29.f6 Black plays 29...Qe3! 30.Qc4 c5! and suddenly it’s not obvious who is better.] 25.Ne4 Smyslov is not in a hurry with f5. First, he installs a knight on d6. [25.f5 was also quite good. 25...Qh6 26. Rce1 to prevent Qe3. 26...h4 27.Ne4 with a big attack.] 25...Qh6 26. Rcd1 Rf8 27.Nd6! The f4 pawn is indirectly protected by Qe3, pinning the queen. This means Black is completely lost, he has no chance for counterplay, he can only wait and watch how Smyslov finishes the game.

30.Qf3 In this practically hopeless situation, Black blunders a tactical blow and quickens his defeat. 30... Rd8?

31.Nxf7! Black loses a huge amount of material. 31... Rxd1 32. Rxd1 Be2 Instead of on. White has numerous ways to win, Smyslov chose the easiest. [32... Rxf7 33.fxg6++- wins.] 33.fxg6+ Nxg6 34.Nxh6 Bxf3 35.gxf3 Kxh6 36. Rd6 1–0 25


Surprise section / study (18) Mattison,H 1914 [CEWN] 1.=

26


Solutions

(20) Mamedov,R (2634) — Nasri,A (2319) Baku Open, 22.09.2012

(19) Grischuk,A (2754) — Mamedyarov,S (2729)

[Solutions]

London GP, 24.09.2012 [Solutions]

30.Qxf5! Rxe4? [30... Bb8 31. Bc2; 30...g6!? 31.hxg6 Rxe4 32.g7+! Kxg7 33. Bc2! Re2+ 34. Rxe2 Qxe2+ 35.Kh1!+-] 25.Nxg6!! fxg6 [25...Nexg5 26. Bxg5 Nxg5 27.Nf4 h4 28.Ngh5+-]

31. Rxe4 Qxe4+ 32.Qxe4 Rxe4 33. Rf8+ Kh7 34. Bc2! Ne3+ 35.Kf3 Nxc2 36.Kxe4 1–0

26.Qxg6+ Ng7 [26... Bg7 27.Nxh5] 27.Qh6!! [27.Nxh5 Qf5] 27...Nf5 [27...Ne6 28.Qxh5 Ng7 29.Qg4 Qxg4 30.hxg4+-] 28.Qxh5 Nxg3 29.Kxg3 Bg7 30.Qg4 [30.f4+-] 30...Nf8 31.f4+-

27


(21) Guseinov,G (2613) — Bajarani,U (2436)

(23) Zhao Xue (2549) — Cmylite,V (2520)

Baku Open, 23.09.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28. Reh3! a1Q+ 29.Kd2 Ne4+ 30.Qxe4 Qb4+ 31.Nc3 1–0

40... Rg2!! 41.Qxg2 [41. Bd7 Qxh3+ 42.Nxh3 Rxh3#] 41...fxg2+–+ 42.Kxg2 Qg5+ 43.Kh2 Rh4 44. Rg1 Qh6–+

(22) Socko,M (2463) — Ju Wenjun (2528) Ankara WGP, 18.09.2012

(24) Xiu Deshun (2524) — Wan Yunguo (2474)

[Solutions]

Chinese zonal, 19.09.2012 [Solutions]

71.Qh8+!! Kf7 72.Qf6+ Kg8 [72...Ke8 73.Qe7+ Kxe7=]

34.fxe5!! Nxb3 35.e6 Qd6 [35...Nd4 36.e7+-]

73.Qh8+ Kf7 74.Qf6+ Kxf6 1/2–1/2

36.e7 Qd4+ 37.Kh1 1–0 28


(25) Bogosavljevic,B (2497) — Antic,D (2476) Serbian league, 19.09.2012 [Solutions]

22.Qxb5 Nb8 23.c6?! [23.Qb7+! Kd7 24.Nxe5+ (24. Ba5 Rc8 25.N xe5+ Ke8 26.B xc7+-) 24...Ke8 25.Nxg6 Qd7 26.Qxe4+- (26.N xh8+-) ] 23... Rd5 24.Qb7+ Kd8 25. Bb4? [25.Nxe5! Bxe5 26.Qa8!! Bd6 27. Rxb8+ Bxb8 28. Rb1!! Bc8 29. Rxb8 Qe6 30. Bb4! Rxd4 (30...Rh7 31.Ba5++-) 31.Qa5+ Ke8 32.Qa1!!+-] 25...Qe8 (27) Saric,I (2637) — Roiz,M (2618)

18. Bxf6! Bxf6 19.Nc5! 1–0[19.Nc5 Qc7 20.Nxb7 Qxb7 21. Bxc6+-]

Croatian league, 23.09.2012 [Solutions]

(26) Pavlovic,M (2531) — Sargissian,G (2693) Serbian league, 21.09.2012 [Solutions]

29.Ng5! Qb3 [29...Qc6 30. Rc1! Qb7 31.Qc4+ Kh8 32.Qf7+-; 29...Qf5 30.Qc4+ Kh8 31.Qf7 Qxg5 32. Rd1! (32.Qxe7 Qd2 33.B xf6+) 32...Ne5 33.Qxe7+-] 30.Qxd7 Qxb2 31. Re1 fxg5 32.Qd5+ 1–0 20.Nd5!! cxd5 [20... Bxd5 21.exd5 Qxc5 22.dxc6 Qxc6 23. Bxe5+- (23.Rb3+-) ] 21.d4!! dxe4 [21...exd4 22.Qxb5 Nxc5 23. Bxd4+-] 29


(28) Mu Ke (2286) — Malakhov,V (2705)

(29) Gurvitch,A


1927

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

22...b5! 23.axb5 axb5 24.Nxb5 [24. Bxd5! Bxd5 25.Ne3 Be6 26.Nac2 b4–+]

1.Kg4+! [1. Rh1? Nb1–+; 1. Rxa2 Nxa2 2.Kg4 a4 3.Kf4 Nc3 4.Ke3 Nb5 5.Kd3 Nxa3 6.Kc3 Nb5+ 7.Kb4 a3–+]

24...Na7 [24...Nd4!–+]

1...Kg6 2. Rxa2! Nxa2 3.Kf4 Kf6 [3...Nc3 4.Ke5 Nb5 5.Kd5 Nxa3 6.Kc5! Kf5 7.Kb6 Nc4+ (7...a4 8.Ka5=) 8.Kb5=; 3...Nb4 4.Ke5 Na6 5.Kd5=]

25.Nxa7 Qxa7! 26.Qc2 Bxf2+ 27.Kh1 Bxe1–+

4.Ke4 Ke6 5.Kd4 Kd6 6.Kc4 Kc6 [6...a4 7.Kb5 Nc3+ 8.Kb4=] 7.Kb3! Nc1+ 8.Ka4! Kb6 1/2

30

Weekly Newsletter



12 th of October 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17


20


24


27

»» Solutions

28

Another week of great chess has passed, and once again we can enjoy a super-tournament, right after another super event. Poikovsky was won very convincingly by Jakovenko, who came close to reach a 2750 ELO. The second place went to Ponomariov, who showed yet another time his great endgame technique. The second stage of the Grand Slam in Bilbao has begun with Magnus Carlsen taking his revenge on Caruana. This time, he won a slightly better endgame. The European Club Cup in Elat is the main place of attention of the next week. As usual. the strongest teams of the World will be competing for the prestigious title. One of Your commentators is going to play for his traditional club, Baden-Baden. The rapid super-tournament in Saint-Petersburg was won by Leinier Domínguez and Peter Svidler with 7,5/11. We comment two very exciting games from this great rapid event in this edition. As usual, have fun with CEWN Nr 33! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2

Issue 33 12 th of October 2012

4 best games of the past week (1) Rublevsky,S (2693) — Bologan,V (2712) Poikovsky, 06.10.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A typical Sicilian fight, where the players have castled on opposite sides and have launched dangerous attacks on both wings. As it often happens in this kind of positions, one side is just a tempo ahead. In this case, it was White. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 This very sharp line is relatively rarely seen on the top level nowadays. Sergei Rublevsky is probably the biggest expert on it as White.

6...e6 7. Bb3 Nbd7 [Probably the main move is 7...b5 8.0–0 Be7 9.Qf3 Qb6 10. Be3 Qb7 which is considered to be good and leads to a full of life double-edged position.] 8. Bg5 Qa5 9.Qd2 In general, the main idea of the 6. Bc4 system is to put pressure on the e6 pawn by push-

ing f4-f5, forcing Black to weaken his d5 square — either by e5 or exf5 — and to occupy it with the knight. 9... Be7 [Bologan already played a similar game this year, where he chose 9...h6 His opponent reacted badly with 10. Bh4. The critical is 10. Bxf6 Nxf6 11.0–0–0 followed by f4-f5.] 10.0–0–0 Nc5 11. Rhe1 h6? This is a very strange mistake by Bologan in his preparation, since Rublevsky has already won a convincing game against Efimenko back in 2008, where he showed the drawback of this move. [From a theoretical point of view, the critical move is 11...0–0 12.Kb1 Qc7 13.f4 h6 and here White has to choose between two setups: 14.h4!? (Or 14.B xf6 B xf6 15.g4) ] 12. Bxf6 Bxf6

13.Nf5! In that game, Rublevsky improved his previous game against Ponomariov with this great novelty! We can say that this kind of piece sacrifice with Nf5 or Nd5 is very common in the Sicilian. White opens the central lines against the king. [13.Kb1 happened in the RublevskyPonomariov, Elista 2007 game.] 13...0–0 [Accepting the sacrifice also leads to a worse position after 13...exf5 14.exf5+ Be6 This is the only move, other attempts lose instantly. 3


a) 14...Kf8? 15.Qxd6+ Kg8 16. Re8+ Kh7 17. Rxh8+ Kxh8 18.Qf8+ Kh7 19. Bxf7 Bxf5 20.Qxa8+- refreshing the threat on g8, White wins.;

17...exf4 18.e5! With this small tactical trick, White closes the diagonal of the powerful bishop, which was Black’s main hope to get enough compensation.

b) 14...Kd8? 15.Qxd6+ Bd7 16.Nd5 An experienced Sicilian player stops calculating at this moment, knowing that the attack must break through. This is not the exception. 16... Rc8 (16...N xb3+ 17.axb3 Qa1+ 18.Kd2 Qa5+ 19.b4+- with mate to follow.) 17.Nxf6 gxf6 18.Qxf6+ Kc7 19.Qd6+ Kd8 Now the strongest is 20. Ba4! Deviating the queen from the b6 square. Qxd7 is the threat. 20...Qxa4 (20...b5 21.Re5+-) 21.Qb6+ Rc7 22.Qf6+ Kc8 23.Qxh8++-; 15.fxe6 Nxb3+ 16.cxb3 0–0 This is the lesser evil for Black. He’s only a pawn down and the f6 bishop gives some compensation. 17.exf7+ Rxf7 18.f4 Rc8 19. Re3+= Kb1 is coming next, with an advantage.]

18... Be7 [18... Bxe5? drops a piece after 19.Nc4! Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Qc7 21.Nd5! Qb8 22.Ne7+ wins one of the bishops. 22...Kh7 23.Qc2+ g6 24.Nxc8+-] 19.h4! Great multi-purpose move. White wants to take on f4 (preventing Bg5) and is already preparing for his future an attack on the kingside. 19... Be6 20.Qxf4

14.Nxd6 Rd8 White must play accurately, otherwise Black gets enough counterplay. 15.f4! Trying to stabilize the d6 knight with e5. Black is forced to prevent it. 15...Nxb3+ 16.cxb3 Until the king doesn’t get to b1, White has to take back with the c-pawn. It might look a bit ugly, but this phalanx gives very good shelter for the king. 16...e5 This is the deviation from the Rublevsky-Efimenko game, however, it was still commented for White a few more moves. [16... Be7 happened before. 17.e5 Bxd6 18.exd6 b5 and White reacted strongly with 19.Qd4! Rb8 (19...b4? 20.Re5! traps the queen.) 20.b4! Qb6 21.Qc5! with a clear extra pawn. White went on to win.] 17.Qf2 White leaves the annoying pin and creates the Nc4 threat.

20...b5 This is the first new position for White. [Rublevsky, in his commentary, analyzed 20... Rd7 21.Kb1 Rad8 22.b4 Qc7 23.Nce4+= with an advantage.] 21.Kb1 A necessary prophylactic move to protect the a2-pawn. 21...b4 22.Nce4 Qb6 Black has found the most principled and straight forward plan to attack with a5-a4. He needs only two moves to reach the frontline. What to do for White? He has no resources to defend, so as the saying goes, the best defense is to attack! 23.g4! Launching the counter-attack, but who is faster?! 4


23...a5 24.g5 a4 [Black can’t try to win some time with 24...h5 because of 25.Nf6+! Kh8 (25...gxf6 26.gxf6+-) 26.Qf3! g6 27.Nxh5! Black collapses. 27...a4 (27...gxh5 28.Qxh5+ Kg8 29.g6+-) 28.Nxf7++-] 25.gxh6! Objectively, this is the strongest move, but it required a huge amount of calculations. [25.Nf6+!? leads to a winning position as well, but in much simpler lines. 25... Kh8 Only move. (25...B xf6 26.gxf6 axb3 27.Rg1! Black’s main problem is that he still needs two moves to generate real threats with Rxa2 and Qa5, but this is enough for White to win the game. 27...R xa2 28.R xg7+ Kf8 29.Rg8+! Kxg8 30.Qg3+ Kf8 31.Qg7#; 25...gxf6 26.gxf6+- is over immediately.) 26.Nd5! This is the key move! The rest is not so difficult to find. 26... Bxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd6 (On 27... axb3 White can simply take material with 28.N xf7+ and Nxd8.) 28. Rxd6 Rxd6 (28...Qa5 29.Qxf7! The queen defends the a2 pawn.) 29.exd6 axb3 and now 30.d7! is the way to victory. Re8 is the threat. 30...Qb5 (30...Qg6+ 31.Qe4+-) 31.Qd4! Rd8 32.gxh6+-]

26...Qc6! How to prevent Qc2? [26...bxa2+? is the worst. 27.Ka1 Black has no chance to continue the attack because of his own pawn. He would require a knight to jump to b3, otherwise there is not even a check.; 26... Rxa2 is too slow. 27.Qh6 Black has only a few checks before the resignation. 27... Ra1+ 28.Kxa1 Qa5+ 29.Kb1 Qa2+ 30.Kc1 Qa1+ 31.Kd2 Qxb2+ 32.Ke3+- The king has escaped.] 27. Re2! Only move! White must keep the escaping route through c1–d2 free for his king. [27. Rc1? Qa6; 27. Rd2? would be a decisive blunder. 27... Rxa2 28.Qh6 Black is faster now with 28... Ra1+! 29.Kxa1 Qa4+ 30.Kb1 Qa2+ 31.Kc1 Qa1#] 27... Bd5! It’s White’s turn to make a „cool” move! [Black only has a few checks after 27...Qa6 28.Qh6! Qxa2+ 29.Kc1 Rac8+ 30.Kd2! Qxb2+ (30...Rc2+ 31.Ke3 R xe2+ 32.Kxe2 Qxb2+ 33.Ke3+-) 31.Ke1+- It’s over.; 27... Rxa2 28.Qh6+-]

25...axb3

26.hxg7! This is a real fight! Black must act quickly, since White is already close to mate with Qh6!

28.Ng3! Refreshing the Qh6 threat. [28.Nf2! with the same idea as the text move was also winning. 28... Be6!? A tricky move but it doesn’t help. (28...R xa2 29.Qh6 Ra1+ 30.Kxa1 Qa4+ 31.Kb1 Qa2+ 32.Kc1+-) 29.Qh6! Bf5+ 5


30.Nxf5 Rxd1+ 31.Nxd1 bxa2+ 32.Ka1+- The h6 queen is excellently placed. It doesn’t only threaten with mate, but also covers the c1 square.]

35.Ke3!! The brave run is the only way to victory! Black runs out of checks very quickly in all the lines. [35.Ke1 leads to a draw again. 35...Qc3+ 36. Red2

28... Rxa2 There was nothing against Qh6, Black must try a desperate attack. [28...Qa4 loses to 29.a3! bxa3 30.Qh6! Qxh4 White has only one winning move. 31.Qh8+! Qxh8 32.gxh8Q+ Kxh8 33. Rxd5+-; 28...Qa6 is refuted by 29.a3! bxa3 30.Qh6!+-]

a) 36. Rdd2 Qc1+ 37. Rd1 (37.Kf2?? Bc5+ wins.) 37...Qc3+;

29.Qh6 Ra1+ 30.Kxa1 Qa6+ 31.Kb1 Qa2+ 32.Kc1 Rc8+ Black wants to give the opportunity for his bishop to join the attack on c5. [32...Qa1+ is similar to the game. 33.Kd2 Qxb2+ 34.Ke3!! Just as in the game, White has to run forward for the win. (34.Ke1 leads to perpetual check. 34...Qc3+ 35. Rdd2 (35.Kf2 Qf3+=; 35.Red2 Qxg3+) 35... Qxg3+ 36.Kf1 Qh3+ Black holds the draw with precise checks. 37. Rg2 Bxg2+ 38. Rxg2 Qh1+ 39. Rg1 (39.Kf2?? B xh4+) 39...Qf3+ 40.Ke1 Qc3+ 41.Kf2 Qd4+ Draw.) 34...Qc3+ (34...Qxe5+ 35.Nge4+- No more checks.) 35. Rd3 Qxe5+ (35...Qc1+ 36.Red2 Qe1+ 37.Kf4+- The safest place for the king.) 36.Nge4+-] 33.Nxc8 Qa1+ 34.Kd2 Qxb2+

b) 36.Kf1 Qf3+=; 36...Qxg3+ 37. Rf2 Qg1+ White must accept a draw with 38.Ke2! (38. Rf1??

38... Bxh4+! 39.Ke2 (39.Qxh4 Qe3# Picturesque mate!) 39...Qg4+ 40.Kd3 Bc4+ 41.Ke3 Bg5+) 38...Qg4+ 39.Kd2 Qd4+ 40.Ke1 Qe4+ 41.Kf1 (41. Re2?? would be too greedy. 41... Bxh4+! 42.Kd2 (42.Kf1 Qh1#) 42... Qd4+ 43.Kc1 Qa1+ 44.Kd2 Qc3#) 41...Qh1+ with perpetual check.] 35...Qc3+ [35... Bc5+ 36.Kf4+-; 35...Qxe5+ 36.Kf2 Bc5+ 37.Kf1+-] 36. Rd3 Bc5+ [36...Qxe5+ 37.Kf2 Bc5+ 38.Kf1 Qa1+ 39. Re1+-] 37.Kf4 Qc1+ 38. Red2 Qc4+ 39. Rd4 No more checks left- Black resigned! A really spectacular and amusing game! 1–0 6


(2) Movsesian,S (2699) — Matlakov,M (2665) [C84] St Petersburg Rapid Cup 2012 St Petersburg RUS (6.2), 06.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Even though it was a rapid game, Movsesian shows some very nice play and a lot of nice ideas in the Spanish structures! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 The main move is 6. Re1, but a lot of players are afraid of the Marshall, so the move 6.d3 has become very popular during the last couple of years. These positions look almost equal, but they are quite tricky and require exact play for Black to get complete equalization.

7...0–0 8.Nbd2 White’s plan is quite simple: to play Re1, Nf1–Ng3 and maybe d4afterwards. This time Black needs to decide whether to play with d6-d5 or without it. 8...b5 9. Bc2 Now we can see why did White play an early c3... The bishop goes directly to c2. 9...d5 Black decides to push d5. Other plan for Black could be to play Nd7-Nb6-Bf6, or just the simple Re8Bf8, h6, Bb7. All of this is well known and was already tried in a lot of games. 10. Re1 Now White wants to take on d5 because the e5pawn is hanging. 10...dxe4 11.dxe4 Be6 Until now everything is more or less standard. White is starting a „standard” plan as well. 12.a4 Of course, it would make no sense to play Nf1 and go for the queen exchange. This would just lead to an equal position and the White queen would be very nicely placed on e2 — attacking the pawn on b5.

6...d6 This move is the new fashion. In previous games, much more often we saw the moves 6...b5 7. Bb3, and only then d6.

12...Qc8 A very playable reaction. Black frees the d8 square for the rook and at the same time brings the Queen to b7, where it will protect the b5-pawn. [12...b4 13.Qe2 Qc8 14.Nc4 Nd7 15.a5 f6 16.Ne3 b3 17. Bb1 Bd6 18.Nd5 Movsesian-Almasi, Olympiad 2012, with some advantage for White]

7.c3 Now after Black’s b5, the White bishop is going to escape to c2, not allowing Black to play Na5 and c5. It’s hard to say if this is good or bad. At least, according to the results, White often manages to create some trouble for his opponent. 7


13.Qe2 Qb7 Black tries to avoid weakening the c4square, but now White goes for another plan. 14.b4! White fixes the Black pawn on b5, which will become a target very soon and will cause a lot of trouble for Black. 14... Rfd8?! A „standard” move, but not the best one. Black is acting against White’s positional threat. [14... Rab8!? would have been a better move in my opinion. Black should not exchange a pair of rooks here, the rook on b8 would protect the pawn on b5, while the rook on d8 would take control over the file. The next Black moves could be h6, Rfd8 and I think that if White is better, it should be a very small advantage.] 15.axb5! Another excellent reaction by Movsesian. 15...axb5 16. Rxa8 Rxa8 17. Bd3 And White’s idea is coming true. The b5-pawn is weak and it’s not that easy for Black to find a good way to defend it. 17... Rb8 18.Nb1!? White follows his major plan! Another piece is coming to the attack Black’s weaknesses. [18. Nf1! would have been another very attractive option for White. The knight is going to d5 or f5 through e3. White is clearly better.]

21.Ng5!? When all the Black pieces are concentrated on the queenside, White starts his play on the kingside! 21... Bg4 [21... Bc8 22. Ra1 gives White clearly better prospects.] 22.f3 Bd7 [A clearly wrong direction for the bishop would be 22... Bh5? 23.Nh3 Black’s bishop is out of play on h5, and White will continue his play on the queenside by playing c4 eventually. White’s position is much better.] 23.Qa2

18... Bd6 In order to have Na7 next. The pawn on e5 is not hanging anymore. 19.Na3 Na7 20. Be3 c6 Black defends the b5-pawn, but the knight on a7 is very badly placed... 23... Rf8? A blunder, but it’s hard to blame somebody for such a move in a rapid game. [23... Be8 A passive move, but Black is very solid. White keeps some small advan8


tage but nothing major is going on. In the future, White could try to take control over the a-file by playing Nc2 and Ra1. A small plus is guaranteed, but it’s not clear if this is enough to win the game.] 24.Nc4! A strong and unexpected tactic. White attacks a7 and f7 at the same time... 24...bxc4 [In case of the passive move 24...Nc8 25.Nxd6 Nxd6 26. Bc5 Ra8 27.Qb3 Black’s position is very bad...] 25. Bxc4 Nb5 Black is using his practical chances by going into a position with two pieces for a rook and two pawns... This kind of resource is always useful in a rapid game.

30.Qf2 Bd8 The losing move, but it wouldn’t have been much better to play: [30... Bxe3 31.Qxe3 Qa7 32.Qxa7 Nxa7 33.Kf2 with a very bad endgame. White will play Ke3-Kd2 next, followed by Ra1. I don’t think Black has any real chances of holding this position.] 31. Bc5+ Ke8 32.Qg3 g7 and e5 are hanging, one of the pawns is going to fall. It was clearly too much for Black. A great game by White, who showed us the basic ideas in this „tricky” opening! 1–0

26.Nxf7 Rxf7 27. Bxf7+ Kf8 28. Rc1! Another strong move by White, who isn’t trying to force things. White’s small material advantage gives him a clear edge, so why to hurry?! Maybe White wants to play Bb3 next, followed by c4, or maybe Bc4, Qb3 and Ra1, winning control over the a-file. 28... Bc7 29. Bc4

29... Bb6 The exchange of bishops doesn’t help much...

9


(3) Gelfand,B (2738) — Kasimdzhanov,R (2684) London GP, 03.10.2012 [Balogh Csaba] We are in the final round of the London Grand Prix, where Gelfand was in a must win situation in order to tie for first place. He chose a good opening, which gave way to a very sharp and complex middlegame. The big stakes affected the game a lot, but in the time trouble, Gelfand’s nerves were better. Anyway, a very interesting game. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 This is White’s alternative to avoid the Moscow variation, which starts with [6. Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 The initial position, where both sides are full of resources. We can say that despite being a hundreds of top level games recently, the territory is still quite unexplored.] 6...Qxf6 7.e3 g6 A fashionable sideline. Kasimdzhanov has already drawn against Wang Hao in this tournament with it, and didn’t have any problems against Aronian a few weeks ago. [7...Nd7 is the main line.] 8. Be2 Gelfand deviated from the mentioned games. 8... Bg7 9.e4 White prefers to avoid including the 0–0 and 0–0 moves. However, it’s not easy to find the difference. .. 9...dxe4 I don’t like this move so much. [In my opinion, Black should react the same way as if 0–0 was included. 9...dxc4 10. Bxc4 0–0 and probably White should transpose to the main line with 11.0–0 Nd7 12.e5 Qe7 with a complex game, but theory considers Black to be all right.]

10.Nxe4 Qf4 A concrete attempt to equalize. [After the calm 10...Qe7 White gets a comfortable position with 11.c5! This is White’s general idea. The knight is going to be annoying on d6.] 11.Qc2 0–0 12.0–0

12...c5!? A very interesting pawn sacrifice. Black gets strong compensation after both captures. On other moves, White wanted to play c5 himself, securing a stronghold for the knight on d6. [12...Nd7 13.c5! also looks good for White. Black’s break through attempt with 13...e5?! doesn’t work right now. 14.g3! Qf5 15.Nh4! Suddenly. White can launch a crushing attack: 15...Qh3 (15... Qe6 16.Bc4! and g6 is hanging.) 16. Bc4! Kh7 (16...exd4 17.N xg6+-) 17.f4! exf4 (17...exd4 18.Nf2! traps the queen.) 18. Rxf4! (18.Nf2 B xd4) 18... Bxd4+ 19.Nf2 and Black can’t stand the pressure. The game could finish with 19... Bxf2+ 20. Rxf2 Ne5 21.Nxg6! Nxg6 22. Bxf7+-; Taking the d4 pawn is hardly advisable... 12...f5?! 13.Nc5 Bxd4 White gets more than enough counterplay. 14.Nd3! Qe4 (14...Qd6 15.c5 Qd8 16.Nf4 with the double threat of Nxg6 and Rad1. Black is in trouble. 16...g5 17.Rad1+/-) 15. Rfe1! Bf1 threatens to trap the queen. 15...c5 16. Bf1 Qc6 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Ne5 Qe8 19. Rad1+/- Black deservedly collapses, as he destroyed his pawns structure and 10


gave up his important dark-squared bishop only for one pawn.] 13.dxc5! Correct decision! [Black has enough counterplay after 13.Nxc5 Nc6 14.Nb3 a5! provoking a4, in order to create a hole on b4. 15.a4 Rd8 16. Rfd1 b6 followed by Bb7, Rac8 and Nb4. Black has a very easy play against the central pawns, and any kind of advance by White involves the creation of bigweaknesses in the position. This was Kasimdzhanov’s very deep idea, which was perfectly avoided by Gelfand.] 13... Bd7 With the idea of Bc6 and Na6, trying to win back the pawn. [On 13...Na6 White probably wanted to play similarly to the game. 14.a3 Qc7 15.b4! White gets huge compensation for the exchange. The phalanx on the queenside is very powerful, and the e5 and d6 — or f6 — squares will be occupied soon by the knights.]

14.b4?! Really ambitious and nice try, but objectively not a great move at all. [14. Rfd1! should have been played, avoiding Black’s hidden idea, which could have occurred in the game. 14... Bc6 15.Nd6 Na6 and now White needs to find the very strong and concrete solution 16. Rab1! Nxc5 17.b4! Ba4 (17...Ne4 drops material after 18.g3!)

18.Qc1! saves the exchange and transposes to a better endgame. 18...Qxc1 19. Rdxc1 Na6 Now the best is 20.Nxb7! Rab8 21.c5! with a pawn up.] 14... Bxa1? Now the idea of the exchange sacrifice perfectly pays out. [Probably both players missed 14... Bc6! and on 15.Nd6 Black has 15... Bxf3! 16. Bxf3 Be5! White should have played 14. Rfd1 to avoid this trick. In that case, he could simply take with Bxb7, and Qxh2 is just one check. 17. Rfd1 Qxh2+ 18.Kf1 Bxa1 The a1 bishop is protected by Qh1! 19. Bxb7 Nd7 20. Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Nxf7 Nf8! The last key move and Black is better.] 15. Rxa1 Bc6 16.Nd6 White is doing perfectly now. He has only one pawn, but the queenside pawns might easily swap away Black. The Black rooks have no open files. 16...Nd7 17.Qc1?! [17.Qb2! was much better, with the idea of g3. Qf6 is the only move, trading the queens and then Ne5. The only active plan for Black now is refuted by 17...a5? 18.g3! Qf6 19.Qxf6 Nxf6 20.b5+- Black loses the b7 pawn... and the game.] 17...Qf6? Returning the favor. [17...Qxc1+ 18. Rxc1 Rfd8! would have brought Black back into the game. The idea is to play a5, and b5 is met with Nxc5! (18...a5 immediately doesn’t work because of 19.b5! B xf3 20.B xf3 N xc5 21.N xb7! and the c-b passers decide the game.) 19.Nd4 a5! White is forced to play 20.a3 but Black gets serious counterplay on the a-file. 20...axb4 21.axb4 Ra4 22. Rb1 Rda8 Black is fine.] 18. Rb1! From now on, Black has problems again. h6 is hanging now.

11


18...g5 19.Qe3 White protects the c5 pawn in order to be able to play b5!

24.Nf3! Suddenly, the a4 bishop gets in danger and can’t go back anymore to protect the b7 pawn.

19... Rad8 Black sets a hidden trap.

24... Bc2 25.b5! Exact calculation! [25.Nxb7 was too early still. 25... Rb8!] 25...axb5 26.cxb5 Ra8 [26...Nd4 loses as well after 27.Nxd4 Qxd4 28.Nxb7+- and the pawns are marching!] 27.Qc1 Nb4 28.Qd2! White forces some favorable exchanges. Black has just one move to avoid losing a piece. 28...Qf4 [28... Ra4 loses to 29.a3!+-]

20.Nd4! Very well played! White keeps the tension and all his advantage. [20.b5 was very tempting as well, but Black has prepared 20... Bxf3 21. Bxf3 b6! 22.c6 Nc5 and suddenly he is doing fine, as he manages to explode the d6 knight. 23. Rd1 e5!]

29.Qxf4 gxf4 30.Nxb7 Rxa2 White has a winning advantage, but makes an inaccuracy by playing the most natural move in the time trouble.

20...a6 Black parries the b5 threats. Both players were already down on time. They don’t have enough time to find the most precise plans, but White has much easier moves to make just to improve his position slightly. 21. Re1 Ne5 22.h3! Opening the back-rank. A high level prophylactic move to avoid different kinds of tricks in the time trouble. White has many potential ways to improve his position, for example, to prepare with a4-b5 or by playing Bd1, and when the knight leaves e5 Nxc6 bxc6 and Bf3.

31.c6 Of course, the pawn must be pushed, but first some preparations should have been done with [31.Ne5! and only now start pushing c6. Bf3 could be followed by Nd6 and c7 or b6... Actually, the pawns promote automatically. Black can only watch.]

22... Ba4 23.Qa3 Nc6 Black tries to complicate matters, but comes out badly. [White is better after 23... Bc6 24.Nxc6 Nxc6 25. Bf3 as well.]

31... Rfa8 Letting the practical chance slip away. Of course, in the time trouble without increments, it’s impossible to play flawlessly. You can see now how good 12


it is for White that he doesn’t need to worry about his back-rank thanks to his great 22nd move! [31... Be4 was the best chance, with the idea of giving up a piece for the b-c pawns and trying to hold that unpleasant endgame. 32.Nd6 (On 32.Ne5 Rc2! refreshing the idea of sacrificing on c6.) 32... Bxc6 33.bxc6 Nxc6 34. Bb5 Ne7 35.Ne5 Of course, White is clearly better, but the small amount of material gives Black chances to survive.]

43...Kh7 44. Rb4 Rd1+ 45.Kh2 e5 46.Ne8 Kasimdzhanov didn’t want to suffer in this hopeless position and allows a quick finish. 46...f5 47. Rb7+ Kg6 48. Rg7+ And mate in a few moves. 1–0

32.Nd6 Now it’s difficult, since c7 is threatened and 32... Nd5 is met with Bc4, eliminating the blockader. 32... Bd3 33. Bxd3 Nxd3 34. Rf1 [34. Rd1 was more precise. 34...Nxf2 35. Rd2 and the pawns promote.] 34... Rc2 35.Nd4! Protecting c6 to support the march of the b-pawn. 35... Rc5 36.b6 Black’s only hope would be to sacrifice the knight for the pawns, but he has no real chance to do it successfully. 36...Nb4 37.c7 Rf8 Otherwise, b7 would come with tempo. 38. Rb1 Na6 The last try, but... 39.N4b5! Obviously Gelfand prevents Nxc7. 39... Rc6 40.b7! Nxc7 41.Nxc7 [41.Nc8!+- could have been a nicer finish of the game with the double threat of Ne7 and b8Q. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the text move either.] 41... Rxd6 42.b8Q Rxb8 43. Rxb8+ The rest is only a matter of time.

13


(4) Alekseev,Evgeny (2683) — Zvjaginsev,V (2678) [C11] St Petersburg Rapid Cup 2012 St Petersburg RUS (7.1), 06.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] In this game, we’ll see a very good example on” what should Black be afraid of playing the French defense”. In the beginning of the game, Black’s position seems to be fine, but then step by step, clouds start to get darker... 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 Another main move is 3... Bb4, which often leads to very sharp positions. For example a good game to watch is Leko-Caruana from Dortmund 2012 4.e5 [4. Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 is another main line. For those who are interested, we advice you to watch games played by Meier or Grachev, they are both big experts in this line with Black.] 4...Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 [7...Qb6 8.Na4 (8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 leads to a very sharp and unclear position) 8...Qa5+ 9.c3 b6 (9...c4 10.b4+=) 10.Bd2! with the idea of b4 leads to a slightly better position for White.]

10.0–0–0 Thousands of games have been played here and we still don’t know for sure whether White is better or not. The position has quite a fixed pawn structure, which gives both Black and White a couple of standard ideas. Black usually tries to create some play on the queenside with a6-b5-Qa5-b4, and White tries to play h4-h5-h6, often using the Rh3-Rg3 maneuver to defend the c3 knight (just in case) and attack the Black king. Another idea for Black is to exchange a few pieces on d4, then exchange the queens and try to survive the endgame. Personally, I would not advice this tactic. A good example is the game Navara-Meier where, after some suffering, Black finally lost the game. 10... Bxd4 11. Bxd4 Qa5 I don’t like too much what Black is doing now... This leads almost by force to a slightly worse endgame. 12.Kb1 Rb8 [12...a6 followed by b5 would still be a better choice in my oinion.] 13.Nb5! Nice move by White. Now the exchange of queens is forced and White reaches a slightly better endgame. 13...Qxd2 14. Rxd2 a6

8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0–0

14


15.Nc3?! What a strange move... [15.Nd6 was of course the right reaction. Blacks needs to act fast... If White can play g3-Bh3, or maybe just a simple move like Be2, Black’s position could became very unpleasant. 15... Nxd4 16. Rxd4 f6 The usual idea in these structures... 17.exf6 Nxf6 18. Bd3 and we can clearly see that White got a small but very pleasant advantage...] 15...b5?! Gives White a chance to keep the bishop pair alive... [15...Nxd4 16. Rxd4 f6 17.exf6 Nxf6 would still lead to a slightly better endgame for White, but now Black’s chances to be OK are a bit higher. The White knight is badly placed on c3, and will need to go over the e2 square to d4. This will take some time and maybe Black will be able to prepare some play on the kingside by playing Bd7Bc7-Rbe8 and maybe e5, or even g5.]

in big positional danger, which will become very clear in the game. 19...Nc4 20. Rdd1 Rc7 21.b3 A possible move... [But why not to put the knight first to d4?! 21.Nd4 Nc5 22.Nb3! Important move. Now the White bishop from d4 can defend the pawn on b2 in case of Na4. 22...Ne4 23. Bd4 White is doing a lot better. Black’s position is going to fall apart very soon, the threats of playing Bxe4 followed by Nc5, or maybe g4-f5 are very strong.] 21...Na3+ 22.Kb2

16. Bf2! Of course! Now White will continue the game with the bishop pair, which already gives him quite a solid advantage. 16... Bb7 17. Bd3 A safe move. It has a „big” general idea: to bring the knight to d4. This can be done by playing Ne2-d4. Now White is acting against Black’s f6 push. When this move won’t possible anymore, White will bring the knight to d4 and get a big plus. 17... Rbc8 Black brings the knight to c4. It’s hard to advice something better... 18. Re1 Another prophylactic move against f6. 18...Na5 19.Ne2 And finally the knight is going to d4. Even if the computers say that the position is close to equal, I think White is doing much better here. Black is

22...Nc4+ 23.Kc1! Of course. No draw! 23...Na3? Huge mistake. This is a very bad place for the knight, which will never be back into play. [23... Rfc8 The knight not really hanging, so black can simply create some more pressure on the c-file. 24.c3 (24.bxc4 dxc4 25.Bxc4 Rxc4 (25...bxc4 Simplest. 26.g3 c3) 26. Rxd7 Rxc2+ 27.Kb1 Be4 28.Ng3 Rc1+ 29.Kb2 R1c2+ 30.Ka1 Bc6 31. Rd6 Rxf2 32. Rc1 h6 33. Rdxc6 Rxc6 34. Rxc6 Rxg2 35. Rxa6 Rxh2 36. Rb6 Rf2 37. Rxb5 Rxf4 and probably Black’s passed pawns can become dangerous.) 24...Ncb6 25.Bd4 (25.Kb2 d4 This move probably doesn’t equalize the position, but it makes Black’s play much easier because 15


of the activity of his pieces. 26.Bxd4 (26.Nxd4 Rxc3 27.f5 Bd5 28.Bb1+=) 26...Bxg2 27.f5) 25...Nc5 26.Bc2 (26. Kb2 Nxd3+ 27.Rxd3 Nd7 28.g4 a5 Black must try to activate his pieces, especially the bishop. 29.f5 b4)

26...b4! 27.cxb4 (27.Kb2 a5) 27...Ne4 (27...N xb3+ 28.axb3 R xc2+ 29.Kb1 R 2c6 30.Bc5 Nd7 31.Nd4 R6c7 32.Bd6 Rc3 33.Kb2+/- Black’s pieces are paralyzed and can’t avoid the Bc5 threat.) 28. Bc5 Nxc5 29.bxc5 Rxc5 30.Nd4 a5 31.Kd2+= With the strong knight on d4, White’s position seems to be better, although it’s not so easy to improve it. a3-b4 is impossible because of the c4 square. Maybe White can try to gain space on the kingside (g4-f5).] 24.c3 b4 25.Kb2 a5 This thematic pawn advance with the knight on a3 doesn’t help Clack. [25... Rfc8 26. Rc1+Nothing changed.] 26.cxb4 axb4 27. Rc1 Rfc8 28. Rxc7 Rxc7 29. Rc1 Rxc1 30.Nxc1 After the rook exchange, Black is not able to protect the b4 pawn. 30...Nb8 31. Bc5 Nc6 32.Ne2 f6 33.Nd4 fxe5 34.Nxc6 Bxc6 35.fxe5 The game is over. Finally the knight will escape, but the two passers will easily win the game. 1–0 16


Puzzle section

(7) Alekseev,E (2683) — Svidler,P (2747) St Petersburg (rapid), 05.10.2012

(5) Grischuk,A (2754) — Gelfand,B (2738) London GP, 01.10.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Alsina Leal,D (2528) — Forcen Esteban,D (2469) (6) Matlakov,M (2665) — Dominguez Perez,L (2734) St Petersburg (rapid), 05.10.2012

Spanish Championship, 06.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+/-

17


(9) Rombaldoni,A (2458) — Djurhuus,R (2436)

(11) Sharafiev,A (2414) — Vorobiov,E (2594)

Oslo Open, 30.09.2012

Nezhmetdinov memorial, 04.10.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Dvoirys,S (2533) — Lintchevski,D (2554)

(12) Hole,O (2366) — Solodovnichenko,Y (2602)


Oslo Open, 30.09.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

18


(13) Rotstein,A (2510) — Van Kampen,R (2572) Dutch league, 06.10.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Onischuk,A (2672) — Bruzon,L (2713) Poikovsky, 06.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

19


Endgame section (15) Carlsen,Magnus (2843) — Caruana,Fabiano (2773) [C00]

sense for Black, since it would give White the extra idea of playing Rb1–Rg1–Bg7-f6. 42.Ke4 The threat is Be5.

5th Final Masters Sao Paulo/Bilbao BRA/ESP (6), 08.10.2012 [Chess Evolution Team]

42... Rc6 43. Rb1! The White rook is leaving its nice place on b5, to attack the Black pawns on the kingside. Besides, White is ready to play Kd5-Kc4-Kb5. It’s the second stage of the Final Masters, and we see the same situation as in the first round. Carlsen doing better in the endgame and Caruana defending. As we remember, Carlsen lost close to a winning endgame by overpushing. This time he makes things right! 41.f5! Strong move. White takes away the e6 square from the Black rook, and at the same time fixes the pawn on h6, which will soon be the main target. The Black bishop from c7 can’t do much, his mission is to defend the pawn on b6. Let’s take a look at the beautiful technique of the Nr.1 player in the world. 41... Rd6+ Of course. Black needs to keep the rook on the 6th rank. To include gxf5-gxf5 wouldn’t make much

43...Ke8 Now against White’s Kd5, Black can simply play Kd7 followed by Rd6 check and Kc6. 44.hxg6 Carlsen starts the action. 44...fxg6 45. Rh1 The h6-pawn is a clear target now. White wants to play Kd5, and of course, against Black’s 45...Kd7, 46.f6! is very strong. 45...Kf7 46.Kd5 Rook to h1, king to b5. This is where the pieces will be perfectly placed. 46... Rd6+ 47.Kc4 gxf5 48.gxf5 Only 3 pawns left to exchange for Black to make a draw, but how to do it? White has two threats, to play f6 next or to play Rg1. 48... Bd8 Did Black defend against everything? Against 49. Rg1, Bg5 is coming.

20


56. Bb4 Pushing away the Black bishop from the a3-f8 diagonal. 56... Bf4 57.c5 Ka7 58.c6 White’s c-pawn only has 2 squares to go, but Black still has some drawing chances. Carlsen demonstrates the perfect winning plan. 58...Kb8 59.a5 Bringing t he White pawn to a6, to avoid giving Black a chance to hold the king on c8. 49.f6! Carlsen finds the right winning plan. It’s not a difficult move to see, but it isn’t that easy to evaluate the outcome of the bishop endgame, even if White is two pawns up...

59...Ka7 60.a6 Ka8 61. Bc5 Black can’t move, and the White king is going to d7. 61... Bb8 62.Kc4 Bc7 63.Kd5 Bd8 64.Ke6 Bc7 65.Kd7 Now White only needs to push the Black bishop away from the a5-d8 diagonal.

49... Bxf6 50. Rxh6 Be7 51. Rxd6 Bxd6 52.Kb5 All that Black can do is to lose both pawns on b6 and a5, but if Black is on time to put the king on a8 and give the bishop for the c- pawn, the position would be a draw. 52...Ke6 53. Bxb6 Kd7 Black brings the king to a8. 54.c4 Kc8 55. Bxa5 Kb7 The final stage of the game: White needs to move the c-pawn. 65... Ba5 66. Be7 Followed by Bd8. A really great endgame by White. Everything looks really simple. Usually, to play this well looks simple, but it’s very hard to play like this during our own games :). 1–0

21


(16) Nakamura,H (2783) — Giri,A (2730)

50... Bd7 [50...h5 51. Bxc5+-]

London GP, 02.10.2012

51.f7+ Ke7 52. Bxd7

[Chess Evolution]

After unexpectedly losing 4 games in a row, Nakamura didn’t collapse and recovered with a brilliant endgame victory. White is clearly better with his more active pieces (especially the Black king and rook are squeezed in the 8th rank), but how to make progress? White can’t exchange his a5-pawn for the d5-pawn and the rook has no open files to penetrate. Nakamura found a fantastic break through! 47.g5!! Black is forced to accept the sacrifice, otherwise White takes on h6 and occupies the g-file with the rook. Black can never play Ke7 because of the c5-pawn hanging with check.

52...Kxd7?! This is practically the same as resigning, but the other continuation was also objectively losing... [52... Kxf7 Black is materi ally completely fine, he has 3 pawns and a rook for two minor pieces. Despite that, his position is hopeless, because of the huge power of the bishop pair and the a-pawn, which promotes automatically if the b7-pawn falls. 53. Bf5 White should immediately attack the b7 pawn. 53...Kf6 (53...h5 54.Be4 Rb8 55.B xc5 Ke6 56.Kg3 leads to the same position as in 53...Kf6.) 54. Be4 Rb8

47...hxg5 48.h6! gxh6 49. Rxe5!! The aim of the offers in the previous three moves was to create a passed fpawn, which becomes unstoppable with the support of the bishops. 49...fxe5 50.f6! White wants to take on c5, followed by queening the f-pawn. Black has only one move to avoid it. 22


55. Bxc5 By eliminating the c-pawn, White creates another way to obtain the a-passer, namely by threatening with Bb6 and c5-c6. The direct threat is Bd6. Black must deal with it. 55...Ke6 (55...h5 is refuted by 56.Bd6! Ra8 57.Bc7 Rc8 and now 58.B xb7 ! 58...R xc7 59.a6+- wins.) 56.Kg3 h5 57. Bb6 Black has no chance to create counterplay with his kingside pawns. Bc7 Rc8 Bxb7 Rxc7 a6 is threatened again. 57...Kd6 58. Bf3! weakening the pawns, in order to be able to collect them with the king. 58...g4 (58...h4+ 59.Kg4+-) 59. Bd5 White wants to play Kh4 and Black is also in a kind of zugzwang. He can only move with his king. 59...Kd7 but this allows 60.c5+- wins.]

63...Kxa5 64.Kb3 Black is in zugzwang! He must move into dropping the d4 pawn with check. 64...Kb6 [64...b5 65.c5+- and; 64...Ka6 65.Kb4+- were equally hopeless.] 65. Bxd4+ [Black resigned in view of 65. Bxd4+ Kc6 66. Be5 Kd7 67.d4 Ke6 68. Bg3+- with an easy win.] 1–0

53. Bxc5 Black loses a full rook and the connected h-g passers don’t give enough compensation to survive. 53...h5 54.f8Q Rxf8+ 55. Bxf8 h4 [The main problem is that Black can’t support the pawns with his king, because if it goes too far, White creates an a-passer. 55... Ke6 56. Bh6 Kf5 (56...g4 57.Kg3+- wins easily.) 57.c5!+followed by the break-through of c6 and a6.] 56. Bh6! White employs the right technique. He’s immobilizing the pawns by attacking them with the bishop. 56...g4 57. Bg5 h3 58. Bh4! The bishop occupies the g3 square, where it not only stops the pawn, but also attacks the e5 weakness. White gets a „free hand” to use his king. 58...Kd6 59. Bg3 Ke6 60.Ke2 [60. Bh2 with the idea of Kg3 was even easier. 60...Kf6 loses again to (60...Kd6 61.Kg3+-) 61.c5!+-] 60...Kd6 61.Kd2 Kc5 62. Bxe5 Kb4 63.Kc2 [63. Bc7+- was also winning.]

23


Clash of the Titans (17) Rudakovsky,Iosif — Botvinnik,Mikhail [E33] URS-ch14 Moscow, 1945 [Balogh Csaba]

advantage immediately. [8...0–0 is better. 9.e3 a5 10. Bd3 a4 11.Qc2 f5 This position arises more or less by force. It’s playable for both sides, but I personally prefer White.] 9.Qa4+ c6 We have reached the first critical moment of the game. White went wrong with

A fantastic game on the topic of „how to overtake the initiative”. We’ll see many nice tactical ideas during the game. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 This line is popular even nowadays, but Black reacts with a rare move. 6...Nc6 There are 4 other options that are more often seen in practice. Probably they are better as well, but in that time theory was not that well developed in this opening. [6...Ne4; 6...0–0; 6...dxc4; 6...c5 are all possible.] 7.Nf3 Ne4 Very concrete variations are coming. Botvinnik has already played this once before. Now his opponent prepared an improvement. 8.Qb3! I believe this is stronger than the more common 8.Qc2. [On 8.Qc2 e5! is Black’s point and Bf5 is coming next. White tried to solve thecomplications the simplest way, but Botvinnik easily equalized. 9.e3 Bf5 10. Bd3 exd4 11.exd4 0–0 12.0–0 Re8 Black has no problems at all. In the next moves, he’ll manage to get rid of White’s only triumph: the bishop pair. 13. Be3 dxc4 14.Qxc4 Nd6 15.Qc2 Ne7= with a comfortable game in MakogonovBotvinnik, Leningrad 1939.] 8...Na5?! Botvinnik tries to play dynamic chess, but objectively it was not justified yet. White made only logical moves so far, and Black has no reason to look for an

10.cxd5 After this, Black has no problems. The bishop is ready to develop to f5. White can’t make use of the a5 knight at the edge of the board. [10.c5! would have been the right move, which is only justified by tactical means. 10...b6 seems to be fine for Black, as he successfully undermines the central pawns, but (10...b5 11.Qc2 White is better, his next moves will be e3 and Bd3, to keep the a5-knight out of the game.) 11.e3! is very strong, and on 11...bxc5 12.b4! cxb4 13.axb4 Black is in serious trouble. 13...Nb7 14.Qxc6++/-] 10...exd5 11.e3 Bf5! Black got a healthy position after all. He has equalized the opening part of the game. 12. Bd3?! After this small inaccuracy, Black starts to overtake the initiative. [12. Bd2 should have been played. By using the misplacement of the a5 knight, White gets rid of his strong colleague on e4. 12...Nxd2 13.Nxd2 0–0 24


14. Be2 with equal chances.(14.b4 doesn’t win a pawn, because of 14...Nc4! and b5 at the end.) ] 12...Qb6! Excellent move. Suddenly, the a5 knight becomes a very strong piece. It wants to jump to b3. 13.Qc2?! White did not want his queen stuck out from the game after Nb3, but anyway, it would have been a better idea to prevent it by: [13.b4 Nc4 On the other hand, the b4 pawn became a target now. Black will push an unpleasant a5 soon.]

White is in trouble because of the pin on the b1–h7 diagonal. Exchanging the queens doesn’t help. 18.Qb5+ Qxb5 19.Nxb5 Nc5! 20. Ra1 Nb3 trapping the rook. 21.Nc7+ Kd7 22.Nxa8 Rxa8 23. Ra2 Bb1 would have been a really funny final position.] 15... Be6 16.0–0 White leaves from the threatened Qa5 check. [16. Bxe4 dxe4 17.Qxe4 would cost a piece after 17...Qa5+ 18.Kf1 Qa6+ 19.Kg1

13...Nb3 14. Rb1 Botvinnik feels that his position is ready and he seizes the initiative, so he quickly opens the position, trying to make use of the temporary misplacement of White’s pieces. It’s very important to mention that now and in the following moves, 0–0 would be an important waste of time, which would drop the advantage. 19...Qc4! Quite a unique way of trapping a piece. The c1 bishop is lost.; 16.dxc5 is also bad. 16...Qa5+ 17.Kf1 Nexc5] 16... Rc8! Great dynamic chess. One imprecise move would have allowed White to survive.

14...c5!! The move is based on accurate calculation. The direct threat is c4, after which the pin of the f5 bishop wins material. 15.Nh4 The best chance. White sends away the bishop, but his knight gets to the edge of the board. [15.dxc5 Nbxc5 is bad for White. 16.Nd4 Nxd3+ 17.Qxd3 Bg6!

17. Bxe4 [17.dxc5 Rxc5 18.Qd1 0–0 is also terrible for White. The situation of the c1 bishop is quite sad, the b3 knight paralyzes the whole position. After Bxe4 dxe4, the h4 knight can’t return to the game.] 17...cxd4! An important intermediate move. 18.Qd3 dxe4 19.Qxe4 Finally, the time has come to play.

25


19...0–0! 20.exd4 White seems to be safe, but the real problems are just about to come. As we’ll see, in every line White has problems with one of the rooks, the backrank or the h4 knight. But of course, Black must continue to play energetically, a simple recapture on d4 would allow White to consolidate his position.

23.Qd1 [23.Qxb5 loses the b1 rook in the same way as before. 23... Bxb5 24. Rd1 Bd3!] 23...Qc4 Again very strong, but not the best. White attacks the knight and if it leaves to f3, Bf5 collects the rook. The same idea could have been achieved in a better versionby [23... Rc4! 24.g3 (24.Nf3 Bf5) 24... Bg4! Forcing a serious weakness 25.f3 Bh3 and on both rook moves, the same finish arrives. 26. Re1 (26.Rf2 Rd4! 27.Bd2 Qxd5) 26... Rd4! White can’t control the backrank. 27. Rxe8+ Qxe8] 24. Be3 White defends resourcefully. A very strong move is needed now!

20... Rfe8 Bc4 is the threat. [20... Bc4 is a good alternative suggested by the computer. 21. Re1 The point is the completely unexpected 21...Qe6!! 22.Qxe6 fxe6 and the b1 rook is lost! 23. Be3 Bd3 24. Rbd1 Bc2] 21.d5 Bd7 The bishop is heading to b5. 22.Qd3 The only way to prevent Bb5. [22.Qb4 loses to 22...Qxb4 23.axb4 Bb5 24. Rd1 Bd3! traps the rook again.] 22...Qb5 Also good, but missing a concrete win. [A very nice motif was missed by Black: 22...Nxc1! 23. Rfxc1 Rxc1+ 24. Rxc1 Qh6!! Probably Botvinnik didn’t see this double attack. White loses a piece. 25.Qc4 Bb5! 26.Qc5 (26.Nf5 B xc4 27.N xh6+ gxh6 The weak back-rank tells.) 26...b6! White can’t defend both hanging pieces.]

24... Re5!! Excellent! The threat is Rxd5 and when the queen moves, the h4 knight is hanging. 25.g3 [25.Nf3 Rxd5 26.Qe1 This is the only place for te queen. 26... Bb5! White can’t prevent Qxf1!] 25... Bg4! The same motif as in the 23... Rc4 line. The queen has no place to leave, so a huge weakness has been forced. 26.f3 Bh3 27. Re1 Black can choose between two ways to win now. 26


27...g5! With the idea of getting the f5 square for the bishop. [The simple 27... Rce8! was also good enough. White can’t protect his bishop, and on 28. Bf2 Rxe1+ 29. Bxe1 Qf1#] 28.f4 A desperate attempt. [28.Ng2 Bf5 is also hopeless.] 28... Rxd5 29.Qf3 gxh4 30.g4 White still has hope, but Botvinnik doesn’t let him go.

Surprise section / study (18) Prokes,L 1941 [CEWN] 1.=

30...Nd2! 31. Bxd2 Rxd2 32.Qxh3 Qxf4 The White king is so weak that he can’t stand the pressure after Rcc2. The game is over. 33.Qxh4 Rcc2! 34.Qg3 Qd4+ White resigned! An outstanding game! 0–1

27


Solutions

(20) Safarli,E (2620) — Korobov,A (2705) Baku Open, 26.09.2012

(19) Carlsen,M (2843) — Aronian,L (2816)

[Solutions]

Sao Paulo, 28.09.2012 [Solutions]

20... Bg4! 21.c5 [21. Rd3 Bf8!–+] 21... Bf8! 22.cxd6 Qa7–+

27... Bc3? [27...R8xf4! 28.gxf4 Nxf4 29. Ra8+ Bf8! 30. Rg1 Qxh2+! 31.Kxh2 Rh3#]

(21) Korobov,A (2705) — Zhigalko,S (2667)

28.Qxf3 [28.Nxc3 R8xf4 29.Ne4= (29.gxf4? N xf4! 30.Rg1 Qxh2+! 31.Kxh2 Rh3#) ]

[Solutions]

Baku Open, 28.09.2012

28... Bxa1 29.Qg2 Qf5 30. Bd2 Bd4=

21...Nxg3! 22.fxg3 [22. Bxc6 Nxf1 23. Bg2 (23.B xa8 Rg6+–+) 23... Rg6–+] 22... Bxf3–+ 28


(22) Mamedov,R (2634) — Esen,B (2588)

(24) Beliavsky,A (2609) — Dobrov,V (2481)

Baku Open, 28.09.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25. Rxe5! dxe5 26. Bxf7+!! Qxf7 [26...Kxf7 27.Qxh7++-] 27. Rxd8 Re8 [27... Rxd8 28.Qxd8+ Kg7 29.Nc5!+-] 28. Bb2 [28. Bb4 Nd5 29.Nc5+-]

46...Qe1!! [46...Qf2 47.Nd5+ Bf7 48.Kh3!!+-; 46...Qg5 47.Nd5+ Rf7 48.Qe5++-]

(23) Kosintseva,T (2524) — Ju Wenjun (2528)

47.Nd5+ Rf7! 48.gxf7 [48.f6+ Kxg6 49.Qf4 Bxd5! 50. Bxd5 Rd7! 51.Qg4+ Kxf6 52.Qxd7 Qh4+ 53.Kg1 (53.Qh3? Qxh3+ 54.Kxh3 d2 55.Bf3 b5! 56.Kg3 b4–+) 53...Qe1+=]


48...Qh4+ 49.Kg1 Qe1+ 50.Kh2 1/2–1/2

28...Ne2+ 29.Kf2 Nf4 30.Nc5+-

[Solutions]

23.Ne7+! Kf8 24.Qd5! Kxe7 25.Qxa8+29


(25) Flores,D (2593) — Blanco Ronquillo,H (2430)

(27) Shankland,S (2597) — Bhat,V (2511)


Konig memorial (rapid), 23.09.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17. Bc5! Qxc5 18.Qf7+ Bg7 19.Qxe8 1–0 21.Qc3!! Qc7 [21...Qxc3 22. Rxd8#] (26) Cordova,E (2554) — Martinez Romero,M (2368)

22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.Nxg7 Kxg7 24.Qxe5++-

San Cristobal Open, 28.09.2012 [Solutions]

19.e5! dxe5 20.Ndb5! cxb5 21.Nxb5 Qb8 22. Bxc5+Be6 [22...exf4 23. Bd6+-] 23.fxe5 1–0 30


(28) Navara,D (2691) — Sax,G (2451)

(29) Mattison,H

Croatian league, 29.09.2012

1914

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36... Rxh2+? [36...g6!! 37.h3

1. Rh1!! [1.Nxf2? exf2 2. Rc1 Ne3+ 3.Kf4 f1Q+ 4. Rxf1 Nxf1 5.Ke4 Kf7–+]

a) 37.g4 Rxh2+ 38.Kg3 Rh3+ 39.Kg2 Rxb3–+; b) 37.Nxb6+ Kc6 38.d7 Re4+ 39.g4 Re3! 40. Rd6+ Kb5 41. Rd5+ Ka6 42. Ra5+ Kb7!–+ (42...Kxa5 43.Nc4+) ; 37... f5!! 38.g4 (38.Rd3 b5! 39.Nb6+ Kd8–+; 38.N xb6+ Kc6 39.d7 Nf3#) 38...f4! 39. Rd3 b5 40.Nb6+ Kd8 41. Rc3 Rc2!! 42. Rxc2 Nf3#]

1...f1Q! 2. Rxf1 e2 3. Rg1!! exd1Q+ [3...exd1R !? 4.Kh5+!! Rxg1=] 4.Kh3+! [4. Rxd1? Ne3+–+] 4...Qxg1= 1/2

37.Kg4 

31

Weekly Newsletter



19th of October 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17


20


25


28

»» Solutions

29

The European Club Cup came to an end with two great teams sharing the first place, and just thanks to a “half board point“, the winner is the number one seeded, the team from Azerbajdjan, “SOCAR”, that presented an amazing line-up: Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Topalov, Grischuk, Kamsky. The funny thing is that “SOCAR” started the tournament with a 0 against the team of “Ashdod”, and managed to win all their other matches with a very high score. The second place went to the team of SaintPetersburg. The funniest thing was the paring system. It seemed more like a lottery. The parings made no sense. The second main event of the week is the “Spice Cup”, where 6 young talented Super GMs (Vachier Lagrave, Ding Liren, So, Nguyen, Meier, Balogh Csaba) are comparing their chess knowledge. We are just half way in this tournament, and all the participants are very close to each other. Already a few days ago, the “Final Masters” came to an end with an already usual victory for Magnus Carlsen, but this time he had to win a 2 blitz-games match against Caruana, who scored the same amount of points. 3rd place went to Aronian. Right now, it seems like there’s nobody who can even compete with Carlsen… How long can the chess genius continue winning a game after game? I guess we’ll find out very soon in the super-tournament of London, which is going to take place in December. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with this edition of CEWN and these great games from the past week. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Carlsen,M (2843) — Anand,V (2780) Bilbao, 12.10.2012

c-file. 18...exd5 19.cxd5 Qb6 20. Bf2! Qxb2 21.dxc6 bxc6 22. Rxc6 Rdd8 23. Rxa6+/- White ad a clear extra pawn, although Anand managed to survive later on. CaruanaAnand, Sao Paulo/Bilbao 2012.] 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.f3

[Csaba Balogh] World’s Nr.1 player Magnus Carlsen won the Sao PauloBilbao Masters tournament by avoiding any kind of theoretical battles. He never looked for an advantage, and only wanted to get a playable position where he could slowly outplay his opponents. In this game, he was facing the World Champion. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Carlsen wanted to avoid the Sicilian Najdorf variation. 3... Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6 [Anand quickly got into some trouble against Caruana a few rounds before in the same tournament by playing 5...Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Nde2 Nf6 10.f3 0–0 11.0–0 This is what White is playing for. He has obtained a space advantage and a long-term initiative. If Black wants to equalize, he needs to execute a pawn break with a6-b5 or e6-d5, but White is ready to meet it now. 11...a6 12.a4 e6 13. Bg5! It’s very important to attack the f6 knight to prevent the d5 breaks. 13...h6 14. Bh4 g5 would weaken the kingside too much. 14... Rfd8 15. Rb1 White has protected the b2pawn to stop d5. Now it would be met with cxd5 exd5 Bxf6 Bxf6 and Nxd5. 15...Qc7 16.Kh1 Rd7 17. Rc1 White got a small edge, but Anand missed or underestimated a small tactical trick, and his position became crucial. 17... Re8?! 18.Nd5! A well-known motif to use the pin on the

9...Qc7 This is practically a novelty. Black prevents White to achieve his standard setup by developing the dark squared bishop to e3 or g5... [9...0–0 10. Be3 is the main line with hundreds of games.] 10.b3 Qa5 11. Bb2 However, the bishop on b2 stands quite well too. 11...Nc6 12.0–0 0–0 [Black can’t make use of the pin after 12...Nxd4 13.Qxd4 White will retreat his queen in the next move.] 13.Nce2 White has stabilized his position. He obtained a slightly better position with a space advantage, but of course, converting it needs a lot of effort. 13... Rfd8 14. Bc3 This is an inaccuracy. [The prophylactic 14.Kh1! should have been played, when the d5 breaks are not effective anymore. 14...e6 15. Bc3 Qb6 16.Qd2 White is better. Now on 16...d5 17.Nxc6! the principled 3


17...bxc6 is met with Ba5! 17...Qxc6 18. Rfd1+= White is well prepared for these actions.] 14...Qb6 15.Kh1

19.e6! Suddenly, Black’s position is slightly unpleasant. It’s not easy to deal with the e6 pawn. 15...d5! This great tactical idea seems to solve all the Black problems. However, Carlsen finds a way to keep the position complex. 16.Nxc6! [16.exd5 Nxd5! 17.cxd5 Rxd5 was Anand’s idea. He wins back the piece and gets an advantage.] 16...bxc6 17.Qe1! White leaves the pin with the threat of Ba5, and prepares for a pawn sacrifice. 17... Rdc8? It’s hard to understand this move. The rook was well placed on d8. [Black could have parried Ba5 with the most logical 17...a5! This is a us eful move in any case, with the idea of a minority attack with a4. Black seems to be fine, since the idea of the game is less effective now. 18.e5 Ne8 19.e6 because of 19...f5! Black wants to play d4, followed by c5. 20. Bxg7 Nxg7 and Black is OK! He might play d4, c5. Also the e6 pawn might be a potential target later on, after Rd6 and Ra6.] 18.e5 Ne8

19...fxe6 Black accepts the sacrifice, but it’s clear that he can’t hold his material advantage for long. [19...f5 wasn’t better. Now White has 20. Rd1!+= and in comparison to 17...a5, Black doesn’t have d4. He can’t keep the tension of his d5 pawn. This means that his position is worse.] 20.Nf4 Bxc3 21.Qxc3 d4 [21...Ng7 leads to the game by transposition after 22. Rae1 d4 23.Qd2] 22.Qd2 c5 23. Rae1 Ng7 Carlsen finds a very nice idea to combine the pressure of the e6 pawn with a hidden attack against the king. 24.g4! White restricts the movement of the g7 knight. He prevents the Nf5-e3 maneuver. [24.Nh3 immediately, would be met with 24...Nf5; On 24. Re5 Black should try to consolidate with 24... Rc6 25. Rfe1 Rf8 It’s not easy to break through with White.] 24... Rc6? [24...Qd6 was probably the only move to stay in the game. Now on 25.Nh3 Black has 25...e5! 26.Qh6 (However, White should be slightly better after 26.Qg5

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winning back the pawn.; Or 26.Nf2 and Nd3 next.) 26... Ne6 just in time to prevent Ng5.]

29. Rd1 Black can’t protect the d-pawn, because of Nf7 check. 29...Qa6 30.a4 After this old-blooded move, the World Champion decided to stop resisting. His pawns start to fall one after another.[30.a4 Qc8 31. Rxd3 Qg8 (31...Qf8 32.Qxf8+ R xf8 33.N xe6+-) 32. Rde3+-] 1–0

25.Nh3!! After this unexpected move, the game is practically over. Black can’t prevent the Qh6-Ng5 threat! 25...Ne8 Black transfers his knight to f6 to cover the h7 pawn, but it leaves the e6 pawn unprotected. [25...Kh8 was the alternative, but it’s not much better. 26.Qh6 Qd8 27.Ng5 Qg8 28.f4! followed by Rf3-h3.] 26.Qh6 Nf6 27.Ng5 Re5-Rfe1 is coming next. The main problem is that Black can’t play Qd8-f8 because of Nxe6. 27...d3 [27...Qa6 is too slow. 28. Re5 Qc8 29. Rfe1 Qf8 White can choose between 30.Qh3+/- (And 30.Qxf8+ R xf8 31.N xe6 Rfc8 32.Nf4+/- White ends up with an extra pawn and a positional advantage.); 27... Rf8 28. Re5+- Creating a new threat of Nxh7 Nxh7 Qxg6 Kh8 and Rh5.] 28. Re5 Nxh7 is the threat. Black must waste a tempo to prevent it. 28...Kh8 [28...d2 loses to 29.Nxh7! Nxh7 30.Qxg6+ Kh8 31. Rh5+-] 5


(2) Volokitin,A (2724) — Mamedyarov,S (2748) [B94] European Club Cup Eilat ISR, 11.10.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A really spectacular game, even though a closer look shows mistakes by both sides. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 At the moment, this 6...Ng4 line against the Be3 system is doing very well. Volokitin, as a huge theoretician, decides to play another system. 7. Bc1 Black has nothing better than retreating the knight. [7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 is the starting position if White decides to challange the 6...Ng4 variation.] 7...Nf6 White goes for the sharpest system of the Najdorf and plays 8. Bg5 Nbd7 9.Qe2 e6 [9...b5 is a good alternative for Black if he wants to avoid the long theoretical battles with e6. We have analyzed the Motylev-Wang Hao game in the 19th edition of CEWN.] 10.0–0–0 Qc7 11.f4 b5 We are still just at the beginning of theory, and White chooses a sideline.

12.f5 This is the principled idea to weaken the d5 square by putting pressure on the e6 pawn. [However, the main and probably better move is the prophylactic 12.a3 before pushing f5.] 12...b4! [12...e5 meets with a nice and typical response: 13.Nd5! Nxd5 14.exd5 The knight is ready to occupy the c6 square.] 13.fxe6 bxc3 14.exd7+ Nxd7! This is the stronger recapture. [White gets a better endgame after 14... Bxd7 15.Qc4! cxb2+ 16.Kb1 Qxc4 17. Bxc4 Be7 18. Rhe1 White wants to play Nf5. Despite the fact that the queens have left the board, White has serious threats. Black needs to transfer his knight to e5 to reduce the pressure, but it doesn’t solve all the problems either. 18...Ng4 19. Bf4! Ne5 20. Bb3 White wants to play Nf5 again, with the idea of gaining the bishop pair and improving his pawn structure (after Bxf5 exf5). Black has to parry itwith 20... g6 21.Nf3!+= and White has better prospects!] 15.Qc4 cxb2+ 16.Kb1 The b2-pawn gives a nice shelter for the king. This is a known motif in the Sicilian. The same happens often on the other side as well, when Black is castled kingside and White’s attack arrives with g6. He takes with gxh7 and Black hides his king with Kh8. 16...Nc5! [16...Qxc4 leads to a r position to the 14... Bxd7 line. White will be better here as well. 17. Bxc4 Ne5 18. Bb3 Be7 19. Bf4!+=]

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20. Bd3! With the idea of freeing the f1–square for the rook.

17.e5! White urgently opens the lines against the Black king, which still needs a few moves to get into safety. Both players have definitely studied this position, since it has already been played before. 17... Rb8! A strong novelty, recommended by the computer. [17...dxe5?! happened before, but White refuted it elegantly by 18.Nb5!! 18...axb5 19.Qd5! with a triple attack: Qd8, Qxa8 and Bxb5. 19... Be7 This loses immediately. (19...f6 is more resistant, but the attack breaks through after 20. Bxb5+ Ke7 21. Be3! Black has only one ugly move to protect the c5 knight and the a8 rook. 21... Nb7 22. Bc4! Nd6 (On 22...Ke8 23.Bb6! wins. 23...Qxb6 24.Qf7#) 23. Bc5 with a huge attack.) 20. Bxb5+ Kf8 21. Bxe7+ Kxe7 22.Qxa8+/- Guseinov-Benitah, Marrakesh 2010.] 18.exd6 Bxd6 19. Re1+! Depriving Black from the right to castle! 19...Kf8! Both kings are quite naked, but they are safe against the direct threats still. [19...Ne6? loses against the little combination 20.Nxe6 Bxe6 21. Rxe6+! fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Be7 23. Bc4+- Black can’t hold the threats after the h1 rook joins the attack.]

20...h6? This loses. Mamedyarov’s idea was to open the back-rank in order to be able to take the d3 bishop, but he missed a fantastic tactical blow! [20...Nxd3? is refuted by 21. Be7+!! Black either loses his queen or after 21...Kg8 22. Bxd6!+- wins because of the back-rank. This was the idea behind 20...h6, when after 21. Bh4, this line works perfectly for Black!; However, the great 20... Rb4!! seems to solve all the problems. 21.Qxb4 Nxd3 22.Qa4 Nxe1 23. Rxe1 Qd7 Black parries the concrete threats and wants to coordinate his pieces with h6, Kg8-h7.]

21. Bd8!! Beautiful! White sacrifices a bishop in order to win some tempi for the attack. [21. Bh4? Nxd3 22. Be7+ Kg8 The king has „luft” on h7.] 21...Qxd8 22. Rhf1! The f7 square is the critical target! White has an extra option to increase the pressure... 22... Rb7 [22...f6 loses as well to 23.Nc6 Qc7 24. Bg6+-; 22...Qc7 23. Bg6!+-]

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23. Bg6! Forcing a fatal weakness with f6. 23...f6 White is winning due to the strong g6 bishop, which creates threats on f7 and e8. But how to break trough?

26... Bxc5 27.Nxd8 Black must move with his b7 bishop and also has to cover the e6 square against the threatened check. 27... Bd5 [27... Bxg2? loses to 28.Ne6+! Kg8 29.Nxc5+-; 27... Bc8 is met with the same move as in the game.] 28. Rd1! Very well played! White creates different kind of threats around the d8 square. At the same time, he keeps the rooks on the board in order not to help Black to solve the problem of the h8 rook.

24.Qd5? With the idea of Qxd6, deflecting the queen, followed by Re8 mate. However, this allows Black to return to the game. [The easiest is probably 24. Re3!+- doubling the rooks on the e-file. Black has no acceptable answer against it.;

28... Be4 [28... Re5 was an alternative. Probably the strongest for White is 29. Rf5 Rxf5 30. Bxf5 Bc4 31. Rd7 Black hasn’t yet managed to solve the problem with his h8 rook.; 28... Bc4? loses to the nice 29.Nc6! wins.]

The nicest is 24.Nc6! Qd7 and now 25. Re3! again, with the idea of doubling the rooks, and on 25...Qxc6 White wins by deflecting the queen from the e8 square. 26.Qd5!! Qd7 27.Qxd6+! Qxd6 28. Re8#] 24... Re7! The game is unclear, thanks to the tactical resource: 25.Nc6 Bb7! Many pieces are hanging. Where to take? [25... Rxe1+? 26. Rxe1 Qd7 would have lost again to 27.Qxd6+! Qxd6 28. Re8#] 26.Qxc5! After droppi ng almost all the advantage, Volokitin starts to play extremely precisely again! [On 26. Rxe7 Qxe7! keeps Black alive.]

29.Nf7! Another fantastic shot! Volokitin shows his best again! [29. Bxe4 Rxe4 and the rook escapes soon, Black is fine.] 29... Rxf7? Decisive mistake. Black missed the upcoming blow! [Critical is 29... Bxg6 30.Nxh8 Be8 White is an exchange up, but suddenly, instead of the rook, another piece is trapped on h8. 31. Rd8 with the idea of Ng6. 31... 8


Re4 32.Ng6+ Kf7 33.Nf4 White should be slightly better, although Black has strong counterplay with the bishop pair after 33... Bb5 34.Nd3 Ba3] 30. Rfe1!! An unpleasant surprise! The back-rank decides the game. [Black expected 30. Bxe4 and he probably wanted to save the opposite-colored bishop endgame after 30...g5 31. Bd5 Ra7 32. Rxf6+ Kg7 33. Rc6 Be7 White will end up with an extra pawn, but Black has real chances to get a draw.]

34.g4!! A pictures que final position! Black is two pawns up, but he’s just completely lost, since he has zero chances to rescue his pieces from the f8, g8 and h8 squares. The White king collects the b2 and a6 pawns, followed by promoting his own a-pawn.[34.g4 f5 (34...h5 35.gxh5 f5 doesn’t help. The easiest is 36.Rf1 Be7 37.R xf5 Bf6 Black can’t get out with his pieces because of 38.Rc5!+-) 35.gxf5 h5 White blocks with 36.h4+-] 1–0

30... Bxc2+ [30... Bxg6 31. Rd8#; 30...f5 31. Rd8+ Ke7 32. Rxh8 Rf6 doesn’t save Black because of 33. Bxf5!+-] 31.Kxc2 Kg8 The most cruel part of the game is just ahead of us! 32. Rd8+! White is not greedy by taking the rook. He rather enjoys the situation with the imprisoned h8 rook. [32. Bxf7+ Kxf7 is also a decent chance to win for White, but the text is much better.] 32... Rf8 [32... Bf8 33. Bxf7+ Kxf7 34. Rd7+ Kg6 35. Re8+- Black can’t leave the pin.] 33. Rxf8+ Bxf8

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(3) Andreikin,Dmitry (2718) — Nakamura,Hikaru (2786) [E90] 28th European Club Cup Eilat ISR (1.3), 11.10.2012 [Kamil Miton]

try to limit the knight on a6. (9.Nd2 Qe8 with f5 next.; 9.Nh2 Qe8 10.Be2 f5 11.B xh5 gxh5 12.g4 hxg4 13.hxg4 fxe4 14.Qb1 Qg6 15.Qxe4 Bd7 16.Ke2 Nb4 Black is totally fine 1/2–1/2 Grigoryan,A-Mamedov,R/Rijeka CRO 2010 (28).) 9...f5 (9...Nc5 10.b4

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.h3 The idea of this line is to keep the possibility of playing g4 eventually, especially after the center closes with e5-d5. 6...e5 7.d5

7...Nh5 This is a very interesting option because Black immediately tries to take advantage of the weakened kingside, after h3. 8.Nh2 not allowing f5. 8...Qe8 Black’s preparing f5 because the knight on h5 will be protected. 9. Be2 Nf4 10. Bf3 f5 11.g3 Nxh3 12. Bg2 Qf7 and now many games finished with a draw after. 13. Bxh3 (13. Qf3 is possible to look for a fight.) 13...fxe4 14.Ng4 Bxg4 15.Qxg4 Qxf2+ 16.Kd1 Qd4+ 17.Ke1 Qf2+=]

10...Nxe4 A fantastic idea! 11.Nxe4 f5 12.Ng3 f4 (12...Nf6!? looks very strange, but probably Black has compensation. It’s only one pawn for the piece, but White’s pieces are under pressure. The position can become really unclear. 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6=) 13.Nxh5 gxh5 14.Bc1 e4 15.Nd4 e3 16. Ra2 Qh4 17.Qd3 White manages to defend.) 10.b4 (10.exf5 gxf5 11.Nxe5? Qe8) 10...Nf4 11.Qb3 (11.g3?! Losing time! Usually, to take the knight on f4 isn’t good. 11...fxe4 12.Nxe4 Bf5 13.Nfd2 c6; 11.Nd2 Nxg2+ 12.Bxg2 f4=+) 11...fxe4 (11...c5 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Rd1 Nc7 14.g3 with unclear play.) 12.Nxe4 Bf5 13.Nfd2 c6 Black has to activate knight with this move, because the transfer over b8-d7-f6 takes too much time. 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.c5+ Qd5 (16...Qe6 17.Bc4 Nd5 18.Bxa6+=) 17.Bc4 Nxg2+ 18.Ke2 Nc7 19.Bxd5+ Nxd5 Only two pieces for the queen, but Black has some compensation.]

8. Be3 Nc5 Black could try push the thematic f5 slightly faster after: [8...Nh5 9.a3 I think the best for White is to

9.Nd2 a5 In three moves, Black will manage to save the knight and put it on c5. On the other hand, White re-

7...Na6 Not the most popular, but a normal development move. Black can also follow other plans: [7...a5 8. Bg5 Na6 with Qe8-Nd7-Ndc5 next (the other knight comes to c5), and f5.;

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groups his pieces in an optimal setup. [9...Nh5 10.b4 Na6 11.a3 c5 12. Rb1 (12.bxc5 N xc5 13.B xc5 dxc5 14.g3 Nf6= with the typical Ne8-Nd6.) ]

11...a4 [11...h6 12.h4 Nh7 Not allowing g5-h4. This looks very artificial. 13.Qc2 f5 14.gxf5 gxf5 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16.0– 0–0 and White takes control of the light squares.]

10. Be2 Bd7 [10...Nh5 In many KID and Benoni positions, Black doesn’t care about Bxh5 because the most important task is to push f5. 11. Bxh5 (11.B xc5 Nf4 12.Ba3 N xg2+ 13.Kf1 Nf4 14.Bg4 f5 15.exf5 gxf5 16.Be2 Kh8=) 11...gxh5 12. Bxc5 (12.Qxh5 Nd3+ 13.Ke2 (13. Kf1 f5) 13...Nf4+ 14. Bxf4 exf4) 12...dxc5 13.Qxh5 Ra6 14.0–0–0 Rg6 15.g3 f5;

12.g5 Ne8 [12...Nh5 13. Bxh5 gxh5 14. Bxc5 (14.Qe2 f6 15.gxf6 Qxf6 16.0–0–0 Kh8) 14...dxc5 15.Qxh5 f5 16.0– 0–0 Be8 17.Qh4 Bg6 18.Qg3 a3 19.b3 An interesting and unclear position where material is not important for White. It would be better not to allow the activation of the Black bishops.]

10...Nfd7 11.g4 (11.0–0 In this line with the pawn on h3, to castle short usually makes no sense. 11...f5 12.exf5 gxf5 13.f4 Now both moves are good for Black. 13...e4 (13...exf4 14.B xf4 Ne5) 14.Nb3 Nxb3 15.axb3 b6=) 11...f5 (11... Bf6 with the typical idea of exchanging the bad bishop from g7. 12.Nf3 Nb6 13.g5 Be7 14.Qc2 Bd7 15.h4) 12.gxf5 gxf5 13.exf5 Nf6 (13...e4 14.Ndxe4 N xe4 15.N xe4 Qh4 16.Ng5 Nc5 17.Ne6 B xe6 18.fxe6 B xb2 19.Rb1 Bc3+ 20.Kf1 Qe4 21.Rg1+ Kh8) 14.Qc2 e4! Other typical idea. Black doesn’t allow a blockade on e4 and thanks to the sacrifice of the e-pawn, he activates his pieces.]

13...a3 [13...f5 14.h5 Rf7 Only move. Otherwise, after h6-Bh8, Black will play without the bishop until the end of the game. (14...f4 15.B xc5 dxc5 16.h6 Bh8 17.Bg4+-) 15.Qc2 a3 16.b4 f4 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18.bxc5 Qxg5 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Qb3]

13.h4 Now the Black pieces are limited.

14.b4 Na6 [14...Na4 15.Qc2 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 f5 17.f3 c6 with unclear play because Black is trying to open the position and get active.]

11.g4+= Multi-purpose move. White gains space on the kingside, not allowing Nh5 and making it harder for Black to play f5.

15.b5! Great idea. This shows deep strategic understanding. Normally, White plays on the queenside over c5. In this case, the Russian grandmaster is going to close this 11


side to make it safer for the king, and to fix the a3-pawn as well. [15.Qb3 c5?! Not the best. (15...f5 16.f3) 16.bxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. Rb1 f6 (18...Nd6 19.Qb6 Qe7 20.Qxc5 It’s strange, but Black is not able to stop c5.; 18... Rb8 19.Qb6 Qe7 20.Qa7) 19.Qxb7 fxg5 20.hxg5 Nd6 21.Qb6+=] 15...Nc5 16.Nb3 b6? It seems like Nakamura is still in bad shape! In my opinion, this is a strategic mistake. Yes, I agree that usually in the KID, White creates pressure on the queenside and Black looks for counterplay on the kingside. Here the roles have been changed. [16... Nxb3 17.axb3 (17.Qxb3 f5 Black is faster to push f5 and still keeps the possibility of opening the position on the queenside after c6.) 17...f5 18.f3 Bh8 with idea transfer knight to h5 (18...c6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.dxc6 B xc6 21.b4 fxe4 22.fxe4 Rf4) 19.Qc1 Ng7 20. Rxa3 Nh5 21.Kd2 Nf4=] 17.h5 Qe7 f5 seems to be the only option for Black, so it’s strange that Naka, who is a very active player, uses this slow move. [17...f5 18.gxf6 (18.h6 Bh8 19. Rg1 (19.f3 f4 20.B xc5 dxc5 21.Rg1 Nd6 and White has no time to save the g5 pawn.) 19...fxe4 20.Qc2 Rf4 21.0–0–0 Bf5 The bishop on h8 is out of play but White can't improve his position.) 18...Nxf6 (18...Qxf6 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Kd2+/-) 19.Nxc5 bxc5 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Kd2 Black’s position is unpleasant anyway.]

20... Rxg6 21. Bh5 Rf6 22.Kc2 The White king is very safe now. [22.Nxc5 dxc5 23.Qe2 Nd6 24. Rag1 Rf4 25.Kc2 Raf8 26.Kb3+/-] 22...Na4 [22... Bh6 23. Bxh6 Rxh6 24.Nxc5 dxc5 25. Bf7++-] 23.Qg1 Nxc3 24.Kxc3 Rf4 25.Qh2 Black is not able to create any threats. From a strategic point of view, White won’t allow any counterplay and soon will start to crush over the h- and g-files. 25...Nf6 [25... Bf6 26. Rag1+ Ng7 27. Bg4 Not the only move. 27... Rxg4 28.Qxh7+ Kf7 29. Rxg4 Bxg4 30. Rh6 Bf3 31.Qg6+ Kg8 32.Nd2 Bd1 33.Qxf6 Qxf6 34. Rxf6+-; 25... Rxe4 26. Bxe8 Xh7] 26.f3 The most solid. [26.Nd2 Rxe4 (26...N xe4+ 27.N xe4 R xe4 28.Rag1 Ra4 29.Be2 Bf5 30.Qh5 Bg6 31.R xg6 hxg6 32.Qxg6+-) 27.Nxe4 Nxe4+ 28.Kb3 Bf5] 26... Be8 [26...h6 27. Rag1 Nh7 It was the last chance to try to close the pressure on the open files. 28.Kd2 Ng5 (28...Raf8

18.Kd2 f5 19.gxf6 Rxf6 [19...Nxf6 20.Nxc5 bxc5 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Qg1 Qf7 23.Qh2+-] 20.hxg6 It makes no sense to win the exchange, because it can only help Black to get activity (for example, on the dark squares.) [20. Bg5 Nxb3+ 21.axb3 gxh5 22. Rxh5 Qf8 23. Bxf6 Nxf6+=] 12


29.Bf7+ R8xf7 30.Qxh6+-) 29. Bxf4 exf4 30.Qxf4 Rf8 31.Qe3 Qe5 32.Kd1+/- and Black has some play.] 27. Bxe8 Rxf3 28.Qe2 Nxe4+ 29.Kc2 [29.Kd3?? Ng3] 29...Qxe8 [29...Qf6 There’s no time to put pressure on the a1–h8 diagonal. 30. Raf1+-] 30.Qxf3 Qg6 31.Qh5 Ra4 32.Qxg6 hxg6 33.Nd2 1–0

(4) Gelfand,B (2736) — Williams,Si1 (2496) [A96] 28th European Club Cup Eilat ISR (4), 14.10.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 d6 We are on the beginning of one of the less popular Dutch Systems. This is William’s favorite weapon. He already had spectacular achievements in this opening.

7.b4 I suppose that Gelfand played this rare but very logical move because his opponent, in previous games, chose to put the pawn on a5 in order to disturb the advance of the White pawns. [7.Nc3 An alternative plan for White is to play in the center with the thematic e2-e4 break. 7... Qe8 a) 7...a5!?; b) 7...Ne4 8.Nxe4 (8.Qc2 N xc3 9.Qxc3 Bf6 10.b4+=) 8... fxe4 9.Nd2 d5 10.f3+=; 8. Re1 Qg6 9.e4 Anyway White is playing according to plan, because the rook on e4 won’t be hanging. 9... fxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Rxe4 Bf6 (11...Qxe4 12.Nh4+-) 12.Qe2 Nc6 and we have some old theoretical position. 13


13.d5 (13.Bd2!?) 13...exd5 14.cxd5 Ne5 15.Nd4 Bg4 16.f3 Bd7 17.Ne6 Bxe6 18.dxe6; 7.Qc2 a5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.b3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11. Rd1 Qe8 12.Nb5 Qh5 and Willim as proved in a few moves that the attack is more important than the material disadvantage. 13.Nxc7 f4 14.Nxa8 Bc5 15. Rd5 Nb4 16. Rxe5 Nxc2 17. Rxh5 Nxh5 18. Rb1 fxg3 19.hxg3 Nxg3 20. Rb2 An amazing victory against one of the best young players of this generation. 20... Bf5 0–1 Wojtaszek,R-Williams,S/ Mulhouse FRA 2011.] 7...a5 8.b5 Ne4 9.Qc2 Bf6 10. Bb2 [10.Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Bxd2 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13. Bc3 (13.e4 f4 14.gxf4 exf4 15.e5 Be7 16.Rad1) 13...e4 This is usual in these structures (as in the Leningrad System). If black manages to push e5-e4 to limit the g2-bishop, then the position is equal. 14. Rad1 Qe7 15.Nd4 c5 16.bxc6 Nxc6=]

12.Na3 Somehow I don’t like this move. Sometimes in these structures, the knight transfers through a3-c2-e1– d3 in order to fight for the important e5 and f4 squares, but in this case, it looks impossible. White had other simpler options. [12.Nxe4 fxe4 13.f3 exf3 14. Bxf3+=; 12.e3 Bd7 13. Ba3 with Nc3 next.] 12...c6 13. Rab1 Bd7 14. Rfc1 Be8 Typical plan. In the „Stone Wall”, the light-squared bishop is very often limited and becomes the worst piece, so this is a logical way to activate it over h5. 15.Nf3?! [15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.e3 White should look for some initiative on the queenside.]

10...a4 11.Nfd2 Gelfand’s idea is to get rid of the knight from e4, and then play the thematic e2-e4. 11...d5 Black prefers to change the structure, but keeps the knight on e4. [11...Nxd2 12.Nxd2 Nd7 (12...e5!? 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.e4) 13.e4 f4!? An interesting idea to weaken the White king. 14.gxf4 Be7 (14...e5 15.dxe5 (15.fxe5 dxe5 16.dxe5 (16.f4 a3 and if 17. Bc3, cxd4 with tempo.) 16... Nxe5 17.f4 Ng4 18.e5 Be7 and Black has the initiative.) 15...dxe5 16.Nf3 exf4 17.e5 Be7 18. Rad1 Qe8 19. Rfe1 Nc5 20.e6 We have here an example of practical thinking. Instead of keeping the pawn longer, White sacrifices two pawns to get excellent piece activity.) 15.f5 exf5 16. Rae1 (16.exf5 Nb6 17.Be4 d5=+) 16...fxe4 17.Nxe4 Bh4 Black wants to play Nf6. The position is unclear.]

15...f4! Very good decision. White’s pieces are bit far from the kingside, so Black can look for some pressure against the White king. 16.Qd1 [16.gxf4 Bg6 17.e3 Probably the best. (17.Qd1 Bh4 18.N xh4 Qxh4 19.f3 Qf2+ 20.Kh1 Ng3+ 21.hxg3 B xb1 and White has no time to recapture on b1 because of Rf6-Rh6.) 17...Nd6 18.Qe2 Bxb1 19. Rxb1 For the exchange, White has one pawn and has solved his problems with the threats on the kingside.] 14


16...fxg3 17.hxg3 Bg6 Thanks to his active bishop on g6 and the potential pressure over the f-file, Black’s position is already very comfortable.

Rd8 26.Qf1+= Not allowing Ne5. White is better because of Black’s weak pawns.) 26.d5

18.bxc6 Nxc6 19.Nb5 Bg5 20. Ba3 Rf7 [20... Bxc1 21. Bxf8 Bh6 22. Ba3 dxc4 23.e3 Ra5 Black has a lot of weaknesses, but two pawns give him a bigger advantage.]

26... Rxf2! Probably leads to a draw by force. 27.Kxf2 Qh2+ 28.Ke1 Nd4 29. Rb2 Qxg3+ 30.Kd2 Qf2+ 31.Kc3 Qxe3+ 32.Kb4 Rf8 33.Qg1 Qh6 34. Rf1 Rc8 35.c5 Qa6 36.Qf2 Qb5+ 37.Kc3 Qd3+ 38.Kb4 Qb5+=] 21.Nxg5?? Very bad move.Probably Gelfand missed something in his calculation because it’s hard to explain why he’s exchanging two pieces that protect the king. [21. Rc2 Maybe it doesn’t look nice to put the rook on the second rook on this diagonal, but Black can’t take advantage of this.] 21...Qxg5 22. Bxe4 White has no choice! The king is now really weak. [22. Bf3 Nxg3; 22.Nd6 Rxf2 23.Nxe4 Rxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Bxe4+ 25.Kf2 Qf5+ 26.Ke1 Bxb1 27. Rxb1 Qh3+-] 22...dxe4 Correct. The threat now is e3, with a mating attack. [22... Bxe4 23.Nd6 Qh6 (23...Qg4!? 24.N xf7 Qh3 25.f3 Qxg3+ 26.Kf1 Bf5 27.e3 B xb1 28.R xb1 Kxf7 29.R xb7+ Kg8 30.Rb2) 24.Nxe4 dxe4 25.e3 e5 (25...

23.Qe1 [23.Nd6 Rxf2 24.Kxf2 e3+ 25.Kg2 Rf8 26.Qg1 Rf2+ 27.Qxf2 exf2 28. Rxb7 h5 and the White king is too weak.] 23...e3 24.f3 Bxb1 25. Rxb1 Rf6 Black won material, but it didn’t decrease the pressure against the White king. 26.Kg2 Rh6 27.g4 Ne7?! Black is still winning, although after this move, it will be a bit harder. [27...Nxd4 28.Nxd4 Qf4 29.Qg3 Qxd4 30. Rxb7 e5] 28. Bxe7 Qxe7 29.Qg3 Fortunately for him, White solved the problem with his king, and thanks to the weak Black structure, he’ll get some practical chances. 29... Rd8 30.Qe5 Objectively, it was better to immediately put the strong knight on d6. The queen on g3 is well placed to protect the king. Maybe Gelfand decided to play Qe5 because he was looking for some repeti15


tion. [30.c5 and now we’ll see an amazing line given by the engines: 30... Rg6 preparing main idea h5 31.Nd6 h5 32. Rxb7 Qf6 33.Nf7 hxg4 34.Qh2 gxf3+ 35.Kf1 fxe2+ 36.Kxe2

This line gives White some chances, but to see that White doesn’t get mated here was not easy. 41...Qh1+ 42.Kf2 g3+ 43.Ke3 Qxe4+ 44.Nxe4 g2 45.Kf2 Rxd4 46. Rb8+ Kf7 47.Ng5+ Ke7 48. Rb7+ Rd7 49. Rb4 Rd2=+; 37.f5 Qh4 38.Qg3 Qg5 39.fxe6 Qd5+] 37...Qf6 38.Qxg4 [38. Rxb7 Qg6 with the idea of Rh3.] 38... Rh6 39.f5 exf5 40.Nxf5 Rg6 41.Ne7+ Qxe7 42.Qxg6 Qxe2+ 43.Kh3

36... Rg2+! 37.Qxg2 Rxd4 38. Rb8+ Kxf7 39.Qb7+ Kg6 40.Qb1+ Kg5 41.Qg1+ Kf5 42.Qf1+ Ke4 43.Qg2+ Ke5 and the Black king should escape from the checks. 44.Qh2+ Qf4 45.Qh5+ g5 46.Qh8+ Kd5 47.Qh1+ Qe4 48. Rd8+ Kc6 49. Rc8+ Kb7] 30...Qh4 31.Qg3 Qe7 32.Qe5 Rg6! Full respect for the Vice World Champion, but I want to play... 33.c5 [33.Qxe3 h5 34.Qe4 Qg5; 33. Rh1 If white tries to prevent h5, then the queen will come from the other side. 33...Qb4]

43... Rd5 Finally! The White king didn’t survive. A great victory by Wiliams, and probably the biggest surprise in this event. We should note that in this line, Williams beat three top players already: Wojtaszek, SokolovandGelfand! 0–1

33... Rg5 [33...Qh4 34.Qg3 Qf6 35. Rh1 Rg5 with h5 next.] 34.Qxe3 h5 35.Nd6 [35.Kg3!?] 35...hxg4 36.f4 Rh5 37.Qg3 [37. Rxb7 Qh4 38.Qxe6+ Kh7 39.Qe4+ Kh8 40.Nf7+ (40.Re7 Rf8 41.Re8 Qh1+ 42.Kf2 g3+ 43.Ke3 Qxe4+ 44.R xe4 Rh4 45.f5 R xe4+ 46.N xe4 g2 47.Kf2 R xf5+ 48.Kxg2 Rf4) 40...Kg8 41.Ng5 16


Puzzle section

(7) Nisipeanu,D (2661) — Dimitrijevic,A (2270) European Club Cup, 01.10.2012

(5) Carlsen,M (2843) — Caruana,F (2772) Bilbao tiebreak (blitz), 13.10.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Giri,A (2730) — Naiditsch,A (2704) (6) Huzman,A (2591) — Riazantsev,A (2712) European Club Cup, 11.10.2012 [CEWN]

European Club Cup, 12.10.2012 [CEWN] 1. –+

1...=

17


(9) Korobov,A (2705) — Smirin,I (2638)

(11) Williams,S (2496) — Palac,M (2600)

European Club Cup, 12.10.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+/-

1.+-

(10) Nepomniachtchi,I (2704) — Bacrot,E (2705)

(12) Sutovsky,E (2685) — Vogt,L (2397)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

18


(13) Korobov,A (2705) — Teterev,V (2529) European Club Cup, 14.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Caspi,I (2451) — Motylev,A (2655) European Club Cup, 12.10.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

19


Endgame section (15) Morozevich,A (2758) — Vitiugov,N (2691) [B40] 28th European Club Cup Eilat ISR (4), 14.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

39... Rc4 [at 39... Re4+ 40.Kd3! would be very strong. The White king blocks the b-pawn, which gives White’s rook the possibility to protect the a-pawn. 40...b3 41.a5 Ra4 42. Rb5 followed by Kc3. White should be winning.] 40.Kd3 Rc3+?! [a move like 40... Rf4 would be a more precise move. 41.a5 Rxf2 42. Rxb4 Rf3+ and Black will get a very comfortable draw. 43.Ke2 Rxh3 44. Ra4 Rh7 45.a6 Ra7 and it is a draw, of course.] 41.Kd2 Still here the position is close to a draw, but Black has to make it! Sometimes, it can be much harder than it looks like during a a practical game. 41... Rb3 [41... Rxh3 42. Rxb4 f4! The only move for Black that leads to a draw. (42...Ra3 43.f4+ followed by Kc2Kb2, and Black is lost.) 43.Ke2 Ra3 and the position is a draw. White can’t improve his position and the a-pawn is blocked by the rook on a3.]

We face a very complex rook endgame. At first sight, it’s hard to say if this is a winning position or a draw... White is a pawn up, but Black’s rook is very active, and the limited amount of pawns gives Black good chances to escape. 37. Rb6 a5! The only move! [A passive defense like 37... Rd7 38.a5 followed by h4, just leads to a completely hopeless position for Black.] 38. Rxb7 Of course. White is trying to keep one pawn alive on the queenside. The exchange of both pawns would lead to an easy draw. As we know, even a position with extra h- and f-pawns is a theoretical draw. 38...axb4 39.Ke3 White is trying his best. [Of course 39.a5? Rd3+ 40.Kg2 Ra3 would lead to an immediate draw.]

42. Rb5 White puts a rook on the 5th rank to open the possibility of playing h4. 42... Rb2+ Of course, Black still could have taken on h3. 43.Ke3 Rb3+ 44.Ke2 Rb2+ And again 44... Rxh3, followed by f4, would lead to a draw. 45.Kf3 Rb3+ 46.Kg2 Rb1 47.Kg3 White wants to play h4. 47... Rg1+ 48.Kf3 Rb1?! This is already a mistake that could have cost a full point. [48... Rh1 and we would come back to the already known position, but it looks like Vitiugov has blundered the possibility of playing f4.]

20


49.h4+! This is why White brought the king to f3. 49...Kxh4 50.Kf4 From a more or less safe draw, Black’s position has become super dangerous. The only hope now is to exchange, as fast as possible, the b-pawn for the a-pawn, in order to be in time to bring the king back to h7, which would lead to a theoretical draw. 50...b3! Black finally moves the pawn and wants to play Ra1 or b2 next, and then Ra1. 51.Kxf5 Kh5 52. Rb6! White tries to prevent the Black king from getting to h7. 52... Rb2 [52...b2? 53.f4! Black is in zugzwang and White is easily winning.] 53.f4 Rb1 54. Rb4 54. Rb8 would lead to about the same position as in the game. 54... Rb2 55. Rb8 Kh6 56.Kf6 Kh7 57.f5 The Black king reached h7, but the rook on b2 is still a very passive piece. The position is quite forced. It’s clear that Black will play Ra2 next. Can White do something against it?! 57... Ra2 58. Rb7+! Strong move.

59. Rxb3?? What a mistake in an already winning position! [59.a5! would have been the right choice. White is „trapping” the Black rook on a5, where the rook won’t be able to give a check on the g-file. 59... Rxa5 60.Kg6 Ra8 61.f6 followed by Rg7-Kh8-Rh7-Kg8-f7 with a full point for White.] 59... Rxa4 And we are in a theoretical drawn position. The Black king on h7 and the Black rook give checks from the side or attack the White pawn from below. The rest can be found in many books and doesn’t need any comments. 60. Rb8+ Kh7 61. Re8 Rf4 62.Ke6 Kg7 63. Re7+ Kg8 64. Rb7 Rf1 65.Kf6 Rf2 66. Rb8+ Kh7 67. Rf8 Ra2 68. Rf7+ Kg8 69. Re7 Rf2 70. Re8+ Kh7 71. Rd8 Rf1 72.Ke6 Kg7 73. Rd7+ Kg8 74.Kf6 Rf2 75. Rg7+ Kf8 76. Rc7 Kg8 Quite a nice rook endgame to learn from. The main rule that we saw here is: It’s usually much better to keep the rook „next” to the pawn — and not „below” it — for the defensive side. 1/2

58...Kg8 21


(16) Negi,P (2657) — Liu Guanchu (2214) Chinese league, 07.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

only idea of advancing the pawns... The upcoming position could be reached by many different move orders. 51...f4 52. Bc5 g5 53. Be7 f6 54. Bd8 Bd4 We have reached another critical position. Black has created a hidden threat, which we will discuss in 55. Be7... (54...g4? would be a huge mistake, since after 55.hxg4 hxg4 Black’s on ly attempt to create a passed pawn would be f3, but after gxf3 gxf3 Kf1, Black can’t progress with his doubled f-pawn.) 55. Bc7 To prevent the f3 sacrifice, but it allows another idea. (55. Be7

This very instructive and unique endgame arose in the Chinese league. Black seems to be completely winning, as he’ll soon start to collect the weak pawns one by one. However, the Indian GM found an incredible practical chance against his young opponent. 45... Be3 Maybe Black was expecting resignation, but... 46.f5!! [After 46.g3 Black wins easily with 46...h4! 47.gxh4 Bxf4 Taking the e5 pawn secures an easy win with the connected e- and f- passed pawns.] 46...gxf5? It’s incre dible but after this logical move the position is drawn, despite the fact that Black will get the e5 pawn soon. [46...exf5! was the right move, but here as well Black’s winning plan is far from obvious. First, let’s get to the critical position... 47.Kd1 Kd3 48. Bd6 Bd4 49.Ke1 Ke4 Black collects the second pawn. 50.Ke2 Bxe5 51. Be7 The main problem is the fact that the h1 promoting square doesn’t match the Black bishop. White’s pawns are excellently placed to meet with Black’s

55...f3+! is the right way to break White’s defense. 56.gxf3+ Kf4 Black wants to penetrate with Kg3. 57.h4 and now (57.Bd6+ doesn’t prevent it because of 57...Be5) 57...g4! It’s very important not to be too greedy. The connected passed pawns decide the game. (57...gxh4? would spoil the win. 58.B xf6! h3 59.Kf1! Kxf3 60.Be5!! The only move to stop the pawn, but it is enough. 60...B xe5 61.Kg1= and draw. Black even could have 6 h-pawns, he can’t win with the wrong colored bishop.) 58.fxg4 hxg4 Black wins automatically.) 55...f5! Now Black can push g4, since after hxg4, he can recapture with the f-pawn, but of course White is not intending to help with hxg4... 56. Bd8 g4 57. Bg5 Be5 58. Bh4 Now the most precise way to win 22


is 58...Kd5! with the idea of pushing f3, and gxf3 doesn’t come with check anymore. 59. Be1 (59.Kf1 leads to the same after 59...f3! 60.gxf3 gxh3!)

or the pawn. The only thing what White must be careful about is not to let the Black king get to g3, but this is a not-so-difficult task.

59...f3+! 60.gxf3 gxh3 The White king is forced to stop the h-pawn, but it allows Black to win the f-pawn and, with it, the game. 61.Kf1 Kd4 62. Bd2 Kd3 63. Bg5 Bg3 White can’t hold the e2-e3 squares for long, because of the Be1–d2 threat! 64.Kg1 (64.Bh6 Be1! and Bd2, Ke3!) 64...Ke2 65.f4 Kf3 66.Kh1 Bxf4 67. Be7 Black must only be careful not to allow White to give the bishop for his fpawn, but this is already easily achievable in many different ways. One of them is 67...Ke4 68. Bf8 Bb8 69. Bh6 Ba7 70.Kh2 Be3 71. Bf8 f4 72.Kxh3 f3 73. Bb4 Kd3 74. Be1 Ke2 75. Bh4 Bf4! Black got into zugzwang. He must leave the diagonal.]

51... Bd4 52. Bd6 e5 53. Be7! Kf4 [53...f4 is a hopeless attempt. 54. Bh4 Kf5 55. Be7 e4 56. Bh4 White has an excellent blockading position. Black doesn’t even have the smallest chance to improve his position.]

47.Kd1 Kd3 48.Ke1 Bd4 49. Bd6 Ke4 50.Ke2 Bxe5 51. Bc5 The game is quite an easy draw, but the young Chinese talent finds the only try to win and his much higher rated opponent fails to realize its point. The problem is the same once again, that the h1 square is wrong for the bishop. Black doesn’t even have the chance to play f3, since he can only support it from e4 with the king

54. Bh4! When the Black king is on f4, White’s bishop must be ready to pass on the h4, f2 and e1 squares. If the Black bishop leaves the g1–a7 diagonal to limit the places of his colleague, White can play Kf2 as well. 54... Bc5 55. Be1 Ke4 56. Bh4 Kf4 57. Be1 Be7 58. Bf2 Bb4 59. Bh4 Bc5 60. Be1 After trying for a while, Black finds his last chance! 60... Bg1! 61. Bh4 e4! The last critical position. Black found the excellent idea of pushing e3, followed by Bf2 forcing White’s bishop to allow Kg3, since the pawn endgame would be winning for Black. White should have found the only move to hold the draw.

23


being bad, White’s king can be squeezed out. 72. Bxf4 Bxf4 73.Ke1 Bg3+ 74.Ke2 Bf2] 72...f3+ 73.Kd3 Kxh3 0–1

62. Be1? [62.Kf1! The bishop must be sent away from g1 to prevent e3-Bf2. 62... Bh2 (On 62...Bd4 White returns to 63.Ke2) 63.Ke2 e3 This is very important now. Black has refreshed the threat of Bg1–f2, so the only move is (63... Bg3 64.Bd8 Black has successfully sent away the bishop, but his own piece deprives Black from playing Kg3. That’s why e3-Bf2 is much moreeffective!) 64.Kf1! using the fact that Black doesn’t have Ke3 anymore. 64... Bg3 (64...Ke4 65.Ke2 Black can’t break through.) 65. Bd8 Bf2 66. Bc7+ Kg5 67.Ke2= with a draw.] 62...e3! Now Black is winning, and the technique to do it was well demonstrated by the Chinese player! 63.Kf1 [63. Bh4 Bf2 64. Bd8 (64.B xf2 The pawn endgame is equally hopeless. 64...exf2 65.Kxf2 h4! 66.Kf1 Kg3 67.Kg1 f4 and f3 next.) 64...Kg3 65.Kf1 e2+ will be the same as the game. 66.Kxe2 Kxg2] 63... Bf2 64. Ba5 Kg3! 65. Bc7+ f4! Black successfully installed his king on g3. The rest is easy... 66. Bd6 h4 67. Bc7 f5 68. Bd6 e2+ 69.Kxe2 Kxg2 70. Bxf4 Bg3 71. Be3 f4 72. Bc5 [Despite the corner

24


Clash of the Titans

against it? Smyslov came up with an original plan, which was, at that time, a novelty.

(17) Smyslov,Vassily — Steiner,Herman [A51] Staunton Memorial Groningen (2), 1946 [Balogh Csaba] This week we’ll study a deep exchange sacrifice by Vassily Smyslov. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 A brave decision by Black, going for the Budapest Gambit, but of course at that time it had no theory at all. It was not clear yet how White should play. Let’s see how Smyslov reacted over the board. 4.Nf3 [According to current theory 4.a3! is the strongest move and White obtains a clear advantage in all the lines. One example is 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 Black tries to sacrifice a pawn for quick development, but White can easily neutralize the initiative by 6.Qc2! and on 6... Bf5 7.Nc3! Nxf2 (7...Ng3 8.e4 N xh1 9.exf5+/-) 8.Qxf5 Nxh1 9.g3+/White traps the knight and ends up with material advantage soon.] 4... Bb4+ Both continuations lead to the same position. 5. Bd2 [5.Nbd2 Nc6 6.a3 Bxd2+ 7. Bxd2 Nxd2 8.Qxd2 We have transposed to the game.] 5...Nxd2 6.Nbxd2 Nc6 Black must focus on winning back the pawn. 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Qe7 9.Qc3 0–0 Black is ready to recollect the pawn with Re8. What could White do

10. Rd1! Quite a unique idea to protect the pawn with a rook on the 5th rank! I can’t recall a similar plan in other openings. [The „normal” 10.e3 leads nowhere after 10... Re8 11. Be2 Nxe5 12.0–0 d6= Black has easily equalized the game.] 10... Re8 11. Rd5! Black must hard to restore the material equality, Steiner finds the only way. 11...b6! The bishop is heading to the long diagonal to annoy the rook. 12.e3 It’s time to finish the development. 12... Bb7 13. Be2 Rad8 The correct decision again! Black must protect the d7 pawn if he wants to win back the e5 pawn. [For instance, after 13...Nd8 14. Rd2 Nc6 15.0–0 and d7 is also hanging.] 14.0–0 Nb8 Black wants to take on f3 and then on e5. What to do as White? Just as before with Rd1–d5, Smyslov finds a brilliant idea.

25


15. Rc1 I don’t know what’s the correct mark to this move. Maybe „!!?” Whitesacrifices an exchange. He has only one pawn for that, but his pieces are dominating. Black rooks have no opened files and in the future it will be hard to open one. The e5 and d5 pawns paralyze Black. The c7 pawn is a clear target and probably the most important factor is that the b8 knight is totally out of the game. This is of course all good and nice, but an exchange is an exchange. :) [I believe 15. Rd2!? would have guaranteed a positional advantage. 15... Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Qxe5 It’s very important to keep the queens on board, which will make White’s game much easier. 17.Qc2! White wants to play on the queenside, with Rfd1 and b4-c5. The bishop is clearly better than the knight. 17...a5 Black should try to reduce the power of the b4 plans, but it’s coming anyway (On 17...d6 18.b4 Nd7 19.Qa4! is very unpleasant. It’s hard to deal with the a7 pawn, while the counter-attack with 19...Qc3 only helps White. 20.Rfd1 Qxc4? 21.Rc2! and the c7 pawn will fall. Black’s position collapses.) 18.b4! Nc6 White has a nice tactical opportunity to win a pawn.

19.c5! (The direct 19.R xd7 is not good because of the counter-blow 19...N xb4!) 19...axb4 and now (19...bxc5 20.bxc5 the d7 and a5 pawns are too weak to hold.) 20. Rxd7! Rxd7 21. Bxc6 White ends up with an extra pawn.] 15... Bxd5 16.cxd5 d6 Logical move. Black must sooner or later undermine the e5 pawn. [16...c5 was the alternative, with the idea of d6. Smyslov rightly pointed out in his analyses that the strongest moveis 17. Bb5! a6 trying to unpin the e8 rook, but this weakens a lot the queenside pawn structure. (On the other attempt to undermine White’s center 17...f6 18.Qb3! seems to be very strong. 18...Kh8 19.exf6 Qxf6 20. Rc4! After this great move, suddenly White gets very serious attacking chances. An illustrative line, which shows the potential it has could be 20...a6 21. Rf4! Qe7 (21...Qd6 22.Bd3 Ng5 or Rh4 next.) 22.d6! playing on concrete threats. 22...Qxd6 23.Ng5! Rf8 (Luckily for White 23...Qxf4 isn’t mate on the backrank because of 24.exf4 Re1+ 25.Bf1!) 24. Rh4 h6 and Black gets mated after 25.Qc2!+-) 18.d6! Qe6 19. Bc4 Qf5 20. Bd3! White wins a tempo compared to Smyslov’s analysis. (Smyslov suggested 20.Bd5 Nc6 21.B xc6 dxc6 22.h3+= with an advantage.) 20...Qh5 (20...Qe6? loses to 26


21.B xh7+!) 21. Be4! Nc6 22. Bxc6 dxc6 The queen on h5 is out of the game. It should anyway come back to f5, but this give enough time for White to seize an advantage with 23.b4!+/- and Black collapses on the queenside.;

the positional threat of Nd4-f5. If Black prevents both with 21...c5 22. Bc4+/- is very unpleasant. Black still can’t use his knight on b8, because 22...Nc6 is met with (22...b5 23.Bd5+/-) 23. Bxa6 and the bishop returns to c4.]

16...c6 is met with 17.d6! and Bc4 next. Black is doomed.]

20.Nxe5

17. Bb5! White sends away the rook from the action. 17... Rf8

18.e4! Strong pos itional move, stabilizing the center, justified by a great tactical feeling. Smyslov had to foresee and evaluate well the consequences of the 18...dxe5 move. 18...a6 [18...Nd7? doesn’t work 19.Qxc7; 18...dxe5 19.Nxe5 f6 Black wins the e4 pawn, but 20.Nf3! Qxe4 21. Re1! The d5 pawn is always protected by Bc4 and Nd4-e6 is coming next. 21...Qg6 22.Nd4!+/- White doesn’t even have a pawn for the exchange, but he’s completely dominating. He enjoys a big advantage.] 19. Bd3! Protecting the e4 pawn. 19...dxe5 [On 19... Rfe8 Smyslov again correctly suggested 20.e6! fxe6 21.dxe6 with the direct idea of Qxc7 and

20... Rd6?! Black collapses in 2 moves, but such things often happen when the pressure is so strong. [20...f6 is also bad 21.Nf3 and Nd4 next.; 20... Rfe8 was probably the best chance, but White has an advantage here as well. 21.f4! fortifying the e5 knight. The computer tries to solve Black’s problem tactically with 21...Nd7 22.Nc6 Qc5+ but White plays 23.Kf1! (23.Qxc5 N xc5 24.N xd8 N xd3 25.Rc3 N xf4 would have been the point!) 23...Qxc3 24. Rxc3 Ra8 25.e5+= White continues dominating. The rooks have no chance to improve.] 21.Nc4! Smyslov transfers his knight to e3, where it’s ready to jump to f5. 21... Rh6? This is the decisive mistake. Such an attack can’t be dangerous. [21... Rd7 22.Ne3 Black can prevent Nf5 with 22...g6 but it weakens the dark squares on f6 and h6, where the knight will soon appear through g4. 27


23.e5!+/- This is the most precise with Ng4 next. White is much better.(23.Ng4 f6) ]


22.Ne3 The c7 pawn falls now, which means the end of the game. Black tries some direct threats, but White can easily parry with all of them.

(18) Troitzky,A

22...Qh4 23.Qxc7! Rf6 24.g3 Qh5 25.e5 Black’s pieces are totally uncoordinated and they have no chance to improve.

[CEWN]

1935 1.+-

25... Rh6 26.h4 Nf5 is in the air. 26...Qf3

27. Rc4! A cruel move. Smyslov transfers his rook to f4. 27...b5 28. Rf4 Qh5 29.Ng4 The rook is trapped and the queen doesn’t have too many squares either. 29... Rg6 30. Bxg6 Qxg6 31.e6 Qb1+ 32.Kh2 f5 33.e7 Re8 34.Qd8 White’s strategy to play against the b8 knight with the exchange sacrifice has paid off. It couldn’t leave its place after all. 1–0

28


Solutions (19) Grischuk,A (2754) — Gelfand,B (2738) London GP, 01.10.2012

(20) Matlakov,M (2665) — Dominguez Perez,L (2734) St Petersburg (rapid), 05.10.2012 [Solutions]

[Solutions]

15.d5!! Ng6 [15...Nexd5 16. Bxd5! exd5 17.Nxd5! Nxd5 18.Qe8+ Rxe8 19. Rxe8#] 23. Bxe6! fxe6 24. Rxe6+ Kd7? [24...Kf7 25.Qh5+! g6 26.Qf3! Qc3 (26...Rhf8 27.R xf6++-) 27. Rxf6+! Qxf6 28.Qb7+!+-]

16.dxe6 Bxe6 19.Qxe6+

17. Bxe6

Rxd1

18. Rxd1

fxe6

25.Qg4! Kc7 26.Qc4+ Kd7 [26...Kd8 27.Qxa6+-] 27.Qa4+ Kd8 28.Qxa6! Kd7 29.Qb5+ Kd8 30. Re8+ 1–0 [30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Rxe8+ Kc7 32.Qc5++-]

29


(21) Alekseev,E (2683) — Svidler,P (2747) St Petersburg (rapid), 05.10.2012 [Solutions]

18... Rxf3! 19.gxf3 Qxh3 20.b6 [20.Ne2 Rf8 21. Ra3 (21. b6 Rxf3 (21...Be5!? 22.Ng3 c4 23.Qc2 N xd5–+) 22.Qxf3 Qxf3 23.bxc7 Qg4+ 24.Ng3 Qc8–+) 21...c4 22.Qe3 Nxb5–+; 20.Ne4 c4 21.Qe3 Nxd5–+] 20...Nd3 [20...Qxf3–+]

(22) Alsina Leal,D (2528) — Forcen Esteban,D (2469) Spanish Championship, 06.10.2012 [Solutions]

24. Rxf6! gxf6 25. Bxh6 f5 [25...Kh7 26.Qh5+-] 26.Qh5 1–0[26.exf5 f6 27.Qg4+ Kh8 28.Qh4 Rf7 29. Bg5+ Kg7 30.Qh6+ Kg8 31. Bxf6+-; 26.Qh5 Re6 27.exf5+-]

21.Ne4 [21.bxc7 Be5 22.f4 Bxf4 23.Qb8+ Kf7–+] 21...c4! 22.Qd1 [22.Qxc4 Ne5!–+] 22...axb6 23.axb6 Rxa1 24.Qxa1 Bxa1 25.b7 Na6 26. Rxa1 Qd7 0–1

30


(23) Rombaldoni,A (2458) — Djurhuus,R (2436)

(25) Sharafiev,A (2414) — Vorobiov,E (2594)

Oslo Open, 30.09.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

33... Bxe5! 0–1[33... Bxe5 34. Re4 Bxf4 35. Rexf4 Rxf4 36. Rxf4 Rc5–+]

47... Rxb3! 48.Qg6+! Kh8! 49. Rxb3 Qg8!! 50. Ra3 [50.Qg4 Qxb3–+] 50... Bxg6 51.fxg6 dxc5 52.bxc5 Be7–+

(24) Dvoirys,S (2533) — Lintchevski,D (2554) Nezhmetdinov memorial, 02.10.2012 [Solutions]

39. Rd4! Rxd4 40. Bxe6+ 1–0 31


(26) Hole,O (2366) — Solodovnichenko,Y (2602)

(27) Rotstein,A (2510) — Van Kampen,R (2572)

Oslo Open, 30.09.2012

Dutch league, 06.10.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35.Qxf7+!! [35. Be2]

35... Be1!! [35... R 3d2 36. Be3;

35...Kh7 [35...Kxf7 36. Be6+ Kf8 37.d7+ Qe7 38.d8Q+ Rxd8 39. Rxd8++-]

35... Rxf1+ 36. Rxf1 Rd2 37. Rf2]

36.Ne6 Qh8 37.d7 [37.Ng5+ Kh6 38. Be3+- hxg4 39.Ne4+ Kh7 40.Nxf6#] 37... Bxd7 38.Ng5+ Kh6 39. Bxd7 Rb7 40. Be3 1–0

36.Qe8+ [36. Rg2 Bxg3! 37.hxg3 Rxf1+ 38.Kxf1 Rd2 39. Bf2 Qh1+ 40. Rg1 Qxf3–+] 36...Kh7 37. Rg2 R 3d2 38. Rxd2 Rxd2 0–1

32


(28) Onischuk,A (2672) — Bruzon,L (2713)

(29) Prokes,L

Poikovsky, 06.10.2012

1941

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

47.Qh6+? [47. Re4!! d2 48.Qh6+! Rg6 49. Rf4+! Ke7 (49... Ke5 50.Qh5+ Ke6 51.Qxg6++-) 50.Qf8+ Kd7 (50...Ke6 51.Qf7+ Ke5 52.Qf5#) 51. Rf7+ Ke6 (51...Kc6 52.Qc8+ Kb5 53.R xb7++-) 52.Qe8+ Kd5 53. Rf5+ Kc4 54.Qa4+ Kd3 55.Qb3+ (55.Rb5+-) 55...Kd4 (55...Ke2 56.Qb5+ Kd1 57.Qb1+ Ke2 58.Qf1#!) 56.Qc2!+-]

1. Re4! g2 2. Rf4+! Ke8 3. Re4+! Kd8 4. Rxg4! g1Q [4...g1R 5. Rxd4=] 5. Rg8+!! Qxg8 1/2

47... Rg6 48.Qh4+ Kf7 49.Qh7+ Kf6 50.Qh8+ Kf7 51.Qe8+ Kf6 52.Qh8+ Kf7 53.Qh7+ 1/2–1/2

33

Weekly Newsletter



26th of October 2012


2


3

»» Puzzle section

17


20


25


28

»» Solutions

29

Definitely the most important event of the past week was the Spice Cup. Six young Super GMs played a double round robin tournament in Saint Louis. Maxime VachierLagrave managed to win the tournament with 6/10 after having a serious amount of luck in a few games. The 2nd and 3rd positions went o Ding Liren and Le Quang LIem with 5.5/10. Then came Wesley So with 5 points, and with 4, Georg Meier and Balogh Csaba — your unlucky commentator who missed a huge chance to score a full point against the tournament winner in a clearly winning endgame. The German Bundesliga has began with favorites making their first point, with the exception of one big scandal around the young German GM Falko Bindrich who was caught cheating. According to the spectators, Mr. Bindrich went almost after every move to the toilet and used a computer program on his smart phone. We analyze for You his endgame against Russian GM Pavel Tregubov, where Bindrich showed amazing strong play! Really a cool endgame. The 16th Unive Chess Festifal is on the roll. It’s 4 playersdouble round robin. So far Nakamura convincingly scored 2,5/3, beating Anish Giri and Hou Yifan with White and making a draw against Tiviakov with Black. As usual we wish You a lot of chess fun with Your new issue of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Meier,Georg (2646) — Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2705) [A04] 6th SPICE Cup GM St Louis USA (5), 16.10.2012 [Csaba Balogh] 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 The game starts solidly, but it soon turns up... 3...e5 4.e3 Nf6 5. Be2 [A few rounds later, Ding Liren deviated from the game with 5.d4 but Vachier introduced a strong novelty and got a perfect position again. 5...e4 6.Ne5 g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8.0–0 0–0 9.b3 So far they were following the Kramnik-Neponiachtchi, Moscow 2011 game, and now 9...Ne7 ! was very strong. Suddenly the e5 knight has some problems. Black wants to play d6, after which the only square is g4, and after the massive exchanges, d4 is hanging. The tactical explanation is 10.dxc5 Ne8! wins material on the long diagonal.]

can win 7.exd4 Be6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0–0 Be7 10.dxc5 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13.Ng5 With a good defense, Black can hold the draw, but he can only dream about more.] 7.exd4 e4 8.Ne5 dxc4 9.Qa4 Be7 We are still following theory. 10.Nxc6 [10.d5 appears to be strong at first sight, but Black gets a good position after two strong intermediate moves. 10...Nxd5 11.Nxc6 Nxc3! 12.bxc3 Qd7!=+ followed by Qxc6 with an advantage.] 10...bxc6 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Qxc4 White is a pawn up and was considered to be better, but this game might change the evaluation. As the game will show, Black’s compensation should be enough to secure even chances. 12... Rb8! The key move of the counterplay! Black is putting pressure on the b2 pawn, which makes the development of White’s pieces very difficult. In addition, Rb4 could be a threat later on to win the d4 pawn. 13.0–0 0–0

5...d5 6.d4

6...cxd4 An ambitious decision! [6...exd4 is the most common move, but it leads to an endgame where only White

14.a3 Actually this is the novelty of the game, a very good one I must say. White parries the Rb4 idea. [In the only 3


previous game, White decided to sacrifice the pawn back in order to finish the development, but it lead to complete equality soon. 14. Bf4 Rxb2 15. Rab1 Be6! 16.Qa4 Rxb1 17. Rxb1 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxa7 Qxa2 20.Qxa2 Bxa2 and they soon agreed to a draw in Nanu-Tregubov, Pamplona 2010.; If White wants to preserve his pawn with 14. Rd1 Black plays 14... Rb4 15.Qa6 Qb8 followed by Rc8. Black is OK, White’s queenside is stuck.; 14.d5 is the alternative, but Black plays the same way as in the 14. Rd1 line. 14... Rb4 15.Qa6 Qb8 Probably the best for White is to give back the pawn. 16. Be3 (16.b3? with the idea of finally developing the bishop would drop a piece after 16...Rb6! 17.Qa5 Bb4!) 16... Rxb2 17. Rab1 Rxb1 18. Rxb1 Qe5 Black is fine.] 14...Qb6! White has parried the Rb4-Qb8 idea, but Black has a similar way to create pressure. Rfc8 is coming soon. 15. Rd1?! This is a mistake. White is too greedy with his extra pawn, and suddenly the counterplay grows enormously. [It would have been more clever to give back the pawn with 15. Bf4 Rbc8 16.Qa2 Qxd4 and White gets a healthy development after 17. Rad1 Qb6 18. Bc4 The position should be objectively even, but now it’s Black the one who needs to make some precise moves to equalize. A few moves later, White could only dream about such a position.]

17.d5! White tries to make use of his extra pawn, but it has a drawback as well, it gives the important g1–a7 diagonal to Black. [17.Qxa7? traps the queen. 17... Ra8 18.Qb7 Rcb8] 17... Bc5 18. Bg5? Blundering a tactical idea. Actually. I don’t know what happened to all of us in the tournament, but in each game somebody made similar blunder that is clearly under the level of the players’ strength. [The last chance to maintain equality was 18.Na4! trying to simplify the position a bit. 18... Bxa4 19.Qxa4 Qd6! I believe this is better than Qb6, because Black has full compensation. The game could continue with an interesting line: (19...Qb6 Now Black equalizes the material, but suddenly the d-pawn gets too dangerous. 20.Bf4 B xf2+ 21.Kh1 Ra8 22.d6) 20.b4 Bxf2+! 21.Kxf2 Nxd5 with Qf6 threats. 22. Bb2 (22.Kg1 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Nc3 24.Qc2 Qf2 25.Bb2 N xe2 26.Qxe4 Ng3+ 27.hxg3 Qxb2 Black is marginally better with his superior pawn structure.) 22...Qf4+ 23.Kg1 Qe3+ 24.Kf1 Qf4+= with perpetual check.] 18... Rb6! White is forced to put his queen into a deadly pin. 19.Qa5

15... Rfc8 16.Qa6 Qd8! Very well played! Black sees that the queen on a6 is completely misplaced, it can hardly find its place on the board. It will be under attack by the rooks soon. White can’t decrease the pressure on the b2 pawn with Rb1 because of Rxc3. 4


19... Bxf2+! The start of the fireworks. From now on, Black executes many nice tactical ideas, all of them connected to the pin between the two queens. 20.Kf1 [On 20.Kxf2 Ng4+ 21. Bxg4 (21.Kg1 Qxg5 22.B xg4 B xg4 followed by Rxb2 with a winning attack.) 21... Rxb2+ wins the queen.; 20.Kh1 was objectively the best, but White ends up in a practically hopeless endgame. 20... Rxb2 21.Qxd8+ Rxd8]

24. Bxe3 Bh3! The game is over, but the finish is also nice. 25.Nf4 Ng4! 26. Bxb6 [26.Nxg2 Rf6+ 27.Kg1 Qxa5] 26...Nxh2+ 27.Ke1 Qh4+ A great attacking game by the tournament winner! 0–1

20...e3! The king got into a mating net. 21.Ne4 White would like to eliminate the f2 bishop. 21... Rc2! The Black rook starts his kamikaze career on the second rank. 22.Nxf2 [On 22. Bxf6 the simple 22...gxf6 is played. Black keeps all his threats as in the game.]

22... Rxe2! The rook is untouchable because of the pin. 23.Nd3 [23.Kxe2 Rxb2+] 23... Rxg2! It’s just fantastic how the desperado rook clears the second rank completely. 5


(2) Nakamura,Hi (2775) — Giri,A (2693) [C67] 16th Unive Crown Hoogeveen NED (1), 21.10.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 This choice seems to make sense against Nakamura, who has a very aggressive style. 5. Re1 [5.d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 This endgame is the main line in the Berlin System, but it’s hard to prove an advantage for White. Recently, many top players are looking for new ideas after 5. Re1.] 5...Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 [7. Bd3 This plan was popular many years ago. White’s idea is to create pressure against king. 7...Nxe5 8. Rxe5 0–0 9.Nc3 c6 10.Qf3 Ne8 11.b3 d5 12. Bb2 White’s pieces are a bit more active, but the position is equal.] 7...Nxe5 8. Rxe5 0–0 9.d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8

11.c3 Lately, a more aggressive variation has become more popular: [11. Bf4 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 (12...B xd4 13.B xd6 cxd6 14.Nc3+= Thanks to the doubled pawns and the problems with the bishop on c8, White is slightly better.) 13.Nc3 It’s logical that the only chance for White

in this symmetrical structure is to play actively. 13... Bxd4 14.Nd5 d6 (14...c6!?) 15. Bg5 Bf6 (15...f6 leads to very complex positions.) 16.Nxf6+ Nxf6 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Bd3 Thanks to the weak king, White has compensation for the pawn. Probably, the position is unpleasant for Black in practice, because Kramnik wasn’t able to defend in a game against McShane.] 11... Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Nf5 The main Black’s idea in these positions is to solve the problem with the development of his bishop from c8. In some other variations, we see moves like Ne8 as well. 13. Bf4 c6 14.a4 The position is more or less equal. White is going to take some space on the queen side to create some potential weaknesses. 14...a5 Looks unnecessary. Black lost time, why not simply to develop the pieces? [14...d5 15.a5 Be6 16.Nd2 With the idea of Nb3-Nc5. If Black plays b6, then a6. Maybe in the future the a7-pawn will be a target and the a6-pawn will be very dangerous.]

15. Bc7! Now White gets some hope to put pressure on the a5-pawn. 15...Qf8 [15...Qe7 16.Qxe7 Bxe7 (16...N xe7 17.Nd2 Nd5 18.Bd6 b6 19.Re1 Bb7 20.Ne4+/-) 17.Nd2 and the 6


problem with the a5-pawn is serious- 17...d5 18.Nb3 b6 19.Nd2+/-]

29... Ra1+ (29...Rc4 30.R xc6 R xc3 31.Bf8++-) 30.Kg2 Ra2]

16. Bd3 d5 17. Bb6 I have no idea regarding why did Naka lose time with this move. [17.Nd2 g6 18.Nf3 (18. Nb3 Bd8) 18... Be6 19.Qd2+= and White has some edge. First, Black has some problems with the a5 pawn; then, there’s an opportunity to create some play on the dark squares.]

22... Bxd3 23. Bxd6 Qe8 24.Nf3 Ba6 25. Be5 Be7 Of course Black keeps the pair of bishops and doesn’t make the dark squares useful for White.

17...Nd6 18.Nd2 Be6 19.Qb1 g6 20.b4 axb4 21.Qxb4 White is trying to put pressure on the b7-pawn. On the other hand, Black should have counterplay on the a-file. 21... Bf5 Giri play seems to be very logical because usually, the exchangeoflight-square d bishops is good for Black in this kind of structures. He had other possibilities as well. [21... Bd8 22.Nb3 (22.Bc5 Ba5 23.Qa3 Bc7=) 22... Bxb6 23.Qxb6 Qd8 24.Qxd8+ Rxd8 25.Nc5 Ra8 White’s next idea is to come with the king, for example, to c7. Black is fine.] 22. Bc5 Naka’s plan is to look for some play on the dark squares. [22. Bxf5 Nxf5 23. Bc5 Qc8 24. Rb1 Kg7 25.Nf3 h5 26.g3 and White can wait for the right moment to exchange the b7 and a4 pawns, and then attack c6. 26... Ra6 27.Qxb7 (27.Kg2) 27...Qxb7 28. Rxb7 Rxa4 29. Rc7

26. Bd6 Bf6 [26... Bxd6 27.Qxd6 Qf8 28.Qf4 Re8 29.h4 f6 and even here Black should be OK.] 27. Re1 Qd7 28. Be7 Bg7 29.Ne5 Qf5 30.Qd6 White’s pieces get some activity. The bishop on a6 is out of play, but Black doesn’t have any weaknesses. The position should be equal. 30... Re8 31.h3 Qe6 Giri exchanges the active queen and reduces the material, but now hisstructure will be worse. [31...h5 32.a5 (32.Re3 with Rf3 next (Xf7). 32...Bh6 33.Rf3 Bf4; 32.g4 hxg4 33.hxg4 B xe5=+) 32... Bb5 33.Qc7 Ba6 White’s pieces are optimally placed, but it’s hard to improve the position and create some threats.] 32.Qxe6 fxe6 33. Bc5 g5 Good strategical move. It’s natural that Black puts the pawns on dark squares in order to get more space for the light-squared bishop. 34. Bb4 h6 [34... Bxe5 Probably Black is not ready to play with opposite-colored bishops. 35. Rxe5 h6 36. Re3 Not allowing the Black bishop to return to the game after Bd3. (36.h4 gxh4 37.Rh5 Kg7 38.Bd6 Kg6 39.R xh4 h5=) 36...Kf7 37. Bd6 Kg6 (37...Bc4 38.Rf3+ with Be5 next, and Black is in trouble.) 38. Be5 Rf8 39.g4 Bc4 40.Kg2 h5 41. Bd6 Re8 42.a5 with long-term pressure.] 35.Nd7 Kf7 36. Re3 This is a good place for the rook, which doesn’t allow Bd3 and can beconnected to play in the 3rd rank. 7


36...Kg6 [36... Bc4 37.a5 to fix the weak pawn on b7.] 37. Bd6 h5 38.Nc5 Very nice regrouping of the pieces by White. The knight on c5 attacks two weak pawns on b7 and e6, and the bishop on d6 is active. I already wrote about the e3 rook in the previous comment. 38... Bf6

39.g4 Fixing a potential weakness on g5 and gaining space to improve the king. Nakamura didn’t want to win the e6-pawn because Black would get an easier defense. [39.Nxe6 h4 40.Nc5 Rxe3 41.fxe3 Kf5 42.Kf2]

46. Bd6 Rh8 47.f3 Rh6 48. Be5 Rh7 49.Kg3 White slowly improves his position and Black has to wait. 49... Rh6 50. Rb1 It’s time for concrete action. 50... Bxa5 51.Nxb7 Bxb7 [51... Bxc3 52.Nd6+ Ke7 53. Rb6 and White is winning.] 52. Rxb7+ Ke8 53. Rg7 Bd8 [53... Bxc3 54. Rxg5 Rh1 (54...c5 55.dxc5 B xe5+ 56.R xe5 Kd7 57.f4 Kc6 58.g5 Rg6 59.Kg4 Kxc5 60.Kh5+-) 55. Rg8+ Kf7 56. Rc8 Rd1 57. Rc7+ Ke8 58. Rxc6 Bxd4 59. Rxe6+ (But not 59.B xd4? Kd7) 59...Kd7 60. Rd6+ Ke7 61. Bf4 White should win in this position.] 54.Kg2 Naka doesn’t allow Rh1. White had two other possibilities. One of them was really promising. [54. Rg8+ Kd7 55.f4 gxf4+ 56.Kxf4 and now it’s not easy to stop the promotion of the g-pawn. 56... Rh1 (56...Bf6 57.g5 B xe5+ 58.Kxe5 Rh3 59.Rg7+ Ke8 60.Rc7 R xc3 61.Kf6 Rf3+ 62.Kxe6+-) 57.g5

39...hxg4 40.hxg4 Kf7 41.Kg2 Ra8 42.a5 White is not in a hurry to win material. This is a good practical decision. [42. Rxe6 b6 43.Nxa6 Rxa6 44. Re3 Rxa4=; 42.Nxe6 b6 43.Nc7 Ra7 44. Re8 Rxc7 45. Rf8+ Kg7 46. Rxf6 Kxf6 47. Bxc7 Be2 and Black is on time. 48. Bxb6 (48.Kg3 Bd1=) 48... Bxg4 49.a5 Bc8=] 42... Re8 43. Re1 An interesting option was not to allow Bd8 too easily. [43. Bc7 Rc8 44. Be5 and now the rook on c8 is badly placed. 44... Bd8? 45. Rh3+-] 43... Bd8 44. Ra1 Rh8 45. Be5 Rh7 Somehow Black manages to improve his pieces.

57... Rg1 (57...Rf1+ 58.Kg3 Rg1+ 59.Kf2 R xg5 Maybe Naka didn’t see this trick. 60.R xd8++-) 58.g6 Bg5+ 59.Kf3 Bh6 60. Bg3 Ke7 61. Bf2 Rf1 62.Kg2 Rxf2+ 63.Kxf2 Bd2 64.g7 Kf7 65. Rc8 Kxg7 66. Rxc6; 8


54.f4 Bf6 55. Rc7 (55.fxg5 B xg7 56.gxh6 B xh6 57.Bf4 Bf8=; 55.B xf6 gxf4+ 56.Kxf4 R xf6+ 57.Ke5 Rf3 58.g5 R xc3 59.Rc7 Kf8 60.Kxe6 Re3+ 61.Kd6 Rd3= In this case, Black is on time.) 55... Bxe5 56.dxe5 (56.fxe5 Rh1 57.R xc6 Kd7 Now the king is blocked. Black should have enough counterplay.) 56... Rh1 Not allowing the activation of the king too easily. (56...gxf4+ 57.Kxf4 Rh3 58.Kg5 White doesn’t care about the pawns. The most important thing is to activate the king, as shown in the classical example Capablanca — Tartakower. 58...R xc3 59.Kf6+/-) 57.fxg5 Rg1+ 58.Kf4 Rf1+ 59.Ke3 Re1+ 60.Kf3 Rf1+ (60...R xe5 61.g6 Kf8 62.Kf4 Re4+ 63.Kg5+-) 61.Kg2 Rc1 62.g6 (62. R xc6 Kf7) 62...Kf8 63.Kg3 Rxc3+ 64.Kf4 d4 65.Kg5+and finally the king comes in again.] 54... Be7 55. Rg8+ Kd7 56. Ra8 c5 Black gets rid of White’s target. 57. Rg8 cxd4 [57...c4 An interesting idea, looking for counterplay against the c3 pawn later.] 58.cxd4 Rh7 59.f4 gxf4? Not accurate! Black missed good drawish chances after: [59... Rh4 60.Kg3 gxf4+ 61.Kxf4 (61.B xf4 Rh1 62.g5 Rd1 63.g6 Rd3+ 64.Kg4 R xd4 65.g7 e5 66.Ra8 R xf4+ 67.Kh3 Rf3+ 68.Kh2 Rf5 black is survive thanks to this nice trick 69.g8Q Rh5+ 70.Kg3 Rg5+=) 61... Rh1 62.g5 Rf1+ 63.Ke3 (63.Kg4 Rg1+ 64.Kh5 Rh1+ 65.Kg6 B xg5) 63... Bd6 64.Ke2 Rf5 The White king is too far. 65. Bf6 e5=]

65.Kf2 Very important here. (65.Kf3 Be7 66.B xe7 R xg7 67.Bf8 Compared to the 65.Kf2 line, Black now has a draw thanks to this check. 67...Rg3+ 68.Kxf4 Rd3=) 65... Be7 66. Bxe7 Rxg7 67. Bf8 Rg8 68. Ra8 Kb7 69. Re8 Kc6 70. Rxe6++-] 61... Be7 Black could still fight after: [61...f3+ 62.Kxf3 Rh4 White has temporary problems with the promotion of the g-pawn because after g6, Rf4 comes. The king is also cut in the 4th rank. 63. Rd8+ Kc7 64. Ra8 Rf4+ 65.Kg2 Rh4 66. Rg8+/-] 62.g6 f3+ 63.Kxf3 And the g-pawn wins the game. 63... Rh5 64. Be5 A good start by Nakamura in the Unive tournament, and his second win against Giri in a short period of time. 1–0

60.g5 Bd6 61. Bf6 White also missed a better move. More accurate was: [61.g6 Rh5 62. Bf6 Rh6 63. Rd8+ Kc7 64.g7 Rg6+

9


(3) Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2748) — Areshchenko,Alexander (2710) [A15] 28th European Club Cup Eilat ISR (7.1), 17.10.2012

plays 10. Bf4! followed by Rd1 and White consolidates his center. 10...Qxd4? obviously doesn’t work because of 11.Nb5 Qb4+ 12. Bd2+- and Nxc7.]

[Csaba Balogh] We are in the last round of the European Club Cup! The „Socar Azerbaijan” team has scored an impressive 5–1 victory against the pretty strong Russian team (with a rating average of around 2690), which was just enough to take the gold medal. With 4.5–1.5, St.Petersburg would have finished first. The series of wins was started by Mamedyarov, with a very impressive performance against a big specialist of the Grünfeld defense. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 Recently, the top players gave up the attempts to find an advantage in the main Grünfeld, and the so-called Anti-Grünfeld move order gives White many interesting possibilities. 2...g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 Nb6 6.d4 Be6 [We have alread y commented the game Le Quang LiemNavara in a previous CEWN. That game continued with 6... Bg7 which is also the main line.] 7.Qc2 Bg7 8.e4 Typical for the Grünfeld. White has built up a huge center, while Black must try to undermine it at any cost, if he wishes to equalize. I must say that I don’t like the 6... Be6 move at all, since it only disturbs Black from creating his counterplay, for instance, with e5. But also, after the other break with c5, White has d5 with tempo. 8...0–0 [8... Bg4 would be the principled move, but now White has the very strong 9.Ne5! and on 9... Bc8 with the idea of c5, trying to make use of the e5 knight, White

9. Be3 Very logical novelty! White needs to stabilize his center, and he wishes to to do it with Rd1. 9...c6 Such a move is a kind of admission that something went wrong in the opening. [The active-looking 9... Nc4 doesn’t help. 10. Bg5 with the threat of d5 and the knight needs to retreat. The d4 pawn is taboo. 10... Bxd4? 11.Nb5!+- wins a piece.] 10. Rd1! N8d7 11. Be2 After successf ully consolidating the center, it’s time to finish the development. White achieved the maximum he could, now the space advantage will soon start to tell. 11... Bg4 [Simplifying the position doesn’t solve the problems. 11... Bc4 12.0–0 Bxe2 13.Nxe2+= Without the light-squared bishops, Black can’t undermine the center with f5, because of the weakness of the e6 square. White would penetrate with Ng5 or Nf4. 13...Qc7 is mets with the very unpleasant 14. Bf4! e5 15. Bg3! Black’s pieces don’t find their places. 15... Rfe8 16. Rd3 doubling the rooks with a clear advantage.] 10


12.0–0 [Another known reaction in similar situations is 12.Ng1 Bxe2 13.Ngxe2+= also guarantees an edge.] 12...Qc7 13.h3 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 White had to be really satisfied with his achievement. Black remained with only one possible break, namely on e5, but now it just doesn’t work because of a nice tactical idea.

14... Rac8 [14...e5 15.d5! White creates a passed pawn. Actually this is not a guarantee of success yet. Black might blockade it with the knight on d6. 15...cxd5 16.exd5 Nc8 The initiative would quickly pass to Black if the knight arrived to d6. Black could start his play with f5, but chess is a concrete game. 17.d6! The knight doesn’t reach its destination, while 17...Nxd6? drops a piece after 18.Qd2!+-] 15. Be2 White would like to play f4, leaving Black without any counterplay. The last chance for this move. [15.e5 was also possible with the idea of Bg4 and f4. If Black plays e6, the d6 square would be critically weakened, and the c3 knight would quickly occupy it.] 15...e5 [15... Rfd8 16.f4+=] 16.d5 Mamedyarov uses the same trick as in the 14...e5 line. [Another very good, and we can also call, typical re-

action in similar positions is 16.dxe5 followed by squeezing Black with f4-e5. 16...Nxe5 17. Bc5 Rfd8 18.f4! Nec4 19.e5+/- also looks pretty strong.] 16...cxd5 17.exd5 Nc4 Black’s happiness is only one move away, but the knight doesn’t reach d6.

18.d6! Qa5 [18...Nxe3 leads to a lost position as well. 19.dxc7 Nxc2 20. Rxd7 Nd4 21. Bc4+- Black can’t move. The knight goes to e4-d6 or d5-e7.; 18...Nxd6? drops a piece again after 19.Qd2!+-] 19. Bg5! White wants to install his bishop on e7 to paralyze Black’s position. 19...e4 Finally a small achievement for Black to open the „Grünfeld bishop”, but it comes too late to save the game. 20. Be7 Rfe8 21.Qb3! Black loses material in any case. The e4 and b7 pawns are hanging and if the c4 knight leaves, Bb5 also is very unpleasant. 21...Nxb2 [21...b5 is met, for example, with 22. Rd5+-; 21...Nce5 22.Nxe4+- is hopeless as well.]

11


22.Qxb2 Nb6 A desperate attempt to confuse matters, but this doesn’t help on this level. [22... Rxc3 23.Qxb7+is over as well.] 23. Bb5 The rook is trapped and the d6 pawn is still ready for promotion. [23.d7 Nxd7 24. Rxd7+- with a piece up was equally good.] 23... Bxc3 24.Qb3 Red8 The rest is only a matter of taste. 25.d7 Ra8 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 27. Bc4 Kg7 28. Bxf7 Nxd7 Mamedyarov finishes the game in style. 29. Bg8! Black resigned in view of Qf7. A nice example on the topic of how to play against the Grünfeld. 1–0

(4) Bacrot,Etienne (2705) — Kempinski,Robert (2602) Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (1.1), 20.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] It’s the first round of the German Bundesliga and my friend Etienne is playing White against Kempinski. Just a few days ago we finished our „very disappointing” participation in the European Club Club, so in the BL we wanted to score at least a couple of points. 1.c4 c6 2.e4!? A nice trick that works again and again against „Slav” players! 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 And we are in the Panov variation of the Caro-Kann, which many of the „Slav” players don’t like at all. 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 [5...Nc6 6. Bg5 is the other main line.] 6.Nf3 Be7 This move is a bit strange. The normal move is 6... Bb4 or 6...Nc6.

7. Bf4!? Interesting play by Etienne, who is going for White’s main idea: to play c5 followed by b4 and consolidate on the queenside. More standard moves would be 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd3 or 8. Bg5. 12


7...0–0 [To play with a different move order wouldn’t help Black to avoid the move c5. 7...Nc6 8.c5 Ne4 9. Rc1 A typical move which we see very often in many similar positions. 9...Qa5 10.a3 and White is in time to keep the pawn structure, while Black has no time forb6.; 7...dxc4 8. Bxc4 would just lead to a well known position with an extra move for White, Bf4.] 8.c5?! This is White’s main strategic idea. Let’s see if Black can somehow react fast enough against it... 8...Ne4? Black misses his chance. [8...b6! would be the right way to start playing against White’s pawn structure. 9.b4 (Of course 9.cxb6 Qxb6 leads to a nice position for Black.) 9...Ne4 Black is in time to act fast, combining ideas of attack against the b4 pawn with the plan of bxc5-bxc5 and Qa5. 10. Rc1 (10.Qc2 Nc6 Winning a tempo again, by attacking b4. 11.a3 bxc5 and only now bxc5. 12.Nxe4 (12.bxc5 Qa5) 12...dxe4 13.Qxe4 Nxd4 and Black is better.) 10... Bb7! This calm move is very strong. Now Black wants to play a5 or to play f6 followed by e5. The position is very dynamic, although Black should be doing fine. (10...a5 This would be too early.

11.Na4! Very strong. We see this motif in a lot of games. 11...axb4 12.N xb6 R xa2 13.Qb3! That’s the key move. Tactics are on White’s side and the position is better for him.)] 9. Bd3! Strong move. [Let’s examine the logical-looking: 9.Qc2 Nc6! (9...N xc3 10.Qxc3 Here White’s dream comes true. His position is safe and better.) 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 It looks like White is just a pawn up, but here comes the unexpected 11...g5! followed by f5 and g4, with quite a complicated position.] 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 Nc6 It’s hard to blame Black for such a logical move. [But maybe 10...b6 would be more dynamic and would force White to act.] 11.h4!? A very interesting move, even if computers say it’s not the best one. Does White want to play Bxh7 next?

11...g6?! Kempinski is afraid of Bxh7, but does it work? [If Black ignores White’s threat: 11...b6? 12. Bxh7+! is winning 12...Kxh7 13.Ng5+ Kg6 14.Qd3+ f5 15.h5+ Kf6 16. Be5+! A very pretty finish!; 11...h6!? would have been a better choice. Black should not be afraid of White’s Bc2-Qd3 idea. 12. Bc2 (12.g4 Maybe White could try this „crazy” move, but now it’s clear that things are very unclear :).) 12...b6 starting the 13


action immediately. 13.Qd3 f5 with a very unclear position.]

that easy to stay calm and give away the pawn on c5 for „nothing”.

12.Qc2! Of course White should not lose any time now. The weak point in Black’s structure is the g6-pawn. White wants to play h5 next.

18... Bf6 [It doesn’t help to play 18...Qe8 19. Rh3!]

12...f5 It’s never nice to play a move like f5, but h5 was a serious threat. 13.Qd2! Now the queen is going to d2 to support the h5 push (Black had g5 before) and if the h-file opens up later, a move like Qh6 could be deadly. 13...b6 14. Bb5 Winning control over the e5 square. We can clearly see that White’s position is much better.

19.Ng5 Logical. [But 19.Qh6 Qe7 20. Rb1! would be even stronger. However, to find a move like 20. Rb1 is super difficult. Black is practically completely paralyzed.] 19...cxd4 In an inferior position, Black opens the center expecting to find some chances due to the bad position of the White king on e1. 20.cxd4 Bxe5 21.dxe5 Qc7

14... Bd7 15.h5 And the h-file is open!

22.Qc3?! Not a bad move, but very impractical. [22.Kf1! would decide the game on the spot. White gets the king to safety, after which White’s attack is going to be deadly!] 15...gxh5 [It’s not good 15...bxc5 16.hxg6 hxg6 17. Bxc6 Bxc6 18. Be5 Simple and strong. Black’s position is falling apart.] 16. Rxh5 bxc5 White has quite a big choice of good moves, but why not to choose the simplest one? 17. Bxc6 Bxc6 18. Be5! Very good play by White. Everything looks pretty simple, but over the board it’s not

22...d4! Complications are starting. 23.Qc5 [23.Qg3 is not winning because of 23...Qa5+ 24.Kf1 Qc3 and Black is back into the fight.] 23...d3?! Black doesn’t take his chance to return to the game. [23...Qb7! 24.Nxe6 (24.N xh7 Qb2) 24... Rfe8! with a very complicated position.] 24.Nxh7 [24.Nxe6 d2+! would lead to a very crazy position!] 14


24...Qb7 25.Qd4? What a mistake by White. [The simple 25.Qe3! ends the game. White’s queen is joining the attack. 25...Qb4+ 26.Kf1 and Black has no hopes at all.] 25... Rad8? Bad luck for Black! He chose the wrong rook. [25... Rfd8! This moves leads to a forced draw. 26.Nf6+ Kf7 27. Rh7+ Kg6 28.Qf4 All is the same like in the game. 28...d2+ 29.Kd1 Ba4+!! and here comes the difference. The pawn on a7 is protected by the rook on a8! 30.Qxa4 Qb2 31. Rh6+ Kg7 Comparing to the game, White doesn’t have Qxa7 now.

or to play Rb2, capturing the pawn on b2. 33... Rd3? After this, Black could already resign. [33... Bd5 leads to a lost position, but at least we would see a a fight.]

34.Qc4! As, I think, Smyslov once said: Chess is a game of double attacks. 34... Be4 35.f3 The White bishop is caught. 35... Rxf3 36.gxf3 Bxb1 37.Qxe6 Kg7 38.Kxd2 What to say... Some people play here, some resign... 32. Rh7+ Kg6 The position is a draw!] 26.Nf6+! White starts a forced and winning line.

38...f4 39.Qe7+ Rf7 40.Qg5+ Bg6 41.e6 The new queen is running.

26...Kf7 27. Rh7+ Kg6 28. Rh6+ Kf7 29. Rh7+ Kg6 Both players had quite a small amount of time, so White repeated the moves once... 30.Qf4+30...d2+ 31.Kd1 And the game is basically over. Black needs to give away his queen. 31...Qxh7 32.Nxh7 Kxh7 33. Rb1 White wants to play Rb3, bringing the rook into the attack; 15


41... Rf5 42.Qe7+ Kh6 43.Qxa7 And another pawn.... 43... Rd5+ 44.Kc1 Rd3 45.e7 Rxf3 46.Qd4 Rf1+ 47.Kd2 Kh7 48.e8Q Now it was too much even for Kempinski. We saw an interesting fighting game with mistakes by both sides, an interesting opening and middlegame, and some very unnecessary last 10 moves :). 1–0

16


Puzzle section

(7) Efimenko,Z (2689) — Motylev,A (2655) European Club Cup, 15.10.2012

(5) Edouard,R (2664) — Svetushkin,D (2597) European Club Cup, 11.10.2012

[CEWN] 1...=

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Smirin,I (2638) — Morozevich,A (2758) (6) Svidler,P (2747) — Ponomariov,R (2735) European Club Cup, 15.10.2012 [CEWN]

European Club Cup, 16.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1.+-

17


(9) Boruchovsky,A (2435) — Navara,D (2722)

(11) Ponomariov,R (2735) — Radjabov,T (2792)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Kasimdzhanov,R (2690) — Stojcevski,Z (2325)

(12) Maki,V (2383) — Bacrot,E (2705)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1... –+

18


(13) Koneru,H (2607) — Bronnikova,E (2244) European Club Cup, 15.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Mista,A (2543) — Pruijssers,R (2519) German league, 20.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

19


Endgame section (15) Meier,G (2646) — Balogh,C (2664) SPICE Cup, 19.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

Despite having a disappointing tournament, I had some interesting moments. White has all the hopes for an advantage because of his better pawn structure. He can easily create a passed pawn on the kingside, while Black’s majority on the queenside is perfectly blocked by the White pawns. In addition, the bishop is stronger than the knight. However, I was lucky to calculate a long and forced line correctly to save the game. Fortunately, this time there was no hole in my counting, like in most of my games in this event... 32...Nd5! [32... Re8+= was also possible, to prevent Bf5, but Black has to suffer long in this case.]

34. Rxe6 [34. Rxd5+ cxd5 35. Rxe6 (35.f5 is not dangerous because of 35...Re5! 36.R xe5 fxe5 37.h4 Ke7= Black’s e- and d-pawns are equally strong to the h and g ones.) 35...Kxe6 White has a side passer, which could easily be enough to decide the game, but with an accurate defense, Black can hold the draw. 36.h4 Black needs to find the only move. (On 36.Ke3 it’s very important for Black to stop White’s attempt to create a passed pawn 36...g5! against h4. White is forced to repeat moves. 37.Kf3 Kd6 38.Ke3=)

36...f5! (36...Kd6 loses to 37.h5! Ke6 38.Ke3 Kd6 39.Kd4 White breaks through with g5 and h6.) 37.g5 g6! Black has successfully stopped the pawns. The only way to progress in as h5 break, but the Black king is close enough to catch the g-pawn. 38.Ke3 Black needs to be careful to answer Kd4 with Kd6. 38...Ke7 39.Kd4 Kd6=] 34... Rxc5 35. Rxf6! My opponent thought the game was over, but... 35...gxf6! 36.bxc5

33. Bxd5 Rxd5! At first, the pawn endgame might look completely lost, but... 20


39.g5 [39.Kd3 Kf7 40.Ke4 Kg7 Sooner or later, White has to advance one of his pawns.; 39.f5+!? is a tricky attempt. 39...Kf7 40.g5 Kg7! It’s very important to keep the f6 pawn on the board. (40...fxg5? 41.hxg5+- wins for White as the line 42...Kg7 will show us.) 41.Kd3 Kf7= followed by passing on g7 and f7. White can’t make progress.] 36...a5! This is the key move! Despite being a clear pawn down, White can’t make progress because he needs his king to promote his kingside pawns, although it has the duty to stop the queenside pawns. [The move order was really relevant, since after any other move, for example 36...Ke6? White has 37.a4! avoiding to create a passer. 37...b4 (37...bxa4 38.Kd3+-) 38.a5!+-] 37.a4 This is the best chance, otherwise Black pushes a4 himself. Now the White king can go to e4 to stay in the square of the b-pawn. [On 37.Ke3 a4!= the White king must stay on the d-file, otherwise b4 will be played. The lines will be the same as in the game.]

39...fxg5 [Actually 39...f5 also leads to a draw. 40.h5 Kf7 41.h6 (41.Kd3 Kg7 42.g6 Kf6 43.Kd4 Kg7 White can’t improve his position.) 41...Kg6 42.Kd3 Kh7 43.Kc4 Kg6 44.Kd4 Kh7 45.Ke5 and now it’s very important not to hurry with the b-pawn. 45...Kg6! The White king needs to turn back to stop the pawn.(45...b3? loses to 46.Kf6! b2 47.g6+ Kxh6 48.g7 b1Q 49.g8Q+- The Black pawns start to fall one by one.) ] 40.hxg5 [40.fxg5 Kf5 41.Kd3 Kg6 42.Ke4 Kh5 is also a draw.] 40...Kf5 41.Kd3 Kg6 42.Ke4

37...b4 38.h4 Ke6

42...Kh5! This is the last key move, which had to be foreseen. White must settle with a draw, since any attempt to win leads to a defeat... [42...Kg7? loses instructively. 43.f5 21


Kf7 44.Kd4 Kg7 45.f6+ Kg6 46.Ke4 Kf7 White can triangle with his king in any case to reach this position, and now 47.Kf5! This might be the only winning motif in this type of endgames. Now it works well. Black queens first, but loses the game. 47...b3 48.g6+ Kf8 49.Ke6! b2 50.g7+ Kg8 51.Ke7 b1Q 52.f7+ Kxg7 53.f8Q+ Kg6 54.Qf6+ Kh7 55.Qxc6+-]

(16) Bindrich,Falko (2532) — Tregubov,Pavel V (2601) Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (1.7), 20.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

43.Kd3 [43.Kf5? b3 Black promotes with check!; 43.f5? loses to 43...b3! (43...Kxg5 44.Ke5) 44.Kd3 Kxg5 45.Kc3 Kxf5 46.Kxb3 Ke4] 43...Kg6 44.Ke4 Kh5 45.Kd3 1/2

After a big battle in the middlegame, the game has reached a very dynamic endgame. It’s clear that White is doing better, but can he win this position?! After the match, the team of Pavel Tregubov made an official protest accusing Bindrich of having cheated during the game. Let’s take a look at what made Pavel Tregubov think his opponent was cheating... 41.dxe4 Rd8 The only move for Black, White wanted to play Nd7. 42.Nec4 White wants to set his second free pawn in motion — a very logical move. [Of course not 42.Nd7? Nc6; Another good choice in the position could be 42.Kg2!? There is no need for White to hurry, and to bring the king closer to the e4-pawn and the g4 square can be very useful. 42...Kg7 43.Ndc4 with the direct threat of playing Na5-Nc6 or Nd7 next. 43...Na6 Black is forced to put his knight on a very bad square — a6. 44.Nc6 and White 22


should be close to winning, even though it would be important to show some accurate play. If Black manages to give away the knight on a6 for the b and e-pawns, the position would be a draw.]

position will be perfect. 49...Ke6 50.Nc5+ Ke7 51.Nd6 and of course Black can’t hold such a position. The White king will go to g6 or to b6, finishing the game]

42...Kg7 43.e5 Of course. Now the knight on d6 in untouchable.

48.Na5! Another great move by White! He is kicking out the Black knight from c6, and in case of 48... Nb8, 49.Nd4! followed by Nc6 is winning.

43...Nc6 44.Kg2! Very cool move . White is blocking all the Black pieces with his knight, and has enough time to centralize his king.

48... Re1+ Black is forcing the White king to leave the pawn on e5 unprotected, in order to play Nb8 next. Where should the White king go, to f3 or to d3?

44...Kf8 Black is bringing his king to the battle-field as well.

49.Kd3! A very strong move by White, once again. [49. Kf3?! would have been the wrong solution. 49...Nb8 (49...N xe5+ loses by force 50.Kf2 Nd3+ 51.Kg3 Rg1+ 52.Kf3 and Black can’t stop White from making a queen.) 50.Nd4+ (Compared to the game 50.Nc6? is losing now. 50...N xc6 51.Nd4+ N xd4+ Black takes the knight on d4 with check! This is not the case in 49.Kd3.) 50...Kd7 51.e6+ Kc7 Probably White is still doing better, but the position is far away from clear.]

45.Kf3 Ke7 46.Ke4 Ke6 Both White and Black have improved their positions to the maximum. Now it’s time for action.

49...Nb8 [49...Nxe5+ 50.Kd2]

47.Nb5! The only move. [In case of the „waiting” move 47.h4? Rb8! followed by Nxe5, with a draw.] 47... Rd1 Black is looking for counter-chances, it’s the best he can do! [In case of a passive defense 47...g5 48.Nc7+! the White knights start to jump around the Black king with the idea of getting control over the e6 square. 48... Kd7 49.Na6! The White knight is going to c5, where his

50.Nc6! Another great move by Bindrich! [To play 50.Nd4+ Kd7 would lead to a much less clear position!] 23


50... Rd1+ This leads to a knight endgame with a pawn down, but Black doesn’t have a better option. [The only other move that doesn’t lose on the spot. 50... Rb1 51.Nbd4+ Kd5 52.Nxb8 Rxb7 53.Nbc6 White is on time to keep the e5-pawn. This is a winning position.; 50...Nxc6 51.Nd4+ Nxd4 52.b8Q I guess no words are needed here.] 51.Kc2 Nxc6 52.Kxd1 Kxe5 White is a clear pawn up, but the Black king is standing very strong on e5. There are only 3 White pawns on the board, which gives Black some drawing chances. White’s idea to take the king to b7-pawn, which would force the Black king to give up his central position and allow the White king to dominate the board. 53.Ke2 h5!? Black is trying to at least exchange a pawn. [53...Kf4 Black is not in time for 54.Kd3 Kxg4

Kf6 57.Kd5 Nb8 58.Kd6 and Black is not on time. White is winning.] 54...Nb8 [Doesn’t help 54...hxg4+ 55.Kxg4 Kf6 56.Nd4 Nb8 57.h4 followed by Kf4, then Ke4-Kd5 and Nc6 with an easy win. Besides, White can win by playing Kf4-Nf3Nd2-Ne4 then Kg5 and Ng3-Ne2-Nf4, and the pawn on g6 is falling.] 55.h4 Of course a winning move, as 55.g5. All moves seem to bring White a full point. 55...Kd5 Desperation in a lost position. The Black king is going for the White pawn on b7, which of course gives him more than enough time to collect the g6 and h5 pawns. 56.g5 Kc6 57.Nd4+ Kxb7 58.Ke4! The White king starts his march to capture the Black pawns. 58...Nd7 59.Kd5 Kc8 60.Ke6 Kc7 61.Nf3 Super strong play by White — what else to say? Maybe even super-super strong... For Tregubov and his teammates, this seemed too strong and filed a protest for cheating. Since I know Bindrich, he usually plays fast and not very accurately, which of course would bring some doubts about his play. It was just too good, almost perfect! 1–0

55.Ke4 followed by Kd5 with an easy win.] 54.Kf3?! What an unhuman decision. Everybody would prefer to keep the pawn un-exchanged, which would be the right choice of course. [54.g5! Kf5 Black’s only try ends in a forced losing position. 55.Kd3 Kxg5 56.Ke4 24


Clash of the Titans (17) Alekhine,Alexander — Yates,Frederick [D64] London BCF Congress London, 1922 [Balogh Csaba] A classical positional lecture by Alekhine, against one of the strongest players of that period. It’s almost impossible to win such games nowadays. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 The Queen’s Gambit has been a solid and popular opening always. 5. Bg5 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 Yates plays exactly the same setup as the Smyslov-Hort game analyzed in a few CEWNs before. [As it was already mentioned there, Black should rather go for 6...h6 and after 7. Bh4 Ne4 (or 7...b6 ) ] 7. Rc1 c6 8.Qc2! Just as in the Smyslov game, Alekhine knows that he should make all the useful moves before developing the f1 bishop. 8... Re8 9. Bd3 This is the difference. [Smyslov played 9.a3 which probably is even slightly more accurate, but the game continuation has no problems either.] 9...dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd5 Black’s standard reaction. After exchanging on c3, he wants to free his position with the e5 break. White must react precisely.

11.Ne4? Alekhine found the right idea to keep the knights on the board, but executed it in the wrong move order. [11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Ne4! was the right plan as Smyslov has demonstrated before.(12.0–0 N xc3 13.Qxc3 e5! is Black’s equalizing idea.) ] 11...f5? A horrible positional mistake. It is hard to get its point. Black creates many holes in his own camp, and an especially painful one on e5. Black remains with his bad light-squared bishop — its movement is completely restricted by his own pawns. [Four years later, Yates improved on his play by 11...Qa5+! 12.Ke2 and again went wrong with 12...N7b6 (However, after 12...Bf8! preserving the strong dark-squared bishop followed by opening the position on White’s king with e5, obtaining a perfect position.) 13. Bxe7 Rxe7 14. Bd3 White was slightly better in Gruenfeld-Yates, Merano 1926.] 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Ned2! This is the shortest way for the knight to reach the weakened squares. 13...b5? Another terrible positional mistake, giving up the c5 square as well. This was clearly a day off for Yates, probably he was scared of his great opponent. [13...e5 never works because of the f5 pawn.; 25


Black’s best chance would have been 13...N7f6 14.0–0 Bd7 with a passive and bad position, but White must work hard to break it. 15. Rfe1 The right idea should be a well timed e4 move, so the rook stands perfectly on e1. 15...Rf8 White can decide to initiate direct actions with 16.e4 (Or can first improve his position with the idea that Black doesn’t have a useful plan anyway. 16.Ne5 Be8 17.a3) 16...fxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Qxe4 White is better is both cases.]

Black probably stopped here, but he can obtain some counterplay with 17...b4 18. Rfe1 Bb5! The bishop is activated and Black wins back the sacrificed pawn. 19.Nc6! Bxc6 20.Qxc6 Rxa2 A very important moment to seize the initiative with

14. Bxd5 [14. Be2+/- was also possible, followed by Nb3-c5, but Alekhine had a clear plan in mind — to play against the c8 bishop.] 14...cxd5 15.0–0 We need great fantasy abilities to imagine a future for the c8 bishop. White’s plan is clear, he wants to exchange one pair of knights and install the other one on e5. It’s important for him to keep control over the c-file.

21. Ra1! With this pawn sacrifice, White takes control over the second open file aswell. 21... Rxb2 Black is forced to take here, at least the b-pawn gives some hopes. (21... Rxa1 is bad 22.Rxa1 Ra7 is coming next.; Black can’t hold the a-file with 21...Rea8 because of 22.Qxa8+ !+/- A very important detail!) 22. Ra7 Rd8 Black has a really suspicious position, but there is no direct win, since 23.Ne5 is met with Nxe5... The best is 23.Ng5! Qxg5 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Rxd7 Black must waste a tempo to open his weak backrank. 25...h6 We have reached the critical position of the whole line, where the computer suggests a fantastic idea...

15...a5 16.Nb3 Continuing the plan with Nc5. [16.Qc7 was slightly different to the game, but also very promising. 16... Ba6 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.Qxe5 Rac8 19.Nb3+/with an overwhelming advantage.] 16...a4? After this move, the game is practically over. [The tactical 16... Ba6 was the last chance, but White can preserve his advantage in some very nice lines. 17.Nxa5 26


26.h4!! It sacrifices a pawn in order to open the back-rank with tempo. 26...Qxh4 27.g3 White had to cover the f2 pawn before the action begins. 27...Qg5 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. Rc1! This is the point! White creates serious threats. 29...Qf6 30. Rc8+ Kh7 and now White should accept to end up with only an extra pawn. 31.Qxd5 b3 32.Kg2 with the threat of winning the b-pawn after Rb8, and on 32... Rb1 33.Qg8+! Kg6 34.Qe8+! Kh7 35.d5!! Black can’t parry the idea of Qg8 and Rc6. 35...b2 36.Qg8+ Kg6 37. Rc6 Rg1+ 38.Kxg1 b1Q+ 39.Kh2+- with an easily winning pawn endgame. This is the end of our nice line that started with 16... Ba6. :)] 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.Qxc5 Qxc5 19. Rxc5 White achieved the maximum he could. He got the strong knight against the bad bishop endgame, with the control over the c-file. Additionally, Black has many weaknesses. 19...b4 20. Rfc1 Ba6 21.Ne5 Reb8

22.f3! White doesn’t need to hurry to convert the advantage. He can slowly improve all his pieces and pawns to the maximum. Black can only watch this. 22...b3 23.a3! Obviously, White doesn’t intend to open another front for the battle.

23...h6 [Exchanging all the rooks leads to an easily winning endgame. 23... Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Rxc8 25. Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.Nd3 Bd7 27.Nc5+- One of the pawns will fall.] 24.Kf2 Kh7 25.h4! Rf8 26.Kg3! Alekhine invades with his king on the dark squares. Black has nothing better than passing. 26... Rfb8 27. Rc7 Bb5 28. R1c5 Ba6 29. R 5c6 Re8 All the Black pieces are sent into passivity. 30.Kf4 Kg8 31.h5! Bf1 32.g3 Ba6 Black is almost in zugzwang in a full board. White has already reached the maximum activity, it’s time to finish the game. Alekhine found a really beautiful way to do it. 33. Rf7 Doubling the rooks on the 7th rank. 33...Kh7 34. Rcc7 Rg8 35.Nd7! Kh8 36.Nf6! Rgf8 And the final blow is

37. Rxg7! Rxf6 38.Ke5!! A cool decisi ve move. To save the rook, Black must put one of his rooks on f8, but then mate is coming in two moves. 1–0

27


Surprise section / study (18) Lazard,F 1923 [CEWN] 1.+-

28


Solutions

(20) Huzman,A (2591) — Riazantsev,A (2712) European Club Cup, 11.10.2012

(19) Carlsen,M (2843) — Caruana,F (2772)

[Solutions]

Bilbao tiebreak (blitz), 13.10.2012 [Solutions]

32...Nf4! 33.Qxh7+ [33. Rxd4 Bxc2 34. Rxc3 Ne2+ 35.Kh2 Nxd4 36. Rc4 Ne6 37. Rxc2 Rxb5=] 10.e5! Bxg2 [10...dxe5 11. Bxb7 exd4 12. Bxa8 Qxa8 13. Rxd4+-]

33...Kxh7 34. Rxd4 Ne2+ 35.Kh2 Nxd4 36. Rxc3 Nxb5=

11.exf6 Bh3 [11... Bd5 12.c4+-; 11... Bb7 12.Nxe6! fxe6 13.Qxe6+ Be7 14.fxg7+-] 12.Qh5! Qxf6 13.Qxh3+-

29


(21) Nisipeanu,D (2661) — Dimitrijevic,A (2270) European Club Cup, 01.10.2012 [Solutions]

34... Rd5! 35. Rd4 Ne4! 36.f3 [36. Rxd5 Qxf2+ 37.Kh1 Nxg3#] 36...Qe5! 0–1[36...Qe5! 37. Rxd5 Qxg3+–+] (23) Korobov,A (2705) — Smirin,I (2638) European Club Cup, 12.10.2012 [Solutions]

37. Bxf7+! Kxf7 38. Ra7+ Ke6 39.Qc4+ Ke5 [39...Nd5 40.e4+-; 39...Kf6 40.Qf7+ Kg5 41. Ra5+ Kh6 42.g5+ Kh5 43.Qxh7#] 40. Ra5+ Kf6 41.g5+ Kg7 42. Ra7+ 1–0[42. Ra7+ Kh8 43.Qc3+ Kg8 44.Qg7#] (22) Giri,A (2730) — Naiditsch,A (2704) European Club Cup, 12.10.2012 [Solutions]

33. Rxf4!! exf4 34. Bg7!! Na7 [34... Bxg7 35.hxg7+-; 34...Ke8 35. Bxh8 Qxg5 36.Qc3+-] 35.Qc3+- Qf8 36. Bxf8+ Rxf8 37.Qa5 Bxb2+ 38.Kc2 Ra8 39.Qxa4 Be5 40. Rb1 1–0

30


(24) Nepomniachtchi,I (2704) — Bacrot,E (2705)

(26) Sutovsky,E (2685) — Vogt,L (2397)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21. Rxe5! Rxe5 22.Qf4! Rhe8 [22...d6 23.Qb4+ Kxa7 24.f4!+-]

39.e6! 1–0

23.Qb4+! Kxa7 24.f4! 1–0 (25) Williams,S (2496) — Palac,M (2600) European Club Cup, 13.10.2012

(27) Korobov,A (2705) — Teterev,V (2529) European Club Cup, 14.10.2012 [Solutions]

[Solutions]

22.e5! Rd8 [22...Nxe5 23.f4+-; 33. Bc7! Qxc7 [33...Qc5 34. Rxc4+-] 34.Nxf5+-

22...dxe5 23.Qxd7+-] 23.exd6+31


(28) Caspi,I (2451) — Motylev,A (2655)

(29) Troitzky,A


1935

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

20...Nxf2!! 21. Rf1 [21. Bxd8 Qb6! 22. Bxc7 Nh3+ 23.Kh1 Qg1+! 24.Nxg1 Nf2#;

1.Ndb4+! Kb5 2.Na3+!! Kxb4 3. Be1+! Kxa3 [3...Kc5 4. Bxa5 b5 (4...b6 5.Be1+-) 5.Kxb2 b4 6.Nb1+-]

21.Kxf2 Qb6+ 22.Kf1 Ng4–+]

4. Bxa5 b6 5. Bd2! b5 6. Bc3! b4 7. Bxb2# 1–0

21...Nfg4 22. Bxd8 Rxd8 23.Nc3 Qb6+ 24.Kh1 Nf2+ 25. Rxf2 Qxf2–+

32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 36 2nd of November 2012


2nd of November 2012

Table of Contents

After a terrible play in the past events, Nakamura is winning very convincingly the Unive Chess Festival with 4,5/6 playing few very nice games. A nice game to watch is Nakamura-Tiviakov. After being so badly outplayed I guess Tiviakov had a few thoughts if actually chess is the right things to do .

»» Editorial Preface

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3

Chigorin Memorial has started, with a huge line up of Top GMs. Let`s see who will be the lucky winner.

»» Puzzle section

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18


23

A lot of very strong rapid tournaments been nice to watch. Final French Rapid Grand Prix on Corsica, or the rapid before the open in Chigorin Memorial, same as Trophee Anatoly Karpov 2012 in which the World Champion himself is taking part and showing again great chess!


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»» Solutions

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My partner Csaba is making at the moment holidays in the USA (good timing) with his girl friend Veronica, who is by the way a professional cook! (doesn’t it sounds like a dream girlfriend?! ). But no worries, from the next week he is back to You with his “perfect and super” accurate analyses , but this week You are all mine. Have fun with the usual issue of CEWN Nr 36 and Happy Halloween!! Arkadij Naiditsch

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4 best games of the past week (1) Bodnaruk,A (2425) — Almasi,Z (2707) [B32] Chigorin Memorial 2012 St Petersburg RUS (2), 28.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] How a strong female player can beat a Top GM. This is the story of this game. We’ll see a lot of mistakes, the game is clearly very emotional for both players... I guess after the game, Almasi and Bodnaruk were in shock for some time :). 1.e4 c5 Of course Almasi is playing for a win in this game, by choosing the most aggressive opening, the Sicilian. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4

4...Qb6!? This is a nice move to play for a win against a weaker opponent. There’s not much theory here and objectively, the move is not bad. Polgar played it twice in a roll against Svidler, so that means something! The idea of Qb6 is to get the knight away from d4 to b3, and then to play the usual Sheveningen set up. It has advantages and disadvantages... 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 Until now all is theory...

7. Bd3 A very normal move. [7.Qe2!? I personally think this is the best move! The idea is to castle long quickly and then to play g4 and Bg2. I think this is a very interesting setup for White.] 7...Be7 8.Be3 Qc7 9.f4 d6 As we can see this is an usual Sheveningen Sicilian, but with a knight on b3 instead of d4. 10.Qf3 White keeps both option open, to castle short or to castle long... 10...a6 Almasi doesn’t hurry to castle short either. a6 is always an useful move for Black in any case. 11.a4?! It’s hard to imagine that this should be the right way to go for White. I think it was time to castle long and play g4-g5. We have a typical Sicilian position — things are very concrete and very sharp!

11...Nb4! Typical and strong. It’s very important for Black to exchange the bishop on d3. With this, White’s future attack on the kingside is much less effective. 12.0–0 0–0 13.a5?! This move is not really useful for White. If White wanted to play g4, it was the right time to do it immediately. 13... Bd7 I think that until now, Almasi was very happy with the development of the game. Black is clearly not 3


doing worse and the position is complicated. There are good chances to outplay a weaker opponent. 14.g4! Not strong, but very brave! Bodnaruk shows no respect for her much stronger opponent and looks for chances in the attack. I think a smart decision. If You’ll die, then do it with a scream!! :) 14... Bc6 Giving a square for the knight on d7. 15.g5 Nd7 16.Qh5 We have quite a typical position and White is at least 1 tempo down. Almasi continues making standard moves. 16...g6 17.Qh6 Rfe8! I guess Almasi played this move too quickly, and I would have done the same. Rfe8 is a standard defense against the direct attack on the king. Black is freeing the f8 square for the bishop, and at the same time, after White’s f5, the rook on e8 will get directly into the game.

from my own games, it’s much easier to play against an opponent who shows respect than against somebody who is „crazy” and just goes for Your king. In most cases, Almasi would win such a position, but in some others, a 0 might be a deserved result :). 21...exf5 22.exf5 Nxd3 23.cxd3 gxf5 Black doesn’t allow White to play f6. So what we have: Black is a pawn up, has the bishop pair and White’s king is weaker... but Bodnaruk is not stopping her attempts to mate the Hungarian Super-GM. 24. Rf1 Qd7 No reason to give back the pawn. 25.d4 But Almasi makes the choice. [At 25. Bd4 Be5! is very strong. White has no play at all...] 25... Be4?

18. Rf3 Bf8 19.Qh4 Bg7 And Black is even on time for Nf8. 20. Rh3 Nf8 It seems like Black is doing very good. Everything is defended, the exchange on d3 can’t be avoided.

26.Nd2! It’s clear that before 26.Nd2, Almasi was already sure that he had a full point, and suddenly he blunders this move... a very bad feeling. What to do now? Whites wants to play Ndxe4 followed by Nd5. 21.f5! Bodnaruk is fearless! I think a preparation move like 21. Rd1 would have been a worse continuation. As I know

26... Bc6 [At 26... Bd3 27.Nd5! and White is mating Black. 27... Bxf1 28.Nf6+ Bxf6 29.gxf6 with mate in a couple of moves.] 4


27.Nc4 White is completely back in the game. The threat Nb6-Nd5 is very dangerous and psychologically, Almasi is feeling like a sheep in front of closed gates :). I know it all myself, it happened to me many times... 27...Qe7 28.Nb6 Rad8 Correct play by Black, avoiding any loss of material. 29. Rxf5 [It’s not winning to play 29.Nbd5 Bxd5 30.Nxd5 Qe4! and Black is OK.] 29...Qe6 30. Rf2 d5 31. Rhf3 Re7 We have a very complicated position. It’s hard to say who is doing better here, and I guess that by now both players were in a slight time trouble. 32. Rg3 Rde8? Black makes a mistake under pressure... I guess Almasi intended to give up his queen, but I don’t think it was the right way to continue the game. [32...Qg6 This move would have been the right choice. The position remains very complex.] 33. Rf6! Forcing Black to give up the queen. 33...Qxe3+ 34. Rxe3 Rxe3

35.Nbxd5! In such a position it’s very easy to go wrong, but Bodnaruk is playing very strongly, following the rule: if You don’t know what to do, get some material. 35...Ng6 36.Qg4 Rd3 Black’s pieces are active and the position looks complicated, but in fact, Black has no real threats and White’s material advantage is very big. 37.Kf1 Solid move. [37.h4 Maybe this was another possibility for White, but in the time trouble it’s risky to let the Black rook enter on e1.] 37... Rd2 38.h4! Just a great move! Nothing to say, h5 is a deadly threat. 38... Rd8 It’s hard to advice something better for Black. 39.h5! White is not getting irritated. 39... Bxd5 40.Nxd5 Rxd5 41.hxg6 The time trouble is over and with it, almost the game.. . 41...hxg6 [Would lose on the spot: 41... Bxf6 42.gxh7+ Kxh7 43.gxf6 with mate on g7, or Black will be forced to give up one of his rooks.] 42.Qc8+ Kh7

5


43. Rf3! Another very good move. White is forcing further exchanges, simplifying the position into a technically winning one. 43... Rxg5 The only move to avoid losing the game on h3. 44. Rh3+ Rh5 45. Rxh5+ gxh5 46.Qxb7 White is winning, but Black still has practical chances. 46... Rxd4 47.Qxa6 Rf4+ 48.Ke2 Bxb2 If it would be possible to give the bishop for the a-pawn, the position would be a draw! K+R+pawn on f7 against K+Q is a draw. 49.Qb5! The last exact move. White doesn’t give Black a chance to play Bd4. 49... Bf6 [49... Bd4 50.Qxh5+ Kg7 51.Qg5+ and the rook on f4 is falling.]

(2) Halkias,Stelios (2581) — Lenderman,Aleksandr (2614) [D02] Chigorin Mem Rapid St Petersburg RUS (7.4), 26.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] This is a game from the rapid tournament during the Chigorin Memorial. The first 20 moves of the game are quite unclear, but then Halkias starts a very interesting mating attack with some sacrifices. All in all, a nice attacking win by White. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 [5.Bd2 is of course the main move, but it seems that nobody knows at the moment how to get an advantage here. The line that Halkias chose is quite a practical decision, especially for a rapid game.]

50.a6 Re4+ 51.Kf3 Re7 52.Qb6 And Black cant stop White’s move on the a-file... What a game! From move 26, White played a brilliant game, almost perfect, solving many difficult decisions in a great way. It’s clear that Bodnaruk is very talented and has a lot of potential for improvement. 1–0 5...0–0 6. Bg2 dxc4 7.0–0 White sacrifices a pawn for a better development and the center. The position is very unclear. 7...Nc6 8.a3! Of course this is still theory, and 8.a3 is clearly the most fighting move. [We can find a lot of games on 8.Bg5 h6! 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 but I think White should not have big hopes to reach any kind of advantage here. Now, against White’s a3, Black will just play Bxc3 followed by e5.] 6


8... Be7 [To take with 8... Bxc3 9.bxc3 could be dangerous for Black. White could follow the plan with Qc2-e4e5 and get a very dangerous kingside attack.] 9.e4 a6 The right move. Black is preparing to play b5 to protect the pawn on c4, and to develop the bishop to b7. [We can find some games on 9...Na5 10.Qe2 a6 11. Bf4 b5 12. Rad1 which leads exactly to the position in the current game — just with a different move order.] 10. Bf4 b5

17.e6! I don’t know if White is doing clearly better, but for sure he’s not worse. and Black needs to play quite precisely to get a draw here.] 12. Rad1 White’s main idea is to play d5. 12...Na5 Now d5 can’t be played, but in exchange the Black knight on a5 is out of the game.

11.Qe2! White should try to develop in the „best” possible way, and this is to have a Queen on e2 and the a-rook on d1. 11...Bb7 [11...Nxd4 would be a very risky decision for Black. 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 Now White has 2 options: 13. Rad1 (13.Be3 After this move, we face quite a strange position. 13...Qd3 14.Qxd3 Of course White can also try 14.Qe1 — the position is very complicated. 14...cxd3 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd5 17.Bxd5 Rb8 18.Ba7 Bf5 19.Bxb8 Rxb8 A very difficult endgame to evaluate... but probably it should be around equal.) 13...Qa7 14.e5 It’s time to collect some material back. 14...Nd5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Bxd5 Bb7

13.h4 The right plan! White’s play should clearly be on the kingside. Another option for White could be to play 13. Rfe1 (preparing the d5 push) Re8 and 14.Ne5 with unclear play. 13...Nb3 14. Bg5?! The next two moves by Halkias are hard to understand... It seems like he wanted to provoke Black to play h6, but is it worth losing a tempo? I don’t think so. [To play 14. Rfe1 Re8 15. Bh3 with g4 next might be an idea.] 14...h6 15. Bf4 [15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16.e5 Be7 White can’t do anything concrete, but White still has hopes for an attack and I think it is a feasible option.] 15... Re8 16. Rfe1 Bf8 A normal move, but I think Black could have tried: [16...c5!? In general, this is Black’s main idea in many lines. 17.dxc5 Qc8 and Black is going to 7


recover the pawn on c5. With a bit of luck, maybe even Nxc5-Nd3 could be possible. I think Black is doing clearly better here.]

20...gxf6? Giving White good attacking chances. [20... Nxf6! This move seems to finish the game on the spot. 21.exf6 hxg5 22.Nxg5 gxf6 and I think White is pretty hopeless...] 21.exf6! If You say A, You must say B. 21...hxg5? Very greedy — but it’s not easy to play with Black here.

17.e5! White needs to do something.

22.hxg5 Black is two pieces up. It seems like it should be a clearly winning position for Black — but how?! White’s „easy and deadly” threat of playing Ne5-Qe5 is very difficult to be stopped. I guess there aren’t many players that would like to be Black here, especially in rapid chess.

17...Nd5 18.Ne4 We can see that Black’s h6 is quite useful for White, but again, it was reached with the high cost of one tempo. 18...c5 Black starts to crush White’s position. White has his back against the wall... He needs to do something forced now, or the game is over. 19. Bg5 Qb6 20.Nf6+!? I guess that in a normal game this kind of attack would not be successful, but in rapid it’s a great move, especially if the position is bad anyway...

22...Ne7 This is not a good move, but which one is the right one? [In case of 22...Nxd4? 23. Rxd4! White has nothing to lose! 23...cxd4 24.Ne5 White wants to play g5 or Qh5. 24...Qc7 25.Qh5 with a mating attack!; 22... Bd6! Logical move, nut anyway the position remains very sharp. 23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 The position is still not that clear. 24...Ne7! 25.Qh5 Nd4 and it seems like Black’s knights are holding the position, but... 26. Rxd4! cxd4 27.g4! and the deadly threat of Qh6 gives White a full point.] 8


23.Ne5 Ng6 24.Qh5 White is totally in a rush to attack! 24...Nh8 After this move, White’s position is winning! [But also 24...Nxe5 25. Rxe5 bringing the rook into the attack 25...Qc7 26.g6 wouldn’t give Black any escape!]

(3) Popilski,Gil (2475) — Grigoriants,Sergey (2578) [B12] Chigorin Memorial 2012 St Petersburg RUS (3.11), 29.10.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Usually we comment games with „big names” and great play, but let’s make a little exception this time. This game was basically over in just 11 moves! White used a great trick.

25.Nxf7! Very pretty. Black is 3 pieces up, and in a lost position! 25...Nxf7 26.Qg6+ Kh8 27.Qxf7 Black has no defensive ideas against White’s g6 move.

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Lately, we more often see 3.f3. The idea of this move is very simple, to keep the White center alive, which is good of course. However, with the f3 move, White’s king is getting slightly more open and Black has a possibility to play quickly against White’s center. 3...e6 [3...Qb6 4.Nc3 dxe4 5.fxe4 e5 I guess this is the most critical line, which leads to very sharp positions.]

27... Bh6 28.g6 What a pretty attacking game. By playing 20...gxf6? instead of 20...Nxf6!, Black had to agree to get a 0 instead of a 1 in the cross-table! 1–0

4.Nc3 b5?! It’s hard to imagine that this kind of move can be good... [4... Bb4 5. Bd2 Ne7 with very normal play for both.]

9


5. Bd3 Good and natural move. Black wanted to play b4, and then dxe4 fxe4 followed by Qh4+. The White pawn on e4 would fall. 5...b4 [5...Nd7 would still be a much safer option than what happened in the game. Black is clearly under-developed, and should not try to provoke actions on the board.] 6.Na4! The White knight is quite nicely placed on a4 and what is very important, it stops Black from playing c5. 6...Nd7 7.Ne2 Qa5 Black is following his plan, but this plan doesn’t look good at all...

now! Black doesn’t have a good reaction... 11...Nf6 (11... a5 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Bd4 and the knight on b6 is falling.) 12. Bb2 and it’s nice to see how White’s pieces are dominating the game. White, of course, has more than enough compensation for just a pawn.] 10.a3! Great move by White! I guess Black missed completely White’s idea, which we will see on the next move. This kind of trick can be often used in many different openings, when Black has his queen on a5. 10...exd4

8.b3 Nb6 This was Black’s idea — hoping to provoke White to take with 9.Nxb6 and then to take with axb6, but even then we can clearly see that White is much better developed and has a very simple plan to castle short and to play e5-f4-f5, or an immediate f4-f5. All of this looks quite dark for Black. 9.Nc5! I like this move a lot. Popilski is completely crushing the idea behind Black’s play.

11. Bd2!! Just fantastic! Black can resign. 11...Qxc5 [11... Bxc5 12.axb4; 11...Nd7 12.axb4 just leads to a hopeless position.] 12. Bxb4 The Black queen is trapped.

9...e5 A desperate attempt to look for complications. [In case of 9... Bxc5 10.dxc5 Qxc5 11.a3! is very strong

12...Qxb4+ 13.axb4 Bxb4+ 14.Kf2 Ne7 With just two pieces for the queen, Black has no objective chances of saving the game. But let’s anyhow take a look at the technique used by White. Often, to win an „easily” winning position is a hard piece of work.

10


15.Nxd4 0–0 16.Qc1 White is giving some material back to simplify the position. This idea is often used, but it wasn’t really necessary now. [To first play 16. Ra2 wouldn’t have been a bad choice either.]

23... Bb7

16... Bc3 17.Ne2 Bxa1 18.Qxa1 Now Black already has a rook+knight for the queen, which gives some theoretical chances for a draw. If Black manages to exchange the pawns on the queenside, the position would be quite close to a draw. 24.c4! White’s pawns on b3-c4 are cutting the Black knight. 24... Rfc8 25.Qa3 Nb6 26. Rd1 The last White piece is in the game.

18...c5? Black panics. [18... Re8 with a very bad position, but the sun doesn’t always shine... it’s also very important to defend in bad positions. In average, it can bring a lot of „bonus” points.]

26... Bc6 27. Rd6 Be8 28.Nd4 What a sad game for Black! It’s a good example of how important it’s in chess to first take care of the development of Your own pieces. This must be done before starting hard actions in the center... Things can go wrong very fast! And what a great idea by Popilski: to play a3 followed by Bd2! 1–0

19.Qa3! The finishing move! Black will lose one more pawn. 19...Nd7 20.exd5 Nxd5 21. Be4 And the c5 pawn is falling. 21...N7f6 [21... Bb7 22.c4] 22. Bxd5 Nxd5 23.Qxc5 Now there aren’t even practical hopes... Everything works for White and as we know, a queen and a knight cooperate very well together. 11


(4) Swiercz,Dariusz (2609) — Socko,Monika (2445) [E12] M.Chigorin Memorial 2012 St. Petersburg (4.18), 30.10.2012 [Kamil Miton] A game between two of my friends, which is a good example to learn interesting ideas. We can note that Swiercz, who is a young talented player, time to time cooperates with Socko. Let’s see what happened: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 The Petrosian System is not as popular on the top level as it was a few years ago, but it still shows many good examples to learn many strategical ideas in different positions. 4... Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 A rare answer that leads to a comfortable Carlsbad structure for White. The main move is [6...Nxd5 7.Qc2 Other big lines are : (7.e3; 7.Bd2) 7... Be7 8.e4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0–0 10. Bd3 c5 11.0–0 Qc7 (11... Qc8 12.Qe2 Ba6 13.Rd1 B xd3 14.R xd3 Nd7 15.e5 Black managed to exchange the light-squared bishops, but now the rook will join the attack on the 3rd rank.) 12.Qe2 Nd7 A critical position. Black’s position is very solid, without any weaknesses, but thanks to his better center and a potential pressure on the kingside, White has the advantage. One of the plans is to play h4-h5, with the idea of creating some weak squares around the Black king.] 7. Bg5 Be7

8.Qa4+ Bc6 Strange move. Black agrees to lose a tempo. [8...Nbd7 looks more natural. 9.e3 a6 (9...0–0 10.Ba6! (10. Bb5 a6 11.Bc6? b5) 10...Bxa6 11.Qxa6 White’s position is very pleasant because Black’s queenside structure is very weak after the bishop exchange.) 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Bd3 c5 (11...0–0 12.Bf5 and Black has problems with the knight on d7. 12...c6 13.Nxd5 b5 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Qc2+-) 12.dxc5 bxc5 13. Bf5 g6 14.Bh3 Qc7 15. Rd1 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 f5 The only way to castle, but now even after castling, the Black king will be weakened. 17.0–0 0–0 18.g3 Bc6 19.Qb3 and white is bit better 1/2–1/2 Wang Yue-Adams, M/Liverpool ENG 2007/The Week in Chess 670 (30).; 8...c6 9.e3 0–0 10.Bd3 Re8 11.0–0 Nbd7 12. Rac1 a6 Typical preparation before pushing c5. 13. Rfd1 Bd6 14.Qb3 h6 15.Bh4 White’s pieces are optimally placed and on time. Now it’s very hard for Black to play on c5. 15...Bc7 16.Qc2 Bd6 17. Bh7+ Another typical trick. Before the bishop goes to f5, White puts the Black king on a worse square. 17...Kh8 18.Bf5 Nf8

19.e4! A thematic crushing move! White doesn’t care about the isolated pawn on d4 because Black is not able to take control of the d5 square. White gets a decisive initiative. 19...dxe4 20.Nxe4 Be7 21.Ne5 Kg8 22. Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 24.Qxc6 Bg5 25. Rc2 g6 26. Bg4 Rxe4 27.Qxe4 f5 28. Bxf5 gxf5 29.Qxf5+- and White is 12


easily winning. 1–0 Wang Yue-Ljubojevic,L/Amsterdam NED 2008 (38).] 9.Qc2 0–0 10.e3 Bb7 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12.0–0 c5 13. Rad1 c4 [13...a6 14.dxc5 bxc5 15. Bf5 With a typical pressure against Black’s central pawns. At some moment, White can try to push e4.] 14. Bf5 Very often, even without c4 and g6, the White bishop transfers to h3. 14...g6 15. Bh3 Nh5 16. Bh6 Logical move. White will need pieces to put pressure on the kingside. [16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17.Ne5 Qe6 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19.f3 and after the exchanges, White doesn’t have any more possibilities to put pressure against the Black king. The plan with e4 probably is not dangerous for Black, because after dxe4, his pieces get active: the bishop on b7 and the rooks on the d- and e-files.] 16... Re8 17.Qa4 This move seems to be bad because the queen is badly placed on a4. It doesn’t support the kingside and comes under attack after a6-b5, but Swiercz’s idea is very concrete: he’s going to get the e5 square for the knight. Paradoxally, he could play: [17.Ne5 Nxe5 (17... f5 creating additional weaknesses, but probably is the only move.) 18.dxe5 Bc5 The pawn on e5 is hanging. White can’t play f4 or e4. Probably Swiercz missed

19.Nxd5! Bxd5 20.Qc3 A very strong move which is hard to see. White simply protects the pawn and Black can’t avoid e4. (20.e4 R xe5) 20...b5 21.e4 Nf6 22.e6 fxe6 23. Rfe1 with a strong attack.; 17.b3!? cxb3 18.Qxb3 and this structure is usually pleasant for White, thanks to the weak d5 pawn.] 17...Ndf6 18.Ne5 Bd6 19.f4 White’s position is improving. The knight is located well on e5. White slowly is getting ready to attack with g4-g5-f5. 19...a6 [19... Bc8 Of course the idea to exchange the lightsquared bishops and to take control of e4 and f5 doesn’t work. 20.f5 White has a strong attack. 20...gxf5 21. Bxf5 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Rxe5 23. Bb1] 20.Qc2 b5 Yes, it’s normal that Black is trying to get some counterplay on the queenside, but in this case it looks too slow. 21.g4 White had other good moves as well. [21. Bg5 A very unpleasant pin. 21... Be7 22.f5] 21...Ng7 22.Qf2 White’s queen already came back from a4 to the kingside, where it’s connected to the attack. 22...Ne4 It’s logical that the Black knight is escaping from the f-file, which will be open soon. [22...Nd7 23.f5 Bxe5 24.fxg6 hxg6 25.Qxf7+ Kh7 Black’s idea was to recapture with 24. ..hxg6 in order to have this square for the king. 26.g5 Re7 (26...Rf8 27.dxe5 R xf7 28.R xf7 Qb6 29.R xg7+ Kh8 30.Rd4 N xe5 31.Re7 Nf3+ 32.Kg2 N xd4 33.Bg7+ Kg8 34.B xd4 and White’s pieces are too strong.) 27.dxe5 Nxe5 28.Qf4 White keeps a strong initiative, but Black gets some possibilities to get counterplay.] 23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.f5 Bd5 To protect f7. 13


for Black to parry the threats on g7.) 28...Nd3 29. Bg7 (29.Bf8 R xe5 30.Be7 R xe7 31.Qh6 Qf8 32.Qxf8+ Kxf8 33.fxe7+ Kxe7 and Black is winning.) 29...Qb6 30. Rfe1 Rxe5 31.Qh6 This idea is only enough for a draw. 31... Qc5 32. Bh8 Qf8 33. Bg7 Qc5=]

25.f6?! A concrete and risky move. It’s strange that White is closing the f-file because his queen and rook were ready to put pressure there. Now White’s idea is to look for mate on g7 or over the h-file. White had, at least, one better option: [25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Nf7 Qe7 27.Nxd6 Qxd6 28.Qh4 Rf8 29. Bf4 Thanks to the control over the dark squares, White’s position is better.; 25.g5 This also looks promising for White.] 25...Ne6 26.g5

27.Nxg6! Nice hit! Now White is winning over the h-file. [27.Ng4 The idea of giving mate on h6 is artificial. 27...a5 28. Bg7 h5 A typical nice trick that we can meet in many sharp positions. 29.gxh6 Kh7 Now the White pawn on h6 becomes a helper of the Black king! 30.Qh4 b4 White’s pressure is already stopped, and probably Black is better thanks to his initiative on the queenside.] 27...hxg6 [27...c3 28.Nh4 cxb2 29.Nf5+- Without the pawn on g6, nothing can help Black.] 28. Bxe6 Bxe6 29.Qh4 Bxh2+ 30.Kg2 Qg3+ 31.Qxg3 Bxg3 32.Kxg3 Black is not able to avoid mate on the h-file. 32... Rad8 33.d5 Not the only move, but the most practical. White doesn’t allow his opponent to put the rook on d5, because after Rh1–Bg7, Black has some defensive ideas with Rxg5-Rh5. 33... Bd7 34.Kf4 Bh3 35. Rh1 Bg2 36. Bg7 A good logical game! 1–0

26...Qc7? The decisive mistake. Black missed a good chance to get good counterplay. [26... Bxe5! 27.dxe5 Nc5 The knight is coming to the strong d3 square. 28.Qh4 (28. e6 Nd3 29.exf7+ B xf7 Without the pawn on f7, it’s easier 14


Puzzle section

(7) Van Kampen,R (2570) — Afek,Y (2312) Unive Open, 25.10.2012

(5) Timmersmans,I (2254) — Timman,J (2578) Unive Open, 23.10.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Massoni,M (2381) — Short,N (2707) (6) Riemersma,L (2420) — Van Kampen,R (2570) Unive Open, 24.10.2012 [CEWN]

Corsica (rapid), 27.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

1.+-

15


(9) Brkic,A (2575) — Vaisser,A (2540)

(11) Nikolic,P (2638) — Quesada Perez,Y (2604)

Corsica (rapid), 27.10.2012

Barcelona, 26.10.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1... –+

(10) Sokolov,I (2690) — Aroshidze,L (2560)

(12) Peralta,F (2593) — Felgaer,R (2579)


Marcel Duchamp memorial, 24.10.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+/-

16


(13) Gelashvili,T (2578) — Shankland,S (2597) USA league, 22.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Prusikin,M (2545) — Caruana,F (2767) Suisse league, 21.10.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section (15) Hou,Yifan (2623) — Nakamura,Hikaru (2775) [B53]

50.g4! [50. Bf7 To keep the pawn on g2 could be useful for White, but can he avoid Black from playing h5, protect the pawn on b4 and go to h6 with the king? Not an easy task! 50... Bg3 Here are different moves that make a draw, but all with the same idea. 51.Kd5 Kb6 52. Be8

16th Unive Crown Hoogeveen NED (5), 26.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

At first sight, the position looks like a dead draw. Pawns are equal, just a few pieces are left on the board, and it seems like the exchange of rooks is unavoidable. But in fact, things are much trickier and Nakamura had a few long thinks before shaking hands with her opponent. Let’s take a closer look at this endgame.

52...h5! That’s the key move. Black is giving away the hpawn to get his king to the b-pawn. 53. Bxh5 (53.Kxd6 h4 54.Ke6 Kc7 55.Kf5 Bf4 and the bishop on f4 is holding both pawns, it’s an easy draw.) 53...Kb5 54.Kxd6 Kxb4 55.Ke6 Kc5 56.Kf5 Bf4 57.g3 Bxg3 58.Kxg5 Kd6 59.h4 Ke7 The Black king is on time, so it’s an easy draw.] 50... Be1 51. Be6

48... Rf2 49. Rxf2 White has no other choice. In case of 49. Rc1, Be3!; and in case of 49. Rc3, Bd4! pushing the White rook away from the c-file. 49... Bxf2 So, what could be White’s idea here?! I see only one, to bring the king to g6 and get the h6 pawn; then, to create a passed pawn on the kingside and probably win the game. Black wants to play h5, so White has 2 options: to play 50.g4 or 50. Bf7. 18


51...d5+?! Is this rushed reaction really needed? Let’s take a look at what would happen in case of a passive defense... [51... Bd2 52.b5 Be1 53.Kd5 Bd2 54. Bf5 Be1 55.Ke6 Bf2 56.Kf6 Be1 Black just keeps on waiting. 57.Kg6 Bf2 58.Kxh6 Bh4 59.Kg6 Kb6 60.Kf6 Kc7 61. Be6 Kb6 62.Ke7 Kc7 63.b6+ White has nothing better than to exchange the b-pawn for the d-pawn. 63... Kxb6 64.Kxd6 Bg3 65.Ke7 Kc5 66.Kf6 Kd6 67. Bb3 Bf4 and of course, the position is a complete draw.]

White can’t improve his position.) 54... Ba5 Black is taking his bishop to b6. 55. Bd3 Kd6 56.Kd4 Bb6+ 57.Ke4 Ba7 58. Bc4 Bb6 Black just keeps on waiting... On White’s 59.Kf5 Kc5 he loses one of his pawns.]

52.exd5 The only chance to play for a win. [52. Bxd5 Kd6 leads to an immediate draw. Black keeps the bishop on e1 until White moves b4-b5. Then, he’ll put the bishop on b6. 53.Kb5 Bd2 54.Ka4 Be1 55.b5 Bd2 56.Kb3 Ba5 57.Kc4 Bb6 58.Kb4 Kc7 59.Kc4 Kd6 As we see, White can’t do anything...]

55... Ba5! [Can Black hold the draw with a bishop on h4? 55... Be1 56.Kg6 Bh4 57.Kxh6 Ke7 58.Kg6 Kd6 59.Kf6 Black is in zugzwang and the Black king needs to leave the d6-square. 59...Kc5 60. Bg8 Before starting the action, it’s important for White to bring the bishop to the a8-h1 diagonal. (60.Ke7 Bg3 61.h4! A clear fact: An extra pawn does matter! 61...gxh4 62.g5 h3 63.B xh3 Kxd5 64.g6 Be5 but luckily Black is just in time to stop the White pawns.) 60...Kd6 61. Bf7 Kc5 (To hold the king on c7 is losing as well: 61...Kc7 62.Ke6 Bg3 63.Bg6 Bf4 64.Be4 The usual maneuver. White is bringing his bishop to the a8-h1 diagonal in order to stop Black’s h-pawn and to protect the d5 pawn at the same time. 64...Bg3 65.Bh1 Bf4 66.Kf5 Bd2

52...e4 That’s Black’s idea: to exchange the e-pawn for White’s b-pawn.. . but a pawn sacrifice is always risky. A passive defense is usually better if You can’t see a clear winning plan for Your opponent.

53... Bxb4 54.Kxe4 It seems like Black is very close to the desired result... 54...Kd6 55.Kf5 The White king is going to collect the h6-pawn. Black still needs to fight for a draw.

53.Kd4 [At 53.b5 e3! 54. Bf5 (54.Kd3? This move gives Black a quick draw. 54...Kb6! forcing the White bishop to a very bad square on c6. 55.Bd7 Kc5 56.Bc6 Bd2 and 19


67.h4 The usual winning plan. 67...gxh4 68.g5 Kd6 69.Kf6 Bc3+ 70.Kf7 and White is winning.) 62.Ke6 Bg3 63. Bg6 Bf4 64. Be4 Bg3 65. Bf3 Bf4 66. Bg2 Bg3 and finally 67.h4! with an easy winning position for White.]

62.Kf8 [62.Kd8 Bf4 63.Kc8 Bd2 64.Kb7 Be3 The Black bishop is not allowing the White king to play over b6 to c4. 65.Ka6 Kc5! and now the Black king is cutting the way. The position is a draw.]

56.Kg6 Bd8 57.Kxh6 White is 2 pawns up and h4 is coming next. Black’s position is on the edge of being lost.

62... Ba5 63.Kg7 Ke5 64.Kg6 Bd8 The rest of the game is not of interest anymore. The position is a draw. As we could see, from a close to drawn position, a Top 10 player had to find very precise moves to save the game. Opposite-colored bishop endgames can be very tricky!

57...Ke5! A strong move by Black. If White manages to comeback with the king to e4, and then to bring the bishop to h1 and play Kf5 followed by h4, Black would be lost. 58.Kg6 [White is not winning after 58.h4 gxh4 59.g5 Bxg5+ 60.Kxg5 h3 and the exchange of the last pawn brings the draw,]

65.Kg7 Be7 66.Kf7 Bb4 67.Kg6 Be7 68. Be6 Bd8 69.Kf7 Kd6 70.Ke8 Ba5 71.Kf7 1/2

58... Be7 Again, the only move. 59.Kf7 Bb4 60.Ke8

60...Kd6! Exact move by Black, again. Of course Black shouldn’t allow the White king to come in contact with the d5 pawn by playing Kd7-Kc6. 61. Bg8 Bd2 And it seems like Black saved the game. White can’t improve her position. 20


(16) Shimanov,Aleksandr (2599) — Hayrapetyan,Hovik (2450) [D02] Chigorin Memorial St Petersburg RUS (4.6), 30.10.2012 [Chess Evolution]

White wanted to play Bf4 and f6. Another tactical way to go could be g5, and at Black’s hxg5, to play f6! The Black bishop on a1 is very badly placed and doesn’t help in the defense. Wrong choice!] A very interesting endgame. It’s clear that White is doing better, but the question is how much better. In fact I think that to defend this endgame is not easy at all! 25... Bxd4 26.Kf1 White is taking his king to d3, after which he will start pushing the pawns of the kingside. This is very logical. 26...Kf8 Black starts to move the king to c7 in order to protect the bishop on b7, a very normal plan. To play with the closed bishop on b7 forever is not an option. 27.Ke2 Ke7 28.g4 Kd7 29. Bg3 White is freeing the ffile for the f-pawn to go forward. In the best case, until it gets to f6.

30. Be4 Be7 Black is putting the bishop on e7 with the idea of stopping White from playing g5, and against White’s f5, to play Bg5. 31.f4 Kc8 32. Be1! Good move by White. Before starting the final action, White needs to take his bishop to the c1–h6 diagonal. 32...c5 Finally ... 33.Kd3 Bxe4+ 34.Kxe4 Kd7 35. Bd2 I think this is the critical moment. White wants to play f5, followed by f6. Can Black do something against it?!

29... Bc5 Black is putting the bishop in „defensive” mode on e7. Let’s take a look at what would happen if Black keeps the bishop on the a1–h8 diagonal. [29... Ba1 30. Be4 Kc7 31.f4 c5 32.Kd3 Bxe4+ 33.Kxe4 Kd7 Until here, all the moves were more or less „standard”, and it’s already too late for Black. 34.f5! 21


35...Ke8? A terrible move! [35... Bd8 36.f5! Usually, this is the right way to break the Black defense. (36.g5 Be7 37.gxh6 gxh6 38.f5 Bf8 and it looks like a draw.) 36...exf5+ 37.gxf5 could be met with 37...f6!? In many lines, this is Black’s only hope. 38. Bc3! (38.Kd5 only leads to a draw. 38...fxe5 39.Kxe5 Bf6+ 40.Kd5 Ba1 41. Bf4 Bf6 and I think that Black can save the game. It’s hard to find a way for White to improve his position. I see only on chance, to play: 42. Be5 Bxe5 43.Kxe5 Ke7 and Black got the opposition. 44.a3 a6 45.a4 (45.b4 cxb4 46.axb4 a5) 45...a5 46.Kd5 Kd7 47.Ke4 Ke8 and Black is holding.) 38...Kc6 39.exf6 Bxf6

36... Bf8 37.g5! [It was not too late for 37.f6? g5! and Black is back in the game. 38.hxg6 fxg6 with a draw.] 37...exf5+ 38.Kxf5 hxg5 39. Bxg5 Be7 [It doesn’t help to play: 39...Kd7 40.e6+! A nice and standard motif. 40... fxe6+ 41.Kg6 Ke8 42. Bf4 and Black can’t do anything about Be5-Bxg7. White is winning.] 40. Bf4 The game is over...

40...Kf8 [40...Kd7 The usual 41.e6+ fxe6+ 42.Kg6 Bf6 and 43.h6 The game is over.] 40. Be5! and it seems like White is winning! 40...Kd7 41. Bxf6 gxf6 42.Kd5 and this time Black is the one who is running out of tempos. 42...a6 43.a3 a5 44.a4+-; 35...g6!! This would have been the right move to save the game! 36.g5 (This doesn’t give anything for White: 36.hxg6 fxg6 37.f5 gxf5+ 38.gxf5 exf5+ 39.Kxf5 h5 This looks like an easy draw.) 36... Bf8! The only move that saves Black, but one move is enough!]

41.e6 Bd8 42.exf7 Kxf7 43. Bb8 Now Black is falling into a very easy zugzwang. 43...a6 44.a4 a5 45. Be5 White is waiting for the Black bishop to leave from d8 in order to play Bc7 and collect all the pawns. What a nice endgame by White. From now on, we know that in similar positions with closed pawn structures, a move like g6! can save the game. 1–0

36.f5! And we can officially say that the game is over. White can even choose amongst different ways to finis his opponent. 22


Clash of the Titans (17) Smyslov,Vassily (2620) — Penrose,Jonathan [D19] Amsterdam ol (Men) fin-A Amsterdam (2), 13.09.1954 [Balogh Csaba] An incredibly high quality game, where the 7th World Champion had to show his best to win the game because his British GM opponent fought extremely well. We must add that this game was the creator of the whole theory in this particular line. Theory still considers it as best until around move 23, but here the players found all the very hard moves over the board, which are confirmed by the strongest computers now. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 Black chose the Slav defense, which is very popular recently on all levels. 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 [6.Ne5 is the other main line.] 6...e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 This is generally the basic position of the 6.e3 line, where Black has a wide range of choices.

11...c5 A very sharp and suspicious move, but it seems to be playable if somebody carefully checks it with the machines. [11... Bh5 is the main move, which leads to a more calm play. 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 and here again Black has various different possibilities. Probably the best is 14... Be7! followed by the improvement of the knight with Nb8-c6, where it will be perfectly placed. Here it controls the b4 hole and puts pressure on the d4 pawn.] 12.e5! This is the critical line. The complications arise now. 12...cxd4 13.exf6 [13.Na2 does not win a piece because of 13...Nd5] 13...dxc3 14.fxg7 Kxg7 Black has an extra pawn, but his king is weakened and his pieces are slightly misplaced. 15. Rd1 White must play actively to have enough compensation. 15...Qc7 Interesting statistics show that after this game nobody repeated this line for 46 years with Black. Now it’s completely back, thanks to the machines. 16.bxc3 [The other line is 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. Rd4! The rook is very useful on the 4th rank, it might win back the pawn with Rc4 and can be switched to the attack with Rh4. Theory already knows the best reaction for Black. 17... Bd6! It looks like blundering a piece after 18.Qd1 but Black has (18.Rc4 Qa5 19.R xc3 Rac8 20.Bd2 Bb4 leads to a drawish position.)

23


18...c2! 19.Qd2 Kg8! Preventing the Qh6-Rh4 threat. 20. Rxd6 Nc5! White must parry Nb3. 21. Ra3 Rad8! Black gets enough counterplay because of the back-rank. 22. Rd4 (22.R xd8 R xd8 23.Qxc2 is refuted nicely by 23... Nb3!! and Black wins.) 22...e5! 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Qe3 (24. Qxc2 loses again to 24...Nb3!) 24... Rd1+ 25.Ne1 and here 25...Ne4! is the key move, preventing the Rc3 threat and the idea is Qa5. The active black rook and the c2 pawn give Black an advantage.] 16... Bxc3 17. Bb2!? Smyslov tries to obtain positional compensation, but on the other hand, the exchange of pieces take Black closer to a draw. 17... Bxb2 18.Qxb2+ Kg8 [Computer gives a good alternative with the illogical 18...Nf6!? pinning his own knight, but White can’t use this with 19.Ne5 (19.Rac1 Qb6 Black holds.) 19... Rad8 20.Ng4 because of 20...Qf4] 19. Rac1 Nc5! Only move! The pin is not dangerous, because Black always has b6. [19...Qb6 loses to the hidden

20.Qa3!! The d7 knight is hanging and on 20... Bxd3 this is the only move, but this seriously weakens the Black king, since the g6 bishop was a good defender. White can launch a winning attack now. (20...Rfd8 21.a5!+- completely unexpectedly traps the queen.; 20...Nf6 21.a5!+traps the queen again.) 21. Rxd3 Rad8 22. Rb3 Qa6 23.Ng5! The rook joins the attack along the 3rd rank. 23... Ne5 24. Rg3 Ng6 25.Qf3!+- After White successfully regrouped his pieces on the kingside, Black can’t hold the threats.] 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Rd4! The rook is perfectly placed on the 4th rank. It could be used on h4 and on c4 as well. 21... Rac8 22. Rh4 e5! Black had to win some time to consolidate his position by giving back the pawn. 23. Rhc4 [23.Nxe5 was an interesting alternative. Black has to find 23...Qb6 ! when the game will be drawn. If White keeps the queens on the board, then Black will play Qf6 securing his king’s position. (The tactical trick 23...Nxa4 allows a counter-combination.

24

Issue 36 f7 pawn. Actually, I have found only one solution to solve this very difficult moment.

2nd of November 2012

24. Rh8+!! It is possible to blunder such moves. 24...Kg7 ! The only move. Otherwise, the knight gives a discovered double-check. (24...Kxh8? 25.Nxg6+! Kh7 (25... Kg8 26.Qh8#) 26.Nxf8+ Rxf8 (26...Kg8 27.R xc7+-) 27.Qb1+!+- This is the point, and the queen falls.) 25. Rxc7 Nxb2 26. Rxc8 Rxh8 27. Rc7! and here similar endgames to the one in the game arise.) ] 23...Nd3? This is a mistake. Black has probably underestimated the forthcoming endgame... [23...Qe7 was the right move. 24.Qxe5 (24.N xe5 is bad because of 24... Rfe8) 24...Qxe5 25.Nxe5 b6= and soon the players need to shake hands.] 24. Rxc7 Rxc7 25. Rxc7 Nxb2 26.Nxe5 Nxa4 [26... Re8 White opens the back-rank with 27.f4 This leaves the f7 pawn unprotected.]

29...Kg7? Well, I am not 100% sure, but maybe after this logical move, Black is already lost in this endgame. At least I could not find any defense for him. [The way to draw was 29... Rd8!! White is forced to enter a knight endgame with and extra pawn. 30.Nxf7 Rd7! 31. Rxd7 Nxd7 32.Nd6 Black’s a-pawn lures the knight from the kingside. 32...a5 33.Nc4 a4 34.Kf2 Nb6! sending the knight to passivity. 35.Na3 Nd5 36.Kf3 Kf7 This position arises more or less by force after 29... Rd8. White has no real winning chances without the knight, and the if the king goes to the a-pawn, Black can attack the pawns...

27. Rxb7 a6 28.f4 Nc5 29. Ra7 Here we are! Black probably thought that this is an easy draw with 3 against 3. Even if Black drops the a-pawn and exchanges the knights, the 3 vs 2 rook endgame is a clear theoretical draw. However, the situation is by far not easy. First of all, Black cannot exchange the knights. Then, he is deprived of any active counterplay because of the pressure on the 25


37.Ke4 Nf6+ 38.Kd4 Ke6= and Kf5 next saves the game.]

38.h5 The game is over now. White’s pieces are excellently cooperating with each other.

30.Kf2 White needs to activate his king and then start to squeeze Black by advancing the pawns. It’s very instructive to watch how Smyslov increases his advantage. 30...Kf6 31.Kf3 [It was possible to start with 31.h4 depriving Black from his counterplay with g5.] 31...Kg7 Black prefers the waiting policy. [31...g5 Objectively, this doesn’t help because of the subtle maneuver 32. Rc7! Ne6 33. Rb7! Nd7 is the threat. 33...Kg7 (33... Nc5 Now White has 34.Rb6+ Black only has bad moves.) 34.f5 White manages to keep the 3 pawns on the board.] 32.h4 Kg8 [Even if Black tries to give up the a6 pawn in order to activate his rook with 32...Ne6 White can even allow Black to go ahead with his plan. He can simply continue his own with 33.g4] 33.g4! Kg7 34.g5! The squeezing is getting more and more unpleasant in each move. 34...Kg8 35.Kg4 Kg7 [On 35...Ne4 even 36. Rxa6 Rd8 37.Nxg6!+- is about to be winning.] 36.f5! White exchanges one pair of pawns, but he keeps all the advantages he had before and wins the game with the h- and g-pawns.

38...Nd4+ 39.Ke4 Ne6 [39...Nb5 doesn’t change anything. 40. Rd7+- The knight is cut from the game.] 40.h6+! Kg8 41.g6! The pawn storm has reached Black. His pieces are disturbing each other. Different kinds of mating ideas are in the air. 41...Nd8 [41...fxg6 42.h7+ Kh8 43.Nxg6#] 42.Nd7 Re8+ 43.Kd5 [Black resigned in view of 43.Kd5 Re6 Otherwise, Nf6. 44.h7+ Kg7 45.gxf7 A great lesson by Smyslov!] 1–0

36...gxf5+ 37.Kxf5 Ne6 [37...Kg8 also loses to 38.h5 Ne6 39.h6! Nc5 40.g6! The Black king cannot escape from the mating net. One nice finish could be 40...fxg6+ 41.Kxg6 Ne6 42.h7+ Kh8 43. Ra8! Not the only, but the nicest way to victory. 43...Nf4+ 44.Kh6 Rxa8 45.Nf7#]

26


Surprise section / study (18) Troitzky,A 1909 [CEWN] 1.+-

27


Solutions

(20) Svidler,P (2747) — Ponomariov,R (2735) European Club Cup, 15.10.2012

(19) Edouard,R (2664) — Svetushkin,D (2597)

[Solutions]

European Club Cup, 11.10.2012 [Solutions]

34. Bd5! Rxe2 35. Bxf7+ Kf8 [35...Kh8 36. Rb8+ Kh7 37. Bg8+ Kh8 38. Bc4++-] 33. Bf6!! Rd1+ [33... Bxh6 34. Rxh6+-] 34.Kh2! Qc7+ [34...Qd6+ 35.g3 Bxh6 36. Rxh6 Ke8 37. Rxd1! Qxd1 38. Rh8+ Kd7 39. Rd8++-]

36. Bxg6! Re8 37. Rf7+ Kg8 38. Rg7+ Kh8 [38...Kf8 39. Rg8+! Kxg8 40.f7++-] 39. Rh7+ 1–0[39. Rh7+ Kg8 40.f7++-]

35.g3 Bxh6 36. Rxh6 1–0[36. Rxh6 Ke8 37. Rxd1 Rd6 38. Rxd6 Qxd6 39. Rh8+ Kd7 40. Rd8++-]

28


(21) Efimenko,Z (2689) — Motylev,A (2655)

(23) Boruchovsky,A (2435) — Navara,D (2722)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35...Qf2! 36.Qg5+ Kh8 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38.Qg6+ Kh8 39.Qh6+ Kg8=

25... Rxc2+! 26.Kxc2 Bf5+! 27. Rd3 [27.Kc1 Qc7+! 28.Kd2 Qc2+ 29.Ke3 Rh3+ 30.Kf4 Qe4+ 31.Kg5 Qg4#; 27.Kb3 Rh3+–+]

(22) Smirin,I (2638) — Morozevich,A (2758)

27... Bxd3+ 28.Kxd3 Qd5+ 29.Kc2 Qc6+ 0–1[29... Qc6+ 30.Kb1 (30.Kb3 Rh3+; 30.Kd2 Rd8+) 30...Qxh1+]

European Club Cup, 16.10.2012 [Solutions]

38. Rxc7! Qxc7 39. Bf4+29


(24) Kasimdzhanov,R (2690) — Stojcevski,Z (2325)

(25) Ponomariov,R (2735) — Radjabov,T (2792)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27. Rb7!! Rd8 [27... Re8 28. Rxc7 Qxc7 29. Rc1!+-; 27...h6 28.Qxc8+! Rxc8 29. Rxe7+-]

35... Bxe4! 36. Rce3 c3!! 37. Rxe4 [37. Bxe4 Rxe4! 38. Rxe4 Rxe4 39. Rxe4 cxb2–+]

28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.Qxf6++-

37... Rxe4 0–1[37... Rxe4 38. Rxe4 (38.B xe4 R xe4! 39.R xe4 cxb2–+) 38...cxb2!–+]

29. Rxc7

Qxc7

30.Ng5!

g6

30


(26) Maki,V (2383) — Bacrot,E (2705)

(27) Koneru,H (2607) — Bronnikova,E (2244)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35... Rxd4! [35...fxg3?! 36.f4! gxh2+ 37.Kh1 Qxe5 38. Bxe5]

48. Rxe5! dxe5 [48...Qa7+ 49. R 5e3+-; 48... Rxe5 49. Rxe5 dxe5 50.Nf8+!+-]

36.Qxd4 fxg3! 37. Rxc7 gxh2+ 38.Kh1 Qg3!! 39.Qc3 [39.b6 Ra2!–+; 39.e5 Ra2!–+]

49.Nf8+! 1–0

39... Rd8! 0–1

31


(28) Mista,A (2543) — Pruijssers,R (2519)

(29) Lazard,F


1923

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

19. Rxd6! Bxc2+ [19...cxd6 20.Qe7+-]

1.Ne5+! [1.g8Q? Be4+–+]

20.Kc1!? [20.Ka1! Bb3 21.a3 cxd6 22.Qe7 Bf7 23. Rg1!+Rb3 24.Ne4! Rxa3+ 25.bxa3 Qxa3+ 26.Kb1 Qb3+ 27.Kc1+-]

1...Kd4 [1...Kc3 2.Nd5+ Kb3 3.g8Q+-; 1...Kb3 2.g8Q++-]

20... Bf5 21. Rd2 Qxa2 22.Ne4

2.g8Q! Be4+ 3.Kd6 Rxg8 4.Nb5# 1–0

32

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 37 9th of November 2012


9th of November 2012


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The main event from last week was the Chigorin Memorial. A very big open in St Petersburg with A. Shirov as the number one seed. After a very fighting tournament, the 1st–2nd places were shared by A. Areschenko and B. Socko with 7,5/9 points. A really great result for such a strong field. With 7/9, there was a big group sharing from 3rd–11th places, with A. Shimanov being the lucky one to take the 3rd. Another less strong German Open in Bad Wiessee was won by Livu Dieter Nisipeanu, who won the first 6 games and drew the last 3. It was a pity for him that these 3 draws gave another players the chance to catch him up, so finally 6 players had 7,5/9. The second place went to I. Khenkin and 3rd to I. Nyzhnuk.

»» Puzzle section

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The Spanish league has just begun, with a lot of 2 700 players participating in it.

»» Solutions

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And the main news of the issue!!! Csaba Balogh is back from his trip: China, America, Austria and Hungary. He’s more or less in a normal shape (he just complains a bit about lack of sleep), but this of course doesn’t stop him from giving You already “the usual” supreme analyses for the CEWN Nr 37! Have fun Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Shirov,Alexei (2718) — Cori,Jorge (2522) [C67] Chigorin Memorial, St Petersburg RUS, 02.11.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A nice crush of the Berlin defense by Alexei Shirov. We’ll see that even in this really positional opening, which transfers immediately into an endgame, he plays true to his style and finds interesting tactical motifs. The game shows many typical ideas of this opening. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 We have reached the famous Berlin endgame, which is very popular since Kramnik easily neutralized Kasparov’s White games in their World Championship match in 2000. Usually, weaker players employ it to make a draw against strong GMs, but a deeper study shows that it’s excellent for playing to win as well. A few normal-looking moves, but inaccuracies might quickly pass the initiative to Black. 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 This is the main line. A very useful move. Its idea is to use the kingside pawn majority in the future by playing g4. On the other hand, White must be careful with this move because if it comes too early, Black gets very strong counterplay with h5.

10...b6 A tricky sideline introduced by Kramnik on the highest level in some shorter time control games. [Definitely the main is 10...h5 which is very often seen nowadays.] 11. Rd1! A precise reaction, avoiding Black’s trap. [The most logical 11. Bf4 would fall into the whole idea of the b6 setup. 11... Bb4! 12.Ne4 Ba6! and White is forced to make some awkward rook move, since the obvious 13. Rfd1 is refuted by 13... Be2!] 11... Bb7 [Now on 11... Ba6 refreshing the Bb4, Be2 idea. White plays the prophylactic 12.a3! Rd8 13. Bf4! with a small advantage. This is a known idea in the Berlin for White: to play for the e6 break and achieve a favorable pawn structure. The game also demonstrates this well.] 12. Bf4 Rc8 Black prepares for the e6 break. This looks very ugly, but it was actually played twice by Carlsen, so it should not be underestimated. However, nobody has repeated it since 2010, which is a clear sign that something is wrong with it...

3


16. Bxd6+ cxd6 Black had no problems anymore. ShyamGupta, Dubai 2010] 15...Nxd6 [15...cxd6? 16.g4 White collects the d6 pawn first and e6 will automatically fall after that.]

13.e6! It has been played only once before, but it seems to give a small but lasting advantage for White. We meet this sacrifice very often. It aims to improve White’s structure. At this moment, White is only a little material down, since he can launch a quick attack to regain the pawn by Ng5 and Re1. 13...fxe6 [13... Bd6 is another typical reaction by Black, but now it does not lead to equality. 14.exf7+ Kxf7 15.Ne5+! Black is facing an unpleasant decision. 15...Ke6 is met with 16. Re1, while 15...Kf6 moves into Ne4. 15... Kf8 (15...B xe5 16.B xe5 This endgame is very far from equality. White’s bishop is stronger as it presses the c7 weakness. 16...Rhe8 17.Rd7+ Re7 18.Rad1+=) 16.Ne4+=] 14.Ng5 Bd6 Black tries to give back the pawn and solve his structural problems, however Shirov introduces a strong novelty! [A greedy move to hold the material advantage would lead to a nice defeat. 14...Ke7 15. Re1 Nd4 16. Rad1! and on 16...c5 17.Nb5! Suddenly the Black king is facing a pretty mating attack. 17...Nxb5 18. Rxe6#] 15. Bxd6! Using the fact that Black cannot take back with the pawn. [15.Nxe6 happened before, but after 15...Ke7

16. Rd3! Very strong! It’s not urgent to take the e6 pawn back, it’s more important to activate all the pieces first. The a1 rook is ready to come to e1 or d1. 16... Ba6 [King moves are equally bad. 16...Ke7 17. Re1; 16...Kd7 17. Rad1! creating new threats with Nce4 or Nf7.] 17. Re3 Kd7 White must play precisely, otherwise his initiative quickly disappears. [17... Bc4 doesn’t change much. 18. Rae1 followed by b3 and taking on e6.] 18. Rd1! White keeps increasing the pressure. He’s not in a hurry to restore the material balance. [18.Nxe6 Rhg8 19. Rae1 Rce8 would also be slightly better for White, but the advantage due to the kingside pawn majority is really minimal.] 18... Rcf8 It’s difficult to tell whether the text move or the alternative is a better continuation. Both guarantee 4


an advantage, but it’s not clear which one is bigger. [The passive 18... Rce8 is met with another idea. 19.Nce4! threatens with Nf7 and on 19... Re7 suddenly 20. Ra3! is very unpleasant. This shows well how useful was the 16. Rd3 move!] 19.Nxe6 [19.Nce4 was also possible. Probably Shirov calculated the following line: 19... Bc4 20.b3 Bd5 21.Nxd6 cxd6 22.c4 It looks like this wins a piece, but Black has 22...h6! and now the arising rook endgame is clearly better for White, but probably Shirov was afraid of the old rule that all the rook endgames are drawn. 23.cxd5 hxg5 24.dxc6+ Ke7 (24...Kxc6 25.R xe6) 25.b4! with the idea of Ra3 looks quite promising.] 19... Rf7 20.Ne4! Shirov increases the pressure. Suddenly, many threats are in the air, one of them is Nc5. Black finds the only move to stay in the game. 20... Bc4

25. Rxd6 Kxd6 26.bxc4 b4! followed by Kc5 with very strong counterplay on the queenside.] 21...c5?? This is a horrible blunder. Black collapses under the pressure. [21... Bd5 is also quite bad because of 22.Nxd6 cxd6 23.b3! The d5 bishop does not find its place on the board. 23... Rf4 (23...b5 loses to 24.N xb5!) 24.c4 Bf7 25. Rde1! with the decisive threat of invading with the rooks on the 7th rank and on 25... Re8 26. Rxe8 Bxe8 27.Nxc6!+- wins a pawn.; However, after 21...Nxe4 22. Rxe4 Bd5 23. Re5 Kc8 Black is still in the game. White is only slightly better with 24.a3 because of his majority on the kingside. This is a known advantage, that in the long-term Black can’t really create a passed pawn on the queenside due to his doubled cpawns, while White has a healthy structure on the other side. Of course, to convert such kind of edge requires very good technique, but maybe Karpov at his best would call this already a winning position :). Thefollowing moves could be f3, Kf2 and h4, slowly improving the pawns.] 22.Nf3! This easy retreat was probably completely missed by Black, who can’t parry the simple threat of Ne5. 22... Re8 The small combination coming soon in the game was also winning, but Shirov prefers to include a pair of moves.

21.Nd4! Very well played again! Shirov prefers to keep the initiative, instead of transforming it into a rather drawish material advantage. [21.Nxc7 Kxc7 22.Nxd6 Rd7! This was Black’s idea. White still has the tactical 23. Rc3! but it probably leads to a draw after 23...b5 24.b3 Rxd6

23.b3 Bb5 24.Nxd6 cxd6 25.Ne5+!+- White wins an exchange and the game. 25... Rxe5 26. Rxe5 Bc6 27.c4 a5 28.f3 White is not in a hurry. First, he improves his king and then he wants to advance his kingside pawns. 5


28...a4 29.Kf2 g6 30. Rd2 Rf8 31. Re3 Rf7 [With 31... axb3 32.axb3 Black opens the a-file on himself. White threatens to play Ra2, and on 32... Ra8 33. Rde2+- wins.] 32.bxa4! Rf4 [32... Bxa4 loses to 33. Ra3+-] 33. Red3 White doesn’t allow Black to create any counterplay. The game is over. 33...d5 34.cxd5 Bxa4 35.d6 c4 36. Re3 1–0

(2) Ivanchuk,V (2763) — Nisipeanu,LD (2668) [E32] 6th Kings Tournament, Bucharest ROU (1), 07.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] This is the first round of the Kings Tournament with 3 chess Superstars plus Romania’s best player Livi Dieter Nisipeanu, who not so long ago was a 2700 player and the European Champion! Usually, when we see the name Ivanchuk, we expect sacrifices and a slightly „crazy” but super strong play. This time, Vassily shows us that he can also win a game by playing great positional „dry” chess! 1.d4 To play Ivanchuk with Black is never easy, especially because You need to study almost Your whole opening repertoire because Vassily is well known for being able to choose any possible line after 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4 or 1. Nf3. 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 We are in a very fashionable Nimzo with 4.Qc2. 4...0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3

6...b5!? A rare move that is actually not that bad. I played a few games on this opening with Black — without big success :). 6


7.cxb5 c6 At first sight, this just looks shocking, but Black has a clear plan: he wants to start playing on the queenside as soon as possible.

14. Bxe4! The most simple move to fix White’s huge advantage. 14... Bxe4 15. Bd6 Re8 16.h4 White is just crushing his opponent.]

8. Bg5 This is the main move and probably the most critical. [It’s just funny to know that 8.a4 a6! gives Black equality.]

13.0–0 Nbd7 14.Qb4! A great move by White. Black’s only idea is to play Nb6 followed by Rc8 and Nbd5 or Nc4. By playing 14.Qb4, White is stopping Black from achieving this plan. Now, he must leave the knight on d7 in a very „stupid” position.

8...cxb5 9.e3 Bb7 10.Nf3 [10.f3 is another main move in this position.] 10...a6?! A standard reaction. However, I think this move is a bit too slow and it gives White enough time to develop all his pieces to the right places, being just a „bishop pair” up with a small plus. [10...h6!? I think this move gives Black more chances than in the game. 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Ne4 13.Qd3 f5 with quite an unclear position.] 11. Bd3! White is not afraid of moves like 11... Bxf3 which would be a big positional mistake. Black will not be able to make use of the slightly damaged White pawn structure, and the White bishop will control the whole board. 11...h6 12. Bh4 d6 [It’s already too late for 12...g5 13. Bg3 Ne4

14...Qb6 Nothing else left to do... [14...Nb6 15. Bxf6 and Black has no future here.] 15. Bg3 Another nice move. Now Black has to decide whether to push d5 or to take other protecting measures for the d6 pawn. 15... Be4 Of course the right choice. To play 15...d6-d5 would leave Black in a really bad position. White could start his play with Rfc1 followed by a4 or Nd2- Nb3, with quite a serious advantage. 16. Be2 White keeps the bishop pair, of course. 16... Rfc8! A good defensive idea by Black. Using the weakness of the second rank, Black is in time to take the rook out from f8, before playing Ne8. 17. Rfc1 [Of course not 17.Qxd6? Qxd6 18. Bxd6 Rc2 and Black is back!] 17...Ne8

7


20...bxa4 [In case of 20...Ndf6 21.axb5 axb5 22.Qa5 White is going into a much better endgame, and actually the move h3 is now quite useful... White doesn’t have any problems in the 1st rank.; 20... Bxa4? 21.b3 and the bishop on a4 is lost.] 21.Qxb6 Nxb6 [21... Rxb6 22.Nc4 winning an exchange.] 22. Bxa6 Rc7 18.Nd2! White is playing very good chess. In a better position with a lot of options, it’s not an easy task to choose which way to go. Ivanchuk is taking his knight to a5 — the best place for the knight! 18... Bc2 Blocking White’s maneuver, but now Black’s pieces start to hang... 19.h3 Quite a tricky move. The usual question is: why does White need the h3 move? Probably there is no answer to it. There is no need for h3, but it can be useful, and what is actually Black’s plan? White is keeping the position flexible and wants to play e4 in the future, or maybe Bf3 followed by Ne4. Another typical idea for White is to play b3 followed by a4, creating another weakness in Black’s position. [Doesn’t work 19.Nb3? a5! and White will lose his knight on b3.] 19... Rab8 This move gives White the chance to play a nice tactic, but it’s hard to blame Nisipeanu for this... The position is already very unpleasant. 20.a4! White strikes at the right moment. I would say that after this move the game was almost over. Black’s pieces start to „hang” very seriously.

23. Bb5! I think this is the move that Nisipeanu blundered. White simply attacks the knight on e8, after which the d6 pawn is falling, and Black has no defense against it! Chess can be really simple — but so difficult during our own games. 23...f6 Nothing helps anymore... 24. Bxe8 Rxe8 25. Bxd6 Rc6 26. Bc5 White is just a pawn up, but a second Black pawn is going to fall soon... 26... Bg6 27.Nc4! Another precise and good move. What to do against an opponent who simply plays strong chess? White is winning another pawn.

8


27...Nxc4 28. Rxc4 Ra8 29. Rcxa4 Rxa4 30. Rxa4 Black’s only chance is the opposite-colored bishops endgame, but of course, two pawns down is just too much. Even if we would take away White’s b2 pawn, Black’s defensive task would be very difficult. 30... Bd3 31. Ra3 Be2 32. Ra8+ Kf7 33. Ra7+ Kg8 34. Rb7 White is regrouping his pieces, there is no need to hurry at all. 34... Ra6 35. Bb4 Ra1+ 36.Kh2 Rc1 37.h4 The h4 move is typical. It can be very useful in many setups. 37...h5 38. Bc3 Bc4 Black just keeps on waiting, but White already has a clear plan... 39. Rc7 Bd3 40. Rc5 Rc2 41.Kg3 Be2

and then e5, opening the bishop from c3 and at the same time attacking the g7 pawn. There is no defense for Black. 44... Bg4 45.f3 Be6 46. Rxh5 Bc4 Nisipeanu is trying his last trick to get the g2 pawn... 47.e5! And the game is over... 47...Kg6 [47... Bf1 winning a pawn back, but not helping the position. 48.exf6 Rxg2+ 49.Kf4 gxf6 50. Rf5 Rg6 51.h5 putting Black’s rook on a terrible square. 51... Rh6 52. Rc5 With two pawns up and a much more active position, White will have no trouble at all to win the game.] 48. Rh8 Bf1 49.exf6 What a great positional game by Ivanchuk! A start-to-finish victory... 1–0

42.e4! And here we see White’s plan. Of course, other moves would win as well, but Ivanchuk chooses the „cleanest” way, in my opinion. The bishop on c3 is protected by the b2 pawn, Kg3 is protecting the f2 pawn, and White is starting to crush Black’s pawn structure. 42...Kf7 43.d5 exd5 44. Rxd5! This is the key move. Usually it’s not a good choice to exchange pawns but it’s the right way. White wants to play e5, or maybe first Rd7+ 9


(3) Shimanov,A (2599) — Hovhannisyan,R (2610) [D10] Chigorin Memorial, St Petersburg RUS, 31.10.2012 [Csaba Balogh] An interesting game, where Black got cruelly punished for not finishing the development on the kingside. The game is important from a theoretical point of view as well.

Kf1 Bd7! is important again, with the same idea as in the 13.Qc3 line.) 14...Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 e6 Now the f5 and f4 bishops are equally bad. They have quite a small chance to improve, equality will be soon reached. 16.h4 h6 17.Rc1 Bb4+ 18.Kc2 Kd7 19.Kb3 Be7 20.g4 Bh7 21.h5 Rc8 22.Rxc8 Kxc8= A draw was agreed soon in Battaglini-Fressinet, Bastia 2012.]

1.c4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.cxd5 The exchange Slav is considered to be an approach by White to make a quick draw, but actually there is also an ambitious way to handle it. Just remember how easily Aronian collapsed against Kramnik in the Olympiad, which we analyzed for you a few CEWNs before. 3...cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 a6 7. Rc1 Bf5 In my opinion this a good setup for Black to achieve equality.

13.e6! A very strong intuitive pawn sacrifice with the idea of locking the Black pieces on the kingside.

8.Nf3 Rc8 9.Ne5! This is the ambitious way to play, while 9. Bd3 and 9. Be2 are going for a draw.

13...Qa5+ [13...fxe6 14.f3 will lead to a similar position as in the game.]

9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 White is initiating a concrete fight. [After 10. Bxe5 Black equalizes with 10...Nd7! 11. Bg3 (11. Qb3 Qb6!= is an important point to remember.) 11...e6= and Be7, 0–0.]

14.Ke2! It’s very importa nt to keep the queens on the board to be able to obtain enough compensation for the pawn. The f1 bishop is just temporarily locked, since White is going to play f3 and Kf2 in the upcoming moves.

10...Ne4 11.Nxe4 Rxc1 12.Qxc1 This is the critical moment where Black must take the right decision!

14...fxe6 15.f3 Bf5 16. Be5 White conti nues his strategy to restrict the movement of his opponent’s kingside.

12...Bxe4?! [12...dxe4 is the right move, as it was recently played by the French Super-GM Laurent Fressinet. 13.Be2 (On 13.Qc3 to avoid Qa5, Black has to play 13...Bd7! Black prepares for e6, but first he retreats the bishop, otherwise it gets out of the game on f5. 14.Be2 e6 15.0–0 Be7 16.Rd1 Qb6= followed by Bc6 and 0–0.) 13...Qa5+! 14.Qd2 (14.

16...h5 Black tries to gain some ground and avoid a possible squeeze with g4-h4. [16...Kf7 was probably more circumspect, in order to avoid the 17.Qc8 possibility.] 17.h4 [17.Qc8+!? looks like a good alternative for White. 17...Kf7 18.Qxb7 Qxa2 19.Kf2 with a clear advantage. The f1 bishop and the h1 rook join the game.] 10


17...Kf7 18.Kf2 Qxa2 Black, at least, grabs some material and hopes to get lucky on the kingside events. 19. Be2! Mobilizing the pieces. 19... Rh7 [19... Rg8 with the same idea of playing g6Bg7. 20.e4!! is decisive 20...dxe4 (20...Bh7 21.Qf4++- followed by Rc1, and it’s over.) 21.fxe4 Bxe4 22.Qf4+ Bf5 23. Bc4!+- is the point, and the queen and f5 bishop are hanging.]

21.Qc7! Very deep move! White obviously would like to bring his rook to c1, but the reason to put the queen on c7 will become clear in a few moves. 21...Qb3 22. Rc1! The h4 pawn doesn’t count much. 22...hxg4 23.fxg4 Rxh4

24. Bd4!! This was the hidden idea of Qc7. Now the queen starts to penetrate on all the squares along the h2b8 diagonal. The main threat is Qf4 and Rc8 now. 20.g4 It’s a goo d idea to send the bishop to g6 in order to prevent the g6 idea, but White had an even better possibility. [20.e4! would have worked again with the same ideas as in the 19... Rg8 line, but now it’s a bit more complicated. 20...dxe4 (20...Bg6 21.Qf4+ Kg8 22.Rc1+-) 21.fxe4 Bg4 (21...B xe4 loses again to 22.Qf4+ Bf5 23.Bc4!+-) 22.Qf4+ Kg8 23. Rc1! g6 Black seems to survive with Rf7, but 24.Qg5! Rf7+ 25.Kg1 Kh7 looks like a double-threat of Bh6 and Bxe2, but White wins after 26. Bxg4! Bh6 27. Rc8!+-]

24...Kg8 [The nicest variation of the game arises after 24...Qa4 25.Qf4+ Kg8 26. Rc8 Be8 This looks really suspicious, but the refutation is not obvious at all. 27.Qb8! Kf7 28. Bd3! with the threat of Rxe8 Qxe8 Bg6! 28... Rxg4

20... Bg6 [Opening the f-file is not recommended. 20... hxg4 21.fxg4 Be4 22. Rf1 The penetration is coming after Kg3-Qc8.] 11


29.Qh2!! This is the great winning move! Black can’t deal with Qh5. It’s very nice how effectively the queen uses the h2-b8 diagonal. 29... Rxd4 30.Qh5+ Kf6 31. Rxe8!+wins.] 25.Qe5! The main threat is Rc8 and Qxg7, but Qxe6 is also very unpleasant. [On 25.Qf4 Black intended to play 25... Bc2! closing the c-file.] 25... Bc2 White has many ways to win here, but the one that Shimanov chose was probably the best. 26.Kg3 Rh6 27.g5 Rg6 28. Bg4! Creating the decisive threat of Be6. The end is near. [It was not too late to go wrong with the tempting 28. Bh5 Qd3! 29. Bxg6 Qxg6 and Black is alive.] 28... Bf5 29. Bxf5! exf5 [29... Rxg5+ also loses. 30.Kh4 Rxf5 31.Qxe6+ Rf7 32. Rf1+-] 30.Qxf5 Rc6 31. Rf1 A nice victory by White and a horrible performance of the f8 bishop. 1–0

(4) Cheparinov,Ivan (2710) — Mchedlishvili,Mikheil (2639) [E11] TCh-ESP CECLUB Div Honor 2012, Leon ESP (3.4), 07.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see a very interesting and crazy game with some great attacking play by White, who got a little bit of help by Black. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ This is a move for „lazy” people who are trying to avoid the main lines. Not a bad opening choice against a very well prepared Cheparinov, who was for a long time one of Topalov’s seconds. 4.Nbd2 White chooses the very main line, which is not really a surprise... 4...0–0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 Lately we’ve seen a lot of games in this line, but until now nobody has been able to show a clear way for White to get an advantage. 6...d5 7.e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 [8.b4 a5 9.b5 c5 This is the other main line.] 8...c5

12


9.h4!? This new move was introduced quite recently and leads to very sharp play. Black is crushing White’s center, and White is trying to give mate. 9...g6 seems to be the main move. White wanted to play Bxh7. In case of: [9...h6 10. Bb1 followed by Qc2, and it can get very dangerous for Black.] 10.h5 cxd4 11.Qc2!? We are following the game Ding,LTomashevsky. 11...Nc5 A logical move. [11...Qe8 12.Nb3 Nc6 13. Bf4 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nb6 15. Bd3 Nd5 16. Bh6 with a clearly better position for White. Still in the game Ding,L-Tomashevsky, E 2012.] 12. Bf1 [12.hxg6 Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 fxg6 and Black seems to have survived the attack.; To sacrifice the bishop doesn’t make any sense for White: 12. Bxg6? fxg6 13.hxg6 d3! and Black is good again.]

13. Bxd3 Nxd3+ 14.Qxd3 We are in a very interesting position. If Black manages to develop, he’ll get a great position, but White’s attacking chances don’t look bad either. 14...dxc4 A very direct move. Black is giving away the e4 square for the knight. On the other hand, the exchange of queens would solve all his problems! 15.Qe3 The White queen is trying to reach the h6 square. [Why not 15.Qxc4!? I guess Cheparinov was a bit afraid of 15...Qd5 Where to go with the queen? 16.Qf4! (16.hxg6 fxg6; 16.Qg4 Nc6 doesn’t bring anything for White, of course.) 16...g5 It seems like Black is good, but 17.Nxg5 Qxg2 18. Rh3! White’s rook is going to g3, winning the piece back. It seems like White is doing better.] 15...g5! Of course Black does not allow White to play Qh6. 16.Ne4 h6 We are in a very unclear position, and White has a lot of different plans to proceed: Nh2- Ng4-Nf6 looks quite tempting, as well as Bd2 followed by 0–0–0, but Ivan chooses the most spectacular choice. 17.Nfxg5!? I am not sure at all about the strength of this move, but from a practical point of view, it is very interesting 17...hxg5 18.Qg3 Kh8 Black needs to move the king away from the g-file.

12...d3! Black is forcing White to exchange his lightsquared bishop, which could became a very dangerous piece if White is in time to play b4 next, and then comeback with the bishop to d3.

19. Bxg5 Bxg5 [At 19... Rg8 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21.Qf4 White remains with a strong attack.] 20.Nxg5 Nc6 Black is playing very logically. He needed to develop the knight from b8. 13


21. Rd1! A very good move based on a precise tactical calculation21...Qc7 [On 21...Qa5+ 22.Kf1 and Black can’t take the e5 pawn. 22...Qxe5 (22...N xe5 23.Qf4 followed by Rh3, with a super dangerous attack.)

23.Nxf7+! A very nice tactical blow. 23... Rxf7 24. Rd8+ Nxd8 25.Qxe5+ and White is winning easily.] 22.f4 At least Black got rid of the Qf4 threat. 22... Rg8 This looks like a very slow move, but it’s a good one! [22...f6 seems to put Black in danger. 23.exf6 Rxf6 24.0–0 We can see a very strange position. White is a piece down for just a pawn, but Black’s king is very weak, and it’s not clear how to develop the bishop from c8. I guess this kind of position is much easier to play with White...] 23.Qe3! Excellent place for the queen. f5 is a future threat.

25...Qe7?? This move is losing, but Black could have played: [25...Nd4!! A very beauti ful tactical possibility. Suddenly, Black is winning! White can’t take the knight on d4, and if he doesn’t take it, Black will simply play Nxf5 next. 26. Rxd4 (26.Qxd4 R xg5 brings nothing for White.) 26... Rxg5! That’s the key... 27.Qxg5 Qxe5+ 28.Kf1 Qxd4 and Black is a full piece up!] 26.Ne4! And now White is winning! 26...Qf8 27.fxe6 Black is hopeless. White wants to play e7 next and there is no defense against it... 27...Nxe5 28.e7 Nd3+ 29.Kf1 What a game! After the opening, White should have been better, then came a piece sacrifice, a good defense by Black who missed the very beautiful move 25...Nd4!!. Finally, White reaches his target, the Black king. This was a real fighting game! 1–0

23...b5 Very logical, Black develops the bishop from c8. 24. Rd6 Bb7 25.f5 And we are at the critical position. White has a lot of threats, for example, to play Ne4 next. Can Black do something aboutit? 14


Puzzle section

(7) Oparin,G (2484) — Socko,B (2619) Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012

(5) Karpov,A (2616) — Edouard,R (2664) Cap’d Agde (rapid), 02.11.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1.

(8) Savchenko,B (2540) — Vlasenko,M (2400) (6) Timofeev,A (2631) — Tseitlin,M (2390) Chigorin memorial, 29.10.2012

Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+-

15


(9) Monin,N (2325) — Ionov,S (2550)

(11) Rodriguez Vila,A (2541) — Mekhitarian,K (2503)

Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012

Villa Martelli, 23.10.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Stojanovic,D (2488) — Savic,M (2531)

(12) Mekhitarian,K (2503) — Rodriguez Vila,A (2541)

Cetinje Open, 25.10.2012

Villa Martelli, 28.10.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

16


(13) Shengelia,D (2529) — Hera,I (2573) Austrian league, 02.11.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Ftacnik,L (2544) — Cicak,S (2579) Czech league, 04.11.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

17


Endgame section

68.Kf4

(15) Zorko,J (2476) — Froewis,G (2399) Austrian league, 03.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

68...g5+!! Black needs to sacrifice all his pawns to support his d-pawn. First, he tries to deflect the king, so White is forced to play 69.hxg5 h4!! Another fantastic move! Black threatens with h3, so the next move is forced again. Here is an excellent example why it is useful to solve studies. They might appear in real games as well. White is close to be winning with his dominating pieces, especially the difference between the two bishops are telling. Who would believe that the poor e8 bishop wins the game soon for Black? White continues with the most tempting move, but it leads to a defeat... 66.c4?? This allows Black to play an evergreen!! [66. Bf4! followed by opening the position with c4 should bring home the full point.] 66... Rxe5!! 67.dxe5 d4! Suddenly the White rook is out of the game, but it still looks like after the king catches the d-pawn, White will easily realize his material advantage, but...

70.gxh4

70...e3!! The final blow! Black cuts the king’s way to the d-pawn. 71.fxe3 [71.Kf3 loses to 71... Bh5+ and e2 next.]

18


71...d3! 72.g6 [The whole point of the g5 and h4 sacrifices becomes clear after 72.Kf3 Bh5+! The bishop joins the game! 73.Kf2 d2 Black wins.]

(16) Lenderman,Aleksandr (2614) — Shirov,Alexei (2718) [A07]

72...d2 73.g7 d1Q! [73... Bf7 was also good, but the text is nicer and better.]

[Chess Evolution]

Chigorin Memorial, St Petersburg RUS (8.3), 03.11.2012

74.g8Q Qf1+! The king is forced to move to the g-file and White loses his queen. 75.Kg5 Qg1+ Just brilliant!!! Chess can be beautiful! 0–1

Black is already trying for a long time to get the full point, but things are not that simple. White’s pawns are quite dangerous, and the opposite-colored bishops give him an extra chance for saving the game. 45... Rc7 46.e5 White is trying his only chance, to push the pawns as far as possible and hope to get some counterplay. Also, if he could somehow get to e6 with a knight, it would be very nice. In general, it’s clear that White’s only chance is to play e5-d6 and somehow try to exchange the knight for the bishop. 46... Rc2 It’s never bad idea to have a rook on the 2nd rank, especially now that Black could start attacking the White pieces from „behind” by playing Rd2 next. [46... Rc3 47. Be4 doesn’t help Black at all.] 47.d6 White continues his play: to push the pawns as far as they can go. 19


47...b5?? A big blunder. Black forgets to be at least a little careful. [47... Rd2! This move leads to quite an easily winning position. 48. Be4 b6 Black is taking away the b7 pawn from the attack. 49.Kf1 White has no other moves to improve his position and must just wait for Black’s actions. 49...g4! The Black pawn is going to g2 in order to force the White king to go to g1, after which Black’s Re2 will be possible. (49...R xa2 is not winning due to 50.b4! The usual b4 push. 50...B xb4 51.N xb4 axb4 52.e6 and Black doesn’t have the winning idea Re2. 52...Ra7 53.e7+ R xe7 54.dxe7+ Kxe7 with an easy draw.) 50.Kg1 g3 51.Kf1 Rxa2 52.b4 Bxb4 53.Nxb4 axb4 54.e6 and now

49.Nxb4 axb4 50.e6 In the previous lines we had the same position, just without White’s a2 pawn, which makes Black’s position winning. With the a2 pawn on the board, White is winning! 50...g4 [Leads to about the same 50... Re2 51.e7+ Kd7 52. Bf3 The White bishop is going to h5. 52... Re5 53. Bh5 and now the White king will slowly move to g4 and capture the g5 pawn, using the fact that Black can only make rook moves.] 51. Be4 Re2 52. Bf5 White provokes Black into playing g3, which actually doesn’t matter. 52...g3 53.e7+ Ke8

54...g2+ ! Black is winning. 55.Kg1 (It doesn’t help to play 55.B xg2 R xg2 56.Kxg2 b3 and the b-pawn will become a queen.) 55... Re2 Black stops the White pawns from queening, and Black’s b-pawn is going to queen pretty soon. Black is easily winning.] 48.b4! And here comes the shock for Black! The position is not even a draw... it’s lost now! Let’s take a slightly closer look. 48... Bxb4 [Doesn’t save the game 48... Rd2 49.e6! Rxd3 50.e7+ Kd7 51. Bc6+ with a win for White.]

54. Bd3! Forcing the Black rook to leave the 2nd rank. 54... Re1+ 55.Kg2 Re5 56. Bg6+ Putting the bishop in the right place... 56...Kd7 57. Bf7 And Black is losing the g-pawn. 57... Re3 58.Kh3 Zug-zwang! Of course, in case of 58... Kxd6 59.e8Q Rxe8 60. Bxe8, Black’s position is hopeless because the a8 square matches White’s light-squared bishop. What a tragedy to lose such a game... but we see once again that in chess every move can be decisive! 1–0 20


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Levenfish,Grigory [A28] URS-ch12 Moscow, 1940 [Chess Evolution] We are facing a nice crush in the English opening by Botvinnik. The funny part of the game is that the same players played the same game 6 years earlier, but with opposite colors. Botvinnik, on the White side, improved it in the 13th move. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 Many Sicilian players like to play this as White, since they practically are a tempo up with reversed colors.

6...h6 7. Bh4 Bxc3+ Black creates weak doubled pawns on the c-file. The only drawback is giving up the bishop pair, but with a strong knight maneuver, he solves this problem as well. 8.bxc3 Ne5! It’s heading to g6 to unpin his colleague. 9.e3 [9.f4 is White’s best try to get some advantage, but Karpov showed the way to neutralize the initiative against Kramnik. 9...Ng6 (Obviously not 9...N xc4? because of 10.e4! with more than enough compensation.) 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11.g3 Black has a good position due to his superior pawn structure. His only problem is the knight on g6, which is out of the game. Instead of the „automatic” castling, Karpov found a much better move.

4.d4 Recently this system is out of fashion since it became clear how to equalize with Black. [The current main line is definitely 4.g3 after which Black can decide the character of the play. To play an opened game with 4...d5 (or some closed setup, for instance with 4...Bb4)] 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6. Bg5 Here Black has a wide range of choices. Levenfish plays the most solid one as Botvinnik already showed him back in 1934.

11...Nf8! White can’t make use of the uncastled king, so Black drives his knight to c5. 12. Bg2 Ne6 13.0–0 0–0 14.e4 d6 15.Qd2 Nc5 Black intends to finish the development with Bd7, Rfe8 and obtain a fine position. 16. Rae1 Rb8! Strong prophylactic move, typical of Karpov style. (On the direct 16...Bd7 Kramnik wanted to play 17.e5 dxe5 18.R xe5 when Black has some problems with the stability of the c5 knight.) 17. Re3 Bd7 Now on e5, Black can simply protect his knight with b6. 18.Nb3 Nxb3 19.axb3 Bc6 21


20.Qd4 a6! 21.Qxf6 1/2–1/2 Kramnik-Karpov, Las Palmas 1996. 21...gxf6 A draw was agreed. Black has a perfect blockading position. He doubles his rooks on the e-file and starts to wait. White must also concentrate his pieces around the e4 pawn, so the result is justified.] 9...Ng6 10. Bg3 Ne4 Black successfully gets rid of the two bishops, it means he has no problems at all.

ment of the g6 knight. However in comparison to that line, Black should have taken care of his king first. 14...Nf8?! [It was more circumspect to play 14...0–0 15. Be2 The bishop should stay on f3 to cover the weak light squares. 15... Re8 16.Qd3 Nf8! 17.g4 Nd7 with mutual chances. I personally prefer Black, but it is playable for both sides.]

11.Qc2 Nxg3 12.hxg3 d6

13.f4! This is the improvement over their first encounter. White tries to take control over the squares in the center. The plan is to have a setup with Be2-f3, Kf2 followed by g4-g5 or e4 and central play. [Levenfish as White played 13. Be2 but he got slowly outplayed, even though he managed to save the game at the end. 13...Ne5 14. Rd1 Qe7 15.Qe4 a6 Black prevents the Nb5 ideas forever. 16. Rh5 Nd7! Botvinnik improves his knight. 17.Qf4 17... Nc5 was also perfectly fine. 17...Nf6 18. Ra5 Bd7 19.g4 Ne4 Black was better in Levenfish-Botvinnik, Leningrad 1934. It’s not surprising that Levenfish wanted to repeat this game, but he had to face 13.f4!] 13...Qe7 14.Kf2 Just as it was written in the 9.f4 line, Black has only one problem in his position, the misplace-

15.c5!! Excellently played! Botvinnik gets rid of his doubled pawns. Black bites the poisoned apple, which is objectively a decisive mistake. 15...dxc5? [It was very difficult to find the only strong move, which would keep the game completely unclear. 15...Nh7! going to f6. 16.cxd6 cxd6 17. Bb5+ Kf8! Many players are afraid when they lose the right to castle, but actually sometimes the king stands quite safe in such places as well. 18. Be2 Nf6 19. Bf3 Ng4+ 20. Bxg4 Bxg4 with approximately even chances.] 16. Bb5+! Nd7 [16...c6? is refuted by 17.Nxc6!; 16... Bd7 The forthcoming moves are more or less forced. 17.Nf5 Qf6 18.Qe4+! Ne6 19. Bxd7+ Kxd7 20. Rhd1+ Kc8 21. Rab1 Rb8 We ave reached the critical position of 22


the 15.c5 sacrifice. White has many tempting options, but he must also hurry to do something, since he is a pawn down. Probably the strongest is

20...a6 21.g5 Qe6 22. Be2 He prepares for transferring the knight. 22...Nb6 23.Ng4 Ke7 This cannot lead to any good. [Black is not in time to castle queenside. 23... Bd7 24.Nf6+ Ke7 25. Rxd7+ Nxd7 26. Bg4+- wins.] 24.Nf6 Qc6 25. Rh7! On each move, White improves one of his pieces and creates new threats. The newest one is Qxg6. 25... Bf5 26.e4 Be6 27.f5 Black considered this to be enough. He got swept off from the board. 1–0

22. Rd5! and on 22...g6 White has the beautiful blow (22... Rd8 23. Rbd1 Rxd5 24.Qxd5 White has a winning attack. Two possible short ways to finish the game are: 24...Qd8 (24...b6 25.Qd7+ Kb7 26.Nd6+ and mate soon.) 25.Qxd8+ Nxd8 26.Ne7#) 23.Qe5!! Qxe5 (23...Qxf5 24.Qxh8+) 24.Ne7#] 17.Nf5 Qf6 18. Rad1! It’s more important to keep the b5-e8 pin than to prevent Black from castling with Qe4. Black is basically lost now. The threat is Qe4 and the d7 knight falls. Black can’t unpin himself with c6 because ofRd6! [18.Qe4+ Kf8] 18...g6 [18...c6 19. Rd6!+-] 19.Nxh6 White has restored the material balance and his decisive attack continues to flow. 19... Rf8 Black leaves from the Ng4 threats. 20.g4 White had other moves as well. Botvinnik plays true to his style, he creates a fortress for his knight on f6.

23


Surprise section / study (18) Dehler,O 1910 [CEWN] 1.+-

24


Solutions

(20) Riemersma,L (2420) — Van Kampen,R (2570) Unive Open, 24.10.2012

(19) Timmersmans,I (2254) — Timman,J (2578)

[Solutions]

Unive Open, 23.10.2012 [Solutions]

18.g4! Qxg4 [18...Qd5 19.Nf6+!+-] 19.Nxa5 Bxf1 20.Qxf1+23... Bxg2! 24.b5 [24.Kxg2 Qf4 25. Re2 (25.c4 Qf2+ 26.Kh3 Rf6–+) 25...Qg4+ –+] 24...Qf4 25.Kxg2 c5! 26.Qxc5 Rc8! 0–1

(21) Van Kampen,R (2570) — Afek,Y (2312) Unive Open, 25.10.2012 [Solutions]

19. Bxa6! Qd7 [19...Qxa6 20.Nxe7#] 20. Bxc8+25


(22) Massoni,M (2381) — Short,N (2707)

(24) Sokolov,I (2690) — Aroshidze,L (2560)

Corsica (rapid), 27.10.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17.Nxd5! exd5 18. Be7! Qb6 19. Bxd8 Qxd8 20. Bxh7+! Kf8 [20...Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22. Re8+ +-]

43... Rxg3! 0–1[43... Rxg3 44. Rxe5 (44.Kxg3 R xe2–+) 44...fxe5–+ (44...Rg2+ –+) ]

21. Bg6 Ne6 22.Qh5+(23) Brkic,A (2575) — Vaisser,A (2540) Corsica (rapid), 27.10.2012 [Solutions]

(25) Nikolic,P (2638) — Quesada Perez,Y (2604) Barcelona, 26.10.2012 [Solutions]

26. Rxg7+! Kxg7 27. Rd7+ Re7 [27...Kg8 28.Qh6+-]

44...Nxf3! [44... Rxf3!–+]

28. Rxe7+ Kf8 29. Rxh7+-

45. Rxf3 Rxf3 46.Kxf3 Rd3+ 47.Ke2 Qxb2+ 0–1 26


(26) Peralta,F (2593) — Felgaer,R (2579)

(27) Gelashvili,T (2578) — Shankland,S (2597)

Marcel Duchamp memorial, 24.10.2012

USA league, 22.10.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

13. Bxe6!! fxe6 [13...Nf6 14.Qg7]

24. Bxh6!! [24.Nxc3 Rxc3 25. Bxh6 Qd3!;

14. Bg5! Nf6 [14...Qc7 15.Qxe6+ Kf8 16. Bh6#;

24. Raa2 Qxb3]

14... Be7 15.Qh5+! Kf8 16. Bh6+ Kg8 17.Qg4+ Kf7 18.Qg7+ +-]

24... Bxa1 [24...Qxb3 25.Ng5+ Kxh6 26.Nxf7+ Kh7 27.Qg1+-;

15.Qxe6+ Qe7 16.Qxf6 Qxf6 17. Bxf6 0–0 18. Bg5

24...Kxh6 25.Qc1+ Kh7 26.Ng5++-] 25.Ng5+ Kxh6 26.Qd2! 1–0

27


(28) Prusikin,M (2545) — Caruana,F (2767)

(29) Troitzky,A


1909

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

23...Nxd5!! 24. Bxe5 [24.exd5 Bc3+! 25.Kf1 Qe1#]

1. Bh6+! Kf7 2. Rf5+ Kg6 3. Rg5+ Kf7 4. Rxg8 Kxg8 5.Ke6! Kh8 6.Kf7! e5 7. Bg7# 1–0

24...Qxe5 25. Bb3 [25. Rb3–+] 25...g4! 26.hxg4 Bxg4 27. Bxd5 Bxf3–+

28

Weekly Newsletter




Let’s start with the finished Event, the Kings Tournament in Bucharest, a four-players double round robin.


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3

»» Puzzle section

18


21


24


27

»» Solutions

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Ivanchuk and Topalov, with just a score of+1 shared the first place. Finally, Ivanchuk won the tie-break by 1,5-0,5. The 3rd place went to Caruana, who was very unlucky and obtained 6 straight draws. The last place went to Nisipeanu, who lost 2 games and made 4 draws, and got a rating performance close to his Elo. The Female World Cup is being played. The winner is going to play the World Championship match against the current World Champion Hou Yifan. Most of the favorites are still in the game, and it’s getting very exciting. The Junior WCC is going on in Maribor, Slovenia, as well. It’s a pity to see that this event is not getting the attention it deserves. The best young players are not participating in it anymore, and we can remember that even the great Gari Kimovich was once the Junior World Champion. As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with the best games of the last week, the puzzles, the endgames and the studies sections! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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9.Nd5! This is the strongest move, as it was already proved in many games. White activates his knight, since Nxd5 leads to favorable exchanges for him.

(1) Janssen,Ruud (2483) — Shirov,Alexei (2718)

9...Nh5 Shirov continues to play aggressively, which is very risky. Against a more experienced player, he might have gotten into some difficulties... The idea of this move is to push f4, so the next move of White is basically forced. [9...Nxd5 doesn’t equalize either. 10.cxd5 Ne7 11. Be3 White intends to press the c7 pawn with Rc1 and Qc2, so Black sooner or later has to play 11...c6 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Qd2+= with an advantage for White. The g2 bishop has a much better chance to join the fight than its colleague on g7. The next moves could be Rac1 and b4, or it could also be good to prepare for a d4 break.]

German league, 11.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A very sharp fight in the German Bundesliga, where Alexei Shirov wanted to beat his lower rated opponent at any cost with the Black pieces, and in order to do it, he created irrational complications true to his style. 1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 This is basically a Closed Sicilian opening (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6...) with reversed colors, which means an extra tempo for White. There, one of the most popular setups is the one with e5 and Nge7 (in this game e4- Nge2). Of course, other options like e3- Nge2 or d3- Nf3 are also possible. This is just a matter of taste. 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2 f5 Black chooses the most aggressive way to develop. 7.d3 Nf6 8.0–0 0–0

10.exf5! Bxf5 This is the better recapture, keeping the position dynamic. [On 10...gxf5 the standard reaction is 11.f4!+= with better prospects for White. A logical development could be Be3, Qd2, Rae1 and b4-b5. It’s much harder to find a useful plan for Black.] 11.h3! Very well played. White has to prevent the Qd7Bh3 ideas to preserve the important g2 bishop, which is also a very good defender of the king. The threat now is g4 to win a piece. 11... Be6

3


12. Rb1?! White prepares the standard b4-b5 plan, increasing the power of the g2 bishop on the long diagonal, but he could have played more effectively. [12.g4! Nf6 13. Bg5! gives very good prospects for White, as it was already played in some games. 13...Qd7 (On 13...Ne7 14.N xf6+ B xf6 15.B xf6 R xf6 16.Qb3! Rb8 17.f4! is very strong. The idea of the Qb3 tempo was to transfer it to c3, where it will stand excellently. White is clearly much better prepared for the opening of the position.) 14.f4+= also looks very good for White.] 12...Qd7 13.g4 This would have been stronger one move earlier. [13.Kh2 Nd8 with the ide a of kicking out the d5 knight with c6. The position is playable for both sides.] 13...Nf6 14.b4 At least White plays consequently. [14. f4 is not that strong anymore. Black has 14...h5! creating very strong counterplay.; Maybe from a practical point of view, it would have made sense to take with 14.Nxf6+ in order to reduce the power of Black’s upcoming attack. 14... Bxf6 15.Nc3 and Ne4 or Nd5.(Or 15.Be3 followed by a d4 break in the near future.) ] 14... Bxd5!? Shirov already had the forthcoming attack in mind, but giving up the strong light-squared bishop has its drawbacks as well, as we’ll see in the game. [14...h5 was also possible. Probably, White was intending to play something like 15.Nxf6+ Rxf6 16. Bg5 Rff8 Of course, Rf7 and Raf8 are more logical at first sight, but if Black foresees his opponent’s idea, then he should rather put his rook on f8. 17.b5 Nd8 The only square for the knight that now is heading to f7. Therefore, probably White should take with 18. Bxd8 Raxd8 19.gxh5 Bxh3 20.hxg6 followed by Ng3, with mutual chances.]

15.cxd5 Ne7 16.Qb3

16...h5! Without this move, the whole Black strategy would make no sense. Now White has to deal with the g4 pawn, and he is forced to allow the Black knight to go to f5. However, things are not that easy... 17.g5! Very well played! Suddenly, Black is facing a difficult decision, where to go with the knight and what kind of future we can imagine for it. 17...Nh7 [17...Ne8 was the other option, but after the same moves as in the game: 18. Bd2 Nf5 19.Qc4! preventing Nh4. The Black knight on e8 plays a bad role in the game, though it might be improved with Bh8 and Neg7, but this kills the h8 bishop and the knight can’t go anywhere from g7...] 18. Bd2 Nf5 19.Qc4! White had to prevent Nh4. What to do as Black?! His knight on h7 is poorly placed, Rf7 and Nf8 are not improvements either. The g7 bishop is locked as well, while White has a clear plan to advance his pawns on the queenside. Shirov finds a beautiful idea to activate his pieces, but it involves many sacrifices which were not necessarily correct if the opponent defended well. But of 4


course, he was playing against a human opponent and not amachine! 19...Qd8 Forcing White to create a new weakness. [Maybe it would have been better to play 19... Rae8 first, followed by the same ideas as in the game, which could be more effective with an active rook on e8.] 20.h4

20...e4!? This was Shirov’s point! Now the board gets on fire, where he feels totally at home. Black wants to take the h4 pawn and open the „dead bishop”, but of course, this drops an important pawn and creates a huge weakness on e6, which White immediately attacks! 21.Nf4! [21.dxe4 was also very interesting. 21...Nxh4 22.f4 Qd7 with the threat of Qg4, but White has a cool defensive move: 23. Rb3! It goes to g3! 23...Nxg2 24.Kxg2 Rae8  It's very difficult to evaluate the position. Black's minor pieces are bad, but he can put pressure on the e4 pawn with the rooks.; 21.Qxe4? loses on the spot after 21... Re8! 22.Qf3 Nxh4 and e2 falls.]

21...Nxg5!? If Black was not Shirov, we could consider this move as a desperate attempt to create counterplay. [21...Nxh4 22.Ne6 Qd7 23.dxe4] 22.Nxg6? White loses the thread. He probably missed the incredible 25th move! [22.hxg5 Qxg5 We have reached the critical position. White has many interesting possibilities, but only one of them leads to a clear advantage.

23.Qxe4! a) 23. Be3 Protecting the bishop to refresh the idea of Ne6 also looks very promising, but Black has an amazing resource to save the game. 23... Bd4!! (23...Nh4? is directly met with 24.Qxe4!) 24. Bxd4 (24.Ne6 loses to 24... Qg4! and Nh4 next.) 24...Nh4! The following moves are forced: 25.Qxc7 Counter-threat on g7. 25... Rf7 26.Qxd6 Rxf4 27.Qe6+ Rf7 28.Qxe4 looks winning, but Black has 28... Rf3!! 28... Re7 and Rf4 would have been refuted by 29. Be3!. 29.Qe6+ Rf7 30.Qe4 with a draw.; b) 23.dxe4 Nd4! is very important in order to prevent Rb3. Black threatens with Nf3 and Rxf4. (23...Nh4 looks winning at first sight, but actually it leads to the opposite result after 24.Rb3! R xf4 25.Rg3 Qf6 26.B xf4 Qxf4 5


27.Qc1+/- with a material advantage.) 24.Qd3 Rxf4 25. Bxf4 Qxf4 with strong compensation on the dark squares, Be5 is coming soon.; 23... Rae8 24.Qf3 Now the queen plays an important defensive role. White wants to exchange some pieces with Re1 to realize his material advantage. It’s not obvious how Black could continue his attack. 24...Nd4 (24...Be5 25.Rbe1 and Re4 next, White consolidates his position.) 25.Qg3 Ne2+ 26.Nxe2 Qxd2 Black almost trapped the knight, but there’s still one square. 27.Nc1+/-] 22...Nf3+! White needs to give up the guard of his king! 23. Bxf3 exf3 24.Nxf8 [White probably could have still achieved a draw with 24. Bg5! Qd7 25.Qe4! followed by Qe6, exchanging the queens. (White should not be greedy with 25.Nxf8 Rxf8 Nd4 and Qg4 are the threats. 26.Qe4 (26.Kh2 es met strongly with 26... Be5+ 27. Bf4 Nh6!! Black wins on both lines. 28. Bxe5 (28.Rg1+ Ng4+ 29.R xg4+ Qxg4 30.Rg1 R xf4 31.R xg4+ R xg4+) 28... Ng4+ and White is forced to sacrifice his queen, but he doesn’t have enough compensation. 29.Qxg4+ hxg4) 26...Nd4 Qh3 is coming next. 27.Kh2 Be5+) 25... Rf7 (25...Rae8 doesn’t work because of the intermediate move 26.N xf8!; 25...Rfe8 26.Qxf3) 26.Qe6 with approximately even chances.] 24...Nd4! Locking the queen on c4, which deprives White from his main defensive sources. Qxh4 is the main threat now. 25.Ng6 [25. Bg5 Qxf8 followed by Qf5 is hopeless.]

25...b5!! Brilliant! Completely unexpectedly, the main blow arrived on the queenside. The queen is trapped as both of its main squares move into Ne2. 26. Bg5? White collapsed from the previous shock. [26. Qc1 Ne2+; However 26.Qxd4 was still playable, as White has a rook, a knight and active pieces for the queen. 26... Bxd4 27. Rbe1! White installs his rook on e6 and Black must play precisely to preserve some advantage. 27... Kf7 28. Re6 Bf6! The knight is trapped, but White still has a resource 29.Kh2! (29.Nf4? Qg8+ 30.Kh2 Qg4) 29... Kxg6 30. Bg5 and Black can only achieve a better rook endgame with 30...a5! 31. Bxf6 Qxf6] 26...Qd7 White can resign now as the threats are still very strong. 27.Qxd4 Bxd4 28.Nf4 [28.Kh2 Kh7 29.Nf4 Rg8 White can’t resist for long.] 28... Be5 29.Ne6 Qf7 What an exciting game! 0–1

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(2) Bodnaruk,Anastasia (2415) — Javakhishvili,Lela (2455) [B42] FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.28), 11.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Maybe some CEWN readers will remember the great Bodnaruk-Almasi game... Once again the young U-20 Russian Champion strikes in her very agressive style, with a lot of nice sacrifices. We’ll see a really great game! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 The Paulsen with 4...a6 has been a popular opening for at least 60 years! 5. Bd3 [5.Nc3 is the other main line.] 5...Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Qg4 Probably the most critical line. White is trying to provoke 7...g6 and only then to go back with 8.Qe2. Black’s pawn structure would be much worse... 7... Bf6 This is quite a rare move and I think not the best one. Black is trying to develop the knight with Nge7, and then to play 0–0 followed by d5. But of course, White is taking actions against this plan. 8.Qg3 We are following the game Karjakin-Flores 2012.

10...Ng6?! N It’s hard to say if Black has prepared this move. To me, it looks very risky. [10...e5 11. Bd2 d6 12.0– 0–0 Be6 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.h4 with better play for White, Karjakin-Flores, Olympiad 2012.] 11. Bd6! Of course. White should not allow Black to castle and, at the same time, the d5 move is blocked. 11... Bh4 Black is trying an active plan. [In case of 11... Be5 12. Bxe5 Ncxe5 13.0–0 followed by f4-f5, with a clear advantage for White.] 12.Qe3 A logical reply . White is preparing to castle long and against Bg5, to have f4 available. [Another logical move would have been 12.Qh3 Be7!? Black is using the slightly unlucky position of the White Queen on h3, in comparison to g3. 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14.0–0 0–0 15.f4 d6 and White is still a bit better, but nothing too big has happened.] 12...Qg5? In general it’s the right idea for Black to exchange the queens, but here it’s just too risky. Black’s bishop on h4 is almost trapped and the Black king on e8 could quickly get in trouble. [12... Be7 would still give Black a worse position, but a fighting one.]

8...Nc6 9.Nc3 Nge7 10. Bf4

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13.Qh3! Brave and strong. In a K.O. tournament it’s never easy to take the decision of sacrificing when You can choose a safer way. [13.Qxg5 Bxg5 14.0–0 just leads to a better endgame for White.] 13...Nf4 And we are entering a forced line. 14. Bxf4 Qxf4 15.g3! This double exchange sacrifice was the point of playing 13.Qh3!. The action starts! 15...Qf3 16.Qxh4 No way back. 16...Qxh1+ 17.Ke2! Not giving the f3 square for the Black queen. 17...Nd4+ [In case of 17...Qg2 18.e5! is very strong. White wants to play Ne4- Nd6, or simply Be4 to catch the Black queen.] 18.Nxd4 Qxa1

the material point of view, Black is doing fine, but he has one problem, all his pieces are undeveloped and White is starting a fast mating attack. 22...f6 23.Qh5+ Kf8 24. Bg6! with the double idea of playing Be8 and Qa5. White’s position is winning.] 20.exd6 f6 Nothing else left... 21. Bxh7 This move is winning as well, but would lead to a fast win: [21.Qh5+! with the already known idea of taking the queen over the 5th rank to c7 or e7. 21...Kf8 22.Qc5 d7 is a deadly threat now. 22... Bd7 23.Qc7 Ke8 24.Nxe6 and Black is completely lost.] 21...Kf8 22.Ne4! Bringing the last piece into the attack. White wants to play Nxf6 next and there is no escape for Black. We can clearly see how important it is to keep the queen in the game; Black’s one on a1 is nothing more than a kibitzer... 22...e5? Black is resigning without a fight. [22... Rxh7! was the only way to continue. 23.Qxh7 Qxb2 Finally, the queen is back in the game. 24.Kd3! Very strong. Black is completely paralized and can only hope for a perpetual check, which is almost impossible to give because of the strong knights on d4 and e4. White’s position is close to winning.] 23.Nxf6! What a total crush!

19.e5! A multi-functional move. It stops Black from castling short and prepares the move Ne4. [It’s too early for 19.Nf5? exf5 20.Nd5 0–0! an easy move to blunder...] 19...d5 This move loses, but it seems like nothing helps. [19...Qxb2 20.Ne4 White is going against his target — the Black king. 20...Qxd4 21.Nd6+ Qxd6 22.exd6 From

23... Rxh7 24.Nxh7+ Kg8 25.Ng5 White wants to mate Black from all sides! 25...Qxa2 Avoiding the mate threat Qh7-Qh8 because of Qg8. 26.Qh7+ Kf8 8

Issue 38 (3) Topalov,V (2769) — Nisipeanu,LD (2668) [E15]


6th Kings Tournament Bucharest ROU, 12.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A nice win by Topalov. He put a lot of pressure on Nisipeanu during the whole game, who defended resourcefully for a while, but later, in the time trouble, couldn’t hold the tension. 27.b3! Cool and strong, keeping the Black queen out of the game.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5

27... Bg4+ 28.f3 Ke8 Any move is winning, but White chooses a very beautiful mate. 29.Qg8+ Kd7 30.Qf7+ Kxd6 31.Ne4# Wow, what a mate! Another great game by Bodnaruk. However, she received bad news already the next day; she lost her second game and later on the very dramatic tie-break. 1–0 7.d5!? This pawn sacrifice was first played in 2006, but since then there were hundreds of great games on the highest level. However, as we will see, there are still a lot of unexplored territory. The main reason is that the machine always suggests many good defensive ideas for Black, but if somebody takes a look at the position without the computer assistance, White’s position always looks better and it feels uncomfortable for the Black side. 7...exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0–0 Be7 10. Rd1 Nc7 A rare but interesting move. [The main line clearly is 10...Nc6 Topalov’s second, Ivan Cheparinov, came up with a new setup recently, which was based on exactly the same ide9


as as our present game. 11.a3 (11.Qf5 and; 11.Qa4 are the two most common continuations.) 11...Nc7 12. Bf4 Ne6 13.e3 Nxf4 14.exf4 0–0 15.Nc3 d6 16. Rd2 Re8 17. Rad1 Topalov was aiming for exactly the same pawn structure and piece configuration. Black had to play very precisely to hold. 17...h6 The game turned into a sharp tactical struggle now. 18.Ne5 Nd4! Only move! 19. Rxd4 Bxg2 20. R4d2 Bh3 21.Nb5 Qc8! 22.Nxd6 Bxd6 23. Rxd6 White seems to keep the initiative with domination, but Black succeeds to „jump out” with a tactical idea. 23...f6! 24. Rxf6! Qb7! After many g moves, the game should have finished in a perpetual check, but White decided to play on and badly blundered the game. 25.Qc4+ Kh7 26.Qd3+ Kg8 27.Qb3+ Kh7 28.f3? gxf6 29. Rd7+ Qxd7 30.Nxd7 Kg7! Black parried the Qf7 threat and the knight was trapped on d7. Black soon won in CheparinovAlmasi, Porto Carras 2011.]

13... Ra7 This is the point of the a6 move. Black is a pawn up, but it’s very difficult to finish the development under such pressure. In general, one of the main ideas is to give back the d-pawn in order to simplify the position with many exchanges and obtain an equal game. However, many times (it also happens in this game), White should prefer to keep the tension instead of restoring the material balance. 14. Rd2 Ne6 15. Rad1! [White had a chance to equalize the material with 15. Bxb8 Qxb8 16. Rxd7 but now the a6-Ra7 idea pays off. 16... Be4! 17.Qd2 Bc6! 18. Rxa7 Qxa7 Black successfully exchanged his passive rook and the other one will occupy the d-file on the next move.]

11.Nc3 a6!? This is basically our novelty. Its point will become clear two moves later. 12. Bf4 0–0

13.e3 Just like Cheparinov. White wants to double his rooks now.

15...Nxf4 [15... Ba8 could have been in the spirit of the Ra7 plan. After Black has overprotected the d7 pawn, he is ready to develop with Nc6. However, White has a strong compensation here as well. 16.Nd5 (16.a3 is always a useful waiting move, in order to have Nd5 on Nc6, but Black also could improve his position first with 16...Re8) 16... Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Nc6 18.a3 Nxf4 19.gxf4 Now this recapture seems to be better in order to keep control over the

10


d4 square. (19.exf4 Bf6 Nd4 is coming next.) 19... Bf6 20. Bh3! with strong compensation and mutual chances.]

19.Nd5 Bd8

16.exf4 The general rule says you should always take towards the center. So, 16.gxf4 would also make sense, but the idea of the Topalov Team (as Cheparinov also took with e-pawn) is to generate the compensation on the central lines. 16...Qc8 [For me, it looked more logical to play 16... Bf6 and on 17.h4 h6 followed by Re8. It’s not easy to increase the pressure as White.] 17.h4 A useful move. It opens the back-rank and allows Black to always consider the option of Ng5 Bxg5 hxg5. For this reason, I believe Black should play h6.

20.Ne3! White wins back the material soon with Nf5 and gets a better position.

17...d6 [17...h6]

21. Rxd6! [21.Nf5 is less clear because of 21...d5!]

18.a3 Another useful waiting move. White only wants to play Nd5 when Black puts his own knight c6. Otherwise, Black gets close to a draw after giving up the lightsquared bishop, followed by Nc6. [18.Ng5 was a tempting alternative. 18... Bxg5 (18...g6 19.Nge4 is good for White.) 19.hxg5 Nc6 (Black must keep the bishops on the board, since after 19...B xg2 20.Kxg2 Nc6 21.Rh1! forces a decisive weakness. 21...g6 22.Nd5+-) 20.Ne4 leads to a slightly better endgame for White almost by force. (20. R xd6 Nd4 is all right for Black.) 20...Nd4 21.Nxd6 Nxc2 22.Nxc8 Bxc8 23. Rxc2 looks bad because of the threatened penetration on the d-file, but Black is in the game after 23... Rd7! 24. Rxd7 Bxd7 25. Rd2 Be6 26.a3 Rb8 and Kf8-e7 next.]

21...Nd4 This is what we were speaking about, Black gives back the pawn, but aims for equality through simplifications. However, this time White manages to keep the initiative with active play.

20... Bf6 [20... Be7 21.Nf5+=]

22.Nxd4 Bxd4

18...Nc6? This is exactly what Topalov was waiting for. [18...h6 should have been played.] 11


23. Bxb7 Topalov prefers to play actively instead of getting extra material, or maybe he just missed the nice Nf5 nuance in the other line. [23. Rxb6 Bxg2 24.Kxg2+/Black doesn’t have enough compensation and the critical 24... Rb7 is met with the tactical 25.Nf5!+/-] 23... Rxb7 24.Nf5 Qb8 [24... Bxb2 is refuted nicely by 25. Rxb6!+/-] 25.Qe4? A mistake by Topalov. [The simple 25. Rd5 would have given a big advantage. 25... Bf6 (25...Rd8 26.Qe4! R xd5 27.Qxd5 also looks pretty bad for Black.) 26.h5+/- White is dominating!] 25...g6! White has a difficult decision again. He must either transfer to a slightly better rook endgame or sacrifice an exchange and continue playing with the initiative. Of course, Topalov remains faithful to his style and decides for the latter. [White can make use of the un-opened back-rank after 25... Bxb2 26.Ne7+ Kh8 27.Nc6! and after every queen move, Rd8 decides the game. 27...Qc7 28. Rd8+-]

28.Qxa6+/-) 28.Qc6! Rd8 29.Qxd6 Rxd6 30.Kf1 cxd4 31.Ke2 followed by Kd3, which is of course very unpleasant for Black, but we can’t be sure if it will be enough for the win or not.] 26...Kg7 27.R1xd4! cxd4 28.Qxd4+ f6 29.Nc6 White has only one pawn, but he has active pieces. Black’s king is weak and the rooks need time to do something useful. White’s main idea is to transfer his knight to e6, where it’s going to be really disturbing.

29...Qc8! Tenacious defense. [29...Qc7 would have lost on the spot. 30.Nd8!] 30.Kh2! A high-class prophylactic move against the rook checks on the back-rank. 30... Rc7 Black tries to sacrifice one pawn in order to get rid of the strong d6 rook. Topalov, obviously, doesn’t go for the material.

26.Ne7+ [26.Nxd4 Qxd6 27.Qxb7 b5! This was Nisipeanu’s trick. White can’t leave the pin. The maximum he can get is the following endgame: (27...cxd4

31.Qd5! Keeping the Black pieces in the cage. Now, or in the next move, Black should have played the prophylactic Kh8 in order to get away from the Nd8/Nd4 and Ne6 ideas. The game is unclear. [On 31.Nd8 Re7 Black must cover the e6 square. 32.Qxb6 Rfe8 33.Qd4 Qf5 12


with mutual chances.; 31.Qxb6 Rd7! was Black’s idea. 32. Rxd7+ Qxd7 33.Qxa6 Rc8 Suddenly, White has a material advantage, but Black has a strong initiative.] 31... Re8 [31...Kh8] 32.Nd4 Nisipeanu was already in huge time trouble, which of course made his job even more difficult. The pressure in the previous part of the game has taken all his time. 32... Rce7 [32...Kh8! was the computer’s defense, and on 33. Rxf6 Rd7! White is forced to exchange rooks. 34. Rd6 Rxd6 35.Qxd6 Qc5 36.Qf6+ Kg8 Black is not worse.] 33.f5! Very strong, especially in time trouble. Nisipeanu collapses, but I believe most of us would do the same in such positions.

34...Kh8 35.Qd4! The decisive move! White wins the f6 pawn, since Rf7 doesn’t work... 35...Qc2 [35... Rf7 has a nice refutation. 36. Rd8! Qc6 and a small combination against the back-rank. 37.Qc4!+-] 36.Qxf6+ Kg8 37.fxg6! Defending the f2 pawn. 37...Qxg6 38.Qxg6+ hxg6 Black survived the mating threats, but lost all his pawns. 39.Nf4 Rg7 [39... Rb7 40. Rxg6+ The three pawns will be automatically promoted.] 40. Rxb6 a5 After reaching the time control, Black chose not to continue playing a hopeless position after 41.Nxg6. 1–0

33...Qc1? [33... Re5 34.Qf3 (34.Rd7+ R 5e7 White must retreat with the rook.) 34...gxf5 35. Rxb6 White is objectively better; he has threats with Rb7, the Black king is still really unsafe, but the victory is very far.]

34.Ne6+ The poor rooks are locked again!

13


(4) Cramling,P — Krush,I [D27] 14.11.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6.0–0 a6 Black wants to play b5 and develop his bishop on b7. The idea is that if White doesn’t allow this with 7.a4, then the b4 square becomes weak. This is very important in positions with an isolated pawn because Black can take control of the d5 square with Nb4! 7.Nc3 Not the most popular line. Usually, White waits a bit to develop his knight because sometimes the d2 square is better for him. White has many different ways to play: [7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 We can fin d a lot of games in this endgame where White has tried probably almost all the plans available.; 7. Bd3 Nc6 8.Nc3 cxd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.a3 0–0 11. Re1 leads to positions with the isolated pawn.; 7. Bb3 Nc6 (7...b5 8.a4 with the idea of winning control of the c4 square.) 8.Qe2 (8.Nc3) 8... cxd4 9. Rd1 Be7 10.Nc3 0–0 (10...e5 11.exd4 exd4 12.Be3 Bg4 13.Ba4) 11.Nxd4 (11.exd4) 11...Qc7 12.Nxc6 Qxc6 13.e4 b5 ] 7...b5 8. Bb3 [8. Be2 Recently we have met this move in the top level. 8... Bb7 9.dxc5 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Bxc5 11.Nd2! A logical and good idea by Kramnik used in his game against Tomashevsky. The knight is going to the queenside to support the pressure against Black’s structure; White is slightly better. You can find more about this topic in the September 2012 edition of the Chess Evolution book.]

9.e4 The Black king is still uncastled and thanks to his better development, White can immediately try to get the initiative in the center! 9...cxd4 Correct decision. Black should not accept the sacrifice. [9...Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11. Re1 With the tempo, the next White piece comes into the attack. Black is not able to stop the pressure. 11... Bd5 Looks logical but is not enough. Black is going to eliminate the bishop on b3 and avoid hits on e6! Other moves don’t help Black either. a) 11... Bb7 12. Bg5 a1) 12.d5 c4 13.dxe6 Qxd1 14.exf7+ Kxf7 15.Ng5+ Kg8 16. Bxd1 h6 17.Ne6 Bb4=; a2) 12. Bxe6 also gives White an advantage. 12...fxe6 13. Rxe6+ Kf7 14.Ne5+ Kg8 (14...Kxe6 15.Qg4++-) 15.Qh5 g6 16.Nxg6 Qd5 17.Qg4 Qxg2+ 18.Qxg2 Bxg2 19.Nxf8 Bc6 20. Bh6; 12... Be7 13. Bxe6! A typical crushing sacrifice that we’ll see in a few moments. 13...fxe6 14. Rxe6 0–0 15. Bxe7 Qd7 16. Bxf8 Qxe6 17. Bxc5+-;

8... Bb7 14


b) 11... Bg6 12. Bg5 (12.d5 c4 13.dxe6 f6 Black managed to limit White’s bishop and rook. The position is unclear. 14.Nh4 Qxd1 15.B xd1 ) 12... Be7 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Rxe6 Ra7 15.d5 0–0 16. Rxe7 Rxe7 17.d6 Nc6 18.dxe7 Qxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Re8 20. Rd6 Nxe7 21. Rxa6+/-; c) 11... Bf5 12.d5 c4 13. Bg5 Be7 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd4; 12.dxc5 Bxb3 13.Qxb3 Bxc5 (13...Nc6 14.Bf4 Be7 15.Rad1 Qc8 16.Bd6+/-) 14.Qc3! Double attack. Black will not escape. 14...Nd7 (14...Qb6 15.Qxg7 B xf2+ 16.Kh1 Rf8 17.Rd1+-; 14...Bf8 15.Bg5+-)

velopment and with the g7 pawn. 16...Qb6 17.Qf3 Rd8 18.Rac1 Bd6 19.Rc6 Qa5 20.Bc3 b4 21.B xg7 Rg8 22.Bf6 b3 23.Rec1 Be7 24.B xe7 Kxe7 25.Rc7+ 1–0 Fressinet,LKapnisis,S/Caleta ENG 2010.) 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8 14.f3 The bishop on c6 is limited (by the e4-f3 structure). The slightly worse Black structure on the queenside just gives White a symbolic advantage. 14...0–0 15. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Bxd8 18.Ne2 Kf8 19.Nd4 Bd7 20. Bc2 Bc7= 1/2–1/2 Koneru,H-Movsesian,S/Caleta ENG 2010 (31.)] 11. Re1 Logical. White is preparing e5 with the idea of regrouping his pieces to put pressure on the kingside (for example, with Bc2-Qg4 etc...) [11. Bxe6 fxe6 12.Nxe6 Qb6 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 Kf7=+ and White doesn’t have enough compensation.] 11...Nc5 [11...Qc7

15. Bg5! (15.Qxg7 Qf6 and Black is fighting.) 15...f6 (15... Be7 16.Qxg7 Bf6 17.Qxh8+ White is winning material.) 16. Rxe6+ Kf7 17.Qb3!+- White is simply winning because of the weak Black king. 17...Kf8 (17...fxg5 18.Nxg5+ Kf8 (18...Qxg5 19.R xa6+ Ke7 20.Re1+ Ne5 21.Qe6+ +-) 19. Rxa6 Ne5 20.Ne6++-) 18. Bf4 g5 19. Bd6+ 1–0 Miton,K-Manik,M/Mallorca 2004.]

12.e5! Nxe5 13. Bf4 Bd6 14.Ndxb5+-]

10.Nxd4 Nbd7!? An ambitious move compared to the more often used: [10...Nc6 11. Be3 Be7 (11...N xd4 12.B xd4 N xe4?! We see another example of why black shouldn’t grab this pawn. 13.N xe4 B xe4 14.Re1 Bd5 15.Be5 B xb3 16.Qxb3 Black has problems with his de-

12...b4 A very concrete move. [12... Rc8 13.e5 Nd5 14.Qg4 with very complex play.]

12. Bc2 White has to keep the bishop. [12.e5?! Nxb3 13.axb3 Nd7 Without the bishop, it’s hard for White to create threats. Black is totally fine.]

15


13.e5 Suddenly, the position becomes very complex. White had another interesting option as well: [13.Na4 Ncxe4 14. Be3 Be7 15.f3 Nd6 16.Nb6 Rb8 17. Ba4+ Kf8 18. Rc1 After this thematic pawn sacrifice, White has some compensation thanks to the bad king on f8 and Black’s weak queenside structure.]

16.Nxe6 It’s amazing, but it works! 16... Rxg2+ (16...fxe6 17.Qh5+ Kd7 18.Rd1+ Bd6 19.Bf4 R xg2+ 20.Kf1 e5 21.R xd6+ Kxd6 22.Rd1+ Bd5 23.c4+-; 16...N xe6 17.Ba4+ Ke7 18.Ba3++-) 17.Kf1 Qxd1 18.Ng7+ Kd7 19. Rxd1+ Kc8 20. Bf5+ Kb8 21. Bf4+ Ka7 22.Nh5+/-) 16.f3 0–0–0  and it's hard to say which king is safer.]

13...bxc3 [13...Nfd7 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Bxe4 16. Rxe4 White should be better.]

15...Qd5 Simple but on time! Black develops the queen with tempo to create pressure against g2, preparing to castle long and supporting the e6 square to avoid some sacrifice. [15... Rg8 16.bxc5 Rxg2+ 17.Kf1 Bxc5 18. Rxe6+ The idea of sacrificing on e6 works in various occasions. 18...fxe6 19.Qh5+ Rg6 20.Nxe6 Bg2+ 21.Ke2 Qe7 22. Ba4+ Kf7 23. Bb3 with a huge attack.]

14.exf6 gxf6

16.f3 0–0–0 17. Be3 e5 18.bxc5 [18.Ne2 Qc4 19. Bf5+ Ne6 20.Qc2 ]

15.b4!? Nice idea. White is going to expel the strong knight from c5. The simple recapture on c3 leads to an unclear position as well: [15.bxc3 Qd5 (15... Rg8

18...exd4 19. Be4 Qxc5 [19...Qd7!? With the idea of keeping the pawn on c5, which paradoxically, in some cases can help in the protection of the Black king. Also, Black would recapture on c5 with the bishop.] 20. Bxb7+ Kxb7 In exchange of the dangerous pawns, White has pressure against the king. 21. Rb1+ Ka8 [21...Ka7 22.Qb3 Qc8 (22...Qc6!? 23.Qxf7+ Rd7 24.Qe8 a5 This is not easy to see with human eyes. Black creates an escape route for the king. The queen on c6 is nicely controlling some important squares and White is not able to finish the attack. 25.Bf2 c2 26.Rbc1 Bc5 27.Qxh8 d3) 23.Qb6+ Ka8 24. Bxd4

16


23. Bf4 Bd6 24. Rb6 Ka7 25. Bxd6 Kxb6 26. Rb1+ Ka7 27.Qxd4+ Ka8 28.Qd5+ 1–0

24... Rxd4 25. Re8 and now there are two moves that lead to a draw by force. 25... Rd1+ (25...Rd8 26.Qxa6+ Qxa6 27.R xd8+ Ka7 28.Rd7+=) 26. Rxd1 Bc5+ 27.Qxc5 Rxe8 28.Qxc8+ Rxc8 29.Kf2= White will win the c-pawn and the game will finish with a draw.] 22.Qa4

22...Qc8?? A huge overlook of the US grandmaster. Now she loses immediately. It’s the second time in this event that Krush blunders and changes the result of the game in one move. We hope that Irina forgets about this and manages to equalize the match score. [22...Ka7 23.Qb3 leads to the variations in the previous commentary, where Black was fine.] 17


Puzzle section

(7) Fressinet,L (2703) — Fier,A (2567) Spanish league, 07.11.2012

(5) Nisipeanu,LD (2668) — Ivanchuk,V (2763) 6th Kings tournament, 11.11.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1...=

(8) Perez Candelario,M (2579) — Ibarra Jerez,J (2528) (6) Khismatullin,D (2646) — Gordievsky,D (2422)

Spanish league, 07.11.2012

Rector Cup (rapid), 11.11.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+/-

18


(9) Kovalyov,A (2596) — Fluvia Poyatos,J (2490)

(11) Hagen,A (2418) — Szabo,K (2541)


Budapest, 08.11.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1... –+

(10) Arngrimsson,D (2386) — Bakre,T (2481)

(12) Navara,D (2722) — Kopylov,M (2473)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

19


(13) Burg,T (2502) — Lupulescu,C (2613) German league, 10.11.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Balogh,C (2664) — Antoniewski,R (2562) German league, 10.11.2012 [CEWN] 1...=

20


Endgame section

moves, which don’t change anything on the position. With this clever play, he gains some time to finish off the game.

(15) Kopylov,M (2573) — Volokitin,A (2724)

59... Rb1+ 60.Kg2 Ke8 61.Kh2 Rb2+ 62.Kg1 h4 Sooner or later, Black needs to play this move. [62...b3 63.Kh1 Rb1+ 64.Kg2 b2 Pushing the pawn to b2 is not an option for Black. This leads to a well-known theoretical draw, despite the fact that Black will be two pawns up. 65.Kh2 Kf7 66.Kg2 h4 67.gxh4 gxh4 68.Kh2 h3 White is in zugzwang, but he can start moving with the rook. 69. Rb4 Kxe7 70. Rb8=

German league, 11.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

In the following rook endgame, Black seems to be completely winning. However, if we take a deeper look, we come to the conclusion that, actually, he has no chance to convert his advantage. Black should try to squeeze the king in the first rank. Obviously, transposing into a 2 vs 1 endgame by exchanging b2 for e7 always leads to a dead drawn position. 53... Rb2 White has quite an easy job in this part of the game. He must pass with the king on g1–h1 and wait for Black to execute a plan. [After 53... Rc5 54.Kg2 Black can’t make progress. 54... Re5 55.Kf3 Kf6 trying to improve the king allows 56. Rxb5!=]

Black has no chance. When the king gets to c3 to rescue the b1 rook, White gives checks on the 8th rank and then he returns to b8.] 63.gxh4 gxh4 64.Kh1 b3 65.Kg1 h3 66.Kh1 Kf7 [66... h2 was the other alternative, leaving White in zugzwang again.

54.Kh1 b4 55.Kg1 Ke8 56.Kh1 Rb3 57.Kg2 Kf7 58.Kh2 Rb2+ 59.Kg1 Black plays with good technique. Before starting the final action, he makes some random 21

Issue 38 (16) Harikrishna,Pentala (2692) — Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2726) [B92]


TCh-ESP CECLUB Div Honor 2012 Leon ESP (6.4), 10.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

67. Rb8+ Kxe7 An important endgame factor saves White, namely the stalemate. 68. Re8+! Black can’t hide his king from the checks. 68...Kd6 69. Re6+ Kd5 70. Re5+ Kd4 71. Re4+ Kd3 72. Re3+ Kd2 Now White must be careful, since the king has closed the 2nd rank, but 73. Rd3+! Kc1 74. Rc3+ Kb1 75. Rc1+! Ka2 76. Ra1+! Kxa1=] 67.Kg1! This is not a great sign! White had to allow the Rg2 possibility, followed by advancing the b-pawn. 67... Rg2+ 68.Kh1 b2 [68... Rg3 leads nowhere. 69.Kh2 Rc3 70.Kh1 Black can’t improve his position.]

69.e8Q+! Kxe8 70. Rb8+ Kd7 71. Rb7+ Kc6 72. Rb6+! Kc5 73. Rb5+ Kc4 74. Rb4+ Kc3 75. Rb3+ Kxb3 An instructive endgame. 1/2

This endgame appeared in one of the main matches in the Spanish league. White is a pawn up and has very good winning chances. Anyhow, rook endgames are always tricky and usually give a lot of drawing resources. 41. Ra3 h5 After this move, the position is simply lost, but probably Black’s position is lost anyway. [41... Rc2 Let’s take a look at how White could win if Black would keep on waiting (of course, Black’s dream idea would be to play d5 and exchange the d-pawn for White’s e-pawn, but that’s just a dream...) 42. Ra7! forcing the Black king to get away from e6 and leave the d6 pawn unprotected. 42... Kf6 43. Rd7 Rd2 (43...Rc6 44.Kf4 followed by g4, with an easy win for White.) 44.e5+! An easy but nice tactic. 44... Kxe5 45. Rxg7 and White is totally winning.; Doesn’t help either 41... Rb7 42.Kg4 followed by f4-g3 and Ra6.] 42. Ra5! By putting the rook on g5, White is protecting the g2 pawn and is able to put the king on f4. 22


42...g6 43. Rg5 Kf6 44.Kf4 The first part of the plan is done. Now the second part is coming. White will bring the rook to d3, attacking the d6 pawn and protecting the pawn on f3, in order to enter with the king on g5.

52... Re2 53.Kxg6 Rxe4 54. Rg5 And, of course, the hpawn decides the game.

44... Rf2 45.g3 Now Black can’t avoid White’s rook maneuver.

58...Kf6 59. Rg7 Again, the easiest move to avoid any of Black’s tricks...

45... Rf1 Black has to wait and see — nothing else to do... 46. Ra5 Rf2 47. Ra3 The rook is coming to d3. 47... Rg2 [47... Rd2 48. Ra6 and the Black king has to leave the 6th rank. 48...Kf7 49.Kg5 followed by Ra7+, with a totally winning position.] 48. Rd3 The Black king has to leave the g5-square for the White king.

54... Rf4 55.h5 Rf6+ 56.Kg7 Rf7+ 57.Kg8 Ra7 58.h6 The position is totally hopeless for Black.

59... Ra8+ 60.Kh7 And White’s g-pawn starts its march. 60...d5 61.g5+ Ke6 62.g6 d4 63. Rb7 White can easily hold the Black pawns. 63...d3 64.g7 d2 65. Rb1 Kd5 Great technique by Harikrishna...[65...Kf7 66. Rd1 followed by Rxd2.] 1–0

48...Ke6

49.g4! The position is won! Great technique by White. 49...hxg4 50.fxg4 Rg1 51.Kg5 Rg2 Black is still fighting a little, so White must be accurate until the end. 52. Rd5! Nice move. White’s plan is to play Ra5-Ra8-Rg8 next. Why to start with 52. Rd5? To avoid Black’s Ke5. 23


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Larsen,Bent [B77] Portoroz Interzonal Portoroz, 1958 [Csaba Balogh] A real heavyweight game between Robert Fischer and the former World Champion candidate Bent Larsen, who belonged to the elite of the sport for decades. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 The Sicilian Dragon variation, a clear sign that we’ll have an exciting game. 6. Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 We have reached the starting position of the line. White has a choice between the two main setups 9. Bc4 and 9.0–0–0, or the recently popular 9.g4. 9. Bc4

9...Nxd4 This is already a forgotten move because it’s known that Black can’t fight for equality this way. However, at that time it was a novelty! [9... Bd7 is the right move

and the beginning of the lines, with more than 10000 games in the database.] 10. Bxd4 Be6 This was Larsen’s idea, creating doubled pawns on the e-file, which is not necessarily bad for Black in the middlegame. The three central pawns cover all the squares, while White can hardly attack them with any piece. Actually, this motif is quite common in many Dragon lines. However, Fischer reacts correctly. 11. Bb3! [11. Bxe6 fxe6 12.0–0–0 Qa5] 11...Qa5 12.0–0–0 We are facing an opposite side castling position. Both sides are ready to launch an attack against the opponent’s king. Black is the first to go. 12...b5 [12... Bxb3 is met with another famous motif in the sharp Sicilian lines. White takes back with 13.cxb3! followed by Kb1 and h4. Black’s task is much harder against this structure.] 13.Kb1 b4 14.Nd5

14... Bxd5 Here comes the only mistake in the game by Fischer, which was based on a miscalculation. 15. Bxd5?! [The right way to play was demonstrated by Mikhail Tal one year later against Larsen. That game 24


is also very instructive, I will demonstrate it in the next CEWN. 15.exd5! ] 15... Rac8? Black doesn’t make use of the previous inaccuracy. [15...Nxd5 should have been played. 16. Bxg7 (16.exd5 Qxd5 is not an option for White.) 16...Nc3+! This great tactical blow was missed by both superstars. (16... Kxg7 17.exd5 This is what both sides have calculated and White has a comfortable advantage after Rhe1 and Re4. The rook will stand perfectly on e4, it attacks the b4 and e7 weaknesses and could be switched anytime to the attack with Rh4.) 17.bxc3 (17.B xc3 bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3 Rfc8= can’t be better for White, with such a structure.) 17... Rfb8!! This is the point! After the following forced moves, we reach an equal endgame. 18.cxb4 Qxb4+! 19.Qxb4 Rxb4+ 20. Bb2 Rab8=] 16. Bb3! White successf ully preserved his bishop and its diagonal remained open as well. Black’s only idea is to play Qb5 and a5-a4, but he must waste a very important tempo in order to do it. 16... Rc7 [On the direct 16...Qb5 White can accept the pawn. 17. Bxa7! taking the main attacker. Black can’t create a dangerous attack on the a-file because of the b3 bishop. 17...Nd7 18. Bd4+/-; 16...Nd7 is too slow as well. 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18.h4 h5 If Black allows h5, it’s even worse. 19.g4! Rh8 Black should try to block the kingside, but now White can slightly change the character of the game with 20.Qd4+ Kg8 21.g5! The rook is locked on h8 and the new plan is f4-f5 with a crushing attack.]

but then he loses the h5 pawn.) 19.h5! Typical sacrifices in the Dragon. 19...gxh5 (19...N xh5 20.B xg7 Kxg7 21.fxg4+-) 20.fxg4! and Black will collapse soon. If Black can’t attack, he must focus on defending, and that usually doesn’t lead to anything good. 20...hxg4 21.Qh2 Rfc8 22.e5 dxe5 23. Bxe5+-]

18.h5! White has alread y reached the front lines, while Black still needs two moves. Taking on h5 would only accelerate the defeat. 18... Rfc8 [18...gxh5 19.g4!; 18...Nxh5? nicely loses by force. 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20.g4 Nf6 21.Qh6+

17.h4 Qb5 [17...h5 isn’t better either. 18.g4! hxg4 (18... Rfc8 is refuted a bit unexpectedly by 19.Qg5!+- Black is forced to exchange queens because of the Qxg6 threat, 25


21...Kg8 Black seems to hold, but here comes the role of the b3 bishop. 22.g5! Nh5 23. Rxh5! gxh5 24.g6! hxg6 25.Qxg6+ Kh8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27. Rg1++-] 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.g4! The main defender is the darksquared bishop, so White has to eliminate it. [20. Bxf6 was also tempting, but the g7 bishop protects the king well. 20... Bxf6 21.Qh6 e6! Black is safe.] 20...a5 21.g5 Nh5 [White is faster by just one tempo after 21...a4? 22.gxf6 axb3 23.fxg7! bxc2+ 24.Qxc2! Rxc2 25. Rh8#]

is temporarily pinned. 26...a4! Black is still alive.(26...d5 27.Qd3! The attack will break through.) ] 23.g6 e5 A desperate attempt to complicate matters. [23...e6 was losing as well after 24.gxf7+ Kxf7 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 26. Bxe6+- followed by Rg1.] 24.gxf7+ Kf8 25. Be3 The two main threats are Qxd6 and Bh6. Black can’t do anything against them. 25...d5 26.exd5 The next move is d6 and the bishop gets back to the game. [26. Bh6 was also winning.] 26... Rxf7 [26...a4 27.d6!+-] 27.d6 The end is near. From now on, all the moves are winning for White... 27... Rf6 [27... Rd7 28. Bh6+-] 28. Bg5 Qb7 29. Bxf6 Bxf6 30.d7 Rd8 31.Qd6+ [Black resigned in view of 31.Qd6+ Kg7 (31...Be7 32.Qh6#) 32. Rg1++- followed by Qxf6. A nice attacking game!] 1–0

22. Rxh5! This probably arrived without thinking. Such sacrifices are automatic in this level. Fischer opens the way for the g-pawn, in order to destroy the kingside structure. 22...gxh5 This is the decisive mistake. [The position looked already hopeless, but as usual, the computer suggests a stubborn defense: 22... Bxd4! 23.Qxd4 gxh5 24.g6 and Black has 24... Rc4! closing the critical diagonal. Of course, the position remains suspicious, but White must act fast, or otherwise Black arrives with a4. 25.gxf7+ Kxf7 26.e5! Very strong idea, using the fact that Black 26


Surprise section / study (18) Kubbel,L 1936 [CEWN] 1.+-

27


Solutions

(20) Timofeev,A (2631) — Tseitlin,M (2390) Chigorin memorial, 29.10.2012

(19) Karpov,A (2616) — Edouard,R (2664)

[Solutions]

Cap’d Agde (rapid), 02.11.2012 [Solutions]

29.Nxg6! Qd3 [29...Qxg6 30. Bxh6+- (30.Rg3+-) ; 29... Bxe3 30.Qxe3 Qxg6 31. Rg3+-] 30.Qf2! hxg6 31. Bxh6 Qxd5 32. Rxf6+20.Nxb6! Bxe2 [20...Nxb6 21. Bxa6+-; 20... Rxc1 21.Nxc8+! Rxc8 22. Bxa6] 21.Nxc8+ Rxc8 22. Rxc8 Bxd1 23. Bxa5+-

(21) Oparin,G (2484) — Socko,B (2619) Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012 [Solutions]

29...Qc4+! 30. Rxc4 gxh5 31. Rh4 Ng7! 32.Ng5 Rfc8–+ 28


(22) Savchenko,B (2540) — Vlasenko,M (2400)

(24) Stojanovic,D (2488) — Savic,M (2531)

Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012

Cetinje Open, 25.10.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26.Qxg7+! Nxg7 27.Nf6+ Kh8 28.Nxe8 Rxe8 29. Rf7 Rg8 30. Bd5!! Nxd5 31.cxd5 h5 32.d7 Bxd7 33. Rxd7 Kh7 34.d6 1–0

18...Ne4!! 19.Qxd3 Nxd2 20.Qxd2 Rfd8! 21.Qe2 Qf4+ 22.Kb1 Qxh4–+

(23) Monin,N (2325) — Ionov,S (2550) Chigorin memorial, 30.10.2012

(25) Rodriguez Vila,A (2541) — Mekhitarian,K (2503)

[Solutions]

Villa Martelli, 23.10.2012 [Solutions]

33...Nxg3! 34.Kxg3 Qg1+ 35.Kh4 [35.Qg2 Qxd1–+] 35...g5+ 36.Kh5 Qg3! 37.Qf2 Qxh3+ 38.Kxg5 h6+! 0–1 [38...h6+ 39.Kf6 Qe6#]

25...Ne3! 26. Bxe3 Rg4 0–1 29


(26) Mekhitarian,K (2503) — Rodriguez Vila,A (2541) Villa Martelli, 28.10.2012 [Solutions]

32...Qa1+! [32... Rxc8? 33.Qd5+ Kh8 34.Qe5+=; 32... Nf3+?? 33.Nxf3 Qxe5 34. Rxf8+!]

(27) Shengelia,D (2529) — Hera,I (2573) Austrian league, 02.11.2012 [Solutions]

21.Nh6+! gxh6 22. Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.Qxh7 dxe5 24. Rf1+ Nf6 25.Qg6 1–0

33.Kh2 Nf3+! 0–1[33...Nf3+ 34.Nxf3 Qxe5+ 35.Nxe5 Rxc8–+]

30


(28) Ftacnik,L (2544) — Cicak,S (2579)

(29) Dehler,O


1910

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Bh6+! Kxh6 25.Qf7! e5 [25...g5 26.h4!+-]

1. Re1+! [1.c7 Bd4+! 2.Kb7 Rb5+ 3.Kc6 Rc5+ 4.Kd7 Rxc7+=]

26. Rh4+ Kg5 27. Rh5+! [27. Rxh7+-] 27...Kxh5 [27...gxh5 28.Qg7+ Kf5 29.Qxh7+ Kg5 30.h4+ Kg4 31.Qg6#] 28.Qxh7+ Kg5 29.Qh4+ Kf5 30.f3! 1–0

1...Ka2 2. Rxa1+!! Kxa1 3.c7 Rd6+ 4.Kb5 [4.Kb7? Rd7] 4... Rd5+ 5.Kb4 Rd4+ 6.Kb3 Rd3+ 7.Kc2! Rd4! 8.c8R!! [8.c8Q Rc4+! 9.Qxc4=] 8... Ra4 9.Kb3! 1–0

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Weekly Newsletter

Issue 39 23rd of November 2012


23rd of November 2012

All the attention is focused on the Women’s World Cup. We have seen good games, bad games and a lot of emotions.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The most strange thing about the Grand Prix is that most of the big favorites have already been knocked out from the tournament in the 2nd round! Hou Yifan, Koneru and A.Muzychuk were eliminated by a quite weaker opposition, which they usually beat in other tournaments. It’s hard to say who is going to be the last girl standing, but we are enjoying some great chess fun watching this games, and especially the rapid/blitz games! A very strong rapid round-robin called “Siberian Bank Cup” was won by Rublevsky. Another tournament was played in the Netherlands and had 3 winners: Van Wely, Fridman and Ernst. The FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent has just began, and a lot of the Elite players are participating. We can be sure that there’ll be high-level chess and a lot of great novelties. As usual. we wish You a lot of chess fun with Your weekly edition of CEWN. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Jakovenko,Dmitry (2741) — Andreikin,Dmitry (2723) [A04] Siberian Bank Cup Novosibirsk RUS (1), 17.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A nice positional lesson by Jakovenko, with a pretty tactical blow to put an end to the game. 1.Nf3 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 In general, such openings are excellent decisions when Black faces a weaker opponent, who immediately gets confused by finding himself in a non-theoretical territory. However, as we will see, against a player on Jakovenko’s level, it doesn’t necessarily works well...

5.g3!? I like this move a lot. White would like to fianchetto his bishop, and to change the pawn structure with Bxf3 has its drawbacks as well. The game shows well that White can make use of the e-file and also obtain the bishop pair in the very early part of the game. [Keeping the healthy structure with 5.e3 is the main line.]

5... Bxf3 6.exf3 Nf6 [The most often played move 6... e6 is also probably the best one. 7. Bg2 White wants to play 0–0, f4 and d5, achieving a better position with an space advantage. Black’s only counterplay is to play d5 himself and to attack the d4 with the knights (on c6 and f5). 7...Ne7 Now Black is ready to push d5, so just as in the game, White has to react with (7...d5 is a bit premature, Black is not well developed for this action yet. 8.cxd5 exd5 9.0–0 (9.Qb3 looks strong as well, but Black has 9... Nc6! 10.Qxb7 Nge7 and suddenly the position is unclear.) 9...Ne7 10. Re1 0–0 11. Bg5! Nbc6 12.f4! Due to the d5 weakness, Black is forced to close his g7 bishop. 12...f6 (12...Qd7 is met with 13.Qb3!) 13. Bh4+= The bishop on h4 looks a bit awkward, but the one on g7 is even worse. If Black tries to bring it to the game with f5, it strengthens the h4 bishop as well, while trying to trap it with h6, is simply met by g4, Bg3 and f5 later on.) 8.d5! exd5 9.cxd5 0–0 10.0–0 The d5 pawn gives an space advantage for White. Black’s pieces are slightly paralyzed, and sooner or later he should undermine it with c6, but this will be met by dxc6 and f4, when the g2 bishop becomes really powerful. 10...Nd7 11. Bg5! looks like a strong move, forcing a weakness on the kingside. 11...h6 Otherwise, the pin is unpleasant. 12. Bd2 White is slightly better. A possible plan is h4-h5, which looks especially dangerous with the h6 weakness. If Black reacts with h5 on h4, then the effect of f4-f5 is increased. (The computer recommends the unhuman 12.B xe7 Qxe7 13.Re1 Qd8 14.Rc1 and also claims an advantage by pressing the queenside pawns with Nb5 or Qb3.) ]

3


7. Bg2 c6 Black wants to lock the center with d5 and e6, which would kill the g2 bishop, so the next move is practically forced.

gxf5 gxf5, Qh5 or Kh1–Rg1 are very dangerous threats.) 15... Bxd4 16.Qxd4 By exchanging the dark-squared bishop, White successfully got rid of the strongest Black piece, and now an attack against the king becomes even more effective. 16...Qb6 White should keep the queens on the board 17.Qd2! and f5 or h4-h5 are coming.] 14. Bd4! Here again, removing the strong bishop leaves the Black king vulnerable. 14... Bxd4 15.Qxd4

8.d5! You can say that now White himself killed his light squared bishop, but it might get into the game through h3! 8...cxd5 9.cxd5 0–0 10.0–0 Na6 [Developing with 10... Nbd7 is not better. 11. Be3 Nb6 12. Bd4+= with similar plans as in the game.] 11. Be3 Basically the ideal setup for White is Bd4, Qd2, f4, Bh3 and doubling the rooks on the e-file. Black should try to do something on the queenside, but White is well prepared to react against any action properly.

15... Rc8 Black urgently needs to create some counterplay on the queenside, but he has the typical problem that he can occupy one weak square only with one piece. We will soon understand what I mean.

11...Nd7 12. Re1 Re8 13.f4 White takes control of the e5 square and prepares to take measures against his opponent’s king with h4-h5 and f5. [13. Bh3 was another logical move, but Jakovenko decided to wait for this until Black plays Rc8.]

16. Re2 Before starting concrete actions, White doubles his rooks on the e-file. [16. Bf1!? to prevent Rc4 and Nc4 was also strong.; 16. Bh3!? also made sense. 16... Rc4 17.Qd2 and this is the point. Now the c4 square should be occupied by the knight, but the rook is disturbing.]

13...Nb6 [On 13... Rc8 14. Rc1 Qa5 White can choose between two plans. The positional one with 15. Bd4 (or the tactical 15.Bh3!? f5 16.g4! also looks quite good. After

16...Qd7 Black prevents Bh3. The absence of the lightsquared bishops is sensible now.

4


17. Rae1 Nc5 Black would like to exchange a pair of knights on a4, which would excellently improve his position. White should definitely avoid it, he has a lot of good options for that. [Now again on 17... Rc4 the simple 18.Qd2 and the rook is poorly placed on c4.]

20.Ng5 With the last two moves, Black has sent the c3 knight to g5, where it supports the attack and Bh3. But it was very difficult to suggest something better for him.

18.h4 Jakovenko decided not to waste any more time and start the attack. Of course, he had to foresee how to meet the Na4 move. [18.b3 was also fine, depriving Black from his main idea. Its only drawback is that the stability of the c3 knight is gone, but Black needs time to attack it and even if he succeeds, White can consolidate with Re3.]

21.b4 Nca4 In rapid chess, sometimes you need to spare some time by playing the most obvious move, this is the reason why Jakovenko missed an easy winning combination.

18...Nca4 [On 18...h5 the best is 19.Kh2! with the idea of Bh3!; 18...Nba4 meets by 19.Nd1! leaving the Black knight useless on a4, while the White one is going to e3, where it supports the f5 plan and is also ready to jump with g4-h6.]

20... Rc7 [On 20...Qa4 21.b4! keeping the queens, and e7 is under attack.]

22.h5 [22. Bh3! would have won on the spot. 22...f5 (22...Qb5 23.N xf7! 23.Ne6 has the same value. 23...Kxf7 24.Be6+ Kf8 25.Qh8#) 23.Ne6 and Qg7.] 22... Rc4 23.Qd2 [Keeping the long diagonal with 23.Qa1 was also strong.] 23...Qc7 [23...Nc3 24. Re3 is also hopeless. The knight has to retreat and Bh3 is coming.] 24.hxg6 hxg6 It’s time to finish the game.

19.Ne4! White needs the knight. In addition, Black’s pieces are disturbing each other. Now, for example, without the knight on a4, Black could try something with Qa4. 19...Nc5 [19... Rc4? loses to 20.Nf6+ +-]

25.f5 The end is near. With such a weak king, Black can’t resist for long. [25. Re6!? was a bit more elegant. 25...fxe6

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(25...Rc3 26.N xf7 Kxf7 27.f5+- and the queen joins the attack.) 26.Qd3+-]

(2) Zhao,Xue (2565) — Muzychuk,Mariya (2476) [A15]

25...gxf5 26.Ne6! Not the only way to win, but the easiest one.

FIDE WCh Women World Cup

26...fxe6 27.Qg5+ Kf8 [27...Kh7 28. Rxe6+- with mate to follow.]

[Arkadij Naiditsch]

28.Qh6+ Kf7 [28...Kg8 doesn’t change anything. 29.Qg6+ Kf8 30.dxe6+-] 29.dxe6+ Black resigned in view of Qg6 next. An instructive game on how to handle the structure that arises from this opening. 1–0

Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (3.4), 18.11.2012 We are in the Round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup. A great game was played by one of Top favorites for the WWC title, Zhao Xue, who qualified to the Quarter-Finals with this victory. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The Anti-Grue nfeld has become very popular lately because of a simple reason — White can’t manage to achieve an advantage in the main „Gruenfeld lines”. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qa4+ White is choosing one of the sidelines. This is not a bad choice when you want to test Your opponent’s memory and maybe even use a small novelty to create some opening problems. 5...Nc6

6.Ne5 Nxc3?! The move in the game probably gives White some advantage. [6...Qd6 This move is probably 6


the most critical. The current theory shows that White has no advantage in the following endgame: 7.Nxc6 Qxc6 8.Qxc6+ bxc6 9.b3 Bg7 10. Bb2 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Bxc3 12.dxc3 a5 and it seems like the position is very close to a draw.]

10.h4! Great feel by the Chinese. One might ask, why to include 10.h4 h5 for White? Very simple, in the future his two bishops will give excellent attacking chances; the move h7-h5 is weakening a lot the pawn structure around the king, making it a visible target.

7.bxc3! This is still theory, but anyway it’s good to know the right moves!

10...h5 [10... Bg7 11.h5 and Black has nowhere to go with his king... White can always count on Qa4-h4.]

7... Bd7?! Again a bad choice in my opinion. White gets the bishop pair „for free” and Black was not forced at all to take such a radical action. [7...Qd5 would be the right choice... 8.Nxc6 Qxc6 9.Qxc6+ bxc6 I think White is doing slightly better, but Black is still OK. She’ll develop her pieces by playing Be6 usually, and then Kd7 protecting both c-pawns at the same time.]

11.e4 Another good move by White. Black is forced to put the knight in a bad position on a5, far away from the place where the action will be.

8.Nxd7 Qxd7 9. Rb1! A good move by White, developing a rook and at the same time making Black feel the weakness in the light-squares. 9...b6 Black finds a tactical solution. The next move is Na5 followed by c6, and this somehow solves the major problem of not losing on the spot, but Black remains with a clearly worse position.

11...Na5 12. Bb5 Of course, no exchange of queens... 12...c6 13. Be2 Bh6 Black is trying to exchange the dark-squared bishops, which is a very risky decision, weakening even more the king in case of a short castle and, where else to go!? [13... Bg7 Black should agree to stay worse — nothing to do about it. 14.0–0 0–0 15.d4 White is doing clearly better but Black can still fight with e6, Rac8 hoping to play c5 at the right time.] 14.0–0 0–0

15.f4! Yet another good move by the Chinese. White doesn’t exchange anything and keeps the bishop pair 7


on the board. Now White not only will play d4-Be3 with full domination, but also wants to play f5 at the right moment, with a very strong attack. Now we can see how useful it was for White to include the h4-h5 moves. 15...e6?! Black is acting like everything is fine, which is strange. [15... Rad8! followed by c5 next would give Black some counter-chances.]

20.f5 And finally, White is starting to crush Black’s position. The Queen on c2 is also going to help White in the attack by playing e5 and attacking the pawn on g6. 20... Bxe3+ 21. Rxe3

16.d4 Of course White is covering the center. 16... Rfd8 17. Be3 The pawn on d4 must be protected, and at the same time White is acting against Black’s only idea in the position, to play c5. 17...Qc7 White has a lot of tempting ideas, but clearly the focus should be on playing f4-f5. To do this, White needs to bring the queen closer to the Black king. 18.Qc2 Not a bad move, but maybe 18.Qd1! followed by Qe1–Qg3 would have been a strong idea! 18...b5 After this move Black is losing his main idea of playing c6-c5, and this can’t be good. [18...c5!? It’s better to give a pawn and get some play, than giving the game :). 19.dxc5 Bf8! That’s the key move. Of course 19. ..bxc5 20. Rb5 would just lose 20.cxb6 axb6 and Black can keep on fighting! After playing Bc5 next, Black’s position is still bad, but there are some practical chances.] 19. Rf3 White keeps preparing the move f5 and maybe just wants to play Rbf1 next, followed by Qc1 and f5. 19...a6? This is a way too cool move. Black is pretending like nothing is going on and continues the preparation for the c5 move, which could come next, but is there going to be a next move?! White’s pieces are prepared for the final action.

21...e5! Black closes White’s possibility of playing e4-e5 and that’s the correct way to play. If White manages to open her queen, the game is over. 22.fxg6 fxg6 23. Rg3 Kh7 As we can see, Black’s position is on the edge. The king is open and the knight on a5 is completely out of the game. 24. Rg5! Another strong move by White. The pawn on e5 is hanging, and Bxh5 can also be a very dangerous sacrifice followed by Qe2. And if White needs it, she can play Rf1 bringing one more piece into the attack. 24...exd4? This move loses on the spot. [24...c5 was the only chance, even if the position is probably still lost. However, from a practical point of view, it’s the best choice. Against White’s 25. Rxe5, cxd4 is coming, and against 25. Bxh5 gxh5, White needs to calculate exactly if the position is winning or not, which puts some pressure on the decision.] 8


25.e5! And White’s dream come true... the pawn on g6 is simply falling.

(3) McShane,Luke J (2713) — Ernst,Sipke (2552) [A11]

25... Rg8 26. Bxh5 d3 27.Qxd3 Black made it a bit too easy for White, but this game can be a very good example of what not to try with Black...

Remco Heite Inv Wolvega NED, 17.11.2012

1–0

[Csaba Balogh] Luke McShane was really out of form on this event. He was defeated with a beautiful combination in this game. 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3

3...Bg4!? I have also discovered this quite unknown move for Black about a year ago. It avoids many unpleasant theoretical lines. A perfect decision for the players that don0t like or have no time to prepare the Meran variation. 4.Qb3 In general, the refutation of the premature bishop moves (Bg4 and Bf5) in the Slav defense lay behind this move — a quick attack against the b7 and d5 pawns. However, Black is ready to consolidate his position now... [Probably White’s best option is to transpose to the Slav with 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d4 Nf6 This position normally arises from 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3.] 4...Qc7! The d5 pawn is indirectly protected by the c1 bishop that’s hanging. 9


5.cxd5 [5.Ne5 is another typical motif, but Black seems to have no problem after 5... Be6 6.d4 Nd7 7.Nxd7 Black can decide to play an open game with 7...dxc4 (or to keep the position closed with 7...B xd7 8.Nc3 e6) 8. Bxc4 Bxc4 9.Qxc4 Qxd7 followed by e6 and Nf6 with a playable position.] 5...cxd5 6.Nc3 [In a blitz game, Kramnik played 6. Bb5+ and here Eljanov should have reacted with 6... Bd7! 7.Nc3 e6 with easy equality.] 6... Bxf3 Black gives up the bishop pair, but weakens the pawn structure. The following developing moves are quite logical. [Of course not 6...e6?? because of 7.Qa4+ +-] 7.gxf3 e6 8.d4 Nc6 9. Bd2 Nf6 10. Rc1 Be7 We have reached the first critical position for White. He must choose a plan. To do this he must foresee that Black’s main idea is to play 0–0 and e5, opening the position on the weak king, which will be vulnerable even if he castles kingside. The question is which is better: to allow this e5 and play on the queenside as it happened in the game or to lock the center with f4, but it also has the drawback of seriously weakening the e4 square.

11.Na4 [I personally would have preferred 11.f4 even though White’s position is not better at all. The game may continue with 11...0–0 12. Bd3 If White played f4, the bishop belongs on d3 to control the e4 square. 12...g6 A very useful move against f5, getting rid of the doubled pawns and opening the position for the bishop pair. 13.0–0 Rfc8 In such a closed position the knights are not worse at all. 14.Na4 Qd7 15.Nc5 Bxc5 16. Rxc5 Black can choose between several plans 16...Ne8 transferring the knight to d6 is a good option. (16...Ne7 is also possible,; 16...e5 leads to a perpetual check: 17.dxe5 Qg4+) 17. Rfc1 Nd6] 11...0–0 12. Bb5 Rfc8 Black prepares for the e5 break, first he needed to overprotect the c6 square. 13.Ke2 McShane felt that his king might be safer here than on g1. It’s hard to say whether he was right... [13.0–0 is also met with 13...e5! 14.dxe5 Qxe5 Black is better. Bd6 is the threat, forcing an f4 weakening after which the f6 knight might jump to e4 or to g4 in connection with Qh5.] 13... Rab8 An unnecessary preparation. [13...e5 could have been played immediately. 14.dxe5 Qxe5 Nd4 is the threat, and on 15. Bc3, d4 works, so 15. Bxc6 bxc6 and only Black can be better. He is threatening to mobilize his center with c5 and d4.] 14.Qd3 e5! Black goes back to the right track! 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17. Bc3 Qh5 18. Bxf6 White would definitely have preferred to keep his strong bishop, but Black was threatening to play c5. [For example, on 18. Rhg1 c5! Black wants to open the position with d4 and both exd4 Nd5-f4 or Re8 lead to a very dangerous attack. 19. Bxf6 (on 19.Qa6 Qf5! protecting the f6 10


knight and refreshing the threat of d4!(19...d4 didn’t work immediately because of 20.B xd4!) ) 19... Bxf6 and the b2 pawn is more important than the c5 one at this moment.] 18... Bxf6 19.b3 Rc7 A good move! Black had to look for another plan after c5 was prevented. He wants to activate his rooks through the e-file. The attack doesn’t look so dangerous at the moment, but it really is dangerous. It’s also hard to recommend a plan for White, since he can’t use his h1 rook because of the h2 pawn. McShane consequently continues his plan, playing against the created c6 weakness, but he leaves his king alone. 20.Qa6? [20.Nc5 is also met with 20... Re7] 20... Re8? Black fails to make us of the mistake. [After 20... d4! Black is surprisingly close to winning. 21.e4 a) 21. Rc5 Qh3 Black threatens to take on e3 and on fxe3, Qg2.; b) 21.Nc5 Re8; c) 21. Rxc6 is refuted nicely by 21...d3+! 22.Kd2 (22.Kxd3 Qd5+) 22...Qxf3 23. Rxc7 Qe2+ 24.Kc1 d2+! 25.Kb1 and Black can decide to take the queen or to give a spectacular mate with 25...d1Q+ 26. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 27. Rc1 Rxb3+! 28.axb3 Qxb3+ 29.Nb2 Qxb2#; 21... Re8! Suddenly, it’s really hard to parry the simple Rxe4 threat. On 22.Nc5 Be7! 23.Nd3 Bd6! wins the game. Now there is nothing against Rxe4. If the king leaves the pin, the f3 square remains unprotected.] 21. Rxc6 Rce7 22. Rxf6! It seems like the game had a huge turn, but Black has prepared a blow with his last two moves...

22...d4!! The position opens on the naked e2 king and the Black heavy pieces start to attack with full power. [22... gxf6 23. Rg1+ Kf8 24.Qxf6 Re6 25.Qg7+ Ke7 26.Qd4  White is close to be winning.] 23. Rf4 dxe3 24.Qd3? McShane was already in severe time trouble and missed a fantastic combination. We must admit that without the following two moves, Black would have been lost. [24.h4! was the right move to prevent the idea that occurred in the game. This also gives some shelter when the White king reaches the g3 square. Black also needs to play precisely, otherwise he’ll end up a piece down. 24...Qd5! Only move! (24...exf2+ 25.Kxf2 The queen covers the e2 square.) 25.fxe3! is also the only way to prevent Qd2. 25... Rxe3+ 26.Kf2 and according to the computer, the following line is more or less forced and leads to a draw by perpetual check: 26...h5! 27.Qc4! Qd2+ 28.Kg3 R8e6! seems to be over, but... 29.Kh3! Rg6 30.Qxf7+ Kh7 31. Rg1! Rxg1 32.Qxh5+ Kg8 33.Qf7+= Of course, it’s not easy to find this line that started with 24.h4 with any color over the board.] 24...exf2+! 25.Kxf2

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Issue 39 cover for the London super-tournament, that starts soon in December.

23rd of November 2012

0–1

25... Re1!! A brutal and beautiful move! White is lost. 26. Re4 White tries to resist, but Ernst doesn’t allow him to return to the game... [26. Rxe1 loses by force. 26...Qxh2+ 27.Kf1 Qh1+ 28.Kf2 Qxe1+ 29.Kg2 Re2+ 30.Kh3 Qh1+ 31.Kg4 Qg1+ and mate in a few moves.] 26...R8xe4 27.fxe4 Qh4+! Black covers the d8 square, so the h1 rook is hanging. White has to play 28.Kg2 Qg5+! The d8 square is still under control, so the next move is forced again... 29.Qg3 [29.Kf2 Rxh1] 29...Qd2+ 30.Kh3 Now White has threats on b8, so the rook is taboo. Black can win the queen and the game with 30... Re3, but he has found an even stronger move. [On 30.Qf2 Black can choose between 30...Qxf2+ (or 30...Re2 ) 31.Kxf2 Rxh1] 30...Qd7+! 31.Kg2 [31.Kh4 Rxe4+; 31.Qg4 Re3+ 32.Kh4 Qe7+ and mate is coming soon.] 31... Re2+ 32.Kf3 [32.Kf1 Qd1+] 32...Qd3+ 33.Kg4 Qxe4+ 34.Kh5 Qf5+ White resigned! A nice crush. Hopefully, McShane will quickly re12


(4) Sebag,Marie — Stefanova,Antoaneta [C78] WWCC 2012 Khanty-Mansiysk (41.1), 20.11.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 A rare but interesting line. More often, Black plays 6... Be7 or 6... Bc5.

7.d3 A simple move which leads to a quiet position. More aggressive is [7.c3 Looks logical as well. White is going to break the position in the center because the Black king hasn’t castled yet. 7...Nxe4 8.d4 exd4 a) 8...Na5 with the idea of getting rid of the pressure against the f7 square. 9. Bc2 exd4 10.b4 Nc4 11. Bxe4 Bxe4 12. Re1 d5 13.Nxd4 Black is not able to solve the problems on the e-file without losing some material. (13.Qxd4 Be7 14.Qxg7 Bf6 15.Qh6 Rg8 and Black’s pieces are very active. 16.Qxh7 Kd7 17.Qxf7+ Kc8) 13... c5 14.bxc5 Bxc5 15.f3 0–0 16.fxe4 dxe4 17. Rxe4 Qd5 From now on, the play seems to be very forced. 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Qf5 Rae8 20.Nd2 g6 21.Qf4 b4 22. Bb2 bxc3 23. Bxc3 Nc6 24.Kh1 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 Nxd4 26. Bxd4 Re2 27.Nf3 f6 28.h3 The material is equal, but White is better because of the Black king that can potentially be-

come weak. Shirov manages to prove it very easily. 28... Re4 29.Qd2 Rd8 30. Rd1 Re6 31.Qc3 Qc6 32.Qb3 Rdd6 33. Rb1 Kg7 34.Qb8 Re7 35. Be3 Rdd7 36. Rb6 Qc3 37. Bf4 a5 38.Kh2 Qc4 39. Bg3 Re6 40. Rb2 Re2 41. Bd6 1–0 Shirov,A-Tomashevsky,E/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2009.; b) 8... Be7 9.Qe2 d5 10.dxe5 0–0 11. Rd1+=; 9. Re1 d5 10.Ng5

10...Qf6 More often in this line, I met 10...Qd7 which doesn’t bring good scores for Black. Objectively, 10...Qf6 should be better and it’s hard to give an evaluation after this move. 11.f3 (11.Bxd5 Qxf2+ 12.Kh1 0–0–0 13.Nxe4 Qf5 and Black gets a strong initiative. 14.c4 (14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.Ng3 Qf2 16.Rg1 dxc3 17.Qg4+ Kb8 18.Nxc3 Bc5 19.Bf4 Qxb2 20.Nge2 Bxg1 21.Rxg1 Rhe8 0–1 Kislik,E-Lorand,N/Budapest 2010/CBM 138 Extra (30).) 14...bxc4 15.Bxc4 Ne5=) 11...h6 12.Nh3 (12.Nxf7 Qxf7 13.fxe4 0–0–0 14.Bxd5 Rxd5 is not the only possibility for Black. 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Qg4+ Kb8 The bishop on b7 is not worse than the rook. Black has strong pressure on the h1–a8 diagonal.) 12...0–0–0 13.fxe4 dxe4 14. Rf1 Qe5 15.Bxf7 Bc5 16.Kh1 e3 17.Nf4 d3 The two passed pawns are crushing White’s position. 18.Qe1 e2 19. Rf3 Ne7 20.Nd2 g5 21.Ne6 g4 22.Nxd8 gxf3 23.Nxf3 Bxf3 0–1 Palac,M-Bartel,M/Porto Carras 13


GRE 2011.; 7. Re1 With some ideas to develop the knight to c3 and play Nd5 next.] 7... Be7 Black could have developed his bishop on a more active square. [7... Bc5 8.Nc3 d6 (8...0–0 9.Nd5 h6 not allowing Bg5 10.Be3 d6  Black looks very solid.) 9.a4 Na5 (9...b4 10.Nd5 Na5 11.Bg5 N xb3 12.B xf6 gxf6 13.cxb3 f5 Two strong bishops compensate the slightly unsafe position of the Black king.) 10. Ba2 b4 11.Ne2 Bc8 12.c3 bxc3 13.bxc3 Bb6 14.Ng3 Be6 15.d4 Bxa2 16. Rxa2 0–0 17. Bg5 exd4 18.Nh5 dxc3 19.Nh4 The knight on a5 and the bishop on b6 are too far from the Black king, which will come under a final attack. 19...Kh8 20.Nf5 1–0 Carlsen,M-Beliavsky,A/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006.] 8.a4 A thematic Lopez move. White is going to create some weak pawns or squares on the queenside. 8...0–0 9. Re1 d6 10.Nbd2 Na5 11. Ba2 b4 Black could play the interesting: [11...c5 Black is not in a hurry to play b4, so he can keep the possibility of pushing c4 with the idea of limiting the bishop on a2. For example: 12.Nf1 c4 13. Bd2 Qb6 14.Ne3 g6 with unclear play.] 12.Nf1 c5 13. Bd2 Rb8 One of White’s idea is to play c3-d4, so it’s natural that Black put the rook on the b-file. 14.Ne3

14... Bc8 Stafanova plays very logically. Her bishop on b7 wasn’t active, especially compared to the strong one on a2, so she is going to transfer it to e6. 15.Nc4 Nc6 [15...Nxc4 16. Bxc4 a5 17. Be3 Be6 18.Nd2 Nd7 19.h3 Thanks to the control of the light-squares, White has a small and stable advantage.] 16.c3 White slowly prepares to take advantage in the center after the typical c3-d4 plan. 16...h6 17.h3 Be6 18.a5 Very often, the idea of this move is to separate the a- and b-pawns to weaken them. On the other hand, the a5 pawn and the b5 square become weaker as well. 18...bxc3 19.bxc3 Nd7 It’s hard to explain why Stefanova played this move, because Nb6 was not a threat and the f5 plan doesn’t look correct for Black. She had other options. [19... Rb5 20.Na3 (20.Qc2 Nxa5 21.Nxa5 Rxa5 22. Bxe6 (22.c4 Ra3 23.Rab1 The rook on a3 is a bit unsafe but it isn’t easy to trap it.) 22...fxe6 23.Qb3 Kf7 and Black is fine.) 20... Rxa5 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22.d4 with a strong initiative for White. In this case, the rook on a5 is badly placed.; 19...Qc7 20.Qc2 Rb7 Simple moves that don’t create weaknesses should guarantee equality for Black.] 20.Qa4 Qc7 21.Ne3 Nf6 A little fight for the light squares (c4,d5). 22.d4 Finally, White pushes the typical d4, but Black is totally ready for it. [22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.exd5 Nxa5 24.c4 Nb7 The knight on b7 is limited, but the bishop on a2 is in the same situation. The position is unclear.] 22... Bxa2 23. Rxa2 exd4 Good decision. Black changes the structure and gets the b4 square to look for counter14


play. [23...cxd4 24.Nf5 The knight on f5 is always unpleasant. White has the initiative. 24...dxc3? 25.Qxc6+-] 24.cxd4 Nb4 [24... Rfe8 25.dxc5 dxc5 26. Bc3 White is better.] 25. Bxb4 [25.e5 dxe5 26.dxe5 Ne4 is correct. (26...Nfd5 27.N xd5 N xd5 28.Qg4 Qc8 29.e6 fxe6 30.B xh6 Bf6 31.Bg5 Because of the weak king and the big amount of weaknesses, Black’s position is worse.) 27. Bxb4 Rxb4 28.Qc2 Qb7 Black’s pieces get activity. The position is unclear.] 25... Rxb4 26.Qc2 Qb7 [26... Rd8 27.e5 dxe5 28.dxe5 Nd5 with equal play. Now we see the idea of the 26... Rd8 move.]

gxh6 32.Qg6+ +-) 31.Ne5 fxe6 32.Nxh6+ gxh6 33.Qg6+ Now white only has a draw. 33... Bg7 34.Qxe6+ Kh7 35.Qf5+ Kg8=] 28.e5 dxe5 29.Nxe7+ Qxe7 30. Rxe5 White is winning the pawn. Black’s position is losing. 30... Rb1+ 31.Kh2 Qd8 32. Rxc5 Nd5 Black is not able to keep any blockade on d5. Now the additional problem for Black is the weak f7 pawn. [32...Qd6+ 33.g3] 33.Qf5 Ne7 34.Qe4 Ng6 35. Rac2 Ra1 36.Ne5 Rxa5 Final mistake. Black could still fight after [36...Nxe5 37.Qxe5 With a ll the heavy pieces on the board and the additional pawns, White should win this position.]

27.Nf5

27... Rb8? Big mistake! White’s idea was to push e5 in order to look for pressure on the kingside, and Black should do something to prevent this threat. For example: [27... Rc8 28.e5 dxe5 29.dxe5 (29.N xe7+ Qxe7 30.R xe5 Qf8 With the rook on c8 (not on b8), Black easily manages to recapture the c-pawn. 31.R xc5 R xc5 32.dxc5 Rb5 33.c6 Rc5) 29...Nd5 30.e6 Bf8 A very important prophylactic move to avoid the sacrifice on h6. (30...fxe6 31.N xh6+

37.Nxf7 The final blow! Now Black doesn’t have any chances. 37...Kxf7 38.Qf5+ Kg8 39. Rxa5 Qd6+ 40.g3 Nh4 41. Rc8+ Rxc8 42.Qxc8+ Kh7 43.Qc2+ Kh8 44. Rc5 Nf3+ 45.Kh1 1–0

15


Puzzle section

(7) Jakovenko,D (2741) — Bareev,E (2663) Siberian Bank Cup (rapid), 17.11.2012

(5) Khurtsidze,N (2428) — Zhao Xue (2565) Women World Cup, 15.11.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1.+-

(8) Nepomniachtchi,I (2707) — Bareev,E (2663) (6) Socko,M (2445) — Stefanova,A (2491) Women World Cup, 17.11.2012 [CEWN]

Siberian Bank Cup (rapid), 18.11.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

16


(9) Van Wely,L (2691) — Fridman,D (2668)

(11) Idani,P (2462) — Narayanan,S (2438)

Remco Heite Invitational, 16.11.2012

World U18 Championship, 16.11.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1. 

(10) Stukopin,A (2481) — Timofeev,A (2600)

(12) Swiercz,D (2611) — Nagy,G (2408)

Governor’s Cup, 16.11.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

17


(13) Ju Wenjun (2501) — Pourkashiyan,A (2321) Women World Cup (rapid), 13.11.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Lahno,K (2553) — Javakhisvili,L (2455) Women World Cup, 15.11.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

18


Endgame section (15) Kosintseva,T (2515) — Kosintseva,N (2539) Women World Championship (3.1), 17.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

40.a5! f5 41. Ra3!! This is the key move! White pushes a6 in the next move and creates a c-passed pawn, which is well supported by the king. It was a difficult question whether to take on f5 first or to play Ra3 immediately. It’ll become clear soon why the text move is better.... [Black is probably winning after 41.gxf5? Rxf5 42. Ra3 Rxh5 43.a6 bxa6 44. Rxa6+ Kb7 45. Rd6 and the difference is 45... Rf5! An excellent place for the rook. It protects the f7 pawn, attacks f3 and cuts the White king along the 5th rank.] 41...fxg4 42.fxg4 Rxg4 Many of us would have been understandably afraid of the connected passed pawns, which are extremely dangerous in rook endgames. However, in this they are too far behind still. White is in time to create counterplay.

In the 3rd round of the World Championship, we saw a really unfortunate pairing. The Russian Kosintseva sisters (who could both have fought for the World Champion title) had to play each other. They are both true fighters, and they only agree to short draws against each other, which is completely understandable as they always work together with the same coaches. However, now in the KO format, only one of them could qualify to the next round. In the first game, Tatiana got an unpleasant endgame as White, Black threatens to play f5 after which a loss of a pawn is inevitable. White can’t protect g4 and if she takes on f5, then h5 falls. The only chance for survival is to look for active counterplay. White holds the draw with an excellent technique, not giving any chance to her opponent.

43.a6 In similar situations, 43... b5 could be a nice response, but obviously the a6 pawn has to be eliminated now. 43...bxa6 44. Rxa6+ Kb7

45. Rd6 Rd7 is threatened and the Black pawns can’t move yet. Kb5 is another idea, with the intention of squeezing the Black king on the 8th rank. 19


45... Rg5 Black decided to sacrifice her f7 pawn, which allows White to get very close to a draw. [Other moves don’t give winning chance either. 45...Kc7 46. Ra6 Rf4 47.Kb5 transposes to 45... Rf4.; 45... Rf4 46.Kb5 Kc7 47. Ra6 Rf1 Otherwise, c5 and Ra7. Now White can choose between two easy ways to draw: 48.c5 (48.Ra7+ is also possible 48...Kd6 49.c5+ Ke5 50.c6 If Black’s pawns were a bit more far advanced, the winning strategy could be to sacrifice the rook for the c-pawn and then promote his own pawns with the help of the king. But in this case, there is no way to execute this plan.) 48... Rb1+ 49.Kc4= White’s pieces are too active, Black can’t mobilize his pawns.]

White simply plays Kc5-d6, while 50...Kd6 moves into 51.c5+ Ke5 (51...Kd5 52.Rd7+ Ke4 53.c6 draws.) 52. Rh7 h5 53.Kb5 h4 54.c6 White is safe.] 49.Kc3 A logical decision in order to take the king closer to the opponent’s pawns. White already had many other ways to draw as well. 49...h5 Black’s only winning attempt could be to take his rook behind his h-pawn, but of course there is no realistic chance to reach the h8 square. 50.Kd4

46. Rd7+ Kc6 47. Rxf7 Rxh5 After eliminating the f-pawn, the draw is very close, but White still needs to make some precise moves.

50... Rg5 [50... Re1 51. Rh7 Rh1 52. Rh6! (52.Ke5 h4 White should not be greedy with 53.Kxe6?? h3 and h2 next.) 52...Kd7 (52...h4 53.R xe6+ Kd7 54.Rh6 h3 55.Ke3 h2 56.Kf2=) 53. Rh7+ and for instance on 53...Ke8 54.Ke5 h4 55.Kxe6 White threatens with mate and also has enough time to hide his king ahead of his c-pawn against the threatened h2 Re1 check.]

48. Ra7 Not the only move, but I like it a lot to refresh all the ideas, which were threatened before exchanging the h- and f-pawns. [After some random moves like 48. Rf6 Kd6 49. Rg6 Black could get winning chances with 49... Rh1 followed by Ke5 and pushing the h-pawn.]

51. Ra6+ Kd7 52.c5 Rd5+ [52...h4 53. Ra7+= is an easy draw.]

48... Re5 [On 48... Rh1 49. Ra6+ Kd7 50. Ra7+ secures the draw. Going to the 8th rank is always too passive ,

53.Kc4 Ke7! Black avoids getting pushed back to the 8th rank. 20


54.c6 [54. Ra8 was also good enough, transferring the rook to the h-file. 54... Rd8 55. Ra7+ Rd7 56. Ra8 and Rh8 next.] 54... Re5 [54...h4 55.c7; 54...Kd6 55.c7+ In both cases White gets the e-pawn and reaches a draw.]

(16) Ju,Wenjun (2501) — Huang,Qian (2465) [E71] FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (4.2), 20.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

55.Kd4 Re1 56. Ra5 Creating new threats on every move. White deserves the draw for her activeplay. 56...Kd6 Practically agreeing to a draw... The rest needs no comment. [56...h4 makes no difference either. 57. Rh5 Rh1 58. Rh7+ Kd8 (58...Kd6 59.c7) 59.Ke5 h3 60.Kd6= White is safe by one tempo, the pawn could not reach the h2 square...] 57. Rxh5 Kxc6 58. Re5 Rd1+ 59.Ke4 Kd6 60. Ra5 Re1+ 61.Kd3 e5 62. Ra8 Rh1 63.Ke4 Rh4+ 64.Ke3 Rh3+ 65.Ke4 Rh4+ 66.Ke3 1/2

Black is a pawn up, but White has a bishop against a knight, which is good for the defense. Besides, there are only 4 pawns left on the board, which also increases the drawing chances. On the other hand, if Black manages to exchange the knight for the bishop, the rook endgame could become very dangerous for White... if Black manages to put the rook behind the a-pawn. 32.h4! A good move! Fixing Black’s pawns on the light squares is always veryimportant having a light-squared bishop. Now Black will have two options: to keep the pawns the way they are or to play g5, but the exchange of pawns is clearly favorable for White. 32...Kg7?! This is the first move of many that will follow where Black plays without a concrete plan. I think the only chance for Black was to take the king closer to a pawn... Of course, before starting this walk, Black’s knight should be moved to a better position than b6, maybe to d6. 21


Then, by bringing the king to b6 or c5, Black would try to take a pawn into the action, while at the same time he would protect the pawns on the kingside with the rook and knight. White has very good drawing chances, but Black also has hopes for a full point. 33.g3 Rc7 34.Kg2 Nd7 What is Blacks idea? It remains unclear. 35. Ra5 Nc5 36. Ra3 Kf8 37. Bc4 h5 38. Ba2 Ne4 39. Bb1 Nd6 40. Bd3 Ke7 In the last few moves not much has happened, the only difference is that the White bishop went from a2 to d3, and this is not much... 41.Kf3 Nc8 42. Ra6 White keeps waiting because Black doesn’t really show that she has an idea of how to improve her position. Another step for White could have been to play: [42.g4 hxg4+ 43.Kxg4 followed by h5 or f4-f5. The defensive side should always go for a pawn exchange if it’s possible.] 42...Nb6 43. Ra5 Nd7 44.Ke3 Nc5 45. Bc4 Nd7 46. Bd3 Nb8

47...a6 Black had enough of making moves without too much sense and tries to change something. 48.f3! Good move. Now at 48... Ra7, 49.g4! would follow and Black doesn’t have time for Kd6-Kc7-Kb6 because of White’s play on the kingside. 48... Rc3+ 49.Kd4 Rc1 50.Ke3 Rc3+ 51.Kd4 [51.Kf4 followed by g4 looks like a total draw to me.] 51... Rb3 52. Bd5 Rb6 53. Ra3 Nd7 Finally, Black managed to bring the knight out from b8, but is it enought to give real winning chances?! 54. Bc4 Rd6+ 55.Ke3 Nc5 56.g4 [Also good was 56. Ra5 Rc6 57.g4 and Black is completely pinned and can’t avoid a draw.] 56...hxg4 57.fxg4 By having a free h-pawn, White will have no problems at all to get a a draw. The passed hpawn always can be easily exchanged, which leaves Black with almost no material to go for a win. 57...Kf6 58. Ra2 Another goo d move, although White could have kept going with her strategy until the end. [58. Ra5 Rc6 59. Bd5 Rc7 60. Bc4] 58...Kg7 59. Rf2 Ne6 60.h5 And here comes the hpawn. 60...gxh5 61.gxh5 Ng5 62. Ra2 A Black pawn is falling — the draw has been achieved.

47. Be4 Once again we see many moves without big changes... and finally:

62...Kh6 Very good defense by White and a good example on how to play similar positions. It looks simple, but it’s not that easy to do it in a practical game! 1/2

22


Clash of the Titans (17) Tal,Mihail — Larsen,Bent [B77]

9...Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11.Qd2 Now we are back to the Fischer-Larsen game. 11...Qa5 12.0–0–0 b5 13.Kb1 b4 14.Nd5 Bxd5

Zuerich Zuerich, 1959 [Csaba Balogh] As I promised you in the previous issue, I present you Tal’s improvement over the Fischer-Larsen game in the Sicilian Dragon. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 [In that game, they reached the same position from the standard Dragon move order: 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. Bb3] 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 This move order allows many different setups for both sides. The main alternative for White is 5.c4, transposing into the Maroczy structure. 5.Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 0–0 8. Bb3 d6 9.f3 Here again, just as in the Dragon 9. Bc4 line, Black’s best option is the 9... Bd7 setup, but Larsen sticks to his pet line and plays

15.exd5! This was a very strong novelty at that time, but it had to be justified with very precise and deep preparation (in our time, the computers suggest the right moves after a few seconds of thinking, but of course, during our current game it was different). The main drawback of the move is the bishop on b3, which seems to be a good target for Black with the Qb5 a5-a4 plan. On the other hand, the main plus of exd5 is the backward pawn on e7, which becomes a real weakness now. [On Fischer’s move 15. Bxd5 Larsen had definitely discovered the novelty which was mentioned in the previous CEWN. 15...Nxd5! 16. Bxg7 Nc3+! 17.bxc3 Rfb8!! 18.cxb4 Qxb4+ 19.Qxb4 Rxb4+ 20. Bb2 Rab8= with an equal endgame.] 15...Qb5 16. Rhe1 As it became clear with practice over the years, after this inaccuracy Black has enough resources to obtain a safe defending position. [16.Qd3! is the right move, rescuing the light-squared bishop immediately. 16...Qxd3 17. Rxd3 Rfc8 18. Re1

23


18... Rc7 Black’s optimal regrouping would be Nd7, exchanging the dark-squared bishop, but it’s never possible (neither after Kf8) because the e7 pawn would hanging. White can choose between two good plans now: 19. Bf2 with the idea to overprotect the d5 pawn in order to transfer the bishop to c6 through a4.(Or 19.c3 and White sooner or later must try to win the game on the queenside, where he’s clearly better prepared. 19...a5 20.cxb4 axb4 21.Rdd1! with the idea of taking control of the c-file, so Black should play 21...Rac8 22.Bb6! Rb7 23.Bf2 Again, to cover the d5 pawn with the rook. 23...Rbc7 24.Ba4! with better chances for White. The b4 pawn will be a clear target in the future.) ]

20... Ra5! Very well played! White is forced to give up his bishop pair, and with it, the biggest part of his advantage as well. [20...Nxd5 leads to an unusual endgame after 21. Bxg7 Rc5! 22.c4! The following line is quite forced. White opened his back-rank with the last move. 22...bxc3 23. Rxd5! Rxd5 24. Bc6 Rd2! (On 24...c2+ White has to react with and only move, but it’s actually winning on the spot. 25.Kc1!+- Black ends up a clear piece down.) 25. Bxa8 c2+ 26.Kc1 Rxe2 27. Bc3 Rxg2

16...a5 17.Qe2 Qxe2 18. Rxe2 Black can protect the e7 weakness with concrete play. 18...a4! [18... Rfe8 is bad in view of 19. Ba4!] 19. Bc4 Rfc8 20. Bb5 28. Bc6 Here we are! Black is materially more than fine, but after losing the a-pawn, he ends up in a really unpleasant endgame. The bishop pair will support the aand b-passers with great power, while Black’s counterplay 24


with the h-pawn comes too slow. 28... Rxh2 29. Bxa4 h5 30.b4! Kf8! (30...h4 is too slow. 31.b5 Rg2 32.b6 h3 33.b7 h2 34.b8Q+ Kh7 35.Qh8#) 31. Bc6 Rh4! The last two moves were only to stay in the game, but it still looks very suspicious for Black.] 21. Bxf6 [The bishop could not reach its destination with 21. Bc6? because of 21...Nxd5! 22. Bxg7 Rxc6] 21... Bxf6 22. Bc6 Now the position seems to be dead drawn with the appearance of the opposite-colored bishops. However, White still has some chances to create danger on the queenside. Tal excellently exploits all his possibilities.

change sacrifices on c3, after which the queenside pawns could become very dangerous.] 24...bxc3? A serious mistake ! Larsen got too greedy... Instead of aiming for a blockade, he prefers to be a pawn up, but he underestimated the power of the passed bpawn. [After 24...h5 I don’t believe White has enough resources to create any realistic winning chances.] 25.Kc2 White is ready to mobilize his b-pawn. 25... Ra7 [25... Rb8 only temporarily stops b4, since White can play 26. Re4] 26.b4

22...a3 This is the right move, putting the pawns on dark squares, where they can be protected by the bishop, while White’s bishop is unable to attack them. [22... Rb8 23. Re4 b3 is a mistake, since after 24.axb3 axb3 25.c3 the days of the b3 pawn are counted.] 23.b3 Kf8

24.c4! Great move! White gets rid of his backward pawn. [24. Re4 Bc3 25. Rd3 Rc5= To prevent any kind of ex-

26...e6? Objectively, this is probably the decisive mistake, but the position was already very unpleasant. Black should have chosen one of the following two ways to defend: [26... Rb8 27. Re4 Rb6 28.b5 looks quite bad for Black. The idea is Rb1–b4-a4, exchanging a pair of rooks, after which the a3 pawn becomes vulnerable. If White manages to get it, the a4-a5 plan would then decide the game.; 26...e5 would have been probably the best chance for survival, with the idea of transferring the bishop to b6. The position remains better for White, as he has many 25


options to attack the a3 weakness. 27.Kxc3 Bd8 28. Rd3 followed by Kc4 and Rc2-c3 for instance.] 27.b5! This concrete handling of the position was probably missed by Larsen. White threatens to take on e6 now, and on 27...exd5 28.b6! The rook does not have a good square. Black always moves into some kind of tactical motif. 28... Re7 [28... Ra6 loses to 29. Bb7!+-; 28... Rxc6 29.bxa7 Ra6 30. Rxd5 Rxa7 31. Rxd6+- is also hopeless.; 28... Ra5 29.b7 Rb8 30. Re8+! decides the game. 30... Rxe8 31. Bxe8+- and the pawn promotes.] 29. Rxe7 Kxe7 30. Re1+! Tal continues playing the most direct way! [30.b7 Rb8 31. Rxd5+- should also lead to a full point after Ra5.] 30... Be5 [After 30...Kf8 White promotes his pawn by 31.b7 Rb8 32. Re8+!+-] 31.b7 Rb8 32.f4 White wins a piece and Black gets many pawns for it, but the most important factor is that White can preserve his b7 pawn. 32...Ke6 33.fxe5 dxe5 34. Rb1! The beginning of a strong maneuver, transferring the rook to the a-file. [34. Kxc3? would have been a huge blunder. 34...Kd6 After Black wins the b7 pawn, it’s only him the one who can have a better position.]

38. Bd5 Before exchanging the rooks, White must win the a-pawn. [38. Rxb8 Kxb8 seems like a drawn endgame. White should keep his b7 pawn, which avoids Black from activating his king, but it sticks the bishop to the h1–a8 diagonal and White has no winning plan. 39. Bd5 e4 Going for the queenside pawns is only risky for White. 40. Bg8 h6 41. Bh7 e3 42.Kd3 f4 43. Bxg6 Kxb7 White doesn’t have any winning chances, but it looks like he has a perfect blockade against the invasion of the Black king.] 38...e4 39. Rxa3 The game is over. Black tries a last desperate attempt. 39...e3 40.Kd3 g5 41.Kxd4 An instructive game, which shows how tricky this type of positions can be with opposite colored bishops. 1–0

34...Kd6 35. Rb6! d4 [35...Kc7 36. Ra6+-] 36. Ra6 f5 37. Ra8 Kc7 White needs to find the last precise moves.

26


Surprise section / study (18) Kolodjakni,D 1927 [CEWN] 1.=

27


Solutions

(20) Khismatullin,D (2646) — Gordievsky,D (2422) Rector Cup (rapid), 11.11.2012

(19) Nisipeanu,LD (2668) — Ivanchuk,V (2763)

[Solutions]

6th Kings tournament, 11.11.2012 [Solutions]

38.dxc5! Qxd3?! [38...bxc5 39.Nxc5] 39. Rxe7! [39.Qxf6+ Qg6] 39... Rxe7 40.Qxf6+ Qg6 41.Qxe7 bxc5 42.Qxc5+36... Rxd2!! [36... Rxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Rxd2+ 38.Kg3] 37. Rxa4 Rdxh2+! 38.Kg1 Rh1+ 39.Kf2 R 5h2+ 40.Kg3 [40.Ng2?! Rxa1 41. Rxa7 (41.Kg3 Rh7 42.Qg5 a6) 41... Ra2+ 42.Kg1! Rhxg2+ 43.Qxg2 Rxg2+ 44.Kxg2 Bc8]

(21) Fressinet,L (2703) — Fier,A (2567) Spanish league, 07.11.2012 [Solutions]

40... Rh3+ 41.Kg2 R 3h2+ 42.Kg3 Rh3+ 43.Kg2 1/2– 1/2

43.Qxc8!! b2 44.Qg4! [44.Qd7? b1Q+ 45. Bf1 Qe1!–+] 44...b1Q+ 45. Bf1! Qa2 46.Qe2!+28


(22) Perez Candelario,M (2579) — Ibarra Jerez,J (2528)

(24) Arngrimsson,D (2386) — Bakre,T (2481)


[Solutions]

[Solutions]


26... Rgh8!! 27. Bxc7 [27.Qxg5 Ng4!–+] 41... Re8! 0–1[41... Re8 42.Qxe8 Ne2+ 43.Kh1 Qg1#]

27...Ng4!! 0–1[27... Rh1+? 28.Kf2 R8h2+ 29.Ke3+-; 27... Ng4 28.fxg4 Rg2+ 29.Kf1 Rh1#]

(23) Kovalyov,A (2596) — Fluvia Poyatos,J (2490)

(25) Hagen,A (2418) — Szabo,K (2541)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24... Bh3!! 25.gxh3 [25. Be3 Bxg2+ 26.Kg1 Qc8–+] 29.Nxf6+! gxf6 30. Bxd5 Rxd5 31. Rxe6+-

25...Qc8! 26.Ng4 g2+ 27.Kh2 gxf1N+ 28.Qxf1 hxg4–+ 29


(26) Navara,D (2722) — Kopylov,M (2473)

(27) Burg,T (2502) — Lupulescu,C (2613)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

18.Qe7!! Bd7 [18...Qxb5 19.Qd8+ Rxd8 20. Rxd8++-; 18...h6 19.Nc7 Rxd1 20. Rxd1+-]

24... Rxa2! 25.Kxa2 Ra8+ 26.Kb1 Qa5 27. Ra3 [27.c3 b3–+]

19. Rxd5 Bc6 [19... Bxb5 20. Rd6+-]

27...bxa3–+

20.Nc7 1–0

30


(28) Balogh,C (2664) — Antoniewski,R (2562)

(29) Kubbel,L


1936

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

80... Rg6+! 81.Kf5 [81.Kxe5 Nf7+ 82.Kf4 Rb6=]

1. Be2!! Rxe2 2.g4!! Rxh2 [2... Rf2+ 3. Rxf2 Bxg4 4. Rh2+ Bh5 5. Rh3 e5 6. Rh4 e4 7. Rxe4 Bf3 8. Rh4+ Bh5 9.Kf5! Kg7 10. Rxh5+-]

81... Rb6! 82.Qd8+ Kb7 83.Qxh8 b3 84.Qh1 b2 85.Qb1 Rb5! 86.Kg4 Rb3! 87.Kf5 Rb5 88.Ke6 Kc6=

3.g5# 1–0

31

Weekly Newsletter





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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

30

Let’s start with the main news of the week: We already have the 2 finalists of the Women’s World Championship by knock-out system: Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria and Anna Ushenina from Ukraine. One of them will be the new World Champion and this could be the second time Antoaneta gets the title in normal chess; she also could get a double WC title because she’s already the 2012 World Champion in rapid chess. The winner of the match will qualify to a 200.000 Euro match against the current WC, Hou Yifan. Hou Yifan herself has already been for quite some time nothing more than a kibitzer, after losing in a very unlucky way against Monica Socko in the 2nd round. The 2nd Grand Prix started in Tashkent with a really strong line up. In the first rounds, we could easily found out who is in good shape and who isn’t… Morozevich is showing some great chess again, winning his first two games. On the other hand, Gata Kamsky is having a horrible tournament. As usual, we hope You enjoy the chess material that we provide in the CEWN Nr 40! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Carlsen,Magnus (2848) — Bruzon Batista,Lazaro (2706) [B40] Cuadrangular UNAM 2012 Mexico City MEX (1.1), 24.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A really spectacular rapid game by Magnus Carlsen. The game is full of very interesting and unusual ideas. However, a closer look shows us that there were many mistakes as well. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Recently, Carlsen just wants to obtain a playable position out of the opening and avoids the long main lines. A few CEWN ago, we analyzed how he beat Anand in the 2...d6 3.Bb5+ sideline of the Sicilian. 3...Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.Qe2 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7

mon move is 7...0–0 which is met with 8.e5 Nd7 9.c4 and Nc3 next, with a few hundred games in the database.; An interesting alternative is 7...b6!? and on 8.e5 Nd7 9.c4 d4 with the idea of leaving an option for Black: to castle queenside after Bb7 and Qc7.] 8.exd5 This is basically a novelty, a very interesting and concrete one. 8...exd5 [White gets an advantage after 8...Nxd5 9.c4! and the bishop on g2 becomes powerful. 9...bxc4 10.dxc4 Nf6 11. Rd1 (White can’t win material with 11.Ne5 because of 11...Nd4 but instead, a calm development of the pieces guarantees him a clear edge.) 11...Qb6 Qc7 always moves into Bf4. 12.Nc3 Bb7 13.b3 0–0 14.Na4 Qa5 15. Bd2 Qc7 16. Bf4+= and the c5 pawn becomes a long-term weakness after the exchange of the dark squared bishops on d6.] 9.d4! A direct attempt to create a drawback for the 7...b5 pawn. [9.c4 also looked quite logical, in order to open the diagonal of the g2 bishop, but Black has 9... Bg4 which seems to solve all the problems. It’s not easy to leave from the pin and the Nd4 threat.] 9...c4 10.Ne5! This is the whole point behind Carlsen’s concept! He tries to make use of the fact that Black hasn’t castled yet. Now the game becomes very sharp.

7.0–0 A closed system without too much theory, where all the pieces are on the board. Carlsen trusts that this will allow him to outplay his opponent in the middlegame. 7...b5 Bruzon is familiar with the main ideas of White’s setup and plays a prophylactic move. [The most com-

10...Nxd4 Black was forced to go for the complications. [On 10... Bb7 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Re1 and Black has huge problems to castle.] 11.Qd1 The first critical position from Black’s point of view. He has many possibilities, and at first sight it’s not clear what’s the problem after any of them. Bruzon had to 3


decide quickly, as the time control was only of 15 minutes per player.

11...Qb6 Bruzon wanted to control the c6 square, but this moves into other ideas... [11...Ne6 is not enough for equality. 12.Nc6 Qd7 13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14.Nc3 White wins back the pawn and obtains a better position. 14... Bb7 15.Nxb5+=; 11... Bc5 probably would have been the best reaction. 12. Be3 (12.Nc3 Bb7 13.Be3 transposes to 12. Be3.) 12...Ne6 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Nxb5 0–0 After this more or less forced line, White seems to have a tiny advantage because of the hole on the d4 square, but Black also has a dynamic position, for instance with Re8 and Qb6.; 11...Nf5 with the idea of taking back the e7 bishop with the knight in order to preserve the extra pawn. This is met with 12.Nc6 Qd6

13.Nc3!! This pretty combination gives an edge for White in all the lines. 13...Qxc6 (13...Be6 14.N xe7 Qxe7 15.Bg5) 14.Nxd5! Black has nothing better than 14... Bb7 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Bxb7+= with a better position because of the pair of bishops.] 12. Be3 Bc5 13.Nc3! Good decision! White had two more tempting possibilities, but they were less strong. [13.a4 looked really dangerous with the main idea of a5, winning a piece. 13...Ne6!! Actually, this is the only move, but of course, it’s enough to have one good move in each position. :) (13...bxa4 loses to 14.Nc3!+- and Na4 next. Black can’t avoid losing a piece.) 14. Bxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 White seems to win, but... 15... Bxe3!! 15... Bb7 didn’t work because of Qd7... (15...Rb8 would have also lost after 16.B xc5 Qxc5 17.Qxc5 N xc5 18.axb5+-) 16.Qxa8 0–0 White is an exchange up, but the absence of the g2 bishop makes his king so weak that he can only dream about an advantage. 17.Qc6 Qd4! Black needs the queens on the board to compensate for the material deficit. 18.Nf3 (18.fxe3 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 Qxe5 and only Black can be better. If the bishop occupies the long diagonal, the game is immediately over.) 18... Bxf2+! 19. Rxf2 Qxb2 Black is fine!; 13.b4 also suggested itself, but Black has 13...cxb3 14.axb3 Nf5! 15. Bxc5 Qxc5 and Black seems to hold.] 13... Be6 [13... Bb7 in order to avoid the tricks on the g2-a8 diagonal. This was a decent alternative, White has to play energetically to get an edge. 14.a4! with the idea of a5! (14.b4 cxb3 15.axb3 Ne6 Black slips away.) 14...Ne6 15.a5! (15.N xd5 leads nowhere 15...N xd5 16.B xd5 B xe3 17.B xb7 Qxb7 18.fxe3 0–0 and Black holds.) 15...Qa6 The only move to avoid a6. (15...Qc7? 16.a6 Black’s position collapses.) 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. Re1 0–0 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 4


19. Bxd5 with a small but stable advantage for White due to his active pieces in the center.] 14.a4 [14.Nxc4!? was also very strong. 14...bxc4 15.Na4 Qc6 16.Nxc5 Nf5 (16...Qxc5 17.B xd4 Black can't play against such a "beast" on d4.) 17. Bd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4+= with an obvious advantage. Black has no compensation for the structural weaknesses and the bad bishop on e6.] 14...b4! Only move. 15.a5! Qc7 16.Na4 [16. Bxd4 bxc3 17.bxc3 is also slightly better for White, but Carlsen preferred to keep the position dynamic!] 16... Bd6 [Black will really miss the dark squared bishops after 16...Qxe5 17.Nxc5 Nc6 White gets more than enough compensation with powerful play. 18. Re1! Qd6 Black seems to consolidate, but

17.Nxc4! White restores the material balance and gets a clear advantage with his active pieces. Until this moment, Carlsen has showed some brilliant chess. 17...Qxc4 18. Bxd4+= 18... Be7 19.b3 [19. Re1 0–0 20.c3+= was the computer’s suggestion, in order to bring the a4 knight back to the game, but I prefer Carlsen’s move.] 19...Qc7 20.c4 [Here I believe 20.Nb2 would have been stronger, transferring the knight to d3. Carlsen continued playing dynamic chess, but he made a huge mistake in his calculation...] 20... Rd8 [20...bxc3 21.Nxc3 0–0 22. Re1+= isn’t a dream for Black either.] 21. Bxf6? White had foreseen the position after the 26th move, but they both missed an intermediate move. [21. c5! 0–0 22.Nb2 driving the knight to d3 again. This guarantees a clear advantage.] 21... Bxf6? [21...dxc4! 22. Bd4 Bf6 Black is suddenly winning. Such kind of mutual blunders are possible in rapid chess, even on the highest level.]

19.b3!! Black can’t allow the opening of the position with bxc4 19...cxb3 (19...c3 is met with 20.Na6! trying to go for Bc5! 20...Ne7 21.Qe2  protecting the knight and refreshing the Bc5 threat, plus the additional Qb5 check.) 20.Nxb3! and Black must forget about castling because of the Bc5 move.] 5


22.cxd5! This position was in Carlsen’s mind when he started the actions with b3-c4. 22...0–0 [Black can’t accept the exchange with 22... Bxa1 23.Qxa1 and either e6 bishop or the g7 pawn will fall. Both of them mean the end of the game. 23... Bxd5 24.Qxg7+-] 23. Rc1 Qxa5 The position is materially balanced, but the powerful d-pawn gives White the upper hand. White immediately squeezes down his opponent. 24.Nc5! Bc8 25.d6! Black can’t wait for Qd5 and Rfd1, since he remains without a single move. Bruzon finds the only chance to create counterplay!

placed to control the e1 square, but White can go around with Rd1–d3-e3 and might also transfer his bishop to c4. Black has no active plan, he can only sit and wait to see what happens. It’s very important that White should not get tempted to equalize the material with Nb7, since the knight has a much bigger value than the paralyzed rooks. 29...g6 30. Rd1 Rb8 Black tries to jump out with Rb5, but this just helps White to play the plan that he wanted. 31. Bf1! The bishop will be more active on c4, as the new main target is the Black king. 31...Kh8 32. Bc4 Rd3-f3 is coming next. Black still can’t do anything better than waiting.

25... Bc3! 26.Qd5! The knight on c5 had to be fortified. 26... Bg4!

27.h3!! Excellent intuitions! We’ll speak about this idea a few moves later. [27. Rc2 was also possible, but Black would keep his disturbing bishops. 27...Qb6 28.d7 Qb5] 27... Be2 28.d7! Bxf1 29. Rxf1 Here we are! White doesn’t even have a pawn for the exchange, but he is dominating with the d7 pawn. Black’s rooks can’t be activated because of this factor. The bishop on c3 is well

32... Bf6 33. Re1! Be7 had to be prevented, and the rook can continue his journey to the 3rd rank from here as well. 33...Qb6 34. Re3 a5 Black tries to do something, but a4 is never a threat, as White simply takes it... 35. Rf3 Bg7 Black has temporarily parried the concrete threats, so it’s time to increase the pressure.

6

Issue 40 (2) Ponomariov,R (2741) — Morozevich,A (2748) [C07]


FIDE GP Tashkent Tashkent UZB (5), 27.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

36.h4! Forcing a huge weakening with the h5 threat. 36...h5 37.Ne4 Very logical plan to transfer the knight to g5, but it was played slightly prematurely. [White could have improved his position with 37.Kg2! and Black is in zugzwang anyway. 37... Ba1 What else?! (37...Rbd8 allows the knight to regroup on d6 38.Nb7 Rb8 39.Nd6+-) 38.Qg5! with the double threat of Qh6 and Rf7. 38... Bg7 39. Rxf7 Rxf7 40. Bxf7+-] 37...Qd4! Probably this move was missed or underestimated by Carlsen. Black manages, at least, to get rid of the queens. 38.Ng5! Qxd5 39. Bxd5 Bc3? This blunder finishes the game... [39...f5 was the only move. 40.Ne6  White holds his advantage and will probably win with good technique, but with the opposite colored bishops, Black will always retain surviving chances.]

1.e4 Another game from the FIDE Grand Prix. A great positional win was achieved by Ponomariov over the tournament leader, Alexander Morozevich. Let’s take a closer look at Ruslan’s great play 1...e6 It’s not easy to predict Morozevich’s first move, but the French is one of his favorite openings. 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 This is the „slow” line in comparison to 3.Nc3, where we recently saw a lot of crazy games after 3... Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3 6.bxc3 Ne7 or 6...Qc7 with super unclear play. 3...c5 4.Ngf3 This move is not the main one, but I think it’s not a bad choice at all... [4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 That’s the main line.] 4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 We are still following the theory, of course.

40. Rxf7 1–0

7


6. Bb5!? A nice idea. First White is forcing Black to play Bd7 and only then he’ll take on c6. The bishop on d7 will take a worse position than on c8. Not often we can face the case, that a developed bishop is worse than an undeveloped one. 6... Bd7 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Bd6 Logical play. If the Black bishop would be on c8, a move like Nf6 would be very possible, with the idea of going to Nd7 after White’s e5. 9.Qe2 White wants to play e5. 9...Qc7 10.Nf3 And e5 is a threat again. 10...dxe4 11.Qxe4!? White is taking the queen to h4, not allowing Black to castle short that easily. We can see that probably White is already a bit better because of his better pawn structure, which could be important in the endgame. 11...Nf6 12.Qh4 h6 In many cases, White wants to play Bg5. [12...0–0 13. Bg5] 13.0–0

13...c5 Logical move. Black wants to develop his bishop to c6 and maybe even think about castling long in the future. 14.Nd2!? Logical and solid play by White. Without waiting for Black’s Bc6, White is taking the knight to a better position on c4 or e4, depending on Black’s play. [14.b3 could have been the other try. 14... Bc6 15. Bb2!? White is trying to make use of the fact that Black hasn’t castled yet. 15... Bxf3 16.gxf3 It’s hard to say if White has an advantage, but I like his position here.] 14...Nd5 15.Nc4 I think we can say that we have a+/= position. 15... Bf4 Usually in these structures Black tries to avoid an exchange of thedark-squared bishop. But it’s not possible now. [15... Be7 16.Qg4! and it seems like Black will spend quite some time without castling.] 16. Re1 All of Ponomariov’s moves look very natural and easy, but they are based on a very good positional understanding. 16... Rb8 17. Be4 Forcing Black to take on c1, so the White rook can join the game. 17... Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nb6?! Black moves his knight away from the center. I think this isn’t the best choice. [18...0–0 looks solid 19. Rcd1 and we are in a typical+/= position, because Black’s worse pawn structure.] 19.Ne3! Of course no exchanges! The Black knight on b6 is now completely out of the game. 19...0–0 20.b3 A typical idea of cutting the knight on b6 with b3-c4. 8


20...f5 A very dangerous move for Black. It creates a lot of holes and targets in the pawn structure, but on the other hand, to play 20... Rfd8 21.c4 doesn’t feel good either. 21. Bd3 e5

25... Be6 Black has no clear plan... 26. Rd2 a5 27.c4 Cutting the knight on b6 and leaving the options of Red1 or Rde2 open. A really unpleasant position for Black. 27...Nc8? And here comes the mistake. Under pressure, Morozevich, with no clear plan, tries to bring his knight into the game, which is very logical.. . but he oversees a nice tactical blow.

22.f3! Another great positional move by White. Black’s only idea is to play e4, so why not to block it on the spot?! 22... Rbe8 23. Rcd1 Kh8 The time has came for White to take some action against Black’s central pawns. 24.c3?! A good idea, but it gives Black a chance for a tactical solution. [24.a4; 24.Nc4 Both moves would keep a very nice position for White. We can clearly see that almost all the Black pawns are potential weaknesses.] 24... Rf6?! Black misses his chance! [It was the moment for a break-through. 24...e4!? 25.fxe4 fxe4 26. Bc2 (Of course not 26.B xe4? Rf4) 26...Qe5 27.c4 Bc6! followed by Nd7- Nf6 and Black might hold the game.] 25. Bc2 The position doesn’t look that bad for Black, but it actually is. The c5-e5-f5 pawns look pretty nice, but are under the constant attack of White’s pieces. It’s not easy to realize this at first sight, but if we look deeper, we can see that Ponomariov really knows what he’s doing...

28. Bxf5! A very nice small tactic! 28... Rxf5 [In case of 28... Bxf5 29.Nd5 Qc6 30.Nxf6 Qxf6 31.Qf2 White is win ning the second pawn on c5 and probably the game. Black’s main disadvantage is his super bad knight on c8, which still is completely out of the game.] 29.Nxf5 Bxf5 30.Qh5! Exact move. White is forcing the Black rook to leave the e-file, after which the e5 pawn will fall. 30... Rf8 31. Rd5 Black’s material disadvantage is not that big, but the horrible position of his knight on c8 plus White’s future attacking motives, and the weak c5 pawn, make this position impossible to hold. 9


31...Kh7 32. Rdxe5 Bg6 33.Qh4 White wants to play Qf2. 33... Rd8 34.Qg3 [34.Qf2 Rd4 and Black keeps fighting.] 34... Bf7 35.Qf4 Bg6

(3) Mamedyarov,S (2764) — Svidler,P (2747) [D94] FIDE GP Tashkent Tashkent UZB (3), 24.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] After a long while, Mamedyarov finally succeeds to show something against the Gurenfeld defense on the highest level. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 This was considered to be a harmless setup, but in our computer era, we must reconsider many ideas. 5...0–0 6. Be2

36.h4! White will take the pawn to h5 and the Black king will be under attack. 36... Rd4 This move loses on the spot, but Black’s position is already lost. 37.Qf8! Exact until the end. White wants to play h5 and Re8 or Re7. 37...Qd7 38.h5 [Of course not 38. Re7? Nxe7 39. Rxe7 Rd1+ 40.Kh2 Qd4 and Black protects his pawn on g7.] 38... Bf7 39.Qxc5 And here comes the 3rd pawn. 39...a4 40. Re7 White had a wide choice of winning moves, but this is the simplest one. 40...Nxe7 41. Rxe7 Rd1+ 42.Kh2 A really wonderful game by Ponomariov, with a lot of very useful positional ideas combined with a nice tactical blow. 1–0

6...e6 This is a sideline, Black would like to continue the development with b6-Bb7, but first he stabilized the center. However, I don’t believe this can be enough for equality. [The main move is 6...c5 which is also in the spirit of the Gruenfeld — a quick counterattack against the center. Probably in the near future, we will know what Mamedyarov prepared here. Recently, I have seen some interesting games with 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.cxd5 This was given as a mistake before in the theoretical books, because of 8...Nxd5 9.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 10. Bd2 Rd8 but the machines re-evaluate many things. They recommend 11.Qxd8+! 10


Qxd8 12. Bxc3 with a completely unclear position. I guess Mamedyarov has a huge amount of analysis here and is ready to go for these complications.] 7.0–0 b6 8.b4! This is basically the main idea of the 5.e3 system, even though we are already more or less in new territory from the opening point of view. White wants to play on the queenside, and the game shows very well the most typical plans. 8...dxc4 Svidler avoids getting squeezed down after c5. This is definitely the right way to play. [White gets a pleasant edge after 8... Bb7 9.c5! Black must suffer long because of the space advantage. The only critical question is whether Black will be able to undermine the queenside pawns or if White can consolidate... 9...a5 10.b5! bxc5 11. Ba3! This is a r elevant detail, with which we’ll meet in different occasions during the game. 11...Nbd7 12.Na4! Ne4 13. Rc1! and White wins the opening battle, so the 9.c5 move is justified!; Black is not well prepared for 8... c5 9.bxc5 bxc5 10. Ba3! This is the motif again! 10...Na6 11.Qa4  Black can't hold his hanging pawns and pieces. cxd5 is the direct threat and the a6 knight is hanging.] 9. Bxc4 Bb7

10.a4! Very well played! White wants to develop his bishop to a3 in order to fight against Black’s main resource, the c5 break, but first he plays a4 to support his future plans on the queenside, which are connected with the moves b5 and a5. 10...Nbd7 11. Ba3 Re8 Svidler prepares for his only existing counterplay: the c5 break. First, the rook had to be removed from the pin, because otherwise, White takes twice on c5 and threatens to win an exchange with c6. 12.Qe2 Mamedyarov believes that White is better prepared for c5 and he wants to finish the development with Rfd1 in order to secure a clear advantage. But things are not that easy... [12.b5!? seriously comes into consideration, with the idea of taking with bxc6 on c5, and White consolidates his center. I believe White is better here and his position looks much easier to play.] 12...c5 Even if it’s bad, Black has to try it. [Of course, the previous move were not based on the e5 break, because of 12...e5? 13. Bxf7+! Kxf7 14.Qa2+ Kf8 15.b5+ Re7 16.Ng5+- wins.] 13.dxc5 [Another motif in such positions is 13.bxc5 bxc5 14. Rab1 to leave the pin on the h8-a1 diagonal, but now Black seems to have 14... Bxf3! (14...Rb8 15.dxc5 would be a better version than the game for White.) 15.Qxf3 Qa5 and on 16. Rfc1 cxd4 17.exd4 Rab8 White might be better here as well, if he manages to make use of the weak b5 and d6 squares with the minor pieces, but Black also has his counterplay against the isolated pawns on d4 and a4.] 13...bxc5 14.bxc5 [14.b5? To obtain a superior pawn structure would not be the best idea now, because of 14... Nd5] 11


16. Rfd1

14... Bf8 Black decides to fight for the pawn, but his pieces will get pinned soon. [14... Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Ne5 16.Qe2 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Nd5 This forced line was the critical one, and Mamedyarov had to check it before taking twice c5. He found the solution in 18. Rad1! Bxc3 19.e4! White wins back the piece and ends up with an extra pawn. There is a hidden detail, that after 19...Qh4 20.g3! Qg4 21.f3! Qh3 22.exd5 exd5 23. Rxd5 Be1 White prevents the Bxg3 threat by 24.Qc2!  and the queen goes to g2.; 14...Qa5 doesn't give equality either. 15.Nb5! Black will suffer a long time because of the hole on d6. 15...Ne4 16.Nfd4+=] 15. Bb5! This looks very bad for Black, but Svidler finds a clever way to neutralize the pins. 15... Rc8! [15...a6? was refuted by 16.c6!+-; 15...Qc7 was another option, but White retains some advantage after 16. Rfc1 Rec8 17. Bxd7! Again, White’s advantage is based on the d6 hole, which the knight is going to occupy soon (17.c6 was also tempting, but 17...B xc6 18.Ne4 B xb5! seems to hold.) 17...Nxd7 18.Nb5 Qa5 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.cxd6 Qxa4 21. Bb2 White must be better with the d6 pawn and the a1–h8 diagonal.]

16... Bxc5! Very suspicious, but Black is alive. The main idea to leave the pins is Bxa3 Rxa3 Qe7 and when the rook moves, to play Red8. 17.Ne5! Pressing against d7 with full power. [17. Bxc5 Rxc5 The attack on the c3 knight gives an important tempo in order to leave the pin.; 17. Bb2 Qe7 and Red8 next.] 17... Bxa3 18.Nxd7! Black was fighting perfectly so far, but now he failed to find the right direction. Black will end up with a material disadvantage, but in both cases he gets seemingly huge compensation. [18. Rxa3 doesn’t win, because of 18...Qe7!] 18... Rxc3? Svidler prefers to give an exchange and keep the queens on the board, but it soon becomes clear that he doesn’t have enough. [However, after 18... Nxd7! 19. Rxd7 Rxc3! (19...Qb6? simply loses to 20.R xa3) 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 I don’t believe that White can win this game. 21.h3

12


21...a5! Black fortifi es his bishop on b4. The rook and the The bishop pair combined with the healthy Black’s pawn structure give an excellent fortress. White’s only chance is to exchange a pair of rooks and then try to attack the f7 pawn with the queen and the bishop from e8. With a good defense, Black should not have any problems to defend against this, and should safely hold the draw.] 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Bxe8 Black can’t create enough counterplay; the misplaced bishop on e8 quickly comes back to the game. 20... Be4 [After 20...Qg5 the e8 bishop even becomes a useful piece, because of 21. Bxf7+! Kxf7 (21...Kg7 22.e4+-) 22. Rd7+ +-] 21.Qg4 Mamedyarov wants to exchange the queens with Qd4. [21. Rd7 was also possible in order to convert the advantage to a pawn. 21... Bc6 22. Rxf7 (22.B xf7+? is not good. 22...Kg7 23.R xa7 Bc5 24.Rc7 Bd6 25.Ra7 Bb8) 22...Qg5 23. Bxc6 Kxf7 but Black has decent drawing chances with the opposite colored bishops.] 21... Bd5 22.Qd4 Qxd4 23. Rxd4

23...a6 Black doesn’t allow hid opponent to rescue the bishop with b5. 24.h3? The only mistake by Mamedyarov in the game, which could have cost the half point. He opens the backrank, which is of course very useful, but misses a tactical idea at the same time. [24. Rdd1! was the right move, which is of course very difficult to find. Especially because the idea is the same: White covers the weak back-rank. 24... Kf8 25. Bd7 Ke7 (25... Bb2 26. Rab1 Rc2 with the idea of Ba2 trapping the rook, is mets with a nice line... 27.a5! Ba2 28. Ba4! Re2 (28...B xb1 29.B xc2 B xc2 30.Rd2+-) 29. Re1! and the b1 rook escapes. 29... Rd2 30. Rbd1+-) 26. Bc8! is the point! The a3 bishop is also hanging and there is no mate on c1 at the end.] 24...Kf8 25. Bd7 Bd6? Svidler spoils his chance. He wants to play Ke7 and after Bc8, his bishop is not hanging, but Mamedyarov found a nice idea to save his bishop. [25...Ke7! 26. Bc8 Bb2! 27. Rb1 Rc2! would have been really strong. d4 is hanging and Ba2 threatens to send away the rook, after which c8 is hanging. The best White can get is an extra pawn, but in both versions the opposite colored bishop give excellent drawing chances for 13


Black. 28. Rd3 (28.R xd5 exd5 29.B xa6 d4; 28.Rb4 Ba3) 28... Ba2 29. Rxb2 Rxb2 30. Bxa6] 26.e4! Well played! White sacrifices a pawn in order to get rid of the rooks. 26... Bc5 [26... Be5 27. Rb4] 27. Rdd1 Bxe4 28. Rac1! This was the point of 26. e4! Still, White has to work hard for the win, he must try to collect the a6 pawn and keep his a4 pawn alive. 28... Bb4 29. Rxc3 Bxc3 30. Rc1 Bd4? [30... Bd2 was the only move, with the idea of putting the pawn on a5, where the White bishop can’t attack it. 31. Rc8+ Ke7 32. Bc6 Bc2! Black needs to preserve his bishop pair to retain some drawing chances. 33. Ra8 a5 34. Ra7+ Kf8 It’s very difficult to evaluate this position. In my personal opinion, Black’s drawing chances are bigger than White’s winning ones. Black puts his pawn on h5, his bishop on b4 and then starts to wait with the light squared bishop. It’s not easy to find a break-through, but White can try for very long.]

31.a5! This was probably missed by Svidler. White has fixed the a6 weakness and Black has no access to the a5 pawn with the bishop. 31...Ke7 [31...e5 White collects the a6 pawn by 32. Bc8! Bd3 33. Bb7! followed by Rc8-a8. 33...Ke7 34. Rc8+-] 32. Bc8 Bb2 [32... Bd3? doesn’t work. 33. Rd1!] 33. Rc5! Very precise! White lures the king to d6 in order to get the key Rb6 check! 33... Bd3 [33...Kd6 34. Rc4! Bd3 (34...Bd5 35.Rh4+- one of the pawns falls.) 35. Rb4 Be5 36. Bxa6! This was the point of 33. Rc5!] 34. Bb7! Just as in the 31...e5 line, White wants to win the pawn with Rc8-a8, and Black can’t prevent it. The game is over. 34... Bb5 [34...Kd7 35. Rc8 Be4 36. Bxa6 Bd3 37. Ra8+-] 35. Rc8 Be5 36. Ra8 Bc7 37. Bxa6 Bc6 38. Ra7 Kd6 39. Bb7 It will be interesting to follow the development of this line with 5.e3. 1–0

14


(4) Alexander Morozevich — Leinier Dominguez Perez FIDE Grand Prix Tashkent (6.4), 28.11.2012 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7

7.Qa4+ A rare line which doesn’t give White any advantage. The idea of this move is to escape from long theoretical Grünfeld variations. Typical Moro style. 7...Nd7 The main move. Black could also try other plan: [7...Qd7 8.Qb3 0–0 9.Nf3 b6 10. Be3 Bb7 11. Bd3 c5 (11...Qg4 12.h3 Qxg2 13.Ke2 and White traps the queen.) 12.0–0 Nc6 13. Rad1 Na5 (13...cxd4 14.cxd4 N xd4 15.N xd4 B xd4 16.Bb5+-) 14.Qb1 cxd4 15.cxd4 e6 16.h4 A typical move in these structures. White is going to create additional weaknesses around the Black king. 16...f5 Risky move. Black is looking for counterplay on the center, but he’s weakening his king by doing so. Safer and more logical was the thematic plan Rc8- Nc4, with the idea of winning one of White’s bishops. (16...Rac8 17.h5 Nc4) 17. Bb5 Qd6 18.d5 Nice break. 18...exd5 19.e5

Bxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Bd4 Qe4 22.Qc1 with decisive pressure! 1–0 Sokolov,I-Howell,D/London/Crowthorne ENG 2006.] 8.Nf3 c5 9. Be2 0–0 10.0–0 a6?! Strange move. Dominguez wants to develop the pieces with b5-Bb7. For example, after b5, Bxb5 doesn’t work because of Nb6. The problem is that after the simple Qa3, b5 is not possible and the b-file is weakened (after a6). The simplest way to equalize the position was showed by Ivanchuk in a game against me some years ago. [10...cxd4 11.cxd4

11...Nc5 12.Qc2 (12.dxc5 Bxa1 13. Bf4 Bc3 (13...Bg7? 14.Rd1 Qe8 15.Bb5+-) 14. Rc1 Qa5 15.Qb3 Bg7 16. Bc4 White has some initiative, but nothing more. For example: 16... Bg4 17.Ng5 e6 18.h3 h6 19.Nxf7 Rxf7 20. Be3 Raf8 21.hxg4 Rxf2 22. Bxe6+ Kh8 23. Bxf2 Rxf2 Thanks to his play on the dark squares, Black is fine.) 12...Ne6 13. Be3 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxd4 15. Rad1 e5 16. Bxd4 exd4 and Black is totally fine. 17.Qb2 (17.Qa4 Be6 18.R xd4 Qb6 19.Rfd1=) 17... Be6 18.Qxb7 Not accurate. I should have taken the other pawn and more importantly, exchange bishops. (18.R xd4 Qa5 19.Bc4) 18...Qb6 19.Qxb6 axb6 20. Rxd4 Rxa2 21. Bb5 Rc8 22. Rb1 Rcc2 23. Bf1 Kg7 15


24. Rdb4 Rxf2 25. Rxb6 h5 26. Rc6 h4 27. Rc3 Kf6 There’s not so much material on the board but Black’s pieces are completely dominating. I can risk to say that White’s position is simply losing. 28. Re1 Ke5 0–1 Miton,K-Ivanchuk,V/ Havana CUB 2007/The Week in Chess 655.] 11.Qa3 Now b5 doesn’t work! 11...Qc7 12. Bg5 Moro develops the pieces with tempo. 12... Re8 Black also has other possibilities. Let’s check them: [12...e6 13. Rad1 b5 14. Bxb5 (14.d5 Bb7 ) 14...axb5 15.Qxa8 Bb7 16.Qa3 Ra8 17.Qb2 Bxe4 seems strange, but Black has good compensation.; 12...Nf6 13.e5 Nd5 14.dxc5 White’s structure is destroyed but it’s not easy for Black to avoid the c4 threat. 14... Bxe5 (14...h6 15.Bd2) 15. Bc4 Be6 (15...e6 16.N xe5 Qxe5 17.B xd5 exd5 18.Be3 with pressure on the dark squares.; 15...Nf6 16.Rfe1 Bf4 17.B xf4 Qxf4 18.Bb3 Qc7 19.Qb4 White has the initiative on the dark squares again.) 16.Qb3 Rad8 17. Rad1 Nf4 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Bxf4 Bxc4 20. Bxe5 Qxc5

21. Rd1 and thanks to this trick, White is winning!]

13. Rad1 Normal move. White could also try to transfer the queen to the other side, but it takes too much time. [13.Qc1 b5 14.Qe3 Bb7 with equal play. 15.a4!?] 13... Rb8 Black prepares b5, but now the rook on b8 creates some disadvantages as well. 14.d5 [14. Bh4 An interesting idea to force Black to push e5 and change the structure a bit. 14...b5 15. Bg3 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17. Rd5 with initiative for White. 17...b4 18.Qc1 Bb7 19. Rxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.cxb4 Bxe4 22. Re1 ] 14...e6 Not an easy decision, but probably the Cuban grandmaster should have played this before choosing Re8. [14...Ne5!?] 15.dxe6 [15.d6 Qc6 16.e5 b5 (16...N xe5 17.N xe5 B xe5 18.Bf3 Qb5 19.c4 Qxc4 20.d7 B xd7 21.R xd7 ) 17. Rfe1 Bb7 18. Bf1 Qb6 It’s hard to say if the d6 pawn is strong. Now it’s not easy to improve White’s position. Black also keeps the option of breaking White’s pawns after f6. The position looks fine for Black.; 15. Bh4 b5 16. Bg3 e5 17.c4 An important move which doesn’t allow c4- Nc5. 17... b4 18.Qc1 Usually these structures with the strong d5 pawn are better for White, but I think that it’s unclear in this case. We can say that the knight on d7 is not perfect (it seems better on d6), but on the other hand, it’s well placed to fight after the f4-break, which probably is the only plan for White.; 15.Qc1 with the idea of transferring the queen or to play Bf4.] 15... Rxe6 16. Bh4 [16. Bc4 Rxe4 17. Bd5 (17.Qb3 Nf6 and Black is safe.) 17... Re8 18.Qa4 The idea is to transfer the queen to the kingside to support the attack. 18... b5 (18...c4 Logical idea. Black gives the pawn back, but 16


thanks to this exchange, White’s pieces become uncoordinated. 19.Rfe1 R xe1+ 20.R xe1 b5 21.Qb4 Nc5 22.Re8+ Bf8 23.R xf8+ Kxf8 24.Be3 Kg8 25.B xc5 a5 26.Bd6 Qb6 27.Qc5 Qxc5 28.B xc5 Bb7 29.B xb7 R xb7 30.a3 f6 31.Kf1) 19.Qh4 Bb7 20. Bf4 Ne5 21. Bxe5 Bxe5 22.Ng5 Bxd5 23.Qxh7+ Kf8 24. Rxd5 Bg7 25.f4 Unclear, but White has some pressure.]

19. Bxf7+! Maybe Leinier missed this move. 19...Kxf7 (19...Kh8 20.Bd5+-) 20.Ng5++-] 19.Qa4 The most accurate. Black’s pieces don’t cooperate at all. White is easily winning! [19. Bxb8 Rxc4 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21. Bxe5 ] 16... Bh6? A huge and decisive mistake! Dominguez prepared Bf4 after Bg3, but he should have played: [16... Rxe4 Ok, it wasn’t easy to grab this pawn in a practical game, but objectively it leads to a position that’s not worse for White. 17. Bg3 (17.Bd3 R xh4 18.N xh4 b5 with fantastic play for Black.) 17...Ne5 Black’s pieces are totally pinned, but White can’t take advantage of this. 18. Bd3 (18.B xe5 B xe5 19.Bd3 Rf4 20.N xe5 Qxe5 21.Rfe1 Qc7 22.Re8+ Kg7; 18.Rfe1 Bd7) 18...Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Re5 20. Rfe1 Bh3=+]

19... Re7 20. Bd6 Qd8 21. Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Rfe1 Qf8 23. Rxd7 b5 24. Bxf7+ Kg7 25.Qd1 [25.Qh4 Bxd7 26. Re7+-] 25... Bxd7 26.Qxd7 Rd8 27.Qc7 Rc8 28.Qb7 Rb8 29.Qe7 This was the only decisive game in this round. Congratulations to Moro for yet another victory in this tough tournament. 1–0

17. Bc4 [17. Bg3 Bf4 18. Bc4 Re7 19.Ng5 Bxg3 20.fxg3 Ne5 21. Bd5 ] 17... Rxe4 18. Bg3 Qb6 [18... Bf4

17


Puzzle section

(7) Ghaem Maghami,E (2559) — Tkachiev,V (2659) Fujeirah Open, 20.11.2012

(5) Carlsen,M (2848) — Polgar,J (2705) Mexico City (rapid), 25.11.2012

[CEWN] 1.+-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Collins,S (2471) — Jones,G (2644) (6) Guerra Mojena,L (2382) — Ortiz Suarez,I (2595) Mexico City Open, 22.11.2012 [CEWN]

Kilkenny Masters, 25.11.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1.+-

18


(9) Svetushkin,D (2589) — Bogosavjlevic,B (2524)

(11) Sethuraman,S (2520) — Adly,A (2607)

Vrsac GM, 23.11.2012

Commonwealth Open, 26.11.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1... –+

(10) Cvitan,O (2535) — Georgiev,K (2660)

(12) Banusz,T (2580) — Pap,G (2553)

Vrsac GM, 24.11.2012

Hungarian Championship, 26.11.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1.+-

1.+-

19


(13) Matlakov,M (2673) — Shimanov,A (2597) Governor’s Cup, 17.11.2012 [CEWN] 1.=

(14) Mamedov,R (2647) — Savchenko,B (2556) Governor’s Cup, 18.11.2012 [CEWN] 1.+-

20


Endgame section (15) Morozevich,A (2748) — Caruana,F (2786) Tashkent, 23.11.2012 [Chess Evolution] 23...f6 Black wants to play Rd4-f4, so White must increase the pressure on the e5 pawn. 24.f4! It’s time to improve the position of the king for both sides... 24...Kd7 25.c3! White prepares Kc2 and the future actions with b4... Black is slightly worse because of the e5 weakness. White has many ways to strengthen his position, while Black can only passively wait. Caruana was looking for salvation in the rook endgame. 20...Nd5 [20...Ne8 with the idea of consolidating with f6 doesn’t help. White can, for instance, play 21.h4 gaining ground on the kingside with g5. 21...f6 White unexpectedly wins a pawn with 22. Re4! Qd6 23. Rc4! and Ne4 is coming next.] 21.Nxd5 Qxd5 22.Qxd5 Rxd5 23. Rde1+= White is definitely slightly better, but it’s very important for him not to allow Black to activate his rooks. So, the first step is to keep the e5 pawn under permanent attack and then think about how to improve his position on the queenside.

25...b5 I don’t like this move. It eases White’s plans on the queenside. [Black should have definitely opted for 25...a5! 26.Kc2 Now d3 is protecte d, so White threatens to take a pawn with c4, followed by fxe5. 26...Kd6 27. Re4 (It might make sense to provoke the c6 move with a king march to b5. 27.Kb3 b6 28.Kc4 c6 29.Kb3 Re8 30.a4 Re7 31.Kc2 Re8 and only now the plans start on the kingside) 27...b6 and from now on Black starts to wait with Re7-e8. It’s not easy to find a break-through for White. 28.h4 This looks like the only option for White. 28... Re8 29.g5 White continues pressing, but it’s hard to judge whether it’ll be enough to win the game.] 26.Kc2 Kd6 Unfortunately, time trouble starts to affect the game, and this is the reason for the following inaccuracies.

21


27.b3 [27.b4! should have been played immediately as Morozevich did it a few moves later.] 27... Re8 [Black should have prevented the b4 plan again, followed by c6 and the waiting policy. 27...a5! ] 28. Re4 Re7

Rf7 39.fxe5+ Ke6 but probably it’s better to improve the position a bit. This possibility will never run away.) 37... Re8 38.c4! bxc4+ 39.Kxc4 The game is basically over; White threatens Rb1–b6. 39... Rd4+ (39...Re7 40.Rb1+-) 40. Rxd4+ cxd4 41.Kd3! in order to avoid Black’s attempt to gain some activity with Rc8. 41... Re7 42. Re4! Re8 and now the easiest way to collect the point is 43.g6! Re7 44.fxe5+ Rxe5 45.f6! and Black has to resign.] 30.c4 [It might be objectively better to play 30.bxc5+ Rxc5 31.d4 Rd5 32.h4 and playing like in the 29...Kc6 line, but who could restrain himself from taking a pawn for seeminglynothing?!]

29.b4! Morozevich ad the right idea. White threatens to win a pawn as it happened in the game. Black had only one way to prevent it. 29... Re8! Caruana prefers to play the endgame with a pawn down, but with activity, than suffering in zugzwang with material equality. This is generally the right strategy of the defensive side in rook endgames! [29...Kc6 was the only move to leave from fxe5 and bxc5, capturing with checks... 30.bxc5 (Now on 30.c4 Black has 30...Rd4 31.fxe5 R xe4 32.R xe4 fxe5 and Black is solid.) 30...Kxc5 The position remains really unpleasant. 31.d4+! Kd6 32.h4! Re8 (32...c5 doesn’t solve the problems regarding the pressure on the e5-pawn. 33.dxe5+ fxe5 34.g5) 33.g5 hxg5 34.hxg5 Let’s see how can White break through if Black just keeps waiting. 34... Re7 35.Kb3 White wants to penetrate with Kb4, so Black should play 35...c5 36.dxe5+ fxe5 37.a4 (White can win a pawn anytime with 37.f6 gxf6 38.gxf6

30...bxc4 31.dxc4 Rd4 32.fxe5+! fxe5 33.bxc5+! Kxc5 34. Rxe5+ Rxe5 35. Rxe5+ Kxc4 36. Re7! Moroz evich obviously had foreseen this position before playing 30.c4. It seems to be over, but the saying is applicable again... that all the rook endgames are drawn.

36...c5 Black’s hope is the c-pawn. 37. Rxg7 Rd3 38.h4! White needs to keep his connected passed pawns on the kingside.

22


38... Rf3! Black could not allow f6 and g5, because the pawns would promote automatically. He tries to squeeze the king to the first rank and support his c-pawn with the king. [38... Rxa3? would have led to a quick defeat. 39.f6 Rf3 40.g5 hxg5 41.hxg5 Rf2+ 42.Kd1 Kd3 43. Rd7++and f7, g6 next.] 39.Kd2! White tries to send the rook away from the ffile. [The machine recommends 39. Rh7 Rf2+ 40.Kd1 Rf4 41. Rxh6 Rxg4 42. Rxa6 Despite the fact that White is two pawns up, the position is drawn. Black will recover one because of the active configuration of his pieces, and regarding the remaining one, the c-pawn supported by the king gives enough compensation. (42.Ke2 Rf4) 42... Kb3! Ra4 had to be parried first... 43.h5 Rg5 44.f6 Rxh5 45. Rb6+ Kxa3 46.Kd2 Rf5 If the king goes to support the f-pawn, the c-pawn will also be promoted, so first he should try to capture on c5. 47.Kc3 Rf3+ 48.Kc4 Rf5 White can’t make progress. Black is not in zugzwang, since if he was the one to move, Ka2 would be available.]

wrong, all the moves are just winning. [40... Rf4 seems to give an easy draw. Black wants to push his c-pawn. White sooner or later has to give up his connected passed pawns, but it will make the position drawish as the 39. Rh7 line showed us. 41. Rg6 c4 42.f6 is too slow now, with the idea of g5 and Rg7, escaping with the rook because the c-pawn is too far advanced. 42...c3] 41.f6 Ra2+ 42.Kf3 Ra1 43.Kg2 Ra2+ 44.Kg3 Ra1 45.g5 hxg5 46.hxg5 Rf1 47. Rc7 a5 48.f7 a4 49.g6 a3 50. Ra7 Rf6 51.g7 1–0

39...Kd4 40.Ke2 [40. Rg6 Rf2+ 41.Kd1 Rf4]

40... Rxa3?? This is a terrible blunder in the last move of the time trouble. From now on, White simply can’t go 23


(16) Karjakin,Sergey (2775) — Wang,Hao (2737) [C10] FIDE GP Tashkent Tashkent UZB (3.6), 24.11.2012 [Chess Evolution]

62...f5 We are in the very end of a game between two very young and very strong chess players, both in the World’s Top 10! After a not so promising opening, Black quickly achieved a nice position and with great play managed to slowly improve his chances for a full point. In the current position, we can clearly see that White’s position is „on the limit”. If Black manages to get the pawns to g4f3, the game will be over. 63. Rd5? White takes a decision that should be based on exact calculation. If he exchanges the rooks, but can’t stop Black from playing g4-f4-f3, the position will be lost. [White had a better choice: 63. Rd3+! This move would force the Black king to make a difficult decision regarding where to go. 63...Kf4 (in case of 63...Kg4 64.Rd5! would win a very important tempo. 64...R xd5 65.B xd5 Bb8 66.Be6! not allowing Black to go to g3! 66...Kf4 67.Kf2 By putting the king on g2, White reaches a very simple drawn

position. 67...g4 68.Kg2 Kg5 69.Bd7 f4 Now Black wants to play f3. 70.Bc6! Kf6 71.Bb7 Ke5 72.Bc6 Kd4 73.Bd7 draw.) 64. Rf3+! The only way to force a draw. 64...Kg4 65. Be6 As we can see, all the moves are quite forced... 65... Bb8 It seems like Black holds everything but...

66. Rxf5!! Very beautiful... the position is a draw. 66... Rxf5 67.Ke3 What a beautiful chess move!] 63... Rxd5 64. Bxd5 Bb8 Black is holding the a-pawn and is ready to start advancing his own pawns. 65. Be6 f4 66.Kd3!? The best chance to save the game, and it seems like this was exactly what Karjakin had in mind when he played 63. Rd5?. White wants to attack the g-pawn with his king while holding the f-pawn with his bishop. 66...g4 Logical, Black moves closer to his target, and I guess that Wang Hao was 100% sure that he would win. 67.Ke4 f3 68.Kf5 Until here all the moves were logical and correct, but now comes the shocking moment.

24


71...Ke3 [71...Ke2 72.Kxg4] 72. Bg2 g3 73.Kg4 Bb8 74.a7 And in the end, White’s a-pawn was useful as well! 74... Bxa7 75.Kxg3 What a dramatic end of the game! 1/2

68... Ba7?? What a blunder! [The only move, and a super strong one was 68...Kh4! would decide the game in Black’s favor. White is not in time to stop the pawns... 69. Bd5 The only move to stop Black from playing f2, because Bg2 would follow now. 69...Kh3! That’s the idea, White is hopeless against Black’s f2-g3-g2. 70.Ke4 f2 71. Bc4 g3 72.Kf3

72...g2 73.Kxf2 Ba7+ and the g-pawn becomes a queen!; Of course not 68...Kh3 69.Kg5 and White will capture the g4-pawn.] 69.Kg5! And the position is a draw! 69...f2 70. Bc4 Kf3 71. Bd5+! The easiest way to get a draw. 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Darga,Klaus [C19] FRG-USA Berlin West, 1960 [Csaba Balogh] An incredibly high-level performance by a 17 years old Bobby Fischer... 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7

7.a4 Fischer always preferred the rather positional systems with 7.a4 and 7.Nf3, instead of the very sharp main line with 7.Qg4. 7...Qc7 [7...Nbc6 8.Nf3 Qa5 is the most common reaction by Black.] 8.Nf3 b6 Black would like to exchange the „bad French bishop” with Ba6 in order to make the c4 hole more vulnerable. White avoids this with a well-known reaction. 9. Bb5+! Bd7 10. Bd3 Here we get the main point of the a4 move. In other lines, where the pawn is still on a3,

Black blocks the queenside with Ba4. Now, Black must always be ready for the a5 push and the dark squared bishop might occasionally become really powerful on a3, especially if it can occupy the d6 square. 10...Nbc6 11.0–0 c4 Black plays the standard method of undermining the center with c4 and f6. [11...h6 this prophylactic move is the most common and probably the best. Black wants to guarantee the king’s safety on the kingside. 12. Re1 0–0; The direct 11...0–0? is refuted by the known trick of 12. Bxh7+! Kxh7 13.Ng5+ Kg8 14.Qh5+Black gets mated.] 12. Be2 f6 After 13. exf6 gxf6, Black achieves what he wanted, while Bf4 is met with Ng6. So, what to do as White?

13. Ba3! This great pawn sacrifice is already a well-known motif in this type of positions. However, during this game, Fischer had to find all the ideas over the board! 13...fxe5 14.dxe5 Black didn’t want to feel the bishop in his stomach on d6, so he accepted the sacrifice. 14...Nxe5

26

Issue 40 position after 16...0–0 White can win back the pawn, but his position will not be better. 17.B xe7 N xe7 18.Bg4 e5 19.B xd7 Qxd7 20.R xe5=) 16...0–0 (16...e5 and just as in the 15. Nd4 line, Black can’t mobilize his center before taking his king into safety. The punishment comes right away... 17.B xe7 N xe7


15. Re1! Black has plenty of moves, but none of them are really satisfactory... [15.Nxe5 was less good 15...Qxe5 16. Re1 Qf6 and Black is ready to castle short in the next move.; However 15.Nd4! was also pretty strong. White wants to play f4 and when the knight retreats, Bg4. Nc6 is never possible because of Nb5. 15...N5g6 This is the best defense, to leave from the f4 threat and also to protect the e7 knight, in order to be able to castle next. (15...N 7g6 leads to a quick loss. 16.f4 Nf7 17.f5! exf5 18.N xf5 B xf5 19.Qxd5! and White wins.) 16. Bh5 0–0–0 (Black can’t hold his center if he starts to mobilize it. 16... e5 17.Nf3 e4 18.B xe7 Kxe7 Of course, a move like this can’t lead to any good. The refutation is nice: 19.Qxd5! exf3 20.Rae1+ Kf6 21.g4!! with the simple threat of g5, which Black can’t really prevent. 21...h6 22.h4!+-) 17.a5 b5 18. Bg4! Black has only one move. 18...Nf5 (18...e5 loses to 19.N xb5!) 19. Bxf5 exf5 20.Qf3 with more than enough compensation. As the rule says, in case of opposite colored bishops, the material does not matter that much. It’s more relevant to know who was the more more active bishop. In this case, the one on d7 has no future...] 15...N7c6 [Probably the best was 15...N5c6 preparing to castle short. 16.Ng5! (16.Nd4 only leads to drawish

18.Bh5+! forcing a small weakening if Black wanted to castle short. 18...g6 19.Bf3 e4 and now 20.N xe4! dxe4 21.R xe4 Kf7 22.Qd4 with a huge attack, for instance, after 22...Rae8 23.Be2! wins!) 17. Bg4! Qf4 (17...e5 allows a nice move. 18.Be6+! Kh8 19.B xd5! Black collapses.) 18. Bxe6+! Bxe6 19.Nxe6 Qxf2+ 20.Kh1 and White has enough compensation for sure, but he must work a lot to convert it into something real.; 15...N5g6 is well met with 16.h4! Very unpleasant! The knights don’t find their places on the board.; 15...Nxf3+ is the worst. 16. Bxf3 Black can hardly prevent Bxd5, or Bxe7 first and then Qxd5....] 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.f4 Consequent play, but probably White had something even stronger. [17. Bh5+! g6 (17... Ng6? 18.Qxd5+-) 18.Qd4! gxh5 19. Rxe5 with a huge advantage. Even the material will be balanced after the h5 pawn falls, but the weakness of the dark squares will forever be there... 19...0–0–0 20.a5! b5 21.a6  making the 27


Black king more vulnerable. The bishop could be now transferred to f4 or e3 through c1.]

23. Rf3 Qe4 [23...Qe5 meets with the same as in the game...]

17...Nc6 Other retreats were much worse. [17...Nf7 is refuted nicely with 18. Bh5! g6 19.f5! Black ends up in big trouble.; 17...Ng6 moves into 18.f5!]

24.a5! Nc6? This is objectiv ely the losing move, but it’s very easy to miss what’s coming now... [On 24...b5 25. Bc5 followed by occupying the e-file with Qf1 and Re1, Black can never play Re8 because of Re3...; 24...bxa5 meets with the same as in the 24...b5 line 25. Bc5 Nc6 26.Qf1! and Re1 next.]

18. Bg4 0–0–0 19. Bxe6 Bxe6 20. Rxe6 So, the material is equal now, but White is better because of the control over the e-file. Black can’t fight for it with Re8 because of the d5 pawn, while White simply wants to play Qf3 and Rae1 with a clear advantage.

25.axb6 axb6 26.Qb1! Black can’t defend against the upcoming threats... 26...Kc7 [26...Kb7 loses to 27. Bc5+-; 26... Rb7 27. Bd6! transferring the bishop to a more dangerous diagonal. The rook wants to invade on the a-file and the queen on b5. Black can’t hold all the threats.]

20... Rd7 21.f5 [It looked more logical to continue the plan with 21.Qf3 and Rae1.] 21...Nd8 22. Re3 [The computer would have treated the position differently. 22.Qd4! and it’s not afraid of 22... Nxe6 23.fxe6 Rdd8 24.e7 Rd7 25.Qxg7 Re8 26. Re1! doesn’t even allow Black to give back the exchange on e7. Now it wants to collect the h7 pawn and start to advance on the kingside...]

27. Bc1!! A brilliant regrouping puts the finishing touch to the game. Bf4 is coming after any move and on Kb7, Qb5 decides the game. There is no way to parry this.

22...Qf4 Black at least succeeded to send the rook away from the e-file, but with his last two moves, he left his king without his defenders...

28. Rf1 Qxc3 29. Bf4+ Kb7 30.Qb5! What a game!

27...Qe1+ [27...Ne5 28. Bf4 Re8 29.Qb5+-; 27...Kb7 28.Qb5+-] 1–0 28


Surprise section / study (18) Sehwers,J 1900 [CEWN] 1.=

29


Solutions

(20) Socko,M (2445) — Stefanova,A (2491) Women World Cup, 17.11.2012

(19) Khurtsidze,N (2428) — Zhao Xue (2565)

[Solutions]

Women World Cup, 15.11.2012 [Solutions]

20...e5! 21. Bxe5 [21.dxe5 d4–+] 21...Nxe5 22.dxe5 d4–+ Line 22.Nxb6! Rcb8 [22...cxb6 23. Rxc8+-; 23.Nxc8 Rxc8 24.Qxa6+- (24.Rc6+-) ] 23.Nxa8+-

22... Bxb3

(21) Jakovenko,D (2741) — Bareev,E (2663) Siberian Bank Cup (rapid), 17.11.2012 [Solutions]

26.Nc8+! 1–0 30


(22) Nepomniachtchi,I (2707) — Bareev,E (2663) Siberian Bank Cup (rapid), 18.11.2012 [Solutions]

50.Ng5+! [50.Qf7+ Kh6 51.Qg7+ Kh5 52.Qh7+ Kg4 53.Qxg6+ Kf3 54.Ng5+ Ke3] 50...Kg7 [50...Kh6 51.Nxh3++-] 51.Qf6+! [51.Qf7+? Kh6 52.Nxh3 Qxh3] 51...Kh6 52.Nf7+ 1–0 (24) Stukopin,A (2481) — Timofeev,A (2600) Governor’s Cup, 16.11.2012 [Solutions]

28... Be3! 29. Rxd8 Bxf2+! 30.Qxf2 [30.Kg2 Qxg3+ 31.Kh1 Rxd8–+; 30.Kh1 Rxd8–+] 30...Qxa1+! 31.Kg2 Rxd8 32.Qf6 Rd6–+ (23) Van Wely,L (2691) — Fridman,D (2668) Remco Heite Invitational, 16.11.2012 [Solutions]

30...Nf3! 31. Ra1 Ng5! 32.Kg1 Nxh3+! 33.gxh3 Qxh3 34.f3 Qxf3–+

31


(25) Idani,P (2462) — Narayanan,S (2438)

(27) Ju Wenjun (2501) — Pourkashiyan,A (2321)


Women World Cup (rapid), 13.11.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25. Rxe4!! Rb5! [25...fxe4 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27. Bxe4+-] 26. Rxe7! Qxe7 27.Qxd6 Qxd6 28. Rxd6 (26) Swiercz,D (2611) — Nagy,G (2408)

24.Qf3! [24.Nxd8? Be4 25. Rf2 Qe1+ 26. Rf1 Qe2=] 24...h6 [24... Re8 25.Qf8+! Rxf8 26. Rxf8#] 25.Nxd8+-

World U18 Championship, 17.11.2012 [Solutions]

48. Bf3! Rg8 [48... Rxh4 49.Kg3! Rc4 50. Bd5++-] 49. Rxc5+- [49. Bxh5+ Kg7 50. Rxc5+-] 32


(28) Lahno,K (2553) — Javakhisvili,L (2455)

(29) Kolodjakni,D

Women World Cup, 15.11.2012

1927

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21... Bf6! 22.Nxd5 [22. Bxf6 Qxb6+!–+]

1.Nf5+! Kh3 [1...Kh5 2. Rh4+! Kg5 3. Rg4+! Kxg4 4.Nh6+=; 1...Kg5 2. Rg4+! Kxg4 3.Nh6+=]

22... Bxd4+ 23.Ne3 Qa7 [23... Bxb2! 24. Rb1 Bd4 25.Ne4 f5 26.Ng5 Rxd6–+]

2. Rh4+! Kg2 3. Rg4+! Qxg4 4.Ne3+! Bxe3 1/2

24. Rfe1 Rxd6

33

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 41 7th of December 2012


7th of December 2012


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3

»» Puzzle section

16


19


24


27

»» Solutions

28

Anna Ushenina is the new Women’s World Champion! Who would have guessed it before the tournament?! But the 27 years old player from Ukraine made her dream come true. In a dramatic final match against the much more experienced ex-World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova, Anna managed to keep better nerves and win the tie-break by 1.5/0.5! Congratulations! The main event of this week is the London Chess Classic with an amazing line-up: Carlsen, Kramnik, Anand, Nakamura, Polgar, +3 English players — Adams, McShane, and Jones. Magnus Carlsen started with 3.5/4 and beat Kasprov’s ELO record of 2851!! Carlsen has 2858 Elo points currently. It sounds unreal, looks unreal... but is the truth. Magnus is completely dominating the Chess World. Vladmir Kramnik and M. Adams are doing extremely well too. Things are going differently for Polgar, McShane and Jones, but I think that losing a couple of games in such a field is not a shame. The FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent came to a dramatic end, with a lot of crucial results in the very last round, so in the end we had 3 winners, who shared the first place with “only” +2: Karjakin, Morozevich and Wang Hao. By the way, for the fans of fighting chess, a lot of great games were played in the Grand Prix. It is worth taking a look at them. As usual, We wish You a lot of chess fun with our weekly edition of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Kramnik,V (2795) — Polgar,Ju (2705) [A34] 4th London Chess Classic London ENG (1.2), 01.12.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A good fighting game. Judit Polgar, true to her style, bravely sacrificed a piece. However, by playing excellent chess, Kramnik showed that there was not sufficient compensation for the material. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Nc6 At this moment, this is not a great move. White gets a good version in any of the possible systems. [3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7; Or 3... e6 4.Nf3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 are the two main lines, and both are completely playable for Black.] 4. Bg2 d6 5.e3 e5 Quite an ugly move, weakening the d5 square. It’s especially bad now that White has already focused his minor pieces around this point. The g1 knight is also heading to e2, where it will support his colleague after it jumps to d5. However, it’s already difficult to suggest something clever... [For instance, after 5...g6 6.d4 White gets a good version of the g3 system of the King’s Indian.] 6.Nge2 Be6

7.Nd5! This is a known idea! Black was ready to free his position with d5, so White had to parry this threat. It’s also important to mention that White only installs his knight on d5 when Black can’t take it with the knight, because of the fork after cxd5. [The careless 7.d3 allows Black to get a good position after 7...d5! 8.cxd5 Nxd5] 7... Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Nec3 White has successfully taken the d5 hole under control. His next goal is to initiate play on the queenside with d3, a3, Rb1 and b4. Judit didn’t want to wait for this to happen and decided to complicate matters. 9...Nb4 Of course, the d5 knight was very annoying, so it’s understandable that Black wants to kick it out. 10.Nxe7+ Taking the advantage of the bishop pair. Classical Russian school. 10...Qxe7 11.d3

3


11...d5 A brave decision! Black prefers to sacrifice a piece than to suffer in a worse position. However, there is nothing to justify that this offer could be correct... [11... Rad8 with the idea of freeing the position with d5. This would be met with 12.a3 Nc6 13.Nd5! The same motif as before, but now Black is forced to give up his bishop. 13... Bxd5 14.cxd5 Nb8 15.b4 White is better. An unpleasant plan could be Bb2, followed by e4, f4 and Bh3. The White center supported by the strong bishop is overwhelming.] 12.a3! Kramnik accepts the challenge! 12...dxc4 13.axb4 cxb4 Black only has two pawns for the piece, but Rfd8 is coming next, which forces White to push d4, after which the Black pawn phalanx on the queenside becomes really scary... 14.Ne4! [The sacrifice would have been justified after a careless move, for instance 14.Ne2 cxd3 15.Qxd3 Rfd8 The queen does not find its place. 16.Qb5 and the game could finish with an unusual repetition after (16. Qb1 allows 16...Bc4) 16... Rac8! with Bc4 threats, and on 17.Qxe5

17... Rc5! 18.Qf4 Rf5 ! 19.Qh4 Rh5! 20.Qf4 Rf5 and draw.] 14...Nxe4 [14... Rfd8? did not work immediately 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Bxb7] 15. Bxe4 f5 16. Bg2 Rfd8! Forcing White to push d4. 17.d4 a5! Judit had foreseen this position before playing d5! Black is intending to play a4, followed by a possible breakthrough with a3 bxa3 b3 and c3 next, or c3 bxc3 b3 and a3 next. White must take it very seriously. [17... e4? would also have been principled, in order to close the strong bishop, but White can open the diagonal with 18.f3! which means that the e4 move is premature.; 17... exd4? is another big mistake, allowing the c1 bishop to escape. 18.exd4] 18.Qe2! Very well played! White threatens to push d5 and collect on c4. Black must hold this pawn, otherwise the position collapses. However, Rac8 doesn’t work because of the a5 pawn. 18...e4 [18...Qc7 meets by 19. Rd1! with the idea of d5 Bf7 e4, bringing the c1 bishop to the game. 19...e4 20.f3]

4


19.f3! Of course, the bishop must be activated. 19... Bd5 Black must try to hold the e4 pawn in order to lock the c1 bishop. [19...exf3 20.Qxf3 and a possible e4 break would destroy Black’s resistance.] 20.fxe4 fxe4 21. Rf5! Another great move with a double threat of Re5, and winning the e4 pawn and Rxd5, eliminating the c4 pawn. [On a „normal” move like 21. Bd2 Black plays 21...a4 with the idea of c3 bxc3 b3 and a3 with very unclear play.] 21...Qd7 [21...b5 was an alternative, but White gets the advantage after 22. Re5 Qb7 23.Qh5! a4 24. Bd2! and Black is unable to mobilize the queenside pawns. The dark-sqaured bishop blocks their way. 24...c3 (24...b3? 25.Bb4 would be a huge success for the bishop.) 25.bxc3 b3 26. Bc1! This is the point, and the bishop becomes a perfect blockader. The active White pieces on the 5th rank deprive Black from creating real threats.] 22. Re5 Going for the e4 pawn. 22... Re8

23. Bh3! A great resource to activate the bishop with tempo, since Black can’t give up his d5 bishop as it is the piece that holds the whole position together. 23...Qc6 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Bd2 Developing and preventing the a4 move at the same time. 25...Qe7? To refresh a4 plan, but this is a huge blunder that allows White to activate his pieces too fast. [25...b5 would have been the only move, although White’s position remains clearly better after 26.Qg4 as the break through is not really effective with 26...c3 27.bxc3 b3 28. Bc1! creating the usual strong blockade!] 26.Qh5! This was probably missed by Judit. Now she is unable to keep her position together. 26...Qd8 [26... Bf7 27.Qb5 and one of the pawns will fall soon.] 27. Rf1 [27. Bf5!? was also winning. 27...g6 28. Bxg6! hxg6 29.Qxg6+ Kh8 30. Rf1! and the rook joins the attack. Black can’t defend properly. 30... Ra6 31.Qh5+ Kg7 32. Rf5 +-] 27...g6 It was already hard to recommend something else... 5


28.Qe5 Ra6 Kramnik finds the most beautiful way to finish the game, to kick the d5 bishop out from its great place. 29. Bd7!! Really nice line and closing combination. 29... Bf7 [29...Qxd7? 30.Qb8+ Kg7 31.Qf8# was the point of the sacrifice.] 30. Rxf7! After playing Bd7, Kramnik felt that he had to finish the game in the same style. [30. Bb5! was even stronger 30... Re6 31.Qf4 +-] 30...Kxf7 31. Bb5 Black’s position collapses. The pawns start to fall one after another and the bishop pair soon takes control over the board. 31... Rf6 32. Bxc4+ Kg7 33.Qxe4 The game is practically over. Black can’t create any real threats. 33...Qc7 34.Qd5! Rf8 35.e4! And the dark-squared bishop decides the battle. There was no need for the rest of the game. 35...b5 36.Qxb5 Qd6 37.Qb7+ Kh8 38.Qa7 Bh6 and Bf4-e5 are the main threats.

(2) Stefanova,A (2491) — Ushenina,A (2452) [D45] FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.4), 30.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are in the last of 4 games that were played in the final match for the World Championship. Ushenina just needs a draw to become the new World Champion, but she is Black and to play under such pressure is never easy, especially if Your opponent is playing great chess. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 In the match between Stefanova and Ushenina, we saw a lot of Slav games where White usually created a lot of pressure, which is really a funny thing :) . Usually, with Black You feel safe, and with White You don’t know where to get any advantage, but in this match things were very different. 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 0–0 8.0–0 dxc4 9. Bxc4 We are in one of the main lines. Thousand and thousand of games were played here.

38...g5 39. Bxg5 Qc6 40.Qe7 1–0

9...b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11.a3 [11.e4 e5 could lead to the other main line.] 6


11...a5 12.e4 We have about the same line as the main one, just with the moves a3-a5 included. This could be „positive” for both colors. Black is losing the chance of playing a6 followed by c5, and on the other hand, in case of b4, White will have to play axb4, which would lead to some exchanges and help Black’s defense. 12...e5 13. Rd1 This move was played quite recently in the game Bacrot-Giri. Why to play 13. Rd1? Hmmm... this is something we can only understand after analyzing this position for a long time! Many nuances like 13. Rd1 only become understandable after many hours of working on the position. 13...Qc7 [13...Qe7 14.Ne2 Rfe8 15. Bg5 with a slightly better play for White, Bacrot-Rapport 2012.] 14.h3 A move against Black’s exd4. 14... Rfe8 15. Be3 This position is more or less known as well... 15...exd4 16.Nxd4 Bh2+?! This is a rare move. One of the top Russian players, Dmitry Jakovenko, preferred to play immediately 16... Bf4, but I think White could reach a small plus in that case too. 17.Kh1 Bf4 The same idea, but with the White king on h1. This can be double-edged also... In some positions, the king is better on g1, but in some others, on h1, especially if White managed to play f4. 18. Bxf4 Qxf4 I guess that here both players were out of book. White is doing a bit better and could continue with the rock solid 19.f3. But is it enough to get a full point? A victory would take Antoaneta back into the fight for the World Title.

19.Nce2! I think this move decided the game. White is playing „all in” and puts Black in front of a very difficult decision. To take on f2 looks critical, but it allows White to play a very strong attack. 19...Qb8 This move leads to quite an unpleasant position. [19...Qxf2 The only relatively good option to continue the game. 20. Rf1 Qe3 Black’s pos ition looks super dangerous, but what happened in the game is clearly worse! 21. Rf3 Qg5 22.Nf5 with a very strong initiative for the pawn.] 20.Ng3! White is keeping all pieces on the board. [It would have been a bad moment to get greedy. 20.Nxc6?! Bxc6 21.Qxc6 Ne5 All the Black pieces are suddenly in the game. 22.Qxb5 Nxd3 23.Qxd3 Nxe4 and probably Black would have enough counterplay for the pawn.] 20...Ne5 21. Bf1 Black is facing serious trouble. White wants to play f4-e5, or just Ndf5 combined with many different threats. It’s time for Black to be extremely careful not to get into deep trouble.

7


21... Rc8? This move just can’t be good! White now gets a dream position. [21...Ng6 Black should give up the c6pawn and accept that it is going to be a hard fight for a draw. 22.Nxc6 Bxc6 23.Qxc6 h5!? with the h4 idea next, and the e4-pawn is going to fall. Black is clearly worse, but he keeps drawing chances.]

26.Nh6+! White keeps good nerves and chooses the easiest winning move, giving Black no counter chances. Of course 26.Nxg7 would lead to a winning position as well. 26...gxh6 27.Qxf6 Qf8

22.Ndf5 The clouds are getting darker around the Black king. 22... Rc7 Probably this was Ushenina’s idea, but it gives enough time to strike! 23.Qc3! Very strong move! Suddenly, Black is just lost! White wants to play f4 followed by Nxg7 and Black can’t do anything about it! I guess both players were shocked by the sudden situation. So close to 2-2 and so far away from the World Championship title. 23... Rd7 24.f4 What a crush by the White pieces! 24... Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Ng6

28.Nf5? Still a winning move, but what a mistake! Nerves, nerves. The stakes of the game are extremely high and to keep the pressure in these situations is not easy. [28. Rd7 would immediately finish the game. 28... Rb8 29.Nf5 and Black can’t defend against Rxf7 Qxf7 Nxh6!] 28...c5! Excellent defense by Black. The position is still lost, but suddenly White needs to be precise. 8


29. Bxb5?! And again White doesn’t choose the best option. [29. Rd7 The easiest way to a get a winning position. 29... Bxe4 30. Rxf7 Bxf5 (30...Qxf7 31.N xh6+) 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32.Qd6 and White should win quite easily...] 29... Bxe4 30.Nd6

32... Rxd2 33.Nxh6+ At 33...Qxh6, 34. Bc4 is coming. A great victory by Stefanova, but already the next day she had to face very sad news when she lost the tie-break. Anyhow, a great match and a deserved new World Champion. Congratulations to Anna Ushenina! 1–0

30... Rd8! Black is back in the game! 31. Rd2 Bb1?? And Ushenina makes a horrible blunder under big pressure. [In case of 31... Ba8! 32. Bc4 Qe7! The only move, which is not too difficult to find. 33. Bxf7+ Kf8 34.Qxe7+ Nxe7 35. Be6 White is still a pawn up, but Black can fight for a draw!]

32.Nxf7!! A very sweet combination! 9


(3) Ushenina,Anna (2452) — Stefanova,Antoaneta (2491) [D15] FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.3), 29.11.2012 [Csaba Balogh] We are in the final of the Women’s World Championship where Anna Ushenina from Ukraine won a flawless game! She was fighting very well in the whole tournament and her White color performance was really extraordinary. In this game, Stefanova mixed up something in her favorite Chebanenko Slav variation and ended up in a complicated, objectively lost position right after the opening. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 This is the starting position of the Chebanenko Slav. White has a wide range of choices here. Ushenina went for the most often played move. 5.c5 This is basically the most principled reaction to a6. White obtains a space advantage and makes use of the fact that the undermining with b6 is not effective anymore, as Black can’t take back on b6 with the a-pawn. The only drawback of this idea could be the undermining with e5, so the fight starts around this move.

5...Nbd7 6. Bf4 The h2-b8 diagonal is the best place for the bishop. The following maneuvers are quite known and have been played already in hundreds of games. 6...Nh5 7. Bd2 Nhf6 8. Rc1! A strong prophylactic move against e5, introduced by Topalov in 2006 on the highest level. 8...g6 The bishop on g7 will support excellently the e5 break. [The typical break with 8...e5 leads to a clearly worse position after 9.Nxe5! Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd7 11.Na4! This is the point of 8. Rc1! 11...Nxe5 12.Nb6 Rb8 13. Bf4 would be a clear success of White's opening decision.] 9.h3! Another subtle move. White would like to get his bishop back to the h2-b8 diagonal, so he frees the h2 square to meet with Nh5. 9...Qc7 Black also has his subtle resources. [9... Bg7 10. Bf4 0–0 11.e3+= White would achieve what he wants.] 10.g3! The bishop is ready to occupy the f4 square again, but on the other hand, the h2 refuge doesn’t exist anymore. 10... Bg7 [10...e5 appears premature after White’s strong reply 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Bf4 Qf5 14.Qd4! Bg7 15. Bd6! That’s why Black should aim to finish the development before initiating concrete actions.] 11. Bf4 Qd8 12. Bg2 0–0 13.0–0

10


13...Nh5 14. Bd2 f5 Black fixes the center, prevents White’s e4 idea and is ready for the e5 break. We are still following theory. [The most logical move 14...e5 has never been tried yet, however, in my opinion, it might be an improvement on Black’s play. It’s not clear to me how White should fight for the advantage.] 15.Qb3!? A very tricky tactical idea to prevent e5. Stefanova probably forgot her preparation and fell in its trap... 15...e5? [The biggest specialist of the variation, Vladimir Malakhov, has already played twice the prophylactic 15... Kh8 His games continued with 16.Ng5 which allows a small tactical trick to solve the opening problems (16. Bf4!? seems to be a decent improvement in order to consolidate the center. Black should sooner or later take on f4, but then he must forever forget about his e5 idea, and without that, he must suffer for a long tome in a cramped position.) 16... Bxd4! (16...Ndf6 17.Na4 h6 18.Nf3 Ne4 happened in Bologan-Malakhov, Konya 2012.) 17.Nxd5 (17.Ne6 N xc5! This is the trick! Counterattacking the White queen. 18.N xc5 B xc5) 17...cxd5 18.Ne6 Nxc5! 19.Nxc5 e6 Black can hardly be worse.]

16.Ng5! Great move! Actually, the idea belongs to the Hungarian GM Ferenc Berkes, who first pointed out the weaknesses on the light squares of Black’s camp. The direct threat is Ne6 and in many occasions, White is aiming to sacrifice on d5, which reveals the idea behind the Qb3 move. The forthcoming lines are quite complicated, but objectively, Black is already in deep trouble. 16...exd4 [16...Qe7 moves into 17. Bxd5+! cxd5 18.Nxd5+- and the pin decides the game.; 16...Ndf6 17.dxe5 Ne4 is not better either, because of the excellent placement of White’s queen. 18.Ncxe4 fxe4 19.Nxe4! +-] 17.Nxd5! cxd5 18. Bxd5+! White needs to play precisely to get an advantage. The exact move order is really relevant. [GM Berkes started with 18.Ne6 but after 18... Qe7 19.Nxf8 (19.B xd5 now meets 19...Ndf6!) 19...Nxf8 20. Bxd5+ Kh8 The game was not clear at all. The difference can be seen in the 19th move of the game. BerkesBacrot, Germany 2008] 18...Kh8 19.Ne6 Qf6 This is the novelty of the game. From now on, Ushenina had to think. It was another good sign that her opponent had only about 20 minutes left. [Now on 19...Qe7 White is not obliged to take on f8, as the German GM Arik Braun demonstrated. 20.c6! is much stronger, with the idea of Bb4, increasing the pressure. 20...bxc6 21. Bb4! Qf6 (21...c5 22.B xa8 cxb4 23.N xf8 Qxf8 Black has three minor pieces for the two rooks, which is normally very good materially speaking, but now he is lacking a lot of coordination between his pieces. The position is completely lost after 24.Qc4! Nb6 25.Qc7 N xa8 26.Qxc8 +- The rooks are going to dominate on the c-file.) 22. Rxc6 Bb7 23.Nxf8 Bxc6 24.Nxd7 Bxd5 25.Qxd5 Qd8 26. Rc1 After the big massacre, White end11


ed up with a material advantage and a better position; he soon won the game. Braun-Laznicka, Gaziantep 2008.] 20.Nxf8 Qxf8 Black only needs a tempo to consolidate her position, and she’s still doing fine materially with two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn. White has no time to waste. [20... Bxf8 is refuted in a nice line: 21.c6! bxc6 22. Rxc6 Qd8 and now the strongest is 23. Rfc1 Rb8 24.Qxb8! Nxb8 25. Rxc8 +- White is crushing on the 8th rank.; 20...Nxf8 is simply met with 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22.c6 +-] 21. Bxb7! The move is obvious, but it was based on a very deep calculation. If Ushenina doesn’t foresee her 25th move, then she would simply drop her very important light-squared bishop. 21... Rb8 [21...Nxc5? loses to 22. Rxc5 +-] 22.c6 Nc5 At first sight, everything is fine for Black. He is going to take with Nxb7 and Bxb7, obtaining the powerful bishop pair. What could be in Ushenina’s mind when she entered into this position?! [A funny position occurs after 22... Bxb7 All the c-pawn moves are winning, including both captures, and c7 too!] 23.Qb6! Nxb7

24.Qa7!! A fantastic and kind of shocking move, trapping the rook on b8! On 24... Be6, 25.cxb7 wins, as Black can’t hold the b7 pawn. 24... Be5 25.c7! This was the point! Without this move, the whole plan that started with 21. Bxb7 would have made no sense. We must admit that this was a great calculating performance by Anna Ushenina. Suddenly the game is over, Black can only try some desperate tricks on the queenside, but White is well prepared to meet them properly. 25... Ra8!? Stefanova prefers to keep the strong e5 bishop, but of course, this is a complete rook for nothing. 26.Qxa8 Qe8 [On 26...f4 White simply plays 27.g4 +- and everything is nicely protected.] 27.Qxa6 White ended up with a huge material advantage and it’s only matter of time to convert it. 27...Nc5 28.Qa8 The queen on a8 perfectly contributes in the defense of the White king. It practically replaces the task of the absent g2 bishop. 28...Ne4 29. Rc2 It might l ook a bit scary, but Black is unable to create any real threats against the king. White can simply advance her queenside pawns to convert the advantage. 29...Nxd2 30. Rxd2 Kg7 Black hides his king on h6 to leave from the pin on the 8th rank. One possible threat could be Bxg3 followed by Qe3, as the c8 bishop is not hanging with check anymore, but White calmly parries this idea... 31. Rc2 Kh6 32.b4! Perfect play! The pawn arrives very quickly to b7... 12


32... Bd6 [32... Bxg3 leads nowhere 33.fxg3 Qe3+ 34. Rf2 Qxg3+ 35.Qg2! and the great protector joins the defense.] 33.Qd5 Nxg3 A last attempt, but of course, it’s not a serious one. [On 33... Bxb4 White wins after, for instance 34. Rb1 Bc3 35. Rb8 +-] 34.Qxd6 Nxf1 35.Qxd4 The knight is trapped on f1. [35.Kxf1 Qe4 was the trick of the 33... Nxg3 combination, with a double threat on c2 and h1, but even here White wins with 36.Qc6! +- protecting everything.] 35...g5 36.Qf6+ Kh5 37. Rc6 1–0

(4) Adams,Mi (2710) — Polgar,Ju (2705) [B40] 4th London Chess Classic London ENG (3.4), 03.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.e4 A great positional victory achieved by M. Adams in front of his home public, and against Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of chess, who was a very stable guest in the world’s Top 10 before she became a mother. 1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 This move takes Your opening to the „sidelines”. As he does regularly in his latest games, Adams tries to just play chess without getting into theoretical battles. 3...Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 [4...d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.d4 would lead to the main position of the 3.g3 line.] 5.Qe2!? This is probably White’s main idea. In case of 5.d3 d5, we would go back to the very known positions, but now White has a better move against Black’s d5.

5...d5 6.exd5 That’s the point of 5.Qe2. White is forcing Black to take with the knight on d5, and the bishop on c8 is still closed. 13


6...Nxd5 7.0–0 Be7 Both White and Black have a very solid position, but in just 7 moves from now, White will be much better... 8. Rd1!? A nice move! Clearly White’s idea is to play d4 here. In case of a modest move like 8.d3, Black is doing perfectly fine. 8...0–0 Black is allowing White to play d4. [8... Bf6 stopping White from playing d4 leads to a slightly worse position. 9.Nc3 (9.d3 0–0 10.Nbd2 Nd4 11.N xd4 cxd4 and Black is doing perfectly fine.) 9...0–0 10.Ne4 Be7 If White could take on f6, the bishop pair would give a small advantage. 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Rxd4 and White is doing a bit better.; 8...Qb6!? This very strange move might not be as stupid as it looks. Black is stopping White from the main threat — d4. 9.Na3 0–0 10.Nc4 Qc7 It seems like Black lost a tempo, but on the other hand, White’s knight on c4 is not a „hero” either... I think the position should be close to equal here.] 9.d4 White wants to play c4-d5 next. 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Rxd4 Bf6 12. Rd1 Until now all the Black moves looked logical, but the position is already on the limit of being much worse. Adams will show us in a great way why it isso! 12...Qc7

13.c4! Very strong positional move. The bishop on g2 becomes a very strong piece. 13...Nb4 [It isn’t better to play 13...Nb6 14.Na3 Black’s knight on b6 has no perspectives. 14... Bd7 15. Bf4! A very important move in many lines. White is asking Black if he’ll play e5, after which the bishop on f6 will be bad and the d5 square will be weakened. 15...e5 16. Be3 Bc6 17.c5 with a clear advantage for White.] 14.Nc3 a6

15. Bf4! Very strong move by Adams. White is inviting the move e6-e5, after which Black’s position is very hard to hold. 15...e5 16. Be3 Be6 Not a great move to do, but what else to do? White wanted to play a3 followed by Nd5. 17.Nd5 Simple and good. 17...Nxd5 18.cxd5 Bf5 19.d6 Qd7 It seems like Black blocked the d-pawn and wants to exchange rooks on the c-file, but White has an ace in his hands!

14


20. Bb6! Adams is showing one more time why, for more than 15 years, he was in the world’s Top 10. A very atypical and killing maneuver — Bb6-Bc7. Black’s pawn on b7 will become very weak and Black won’t be able to exchange any of the rooks. Even though the position doesn’t look that bad, it is very bad! 20... Rac8?! I don’t see any point in including Rac8-Bc7 for Black, so if he wanted to play Bg4, he should have done it immediately. 21. Bc7 Bg4 22. Bf3 h5 23. Rac1 Black’s pieces are completely paralyzed... 23... Rfe8 24. Bxg4 hxg4 25.Qe4 What a domination! Black’s b7-pawn falling! 25... Bg5 [An attempt to save the b7-pawn would lead nowhere. 25...b5 26.Qc6! and White is winning.]

28. Rdd5! And once again Mickey chooses the safest and strongest continuation. Basically, the position is winning for White. 28... Rf6 29.Qxa6 Why not to take a pawn when you can?! 29...Qf5 30.Qe2 Qb1+ 31. Rd1 Qxa2 32. Rxe5 White is two pawns up and the d6-pawn will become a queen. It was a good time for Polgar to resign the game, but she continuedwith 32... Bxc7 33. Re8+ Rxe8 34.Qxe8+ Kh7 35.dxc7 Qa7 36.Qe4+ A really great positional victory by White with a lot of typical ideas, and a great „special one” with Bb6-Bc7! 1–0

26. Rc5 Bd8 27.Qxb7 White is a clear pawn up and Black still doesn’t even have a small idea of how to continue. 27... Re6

15


Puzzle section

(7) Georgiev,K (2660) — Svetushkin,D (2589) Vrsac, 27.11.2012

(5) Polgar,J (2705) — Jones,G (2644) London, 02.12.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... =

(8) Georgiev,K (2660) — Cvitan,O (2535) (6) Ponomariov,R (2741) — Morozevich,A (2748) Tashkent, 27.11.2012 [CEWN]

Vrsac, 29.11.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

16


(9) Vidit,S (2527) — Gusain,H (2339)

(11) Stojanovic,D (2488) — Damljanovic,B (2576)

Kolkata Open, 03.12.2012

Belgrade Open, 02.12.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Kislinsky,A (2556) — Cvetkovic,S (2389)

(12) Kunte,A (2511) — Padmini,R (2313)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

17


(13) Drenchev,P (2490) — Nabaty,T (2569) Belgrade Open, 29.11.2012 [CEWN] 1... -/+

(14) Vegh,E (2561) — Medvegy,Z (2291) Hungarian league, 02.12.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

18


Endgame section (15) Anand,V (2775) — McShane,L (2713) [D10] 4th London Chess Classic London ENG (2.4), 02.12.2012 [Chess Evolution] 76.b7?! Of course the position is still a draw, but why not to take the h-pawn immediately? [76. Rh8! Rxb6 77. Rxh7 Kg3 Black’s only chance is not to allow the White king to go to h2, but that’s simply impossible to do. 78. Rg7+! Kf3 79.Kg1 and we are again in a theoretical position with an easy draw.] 71.Kg3 After quite a bad game, we arrived to a drawn rook endgame. Everything looks easy because even the position without White’s b-pawn is a theoretical draw, and it should be easy to hold especially for a World Champion, but... let’s take a look at what happened.

76...f5 White’s rook is fixed on b8, and the situation doesn’t change much if White plays Ra8. However, White had to be a little careful now... 77.Kg1 Rb1+ 78.Kg2 Rb2+ 79.Kg1 Rb3

71...Kf5 Black is going forward with the king — the only chance to play for a win. 72.b5 Rc3+ 73.Kg2 Kf4 74.b6 Rc2+ 75.Kf1 Rb2 Until here the play is quite logical.

80.Kg2?! Not the best again. It was much simpler to play 80.Kf2, not giving Black any extra ideas... 19


80... Rg3+! Black is bringing his rook to g7! 81.Kf1 Rg7 82.Kf2 Kg4 Suddenly, White can’t exchange his b-pawn for Black’s h-pawn...

91...Kg4 92. Rg8+ Kf3 93. Ra8 Re1 94. Ra7 Rd1 95. Ra8 Ke3 Black can’t improve his position and uses his last option.

83.Kg2 h5 84.Kf2 h4 85.Kg2 h3+ 86.Kh2 f4 87. Ra8 What to do?! White must give up the b7 pawn... The position is still a draw for now... 87... Rxb7 Black wants to play Rb2 and win... 88. Rg8+! The only defense. In case of 88. Ra2, Black can win with Rb4-Re4-f3 and Re2+. 88...Kf3 89. Ra8! The only way to hold. White’s rook has to stay active 89... Re7

96.Kxh3 White has finally eliminated the h-pawn. 96...f3 97. Ra3+ Nice technique by the World Champion, now everything seems to be clear. 97...Kf2 98. Ra2+ Ke3 99. Ra3+ Ke2 100. Ra2+ Rd2 101. Ra1 Kf2 102.Kh2 Black simply can’t improve his position. It is a dead draw.

90. Ra1?? What a horrible mistake by the World Champion... [90. Rb8! just waiting would have been the right choice!]

102... Re2 103. Ra8 Ke3+ 104.Kg3 Rg2+ 105.Kh3 Rd2 106.Kg3 Rg2+ 107.Kh3 Rd2 108.Kg3 And once again, we have a great example of how easily we can go wrong in the rook endgames, and that even players like the World Champion make mistakes! 1/2

90... Re5? Black misses a win in 1 move! [90...Kg4! would end the game on the spot... Black wants to play Re2 91. Ra2 Re4 followed by f3 and Re2 — the game is over!] 91. Ra8! White is back on the right track. 20


(16) Karjakin,S (2775) — Morozevich,A (2748) Women World Championship, 29.11.2012 [Chess Evolution] We enter this rook endgame right after the time trouble. White is clearly better because of his active rook on b6. If the Black rook leaves the c7 square, White can advance his pawns with b4 and c5, creating the threat of c6 bxc6 Rxa6. Black seems to be in deep trouble.

one rank further, so the position seems to be winning. 51...h4 52.b5 Rf3 53. Rd6+-] 43... Rf7! Great defensive idea in connection with the g5g4 moves. 44.Kf3 Karjakin adm its his mistake and tries to transpose to the previous line and play b4 instead of Kf4, but Morozevich found a better plan for Black... [44.b4 g5+ will be the same as the game.]

42...Kh5 Morozevich decided to give White a tempo. [42...h5 with the idea of playing h4 fails to 43.h4+! Kh6 44.Kf4 and only White made progress.; An attempt to activate the rook with 42... Rd7 is met with 43.b4! Rd3+ 44.Kf2 and the rook must go back to passivity, so the action only helped White to continue his plan... 44... Rd4 45.c5 Rd7 46.c6! bxc6 47. Rxa6  with good winning chances.] 43.Kf4 Karjakin tries to squeeze the Black king, but this allows a hidden counterplay. [43.b4! was stronger. 43... Rxc4 44. Rxb7 It’s difficult to judge whether it’s a draw or it’s winning, but definitely, over the board it is almost impossible to hold. White wants to put his rook to b6 and bring his king to protect the b4 pawn in order to take on a6. Black can take the kingside pawns, but White’s pawns on the queenside are more advanced, which gives him excellent chances. 44...h6 (44...Rc3+ just helps White. 45.Kf4 Rc4+ 46.Ke5) 45. Rb6 Kg5 46.Ke2! f4 Black must hurry to create counterplay, but it seems to be too slow. 47.gxf4+ (Of course not 47.Kd3?? fxg3!) 47... Rxf4 48.Kd3 h5 49.Kc3 White is ready to take on a6. 49... Rf3+ 50.Kc4 Rxh3 51. Rxa6 and both White pawns have advanced

44...g5! g4 is coming next. On the other hand, this allows White to continue his plans on the queenside. 45.b4 g4+ 46.hxg4+ [It makes no sense to keep the f-file closed with 46.Kg2 because of 46... Rd7! and Black gets too much activity. 47.hxg4+ Kxg4] 46...fxg4+ 47.Ke4 Kg5! This was the point of the Rf7, g5-g4 idea. Now Black intends to create his own passed pawn with h5-h4. White is still better obviously, but at least Black has something to play for. 48.b5 [48.c5 was an interesting alternative. Black needs to play precisely to hold. 48... Re7+! Black tries to send the king to the c-file, where it moves into a motif... (48...h5 seems to be too slow 49.c6 bxc6 50. Rxa6 h4 (50...Rb7 is 21


always met with 51.Rb6; 50...Rf6 loses to 51.b5) 51.gxh4+ Kxh4 52. Rxc6 g3 53.b5 The connected pawns are promoting with the help of the king. White can sacrifice his rook for the g-pawn. This is a known method of winning this kind of rook endgames.) 49.Kd4 Rd7+! 50.Ke5 stops covering the 3rd rank, and Black will make use of it later. (The point of the check becomes clear after 50.Kc4 h5 51.c6 where Black has 51...Rc7!; 50.Rd6 Rc7 Finally, Black successfully prevented the c6 and Rxa6 idea and can continue his plan with h5-h4.) 50...h5 51.c6 bxc6 52. Rxa6 Rd3! 53. Rxc6 Rxg3 Both pawn chains are equally advanced, so the game should be drawn. 54.a6 Ra3 55.b5 g3] 48...axb5 49.cxb5 h5 50.a6 Morozevich has spent all his time and he fails to find one of the ways to draw.

50... Re7+ [50...bxa6 51.bxa6 h4 was the most logical reaction and good enough to save the game. 52. Rb5+ (52. Rb7 Rf1 53. Rb5+ Kh6 54. Ra5 (54.gxh4 Ra1 is an easy draw.) 54...h3! It’s important that the pawn promotes with check. 55. Ra2 Kg6! Very nice motif! The king leaves from the h-file and prepares for the h2 push to lure the rook away from behind the a-pawn. 56.a7 h2! 57. Rxh2

Ra1 =) 52...Kh6 53. Ra5 (53.gxh4 g3 White’s king is cut off along the f-file, so the g-pawn will be traded for the a6pawn. The draw is inevitable.) 53...h3! It’s an important detail to promote with check. Black is safe.(After 53...hxg3 Black gets mated with the queens on the board. 54.a7 g2 55.a8Q g1Q 56.Qh8+ Kg6 57.Ra6+ Kg5 58.Qh6#) ] 51.Kd3! Very tricky move, which confused Morozevich a lot. The most obvious move, Kd4, would have allowed the promotion of the g-pawn with check... [51.Kd4 bxa6 52.bxa6 h4 53. Rb5+ Kh6 54.gxh4 g3 55. Rg5 Ra7 =] 51... Rd7+ 52.Kc4 [52.Ke2 was a serious attempt to hide the king on g2 from the checks, and at the same time stopping Black’s counterplay on the kingside. However, Karjakin rightly pointed out at the press conference that Black holds the draw in a study-like way: 52... Re7+ 53.Kf2 Rf7+ 54.Kg2 bxa6 55.bxa6 Rf5! preventing White from playing Rb5-a5. It looks like an easy draw as the rook goes behind the a-pawn, but... 56.a7 Ra5

57. Rb5+! We should never forget this kind of decoying tricks, which are very easy to miss during our games. This time, luckily for Black, the position remains a draw after creating an unbreakable fortress 57... Rxb5 58.a8Q Rf5!= 22


The position is drawn, as White’s king can’t join the battle. The queen alone can’t make progress, the only idea could be to create some kind of zugzwang, but in this case, the Black king has good squares on h6 and g6, while the rook can pass along the f-file.] 52... Rc7+?? A terrible tactical oversight. [52...bxa6 53.bxa6 h4 would have led to a draw. 54. Rb5+ Kh6 55.gxh4 (55. Ra5 hxg3 (55...Ra7 is also good, transposing to 55.gxh4.) 56.a7 Rxa7 57. Rxa7 Kg5 58.Kd3 g2 59. Ra1 Kf4 60.Ke2 Kg3 =) 55... Ra7 56. Ra5 g3 57.Kb5 g2 58. Ra1 Kh5 59. Rg1 (59.Kb6 R xa6+ 60.Kxa6 Kxh4 =) 59... Rg7 60.Kb6 Kxh4 (60... Rg6+ also holds. 61.Kb7 (61. Kb5 Rg7 =) 61... Rg7+=) 61.a7 Rxa7 62.Kxa7 Kh3 = Just in time.]

56...h4 And now: 57.a7! Rxb7 58.a8Q and White wins the h-pawn in any case. The game is over. 58... Rh7 59.Qg8+ Kh6 From now on all the moves are winning, Black continues playing as he was nervous to blunder 53. Rc6, instead of making a draw with bxa6 one move before. 60.gxh4 Rg7 61.Qh8+ Kg6 62.h5+ Kf7 63.h6 Rg5+ 64.Kd6 g3 65.Qh7+ Kf6 Karjakin finds the most elegant way to finish the game. 66.Qe7+ Kf5 67.Qxg5+! Kxg5 68.h7 1–0

53. Rc6!! Beautiful combination, even with such a small amount of material on the board. White is winning now. As the rule says, if two connected pawns reach the 6th rank, a rook is unable to stop them. 53...bxc6 54.b6 Rc8 55.b7 Rb8 56.Kc5! White doesn’t promote immediately with a7 in order to avoid any kind of fortresses. Now he simply wants to take on c6 followed by a7, so the next move is forced. 23


Clash of the Titans (17) Gudmundsson,Arinbjorn — Fischer,Robert James [D95] Reykjavik Reykjavik (2), 07.10.1960 [Csaba Balogh] After the previous week, we examine another nice crush by a 17 years old Fischer. This time, he has the Black pieces.

8.Qc2 [White can’t play for an advantage with 8.cxd5 exd5 9.0–0 Black can, for instance, start a strong regrouping with 9...Ne7 followed by c6 and Nf5-d6, where the knight has an excellent place. It controls the e4 square and defends against the only White plan — the minority attack with b4-b5.] 8...dxc4 The f1 bishop has already spent a tempo, but still without the next move, it would not be advisable to give up the tension in the center. 9. Bxc4

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.Nc3 We have reached the 5.e3 system of the Gruenfeld defense from an unusual move order. 5...0–0 6.Qb3 [The main and critical move is definitely 6. Be2 In the previous issue of CEWN, I have analyzed the convincing victory of Mamedyarov against Svidler with this line.] 6...e6 Black had to fortify his center, as a direct capture on c4 would just develop the f1 bishop without losing a tempo for Be2. [6...c6 is an alternative, which transposes to the Schlechter variation of the Slav defense. (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6)] 7. Be2 Nc6 A double-purpose move. The main idea that White has to avoid is Na5 and Nxc4. The other point will become clear in the course of the game. [The main line and perhaps a better move is 7...b6 8.0–0 Bb7 just like Svidl er played in the mentioned game, but as we can remember, Mamedyarov had a very strong plan on the queenside starting with b4. Now the queen on b3 is clearly misplaced.]

9...e5! This is the point! It’s very useful to remember this motif, we can meet with it in many different openings. 10.dxe5 [White can’t win a pawn by 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.f4? because of the tactical trick 12...Nxe5! 13.fxe5? Qh4+ and the c4 bishop falls.; 10.d5 is met with another known move from various openings: 10...e4! and Black is doing well everywhere. 11.dxc6 (11.N xe4 N xd5) 11...exf3 12.gxf3 bxc6 White’s king isn’t safe anymore.] 10...Ng4 11.0–0 [A possible alternative was 11.e6 with the idea of destroying Black’s healthy pawn structure, but the open f-file gives enough compensation for Black. 24


11... Bxe6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13.0–0 Now, objectively the best move is to force a draw, 13... Rxf3! 14.gxf3 Qh4 15.fxg4 Qxg4+ 16.Kh1 Qf3+ = but of course, Fischer would have preferred to play something else in the 13th move, just to continue the fight.] 11...Ncxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 The position in the center is simplified and the game is balanced. White’s idea in such positions is to create a strong center with e4, f4 and e5. Black has to fight against this. 13...c6 The most logical move to take control of the important d5 square, as otherwise, Rd1 followed by Nd5 could be unpleasant. 14.f4 The idea was correct, but White was not well prepared for that yet. [14.e4 was probably a better start, but here again Black is able to create his counterplaywith 14... Qh4! due to the Ng4 ideas. White has to lose a tempo with 15.h3 and here, as Fischer recommended in his analyses, the strongest move is (On the direct 15.f4 Ng4 16.h3? Bd4+ wins.) 15...g5! This is also a known motif to fight against the f4 plan. Of course, we must always be careful with such pawn moves, because it gives up the f5 and h5 squares. For instance, a knight on g3 or e3 could be devastating. However, in this particular case Black is ready to lead an attack with g4 or another possible plan is f5. The Black king will be safe on h8.] 14...Ng4 15.h3

15... Bf5! Probably this move was missed or at least underestimated by White. [After 15...Nf6 16.e4 followed by Bf3 and e5, White would have got what he was aiming for.] 16.e4? White mis-evaluates the arising position, or just missed the 19th move... [16.Qb3 White should have gone for the b7 pawn. 16...Nf6 17.Qxb7 At least to have a pawn as compensation for the undeveloped queenside and the huge structural weakness on e4. Black has full compensation, but it is just enough for draw, there’s no hope to get an advantage. 17...Ne4! 18.Nxe4 (18.Qxc6 would be too greedy because of 18...Rc8 and Nxc3 next.) 18... Bxe4 19. Bf3 Bxf3 20. Rxf3 Qd5 with full compensation.] 16...Qd4+! 17.Kh1 Nf2+ 18. Rxf2 [18.Kh2? would just drop a pawn. 18...Nxe4] 18...Qxf2 19.exf5 This was the critical position that both players were aiming for. White has a material advantage, but it is easy to feel that the coordination between his pieces is not good enough, and Black should have something. Of course, Black has to act quickly and precisely, as otherwise he’ll just end up in a losing position.

25


28.Kh4 Qe1+! 29.Kg5 Qg3+! 30.Kf6 Qh4+ 31.Kxg6 Re6+! 32.Kxf5 Rf6+ 33.Ke4 Qxf4#) 25... R1e2! 26. Bxf7+ Kh8! The only place to avoid the checks. 27.Qf5 Rxg2+ 28.Kh4 and here Black can choose between several winning moves. The computer recommends as the strongest, the cold-blooded 28... Re7! (A bit more human is 28...Qe1+ 29.Kh5 Kg7!! 30.B xe8 Qxe8+ 31.Kh4 Qh8+ 32.Qh5 Qd8+) 29.Qf6+ Rg7] 19... Bxc3! A hard psychological decision to give up the strong bishop, but it leads to the invasion of the Black rook on the 1st rank. [The most tempting move 19... Rfe8 would have been a mistake. 20.Ne4! Qe1+ 21.Kh2 On 21...gxf5, White stabilizes with 22.Ng3, while against other moves, he simply plays Rb1 and develops his bishop to obtain a big advantage. 21... Bd4 looks strong at first sight, but White has 22. Be3! Qxa1 23. Bxd4 ] 20.bxc3 Rae8 [20... Rfe8 leads exactly to the same...] 21. Bd3 Re1+ 22.Kh2 Qg1+ 23.Kg3 Very suspicious, but accurate play is required by Black. 23... Rfe8! Bringing the last piece and preparing the Re3 sacrifices. The task of the defensive side is pretty hard — his position is objectively worse. 24. Rb1 [24.Qf2? loses on the spot. 24... R8e3+! 25. Bxe3 Rxe3+; 24.fxg6 hxg6 25. Bxg6 looking for a perpetual check, but of course, Black is not obliged to accept the sacrifice. (25.Rb1 f5! is very strong, taking away the escaping squares of the king. White doesn’t really have a move because of the pin on the 1st rank and the necessity of guarding the king. An active action like 26.R xb7 leads to a forced mate in 8 moves: 26...R1e3+! 27.B xe3 R xe3+

24...gxf5! with the idea of Kh8 and Rg8. [24... Rxc1! was also winning 25. Rxc1 Re3+ 26.Kg4 (26.Kh4 is met with 26...Qh2 where the only defense against Qg3 runs into a small tactic. 27.Qf2 R xh3+! 28.Kg5 R xd3) 26...h5+! (26... Qh2 27.Qf2 R xd3 is also good.) 27.Kg5 (27.Kh4 loses again to 27...Qh2 28.Qf2 R xh3+! 29.Kg5 R xd3) 27... Rg3+ The king gets in trouble in every move, 28.Kh4 (28.Kh6 Qe3 29.Qa4 Qe7; 28.Kf6 Qc5 and Qd6.) 28...Qh2! with multiple threats, for example, Rg4, Rxh3 and Qxf4, or just Rxg2.] 25. Bd2 [25. Bxf5 loses to 25... R1e2 26. Bxh7+ Kh8; 25.c4 was probably the most tricky, with the idea of Bxf5 and Re2 Bxh7, and against every king move, White has an unpleasant check with the c1 bishop. Black has to 26


find the winning combination: 25... Rxc1! 26. Rxc1 Re3+ 27.Kh4 Qh2 28.Kh5 At this moment, Black surprisingly has only two winning moves, and none of them is obvious... (The idea is the same, that on 28.Qf2 R xh3+ 29.Kg5 R xd3 wins.)

Surprise section / study (18) Platov 1914 [CEWN] 1. =

28...f6! Black covers the g5 square to threaten Rxh3. (28...h6! also wins, with the same idea of taking with Rxh3. 29.B xf5 Qxf4 30.h4 Rg3 31.Bh7+ Kg7 32.Qf5 and Black must go to a winning queen endgame. 32...Qxc1 33.Qe5+ Kxh7 34.Qxg3 Qxc4) 29. Bxf5 Qxf4! 30.h4 Rg3! Rg5 is threatened. 31. Bxh7+ Kg7 32.Qf5 Qh6#! is the final point and the reason why 28...f6 is even stronger than 28...h6.] 25... Rxb1 [The usual motif 25... R8e3+ was winning here again, but the text is much easier. 26. Bxe3 Rxe3+ 27.Kh4 Qh2] 26.Qxb1 Qxb1 27. Bxb1 Re2 White resigned because he’ll lose one of the bishops.[27... Re2 28. Bc1 Re1] 0–1

27


Solutions (19) Carlsen,M (2848) — Polgar,J (2705) Mexico City (rapid), 25.11.2012

(20) Guerra Mojena,L (2382) — Ortiz Suarez,I (2595) Mexico City Open, 22.11.2012 [Solutions]

[Solutions]

19.b4!! Qc4 20. Rg3!+28...Qh4!! 29. Rc1 [29. Be2 N4xd5! 30.cxd5 Nxd5!–+ 31. Bxg5 Qxe1+! 32. Rxe1 Nxb4 33. Bxd8 Rxd8–+] 29... Bxd5?! [29...N4xd5! 30.cxd5 Nxd5 31. Bxg5 Qxg5! 32.exd5 (32.R xg5 N xb4–+) 32...Qxg1–+; 29...N6xd5! 30.exd5 Nxd5–+] 30.cxd5 [30. Bxf4! Qxf4 31.cxd5 Nxd5 32.Qc4] 30...N4xd5 31. Bxg5 Qxg5! 32. Rxg5 Nxb4–+

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(21) Ghaem Maghami,E (2559) — Tkachiev,V (2659)

(22) Collins,S (2471) — Jones,G (2644)

Fujeirah Open, 20.11.2012

Kilkenny Masters, 25.11.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Bxf7+!! Kxf7 25.Qf4+! Ke7 [25...Kg7 26. Rxg6+ hxg6 27.Qxc7+-]

27... Bxg2! 28.Qxc7 Bf3+! 29. Bg2 Rxg2+ 30.Kf1 Rxh2! 31.Ne2 Rxe2! 32. Rd8+ Bf8! 33. Rxf8+ Kxf8 34.Qc5+ Re7 35.Qc8+ Re8 36.Qc5+ Kg8 0–1

26. Rfd1! [26.e5!+-] 26... Rxb3 27. Rxd7+ [27.cxb3+-] 27...Nxd7 28.Qxc7 Rxc3 29. Rxd7+ Bxd7 30.Qe5+ Kd8 31.Qxc3+-

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(23) Svetushkin,D (2589) — Bogosavjlevic,B (2524) Vrsac GM, 23.11.2012 [Solutions]

32.Qd3!! Kg8 [32...Kf8 33.Qd6++-; 32... Rxc2 33.Qg6+ Kf8 34.Qxf6+ Kg8 35.Qg6+ Kf8 36. Rf5+ Ke7 37. Rf7+ Kd8 38.Qg8#] 33. Rxc7 Rxc7 34.Qg6+ Rg7 35.Qxf6 Qf8 [35...bxa3 36.Qe6+ (36.Qxh6+-) 36...Kh7 37.Qf5+ Kh8 (37...Kg8 38.Rc5!+-) 38. Re6!+-] 36.Qe6+ Kh7 37.axb4+(25) Sethuraman,S (2520) — Adly,A (2607) Commonwealth Open, 26.11.2012

33. Bd3! [33.Qf6+ Kg8 34. Bd3!+-]

[Solutions]

33... Rg8 [33...exd3 34.Qf6+ Kg8 35. Rg4+ Kf8 36.Qd6+ Ke8 37. Rg8#] 34.Qf6+ Rg7 35. Bb1 1–0 (24) Cvitan,O (2535) — Georgiev,K (2660) Vrsac GM, 24.11.2012 [Solutions]

39... Rxg2! 0–1[39... Rxg2 40.Qxg2 Bh3–+]

30


(26) Banusz,T (2580) — Pap,G (2553)

(27) Matlakov,M (2673) — Shimanov,A (2597)

Hungarian Championship, 26.11.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36. Rxc6! Bxc6 37.Qc2! 1–0[37.Qc2 Bd5 38.Qxh7+ Kf8 39.Qh5!+- (39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.Qxg7 Rf8 41.f5+-) 39... g6 40.Qh7+-]

25.d5!! exd5 [25... Rxc3? 26.Qe8+ Kg7 27.dxe6! Rxd3 28.Qxf7+ Kh8 29.Qxf6+ Kg8 30.Qg5+ Kh8 31.exd3 Qxd3 32.Qe5+ Kg8 33.e7; 25... Bxc3 26.dxe6 Qxe2 27.Qe8+ Kg7 28.Qxf7+ Kh6 29.Qf8+ Kg6 30.Qf7+ Kh6=] 26.Qxa6 [26.Qxf6 Rxc3 27.Qg5+ Kf8 28.Qd8+=] 26... Rxc3 27.Qc8+ Bf8 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qc8! Kg8 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qc8 Kg8 1/2–1/2

31


(28) Mamedov,R (2647) — Savchenko,B (2556)

(29) Sehwers,J


1900

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Bxe5! fxe5 25.Qf7+!! 1–0[25.Qf7+ Rxf7 26. Rxf7+ Kd6 27. Rxc7 Kxc7 28.Nxe6+ Kd6 29.Nxg7+-]

1. Rb5+!! [1. Rh6+? Be6!–+] 1...Kc6 [1...Kxb5 2. Bf6! Qxf6=; 1...Ka7 2. Bf2+! Ka8 (2...Ka6 3.Rb6+! Ka5 4.Rb5+! Kxb5 5.Bd4!=) 3. Rb8+!! Kxb8 4. Bd4! Qxd4=; 1...Kc7 2. Bg3+ Kd7 3. Be5] 2. Rb6+! Kxb6 [2...Kd7 3. Bf6] 3. Bf2+! Kb7 4. Bd4! Qxd4 1/2

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Weekly Newsletter





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3

»» Puzzle section

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27

»» Solutions

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London Chess Classic: Carlsen is crushing everything in a very impressive style. For the third time in a roll, he managed to win London Chess Classic tournament and this time with a very impressive 5 wins and 3 draws! His live rating is over 2860, breaking Kasparov’s all time record of 2851. Can somebody stop Carlsen in the near future? It doesn’t seem so… It also was a great tournament for Vladimir Kramnik with 4 wins and 4 draws, getting to the second place in the live rating and overtaking Aronian who was in a bad shape during the London Classic. The 3rd place went to Nakamura who had ups and downs, but all in all showed a big fighting spirit and a nice 2840 performance. The Russian Cup was won by “guess who”... Bartosz Socko! A Polish national team member. How is it possible? Don’t ask me! It was a knock-out system event and the final match was played between D. Khismatulin and B. Socko, the latter managed to win the first game with White and somehow survive the second game with Black. In Germany, in the clash of the 2 strongest teams of the current season — Baden-Baden and Muehlheim — the match finished with the score 4,5-3,5 in favor of BadenBaden. As usual, we wish You chess joy with Your current issue of CEWN. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Kramnik,Vladimir (2795) — McShane,Luke J (2713) [D15] 4th London Chess Classic Olympia, London (5), 06.12.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A really wonderful crush by Kramnik with a lot of sacrifices. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.g3 Recently, this 5.g3 line against the Chebanenko Slav was considered to be quite a harmless approach, but this game might change the general opinion. 5...dxc4 6.a4 White wants to recover the c4 pawn, therefore he prevents b5. [6. Bg2 b5 7.Ne5 Bb7 is the start of the other line, where White tries to find compensation for the pawn in the center with e4.]

11. Bf4! This is the novelty of our game. Black provokes the e5 move, after which the d5 square becomes a real hole in Black’s camp. [Kramnik has deviated from his own game, which continued with 11.Qd4 Bc5 12.Qh4 Be7 13.Na3 Ne5 14. Bf4 h6 15. Bxe5 and at this moment, the players agreed to a draw. Kramnik-Gelfand, Linares 1997.]

6...e6 7. Bg2 c5 8.0–0 [8.dxc5 is the most common move, but after 8...Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bd7! This very deep novelty was introduced by Karjakin back in 2009 and it seems to solve all of Black’s problems. 10.Ne5 Nc6=]

11...e5 [If Black restrain s himself from giving up the control over the d5 square and plays 11...Qc5 12.a5! was probably Kramnik’s preparation with the idea of 12... Be7 13. Ra4! 0–0 14.Na3!+= With this cool maneuver, White wins back the pawn and obtains a clear advantage as all his pieces are perfectly placed. The main problem of Black is that he can’t protect his pawn with b5 because the a8 rook will hang at the end.]

8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 This could not be a real surprise for McShane that Kramnik chose this line, since he has already played it in two games.

12. Bd2! [12. Bg5 is much worse because of 12...h6 and the bishop won’t be able to return to g5 as it happened in the game.]

9...Nbd7 10.Nc2! White wants to win back the c4 pawn, so he drives his knight to e3.

12...Nc5 Black would like to preserve his c4 pawn advantage and wants to protect it with Be6. In addition, he is ready to jump with the knight to b3. [12... Be7 is met with 13.Ne3! and Ncd5 next is going to be really unpleasant.; 12... Bc5 was an alternativ e, as it was pointed out

10...Qc7

3


by Kramnik at the press conference. He was intending to play 13.Ne3 0–0 14. Rc1 White is very close to restoring the material balance. 14... Bxe3 15. Bxe3 Rb8 Black is finally ready to push b5, but this still doesn’t allow him toequalize: 16.Nd5! Nxd5 17.Qxd5 b5

18.Qc6! This concrete solution demonstrates well the power of the bishop pair. 18...Qxc6 19. Bxc6 Ba7 is threatened, and on 19...bxa4 20. Rfd1! suddenly the f8 rook is going to be trapped, 20...Nf6 21. Bc5!] 13. Bg5! By eliminating the f6 knight, the d5 square becomes even more vulnerable. 13... Be6 Black tries to control the d5 square, but this allow White to destroy his pawn structure... [13... Be7 is not better either. 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Nce3 Be6 17.Nxc4  The power of the minor pieces is just huge. White wants to play Ncb6 and Rc1, or just b4 with a big advantage.] 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 [The absence of the lightsquared bishop will tell after 15... Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Nb3 17. Rad1 followed by Ne3, with complete control on the light squares.]

16.Nce3 Nb3

17.a5!! A shocking move, based on excellent calculation and great intuition! White frees the a4 square for the rook, or for the queen, if the rook is taken. [McShane was expecting 17. Rb1 and after 17... Rc8 he would successfully consolidate his position.] 17... Rc8? [The critical test was definitely 17...Nxa1 18.Qa4+! (18.Qxa1 is too slow. 18...Bc5) 18... Bd7 Only move. 19.Qxc4 Nc7 is threatened. 19... Rc8 20.Qh4 Rc6! 21. Rxa1 Despite the fact that White doesn’t even have a pawn for the exchange, it’s clear that with such active pieces, it’s much easier and better to play the position as White. However, Black also has some chances after 21... f5!] 18. Ra4! This was the point! Now White is ready to recover the pawn again and if it falls, the Black position collapses. 18...Nd4 Black indirectly protects the c4 pawn, as the d5 knight is hanging after all. [On 18...Nxa5 19.Nxf6+! looks pretty strong. 19...Qxf6 20. Rxa5 Black has too many weaknesses. Not only the pawns, but also the light squares.] 4


19.Nb6! Rc7

20. Rxc4!! Another shocking blow, with fantastic intuitions again! In a few moves, we’ll get a clear picture of why the absence of the e6 bishop is worth a rook. [20. Nbxc4 After 20... Bc5 Black obtain s a playable position. Suddenly, the bishop pair and the strong knight on d4 are enough compensation for the weakened structure.] 20... Bxc4 [Black is worse even if he does not accept the exchange: 20... Bc5 21.Nbd5 Rc8 22.Qd3 followed by Rfc1.] 21.Nexc4  White is ready to kick out the d4 knight with e3. It's very nice to see the way White plays on the light squares on the following lines... 21...Nb5 [21... Bc5 is met with 22.e3! Ne6 23.Nd5 Rd7 24.Qf3 White continues dominating even without the queens on the board. 24... Rxd5 25.Qxd5 Qxd5 26. Bxd5 The b7 pawn is a clear weakness.; 21... Be7 22.e3! Ne6 23.Qa4+ Kf8 24.Nd5! (24.Rd1 is less precise. 24...Qe8) 24... Rc5 25.Ncb6 Kg7 26. Rd1 Black can’t move! Qg4 is coming with a mating attack. Nd7 is also in the air.]

22.Qb1! Very nice! Keeping the eyes on the light squares. Rd1 joins the game next. 22...Qd4 Otherwise, after Rd1, the queen would only have one square on b8, which was definitely not a tempting alternative. 23. Rd1 Qc5 24.e3 Taking control of the d4 square. [It was also strong to transfer the knight to d5 first. 24.Ne3 Nd4 25.Ned5 Rc6 26.e3! with a winning advantage as well.] 24... Be7 25.Qf5! Stormy clouds are approaching. At this moment, McShane had only 3 minutes left against Kramnik’s one hour. 25...Kf8 26. Bd5! By protecting the c4 knight, White threatens with Nd7. 26...Kg7 27.Qg4+ Kh6 Obviously, White has several ways to win, but Kramnik continues to play for the spectators! 28.e4! Of course, to give up the d4 square is a potential mistake, but it has a concrete reason — White wants to mate Black with Ne3-f5. Black has an only way to defend.

5


28...Nd4 29.Ne3 [29.b4!? was another pretty win. 29... Qxb4 30. Rxd4! exd4 31.Qf4+ Kg7 32.Qxc7 +-]

35.Qg7 Rf8 36.Nxd4 Suddenly, Ne6 threatens mate in one. Quite an unusual picture. [36.Nd5 was also winning.]

29...f5 Otherwise, Rxd4 decides the game. Now Kramnik has calculated a very long, forced and spectacular line until the win.

36... Rc6 [36... Rxf7 also loses to 37.Qxf7 (37.Ne6+?? only leads to a perpetual check after 37...Ke8 38.Qg8+ Rf8 39.Ng7+ Kd8 40.Ne6+=) 37...Qxd4 38.Qg8+ +-]

30.Qh3+! [30.Nxf5+ Nxf5 31.Qxf5 is also winning for White.]

37.Nxc6+ bxc6 Black seems to have some hopes because of the f2 square, but the next move destroys all the dreams...

30...Kg7 31. Rxd4! Another exchange sacrifice. This is already the 3rd in th game; McShane rejected to accept the first one on a1. 31...exd4 32.Nxf5+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ Ke8

34. Bxf7+! This was the point. Black can’t hope for salvation. [34.Qg7 Rf8 is not clear.] 34...Kd8 [34...Kxf7 35.Qg7+ Ke6 Now, the best, but not the only way to win is (35...Ke8 36.Qxh8+ +-) 36.Nxd4+ Kd6 37.Qh6+! Ke5 this is not a good sign. 38.Nf3+ Kxe4 39.Qf4+ Kd3 40.Ne5+ Kc2 41.Qe4+! After this subtle chess, Black can’t avoid losing his queen with Nd3 check. For instance, after 41...Kb3 42.Qa4+ Kxb2 43.Nd3+ +-]

38.Qg4! with a double mate threat on d7 and c8. Kramnik admitted that he calculated until this moment when he played 30.Qh3! Impressive! 38...Kc7 39.Qd7+ Kb8 40.Qd2? The only mistake in the game by White. McShane had only 3 seconds left to make the last move of the time trouble and Kramnik wanted to shock him with this unexpected retreat, with the idea of Nd7. We’ll get the same position two moves later, when White already plays the strongest move. 40...Kc7 [40... Bg5 could have been a small chance, although the position remains lost 41.Nd7+ Kc8 42.Qd1! (42.N xc5 B xd2 43.Bc4 is also technically winning, but of course, to enter such an endgame when Black is so close to getting mated gives a bad feeling...) 42... Rd8 43.Qg4! These were the best moves, after which White is still winning easily... 43... Rxd7 44. Be6 +-] 41.Qd7+ Kb8 42.Kg2! A cool move. Suddenly, Black finds himself in zugzwang as he can’t play Rd8 because of Qxd8 and Nd7. 42... Bd6 [42... Rd8 43.Qxd8+ Bxd8 44.Nd7+; 42... Rxf7 43.Qc8+ Ka7 44.Qc7#]

6


43.b4! Now the game is over. Black has to give up his c6 pawn because d6 has to be protected.

(2) Kramnik,Vladimir (2795) — Jones,Gawain C (2644) [A04]

43...Qd4 44.Qxc6 Ka7 All the moves are winning now...

4th London Chess Classic Olympia, London (8.1), 09.12.2012

45.Kh3 Kramnik calmly leaves from the Qxe4 check, after Nc8 Rxc8 Qxc8. Black can resign now.

[Kamil Miton]

45...Qd1 [45...Qxf2 46.Qd7+ Kb8 47.Qxd6+ +-] 46.Nc8+ Rxc8 47.Qxc8 White ended up with 4 extra pawns and the mating attack continues. [47.Qb6+ Ka8 48. Bd5+ +- was even easier.] 47...Qf1+ 48.Kg4 h5+ 49.Kxh5 What a brilliant performance by Kramnik! Amazing! 1–0

1.Nf3 c5 2.b3!? After this move, it’s clear that Kramnik says: „Let’s play simple chess without a huge amount of theory”. It’s interesting because I’m sure that in the opening Kramnik is not worse prepared than the English grandmaster. We know that Kramnik plays a lot of lines after Nf3-c4, where his new improvements and ideas might be decreasing, so he decides to use the original 2.b3 move. 2...d5 Of course, Black has a few different plans. For example, it’s possible to play b6-Bb7 or Nf6-g6-Bg7. Jones uses a logical development as well; he is going to build a strong center. 3.e3 Nf6 4. Bb2 e6

5.g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.c4 The first important moment in the center.

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8...b6 Jones could change the structure slightly and transpose the position to a Benoni System, with colors reversed. [8...d4 9.exd4 cxd4 In the Benoni structures, the bishop on b7 (in this case, on b2 ) is badly placed. On the other hand, Black has to lose a tempo to put the pawn on e5. 10. Re1 Important move. White doesn’t allow Black to push e5 too easily. (10.d3 e5 11.Re1 Nd7 with a5-f6-Nc5 next. The Bishop on b2 is limited and only Black can be better.) 10...Ne8 Black played a few other moves as well. 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12. Rxe5 f6 13. Re1 e5 14.d3 Nc7 15. Ba3 Logical. 15...Ne6 A mistake. Now Black’s pieces are under pressure on the e-file. (15...B xa3 16.N xa3 Qd6 with more or less equal play.) 16.f4 Bxa3 17.Nxa3 Qe7 18.Nc2 exf4 19.gxf4 (19.Bd5 Qg4 is coming next.) 19...Qd6 20.Qc1 Nxf4 21.c5 Qc7 1/2–1/2 Dizdar,G-Gustafsson,J/Plovdiv BUL 2008. 22.Nxd4 Nxg2 23.Kxg2 Black is much better because of the very poorly placed White king.] 9.Nc3 Bb7 A natural human decision. Another interesting option was: [9...dxc4 10.bxc4 (10.Ne5 N xe5 11.B xa8 Ba6 12.Bg2 cxb3 13.axb3 B xf1 14.B xf1 Qd7 Black is not worse.) 10...Qd3 looks crazy but very concrete. 11.Qb3 (11.Ne5 N xe5 12.B xa8 N xc4 13.Bc1 Nd5; 11.Ne1 Qd7 12.d3 Bb7 13.Qe2 Rfd8 White can try to improve his position in the long-term, but Black’s position is very solid.)

11...Na5 12.Ne5 Nxb3 13.Nxd3 Nxa1 14. Bxa8 Ba6 15. Bf3 Bxc4 16.Ne1 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 b5 18. Bxa1 Rb8 and the position is almost equal.] 10.cxd5 exd5 [10...Nxd5 11.Nxd5 (11.d4 Nxc3 (11...cxd4? 12.N xd5 exd5 13.N xd4 with a clear advantage for White.) 12. Bxc3 and here I suppose that Black needs a few accurate moves to equalize the position and be safe. 12... Bf6 (12...cxd4 13.Nxd4 Rc8 It looks like Black almost equalized, but... 14.Nb5 Qxd1 (14...a6 15.Qg4 This is the trick. 15...g6 16.Rfd1) 15. Rfxd1 Rfd8 16. Bxc6 Rxc6 17. Rxd8+ Bxd8 18. Rd1 Bf6 19. Rd7! Ba8 20. Rxa7 Rc8 21. Rc7 ) 13. Rc1 Ba6 14. Re1 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Rc8 17. Rxc8 Bxc8 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Qd6 Qb2 and Black is fine.) 11...Qxd5 (11...exd5 12.d4 Rc8 (12...Bf6 13.Qd2+=) 13.dxc5 (13.Qe2 c4 14.bxc4 Ba6 15.Rfc1 Na5 Black avoids the position with hanging pawns and changes the structure. Of course, now d5-pawn will be weak, but maybe in this case, it’s not a big deal.) 13...bxc5 14.Qe2 with a similar position to the game where White is slightly better.) 12.d4 is not easy for Black because White has some threats over the h1–a8 diagonal. 12... Rad8 (12...Qf5!?) 13.Ne5 Qd6 14.dxc5 Qxc5

8


15.Nd7 Qf5 In other case Qg4 16.e4 Qg5 17.h4 Qh6 The Black queen doesn’t have any good squares because after Qg6, White has Nxf8. 18. Bc1 g5 19.hxg5 Qg7 20.e5 Kh8 21. Bf4] 11.d4+= Kramnik did his job. He got a slightly better technical position. Now, Black will get a position with hanging pawns or an isolated pawn. Both options are really unpleasant, especially when You play against Kramnik. 11...Ne4 12.dxc5 Nxc3 [12... Bf6 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15. Bxd4 bxc5 16. Bxc5 Bxa1 17. Bxf8 Qxd1 18. Rxd1 Kxf8 19. Rxa1 Rc8 20. Rd1 Rc2 21. Bf1 White is better now that Black can’t win the pawn. 21... Rxa2 because 22. Bb5 and it’s curious that Black managed to lose his bishop!] 13. Bxc3 bxc5 14.Qe2 Logical. White develops his pieces. Kramnik is going to play Rd1–Rc1 and put pressure on the hanging c5-d5 pawns. Besides, one of White’s idea is to play Qb2 in order to provoke some weaknesses on the kingside. 14... Re8?! It seems logi cal to put the rook on e8 in order to have some ideas with the d4 push, but Jones doesn’t feel the danger. The most important task for him was to take care of the d5 pawn. [14...Qd6 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16.Qb2 f6 doesn’t look nice, but what else to do? a) 16... Bf8 17. Rd2 with the idea of Rad1, putting pressure on the d5-pawn. Compared to the 16...f6 line, Black will not able to play Qe6 because of Ng5.; b) 16...Qe6

17.b4! Nice trick. To immediately grab the pawn on g7 is not correct. (17.B xg7 d4 18.exd4 Kxg7 19.d5+ Bf6) 17...d4 18.exd4 cxb4 19.d5 Rxd5 20. Rxd5 Qxd5 21. Bxg7 White is clearly better because of the weak Black king.; 17. Rd2 (17.Ne1 Qe6 18.Nd3 d4 Finally it’s possible! 19.exd4 cxd4 20.Bb4 N xb4 21.B xb7 N xd3 22.R xd3 Rab8 23.Bf3 Black should easily manage to make a draw.) 17...Qe6 18. Rad1 Rd7 19.Ne1 Rad8 and somehow, Black managed to defend. 20.Qc2 Ne5 21. Bxe5 fxe5 22.e4 gaining control over the light squares. 22...d4 23. Bf1 Kh8 24. Bc4 Qg6 25. Re2+=] 15. Rfd1 Bf8 16.Qb5! Now Kramnik is going to get a better endgame by force. He had other good options as well: [16. Rd2 with the idea of creating pressure over the d-file. 16...a5 (16...d4 doesn’t work because of 17.Qd1 and White is winning a pawn. 17...Qb6 18.exd4 cxd4 19.N xd4 Ne5 20.Nf3 A strong move that doesn’t allow Black to get counterplay on the light squares.) 17.Qd1 (17.Rad1 Ba6 18.Qe1 d4 and the queen on e1 can’t escape from the pin.) 17...Ne7 18.Ne5 Qc7 19. Rc1 Rad8 20.Qh5 with a very unpleasant position for Black. 20...Ng6 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Qd1 and the d5 pawn is falling. 22... Rd7 23. Bxd5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Qc6 25.e4 Rxe4 26.f3 Re8 9


27. Re5+=; 16.Qd3 Xd5 16...Nb4 17. Bxb4 cxb4 18. Rac1 The weak d5 pawn and the good square on d4 for the knight give White a strategical advantage.] 16...Qb6 [16... Rb8 17.Qa4+= It’s hard to find a good plan for Black.] 17.Qxb6 axb6 18. Rxd5 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 cxd4 [20... Rad8 21.Nb5 Rxd5 22.Nc7 +-] 21. Bxd4 The position is very unpleasant for Black. For the exchange, White has two pawns and a strong bishop on d5 that controls many important squares. White's pieces cooperate very well and it's easy for them to improve their positions.

21... Ra5 The idea of this move is to activate the bishop after Bc5. [21... Rad8 22. Bc4 (22.e4? R xe4 23.B xe4 R xd4 24.Bf3 Rd2=) 22... Rb8 Black wants to play b5-b4 and fix the a2-b3 pawns, so White plays (22...Bc5 23.B xc5 bxc5 24.a4 ) 23.a4 g6 24. Rd1 with the idea of exchanging bishops after Bg7 and penetrating with the rook on the 7th rank. 24... Red8 25. Rc1 Rdc8 (25...Bg7 26.B xf7+ +-) 26. Be5 Ra8 27.Kg2 Bg7 28. Bd6 Bf8 29. Bf4 Be7 30.h4+=]

22.e4 Bc5 Black could try to fix the White pawns again: [22...b5 23.a4 (23. Rc1 Rxa2 24. Rc7 Be7 (24...Re7 25.Rc8+-) 25. Rb7 Rd2 26. Be3 Rd1+ 27.Kg2 b4 28. Bc6 Kf8 29. Bxe8 Kxe8 and Black has enough counterplay against the b3 pawn.) 23...bxa4 24.bxa4 Rb8 25. Bc3 Bb4 26. Be5 Rc8 White is better, but it’s a long way to convert it to a whole point.] 23. Bc3 Of course, White doesn’t exchange the bishops. 23... Ra3 24. Bb2 Ra7 25.a4 Rc7 The threat now is Bxf2, so White plays the strong: 26. Ra2! h6 Well, Black has to be careful, but I don’t like Jones’ plan. My intuition tells me that it’s better to keep the king closer to the queenside (Kf8) and try to put the pawns on light squares, like g6-h5. [26... Bb4 When I saw this game, I though about this move with the idea of activating the rook: 27. Bd4 Rc1+ 28.Kg2 Bc5 29. Bxc5 Now it’s time to take on c5. 29... Rxc5 30.b4 Rc7 31.a5 bxa5 32.bxa5 Ra7 33.a6 h5 An important move if Black needs to hold the rook endgame with 4 against 3 on one side. 34.Kf3 Rb8 35.Kf4 Rb6 36. Bc4 (36.Bb7 g6 with Rxb7 next.) 36...g6 37.f3 Kf8 38.Ke5 Ke7 39.Kd4 and Black’s position is very unpleasant.] 27.Kg2 Kh7 28.f4 f6 Strange setup. Now White gets strong play on the light squares. 29.Kf3 Rd7 30.a5 Kramnik activate the rook. [30. Bc6? Rd3+; 30. Ba1 f5 31. Rc2 fxe4+ 32. Bxe4+ Kh8 33. Be5 White pieces are much stronger. Now the threat is to push a5.] 30...bxa5 31. Rxa5 Rc8 32. Rb5 Rd6

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41... Ra3 42.h5 Rc3 43. Bd4 R 3c7 44. Rxc7 Bxc7 Now the b-pawn is going to win the game and White can even exchange the rook. 45.Kf5 Bd6 46.b5 Rc1 47.b6 Bb8 48.Ke6 Rh1 49. Bc5 1–0

33. Rb7 The engine suggests another winning idea, but it looks bit unhuman. [33.b4 Bg1 (33... Rb6 34. Rxc5 Rxc5 35.bxc5 Rxb2 36.c6 White is winning because Black is not able to stop the c-pawn. 36...g6 (36...R xh2 37.e5 +-) 37.Ke3 Kg7 38.Kd4 Rb8 39.Kc5 +-) 34.e5 fxe5 35. Bxe5 Rb6 36. Be4+ Kh8 37. Rd5 This idea was not easy to see. 37... Rxb4 38. Rd6 Rb6 39. Rd7 Rg8 40. Bd5] 33... Rb6 34. Rf7 Rf8? The final mistake. Black could have tried to activate the rook in order to look for some counterplay. [34... Ra6 35. Bb7 (35.h4 Ra7 36.R xa7 B xa7+=) 35... Ra7 36. Bxf6 Kg6 37. Bxc8 Kxf7 38. Bc3 Ra2 (38... Ra3 39.Bb7 White is on time.) 39. Bb7 Rxh2 40.b4 Be7 41.b5 Bc5 42. Bd5+ Kf8 43.e5 The White king will be easily improved over the light squares and it will help the b-pawn.] 35. Rc7 Bd6 36. Rd7 Ra6 [36... Bc5 37.e5 White is crushing.] 37. Bd4 Bb8 38. Bc5 Re8 39.Kg4 Ra2 40.h4 Rc8 41.b4 White is totally dominating. Kramnik realized his advantage very nicely from the 21st move.

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(3) Jones,G (2644) — Anand,V (2775) [D70] 4th London Chess Classic London ENG, 06.12.2012 [Csaba Balogh] After 17 games without winning a single game, the World Champion Anand succeeded to score in great style. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Recently, the 3. f3 line against the Gruenfeld has been enjoying big popularity. We often meet with it on the highest level. Black has plenty of different setups, and Anand chose one of the sharpest ones. 3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 e5 Anand has fresh experience with this move, since in the 3rd game of the World Championship match against Gelfand, he played like this. However, in that game Anand was playing with the White pieces! We have analyzed that game in the 12th CEWN. [8...Nc6 is the main line. 9.0–0–0 Qd6 Two days after this game, Aronian played like this against Jones. It was another tense battle, which ended in draw.] 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 Until here, we were following the theory, and now Jones deviates with a novelty. I’m not sure if it was a prepared one, it’s possible that he was just caught by surprise when Anand played the Gruenfeld defense!

14.Nh3 This is a nice square for the knight, since it’s heading to g5, where it contributes to the attack and is ready to jump to e6 and e4. [14.0–0–0 Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 happened in the mentioned Anand-Gelfand game.] 14...e4! A great reaction and also the most principled move to open the position against the king on e1; it can only look for safety by castling queenside, where it moves into the diagonal of the g7 bishop. [The greedy 14...Nfxd5 was not advisable because of 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Ng5! (The tempting 16.Bc4? doesn’t work. 16... Qh4+!) 16...Nxe3 17.Qxe3 and White has more than enough compensation for the pawn. Suddenly, the king on g8 is much more vulnerable than the one on e1. White threatens Bc4, for example. 17...Qa5+ is simply met with 18.Kf2 White needs the queens on the board to lead an effective attack.] 15.fxe4 Ng4 The most logical move again. Black wants to take the e3 bishop, and White can’t allow this, as it would lead to a disaster on the dark squares. In addition, the knight is also ready to occupy the e5 square, from where the Nc4 threats become really annoying. [15...Nh5 is the computer’s suggestion with full compensation, but the text move is more human.] 12


16. Bf4 This is probably a mistake, but in my opinion, it’s almost impossible to play this position well as a human. Black’s attack is rolling, while White can stay in the game by finding the only moves, which are not obvious at all. It was not a wise decision by Jones to go for this line without proper preparation. [16. Bc5 was the right move according to the machine, but to give up the c1– h6 diagonal is really unhuman, as it deprives White from castling queenside because of Bh6. 16... Bh6 (16...Rf7? is bad. 17.Ng5; 16...Bd7 is also possible with an exchange sacrifice. 17.B xf8 Qxf8 Black has total domination on the dark squares and the haunt of the king can begin... The computer is not impressed by this at all, but it looks very dangerous to me.) 17.Qd3 Rf7 looks terrible for White, but according to the machine, the game is far from clear after, for instance 18. Be2 Anyway, I don’t suggest anyone to try this in a practical game.; 16. Bg5 Qd6 17.0–0–0 Ne5 is similar to the game. Black has a huge attack. One of the threats is Bg4 followed by Rc8 and Nbc4.]

17. Bg5 [17.0–0–0 is not better. 17... Bg4 Black’s pieces are coming with tempo. 18. Re1 (18.Be2 loses to 18... Nec4 19.Qc2 B xh3! and f4 falls.) 18...Nec4 19. Bxc4 Nxc4 20.Qd3 Rc8 21.e5 Qb6 with a crushing attack.] 17...Qd6 It’s very nice to see how Anand only plays on the dark squares. All these ideas are the fruits of the 14... e4 move! 18.Nb5 [18.b3 to prevent Nc4 doesn’t really reach its aim. 18...Nec4! wins because the c3 knight lost its stability. 19.bxc4 Qg3+! wins.; 18.0–0–0 Bg4 is as bad as the 17.0–0–0 line.] 18...Qc5 19.Na3 [19. Rc1 Black has two ways to win: 19... Rxf1+ is the easiest and Qxb5 next.(19...Nec4 is even stronger. 20.B xc4 N xc4 21.Qe2 Qb4+ 22.Nc3 N xb2 White collapses.) ]

16...Ne5! Black prepares for the Nc4 jumps. White is in deep trouble, and even the computer admits it this time.

19... Bxh3! Black wins by force after this move. Anand has precisely calculated everything. White doesn’t have a good way to re-capture, as the f3 square must be protected and Rxh3 leaves the f1 bishop alone. 20. Be3 White sends the queen away from the diagonal in order to be able to take back with Rxh3 and prevent 13


the Qg1 ideas, but this loses as well. [20. Rxh3 Nbc4 (20...Qg1 21.Qe2 Ng4 is also winning. Black has numerous threats, for example Rf2, Nh2 or Bxb2.) 21.Nxc4 Nxc4 White can’t hold the attack 22.Qc2 (22.B xc4 Qg1+ 23.Ke2 Rf2+ 24.Ke3 Rf1+ 25.Kd3 Qd4+ All the pieces start to fall.) 22... Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Ne3+; 20.gxh3 Nf3+; The most elegant refutation of 20. Rc1 is 20... Rxf1+! 21. Rxf1 (21.Kxf1 Rf8+ 22.Ke1 Nd3+! 23.Qxd3 Qf2+ 24.Kd1 Bg4+) 21...Qxc1+! 22.Qxc1 Nd3+ 23.Kd2 Nxc1 and Black ends up with an extra piece in any case.] 20...Qc8! The first vi sual mistake, as Anand puts one of his pieces on a light square. The only reason is that Black could win on the spot with a tactical motif. 21. Rc1 [21. Rxh3 Qxh3! is the point! 22.gxh3 Nf3+ 23.Ke2 Nxd2 and the problem is that b2 also falls in the next move, which leads to the loss of another piece.] 21...Qg4 22. Rxh3 Qxh3! 23.gxh3 Nf3+ 24.Ke2 Nxd2 25. Bxd2 Bxb2 Unfortunately for White, the intermediate move 21. Rc1 didn’t change anything, since he loses material in this case again. 26.Nb5 Bxc1 27. Bxc1 Obviously, everything is winning now, but Anand decided to finish this great tactical game in the same fashion... 27...Nxd5! 28.exd5 Rae8+ 29. Be3 Rxf1 0–1

(4) Adams,Mi (2710) — Kramnik,V (2795) [C67] 4th London Chess Classic London ENG (9.1), 10.12.2012 [Chess Evolution] We are in the last round of the London Chess Classic. Usually, we try to comment exciting games with a lot of interesting ideas, but here comes something else. We’ll see a game where both players are trying to make a draw. Let’s try to think with them and understand their thoughts! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 Kramnik is playing his usual Berlin. 4.0–0 [4.d3 This is the other move that Adams like to play when he is looking for a fight!] 4...Nxe4 5. Re1 The safest line for White, which lately got quite a lot of attention because White can’t find any advantage in the main lines. 5...Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 This is the most critical line, where White is looking to get some advantage time after time. 7...Nxe5 [The other main line is: 7...0–0 8.Nf3 Nf5 9.d4 d5 and Black is solid as well, but White managed to get a clear plus, for example, in the game Kasimdzhanov-Malakhov from ECC 2012.] 8. Rxe5 0–0 9.Nc3 White is using the fact that Black is not developed and getting his knight to d5, and he’ll have at least the option of playing with the bishop pair and a minimal plus. I guess that at this moment Adams was very happy with how things went in the opening, 0 risk to lose and maybe a chance of getting a small pressure. On the other hand, Kramnik, who usually is extremely well 14


prepared, would not go for a position without very good analyses. So, I guess that both players felt very good!

er: 17.Qxe8+ Rxe8 18.Kf1! and, of course, only White can be better here.]

9... Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 Black is playing very solidly. The idea is to play at 11. Rxe8 Nxe8! followed by d6 with an about equal position.

15.Ne3?! Adams is trying to play as solidly as possible, and is putting himself in a worse position. [Of course 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 looks dangerous at first sight, but now White has 16.d4! A very strong move, which Adams would find in a normal situation, but while playing for a draw and trying to avoid any complication, it’s not a move that You would see easily... 16... Re8 (16...Qxd4? 17.Bf4 and White has more than enough for a pawn! The bishop pair plus the horrible bishop on b7 give great compensation!) 17.Qd1 and I guess that only White can be better here.]

11.Nd5 A logical move that allows Black to immediately develop his bishop in a different way. 11... Rxe1 12.Qxe1

15...Qe7 16.d3 Nf5?! Why does Black want to exchange pieces? It’s clear that only Black can fight for a win here. [The most logical 16... Re8 17.c3 White needs to play c3 anyway, otherwise it won’t be possible to develop the bishop from c1. 17... Ba6 18.Qd1 Qe6 with a small and pleasant plus for Black!] 12...b6! Strong move. Black’s knight can’t be removed so easily from d6, so Black needs to find other ways to develop his bishop, and what can be better than to play b6-Bb7? 13.g3 Can White be better here? No way! Black is suddenly much better developed and White needs to try not to be worse. A shock for Adams! 13... Bb7 14. Bg2 If I was Black, I would think about trying to get a small advantage, but how to do it?! 14...c6 Interesting move! [Another choice could have been: 14... Bxd5 15. Bxd5 c6 16. Bf3 Qe8 trying to win the e-file, but White is in time to hold everything togeth-

17.c3! Bd2 is next, followed by exchanges on the e-file. 17...d5 18. Bd2 The exchanges on the e-file are unstoppable and the draw comes closer. 15


18...Nxe3 19.Qxe3 Qxe3 20. Bxe3 Tposition is a complete draw, but the tournament rules said that it was not possible to agree to a draw unless there’s a 3-times repetition or a theoretical draw. So, what to do for both players? They need to find a safe and not too dubious way to finally shake hands. 20... Ba6 Fixing a symmetrical structure. 21.d4 Re8 22.a4 h6 23.h4 In case of 23.a5, Black can always play b5. 23... Bc8 24.b4 Bf5 25.a5 b5 Completely closing the position! Now it’s impossible to make a mistake anymore... The draw is 100% safe here. 26. Re1 The exchange on the e-file is going to happen very soon. 26...g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.f3 Bd8 29.Kf2 Bc7 30. Bd2 Rxe1 With rooks gone from the board, there is not even a theoretical chance of winning for any side. 31. Bxe1 f6 32. Bd2 Kg7 33. Bf1 a6 34. Be2 Kf7 35. Be3 Kg7 36. Bd2 Kf7 37. Be3 Kg7 38. Bd2 Kf7 And a nice 3-times repetition. What a professional draw played by both players. We can see that they were very happy with the outcome of this game! 1/2

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Puzzle section

(7) Van Kampen,R (2570) — Gullaksen,E (2384) London Open, 06.12.2012

(5) Anand,V (2775) — Adams,M (2710) London, 07.12.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Kasimdzhanov,R (2696) — Gelfand,B (2751) (6) Ferguson,M (2402) — Williams,S (2515) London Open, 05.12.2012

Tashkent GP, 04.12.2012 [CEWN] 1.=

[CEWN] 1... –+

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(9) Debashis,D (2464) — Tiviakov,S (2663) Kolkata Open, 05.12.2012 [CEWN] 1. 

(10) Inarkiev,E (2693) — Maletin,P (2567) Russia Cup, 04.12.2012 [CEWN] 1...=

(11) Fedorchuk,S (2661) — Almagro Mazariegos,S (2306) Navalmoral Open, 06.12.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(12) Handke,F (2556) — Medvegy,Z (2561) German league, 08.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

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(13) Braun,A (2556) — Hirneise,T (2448) German league, 08.12.2012 [CEWN] 1...=

(14) Murdzia,P (2471) — Mons,L (2339) German league, 09.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

19


Endgame section

39. Rc5! I can’t lose any time now. White’s idea is to provoke Black to play b6 and get a great square on c6 for his rook.

(15) Naiditsch,A (2704) — Bischoff,K (2519) [C05]

39...Ne3?! Too aggressive move by Black. It was clearly a better choice to stick to a passive defense. [39...b6 40. Rc6 Re7 and Black’s position is still very solid. In the best case scenario, White will get a rook endgame with a pawn up which would still give Black good drawing chances.]

Bundesliga 2012–13 Baden Baden GER (6), 09.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

After a fighting game, I managed to achieve a slightly better endgame which is actually not that pleasant to play for Black, even though it seems to be close to a draw. 38.hxg3 Rfe8? In a slight time trouble, my opponent clearly chooses a defense that’s not the best. [38... Rxf2 To exchange one pair of rooks can’t be wrong for Black. 39.Kxf2 White wants to play Rh1. 39...h6!? One of the Black moves Black that avoids tactical blunders, 40. Rc5 b6 41. Rc6 Kf7 and now we can see why 39...h6 was a useful move. The pawn on h7 would be simply captured now. 42.Kf3 White still keeps some advantage, but there’s very small material left on the board and the strong knight on d5 gives Black excellent drawing chances.]

40. Re2! This move already gives Black big trouble. [Of course not 40. Rxa5?? Rd1+ 41.Kh2 Ng4+ and Black is winning an exchange.] 40...b6 [Maybe there were better fighting chances for Black after 40... Rd1+ 41.Kh2 Nd5 The Black knight belongs to d5 and nowhere else. 42. Rxa5 Nc3 43. Re3 Nxe4 44. Rxe4 White is a clear pawn up, but in a rook endgame, Black might still have some chances to escape.] 41. Rc7 Suddenly, the game is almost over! Black can’t keep his position stable anymore. 41... Rd1+ [In case of 41...Nf5 42.g4 trying to cut the Black knight 42... Re7 (42...Ng7 43.Rf2 Black is completely

20


paralyzed.) 43. Rec2 Rxc7 44. Rxc7 Black is on the edge of losing.] 42.Kh2 Nf5 43. Rb7! Cool and good. White is winning an extra pawn, and with it, the game.

(16) Adams,M (2710) — Carlsen,M (2848) London, 06.12.2012 [Chess Evolution]

43... Re7 44. Rxb6 Finally Black got rid of the rook from the 7th rank, but lost the b6 pawn. This can’t be a good deal... 44...Nd4 45. Rf2 Re1 46. Rf4 White wants to give a check on b8 and play Rg4, mating the Black king. 46...h5 47. Bd3 The Black knight has no moves from d4! The only way to continue for Black was to play 47... Rf7, but of course, White’s position is completely winning after 48.Kg2. I was happy to win this game that quickly, because in the beginning of the endgame, I wasn’t very sure that I would bring a full point home. 1–0

Obviously, the position is pretty much drawish after almost any „legal” move. However, we are in the last move of the time trouble, when Adams makes a terrible blunder with only 3 seconds on the clock. 40.e4? [For instance 40.Nd2 was good enough to secure the draw. 40...Qe1 41.Qf1+ (41.Nf1= is also fine. Black can’t make progress.) 41...Qxf1+ 42.Nxf1 Kf6 Black seemingly has some chances here because of the more active king and weak White pawns on g3 and h4. The king is aiming to collect the b3 pawn, but White is in time to consolidate his position. 43.Nd2 Ke5 44.Kf3= 44...Kd5 45.Ne4 An excellent place for the knight, from where it protects the g3 pawn and prevents Kc5. 45...Kc6 46.Ke2 Kb5 47.Kd3 Kb4 48.Kc2 Be5 49.h5= followed by g4 with an easy draw.; 40.Nd4 Qe4+ 41.Kf2 Qe5 42.Ne2= is also dead drawn.]

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40...Qb2+ 41.Kh3 Qf2! Black obtains a queen endgame with an extra pawn after this double attack on g3 and f3. 42.e5 Qxf3 43.exd6 How to take the d6 pawn? The following plan is really important and also very much principled!

game, because the c7 pawn restricts the flexibility of the queen.) 47.b5 cxb5 48.Qxb5 Most probably, Black sooner or later would have transferred to this endgame, where I believe the drawing chances are higher than Black’s winning ones. When Black starts to advance his e-pawn, the king will always receive thousands of checks...] 46...c5! Of course, Carlsen immediately makes use of the previous mistake. 47.g4 Qd4 Now the queen is forced to leave its active place, while the Black one on d4 covers the whole board. 48.Qf1+ Ke7 49.Qf3 Qd5 50.Qc3 e5! Black takes everything under control. The winning plan is quite easy: he simple drives his king to b5, plays Qd4 and soon collects the b3 pawn as well. White doesn’t have any counterplay.

43...Qh1+! 44.Kg4 Qd1+ 45.Kh3 Qxd6! Black avoids creating a b-passed pawn for White, as the general rule in all the queen endgame says that an advanced passed can be much more relevant than the amount of the pawns. If we were in the middlegame, than cxd6 would have been the principled capture to create a healthy pawn chain, however, in this case, the duty of the c-pawn is to stop the b-pawn. [45...cxd6 46.b4] 46.h5? This is the decisive mistake. White should have foreseen that Black’s idea is to play c5 followed by Qd5 with a huge improvement on the current position. [Therefore, the right move was 46.b4! with the idea of playing b5, fixing the pawn on c7. A potential exchange of the b- for the c-pawn could also improve White’s chances for survival. 46...c6 (46...Kf6 47.b5 e5 48.Kh2 Black will have a much harder time making progress in comparison to the

51.Kg3 Kd6 52.Qc4 [52.Kh3 Kc6 53.Kg3 Kb5 54.Kh3 Qd4]

52...Qxc4! Yes, the pawn endgame is winning, but requires exact calculation. 53.bxc4 e4! [Of course not 53...Kc6 54.Kf3 Kb6 55.Ke4 Ka5 56.Kxe5 Kb4 57.Kd5 and White wins.]

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54.Kf4 e3! Black gives up his material advantage in order to achieve opposition with the king. 55.Kf3! This was the tricky point of Adams with 52.Qc4, however, it doesn’t help. White only wants to take the pawn, so when Black plays Ke5, then he is the one who gets the opposition and makes an easy draw. [55.Kxe3 is hopeless. 55...Ke5 and the Black king will penetrate on either side of the board. 56.Kd3 (56.Kf3 Kd4) 56...Kf4] 55...Ke6! The e3 and e5 squares are „poisoned” for the kings. [55...Ke5 56.Kxe3=] 56.Ke2! Kf6! The king is going to collect the g4 and h5 pawns, but White also takes the one on c5. The question is who will be the faster one. 57.Kf3 [57.Kxe3 still loses to 57...Ke5] 57...Kg5! 58.Kxe3 Kxg4 59.Ke4 Kxh5 60.Kd5 g5! Black must push his g-pawn as it promotes with check after Kxc5. 61.Kxc5 g4 62.Kd4 White wins an important tempo by being in the square of the g-pawn and is ready to promote his own pawn. However, Black wins with a known motif... 62...g3 63.Ke3 Kg4! [White resigned in view of 63...Kg4 64.c5 Kh3! 65.c6 g2 and would also arrive with check to c8, but Black is faster. 66.Kf2 Kh2 Black had to foresee this position before trading the queens on c4. A perfect 15 moves of calculation.] 0–1

23


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Ragozin,Viacheslav [E40] Chigorin Memorial Moscow, 1947 [Csaba Balogh] Botvinnik obtained an advantaged right from the opening and converted it convincingly. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Qe7? It’s not easy at all to find the point of this move. Black has plenty of interesting setups against the 4.e3 Nimzowitch, but this is definitely not one of them. Black should fight for the center with c5 or d5. 5.Nge2! This is one of the main ideas of the 4.e3 system. White wants to get the bishop pair by playing a3 and he does not wish to weaken his pawn structure. Here is another drawback of the 4...Qe7 move: Black cannot retreat his bishop to e7 after a3. 5...b6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Nxc3 Black has no compensation for the two bishops. 7... Bb7

8.d5!? A known move in many openings. White tries to occupy the center and obtain a huge space advantage. If he succeeds to consolidate it by castling kingside and playing e4, he achieved everything he can out of the opening. The critical test of this move is always the undermining d5 move... [8. Bd3 was more calm, followed by 0–0. To take on g2 is not a good deal for Black as he loses g7 and it will be more sensible than the one on g2.] 8...d6 Black simply finishes the development, but this allows the consolidation. [8...exd5 9.cxd5 c6! should have been definitely played, when White must be careful to get some advantage 10.b4! A very difficult move to find a positional pawn sacrifice... Let’s first check the alternatives. (10.d6 looks tempting to lock the queenside pieces, but its drawback is that this pawn becomes too weak. 10...Qe6 and White has no good way to prevent the 0–0 and Ne8 threats... 11.Be2 0–0 12.0–0 Ne8!; 10.Bc4 is possible, but it runs into 10...0–0 11.0–0 Qc5! and Black wins the pawn.; 10.dxc6 is the move that White should avoid. 10...dxc6 The center has disappeared. Black plays 0–0, followed by c5, when the bishop his alive, while the one on c1 is suddenly poorly placed.) 10...cxd5 (We must always consider 10...a5 in case of b4,undermining the pawn, but now the Black queenside becomes vulnerable. 11.bxa5! R xa5 12.Qb3!) 11. Bb2 followed by Be2, 0–0 and Bf3. Black can’t hold his extra pawn for long.] 9. Be2 Nbd7 10.0–0 0–0 [10...exd5 was the last moment for Black if he wants to prevent e4, but it has serious drawbacks as well. 11.cxd5 The b7 bishop is dead and the only way to activate it is 11...c6 12.dxc6 Bxc6 13.b3 White gets a nice advantage with the bishop pair and the isolated d-pawn.] 24


11.e4! exd5 12.exd5 White has managed to consolidate. The power of the space advantage starts to tell soon. The only way to reduce it would be c6, but it increases the power of the bishop pair as the position opens up. 12... Rfe8 [12...Ne4 is a logical move. Black would like to get rid of some pieces, which would improve the movements of his pieces. The principle says that the one who has a space disadvantage should always aim to ease his position by trading pieces, while the attacking side should keep the pieces on the board. Knowing this, the right answer is logical: 13.Nb5! a6 14.Nd4 White will ush back the e4 knight with f3 and continue enjoying all the advantages he had before.] 13. Be3! The bishop is heading to d4, where it will rule the position. Black really misses the dark squared bishop on g7 to neutralize it.

soon with f4... [14...Nf8 15. Rae1 Ng6 is not better either. 16. Bd4 Nf4

17.Qc1!! A fantastic move. After trading on e2, the queen will jump out to f4 or g5, but the question is, why not Qd2? (The problem was that the careless 17.Qd2 is met with 17...N6xd5! 18.cxd5 Qg5! and suddenly Black is winning, because of the double threat on g2 and Nh3. It’s so easy to spoil a good game.) 17...Nxe2+ 18. Rxe2 Qd8 19. Rxe8+ Nxe8 20. Re1 with a clear advantage, mainly because of the difference between the two bishops.] 15. Rae1! This is more logical than the other rook on e1. The f1 rook might have an important role after the squeeze on the kingside begins.

13...a6 To prevent the Nb5 ideas. 14.Qc2 It’s time to bring the rook into the game. 14...Ne5 Ragozin tries to play actively, but without the support of the center, his pieces will be pushed back

15... Bc8 Black tries to improve his bishop. Actually, this is quite understandable. [The other option to improve the bishop 15...c6 doesn’t work well. 16. Bxb6 cxd5 17.f4! White is better prepared for the opening of the position. 17...Ned7 18. Bf2 with a clear advantage. 18...dxc4 drops a piece 19. Bf3] 16. Bd4 Finally, the bishop has reached its final destination. 25


16... Bd7 17.f4! Ng6

18.g4!? Botvinnik gains space on the kingside as well, but on the other hand, Black gets some counterplay against the weakened pawn structure. [The calm 18.Qd2 was probably better, leaving Black without counterplay. After protecting the e1 rook, the e2 bishop is ready to leave the pin. 18...Qd8 19. Bd3  with a huge advantage and longterm pressure.] 18...Qd8? Black was aiming for activity as compensation, but sometimes it’s more advisable to stay passively... [18... Kh8! was possible, freeing the g8 square for the knight. 19.Qd2 Ng8 and the queen goes to h4. Playing g5 would give up the light squares... White is better, but it’s not as easy as it could be with 18.Qd2, for example.] 19.g5 Ng4 20.Qd2! Covering the e3 square and the g4 knight has no way back. The simple threat is h3! Black is in trouble... 20...h6

21.f5! This is the precise way to take the piece. [After 21.h3 Black gets some compensation by playing 21...hxg5 22. Bxg4 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 gxf4 Objectively, it’s not enough, but the text is just much better.] 21...N6e5 22.h3 A piece for nothing. The game is practically over. 22...Nf6 23.gxf6 Qxf6 24.Qf4 Re7 25.Kh1 Threating with Ne4. [25.Ne4 immediately allows 25...Nf3+ and of course White is winning, but it’s better to avoid this.] 25...c5 26. Bg1 [26.Ne4 Qxf5 is also winning for White, but again, it’s better to avoid.] 26...g6 27.fxg6 Qxf4 28. Rxf4 fxg6 29. Rf6 Bf5 30. Rxd6 Nxc4 31. Re6 Elegant move, but it was not necessary. [31. Rc6 is a full piece up.] 31... Rxe6 [31... Bxe6 32. Bxc4 +- was the point of Re6.] 32.dxe6 Bxe6 33. Bf3 [Black resigned, but probably in the last 10 moves he improved his position a lot. Still, of course, it’s completely lost... 33. Bf3 Rf8 (33...Re8? is easier 34.R xe6! R xe6 35.Bd5 +-) 34. Bb7 +-] 1–0 26


Surprise section / study (18) Mitrofanov,L 1973 [CEWN] 1.=

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Solutions (19) Polgar,J (2705) — Jones,G (2644) London, 02.12.2012 [Solutions]

28. Bxf5! Rxf5 [28... Bxf5 29.Nd5 Qf7 30.Nxf6 Qxf6 31.Qxf6 gxf6 32. Rd5+-] 29.Nxf5 Bxf5 30.Qh5 Rf8 31. Rd5+- Kh7 32. Rdxe5+(21) Georgiev,K (2660) — Svetushkin,D (2589) Vrsac, 27.11.2012 [Solutions]

70... Ra8+!! 71.bxa8Q Qxa8+ 72.Kb5 Qd5+ 73.Ka6 [73.Kb4? Qc5+–+] 73...Qa8+ 1/2–1/2 (20) Ponomariov,R (2741) — Morozevich,A (2748)

31...Nxe3!! 32.Qxe3 Bd6! 33. Rxg6 Rxg6 34. Bh5 [34. Bg2 Bxf4 35.Qh3 Qxf2–+] 34...Qxh5–+

Tashkent, 27.11.2012 [Solutions]

28


(22) Georgiev,K (2660) — Cvitan,O (2535)

(24) Kislinsky,A (2556) — Cvetkovic,S (2389)

Vrsac, 29.11.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

49. Rf7+! Kg8 [49...Kg6 50. Rg7#]

35.Ne7+! Kg7 36. Bh6+! Kxh6 37.Nxc6 Kg7 [37... bxc6 38. Rf6++-]

50. Rg7+! 1–0[50. Rg7+ Kf8 51. Rc7! Nd2 52. Bc5+-]

38. Rb8+-

(23) Vidit,S (2527) — Gusain,H (2339) Kolkata Open, 03.12.2012 [Solutions]

28. Bxf7+! Kxf7 29.Qxc4+ 1–0 29


(25) Stojanovic,D (2488) — Damljanovic,B (2576)

23. Rc8+! Rxc8 [23...Kg7 24.Qxb5 Rxb5 25. Rxa8+-]


24. Rxc8+ 1–0[24. Rxc8+ Rxc8 25.Qxb5 Rc1+ 26.Nf1!+-]

[Solutions] (27) Drenchev,P (2490) — Nabaty,T (2569) Belgrade Open, 29.11.2012 [Solutions]

37.Nc5! [37. Rxd6 Qxd6 38. Rxd6 Kxd6 39.Qc5+ Ke6 40.Nd4+ Rxd4 41.Qxd4 f5] 37...dxc5 38.Qxc5+ Ke6 39. Rd6+ Qxd6 40. Rxd6+ Kf5 41.Qc2+- [41.a4!?+- Rxa4 42.Qc2+ Re4 43. Rd4] (26) Kunte,A (2511) — Padmini,R (2313) Kolkata Open, 03.12.2012

21... Rxc3! 22.Qxd8 [22. Rxc3 Qxd5 23.Nxd5 Ne2+–+] 22... Rxd8 23. Rxc3 Ne2+! 24.Kf1 Nxg3+! 25.hxg3 Rxd1+

[Solutions]

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(28) Vegh,E (2561) — Medvegy,Z (2291)

(29) Platov

Hungarian league, 02.12.2012

1914

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

18. Bxb5+ axb5 19. Bxf6! 1–0[19. Bxf6 Rxc2 20. Rd8#]

1. Ra4+!! Kxa4 2. Rf3!! Bb3! 3. Rf6!! Qxf6= 1/2

31

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 43 21st of December 2012



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»» Puzzle section

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20


22

»» Solutions

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Editorial Preface The main attention during the last week was clearly focused on the Mind Games, for women and men. We saw the best players of the World playing rapid, blitz and blindfold chess. In the rapid women’s section, the wineers were: Lahno/Hou Yifan/ Koneru. In the rapid men’s section, the winners were: Fressinet/Nakamura/Grischuk

As we can see, Nakamura managed to take the 2nd place in all three tournaments, which is clearly a great result, but somehow it feels slightly wrong to get so close to the gold medal and not reach it. In the current issue, we focus our attention on commenting games from the Mind Games in China! As usual, we wish You a lot of fun with a new edition of CEWN, the 43rd! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

I guess the biggest surprise until now is the very strong play shown by Laurent Fressinet. In the blitz women’s section: Kosteniuk/Muzychuk/Paehtz. In the blitz men’s section: Karjakin/Nakamura/Mamedyarov These results were more or less expected. In the blindfold women’s section: Hou Yifan/Cmility/Zatonskih. In the blindfold men’s section: Aronian/Nakamura/Mamedyarov No big surprises here either.

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4 best games of the past week (1) Morozevich,Alexander (2748) — Jobava,Baadur (2711) [E70] SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 Beijing CHN (6.4), 15.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We’ll see quite a crazy game now. Both players are well known for their creative play and for not being afraid of taking risks.

6...a6?! And this is clearly already too much... Black should have played 6...d6 and go back to the normal lines.

1.d4 By the way, Jobava started all his games with 1.b3. And this not only in rapid chess, but also in his previous tournament in classical, where he showed quite good results. The moment we see Magnus Carlsen playing 1.b3, it’s time to switch!

7...b5 8.e5 Finally the e5 move, but was it needed!? I don’t think so, White could have continued with moves like 8.h4.

1...Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 We are in the KID. Jobava likes to put his bishop on g7 very much. His main opening is the Benoni. 5. Be3 5.e5 doesn’t bring White anything because Black would play Ne8, followed by d6 and c5, with an attack against White’s center.

7.Qd2 White continues playing for the main idea.

8...Ne8 9. Bh6 By exchanging the bishop on g7, Black’s future d6 is not going to be so strong and will weaken the Black king at the same time. 9...d6!? Black is starting to play against the center and even if Black’s position looks bad, things are very far from being clear.

5...c6 A very rarely played move and, of course, a huge provocation for White to play e5.

10. Bxg7 Nxg7 11.0–0–0?! This move is slightly difficult to understand. Did Morozevvich want to exchange queens? What happens after...

6.f3 Morozevich keeps cool and prepares the standard idea with Qd2, 0–0–0 and h4. Of course, 6.e5!? Ne8 7. f4 is definitely an option for White.

11...Nd7?! [11...dxe5! It’s hard to find another move for White. 12.dxe5 Qxd2+ 13. Rxd2 Nd7 and if someone is better here, then it is Black!] 12.g4!? White is taking control of the f5-square, in order to have the Qh6-Ne5-Ng5 idea in the pocket. 4


12... Bb7 [Here, it was also a better option for Black to take first on e5. 12...dxe5 ]

20.Nh3! White doesn’t hurry to take on g6 and brings one more piece into the attack!

13.h4

20...Nf8 Entering a forced line. Probably, this is Black’s best chance even if it looks like his king should get mated somehow. 21.Ng5+ Kf6 22.Qxg8 Qxd1 How to mate the Black king now?! 23.Ne4+! Very strong move. White is defending from a perpetual check with Qd2 next, and at the same time, simply winning the knight on g7. Silent but very strong.

13...dxe5 14.h5 And White is starting his mating attack!

23...Ke5 24.Qxg7+ Kf4 25.Qf7+ Ke3 Once again, White doesn’t have a forced win and Morozevich finds the best way to play.

14...exd4 Black doesn’t have any more easy decisions. [14...gxh5 could have been the alternative, but here we can clearly see that things around the Black king are getting darker. 15.Ne4 with a strong attack.] 15.hxg6 dxc3 If You start taking, You should not hold back. 16.Qh6 [Of course, in case of 16.gxh7+? Kh8 17.Qxd7 winning the piece back 17...cxb2+ 18.Kxb2 Ne6 only Black can be better.] 16...fxg6 17.Qxh7+ Kf7 18. Rh6 White is attacking with all his pieces! He intends to play 18. Nh3 as well. 18...cxb2+ 19.Kxb2 Rg8 [Another defensive option was 19... Rh8 20.Qxg6+ Kg8 At least, Black is exchanging on of White’s rooks. 21. Rxh8+ Kxh8 22.Nh3! White’s idea to play Ng5 gives him more than enough compensation. I would not like to be Black here...]

26.Qxe7! Defending from 26...Qxf1 27.Ng3, winning a queen. At the same time, White wants to play 27.Nc3 and this already could be a mate, or at least a way to get some extra material. 26...Qd8 27.Qb4 Qd4+ 28.Kc2 Mates are threatened from all sides...

5


28...Kxf3 29. Bd3 A perfect move if You don’t want to calculate unnecessary lines. [Immediately winning was 29.Qa3+ Kxe4 30.Qg3! and the Black king will get mated after White’s Bg2.] 29...Ne6 30.Qe1 With at least 10 mating threats! What a nice game by White! We should learn from this game that provocations usually lead to nothing good... 1–0

(2) Giri,Anish (2720) — Morozevich,Alexander (2748) [E04] SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 Beijing CHN (2), 14.12.2012 [Csaba Balogh] Morozevich has chosen a risky opening to confuse his opponent in this rapid game, but Giri punished him in great style. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5. Bg2

5...b5 A rare sideline against the Catalan. Black would like to preserve his extra pawn, but of course, this gives huge compensation for White in the center. 6.a4! The most logical reaction in such situations. The goal is to lure the c-pawn out of the center in order to use the Ne5, e4 and d5 ideas more effectively. 6...c6 7.Ne5! Nd5 Black had to move into the e4 tempo if he wanted to save his pawn. On the other hand, the e4 move closes the diagonal of the bishop. 8.0–0 a6 [8... Bb7 is more logica l, with the idea of protecting the c6 pawn and to play Nd7. However, White

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can and should transpose to the game with 9.axb5 cxb5 10.b3! cxb3 11.Qxb3 a6 and we are back in the game.] 9.axb5! [In this kind of positions 9.e4 Nf6 10.d5!? is another typical motif, trying to make use of the undeveloped Black pieces, but after 10...Qc7! Black seems to be able to consolidate his position. (10...cxd5 11.exd5 exd5 would be met with 12.axb5 and Nxc4 threatens to get an advantage.) 11. Bf4 (11.N xc6 is not advisable. 11... N xc6 12.dxc6 b4! Since the c4 pawn is not hanging anymore, Black could lock the queenside. The c6 pawn is lost and Black has a good position. 13.e5 Nd5 14.B xd5 exd5 15.Qxd5 Be6! followed by Rc8.) 11... Bd6 with an unclear position.] 9...cxb5

13.d5! White has no time to waste. If Black consolidates with Be7, 0–0 and Nbd7, he ends up with a clear extra pawn. The position had to be opened against the e8 king. 13... Bd6 [13...exd5 14.exd5 Bxd5 taking another pawn. This a way too brave decision. (14...Bd6 allows the unpleasant 15.Nc6 and Re1 next.) 15.Qe3! Black has problems in all the lines. 15... Be7 (15...Qe7 16.B xd5 N xd5 17.Qe4; 15...B xg2 16.Nc6+ +-) 16. Rd1] 14.Nxf7!! The sacrifice is based on an exact calculation and strong intuitions. 14...Kxf7 15.dxe6+ Ke8 16.e5! This was the point! Of course, after the decision of sacrificing on f7, there is no way back. White must play the most aggressive moves and hope that the attack breaks through.

10.b3! Very well played! White undermines the queenside and forces Black to develop his queen with a loss of tempo. All the tempi wasted by Black in the opening allow White to generate more than enough compensation with some energetic play. 10...cxb3 11.Qxb3 Bb7 12.e4! Nf6

16... Bxg2 [16... Bxe5 is refuted by 17. Bxb7 Ra7 18. Bxa6!! and the b5 pawn falls. 18... Bxa1 19. Bxb5+ Ke7 20. Ba3+] 17.exf6! Qxf6 [17... Bxf1? loses to 18.fxg7 Rg8 19.e7! and the g8 falls, as on 19...Kxe7 20. Bg5+ +- wins the queen.]

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18.Kxg2! Of course, the a1 rook had to be sacrificed. This gives further tempi for White to lead his attack, but on the other hand, he has to play precisely as he’s already a full rook down. 18...Qxa1 19. Bb2! Qa4 20.Qf3 [The double attack with 20.Qd5!? also looked tempting, but Black is able to give back the material advantage and trade off the queens by 20...Qc4! 21.Qxa8 Qc6+ 22.Qxc6+ Nxc6 Black has decent chances of surviving.] 20... Ra7? [20...Qc2 with the idea of trading queens on c6. This was the only move according to the computer. The difference with the 20.Qd5 line is that White can keep the queens. 21.Qf7+ Kd8 22. Bxg7 Qc6+ 23.Kg1 Re8 24. Rd1! with a huge attack. In a practical game, Black is basically in a hopeless position, but of course, the machines continue resisting.]

21. Rc1! Another cool move, despite being a rook down. White activates his rook and Black is hopeless against the threats. 21...Kd8 [21... Rc7 doesn’t save the day... 22. Rxc7 Bxc7 23. Bxg7 and the rook is lost, given that after 23... Rg8, 24.Qf7 wins.] 22. Bf6+! Finishing the game in style! 22... Be7 [22...gxf6 leads to a forced mate. 23.Qxf6+ Re7 24.Qxh8+ Re8 25.Qf6+ Re7 26.Qf8+ Re8 27.Qxd6+ +-] 23.Qd5+ Nd7 [23... Rd7 24.exd7 +- and Rc8.] 24. Bd4 The most unpleasant move, creating the threat of Bb6, and on Ke8, Rc8. [24.exd7 +- was also good enough.] 24... Rc7 25.Qa8+ Black resigned! A brilliant crush by Giri! 1–0

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(3) Jobava,Baadur (2711) — Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2764) [A01]

5.Nc3 f5 6. Rc1 White wants to keep his structure and prevent Bxc3.

SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 Beijing CHN (2), 14.12.2012 The highly talented Georgian Super GM, Baadur Jobava, has been using a new weapon recently.

6...0–0 7.g3 Re8 [The most logical development of Black’s pieces would have been 7...d6 8. Bg2 c6 9.e3 The g1 knight should go to f4. 9...Nd7 10.Nge2 White probably has some edge. A possible plan could be b4-b5 to strengthen the power of the g2 bishop.]

1.b3 He wants to avoid the long theoretical lines and wants to play pure chess, where, as we’ll see, he is very strong.

8. Bg2 f4?! Mamedyarov wants to open the position. Black wins back the pawn based on tactical ideas, but it has a huge drawback...

1...Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. Bxf6!? White creates doubled pawns, but on the other hand, gives up the bishop pair.

9.gxf4 Qh4

[Csaba Balogh]

3...exf6

4.c4! It’s time to fight for the important central squares, before Black occupies them with d5 and takes over the initiative. 4... Bg7 [It would have made sense to open the position with 4...d5!? in order to make the two bishops more effective. 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nc3 Qd8 followed by f5 and Bg7.]

10.Kf1!! A great move, which forces Black to give up his strong g7 bishop, as otherwise, White protects his pawn with e3. The immediate e3 doesn’t do the job because of the pin along the e-file. [10.f5 Qg5 Black wins back the pawn and keeps his healthy pawn structure.; 10.Nd5 Na6 11.Nf3 Qg4 and c6 next. Black wins back the pawn.] 10... Bxc3 [10...Qxf4 loses a huge amount of material. 11.Nd5! Qd6 12.c5! c7 and one of the rooks fall because after 12...Qc6 13.Ne7+ +- wins.] 11. Rxc3 Qxf4 9


17...Qg5? [17...g5 Black should have lived with the chance of trading the queens, as the attack was growing with a lot of speed. 18.Nd5 Qxf3 19. Bxf3 Nxd5 20.cxd5 Obviously, White is doing better here as well, but it’s still preferable than getting mated. The c7 pawn becomes really weak. 20... Re7 21.Kg2 Bf5 22. Rhc1 Rc8 23.d3! to prevent g4 and Be4 check, followed by b4-b5. a7 could be a potential target as well. However, Black can hope for survival after playing h6 and driving his king to d8.] 12.h4! Without the dark-squared bishop, the Black king becomes vulnerable. The c1 rook has a perfect place as it could be immediately switched to the attack along the 3rd rank. 12...d6 [12...h5 is met with 13.Nh3! Qxh4 14. Rg3 and Ng5 next, with a huge attack.]

18. Bh3 The c8 bishop had to be exchanged in order to occupy the h-file. 18...c6 19.hxg6 hxg6 20. Bxc8 Raxc8 It’s time to launch the decisive attack.

13.h5 Without touching the h1 rook, it’s already perfectly placed and cooperates in the attack. 13...Nc6 14.Nh3 [14.hxg6 hxg6 15. Rg3 also made sense, followed by bringing the knight to the attack.] 14...Qd4 15.e3 I am not sure if this was the strongest continuation as it closes the c3 rook, but in the game, it worked out well. Jobava estimated that to bring the knight to f4 is more important and the rook could be activated again later. [15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Ng5 looked pretty dangerous as well. Black’s kingside it too shaky. Bd5 and Rf3 could be unpleasant, but the simple Rg3 is also quite nice.] 15...Qf6 16.Nf4 Ne7 17.Qf3 White threatens to win a pawn with Nxg6, as after Qxf3, Black has an important intermediate check with Nxe7.

21.Nh5! Provoking another huge weakness with the threat of Nf6. 21...f5 [21...gxh5 drops the queen. 22. Rg1 +-] 22. Rd3! Another great move. The rook joins the battle again! 22...Kf7 Black is ready to take on h5 now... [22... Rcd8 is refuted by 23. Rg1 Qh4 24. Rd4! This is the main point of 22. Rd3. The queen must allow the Nf6 winning move.] 10


23.Nf4 with the double threat of Rh7 and Rxd6. Black is lost. 23... Rcd8 24. Rh7+ Kf6 25.Qd1!! A beautiful finish in a great game. Black has no good defense against the threatened Qa1 mate![The game could have been slightly prolonged with 25.Qd1 Ng8 26.Qa1+ Re5 White has several wins here 27.Qd4 and Qxd6 cannot be parried, because even after (27.Nh3 and f4 is the easiest.) 27...Qg4 28.Qxd6+! works. 28... Rxd6 29. Rxd6+ Kg5 30. Rxg6#] 1–0

(4) Jobava,Baadur (2711) — Giri,Anish (2720) [A01] SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 Beijing CHN (5.6), 15.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] The nice thing about Jobava is that you never know how his games will be. He can lose in 15 moves or beat almost anybody the same way. Lately he found his passion, 1.b3! 1.b3 b6 It’s funny to see 1.b3-b6 in a game between 2 players of more than 2700 ELO. 2. Bb2 Bb7 3.e3 White is trying to keep the pawn structure as flexible as possible. The usual moves could be d4c4 and Nf3, going back to the normal lines 3...e6 Black keeps repeating moves. 4.Nc3!? Wow, what a move! To me, this move looks really shocking. Why to put the knight on c3 before playing c4? From a positional point of view, it’s a big mistake, but Jobava has a extraordinary plan. 4...c5 A normal move, but maybe the immediate 4...Nf6 followed by Be7, 0–0 and simply d5 would have been a better choice. To me, Black’s position looks totally fine. 5.Nge2 Another shocking move! I guess that of late, it was hard for Giri to focus on the game. Is White a 2700 player? 5...Nf6 6.d4 The funny thing is that probably White is still doing more or less OK. Nothing major has happened, just the knights on c3 and e2 are standing badly. 6... Be7 7.Qd2 0–0 8.0–0–0 Until here, Black’s play looked very logical.

11


8...Nc6?! What a bad decision by Giri! [The simple 8...d5 would give Black great play. The center is under control and White’s pieces are badly placed. That’s all we wish from the opening.]

9.d5! And the punishment comes immediately. Suddenly, all the White pieces are back in the game, even the bishop from b2 is open and the knight from e2 will have the option of going to d5. 9...exd5 10.Nxd5 The d5 square is in White’s control... this is very important. 10...Nxd5 11.Qxd5 Bf6 Black is trying to exchange the dark-squared bishop, which is certainly a good idea. At the same time, he’s defending the pawn on d7 sideways. 12.Nc3!? Once again, we see a very original play by White, and actually this move makes total sence now. White is avoiding the exchange of the dark-squared bishops, and at the same time, bringing the knight closer to d5. The bishop from f1 will be finally developed as well. [Of course not 12.Qxd7? Bxb2+ 13.Kxb2 Qf6+! Typical and easy to see. 14.Nc3 Rad8 and Black is clearly better.]

12...Qb8 Probably the best way to defend the d7 pawn indirectly. 13.Qf5! Suddenly, White wants to mate Black with Bd3. [Being greedy would not be the best choice, again. 13.Qxd7 Nb4! Black wants to take on c3 and a2. 14.Kb1 Rd8 and we can see that the Black pieces are very active.]

13... Rd8? What a mistake by Giri! [A better move would have been 13...Ne7 14.Qxd7 Bc6 Black is a pawn down but has some initiative. 15.Qg4 b5 and the positio n is far from clear. White’s extra pawn is probably giving him some advantage, however.] 14. Bd3! Suddenly, Black is just lost! The pawn on h7 can’t be protected! 14...Kf8 What to do? 15.Qxh7 d5 Defending from Nd5. 16.Kb1! If we don’t look at the opening, Jobava is playing great chess! This is a very nice prophylactic move that we can often see in sharp Sicilians. The idea is simple, before starting the final action, White is putting his king in a better position.

12


16...Ne5 17. Ba6!? Very creative play by Jobava until the end of the game. White had a lot of good moves, but this one is really pretty.

24... Bb5 25.h6 Slowly but surely, Black’s end is coming closer.

17... Bxa6 If Black doesn’t take, the position is simply winning. 18.Nxd5 Now Qh8 is mate!

26...Nxd1 [In case of 26... Rxd8 27. Rxd8 Qxd8 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Qxd8+ Kxd8 30.h7 the h-pawn will give White a new queen!]

18... Rxd5 [It doesn’t help to play 18...Ng6 19.Nxf6 gxf6 20. Bxf6 and White is simply winning.]

27. Rxa8 All in all, Giri made it a bit easy for White, but it was a great crushing game by Jobava anyway!

19. Rxd5 Ng6 The h8 square is covered, but it’s not enough to survive here.

1–0

25...Nf2 26. Rd8! And the last little combo.

20. Bxf6 gxf6

21.h4! Jobava shows great technique once again. White will play h5 next and threaten Qh8. The h-pawn could become dangerous in the future as well. 21...Qe8 22.h5 Ne5 23.f4 Pushing the knight away from a great square on e5. 23...Ng4 24. Rhd1 White is bringing the last piece into the attack. By the way, now we can see how useful the move Kb1 was — there’s no Qxe3 check.

13


Puzzle section

(7) Stefanova,A (2491) — Lahno,K (2553) SportAccord rapid, 15.12.2012

(5) Kamsky,G (2762) — Karjakin,S (2775) SportAccord rapid, 15.12.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Radjabov,T (2793) — Morozevich,A (2748) (6) Koneru,H (2610) — Zhao Xue (2565) SportAccord rapid, 14.12.2012 [CEWN]

SportAccord blitz, 16.12.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

14


(9) Ivanchuk,V (2766) — Morozevich,A (2748)

(11) Jobava,B (2711) — Morozevich,A (2748)

SportAccord blitz, 16.12.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... -/+

(10) Aronian,L (2815) — Mamedyarov,S (2764)

(12) Kamsky,G (2762) — Leko,P (2732)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... -/+

1. +-

15


(13) Ding Liren (2702) — Karjakin,S (2775) SportAccord blitz, 17.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Hou Yifan (2606) — Cmilyte,V (2524) SportAccord blitz, 16.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

16


Endgame section (15) Nakamura,H (2786) — Kamsky,G (2755)

63. Rb1 [63. Re6!? could have won the h-pawn. White threatens with f4 Kf5 Rh6 Kg4 Rg6 Kf5 Rg5 and Rxh5 next. There is only one way to hold the draw: 63...Kf5 64. Rh6 Kg5 65. Rb6 Kf5

SportAccord Rapid Men, 14.12.2012 [Chess Evolution]

The position is obviously drawn, but the g- and f-pawns could be very tricky against the h-pawn. If Black is not familiar with an important defensive idea, he can easily lose the game. I’m quite sure that Kamsky would have managed to hold this with a slower time control, but in rapid, even he can fail. 55. Re2 White rescues his king from the 1st rank, as Black can’t trade the rooks.

66.f4! and now 66...h4! Black must sacrifice his pawn in order to create f- and h-pawns for White. (66...Ra1 loses to 67.Rh6! Kg4 68.Rg6+ Kf5 69.Rg5+ +- with connected passed pawns. White is completely winning, of course.) 67. Rb5+ Kg6 (But not 67...Ke4! because of 68.Re5+! +and gxh4 next. The king is cut along the e-file.) 68.gxh4 and the positi on is a theoretical draw. We have analyzed this a few CEWNs before in the Anand-McShane game.] 63...Kg6 64.f4 Here we are! White has pushed f4 and is ready to play Kh3-h4. How to defend against it? Black must find a difficult plan to hold.

55... Ra3 56.Kg2 Ra4 57. Rb2 Ra3 It’s a good strategy to keep the rook on the 3rd rank in order to prevent Kh3 by attacking the f-pawn constantly. White is forced to push f4 sooner or later, in order to make progress. 58. Rb6+ Kg7 59. Re6 Ra1 60.Kf2 Ra3 61. Re1 Kg6 62.Kg2 Kg5?! This is an inaccuracy. [62... Rb3 It was stronger to wait.] 17


64... Ra2+? White is winning now. [64... Ra7!! Ra8, with the same idea, was also good. 65.Kh3 Rg7!! 66.Kh4 Kh6! This is the known theoretical drawn position. White can’t touch the h-pawn because g3 also falls. Black wants to send the king away with Rg4. White can’t make progress here. 67. Rb6+ Kh7 68. Rb5 Rg4+! 69.Kh3 Kh6=]

(16) Giri,Anish (2720) — Leko,Peter (2732) [C88] SportAccord Blitz Men 2012 Beijing CHN (8.4), 16.12.2012 [Chess Evolution]

65.Kh3 The game is over now. 65... Rf2 [65... Ra6 protecting the 6th rank against Kh4, and Rb6 check doesn’t help. 66.Kh4 Rc6 67. Rb5 +-; 65... Ra7 It’s too late to get the right defensive setup. 66.Kh4 Rg7 67. Rb5 +-; 65... Ra5 66.Kh4 Rc5 67. Rb6+ Kg7 68. Re6! +- followed by Re5, and White wins the pawn and the game.] 66. Rb6+ Kg7 67.Kh4 Rh2+ 68.Kg5 White is ready to advance his f-pawn. 68... Rh3 69. Rb3 Rh1 [Black can’t trade pawns by playing 69...h4 because of 70. Rb7+ Kf8 71.g4! This is much simpler than creating the f- and h-pawns, although with the Black king squeezed on the 8th rank, it’s also a theoretical win. 71... Rh1 72.f5 h3 73.Kf6 +-] 70.f5 Black resigned. 1–0

In a blitz game from the Mind Games, this funny position appeared. It looks like a draw, but Black still has some winning chances. In case of a queen vs knight+bishop endgame, the only theoretical draw would be to put the king on b1, the bishop on b2 and the knight on d4 — this is a fortress. 57.Nf3 Kf5 Black is moving his King forward. This is his only chance. Black’s idea is to bring his king to e2 and start to play for a zugzwang, or to attack White’s g2-pawn. 58.Nh4+?! White keeps waiting and giving the Black king the chance to come very close. [58.h4! would have been the right move, fixing Black’s pawn structure. 58... Ke4 59.Nd2+ Kd3 60.Nf3 and only now the waiting moves should give White an easy draw. 60...Qa5 61.Kh2 Ke2 62.Kg1 Qa1+ 63.Kh2 Kf1 64.Nd2+ Ke2 65.Nf3 and it seems like Black can’t improve his position.] 58...Ke4 59.Nf3 Kd3?! Giving White a chance to play h4. [59...g5! Now Black will get an extra idea: to bring the 18


king to e2, then to play Qd7-g4 and march with his hpawn to h3. The position should still be a draw, but Black has some practical chances.]

68.h4 h5! Good move. Black wants to play Qg4 and h4. White is hopeless, he can’t do anything.

60.Kh2 [60.h4]

70.hxg5 Qg4+ 71.Kh2 h4 And White ha s lost his piece. As we can see, by playing without a plan White went astray. In such endgames, it’s very important to have a clear defensive plan...

60...Ke2

69.Kh3 g5 The last hit.

0–1

61.Kg3? This is probably already a losing move! The White king’s place should be on g1! 61...Qd6+! This move is simply winning a pawn. The White king can’t go back and White is forced to move the bishop from e3. 62. Bf4 [62.Kh4 Qg6 wins on the spot as well.] 62...Qg6+ 63.Kh2 Kxf2 White lost not only a full pawn, but also a stable position for his bishop on e3. 64.Nh4 Qf6 65. Bg3+ Kf1 Black is already fixing his next target, the g2 pawn. 66.Nf3 Qb2 67.Ne1 The only way for White to defend on g2. 67...Qe2 The position looks like a zugzwang. No White pieces can move, and Black wants to play g5-h5-h4. 19


Clash of the Titans

8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1! A good react ion, to send away the annoying knight from d4, and at the same time, White prevented the threatened d5 break and Nc2 check.

(17) Tal,Mihail (2635) — Paehtz,Thomas Sr (2480) [B39]

9...e5

Halle DSV Halle, 1974 [Csaba Balogh] After analyzing two crushing victories in the games section, I decided to put another crush in the „Titan section” as well. I thought the best solution for such kind of tasks is a game by Mikhail Tal. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 The Maroczy Bind. This is generally considered to be a very solid opening for Black, where he must suffer in a slightly worse position with a space disadvantage. 5... Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3

7...Ng4 Theory rightly considers this move to be an inaccuracy. [The main lines start with 7...d6 8. Be2]

10.Nb5! A great idea, to get rid of the d4 knight. White uses the fact that by creating doubled pawns, his advantage increases. We’ll take a closer look in the Nxb5 line. 10...0–0 Black uses the fact that taking on d4 is not a threat yet. [10...Nxb5 11.cxb5 0–0 12. Bc4 White got this nice square for his bishop by playing cxb5. He is intending to finish the development with 0–0, Qd2 and Rfd1, creating huge pressure on the d6 pawn. The e3 bishop is also excellently placed, restricting Black’s mobility because of the a7 pawn. If Black wants to solve this problem, he must play b6, but it gives White another strong idea, to play a4a5 destroying Black’s queenside. In addition we must say that the g7 bishop is really poorly placed and there is no chance to improve it.] 11.Qd2! White already wants to collect the pawn with Nd4. [11.Nxd4 exd4 12. Bxd4 Qa5+ White loses the right to castle.] 20


11...Qe7 Black tries to hold his knight by counter-attacking the e4 pawn. [11...Qh4 is the other main move, but it leads to similar bad positions after 12. Bd3 Nxb5 13.cxb5+=] 12. Be2! The strongest reaction! White is not afraid of losing the bishop pair as Black will still be stuck with his bad structure and poor g7 bishop. [12.0–0–0 is the most common move, but it leads to the triumph of Black’s opening play. 12...Nxb5 13.cxb5

13...d5!! Suddenly, Black is jumping out from his passive position. 14.exd5 (14.Qxd5? Be6 15.Qd6 is a nice way to lose the game. 15...Rac8+ 16.Kb1 Rfd8! wins.) 14... Rd8! and Black has decent compensation. His main ideas are Bf5 and Be6.(On the immediate 14...Bf5 White has 15.Bd3) ] 12...b6? Black still indirectly tries to defend his knight, but Tal already refutes this idea tactically. [12...Nxb5 13.cxb5 is the usual bad structure, but at least the bishop can’t get to c4. Still, White is clearly doing better. 13...d6 14.0–0 Be6 15.a4!? and a5 next.; 12...Nxe2 13.Qxe2 Black has too many holes in his position. The best could be to re-

move his pawn to e6, but unfortunately for him, this is illegal.] 13.Nxd4! exd4 14. Bxd4 Qxe4 15. Bxg7 Qxg2 an important tempo because of the Bf3 threat. 16... Rb8 and White gets a huge advantage after, for instance 17. Rfe1 Bb7 18. Bf1 Qc6 19. Re7 Black can't hold his d7 pawn for long. 19...d5 is met with capturing everything, and the a7 is hanging at the end. Still, this would have been much better than the game.]

16.Qd4!! This double rook sacrifice probably came as a thunder from the clear blue sky for Black. The first one has to be accepted, otherwise he is just a piece down. 16...Qxh1+ 17.Kd2 Qxh2 [17...Qxa1 is refuted by 18.Qf6!! +- This was the whole point! Black is helpless against the Bh6 threat.(18.Bh6 was not that easy, because of 18...f6!) ; 17...Qc6 to prevent the Qf6 idea leads to a lost position as well. 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Re1! the threat is Qh8 and Bf3, against which Black has no good defense. For instance 19...Kg8 loses to 20. Bf3 +- and Re8 next.] 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Bf3! At the moment, Black is too pawns up, but his pieces are totally uncoordinated and 21


the threats against the king with Re1 and Qh8 are decisive. 19...d5 Trying to take the bishop out, but it doesn’t help. 20. Bxd5 Rb8 21. Re1! Be6 22. Rxe6! [A nice crush! Black resigned in view of 22. Rxe6 fxe6 23.Qf6+ Kg8 (23...Ke8 24.Bc6#) 24. Bxe6#] 1–0

Surprise section / study (18) Kusnetsov,A 1974 [CEWN] 1. +-

22


Solutions (19) Anand,V (2775) — Adams,M (2710) London, 07.12.2012 [Solutions]

34...Qg1+! 35. Rg2 Rxh3+!! 0–1 [35... Rxh3+ 36.Kxh3 Qh1+ 37. Rh2 (37.Kg3 Qh4#) 37...Qxf3#] (21) Van Kampen,R (2570) — Gullaksen,E (2384) London Open, 06.12.2012 [Solutions]

41...Qd1!! 42.Qh6 [42. Bf1 Bh3+! 43.Kxh3 Qxf1+ 44.Kh2 Rxf2+ –+; 42. Bxe6 Ra1! 43. Bxf7+ Kg7!–+] 42...Bh3+! 0–1 [42...Bh3+ 43.Kh2 Rxf2+ 44.Kxh3 Qh1#]

37. Rxf5! Qxf4 38.Ne6+ [38. Rxf4 Rxf4 39.Ne6++-] 38...Kh6 39. Rxf4 1–0

(20) Ferguson,M (2402) — Williams,S (2515) London Open, 05.12.2012 [Solutions]

23


(22) Kasimdzhanov,R (2696) — Gelfand,B (2751)

(23) Debashis,D (2464) — Tiviakov,S (2663)

Tashkent GP, 04.12.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35.Na4!! [35.Qc8+ Kh7 36.Qf5+ g6–+; 35.Nd7 Qa8!–+]

22. Rc7!! Qxc7 23.Qxe6+ Kh8 24.Qxd5

35...Qxa4 [35...Qxc5+? 36.Nxc5 a2 37.Nb3+-] 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Qf5+ Kg8 38.Qe6+ Kf8 39.Qf5+ Kg8 [39...Ke7 40.Qxe5+ Kd7 41.Qd5+ Kc7 42.Qf7+=] 40.Qc8+ Kf7 41.Qf5+ Kg8 1/2–1/2

(24) Inarkiev,E (2693) — Maletin,P (2567) Russia Cup, 04.12.2012 [Solutions]

31... Bxb2+! 32. Rxb2 Rc1+ 33. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 34. Rb1 Qc3+ 35. Rb2 Qc1+ 36. Rb1 Qc3+ 37. Rb2 1/2–1/2 24


(25) Fedorchuk,S (2661) — Almagro Mazariegos,S (2306) Navalmoral Open, 06.12.2012 [Solutions]

34...Qe4!! [34...hxg5?? 35.h6! gxh6 36.Qxh6+ Kg4 37. Rg1+ Rg3 38.Qe6+! Kf3 39. Rf1+ Kg2 40.Qe2+ Kh3 41. Rh1#] 35.Qxe4 [35.Qxg7 Rxb3+ 36.Ka2 (36.Kc1 Qe3+ 37.Kd1 Rb1#) 36...Qxa4#] 35... Rxe4 36.gxh6 gxh6 37.Kb2 Kg3 38. Rg1+ Kf2 39. Rg6 f3 40. Rxh6 Ke2 41. Rf6 f2–+ (27) Braun,A (2556) — Hirneise,T (2448) German league, 08.12.2012 [Solutions]

13.Nxe6! fxe6 14.Qxd6! Bb7 [14...Nf8 15.Qxd8+ Kxd8 16.Kxg2+-] 15.Qxe6+ Kf8 16. Bg5 1–0 (26) Handke,F (2556) — Medvegy,Z (2561) German league, 08.12.2012 [Solutions] 35...Qd1+! 36.Kxh2 Qxe2+ 37.Kh3 Qf1+ 38.Kh2 Qe2+ 39.Kh3 Qf1+ 40.Kh2 1/2–1/2

25


(28) Murdzia,P (2471) — Mons,L (2339)

(29) Mitrofanov,L


1973

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25... Bxg2!! [25... Rxd4 26.exd4 Nf4 27.Qe3 Bxg2 28.Qe5!]

1.Ke7! [1.b7? Ba7–+]

26. Rxc3 [26.Kxg2 Rxd4! 27.exd4 Nf4+ –+; 26.Nxe6+ fxe6–+] 26... Bf3? [26... Bh3–+; 26...Nxd4 27.exd4 Rxc3 28.Qxc3 Bf3–+]

1...d5 2.Ke6 d4 3.b7! Bg3 4.Kf5! d3 5.Kg4! d2 [5... Bb8 6.Kf3 Ba7 7.b8Q+ Bxb8 8.Ke3=] 6.Kxg3 d1Q 7.b8Q+ 1/2

27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28.Nxf3 Qxf3 29. Rf1?? [29.Kf1] 29...Ng5 30.h4 Qg4+ 0–1

26

Weekly Newsletter




First of all, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and, of course, a great and successful 2013!


2


3

»» Puzzle section

16


19

»» Solutions

20

In the current issue of CEWN, we’ll give You a short look back at the Year 2012 and its most crucial chess moments! In the sections “games of the week” this week, we have chosen the 4 best games from our last 44 issues of the Year 2012. Some might remember them, but they are mostly already forgotten, and golden games never die J. Top 5 events of the Year 2012: 1). A deserved first place goes to Magnus Carlsen breaking Garry Kasparov’s all-time ELO record, getting to 2861!! 2). Vishy Anand winning his WCC match against Boris Gelfand in the rapid tie-break. 3). Anna Ushenina became the new Women’s World Champion, winning her match in tie-break against Antoaneta Stefanova. 4). The Armenian Team winning the Chess Olympiad 2012 in Turkey in the men’s section, and Russia winning in the female section. 5). The biggest Super tournaments of the Year 2012: Wijk ann Zee, Dortmunder Schachtage, London Chess Classic, Bazna Super Tournament, Tal Memorial. Stay with us for the upcoming events of 2013: Wijk ann Zee, Gibraltar, Aeroflot Open, the Candidates, and many more! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Mamedyarov,S (2726) — Shanava,K (2589) [D45] Tbilisi, 09.06.2012 [Csaba Balogh] The game is taken from the Georgia-Azerbaijan friendly match. However, as we will see, the only friendly thing about it is the name — they played really sharp chess. We are facing a very interesting game, especially knowing the circumstances. Mamedyarov „improved” on his previous game in the 13th move with a dubious novelty, which seemed to be a great bluff, but Black fell right into its beautiful idea. If Black would’ve reacted better, he would have obtained a clear advantage. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 The starting position of the Meran. White goes for one of its sharpest lines... 6.Qc2 Bd6

highest level. Recently it went a bit out of fashion, mainly because of the strong computers that are suggesting very good ideas for Black. He can choose between many sharp options, and all of them lead to complex positions. 7...dxc4 [7...h6 is another move that is considered to be fine for Black.; White gets very strong compensation if Black accepts the sacrifice 7...Nxg4 8. Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10. Rxg7 Nf8 11. Rg2 Bd6 12.e4 followed by Bg5 and 0–0–0. White gets a very strong initiative for the pawn. Black’s pieces are undeveloped and the lines are opening towards the king.] 8.g5 [8. Bxc4 is just a transposition to the game after 8... e5 9.g5 Nd5] 8...Nd5 9. Bxc4 e5 Actually, this is a very logical response. Black opens the center against the attack on the flank. 10. Bd2 [Giving up the light squared bishop for a pawn is not an advisable idea 10. Bxd5 cxd5 11.Nxd5 0–0 12. Bd2 Re8! with the threat of e4. The White king gets in trouble.; 10.Nxd5? cxd5 11. Bxd5? does not work because of 11...Qa5+] 10...0–0 11.Nxd5 cxd5 12. Bxd5

7.g4!? This is Mamedyarov’s favorite move, which enjoyed huge popularity around 5-6 years ago, even on the 3


12...exd4 Shanava was well-prepared, since Mamedyarov had a game not so long ago in this theoretical position. 13.Nxd4 White deviates from his previous game, but this is not a novelty yet. [13. Be4 dxe3 14. Bxe3 Qa5+ 15.Kf1 (On 15.Bd2 Bb4 Black is fine according to the machine.) 15...f5 could be a very strong improvement for Black (probably this was Shanava’s idea). (15...Ne5 happened in the game Mamedyarov-Zherebukh, Khanty-Mansiysk 2011.) 16.Qb3+ is probably the best, but still after (16. Bd3 meets with 16...Ne5 17.N xe5 Qxe5 followed by f4 or the simple Be6 and Rac8. Black has a big advantage.; To open the f-file and the diagonal of the c8 bishop would be a serious mistake 16.gxf6? N xf6 with a big attack.) 16... Kh8 17. Bd5 f4 18. Bd2 Qc7 only Black can be better. His pieces are coming out with tempo, first the d7 knight, then the c8 bishop.] 13...Qxg5 14.Qf5 This is the novelty of the game. White would like to transpose into a superior endgame, but of course, Black keeps the queens on the board. 14...Qe7! [14...Qxf5? 15.Nxf5 Be5 White wins a pawn after 16. Bb4 Rd8 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18. Bxf7 ±] 15. Rg1 Very suspicious move. The White queen is pinned. At first sight White could immediately make use of it. 15...Nb6 [After 15... Be5 I think, Black has a clear advantage... 16.Qg5 is probably White’s best option to go for a worse endgame (16.Be4 g6 and the d7 knight jumps in the next move.; 16.Bc3 Nf6) 16...Qxg5 17. Rxg5 h6 18. Rg1 Nf6 =+]

16. Bc3!! This great queen sacrifice is the start of Mamedyarov’s ingenious play, but it was not too late for Black to obtain a good position. 16...Qe5? Just as in the previous move, Black plays the most logical move. After the shocking 16. Bc3, Black would like to exchange the queens... [16... Bxf5? simply loses after 17.Nxf5 The best that Black can achieve is 17... Qe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19.Nh6+ Kh8 20.Nxf7+ ; Just as in the previous move, Black should have played 16... Be5! 17.Qxe5!! (The elegant 17.Nc6? would win, if taking on c3 didn’t come with check! 17...B xc3+ and Black takes the knight.) 17...Qxe5 18.Ne2! and Black has nothing better than giving back the queen and simplifying to a drawish endgame 18...Qxc3+ 19.Nxc3 Nxd5 20.Nxd5 Be6 Black is slightly better, but the game should end in a draw.] 17.Qd3!! After this fantastic and completely unexpected move, White is winning. Black cannot neutralize the power of the c3 bishop connected with the threats around the g7 square. 17...Nxd5 [17...g6 18. Bb3! Too many threats are in the air. One of the possible winning sequences could be 18...Qh5 19.Nf3! Qd4 and Qxd6 are threats 19...Qxf3 4


20. Rxg6+! hxg6 21.Qxg6#; White wins the queen after 17...Qxd5 18. Rxg7+! Kxg7 19.Nf5+! Kg6 (19...Kg8 20.Nh6#) 20.Ne7+ +-] 18.Nf3!! The 3rd incredibly strong move in a row, but not the last one. Only with this double attack against the queen, White can continue pressing the g7 pawn. 18... Bf5 [18...Nxc3 19.Nxe5 +-; On 18...Nf4 White has many different wins, but the nicest is definitely 19.Qxd6!! Qxd6 20. Rxg7+ Kh8 21. Rxf7+ Kg8 22. Rg7+ Kh8 23. Rg6+ +-]

21. Rxf7+! First, the f-pawn had to be eliminated to avoid the f6 resource. 21... Be5 [21...Kg8 22. Rg7+ Kh8 23. Rg5+ Be5 24.Nxe5! is the most precise way to win 24... Rf6 25.Nd7!! +-] 22. Bxe5+ Kg8 23. Rg7+ Kh8 24. Rg5+ Maybe Black could have continued a bit more with two pawns down, but he was so impressed with White’s play that he resigned immediately. 1–0

19.Qxd5!! This final decisive blow „puts the dot over the i”. White ends up with material advantage after a forced line. 19...Qxd5 20. Rxg7+ Kh8

5


(2) Aronian,L (2825) — McShane,L (2703) [D15] Tal Memorial (3), 10.06.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see an amazing game! I can’t remember Aronian losing with White and especially being crushed in the opening like this! It is the 3rd round of the Tal Memorial, McShane started with a double 00, and Aronian with the solid 1,5/2. Not many would have put money on a victory by the talented Englishman, but things went far from what was expected! 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 And we have another game in the Slav. 4...a6 McShane chooses a very solid line with a6. 5. Bg5 [5.e3 is the main move in the position.]

5...dxc4!? McShane is going for the most forced line! Strangely, after 5...dxc4 almost no games were played on the high level, so it’s hard to say if Aronian knew this move or not, maybe he knew it and made a mistake in the variation?! [5...Ne4; 5...e6 would be the other 2 possibilities.]

6.a4 [6.e4 b5 and we are in the usual unclear positions that appear in a lot of lines, where Black takes on c4 and protects it with b5. White will develop his play in the center, while Black will try to be solid] 6...h6! A very important move that will be very helpful for Black soon. White needs to decide what to do with the bishop on g5. 7. Bh4 The most natural reply. [7. Bxf6 exf6 These positions can never be better for White even if he manages to recover the pawn on c4. Black’s bishop pair will always give enough counterplay!; 7. Bd2 Can this be the right move?! 7. Bd2 looks just ugly. Why did White play 5. Bg5?] 7...b5! I don’t know if McShane knew this idea or just found it over the board, in any case, it’s a very strong move.

8.axb5 this move is a clear sign of huge self confidence of the White player. It was still not too late to switch to moves like 8.e4 with quite an unclear position. 8...cxb5 9.Nxb5 axb5! Otherwise, White is doing much better.

6


10. Rxa8 Bb7 Can it be that Black is doing already better in just 10 moves?... Amazing!

14...Nc6 A good choice, McShane brings his knight to b3 where it will be perfectly placed!

11. Ra1?! [11. Ra7 would bring nothing for White 11...Qb6 12.Qa1 e6 and White is not in time for Qa5.; 11. Ra2!? Maybe this move would have been a better option for White. The rook on a1 will be under attack (Na5- Nb3), so why not to put the it on a2?]

15.Ne1 White is trying to develop his pieces a little bit, at least. White’s idea is to play Nc2 forcing the Bb4 to go away and then develop by playing Ke1–Be2. But all this plan looks very slow — in fact, too slow...

11...g5!? And here we see why 6...h6 was such an important move. [Anyway, after 11...e6 12. Bxf6 Bb4+ 13.Nd2 Qxf6 14.e3 0–0 it seems like Black has more than enough compensation for the exchange. His next move could be e6-e5.] 12. Bg3 e6 13.e3 White doesn’t have any other defense against the Bb4 threat.

15...Na5 16. Be5?! This move probably already leads to big trouble. Much better was: [16.Nc2 Be7 17.f3! A very logical move. White blocks Black from playing Ne4 and, at the same time, the White king will finally find a more or less safe square on f2 17...0–0 18.Kf2 Nd5 Black wants to play f5-f4. The position is quite complicated but we can feel that it should be very nice to play for Black, even if a lot of engines might probably disagree.] 16...0–0! No time to waste, Black needs to play actively. 17.h4 [17. Bxf6 would not solve White’s problems 17... Qxf6 18.Nc2 Nc6 Black is still very active and White has a horrible development. I would prefer to play with Black here.(18...Qe7?! 19.N xb4 Qxb4 20.Qc2!) ]

13... Bb4+ 14.Ke2 White’s position looks very ugly. For just an exchange Black managed to put the White king on e2 in front of the bishop on f1 (I can’t remember seeing this kind of lack of construction before on the high level), the Black pawn structure is just great and all the pieces are well placed. All Black needs to do is to open some extra lines and the game will be over.

17...g4 It’s hard to say if the inclusion of 17.h4-g4 is good for White — probably not. Aronian is a very optimistic player and I am sure that in the current position he was not thinking about „how to escape today?”, instead „how to trick my opponent?”. 18.Nc2 Be7 Of course there is no reason for Black to give away the bishop on b4. 19.Ke1 Nb3! McShane is playing a great game. [19...h5 would have been possible as well.] 20. Ra2 [At 20. Ra7 Qb6 White would have no better move than to come back to a2.] 7


20...h5 Looks like an easy move, and in fact it is! White is slowly getting into deep trouble. Black’s pieces keep on rolling forward, and it’s hard to say how to stop them!

24...Qb6 White is hopeless against the Black threats. Black wants to play Nxe3, or Rd8, winning the Queen on d1. The White rook on a2 is totally out of the game.

21. Be2 White is trying to develop anything he can, but it is too late!

25. Bf3 [25. Rh3 Rd8 White has no defense against Nf4 26.gxh5 Nf4]

21... Bd6! Another great move by Black. White only has one active piece, so it is time to exchange it! There is no reason for Black to even look at 21... Bxg2, which would give White some play on the g-file. Black has to stick to the main idea: to play for domination. McShane is doing it perfectly!

25...Nxe3?! This move gives White some hopes... [25... Rd8! would have been the correct play, and it is a bit strange that McShane got away from hismainidea 26. Bxd5 White has no other move... In case of 26.Qe2, Nc1 wins the rook on a2 26... Rxd5 27.Qf3 Rd2 and White’s position is lost.]

22.f3 White is trying to create something... [22. Bxd6 Qxd6 and White simply has no moves!]

26.Nxe3 Qxe3+ 27.Qe2 Qc1+ 28.Qd1 Qe3+ 29.Qe2 Qc1+ Probably Black was in time trouble and decided to repeat the moves.

22...Nd5 McShane sees it well, after 22.f3 the weakness is the pawn on e3! 23.fxg4 Maybe this move is already loosing, but what else to do? White is trying to search for chances with hisactiveplay [23. Bxd6 Qxd6 24.Kf2 f5 and White’s position simply looks horrible.] 23... Bxe5! 24.dxe5

30.Qd1 Bxf3! Of course, continuing the game. White’s position is still very very bad. 31.gxf3 Qe3+ 32.Qe2 Qc1+ 33.Qd1 Qe3+ 34.Qe2 Qf4 Black wants to play Rd8 next. The White king is still in the center, and the rook on a2 is always in danger of getting caught!

8

Issue 44 (3) Bodnaruk,Anastasia (2415) — Javakhishvili,Lela (2455) [B42]


FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (1.28), 11.11.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

35.Qh2 [35.Kf2 would have been a better way to fight, but also here Black is close to winning 35... Rd8 36. Rd1 Qh2+ 37.Ke3 Qxe5+ 38.Kf2 Qh2+ 39.Ke3 Qxh4! Black got 2 pawns for the exchange, and probably the knight on b3 is worth more than the rook on a2. The position should be winning for Black.] 35...Qxf3! As Kasparov once said, greediness is a positive characteristic in a chess player.

Maybe some CEWN readers will remember the great Bodnaruk-Almasi game... Once again the young U-20 Russian Champion strikes in her very agressive style, with a lot of nice sacrifices. We’ll see a really great game! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 The Paulsen with 4...a6 has been a popular opening for at least 60 years! 5. Bd3 [5.Nc3 is the other main line.] 5... Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Qg4 Probably the most critical line. White is trying to provoke 7...g6 and only then to go back with 8.Qe2. Black’s pawn structure would be much worse... 7... Bf6 This is quite a rare move and I think not the best one. Black is trying to develop the knight with Nge7, and then to play 0–0 followed by d5. But of course, White is taking actions against this plan. 8.Qg3 We are following the game Karjakin-Flores 2012.

36. Rf1 Qe4+ 37.Kf2 Nd2 38. Rg1 Qf3+ White resigns because of 39.Ke1 Qe3! What a game by McShane, I think he will not forget it soon. The same goes for the World’s Number 2, this was Aronian’s toughest lost in maybe a couple of years...

8...Nc6 9.Nc3 Nge7 10. Bf4 Ng6?! N It’s hard to say if Black has prepared this move. To me, it looks very risky. [10...e5 11. Bd2 d6 12.0–0–0 Be6 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.h4 with better play for White, Karjakin-Flores, Olympiad 2012.]

0–1 9


13...Nf4 And we are entering a forced line. 14. Bxf4 Qxf4

11. Bd6! Of course. White should not allow Black to castle and, at the same time, the d5 move is blocked. 11... Bh4 Black is trying an active plan. [In case of 11... Be5 12. Bxe5 Ncxe5 13.0–0 followed by f4-f5, with a clear advantage for White.] 12.Qe3 A logical reply . White is preparing to castle long and against Bg5, to have f4 available. [Another logical move would have been 12.Qh3 Be7!? Black is using the slightly unlucky position of the White Queen on h3, in comparison to g3. 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14.0–0 0–0 15.f4 d6 and White is still a bit better, but nothing too big has happened.] 12...Qg5? In general it’s the right idea for Black to exchange the queens, but here it’s just too risky. Black’s bishop on h4 is almost trapped and the Black king on e8 could quickly get in trouble. [12... Be7 would still give Black a worse position, but a fighting one.]

15.g3! This double exchange sacrifice was the point of playing 13.Qh3!. The action starts! 15...Qf3 16.Qxh4 No way back. 16...Qxh1+ 17.Ke2! Not giving the f3 square for the Black queen. 17...Nd4+ [In case of 17...Qg2 18.e5! is very strong. White wants to play Ne4- Nd6, or simply Be4 to catch the Black queen.] 18.Nxd4 Qxa1

13.Qh3! Brave and strong. In a K.O. tournament it’s never easy to take the decision of sacrificing when You can choose a safer way. [13.Qxg5 Bxg5 14.0–0 just leads to a better endgame for White.]

10


19.e5! A multi-functional move. It stops Black from castling short and prepares the move Ne4. [It’s too early for 19.Nf5? exf5 20.Nd5 0–0! an easy move to blunder...] 19...d5 This move loses, but it seems like nothing helps. [19...Qxb2 20.Ne4 White is going against his target — the Black king. 20...Qxd4 21.Nd6+ Qxd6 22.exd6 From the material point of view, Black is doing fine, but he has one problem, all his pieces are undeveloped and White is starting a fast mating attack. 22...f6 23.Qh5+ Kf8 24. Bg6! with the double idea of playing Be8 and Qa5. White’s position is winning.]

23... Rxh7 24.Nxh7+ Kg8 25.Ng5 White wants to mate Black from all sides! 25...Qxa2 Avoiding the mate threat Qh7-Qh8 because of Qg8. 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.b3! Cool and strong, keeping the Black queen out of the game. 27... Bg4+ 28.f3 Ke8 Any move is winning, but White chooses a very beautiful mate. 29.Qg8+ Kd7 30.Qf7+ Kxd6 31.Ne4#

20.exd6 f6 Nothing else left... 21. Bxh7 This move is winning as well, but would lead to a fast win: [21.Qh5+! with the already known idea of taking the queen over the 5th rank to c7 or e7. 21...Kf8 22.Qc5 d7 is a deadly threat now. 22... Bd7 23.Qc7 Ke8 24.Nxe6 and Black is completely lost.] 21...Kf8 22.Ne4! Bringing the last piece into the attack. White wants to play Nxf6 next and there is no escape for Black. We can clearly see how important it is to keep the queen in the game; Black’s one on a1 is nothing more than a kibitzer... 22...e5? Black is resigning without a fight. [22... Rxh7! was the only way to continue. 23.Qxh7 Qxb2 Finally, the queen is back in the game. 24.Kd3! Very strong. Black is completely paralized and can only hope for a perpetual check, which is almost impossible to give because of the strong knights on d4 and e4. White’s position is close to winning.]

Wow, what a mate! Another great game by Bodnaruk. However, she received bad news already the next day; she lost her second game and later on the very dramatic tie-break. 1–0

23.Nxf6! What a total crush! 11


(4) Kramnik,Vladimir (2795) — McShane,Luke J (2713) [D15] 4th London Chess Classic Olympia, London (5), 06.12.2012 [Csaba Balogh] A really wonderful crush by Kramnik with a lot of sacrifices. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.g3 Recently, this 5.g3 line against the Chebanenko Slav was considered to be quite a harmless approach, but this game might change the general opinion. 5...dxc4 6.a4 White wants to recover the c4 pawn, therefore he prevents b5. [6. Bg2 b5 7.Ne5 Bb7 is the start of the other line, where White tries to find compensation for the pawn in the center with e4.] 6...e6 7. Bg2 c5 8.0–0 [8.dxc5 is the most common move, but after 8...Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bd7! This very deep novelty was introduced by Karjakin back in 2009 and it seems to solve all of Black’s problems. 10.Ne5 Nc6 =] 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 This could not be a real surprise for McShane that Kramnik chose this line, since he has already played it in two games. 9...Nbd7 10.Nc2! White wants to win back the c4 pawn, so he drives his knight to e3. 10...Qc7

11. Bf4! This is the novelty of our game. Black provokes the e5 move, after which the d5 square becomes a real hole in Black’s camp. [Kramnik has deviated from his own game, which continued with 11.Qd4 Bc5 12.Qh4 Be7 13.Na3 Ne5 14. Bf4 h6 15. Bxe5 and at this moment, the players agreed to a draw. Kramnik-Gelfand, Linares 1997.] 11...e5 [If Black restrain s himself from giving up the control over the d5 square and plays 11...Qc5 12.a5! was probably Kramnik’s preparation with the idea of 12... Be7 13. Ra4! 0–0 14.Na3! += With this cool maneuver, White wins back the pawn and obtains a clear advantage as all his pieces are perfectly placed. The main problem of Black is that he can’t protect his pawn with b5 because the a8 rook will hang at the end.] 12. Bd2! [12. Bg5 is much worse because of 12...h6 and the bishop won’t be able to return to g5 as it happened in the game.] 12...Nc5 Black would like to preserve his c4 pawn advantage and wants to protect it with Be6. In addition, he is ready to jump with the knight to b3. [12... Be7 is met with 13.Ne3! and Ncd5 next is going to be really unpleasant.; 12... Bc5 was an alternativ e, as it was pointed out 12


by Kramnik at the press conference. He was intending to play 13.Ne3 0–0 14. Rc1 White is very close to restoring the material balance. 14... Bxe3 15. Bxe3 Rb8 Black is finally ready to push b5, but this still doesn’t allow him toequalize: 16.Nd5! Nxd5 17.Qxd5 b5 18.Qc6! This concrete solution demonstrates well the power of the bishop pair. 18...Qxc6 19. Bxc6 Ba7 is threatened, and on 19...bxa4 20. Rfd1! suddenly the f8 rook is going to be trapped, 20... Nf6 21. Bc5!] 13. Bg5! By eliminating the f6 knight, the d5 square becomes even more vulnerable. 13... Be6 Black tries to control the d5 square, but this allow White to destroy his pawn structure... [13... Be7 is not better either. 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Nce3 Be6 17.Nxc4  The power of the minor pieces is just huge. White wants to play Ncb6 and Rc1, or just b4 with a big advantage.] 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 [The absence of the lightsquared bishop will tell after 15... Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Nb3 17. Rad1 followed by Ne3, with complete control on the light squares.] 16.Nce3 Nb3

17.a5!! A shocking move, based on excellent calculation and great intuition! White frees the a4 square for the rook, or for the queen, if the rook is taken. [McShane was expecting 17. Rb1 and after 17... Rc8 he would successfully consolidate his position.] 17... Rc8? [The critical test was definitely 17...Nxa1 18.Qa4+! (18.Qxa1 is too slow. 18...Bc5) 18... Bd7 Only move. 19.Qxc4 Nc7 is threatened. 19... Rc8 20.Qh4 Rc6! 21. Rxa1 Despite the fact that White doesn’t even have a pawn for the exchange, it’s clear that with such active pieces, it’s much easier and better to play the position as White. However, Black also has some chances after 21... f5!] 18. Ra4! This was the point! Now White is ready to recover the pawn again and if it falls, the Black position collapses. 18...Nd4 Black indirectly protects the c4 pawn, as the d5 knight is hanging after all. [On 18...Nxa5 19.Nxf6+! looks pretty strong. 19...Qxf6 20. Rxa5 Black has too many weaknesses. Not only the pawns, but also the light squares.] 19.Nb6! Rc7

13


20. Rxc4!! Another shocking blow, with fantastic intuitions again! In a few moves, we’ll get a clear picture of why the absence of the e6 bishop is worth a rook. [20. Nbxc4 After 20... Bc5 Black obtain s a playable position. Suddenly, the bishop pair and the strong knight on d4 are enough compensation for the weakened structure.] 20... Bxc4 [Black is worse even if he does not accept the exchange: 20... Bc5 21.Nbd5 Rc8 22.Qd3 followed by Rfc1.] 21.Nexc4  White is ready to kick out the d4 knight with e3. It’s very nice to see the way White plays on the light squares on the following lines... 21...Nb5 [21... Bc5 is met with 22.e3! Ne6 23.Nd5 Rd7 24.Qf3 White continues dominating even without the queens on the board. 24... Rxd5 25.Qxd5 Qxd5 26. Bxd5 The b7 pawn is a clear weakness.; 21... Be7 22.e3! Ne6 23.Qa4+ Kf8 24.Nd5! (24.Rd1 is less precise. 24...Qe8) 24... Rc5 25.Ncb6 Kg7 26. Rd1 Black can’t move! Qg4 is coming with a mating attack. Nd7 is also in the air.]

22...Qd4 Otherwise, after Rd1, the queen would only have one square on b8, which was definitely not a tempting alternative. 23. Rd1 Qc5 24.e3 Taking control of the d4 square. [It was also strong to transfer the knight to d5 first. 24.Ne3 Nd4 25.Ned5 Rc6 26.e3! with a winning advantage as well.] 24... Be7 25.Qf5! Stormy clouds are approaching. At this moment, McShane had only 3 minutes left against Kramnik’s one hour. 25...Kf8 26. Bd5! By protecting the c4 knight, White threatens with Nd7. 26...Kg7 27.Qg4+ Kh6 Obviously, White has several ways to win, but Kramnik continues to play for the spectators! 28.e4! Of course, to give up the d4 square is a potential mistake, but it has a concrete reason — White wants to mate Black with Ne3-f5. Black has an only way to defend. 28...Nd4 29.Ne3 [29.b4!? was another pretty win. 29... Qxb4 30. Rxd4! exd4 31.Qf4+ Kg7 32.Qxc7 +-] 29...f5 Otherwise, Rxd4 decides the game. Now Kramnik has calculated a very long, forced and spectacular line until the win. 30.Qh3+! [30.Nxf5+ Nxf5 31.Qxf5 is also winning for White.]

22.Qb1! Very nice! Keeping the eyes on the light squares. Rd1 joins the game next.

30...Kg7 31. Rxd4! Another exchange sacrifice. This is already the 3rd in th game; McShane rejected to accept the first one on a1. 31...exd4 32.Nxf5+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ Ke8 14

Issue 44 to make the last move of the time trouble and Kramnik wanted to shock him with this unexpected retreat, with the idea of Nd7. We’ll get the same position two moves later, when White already plays the strongest move.


34. Bxf7+! This was the point. Black can’t hope for salvation. [34.Qg7 Rf8 is not clear.] 34...Kd8 [34...Kxf7 35.Qg7+ Ke6 Now, the best, but not the only way to win is (35...Ke8 36.Qxh8+ +-) 36.Nxd4+ Kd6 37.Qh6+! Ke5 this is not a good sign. 38.Nf3+ Kxe4 39.Qf4+ Kd3 40.Ne5+ Kc2 41.Qe4+! After this subtle chess, Black can’t avoid losing his queen with Nd3 check. For instance, after 41...Kb3 42.Qa4+ Kxb2 43.Nd3+ +-] 35.Qg7 Rf8 36.Nxd4 Suddenly, Ne6 threatens mate in one. Quite an unusual picture. [36.Nd5 was also winning.] 36... Rc6 [36... Rxf7 also loses to 37.Qxf7 (37.Ne6+?? only leads to a perpetual check after 37...Ke8 38.Qg8+ Rf8 39.Ng7+ Kd8 40.Ne6+ =) 37...Qxd4 38.Qg8+ +-] 37.Nxc6+ bxc6 Black seems to have some hopes because of the f2 square, but the next move destroys all the dreams... 38.Qg4! with a double mate threat on d7 and c8. Kramnik admitted that he calculated until this moment when he played 30.Qh3! Impressive! 38...Kc7 39.Qd7+ Kb8 40.Qd2? The only mistake in the game by White. McShane had only 3 seconds left

40...Kc7 [40... Bg5 could have been a small chance, although the position remains lost 41.Nd7+ Kc8 42.Qd1! (42.N xc5 B xd2 43.Bc4 is also technically winning, but of course, to enter such an endgame when Black is so close to getting mated gives a bad feeling...) 42... Rd8 43.Qg4! These were the best moves, after which White is still winning easily... 43... Rxd7 44. Be6 +-] 41.Qd7+ Kb8 42.Kg2! A cool move. Suddenly, Black finds himself in zugzwang as he can’t play Rd8 because of Qxd8 and Nd7. 42... Bd6 [42... Rd8 43.Qxd8+ Bxd8 44.Nd7+; 42... Rxf7 43.Qc8+ Ka7 44.Qc7#] 43.b4! Now the game is over. Black has to give up his c6 pawn because d6 has to be protected. 43...Qd4 44.Qxc6 Ka7 All the moves are winning now... 45.Kh3 Kramnik calmly leaves from the Qxe4 check, after Nc8 Rxc8 Qxc8. Black can resign now. 45...Qd1 [45...Qxf2 46.Qd7+ Kb8 47.Qxd6+ +-] 46.Nc8+ Rxc8 47.Qxc8 White ended up with 4 extra pawns and the mating attack continues. [47.Qb6+ Ka8 48. Bd5+ +- was even easier.] 47...Qf1+ 48.Kg4 h5+ 49.Kxh5 What a brilliant performance by Kramnik! Amazing! 1–0

15


Puzzle section

(7) Danielian,E (2476) — Stefanova,A (2490) SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012

(5) Giri,A (2720) — Ivanchuk,V (2766) SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Muzychuk,A (2586) — Zhu Chen (2491) (6) Karjakin,S (2775) — Kamsky,G (2762) SportAccord blindfold, 19.12.2012 [CEWN]

SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

16


(9) Safarli,E (2626) — Esen,B (2576)

(11) Kvon,A (2501) — Romanov,E (2616)

Wolrd Cities Team, 22.12.2012


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Kravtsiv,M (2593) — Tzermiadianos,A (2434)

(12) Mamedov,N (2602) — Manolache,M (2541)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

17


(13) Korobov,A (2702) — Wojtaszek,R (2734) Delhi, 24.12.2012 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Sumets,A (2638) — Kozul,Z (2638) Zadar Open, 19.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

18


Surprise section / study (15) Sviridenko,N 1974 [CEWN] 1. =

19


Solutions

(17) Koneru,H (2610) — Zhao Xue (2565) SportAccord rapid, 14.12.2012

(16) Kamsky,G (2762) — Karjakin,S (2775)

[Solutions]

SportAccord rapid, 15.12.2012 [Solutions]

34. Rxf7! Qxf3+ [34... Rxf7? 35.Qxa8+] 35. Rxf3 Rc8 36. Rd3 e5 37.f4! exf4 38.gxf4 Rc4 39.Kf3 Kf7 40.Ke4+69.Ne7! [69. Rg7? Bxg7 70.fxg7+ Rxg7! 71.Qxf7 Rxf7 72. Rxf7 a2–+] 69...a2 [69... Bxe7 70.fxe7 Qxe7 71.Qc8++-] 70.Ng6+ Qxg6 [70...Kg8 71.Nxf8+ Kxf8 72.Qc8+ Qe8 73. Rg8+ Kxg8 74.Qxe8#]

(18) Stefanova,A (2491) — Lahno,K (2553) SportAccord rapid, 15.12.2012 [Solutions]

71.Qxg6 a1Q+ 72. Rg1 Qxg1+ 73.Kxg1+-

51...Qh8+! 0–1[51...Qh8+ 52.Kg2 Qh1#] 20


(19) Radjabov,T (2793) — Morozevich,A (2748)

(20) Ivanchuk,V (2766) — Morozevich,A (2748)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

29.Nxf6+! gxf6 30.Qg6+ Kf8 [30...Qg7 31.Qxe8++-]

30... Rac8!! [30...d5 31.Ke1!]

31. Bxf6 Qc7 [31...Qf7 32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Qh8#; 31... Qa7 32. Rxb4+-]

31.Qb2 [31. Bxc8 Qh1#]

32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Qh8+ 1–0[33.Qh8+ Kf7 34.Qg7+ Ke6 35.Qxc7]

33. Bxh1 Rxh1+ 34.Kg2 Rxc1–+

31... Rxc1+ 32.Qxc1 Qh1+ [32... Bc8! 33. Bf3 Ng4!–+]

21


(21) Aronian,L (2815) — Mamedyarov,S (2764) SportAccord blitz, 17.12.2012 [Solutions]

22... Rxb2+!! 23.Kxb2 Qb4+ 24.Kc1 Bf4+! 25. Rd2 exf5–+ 26. Re1 h6 27. Re3 Bxe3 28.fxe3 Qc3–+ [28... Qa3+ 29.Kd1 Qxe3–+] (23) Kamsky,G (2762) — Leko,P (2732) SportAccord blitz, 17.12.2012 [Solutions]

15...Nxd4! 16.Qb4 [16.exd4 Qxf4–+] 16...Qxb4 17.axb4 Nc6 (22) Jobava,B (2711) — Morozevich,A (2748) SportAccord blitz, 17.12.2012 [Solutions]

39.Nc5! Kf6 [39...b6 40.d7 Rh8 41.Ne6+-; 39... Rh8 40.d7 Rd8 41.Ne6! Rxd7 42.Nf8++-] 40.Ne4+? [40.d7! Ke7 41.Ne6!! Kxd7 (41...Rh8 42.d8Q+ R xd8 43.N xd8 Kxd8 44.Kg4+-) 42.Nf8++-] 40...Kf5

21... Rxb4! 22. Bxf5?! [22.Qxe7 Nxe7] 22


(24) Ding Liren (2702) — Karjakin,S (2775)

(26) Kuznetsov,A


1974

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

31... Rxe5! 0–1 [31... Rxe5 32.Qxe5 Qxg2#] (25) Hou Yifan (2606) — Cmilyte,V (2524)

1.a8Q!! Bxa8 2. Bc6!! Bxc6 [2... Rxc6 3.Nf3#; 2...f3 3.Ng6#+-] 3.Ng6# 1–0

SportAccord blitz, 16.12.2012 [Solutions]

23...Nxd5!! 24. Rxd5 Rxb2+!! 25.Kd1 [25.Kxb2 Bxc3+ 26.Kb3 Bxe1–+] 25... Rxc3 26. Rxe7 Bh6–+ 23

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 45 4th of January 2013


4th of January 2013

Let’s start the first issue of 2013 with a short review of a great amount of tournaments that just came to an end:


2


3

»» Puzzle section

15


18


22


25

»» Solutions

26

The winner of the World Cities Championship in UEA was the team of Netherlands, playing almost with the national team. The Open in Geneva was won by Etienne Bacrot. The Zürich Open was surprisingly won by Levente Vajda. Anton Korobov won the round robin tournament AICFAAI in India with a very convincing 6,5/10. Timur Gareev won the North American Open. The Pirenka rapid/blitz in Russia was won by Karjakin. The Final Rapid Grand Prix of Russia was won by Dreev. In the next issues of CEWN, we are already very happy to announce that we will cover the stellar upcoming event of the month: Tata Steel in Wijk ann Zee with Magnus Carlsen, Leven Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura and many more leading grandmasters. Stay updated with Your usual issues of CEWN and have fun with CEWN Nr45! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2711) — Grigoryan,Karen H (2513) [C02] Al Ain Classic 2012 Al-Ain UAE (5.3), 26.12.2012 [Balogh Csaba] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 [3... Lf5 is clearly the mainline, but the text move also has many followers.] 4.dxc5 e6

sition, when different kind of sacrifices, such as Nxd5 will always be in the air. 8...h4? Black only improves the queen’s position. On g3, it was standing in the way of the Ne7-f5 tempo, while on the 4th rank it can be very useful because it can be switched to the other side. In addition, Black only weakens his own pawn. [8... Ld7 9. Le3 Tc8 was the right way to play. After Black has protected his c5 knight, he is ready to play Ne7-f5 next. 10.0–0–0 Se7 Black seems to be fine, but of course, the position is playable for both sides.] 9.Dg4 h3 10.g3! White wants to take the h3 pawn without destroying his pawn structure. Black must try to create some tactical counterplay. 10...Sh6 11.Dxh3 Db6 12. Lb5+ [The simple 12. Le2 followed by 0–0 was also good.] 12... Ld7 13. Lxd7+ Sxd7 14.0–0

5.Dg4 A very sharp move in order to make Black’s development a bit more difficult, thanks to the pressure against the g7 pawn. [The main, and probably the best, is 5. Le3 with hundreds of games in the database.] 5...h5! Well played! If we are familiar with the following developments of both sides, it will become clear that the queen must be sent away from the 4th rank. 6.Dg3 Sd7 7.Sf3 Sxc5 8.Sc3 White’s main idea is to play Be3 and 0–0–0, creating a dangerous attacking po-

14... Tc8! [14...0–0–0 with the idea of a potential attack with opposite side castling is not dangerous at all. 15.Dh4 White drops his queen to the queenside and has enough defensive pieces to protect the king.]

3


15. Le3! A brilliant idea! Instead of trying to defend the c2 pawn passively, Vachier-Lagrave leads the game to tactical waters. 15...Dxb2 16.Sxd5!! This was the point! Of course it’s impossible to calculate all the lines until the end, we must have very good intuitions to make such sacrifices. 16...Db5 [16...exd5 is met with 17.e6! fxe6 18.Dxe6+ Le7 Here White has many tempting moves, but only one of them leads to a clear advantage.

Black drops a piece after all the captures.) 22. Tfe1! Db6 23. Lxe7 Dxe6 24. Txe6 Sxe7 25. Tae1! Now, in comparison to the 20. Rfe1 line, Black doesn’t have 0–0 anymore. 25... Txc2 26. Txe7+ Kd8 27. Txg7 +-] 17. Tad1! White keeps all the tactical motifs alive by keeping his knight on d5. 17... La3 [17...exd5 is much worse now, because the queen on b5 falls to the Nd4 tempo. 18.e6 fxe6 19.Dxe6+ Le7 20. Lg5 Sg8 21.Dg6+ Kf8 22.Sd4 +-; On 17... Lc5 both 18.Sg5 (and 18.Sf4 are very strong. Both moves are connected with sacrifices on e6.) ] 18. Tfe1 White wants to increase the power of the e6 move after exd5. [18. Td3! was even stronger, activating the rooks with tempo. Rfd1 is coming next.] 18...Dc6 19. Td3 Lb2 20.c3! Another great move, locking the b2 bishop. The knight on d5 is hanging for 5 moves. Black could not stand the pressure anymore...

19. Lg5! (19. Ld4 Dxc2 20. Lxg7 is not easy because of (20.Tfe1 Sf5 Very suspicious, but Black is still alive.) 20... Tc6!) 19...Sg8 Very subtle play is required. 20.Dg6+! (On the most logical 20.Tfe1 Black has 20...Db6! 21.L xe7 Dxe6 22.Txe6 S xe7 23.Tae1 and now 23...0–0! solves Black’s problems. 24.Txe7 Txf3 25.Txd7 Txc2 =) 20...Kf8 (20...Kd8 is refuted by 21. Tab1! Dxc2 22.Df7! Black can’t parry the threats. All the White pieces are attacking. (22. Dxg7 allows 22...Dh7!) 22...Sgf6 (22...L xg5 23.S xg5 +-) 23. Tfe1 Te8 24.Sd4! and Ne6 next is a spectacular mate.) 21.De6!! White seemingly wants to make a draw by repetition, but actually he just deprived Black from castling kingside. 21...Ke8 (21...Td8 22.Tfe1 +-; 21...Sgf6 22.L xf6

20...exd5

21.e6! Obviously, White must open the lines on the king.

4


21...fxe6 [21...Dxe6 22. Ld4 wins the queen.; 21...Sf6 22. Ld4 Black is lost. Too many threats are in the air.] 22. Ld4 Sf7 [22...Kf7 loses to 23. Txe6! Dxe6 24.Sg5+ +-] 23. Txe6+ Kd8 This counterattack on the queen was Black’s idea. He hoped that this tempo could give enough time to hide his king on the queenside. [23...Kf8? 24. Txc6 Txh3 25. Txc8+ +-] 24.Df5 Sd6 [24...Dc4 leads to a nice finish: 25.Dxf7 Dxd3 26.De7+ Kc7 27. Le5# Quite a picturesque mate!] 25.Dg5+ Kc7

29. Tdxd6 Dxf3 30. Txd7+! After a nice tactical battle, White ended up with an extra pawn, but it’s more important that his attacking chances are still excellent, while the g5 queen covers the c1 square. 30...Kb8 [30...Kxd7 31.De7#] 31. Tee7 Tc2 32.De5+ [The cold-blooded 32. Tf7 was also winning.] 32...Ka8 33. Te8+ Tc8 34. Txc8+ Txc8 35.Dc7! A neat finish! 1–0

26. Le5! Perfect ca lculation! I am quite sure, that White had foreseen the main idea, which comes in the 26... Nxe5 line. 26... La3 [26...Sxe5 27.Sxe5 Da6 (27...Dc5 28.De7+ Black must move into Nd7 check!) 28. Txd5 La3 and now 29. Te7+! Kb8 30. Ta5!! The queen is trapped!! Nd7 wins in any case. 30...Dxa5 31.Sd7+ +-] 27. Lxd6+ Lxd6 28. Txd5 Dxc3 [28... Th6 doesn’t save the piece 29. Tdxd6 +-] 5


(2) Halkias,Stelios (2561) — Fedorchuk,Sergey A (2661) [A15] World Cities Team GpC Al-Ain UAE (2.7), 23.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.Sf3 Directly after the opening, the game develops into a very sharp tactical battle and ends with a nice final calculation by Stelios Halkias. Let’s see how the game developed... 1...Sf6 2.c4 b6 Usually, early moves like 2. ..b6 don’t bring anything good, but this leads just to a different move order. 3.Sc3 Lb7 4.d4 e6 5. Lg5 h6 [5... Lb4 would lead us to other main lines...] 6. Lh4 Le7 7.Dc2 d5 8. Lxf6 This move looks strange, but is a normal way to continue the game. White’s idea is to play against the „bad” bishop on b7. [In case of 8.cxd5 Sxd5 the position could be evaluated as about equal.] 8... Lxf6 9.cxd5 That’s the point of White’s 8. Bxf6. 9...exd5 10.e3 [10.g3 could be other standard way to continue the game, but we are not very far away from getting a pretty equal game. Of course, all of this is still theory.] 10...0–0

11.0–0–0!? White chooses a very double edged line! The sharp part of the game is starting. White will push his gand h-pawns forward; Black will try to start his play on the queenside. 11...a5 A usual way to play for Black, but this is clearly not the most critical. [11...c5!? Black has no time to lose and has to start his counterplay as fast as possible. 12.dxc5 Sd7! and this is the key move! Now all the Black pieces are joining the game very quickly. 13.Sxd5 Sxc5 Black is a pawn down but has very active play. His chances are pretty good. 14. Lc4 Tc8 15.Kb1 b5 with a very unclear position.] 12.h4 White is starting his play on the kingside. His next move could be g4. 12... Lc8 Stopping the g4 move and at the same time bringing the bishop back to life. This is a good idea, but Black is losing too much time... 13. Le2 Sa6 14.a3 c5 Black has finally played c5, but White can counter with... 15.g4! [An attempt to win a pawn would lead to nothing: 15.dxc5? Lxc3! 16.Dxc3 Sxc5 and only Black can be better here because of the bad position of the White king.] 15...g6?! Black doesn’t choose the critical continuation once again. [Would lead to a very sharp position to play 15... Lxg4 16.Sg5!? I guess this was Halkias’ idea. 16... Lxg5 17.hxg5 Lxe2 18.Dxe2 and White’s attack looks dangerous at first sight, but on the other hand, White „just” wants to play gxh6, and Black will counter with g6. The position is very unclear.]

6


16.Se5 [16.g5 could have been another good move to continue White’s attack.] 16...cxd4 17.exd4?! [17.Sc6! Dd7 18.Sxd4 seems to lead to a position with a clear plus for White.] 17...Sc7 Black tries to bring his pieces to better squares, and as we know, Kg8 and Bg7 are a great combination for the defensive side. 18.f4 White let all his options open: to play g5, f5, or even h5 next.

21... Lxg5+ 22.Kb1 bxa3 23.Dc6? It seems like White has blundered Black’s next move. [23. Th3! would keep the position very dynamic and unclear.] 23...f6! Very strong. The White knight can’t go back from e5 because of Bd7. 24.Sc5 White plays for all or nothing. He’s defending the knight on e5 indirectly and bringing one more piece into the attack, but leaving the b2 pawn unprotected... 24... Tb8! Another excellent move by Black. The position is very sharp, but Fedorchuk keeps his cool and brings his rook from a8 to b8 into the attack. 25.b3 Of course, White can’t allow Black to play Rxb2. 25...a4! Black is playi ng great chess! White can’t take with any of his pieces on a4 and, as we can see, he doesn’t even have a clear threat against the Black king. Things seems to be turning in Black’s favor.

18...b5! Black starts his own play. The position is really unclear.

26.Sf3 Already now, it’s not easy to give White a good advice. At least, Halkias is trying to exchange the bishop on g5, which is like a „stone wall” for White’s attacking attempts.

19.f5 b4 20.Sa4 In a very complicated position, Black gives his opponent a huge chance... 20...g5?! [20...bxa3! Logical and right decision. Black has no time to lose and must try to open the White king’s position as much as possible. 21.Kb1! and Black’s attack is getting very dangerous.(Of course not 21.bxa3? Dd6) ] 21.hxg5?! White returns the present. [The simple 21.Sb6! seems to win an exchange. It’s hard to guess why White didn’t play it...] 7


26...De8 Once again, Fedorchuk acts cool and makes the correct decision. He is forcing a queen exchange. 27.Dxe8 Txe8 Let’s take a fresh look at the position. Black is a pawn up, his king is safe and White’s bishop on e2 and pawn on b3 are hanging.. . White’s pluses: maybe a future attack over the h-file and nothing more. We can clearly see how quickly White got into deep trouble from a clearly better position by not choosing the most dynamic actions.

35.Ka1 axb3 36.Sxb3 (Right now, the same Rh7 doesn’t work because of 36.Th7+ Kd8 37.Se6+ Txe6 38.fxe6 b2+! and Black is queening with check.)

28.Sxg5 White must try his chances in some concrete play. [In case of the slow 28. Ld3 Lf4! it seems like Black is just winning. White absolutely has no play...] 28... Txe2 29. Txh6 fxg5 30. Tdh1 White is going all-in, and what else is there to do... Even though the engines show a clear advantage for Black, to play such a position at the board is not an easy thing to do. White threatens to play Rh8-R1h7, which is very concrete and scary. 30...Se8! And once again, Black finds the best way to continue the game. [It would lead to a funny mate to play 30...axb3?? 31. Th8+ Kf7 32. T1h7+ Kf6 33. Tf8#] 31. Tg6+ White has no better tries to continue his attack... 31...Kf8 32. Th8+ Ke7 33. Tgg8 We probably reached the critical moment of the game. White’s attack seems to be quite dangerous and Black needs to be precise to get a full point! 33...a2+ Still OK but more forced was [33... Lxf5+ 34.gxf5 It’s easy to be a hero here with the help of an engine, but it’s very hard to find this during a practical game. 34... a2+ (An easy mistake could be 34...axb3? 35.Th7+ Kd8 36.Se6+ and suddenly White is on the winner’s side.)

36...g4!! What an amazing position! White has no moves and can’t defend from g3-g2 and Re1+ g1Q. Chess can be very beautiful sometimes! :)] 34.Ka1 Kd8?? This terrible blunder probably occurred in deep time trouble. Still, 34... Bxf5 would lead to the winning variation we already showed. 35.Se6+! And... White is winning. 35... Txe6 [Of course, after 35... Lxe6 36. Txe8+ Kc7 37. Txb8 Black can just resign as well...] 36.fxe6 axb3 37. Txe8+ Kc7 38.Kb2 White easily blocks the Black pawns... 38... Ta8 39. Th1 The pawns are blocked and White is an exchange up. The position is winning. 39...Kd6 40. Tc1 a1D+ This is not a real try to save the game, but there’s nothing left... 41. Txa1 Txa1 42.Kxa1 Lxe6

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Issue 45 (3) Korobov,A (2702) — Negi,P (2641) [B90]

4th of January 2013

AICF-AAI Cup 2012 New Delhi IND (9), 29.12.2012 [Balogh Csaba] A nice fighting game. An interesting detail to mention is that Korobov played 1.e4 for the second time in his life. 43. Txe6+!! A very nice way to finish the game! Halkias knows how to win the pawn endgames with the rule of opposition! 43...Kxe6 44.Kb2 Kd6 45.Kxb3 If Black could play 45...Kb7 now, the position would be a draw, but this is not allowed by the rules of chess. 45...Kc7 46.Ka4! The last exact move. Black can’t stop White’s king from reaching the c5 square, winning the d5-pawn.

1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Sxd4 Sf6 5.Sc3 a6 The Sicilian Najdorf is the main repertoire of Korobov as Black too, so he had to be familiar with the arising positions. From a psychological point of view, it was not a clever opening decision by Negi, who plays many other lines as well... 6.h3 Sc6 A sideline. 6...e6 and 6...e5 are the two main moves. 7.g4 Sxd4 8.Dxd4 e5 9.Dd3 Le6 10.g5 Sd7

46...Kc6 47.Ka5 A very fighting game, where the fortune was clearly on White’s side! 1–0

11.f4 There was only one game on this position in the database before, and Korobov was leading the Black pieces in it. 11... Tc8 This is new! Black allows to be completely squeezed after f5, but he is hoping for dynamic counterplay with d5 later on. [11...exf4 12. Lxf4 Le7 happened 9


before. 13.0–0–0 (13.De3 might be an improvement, followed by 0–0–0 and Nd5.) 13... Lxg5 14.Dxd6 Lxf4+ 15.Dxf4 0–0 16. Tg1 Tc8 17.Sd5 Kh8 18. Le2 White’s chances seem to be preferable, although Black was able to hold the draw on Kuzubov-Korobov, Plovdiv 2012.] 12.f5 Lc4 13.Df3 Sb6 This is too slow. [13...d5 was the only critical move from the opening point of view. We can see this break in many different lines. 14. Lxc4 (The main point of Black’s idea comes after 14.exd5 Lb4! 15.Ld2 L xc3 16.L xc3 Dxg5 and Black has jumped out and overtook the initiative!) 14... Txc4 15.Sxd5 is the correct reaction. The knight is extremely strong on d5. 15... Txc2 White should objectively be better, but he has some problems to find safety for his king as he will not be able to castle queenside. (15...Sc5 is met with the simple retreat 16.Sc3 and Bd2 0–0–0 next with a clear pawn up.) ] 14. Lxc4 Sxc4 15.b3 This brings Black back to the game. [15.f6! would have been much stronger! Black is doomed without the d5 counterplay. The game could continue, for instance, with 15...Da5 (15...gxf6 16.Sd5 is the point!) 16.fxg7 Lxg7 17.0–0! 0–0! 18.Sd5 with an overwhelming advantage!] 15...Sb6 16. Ld2

16...d5! Only move! Black has to try this even if it’s losing, otherwise, he will suffer the whole game in a passive position. 17.exd5 Lb4 Thanks to the b3 inaccuracy, White has some problems because he’ll lose the stability of the c3 knight. 18. Td1 White would like to play Ne4, so the next move is forced. [18.0–0–0 allows 18...Dc7! 19.d6 Lxd6 with mutual chances.] 18... Lxc3 19. Lxc3 Dxg5 [19...0–0!? also came into consideration. Black has some different ideas, for instance e4 followed by Nxd5, or just Qxg5. Suddenly, the Black king is safe, while the White one has no safe shelter on the board.] 20. Lxe5 Txc2! [20...0–0 was also tempting in order to bring the rook to e8, but suddenly after 21.Kf1! the Black king becomes vulnerable as well. Rg1 is unpleasantly coming next!] 21. Ld4! Creating the double threat of Bxb6 and Rg1. [Now on 21.Kf1 Tc1! is very strong. White has problems with the f5 and d5 pawns.] 21...Sd7 22. Tg1 Se5! Nice intermediate move! [After 22...Dh4+ 23.Kf1 Black’s king becomes the weak one. White is pressing the g7 pawn and can consolidate his position with Rg4! anytime. Despite having no pawns around the king, White’s pieces provide an excellent defense.] 23.Dg3

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32. Te3 Dh5+ 33.Ke1 Dh1+ 34.Kd2 Dh2 35.Kc1 One single queen can’t make wonders. The only problem for White was to make the last 5 moves of the time trouble without blundering. Then, his position is automatically winning. 35...Df4 36.Kb1 [36.d6! was even stronger. 36...Dxd6 (36...Kxd6 37.Lg3 +-) 37. Td2 +-] 36...Dxf6 37. Td3 White wants to advance his d-pawn. 23...Dh5? This is a blunder, which throws away the half point. [23...Dh4!! would have been the fantastic saving move! White has to force a draw because of the Qe4 threat. 24.Dxh4 (24.L xe5 De4+; 24.Kf1 loses to 24...Dh5! There’s a huge difference compared to the game. Both the d1 rook and the f5 pawn are hanging with check. 25.Dxe5+ Kd7 Black wins.) 24...Sf3+ 25.Kf1 Sh2+ = with perpetual check to follow.; 23...Dxg3+ 24. Txg3 The endgame is bad for Black after the g7 pawn falls.]

37...Df5 38. Tdd2 g5 39.d6 g4 40.Kc1 The last move of the time control. The end is near! 40...De5 41. Tc7+ Kd8 42. Lb6 Da1+ 43.Kc2 Dxa2+ 44.Kc3 Da1+ 45.Kb4 The queen has no more checks, so it’s time to resign the game. 1–0

24.Dxe5+ Kd7 25. Td2! After this nice defensive move, Black’s heavy pieces are unable to create any serious threats. 25... Te8 [25... Tc1+ 26.Kf2 +-] 26.Dxe8+! Kxe8 27. Txc2 Dh4+ 28. Lf2 White ended up with an extra piece and the d-pawn has huge power as well. 28...Dxh3 29.f6! g6 [29...gxf6 is refuted by 30. Tc7! with a mating net around the Black king.] 30. Tg3 Dh1+ 31.Ke2 Kd7 [31...Dxd5 is poisoned. 32. Te3+ +-]

11


(4) Short,Nigel D (2692) — Salem,A.R. Saleh (2536) [A16]

7...0–0 8.Qd2, followed by Bh6 and a bishop exchange, this could give White some small advantage.

World Cities Team GpA Al-Ain UAE (3.5), 24.12.2012

7...Sc6 8. Lxc6+!? That’s White’s opening idea. At first sight, it doesn’t look great to give up such a bishop, but White is gaining a very big positional plus: Black’s pawn structure is going to be horrible. Objectively speaking, the position should be very complicated.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.c4 Nigel Short was one of the Top players in the 90s, when he even played a World Championship match against Kasparov in 1993. Nowadays, only time to time we can see him playing a strong chess event, even when his rating is still close to 2700. In the current game, already on move 8, the position gets pretty wild and Short manages to outplay his opponent in a nice style.

8...bxc6 9.Dd2 White wants to play Bh6. 9...h5 And of course, Black doesn’t allow White to play it. On the other hand, if Black castles short, Bh6 will be possible again. That’s why 9...h6 could have been an option, with g5 next.

1...Sf6 2.Sc3 d5 3.cxd5 Sxd5 4.g3 g3 is by far not the main move in the Anti-Gruenfeld, but Short likes to take out his opponents from the main lines.

10.Sf3! The White knight will have a great position on g5!

4...Sb6 A slightly strange move by Black, even though it’s very possible. One of the main moves is the direct 4... g6.

10... Lh3 Of course, Black doesn’t allow White to castle short. If White could castle, and then play Rfc1, creating pressure on the c-file, his position would be clearly better.

5. Lg2 g6 6.d3 Lg7

11.Sg5 Lg2 12. Tg1 Ld5 We are in quite an interesting position. White can’t castle short, and to castle long is not a great option, because Black would quickly get a lot of counterplay on the b-file. On the other hand, Black’s bishop is quite badly placed on d5 — he must move it somewhere. 13.f3! Very good mov e by White. In the future, White could play Kf2 and finally connect the rooks. Besides, to play Bf2 followed by e4 could be a threat.

7. Le3!? Quite a tr icky move. White doesn’t hurry with Nf3 — we’ll see why in the game. If Black would play 12

Issue 45 on the b-file and at the same time getting the knight to f8 — a great defensive position.]

4th of January 2013

18.Kf1 A silent move with a very strong idea. 18... Lf7? Black doesn’t pay attention... 19.De1! This was White’s „secret „ plan. Suddenly, Black almost has no way to defend against Qh4 next! 13...0–0?! Sometimes the most obvious moves are not the best ones... [It was time to make use of the h-pawn. 13...h4! would force White to take some decisions. To open the h-file for the Black rook might not be the best, and at 14.g4 Dd6 the position seems to remain pretty unclear.]

19... Le8 [It wouldn’t be very helpful to play 19... Lf6 20.Dh4 Lxg5 21. Lxg5 White has total domination on the dark squares. Besides, the attack against the king should normally be enough for a full point.] 20.Dh4 Tf6 Black is „just” holding, but how to finish him? Short continues the game in great manner.

14.g4!? Very creative play by Short. White is starting an attack against the Black king. Much more „standard” for White would have been to play Kf2, followed by Rgc1 to put pressure on the c-file, with a clear advantage. 14...hxg4 15. Txg4 Not an easy position for Black. There is no clear plan... and White can improve his position very easily in many ways. 15...f5 A very risky move. Now the knight on g5 will be a monster-piece forever. Probably a better way to continue would have been to keep the structure more flexible by playing 15... Qd6, and only if it’s really needed, to continue with f5. 16. Tg2 Dd6 17. Tc1 [The immediate 17.Kf1 could have been an option as well.] 17... Tad8 A move without any plan. [A way to go on for Black could be 17...Sd7!? 18.Kf1 Tfb8! creating pressure

21.b4! By putting the bishop on c5, White is bringing one more piece into the attack and the clouds around the Black king got a bit darker. 21...De5 22. Lc5 Tfd6 To give an exchange would already be a success for Black, but the destruction of the Black position continues. 23.f4 Slowly, Black’s pieces got no more moves... 23...Df6 24.Dh7+ Kf8 25.Dh3 Nh7 is a nasty threat. 13


25...Kg8 26.e4! The last exact move. Black is losing material — a lot of it. 26...Sd7 Maybe it was a good moment for Salem to resign, but the game continues. [26... Txd3 27.Dh7+ Kf8 28.e5 and the Black queen is trapped on f6.] 27.e5 Winning a piece. 27...Sxe5 28.fxe5 Dxe5 29. Lxd6 And now White is a full rook up. 29... Txd6 30.Se2 Finally it was enough for Salem to resign. A really great positional victory with some tactical motives. Such games are fun to play, from the White side :). 1–0

14


Puzzle section

(7) Burg,T (2498) — Bok,B (2522) Groningen Open, 27.12.2012

(5) Nepomniachtchi,I (2707) — Grischuk,A (2764) Piterenka blitz, 29.12.2012

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Roy Chowdhury,S (2441) — Gormally,D (2495) (6) Andriasian,Z (2605) — Hovhanisian,M (2477) Groningen Open, 27.12.2012

Groningen Open, 29.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. 

15


(9) Lewicki,M (2200) — Malaniuk,V (2523)

(11) Hammer,J (2633) — Yankovksy,R (2474)

Krakow Open, 30.12.2012

North American Open, 27.12.2012

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Gelashvili,T (2566) — Li Chao (2677)

(12) Ramirez,A (2554) — Gareev,T (2663)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

16


(13) Shabalov,A (2578) — Bryant,J (2416) North American Open, 29.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Gaehler,M (2314) — Shirov,A (2708) Zuerich Open, 29.12.2012 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section

38.g3 Ke7?! And Black is acting too slowly once again. [38...h5! with the already known idea of playing h4 should be the right decision.]

(15) Fressinet,Laurent (2700) — Guseinov,Gadir (2628) [E94]

39.Kf2 White is in time to play Kf3 against Black’s h5-h4.

World Cities Team KO Al-Ain UAE (1.2), 25.12.2012 [Chess Evolution]

39...Sc3 40.Ke3 White’s winning idea is to get a free pawn on the kingside, in order to force the Black king to hold it, and then get his own king to b7 and capture the a7-pawn. It doesn’t sound that easy, but Fressinet will show us how to do it very nicely. 40...h5 Too late...

White is a clear pawn up in a knight endgame. This, of course, gives White a clear advantage, but on the other hand, the „extra” pawn is a doubled one on the a-file, which gives Black some realistic drawing chances. Let’s take a look if, in this endgame, the rule that says, „knight endgames are the same as pawn endgames” can be applied. 37.Sxc5 Sd5? This logical move already is a serious mistake. [The right choice for Black would have been to play 37...Kf5! 38.g3 h5! trying to block White’s pawn structure. Now, if White plays 39.Kf2, h4 is coming, and in case of 39.h4, White will not be able to get a free passed pawn on the kingside that easily. The position should give Black very good chances to draw.]

41.Sd3! Good move! By bringing the knight to e5, White is forcing the Black knight to go back to e7. Otherwise, one of the Black pawns, on g6 or c6, will fall. 41...Kd6 42.Se5 Sd5+ 43.Ke4 Se7 White has obtained the maximum out of the position, but what next? 44.Sd3! I like this move a lot. Of course, 44.g4 would have been a good choice as well, but why to give Black any chance to play Kc5-Kb5? 44...Sf5 Black has no other choice than to be passive.

18


45.g4 hxg4 46.hxg4 Se7 47.a6! Another good move. White is not in a rush to play f5, and to fix the Black pawn on a7 can be very useful.

56.Ke5 Kc6 57.g6 Kd7

47...c5 Black’s only chance lies with the c-pawn, but it can’t go too far... 48.Se5 Another exact move by Fressinet. White takes his knight to c4 before starting the final stage of his plan with f5. 48...Kc7 49.Sc4 Of course, no Kb6 for Black. 49...Kc6 50.a4 And no Kb5 either. 50...Sd5 51.Ke5 Sc3 Black’s knight is active, but by capturing the a4-pawn, nothing major changes. White’s a6 pawn is still alive and White has time to get a free pawn on the kingside. 52.g5 It seems like the game is completely over, but Black keeps on fighting. 52...Kd7 53.Kf6?! After showing very good technique in the last 13 moves, White doesn’t choose the most precise way to finish the game. [53.Sb6+! would end the game in nice style. 53...Kd8 (53...Kc7 54.f5) 54.f5! Black can’t stop White from playing Nc8- Nxa7 any longer. 54...gxf5 55.g6 Ke8 The Black king needs to leave the c8 square unprotected. 56.Sc8 and the a7 pawn is falling. Black can resign.] 53...Sd5+ 54.Kxg6 Sxf4+ 55.Kf5 Sh5 The position looks quite winning, but a few exact moves are still needed. Black wants to give up the knight for the g-pawn and after taking the king to d5, move fast with the c-pawn in order to have enough time to capture both of White’s apawns.

58.Sb6+ Kc6 59.Sc4 Kd7 60.Sb6+ Kc6 Of course, White will not repeat the position 3 times... 61.Sd5 It’s funny, but almost any move seems to win at the end, but in a practical game, I guess Fressinet was a bit afraid of miscalculating something. 61...Sg7 62.Se7+ Kd7 63.Sd5 Kc6 64.Sf4 Finally White found a concrete way to finish the game. By placing the knight on f4, White is taking away the square h5 from the Black knight, while the White king is going over e7 to b7. 64...Se8 65.Ke6 c4 66.Se2 Kc5 [Also loses 66...Sg7+ 67.Kf7 Sh5 68.Sf4! A small but very nice tactic. 68...c3 69.Se2! and White is winning the c-pawn!] 67.Kd7 Finally, the White king reaches its final destination. 67...Sf6+ 68.Kc7 Se8+ 69.Kb7 Kd6 70.Sc3 All in all, a great example of how to win a better/ winning endgame. There is no reason to hurry the win and it’s very important never to lose control over the position! 1–0 19


(16) Tiviakov,S (2663) — Romanov,E (2616) World Cities KO, 26.12.2012 [Chess Evolution]

White has a winning endgame, but the technical part is not obvious at all. The main problem is the wrong corner square on a8. If Black succeeds to sacrifice his bishop for the f-pawn, they can immediately agree to a draw. 46.a6 Kc6 47. Le3 Sooner or later, White has to play this move to deprive Black from the Kb6 possibility. [47. Kg2!? was a tricky start. The point is that 47...Kb6 loses to 48. La5+! +- a cool trap.] 47...h5 48.Kg2 Ld8 Black had to allow f4 sooner or later, as White was intending to play Kh3-h4, collecting the h5 pawn. [48... Ld6 49.Kh3 Le7 50.f4 transposes to the game.] 49.f4 White has to advance his pawns as far as possible.

51.Kh3! The start of the winning plan. White can only make progress if he advances his f-pawn. But in order to do this, he must send away the d8 bishop from its diagonal. [51.Kf3 Ka8 52.Ke4 doesn’t make sense, as White can never push f6 with the bishop on d8.] 51...Ka8 52. Lf2! With the idea of Bh4. 52... Lf6 53. Lh4 Lc3 White seems to get nowhere with his brilliant idea, since the Black bishop still controls the f6 square and Black already wants to collect the a6 pawn. However by sending away the bishop from the right diagonal, White can advance his king to h4. 54. Lg5! Ka7 [54... Le1 doesn’t help. 55. Le3 preventing Ka7 and the threat is f6-f7. 55... Lc3 56.Kh4 wins.] 55.Kh4 Kxa6 56.Kxh5 Kb7 It’s very useful to remember this position. It seems to be dead drawn, but actually White can promote his pawn using clever maneuvers with his bishop.

49...Kc7 50.f5 Kb8 The Black k ing remains ready to collect the a-pawn. This means that it must be able to play Ka7 or Kb6 at any moment, when the bishop leaves the g1–a7 diagonal. 20


57.Kg6 Kc6 58. Lh6! The first step is to play Bg7, which allows f6-f7. 58...Kd7 59. Lg7 Lb4 60.f6 Ke6 61.f7 Ld6 Black still seems to be in control. The question is how to send away the bishop from the a3-f8 diagonal. The answer can be quickly found, White must drive his king to g8 and play Bf8! 62. Lh6! Preparing for Kg7-g8, Black can’t parry this. 62... Lb4 63.Kg7 Kf5 Black transfers his king to g6, but it doesn’t help. [Waiting with 63... Lc5 doesn’t change the final outcome 64.Kg8 Lb4 65. Lf8 Ld2 66. Lc5 Lh6 67. Ld4! followed by Bg7, and the pawn promotes. That is why Black preferred to have his king on g6.] 64.Kg8 Kg6 65. Lf8 Lc3 [65... Ld2 leads to the same. 66. Ld6 Lh6 67. Le5! +- Black is in zugzwang. He must allow Bg7 with a king move.] 66. La3 Lg7 67. Lc1! Black resigned as he found himself in another zugzwang. An instructive endgame! 1–0

21


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Bednarski,Jacek B [E87]

8...Sf6 9.f3 Preventing Ng4, the g1 knight develops to e2. 9...0–0 10.Dd2 Sh5 11.Sge2 f5

Palma de Mallorca Palma de Mallorca (8), 1967 [Balogh Csaba] We’ll see a nice positional win by Botvinnik against a King’s Indian structure. 1.d4 g6 2.e4 Lg7 3.c4 d6 4.Sc3 Sd7 5. Le3 e5

12.0–0–0! Very good decision. On the queenside, Black has no chance to create an attack against the king. White can decide on which flank he wants to play. In some positions, exf5 gxf5 g4 might lead to a dangerous attack, but despite being castled queenside, the b3-a3-Kb2 and then b4 plan seriously comes into consideration as well. 6.d5 White obtai ns the space advantage, a typical drawback of the opening. Black has to create active counterplay, which is usually connected to the f5 move. It doesn’t work right away because of exf5, and Qh5 wins the pawn. However, a logical plan could have been Bh6, trading the bad g7 bishop. 6...a5 7. Ld3 Sc5 The dark-square d bishop is a key piece in the position, so Black never needs to be afraid of the doubled pawns arising after Bxc5.

12...fxe4 By giving up the tension, Black admits his disadvantage from the opening, but his position was already worse. 13.Sxe4 Sxe4 14. Lxe4! Lf5 [14...Sf6 was more logical, although White is better after 15.Sc3 Sxe4 16.Sxe4 followed by h4-h5. The g7 bishop is a really bad piece now.] 15.Sc3 Sf6 [15... Lxe4 16.Sxe4 +=]

8. Lc2 This was the last moment to play Bh6.

22


28... Lxe4+ 29.Sxe4 [Actually, in this concrete position 29.fxe4 might be even stronger. 29... Tf8 30.Dh3 Dg7 31.Sb5 Ld8 32.g5 The game is over, Black is practically in zugzwang, as he can’t take on g5 32... Lxg5 because of 33.Sxc7! Dxc7 34.Dh8+ Kf7 35.Dh7+ +-] 29...Dg7 White’s position is clearly better, but still not easy to win. Botvinnik tries to provoke new weaknesses. [The endgame after 29...Df4 30.Dxf4 exf4 16. Lg5! Botvinnik had a clear picture in his eyes. He wanted to get a position with a strong e4 knight against the poor g7 bishop. 16...Dd7 17. Lxf6 Lxf6 18.Kb1 Leaving from Bg5. Just in case. 18...De7 19.De2 Lg5 20.De1 White has found the right plan, to play h4-h5! [20.g3 was also possible with the same idea.] 20...Dg7 21.h4! Le7 22.De3 White is not in a hurry to push h5. First, he improves his queen. 22... Tf7 [22...h5 would increase the chance for a successful attack. 23. Tdg1 and g4 next.] 23.h5 Df6 [Avoiding the opening of the h-file with 23... g5?! would lead to positional disaster on the light squares, as Black can’t take back on f5 with the g-pawn anymore.] 24.hxg6 hxg6 25. Th2 Black can’t allow the doubling of the rooks. He is forced to exchange a pair of them. 25... Th7 26. Txh7 Kxh7 27. Th1+ Kg8 28.g4! Forcing Black to exchange the bishop. White has achieved his aim and got a typical huge advantage with a good knight versus the bad bishop.

31.Kc2 is also pretty much hopeless in the long run. White’s king goes to a4, followed by, for instance, a rook transfer to b3, forcing crucial weaknesses with b6, after which the king penetrates on b5-c6.] 30.Db3! Creating holes on the light squares, just as in the previous line with 29... Qf4. After b6, all the endgames will be easily won for White. 30...b6 31.Da4 Trying to penetrate on d7. 31... Tf8 32. Th3 Ld8 33.a3 Opening the back-rank, just in case! White can do whatever he wants. Black can only passively wait for his destiny. Still, it’s not easy to break through.

23


33...Df7 34.Dc2 Dg7 35.Ka2 Kf7 36.Dh2 Kg8 37.Dh1 Tf4 38. Th2

52.g5!! A committing move, giving up the f5 square and creating a potential target for the poor bishop. However, White wants to occupy the h3-c8 diagonal with the queen and as we’ll realize, despite the fact that Black can temporarily close it with Rf5, he finds himself in zugzwang. 52... Tf8 Qh3 is always possible, but Botvinnik wants to play it only when the rook goes to f5. 53.Dh4 Tf4 54.Dg3 Tf8 55.Dg4! Tf5

38... Tf8 White has to mobilize his last „unemployed” piece on the board. The king is coming to defend the f3 pawn in order to free the rook and the queen. 39.Kb1 Tf4 40.Kc2 Tf8 41.Kd3 Tf4 42.Ke2 Tf8 The next moves are good from a practical point of view. White is not in a hurry at all, he makes some seemingly senseless moves and meanwhile, he is looking for the winning plan. 43. Th3 Tf4 44.b3 Tf8 45. Th6 Tf4 46. Th2 Tf8 47.Dg2 Tf4 48.Dh3 Tf8 49.Dg2 Tf4 50.Dh1 Tf8 51. Th6 Tf4 It’s time to make a decision.

56.Dh3! Here is the zugzwang! The rook can’t move because of Qe6, and against any king or queen moves, Rh8 wins. So, there’s only one move left. 56... Le7 but now 57.Sg3! Txg5 [57... Lxg5 58.Sxf5 gxf5 59. Th5 +- is also hopeless. 59...e4 leads only to a few checks. 60.Dxf5 Db2+ 61.Kf1 Dc1+ 62.Kg2 +-] 58.De6+ Kf8 [58...Df7 is refuted by 59. Th8+! Kg7 60. Th7+! +-] 59.Dc8+ Kf7 60. Th8! And Black is forced to sacrifice his queen to prevent the threatened Qe6 mate.

24


60...Dxh8 61.Dxh8 Txg3 62.Kf2! The last precise move to deprive Black from any kind of counterplay with e4, and taking the b3 pawn. Black resigned because of the upcoming Qc8 move. 1–0

Surprise section / study (18) Sochniev,A 1980 [CEWN] 1. =

25


Solutions

(20) Karjakin,S (2775) — Kamsky,G (2762) SportAccord blindfold, 19.12.2012

(19) Giri,A (2720) — Ivanchuk,V (2766)

[Solutions]

SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012 [Solutions]

36... Txg2+!! 37. Txg2 Df4+ 38.Kh1 Tc1+ 39. Ld1 [39. Tg1 De4+ 40.Kh2 Tc2+–+] 34.Da5!! [34.Dxf4 Se5÷]

39... Txd1+ 40. Tg1 De4+ 41.Kh2 Df4+ 42.Kh1 Df3+ 43.Kh2 Df2+ 44. Tg2 Df4+ 0–1

34... Th2+ 35.Ke1! Th8 [35... Th1+ 36.Kd2+-; 35...Se5 36.Dd8+ Kh7 37.Df8+-; 35...g5 36.Da8+ Kh7 37.Df8+-] 36.Dc7 Lf5 37.De7 1–0

26


(21) Danielian,E (2476) — Stefanova,A (2490)

(23) Safarli,E (2626) — Esen,B (2576)

SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

33.d7! Lxd7 [33... Txb2 34.d8D!+-] 34. Txd7! Dg6 [34...Dxd7 35.Dxh6+ Dh7 36.Dxf8++-]

26. Txd7! Txd7 27. Txd7 Lc5 [27...Sxd7 28. Lxe7+-]

35. Td2+-

28. Td8+!! Txd8 29.Dxc5+-

(22) Muzychuk,A (2586) — Zhu Chen (2491)

(24) Kravtsiv,M (2593) — Tzermiadianos,A (2434)

SportAccord blindfold, 18.12.2012


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

31...Se3!! 32. Txd7 Sg4+ 33.Kg1 Txd7–+ 34.Dc5+ Kg7 35. Td4 Txd4 36.Dxd4 Dxb2–+

25...Sxg3+! 26.fxg3 Tf5–+ 27


(25) Kvon,A (2501) — Romanov,E (2616)

(27) Korobov,A (2702) — Wojtaszek,R (2734)


Delhi, 24.12.2012

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

29. Txg6! 1–0[29. Txg6 fxg6 30. Txe4+-]

41.Df3!! Sf4 [41...Dxa6 42.Dxf6+ Kg8 43.Se7+ Kh7 44.Dxg6+ Kh8 45.Dh6#]

(26) Mamedov,N (2602) — Manolache,M (2541)

42. Txb6!! Sxd5 [42...axb6 43. Lxf4 exf4 44.Sxb6+-]


43. Tb7+ [43. Td6! Sf4 44. Lxf4 exf4 45.Dxf4+-]

[Solutions]

43... Tc7 44. Txc7+ Sxc7 45. Lxe5

20. Txd6! Sxd6 21.Dxe5! Kf8 [21...Se8 22.Sd5++-; 21...f6 22.Sd5++-] 22. Txd6+28


(28) Sumets,A (2638) — Kozul,Z (2638)

(29) Sviridenko,N

Zadar Open, 19.12.2012

1974

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

23...Sg4!! 24.gxh3 [24.fxg4 f3!! 25. Lxf3 Lxd4 26.Dxd4 Tc1+ 27. Ld1 Dxg4!–+]

1.f7+!! [1.Se4? Lf7!–+]

24... Lxd4 25.Dxd4 Tc1+ [25...Sxf2+! 26.Dxf2 Tc2–+]

1... Lxf7 2.Se4! a1D 3.Sf6+ Dxf6+ 4.Kxf6 Le8 5.Ke7! [5. Lg7? h5!–+]

26. Lf1 [26. Tf1 Se3! 27. Txc1 Dg2#]

5... Lh5 6.Kf6 Lg6 7.Ke7 Lf7 8.Kf6= 1/2

26...Se3 [26...Sxf2+! 27.Dxf2 Dd8! 28.Kg1 Tc5–+]

29

Weekly Newsletter



11th of January 2013


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3

»» Puzzle section

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23


26

»» Solutions

27

Most of the chess events were played over Christmas and New Year, and next week the Tata Steel Tournament is starting. In the mean time, we are in a sort of “chess pause”. Just a few Opens are going on and non of the very Top chess players seem to be active… The Hastings Open was won by Gawain Jones with 7,5/9. Bosnjaci had 2 winners: Delchev and Sedlak shared the first place with 7/9. Vandoevre-les-Nancy was slightly surprisingly won by A.Wirig,l with 7,5/9 points as well. A few words about Tata Steel: I guess that, right now, it’s THE event of the Year. A round robin tournament with 14 players is nowhere else to find, which makes the A group extremely interesting. Having Carlsen, Aronian, Karjakin, Anand and Nakamura in the tournament, competing against L`ami, Hou Yifan, Sokolov, Van Welly and Giri gives an amazing contrast and a lot of fighting games. Also, the B group with an average of about 2630 ELO and the C group with a lot of young and talented players make Tata Steel probably the most spectacular event of the Year. Next to the Top events, a lot of small opens for club players are on the way. So, if You have time, Wijk ann Zee is definitely a place to visit (except for the weather — rain, rain and rain) In the next issue of CEWN You will already be able to find Fresh annotated games from the Tata Steel with Your “up to date” commentator from Holland, and at the same time participant of the B group, Arkadij Naiditsch J. As usual, we wish You a lot of chess fun with the current issue of CEWN, the Nr 46. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2



9...Qe7?! This move looks strange to me. Of course, Black had to play the logical 9...e5, and after 10. Be2, White has a small plus.

(1) Jones,Gawain C B (2644) — Panjwani,Raja (2402) [E33]

10. Be2 a5 To block the b4 move is not a bad idea.

88th Hastings Masters Hastings ENG (3.4), 30.12.2012 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Let’s take a look at a short win by the Hasting Masters champion, Gawain Jones. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 The Nimzo with 4.Qc2 has been a popular opening, at least for the last 70 years! 4...Nc6 A relatively rare move. In my opinion, White is doing a bit better here. The main lines are 4...d5 and 4...0–0. 5.Nf3 d6 Black’s idea is to exchange the bishop on b4 and to play e5 closing the center, which would make White’s bishop pair not that effective. 6.Bd2 White doesn’t hurry with a3 and prepares to take with Bxc3, which would bring the bishop to a nice square. 6...0–0 7.a3 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Re8 9.e3 Until here, everything is known.

11.0–0 a4?! This already is too much. Black should have finally played 11...e5, even though White is doing clearly better after 12.d5 Nb8 13.b4. 12.d5! Good move by White! Enough is enough! It’s time for some action. 12...Nd8 [12...exd5 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14.cxd5 is, of course, very bad for Black.] 13. Rfd1 Another good move by White, keeping all the options open. By keeping the pawn on d5, White is completely paralyzing Black’s knight on d8. 13...Nd7 [13...e5 14.Nd2 followed by e4 and Black almost has no moves. The knight on d8 is very badly placed. It should be on b8 to be able to play Nd7- Nc5.] 14. Bd3 A slightly strange move to me. [14.Nd4 seems to be logical and good. White is clearly better.] 14...h6 15.dxe6?! After this move White is still doing better, but why to allow the Black knight to leave d8? 15...Nxe6 16.Nd4 Ndc5? This allows White to reach a winning attack. [16...Nf6 would have been almost the only move to continue. Things are looking bad for Black, but there’s still a lot of fight. White is „only” doing better because of the bishop pair.]

3

Issue 46 25...Qe7 26. Bf6 The Black queen is trapped!


26...Nf4 27.Qf5+ Qe6 28.Qxf4 White is 3 pawns up and has a mating attack. 28...Ne4 29. Bg7 This was too much even for Panjwani. A nice game that shows how not to play with Black... 1–0 17. Bh7+! A sudden and lethal strike. 17...Kf8? Yet another mistake by Black. [17...Kh8 would have been the right direction. 18.Nf5 Qf8 19.Nxh6 It seems like White won a pawn, but... 19...f6! An amazing move which is very hard to find during a practical game. Black is more or less still fighting now.] 18.Nf5 Qd8 Now the Black queen will be very badly placed on d8, facing White’s rook on d1. 19.f4 Nice move. White is putting more pressure against Black by securing the e5 square in case of Nd7- Ne5. 19...g6 Another unlucky move by Black that ends the suffering in a nice way. 20. Bxg6! A beautiful move. 20...fxg6 21.Nxh6 The idea is that Black can’t do anything against Qxg6 next! 21...Ke7 22.Qxg6 Rf8 White has 3 pawns plus a mating attack — it’s the end... 23.f5 The winning move. 23...Qe8 24.f6+ Kd7 25.f7 I guess that Black should have resigned by now, but the game goes on. 4


(2) Grachev,Boris (2688) — Vajda,Levente (2603) [E69] Basel SUI Basel SUI, 03.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] The decisive battle for the first place in the New Year Open in Basel. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 0–0 5. Bg2 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 [Recently, the lines with 6...Nc6 7.0–0 a6 are more popular, but of course, the text move is another huge main line.]

hand, we must always think twice before making such moves, because one mistake in the calculation might immediately give Black the advantage. 11...Ne8! [On 11...exd4 the point is that after 12.Nxd4 dxc5 13.Nxc6 Qc7 14.e5! Black is in trouble.; 11...dxc5 12.dxe5 Ne8 also has a direct refutation. 13. Bg5! On 13... Qc7 (13...f6 14.exf6 B xf6 15.Bf4  is very bad for Black, as he collapses in the center.) 14. Be7! wins an exchange!]

7.0–0 e5

8.e4 c6 9.h3 White usually develops his bishop to e3 and this move is prophylactic against Ng4. We are still at just the beginning of theory... 9...a6 [9...Qb6 is the main line.] 10.Qc2 Grachev deviates from his own game; before, he had played 10. Be3. 10...b5 11.c5! This is a known motif in the King’s Indian g3 system. White tries to undermine the central pawns until they are not supported by the pieces. On the other

12.d5 This is new, but it drops the advantage against Black’s best reaction. [12. Bg5 happened in the previous games. 12...f6 13. Be3 dxc5 14.dxc5 White is slight ly better with the space advantage. Later on, he must play on the queenside with b4 and a4.] 12...cxd5?! Missing the chance. [12...dxc5?! doesn’t equalize either. The concrete reason is: 13.dxc6 Nb6 14. Rd1! and Black must move into Nd5 14...Qc7 15.Nd5 with a big advantage. 15...Qxc6? 16.Ne7+; However 12... Bb7! would have gotten an even position. White can’t hold his center and after the exchanges, Black has no problem at all. 13.dxc6 Bxc6 14.cxd6 Nxd6 15. Rd1 Qe7 =] 13.c6! White obtains a very dangerous protected passed pawn. 5


13...Ndf6 [13...dxe4 loses a piece. 14.cxd7 exf3 15.dxe8Q! This is the right way to take. (15.dxc8Q R xc8 16.B xf3 b4!) 15... Rxe8 16. Bxf3 ±] 14.Nxd5 Nc7 [14...Nxd5 15.exd5 Nc7 16. Rd1 transposes to the analysis of the game.] 15. Rd1 [15.Nxf6+ might be even stronger. White can create a very strong pressure against the d6 pawn, while Black has no access to c6. 15... Bxf6 16. Rd1 Be6 17. Be3 ±]

17... Bf5 18.Qb3 Qc8 19.Kh2 Be4 20. Rac1 Sooner or later, White should play a4. He decides to improve his position to the maximum before doing that, as he believes Black can’t do anything useful. 20...Qc7 21.Nd2 Exchanging the only active piece is again a logical approach. 21... Bxg2 22.Kxg2 h6

15...Ncxd5 I don’t like this move at all. Black should have kept his c7 knight as a good blockader of the passed pawn. [Although, after 15...Nfxd5 White is also clearly better. 16.exd5 Bf5 (16...f5 looks active, but doesn’t lead anywhere. White can simply continue his plans on the queenside. 17.a4! f4 (17...e4 18.Nd4  18...N xd5? 19.Qb3) 18.g4! ) 17.Qe2 Be3 and a4 are coming next. Black has problems on the queenside.] 16.exd5 Re8 The c6 pawn is very nice of course, but it doesn’t win the game. White must open another „battlefield”, and it should be on the side where he is clearly stronger.

23.Nb1! Nice maneuver. White wants to play Nc3 followed by a4! 23... Reb8 24.Nc3 [It might be more circumspect to play 24.a3 to prevent the counterplay that occurred in the game, followed by Nc3.] 24...b4!? It was enough of waiting passively. Black decides to look for counterplay, but it has a drawback as well — he weakens his own pawn structure. 25.Na4 Rb5 To harass the d5 pawn is in Black’s mind. 26.Qc4! Qa5 27.b3 Good calculation, because the d5 square is protected indirectly.

17. Be3 [The move 17.a4! suggested itself. 17...b4 is met with 18.a5! and Be3-b6 next. The b4 pawn will fall soon.]

27... Rc8 [27...Nxd5? 28. Rxd5 Rxd5 29.Nb6 +-]

6


28. Rd2 White is ready to play Rcd1 and the d5 pawn is still indirectly protected, although the line is more difficult this time.

30.Nb2! Rc8 [30...Qxa2? would be too greedy. 31.Na4 Qa3 32.c7! Rc8 33.Nb6 +-]

28...Kh7 [28...Nxd5 29. Rxd5 Rxd5 30.Nb6 Black has the pretty tactical blow

31... Re8 32.Kg2 Rc8 33.Kh2 Re8 34.Qh4! Another great move! White frees the the c4 square for the knight and creates a small tactical threat with Bxh6 as well.

31.Kh2 Approaching the time trouble.

34...Nh5 [34... Rxd5 has a nice refutation: 35. Rxd5 Nxd5 36.Nc4 Qb5 37.Nxd6 Qxc6 38. Rxd5! (But not 38.N xe8 N xe3! 39.fxe3 Qc2+) 38... Re6 and the final blow is (38...Qxd5 39.N xe8 +-) 39.Nxf7! Qxd5 40.Ng5+ Kg8 41.Nxe6 Qxe6 42.Qxb4 +- with a winning endgame.] 35.Nc4 Qc7 30... Rc5! 31.Nxc8!! (31.B xc5? R xc6 would be fine for Black.) 31... Rxc4 32. Rxc4 and the c-pawn decides the game. 32...Qc7 33.Ne7+! is the last key move! 33...Qxe7 (33...Kh7 34.Nd5) 34.c7 +-; 28... Rxd5 29.Nb6 Rxd2 30.Nxc8 +- The c-pawn has no blockader.] 29. Rcd1 Re8 How to improve the position? Grachev found a very clever plan — to transfer the knight to c4, where it’ll be clearly better placed.

36.a4! Excellent positional move, based on good calculation. 36...bxa3 [36... Rbb8? would be hopeless. 37.a5 +- Bb6 next.] 37.Nxa3 Ra5? This loses to a nice tactical blow! [37... Rxb3 was the only move. 38.Qa4 Reb8 39. Rd3! seems to be strong. (In case of the most logical 39.Qxa6 Black gets some counterplay on the kingside with 39...f5) 39... R 3b4 40.Qxa6 f5 and the difference is that White has 41. Bd2! leaving from the f4 tempo and going to a5, sending away the last blockader.] 7


38.Qb4! It seems like this blunders a piece after Rb8, but...

(3) Krasenkow,Michal (2628) — Volodin,Aleksandr (2506) [A70]

38... Rb8 39. Bb6!! White actually wins an exchange.

Rilton Cup 2012–13 Stockholm, 04.01.2013

39... Rxb6 [39...Qxb6 40.Qxb6 Rxb6 41.Nc4 Rbb5 42.Nxa5 Rxa5 43. Rc2 +- There is no way to stop the pawn.]

[Csaba Balogh]

40.Qxa5 Rxc6 Black at least succeeded to eliminate the most dangerous pawn, but his position remains hopeless — he’s an exchange down.

We’ll see a nice positional game by the tournament winner. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 d6 4.c4

41.Qxc7 Rxc7 42.Nc4 Bf8 43. Ra2 Nf6 44. Rxa6 Ne4 Black doesn’t have enough pieces to create counterplay. The rest is a matter of technique. 45.Kg2 Rb7 46. Re1 f5 47.Na5 [47. Rb6 Ra7 48. Re2 +was also good, followed by advancing the b-pawn.] 47... Rb5 48. Rc1!? White decides to create a mating net, which combined with the dangerous b-pawn, should be enough to decide the game. 48... Rxd5 49. Rc7+ Kg8 50.Nc4 The White rooks are ready to occupy the 8th rank. 50...f4 51.gxf4 exf4 52. Ra8 Rg5+ 53.Kf3 d5 54.Nb6 Nd2+ 55.Ke2 Nxb3 Black managed to get rid of the bpawn, but it’s not enough to save the game. The knight will find itself trapped soon. 56.Nd7 Nd4+ [After 56... Rf5 the prettiest way to win is 57.Kd3 Rf7 58.Nxf8! Rxf8 (58...R xc7 59.Ne6+ +-) 59. Ra3! Rb8 60. Rc3! +- and the knight is lost!] 57.Kd3 Ne6 58.Nf6+ and Rh7 next. 1–0

4...b5 Black would like to transpose to the Volga/ Benko gambit, but in this move order, White has some alternatives to obtain a positional advantage without accepting the pawn sacrifice. 5.Qc2!? with the idea of occupying the center after e4. [5.cxb5 a6 6.bxa6 Bxa6 transposes to the main lines of the opening.] 5...g6 6.e4 bxc4 7. Bxc4 The c4 square became an excellent outpost for the minor pieces. Black should try the pieces there, but White has both knights as a reserve to occupy it. 7... Bg7 8.0–0 0–0 9.h3 A useful move against Bg4, and to open the back rank as well. It’s Black’s turn to find a plan. 8


9... Ba6 [9...Nfd7 is also typical in these positions, but it doesn’t lead to equality either. 10. Bd2! trying to exchange the strong dark-squared bishop on g7. In my opinion, White should have tried this plan in the game. 10...Nb6 11. Be2 Ba6 12. Bc3! followed by taking control over the c4 square with Na3 and Nd2. 12... Bxe2 13.Qxe2 +=] 10.Na3! The d2 square had to be left alone for the other pieces. 10... Bxc4 It helps White to occupy the ideal square with tempo, but on the other hand, Black could not finish the development with the b8 knight before taking on c4. 11.Nxc4 Nbd7

12...Nb6 13.Nfd2 Nxc4 14.Nxc4 Nd7! Consequent and strong. Black is trading the minor pieces on c4. He gets close to equality, but as we’ll see, he still didn’t reach it completely. 15. Rab1! Preparing for the following actions on the bfile. 15...Nb6 16.b3 Krasenkow wants to take back with the pawn on c4 and obtain a marginal advantage. [16.Na5 didn’t work tactically this time. 16...Nxd5! 17.Nc6 and Black has the elegant intermediate move 17...Nb4! counterattacking the queen.; However 16.b4! seems to be very strong. This is also quite a typical way to increase the initiative in such situations. 16...cxb4 17. Rxb4 Rc8 18.Qb3 Nxc4 19. Rxc4 Rxc4 20.Qxc4 White has a small but stable advantage, because of the a7 weakness. Sooner or later, Black has to send back the g5 bishop to ease the pressure on the e7 pawn, but then it will be excellently placed on e3. Besides, the rook is coming the occupy one of the open files on the queenside. 20...h6 (20...Qd7 21.Rc1 +=) 21. Be3+=] 16...Qd7 [16...Nxc4 17.bxc4 will be the same as in the game.]

12. Bg5 This is not the right plan. Krasenkow wanted to force a weakness on h6 before driving his bishop to c3, but Black is not forced to send it away. [12. Bd2 seems to be stronger with the main idea of playing Na5-a6. Black has to prevent this threat by 12...a5 but this is a weakening move, which might be telling later in the middlegame. (12...Nb6 13.Na5 +=) 13. Bc3 += and Nfd2 next, with an advantage.]

17.f4 I’m not su re at all if this plan with f4-f5 is the best in the position, but in the game it perfectly paid out. 17...Nxc4 18.bxc4

9


22... Rxb3 23.Qxb3 Qc7 24. Rb1 Qa5 Black is looking for counterplay, but White easily neutralizes the active attempts. 25.Qc2 White covers all the invading squares. 25... Rc8 [25...Qc7 is met with 26. Rb5! += consolidating the b-file.] 26.Kf2! White wants to play Rb7 and takes the e1 square under control. 18... Rab8 Black has reached full equality now, but with his next two moves, he gives back the initiative again.

26...Qa6 Only temporarily prevents the threat. [26... Rc7 is not advisable, since after 27. Rb8 the c7 rook is dead.]

19.f5 Be5?! [19... Rb6 was very logical. White must either allow to double the rooks or to strengthen the pawn structure with axb6. This is a known motif in fighting for a file. Probably, White should do the same with Rb3 and Rfb1 and soon they will agree to a draw.]

27. Rb5 Qa3 28. Rb7 Re8 White is better, but Black doesn’t have too many weaknesses and the queen is always ready to find counterplay. Before starting any concrete plans, Krasenkow, as a strong practical player, reaches the time control at move 40.

20. Bh6 Bg7? After this move, White wins the fight for the b-file. [20... Rfc8 should have been played.]

29. Rb3 Qa4 30.Ke2 White takes his king to d3 in order to free his queen from protecting the c4 pawn. However, the king might get vulnerable there, so he changes his mind soon.

21. Bxg7 Kxg7

30...f6 31.Kd3 Qd7 32.Ke3 Kf7 33.Kf2 Qa4 34.Qe2 Rg8 35.Kg1 Qa6 36.Kh2 Qc8 [It would be interesting to know how White was intending to increase the advantage if Black continues his waiting policy with Qa4-a6, keeping the c4 and a2 pawns always under attack. 36... Qa4 37.h4 Qa6 38.h5 is a possible plan, but Black can react with 38...g5 39.h6 Rc8 when Qh5 is not a threat at all.] 37.Qg4 Kf8? [37...Kg7] 22. Rb3! Because of the Qb2 threat, Black must give up the control of the only open file. 10


39...Kf7 40.a5 Rg8 What else to do?! 41.Qh6! Rg7 42.a6! Basically, the game is over, as Black can’t take on a6. It was veryinstructive to see how easily White converted his small advantage. 42...gxf5 [42...Qxa6 is refuted by 43. Rb8 and Black can’t prevent the threats. 43...Qa2 44.fxg6+ hxg6 (44...R xg6 45.Rf8#) 45.Qh8 +-] 38.Qf4 [White could have obtained a winning pawn endgame by force: 38.fxg6! Qxg4 39. Rb8+! Kg7 40. Rxg8+ Kxg8 41.gxh7+! 3 intermediate checks before recapturing the queen. 41...Kxh7 42.hxg4 Kg6 43.Kg3 Kg5 44.Kf3 Kh6 45.Kf4 Kg6 and now, White has an extra tempo, which is enough to get Black into zugzwang! 46.g3 a6 47.a3 a5 48.a4 +- and Black must allow Kf5, which means the end of the game.]

43.Qh5+ Kg8 44.Qxf5! A spectacular final position. Despite the material equality, Black must resign the game.[44.Qxf5 Qxf5 (44...Qxa6 leads to mate: 45.Qe6+ Rf7 46.Rb8+ Kg7 47.Qg4+ Kh6 48.Rg8 and Qh4 next.) 45.exf5 The rook endgame is hopeless, Black loses the a7 pawn. 45...Kf7 46. Rb7 Rg8 47. Rxa7 +-] 1–0

38... Rg7 [38...Kg7 was probably the way to defend.; 38... g5 is not good, because after 39.Qg4 and Qh5, White can always undermine the g5 pawn with h4.]

39.a4!! A great move! White wants to advance his pawn to a6 and penetrate with the rook on b7. 11


(4) Loetscher,R (2395) — Vachier Lagrave,M (2711) [D85] Hilton Master Open 2013 Basel SUI (4.2), 03.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A huge difference in ELO finally made the result clear. However, White fought quite well during the first 25 moves. It’s quite usual to see the young French Top GM not playing the best openings, getting a sort of slightly worse/unclear position and striking without mercy when it comes to tactics. Yes, Loetscher should have known better... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Vachier is playing the Gruenfeld with Black in almost all of his games, and showing really fantastic results in it. If somebody that knows the reputation of the Gruenfeld tells him, this would be really bad news for the French :). 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 We are in the main line... 7...c5 White has a strong center, but Black starts to play quickly against the central pawns... 8. Rb1 This move is very well analyzed as well. 8...0–0 9. Be2 Qc7!? Qc7 is cle arly not the best, but we are getting into quite an unclear position and Black avoids all the theoretical lines. [9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 This is the main line. The current evaluation is about equal, with a lot of forced draws. It’s quite clear that Maxime didn’t want to give his opponent any chances for a „gift”, like a forced draw out of the opening.]

10...b6 Black has to develop his bishop somewhere, and b7 is a standard place. Another option could be to play 10... Bg4, but Maxime wants to keep as many pieces on the board as possible. 11. Bg5! Good move by White! The bishop on g5 takes a perfect position for the future battle. Another logical move like 11. Be3 could be an option too, but 11. Bg5 is usually a better place. 11... Bb7 12.Qd3! Another very good move by White. White is bringing the queen to e3, where it will take a perfect position. White wants to play d4-d5 next. 12...e6 Almost the nly way to avoid White’s d5, but now the dark squares are getting weaker... 13.Qe3 Nd7 14.e5! Loetscher chooses a strong move once again. By fixing the structure, White is clearly going to develop his play on the kingside with Bh6-Qf4Qh4- Ng5, for example. Black’s pieces are standing a bit passively and White has more space. White is doing a bit better here and wants to play Bh6 next, with a bishop exchange that would weaken the Black king even more.

10.0–0 12


14... Rfc8 Black wants to play cxd4 cxd3 and Qc3 trying to exchange the queens. At the same time, against White’s Bh6, Bh8 is possible now. 15. Rfc1 A logical move, but White’s plan should be to play on the kingside, so why did he take the rook away from f1? I think 15. Rbc1! would be a better option now. 15... Rab8

18... Rbe8! What a surprise. After not being able to create counterplay on the queenside, Black suddenly switches to another plan — to play f6 next! The game is starting to get sharp. If White can avoid Black’s f6, he should be much better, otherwise, Black is good! 19. Re1? This move doesn’t stop Black from playing f6 at all... Meanwhile, White had a lot of nice options. [Another bad choice would have been to play 19.h5 f6 20.exf6 Nxf6 and Black is again very active.; But why not to play 19. Bb5! This almos t stops Black completely from playing f6, and in case of 19... Bc6, f6 is by far not that effective without the bishop on d5...]

16.h4 A logical move, creating „air” for the king, and at the same time, preparing to play h5. 16... Bd5! Very strong move by Maxime. It wasn’t easy to find a clear idea with Black, but with 15... Bd5, he’s giving White the responsibility to take decisions. 17. Ba6 [In case of 17.a4 cxd4! 18.cxd4 Qb7 we see that the bishop made space for the queen on b7! By exchanging both rooks, Blacks should be doing fine. And if White needs to play 19. Re1 — well, it’s hard to imagine that by losing a tempo like this, White could reach any advantage.] 17... Rf8 18.a4 White managed to avoid Black’s main idea, but now...

19...f6! Of course... The beginning of White’s fall. 20.exf6 Nxf6 21. Bf4 [In case of 21.Ne5 Ne4 seems to be very strong.] 21...Qe7 22. Bg5 It’s strange, but to play with White is super difficult here. Black just wants to get active and White’s pieces somehow are standing in very unlucky places. 22...cxd4! Another very good move by Black.

13


23.Nxd4 [After 23.cxd4 h6! White can’t take on h6 because of Ng4. 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 White’s position is still solid, but Black is doing better.]

27...exf3! The winning blow...

23...Qf7! Another great move by Black who is playing in a very dynamic way — this fits perfectly with the position. Black wants to play Ng4 or e5 next.

29.Nxf8 f2+ 30.Kh1 Nxe3 31. Rxe3 Bxf8 After the exchanges, White has 2 squares for the Queen, which is not bad, but the f2 pawn makes his life pretty hard.

24.f3 Stopping Ng4, but not e5. 24...e5 25.Nb5 Re6 As we can see the position got very sharp, but I feel that Black’s pieces are much better placed. White’s bishop on a6 is completely out of play, and the knight on b5 is not in perfect shape either. Black wants to play e4 next. 26. Rbd1?! Does this move stops Black from playing e4?! [White had a very strong option: 26.c4! would get White back into the game. 26... Bxc4 27. Rbc1! White is ge tting great counterplay over the c-file by playing Rc7, and in case of 27... Bxb5, 28. Bxb5 followed by Bc4.]

28.Nxe6 Ng4 This is Black’s key idea! He not only attacks the queen on e3, but threatens to play f2 as well...

32. Bf1 h6! Exact until the end. White’s king is in a lot of danger as well. Black always had in mind that the h4 pawn could fall very easily. 33. Re5 Bb3 This finishes the game on the spot... 34. Rd8 hxg5 35. Ree8 White achieved a bishop endgame — but with 2 pawns down... 35... Bxa4 36. Rxf8+ Qxf8 37. Rxf8+ Kxf8 38.hxg5 a5 A nice game by Maxime, who is simply a better player! 0–1

26...e4! White’s position is falling apart... 27.Nd4 This move loses against the next tactical blow. [It doesn’t help to play 27.f4 h6 28. Bxf6 Rxf6 and Black is much better.]

14


Puzzle section

(7) Golichenko,I (2414) — Stupak,K (2526) Krakow Open, 04.01.2013

(5) Socko,B (2631) — Rombaldoni,A (2464) Rilton Cup, 01.01.2013

[CEWN] 1. 

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Bogdanovich,G (2343) — Vajda,L (2603) (6) Rombaldoni,A (2464) — Krasenkow,M (2628) Rilton Cup, 05.01.2013 [CEWN]

Basel Open, 02.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

15


(9) Gavrilov,A (2501) — Istratescu,A (2654)

(11) Das,S (2312) — Deviatkin,A (2569)

Basel Open, 03.01.2013

Delhi Open, 05.01.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Melkumyan,H (2656) — Vajda,L (2603)

(12) Aleksandrov,A (2607) — Panchanathan,M (2580)

Basel Open, 04.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... -/+

Delhi Open, 07.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

16


(13) Das,A (2466) — Nikolov,M (2545) Roquetas Open, 05.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Burmakin,V (2565) — Manakov,I (2345) Staufer Open, 05.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

17


Endgame section (15) Istratescu,A (2654) — Grachev,B (2688) Basel, 04.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

It’s really difficult to evaluate the following endgame. Probably, with perfect play, Black should be able to hold, but in a practical game White has better chances to win than Black to get a half point. The fact that there are 4 rooks on the board increases Black’s defensive chances. For instance, if we take the c4 and b6 rooks off the board, the win would be fairly easy — White would bring his king to c4. The first move is principled, it creates a weakness on g2 in order to have some counterplay with the 2 rooks. 46...g5 [46... Rf6 with the idea of preventing White’s plan — to transfer his king to c3 and free one of his rooks, for example with Rc5. However, this allows 47. Rc5! when Black is forced to retreat his rook along the b-file, but this

would allow the advance b5 and Black must forget about playing g5 forever.] 47.hxg5+ Kxg5 [47... Rxg5 was probably slightly better as the game will show. After 48. Rf4 giving shel ter for the king against the rook’s checks and preparing for Kf2-e3, we get a very similar position to the game.] 48.Kf2 Kh6 Freeing the g-file for the rooks. [48...h4? was quite principled as well, fixing the g2 weakness, but this is refuted by a subtle plan...

49.Kg1!! Suddenly, the White king is changing his mind as the h-pawn became a weakness. 49...Kh5 50.Kh2 Rg5 To have Rg3 on Kh3, but this allows the activation of the b2 rook. 51. Rf2! Rff4 is a threat.] 49.Ke3 Rg5 50. Rf4 Rbg6 51. Rff2! [51.b5 leads to an easy draw: 51... Rxg2 52. Rxg2 Rxg2 53. Rb4 Rg8 54.b6 Rb8 55.b7 Kg5 Black’s king wants to collect the b-pawn, and after 56.Kd4 Kg4 57.Kd5+ Kg3 58.Kc6 h4 White’s king is too far to catch the h-pawn.]

18

Issue 46 I came to the conclusion that this is the best defensive setup for Black, when he’s ready to harass both of the pawns, and also to give many annoying checks to the king. Probably he should be able to hold the draw this way, but he still needs to produce many only moves...]


51...h4 [51... Rd6! would have been the right way to defend. The idea is clear, Black cuts the king. It’s not easy to make progress now for White... 52. Rfd2 suggests itself, in order to send away the rook, but it’s met with (52. b5 drops the pawn. 52...Rb6) 52... Rg3+! 53.Kf2 (53.Kf4 R xd2 54.R xd2 Rg4+ =) 53... Rxd2+! 54. Rxd2 Rb3! Black successfully activated his rook and has no chance to lose. 55. Rd4 Kg5 =]

53.Kc4 Rc6+ 54.Kb3 Kh5 [Being familiar with the defensive method in 52... Rg4, Black should have aimed for the same with 54... Rg3+ 55.Ka4 Ra6+ 56.Kb5 Ra8 although it remains very unpleasant after 57. Rfd2!] 55. Rbc2! Rb6

52.Kd4 White’s king reaches the pawn. Now it’s very difficult for Black to defend. 52... Rd6+ [52... Rg4+ was probably the best try. 53.Kc3 (53.Kc5 R4g5+ 54.Kc4 Rg4+ will be the same as 53.Kc3.) 53... Rg3+ 54.Kc4 R 3g4+ 55.Kb3 Rb6 56.Ka4 Ra6+ 57.Kb5 Ra8

56. Rc4! Now the game is objectively over. White succeeded to activate his rook and his king supports the bpawn. Trading the g2 pawn for the h4 one is also a very good chance to win, as the Black king is too far from the b-pawn. 56... Rbg6 57. Rff4! [57. Rc5!? was also very tempting, but probably only leads to a draw. 57...Kg4 58. Re2 Kg3 59.Ka4 and now (59. Rxg5+ Rxg5 60.Ka4 Rg4!! Only move! Black prepares for Kh2 and prevents Re4! (60... Kh2 loses to 61.Re4! Rh5 62.Rg4 +-) 61.Ka5 Kh2 62.b5 Rxg2 =) 59... Rxc5! (59...Kh2? loses to 60. Rxg5 Rxg5 61. Re4! Kg3 (61...Rh5 62.Rg4 +-) 62.b5 Rh5 63. Re2 +-) 19


60.bxc5 Rg4+ he uses the same motif to prevent Re4 after Kh2. 61.Kb5 Kh2 62.c6 Rxg2 63. Rxg2+ Kxg2 64.c7 h3 65.c8Q h2 = Just in time with a theoretical draw!] 57... Rxg2 58. Rxh4+ Kg5 59. Rh8 Kf5 [I was trying to rush with the king to the b-pawn, but it runs into a different kind of mate net with the two rooks. 59...Kf6 60.b5 Ke7 61. Rc7+ Kd6 62. Rc6+ Kd7 63. Rh7+ Kd8 The only move to win is

64. Ra6!! with a Ra8 threat. Still, Black has a brilliant idea to save the game. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t work. 64... R 2g3+! (64...R xa6 65.bxa6 +- The pawn promotes anyway.) 65.Kb4 Rg7! White wins after 66. Rxg7! (66. Ra8+ It looks like White wins the rook, but a stalemate idea saves Black: 66...Kc7!! 67.Ra7+ Kb6! 68.Raxg7 R xg7 69.R xg7= Amazing!) 66... Rxg7 67. Rc6! Cutting the king and the b-pawn promotes. 67... Rc7 68.Kc5 +-] 60.b5 White is completely winning now, but at this moment the players were already exhausted and were both in serious time trouble...

61... Rb2+ 62.Kc5 Rg5 63. Rh6? Giving chances for Black. [63.b6 Ke6+ 64.Kc6 +- Or; 63.Kb6 Rg6+ (63... Kd6 64.Rh6+ Kd7 65.Rc7+ +-) 64. Rc6 White should slowly but surely bring home the full point in both cases.] 63... Rg8!

64.b6? A blunder which leads to a forced draw. [64. Rc3 with the idea of sending the king further away from the b-pawn with Re3 was still a decenttry 64... Rc8+ 65. Rc6 Rd8 66. Re3+ Kf4 67. Rh3 The final result is still pretty unclear.] 64... Rc8+! 65. Rc6 Rd8! Great defense! White must disappointedly agree to a draw. 66. Rc1 [66. Rc7 Rd5+ 67.Kc6 Rd6+ =] 66... Rd5+ 67.Kc4 Rd4+ 68.Kc5 [68.Kc3 Rdb4 wins the pawn.] 68... Rd5+ 69.Kc4 Rd4+ 1/2

60...Ke5 61.Kb4 [61. Rh5+ was quite an easy win. 61...Kd6 62. Rc6+ Kd7 63. Rd5+ Ke7 64. Rxg6 Rxg6 65.Kb4+- with an automatic win.] 20


(16) Alsina Leal,D (2511) — Sulskis,S (2550) [C53] 88th Hastings Masters Hastings ENG (5.1), 01.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

After a very fighting game, White is so close to his target — a full point. Two pawns with knight against bishop should be enough, right?! 81.Kd4 To put the king on d4 can’t be wrong... 81...Kc6 Only move. [In case of 81...Ka6? the White king can be nicely placed on c5. 82.b4 Bf3 Black only has waiting moves now... 83.Kc5 Bg2 White needs to find a winning plan, but it’s not that difficult anymore. One of the possible plans is to get the king to c7 and the knight to c5, forcing the Black king to go to b5, and White will be able to play a6 and queen the a-pawn. The next moves show the example in action: 84.Nb5 Bf3 85.Nc7+ Kb7 86.Kd6 White wants to play b5. 86... Be2 87.Ne6 Ka6

88.Kc6! White still needs to be precise. As in many endgames, everything is decided by one move. 88... Bf3+ 89.Kc7 Bg2 90.Nc5+ Finally, White reaches the desired position. 90...Kb5 91.a6 and Black can’t stop Whites apawn.] 82.Kc4? White doesn’t find a win after the most logical 82.b4 — but, was there a win? Let’s take a look. [82.b4! Bf1 Black, of course, has to stop White from playing b5. 83.Ke5 White’s king is going to d8 and maybe he’ll be able to go to a7. To avoid this, the Black king will have to make space and lose control of the b5 square... 83... Bd3 84.Ke6 Bf1 85.Ke7 Bh3 (85...Kb7 86.Kd6 and we already know this position, it’s winning for White.) 86.b5+ Kc5 87.Kd8! and White is easily winning.] 82... Bf1+ 83.Kb4 Bd3 Black keeps waiting, and it’s hard to understand White’s idea. Clearly, it’s not possible to win without playing b2-b4. 84.Na4 Bb5 85.Nb6 Be2 86.Nc4 The last maneuv ers of the White knight are hard to understand... Black keeps waiting. 86... Bf1 87.b3 We finally see a pawn move, but the bpawn hasn’t reached the right square on b4 still. 21


87... Be2 88.Nd2 Kd5 89.Nb1 Kc6 90.Na3 Ba6 91.Nc4 Still nothing happens... The bishop on a6 is a bit blocked, but it doesn’t matter much. 91...Kd5 92.Ne3+ Kc6 93.Nf5 Bd3 94.Nd4+ Kd5 95.Kc3 Bf1 96.b4 White has to finally put the pawn on b4!

wrong plan. Still, it was not too late to come back, but another blunder led the game to a draw. 1/2

96... Bc4 Now White’s idea should be to come back almost to the starting position. This means to first put the knight on c3, to force Black to move his king back to c6, and then bring the king to e7.

97.b5?? What a horrible blunder! After this move, the position is a draw... [One of the possible ways to bring the knight to c3 would have been: 97.Nc2 Ba6 98.Ne3+ Ke4 99.Nd1 followed by Kb3 and Nc3.] 97...Kc5! And the position is a draw! 98.a6 [Nothing helps anymore... 98.b6 Ba6] 98... Bd5 99.Kb2 Kb6 Black has blocked the pawns and White has no way to improve. 100.Ka3 Bc4 Followed by Bxb5 and Kxa6. Conclusion: White had quite an easily winning position, but chose the 22


Clash of the Titans (17) Kristinsson,Jon — Tal,Mihail [B48] Reykjavik Reykjavik, 1964 [Csaba Balogh] The following fighting game was typical of Mikhail Tal’s brave style. He has led the game to a very sharp position, which objectively might not be good for him, but he knew that sooner or later he would outplay his opponent in the tactical complications. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 The Paulsen/ Kan variation is considered to be a good decision for fighting players, as White doesn’t have direct lines to force a draw. 5.Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7.0–0 Nc6 8. Be3

8...b5 [Theory considers 8...Ne5 to be the best option for Black. The main line starts with 9.h3 Bc5 ...] 9.a3 [9.Nxc6 Qxc6 10.a3 Bb7 11.Qe2 is the reason why strong players restrain from playing 8...b5.]

9... Bb7 10.Qe2 Ne5 This move seems to be slightly hasty, because of concrete reasons. Black would like to get the bishop pair, but we must know that Nxd3 cxd3 favors White, as the game will demonstrate. The main threat is Neg4 — White needs to parry this, and if he does, Black should carry out the Nc4 move. [10... Be7 followed by normal development with 0–0 and d6 gives a playable position.] 11.h3! Rc8 Black overprotects the c4 square and prepares for the forthcoming combination... 12.f4 Nc4 [12...Nxd3 13.cxd3 This change of the structure favors White generally in all the Sicilians. White has no more problem with the e4 pawn, and the open c-file plus the weakened dark squares on the queenside give him better chances 13... Be7 14. Rac1 Qb8 15.b4! 0–0 16.Nb3 += followed by Qf2.]

13.Ndxb5! Very nice tactical motif, making use of the temporarily uncoordinated Black pieces. [13. Bxc4 Qxc4 Black would have achieved his aim. He already overtook the initiative with the bishop pair and has a lot of pressure against the e4 pawn.]

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13...axb5 14.Nxb5 Qc6 The only square to cover the c4 knight, but this moves into... 15.Na7 Nxe3? This is a really brave queen sacrifice. Objectively speaking, it doesn’t work, but Tal always took such risky decisions and his opponents most often collapsed under the tension. [15...Qc7 should have been played, where White can either force a draw by repetition with 16.Nb5 (or play for a win, which is probably justified in the current position. 16.Bf2! The game could continue, for instance, with 16...Rb8 17.B xc4 N xe4 18.Nb5 and White’s chances seem to be preferable.; 16.N xc8? is bad 16...N xe3 and Bc5 next.) ] 16.Nxc6 Bc5 17.Kh2? It’s hard to explain this move. Black didn’t have any special threat with the discovered check, so White could have simply saved his knight. [17. Ne5! The maximum Black can do is to take one of the rooks, but he’ll end up with a material disadvantage in both cases. 17...Nxc2+ (17...N xf1+ 18.Kxf1+-) 18.Kh2 Nxa1 19. Rxa1 +-] 17...Nxf1+ 18. Rxf1 Bxc6 We have reached this really unusual position. White has a queen and two connected passed pawns against a rook and two minor pieces. An important detail is that White can hardly mobilize his queenside pawns as one of the bishops will be able to stand between the pawns. Objectively, the game is probably even, but of course, in a practical game, in a position like this, the draw has the smallest probability of occurring.

19.c4 White wants to push e5 and control the d5 square. It’s also principled to advance the queenside pawns, but it has a huge drawback as well — that it gives up the control of the d4 square. We’ll see that the bishop will become incredibly strong soon. 19...d6 Reducing the power of e5. 20.Qc2 This is a slightly mysterious move. It’s hard to get its point. [20.e5 was quite logical, to create a third passer on the queenside. 20...dxe5 21.fxe5 Nd7 22. Be4 getting rid of the bishop pair, but at the cost of a pawn. 22...Nxe5 23. Bxc6+ Nxc6 24.b4 Be7 It’s very hard to evaluate the position, but most probably Black will sacrifice a piece for the dangerous pawns and will escape to a drawish endgame.; 20.b4 Bd4 will be similar to the game.] 20... Bd4 21.b4 e5 Fortifying the d4 bishop. 22.f5 Ke7 Tal already thinks about the attack that will be seen later in the game. [However, the prophylactic 22... Ra8! was much stronger. Now White can’t hold his structure and must create a hole between them, for instance with 23.b5 Bb7 24.a4 Black immediately makes use of the weakness: 24...Nd7! Black’s chances are better.]

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23.a4

28... Rhg7 29.fxg6 Rxg6 30. Rf3

23...g6 Black opens the g-file for the rooks. At first, it doesn’t seem so dangerous, but...

30...Nh7! with the double threat of Ng5 and the more hidden f5!!

24.b5 Ba8 25.Qe2 [25.a5 With his 25th move, White probably wanted to avoid 25...d5!? 26.exd5 Nxd5 and the knight goes to e3, but this whole action with d5 was not necessarily in Black’s mind, as he weakens his own king by doing so.]

31.Qe1 [31.h4 would have been met by 31...f5!! with the idea of playing Nf6 or simply f4. White is lost. 32. Rxf5 Rxg3+]

25... Rcg8 26.a5 h5 [26...gxf5 27. Rxf5 Rg6 was also possible, but Tal probably wanted to prevent 28.g4 and White is always ready to push g5 when Black plays h5.]

31...Ng5 32. Rf1 Black’s pieces are ready for the final strike. Of course, Tal doesn’t miss the tactical chance.

27.g3 [27.b6 gxf5 28. Rxf5 Rg6 We can see now that the Black bishops are excellently blockading the a- and bpawns.] 27... Rh7 White can’t avoid opening the g-file, so Black decides to double his rooks first. 28.Kg2? This is a huge mistake, moving into many tactical motifs. White was afraid of some Ng4 ideas, when the opening of the h-file might lead to a quick mate. However, after Ng4 White is not forced to accept the sacrifice. [28.b6 Rhg7 was coming anyway.]

32...Nxe4! 33. Bxe4 Rxg3+! 34.Kh2 [34.Qxg3 also leads to a hopeless endgame. 34... Bxe4+ 35.Kh2 Rxg3 36.Kxg3 Bd3 37. Rc1 The bishops and the king are block-

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ing the a- and b-pawns, but there will be no one to stop Black’s central pawns. 37...f5] 34... Rg2+! This and the next move were important details, which Black had to foresee before taking on e4. 35.Kh1 [35. Bxg2 leads to a forced mate. 35... Rxg2+ 36.Kh1 Re2+]

Surprise section / study (18) Fernandez,J 1885 [CEWN] 1. =

35... Rg1+! 36. Rxg1 [36.Kh2 R8g2+ 37. Bxg2 Rxg2+ 38.Kh1 Re2+] 36... Rxg1+ 37.Qxg1 Bxe4+ Black ended up with a winning material advantage. 0–1

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Solutions (19) Nepomniachtchi,I (2707) — Grischuk,A (2764) Piterenka blitz, 29.12.2012 [Solutions]

16.Nxd5! exd5 17.e6! Nb3+! [17...Nxe6 18.Qxb6+-; 17... Bxe6 18.Qg7#; 17...f6 18.exd7 Nxd7 19.Qxd5++-] 18.axb3 Qxd4 19.exf7+! Rxf7 20. Rxd4  (21) Burg,T (2498) — Bok,B (2522) Groningen Open, 27.12.2012 [Solutions]

32.Qe5+!! 1–0[32.Qe5+ Qxe5 33.dxe5+-] (20) Andriasian,Z (2605) — Hovhanisian,M (2477) Groningen Open, 27.12.2012 [Solutions]

27...Nf4! 28.gxf4 Qg4!!–+ [28... Bxf4+ 29.Kg2 Qg4+ 30.Kf1 Qh3+ 31.Ke1] 29.f3 [29. Re1 Bxf4+ 30.Kh1 Qh3+ 31.Kg1 Bh2+ 32.Kh1 Bg3+ 33.Kg1 Qh2+ 34.Kf1 Qxf2#] 29... Bxf4+ 30.Kh1 Qh3+ 31.Kg1 Be3+ 32. Rxe3 Qg3+ 33.Kh1 dxe3–+

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(22) Roy Chowdhury,S (2441) — Gormally,D (2495) Groningen Open, 29.12.2012 [Solutions]

27... Rxf4!! 28. Re8+ Kf7! [28...Kh7? 29.Qxd3 Rxf2 30.Kxf2 Qxh2+ 31.Ke1+-] 29.Qxd3 Rxf2! 30.Kxf2 Qxh2+ 31.Ke1 Qxg3+ [31... Rxg3 32.Qf5+ Kxe8–+] 32.Ke2 [32.Qxg3 Bxg3+ 33.Ke2 Kxe8–+] 32...Kxe8–+ (24) Gelashvili,T (2566) — Li Chao (2677) North American Open, 27.12.2012 [Solutions]

31... R8b2!! 0–1[31... R8b2 32. Rxb2 (32.Kf1 R xc1+ 33.R xc1 R xd2–+) 32... Rxc1+–+] (23) Lewicki,M (2200) — Malaniuk,V (2523) Krakow Open, 30.12.2012 [Solutions] 33... Rxf2+!! [33...Qxa5! 34. Rxh6 Rxf2+!! 35.Kxf2 Qc5+! 36.Kf3 Qxc3+ 37.Kg4 Ra4+–+] 34.Kxf2 Qxa5 35. Rxh6 Qc5+ 36.Ke1 Qe3+ 0–1

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(25) Hammer,J (2633) — Yankovksy,R (2474) North American Open, 27.12.2012 [Solutions]

17... Bc8!! 18. Rxd8 Rxd8! 19.Nxd4 [19.g4 Bxg4 20.Qg3 Ne2+–+] 19... Bxh3 20. Bxh3 Rxd4 0–1 (27) Shabalov,A (2578) — Bryant,J (2416) North American Open, 29.12.2012 [Solutions]

19.Qh3! 1–0[19.Qh3! Qxh3 20.Nxe7+ Kg7 21.Nxh3+-; 19.Qg3! Qxg3 20.Nxe7+ Kg7 21.hxg3+-] (26) Ramirez,A (2554) — Gareev,T (2663) North American Open, 29.12.2012 [Solutions]

28...Qh4!! 0–1[28...Qh4 29.g3 (29.Qxe8 Qxf2+ 30.Kh2 Qxg2#) 29...Qxe7–+]

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(28) Gaehler,M (2314) — Shirov,A (2708)

(29) Sochniev,A

Zuerich Open, 29.12.2012

1980

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

22... Rxc3! 0–1 [22... Rxc3 23.bxc3 Bc4!–+]

1. Bc7!! Qxc7= [1...Qb8!? 2. Bxb8 Nd7+!! 3. Bxd7=] 1/2

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Weekly Newsletter




The whole chess world has its eyes on Wijk aan Zee.


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The chess Elite with Carlsen, Aronian, Anand, Nakamura, Karjakin combined with the female World Champion Hou Yifan and many other Top GMs make the field extremely interesting.

»» Puzzle section

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What we can already say is: Anand is back. After not having a great 2012 and dropping to the 7th position in the world ranking, Vishy is back; he’s showing very good play and a bit of necessary luck. His game in the 4th round against Aronian is really very nice. We have analyzed it for You.


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The B group is exciting as well, but of course, in comparison to the “main” event, they seems to be a bit “gray”.


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The traditional rapid event in Estonia was won one more time by Alexei Shirov.

»» Solutions

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As usual, we wish You a lot of chess fun with the current CEWN Nr 47 Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Aronian,Levon (2802) — Anand,Viswanathan (2772) [D47] 75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (4.5), 15.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] How many times have we seen Aronian losing with White in under 25 moves? I can’t remember any. We’ll now see one of the most spectacular chess games. How much was Anand’s analyses? This is hard to say, but probably almost until the end of the game. After the game, he admitted this was his preparation against Gelfand. All in all: super strong novelty, great play, very beautiful finish. A fantastic game. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Lately, the Slav became Anand’s favorite opening. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bd6 9.0–0 0–0 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.a3 Rc8 Everything is theory until here and this is one of the most popular lines of the Meran.

12.Ng5 A fresh idea, which was introduced by Wojtaczek. [The main idea of the Black’s move 11... Rc8 becomes visible after 12.b4 c5! This amazing move was played by Anand’s second Kasimdzhanov in his game against Topalov. 13.bxc5 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nxc5 15.dxc5 Rxc5 16.f4 Nd5 17. Bb2 Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Qc7 19. Rfc1 Rc8 Black is winning back the piece, the position is a draw,] 12...c5! A very strong novelty! Now the game is very tricky and pretty forced... [To win a pawn by playing 12... Bxh2+ 13.Kxh2 Ng4+ 14.Kg1 Qxg5 and it seems like Black is just a pawn up, but White is getting great play for it. 15.f3 Ngf6 16.b4! White’s bishop pair, plus his strong center and the very bad Black bishop on b7 is gives White better play.] 13.Nxh7 A very logical move. White needs to take the pawn on h7 — nothing else to do! [Another way to get the h7 pawn was to play 13. Bxh7+ Kh8 14. Be4 but now Black can equalize very easily by playing 14...Nxe4 15.Ngxe4 Bb8 and Black is even more than fine. He has the bishop pair, an open position and an eventual attack on the White king. This is great compensation for just a pawn.] 13...Ng4 The beginning of a great mating idea! 14.f4 Aronian runs head first into Anand’s preparation. [14.g3? would be a bad way to defend. 14...cxd4 (14... Qh4) 15.exd4 Nxh2 and Black is easily winning. White can’t take on h2 because of Qh4.; 14.h3 would have been a very possible reply, but here Black has excellent play as well. 14...Qh4 with a dangerous attack.] 14...cxd4 15.exd4 It seems like White is pretty solid and the Black rook on f8 is under attack. How to proceed? 3


Anand has an amazing move in his pocket. What a level of preparation!

19...f5! Another very good move! Black wants to mate after Qh4. [Of course not 19...Qh4? 20.Qh7+!] 15... Bc5!! A really amazing move, and a winning one. I guess it might become the move of the Year 2013! 16. Be2 [If White takes the bishop, it wouldn’t help much. 16.dxc5 Nxc5 Black wants to take on d3 and, at the same time, to give a check on d4. White has no decent defense against this. 17. Be2 Qd4+ 18.Kh1 Nf2+ and Black is giving mate.; 16.Nxf8 leads to a beautiful mate: 16... Bxd4+ 17.Kh1 Qh4 18.h3 Qxh3#] 16...Nde5!! Another wonderful move! Black creates multiple threats and keeps the knight on g4 alive. A really beautiful position.

20.Ng6 White has protected from Qh4 for a moment. 20...Qf6 And the game is basically over. Black wants to play Qxg6 and Qh5 next. White has no defense against this. 21.h3 Qxg6 22.Qe2 Nothing helps White anymore... 22...Qh5 23.Qd3 Be3 What a great finish to a really amazing crush by Black. Anyway, it would be very interesting to know if Anand made any of the moves himself or if it was his preparation until the very end! 0–1

17. Bxg4 [17.fxe5 and Black is mating after 17...Qxd4+ 18.Kh1 Qg1+ 19. Rxg1 Nf2#] 17... Bxd4+ 18.Kh1 Nxg4 As we can see, things turned out terrible for White. At the moment, we have equal material and Black is attacking the White king with all his pieces. 19.Nxf8 If it’s impossible not to die, at least let’s get some material. 4


(2) Carlsen,M (2861) — Van Wely,L (2679) [E75] Wijk aan Zee, 14.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A nice positional lesson by the World Nr.1.

games. Black succeeded to develop his pieces, but it cost him the bishop pair, and now he must suffer with the space disadvantage.] 10.Nf3 Bf5

1.c4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bg7 Van Wely used to be a Gruenfeld player, but on this tournament. he employed the King’s Indian. It’s interesting that Carlsen himself also chose this opening against Aronian in the previous round with the Black pieces. 4.e4 d6 5. Be2 0–0 6. Bg5 This is the main alternative to the main line with 6.Nf3. Black has various different setups, and van Wely went for the most common line. 6...c5 7.d5 e6 [It’s better to include 7...h6 followed by the moves played in the game. The game demonstrates the difference excellently. The bishop on g5 is very annoying from Black’s point of view.] 8.Qd2! Black must forget about h6 after this move, and the pin is very annoying. 8...exd5 9.exd5! After this typical recapture, White has a better position due to the space advantage given by the d5 pawn gives. Black has some difficulties finishing the development. The main idea, which could ease his position, would be the exchange of the f6 knight with Ne4, but now the g5 bishop makes it more difficult to execute this plan. 9...Qb6 This concrete attempt to play on Bf5 and Ne4 was played by Mikhail Tal back in 1956. Carlsen knew exactly how to react against it. [9... Re8 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.0–0 Nbd7 12.h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 happened in hundreds of

11.Nh4! After this great move, Black can’t achieve his plans comfortably as the bishop gets into some trouble. Bd7 would be too passive, leaving Black with a long-term suffering. [After a careless move like 11.0–0 Black solves his problems with 11...Ne4! 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 =] 11...Ne4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.f3! This is the point! Black can temporarily win a pawn on b2, but he must give up his light squared bishop and destroy his pawn structure. 13...Qxb2 14. Rc1! This is an important detail, as otherwise, the bishop could be saved via c2-a4. 14... Bf5 This is a kind of positional resignation. Black should have tried to find counterplay in one of the following lines. [14...h6 is probably the critical test of the variation, although Boleslavsky has already showed in 1970 that White gets an advantage after 15. Bxh6 Qxd2+ 16. Bxd2 Bf6! 17.g3 Bxh4 18.gxh4 Bf5 19. Bf4 Rd8 20. Rg1 with a better endgame for White. We can be sure that Carlsen was familiar with all these lines and 5


played without thinking so far, while van Wely has already spent almost an hour. A huge difference between the preparations, which is slightly surprising because van Wely usually knows his lines with very deep details.; 14... Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Bxd5 has been played in several games, but Black clearly doesn’t have enough compensation for the sacrificed piece. 16.cxd5 ²] 15.Nxf5 gxf5 16.Qxb2 Bxb2 17. Rb1 Bc3+ 18.Kd1 Black is a pawn up at the moment, but b7 is hanging. Be7 threatens to win the d6 pawn and Bd3 is always in the air to collect the f5 pawn.

mains bad here as well. 22.Kc2 Be5 (22...Rb2+ can’t be played. 23.Kxc3 R xe2 24.Bf4! +- and d6 falls. The knight on a6 is dead and the d-pawn will advance soon.) 23. Bc1 Controlling the invading square, followed by playing on the kingside. 23...Kg7 24. Bd3 f4 (24...Kf6 25.g4 fxg4 26.fxg4) 25.g3! fxg3 26.hxg3  is a favorable exchange for White. He’s intending to push f4 and g4. The a6 knight is terribly placed. This is the reason why Black chose to take back with the knight on b8.] 22. Bd3 Nd7 Black is looking for counterplay against the c4 pawn, but Carlsen doesn’t give him any chance... 23.Kc2! [23. Bxf5 would have been premature, because of 23...Ne5 24.Kc2 Bd4 25. Bd3 is the only move to protect c4, but Black has 25... Rb8! 26. Bc1 Nxd3 27.Kxd3 Rb3+ and Rc3 next, with equality.] 23... Bd4 [23... Bf6 was probably the only move, but still after 24. Bxf6 Nxf6 25. Rb1 and invading in the b-file. Black has huge problems.]

18... Re8 [18...b6 was a more stubborn defense, after which White should play 19. Bd3 (Of course, it would be more important to take on d6, than the doubled f-pawn, but there is a concrete idea that White should avoid. 19.Be7 Re8 20.B xd6 Nc6! This is the point. Suddenly, the knight becomes very active on d4, while 21.dxc6 is met with Rad8.) 19... Re8 20. Bxf5  with a clear advantage, although Black can resist for long.] 19. Rxb7 Na6 20.a3! Carlsen deprives Black from any kind of counterplay by preventing Nb4. 20... Rab8 21. Rxb8 Nxb8 [21... Rxb8 was probably a slightly more stubborn defense, but the position re-

24. Rb1! Another accurate move! White lures the knight to b6 with the threat of Rb7, which deprives Black from his main counterplay with Ne5. 6


24...Nb6 [24...Ne5 is simply met with 25. Rb7 Nxd3 26.Kxd3  All these endgames are horrible for Black.] 25. Bf4! Be5 26. Re1 [26. Bxe5!? Rxe5 27.a4! was the tactical way to win the game. 27...Nxa4 28. Ra1 Nb6 29. Rxa7 The f5 and d6 pawns will automatically fall. Black will collapse soon. 29...Kg7 30. Ra6 Nc8 31.f4 +-] 26...Kg7 27. Bg3! Re7 was the only way not to lose material because of the pin, but this leads to a won endgame by force. [27...f4 is met with 28. Bxf4!] 28.f4! Bf6 29. Rxe7 Bxe7 30. Be1! White wants to play Kb3, protecting c4 and then taking on f5. 30...h5 Black wants to protect f5 with Kg6 and he prevented g4. Kf6 was not possible because of Bh4.

(3) Anand,V (2772) — Caruana,F (2781) [C84] Wijk aan Zee, 14.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A typical Ruy Lopez game. After some subtle maneuvering from both sides, the game turned into a tactical battle. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 We can say that, recently, this move has become much more popular than the main lines starting with 6. Re1. The main idea is to avoid the long theoretical struggles and it has many subtle points, where it is possible to outplay your opponents. 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.a3 However, this might the new direction, since in almost all the games White tries 8.a4. The idea is to give a free square for the bishop against the Na5 threat. 8...0–0 9.Nbd2 Black can choose between several different setups here.

31.g3! Black can’t avoid losing the pawn. Kf6 will meet Bc3, and on Kg6, White simply plays h3-g4. Black can’t do anything against it. 31... Bf6 32.Kb3 Kg6 33.h3! A painful final position! Van Wely decided not to suffer anymore and resigned the game as g4 wins the pawn in the next move. If he had enough time to play Bd4 and Kf6, he could have hoped for salvation, as White doesn’t have Bc3 check. 1–0

9... Re8 Caruana, as a Zaitsev player in the main Ruy Lopez lines, sticks to his usual setups. The main problem of Black is the misplacement of the c6 knight. We can see in the following lines. and also in the game, that Black tries to improve it somehow. [Aronian played 9...Na5 against Anand in a rapid game in 2007. 10. Ba2 c5 11. Re1 Nc6 12.Nf1 Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14.c3 Qd7 with a typical Ruy Lopez middlegame.; 9...Nb8 is another playable plan in such positions. 10. Re1 Nbd7 11.Nf1 Nc5 12. Ba2 Be6 Black is about to equalize, but of course, a long fight is still ahead, because almost all the pieces are on the board.]

7


16...Nxd5 [16...c6 doesn’t equalize either. 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. Rc1 and White can create problems on the c-file.] 17.cxd5 c6 The previous move was based on this idea. Otherwise, White plays Ba5 and doubles the rooks on the c-file with huge pressure on the weak c7 pawn. Black also had to undermine the d5 pawn to win some space. 18.Qb3! Another excellent move by Anand. The hardest thing was to evaluate Black’s c5 move. 10. Re1 Bf8 11.Nf1 White employs the standard maneuver to improve his knight. 11...h6 12.Ne3 The knight is heading to d5. Other ideas could be Nh4-f5 (also Ng6) and h3 followed by Nh2-g4. These are known maneuvers in this type of positions. 12... Be6 Usually, Black should aim for the exchange of the light squared bishops, but it doesn’t lead to equality this time. [12...Ne7 was an alternative to prevent Nd5 and to transfer it to g6, where it is clearly better placed.]

18...cxd5 [On 18...c5 White should try to weaken the strong Black pawn structure and he can most effectively do it with b4. So, probably the bestis 19.Qa2 Nd7 20.b4! and the game could continue, for instance, with 20...Qb6 21. Rec1 Rec8 22. Be3 followed by Nd2-b3. White also has the a4 resource, which can cause some difficulties for Black. White’s chances are preferable.] 19.Qxd5 Nd7

13. Bxe6 Rxe6 14.Nd5! Using the fact that Black can’t take on d5, White occupies the nice central square. The main problem is still the c6 knight. Without it, Black could take on d5 or kick it out with a c6 push. 14... Re8 15.c4! A great move to fortify the knight and to initiate play on the queenside, where White has more potential. Black can’t use the weakened d4 square, because he is lacking the light squared bishop to eliminate the f3 knight with Bg4. 15...Nb8 Caruana tries to solve the problem of the c6 knight. 16. Bd2 Natural development with the idea of Ba5.

20. Rac1 Black can’t fight for the c-file and his f8 bishop is poor. His only chance is a d5 break to activate the bishop and to create open lines for the rooks. 20...Qb8 Black prepares for Nf6. [20...Nf6 immediately, would be answered by 21.Qb7 Re7 22.Qc6 and doubling 8


the rooks on the c-file.; 20... Rc8 21. Be3!  is unpleasant, threatening Qb7 and preventing Nc5.] 21. Rc3? Until here , Anand has played a perfect game and achieved an advantage, but with this inaccuracy, he basically spoils it all. [Probably the strongest was 21. Rc6! which seems to be a small, but in fact, is really a huge difference compared to the game. As we’ll see, the fight for the c6 square is key in the game. If Black tries 21...Nf6 22.Qb3 Qb7 23. Rec1 Rac8 24.Qc2  he’s not in time to counterplay with d5.] 21...Nf6 22.Qb3 Qb7 23. Rec1 Rac8 Black is safe now. White is ready to take control over the c-file, but the d5 break solves all his problems. 24.h3! A useful move. Black has to take on c3, so there was no need to waste a tempo with Qc2. [24.Qc2 Rxc3 25.Qxc3 d5! = Black jumps out from his squeezed position.]

26.Nxe5 dxe4 27.d4! Still, if White could play Qc6, the position would remain unpleasant with the weakness on a6, but Black keeps neutralizing all the deep ideas. 27...Qd5! The d4 pawn has to be protected before playing Qc6. [The natural 27...Nd5 would have led to White’s advantage. 28.Qc6 Qxc6 29. Rxc6 ²] 28. Be3 Bd6! Another precise move. Now Black has no problems at all, but another key factor of the game starts to play a main role, namely the time factor. Suffering in that cramped position right from the beginning has taken all the thinking time of Caruana, and he starts to make mistakes... This is quite typical in practical chess. 29.Ng4 Re6?! The first mistake. [Black could have played 29...Nxg4 30.hxg4 and for example 30... Rd8 followed by Be7-f6 is equal.] 30.Nxf6+ Rxf6

24... Rxc3 25.Qxc3 d5! The World Champion tries his only chance to fight for the advantage.

31.Kh1!? A really un pleasant move in time trouble. White would like to play Qc6, but first he had to leave from the Bh2 discovered check. [Objectively, it was stronger to play 31.Qc8+! Kh7 32.Qe8 with the idea of Rc8, and Black has difficulties.] 9


31... Be7?! Another mistake. [After 31... Bf4 Black seems to be all right.]

35. Rh8+! Kg6 36.Qg8! The threat is Rxh6! The next move is the only possible one.

32.Qc7 [32.Qc8+ with the same idea as in the previous move was stronger again. 32...Kh7 33.Qe8! White wants to penetrate with Rc8, followed by Qh8 and Rg8. 33... Qd8 The exchange of the queens doesn’t help, because 34. Rc8! Qxe8 35. Rxe8 and the e4 pawn falls, while on 35... Re6 Black wins the endgame by force. 36.d5 Re5 37. Bc5! Bf6 38. Rxe5 Bxe5 39.d6 and the pawn promotes anyway. 39... Bxb2 40.d7 Bf6 41. Bb6 +-]

36...Kf6 37. Rh7! And Black can’t protect the g7 pawn. The last hope is to create somecounterplay against the weak White’s back-rank.

32... Re6 33.Qb8+ Kh7 34. Rc8 Anand had the same idea, but it was more effective with the queen on e8 and the rook on c8. 34... Bd6? [34... Bg5 would have still led to equality, but this is very hard to find with only 30 seconds on the clock. 35. Rh8+ (35.Rc5 Qd6 is equal.) 35...Kg6 36.Qg8 In comparison to the game, Black has (On 36.Qg3 Black has 36... Qd6 neutralizing the pin. On 37.Qg4, f5 works.) 36... Bxe3 37.fxe3 Qc4 and the perpetual check with Qc1–c7 is inevitable after any kind of attacking moves. 38. Rh7 Qc1+ 39.Kh2 Qc7+=]

37...Qh5 Defending f7 and threating Qd1, but of course, this doesn’t change the final outcome. 38.Qxg7+ Ke7 39. Bg5+!! A spectacular blow! The bishop can’t be taken and other moves lead to a material loss as well. 39...Kd7 [39...Ke8 is refuted by 40.Qg8+ Kd7 (40...Bf8 Back is not threatening Qd1 mate any more. 41.Rh8 +-) 41.Qd8+ Kc6 42.Qa8+ Kd7 43.Qb7+ Bc7 44. Bf4 +-] 40.Qxf7+ Qxf7 41. Rxf7+ Black resigned in view of[41. Rxf7+ Ke8 42. Rf6! The point of 39. Bg5! 42... Rxf6 43. Bxf6 +- with two extra pawns and an easy win.] 1–0

10


(4) Sveshnikov,E (2521) — Fridman,D (2667) [C43] Paul Keres Mem 2013 Tallinn EST (8.2), 13.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] 1.e4 We are in the traditional rapid tournament in Estonia, which usually collects the best players from the Baltic countries. Now we see a really funny game between the „old „ Grandmaster Evgenij Sveshnikov and his younger — German resident — rival, Daniel Fridman. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 One of the main lines in the „Russian”, which is usually a very solid opening. 3...Nxe4 4.dxe5 Bc5 This move is, of course, a very risky one and it leads to a „crazy” position. [4...d5 would be the main continuation here...] 5. Bc4 The main answer for White.

6...Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Kg6 I don’t think many players would like the king on g6, but it seems like Fridman was not very bothered by this... 8.Qxc5 Nxh1 White is a full rook down, so it’s time to develop fast and attack the Black king with „all that You got”. 9.Nc3 h6 Black tries to escape with the king to a safer position... 10.Qc4 Qe4 is threatened. 10...Kh7 11.Nd5 [Another attacking option would have been to first play 11.Qe4+ g6 12.Nd5 followed by the silent moves Be3 0–0–0, with a very strong attack.] 11... Rf8 12.Qe4+ Kh8 The Black king escaped, but White has one more „joker” in his pocket.

5...Nxf2 [To take 5... Bxf2+? would be a wrong decision for Black. 6.Kf1 and Black is losing some material because of the threat Qd5.]

13. Bxh6! Great play. White continues what he started and is going for the Black king. 6. Bxf7+! This is probably the strongest White’s reply. Even if the position is quite unclear, it’s very hard to play for Black with his king walking all over the board.

13...d6 [The main White’s idea is evident after 13...gxh6 14.Qg6! Silent but deadly move. Black has no defense against the White knights.; It doesn’t help to play 13... Rxf3 14.gxf3 gxh6 15.Nf6 and White is winning.] 11


14. Bg5 A nice way to finish the game... 14...Qe8 15.Qh4+ Kg8 16.Ne7+ Of course, Black can give away the queen, but then, maybe a resignation would be the strongest move. 16...Kf7 17.Qh5+ And White is mating by force. 17...Ke6 18.Qg4+ Kf7

19.e6+! Wow! What a crush! 1–0

12


Puzzle section

(7) Burg,T (2492) — Gretarsson,H (2516) Wijk aan Zee C, 13.01.2013

(5) Aronian,L (2802) — Carlsen,M (2861) Wijk aan Zee, 13.01.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. =

(8) Peralta,F (2617) — Swinkels,R (2508) (6) Turov,M (2630) — Naiditsch,A (2708) Wijk aan Zee B, 14.01.2013 [CEWN]

Wijk aan Zee C, 13.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

13


(9) Maiorov,N (2521) — Ehlvest,J (2605)

(11) Johannesson,I (2340) — Hebden,M (2540)

Keres memorial (rapid), 13.01.2013

British league, 13.01.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Sertic,R (2374) — Delchev,A (2616)

(12) Stebbings,A (2265) — Stefanova,A (2491)

Bosnjaci Open, 08.01.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

14


(13) De Schampheleire,G (2275) — Michiels,B (2506) Belgian league, 13.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Goganov,A (2545) — Babuijan,L (2497) Margaryan memorial, 08.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

15


Endgame section (15) Nakamura,H (2769) — Sokolov,I (2663) Wijk aan Zee, 13.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

the squeezed situation of the White king. The following moves are necessary... 61... Rf2+! 62.Kg1 Re2! The pawn had to be stopped. 63. Bd6 Kf3! 64.Kf1 Re4 65.Kg1 [65. Bc7 loses to 65... Rc4 attacking the bishop and threatening with mate.] 65... Re1+ 66.Kh2 This is the critical position, which Black could get in many different ways. What to do now? If we study endgames, then we know that very often we must ask ourselves what would happen if it was our opponent’s turn. If we do this, we can easily realize that Black is in zugzwang, as he can’t move with the king, so the bishop must give up the protection of one of the pawns... The first target should be to pass the move to White...

Black is winning, but the way to do it is really instructive and hard to find over the board. 59...h2! [59...Kg3? doesn’t work. 60. Be1+-; 59... Rf5 makes no progress, since the e5 pawn is not hanging because of f7. 60.Kh2] 60.f7! White is forced to give up his dangerous connected passed pawn to parry the mate threat of Kh3. [60. Bc5 Re2 61.f7 would have lost on the spot. 61...Kh3! 62.f8Q Re1+] 60... Rxf7 61.Kxh2 The endgame seems to be very close to a draw, as the bishop is well placed: it protects both pawns and Black is slightly restricted, because if White manages to push e6-e7, they can immediately agree to draw. However, Black is winning, he can make use of

66... Rd1 67. Bb4 [67. Bc5 would have made the job easier. 67... Rd5 68. Bd6 Rd2+ 69.Kh3 (69.Kg1 Rd1+ 70.Kh2 Re1 Black achieved what he wanted.) 69...Kf4! and White is in zugzwang again! Only his bishop can move, but then he drops one of the pawns. 70. Bc7 Rd3+ 71.Kh2 Rxa3 72.e6+ Kf5 73.e7 Re3]

16


67... Rd4! Very nice move! It seems like Black allows White to advance his e-pawn, but this is met with a tactical refutation. 68. Bd6 [68.e6 Rh4+! Very important intermediate check in order to promote the a-pawn with check. 69.Kg1 Rxb4! 70.axb4 a3 Despite White is the one who queens first, he gets mated by force.... 71.e7 a2 72.e8Q a1Q+ 73.Kh2 Qb2+ 74.Kh3 Qg2+ 75.Kh4 Qg4#] 68... Rh4+ 69.Kg1 Rh6! Sokolov is using the method of zugzwang again! White is forced to move with the bishop.

always win a tempo with this trick of taking on b4. 77. Bc5 Rc4 78. Bd6 Kf2 and the king in the corner has decisive problems. 79.e6 Rh4+ 80. Bh2 Rh7! White must sacrifice his pawn, as he has no other moves.] 73... Rb1+ 74.Kh2 Re1! Here we are! The bishop has to leave its ideal square. However, Black still has to find some really difficult moves. 75. Bc7

70. Bf8 Rh8 This is just to gain some time. 71. Bd6 Rh6 72. Bf8 Rb6! 73. Bd6 This allows Black to get his zugzwang position. Let’s see what happens on other moves... [The king can’t escape from the 1st rank with 73.Kh2 because of 73... Rb2+ 74.Kh3 Rb8 and White gets mated. 75. Bg7 Rb7; 73. Bc5 Rc6 74. Bb4 (74. Bd6 transposes to the game...)

74... Rg6+! Very subtle chess, after which there is no good square for the king. 75.Kh2 (75.Kf1 allows 75...Rb6 and Rxb4 wins next as the bishop can’t go away.) 75... Rg2+ 76.Kh1 (76.Kh3 Rg5 wins the pawn.) 76... Rg4 Black can

75... Ra1? Sokolov fails to find the winning plan. [75... Re2+! 76.Kh3 (76.Kg1 is met with 76... Rg2+! forcing the king into the corner, where different kind of mate threats can be created. 77.Kh1 (77.Kf1 Rc2 wins.) 77...Kf2! 78.e6 Rg6 79.e7 Rh6+ 80. Bh2 Rh8! and the pawn must be sacrificed , which means the end of the game.) 76...Kf4!! This is the key move! Black threatens with Re3 and Rxa3, so the next move is forced. 77. Bd6 and now 77... Rd2! the final zugzwang! White loses one of the pawns, and the game. 78. Bc7 Rd3+ 79.Kg2 Rxa3 The e-pawn can be easily stopped. 80.e6+ Kf5 81.e7 Re3] 76. Bd6 Rd1 77. Bb4 Rd4 78. Bd6 Rg4? This is the final mistake. Black should have gone back to the beginning, 17


put White in zugzwang and then find the winning plan, given in the 75... Re2 line.

(16) Nakamura,Hikaru (2769) — Karjakin,Sergey (2780) [E15]

79.e6! The pawn reaches the 7th rank. The game is drawn.

75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (4.4), 15.01.2013

79... Rg2+ 80.Kh1 Re2 [It’s too late to create the usual mating net with 80...Kf2 81.e7 Rg8 82. Bc5+ Kf1 83.Kh2 and the king escapes from the corner...]

[Chess Evolution]

81.e7 Kg4 82.Kg1 Kf5 83.Kf1 Re6 84.Kf2 Kg6 85.Kf3 Kf7 86. Bb4 Ke8 87. Bc5 Kd7 Black is still aiming for a zugzwang. He wants to attack the bishop to threaten with Rxb4 and try to send it away from the b4-c5-d6 squares. However, he is unable to do so.. . quite an unlucky position. 88. Bb4 Rb6 89. Bc5 Rc6 [89... Rb5 90. Bd6! is the point! The bishop can hold the diagonal with this small tactical trick.] 90. Bb4 Rc4 91. Bd6! A hard-fought draw! 1/2

Black was quite lucky to survive this far and had a few very critical moments, but what is the best way to go on?! 40.Qxe2 Qc3! Very good play by Black. The idea of most queen endgames is the same: try to bring Your pawn as far as it goes and don’t care about the other pawns. This is the strange thing about these endgames, one pawn can be stronger than 4 if it’s more advanced. And what clearly doesn’t lead to anything good is to choose a passive tactic in a queen endgame! 41.Qe7+ White is going to eat all the Black pawns, but will this be enough for a full point!? 41...Kg8 42.Qe4

18


42...d3! And again, Black is choosing the right way to play the position — to bring the passed pawn as far as possible. 43.Qxg6+ Kf8 44.f5 White is trying to be as fast as possible with his free pawn. [44.Qxh6+ Ke8 would not bring White anything and there is no way of holding Black’s dpawn...] 44...Qc2+ The last accurate move, not to give White even a chance for f6... 45.Kf3 d2 Black reached what he wanted. The pawn is on d2 and White has nothing better than to „save” himself with a perpetual check. 46.Qxh6+ Ke8 47.Qe6+ Kd8 48.Qd6+ Kc8 49.Qe6+ Kc7 50.Qe7+ Kb6 A nice example, from a strategical point of view, on how to play queen endgames. 1/2

19


Clash of the Titans (17) Alekhine,Alexander — Koenig,Imre [A50] Vienna Vienna, 1922 [Csaba Balogh] A short but beautiful crush by Alekhine, who made use of the early castling of his opponent. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 We can’t see such moves nowadays, but of course 91 years ago theory was not that developed. 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2! Very logical play! White would like to occupy the center with e4!

9. Bb5+!? This is a known idea in many openings, mainly in the Queen’s Indian Defense. White tries to confuse his opponent’s development, as Nd7 loses to Ne5. 9...c6 [On 9... Bc6 the idea is 10. Bd3 and the bishop is clearly misplaced on c6. This also prevents Black’s only active plan to fight for the center with c5!] 10. Bd3 0–0? Who would believe, that this absolutely normal looking move might be the decisive mistake of the game? Alekhine punishes Black with a fascinating attack! [10...c5! was the way to play, setting pressure on the center. 11.0–0 (11.Bb5+ makes no sense anymore, because of 11...Bc6) 11...0–0 White can still achieve an advantage with the typical break

4...d5 Black plays some kind of reversed Gruenfeld defense with the b7 bishop instead of g7. [White also gets a better position after 4...e6 5.e4 Bb4 6.f3 consolidating the strong center.] 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 [6.e4 immediately was also possible, but it only leads to a transposition to the game. 6... Nxc3 7.bxc3 e6 White hardly has anything better than 8.Nf3 and we are in the game.] 6...e6 7.e4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 20


12.d5! White would like to push c4 and obtain a better position with the protected passed pawn on d5, and if Black takes on twice on d5: 12...exd5 13.exd5 Qxd5 (13...B xd5 is even worse 14.B xh7+ Kh8 15.Rd1! Black can’t leave the pin.) 14. Re1! comes this strong intermediate move, to prepare for Be4! 14...Nc6 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Be4 Qd6 and here, probably the strongest is 17. Bg5 White’s attack is rolling. The rook is coming with tempo to d1 and the queen might create a decisive attack with Qe2-h5.]

13...Kh8 [13...f5 is a typical defensive method in such situations, but it doesn’t help either. 14.exf6 Bxf6 15. Bh7+! Kh8 16.Ng5! Too many threats are in the air. Black can’t take on g5, since the opening of the h-file would be suicidal. For instance, after 16...cxd4

11.e5! h6 [11...g6 is very bad. White is crushing after 12.h4! and Black can’t parry the simple h5 threat. On 12... h5 13. Bxg6! wins the game 13...fxg6 14.Qxg6+ Kh8 15.Ng5! is the easiest 15... Bxg5 16.hxg5 and mate to follow.] 17. Bg8!! is a neat win. Black can hardly parry Qh7. 17...d3 only delays the end 18. Rxd3 +- and the rook goes away, creating the Qh7 threat again.; 13...cxd4 is met with 14. Bxh6!! Rg3 is a threat and if Black accepts the sacrifice 14...gxh6 15. Rg3+ Kh8 16.Qd2 wins 16... Bg5 17.Nxg5! hxg5 18. Rxg5 Rh5 followed by Qh6 mates Black.]

12.h4!! Brilliant move! The idea becomes clear after seeing the next move! Black is unable to defend his king. 12...c5 Black plays principally: against a flank attack, you must open the center! But it doesn’t help this time. 13. Rh3!! This was the point of the previous move! Suddenly, all the White pieces are focused against the Black king. The main threat is Bxh6 gxh6 Rg3 Kh8 and Qd2 with an inevitable mate.

14. Bxh6! The decisive blow!

21


14...f5 [14...gxh6 15.Qd2! wins. Black can’t parry the threats.]


15.exf6 Bxf6 16. Bg5 White is a pawn up and his attack continues to roll. The game is basicallyover.

(18) Reichhelm,G

16...cxd4

1904 [CEWN] 1. +-

17.Ne5! This is the stylish finish! Black can resign. From now on, all the moves are winning for White, but it’s worth to take a look at the end of the game. 17...Nc6 [17...Kg8 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Be4 +-] 18.Qe2! Creating the threat of Qh5! 18...g6 [18...Qe8 19. Bg6 +-] 19. Bxg6 Kg7 20. Bh6+! The last shock for Black. 20...Kg8 [20...Kxh6 21.Qh5+ Kg7 22.Qh7#] 21.Nxc6 Bxc6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23. Bxf8 Qxf8 24.Qxc6 Black resigned! It was amazing how effectively Alekhine punished his opponent for the slightly careless move 10...0–0. 1–0

22


Solutions

(20) Rombaldoni,A (2464) — Krasenkow,M (2628) Rilton Cup, 05.01.2013

(19) Socko,B (2631) — Rombaldoni,A (2464)

[Solutions]

Rilton Cup, 01.01.2013 [Solutions]

32...Ng5! 0–1[32...Ng5 33.Qe8 (33.Qd6 Qe4+–+) 33... Qxd5+–+] 33. Rb7!! [33.Nf5 Re6 34. Rxe8 Rxe8 35.Nd6+ Ke7 36. Rxe8+ Kxd6 37. Rd8+ Ke6 38. Rxd2 Rxc6=]

(21) Golichenko,I (2414) — Stupak,K (2526)

33... Rhxc6 [33... Rxb7 34.cxb7 Rb6 35.Ne6!!+-]

Krakow Open, 04.01.2013

34.Nxc6 Rxb7 35.Nd8+ Ke7 36.Nxb7+-

[Solutions]

19. Rxd6! cxd6 20.Qd5+ Kh8 21. Bxd6 Rb6 22. Rd1+23


(22) Bogdanovich,G (2343) — Vajda,L (2603)

27...Ne3+! 28.fxe3 [28.Kg1 Qe4!–+]

Basel Open, 02.01.2013

28... Rf6+! 29.Kg2 [29.Kg1 Bxe3+ 30.Kh2 Bg1+!–+]

[Solutions]

29...Qe4+ 30.Kh2 Qxb1–+ (24) Melkumyan,H (2656) — Vajda,L (2603) Basel Open, 04.01.2013 [Solutions]

38... Bxf2+! 39. Rxf2 [39.Kh1 Bd4! 40.Qa8+ (40.Qh3 Qd5+–+) 40...Kh7 41. Rxf7+ Bg7–+] 39...Qa1+! 40.Qf1 Rb1!–+ (23) Gavrilov,A (2501) — Istratescu,A (2654)

25...Nxd5! 26.Qxe7 Nxe7

Basel Open, 03.01.2013 [Solutions]

24


(25) Das,S (2312) — Deviatkin,A (2569)

(27) Das,A (2466) — Nikolov,M (2545)

Delhi Open, 05.01.2013

Roquetas Open, 05.01.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27...Qg4+! 28.Kh1 Qh3! 0–1 (26) Aleksandrov,A (2607) — Panchanathan,M (2580)

21. Bxh7+!! Kxh7 22.Qh5+ Kg8 23. Bxg7!! Kxg7 24.Qg4+! Kh8 25. Re3! Nf6 26. Rh3+ Nh7 27. Rxh7+!! Kxh7 28. Rf3! Qd8! 29. Rh3+ Bh4 30. Rxh4+ Qxh4 31.Qxh4++-

Delhi Open, 07.01.2013 [Solutions]

30...Ng4+! 31.Kg3 [31.fxg4 Nxe4+–+] 31...Qxd6+ 32. Rxd6 Nxe3–+ 25


(28) Burmakin,V (2565) — Manakov,I (2345)

(29) Fernandez,J

Staufer Open, 05.01.2013

1885

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

16. Rxb6!! 1–0[16. Rxb6 axb6 17. Bd5+ Kh8 18.Nxg6+! hxg6 19.Qh3++-]

1.e5! Kb7 2.e6! Kc6 3.e7! Kd7 4.e8Q+! Kxe8 5.Kh2! a4 6.Kg3! a3 7.Kh4! a2 8.g3! a1Q 1/2

26

Weekly Newsletter




I guess we are enjoying one of the most exciting chess months, with Wijk aan Zee and Gibraltar on the way.


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»» Solutions

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Let’s begin with Wijk aan Zee: In the A group, it’s a “one man show”, and the name of the man is Magnus Carlsen. It seems like nobody can stop the young chess genius, and that he’s climbing to reach the 2900 rating after this tournament. He started with 8/10 and a performance of over 3000 ELO. We are very curious about what he will do in the last 3 rounds. Vishy Anand is finally having a good tournament, playing solid chess and being quite “lucky” in his openings. He crushed, for example, Aronian with the Black pieces, in a fantastic game that we commented for You in the last CEWN Nr 47. Hou Yifan is also doing “surprisingly“ well, winning her second game in the tournament against Harikrishna. In the B group, the fight is quite exciting with many people close to the top, so the last 3 rounds will decide the winner. Gibraltar: One of the biggest opens of the World has begun with a lot of 2700+ Elo players participating. Already in the first round, there were a lot of surprises: the two first seeds made draws against players with an Elo rating 500 points lower! In chess, everything is possible! In the current issue, we comment the best highlights from Wijk ann Zee for You. Enjoy! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2



8.0–0 Qc7 9.f4 Nc6 A normal looking move that immediately leads to a very forced series of moves. [9...0–0 would have been a more solid setup for Black.]

(1) Naiditsch,Arkadij (2708) — Grandelius,Nils (2572) [B91] 75th Tata Steel GpB Wijk aan Zee NED (6.4), 18.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] I managed to win a nice and short game over the young Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius. After the game, Nils told me that he used his preparation until the 17th move. I was a bit surprised because I evaluated my position as being better. I think that we shouldn’t always trust the evaluation of a computer engine, especially in structural positions. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 The Najdorf with 6.g3 is not just a sideline anymore. Lately, it has gotten more and more attention even on the highest level. The idea of the move is simple, to put the bishop on g2 and play f4. 6...e6 [6...e5 is probably the main reply here. It’s hard to say if White got an advantage here, but many of the positions haven’t been well analyzed yet, which makes the play less dependent on preparation.] 7. Bg2 Be7 We are gettin g into a position that we can very often see in the classical Sheveningen, where White usually plays f4, Bf3, g4, Bg2. In comparison to that variation, White is obviously saving a full tempo by playing g3-Bg2. [7... Bd7 followed by Nc6 deserves attention, in my opinion.]

10.Nxc6! I thought for a while before taking on c6 — a big decision to make. Things get very forced afterwards and the simple 10. Be3 could be a normal way to continue the game. 10...bxc6 11.e5 Of course. Only this move can be the idea after taking with 10.Nxc6. If I don’t play e5, Black’s pawn structure is very good. For example, in case of 11. Be3 d5!, Black is completely fine. 11...dxe5 [11...Nd5?! simply leads to a clearly worse position for Black. 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Ne4 followed by c4 and White is very good.] 12.fxe5 Nd7 Black’s pa wn structure looks horrible, but White’s e5 pawn is going to fall. This makes the position pretty forced. 13. Bf4 To develop the bishop and, at the same time, to protect the e5 pawn can’t be a bad idea. 13...0–0 Now Black wants to take on e5. He also has another idea to win this pawn connected with the g5 move. 3


14.Ne4 When I played this move, I was a bit afraid of blundering something. Until here, my opponent played all his moves instantly, but it seemed to me that White should be better. I didn’t see any move other than taking on e5 for Black. My next move could be Qh5.

computer still gives a 0.00 evaluation here. I guess that’s why my opponent chose to enter into this position.

14...Nxe5 My opponent kept playing very fast, which was slightly irritating for me. Is this a good position for Black?! 15.Qd4 Forcing Black into a horrible pawn structure. 15...f6 There’s no other normal way to defend the knight on e5. 16. Bxe5 The first critical moment of the game. What piece should take on e5? 16...fxe5 This was the first time that my opponent spent some of his time. [In case of 16...Qxe5 17.Qxe5 fxe5 18. Rad1 I think White should have a better endgame. White’s plan is simple: to play b3 and c4, and then to bring the king to e3. The bishop on c8 is really a horrible piece, and it doesn’t seems like the bishop will be able to escape. Even if Black manages to exchange both pairs of rooks — which is not easy — I think White would still keep some winning chances in the endgame.] 17. Rxf8+ Bxf8 18.Qc4! A nice but not very difficult move to make. Mainly, I thought about playing 18.Qd3 or 18.Qc4, and both of these moves seemed to be promising. If we look at the position, White is a pawn down, but has a very strong knight on e4 and is better developed — this always gives hopes for an attack. Black’s pawn structure is really bad and the bishop on c8 is a „dead” piece. All of this should give White a clear plus, but the

18...Qb6+ Nils is playing „all or nothing” and I think this is the right choice for Black here, even though it probably leads to a lost position. He’s going to win a second pawn, to make „sure” that, at least, he is suffering with two extra pawns. 19.Kh1 Qxb2 20. Rf1 Things are getting darker around the Black king... 20...Qb4 [During the game, I was more concerned about other Black’s continuations: 20...Qb5 21.Qc3 White is transferring the queen closer to Black’s king. 21... Ra7! A typical and strong defensive idea. Black’s rook is back into the game. 22.Qf3 Qb4 Here I wasn’t sure about how to go on, to play Qh5 or 23.c4 I was happy when I saw this move. Black can’t stop White from playing c5 next. 23...Qe7 24.c5 White’s position looks really nice! I was sure that I had „at least enough” compensation for two pawns.] 21.Qd3! Not getting tempted by capturing a third pawn... [21.Qxc6 Bb7 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.Qxe5 would have been another way, but I think Black had pretty good 4


chances to make a draw. I can’t stop Black from playing Bxe4 and the opposite colored bishop position is always likely to end in a draw.] 21...Qe7 White wanted to play Ng5 next... 22.h4 Simple and good. I want to continue with Ng5, creating at the same time a better place for the White king on h2. Also, the idea of playing Bh3 is getting stronger. 22...h6 When I saw Nils playing this, I thought „ Yes” :). Now the game will have a a pretty finish. [More fighting, and harder to find, was 22... Ra7! 23.Ng5 g6 24. Rf7 and it seems like White is winning, but 24... Rd7! keeps Black in the game 25. Rxe7 Rxd3 26. Rc7 and White has a big advantage in this endgame because of the horrible bishop on c8.]

(2) Leko,Peter (2735) — Caruana,Fabiano (2781) [C84] 75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (5.1), 17.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] We are facing a nice strategical victory by Leko. He had a positional idea in mind, which he succeeded to bring through in the game. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 Another game in the Ruy Lopez with 6.d3. The huge main line, 6. Re1, is almost forgotten. 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.c3 0–0 10. Bc2 Theory is just about to develop here, Black has many different setups. Caruana follows the latest fashion, which was played by Aronian against Karjakin a month ago. [10.Nbd2 is the main, but here Black can fight for the center with 10...Na5 winning a tempo 11. Bc2 and 11...c5!] 10...b4 11. Re1 Re8 12.Nbd2 Na5 [12... Rb8 was played by Aronian in the mentioned game. Probably, Leko prepared thenovelty 13.h3 Bf8 14.d4 and it looks like White has an initiative.]

23.Ng5! What a nice finish! 23...e4 To give up the e-pawn doesn’t change anything. 24.Qxe4 hxg5 25.Qg6 Black can’t stop White from playing Be4. My opponent made it slightly „too” easy for me, but games like this inspire :). I guess this is what I like most about playingchess! 1–0 5


13.d4! Logical reaction, After the Black knight has left control over the central squares, White doesn’t need to worry about motifs like exd4 cxd4 Bg4. Of course, by playing 6.d3, White doesn’t forget about playing d4, he just wants to do it in a better version after developing the pieces. [13.cxb4 is a mistake, because of 13...Nc6 Black wins back the pawn and White loses control over the center.] 13... Bf8 14.h3 Both h3 and h6 are very useful in general in this kind of positions. On the other hand, it was not necessary. White could have played Bd3 immediately. 14...h6 15. Bd3! By pushing b4, Black weakened his a6 pawn and the c4 square. Bd3 tries to make use of this. 15...bxc3 [15...c5 immediately would have been an inaccuracy. White plays 16.cxb4! and Black has to take away from the center. 16...cxb4 White can look for an advantage in two different ways: 17.d5 A closed game with a space advantage.(Or 17.b3 Bb2 next is also good.) ] 16.bxc3 c5

Black’s mobility problems. The next task for White is to create an outpost on c4 for the knight. To do this, he needs to trade it once and transfer the other one from f3. 17...Qc7 18.Nc4! Nxc4 19. Bxc4 Reb8 20.Nd2! Everything goes according to the strategy. 20... Be8 Black tries to bring his knight to b6, in order to kick out its colleague from c4. 21. Bd3 Nd7 [21...a5 to prevent the next move is a mistake. White gets the b5 square. 22.Qe2!  and Bb5 next.] 22.a5! White needs to keep his knight, so it can go to c4. However, this is an achievement for Black as well: he got the b5 square for the bishop. Lacking space, Black has to move his pieces weirdly, so that they can get to their ideal places. 22...Nf6 23.Nc4 Bb5 24.Nb6! It’s still important to keep the knight on the board. 24... Ra7 25.Qe2 [25. Bc2!? was also very interesting, following the principle that you shouldn’t exchange pieces with a space advantage. 25... Be8 (Black can’t play 25...Nd7 as it drops a piece after 26.c4! N xb6 27.axb6!) 26. Re3! transferring the rook to g3. 26...Nd7 27.Nc4! and of course, White keeps his knight once again. Black has to waste a move again, in order to play Bb5, while White can always improve his position.] 25... Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Nd7 27.Nc4! Finally White has reached his goal. Black can’t touch the c4 knight, which is very annoying for him.

17.d5! A strong move! White has the space advantage now. The game demonstrates well the difficulties of

27... Rab7 28. Bd2 Rb5 This shows very nicely that the only open file is occupied by the Black rooks, but he can’t do anything with it. The c4 knight neutralizes all the ide6


as. The next step for White is to open a new front for the battle.

36. Rg2! The idea will become clear soon. 29. Rf1! The plan is f4! 29... Be7 30.f4! Bf6 Black must try to hold the e5 square. [30...exf4? is not an option, as the d6 pawn becomes too weak. 31. Bxf4 Qg3 is a threat.] 31.g3 White prepares to improve his position. Black doesn’t have a useful plan anyway. 31... R8b7 32.Kg2 Nf8 33. Rf2! Doubling the rooks. 33...Ng6 34. Raf1 White holds the tension! [34.f5 would be premature 34...Nf8 and Black builds up a kind of fortress.]

36...Qc7 37. Rfg1! Rb3 38.f5! With his previous rook moves, White has prepared to close the position, followed by an attack with g4-g5. 38...Nf8 39.h4! This is the right move order of the attack. [On 39.g4 Black wanted to react with 39... Bg5 locking the position.] 39...Qd7? [39...Nh7 was necessary, although White is better here as well, after 40.Nb6! Suddenly the Black pieces are focused on the kingside, and White might think about plans on the queenside. a6 is weak and the b3 rook could be trapped.]

34...Qe7 [34...exf4 is still a mistake 35. Bxf4! Nxf4+ 36.gxf4  and White is going to break through with e5!] 35.Kh2 Rb8 It’s time to make a new plan for White. How to improve his position?! It must be definitely connected with a kingside attack. [35...exf4 is met this time with 36.gxf4! The previous Kh2 move was prophylactic for this position. White left from different kind of threats, like the moves Nh4 and Bh4.(36.B xf4 is a mistake, because Black can consolidate the e5 square. 36...Be5) ] 7


40.g4!! After this nice pawn sacrifice, the game is over. Black can’t stop the attack.

(3) Grandelius,Nils (2572) — Ipatov,Alexander (2587) [B60]

40...g5 [40... Bxh4 is refuted by 41.g5! hxg5 42. Bxg5 Bxg5 43. Rxg5 f6 (43...g6 loses to 44.Qh3! +- and Rh5 next!) 44. Rh5 Black gets mated after Qh3.]

75th Tata Steel GpB Wijk aan Zee NED (5.3), 17.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh]

41.fxg6 fxg6 [41...Nxg6 also leads to a hopeless position: 42.g5! hxg5 43. Bxg5 Bxg5 44. Rxg5 Kf8 45.h5 Nf4 46.Qg3 Ke7

An extraordinary game with many nice tactical ideas.

The most precise and elegant way to conclude the game is 47. Rxe5+! dxe5 48.Qg5+ f6 (48...Ke8 49.Qxe5+ Kf8 50.Qxf4 +- is over. The knight on c4 dominates both of the rooks still.) 49.d6+ Kd8 50.Qxf6+ Kc8 51. Rg8+ Kb7 52. Rg7 +-]

6...g6 A very interesting surprise weapon. If White is not well prepared, the initiative might quickly pass to Black.

42.g5 The g-file is opening on the king. 42...hxg5 43. Bxg5 Bg7 [43... Bxg5 44. Rxg5 +- followed by h5 is also lost for Black.] 44.h5 R8b4 45.hxg6 Black resigned. A really high level performance by Leko. 1–0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6. Bg5

7. Bxf6 exf6 Black’s healthy pawn structure got destroyed, but he got the bishop pair as compensation. Black’s idea is to play Bg7, 0–0 and f5, getting rid of the doubled pawns and opening the diagonal for the g7 bishop. 8. Bc4 [8. Bb5 Bd7 9.Qd2 Bg7 10.0–0–0 is another critical line from the opening’s point of view.] 8... Bg7 9.Ndb5 White chooses the most direct way to punish Black for his opening choice. Black has no choice, he must sacrifice the d6 pawn and try to look for counterplay. 8


9...0–0 10.Qxd6

Qxc7 (14...R xd8 15.Qxf7+ Kh8 16.Qf6#) 15. Rxf8+ Kxf8 16.Nxc7 Ra7 17. Bd3  Carlsen-Gurevich, blitz 2006.] 12.f4 fxe4 13.Nd5 [13.Nxe4 Bf5 would yield more than enough compensation for Black.] 13...Qa5 14.Nf6+ Kh8 15.Nc7 Only this move is a novelty, but probably it still existed in Black’s preparation, as this is the computer’s recommendation.

10...f5! This is the right move, Black must activate the bishop pair. We are still at the beginning of theory. 11.0–0–0 Qb6! Black tries to win a tempo in order to develop the initiative by attacking the f2 pawn. [Mainly 11... Qa5 was played before, but the text move seems to be stronger. The young Carlsen showed in a blitz game how to get an advantage for White. 12.Qc7! Bxc3 13.bxc3 a6 Black seems to be all right, but a brilliant move causes real problems.

15... Be6!! Excellent decision. The game becomes incredibly sharp and entertaining. [15... Rb8 allows 16.Nce8!! An unusual idea, after which White takes the strong bishop and the king becomes vulnerable. A threat could be Nxg7 Kxg7 Rd5, and on Qb6, Nh5 gxh5 Rg5 Kh8 Qf6 mate.] 16. Bxe6 fxe6 [16... Rad8! would have been even stronger. 17. Bd7 White preserves his extra piece, but the attack seems to be more than dangerous. 17...Qxa2 e3 threatens with Qa1 mate. 18.Ncd5 Qa1+ 19.Kd2 Qxb2 White could hardly hold the pressure in a practical game.]

14. Rd8!! Of all the hanging pieces, Black can only take the queen, but it also leads to a worse endgame. 14...

17.Nxa8 Qxa2! [17... Rxa8? is too slow. 18.Qxe6 White protects his a2 pawn and enjoys being an exchange up.]

9


18.Nc7 Grandelius takes the challenge and keeps all his pieces on the board. [Probably, most of the players would have preferred 18.Qa3 when Black is forced to trade queens. 18...Qxa3 19.bxa3 Bxf6 20.Nc7 White’s prospects are slightly better.]

go to d7. Now Black doesn’t have more than a perpetual check. 25...Qxg2+ 26.Qf3 Qc2+ 27.Qd3 Qg2+ =]

18...Qa1+! 19.Kd2 Qxb2 Black is a rook down at the moment, but there are many threats in the air, like Rd8 or simply Rxf6, when, even materially, Black is fine.

21... Rc8? Black is lost after this move, but of course, in a practical game things are not clear at all. [21...Qxc2+ 22.Ke3 +- is not enough. Here is an example of the usefulness of the g7 knight, Nf5 is not mate.; 21...Kxg7 was the best. White can only get a slightly better endgame after all. 22.Qc7+ Kxf6 23. Rb1 Probably Ipatov stopped calculating here, because if the queen moves, Qe5 and Rb7 finishes the game. However, he has 23...Nb3+! 24.Ke2 Nd4+ 25.Kf2 Qxc2+ 26.Qxc2 Nxc2 27. Rhc1 with a small edge.; 21... Rxf6 Now, the strongest is the cold-blooded 22. Rhe1! Kxg7 23.Qc7+ Rf7 24.Qc3 ±]

20.Nce8! [20.Nxe6 Rxf6 The knight protects both queen checks on the back-rank.]

20...Nd4!? The most ambitious move. [Objectively, Black should have forced a draw by playing 20... Rxe8! although the point of the sacrifice is only clear for computers. 21.Nxe8 Bc3+ 22.Ke3 Bb4!! This is extremely strong. It frees the c3 square for the queen, with tempo. Now it’s White the one who needs to find only move. 23.Qd7! (23.Qxe6 leads to a forced mate. 23... Bc5+ 24.Kxe4 (24. Kd2 Qd4+! 25.Ke1 (25.Kc1 Ba3+ 26.Kb1 Qb2#) 25... Qf2#) 24...Qxc2+ 25.Kf3 Qf2+ 26.Ke4 Black has several ways to win, but the most precise is 26...Qxg2+ 27.Kd3 Nb4+ 28.Kc4 Qc2+ 29.Kb5 a6+ 30.Ka5 b6+ 31.Qxb6 Qa2# This is the end of the journey.) 23... Bc5+ 24.Kxe4 Qxc2+ 25.Qd3! This is the reason why the queen had to

21.Nxg7 The g7 knight becomes the key piece in White’s defense. It controls the f5 square against the knight checks...

22.Ke3!? This is the human move! [The machine suggests 22.Nxe4!! Rxc2+ 23.Ke1! It looks really suspicious, but Black has no real threats. 23... Re2+ 24.Kf1 The check are over, Black has to sacrifice. 24... Rf2+ 25.Nxf2 Qb5+ (25...Qe2+ 26.Kg1 +- The rook is protected.) 26.Nd3! and game over.(However, not 26.Kg1?? because of 26...Ne2+! 27.Kf1 Ng3+ 28.Kg1 Qf1+! 29.R xf1 Ne2#

10


with an amazing final position. Black is basically a full chess set down, but he gives mate with a single knight!) ] 22...Qc3+ [22...Nxc2+ 23.Kxe4 Rc4+ 24.Kf3 +- wins for White.]

27... Rc4+ 28.Ke5 Rc5+ [28...Qb5+ is refuted by 29.Kxe6 Rc6+ 30.Kf7! +- and White is ready to cover the checks from e7 and e6.] 29.Kd6! There is no way back!

23. Rd3 This is the human decision, once again. [However, the computer is not afraid again, and plays 23.Kf2! e3+ 24.Kg3! (24.Kg1?? would change the final outcome 24...Qxc2 and White gets mated, for instance, after 25.h3 Qf2+ 26.Kh2 Nf3#) 24...e2+ 25. Rd3 e1Q+ 26. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 27.Kh3 +- White is out of the danger zone.]

29...Qb6+ 30.Ke7 Rc7+ 31.Nd7! And the king has found its shelter. The game is over.

23...exd3 24.Qxd4 White is two knights up and Black can only get one back if he trades queens, but it would lead to a lost endgame. So, he must try a desperate attack.

33...Qc4 34.Qe5+ Kg8 35.Kf6! Re8 is the threat.

24...Qxc2 [24...Qxd4+ 25.Kxd4 Kxg7 26.Ne4 dxc2 27. Rc1 +- White has a technical win.]

31...Kxg7 32. Rxe6 Qc5+ 33.Qd6! Quite a picturesque position! Black should exchange the queens, but that would also be a kind of resignation. Other moves lead to mate, and the Black king gets it. 35... Rc6 36.Qb8+ Rc8 37. Re8+ What an amazing game! 1–0

25. Re1! Preventing Qe2 and activating the rook. 25...d2 26.Qxd2 Qb3+ [26... Rc3+ 27.Ke2 +- White is safe.]

27.Ke4!! White is not afraid. Excellent calculation! 11


(4) Sokolov,Ivan (2663) — Leko,P (2735) [E53] 75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (10), 23.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Peter Leko doesn’t win too many games in general, and especially not with Black, but this time Ivan Sokolov pushed Peter practically into doing so! We’ll now see a nice tactical win by the Hungarian who, not so long ago, was the number 2 in the world and played a WCC match against Kramnik. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Lately, many players have started to play the Nimzo against Peter Leko. Maybe nobody can find a way to hit him anywhere else... 4...0–0 5. Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 We are in the very main line of the Nimzowitsch variation. 6...d5 7.0–0 cxd4 One of the most popular lines nowadays. 8.exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Now the structur e is fixed. White has an isolated pawn on d4 and Black will try to make sure that White’s move d4-d5 won’t be possible. In such positions, Black’s major idea is to exchange as many pieces as possible; White’s idea is to play for an attack trying to keep the pieces on the board, of course. 9...b6 Obviously, the best place for the Black bishop is on b7. 10. Bg5 Bb7

11. Rc1 A quite important move. Now White is prepared to take with the rook on c3 if Black tries to exchange a piece. The rook on c3 could quickly be transferred to g3 in order to help in the attack. 11...h6 This is still a theoretical position. Leko didn’t play h6 against me here, and started immediately with Nc6. We’ll see if h6 is a good or bad improvement later. 12. Bh4 Of course Wh ite doesn’t exchange on f6 because this would lead to a good position for Black. 12...Nc6 As we can see, Nc6 is a better option this time, followed by Nbd7, which could be other logical move. Why?! Because White doesn’t have the option of playing Ne5 in the future. 13. Bd3 Another logical move for White, with the idea of playing Bb1 and Qd3 next... 13... Be7 14. Bb1 Rc8 We are in the first critical position. White needs to start playing dynamically, there’s no time to lose! Black is ready to play Nh5-Nd5, or Nb4 followed by Nbd5. 15. Re1 Ivan is actually following my game — which I didn’t remember, but looked up :). 12

Issue 48 19...g5! Only move. It seems like White doesn’t even have enough initiative for being an exchange down.


20.Ne5 [Against the tempting 20.Nxg5 Black also has a strong response: 20...Neg6! attacking the h4 bishop. And White is not on time again.] 20...Neg6 A Neg6 is very strong! Once again...

15...Nh5! A strong novelty by Leko! [In my game against Eljanov, this was the continuation: 15... Re8 16.a3 Nh5 17.Qd3 Now we can see the idea behind Bb1–Qd3. 17... Bxh4 18.Qh7+ Kf8 19.d5 with a very strong attack for White.] 16.Qc2 Ivan is going into complications. [Of course, in case of 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 followed by Nf4, only Black can be better.] 16...g6 17. Rxe6 It seems like White is doing fine! To take on e6 is not possible because of Qxg6, and White threatens to play Rxg6 next.

21.Nxg6 [It would lead to a slightly better fight to play 21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Bg3 but here Black has the easy move „for a computer” 22...Nxg2! Why not to take a pawn when you can... 23.Nxg6 Rf6 Black is clearly much better here. He’s an exchange up and the attack should be enough to win the game.] 21...fxg6 22. Bg3 Nxg2 I guess Leko knew everything until here... The position is winning for Black in an easy looking game, but for a human to see and judge the complications after 15...Ng5! is very-very difficult 23.Qc2 The last attack on g6 is getting stopped by Black as well.

17...Nf4! That’s Black’s key idea! Protecting against Rxg6 and, at the same time, the rook on e6 and the bishop on h4 are hanging. 18. Rxe7 An interesting exchange sacrifice by White. It’s a pity that Ivan didn’t know that Leko was prepared many moves ahead... [It isn’t good to play 18. Bxe7 Nxe7 19. Re3 Nf5 and Black is doing great.] 18...Nxe7 19.Qd2 For a human, this is a very complex position that looks pretty promising for White, but in fact, Black is doing good here. And he need to find:

23...Qf6! The simple st and safest... Black wants to play Nh4 or Nf4 next, and White has nothing to stop Black from doing it. 13


24. Be5 [It doesn’t help to play 24.Qxg6+ Qxg6 25. Bxg6 Nf4 and Black should win the game quite easily...] 24...Qf7 25.a3 White’s bishop finally got activated on a2, but it’s already too late... 25...Nh4 26. Ba2 Qxa2 A very nice game by Black, and I guess Leko knew everything at least until the move 19... g5!. Once again, a good example which shows that to work on chess definitely makes sense![26...Qxa2 27.Nxa2 Rxc2 28. Rxc2 Nf3+ 29.Kf1 Ba6+ 30.Kg2 Ne1+–+] 0–1

14


Puzzle section

(7) Ernst,S (2556) — Movsesian,S (2688) Wijk aan Zee B, 18.01.2013

(5) Harikrishna,P (2698) — Van Wely,L (2679) Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Movsesian,S (2688) — Van Kampen,R (2581) (6) Rapport,R (2621) — Movsesian,S (2688) Wijk aan Zee B, 15.01.2013

Wijk aan Zee B, 19.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

15


(9) Nikolic,P (2619) — Grandelius,N (2572)

(11) Khismatullin,D (2652) — Predke,A (2503)

Wijk aan Zee B, 20.01.2013

Dvorkovich memorial, 16.01.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Kovchan,A (2579) — Bitensky,I (2400)

(12) Popov,I (2623) — Petrov,A (2411)

Wijk aan Zee C, 15.01.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

16


(13) Papin,V (2568) — Demaniuk,A (2340) Dvorkovich memorial, 18.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Teterev,V (2536) — Tihonov,J (2443) Belarus Championship, 16.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... =

17


Endgame section (15) Caruana,F (2781) — Nakamura,Hi (2769) [A56] 75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (10), 23.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

We got to this position after the time trouble. Thanks to the bishop pair, the weak dark squares and the better structure, Black is much better. Let’s see how Naka converted his advantage.

52.Ne4 Caruana decides to change the way to defend. He found the other setup with a knight on e4. What would happen if he puts the knight on d3? [52.Nd3 Bc5+ (52... Bf4+ 53.Ke2 Rd8 54. Rd1 Bg3 55.c5 (55.Ke3 e5 56. Bd5 (56.Be4 Bf4+ 57.Kf3 Bh5+) 56... Rd6 An important place for the rook, in order to push e4. 57. Rf1 e4 58.Nc1 Bf4+ 59.Kd4 Rf6) 55...e5 56. Bg4 bxc5 57.Nxc5 Rxd1 58.Kxd1 Bf2 and White has problems with the knight.) 53.Nxc5 I suppose Caruana wanted to avoid the positions after the exchanges on c5. (53.Ke2 Bd4 54.Kd2 (54. Rd1 e5 55.Kd2 Kd6 But not 55...e4, because of 56. Bxe4! 56. Re1

40...Kg7 41. Rb2 Bd6 The bishop came here to avoid any pawn exchange. 42. Rb1 Kf6 43. Rf1 Ke7 44. Be4 Rg8 45. Rh1 h4 To makes moves like this, we have to be sure about everything, but Naka probably has already seen many winning ideas. 46. Bf3 Rf8 47. Rd1 Rd8 48. Rf1 Bg6 49. Be4 Bh5 Of course, Black keeps the pair of bishops. 50. Bf3 Rf8 51.Nf2 Bg6 Naka didn’t improve his position so much, but he’s winning time. This is a typical strategy to convert a long-term advantage.

56...g4 A similar idea to the one we’ll see in the game. 57. Be4 (57.hxg4 h3; 57.B xg4 e4) 57...gxh3 58.gxh3 Black 18


should easily win this position. For example, the winning plan can be to grab the weak h3 pawn after Be8-Bd7 or Rg8-Rg3.) 54... Rd8 55.Ke2 Rd6 56. Bb7 Bc3 57. Rd1 e5 58.Nf2 (58.c5 Rf6; 58.Bd5 R xd5 59.cxd5 Bh5+) 58... Bd4 59. Be4 Rf6 60. Bxg6 Rxf2+ 61.Kd3 Rxg2 62. Bf5 Rg3+ 63.Ke4 Rxb3 With two pawns less, the opposite colored bishops won’t help.) 53...bxc5 54. Rf2 Rb8 (54... e5 55.Rd2 Rd5 is coming.; 54...Rd8 55.Be4 B xe4 56.Kxe4 Rd1 57.Re2 Rd4+ 58.Ke3 e5 59.Rf2 Rf4 60.Rd2) 55. Bd1 Rd8 56. Bc2 From a logical point of view, without bishops, White should have more chances. 56... Bxc2 57. Rxc2 Kf6 (57...Rd4 58.Rc1 e5 59.Rf1 Ke6 60.Rf8) 58. Rf2+ Ke5 59. Rf1 Rb8 60. Rb1 Rb7 61. Rb2 Rf7 62. Rd2 Rf1 63. Rd8 Rb1] 52... Bc5+ 53.Kd3 [53.Nxc5 bxc5 This position has to be lost because White is simply „a pawn down”.; 53.Ke2 Rf4 54.Nxg5 (54.N xc5 bxc5 55.Rc1 Rd4 56.Rc3 e5 57.Bg4 Kf6 58.Rf3+ Rf4) 54...e5 Now White can’t move the rook because after Kf6, he’ll lose the knight. (54...Kf6 55.Ne4+ =) 55. Bd5 Bd3+ 56.Kxd3 Rxf1] 53... Rd8+! Black’s idea now is to force White to exchange on c5. Then, it will be easier to improve his position. [53... Rf4 This move should be enough as well. 54. Re1 Bf5 55. Re2 (55.Rh1 Kf7 56.Re1 Kg7 Black doesn’t need to hurry with the final hit on h3. First, he can place his pieces on optimal squares. 57.Rh1 e5 58.Re1 Bd4 59.Rh1 Kh6 60.Re1 B xh3) 55... Bxh3 56.Nxg5 Bf5+ 57. Be4 (57. Ne4 h3; 57.Kd2 Rd4+ 58.Ke1 Bd6 59.Ne4 Bf4) 57...Kf6 58. Bxf5 exf5 59.Ne6 (59.Nf3 h3) 59... Rg4 Xb3]

54...g4!! A fantastic tactical idea overlooked by Caruana in his long calculation! White’s setup iscrushednow! [54... Rd4 55. Re1 Bb4 56. Re2 This position is what Caruana expected. His setup now is very solid and it’s not easy for Black to improve because the knight on e4 won’t allow the Black king to go to b4 or g3. 56...e5 57.Kc1 Ke6 with the idea of taking the king to g3, but now comes 58. Bg4+ Bf5 59. Bf3 =; 54... Bb4 55. Rd1] 55.hxg4 h3 56. Rd1 [56.gxh3 Rf8 57.Kd3 Rf4 and White is losing material.] 56... Rf8 57.Kd3 h2 58. Rh1 Bg1 Without the rook, White can’t fight anymore. 59.Ke2 Bxe4 60. Bxe4 Kf6 61. Bf3 Rd8 0–1

54.Kc2? Caruana could still fight after: [54.Ke2 Rd4 55.Nxc5 bxc5 But as we said before, this position is just lost.] 19


(16) Ribli,Z (2554) — Sebenik,M (2543) Austrian league, 18.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

90. Rd7+! After this eck, the Black king can’t go back to e5, because the f6 pawn would fall. 90...Ke5 (90...Kc5 91.Rf7+-) 91. Rd5#] The position is a very easy theoretical draw, but the Hungarian legend, Zoltan Ribli, sets a very deep trap to his opponent. 86. Ra7+! Kd6? Very interesting, but after this obvious move, Black’s position seems to be lost. [Black should have defended passively, 86...Ke8 After this, Black basically only needs to keep the e4 pawn under attack; if the White king wants to get access to the f6 pawn, the rook should cut it along the file... 87.Kf3 Rf1+ 88.Kg4 Rg1+ 89.Kh5 Kf8= followed by passing on the g-file. White can’t make progress.]

88.Kg4 Rg1+ [88...Ke5 is met with 89. Re7+ Kd4 90.Kh5 Rg1 is a must against Kg6, but the same plan that was seen in the game wins for White as well. 91.Kh6! Rg2 92. Rg7! will transpose to the game...] 89.Kh5 Ke5 90. Re7+ Kf4 Black seems to be all right, as he cut the king and is ready to trade the e4 pawn for the f6 one, but...

87.Kf3! The king is heading to g6. 87... Rf1+ [Preventing Kg4 with 87... Rg1 is refuted by 88. Rf7! Ke5 89. Re7+ Kd4 91.Kh6!! Black can’t prevent Rg7, followed by Kg6. The position is lost. 20


91... Rg2 92. Rg7! Ra2 93.Kg6 Kxe4 [93... Ra6 loses to 94. Re7 +- and Re6 next.] 94. Re7+ Kf4

95. Re6! An important preparation before collecting the pawn. [95.Kxf6? Ra5 =] 95... Rg2+ [If Black waits with 95... Ra1 96. Rb6! +- is relevant. White already wants to take with Kxf6, as on Ra5, he has Rb4 check.; 95... Ra5 96. Rxf6 Re5 (96...Kg4 97.Rf8+-) 97. Rb6 +- The f-pawn promotes automatically.] 96.Kxf6 Rg8 97. Ra6 Rf8+ 98.Kg6 The pawn can’t be taken, which means the end of the game. 98... Rg8+ 99.Kf7 Rb8 100.f6 An instructive rook endgame! 1–0

21


Clash of the Titans

6...Nc6 7.Qd2 [7. Be2 and 0–0 was more solid, with an even position.]

(17) Yates,Frederick — Capablanca,Jose Raul [B29]

7... Bg4! Logical move. Black has to play e6 to stabilize the d5 pawn and finish the development, but he didn’t want to lock his light squared bishop.

Moscow Moscow, 1925 [Csaba Balogh] Capablanca quickly outplayed positionally his opponent, who was also one of the best chess players at that time. 1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine defense. 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 Black immediately equalizes after this move. [White has to play 3.d4 to fight for the advantage, but of course, this is just the beginning of the theory.] 3...Nxc3 4.dxc3

8.0–0–0?! The drawback of this move becomes clear soon. [White should have opted for castling kingside with 8. Be2 e6 9.0–0 although Black has a comfortable position here as well. 9...Qc7 10. Rfe1 Be7 11.h3 Bh5 Black has the initiative, but a long fight is ahead.] 8...e6 9.h3? [9.c4 would have been the only move to keep the pieces active. Black has to keep the position closed with 9...d4 but, at least, White gets the e4 square for his bishop. 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Be4 Qc7 Black should be better here as well. Bh5-g6 appears to be a strong plan, exchanging the powerful bishop on e4, followed by an attack with a6-b5.; 9. Be2 is met, similarly to the game, with 9... Bxf3! 10. Bxf3 c4! and the f3 wn is dead. White has no chance to open the position, while Black is ready for a dangerous attack with b5-b4!] 9... Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qc7?! The only one inaccuracy in the game by Capablanca, which could have allowed some counterplay to his opponent. [10...c4! was the right move immediately.]

4...d5! Black is playing for a healthy development with c5 and Nc6. He already has the better pawn structure.

11. Bg3? [11.c4 was necessary again. 11...d4 and g6 Bg7 next. Black is better.]

5.Nf3 c5 6. Bf4 White decides to play a sharp game with Qd2 and 0–0–0, however, it turns out to be a bad decision.

22


20. Rhg1 Nf5 21.Qf2 Rfe8 There was no need for this move. Black could have started his attack with b5 immediately. 22. Rge1 b5 23. Bf1 a5 24. Re5 b4 The end is near! 25.Qe1 Reb8 26.Ka1 Rb6 Black can do whatever he wants. He doubles his rooks on the b-file. 27.Qd2 Rab8 28. Rb1 White tries to defend, but Capablanca brings another piece to the attack. 11...c4!! A great move, which basically kills the f1 bishop. It has no chance to enter the game. His colleague on g3 is not better either. On the other side, Black has a clear plan to push b5-b4, launching a strong attack. 12.f4 g6! Necessary prophylaxis against the threatened f5. 13.Kb1 h5 14. Bh4 [14.h4 would be a complete disaster for the bishop pair!] 14... Be7 Capablanca ‚t want to give any chance. He’s trading the bishops and wants to play against the poor piece on f1.

28...Nd6! 29. Bg2 Nb5 The winning threat is bxc3 and Na3.

15. Bg5?! Yates decided to give a pawn, at least to open the position a bit, but he gets no compensation at all for it. Black’s still dominating. [15. Bxe7 Qxe7 and b5-a5-b4 next. White can only see what Black is doing with him.]

31.bxc3 Nxc3 32. Rb3 axb4 33.a3 Ra6 34. Re3 Rba8 35. Rexc3 Instead of resignation.

15... Bxg5 16.fxg5 Nxe5 [16...b5 17.f4 a5 was also possible, but why not to accept the pawn?!] 17.Qe3 0–0! The king is safe on g8. 18. Be2 Nc6 19.f4 Ne7! This even prevents the f5 sacrifice. White has no chance to create counterplay.

30.cxb4 c3 The final breakthrough. Black succeeds to open the lines in front of the White king.

35...bxc3 36.Qc1 Qc5 37.Ka2 Qc4 38.Ka1 Qxb3 A pretty finish. The key move was 11...c4, and the play against the light squared bishop was really instructive. 0–1

23


Surprise section / study (18) Kok,T 1936 [CEWN] 1. =

24


Solutions

(21) Burg,T (2492) — Gretarsson,H (2516) Wijk aan Zee C, 13.01.2013

(19) Aronian,L (2802) — Carlsen,M (2861)

[Solutions]

Wijk aan Zee, 13.01.2013 [Solutions]

46... Re3+!! 1/2:1/2 [46... Re3+ 47.Kxe3 Nxd5+ 48.Kd4 Nxf6 49.gxf6 Kg6=]

33...c4! 34.Nf4 [34.Nxd4 Bxd4 35. Bxd4 Rd8–+; 34. Bxd4 Rd8–+] 34...d3–+

(20) Turov,M (2630) — Naiditsch,A (2708) Wijk aan Zee B, 14.01.2013 [Solutions]

30...Qa1! 31. Rf1 Rxc2 32.Qxc2 Bxf1–+ 25


(22) Peralta,F (2617) — Swinkels,R (2508)

(23) Maiorov,N (2521) — Ehlvest,J (2605)


Keres memorial (rapid), 13.01.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Rh3!! Qg6 [24...gxf2+ 25. Rg3 Qe6 26. Bxg7+-]

21...Nxf2! 22.Kxf2 Qh2+ 23.Kf1 Qxh3+ [23... Ba6+!?; 23...Nxd4!?]

25.f5 Qg4 26.f3! Qg5 27.f4 Bxf4 [27...Qg4 28. Rxg3+-] 28.f6 [28.exf4+-] 28...Qg6 29.fxg7 Be5 [29...Qxd3 30. Rh8#] 30.Qxg6 fxg6 31. Bxe5 Rxe5 32. Rh8+ 1–0

24.Kf2 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 Ba6+ 26.Nce2 [26.Ndb5 d4 27.exd4 Nf4–+; 26. Bd3 Nxd4 27.exd4 (27.B xa6 Qh1+ 28.Kf2 Qf3+ 29.Kg1 Qxg4+ 30.Kf2 Qf3+ 31.Kg1 Re5 32.exd4 Qg3+ 33.Kf1 Rf5+ 34.Ke2 Rf2#) 27... Rxe1+ 28.Kxe1 Re8+ 29.Kf1 Bxd3+ 30. Rxd3 Qh1+–+] 26...Qh1+ 27.Kf2 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Ng5!–+

26


(24) Sertic,R (2374) — Delchev,A (2616)

(26) Stebbings,A (2265) — Stefanova,A (2491)

Bosnjaci Open, 08.01.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36...e3! 0–1 [36...e3 37.fxe3 Rf1+–+] (25) Johannesson,I (2340) — Hebden,M (2540)

49...Nxg3!–+ 50.h4 [50.Qxg3 h5+!–+] 50...gxh4 [50...h5+ 51.Kxg5 Qxf3–+; 50...Ne2–+]


51.d5 [51.Nd5 Qxc2 52.Nf6+ Kh8 53.Nh5+ (53.Nd7+ Bg7–+) 53...Kh7 54.Nf6+ Kg6–+]

[Solutions]

51...h5+ 0–1 [51...h5+ 52.Kg5 Qxf3–+]

33... Bf5! 0–1 [33... Bxh3? 34.Qg6+; 33...Kg7? 34.e6!; 33... Bf5 34. Bd3 Bxh3! 35. Bh7+ Qxh7 36.Qxh7+ Kxh7 37.gxh3 f3–+] 27


(27) De Schampheleire,G (2275) — Michiels,B (2506)

(29) Reichhelm,G

Belgian league, 13.01.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21.Ne6! Qb8 [21...fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23. Rxd7+-]

1904

22. Rxd7+-

1.Ka6!! [1.Kb6? Ka8 2.a6 Kb8 3.Ng4 Ka8 4.Nf6 h2 5.Nd5 h1Q 6.Nc7+ Kb8 7.a7+ Kc8 8.a8Q+ Qxa8=; 1.a6? Ka7 2.Ka5 Ka8! 3.Kb6 Kb8 — 1.Kb6?]

(28) Goganov,A (2545) — Babuijan,L (2497)

1...Ka8 2.Kb6 Kb8 3.a6 Ka8 4.Ng4 Kb8 5.a7+ Ka8 6.Nf6 h2 7.Ne8 h1Q 8.Nc7# 1–0

Margaryan memorial, 08.01.2013 [Solutions]

32. Bc8!! Bxd5 [32...Qxc8 33.Qa1! Qb8 34. Rb1+-] 33.Qa1! Qf6 34.Nxd5+28

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 49 1st of February 2013



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»» Puzzle section

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22

»» Solutions

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Editorial Preface Another amazing week of chess came to an end with the final results of 2 amazing chess events, the Wijk aan Zee Tournament and the Gibraltar Open. Let’s start with Wijk ann Zee: In the A group, already one round before the end, the winner was known, and it was Magnus Carlsen! The last round didn’t bring big changes either, so Magnus the Wijk aan Zee A Group with an amazing 10/13 points, gaining another 10 ELO points. It seems like nobody can even come close to stop the young Chess Super Mind. The second place went to Aronian with 8,5/13. The 3rd and 4th places were taken by Anand and Karjakin, both with 8/13.

Short and Sandipan. So the tie-break began. Short managed to win against Vachier and Vituigov eliminated Sandipan. In the final match between Vituigov and Short, for the 20.000 Pounds, the lucky winner was Vitiugov, who managed to beat Short 1,5/0,5 in the very final stage! As usual, we commented the freshest games from these events for You. We wish You a lot of chess fun with Your weekly issue of CEWN. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

In the B group, it was a dramatic finish. Before the last round, 3 players were in the lead and all of them could have won the tournament. Movsesian made a draw against Ipatov, Rapport won against Nicolic and Your weekly commentator Naiditsch won his game against Sipke Ernst. Thanks to a better tie-break score, Arkadij Naiditsch got his promotion to the next year’s A group with 9/13 points. In the C group, things were extremely exciting as well. Before the last round, both Brunello and Peralta had 10/12. Brunello managed to win his last game and Peralta just made a draw. With this amazing result of 11/13 points, Brunello got his promotion to the Wijk aan Zee B group of 2014. Gibraltar: After a very exciting tournament, 4 players shared the first place with 8/10. They were Vituigov, Vachier La Grave, 3


4 best games of the past week (1) Giri,Anish (2720) — Caruana,Fabiano (2781) [D31] 75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (11.6), 25.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Caruana had a horrible tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He was doing very badly and, typically, he was risking too much in the opening to save some rating points. This led to another disaster from his point of view. On the other hand, Giri played a great attacking game. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 Such kind of lines are generally a good way to fight for the win as Black. He takes a pawn and White must fight for compensation; if he doesn’t succeed, he’ll end up with a material disadvantage. 5.a4 Bb4 Black would like to defend his pawn with b5 after pinning the knight. [5...Nf6 leads to the Slav by transposition.] 6.g3 Giri plays in Catalan style and fianchettoes his bishop. 6...Nf6 7. Bg2 Nbd7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Qc2

9...Qa5 Caruana deviates from the main line, he tries to get his opponent out from his preparation. [9...Qe7 is the main move, with the idea of freeing the position with e5! White should prevent it if he wants to fight for an advantage. 10. Bf4! followed by e4, Rfe1, Rad1 and d5. This is a typical method of finding counterplay in such structures. On 10...Nd5 11. Bg5! White provokes a weakness. 11...f6 12. Bd2 and e4 is coming next with strong compensation.] 10.Na2 Bd6 11.Qxc4 White won back the pawn, but it allowed Black to free his position with e5. 11...Nb6? This is the move that would never happen if Caruana was doing well on the tournament. However, he is now going to grab a poisoned pawn on a4. [11...e5 was necessary, although White got an edge in a game between two Serbian GMs. 12.b3 Nb6 13.Qc2 The difference between 9...Qe7 and this is the queen, which is misplaced on a5. Black has to waste some time to get it out from the danger zone. 13...exd4 14.Nxd4 Qh5 15.e4! White is in time to build a nice center. 15... Bh3 16. Bxh3 Qxh3 17.f3 ! Everythi ng is protected and the pawn structure guarantees an advantage for White. 17... Be5 18. Bb2 Rfd8 19. Rad1  After finishing the development, White had only one thing to do: to improve the a2 knight, but this could be easily achieved by Nc1–e2. Ilincic-Blagojevic game.] 12.Qc2 Qxa4 13.b3 Qa5 White has to play fast to create counterplay. He must make use of the a5 queen, which is almost trapped. It can only run to h5.

4


14.Ne5!? Cutting the queen’s route to h5. [14.e4! was even better. White threatens to play e5, and on 14... Be7 15.Ng5!! is very st rong. The main idea is to push e5, but this time it’s connected with the h7 mate; the second point is the queen on a5, which can’t go to h5 now. 15... h6 The hunt for the queen can start now. 16. Bd2! Qb5 (16...Qa3 17.Nc3 Qb4 transposes to Qb5.) 17.Nc3 Qb4 18.Nf3! +- simply retreating the knight and Black can’t avoid the e5 and Nd5 ideas. He is losing a piece.] 14...Nbd7 Black finally frees his queen, but this allows the capture of the important dark-squared bishop. [14... Bxe5 would have been met with 15. Bd2! Qb5 16.Nc3! Qb4 17.dxe5  and the White knight is ready to occupy the d6 square.] 15.Nc4! Qc7 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17. Rd1 Black is really missing his bishop. White has much more than enough compensation on the dark squares. The main ideas are Nc3, Ba3 and e4. Black has serious problems with the development as well, it’s difficult to imagine a future for the c8 bishop.

17...e5 This is the best practical move, trying to get the c8 bishop into the game, but actually it only helps White to increase his advantage. [Passively waiting with 17... Rd8 and Nf8, Bd7-e8 was objectively better, but it also guarantees a long-time suffering.] 18.Nc3! Creating the threat of Ba3! 18...exd4 19. Ba3 c5 20.e3! This was the point of 18.Nc3. Now all the diagonals and lines are opening on Black. The bishop pair starts to work extremely well. 20...d3 Otherwise, exd4 and dxc5 were also very bad for Black. 21. Rxd3 Qb8 Ugly, but it was hard to find a good square for the queen. Caruana was thinking about an exchange sacrifice with b6 and Bb7, and after Bxa8, he might get some counterplay on the light squares. [21...Qe6 moves into 22.Nb5 when Nc7 and Nd6 are in the air.; 21...Qe7 is met by 22.Na4! and Nxc5.] 22.Nd5! White launches a very strong attack against the king. 22...Nxd5 23. Rxd5 b6

5


24. Bb2! Logical and strong! Black has no pieces to defend the king. Bb7 doesn’t work because of the d7 knight, which has no place to move, while the attack is just rolling automatically.

It’s enough! Nice crush by Giri. Such a final position rarely occurs against a 2780 opponent. 1–0

24...a5 [24... Re8 with the idea of Nf8 is also hopeless. White can win, for instance, with 25. Rad1 Nf8 26. Rd8+winning a lot of material.] 25. Ra4! Nice move, switching this rook to the kingside as well. [The computer win was really beautiful with 25. Rh5 g6 26.Qf5!! Amazing move, with the idea of Rxh7, and on Kxh7, Qh3-Qh8 mates. The queen can’t be taken because of Rg5. 26...Qd6 27. Rxh7! and mate in a few moves.] 25... Re8 26. Rg5 g6 A crucial weakening on the dark squares. [On 26...Ne5 the easiest is 27. Bxe5 Rxe5 28. Rxe5 Qxe5 29. Bxa8 +-] 27. Bd5 White threatens with Qc3 after preventing f6. 27...Kf8 28. Rf4

6


(2) Yu,Yangyi (2688) — Zatonskih,Anna (2491) [C02] 11th Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG (3.7), 24.01.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A spectacular game, which I have mainly chosen because of its final position. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 White decides to use the Advance Variation against the French Defense. 3...c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 This is one from the numerous Black’s setup, with the main idea of exchanging the „bad French bishop” with Bb5. 6. Bd3 cxd4 [On the direct 6... Bb5 White has to play energetically to get an advantage. 7.dxc5! In general, it’s not advisable to take away form the center, but White can create a very nice outpost on d4 for his minor pieces. 7... Bxc5

has developing problems with the g8 knight because of the e5 pawn.] 7.Nxd4! White plays with a similar strategy to the 6... Bb5 line. [7.cxd4 allows 7... Bb5 Black equalizes.] 7...Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 [On 8... Bxc6 9.Qe2 it’s important to avoid Bb5, followed by Nd2-f3 and occupying the d4 square.] 9.0–0 c5 [9...Ne7 10.Nd2 Ng6 11.Nf3 Be7 12. Re1 with a complex fight ahead. Probably White’s chances are slightly preferable. The e5 pawn gives many potential attacking ideas. 12...c5 13. Rb1 Bb5 14. Bc2! It’s important to preserve the bishop for the attack. 14...a5 15.Ng5! followed by Qh5 or Qf3. This happened in an EhlvestIbragimov game.]

10.c4! Logical move. Black is behind in development, so White tries to open the position on the king. 8.b4! This is the point and the bishop can’t take on f2, because it will have no way out. 8... Bxd3 (8...B xf2+? 9.Ke2 and Rf1 traps the bishop.) 9.Qxd3 Be7 10.0–0  followed by occupying the d4 square with Nd2-b3-d4. Black also

10...dxc4 [Keeping the position closed with 10...d4 weakens the e4 square. 11.Nd2 Ne7 12.Ne4 Ng6 13.Qh5! White builds up a dangerous attacking position here as well.]

7


11. Be4!? Nice idea. White would like to take back the c4 pawn with the knight, which arrives there with tempo, attacking the queen. 11... Rd8 12.Nd2 Qa6 Leaving from the tempo and temporarily defending the pawn. [12... Bc6 doesn’t equalize either 13.Qc2 Ne7! (13...B xe4 14.N xe4 Black has difficu lties with the g8 knight, since it never can go to e7 because of Nd6, and on h6, it will always be taken.) 14.Nxc4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Qc6 This is Black’s point. Now the knight’s development problem is solved, because Nd6 loses to Rxd6, but White can get an advantage in a concrete and unusual way. 16.f3! Qxe4 (16...Nd5 17.Bg5! is unpleasant, because Be7 gives up the d6 square...) 17.fxe4 Nc6 18. Be3 Be7 19.Nd6+! This was the whole idea of 16.f3!. 19... Bxd6 20.exd6 Rxd6 21. Bxc5  with a better endgame. The bishop is superior to the knight. The Black king can’t castle and White can create a dangerous passed pawn on thequeenside.] 13.b3 An ambitious try, which perfectly pays out in the game, but objectively I don’t believe in it. [The simple 13.Qc2  gave an edge for White.] 13... Bb5? With the idea of c3, but it exactly moves into White’s trap. [13...c3 14.Nc4 would be fine for White. The c3 pawn falls soon.; 13...cxb3! should have been played. 14.Qxb3 Bb5 15. Re1 Ne7! looks suspicious, but it seems like Black can finish the development and White will be only able to fight for compensation. 16. Rb1 Bc6 17.Nc4 Bxe4 Nd6 can be taken and the b1 rook is hanging. 18. Rxe4 Nf5 Black seems to be all right.] 14.a4! c3 Consequently played, but this is the decisive mistake.

15.axb5! Qxa1 16. Bc6+ The king on e7 has a much higher value than the sacrificed exchange. 16...Ke7 17.Qc2!? [17.Nc4!! would have been more beautiful. 17... Rxd1 18. Rxd1 White only has a bishop for the queen, but Black is lost. 18...Nf6 (18...Qxc1 19.R xc1 f6 20.R xc3 fxe5 21.Rc1 is also hopeless after Ra1, and the b-pawn promotes.; 18...f6 is refuted by 19.Rd7+ Ke8 20.R xa7+ Kd8 21.R xa1 +-) 19.exf6+ Kxf6 20. Bg5+! Kxg5 21. Rxa1 +- with an extra piece for White.] 17...Qa5 The queen must try to rescue. [17...cxd2? 18.Qxc5+ +-] 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Qxc3 Black has the usual problem with the lack of development. On the other hand, he is an exchange up, so White has to play powerfully. 19...f6 Trying to play Kf7, freeing the e7 square for the minor pieces. 20. Bf4 Kf7 [20...f5 loses to 21. Bg5+ +-] 21.g3 Threatening to take on f6 after protecting the bishop and White also opens his back-rank, which is an important factor. As we’ll see, White is going to penetrate with his rook. 8


21...f5 22. Ra1! White wants to play Nd6, followed by Qxc5 and Rxa7, which actually can’t be prevented. 22...Kg6 [22...Nh6 23.Nd6+ Bxd6 (23...Kg8 24.Qxc5+Ra7 next.) 24.exd6 Qb6 25. Ra6 Qb8 26.Qxc5 +- and again, Ra7 decides in the next move.] 23.Nd6 Rxd6 Allows a nice finish, but the game was over anyway. [23...Ne7 24.Qxc5 +- with the threats of Rxa7 and Be8, winning the queen.] 24. Be8+! Not an ordinary mate with the bishops. 1–0

(3) Dzagnidze,N (2555) — Georgiev,Ki (2643) [E32] 11th Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG (9), 30.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A nice win in the 9th round (from 10) went to Kiril Georgiev. Many have forgotten already, but Kiril was one of the World Top players 10 some years ago, and still, from time to time, he shows his very high class. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 The Nimzo with 4.Qc2 is a very safe opening for White, but of course, it’s very hard to get any advantage here... 4...0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d6 Kiril chooses a sideline with more „fight” in it. [6...d5; 6...b6 are the usual main moves here.] 7. Bg5 Before playing e3, White develops his bishop to g5. 7...Nbd7 8.e3 b6 9.Ne2 A slightly unusual move by White. It would have been simpler to play: [9. Bd3 Bb7 10.f3 A typical move against the b7 bishop.(10.Ne2!? is also typical. It’s usually very dangerous for Black to take the pawn on g2.) ] 9...c5 Black is starting to play against the White center. Of course, 9... Bb7 wouldn’t have been a mistake either. 10. Rd1?! A logical move, but an inaccuracy anyway.

9


16...Nf6! Another very good move by Black. [The logical 16...g6 leads to an unclear position for Black after 17. Bd3 Nf6 18.e4! and it’s hard to say who is doing better here.] 17.Nxf5 White needs to accept the challenge. [In case of 17. Bd3 e4! seems to be very strong. 18.fxe4 Ng4 and Black’s activity is very dangerous.]

10...Qc7! Quite a tricky play by Kiril, who keeps the option of playing Ba6 followed by Rac8, getting quick pressure on the c-file and, at the same time, pretending to play Ne4 next. 11. Bf4 It’s already hard to play with White and the move in the game looks pretty logical. 11...e5! Black starts playing dynamically, which is exactly the right reaction! White’s pieces are still quite undeveloped and Black shouldn’t miss his chance to take advantage of it.

17...e4! Kiril continues playing in a very dynamic way — that’s the way to go. Now the White king is getting „open” and Black is getting a very dangerous initiative for the pawn down.

12.dxe5 dxe5 13. Bg3 Ne4 Black has no time to lose. If White is on time with Qc2- Nc3, or even to play f3, Black’s position could become quite unpleasant very quickly. We shouldn’t forget that White has the bishop pair, which could be a long-term advantage.

18.Nd6 [Of course not 18.fxe4? Ng4 and Black is crushing.]

14.Qc2 f5 Black is pushing! 15.f3 Nxg3 16.Nxg3 What to do now? White is close to finish his development and the f5 pawn in hanging. To play f4?! doesn’t look too good because it gives away the e4 square.

18...exf3 19.gxf3 Qe7 White is a pawn up, but Black’s threats are coming from all sides... Suddenly, White’s position, which was so solid, is on the limit of being very dangerous. 20.Qc3 Nh5 Black’s kn ight now has the option to go to f4, and Qh4 is a dangerous threat as well. 21. Be2! A good defense by White. Now against 21... Qh4, 22.Kd2 followed by Kc1 is good for White, and at the same time, to castle short is a „half threat”. 10


21... Bh3 No more short castle for White and Black wants to play Rad8 next. As we can see, the game is very unclear!

27... Rxf3+ 28. Bxf3 Rf8 A very interesting game on the Nimzo with 4.Qc2. Black tried an active plan by sacrificing a pawn and was eventually rewarded for that.

22. Rd5! Another good move by White! Attacking the knight on h5 and threatening to escape with the king from e1 to c1.

0–1

22...Nf6 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24. Rxf5 Rae8 It’s very hard to say who is doing better here. White is a pawn up, but Black has dangerous play for it. The position remains very exciting!

25.Kf2?? What a blunder... [White should have continued with 25.e4 because this secures having an extra pawn, but the dark squares are weak and the Black knight could end up on d4. 25...g6 26. Rg1 Nd7 The Black knight is going over e5-c6 to d4, to take the position of a „master”. On the other hand, a pawn is a pawn. I think the position should be objectively balanced.] 25...Ne4+!! A very beautiful tactical blow. The game is over. 26.fxe4 Qxe4 27. Rf3 [It doesn’t help to play 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8+ 28.Kg1 Qg6+] 11


(4) Adams,Mi (2725) — Ehlvest,J (2605) [C62] 11th Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG (9), 30.01.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Sometimes it’s hard to say what Michael does exactly to win his games. All the moves look so logical and easy, and his opponents resign eventually. We’ll now see one more game on the topic. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 Ehlvest is a very experienced Grandmaster, but he often chooses rare lines to avoid theoretical discussions, and in this game he is chose a rare line in the Spanish. 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3!? I like 5.Nc3!? a lot. It seems to give White a small plus. [5.d5 is the other main move in this position. 5...Nb8 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7.c4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.0– 0 Ne7 leads to quite an unclear position.] 5...exd4 6.Nxd4 g6 That’s the main idea of the line: to put the bishop on g7 early. Another option for Black is to play: [6...Nxd4 7. Bxd7+ Qxd7 8.Qxd4 Nf6 followed by simple moves like Be7 and 0–0. I think that White should be slightly better as well, but of course, Black’s position is very solid.] 7.0–0 Bg7 This is the first critical moment. What to take on c6 with? Both possibilities look interesting. 8. Bxc6 A standard decision. [I guess that after 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bc4 Ne7 10. Bg5 Black’s slightly worse pawn structure, plus White’s future play in the center with Qd2, Rae1, f4 give him a stable plus.] 8...bxc6

9. Re1! Good move, but of course, such things are „too” easy for Michael who was for more than 15 years in the Top 10 of the world. White’s main idea is to play e4-e5 basically crushing the whole Black pawn structure. This is a very typical idea that can be used in many similar types of positions. 9...Ne7 10. Bf4 And the e5 threat is very real. 10...c5?! A logical move by Black, but it also leads to trouble. Black fights against White’s e5, but in order to do this, hes gives away the d5 square and weakens his pawn structure. [In any case, Black had to play 10...0–0 11.e5 Nf5! This is the key defensive idea of Black! The d6 pawn is going to fall, but the bishop pair in an open position gives him good chances to hold the draw.] 11.Nf3 Now the e5 move is a „killer”. 11...f6 This move looks bad, but it’s not stupid at all. If Black has time to castle short, play Be6, Qd7 and Rb8, things will be far from clear. 12.Qd2! Another very good positional decision by White. The dark-squared bishops need to be exchanged; this

12


gives White many pluses and some of them will be seen just a few moves later in the game. 12...0–0 13. Bh6 a5?! Another unlucky decision by Ehlvest. It was time to play more carefully. [Black should have gone for a safe move, but of course, he would get a worse position after 13... Bg4! It’s important to exchange the light-squared bishop because it’s often a „stupid” piece in this kind of structure. 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Qf4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 White is doing a little better, but nothing too dramatic has happened.] 14.h3 No more Bg4. 14...a4 15. Rad1 White is clearly preparing some blow in the center.

17...fxe5 18.Nxe5 As we can see, a lot of Black’s pieces are hanging in the center, and the Black king is quite open. 18...Qc8 [It doesn’t help to play 18...dxe5 19.Qe3! and Black is losing material on the e-file.] 19.Ng4! Exact until the end. White wants to win a piece on the e-file and, at the same time, to mate the Black king. 19...Ng8 20.Ne4 White wants to play Qc3 next — this was too much for Jan Ehlvest. What a nice final position. All the White pieces are perfectly placed. 1–0

15... Be6?! Once again, Black is not careful, but the position is already quite worse. 16. Bxg7 The beginning of a nice winning idea. 16...Kxg7

17.e5! And the final blow! Black’s position is falling apart. If we look at the White moves, everything is so simple and logical, and suddenly Black can just resign. 13


Puzzle section

(7) Tiviakov,S (2655) — Van Kampen,R (2581) Wijk aan Zee B, 22.01.2013

(5) Markos,J (2581) — Varga,Z (2455) Slovakian league, 20.01.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... =

(8) Turov,M (2630) — Movsesian,S (2688) (6) Nakamura,H (2769) — Aronian,L (2802) Wijk aan Zee, 25.01.2013 [CEWN]

Wijk aan Zee B, 22.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

14


(9) Naiditsch,A (2708) — Timman,J (2566)

(11) Burg,T (2492) — Peralta,F (2617)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. =

(10) Nikolic,P (2619) — Rapport,R (2621)

(12) Korneev,O (2610) — Kersic,M (2204)


Nova Gorica Open, 26.01.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

15


(13) Munkhgal,G (2372) — Dao Thien Hai (2531) Asian Zonal tournament, 25.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Aleksandrov,A (2607) — Swapnil,S (2474) Chennai Open, 22.01.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

16


Endgame section

43...Kxf5 44.a4! Ke6 Black had to run back to catch the pawn, but it allows White to play:

(15) Hou Yifan (2603) — Anand,V (2772) Wijk aan Zee, 25.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

45.g4!! Excellent reaction! One pawn on g4 neutralizes two Black pawns on f6 and h6... they can’t create a passed pawn.

Black has a very easy technical win. For the World Champion, it shouldn’t be a problem to convert the extra pawn, but as we will see, he is also a human. 42...Nf5?? Terrible blunder, which leads directly to an instructive draw. [42...h5! was the easiest win, creating the weakness on g3 and what is more important, preventing White’s only idea to push g4, restricting the mobility of the kingside pawns. 43.a4 Kd5 White is lost and he is in zugzwang now. 44.Ng2 drops the g3 pawn. (44.Kc3 moves into 44...Ne4+; 44.Ke3 allows 44...Kc4) 44...Nf5]

45...Kd5 46.Kc3! The Black king can’t be allowed to go to c4 and the queenside pawns can’t be touched until Black pushes e4. 46...Ke4 [46...e4 as soon as Black weakens his pawn structure, White is ready to sacrifice the queenside pawns to collect all the pawns on the other side. 47.b5! axb5 48.axb5 Kc5 49.b6 Kxb6 50.Kd4 Kc6 51.Kxe4 Kd6 52.Kf5 Ke7 53.Kg6 =; 46...Kd6 47.Kc4 Kc6 48.Kd3 Black can’t make progress this way.]

43.Nxf5! Probably Anand was expecting resignation, but unexpectedly, Hou Yifan simplifies to a seemingly hopeless pawn endgame. However, if we take a slightly deeper look into the position, the game becomes a dead draw. 17


47.Kc2!? A good waiting move for Black to push e4. [47. b5 was another instructive way to get the draw. 47...axb5 48.axb5 Kd5 49.Kb4 Kd6 50.Kc4 Kc7 51.Kc5 Kb7 52.Kc4 Kb6 53.Kb4 White only waits with Kc4-b4. The only winning attempt for Black is to push e4, but then the White king collects the pawns just like in the 46...e4 line. 53...e4 54.Kc4 =]

(16) Short,Nigel D (2690) — Cernousek,Lukas (2453) [A16] 11th Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG (5.14), 26.01.2013 [Chess Evolution]

47...Kd4 48.Kb3 e4 The time has come for White to play: 49.b5! axb5 50.axb5 e3 51.Kc2! Ke4!? The last trick by the World Champion, but Hou Yifan doesn’t fall for it.

43.Ne3 In this equal endgame, Black’s play was not accurate. 43...Ke6 44. Bd7+! Nice trick!

52.Kd1! White blocks the pawn, so Black is forced to go back to the b-pawn. [On 52.b6? Black retains his winning chances after 52...Kf3! 53.b7 e2 54.b8Q e1Q] 52...Kd5 [The draw was agreed in view of 52...Kd5 53.Ke2 Kc5 54.Kxe3 Kxb5 55.Ke4 Kc5 56.Kf5 Kd4 57.Kxf6 Ke4 58.Kg6 Kf4 59.Kxh6 Kxg4 =] 1/2

44...Kxd7 45.Nxf5 Rh1 46.Nxd4 The position is still drawish, but now Black has to solve some practical problems to stop the White pawns. 46...Kd6 Black activates the king. The other way to defend was attacking the White pawns immediately, so that they don’t advance too far. [46... Rf1+ 47.Kg4 (47.Ke4 Rg1 48.Ne2 Rb1 49.Nc3 Rg1 50.Kf3 Rc1 51.Ne4 Rb1 52.f5 R xb5 53.Kf4 Ke7 54.g4 Rb4 55.g5 Kf7 =) 47... Rd1 48.Nf5 Rb1 49.Nh6 Rxb5 50.f5 Rb3 51.Kf4 Ke7 52.g4 Kf6 53.g5+ Kg7 =] 47.g4 Kc5 A slightly risky plan. Black is going to grab the b-pawn with the king, but then the king might get too far from the kingside. [47...Kd5 Another interesting option 18


to save the position was to play with an active king after 48.Ne2 Rf1+ 49.Ke3 (49.Kg3 Ke4 50.Nc3+ Kd4 51.Ne2+ Ke3 52.f5 Kxe2 53.b6 Ke3 54.b7 Rb1 55.f6 R xb7 56.g5 Rf7 57.Kg4 Ke4 58.g6 R xf6 59.Kg5 =) 49... Ra1 50.g5 (50.f5 Ke5) 50... Ra3+ 51.Kf2 Ke4 =] 48.Nf5 Kd5 [48... Rf1+ 49.Ke4 (49.Kg3 Kxb5 50.g5 Kc5 51.Ne3 Re1 52.Kf2 Ra1 53.g6 Ra6 54.g7 Rg6 55.Nf5 Funny position. The Black king can’t get closer to the pawns because of Ne7 check. However, White is not able to improve the king either. The position is drawish.) 49... Re1+ 50.Ne3 Kxb5 51.g5 Kc6 52.g6 Kd7 53.f5 Ke7 (53...Kd6 54.Kf4 Rg1 = Not allowing Kg5.) 54.Kf4 Rg1 55.Ke5 Re1 56.f6+ Kf8 57.Kf4 Ra1 58.Nd5 (58.Kg5 Ra5+ 59.Nf5 Rb5 60.Kf4 Rb4+ 61.Kf3 Rb3+ 62.Ke2 Rb2+ 63.Kd3 Rg2 =) 58... Ra4+ 59.Ke5 Ra5 60.Ke6 Ra6+ 61.Kf5 Ra5 62.Ke5 Rc5 and it’s not easy to find a winning setup for White.; 48...Kxb5 49.g5 Kc6 50.g6 Kd7 51.g7 Rg1 52.Ng3 +-]

50...Ke6 [50... Rxb5 51.g6 +-] 51.Nd4+ Kd5 52.Nf5 Ke6 53.Nh6 Rb4 [53... Rxb5 54.f5+ Ke7 55.Kh5 Kf8 56.Kg6 Rb7 57.f6 Rb5 58.Nf5 Rd5 59.Ne3 Rb5 60.Ng4 Kg8 (60...Ra5 61.Kh6 Rf5 62.g6 Kg8 =) 61.Kh6 Ra5 62.g6 Rf5 Very important move. 63.g7 Kf7 =] 54.b6 Ke7 55.b7 White is giving up the b-pawn in order to come with the king to h5 and advance the pawns. 55...Kf8 56.Kh5 Rxb7 57.f5 Kg7 58.f6+ Kh7? This is a mistake! The king will be badly placed on h8. [58...Kf8 59.g6 Ra7 60.Nf5

49.g5 Rb1

White is almost ready to promote the g-pawn and win the game, but now comes 60... Ra1! 61.g7+ (61.Ne7 Rg1) 61... Kf7 62.Nh6+ Kxf6 63.g8Q Rh1+ 64.Kg4 Rg1+ Draw!] 59.g6+ Kh8 60.Nf5 Rb5 61.Kg4 1–0 50.Kg4 [50.g6 Ke6 (50...R xb5 51.g7 Rb8 52.Ne7+ +-) 51.Nd4+ Kf6 52.f5 Re1 53.Kf4 Kg7 Black need to control the e-file in order not to allow Ke4-Kd5. 54.Nf3 Rb1 55.Kg5 Rxb5 56.Nd4 Rb6 57.Ne6+ Kg8] 19


Clash of the Titans (17) Dunaev — Petrosian,Tigran V [B84]

9...b6! This is the right setup of the pieces. The bishop goes to b7 and the knight to d7. 10.f4 Bb7 11. Bf3 Nbd7 12.0–0

URS-ch U18 Leningrad, 1946 [Balogh Csaba] A nice example from the famous exchange sacrifices of Tigran Petrosian. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 Despite having a highly positional style, Petrosian often chose the sharp Sicilian lines. 6. Be2 a6 7.a4 Be7 8. Be3 Qc7 Both sides are developing logically, and the game was heading to the Scheveningen variation, when White suddenly takes a strange decision.

12... Rc8 I like this idea a lot: to make all the useful moves before castling. As we’ll see, in some positions, the king is better placed in the center. 13.g4? This is exactly the case when, having the king on e8, Black can make use of this early attack. 13...Nc5?! Black prepares for the g5 move by freeing the d7 square for the knight. [However 13...h6! was much stronger, with the idea of g5. This is a known counterblow against the g4 attack. Let’s see an illustrative line: 14.Qd2

9.Nb3?! The knight was better placed on d4. This move usually only comes into consideration when Black has played Nc6 and Bd7, and he is ready to play Nxd4 followed by Bc6. Without these moves, this looks like a waste of time. 20


14...g5! Black sacrifices a pawn, but creates an important hole on e5, where the knight will be very strong. 15.fxg5 hxg5 16. Bxg5 Rg8 17.h4 Ne5! with a dangerous attack.] 14.Nxc5 bxc5 15.g5 Nd7 16.a5 [White should have continued consequently with 16.f5! trying to put pressure on the e6 pawn. 16...Ne5 17.fxe6 fxe6 18. Bg4! Qd7 19. Bh3 with the threat of Nd5! The game is unclear.; If Black was castled, the known attacking motif would be 16. Bg2 with the idea of Rf3-h3 and Qh5, but now Black can play 16...h6! and he has the attacking chances.] 16... Rb8 Petrosian activates is rook again. 17.Qd2 Now, and in the following moves, Black could have played h6, opening the line for the rook with a strong attack. However, Petrosian had a different idea in mind. 17... Bc6 [17...h6] 18.Na4 Rb4 [Here again 18...h6 was possible.] 19.b3

a central pawn and the important light-squared bishop. [19... Bxe4 20.c3 was White’s intention.] 20.c4 White prefers to keep the f3 bishop and take the rook with the knight after Nc3, but Black can also improve his position. [If White accepts 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 Black will create a battery with Bb7 and Qc6, followed by h6 with a huge attack.] 20...h6! Activating the h8 rook. 21.g6 White would like to keep the h-file closed. [21. Nc3 is met with 21... Rxe3! 22.Qxe3 hxg5 23. Bxc6 Qxc6 24.fxg5 Ne5 The e5 knight is really powerful. Black wants to play Rh4-g4. White can hardly hold his g5 pawn for long, so Black will be fine even materially, with two pawns for the exchange.] 21...f5 22.Nc3 Nf6 Black prepares to create an unstoppable center with d5-d4. 23. Bxe4 [It was more logical to preserve the bishop, although Black is doing fine after both recaptures. 23.Nxe4 The computer prefers now 23...Nxe4 (23...fxe4 24.Bg2 d5 is the human way to play. 25.cxd5 exd5 with a strong initiative.) 24.Qc2 Bf6 looks very good for Black.] 23...fxe4 Black is ready to march with his central pawns, which will swap away White’s forces. 24. Rad1

19... Rxe4!? I am not sure at all whether this was the strongest move in the position, but definitely, it’s the most spectacular one. Black sacrifices an exchange for 21


1st of February 2013

(18) Gurvitch,A 1928 [CEWN] 1. = 24...d5! There is no defense against d4. 25.cxd5 exd5 26.f5 White frees the f4 square for the bishop, but it doesn’t help him to save the game. 26...d4 27. Bf4 Qc8 The knight and the f5 pawn are hanging. If any of them falls, White will collapse as well. 28.Ne2 Qxf5 29. Bg3 Qxg6 Black is ready to push e3, opening the diagonal for the bishop, followed by occupying it with the queen. 30.Nf4 Qf7 31.Qc2 All the moves are winning for Black. Petrosian chose the most direct one. 31...g5 32.Ne2 d3 It’s nice to notice that the king has never left the e8 square in the whole game. 0–1

22


Solutions

(20) Rapport,R (2621) — Movsesian,S (2688) Wijk aan Zee B, 15.01.2013

(19) Harikrishna,P (2698) — Van Wely,L (2679)

[Solutions]

Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2013 [Solutions]

20. Bg4! Bxg4 [20... Bf7 21. Rxf7! Rxf7 22.Qxd5 Nxd4 23.Nd6+- Qa7 24. Be3 Bf8 25.Nxf7 Qxf7 26.Qxe5+-] 38. Rf7+!! [38.Qxg6+!! Kxg6 (38...N xg6 39.Rf7+ Kg8 40.Rg7#) 39. Be4#]

21.Qxd5+ Kh8 22.Qxc6 exd4 23. Bf6!+- d3 24. Bxg7+ Rxg7 25.Qd5 h6 26.Qd4+- [26.Qxd3+-]

38...Nxf7 39.Qxg6+!! 1–0[39.Qxg6+ Kxg6 40. Be4#]

23


(21) Ernst,S (2556) — Movsesian,S (2688)

(23) Nikolic,P (2619) — Grandelius,N (2572)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36... Rxc2! 0–1 [36... Rxc2 37.Qxc2 Be3+ 38.Kh1 Rf1+ 39.Kg2 Rf2+–+]

14.Qxe5!! Qxe5 [14... Bxe5 15. Bxe7+-]

(22) Movsesian,S (2688) — Van Kampen,R (2581)

15.Nfxe5 Bxe5 16. Bxe4 Bxb2 17. Bxb7 Rab8 18.Nxb2 Rxb7 19.Nd3 1–0

Wijk aan Zee B, 19.01.2013 [Solutions]

29.Qh6! [29. Bf6? c5!] 29...d2!? 30. Ra1! 1–0 24


(24) Kovchan,A (2579) — Bitensky,I (2400)

(25) Khismatullin,D (2652) — Predke,A (2503)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

47. Bxb6!! Bxb6 [47...axb6 48.a6+-]

36. Rh8!! 1–0 [36. Rh8 Rxh8 37. Rxd3 e4 38. Rd6+ Ke5 39.f4#]

48.axb6 axb6 49.c5!! b5 [49...bxc5 50.Kc4 Kd7 51.Kxc5 Kc7 52.b4 Kb7 53.Kd6+-] 50.Kb4 Kd7 51.Ka5 Ke6 [51...Kc7 52.Ka6+-]

(26) Popov,I (2623) — Petrov,A (2411)

52.Kb6 Kd5 53.b4 Ke4 54.Kxc6 Kxf4 55.Kd5 Kg3 56.c6+-

Dvorkovich memorial, 17.01.2013 [Solutions]

27. Rxc5! bxc5 28. Ba5! Qa7 [28...Qxa5 29.Qxf7#] 29. Bxd8+25


(27) Papin,V (2568) — Demaniuk,A (2340)

(29) Kok,T


1936

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

43.Qf8+! Qg8 44. Rf5! 1–0[44. Rf5 c4 45.Qxe8! Qxe8 46. Rf8++-]

1.Kd5! Bb5 2.a7 Bxe2 3.Ke4! Bf1! 4.a8Q! Bg2+ 5.Kf5 Bxa8 1/2

(28) Teterev,V (2536) — Tihonov,J (2443) Belarus Championship, 16.01.2013 [Solutions]

57...Kf5? [57... Rb5!! 58. Rb6 Rxc5 59.Kb8 Ra5= (59... Rb5=) ] 58. Rb6 Ra2 59.Kb7 Rxa7+ 60.Kxa7+26

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 50 8th of February 2013


8th of February 2013

The main event of the week is clearly the beginning of the Grenke Chess Classic in Baden Baden. Anand, Caruana and Adams are fighting with the Top 3 German players — Naiditsch, Fridman and Meier — in a double round robin.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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In the German Bundesliga, the club Baden-Baden is continuing its domination. In Russia, the Moscow Open is on his way, with a lot of fighting chess and great games. The star of the tournament is the top seeded Ian Nepomniachtchij, who is heading with 4,5/5 in the leaders group. In the current issue, we comment a slightly unusual loss of a GM in just 10 moves! As usual, we bring You the freshest games with top analyses combined with a lot of different chess fun material. Enjoy the CEWN Nr 50. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Prusikin,M (2545) — Aronian,L (2821) [E92] Bundesliga 2012–13 Berlin GER (8), 03.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] There are different Grandmasters of different strengths, and this game is a great example. We’ll see a game where White is trying to force a draw out of the opening and loses like a „baby”. I always ask myself, why do people like Prusikin try to force a draw? Do they play so often against the World’s Nr.2?! Why not to go into a fight instead of being hunted down like a chicken? 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Aronian is playing a lot of openings, but lately he’s been choosing the King’s Indian. A fighting opening which is a good choice against a much lower rated player. 3... Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0–0 6. Be2 e5 So, we are in the main line of the KID. And what comes now is just shocking!

7.dxe5? A „dirty” attempt to make a draw out of the opening instead of playing a full game. Prusikin is giving a lot of lessons in Germany, and I wonder if such a trainer can do any good to his pupils, while facing big psychological problems against a stronger player. 7...dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Now Black can’t avoid to make a big amount of exchanges — all of this is wellknown theory. 9...Na6 The main move for Black. 10.Nd5 Rd6 11.Nxf6+ Prusikin is exchanging piece after piece in hope for mercy — but the game will be over much sooner than it might seem at the moment. 11... Bxf6 12. Bxf6 Rxf6 13.Nxe5 Re6 14.Ng4?! Quite an inaccuracy by White. White should have continued with what he started — making a forced draw. [14.f4 would force things much more. 14... Re8! Black needs to play quite exactly to equalize. (14...f6? 15.Ng4) 15.0–0–0 f6 and it seems that the position is a forced draw... 16.Nd7 Bxd7 17. Rxd7 Rac8! Cool and strong, White has no defense against Nc5. 18. Bf3 Nc5 19. Rd2 Nxe4 and even Aronian would not be able to avoid the drawish outcome of the game.] 14...Kg7!? Aronian tries to make things a bit more „complicated”. [14...h5 15.Ne3 Rxe4 and the position is about equal.] 15.Ne3 Prusikin acts with „fear” again. [More principled would have been 15.f3 White is trying to keep his pawn. 15... Rb6 attacking b2 and, at the same time, Bxg4. 16.0– 0–0 Bxg4 17.fxg4 It’s hard t o say if White got any advantage here, but for sure he should not be forced. On the 3


other hand, Black has big positional pluses for the pawn and has good practical chances to outplay his opponent.] 15... Rxe4 16.0–0–0 Can You imag ine, that just in 14 moves from now, White will simply resign? The Great Levon shows us how.

20.b3?! and White choo ses a safe but „not great” move again. The pawn on b3 only gives Black a chance to open the a-file with a4 in the future. 20...Ne6 21. R8d6 Nc5 As we can c learly see, Black is completely outplaying his opponent. Now 21...Ne4 is already a dangerous threat. 22. Bf3 Now the bishop on f3 is pretty badly placed and looking at the pawn on c6. 22... Bd7 finishing the development before starting the action on the queenside. 23.Kb2

16...c6 Good positional move. Black is protecting from Nd5 and wants to play Nc7 next. 17. Rd8 Solid move. Now another exchange of rooks seems to be unavoidable. 17... Re7 18.h4 This is a very solid move for White as well. To put pawns on the dark squares can’t be wrong. 18...Nc7 19. Rhd1?! and again Prusikin shows amazing respect for his opponent. [Why not just 19.h5 Be6 What else to do?! White wants to play h6 Rh8, or just hxg6. 20. Rxa8 Nxa8 21.Kd2 and White should be doing slightly better here.] 19...a5! I like this move a lot! Many others would just have played 19...Ne6 and, of course, Black is totally fine, but with 19... a5 Black wins a bit of space for the future and doesn’t give White any easy decision.

23...f5! Another excellent positional move. Winning a bit of space in the center and making a place for the Black bishop on f7. Of course, the position is still around equal, but White is getting in trouble little by little. 24.a3?! and another „strange” move by White. Why to weaken the queenside? [A solid move like 24.Nc2 would have kept White’s position very solid.] 24... Be8 25.g3 Bf7 26.b4? What a shocking move! White is absolutely opening his own king without any reasons. [26.Kc3 and the position remains around equal, 4


even thought I would have chosen to play with Black here.]

(2) Harikrishna,P (2688) — Efimenko,Zahar (2689) [C84]

26...Na4+ [26...axb4 27.axb4 Na4+ would just lead to a different move order.]

Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (8.2), 03.02.2013

27.Kc2? and Prusikin is resigning without any fight. [A much better square for the king would have been 27.Kb3 axb4 28.axb4 Nb6 and of course Black is doing better, but White is far away from being lost]

Despite the tactical oversight in the time trouble by Black, we’re in front of a really high-quality game.

27...axb4 28.axb4

[Csaba Balogh]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 Black decided to go for the Ruy Lopez, while White chose the nowadays very popular 6.d3 system. 6...b5 7. Bb3 0–0 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 d6 [9... Bc5 is an alternative, which was introduced by Aronian last year.] 10.Nc4

28...Nb6! This last exact move is easy to find but simply finishes the game on the spot. White can’t defend against Ra2 check next, and protect the c4 pawn at the same time. 29.c5 Ra2+ 30.Kb1 Rxf2 Aronian spent around 20 minutes for the full game, which reminds me a lot of a game from a simul.

10... Be6 We are in a known position, where White usually plays c3, Re1 and d4 at a good moment, but Harikrishna tries another plan, which was recently used by Grischuk.

0–1

11.h3 h6 12. Be3 Qc8 After many different attempts, the Black players found the Qc8-Rd8 setup for Black in the positions with c3, which gave them satisfactory games. He prepares a d5 break and sometimes the sacrifices with Bxh3 might be annoying. 5


13. Re1 Rd8 14.Qe2 Qb7 [The mentioned Grischuk game continued with 14...a5 15. Rad1 Qa6 16.Kh1 Bf8 17.Qf1 and after a long maneuvering, it ended in draw. Grischuk-Inarkiev, 2012. Of course, there are plenty of plans in such positions, and Harikirshna has definitely worked out something in his home preparation.] 15. Rad1 Nd7 I don’t like this move. It reduces the pressure on the e4 pawn. White can effectively take advantage of this. [The standard 15... Bf8 was better in my opinion, and now the difference is that if White plays 16.d4 exd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Bxd4 Qxe4! seems to work and leads to an equal endgame 19.Qxe4 Nxe4 20. Rxe4 d5 21. Rxe6 dxc4 22. Ree1 cxb3 23.cxb3 After the simplification, there is no advantage left.] 16.d4! This was the whole idea of White’s setup. He’s opening the center and his pieces are better prepared for a concrete play, while Black’s are still in the maneuvering phase of the game. 16...exd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Bxd4 a5 Black had to prevent the Na5-c6 threat. [Going for the e4 pawn with 18...c5 doesn’t work well. 19. Be3 The d6 pawn became a weakness. 19...Qxe4 20.Nxd6 Bxd6 21. Rxd6 White is better because Black can’t lock the bishop with 21... c4 22. Rd4! wins the pawn.; 18... Bf6? is the principled move to exchange the strong bishop, but it allows the concrete 19.Na5! and Black must let the knight to jump to c6.]

19. Rd3! Very nice plan, lifting the rook to the 3rd rank in order to be able to switch it to the attack at any time. 19...Qc6 [19... Bf6 had concrete problems again 20. Bxf6 Nxf6 21.e5! seems to be very strong, and suddenly the a5 pawn is the main problem in Black’s position. 21...dxe5 22.Nxa5! Qb6 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Nc4±] 20.Ne3! White wants to transfer his knight to d5 or f5, which would be very nice of course, but what happens if Black grabs the e4 pawn? [20. Rg3 is not so dangerous yet because of 20... Bf6!] 20...Qxe4 [20... Bxb3 is met with the intermediate moves 21.Nf5! Bf8 22. Bxg7!+- and the attack is decisive with Qg4 or Rg3.]

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21.Nd5! Bxd5 [21...Qxe2 is bad in view of 22.Nxe7+ Kf8 23. Rxe2 Kxe7 24. Rde3 White gets a big advantage, since 24...Ne5 runs into (24...Nf8 25.B xg7) 25.f4±] 22.Qf1! Very nice discovered attack on the queen. White wants to capture one of the bishops, either on d5 or e7. The g2 pawn had to protected. [22.Qxe4 doesn’t get any advantage 22... Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Ne5!=] 22...Qf5 [22...Qxe1!? was objectively the best move 23.Qxe1 Bxb3 24.cxb3 Bf6 Black tries to create a fortress. It’s hard to say if White is going to have any chance to break through, since Black has no weaknesses.; 22... Qxg2+? 23.Qxg2 Bxg2 24. Rxe7 White penetrates on the 7th rank.] 23.g4! White is hunting the d5 bishop! He’ll succeed to take it, but at the cost of a weakened kingside. 23...Qg5 24.f4! The queen can’t protect it anymore. 24...Qh4 25. Bxd5 This was the position that Harikrishna had to foresee before playing 20. Ne3!. Very deep calculation and understanding of the position. White is a pawn down, but the active bishop pair and the misplacement of the Black queen gives more than enough compensation.

29. Bf2 Qf6 30. Bd4 [30.Qe2!? was the alternative, which also looks very dangerous. 30... Bf8 (30...Re8 moves into the deadly pin 31.Re3) 31. Bd4! Qxf4 is the only move. It seems to be a blunder, but... (The difference is that after 31...Qh4 32. Bxf7+! works! 32...Kh8 (32...Kxf7 33.Qe6#) 33. Bd5 with a big advantage.) 32. Rf1 Rc1! is another only move, but White gets the advantage after 33. Bd1! Qg5 (33...R xd1 is only better for White.) 34. Be3! wins the rook.] 30...Qh4 31.g5! The e7 bishop is attacked and g6 is another unpleasant threat. 31... Bf8 [On 31... Re8 32.g6 is more effective.] 32.g6 Kh8 33. Bxf7?! This is the only mistake by White in the game. [To implement a pawn on f7 could have been very dangerous. White always threatens with Re8 and the g-file is also opened for a potential attack against the g7 pawn. 33.gxf7 Nc5 34. Bxc5 Black has no good recapture, White enters on e8 in both cases 34...dxc5 (34... R xc5 35.Re8) 35. Rxd8 and Re8 next.] 33...Nc5! 34. Rde3

25...c6 With this small combo, Black temporarily activates his rook. 26. Bxc6 Rac8 27. Bd5 Rxc2 28. Bb3! Of course, such an active rook must be sent out from the 2nd rank. 28... Rcc8 We are in a critical position. White has two tempting ways to continue. Harikrishna decides to repeat once to approach the time control, and then tries one of the critical moves. 7


34...d5! Black creates an e4 outpost for his knight, which would completely neutralize the rooks. White has to fight against it. 35.Qf3! Nb3! A nice tactical fight is about to start. Both players were in time trouble at this moment and Black is going to blunder soon...The knight is indirectly protected because the e1 rook is hanging in that case. [Now on 35... Ne4 36. Bxd5 was the idea.] 36. Bb6!

40.Qe3!! This pretty deflection of the queen at the last move of the time trouble finishes the game. 40... Rxg6+ [40...Qd6 41.Qxb6!+-; 40...Qxe3 41. Rxf8#] 41. Bxg6 Qf6 42.f5 1–0

36... Rd6? This is the decisive mistake, but it was very hard to calculate all the complications with only 30 seconds on the clock. [36... Bc5!! was the right move 37. Bxc5 (37.B xd8 Qxe1+! is the whole point!) 37...Nxc5 and Black is fine 38. Bxd5 Nd3! Black makes use of the hanging e1 rook again and overtakes the initiative.] 37. Re8!! The game is over. White attacks the b3 knight and creates deadly threats on the back-rank. 37... Rxb6 38. Rxc8! Qxe1+ 39.Kg2 Black has only one move to protect the bishop, which is hanging with mate. 39...Qe7

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(3) Ernst,Sipke (2554) — Bartel,Mateusz (2635) [A46] Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (8.2), 03.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] An entertaining game with many nice tactical motifs. 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.g3 b5!? A very strange-looking move, but I actually believe it’s quite a good one. We’ll see its main ideas during the game. 4. Bg2 Nf6 Usually we get this position with a different move order, but in any case, we arrived to a huge theoretical line. 5.0–0

5...Nbd7 With the b5 move, Black has prevented White’s main idea: to play c4. His standard setup is Bb7 and c5, creating a comfortable position. White has various plans to fight against it, but it’s not easy to prove an advantage anywhere. In this game, White tries to execute the c4 idea in order to open the position and, especially, the diagonal for the g2 bishop.

6.b3 Ba6!? Another extravagant move, but again a logical one to fight against c4. Black is ready to occupy the center with c5 in the next move. [Several games have been played with 6... Bb7 7.c4 bxc4 8.bxc4 dxc4 and a quick c5 usually leads to equality.] 7.Nbd2 White consequently stuck to his plan and prepares for c4. 7...c5! 8.c4! We are at the beginning of the complications. 8... Rc8 Black leaves from the h1–a8 diagonal and brings an important piece to the center, where the fight is about to begin. [Taking everything is not a great idea with an undeveloped kingside. 8...bxc4 9.bxc4 dxc4 White can create a strong attack now. 10.Ne5 Nd5

11. Bxd5!! This move works because of concrete reasons, otherwise, it’s never advisable to give up the strong bishop. 11...exd5 12.Qa4 Bc8 (12...Bb7 is strongly met with 13.Rb1) 13.Qc6 Rb8 14.Qxd5! and Black is in trouble. The point is that after 14...Nxe5 15.Qxe5+ Be6 16.d5!+White wins the bishop.] 9. Bb2?! White calmly fianchettoes his bishop, but he should have acted concretely. [9.b4! 9


This spectacular tactical break to create a protected passed pawn on c5 was the strongest move. White gets very strong compensation after every move. For instance: 9...cxd4 10.c5 e5 11. Bh3! and the plan is Nb3 — e3, undermining the center. White seems to have more than enough compensation.] 9...cxd4 Black would like to win the c4 pawn with bxc4 and Bxc4, so White has to take somewhere first. [9...bxc4 now is a much better version than in the previous move. 10.bxc4 dxc4 11.Qa4 Qb6 Black is very close to finish his development. 12. Rab1 Bb5 13.Qc2 Qa6 and Be7, 0–0 next with a good position.] 10.cxd5 [10.cxb5 simply leads to a worse position. 10... Bxb5 11.Nxd4 Ba6 Black is slightly better with his nice center and active pieces.] 10...e5! A clever move. If Black succeeds to play Bd6 and 0–0, he will automatically win the d5 pawn. White needs to act immediately.

11.Nxe5!? A brave decision. Objectively it’s not the best, but in a practical game, these moves might be really effective. White intends to collect the central pawns and tries to launch a „pawn storm” in the center with e4-f4e5... 11...Nxe5 12. Bxd4 Ned7 Black prefers to leave from the tempi with f4-e5. [However, it seems to be much stronger to play 12... Bd6! 13.e4 (13.f4 Ned7 14.e4 Black has the important 14...Bc5! exchanging the strong bishop. 15.B xc5 N xc5 White can’t push e5 because the d5 pawn is not protected, and if he tries 16.Qf3 Qb6 17.Kh1 0–0 Black succeeded to finish the development and has a big advantage, because 18.e5?! still doesn’t work. 18... N xd5! 19.Qxd5 Rfd8–+ winning the d2 knight and the game.) 13...Qe7! 14.f4 (14.h3 to prevent Neg4 gives Black enough time to push 14...b4 The f1 rook is in an unpleasant situation, since Re1 moves into Nd3...) 14... Bc5! is again an important motif. 15. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 16.Kh1 Neg4 White collapses.] 13.e4 Bc5 14. Bb2! White needs his dark-squared bishop and is ready to push e5 now.

10


14...b4 15.e5! There was no way back. White had to stay „all in” and hope that his attack would break through. [15.Nc4 allows 15...Nb6 and White can’t effectively push 16.e5 Nfxd5; There is no time for 15. Re1 Qb6] 15... Bxf1 Black grabs all the material. [White gets very strong compensation even after 15...Nxe5 16. Bxe5 (16. Re1 has a nice refutation

ful not to get mated, but he has enough material to create defensive resources. 18...Qe7 Preventing Re1 and preparing for Kd8-c7, sending the king artificially to safety. [18... Bxd5 was also possible. 19. Re1+ Be7 20.Qxd5 This would have been a critical position from Black’s point of view. At first sight, the danger is not that big, but actually he must find an only move to stay in the game. 20... Rc5! The point is to send away the queen from d5 in order to be able to play f6 and Kf7. a) 20...Nb6 21.Qe4 Black has no defense.;

16...B xf2+! 17.Kxf2 Qb6+ 18.Re3 White seems to be all right, but a nice tactical trick wins a decisive amount of material. 18...Nfg4+! 19.Qxg4 Qxe3+! This is the point! 20.Kxe3 N xg4+–+) 16... Bxf1 17.Kxf1 0–0 18.Nc4 White has only one pawn for the exchange, but that e5 pawn, supported by the strong bishops and the excellent c4 knight, seems to be very dangerous.]

b) 20...Nc5 It’s logical to lock the e-file with Ne6, but it doesn’t help. 21.Qf5 Ne6 22.Ne4! White threatens with Qxh7. Black has difficulties as he can’t take on g7 because of the following nice lines: 22... Rxg7 (22...N xg7 23.Nf6+ Kf8 24.N xh7+ Ke8 25.Qb5+! Qd7 26.Nf6++-) 23. Bxg7 Nxg7 24.Nf6+ Kf8 25.Qxh7! Black can’t avoid getting mated. 25... Bxf6 26.Qh8#; 21.Qf3! (21.Qe4 is also met with 21...f6 22.Qxh7 Kf7) 21... f6! 22.Ne4 Kf7! (22...Rd5? leads to a beautiful mate:

16.exf6 Bxg2 Black goes for the huge material advantage. [16...Nxf6 was more calm, but it leads to a similar position to the one seen in the 15...Nxe5 line. 17.Kxf1 0–0 18.Nc4 with good compensation.] 17.fxg7 Rg8 18.Qh5! White continues pushing already a rook and a piece down. He threatens to take on h7 and also to play Re1 check, Be7 and d6! Black has to be care11


23.Qh5+! R xh5 24.Nd6#) 23.Nxc5 Nxc5 24.Qh5+ Kxg7 25.Qg4+ Kh8 26.Qxb4 White has two pawns plus some active pieces for the knight. Probably, the objective outcome should be a draw...] 19.Kxg2 [On 19.Qxh7? Qe2! was in Black’s mind.] 19...h6? This is the decisive mistake. Black was fighting against Qxh7 and tries to lure the queen from covering the e2 square, but he misses a great subtle move! [Black should have started the king’s journey, although White has very strong compensation here as well. 19...Kd8 20.Qxh7 Kc7 21.Ne4 White has 4 pawns for the rook. It’s very difficult to judge who’s chances are preferable.]

21.Nc4 White prefers to keep all the pieces on the board to maintain the mating attack. [21.Kxf2 was also good enough, but this is a rather technical win. 21... Rc2 22. Re1 Rxd2+ 23.Kf1 Qxe1+ 24.Kxe1 Rxb2 25.Qxh6+- White has too many pawns and the ones on d5 — g7 have a special value.] 21...Kd8 22.Kxf2 Suddenly White is doing well materially as well, with a bishop and two pawns for the rook, but the fact that the Black king is still under a mating attack is more important. 22...f6 23.d6 Qxg7 24. Re1 Bringing all the pieces to the attack. The hidden threat is Qa5; it’s easy to miss such „long” moves. 24...Qg5 [24... Rc5 25.Qf3+- is also hopeless. Qa8 and Re7 are coming.] 25.Qf7 Rc5 26.Kg1!? Leaving from the checks. [26. Re7 Qf5+ 27.Ke1!+- was also winning.]

20.Kf1!! Excellent move, while being a rook a down. White wants to bring his rook to e1. 20... Bxf2 [20...Kd8 was more logical again, although Black seems to be already in big trouble. 21. Re1 Qg5 22.Qxf7 Kc7 (22...Qxd2 loses to 23.Qxg8+ Kc7 24.Qxc8+! and the g-pawn promotes with check.) 23.Ne4 The queen has no good square to leave. 23...Qe7 (23... Qg4 24.N xc5+-) 24.d6+! Bxd6 25.Nxd6 and White wins. 25...Qxd6 26. Be5+-]

26... Rd5 A blunder at the end, but it was very difficult to defend Black’s position. [26...Qd5 was the only move. 27. Bxf6+ Nxf6 28.Qxf6++- White is winning here as well, as the c4 knight clearly dominates the rook and everything else favors White.] 27. Bxf6+ [Black resigned in view of 27. Bxf6+ Nxf6 (27... Qxf6 28.Qxg8++- and d5 also falls.) 28.Qc7#] 1–0

12


(4) Sethuraman,S.P (2538) — Krejci,Jan (2529) [E13] Moscow Open 2013, 06.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will now see the shortest decisive GM game I’ve ever seen in my life! 1.d4 Solid first move, but the game will be already over in only 9 moves! 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 and we are in the Nimzo. 4.Nf3 b6 Black is choosing a fighting line, which actually has become quite fashionable lately.

ing a pawn for the attack. 8...g5 9. Bg3 Nxe4 10.Ndxe4 Bxe4 11.h4 with a dangerous position for Black, according to the current theory.] 8.Qa4+! I guess Sethuraman was as shocked as Krejci here. Black is losing a full piece! 8...Nc6 The only move to protect the bishop on b4. 9.d5 and it’s over! The pin on a4-e8 is deadly! 9... Bxc3 10.bxc3 Have You ever seen something like that? For me it’s the first time on the GM level! :) 1–0

5. Bg5 Bb7 This move is a bit out of fashion. [5...h6 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Ne4 would be the main line] 6.Nd2 Not giving Black anymore the chance for h6-Bh4g5, followed by Ne4. 6...h6 7. Bh4 This position has been well analyzed and is counted as a bit better for White. .. but the game will already be over in 3 moves!!

7...d6?? What a blunder! The game is over on the spot! [The main move would be 7...0–0 8.e4!? White is sacrific13


Puzzle section

(7) Omar,N (2314) — David,A (2599) Gibraltar Open, 29.01.2013

(5) Muzychuk,M (2471) — Teran Alvarez,I (2399) Gibraltar Open, 28.01.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Trent,L (2429) — Sutovsky,E (2684) (6) Muzychuk,M (2471) — Vazquez Igarza,R (2566) Gibraltar Open, 29.01.2013

Gibraltar Open, 30.01.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

14


(9) Shirov,A (2708) — Al Sayed,M (2507)

(11) Khismatullin,D (2655) — Tsydypov,Z (2384)

Gibraltar Open, 31.01.2013

Moscow Open, 02.02.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Bartel,M (2629) — Womacka,M (2442)

(12) Nyzhnyk,I (2637) — Nyudleev,D (2372)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

15


(13) Svane,R (2394) — Jones,G (2641) German league, 02.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Smeets,J (2613) — Ftacnik,L (2547) German league, 02.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +/-

16


Endgame section

19...Kb8 20. Be3 Nh7 Black is going to transfer the knight to g6 in order to take control of the weak dark squares, and especially f4.

(15) Debashis,Das (2474) — Ponkratov,Pavel (2584)

21.Kf2 [21.Nd1 Nf8 22.Nf2 Ng6 23.Nd3 with the idea of an eventual f4.]

Moscow 2013 (3.8), 04.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

15...Nc7 We have a typical endgame from a Slav line. 16. Be1 The Indian yer is looking for some plan. He has the pair of bishops, but Black’s position is very solid without any weaknesses. The problem for White is the fact that he has doubled-pawns, which doesn’t allow him to win space and improve the position on the queenside. 16...a6 17.f3 Personally, I prefer the plan with g5 and f4. 17...0–0–0 18. Bf2 g5! A good move which doesn’t allow White to gain space after a potential g5-f4. 19.e4 Finally White pushes e4, but how to play next with the bad bishop on g2? In my opinion, White should try to play on f4 or just wait a bit and maybe improve his rooks a little.

21...Nf8

22.cxd5 Practical decision. White has been slowly outplayed and now tries to make some exchanges on the center and activate the bishop, even for a huge cost, which is the creation of many weaknesses. The most solid was [22.Ne2 Ng6 23. Rd1=] 22...exd5 23.exd5 Nxd5 24.Nxd5 Rxd5 25.f4 Rb5 26. Rc3 Ne6 27.fxg5 [27.f5 Nf4 28. Bxf4+ gxf4 White has too many weaknesses (d4, b3,b2) to hold this opposite-colored bishops endgame.] 27... Bxg5 28. Rd1 With the hope of pushing d5 at some moment. 28... Bxe3+ 29. Rxe3 Nf4 [29... Rd8 30. Bf1 Rb4 31. Bc4 Nxd4 32. Re7= and White gets enough activity.]

17


30. Bf1 Rd5 31.Kg3 [31. Bc4 Rd7 Xh3; 31. Re7 Nxh3+ 32. Bxh3 Rxh3 33. Rxf7 g5 (33...R xb3 34.R xg7 R xb2+ 35.Kf3 and the g-pawn gives White good counterplay.) ] 31...g5 Thanks to the nicely placed pieces, Black is much better, but this is not enough to win the game because he needs a plan. Maybe the next step can be to improve the king. 32. Re5 White is eliminating the strong rook from d5. 32... Rxe5 I’m not sure if this is correct because now Black won’t be able to come with the king because it’s cut over the d-file. Black had other not easy-to-play option. [32...f6 33. Rxd5 Nxd5 (33...cxd5 34.Re1) 34. Re1 Kc8 35. Bg2 Nf4 36. Re7 Rd8 37. Rf7 (37.Be4 R xd4 38.Bf5+ Kb8 39.h4 Rb4 40.h5 R xb3+ 41.Kf2 R xb2+ 42.Kf3 Rh2– + Three pawns are too much.) 37... Rxd4 38. Rxf6 Rd3+ 39. Bf3 Kd8! 40.h4 Ke7 41.hxg5 Ne6 Together with the king, the Black knight should stop the advance of the gpawn. Black will grab the whole queenside pawns and should win the game.] 33.dxe5 Re8 After this move, White will get good counterplay, but it was hard to find something else for Black. [33...Kc7 34. Rd6 Now, unexpectedly, the White rook will fall in a trap. Better is (34.Rd2 Waiting for the move by the rook to push h4 like in the game. 34...Ng6 35.Rf2 N xe5 36.Rf5=) 34... Re8 35.h4 Nd5 36.h5 f6 37.h6 Rxe5 38.h7 Re3+ 39.Kh2 Re8 40. Re6 Rh8; 33...Ng6 34.e6 fxe6 35. Rd7 With the idea Rg7, Xg5.]

34.h4 Yes, of course! Now the h-pawn will give White enough compensation. 34... Rxe5 35.h5 Kc7 36.Kf3 b5 [36...f5 37.gxf5 Nxh5 38.Kg4 ] 37. Bd3 Nd5 38. Be4 Nf6 39. Bf5 Re8 40.h6 Nd5 41.h7 With the improved pieces and the strong h7 pawn, White’s position is already not worse. 41...Kd6 42. Ra1 [42. Rh1 Rh8 43. Rh5 f6 With the pawn on f6, Black will not have Nf6 anymore, with the idea of grabbing the h7 pawn. (43...Ke7 44.R xg5 Kf8 with the idea to eliminate the h-pawn after Nf6-Kg7.) 44. Rh1 Kc5 45. Re1 Kb4 46. Bg6 Nf4 47. Bc2 and the fight against the h7 pawn is unpleasant.] 42... Rh8 43. Rxa6

18


43...Ne7! Black found the way to get rid of the h7 pawn.

(16) Kraemer,M (2520) — Bacrot,E (2705)

44. Bd3 f5 45.gxf5 [45. Bxf5 Nxf5 46.gxf5 Rxh7 47.Kg4 Rh2 48.f6 Rxb2 49.Kxg5 Rxb3 50.f7 Ke7 51. Rxc6 Kxf7 52.Kf5 Ke7 53.Ke5 Kd7 54. Rc5=]

German league, 02.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

45... Rxh7 46.Kg4 Rh2 [46...Nd5 47.f6 (47.Kxg5 Nb4 48.B xb5 N xa6 49.B xa6 Ke5 50.Kg6 Rh3) 47...Nxf6+ 48.Kxg5 Rh3 49. Bxb5 Rh5+ 50.Kxf6 Rxb5 51. Ra3=] 47.f6 Nd5 Black could make a draw in the endgame of rook and bishop against rook after [47... Rxb2 48.fxe7 Kxe7 49. Rxc6 Rxb3=] 48.f7 Rf2 49. Ra7? A huge mistake that’s hard to explain! White should play [49. Bg6 Nc7 (49...Ne7 50.Bh5) 50. Rb6 Ne6 51. Rb8 Rf4+ 52.Kg3 Ke7 53. Re8+ Kd6 and it’s hard to say how to improve White’s position. 54. Bh5 Ng7=; 49. Bf5 Ne3+ 50.Kxg5 Rxf5+ 51.Kg6 Kc5 52. Ra8 Kb4÷] 49...Ne7 and White is losing his strongest weapon — the f7 pawn. 50.Kxg5 Rxf7 51. Rb7 [51. Ra1 Maybe White should go back with the rook to try to protect the pawns. 51... Rf2 52. Rb1 Kc5µ] 51... Rf3 52. Bc2 Nd5 Black is simply winning now because the White king is very far and the pawns will fall. 53. Rh7 Rf2 54. Be4 Ke5 55. Bxd5 Kxd5 56. Rh3 Rxb2 0–1

Black is better with his more active king, although White has no weaknesses and the limited number of pawns should guarantee him a more or less easy draw. 46. Bh5 Bc6 47.g3 This is the most principled move, putting the pawns on dark squares, where the Black bishop can’t attack them. [After 47.f3 Black has the chance to disturb the kingside pawns with 47... Bb5 and Bf1.; On the other hand 47. Bf3!? was also possible 47... Bxf3 48.gxf3 Kc4 49.Kc2 Kb4 50.Kc1 Kb3 51.Kb1= Black has a nice position, but he can’t make progress.] 47...fxg3 48.fxg3 Bd7! White has a wide range of choice, but only one idea leads to a draw.

19


49.h4? The decisive mistake! [The pawn endgame after 49. Bg4? is winning for Black. 49... Bxg4 50.hxg4 Ke4 51.Ke2 h6!–+ White is in zugzwang. The Black king penetrates from one of the sides.; 49.g4 is bad after 49... Bb5 and there are problems with the kingside pawns.; 49. Bd1! was the most precise, counterattacking the a4 pawn, followed by pushing h4 in the next move. Black has no chance to win.; 49. Be2! was also good, with the same idea as Bd1. 49... Bxh3 50. Bb5= White wins back the pawn and holds the draw.] 49...g4! Suddenly, Black is winning. White can’t avoid the penetration of the king. He must try to bring back his bishop, but it’s not on time to solve the problems.

53...h6! [After the hasty 53...Kc2? White has 54. Bg6+! Bd3 (54...hxg6 55.h6+- wins.) 55. Be8 Kb3 56.Ke3 Bc2 57.Kf4 Kxb2 58. Bxa4 Bxa4 59.Kxg4= and Black will succeed to exchange the h7 pawn.] 54. Be6 [54. Bg6+ doesn’t change much. 54...Kd2 and Kc1 next.] 54...Kc2 55. Bxg4 Kxb2 [White resigned in view of the following line: 55...Kxb2 56. Be6 a3 57.g4 (57.Kf3 gives Black enough time to play 57...Ba4! 58.g4 Bb3 59.B xb3 Kxb3 60.g5 a2–+ Black is faster.)

50. Bf7 Ke4 51.Ke2 Otherwise, Kf3 wins. 51... Bb5+! White is forced to give free way for the opponent’s king. 52.Kf2 [52.Kd2 Kf3–+] 52...Kd3 53.h5!? White sets a trap, but Bacrot does not fall into it.

57... Bd7! is a very important intermediate move, after which Black collects the g4 pawn and the full point.(But not 57...Ba4? because of 58.g5!)] 0–1 20


Clash of the Titans

8...f5! This is the reason why the knight has developed to h6. Black would like to overtake the initiative with an f4 push. White is forced to think right in the 9th move.

(17) Furman,Semen Abramovich — Spassky,Boris V [B38]

9.exf5 [9. Bxh6!? is another way to fight for the advantage. White gives up his strong bishop, but the f5 move has created weaknesses in Black’s camp and it also restricts the development of the Black pieces. 9... Bxh6 10.exf5 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Rxf5 (11...gxf5 12.0–0 Bg7 13.Qd2 Black has difficulties with the c8 bishop. Bf3 is coming next.) 12.0–0 Bg7 13.Qd3 We have the same story here again, Bf3 is coming next and the c8 bishop has serious problems to get activated.]

URS-ch24 Moscow (18), 1957 [Csaba Balogh] A nice mating attack by Spassky. It’s very instructive to see how he improved his pieces move by move and, when the moment arrived, he finished the game in great tactical fashion. 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.e4 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 We have transposed from a different move order to the Sicilian Maroczy variation, which is considered to be a very solid, but a bit passive opening. 6. Be3 Nh6 This is an unusual setup. The game perfectly demonstrates its main idea, but it’s already known by the modern theory that Black can’t fight for equality with this move. 7.Nc3 0–0 8. Be2

9... Bxd4! This is another point of Black’s system. In general, it’s not advisable to get rid of the dark squared bishop, but in this particular case, White is facing some problems with preserving the bishop pair. [9...Nxf5 10.Nxf5 gxf5 11.Qd2 After White has prevented f4, he enjoys a clear advantage with his better pawn structure.] 10. Bxd4 [10. Bxh6 is probably the strongest move. 10... Rxf5 11.0–0 d6 12.Qd2 Black has the usual problem with the development of the c8 bishop.] 10...Nxf5 There is only one way to save the bishop, but then White has to transfer it to a really awkward place... 11. Bc5 d6 12. Ba3 On the other hand, if Black plays slowly and White succeeds to consolidate with b3 and Bb2, the bishop reaches a nice square after making a long trip around the board.

21


18... Be6! Suddenly White is not in time to play b5 and he has only weakened his pawn structure. 19. Bd3?! It’s hard to believe, but probably this natural move to transfer the bishop to e4 is a decisive mistake. [On 19.b5 Black was intending to play 19... Bxd5! 20.cxd5 Nxe2+! 21.Qxe2 Ne7 22.Qd3 And here after a subtle plan, Black gets the advantage... 22...Qd8! A very nice maneuver with the queen to b6.] 12...Nfd4! A strong dynamic move with the idea of finally solving the problem of the c8 bishop. 13.0–0 Bf5 Who could believe at this point that 10 moves later Black gives mate?! 14. Rc1 Preventing Nc2. 14...Qd7 Spassky chooses a healthy development of his pieces and prepares for doubling his rooks on f7-f8. 15.Nd5 This is probably an inaccuracy. White should have aimed for getting rid of the strong d4 knight. [15.b3 immediately was preferable 15... Rf7 16.Bb2 Raf8 and in comparison to the game, White has 17.Nb5! forcing Black to give up his strong knight. 17...Nxe2+ 18.Qxe2 White’s chances are slightly better because of his more active bishop.] 15... Rf7 16.b3 Raf8 17. Bb2 e5! Black succeeded to fortify his knight on d4. We can say that White also has a nice outpost on d5, but it can be taken after Be6, while the Black one is stuck on d4.

19... Bg4!! Suddenly, White is facing a devastating attack. 20.f3 [It would be interesting to see how Spassky would have continued after 20.Qd2 Bf3! is probably the only winning move, but its point is coming in the next move. (20...Nf3+ is tempting, but 21.gxf3 B xf3 22.Qg5! and White is alive, although Black can get some advantage. 22...Rf4! 23.N xf4 R xf4 24.Qg3 Rg4 25.b5 Black is obviously better, but the fight continues.) 21.h3 to parry Qg4.

18.b4 Very logical play. White wants to push b5 and kick out the d4 knight. However, this move has concrete problems... [18.f3 was stronger with the idea of Bd3, and also a good prophylaxis against the move that happened in the game.] 22


21...Qd8!! A fantastic move with the idea of Qh4. The only way to prevent it is 22.Qh6 Here Black can choose between two promising moves to win material. (22.b5 is refuted nicely by 22...Qh4! and Black can sacrifice all his pieces. 23.bxc6 B xg2! 24.Kxg2 Rf3–+ and mate is coming soon.) 22... Be2 wins an exchange.(22...B xd5 23.cxd5 N xb4 with an extra pawn.) ]

23...Ne1!! Beautiful move. White resigned in view of the following mates.[23...Ne1 24. Rxf7 (24.Qxe1 R xf2–+) 24... Qg2#] 0–1

20... Bxf3! The attack is rolling. 21.gxf3 Nxf3+ 22.Kh1 [22. Rxf3 Rxf3–+ White can’t hold the heavy pieces.] 22...Qh3! 23. Rf2 This allows a pretty finish, but other moves were also losing. [23.Qe2 was the only chance. 23... Nxh2! 24.Qxh2 (24.R xf7 Nf3+–+) 24... Rxf1+ 25. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 26. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 27.Qg1 Qxc4 Black has a winning advantage.; 23. Rc2 loses to 23...Nxh2! 24. Rxh2 (24.R xf7 Nf3+–+) 24... Rxf1+–+]

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Surprise section / study (18) Katsnelson,L 1973 [CEWN] 1. +-

24


Solutions

(21) Tiviakov,S (2655) — Van Kampen,R (2581) Wijk aan Zee B, 22.01.2013

(19) Markos,J (2581) — Varga,Z (2455)

[Solutions]

Slovakian league, 20.01.2013 [Solutions]

30. Rxf7!! Qxf7 [30...Kxf7 31. Rxe6! Qxe6 32.Qf5+!+-] 55... Bxf5+!! 56.gxf5 Rh8!! 57. Rxh8 c1Q =

31. Rxe6! Be7 32. Re3 Rc4 33.Qd7! b5 34.Qxb5! Rec8 35. Bxc4 Rxc4 36. Rxe7 1–0

(20) Nakamura,H (2769) — Aronian,L (2802) Wijk aan Zee, 25.01.2013 [Solutions]

35... R8b2! 36. Rcxc3 Bxc3 37. Rxc3 Rd2 [37... Ra1–+] 38. Rc8+ Kf7 39. Rc7+ Ke6 40.exf6 gxf6–+ 25


(22) Turov,M (2630) — Movsesian,S (2688)

(23) Naiditsch,A (2708) — Timman,J (2566)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

44...Kf7!! 45. Rdxe3 [45.Nc5 Reh8! 46.Nxe4 Rh1+ 47.Kg2 R8h2#]

40.Nxd6! 1–0 [40.Nxd6 Nxd6 41. Rxc3!+-; 40. Rxc3? bxc3 41.Nxc3 Nf6!]

45...Qb1+ 46.Qf1 [46. Rf1 Qxb3! 47. Rxe8 Qxg3+ 48.Qg2 Bxd4+–+] 46... Reh8! 0–1[46... Reh8 47.Qxb1 Rh1+ 48.Kg2 R8h2#]

26


(24) Nikolic,P (2619) — Rapport,R (2621)

(25) Burg,T (2492) — Peralta,F (2617)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

39...c3! 40.Nxc3 Qf4+!! 41.Ke1 [41.Qxf4 Rxb2+ 42.Kf3 Nxf4–+; 41.Kg1 Qg3+–+; 41.Kg2 Nh4+–+; 41.Ke2 Rxb2 42.Qxb2 Qh2+–+]

79. Rxd6! Bxd6 80.Kd7 Bg3 81.Ke6! Kg7 [81... Bxh4 82.Kf6=]

41...Qg3+ 42.Kd1 Rxc3–+ 43. Rb8+ Kg7 44. Rb7+ Kf6! 45.fxg6 Qf3+ 46.Qe2 Qh1+ 0–1

82.h5! gxh5 83.Kf5!= Bc7 84.g6 Kh6 85.g7 Kxg7 86.Kg5 1/2–1/2

27


(26) Korneev,O (2610) — Kersic,M (2204)

(28) Aleksandrov,A (2607) — Swapnil,S (2474)

Nova Gorica Open, 26.01.2013

Chennai Open, 22.01.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28.Nc5+! dxc5 29. Rxd7+-

29. Rxd4!! Nxc3 [29...cxd4 30.Qe5! Nf6 (30...f6 31.Qe6+ Kh8 32.Qf7+-) 31.Qxf6!+-]

(27) Munkhgal,G (2372) — Dao Thien Hai (2531)

30. Rxd7?? [30. Rxe7!!+-]

Asian Zonal tournament, 25.01.2013

30...Nxe2+ 31.Kh2 Qh1+!! 32.Kxh1 Nxg3+ 33.fxg3 Rxd7–+

[Solutions]

17.c6!! Nxd6 [17... Bxc6 18.Nd4! Nxd6 19.Nxc6 Nf5 20.axb5+-; 17...Qxc6 18.Nd4+-] 18.cxd7 1–0 28


(29) Gurvitch,A 1928 [Solutions]

1.Kf5+ Kg7 2. Bh6+!! Kxh6 3.g5+ Kg7 4.gxf6+ Kh6 5. Rb8!! Nf3! [5...Qxb8=] 6. Rxh8 Nxh4+ 7.Ke5 Ng6+ 8.Kf5! Nxh8 9.h4!! Ng6= 1/2

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Weekly Newsletter




A happy Valentine’s day to all our readers!!! Your commentators are preparing a little celebration — CEWN turns 1 Year old with the next issue. :)


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3

»» Puzzle section

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21


23

»» Solutions

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But let’s get back to the chess news: The “normal” chess event of the week is clearly the Cat. 19 double round robin in Baden-Baden, the “Baden Baden Grenke Chess Classic” with Anand, Caruana, Adams and 3 German players: Naiditsch, Fridman and Meier, measuring their chess skills. Caruana is leading right now with a score of 4,5/7 after being quite lucky all in all. The second place is shared by Anand and Naiditsch with 4/7. There are three more rounds to go and everything is possible. The Aeroflot Open, which was for many years the strongest open tournament of the year, switched to rapid and blitz chess. In the rapid event, we have 32 qualified players at the moment. The blitz event was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who was followed by Svidler and Grischuk, and an amazing line up of super -GMs below. As usual, we bring you some fresh commented games from this event. Have fun! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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15.Nd5 Qf7 16.Qa3 a5 17. Rd2 Be6 18.h3 Rfe8 19. Bd1 Bf8 20.Qe3 g4 21.Nh4 gxh3 22.f4 hxg2 23. Rxg2 1/2– 1/2 Ivanisevic,I-Djukic, N/Porto Carras GRE.]

(1) Fridman,D (2667) — Naiditsch,A (2716) [E97] 1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden Baden GER (6), 13.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Just yesterday I managed to win a nice attacking game against my colleague from the National Team. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8. Be3 [8.d5 Ne7 We are at the beginning of a huge Classical King’s Indian line where both sides have a lot of different plans and ideas.] 8...Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 [10. Bc1 f5 leads to complex play where recently Black has had good results. For example 11. Bg5 Qd7 12.exf5 (12.d5 Nd4) 12...exd4 13.f6 (13. Nd5 R xf5 14.h3 Nge5 15.N xe5 dxe5 16.Bg4 Qf7 17.B xf5 B xf5) 13...Nxf6 14.Nxd4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Nxd4 16. Bd3 Ne6 17.Qc2 Nxg5 18.Nxg5 Qg4 19.Ne4 Bd7 20.Nc3 Rae8 21. Be4 c6 22. Rad1 Be6 23.Ne2 Bf5 24. Bxf5 Rxe2 25. Bxg4 Rxc2 1/2–1/2 Le Quang Liem-Gharamian,T/ Belfort FRA.] 10...g5 11. Bg3 Nh6 12.dxe5 [12.d5 Ne7 Black is going to push f5 next. After exf5, White will get the e4 square but that’s not enough to get a clear advantage because thanks to his active pieces, Black will have good chances to create an initiative on the kingside.] 12...fxe5 This is the most fighting move. Daniel is a very solid player, so I thought I would get better chances in an unclear position. [12...dxe5 13.Qb3 Qe7 14. Rad1 Rb8

13.h3!? Probably the idea of this move is to play Nh2, looking for an exchange of the light squared bishops in order to play on the light squares. The problem is that Black can push g4, when the White king will not be very safe. 13...Kh8 I was not sure whether to play Kh8 or Nf7. [13... Nf7!? with the idea of preparing Nd4 and after Nxd4 exd4 Nb5, Black will have c5. 14.c5 dxc5 15. Bc4©] 14.c5 Very logical move by White. Now if I manage to put the knight on d4, I will not have the c7-c5 move to support my knight’s position. 14...g4 [14...dxc5 15.Qxd8 Rxd8 16.Nxg5 Nd4 Even here, with the strong knight on d4, Black should not be worse, although this position is very difficult to evaluate.] 15.hxg4 Bxg4 16.cxd6 cxd6 I think this is the critical moment. During the game I was mainly calculating 17.Nd5 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Nd4 with a very unclear position. My main problem is the knight on h6, so if I have enough time to get it to g5, Black should be doing pretty well, but 3


in order to do that, I need 2 full moves which gives White time to create something. 17.Nd2 Bc8 A nice move. Of course, Black should not exchange the light-squared bishops and my knight is going to g5. [A direct attack would lead nowhere: 17...Qg5 18. Bxg4 (18.Nc4 Nd4) 18...Nxg4 19.Nf3 Qh5 20.Nh2! and White is better.; 17... Be6 18. Bc4÷] 18.Nc4 Nd4 19.Ne3 Nf7 Finally my knight is coming into the game. 20.Nc2 I did not like this move by Daniel. White’s knight should be placed on d5 and not on c2. 20...Ng5 [20...Nxe2+ 21.Qxe2 Qg5 22. Rad1 h5÷] 21. Bd3?! White saves the bishop and prepares Nxd4exd4- Nb5, but now comes

23. Be2 [23.Ne1 Rf6 24.Qa4 Qf7 with a decisive attack. White can’t avoid mate on the h-file.(24...Qh3 Less accurate because the queen on e8 can create some problems for Black. 25.Qe8+ Bf8) ] 23... Rf6 That was the key move of a simple idea, just to give mate on the h-file! 24.Nd5! only move [24. Re1 The idea to escape through the f1 square does not help either. 24...Nh3+ Here Black has quite a few choices to finish the game. One of them is 25.Kf1 Nf4 26.Kg1 Rh6 27. Bf1 Nh3+ 28.Kg2 Qf7! A silent but deadly move. Qh5 next with Nf4 and mate can’t be avoided by White.; It doesn’t help to play 24.Ne3 Qh3 25.Ng4 Bxg4 26.fxg4 Raf8! followed by the lethal Rh6 next.] 24... Rh6 25.f4 Nh3+ 26.Kg2 Here I had 2 options... 26...exf4 [26...Nxf4+ 27.Kf3

21...Ndf3+! [21...Nde6 was the other option I was considering during the game, but Ndf3 was just too tempting :).] 22.gxf3 Qd7! Important move. Now I am preparing to take on f3 and give checkmate with Qh3. [22...Nxf3+ 23.Kg2 Nh4+ 24.Kg1 and Black should repeat moves because other options are worse. 24...Qg5 25. Be2 Bh3 26.Kh2 Bxf1 27.Qxf1±]

The position looks pretty unclear from a human point of view, and I was calculating the main Rh3, but the computer gives an amazing win: 27... Rh2!! Amazing move! White can’t defend from mate. Black wants to play Bh6 next and 28. Bxh2 Qh3+ 29. Bg3 Ng2!! followed by Bg4 mate. But how to find this over the board? I don’t know :).] 4


27. Bh2 A very human move by Daniel, but as usual, the computer finds a better defense. [27.Nd4 was the only way to go for White. 27...Qf7 (27...fxg3 28.fxg3 Ng5 29.Nf5 N xe4 During the game I thought I should be better here, but in fact, things are far from clear.) 28. Rc1 fxg3 29.fxg3 Nf2 30. Rxf2 Rh2+ 31.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 32.Kh1 Bxd4 33.Qf1 What a defense by White! 33...Qxf1+ 34. Rxf1 Bd7 Thanks to the pair of bishops, Black is slightly better, but White has good drawish chances.]

tack.; 36.Nf3 Nxf2–+ That’s why White needed to play 36. Rg1 first.] 36...Nd2+ 37.Ke2 [37.Ke1 Qxd4 38.Qh5 h6–+]

27...f3+ 28. Bxf3 [28.Kxf3 Ng5+ 29.Ke3 Rxh2–+ Black has a free attack now.] 28...Ng5 29.Nf4 The only move to take control of the h3 square. [29. Bg4 Qxg4+ 30.Qxg4 Bxg4–+; 29. Bg3 Qh3+ 30.Kg1 Bg4 31. Bg2 Bxd1 32. Bxh3 Bf3 33. Bg2 Nh3+ 34.Kh1 Nf4+–+] 29... Rxh2+ 30.Kxh2 Be5 Not the most precise. [30... Qf7! would finish the game quickly. 31.Kg2 Qxf4 32. Rh1 Bd7 followed by Rg8 with a mating attack.] 31.Kg2 Bxf4 32. Rh1 Qg7 33.Kf1 Be6 [There was no need for 33... Bh3+ 34. Rxh3 Nxh3 35. Bg4 Ng5 36. Bf5÷] 34.Nd4 Daniel just had a minute on the clock, which makes his position very difficult to play. Objectively, Black has a very strong initiative for the exchange. 34... Bc4+ 35. Be2 Nxe4 36. Bxc4? Decisive mistake! Now White is losing by force. The only way to try to survive was [36. Rg1 Qf6 37.Nf3 to prevent Nd2 37... Bxe2+ (37...Qxb2 38.Qd4+ Qxd4 39.N xd4 Black still has the initiative, but of course, without the queen, it’s not the same as before.) 38.Qxe2 Re8 39.Qb5 Rf8 with a strong at-

37...d5! A very nice move, especially during time trouble. [Daniel prepared a nice trap: 37...Qxd4? 38. Rxh7+! Kxh7 39.Qh1+ and suddenly my king is under attack. 39...Kg6 40. Rg1+ Bg5 41. Bd3+ Kf6 42.Qh5 Qe5+ 43.Kd1 Rg8 44. Rg4 White is a piece down but has practical chances.] 38.Qc2 [Now at 38. Bxd5 Qxd4 White has no saving check on d3 with his bishop.] 38... Re8+ 39.Kd1 Nxc4 The game is over. 40.Qc3 Here I had a lot of winning moves, but the move in the game seemed to be the safest one. 40... Re4 41.Nf5 Nxb2+ 42.Kc2 Re2+ 43.Kb3 Qxc3+ 44.Kxc3 Be5+ 45.Nd4 [45.Kb3 Nc4–+] 45... Re4 and we are getting into a rook endgame with 2 pawns down for White and 0 hopes to make a draw. I was very happy when Daniel gave me a handshake. A nice game to win! :) 0–1 5


(2) Svetushkin,Dmitry (2612) — Matinian,Nikita (2460) [E84] Moscow 2013 (6.11), 07.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] It can be risky to play on open tournaments in Russia. Sometimes you might run into painful crushes by much lower rated opponents... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 This is a popular move nowadays to fight against the Gruenfeld Defence. In the current game, Black decides to transpose to the King’s Indian. 3... Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 This is the initial position of the Saemisch variation. Black has a wide range of different setups here... 5...0–0 6. Be3 Nc6 [6...c5 is also in fashion nowadays.] 7.Nge2

8.Qd2 Re8 A rare sideline not without poison as the game shows. [8... Rb8 is the main move. Here White has plenty of setups, but recently on the top level almost everybody plays 9. Rc1 White is fighting against the b5 move. 9... Bd7 Black prepares for b5 again. (9...b5 immediately drops a pawn: 10.cxb5 axb5 11.N xb5!) 10.Nd1! b5 11.c5! White succeeds to hold his strong center and intends to finish the development with g3, Bg2 and 0–0.] 9.g4 White tries to punish his opponent for his last move. He thinks that it was a waste of tempo, but as we’ll see, it supports Black’s counterplay in the center very well. [9. Rc1 is probably the right move here as well and the game will probably transpose to the 8... Rb8 line with 9... Rb8 10.Nd1 Bd7 11.g3; On 9.h4 Black can successfully stop the attack with 9...h5; The idea of the 8... Re8 move is that after any knight move, for instance 9.Ng3 in order to finish the development with Be2 and 0–0, to play 9...e5 10.d5 Nd4! creating a nice outpost for the knight, which cannot be taken twice, because of Nxe4 at the end.] 9... Rb8 10.h4

7...a6 This is a standard plan in the King’s Indian Defense. We can see it in the g3 systems as well. Black tries to find counterplay on the queenside with Rb8 and b5 against White’s strong center.

6


10...h5! The h5 threat had to be prevented before launching the counterplay with b5 and e5. [10...b5 11.h5 The opening of the h-file would be too dangerous for Black.] 11.g5 [11.gxh5 Nxh5 Black doesn’t need to worry about getting mated here, as the knight on h5 can’t be kicked out with Nf4, because the d4 pawn is hanging.] 11...Nd7 12.f4 White tries to swap Black out of the board. [12. Rc1 was much safer to prevent b5 because White could take twice and the c6 knight falls. Black seems to have difficulties with his passive position, but the computer recommends an unusual plan, which creates strong counterplay again. 12...Na5! 13.b3 c5 and b5 next, with a very unclear position.] 12...b5 13.f5 White is intending to play Nf4, creating fatal threats around the g6 pawn. Black must act quickly.

should not be optimistic with 16...e5! and Black is doing great!) 16...e5 17.d5 Nd4 18. Bg2 followed by 0–0 with an even and, of course, playable position for both sides..; 14.d5 is the usual reaction in such cases, but now after 14...Nd4! 15.Nxd4 exd4 16. Bxd4 Ne5 Black gets very strong counterplay on the dark squares.] 14...exd4! Black opens the position on the king stuck in the center. 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 b4! Another strong intermediate move. Black wants to weaken the e4 pawn. 17.Ne2 [17.fxg7? leads to a lost position. 17...bxc3 18. Bxc3 Rxe4+–+ Nc5 next and the bishop also joins the attack. White can’t hold the position.; 17.Nd5 drops a pawn. 17... Rxe4+ 18. Be2 Bf8 and c6 next, kicking out the knight.]

13...e5!

14.f6 White tries to lock the dark squared bishop and if he succeeds to consolidate the center, the situation of the f8 or h8 bishop should lead to Black’s defeat! [14.fxe6 was probably the safest continuation and leads to a balanced position. 14...fxe6 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Ng3 (16.Nf4 White

17...c5! Yet another intermediate move! Preparing for the following sacrifice! The g7 bishop has been hanging during 4 moves... 18. Bf2 [18.fxg7! White should have simplified the position to a worse rook endgame to try to save the game, but Svetushkin is playing ambitiously against his lower rated opponent. 18...cxd4 19.Qxd4 Nc5 20. Bg2 Bb7 7


21.Ng3 White wants to play 0–0, equalizing completely. 21... Bxe4 22.Nxe4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 Qe7 24.0–0–0 Qxe4 Black will sooner or later take the g7 pawn, but White has good chances to hold the draw.]

22... Rxg3! The final blow! Black eliminates the key defender. 23. Bxg3 Rxe4+ 24. Be2 [24.Kd1 Qf3+ wins the rook and the game.] 18...Nxf6! Excellent decision! Black gets only two pawns for the piece, but the ones on b2 and e4 are hanging and White still has difficulties to finish the development.

24...Qf3! [White resigned in view of 24...Qf3 25. Rg1 Bg4! 26.b3 Bc3! A horrible inal position. We don’t wish anybody this position with the White pieces.]

19.gxf6 Qxf6 20.Ng3 [20. Bg2 was objectively better, but also leads to bad position. 20... Bb7 21.Ng3 Qxb2 22.Qxb2 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Be5 with a big advantage. Black will create a passer by pushing his a-pawn. His bishops are dominating.]

0–1

20...b3!! A powerful Black threatens to take on b2 now. White has a difficult decision: to push a4 leaving the strong b3 pawn on the board, or to take on b3 and invite the Black rook to the attack. 21.axb3 [21. Bg2 Qxb2 wins.; 21.a4 Qxb2 22.Qxb2 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Bc3+ 24.Kd1 Bd7 winning another pawn. White is lost.] 21... Rxb3 22. Ra2 Otherwise Rxb2 finishes the game.

8


(3) Bryzgalin,Kirill (2483) — Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2626) [D23] Moscow 2013 (5.13), 06.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A nice attacking game by the second and compatriot of Vishy Anand. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 The Accepted Queen’s Gambit is getting more and more popular recently. 3.Nf3 Nf6

6...e5! The previous two knight moves were directed at this break. As White can’t push 7.d5 because of Nb6, he must forget about the opening advantage and needs to simplify the position in the center. 7.dxe5 Ndxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Qc2 A small inaccuracy, giving Black a free tempo. Ganguly finds a very nice idea to fight for the initiative. [9.Qb5+ Forcing the active knight was better, although Black is completely fine here as well. 9...Nd7]

4.Qa4+ This is definitely not the best way to fight for an advantage. Ganguly shows a very concrete way to equalize immediately. 4...Nc6! 5.e3 [On 5.Qxc4 Be6 (5...Bg4 is also fine.) 6.Qa4 Bd5 Putting pressure on the d4 pawn is the first idea of the 4...Nc6 move. 7.e3 Qd7 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 e5! and this break is the second point of 4... Nc6.] 5...Nd7! 6.Qxc4 [6. Bxc4 Nb6 Black gets the bishop pair for basically nothing.]

9... Bg4! with the idea of a quick Qd7 and 0–0–0. White has some difficulties to finish the development. The f1 bishop can’t move at the moment. [The most logical 9... Bd6 was obviously also possible, but this leads to an equal position. 10. Bd2 Probably this plan is the most exact way to play. Here Black can’t hope for any advantage. (10.Be2 0–0 11.0–0 is also a balanced position.) 10...0–0 11. Bc3 Qe7 12.Nd2 Rd8 13.Nc4=] 10.Nd2 White would like to play Nc4 and also has the idea with Qe4, which was not possible immediately because of Qd1. [10. Bd2 is not the same anymore 10... Qd7! 11. Bc3 and Black wins an important tempo with 11...0–0–0 12.Nd2 (12.B xe5? Qd1+ 13.Qxd1 R xd1#) 12... 9


Nd3+ 13. Bxd3 Qxd3 14.Qxd3 Rxd3 with a small, but long-term advantage thanks to the pair of bishops.] 10...Qd7! A great move! Looks simple, but it required precise calculation and good intuitions as well. White decide to go for the tactical test of the move. 11.h3 [On 11.Nc4 0–0–0 12. Bd2 Nxc4 13. Bxc4 Bf5! is quite unpleasant. The queen has no good square to leave. For instance 14.Qc3 moves into 14... Be7 and Bf6 with tempo.] 11... Bh5 12.Qe4 It seems like Black has missed this move, but...

15...Qa4! Another strong attacking move! Black is going to increase the pressure on the d2 knight. [15... Bxd2+ 16. Bxd2 Qc6 was also tempting to win back the material, but suddenly White is the one that gets very strong compensation after 17.Qxa7 Qxh1 If White wants, he can force a draw with 18.Qa8+ Kd7 19.Qa4+ because Qc6 loses to Bb5.] 16.Qc4 Qa5! No mercy for the d2 knight.

12...0–0–0!! The sacrific e is justified mainly by the king on e1 and the undeveloped pieces around it. 13.g4 [13.Qxe5 is a worse version than the game. 13... Bb4 14.Qxh5 (14.Qd4 loses to the slightly primitive 14... Qxd4 15.exd4 Rhe8+) 14... Bxd2+ 15.Ke2 is met simply by 15... Bxc1–+ and White can’t take the bishop because of Qd2.] 13... Bg6 14.Qxe5 Bb4 15.Qd4 The only move to save the knight... at least for a while.

17. Be2 White decides to give back the piece and tries to finish the development. Despite the material balance, he can’t hope to get equality because the Black pieces are all much better placed. [On 17.Qe2 Rd7! increasing the pressure to the maximum! 18. Bg2 (18.Rh2 might be the last attempt to defend d2, but White loses after 18...Rhd8 19.f4 Bd3 20.Qf3 B xf1 21.Kxf1 B xd2 The invasion of the Black rooks is going to be decisive.) 18... Bd3 19.Qd1 Rhd8 White can’t solve the problems with 20.a3 Bb5 21.axb4 Qxa1–+ and Ba4 threatens to win more material.] 17... Bxd2+ 18.Kf1 Rhe8! Bringing the last piece to the action as well. White is in serious trouble. He is not in time to play Bf3, Kg2 to solve all the problems. 10


19. Bxd2 Rxd2 20.b4 Qb6 [It was more logical to centralize the queen 20...Qe5 21. Rc1 Be4 22. Rg1 Red8 with a big, probably winning advantage.] 21. Rc1 Qd6 22.a3 a6 Opening the back-rank just in case. Black has time to do anything he wants, since White doesn’t have an useful plan. He can only focus on not blundering something, since the Black pieces are standing in really threatening positions. 23.Qc3 Be4! Black transfers his bishop to the h1–a8 diagonal, where it prevents White from connecting his rooks with Kg2 forever. 24. Rg1 Rd8 After protecting the d2 rook, Black threatens to win immediately with Qh2.

31... Rxf2+! A spectacular final blow![White resigned in view of 31... Rxf2+ 32.Kxf2 (32.Qxf2 Qxc1+ 33.Kg2 Rd2–+) 32... Rd2+ wins the queen.] 0–1

25. Rg3 Bc6 Black frees his queen from protecting the c7 square and also prepares to create a battery with Qd5. 26.g5 Kb8 Another useful prophylactic move before starting the final actions. 27.h4 Ka8 There was already no need for this move, but of course, it doesn’t change anything on the evaluation. [27...Qd5 28. Bf3 Qf5 was winning immediately.] 28.h5 Qd5 29.e4 [29. Bf3 Qf5 Decisive problems with the f2 pawn.] 29...Qxe4 30. Bf3 Qf4 31.Qe3

11


(4) Korobov,Anton (2702) — Antipov,Mikhail Al (2472) [E52] Aeroflot Open Rapid Qualifier 2013 Moscow RUS (2.3), 12.02.2013 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5. Bd3 b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.0–0 d5 [7...c5 is the other main line. 8.Na4 (8.Bd2 cxd4 9.exd4 d5=) 8...cxd4 9.exd4 Re8 10.a3 Bf8 11.b4 d6 12. Bb2 Nbd7 13. Re1; 7... Bxc3 8.bxc3 Be4 9. Be2 c5 10.Nd2 with the idea of playing f3-e4 next.] 8.a3 Be7 A slightly passive move. Usually Black plays 8... Bd6 with the idea of putting the queen on e7 later. [8... Bd6] 9.cxd5 Nxd5 [9...exd5 10.b4 Nbd7 Black has a worse version of this line with the bishop on e7. White has two plans here: to first play Bb2 and then Ne2-Ng3, or Qb3 with the idea b5-a4, activating the bishop on the a3 square.]

central White pawns and over the c-file. It’s very important to notice that compared to the Petrosian line — 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 — White is a tempo up because he didn’t play Qc2-Qe2. 12.Qe2 Nc6 [12...Nd7] 13. Bb2 White could develop the bishop another way as well. [13. Be3 Na5 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15.h4 Typical move. White is going to create weaknesses on the kingside. 15... Rad8 16.h5 Bc6 17.a4 Qb7 18.Nd2 Qd7 19. Bc2 cxd4 20.cxd4 Rc8 21.Nf3 Bb7 22. Bd3 1/2–1/2 Janssen,RCyborowski,L/Emsdetten GER 2009 (41).] 13...Qc7 [13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Bf6 15. Rad1 (15.e5 Be7 In this case, the bishop on b2 is worse than on e3.; 15.Qe3 simple.) 15...Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Bc4 e5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19. Rxd8 Raxd8 with some drawing chances for Black.]

10.e4 Nxc3 11.bxc3

14.d5! This is the usual problem when Black puts his knight on c6. Now thanks to this central break, White is going to activate his bishops, which are well placed to attack the Black king. 11...c5 We have a st ructure from the Petrosian line. White has a better center and the plan to create pressure on the kingside. Black should look for counterplay against the

14...c4 Another typical trick. Black sacrifices the pawn with the idea of getting counterplay on the c-file and not allowing the White bishops the get activated too easily. 12


15. Bxc4 Na5 16. Ba2 exd5 17.exd5 Bf6 18. Rfe1 A good move which prevents Re8. 18... Rad8 19. Rad1 Qc8 Preparing Re8. 20.d6 was probably too quick. [20.c4 Rfe8 21.Qc2 Bxb2 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Qxb2 Nxc4 24.Qb4 Ne5 25.Nxe5 Rxe5 26.d6 Qd7 27.Qf4 Re8 28.h4 Thanks to the strong d6 pawn, White has a huge initiative.]

26. Rde1 White lost the d-pawn, but now the Black king is under huge pressure. One of the reasons is the fact that the Black pieces are placed very far, on the queenside. 26... Rd5 27. Bb1 Kg8

20... Ba6 Black missed his chance to equalize the position after [20... Rfe8 21.Qd3 Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1

28.h4 Good move with idea in some cases support knight on g5 or push h5 after g6.

22... Bxf3! It was possible to overlook this move. Now White is losing his strong d-pawn. 23.gxf3 (23.Qxf3 R xd6 24.g3=) 23...Nb7 24.Qa6 Nxd6 25.Qxa7 Qc6] 21.c4 Bxb2 22.Qxb2 Bxc4 Black wins the pawn back, but thanks to the strong d-pawn and the potential pressure on the kingside, White is clearly better. [22...Nxc4 23.Qb4±] 23. Bb1 [23.Ne5 Bxa2 24.Qxa2 Nc6 25.d7 Qa8 (25... Qb7 26.N xf7+-) 26.Qc4 Nxe5 27. Rxe5 Qb7 28. Re7±] 23...Qc5 24. Re5 Rxd6 25. Bxh7+ Kh8 [25...Kxh7 26.Qb1++-]

28...Nc6 29. R 5e3 [29. Re8 Rd8 and Black is fighting.; 29.Qc2 f5 (29...g6 30.Re6 Bd3 31.Qxc5 R xc5 32.R xc6 R xc6 33.B xd3 Rc3 34.Bb5 R xa3 35.Re7 With his very active pieces, White is better, but in order to win the game, he needs very accurate play.) 30. Rxd5 Bxd5 31.Qd1 with the idea Ng5-Qh5. 31... Rd8 32.Ng5 (32.B xf5 B xf3 33.Qxf3 Nd4 34.Be6+ Kh8 35.Qg4 Re8) 32...g6 33.h5 Bc4 34.Qc1 Bd5 The last hope for Black is to look for a queen exchange. 35.Qb2 Qd4 36.Qe2 Qc4 37.hxg6 Qxe2 38. Rxe2 Kg7 39. Bxf5 Nd4 40. Rd2 Nxf5 41.Ne6+ Bxe6 42. Rxd8 Kxg6 43. Ra8] 29... Ba6? Big blunder, maybe because of time trouble. Black could have played [29...Nd4 30.Ng5 Objectively, White is better thanks to the attack against the king, but the position is complex and any result is possible.] 30. Rc3 Qb5 31.Qc2 1–0 13


Puzzle section

(7) Negi,P (2638) — Felgaer,R (2557) Baden-Baden Open, 09.02.2013

(5) Adams,M (2725) — Caruana,F (2757) Baden-Baden, 10.02.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. =

(8) Ibragimov,I (2555) — Nyzhnyk,I (2637) (6) Iordachescu,V (2610) — Schut,L (2283) Baden-Baden Open, 08.02.2013 [CEWN]

Moscow Open, 05.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

14


(9) Ganguly,S (2626) — Panarin,M (2552)

(11) Mozharov,M (2510) — Reshetnikov,A (2508)


Moscow GM, 06.02.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Nyzhnyk,I (2637) — Tukhaev,A (2517)

(12) Heberla,B (2545) — Djukic,N (2538)


Tringov memorial, 09.02.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

15


(13) Jianu,V (2500) — Dvirnyy,D (2536) Tringov memorial, 09.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Belous,V (2553) — Eliseev,U (2525) Moscow GM, 06.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

16


Endgame section (15) Fridman,D (2667) — Anand,V (2780) Baden-Baden, 10.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

After a long struggle in the middlegame, the following tricky endgame arose. Black is clearly better because the bishop is dominating the knight and the king is ready to go for the queenside pawns. The e4 and f5 pawns are on light squares, so therefore they might be potential targets for the bishop. The question is whether White will be able to build a fortress or not... 42.a3 Kc6 43.Nd2 Bf7 44.c4 The most logical move to cut the king’s route to a4, but this gives additional options for Black. [The concrete 44.Ke3 was probably an easier way to hold the draw. 44...Kb5 45.Kd3

45...Ka4 and now the point is that White has 46.Nc4! The knight is ready to counterattack the Black pawns, while the pawn endgame leads to White’s advantage as we will see... 46...b5 (46... Bxc4+? 47.Kxc4 White quickly collects the f6 pawn and then his f-pawn is really fast. 47...b6 (47... Kxa3 48.Kxc5 Kb3 49.Kd6 Kxc3 50.Ke7 b5 51.Kxf6 b4 52.Kxe5 b3 53.f6 b2 54.f7 b1Q 55.f8Q with good chances for White.) 48.Kd5 Kb3 49.Ke6 Kxc3 50.Kxf6 Kd4 51.Ke6 c4 52.f6 c3 53.f7 c2 54.f8Q c1Q 55.Qb4+ After the e5 pawn falls, only White can win this game.) 47.Nd6 The knight extremely well placed on d6, where it always attacks b5, and Black has no chance to take on a3. White comfortably holds the draw.] 44...b5! Anand opens the path for his king again. [44... Kb6 Black cannot break through with 45.Ke3 Ka5 because of 46.Nb3+ and the king must retreat.] 45.Ke3

17


45...b4! Excellent practical decision. Unfortunately for the World Champion, Fridman is a great defender and holds the draw by finding all the only moves. [45...bxc4 46.Nb1!= was the idea, and after settling the knight on c3, the Black king has no invading square.]

48... Bh5 [48... Be8 would have been a better try, although it seems to lead to a draw as well after an accurate defense by White. 49.Nf1!! Only this move seems to hold. (49.Kb2 Ka4 50.axb4 Kxb4 is hopeless.; Now on 49.Ka2 Ka4 50.Nb3 bxa3 51.N xc5+ Kb4–+ Black is w inning. The huge difference in comparison to the game is that White can’t play Nd7 now.; 49.axb4+ cxb4 will lead to a similar scenario to the one after 48... Bh5 49.axb4.) 49... Ba4+ 50.Kb2 Bd1 This is the standard winning technique, with the idea of invading with the king, but now White can launch his counterplay with the knight. 51.Ne3 Bf3 52.Nd5 Bxe4 53.Nxf6 Bxf5 Black is a pawn up, but the position seems to be a draw, as White can create a blockade.

46.Kd3 [After the most tempting 46.axb4? White is probably lost. 46...cxb4 47.Kd3 Kc5 White is in zugzwang, he has only one move to avoid losing the c4 pawn. 48.Nb3+ Kb6 and this is another zugzwang. The pawns have no moves, the king can’t leave because of the c4 pawn and any of the knight moves give a freeway for the king to invade through a5-a4... 49.Nd2 Ka5 Black retains excellent winning chances.] 46...Kb6 [46...bxa3 is not dangerous. 47.Kc3 White wins back the pawn and has an unbreakable fortress.] 47.Kc2 Ka5 Black threatens Ka4, forcing White to take on the b4, when Kxb4 will lead to the inevitable loss of the c4 pawn. 48.Kb3! Another only move! [48.Nb3+? would have lost again. 48...Ka4 49.Nxc5+ (49.axb4 Kxb4–+) 49...Kxa3–+]

54.Kb3 bxa3 55.Kxa3 e4 56.Nd5 Be6 57.Ne3 Black can only try to break through with the king on the kingside, but this allows access to the c5 pawn. 57...Kb6 58.Kb3! A necessary waiting move! (On the direct 58.Ka4 Bd7+! 59.Kb3 Kc7! and Black is in time to get his king to f4 or d4.) 58...Kc6 (58...Bd7 White has an extra tempo now, in comparison to 58. Ka4 Bd7 line. This allows him to get his king to e3... 59.Nd5+ Kc6 60.Kc3 Kd6 61.Kd2 Ke5 62.Ke3 Be6 63.Nc3 B xc4 64.N xe4=) 59.Ka4! Kd6 60.Kb5! Black can’t make progress.] 18

Issue 51 (16) Meier,Geo (2640) — Caruana,F (2757) [D12]


1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden Baden GER (6), 13.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

49.Ka2!! Only move! [49.Kb2 Ka4 and a3 is hanging with check!; 49.axb4+ cxb4 50.Nf1 seems to hold as well, but Black has a subtle winning plan. With the disappearance of the c5 pawn, the Black king has access to the d4 square. He can achieve this with some nice maneuvering. (50.c5 Kb5 51.c6 Bf7+ 52.Kc2 Kxc6–+) 50... Bd1+ 51.Kb2 Bf3! Forcing the knight to d2, to prevent the Ne3-d5 counterplay. 52.Nd2 Be2 53.Kb3 Bd1+ 54.Kb2 Kb6! and Kc5 next.] 49...Ka4 [49... Be2 50.Nb3+ Kb6 51.Nd2 Black can’t make progress.; 49... Bd1 50.Nb3+ Bxb3+ 51.Kxb3 bxa3 52.Kxa3 The pawn endgame is dead drawn.] 50.Nb3 bxa3 51.Nxc5+ Kb4 52.Nd7! And again the knight is just in time to get counterplay.

34.Qxd4 Thanks to the advanced pawns on the queenside, White is better in this endgame and Black needs accurate play to avoid problems. 34...Kg8 Black’s kin g is coming closer to the queenside to be, for example, after Qd6, on time to catch the pawn. 35.b6 axb6 36.cxb6 Now in this structure, Black will have to pay attention constantly to the a5-a6 threat. 36...Qe7 The other defensive idea was to keep the queen on a6. [36...Qc8 37.a5 Qa8 38.Qe5 Qa6 39.h4]

52... Bf7 53.Nxf6 Bxc4+ 54.Ka1 Kc3 55.Ng4 Kd4 56.Nxh6 Kxe4 57.Ng4 Kf4 58.Nxe5 Draw agreed, since the a1 promoting square doesn’t match the bishop. A tenacious defense by Fridman! 1/2

19


37.a5 Maybe more accurate was to immediately make the h2 square available for the White king to escape from checks and play [37.h4!? Qa3 38.Qd7 Qa1+ 39.Kg2 Qxa4 40.Qxb7 Qe4+ 41.Kh2 Qc2 42.Qb8+ Kh7 43.Qf4 Qb2 44.Qe4+ (44.Qe3 Qb5 With idea c5) 44...Kg8 45.Qxc6 Qxf2+ 46.Kh3

41.Kf3 Qd3+ 42.Kg2 Qc4 43.Qc7 Qe4+ 44.Kg1 Qe1+ 45.Kg2 Qe4+ 46.Kg1 Qe1+ 47.Kg2 Qe4+ 1/2

46...Qf1+ 47.Qg2 Qb5 48.b7 and in a practical game it’s always unpleasant to play against a so far advanced pawn, like the one on b7.] 37...Qa3 The best place for the Black queen to stop the a6 idea and look for perpetual checks. 38.Qe5 [38.Qd8+ Kh7 39.Qd7 Qxa5 40.Qxb7 Qe1+ 41.Kg2 Qe4²] 38...Kh7 39.h4 Qd3 40.Kg2 [40.Qf4 f6 (40...Kg8? 41.Qb8+ Kh7 42.Qxb7 Qd1+ 43.Kg2 Qd5+ 44.Kh2 Qf3 45.Qa6 Qxf2+ 46.Kh3 Maybe the White king can escape from the checks.) 41.Qe3 Qb5 42.Qa3 Qb1+ 43.Kh2 Qc2] 40...Qc4 The very active Black king won’t allow White to improve his position.

20


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Rubinetti,Jorge Alberto [B87] Palma de Mallorca Interzonal Palma de Mallorca (17), 02.12.1970 [Csaba Balogh] A typical Sicilian crush by Fischer. The game shows the ideas of the 6. Bc4 system against the Najdorf very well. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6. Bc4 Fischer liked to develop his bishop to c4 in almost all the Sicilian variations. 6...a6 7. Bb3

7...b5 8.0–0 White’s main idea in these structures with the bishop on b3 is to put pressure against the e6 pawn. The most direct way to do it is to play f4-f5, when Black is forced to push e5, but this leaves him with a d5 hole during the whole game.

8... Bb7 This most logical move is an inaccuracy. It leaves the e6 pawn unprotected... [Theory rightly considers 8... Be7 to be the best. Most of the games continue with 9.Qf3 Qc7 10.Qg3 0–0 11. Bh6 Ne8 12. Rad1 Bd7 with still hundreds of games, but it is given as fine for Black.] 9. Re1 Fischer prepares the other idea of the Bc4 system, namely the piece sacrifice on d5 and f5. 9...Nbd7 [Black can’t close the e-file and finish the development with 9... Be7 because the standard sacrifice gives a huge attack for White. 10. Bxe6! fxe6 11.Nxe6 Qd7 12.Nxg7+ Kf7 13.Nf5 White got 3 pawns for the bishop, but the fact that the Black king is „naked” is more important. Bg5 is coming with power.] 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 Nc5?! Black would like to solve the problems around the e6 square. With his last move, he covers the e6 pawn and is ready to play Be7.. . However, another kind of problem is waiting for him now! [11... Be7 is still bad because of the same reason. 12. Bxe6! fxe6 13.Nxe6 Qc8 14.Nxg7+ Kf7 15.Nf5+- with an enormous attack.; 11...g5! is probably the only move to stay in the game. 12. Bg3 Ne5 and the gam es in the database were unclear. It’s interesting that the machine recommends a novelty here: 13.Nxe6!? fxe6 14. Bxe6 and gives this as more than enough compensation with the idea Nd5 nn the next move. I am not sure whether this sacrifice is correct, but it’s definitely a very exciting one. 14... Be7 15.Nd5]

21


15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16.Nd5! Black will still get in trouble if he accepts the sacrifice. 16...exd5 17.exd5+ Kd8 18.Nc6+ Kc7 19.a3!+- This is probably the strongest move, although Qxf7 was also fine. Now the queenside is opening on the Black king.]

12. Bd5!! This brilliant move confuses the development of the Black pieces. This kind of sacrifices are already standard motifs and come without thinking from a Bc4 player, but of course, at that time, when the game was being played, Fischer had to find them over the board. 12...exd5 Too greedy decision, but the position is bad in any case. [12... Be7 13. Bxb7 Nxb7 14.Nc6 Qc7 15.Nxe7 Qxe7 16.Nd5 exd5 17.exd5; 12...Qc8 allows the destruction of the pawn structure. 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qh5! Black has serious problems after this move. 14...b4 Black tries to kick out the d5 bishop, but suddenly another piece replaces it there. (The d5 bishop is still poisoned: 14...exd5 15.exd5+ Kd8 16.Qxf7 wins.)

13.exd5+ Kd7 The king’s position might look more or less safe at first sight, but after a few moves all the lines will open against it. [13... Be7 loses on the spot after 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nf5+-] 14.b4! Na4 There was no other square for the knight. 15.Nxa4 bxa4 16.c4! White is threatening Qxa4 and wants to open the position with c5! 16...Kc8 There is no shelter for the king... 17.Qxa4 Qd7 18.Qb3 Obviously, White needs the queens on the board for an effective attack. 18...g5 19. Bg3 Nh5 Black would like to eliminate the attacking pieces. First the bishop, then the knight with Bg7... However, the attack is rolling faster.

20.c5! dxc5 [20...Nxg3 is met with the intermediate move 21.c6!+-] 22


21.bxc5 Qxd5 This loses on the spot! [21... Bxd5 was the only critical continuation, but here the attack breaks through as well. 22.Qb6! The main threat is Re8 Qxe8 Qc7! 22...Qb7 (22...N xg3 is refuted by 23.c6!+- and Black can’t control the e8 and b7 squares with his queen.) 23.Qa5! Nxg3 (23...Bg7 24.Nf5+- is over. Nd6 next for example.) 24.c6! This is the most direct way to win, but hxg3 was also good. 24... Bxc6 25.Nxc6 Qxc6 and Black must resign after 26.hxg3! because Rc1 is coming next. (26.Rac1?? immediately would have changed the final outcome because of the small tactical trick 26...Ne2+!) ]

Surprise section / study (18) Comay,O 1974 [CEWN] 1. =

22. Re8+ Kd7 23.Qa4+! Bc6 24.Nxc6! [Black resigned in view of 24.Nxc6 Kxe8 (24...Qxc6 25.Rd1++-) 25. Re1+ Kd7 and here, for instance 26.Na7+ Kd8 27. Re8#] 1–0

23


Solutions

(20) Muzychuk,M (2471) — Vazquez Igarza,R (2566)

(19) Muzychuk,M (2471) — Teran Alvarez,I (2399)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25. Rxg7!! Kxg7 26. Rd3! Rxe5 [26...Qxd4 27. Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Qg3+ Kf8 29.Qf3 Kg7 30.Qxb7+-; 26... Rxd4 27. Rg3+ Kf8 28.Qxf6+-] 27.Qxe5 Rd5 30.Qxh6++-

28. Rg3+

Kf8

29.Qxf6

Qxd4

27... Rxc3! 28.Qxc3 Bb5+ 29. Rd3 [29. Re2 Bxe2+ 30.Kxe2 Be5 31.Qc5 d4–+] 29...Qa6 [29... Be5 30.Qd2 Qa6 31. Rd1 d4 32. Bg5 f6 33. Bh4 g5 34. Bg3 Bxg3 35.fxg3 Re3–+] 30. Red1 Be5! 31.Qc2 d4 32.f4 [32. Bc1 Rc8–+; 32. Bg5 f6–+] 32... Rc8 33.Qb1 Rc3–+

24


(21) Omar,N (2314) — David,A (2599)

(23) Shirov,A (2708) — Al Sayed,M (2507)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15.d5!! 1–0[15.d5 Nxd5 (15...B xd5 16.B xf5 exf5 17.B xb6 axb6 18.Qxd5+-; 15...exd5 16.b5+-) 16.b5! Nxc3 17.Nxc3+-]

28... Bg7? [28...Qe3+! 29.Kb1 (29.Kd1 Nb2#) 29... Bg7! 30. Rxc4 Qe1+ 31.Ka2 Qa1+ 32.Kb3 Qb2#]

(22) Trent,L (2429) — Sutovsky,E (2684)

29. Rxc4! Qe3+ 30.Kd1! Re8 [30...bxc4 31. Rxd6++-]


31. Rxd6+ Ka5 32. Ra4+! 1–0[32. Ra4+ Kxa4 33. Rxa6#]

[Solutions]

31...f2+!! 32.Qxf2 [32.Kh2 Rxh4+ 33.Kg3 Rh1!–+; 32.Kxf2? Rf8] 32... Rf8! [32...Nxe5? 33.Qf5+] 33.Qe3 Re4! 34.Qxh6 Rxe5–+ 25


(24) Bartel,M (2629) — Womacka,M (2442)

(25) Khismatullin,D (2655) — Tsydypov,Z (2384)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

19. Rxd4! Rxd4 20.b3! Qc7 [20...Qc5 21. Be3!+-]

37...Ne4+!! 38.Qxe4 [38.fxe4 Qf4+ 39.Ke1 Nd4+ 40.Kd2 Rf3+–+]

21.Nxd4+-

38... Rxe4 39.d6+ Kf6 40. Rf8+ Kg5! 41.fxe4 Qxd6–+ [41...Qh4+ 42.Kxe2 Qxe4+–+]

26


(26) Nyzhnyk,I (2637) — Nyudleev,D (2372)

(27) Svane,R (2394) — Jones,G (2641)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

39. Rf8+! 1–0 [39. Rf8+ Kg7 40.Nf5+ Kxf8 41.Nxe3+-]

28. Rh7+!! Kxh7 29.e5+! Kg8 [29...f5 30.Qh2+ Kg8 31.e6 Ne5 32.gxf5+-] 30.Qh2! dxe5 31. Bg6 [31.Qh7+ Kf8 32. Bg6 Ra7 33.Ne4+-] 31... Ra7 32.Ne4 f5 33.Qh7+ Kf8 34. Bxf7 Rxf7 35.Qh8+ Ke7 36.Qxe5+ Kf8 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.d6+ Kd7 39.Nxc5+ 1–0

27


(28) Smeets,J (2613) — Ftacnik,L (2547)

(29) Katsnelson,L


1973

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24.Nc4!! Qxe4 [24...Qxc4 25.Qxc4 Rxc4 26. Rb8+ Bf8 27. Bh6+-; 24...Nxe4 25.d5! Qa4 (25...Qc7 26.Qxe4+-) 26.Nb6+-; 24...Na4 25.Nxa5±]

1. Rf7! Kg6! 2.h7! Ra6 3. Rf6+!! 1–0

25.Qxc3! Qe6 [25...d5 26.Nd2 Rxc3 27. Rb8+ Bf8 28.Nxe4 dxe4 29. Bh6+-] 26.Qd3! Rxc4 27.Qxc4! 1–0[27.Qxc4 Qxc4 28. Rb8+ Bf8 29. Bh6+-]

28

Weekly Newsletter

Numéro 52 22 février 2013

Numéro 52 Préface de la rédaction

22 février 2013

Table des matières »» Préface de la rédaction

2

»» 4 meilleures parties de la semaine passée

3

»» Section de puzzles

14

»» Section des finales

17

»» Choc des titans

23

»» Section de surprise / études

25

»» Solutions

26

Avec ce numéro, la CEWN fête son premier anniversaire et nous avons un petit cadeau pour vous: si vous achetez un livre sur www.chess-evolution.com, vous obtiendrez gratuitement une seconde copie du même livre gratuitement ! N’oubliez pas de préciser votre numéro d’abonnement. N’oubliez pas non plus de renouveler votre abonnement sur www.chess-newsletter.com. Les Grenke Leasing Chess Classics ont été remportés par Vishy Anand, qui n’a pas montré des échecs spectaculaires, mais très pratiques. Fabiano Caruana a terminé deuxième, mais avec la chance qu’il a eu lors de ce tournoi, il méritait clai de gagner. :) Le rapide Aeroflot a été remporté par Karjakin lors de la partie de mort subite contre Grischuk, que nous avons commentée pour vous cette semaine! L’Open de Reykjavik vient de commencer et plusieurs très forts GM y participent : Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, Navara, Sokolov, etc etc. Bonne lecture à toutes et à tous! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 meilleures parties de la semaine passée (1) Shomoev,A (2557) — Ganguly,S (2626) [E94] Aeroflot Open Rapid Qualifier 2013 Moscow RUS (7.15), 13.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Voici une autre superbe partie du rapide de l’Aeroflot. Nous allons voir une attaque tres spectaculaire de Shomoev. 1.c4 Cf6 2.Cc3 g6 3.e4 Les blancs hoisissent normalement cet ordre de coups afin d’eviter la Gruenfeld. 3...d6 4.d4 Fg7 5.Cf3 0–0 6. Fe2 e5 7.0–0 Nous sommes dans la ligne principale de l’Est-Indienne. 7...exd4 [7...Cc6 est l’autre ligne principale.] 8.Cxd4 Te8 9.f3 c6 10.Rh1 Ch5 Ce coup a ete introduit par l’expert de l’Est-Indienne, Radjabov. Il joue ces structures a merveille avec les noirs, mais cette ligne est tres compliquee et les noirs doivent etre prudents. [10... d5 est l’autre variante.] 11.g4 Cf6 Il semblerait que les noirs aient simplement perdu un temps, mais cela n’est pas exactement le cas. Les blancs ont enormement affaibli leur aile roi, ce qui donne de bonnes chances de contre-attaque aux noirs. 12. Ff4 Les blancs ommencent immediatement a mettre la pression sur le pion d6, ce qui est tres logique. 12...h5

13.Cf5!? Et l’action commence! [13.g5 Ch7 14. Tg1 Ca6 menerait a un jeu peu clair.] 13...gxf5 Les noirs sont obliges d’accepter le sacrifice. 14.gxf5 Voici la premiere position critique. Que faire avec les noirs maintenant. L’idee des blancs est simple: jouer Tg1, peut-etre suivi de De1–h4 et doubler les tours sur la colonne g. Ca a l’air d’etre un „plan lent”, mais ce n’est pas simple pour les noirs de faire quelque chose d’actif. La structure blanche e4-f5 est ultra solide. 14...Cbd7 Les noirs amenent leur cavalier de b8 vers e5. Une decision tres logique. [Tenter d’agir immediatement au centre ne menerait a rien: 14...d5 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.e5! Et les noirs n’ont deja rien de mieux que de rendre la piece: 16... Fxf5 17.exf6 Dxf6 18.Cxd5 Avec une attaque de mat.] 15. Tg1 Rh8 Les blancs ont maintenant le choix entre plusieurs continuations. 16.De1 Suivre son plan initial est normalement une bonne idee dans une partie rapide. [16.Dxd6; 16. Fxd6 Ces deux coups meneraient a un jeu peu clair.] 16...Ce5? Les noirs n’auraient pas du permettre a la dame blanche d’aller en h4. [16...Ch7! semble etre le seul coup. 17. Td1 Avec une forte attaque pour les blancs.] 3


17.Dh4 Les blancs veulent jouer Txg7 suivi de Tg1 et Fg5. Il est tres difficile de trouver une defense pour les noirs. 17...Ch7 Mieux vaut tard que jamais, mais l’attaque blanche est completement devastatrice maintenant. 18.Dxh5 De7 19. Tg3! Un autre tres fort coup! Les blancs ne menacent pas seulement de jouer Tag1, mais aussi Th3. 19...Cd7 Sauvant le cavalier h7, mais pas la partie... 20. Tag1 Cdf6 21.Dh4! Les blancs choisissent une tres bonne case pour la dame et preparent deja le sacrifice de dame. 21...Cxe4 [Si les noirs continuaient de passivement defendre par 21... Tg8 22. Fg5! suivi de Th3 mettrait un terme a la partie sur-le-champ.]

24... Fxf5! La seule chance pratique des noirs. 25.exf5 Tg8 Il y a toujours beaucoup de tension dans la partie. Les blancs doivent continuer de jouer de maniere dynamique. 26. T7g3?! Pas le meilleur coup... [26. Fg5! aurait ete le bon choix tactique. 26...De5 27. Txf7 Et les noirs ne peuvent pas empecher Ff6.] 26... Txg3 27. Txg3 Tg8 Les noirs se sentent un peu plus a l’abri apres l’echange d’une paire de tours, mas leur position reste assez mauvaise. 28. Th3+ Rg7 29. Fh6+ Rf6 30. Te3 Les blancs entent de mater le roi noir, ce qui est bien sur la bonne chose a faire. 30...Dc7 31. Fd3 Un coup humain, mais les noirs ont maintenant un extraordinaire moyen de s’echapper! [31. Ce4+ donnerait une attaque de mat aux blancs, meme si cette position est bien sur difficile a jouer lors d’une partie rapide.]

22.Dxh7+!! Quel superbe coup! Les blancs n’ont que deux pieces pour la dame, mais les noirs sont completement paralyses... 22...Rxh7 23. Txg7+ Rh8 24.fxe4 La position blanche est completement gagnante. Ils veulent maintenant jouer T7g5 suivi de Th5 mat!

31...Db6! Un bon coup. Les noirs attaquent la tour e3 et le pion b2.

4


32.Ce4+ Rxf5? Les noirs rentrent dans un reseau de mat. [32...Re7! etait le bon coup. Les blancs ont l’air „d’avoir quelque chose”, mais ce quelque chose n’est en fait peut-etre rien. 33. Te1 Rd8 Le roi noir est enfin a l’abri. La position n’est pas claire.]

(2) Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2766) — Le,Quang Liem (2705) [D47]

33.Cg3+! Rg4 34. Ff5+ Rh4 35. Te4+ Quelle fantastique position de mat!! :)

Voici une superbe partie d’attaque de la part de Mamedyarov.

1–0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Cc3 Cf6 4.e3 e6 5.Cf3 Cbd7 La position de depart de la variante Meran. Recemment 6.Dc2 etait le coup le plus populaire, mais la grande ligne principale 6. Fd3 est en train de revenir a la mode.

Aeroflot Open Rapid Final Moscow RUS (1.2), 16.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh]

6. Fd3 dxc4 7. Fxc4 b5 8. Fd3 Les noirs ont plusieurs choix ici et Le Quang decide de jouer une continuation tres tranchante. 8... Fb7 9.e4 Les blancs ont construit un joli centre et les noirs vont etre obliges de se battre contre celui-ci lors des prochains coups. 9...b4 10.Ca4 c5 Les noirs ont reussi a attaquer les pions centraux. Nous n’en sommes qu’au debut de la theorie. 11.e5 Cd5 12.0–0 cxd4 13.Cxd4!? Une alternative tres tranchante a la ligne principale 13. Te1. Ce coup implique un sacrifice de pion, qui aurait du etre accepte si les noirs voulaient tester la ligne. [13. Te1 g6 est possible. Le Quang a sans doute confondu la partie avec cette ligne.] 13...g6? Les noirs vont payer cher ce coup qui a pourtant l’air tres logique. [13...Cxe5 est le coup critique. 14. Fb5+ Cd7 15. Te1 Toutes les pieces blanches sont dirigees contre le roi noir. 15... Tc8! Il fallait empecher Cc6. La position noire semble tres douteuse, mais ils arrivent a tout tenir. La partie de haut niveau la plus recente avait 5


continue par 16.b3 (16.Dh5 g6 17.De5 Df6 est la ligne principale qui est consideree comme acceptable pour les noirs.) 16... Fe7

17. Txe6! Les noirs semblent etre en difficulte, mais s’ils arrivent a garder leur sang froid ils devraient s’en sortir. 17...0–0! (17...fxe6? perd apres 18.Cxe6 Da5 19.Cxg7+ Rd8 (19...Rf8 20.F xd7 Avec une attaque gagnante.) 20.Ce6+ Re8 21.Dh5# Quel joli mat.) 18.Cc6 Fxc6 19. Txc6 Les blancs ont la paire de fous, mais leur cavalier en a4 est meplace. La partie a continue par 19...Cc7 20. Ff1 Ce5 21.Dxd8 Tfxd8 22. Tc2 Cd5 23. Txc8 Txc8 24. Fb2 Avec un petit avantage pour les blancs, mais les noirs ont reussi a annuller sans trop de problemes dans Riazantsev-Ragger, Plovdiv 2012] 14.f4! Fe7? Ceci est sans doute l’erreur decisive. Les blancs lancent une attaque decisive avec de nombreux sacrifices. [14...a6 avait ete joue dans une autre partie de Mamedyarov et il avait gagne dans un style similaire: 15.f5!! Dh4 (15...C xe5 16.fxe6 L’ouverture des lignes sera fatale au roi noir.; 15...gxf5 perd apres 16.C xe6! fxe6 17.Dh5+ Cet echec est la principale idee derriere le sacrifice f5. 17...Re7 18.Fg5++-) 16.fxe6 Dxd4+ 17.Rh1 0–0–0

(17...fxe6 perd la dame apres 18.F xg6++-) 18.exd7+ Rb8 19. Fxa6 Dxe5 (19...Dxd1 20.Txd1 F xa6 21.Txd5 est aussi completement gagnant pour les blancs.) 20. Te1+- Les noirs ont abandonne quelques coups plus tard dans Mamedyarov-Nepomniachtchi, Dagomys 2008.; Il est tres bizarre qu’aucune partie n’ait cotinue avec l’idee normale de g6. 14... Fg7 Les noirs semblent obtenir une position completement jouable. 15. Fd2 (15.f5? ne marche pas a cause de 15...exf5 et apres e6 le cavalier d4 est en prise sur echec.) 15...0–0 16.De2 De7 Avec des chances de part et d’autre.]

15.f5!! Les blancs lancent une attaque devastatrice. 15...exf5 [15...Cxe5 perd apres 16. Fb5+! suivi de fxe6.; 15...gxf5 perd de maniere similaire a la ligne 14...a6: 16.Cxe6! fxe6 17.Dh5+ Rf8 18. Fh6+ Rg8 19. Fxf5! exf5 20.Dxf5 Les noirs ne peuvent pas parer tous les echecs sur les cases blanches.] 16.e6! Les blancs doivent ouvrir toutes les lignes et diagonales devant le roi noir. 16...C7f6 [16...fxe6 17.Cxe6 Da5 18. Fxf5! est aussi horrible pour les noirs comme ils ne peuvent pas roquer a cause du cavalier e6. 18...gxf5? 19.Dh5#] 6


17. Fb5+ Rf8

18.Cxf5! [Commencer par 18. Fh6+! Rg8 19.Cxf5! etait sans doute legerement plus precis. 19...fxe6 (19...gxf5 transpose vers la partie.) 20.De2 gagne de maniere elegante.(20.C xe7+ Dxe7 21.Dd4 Cette position est aussi gagnante grace a la domination des pieces blanches.) ]

23.Df3 [23.Dd3 etait sans doute le coup le plus precis, avec l’idee de Txh7 Rg8 et Dg6 mat, mais le coup du texte est aussi tres fort.] 23...Dd6 24. Tf1 Fc6 25.Dh5! 1–0

18...gxf5 [18...fxe6 etait plus tenace, mais la position noire reste tres desagreable. 19.Cxe7 Dxe7 20. Fh6+ Rf7 21.Dd4+- suivi de Fg5 et du doublement des tours sur la colonne f.] 19. Fh6+ Rg8 20. Txf5 Les noirs ne peuvent pas empecher Tg5! La fin est proche. 20...fxe6 21. Tg5+ Rf7 22. Tg7+ Rf8 Il est bizarre que les blancs n’aient pas de gain direct dans cette position, mais ils peuvent simplement activer leur dame et tour et la position noire va automatiquement tomber en pieces.

7


(3) Anand,Viswanathan (2780) — Fridman,Daniel (2667) [C42] 1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden-Baden GER (9.1), 16.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Il y a quelques semaines, nous avions analyse la fantastique victoire d’Anand contre Aronian. Voici une autre partie ou le Champion du Monde n’a pas du faire un seul coup sur l’echiquier, seulement derouler sa preparation.

8.c4 Cb4 9. Fe2 0–0 10.Cc3 Ff5 11.a3 Cxc3 12.bxc3 Cc6 13. Te1 Te8 14.cxd5 Dxd5 15. Ff4 Tac8 Voici ce qui est consideree la position initiale de cette ligne. Des centaines de parties ont ete jouees ici, mais la theorie dit que les noirs sont ok. Anand choisit le coup le plus joue. 16.h3 h6 17.Cd2 Ca5 18. Ff3 Shirov a employe ce coup a deux reprises, mais il n’a pas reussi a obtenir d’avantage. 18...Dd7 19.Ce4 [19.Cb3 etait moins dangereux. 19... Cxb3 20.Dxb3 b6 Les noirs ont egalise dans Shirov-So 2000.]

1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cf6 Fridman avait deja joue la Petroff a deux reprises lors de ce tournoi et Anand pouvait donc s’attendre a cette ouverture. 3.Cxe5 d6 4.Cf3 Cxe4 5.d4 La ligne principale. Recemment 5.Cc3 etait devenu bien plus populaire. 5...d5 6. Fd3 Cc6 7.0–0 Fe7 Les noirs ont aussi le choix entre differents systemes, mais depuis que Kramnik a commence a jouer celui-ci en 2004, de nombreux forts joueurs l’ont imite. Anand lui-meme l’a joue quelques fois et Fridman a une douzaine de parties dans cette ligne.

19... Tcd8 Nous suivons pour le moment la partie Akopian-Kasimdzhanov de 2009, ce qui est interessant comme Kasimdzhanov est l’un des principaux secondants d’Anand, mais il a aussi ete l’entraineur de l’equipe d’Allemagne en 2009, quand ils ont gagne le Championnat d’Europe par equipes. 20. Ta2! Voila la nouveaute. Il serait interessant de savoir qui l’a trouvee, mais cela restera le secret de l’equipe d’Anand. [Akopian avait joue 20.Cg3 Fg6 21. Fh5 mais les noirs avaient facilement egalise apres 21... Fd6 22. Fxd6 Txe1+ 23.Dxe1 cxd6 24. Fxg6 fxg6=] 8


20...b6 est un coup normal dans cette ligne. Les noirs ont une structure tres stable a l’aile dame, tandis que le pion a3 pourrait etre une cible au long terme. 21. Tae2! Fxa3 Fridman croque le pion empoisonne. Il aurait du se douter que le Champion du Monde avait prepare une replique venimeuse. [21... Ff8 semble etre une alternative plus solide. Il n’est pas claire comment les blancs veulent se battre pour l’avantage ici, mais Anand avait sans doute quelques idees. 22.Cg3 (22.F xh6 se heurte a 22...F xe4) 22... Fg6 23. Fg4 Dc6 Les noirs semblent etre ok.]

22. Fg4!! Il est facile de louper ce coup dans ses calculs. Les blancs ont soudain plusieurs menaces tactiques, la principale etant liee a Cf6. 22... Tf8? Fridman quitte le clouage, mais ce coup mene a une mauvaise position. [L’idee est qu’apres 22... Fxg4 23.Cf6+!! gagne du materiel de maniere forcee. 23... gxf6 24. Txe8+ Txe8 25.Dxg4+! Cet echec intermediaire gagne la tour. 25...Dxg4 26. Txe8++-; Mais apres le coup de l’ordinateur, 22... Fe6!! les noirs semblent tenir, meme s’il serait tres difficile de trouver tous les coups suivants durant la partie. 23. Fxh6 Le coup critique. 23... Fxg4! (23...

f5 mene a une mauvaise position. 24.Fg5 fxg4 25.F xd8 Dxd8 26.hxg4 Le materiel est plus ou moins egal, mais le roi noir est trop expose et les pieces blanches ne vont pas tarder a l’attaquer.) 24.hxg4 (La grande difference par rapport a 22... Fxg4 est que le fou est en h6 et donc en prise apres 24.Cf6+ gxf6 25. Txe8+ Txe8 26.Dxg4+ (Les blancs doivent jouer 26.Txe8+! Rh7 et la partie n’est pas claire.) 26...Dxg4 27. Txe8+ Rh7 28.hxg4 Rxh6) 24... Txe4 25. Txe4 gxh6 Les blancs doivent agir rapidement, sinon les noirs vont consolider leur position par Ff8. Les blancs peuvent forcer la nulle ici, ce qui est peut-etre la meilleure solution dans cette position: 26.g5 (26.Dd2 Ff8 27.g5 Cc4 28.Df4 Cd6) 26...hxg5 27. Te5 f6

Apres la petite combinaison 28. Txa5! bxa5 29.Db3+ Rg7 30.Dxa3 Te8= La partie est completement nulle.] 23. Fxf5 Dxf5 24. Fxc7 Les blancs restaure l’egalite materielle, mais ce qui est plus important, c’est que leurs pieces continuent de dominer. 24... Td7 [24... Tc8 perd une qualite apres 25. Fd6!+-] 25. Fe5 f6 Les noirs devaient bloquer le fou, mais maintenant les blancs peuvent profiter du malheureux placement du fou a3 et de la tour d7. 9


26.Cg3! De6 [26...Dg6 se heurte a 27.Da4! avec double attaque.] 27.Da4! Les noirs vont maintenant perdre du materiel! 27...Cc4? Une erreur, mais la position noire etait deja critique. [27...fxe5 28. Txe5 Dd6 (28...Df7 29.Tf5! etait l’idee! Les noirs ne peuvent pas proteger les pieces en d7 et a3. Ils vont au moins se retrouver avec un pion de moins.) 29.Ce4+-]

31. Ta1 Fb2 32. Txa4 Cb6 33. Ta6 [Le gain le plus elegant etait: 33. Txb6! axb6 34.Ce2! Le fou en b2 est piege! 34... Te7 35.Rf1+- Suivi de Ta2.] 33... Fxc3 34.Cf5 Fb4 [34... Fxd4 35.Cxd4 Txd4 36. Txa7+- Les noirs n’ont pas la moindre chance dans cette finale.] 35. Te2 Le reste es t facile. Anand va seulement ameliorer ses pieces et la position sera automatiquement gagnante. 35...Rf7 36. Tea2 Cc8 37.g4! Un fort coup positionnel afin de fixer les pions a l’aile roi. La prochaine etape pourrait etre d’activer le roi. Les noirs decident de simplifier la position, mais cela ne va pas changer le resultat de la partie.

28. Fd6!! Un tres joli coup, mais ce n’etait pas le seul coup gagnant.

37...g6 38.Cxh6+ Rg7 39.g5 fxg5 40.Cg4 Txd4 41. Tc2 Ce7 42. Txa7 Fd6 43.Rg2 Rf7 44. Te2 Fb4 45. Te5 Fd6 46. Txg5 Re6 47. Ta6 Une preparation impressionnante et une tres bonne technique afin de convertir la position gagnante. 1–0

28...b5 [L’idee est qu’apres 28...Dxd6 29.Dxc4+ Rh8 les blancs ont differents moyens de gagner le fou a3. Par exemple: 30.Db3 suivi de Te6 ou Ta1. Le fou va tomber.] 29. Txe6 bxa4 30. Fxf8 Les blancs une qualite de plus et une position gagnante. Le reste n’est plus qu’une question de technique. 30...Rxf8 [30... Fxf8 31. Tc6! Le dernier coup cle afin de chasser le fort cavalier c4.]

10


(4) Karjakin,Sergey (2786) — Grischuk,Alexander (2764) [C65] Aeroflot Open Rapid Final Moscow RUS (4.3), 17.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Voici la partie de mort subite de la finale du rapide de l’Aeroflot, ou deux des meilleurs joueurs de rapide se sont affrontes. Les deux premieres parties s’etant achevees par la nulle, cette partie devait designer le vainqueur. Les blancs ont 5 minutes contre 4 pour les noirs, mais les blancs doivent gagner. 1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cc6 3. Fb5 Cf6 Tout comme dans la partie precedente, Grischuk choisit la Berlinoise, qui est consideree comme un choix tres solide.

12...exd4 13.cxd4 c5 La reaction de Griscuk a l’air un peu bizarre a premiere vue, mais la position va devenir assez dynamique. Si les blancs n’arrivent pas a maintenir leur centre, la partie pourrait rapidement s’achever par la nulle. 14.d5 La bonne reaction. [Le tentant 14.Cc4?! donnerait du tres bon jeu aux noirs apres 14...d5! Un coup typique dans ce genre de position.] 14...c6! Les noirs n’ont pas de temps a perdre. Les blancs voulaient jouer Cc4. 15.dxc6 Dc7

4.d3 L’un des deux lignes principales, l’autre etant 4.0–0 Cxe4 5.d4, menant vers une finale. 4... Fc5 5.c3 [5.0–0 Cd4 ne semble pas donner d’avantage aux blancs.] 5...0–0 6.0–0 d6 7.h3 Le coup a la mode. 7...a6 [7...Ce7 a ete joue a plusieurs reprises recemment.] 8. Fxc6 bxc6 9.d4 Ceci est bien sur toujours de la theorie. Les idees des deux camps sont simples: les blancs ont donne la paire de fous afin de controler le centre et avoir la meilleure structure et les noirs esperent que la position va s’ouvrir afin d’utiliser leur paire de fous. 9... Fb6 10. Te1 h6 11.Dc2 Te8 12.Cbd2 Les blancs sont prets a jouer Cc4 au prochain coup suivi de Cxb6, avec une position plus agreable. Les noirs doivent agir rapidement.

16.b3! Karjakin trouve le meilleur moyen de continuer la partie. Ne se laissant pas tenter par Cc4, les blancs developpent d’abord leur fou en b2, ou il sera parfaitement place. 16...Dxc6 17. Fb2 Fd8 Je ne suis pas sur que cela soit le meilleur moyen de jouer pour les noirs. [17...Ch5!? a l’air assez interessant, meme si je prefer la position blanche. 18.Cc4 Fb7 19.Ch4 Le cavalier va aller en f5 et les blancs se preparent aussi a jouer f3.]

11


18.e5! Voila exactement comment les blancs doivent jouer ici! Leurs cavaliers vont dominer tout le centre.

28.f3 Fermer la diagonale du fou et proteger le pion g4 ne peut pas etre une mauvaise idee.

18...dxe5 19.Cxe5 Dc7 20.Cdc4 Te6 21. Tad1 Fe7 Meme si la position blanche a l’air tres prometteuse, il est difficile de trouver un moyen direct de percer la defense noire et il ne faut pas oublier que c’est une partie deblitz!

28...Rh7? Ce coup qui a l’air tres naturel est en fait une serieuse erreur.

22.Ce3 [22. Fc3!? avec l’idee Fa5 aurait pu etre tres desagreable pour les noirs.] 22... Fb7 23.Cf5 Ff8 La position blanche a l’air superbe, mais la bonne evaluation de la position est qu’elle n’est en fait peut-etre qu’egale!? Les noirs defendent bien le pion g7 et la paire de fous leur donne toujours beaucoup de contre-jeu. Ils veulent maintenant jouer Tae8.

29.Dd3! Il est etonnant de voir comment Karjakin trouve des coups si difficiles lors d’une partie de blitz. Il veut jouer Ch4 au prochain coup et les noirs ne peuvent pas l’en empecher. 29...c4 Grischuk tente de compliquer la position, une bonne decision! [29...Rg8 30.Dd8! Et la partie est simplement finie.] 30.bxc4 Fc5+ 31. Fd4 [31.Rh1 etait une autre bonne option, mais ce coup a l’air un peu dangereux avec si peu de temps a la pendule...] 31... Fxd4+ 32.Dxd4

24.Cg4 Il est difficile de conseiller un meilleur coup aux blancs. 24...Cxg4 25.hxg4 Tae8 26. Txe6 Txe6 27.Dc3 Les blancs sont toujours mieux et les noirs doivent continuer de jouer avec precision! 27... Tg6 Un coup logique, mais dangereux. [27...f6 28.Dc4 Df7 etait un moyen plus solide de jouer.]

32...h5! Superbement joue par Grischuk, qui cherche des chances dans une position deja perdante. 33.gxh5 Tg5 34.Dd3 [34.Cd6 Txh5 35. Te1 Les blancs ont un pion de plus et la combinaison dame+cavalier leur donne de bonnes chances d’attaque.] 12


34...Dc5+ 35.Ce3+ f5 36.Dd4! Tres solide... 36...Dc6 37.Cd5 Dh6 Grischuk trouve toujours un moyen de se battre alors que sa position semblait sans espoir! 38. Tb1 Fxd5 39.cxd5 Dxh5 40.Dd3 Dh3 41. Tb2 Les deux joueurs n’avaient plus que quelques secondes a la pendule et la partie est devenue tres chaotique... 41...Dg3 42. Te2 Th5 43.d6! Si vous ne savez pas quoi faire, poussez votre pion! :) 43...Dh2+ 44.Rf2 Dh4+ 45.Re3! Les blancs n’ont peur de rien avec seulement quelques secondes a la pendule. 45... Th6 46.Dxf5+ Rh8 Nous allons maintenant voir une superbe technique de la part de Karjakin. Elle s’appelle: pour gagner au temps, il faut simplement jouer plus vite!

54.De4! Les blancs ne veulent bien sur pas de la nulle et les noirs vont perdre au moins une seconde pour prendre la dame. 54... Txe4+ 55.fxe4 Et les blancs gagnent au temps avec seulement 2 secondes a la pendule! Quelle partie... Et quel superbe niveau pour une partie de blitz! 1–0

47.Df8+ [Objectivement 47.d7 semble mettre un terme a la partie.] 47...Rh7 48.Df5+ Rh8 Une repetition. 49.Dc8+ Rh7 50.Dc2+ Rh8 Deux autres coups. 51. Td2 Un coup quelconque. 51... Te6+ 52.Rd3 Txd6+ 53.Re2 Te6+

13


Section de puzzles

(7) Tregubov,P (2611) — Sasikiran,K (2677) Aeroflot Open (rapid), 12.02.2013

(5) Meier,G (2640) — Caruana,F (2757) Baden-Baden, 13.02.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Korobov,A (2702) — Evdokimov,A (2558) (6) Kostin,K (2310) — Sasikiran,K (2677) Aeroflot Open (rapid), 12.02.2013 [CEWN]

Aeroflot Open (rapid), 12.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

14


(9) Vorobiov,E (2584) — Shimanov,A (2640)

(11) Nepomniachtchi,I (2703) — Karpov,A (2616)

Aeroflot Open (rapid), 13.02.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Shimanov,A (2640) — Grischuk,A (2764)

(12) Wojtaszek,R (2710) — Ulibin,M (2521)


Petrov memorial (rapid), 15.02.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. 

15


(13) Kurnosov,I (2649) — Wojtaszek,R (2710) Petrov memorial (rapid), 16.02.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Olafsson,H (2547) — Tan Zhongyi (2466) Iceland-China Friendly (rapid), 17.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

16


Section des finales (15) Lintchevski,Daniil (2528) — Kamsky,Gata (2740) [D11] Aeroflot Open Rapid KO Moscow RUS (1.1), 15.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

33.b4 Rd6 34. Fa6 f5+ 35.Rd4 Cc6+ 36.Rc4 Ce5+ 37.Rd4 Cc6+ 38.Rc4 Il faut dire que c’est une partie rapide au systeme eliminatoire, voila pourquoi Kamsky voulait jouer cette position ou objectivement seuls les blancs ont des chances de gain. 38...Cd8 39. Fc8 h6 Le debut d’un mauvais plan. Ce n’est pas une bonne idee d’avancer les pions comme ils seront plus simples a attaquer. [39...Rc7 40. Fa6 Rd6 Une fois de plus Gata refuse de repeter les coups.] 40.a3 Rc7 41. Fa6 Rc6 [41...Rd6 est sans doute plus precis.] 42. Fb5+ Rd6 43. Fe8 g5 Avec les pions en h6-g5, le roi blanc va sans doute se diriger vers l’aile roi.

28.fxe3 b6 Les noirs n’etaient pas obliges de se depecher avec ce coup, ils pouvaient aussi tenter de provoquer le pion e a avancer plus loin et ainsi le rendre plus faible. [28...Cd6 29.e4 b6 30.Rf2 Rf8 31.Re3 (31.e5 Cb5 32. Fc4 Cd4 33.Re3 Cc6 34.Re4 (34.e6 f6 Et le pion en e6 est faible.) 34...Cb4 35.a3 Cc2 36.a4 Re7 Les blancs ne peuvent pas jouer Rd5-c6 a cause de Cb4+. Ils pourraient aussi tenter de passer par c4-b5, mais le pion e5 pourrait alors etre faible.) 31...f6 32.Rd4 Cb5+ 33.Rc4 Cc7 Avec le cavali er en c7 et le roi en d6, les noirs devraient facilement tenir la nulle.]

44.Rb5 [44. Fg6 f4 45.exf4 gxf4 46.Rd4 (46.Rb5 Rc7 47.Ra6 Rb8) 46...Cc6+ 47.Re4 Ce5 Et les noirs sont juste a temps avec leur contre-jeu. 48. Fe8 Cc4 49.a4 Ce3 50.Rxf4 Cxg2+ 51.Rf5 Re7 52. Fc6 Ch4+ 53.Rg4 Cg6 54.Rh5 Cf4²] 44...Ce6 45. Fh5 [45.Ra6? Cc7+ 46.Rxa7 Cxe8 47.Rxb6 Cc7 48.b5 Cd5+ 49.Rb7 Rc5–+] 45...Cc7+ 46.Rc4 Re5 47. Ff3 Rd6 48. Fh5 [48.g4 Re5 49.gxf5 Rxf5 50.a4 Re5 Les noirs doivent garder leur cavalier en c7 et le roi en e5/d6 et par rapport a la partie, ils n’auront pas de faiblesse an a6 et ils devraient facilement faire nulle.] 48...Cd5 49.Rd4 Cc7 50.Rc4

29.Rf2 Ce7 30. Fb7 Rg7 31.Rf3 Rf6 32.Re4 Re6 Les deux camps ameliorent leur roi.

17


50...a6 Je n’aime pas du tout ce coup. Le pion en a6 sera tres faible. 51. Ff3 Re5 52.a4 Les blancs vont jouer a5 pour obtenir la case c5 pour le roi. 52...Rd6 53.a5 b5+ Ce coup est sans doute meilleur que de prendre en a5, comme les noirs ont maintenant l’idee de creer du contre-jeu contre le pion b4. [53...g4 etait interessant, avec l’idee de reduire le materiel et de creer un pion passe h. 54.hxg4 fxg4 55. Fb7 (55.F xg4 Cd5 56.Ff3 b5+ 57.Rb3 C xe3 58.Fb7 h5 59.F xa6 Rc6 60.g3 Cf5 61.Rc3 C xg3 Les blancs n’ont pas assez de temps pour mettre le fou sur la diagonale h1–a8 et le roi en c5. 62.Rd3 h4 63.Fc8 Ch5 64.Rd4 Cf4 65.Fg4 Rd6 66.Ff3 Ce6) 55...b5+ 56.Rd4 h5 57.g3 (57.Re4 h4 58.Rf4 h3 59.gxh3 gxh3 60.Rg3 Cd5=) 57...Ce6+ 58.Re4 Cc7 59.Rf5 Cd5 60. Fxd5 (60.F xa6 h4 61.Rxg4 hxg3 62.Rxg3 C xe3 63.Fb7 Rc7 64.Fe4 Cd1 65.Fc2 Cc3 66.Fb3 Les blancs ont reussi a controler les cases a2 et d5, mais le cavalier va aller en c6. 66...Ce2+ 67.Rf2 Cd4=) 60...Rxd5 61.e4+ Rd4

62.Rf4 Ce genre de coup n’est pas toujours simple a voir. 62...Rc4 63.Rg5 Rxb4 64.e5 h4 65.Rxh4 Rc5 66.Rg5 b4 67.e6 Rd6 68.Rf6 b3 69.e7 b2 70.e8D b1D 71.Dd8+ Rc5 72.Dc8+ Rd4 est le seul moyen d’eviter l’echange Dc8-Df5, mais maintenant les blancs vont simplement prendre le pion a et ils auront de bonnes chances de gain. 73.Dxa6±] 54.Rd4

54...Ce6+?! Une imprecision, mais la position etait deja compliquee pour les noirs. [54...f4 55.exf4 (55.Fb7 fxe3 56.Rxe3 Cd5+ 57.F xd5 Rxd5=) 55...Ce6+ 56.Re4 Cxf4 57.Rf5 Cd3 58.Rg6 Cxb4 59.Rxh6 Cd5 60.Rxg5 b4 61.h4 b3 62. Fe4 b2 Et maintenant le plan gagnant est de 18


mettre le roi en h6 et d’aller a dame avec le pion g. 63.g4 (63.h5 Re7 Les noirs sont a temps pour arreter le pion.) 63...Cc3 64. Fc2 Re7 65.Rh6+-; 54...h5! Un fantastique coup et le seul moyen de survivre! Les noirs empechent g4 et si les blancs prennent le pion, alors ils obtiendront du contre-jeu apres Cd5. 55. Fb7 (55.F xh5 Cd5 56.Fg6 C xb4 57.F xf5 Cc6+ 58.Rc3 C xa5 59.Fc8 Cc4 60.F xa6 C xe3=; 55.g3 Ce6+ 56.Rd3 Cc7 57.F xh5 Cd5 58.h4 gxh4 59.gxh4 C xb4+ 60.Rc3 Cc6 61.Ff3 C xa5 62.h5 Re7=) 55...Ce6+ 56.Rd3 Cc7 Et les noirs continuent de se battre.] 55.Rd3 Re5 [55...f4 56. Fb7 fxe3 57.Rxe3 Cf4 58.Rd4 Ce2+ 59.Re4; 55...Cc7 56.g4 fxg4 57.hxg4 Re5 58. Fb7±] 56. Fb7 Cc7 57.Re2? Une grande erreur. Les blancs loupent de bonnes chances de gain apres [57.g4! Un coup tres important avec l’idee d’obtenir la case e4 pour le roi. 57...fxg4 (57...f4 58.exf4+ gxf4 (58...Rxf4 59.Rd4+-) 59.h4 Cd5 60. Fxd5 Rxd5 61.Re2! Un bon coup. Les blancs vont facilement gagner apres Rf3. 61...Re6 62.Rf3 Re5 63.h5+-) 58.hxg4 Le roi blanc va penetrer sur l’un des deux cotes. 58...Cd5 59. Fxd5 Rxd5 60.e4+ Re5 61.Re3 Rf6 62.Rd4 Rg6 63.e5 h5 64.gxh5+ Rxh5 65.e6 Rg6 66.Rd5+-] 57...h5 Un important coup que Kamsky avait loupe quelques coups plus tot. 58.g3

58...h4? Les deux joueurs ne devaient quasiment plus avoir de temps, ce qui expliquerait cette erreur. Le pion en h4 va etre tres faible. [58...g4 59.h4 Re6 60.e4 fxe4 (60...Re5 61.exf5 Rxf5 La position noire semble etre desagreable a cause des deux faiblesses en a6 et en h5, mais les noirs auront du bon contre-jeu pratique contre les pions b4 et g3.) 61. Fxe4 Cd5 62. Fg6 Cf6 63.Rd3 Cd5 64. Fxh5 Cxb4+ 65.Rc3 Cc6 66. Fxg4+ Re5 67. Fc8 Cxa5 68. Fxa6 Cc6 69. Fxb5 Cd4 70. Fd3 Cf3 Avec l’idee Cxh4. 71.h5 Rf6 Avec l’idee de mettre le roi en h6 et le cavalier en g5, apres quoi les blancs ne pourront plus ameliorer leur position.] 59.gxh4 gxh4 60.Rf3 Rf6 61. Fc8 Re5 62. Fb7 Rf6 63.e4 Re5 [63...fxe4+ 64.Rxe4 Re6 65.Rd4 (65.Rf4 Cd5+ 66.Rg4 C xb4 67.Rxh4 Rd6 68.Rg5 Cc6 69.F xa6 Re7 70.F xb5 C xa5 71.Rg6 Rf8=) 65...Rd6 66. Fc8 zugzwang 66...Cd5 (66...Rc6 67.Re5+-) 67. Fxa6 Cf4 (67...C xb4 68.F xb5+-) 68. Fxb5 Cxh3 69. Fd3 Cg5 70. Fe4+- Les blancs sont gagnants comme la case a8 est de la bonne couleur.] 64.exf5 Rxf5 65. Fc8+ Re5 66.Rg4 Les blancs sont gagnants comme les noirs ne sont pas a temps avec leur contre-jeu. 19


66...Rd4 67.Rxh4 Rc4 68.Rg5 Rxb4 69.h4 Rxa5 70.h5 b4 71.h6 b3 72.h7 b2 73. Ff5 Ce6+ 74.Rg4 1–0

(16) Anand,V (2780) — Meier,G (2640) Grenke Chess Classic, 15.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

Quelle position surprenante. Les blancs semblent etre completement gagnants comme ils vont bientot prendre les pions c5 et a7, tandis que le contre-jeu noir a l’aile roi semble etre tres lent... Mais en realite les blancs vont devoir jouer avec precision afin de tenir la nulle apres quelques forts coups noirs. 39... Td7! Les noirs ne peuvent pas sauver leurs pions a l’aile dame, ils doivent donc tenter d’activer leur tour et de creer du contre-jeu a l’aile roi. 40. Fxc5 [40.Rc1 etait une alternative afin d’empecher Td1, mais ici les noirs obtiennent du contre-jeu apres 40... Fe4! 41.g3 (41.f3 Fa8 42.F xc5 h3! 43.gxh3 F xf3 Et les noirs ont aussi cree deux dangereux pions passes. La course va commencer et le resultat n’est pas clair.) 41... Ff3! Renouvelant l’idee Td1–h1. 42. Fxc5 (42.gxh4 gxh4 43.F xc5 Td1+ 44.Rc2 Th1) 42... Td1+ 43.Rc2 Th1 Le pion h devient soudain tres dangereux, comme ca va aussi etre le cas dans la partie.] 20


40... Td1 41. Ta6!? Un coup malin. Les blancs tentent d’eliminer le pion f6 (le pion cle de la chaine de pions noire) apres Fe7, mais les noirs ont une forte replique afin d’empecher cela!

45.a4?! Ce coup tres logique est une imprecision parce que les blancs doivent maintenant avancer leur pion jusqu’en a7 afin de provoquer Fe4. S’ils avaient avance leur pion b, les noirs auraient deja du jouer Fe4 une fois que le pion etait en b6. Ce genre de „demi-temps” fait une grande difference. [45.b4! Txg2 46.b5 g4 47.b6 Fe4 48.hxg4 h3 49. Tc8! Menacant de jouer Th8, ce que les noirs ne peuvent pas permettre. 49...Rh7 50. Tc7 Nulle par repetition.] 45... Txg2 46.a5 g4! Les noirs creent leur propre pion passe.

41... Fc8! La tour ne peut pas continuer d’attaquer le pion f6. [41... Th1? 42. Fe7] 42. Txa7 Les blancs sont prets a avancer leurs pions a l’aile dame, tandis que les noirs n’attaquent meme pas les pions a l’aile roi. Mais leur avantage est qu’une fois qu’ils auront pris les pions h2 et g2, leur pion h4 est deja tres avance! [42. Td6 fermait le chemin du fou vers e7. 42... Th1; 42. Tc6 Fb7 43. Td6 Th1 Les noirs vont prendre les pions a l’aile roi.]

47.hxg4 Fxg4?! [47... Txg4! etait le bon coup afin de jouer pour le gain! 48.a6 h3 Les blancs n’ont pas leur plan Tc8-Th8 tant que le fou est en f5. 49.a7 Fe4 50. Td7! Tout comme dans la partie, ceci est le seul motif de survie pour les blancs. (50.Ff8 n’arrete pas le pion. 50...h2 51.Tg7+ Rf5 52.Th7 h1D)

42... Th1 43. Tc7 Ff5 44.h3 Th2

50... Th4! Voila pourquoi les noirs auraient du prendre en g4 de la tour! Elle va maintenant retourner en h8 afin d’arreter le pion a. (50...h2 51.Td5! est plus ou moins la meme chose que dans la partie.) 51.f3! Un autre seul coup! (51. Td5? F xd5 52.cxd5 Th8–+ Et le pion h va a dame.) 51...h2 21


(Apres 51...F xf3 les blancs ont 52.Fg1! h2 53.F xh2 Txh2+ 54.Rc3 et la partie n’est pas claire. Les blancs sont prets a jouer b4-b5 et c5-c6, tandis que les noirs ont beaucoup plus de mal a mobiliser leurs pions comme e4 ne marche pas.) 52.fxe4 h1D 53.a8D Th2+ 54. Td2! Un autre seul coup! (54.Ra3 Da1+–+; 54.Rc3 De1+) 54... Txd2+ 55.Rc3 Td7 Et les noirs ont d’excellentes chances de gain.; 47... Fe4 mene a la me me nulle que dans la ligne 45.b4. Les deux camps doivent jouer les coups suivants: 48. Tc8 Rh7 49. Tc7+ Rg6 50. Tc8=]

53... Tg1 54.Dg8+ Rf5 55.De6+ Rg6 56.Dg8+ Une finale instructive! 1/2

48.a6 h3 49.a7 Ff3 Les blancs semblent etre en difficulte comme le pion h ne peut pas etre arreter, tandis que le Ff3 controle la case a8. Mais un coup plein de ressources va lessauver!

50. Td7!! [50. Tc8 perd apres 50...Rh7! 51. Tc7+ Tg7!] 50...h2 51. Td5! Bloquant la diagonale du fou. 51... Fxd5 52.cxd5 h1D 53.a8D Les noirs ont un petit avantage materiel, mais leur roi est trop expose. Ils n’ont pas d’echec pour le moment, tandis que la dame et le fou sont prets a donner un echec perpetuel. La nulle est inevitable. 22


Choc des titans

10. Td1! etait l’idee derriere De2. Les blancs veulent mettre la pression sur le piond5.

(17) Smyslov,Vassily — Sokolsky,Alexey [C81]

10...Cxb3 11.axb3 Fc5 [Apres 11... Fe7 12.c4 suivi de Cc3, la position noire est tres desagreable a cause du pion d5.]

Chigorin Memorial Moscow, 1947 [Chess Evolution] Les blancs ont d’abord domine positionnellement et ils ont ensuite lance une belle attaque de mat. 1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cc6 3. Fb5 a6 4. Fa4 Cf6 5.0–0 Cxe4 La variante ouverte de la Ruy Lopez etait tres populaire a l’epoque. La theorie de nos jours considere toujours cette ligne comme jouable, mais les noirs doivent souffrir dans des positions legerement passives dans certaines lignes. 6.d4 b5 7. Fb3 d5 8.dxe5 Fe6 9.De2 [9.Cbd2; 9.c3 et; 9. Fe3 sont les trois coups principaux, meme si toutes les lignes menent souvent a des structures similaires.]

12. Fe3 Les blancs jouent de maniere positionnelle. En echangeant les fous de cases noires, ils affaiblissent serieusement les cases noires et ils se debarassent aussi de la paire de fous. [12.c4!? etait une bonne alternative. 12... bxc4 13.bxc4 Les noirs doivent sans doute jouer 13...d4 14.Cbd2 Avec deux idees: l’une est Cb3 suivi de Fe3 et l’autre est simplement de centraliser le cavalier en e4.] 12... Fxe3 13.Dxe3 De7 Les noirs prennent le controle de la case c5 et sortent du desagreable clouage sur la colonne d. [13...0–0 se heurte a 14.Dc5! Ce7 15.b4 suivi de l’occupation des cases d4 et c5 avec les cavaliers apres Cbd2-b3, Cfd4, Dc3 et Cc5.]

9...Cc5 [9... Fe7 est le coup principal est aussi sans doute le plus fort.]

14.Dc3! Smyslov prend le controle des cases noires. 14...Cd8 15.b4! Les cavaliers blancs sont encore une fois prets a occuper les cases d4 et c5.

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15...0–0 16.Cbd2 [Il etait plus precis de commencer par 16.Cd4 afin d’eviter la ligne que nous allons voir dans la partie.] 16... Fg4! Les noirs se debarassent de l’un des forts cavaliers. Cela ne resout pas tous leurs problemes, mais ca facilite leur tache defensive. 17.h3 Fxf3 18.Cxf3 c6 Il fallait defendre le pion d5, mais ce coup a aussi un inconvenient: le cavalier ne peut pas aller en e6 maintenant comme le pion c6 sera en prise. 19. Td2! Un bon coup positionnel. Les blancs n’ont pas l’intention de doubler les tours sur la colonne d, mais ils veulent mettre leur autre tour en e1 ou en f1 et plus tard doubler les tours sur l’une de ces deux colonnes. La partie va parfaitement demontrer a quel point cette idee est bonne. 19...h6 20.b3 Les blancs ne se depechent pas a activer leur tour a1 comme cela libererait aussi la tour a8. Les noirs auraient pu jouer Tc8 dans ce cas, donnant ainsi la possibilite au cavalier d’aller en e6. 20... Te8 21.Cd4! Les blancs veulent ameliorer leur structure de pions en jouant f4. 21...Dg5 [Les noirs auront du mal a creer une forteresse apres le sacrifice de dame: 21...Dxe5 22. Te2! Dxe2 23.Cxe2 Txe2 24.Dc5 g6 25.Rf1 Te6 26.Db6 Les noirs vont perdre le pion a6 et le cavalier reste passif.]

22. Tf1! Les blancs sont prets a jouer f4 et le pion e5 est toujours indirectement protege. 22...Ce6 [22...Df4 ne fait que retarder f4. 23.g3!] 23.f4! Tres bien joue! Les blancs sacrifient un pion afin de creer une enorme attaque. Nous pouvons maintenant voir toute l’etendue du coup 19. Td2! 23...Cxf4 24. Tdf2 Ce6 Les noirs tentent de se debarasser du puissant cavalier d4 au prix du pion f7, mais les blancs ont raison de garder cette piece. [24...Cg6 n’egalise pas non plus. Le meilleur coup est sans doute 25. Tf5 De7 26.Cxc6 De6 (26...Dc7 perd apres 27.Txf7 Dxf7 28.Txf7 Rxf7 29.Df3+ gagne plus de materiel.) 27.Cd4 Les blancs sont mieux.] 25.Cf5! Le cavalier se dirige vers d6. Le pion c6 est aussi en prise et s’il tombe le pion d5 sera perdu. 25... Tec8 [25... Tf8 26.Dxc6 d4 27.De4 Les blancs veulent prendre le pion d4 et apres 27... Tad8 la dame est soudain piegee. 28.h4! Dh5 29.g4 Dg6 30.Ce7++-] 26.h4! Un autre tres fort coup! La dame n’a qu’une seule case afin parer l’echec ene7:

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26...Dd8 27.Dg3 Les blancs ont toujours un pion de moins et ils vont simplement gagner la partie en ameliorant leurs pieces. Les noirs sont deja perdants et ils sont sans defense contre les menaces Cxh6 et Cd6. 27...Rh7 28.Cd6 Tc7 29.Cxf7 De7 30.Cd6 [30. Dd3+!? Rg8 31.Dg6 etait aussi gagnant. Les noirs ne peuvent pas empecher Cxh6.]

Section de surprise / études (18) Grigoriev [CEWN] 1. +-

30... Tg8 [30... Tf8 31. Txf8 Cxf8 32. Tf7 gagne la dame a cause du mat en g7. 32...Dxf7 33.Cxf7 Txf7 34.Dc3!+Les blancs vont bientot gagner le pion c6 et detruire tous les espoirs noirs de creer une forteresse.] 31.Dd3+ Les noirs ont abandonne en vue de la perte de la dame apres Cf7 ou Tf7. 1–0

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Solutions

(21) Negi,P (2638) — Felgaer,R (2557) Baden-Baden Open, 09.02.2013

(19) Adams,M (2725) — Caruana,F (2757)

[Solutions]

Baden-Baden, 10.02.2013 [Solutions]

25. Rxf5! Rxf5 [25... Rxc2 26. Rxf8++-] 26. Bxf5 Qxf5 27. Rxc7+43. Bg2! Rxg2 44. Rxe3! Rxe3 45.Kxg2 Rxe6= (22) Ibragimov,I (2555) — Nyzhnyk,I (2637) (20) Iordachescu,V (2610) — Schut,L (2283)


Baden-Baden Open, 08.02.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

38.Qh6+ 1–0[38.Qh6+ Kxh6 39.Nxf5+ Kg5 40.Nxe7+-]

29.h3! Qxf4 [29...Qh5 30.g4+-; 29...Qe6 30.f5 gxf5 31.exf5+-] 30.g3!+26


(23) Ganguly,S (2626) — Panarin,M (2552)

(25) Mozharov,M (2510) — Reshetnikov,A (2508)


Moscow GM, 06.02.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17. Rxd7! Qxd7 18. Ra8+ Bd8 19.Qf3+- [19. Bg5+-; 19.Qh4+-] (24) Nyzhnyk,I (2637) — Tukhaev,A (2517) Moscow Open, 07.02.2013 [Solutions]

33. Bxh6! gxh6 34.Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Re3! Rg7 36. Rh3 Kf8 37.Qh8+! Rg8 [37...Ke7 38.Qxe8+!! Kxe8 39.Nxf6+ Kd8 40. Rh8+ Ke7 41.Nxd5++-] 38.Nxf6!! Qf7 [38... Rxh8 39. Rxh8+ Kg7 (39... Ke7 40.N xd5++-) 40.Nxe8+ (40.N xd5+-) 40...Kxh8 41.Nxc7+-] 39.Nxg8 Qxg8 40.f6 1–0

24. Rxa6! Qxa6 25. Rxd7 Qe6 26.Qxe6 Rxe6 27.Nxb5+27


(26) Heberla,B (2545) — Djukic,N (2538)

(28) Belous,V (2553) — Eliseev,U (2525)


Moscow GM, 06.02.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

40.Qa8!! 1–0 28. Rxc4!! 1–0[28. Rxc4 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 bxc4 30. Ba4++-] (29) Comay,O (27) Jianu,V (2500) — Dvirnyy,D (2536)

1974


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1.Ne1+!! Qxe1+ [1...Kc3 2. Bd4+ Qxd4+ 3. Rxd4 h1Q (3...Kxd4 4.Nf3) 4. Rd3+ Kc4 5.hxg5=] 17. Rc5!! 1–0[17. Rc5 Bxd4 18. Rxc7+-]

2.Kxe1 Bxh4+! [2...h1Q 3.hxg5=] 3. Rg3+!! Bxg3+ 4.Kf1 h1Q = [4...h1R 5.Kg2=] 28

Weekly Newsletter



1th of March 2013

This chess week started with one big world news! The 13 year old Chinese Wei Yi is officially the youngest Grandmaster in the World. Still, the record is in the hands of Karjakin, who became a Grandmaster at age 12!


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The Zurich Chess Challenge is running more or less peacefully, and only Caruana was able to win his game with Black against Anand. Gelfand and Kramnik have 5/5 draws so far… Today we will see the final round of this “short” round robin event. The Super Strong Open tournament in Reykjavik was won by Eljanov, So and Amin Basem — all of them with 8/10. Behind them, there was a big group of players that included Giri, Vachier-Lagrave, Cheparinov, Ding Liren, Ivan Sokolov, David Navara and many more Top GMs. In the current newsletter You will find 2 games played by the Champion (thanks to his better tie-break, it was Eljanov). Capelle la Grande is on the run. In the next 3 days we will see a very exciting finish — which is usual for such big open events. At the moment, the young Russian Sjugirov has pretty good chances to win the tournament. As usual, we hope You enjoy the CEWN Nr 53! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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7...c5! Of course, this is a well-known theoretical move, but still a nice one. Black does not lose time and starts to play immediately against White’s center.

(1) Cheparinov,I (2709) — Eljanov,P (2678) [D15]

8.0–0 [8.dxc5 is the other main move, but it seems that it leads to a more or less equal endgame after 8...Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bd7! was played in Ragger-Movsesian, if somebody is interested in the line.]

Reykjavik Open 2013 Reykjavik ISL (6), 23.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Eljanov has been showing very unstable play lately. Maybe only some readers can remember him having 2750 ELO, and now it feels a bit strange to see him under 2700. So the good news is that Pasha Eljanov is back in Reykjavik, showing great chess once again. A very nice victory over Cheparinov in the 6th round gave him a very important point to raise in the standings of the tournament. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 Another game on the Slav, which was pretty much expected. Eljanov was Gelfand’s second during his match against Anand and the Slav was one of the main openings in the match. 5.a4 e6 Here White has a lot of different choices, but the line that we will see in the game is one of the most critical ones. 6.g3 dxc4 7. Bg2

8...cxd4 [8...Nc6 9.dxc5 maybe gives White slightly better play.] 9.Nxd4 Be7!? seems to be a novelty on the highest level. Not so long ago, Kramnik won a great game against McShane after [9...Nbd7 10.Nc2 Qc7 11. Bf4! It is important to provoke Black to play e6, weakening the d5 square. 11...e5 12. Bd2 Nc5 13. Bg5! The third move in a row with a bishop, but it was the correct way to play. 13... Be6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nd5 with better play for White and, of course, Kramnik managed to win this game in great style.] 10.a5 A very logical move by White. Now he is getting the b6 square and always has the idea Na4-Nb6. 10...0–0 11.Nc2 following the standard plan... White wants to exchange the queen and play Ne3 winning back the c4 pawn. 11...Qc7 Black needs to hold on to the c4 pawn, no choice. 12. Be3 I am not sure if this is correct here... [12. Bf4!? with the already known idea of weakening the d5 square. 12...e5 13. Bg5 followed by Ne3 keeps the game in a very unclear position.]

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Issue 53 16... Bg5 and this is the key move. From now on, the game becomes very forced. White needs to take action if he wants to fight for an advantage.

1th of March 2013

17.f4 [Maybe White had a chance to force a draw after 17. Rxc4!? Bxc4 18.Nxc4 White wants to play Nd6 next, so Black needs to give back the exchange. 18...Qxc4 19. Bxb7 Nxb6 20.Nxb6 Qb5 21. Bxa8 Qxa5 with a pretty equal position.] 12... Bd7! Superb idea by Eljanov. Black’s bishop is going to b5, where it will defend the pawn on c4. It looks strange, but is very effective. 13. Bb6 Qc8 14.Ne3 Bb5 The Black bishop on b5 and the knight on d7 — very nice strategic play. 15. Rc1

17...Nxb6 18.Nxb6 Qc5 Finally we see Eljanov’s idea behind 15...Nfd7. 19. Rf3? A human move, and a mistake. [The only way to go on was to play 19.Kf2 Bf6 20.Nxa8 White is a full rook up! 20... Rd8 21.Qe1 Bxb2 followed by Bd4 with a very unclear position...(The same idea that was used in the game does not work now: 21...Nc6 22.B xc6) ] 19... Bf6 20.Nxa8 Rd8 Black is putting all his pieces on perfect squares... 21.Qe1 Nc6! Great dynamic play by Black! 22.Nb6 To give back a piece is not an option for White. 22... Bd4 23.Kf2 It seems like White is solid, but here comes

15...Nfd7!! Fantastic move, based on deep calculation. [The more logical 15...Nbd7 16.Na4 leads to a very unclear position. White wants to play b3 next, winning the pawn back and forcing Black to act quickly with moves like 16...Ne5, after which the position becomes very dynamic.] 16.Na4 A normal reaction by White. 4


23...e5!! Wow! What a move by Eljanov, really great! Black is just crushing White’s position. 24.b4 Cheparinov tries to act against Black’s attack, forcing the Black knight to leave his great position on c6. 24...Nxb4 25.fxe5 Nc6! and Eljanov chooses the best move again! The Black knight is going to g4! 26.Qd2 It is hard to advice something better for White... 26...c3 27.Qc2 Nxe5 28.Qf5 White stopped Black from playing Ng4, but Black has a few other ideas as well... 28...g6 29.Qf4 Re8! putting even more pressure on the e3 knight and simply threatening to play Nxf3 next. 30.Nbd5 Qxd5 31.Kf1 Nxf3 What a fantastic game by Eljanov! 0–1

(2) Ding Liren (2709) — Eljanov,P (2678) [D15] Reykjavik Open 2013 Reykjavik ISL (9), 26.02.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] And another great game by the Ukrainian GM. This time his victim was the very talented Chinese Ding Liren. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e3 Unlike Cheparinov, Ding Liren chooses the more „solid” line 5.e3 for White. 5... Bf5 Before playing e6, it is always nice to get the bishop out to f5. 6.Qb3 b5 7.c5 This is still theory, of course. White wants to play a4 next... 7...a5 Black stops White’s idea. 8.Ne5 but with 7...a5, Black lost a tempo to play Nbd7, so White is in time to place his knight on e5. 8...a4 9.Qd1 g6 The positio n is rather rare. Usually, White tries to play g4-Bg2-f4–0–0 with a strong center plus the knight on e5. But Black is very solid and is trying to act more actively with Ne4 or h5. 10. Bd2 It is hard to say if Ding Liren prepared this novelty or if he just made a „move” over the board. [10.g4 Be6 11. Bg2 would be the usual way to play here.] 10... Bg7 Very logical... 11.g4?! It is hard to imagine the inclusion of Bd2-Bg7 being useful for White. White should have gone for a more calm continuation like 11.a3 followed by Be2, but probably Black is just doing perfectly fine. 11... Be6 12. Bg2 5


12...h5! Very strong! Black is starting to play against White’s center immediately. 13.h3 [Of course not 13.g5 Nfd7 and Black is very fine.] 13...Qc7! A silent but very strong move. Black protects the c6 pawn and prepares Nbd7; at the same time, 0–0– 0 becomes possible, with a quick transfer of the rook to the h-file. 14.f4 hxg4 15.hxg4 Rxh1+ 16. Bxh1 Nbd7 Black finished his development. The White g4-pawn is hanging, and 0–0–0 followed by Rh8 is a real threat. We can already say that Black is doing clearly better. 17.g5 A risky move, but what else to do? [The solid 17. Bf3 Nxe5 18.fxe5 Nh7! followed by Ng5 just leads to a clearly worse position for White.] 17...Nxe5 18.fxe5 Ng4 and the game is getting very tactical. The knight on g4 has no moves, but Black prepared a different destiny for his stud.

19...Nxe5! and Nxe5 is very strong here as well. 20.dxe5 Qxe5 Black has a lot of threats: to play d4, to play a3, and even just to take on g5 to have 3 pawns for a piece. 21.Qf4 White tries to reach an endgame... [A tactical attempt to solve the problems does not work. 21.Nxb5 Qh2! (Of course not 21...cxb5? 22.Bc3 and White is winning the bishop on g7.) 22.Nc3 Qh4+! and again Black is giving mate...] 21...Qxf4 22.exf4 b4! Black only got 2 pawns for the piece, but White’s position is hopeless! 23.Ne2 If White gives up the knight on c3, a completely winning endgame for Black would arise. 23...a3! What a great game by Black! I think Ding Liren is going to work a little bit on his Slav... 0–1

19.Qf3 [Also, the move 19. Bf3 Nxe5! seems to be just winning for Black. 20.dxe5 Qxe5 Black wants to play a3 next. 21.a3 Qg3+ 22.Ke2 d4 with a mating attack.]

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(3) McShane,Luke J (2713) — Volokitin,Andrei (2724) [B90] Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (10.1), 24.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A very sharp game, which is also important from a theoretical point of view. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 The drawback of the 6...Ng4 line is that sometimes weaker opponents might try to get a draw by repetition, and then Black is forced to play some other line. In this game, McShane is obviously a big fighter and he only repeats twice to get closer to move 40 and avoid mistakes in the time trouble. A clever practical decision! 7...Nf6 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 This is the critical test of the Ng4 line. 9...h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg7 White has numerous options here. McShane tries to follow a recently popular line.

14.Nd5 White is following the latest fashion. The line has become popular again since 2011, when Shirov defeated Grischuk in Wijk aan Zee. 14...Nc6 15.Nf5 Bxb2! [Black included 15... Bxf5 16.exf5 in the mentioned game, but it left the pawn on b7 unprotected compared to our game. 16... Bxb2 17. Rb1 Now after Ba3 or Bg7, White could simply take on b7. 17...Qa5+ 18.Qd2 and after t he exchange of queens, Black loses an exchange with Nc7. He has some compensation for it, but it was not enough in the game. 18... Bd4 19.Qxa5 Nxa5 20.c3 Bc5 21.Nc7+ Kd7 22.Nxa8 Rxa8 23.h4! White succeeded to activate his rook on the h-file and converted his advantage later on... 23...gxh3 24. Rxh3 Shirov-Grischuk, Wijk aan Zee.] 16. Rb1 Ba3! It is very rtant to change the diagonal of the bishop. The main idea is to protect the d6 pawn and to stay ready to kick out the knights with e6. 17.0–0 Bc5! A necessary preparation for e6. [17...e6 directly is a mistake. 18.Nb6! exf5 19.exf5! (Not 19.N xa8? because of 19...f4) 19... Rb8 And here comes the beautiful point of the sacrifice.

12. Be2 h5 13. Bxg4 hxg4 [13... Bxg4 14.f3 Bd7 is the start of another long line.] 7


20.Qe1+!! and Qc3 next with a double attack on a3 and h8 — this gives White theadvantage. 20...Kf8 21.Qc3 Quite an unusual motif!] 18. Rb3! A clever move with many ideas. The rook can be very useful on the 3rd rank later and the hidden point can be seen in the next move. 18...e6! 19.Qa1! Really spectacular move, forcing a weakness in Black’s camp!

Qg7, Qxh8 and Nxd6, but Black can prevent all of them with one move! 21...e5! and the knight is trapped on e8.] 21... Bxd6 22.Nxg4! White has many threats, for example, to take on d6 and h8 is hanging; Rf3 is also very dangerous. The next move is forced! 22...e5! We have reached the critical position from White’s point of view. He has three tempting moves, but only one of them seems to give him theinitiative.

19...f6 Black would like to win a piece, but of course, this risky move seriously weakens the king’s position and White has many ways to try to exploit this. [In my opinio n, the correct evaluation of the whole line must be decided after the move 19...e5 which of course gives an outpost for both knights, but on the other hand Black’s position is very safe now and the bishop on g3 is pretty awful and can hardly be activated.] 20.Nxf6+ Kf7

21.Nxd6+! The best m ove! White grabs some pawns and continues his attack. The bishop on d6 will be misplaced because of the pinning threats on the d-file. [21. Ne8 is a fantast ic move with the multiply threats like

23.Qd1 McShane protects the g4 knight and wants to play Rd3 or Qf3 followed by Rd1. [23.Nxe5+ seems to lead nowhere after 23...Nxe5 24. Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Re8 26. Rf3+ Kg8 and Black’s king is more or less safe.; 23. Rf3+! is the most dangerous alternative. 23...Kg6 24. Rf6+! Qxf6 (24...Kg7 is bad because of 25.Rd1) 25.Nxf6 Kxf6 Black seems to be well coordinated with his pieces against the queen, but after 26.f4! White can launch a dangerous attack. 26...gxf4 27. Bxf4 It is much sier to play with White because of his opponent’s king position: one bad move can be decisive for Black.] 23... Bc5 [The machine recommends the cold-blooded 23...Qe7 followed by Be6 and it is hard to prove that 8


White has enough compensation, although the game is still very unclear.] 24.Qf3+ [White had another option: 24. Rf3+ Kg7 25.Nxe5 Qxd1 26. Rxd1 with 3 pawns for the piece, but if Black manages to coordinate his pieces, he might overtake the initiative 26... Rd8 27. Rxd8 Nxd8 followed by a quick development with Be6 and Rc8. The queenside pawns might get weak.] 24...Kg6 25. Rd1! Good decision — not to be greedy. [25.Nxe5+ Nxe5 26. Bxe5 Rf8 is fine for Black as his king is very safe now.] 25...Qe7 Black needs only one move to get a winning advantage with Rf8, but with such active pieces, White has a move to stay in the game. McShane finds it and plays it.

29. Rd7 seems to finish the game, however, after 29...Nd4!! White is forced to give perpetual check with 30.Ng4+ Kh5 31.Nf6; Black loses after 26...Qxb7? 27.Qf6+ Kh7 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Qg6+ Kf8 (29...Qg7 30.Nf6+ Kf8 31.Qe8#) 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31. Bxe5 The bishop cannot be taken because of Rd8! 31... Rh7 32.Qg6+! Kf8 33.Nf6! and Black is hopeless against the threatened mates.] 27.Qxg4 Qxb7 And the ex posed king allows White to give perpetual check, but he cannot hope for more with Rd7, because of the check on b1. 28.Qe6+ Kh5 29.Qh3+ Kg6 30.Qf5+ Kh5 31.Qh3+ Kg6 32.Qf5+ 1/2

26. Rxb7!! A double-deflection from the f5 and f6 squares. 26... Bxg4 [26... Bxb7 leads to a surprising draw as well. 27.Qf5+ Kh5 (27...Kg7? 28.Rd7+-) 28.Nf6+ Kh6

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(4) Shirov,Alexei (2718) — Appel,Ralf (2525) [B03] Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (9.4), 23.02.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A nice tactical fight. Alexei Shirov was heading for complications, where he feels at home, but his much lower rated opponent was ready for the challenge; after calculating everything precisely, the game ended with a well deserved draw.

10...Nb4 11.b3 White would like to preserve his bishop, but he first needed to protect the c4 pawn. 11...c6 [Taking the bishop pair with 11...Nxd3 was also possible, followed by the same plan as in the game. 12.Qxd3 c6 and d5 next was also perfectly playable.] 12. Bb1 d5 13.c5 Nd7 14.a3 Na6 15.b4 White seems to have a pleasant advantage on the queenside, but actually, Black is ready to undermine the pawn chain.

1.e4 Nf6 Appel chose his favorite opening — the Alekhine defense. 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 [4.Nf3 is the other huge main line.] 4...Nb6 5.exd6 exd6 White has various different setups for his pieces. Shirov decided to develop his knight to e2. Another plan is Nf3, Bd3 and h3 to prevent the pin with Bg4. 6. Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 g6 8.Nbc3 Bg7 9. Be3 0–0 10.0–0 Both sides have finished the development logically. White has a space advantage thanks to his nice center, while Black has to find a plan against it. The following motif is standard in this variation.

15...Nc7 Black first improves his knight by transferring it to e6, and then plays b6 and a5. 16. Bd3 Ne6 17.Qd2 b6 18. Rad1 An incredibly deep move by Shirov. At first sight, it looks very strange. It is hard to get the point regarding what the rook is doing on the d-file. However, Shirov knew exactly what his opponent was going to do and prepared an idea against it... 18...a5 Black’s plan is known from many other openings where similar pawn structures arise. He is intending to exchange his poor light-squared bishop on a6. 19.b5! This was Shirov’s idea behind the previous rook move. Suddenly, the locked center opens up and the d1

10


rook perfectly supports White in the forthcoming complications. 19... Bb7! Black also prepares his pieces for the action. From the following 7 pairs of moves, 12 will be captures. [19...bxc5 leads to a slightly worse position after 20.bxc6 cxd4 21.cxd7 Qxd7 22.Nxd4 Nxd4 23. Bb1 and White takes on d5 next. His active pieces guarantee him an edge.] 20.Nxd5 Truly to his style, Shirov initiates a tactical struggle by opening the position with this temporary sacrifice. [20.bxc6 Bxc6 21.cxb6 Nxb6= would have been balanced.] 20...bxc5 Black goes for the sharpest continuation. [20... cxd5 would have been much calmer, with a more or less balanced game after 21.c6 Bc8 22.cxd7 Bxd7] 21.bxc6 Bxc6 22. Be4 We can see again that the d1 rook is perfectly placed. Both sides have prepared his pieces for the real action, so let’s enjoy the complications. 22... Ba4! A difficult move. Black was disturbed by the d1 rook, but this gives free hand for the e4 bishop on the h1– a8 diagonal. The move is only justified by concrete lines... [A mass of exchanges on d4 would have led to White’s advantage: 22...cxd4 23.Nxd4 Nxd4 24. Bxd4 Bxd4 25.Qxd4² White’s pieces are dominating.] 23. Rc1 cxd4 24.Nxd4

24...Ndc5! Suddenly, all the pieces are hanging. Both players need to be careful not to miss any tactical ideas. [24...Nxd4? 25. Bxd4 Bxd4 26.Qxd4 was still bad for Black.] 25.Nxe6! [The seemingly logical 25. Bf3? just drops a piece after 25... Bxd4! 26. Bxd4 Nb3!–+] 25...Nxe4! Counterattacking the queen! [25...Nxe6 leads to a bad position. 26.Nb6! with a double attack against a8 and a4, but Black can save the piece with 26... Qxd2 27. Bxd2 Rad8 but he ends up a pawn down after 28. Bxa5] 26.Nxd8 Nxd2 27. Bxd2 Rfxd8! The overall picture is getting a bit more clear now, but even with the small amount of pieces on the board, both sides have a lot of tricks. At first sight, Black has allowed the fork after Nb6, but he had something in his mind. [27... Raxd8 would have dropped the a5 pawn after 28.Ne7+ Kh8 29. Bxa5]

11


31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. Rb1 Bxa3! The main problem of White is the back-rank. He can never take on b5 while the rook threatens to come to d1. 33.Nc4! Another spectacular move, attacking two pieces at once, but Black is ready to protect them. 33... Rd3! 34.Ne5 [34.Nxa3 Rxa3 A draw is inevitable as the b5 bishop is still indirectly protected.] 28.Nb6 Bb5! Yet another counterattack! 29. Rfd1 [29.Nxa8 Bxf1 30.Kxf1 Rxd2 31. Rc8+ Bf8 is slightly better for Black. The bishop is stronger than the knight with pawns on both flanks. The a3 pawn becomes a real target.] 29... Rab8 Black continues to play in tactical fashion and sacrifices his a5 pawn. [29... Ra7 was a calmer way to equality.]

34... Rd5 35.Ng4 The last tricks by Shirov, but his opponent was in excellent tactical shape and nicely neutralized all the Latvian’s attempts to win the game. 35... Bb2! 36.h3 White finally opens the back-rank and is ready to leave with the rook, but Black is in time to play 36... Bd3 37. Rxb2 Rxa5 and the draw was agreed! A great fight! Special congratulations to Appel, who dared to play in this brave style against Shirov. 1/2

30. Bxa5 Bb2 Black wins back the pawn, but he moves into many tactical motifs with his bishops on the b-file and the pin on a5-d8.

12


Puzzle section

(7) Kuzubov,Y (2622) — Beeke,B (2257) Reykjavik Open, 22.02.2013

(5) Smith,A (2485) — Tari,A (2263) Reykjavik Open, 21.02.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Bekker Jenses,S (2405) — Williams,S (2498) (6) Handler,L (2369) — Stefansson,H (2496) Reykjavik Open, 22.02.2013 [CEWN]

Reykjavik Open, 23.02.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

13


(9) Smith,A (2485) — Wang Jue (2375)

(11) Bobras,P (2560) — Stellwagen,D (2622)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Pruijssers,R (2519) — Bischoff,K (2519)

(12) Farago,I (2488) — Balogh,C (2664)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

14


(13) Espinosa Veloz,E (2452) — Quesada Perez,Y (2596) Cuban Championship, 09.02.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Ptacnikova,L (2269) — Sokolov,I (2644) Reykjavik Open, 22.02.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

15


Endgame section

both sides should aim for active play, but this is an exception... 66... Rb8

(15) Gordon,S (2556) — Smeets,J (2613) Schachbundesliga, 23.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

The rook endgames with 2 vs 1 pawns on the same side are usually drawn, but some of them are really tricky. In this example, if White does not know the correct technique, he loses the game fairly quickly. 62... Rf7 Black wants to get his king to h6, but first, he sends away the White rook from the 8th rank to prevent Rh8. 63.Kf4 This is a sign that shows that the player is unfamiliar with the right defensive method. [The drawing technique is very instructive. 63.Kh3! Rf8 64. Ra7+ Kh6 65. Ra6 White provokes Black to play f5. This creates a hole on the g5 square, which is obligatory as we will see. Black must activate his rook, so he has no other choice than pushing 65...f5 66. Ra1 In general, in rook endgames,

67. Rg1! This is the point and Black cannot make progress! White keeps the g6 pawn under attack and anytime Black plays Kh5, he sends back the king with Rg5. 67... Rb3+ 68.Kh2 Kh5 69. Rg5+! Kh6 70. Rg1 Rb6 with the idea of Kh5 and g6 is protected, but White simply plays 71.Kh3= and again Kh5 meets by Rg5...] 63... Rf8 64. Ra7+? This is the decisive mistake. After this move, White will miss the draw by one tempo if he tries to defend with the right method... [64. Ra1 should have been played. The idea is the same as in the previous line with 63.Kh3. 64... Rb8 65.Kg3 The king is heading to h3. 65...Kh6 66. Rf1! Provoking f5 in order to get the g5 square. 66... Rb3+ 67.Kh2 f5 68. Rg1= and White got his the drawish position.] 64...Kh6 65.h5 White tries to get the f- and h-pawns, which is a theoretical draw, but Black is not forced to accept it. [65.Kg3 Rb8 White is not in time to reach the ideal defensive position. 66.Kh3 (66.Ra6 f5 67.Ra1 loses to 67...Kh5 68.Rg1 Rb4 winning the pawn.; 66.Ra1 Rb3+ 67.Kh2 Rb4 68.Kh3 Kh5 wins the pawn again.) 66... 16


Rb3+ 67.Kh2 (67.Kg4 f5+ 68.Kf4 Rh3 wins.) 67...f5 and the game is over as the following lines show: 68. Ra8 (68. Ra2 is refuted by

66.Kf5 Rb8 67.Kxf6 Rf8+! The king has to be cut along the f-file. 68.Ke5 g4 [68...Kxh5 will lead to the same...] 69.Ke4 Kxh5 70. Rh7+ Kg5 71.Ke3 Black wins with the method of „bridge-building”.

68... Rb4! (But not 68...Kh5? which allows 69.Rg2 Rb4 70.Rg5+! Kh6 71.Kh3 and White holds.) 69.Kh3 Kh5–+) 68...Kh5 69. Rh8+ Kg4 70. Rh6 This is a tricky attempt, but it also fails to save the game. 70... Rb6 Black threatens to push his f-pawn, and after 71.h5 he has the very important 71... Rb2+ 72.Kg1 g5 and the game is over.]

71...g3 72. Rg7+ Kh4 73.Ke2 Kh3 74. Rh7+ Kg2 75. Re7 [The „real bridge-building” happens after 75. Rh6 Kg1 76. Rh7 g2 77. Rh6 and now 77... Re8+! cutting the king on two lines in order to escape with his own the king from behind the pawn. 78.Kd2 Re5 A necessary preparation, otherwise, Kf2 is met with a lot of checks along the 6th rank. 79. Rh8 and now 79...Kf2 80. Rf8+ Kg3 81. Rg8+ Kf3 82. Rf8+ Kg4 83. Rg8+ Rg5 The g-pawn promotes.] 75... Rh8 76. Re6 Kh1 77. Rg6 g2 78.Kf2 Rf8+ 0–1

65...g5+! Very well played! Black realizes that the arising rook endgame is a theoretical win.

17


(16) Gajewski,Grzegorz (2644) — Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2715) [A05]

41... Ra3 [41... Rc2 42.Kh3 Rf2 43. Rb3 Kg7 44.g4 leads to more or less the same play as in the game.]

Reykjavík Open 2013 (7.2), 24.02.2013

42. Rb2 Kg7 43.Kf2 Ra7 Vachier prefers to wait a bit, but he could have tried a more active defense after [43... f5!? 44. Rb7+ (44.exf5 gxf5 45.g4 e4 46.fxe4 fxg4=) 44...Kf6 45. Rb6+ Kf7 46.exf5 gxf5 47.h5 (47.Kg3 Ra2 48.h5 Kg7 49.Re6 f4+ 50.Kh2 Re2 51.Kg1 Kf7 52.h6 Re1+ 53.Kf2 Rh1 54.R xe5 R xh6 55.Rf5+ Rf6 56.R xf6+ Kxf6=) 47...f4 48.Kg1 with the idea to try to come with the king to g4f5.]

[Chess Evolution]

44.g4

We have a one flank rook endgame with an extra pawn. To defend with four pawns against three is not as easy as three against two, especially in this structure that is not seen very often. Both players had to search for ideas over the board. 36... Ra1+ 37.Kh2 Ra3 38. Rb7 Rc3 39.Kh3 Ra3 40.Kg4 Of course white is trying improve the king but this way not works. 40... Ra2 41.Kg3 [41.g3 Rh2 42. Ra7 Kf8 and White has to exchange pawns after 43.f4 exf4 44.gxf4 (44.Kxf4 Rh1=) 44... Rg2+ 45.Kf3 Rh2 46.Kg3 Rb2 47.f5 gxf5 48.exf5 Rb4 with an easy draw. 49.h5 Rb3+ Black can give check now because the h5 square is not available. 50.Kf4 Rb4+ 51.Kf3 Rh4=]

44...g5 A very risky move because now White gets a strong and dangerous h-pawn. [44... Ra3 45. Rb7+ Kg8 (45...Kh6 46.Rf7 Ra6 47.R xf6+-) 46.h5 gxh5 (46...g5 leads to the structure from the game.) 47.gxh5 Ra4! A nice move that avoids the intrusion of the White king. 48. Rb6 (48.Kg3 f5 49.exf5 Rf4=) 48...Kg7 49.Kg3

18


49...f5 This is the point. 50.exf5 Rf4 51. Rg6+ Kh8 52.f6 Kh7 53. Rg5 Rxf6 54. Rxe5 If the Black king is not cut on the 7th rank, Black should be able to draw this theoretical endgame.; 44... Rc7 45. Rb6 Ra7 46.Kg3 Ra4 Black keeps the rook on the 4th rank to have the f5 idea that we saw before. 47.h5 (47.g5 fxg5 48.hxg5 Ra1) 47...gxh5 (47...Rc4 48.g5+-) 48.gxh5 f5 transposes to 44... Ra3.]

68.Kc6 [68.h6 Kg8 69.Kc6 (69.h7+ Kh8 70.Rf7 Rd3 71.R xf6 Kxh7 72.Rf5 Kg6 73.Kc6 Kh6 74.R xe5 R xf3 75.Rf5 Rf4 76.e5 R xg4 77.e6 Kg6 78.Re5 Rc4 and Black is on time.) 69... Rd3 70. Rg7+ Kh8 71. Rf7 Rxf3 72.Kd6 Rf1 73.Ke6

45.h5 Kf7 46.Ke2 Rd7 47. Rb3 Kg7 48. Rd3 Ra7 Now the only plan for White is to improve the king. Black has to wait. 49.Kd2 Rc7 50. Rc3 Rd7+ 51.Kc2 Ra7 52.Kb3 Rb7+ 53.Kc2 Ra7 54. Rd3 Rc7+ 55.Kb3 Kf7 56.Kb4 Ke6 57.Kb5 Rc1 58.Kb6 White slowly comes with his king to the kingside. 58... Rc2 59.Kb7 Ke7 60. Rb3 Kf7 61.Kb8 Kf8 62. Rb6 Kf7 63. Rb7+ Kf8 64. Rc7 Rd2 65. Rc3 Ke7 66.Kb7 Rd1 67. Rc7+ Kf8 Critical position. White finally put his pieces on optimal positions. Now it is time to take the king to the kingside. However, Black gets counterplay against White’s pawns. The game will become forced.

73... Rf4 Black keeps the rook on the f-file in order not to allow White to transfer his king to g6 via f5. 74. Rg7 Only way to come with king to g6 but now black is play (74. R xf6 Kh7=) 74... Rxe4 75.Kf5 Ra4 76. Re7 Otherwise, the e-pawn gives Black enough counterplay for a draw. (76. Kg6 Ra8 77.Kxf6 Re8=) 76... Ra6! (76...Ra8 77.Kxf6 Rg8 78.h7+-) 77.Kg6 f5+ 78.Kxf5 Rxh6=] 68... Rd3 69. Rd7 Rxf3 70.Kd6 19


1th of March 2013

(17) Tarrasch,S [CEWN] 1. +70... Rd3+? Decisive mistake! Black should play [70... Rf4 71.Ke6 We have the same position as in the previous comment. 71...Kg8 72. Rc7 Kh8 Black is waiting. It looks like White is not able to improve his position. (72... R xe4 73.Kf5 Ra4 74.Kg6 Ra8 75.Kxf6 Rf8+ 76.Kxg5 Re8 77.Rc3 e4 78.Re3+-) 73.Kf7 Kh7=] 71.Ke6 Rxd7 [71... Rf3 Now it is too late. 72.h6 Kg8 73. Rg7+ Kh8 74.Kf7 Black is not on time. White is simply winning.] 72.Kxd7 f5 73.gxf5 g4 74.h6 g3 75.f6 The most accurate. [75.h7 Kg7 76.f6+ Kxh7 77.f7 g2 78.f8Q g1Q 79.Qf5+ Kg7 80.Qxe5+²] 75...g2 76.h7 g1Q 77.h8Q+ Kf7 78.Qe8+ and Black loses his queen. 1–0

20


Solutions

(19) Kostin,K (2310) — Sasikiran,K (2677) Aeroflot Open (rapid), 12.02.2013

(18) Meier,G (2640) — Caruana,F (2757)

[Solutions]

Baden-Baden, 13.02.2013 [Solutions]

28... Rxc3! 29.dxc3 Rd2+! 0–1[29...c1Qµ]

30. Bxd4? [30.bxc6! bxc6 31.Qf4!! Qxf4 (31...Qc8 32.B xf5 B xb2 33.R xd7 R xd7 34.R xd7 Qxd7 35.Qb8++-) 32.gxf4+-; 30.Qf4!! Qxf4 (30...Qc8 31.B xf5 B xb2 32.R xd7 R xd7 33.R xd7 Qxd7 34.Qb8++-) 31.gxf4+-]

(20) Tregubov,P (2611) — Sasikiran,K (2677) Aeroflot Open (rapid), 12.02.2013 [Solutions]

30...Nxd4 31. Rxd4 Rxd4 32. Rxd4 Rxd4 33. Bh7+ Kxh7 34.Qxd4=

35. Rh8+! 1–0[35. Rh8+ Kxh8 36. Rf8#]

21


(21) Korobov,A (2702) — Evdokimov,A (2558)

(22) Vorobiov,E (2584) — Shimanov,A (2640)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28.Na4!! Rxc4 [28... Bxb7 29.Nxc5+-]

37...g4+! 38.Kh4 Kh6! 39. Rh1 [39.h3 Rh2 40.Nf4 Be7#]

29. Bxc4 Bxb7 30. Rxf6+-

39... Rxd5! 0–1[39... Rxd5 40.cxd5 Be7#]

22


(23) Shimanov,A (2640) — Grischuk,A (2764)

(25) Wojtaszek,R (2710) — Ulibin,M (2521)


Petrov memorial (rapid), 15.02.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27...Ng4! 28.hxg4 [28.Kg1 Nf2–+] 28...hxg4 29.Ne5 Qf2 0–1 (24) Nepomniachtchi,I (2703) — Karpov,A (2616) Aeroflot Open (rapid), 16.02.2013 [Solutions]

16. Bxh6!! Be7 [16...gxh6 17. Rxd5! Rxd5 18.Nf6++-] 17. Bd2 (26) Kurnosov,I (2649) — Wojtaszek,R (2710) Petrov memorial (rapid), 16.02.2013 [Solutions]

43... Re8! 44.g5 Qf2+ [44...Qf1–+] 30.Qxd6+!! Kxd6 31.exf7+ Kc5 32.f8Q+-

45. Re2 Qd4–+ 23


(27) Olafsson,H (2547) — Tan Zhongyi (2466)

(28) Grigoriev

Iceland-China Friendly (rapid), 17.02.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1.Kf5!! [1.Kxg7? Kg4=; 1.h5 Kg4 2.h3+ Kh4!=] 31. Be6! 1–0[31. Be6 Qd6 32. Rxf8+ Qxf8 33. Rg8+ Qxg8 34. Bxg8 Kxg8 35.b4+-]

1...Kg2 2.h5! Kh3 3.Kg5! [3.Kg6? Kg4! 4.h3+ Kh4=] 3...Kxh2 4.Kg6!+- 1–0

24

Weekly Newsletter



8th of March 2013

A massive share of the first place happened in Cappelle la Grande. 1st to 8th all ended up with 7/9 points. The three Top places went to the lucky players Sjugirov, Negi and Rodshtein, after the calculation of Buchholz.


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3

»» Puzzle section

13


16


19

»» Solutions

20

The 20th Bunratty Chess Festival 2013 was won by Adams with 5,5/6. And here comes the main event of the week, the female World Team Championship in Astana. Strangely, a lot of Top players are missing in a lot of Teams. Anyhow, the favorites are in the race. After round 5, Russia and Ukraine are leading with 9 Points, China only has 7 points (they are playing without Hou Yifan). Who will be the next female World Team Champion still remains very unclear. At the moment, as we can see, we have a slightly “lack” of chess activity, but already in about a week from now, the Candidates Tournament will begin. It is going to be probably one of the most exciting chess events ever, with World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen looking for his place as the challenger for the World Championship against Anand. As usual, we hope You enjoy the CEWN 54. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Anand,Viswanathan (2780) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2810) [C65] Zuerich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (6.1), 01.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Sometimes we tend to forget that chess is a tactical game. You can play a great game outplaying Your opponent, and just „blunder” everything away in one move. This happens a lot to You, to me and even in the highest level. It is, by far, not a rare event, as we will in the next moves... 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 In the last round of the tournament, Kramnik needs a full point to catch the leader Caruana. Anand, being on minus 1, is playing „just to finish” the tournament. Kramnik chooses his main weapon, the Berlin. At first sight, it is not an aggressive opening, but it creates a „long game”, where Your opponent has enough time to make mistakes.

7... Re8 Until here, everything is more or less standard. Black is playing Re8 with the idea of waiting for White’s Nc4, and only then to play Nd7-f6, planning Nf8- Ne6Nd4. All this seems to be pretty „slow”, but given the solid pawn structure, White does not have any active plans either... 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.Kh1 Anand is preparing the f4 push in case of Black’s f6. 9...a5! A strong positional move. [9...f6 10.Nh4 followed by f4 could give White a slightly better play.] 10.a4 A logical move, but I do not think this is the most accurate way to play. [10. Be3! I think this can be the only way for White to fight for any advantage. Black has no Bb4, and needs to put the bishop on a worse position, for example, on f8.] 10...b6 b6 is more or less a waiting move. It is hard to imagine that Black wants to play Ba6 next — the place for the bishop is on e6. 11. Be3

4... Bc5 5. Bxc6 One of the main developments and Anand’s favorite move. 5...dxc6 6.Nbd2 0–0 7.0–0

11... Bb4! and again, Kramnik shows great understanding of the position. Black should try to keep his bishop pair... 3


12.Nfd2?! White is preparing the f4 move. [Of course, a move like 12.c3 Bf8 would just weaken all White’s pawn structure. Now Black’s Ba6 could be a very likely option. If position opens up after d4, this can only be good for Black. The bishop pair will become very strong.; 12. Bd2 would have probably been an option for White. Maybe, objectively, White just has nothing better than to play 12... Bc5 13. Be3.] 12...b5! A very unusual move, but a very strong one! White’s knight from c4 does not have any good moves... 13.axb5?! A very strange decision by Anand, who is going for, at least, not a better position. [13.Na3 seems to be the only move. 13... Ba6 14.Nab1 bringing the White knight back to life. Of course Black is perfectly fine here, but probably not more than that.]

18...Qd7 19. Rfc1 c6 followed by Bb5. I think Black’s position should be, at least, not worse...] 19. Rfc1 Nf4 Black managed to activate the knight, which now can go to d4 by playing Ne6-d4 or Ne2-d4. 20. Rc6! A very good active defense. 20...Ne2 Very logical. [In case of 20... Rb8 21.Qa2 Re6 22. Rac1 it seems that White has enough play to be almost equal.] 21.Qd5! and again, a very good practical decision by White. Probably the position is just equal now.

13...cxb5 14.c3 Now to go back with the knight to a3 just makes no sense. 14...bxc4 15.cxb4 cxd3 16.bxa5 Ba6 Let us take a fresh look at the position. Black has a very strong pawn on d3. In exchange, White has an a-pawn that is blocked by the bishop on a6. The b-file can be nicely used by the Black rook on b8. Black’s only problem is the knight on d7 that is quite badly placed. All in all, I think it is quite obvious that Black should be doing slightly better here, without any risk of losing the game. 17.Qb3 Nf6 Black wants to play Ng4 next. [To hurry with 17... Rb8 18.Qc3 followed by Rfc1 brings nothing for Black.] 18.h3 Nh5 This is a logical move. Black is bringing the knight into the game. [Another possible way to play was

21...Qb8?? What a blunder! It is clear that Kramnik over pushes his position, feeling that Anand is just playing for a draw. [The right choice would have been 21...Qxd5 22.exd5 Rec8 with a complex endgame that should probably end with a draw because of the opposite-colored bishops.] 22. Rxa6! Such presents cannot be given to the World Champion, even when he is in bad shape. 22... Rxa6 23.Qxd3 and Black can simply resign. The knight on e2 or the rook on a6 will fall. It is hard to say 4


what did Kramnik blunder before playing Qb8 — maybe Rxa6. I guess we are all mortals :).

(2) Gelfand,Boris (2740) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2810) [E06]

23...Qxb2 24. Rb1 Rd6 25.Qxe2 Qa2 [It does not help to play 25... Rxd2 26. Rxb2 Rxe2 27. Rxe2 and White is a full piece up.]

Zuerich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (4.2), 27.02.2013

26.Qb5 c6 27.Qb2 Is this a deserve d win?! After playing chess for so many years, I start to think that there are no underserved victories. „Not to blunder” is a very important skill for a professional chess player. 1–0

[Arkadij Naiditsch] A very interesting game on the Catalan was seen between Gelfand and Kramnik. First, things looked pretty complicated, but after Kramniks made a sacrifice, White had a chance to keep his extra material. Gelfand did not take advantage of this, giving Kramnik a lot of chances to finish the game in his favor. Finally, after the time trouble, the game ended in a draw. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 With this move, Gelfand chooses the Catalan. 4... Be7 5. Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 We are in one of the very main lines. 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Until here, everything is very well known. Main ideas: if Black manages to play c5, the position will be equal, so White is trying to do everything to stop Black from doing it. 11...Qc8 Quite a rare move, but Kramnik himself had to face this move with the White pieces against Leko in 2007, where he continued with 12. Bg5, which seems to be the main option here.

5

Issue 54 completely well placed. The Black queen is on b7, which always gives White many dangerous attacking ideas...

8th of March 2013

12.b4!? It is hard to say if this was Gelfand’s preparation, but what can be more logical?! Black wants to play c5 and White is stopping it... 12...Nbd7 The only problem for White now is the c4 square, and the Black knight can get there easily with Nb6- Nc4. 13.Nc3 Bc6 Black is preparing for Qb7 next. 14.a3 Qb7 15.Qc2 Of course, one of the main ideas for White is to push e4. It does not seem to be an easy task, but by playing Qc2 followed by Rfe1, it can work out. 15...h6 [15...Nb6 16. Bg5 might give White a slightly better position.] 16. Rac1!? A little bluff by Gelfand. 16... Rac8?! There was no need for this move. [I think Black could have tried 16...Nb6 17.e4!? I guess this is what Kramnik was afraid of. 17... Bxe4! but everything works out for Black. 18.Nxe4 Qxe4 looks very dangerous, but tactically, everything works for Black. 19.Qxc7 (19.Qb3 Qd5) 19...Nfd5 and Black is perfectly fine.]

19.d5! Good move! White is starting the action. 19... Bd7 [19... Be8 is a computer suggestion here, but how to play such an ugly move...] 20.dxe6 White continues with direct play. 20...fxe6 [20... Bxe6? 21.e5 probably just loses the game. White will play Nd4 next.] 21.e5 Logical. [White had a stronger move: 21. Bxh6! Ng4 (In case of 21...gxh6 22.e5 followed by Qg6 is game over.) 22. Bf4 c5 It seems like Black has a lot of counterplay, but after 23.e5! things sudd enly turn around. White wants to play Qg6 next. Also, the idea Ne4- Ng5 can be deadly. White should be better here.] 21...Ng4 22. Re4 The Black knight is trapped caught, but...(!!!)

17. Rfe1 Nb6 18.e4 Nc4 The position is very complicated, but somehow it feels that the Black pieces are not 6


29.Ncxb5? What a shocking move... Gelfand is giving away his knight just for a pawn — why to do that?! [First 29. R4e3! Bxg2 and only now

22...Nxf2! is a very strong move, even though Black had practically no choices already. 23.Kxf2 Nxd2 24.Qxd2 c5 White is a clear piece up, but suddenly, a lot of White’s pieces are hanging. Black’s bishop pair is getting very strong. 25.Kg1 It is very logical to take the king away from the f-file. [25. Rf4!? would have been a good way to continue the game for White. To exchange a rook cannot be wrong when You are a piece up.] 25...cxb4 Black is opening the c-file. 26.axb4 Bc6 27. Rce1 a5 Very original play by Kramnik, but was it necessary?! [Why not just the simple 27... Rfd8 forcing the White Queen to leave the d2 square, while at the same time, protecting the b4 pawn. 28.Qe2 Bxe4 29.Nxe4 Bxb4 30. Rf1 The position is still very tricky. White will try to go for a mating attack by playing Nh4 next, but I think Black’s chances should be at least equal here. The a- and b-pawns could play a deadly role in every endgame.] 28.Nd4 Qa7? A blunder... [Black had no choice already here... 28... Bxe4 29.Nxe4 Qa7 and White should be doing better, but the position is still super complicated.]

30.Ncxb5! would have kept the game clearly in White’s favor. I do not see a way for Black to continue here... White remains a full piece up.] 29... Bxb5 30.Kh1 Bc4 With the bishop pair in a very open position, Black is clearly much better here. White needs to be very careful not to lose any material immediately. 31.bxa5 Rfd8 All the White pieces start to hang... 32.Qb2 Qxa5 33.Nf3 Can White survive here? 33... Bd5 Very logical. 34. R4e2 Bb4! pushing the White rook from e1 to g1. 35. Rg1 Bc3 36.Qb1 All the Black pieces are just perfectly placed, but to find a final blow is not easy at all. 36... Bc4?! seems to be a move in the wrong direction. [36...Qa6; 36... Rf8; 36... Rc4 were all very nice for Black. It might seem that the position should be close to a draw, and that Black has nothing more, but it is a very wrong 7


impression. Black’s pieces are fully dominating the board and, sooner or later, Black will find a way to break through the defensive lines.] 37. Re3

(3) Adams,Michael (2727) — Aguera Naredo,Javier (2390) [B07] 20th Bunratty Masters Bunratty IRL (5.1), 03.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A spectacular game not without mistakes. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 The Pirc defense. Usually, Black players employ it to avoid the longtheoretical lines, but as we will see, if we are not familiar with the ideas, we can run into quick defeats. 4. Be3 c6 5.Qd2 Nbd7

37... Bb4? and this is already a serious mistake. Clearly, to transport the bishop from c3 to f8 cannot be the right way of playing. 38. Re4 Bf8 39. Rf4 Bd3 40.Qb3 Qd5 The time trouble is over and we can see that White has improved his position dramatically during the last moves. The exchange of queens is worth a lot. 41.Qxd5 Rxd5 Gelfand finds a nice tactical way to force a draw. 42.Nd4! and of course, the exchange of the e-pawns gives White a draw. 42... Rxe5 43.Nxe6 Be7 44. Rd4! Another precise move „not to suffer”. 44... Bf5 45.Nf4 The position is a draw. 45... Bc5 46. Rd5 A lot of chances were missed by both sides, but all in all, it was a very exciting game!

6.Nf3 Adams plays one of the most solid setups, which guarantees him a small but long-term advantage. 6...e5? This move is premature. The idea is correct — to fight for the center -, but first Black should have finished the development. [6... Bg7 7.h3 0–0 8. Bd3 followed by 0–0 and Ne2-g3, gives White a comfortable game.] 7. Bc4! Suddenly the f7 pawn became a real weakness, Ng5 is already a decisive threat.

1/2 8


7...b5 Another careless move, although the position was already very suspicious. [7... Bg7 8.0–0–0 and Black cannot secure the safety of his king with 8...0–0? because he loses material due to the pin on the d-file. 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Nxe5!+-]

10. Bh6! Excellent move! It is more important to keep the king on e8, than to take care of the e4 pawn. If it falls, the central lines are going to open on the Black king. Anyway, Black has to accept the sacrifice, otherwise he loses because of the Ng5 threat.

8.dxe5 A principled move to open the position against the Black king, which still needs some moves to castle kingside.

10...Nxe4 11.Qe3 Nd6 [11...Nxc3 is not better either. 12.bxc3 Bf8 (12...Bc5 13.Qe4+-) 13.0–0–0 If we take a look at the attacking pieces of White and the undeveloped Black ones, we do not need to calculate longer to simply assess that White has a decisive attack.]

8...dxe5 [Black quickly collapses after 8...bxc4 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.e5! dxe5 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Nxe5 White wins at least a pawn.]

12.Nxe5 Nxe5

9. Bb3 Black needs to develop his f8 bishop, but he has serious problems to find where to put it. 9... Bb4! The best chance. Black tries to win a tempo to castle with the threat of Nxe4, but unfortunately for him, there are concrete problems in the position. [Black has no time to win the e4 pawn with 9...b4 The punishment comes quickly with 10.Ng5! bxc3 11.Qxc3 Black cannot protect the f7 pawn. 11... Bg7 12. Bxf7+ Ke7 13.0–0–0+Too many threats around the king. The game is over.; 9... Be7 is met with 10. Bh6! and the problem to castle does not disappear. Ng5 is a deadly threat.; 9... Bg7 is refuted by 10.Qd6! with the multiple threats of Ng5, Nxe5 and Qxc6.]

13.Qxe5+? This mistake could have brought Black back to the game. [13. Bg7! was the right move order. 13... Rg8 14.Qxe5+ Qe7 and we transposed to the position of the game.] 13...Qe7 14. Bg7! Keeping the tension and improving the pieces. 14... Rg8? [Black could have finally solved the problem of his uncastled king with 14...Qxe5+ 15. Bxe5 0–0 White has a clear advantage here as well, but he needs to work to convert it. 16.0–0–0 Nf5 17.Ne4 Be7 18. Rhe1 White’s pieces are clearly dominating.] 9


15.0–0–0 Qxe5 16. Bxe5 Black succeeded to get rid of the queens, but the attack is still enormous with the minor pieces and the rooks on the central files.

(4) Gharamian,Tigran (2661) — Baryshpolets,Andrey (2526) [E60]

16...Nc4 Black rightly tries to exchange the active pieces, but there are still many left on the board.

[Csaba Balogh]

17. Bxc4 bxc4

29th Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (5.7), 26.02.2013 After White outplayed his opponent positionally, Black decided to complicate matters, but then, in the tactical part of the game, White dominated again. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0–0 5.g3 The game started as a King’s Indian Defense with g3, but suddenly, it transposed to the Benoni.

18.Ne4! The hole on f6 became the key factor of the game.

5...c5 6.d5 d6 7. Bg2 e6 8.0–0 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 The initial position of the opening. White has various different setups here — he chooses one of the main lines.

18...Ke7 [18... Be7 has a prosaic refutation. 19.Nf6+! Bxf6 20. Bxf6 and Black cannot avoid getting mated on d8 after doubling the rooks on the d-file. 20... Be6 21. Rd6 g5 Trying to kick out the bishop with Rg6, but it fails by one tempo. 22. Rhd1 Bd5 23.b3! White needs to eliminate the c-pawn to be able to open the d-file again. 23...cxb3 24.c4!+- wins.] 19.c3 Sending the bishop into an even worse position in order to get access to the d6 square. 19... Ba5 20. Bf6+ Ke6 This leads to a forced mate, but the game was over anyway. [20...Kf8 21. Rd6+-] 21. Rd6+ Kf5 22.Ng3+ Black resigned in view of the mate in the next move.[22.Ng3+ Kf4 23. Rd4#] 1–0

10. Bf4 a6 11.a4 The last two moves were standard measures in this line. Black wanted to play b5, which White prevented. 11...Nh5 Black follows the latest fashion. [The old main line starts with 11...Ne4 12.Nxe4 Rxe4 13.Nd2 Rb4 Aronian beat Carlsen in a nice strategic game back in 2007 with 14.b3!? The game continued with 14... Bxa1 15.Qxa1 Rxf4!? The bishop was extremely strong on f4. White was 10


threatening to play Nc4 or Ne4, collecting the d6 pawn, and Bh6 could have been unpleasant as well. So, sacrificing back the exchange was completely justified. 16.gxf4 Nd7 17.Ne4 with slightly better for White.]

14...Nf6 Black tries to avoid or, at least, to delay e4. [14... Nd7 15.e4 fxe4 16.Nxe4 looks terrible from Black’s point of view. Nf3-d2-c4 is coming next. Also, g4 might win the h5 knight occasionally.]

12.Bg5 Qc7 The idea of the previous two moves was to continue the development with Nd7, which was not possible immediately because of the d6 pawn. We can also see that to include a6-a4 was also useful to avoid Nb5 now. 13.h3 A rare, but useful move, which fits well in the position. White usually tries to make progress on the kingside. Possible plans are e4, followed by Nd2 and f4, and sometimes even g4 could be an unpleasant idea. 15. Bxf6! White gives up his strong bishop in order to get e4 as fast as possible. Black is not in time to consolidate his position. [15.Nd2 It was also possible to play e4, but the text move is much more effective.]

13...f5? This is definitely a mistake. Black significantly weakens his king’s position, which might not be obvious at first sight, but 3 moves later it all becomes clear. [Black should have played 13...Nd7 followed by Rb8 and b5. White will need to parry this b5 move again by playing a5, but even then b5 is possible. and after axb6 Rxb6, Black gets counterplay on the b-file.] 14. Re1! White prepares for the e4 move, after which the knight will occupy an excellent square on e4. Suddenly, Black faces serious difficulties to finish his development on the queenside.

15... Bxf6 16.e4 Black’s main problem is that he cannot develop his knight to d7 because of the simple exf5, and otherwise it is hard to make a useful developing move. Actually, Black is missing only one tempo — if he could play Ne5 now, his position would be perfectly fine. 16... Rf8 Quite an ugly move, but it is hard to suggest something better. Black wanted to keep an extra defender for his king after the threatened exf5. However, this allows another nice idea. This is a standard breakthrough in these Benoni structures! [Giving up the strong bishop is not advisable. 16... Bxc3 17.bxc3 fxe4 18.Ng5 White wins back the pawn and gets a very strong attack.; 16...fxe4 17.Nxe4 Bg7 loses to 18.Nf6+!]

11


21.Nd5! Another strong and concrete move! As we will see, both captures on e5 have their own problems. 21... Bxe5 [21...Nxe5 is met with the intermediate move 22.Nxf6! Nc4 White can choose between many good moves, but the most elegant way to get a winning position is definitely 23.Ne8! Qd4+ 24.Qxd4+ cxd4 25. Re7+Black is paralyzed.] 17.e5! dxe5 18.d6 Qg7 19.Nxe5! White won ba ck the pawn because of the Qd5 check. He also got a very dangerous d6 pawn and all of his pieces are excellently placed. Meanwhile, Black is still suffering to finish his development. 19...Nd7 20.f4! Another good decision to leave Black suffering with his bad pieces. [White could have won a pawn with 20.Nxd7 Bxd7 21.Qd5+ Kh8 22.Qxc5 Rac8 but why to ease Black’s task in his cramped position for a small amount of material?] 20...Kh8 After leaving from the Qd5 check, Black finally wants to take on e5.

22.fxe5 Nxe5 23.Nb6! Rb8 24. Rc1! This was the simple idea of 21.Nd5! Black cannot avoid Rxc5, after which both rooks are ready to invade on the 7th rank, thanks to the strong d6 pawn. On the other hand, Black is still suffering with his c8 bishop. 24...Nd7 25.Nxd7 [On 25. Re7 Black has 25... Rf7 26. Rxf7 Qxf7 27.Nxd7 Bxd7 28. Rxc5 White is much better here as well, but why to exchange a pair of rooks?!] 25... Bxd7 26. Rxc5 Rc7 followed by Re7 are in the air. 26... Rfe8 27. Rc7 Rxe1+ 28.Qxe1 Black decided to finish his suffering and allowed a small combination to finish the game. 28...Qd4+ [28... Re8 29.Qb4 b5 30.a5!+- followed by Ra7-a6, for instance. Black is unable to create any counterplay with this deadly pin on the 7th rank.] 29.Kh2 Qxd6 30. Rxd7! Qxd7 31.Qe5+ and the b8 rook falls. Nice performance by White. He punished his opponent very effectively after the 13...f5 move. 1–0

12


Puzzle section

(7) Petkov,V (2559) — Fedorchuk,S (2643) Cappelle la Grande Open, 27.02.2013

(5) So,W (2684) — Dziuba,M (2603) Reykjavik Open, 26.02.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Sasikiran,K (2677) — Vul,A (2320) (6) Gretarsson,H (2509) — Navara,D (2710) Reykjavik Open, 27.02.2013 [CEWN]

Cappelle la Grande Open, 27.02.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

13


(9) Kozul,Z (2630) — Zelcic,R (2543)

(11) Szelag,M (2484) — Wojtaszek,R (2700)

Zagreb Open, 01.03.2013

Dziedzica memorial (rapid), 03.03.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+ Line

1. +-

(10) Armanda,I (2380) — Brkic,A (2581)

(12) Wojtaszek,R (2700) — Kempinski,R (2599)

Zagreb Open, 04.03.2013

Dziedzica memorial (rapid), 03.03.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... -/+

1. +-

14


(13) Wojtaszek,R (2700) — Janaszak,D (2389) Dziedzica memorial (rapid), 03.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Dumitrache,D (2440) — Negi,P (2638) Cappelle la Grande Open, 25.02.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

15


Endgame section

42...fxg3 43.fxg3 White has only one plan, to advance his g-pawn with the support of his king. Black must search for active counterplay against it.

(15) Amin,B (2631) — Gajewski,G (2644) Reykjavik Open, 27.02.2013 [Chess Evolution]

43... Ra6! 44.g4 Ra1! The only move! Black is disturbing White to make progress.

Black seems to be completely lost, but as in many other rook endgames, surprising things can happen. 40... Rg6!! White cannot prevent f4, getting rid of the weak pawn and White remains with his passive rook on h7. [Obviously, the pawn endgame is hopeless after 40... Rf6? 41.Kg2 Rxf7 42. Rxf7+ Kxf7 White wins easily after 43.Kf3 Kg6 44.Kf4 Kf6 45.f3! Black is in zugzwang. 45...Ke6 46.Kg5+-; 40...f4 immediately is premature, because White can preserve all his pawns. 41.g4! Rg6 42.f3 Rc6 43.Kg2 Rc2+ 44.Kh3 Rc1 (44...Rf2 45.g5 R xf3+ 46.Kg4+- is over.) 45. Rh5!+- and the rook goes to f5, and the f4 pawn is falling.] 41.Kh2 f4! 42.Kh3! White tries his only chance! [42.gxf4 Rg4 would have been an easy draw. Such bad pawns cannot be promoted.]

45.Kg2! White finds his best chance again! He had to prevent Rf1 and, of course, Rh1! [45.Kg3 leads to a draw after 45... Rf1! and Black can take on f7 because the pawn endgame is drawn. 46.g5 Rxf7 47. Rxf7+ Kxf7=]

45... Ra3? Black cuts the king. This was the most logical move, but also the decisive mistake. [45... Ra7? never works, with the idea of taking on f7 the next move, 16


because 46. Rh8+! Kxf7 47. Rh7++- wins the rook.; The draw could have been achieved by 45... Re1!! 46.Kf3 (White cannot advance his pawn at once 46.g5 Re5! and on g6, Rg5 is check.) 46... Rf1+ 47.Ke4! After other king moves, Black could have taken on f7, while now it would be losing because White gets the opposition with Kf5. So, Black needs to wait until White pushes g5 and only then take on f7. 47... Rf2 48.Ke5

rook check on the h-file never works because of Kg6. (50. Kg6 allows 50...Rf6+ again.) 50... Rf1 51.g5 g6 is coming next and the pawn endgame now is a theoretical win for White. 51... Rxf7 52. Rxf7+ Kxf7 53.Kh6 Kg8 54.Kg6 Kh8 55.Kf7 Kh7 56.g6++-] 48.Kh4 Ra4 49.Kh5 Ke7 50.g5 Ra1 51.Kg6 Rf1 52. Rh8 Black resigned in view of Rxf7 Rh7! 1–0

48... Rf1 (48...R xf7? is always bad while the pawn is on g4. 49.R xf7+ Kxf7 50.Kf5 Kg7 51.Kg5! Kh7 52.Kf6+- wins.) 49.Ke6 White is ready to play Rh8, but a nice stalemate trick saves Black. (49.g5 R xf7 50.R xf7+ Kxf7 51.Kf5 Kg7 and White does not have Kg5 anymore, so the position is a draw.) 49... Rf6+! 50.Kxf6 And the saying is true again: all the rook endgames are drawn. :)] 46.Kf2! Another great move by White! He prepares for the g5 push, by leaving from the Ra5 g6 Rg5 check. 46... Ra4 47.Kg3 Ra5 [The drawing motif does not work anymore, because White can stay with his king on the gand h-files. 47... Ra1 48.Kf4 Rf1+ 49.Kg5! (49.Ke5? Rf2 is a draw as we already know.) 49... Rf2 The difference is 50.Kh5! and White is ready to advance his g-pawn. The 17


(16) Caruana,Fabiano (2757) — Gelfand,Boris (2740) [E00]

44.h3 Caruana wants to start his „winning” plan by playing f4-g4-f5. Can Black do something against it?

Zuerich Chess Challenge Zuerich SUI (6.2), 01.03.2013

44... Ra2?! A slightly strange decision. I think Black should have kept using the „waiting” tactic.

[Chess Evolution]

41.Nc5 We will see quite an interesting endgame from a practical point of view. What to exchange, what not to exchange. Which pawn structure is a draw, which a winning one. Let us try to take a closer look... 41...Ne6 A good looking move by Gelfand. To exchange the knight would be a huge step for Black to get a draw. All knight endgames with a pawn can be very hard to defend. On the other hand, all bishop endgames or rook endgames could be very close to a draw. However, now the White knight is getting a perfect position on e4. 42.Ne4! Of course, Caruana does not exchange the knights. [42.Nxe6? Rxe6 and Black made a huge step to get a draw.] 42... Bg7 To put the bishop on g7 is never wrong. 43. Rb6 Ra8 Black put his pieces in perfect positions.

45.f4 Ra5 46.Kf3 Nothing too big has happened yet.

46...g5!? A strange looking move, but what else to do? It is hard to find a way against White’s winning plan. [If Black keeps waiting with 46...Kh7 47.g4 hxg4+ 48.hxg4 Kg8 49. Rb8+ Kh7 now the very important 50. Bh4! could just finish the game on the spot!] 47. Rb8+ Kh7 48.Nd6 f5 Black’s pawns are weak, but at least, White’s plan with g4 has been stopped. 49. Rb6 g4+ 50.hxg4 and here comes the critical decision: What pawn to take on g4 with? 50...fxg4+?! I think this was the wrong choice. [50...hxg4+ 51.Kg2 It seems like White is doing really good, but here comes 51...Nc5! Black’s only chance of saving the game is with active play. 52.Nxf5 (To play the same as in the game makes no sense now. 52.Nb7 N xb7 53.R xb7 Kg6 is just a draw.) 52... Ra2! followed by Ne4 or Nd3 with some drawing chances.] 18


51.Kg2 Nc5 Gelfand tries the same, but now it is getting countered by

Surprise section / study (17) Kok [CEWN] 1. +-

52.Nb7! Nxb7 53. Rxb7 White wants to play e4-e5 to finish the game. 53... Ra4 54. Rb6 cutting the Black king. 54... Re4 55.Kf1 White’s king is going to d3. 55...h4? and another blunder by Gelfand. [55... Ra4 in order to be ready to play Ke2, and against Ra2+, Rd2 would follow. Black’s position is bad, but by far not lost. There would still be a great fight here... 56. Rd6 in order to be ready to play Ke2, and against Ra2+, Rd2 would follow. Black’s position is bad, but by far not lost. There would still be a great fight here...] 56.gxh4 Thank You Boris. 56...g3 57. Bg1 and the 3rd pawn is going to fall on g3. 57... Bh6 58.Kg2 All in all, it is hard to say if Black could have saved the endgame from the beginning. Probably, it is closer to a win by White than to a draw. 1–0

19


Solutions

(19) Handler,L (2369) — Stefansson,H (2496) Reykjavik Open, 22.02.2013

(18) Smith,A (2485) — Tari,A (2263)

[Solutions]

Reykjavik Open, 21.02.2013 [Solutions]

18... Rf3!! 19.dxc6 [19.gxf3 Qxh3–+; 19. Rfd1 Rg6! 20.Kf1 Rxg2! 21.Kxg2 Qxh3+ 22.Kg1 Rf5–+] 16. Bxg7! Bxd2 [16...Kxg7 17.Qb2+ Kg8 18.Qxb4+-] 17. Bf6 Ba5 18. Be4+-

19... Rxh3 20.gxh3 Qg5+ [20...Qxh3–+] 21.Kh2 Qg4! 0–1

20


(20) Kuzubov,Y (2622) — Beeke,B (2257)

(22) Smith,A (2485) — Wang Jue (2375)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

27.Nxd5! exd5 28.e6+! fxe6 29.Qe3! Ke8 [29...Qb6 30. Bc7!+-]

27... Rxe2! 28.Qb8+ [28. Rxe2 Qf3–+]

30.Qxe6+-

28...Kg7 29. Rxe2 Qf3 30.Nf5+ gxf5 31.Qe5+ Kg6! 32. Rd6+ Kh5!–+

(21) Bekker Jenses,S (2405) — Williams,S (2498) Reykjavik Open, 23.02.2013 [Solutions]

26...Nde2+! 0–1 [26...Nde2+ 27.Bxe2 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qg2#] 21


(23) Pruijssers,R (2519) — Bischoff,K (2519)

(24) Bobras,P (2560) — Stellwagen,D (2622)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

43.Nxd5! exd5 44.Qd7+ Rc7 [44... Bc7 45. Rf8+-]

31.Nd7+! Ke8 [31...Nxd7 32. Bxh8+-]

45.Qxd8+-

32.Nxf6+ Bxf6 33.Qb8+! 33.Qb8+ Bd8 34. Bxh8+-]

1–0[33. Bxf6?

Qf5+;

22


(25) Farago,I (2488) — Balogh,C (2664) German league, 24.02.2013 [Solutions]

23...Nxe4! 24.fxe4 Rxe4 25. Rxd3 [25.Kf2 Qd4–+] 25...Ne5! 26.c5 [26. Rdd1 Ng4 27. Rxd6 Rxe3! 28. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 29.Qxe3 Rxe3–+; 26. Rd2 Rxe3 27.Qxe3 (27. R xe3 N xc4! 28.bxc4 R xe3 29.Qf2 Re1#) 27...Ng4 28.Qxb6 Rxe1#]

(26) Espinosa Veloz,E (2452) — Quesada Perez,Y (2596) Cuban Championship, 09.02.2013 [Solutions]

28...Nf4!! [28... Rc8 29. Ra1!; 28...Qa3+ 29.Kc3] 29.Qxf4 Rc8!! 0–1[29... Rc8 30. Ra1 (30.Kc1 Ra1+ 31.Kb2 Qa3#) 30...Qc3+–+]

26...Qxc5 27. Rd5 Qc3! 28. Rdd1 Ng4–+

23


(27) Ptacnikova,L (2269) — Sokolov,I (2644)

(28) Tarrasch,S


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21... Bb4!! 22.Qe2 [22.Nc3 Re6–+; 22.Qxb4 Nh4–+] 22...Nh4 23.f3 Bxe1 0–1

1.Kf6 Kh5 2.g8Q! Bxg8 3.Kg7 Kg5 4.h3! Kh5 5.h4! Kxh4 [5... Ba2 6.h7+-] 6.Kxg8+- 1–0

24

Weekly Newsletter



15th of March 2012

The World of Chess is waiting for the Candidates Tournament that already begins on March 15th. However, another major event has just finished.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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Ukraine is the winner of the Women’s World Team Championship with 16 Point. 2nd place went to China with 15 Points and “only” the 3rd place was taken by Russia (who played without the Kosintseva sisters). The “Talking Match in Teheran” between Nigel Short and Ghaem Maghami was won by the Englishman very convincingly in all the 3 disciplines: Normal chess, rapid chess and blitz. The Karpos Open is being played in Macedonia. Yemelin is the leader with 5,5/6 points and a lot of strong GMs behind him. As usual, have fun with CEWN Nr 55. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Tkachiev,V (2644) — Dobrov,V (2537) [A57] Nancy, 10.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] The decisive game of the very strong rapid tournament in Nancy. The surprise of the event, Vladimir Dobrov, knocked out two big favorites (Bacrot and Vachier Lagrave) to reach the final, but in the second game he suffered a painful defeat.

5...bxa3?! This is an inaccuracy, which helps White to finish his development the most ideal way. [5...g6 is the critical line. 6.axb4 cxb4 with many interesting lines and games in the database.] 6. Rxa3! At first sight it might look a bit strange, but the knight belongs on c3, where it supports the occupation of the center with e4. 6...g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.e4 d6

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 After defeating two top GMs, with full of confidence, Black chooses the Volga gambit. 4.Nf3 A solid alternative for White. He is aiming for a small positional advantage instead of accepting the sacrifice and going for the complicated positions. Black has a wide range of choices here... 4...b4 [4... Bb7 and; 4...g6 are the two main lines.]

9.e5!! An extremely strong move! White correctly judges the changes of the pawn structure. [White also gets a small advantage after the normal developing moves: 9. Be2 0–0 10.0–0 but the text move is much stronger.] 9...Ng4 [9...dxe5 critically weakens the c5 pawn. 10.Nxe5 0–0 11. Be2 followed by 0–0, Nd3 and Be3 with very strong pressure on c5. White has a huge advantage. Nbd7 does not work because of Nc6!]

5.a3! White would like to develop his knight to c3, therefore he undermines the b4 pawn.

10.exd6 exd6 11. Bg5 White would like to reduce the power of the strong g7 bishop, by either provoking f6 or trying to exchange it. Black preferred the second option. [However 11.h3 seems to be even stronger. The point is

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that after 11...Ne5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bh6! Black has serious difficulties to castle.] 11... Bf6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6? Black would like to move his knight to e5, so he decides to take with the queen, but it crucially moves into the Ne4 tempo. [12...Nxf6 was the only move, although White enjoys a small, but stable advantage here as well. 13. Be2 0–0 14.0–0 Bg4 Black’s main problem in this kind of position is the d5 pawn, which takes away his space to develop the pieces and weakens the d6 pawn. White has many ways to put it under pressure. 15.Nd2 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 and Rfa1, Nb5 or Ne4, queen transfers to f4 or g3, and the rook might also go to a6 later on. Black still wants to finish his development.] 13. Be2 [White had a strong alternative here with 13.h3 Ne5

f3 knight with Bg4, followed by occupying the d4 square with Nf5-d4. But of course, this is too slow. [Other moves were also bad, for instance 14... Bf5 15.h3 Ne5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17. Re1 Qf6 18. Bg4 Nd7 19. Bxf5 Qxf5 20.Ne4 Black tried to finish the development logically, but the main problem is the d6 pawn, again.] 15.Qd2 Kg7 16.Ne4! An excellent place for the knight and it is going there with tempo. 16...Qe7 17. Bd3 Unfortunately, Re3 was not possible because of Nf5, but now the other rook is going to occupy the e-file. 17... Bg4 [17... Bf5 is met with the same moves as the game... 18.Qc3+ f6 19. Re1 with huge problems for Black.] 18.Qc3+! Critically weakens the e6 square. 18...f6 19. Re1 Nxc5 is the threat. 19...Qd7 [19... Bxf3 20.Nxc5+- and Ne6 next.] 20.Neg5 [20.Nfg5 was also winning. Black cannot develop his pieces.] 20... Re8

14.Ne4! Nxf3+ 15. Rxf3 Suddenly, the rook proves to be excellently placed on the 3rd rank. 15...Qe5 16. Re3 0–0 17.Qd2 After protecting the b2 pawn, Black is simply unable to prevent Nxc5. The queen cannot leave the pin, because of the d6 pawn.] 13...0–0 14.0–0 Nh6 A slightly artificial maneuver, but the position was already difficult. The idea was to take the 4


21. Raa1! White needs to keeps the important e-file. The b8 knight still cannot move, which would be necessary for connecting the rooks. 21...Nf7 It is easy to feel that the pieces cannot be improved anymore and White should aim for a decisive blow! 22.Nxh7! That is it! 22...Ne5 Black would like to lock the position a bit and also to trap the h7 knight, but it continues its kamikaze journey! [22...Kxh7 loses to 23.Qxf6 Bh5 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. Re1+- and Re7 decides in the next move.]

27...Qd7 28.Qg3 The threat is e6 to win the g4 bishop.

23.Nxf6! Kxf6 24.Nxe5 dxe5 25.f4! This was the point of the Nxf6 sacrifice. If White succeeds to get his pawn to e5, he will swap his opponent away from the board.

29...Qg5 [29...Kh7 would have also lost. One of the winning plans is 30. Re5 Qg6 31.Qh4+ Kg7 32. Rg5+-]

25...Qd6 26. Bxg6!? Playing for the spectators. This was definitely not the only way to win, but it demonstrates well the power of the central pawns. [26.fxe5+ Rxe5 27. Rxe5 Qxe5 28. Rf1+ also looked tempting, but Black is alive after 28... Bf5] 26...Kxg6 27.fxe5 White has 4 pawns for the two minor pieces, but the position is completely winning, as Black does not have enough time to consolidate his position...

28...Qf5 29.e6 The new threat is Re5 and Black cannot avoid losing the bishop.

30.h4! Black loses the g4 bishop now, which means the end of the game. 30...Qd2 [30...Qf5 31. Re5+-] 31. Rad1 Obviously, everything else was also winning, but White decided to finish the game in style and kept the g4 bishop alive one more move. 1–0

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(2) Karavade,Eesha (2387) — Gunina,Valentina (2505) [A09]

it. Only in the long-term he will have some chances to enjoy this advantage.

FIDE Women’s World Teams Astana KAZ, 11.03.2013

9.d3 Bc5 This is considered to be the most precise. Black wants to develop the queen to e7. [But 9... Be7 is also perfectly playable.]

[Csaba Balogh] An interesting game which had a calm start. White seemed to be overtaking the initiative, but suddenly, after a very logical but careless move, Black succeeded to turn the game the her favor in nice style.

10. Bf4 0–0 11. Rc1 Qe7

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.g3 White tries the Reti opening and Black chooses one of the safest options against it. 3... Bg4 4. Bg2 e6

12.a3 White tries to take some ground on the queenside, but it hardly brings any advantage. 12...h6 A useful waiting move. Black opens the back-rank just in case, and occasionally e5 might be an option after preventing Bg5. [12... Rac8 was also possible.] 5.cxd5 White tries to change the pawn structure by using the fact that cxd5 is not possible at the moment.

13.Na4 Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Nc5

5... Bxf3 This is a necessary intermediate move if Black wants to take back with the c-pawn. [5...cxd5?? would allow White to play a miniature. 6.Qa4+ and g4 falls.; 5... exd5 is an alternative for Black, but it leads to sharp games after 6.0–0 Nf6 7.d3 Be7 8.Nc3 and e4 next move.] 6. Bxf3 cxd5 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Nc3 Nc6 White got the bishop pair, but the position is closed and he can hardly open 6


15...Nd4! 16.e3! The right decision to get rid of the d4 knight, although White admits with this move that she could not get any advantage in this game. [It made no sense to preserve the bishop with 16. Bg2 as the d4 knight is more powerful now. 16... Rfc8 17.Nb3 (17.N xb7? Qb6 traps the knight.) 17... Rxc1 18.Nxc1 Rc8 and Black has the advantage. White cannot kick out the knight with e3 because of the Rxc1 threat, followed by Ne2.; 16.Nxb7 is simply met by 16...Nxf3+ 17.exf3 Qb6 and Black wins back the b2 pawn.] 16...Nxf3+ 17.Qxf3 b6 18.Nb3 Rac8 19.Nd4 Qd7 20.Qf4 On the highest level, the players would probably agree to a draw now, but in women’s chess the game is just about to start. :) 20... Rfe8 [Black wanted to create some complications, otherwise she would just trade everything 20... Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Rc8 22. Rxc8+ Qxc8 and offer a draw.; However 20... Rc5!? was an interesting alternative to continue playing on. Black is fighting for the c-file, while trading the rook would seriously improve his pawn structure. 21.b4 (21.Nb3 is a mistake because of 21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qb5! White has problems with the b2 pawn and 23. Rc3 moves into

23...d4! freeing the d5 square for the knight! 24.Qxd4 (24.N xd4 Qxb2) 24...Nd5 and b3 is hanging.) 21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qa4 and suddenly, after provoking the b4 move, Black has a target on a3.] 21.Qe5 Qa4?! This is an inaccuracy. Black decided to take a risk in order to be able to continue the fight. [21... Ng4 22.Qf4 Nf6 was possible to make a draw.; 21...a5 is a useful move with a balanced position.] 22.Qd6! Suddenly, White gets the c6 square for the knight! 22...Qa6! Admitting the mistake of the previous move, Black drives back the queen to b7 to control all the squares in his camp. 23.Nc6 Kh7 It was necessary to leave from the Ne7 threat. [23...Qb7? drops an exchange after the small combination 24.Ne7+!] 24. Rc3 Doubling the rooks on the c-file. White nicely overtook the initiative. 24...Qb7

25. Rfc1? Who could believe that this most logical move — which would be played by almost everybody 7


without thinking — is the turning point of this game... Black plays extremely strong from now on. [25.b4 should have been played with the idea of b5, stabilizing the strong c6 knight.] 25...e5!! A nice tactical move to jump out from the slightly cramped position. Black intends to play Re6.

32.b3 [32. Rc3 was the last chance, with the idea of leaving the pin with check after Qc2, although after some strong moves, Black is winning here as well. 32...g6! calmly preventing the Qc2 check. 33.Qc2 Ne4! 34. Rc4 b5 White cannot hold the c6 knight anymore and the trick with 35.Ne5 loses to

26.Qb4 [26.Nxe5 drops the piece after 26... Rxc3 27. Rxc3 Re6 and White cannot save the e5 knight. 28. Rc7 just prolongs the loss of material. 28...Qa8] 26...d4!! Another great tactical move. Black frees the d5 square for the knight! 27. R 3c2 [27.exd4? Nd5 wins.] 27...dxe3! Weakening White’s pawn structure ahead of his king. [27... Re6 immediately was also tempting, but it allows a tactical blow: 28.Nxd4! Rxc2 29.Nxc2 and White won a pawn.]

35... Rxe5! 36. Rxc8 Qxd4+ 37.Kg2 Nd2! and Re2 is a decisive threat, which White cannot prevent!]

28.fxe3 Re6! Kicking out the annoying c6 knight. 29.Qa4 [29.Nd4 is now simply met by 29... Rxc2 30.Nxc2 Rc6 with an unpleasant pin on the c-file. It is hard to leave it with the c1 rook, since the queen is also going there.] 29...Qd7! Creating another deadly pin. White could not fortify the knight on c6 and only has problems with it. As a side threat, the d3 pawn is under attack. 30.d4 exd4 31.exd4 [31.Qxd4 is refuted by 31... Rd6 32.Qa4 Rd1+ White loses huge material. For instance 33. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 34.Kg2 b5 35.Qb3 Rxc6!] 31...a6! The most precise move again, creating the threat that was seen in the game.

32...b5! Sending away the queen from the protection of the d4 pawn. 33.Qxa6 Rcxc6! 34. Rxc6 Qxd4+ 35.Kh1 Re2 White resigned as the king is way too exposed. 0–1 8


(3) Gunina,V (2505) — Ju Wenjun (2505) [A41] FIDE Women’s World Teams Astana KAZ (4.1), 06.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A very important game from the match Russia-China ended in a nice tactical way in favor of Gunina. Let us take a closer look! 1.d4 d6 The Chinese decides to take Gunina quickly out of the opening. Of course, as we can easily see, this can only work with players that use 1.d4. I guess the usual 1.e4 player would be very happy to play 2.e4 now and go to the Pirc.

7. Bd2 Nc5?! This move cannot be good. White will always have a chance to get rid of the knight on c5 by playing b4. Black should have focused more on the development of the kingside instead. [7... Bg7 8.e4 Ne7 9. Be2 0–0 10.0–0 but here it also seems that White should have a nice positional advantage.] 8.Qc2 White is following the main idea: to play e4, then Be2 and short castle, which would finish her development. 8... Be6 9.e4 c6 Even though White has a big development advantage, Black’s position is very solid and hard to break.

2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 Nd7 4.Nc3 g6 The idea of Black is to reach a King’s Indian structure where she does not lose a tempo playing Nf6 and later Nd7-f5, but to play Ne7 followed by an immediate f5.

10. Be2 Nh6 11. Rd1 Nd7 12.0–0 Nf7 Black wants to play Be7 and short castle. What should White’s plan look like now?!

5.dxe5!? A nice idea by Gunina, who is trying to take advantage of Black’s temporary lack of coordination.

13.Nh4! Gunina finds the right way to proceed. The f4 push will put extra pressure on Black’s position. Another plan for White could be to play Na4 followed by c5 and Bc4.

5...dxe5 6. Bg5 Destroying the pawn structure. 6...f6 [At 6...Ne7? 7.Nd5 White is doing very well.; 6... Be7 7. Bxe7 seems to give White easy play with Qd2–0–0–0 an h4.]

13... Bh6 The exchange of bishops is the right idea for Black, but Gunina has a great trick! 9


14.Nf5! Very nice move! [Of course 14. Bxh6 Nxh6 15. Rd2 would also lead to a better position for White, but how not to play 14.Nf5!?] 14... Bf8 Probably Black has nothing better. [At 14... Bxd2 15.Ng7+ Ke7 16.Nxe6 Kxe6 17. Bg4+ followed by Rxd2 leads to a win of material.; After 14...gxf5 15.exf5 the game would be over as well.] 15. Be3 I am not sure about this move now. Maybe White should have tried to continue with 15.b4!, crushing Black on both flanks 15...Qc7 Black has no moves, but the position is still very solid and far from being lost. 16.f4 Gunina tries to open the position. 16...exf4 [16...0–0–0! would have been probably the best way to play for Black. The position is still better for White, but it is very complicated.] 17. Bxf4 Nfe5 Black got a very strong knight on e5, but is still way behind in development.

22.b3! Silent but very strong. White wants to play Rd6 next. 22...Qa5 23. Rd6 Nc5? This is a blunder, but Black’s position was very hard to play anyway. There is no concrete plan and White’s threats are getting more and more dangerous. Maybe Black’s only idea could have been to play 23... Rf7 followed by Nf8, trying to be super tight. 24. Bh6 A nice starting move to a combination. 24... Rf7

18.Nd4 Bc5 Black is almost forced to give up the bishop — which usually is a bad idea because the dark squares become very weak now. [A logical move like 18... Bf7 19.Kh1 Be7 can be crushed by 20. Bg4! and White is penetrating Black’s position.] 19.Kh1 Bxd4 20. Rxd4 0–0 21.Qd2 Black has survived so far, but White has the bishop pair and is dominating the only open file — this gives her a clear advantage. 21... Rae8

25.b4!! Quite typical, but very nice... 25...Qxb4 26. Rd8 Rfe7 The only move. 27. Rxf6 White wants to play Rf8 next with mate. 10


27...Ncd7 28.Nd5! The final move of the combination that started with 24. Bh6. Very beautiful!! 28...Qa3 A lot of moves win now for White, but Gunina chooses the most spectacular one. [This leads directly to mate: 28...Qxd2 29.Nxe7+ Kh8 30. Rxe8+] 29.Qa5! Finishing the game on the spot! 29...Qd6 30.c5 A very nice game by White! 1–0

(4) Smirin,Ilia (2659) — Tratar,Marko (2512) [C16] Skopje MKD, Karpos Open 2013 r_3 Skopje MKD (3.2), 10.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A nice win in the French Defense was seen at the fifth round of the Karpos Open. During the first moves, it seemed like Black managed to equalize, but White kept a small strategic advantage that Smirin converted in a nice mating attack. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5

4...b6 This is a rare line. The basic idea is to exchange the light-squared bishops as soon as possible, which is quite logical for Black. The structure with e6-d5 weakens greatly the bishop on c8. The big disadvantage of this line is that White gets a big lead in development and more space in the center due to the pawn structure. 5.Nf3 Another very rare move by White... [5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 White wants to play Qg4 next... 6...h5 would be the main line.]

11


5...Qd7 The idea of this move is to avoid the following line. [The tempting 5... Ba6?! would not be the best because of 6. Bxa6 Nxa6 7.Qd3 and White wants to play at 8.Db5 after 7...Nb8?, winning a piece.] 6. Bd2 At first sight, it is quite unclear why White made this move, but very soon we will see why it was quite a cunning way to play. 6... Ba6 Using the moment in which White cannot play Qd3 any longer. [In case of 6... Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Ba6 White is doing better again because of 8. Bxa6 Nxa6 9.Qd3 forcing the Black knight to go back to b8. 9...Nb8 10.h4 with better play for White, even though the position is far from clear.] 7. Bxa6 Nxa6

8.Ne2! And here White’s idea comes to live. Now Black cannot exchange the b4 bishop for the knight on c3 any longer, which usually is a good thing for him. 8... Bxd2+ 9.Qxd2 Let us have a fresh look at the position. White’s space advantage plus the typical idea of Nf4-Nh5 can be dangerous for the Black king. As well, Black’s play with c5 can only come to live with Nb8-Nc6,

which once again loses two big tempos. On the other hand, the material is equal, Black got a solid pawn structure and any further exchange would make the position more equalized. All in all, White is a bit better here, but nothing too dramatic has happened. 9...Ne7 10.Nf4 The Black knight wants to reach the h5 square. 10...Ng6 A risky move... [10...g6 looks ugly, but maybe is not a stupid move. White is getting a new idea — to play h4 -, but Black could castle long... This would not solve all Black’s problems, but the position would remain quite safe.] 11.Nh5 0–0

12.h4! White does not hesitate and starts to play quickly against Black’s king. The threat is to play Ng7 next, and this is not an easy one to avoid. 12...c5 [If Black would try to use a direct defense against Nxg7: 12... Rfc8 13.Nxg7 seems to work still. 13...Kxg7 14.h5 Ne7 15.h6+! An important move, but not a difficult one to find for a strong GM. 15...Kg8 (15...Kh8? loses to 16.Qg5 Nf5 17.Qf6+ Kg8 18.g4+-) 16.Qg5+ Ng6 17.Qf6 12


Kf8 18.Ng5 White is collecting a second pawn on h7 and the mating attack goes on. This is clearly more than enough compensation for a piece.] 13.Nxg7 Kxg7 14.h5 Black is already in big danger. White wants to play hxg6 followed by Qh6. 14... Rh8 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.0–0–0! I think Tratar blundered this move. Black’s king is under attack and the knight on a6 is very far away to help in the defense. This cannot be good... 16...Qe7 17.Qf4 It is hard to give Black advice here. White has several plans. We will see one of them now, and the second one could be just to play Nh2-Ng4 next. 17... Raf8 A safe move, but White finds a nice way to take advantage of the unlucky position of Black’s rook on f8.

Kxh8 (20...R xf4 21.Rdh1 and R1h7 next.) 21. Rh1+ Kg8 22.Qg4 with a mating attack.] 20... Rfh5 21. Rxh5 Rxh5 22. Rg1 Qf7 23.Nh4 Rh6 Black managed to avoid to lose on the spot, but the position is very bad.. . White has to take his knight from h4 to g5, after which the game should be over. 24.f4 Nc7 [24...cxd4 25.Nf3 does not help Black either...] 25.Kb1 There is absolutely no hurry. Black is totally paralyzed. 25...Nb5 26.c3 Nc7 Probably Black was also in timetrouble. 27.Qg5 Kh7 28.Qd8 Followed by Nf3. All in all a nice positional win by White! 1–0

18.g4! Another very nice move by Smirin. White wants to play g5 followed by Qf6. 18...f5 What else to do... 19.gxf5 Rxf5 20.Qg3? White misses a way to finish the game immediately. [20. Rxh8! Easy but beautiful. 20...

13


Puzzle section

(7) Gunina,V (2505) — Dzagnidze,N (2554) World Women Teams, 09.03.2013

(5) Davletbayeva,M (2272) — Zhukova,N (2471) World Women Teams, 05.03.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Yildiz,B (2341) — Ju Wenjun (2505) (6) Foisor,S (2323) — Shen Yang (2415) World Women Teams, 05.03.2013 [CEWN]

World Women Teams, 11.03.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

14


(9) Svetushkin,D (2602) — Bacrot,E (2705)

(11) Dobrov,V (2537) — Vachier Lagrave,M (2722)

Nancy (rapid), 09.03.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1.+-

(10) Istratescu,A (2651) — Vachier Lagrave,M (2722)

(12) Svetushkin,D (2602) — Tkachiev,V (2644)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

15


(13) Mekhitarian,K (2546) — Macedo,M (2408) Brazilian Championship, 04.03.2013 [CEWN] 1.+-

(14) Yildiz,B (2341) — Bulmaga,I (2354) World Women Teams, 07.03.2013 [CEWN] 1.+-

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Endgame section (15) Galliamova,A (2459) — Javakhisvili,L (2464) World Women Teams, 09.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

Black has simplified her clear advantage to this endgame, which she thought should be easily winning as the knight is trapped on b1. Also, it looks like if White tries to play Nd2 or Nc3, the pawn endgame will be winning because of the side passer on the b-file. However, reality is completely different... 49.h3 A logical attempt by White to place the pawns on light squares, opposite to the dark squared bishops. 49...Kf6 [It would have been a very tricky attempt to play 49...g4!? fixing the on the dark squares. White has many possibilities, but only one of them seems to lead to a draw.

50.Kg2! (50.h4? is bad because Black can play the same way as in the game, but now White cannot create a passed pawn on the kingside. 50...Kf6; 50.hxg4? is also bad because it opens a path for the Black king to penetrate in the center. 50...fxg4 51.Kf1 Kf6 52.Ke2 Kf5 53.Kd3 b5! and White is in zugzwang, the king is coming to e4 and decides the game.) 50...Kf6 51.f3! This is the correct defense! White undermines the g4 pawn and creates counterplay on the kingside. 51...gxf3+ 52.Kxf3 The game should be draw because Black cannot transfer his king to the kingside, because of the Kf4-g5 or g4 plans...] 50.g4! Well played! Putting another pawn on a light square. 50...Ke6 [50...f4!? would have been the last serious attempt to win the game. White must play very carefully. 51.Kf1 fxe3 52.fxe3 Ke6 The king is heading to breakthrough on the queenside. 53.Ke2 Kd6 54.Kd3 Kc6

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60.Nd2 and suddenly the d-pawn is much more dangerous than the b-pawn.) ] 51.Kf1 Kd6 52.Ke2 Kc6 Black follows her original strategy to invade on the queenside and stays ready to enter into a pawn endgame. 53.Kd3 Kb5 54.Nc3+! Probably this move came as a surprise for Black, but White has evaluated the arising endgame much deeper. 55.Kc2! White must lure the Black king to a4 and then create her own passed pawn with e4. (55.Nc3? is an instructive mistake, which would prove the victory of Black’s strategy. 55...B xc3 56.Kxc3 b5 57.Kb3

54... Bxc3 55.Kxc3 Ka4 Black thought everything was under control and the win should be the same as in the 50...f4 line, when White played 55.Nc3. However, now the pawn structure is different and we have a different story... 56.Kb2! Galliamova had to prevent Ka3 before starting her counterplay on the kingside. 56...Kb4

57...Kb7! Black has to play Kb6 when the White king is on b4. So the plan is to go a6-a5, forcing White to play Kb4 and then Kb6. 58.Ka3 Ka6! 59.Kb4 Kb6 60.Kb3 Ka5 61.Ka3 b4+ 62.Kb3 Kb5 and the Black king gets access to collect the e3 and d4 pawns.) 55...Kb5 56.Kd3! Kc6 Black should turn back and settle for a draw, as the winning attempt with Ka4 can only create problems for himself.(56...Ka4 57.e4! dxe4+ 58.Kxe4 Kb3 59.Kd3 Kb2

57.f4! Suddenly, White is breaking through. As it usually happens after such a shocking move, Black immediately collapses. However, with an only move, Javakhisvili could have saved the game. 57...gxf4? [57...fxg4! 58.hxg4 Kc4! was the right move. 18


a) 58...gxf4? loses after 59.exf4 Kb5 60.f5! gxf5 61.g5! The standard breakthrough. 61...f4 62.Kc3+- White’s king is close enough to stop the f-pawn and the g-pawn will promote soon.; b) 58...Kb5!? seems to hold as well, although it looks very suspicious. 59.Kb3 Kc6 60.Kb4 Kb7 61.Kb5 Kc7 White can never push f5, since the Black king is too close to catch it. fxg5 makes no sense because those doubled pawns have no value at all. White has nothing better than retreating with the king and settle for a draw. 62.Kb4 (This only causes problems for White: 62.Ka6? Kc6 63.fxg5 Kc7 64.Kb5 Kb7 65.Kb4 Ka6) ; 59.f5 gxf5 60.gxf5 g4 61.f6 g3 62.f7 g2 63.f8Q g1Q and the draw is inevitable.]

(16) Georgiev,Kiril (2657) — Dvirnyy,Danyyil (2530) [D30] Skopje MKD, Karpos Open 2013 r_4 Skopje MKD (4.7), 11.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

58.exf4 Kc4 59.gxf5 gxf5 60.h4 Kxd4 and Black cannot catch the h-pawn, while the d-pawn is too slow. 61.h5 Ke3 62.h6 1–0

This rook endgame looks like a complete draw, but it is a wrong impression. Because of the weak Black pawn on e4 and the king on f8, White still has quite a few winning chances, and as we all know, it is very easy to go wrong in rook endgames. 37.Kg2 h5! To exchange a pawn is usually a good idea. [If Black tries to push his b-pawn immediately 37... Rb1 38.h4! looks very strong. Now the threat is h5 followed by Kg3-Kf4. 38...g5 39. Rh7 and White is already winning a pawn.] 38.gxh5 Maybe this is the best try to continue the game... [Now to play 38.h3 hxg4 39.hxg4 g5 looks quite close to a draw.] 38... Rg5+ 39.Kh1 Rf5 40.Kg2 Rg5+ The time trouble is over and White has some time to think about some winning attempts... 19


41.Kh3! The only chance... 41...b5 [the greedy 41... Rxh5+ 42.Kg3 would give the White king the possibility to go to the f4 square, which can always give Black a lot of problems.] 42. Rb7 What does White want now?! 42...Ke8 43.Kh4 Kf8 44.h3 First, White improves his position to the maximum.

44...Ke8? Not a good decision. [44...Kg8! A tricky move to find, but Black needs to play precisely to reach a draw. 45. Re7 Kf8 46. Rxe4 It seems like Black just lost a pawn, but 46...Kf7! might save the game. Probably, White will need to wait for Black’s b4 and then play d5. After this, the arising rook endgame should be very close to a draw.]

48. Rd7 Kg8 49. Re7 Re5 Of course. Black does not give the e4 pawn away. 50. Rd7 Rg5 Once again, White has no Kg4. 51. Rb7 Kf8 52.h6 Finally White is starting some action. 52...Kg8 53. Re7 b4 [In case of 53... Re5 54. Rg7+ Kh8

55.Kg4! the White king escapes from the h4 prison. 55... b4 (55...Rg5+ 56.R xg5 fxg5 57.Kf5 b4 58.Kxe4 and White’s king is in time to catch the b-pawn.) 56. Rb7] 54. Rb7 Rf5 Black is trying to get at least the f2 pawn. But it is already too late... 55.Kg4 Rxf2 56.h7+ Kh8

45.d5! Exactly! The g7 pawn is falling. 45... Rxd5 46. Rxg7 Rg5! Good move. Black needs to get rid of the White rook on g7. 47. Rb7 Kf8 In the next moves, White will test Black... There is no need to hurry in a better position to use the “last winning attempt”. Your opponent might make a mistake. 20


57.Kh5! Exactly! The Black pawn on f6 is disturbing the defense. The normal defense would be to check White on the 6th, which now is impossible 57... Rc2 58.Kg6 Rc8 59. Rxb4 The bad news for Black is that White will collect all the pawns now, and if Black manages to get a rook endgame with h+e pawns, it would be simply lost. 59... Rf8 60. Rxe4 f5 61. Rf4 And the f5 pawn is falling as well... 61... Re8 62. Rxf5 What a great technique shown by Georgiev!! 1–0

21


Clash of the Titans

15...h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 [16...exd4 17.cxd4 c5 This was the plan that Spassky used in his next games against Fischer. 18.d5 X Bb7]

(17) Fischer,Robert James (2785) — Spassky,Boris V (2560) [C95] St Stefan/Belgrade m Belgrade (1), 1992 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 17.a4!? A typical move with the idea of getting space on the queenside. 17...c5 Black had a few other possibilities like 17...Nb6; 17...exd4 18.cxd4 c5; or 17...c6.

9...Nb8 The Breyer, a very solid system against the Ruy Lopez, which was popular many years ago as well. 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 [Another setup for White is: 13.a4 Bf8 14. Bd3 c6 15.b3 g6 16.Qc2 Bg7 17. Bb2] 13... Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 Both sides play typical maneuvers in this position. 15. Bg5!? White is provoking the h6 move to win a tempo later, after Qd2 or Qc1.

18.d5 c4 19.b4 I like this move. The idea is to take control of the c5 square. In case of 19... cxb3, White will get the initiative on the queenside. 19...Nh7 [19...cxb3 20. Bxb3 Nc5 (20...Rc8 21.axb5 axb5 Now Black has problems with the weak b5 pawn. 22.Qe2 Qb6 23.Reb1 Ra8 24.Ba4 Ba6 25.c4) 21.c4! bxc4 (21... bxa4 22.B xa4 Re7 23.Bb4 This str ucture is also good for White. Black gets the c5 square, but on the other hand, gets some disadvantages like: two very bad bishops, potential weaknesses on a6 and d6, many pieces to move in a small space. One of White’s plans might be to kick the knight from c5 after transferring his knight to b3 and the rook to b5. The bishop on b4 is already on a good square.) 22. Bxc4 Thanks to his space advantage and the limited Black bishops, White’s position is stably better.] 22


20. Be3 h5 21.Qd2 Rf8 Black should try to look for an f5 push at some moment, but it is not an easy task because White’s pieces are well placed to prevent this (Bc2 and Ng3.) 22. Ra3 The beginning of a plan to take control of the a-file. 22...Ndf6 A strange move, why not? [22...h4 23.Nf1 f5 and the position becomes complicated.] 23. Rea1 Qd7

29...Nxe4!? Practical decision. Spassky understands that a passive defend cannot be promising and changes the character of the position. [29...Nd7 30.axb5 axb5 31. Rxa8 Rxa8 32. Rxa8 Qxa8 33.Qxa8 Bxa8 34.Na3+-] 30. Bxe4 f5 [30...Nf6!?÷] 31. Bc2 Bxd5 For the piece, Black has two pawns and a strong center. However, objectively it is not enough. Fischer will convert his advantage masterfully. 32.axb5 axb5 33. Ra7 A rook on the 7th rank is always dangerous.

24. R1a2 Rfc8 25.Qc1 Bf8 26.Qa1 If I remember well, the first player that discovered this setup with the heavy pieces was A. Alekhine. 26...Qe8 27.Nf1! Fischer starts his nice maneuver.

33...Kf6 34.Nbd2 Rxa7 [34...f4 35.Ne4+ Bxe4 36. Bxe4+-] 35. Rxa7 Ra8

27... Be7 28.N1d2 Kg7 29.Nb1 Nice motif. The threat now is to exchange pieces on the a-file and play Na3 to grab the b5 pawn.

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36.g4! The idea of this good move — which is basic on some calculations — is to destroy Black’s structure. 36...hxg4 37.hxg4 Rxa7 [37...fxg4 38.Nh2+-] 38.Qxa7 f4 [38... Bc6 39.Nh4+-; 38...Qa8 39.Qxa8 Bxa8 40.gxf5 gxf5

42.Nf5 Bf8 43.Qxf4 Many weaknesses, a vulnerable king and the uncoordinated pieces do not allow Black to fight anymore. White’s position is simply winning.

41.Nh4! e4 After this move, White takes control of the useful squares d4 and f4, so should easily win the game. (41... f4 42.B xh7 fxe3 43.fxe3 d5 with some hope to exchange the last pawns.) 42.Nf1 Bc6 43.Ng3 Bd7 44.Ng2±]

43...Kd7 44.Nd4 Qe1+ 45.Kg2 Bd5+ 46. Be4 Bxe4+ 47.Nxe4 Be7 48.Nxb5 Nf8 49.Nbxd6 Ne6 50.Qe5 1–0

39. Bxf4 Fischer gives the piece back and thanks to this, he gets a decisive initiative. [39. Bb6 should also be enough.] 39...exf4 [39... Bxf3 40.Nxf3 (40.B xe5+) 40...exf4 41.Qd4+ Kf7 42.Qxf4+ Kg7 43.g5 and White’s pieces are stronger.] 40.Nh4 Bf7 [40...Nf8 41.Qd4+ Ke6 42.Nxg6 Nxg6 43. Bf5+ Kf7 44.Qxd5+ Kg7 45.Ne4 White is dominating thanks to his active pieces and the weak Black pawns on the queenside.] 41.Qd4+ Ke6 24


Surprise section / study (18) Rinck [CEWN] 1.+-

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Solutions

(20) Foisor,S (2323) — Shen Yang (2415) World Women Teams, 05.03.2013

(19) Davletbayeva,M (2272) — Zhukova,N (2471)

[Solutions]

World Women Teams, 05.03.2013 [Solutions]

24...f6!! 25. Bxf6 [25. Bd6 Nxd4–+]

29... Rg5? [29...f5! 30.Qg3 f4! 31.Qg4 h5! 32.Qh4 Rxe2–+; 29...h5!? 30.Qg3 h4 31.Qg4 f5 32.Qg5 Bd8! 33.Qxd8 Rxe2 34.Qg5µ]

25...Nf4! 26. Rce1 [26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Bd1 (27.Re1 N xe2+ 28.R xe2 Rc1+) 27... Bxb5 28. Re1 Nd3–+] 26...Nxe2+ 27. Rxe2 Bxb5–+

30.Qf3=

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(21) Gunina,V (2505) — Dzagnidze,N (2554)

(23) Svetushkin,D (2602) — Bacrot,E (2705)

World Women Teams, 09.03.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

59...g5! 60.gxh5 [60.hxg5 h4–+] 60...gxh4 61.h6 Kf6! 62. Bb7 h3 0–1

28... Rxe4! 0–1[28... Rxe4 29. Rxe4 g5–+]

(22) Yildiz,B (2341) — Ju Wenjun (2505)

(24) Istratescu,A (2651) — Vachier Lagrave,M (2722)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17... Bxb2! 18. Rab1 Ba4!! 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8–+ 20. Rd5 [20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rxb2 Rd1+] 20... Rxd5 21.exd5 f6–+

27... Bxc3! 0–1[27... Bxc3 28.Qxc3 Qxf2+ 29.Kh1 Qxg2#] 27






[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35.Qa8+! Kh7 36. Rxe5! Bxe5 37.Qe4+ Kg7 38. Bxe5+ f6 [38...Kg8 39.Qa8+ Kh7 40.Qh8#]

37... Rb1+! 38.Kh2 Rh1+ 39.Kg3 Rg1+ 40.Kh2 Rg2+ 41.Kh1 Qxd3 42. Rxd3 Rxf2–+

39.Qg6+ Kf8 40.Qxh6+ Ke8 41.Qg6+ Kf8 42. Bg3 1–0

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(27) Mekhitarian,K (2546) — Macedo,M (2408) Brazilian Championship, 04.03.2013 [Solutions]

34.g5! hxg5 35. Bxg5 e4+ [35... Rh2 36.h6! Bxg5 (36... gxh6 37.B xf6+-) 37.hxg7+-] 36.Kxe4 Re2+ 37.Kd3 Re8 38. Bxf6 gxf6 39.h6+(29) Kok [Solutions]

13.Nf6+!! Qxf6 [13...gxf6 14. Bxf5 Qxf5 15.fxe5 Qh7 16.exd6 cxd6 17. Rxf6+-] 14.fxe5 Bg4 [14...Nxe5 15. Rxf5+-] 15.Qxg4 1–0 1.a7! Rxh6+ 2. Rh4! Rxh4+ 3.Kg3+- 1–0 (28) Yildiz,B (2341) — Bulmaga,I (2354) World Women Teams, 07.03.2013 [Solutions]

29

Weekly Newsletter



22nd of March 2012

The Candidates Tournament — all the eyes are there!! We are seeing great chess in London, with very high level games and a fantastic fighting spirit. All the players want to win, there is no doubt.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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After 6 rounds, Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen are leading the event. This is not really surprising. Maybe Vladimir Kramnik could have fit into the trio, but until now, this has not been his tournament. It is going to be very exciting to see who will be the “last man standing”. Carlsen’s chances are higher, but I do not expect him to receive any presents. What is sure is that we will keep our eyes on the event and take the best moments of it into the usual issue of CEWN. In the current one, You will be able to already find well commented games from the Candidates. Enjoy the CEWN Nr 56. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Carlsen,Magnus (2872) — Grischuk,Alexander (2764) [C65] FIDE Candidates London (4), 19.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] When Carlsen is in good shape — and generally he is — can somebody stop him?! A game like the one we will see now makes Super-GMs like Grischuk look like a player of a totally different level. It is really amazing how Carlsen is crushing his opponents again and again in almost equal positions. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Grischuk chooses the Berlin, one of the most solid openings at the “chess market”. 4.d3 Carlsen is not going for the endgame where, at the moment, Black is doing fine. 4... Bc5 5.c3 [5.0–0 Nd4 is a very well analyzed line. The position is about equal.] 5...0–0 6.0–0 d6

7.h3 One of the most popular moves. Others are 7.Nbd2 and 7. Re1. 7...a6 [7...Ne7 was also played lately in a lot of games.] 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Re1 White wants to play d4. 9... Re8 Black is preparing against this move. 10.Nbd2 d5! seems to be a very interesting opening decision by Grischuk! He is not waiting for White’s d4, but instead taking the initiative in his own hands. Black now gets a horrible pawn structure, but the bishop pair and his very dynamic play makes the position very exciting. 11.exd5 Qxd5 12.Nb3 As we can see, Black’s pawn structure is just horrible, but he wants to play Bf5 quickly now. 12... Bf8 13.c4 White needs to act! 13...Qd6 14. Be3 White wants to play Nc5- Ne4 or just Bc5 next. 14...Nd7! A great move by Grischuk. It looks like Black just killed his own bishop on c8, but things are much more complicated. Black wants to play c5 followed by f5, taking over the center. The Black bishop will have a very nice square on b7. [It does not work to play 14... Bf5? 15. Bc5! and in exchange of the pawn on d3, White gets the one on e5, with a much better position.] 15.d4 Not allowing Black to play c5. 15...e4 A very logical move by Black. The position is getting super sharp... [15...exd4 16.Qxd4 would just lead to a slightly worse position for Black...] 16.Nfd2 3

Issue 56 Black’s idea should be connected with g5 at the right moment, but the queen on g6 is very badly placed to do this.

22nd of March 2012

21... Be6 22.Nbxa5 Reb8 Black is trying to consolidate his pieces, but it is already too late. 23.Ne5 Qf6 24. Bh2 [It would also lead to almost a winning position to play 24.Nexc6 Nxf4 25.Qxf4 Rxb2 26.Qc1! and Black’s rook has no good place to retreat.] 16...a5! Another very good move by Black. By forcing White to play a4, Black always gets a lot of play on the b-file. 17.a4 White needs to stop Black from playing a4. 17...f5 A very tricky move... Now the game becomes really concrete. [Why not just to play the silent 17...Qg6 Black wants to play Nf6 next. In case of 18.Qg4, I cannot imagine White being better in this endgame. The knight on b3 is very badly placed.]

24... Rxa5! In deep time trouble, Grischuk finds a good practical chance to complicate the game. 25.Qxa5 Rxb2 Looks funny, but to win here, White needs to be quite precise! 26. Rab1 Correct play — what else to expect from Magnus Carlsen? 26... Ra2

18.c5 Carlsen is going for the a-pawn. White wants to play Nc4- Nbxa5. 18...Qg6? A very big mistake by Grischuk! He is simply losing a full tempo... [18...Qe6! would have been the right choice. Now White needs to lose a tempo with Nc4. 19.Qc1 Nf6 20.Nc4 Nd5 and even though White will win the a-pawn, position remains very unclear. Black will start a big attack on the kingside.] 19.Nc4 Nf6 20. Bf4 blocking any f4 ideas by Black... 20...Nd5 21.Qd2 Now it is very hard to give an advice for Black. White just wants to win the a-pawn and play b4.

27.Qa6! Very very strong! Giving Black no chances at all. [Less precise would be 27. Rb8 e3! Black’s only idea. 28.fxe3 Qg5 29.g3 g6! and because of the super strong rook on the 2nd rank and the very bad bishop on h2, Black keeps some practical chances.] 27...e3 Black does not have any other try here either. 4


28.fxe3 Qg5 29. Re2! White gives back the exchange, but his position is still almost winning.

(2) Radjabov,Teimour (2793) — Ivanchuk,Vassily (2757) [A88]

29...Nxe3 [Black cannot save himself by playing 29... Rxe2 30.Qxe2 Nc3 31.Qd3 Nxb1 and now 32.Nf3! The Black queen has to leave. 32...Qh6 33. Bf4 followed by Qxb1 with a winning position.]

London London ENG, 16.03.2013

30.Nf3 The usual Nf3 is very very strong. 30...Qg6 31. Rxa2 Bxa2 32. Rb2 Black is simply an exchange down in a hopeless position. 32... Bc4 33.Qa5 Bd5 34.Qe1 The rest is almost too simple for the World’s Number 1. 34...f4 35. Bxf4 Nc2 36.Qf2 Bxf3 37. Rxc2 Another great game by Carlsen where he used every mistake made by his opponent! 1–0

[Csaba Balogh] After the first three rounds, it looks like Ivanchuk’s strategy is to surprise his opponents by playing openings with bad reputation. He ends up in bad positions, but what is even a bigger problem is that he spends all his time in the middlegame. He lost on time in the 2nd and 3rd round, and both on move 34! The position was already lost in both cases anyway. It might also be disturbing for him that, recently, almost all the tournaments are played with 30 seconds increments after each move, but here the players do not have this extra time, which makes the time trouble much more dangerous. But of course, all these things do not deduct anything from Radjabov’s great play! 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 f5 Black chose the Dutch defense, which is quite rare on the highest level. We can see it only played by Nakamura from time to time. 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.g3 The g3 system is considered to be the most dangerous setup. 5... Bg7 6. Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 This is the starting position of the Dutch, Leningrad variation. The main lines are 7... Qe8, 7...Nc6 and the text move, but Black has many side possibilities as well.

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Issue 56 10.bxc3! A great idea! The point is that Black’s only plan in such positions to jump out from his cramped position is to push e5, but then the bishop is going to be extremely unpleasant on a3. [After the “normal” 10.Qxc3 Black gets a fine position with 10...e5! White cannot capture the pawn twice because then, he even gets into an inferior position. 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 Nd7 13.f4 Qe7 wins back the pawn!]

22nd of March 2012

7...c6 Radjabov’s reaction — which is not a novelty — seems to cause real problems against this 7...c6 system. 8. Rb1! This is an absolutely standard plan. White intends to push b4-b5. 8...Ne4 9.Qc2! This move, followed by the next recapture, seems to be really strong, but it is already wellknown, since Kramnik defeated Nakamura in 2010. White does not threaten to take on e4 twice, because Bf5 is coming at the end, however, he simply wants to continue his plan with b4-b5 after protecting the c3 knight. [9.Nxe4 fxe4 10.Ne1 d5 would be Black’s idea.] 9...Nxc3 [9...Na6 could be met with 10.b4]

10...e5 Black has to play this even if it is bad. Otherwise, he must suffer during the whole game with a lack of space. 11.dxe5! A logical novelty to open the position. Both the bishop on a3 and the rook on d1 develop with tempo. [11. Rd1 happened in the mentioned Kramnik game. That continued with 11...e4 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nh3 g5 14.f3 d5 15.Nf2 Kh8 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.c4 White succeeded to undermine the strong center and got an advantage, but the text move seems to be even stronger.] 11...dxe5 12. Ba3 Rf7 13. Rfd1 Everything is nice, but the key is the next move that fights against Black’s center. All the Black moves are met with the same reaction! 13...Qe8 [13... Rd7 14.e4!; 13...Nd7 14.e4! f4 15. Bh3! Black has no adequate defense against Be6. 15...fxg3 16. Be6]

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14.e4! Fighting against Black’s center and preventing the e4 idea, which could be followed by Nd7-e5. 14...f4! This is always the critical reaction in such situations. Black must try to keep the position locked. [14... fxe4? weakens all the squares after 15.Ng5 and Nxe4.]

18. Bd6! Bf6 Black sacrifices an exchange, but of course, he does not have enoughcompensatio n for that. Radjabov finds an even stronger plan than taking it... [18... Rd7 loses to 19. Bh3 Rd8 20.c5 and Qb3 is a decisive and unavoidable threat.]

15. Rd3 White leaves from the Bg4 pin and doubles his rooks to penetrate on d8. [15.Ng5 might have been even stronger. 15... Rd7 (15...Rf6 16.Rd3 is similar to the game.) 16. Rxd7 Nxd7 17.c5! and the threat of Qb3 followed by Nf7 or Ne6 is crucial.]

19.Qd2 [19. Bxc7 Nxc7 20.Nf3 Na6 was, of course, also fine for White, but Black might hope for compensation on the dark squares.]

15...fxg3?! This is a sad decision. I am sure that Ivanchuk was quite unhappy to take on g3. Black should have kept the tension somehow to have potential threats in the future with a f4-f3 push. This could have been achieved by Bg4 or h6-g5-g4, but both seem to be too slow now. [15... Bg4 leaves the b7 pawn alone. It is refuted by 16.Qd2! Na6 17.Ng5 with serious problems for Black.; 15...Na6 is refuted by 16.Ng5 Rd7 17. Rxd7 Sadly, the bishop cannot take because of the b7 pawn. 17...Qxd7 18.Qb3 with the double threat of c5 and Bh3, followed by Bxc8 and Qxb7.; 15...h6 was probably the only move, but White is better anyway.]

20. Bh3 Rg7 [20... Rxd6 21. Rxd6 Bxg5 22.Qxg5 Bxh3 23. Rxb7 Black gets mated . He cannot parry the threats of the heavy pieces.]

16.hxg3 Na6 17.Ng5! The rook has no good square to go. [17. Rbd1 is a mistake now because of 17... Bg4] 17... Rc7 [17... Rf6 18.Qd2! is similar to the 15...Na6 line. Black has problems as he cannot cover the back-rank by developing the c8 bishop, because of the b7 pawn.; 17... Rd7 18. Rxd7 Qxd7 19.Qb3 again with the double threat of c5 and Bh3-c8 with Qxb7.]

19... Rd7 [19... Rg7 is refuted by the same brilliant that we will see in the 21st move of the game!]

21. Bxe5!! This brilliant motif was the point of why Radjabov did not take the exchange on c7. White wins a decisive amount of material, using the weakness of Black’s back-rank. Ivanchuk finds the best chance to stay in the game by sacrificing his queen. 21... Bxe5 [21...Qxe5 22. Rd8+! Bxd8 23.Qxd8++-; 21... Bxg5 22.Qxg5 Bxh3 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. Rxb7++-]

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22. Rd8 Bxh3 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Nxh3 Black’s bishop and rook are clearly not enough for the queen and pawn. White is winning. The game goes to the technical phase. 24...Nc5 25.Qe3 Bd6! Otherwise, White will squeeze with f4-e5! [25...b6 26.f4+-] 26.f3 Ne6 27.Kg2 After leaving from Bc5, White is ready to push f4-e5, so Black has to play

33... Bxb6 [33...g4!! could have saved Black. 34.f4 (34. fxg4 Rxg4 35. Rxc6 (35.N xc5 leads to a perpetual check. 35...R xg3+ 36.Kh2 Rf2+ 37.Kh1 Rf1+) 35... Rxg3+ 36.Kh2 Bg1+ 37.Kh1 Be3 and White cannot prevent Rf1, which is followed by, at least, a perpetual check. 38.Qh5 Rf1+ 39.Kh2 Bg1+ 40.Kh1 Be3) 34...h3+ 35.Kh2 (35.Kf1 Rh7 and the h-pawn is running.) 35... Rd8! (35...Rd7! leads to the same!)

27...g5 28.Nf2 h5 A desperate attempt to create counterplay. In this position, Ivanchuk had around 10 seconds left for the remaining 12 moves (there were no 30 seconds increments), so it was hard to take it seriously anymore from White’s point of view... [28...Nf4+ is just a check. White is not forced to take. 29.Kf1 Nh5 30.Qxa7 Nxg3+ 31.Kg2+-] 29.Qxa7 Bc5 30.Qa4 Rf8 [To generate counterplay with 30...g4 fails to 31.f4! Bxf2 (31...h4 32.Nd3+-) 32.Kxf2 Nc5 33.Qa5 Nxe4+ 34.Kg2+- The queen is too strong.] 31.Nd3 h4 White has many different ways to win. 32.Qa5 [The computer suggests 32.Nxc5 as the best. 32...Nxc5 33.Qa7 and it is not afraid of 33...g4 34.Qxc5 gxf3+ 35.Kf1 hxg3 36.Qd6+- and the pawns only look dangerous, but the king and rook stop them. White soon will start to advance his e-pawn.; 32.e5+-] 32...b6 33. Rxb6?? A huge blunder, which could have allowed a miraculous defense for Ivanchuk, although it was very hard to find even with 30 minutes on the clock — with only 2 seconds for 8 moves, it is impossible. Radjabov cannot be criticized for this mistake because even though he starts to give up his pieces one by one, he is winning on time. [33.Qa4! was winning.]

36.Nxc5 Rd2+ 37.Kh1 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rd2+ 39.Kg1 Otherwise, the king goes to f2 and Black has only a few more checks, but h survives here as well. 39...h2+! 40.Kh1 Rd1+ 41.Kxh2 Rh7+ The other rook joins the attack and Black reaches a perpetual check by force. 42.Kg2 Rd2+ 43.Kg1 Rd1+ 44.Kf2 Rh2+ 45.Ke3 Re1+ 46.Kd3 Rd1 That could have been amazing and shocking from Radjabov’s point of view, but the time was a decisive factor.] 34.Qxb6 hxg3 Black lost on time, but the position is also winning. For instance, after 35.Qxc6 Nf4 36.Kxg3 Nxd3 and 37. Qd5 wins the knight. A nice win by Radjabov and, hopefully, Ivanchuk will regenerate after the free day. 1–0

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(3) Giri,Anish (2730) — Bartel,Mateusz (2635) [A13]

7...b5 8.0–0

Schachbundesliga 2012/2013 (11.1), 16.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A very interesting tactical fight where White succeeded to over-calculate his opponent. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 a6 Bartel likes this kind of slightly unusual systems. Black intends to play b5 and fianchetto his bishop. White’s next move is made against this plan and is basically a novelty.

4.e3!? It is quite funny that after g3, White plays e3, but in the modern chess we cannot be surprised about anything. White delays Bg2 to avoid the b5 plan and intends to finish the development on the queenside first. [4. Bg2 b5 is the beginning of the main lines.] 4...d5 5.b3! White needs to protect the c4 pawn as he wants to put his bishop on g2. The other bishop will also be excellently placed on the other long diagonal.

8...bxc4 It is not logical to give up the tension if it is not forced, although, White’s position was already preferable. [After 8... Bb7 9.cxd5 exd5 White can choose between two tempting ideas: 10. Bxf6!? I like this move a lot. White makes use of the c5 hole. (10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Nd4!? is another typical plan in such situations. White wants to settle his knight on f5 and if Black plays g6, the b2 bishop becomes even stronger on the a1–h8 diagonal.) 10...Qxf6 11.d4! The best move for Black would be to retreat the b5 pawn to b6, but of course, it is not possible. To get rid of the c5 hole with 11...c5 seriously weakens the d5 pawn. 12.Nc3!] 9.bxc4 Nc6 [9...dxc4 It makes no sense to give up the center and create an isolated pawn on the c-file. 10.Qc2!² with the direct winning threat of Ng5, and if Black prevents it, Na3-c4 comes.]

5... Bd6 6. Bb2 0–0 7. Bg2 White finally plays Bg2. He wanted to decide where to develop the b1 knight according to the forthcoming arrangements of Black’s pieces. 9


10. Bxf6! A really clever and concrete decision. White intends to put pressure on the d5 pawn. First, he eliminates its defender on f6 and then, with the knight on c3 and the bishop on g2, he forces Black to take on c4, which is a clear positional achievement, since it opens the h1–a8 diagonal and weakens Black’s pawn structure. 10...Qxf6 11.d4 [11.Nc3! seems to be even stronger as 11...dxc4 drops an exchange after 12.Nd4! Nxd4 13. Bxa8] 11... Rb8! Black leaves from the bishop’s diagonal. The win of the exchange shown in the 11.Nc3 line does not work anymore. 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.Nd2! This was the basic idea of Bxf6. White achieved a better pawn structure and his minor pieces are excellently placed. 13...Na5 Black tries to at least save his material advantage to compensate for the positional deficits, but his knight is going to be misplaced at the edge of the board. White cannot trap it, however — Black has Bb4. 14.Qa4 Bb4

15.a3! Forcing Black to give up his bishop pair. [15. Rab1 would not force Black to play Bxc3, which would be a better version for White in comparison to the game, after Ne4. However, Black has 15...Qe7! leaving from the Ne4 idea.] 15... Bxc3 16.Ne4 Qf5 17.Nxc3 Nb3! Black starts to create complications. 18. Rad1 To control the invasions on the d-file with Nd2 and Qd3. 18...Qc2 Black would like to equalize in tactical fashion, but there are many hidden tactical resources in the position. [18...c5 is principled to get rid of the weakness, but Black does not achieve complete equality because of the strong 19.d5! and Qxc4 next.; However 18...Qa5!? was an option 19.Qxc4 Bd7 Black finished his development and intends to push c5 to equalize.] 19.Qxc4 Nd2 20.Qxc7! This move needed precise calculation, but Giri is very good at it. [Probably Bartel expected 20.Qe2 Qxc3 21. Rxd2 Qxa3 22. Rc2 White soon wins back the pawn and a draw would be the most logical outcome.]

10


20...Nxf1 21. Be4! This was the point, and after the queen goes to the b-file, Rb1 is coming. Black seems to be in trouble, although the computer suggests a surprising defense...

24. Rxf1! This is the most precise, but again, a tactical finesse had to be foreseen... Black cannot prevent Bxb7 and Bxh7 at the same time. [24. Bxb7 Bxb7 25.Kxf1 also gives a big advantage, but Black gets some compensation on the light squares. 25... Bf3] 24... Rb2

21... Rb7? An incredible idea, but unfortunately for Black, it does not work... [However, after... 21...Qb2! 22. Rb1 Nd2! 23. Rxb2 Rxb2 Despite being a pawn down and having a poor bishop on c8, the computer sees no problem for Black. Anyway, it is understandable that Black avoided this continuation.] 22.Qc5!! Giri finds the refutation to the previous mistake. White creates a new tactical threat with Bxh7 and the f8 rook is hanging. [After the seemingly winning 22. Bxb7 Black’s devilish idea was 22...Nxe3! 23. Be4 It looks like the game is over, but (23.fxe3 B xb7 24.Qxb7 Qxc3 is just fine for Black.) 23...Nd5!! and Black equalizes. 24. Bxc2 Nxc7=]

25. Bxh7+! Kxh7 26.Ne4! A necessary intermediate move. Otherwise, Black takes on c3 and protects the bishop on c8. 26...Qc2 27.Qxf8 Qxe4 28.Qxc8 Now it is completely lost. Black is two pawns down and his pawns are hanging. He does not even have the typical counterplay against the king with h5-h4-h3. 28...a5 29.Qc5 a4 30.Qa7 Another pawn is falling. 30...f5 31.Qxa4 Kh6 32.Qe8 Ra2 33.h4 Rxa3 34.h5 1–0

22...Qb2 23. Rb1! Qd2 [23...Nd2 is not the same as in the 21...Qb2 line. Now White wins after 24. Bxh7+! The move order is very important! (24.R xb2? could met by the intermediate move 24...N xe4! and the queen is hanging.) 24...Kxh7 25. Rxb2 Rxb2 26.Qxf8+- wins.] 11


(4) Svidler,P (2747) — Kramnik,V (2810) [D35] FIDE Candidates London ENG (1), 15.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A short, but very important draw for the evaluation of the line was seen in the first round. Svidler managed to get a very nice endgame advantage and spoiled it in just one move. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 The Classical Queen’s Gambit. 4.cxd5 Nxd5!? An interesting move order! Black is avoiding the classical way to play...

8...e5! This move is not a novelty, but anyway is a very nice way to proceed. If White manages to get the position with Nf3-Bd3, Black would be slightly worse. 9.Nf3 [9.d5 Bc5 followed by short castle and a quick f5 seems to give Black nice play.] 9...exd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd4 11.Nxd4 and we are in an endgame. At first sight, the position looks very equal, but in only 6 moves, White will completely dominate the game.

5.e4 White has no choice but to fight for the center. 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.a3!? It looks like Svidler is very well prepared. In case of [7.Nf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0–0 would return to the line that usually appears in a different move order: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4...] 7...cxd4 8.cxd4

11... Be7 Of course, all of this is part of Kramnik’s preparation, but why not to play first... [11... Bc5 hunting away the White knight from the great square on d4. 12.Nb5 (White can also choose 12.Bb2 0–0 13.Rc1 Nd7 followed by Bb6 and Nc5- Na4. In case of White’s Nf5, Black always has the very safe f6. It is hard to imagine White getting anything serious here...) 12...Na6 13. Bf4 0–0 Black is already fully developed and the slightly misplaced knight on a6 will get quickly into the game through c5 in the future. In my opinion, the position looks pretty equal.] 12. Be3! Very good move! The best position for the White bishop is on e3, which is not obvious at all. White has a deep plan regarding how to develop his pieces.

12


12...0–0 13. Bc4 Nd7 What could have been more logical than Kramnik’s play?! He has castled short, and now the last bad piece — the knight on b8 — is coming into the game. 14.Ke2 Of course. White keeps his king in the center. 14...Nb6 [In case of 14...Nc5 15. Bd5! White has managed to put his bishop on the fantastic d5 square! It is clear that White is better here.] 15. Bb3 Bd7 Black is fully developed, but far away from having an equal position. 16.Nf5! Peter continues playing great moves. Now Black faces a very difficult decision regarding whether to take.

game here: to play 18. Rhd1, or maybe just an immediate 18.g4. It is clear that White’s position is much better already. 18. Rhc1? What a blunder by Svidler. He forgot that his rook on b1 has no squares... 18... Bb5+! Kramnik does not miss his chance to escape. 19.Kf3 Bd3! and this is the point. White’s rook from b1 only has the c1 square to escape. 20. Bc2 Ba6 Black wants to play Nc4. 21. Bb3 Bd3 and as we can see, the position is suddenly just a draw. 22. Bc2 Ba6 23. Bb3 What a pity for Peter Svidler! He almost spoiled Kramnik’s tournament from just a slightly better endgame out of theopening! 1/2

16... Bf6 [16... Bxf5? 17.exf5 leads at firs t sight to a draw, but in fact, White has a huge advantage here. His idea is simple: to play g4-g5, creating huge pressure on the kingside supported by his bishop pair. The Black knight on b6 is in a very bad position and, of course, Black will not be able to exchange both rooks — one of them will always remain on the board.] 17. Rab1 Rfd8 and we are at the critical moment of the game. White has a lot of great choices to continue the 13


Puzzle section

(7) Cheparinov,I (2706) — Nabaty,T (2566) Karpos Open, 14.03.2013

(5) Milliet,S (2401) — Yildiz,B (2341) World Women Teams, 12.03.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Perunovic,M (2618) — Jankovic,A (2538) (6) Ghaem Maghami,E (2568) — Short,N (2697) Blitz match, 12.03.2013 [CEWN]

Karpos Open, 14.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

14


(9) Vujic,M (2361) — Arnaudov,G (2468)

(11) Kadric,D (2463) — Golod,V (2564)

Karpos Open, 14.03.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Kovacevic,A (2563) — Perunovic,M (2618)

(12) Sanal,V (2404) — Jumabayev,R (2554)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

15


(13) Sadorra,C (2555) — Berczes,D (2526) Dallas, 11.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Tiviakov,S (2659) — Ernst,S (2554) German league, 16.03.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

16


Endgame section

32.a3 h5 Now Black wants to eventually play h4, so White is almost forced to play h4 himself, which weakens greatly the light squares.

(15) Gelfand,Boris (2740) — Carlsen,Magnus (2872) [D52]

33.h4 Qc2 White’s main idea here is to push f5, so Black stops him from doing it. Another idea for White is to exchange the queens, which would lead to an almost equal endgame.

FIDE Candidates London ENG (3.3), 17.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

34.Qb7 Qa4 35.Qf3 By attacking the a-pawn, White is forcing Black’s queen to leave the great square on c2. 35...b5! Black has no other ideas than to push his queenside pawns. However, this is strong enough! The next Black moves are simple: a5, Qc4, a4. We see the complete domination of the Black knight on e6 against the White bishop on f2. 36.f5! White has no time to waste.

27...Qxc8 We are at move 27. Everything looks equal, so probably a draw agreement will come soon. No way! White’s position is much more dangerous than it looks. Black has very good winning chances. Let us take a look. 28.d5! White is exchanging his d-pawn — a very correct decision. Black wants to play Qb7 followed by Ng6- Ne7 and Nd5, killing the f2 bishop. 28...exd5 29.Qxd5 During the next moves, Magnus will show us exactly how to handle suchpositions. .. 29...g6 securing the position of the knight on e6.

36...gxf5 37.Qxf5 Qxa3 38.Qxh5 a5 The position changes completely. The Black king is open, but his pawns on the queenside are just unstoppable. White’s only hope to survive is to create something fast against the Black king, which is very difficult because of the “heroic” knight on e6. 39.Qg4+ Kf8 40.h5?! In a difficult position, White chooses what might not be the best practical chance to fight for a draw. [40.Qh5 would have given White better chances. The idea is to put the queen on h8 before starting the advance of the h-pawn. But anyway, White still has a lot of work to do here in order to get the draw.]

30.Kg2 Ne6 31.Qf3 Kg7 There is no reason to hurry because White has no direct drawing ideas.

17


40...Qc1! Very good move, stopping White’s only idea — to play h6. 41.Qe4 b4 The Black pawns are coming closer...

49...Nc6! The last precise decision by Magnus. The game is over. White cannot stop Black from playing a3 followed by Na5- Nb3, winning a full piece.

42. Be3 Qc7 42...Qc8 also seems to lead to a much better position.

50. Bc1 Na5 51. Bd2 Gelfand tries the last trick... 51...b3 52.Kd3 Nc4 53. Bc3 a3 and the game is over!

43.Qa8+ Kg7! Very good move by Black. Before the exchange on d8, Black places his king on a better position than f8.

54.g4 Kh7 55.g5 Kg6 White is in zugzwang. The bishop needs to leave the c3 square, which gives the Black knight the possibility to enter on d2.

44.h6+ Kh7 45.Qe4+ Kg8 As we can see, the Black king on g6 feels very safe! White almost has no attacking ideas and Black’s pawns are getting closer...

56. Bd4 b2 57.Kc2 Nd2 Just a perfect play from Black, nothing to say about it. As we could see, the starting position was much trickier than it looked like!

46.Qa8+ Qd8 47.Qxd8+ This move loses by force, but it is hard to blame Gelfand for making this decision. [47. Qc6 would have kept the game going a bit longer, but the position just looks pretty lost for White in any case.]

0–1

47...Nxd8 48.Kf3 a4 49.Ke4 The White king tries to be on time to hold the Black pawns, but it is not...

18


(16) Aronian,L (2804) — Gelfand,B (2740) London, 16.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

to escape with g5 and Kg6, so the next move is very important! 29.h4! and on 29...g5 Black tries to get his king out even by giving up a pawn, but White should not be greedy and play 30.h5! and Ra4 is coming next.) 26.Nc4 White can continue pressing.(Or 26.Ra4 as Aronian pointed out at the press conference.) ] 25.b4! with the idea of b5 and Nc6, trying to make the doubled pawns more useful. Black makes a decisive mistake. 25... Rc8? [25... Bd5 should have been played, although White is better after 26.b5 and Nc6 next.]

The first win of the Candidates tournament was scored by Aronian. White has an extra pawn, but Black has all the hopes for a draw with the pair of bishops and the doubled b-pawns. Even in such a “dry” position, tactical elements might play a key role. 24... Bd8 A slightly dubious move. [24... Rc8 was much more logical as the exchange of the rooks would hugely increase Black’s defensive chances. White must leave the open file to maintain his advantage 25. Ra1! (25.R xc8 B xc8 Without the rooks, all the opposite-colored bishops endgames would be just dead drawn.) 25...a6 (25... B xe5 26.dxe5 a6 This is an instructive position. It seems like a dead draw, but the Black king is awfully placed, which gives White decent chances to convert his advantage. 27.Bg5! The bishop is going to f6. The next step will be to activate the rook. It could be most easily achieved by Ra4 and invading through the 4th rank, for instance, with Rb4. 27...h6 28.Bf6+ Kh7 Black would like his king

26. Bh6+!! An amazing trick, which was clearly missed by Gelfand. The game turns into a tactical battle. 26...Kg8 This is a sad necessity. The king now gets poorly placed and it becomes the main reason for Black’s quick collapse. [On 26...Kf6 White continues the hunt of the king with 27. Bg5+! Black is forced to take this time, but the endgame is hopeless. 27...Kxg5 28.Nxf7+ Kf6 29. Rxc8 Bxc8 30.Nxd8+- with two extra pawns.; 26... Kxh6 loses to 27.Nxf7+ Kg7 28. Rxc8 Bxc8 29.Nxd8+-]

19


27. Rxc8 Bxc8 28.Nc6! Black must control the e7 square. He cannot reach the b6 square, which was the idea of 24... Bd8.

30.g4!! Another brilliant move! Black has no good defense against g5, after which the f6 bishop has no good square to leave.

28... Bf6

30...g5 [The saving idea 30...a6 misses by just one tempo. 31.g5! The bishop is trapped, since 31... Bh8 is met with a nice mate. (31...axb5 drops a piece after 32.Nb8! B xd4 33.N xd7 B xb2 34.Bf8!+- The bishop gets activated after gaining a decisive material advantage.) 32.Ne7#] 31.h4! It is obligatory for the win to get the pawn to g5, so the pawn sacrifice is justified! 31...gxh4 32.g5 Bxc6 This is equal to resignation, but there was nothing better... [32... Bg7 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34.Nxa7+- wins easily.]

29.b5! White blocks the a7 so it will not run away. It is important to keep the knight on c6 to paralyze Black’s bishops. The king is also trapped. [After the greedy 29.Nxa7 Black gets chances for survival. 29... Bb7 30. Be3 The d4 pawn had to be protected, but it allows the king to escape. 30...Kf8!] 29... Bd7

33.bxc6 Bd8 34.Kg2 and White first collects the h4 pawn and then goes to the queenside to support the promotion of the c-pawn. 34... Bc7 35.Kh3 Black resigned. Great technique by Aronian! 1–0

20


Clash of the Titans (17) Capablanca,Jose Raul — Lasker,Emanuel [D63] World Championship 12th Havana (5), 29.03.1921 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Nc3 0–0

7. Rc1 White is waiting for the dxc4 move in order not to lose a tempo to recapture the pawn on c4. This Queen’s Gambit position was very popular back then. 7...b6 It looks logical to develop the bishop this way, but this move hasdisadvantages too. White can try to get control of the c6 square. Nowadays, Black plays other moves: [7...c6 8. Bd3 dxc4 gives White a better center. 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 with a plan to try to fight for the center after pushing c5 or e5.; 7...a6 Interesting move. Black is waiting for Bd3 or Be2. Then, after taking on c4, he can win a tempo and play b5 with Bb7-c5 next. 8.cxd5 (8.c5 leads to a fferent kind of position where White tries to get space and pressure after b4-b5.) 8...exd5 We get

a Carlsbad structure with the pawn on a6, which is well placed in case Black wants to push c5 and play with an isolated pawn. However, Black can probably just play c6 and use the typical plan with Re8- Nf8 becasue the rook on c1 will not be useful for White here, especially if he tries the b4-b5 plan.; 7... Re8!? deserves attention as well.] 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qa4 White immediately tries to get control of the c6 and a6 squares.

9...c5! Given that the White pieces are still not developed, Lasker decides to sacrifice a pawn for the initiative. A good practical decision. Let us check what happens if he would have played... [9... Bb7 10. Ba6! One of the ideas was to put the queen on a4. a) 10. Bb5 a6 11. Bxd7 (11.Bc6?? b5) 11...Nxd7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7= c5 next and Black is fine.; b) 10. Bd3 c5; 10...Qc8 (10... Bxa6 11.Qxa6 Qc8 (11...c5 12.0–0 Qc8 13.Qxc8 Rfxc8 and now White gets a typical pressure against Black’s central pawns after 14.dxc5 bxc5 (14... R xc5 Xd5) 15. Rfd1 Nb6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 Bxb2 19. Rcxc5) 12.Qxc8 Rfxc8 13.Ne5! Bb4 21


14. Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Nc6 Bxc3+ 16. Rxc3² Thanks to the pressure over the c-file, White is clearly better.) 11. Bxb7 Qxb7 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 d4 14.0–0 dxc3 15.exf6 Bxf6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Rxc3² Given that the queens are still on the board, White can take advantage of the doubled fpawns.] 10.Qc6 Rb8 11.Nxd5 [11. Bf4 Bb7 12.Qa4 Rc8 13. Ba6 (13.Qxa7 Bc6 XQa7) 13... Bxa6 14.Qxa6 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Nc5 16.Qe2 Ne6= The knight on e6 is very good to fight for the d4 square. Black easily equalizes the position.] 11... Bb7 Black could also get a good position after [11... Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Bb7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Qg5 Qxg5 (14... Nf6!?) 15.Nxg5 cxd4 16.exd4 Nf6 White has problems with his king and the pawns on d4 and g2.] 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Qa4 Rbc8 In exchange of the pawn, Black has a huge initiative. White needs two moves to secure the safety of his king. [13... Bxf3 Too early. 14.gxf3 cxd4 15.Qxd4 Rbc8 (15...Rbd8 16.Be2²) 16. Rxc8 Rxc8 17. Be2 Rc1+ 18. Bd1 Ne5 19.0–0] 14.Qa3 Not allowing cxd4. [14. Be2 cxd4 15.0–0 (15.R xc8 R xc8 16.Qxd4 Rc1+ 17.Bd1 Ba6 and the White king is not able to escape.) 15...dxe3 16. Bxe3 Nd5=]

14...Qe6 Preparing cxd4 and Ne4 15. Bxf6 [15. Be2 cxd4 (15...Ne4 16.0–0) 16.0–0 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 dxe3 18. Bxe3 Bxf3 (18...Nd5 19.Qxa7 N xe3 20.Qxb7 Nc5 21.R xc5 bxc5 22.fxe3 Qxe3+ 23.Kf1) 19. Bxf3 Ne5 and Black will exchange one of the bishops after Nc4. In case of 20. Be2, then 20...Ng4 will be played.] 15...Qxf6? looks normal, but this move is a big mistake. Black should play [15... Bxf3 16. Ba6 (16.gxf3 Qxf6; 16.Bh4 cxd4 17.R xc8 R xc8 18.gxf3 Ne5 and Black has a winning attack.) 16... Bc6!? 17. Bxc8 Rxc8 Black gets a strong initiative on the light squares, for example: 18. Be5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxg2 20. Rg1 Qh3 21.Qxa7 Qxh2 22.Ke2 Qh5+ with at least a draw.] 16. Ba6! Now Capablanca is on time to castle! 16... Bxf3 The only move to get practical chances. After [16...cxd4 17. Rxc8 Rxc8 18.0–0 White will be a pawn up.] 17. Bxc8 Rxc8 [17... Bxg2 18. Rg1 Rxc8 19. Rxg2±] 18.gxf3 Qxf3 19. Rg1 Re8 White has a material advantage, but the position is not easy to play because of the weak king. 20.Qd3 White’s queen is coming to support the king. 20...g6 21.Kf1 Re4

22


32.Qxh4 Ng4 33.Qg5+ Kf8 34. Rf5 h5 [34...Qxe3+ 35.Qxe3 Nxe3 36. Rf4 and Black will have problems with the knight or the White rook will simply come to the queenside to grab his pawns.] 35.Qd8+ Kg7 36.Qg5+ Kf8 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qg5+ Kf8 Probably they were in time trouble. 39.b3 Qd6 Black is going to activate his queen. 40.Qf4 Qd1+ 41.Qf1 22.Qd1 [22.dxc5 Ne5 23.Qd8+ Kg7 24.c6 Rg4 25. Rxg4 Nxg4 26.Qd2 Nxh2+ 27.Ke1 (27.Kg1 Qh3) 27...Qh1+ 28.Ke2 Qf3+ 29.Kd3 Qd5+ 30.Kc2 Qxc6+ 31.Qc3+ Qxc3+ 32.Kxc3 Ng4 33. Rf1 h5 34.Kd3² Without the queens, it is much easier for White.; 22. Rd1 Rxe3 23.Qxe3 Qxd1+ 24.Kg2 Qg4+ 25.Kh1 Qf5 26.dxc5 Nxc5 Of course, White is better, but to win this position, he will need a long time.] 22...Qh3+ [22... Rxe3 23.Qxf3 Rxf3 24.Kg2±] 23. Rg2 Nf6 Preparing Rg4. [23...cxd4 24.exd4 (24.Rc4 Ne5 25.R xd4 R xd4 26.Qxd4 Nf3 with Nh4 next.) 24... Nf6 25.Kg1 Nd5©] 24.Kg1 [24.dxc5 Rg4–+] 24...cxd4 25. Rc4 Good move. White does not allow the destruction of the structure. 25...dxe3 26. Rxe4 Nxe4 27.Qd8+ Kg7 28.Qd4+ Nf6 29.fxe3 White exchanges the Black rook, and thanks to the pin, gains the initiative. 29...Qe6 30. Rf2 g5 31.h4 gxh4 [31...h6 32.h5 and Black is not able to play Kg6 to activate his knight. White should easily win by slowly improving with e4-Rf5.]

41...Qd2? [41...Qxf1+ 42. Rxf1 Nxe3 43. Rc1 Nd5 and Black is still fighting. White will get the pawns on h5 and f7, but Black can try to look for exchanges on the queenside.] 42. Rxh5? White missed a simple win. [42. Rxf7+ Ke8 43. Rf8+ Kd7 44.Qf7+ Kc6 45. Rc8+ and mate or Black will lose the queen.] 42...Nxe3 [42...Qxe3+ 43.Kg2 Ne5 It will not be easy for White to avoid the checks.] 43.Qf3 Qd4 44.Qa8+ [44.Kh1²]

23


44...Ke7 45.Qb7+ Kf8?? Decisive mistake! Black could have played... [45...Kd6 Objectively, White is better, but the position is complicated.]


46.Qb8+ and White is winning because after 46...Ke7, comes 47.Qe5! +-.

(18) De Feijter

1–0

[CEWN] 1. =

24


Solutions

(20) Foisor,S (2323) — Shen Yang (2415) World Women Teams, 05.03.2013

(19) Davletbayeva,M (2272) — Zhukova,N (2471)

[Solutions]


24...f6!! 25. Bxf6 [25. Bd6 Nxd4–+]

29... Rg5? [29...f5! 30.Qg3 f4! 31.Qg4 h5! 32.Qh4 Rxe2–+; 29...h5!? 30.Qg3 h4 31.Qg4 f5 32.Qg5 Bd8! 33.Qxd8 Rxe2 34.Qg5µ]

25...Nf4! 26. Rce1 [26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Bd1 (27.Re1 N xe2+ 28.R xe2 Rc1+) 27... Bxb5 28. Re1 Nd3–+] 26...Nxe2+ 27. Rxe2 Bxb5–+

30.Qf3=

25


(21) Yildiz,B (2341) — Bulmaga,I (2354)

(22) Gunina,V (2505) — Dzagnidze,N (2554)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34.g5! hxg5 35. Bxg5 e4+ [35... Rh2 36.h6! Bxg5 (36... gxh6 37.B xf6+-) 37.hxg7+-]

59...g5! 60.gxh5 [60.hxg5 h4–+]

36.Kxe4 Re2+ 37.Kd3 Re8 38. Bxf6 gxf6 39.h6+-

60...gxh4 61.h6 Kf6! 62. Bb7 h3 0–1

26


(23) Yildiz,B (2341) — Ju Wenjun (2505) World Women Teams, 11.03.2013 [Solutions]

17... Bxb2! 18. Rab1 Ba4!! 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8–+ 20. Rd5 [20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rxb2 Rd1+] 20... Rxd5 21.exd5 f6–+

(25) Istratescu,A (2651) — Vachier Lagrave,M (2722) Nancy (rapid), 10.03.2013 [Solutions]

27... Bxc3! 0–1[27... Bxc3 28.Qxc3 Qxf2+ 29.Kh1 Qxg2#]

(24) Svetushkin,D (2602) — Bacrot,E (2705) Nancy (rapid), 09.03.2013 [Solutions]

28... Rxe4! 0–1[28... Rxe4 29. Rxe4 g5–+] 27






[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35.Qa8+! Kh7 36. Rxe5! Bxe5 37.Qe4+ Kg7 38. Bxe5+ f6 [38...Kg8 39.Qa8+ Kh7 40.Qh8#]

37... Rb1+! 38.Kh2 Rh1+ 39.Kg3 Rg1+ 40.Kh2 Rg2+ 41.Kh1 Qxd3 42. Rxd3 Rxf2–+

39.Qg6+ Kf8 40.Qxh6+ Ke8 41.Qg6+ Kf8 42. Bg3 1–0

28


(28) Mekhitarian,K (2546) — Macedo,M (2408)

(29) Rinck

Brazilian Championship, 04.03.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

13.Nf6+!! Qxf6 [13...gxf6 14. Bxf5 Qxf5 15.fxe5 Qh7 16.exd6 cxd6 17. Rxf6+-] 14.fxe5 Bg4 [14...Nxe5 15. Rxf5+-]

1.Qf4+ Kc3 2. Rxc5+!! Rxc5 3.Qc1+! Kd4 [3...Kb3 4.Qb1++-] 4.Qe3+ Kc4 [4...Kd5 5.Qf3+ Kd4 6.Qxb7+-] 5.Qd3+ Kb4 6.Qb1+!+-

15.Qxg4 1–0

29

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»» Solutions

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Editorial Preface Candidates! Again, this is our event of the week. We have seen very exciting chess with a lot of decisive games. The results of the players until now: Carlsen: probably it is not a big surprise that Magnus Carlsen is leading with +4. He is winning positions where he is better and holding when he is worse. Anyhow, against Radjabov, he had to save quite a bad position, and against Kramnik as well.

Only 3 rounds to go and anything can happen! Magnus is a big favorite, but Kramnik is on fire, winning 3 games in a row! Stay updated with us. Until next week! Enjoy the CEWN Nr 57! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

Kramnik: Vladimir is playing a very good and solid tournament winning the last 3 games, which brings him now to the second place with +3. Aronian: He is on the third place with +2, which is clearly unsatisfactory for the Armenian, who lost 2 games in the last 3 rounds. Svilder: Playing his chess with about the result we expected from him. 50% until now with the highlight of yesterday, beating Aronian with the white pieces. Grischuk and Gelfand are playing fighting chess, but clearly are not well enough prepared to fight for the golden first place in the event. Both are on -1. Ivanchuk: Lost 4 times on time so far!!! I never saw this in my whole life. What else to say… He totals -3. Radjabov: Probably this is the surprise of the tournament. Teimour is usually a very stable and solid player, but here everything is going terribly wrong for him. What to do, next time… His total result is on -4.

3



12.c3 Svidler’s favorite move. White wants to play d4 at a good moment, but of course, this requires a long preparation.

(1) Svidler,Peter (2747) — Carlsen,Magnus (2872) [C84]

12...bxc3 13.bxc3

FIDE Candidates London ENG (6), 21.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Another game where Carlsen easily defeats his opponent, who seemingly did not commit any mistake... 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 Svidler is a big expert of the 6.d3 system in the Ruy Lopez with both colors. 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6

13...h6 A good prophylaxis against Ng5. [13...Na7 happened in another game of Svidler, where he got a nice initiative after 14.Ng5! Bg4 15.f3 Bh5 (15...Bd7 would have been met with 16.f4! which is also better for White.) 16.Qc2 Nd7 17.Nh3! Black succeeded to avoid the f4 idea, but his bishop on h5 got out of the game, while the knight on h3 is just temporarily misplaced, as it will soon improve through f2. 17...Kh8 18.Ne3² and White won later on Svidler-Sargissian, Ningbo.] 14. Re1 Just as in the 12th move, White makes another preparation to play d4. This time he protects the e4 pawn.

8.a4 b4 [The other main lines are 8... Bd7 ; and 8... Rb8 ] 9.Nbd2 0–0 10.a5 Be6 11.Nc4 Rb8 Nothing new has happened so far. Both players are following theory. The upcoming positions are considered to be nicely playable for both sides. All the pieces are on the board, which ensures a complicated game where the stronger player might try to outplay his opponent with both colors.

14...Qc8 15. Bc2 This is the novelty of the game, White would like to leave with his knight to e3 and then, d4 finally becomes possible. [15. Ba3 is the most common move, and Black usually plays 15... Rd8; 15. Ba4 was played recently in a top game between Leko and Adams. It continued with 15... Bxc4 16. Bxc6 (16.dxc4 N xa5 This is the difference. That is why Svidler went to c2 with his bishop.) 16... Bb5 17. Bxb5 Rxb5 and Black equalized.] 4


15... Rd8 This is the standard setup and the idea of the previous Qc8 move. Black would like to play Bf8 and be ready to push d5 at a good moment. [15... Bxc4 was an interesting alternative. Black gives up his strong bishop to destroy the pawn structure. It is difficult to judge which factor has bigger importance. 16.dxc4 Qe6 17.Qe2 (17.c5!? might have been Svidler’s intention. A positional pawn sacrifice followed by playing on the light squares. Black is really missing his bishop here, but on the other hand, he is a pawn up. 17...dxc5 18.Qe2 Rb5 (18...c4 19.Nd2 wins back the pawn.) 19. Ba4! Rxa5 20.Nd2 and the rook might get in trouble.) 17...Nd7! and Black drives his knight to c5, which cannot be prevented by Ba3 because of the a5 pawn, or by Be3, since this allows the rook to go to b2.] 16.Qe2 Bf8 [16... Bxc4 17.dxc4 Nd7 was an option again, but Carlsen preferred to keep his bishop pair.]

17.Ne3 The last preparation for d4. If he could move again, d4 would already guarantee an edge. [17.d4 immediately would have still been premature. Black plays 17... exd4 18.cxd4 d5! This is a typical reaction to d4. White remains with an isolated pawn and the b4 square will be occupied by Black’s minor pieces. The text move, 17. Ne3,

avoids this idea. White could simply push e5 with an advantage.] 17...d5! Excellent timing by Carlsen. He points out the drawback of the previous move — White left the attack of the e5 pawn. 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Rxd5 This seems like an inaccuracy. Black keeps the e5 pawn protected and, at the same time, attacks the pawn on a5. [19... Bxd5 was stronger, as the e5 pawn is not really hanging. 20.Nxe5 Nxe5 21.Qxe5 Re8!? (Black can also force a draw by 21...B xg2 22.Kxg2 Re8 White has nothing better than 23.Qxe8 Qg4+ 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Kg1 Qg4) 22.Qxe8 Qg4! White has to sacrifice his queen with 23.Qe4 (23.Re4 leaves the back-rank unprotected. 23...R xe8; 23.f3 B xf3!) 23... Bxe4 24. Rxe4 Only Black can be better.] 20.h3? This “automatic” reaction in the Ruy Lopez to open the back-rank and avoid the pin after Bg4 is a big mistake. The initiative passes to Black and Carlsen does not let it slip away anymore. [20. Ba4 is possible. 20... Rxa5 (20...N xa5 21.N xe5²) 21. Bd2 (21.B xh6 in order to protect the a1 rook and threaten Bxc6. This leads to an unbalanced material position after 21...R xa4! 22.R xa4 gxh6 23.N xe5 N xe5 24.Qxe5 Rb5! Black brin gs an strong defender to the kingside and his bishop pair starts to work.) 21... Rc5 22. Bxc6 Rxc6 23.Nxe5 Rcb6 with a playable position for both sides. The exchange of the e5 pawn for the one on a5 favors White again, but the bishop pair gives Black good compensation.; 20.Qe4! is suggested by the machines and is a very interesting alternative. White would like to provoke a weakness on the kingside with the threat of d4. 20...g6 (On 20...f5 White simply retreats/\ 21.Qe2 and the central pawns become vulnera5


ble.) 21. Ba4! Nxa5 22.Nxe5 In general, the exchange of the a5 pawn for the e5 one favors White as it has bigger importance. White seems to have an edge here. 22... Bg7 23. Bf4²; 20.d4?! is logical, but not so good. 20...exd4 21.Qe4 g6 seems a bit shaky for Black, but White cannot continue the attack.] 20... Bf5! Very strong move! Suddenly, White has to forget about the d4 move. Black can exert pressure on the d3 weakness and soon, the a5 pawn will be hanging as well.

24.Nd4 Nxd4 25. Bxd4?! This allowed a tactical blow, which was actually missed by Carlsen. [25.cxd4 also led to Black’s clear advantage after 25...exd3 26. Bxd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Rbb5! White has serious problems with the a5 pawn. He can hardly hold it for long.] 25...exd3 Carlsen prefers the positional domination! [However 25... Bxh3! was winning in a straight way. 26.dxe4 (26.gxh3 is, obviously, not possible. 26...Qxh3 27.Be3 Bd6! White gets mated soon.) 26... Rg5 27.g3 This was the critical position where Carlsen missed a winning combination (or just did not want to risk a miscalculation). Black wins after a fantastic tactical blow: 27... Bg4! 28.f3 Rb2!! 29.Qxb2 Bxf3 and the game is over. Too many threats are in the air. Rxg3, Qh3 and the simple Bxd1. 30. Rd3 (30.Qf2 B xd1–+ with an extra pawn and a strong attack for Black.) 30... Rxg3+ 31.Kf2 Rg2+–+] 26. Bxd3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 c5 28. Be5! This was Svidler’s idea when he took back with the bishop on d4, but unfortunately for him, it does not solve the problems.

21. Rd1 White is doomed to passivity.

28... Rxd3 29. Bxb8

21...Qe6 22. Bb1 Svidler tries to activate his bishop through a2. 22...Qd7! Keeping the pressure on the d3 pawn. [22... Rxa5 allows White to create counterplay. 23. Rxa5 Nxa5 24. Ba2 getting back the e5 pawn.] 23. Be3 e4! [23... Rxb1 did not work. 24. Raxb1 Bxd3 White has 25.Qa2! and the d5 rook is hanging. 25... Rxa5 26.Qxa5! Nxa5 27.Nxe5 Qf5 28.Nxd3 The two rooks will be extremely strong. Despite the pawn deficit, only White can be better here.]

29...c4! A great move! Black frees the c5 square for his bishop, where it puts very strong pressure on the f2 6


pawn. The additional weaknesses on c3 and a5 are too much for White to handle.

(2) Gelfand,Boris (2740) — Aronian,Levon (2809) [D37]

30. Be5 [The only good defensive setup was 30.Qe1 Bc5 31.Kh2 followed by Bg3 (which was not possible immediately because of Rxg3) trying to keep all pawns defended, but of course, it is also a long suffering for White.]

FIDE Candidates London ENG (9.4), 25.03.2013

30... Bc5 31. Rb1 Qd5! Further activating the pieces. [31... Rd2 is not so dangerous yet because of 32.Qxc4 This is just a check on f2. There is no reason for Black to hurry with this plan.] 32. Rb8+ Kh7 33.Qh5 According to the computer, this is the decisive mistake. Svidler laid a trap with the threat of Rh8 Kxh8 Qxh6 and mate on g7, but of course, this does not work against the World’s Nr.1. [33. Re8 was the best chance, although Black has various ways to remain better here as well. 33...Qd7 (33...f5 is also good to prevent Qe4 in the line with 33...Qd7.) 34. Ra8 Qe6 The following line is forced: 35.Qe4+ f5 36. Rh8+! Kg6! (Of course not 36... Kxh8? 37.B xg7+!) 37.Qf4 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Bxf2! with a big advantage for Black.; 33.Kh2 Bxf2 wins a pawn.] 33...Qe4! A cool defense against the Rh8 threat and Black further improves his pieces.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Aronian took a hard blow took in the 9th round against Boris Gelfand! Who would bet on this! Gelfand, who did not have a great tournament until then, won his 2nd game in a row. As we remember, not that long ago, in his match against Anand, Boris used the help of Aronian for his preparation, and now he might have “stolen” such an important half point from him in the race against Magnus Carlsen. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 Queen’s Gambit, what can be more solid? 5. Bf4 0–0? 6.e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 This is a very solid line for White, as many others are as well... 7...c6 A rare move on the Top level. [7...dxc4 8.0–0 c5 is the usual line, which seems to be pretty equal.] 8.0–0 [Maybe 8.h3 would make sense now, in order not to give away the bishop immediately.]

34. Rb2 [34. Rh8+ Kxh8 35.Qxh6+ Qh7! was the point!] 34... Rd5! White cannot avoid losing a piece. 35. Re2 Qb1+ 36.Kh2 f6! White resigned. It was instructive to see that only one careless move — h3 — was enough to lose the game against Carlsen. 0–1 7


8...Nh5 Of course! That is Black’s main idea. 9. Be5 A typical trick for White: first to provoke f6 and only then to go back to g3. 9...f6 10. Bg3 f5 A logical move, but why not... [10... Nxg3 11.hxg3 and now 11...f5 Can this position be worse for Black? I cannot imagine that being true.] 11. Be5 Again, typical play by White. 11...Nhf6 [Of course not 11...Nxe5 12.dxe5! and the h5 knight is very bad...] 12.h3 This move is forcing Black to take on e5, but was it really needed? Black will probably take on e5 anyway. White could have played a more useful move than h3, like 12. Rc1.

20. Bd3! White is regrouping his pieces. The knight is going to its best square, f4. 20... Rc7?! and this is already a mistake. Black should get ready to welcome White’s knight with g7-g5, but now it is too late.

12...Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Nd7! Very good move. I think the position is just equal.

21.Ne2 Bh5? This move i s clearly not the best. It was time to admit the mistake and play 21... Bd7.

14.f4 Quite a risky attempt by White. I think only Black should be happy about this move. [Maybe it was the time to simply fix a draw. 14.Nxd7 Bxd7 15.f4]

22.Nf4 Bxf4 23.exf4 It is clear now that White is better!

14...Nxe5 15.fxe5 Bg5 and I think Black’s position is very nice. 16.Qd2 Bd7 17. Rac1 White wants to open the c-line at a good moment, but this does not look too dangerous to me. Black’s play on the kingside might become much more efficient. 17... Rc8 18.a3 Kh8 Black is preparing his plan. 19.b4 Be8 A strange move... Where is the bishop going to? [The simple 19... Bh6 followed by Qe7, with the idea of playing a5 or doubling on the f-file. I think only Black can look for an advantage here.]

23... Rd7 Black is try ing to provoke White into playing c5, which is not bad for him, but dxc4 is leads to quite an unpleasant position for Black as well. 24.Qe3 Gelfand deci des to keep the option of playing cxd5 as well, and does not close the position with the c5 move. 24...dxc4 25. Bxc4 Rxd4?! and Aronian chooses the wrong path again. [25... Bf7 Black’s position is still very very solid. White will create pressure by playing b5 in the future, but if this is enough to reach something special would remain unclear.] 26. Bxe6 Probably Aronian was planning his next move, but this is just losing! 8


26... Bf7? An easy blunder which is very atypical for the Armenian. Usually, Aronian is in a great tactical shape.

37. Rxg6! The last precise move. 37...Qxg6 38. Rf1+ and Black is losing his queen.]

27. Bxf5! and White is already winning.

34.fxg6 Bxg6 35. Bxh5?! Not the easiest way to win this position. [35. Rxh5! would finish the game on the spot. 35... Bxh5 36. Bxh5 and the e8 rook is hanging.]

27... Bc4

35... Rd3 36.Qe5+ and once again Gelfand chooses the safest path, but not the shortest one. [36.Qg5] 36...Qxe5 37. Rcxe5 Bxh5 38. Rxh5 Rxa3 39. Rf5 Rd3 40. Re4 Rd7 The time trouble is over. White is, of course, doing clearly winning, but Black has some small practical chances. The rest of the game is handled greatly by

28.e6! This is the move that Aronian most probably blundered. Black cannot take on f1 or f5. 28...Qd6 Nothing helps anymore... 29. Rfe1 Re8 30.e7 Bf7 31. Rc5! Another very good move by Gelfand. Now the White rook is coming to e5 in order to secure the e7 pawn. Black’s position is hopeless. 31...g6 [Of course 31... Rxf4? 32. Bd7 and White is winning.] 32. Bg4 Gelfand was already in deep time trouble, and Aronian tries to gamble. 32...h5 but Gelfand found the right answer quickly. 33.f5! A great game by White. 33...Kg7 [Loses on the spot 33...hxg4 34.Qh6+ Kg8 35.fxg6 Bxg6 36. Rg5 and the game is over. 36...Kf7

41. Rg4+! The best move! White is doubling on the 7th rank. [Much more imprecise would have been 41. Rfe5 Kf7 and Black threatens to take on e7.] 41...Kh6 42. Rf6+ Kh7 [42...Kh5 would lead to a pretty mate: 43. Rfg6 Rdxe7 44. R4g5+ Kh4 45.g3+ Kxh3 46. Rh5#] 43. Rf7+ Kh6 44. Rgg7 White is ready to push his pawns forward... Black is hopeless.

9


44... Rd1+ 45.Kh2 Rf1 What else to do? White wants to play g4-Kg3-Kh4 and mate.

(3) Kramnik,Vladimir (2810) — Svidler,Peter (2747) [D85]

46. Rh7+ Kg6 47. Rhg7+ Kh6 48. Rh7+ Kg6 49. Rfg7+ Kf6 50.h4 and the h-pawn is running.

FIDE Candidates London ENG (8), 24.03.2013

50...Ke6 51. Rg4 Giving Black no chance for Rf4. 51...Kf5 52.Kg3 Re1 53. Rf4+ Ke6 54.h5 Black is finally getting the e7 pawn, but the position is not improving. 54... Rxe7 55. Rxe7+ Kxe7 56.Kh4 White’s g- and hpawns are unstoppable. 56...b6 57.h6 Rh1+ 58.Kg5 Ke6 59.Kg6 Ke5 60. Rf5+ and again Boris Gelfand has proved that people over 40 still have a very hard bite! 1–0

[Csaba Balogh] Kramnik showed some nice preparation against the Gruenfeld. He got a small, but unpleasant edge, which he succeeded to convert with fine technique. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Kramnik employed this system many times in the beginning of the 2000s. He used this weapon even against Kasparov in their World Championship match back in 2001. 8...Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10. Rc1 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0–0 13.d5

13... Rd8 This endgame was considered to be completely fine for Black, but now Kramnik introduces a logical novelty, which is also the recommendation of the newest version of Houdini! 14.Kc2 It is very logical to keep the rooks connected. [14. Ke1 was played in all the good games before.] 10


14...Ne5 Svidler prefers to avoid the preparation and decides to go for a slightly inferior endgame, which he hopes he can hold. [The tactical test of the line must be 14...Na5 This is the right move after 14.Ke1 as well. Black intends to undermine the central pawns with e6 or f5. Kramnik’s preparation probably startswith 15. Bg5 and lasts for hundreds of pages... Who knows what is his final evaluation?] 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bc4 White fights against Black’s active attempts to undermine his strong center. If he succeeds to consolidate, he will obtain a better position thanks to his superior pawn structure. The game is a good demonstration of the possible plans and dangers of the position. 16... Bd7 [The typical 16...f5 does not work because of 17.f4! and e5 is coming next. The strong center guarantees a nice edge for White.; 16...e6 is the other typical method, but it is met by 17. Bg5 (17.Rhd1 is also possible. 17...exd5 18.B xd5 The bishop stands very well on d5. Black has difficulties with the development of the c8 bishop. The b7 and a7 pawns are weak.; White should refrain from playing 17.dxe6 B xe6 18.B xe6 fxe6 White cannot make use of Black’s slightly damaged pawn structure in theendgame.) 17... Rd6 (17...Re8 loses an exchange after 18.Bb5 Rf8 19.Be7) 18.f4! with the idea of e5 with tempo, followed by d6. Black must try to play tactically with 18...exd5 but it does not solve all the problems. 19.fxe5 Rc6 20.exd5 Rxc4+

21.Kb3² White has a clear advantage. The d-pawn is very dangerous, White will occupy the most important c-file and the bishop on f6 is going to be extremely annoying from Black’s point of view.] 17.f4 Bd6 This is typical in this opening. After the exchange of queens, the Gruenfeld bishop leaves the a1– h8 diagonal. The main reason is to cover the c7 invading square. [However 17... Bg7 might have been stronger, as it supports the undermining of the center. 18.Kb1 (18. Kb3 is now met with 18...b5! 19.Be2 e6! and on 20.d6 e5! is very strong, with the threat of Be6. White is not on time to consolidate.) 18...b5 19. Be2 e5! Black needs to fight against the center. These are all well-known moves in the Gruenfeld. 20. Rc7 f5! It seems like Black’s counterplay is coming on time.] 18.Kb3 f6 [18...b5 was probably better, to avoid the following squeezing on the queenside. 19. Bd3 and only now 19...f6 to prevent e5.] 19.a4! Black has difficulties with the queenside pawns. Black should try to create a passer somehow, but the a4 pawn with the two bishops making it impossible. After making the necessary prophylactic moves, White can focus on making progress on the kingside and in the center. 11


19... Rdc8 20.h4! With the idea of playing h5 or, if Black plays it himself, that would weaken the g6 pawn...

23...Kf7

20... Rab8!? Svidler aims for counterplay with b5, but Kramnik smoothly prevents it. [On 20...h5 Kramnik was probably intending to play 21. Rhf1 overprotecting the f4 pawn with the idea of playing Bd4 followed by e5!]

24.h5 [24.g4 was also possible, gaining more space.] 24... Rxc1 [24...gxh5 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Rxh5 is similar to the game. Black has no invading square on the c-file for the rook. He is doomed to defend passively.] 21. Bb5! Great positional move to prevent b5. Black is forced to trade the bishops, but it leaves the queenside even weaker. [21. Bxa7 is a mistake. 21... Ra8 Black wins the a4 pawn and achieves his aim by creating a passer on the queenside.] 21... Bxb5 22.axb5 a6 [22...b6 gives up the c6 square. 23. Rc6! and the a7 pawn is a serious weakness. Ra1 is coming next.]

25.hxg6+ Kxg6 Svidler creates an extra pawn island to himself (on h7), in order to keep the g-file opened for some kind of counterplay with the rook. [25...hxg6 26. Bxc1 is also quite bad for Black. He even has difficulties to neutralize the h-file, because 26...Kg7 runs into the tactical 27.e5! fxe5 28. Bb2! White has increased his advantage.] 26. Bxc1

23.b6! Of course, White will need this pawn in the future! Later on, it might support the invasion on c7. He basically has an extra pawn now, as Black has zero chances to create something useful on the queenside. The only question that remains is whether White will be able to breakthrough in the center or on the kingside, or if Black will succeed to build a fortress. 12


26... Rg8 [Probably the best chance for Black was to play 26...h5!! to avoid the game’s continuation and to look for counterplay with Rg8. White should not win the pawn with 27.f5+ Kf7 28. Rxh5 Rg8! Black gets strong counterplay.] 27.g4! Fine technique by Kramnik! Black cannot open the g-file for the rook, because the only move — Kf7 — leaves the h7 pawn hanging with check. The next move is a preparation for this, but it has its drawback as well... 27...h6 Black intends to play Kf7, but he puts his pawn on a dark square, where it becomes much more vulnerable to the White bishop. 28. Rh5! White intends to increase his advantage with e5. Black cannot do anything against this. 28...Kf7 29.e5! Bc5 [29...fxe5 does not change much. 30.fxe5 Bc5 31.e6+ Ke8 32. Rxh6 Bxb6 33.g5 is also very good for White. A possible plan is g6, followed by Bb2 and g7. Black stands too passively.] 30.e6+ Kf8 31. Rh4! Very precise calculation by Kramnik! [The arising pawn endgame after 31. Rxh6 Rxg4 32. Rh8+ Rg8 33. Rxg8+ Kxg8 34. Ba3 also looks very promising for White, but actually Black holds with

34... Bd6!! (34...B xa3 35.Kxa3 Kf8 36.f5! White wins after the following forced line 36...Ke8 37.Kb4 Kd8 38.Kc4 Ke8 39.Kc5 Kd8 40.d6 Ke8 41.dxe7 Kxe7 42.Kd5 Ke8 43.Kd6 Kd8 44.e7+ Ke8 45.Ke6 a5 46.Kxf6 a4 47.Ke6 a3 48.f6+-) 35. Bxd6 exd6 Black puts his king on e7 and the draw is inevitable. White cannot go too far with his king, since he must stay in the square of the a-pawn. Finally, a position where Black can make use of his queenside pawns.] 31...Kg7 [31...h5! would have given the only practical chance. Searching for counterplay at the cost of a pawn. 32.gxh5 (32.g5 is an alternative, but Black gets his chances here as well. 32...fxg5 33.fxg5 Kg7 34.R xh5 Kg6 35.Rh6+ Kf5 and Black goes for the d5 pawn with his king.) 32... Rg1 followed by blocking the h-pawn with the king. White has good winning chances, but at least, Black got some activity, which always gives a chance to hold.; 31... Bxb6 allows 32. Ba3! White’s pawns are too strong. The biggest threat is to play Rxh6 and f6 is hanging because of the pin. It is hard to deal with this.] 32.f5! Rd8 [The passive 32... Rh8 leads to a defeat as well. 33. Bf4! is very strong, preparing to breakthrough with d6. 33... Bxb6 34.d6 exd6 White can win in a spectacular way.

13


35. Bxh6+! Kg8 Otherwise, the e-pawn promotes. 36.g5! The final breakthrough. 36...fxg5 37.f6! gxh4 38.f7+ Kh7 39.e7 and White wins!] 33. Bxh6+ Kg8 34.Kc4 Bxb6 The material is still equal, but White’s pawns are superior. The end is near. White only needs to find the best way to create passed pawns, but of course, this is an easy task for Kramnik. [34... Rc8 does not change much. 35.Kd3 Rd8 36.Ke4+-] 35.g5! Bf2 36. Rg4 Kh7 37.gxf6! exf6 The job is done! White only needs to promote his e- and d-pawns. 38.e7 Rc8+ 39.Kb3 Bc5 [39...Kxh6 40.d6+- is also over.] 40. Rc4 Black resigned as he cannot defend against Rxc5 or simply d6. Great performance by Kramnik, who really deserved to win a game after having squeezed in all the previous rounds. 1–0

(4) Svidler,Peter (2747) — Grischuk,Alexander (2764) [E81] FIDE Candidates London ENG (9.2), 25.03.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] After winning against Ivanchuk a day before, Grischuk was clearly going for another victory, pushing the game to a complete messy position. First, it seemed like White should be doing better, but after some crazy complications, the game finally ended in a draw. We will see a really interesting game. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 The King’s Indian, probably the most fighting opening for Black at the current moment. 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 Same as in his game against Radjabov, Svidler chooses the system with 5.f3. 5...0–0 6. Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Nc6 The situation is quite clear. White’s main idea is to keep his center alive and strong, and Black will start a quick play against it, which is usually supported by the very strong bishop on g7. 8.d5 Ne5 9.Ng3

9...h5 h5 is a very typical move against the knight on g3. 14


11.Nf1 e6 Until here, both players were moving fast...

15.e5! The most logical move and probably a very good one as well. [It also looks very logical to play 15.exd5 but then Black can continue with 15... Rb8! The position is very strange. White is a full piece up, but maybe Black is doing perfectly fine here. White’s king is on e1, Black has a target on b2, the e-file is open and moves like h3 or Ng4 could be quite unpleasant for White. Even with the support of a strong computer, it is very difficult to say who is doing better here.]

12.f4 What can be more logical than this move?! It seems like Ned7 is the only move... but

15...dxe5 16.fxe5 and once again Black has a lot of choices! Maybe 16...d4!? was also an alternative to continue.

10. Be2 White is developing a piece and preparing the f1 square for the knight at the same time. Of course, moves like 10. h4? are very bad. Then, White will never be able to play f4 because of the weak g4 square, as after Black’s e6 move the h4 pawn might be weakened. 10...h4 Before starting the action in the center, Black hunts the White knight to a passive position.

16... Bg4

12...Nxc4! a super interesting idea by Grischuk. Black is giving a full piece, but opening White’s position to themaximum! [In case of 12...Ned7? White is simply winning a pawn. 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Qxd6+-] 13. Bxc4 b5! That is the key idea! Black is giving another pawn away and opening one more extra file to activate his pieces. 14. Bxb5 exd5 The starting position of the real battle! White has a lot of different choices:

17.exf6! Svidler makes a good decision again. By simplifying the position, White reaches quite a constant advantage. [One of the top computer moves is 17.Qd3 and the craziness would continue...] 17... Bxd1 18.fxg7 White has 4 pieces for the queen, but Black is going to take back one of them... 18...Kxg7 19. Bxc5! Great move by White! It is very important to secure the dark squares, which will give White big attacking chances in the future. 15


19...h3! Grischuk is not sleeping. It is clear that if White manages to centralize, his pieces are going to be much stronger than the queen and probably the game will end with a mating attack on the Black king. 20. Rxd1 hxg2 and Black is winning one piece back. 21. Rg1 gxf1Q+ 22.Kxf1 Let us take a fresh look at the position. White was a full piece up, and suddenly, it is Black who has a queen and a pawn for 3 White minor pieces — this gives Black a clear material advantage. On the other hand, White’s pieces are very strong and the bishop pair is worth at least an extra exchange. Also, the Black king might get under a dangerous attack very fast. White’s rook on g1 is very well placed, and the rook from d1 might immediately join the attack. 22...Qh4 Of course, Black does not care about saving the rook from f8. White’sdark-squar ed bishop is worth more than an exchange. 23. Rg2 A good and safe move by White. Now Black has no more nasty checks... 23... Rfd8 24. Rd4 a Very logical move, but I am not sure whether White has done his best. I think that after 24. Bd4, followed by Rd3 or Rdd2, White could have reached a very dangerous attack on the Black king.

25...d4!! Fantastic play by Black! Grischuk is giving a pawn+ an exchange to get White’s dark-squared bishop. A very deep understanding of the game. 26. Bxd4+ Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Rb8 and the position remains completely unclear. One thing that we can probably say is that White does not risk to lose the game, but whether he can win is a hard question. Many checks and the open king on f2 give Black a lot of tricks! 28.a4?! Probably the first imprecise move by White. [28. Rd5! would have been the right choice, and White is doing better.] 28...a6! Until here, we have seen a very high level game! Grischuk continues playing the best moves! Black cannot let the White pieces regroup.

24...Qh5 25. Rf4 It seems like White is better. Bd4 is a deadly threat, and Be7 next could be quite unpleasant. The rooks on g2 and f4 are perfectly placed and it seems like Black has no counterplay.

16


29. Bxa6? In the upcoming time-trouble, White blunders. [29. Be2 and the position would remain pretty equal.] 29...Qf3+? A tempting move, since Black is going to take the pawn on b2 with check, but it is a blunder! [29... Qe5! would have almost won the game! The d4 rook is hanging and Qf6 check is going to win the bishop on a6. White has no decent defense against this.]

41.Kc2 f3 The game could have continued with: 42. Ree4 Rxc4 43. Rxc4 f2 44. Rf4 Qxc4 45. Rxc4 f1Q 46.Kb3 and the position is simply a draw. What a great fighting game! It has been a while since I have seen such craziness on the board! 1/2

30. Rf2 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Rxb2+ 32. Rd2 White managed to defend all his pieces! 32...Qc1 33.Kd3! The only move, but a strong one anyway! 33... Rb6 Of course. Black needs to keep a rook on the board in order to use the unlucky position of the White king. 34. Bc4 Rd6+ 35. Bd5 Rd7 36. Rf4 White managed to defend everything and it is clear that, probably, the position should be close to winning. The a-pawn is the key to success. 36...f5! Grischuk is searching for his only chance — to create some kind of counterplay, and he has no other pieces left, only the f7 pawn... 37. Rd4 Kh6 38.h4? During the time trouble, White misses Black’s counterplay. [The careful 38. Rd1 seems to give White very good winning chances.] 38... Rc7! Great move. 39. Bc4 A logical way to defend the knight on c3. 39...Qf1+! and now we see why 38. Rd1 would have been better... 40. Re2 f4 and Black/ ^s f-pawn is unstoppable! 17


Puzzle section

(7) Antonsen,M (2446) — Palo,D (2551) Danish Championship, 24.03.2013

(5) Grischuk,A (2764) — Gelfand,B (2740) London Candidates, 21.03.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Ziska,H (2461) — Antonsen,M (2446) (6) Vavulin,M (2294) — Vorobiov,E (2578) Moscow Championship, 23.03.2013 [CEWN]

Danish Championship, 25.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

18


(9) Zeng,C (2490) — Tran Tuan Minh (2310)

(11) Li Shilong (2559) — Nguyen Van Hai (2339)

HD Bank Cup, 21.03.2013

HD Bank Cup, 22.03.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Zeng,C (2490) — Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy (2460)

(12) Brandner,S (2271) — Thiede,L (2441)

HD Bank Cup, 22.03.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN] 1. +-

Austrian league, 21.03.2013 1. +-

19


(13) Babula,V (2585) — Bosiocic,M (2571) Austrian league, 22.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Baramidze,D (2615) — Volokitin,A (2722) Austrian league, 24.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

20


Endgame section (15) Kramnik,V (2810) — Aronian,L (2809) FIDE Candidates, 20.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

Kramnik played great chess, but somehow, in the first half of the tournament, he was unable to convert his advantages. Black has a really unpleasant endgame, but Aronian finds a miraculous defense and holds the draw with flawless technique. 41...f6!! This leads to an opposite colored bishop endgame, which seems to be hopeless at first sight. However, Aronian evaluated the arising position much deeper. [41...b1Q seems to be possible as well. 42. Bxb1 Nxb1 43.d8Q+ This keeps more winning chances. (43.Kd3 is quite a tricky alternative, trying to trap the knight. 43... Nc3! is the only move, after which Black seems to survive. (Other moves like 43...Kf8 lose after 44.d8Q+ Bxd8 45. Bxd8 Na3 46. Ba5! Nb5

47. Bb6! and Black cannot avoid losing his knight. 47... Ke8 48.Kc4 Na3+ 49.Kb3 Nb5 (49...Nb1 50.Be3!+- and Kb2 in the next move.) 50.Kb4+-) 44.Kc4 Ne4 45. Be7 Kg7 46.Kb5 Bc7 47.Kc6 Ba5= and the a5-d8 diagonal is long enough for the Black bishop to hold it.) 43... Bxd8 44. Bxd8 Nc3 45.Kd4 It is hard to judge if this position is winning or drawn. The knight has serious difficulties to find a way back home. If it could get to e6 or wherever in his own camp, White would have no chance to promote his extra pawn, but the knight is very far away.] 42. Bxf6! The critical continuation. [42.e6?? is a blunder. 42...Nd5+ 43.Kd4 Ne7 and Black wins a piece.; While 42.exf6 leads to an easy draw. 42... Bb6+ 43.Kd2 b1Q 44. Bxb1 Nxb1+ 45.Kc2 Na3+ 46.Kb3 Nb5 White has to win back the piece with f7 and d8Q, but of course, with 2 vs 1 pawns on the kingside, the position is dead drawn.] 42...Nd5+ This was the point of 41...f6. Black escapes into an opposite-colored bishop endgame. 43.Kd4 Nxf6 44.exf6 Kf7! Otherwise, White would have simply driven his king to c8 to promote his pawn.. . But now, it looks like giving up the h7 pawn and creating 21


connected passed pawns is a kind of hopeless attempt. However, the facts show a different outcome. 45. Bxh7 Kxf6 46.Kd5 Ke7 47.Kc6 Kd8! Black needs to keep his king ahead of the d-pawn. [47... Bd8 loses easily after 48. Bb1+- followed by advancing the h-pawn, which lures the Black king to the kingside and White can continue his plan with Kb7-c8.] 48.g4 White, sooner or later, had to play this move, since this is the only way to make some progress. Unfortunately for him, the h4-h5 plan does not work because it drops a pawn with Be1. However, this move allows the Black bishop to stand between the pawns. It is important to mention that the game is drawn only because of the unfortunate placement of the h7 bishop — if it was anywhere on the b1–f5 diagonal, White would be winning. We will soon understand why. .. 48... Be1! The bishop is heading to h4! [48... Bd2? would allow White to reach the h5 square with his pawn , which is enough to win the game. 49.h4 Be1 50.h5 Bd2 51. Bb1 Bc1 52.Kd6 Bd2 53.Ke6 Be3 54. Bf5! Just as in the game, White needs to place his bishop on f5 and then he can support the pawns with his king. 54... Bd2 55.Kf6 b1Q Black has traded the b-pawn for the one on d7, but in comparison to the game, he is not able to save the game. 56. Bxb1 Kxd7 White needs to be careful, since the h8 corner does not fit the color of the bishop. 57.Kg7! Ke6 58.h6 Bc3+ 59.Kg8+- and the h-pawn promotes.] 49.h3 [49.g5 does not work. 49... Bh4! and g6 block s the diagonal, so Black could promote his pawn. This is the reason why the bishop is badly placed on h7.]

49... Bh4 50.Kd6 Be7+ 51.Ke6 Bh4 The Black b ishop has occupied its excellent defensive position. Before White tries his only chance to make progress, Kramnik completes the 60 moves time control by passing with the bishop in order to gain 15 additional minutes. 52. Bb1 Kc7 53. Be4 Kd8 54. Bc2 Kc7 55. Bb1 Kd8 56. Be4 Kc7 57. Bd3 Kd8 58.Kd6 Be7+ 59.Ke6 Bh4 60. Bf5 Kc7

61.Kf7 With the idea of Kg6 and advancing the pawns. Black needs to trade the b-pawn for the one on d7 in order to be able to join his king in the defense. 61...b1Q 62. Bxb1 Kxd7 63. Ba2! This is the right diagonal for the bishop, where it cuts the Black king from reaching the corner after sacrificing his bishop for the gpawn. [63.Kg6? is a much worse attempt. 63...Ke7 64.g5 Bxg5! 65.Kxg5 Kf7=] 63...Kd6! Aronian shows a great defensive method by going with his king behind the pawns. Actually, this is the only way for Black to savehimself! [Passing with 63... Bd8 leads to a defeat after 64.Kg6 Ke8 65.g5! Kf8 (65...B xg5 is not enough now. 66.Kxg5 Kf8 67.Kg6! The Black king does not reach the corner, thanks to the excellent place22


ment of the a2 bishop.) 66.h4 Be7 67.Kh7!+- followed by g6.] 64.Kg6 Ke5! [64...Ke7 loses similarly to the previous line with 63... Bd8. 65.Kh5 Bf2 66.g5 Kf8 67.Kh6 Be3 68.h4+- and Kh7 is coming next, followed by g6.] 65.Kh5

74. Bh3+- This is the zugzwang. White does not threaten with g6 because of Kf6, and the draw is inevitable, since the bishop starts to move on g7-h8 forever. However, Black needs to move his king now and then, g6 already wins the game.]

65... Be7!! Another only move! We will soon get its point! [65... Bd8 is refuted by 66.g5 Kf4 67.g6 Bf6 68.Kh6 Kg3 69. Be6+- wins.; 65... Bf2 also loses after 66.g5 Kf4 67.g6 Bd4 68.Kh6 Kg3 69. Be6+-] 66.g5 Kf4 67.h4 [The point is that after 67.g6 Black has 67... Bf8! and suddenly, the White king is squeezed to h5. Black only plays Bg7-f8 from now on, and White cannot make progress. This is the reason that show that taking the bishop to e7 was the only move.] 67...Kg3! Yet another only move! Black could not let the king escape from h5. [67... Bf8 is refuted by 68.Kg6! Bb4 69.h5 Bc3 70.h6 Kg4 71.h7 Bh8 White can create a zugzwang! 72. Be6+ Kf4 73.Kh6 Ke5

68. Bc4 Bf8! The last difficult only move! [68... Bc5 loses to 69.g6 Bd4 (69...Bf8 70.Kg5! and h5 wins.) 70.Kg5 wins.] 69. Be2 Bg7 Black is now intending to wait with Bg7-f8. White cannot make progress. 70. Bc4 [70.Kg6 Kxh4!= is the key!] 70... Bf8 71.g6 White intends to play Kg5 and h5, but Black is in time to squeeze the king to h5! 71...Kf4! 72. Ba2 Bg7 The draw was agreed! A fantastic defense by Aronian and, on the other hand, a very sad and unlucky draw for Kramnik! 1/2

23


(16) Ivanchuk,Vassily (2757) — Radjabov,Teimour (2793) [D37] FIDE Candidates London ENG (9.3), 25.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

48. Rb6 I am not sure whether this move was right. The White rook must remain passive on d2. [White could have tried to keep both rooks active. 48.a5!? Rd5 (It does not work now 48...Red7 49.Rb4 followed by Rb2.) 49. Rc5 Rxc5 50.dxc5 Re5 51.Kd4 Re7 Black might hold this, but White is clearly better...] 48... Red7 49. Rd2

After move 40 and a little time trouble, we see the following endgame. It is clear that White is pushing, but is it enough to win the game? 41.Nc5 h5 A very logical move. As the defender, it is always good to exchange an extra pawn. 42. Rb1 I am not sure about this move. Black is now able to exchange the knight. [42.Kf3 Not allowing the Black knight to go to e4 looks very logical to me. The White king could go to d3 over e2.] 42...Ne4! I think the right decision. Black’s position will be very passive, but very solid.

49...hxg4? What a mistake! Black plays very logically, exchanging a pawn, but White is now going to get the h-file, and this is deadly. [49...h4 would lead to a very passive position, which is very difficult to break.] 50.hxg4 Kf7 51.a5 White made the maximum he could. Now it is time to try to find a winning plan.

43.Nxe4 Rxe4 44.Kf3 Ree7 Black is going to hold everything together on the 7th rank.

51...Ke7 52. Rb1 Kf7 53. Rh1 Over to the h-file! It is definitely an idea. [53. Rb4? would be a good move with the idea of playing Rdb2, but Black always counts on 53...c5! with, probably, just a draw.]

45.e4 White is centralizing as much as possible. The a5 move is not running away.

53...Kg7 54. Rh5 What can be White’s idea now? To play e5 or to play Rdh2 at a good moment.

45... Rcd7 46.Ke3 Rd5 47.f3 Rd6 Black cannot do much more than waiting.

54... Rd8 Black was probably afraid of playing Kg6 because of [54...Kg6 To make sure that the pawn on g5 is 24


protected against White’s e5 push. 55. Rh8! The White rook is entering the position. 55...Kg7 56. Rb8 and White has clearly obtained a lot! An exchange of rooks would be bad for Black because the d5 move would be possible.]

61...c5 is probably the best chance for Black, but it is simply too small...

55. Rd1 White is taking away the rook from the 2nd rank, in order to be able to play Rdh1 and have the escape Kf2-Kg3 against Black’s Rxd4, without allowing him to play Rd2+ and Rxh2, exchanging the rooks. [55.e5! would have been strong as well, but we will see a similar continuation just the next move.]

63... Rxd4 [63...cxd4+ 64.Ke4 and the game is over.]

55... R8d7 This move is losing, but it is hard to give Black a good advice here... [It does not help much to play 55... Kg6 56. Rdh1 Rxd4 57. Rh7 and mate next move.]

56.e5! The final blow... 56... Rd5 57. Rdh1 Kf7 [Loses on the spot 57... Rxd4 58.e6! and Black is losing a rook. 58... Rd3+ 59.Kf2 Rd2+ 60.Kg3+-] 58. Rh7+ We are now in the technical part of the game. 58...Ke6 59. Rxd7 Kxd7 60. Rh7+ Ke6 61. Rh6! There is no reason for White to get seduced by the b7 pawn... The f6 pawn is much sweeter.

62. Rxf6+ Ke7 63. Rb6! The last exact move. From now on, things are very easy... 64. Rxb7+ Ke6 65. Rg7 capturing the g5 pawn away and, with it, winning the game. 65... Ra4 66. Rxg5 Rxa5 67.f4 The 3 pawns are starting their march. 67... Ra3+ 68.Kd2 Ra2+ 69.Kc3

69... Rf2 trying to create “hole” in the pawns, but it is too late for anything. 70. Rg6+ Kd5 71. Rd6+ Ke4 72. Rf6 White can even choose which pawn to push, e- or g-. 72...a5 The e-pawn is closer to the promotion square on the 8th rank :). 73.e6 Kd5 74.f5 Re2 75. Rf8 Kd6 76.f6 A really great endgame technique by White! 1–0 25


Clash of the Titans (17) Euwe,Max — Alekhine,Alexander [A90] World Championship 16th Netherlands (26), 03.12.1935 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 Black’s idea was to force White to put the bishop on d2, in order to avoid the plan with b3-Bb2. For example, Bb4 has the same point in the Catalan. 5. Bg2 Nf6 6.Nc3 0–0 7.Nf3 Of course, jump to e4 is not dangerous for White, but sometimes in this structure, it is possible to stop it after [7.Qc2!?] 7...Ne4 With the bishop on c1, Black’s main plan is d6Qe8. 8.0–0

8...b6 It would be nice to develop the bishop on b7, but in this case, Black is completely not on time to do it. [8... d6 9.Qc2 Of course, Black waited for this move in order to win a tempo. 9...Nxd2 10.Qxd2 Nd7 11. Rfe1 Nf6 12.e4

fxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Rxe4 Bf6 15. Rae1 White is much better. Bh3 might come next. (Xe6)] 9.Qc2 [9.Nxe4 fxe4 10.Ne5 d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Qb3 Kh8 13.f3 exf3 14. Rxf3 Bf6 15. Raf1 With the idea Bg5. Thanks to his huge development advantage, White is crushing his opponent.] 9... Bb7 Now we see a typical plan in this kind of positions — to fight for the e3 square. 10.Ne5 Other thematic idea is [10.d5 with Nd4 — Rad1 next.] 10...Nxc3 11. Bxc3 [11. Bxb7 Nxe2+ 12.Kg2 Nxd4 13.Qd3 Nbc6 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15. Bxa8 Qxa8  and Black has excellent compensation.] 11... Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Qc8 With the idea of putting the queen on b7, not allowing White to play the thematic e4 move easily. [12...Nc6 Interesting idea. The structure will be slightly destroyed, but on the other hand, Black reduces the material and finishes his development. 13.Nxc6 (13.Rad1 N xe5 14.dxe5 Black should be fine because the pawn on d7 is not really weak. Black manage to protect it and, without other weaknesses, his position will be very solid. 14...Rf7 15.Rd3 Bf8 16.Rfd1 Qc8 17.Qd2 Qb7+ 18.f3 Rd8=) 13...dxc6 14. Rad1 Qd7 15.e4² Thanks to his better structure, White has a small advantage.] 13.d5 d6 14.Nd3 [14.Nf3 e5 15.e4 f4 (15...fxe4 16.Nd2!? White wants to take control of the e4 square and then, simply advance his pawns on the queenside — a typical plan in the King’s Indian structures. However, now comes 16...e3! 17.fxe3 Nd7 and Black is very solid.) 16.Nd2² Black’s plan is to put pressure on the kingside, but with26


out the light-squared bishops, this is harder to realize. That is why White should be a bit better.] 14...e5

21.Nxf5! Bxc3 22.Nxd6 Qb8 23.Nxe4 Bf6 24.Nd2 White has three pawns for a piece and the unpleasant threat e4-e5. 24...g5! Alekhine tries to weaken the White king in order to get counterplay against it. [24...b5!? 25.cxb5 Qb7 26.e4 Bd4 27.Nc4 Nf6 28. Rae1 and White has to find a way to advance his central pawns. The position is unclear.] 25.e4 gxf4 26.gxf4 Bd4 27.e5 Qe8 The queen is coming to the kingside in order to support the pressure against White’s king. 28.e6 Rg8 29.Nf3 [29.exd7?? Qe2–+]

15.Kh1 The king takes this square because White will try to break the position on the kingside.

29...Qg6

15...c6 16.Qb3 Kh8 17.f4 e4 18.Nb4 c5 The only move, otherwise, White will get pressure on the d-file. 19.Nc2 Nd7 20.Ne3 Bf6 Logical move. Black wants to eliminate the strong bishop on c3. Without bishops, the plan with g4 is less strong, so Euwe decides to change the character of position and play the nice idea: [20...Nf6 21.h3 and White should get a strong initiative after pushing g4.]

30. Rg1! The next sacrifice by White is fantastic. Without the strong bishop, White will be able to create threats against the Black king! [30.Ng5 Ne5! and thanks to his active pieces, Black can take the initiative. (30...h6 31.Nf7+ Kh7 32.Qh3 Nf6 33.Ng5+ Kg7 34.Nf3) 31. Rae1 (31.Rg1 Qf5 32.Qg3 N xc4 33.Nf7+ Qxf7 34.exf7 R xg3 35.R xg3 Nd6 36.Re1 N xf7 37.Re7 Nd6) 31... Raf8 32.Qh3 Rxf4 33. Rxf4 Qxg5]

27


30... Bxg1 31. Rxg1 Qf6 Alekhine was afraid of Qc3, that is why he made this move. He could have played [31...Qf5 32.Qc3+ (32.exd7 Rxg1+ 33.Kxg1 Qxf4 (33... Qxd7 34.Kf2) 34.Qc3+ Kg8 35.Ne5 Rd8 and it is hard to improve the position for both sides. Qg3 does not work because after exchanging, the Black king will get to f6 on time.) 32...Nf6 33.Ng5 h6 34.Qe5 Qxe5 35.fxe5 Rxg5 36.exf6 Rxg1+ 37.Kxg1 Kh7 38.f7 Kg6 35.Qe1 Rxd7 36.Ne6 Qf6 and White is wining because Black will lose control of the a1–h8 diagonal after the nice 37. Rf1! Qxb2 38. Rf2+-] 34.Qe3 Now the White knight will take the strong e6 square. 34... Re7 35.Ne6 39.Kf2 Kf6 and this is another funny position where it is probably impossible to improve for both sides. Maybe white can try to put the king on a4 and push b4 to get something.] 32.Ng5 Rg7?! Not accurate. Black should play [32... Rg6! 33.exd7 Qxf4 34.Qc3+ Kg8 35.Qe1 Rxg5 36.Qe8+ Kg7 37. Rxg5+ Qxg5 38.Qxa8 Qf6= with perpetual check.] 33.exd7 Rxd7 [33...Qxf4 34.Qc3 Qd4 (34...Qf5 35.Re1 Qxd7 36.Ne6+-; 34...Kg8 Compared to the position after 32... Rg6, White now has 35.Qxg7++-)

Rf8 [35... Rae8 36.b3 Rxe6 37.dxe6 Rxe6² with longterm suffering without the pawn.] 36.Qe5 White cannot hurry to exchange the queen, and should play [36.Qg3 but is not clear what to do next.] 36...Qxe5 37.fxe5 Rf5 38. Re1 h6? Decisive mistake. Alekhine blunders a simple tactical idea. He could still fight after, for example: [38... Rxe6 39.dxe6 Kg7 40. Re3 Kf8 41. Ra3 a5 42. Rb3 Ke7 43. Rxb6 Rxe5 44. Ra6 Re1+ 45.Kg2 Re2+ 46.Kg3 Rxb2 47. Rxa5 Kxe6 48. Rxc5 Rxa2 49. Rh5 Rc2 50.c5 Kf6; 38...Kg8 Black avoids the Nd8 trick and prepares Rxe6-Kf8-Ke7. 39.b3 Rxe6 (39...h6 40.Kg2 Kf7 41.Nd8+! Ke8 42.Nc6 Rg7+ 43.Kh1 Rf2 and Black will not be able to stop the White pawns. 44.Rg1 R xg1+ 45.Kxg1 R xa2 46.e6 Rd2 47.Kf1+-) 40.dxe6 Kf8 41. Rd1 Rxe5 42. Rd8+ Ke7 43. Rd7+ Kxe6 44. Rxa7 28


Re2 45. Rxh7 Rxa2 46. Rh6+ Kf5 47. Rxb6 Rb2 Thanks to his active pieces, Black has drawish chances.]

Surprise section / study (18) Staudte [CEWN] 1. =

39.Nd8!+- Black cannot take on e5 now because of the check on f7. The knight is coming to c6 and the White pawns will promote very easily. 39... Rf2 40.e6 Rd2 41.Nc6 Re8 42.e7 b5 43.Nd8 Kg7 44.Nb7 Kf6 45. Re6+ Kg5 46.Nd6 Rxe7 47.Ne4+ 1–0

29


Solutions

(21) Cheparinov,I (2706) — Nabaty,T (2566) Karpos Open, 14.03.2013

(19) Milliet,S (2401) — Yildiz,B (2341)

[Solutions]


37. Rd4? [37. Bxb6!! axb6 (37...cxb6 38.R xd6+-) 38. Rd5!! Rxd5 39.a7+-] 37... Re8=

26. Rxb7! Bd7 [26... Rxb7 27.Qxg4+ Kh8 (27...Rg7 28.Qe6+ Qf7 29.Qxc6+-) 28.Qe6+-] 27.Qf2+-

(20) Ghaem Maghami,E (2568) — Short,N (2697) Blitz match, 12.03.2013 [Solutions]

32.Nf6+! Rxf6 33. Rxg4 Bd5+- [33...fxg4 34. Rxf6+-] 30


(22) Perunovic,M (2618) — Jankovic,A (2538)

(24) Kovacevic,A (2563) — Perunovic,M (2618)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34. Bc6! Rf7 [34...Nxc6 35. Rxd7 Qxd7 36.Qf8#]

25...Nxf3+! 26.Qxf3 Bxe4 0–1[26... Bxe4 27. Bg5 Bf2+! 28.Qxf2 Qh1#]

35. Bd5 1–0 (23) Vujic,M (2361) — Arnaudov,G (2468) Karpos Open, 14.03.2013 [Solutions]

37... Rxf1+! 38.Ke3–+ [38.Kxf1 d2+ 39.Kf2 d1Q –+] 31


(25) Kadric,D (2463) — Golod,V (2564)

(26) Sanal,V (2404) — Jumabayev,R (2554)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

38... Ra8! 39. Bb3 [39. Bb1 Ra1–+]

14.d5!! Bxd5 [14...exd5 15.Qxe7 Qxe7 16. Rxe7 dxc4 17. Rxb7+-; 14...Nfxd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 (15...B xg5 16.N xb4+-) 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Rxd5+-]

39...Nd4! 40.d6 [40. Bd1 Ra1–+] 40...Nxb3–+

15. Bxd5 Nfxd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxe7 1–0[17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Rxd5+-]

32


(27) Sadorra,C (2555) — Berczes,D (2526)

(28) Tiviakov,S (2659) — Ernst,S (2554)

Dallas, 11.03.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

31. Rxc6!! Bf8 [31...Nf7 32. Bxf7 Qxf7 33. Bxe5+ Kg8 34. Rc8+ Bf8 35. Bg7+-]

26...Nxf2! 27.Kxf2 Qxh2+ 28.Kf3 h5! 29. Re4 Bg4+ [29...exd4! 30. Rxe8 (30.cxd4 Nxd4+ 31. Rxd4 Rxe1–+ (31...Bg4+ –+) ) 30... Bg4+ 31.Ke4 Qg2+ 32.Kf4 Qf2+ 33.Ke4 Qf3#]

32. Rc8! 1–0[32. Rc8 Qxc8 33. Bxe5+ Bg7 34.hxg7#]

30.Ke3 [30. Rxg4 hxg4+ 31.Kxg4 exd4–+] 30...exd4+ 31.cxd4 Qxg3+ 32.Kd2 Nxd4! 33. Rxe8 Nxb3+ 34.Nxb3 g6?–+ [34...Qg2+! 35.Kc3 Qc6+!–+]

33


(29) De Feijter [Solutions]

Try to solve the study of De Feijter. White to move and draw! 1. Bh5!! Kxh5 2.Kf5! e2 3.Ng6! e1Q 4.Nf4+ Kh4 5.Ng2

34

Weekly Newsletter



5th of April 2012

The tournament that kept all the attention of the Chess World is over, and it had a super dramatic last round.


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3

»» Puzzle section

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29

»» Solutions

30

Who could have predicted that both leaders, Kramnik and Carlsen, would lose in the very last round?! I cannot remember a tournament with bigger tension and drama like what we saw during the Candidates. Everything was possible! The “lucky”, and much deserved winner, is Magnus Carlsen with 8.5/14. The “unlucky” second place goes to Vladimir Kramnik, who played very good chess, maybe one of his best tournaments in the last few years, as well with 8.5/14 The 3rd and 4th places are shared by Aronian and Svilder. Probably Aronian was not really happy with this, but for Svidler, it seems to be a great result — both finished with 8/14. For Boris Gelfand, this clearly was not his tournament. Ivanchuk lost 5 games on time!!! However, he beat both Carlsen and Kramnik. And for Radjabov, it was just a disaster! For the next week, we can be already excited about the finishing 3 rounds of the German Bundesliga, which will see its final stage at “Schloss Schwetzingen”. In the current issue of CEWN, we comment both games from the last round of the Candidates: Carlsen-Svidler and Ivanchuk-Kramnik. This comes next to much more great chess material. Enjoy the CEWN Nr 58! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2



9... Bb7 Preparing the Na5 move. In general, I think it is easier for Black to keep the bishop on e6. So, maybe a move like 9... Bd7 might be an option too.

(1) Carlsen,Magnus (2872) — Svidler,Peter (2747) [C84]

10. Bd2 White is acting against the Na5 move once again.

FIDE Candidates London ENG (14.2), 01.04.2013

10...Qd7

[Arkadij Naiditsch] The last round of the Candidates. Carlsen and Kramnik are leading the event with +4, but Carlsen has a better tie-break. If Carlsen makes a full point, nothing can help Vladimir anymore. Kramnik is playing Ivanchuk with black. If both players draw, Carlsen will be declared winner as well; the same goes for a double 0. We will see a very strange and slightly atypical game by Carlsen, who after a playing very good (as usual) completely lost control over the position. It is a little weird to see Carlsen as a mortal human being! 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0! Be7 6.d3 The Spanish with 6.d3, one of Carlsen’s favorite openings. Maybe White does not get any advantage out of the opening, but the game is “slow” and there is enough time to outplay the opponent. As we can remember, Magnus won a nice game against the same Peter Svilder in this opening with Black just 7 rounds earlier...

11.a4! A very strong move. Magnus shows a great understanding of the position. Now the Black bishop on b7 is not very well placed. The a4 move becomes very effective, even if it looks like a lost tempo because of 8. a3. 11...Nd8 The Black knight is going to e6. [In case of 11...Nd4 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Ne2 c5 14.Ng3 it seems like White is doing a bit better. His next move could be Nf5, followed by Qf3, with some attacking chances against the king.]

6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.a3 Quite a rare move. More often, White plays 8.c3. A great game to follow from the White side is Leko-Caruana from Wijk aan Zee.

12.axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 We have a very typical Spanish position. Probably White is doing a bit better, but Black is very solid. White needs to find a plan.

8...0–0 9.Nc3 White’s main idea is to remain ready against Black’s Na5-Ba2-c5. Now the White knight will be able to enter immediately to the d5 square.

14.Ne2 I am not sure whether this move can bring any advantage for White or not. [14.Nd5!? This seems to be the only attempt to reach a +/= evaluation. In case of 3


14...Nxd5 15.exd5, the Black knight on d8 is very badly placed, and in case of 14...Ne6 15.Nxe7, White’s position should be a little better.] 14...Ne6 15.Ng3 c5 Now Black controls all the center. White’s only chance of getting a better position is to start some play on the kingside, which is very difficult to achieve. 16.Nf5 Bd8 Of course, Black is not giving away his bishop.

20.Qc1 Magnus is starting to go for the Black king, but with the knights on f6 and e6, Black is very safe. [An attempt to get rid of the weak pawn on b2 with 20.b4 would be countered by 20...d5! 21.exd5 Bxd5 and probably only Black can play for an advantage here.] 20...Nh5 [It does not work to play 20...d5 21.exd5 Bxd5 22.Nxe5 and White is a pawn up. 22... Bxe5 23. Rxe5 Bxc4 24.Qxc4] 21.g3 Very logical reaction, but maybe White should not have been afraid of Nhf4. [21.b4 using his chance to exchange the b2 pawn. 21...cxb4 22. Bxb4 and now, in case of 22...Nhf4?! 23.Qa3 White gets a huge pressure against the d6 pawn and gets a clear advantage.] 21...g6 The position is now getting very complicated. 22.Nh6+ Kg7 In many lines, Black might want to play Nef4, so Magnus decides not to give Svidler any chance to use some tacticaltricks

17.c4 A typical move. White is stopping Black from playing d5 and, at the same time, defending against the c4 move. However, the d4 square is getting weak and White’s pawn structure is clearly not the best one anymore.

23.Ng5 Nxg5 24. Bxg5 Let us take a fresh look at the position. It seems like White is slightly better again: the knight on h6 is attacking the f7 pawn and the Black bishop on c7 is quite passively placed.

17...bxc4 18. Bxc4 Black is trying to push d5. 18... Bc7 19. Re1 and White is protecting against this idea. 19... Re8?! A very strange looking move to me. Why not simply to put the rook on b8 and play g6 next, or Bc6Bb5. The position looks very equal.

4


24...d5! Very good decision by Black. We should not forget that Magnus is playing for a huge jackpot: the WC match. This builds a huge pressure even in the World’s Nr.1 25.exd5 [White does not get anything with 25. Bxd5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Ba5! pushing away the rook from the efile, followed by f6 and Qxd5. Black is perfectly fine,] 25... Bxd5 26.Ng4?! It looks like Carlsen has just blundered his opponent’s next move. [A much safer move for White would have been 26. Bxd5 Qxd5 27.Ng4 and, of cou rse, the position is close to a draw, but only White can play for a win.]

27...Kg8 28.Nh6+ Kf8 29.Qe3 The game is getting super exciting. Black wanted to give mate with Qh3, but White is attacking his king from all sides as well!

31.f3? After this move, Black is completely taking over the game. [White had a great tactical trick: 31. Bd5! Very exact calculation was needed to play this move, and Carlsen was in slight time trouble already. 31... Bxd5 32.Qxc5+ Kg7 33.Qxd5 Kxh6 34.Qxf7! A double attack on the e8 rook and c7 bishop. 34... Rc8 It seems like Black is just winning, but 35. Be7! A really great move that is very hard to find during a practical game. 35...Qf5 36.Qxf5 gxf5 37. Rc1! and Black is hopeless against White’s Bd6 next. 37...Kg6 38. Bd6 Bxd6 39. Rxc8 with good winning chances for White, but I think that to find such a line in a practical game is just impossible!]

29... Bb7 Very logical. Black wants to play Qc6 next.

31...Nf4! Black is using his chance!

30. Bh4 A very human reply. [The crazy computer move 30. Bh8! might give White some advantage. 30...Qc6 31.f3 The position remains very complicated and, who likes to play with Nh6 and Bh8?!]

32.gxf4 Qxh4 33.Nxf7

26... Bf3! Very strong. The position is just crazy, and I think Magnus wanted to avoid this at all costs. 27. Bf6+ [Maybe a safe move like 27.h3 was still very playable.]

30...Qh3

5


33... Bxf3! Black is suddenly just winning! The bishop pair plus a strong attack and White’s problems with the clock do not leave a chance to escape even to the great Magnus. 34.Qf2 Qg4+ 35.Qg3 exf4 Black is a clear pawn up in the endgame. The bishops are very well placed and the White knight is totally out of the game. The game is basically over. 36. Rxe8+ Kxe8 37.Qxg4 Bxg4 38.Ng5 The last attempt by White to complicate the position ends in nothing. 38...h6 39.Nf7 h5 40.Nh6 Bd1 The time-trouble is over and, with it, the game. 41.Kf2 [Of course, it is no good to play 41. Bf7+ Kf8 42. Bxg6 Kg7 and Black is winning a piece.] 41...f3 42.h3 Bf4 43.Nf7 g5 I think White could just resign, but as Carlsen said in the press conference after the game that he did not want to resign until he was sure that Ivanchuk would win against Kramnik. 44.Ke1 g4 The Black pawns are unstoppable. 45.hxg4 hxg4 46.Kxd1 g3 47.Ke1 g2 48.Kf2 Bh2 A very exciting game! Who would think that in the last round both Carlsen and Kramnik would lose their games?! Chess is full of surprises!

(2) Ivanchuk,Vassily (2757) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2810) [B08] FIDE Candidates London ENG (14.3), 01.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Before the round, it seemed like Kramnik needed a full point to even have a theoretical chance to win the tournament, and who could be a better opponent than Ivanchuk!? Meanwhile, Carlsen was playing White against Svidler with a better tie-break. So, Kramnik decided before the game to go all or nothing, which in the end turned out to be a bitter decision for him. 1.d4 d6 2.e4 In the candidates, Ivanchuk lost 5 games on time! So, Kramnik wanted to get a complicated position, and he likes the Pirc. 2...Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 White chooses a very solid line with Be2. 5...0–0 6.0–0 a6 7.h3 Nc6 Trying to p rovoke the d5 move, after which the bishop on g7 will become super strong. 8. Bg5 b5 What a crazy line by Black. This cannot be good, but Kramnik takes the risk, trying to achieve complications at all costs!

0–1

6


9.a3 Ivanchuk remains very cool. [In case of 9.d5 trying to get the knight to d4, Black has a tactical resource: 9...b4!] 9...h6 10. Be3 White’s position seems to be very good: a strong center, plus the idea of playing d5 next. This forces Black to be very careful in order not to get in big trouble. 10...e5! Black needs to do something in the center and the e5 move is exactly the right choice. Even though White keeps his advantage, Black gets what he wanted — a very complicated game with three possible results! 11.dxe5! Correct decision. [A worse choice for White would have been to play 11.d5?! Ne7 and we have sort of a KID structure with the usual plan for Black to play Nh7f5 or Nd7-f5, with very unclear play.] 11...dxe5 12.Qc1 Using a “free” tempo because the pawn on h6 is hanging now. 12...Kh7 13. Bc5 Taking away the e7 square from the Black queen. 13... Re8 14. Rd1 and White got the only open d-file. 14... Bd7 I think it is obvious that White is doing better, but the position is far from being simple. As we know from the KID structures, Black’s position is very solid, and if he manages to establish the knight on d4 by exchanging the dark-squared bishops, the position might become totally unclear.

15.b4! Ivanchuk continues playing a great game. Of course, White’s play must be on the queenside, and the idea of playing b4, followed by a4, is very effective. 15...Qc8 16.Qe3 Nd8 Black is transporting his knight to e6, clearly the best square. 17.a4 bxa4 18.Nxa4 White has managed to open the afile, so the Black pawn a6 is getting under attack. 18...Ne6 19. Bc4 It is never wrong to put the bishop on c4. 19...Nh5 20.Nc3 Nhf4 Black is still fighting. Now Nxg2 will always be a threat. White needs to count with it on every move. 21.Nd5?! Until here, Ivanchuk played a great game and is clearly better. It was time to continue in the right path with [21. Ra5 with the simple idea of playing Rda1. 21... Nxg2 This does not work because of 22.Kxg2 Nf4+ 23.Kg1 Bxh3 24.Ne1 The g2 square is protected. White is a piece up and winning.] 21... Bb5! A strong move by Black. White is escaping from the pressure on a6 for one move.

7


22. Bb3 Bc6 23. Ra5 Qb7 The position is getting totally unclear! I guess that by now Kramnik was very happy with his own play, but not that happy with Carlsen’s position, who seemed to have a clear advantage against Svidler. So, to play for a win seemed to be the only choice for Vladimir — it does not matter how!

24.g3!! Wow, what a move! It is clear that Ivanchuk was afraid of Black’s f5 and decided to release the pressure of the position by sacrificing a pawn. A really fantastic move by White. 24...Nxh3+ [A try to go into a complete mess does not seem to work for Black. 24...f5 25.gxf4! Cool and strong, following the rule: if You are not sure about what to do, get some material. 25...exf4 26.Nxf4 and probably Black does not have enough compensation for the piece.]

28... Bxd5 Not a nice move to make, but what else to play?! White’s threat of playing Ne7 was too dangerous. 29. Bxd5 c6 30. Bc4 Now it is clear that the pawn on a6 is going to fall. 30...Qc8? This move looks bad. Probably Kramnik was still hoping to win the game as he was not sure about what would happen in the Carlsen game. [The simple 30... Ne6! 31. Bxe6 Rxe6 32. Rha1 would just lead to a slightly better position for White, with big drawing tendencies.]

31.Qb3! Very strong! Fixing the f7 pawn and not giving Black the chance to play Ne6 that easily. 31...h5 Black tries to create something on the kingside, but there is nothing left to do anymore. White is simply crushing the whole position on the queenside.

25.Kg2 Nhg5 26. Rh1 pushing the Black king to g8.

32. Be3 Ne6 33. Rha1 The a6 pawn is falling.

26...Kg8 [This would lead to a pretty mate: 26...Nxf3?? 27.Nf6+ Kh8 28. Rxh6+ Bxh6 29.Qxh6#]

33...h4 34.gxh4 Qd8 Black still has some hopes, but Ivanchuk stays cool.

27.Nxg5 Nxg5 28.f3! White does not panic and keeps cool. The pressure on the a6 pawn and the great position of his pieces give him better chances.

35. Rxa6 Rc8 36. Rh1 It is hard to give Black an advice here. White is completely dominating the position with his extrapawn! 8


36... Rc7 37. Bxe6 This move was not necessary, but Ivanchuk chooses a simple way to finish the game. 37... Rxe6 38.b5! The b-pawn takes Black’s last hopes. 38... Rb7 39.b6 c5 40. Rb1 Bf8 The time troub le is over and, with it, the hopes to save the game for Kramnik. I guess he stood up now and was totally shocked, as Carlsen was close to resigning his game against Svidler. What drama!

nik. Who would have bet on this before the last round? Clearly not Kramnik, who showed very strong character by playing for a win with the Black pieces, while avoiding drawish continuations! 1–0

41.Qd5! Precise technique by Ivanchuk. 41...Qb8 42. Rba1 Rd6 [Of course, it is losing to play 42... Rbxb6 43. Ra8 Qc7 44. Bh6 and White is winning the bishop on f8.] 43. Ra8 Rxd5 44. Rxb8 Rxb8 45.exd5 Bad luck for Black. The endgame is completely lost. 45... Bd6 [In case of 45... Rxb6

46. Ra8 Kg7 47. Rxf8! White is a full piece up. 47...Kxf8 48. Bxc5+ Ke8 49. Bxb6] 46. Ra6 Rb7 47.Kf1 and the White king is going to b5. Black is hopeless! What an emotional finish to the Candidates with a double loss by the leaders, Carlsen and Kram9


(3) Carlsen,M (2872) — Gelfand,B (2740) [B30] FIDE Candidates London ENG (10), 27.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A great game by Carlsen! He played in his usual style, avoiding long theoretical battles and simply aiming to get a playable position with many pieces on the board, in order to slowly outplay his opponent. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Recently, the players prefer to avoid the Sveshnikov defense, which was the surprise weapon of Gelfand against Anand in their World Championship match last year. 3...e6 4.0–0 [A few rounds earlier, Carlsen tried 4. Bxc6 against Radjabov. Later on, he made a lucky escape in that game.] 4...Nge7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 Quite a positional handling of the opening. White saves his bishop and is ready to occupy the center with c3-d4.

7...Nxd5 8.d4 Nf6 This is considered to be the most precise reaction, initiating some exchanges in the center. [8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 is similar to the game and slightly preferable for White as well.] 9. Be3 cxd4 [The big expert of this line, Teimour Radjabov, has played some games with 9... Be7 10.c4 (Black does not need to worry about 10.dxc5 because of 10... Qxd1 11.R xd1 Ng4 winning back the c5 pawn.) 10...0–0 11.Nc3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7 with similar positions to the game.] 10.Nxd4 Bd7 11.c4 White gains ground on the queenside. This kind of pawn structure might arise from various openings. In general, it is considered to be fine for Black, but as we will see, if Carlsen is playing on the White side, there might be some difficulties with the equalization. 11...Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bc6 13.Nc3 Be7

6...d5

7.exd5 Carlsen follows the old main line. [Grischuk recently played the fashionable 7.d3 against Gelfand a few rounds earlier.]

14.a3! White would like to take further ground on the queenside by playing b4. If he gets it, many further plans are possible. All of them are connected with b5, but the c6 bishop has no good square to leave. Black is facing a difficult decision: to allow White to fulfill this plan or to avoid it with a5, which weakens the b5 and b6 squares 10


crucially and forces him to forget about the potential freeing break with b5 forever. 14...a5 Gelfand considered this option to be the lesser evil. 15.Qd3! Carlsen prep ares to activate his a1 rook and is also ready to switch his king to the kingside for an attack against the king. 15...0–0 16. Rad1 Qc7 Black is missing only one move to finish the development. He only needs to get his rook to d8. 17. Be5! Qb6

19...Qxd8 20. Rd1 Qb6 21. Bd4! Black is facing the same problem again — he has no good square for the queen. 21...Qb3 The only move not to lose immediately. [21... Qa6? 22.b4 axb4 23.axb4 leads to Black’s collapse because of the awful placement of the queen.; 21...Qxb2? 22.Nd5 Qxa3 23.Nxf6+ +- Black cannot take back the knight.] 22. Rd3! A very deep and concrete idea! Carlsen had to foresee his 28th move, otherwise, the whole plan makes no sense. [22.Nd5 leads only to a draw now. 22...Qxd1 23.Nxe7+ Kh8 (23...Kf8? is bad in view of 24.Qd6!+- and for instance 24...Ne4 25.B xg7+ Kxg7 26.Qxd1+-) 24. Bxf6 gxf6 White has nothing more than a draw. 25.Qh4 Kg7 26.Qg3²] 22...Qc2 The only move to avoid Nd5! [22...Qxc4 drops the queen after 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Rd8+! Rxd8 25. Bxc4 and there is no mate on the back-rank because the c4 bishop retreats... 25... Bxc3 26.bxc3 Rd1+ 27. Bf1+-]

18.Qg3! Carlsen is ready to penetrate on the dark squares with his bishop. The Black queen does not really find its place. 18... Rfd8! Gelfand finds the only move to stay in the game. [18... Rac8 loses after 19. Bd4! Qc7 (19...Qb3 loses to the typical pin combination 20.Nd5 Qxg3 21.N xe7+ wins.) 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21. Bb6 wins the a5 pawn.; The b2 pawn is poisoned, White wins after 18...Qxb2 19.Nd5+-] 19. Rxd8+! using the fact, that Black cannot take back with the rook. [19. Bc7 was not winning because of 19... Rxd1! 20. Bxb6 Rxe1]

23.b4! White finally succeeds to breakthrough the a5 blockade. Black was missing only one move to play a4, fixing the queenside pawn structure. The e7 bishop is 11


overloaded with the defense of the f6 knight, so White does not need to worry about his b4 pawn. 23...axb4 24.axb4 Nh5! Gelfand finds the best chance, looking for tactical complications... Otherwise, White simply pushes b5 with a huge advantage. [Black cannot leave his back-rank with 24... Ra1 25. Bxf6! Bxf6 26.Qb8+ +-] 25.Qe5 Bf6 Gelfand misses a tactical point... [25... Ra1! would have the best chance, although the position remains pretty unpleasant for Black 26. Rd1 avoiding the Rxf1 and Qxd3 threats. 26... Rxd1 27.Nxd1 Qxd1 28.Qb8+ Bf8 29. Bc5 h6 30.Qxf8+ Kh7 31.f3² with a small advantage for White thanks to the better pawn structure and the bishop pair.] 26.Qxh5 Bxd4 27. Rxd4 Qxc3 Black seems to be more than fine, as d4 and b4 are hanging, but a shocking move completely changes the evaluation...

29.Qb6 Despite the material equality, White has a big advantage. His pieces are more active and the queenside pawn majority plays the main role. 29...e5 30. Rd1 g6 Black finally opens the back-rank. 31.b5 Be4 Carlsen has played a perfect game until this moment. From now on, he makes some inaccuracies and lets Black back into the game. 32.Qf6 White should have kept the b7 pawn under permanent attack to avoid the bishop transfer to e6. The next pair of moves are inaccuracies. [Black has basically no moves after 32. Rd7 White can strengthen his position in many different ways. 32...Kg7 33.Qd6 Ra8 There is no chance for activity because of 34.Qe7 Rf8 35.h4+- Opening the back-rank and slowly breaking through with c5.] 32...h5 [32... Bf5! should have been played immediately.] 33.h4 [33.Qe7! to avoid Bf5-e6.] 33... Bf5! Gelfand has found the right plan. He drives his bishop to e6 from where he can put the queenside pawns under pressure. Finally, there is something to play for Black, even if it costs a pawn. 34. Rd5 Qc1 [34... Be6 35.Qxe5 Qc1 is the game.]

28.Qa5!! Using the weakness of Black’s back-rank, Carlsen consolidates his position.

35.Qxe5 Be6 36. Rd4 Ra8 Suddenly, Black succeeded to create counterplay, but with his following great moves, Carlsen swaps away his dreams of surviving in this game.

28... Rf8 Black was forced to go to passivity to control the 8th rank.

12

Issue 58 43.b6 Bc4

5th of April 2012

37.Qe2!! A brilliant move! White wants to clear the unpleasant pin on the first rank by playing Rd1, but the question was what would happen if Black plays Ra1. .. 37...Kh7 [After 37... Ra1? Carlsen has prepared the nice winning line 38. Rd8+ Kh7 39.Qe5!! Qxf1+ 40.Kh2 Black can only give a few checks, while White is mating... 40... Qg1+ 41.Kg3 Ra3+ 42.f3+-] 38. Rd1! Qc3 39.Qe4! That is it! It is amazing how, with his last three moves, Carlsen improved his position so much. He has a technical win again.

44.Qf3! Qxf1+ [44... Bxf1 also loses after 45.Qxf7+ Kh6 46.Qf4+ Kh7 47.Kh2! White is ready to push his pawns, Black is unable to create counterplay. 47... Ba6 48.c6+-] 45.Kh2 Qb1 46.b7 The pawns are promoting automatically. 46...Qb5 47.c6 Bd5 48.Qg3 Black resigned. 1–0

39... Ra1 Gelfand tries to create the pin again on the back-rank, but without the rooks on the board, it is not dangerous anymore... 40. Rxa1 Qxa1 41.c5 White simply wants to push c6, take back with the queen, advance his pawn to b7 and then promote the pawn automatically. It is hard to do something against this. 41...Qc3 42.Qxb7 Qe1 This was Gelfand’s last desperate try. He is threatening Bc4, but the pawns are too far advanced — White does not need to pay attention to that. [42...Qxc5 43.b6 is also hopeless.] 13


(4) Kramnik,V (2810) — Radjabov,T (2793) [E60] FIDE Candidates London ENG (11), 28.03.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A hard-fought game with many nice tactical elements. Radjabov was in terrible form during the entire tournament. In this game, Kramnik calculated one move further in the critical position... 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Radjabov chooses his favorite King’s Indian defense! 3.g3 Kramnik has played the 3.g3 system three times in this tournament. The only “difference” is that, in the other two games, his opponents wanted to play the Gruenfeld defense. 3...c5 [Grischuk tried the 3... Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 setup.; And Gelfand played the most solid 3...c6 system, but in all the games Kramnik introduced interesting novelties and created problems for his opponents.]

7.Nc3! The move order is very important! White needs to prevent d5 before castling. [7.0–0 allows 7...d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 with comfortable equality. Here is a recently fashionable way to make prearranged draws with 9.Nb5 Be6 10.Nd4 Bc8 and repetition.] 7...Qc7 This is the concrete attempt to equalize. [7...Nc6 8.0–0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 is the old main line, but White gets a small advantage here due to the space advantage.] 8.b3 d5! 9.Ndb5 [The point is that 9.Nxd5? loses a huge amount of material after 9...Nxd5 10. Bxd5 e6 11. Bg2 Rd8 and the pin is deadly. 12.e3 e5–+; 9.0–0 is the alternative line to the text move.] 9...Qa5 10. Bd2 dxc4 11.bxc4 Black got a nice pawn structure, but White is ahead in development. 11...Qd8 Both players are following the theory. [11...Nc6 is the other option for Black.] 12.0–0 a6 13.Na3 Bf5

4.Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg2 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Aronian is considered to be the biggest expert of this line with White. 6...0–0

14.Nc2! Improving the knight, it is heading to e3. An interesting fact is that there were only two games in the database for this position, but those were played by Aronian and Gelfand as White (both are playing on this 14


tournament), so Radjabov should have been prepared for this line, however, he spent 1 hour to reach this theoretical position. [The greedy 14. Bxb7? runs into problems along the d-file. 14... Ra7 15. Bg2 Rd7! 16.Nd5 e6 Black wins material.] 14...Nc6 15.Ne3 Qd7 This is the novelty. [15...Qd4 happened in the previous games. Kramnik has definitely a huge analysis here.] 16.Nxf5 Gaining the bishop pair and freeing the b1 square for the rook to attack the b7 weakness. 16...Qxf5 17. Rb1 Rad8 18.Qc1! A good human move to leave the pin. [The computer recommends the brave 18. Rxb7 but Black gets very strong counterplay against the c4 pawn after 18...Na5! 19. Rb4 Qe6! Black wins back the pawn. The point is that 20.Nd5 would be excellent to close the d-file and protect the c4, but it allows the tactical trick 20...Nxc4! 21. Rxc4 Nxd5] 18...Qe6 [18... Rd7 made sense, to protect the b7 pawn and double the rooks. 19. Rd1 Rfd8]

19. Re1 A clever preparation. White would like to install his knight on d5, so he protects the e2 pawn first. [19.

Rxb7 Na5 In comparison to the game, Black takes with his knight on c4 and it becomes very active.; 19.Nd5 is met by 19...Nd4 and problems with e2.] 19...Qxc4 Radjabov prefers to grab the pawn before it runs away... [White gets a nice advantage. 19...Ne5 20.c5! Nc4 21. Bf4 b7 becomes too weak.] 20. Rxb7 The position has simplified a bit and we believed the draw was very close. However, White’s pieces are more active, the bishop pair has good potential and, until the appearance of the two a-pawns, White has real hopes to get an edge. 20...Ne5 [20...Na5 is simply met by 21. Rb1! with an advantage. The rook has been temporarily sent back to passivity, but on the other hand, the knight on a5 got out of the game.(21.R xe7?! does not work. 21...Qc5! 22.Re3 There was no other square for the rook. 22...R xd2! 23.Qxd2 Nc4 After taking on e3, Black organizes his play against the doubled e-pawns with Bh6.) ] 21. Bf4 [It would be interesting to know why Kramnik refused to play 21. Rxe7!? Nfg4 was probably Black’s idea, trying to counterattack against the f2 pawn, but White can play (21...Qc5 is not the same as in the 20...Na5 line because the rook has a free square on b7 now. 22.Rb7) 22.Ne4! Qxa2 23. Bc3 with a clear advantage. Suddenly, the Black pieces are missing theircoordinatio n. White simply threatens to win with h3.] 21...Qe6 22.h3 A useful move, but on the other hand, it wastes an important tempo. [22. Rd1 would have led to a clear advantage. 22... Rxd1+ 23.Qxd1 Rc8 24.Nd5 Nxd5 25. Bxd5 This is what White was aiming for. He is 15


better because of the bishop pair, the active rook on b7 and the weaknesses on e7 and a6.] 22...Nc4 23.e4!? Kramnik would like to settle his knight on d5 or to play e5 pushing back Black’s pieces, but at the same time, he closes his bishop. [23. Rd1 gives an edge for White as well.] 23...Ne5! A strong retreat. Black gets rid of the bishop pair due to the threat of Nd3, which was another drawback of the previous move. 24. Bxe5 Qxe5 25.Nd5 Rfe8 [25...Nxd5 26.exd5 Qd4 27. Rexe7 The opposite — colored bishops usually give good drawing chances in such situations, but now the doubled rooks on the 7th rank are too strong.]

rectly pointed out at the press conference, White gets an advantage here after 27.Nc6! Qe6 28.e5! Nd7 (28...Nd5 loses to 29.B xd5 Qxd5 30.N xe7+! R xe7 31.Qxc8+ +-) 29.f4! with a nice squeezing position. Black cannot take on a2 because of Nxe7, while 29...Nb8 is strongly met by 30. Rxe7!! White wins some material in any case.] 27.Nc6 [White could not win a pawn with 27. Rxd7 Nxd7 28.Nxa6 (28.Qc6 is met by 28...Qc3! Black holds the draw.) 28...Qa5! winning back the a2 pawn as White cannot play Qc6 because of the e1 rook.] 27...Qe6 28. Rb6 We have reached the critical position. Radjabov had only 2 minutes for the remaining 13 moves and White is threatening to play e5. Kramnik has prepared a very deep trap against the most tempting move — taking on a2... 28...Qxa2? The decisive mistake! Black falls in the trap... White wins by force after the following long combination. Kramnik played all the moves instantly... [Black holds the draw after 28... Rc7! 29. Rxa6 Nd7! with the idea of playing Nb8 or Ne5. a) 29...Qc8 30.Qc4 is strong and White is ready to leave the dangerous pin with Qb5 in the next move.;

26.Nb4 White wants to put his knight on c6, sending away the e5 queen, which makes the e5 move possible. [26.Nc7!? seems to be stronger. 26... Rf8 (26...Rc8 27.N xe8 R xc1 28.N xf6+ B xf6 29.R xc1 Two rooks are generally stronger than a queen.) 27.Nxa6 with an extra pawn!]

b) 29... Rec8 is tempting, but it is refuted nicely by 30.e5 Nd7 31. Bd5!! Qxd5 (31...Qxh3 32.e6) 32.Nxe7+ Kh8 33.Qxc7!+- wins!; 30.e5 Nb8 31. Rb6 Nd7 and the draw is inevitable even after 32. Rb3 Nb8 33. Rc3 Qxa2=]

26... Rd7! A great defensive move! Radjabov was already in time trouble, which made his job very difficult. [26... Rc8 was the most logical reaction, but as Kramnik cor16


29.e5! Nd5 30. Rb2 Qa4 [30...Qa3 loses to the pretty 31. Rb8!+-] 31. Bxd5 Rxd5 32. Rb4!! This intermediate move was what Radjabov probably missed. [32.Nxe7+ did not work immediately because of 32... Rxe7 33. Rb8+ Re8! This is why the queen must be sent away from a4 first!] 32...Qa2 33.Nxe7+! Kh8 [33... Rxe7 34.Qc8+ Bf8 35. Rb8+- was the last move of the combination, which Kramnik prepared by playing 28. Rb6!] 34.Nxd5 Qxd5 The game is over now. The technical part is very easy for Kramnik. 35.Qc4 Qxc4 36. Rxc4 Bxe5 Otherwise, White plays f4, but now Black has moved into the deadly pin... 37.Kf1! Black resigned as he does not have an adequate defense against f4![37.f4? is bad in view of 37... Bd4+; 37. Rce4 f6 38. Rf4 (38.f4 Bd4+!) ] 1–0

17


Puzzle section

(7) Solodovnichenko,Y (2559) — Klein,C (2430) Neckar Open, 30.03.2013

(5) Dehlinger,A (2257) — Naiditsch,A (2706) Neckar Open, 29.03.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... 

(8) Stukopin,A (2500) — Najer,E (2634) (6) Erdos,V (2636) — Mueller,M (2241) Neckar Open, 29.03.2013 [CEWN]

Moscow Championship, 31.03.2013 [CEWN] 1... 

1. +-

18


(9) Horvath,A (2509) — Czebe,A (2492)

(11) Korneev,O (2609) — Granda Zuniga,J (2634)

Canberra Open, 01.04.2013

La Roda Open, 30.03.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Agdestein,S (2555) — Hammer,J (2629)

(12) Burmakin,V (2577) — Granda Zuniga,J (2634)

Norwegian Open, 24.03.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. 

1... –+

19


(13) Pozo Vera,S (2485) — Ramirez,A (2535) Mexican Open, 29.03.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Almeida Saenz,A (2339) — Gonzalez Zamora,J (2527) Mexican Open, 30.03.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

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Endgame section (15) Grischuk,A (2764) — Kramnik,V (2810) FIDE Candidates [Chess Evolution]

We are facing a typical endgame from the Berlin Defense. Kramnik is the biggest expert of this line, and he shows that despite the material balance and the appearance of the opposite-colored bishops, there are dangers in the position. Black is slightly better here because of the weaknesses of the White pawns on the queenside. We can easily realize that if Black succeeds to transfer his bishop to c2, he will collect all the pawns automatically , since they are fixed on the light squares. On the other side, the Black king protects his own pawns pretty well.

27... Bf5! A clever decision by Kramnik. He forces White to give up his knight as, otherwise, Bc2 is coming. After this sequence, the endgame might get quite unpleasant for White because of the poor bishop on b2, which cannot harass the Black pawns due to his own pawn on e5. [27...Nf5 was another try with the idea of getting access to the b3 pawn, but White plays 28.Ne2! is accurate, followed by g4 and f4, and Black can forget about the plan Bf5-c2 forever.(28.N xf5 B xf5 would be the triumph of Black’s strategy as Bc2 is coming next.) ] 28.Nxf5 Nxf5 29.g4 Grischuk wanted to force matters. Otherwise, Black quickly improves his king with Kd7-e6 and the e5 pawn might become really weak. In addition, the transpositions to the pawn endgames with Nd4 is always a dangerous option, which both sides needs to consider. 29...Nd4

25... Rd8 Black trades the rooks off in order to make the queenside pawns more vulnerable. 26. Rxd8+ Kxd8 27.Kf2 White activates his king and hurries to the queenside to protect theweaknesses. 21


34.f4 gxf4 35.Kxf4

30. Bxd4? Grischuk was in time trouble and made a mistake in the calculation. This is quite often decisive in pawn endgames. The idea is risky right at first sight, because Black gets a protected passed pawn on d4, which plays a very important factor in all the endgames. [However, after 30.Ke3! the endgames seems to be drawish. 30... Ne6 It is better to keep the position locked, but on the other hand, this move is also equal to a draw offer. (30... Nxb3?! allows counterplay after 31.e6 Ke7 (31...fxe6? is a mistake. 32.Bg7 Ke7 33.B xh6 Kf6 34.f4 White obtains dangerous connected passed pawns on the kingside and gets access to the queenside pawns as the king does not protect them anymore.) 32.exf7 Kxf7 33. Be5 Suddenly, the poor bishop becomes a really strong piece. 33...c6 34. Bc7² and only White can be better.) 31.Ke4 Ke7 (Black can never win the h3 pawn with 31...Nf4 because of 32.h4! and White only gets rid of his weakness.) 32. Bc3 and neither side can improve his position.]

35...d3! This might be the move that Grischuk missed in the time pressure, when he took the knight on d4. Black sacrifices his passed pawn to get a weakness on e5. The key is the activity of the Black king! 36.Ke3 Kxe5 37.Kxd3 Kf4! The game is over. Black collects the h3 pawn. 38.Ke2 Kg3 39.Ke3 Kxh3 40.Kf4 [40.Kf3 is equally hopeless. 40...f6 winning the opposition by “wasting” a tempo. 41.Kf4 Kg2! 42.Kf5 Kg3 43.Kxf6 Kxg4–+ and the h-pawn is too fast.] 40...Kh4 41.Kf5 Kg3 [The time trouble is over, and White has to resign in view of 41...Kg3 42.g5 h5! 43.Kf6 Kg4–+] 0–1

30...cxd4 The following moves are more or less forced. Both sides are improving their kings. 31.Ke2 Kd7 32.Kd3 c5 33.Ke4 Ke6 White is in zugzwang. He has only one move not to lose the e5 pawn. 22


(16) Aronian,Levon (2809) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2810) [D42] FIDE Candidates London ENG (12.2), 29.03.2013 [Chess Evolution]

We will see quite a funny endgame. It is clear that White should be close to a draw: his king is in a great position, he has a free pawn on the kingside, and a1 is the “wrong colored corner” . This gives White huge chances to make a draw. 46.Kd6 Kd8! Black’s only hope is to reach his opponent’s g5 pawn as fast as possible 47.Kc6 and White is going for the b5 pawn. 47...Ke7 48.Kxb5 Ke6 49.Kxa4 Kf5 We are already at the critical position. To play g6 or to play h6? Or maybe an immediate Kb5? Which way is the best? Let us take a look.

50.g6?? What a shocking mistake by Aronian! Not very often, we see the second highest rated player in the world making this king of moves. [Another way to lose was 50.Kb5? Kxg5 51.c4 and now Black needs to find the strong 51...Kf5! The king is coming back in order to help the Black bishop to stop the pawns. 52.c5 Ke6 and Black is totally winning because the h1 square has the same color as the bishop.; 50.h6! This move would have saved the game. 50...g6 51.Kb5 Kxg5 52.c4 and now White is on time! 52...Kxh6 53.a4 g5 54.a5 g4 55.a6 g3 56.a7 g2 57.a8Q Draw.] 50...Kg5 51.Kb5 Kxh5 52.a4 Kxg6 The Black king needs to hurry. 53.a5 Kf6 54.a6 [Probably, Aronian miscalculated this line. 54.c4 Ke5 55.a6 Kd4 56.c5 and now Black has only one way to go.

23


56... Bc4+ 57.Kb6 Bxa6! capturing both White pawns. 58.Kxa6 Kxc5 and the g-pawn is equivalent to a queen.] 54... Bd5 55.c4 Ba8 Black easily stops the pawns now. 56.Kb6 Ke5 57.Kc7 g5 58.Kb8 Be4 59.Kc7 g4 60.a7 g3 61.c5 Ba8 62.Kb8 Bc6 In case of 63.Kc7, g2 64.Kxc6 g1Q 65.a8Q Qg2 and Qxa8. As we can see, even on the very top, some miscalculations happen with “too much” frequency. 0–1

24


Clash of the Titans (17) Spassky,Boris V — Geller,Efim P [C77] URS-ch26 Tbilisi (13), 1959 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 This Ruy Lopez system was more popular a long time ago. Nowadays, some players still like to use it, especially grandmaster Tiviakov. 5... Be7 6.c3 b5 7. Bc2 [7. Bb3!? With the idea of provoking Black to put his knight on a5.] 7...d5

see later in the game. 8...exd4 (8...N xe4 9.N xe5 N xe5 10.dxe5 0–0 11.0–0²; 8...Bg4 9.exd5 B xf3 10.Qxf3 Qxd5 11.Qxd5 N xd5 12.dxe5 N xe5 13.0–0 and White can try to convert his advantage of the pair of bishops.) 9.e5 Ne4 10.Nxd4 (10.cxd4 Bb4+ 11.Nbd2 Bg4 Because of the unpleasant pins, Black gets counterplay.) 10...Nxd4 (10... N xe5 11.B xe4 dxe4 12.Qxe4 c5 13.0–0 0–0 14.Qxa8 cxd4 15.cxd4 Qxd4 16.Nc3 Qe4 is coming next. Black does not have full compensation.) 11.cxd4 c5! Black immediately looks for counterplay in the center. 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 Be6 with good compensation thanks to the pair of bishops and the weak light squares.] 8...0–0 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.Nf1?! This is not accurate. White should first play [10.0–0 Be6 11. Rd1 (11.d4?! This does not work now. 11...exd4 12.e5 dxc3 13.exf6 B xf6 14.bxc3 B xc3; 11.a4!? A typical move to weaken Black’s structure on the queenside.) 11... Bf8 and now White has a few options. Sppasky tried a typical idea in the game (Nf1–Ng3 with h3-Nh2-Qf3). However, Black can put up the very promising h6-g6-Bg7 setup. Also, the a4 move is now possible. 12.Nb3!? with the idea to use the c5 square somehow. 12...h6 13. Be3÷] 10... Be6 White has some problems now because one idea for Black is ti take on e4, and after dxe4, to play Bc4.

8.d3 [8.exd5 Nxd5 (8...Qxd5 9.d3 Bf5 With the idea of putting on d3, however, White plays 10.Nbd2 Rd8 11.Ne4 0–0 12.0–0 Black’s pieces (Qd5-Bf5- Nf6) are artificially placed — White’s position should be more pleasant.) 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Qxe5 0–0 11.0–0 Bb7 As we see in some Marshall positions, Black should get a good initiative for the pawn.; 8.d4!? The same idea that we will

11.Ng5 [11.Ng3 dxe4 12.dxe4 Bc4 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14. Bxd2= Without the queens, Black should easily equalize the position.]

25


17.d4! exd4 18.e5 Nd7 19.Qd3 f5 20.exf6 [20.cxd4 Bb6 21. Be3 c5] 20...Nxf6 21.cxd4 Bb6 The structure completely changed now. White’s pieces get activity.

11... Bg4! A good move which provokes some weaknesses. 12.f3 Bc8 13.Ng3 h6 14.Nh3 Bc5 [14... Bxh3 leads to unclear play, which is completely unnecessary for Black. 15.gxh3 Bc5 Black controls the g1 square, but anyway, with the pawn on h6, White has chances to create pressure against the king with Qg2- Nf5, etc.] 15.Nf2 Be6 16.0–0 Ne7?! Instead of this, Black might try the simple Qd7-Rad8, or the idea of taking control of the d4 square after b4-d4. This Ne7- Ng6 maneuver is thematic in this structure. The Black knight comes to g6 to support the kingside and Black is also able to improve his position after c7-c5. Unfortunately, Geller missed this.

22. Be3 Natural move. White might try not to lose time and immediately start his attack with [22.Ng4!? Bxg4 (22...Nc6 23.N xh6+) 23.fxg4 Nc6 Black is trying to get counterplay on d4, but White’s attack is too strong! Given that all the White pieces put pressure on the kingside, the intuition dictates that Black should not survive here but... (23...Ne4 24.g5) 24.g5 Ne4 a) 24...hxg5 25. Bxg5 Nb4 26.Qd2 (26.Qg6 B xd4+ 27.Kh1 N xc2 28.Nh5 Qd7 29.B xf6 Re6) 26...Nxc2 27. Bxf6 gxf6 28.Qxc2 Bxd4+ 29.Kh1; b) 24...Nxd4 25.gxf6 Nxc2+ 26.Kh1+-; 25.Nxe4 dxe4 26.Qb3+ Kh7 27.g6+ Kh8 (27...Kxg6 28.Qg3+ Kh7 29.B xh6 Kxh6 30.Qh3+ Kg6 31.Rf5+-) 28. Bxh6 Bxd4+ 29.Kh1 gxh6 30. Rf7 Re7 31. Bxe4 Rxf7 32.Qxf7 Qg8 33. Rf1 Bxb2 34. Bxc6 Qxf7 35. Rxf7 Rd8 36.g3 Rd6=] 22... Bf7 23.Ng4 Nc6 24. Rae1 Nb4 [24... Rxe3!? 25.Nxe3 Nxd4 26.Kh1 Nxc2 27.Qxc2 d4 It looks like Black has taken the initiative. For the exchange, he has two bishops, a strong center and most importantly, White has no attack anymore.] 25.Nxf6+ Qxf6 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Bg8 [27... Ke7!? 28. Bg5+ Kd7 29.Qxe8+ Rxe8 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Bf5+ Kd6 32.Kh1 Rxe1 33. Rxe1 Bxd4 34. Bb1 Be6 and Black has compensation.]

26

Issue 58 the rook on the 3rd rank, but Black will create a far passed pawn on the a-file to win the game easily.]

5th of April 2012

31. Bxb4 Rxh8 32. Bxd5+ Ke8 33.Nc5+ Kd8 34. Bxa8 Black finally grabs the queen, but the White pieces become active now!

28.Ne4? In this complex position, it is easy to make mistakes. White should play [28. Be4! White has two threats: a3 with the idea Bxd5, and Nh5 with the idea Nxg7Bxh6. 28...Ke7 (28...B xd4 29.B xd4 Qxd4+ 30.Kh1 Rad8 31.a3 Nc6 32.Nf5 Qf6 33.B xd5!+-) 29.Nh5 Qf7 30.Nxg7 dxe4 31.Qxh6 Kd7 32.fxe4 Qe7 33.d5] 28...Qg6 29. Bb3 Kf7?! Black’s idea is clear: to trap the queen. However, the most accurate was [29...Ke7!–+ It is not easy to take the king to the e-file, but White is not able to take advantage of this. The idea is that after Be6, the king can escape to the d7 square — Black is winning.; 29...Qh7 This simple queen exchange gives Black an advantage as well: 30.Qxh7 Bxh7 31.Nc5 Bxc5 32.dxc5 Bd3 33. Rf2 Bc4µ]

34... Re8? It seems logical to exchange one rook to decrease White’s pressure, but this move is a big mistake. After the correct [34...a5 35.Ne6+ (35.Nb7+ Kc8 36.N xa5 B xa5 37.B xa5 Qa6–+) 35...Kc8 36. Bc5 Bxc5 37.Nxc5 Qd6 Black is much better.]

30. Bd2 Bh7 [30... Bxd4+ 31.Kh1 Nd3 32. Bxd5+ Ke7 This is a slightly inhuman variation. It is strange but White does not have any good check now. 33. Bxa8 Be6 34.Qxe8+ Qxe8 35. Bd5 Qd8! (35...N xe1 36.R xe1 Qd8 37.Bb4+ c5 38.N xc5 Qxd5 39.N xe6+ Kf7 40.N xd4 Qxd4 41.Bc3=) 36. Bxe6 Nxe1 37. Rxe1 Kxe6 White does not have any good jump with the knight! 38. Bc3 Bxc3 39.Nxc3+ Kf7 White can try to keep his knight on e4 and

37.Ne6+ Kc8 38.Nf8! [38. Be4 Qxe6 39. Bb7+ Kxb7 40. Rxe6 Bxd4+ 41.Kf1 Bxb2 and it is hard to say who is better.]

35. Rxe8+ Qxe8 36. Re1 Without the Black rook, White gets additional threats on the 8th rank. 36...Qg6 [36...Qg8 37. Bc6 Bg6 ÷]

38...Qf7 39.Nxh7? Probably, both players were in time trouble, so Spassky decides to play pragmatically and takes the piece. Objectively, it is a huge mistake. White should play [39. Bc6 Bxd4+ 40.Kh1 and we can suppose that Spassky did not see the mate after 40...Kb8, or that 27


he was just afraid of the counterplay on the queenside after 40... Bg8 (40...Kb8 41.Re8+ Ka7 42.Ba5 with Ra8 next.) 41. Re8+ Qxe8 42. Bxe8

41...Kd7?? Decisive mistake! After [41...Qxa2 42. Bb6 (42.b4 Qd2–+) 42...Qxb2 43. Bc6 Be3! 44. Rd1 Bd2–+ Black prevents the mate and easily wins the game!] 42...c5 (42...B xa2 43.Bc6 B xb2 44.f4 The White bishops do not allow the Black pawns to advance. White can simply play f5- Ne6 next.) 43. Ba5 (43. Bc3 Bxc3 44.bxc3 Kd8! 45.Nd7 (45.Bc6 Kc7 46.Be4 B xa2) 45... Kxe8 46.Nxc5 a5 47.a3 Ke7) 43... Bxa2 44. Bd7+ Kb7 45. Be6 c4 46. Bd5+ Kc8 47.Ne6 Bxb2 48.Nc5 and the White pieces prevent the promotion of the pawns.] 39... Bxd4+ 40.Kh1 c5! After winning the bishop on h7, White has a material advantage, but the problem is that his pieces not cooperate anymore. 41. Ba5 When this game was played, the time control was without increment. The players did not write the moves during the time trouble and I suppose that Geller was not sure if he had already made the 40 moves. That is why he probably played very quickly

42.b4! Nice move! Given that the bishop on d4 will not protect the position anymore, White gets a strong final attack. Black is not able to capture the knight on time : 42...Qg8 [42...g6 43.bxc5 Bxc5 44. Rd1+ +-] 43. Be4 Qxa2 44.Nf8+ Kd6 45.bxc5+ Kxc5 46. Rc1+ Kd6 47. Bb4+ Ke5 48.Ng6+ Ke6 49.h4 a5 50.Nf4+ Ke5 51.Ng6+ Ke6 52.Nf4+ Ke5 53.Nd3+ Ke6 Thanks to his very active pieces and the weak Black king, White has a few ways to win. 54. Rc6+ [54. Bh7 Kf7 55. Rc7+ Ke8 56. Rc8+ Kd7 57. Bf5+ +-] 54...Kd7 [54...Kf7 55. Bg6+ Kg8 56. Rc8#] 55. Rd6+ Kc7 56. Rxd4 Qa1+ 57.Kh2 Qxd4 58. Bxa5+ Kd7 59.h5 Ke7 60. Bb4+ Kf7 61. Bc5 Qd8

28


5th of April 2012

(18) Koranyi [CEWN] 1. = 62.g4 Spassky found a nice and easy plan. Black’s queen is helpless against three pieces that protect each other and dominate the board. 62...Qg5 63.Kg3 Qd2 64. Ba3 Kg8 65. Bc1 Qd1 66.Kf4 b4 67.Ke5 The White king is coming to get the b-pawn. 67...b3 68.Kd4 Qc2 69. Bb2 Kh8 70. Bc3 Qa2 71. Bb2 Qb1 72.Kc3 Qc2+ 73.Kb4 Kg8 74.Ka3 Qc4 75.Nc1 Geller gave up! He cannot do anything. White will capture all the pawns! A nice and interesting game with a lot of mistakes! 1–0

29


Solutions

(20) Vavulin,M (2294) — Vorobiov,E (2578) Moscow Championship, 23.03.2013

(19) Grischuk,A (2764) — Gelfand,B (2740)

[Solutions]

London Candidates, 21.03.2013 [Solutions]

32... Rc1+! 33. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 34. Rxc1 Qxd4 0–1

23...Ncxe5! 24.Nxe5 Nf6!! 25.Qd1 [25.Nb5 Rxb5!–+] 25... Bxd6 26.Qxa4 Nxh5–+

30


(21) Antonsen,M (2446) — Palo,D (2551)

(22) Ziska,H (2461) — Antonsen,M (2446)

Danish Championship, 24.03.2013

Danish Championship, 25.03.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28... Bxf2+! 29.Kxf2 [29.Kg2 Bc5–+ (29...Qd5+ 30.Kxf2 Qc5+–+) ]

40.Nxh6+! 1–0 [40.Nxh6+ Qxh6 41.Qxf7+ Kh7 42.Qxe8+-]

29...Qc5+ 30. Be3 Qxa3–+

31


(23) Zeng,C (2490) — Tran Tuan Minh (2310) HD Bank Cup, 21.03.2013 [Solutions]

25. Rh7+!! Kxh7 26.Qh5+ Kg8 [26...Kg7 27.Qh6+ Kg8 28.Ng4 Ne6 29.g6! (29.Nf6+? Qxf6 30.gxf6 Rad8 31.Bc4 Rd7) 29...fxg6 (29...Ng5 30.Bc4! f3 31.gxf7+ R xf7 32.Nf6+ Qxf6 33.Qxf6+-) 30.Qxg6+ Kh8 31.Qh6+ Kg8 32. Bc4!+-]

(24) Zeng,C (2490) — Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy (2460) HD Bank Cup, 22.03.2013 [Solutions]

24.Nd7! Qxd7 25. Bxh7+! 1–0[25. Bxh7+ Kh8 (25... N xh7 26.Qxd7+-) 26. Bf5+ +-]

27.Ng4! Re8 [27...Ne6 28.Nf6+ Qxf6 29.gxf6 Rad8 30. Bc4 Rd7 31.Qxe5+-] 28.Nh6+ 1–0

32


(25) Li Shilong (2559) — Nguyen Van Hai (2339)

(27) Babula,V (2585) — Bosiocic,M (2571)

HD Bank Cup, 22.03.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

61.d7! 1–0[61.d7 Bxd7 62. Ba3+ +-]

18. Bd5!! 1–0 [18. Bd5 Nxd5 (18...cxd5 19.Qxc7+-) 19.Qxh7#]

(26) Brandner,S (2271) — Thiede,L (2441) Austrian league, 21.03.2013 [Solutions]

48.f7+! Kh8 [48...Nxf7 49. Re8+ Bf8 50. Rxf8#] 49. Re8+! 1–0 33


(28) Baramidze,D (2615) — Volokitin,A (2722)

(29) Staudte


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

30. Rf1+! [30.Qe5+? Ke7 31. Bxf8+ Kxf8 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33. Rg7+ Kd6 34.Qd8+ Kc6–+; 30. Bg7+? Kf7 31. Rf1+ Kg8!–+; 30. Bg5+? Kf7 31. Rf1+ Kg6–+] 30...Kg6 31.Qg3+! Kxh6 32. Rg1! Nf4 33.Qg5+ 1–0[33.Qg5+ Kh7 34.Qg7#]

1.Ne2! [1.dxc4+? Kxc4 2.Ne2 Kd3 3.Nc1+ Kd2 4.Kb2 a3+ –+] 1...cxd3 2.Nd4+ Kc4 3.Nxc2! dxc2 [3...d2 4.Ne3+ Kd3 5.Nd1 Ke2 6.Nb2=] 4.Kb2 Kd3 5.Kc1! Kc3= [5...a3=] 1/2

34

Weekly Newsletter



12 th of April 2013

This week, we have 2 main chess events.


2


3

The German Bundesliga was won by the team from Baden-Baden for the 8th time in a row! And this year, it came with a perfect score. In the Team roster, there are superstars like: Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Svidler, Adams, Bacrot, Naiditsch, Vallejo and many more. All the details can be found on schachbundesliga.de The running event of the week is clearly the Russian Team Champion with simply amazing line-ups and a lot of 2700 players like Caruana, Grischuk, Svidler, Mamedyarov, Morozevich, Karjakin and many more. At the moment, we are just at the 5th round from 7, so wverything is still open.

»» Puzzle section

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19


23


27

The Dubai Open is on the run, and the individual Israeli Championship as well.

»» Solutions

28

As usual, we wish you enjoy this weekly issue of CEWN, the 59th.

The open on Martinique was won by Fedorchuk.

Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2

Issue 59 12 th of April 2013

4 best games of the past week (1) Jobava,B (2702) — Karjakin,S (2786) [C54] 08.04.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A very impressive and convincing win by the extremely creative Jobava against the Russian star Sergei Karjakin. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5

7. Be2!? Jobava likes to play rare sidelines, but as we will see, he studies them very deeply and is able to cause real surprises. [7. Bb5 is by far the most common move.] 7...Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ This is probably an inaccuracy. [8... Bb6 seems to be stronger. We analyzed the game Jobava-Malakhov in CEWN Nr 30, which continued like this and had a really beautiful finish.]

10...0–0 11.0–0 f6! This is a standard move. Black needs to undermine the center. If he succeeds to do so, he might quickly overtake the initiative. However, Jobava has studied the position very deeply. 12. Rc1! A very useful developing move. It supports well the plan of Nb3-c5, which is White’s main idea to fight against the bishop pair. [12.a3 happened in the previous game, but actually, this only helps Black to transfer his bishop to a better place (to b6). As we will see in the game, Black had serious difficulties with that bishop... 12... Ba5 13. Bb5 Ne7 14.Qc2 Bf5 15. Bd3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Ng6 17.g3 c5 Black undermined the center and overtook the initiative. Later on, he managed to win in the game Vallejo Pons-Ponomariov, Melilla 2011.] 12...Kh8?! Another standard and useful move in these positions, although it is too slow. The king is clearly better placed on h8. Black intends to make use of his d-pawn later on by taking on e5, followed by d4, leaving from the annoying check on Qb3. [12...fxe5! 13.dxe5 Ba5! should have been played, transferring the bishop to b6. It supports well the d4 ideas in the future. Black has a playable position. 14.Nb3 Bb6; 12... Bg4 is also logical in order to increase the pressure on the central pawns, but it does not equalize neither 13.Nb3! and the e5 pawn cannot be taken. 13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 fxe5 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Qxd5+ Qxd5 17. Bxd5+ winning the queenside.]

9. Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 Black has gained the bishop pair, but as we will see, he has problems to equalize, mainly because of his inferior pawn structure. 3


13.Nb3! This is the difference. Suddenly, the bishop can only go to e7, which is clearly a more passive place than b6, and also disturbs the communication between his own pieces. For instance, Ne7-g6 could have been a useful regrouping; Qe7 Rad8 is also a logical development, but they are all impossible now... 13... Bg4 14.a3 Be7 15. Re1 White strengthens his center and protects his e5 pawn after taking on f3... [15. Ne1!? also looked pretty strong, with the idea of f4 and also Nd3, which could be followed by the unpleasant Nbc5, attacking on b7 and threatening Ne6.. . 15... Bxe2 16.Qxe2 fxe5 17.dxe5² and f4 or Nd3-Nbc5 in the next move.] 15...fxe5 16.dxe5! Jobava cleverly decides to leave the knights on the board. The one on c6 is badly placed — it deprives Black from playing c6 and Qb6. It should be improved by transferring it to e6 (+) where it will be an excellent blockader -, threatening with Nf4 and supporting the offense in the center with c5-d4. However, it is really difficult to achieve this. [16.Nxe5 Black gets counterplay after 16...Nxe5 17.dxe5 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 c6! and Qb6 next, putting pressure on the f2 pawn.]

16... Rf4 Black tries to confuse matters. Probably, he is intending some non-standard regrouping like Qg8, keeping the d5 pawn protected; or Raf8, trying to get some counterplay on the f-file. [16...Qd7 It was more logical to bring the a8 rook into the game, although it does not equalize either. 17. Rc3! overprotecting the f3 knight in order to be able to play Bb5. A side threat could be Rd3. (17.Nc5 B xc5 18.R xc5 Rad8 followed by d4 is not so clear.) 17... Rad8 18. Bb5 a6 19. Bxc6 bxc6 White gets a nice advantage after

20.e6! and the pawn cannot be taken. 20... Bxe6? 21. Rce3! Rf6 22.Nbd4+- winning a piece.] 17.h3 [17.Nc5 was also possible immediately, but the text move is useful, to open the back-rank.] 17... Bh5 18.Nc5! Black is forced to give up his bishop pair. 18... Bxc5 19. Rxc5 d4 This pawn is rather a weakness now, as it is not supported by the Black pieces, but there was nothing else to do. [19... Bf7 White surprisingly traps the f4 rook after

4


20.Qc1!! Rf5 (20...Re4 21.Ng5+-) 21.g4!+- There is no good square to go to.] 20.e6! This passed pawn is much more dangerous than the one on d4. It also arrived with tempo as the bishop is under attack. Suddenly, both White rooks are excellently placed — the preparations with Rc1 and Re1 were completely justified. 20... Bg6 21. Bd3 Jobava plays human chess and goes for a huge positional advantage. [21. Ba6!? is the machine’s idea, destroying Black’s pawn structure and getting rid of the blockader of the e6 pawn. 21...bxa6 22. Rxc6 with a winning advantage.]

22.Ng5 Jobava tries to finish the game in tactical fashion and brings his pieces to the attack. [The computer simply plays 22. Bxg6 Qxg6 23.Qb3 and b7 cannot be protected, as Rb8 allows Rxc6. 23... Raf8 24.Qxb7 Rxf3 25.Qxc6 Rxf2 26.e7!+- wins.] 22...Ne7 23. Bxg6 hxg6 [23...Nxg6 White has different wins. The most convincing is 24.g3! trapping the rook. 24... Rxf2 (24...Rf5 25.Qh5+- with the double threat of Qh7 and Nf7, winning the rook.) 25.Qh5 h6 26.Ne4+wins.; 23...Qxg6 is refuted by 24.Nf7+ Kg8 25. Rxc7+-]

21...Qf6 White has many tempting alternatives and most of them give him a decisive advantage. [21... Bxd3 22.Qxd3 is lost for Black. The direct threat is Ng5 and after 22...Qe7 White can win with the prosaic 23. Rd5! Rd8 24. Rxd8+ Nxd8 25.Nxd4+-] 24.Ne4 Good calculation! White gives up his e6 pawn in order to free this square for his rook. Black cannot defend against the following mating attacks. 5


24...Qxe6 25.Ng5 Qf6 [25...Qd6 is met by 26. Rce5! Ng8 27. Re6+- and Rxg6, Qh5 are decisive.]

(2) Moiseenko,Alexander (2703) — Predke,Alexandr (2481) [D37]

26. Re6! The attack is rolling!

Loo RUS Loo RUS (1), 07.04.2013

26...Qf8 27. Rxg6! Qh5 threatens with mate!

[Arkadij Naiditsch]

27... Rh4 [27...Nxg6 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Qh7#]

We will see a great attacking game with very irregular rook maneuvers by White. Both White rooks will go to the g-file while the g2 pawn is still alive!

28.Ne6! [Black resigned in view of 28.Ne6 Qf7 29. Rh5+ Rxh5 30.Qxh5+ Kg8 31. Rxg7++- Karjakin gets rarely defeated in such an impressive style!] 1–0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 What to say about this opening? It has been played for over 100 years on the top level! 5. Bf4 0–0! 6.a3 Not the most popular line, but here things quickly become quite unclear. 6...b6 [6...Nbd7 should be the most principal move here.]

7.Qc2! I like this move a lot. White is preparing to play 7... Bb7 8.cxd5! and Black will not be able to take back with 8...exd5 because of 9.Nb5 ! 7...dxc4 Black is going into a fight. Anyway, things look pretty good for White. 8.e4 Ba6 Black needs to hold on to the only positive point of his position, the extra pawn on c4 6


9. Rd1 White had a wide choice of possibilities to go on, but 9. Rd1 is a very solid and good move. In general, Black often tries to play c5, White should have the d5 move against it. Another idea for White could be to play e5 followed by Ne4 to attack the Black king. We have a more or less typical position, but it seems like White should be doing better. 9...Qc8 A logical move, Black is moving away from the d-file and, at the same time, preparing to play c5. 10.h4!? Quite a typical move as well. Now the threat of e5 followed by Ng5 becomes quite dangerous and the White rook might come into the game via Rh3-Rg3. [A normal move like 10. Be2 c6 11.0–0 would lead to quite an unclear position.] 10...h6 I am not sure if this is the best Black could do. By playing h6, he creates a clear weakness in his structure, which makes it easier for White to find a clear attacking plan. [Maybe Black could have started immediately his counterplay by playing 10...c5!? 11.d5 exd5 12.exd5 Re8 and the h4 move looks a bit dubious even when the position is pretty unclear.]

11. Rh3! getting the rook into the attack. [It would lead nowhere to play 11.e5 Nd5 12.Ng5? looks dangerous, but in fact, is just losing. 12...hxg5 13.hxg5 g6 White is not in time to create any threats on the h-file.] 11...c5 Black is acting, but he is doing it one move too late. 12.e5 Nd5 The position is very sharp and needs precise calculations. 13. Bc1 Moiseenko avoids a direct play and prefers to keep all his threats. [It only seems to lead to a draw 13. Bxh6 gxh6 14. Rg3+ Kh8 15.Qd2 Kh7 16.Qc2+ Kh8 and it is hard to say if White has more than a draw â (+) probably he does not.; Also, after 13.Nxd5 exd5 14. Rg3 Kh8 15.Qd2 Kh7 it seems that Black holds somehow. The position is very unclear.] 13...Nxc3! Black is starting some forced play. First of all, exchanging the White knight that could have come over the e4 square and later on to g5 or f6. 14.bxc3 cxd4 Another important move. Black is putting White in front of an important decision — what to take on d4 with? 15. Rxd4 What else to do?! Moiseenko decides to bring another rook to the attack. 15...Nc6 16. Rg4 and it seems like White is really doing great, but Black has prepared a very unpleasant defensive move.

7


16...f5! What a great move! Suddenly, we cannot see anything direct that White could do against the Black king.

19.Qd2!! The killing move! White wants to play Rxg7 next.

17. Rg6?! still leads to a very sharp position, but maybe White overestimated his chances a bit. [Safer was 17.exf6 Rxf6 18. Rhg3 Bf8 and now White has quite a few moves: 19. Bxc4 and 19. Rg6, with very unclear positions.]

19...f4 [It is not helpful to play 19... Bf8 20.Ng5+! and the game is over. 20...hxg5 21.Qxg5 followed by Qh5-Rh6 and mate.]

17... Rf7! Strong defense!

20...Kh8 21. Bxf4! No reason to lose any time! White is simply crushing the Black position.

18. Rhg3 [This does not work: 18. Bxh6 Kh7 White loses his bishop.] 18...Kh7? This logical move maybe is the losing one as well! [Black should have been more careful. 18...Kh8! Now Black always counts on the Rh7 protection. 19. Bxh6 Maybe White has a few other alternatives, but let us take a look at the direct 19...gxh6 20.Qd2 Rh7 21.Qxh6 looks pretty dangerous, but Black is in time to defend everything. 21...Qf8 22. Rg8+ Qxg8 23. Rxg8+ Rxg8 24.Qxe6 Black got 2 rooks + a piece for the queen — that should be enough, at least, not to be worse.]

20.Qc2 Another good move by White.

21... Rxf4 22. Rxg7 Rf5 23.Qe4! Moiseenko is playing in great style! White wants to play Rg8 or, if Black allows it, to play Qg4. 23...Qe8 [In case of the slow 23...Qd7 24.Qg4 Qe8 25. Rh7+ followed by Qg7 mate.] 24. Rg8+ Simply winning back material. 24...Qxg8 25. Rxg8+ Rxg8 26.Qxc6 So, a lot of things have happened. Let us take a fresh look at the position. White has a queen + pawn against 2 rooks, but all the Black pawns look shaky and, most probably, are going to fall. Also, the position of the Black king is not very trustworthy. White clearly has a huge advantage and, probably, a winning position. 8


26... Bc8 An attempt to hold the main pawn on e6.

(3) Movsesian,S (2695) — Tregubov,P (2611) [A11]

27. Bxc4 Rff8 28. Bxe6 White can just take and take and take.

08.04.2013

28... Rg6 29.Nd4 Everything is protected. 29... Bxh4 30.g3 Be7 31.Qc7 A very exciting game with a great attack by White! 1–0

[Csaba Balogh] A nice tactical win by Movsesian. The game has a calm start, but it soon turns into a tactical slugfest. 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4.0–0 Bf5 5.c4 dxc4 This is a rare line and probably an inaccuracy. [Black should hold the center with 5...e6 with thousands of games in the database.] 6.Na3! e5 A tricky move, which might quickly overtake the initiative, but Movsesian knew exactly how to react against it... [White gets huge compensation if Black tries to hold the material with 6...b5 7.b3! This is a standard pawn sacrifice, opening the lines on the queenside. Black ends up with an extra pawn, but all of them are very weak and if one of them falls, that means the loss of the others as well. An illustrative line could be 7...cxb3 8.axb3 e6 9. Bb2 Be7 10.Nh4 with a double threat of Nxb5 or Nxf5, followed by Qc2.] 7.Nxc4 [Of course, Movsesian is too strong to fall into the opening trap after 7.Nxe5?? Bxa3 8.bxa3 Qd4!–+ winning the game.] 7...e4 8.Nfe5 Nbd7 White needs to act urgently, otherwise, Black takes on e5 and finishes the development with Be7 and 0–0. The d2 pawn remains backward as e4 becomes very strong.

9


a clear advantage 13.Nf4 0–0 14. Re1! White occupies the center with e4! 14... Re8 15.e4 Bf8 16.f3 Bc5+ 17. Be3 Bxe3+ 18. Rxe3 with a clear edge, although Black succeeded to save the game later on. Karner-Polugaevsky, Tallinn 1973. Probably, Movsesian was familiar with this game.]

9.d4! Strong idea! Getting rid of the backward pawn and opening the diagonal of the c1 bishop. 9...exd3 10.Nxd3 Be7 If Black finishes the development with 0–0 and Nb6, he gets a comfortable equality. White must do something quickly. 11.Qb3! White finds the weakness in his opponent’s camp! It is not easy to deal with the b7 pawn. If it moves, that would crucially weaken its colleague on c6, which immediately falls under the pressure of the g2 bishop. Rb8 and Qc7 move into Bf4! 11...Nb6 [Black cannot hope for equality after 11... Be6 12.Nf4! Bxc4 13.Qxc4 White has gained the bishop pair.] 12.Na5! Another great move! Although it is a known idea that against the a7, b7, c6 structure, a knight on a5 is really unpleasant. Just like in the previous move, it is hard to deal with the b7 pawn. 12... Bxd3 This is the novelty. Black tries to create an isolated pawn, as Rd1 seems to lose a piece. However, if we take a closer look, things are different... [12...Qc8 happened in the previous game. Despite the huge difference in the level of players, White has succeeded to obtain

13. Rd1!! Excellent reacti on! It is clear that if White simply takes back on d3, he gets all the advantages he could get, but the question is what happens after the text moveâ R [13.exd3 Qd7 followed by 0–0, Rad8 and occupying the d5 square. Later on, this gives Black good chances to equalize.] 13...Nbd7! Black unpins himself, so he threatens to leave with the bishop and also attacks the a5 knight. Has White missed this idea?! [13...Nbd5 with the same idea as in the game. However, it allows 14.Qxb7! Bxe2 15. Re1 (15. N xc6? is bad in view of 15...Qc8! looks uspicious, but everything is under control.)

10

Issue 59 king is extremely weak. It is hard to deal with the threat of Bxe7 followed byNd6!

12 th of April 2013

15... Bb5 and White wins after 16. Bxd5! Nxd5 17.Nxc6 Bxc6 18.Qxc6+ Kf8 19. Rd1!+- winning back the piece. White remains with an extra pawn, but the main problem is the king on f8.] 14.Nxb7 Qc8! Black thought everything was going according to the plan and Rb8 wins the piece next move. But the cold shower is just about to come.

16... Bxg2 [The computer suggests 16...c5! as only move. However, White is better after 17. Bxe7 Qxb7 18.Qxb7 Bxb7 19. Bxb7 Kxe7 20. Bxa8 Rxa8 White is better. He has a rook and a pawn for the two knights, but it is well known that in such endgames the knights work very badly together as there is no outpost to occupy. The rooks start to dominate them soon. 21. Rac1 Rb8 22.b3²] 17. Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Nd6 A double attack on c8 and f7. 18... Bd5 Black had to sacrifice his queen, but he got three minor pieces for that. [18...Qf8 cannot lead to anything good for Black with such a weak king. 19.Kxg2 White wins. An illustrative line could be 19...Nd5 20.Nf5+ Ke8

15. Bf4!! [15. Rxd3? Rb8] 15... Be4 [15... Bxe2? It is suicidal to open the e-file. 16. Re1+-]

21. Rxd5! cxd5 22.Qxd5 Rb8 (22...Rd8 23.Qe4++-) 23. Rd1+- and Black gets mated. The f8 queen is really poorly placed and also deprives Black from castling kingside.] 16. Bd6! This was the whole point that Movsesian had foreseen before playing Rd1. Black is a piece up and the

19.Nxc8+ Rhxc8 20.Qa3+

11


20...c5 White is better even materially with his queen and pawn for the 3 pieces, but the Black king remains weak and the minor pieces are lacking coordination. Movsesian immediately tries to make use of this.

26.Qd3! Another great move! White creates two threats: e4, and when the knight moves, Qd6 wins the rook; and Qh7 harasses the kingside pawns. Black cannot parry both threats.

21.g4! h6 with the threat of g5!

26... Rac8 27.Qh7! Ne3 28.Qxg7 White decides to eliminate the kingside pawns and then promote his hpawn. [White had time to save his rook followed by collecting the pawns. This was even stronger, but of course, the text is also good enough to win the game. 28. Rc1+- ]

22.h4 Be6 [22...g5 creates another weakness for Black. 23.hxg5 hxg5 24.Qe3+ Be6 25.f3 Black has problems with the g5 pawn. He is doomed to defend passively... 25... Rg8 26. Rd2+- doubling the rooks on the d-file. Black cannot hold for long.] 23.f3 Nd5 [23...Kf8 was probably slightly better, although the king does not find a safe shelter on the kingside, since White can explode the structure with g5-g6 anytime.] 24. Rd2! Very strong and logical, activating the rooks. 24... Rc7 25. Rad1 N7b6 [25...N5b6 is met with the same unpleasant move as in the game.]

28...Nxd1 29. Rxd1 The h-pawn also falls. 29... Bxa2 30.Qxh6 Rc6 31.Qf4 Bc4 32.e4 White is ready to advance the h-pawn. Black is unable to create adequate counterplay. 32... Bb3 33. Rd2 a5 34.h5 Nc4 35. Rd3 a4 Black is se arching for counterplay on the queenside, but the b2 pawn is always indirectly protected by Qe5 check. White can continue focusing on his own plans and on how to make progress. 36.h6 The threat is Qg5 and Black has no good move. If he moves to the back-rank, h7 is decisive. On f6, Qg7 wins... Black parries this threat. 12


36... Rg6 It is quite sad that Black is forced to defend like this, but there was nothing better... White has many different wins, but Movsesian decides to finish the game in style. [36...Nxb2 37.Qe5++-]

(4) Caruana,Fabiano (2772) — Jobava,Baadur (2702) [A53] Loo RUS Loo RUS (3), 09.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Jobava is a great fighting player with a lot of swings. Sometimes, he manages to win a great game and sometimes he gets rather “crushed”. This time, Caruana rules the game. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3

37. Rd7+! Kxd7 38.Qxf7+ Kc6 39.Qxg6+ Kb5 40.Qg7! A great place for the queen. It protects b2, threatens with Qb7 and supports the h-pawn. 40...Nd6 41.Qd7+ Rc6 42.h7 Nf7 43.g5 Be6 The last move is also nice, but of course, everything else was equally good. 44.Qxc6+ and g6 next. Black resigned! A great game! 1–0

4... Bf5 Jobava likes to play this slightly strange looking move. Black’s idea is simple, not to allow White to play e4. It is also a provocation for White to play h3-g4, which is not necessarily good. 5.d5 I guess this is one of the most logical moves White can do. 5...Na6 6.Nd4 Bd7 7.e4 Nc5 8.f3 We are in a KID structure, but it seems to me that Black has just lost a tempo with Bf5-Bd7. On the other hand, the Black knight is already on c5 and his idea could be to play c6 without including e5. 13


8...a5 Securing the position of his knight on c5. 9. Be3 Bg7 10.Qd2 White is prepar ing to castle long, followed by Bh6-h4, and an attack on the Black king. 10...0–0 11. Be2 Caruana decides to keep both options open: to castle long or short after taking a look at what Jobava actually wants to do next. Anyhow, a move like Be2 is quite useful for White.

14.0–0–0 Ne6 15.g4 I think we can clearly see that White is completely dominating the game. Black has no play on the queenside and White is starting his play on the kingside. 15...b6 16.h4 Be8

17.Kb1! Also a good positional move. There is no reason for White to hurry with the action on the kingside. 11...e5 Black is starting his play, but, in my opinion, White/^s position looks clearly better. [Maybe 11...c6 could have been an option for Black. Still, Black would keep the e5 pawn and would check where will the White king castle.] 12.dxe6! Of course! To go away with the knight from d4 would simply make no sense. 12...fxe6 13.Ndb5 Very typical and strong. The a5 move by Black is useful to protect the knight/^s position on c5 (avoiding b4), but now he cannot do anything to get rid of the knight on b5, which is very unpleasantly placed. 13...e5 Of course, to have White’s e5 move in mind all the time is just terrible.

17...Kh8 18.Nd5 and Caruana starts his plan. Maybe 18. Rdg1 was a nice option as well, using the fact that Black has nothing to do... 18...Nxd5 19.cxd5 It is hard to give Black an advice, his position is really bad... 19...Nc5 [Black would end un not much better than in the game after 19... Bxb5 20. Bxb5 Nd4 21. Bxd4 exd4 22.f4! with a huge advantage for White!] 20.Nc3 Another nice move by Caruana. White prepares to the maximum before pushing h5. 20...a4 21.h5 Finally!

14


21...gxh5 22.gxh5 Bf6 Black’s position really looks bad. The main problem is that there is no counterplay at all, which leaves space for White to do whatever he wants. 23. Rdg1 For example, simply improving the position of his rook. 23... Bf7 24. Rg5 By bringing the rook to f5, White’s next f4 push will be much more effective. 24... Rg8 25. Rf5 Rg2 The first active move by Black.. . although it does not help anymore. 26.Qe1 Qe7 27. Bf1 Kicking away the Black rook from the 2nd rank.

30... Raf8 trying to cover the f-file, but it is too late... 31. Rxf6! A nice final blow. 31...Qxf6 32.fxe5 By capturing the dark-squared bishop and opening the diagonal a1–h8, White is taking away the last hopes from Black. 32...Qxe5 33. Rf5 and the White bishop is coming to d4. 33...Qh2 34. Bd4+ Rg7 There are a lot of winning moves here, but Caruana finishes the game with the most precise one.

27... Rgg8 28. Bb5 putting the bishop on an excellent position. White’s idea is easy: to play Qf2 followed by f4. 28... Bg5? This move is just losing. [More fighting was 28... Be8! 29. Bc6 Bd7 with, of course, a bad position for Black, however, things are by far not over.] 35.Qc1! The h6 threat is deadly. 35...Kg8 36. Bxg7 Kxg7 37.Qg5+ Kh8 38.h6 A great opening-middlegame victory by Caruana! 1–0

29.f4! now, even winning a tempo! 29... Bf6 [In case of 29... Bxf4 30. Rxf4 exf4 31. Bd4+ Rg7 32.h6 the position needs no commentaries.] 30. Rf1 Black is done... 15


Puzzle section

(7) Zoler,D (2553) — Postny,E (2635) Israelian Championship, 08.04.2013

(5) Boruchovsky,A (2445) — Smirin,I (2663) Israelian Championship, 06.04.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... -/+

(8) Kosic,D (2512) — Csonka,B (2326) (6) Rodshtein,M (2639) — Nabaty,T (2564) Israelian Championship, 08.04.2013 [CEWN]

Budapest, 07.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

16


(9) Blomqvist,E (2451) — Tikkanen,H (2574)

(11) Olszewski,M (2532) — Ghaem Maghami,E (2557)

Swedish league, 16.03.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... =

1... –+

(10) Agrest,E (2614) — Hillarp Persson,T (2556)

(12) Bogner,S (2558) — Ragger,M (2655)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

17


(13) Siebrecht,S (2479) — Jones,G (2641) German league, 07.04.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Morozevich,A (2756) — Jakovenko,D (2734) Russian league, 08.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

18


Endgame section (15) Frolyanov,Dmitry (2561) — Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2722) [B14]

56...Kf2 57. Rf8 White, of course, does not miss his chance to get the f4 pawn. 57... Rxb7 58. Rxf4+ Ke3

Loo RUS Loo RUS (1), 07.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

59. Rh4!! The only move that saves White! [Black would win after 59. Rf8? d3+ 60.Kc3 Rc7+ 61.Kb2 d2 and White has no “saving” checks on the h-file. 62. Re8+ Kf2 63. Rf8+ Ke1 64. Re8+ Kd1 We have a well known theoretical winning position.] After a big fight in the rook endgame, White managed to achieve a drawn position, although a few precise moves are still needed. Frolyanov plays the endgame part very accurately.

59...d3+ 60.Kc3 Rc7+ 61.Kb2 Rc2+ Black continues looking for practical chances. [It is not winning to play 61...d2 62. Rh3+ Kf2 63. Rh2+ Ke3 64. Rh3+ and Black cannot improve his position.]

53... Rd7 54.Kc2! A very important move! [In case of 54.Kd2? d3! White would be in zugzwang.]

62.Kb3 Rf2 63.Kc3! The easiest way to get a draw.

54... Rg7 [To play 54...d3+?! would make no sense for Black now. 55.Kd2 and the position is a simple draw. In case of 55...Kf2, 56. Rf8 and the f4 pawn is getting lost. Of course, 55...Kg3 ? is not possible because of 56. Rg8+ and b8Q.] 55.Kd3 Rd7 56.Kc2 The position was repeated once and Black is looking for his only chance.

63... Rc2+ 64.Kb3 Rg2 65.Kc3 Black has no more ideas left... 65... Rg3 [This also leads to an easy draw: 65...d2 66. Rd4 and White will go on with Rd3 next.] 66. Rh8 Ke2 67. Rh2+ Ke3 A great defense by White in a not very difficult endgame, but as we know, it is too easy to go wrong in an rookendgame! 1/2 19


(16) Bacrot,E (2705) — Tiviakov,S (2659) 06.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

pawn on the queenside because of the excellent placement of the b4 and c5 pawns. 48...Ke6 49. Bc4+ Ke7 50. Bf1 Bh3 is the threat, so Black is forced to play 50... Bf5! 51. Be2 A small tactical trick to win with Bxh5, but of course, Black parries it. 51...Ke6 52. Bc4+ Ke7

The following endgame is highly against the chess rules... White has all the advantages to have a won endgame, but it is drawn. His king is better and keeps the g6 pawn under attack, all the Black pawns are fixed on the light squares and the White bishop might attack them. The pawns on the queenside are also ideally placed from White’s point of view. The Black bishop has two tasks: it must hold the b1–g6 diagonal to avoid Bd3, winning the g6 pawn and also, when White plays Bf1 with the idea of Bh3-c8, it is obligatory to play Bf5. Usually, such endgames can be won via zugzwang, but here it does not help... 46.a4 Bb1 47. Bc4 Bc2 Black has an easy job, wasting time with the bishop. It is White’s turn to find a breakthrough.

53.a5!? White prepares to breakthrough with b5. This is a known motif in many endgames, it is worth to remember it! [53.b5 was the other option to make some progress. 53...a5 Black can lock the queenside. a) 53...cxb5!? 54.axb5 a5 is also possible. Suddenly, Black can also put his hopes on his passed pawn.; b) It is instructive that taking twice on b5 is losing. 53... axb5 54.axb5 cxb5 55. Bxb5

48. Be2 Black can never trade the a4 pawn for the one on g6, since it would lead to the loss of the h5 pawn as well. On the other hand, he is unable to create a passed

20


55... Bc2 Black gets into zugzwang after 56. Be2! Bf3 is the threat. 56... Be4 (56...Kd7 57.Bf3 Kc7 58.Bd5+- and Bf7 next.) 57. Bc4!+- Here is the zugzwang! The Black king cannot move, it either allows Bf7 or Kf6, while in case of bishop moves, Bd5 and Bd3 are decisive!; 54.b6 Creating the potential threat of Ba6, but Black gets counterplay. 54... Bc2! 55. Ba6 Bxa4 56. Bxb7 Kd7 and, suddenly, the a-pawn is more dangerous than the one on b6.] 53... Bc2 54.Kf4! Luring the Black king from the queenside in order to breakthrough successfully. Black cannot allow Ke5, so the next move is forced. [54. Be2 Bb1 55. Bf3 Bd3 Here might come the break with 56.b5 but unfortunately for White, the Black king is too close to the c-pawn. 56...cxb5! (56...axb5? 57.B xc6! would be the point. 57...bxc6 58.a6+- and the pawn promotes.) 57. Bxb7 b4 and Black is all right!]

56. Bf1 Bh3 is threatened. 56... Bf5 57.f4!+- Zugzwang! The bishop cannot control both Bh3 and Bd3, while the moves of the king allow Kf6 or Kd6.] 55.b5! axb5 56. Bxb5 Bf5! Only move. Otherwise, White could have taken on c6 followed by a6-a7. [56... cxb5? loses to 57.c6! bxc6 58.a6+- Here is another point of 54.Kf4: to control the e4 square.] 57. Bf1 Bd7 58.a6 bxa6 59. Bxa6 Black has defended successfully so far. There are only 3-3 pawns remaining, but Bacrot has set a very deep trap.

54...Kf6! [54... Bb1? easily loses after 55.Ke5 Bc2 59... Be6 60. Bf1 Bc8?! Black does not see the trap, but this is still not the final mistake. [60... Bb3! 61. Bg2 Ba4= followed by Bb5-a4 was an easy draw.] 21


61. Bg2

66. Bd7! Bd5

61... Bd7? It is very strange, but this most natural move is the decisive mistake. White wins now. [The extremely ugly 61... Bb7 followed by Ba8-b7 would have held the draw. White can create a zugzwang here... 62. Be4 Ba8]

67. Be8! This was the very hidden trap of Bacrot, and Black is lost! He cannot hold the h1–a8 diagonal, since Bg2 and Bh1 are met with f3, winning the c6 pawn.

62. Bf3 Be8 63. Be4 Bd7

68.Kg5 Be4 69.f4! Another zugzwang, which helps White to improve his king’s position.

67...Kg7 [67... Bh1 68.f3+-; 67...Ke7 68. Bxg6+-]

69...Kh7 70.Kf6 Kh6 71.Ke5 Bg2 72.Kd6 An instructive endgame. 1–0

64. Bg2! This is the first zugzwang! The king cannot be allowed on g5, since Be4 would win after all. Black must play 64... Be8 65. Bh3! Further squeezing the bishop with 65... Bf7 [65...Ke7 is refuted by 66.Kg5 Kf7 67. Bg2 Bd7 68. Be4+-] 22


Clash of the Titans (17) Petrosian,Tigran V (2645) — Reshevsky,Samuel Herman [E88] Tel Aviv Tel Aviv (9), 1964 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6. Be3 c6 Not the most popular line against the Saemisch. More often, Black plays [6...c5 with the idea of getting a Benoni structure. 7.d5 (7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 R xd8 9.B xc5 with a very well-known endgame where Black has good compensation for the pawn.) 7...e6 8.Qd2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 (9...Nbd7 is not accurate because of 10.Nh3!) 10.Nge2 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 with complex play.; 6...Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 Bd7 next and Black is waiting for the right moment to push e5.; 6...a6!? with the idea of getting a structure from the Benko Gambit. 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 b5!÷] 7. Bd3 e5 [7...a6 8.a4 (8.Nge2 b5 9.0–0 (9.b3 bxc4 10.bxc4 Without the b-pawns, Black should have good counterplay on the queenside.) 9...bxc4 10. Bxc4 d5 11. Bd3 dxe4 12.fxe4 e5! 13.dxe5 Ng4 with a good position for Black.) 8...a5 9.Nge2 Na6 10.Qd2 e5 11. Rd1 exd4 12. Bxd4 It seems that after including the a5-a4 moves, Black is fine because White’s queenside is weaker. On the other hand, White is very quick with the initiative on the d-file and on the kingside.] 8.d5 cxd5 9.cxd5

9...Na6 A normal move, although Black could also try to get some play on the otherside. [9...Nh5 10.Nge2 Qh4+ a) 10...Nf4 11.Nxf4 exf4 12. Bxf4 Qb6 13.Qd2 The idea is Be3. White should manage to escape from the center with the king.; b) 10...f5 11.exf5 (11.0–0 f4 12.Bf2 Bf6 with the typical idea of exchanging the bad bishop on the h4 square.) 11...gxf5 12.Qd2 White is slightly better. This typical idea does not work now: 12...e4 13.fxe4 f4 14.Nxf4 Qh4+ 15.g3 Nxg3 16.Qf2+-; 11. Bf2 Qg5 12.0–0 Bh3 13.Ng3 Bd7 At least, Black is trying do something on the kingside.] 10.Nge2 Bd7 11.0–0 Nc5 12. Bc2 Both players almost finished their development. Thanks to the improvement possibilities on the queenside and the bad bishop on g7, White is better. 12...a5 13.a3 White is trying to take the knight out from c5. 13...Qb6 [13...b5 14.b4 (14.B xc5 dxc5 15.a4 b4 16.Nb5 c4) 14...axb4 15.axb4 Na6 16. Rb1²]

23


14.Kh1 Rfc8 Black refused the typical plan with f5. The idea is to put the heavy pieces on the a- and c-files to get counterplay when White pushes b4. [14...Qxb2? 15. Rb1 Qxa3 16. Bc1+-] 15. Rb1 Qa6

16.a4! Good move! Petrosian sees that the Black pieces are ready to fight with b4 and decides to change his plan a bit. [16.b4 axb4 17.axb4 Na4 18. Bxa4 Bxa4 19.b5 Bxd1 20.bxa6 Bxe2 21.axb7 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 Re8 23.bxa8Q Rxa8 and one weakness on d6 will not be enough for White to win this position.; 16.Nc1 b5 17.Nd3 Nxd3 18. Bxd3 Qb7 19.Qe2 Rcb8 20. Rfc1²] 16...Qb6?! I do not like this move because it is very slow. Why not [16... Rab8 with the idea of pushing b5. 17.Nc1 (17.b4 axb4 18.R xb4 Qa5 19.Qb1 Bf8 20.Rc1 Be7 Black improves his bishop and gets a solid position.) 17...b5 18. Bxc5 dxc5 (18...R xc5 19.Bd3 and Black loses the pawn.) 19.axb5 Bxb5 20.Nxb5 Qxb5 21. Ba4 Qb6 White controls the light squares and can put the bishop on c6. Black should look for counterplay on the dark squares after c4; he should also activate his bishop on f8. Objectively, White has the advantage here.]

17.Nc1 Qd8 18. Bd3 The idea of White is to exchange the light-squared bishops. White could also play [18. Nd3!? b6 19.b4 axb4 20.Nxb4² and one of White’s ideas here can be Nc6 to sacrifice the pawn and get a strong initiative on the light squares.] 18...Ne8 [18...Qf8 19. Bb5 Bh6 20. Bg1²; 18...Nxd3 In my opinion, the best option for Black is 19.Nxd3 Ne8 with the idea of playing f5-f4 next and later g5-g4, with typical pressure on the kingside, which is more promising for Black if he keeps the light-squared bishop and White does not! We should also note that after f5, White has the idea exf5-gxf5, and now f4! to get control of the dark squares.] 19. Bb5 Bxb5 20.Nxb5 After the bishops’ exchange, Black will have weak light squares on the queenside. 20...Nc7

21.Na3! Strong move! Petrosian keeps at least one knight on the board, which will be needed to put pressure on the Black weaknesses of the queenside. 21...N7a6 22.Nd3 Bf6 23.Nxc5 Nxc5 24.Nb5 Ra6 A waiting move. Black protects the d6 pawn. 24


25. Ra1 Bg5 26. Bg1 Qd7 27. Ra3 Raa8 28. Rc3 b6 29.Qc2 The weak light squares and the pawn on d6 give White a long-term advantage. However, Black has pluses on the position as well: a strong knight on c5 and some possibilities to go back to the plan with f5. 29... Rf8 30. Rb1 preparing b4, which is the only plan for White. 43.Qc2 Petrosian does not hurry! First, he is going to put all his pieces on optimal squares. Black anyway has to wait. 43... Re8 44. Be3 Kg7 45.b4 The first concrete action.

30...f5 31.exf5 Rxf5? I think this is a huge strategic mistake! After the recapture on f5 wit the rook, White takes control of the important e4 square, so Black will not be able to create counterplay. [31...gxf5 32. Rc4 Rae8 and the Black pieces are well placed to fight.] 32. Rc4 Rff8 33.Nc3 Rac8 34. Re1 Qb7 35.h3 Qd7 36.Ne4 White transfers his knight to e4. With this, Black is not able to get anything on the kingside. Also, the exchange on e4 is impossible because of the weak b6 pawn and c6 square.

45...axb4 46. Rxb4 Bd8 47. Rcc4 h5?! Black’s position is very unpleasant, but this move is completely not necessary! Black weakened his position. White has an easier task in converting his advantage now. 48. Rb5 Rf8 49. Bc1! Black now has problems with the h6 square. 49... Ra6 50.Qd2 Rg8 [50... Rh8 51.f4 with the same break like in the game.]

36... Be7 Now the Black bishop is very limited. Reshevsky puts it on e7 to protect the weak b6 and d6 pawns. [36... Bh6 37. Rb1 b4 next] 37. Rc1 Ra8 38.Kh2 Qb7 39.Qd1 Qd7 40. Be3 Ra7 41. Bh6 Re8 42. R1c3 Rb8 25


51.f4! The second concrete action. White’s pieces are more active and ready to put pressure against the king. 51...Nxe4 52. Rxe4 Bf6 53.fxe5 [53. Bb2 Re8 54.fxe5 Bxe5+ 55. Bxe5+ dxe5 56. Rc4] 53... Bxe5+ 54. Rxe5 A practical decision. White now gets a strong attack on the dark squares. 54...dxe5 55.d6 Ra5 56. Rxb6 Rxa4 57.Qd5 [57.Qh6+ Kf6 58.Qg5+ Ke6 59.Qe3 With the unpleasant threat Qb3, and Rb7 next. 59... Rg7 60.Qb3+ Kf6 61.Qf3+ Ke6 62. Bg5+- Black is not able to hold this position.]

60...Kg8 61.Qxg6+ Qg7 62.Qxh5 Qd4 63.Qg6+ Rg7 This was Black’s idea. For the pawns sacrificed, Reshevsky tries to get the initiative thanks to his active pieces, but we will see that this was the wrong decision. 64.Qe6+ Kh7 65.Qh6+ Kg8 66.Qe6+ Kh7 67. Be3 Qh4 [67...Qd3 After this move, White has a nice winning variation. 68. Rb4

57... Ra7 58.Qxe5+ Kh7 59.Qg5?! Not accurate. White should play [59.Qe3 Qg7

68... Rxg2+ 69.Kxg2 Qe2+ 70.Kg3 Qe1+ 71.Kg4 Qxb4+ 72.Kh5 and White has a winning attack! 72...Qb5+ 73. Bg5+-]

60. Rb5 with the ide a of putting the queen on the b1–h7 diagonal (for example, on d3 or e4). Then, Black will have problems to avoid the Rxh5 threat because after Kh8, Bb2 would come.]

68.Qe5 Re8 69.Qf5+ Kg8 70. Bf2 Qc4 71. Rb2 Qc6 72. Bc5 Rf7 73.Qg4+ Rg7 74.Qc4+ White's pieces are consolidated now and his position is easily winning. Tigran Petrosian, the master of strategy, showed many important ideas and plans in this game. 1–0

59... Rf8? The decisive mistake! Black could still fight after [59...Qg7] 60.Qh6+ Now Black lost all his pawns.

26


Surprise section / study (18) Prokes [CEWN] 1. +-

27


Solutions

(20) Erdos,V (2636) — Mueller,M (2241) Neckar Open, 29.03.2013

(19) Dehlinger,A (2257) — Naiditsch,A (2706)

[Solutions]

Neckar Open, 29.03.2013 [Solutions]

13.exf6! Bxh3 [13...Nxf6 14.Kxg2+-] 14.fxe7 Qxe7 15.Qh5! 1–0 [15.Qh5 Bf5 16.Qxf5!+-] 34... Rxd5!! 35. Rxd5 Qxd5! 36.Qxa3?! [36.exd5 Rxe1+ 37.Qxe1 a2µ] 36...Qd2–+

28


(21) Solodovnichenko,Y (2559) — Klein,C (2430)

(22) Stukopin,A (2500) — Najer,E (2634)

Neckar Open, 30.03.2013

Moscow Championship, 31.03.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36. Rxg7+! [36.Qxf6?? Rd1+]

30...d4+! 31.Kxd4 Rb4+ 32.Kc3 [32.Ke5 Rf5+ 33.Kd6 (33.Kxe6 Rf6+–+) 33... Rd4+ 34.Kc7 Rc4–+; 32.Ke3 Re2+ 33.Kf3 Bb7!–+]

36...Kh8 [36...Kxg7 37.Qxf6+ Kg8 38.Qg7#] 37.Qxh5 Rxh5 38. Bxf6 1–0

32... Rc4+ 33.Qxc4 Bxc4 34.Kxc4 Rxc2+

29


(23) Horvath,A (2509) — Czebe,A (2492)

(25) Korneev,O (2609) — Granda Zuniga,J (2634)

Canberra Open, 01.04.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34. Rh8+!! Rxh8 35.Qxf7+ Qg7 36.Qf5+ Kg8 [36... Qg6 37. Rxe7++-]

23. Bxh7! [23. Rxf6? e5!]

37.Qc8+ 1–0[37.Qc8+ Kh7 38.Qxb7+-]

23...Qxh7 24.Qc3!! Qxc2 [24... Rxc2 25.Qxf6+ Qg7 26.Qxd8++-]

(24) Agdestein,S (2555) — Hammer,J (2629)

25.Qxf6+ Kh7 26.Qe7+ 1–0

Norwegian Open, 24.03.2013 [Solutions]

15.Qd4! Bxf3 16.Qxf6 Rg8 17.Qxf3+30


(26) Burmakin,V (2577) — Granda Zuniga,J (2634)

(27) Pozo Vera,S (2485) — Ramirez,A (2535)


Mexican Open, 29.03.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24... Rg3+! 0–1 [24... Rg3+ 25.hxg3 Qxg3+ 26.Qg2 Qxg2#]

33...Qb5!! 0–1 [33...Qb5 34.Qxf7 (34.Kg2 Qxd7–+) 34... Qf1#]

31


(28) Almeida Saenz,A (2339) — Gonzalez Zamora,J (2527) Mexican Open, 30.03.2013

(29) Koranyi [Solutions]

[Solutions]

1.c8Q+ Kb4 2.Qc4+!! Kxc4 [2...Ka5?? 3.Qc3+ Kb5 4.Qxf3+-] 21.Nd5+!! cxd5 22. Rxd5 Qxb2 [22...Qf4 23.Qa3+!+-]

3.g8Q+ Kb4 4.Qg2!! fxg2+ 5.Kxg2 Kc3 6.Kxh1 1/2

23.e5! Qb4+ [23... Rxg8 24.Qxf6++-] 24. Rd2! Qb1+ 25.Ke2 1–0

32

Weekly Newsletter



19th of April 2013

Some events came to an end, and a new one has begun!


2


3

»» Puzzle section

16


19


23

»» Solutions

24

The Russian Team Championship was won by the team of Saint Petersburg (Svidler, Vituigov, Dominguez, Movsesian, Efimenko, Zvjaginsev) .The second place went to Malakhit Chess Club (Karjakin, Grischuk, Mamedyarov, Shirov, Bologan, Malakhov, Raizantsev, Motylev). And Yugra arrived third (Jakovenko, Leko, Korobov, Dreev, Rublevsky, Khismatulin). In Dubai, nobody could stop Rakhmanov who won the tournament very convincingly with 7,5/9. The second place was shared by 8 guys, but it is worth mentioning the fantastic result of Ju Wenjun, a 22 years old Chinese female player who played almost at a 2700 performance! The Grand Prix in Zug has begun with a huge line up! 12 players from the Top 20 are fighting for the trophy and also the important qualification points for the next World Chess Championship. In the first round, we saw two decisive games. Caruana beat Radjabov (who continues his bad form) and Morozevich defeated Kasimdzhanov in a very good game. We can expect exciting and fighting chess in the next rounds! As usual, enjoy the issue Nr 60 of CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Shirov,Alexei (2700) — Dreev,Aleksey (2654) [B12] 20th TCh-RUS 2013 Loo RUS (6), 12.04.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A hard fought struggle. In such games, mistakes are unavoidable... 1.e4 c6 Dreev is faithful to his favorite Caro-Kann, while Shirov is also faithful to his and goes for one of the sharpest lines against it. 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Recently, this 4.Nf3 5. Be2 line is the most popular in the Advanced variation. Black can choose between numerous setups here. The sharpest lines are starting with 5...c5 or 5...Ne7 6.0–0 c5, but Dreev prefers to take a calm continuation against Shirov.

8.g4 Shirov has already played this move three times. Actually, I believe this is a bit too committing until the knight is able to retreat to e7, because Black gets quick counterplay with h5. [8.Nb3!? is the most common move and might also be the best move. White usually waits with some useful moves until Black puts his bishop on e7. Only then, he plays g4 and after the forced Nh4 Nxh4 Bxh4 f4, White gets some advantage.] 8...Ne7 [On 8...Nh4 White’s idea would be 9.Nxh4 Qxh4 10.f4 f5 11.Nf3! Qxg4+ 12.Kh1 and the queen has difficulties to leave from the cage. This is a standard motif in this line.] 9.Nh4 White takes the bishop pair, but Black gains strong counterplay against the g4 weakness. 9...c5! The typical break for Black to fight against the center. White must hold it with c3, otherwise, his position collapses. 10.c3

5...Ne7 6.0–0 Bg6 7.Nbd2 Nf5

10...Nbc6! Dreev knows very well the subtleties of this line. Black must take back with the knight on g6 in order to be able to play h5. So, the e7 knight should not 3


be touched. [10...Nec6?! happened in another game, but then White is fine after 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Nf3 followed by Be3 stabilizing the center. Black has no counterplay on the kingside and he must suffer long with his lack of space.] 11.Nxg6 Shirov improves his own game with this move. [11.Nb3 c4 12.Nd2 h5 13.g5 Nf5 14.Ndf3 Be7 happened in the Shirov-Jobava game, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. Black was more than fine here, but Shirov managed to win later on.; 11.Ndf3 would allow 11... Be4! and the h4 knight gets out of the game.] 11...Nxg6! Besides the h5 pawn, Black can also undermine the center with f6. 12.Nf3 Be7 A useful preparation before making a decision whether to play h5 or f6. 13.g5!? A slightly anti-positional move to give up the f5 square, but on the other hand, it is a good prophylaxis against h5. [13. Be3 could have been met by 13...cxd4 14.cxd4 h5 15.g5 Qb6 followed by transferring the knight to f5, for instance, after Bd8, Ne7.] 13...Qb6 [13...h6 is not so effective here. White can simply play 14.gxh6 gxh6 15. Be3 and Kh1, Rg1 in the next move. His king is safe and does not need to worry about the open g-file.] 14.h4 cxd4 15.cxd4

15...f6 The most direct and principled move to undermine the center. The rule also says that against a flank attack, one must open the center. [On the other hand 15... Bd8!? was also possible, freeing the e7 square for the knight in order to transfer it to f5. Black is all right here as well.] 16.exf6 White could not allow fxe5, which would have led to the collapse of his position. [The tactical test of the previous move was 16.h5 Nf8 17.h6 White seems to win as hxg7 is threatened, and on gxh6 gxf6 creating a protected passed pawn, Black has the very important 17... Rg8! 18.hxg7 Rxg7 19.exf6 Bxf6 and the undermining of the center was successful. Black is better.] 16...gxf6 17. Bd3 [17. Re1 was logical, with the idea of Bf1–h3, pressing the e6 pawn, but Shirov was probably afraid of 17...fxg5 18.hxg5 Bb4! A retreat to f1 is too ugly, while Bd2 gives up the control over the very important f4 square. 19. Bd2 0–0–0 (19...0–0!? is also good.) ] 17...fxg5 18. Re1 Shirov tries to act while the Black king is in the center. 18...0–0–0?! [Black could have simply taken with 18... Nxh4 as he can escape with his king via 0–0–0 whenever 4


he wants. White seems to be in danger after this move, since it also removes the guard of the d4 pawn. 19.Nxg5 0–0–0µ] 19. Rxe6 White is back in the game! 19...Qc7 Leaving from the pin, but it is too slow. [The difference to the previous line is that after 19...Nxh4 White has 20.Ne5! and the Black king is also unsafe. In any case, Black should have opted for this line.] 20.Nxg5

21. Rxe7!? A good move! White wins the d4 knight after Qg4, but the position remains unclear because of the weak White king. [However 21. Bxg6! was even stron ger. It would be interesting to know what the players had calculated here. It looks like White wins quite easily in all the lines. 21...Nxe6 (21...hxg6 22.Qxd4+-; 21...B xg5 22.B xg5 N xe6 23.Rc1 Nc5 24.Qg4+ Kb8 25.Bf4+-) 22.Nxe6+White ends up with a big material advantage.] 21...Nxe7 22.Qg4+ Qd7 [22...Kb8? would run into 23. Bf4!] 23.Qxd4 Black needs to waste an important tempo to defend the a7 pawn. 23...Nc6 Shirov had already foreseen his great 26th move, so he goes for the following queen maneuver/\ 24.Qf4 Bf5 is threatened, so the next move is forced again.

20...Nxd4? White gets the upper hand after this mistake. [20...Nxh4! was the only move! It is a bit strange that Dreev missed this for the 3rd time in a row. Anyway, in this case, it was very difficult to calculate the lines precisely. 21.Qg4 (21.Rh6 looks strong at first sight with the multi-threats of Rxh4, Qg4, Ne6 and Nf7, but Black is alive after some strong moves. 21...B xg5! 22.B xg5 Rdg8! It looks like this blunders a piece, but... 23.Qg4+ Kb8 24.Qxh4 Qg7! is the point and on f4, Qxd4 wins back the bishop, while after 25.Qg3+ Ka8 26.f4? Qxh6 is the key!) 21...Qd7! The only move again. 22.Qxh4 Qxe6 23.Nxe6 Bxh4 24.Nxd8 Kxd8= with a balanced endgame.]

24... Rdf8 25.Qg3 h6 Black seems to be all right as the knight cannot move because of Rg8. However, Shirov prepared a brilliant move! 26. Be2!! It is not easy to find such ideas because you are always searching for ways to finally finish the development of the c1 and a1 pieces, while at the same time, your weak king worries you. Black cannot avoid Bg4, but the game is not over... 26...hxg5 27. Bg4 Rf5 28. Bxg5 Finally, the position has simplified a bit and White ended up with an extra pawn, but Black can still hope for counterplay against the weak king on g1. It also makes the advance of the h- and fpawns more difficult.

5


28... Rhf8 29. Rc1 b6! Giving air to the king. Black intends to play Kb7 next. 30. Bxf5 Rxf5

37...Qd8! Looks like a forced repetition, but White is winning... 31.f4! White fortifies his bishop and is ready to push the h-pawn. 31...Kb7 32.h5 Nd4 Black must urgently search for counterplay with the knight.

38.Qg2?! [38.Qh4!! Rxg5+ (38...Qxg5+ 39.Qxg5 R xg5+ 40.Kh2+- The rook endgame is hopeless for Black, as the h-pawn is too strong.) 39. Rg3! Rxg3+ 40.Qxg3 White can support his h-pawn with his queen from g7, but it is very strange and surprising that Black cannot give perpetual check...

33. Re1 Preventing Ne2. On the other hand, Re7 is not a threat yet because of Qxe7 and Ne2. White simply wants to push h6. The bishop on g5 excellently prevents Black’s counterplay. 33...Ne6 34.h6 Nxg5 35.fxg5 Qd8! Dreev finds the only chance. Both players were in serious time trouble at this moment, after playing such a difficult middlegame. This explains the forthcoming mutual mistakes. 36. Re5! Qc7! 37. Re3!

40...Qe8 41.Qg7+ Ka6 42.h7 A human feeling dictates that this must be a perpetual, but the computer simply calculates all the lines and hides his king behind the dpawn... 42...Qe1+ 43.Kg2 Qe2+ 44.Kg3 Qe3+ 45.Kh4 (Of course not 45.Kg4?? Qg1+) 45...Qf4+ 46.Kh5 Qf5+ 6


47.Kh6 No more good checks for Black. White is going to the queenside now. 47...Qh3+ 48.Kg6 Qe6+ (48...Qg4+ 49.Kf6 Qd4+ 50.Kf7 Qf4+ 51.Ke6+-) 49.Kg5 Qe3+ 50.Kf6 Qd4+ 51.Kf7+- and soon the checks are over.]

(2) Yemelin,V (2588) — Hasangatin,R (2496) [B29]

38... Rxg5? spoiling the chance to save the game. [38... Qc7! with the threat of Qc1. White cannot win, for instance, after 39. Rg3 Qe5 40.h7 Qd4+ 41.Kh1 Rf2 42.Qxf2 Qxf2 43.h8Q Qxg3= and this queen endgame is a different story compared to the one examined in the 38.Qh4 line.]

What can be stronger than a direct attack?! We will see this once again in the furious attack put forth by Yemelin in the game from the recent Russian Team Championship.

39. Rg3 Re5 [39... Rxg3 transposes to the 38.Qh4 line.]

20th TCh-RUS 2013 Loo RUS (7), 13.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 This tricky move was quite popular a couple of years ago. I played it myself against Leko, but lately, White found quite an easy and solid refutation.

40. Rg7+ White starts to pursue the king and, of course, the h-pawn is still a strong “reserve”. 40...Kc6 41.Qc2+ Kd6 White can choose between many wins from now on. Shirov converts the win easily. [41...Kb5 42.a4+ Ka6 43.Qd3+ Qb5 mate in the next move.] 42. Rg6+ Re6 [42...Ke7 43.Qc6+- Too many threats.] 43.Qh2+ Kc5 [43...Kd7 44.Qh3+-] 44. Rxe6 Qg8+ 45.Kf1! [Black resigned after this last precise move, since after 45.Kf1 Qxe6 46.h7! White promotes a new queen and all the checks that Black can give are met by the countercheck on f2. 46...Qf5+ 47.Qf2+ A very tough game!] 1–0

3.e5! The best. [3.Nc3 d5 leads to quite an unclear position.] 3...Nd5 4.Nc3 forcing Black to take a hard decision. 4...Nxc3 [The other main line for Black is 4...e6 5.Nxd5 exd5 6.d4 but White has a better play here as well.] 5.dxc3 White’s idea is simple, to use his big development advantage. 5...Nc6 6. Bf4 Defending the e5 pawn and planning to castle queenside.

7


6...Qc7 7.Qe2 e6 8.0–0–0 Rb8?! looks like a bad move to me. Black should be very careful here in order not to get immediately in trouble. [8...b6 followed by a quick Bb7 and queenside castle gives Black more or less a normal position. Anyhow, I would not advice anybody to go for this position.] 9.Ng5!? Very interesting move! White is provoking weaknesses in the Black pawn structure. 9...f6 [The main point of the move 9.Ng5 can be seen after 9...h6 10.Ne4! using the moment when Black cannot take on Nxe5?. 10...Nxe5? 11.Nd6+! finishes the game. 11... Bxd6 12. Rxd6 Qxd6 13. Bxe5 and White will take the rook on b8 next.] 10.Nf3 White has done his job, created a weakness in Black’s pawn structure. 10... Be7 11.Qe3 forcing Black to play f5. 11...f5

12. Rg1! and Yemelin plays very strongly again, by not losing any time and preparing the direct attack with g4.

12...h6 Black is trying to stop White from playing g4 because of the g5 threat. 13.g4! Exactly! White sacrifices a piece for the attack, which is very logical if we look at the clearly undeveloped Black pieces, and especially the bishop on c8. 13...g5 14.gxf5 exf5 [It does not help to play 14...gxf4 and White plays the precise 15.Qe4! exf5 16.Qxf5 with a mating attack.] 15. Rd6 Yemelin continues in attacking mode, but maybe it was time to make a calm “killing” move. [15.Qd3! would finish the game on the spot. In case of 15...gxf4, 16.Qxf5 and Black cannot defend such a position. At 15... Rf8 16. Bd2, White would not have any sacrificed material for the great attack — which would mean “the end” for Black.] 15...Qa5 After this, White is crushing! [More chances would give 15...gxf4 16.Qxf4 Rf8 and even though White’s attack is very strong, Black still has some chances to fight back in the game.]

16.Nxg5!! Just a great move! White is walking over the Black defensive lines. 8


16...hxg5 17. Bxg5 Qxa2 It seems like Black got some counterplay, but it comes too late. 18. Bxe7 Nxe7 How to continue the attack?! 19.e6!! Fantastic move! Before going for Rg7, White is opening one more line and closing the queen from a2, because it could go to f7 in some cases. 19...dxe6 20. Rg7! The last exact calculation by Yemelin, who is sacrificing the bishop on f1 to mate the Black king.

(3) Ganguly,S (2623) — Rakhmanov,Ale (2591) [A54] 15th Dubai Open 2013 Dubai UAE (4.5), 10.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Rakhmanov, the eventual winner of the Dubai Open with 7.5/9 managed to win a really great attacking game against the very solid Ganguly. Let us take a look if all was as correct as it seems from the first view.

20...Qa1+ 21.Kd2 Qxf1 22.Qg5! All moves are forced.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 Black is trying to quickly take White out of his opening preparation.

22...Qxf2+ 23.Kc1 Black has no other defense than to give his queen away.

3.Nc3 [Often White chooses 3.Nf3 in order not to allow Black to go for the 3...e5 line, but it is a matter of taste]

23...Qe1+ 24. Rd1 Qxd1+ 25.Kxd1 White got a queen for a rook and 2 pieces, which would mean a material advantage for Black, but White’s attack is still not over and the Black pieces are still badly coordinated.

3...e5 4.Nf3 Nc6 Quite a rare move. Now we are getting into the KID structures with Black’s knight on g6.

25...Nc6 26.Qg6+ With checks, White brings his queen to a perfect position on f7. 26...Kd8 27.Qf6+ Ke8 28.Qf7+ Kd8 29.Qc7+ Ke8 30.Qf7+ Kd8 31.h4! Great finish move. Black cannot do anything against White’s h5-h6-h7-Rg8. A really fantastic game by Yemelin!

5.d5 Ne7 6.e4 White has covered all the center and this looks pretty good to me. 6...Ng6 [An attempt to get back to the KID structure could lead to a worse position for Black. 6...g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.g4 White is prepared against the main Black plan: to play 0–0, Nd7 and f5, and that means that White is doing better here.]

1–0

9


7.g3! Very typical and strong, cutting the Black knight on g6. 7...Be7 8.Bg2 0–0 9.0–0 As we can see, White got a very nice position out of the opening. Black’s main idea still is to play f5, but White has quite a few options. To break through with c5 clearly remains as a main idea, but the plan with Ne1–Nd4 and f4 could be an interesting one. 9...a5 Black is preparing against White’s invasion on the queenside. 10.h3?! White is preparing the Be3 move, but is it really necessary?! [10.Ne1 followed by Nd3 and White’s position looks very nice.] 10...Ne8 Black’s only hope is the f5 move. 11. Be3 and I do not think there was the need for Be3. 11...f5 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Kh2 Another strange move. [In any case, White needs to bring his knight from f3 to the e4 square, so why not to do it immediately? 13.Nd2 Qd7 14.Kh2 followed by Nde4 and I think White should be doing a bit better. The Black knight on g6 is horribly placed.]

16...Nh7 17.Nde4 Bg5 Exchanging the bad e7 bishop is a good idea. 18.Nxg5 Nxg5 19.a3 starting the main plan. 19...Qf6 It is clear that White is positionally much better, but Black still got some counter chances on the King side. Additionally, Black’s pawn structure is very solid and hard to break. 20.Qd2 A solid looking move turns into a disaster! [It would not be careful to play 20.b4? Nf4! and Black is back. 21.gxf4 exf4 Black is winning the piece back with a better position.; 20.f3! This would have been the right way to go on for White. No more tricks with Nf4, and White just wants to play Ne4 next. I would not have liked to be in Rakhmanov’s shoes here. Probably Black still has good drawing chances, but nothing more. And still, Black has his main problem: the very bad knight on g6.]

13...h6!? A nice move by Black with quite a deep positional idea of bringing the Black knight over h7 to g5, intending threats to the White king. 14.Qe2 White keeps his solidity. 14...Nf6 15.Nd2 b6 Blocking White’s c5 move just in case, but I am not sure if it was worth losing a full tempo. Maybe 15...Nh7 directly was a better choice. 16.b3 White is preparing the main idea: to play a3, b4 and then c5. The b3 move is necessary. In case of 16.a3, a4! is strong.

20...Nxh3!! A really fantastic move which required a very precise and deep calculation! I guess it was like a thunder out of nowhere for Ganguly. 21. Bxh3 Bxh3 22.Kxh3 Of course, White needs to accept the sacrifice. 10


22...Qf5+ 23.Kh2 The only move. [Of course, this is bad: 23.Kg2? Nh4+! and Black has a mating attack.] 23...Qh5+ 24.Kg1 Rf3!? Quite optimistic, but very interesting play by Black. [The easy move would have also been the correct one here. 24...Nh4! 25.f4 White has nothing better. 25...Nf3+ 26. Rxf3 Qxf3 27.Qf2 Qg4 and we have a very unclear position.] 25.Ne2? It is not that easy to give an advice for White, but there was no reason to get worse. A piece up is a piece up. [To a funny draw would lead 25.Qc2 Raf8 26.Qe4 It seems like White has transferred his queen to a perfect position, but Black has the very strong 26... R8f4! Beautiful move 27. Bxf4 Nxf4 Black wants to give a perpetual check and White is hopeless against it. 28. Rac1 Nh3+ 29.Kg2 Nf4+ with a draw.] 25... Raf8 26.Kg2 Qg4 Black has consol idated all his pieces on the kingside, and moves like Nh4 might be deadly for White. 27. Rh1 defending against Nh4, but here comes the other hammer of Black.

28. Bxf2 Qf3+ White is a full rook up, but has a lost position! The White king is in big danger and the uncoordinated White pieces make the attack of Black even more dangerous. 29.Kh2 [It loses on the spot to play 29.Kh3 Rf5 followed by Rh5 mate.] 29...Qxf2+?! Not the most precise. [Also here 29... Rf5! 30.Ng1 is the only defensive idea for White. 30... Rh5+ 31.Nh3 It seems like White got everything under control, but the “bad” knight on g6 is playing his deadly role finally. 31...Nf4!! The game is over! White cannot defend against Rxh3 without losing all his material.] 30.Kh3 Black is repeating the position once before taking the right path. 30...Qf5+ 31.Kh2 Qf2+ 32.Kh3 Rf5! The same idea in a slightly different position. 33.Qd3 Ganguly tries to hold things together. 33... Rh5+ and Black is repeating twice the position again to gain some time, probably during time trouble. 34.Kg4 Rg5+ 35.Kh3 Rh5+ 36.Kg4 Rg5+ 37.Kh3 e4! Strong! The Black knight is going to take a fantastic place on e5. 38.Qxe4 Rh5+ Once again, Black is winning some time by repeating the moves before the time control. 39.Kg4 Rg5+ 40.Kh3 Ne5! Of course, there will be no draw. Rh5 is coming next

27... Rxf2+!! Now the position is getting super forced!

41.g4 h5 Rakhmanov chooses a “pretty” way to finish White. [The easy 41... Rxg4 42.Qxg4 Nxg4 was also winning for Black.] 11


42.Ng3 hxg4+ 43.Kh4 And Rakhamov continues showing great tactical skills.

(4) Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2722) — Yudin,Sergei (2548) [D31] 20th TCh-RUS 2013 Loo RUS (7), 13.04.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Tomashevsky is a very deep positional player, but as the game shows, he is very strong in dynamic chess as well. 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c6

43... Rh5+!! A very pretty mate! 44.Kxh5 Qf7+ 45.Kh4 Qf6+ 46.Kh5 Qh6# All in all, it was not a great game, but it had a very pretty mating attack. And we could see that, even in a “calm” position, there are many ways to get quickly in trouble. 0–1

4.e4 This is the sharpest challenge of Black’s opening handling. This move is based on a pawn sacrifice for quick development. 4... Bb4 Black tries to lead the game to more calm areas. [The main lines start after 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ with thousands of games in the database.] 5. Bd2!? An interesting alternative to the main 5.cxd5 and 5.e5. White would like to transpose to the previous line after 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4, but here Black has another option to win the d4 pawn. 5...dxc4 6. Bxc4! White gives a pawn for quick development. The old rule says that two tempi in the opening are 12


worth a pawn. [After 6.Nf3 Black could simply protect his extra pawn with 6...b5!]

N xf6? 14.exf6+- wins a piece.) 14. Rxd2 with more than enough compensation for the pawn.]

6...Qxd4 7.Qe2 White needs to protect his bishop before playing Nf3, but it is not a waste of tempo, since the queen is ideally placed on e2.

11. Bb3 Black has refrained from castling for some reason during the entire game. At the beginning, he preferred to make some useful moves instead, and later on it was already too late. [11. Bg5 was also possible, trying to play more concretely. The idea is that after 11...0–0 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13.e5 Be7 and now he will focus on the attack against the king. 14. Rd4 switching the rook to g4.(Or 14.Bd3 is also dangerous.) ]

7...Qd8 Otherwise, White might win some more tempi by attacking the queen. For instance, if the queen retreats to b6, it might move into Be3 improving the bishop, or to Na4 tactical tricks, when Black cannot take on d2 with check.

11...Qc7 [On 11...0–0 Tomashevsky was probably intending to play 12. Bg5 Black has difficulties to leave from the pin along the d-file. For instance, Qc7 runs into e5, winning the e7 bishop. 12...Ne8 13. Bf4! Any kind of exchange would just ease Black’s position, so White keeps his bishop. Black has a very unpleasant position.] 12. Rfe1 Improving the last piece. We will see in many lines later on that the rook is very well placed on e1.

8.Nf3 Black has a healthy extra pawn, but he has only developed his bishop in comparison to White’s five pieces. 8...Nd7 9.0–0 Ngf6 10. Rad1 White simply activates his pieces. 10... Be7 A sad necessity. Black had to lose another tempo to make castling possible. A useful move. White leaves from the b5-b4 tempo. [10...0–0?! would allow the tactical blow 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxd5 Bxd2 13.Nf6+! This intermediate check is the point and Black is forced to weaken seriously the pawn structure in front of his king. 13...gxf6 (13...

12...h6 Black delays castling another move. He would like to avoid the Bg5 ideas, which we have examined in the previous lines. [12...0–0 should have been played, even though White gets a great position after 13.e5 Nd5 14. Bc2! with many dangerous attacking possibilities. For instance, Qe4, Bg5, Ne4-g5 and h4-h5.] 13.e5 White could not improve his position anymore, so it is time to go for some concrete measures. 13...Nd5

13


16...Nd5 [16... Bd7 could be met by 17.Qg4 g6 18.Nxe6! Bxe6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20.Qxe6 with an enormous attack, which Black can hardly hold in a practical game. 20...Nd5 21.Qxg6+ (21.Qxd5? falls into a trap: 21...Rd8!) 21...Kd8 22. Rf3 followed by Rf7.]

14. Rc1! An excellent move! The different kind of threats with a double capture on d5, or Bxd5 followed by Nb5, forces Black to take on c3. However, this also helps White to improve his rook, as it can be switched anytime to a kingside attack along the 3rd rank.

17. Rg3 Tomashevsky wants to provoke the g6 weakness before taking on d5. [17. Bxd5!? exd5 18.e6 was also good. Black can hardly hold all the threats. 18...0–0 19.Nf5 Bxe6

14...Nxc3 [On 14...Qd8 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.Nd4! followed by Qg4 with a strong attack.] 15. Rxc3! Nb6 20.Nxg7! Kxg7 21. Rg3+ and Black should sacrifice his queen, otherwise, he will get mated. 21...Kh7? 22.Qd3+ Kh8 23. Bc3+ f6 24.Qg6+-] 17...Qb6 [17...g6 18. Bxd5 cxd5 (18...exd5 19.e6! has even bigger power than in the 17. Bxd5 line.) 19.Nb5 followed by Rc1 with a huge advantage.]

16.Nd4! White intends to play Qg4 or Rg3. Castling kingside would be already equal to suicide, but staying in the center is also not a great decision for the king against such pieces.

18. Bxd5! The right decision based on good calculation. Black has problems wherever he takes. 18...cxd5 [18...exd5 19.e6! is the end of the game.; 18... Qxd4 was probably the best practical chance, although it is also very bad for Black after 19. Bb3 g6 20. Ba5! An important move to avoid the fast Bd7 and 0–0–0. 20... 14


Bd7 (20...b6 21.Rd1 Qc5 22.Bc3 also looks awful for Black. After the b6 weakness, the Bd7 0–0–0 plans always run into Qa6.) 21. Rd1 Qc5 22.Qd2! and the bishop must sadly retreat to c8.] 19. Be3! Bc5 [19...Qc7 leads to a spectacular finish 20.Nb5! Qxe5 21.f4 Qb8 Otherwise, Nc7. 22. Rc1! Forcing Black to castle into mate. 22...0–0 The attack breaks through after (22...Bd8? 23.R xc8! Qxc8 24.Nd6++-) 23.Qh5! Kh7 24. Bd4 g6 25.Qxh6+! Kxh6 26. Rh3+ Bh4 27. Rxh4# It would have been a pleasure to finish the game like this.] 20. Rd1 White is ready to take on g7 again, and 0–0 still does not work because ofBxh6. 20...g6

stance 24. Rxg6 fxg6 25.Qf3+ and mate on f6 or f7 next move. 25...Ke7 26.Qf6#; 23...Kg7 is met by 24.Qf3+-] 24.b4 Trying to lure the queen from the e5 pawn in order to use the queen more effectively. [24.Qf3 was also winning, of course.] 24...Qd5 [24...Qxb4 25.Qf3+-] 25. Rg4 White simply restores the material balance and he keeps all his advantages. 25...b5 26. Rgxd4 Qc6 27.Qxb5 White does not want to mate his opponent. He is satisfied with an easy technical win. 27...Qxb5 28.Nxb5 Kg7 29.Nd6 Bd7 30.Nxf7 A nice game! I do not recommend anybody to repeat this line arising after Qxd4 Qe2 with Black. 1–0

21.Nb5! White installs his knight to d6, from where it is pressing the f7 pawn. White can increase this by Qf3 or Rf3. The end is near. 21...Kf8 22. Bxc5+ Qxc5 23.Nd6 d4 White can choose between various wins from now on. Tomashevsky plays the simplest one. [23... Bd7 One of the wins here is, for in-

15


Puzzle section

(7) Tkachiev,V (2632) — Svetushkin,D (2588) Balagne rapid, 14.04.2013

(5) Miton,K (2628) — Duda,J (2497) Polish Championship, 14.04.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Ghaem Maghami,E (2561) — Karavade,E (2389) (6) Svetushkin,D (2588) — Tkachiev,V (2632) Balagne rapid, 14.04.2013 [CEWN]

Dubai Open, 13.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

16


(9) Kuzubov,Y (2619) — Sachdev,T (2409)

(11) Rakhmanov,A (2591) — Naranayan,S (2440)

Dubai Open, 11.04.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Aravindh,C (2333) — Iordachescu,V (2599)

(12) Volkov,S (2593) — Vishnu,P (2470)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

17


(13) Gunina,V (2510) — Gaponenko,I (2397) Russian Women league, 10.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Khismatullin,D (2640) — Korneev,O (2609) Russian league, 13.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. 

18


Endgame section

37.Qxe6 fxe6

(15) Rublevsky,S (2688) — Yemelin,V (2588) Russian league, 09.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

38. Bf2! Occupying the very important g1–a7 diagonal. The bishop supports well the a-pawn and also prevents Black/^s defensive idea to play Bc5.

There is material equality on the board, but the White pieces are clearly dominating and Black has some weaknesses as well. Black must look for salvation in some active counterplay! 34... Rb8! Counterattacking the b4 pawn. [The passive 34...f6 allows White to regroup his bishop. 35. Bf2 followed by Bc5, getting rid of the bishop that keeps the position together.]

38... Rb1+ [The Black passed pawn is behind its colleague on the a-file... 38...c5 39.a5! c4 (Waiting passively does not lead to anything good for Black. 39...Ra4 40.a6 Ra2 41.a7 Be7 42.Be3+- followed by the transfer of the king to the queenside with a slow but sure win. Black can never push his c-pawn, since it allows Rc8 and a8Q.) 40.a6 c3 41.a7 c2 42. Rc8+- White either wins the c-pawn or makes a new queen.] 39.Kh2 Rb2 40. Bg1 White is ready to advance his apawn.

35. Rxa6 Rxb4 36. Ra8 White is ready to advance his a-pawn. It runs fast, so Black must find out something clever... 36...Qe6 Trading the excellently placed d5 queen is completely justified even if it destroys the healthy pawn structure. 19


40... Rc2! Great defensive resource. Black intends to transpose into a rook endgame. White cannot avoid it. 41.a5 Bc5! 42. Bxc5 Rxc5 43.a6 Ra5 Here we are! The material is still even, but White clearly has all the right to play for a win because of the weak Black pawns. The White king has access to the pawns and in a good moment, the rook is also ready to go to e8 and collect two pawns in exchange of the a-pawn. However, the rule is true here again: all the rook endgames are drawn. 44.Kg3 The king is heading to g4-h5. 44... Ra2 Preventing Kg4. This forces White to advance his pawn to the 7th rank. There is no other way to make progress. 45.a7! We have reached the critical position form Black’s point of view. There is only one way to make a draw here, while there are three alternatives. Black can either try to prevent the king’s penetration with h5; or avoid White’s main idea of collecting the e-pawns with Re8 by playing Kf7; or create counterplay as fast as possible by advancing the c-pawn. As we will see, only the last option saves him... [After 45.Kg4 it is important to play 45...Kg6! and White is forced to retreat with the king because of the mate threat.(45...R xg2+? 46.Kh5 Rg3 47.a7+- Black cannot create a mate threat.)]

45...Kf7? [45...c5! is the right decision. 46. Re8! This is the best chance and what Black was afraid of. (46.Kg4 It makes no sense to give up the g2 pawn. 46...R xg2+ 47.Kh5 Ra2 White cannot make progress here.) 46... Rxa7 47. Rxe6 White wins a pawn, but Black is in time to get his rook behind his passed pawn! 47... Rc7! 48. Rxe5 (48. Kf2 might stop the pawn, but 48...c4 49.Ke1 c3 50.Kd1 allows Black to activate his rook. 50...Rd7+ and Rd2 next gives Black an easy draw.) 48...c4 49. Rd5 c3 50. Rd1 This time, it is White who is forced back to passivity and as we know, in rook endgames, activity is usually more important than the amount of pawns. This allows Black to save the game here. Still, it requires some precise moves. 50...Kf6 51.Kf2 Rb7 Going for counterplay against the g2 pawn. 52.Ke3 Rb2 53.g4 Rh2 and Black holds the draw. An illustrative line: 54. Rd6+ Kg7 55. Rc6 c2 56.e5 Kf7 57.Kd3 Rf2! 58. Rxc2 (58.Ke4 White cannot make progress here. The c2 pawn stops his plans.) 58... Rxf3+ 59.Ke4 Rxh3=; 45...h5? is the worst for Black. Actually it just helps White because of 46.h4! gxh4+ 47.Kxh4 winning the h5 pawn. The Black rook and king cannot move because of the a7 pawn.] 46.Kg4 Black is lost as the following lines demonstrate: 20


46... Rxg2+ [46...c5? runs into the known motif 47. Rh8! Rxa7 48. Rh7++-; 46...Kg7 is not the same as what we saw in the 45...c5 line. 47.g3 Ra3 48. Re8! Rxa7 49. Rxe6 and Black cannot get his rook behind the c-pawn. 49...c5 50. Rc6! Depriving Black from his counterplay with Rc7! The e5 pawn will be taken by the king later on. 50... Ra5 51.h4! gxh4 52.gxh4+- White wins. The plan is to push h5, fixing another weakness on h6, and then to play Kf5.]

(16) Skatchkov,P (2485) — Vokarev,S (2454) [D90] 20th TCh-RUS 2013 Loo RUS (6), 12.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

47.Kh5 Ra2 48.Kxh6 The g5 pawn is falling as well, which creates another passed pawn for White. 48... Ra1 49.Kxg5 Ra2 26...h5 This is a grandmaster game and we see a completely drawn position. Now we take a look at the result 0–1, and it is not a mistake. Let us take a look at how this happened. 27. Rb8 The exchange of rooks brings the draw even closer. 50.Kh6 Black cannot create any counterplay, he is forced to wait, while White can advance his h-pawn. 50... Ra1 51.h4 Ra2 52.h5 Ra1 53.Kg5 White threatens to push h6, and h7 cannot be prevented because Kg6 allows Rg8 and a8Q. 53...Kg7 54.h6+ Kh7 55.Kf6! Black resigned because he will lose all his pawns. Another instructive rook endgame. 1–0

27... Rxb8 28. Bxb8 f5 The position is a total draw. The only way to lose is to blunder a pawn or maybe even a bishop. 29.Kg2 Kf7 30.Kf3 g5 31.h3 g4+ 32.hxg4 hxg4+ 33.Kg2 Black managed to advance his pawns a little bit, but of course, it does not matter at all — the position is still a total draw. 33...e5 34. Ba7 Ke6 35.f3 To exchange one more pawn is not a bad idea, but now Black gets theoretical chances to win. [To a safer draw would lead 35.e3 Kd5 36.Kf1 Ke4 37.Ke2 and Black has no ideas to play for a win.] 21


35...e4 36.fxe4 fxe4 37.Kf2 Kd5 The position is still a draw, but now it is time for White to be slightly careful. Black wants to put his bishop on d4 and get his king to d1, which would not help much of course, but at least gives some practical chances.

40...e3! and the game is over. The line 41.Ke1 Kc3 42.Kd1 Kb2! gives Black the full point. It is really amazing! Probably, this is one of the most shocking mistakes I have ever seen on a GM level. It is never too late to blunder something “huge” in a practical game! 0–1

38. Bb6?? What a shocking move! White blunders the only threat Black has. 38... Bd4+! Black is using his chance! 39. Bxd4 Kxd4 and we can suddenly see that this pawn endgame is just lost! 40.Kf1 [This does not save the game anymore. 40.Ke1 Ke3! White is in zugzwang. 41.Kf1 Kd2 42.Kf2 e3+ 43.Kf1 Kd1 Black will capture the e2 pawn.]

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Surprise section / study (17) Zevers [CEWN] 1. =

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Solutions

(19) Rodshtein,M (2639) — Nabaty,T (2564) Israelian Championship, 08.04.2013

(18) Boruchovsky,A (2445) — Smirin,I (2663)

[Solutions]

Israelian Championship, 06.04.2013 [Solutions]

33...Qg2+? [33...g5!! 34.fxg6 (34.Be6+ Kd8–+) 34... Qh5+–+] 27... Rg8!! [27...Qxg4 28.Qf6+ Kf8 29.Qh8²]

34.Kg4 Qe2+ 1/2:1/2

28.Qxg8 [28. Rxf4 Rxg7µ] 28...Qxg4 29.Qg7 Qf4 30.g6 Rf8

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(20) Zoler,D (2553) — Postny,E (2635)

(21) Kosic,D (2512) — Csonka,B (2326)

Israelian Championship, 08.04.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

62...Nf3+! [62...Ne2+? 63.Kh1 Ng3+ 64.Kg1=]

24.Nh6+! gxh6 25.Qg3+ Bg7 [25...Kh8 26.Nxf7#]

63.Kh1 Rh2+! 64. Rxh2 Nxh2 65.Kg2 [65.Kxh2 e2]

26. Bxh6 Ne8 27.Nd7! Ndc7? [27... Rc1! 28. Rxc1 Qxd7 29.h3; 27...Qxd7 28. Rxe8+! Rxe8 29.Qxg7#]

65...Kc7–+

28.Nf6+! Kh8 [28...Nxf6 29.Qxg7#] 29.Nxe8 Bxh6 30.Qc3+! Kg8 31.Nf6+ Kh8 32.Qc2! 1–0[32.Qc2 Kg7 33.Qxh7+ Kxf6 34.Qxh6+ Kf5 35.g4+ Kxg4 36. Re4+ Kf5 37. Rf4+ Ke5 38.Qf6+ Kd5 39. Rd4+ Kc5 40.Qd6#]

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(22) Blomqvist,E (2451) — Tikkanen,H (2574)

(23) Agrest,E (2614) — Hillarp Persson,T (2556)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

18... Bxh2+! [18...exd5? 19.Qf5++-]

40... Rxf2+! 41. Rxf2 Rxe1–+ 42. Rd2 Be3 43. Rd3 Kg7–+

19.Kh1! [19.Kxh2? Qd6+ 20.g3 Rxc2–+] 19...Qb5? [19...exd5! 20.Qf5+ Qe6! 21.Qxe6+ fxe6=] 20.Nxf6+ Ke7 21.Qe4+-

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(24) Olszewski,M (2532) — Ghaem Maghami,E (2557)

(25) Bogner,S (2558) — Ragger,M (2655)


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34...Nd1+! 35.Ke2 [35.Kg3 Ne3!–+] 35... Re8+! 36.Kxd1 Re5! 37.h6 [37.g4 Rxf5–+] 37... Rxf5–+


49...Ng4+! 50.Kh1 [50.hxg4 Rh6+–+] 50...Nf2+! 51.Kh2 [51. Bxf2 Qxf2–+] 51...Qf4+ 52.g3 Qf3 0–1

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(26) Siebrecht,S (2479) — Jones,G (2641)

(28) Prokes


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1. Bd3!! Bxd3 2.c6!! bxc6 3.e7 Be2 4.Kg6! 1–0 26...Nb4+! 0–1[26...Nb4+ 27.axb4 (27.Ka1 Nb3#) 27... axb4+ 28.Na4 Rxa4#] (27) Morozevich,A (2756) — Jakovenko,D (2734) Russian league, 08.04.2013 [Solutions]

40. Rd4! a5 41. Rxb4! axb4 42. Rxc6+28

Weekly Newsletter




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Editorial Preface Great tournaments, great players and great chess — this is what we had during the last week. The Polish Championships were won by the Socko Family (Bartosz and Monika), who dominated the male and female sections. Alekhine Memorial: Half of the tournament is played in Paris, half in SaintPetersburg. A very interesting players line up makes the event even more spectacular. Next to Aronian, Kramnik and Anand, we got Ding Liren — the young talent from China — and the French Vachier-Lagrave. After 4 rounds, we can already say that probably it is not going to be the tournament of Anand or Svidler, who are at the basement of the cross table.

Almasi-Harikrishna in favor of the Hungarian, the rest of the games ended in a draw. Chinese Championship: The best Chinese players (except Ding Liren, who is playing at the Alekhine Memorial, and Wang Hao, who is not participating in the event) are fighting for the title. Wang Yue is the clear leader with a great score of 6/8. Have fun watching the games and we hope to bring you closer to some of the most interesting ones! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

The tournament offers a lot of interesting games, some of them are even a bit funny. For example: Vachier-Lagrave against Ding Liren. Fide Grand Prix in Zug: After round 6, we got 3 leaders: Topalov, Morozevich and Ponomariov, all with 4/6. Every round is a great fighting round and it is great fun to watch the games live! In case you can open a small window during your work time, don’t miss it :). Capablanca Memorial: The traditional tournament in Cuba is on the run as well, but things are more peaceful here. During the first 3 rounds we could see only one decisive game between

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7...b6 A very usual move for Black with the main plan of developing the bishop from c8 quickly. It will go to a6 and will be exchanged.

(1) Ding Liren (2707) — Aronian,L (2809) [D45]

8. Bb2 a5 9.a3 Be7 Aronian himself played this position against his countryman Akopian.

Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (1), 21.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see a very high level game with really great play by Ding Liren, a 20 years old super talent from China, who, for some reason, is not really well-known in Europe. However, I guess that very soon he will be more visible in top level Round Robins. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 This time we see a Slav with 4...a6, a very popular opening. 5.e3 e6 6.c5 One of the most critical lines. 6...Nbd7 7.b4 The idea of White is simple, to hold the e3-d4-c5 pawn structure, which gives him a clear space advantage. [7.Qc2 was played in the match GelfandAnand.]

10. Bd3 0–0 11.0–0 Ba6! Strong and correct play, Black should exchange the light-squared bishop. Akopian played here 11...Qc7, and after 12.Qe2!, he got quickly into a forced position. 12.Ne1 White is transferring the knight from the f3 square to a much better position on d3, in case of Bxd3. 12... Bc4? I think this is clearly an over optimistic move from Aronian. [A much more solid way of play would have been 12...Qc7 13.Qe2 It is hard to find a better move for White. 13... Bxd3 14.Nxd3 Qb7 and if White is better, his advantage is minimal.] 13. Bxc4! No fear shown by Ding Liren against World’s Nr 2. They are going into complications. 13...dxc4 14.Qe2! Another good move! White is trying to stabilize before starting the action in the center with e4. [Too hurried would have been 14.e4?! axb4 15.axb4 bxc5 16.bxc5 e5! would crush all the White center.] 14... Rb8 It is hard to give an advice for Black... [Maybe an attempt could have been to get play on the a-file. 14... axb4 15.axb4 Rxa1 16. Bxa1 Qa8 but here White seems to be doing better as well. 17.Nc2 Qa6 Avoiding having to play b5, which can be important, because Black keeps the possibility of playing e5 in the future. 18.f4! Stopping Black even from dreaming about the e5 move. White’s position seems to be better.] 4


15. Ra2 A creative move with the idea of forcing Black to finally play b5. [I think that the simple 15.Nf3 would have done it as well.] 15...b5 The b5 move has been done, so now it is time to play in the center. 16.e4 Now it is clear that White is rolling. 16... Rb7 Aronian transports his rook to d7, but I am not sure if this was really a good idea. Maybe it was time to admit the mistake and play 16... Ra8 back. 17.Nc2 Nb8 White has a huge amount of good moves! 18. Raa1 Ding Liren decides to go for some play in the center. [An attempt to crush Black on the spot. 18.a4 axb4 19.Nxb4 would lead only to an unclear position after 19... Qxd4! No fear. 20.e5 We are in deep complications.] 18...Qc8 19. Rad1 Rd8

20. Bc1! Before start ing the final action, White is taking his time to put his pieces on better positions. 20...Na6 21. Bf4 Rbd7 22.h3 Ding continues with his positional play. [Another option for White could have been to play 22.bxa5 An ugly looking move, but the idea of 22...Qa8 23.Na2! looks strong. The White knight on b4 will take a perfect position.] 22...Ne8 Black had nothing better than just keep on waiting... As we can see, White is already much better. 23.Qe3 [23.bxa5 with the same idea as before, Na2Nb4.] 23... Bf6 provoking White to play e5. 24.e5 I am not sure if this was the best option for White. Now Black is gaining the very important d5 square. 24... Be7 25.Ne4 White gave up the d5 square but got the one on d6 for it. 25...Nac7 26.Nd6 Qa8 Suddenly, Black is very quick on the queenside. The next moves are Nd5-Ra7 and the afile belongs to Black.

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27.Qg3 Nd5 28.Ne3!? I think this was a good move by White. It is clear that with such a huge space advantage, he should be trying to play for mate. 28...Nc3 29. Rde1 Bxd6 It seems like White has blundered an exchange, but that is not the case! 30.exd6 Ne4 It is hard to find a better move for Black. Even though it is a forced line, it is probably just lost.

36.Nxd5 exd5 Is Black finally safe? 37. Bxg7!! No, Black is lost! 37...Kxg7 38.Qg5+ Kf8 39.Qf6 Kg8 40.Qg5+ Kf8 41.Qf6 Kg8 Ding is repeating moves before the time control, and playing the correct

31.Qh4 Nd2 and, of course, Ding found

42. Re1! White just wants to give a mate by playing Re3Rg3 or Re5-Rg5, and Black got no defense against it. 32.Nd5! and the knight on d2 is under attack. 32...Nxf1 [32...exd5 33. Bxd2 would just lead to a winning position for White.] 33.Nb6 Qa7 34. Rxf1 Black is an exchange up, but I think it is clear that White is doing better. The monster pawn on d6 and the knight on b6 are giving Black hard times. Plus it is very hard to find a playable plan for the next moves... 34...Nf6 Very logical, the black knight is going to d5. [34... axb4 35.axb4 and the next Black’s move is still unclear...]

42...axb4 [It does not help to play 42...h6 43. Re3 Kh7 Black managed to avoid Rg3, but now White got a new winning idea. 44. Re7! The f7 pawn is the new target. 44... Rf8 45.Qf5+ and the rook on d7 is falling.] 43. Re5 A nice finishing move. 43...h6 44. Rh5 Ding Liren, cool until the end. 44...Qxa3 45.Qxh6 The mate on h8 is a serious threat :). 45...f6 46.Qxf6 A really fantastic game by the very talented Chinese. 1–0

35. Be5! Ding continues playing a fantastic game. 35...Nd5 What else?! 6


(2) Kramnik,Vladimir (2801) — Vitiugov,Nikita (2712) [A07] Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (1), 21.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Kramnik continued to show his great form and made practically a full point „out of nothing”. Somehow, in general, Kramnik manages to win a lot of games against his countrymen. Now Vituigov, at the Candidates, Grischuk and Svidler.. . 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 From time to time, Kramnik likes to play the Reti opening and he does it quite successfully. As we remember, during the Candidates, he managed to get a big advantage against Aronian. 3. Bg2 Bg4 The line with 3... Bg4 is one of the most playable answers for Black currently. 4.0–0 Nd7 5.d3 Ngf6 As we can see, Black does not hurry with e6 in order to have an immediate e7-e5 in the pocket. 6.Qe1 Very typical play. 6...e5 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Bd6!? Of course, this is all well known, but anyway it is a nice move. Black is taking his bishop to c7, from where it defends the pawn on e5 and, at the same time, can become active on the b5 square. 9.Nbd2 0–0 10.h3 Bh5 Of course, Black is not giving his bishop away... 11.Nc4 Bc7

12.a4 securing White’s knight position on c4. 12... Re8?! I am not sure whether this move just loses a tempo. In general, the biggest problem for Black is his bishop on h5. If Black is on time to move the knight from f6 and play f6-Bf7, he is at least doing fine. For White, it could be a typical plan to play Be3-Nfd2 and f3!, followed by Rf2 and Bf1, leaving the Black bishop out of play on h5. 13.Nh4 The White knight is going to f5 — clearly a nice place to be. 13...Nc5 A possible move, but maybe White is doing a bit better after this. [More often, Black chooses a different square for his knight. 13...Nb6 The exchange of knights is clearly good for Black. 14.Na5 Qb8 and Black wants to play Nbd7 next.] 14.Nf5 Ne6 15. Be3 White wants to play Rd1 followed by Nd6. 15...Nf4 A very spectacular move with no great effect. [15...Qb8 would have been a more solid move for Black, even though I think White is doing a bit better.] 16.f3! Cool and strong! As we can see, White is slowly reaching the main goal of the opening: to leave the bad 7


bishop on h5 out of the game. [Of course not 16.gxf4 exf4! and Black’s position is huge!] 16...Nxg2 17.Kxg2 Bg6 18. Rd1 Nd5 Black continues playing inventively, and what else is left?! Clearly, it is not an option to let the White knight jump to d6. 19.Nh4 A solid move by Kramnik. [19.exd5 This would lead to a not so clear position: 19... Bxf5 20.dxc6 (20.d6 Bb6 and probably White should be better here, but the position is prettycomplicated .) 20...Qc8 Black’s bishop pair should be enough compensation for a pawn.]

22. Rf2 Why not to double on the d-file? 22... Red8?! looks very logical, but I think that after 22... Red8?!, White’s advantage becomes clearer. [Maybe an attempt to change the dynamics of the game would work now. 22...Qe6 23. Rfd2 b5!? with quite good chances to escape.] 23. Rxd8+ Bxd8 24. Rd2 The d-file belongs to White. 24... Bc7 25. Rd3 Qe6 26.Qb4 A tricky move with the idea of Qd2 and Rd7 in the future. 26...b6?! [Finally, Bla ck managed to play f6 and I think that such a move is too hard to miss. 26...f6 27.Nxg6 hxg6 28.Ne3 with a minimal advantage for White.]

19...Nxe3+ 20.Qxe3 Who is stronger, the white knights or the black bishops?! The answer is quite simple: of course, the knights. The bishop on g6 is still very bad, White controls the d-file and the queen + knight combo is dangerous.

27.b3 a6?! This move already puts Black in big trouble. [27... Rd8! and Black is simply worse.]

20...Qe7

28.Qd2! Using the right moment. 28...b5 29. Rd7 That is the key idea of 28.Qd2. Black is not in time to push out the White knight from c4 in order to free the b6 square for the bishop. 29...bxc4 30. Rxc7 cxb3

21.Qb3! White is making sure that Black will not bring out the bishop from g6 for quite some time, and is attacking the very important b7 pawn, which holds the Black structure together. 21... Rab8 [21...b6 22.Ne3²] 8


31. Rb7! Probably Vitiugov missed this move when he played 27...a6?!.

42...Qc8 43.Qc4+ White puts his queen on the perfect square on c5 via some checks.

31...Qc8 32. Rxb3 Rxb3 33.cxb3 White’s advantage here is quite serious! He has a better pawn structure, a more active queen, and the Q+N combination leaves Black with very slim chances.

43...Kf8 44.Qc5+ Kg8 and the final move

33...f6 Finally. 34.Qd6 Kf7 It is hard to give Black an advice. White’s plan is easy, to put the pawns on b4-a5 and get the knight out from h4. [34... Bf7 35.Nf5] 35.g4! Very strong move. White wants to play Kg3- Ng2Ne3 leaving the poor bishop on g6 out of the game again. 35...Ke8 36.Kg3 Qb7 37.b4 Qc8 38.a5 White continues to improve his position where Black has nothing better to do than just keep on waiting. 38...Kf7 39.Ng2 and the White knight is coming into the game with crucial effect. 39...h5 40.Ne3 hxg4 41.hxg4 The time trouble is over and it is time to take a fresh look at the position. From Vitiugov’s point of view, things look pretty bad. The main mission did not go too well, the bishop on g6 is still out of play, and the pawn on a6 is a potential target for the White queen and knight. Another plan for White could be just to play Qc5, followed by Nc4. All in all, things are looking pretty dark for Vitiugov.

45.b5! The game is over! Black cannot stop White’s apawn from queening. 45...axb5 46.Qb6 Qf8 47.a6 Qb4 It is too late for any active play... 48.a7 Qe1+ 49.Kg2 Qd2+ 50.Kg1 At 50...Qe1, 51.Nf1 finishes Black’s suffering. All in all, a great positional win for Kramnik and a slightly „too respectful” play from Vitiugov. 1–0

41...Qe6 This almost loses by force now, and Kramnik shows us why! 42.Qd3! Pushing the Black queen back „home”. 9


(3) Svidler,Peter (2747) — Gelfand,Boris (2739) [B30] Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (1), 21.04.2013 [Balogh Csaba] We will see a deep preparation by Boris Gelfand, who improved on his own game against Carlsen on the Candidates tournament. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 White avoids the Sveshnikov defense. 3...e6 4.0–0 Nge7 5. Re1 This is the new fashion to play with White against the 3...e6 setup. 5...a6 6. Bf1 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.d4 Nf6 Nothing new so far.

play for a small advantage with 10.c4 cxd4 (The tactical point is that 10...Ng4 does not work here because of 11.d5! N xe3 12.R xe3 and Black has difficulties.) 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Nc3 and we get he same slightly superior pawn structure as in the Carlsen-Gelfand game.] 10...Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Ng4! Black uses the standard method of winning back the pawn. He wins an important tempo by attacking the f2 pawn. [11...Nd5 is less accurate. 12. Bd2 Bxc5 White gets an edge after 13.c4! Nf6 14.Nc3 0–0 White might create a hole on b6 for his knight by playing 15.Na4! Ba7 16. Be3! Bxe3 17.fxe3²] 12. Bf4 Bxc5 White is forced to waste a tempo for the defense of the f2 pawn. 13. Bg3

9. Be3

9... Be7 This is the deviation, but it is not a novelty yet. [9...cxd4 was played in the Carlsen-Gelfand game, which we analyzed in the 58th CEWN.]

13...h5! An excellent move! Black must continue playing concrete chess, otherwise, White will simply build up an initiative. The threat is h4, which is not easy to parry. [After the „handy” 13...0–0 14.Nbd2 with the idea of Ne4, Black is forced to prevent it by 14...Nf6 15.c3! followed by b4, a4 and Nc4, with a small but stable advantage.]

10.dxc5 Svidler goes for the most concrete test of the move and grabs the pawn. [White has an alternative to

14. Rd2 Overprotecting the f2 square. [On 14.h3 Black might play again 14...h4! with similar ideas to the ones in 10


the game. 15.Nxh4 (15. Bxh4 runs into 15... Rxh4! 16.hxg4 (16.N xh4? B xf2+ 17.Kh1 Ne3!–+ followed by taking either on h4 or on f1.) 16... Rxg4 Black has no problems after taking the strong dark-squared bishop.) 15...Nxf2! 16. Bxf2 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Rxh4= The simplifications clearly favored Black and he does not need to worry anymore about staying worse.; 14.h4?! is a huge positional mistake. The g4 knight cannot be kicked out anymore. Black can calmlyplay 14...e5 since White cannot grab the pawn with h3, Nf6 and Nxe5 anymore.]

16...Nd4!! This was the whole point of the h4- Nxh2 combination. By removing the guide on f3, Black wins back the sacrificed material. 17. Rxd4 [White might try to keep the material with 17.Kh3 e5+ 18.g4 Be7! Black creates many threats by preventing Rd8. (18...N xf3?? does not work obviously. 19.Rd8#) 19. Rxd4 exd4 20.Kg3 Bd6+ 21.Kg2 (21.Kh3? is refuted in a nice way:

14...h4! Gelfand is still following his preparation and plays the most concrete moves. 15. Bxh4 [The only way to fight for an advantage is 15. Bd6!? although after 15... Bxd6 (15...Ba7 16.Nc3) 16. Rxd6 Ke7 17. Rd2 Nge5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Nc3 I do not believe this is too much for White, however, Black still needs to make some precise moves to hold.; 15.Nxh4 is met with the same motif as in the game. 15...Nxh2! 16.Kxh2 Be7 Black wins back the piece and equalizes completely.] 15...Nxh2! 16.Kxh2

21...g5! 22.N xg5 f5!! opening the diagonals on the king. The h4 bishop is in danger. And on 23.f3 Bf4!–+ is the point, and the knight is suddenly trapped on g5.) 21... Bxg4 Black is fine!; 17.Nxd4 Rxh4+ 18.Kg3 Rxd4 would be already slightly better for Black because of the pair of bishops.] 11


17... Bxd4 White is still ahead materially, but the b2 and f2 pawns are hanging and the pin on the h-file is still very annoying.

25.c4 Bb7 White needs to be careful because Black’s heavy pieces are coming against the naked king, but actually, it just looks scary and there are no real threats.

18.Nbd2 g5 [Black could have already started to fight for an advantage by playing 18... Bxf2 19.g3 f6 20.Kg2 Bc5 Black has a pawn and a rook for the two minor pieces, but he threatens to trap the bishop with g5. This forces White to create another weakness 21.g4 e5! and the c8 bishop joins to the game. Only Black can be better.]

26.Kf4! Rh5 Trying to create some new threats. For instance, Rf5, followed by Rxf3 and f5, but Svidler calmly holds everything together.

19.g3 Threatening with Nxd4 and Nxg5. The following couple of moves are forced... [19.Kg1 leads to equality after 19... Rxh4 20.Nxh4 gxh4=] 19... Bxb2 [19...gxh4? 20.Nxd4 hxg3+ 21.Kxg3 White would be ahead in material!] 20. Rb1 Bf6 21.Ne4! gxh4 [21... Be7? 22.Nexg5] 22.Nxf6+ Ke7 23.Ne4 hxg3+ 24.Kxg3

24...b5 The complications are over. Probably this was also the end of Gelfand’s preparation. The material is more or less balanced. White needs to get rid of the c2 weakness, but this leads to further exchanges. The draw soon becomes inevitable.

27. Be2! Rc8 [27... Rf5+ 28.Ke3 Black cannot increase the pressure.] 28.cxb5 axb5 29. Rxb5 Rxb5 30. Bxb5 Rc2 Black wins back the pawn. 31.Nd4 [31.a4 also leads to a draw, although it is not advisable to give Black a couple of connected passed pawns. 31... Bxe4 32.Kxe4 Rxf2 33.a5 Ra2 34.a6 Kd6 and the king is heading to b6.] 31... Rxa2 32.f3 Bxe4 33.fxe4 Everything is clear now! The following moves are only due to the no draw offers rule before move 40. 33...Kf6 34.e5+ Kg7 35.Nf3 Ra5 36. Bd3 f6 37.exf6+ Kxf6 38.Ke3 Ra3 39.Ke4 Ra4+ 40.Ke3 Ra3 41.Ke4 A good game , which gives us a closer look at how deeply everything is analyzed for the top players. This was just a sideline of a sideline, but still, Gelfand played everything instantly until the 24th move. A good presentation to understand the very high percentage of draws on the highest level. All the players are just extremely well prepared and when the game finally starts (on the 24th move here), it is already too late to create some action... 1/2

12


(4) Caruana,Fabiano (2772) — Radjabov,Teimour (2793) [C63]

9.Nc3 d6

Zug SUI Zug SUI (1.3), 18.04.2013 [Balogh Csaba] A great preparation by Caruana against Radjabov’s pet line, the Jaenisch Gambit. It seems to cause real problems for Black. White got a better position and succeeded to convert it with a nice technique. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

3...f5 This is the Jaenisch Gambit. Recently it enjoys big popularity mainly because of the efforts by Radjabov. In many lines, Black sacrifices a pawn and aims for some kind of counterplay mostly with the bishop pair. 4.d3 [4.Nc3 is the main line, but the text was also always considered a decent attempt for White.] 4...fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.0–0 Bc5 7. Bxc6 This is the first small surprise. [The two main moves are 7.Nc3; and 7.Qd3 ] 7...bxc6 8.Nxe5 0–0 This is still just the beginning of the line. So far, it was considered to be fine for Black, he gets adequate compensation for the pawn in all the lines...

10.Na4!! This is the novelty, which seems to cause real problems for Black... [After the greedy 10.Nxc6 Qe8 11.Nd4 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 Qxe4 Black has a fantastic compensation with the bishops. Bb7 is coming next and the king is vulnerable.; 10.Nd3 happened in previous games. 10... Bd4 11.Ne2 Bb6 12. Bg5 Qe8 13. Bxf6 Rxf6 14.Ng3 Qf7 We are following the Anand-Carlsen game from 2009, which was basically the last high-level game with 7. Bxc6. Black got a great attacking position in this game after 15.b3 in order to play c4 after Ba6, which would have created big problems against the f2 square. 15... Be6 16.Qd2 Rf8 17. Rae1 Rh6! with a dangerous attack. A possible attacking idea is Qf6-h4, when h3 could be met by Bxh3. Anand soon got into trouble, but later on, he managed to save the game.] 10...Qe8 This looks like the critical move. [Black can restore the material balance by playing 10...Bxf2+ 11. Rxf2 dxe5 but he ends up in a horrible endgame after 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Bg5 Rd6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nc5 A typical endgame with a good knight versus a bad bishop, which is mainly caused by the damaged queenside pawn structure. The f6 pawn might get also into some trouble later on.] 13


11.Nd3 Nxe4 Black enters into an ugly position, but there probably was nothing better. [11... Bg4 12.Qe1 Bd4 White manages to get rid of the bishop pair after 13.c3 Bb6 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.f3! and White seems to be a clear pawn up.] 12.Naxc5 Nxc5 13.Nxc5 dxc5 Basically, we ended up in this position by force after 10.Na4. The material is balanced, but of course, we cannot count the tripled pawns on the c-file as real pawns, so White is basically a clear pawn up on the kingside. Black can hope for counterplay with the opposite colored bishops, but as we will see, White is able to neutralize the activity with some good moves.

14. Be3 Qg6 Black immediately tries to get counterplay with Bh3. [After 14...c4 White can, for instance, play 15.Qd4 Be6 16.Qc3 with a nice advantage. Similar things happened later on in the game.] 15.Qd3?! I believe this is an inaccuracy, which gives Black some tempi. [15. Bxc5? is obviously a blunder. 15... Bh3!; 15.Qd2! should have been played, followed by f3, and White is at least one tempo ahead compared to the game... 15... Bh3 16.f3 Rad8 17.Qf2 Keeping everything safe and the pawns start to hang.]

15... Bf5! In my opinion, Black cleverly keeps the queens on the board. [The endgame is very unpleasant for Black. 15...Qxd3 16.cxd3 Rd8 17. Rfc1 Rxd3 18. Rxc5 Black managed to get rid of one c-pawn, but there are still three weaknesses left 18... Bd7 19. Ra5 a6 20. Rc1 White has a huge advantage. Black has no moves, while White has many ways to improve his position. For instance, h4-Kh2, Rc4-a4, Bf4 or Rc4-b4-b7. It is very difficult to defend against all of them.] 16.Qc4+ Be6

17.Qe2! Caruana finds the right plan (f3-Qf2), but he wasted some time. [17.Qxc5 allows 17... Bd5 18.f3 Rxf3 Black gets counterplay.] 17...c4 Radjabov decides to put his pawns on light squares, to make White’s task more difficult. [After 17... Rae8 White can build up his target setup with 18.f3 Bh3 19. Rf2 After White consolidates, the queenside pawns will start to hang.] 18.f3! a6 19. Bd4 The bishop occupies its ideal diagonal. After this, White only needs to activate his rooks.

14


19... Rae8 20.Kh1 [20.Qf2 was also possible, followed by Rae1. 20... Bd5 21.Kh1] 20... Bd5 21.Qd2 [21.Qf2 seemed to be stronger again, followed by Rae1. 21... Re6 22. Rae1 Rfe8 23. Rxe6 Rxe6

24. Re1 Rxe1+ 25.Qxe1 This queen and bishop endgame is going to be extremely unpleasant and a long suffering from Black’s point of view. Black cannot search for any counterplay because of the g7 pawn, while White can put the c7 pawn under permanent pressure and he can advance his kingside pawns, making the Black king more vulnerable.] 21... Re6 22. Bc3 [The problem with the queen on d2 is that Rae1 does not work. 22. Rae1? The f3 pawn is unprotected. 22... Rxe1 23. Rxe1 (23.Qxe1 Qxc2) 23... Rxf3! works for Black.] 22...h6 23. Rf2 White needs to look for another plan since [23. Rae1 has the same problem as in the previous move.] 23...Kh7 24. Raf1 White overprotected the f3 square and is ready to play Re2 again, heading for the queen + bishop endgame.

24... Rf5? This is a strange decision, in my opinion. Why didn't Black occupy the only open file?! [After 24... Rfe8! Suddenly, it is not easy for White to improve his position. He must forget about exchanging the rooks. In my opinion, another idea behind doubling the rooks on the f-file was to push f4, followed by either Be5 or f5-f6, but on the other hand, it seriously strengthens the power of the d5 bishop. 25.f4 could be met by 25...Qh5! with the threat of Re2 and on 26. Be5 g5! seems to work! Undermining the e5 bishop and preparing the penetration on e2.] 25. Re1! White can finally fight for the e-file. 25... Rd6 Radjabov prefers to keep all the rooks on the board, but he is unable to create any serious counterplay with them. It is worth to look at how Caruana improves his position move by move from now on. [25... Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 is also very bad for Black. White can play Re2e7, for instance.] 26. Be5 Rd7 27.Qc3 White has activated his bishop and protected the f3 pawn with the queen. Now he can use his f2 rook as well, without being afraid of Rxf3. 27...Qg5 28. Rfe2 Rdf7 Refreshing the Rxf3 threat, but White simple parries it with 15


29. Re3! h5 Radjabov continues looking for counterplay, this time with h5-h4. Actually, this only weakens his own pawns and makes White’s task easier.

by the bishop later on. 36...g5 37. Bc3 Rxe3 38. Rxe3+White will soon start to collect the pawns. For instance, Re5-Bd2 is a threat.]

30. R1e2 White improves his pieces „square by square”.

35. Bc3 White wins the fight for the e-file and also prepares to win the h4 pawn with Be1.

30...Qg6 31.h3! Another very good preparation before starting the real action! White gives air for the king. 31...Qg5 32.Kh2 Improving the king as well. 32...h4 This is a weak ening move, putting the pawn on a dark square. However, the position already was very bad. [If Black decides to go for the waiting strategy with 32...Kg8 White can increase his advantage by 33.b3! The idea is to kick out the d5 bishop via c4. 33...cxb3 34.axb3 Kh7 35.Qd3+- with the multiple threats of g4, Qxa6 and c4. When the bishop loses its outpost on d5, it will never find its place on the board...] 33.Qd4 Re7

35... Rxe3 36. Rxe3 Kf7 37. Be1! The pawns start to fall and, at the same time, White created another threat: to play Ra3 and the a6 pawn cannot be protected. The game is basically over! 37...Qf4+ 38.Qxf4 Rxf4 39. Ra3! White collects the first weakness! 39... Rd4 40. Rxa6 g5 41. Ra7 Collecting the second weakness! 41... Rd1 42. Rxc7+ Ke6 43. Bb4 c3 [43... Rc1 can be simply met by 44. Re7+ Kf5 45. Re2+- with two extra pawns and g5 is still a target.] 44. Bxc3 Rc1 Radjabov tries to get counterplay on the second rank, since he prevented the Re7-e2 idea with the previous pawn sacrifice, but White is completely winning. 45. Rg7 Bxa2 [45... Rxc2 46.a4 Bxf3 47. Rxg5+-] 46. Rxg5 The third weakness is also taken and the last one on h4 is will not last long either.

34.Qg4! Caruana decides to transpose to an endgame where the Black pawns start to fall automatically.

46... Rxc2 47. Rg6+ Kd7 48. Rg4 Bd5 49.Kg1 Rc1+ 50.Kf2 Rc2+ 51.Kf1 Black resigned! A nice positional achievement and a well-deserved victory for Caruana! 1–0

34...Kg8 [34...Qxg4 35.hxg4 Rf8 36.Kh3! Forcing another pawn to a dark square, where it can be attacked 16


Puzzle section

(7) Short,N (2697) — Czebe,A (2479) Bangkok Open, 21.04.2013

(5) Lu Shanglei (2562) — Saptarshi,R (2426) Bangkok Open, 16.04.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Gharamian,T (2663) — Riff,J (2467) (6) Akesson,R (2462) — Barbosa,O (2560) Bangkok Open, 17.04.2013 [CEWN]

LUC Open, 17.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

17


(9) Gharamian,T (2663) — Schoorl,R (2326)

(11) Gajewski,G (2653) — Kempinski,R (2599)

LUC Open, 18.04.2013

Polish Championship, 20.04.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Kempinski,R (2599) — Tomczak,J (2564)

(12) Chigaev,M (2454) — Artemiev,V (2499)


Russian Junior Championship, 17.04.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. =

1... –+

18


(13) Eliseev,U (2541) — Stukopin,A (2500) Russian Junior Championship, 22.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Stevic,H (2616) — Gonda,L (2528) Austrian league, 24.03.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

19


Endgame section (15) Nakamura,H (2767) — Kamsky,G (2741) (4), 21.04.2013 [Chess Evolution] 37. Rf1 White is forced into passivity. 37... Rd4!= Preventing Re4. White cannot make progress. When the f1 rook moves, Rdd2 goes back, while any moves of the e3 rook leaves the b3 pawn unprotected. Black can play Rb2, for instance.] 36... Rxf4 37.gxf4 Rb2! Forcing the White rook into the defense. Activity is the key factor in most rook endgames. White is a clear pawn up, but Black’s active rooks give very good chances for survival. Kamsky defends the position with excellent technique. With his last move (Re1), White wanted to activate his rook by playing Re8, so Black needed to act urgently.

38. Re3 White would like to play Kg3 and f3, getting rid of the doubled pawns.

34...g4! Forcing White to take a concrete decision. He must either leave the f2 pawn or exchange a pair of rooks and double his own pawns at the same time. 35.hxg4 hxg4 36. Rf4 Nakamura finds the better chance... [After 36. Rfe3 Rdd2 38...f5 [It was more circumspect to play 38...Kf5! 39.Kg3 f6 aiming for same position as in the game, except that Black has a more active king in this case. 40.f3 (40.Rd3 is met by 40...Ke4 and the rook must go back to e3.) 40... 20


gxf3 41.Kxf3 Rd2! After this strong prophylactic move against Rd3, White has no chance to win the game as all the rook moves allow Rd3.]

43... Ra2 44. Rd3 Rxa5 45. Rd6+ Ke7 46. Rb6

39.Kg3 Kf6 40.f3 Forcing Black to take on f3. [Otherwise, after 40. Rd3 Rb1 41.f3 Rg1+! 42.Kf2 Rb1= and the White king can never go to e3-d4, because of g3, while fxg4 fxg4 allows Black to create counterplay with Kf5. Black holds easily.] 40...gxf3 41.Kxf3 It is very important to realize White’s main plan to make progress. He is intending to play Rd3, followed by Ke3-d4-c5 going for the b4 pawn and supporting his own a-pawn. Black must fight precisely against this idea!

46... Ra2! In rook endgames, the right placement of the rooks is behind the passed pawns. White should also aim to get his rook to b1 or b2, but of course, it is impossible now... 47. Rxb4 Rd2 Kamsky stays ready to annoy the White king with checks along the 3rd rank.

41... Rd2! 42.Kg3 Rc2! 43.a5 Nakamura find s, once again, the only attempt to fight for the win. He exchanges his a-pawn for the one on b4. On the other hand, the simplifications usually make the job of the defensive side easier. [The point was that after 43. Rd3 with the idea of Kf3-e3-d4, Black can play 43... Rc3! and the White king is not in the square of the c-pawn, so White has to make the only move Rf3, which is too passive to hope for something real.]

48.Kh4 [48.Kf3 is met by 48... Rd3+ 49.Ke2 Rh3 Cutting the king along the 3rd rank. This is a known defensive method. White can hardly advance his b-pawn because of the f4 weakness. 50.Kd2 Rf3 51.Kc2 defending the b-pawn in order to play Rc4 and push the b-pawn, but Black is in time to play 51...Kd6! 52. Rc4 Kd5= and the draw is inevitable. White cannot make progress.; Let us see what happens if White advances his b-pawn on the most direct way. Black has different ways to defend successfully. 48. Rb7+ Ke6 49.b4 Rb2 50.b5 Rb1 51.b6 Rb3+ 52.Kf2 (52.Kh4 drops the f-pawn. 52...Rf3 53.Kg5 Rg3+ 54.Kh5 Rh3+ 55.Kg5 Rg3+ 56.Kh4 Rf3 57.Rb8 R xf4+ 58.Kg5 Rb4 59.b7 Kd7=) 52...Kd5 53. Rb8 Ke4 54.b7 Kxf4 The Black king gets a shelter from the f-pawn against the checks.] 21

Issue 61 pawn endgame is drawn, as White cannot get quickly to the f5 pawn.]

26th of April 2013

54... Rh8+ 55.Kg5 Rg8+ 56.Kh6 Rb8 [56... Rg1 was also good, with the idea of Rb1, because 57. Rb4 is met with 57...Kf6 The king is in a mating net. White is forced to repeat moves. 58.Kh7 Kf7 59.Kh6 Kf6=]

48... Rg2! Another important move! Black cuts the king along the g-file, avoiding an attack against the f5 pawn. 49. Rd4 Finally, the White rook finds a safe place, as it cannot be attacked by the king from e5. He is ready to advance the b-pawn. The problem is that without the help of the king, it cannot go too far. 49...Ke6 50.b4 Rg1 Black is waiting, since b5 is always met with Rb1, while if the rook moves, Rg4 wins the f4 pawn. 51.Kh3! Getting Black into zugzwang, as he must either take his king away from the h-file or allow Black to put his rook behind the b-pawn. Kamsky continues to defend flawlessly! 51... Rg8! 52.b5 White can finally push the pawn, but on the other hand, it becomes a target now...

57. Ra4 This is, of course, a kind of agreement to draw. Nakamura plays on for a while, but the draw is clear... [After 57. Rb4 the problem for White is his king, again. 57...Kf6! White is forced to repeat moves. 58.Kh7 Rb7+ 59.Kh6 Rb8!=] 57... Rxb5 58.Kg6 Rc5 59. Ra7 Rb5 60. Rf7 Ra5 61. Rf8 [The pawn endgame is drawn because of the opposition. 61. Rf6+ Ke7 62. Rxf5 Rxf5 63.Kxf5 Kf7=] 61...Ke7 62. Rb8 Ra6+ [62... Rc5 was also good, but Kamsky prefers to hold with the well-known technique of the rook on the 6th rank...] 63.Kxf5 Kf7 64. Rb7+ Kf8 65.Kg5 Rc6 66.f5 Ra6 67. Rb8+ Kf7 68. Rb7+ Kf8 69. Rb8+ [69.f6 Ra1= with dozens of checks from the 1st rank.] 69...Kf7 70. Rb7+ Kf8 Great defense by Kamsky and nice try by Nakamura! 1/2

52... Rh8+ 53.Kg3 Rg8+ 54.Kh4 [54.Kf3 is met by 54... Rb8! 55. Rb4 Kd6 56.Ke3 Kc5 57. Rb2 Re8+! Black could not take immediately on b5, but he waits for a better moment, when the White king will be in a worse position. 58.Kf3 Rb8 59.b6 (59.Kg3 Rg8) 59... Rxb6 and the

22


(16) Miton,K (2628) — Markowski,T (2558) [E18] 2013 [Kamil Miton]

18. Rfd1 After the opening, I got a pleasant endgame because of the weak black structure on the queenside. 18... Rfd8 19. Ba5 Rd4 Only move, as otherwise, Black will lose control of the d-file. 20. Rac1 I did not want to play b3 to keep the pawn on the second file, which can be important for White in order to transfer the rook over the third rank in the future. 20...Kf8 The black king is coming on time to e8, where it will prevent Rd7 and support the exchanges on the dfile. 21.Kf3 Ke8 22. Bc3 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 g6 This move seems to be completely normal, but now White has an additional idea, which I was able to use in the next moves. [23... Bf8 For me, this is the best, because Black does not create additional weaknesses. 24. Ba5 Be7 with ideas like Bf6 or Bd8.; 23... Bf6? 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25.Kg4+-; 23...f6 is also possible. 24.g4 Rd8 25. Rg1 with the idea of

trying to create new weaknesses on the kingside. White has a long-term advantage.] 24.e4 Rd8

25. Rxd8+! Kxd8 26.e5 Kd7 27.Ke4 Bf8 28. Bd2 Be7 29. Be3 Now the black bishop has to protect the weak c5 pawn all the time. [29.g4 f5+ 30.exf6 Bxf6 31.b3 Bd4 Black improved his bishop. Thanks to this, he should hold the position.] 29...a6 30.b3 [30.g4 I was not sure about this move. It looks logical because White wants avoid h5 and not allow Black to exchange the h-pawns. On the other hand, Black can use the same idea that we will see later in the game. 30...g5! To put the pawn on a dark square is super strange, but now it is not easy for White to make progress. For example: (30...f5+ 31.exf6 B xf6 32.b3 Kd6) 31.b3 Ke8 32.Kf3 (32.f4 gxf4 33.B xf4 Kd7 and how to play next?; 32.h4 gxh4 33.f4 h3 34.Kf3 Bh4 and Black has counterplay.) 32...Kf8 If Black keeps his king on d7, then White can win with the following plan: first, push h4 and after gxh4, advance f4-f5. 33.Kg2 Kg7 34.h4 gxh4 35.f4 Kg6 36.Kh3 h5 and Black is fine.]

23


30...h5! Typical defensive idea. Black is going to get rid of the potentially weak h-pawn. 31.f3 Ke8 32. Bh6 Bd8 [32... Bf8?? 33. Bxf8 Kxf8 34.Kf4 with an easy winning plan: first, put the king on g5 and then play h4-g4.] 33. Be3 Be7 34.h3 Kd7

35.g4?? Huge mistake! After this move, the position will be drawish. White should play [35.f4 Ke8 36.g4 Of course, I saw this plan, but it is hard to explain why I decided not to use it. 36...hxg4 37.hxg4 Kd7 38. Bc1! White has to be accurate immediately. (38.f5 then 38...gxf5+ 39.gxf5 f6! and Black gets rid of all the weaknesses.) 38... Bf8 39. Bd2 (39. f5 gxf5+ 40.gxf5 Be7 41.f6 Bd8 42.Be3 Bb6 43.b4 White is still better, but it makes no sense to allow the black bishop to change diagonals.) 39... Be7 40. Be3 Bf8 and this is the moment for 41.f5 gxf5+ 42.gxf5 exf5+ (42... Be7 43.f6 Bf8 Now Black is playing without the bishop. Let us check the winning plan for White. 44.Kd3 Kc7 45.Kc2 Kb7 46.Kb2 Kb6 47.Ka3 Ka5 48. Bd2+ Kb6 49.Ka4 Kb7 50.Ka5 Ka7 51. Be3 Kb7 52.a4 Ka7

53.b4 Kb7 54.b5 axb5 55.axb5 cxb5 56.Kxb5 (56.cxb5 c4 and Black is fine.) 56...Kc7 57.Ka6! The most accurate. (57.B xc5 Bh6 58.Bd6+ Kc8 59.Kc6 Bf4 and it is hard to improve White’s position!) 57...Kc6 58.Ka7 Kc7 59. Bd2 Kc8 (59...Kc6 60.Kb8+-) 60.Kb6 Kd7 61.Kb7 Kd8 62.Kc6 Kc8 63. Be3 Kd8 64. Bxc5 Taking the c5 pawn this way, White will be able to promote the c-pawn because the king can get to b7 on time. 64... Bh6 65.Kb7+-) 43.Kxf5 Be7 44. Bf2 Kd8 45. Bg1 (45.e6 White is not ready for this move yet because of 45...fxe6+ 46.Kxe6 Bf8 and the black king escapes to b7. Then, even if White gets the c5 pawn, it will not be enough to win the game!) 45...Kd7 46. Be3

24


46... Bf8 (46...Kd8 After this move, White gets a winning pawn endgame. 47.Bg5! Kd7 48.B xe7 Kxe7 49.a3 a5 50.a4 Kd7 51.Kf6 Ke8 52.e6 Kf8 and the stalemate idea does not work because White can play the simple 53.Ke5+-; 46...Ke8 47.e6 fxe6+ 48.Kxe6 Kd8 Now the most important is not to allow Black to put the king on b7! 49.Bh6 Ke8 50.Bf4 Kd8 51.Bc7+ Ke8 52.Bd6 Bg5 53.B xc5+-) 47.Kf6 Ke8 48.e6 fxe6 (48...Be7+ 49.Ke5 Bf8 50.exf7+ Kxf7 51.Bg5 Be7 52.Bh6+- White, thanks to some zugzwang ideas, slowly comes with the king to the d6 square.) 49.Kxe6 Kd8 50. Bf4! White prevents the transfer of the king to b7 again. 50... Be7 (50...Bg7 51.Kd6+-; 50...Kc8 51.Kf7+-) 51. Bc7+ Ke8 52. Bd6 Bh4 53. Bxc5 Bg3 54. Bd4 Bb8 55. Be5 Ba7 56.b4+- and the white king soon gets to d6.]

37.Kd3 [37.Kf3 Ke8 38.Kg3 Kd7 39.h4 gxh4+ 40.Kh3 Bd8 41. Bxc5 Bg5 42. Bf2 Bf4] 37...Kc7 38.Kc2 Kb7 39.Kb2 Kc7 40.Ka3 Kb7 41.Kb2 1/2

35...hxg4 36.fxg4 [36.hxg4 g5! The same only way to survive!]

36...g5! I saw this, but I thought that I can simply win now thanks to the king transfer to the queenside. I completely forgot that when my king gets to a5, I get a check from d8!

25


Clash of the Titans

the heavy pieces on the e-file, just survive on one side. Objectively, this structure which more often comes from the Averbakh Variation is simply very passive for Black.]

(17) Rubinstein,Akiba — Reti,Richard [E90]

6... Bxf3 7.Qxf3 0–0 8. Be2 Nfd7 9.Qd3 Nc6 10. Be3 e5 11.d5 Nd4 12.0–0 f5 [12...Nc5 13.Qd1 a5 14. Bd3 Qh4 The queen takes a good place to put pressure on f5. Also, the Bh6 idea deserves attention.; 12...c5 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.b4 Rb8 15. Rab1 with the thematic idea of playing b5 to take control of the light squares (especially d5). Anyway, thanks to the strong knight on d4, Black/^s position should be fine.]

Stockholm Stockholm (1), 1919 [Kamil Miton] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 d6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 Bg4

13.exf5 gxf5 [13...Nxe2+ 14.Qxe2 gxf5 15.f4 with unclear play.]

6.h3?! Not an accurate move, which gives Black the opportunity to come with the knight to d4. White should play [6. Be2 0–0 7.0–0 Nfd7 8. Be3 c5 (8...Nc6 9.d5 B xf3 10.B xf3 Na5 11.Be2 B xc3!? That is why, sometimes, White plays Rc1 to avoid this idea. Now Black will play against the weak pawns, but on the other hand, White has two bishops and good possibilities to develop an attack against the black king — the position is very complex. 12.bxc3) 9.d5 Na6 10.h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nc7 12. Be2 a6 13.a4 The pair of bishops, more space, and what is most important, Black is not able to create counterplay on b5. These facts gives white a clear and stable advantage. 13... Re8 14.Qd2 e6 15. Rae1 exd5 16.exd5 a5 Black’s idea is to close the queenside and after the exchanges of

14. Bxd4 exd4 15.Nb5 Nc5 [15...Ne5 16.Qd2 d3 17. Bxd3 f4 18.Nd4 Qh4 19. Rfe1 It seems like Black should have the initiative, but the white pieces are also well placed. If Black pushes f3, Re4 will come.] 16.Qd2 Ne4 [16... Be5 17.Nxd4 Qf6 18. Rad1 Rae8 19. Bh5 Re7 20.b4² with the threat Ne6.; 16...d3 17. Bxd3 a6! Probably this was the best for Black because in this case, the knight cannot jump to d4 (and e6 next) . (17... N xd3 18.Qxd3 B xb2 19.Rab1 Bg7 20.Rfe1 After Nd4 26


next, Black will be forced to exchange the bishop. Then, White can get the advantage due to the weak black king.) 18.Nc3 Qh4© with good compensation.] 17.Qd1 c5 18.dxc6 bxc6 19.Nxd4 Qb6 [19...Qd7 Maybe this was better. Black simply prevents Ne6 and, thanks to the strong bishop on g7, he keeps some good practical compensation.] 20.Ne6

21... Rf6 22.c5 Qb4 23.Nf4 Nc3 24.Qd2 Qxf4 25. Rxb2? It is hard to explain this bad move which led to the endgame without a pawn. Maybe Akiba did not see that after [25.Qxb2 Nxb1 does not work because the rook is hanging? 25...Qd4 26. Rbc1 Nxe2+ 27.Qxe2 d5 28. Rfe1 and again, given that the black king is not safe, White has an advantage.] 25...Qxd2 26. Rxd2 Ne4 27. Rb2 Nxc5µ White gets a bad endgame a pawn down. Let us see how Rubinstein is going to defend his position.

20... Bxb2? A mistake. Black should take on b2 with the queen, but anyway, White's position is already better. [20...Qxb2 21. Rb1 Qe5 22.Nxf8 Nc3 23.Nd7 Qe6 24.Qd3 Nxb1 25. Rxb1 Qxd7 26. Bf3² Black has a worse structure and a worse king as well. That is why he has a little advantage.] 21. Rb1? White missed a chance to get a huge advantage after [21.c5! Qb4 (21...N xc5 22.N xf8 B xa1 23.Qxd6+-) 22.Nxf8 Bxa1 23.Qxa1 Rxf8 Thanks to the inclusion of 21.c5 and Qb4, White can now play 24.cxd6 Nxd6 25. Rc1 and Black has too many weaknesses. The position is lost for him.]

28. Rc1 Kf8 29. Rc4 Very good place for the rook, where it will create some pressure on the 4th rank and will not allow the knight to move. 29...Ke7 30. Rh4 h6 31. Rc4 Kd7 32. Bf3 White is trying to disturb Black in his quest to improve his position with Kc7- Ne4-d5. 32... Re8 33.Kh2 A nice active defense by Rubinstein. Now the white king is coming to fight for counterplay. 33...Kc7 34.Kg3 a5 The idea of this move is to play Ne4, and after Ra4, Black would play Re5!

27


35.Kh4 Ne4 36. Rbc2 d5 37. Ra4 Ra8

38.g4 Another good move. White wants to eliminate the strong knight from e4. 38...Kd6 39.gxf5 Nc5 [39...Ng5 40. Bg4 c5µ and the two passed pawns look very unpleasant for White.] 40. Rg4 Nd7 41. Rg7 White is looking for counterplay from the other side. 41... Raf8 [41... Rxf5 42. Bg4] 42. Bg4 d4 43.f4 R8f7? The beginning of the wrong plan. Black wants to exchange a pair of rooks, but maybe it was better to immediately try to advance the passed pawns. [43...c5 44. Rg6 (44.Re2 d3 45.Re6+ R xe6 46.fxe6 Nf6–+) 44...Nb6 (44...d3 45.Rc3) 45. Re2 c4 46. Re6+ Rxe6 47.fxe6 Nd5 48.e7+! Kxe7 49. Re6+ Kf7 50. Rd6 Ne3 51. Rxd4 c3 52. Rd7+ Kf6 53. Rd6+ Kg7 54. Rc6 c2 With the unpleasant pawn on c2, Black is objectively better, but thanks to his active pieces, White has some chances.] 44. Rg6

44...Nf8? 45.Kh5! c5 [45...Nxg6 46.fxg6 Rf8 47.Kxh6 (47.f5 Rh8 and now it is not easy to improve White’s position.) 47... Rxf4 48.g7 Rd8 49.Kh7? Logical but wrong. (49. Kg5! and it is hard to say who is better.) 49...c5 50.g8Q Rxg8 51.Kxg8 d3 The white king is too far to stop the black pawns.] 46.Kxh6 Nxg6 47.fxg6 Rc7 48.Kg5 An interesting and slightly inhuman variation can be seen after [48.f5 d3 49. Rc1 c4 50.Kg5 Rf8 51.f6 (51.Rd1!?) 51...d2 52. Rd1 c3 53.g7 and now some engine moves: 53... Rcf7 54.gxf8Q+ Rxf8 55.Kf5 (55.Bf5 Ke5 56.Bc2 Rg8+ 57.Kh4 Kxf6) 55...Kc5 (55...Kd5 56.Bf3+ Kd4 57.Bc6 White is winning because of the Ba4 idea.) 56. Rxd2 Only move. 56...cxd2 57.h4 Kb6 Avoiding the check from f8 in some variations. 58.h5 Rg8 59. Be2 Rg2 60. Bd1 Rg1 61. Ba4 Rh1 62.f7 Rf1+ (62...R xh5+? 63.Kg6 Rh8 64.Kg7 Rc8 65.f8Q R xf8 66.Kxf8 Kc5 and now comes the very nice 67.Bd1! with a4 next +-.) 63.Kg6 Rg1+ Draw.] 48... Rf8 49. Be2!+- The most pra ctical and simple move. The bishop stops the black pawns and White is winning very easily.

28


49... Re8 50. Bc4 Re3 51.h4 Rg3+ 52.Kf6 Rg4 53.f5 Rxh4 54.g7 Rxg7 55.Kxg7 Ke5 56. Rf2 Rg4+ 57.Kf7 Ke4 58.Ke6 d3 59.f6 Rh4 60.f7 Rh6+ 61.Ke7 Rubinstein demonstrated a very good example of active defense! 1–0

Surprise section / study (18) Horwitz [CEWN] 1. +-

29


Solutions

(20) Svetushkin,D (2588) — Tkachiev,V (2632) Balagne rapid, 14.04.2013

(19) Miton,K (2628) — Duda,J (2497)

[Solutions]

Polish Championship, 14.04.2013 [Solutions]

19...dxc3! 20. Rxd8 Rfxd8 21.Qa4 [21.bxc3 Bd3–+] 21...c2+ 0–1[21...c2+ 22.Kc1 Be2–+] 22.Qb1! Bxa3 23.Qb8+ Ke7 24.Qxh8+-

(21) Tkachiev,V (2632) — Svetushkin,D (2588) Balagne rapid, 14.04.2013 [Solutions]

30. Rxd3! 1–0[30. Rxd3 exd3 31. Bd5+-] 30


(22) Ghaem Maghami,E (2561) — Karavade,E (2389)

(23) Kuzubov,Y (2619) — Sachdev,T (2409)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

20.Ng4! [20.Nxg2? Rg8–+; 20.Qxf6? Rg8 21.Qxe5+ Kf8 22.Qd6+ Ke8 23.Qe5²]

21.Nf6+!! gxf6 [21...Kf8 22.N6d5! exd5 23.Ng6++-]

20...Qe7 21.Qxe7+ Kxe7 22.Kxg2 1–0

22.Nd5!! exd5 23.exf6 Qxe1+ [23...Qd7 24.Qg3+ Kf8 25.Qg7#] 24. Rxe1 Kf8 25.Qg3! Rg8 26.Qe3! Rh8 27. Bb5! Ne5 28.dxe5 dxe5 29.c4! Bd6 [29...d4 30.Qxa3++-] 30.c5! bxc5 [30... Bxc5 31.Qxe5+- a2 32.Qe8+ Rxe8 33. Rxe8#] 31.Qxa3 a6 32.Qa5 1–0

31


(24) Aravindh,C (2333) — Iordachescu,V (2599)

(25) Rakhmanov,A (2591) — Naranayan,S (2440)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

d

26. Rxd7! 1–0[26. Rxd7 Bxd7 (26...R xd1+ 27.R xd1+-) 27. Rxa1+-]

22. Be3!! [22. Bxd5? Qxd5!; 22. Bh6? Qh4!] 22...Nc4 [22... Re5 23.Qd3+-] 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24.Qd3! Rc5 [24... Rb4 25.Qxd5+-] 25.b4 [25. Bxc5+-] 25... Rxe3 26.fxe3 1–0

32


(26) Volkov,S (2593) — Vishnu,P (2470)

(27) Gunina,V (2510) — Gaponenko,I (2397)


Russian Women league, 10.04.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28. Bxg4! fxg4 29.Ng6+! hxg6 30.Qxf8+ Qxf8 31. Rxf8++-

33. Rxe4! Qxe4 34. Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.Qd6+! 1–0[35. Qd6+ Kg8 36.Qd8+ Kf7 37.Qxc7++-]

33


(28) Khismatullin,D (2640) — Korneev,O (2609)

(29) Zevers


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1.Qc2+!! dxc2 2.d4+!! Kxd4 [2...Qxd4 3. Bf2! Qxf2=] 26. Bxd5!! Nxd5 27.Nde2! Be6 28.Nxd5 Bxd5 29.Nf4 Rc5 30.b4+-

3. Bc3+! Kd3 [3...Kxc3=] 4. Bxe5 Bxe5= Line

34

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 62 3rd of May 2013


3rd of May 2012

The last week of chess was really amazing. Three top events came to an end with a lot of surprising results.


2

Let us start from the very top:


3

Veselin Topalov dominated it completely and got a full 1,5 points advantage with 8/13 over the second placed Nakamura with “only” 6.5/13. The 3rd and 4th places were shared by Ponomariov and Caruana with 6/13.

»» Puzzle section

15


18


22


25

»» Solutions

26

The Fide Grand Prix in Zug:

Alekhine Memorial: The first place was shared by Aronian and Gelfand with 5.5/9. Thrid place went to Anand with 5/9. It is strange that both Adams and Vachier-Lagrave somehow collapsed in the last rounds of the event after having a great first part of the tournament. In Cuba, the Capablanca Memorial was won by Almasi with 6.5/10. Second and third places were shared by both Cuban players, Leinier Dominguez and Yuniesky Quasada, with 6/10. As usual, we bring you the best games with comments from the past week. Enjoy the CEWN Nr 62. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2



or, if White castles kingside, he might launch a fast attack with h5-h4. However, White is ready for a quick attack as well, via c3-b4.

(1) Kramnik,V (2801) — Fressinet,L (2706) [A07]

4...Qd7 5.h3! Preventing the trading of bishops with Bh3.

Alekhine Mem Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (5), 25.04.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A brilliant victory by Fressinet! We do not see Kramnik losing in such style with the White pieces too often. 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 After the Candidates tournament, Kramnik tried to play some “relaxing chess” and kept his deadly weapons for more important tournaments, but he got punished for that.

5... Bf5 6.c3 Here comes e b4 plan. Black cannot prevent it with a5 since it does not fit into his strategy to castle long. 6...e5! Black explodes the center. This is a typical plan in this opening, but it usually does not lead to anything good... [Anyway, Black had to hurry with the counterplay, since after the slow 6...0–0–0 7.b4 f6 White gets a big advantage after 8.b5 Na5 9.Qa4 b6

2...Nc6!? A brave decision by Black. He transposes to the Chigorin Defense, which does not have a good reputation at all, especially if White does not play c4 quickly. 3.d4! Otherwise, Black occupies the center with e5. 3... Bg4

10. Ba3! followed by Bb4. We can see in these lines that it is more useful to have the knight on d2 to control the c4 square and stay ready to play Nb3, than to have the bishop on g2. Very deep understanding by Kramnik on move 4.] 4.Nbd2 A rare sideline, but it seems to be very strong. Black’s plan in this whole setup is to castle queenside quickly after Qd7, followed by an attack in center with e5;

7.dxe5 [7.Nxe5!? seems to give a nice advantage as well. 7...Nxe5 8.dxe5 0–0–0 9.Nf3 It is not clear how should Black fight to recover the pawn or to get some compensation for that.] 3


7...0–0–0 This is the point where Kramnik starts to lose the thread.

11...hxg4!! Black gets two pawns for the piece, but they will dominate White’s uncoordinated pieces.

8.e3?! This is just a waste of tempo, which is enough for Black to get counterplay. [8.Nb3! should have been played. 8...Nge7 9.Nbd4 with a clear advantage for White!] 8...Nge7! Black is in time to play Ng6 now, and when he wins back the pawn, he is not worse anymore.

12.bxc6 Nxc6 13.e6 White tries to exchange some pieces, but it does not solve his problems. [13.Nd4 Nxe5 is also better for Black. White simply has no useful moves, while Black has many different ways to improve his position. He could do it by Be7-h4, or gxh3 is also possible to get a third pawn for the piece.]

9.g4 White tries to prevent Ng6 by sending the Black bishop to that square, but this weakens his pawn structure and Black will be ready to make use of it with h5! [9.b4 is too slow now. 9...Ng6]

14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4

13...Qxe6! [The tempting 13...fxe6? would have been a grave error because White wins the g4 pawn after 14. Rg1!]

9... Bg6 10.b4 h5! Fressinet has already foreseen his sacrifice, which Kramnik has probably underestimated. 11.b5 Kramnik has pinned his hopes to this move. When the knight leaves, the e5 pawn is not under attack anymore and he will be able to calmly continue his plans. However, Fressinet had a different idea in mind! [11. Rg1 was better, but Black is fine anyway. 11...hxg4 12.hxg4 Qe6 and Nxe5 next move.] 15... Be7! Another great decision! Fressinet realizes the plan of his opponent — to play Qa4 Kb8 Ba3 -, and the trade of the bishops would seriously ease his position. He rather sends his bishop to the attack with Bh4. [15... Bb4! is also strong, suggested by the computer. Bc3 threatens to trap the rook and after 16.Qb3 Bxd2+ 17. Bxd2 Be4! 18. Rh2 (18.Rg1 gxh3 White needs to give up his bishop for the pawn, but then he is simply lost.) 18...Qd6! Trapping the rook. White has an only move. 19.f4 Now on gxf3, Rf2 works, but much stronger is 19...g3! 20. Re2 Qg6! and 4


g2 is c oming next with a winning advantage. Bg2 is answered by taking and Rxh3.; 15...gxh3?! allows White to play 16.Qa4 Kb8 17. Ba3÷]

18...Kb8 19. Ba3

16. Bg2 Forcing Black to take on h3, when the Black pawns become less flexible. On the other hand, it is going to be the third pawn for the piece. [Now on 16.Qa4 Kb8 17. Ba3 Bh4! Black created the direct threat of Qxe3 and is ready to increase the pressure on the f2 pawn.] 16...gxh3 17. Bf3 Bf5 Black prepares to push g5-g4! White’s position is getting more and more unpleasant. He is unable to create any counterplay on the queenside, as the b1 square of the rook is under permanent control by the bishop. 18.Qa4 [I tried to defend the position with 18.Nf1 but it did not help. 18... Rh4! 19.Ng3 Bb4+ 20.Kf1 (20.Bd2? loses to 20...R xd4!)

19... Bh4! Black follows his plan and keeps the bishops on the board. Qxe3 is threatened and g5-g4 is coming fast as well. White cannot create any serious threats without the rook on b1. Bc5 is always met with b6. 20.Nf1 g5! 21. Rh2 White has to make ugly moves like this one. He strengthens his f2 weakness and also tries to blockade the h-pawn. 21...g4 22. Be2 Be4 Black continues pushing. He wants to settle his bishop on g2, trapping the h2 rook and making the f2 pawn more vulnerable. [According to the machine: 22... Rdg8! was even stronger with the deadly threat of g3 fxg3 Rxg3.]

20...Qg6! (The idea of the defense comes after 20...Bc3?! 21.Ba3! B xa1 22.Be7!! Some kind of multi-attacking move. White is back in the game.) 21.Nxf5 Qxf5 Bc3 is threatened now and, for instance, after 22. Bb2 g5! g4-g3 is coming with a crushing attack.]

23. Rc1 White seem s to activate his rook, but actually he still unable to create any real threats. The three pawns on a7, b7, c7 cover all the potential of the queen, rook and two bishops. 23... Bg2 24.Qa5 Rc8! Black had to bring a new defender, but he still has enough pieces left to break through on the other side.

5


25. Rc3 Kramnik tries something on the third rank, but it is still unclear what he really wants... Fressinet finds the way to finish the game in style! [Finally, White could have occupied the b-file, but this time it would have ran into 25. Rb1 Bxf2+! 26.Kxf2 Qf5+–+ and b1 falls.]

31. Bh1 Rg2+ If White does not take, Qf5 mates. 32. Bxg2 hxg2 White resigned! A brilliancy by Fressinet and something that Kramnik should try to quickly forget. 0–1

25... Bxf2+!! Not the only way to win, but definitely the nicest and most effective. 26.Kxf2 Bxf1 Black simply wants and will promote his h- and g-pawns. 27.Kxf1 [27. Bxf1 leads to mate after 27...g3+! 28.Kxg3 Qf5! blocking the king’s path back to the f-file. 29. Rb2 Rcg8+ 30.Kh2 Finally, White has some real threats, but Black is coming first! 30... Rg2+! 31. Bxg2 hxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Rg8+ and mate to follow.] 27...g3 What to do?! The pawns are rolling! 28. Bf3 gxh2 Black threats with Qf5 Ke2 Qxf3 Kxf3 h1Q. 29.Ke2 Rhg8! with the idea of Rg2, closing the bishop’s diagonal. On Bxg2, simply hxg2, promoting the pawns. 30. Bc5 a6 [30...b6 was also good.] 6


(2) Aronian,L (2809) — Svidler,P (2747) [D85] Alekhine Mem Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (4), 24.04.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A huge preparation by Aronian against the Gruenfeld defense. White got a nice edge, which he managed to convert into a full point. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Svidler goes back to his favorite Gruenfeld defense. A few weeks ago, on the Candidates tournament, he surprised Aronian with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 and made an easy draw. 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 This old main line is getting more and more popular recently. [The point of the text move becomes clear after 8. Be2 Black has the strong 8...Nc6! 9.d5 Bxc3+ 10. Bd2 Bxa1 11.Qxa1 Nd4! and Black is fine. White leaves from this motif with the 8. Rb1 move.]

9...b6 This was considered to be a playable alternative if Black would like to avoid the complications of the main line. However, after this game, it looks like Black is forced to grab the a2 pawn if he wants to equalize. [The critical continuation is 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 Bg4 This is basically the starting position of the opening. Probably we will see in the near future what Aronian has cooked out here...] 10.0–0 Qc7 [Usually we reach the game’s position in the following move order: 10... Bb7 11.Qd3 e6 12. Bg5 Qc7] 11. Bg5 e6 12.Qd2 Bb7 13.Qe3 Nd7 Here comes Aronian’s improvement.

8...0–0 [Now on 8...Nc6 9.d5! Bxc3+ 10. Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 White wins back the pawn with the Qc3 double attack on the next move, and gets a small advantage.] 9. Be2

14. Bf4! There was only one game before with this move. The game becomes very concrete now. [All games continued with 14.e5 when Black has two good alternatives. 14...a6 This is how Svidler played not so long ago. (14... Rae8 is the main, followed by f6 exf6 Nxf6, undermining the center.) 15.Nd2 b5 16. Be7 Rfc8 17. Bd6 cxd4! 18.cxd4 Qc3 Black was already fine in Gelfand-Svidler 2010.] 14...e5 Black is forced to pin himself and challenge the center. [The retreat to the back rank cannot come into the consideration, while 14...Qc6 runs into 15. Bb5!] 7


15. Bg3 Rae8 The most principled move to keep the tension, but it seems to be a mistake... [The only attempt to fight for equality is in the simplification. 15...cxd4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Nxd4 Qc5 18. Rfd1 Rfe8 19.f3² White seems to be slightly better here as well. Black’s pieces are uncoordinated. White has some dangerous ideas, such as Rbc1 followed by Nb5, pointing out the weaknesses of the d6 and c7 squares, and Bb5 might be sometimes unpleasant as well.]

camp. It is hard to deal with Nf7.; Black cannot trap the bishop with 17...f4 18.Qd3 h6 (18...Qd6 is met by 19.Nd2! when Nc4 is coming with tempo.) 19.d6! and Be7 next move.]

16.d5! White creates a protected passed pawn, which would undoubtedly give him a big plus in the endgame. However, in the middlegame, Black usually gets strong counterplay with f5, which looks even more dangerous now because of the f4 threat. [16. Bb5 happened in the only previous game.]

19...Qd6 [19...e4 allows 20.d6 Qc8 21.Ne1 Black can temporarily push back his opponent, but then the he cannot hold the holes in his position. 21...f4 22.Qh3 f3 23. Bc4+ Kh8 24. Be7 Be6 is coming next. White is crushing.]

18.exf5! Aronian still follows his preparation. This is the only way to save the bishop, but this gives Black a dangerous center. However, the game remains more concrete. 18...gxf5 19. Rfd1! White refreshes the threat of d6, Be7.

16...f5 17. Bh4! White would like to get his bishop to e7, which would be possible if he could play d6 in time. 17...h6 Preparing to trap the bishop with f4 and g5. [The whole idea of 14. Bf4 comes after 17...fxe4

20.Nd2! The rule says that the queen is a bad blockader. The knight is heading to explode it from c4. 20...Qg6 [20... Bxd5 is met by 21. Bb5! when almost all the Black pieces are pinned.; 20...Qxd5?? 21. Bc4+-] 21.Qg3 An excellent practical decision! Black is forced to go into a bad endgame. 18.d6!! (18.Ng5 B xd5 is unclear.; 18.Qxe4 Rf4 would be fine for Black as he pushes e4 next.) 18...Qxd6 19. Bc4+ Kh8 20.Ng5 Black cannot hold the weak squares in the

21...Qxg3 22.hxg3 Black cannot prevent Bb5, as a6 would crucially weaken the b6 pawn. 8


22... Bf6 [On 22... Bxd5 White wins an exchange after 23. Bb5 Be6 24.Nc4! and Rf7 moves into Nd6.] 23. Bb5! Aronian has a clear target in front of his eyes. He wants to get an endgame with the good knight against the bad bishop, where the protected passed pawn on d5 plays a key factor. 23... Re7 24. Bxd7 Rxd7 25. Bxf6 Rxf6

27... Rg4! 28. Rc1! Excellent prophyl actic move against the pinning threat with Rd4. It also protects the c4 pawn in order to free the knight. 28... Rd4 29.Nf3 Re4 30. Ra3! Forcing Black to weaken his b6 pawn. 30...a6 31. Rb3! The rook has already done his job on the a-file. 31...b5 Svidler tries to complicate matters, but it only fastens his defeat. [31...Kg7 could be met by 32. Rb2 Rd6 33.Nd2 Rd4 34.a4! Black has no good defense against a5. 34...a5 (34...Bc8 leaving the pin is met by 35.Nf3 Re4 36.a5! bxa5 37.Ra2 and c5 also falls.) 35.Nb3 Re4 36.Nxc5! wins.]

26.c4! White has achieved everything he could. Black has hanging pawns on e5 and f5, and additional targets on the queenside. White has several ways to increase his advantage. One is to play Re1, provoking an e4 push, which could be countered with the Nf1–e3 maneuver. White can play on the queenside with a4-a5 or create further weaknesses via the rook lift with Rb3-a3. 26... Rg7 Svidler is searching for counterplay along the 4th rank. 27. Rb3 [It seems to be even stronger to provoke e4 first. 27. Re1! e4 White does t need to worry anymore about Rg4-d4. and he can play, for instance 28.a4 with a huge positional advantage.]

32. Rb2!! Another great move! The rook leaves from the cxb5 Bxd5 tempo. Black cannot avoid losing material. 32... Rf7 [32...b4 loses to 33.Nd2! and when the rook moves, Nb3 wins the c5 pawn.; After 32... Rd6 the easiest win is 33.a4! b4 34.Nd2! and the c5 pawn is lost again, which means the end of the game with such connected passed pawns on c4-d5. 34... Rg4 35.Nb3+-] 33.cxb5 axb5 [33... Bxd5 34. Rxc5+- is equally hopeless.] 9


34. Rxc5 b4 35.d6 Rd7 36. Rd2 Black resigned in view of Nxe5 next move. A nice positional masterpiece by Aronian! 1–0

(3) Anand,Viswanathan (2783) — Ding,Liren (2707) [B18] Alekhine Mem Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (5), 25.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Anand started the tournament badly, with a loss against Adams with white, but then he started to recover his shape. A nice victory over the young Chinese Super GM brought him back to 50%. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 This move is becoming more and more fashionable. Another very attractive game was won by Karjakin against Mamedyarov in this opening very recently. 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 Until here, everything is very well-known, of course. 7.Nf3 A not often played move.

7...e6 Now White is taking over the initiative and the position is getting quite sharp. [The very main line is 7...Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9. Bd3] 8.Ne5 Bh7 Very typical move. The bishop on h7 is just too strong and White has no good squares for the bishop. 10


9. Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 Here we se e the main idea of Black’s 7...e6 which seems like a lost tempo. However, with 10...Nd7, Black wants to exchange another pair of pieces, which is definitely the right way to go in this position. 11.f4! Of course, this is still preparation, but here we see another typical way of playing this position. Now White is preparing to take with fxe5 in order to open the f-file. 11... Bb4+ Provoking White into c3, before playing Be7. This can have the advantage that in case White castles queenside, Qa5 would be possible. 12.c3 Be7 13. Bd2 It seems like White is preparing to castle long. 13...Ngf6 14.Qe2!? and this is already a sort of novelty for the high level games. Usually, White tried to play 14.0– 0–0 first and Black answered with 14...c5. Now things change a bit. 14...c5 Ding continues the game with the main idea of Black, a quick attack on the white center. 15.dxc5

15...Qc7? This move is already quite a serious mistake. [It is hard to say why Black did not play 15...Nxc5 16.0–0–0 and we are re or less back in the main lines. Maybe the Nxc5 version is not the best for Black, but the position remains quite unclear even if I would prefer the white side. The idea of f4-f5 might always be dangerous for Black.] 16.b4! This is exactly why Black should have been more careful. Now it is going to be very hard for Black to win the pawn back, and the trick is that White did not castle queenside and he is not going to do it. The king will take a very safe place on g1. 16...0–0 17.0–0 What else to do for Black?! 17...a5 [An attempt to recover the pawn would end in a very bad position. 17...Nxe5 18.fxe5 Nd7 Black attacked both pawns, e5 and h4. 19. Bf4! Of course, the e5 pawn is more important. 19... Bxh4 20.Ne4 The white knight is going to d6 or maybe to f6, and very soon White will develop a big play on the kingside. It is obvious that White is doing much better here.] 18.a3 A prophylactic move... 18...Nxe5 19.fxe5 Nd7 Black still tries his luck including the a5-a3 moves. 20.Ne4 Good move. 20. Bf4 also looks very good for White. 20...axb4 [It is already not very helpful to play 20...Qxe5 21. Bf4 The black queen has no good squares. 21...Qd5 22. Rad1 Qc6 23. Bd6 All the white pieces are just perfectly placed. White has a huge advantage.] 21.cxb4 Qxe5 By exchanging the a-pawns, Black won the d4 square, but White now has another option. 11


22. Bc3! The bishop took an optimal position. Danger is approaching the black king. 22...Qc7 23. Rad1 Bringing one more piece to a better position.

23... Rad8 [If Black tries to be greedy with 23... Rxa3? 24. Bxg7! would finish the game on the spot. 24...Kxg7 25.Qb2+ and White is winning the rook on a3.] 24.Qg4 g6?! Black is weakening his structure even more. [24...e5 was the only way to go on with just a “bad” position.] 25.Nd6 and now we see the weakness — the f7 pawn, after which the one on g6 might get lost as well.

28...gxh5 29.Qf5 It is funny to look at this position. Black is completely paralyzed, so White does not need to hurry. Anand demonstrates this by just playing 29.Qf5 -Qxh5. 29... Bf6 30.Qxh5 Qc6

31. Rxf6 Lately, this became the right moment for resignation. 31...Nxf6 32.Qxe5 A nice game by White, although Black made it a bit too easy. Maybe the young Ding Liren still has “too” much respect for the World Champion... 1–0

25...e5 26.Qc4! Strong play, nothing helps here anymore. Black’s position is breaking apart... 26...Nb6 27.Qe4 The black knight got nothing better, it can only comeback. 27...Nd7 28.h5! A nice “human” move. Of course, 28.Nxb7 would lead to a full point for White as well.

12


(4) Zhao,Jun (2589) — Wang,Yue (2706) [C10] ch-CHN 2013 Xinghua CHN (11.3), 27.04.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Chinese chess is somehow different from the European version. We often see a superstar like Wang Yue suddenly stopping his own active chess career and becoming a chess teacher. In the game we will see now, it is the other way around — he gets a nice lesson from his opponent. Black should be very careful in this line. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4

8.Ng3 Going by the famous rule: two pieces cannot be in the same square, so there is no reason to exchange a pair of knights. 8... Be7 9. Re1 0–0 10.c3 Until here everything is theory, of course. 10... Re8 From this moment on, Wang Yue, who is probably trying to keep as many pieces as possible on the board hoping for complications, gets himself in very serious trouble. [More usual would be 10... Bxf3 11.Qxf3 c6²] 11. Bc2 Bc2 can be a very usual move in many lines. Of course, the main idea is to play Qd3. 11... Bf8 12. Bg5! Quite a tricky move. Before developing his bishop to f4, White is provoking Black into playing h6 which would weaken even more the b1–h7 diagonal. In many lines after Qd3, Black will not be able to stop White with g6 anymore because the pawn is already placed on h6. 12...h6 13. Bf4 Bd5 Black is preparing the c5 move.

4... Bd7 A slightly strange opening choice by Wang Yue, who is over 100 ELO points stronger than his opponent. This line of the French is counted as “safe but slightly worse” for Black. 5.Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7.0–0 Ngf6 The idea of Black is simple. By developing his bishop quickly to c6, he tries to avoid the usual problems he faces with his bishop on c8. On the other hand, the typical move c7-c5 is never possible, so Black usually just gives away the c6 bishop for the white knight and plays with a very solid position after c6, but without the bishop pair... 13


14.Ne5! and comes another strong move by White. Black did not want to take on the f3-file. Now the knight has gone to e5.

20...gxh5 21.Qxh5 White wants to take on h6 and then to double on the h-file or to double on the g-file. Black is just hopeless against this.

14...c5 15.Qd3! Zhao Jun is going for the black king. [A more positional decision could have been 15.c4 Bc6 16.Nxc6 bxc6 with a clearly better position for White.]

21... Re7 22. Rg3 Rd7 23. Bxh7 The easiest. Now against 23.. .Kh7, 24.Qg4 is coming. A really great attacking game!

15...Nxe5 Almost the only move. [White threats become clear in 15... Rc8 which looks like a solid move, but 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.Nh5! and White is simply winning! Black cannot defend against Nxf6 and Qh7.]

1–0

16.dxe5 c4 This move keeps Black alive... 17.Qe2 Nh7 How to proceed with the attack?! 18.Qg4! looks like a simple move, but is in fact very strong. White is starting a direct attack on the black king. 18...Kh8 19.Nh5 making place for the rook and, at the same time, starting to “test” Black on the g7-line. 19...g6 It is hard to find anything better for Black.

20. Re3! Zhao Jun is fearless and chooses the best move! White is giving up a full piece, but his attack is deadly!

14


Puzzle section

(7) Karjakin,S (2786) — Kamsky,G (2741) Grand Prix, Zug, 29.04.2013

(5) Caruana,F (2772) — Karjakin,S (2786) Grand Prix, Zug, 24.04.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. =

(8) Li Chao (2686) — Zhou Jianchao (2607) (6) Morozevich,A (2758) — Radjabov,T (2793) Grand Prix, Zug, 29.04.2013 [CEWN]

Chinese Championship, 26.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

15


(9) Predke,A (2481) — Belous,V (2560)

(11) Lalith,B (2565) — Gopal,G (2526)


Maharashtra Championship, 25.04.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Jones,G (2654) — Djuric,S (2471)

(12) Amstadt,A (2271) — Berczes,D (2528)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

16


(13) Straubinger,D (2268) — Medvegy,Z (2561) Hungarian league, 21.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. =

(14) Vocaturo,D (2511) — Bruno,F (2428) Italian league, 28.04.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

17


Endgame section (15) Inarkiev,E (2688) — Harikrishna,P (2705) Capablanca memorial, 25.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

We examine a typical rook endgame where Black is going to be a pawn down after losing the one on b4, but his active rook behind his own b-pawn gives him sufficient compensation for the draw. Harikrishna holds the draw with excellent technique. 50...b5! Black needs to advance his passed pawn as far as possible. If White would have put his rook on b5, the endgame would have been easily won for him. 51. Rxb4 [51. Re1+? Simplifying into a pawn endgame would have been a terrible blunder by White. Black wins thanks to his side passer on the b-file. 51...Kd6 52. Rxe7 Kxe7 53.Ke3 Ke6 54.f3 White is too slow in creating his own passed pawns on the kingside... 54...Kd5 55.Kd3 b3 56.Kc3 b2 57.Kxb2 Kxd4 and Black wins... 58.g4 fxg4

59.fxg4 Ke3 60.Kc3 Kf4 61.Kb4 Kxg4 62.Kxb5 Kh3 63.Kc4 Kxh2 64.Kd3 Kg2 65.Ke4 h5 66.Kf4 h4–+] 51... Rb7! Black’s rook is behind the pawn. It means that as soon as the white one leaves the b4 square in order to activate it, Black is ready to push his b-pawn. The d4 pawn is well placed for White, since it prevents Black’s counterplay with Kc5, so the question is whether White will be able to win the game on the kingside without the help of the rook or not?!

52.Kg5! White activates his king before making progress with the pawns. [52.d5+? Trading the d-pawn for the one on f5 is a serious mistake, since it allows the black king to go to c5. 52...Kxd5 53.Kxf5 Kc5] 52... Rg7+ 53.Kh6 Rb7 Black had nothing better than waiting. 54.f3! White finds the only plan to improve his position. 54...Kd5 55.h4 Ke6 Black continues his waiting policy. 56.g4 [56.h5 leads to the same position as in the game, since after 56...Kf6 White has nothing better than playing 57.g4]

18


56...fxg4 57.fxg4 Kf6 The next step for White is to create a passed pawn on the g-file. He can still do this without the help of his rook.

58.h5 Ke6 59. Rb1 We will get the point of this move in the 59.g5 line. [59.g5 allows Black to play 59...Kf5! 60.g6 (White can try to lure the king with 60.d5 Ke5 61.g6 hxg6 62.hxg6 Kxd5

Kc3=) 65...b4 66.Kf6 b3 67.Ke5 b2 68. Rh1 Kc4= followed by Kc3-c2.) 60...hxg6 61.hxg6

61... Rb6! This is the key resource in Black’s defensive plan. 62.Kh7 (62.Kh5 is met by 62...Kf6! followed by Kg7 and taking the pawn.) 62... Rb7+! Black could not take immediately on g6 because of Rb5 check! 63.g7 Kf6 and Rxg7 is coming next! This is the reason why White has put his rook on b1. He wants to give a check on f1, but on the other hand, this allows Black to advance his b-pawn.] 59...b4! 60.g5 Kf5 [60...Kd5 also leads to a draw, but Black needs to find a precise move after 61. Rd1

63.g7 but this leads to the known drawish endgame when the White king is to help his rook at catching the b-pawn. 63... Rxg7! (Black cannot try to win a tempo with 63...Rb8 because of 64.R xb5+!+- deflecting the rook.) 64.Kxg7 Kc5 The draw is inevitable wherever the rook goes. 65. Rh4 (65.Rb1 b4 66.Kf6 Kc4 67.Ke5 b3 68.Ke4 19


61... Ra7!! This is the right defensive method. The rook has to be placed behind the passed pawn, but this time it goes behind the white one on g6. (61...b3 62.g6 hxg6 63.hxg6 b2 64.g7+- wins for White, because the g-pawn threatens to promote with check!) 62.g6 hxg6 63.hxg6 Ra2! 64.g7 Rh2+ 65.Kg6 Rg2+ 66.Kf7 Rf2+ 67.Ke7 Re2+ White is forced to go in front of his pawn. 68.Kf7 (68.Kd7 Rg2=) 68... Rf2+ 69.Kg8 b3 70. Rb1 b2= and the draw is inevitable. The only way to progress for White is Kh7, but then Black will start with his checks again.]

64. Rg4+ Kd5 65.Kh7 b3 66.g7 Rb7 Black tries to escape into the usual pawn against rook endgame with the threat of Rxg7, Kxg7, b2, Rg1 and Kxd4. White sets up a last trap...

61.g6 hxg6 62.hxg6 Rb6! Black uses the same method as in the 59.g5 line. This time he wants to lure the white rook from the attack of b4.

68... Rxg7 69.Kxg7 Kc4 A tough defense and a welldeserved draw for Harikrishna.

67. Rg3!? Kxd4! Black does not fall into it. [Black loses after 67...b2 68. Rb3!+- because the g-pawn promotes with check.] 68.Kh6 [68. Rxb3 leads to two kings- 68... Rxb3 69.g8Q Rh3+! 70.Kg7 Rg3²]

70. Rxb3 Kxb3 1/2

63. Rg1 [63.Kh7 allows the simplification 63... Rxg6! 64. Rf1+ Ke4 65.Kxg6 Kxd4 66.Kf5 b3 White has to give up his rook for the pawn.]

63...Ke4! Another hard move to find! In such situations, only calculation helps. [63...b3 was also tempting, but it loses after 64.Kh5! b2 65.g7! b1Q (65...Rb8 66.Rb1! Kf6 67.Kh6+-) 66.g8Q!+- White wins, as Black has no useful checks.]

20


(16) Aronian,Levon (2809) — Adams,Michael (2727) [D58] Alekhine Mem Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (6), 28.04.2013 [Chess Evolution]

55. Ra3 [To a slightly more difficult draw would lead 55. Rd3 Ra5! winning half a tempo. 56. Ra3 Kb5 57.Kd2 Kb4 and White already needs to be very careful not to lose. 58. Rh3 a3 59.Kc2! but this move still saves White. 59...a2 60. Rh4+ Ka3 61. Rh3+ and draw.] The position looks like a draw, but still White needs to be a bit careful. His king is quite far away and is cut on the f-file. If Black manages to reach the b4 square with the king, the game could be over very quickly.

55...Kb5 The Black king has blocked the a5 square, White can continue with what he had started before.

51...Kd6 52.Kf2! An important move with the only correct idea.

57...Kb4 58. Rd8 The white rook starts to attack from “behind”.

52...Kc6 53. Re3! By playing Re3, White is winning the e-file for his king in order to come a bit closer to the apawn.

58...a3 59. Rb8+ The pawn endgame is a draw, of course.

53... Rd5 [Of course the immediate exchange of rooks just leads to a draw. 53... Rxe3 54.Kxe3 Kc5 55.Kd3 Kb4 56.Kc2=] 54.Ke2 White brings his king one square closer.

56. Rd3 Rc5 57.Kd2 The white king is already on d2! This means the draw is close.

59... Rb5 [In case of 59...Ka4 60. Ra8+ Kb3 61. Rb8+ Ka2 62. Rb7 the position is a theoretical draw as well.] 60. Rxb5+ Kxb5 61.Kc1 a2 62.Kb2 a1N The last funny move! I wonder if it actually was played :). 1/2

54...a4 The simplest draw.

21


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Furman,Semen Abramovich [E24] Moscow training m Moscow, 10.1960 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Nowadays, this line is not very popular. but players like Jobava, Eljanov and recently Svidler like to use it sometimes. 4... Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 Black has a few diferent development plans, but this one is most often played. 6.f3 White is preparing the e4 move with the idea of getting an advantage in the center. Nowadays, the main move is [6.e3 White’s plan is the same to the one in the game, but we should note two important facts for White to start with this move. The first one is that White avoids the line with d5 because after cxd5, Black recaptures on d5 with the knight (Nxd5), and because of the following line: 6...Nc6 7. Bd3 0–0 8.Ne2 b6 9.0–0 Ba6 10.e4 Ne8 Compared to the game, White does not need to lose time with Be3 and can immediately start to put pressure on the kingside. 11.f4] 6...Nc6 [6...d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 (7...exd5 8.e3 leads to a completely different structure. White’s plan is Bd3-Ne2 and, at some moment, to push e4. In general, this is not easy to do.) 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.e4 with complex play.] 7.e4

7...d6 This seems to be a normal move, but Black very often does not lose time with this and tries to immediately create pressure against the c4 pawn. 8. Be3 b6 9. Bd3 0–0 [9... Ba6 I heard a story about this kind of blunder in this structure. One of the old masters, during his game, suddenly saw his wife on the playing hall. He remembered that his mistress was in the room and without any second thought, automatically put the bishop on a6.The problem is that Black did not castle yet, and when he went back to the board, he had to give up after: 10.Qa4+- with d5 next and Black loses a piece.] 10.Ne2 The understanding of this position is very simple. Black’s idea is to play against the very weak c4 pawn, so White should hurry to create an initiative on the kingside. 10...Ne8?! Not accurate! In this position, time is very important, so Black should start immediatelywith [10...Na5 Xc4 11.Ng3 Ba6 12.Qe2 Qd7 with the idea of playing Qa4. (12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Rc8 14.Rc1 Qc7 and White has serious problems with the c4 pawn.) 13.e5 dxe5 14.dxe5 Rfd8! 15. Rd1 Bxc4 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Rxd7 Bxe2 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19.exf6 Bb5 20.fxg7 Kxg7³] 11.0–0 Na5 12.Ng3 22


15... Ba6

12...f5 The idea of this typical move is to limit the white pieces! Black can put up the f5-g6 structure to limit the knight on g3 and the bishop on d3. This idea is possible because of the doubled pawns. White will not be able to take advantage of the weak dark squares around the black king. Let us check what would happen if Black plays [12... Ba6 13.Qe2 Rc8 14. Rac1 In this case, White is on time! After the sacrifice of the c4 pawn, White will get an attack on the kingside. (14.d5!?) 14...Qd7 15.e5!? (15.f4 cxd4 16.cxd4 Qa4 17.f5 Bxc4 (17...N xc4 18.Bg5 f6 19.fxe6 fxg5 20.R xf8+ Kxf8 21.Qh5 Ke7 22.Qxg5+ Kxe6 23.Rf1+-) 18. Bxc4 Rxc4 19.fxe6 Rxc1 20.exf7+ Rxf7 21. Rxc1²) 15...Qa4 (15...dxe5 16.dxe5 Qa4 17.Bg5 with Be7 or Qe4 ideas.) 16. Bg5 Bxc4 17. Be7 d5 18.f4] 13.exf5 exf5 14.Nh5 Nc7 [14... Ba6 15.Qe2 Qd7÷] 15.Qe2?! [15. Re1 Good multipurpose move. In many variations, the rook will not hang on f1, as the bishop on e3 will be protected and the rook will be active on the e-file. Now, after 15... Ba6 White can play 16.dxc5 dxc5 (16...bxc5 17.Qa4) 17.Qc2! g6 (17...Qd7 18.g4) 18. Rad1! gxh5 19. Bxf5 Qf6 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Rd7 with a final attack.]

16.g4 Logical move. Almost all the black pieces are placed on the queenside, so White is trying to break through on the kingside, where the black king might come under pressure. 16...Qe8 Not allowing the capture on f5 and preparing Qf7-Re8. [16...Qd7!? 17. Bxf5 (17.dxc5 bxc5 18.gxf5 Qf7 19.Ng3 B xc4 20.Ne4) 17... Rxf5 18.gxf5 Qxf5 (18...B xc4 19.Qg2 B xf1 20.R xf1 Kh8) 19.Ng3 Qf7 with good compensation.] 17. Rae1 Qf7 18.d5 Rae8 19.Nf4 Re5 [19...g5 20.Ne6 Nxe6 21.dxe6 Rxe6 22.gxf5 Re7 The position looks very dangerous, but Black will be on time with the counterplay. For example: 23.Qg2 h6 24.h4 (24.f4 g4 and the white bishops are out of play.) 24... Rfe8! 25. Be4 Nxc4 26.hxg5 Nxe3 27. Rxe3 Bxf1 28.Kxf1 d5 29.f6 dxe4 30.gxh6+ Kh7 31.fxe7 Rxe7=; 19...fxg4 It does not make sense to open the f-file. 20.fxg4 Qd7 21.h3 with the idea of playing Qc2, and now if 21...Qa4 comes the strong 22.Ne6! X Kg8 22...Nxe6 23.dxe6 Bxc4 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25.e7 Re8 26. Bg5 and the strong e7 pawn gives White a winning position.] 23


20.gxf5

20...Nxc4 Black could also play [20... Rxf5 21.Ng2 (21. B xf5 Qxf5 Xc4) 21... Re5!? (21...R xf3? 22.Bf4 R xf1+ 23.R xf1 with Ne3-Nf5 next. White should get a huge attack.) 22.f4 Ree8 23.f5 with a very complex position.]

N xc3 28.Qa8+ Qe8 29.Qxe8+ Kxe8 30.R xd6 b4) 27... a6 28.a5 but Black’s position is very hard to play.]

26.Ng6! A simple tactical trick. White is winning. 26...Nc7 27.Ne7+ Kf8 28.Qh4 1–0

21. Bxc4 Rxe3 22.Qxe3 Bxc4 23.Ne6 Nxd5? Decisive mistake! After the correct [23... Re8 Simple and the best. 24.Qe4 (24.Rf2 Qxf5 25.Rg2 N xe6 26.dxe6 R xe6 27.Qd2 R xe1+ 28.Qxe1 Qxf3 29.Qe8+ Qf8) 24... Bxf1 25.Kxf1 g6 The position is equal. The idea of the last move is to weaken the knight on e6 and try to get rid of him.; 23... Bxf1 24.Nxf8; 23...Nxe6 24.dxe6 (24.fxe6 Qg6+ 25.Kh1 B xf1 26.R xf1 b5 not allowing White to support the structure after the c4 move. White should be slightly better with the unpleasant pawn on e6, but on the other hand, the white king is very weak and Black has good chances for counterplay.) 24...Qxf5 25.e7 Re8 26. Rf2 Given the fact that Black is controlling the light squares, it will not be easy to prove the advantage, but of course, objectively, White is better.] 24.Qe4 Bxf1 25.Nxf8 Bh3 Losing immediately. Black could still fight after [25...Kxf8 26.Kxf1 b5 27.a4 (27.Rd1 24


Surprise section / study (18) Rinck [CEWN] 1. +-

25


Solutions

(20) Akesson,R (2462) — Barbosa,O (2560) Bangkok Open, 17.04.2013

(19) Lu Shanglei (2562) — Saptarshi,R (2426)

[Solutions]

Bangkok Open, 16.04.2013 [Solutions]

34.Ne7+!! [34.Qxd7? Qxd5+] 34...Kh7 [34... Rxe7 35.Qxg5 hxg5 36. Rxe7+-] 20... Rxb2!! 0–1 [20... Rxb2 21. Rxb2 (21.R xd7 R xb1+ 22.Kg2 B xh5–+) 21...Qd1+ 22.Kg2 Bxh5–+]

35.Qxd7! Nf4+ 36.Kf3? [36.Kf1! Nxe2 (36...Nxd5 37.Qd8 (37.Bd4 B xd4 38.Qxd6+-) 37...Nxe7 38.Qxe7+-) 37.Kxe2+-] 36...Qh5+

26


(21) Short,N (2697) — Czebe,A (2479)

(22) Gharamian,T (2663) — Riff,J (2467)


LUC Open, 17.04.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34. Bh6!! Qf5+ [34...Qc8 35.Qf8+! Rxf8 36.gxf8Q+ Qxf8 37. Bxf8 Kxf8 38. Rxe4+-]

23.Nxg6! Qc7 [23... Bxf4 24.Ne7+ Kh8 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.gxf4+-]

35.Kg1 1–0

24. Be5 1–0

27


(23) Gharamian,T (2663) — Schoorl,R (2326)

(25) Gajewski,G (2653) — Kempinski,R (2599)

LUC Open, 18.04.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

16. Rxe4! Bxe4 17.Qg4+- Bf5 [17... Bg6 18.Qxg6+-; 17... Bd5 18. Bxh6+-] 18.Qxf5+-

28. Rxe4!! Rxe4 29. Bf1! Ne5 [29... Rd4 30. Bxc4 Rxd2 31. Bxd2±] 30.Qxd6!+-

(24) Kempinski,R (2599) — Tomczak,J (2564) Polish Championship, 18.04.2013 [Solutions]

26. Rc8! Rd1+ 27.Ke2 R1d2+ 28.Ke1= 28


(26) Chigaev,M (2454) — Artemiev,V (2499)

(27) Eliseev,U (2541) — Stukopin,A (2500)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24... Rxd3! 25.Qxd3 Bh1!! 26.Qc4+ Kb8 27. Bf4+ Ka8 0–1

25. Bf8+! Nh7 26. Re7!! 1–0[26. Re7 Qxh3 (26...N xe7 27.Qxh7#) 27. Bg7#]

29


(28) Stevic,H (2616) — Gonda,L (2528)

(29) Horwitz


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26... Bd1!! 27.Qxd1 Qh1+ 28.Ke2 Rxf2+ 29.Kxf2 Qxd1–+

1.d8Q+! Kxd8 2. Rxf8+! Rxf8 3. Bf7! d2+ 4.Ke2! d3+ 5.Kd1!+-

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Weekly Newsletter



10th of May 2013

Another great week of chess has begun!


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The European Individual Championship in Poland is on its way. A lot of 2700+ players came to fight for the prices and the qualification for the World Cup. In the line-up there are players such as Jakovenko, Tomashevsky, Vachier-Lagrave, Nepomniachtchi, Areschenko, Akopian, Korobok, Eljanov, Jobava and many more. After round 4, only Moiseenko has 4/4. It is going to be a very exciting tournament and we can be sure that there will be many fighting games. Norway Masters: The amazing strong Norway Masters has just begun. Carlsen, Aronian, Anand, Topalov, Radjabov, Karjakin, Nakamura, Wang Hao, Svidler and Hammer make the field of the tournament really exciting and strong. On the day before the start of the main event, the blitz tournament was won by Karjakin with 6.5/9. The first round of the main event began with two draws and three white wins. We are very curious about who is going to be the winner at the end of this event! Until then, enjoy the CEWN Nr 63 with games from the recent events, as usual, well commented by your two hard workers! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Moiseenko,A1 (2698) — Mista,A (2574) [D20] 14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (2.10), 06.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] An interesting game with many unusual motifs. Alexander Mista, the specialist of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, was not up-to-date with the latest games. Moiseenko got a nice advantage by following the Radjabov-Ponomariov game, which was just played a few weeks ago in Zug on the FIDE Grand Prix.

tinue with 8.f3 Be6 9.Nbc3 Qd7 10.Ne4 Bd5 11.Nc5 Qc8 12.a3 e6 with a very complex position with mutual chances. White has a space advantage, but Black is hoping to get counterplay with the help of the d5 square.] 8...Qd7 9.Nbc3 0–0–0 This sharp move was the reason why White did not like the 8. Be3 line so much. Black threatens with Nxe5. [9... Rd8 is a calm alternative for Black, avoiding the dangers that occured in the game.]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 The sharpest continuation, which probably came as a small surprise for Mista, because Moiseenko always played the main line with 3.Nf3 before. 3...Nf6 Thanks to the efforts of Ponomariov and Nakamura, this line became very popular recently, even on the highest level.

10.a4! This is the novelty of Radjabov. It is very logical for White to launch a huge attack, but on the other hand, he seemingly blunders the Nxe5 threat... [10. Be4 happened before, but Black was fine after 10... Bf5 exchanging the light-squared bishops, followed by e6, consolidating the control over the d5 square for the knight.] 10...Nxe5! Black has no choice, he must go for the complications. Otherwise, a5-a6 is crushing. [10...a5? crucially weakens the b5 square. White immediately makes use of it with 11. Bb5±]

4.e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Bg4 8. Be3 This was a rare sideline before, but after these games, it must be taken more seriously. [Most of the games con-

11. Be4! White calmly goes away with his bishop and threatens to take on e5. 11...f5! Excellent reaction by Black, he counterattacks the bishop. Retreating the knight would cost too much 3


time and White could continue his attack. [11...Nec4 is refuted nicely by 12.a5! The b6 knight has no good square to move, and on 12...Nxe3 freeing the c4 square for the knight, allows the beautiful win

13.axb6! Nxd1 14.bxa7!+- and White promotes a queen on move 15!]

correct recapture. Black has to play accurately. (The point of 14...Kc8 becomes clear after 17.N xe2 Qd5! Now, in comparison to the Radjabov-Ponomariov game, White cannot invade on the d-file. We examined this game in the 15...Nxe3 deviation.) 17...Qd2+! 18.Kf3 g5! launching a strong counterattack. It seems like White has to give perpetual check with 19.Qe6+ (19.Nb5 is met by 19...Qd5+! 20.Qxd5 R xd5 and the a7 pawn cannot be taken because the knight gets trapped after Kb7.) 19... Kb8 20.Qb3+ Black should not be too ambitious neither, because 20...Ka8? meets by 21.Nb5! and Qd5 does not work anymore because of Nc7 at the end.] 15.dxe5 Bxe2 This is the novelty of the game, not a good one from Black’s point of view. [15...Nxe3 was played by Ponomariov. 16.fxe3 Bxe2 17.Nxe2 Qd5 18.Qxd5+ Rxd5

12.a5! White must also play aggressively, since he sacrificed a pawn. With this move, followed by the forthcoming sacrifice, he can keep the queens on the board... [12. dxe5 Qxd1+ 13. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 14.Kxd1 fxe4 would be just fine for Black, as he does not need to worry anymore about getting mated.] 12...Nbc4! [12...fxe4 was losing again, similarly to the 11...Nec4 line. 13.axb6 Nd3+ White has 14.Qxd3! exd3 15.bxa7 and again, White promotes a queen on move 15!] 13. Bxb7+! Kxb7 14.Qb3+ White takes back the piece on e5, destroying the pawn structure in front of the black king and keeping the queens on the board, with the hope of a successful mating attack. 14...Ka8 [Knowing the games 14...Kc8!? seems like a strong improvement for Black. 15.dxe5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxe2 17.Kxe2 With the king on c8, this probably is the

19.Kf2! White wants to invade on the d-file with his rook. This is the point of 14...Kc8, but of course, such moves can only be found over the board by luck. 19...g6 Black has to hurry to develop his bishop, otherwise, he gets cramped with his remaining pieces. (19...R xe5 20.Rhd1 is problematic for Black.) 20. Rhd1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Bg7 22. Rd5 White has kept an initiative thanks to the bad bishop on g7, which will be dominated by the knight af4


ter Nf4-e6. Later on, he managed to bring home the full point. Radjabov-Ponomariov, Zug 2013.]

20... Rd6 Black tries to kick out the annoying e6 knight, but it costs a pawn.

16.Nxe2 Qd3 A logical attempt by Black to get rid of the queens with such a weak king. However the absence of the queens does not solve Black’s problems. [16...Nxe5 17.0–0 and White’s attack is rolling.]

21.Nxc7+ Kb7 22. Rhc1 The end is near! Black’s kingside is still undeveloped.

17.Qxd3 Rxd3 18.Nf4 White is driving his knight to e6 in order to punish Black for his undeveloped pieces on f8 and h8. [However 18. Bd4 seems to be even stronger. The point is very hidden... 18...e6 It seems like he will be out of danger after getting his bishop out, but suddenly 19. Ra4! traps the c4 knight. 19...Nxa5 with the idea of Bb4, looks playable, but...

22...Nc6 [22...g6 is too slow. White’s attack is crushing after 23.a6+ Kb8 24.Nb5 Rd7 25. Ra3! Bg7 26. Rb3+wins.] 23.Nb5 Re6 24.a6+ Kb8

25. Ra4! White is going to play Rc4 and the knight cannot be protected and cannot move wither, because of Rc8 mate. 20.Nc1! traps the rook! Quite an unusual motif!] 18... Rd7 White would like to keep control over the d-file to avoid the rook penetrating over there. [Slightly better practical chances would have given 18... Rb3 but White is better anyway after, for instance 19.0–0–0±] 19.Ne6! Nxe5 Black is at least a pawn up, but his kingside is completely doomed.

25...h5 26. Rac4 Rhh6 A clever idea by Black, but it does not help, obviously. 27.Kf1! Nice final move. White unpins himself and threatens to take on h6 and to give the Bf4 check, followed by either Nxa7 or Nc7 depending on where the king goes. The game is the sad tale of an unfortunate f8 bishop! :) 1–0

20.Ke2! Bringing the h1 rook into action! 5


(2) Eljanov,P (2702) — Predke,A (2494) [E18] 14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (1.8), 05.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A nice positional lesson. White has simplified the middlegame into a seemingly very drawish endgame, but a deeper look shows that Black was never so close to the draw. 1.Nf3 [Usually, we reach the game’s position from the following move order: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Nc3 and we are in the game...] 1...Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 e6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d4 0–0 Here we are! This is the initial position of the Queen’s Indian Defense with 4.g3 Bb7.

7.Nc3 Eljanov follows the old main line. [Recently 7. Re1 enjoys big popularity.] 7...Ne4 8. Bd2 This position has huge theory and there are thousands of games in the database. 8... Bf6 [I personally played 8...d5 ; While the most common move is 8...f5 All of them lead to different pawn structures, but with complex positions everywhere.]

9. Rc1 White prepares to push d5, which is shown in the 9...d6 line. Black decides to employ a standard maneuver to keep his b7 bishop active, but in this position, it is basically a novelty. 9...Nxc3 [9...d6 is met by 10.d5! and Black cannot destroy the pawn structure on c3 because of the previous Rc1 move. White ends up with a small advantage because of the space advantage.; 9...c5 is suggested by theory as the best option for Black.] 10. Bxc3 Be4 11.b4 White decides to grab space on the queenside. He is intending to develop his pieces with Qb3 and Rfd1. [Another typical plan in these positions for White is to play 11. Re1 and if Black develops his pieces logically 11...d6

12. Bf1! the point is that White would like to occupy the center with Nd2 and when the bishop goes away, e4. However, to do this more effectively, he should preserve his light-squared bishop. 12...Nd7 13.Nd2 and wherever the bishop goes, White pushes e4 with an advantage.] 11...d5 12.Qb3 White decides to keep the tension. [12.c5 came into consideration. White should have a small edge 6


here as well, with the space advantage, given that Black is unable to undermine the pawn chain with a5 or e5.] 12...Nc6 Good timing! With his last move, Black has prepared a break on the queenside with a5, so White had to take concrete measures. 13.cxd5! [After the “handy” 13. Rfd1 the advantage immediately slips away. Black plays 13...a5! and on 14.b5 dxc4 15.Qxc4 Bd5 16.Qd3 Nb4! Black gets very good counterplay. His a8 rook becomes very active without even making a single move with it.] 13...Qxd5 [13... Bxd5 is not good. 14.Qb1! and Black has no good defense against e4!; 13...exd5 14. Rfd1 This structur es are usually considered as slightly better for White. The main plan is to settle the knight on e5. It can be done immediately or after b5- Ne7.]

15...a5 A logical move, but after the game, it is clear that Black should have refrained from this move. [15... Bxa2? is clearly over-optimistic. 16.Nd2! Bd5 17.e4! and the bishop gets trapped.; 15... Rfc8 should have been played, but it does not equalize either. 16.Nd2 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 White has a slightly better endgame. He can put the c7 pawn under strong pressure by doubling the rooks on the c-file and he can also start to advance the kingside pawns with g4-f4, grabbing a lot of space and increasing the advantage.] 16.bxa5! Eljanov is ready to go for the forthcoming endgame. He knows exactly how unpleasant it is going to be for Black... 16...Nxa5 17. Bxa5 Rxa5 18. Rxc7 Rxa2

14.Qxd5 Bxd5

15.e3 Strengthening the d4 pawn. White prepares Nd2. [White should be careful with 15.b5 Because of the knight retreats, Black gets the chance to gain counterplay on the queenside with a6. 15...Ne7]

19. Rfc1 Both players were looking forward to this position. Black thought that the draw was in his hands, while White was also happy. We must go deeper to understand the real problems. White would like to exchange the light-squared bishops and the knight will dominate the remaining bishop. The game demonstrates this well. The question is whether it helps if Black goes for the opposite-colored bishop endgame or not.... 7


19... Rd8 [19... Bxf3 is probably the better chance, but also very unpleasant for Black. 20. Bxf3 g6 21. Rb7 Rb2

Rxe5 26. Rxb6 because the 4 against 3 rook endgames are drawn...] 24... Bf6

22. Rc6 Without the rooks on the board, Black could make an easy draw even without the b-pawn. However, White can create many threats with his rooks. One could be d5 now, using the pin of the bishop. Black cannot prevent it with Kg7, because it runs into Rxe6. 22... Bd8 23.Kg2 White does not need to hurry. 23...h5 24.h4 Black can only move with the b2 rook, but a spectacular threat is awaiting for him. 24... Rd2 (24...b5 25.Rc5 b4 26.Rcb5 wins the pawn.) 25. Rd6 Rb2 26.d5! exd5 27. Rbd7!+- Unexpectedly, the bishop is trapped!] 20.Ne1! White follows his plan of playing with the strong knight against the useless bishop. 20... Bxg2 21.Kxg2 e5 A logical attempt by Black to initiate exchanges, but the remaining 4 pawns will still be enough for White to convert his advantage. 22.dxe5 Bxe5 23. Rb7 Rb2 24.Nf3 [White had a tactical opportunity to win the pawn with 24.Nd3 because of the back-rank. However, it would be a huge mistake to give up the knight for the bishop. 24... Rb5 25.Nxe5

25.g4! Eljanov advances his kingside pawns. Before winning the b-pawn, he wants to stop Black from organizing the ideal defending pawn structure with h5-g6-f7. [White could have won the b-pawn by playing 25. Rc6 b5 26. Rcb6 Rd5 27.e4 but White can do this anytime...] 25...h6 26.h4 26...g6 allows the unpleasant Rc6 and the bishop does not find its place. 26... Rb4 27.Kh3 Rf8 Black goes to passivity himself. It does not make any difference, since White could play Rc7 anytime, which forces Black to play Rf8 anyway. 28. Rc6 White is ready to take the pawn since he ideally advanced his pawns on the kingside. 28... Bd8 29.Nd4 Eljanov had a clear plan in mind. He wanted to occupy the seventh rank with both of his rooks and then the threats of Ne6 and Nf5-d6 are too strong for Black to parry. [29. Rb8 was also possible. Black cannot avoid losing the pawn. For instance, after 29... Rb2

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30. Rcc8 Be7 31. Rxf8+ Bxf8 32.Ne5 Nd7 is threatened. 32... Rd2 33.Kg2 Rd6 34.Nc4 wins the pawn.]

(3) Pelletier,Yannick (2599) — Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2718) [A15]

29... Rb2 30.Kg3 Rb1 [On 30... Bf6 31.Nf5! White obviously saves his strong knight!]

14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (3.19), 07.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] To win a game against Yannick Pelletier with the black pieces is a very difficult task. Yannick is usually very well prepared and likes to try to force a draw against a stronger player out of the opening. However, Maxime shows us what is the right strategy against such a tight opponent — he totally outplayed the Swiss number 1.

31.h5! Further squeezing Black, who already cannot move... 31... Rg1+ 32.Kf3 Rb1 33.Nf5 Rb5 34. Rd6 The rook is heading to the 7th rank.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Maxime is almost always playing his favorite Gruenfeld, and with great success. This time, it is anti-Gruenfeld time. The position very quickly becomes very sharp and interesting. 4.cxd5 Nxd5

34... Re5 35.Kg3 White does not need to hurry. 35... Rc5 36. Rdd7 Rc2 37.f4 White improves even more his structure before making the decisive blow with Nd6. [37.Nd6 was also winning.] 37... Rc3 38.Kf3 Rb3 This is a blunder, but the game was over anyway. 39.Nd4! Rd3 40.Ke2 Black resigned as Ne6 is coming next with the typical mate on the 7th rank with two rooks.[40.Ke2 Rc3 41.Ne6 fxe6 42. Rxg7+ Kh8 43. Rh7+ Kg8 44. Rbg7# An instructive game!] 1–0

5.Qb3 The Anti-Gruenfeld with 5.Qb3 is a very sharp line. I guess that Black probably did not expect it from the usually solid Swiss player. 5...Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 In the Gruenfeld it is always the same — White has a strong center and Black tries to get some play against it. 9


7. Bg5 A relatively rare move which immediately brings a lot of action to the game. 7... Be6 8.Qc2 Until here, I guess both players knew the line well. 8...h6 9. Bh4 This is nothing new either. White keeps both ideas in mind: to castle long or just to play the modest e3, Be2 and 0–0.

14...N4d5 15.e4?! Another typical mistake. Of course, White should never move the e3 pawn. It is very important to block the bishop on g7! Now Black is quickly using White’s gift. 15...Nxc3 16.bxc3

9...g5 This is almost a novelty already. Usually, Black tried the less aggressive short castle, or Nc6 and short castle after e3. 10. Bg3 g4 Actually, this move looks very logical. Why not to push away the white knight from f3?! 11.Nd2 The only square. Of course, moves like 11.Nh4 would be much less attractive for White because the knight would be out of play. 11...Nc6 The idea is not to put the knight on c6, which would be a bad square, but to bring the it quickly to d5 and to play c5 next, crushing White’s center. [This is not the right moment to get greedy. 11... Bxd4 12.Nb3 and the white pieces will dominate the game. Besides Rd1, Nc5 might also be a threat, if the black bishop goes back to g7.] 12.e3 Nb4 and here we can see Black’s idea in action. 13.Qd1 h5 Before going N4d5, Black is checking how will White get rid of the nasty h4 threat. 14.a3? A bad move. White is pushing the Black knight to d5, a square where it would have to go anyway. [A normal move like 14. Bh4 would lead to a very complex position.]

16...c5! This is exactly how we should play the Gruenfeld! Black’s bishop on g7 is mutating to a monster piece! By now, it is clear that something went very wrong in the previous moves. Black already has a better position. 17.d5 Bd7 18.c4 White is trying to fix his center, but of course, Black will not take the exchange on a1, as it would be a terrible mistake. The bishop controls all the dark squares and is a key piece in Black’s position. 18... Ba4?! As we know, the best blocking piece is the knight, so why to play 18... Ba4 and not 18...Na4!? 19.Qc1 h4 It is time to act. White could have thought about playing h4 next. 20. Bf4 Bd4! A nice move. White wanted to play e5 next or just Be3. Now Black is going to destroy White’s pawn structure forever.

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21. Be2 White does not see it coming...

26.Qd3 Rh6 Black is playing according to his plan. It is time to exchange a few pieces... The target is to get a Bishop+Knight endgame with one rook on the board. 27. Rab1 Rb6 Protecting b7 pawn and avoiding b6, which would give a “one-way ticket” for the knight on a4. 28.Nb3 It is hard to give White an advice. The are really no moves in the position, but I think it was clearly the time to get rid of the knight on a4. [28. Bd1 would probably give White better practical chances.]

21...e5! Just super strong play. 22. Be3 Nothing else left for White. 22... Bxe3 23.fxe3 Let us have a fresh look at the position. White’s pawn structure is just horrible and he has no play at all. If Black manages to exchange the queens, his position would probably be winning. The winning plan would be easy, to put the knight on d6, the bishop on d7 and to play a6-b5, or maybe f5. 23...Qg5 24.Qc3 Bd7 Probably now came the most critical point of the game. 25.0–0? After this move, White is almost paralyzed. [White should have used his chance to get at least some counterplay. 25.a4! Nc8 (Of course not 25...N xa4 26.Qb3) 26.a5 and in the future, White would have at least a target — the c5 pawn provokes Black to play b6. Still, White’s position is bad, but there remain some practical counter-chances.]

28...Kf8 Black does not need to hurry, White has no counterplay. 29.Qd2 Kg7 30. Bd3 g3 It is hard to say if this move will be useful, but it might be. The only small disadvantage could be that White might need the f3 square for his knight, someday... 31.h3 Rh8 and the second rook is coming over h6 into the game. 32. Bc2 Rhh6 33.Qd3 The moves by White are quite senseless. 33... Rhf6

25...Na4 No more a4 in this game.

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34. Rf5? The last mistake of not a great game. [It would have been better for White to keep using the passive tactic. 34. Rxf6 Qxf6 35. Rf1 Qg5 36. Rf3 with a worse, but not lost, position.] 34... Bxf5 35.exf5 e4! and Black says “thank you!”. We saw a very nice strategic win by Black and can learn a lot from Maxime, who is still a real Gruenfeld expert with the black pieces! 0–1

(4) Halkias,Stelios (2549) — Balogh,Csaba (2644) [D17] 14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (3.37), 07.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Our CEWN commentator Balogh Csaba is working a double shift. Besides his usual commentaries for the next issue of CEWN, he is participating in the European Individual Championship in Poland. The target is clear, to qualify for the World Cup. To do this he needs a result of at least +4 and to be lucky and get among the best 24. 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 Csaba’s favorite Slav with dxc4. 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6

8.Ne3 Quite a rare but interesting move which Halkias played not for the first time. [8.Ne5 is the main move here.] 8... Bg6 [8...e6 is another way to proceed, but personally, I would not advice it, since somehow it feels a bit better for White. 9.Nxf5 exf5 10.e3²]

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9.a5 Nbd7!? It seems to me that my friend Csaba was extremely well prepared. [9...Nbd5 is the usual answer here.]

13...cxd5 14.Nexd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Qa5+! Black is pushing back the knight and winning some time for development.

10.g3 A very normal move by White. He wants to develop first, castle short, then play Nc4 back and e4, in order to dominate the center.

16.b4 At first sight, this looks very bad for White, but Halkias prepared a very exciting move!

10...b5!N It seems like Csaba’s preparation is really deep. An amazing looking move, but maybe simply closes this line?! Black is forcing White to play a move by move game. The position is getting super sharp. 11.axb6 After this move, I think Black is out of danger. [The most principled seems to be 11. Bg2 Rc8 12.0–0 e6 It seems like Black is very solid, but White got an extra idea. 13.f4!? with a super unclear position.]

16...Qa7 Black wants to play e6 and it seems like 16.b4 was not the best, but... 17. Bh3! A great idea to sacrifice the knight on d5. 17...e6 18.0–0 Now White already has no choice. 18...exd5 19.Qxd5

11...axb6 12. Rxa8 Qxa8

19... Be7! Good defense by Black. White wanted to play Rd1 next.

13.d5 White is trying to speed up things hoping to crush directly in the center. [The best try to hope for an advantage would, again, be the simple 13. Bg2 e6 14.0–0 Be7 15.f4!? Always the f4 move! Bringing back some small discomfort.]

20. Bb2 Again, White chooses the best move. [Also 20. Rd1 Nf6 (20...0–0 might lead to a slightly worse endgame for Black. 21.Qxd7 Qxd7 22.R xd7 B xb4 23.Be3 Rb8 24.f4 and White is doing a bit better in this endgame, even though it is rather close to a draw.) 21.Qc6+ Kf8 This seems like quite an unclear position with a lot of tactical motives. Here is one of them: 22. Rd7 looks very beautiful, but only leads to a draw. 22...Qa1 23. Rxe7 13


Kxe7 24.Qc7+ Kf8 25.Qd6+ Ke8 26.Qc6+ and the game ends with a perpetual check.] 20...0–0 Black got no other choice but to go into a slightly worse endgame. 21. Ra1 The rook on an open file is never out of place. 21...Qc7 22.Qxd7 Qxd7 23. Bxd7 Bxb4 24. Bd4 Rb8 How to evaluate such a position?! If we could take away the rooks from the board, the position would be just a draw, and maybe even slightly better for Black. With rooks on the board and the great positions taken by the white bishops, White is doing a bit better. Especially if he manages to play f4-e4 — Black’s position would be not that pleasant.

26... Bf8 27. Bxg7 That is the idea. Even with a pawn up, White’s chances to get a full point are not very high. The opposite-colored bishops and the quick walk of the queenside pawns give Black very good chances for a draw. 27... Bc2! Csaba does not panic after his blunder and chooses the right square. White’s rook on c2 will be badly placed. 28. Ra2 Bxg7 29. Rxc2

25. Ra7 [I think the best for White would have been to play 25.f3 followed by e5 next, with minimal winning chances.] 29...b5! Of course, Black should not lose any time. If White could block the pawn on b6, the position might be just lost!

25... Be4?! It seems like this move simply blunders a pawn. [Better was 25...h5 and the game should end in a draw.] 26. Ra4! White is not missing his chance to get a pawn...

30. Rc8+? After this, the position is just a dead draw. [The only chance to keep playing would be to keep the rooks on the board. 30. Bf5 b4 31.Kg2 b3 32. Rc7 b2 33. Bb1 and even though the white bishop takes a terrible position on b1, White still has some practical chances to play for a win. The black rook can never leave the b-file to his white colleague, so White should not be afraid of Rc8 and simply push his pawn forward.]

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30... Rxc8 31. Bxc8 Now it is a total draw. Black does not even need the b-pawn for that. The easiest way for Black to make a draw is to put his pawns on h6-f6, the king on g7 and simply “do nothing”. White has no winning ideas. 31...b4 32. Bf5 b3 33.Kf1 h6 34.e3 Bc3 35.Ke2 b2 36. Bb1 Kg7 Black is out of danger and the rest of the game is not really interesting. It is more or less moving around. 37.Kd3 Be1 38.Ke2 Bb4 39.g4 Bd6 40.h3 Kf6 41.h4 Kg7 42.Kd3 Be7 43.h5 Bh4 44.f3 Bf2 45.Ke4 f6 46.Kf4 Be1 47.Kf5 Bd2 48.e4 Bc3 49.f4 Bd2 50. Ba2 Bc1 51. Bb1 Bd2 52.e5 A very interesting game for the future of the opening! 1/2

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Puzzle section

(7) Hagen,A (2400) — Lupulescu,C (2634) European Championship, 05.05.2013

(5) Matinian,N (2491) — Jobava,B (2702) European Championship, 05.05.2013

[CEWN] 1. =

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Shimanov,A (2639) — Prizant,J (2537) (6) Butkiewicz,L (2410) — Shimanov,A (2639) European Championship, 05.05.2013 [CEWN]

European Championship, 06.05.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... 

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(9) Djukic,N (2555) — Khairullin,I (2657)

(11) Mchedlishvili,M (2640) — Javakhadze,Z (2448)

European Championship, 06.05.2013

Nakchivan Open, 30.04.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Arnold,M (2538) — Gareev,T (2674)

(12) Haslinger,S (2535) — Short,N (2692)


4NCL, 05.05.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

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(13) Lou Yiping (2482) — Yu Yangyi (2675) Chinese league, 30.04.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Jobava,B (2702) — Lan,Z (2165) Chinese league, 03.05.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

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Endgame section (15) Carlsen,Magnus (2868) — Radjabov,Teimour (2745) [A07] Norway Supreme Masters Blitz 2013

the most forced one. 38... Rb1+ going for the h-pawn. 39.Ke2 Rh1 and the h2 pawn is lost, but White is in time to create counterplay. 40.b4 Rxh2 41.b5 Rh1 42.Kd2! A very important move in order not to allow the black rook to the b-file. It is hard to say if White would be able to save the game here, but chances are not that bad...]

Stavanger NOR (2.1), 07.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

38...h5! Another super strong move and maybe White’s position is already lost! We are in a blitz game from the Super Blitz Tournament in Norway. Anyway, the quality of the game is pretty high. We very rarely see Magnus Carlsen losing an endgame, but that will happen in this game. At first sight, the position seems to be close to a draw, but is it so?! Let us try to find out. 37. Rb7 g5! Very strong move! Now Black wants, in many lines, to play Rb1–Rh1 in order to win a tempo. Also, the Black king will have a free pass over g6-f5 to the very important e4 square. 38.h3? This small move almost loses the game! [White should avoid at all costs the black king coming to f5. 38.g4! Black has several ideas now. Let us take a look at

39.Kf1 [It is already too late for 39.g4 Rb1+ 40.Ke2 Rh1 and White is not in time to push the b-pawn.] 39... Rd2 putting the white rook on a bad square. 40. Rb4 g4 and saving the f5 square for the black king. 41.hxg4 hxg4 42.Ke1 Rb2 43. Rb8 Kg6 The black king is coming and White has no counterplay at all. 44. Rb7 f6 45. Rb6 Kf5 White is in a sort of zugzwang. 46.b4 [Not much better is 46.Kf1 Rd2! The usual trick to get the white rook to b4. 47. Rb4 Ke4 and the game is over...] 46...e5 The simplest way... Even so, exchanging the weak d4 pawn is a bit unpleasant... 19


47.dxe5 fxe5 48.b5 White is trying to push the b-pawn to b7 in order to have practical chances for an escape, but it comes all too late... 48...Ke4 49. Rb8 d4 The black king plus the d-pawn are too big an advantage not to make a full point.

(16) Ushenina,A (2491) — Girya,O (2463) Women Grand Prix, Geneva, 06.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

50.b6 Kd3 51.Kf1 Kd2 52.b7

52...d3! Good play by Black, not leaving White any chances. Black’s idea is simple, to play Rb1 followed by Ke2. 53. Rg8 [Also losing is 53.Kg2 Ke2 54. Re8 Rxb7 55. Rxe5+ Kd1 and Black’s d-pawn becomes a queen. As we can see, it is super important that the black pawn is on g4, practically blocking both white pawns.]

We will examine a shocking game, where the current World Champion, Anna Ushenina, is unable to mate her opponent with bishop and knight. The attacking side needs to know only one basic idea, but when the moment arrived, Ushenina missed it... 72.Nxc3 Ka1 The defensive side should run with the king to the corner which is opposite to the bishop’s color. 73.Nd1 Ka2 74. Bc2 Ka1 75.Kc3 Ka2 76. Bb3+ Ka1 77.Ne3 Kb1 78.Nc2 Kc1

53... Rxb7 54. Rxg4 Kc3 The easiest choice... 55. Rg8 Rb1+ 56.Kg2 d2 and the game is over... The rest was only played because it was a blitz game. 57. Rc8+ Kb2 58. Rd8 d1Q 59. Rxd1 Rxd1 60.Kf3 Re1 61.g4 Kc3 As we could see, this typical endgame was very bad for White and the only saving attempt was the active plan of sacrificing the h-pawn. 0–1 20


79. Ba2! This is the winning position, which is very easy to get, even if the black king is in the center. White’s task is to squeeze the black king to the h1 square, which is already fitting to the bishop...

82...Kg3 83.Ke3 Kg4! The king gets out from the danger zone, so White must start the whole mating process from the beginning. Ushenina does this part with good technique.

79...Kd1 80.Nd4 Ke1 This defense is more tricky. White needs to know the winning idea here. Otherwise, it is impossible to give the mate. [80...Kc1 is the other defensive method. In this case, the win comes after 81.Ne2+ Kd1 82.Kd3 Ke1 83.Ke3 Kd1 84. Bb3+ Ke1 85. Bc2 and we got the same position as after 79. Ba2, but the king is already squeezed further. The standard mating technique is the following: 85...Kf1 86.Nf4 Ke1 87.Ng2+ Kf1 88.Kf3 Kg1 89.Kg3 Kf1 90. Bd3+ Kg1 The king is in the good corner now, so the mate is coming soon. 91.Nf4 Kh1 92. Be2 Kg1 93.Nh3+ Kh1 94. Bf3#]

84. Be4 Kg5 85.Kf3 Kf6 86.Kf4 Kg7 87.Kg5 Kf7 88.Kf5 Kg7 89. Bd5 Kh6 90.Ne6 Kh7 Black defends the most tenacious way again. 91.Kf6 Kg8 92.Nf4+ Kh8 93. Be4 Kg8 94.Nh3 Kh8 95.Ng5 Kg8 96.Nf7 Kf8

81.Kd3 Kf2

97. Bh7! Here we are again! We got a mirror image position to the one after 79. Ba2... 97...Ke8 Ushenina starts to play some strange moves again...

82. Bd5? This lets the king slip away! [The key move is 82.Ne2! Kf3 83. Be6! Avoiding the Black king to run away from the good corner through g4. 83...Kf2 84. Bd5 and the king must go back the 1st rank. 84...Kf1 85.Ke3 Ke1 86. Bb3 and we already know this position from the 80...Kc1 line.]

98. Bf5 [As we already know, the winning technique is 98.Ne5 Kd8 99.Ke6 Kc7 100.Nd7! The key move! 100... Kc6 101. Bd3! Kc7 102. Be4 Kd8 103.Kd6 Ke8 104. Bg6+ Kd8 105. Bf7 and the king is squeezed to the good corner again. The mate is very easy from now on. 105...Kc8 106.Nc5 Kd8 107.Nb7+ Kc8 108.Kc6 Kb8 109.Kb6 Kc8 110. Be6+ Kb8 111.Nc5 Ka8 112. Bd7 Kb8 113.Na6+ Ka8 114. Bc6#] 21


98...Kf8 99.Nh6 Ke8 100.Nf7 Kf8 101.Ne5 Kg8 102.Ng6 Kh7 103. Be6 Kh6 104. Bg8! Once again, we got the winning position, but this time it is mirrored again.

123.Nc4 Kd1 124.Kd3 Kc1 125.Kc3 Kd1 126. Bd3 What a shocking game! 1/2

104...Kh5 105.Ne5! Ushenina seems to be following the right path... 105...Kh4 106.Kf5 Kg3

107. Bc4? But she fails again! [107.Ng4! Kf3 108. Bc4! Kg3 109. Bd5! is the win!] 107...Kf2 108.Kf4 Ke1 The king slips away again. The 50 moves rule to draw is getting very close. Black only needs to make 14 moves, since the last capture happened on move 72. 109.Ke3 Kd1 110. Bd3 Kc1 111.Nc4 Kd1 112.Nb6 Kc1 113.Na4 Kd1 114. Be4 Kc1 115. Bd3 Kd1 116. Nb2+ Kc1 117.Nc4 Kd1 118. Bg6 Kc1 119. Bf5 Kd1 120.Nb6 Kc1 121.Na4 Kd1 122.Nb2+ Kc1 At this point, Black could have already claimed the draw, but since the World Champion had no idea how to make progress, Black decided to play until White herself offers the draw. 22


Clash of the Titans (17) Botvinnik,Mikhail — Unzicker,Wolfgang [D34] EU-chT (Men) 02nd Oberhausen (10.1), 02.07.1961 [Kamil Miton] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 Another option for Black is to play the Catalan structures with a late d4 after [4...dxc4 5.Qa4+]

for counterplay over the e-file. (Xe2) 12.Ne4 (12.Nd5) 12... Qe7 13.Nxc5 Qxc5) 9...cxd4 (9...c4 leads to other very interesting line.) 10.Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Rc1 with complex play.] 8.Nc3 Be7 9. Be3 [9.dxc5!? Bxc5 10. Bg5 0–0 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nxd5 Qxb2 13.Nc7 Rad8 14.Qc1 Qxc1 15. Raxc1 Bb6 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.e3 Thanks to his better structure, White is slightly better.]

5.0–0 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5

9...c4 [9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 0–0 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Na4 Rc1 is coming next and White has typical play with a blockade on c5 and d4.]

7.d4 The position transposes to the Tarrasch Defense, which was a very popular opening back then.

11.Nxc4! This was the idea of 9. Be3.

7... Be6 Usually Black plays [7... Be7 8.Nc3 (8.dxc5 B xc5 9.Qc2!? Given that the knight is not on c3 yet, White can try this interesting plan with Rd1–Bg5 to put pressure against the d5 isolated pawn.) 8...0–0 The main position. Here White has a few possibilities. 9. Bg5 (9.dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bg5 d4 11. Bxf6 (11.Ne4 Be7 12.B xf6 B xf6=) 11... Qxf6 Usually, Black is very soild in this kind of structures. The d4-pawn is not very weak and Black has good chance

10.Ne5 0–0

11...dxc4 12.d5 Nxd5 [12...Ng4 makes no sense because of the simple 13. Bf4±] 13.Nxd5 Bf6 Black could also try [13... Bg5 14. Bxg5 (14.Rc1 B xe3 15.N xe3 Qa5) 14...Qxg5 15.Qc1! (15. Nc7 Rad8 16.N xe6 fxe6 17.Qc2 Nd4 18.Qxc4 b5 with counterplay on time.) 15...Qxc1 (15...Qe5 16.Qxc4 Qxb2 17.Rab1) 16. Raxc1 Rad8 (16...Nd4 17.Nf4 g5 18.N xe6 N xe2+ 19.Kh1 fxe6 20.Rc2 Nd4 21.R xc4 Black has too 23


many weaknesses.) 17. Rfd1 Rd7 (17...b5 18.Nc3) 18. Rxc4 Rfd8 19. Rc5 (19.e4 f5) 19...Kf8 20.e4 Ne7 White saved the pawn, but how to improve the position? Black’s idea is to play f5.] 14. Rc1 [14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Qc1 (15.B xc6 bxc6 16.Qd4 Thanks to his better structure, White can look for a longterm advantage, especially because his king will be safe after f3.) 15...Nd4 Logical active move. (15...h6 16.Qc3²) 16. Re1 Rac8 17.Qc3 (17.B xb7 Rb8 18.Qc3 Rfd8 with Rxb2 next.) 17... Rfd8 18.Kf1 Rd1 is coming next and White looks better.]

the simple plan f6-b5-a5-b4 etc. After e4, the white bishops are not strong as they were before. The position is completely unclear.] 17. Bxe4 Nxd4 [17...Qxd4 18. Bxc6 Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 bxc6 20. Rxc4 Because of the weak pawns, Black’s position is very bad.] 18. Rxc4 Ne6 19.Qc2 g6 20. Bxb7 Rb8 21. Bg2 White is a pawn up, but it will take a long time to convert it into a victory.

14... Bd4 [14... Bxb2 15. Rxc4 Thanks to the strong knight and very active pieces, White has the initiative.] 15. Bxd4 Bxd5

21...Qf6 22.b3 [22.b4!? looks more active.]

16.e4?! I do not like this move, as it creates weaknesses and limits the bishop on g2. White should play [16. Bf6! Qxf6 17.Qxd5 Qxb2 18.Qxc4 Rac8 19. Rc2 with potential pressure against f7, and maybe b7 as well. White has a typical tiny advantage.] 16... Bxe4? Strange decision! Why not [16... Be6 17. Bc3 Qc7 Black is very solid without any weaknesses and has

22...Nd4 23.Qe4 Rfd8 24. Re1 The black pieces are very active. That is why it is not an easy task to convert the advantage with White. I suppose the first step should be to exchange queens. 24...Nf5 25. Rc6 Qb2 26. Rc2 Qa3 27.Qe5 Qb4 28.Kf1 Rb6 29. Bd5 Qb5+ 30. Bc4 White transferred his bishop to a more active place, but now the squares f3-g2 around the king can become weak. 30...Qd7 31.Qe4 [31.g4 This probably leads by force to an exchange of queens, which is good for White. 31...Nd4 32. Rd2 Rd6 33.Qe7±] 24


31... Rd6 32. Rce2 Nd4 33. Re3 Nf5 34. R 3e2

34...Nd4 35. Rb2 Qh3+ White did not manage to exchange queens and, finally, Black gets counterplay. 36.Qg2 [36.Kg1 Rf6 37. Rd2 An interesting idea to sacrifice the queen. (37.f4 weakens the white king.) 37...Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 Rxf3 39. Rxd8+ Kg7 40. Re7 with the idea of winning other pawns on the 7th rank.

39...Nd2+! (39...N xh2+ 40.Kg1 Ng4 41.B xg4 Qxg4 42.Qa8+ Kg7 43.Qxa7 h5 44.Qe7 Rf6² Even here it is not easy because, after h4, the white king will be weak.) 40.Kg1 Qa5 With Nf3 and Qa2 threats.] 37.f4 Black did a good job in forcing White to push f4. [37. Qe4 Qh3+ 38.Kg1 White could go back to the idea from the previous variation.] 37...Qh5 [37...a5!? Black’s pieces are optimally placed, so this move looks fine, with the simple idea of exchanging pawns or creating some weaknesses.] 38. Rf2 Qa5 39.g4 What else to do? white has to, at least, try to improve his position somehow.

40...Kh6 (40...Rc3 41.R xf7+ Kh6 42.Rd1) 41. Rd4 Qc8 42. Rxa7 Qc5 43. Rad7 Qa3 44.Kg2 Rf6 45. Rd2²] 36...Qf5 [36...Qh5 More accurate, and immediately gives Black the equality. White is not able to avoid Nf3. 37. Rd2 Nf3 38. Rxd6 Rxd6 39. Be2

39...Ne6 40.f5 Rd1 41.Qe4 R8d4 [41...Ng5 with the idea of keeping the queens on the board. 42.Qe3 Rxe1+ 43.Qxe1 Qc5 44.fxg6 hxg6 45. Rd2 Rxd2 46.Qxd2 Qe5 The strong cooperation between knight and queen and the weak white king should give Black enough to make a draw.] 42.Qe3 Qxe1+ 43.Qxe1 Nf4 44.fxg6 hxg6

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45.h4 Not allowing the support of the knight after g5. 45...Kg7 [45... Rxe1+ 46.Kxe1 Nd3+ with good drawish chances in the rook endgame. 47. Bxd3 Rxd3 48. Rf4 Rh3 49. Ra4 Rxh4 50. Rxa7 (50.Kf2 f5 51.R xa7 R xg4 52.Ra4 Rg5) 50... Rxg4 51. Rb7 Rg2 52.a4 Ra2=] 46. Rc2 Rxe1+ 47.Kxe1 f5 It looks logical to limit the material on the board, but I am not sure if this is the best move. 48.gxf5 [48.g5!? Nh3 49. Bf1! Rxh4 50. Rc7+ Kf8 51. Bxh3 Rxh3 52. Rxa7 Rg3 53.Kf2 Rxg5 54.a4 Rg4 55.a5 In this case, the white pawns can advance very fast.] 48...gxf5 49. Bf1 Kg6 50. Rc5 [50. Rc6+ Kh5 51. Ra6 Kxh4 (51...Rd7 52.Ra4 with Be2 next and the white pieces get nice coordination.) 52. Rxa7 Kg3 53.a4 Nd3+ 54.Kd2 It will be hard for Black to stop the pawns.]

52. Ra5 white is wining this position because the black king will not be able to come back to support the queenside. [52.Kf2 looks good for White as well. 52...Kg4 (52... Nd5 53.Be2 Rf4+ 54.R xf4+ N xf4 55.Bc4 The bishop on c4 limits the knight and the white king goes get the a7 pawn very fast. 55...Kg5 56.Ke3 Ng6 57.Kd4 Kf6 58.Kc5 Ne5 59.Kd6 Kf5 60.Kd5 Kf6 61.a4+-) 53. Rf7 a5 54.Ke3 Rb4 55. Rg7+ Kf5 56. Bc4 XNf4] 52... Rd7 53.Kf2 Re7 [53...Kg4 54.Ke3 Re7+ 55.Kd4 Kf3 56. Bc4±] 54.Kf3 Ng6 55. Bc4 Ne5+ 56.Kf4 Ng4 57. Ra6 Kh5 58. Bd5 Ne5 59. Be4 Nice zugzwang position! 1–0

50...Kh5 [50...Nd3+ 51. Bxd3 Rxd3 52. Ra5 Rd7 53.Kf2 Kh5 54.Kg3 Rd3+ 55.Kf4 Rd7 56.Kxf5 Kxh4 57.Ke6+-] 51. Rxf5+ Kxh4

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Surprise section / study (18) Sackmann [CEWN] 1. +-

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Solutions

(20) Morozevich,A (2758) — Radjabov,T (2793) Grand Prix, Zug, 29.04.2013

(19) Caruana,F (2772) — Karjakin,S (2786)

[Solutions]

Grand Prix, Zug, 24.04.2013 [Solutions]

24. R8c6!! [24. Rxb8 Nxb8 25.Qxb8 (25.Bd3 Nd7) 25... Qxa6; 24. R8c4 Qa5] 49. Bxd4 Rxd4 50. Rxf6!! Rd2 [50...gxf6? 51.Qa8+ Kg7 52.Qa7+ Kg6 53.Qxd4; 50... Rd1+ 51. Rf1=] 51.Qf8+ Kh7 52. Rf2 Rxf2 53.Qxf2 Qxc4=

24...Qg4 [24... Ba5 25.Qxd7+-; 24...Nf6 25.Qxb8+-; 24... Ra8 25. Bb7+-] 25. Bc8 Rxc8 26. Rxc8+-

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(21) Karjakin,S (2786) — Kamsky,G (2741)

(22) Li Chao (2686) — Zhou Jianchao (2607)

Grand Prix, Zug, 29.04.2013

Chinese Championship, 26.04.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

43... Rxe3+! [43... Be5+? 44.Kf3 Qd1+ 45.Ke4]

42. Rf7! Re8 [42... Rxf7 43.Qg8#]

44.fxe3 Be5+! 45.Kg4 [45.Kf3 Qf1+ 46.Ke4 Qxf7–+]

43. Rxf4 Qb2 [43...e1Q 44. Rxe1 Qxe1 45. Rf8+! Rxf8 46.Qxe1+-]

45...Qxg2+ 46.Kf5 Qxh3+! 47.Ke4 Qg4+ 48.Kd5 Qd1+! 49.Ke6 Qxa4–+ 50.Qf8+ [50.a7 Qa2+! 51.Ke7 Qxa7+]

44.Kh1+-

50...Kh5! 51.Qf3+ g4–+

29


(23) Predke,A (2481) — Belous,V (2560)

(24) Jones,G (2654) — Djuric,S (2471)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24. Bh5!! Qf4+ [24... Rxg7 25. Re8#]

10. Bb5! d5 [10...cxb5 11.Qxa8++-]

25.Kb1 Bb7 26. Bxf7 Qxf7 27.Qxf7+ [27. Rh7+-]

11. Bxc6! Qxc6 12.Qxf5+-

27...Kxf7 28. Rh7++-

30


(25) Lalith,B (2565) — Gopal,G (2526)

(26) Amstadt,A (2271) — Berczes,D (2528)

Maharashtra Championship, 25.04.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

14...Nc5! 15.Qxa8 Bxd4–+ 16.Qd5? [16. Be3 Bb7 17.Qa7 Nd3+ 18. Bxd3 Bxa7–+; 16.0–0 Bb7 17.Qa7 Nc6–+]

13... Bxh2+! 14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Bf3!! [15... Bxg2! 16.f3! (16.Kxg2? Qg4+ 17.Kh2 Rf6–+) 16... Bxf1 17. Rxf1µ]

16... Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxd5–+

16.e4 [16.gxf3 Qg5+ 17.Kh2 Rf6–+; 16. Rfe1 Rf6! 17.gxf3 Qh3!–+; 16.Nd2 Bxg2 17.f3 Rf6–+] 16... Rf6! 17.Qd2 Rg6 18.Ne3 Rh6 0–1

31


(27) Straubinger,D (2268) — Medvegy,Z (2561)

(29) Rinck


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

112.Qc2+! Qxc2=

1. Bd5 e4 2.Kf7 h1Q [2...Kg4 3. Bxe4 Kxh4 4. Bh1+-] 3. Be6+ Ke5 4. Bg3#

(28) Vocaturo,D (2511) — Bruno,F (2428) Italian league, 28.04.2013 [Solutions]

20. Bxh6! gxh6 21.Qf6+ Ke8 22.Qxe6+- f4 [22... Qd7 23.Qf6! Kd8 24.Nf8 Qe8 (24...Qb7 25. Rg3+- (25. Qxh6+-) ) 25.Qd6++-] 23.Nxf4 Qd7 24.Qxh6+32

Weekly Newsletter



17th of May 2013

In the current issue of CEWN 64 (a chess number), indeed, a lot of chess was played.


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3

»» Puzzle section

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18


23


25

»» Solutions

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The new European Champion is the Ukrainian GM Alexander Moiseenko. He played great chess and totally deserved this victory. Second place went to Alekseev and third to Romanov, all three obtained 8/11 points. A very good result was showed by probably the oldest Top GM, Alexander Beliavsky, who was World’s Nr 3 many many years ago. He also got 8/11. The Super Tournament in Norway is getting ruled by Sergey Karjakin with 5,5/7. Close behind is Magnus Carlsen with 5/7 and there are two more rounds to go. It is going to be a very exciting finish. The FIDE Women Grand Prix was won by Khotenashvilli Bella with a great 8/11. 2nd place went to Muzychuk Anna with 7.5/11 and 3rd to Kosintseva Tatiana with 6.5/11. In the current issue, we analyze a lot of interesting games from the recent Top events! We wish you a lot of chess joy with your new issue of CEWN, the 64th. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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7. Bc4 White immediately focuses his pieces on the d5 square. Usually, the Sveshnikov players are not impressed by this, since they are used to face this in many lines.

(1) Karjakin,Sergey (2767) — Radjabov,Teimour (2745) [B30]

7...h6 Black prevents the potential plan of Bg5, trading one of the defenders of the d5 square.

Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (1.5), 08.05.2013 An impressive positional performance by Karjakin.

8.a3! This is a known plan in this kind of closed positions. White initiates by grabbing space on the queenside with b4. Black should not prevent it with a5 because the b5 square gets crucially weakened.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 White tries to avoid the Sveshnikov defense. Usually, he does this by playing 3. Bb5, but the text move is also possible.

8...0–0 9.b4! White could save a tempo by not playing Rb1, since accepting the pawn sacrifice would lead to more than enough compensation.

3...g6 4. Bb5 White succeeded to avoid Radjabov’s pet line with 3. Bb5 e6, but of course, this g6 system is the other huge main line.

9...d6 [9...cxb4? 10.axb4 Nxb4 11. Ba3! Nbc6 12. Bd6 Black is completely tied up!]

[Csaba Balogh]

4... Bg7 5.0–0 Black has to decide how to finish the development. Radjabov chooses one of the most popular ways with e5- Nge7, but it has a drawback, that it weakens the d5 square. 5...e5 6.d3 Nge7

10.bxc5 White has achieved some positional trumps by taking once towards to the center, forcing Black to take outwards. Also, the b-file will be an important factor in the game later on. 10...dxc5

11. Re1! At first sight, a mysterious move, but actually, it is a very deep positional idea. Karjakin would like to settle his knight on d5 and he gets ready to take back with 3


exd5, after which the e5 pawn is hanging, thanks to Re1. Black can hardly carry the d5 knight if he does not take it. 11...Kh7 Black would like to get counterplay by playing f5, so he left the pin. [11... Bg4 just gives temporary activity. 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nd4 14.Qd1 White just got the bishop pair and the d4 knight will be kicked out soon after Nd5 and c3.] 12.Nd5 Be6 Black succeeded to get rid of the d5 knight, but another piece is replacing it there, which will also be very annoying. [12...Nxd5 13.exd5 and e5 is hanging.; 12... f5 is premature at the moment. 13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14.exf5 gxf5 15. Bb2 White quickly puts very strong pressure on the e5 pawn. There is a direct threat with Bd5, winning the e5 pawn.]

15.Nd2! Another stron g positional move to save the knight for the future. White sees the following position in his eyes: he will play c4, Bb2 and Bxd4 , when the knight dominates the g7 bishop. The game demonstrates this well. 15... Bxd5 [15... Rad8 would be met by 16.c3 Nc6 17.c4 Nd4 18. Bb2 and Bxd4 next, followed by queenside play. White forces Black to play b6, which is going to be countered by a minority attack with a4-a5.] 16.exd5 Rad8 17.c3 Nb5 18.c4 Nd4

13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14. Bd5! Whenever Black takes on d5, he will create a very strong protected passed pawn (after c4) for White. 14...Nd4 [14... Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd4 16.c4 White takes on d4 next (or plays Nd2, Bb2-d4 as in the game) and the structure is seemingly similar, but actually, White has a large advantage because the d4 pawn is not a passed pawn.]

19.a4! Another great move! Prophylaxis against Black’s idea to push b5 and bxc4, when he will also obtain a protected passed pawn on d4. [19. Bb2 b5 20. Bxd4 cxd4 is what White cleverly prevented.] 19...Qd7 20. Rb1 Provoking the b6 move to make a5 more effective. 20...b6 21. Bb2 White has a very easy game from now on. All the moves on the queenside suggest themselves. 21... Rfe8 22.a5 Qc7 [22...bxa5 would just help White, since it weakens the c5 pawn. 23.Ne4 Rc8 24. Ba3±]

4


23.Qa4 Focusing all the pieces on the queenside. Black cannot create any serious counterplay.

disturbs the king and prevents all the Black ideas connected with the d-pawn as well.

23...f5 24.axb6 axb6 25. Bxd4 cxd4 White got what he wanted with the passed pawn on d5, the b6 weakness and the superior knight. He has various ways to increase the advantage. He could double his rooks on the b-file or prepare for an invasion on the a-file. Karjakin chooses the most direct way.

33...Kg8 34. Rd7 Bf8 35.Ne4 Provoking the advance of the d-pawn, when it becomes more vulnerable. White threatens to take on d4 at the moment, because he prevented Bc5, and Rxc4 does not work because of the mate after Nf6 and Rh7. 35...d3 36.Kf2 Ba3 Black already wants to take on c4, because Nf6 is not mate anymore after Kf8. White simply protects his pawn and is going to take it with the king. 37. Rd4 Kf7 [37... Bb2 would be met by 38. Rd8+ Kg7 39.c5! Ba3 40. Rd5+- and Ke3 next.] 38.Ke3 Bc1+ 39.Nd2 and the second pawn is lost, which is already too much for Black.

26.Qc6 Qxc6 27.dxc6 Rc8 [27... Rb8 was clearly a better defense for Black. White plays here again 28.f4! Rec8 (28... exf4 29.R xe8 R xe8 30.R xb6 c6 is too strong. The knight is coming too support it with b3.) 29.fxe5 Rxc6 30.Nf3 Bf8 31. Ra1 with a huge advantage for White.]

39... Bxd2+ 40.Kxd2 Ra6 41.c5 [Black resigned in view of 41.c5 Ra2+ 42.Kxd3 Rxg2 43.c6 The black king is cut from the c-pawn. A great game by Karjakin! It is very hard to win such a clear-cut game on the highest level.] 1–0

28. Rxb6 Re6 29.f4! White wins the e5 pawn. 29...e4 The best chance to get rid of some material, as White has enough left to win the game. [29... Rcxc6 30. Rxc6 Rxc6 31.fxe5+- followed by Nf3 and d4 will also fall soon.] 30.dxe4 fxe4 31. Rxe4 Rexc6 32. Rxc6 Rxc6 33. Re7 Driving the rook to its most active place on d7, where it

5


(2) Anand,Viswanathan (2783) — Topalov,Veselin (2793) [B90] Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (3.5), 10.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A huge theoretical battle between two of the greatest Najdorf players. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Black has various different setups here and Topalov has big experience in almost all of them. Recently, he played some games with the 8...h5 line. 8... Be7 9.Qd2 0–0 10.0–0–0 Just a few weeks ago, Topalov beat Caruana in the 10. ..a5 line, but this time he went for the most common continuation. 10...Nbd7 11.g4 b5

12. Rg1! This is a demonstration by the World Champion to the Najdorf players, showing which line they should go for. The main line is by far 12.g5, but the text move also has huge theory. Actually, this was introduced by Anand himself back in 2006 against Morozevich.

12...Nb6 [12...b4 is the other option for Black. 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 a5 15.g5 Nh5 16.Kb1 a4 17.Nc1 with many games in the database, but it is considered to be slightly better for White. Here we can see the main idea behind the 12. Rg1 move, that the rook joins to the battle through g4!] 13.Na5! At the moment, White is threatening with Nc6 and also preparing for a nice positional pawn sacrifice. 13... Rc8 [13...Qc7 is the other move which leads to a very similar position to the one in our game. 14.g5 Nh5 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Qxa5 18.Kb1 White is aiming for this position in these lines. He has sacrificed a pawn, but the bishop pair gives huge compensation for that. He is intending to bring the rook to the game with Rg4, which could be followed by, for instance, c4, or just Bd3-e4. From a practical point of view, White has a much easier game here. 18...Qc7 19. Rg4 g6 20. Rb4!² White is ready to open the position with c4!] 14.g5 Nh5 15.Kb1 Nf4 Black threatens to push b4 now, as Nd5 is prevented. White makes a simple prophylactic move against it. [Topalov deviates from the Anand-Karjakin 2009 game, which continued with 15...g6 Recently, there was a strong novelty by White — and probably Anand wanted to play this too. 16.a3! and we will probably transpose to the game.; It is important to mention that 15...b4 is met by 16.Nd5! Nxd5 17.exd5 Qxa5 18.dxe6 fxe6 19. Bh3 Black cannot protect the e6 pawn.] 16.a3! g6

6


22. Rg4! And now comes the rook into the game. White wins back the pawn and the arising opposite-colored bishops position is better for him, as he can create a much more dangerous attack against the black king, while the one on b1 is very safe. Here we can also see the point of the h4 move — g5 is protected — otherwise, Black would simply win it after Rc5. It is slightly strange what Topalov has prepared in this game, because all white ideas were already well-known so far and he got an advantage. 17.h4! White protects the g5 pawn, which was not hanging at the moment, but White is preparing for the same pawn sacrifice that was seen in the 13...Qc7 line; there, at the end, is very important to have the g5 pawn protected. 17...Qc7 Black is making some useful moves. He wants to play Rfd8 and is ready to push d5 then. White has to start the action. 18. Bxf4 exf4 19.Nd5! This is a standard method in this line to facilitate the c6 square for the knight. Black is forced to accept the sacrifice. 19... Bxd5 20.exd5 Nxd5! 21.Qxd5 Qxa5 [21...Qxc2+? is just a check. 22.Ka1 Another point of the 16.a3 move to have the back-rank open. Otherwise, Qc1 mates.]

22... Rc5 23.Qb3 d5 Black decided to close the a2-g8 diagonal in order to reduce the pressure on the f7 pawn, but on the other hand, he creates a clear weakness for himself on d5. [23... Rf5 would have been met by 24. Bd3 and Rxf4 next.] 24. Rxf4 Qc7 25. Rfd4 Qh2 Black would like to trade his d5 pawn for the one on h4, which would solve his problems. [25... Rd8 is met by 26.f4! with two unpleasant ideas. One is to destroy Black’s pawn structure with f5 and the other is simply Bg2, taking on d5.] 26.c3! Very nice, cold-blooded reaction by Anand. The idea can be seen in the next move. 26... Rd8

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27.Qc2! White brings back his queen to the game, using the fact that the endgame is horrible for Black. 27...Qg3 [27...Qxc2+ 28.Kxc2 Black cannot prevent b4 followed by Rxd5. After that, the a6-b5 would become the next targets, which are fixed on the bishop’s color. 28...f6 29.f4±] 28.f4! Black was ready to play Bf8-g7, so White had to hurry to improve his position. He wants to play Bg2 now. 28... Bd6 [28...Qxh4 should hav e been played, although White has a clear plus here as well. The important thing is that after 29. Bg2 Black can get rid of a pair of rooks, which seriously eases his defense. 29... Rc4! 30. Bxd5 Rxd4 31. Rxd4²] 29. Bg2 Bxf4 30. Bxd5 Both rooks are on the board and the f7 pawn is extremely vulnerable after the white bishop has occupied its ideal place. He immediately threatens to take it.

32.Qh1! A spectacular move! The threat is Qf1 or Rf1. 32... Rd7 Topalov tries to guide the weakness, but it does not help anymore. 33. R1d3? This gives chances for salvation. [33.Qf1! was the right move. 33... Be5 Covering the f6 square, but it blocks the queen’s route back to the e-file. White wins. (33...Rcxd5 does not work. 34.R xd5 R xd5 35.R xd5 Qe4+ 36.Rd3+-) 34. R4d3! Qf4 There is no other square to go... 35. Rf3!+-] 33...Qe5? Spoiling the sudden chance. [33...Qf2! is not easy, suddenly. The point is that after 34. Rf3 Qxd4! 35.cxd4 Rc1+ 36.Qxc1 Bxc1 Black escapes into only a slightly worse endgame. 37. Bc6 Rc7 38.d5 Bd2] 34.Qf3 Bh2

30...Kg7 31.Qe4! Anand protects his d5 bishop in order to free his rook to go to f1, pressing the f7 pawn. 31...Qe3 Black obviously would like to exchange the queens, but White is not forced to agree... [31... Be5 loses to 32. Rf1! Bxd4 33.Qxd4+ and mate to follow.] 35. Be6! A very nice winning move, although it was not the only one. [The simple 35. Bb3 was also enough. 35... Re7 36. Re3! Qxe3 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38. Rd8+ Re8 White can play for the spectators with 39.Qxf7+ Kh8 40.Qg8+ Rxg8 41. Rxg8#] 35... Re7 [35... Rxd4 36.Qxf7++-]

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36. Re4! White wins the queen, because it cannot leave the f6 square.

(3) Hammer,Jon Ludvig (2608) — Wang,Hao (2743) [E60]

36... Rxe6 37. Rxe5 Rcxe5 The rest is a matter of technique, but of course, for the World Champion, it is not a difficult task.

Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (5.5), 13.05.2013

38. Rd8 Threating Qa8. 38... Re4 39.Ka2 Just to avoid all the checks. White has time for everything. 39... Bf4 40. Rd7 Kg8 41. Ra7 Creating a new threat of Rxa6, Black resigned the hopeless position. 1–0

[Arkadij Naiditsch] The first win of Hammer at the tournament, and in what a fantastic fighting game! It is clear that Wang, with +140 ELO points above his opponent, tried to complicate things as much as he could, but lost the battle in a very complex position. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 After these two moves, we still do not know whether the game is going to be a KID or a Gruenfeld. 3.f3 Lately, White started to choose this move order to avoid the main Gruenfeld. 3... Bg7 [3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 is, of course, the other main line.] 4.e4 d6 and we are in the KID.

5.Ne2!? Hammer quickly forces things away from the theory. This slightly strange-looking move is actually

9


quite logical. White wants to play Nec3-Be3-Nd2 in order to get a very strong center.

and not allow his opponent to play Qd2, Rad1, a3, after which, White’s advantage would grow.

5...a6!? Quite a creative move from Wang. Black is not trying to act in the center by playing c5 — or maybe at some good moment e5, but preparing the c6-b5 idea.

13.Qd2 exd4 14. Bxd4 We have a typical position for the KID structures. A lot of motives are based on tactical possibilities. Black usually looks for active play while White tries to keep things together. Objectively, I think this position should be good for Black.

6.Nec3 c6 7.Na3 To me, it looks a bit „too creative”. [7. Be3 b5 8.Nd2 looks more solid for White.; 7.a4?! would be a typical inaccuracy here. 7...a5! and Black would continue with Na6 winning control of the dark squares.] 7...b5 8.Nc2 0–0 9. Be3 Nbd7 All the standard moves are done. Now it is time to think about a future plan.

14...Qe7 Queen to e7, rook to d8, very logical. Another usual place for the black queen is c7, but now it would be not optimal because of Rac1 and the queen could get quickly under attack.

10.cxb5 After this move, Black should be doing fine. [But, what else to play for White?! In case of 10. Be2 bxc4 11. Bxc4 d5 Black is fine as well.]

15.a3 A risky move. Now the black knight gets the b3 square. [15. Rfd1 would have been more solid.] 15...Nc5 16. Rad1 A tactical defense against Nb3.

10...axb5 11. Be2 Bb7 To develop our pieces is never wrong.

16... Rfd8 Very solid [Maybe this pawn sacrifice would be possible as well. 16...Nb3 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qxd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Be5 Black is a pawn down, but the darksquared bishop is a monster piece that clearly gives very good compensation.]

12.0–0

17. Bf2 Ne6?! A slightly strange decision. Probably Wang did not want to exchange pieces and tried to keep the position as complicated as possible. [17...d5! If Black can play d5, he should definitely do it! In my opinion, Black is already slightly better here.]

12...e5! I think this was a good positional decision by Black in a very complex position with a lot of different ideas. He realizes that he needs to attack the white center

18. Bh4! A good place for the white bishop. No more Nh5 or d5 because of the pin, and a move like g5 is clearly not an option for Black. 18... Rd7 19.Qc1 Qe8 Black is moving his pieces away from the nasty pin. 10


20. Rfe1 Nh5 21. Bf1 White consolidates in the center as well. The position remains very complex. 21... Be5 I think Wang asks too much from his position and provokes White into something that he might regret. [21...Qf8 would be a possible solid way to go on.]

27.Ne2! Good defense by Hammer. He needs to exchange at least a couple of pieces to reduce the power of Black’s attack. 27...Nxg3 28.Nxg3 Rxg3+ 29.Kf2 Rg7 We are in front of a very funny position. Who is better here? It is hard to say. At first sight, White’s king is very badly placed on f2, but on the other hand, if White manages to play Bd3-Rg1, suddenly, the black king would be in trouble. White’s idea Ne3-Nf5 next might be very dangerous as well. Black needs to react very quickly. 30.Ne3 The white knight is on a roll. 30...Qh5 31.Nf5 It is funny to see how just one knight holds White’s position together.

22.g3! It might be that Wang blundered this very strong reply by White. The idea of playing f4-f5 next can be very dangerous for Black.

31... Rg5? In a very complex position, Black gives his opponent a „break” to consolidate. [First 31...Qh2+ to force the white king to a bad square on e3. 32.Ke3 Rg5 and only now Rg5 would give Black a very dangerous attack.]

22...f6 The beginning of some crazy complications. 23.f4 Hammer has no fear at all and he is right! White’s play is stronger here. 23...g5 Nothing else left for Black to do. 24.fxe5 gxh4 25.exd6? Quite a serious mistake. [25.Qh6! White should have continued in a dynamic way. 25...fxe5 Probably Black got a better option, but here White’s idea becomes more visible. 26. Bh3! and Black would have troubles to get his pieces together.] 25...hxg3 Now the white king gets seriously weakened. 26.hxg3 Rg7 Suddenly, Whit e is under big pressure, but the position remains very complicated.

32. Re3! Now the White king is escaping to e1! 32...Qh2+ 33.Ke1 Suddenly, Black has no more threats against the white king, and the d6 pawn is getting super strong. 11


33...Nf4 34.d7 [White could have finished the game on the spot by playing 34. Rd2! first hitting away the black queen from h2, which will also disturb Black’s Rg1. 34... Qg1 and only now 35.Qc3 The f6-pawn is going to fall and, with it, the whole black position.] 34... Rd8 35.Qc3 Of course, Qc3 is strong here as well. It is clear now that White is doing much better.

39...Ne6? The wrong direction. [39...Qh2+ with an unclear position.] 40.Qf3! With the 40th move, White fixes his advantage! And it is already quite a big one. The bishop on b7 is really a dead piece and the d7 pawn is superdangerous — it can always be protected with Bh3 in the future.

35... Rg1 Threatening Ng2.

40...Ng5? It was the last chance for Black to complicate things by playing 40...c5!.

36. Rg3+ White is exchanging one of the few active pieces Black has.

41.Qf5 Now White completely dominates the position. Bg2-Rh1 is a deadly threat.

36... Rxg3 37.Nxg3?! Hammer asks for too much now. [37.Qxg3+ would also lead to a much better endgame for White.]

41...Ne6 Black tries to react to White’s threat, but the bishop is coming to h3 now.

37...Qh4! The game is getting tricky again. White’s knight cannot reach his best square on f5 because of the nasty pin. 38.Kf2 Kf7? [I would like to know what did White want to play against 38...Qh2+ 39.Kf3 Nh5 and it seems like Black is back in the game.] 39.b4 It is always good to fix Black’s pawn structure, but the Qh2 idea is still there.

42. Bh3 Qf4+ 43.Qxf4 Nxf4 44. Bf5 We can clearly see that there is no escape for Black. 44...Ke7 45. Rh1! The simplest! Black is playing a „bishop” down. 45... Rh8 46.Ke3 The last precise move. 46...Ne6 47. Bxe6 Kxe6 48. Rxh7 A small tactic. 48... Rd8 49.Nh5 and it is over. What a great fighting game! 1–0

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(4) Aronian,L (2813) — Hammer,J (2608) [D85]

11...Qxa2 12.0–0

Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (6), 14.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] A great game on the topic: „If you don’t remember the lines, don’t even try to play the Gruenfeld!” In a more or less well-known position, Hammer gets lost and tries to play by himself. A big mistake! The Gruenfeld is one of the most attractive openings for Black right now, but it requires very good memory and precision. Things can go wrong very quickly, as the next moves show. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The very main Gruenfeld. 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 At the moment, 8. Rb1 is one of the most popular moves. The idea of this move is simple, to be ready to answer with d5 against Black’s Nc6. On the other hand, Black has been showing great results here and it would be really very interesting to know what Aronian had prepared here, that is still not known to theory. 8...0–0 9. Be2 cxd4 This move starts a very forced line. [9...b6 deserves attention here as well. A lot of free time is also needed to memorize all the long lines!] 10.cxd4 Qa5+ This is the key idea. Black is simply winning a pawn, but losing two very important tempos in exchange. 11. Bd2 [Of course, White should not try to protect the a-pawn by exchanging his queens. 11.Qd2?! Qxd2+ 12. Bxd2 b6 and as the well-known rule goes, „in a Gruenfeld, if Black reaches an endgame, a full point is closer than ever” :).]

12... Bg4 The main move for Black. His idea is simple, to attack the white center and combine this with a quick advancement of the a-pawn, which might become dangerous very quickly. As for White, of course, to make use of the strong central pawns which always give some attacking chances in the future. However, as I said before, the position is very forced. 13. Rxb7 This logical move was not played very often. [13. Bg5 h6 14. Be3 Nc6 is sort of the main line here.] 13...Nc6? This logical move, which, in most of the cases, is the correct one, is simply a big mistake! [13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 is the main move here, with an evaluation of equality. It would be great to see what kind of new hammer Aronian had prepared here. The number 2 in the world is very well-known astonishing preparation.] 14.d5! The punishment comes immediately. This very logical move is just winning the e7 pawn. 14... Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 White is a clear pawn up, but things are still not that easy. Black still has quite

13


a few drawing chances due to the strong a-pawn, which can become very fast and difficult to stop.

16...a5! The last Black joker, and a very strong one. 17.d6 I am not sure whether this is the easiest way to go for White or not. [The simple 17. Be3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 — without destroying the structure — 18...a4 19.e5 and I think White has quite a solid advantage.] 17...a4 Black’s only hope moved one more square up. 18.e5 It is logical for White to try to close the bishop on g7, but only if he is on time to stop the a-pawn and keep the pawn on e5 alive. We will see this during the next moves. 18...Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Now Black can also hope for some kind of perpetual check. 19...Qb2 20. Be3! Very strong move by Aronian. 20...a3 [It looks very tempting for Black to take on e5. 20... Bxe5 White has a nice trick against this. 21.Qd5 Bg7 22. Rxf7! and the rook on a8 is hanging. 22... Rxf7 23.Qxa8+ Bf8 24. Rd1 Also, it is very important, of course, to keep the d6 pawn alive — the d7 threat is just deadly. 24...a3 25.d7+-]

21.Qd5

21... Rae8? and Black panics again, and this will be the last time. [Of course 21...a2? is just losing to the already known idea 22. Rxf7+-; But 21... Rab8 would keep Black in the game. Of course, White is doing better, but the position is still not that simple as it might look like. 22.f4 Black wanted to play Rb5. 22... Rb5 23.Qc4 Now the pawn on e5 is not hanging. 23... Rb4 24.Qa6 Qb3 and it is not that easy for White to improve his position.] 22. Rxe8 Simple and good. 22... Rxe8 23.d7 and White’s d-pawn is faster than Black’s soldier on the a-file. 23... Rd8 24. Bg5 A fast process by the number 2 in the world against Mr. Hammer, whosepreparatio n did not hammer at all :). 1–0

14


Puzzle section

(7) Khairullin,I (2657) — Pashikian,A (2603) European Championship, 07.05.2013

(5) Karjakin,S (2767) — Carlsen,M (2868) Supreme Masters, 13.05.2013

[CEWN] 1. 

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Papp,G (2570) — Potkin,V (2666) (6) Fedorchuk,S (2660) — Szwed,J (2354) European Championship, 06.05.2013 [CEWN]

European Championship, 07.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... =

1. +-

15


(9) Socko,B (2647) — Gritsak,O (2549)

(11) Kraemer,M (2544) — Ernst,T (2387)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Danielian,E (2478) — Fedorchuk,S (2660)

(12) Nepomniachtchi,I (2710) — Shengelia,D (2546)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

16


(13) Nakamura,H (2775) — Topalov,V (2793) Supreme Masters (blitz), 07.05.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Shulman,Y (2570) — Finegold,B (2505) US Championship, 10.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section

49...Kg4 50. Bd2 Kf3 51. Be1 Black’s only chance to win the game is to get behind the b3 pawn. It looks impossible to get there, but things are not so easy.

(15) Vachier Lagrave,M (2718) — Balogh,Cs (2644)

51...Kg2 The king is heading to the e1 square, but of course, it will not be easy to get the bishop out from the diagonal.

European Championship, 11.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

52. Bd2 Kf2 53. Bb4 a6 I also put my pawn on a light square to avoid getting attacked later on. [There was a nice trick, for example, after 53...Kf1 White cannot trap the bishop with 54. Bc5 with the idea of paralyzing Black, because of 54...e5! 55. Bxb6 e4+! This intermediate check wins the game. 56.Ke3 axb6–+] 54. Bd2 Bc7 Black does not need to hurry to make progress, since White can only pass with his bishop... 55. Bc3 Bf4 56. Bb4

I managed to get an endgame with an extra pawn, but to convert it should be extremely difficult because of the limited material left on the board. Black can only create a passed pawn with the e5 break, but it leads to further exchanges. 48. Rxh5 White trades the rooks, as he does not see how can Black break through. Although it is going to be much more difficult for him to defend as it looks, at first sight... In my opinion, if White keeps the rooks on the board, that should hold as well, but of course, Black can try for very long by going with the king to the queenside. 48...Kxh5 49.b3 A principled move to put the pawn on a light square, where the Black bishop cannot attack it.

56...Kf1! Getting ready to drive the bishop to e1 to send it away from the e1–a5 diagonal. 57. Bc3 Bg5 58. Bb4 Bh4 59. Ba5 Be1 60. Bd8 White transfers his bishop to the h4–e1 diagonal this time, but this is one square shorter than e1–a5, and it is enough for Black to get him into zugzwang! 18


60... Bb4 61. Bh4 Ba3 62.Kd2! Good prophylaxis against the Bc1 threat. [62. Bg3 would have been met by 62... Bc1 63. Bh4 Bf4! and White is in zugzwang. If the king moves, Ke2 comes closer, while on any bishop move, Ke1 is possible.] 62... Bd6 63.Ke3 Bh2 White is in zugzwang. He must allow for Black to play Ke1! 64. Bg5 [64.Kd3 Bf4 and Ke1 next.; 64.Kd2 Bf4+ 65.Kd3 Bh6 and again, Ke1 next.] 64...Ke1 65.Kd3

65...Kd1 I got closer to my aim of getting my king to b2, but this time I need to send away the bishop from the c1–h6 diagonal. It can only be done if I transfer my bishop to c1.

68.Kc3!! Brilliant defense by my opponent! Only this hidden idea saves White from losing! [If White continues waiting, then 68. Bf4 Bc1 69. Bd6 Bd2 70. Bc5 Be1! This is the key and it wins for Black. Kc1 is threatened now, because after Ba3, Black has Kb1. White is forced to play 71. Ba3 but Black can create a zugzwang with a triangulation! 71... Bf2 72.Kc3 Bg3 73.Kd3 (73.Bb2 loses to 73...e5!–+ and e4 next, as the pawn cannot be taken.) 73... Be1 Here we are! Only the bishop can move now. 74. Bb2 (74.Bd6 Kc1–+ wins.) 74... Bb4 and here is another zugzwang. Black wins. 75. Ba1 Kc1–+] 68...a5 I was very unhappy to make this move, putting by pawn on a dark square, but I could not make progress. [The point of the 68.Kc3 move is that after 68... Bc1 White has 69. Bxc1!! Kxc1

66. Bd2 Bd6 67. Bg5 Ba3

19

Issue 64 (16) Khalifman,A (2614) — Meier,Geo (2655) [A16]

17th of May 2013

14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (4.16), 08.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

70.b4! and the pawn endgame is drawn. White holds the draw by keep the opposition with the king. 70... Kb1 71.Kb3 Ka1 72.Ka3 Kb1 73.Kb3 Kc1 74.Kc3 Kd1 75.Kd3 Ke1 76.Ke3 Kf1 77.Kf3 Kg1 78.Kg3 Kh1 79.Kh3= Wherever the king goes, White just follows him.; 68...Ke2 would have been another way to progress, but this time White can trap the bishop by 69.b4! The only move to rescue it from the threat of Kb3 is 69...Kd1 but now 70.Kb3 Bc1 71. Bxc1 Kxc1 72.Kc3= and we have the same draw.] 69.Kd3 Bc1 With the pawn on a5, I already cannot win the game, as White has a targetthere. 70. Bd8 Bd2 71. Be7! Another only move to have Ba3 check on Kc1. 71...Kc1 72. Ba3+ Kd1 73. Be7 Bb4 [73... Be1 The triangulation does not help anymore. 74. Bg5 Bg3 75. Bd8 White can force the bishop back to e1...] 74. Bg5 I had to admit that my opponent defended perfectly and agreed to a draw.

At first sight, this position seems to be winning. In such cases, many GMs use to say that, „somehow”, it should be winning. But in fact, it is a draw! Black’s main idea is simple, to give away the bishop for the c-pawn and arrive in time with the king to a8. Let us take a look at how Georg Meier defended with Black. 52. Bxa5 Kd7 Logical and good. The black king belongs to the squares c6-b7-a6. 53. Bb6 Kc6 54.a5 If White would not play a5, Black would just keep the king on c6. 54...Kb7 The only way. White wants to play Be3 with the threat of playing a6 next. 55.Ke4 Ka6 56.Kd5 Now the game is about equal if White can push the c4 pawn to c6 somehow. 56... Bb4 57.Kc6 Bd2 58. Bd8 [Of course 58.c5? leads to an immediate draw. 58... Bb4 59.Kd5 Bxc5=] 58... Be1 59.Kd7 20


66... Be1! Meier keeps playing the exact moves! Black’s bishops’ best position is on b4! 67. Bd8 Bb4 68. Bb6 Be7 Strangely enough, Meier changes his defense. [68...Ka6 would be, of course, possible as well, and we would go back to the beginning of the game.] 69. Bc5 but also here, White cannot do any significant improvement. 59... Bb4! Good defense by Black! By no means, he should allow White to play c5.

69... Bg5 70. Bd4 Bd2 71. Bb6 Bb4 and the bishop is back on b4.

60. Bc7 Bc5! Again, the right choice, preparing to cover the c5 square from the diagonal a7-g1.

72. Bd8 Ba3 73.Ke6 Bb4

61. Bd6 Be3 62. Bb4 [62. Bc7 Bc5 This just brings us back to the main position.] 62...Kb7 No reason now to allow the White king on c6. It seems like there is no breakthrough, or is there?! 63.Kd6 Bf2 64.Kd5 Be3 65. Bc3 Bf2 Black just keeps on waiting. 66. Bf6 Khalifman finds nothing better than to bring the bishop back to b6.

74.a6+! After moving around for a long time, White tries his last chance. 74...Kxa6 75. Be7 Finally, White gets rid of the black bishop from b4 and advances the c-pawn, however, the a-pawn is gone, so the position is still a draw. What happened now is just unbelievable! Meier simply resigns after defending so well for over 20 moves! What a shock for both players! The position is a draw, and actually, a draw that is not that hard to find. 75... Ba5 76.c5 Kb5 77.Kd7 Kc4! 78.c6 Kd5! This is the trick, Black needs the king on 21


d5 and not on b5. The idea is that if White gets the bishop to c7, Black would be forced to go to the b8-g1 diagonal, and then White will have no chance to transport the bishop to d6 because the black king will be placed on d5! What a tragic loss for Georg Meier. 1–0

22


Clash of the Titans (17) Lilienthal,Andor — Capablanca,Jose Raul [E24] Hastings 3435 Hastings (5), 01.01.1935 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 A typical plan to create pressure against the weak c4 pawn.

7...h6 8. Bh4 Ba6 9.e4? To look for active play with two bishops seems to be logical, but it was too optimistic. White should play [9.cxd5 exd5 10.e3 Bxf1 11.Kxf1 Nbd7 12.Ne2 0–0 13.g4 Re8 14. Bf2 c5 15.Kg2 and White is better.] 9... Bxc4? Capablanca took the wrong pawn. He could have played [9...dxe4 10.fxe4 (10.Nh3 Nbd7 11.Nf2 g5 12.Bg3 e3)

6.f3 d5

7. Bg5 I am not sure if this is the right decision. White could play [7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 0–0 9. Bd3 c5 10.Ne2 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12.0–0 leads to other kind of structure. The main plan for White is to push e4 after Ng3 — Bb2 (or sometimes, the bishop on f2 is well placed as well), but in general, it is not an easy task becasue Black can look for counterplay over the e-file with his heavy pieces. Besides, h5–h4 is and idea to kick the knight out from g3. I recommend you to look at one of the most famous classical games Botvinnik — Capablanca.]

10...g5! Black is winning the pawn and White will not be able to get the initiative because of his inferior development. 11. Bg3 (11.e5 gxh4 12.Qf3 Nbd7 13.exf6 c5) 11... Nxe4 12. Be5 f6 13.Qh5+ Kd7 14. Bd3 Bb7³] 10. Bxc4 dxc4 11.Qa4+ Qd7 [11...Nbd7 12.Qxc4 (12.e5 g5) 12...c5 13.Ne2 0–0 (13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Qc8 15.Qb4; 13...Qc7 14.0–0 0–0 15.a4 Qb7 16.Rfd1 Thanks to his better center, White has a typical slightly better position.) 14.e5!? At this moment, this idea is interesting, because White can try to create an attack against the king. 14...g5 15. Bf2 Nd5 16.h4! Rc8 17.Qd3] 12.Qxc4 Qc6 13.Qd3 Of course, White keeps the queen on the board as he will need it to support the initiative on the kingside. [13.Qxc6+ Nxc6 14.Ke2!? With the idea 23


not to allow the black knight to take the good c4 square. (14.Ne2 Na5) 14...Na5 15.Kd3 c5 16.Ne2 0–0] 13...Nbd7 14.Ne2 Rd8 Capablanca ut the rook here in order to have some tricks with Ne5, but the rook on d8 has disadvantages as well: White will have some threats with e5 later. 15.0–0

15...a5 Strange decision. This move weakens the position and loses time. Maybe the Cuban player was afraid of some Qa6 idea, but we will see below that it is not dangerous. [15...0–0 The most logical. 16.Qa6 Nb8! 17.Qxa7 Qc4 18. Bxf6 Rd7 and the white queen is in a trap.; 15... Ne5 The idea of gaining control over the c4 square does not work because of 16.Qc2 Nc4 and now 17.d5! exd5 18.Nd4 with a decisive attack.] 16.Qc2 [16.c4 e5 (16...Ne5 17.Qc3 N xc4 18.Rfc1 b5 19.a4) 17.d5 Qc5+ 18. Bf2 Qe7 19.Nc3 Nc5 20.Qc2 0–0 21. Rab1 Nfd7 22.Na4 Black is not able to create a blockade on the queenside. White is going to play Rb5 next and push c5 later, which should give him good play.] 16...Qc4 17.f4 Rc8 because of the e5 threat.

18.f5 e5 Logical. Black is trying to close the position to avoid falling under pressure. Castling was very risky, let us see why it is so. [18...0–0 19.e5 Nd5 20.f6 Black’s position looks very dangerous because all the white pieces are well placed to attack the king. 20...gxf6 Only move. (20... g5 21.B xg5 hxg5 22.Rf3 Rfd8 23.Rh3 Nf8 24.Rh5 Ng6 25.R xg5 Kf8 26.R xg6 fxg6 27.Qxg6 Rd7 28.Qh5 Kg8 29.Rf1+-; 20...g6 21.Rf3 Kh7 22.Rh3 Rh8 23.Bg5 Kg8 24.B xh6 c5 25.Rf1 cxd4 and now comes the nice

26.Qxg6+ fxg6 27.f7+ Kh7 28.Bf8#; 20...Ne3 21.Qd2 N xf1 22.R xf1 c5 23.fxg7 Kxg7 24.Bg5 with a decisive attack.) 21. Bxf6 (21.exf6; 21.Qd2 Kh7; 21.Rf3 fxe5 22.Rg3+ Kh8 23.Qd2 Kh7 24.Rh3 Rg8 25.Bg5 Rg6 26.B xh6 Kg8 Now the king is safe, Black takes the initiative.) 21...N7xf6 22.exf6 Kh8! with the defensive idea Rg8-Rg6. Black is on time! The position is unclear.] 19.dxe5 [19. Bxf6 Nxf6 (19...gxf6 looks unclear as well.) 20.dxe5 Qxe4 (20...Qc5+ 21.Nd4 Qxe5 22.Qa4+ Kf8 23.Rae1 and soon after Nf3, White will push e5 and crush his opponent.) 21.Qxe4 Nxe4 22. Rf4 Nc5 23.Nd4 0–0 Black does not have any serious weakness, so the position should be fine.] 24


19...Qxe4?? A huge mistake by Capablanca. He overlooked the nice tactical idea [19...Nxe5 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21.Nf4 Now the only chance for White is to create pressure against the f6 pawn. Otherwise, Black will be just better. 21...Qc5+ (21...c6 22.Qf2 Attacking the b6 pawn and preparing Qh4- Nh5. 22...Qc5 23.Qxc5 bxc5 24.Rab1 White is better here. Black cannot put the king on e7 because of the check on b7.) 22.Kh1 Rd8 23.Nd5 c6 24.Nxf6+ Ke7 25.Nh5 Rd3 with good counterplay.]

Surprise section / study (18) Troitzky [CEWN] 1. +-

20.exf6!! Fantastic! Now White is winning. All the pieces come with tempo to the final attack! 20...Qxc2 21.fxg7 Rg8 22.Nd4 Qe4 23. Rae1 Nc5 24. Rxe4+ Nxe4 25. Re1 Rxg7 26. Rxe4+ 1–0

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Solutions

(20) Butkiewicz,L (2410) — Shimanov,A (2639) European Championship, 05.05.2013

(19) Matinian,N (2491) — Jobava,B (2702)

[Solutions]

European Championship, 05.05.2013 [Solutions]

28...Qe8!! 29.f5 [29.Qc5 Qxe6! 30. Rxe6 Rd1+ 31.Qg1 Rxg1+ 32.Kxg1 fxe6–+] 31... Rd1+! 32.Kh2 Rh5!! 33. Rxf4 [33.axb3 Rxh4#]

29...Nf8! 30.Qg4 fxe6–+

33...Nxc5–+

26


(21) Hagen,A (2400) — Lupulescu,C (2634)

(22) Shimanov,A (2639) — Prizant,J (2537)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

44.h4!! Be3 [44...Qxg4 45.Qf8+ Kg6 46.Qg8+ Kf6 (46... Kf5?? 47.Qc8+!+-) 47.Qf8+ Kg6 (47...Ke6?? 48.Qc8++-) 48.Qg8²]

38.Nf5!! Nxf5 [38...gxf5 39. Rxd7 Bxb2 40. Rxe7+-; 38... Rxd2 39.Nxe7+ Kf8 40. Bxg7+! Kxg7 41. Rxd2+-]

45. Rg7! Qe4+ 46.Kh2 Qc2+ 47.Kh3 Qf5+ 48.Kh2 Qf2+ 49.Kh3 Qf5+ 50.Kh2 Qf2+ 1/2–1/2

39. Rxd7 Nxh4+ 40.Kg3 Bxb2 41. Rd8+ Rxd8 42. Rxd8+ Kg7 43.bxc5 bxc5 44.Kxh4 1–0

27


(23) Djukic,N (2555) — Khairullin,I (2657)

(24) Arnold,M (2538) — Gareev,T (2674)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

37...Kc6!! [37... Rxa8? 38. Rb8]

14...Nxc3? [14...Ng3+!! 15.hxg3 Qxg3 16. Bf3 Bd6! 17.Kg1 Bc5+ 18. Rf2 (18.Kh1 Qh4#) 18... Bxf3–+]

38. Rxb3 [38. Rxc8 Kxb7–+] 38...cxb3 39. Rxc8 b2 40. Rb8 Kxc7 41. Rb3 a4 0–1

15.bxc3

28


(25) Mchedlishvili,M (2640) — Javakhadze,Z (2448)

(26) Haslinger,S (2535) — Short,N (2692)

Nakchivan Open, 30.04.2013

4NCL, 05.05.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24.Nf5!! [24. Rg1? Ng6; 24. Bxg7? Kxg7]

27... Rxe4! 28.Qxe4 Bf5 29.Qe7 [29.Qe1 Bxb1 30.Qxb1 Qxc5 31.Qxb2 fxg3 32.hxg3 Qxd5–+]

24... Bxh6 [24...exf5 25.Qg5 Ng6 26.Qxg6+-] 25.Qxh6! exf5 26. Rh1! 1–0

29... Bxb1 30.Qxg5+ Bg7–+

29


(27) Lou Yiping (2482) — Yu Yangyi (2675)

(29) Sackmann


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

26...Nd3+!! 27.Kd1 [27.exd3 Re8–+; 27.Kf1 Nxc1–+] 27...Nf2+ 28.Ke1 Nxh3 0–1

1.c7 Nd6 [1...Nb6 2.Nd5!! Nbxd5 (2...Nfxd5 3.g8Q+-) 3.c8Q+-] 2.Ne4!! Ndxe4+ 3.Kf4 Nd6 4.Ke5!+-

(28) Jobava,B (2702) — Lan,Z (2165) Chinese league, 03.05.2013 [Solutions]

28. Rxd4! 1–0[28. Rxd4! cxd4 29. Bc2! g6 30.Qf6#] 30

Weekly Newsletter



24th of May 2013

The chess super tournament marathon never seems to end.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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We just saw Moiseenko become European Champion and already, a few days later, Karjakin became the deserved winner of the Super Tournament in Norway with 6/9, in front of Carlsen and Nakamura, both with 5.5/9. And now, another FIDE Grand Prix has begun with an amazing line up and an average ELO of over 2750! It is taking place, surprisingly, in Greece. After the first 4 rounds there are seven leaders with a score of +1 in a very hard fought struggle. Vassily Ivanchuk is having trouble in the event. This week, we analyze the Top games from the past events with s couple of interesting endgames! As usual, we wish You great chess joy with the CEWN Nr 65. Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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5.b3 Not the main line, but a very tricky one. [5.0–0 would be the main line here.]

(1) Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2710) — Moiseenko,Alexander (2698) [B30]

5...Ne7 This is the main answer for Black. The idea is simple, White will put his bishop on b2 and Black will put the knight on g6, followed by d6-e5 in the best case, which would leave him with a great position.

14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (11.1), 16.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] It is the last round of the European Championship. Moiseenko is a full point ahead of Nepomniachtchi, so White has to win the game at least to share first place. As we already know, even after losing this game, Moiseenko became European Champion. So let us take a closer look at how White slowly outplayed his opponent and finally got a convincing and deserved full point.

6. Bb2 f6 To block the bishop on b2 is very important. White needs to act very fast now, or Black will simply be better! 7.Nh4!? Very creative play. The idea of White is to play a fast f4. 7...e5 [Maybe 7...d5 would have been the right answer for Black now, but it is hard not to play 7...e5.]

1.e4 c5 Not the safest opening choice to play for a draw... 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Ian is a very creative player and to guess his opening choices is almost impossible. 3...e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 We are in a very popular line. In the match Anand-Gelfand, this position happened 3 times, and Radjabov has always been a big fan of this line with Black, and even managed to get very close to winning his game with Black against Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee 2013.

8.f4! White’s idea comes true. 8...d6 [Of course to take with 8...exf4? is not possible because of 9. Bxf6!] 9.0–0 Be6 Moiseenko is trying to hold his center together. 10.fxe5 Black faces a critical moment.

3


10...dxe5 is the safest of the two possible moves, but now White gets a nice and stable advantage. [10...fxe5 would clearly be the critical move. 11.Na3 The white knight is going to c4. 11...g6 12.Nc4 Bg7 and, of course, the black king is badly placed on e8, but all the rest of black pieces are standing very solidly in the center. It is hard to say if White has any serious advantage here.] 11.Kh1 A prophylactic move. Of course, 11.Na3 was possible as well. 11...Qd7 12.d3 White is fixing his opponent’s horrible pawn structure. 12...Nc8 Quite a passive move again. [Maybe it would bring better chances to play 12...Ng6 13.Nf5 Nf4 and White is doing better, but the position at least would have some dynamism.] 13.Nc3 The white knight is going to a4, followed by Ba3 and the c5 pawn might fall very easily. 13... Be7 14.Qh5+ Locking the black bishop on f7 first. 14... Bf7 15.Qf3 and only now Qf3, winning sort of half a tempo. 15...0–0 16.Nf5 and we can say that White managed to do what he wanted. By taking away the bishop from e7, the black pawn on c5 is going to fall for sure. 16...Nd6 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Na4 Nb5 19.Qf2 Black is losing the pawn. 19...c4 It is hard to give Black a better advice, as the position is already critical. [Of course it does not help to play 19...Nd4 20. Ba3] 20.dxc4 Nc7

21. Bc1! Nice positional move by White. The bishop on e3 will be perfectly placed and there is no hurry to rush the things anymore. 21...Ne6 22. Be3 Rfd8 23. Rad1 White should not avoid the exchanges over the d-file. The endgame position would be close to winning. 23... Bg6 Black is hoping to get some small counterplay on the e4 pawn. 24. Bc5 Another good idea by White. Before playing Nc3, White is making sure that the black queen will get to b4. 24...Qe8 25.Nc3 Everything is protected, and White wants to start pushing his pawn on the queenside. 25... Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8 Qxd8 28. Be3 Both rooks were exchanged on the d-file, so the bishop can come back to e3. This does not allow Black to play Ng5 next, which would give some drawing chances because of the opposite-colored bishops. 28...a6 29.h3 h6 Some positional moves were done, and now it is time for White to find a clear plan. 30.Qe2 To bring the queen to d3 is clearly not a bad plan. 4


30...Qa5 [An endgame like 30...Kf7 31.Qd3 Qxd3 32.cxd3 should be just lost for Black.]

41...Ne6 42.Qd3 There is no hurry with Qd6. Black has no counterplay at all.

31.Qd3 Kh7 32.Kh2 White is checking what Black wants to do next.

42...Qc8 43.Na4 Another good move. White is bringing the last piece into action, and now wants to maybe play Nb6- Nc4- Nd6.

32...Qb4 33.Kg3 Qa5 Black just keeps on waiting. 34.Kf2! A nice idea! White is transporting his king to the queenside before starting the final action. 34...Qb4 35.Ke2 Qa5 36.Kd1 Qb4 37.Kc1 Qa3+ 38.Kb1 Qa5 39.Kb2 Black just kept on waiting, so White managed to put his king on b2, a very nice and safe place.

43...Nf4 Black tries, but nothing helps anymore... 44. Bxf4 exf4 45.Nc3! White is playing very accurately. The knight on c3 will defend the white king and the threat is to play Qd6. 45...a5 46.Qd6 f3 Of course, the position is lost, but at least Black will get a passed h-pawn. 47.gxf3 Qxh3 48.Qxc6 Qxf3 49.Qd7 I think we can see very clearly that White’s c-pawn is much faster than Black’s. 49... Bh5 50.c6 Bg4 51.Nd5 A nice little trick. Of course, this was not really needed :). 51...h5 [51... Bxd7 52.cxd7 and Black cannot stop White’s d-pawn.]

39...Nf4? A big mistake that could lead to an immediate resignation.

52.Qf7 h4 53.c7 The c-pawn is a queen! 53...Qf2

40.Qd2? White is missing a win on the 40th move. [40. Qd6! would finish the game on the spot. 40...Nxg2 41. Bf2 Black has no defense against White’s b4, winning a full queen!] 40...Qc7 and the fight continues. 41.c5! A good positional move. Now, of course, Qd6 is a killing threat. White always has in mind to play Ka3Kb4-Ka5 after the queens exchange. 5


54.c8Q The simplest.

(2) Hammer,J (2608) — Nakamura,Hi (2775) [D31]

54... Bxc8 55.Qh5+ Kg8 56.Qe8+ Kh7 57.Qxc8 White is totally winning. Of course, it was time to resign here, but Black keeps on playing...


57...f5 Well, it is hard to call it a try. White is winning on any move in, at least, 3-4 lines. 58.exf5 h3 59.f6 The most dynamic. 59...h2 60.Qh3+ Kg8 61.Qg4 Threatening a mate on g7. 61...Qg1 62.Qe6+ Kh7 63.f7 and White’s f-pawn becomes a queen. 63...h1Q 64.f8Q Qc1+ 65.Kc3 A slightly funny position with 4 queens on the board, but White is totally winning. Black has nothing more than 3-4 checks. The white queens and the monster knight on d5 protecting the king extremely well.

[Csaba Balogh] Nakamura has an excellent style to beat the weaker players with the black pieces. Let us see how he does it... We must admit that Hammer was trying to push in all his games (he did not play for draw), which makes it easier to outplay the opponent. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 Black is aiming for an asymmetrical pawn structure, where it is easier to break the balance. 5.e3 b5 6.a4 Bb4 The start of the very sharp Noteboom variation. 7. Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 cxb5 10.b3! Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 12. Bb2

65...Qa1+ 66.Kc4 Qh4+ 67.Kb5 Black does what he should have done around 10 moves ago - to resign. A really good game by Napomniachtchi, with great positional understanding and great tactical skills at the right moment! 1–0 12...Nf6 We are still at just the beginning of the opening theory with over thousand games in the database. Let us take a quick look at what happened so far. White has recovered the sacrificed pawn, but Black has obtained two dangerous connected passed pawns on the a- and b-files, and also gained the e4 square for one of his minor pieces. 6


On the other hand, White has the bishop pair and a very strong center, and if it gets mobilized, it will become at least as dangerous as the black queenside pawns. 13. Bd3 0–0 14.0–0 Nbd7 15.Nd2 White is intending to occupy the center by f4 and e4 and also takes control over the e4 square to avoid Ne4 or Be4. [15. Re1 is the most common move.; 15.Qc2 and; 15.c5 are also huge theoretical lines.]

15...Qc7! Black would like to push e5 to reduce the power of White’s center. We must mention that it is not so easy to mobilize the central pawns, because d5 always gives up the control over the c5 square; c5 allows a Black piece to d5; while on e4, Black plays e5, creating a huge hole on c5 for the knight...

18.Qe2 Protecting the d3 bishop against Nc5. 18...b3! 19. Ba1 [It is a bit strange to me why nobody has ever tried 19. Ba3 blocking the pawns. Accoriding to the computer, Black is just much better, but for me it is unclear. White threatens with e4-e5 now, Black must parry it with a knight move, for instance 19...Nf8 keeping the d4 square under attack. This is the reason why the bishop goes to a1 in all the games. In that case, e4-e5 could come.]

19...Qd6! This is the novelty of our game. I am pretty sure that Nakamura has prepared this at home. He refreshes the threat of Nc5, which is not easy to parry, but on the other hand, it moves into the e4-e5 idea with tempo.

16.f4 Preventing e5.

20.e4 Nc5! The game gets extremely sharp and concrete now, but somehow, Black pulls in all lines.

16...a4! The other idea behind the 15...Qc7 move was to push the a-pawn, White cannot take it because of the Qc6 double-attack on g2 and a4.

21.e5 Qc6 This is the point! Black does not lose a piece this way, because White cannot take back the d3 knight at the end, because of the mate on g2.

17. Rb1 White frees the a1 square for his bishop. He needs to blockade the pawns with the minor pieces.

22.exf6 [22.d5? runs into 22...Nxd5! 23.cxd5 Qxd5 Black wins.]

17... Rfd8! Creating the threat of Nc5! There are still many games in the database.

22...Nxd3 23.Qg4 g6 24. Rf3! A multifunctional move. The first aim is to lock the h1–a8 diagonal in order to free 7


the queen to move to h6. It also attacks the knight and might threaten to increase the attack with Rh3 later on. Black needs to react precisely.

(3) Jobava,Ba (2702) — Svetushkin,D (2588) [A01] 14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (10.27), 15.05.2013

24...b2! Black would like to get the d4 pawn.

[Csaba Balogh]

25.Qg5 [25. Bxb2 Nxb2 26. Rxb2 a3 27. Ra2 Rxd4–+ wins for Black.; 25. Rxd3 is objectively the best, but it is also better for Black after 25...bxa1Q 26. Rxa1 Rxd4! 27. Rxd4 Qc5 28.f5 Rd8! Black wins back the rook and gets a clear advantage.]

Quite a unique game right from the beginning. 1.b3 The extremely talented Georgian grandmaster, Baadur Jobava, often employs this move and has good results with it. However, in this game he ran into a bad defeat.

25...bxa1Q 26. Rxa1 [26.Qh6 does not work, because of 26...Qxd4+ 27.Kh1 Qxf6!–+ preventing the mate.]

1...d5 2. Bb2 Nf6 3.e3

26...Qb6! Black prepares for the same defense against Qh6 by eliminating the d4 and f6 pawns with check. 27. Rxd3 [27.c5 Qb2–+ also wins for Black.] 27... Rxd4 28. Rb1 [28.c5 Qd8 29.Qh6 Qxf6–+ wins.; 28.Qh6 Rxd3+ (28...R xf4+ followed by Rxf6 also wins.) 29.Kh1 Bxg2+! 30.Kxg2 Rxd2+ 31.Kh3 Qe3+–+ and Black mates first.] 28...Qd8 The game is over now. White cannot give mate, which means he is lost. 29. Rxb7 [29.Qh6 Qxf6–+] 29... Rxd3 30.Nf3 White tries some desperate try, but there is no clear threat because Qh6 is always met with Qxf6. 30...a3 31. Rxf7 Qb6+ 32.c5 Qb1+ 33.Kf2 Rxf3+ Eliminating the last attacker.[White resigned in view of 33... Rxf3+ 34.gxf3 Kxf7 35.Qh6 Qb2+ 36.Kg3 Qxf6–+ White has only one check.] 0–1

3... Bg4 A provocative move, since after Be2 or Nf3, Black could calmly finish the development and achieve equality, while the critical move played in the game is a bit artificial. 4.f3 Bf5 Further provocation. 5.g4 Jobava has already played this once. 5... Bd7 This was Svetushkin’s novelty. He retreats his bishop to his own camp and hopes that, in the short term, he can make use of the weaknesses of White’s pawn structure. [5... Bg6 happened in the previous game, but the bishop was slightly misplaced here. 6.h4 h5 7.g5 Ng8 8


8.Ne2 Nf4 was coming in the next move with tempo. White won later on in Jobava -Yu Ruiyuan 2012.] 6.g5 Ng8 7.f4 We usually meet these positions between club players and not in the GM level, who are actually playing for big prizes.

13. Bd3! is very strong. White wants to take on f5, followed by Ng3. Black should ideally strengthen his knight via Nce7, but this would lock the bishop to f8. One tempo is missing for him to play Bd6 first.]

7...c5 It is time to occupy some important central squares. 8.Nf3 Nc6 9. Bb5 White would like to create an outpost for his knight on e5.

11...Nge7 12.Qe1 Nf5 13.Nc3 White is going to kick out the f5 knight with Ne2-g3. [The other way to develop the b1 knight. 13.d3 would crucially weaken the e3 square. Black immediately makes use of it with 13...d4!µ] 13... Bd6 14.Ne2

9...e6 10.h4 White’s strategy is to dominate the dark squares and he would like to work them out by pushing h5-h6. Black obviously needs to avoid this. 10...h5! At the same time, Black has created a nice hole on f5 for his knight and he is going to occupy it soon. 11.0–0 I am not sure if this is the safest place for the king. [It would have been more advisable to play 11.Nc3 Nge7 12.Ne2 immediately, driving the knight to g3, and on 12... Nf5

14...Nb4! Very well played! Black creates a very simple threat to take on c2, and if we take a closer look, then we realize that it is not easy at all to parry it. White is forced to make a very ugly queen move, but it deprives him from continuing his plan with Ng3. 9


15. Bxd7+ Qxd7 16.Qb1 Ugly, but what else to do?! White needs to waste some time now to play a3, sending back the knight, and then again Qe1 and Ng3. 16...0–0 17.Kg2 [17.a3 Nc6 18.Qe1 was probably better, although Black is more than fine after, for instance 18... Rfe8 19.Ng3 Nxg3 20.Qxg3 d4! locking the b2 bishop, since taking twice on d4 allows the Bc5 pin.] 17... Rfe8 18.Ng3 d4! Black does not waste any time and punishes White for his poor heavy pieces.

22.Kg3 [22.Nxe5? leads to a mate: 22... Rxe5 23.Kxe5 Re8+ 24.Kf4 Qg4#] 22...Qg4+ 23.Kh2 Qxe4 Black only got two pawns for the piece, but the b1, a1, b2 pieces are completely out of the game, and he threatens to move with the queen followed by e4. White has no good defense against it. 24.d3 Qe2+ 25.Kg3

19.e4 A principled move to lock the position, but it has a tactical drawback. [19.Nxh5 is met by 19...e5! opening the position on the weak king. 20.e4 allows 20...Nxh4+! 21.Nxh4 Qg4+ 22.Ng3 exf4–+ wins.; 19.Nxf5 brings the Black rooks into the game along the e-file 19...exf5 20.exd4 cxd4 21.Nxd4 Nd5! Black is crushing.] 19...Nxg3 20.Kxg3 If White succeeds to consolidate, he gets a clear edge thanks to his space advantage on the kingside. However, Black has prepared a nice tactical shot... It is easy to feel that something should work for him with such pieces on b1 and a1.

25...e4! Good calculation! Black wins by force. 26. Rf2! This seems to trap the queen and the game is over, but the unpleasant surprise is just about to come. [26.dxe4? Rxe4 Black mates with Rg4-Qg2.]

20... Bxf4+!! 21.Kxf4 e5+ The queen joins the game through g4. 10


26...exf3!! [26...Qe3? loses to 27. Bc1! trapping the queen.]

(4) Wang,Hao (2743) — Anand,Viswanathan (2783) [A34]

27. Rxe2 fxe2 White cannot block the e-pawn. If Black promotes it and wins the queen, he ends up with an extra pawn and a winning position.


28.Qh1 Nxc2 29. Re1 It seems like White succeeded to stop and he is still a piece up, but Black can still increase the pressure. 29...Nxe1 30.Qxe1 Re3+! 31.Kf2 Rae8 White resigned, as he is hopeless against the threat of Rd3-d1. The queen is a poor blockader and White has no time to replace it with the bishop. 0–1

[Arkadij Naiditsch] Rarely do we see Anand getting outplayed, but in this game, it was the case. White got nothing out of the opening where it seems that, maybe, Black is the one pushing. However, just a few moves later, he managed to catch a full black queen. Let us take a closer look... 1.c4 c5 It is super difficult to outplay the World Champion in the opening, so Wang Hao is clearly not to blame for his opening choice. 2.Nc3 g6 A not very popular move order for Black. Usually we see 2...Nc6 or 2...Nf6. 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Now we are back in a sort of Maroczy structure. 5...Nc6 6.e3 Not the most ambitious move. [6.Nc2 seems to be the main line here.] 6...Nf6 7. Be2 This is exactly why White usually avoids this line. It seems like Black is doing perfectly OK.

11


7...d5! 8.cxd5 [as well 8.0–0 0–0 could lead to about the same position.] 8...Nxd5 9.Nxc6 An ambitious move by White. By crushing the black pawn structure, White is gaining a potential target. On the other hand, Black’s bishop on g7 becomes really active and it seems like Black should have, at least, enough play. 9...bxc6 10.Na4 The only try for White to reach any advantage. 10...0–0 11.0–0 Bf5 Bf5 is clearly not a mistake, but why not to try an easier solution like [11...Qd6!? Black is taking the c5 square under control and maybe the next move could be Rd8 or even Nb6. It is really hard to believe that White has any advantage here.] 12.g4!? Now the big fight starts and it is clear that Wang Hao is ready for it. It is very important for White to get the black knight away from d5, and that is why even a big weakening move like g4 now leads to big complications. 12... Be6 Now the bishop will be under attack, but it seems like Black has no better square for it. 13.e4 That was White’s main idea. 13...Nb4?! Anand clearly chooses the wrong direction for his knight. [13...Nc7 would have been the right move. 14.Nc5 Rb8 and it seems to me that Black should be doing perfectly fine here. If White would take on e6, the black knight would take a perfect position on the d4 square.] 14.Nc5 and it is already quite tricky for Black to play.

14... Bxa2? Under pressure, Anand makes a big mistake. [Still, Black was more or less OK after 14...Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Nc2 The Black knight is going to take a great position on d4. 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17. Rb1 and maybe White’s position is slightly better, but Black is clearly not lost.] 15.Qa4! and here comes the punishment! Black’s pieces are suddenly under a double attack. 15...Qd4 The only move. 16.Qa5! and again Wang Hao takes the right path. White wants to play Rd1 next, or Be3 and Rxa2. This is too much for Black and the loss of material is unavoidable. 16... Rfd8 Black is using his practical chances. 17.Kg2 [Probably 17. Rd1 Qxd1+ is the only thing that Black can do. 18. Bxd1 Rxd1+ 19.Kg2 would win for White as well. The knight on b4 and the bishop on a2 are hanging, so it is hard to believe that Black will find a way not to lose any more material. White should be winning here.] 17... Bc4 Black has nothing better here either. 18. Rd1 Good move by White. It is really time to capture Black’s queen. 12


18... Bxe2 19. Rxd4 Rxd4 The position got pretty sharp. Black has a bishop+rook and a pawn for White’s queen. This would be enough to make a draw if White would not have some forced continuations in mind. 20. Be3 Rc4

30... Re8 31. Ra2 Re7 Black is defending as good as he can, but it is not enough. 32.Qb6 Rf7 33.f3! Another accurate move by White. Before starting the final action, he is misplacing the black bishop. 33... Bh5 34. Ra8 Kg7 How to finish the game as fast as possible?

21. Re1! Wang Hao seems to be in great shape. With 21. Re1!, White is winning further material. 21... Bxg4 22.b3 This is the key move. The rook has no squares and Black is forced to take further material losses. 22... Rxc5 23. Bxc5 Nd3 24. Re3 Nxc5 25.Qxc5 e5 We are in front of quite a funny position. Of course, White should be totally winning, but the bishop pair plus Black’s solid structure leaves him with some practical chances. 26. Rd3 To capture an open file is never wrong.

35. Rxf8! White chooses the best continuation! 35... Rxf8 36.Qxc5 Black has no chances to stop the b-pawn from queening. 36...g5 37.b4 Ra8 38.b5 A really great game by the Young Chinese Super-GM! 1–0

26... Rc8 27.Qxa7 Bf8 28.Qb7 White puts his pieces in good square, paralyzing Black’s movement. 28...c5 29. Rd5 The e5-pawn is hanging. 29...f6 30. Rd2! Again, Wang Hao chooses a great plan. Now the White rook is going over a2 to a7!

13


Puzzle section

(7) Sanikidze,T (2549) — Lubczynski,R (2419) European Championship, 11.05.2013

(5) Cernousek,L (2476) — Durarbaily,V (2597) European Championship, 10.05.2013

[CEWN] 1. +-

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Lenic,L (2621) — Zhigalko,S (2660) (6) Dreev,A (2654) — Pashikian,A (2603) European Championship, 14.05.2013 [CEWN]

European Championship, 15.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... =

1. +-

14


(9) Fedorchuk,S (2660) — Kuljasevic,D (2578)

(11) Sanikidze,T (2549) — Akopian,V (2705)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Petrosian,T (2645) — Markowski,T (2567)

(12) Vallejo Pons,F (2695) — Tkachiev,V (2632)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

15


(13) Bruzon,L (2707) — Cori,J (2546) American Continental, 15.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

(14) Almasi,Z (2695) — Andriasian,Z (2608) European Championship, 14.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... =

16


Endgame section (15) Gagunashvili,M (2592) — Almasi,Z (2695) European Championship, 15.05.2013 [Chess Evolution] 52.Kf3 (52.b4 g5!–+ and the black king penetrates in the next move.) 52...g5 53.Ke3 b4 54.Kd3 Kf4–+ Black is faster.; 49.gxh5? just drops a pawn. 49...exf4 and gxh5 next.; 49.g5 Bf8 50.fxe5 Kxe5 and the g5 pawn is doomed. Black has excellent winning chances.] 49...e4+ 50.Ke2 Bxe3 51.Kxe3 gxf5 52.gxf5 Ke5 53.f6! The only move to keep the material balance. It seems like White has built up an unbreakable blockade, but the more active black king allows him to simplify the position into a very tricky pawn endgame...

53...Kxf6 54.Kxe4 Kg5! Forcing the white king into passivity, as Black would win the race if White goes for the b-pawn.

47...fxg4! 48.fxg4 e5! Suddenly, it is not easy at all. The position is an excellent example for improving our calculating skills.

55.Kf3! [55.Kd5? Kh4 56.Kc5 Kxh3 57.Kxb5 h4 58.Ka6 Kg4 59.b4 h3 60.b5 h2 61.b6 h1Q 62.b7 with a theoretical win for Black! 62...Qc6+ 63.Ka7 Qc5+ 64.Ka8 Qa5+ 65.Kb8 After Black forces the king in front of the pawn, he can always approach with his own king. 65...Kf5–+]

49.f5! White does a great job (or maybe just luck), but finds the drawing line. From now on, he needs to make only moves... [49.fxe5? loses for White. 49... Bxe3 50.Kxe3 hxg4 51.hxg4 Kxe5 At the moment, White holds the opposition, but both sides have a tempo left, which means that White must allow the Black king inside the camp.

55...Kh4 56.Kg2 It looks like White is safe, but actually, the most interesting part is just about to start. 56...b4! 57.Kh2 Kg5 58.Kg3! [White cannot try to be tricky with 58.Kg2 because he loses the opposition after 58...Kf4 59.Kf2 h4! and the black king penetrates.]

17


58...h4+ This is the critical moment! The fight for the opposition begins.

the opposite one and wins. 62.Kd2 (62.Kf2 Kd5 63.Ke2 Ke4–+) 62...Kf5 63.Kd3 (63.Ke3 Ke5–+) 63...Kf4–+; 60.Kf3? Kf5 wins as shown above.] 60...Kg7 61.Kg2 Kg6 62.Kg1 Kf7! Black plays out all the cards, but White continues defending without mistakes.

59.Kg2!! White uses the fact that Black cannot take the opposition by Kg4. [59.Kf3? loses after 59...Kf5 60.Ke3 Ke5 and, in the next move, the black king goes for one of the pawns... 61.Kd3 (61.Kf3 Kd4–+ Black is faster and wins.) 61...Kf4–+ also wins!] 59...Kg6! Black keeps on trying with the idea of distant opposition.

63.Kf1!! Holding the distant opposition. [63.Kf2 Kf6–+ wins as it was seen in the 60.Kf2 line.] 63...Ke7 [On 63...Ke6 White holds the opposition again by 64.Ke2 Ke5 65.Ke3=] 64.Ke1 Kd7 65.Kd1 Ke7 66.Ke1 Kf7 67.Kf1 Black cannot make progress. A draw was agreed. An instructive endgame to remember. 1/2

60.Kg1!! Only move! [60.Kf2? loses to 60...Kf6! Black gets the distant opposition. 61.Ke2 Ke6! White needs to decide which direction to go and the black king goes to 18


(16) Jakovenko,Dmitry (2731) — Goganov,Aleksey (2552) [B48] 14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (8.36), 13.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

We are in quite a funny position. The main question is whether White is winning or it is a draw? At first sight, Black has excellent drawing chances. The two pawns on the 3rd line plus the a-pawn seem to even give Black good play?! But in fact, he needs to be very accurate to lead the game into a draw. 118.Kf4! Good move. Black wanted to play f2 and Rc2+. Now the white king wants to get to d4 and the rook from c3 will simply have no good squares. 118...f2! A great rescue attempt by Black! [In case of a slow move like 118...Kd1 119.Ke4 Ke1 120.Kd4 White’s king would push the rook away from the 3rd rank. 120... Rc7 121.Kd3! and the game is over...]

119...f1Q! Excellent move by Black again, and it was so easy to go wrong. [For example: 119... Rc2?! would almost give White the full point after 120.Qa1+ Kd2 121.Kf3! White’s king is hunting down the f-pawn. 121...f1Q+ 122. Qxf1 a2 123.Qa1 and it seems like White has good winning chances here.] 120.Qa1+ Kc2 121.Qxf1 Kb2 Black’s idea came true. The white queen cannot get to a1, which means that, if Black manages to play a2 now, the position would be just a draw. 122.Qe2+ Kb3 123.Qb5+ Kc2 124.Qa5 Kb2 It seems like White cannot improve the position of his queen anymore, so it is time to come a little bit closer with the king. 125.Kd4 Rb3 The only move that does not lose. 126.Kc4 It seems like the game is over. The white king is very close and Black’s a-pawn did not reach the a2 square, but...

119.Ke4! White uses his best chances. [To a simpler draw would lead 119.Qxf2 Kb1 and even if White wins the rook on c3, it would still be a draw after Black’s a2 move.] 19


24th of May 2013

(17) Nadeireshvili [CEWN] 1. = 126...Ka2! Black is defending excellently, making a lot of only moves. The black rook is going to take a perfect square on b2. 127.Qd5 Rb2 128.Kc3+ Ka1 And it might seem funny, but this position is a draw! White cannot do anything to break Black’s little fortress. The next moves, until the end of the game, prove this, and there is no need for comments! What a great defense by Black from the starting position! 129.Qd4 Ka2 130.Qd1 Rb1 131.Qd5+ Ka1 132.Qd6 Ka2 133.Qe6+ Ka1 134.Qd6 Ka2 135.Qd5+ Ka1 136.Qd3 Rb2 137.Kc4 Ka2 138.Qc3 Rb1 139.Qc2+ Rb2 140.Qa4 Rb1 141.Kc3 Rb2 142.Qe4 Rb3+ 143. Kc2 Rb2+ 144.Kc1 Ka1 145.Qd4 Ka2 146.Qd3 Rb4 147.Qd5+ 1/2

20


Solutions

(19) Fedorchuk,S (2660) — Szwed,J (2354) European Championship, 06.05.2013

(18) Karjakin,S (2767) — Carlsen,M (2868)

[Solutions]

Supreme Masters, 13.05.2013 [Solutions]

32.Ne5! Qd5 [32...fxe5 33.Qxd8+-; 32... Rxd4 33.Nxc6+ Kb7 34.Nxd4+-] 37...Nxe5!! 38. Bxe5 [38. Rxe5 Rxe5 39. Bxe5 Qc6–+]

33.Nc6+! Qxc6 [33...Kb7 34.Qxb6+-]

38...Qc6! 39. Rg1 Qd5! 40. Bxf5 [40. Bf4 Re2+–+]

34.Qxd8+-

34.Nxd8++-;

33...Ka8

40... Rxe5–+

21


(20) Khairullin,I (2657) — Pashikian,A (2603)

(21) Papp,G (2570) — Potkin,V (2666)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17.Nxe5! Bxd1 18. Raxd1 Nxe5 19. Rxd8 Raxd8 20. Bxe5

49...e2! 50. Re4 Ra5!! 51. Rxe2 [51. Be6? Re5 52. Rxe5 fxe5–+] 51... Rxf5=

22


(22) Socko,B (2647) — Gritsak,O (2549)

(24) Kraemer,M (2544) — Ernst,T (2387)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

40.Qh4 1–0[40.Qh4 Qxf5 (40...Qe8 41.Qh8+ Ke7 42.Qxg7+ +-) 41.Qd8#] (23) Danielian,E (2478) — Fedorchuk,S (2660)

37. Rc7!! Rxh6 38. Rxh7#]

[37...Qxc7

38.Qxf6++-;

37... Rxe6

38.Qf7 Qf8 39.Qxh7+ 1–0


41... Re2+! 42.Kf1 [42.Kd1 Rb2–+] 42... Bg2+ 43.Kg1 Bh3 0–1 23


(25) Nepomniachtchi,I (2710) — Shengelia,D (2546)

(26) Nakamura,H (2775) — Topalov,V (2793)


Supreme Masters (blitz), 07.05.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

21. Bxa6!! Nxa6 [21...Qxd2 22. Bxb7+-; 21...0–0 22. Bxb7 Rxc1+ 23. Bxc1+-; 21...bxa6 22. Rxc6+-]

34.Nxd5! Qd8 [34...Qxd2 35.Nxe7+ Kf8 36.Nxd2+-; 34...Qxa3 35.Nxe7+ Kf8 36.Nxc6+-]

22. Rxc6 0–0 23. Rc2+-

35.Nxe7++-

24


(27) Shulman,Y (2570) — Finegold,B (2505)

(28) Troitzky

US Championship, 10.05.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34...Ng3+! 0–1 [34...Ng3+ 35.hxg3 Qh6+–+; 34...Qxf5 35. Rxf5 Nf2+ 36.Kg1÷]

1. Bd8 Qxd8 2.Qg7+ Kf5 3.Qg4+ Ke5 4.Qf4+ Kd5 5.Qd2+ Kc6 6.Qxd8

25

Weekly Newsletter

Issue 66 31st of May 2013


31st of May 2013

First, let us see the finished events of the week.


2


3

»» Puzzle section

15


18


22


24

»» Solutions

25

In the small but traditional round robin in Malmo, with only 8 participants, first place was shared by Short, Raport and Grandelius with 4.5/7. It was the 21st edition of the Sigeman&Co tournament. Clearly, the main event of the week is the still running — the FIDE Grand Prix. After round 10, with only one round to go, Gata Kamsky has the lead with a fantastic 7.5/10. He is being chased by Dominguez, who is on 7/10. We can expect a very exciting finish. The French league has begun. The usual favorite for the title is the team from Paris, “Clichy”. We hope You enjoy this week’s games of the CEWN Nr 66! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Morozevich,A (2760) — Nakamura,Hi (2775) [B80] Makedonia Palace GP Thessaloniki GRE (4), 25.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see a really crazy game with a super unclear position and a lot of funny mating ideas. I could never understand why these games usually end with a draw. In our case, once again, the final result is a friendly handshake. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 Black usually does not choose this move order, trying to avoid 6.g4, but Nakamura likes to provoke his opponents a bit, even by taking „too many” risks. 6. Be3 a6 Now we are back in the main lines of the Schveningen, just with a different move order. 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 This super sharp line was very popular around five years ago, but then, somehow, other moves came into fashion. 9.g4 [9.a4 is the other main move in the position.] 9...h6 White just wants to play g5 in the next move, so h6 is a very logical solution. Another idea for Black is to play Nb6 or Ne6, freeing the d7-square, but it is a very different line.

10.a3 This is clearly not the main move, but a very logical one. White is avoiding Black’s b4 move, and just wants to castle long with the idea h4-Bh3 and g5. Black will have to act quickly in the center in order not to be crushed on the kingside. 10... Bb7 11.0–0–0 It is easy to see that the position is getting very sharp. Black’s main idea should be to play d5 as fast as possible. 11... Rc8 A preparatory move before the d5 push. [In a few Top level GM games, we have seen 11...d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 but it seems that after 14. Be2 with the idea Nf5, White might be a bit better.] 12.h4 White is following the main idea — to play g5. 12...d5 The d5 move already is almost forced. 13. Rg1!? The beginning of the craziness! [13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 and maybe Black’s Rc8 is more useful than White’s h4.] 13...dxe4 Black has no choice again. 14.g5 hxg5 Before going with the knight to d5, it is very logical for Black to open the h-file. 3


15.hxg5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 White continues the „move by move” play. [Against the logical 16.Nxe4 g6 Black consolidates his position.]

20.Nxb5!? Wow, what a move! White does not care about the material and simply tries to open Black’s king position to the maximum.

16... Bxd5

20...Nf3! A good reply by Black. [It would have been reckless to take on b5. 20...axb5?! 21. Bxb5+ Bc6 (Of course not 21...Nc6 22.c4! and White is winning.) 22. Bxc6+ Nxc6 and the very important move 23.Qg2! with the idea Qxe4 next. It seems to me that White has great play here.] 21.Qf2 Avoiding Nxg1 for a second, because of Qf7 mate. 21...Qf6 with a double threat. Both axb5 and Nxg1 are possible now.

17.g6! A super important move that we can face in many similar positions. By playing g6, White is totally crushing Black’s pawn structure, which usually gives good play against the king.

22.Qg3!? Another very interesting move. [The simple 22.Nd4 Nxg1 23.Qxg1 would have led to very unclear play as well. White is an exchange down, but the a6 pawn is hanging, and the Black king is still in the center.]

17...f5 18.fxe4 Opening the f-file for extra play.

22...axb5 [White’s idea, of course, is to play 22...Nxg1 23.Nc7+ The black king is forced to take a walk.]

18...fxe4 I think we are at one of the critical positions. At first sight, it seems like White should have great play for just a pawn, but on the other hand, Black’s position is very solid and hard to break. 19.Kb1 Typical move. Before starting the action, it is important to place the king on a safe position. [The funny move 19.a4!? could have been a possibility here. White needs the b5 square a lot and Black does not have the usual Qa5 move now.] 19...Ne5 Very logical. The black knight is going to f3.

23. Bxb5+ Ke7 Black is a full piece up, but the position of his king on e7 is clearly a disaster. On the other hand, the f3-knight is a beast and Black wants to play Qf5-Kf6 next to free the bishop from f8. White needs to continue acting very energetically. 24.c4!? White continues playing very creatively! This seems to be a blunder at first, but White has an ace in the hand. 24... Rh2 Attacking the b2 square. How should White protect it? 4

Issue 66 29...e3+! The beginning of Black’s counterattack.

31st of May 2013

30.Ka1

25.Qxh2! The position remains super complicated, but a great and creative move deserves a „!” mark. 25...Nxh2 26.cxd5 This is the key move! [Of course not 26. Bg5? White is winning back the queen, but Black still has a clear advantage. 26...Qxg5 27. Rxg5 Bxc4 Black still has two pieces for the rook and a clearly better position.] 26...Qf5! Perfect defense by Black! Only this square is saving Black from immediate disaster. White wanted, of course, to play d6, and against Black’s Kd8, Bb6 with mate. 27. Bg5+ The black king starts his journey. 27...Kd6 28.dxe6+ Ke5 We are in front of a really insane position. Black has a huge material advantage, but the king on e5 is getting attacked from all sides. And again, Black has a special joker, the free pawn on e4. It is very hard to say who is doing better here. 29. Bd7?! It seems like this logical move is leading to a forced draw. [First 29.e7! Bxe7 and only now 30. Bd7! would have left Black in big trouble! Still, the position is very complicated, but it seems like it should be in White’s favor.]

30... Bxa3! And that is the main point! Any passive move would lead to White’s victory, but Bxa3 does not give him any time for e7, and suddenly the white king is the insecure piece. 31. Bxc8 Qc2 By giving away a rook and a bishop in the last two moves, Black secures the draw. 32.bxa3 Nothing else is possible... 32...Qc3+ 33.Ka2 Qxc8 Black does not give a perpetual check immediately. Well, this is not a big change but it shows that Nakamura really wanted to fight in this game. 34.e7 The easiest way to force Black to repeat moves. 34...Qc2+ 35.Ka1 Qc3+ 36.Ka2 Qc2+ 37.Ka1 Qc3+ 38.Ka2 Qc2+ What a great fighting game on a very high level! 1/2

5


(2) Morozevich,Alexander (2760) — Svidler,Peter (2769) [C48] Thessaloniki GP Thessaloniki GRE (2.3), 23.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Quite a unique game. We cannot learn much from it if we look at it from the positional point of view, but it is really entertaining tactically. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6

6.Nxe5 0–0 7.Nd3 Bb6 8.e5! White must play concretely. Otherwise, Black quickly overtakes the initiative. [For instance, after the slightly careless 8.0–0 d5! with the threat of Bg4, White has no other possible move than Qe1. So, White’s next move is forced. 9.Nxd5 Now Bg4 does not work because of Nxf6 check. 9...Nxd5 10.exd5 Qxd5 with huge compensation for Black. White could not finish his development on the queenside.] 8...Ne8 9.Nd5 c6 [9...d6 is an alternative. Here, White plays again 10.Ne3 Black has a wide range of choices, with more than hundred games in the database. For a very long time, the most direct continuation was considered to be fine for Black. 10...dxe5 11.Nxe5 Qg5 Alexander Motylev, Karjakin’s main second, found a very strong novelty for White. 12.N5c4 f5 13.h4! In the very complicated lines, White gets a clear advantage everywhere. Motylev won his game against Shirov later on.]

4. Bb5 The Four Knights opening, which is pretty much forgotten on the highest level. We can always expect these surprises from Morozevich.

10.Ne3! [10.Nxb6 White cannot go for a simplification with 10...axb6 11.c3 because of the pretty refutation 11... Qh4!! with the threat of Rxa4-Qxa4 Nf3 discovered check. 12.cxd4 Qe4+! 13.Qe2 Qxg2! 14. Rf1 Rxa4 Black is much better.]

4...Nd4 This is the tactical handling of the position. [4... Bb4 is the other main line, which leads to much calmer waters.]

10...d5 Svidler is following the Vallejo-Leko rapid game, where Black won convincingly. Anyway, Morozevich had an improvement prepared...

5. Ba4 Bc5 This is the main line. Black sacrifices a pawn and usually gets adequate compensation for it. [5...c6 is another sharp line with the same idea — to get compensation for the pawn 6.Nxe5 d6 (6...d5 is also possible.) 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.d3 with many games in the database.]

11.0–0 f6 12.c3 Nf5 Black would like to play Bc7, forcing White to take on f6 and after Nxf6, all the black pieces are excellently placed and look dangerously at the white king. Black would have more than enough compensation there. Here comes the deep novelty of Morozevich, which seems to create difficulties for Black. 6


13.b4! with the idea of b5, creating strong counterplay on the queenside. White weakens the c6 pawn and also prepares to play Ba3 with tempo! [13. Bb3 happened in the mentioned game. 13...Kh8 After leaving the pin, Black was ready to play Bc7 again.] 13...Qc7 Svidler would like to force Black to take on f6 in order to strengthen his c6 pawn against the approaching b5. [13... Bc7 is met by 14.b5! with the idea of 14...cxb5 15. Bb3! Black is forced to make unfavorable exchanges because of his d5 pawn. 15...Nxe3 16.dxe3 fxe5 17.e4!² with a positional advantage!; 13...fxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe3 15.dxe3 Bc7 16.f4! White keeps his extra pawn and the advantage.; This gives White enough time to play 13...a6 14. Bb3 Kh8 15. Ba3! and b5 is the threat again, which is not easy to prevent at all.] 14.b5! Morozevich continues his deep preparation. At first sight, it is very suspicious to focus all his pieces on the queenside, but as the game proves, Black is not in time to break through with the attack. 14...fxe5 15. Ba3 Rf6 Driving the rook to the attack through h6. [Another tactical point of White’s idea is that after 15...Nxe3 16.dxe3

16...c5 White seems to be doomed, but he has the tactical strike 17.Nxc5! Bxc5 18.Qxd5+ winning material.] 16.Nb4! White increases the pressure on the central pawns. Somehow, Black is not able to consolidate his position. [16.Ng4 also looked tempting, but after 16... e4! 17.Nxf6+ Nxf6 Black gets a very strong attack with the exchange sacrifice. For instance: 18.Nb4 c5 19.Nc2 Nh4! with many threats in the air: Ng4 or Bh3!] 16...e4? This is a tactical oversight... [16... Bd7 does not equalize either because of 17.bxc6 bxc6 18.Ng4! Rg6 and the point is 19.Na6! and Black cannot defend his e5 pawn. 19...Qc8 20.Nxe5 Qxa6 21.Nxd7²] 17.bxc6 Rh6 [17...bxc6 Black loses a lot of material after 18. Bxc6! Rxc6 19.Nbxd5 The queen has no good square to leave and White wins in any case after Nxf5, followed by Ne7 check. 19...Qf7 (19...Qb7 20.N xf5 B xf5 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.N xf5+-) 20.Nxf5 Bxf5 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Nxc6+-] 18.h3 Nh4 Svidler tries some desperate attack, but he is not in time... [18...bxc6 leads to the same as in the previous move. 19. Bxc6! Rxc6 20.Nbxd5+-] 19.Nbxd5! [It was not too late to go wrong with 19.cxb7 Bxb7 20.Nbxd5? Suddenly, Black mates after 20... Bxd5 7


21.Nxd5 Qg3!–+ 22.Qg4 Nf3+! 23.Kh1 Qh2# would have been a dramatic turn of the game.]

(3) Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2723) — Svidler,Peter (2769) [C84]

19...Qe5 20.cxb7 Nf3+ [Both players had foreseen that after 20... Bxb7 21.Ng4! Qg3 (21...Qxd5 22.Bb3+-) 22.Nxh6+! Kh8 (22...gxh6 White can trade off the queens. 23.Qg4+ Qxg4 24.Ne7+ Saving the knight as well. 24... Kf7 25.hxg4+-) 23.Nf7+ Kg8 24.Ne7+ Kxf7

Thessaloniki GP Thessaloniki GRE (4.1), 25.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Dominguez has prepared a deep improvement on a recent game by his opponent. It proved to be very effective because the computer shows no advantage. However, from a human point of view, Black gets a very unpleasant position to play. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7. Bb3 0–0 [On 7...d6 White can play the same as in the game, but he must do it in reversed move order. 8.a3 (8.Nc3?! is bad now because of 8...Na5! and the e5 pawn is protected.) 8...0–0 9.Nc3 We are in the game.]

25.Qb3+! This is the point and Black does not have a good square. 25...Kf6 (25...Kf8 26.Ng6#) 26.Qxb6+! Unpinning the king. 26...axb6 27.fxg3++-] 21.Qxf3! exf3

8.Nc3 This is the new setup for White, brought to fashion by Anand. 8.a4 was played before in all the games.

22.bxa8Q Black resigned. An amazing game!

8...d6 9.a3 Black has tried many different moves here, but so far they could not show complete equality anywhere.

1–0 8


9... Be6 10.Nd5 Nd4 Svidler played this novelty less than a month ago in the Alekhine Memorial against Anand. Black would like to take on d5 with the knight and leaves from the exd5 fork. On the other hand, he creates a doubled pawn for himself. 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Nxf6+ [White cannot get the advantage of the bishop pair with 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 because he cannot avoid the trade of the light-squared bishops.] 12... Bxf6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 White has a small structural advantage on the kingside, but of course, it is going to be very difficult to squeeze out something real from it. 14.a4

15.b3 c5 16.Qg4 White has an easy plan to improve his position — to play Bd2 and f4. For Black, the only existing counterplay is c4, like Svidler already showed in his previous game. 16...Qf7 [16...c4 was possible right away, but White gets some edge here after 17.axb5 axb5 18. Ba3!² White has an easier game. He plays f4 and if Black creates some threat on the queenside, Bb4 consolidates everything.] 17. Bd2 c4 [17...e5 does not reduce the power of f4. 18.f4! exf4 19. Rxf4 with better prospects for White.] 18. Bb4 [18.f4!? was also possible 18...cxb3 (18...c3?! is a bad positional move. Black would just deprive himself from all counterplay... 19.Be1²) 19.cxb3 e5 20. Bb4² White seems to be better.] 18... Be7

14...Qd7 Svidler improves on his own game, but it is only going to be a transposition. [14...c5 was played before. 15.Qg4 Qd7 16.axb5 (16.b3! Probably Dominguez had prepared this move and we would have transposed to the game.) 16...axb5 17. Bd2 c4 18. Bb4 The difference with the game is that Black can play 18... Ra4! 19. Rxa4 bxa4 20.dxc4 Rc8 21.Qg3 (21.b3 axb3 22.cxb3 Rb8=) 21... Rxc4 22. Bxd6 Rxc2= Black equalized and they soon agreed to a draw. Anand-Svidler, Paris/St Petersburg 2013.]

19.axb5! At first sight, it was a bit strange to me why Dominguez gave up the tension on the queenside, but meanwhile, I checked the 19.f4 line and it all became clear. [On 19.f4 Black was probably intending to play 19... a5 20. Bd2 cxd3 21.cxd3 b4! and White has some problems with the b3 pawn. 22. Rac1 Rac8 The problem is 9


that White cannot play Rc4 as he does not a have a good way to take back because, in both cases, Black obtains a protected passed pawn. 23. Rxc8 (23.f5? R xc1 exf5 next and b3 is hanging.) 23... Rxc8 24.f5 is the only principled plan for White, but it is met by 24...e5! b3 is getting weaker and weaker, so White needs to play 25.f6 Rf8! and the arising endgame is drawn. 26.Qxg7+ Qxg7 27.fxg7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Kxg7 29.Kf2 Kg6 30.Kf3 h5 31.g4 22.e5! White finds the critical move. Now the main role goes to calculation. Svidler is very strong in this field usually, but this time he fails...

31... Bh4 Black only waits with the bishop and White cannot make use of his theoretical advantage on the kingside.] 19...axb5 20. Rxa8 Rxa8 21.f4 [The greedy capture on c4 would be a big positional mistake. 21.bxc4 bxc4 22.dxc4 Rc8 Black wins back the pawn and White only destroyed his own structure. It would be a bad decision even if Black could not win back the pawn immediately. 23.Qe2 e5]

22...h5!? Black would like to play d5, but to do this, he must weaken his king first. [22...dxe5? is a blunder. 23.fxe5+- wins.; It seems like the best would have been to play 22... Rxc2 23.exd6 Bf6 24.bxc4 bxc4 and it looks like White does not have any concrete breakthrough, which gives Black equality.; 22...d5?! immediately, is bad, in view of 23. Bxe7 Qxe7 24.f5! exf5 25.Qxd4 This is the reason for Svidler to include the h5 move...] 23.Qh3 d5 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25.Qxh5 Rxc2

21... Ra2! A slightly suspicious move that leaves the backrank and the king alone, but Black must look for counterplay. The game gets very sharp now...

10


26. Ra1! White must try to make use of the weak black king. The question is if the queen and rook are enough material to create serious threats?! He must attack on the most direct way, because Black’s counterplay is coming fast.

27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.Qh5+ Approaching the time control... 28...Kg8

26...Qb7? This is objectively the decisive mistake, but it was very difficult to calculate the lines. [The only move to hold was 26...Qf8! 27.bxc4! Other moves are less dangerous... (27.dxc4 d3; 27.Qg6 cxb3 28.Qxe6+ Kh8 White has nothing better than perpetual check, as the b-pawn is too far advanced. 29.Qh3; 27.f5 cxb3) 29.f5! White breaks through. 29...cxb3 [29...exf5 loses to 30.e6! cxb3 31.Qe8+ Kh7 32.e7+- White wins because of the Qh5-e8Q threat.] 30.Qe8+ Kh7 31.Qh5+ Dominguez was short on time, so it is logical to repeat twice every time.

27...b4!! Only move! (27...bxc4 28.Qg6 White wins because, in comparison to the mainline, the b2 move is not coming with tempo. Now White is in time to launch a winning attack. 28...c3 29.Qxe6+ Kh8 30.f5! Rd2 31.f6 c2 Black needs only one move, but White mates first... 32.fxg7+ Qxg7 33.Ra8+ Kh7 34.Qh3+ Qh6 35.Ra7+ Kg8 36.Qg4+ Kh8 37.Qc8++-) 28.Qg6 b3 29.Qxe6+ Kh8= and White does not have more than perpetual check. 30.Qh3; 26... Qd8 leads to a worse position, but it is still better than the game. 27.bxc4 dxc4 28.Qg6 cxd3 29.Qxe6+ Kh8 30.Qh3+ Kg8 31.Qxd3±]

31...Kg8 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Qg6+! Kh8 [33...Kg8 34.Qxe6+ Kf8 was the only chance, but White wins here as well, although he needs to find some very difficult moves 35.f6! Rc7 (Black’s problem is that 35...b2? is met by

11


36.Ra8+! Qxa8 37.Qe7+ Kg8 38.Qxg7#) 36.Qd6+ Kg8 37.e6! gxf6

35... Rf7 36. Rf3! [Black resigned in view of 36. Rf3 Kg8 37. Rh3 b2 38.Qh7+ Kf8 39.Qh8#] 1–0

38. Re1! The only way to win. 38... Re7 (38...b2 39.Qd8+! It is important to check first, otherwise, Black might take on e7. 39...Kg7 40.e7+-) 39.Qg3+ Kh7 40.Qh4+ Kg7 41.Qg4+ Kh7 42.Qf5+ Kg7 43. Rf1+- wins.] 34.f6! Ra8-Qxa8 Qxg7 is the main threat. Another threat is f7 with the idea of Qh5. 34... Rc7

35. Rf1! The last precise moves! White threatens to play fxg7, followed by Rf8, so Black must delay the counterplay with b2 again... 12


(4) Ponomariov,R (2742) — Ivanchuk,V (2755) [C05] Makedonia Palace GP Thessaloniki GRE (6), 28.05.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Lately, Ivanchuk has been in a really unpredictable shape. A win against Carlsen or Kramnik can be combined with a loss on time on move 30! In this game, we can clearly see that it was not his day, again. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7

a quick 8.c4!? trying to crush the black center.; Maybe 7... Qb6 is a normal answer here as well.] 8.Nbd2 These two paradoxical-looking White’s knight moves are not stupid at all. Black does not have any clear play on the queenside now. Also, it is very important that the white pawn is on c2 and not on c3, so Black does not count on the b5-b4 idea anymore. 8...b5 9. Be2 Another very good move by White, with quite an important strategical idea. 9...Nb6

5.f4!? A rare but interesting setup for White. 5...c5 6.Ngf3 By playing f4, White is trying to keep his center. 6...Nc6 and Black is, of course, attacking it! 7.Nb3!? This is the key idea! White is not trying to play c3, which, in my opinion, gives Black nice play afer Qb6. Instead, he is trying to provoke c4, which would close the whole position, so Black would not have any play on the queenside anymore. Slowly, White would start playing on the kingside. 7...c4 A normal choice, but maybe White is getting what he wanted?! [I guess that against 7...b6 White had planned

10.Nf1! That is the point! White is bringing his knight to a perfect position on e3, where it will support the f5 push. Besides, White has another nice idea, which we will see very soon in the game. 10...h5 Another very logical move by Black. White has little play. 11.Ne3 Bd7 Black is more advanced on the queenside, and White in the center. This gives White a bit of an edge. 12.0–0 Be7 What should White do next? To prepare h3g4-f5 or maybe to go for the f5 push?! 13


13.b3! Ponomariov shows great understanding of the position! The usual rule says: never play on the flank when your opponent is better. However, in this particular situation, it is the best! Black will have to castle long sooner or later, and White will be able to play a4 to open the position even more. 13...g6 A normal move to avoid future f5 pushes.

17.a4! Black’s position seems crushing! White just wants to open both the a- and b-files with axb5 and bxc4, and the black king will be in deep trouble. 17...Kb7 18.Qb1! Once again, a great move by White. Now bxc4 and a5 became a deadly threat. It is clear that White totally outplayed his opponent.

14. Bd2 To develop a piece is never wrong. 14...a6 Until here, everything looks quite logical. Maybe a6 is a bit too careful, even though Black is preparing against White’s a4 move.

18...Na7?? The last blunder of the game in an already very bad position.

15. Be1! Another great move by White. The bishop is very well placed on e1 and plays on both flanks at the same time. White’s main idea of playing h3-g4 remains and, at the same time, a4 is always a potential threat!

19.a5 White is winning a pawn with bxc4 next. A game that looks rather short, but if we look a bit deeper, White actually outplayed his opponent out of nothing, simply by understanding the position on a different level! 1–0

15...Qc7 16.h3 White is starting his main plan. 16...0–0–0?! The first mistake. Now White’s play is getting super dangerous. [16... Rc8 Black should have kept his king on e8 and tried his luck on the c-file.]

14


Puzzle section

(7) Wei Yi (2530) — Xiu Deshun (2534) Danzhou GM, 24.05.2013

(5) Kamsky,G (2741) — Dominguez Perez,L (2723) Thessaloniki GP, 22.05.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Cvek,R (2540) — Zilka,S (2525) (6) Wei Yi (2530) — Ni Hua (2646) Danzhou GM, 22.05.2013 [CEWN]

Czech Championship, 25.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

1... –+

15


(9) Roiz,M (2617) — Postny,E (2637)

(11) Li Chao (2686) — Emperado,E (2313)

Beer Sheva rapid, 26.05.2013

Asian Continental, 20.05.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

(10) Postny,E (2637) — Greenfeld,A (2538)

(12) Paragua,M (2550) — Sadorra,J (2561)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1. +-

16


(13) Matikozian,A (2441) — Georgiev,V (2559) Metropolitan GM, 18.05.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Schmidt,W (2370) — Mastrovasilis,D (2610) Polish league, 26.05.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

17


Endgame section (15) Grischuk,A (2779) — Nakamura,H (2775) Thessaloniki GP, 23.05.2013 [Chess Evolution] 90... Ba3 The black king is ideally placed on d7, where it blocks the d-pawn and also the king’s route to e6. The doubled f-pawns also improve Black’s surviving chances, as White cannot create a new passed pawn. What might be the winning plan? 91. Bb6 Grischuk improves his bishop by transferring it to the a3-f8 diagonal. White has two extra pawns, but converting the advantage is not easy at all because Black has built up a good defensive position. However, Grischuk plays with perfect technique and wins the game. 89. Ra5! Excellent decision to trade off the rooks, but White had to foresee the winning plan, which was not simple at all. [White cannot make progress with 89. Rb7+ Ke8 90.Ke6 because of 90... Ra6+ and he must retreat.] 89... Rxa5+ 90. Bxa5

91... Bc1 92. Bc5 Be3 Black has nothing better than to wait with his bishop. Grischuk follows the right strategy in these endgames. He makes some „senseless” moves in order to gain time (30 seconds increments per move), and when he believes it should be enough, he goes for the critical continuation. 93. Bb4 Bf2 94. Bf8 Be3 95. Bc5 Bg1 96. Ba3 Be3 97.Ke4 Bd2 98. Bc5 Ke8 Black waits with his king now, because White does not threat to invade on e6. But, obviously, on Kd5, Black would immediately go back to d7.

18


99.d5! This is the start of the winning plan. White prepares to attack the f6 pawn with the bishop and also with the king from g6, in order to lure the Black king to f7. This clears the path of the d-pawn. 99...Kd7 100. Be3! Before placing the bishop on d4, White sends away the bishop from the c1–h6 diagonal, in order to be able to play Kf4. 100... Ba5 101. Bd4 Bd8 102. Bc3! A good waiting move, in order to have Bb4 in case of Kd6 at the moment, and to leave from the Kf4-Kd6 Kg4 Kxd5 tempo. 102... Be7 103.Kf4 Bd6+ [103...Kd6? is not possible because of 104. Bb4+] 104.Kg4 Ke7 The next step of the win is to send away the blockader of the d-pawn. If White hurries with Kh5Kf7, he cannot threaten to trade the bishops. So, first he drives it to f4.

109.d6! Bd4 110. Bh4 White wants to push d7 and on Ke7, Kg6 Kxd7 Bxf6. 110... Bb6 [110... Bc3 111.d7 Ke7 112.Kg6 Kxd7 113. Bxf6 Here the second f-pawn gets an important role. Black cannot sacrifice his bishop for f5. 113... Bb4 114. Bg7+- The pawn automatically promotes.] 111.d7 Bd8 Nakamura tries his best chance — he blocks the pawn with the bishop and tries to keep the king away from the g6 square. Grischuk finds a very nice way to proceed. 112.Kh6! Putting Black into zugzwang. He cannot move with the king, since it allows Kg6 and all the bishop moves are met by the same trick.

105. Bd2! Bc5 106. Bf4 Bb4 107.Kh5 Kf7 108. Bg3 Bc5 White has already progressed a lot — it is time to make the next step, to lure the black king from the g6 square by advancing the d-pawn.

19


112... Ba5 [112... Bb6 113. Bf2!; 112... Bc7 113. Bg3!]

(16) Bacrot,E (2725) — Morozevich,A (2760) [D90]

113. Be1! Bb6 114. Bb4! White transferred his bishop to the a3-f8 diagonal in order to cut the black king from the e7 square. The last part of the winning plan is easy, White only needs to bring his king around the board and get it to c8...

Makedonia Palace GP Thessaloniki GRE (5), 27.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

114... Bd8 115.Kh5 Kg7 116. Bd6 Kh7 117.Kh4 Kh6 118.Kg4 Black is in zugzwang, he must retreat with the king... 118...Kg7 119.Kf4 Kh6 120.Ke4 Kg5 121. Bf4+ Black resigned in view of Kd5-Kc6 and Bc7. Nice technique by Grischuk! 1–0

After a great fight, where, during the last 20 moves, Black was trying to find winning chances, suddenly things changed dramatically. Black clearly over-pushed his position and is on the limit of losing the game. How should White proceed?! 61...f5 What else to do?! [If Black takes the b5 pawn... 61...Nxb5 62. Rg7 Nd6 (62...a4 63.R xg6 Kf7 64.Rg1 and probably White’s h-pawn will give him a full point.) 63. Rxg6 Nf7 64. Rg1 We went back to the same place. Black cannot cross the g-file with his king, which means that there is no way to stop White from promoting the h-pawn.] 62. Rh6! Excellent move! The h5 threat is deadly! 62...fxe4+ 63.Kxe4 Kf7 64.h5! Here we can see the main point! Suddenly, White is going for the b6 pawn. 64...gxh5 65. Rxb6 It seems like Black is done! White’s position must be winning. The horrible knight on a3 plus 20


the passed b-pawn — what else is needed?! However, things are much trickier! 65...h4 Black’s only hope is to provoke the white king to hold the h-pawn and, at the same time, move his own king closer to the b-pawn, and combine this with the knight to take the b-pawn.

68...Nc4! and the Black knight is in time to capture the b-pawn. 69.b7 Nd6+] 67...Ke6! The black king is just in time to help the knight. 68.b6 Kd7! Black does not miss his drawing chances and makes exact moves! 66. Rb8? What a huge mistake by White! [66.Kd4! would have been the right solution. 66...h3 67.Kc5 and that is the main point. Black cannot play h2 because of Rh6, and the knight on a3 is cut. 67...Kg7 trying to avoid Rh6. 68. Re6 This does not help either. 68...h2 69. Re1 White is easily winning.] 66...h3! and, suddenly, the position is a draw! 67.Kf3 [It is not winning either 67.b6 h2 68. Rh8

69. Ra8 Kc6 followed by Nb5- Nd6- Nb7 was a drawing threat. 69...Kc6 70. Rxa5 Nc4 Another little trick and White’s b-pawn is falling. 71. Ra7 [Of course not 71. Rc5+? Kxc5 72.b7 Ne5+ and Black is in time to stop the b-pawn. 73.Kg3 Nc6] 71...Kxb6 72. Rxe7 The rest does not need any comment! And, once again, we saw how tricky even an easy looking position can be! 72...Kc5 73.Kg3 Kd4 74.Kxh3 Ne3 75. Re8 Kd3 76.Kg3 Kd4 77.Kf3 Nc4 78. Rd8+ Ke5 79. Re8+ Kd4 80.Kf4 Kd5 81. Re5+ Nxe5 1/2

21


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Kholmov,Ratmir D [C98] Capablanca Memorial Havana (18), 1965 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0–0 Black plays without the d6 move in order to keep the possibility of going for the Marschall Gambit. 8.c3 White could also play other lines: [8.d3; 8.h3; 8.d4] 8...d6 [8...d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 This leads to very complex long variations. The Marschall Gambit is still popular and used by top players like Aronian or Leko.]

a5; 14.a3 was also played several times, but looks too slow.) 14...a5 15. Be3 a4 16.Nbd2 Bd7 17. Rc1² Thanks to his better center and potential weak black pawns on the queenside, White has a stable advantage.] 13.dxc5?! Not the correct reaction. White is better after [13.d5 Nd8 14.a4²] 13...dxc5 14.Nf1 White plays using a typical maneuver, but it will not bring anything special. Black is not worse in the center now — he has no weaknesses and will control the d5 square. [14.Nh2 Be6 15.Ndf1 Rad8 16.Qf3 with the idea of trying to create some pressure on the kingside after Ng3- Ng4.] 14... Be6 15.Ne3 [15.N3h2!? Again, White could try to put his queen on f3.] 15... Rad8 16.Qe2 c4 17.Ng5

9.h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2

12...Nc6 A logical but rare move. Black is going to solve the tension in the center. The main line is [12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nb3 (14.d5 After the included exchange on d4, Black has better squares for the knight. 14...Nb4 15.Bb1

17...h6! Good move. Black is not afraid of the exchange. The pawn on e6 will control the very important d5 and f5 squares. [17...Nd4 The same idea like in the game could be used at this moment. 18.cxd4 exd4 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.e5 dxe3 (20...Qxe5? 21.Nf5; 20...d3 21.exf6 dxe2 22.fxe7 Qxe7 23.R xe2) 21. Bxe3 (21.exf6 exf2+ 22.Qxf2 R xf6 23.Qe2 Qg3 with a decisive attack. Bd6 is coming next.) 21... 22


Qxe5 22. Bb6 Qxe2 23. Rxe2 Rd6 24. Bc5 Rd7 25. Bxe7 Rxe7 26. Rd1 with some compensation, but nothing more.; 17... Bc8? 18.Nd5]

28. Be3 Qd5 Given that the pawns are placed on h6 and g6, Black exchanges the queens in order to avoid some potential counterplay against his king.

18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.b4? Very bad move. White should try to activate his pieces somehow. For example: [19.b3 Na5 (19...Nd4 20.cxd4 exd4 21.bxc4 dxe3 22.B xe3 bxc4 23.Rac1² X c4 and Xe6; 19...Bc5!? 20.bxc4 b4 A typical strategic sacrifice with the idea of taking control of the dark squares and not allowing the white pieces to get active.) 20.bxc4 Nxc4 21.a4 Bc5 Black should be fine.]

29.Qxd5 Rxd5 30.f4

30...g5! Thanks to this move, Black creates a weak pawn on f4 and makes way to improve his king. 31.g3 gxf4 32.gxf4 Rf8 33.Kg2 Kg6 34. Rg1 Rd3 35.Kf3+ Kf5 36. Rg7 White is looking for his last chances with his active rook. 19...Nd4! Now White’s position is very hard.

36... Bd8 37. Rb7 Not allowing Bb6.

20.cxd4 exd4 21.a3 [21.e5 d3 22. Bxd3 cxd3 23.Qb2 Ne4–+]

37... Rg8 Of course, Black takes control of the g-file.

21...d3 22. Bxd3 Rxd3 [22...cxd3 23.Qa2 Kh7 24.Nf1 White is worse but still fighting.]

38. Rb8 [38. Rf7+ Kg6 39. Rb7 Kh5 40. Rb8 Rg7 and Black should easily win thanks to threats like Kh4-Kxh3 or Bh4-Rg3.]

23.Ng4 Kh7 24.e5 Nxg4 25.Qe4+ g6 26.Qxg4 [26. hxg4 Qd7 with the same idea to the one in the game]

38... Rg7 39.a4 h5! Black does not care about the queenside and goes for a final action.

26... Rf5 27.Qe4 Qd7! Black is dominating the board thanks to the strong passed c4-pawn, controlling the d-file and with better pieces in general.

40.axb5 axb5 41. Rxb5 Bh4 42.Ke2 Rg2+ 43.Kf1 Rh2 44.Kg1 Re2 45. Bb6 c3 46.Kf1 Rh2 The black pieces are too active. White gave up. A good strategic game by Kholmov. 0–1 23


Surprise section / study (18) Prokes [CEWN]

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Solutions

(20) Dreev,A (2654) — Pashikian,A (2603) European Championship, 14.05.2013

(19) Cernousek,L (2476) — Durarbaily,V (2597)

[Solutions]


30. Rg6+! 1–0[30. Rg6+ Kf8 (30...Kh8 31.Qe5+) 31.Qd6#]

25...Nd3+!! 0–1 [25...Nd3+ 26.Qxd3 Qxd3 27. Rxd3 Rxc2+ 28.Ke1 Rxb2–+; 25...Nc4? 26.Qe2!]

25


(21) Sanikidze,T (2549) — Lubczynski,R (2419)

(22) Lenic,L (2621) — Zhigalko,S (2660)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

23.Nc6+!! bxc6 24. Rb8+ Kd7 [24...Kc7 25.Qxe7+ Kxb8 26. Rb1+ Kc8 27.Qxf8++-]

37...Qb1+! 38.Kg2 c4!= 39.Qd5 Qxb2 40.Qf5+ Kh8 41.Qc8

25. Rb7+ Kc8 26.Qxe6+! Kxb7 27.Qxe7+ Kc8 [27... Kb6 28. Rb1++-] 28.Qxf8++-

26


(23) Fedorchuk,S (2660) — Kuljasevic,D (2578)

(24) Petrosian,T (2645) — Markowski,T (2567)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

30. Rf5! [30. Rh4? Nxf3+ 31.gxf3 Qe5]

43. Rb4!! Qxb4 44.Qxd5+ Kh8 45. Rc8+ Rf8 46.Qf7 1–0

30...Nxf3+ [30...Qg4 31. Rxe5!+-] 31.gxf3+- 1–0

27


(25) Sanikidze,T (2549) — Akopian,V (2705)

(26) Vallejo Pons,F (2695) — Tkachiev,V (2632)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

36...Nxe3+! 37.fxe3 Rd2! [37... Rd1+? 38.Ke2 Qg1 39. Rxf5!÷]

35.Qd5! Kg8 [35... Rxf6 36.Qe4+ Kh8 37.Qxe1 Rxf4 38.Qc3+ Kh7 39.Qxc7+-]

38.Ke1 Rh2! 39.Qf1 Qg3+ 40.Kd1 Rf2!–+ 41.Qe1 Qf3+ 42.Kc1 Rf1–+

36.Qe4 1–0

28


(27) Bruzon,L (2707) — Cori,J (2546)

(28) Almasi,Z (2695) — Andriasian,Z (2608)

American Continental, 15.05.2013


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

34... Rxa6!! [34...Qxc2? 35.Nxc7]

39... Rxf4! 40.Qxf4 [40. Ra8+ Rf8!]

35. Rxa6 [35. Rac1 Rxe6–+]

40...Qe2+ 41.Kh3 Qxa6 42.Qg5+ Kf8=

35... Rb1+ 36. Rc1 [36.Kh2 Ng4+ 37.Kh3 Rh1+–+] 36... Rxc1+ 37. Bxc1 Qe1+ 38.Kh2 Ng4+ 39.Kh3 Nxf2+ 0–1

(29) Nadeireshvili [Solutions]

1. Bb4!! axb4 2.axb4! Nd4=

29

Weekly Newsletter



7th of June 2012

And once again we had a week filled with chess.


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3

The FIDE Grand Prix in Greece was won by Dominguez with 8/11. On the second place we find Kamsky and Caruana, both with 7.5/11. This victory is most likely Dominguez’s best result in his chess career so far. The Sberbank GM rapid tournament in Kiev was won by Karjakin with 6.5/9. The second place went to Topalov with 6/9 and the 3rd place to Leko with 5/9.

»» Puzzle section

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The World Rapid Championship in Khanty Mansisk was won by Nepomniachtchi.


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In Leon, Giri and Ivanchuk are playing a friendly match.

»» Solutions

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As usual, we bring You the newest and most interesting games of the past week.

In the French league, the team of Clichy is totally dominating the event and a draw in the penultimate round will be enough for them to win the title with a round to go.

Enjoy CEWN Nr 67! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

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4 best games of the past week (1) Grischuk,Alexander (2779) — Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2723) [D70] Makedonia Palace GP Thessaloniki GRE (10.4), 02.06.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will now face a very exciting game. After a long theoretical battle, it first seemed as though White should be better, but then Black took over and the game finally ended in a draw. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 This move is now very popular, as the idea is to avoid the main Gruenfeld where at the moment nobody is able to show a clear way to get an advantage. 3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 We are entering a very sharp and complicated line. To play this kind of positions without great analyses is simply impossible as one would risk quickly getting into trouble. 6... Bg7 7. Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 The main ideas here are simple, White is trying to quickly castle queenside and start the attack on Black’s king by playing h4-h5 and Bh6, while Black is trying to create some counterplay against White’s center.

8...e5 is one of the most principled continuations here. Of course it is all still theory. 9.d5 c6 As promised, Black is starting an immediate attack on the centre... 10.h4 ...and White on the kingside. 10...cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 The black knight is going from b8 to f6, where it will protect the king and attack d5. 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6! This move is of course killing the pawn structure, but the rook on f8 is immediately getting into the game. It is clear that in the current position the dynamics are much more important than positional things. 14.0–0–0 Bd7 Black is taking his time to bring the last piece into the game, the rook from a8. 15.d6 Rc8 16.Kb1 As we can see, the position is very unbalanced. White has a lot of positional advantages like the d6 pawn, but Black is clearly better developed and should search his chances in a „fast” play.

3


16...e4!? Exactly like this! I guess both players still knew this position very well, but this doesn’t matter to us. What is important here is to know how to handle such positions. Black doesn’t wait any longer and tries to open White’s position to the maximum! A very typical play in case of development advantage!

20... Rxc3! A great sacrifice. At first sight it just looks bad for Black, but if we look deeper, things are getting super complicated.

17.fxe4 White doesn’t have a choice, he has to take.

21.bxc3 Qc8 That is Blacks idea. The Queen is joining the attack and the monster bishop on g7 is a very dangerous piece, while White’s bishop on e7 is in a more or less a passive position.

17...Ng4 Of course Black wants to play Nxe3 and at the same time Bxc3 is dangerous, which forces White to act quickly.

22. Rc1 Na4 I guess this is one of the most critical moments of this game. White has a very large amount of options.

18. Bg5 Again White had nothing better.

23.Ng5 White continues forcing things. [After 23.c4 Qc5 followed by Qb6 is great for Black.; After the rather passive 23. Be2 Qc5 is strong as well. A bit of a strange position, but it really seems as if Black has enough play for being an exchange and a pawn down.]

18...Qe8 White is using the mini tempo won with Bg5 to develop a piece. 19.Nf3 Rf7!? Black is preparing a tricky move! [The straightforward 19... Bxc3 20.bxc3 Na4 wouldn’t lead to anything because of 21. Rc1 Qxe4+ 22.Ka1 and White is probably doing better here.; It is also too early for 19... Rxc3 20.bxc3 Na4 because of 21. Bc4+ and Black is not in time.] 20. Be7 A very logical move by White with the idea of playing Ng5 next. What to do now for Black?!

23...Qc5! Great play by Black! Another exchange is being sacrificed in order to attack the White king. 24.Nxf7 White has to take... 24...Nxc3+ 25. Rxc3 Bxc3 What to do now for White?! The Queen and the knight on f7 are hanging. 26.Nh6+ It can’t be wrong to save the knight. 4


26...Kg7

(2) Kasimdzhanov,R (2699) — Kamsky,G (2741) [A88] Thessaloniki GRE Thessaloniki GRE (7), 29.05.2013 [Csaba Balogh] In this game, Kamsky convincingly outplayed his opponent step by step. 1.d4 f5 Kamsky shows his intentions right from the first move as he plays the surprise Dutch defence instead of his usual Slav.

27.Qd5 This move leads to a perpetual check, but White probably already didn’t have anything better. [27.Qe2? is of course losing after 27...Qb4+ 28.Kc1 Qa3+ 29.Kd1 Ba4+; 27.Qc2 This move leads to the exact same draw as in the game: 27...Qb4+ 28.Qb3 Qxe4+]

2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5.0–0 0–0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 We have reached one of the initial positions of the Dutch Leningrad variation. Black can choose between various setups.

27...Qb4+ 28.Qb3 Qxe4+ And White cannot escape from the checks... 29.Qc2 Qe1+ 30.Qc1 Qe4+ 31.Qc2 Qe1+ 32.Qc1 Qe4+ 33.Qc2 What a great fighting game! I would be curious to know whether maybe Dominguez knew everything until the end?! 1/2 7...c6 8.b3 [As we have analyzed in the Radjabov-Ivanchuk game a few CEWNs ago, White should probably play 8. Rb1 with the idea of b4-b5.] 8...a5 Black prepares to develop his knight to a6. 9. Bb2 Na6 10.d5 White would like to put his knight to d4 in order to establish the control over the e6 square. This is a usual drawback of this variation, but in this posi5


tion it might be not the best idea, since he also gives up the c5 square, which the Black knight is ready to occupy. [10. Re1 is the main move with the idea of e4.; 10.e3 is also possible followed by Qe2 and in a good moment e4.]

15.h4 White is taking some ground on the kingside, obviously he is not playing for a kingside attack.

10... Bd7 11.Nd4 cxd5

12.Nxd5 [12.cxd5 looked more reasonable to me in order to reduce the mobility of the central pawns, altough Black seems to be fine after 12...Nc5 13. Rc1 Rc8 14.e3 Qb6! with the idea of Qa6, trying to make use of the d3 square.]

15... Rf7! I like this move a lot! Before making a decision about where to start the actions, either by e6 or by h6-g5, Kamsky plays this very useful move, which supports both ideas. 16. Ba1 Somehow, Kasimdzhanov does not find a plan. It would have made sense to trade the e4 knight by playing Nc3 or to exchange the dark squared bishops by removing the d4 knight.

12...Nc5 13. Rb1 White wants to avoid any kind of tactical motifs between the two bishops on g7 and b2. [The idea itself is good, but White should have executed it by playing 13.e3 followed by Qe2 and then the rooks could go to more natural places, like c1 and d1.]

16...h6! Black is aiming for a kingside attack with g5. This is a typical plan in this variation.

13...Nfe4 Black has occupied the ideal squares with his knights.

17...g5 Black continues his plan.

14.e3 Rc8 The pawn structure is very static, so the players are improving their pieces. Kamsky is very strong in such positions...

17.a4? I don’t like this move at all! White locks the queenside, where he was better and also fortifies the c5 knight, which could have been kicked out only by a3-b4. 18.hxg5 hxg5 At some point, Black would like to push g4, after which he gets many dangerous attacking possibilities, for instance by playing Be5 followed by Qf8-h6 and Rh7 or Ng5 trying to use the f3 and h3 squares.

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19.g4 Kasimdzhanov tries a typical idea to counter the g5-g4 plan. White tries to break the stability of the e4 knight and he undermines the f5 pawn. On the other hand after Kamsky’s strong reply, this is a huge weakening of his own king. [19.Nc3 was probably better again.] 19...e6! The point becomes clear in the 21st move. [On 19...fxg4 the idea was to play 20.Qc2! and Black cannot hold the knight.] 20.Nc3 Nxc3 21. Bxc3

26... Bc6! Another great move! Black does not need to waste time on protecting the d6 pawn. 27.exf4 [27.Qxd6 leads to a very bad endgame for White after 27... Rd7! 28.Qe5 Bxf3 29.Qxg7+ Kxg7 30. Bxf3 Nxb3 31. Rc3 Nc5 Another proof that the move 17.a4 was not the best idea. White has lost the b3 weakness and the new target is on a4. The knight clearly dominates the bishop, which can be used only for defending his own pawns.] 27...gxf4 28.g5 [28.Qxd6 Qxg4 wins for Black.]

21...f4! Breaking through on the kingside. From now on, White must stay focused to not allow an f3 push. 22. Re1 b6 Black frees his queen by protecting the a5 pawn.

28...e5! The pawn phalanx starts to move and sweeps White off the board. [28... Bxf3 29.Qxf3 Qxg5 was also good, but Kamsky plays for more.] 29.Qxd6 e4 30.Ne5

23. Rc1 Qf8! This was the only way to activate the queen. Qe7, Rcf8 would have been an even better arrangement of the pieces, but it would move into the tactical trick of exf4 followed by Nf5!, making use of the pin on the e-file. 24.Nf3! Trading off the strong bishop, preventing the f3 push and aiming for some counterplay against the g5 pawn. 24... Bxc3 25. Rxc3 Qg7 26. Rc1 7


30...Qxg5! This had to be foreseen before playing 28... e5! White cannot defend his king. 31.Nxf7 Kxf7 [Black resigned in view of the following lines 31...Kxf7 32.Kf1 (32.Rcd1 f3 33.Qg3 Qxg3 34.fxg3 fxg2 35.Kxg2 N xb3–+ With a hopeless endgame.) 32...f3 33. Bh3 Bd7! Deflecting the defender of the g2 square. A nice strategical win by Kamsky, who basically did not do anything special in this game, just improving his pieces and pawn structure with each move.] 0–1

(3) Kamsky,G (2741) — Morozevich,A (2760) [C96] Thessaloniki GRE Thessaloniki GRE (10), 02.06.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Kamsky played outstanding chess throughout the entire tournament and celebrated his 39th birthday with this nice attacking game against Morozevich, who was out of form in Thessaloniki. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 Finally somebody goes for the classical mainline instead of the recently popular 6.d3. 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 [The 6.d3 setup is mainly directed against the Marshall Gambit, which starts with 7...0–0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6] 8.c3 0–0

9.h3 The initial position of the main Spanish lines. Black has a wide range of choices here. Morozevich usually likes to play the Zaitsev, which starts with 9... Bb7 10.d4 Re8, but this time he goes for the Chigorin variation.

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9...Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Black again has numerous options here. The main one is 11...Qc7. However, Morozevich tries a dubious system. 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 exd4

g6 Black seems to finally have solved the problems with Bg7, but Ivanchuk plays a very effective move to keep his advantage: 21.Qa7! And the knight goes to d4 with tempo. 21... Rc7 22.Nd4 Re5 23. Bxc4 bxc4

13.Nxd4 The quick exchanges in the center usually favour White. His pieces are better placed for an opened game. White is going to use the f5 and d5 squares with the knights. Nf5 always wants to get the bishop pair, while Nc3-d5 would seriously weaken the c6 square in Black’s camp.

24. Bxf6! Qxf6 25.Nd5! Bxd5 26.Qxc7 White has won an exchange and soon the game. Ivanchuk-Mueller Mainz 2007]

13... Re8 14.Nc3 Black cannot finish the typical regrouping with Bf8, because White creates a very unpleasant pin with Bg5.

16...Nc4 17.Qd4! Kamsky plays on domination and does not care about losing the b2 pawn.

14... Bb7 Black solves the problem of the c6 and d5 squares, but he allows the knight to go to f5!

16. Bg5! Increasing the pressure. This is obviously very logical, but the question is what happens if Black starts his counterplay against the b2 pawn with Nc4?!

17...Nxb2

15.Nf5! Rc8 This is the novelty! I don’t believe it was a prepared one, since Black already had a bad position. [15... Bf8 happened before, but it is again met by 16. Bg5! h6 17. Bh4 and this pin is really annoying from Black’s point of view. 17... Rc8 18. Rc1 Nc4 19.Qd4 White plays in a very similar way as in our game. 19... Re6 20. Bb3 9


18. Bb3 White removes his bishop from the c-file from the Qc7 and Rc4 threats. [However White had a brilliant forced win: 18.Nd5!! Bxd5 (18...N xd5 19.Qxg7#; 18... R xc2 loses to 19.Ndxe7+ R xe7 20.B xf6 gxf6 21.Qxf6+-) 19.exd5! Black cannot defend against the threats and the tactical explanation of the whole line is 19... Rxc2

20. Rxe7! Rxe7 (20...Rc4 Black cannot send away the queen from a1–h8 diagonal because of 21.Qxb2+-) 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6! and Black gets mated in any case! 22... Re1+ 23. Rxe1 Qxf6 24. Re8# This would have been a fantastic finish!] 18...Nc4 19. Rad1 Kamsky simple brings his pieces to the game and ignores the loss of the b2 pawn. He is intending to continue the attack with Rd3-g3! 19...Qd7 [19...h6 does not change much, White simple plays 20. Bh4 and continues his plan with Rd3.] 20. Rd3! Bd8? A tactical oversight, but the position was already difficult for Black. [20...Ne5 would have been the only move. 21. Rde3! seems to be the best move in order to avoid Black’s idea after Rg3. Black remains in a very passive position with many threats in the air.(On 21.Rg3 Black can simplify into a worse position 21...Nh5!

22.N xe7+ R xe7 23.B xe7 N xg3 24.B xd6 Nc4 25.Bc5 Qxd4 26.B xd4² White is only slightly better thanks to the bishop pair.)]

21.Nxg7!! White wins now! [Morozevich had prepared a nice trick against 21. Rg3 Qxf5! 22.exf5 Rxe1+ 23.Kh2 Bb6 and suddenly Black is out of danger. He is going to take on f2, while Qf4 runs into Nh5.] 21... Re5 [21...Kxg7 loses to 22. Bxf6+ Bxf6 23. Rg3+ Kf8 24.Qxf6+-] 22.Nf5! The black king is too exposed after the loss of the g-pawn. Black cannot hold. Morozevich desperately tries to complicate the matters, but it does not help now. 22...Nxe4 23.Nh6+ Kf8 24. Bxd8 Rxd8 25.f4 Black resigned! A nice birthday celebration.[25.Nxe4 was also winning obviously.] 1–0

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(4) Bacrot,Etienne (2725) — Wirig,Anthony (2498) [A15] French Top 12 2013 Haguenau FRA (6.2), 04.06.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We will see a short, but very nice positional win by the best French player who just came back to the French league from the FIDE Grand Prix. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c6 We are back in the Slav through a different move order. 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 A „silent”, positional line. [4.d4 dxc4 could lead to more forced lines.] 4...e6 A typical Slav setup of pieces, but it looks a bit illogical... I think 4...g6 also deserves attention. 5.b3!? That is the trick behind White’s play. As he hasn’t played d4 yet, it makes much more sense to put the bishop to b2. 5...Nbd7 Maybe Black wants to play e5 next in order to cover the center. 6.Qc2 Making sure that e5 doesn’t work in any variation. 6... Bd6 [After 6...e5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Nb5! is looking very strong for White.] 7. Bb2 Qe7 Until here Black is playing very solidly and everything is quite logical.

8...a6 Black finally wants to play e5 next. 9.d4 And it is time for White to play d4, but he managed to win some sort of „half tempo” as it is unclear whether Black’s a6 was really a useful move. 9...dxc4?! I don’t like this move at all and it seems to be a positional error to me. [In case Black wanted to play with c5, it would have been better to do it immediately: 9...c5 ] 10.bxc4 c5 11.0–0 Now we can easily see that the white pieces are perfectly placed and Black has to take care not to quickly get into trouble. The bishop on c8 is totally out of the game. 11...cxd4 Black was probably afraid of White’s d5 push at some good moment. 12.exd4 b6 Black is trying to develop his bishop to have a more or less a normal position. White needs to act fast if he wants to make use of his development advantage.

8. Be2 Once again White is waiting with the d4 move.

11


20.Qa4

13.a4! A very strong positional motive! White wants to play a5 next and it is very hard for Black to find the right answer. 13...0–0 Black cannot do much about a5. 14.a5 b5 A little try to complicate things, 14...bxa5 15.c5 would of course have led to a huge advantage for White. 15.c5 Once again White is choosing the best move. [15. cxb5 axb5 16.Nxb5 Bb4 would of course give White a big advantage, but Black would still be fighting.] 15... Bc7 16.c6 is the key move. The black knight is now forced to return to his starting position. 16...Nb8 17.Ne5 It is clear that in case Black manages to get rid of the c6 pawn, things are fine and in case he doesn’t, White is just winning. 17...b4 White wanted to fix things by playing Bf3 next. Black is taking the d5 square under control. 18.Ne4 Nd5 19. Rfc1 White is overprotecting the c6 pawn, which is the key piece in the position. 19... Ra7 Also logically played by Black. Now Bxe5 and Rc7 could be interesting ideas at the good moment.

20...f6?! As the saying goes, „in a bad position there are no good moves”. [The only way to fight was to play 20...f5 21.Nc5 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Rc7 and of course White is clearly better, but the game is not over.] 21.Nd3 Nf4 After exchanging Black’s only strong piece, White is simply crushing. 22.Nxf4 Bxf4 23. Rc4 Again overprotection the c-pawn, very logical and strong. 23... Rc7 24. Bc1!? I like this move a lot, it looks very „clean” to me. White does not hurry with winning the bpawn and continues to exchange Black’s active pieces. 24... Bxc1 25. Raxc1 Rd8 26. Bf3 White now has 4 hits on the c6 pawn, which means that Black will never be able to take the pawn and that the knight from b8 will never come back into the game. White’s position is winning. 26...Kf8 27.h3 There is no reason for White to hurry. 27...h6 28.Nd2 White is improving the position of his knight. It will be perfectly place on b3 and at the same time Rxb4 is a deadly threat. 12


28...Qd6 29. R1c2 [29.Nb3 would have been good as well.] 29...e5

30.d5 Let us take a look at this position. Personally, I prefer to resign in such situations, but Wirig maybe likes to suffer :). 30... Bf5 31.Ne4 Bxe4 32. Bxe4 Total domination. 32...f5 33. Bxf5 Qxc6 34.dxc6 The game might look very simple, but White has shown great positional play which lead to an „easy looking” point. 1–0

13


Puzzle section

(7) Topalov,V (2793) — Caruana,F (2774) Thessaloniki GP, 02.06.2013

(5) Morozevich,A (2760) — Caruana,F (2774) Thessaloniki GP, 29.05.2013

[CEWN] 1. =

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Nakamura,H (2775) — Svidler,P (2769) (6) Kamsky,G (2741) — Nakamura,H (2775) Thessaloniki GP, 30.05.2013 [CEWN]

Thessaloniki GP, 03.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

14


(9) Bacrot,E (2725) — Ivanchuk,V (2755)

(11) Landa,K (2644) — Naiditsch,A (2710)

Thessaloniki GP, 03.06.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

(10) Zhou Jianchao (2607) — Zhou Weiqi (2590)

(12) Baron,T (2467) — Marcelin,C (2488)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

15


(13) Spasov,V (2565) — Gavrilov,A (2454) Albena Open, 03.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Kilgus,G (2418) — Gonda,L (2524) Zalakaros Open, 28.05.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

16


Endgame section

a very important tempo in order to be in time to catch Black’s h-pawn. 53... Rb1 54. Ra8+ Ke7 55.b8Q Rxb8 56. Rxb8 h2 57. Rh8+-]

(15) Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2723) — Topalov,Veselin (2793) [B48]

52. Rxf7 [White could have chosen another forced line: 52. Ra8+ Kd7 53.Ka3 With the idea of playing b7. 53... Rc3+ 54.Ka4 Rc4+ 55.Ka5 Rc5+ Black needs to give checks in order to try and get the White king to the bline. 56.Ka6 Rc2 57.b7 It looks like White is close to be winning, but Black again starts with the nasty checks. 57... Ra2+ 58.Kb6 Rb2+ 59.Ka7 Ra2+ 60.Kb8 And only now 60... Rxh2 61. Ra1 Rb2 62. Rd1+ It is very hard to say whether this position is winning for White or not... This is why the text move seems to be much more logical.]

Makedonia Palace GP Thessaloniki GRE (11.6), 03.06.2013 [Chess Evolution ]

52... Rxh2 53. Rh7 Now the black rook cannot move without losing the h-pawn. White’s idea is to quickly attack Black’s e- and g-pawns with the king. This game brought Dominguez the biggest success of his chess career so far, winning the FIDE Grand Prix. After the opening, I would say that Black was clearly the one who tried to push, but then the course of the game slowly started to change. From a slightly worse endgame, Black ended up in what is already a very bad endgame. Let us take a closer look and see whether Black could still have saved the game here.

53...Kc8 It is still very unclear whether Black can hold this position. As we know, rook endgames have a strong tendency to be drawn. 54.Kc5 Rc2+ Black is pushing his pawn to h2. 55.Kd6 h2 56.Kxe6

49.b5 Rc5 [49... Rc1 50.Kb4 would lead to about the same as in the game.] 50.Kb4 Rc2 Black has to go for the h2 pawn. 51.b6 White is of course trying to make use of the b-pawn. 51...Kd8 [Black is not in time for 51... Rxh2 52.b7 Rb2+ because of very important 53.Kc3! White is winning 17


56... Rg2! Black’s only chance is to take the g3 pawn and to hope to exchange the last g-pawn.

63. Rf7 The last precise move. The rest of the game doesn’t require many comments.

57.Ke5! A good move by White! The king is perfectly placed on e5.

63...Kd5 64.Kxg6 Rb6+ 65.Kg5 Rb8 66.f5 Rg8+ 67.Kf6 The black king is cut off, which means that White’s position is easily winning.

57... Rxg3 58. Rxh2 A very interesting endgame! White’s idea is simple: give away the b-pawn and capture the gpawn after which a winning rook endgame will appear. 58... Rb3? This move is probably leading to a lost position. [The simple 58...Kb7! would have given Black excellent drawing chances. 59. Rb2 (59.Rh6 Rg4 And White cannot improve his position.) 59... Rg1 Black just keeps on waiting on the g-file and the position seems to be a draw.]

67...Ke4 68. Ra7 Rf8+ 69.Kg6 Rg8+ 70.Kf7 Rh8 71.Kg7 We saw a very interesting endgame with a great defence by Black until the moment where the draw seemed so close, but then slipped away. Black gave Dominguez the best present he could ever get ! :) 1–0

59. Rh8+! A great tactical resource by White. 59...Kb7 60. Rh7+ White is almost forcing the Black king to take on b6. 60...Kxb6 [60...Kb8 didn’t save Black either: 61.Kf6! Rxb6+ 62.Kg5 Followed by Rg7 and Rxg6 and White is easily winning.] 61.Kf6! Once again, White is choosing the best move. The g6 pawn is lost and the black king is not in time to get to f8. 61... Rb4 62.Kg5 Kc6

18


(16) Dominguez Perez,L (2723) — Nakamura,H (2775) Thessaloniki GP, 28.05.2013 [Chess Evolution]

Queen endgames are extremely difficult. There are a huge amount of theoretical positions, which are almost impossible to remember. In general the attacking side has big winning chances even if the position is drawn. After this game, we can understand that Nakamura has studied this kind of endgames very deeply and succeeded to save half a point thanks to the knowledge of an important defensive method. 57...Qe5+ 58.Kh6 b5 Nakamura is heading for the position he is familiar with. [Objectively 58...Qh8+ is a better move, although White retains very good practical winning chances. 59.Kg5! (59.Qh7 Qd4) 59...Qe5+ 60.Qf5 Qg3+ 61.Kh5 White always threatens to exchange the queens. Black has a very hard task to hold.] 59.cxb5 Qxb5 The critical position from White’s point of view. Dominguez plays the most natural move, but it turns the position from winning to drawn...

60.h5? [60.Kg7! was the winning move. The game will demonstrate that White should not let the black king get to e5! 60...Qe2 (60...Ke5? does not work now because of 61.Qh5+!) 61.h5 Black again cannot play Ke5 because of the check on the e-file. White’s king is protected by all the checks with the counterchecks. Let’s examine the win in case of the most tenacious defence. 61...Kc5! Black tries to run to a2-b1 with his king, from where it is the most distant from the counterchecks. 62.Qf5+ Kb4 63.h6 Qg2+ 64.Kf6 Qc6+

65.Kg5! White’s winning technique is always connected with the placement of the black king. He must try to shelter his king from the checks with the countercheck ide19


as. Once again Black has no good check. 65...Ka3 66.h7 Qg2+ 67.Kh4! Here is another case where Black has no good check. Black is forced to stop the h-pawn. 67...Qg7 68.Kh5 Kb2 69.Qg6 Qe5+ 70.Kg4 Qd4+ 71.Kh3 The king is heading to h1! The idea is the same as before: to prevent all checks by counterchecks... 71...Qe3+ 72.Kg2 Qd2+ 73.Kh1 Here we are again. All the checks on the first rank are met by Qg1 and there is no more check because of Qg2 or Qh2! 73...Qd4 74.Qg3!+- White creates the threat of Qh2 and h8Q. Black has no good checks, while Qh8 is met by Qg8.]

64...Qg2+ 65.Kh8 Qa8+ 66.Qg8

66...Qf3! Black would like to squeeze the king into the corner on h8. In many cases he is ready to trade off the queens. 67.Qg6 [The critical move was 67.h7! Black needs to find only move to hold, but I am quite sure that Nakamura would have played it.

60...Ke5!! The game is drawn now, but Black needs to continue defending precisely! 61.Kg7 Qc6! Another only move! It is important to put the queen on the h1–a8 diagonal to annoy the Black king with many checks, without having to be afraid of a countercheck. [61...Qb6? loses to 62.h6 Qg1+ 63.Kf8 and Black has no more check.] 62.h6 Qg2+ 63.Qg6 Qb7+ 64.Qf7 [One of the points behind the Ke5 idea becomes clear after: 64.Kf8 Black can continue checking 64...Qa8+ because 65.Qe8+ allows 65...Qxe8+! 66.Kxe8 Kf6=]

67...Qh5!! Black would like to play Kf6 or Ke6 with the idea of Qf7 (just like in the game), and the h5 square is the only one from where he does not need to be afraid of checking the queen. (For instance after 67...Qf5 68.Qb8+! Black cannot play Kf6 or Ke6 because of Qf8 and Qc8 20


followed by exchanging the queens. 68...Kd4 69.Qb4+ Ke3 70.Qe7+ Kd2 White is winning here with the technique we have already examined before. He leaves with the king from h8 and protects it from the checks with the use of the Black king. 71.Kg8 Qd5+ 72.Kf8 Qf5+ 73.Ke8 Qh5+ 74.Kd8 Qa5+ 75.Qc7! Qg5+ 76.Kc8+- And Black has no more checks.) 68.Qb8+ Kf6 Black holds the draw, just like in the game.] 67...Qf8+ 68.Kh7 Qf3 69.Qg7+ Ke6 Black has an easy draw from now on. He wants to put his queen on f7 or f8, keeping the White king in front of his pawn. 70.Kg8 Qh5! Nakamura shows that he would have been familiar with this idea in the 67.h7 line as well. 71.h7 Qe8+ 72.Qf8 Qg6+ 73.Kh8 Qf7! The black king is squeezed and the draw is inevitable. 74.Qc8+ Ke7 75.Qc7+ Ke8 76.Qe5+ Kd7 77.Qb5+ Ke7 78.Qg5+ Ke8 79.Qg8+ Qf8 80.Qxf8+ Kxf8 1/2

21


Clash of the Titans (17) Tal,Mihail — Gligoric,Svetozar [C93] Candidates qf2 Belgrade (1), 1968 [Kamil Miton] Some years ago I played in one event in Serbia and during the free day the organizers took me to Mr.Gligoric’s place. I had the pleasure to meet this great chess player and although he was already quite old at this moment, he was in good shape, played the piano very well and also liked drinking wine. When I said to him that I am from Poland he told me that he has good memories from my country because he played there in 1947! ;-) Now I would like to comment on one of his nice games.

10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Nf1 White is playing the typical knight maneuver. We should note that compared to the correct Zaitsev line (with the bishop on b7 instead of the pawn on h6) White is not able to put the knight on g3 too easily because of some problems with the e4 pawn, which can be hanging. 12... Bb7 13.Ng3 Na5 [13...g6?! 14.Nh4 And black has problems with the g6 pawn. After Kg7, the knight sacrifice on f5 can sometimes work.] 14. Bc2 Nc4 15.a4 [15.b3 Nb6 16.d5 c6  With good play for Black because White doesn’t have the c4 move.]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3

15...d5! Black’s pieces are not worse placed to fight for the center. This typical idea very often enables Black to equalize. 16.b3 [16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nxe4 (17...R xe5 18.Bf4 Re6 19.e5) 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Qg4 Rxe5 20. Bxh6 And White keeps some small pressure.] 9...h6 Gligoric is going to play the plan with Re8-Bf8, which is a normal setup in the Zaitsev line. I don’t know if keeping the bishop on c8 has some meaning. [9... Bb7 10.d4 Re8 leads to the famous Zaitsev line.]

16...dxe4 Black could also equalize after: [16...Nd6 17.dxe5 (17.exd5 exd4 18.R xe8 Qxe8 19.Qxd4 N xd5=) 17... dxe4 18.exf6 (18.exd6 exf3 19.R xe8 N xe8 20.dxc7 Qxc7 21.Qd3 Nf6 22.Bf4 Qxf4 23.Nh5 Be4 24.N xf6+ gxf6 25.Qxe4 Qxe4 26.B xe4 Rc8=) 18...exf3 19. Rxe8 Nxe8 22


(19...Qxe8 20.B xh6! gxh6 21.Qd3 Ne4 22.N xe4 B xe4 23.Qxe4 Qxe4 24.B xe4 Rb8 25.B xf3) 20.Qxd8 Rxd8 21.axb5 axb5 22. Ra7 Ra8!=]

23. Rxa4

17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 [18. Rxe4!? Bxe4 19. Bxe4 Nb6 20. Bxa8 Nxa8 21.axb5 axb5 (21...e4 22.bxa6 exf3 23.Qxf3 Re1+ 24.Kh2) 22.Nxe5 Rxe5 23. Rxa8 Qxa8 24.dxe5 Qe4 25.f4 Bc5+ 26.Kh2 White is a pawn up but Black has enough compensation thanks to active pieces.] 18... Bxe4 19. Rxe4 Qd5 The only move in order to not lose the e5 pawn. 23... Rab8 Black gives up the pawn but protects the b3 knight with the idea of getting some counterplay against the d4 pawn. [23...exd4 24.c4! (24.N xd4 N xd4 25.Raxd4 Qc6=) 24...Qb7 25.Nxd4 Nxd4 26.Qxd4 Qb1+ 27.Kh2 Qh7 (27...g6 28.B xf8 R xf8 29.Rh4) 28. Be3 White has some initiative thanks to his more active pieces.]

20. Rg4 Tal is true to his style and prepares an attack against the black king. 20...Na5 21. Bxh6 Nxb3 [21...Qxb3 22.Qc1 The queen of course needs to support the attack. (22.N xe5 Qxd1+ 23.R xd1 Rad8 Black threatens to play Rxe5 and he has good compensation.) 22...Qe6 23.Qg5 f6 24.Qh4 Nc4 25.Qg3 Qf7 26.dxe5 fxe5 27. Re1] 22. Ra3 [22.Nxe5 Nxa1 23. Rxg7+ Bxg7 24.Qg4 Kf8 25. Bxg7+ Ke7 And White needs to look for perpetual checks.; 22. Rb1 bxa4 23.Nxe5 Qe6 24. Be3 c5]

24. Rxa6 exd4 25.cxd4 Black has counterplay against the d4 pawn, but he also needs to be careful because White is a pawn up and has a potential possibility to get a strong attack. [25.Nxd4 c5 (25...N xd4 26.cxd4 c5 27.Be3 Rb4 Xd4) 26.Qf3 (26.c4 Qd7 27.B xg7 B xg7 28.R xg7+ Kxg7 29.Rd6 Qc8 30.N xb3 Qf5) 26... Re1+ 27.Kh2 Qe5+ 28. Bf4 Nd2 29.Qd3 Rh1+ 30.Kg3 Nf1+ 31.Qxf1 Qxf4+ 32. Rxf4 Rxf1 33.Nf5²] 25...c5 26. Be3 Rb4 [26...cxd4 27.Nxd4 Rb4 28. Rh4 Bc5 29. Rh5 (29.Rah6 only leads to a draw: 29...gxh6 30.Qg4+ Kf8 31.B xh6+ Ke7 32.Bg5+ Kd6 33.Bf4+ Ke7 34.Bg5) 29...Qe4 30.Nf5 Bxe3 31.Nxe3²; 26... Ra8 27.Qe2 Rxa6 28.Qxa6 Ra8 29.Qf6 Ra1+ 30.Kh2 Qd6+ 31.Qxd6 Bxd6+ 32.g3 f6 33.Kg2²]

22...bxa4 [22...f5!?÷] 23

Issue 67 28...Nxd4?! White could have gotten into trouble after [28...g6 A very simple move and the white attack is suddenly stopped. 29. Rhxg6+ (29.Rh4 N xd4 30.B xd4 cxd4 31.Qd3 Bg7 The white rooks are now very clumsily placed.) 29...fxg6 30. Rxg6+ (30.Qd3 Qe4) 30... Bg7 And White doesn’t have any attack anymore.]

7th of June 2012

29.Nxd4 Rb1 [29...cxd4?? 30.Qh5+-] 27. Rg5?! Not the most accurate move, but the position is very complex and even the best attacking player in the world didn’t manage to calculate all the possibilities. White should have played [27. Rh4! Nxd4 (27...Be7 28.Ng5 B xg5 29.Qh5 B xh4 30.Qxd5 N xd4 31.Qxc5; 27...cxd4 28.Qd3 f5 29.Ng5 And now the very unpleasant threat is Qd1 with the tactical idea of playing Rh8!-Qh5Qh7. 29...Be7 30.Ra7; 27...g6 28.Qd3) 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.Qd3 f5 30. Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Qxd4 Qxd4 32. Bxd4² Objectively the position should be drawish but Black will have to defend for a long time.] 27...Qb7 A good place for the queen because Black will sometimes threaten to play Rb1. 28. Rh6

30. Bc1

30...Qb2? looks nice, but this move is a big mistake. Black should have played [30...cxd4 31.Qh5 Rxc1+ 32.Kh2 Qc7+ 33.g3 g6 And here White at least has a draw: 34. Rh8+ Kg7 35. Rh7+ Kg8 (35...Kf6 36.Qf3+) 36. Rxg6+ fxg6 37.Qxg6+ Bg7 38. Rxg7+ Qxg7 39.Qxe8²] 31.Qh5?? The decisive mistake. We will soon see what was wrong with his calculation. White could have won after a very complicated variation: [31.Nb3 Qxb3 (31...g6 32. Rhxg6+ fxg6 33. Rxg6+ Bg7 (33...Kf7 34.Rg3 With a strong attack.) 34. Bxb2 (34.Qd5+ Kh8 35.Qh5+ Kg8 36.R xg7+ Kxg7 37.Qxe8 R xc1+ 38.Kh2 Rc2 39.N xc5 R xf2=) 34... Rxd1+ 35.Kh2 Rb1 36. Rxg7+ Kf8 37. Rg4 Rxb2 38. Rf4+ Kg7 39.Nxc5 The white pawns are too strong and White should be winning.) 32.Qh5 Rxc1+ 33.Kh2 Bd6+ 34. Rxd6 Qb1 35.Qh6 Rh1+ (35...Qh7 36.Qf6) 36.Kg3 Qb3+ 37.f3 Qc3 24


7th of June 2012

(18) Greco [CEWN] 1. = 38. Rf6! Qe1+ 39.Kg4 Re4+ 40.fxe4 Qxe4+ 41.Kg3 Qe1+ 42. Rf2 Qe3+ 43.Kg4 Qe4+ 44.Kh5 g6+ 45. Rxg6+ Qxg6+ 46.Qxg6+ fxg6+ 47.Kxg6+-] 31...Qxc1+ 32.Kh2 Bd6+ 33. Rxd6 Qf4+ 34. Rg3 Qxd6 35.Nf5

35... Ree1! I suppose that Tal overlooked this trick when he played 31.Dh5. 36.Qxf7+ Kxf7 37.Nxd6+ Ke6 38. Rg6+ Kd5 39.Nf5 Black is winning now thanks to his quick c-pawn. 39... Rb7 [39...c4 40.Ne3+ Rxe3 41.fxe3 c3–+] 40.Ne3+ [40. Rg5] 40... Rxe3 41.fxe3 Rc7 42.Kg3 c4 43.Kf4 c3 44.e4+ Kc4 45. Ra6 c2 46. Ra1 Kd3 0–1 25


Solutions (19) Kamsky,G (2741) — Dominguez Perez,L (2723) Thessaloniki GP, 22.05.2013 [Solutions]

45. Rxd6+! 1–0[45. Rxd6+ exd6 46. Bf6+ Kd7 47. Bxh4+-]

23...d4! 24. Rxd4 Bxb3–+ (21) Wei Yi (2530) — Xiu Deshun (2534) Danzhou GM, 24.05.2013 [Solutions]

39...Qc7+!! 40.Kxb2 Qe5+! 41.Kc2 [41.Qc3 Qxc3+ 42.Kxc3 Rxg1–+] 41...Qh2+!–+

(20) Wei Yi (2530) — Ni Hua (2646) Danzhou GM, 22.05.2013 [Solutions]

26


(22) Cvek,R (2540) — Zilka,S (2525)

(23) Roiz,M (2617) — Postny,E (2637)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

16...c4! 17. Bxd6 [17.bxc4 Bxa3–+]

32...Nh4+!! 33.Kh2 [33.gxh4 Nf4+–+]

17...cxd3 18.Qxd3 [18. Bxe7 dxc2 19. Bxd8 cxd1Q 20. Rxd1 Rxd8–+]

33...Nb4! 34.Qe2 Nxf3+ 35.Qxf3 Nxa2–+

18...Qxd6–+

27


(24) Postny,E (2637) — Greenfeld,A (2538)

(25) Li Chao (2686) — Emperado,E (2313)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

15...Nd5!! 16.Qe5 [16.cxd5 Bb4–+]

26. Rxf7!! Qc5 [26...Nxf7 27.Qxh7#; 26... Rxf7 27. Rd8+ Rf8 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Nxh7+ Kg8 30.Qxe5+-]

16...Nxe3 17.fxe3 Qc2–+

27. Rxf8+ Qxf8 28. Be4! Bb7 [28...g6 29. Bxg6!+-] 29. Bxb7 g6 [29... Rxb7 30.Nxe6+-] 30.Qh3+-

28


(26) Paragua,M (2550) — Sadorra,J (2561)

(27) Matikozian,A (2441) — Georgiev,V (2559)


Metropolitan GM, 18.05.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

32. Rxd7!! Kxd7 [32... Rxd7 33. Bxc8+-]

26. Rxh7! 1–0 [26. Rxh7 Kxh7 (26...gxf5 27.Rh8#) 27.Qh3+ Kg8 28.Qh8#]

33. Bb5# 1–0

29


(28) Schmidt,W (2370) — Mastrovasilis,D (2610)

(29) Prokes


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

1.e7!! [1.Kb8? Bxe6! 2.dxe6 Kxc6=] 35. Bg7+! [35. Bc5+? Bd6!=]

1...Kxe7 2.Kb8! [2.c7? Kd6 3.Kb8 Bd7=]

35...Kxg7 36. Rxe8+-

2...Kd8 [2... Bh3 3.Kc7+-] 3.d6 Ba6 [3... Be6 4.c7++-] 4.d7! [4.Ka7? Bb5 5.Kb7 Bxc6+ 6.Kxc6 Kc8=] 4...Ke7 5.Kc7!+-

30

Weekly Newsletter



14th of June 2013

And once again we could be the spectators of a great chess week.


2


3

»» Puzzle section

15


18


23


26

»» Solutions

27

Clearly the main event of the week has been the World Championship in Blitz and Rapid chess, which was held in Khanty-Mansisk. A great line-up of Super GMs was battling for the title. The new World Rapid Chess Champion is Shahriar Mamedyarov with 11.5/15. Ian Nepomniachtchi finished in 2nd place with 11/15 and 3rd place went to Alexander Grischuk with 10.5/15. In Blitz, Le Quang won with 20.5/30, 2nd place went to Alexander Grischuk and 3rd to Ruslan Ponomariov. We saw a lot of great and very spectacular games from the event and we are of course going to comment a couple of them for You! The Tal Memorial Blitz tournament was won by Nakamura with the great score of 7/9. Anand came 2nd with 6.5/9, while 3rd place went to Kramnik with 5.5/9. We can be very curious about the upcoming games in normal chess. The match between Ivanchuk and Giri ended 8.5-7.5 in favor of Ivanchuk. Enjoy CEWN Nr 68! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2


4 best games of the past week (1) Eljanov,Pavel (2707) — Karjakin,Sergey (2782) [A07] Kiev UKR Kiev UKR (3), 05.06.2013 [Csaba Balogh]

5... Bh5 6.c4 e6 7.Qb3 Qc8 Black does not want to move into the the Bf4 tempo, so he refrains from playing Qc7. [However 7...Qb6 was much more logical. Doubling the b-pawns would just favor Black, while Black himself sometimes wants to take on b3. 8.d3 Nbd7 9. Be3 Bc5 Black is ok.] 8.Nc3 Be7 9.d4 0–0

Sergey Karjakin completely deservedly won this tournament, but in this game he ran into an unpleasant defeat. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 Eljanov would like to avoid a theoretical battle and plays the Reti opening. 2...d5 3. Bg2 c6 4.0–0 Bg4

10. Bf4 White develops all his pieces in the most natural way. He seems to achieve some edge out of the opening.

5.h3 This is a rare move. In general Black decides what to do with the g4 bishop in accordance with White’s setup. Sometimes it takes on f3, sometimes it goes back to h5-g6, but in some cases, for instance if Black has played Nbd7 and e5, he can even retreat to e6. White wants to change the orders and he first asks what to do with the bishop and only then decides which setup to choose.

10...Nbd7 11. Rac1 Nb6 We got a typical Slav pawnstructure, where this Nb6 move is a known idea to force White to change the pawnstructure in Black’s favour. In case White plays c5, the knight retreats to d7 and then Black will undermine the c5 pawn by playing b6. [11... dxc4 It made no sense to give up the center because after 12.Qxc4 Nd5 White can save his bishop with 13. Bd2² and he is going to occupy the center with e4.] 12.cxd5 exd5

3


a6 20.d5! cxd5 21.Qxc8 Raxc8 22.Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Bxd5 And the b7 pawn will fall.] 15... Bg6 16. Bg3! With the idea of f4-f5, trapping the bishop. This threat is not easy to deal with because the other idea with a5 and Nxd5 is also in the air. 16... Bc7 17.f4 Ne4 [On 17...h6 18.f5 Bh7 19.e4!+- is kind of decisive, since Black cannot take on e4 because of the f7 pawn.] 13.Ne5! Making use of the 5.h3-Bh5 pair of moves! If they hadn’t been included Black could simply trade the bishops with Bh3 or retreat to e6 followed by Nfd7, with a comfortable position. However as we will see, the bishop on h5 gets into some trouble. 13... Re8? After this natural move, Black gets into trouble. [13...Qd8 was necessary in order to have 14.a4 a5!] 14.a4!! An extremely unpleasant move! Black is facing the simple threat of a5 and after Nbd7 White wins a pawn with Nxd5, thanks to the pin on the c-file. It is not easy to prevent this at all, since Black can neither play a5 because of the b6 knight nor leave the pin with the queen because this would leave the b7 pawn unprotected. 14... Bd8 [14... Bf8 15.a5 Nbd7 16.g4 Bg6 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Nxd5+- Black collapses.; 14... Bd6 drops a piece after 15.g4! Bg6 16.Nxg6+-] 15.g4 [15.a5!? was also good. 15...Nc4 (15...Nbd7 16.N xd5!) 16.Nxc4 dxc4 17.Qxc4 Bxa5 This was the point of Bd8, but White has a big positional advantage after 18.b4 Bb6 19.e3 followed by b5, opening the diagonal for the g2 bishop and destroying Black’s pawnstructure. 19...

18. Bxe4! As we will see in the game, it is much more important to keep the c3 knight on the board rather than the g2 bishop. 18... Bxe5 [Black loses the f7 pawn if he takes back immediately on e4: 18... Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Bxe5 20.fxe5+-; 18... dxe4 19.f5+-] 19.fxe5 dxe4 20.a5! One of the reasons for keeping the c3 knight instead of the g2 bishop is to control the d5 square, while another point can be seen in the 20...Nd7 line. 20...Nd5 Karjakin tries to complicate the matters. [On 20...Nd7 White has 21.Nb5!+- followed by Nd6, which wins material and the game!] 4


21.Nxd5 Qe6 White cannot save the piece, but he can sacrifice it in order to destroy Black’s pawnstructure.

25...fxg4 26.Qh6 Re7 This is equal to resignation, but the game was over anyway. [On 26...Qd7 27.h4! is finishing the game as h5 is coming next.] 27. Bxe7 Qxe7 28. Rf6 White is huge material up and he continues attacking. 28...Qd7 29. Rcf1 Qxd4+ 30.Kh1 Qb4 It is time to make the final blow!

22.Nf6+! gxf6 23.Qe3! Black’s king is in huge danger. White is threatening to play Qh6 and Bh4-f6. [23.Qxb7 was also winning, but Eljanov is playing for mate.] 23...f5 [23...fxe5 24. Bxe5+- Followed by Qh6.] 31. Rxg6+! hxg6 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 33.Qh5+ [Black resigned in view of 33.Qh5+ Kg8 (33...Kg7 34.Rf7+ Kg8 35.Qh7#) 34.Qxg4+ Kh8 35.Qh5+ Kg8 36.Qg5+ Kh8 37. Rg1+- Followed by mate on the next move. An impressive win.] 1–0 24. Bh4! f6 The only move to open the seventh rank in order to defend against the mate with Bf6 and Qh6-g7, but Black is lost anyway. [24...fxg4 25. Bf6 is over.] 25. Bxf6 [25.gxf5 Bxf5 26. Bxf6+- was also winning.]

5


(2) Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2753) — Inarkiev,Ernesto (2680) [D31]

half tempo”. On the other hand, Black now has other development plans...

FIDE World Rapid 2013 Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (15.1), 08.06.2013

5...Nf6 6.e3 Bd6!? I like this move a lot! Now we can see the difference: usually Black has his bishop on e7, but here Bd6 is looking much stronger.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] It is with this game that Mamedyarov became the new World Champion in Rapid chess, so to comment this game is a must! We will see not a very high level game, but we are literally able to taste the tension of the fight for the WC title! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 A rare line, but not a stupid move at all, especially in rapid chess. Mamedyarov had to win this game to take the title, as a draw would only give him 2nd place... 4.cxd5 [The idea of the move 3... a6 is easily visible after 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.e4 b5] 4...exd5

5. Bf4 Now we have some sort of Queen’s Gambit, but with the move a6 for Black, which we can count as a „lost

7.Qf3 Mamedyarov is searching for complications! The more solid move 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Bd3 would of course have led to a minimally better position of White. 7...c5 Black is also not afraid of sharp play. The position is quickly getting complicated. [Black could have played 7...0–0 8. Bg5 Nothing else makes much sense for White. 8... Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Qxf6 gxf6 And I think that if White is better here, it is only a very minimal advantage.] 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bg5 White is immediately trying to put a maximum of pressure on the d5 pawn. 9...Nbd7!? Nice play. The d5 pawn cannot be taken now and Black is hoping to get fast play on the queenside.

10.0–0–0 Qa5 A typical rapid game move. Objectively it is not the best one, but practically it is very strong. [After 10... Be7 Black would remain with a nice position.]

6


11.Nge2?! After this move, Black is probably just better. [White should have gone for the more concrete 11.Nxd5 0–0 The game is now getting very direct: 12.Nxf6+ Nxf6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 It looks like Black has enough play, but White has a big joker in his hands... 14.Kb1 Be6 How to protect the a2 pawn now? 15. Bc4! Only this move gives White a clear advantage! The check on g4 is saving White, but such a line is of course not easy to see, especially in rapid chess.] 11...0–0 And we can see that Black’s play on the queenside is clearly more advanced than White’s threats on the d5 pawn. 12.Nd4! A good and solid move by White. 12... Bb4 [12...Ne4!? would have led to very sharp play.] 13.Nb3 Qc7 It looks like the position could almost be a draw! 14.Qf4?! Objectively a bad move, but White is showing an amazing will to win the game and avoid a fast draw. [A normal move like 14. Bf4 Qc6 15.Nd4 Qc5 16.Nb3 Qc6 would lead to a repetition of moves.]

14...Qxf4?! Black „chickens out” from a real fight. [14... Bd6! would have been a „real” move. 15.Qf5 b5 With a very fighting position, but the initiative should probably be on Black’s side.] 15. Bxf4 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Ne4 We have reached a strange endgame. I would say the position should be around equal. 17. Rxd5 Nxf2 18. Rg1 Nf6 White has the bishop pair, but Black the much better pawn structure and a huge knight on e4! 19. Rd4 Bd7 A nice way to develop the pieces. Now the bishop from d7 can take place on c6, on b5, or even come back to e6 or f5, all options are open. 20. Be2 Rac8 21.Kb2 Rfe8 All black pieces are developed, and so are the white ones. 22.h3 h6 2 accurate moves. 23. Rf1 N 2e4 24.c4 The position remains quite unbalanced, but the evaluation should be around equal. But on the next move we will see how big the pressure is in such a game!

7


24...Ng5?? What a terrible blunder... 25. Bxg5 hxg5 26. Rxf6! This tactic is too easy to miss. 26...gxf6 27. Rxd7 It seems like the game is just over. White has a rook on the 7th rank and his bishop will soon join the attack.

33...Kg7 34.Nf5+ Kxg6 35.Nxe3 The position is now of course completely winning, but some small technique is still needed. 35...b4 36. Rd3 Re5

27... Rxe3 28. Bh5 b5!? Black is trying all his practical chances in this lost position. 29.c5 Closing the c-file. 29...a5!? And again Black is fighting! 30. Bxf7+ Kf8 31. Bg6? What a mistake by White! Being only one step from a World Championship Title, Mamedyarov is getting nervous. [After the simple 31. Bd5 a4 32.Nd4 a3+ it looks like Black has found some small counterplay, but in fact the game is just over. 33.Kc2 Rxc5+ 34.Kd2 White should easily be winning here.] 31...a4 Black misses his best chance. [31... Re2+ 32.Kc3 Rxg2 And White would still have to „work” for a full point.] 32.Nd4 Rxc5 Falling into a little trap:

37.g4! A good move, fixing Black’s pawn structure. 37... Re4 38.Nc2 White just wants to play Rd4 next. 38... Re2 39.Kc1 The b4 pawn is hanging. 39...f5 40. Rd6+ Kf7 41.gxf5 b3 Black is trying the last tricks, but of course nothing works. 42.axb3 axb3 43.Nd4 Re3 44.Nc6 Kf8 45.f6 The fpawn is the future Queen :) 45...Kf7 46.Nd8+ Kf8 47.f7 Rf3 48. Re6 What a game! Congratulations to Mamedyarov on his new WCC title in rapid chess! 1–0

33. Rd8+! A nice little trick, winning a bit more of Black’s material. 8


(3) Karjakin,Sergey (2782) — Topalov,Veselin (2784) [C11] Sberbank GM Rapid Kiev UKR (4), 06.06.2013 [Csaba Balogh] Karjakin and Topalov were dominating the very strong field of the rapid tournament in Kiev. In the end Karjakin really needed this victory over his main rival. 1.e4 e6 A small surprise by Topalov, who usually plays the Najdorf. 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 We have reached the starting position of the 3.Nc3 Nf6 systems of the French defence. Black can choose between various different setups here, Topalov goes for the old mainline.

7...a6 [Nakamura recently enjoyed playing the most direct 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 with very long and sharp lines.] 8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 White’s strategy in most of the lines is to consolidate a knight on d4. In the opening part he usually does a lot of efforts to achieve this.

9... Bxc5 10. Bd3 Karjakin has already tried this rare move a few times. White first develops his bishop to its ideal place and then he intends to transfer the c3 knight to d4 through the e2 square. [10. Bxc5 is the most common move 10...Nxc5 11.Qf2 Qb6 12. Bd3 but Black gets counterplay after 12...b4! 13.Ne2 a5! 14.0–0 Ba6! Black wants to get the e4 square to compensate for the d4 one. There are still hundreds of games, but current theory shows that Black should be fine here.] 10...d4? Topalov played this most direct move without thinking, but Karjakin was well prepared against it. After this game, I doubt that anyone will repeat it on the highest level. [10...Qb6 11. Bf2 This is the point of the whole setup with 10. Bd3: White does not lure the knight to c5, which makes it possible to answer 11...b4 with 12.Na4! Bxf2+ 13.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 14.Kxf2

This kind of typical French endgame is always slightly better for White. He has a space advantage and he is better on both sides of the board. There are many different ways to improve the position, for instance by playing Rac1 and c3 or taking ground on the kingside by advancing the pawns. The a5-Ba6 plan is less effective now, as White 9


can either just wait for Bxd3 and cxd3 after which the cfile opens in his favour, or he can also play Bb5, working out the d4 square for the knight.] 11.Nxd4 Nxd4

materially, but Black’s position also remains very bad here. 13. Bxc2 White has a clear advantage because of the e4 knight, which is ready to jump to d6.; On 12... Bb6 White wins back the piece after 13.Nd6+ Kf8 14. Be4 attacking two pieces in one move.] 13. Bf2 Qg4 [13...Nxc2+ was a better practical try 14. Bxc2 Bxf2+ 15.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 16.Kxf2

12.Ne4!! A huge novelty and a great preparation! The following lines show that Black is unable to save his extra piece and he ends up in a bad position everywhere. [It looks like the only way to win back the piece is 12. Be4 but in this case Black gets more than enough compensation after 12...Nb6! 13. Bxa8 Nc4 14. Bxd4! is the only move to stay in the game. (14.Qd3 N xe3 just wins for Black!) 14...Nxd2 15. Bxc5 b4! This had to be Topalov’s preparation. The game remains unclear, but Black is fine in all the lines. 16. Bxb4 Qb6! is the point with the double threat on b4 and e3. This would have been nice, but Karjakin’s 12th move seems to refute the whole idea.]

16...Ke7 but after some really energetic moves, White gets very close to be winning: 17.Nd6! At first sight this move might look premature as it allows Black to undermine the e5 pawn 17...f6 18. Be4 Rb8 but now White can focus on bringing both of his rooks to the action and he does not need to pay attention to his central pawns...

12...Qh4+ [On 12... Bb7 13. Bxd4 Bxd4 14.Nd6+ wins the bishop.; 12...0–0 White has two good moves now: 13.Nxc5 (13.c3!? is also good enough.) 13...Nxc5 14. Bxd4 With a clear extra pawn, since Black cannot take on d4. 14...Nxd3+ (14...Qxd4? 15.B xh7++-) 15.Qxd3; 12... Nxc2+ is the only move that keeps the balance at least 10


19. Rac1! fxe5 20. Rhd1! Black has no adequate defense against the penetration with Rc7! 20...exf4 21. Rc7+-] 14. Bxd4! This is the most precise way to win the piece back. [After 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 15. Bxd4 Black gets very good compensation on the light squares 15...Nxd3+ 16.cxd3 0–0 Followed by Bb7 and Rfd8. Despite being a pawn down, Black is probably not worse at all.] 14... Bxd4 15.Nd6+ Ke7 [15...Kf8 makes no difference to the game: 16. Be4 Bxb2 17. Rb1+-] 16. Be4 White wins the material back and he retains extremely good mating chances with the knight on d6 against the black king, which is stuck in the center. 16... Bxb2 17. Rb1 Ba3 [17... Rb8 18. Rxb2 Despite the material equality, Black’s position is hopeless. For instance after 18... Rd8 19.Qb4 wins.]

(4) Giri,Anish (2734) — Ivanchuk,Vassily (2753) [A01] 26th Leon Masters g5 Leon ESP (1), 09.06.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] The blitz match between Giri and Ivanchuk started with a funny game, which deserves some attention. 1.b3 A bit of a provocation by Giri 1...b6 and a deserved answer by Ivanchuk :) 2. Bb2 Bb7 3.Nf3 Lately 1.b3 became somewhat more „fashionable”. Jobava played a lot of games in normal chess and even Kramnik has tried it a couple of times. Of course it is just an attempt to play „normal chess” without much theory. 3...e6 4.e3 Nf6 Until here we got a symmetrical position.

18. Bxa8+- White is an exchange up and he continues attacking. 18... Bc5 19. Bf3 Qg6 20.Ne4 Whenever the bishop leaves the a3-f8 diagonal Qb4 will win the game. 20... Rd8 21. Rd1 Bb6 22.Qb4+ 1–0

5.g3?! I don’t like this move too much. It would have been better for White to get back to „normal” lines by playing 5.c4. 5... Be7 6. Bg2 0–0 Black does not hurry with playing d5 or c5 and tries to first figure out what White is actually going to do. 11


7.0–0 c5 The most logical move, but 7...d5 would have been fine too. 8.c4 d6?! Why so shy?! 8...d5 would have given Blac nice play. 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.d4 And we are back to a „normal” chess position. White wants to play d5 next. 10...Ne4 A normal way of playing this kind of position. On one hand it does not stop the d5 move, but on the other hand the d5 move is not going to be that strong anymore after Black managed to exchange one pair of knights.

14. Rc1 Bxc3 15. Rxc3 Nf6 Black is putting his pieces on good squares before starting the march on the queenside. 16.Nh4 A typical move. White’s main idea is to play e4-f4-e5. 16... Re8 Avoiding e4. 17. Re1 And White is trying to play e4. 17...Ne4?! Black probably blundered White’s next move. [17...b5 followed by Qb6 would have given Black nice play.]

11.d5?! A logical, but probably wrong positional decision. [11.Qc2 With a normal position.] 11...Nxc3 12. Bxc3

18. Rc4! And the white knight has no other choice but to go back.

12...exd5! The right decision. Black’s future play on the queenside is going to be very effective. 13.cxd5 Bf6 The right choice once again. To exchange the black squared bishops is definitely good for Black.

18...Nf6 19.e4 g6 Usually a good move in order to cut the white knight on h4, but the game is getting quite tricky now. 20.f4 White is ready for the main push of the position: e5. 20...b5 21. Rc2 Qb6 Black is trying to put his pieces as good as possible against the e5 push.

12


22.e5 As we will see later this move is mistake, but it was very hard to calculate everything. [22.Kh1 with the idea of playing e5 would have been more accurate.] 22...dxe5 23.fxe5 It looks like White managed to do what he wanted, but...

27.e6! White manages to find a nice resource under pressure. [27. Rd3 was losing as after 27...c2 the c-pawn is unstoppable. 28.Qd2 Rxd5 29. Rxd5 Bxd5 30.Qxd5 Rd8 Followed by Rd2 or Rd1 with a winning position for Black.] 27... Rxd5?! Not the best choice. [After 27... Bxd5 28. Rxd5 fxe6 29. Rd3 the position would have remained very complicated.] 28. Rxd5 fxe6 29. Rd4? A big mistake, after which Black is taking over. [29. Rd3! would have been the right square for the white rook. 29... Rf8+ 30.Nf3 c2 31.Qe2 And White should be better here.]

23...Nxd5! A very strong piece sacrifice! Things are getting very complicated now. 24. Bxd5 Rad8 White is suddenly in a very unpleasant pin. 25. Rd2 [After 25. Bxf7+ Kxf7 Black is of course clearly better. The white knight on h4 is totally out of the game] 25...c4+ This was Black’s main idea, which was probably missed by White. 26.Kf1 c3

29...e5! Ivanchuk doesn’t miss his chance. Rf8 is now a deadly threat. 30.Nf5 White already doesn’t have any good move anymore. 30... Rf8 31. Rxe5 c2! White is losing material and the game. 32.Qxc2 Qxd4 This would have been a good moment to resign, but Giri continues the game like in a rush. 33. Re8 Qa1+ 34.Kf2 Rxe8 Black is a full rook up. 13


35.Nh6+ Kh8 36.Nf7+ Kg7 White has no more checks. 37.Qc7 Qe1# It must have been a big pleasure for Ivanchuk to mate his opponent who has started the game with 1.b3, which can be interpreted as a sign of some disrespect! 0–1

14


Puzzle section

(7) Vasquez,R (2542) — Khairullin,I (2658) World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013

(5) Mamedyarov,S (2753) — Nguyen Ngoc,T (2625) World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1. +-

(8) Inarkiev,E (2680) — Al Sayed,M (2498) (6) Rublevsky,S (2695) — Safarli,E (2660) World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013 [CEWN]

World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1. +-

15


(9) Akopian,V (2691) — Kamsky,G (2741)

(11) Zvjaginsev,V (2659) — Vasquez,R (2542)

World rapid Championship, 07.06.2013


[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1. +-

(10) Dreev,A (2668) — Riazantsev,A (2708)

(12) Swiercz,D (2631) — Nyzhnyk,I (2635)



[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1... –+

1... –+

16


(13) Fressinet,L (2693) — Sebag,M (2527) French league, 06.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Delchev,A (2622) — Fedorchuk,S (2660) French league, 08.06.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section

32...f6 Black would like to bring his king closer to the center, but on the other hand the f6 pawn becomes slightly vulnerable.

(15) Nepomniachtchi,I (2717) — Mamedyarov,S (2753)

33. Rb5 Nd8 The only way to protect the b7 pawn, since Rd7 would drop the f6 pawn.

World rapid Championship, 07.06.2013 [Chess Evolution]

34. Bb4 Trying to confuse the coordination between the black pieces. White has a small advantage in this endgame. First of all the bishop is stronger than the knight when there are pawns on both sides. Black cannot activate his rook because it must always guard the b7 pawn. Black’s pawn structure on the kingside is also not the most fortunate one with the hole on f6. It would have been much better to keep the h7-g7-f6 formation and bring the king to f7e6. But it is of course going to be very difficult for White to convert the advantage with such a limited material. 31. Rc5 White creates the threat of a6 and activates his rook, which had nothing to do on g5.

34... Rd7 [If the rook leaves the d-file, White can play 34... Rc6? 35. Rd5! followed by Rd7.] 35. Rb6 Kf7 36. Bc3 Further activating of the pieces forces Black to allow the White king to go to the kingside. 36... Re7+ [36...Nc6? runs into 37.a6!] 37.Kd3! This is another huge achievement by White. The king might very quickly get to the b7 pawn. 37... Re6 38. Rb5! White needs his active rook on the board in order to increase his advantage. 38... Rd6+ 39.Kc4 Ke6

31... Rd6 32.g4! A strong positional move with the idea of gaining space on the kingside and restricting the mobility of the black pawns. 18


40.f4! White is ready to push f5. If Black takes it, after Rxf5 he will already have three weak pawns and if he doesn’t, he will be pushed back into even bigger passivity. 40... Rc6+ 41.Kd3 Rd6+ 42.Ke4 And f5 now becomes inevitable. 42... Rc6 43. Bd4 Kd7 44.f5! If it was White’s move, he would play h5, creating the threat of a breakthrough with fxg6-hxg6 and h5. Black’s position is getting more and more unpleasant. 44...g5 Not an easy decision. Black fixes his own pawns on the color of the bishop. This is against the principles, but the h4 idea was too threatening.

47. Rb3 Nepomniachtchi finds the right plan to transfer the rook to the e-file, but he makes an inaccuracy in the execution. [47.Kc4! was the way to win 47... Rc7 (On 47... Ra6 48. Bb6! Nc6 49. Rd5+ Ke7 50.Kb5 Ra8 51. Rd3! Black is in zugzwang. Let’s check his options: 51...Ke8 (51...Ra6 is refuted by 52.Rc3! with the threat of Rxc6 and on 52...Ra8 53.a6! R xa6 54.R xc6 wins.) 52. Rd6 Ke7 53. Rxc6! bxc6+ 54.Kxc6 And the a-pawn automatically promotes after Kb7.) 48. Rb3 Nc6 49.Kb5 White wins. The next step could for instance be Rd3-d6. 49...Nxa5 (49...Ne5 50.Bd4+-) 50. Rd3+ Ke8 51. Bb6+-] 47... Ra6! Black quickly finds counterplay against the a5 pawn. White has to look for another plan.

45. Bc5 White would like to get his king to d5 and he therefor prevents Rd6.

48. Rb5 Rc6 Instead of Kc4, White now tries a triangulation.

45...Ke8 46.Kd5 Kd7

49.Ke4 Ke8 50.Kd4 Kd7 51.Kd5 Rc8? [51... Ra6 was the only chance, White can switch to the right plan with Kc4 anytime.]

19


60. Re3! White finishes the game by transferring his rook to c7! 60...h5 61. Rc3 hxg4 62.hxg4 Black resigned! An impressive technical victory of Nepomniachtchi, which might remind us of the best days of Anatoly Karpov. 1–0 52. Bb6! The game is over now. After trading the minor pieces, the rook endgame is winning. 52...Ke7 [52...Nc6 loses to the double attack after 53. Bd4! Nxd4 54. Rxb7++-; 52...Nf7 53. Bd4+- also wins material.] 53. Bxd8+ Rxd8+ 54.Kc5 Rd7 With pawns as weak as the ones on f6 and b7 and without a chance to find some active counterplay or creating a passed pawn, Black is forced to stay in passivity, but then his loss is just a matter of time. 55. Rb6 Rc7+ 56.Kb5 The plan is to play Re6 followed by Kb6. 56...Kf7 57. Rd6 Ke7 58. Re6+ Kf7 59.Kb6 Rd7

20


(16) Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2706) — Ponomariov,Ruslan (2743) [C45] FIDE World Rapid 2013 Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (15.8), 08.06.2013 [Chess Evolution]

36. Rc8 c6 37. Ra8 White is going to take one of Black’s pawns, but this is giving Black enough time to activate his king. 37...Kf6 38. Rxa6 Kf5 The black king is going to take the h-pawn. We are facing a very interesting endgame. It is clear that White should be better, but things are far from clear. White’s idea is simply to get the rook to the 8th rank and to start attacking Black’s pawns, but we will only see if this is enough for a full point during the next moves. 31. Ra3 g5! The only move! It is time to create fast counterplay, otherwise White’s Rb3-Rb8 could be deadly. 32. Rb3 Bg2 Provoking White to play h4. 33.h4 gxh4 34.gxh4 f4 By getting a free f-pawn, Black is gaining clear play.

39.Ke2 Kg4 40. Ra7 White tries to bring his rook back into the game. 40...Kxh4 41.Kf2 Kg5 By now it is clear that the game will most likely end in a draw. 42. Re7 d5 We are now entering a very forced line which ends with a draw agreement. 43. Re6 The c6 pawn is falling, but Black’s h-pawn is very fast. 43...h5 44. Rxc6 h4 The black bishop on e4 is a beast! 45.cxd5

35. Rb8 Be4 From e4, the bishop will protect the h7 pawn as well as the c-pawn once he advances to c6.

21


45...h3 Another only move! 46.Kg1 f3 White will have to give the rook back, but Black will have no more pawns left. 47. Rxc5 f2+ 48.Kxf2 h2 And we can see that a draw is the logical result here. 49.d6+ Kf6 50.d7 Ke7 The rest of the game needs no comments. 51. Rh5 h1Q 52. Rxh1 Bxh1 53.d8Q+ Kxd8 54.b4 What we can learn from such an endgame is that a centrally placed bishop is sometimes as strong as a rook! 1/2

22


Clash of the Titans (17) Fischer,Robert James — Cardoso,Radolfo Tan [B11] Portoroz Interzonal Portoroz (20), 1958 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 A rare move. Black usually plays [3... Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 (Worse is 4...Bh5 5.exd5 cxd5 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 and White has the unpleasant idea to play h4 next.) 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d4 (6.d3 leads to a position where both sides have many different plans.) 6...dxe4 7.Nxe4 Qxd4 8. Bd3 White has some compensation thanks to his better development.]

7.Ng5?! The beginning of a wrong plan. [7. Bc4 Ne5=; 7.d4 was the correct move. 7...Ngf6 8.c3 e6 9. Bd3 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Bd6] 7...Ngf6 8.Qb3 e6 9.Qxb7 White won a pawn but in return Black gets a better development and the queen could also be under pressure on b7 soon.

4.Nxe4 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 [5... Bh5 6.Ng3 Bxf3 (6...Bg6 7.h4! And Black will have problems with the bishop: 7...h6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Qh5 g6 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.Qb3 Qd5 12.Qxb7 Qxe5+ 13.Be2+-) 7.Qxf3 e6 8. Bc4 Nf6 9.c3 Nbd7 10.d4 White has a long term advantage because of the bishop pair but on the other hand Black’s position is very solid in this kind of structures.]

9...Nd5 10.Ne4 [10.Qxc6 Rc8 11.Nxe6 Rxc6 12.Nxd8 Kxd8 13.c3 Re6+ 14.Kd1 And Black should be better, especially thanks to the idea of Rf6 in order to force White to play f3 and thus weaken his kingside structure.; 10.d4 Be7 11.Ne4 Nb4 12. Bd3 Rb8 13.Qxa7 Ra8 14.Qb7 With at least a draw or: 14...Qa5 15. Bd2 Rb8 16.Qxc6 Nxc6 17. Bxa5 Nxa5 18.0–0–0 0–0³]

6.Qxf3 Nd7 [6...e6 7.b4!? An interesting move with the idea of immediately putting the bishop on an open position after b5 as well.]

10...Nb4

23


11.Kd1 The king seems to be safe on d1, but the queen on b7 is in much bigger trouble. 11...f5 12.c3 [12.a3 Rb8 13.Qxa7 Ra8 14.Qd4 fxe4 15.Qxe4 Qf6 16. Rb1 Nd5 And again one piece should be better than three pawns.]

Nb2=) 21...exd3+ 22.Kf1 Black’s position looks very unpleasant because of his much worse structure and his d3 pawn can also be weak.) 20.f3 Otherwise the black knight will jump to e4. 20... Rf4 21.b3

12... Rb8 13.Qxa7 fxe4?! An inaccuracy as Black could have gotten a strong initiative after [13...Nd5 14.Qa4 (14. c4 N 5b6 15.Ng3 Bc5) 14...fxe4 15.Qxe4 Nc5] 14.cxb4 Bxb4 15.Qd4 0–0 16. Bc4

21... Rxc4! 22.bxc4 Na4 23. Bxd2 exd2 24. Rhd1 Nc3+ 25.Ke3 Nxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Ra8 27. Rxd2 Rxa3+ 28.Kd4 Ra5 And black escapes with a draw.]

16...Nc5?! I don’t like this move at all. Why exchange the queens when Black has a strong initiative? [16...Kh8! 17. Rf1 (17.Qxe4 R xf2; 17.B xe6 Nc5 In this case White will lose the f2 pawn. 18.Qxd8 Rbxd8 19.Bc4 R xf2) 17... e5 18.Qxe4 Nc5 19.Qxe5 Re8 All black pieces are very active, which makes this position very unpleasant to play for White in a practical game.] 17.Qxd8 Rbxd8 The position is easier to play for White without the queens.

18... Rd4 19.b3 Bxd2 [19...Nd3!? With the idea of looking for chances in an endgame with opposite coloured bishops.] 20.Ke2 [20. Bxd2 Rfd8 21.Ke2 Rxd2+ 22.Ke3 Kf7 23. Rfc1 (23.a4 N xb3!) 23... Rb2 24. Rd1 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Rxa2 26. Rd6 Ra3 27. Rxc6 Nxb3 28. Bxe6+ Ke7 29.Kxe4 Nc5+ 30. Rxc5 Kxe6 This endgame is just drawish.] 20... Bxc1 [20... Bc3 21. Rb1 (21.Ba3 doesn’t work because of the very nice

18. Rf1 [18.a3 Bxd2 19.Ke2 e3 (19... Bxc1 20. Rhxc1 Nd3 21. Bxd3 (21.B xe6+ Kh8 22.R xc6 R xf2+ 23.Ke3 R xb2 24.Kxe4 R xg2 25.Rd1 Nf2+ 26.Kf3 N xd1 27.Kxg2 24


21...Nd3! 22.B xe6+ Kh8 23.B xf8 Nf4+ 24.Ke3 N xg2+ 25.Ke2 Rd2#) 21... Ra8 And in both lines Black is going to sacrifice an exchange in order to look for a practical initiative, but objectively White should be better in both cases. 22.a3 (22.a4 R xc4 23.bxc4 R xa4) 22...Kf7 23. Be3 Rxa3 24. Bxd4 Bxd4 25. Rfd1] 21. Raxc1 Black’s position is very difficult because of his many weak pawns. 21... Rfd8 22. Rfd1 Kf8 23. Rxd4 Rxd4 24. Rd1 [24. Ke3 e5 25. Be2 With the idea of playing Rc4 next.] 24... Rxd1 [24...e5 25. Rd2 With the idea of playing Ke3 next and Black will be forced to exchange rooks anyway.] 25.Kxd1 Ke7 26.Kd2 Kd6 White should not have any problems to win this game thanks to his passed a-pawn and the bad black structure. 27.Kc3 [27.Ke3 Ke5 28.a4 Nb7 29.b4 Nd6 30. Bb3 Nf5+ 31.Kd2±]

34.Kd2 White’s plan is very easy: at some point he is going to sacrifice the a-pawn to open the way for the king and grab all the kingside pawns. 34...h5 35.Ke3 h4 36. Be2 Kb7 37. Bc4 Kc6 38.Ke2 Kb7 39.Kd2 Kc6 40.Ke3 Kb7 41.Kd2 White is not in a hurry, so he is winning some time before launching the final action. 41...Kc7 42.g4 Kc6 [42...hxg3 43.fxg3+- Black will not be able to stop the two passed pawns.] 43.Kc3 Ne8 [43...e3 With the idea of trying to get counterplay against the h3 pawn: 44.fxe3 Ne4+ 45.Kd3 Nd6 (45...Nf2+ 46.Ke2 Ne4 47.Bd3 Ng3+ 48.Kd1 e4 49.Bc4 Nh1 50.Kc2 Nf2 51.Bf1+-) 46. Ba6 Kc7 47.Kc3 Ne4+ 48.Kc4 Nf2 49.Kxc5 Nxh3 50. Bc4 Nf2 51. Bd5 e4 52.a6 White will queen first.] 44.b4 Nd6 45. Bf1 cxb4+ 46.Kxb4 Nc8 47. Bg2 Kd5 48.a6 Na7 49.Ka5

27...Nd7 28.Kd4 Nf6 29.a4 c5+ 30.Ke3 g5 Black is trying to create some fortress, but it is impossible here. 31. Be2 Kc6 32. Bc4 e5 33.a5 h6 25


14th of June 2013

(18) Rinck [CEWN] 1. = 49...Kc5 [49...Kd4 With the idea of sacrificing the knight for the a-pawn and attacking the white pawns with the king, but White has 50.Kb6 Nc8+ 51.Kc7 Na7 52.Kb7 Nb5 and now the simple 53. Bf1 Nd6+ 54.Kc7+-] 50. Bxe4 Nb5 51. Bg2 Na7 52.Ka4 Nb5 53.Kb3 Kb6 54.Kc4 Kxa6 55.Kd5 As I said before, this endgame is easily winning for White. 55...Kb6 56.Kxe5 Kc7 57.Kf6 Nc3 58.Kxg5 Nd1 59.f4 Kd6 60.Kxh4 Ke6 61.Kg5 Kf7 62.f5 1–0

26


Solutions

(21) Topalov,V (2793) — Caruana,F (2774) Thessaloniki GP, 02.06.2013

(19) Morozevich,A (2760) — Caruana,F (2774)

[Solutions]

Thessaloniki GP, 29.05.2013 [Solutions]

47...Nh3+!! 48.gxh3 Rg7–+

55. Rxe4? [55. Rxa2!! Rxa2 (55...Qxa2 56.Qh4+ Kg7 57.Qg5+ Kf7 58.Qe7) 56.Qh4+ Qh7 (56...Kg7 57.Qg5+ Kf7 58.Qe7) 57.Qd8+! Kg7 58.Qe7+ Kg8 59.Qe8; 55.Qh4+? Qh7 56.Qf6+ Qg7 57.Qh4+ Kg8–+]

(20) Kamsky,G (2741) — Nakamura,H (2775)

55...a1Q!–+

Thessaloniki GP, 30.05.2013 [Solutions]

16. Bg6+! Kd8 17. Bf7+27


(22) Nakamura,H (2775) — Svidler,P (2769)

(23) Bacrot,E (2725) — Ivanchuk,V (2755)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

54. Rc8! Rf2+ [54... Rxf6 55.e7+-; 54...Kh7 55. Rxf8+-]

34...Nxd1!! 35. Rxf7 Nf2+! 36.Kg1 [36. Rxf2 Rc1+ 37. Bf1 Rxf1+ 38. Rxf1 Rxf1#]

55.Kd3 Rf3+ 56.Kd4 1–0

36... Rc1+ 37. Bf1 Rxf7 38.Qxd5 Ne4!–+ 39.Qd8+ Kg7 40.Qd4+ Kh6 0–1

28


(24) Zhou Jianchao (2607) — Zhou Weiqi (2590)

(25) Landa,K (2644) — Naiditsch,A (2710)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

24...Ng4!! 25.Qd3 [25.fxg4 Bxh4–+; 25.Kxh1 Bxh4–+ (25...N xh6–+) ]

16...Nf4! 17.Qe3 Rxd4! 18.g3 [18.Nxd4 Qxd4! 19.Qxd4 Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Nxd4–+]

25... Bxh4–+

18... Re4 19.Qxb6 Ne2+ 0–1

29


(26) Baron,T (2467) — Marcelin,C (2488)

(27) Spasov,V (2565) — Gavrilov,A (2454)


Albena Open, 03.06.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

17...Ne2+! 18.Kh1 Kd7! 0–1[18...Ke7!–+; 18...Kd7 19. Re1 (19.h3 R xh3#) 19... Rxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Rh8+ 21. Bh6 Rxh6#]

39.Qf7!! Qxf7 40.exf7 Rxd1 41.f8Q++-

30


(28) Kilgus,G (2418) — Gonda,L (2524)

(29) Greco

Zalakaros Open, 28.05.2013

[Solutions]

[Solutions]

28...d4!! 29. Bxd4 [29. Rxe6 dxc3!–+] 29... Rd6! [29...d2! 30. Bc3 (30.R xe6 Rc1+–+) 30... Rxc3! 31.bxc3 Rxe3 32.fxe3 Bc2]

Try to solve the study of Greco. White to move and make a draw 1. Rh8+! Rc8 2. Rxc8+ Kxc8 3. Ba6!! bxa6 [3...Kc7 4. Bxb7!=]

30. Bc3 Rxc3! 31.bxc3 d2 0–1[31...d2 32. Rd1 Bc2–+]

31

Weekly Newsletter



21st of June 2013

Another great week of chess has passed.


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»» Puzzle section

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»» Solutions

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The main event of the week is clearly the Tal Memorial and we are commenting what is probably the main game of the event: the game between Carlsen-Anand, which seems to be their last encounter before the upcoming WCC match in November. After round 6, Nakamura is leading with 4,5/6. He had a bad start as he lost in the first round and could have lost in round 2 as well, but fortune was on his side and the American Superstar started to crush his opponents. Gelfand, who is showing very good and solid play, is in second place and third place is shared by Carlsen and Mamedyarov with 3.5/6. Surprisingly the Russian players are doing badly so far and Kramnik only has 2/6. The Match between Navara and Hou Yifan ended in favor of the Chinese World Champion as the 4 normal games ended in a draw, but in the rapid games Hou had the upper hand. The Ukrainian National Championship is under way and everyone is playing except Ivanchuk. Ponomariov seems to be in a great shape and is leading the event. The Women’s Grand Prix in Dilijan is under way as well. Just a few rounds have been played, so we can be very curious who is going to be the winner this time. As usual, we wish you great chess fun with your weekly issue of the CEWN! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh 2


4 best games of the past week (1) Carlsen,Magnus (2864) — Anand,Viswanathan (2786) [E46] 8th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (5.2), 18.06.2013 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are facing what is probably the last tournament game between the actual World Champion and his challenger. The Match is going to take place in India in November. Could it be that it is Anand’s destiny to lose his WCC title in his home country?! We will find out later this year... In the current game, Magnus Carlsen is clearly showing that he is to be taken very seriously in the upcoming 12 games of the match! 1.d4 The World Number 1 is playing both 1. e4 and 1.d4, which makes the preparation very difficult... 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 Anand also has a huge range of openings in his Black repertoire. From the Slav to the Gruenfeld, or the solid Queen’s Gambit and the Nimzo, all of them can be seen on the board. 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0

5.Nge2 The line with 5.Nge2 is not the most popular one, but it is quite tricky and relatively unforced. Magnus Carlsen often tries to reach a normal, „playable” position out of the opening, hoping to outplay his oponents in the rest of the game- which usually works! :) 5...d5 6.a3 Be7 [6... Bd6 is the other main move in this position. 7.c5 Be7 Followed by b6 and a5. This line is considered to be fine for Black.] 7.cxd5 In the interview after the game, Carlsen said that he has chosen that line because Anand didn’t have too much experience here. Well, now we can say that it worked! 7...Nxd5 Personally I would not advise to play this move. [7...exd5 would lead us to the main lines, where White has several ideas. To play 8.b4, trying to fix the pawn structure on the queenside, to play 8.g3, 8.Nf4 or 8. Ng3. All moves are possible.] 8. Bd2!? A very tricky move! Black’s main idea is to play c5 and White is preparing to face it. 8...Nd7 [After 8...c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nxd5! we can see that Bd2 was a very useful move as the rook is now quickly coming to c1. 10...Qxd5 11.Nf4 Followed by Bc3 or Rc1, which should give White a small but pleasant edge.] 9.g3

3


9...b6?! After this move, Black is entering quite an unpleasant position. [I think Black should have tried to push 9...c5 10.Nxd5 exd5 11. Bg2 Nf6 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13. Rc1 and even though White might be slightly better, Black’s position is very playable.] 10.Nxd5! Typical and very strong. After playing 9...b6, Black has a clear weakness: the c6 pawn. 10...exd5 11. Bg2 Bb7 12. Bb4 Quite a provocation. [12.0–0 would be a normal move.] 12...Nf6 Too passive again in my opinion. [Now it was really time to play 12...c5 13.dxc5 (13.Bc3 Nf6 doesn’t change much.) 13...bxc5 14. Bc3 Nf6 15.0–0 Qb6 With a normal position.] 13.0–0 Re8 It was the last chance to play c5.

16. Re1 White does not hurry. Black has almost no plan and has to keep on „waiting”. White’s idea is pretty clear: play Nf4-Nd3 and maybe Ne5 followed by putting pressure on the c6 pawn or by playing f3-e4. 16...Qd6 Another „strange” move by the World Champion. [16...Ne4 followed by Nd6 looks much more solid. Black’s position is passive, but to break through is a hard job.] 17.Nf4 Bc8 It is very logical to transfer the bishop to f5, but could it be that it is already too late for it... [17... Rc7 followed by a passive defence would have been a more solid choice.] 18.Qa4 Things are getting pretty forced. 18... Rc7

14. Rc1 Black will now not be able to play c5 anymore. 14...c6 [14... Bxb4?! would be a positional mistake as after 15.axb4 White would have full control over the c5 move and b5 could also sometimes be dangerous.] 15. Bxe7 Rxe7

19.f3! White is using the moment for a more or less final blow. Black’s pieces are pretty uncoordinated and the e4 push is almost a killer. 19... Be6 20.e4 dxe4 It is already hard to give Black any advice. [20...Qd7 21.Nxe6 Qxe6 22.e5 is looking very ugly for Black too.]

4


21.fxe4 Qd7 Of Black had an extra move, things would be more or less fine, but it is White to move and Carlsen does not miss such chances. 22.d5! The game is now! After outplaying his opponent in a positional game, Carlsen finishes him off with a nice tactic. 22...cxd5 23.Qxd7 Rxd7 24.Nxe6 fxe6

(2) Ponomariov,R (2743) — Eljanov,P (2707) [C91] 82nd ch-UKR 2013 Kiev UKR (2), 16.06.2013 [Csaba Balogh] An excellent preparation by Ponomariov, which involved an intuitive pawn sacrifice that even the machines did not understand at first sight. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6. Re1 White returns to the mainlines instead of the recently so popular anti-theoretical move 6.d3. 6...b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0

25. Bh3! This is the key move, which the World Champion probably missed. Black’s position is now falling apart. 25...Kh8 [25...Kf7 26.exd5 Followed by Bxe6 and White is winning.] 26.e5 Putting the black knight out of the game. 26...Ng8 27. Bxe6 Rdd8 28. Rc7 The position is just hopeless. 28...d4 29. Bd7 White just wants to play e6 next and then Rd1–Rxd4. I don’t think that Anand has lost many games in that way in his whole chess career. Was this already a „sign” for the upcoming WCC match?! We will see in about 5 month from now! 1–0

9.d4 Ponomariov plays the alternative line to the main Spanish 9.h3. It is sometimes quite effective to search for improvements in slightly forgotten lines. Many hidden ideas can be found and the surprise effect on the opponent is also a decent factor. 9... Bg4 Black must try to put pressure on the center, otherwise White can simple spare the h3 move. 10. Be3 This is the sharp handling of the position, while Kamsky’s favorite 10.d5 is rather positional.

5


10...exd4 [10...Nxe4? is often a poisoned pawn in the Spanish. Here again White wins after a double attack: 11. Bd5!] 11.cxd4 d5 A typical method of countering White’s ideas in the center. Otherwise if White gets his knight out to c3, Black remains without counterplay against the strong center. [The other main option for Black is 11...Na5 12. Bc2 and Black must play either c5 immediately or after the inclusion of the Nc4-Bc1 pair of moves. Both are with huge theory.]

sacrificed an exchange, but he got the most important d5 pawn and all his pieces are standing actively. Black is already in some trouble, because after 19... Rb8 20.e6! seems to be very strong.]

12.e5 Ne4 13.h3 Bh5 Here comes the new idea! In the previous games, White played Nc3 now or without the h3 Bh5 inclusion. 16.Qc3!! This is the whole point! White had to make this intermediate move to avoid Bb4. The game becomes very sharp, but as the following line shows, White has enough compensation everywhere. [16.gxf3 is bad as after 16... Bb4 17.Qc2 Bxe1 18.Qxc6 Ba5 19. Bxd5 Rb8 Black has huge plusses in comparison to the 15... Bb4 line.] 14.Nbd2! The positional point is obvious, White needs to get rid of the strong e4 knight, but it looks like a tactical blunder... 14...Nxd2 Seemingly White has no good takeback, since on Bxd2 the d4 pawn is hanging and after Qxd2 Bb4 wins an exchange. Black can even destroy the pawn structure first with Bxf3 and only then Bb4... What could the plan be?! 15.Qxd2! Bxf3 [On 15... Bb4 16.Qc2 Bxe1 17.Ng5! is very strong 17... Bg6 18.Qxc6 Ba5 19. Bxd5 White has

16... Bxg2 Eljanov plays the computer’s recommendation and grabs a pawn. After knowing what happened in the game, I doubt that he would repeat this decision. [On 16...Qd7 White needs to make another subtle intermediate move: 17. Rec1!! Nb8 Now on Qxc7, Black could simple retreat the bishop. (17...Nd8 18.Qxc7! Qxc7 19.R xc7 And both bishops are hanging. White wins the piece back and gets a big advantage.) 18.gxf3 c6 19.Kh2 We get the same position as in the game, but here Black does not even have an extra pawn.; 16... Bb4! is the best option in my opinion. 17.Qxc6 Bxe1 18. Rxe1 Be4 19.f3 6


Bf5 20. Bxd5 White clearly has enough compensation for the exchange, but I am not sure if objectively he is better here. In any case, from a practical point of view, White has a much easier game.; 16...Nxe5 seems to lead to a slightly worse position after 17.dxe5 Bh5 18.g4! Bg6 19. Red1 Be4 20.Qc6² White wins the pawn back and his pieces are better placed.] 17.Kxg2 Nb8 18. Rac1 c6 Black managed to win a pawn, but at what cost!? White has the bishop pair, the c6 pawn must always be defended by the b8 knight, which locks the rook to the corner. If the c6 pawn falls, the d5 one will automatically drop as well. And the most important factor is that White has an easy and strong attack on the g-file, against which Black cannot launch any kind of counterplay. Black must try to defend, but without the b8 and a8 pieces it is going to be difficult.

20. Rg1 Ra7 Using the poor rook to defend the g7 weakness along the 7th rank is a resourceful idea, but it does not save Black. [20...f4 critically weakens the b1–h7 diagonal: 21. Bd2 Qd3 and Bc3 are coming next and Black will collapse as he is missing a light-colored bishop.] 21. Rg2! Simple and strong! 21...Qd7 [21...Qe8 is also bad: 22. Rcg1 g6 23. Bh6 Rf7 24. Bc2 White wants to prepare for the attack with h4h5 and Qg3 for instance. 24... Bf8 25. Bxf8 Qxf8 26.h4! Qh6 27.Qh3 Kf8 28.h5 Black collapses.] 22. Rcg1 Rf7 Black tries to keep his pawn on g7 as long as possible to avoid the h4-h5 plan.

23. Bd1!! A very nice way of increasing pressure. Ponomariov drives his bishop to h5 to provoke the g6 weakening. 19.Kh2! Opening the g-file for the rooks. 19...f5 [19...a5 does not lead anywhere, White can simple continue his plan: 20. Rg1; Opening the game weakens the Black king too much: 19...f6 20. Rg1! fxe5 21.dxe5 Black has no good defence against Qd3-Bc2.]

23...g6 24. Bh5! White does not even waste time on the h4-h5 plan, he goes for the most direct crush with sacrificing on g6. 24... Bf8 25. Bf4! Opening the 3rd rank for the queen in order to join the attack.

7


25...Qe8 [Black cannot fortify his g6 pawn: 25... Rg7 26. Bh6! Rf7 27. Bxg6! hxg6 28. Rxg6+ Kh7 29. Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Qg3+- With mate to follow soon.]

(3) Nakamura,Hikaru (2784) — Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2753) [D38] 8th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (1.5), 13.06.2013 [Csaba Balogh] A convincing win by Mamedyarov with the Black pieces. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 A little surprise in the opening decision. Mamedyarov rarely employs the Ragozin defense.

26. Rxg6+!! A brilliant finish based on an exact calculation! 26...hxg6 27. Rxg6+ Black is simply unable to coordinate a defence because of the pin between the h5 bishop and the e8 queen.

5.Qa4+ The main idea is to force the knight to c6, which blocks Black’s plan of challenging the center with c5. [5.cxd5 and; 5. Bg5 are the two main continuations, but Nakamura’s move is also quite a big line.] 5...Nc6 6.e3 0–0

27... Bg7 [On 27...Kh7 28.e6! Rfe7 29. Rg5 Qd8 30. Bg6+ Kh8 31.Qg3 Black is a rook up, but gets mated soon. Too many threats are in the air: Qh4, Rh5, Bf7, Be5.] 28.e6 Rf8 29.Qc5 [White could already have simplified to a completely winning endgame 29. Rxg7+ Rxg7 30. Bxe8 Rxe8 31. Bxb8 Rxb8 32.Qxc6+- but Ponomariov played for more.] 29...Qe7 [On 29... Re7 30. Rxg7+ Rxg7 31. Bxe8 Rxe8 32. Be5+- is hopeless for Black.] 30. Bd6 Qh4 31.Qxa7 There is only one check on f2 because of Rg2. A very well deserved victory after a deep preparation and a powerful attack.

7. Bd2 Black has to fight for the center. With the knight on c6 he cannot push c5, but it supports another very useful plan: to play e5. The following moves are the necessary preparations for this. 7...dxc4! 8. Bxc4 a6 A prophylactic move. [The direct 8... Bd6 allows White to play 9.Nb5!]

1–0 8


9.0–0 Bd6! b5 is not a threat yet because of Bxb5 and the rook is hanging, but White must always take care of it. Black is ready to free his position with e5, which White cannot prevent.

a strong reply. [Obviously after forcing a mass exchange with 13.Ne4 White could make a draw, but this was not his aim.]

10. Rad1 White knows about the coming e5 and he already puts his rook on the opening file. [10.Qc2 e5! 11.d5 In general this d5 push is the only way for White to play for an advantage, but here Black equalizes after 11...Ne7 12.e4 Bg4! 13. Be2

13... Bf5! Suddenly the knight on g5 gets out of the game as Nge4 does not work for tactical reasons. 14.e4 [14.Nge4 is met by 14...Nxe4 15.Nxe4 b5! 16.Qd4 Nc6! winning a piece.] 13...c6! Undermining the center. If Black can take on d5, that would change the pawn structure in his favor, while after dxc6 Nxc6, the knight is ready to occupy the d4 outpost.] 10...e5! 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12. Be2 [12.Nxe5 Bxe5 White cannot make use of the pin on the d-file and on the next move Black will already leave it by playing Qe7. Black has achieved what he wanted and equalized out of the opening.] 12...Qe7 13.Ng5?! Nakamura is trying to play ambitiously with the White pieces, but in this case it is too optimistic and helps Black to overtake the initiative. The idea was to get the bishop pair after Nge4, but Black has

14... Bd7 15.Qc2 h6! A necessary move, sending the knight back to f3 in order to prevent the f4-e5 threat. 16.Nf3 Rfe8 It is time to activate the rooks. 17. Rfe1 [17.Nd4 Transferring the knight to f5 is sometimes a useful plan in such cases, but now Black is ready to counter it by 17...c5! 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 Nc6! followed by settling the knight on d4. White cannot prevent it by playing 20. Be3 because of the tactical trick 20...Nd4! 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Rxd4 Bxh2+! followed by Qe5+.] 17... Rad8 18.g3? A logical move, but it might be the decisive mistake. White closes the diagonal of the d6 bishop, which was dangerously looking at the h2 square and prepares for the regrouping of his e2 bishop to g2. If he could achieve all this, then in a good moment he could 9


launch a pawn storm in the center with f4-e5. [18.h3 was more circumspect, but here again only Black can be better. 18...b5!]

20...Nxf2! wins again: 21.Kxf2 Bc6 22. Be3 Nxe4+ 23.Nxe4 Bxe4 Black already has two pawns and all his pieces are attacking. 24.Qc3 Bb4–+] 19...Nxf2! Of course. Such moves are coming without thinking from Mamedyarov. He collects two pawns, destroys the king’s position and maintains excellent attacking chances. 20.Kxf2

18...Neg4!! After this great move, White suddenly cannot deal with his f2 weakness. Black simple wants to play Bc5. The only way to protect it is Rf1, but this leaves the e4 pawn unprotected. 19.h3 [19. Bf1 Bc5 20. Re2 Black wins material after 20... Nxf2! 21. Rxf2 Ng4 22. Be1 Ne3! taking both of the rooks.; 19.Nd4 Bc5 20. Bc1 does not help either as

20... Bxh3 The main threats are Bc5 Be3 Ng4 and Ng4 Kg1 Bxg3. 21.Kg1 [21.Nd4 was probably the best chance, although Black is winning here as well after 21... Bc5 22. Be3 Qe5! White cannot hold his d4 knight and the attack is going to break through.; 21.Ng1 is refuted by 21...Qe5! 22. Bf4 (22.N xh3 Qxg3+ 23.Kf1 Qxh3+–+) 22... Bc5+ and White will get mated soon.] 21... Bxg3 The rook is trapped. Black is already winning material as he is going to have a rook and 3 pawns against two minor pieces, but he also continues attacking, which deprives White from any survival hopes.

10


22. Bf1 Bxe1 23. Rxe1 Bg4 24. Bg2 Mamedyarov finds the most direct way to finish the game in style.

29.Ne3 Black has several ways to win, but Mamedyarov finds the most precise one. 29... Rc6! The queen has no good square to leave. 30.Qb1 [30.Qb3 Rxd2 31. Rxd2 Nxe3–+] 30...Qh2+ [30... Rxd2 was also winning with the idea of 31.Nf1 Qd3! keeping huge material advantage. 32.Nxd2 Qxe2–+]

24... Bxf3! 25. Bxf3 Qd6! Creating the double threat of Qxd2 and Qg3. White cannot parry both of them. 26. Re2 [26. Be3 Qg3+ wins either the rook or the bishop.]

31.Kf1 Qf4+ [White resigned in view of the following lines: 31...Qf4+ 32.Ke1 (32.Kg1 R xd2–+) 32...Qg3+ 33.Kf1 (33.Kd1 N xe3+–+) 33...Nh2+ 34.Kg1 Nf3+ 35.Kf1 Nxd2+ An impressive win with the Black pieces. It was interesting to see that only two overambitious moves, Ng5 and g3, were enough to lose the game.] 0–1

26...Qg3+ 27. Bg2 Ng4! The attack is rolling. Black is also ready to join his rook to the attack through the 6th rank. 28.Nd1 [28. Be1 Qh2+ 29.Kf1 Rd6–+]

28... Re6! The end is near. 11


(4) Caruana,Fabiano (2774) — Kramnik,Vladimir (2803) [C67]

bishop pair. In the meantime, White is trying to make use of his development by creating more direct threats.

8th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (6.2), 19.06.2013

10. Rd1 It is now the last chance for Black to decide where to move the king. White wants to play e6 followed by Ne5.

[Arkadij Naiditsch] In the last years chess has changed a lot and even endgames are now very well analyzed by the top players. In the current game, it is hard to say when both players left their preparation- maybe never! It seems to be a „start to end draw”, but anyhow it is a very beautiful game. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 One of Kramnik’s favorite openings, the Berlin. 4.0–0 [4.d3 is the way to avoid the main endgame, which is very popular nowadays.] 4...Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 Caruana has entered the main line.

10...Kc8 11.g4 The beginning of a very forced line. 11...Ne7 Black is threatening to play h5 next. 12.Ng5 Be8 [12... Be6? would of course just be a big mistake. In the worst case White could play Nxe6 and this exchange is always in his favor.] 13.f4 The position is getting very dynamic. In case White could play Kg2-Kg3 next and stabilize his position, Black would be in big trouble, but it is Black’s turn and as we know, the bishop pair can be activated very quickly.

9.h3 9.Nc3 is possible too.

9... Bd7 9...Ke8 is the other main move here and after 10.Nc3 h5, this line has proven to be rock solid for Black. The text move is much more tricky for both sides. Black’s idea is to escape to b7 with his king and to play with the

13...h5! Of course Kramnik knew this move, but it is still nice to see. Black is opening the h-file, which can be very useful for the active phase of the game. 14.f5 Once again White is going for a very forced continuation. [14.Kg2 is looking very solid, but the position is also pretty unclear here. 14...hxg4 (14...b6 is another possible move, but I think that White is a little bit better 12


after 15.Kg3.) 15.hxg4 f6 Trying a forced refutation. The f6 push is another very typical idea. 16.Ne6 Bd7 17.Nxf8 Rxf8 18.f5 Avoiding Black’s f5 push, which is a dangerous positional threat. 18...fxe5 And the game should probably end in a draw.] 14...hxg4 15.hxg4 Rh4 Black is accepting the offer to play a „move by move” game. 16.Kf2 White cannot save his g4 pawn. 16... Rxg4

21...Nd4+ This check on d4 also seems to be the best move. Why? That is not so easy to answer, but after some analyses it seems to be the best. 22.Ke4 The only move. 22... Rxc1 White is a full rook up, but the b1 knight and a1 rook are totally out of the game. White’s king on e4 is also under heavy attack and Nc2 could be very unpleasant. Anyhow, a rook up is a rook up, so the game continues in a very tactical and forced way. 23.b4 Bb6 24.c4 A very logical move by White. Now c5 is a deadly threat and by pushing the pawn forward, White is also winning space.

17. Rh1 That was White’s idea. Rh8 is practically winning a piece! 17...Nxf5 What a funny position. White just has an active knight on g5 and the rest of his pieces are still on their starting positions. 18. Rh8 White is winning a full piece. 18... Bc5+ What an amazing position! Black is giving a piece and a rook away, but the position seems to be equal! 19.Kf3 Rg1 20. Rxe8+ Kd7 21. Rxa8 Everything seems to have been forced until here.

24...c5! A great move! It is not easy to stay cool in such a position. I have a very strong feeling that Kramnik knew everything up to this point. It is very hard to evaluate the future of 24... c5, especially since White is now getting the d5 square for his king. 25.a3 White wants to play Ra2 next, giving away the b1 knight, but he would still be an exchange up. 25... Re1+! Exactly! It is very funny, but White’s king cannot escape from perpetual check! Amazing. 13


26.Kd3 Rd1+ 27.Kc3 [In case White tried to play for a win after 27.Ke3?! Nc2+ 28.Ke2 Rg1 it seems that Black is already better!] 27... Rc1+ 28.Kd3 Rd1+ 29.Kc3 Rc1+ 30.Kd3 A really funny game that had to be featured in our Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter ! :) 1/2

14


Puzzle section

(7) Karjakin,S (2782) — Mamedyarov,S (2753) Tal memorial blitz, 12.06.2013

(5) Kramnik,V (2803) — Anand,V (2786) Tal memorial blitz, 12.06.2013

[CEWN] 1... –+

[CEWN] 1... –+

(8) Morozevich,A (2760) — Carlsen,M (2864) (6) Caruana,F (2774) — Carlsen,M (2864) Tal memorial blitz, 12.06.2013 [CEWN]

Tal memorial blitz, 12.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

1... –+

15


(9) Mamedyarov,S (2753) — Carlsen,M (2864)

(11) Navara,D (2707) — Hou Yifan (2595)

Tal memorial blitz, 12.06.2013

Prague blitz, 14.06.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

(10) Kravtsiv,M (2626) — Volokitin,A (2687)

(12) Petrosian,T (2649) — Anurag,M (2401)

Ukrainian Championship, 15.06.2013

Grand Europe Open, 11.06.2013

[CEWN]

[CEWN]

1. +-

1... –+

16


(13) Smirnov,P (2635) — Bocharov,D (2617) Izmailov memorial, 17.06.2013 [CEWN] 1. +-

(14) Cvetkovic,S (2387) — Nabaty,T (2579) Grand Europe Open, 11.06.2013 [CEWN] 1... –+

17


Endgame section (15) Carlsen,M (2864) — Kramnik,V (2803) Tal memorial, 13.06.2013 [Chess Evolution] 44... Rf6? Kramnik wanted to get his rook behind his dpawn. [44... Rf1 was the better practical chance 45. Bg4! is an important resource, followed by Rd6 stopping the pawn. After that, White puts his bishop to f3 and starts to advance his pawns. (However the most obvious 45. Bf3? allows Black a nice survival 45...d2! 46. Rd6 White has an extra pawn, but the strong d-passer and the active pieces give Black excellent drawing chances. However, after a long think, Kramnik simplified the position into an instructive bishop endgame, which he thought was drawn, but it was in fact losing. 42...h4+? It is a positional mistake to help White create the g-h passers, which was exactly his idea. Kramnik made this mistake because of the wrong evaluation of the arising bishop endgame. [42... Ra1 43. Bf3 Ra4! was the right defence with the idea of pushing h4, when White’s task to create connected passed pawns would be much more difficult. Black’s drawing chances are better than White’s winning chances.] 43.Kxh4 Rxf2 44.Kg3

46... Be4!! 47. Rxd2 (47.Bg4 Rg1 48.R xd2 R xg2+! 49.R xg2 B xg2 50.Kxg2 And the position is a draw because of the wrong promotional square on h8.) 47... Bxf3 48.gxf3 With a theoretical draw.) 45... Be4 46. Rb4 Bc6 47. Rd4 Black cannot go for the g2 pawn because 47... Rg1 48. Bf3! Bxf3 49.Kxf3 Rd1 50.Ke3 Rg1 51. Rg4++- wins for White.]

18


45. Rxf6 Kxf6 46.Kf4 White inevitably wins the d3 pawn after Ke3 and Bb3-c4, but it was all in Kramnik’s calculation. We will discuss his reasons a few moves later. 46...d2 47.Ke3 Ke5 48.g3! Preventing the black king from getting to g3. 48... Bf5 49.h4 Be6 50.Kxd2 Here we are! Kramnik thought that this endgame is drawn, since whenever White pushes g4, which seems to be necessary to convert the advantage, Black sacrifices his bishop followed and then runs to h8 with his king, with a theoretical draw. However Carlsen will show really subtle technique to win the game.

56. Bg6! Bd7 57.h5 Kf6 This allows White to improve his king. [57... Be6 Waiting with the bishop does not help either: 58.h6 Kf6 59. Bb1 followed by Kf4, which transposes to the game, using the fact that Black cannot get his king between the pawns with Kg5 because of h7.] 58.Kf4 Be6 59. Be4

59...Kg7 [If Black starts to wait with his bishop by playing 59... Bd7 White proceeds with 60.h6! Be6

50...Ke4 51.Ke2 White wants to occupy the e3 square with the king and he prepares to push back the king with Bc2. 51... Bg4+ 52.Ke1 Be6 53.Kf2 Bc2 is inevitable now. 53...Ke5 54.Ke3 Bd7 55. Bc2 Bg4 White is basically forced to find the winning plan, since there is no other way to make progress than putting the bishop on g6 and then play h5.

61.g4! This is the key move and Black cannot sacrifice his bishop now: 61... Bxg4 62.Kxg4 Kf7 63. Bh7! Using this known method of preventing the king from getting to

19


the corner. White wins easily now. 63...Kf6 64.Kh5 Kf7 65.Kg5 Kf8 66.Kf6 Ke8 67. Bg6+ Kf8 68.h7+-] 60.Kg5 Bd7 61.h6+ Kh8 The king is in the corner now, so White needs to be careful with advancing the g-pawn. 62.Kf4 Be6 63. Bf5! The pawn is ready to go now.

70...Kh7 71. Bd5 Bg6 [71... Be8 72. Bf7+- followed by g6-g7 wins.; 71...Kh8 72. Bf7 wins again. 72... Bg6 is not stalemate as White has 73. Bxg6+-] 72. Bg8+! An instructive endgame! 1–0

63... Bf7 64.g4

64... Bh5! A very nice trick to get a theoretical draw. Even with 5 h-pawns the game would be drawn. 65.g5! Unfortunately for Black, White is able to keep his g-pawn. 65...Kg8 66. Be6+ Kh7 67.Kf5 Bg6+ 68.Kf6 Kh8! The last stalemate tricks by Black, but White can easily parry them. 69. Bd7 [69. Bf7 Be4 70.g6? Bxg6 is still a draw.] 69... Bh5 [69... Be4 If the bishop stays on this diagonal, White wins by playing 70. Bf5+- followed by g6.] 70. Bc6 Black cannot move with his bishop now.

20


(16) Carlsen,Magnus (2864) — Caruana,Fabiano (2774) [A07]

41.Kf5 Kg7 Before bringing the rook to the b-file, Black is improving his king’s position.

8th Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (3.3), 15.06.2013

42. Rb8 Rc5+ 43.Kf4 Rb5 44.Ke4 Rb1 45.Kf5 Rb2 46.Kf4 White keeps on waiting...

[Chess Evolution]

46... Rb4+ 47.Ke5 Kg6 Black is sort of trying. 48. Rg8+ White is pushing the Black king back. 48...Kh7

We are in an interesting rook endgame. Ususally Carlsen is the one who is pushing, but this time he has to defend. As we remember, in his game against Wang Hao he lost a rook endgame with very good drawing chances and this time the story repeats itself. Let us take a closer look. 38... Rf6 39.g5! A very good move. White is trying to exchange a pawn and at the same time winning the f4 pawn back. 39... Rc6 [Of course after 39...hxg5 40.hxg5 Rc6 41.Kxf4 the position is a very simple draw. White has nothing to fear and can just „keep on waiting” as he has a great rook on b7.] 40.Kxf4 [40.gxh6? Rxh6 would give Black some winning chances, which is very unnecessary for White.] 40...h5 Black’s only chance is to keep as many pawns on the board as possible.

49. Rf8?? What a terrible mistake. These kind of moves are even difficult to explain. [49. Rb8 A passive defense would just lead to a draw. Let us take a look at what would happen in case Black would try to push his pawn to b2: 49...Kg7 50.Kf5 Rb1 51. Rb7 b5 52.g6 The most easy way of making a draw, but a passive defense would lead to the same result. (52.Kf4 b4 53.Kf3 b3 54. Rb6 b2 After this move, the position is a draw, but not to play the b2 move is simple impossible. (54...Kf8 55.Rb7 Ke8 56.Kg2 And Black cannot progress without playing the b2 move.) 55.Kg2 Kf8 56. Rb7 Ke8 57.Kh2 Kd8 58.Kg2 Kc8 59. Rb3 Kd7 60.Kh2 Ke6 61.Kg2 Kf5 62. Rb5+ Ke4 63. Rb8 Kd3 64. Rd8+ Kc3 65. Rc8+ And the position is a simple draw.) 52... Rf1+ 53.Kg5 Rg1+ 54.Kxh5 Draw.] 21


49... Rxh4! Caruana doesn’t miss his chance. 50. Rxf7+ Kg6 51. Rf6+ Kxg5 52. Rxb6 So is this position a draw or a clear win for Black?! It is not so easy to say at first sight, but Caruana will show us the right result... 52... Ra4! The white king should be cut on the 5th rank. 53. Rb8 White can’t prevent Black from advancing his hpawn. 53...Kg4 54. Rg8+ Kf3 55. Rf8+ Kg3 56. Rg8+ Kh2 The h-pawn is ready to move forward. 57.Kf5 h4 58. Rb8 h3 59.Kg5 [59. Rb2+ didn’t help: 59...Kg3 60. Rb3+ Kh4]

59... Re4! The last precise move. 60.Kf5 Re2 Now Black can let the white king come a bit closer as the position is totally winning. 61. Rg8 [61.Kf4 was losing too after 61...Kg2 62. Rg8+ Kf1] 61... Rg2 62. Rd8 Rf2+ Followed by Kg2. A very tough loss for Carlsen, but blunders happen even to the greatest players! 0–1 22


Clash of the Titans (17) Najdorf,Miguel — Reshevsky,Samuel Herman [B93] America m Mex/NY/Salvador (9), 1952 [Kamil Miton] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 It is interesting that Najdorf chose this move against the line which is named after him. Objectively it is not the best weapon, but at that time it was more popular than it is now. 6...Qc7 A normal, slightly waiting move. Black doesn’t show which structure he is going to play yet, a Sheveningen after e6, a Dragon after g6 and e5 is possible as well.

10.Qe1 The beginning of the only plan. White is going to create pressure on the kingside. 10...b5 11.a3 [11.e5 An interesting active move, but it doesn’t give White any advantage: 11...dxe5 12.fxe5 Ng4 13.Nd5 (13.Qh4 Qxe5 (13...N xe5 14.Nd5 Qd6 15.N xe7+ Kh8 16.Nf3 N xf3 17.R xf3 White has the initiative here thanks to his active pieces. 17...Nc6 18.N xc6 Qxc6 19.Be4 Qc4 20.Bh6) 14.Nf3 Qh5 The easiest way to avoid problems is to exchange queens. 15.Qxh5 gxh5) 13... Qxe5 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.Qxe5 Nxe5 16. Be4 Ra7 And Black is fine here as well.] 11... Bb7 The knight needs to escape from d4 because of Nxe4 threats, but the f3 square is good for him anyway as White is going to play for the thematic plan Qh4-f5Bh6- Ng5. 12.Nf3 Nbd7 13.Qh4

7. Bd3 g6 8.0–0 The pin after Qb6 or Qc5 is not dangerous as White can simply play Kh1 and the knight will not be hanging because of Bb5. 8... Bg7 9.Kh1 0–0

13...e6 A possible move. Black also has some other options: [13...e5 14.f5 (14.fxe5 dxe5 15.Bg5 Rfe8=) 14...gxf5 And now not exf5 because Black would get strong central pawns, but immediately 15. Bh6; 13...Nc5 14.f5 gxf5 (14...d5!? A very interesting idea. 15. Bf4 Qb6 16.e5 d4 17.exf6 (17.Ne2 Nd5 18.Nexd4 N xd3 19.cxd3 N xf4 23


20.Qxf4 Black has compensation thanks to the bishop pair.) 17... Bxf6 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 dxc3 The position looks dangerous because of the weak king on g8 but black can also try to get some counterplay over the h1– a8 diagonal.) 15.e5 (15.exf5 N xd3 16.cxd3 Qc5 17.Ng5; 15.Bh6!?) 15...dxe5 16. Bxf5 And now there is for example the following forced line, which is probably not the only one though because the position is very complex: 16...e6 17. Bh6 Bxh6 18.Qxh6 Qe7 19.Ng5 exf5 20. Rxf5 Ne6 21. Re1 (21.R xf6 N xg5 22.Qxg5+ Kh8 Xg2) 21...Kh8 22. Rexe5 Rg8 23. Rxf6 Bxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Rxg5+ 25. Rxg5 Nxg5 And Black takes the initiative as the white king now looks weaker.] 14. Be3 deserves attention. [14.f5 Rac8 15. Bh6] 14...d5? A very bad move from a strategical point of view. Reshevsky wanted to avoid f5 at all costs but we will see below that it was not as dangerous as he thought. [14... Nc5 15.f5 (15.Bd4 Nfxe4 16.B xe4 N xe4 17.N xe4 B xe4 18.Ng5 B xg2+ 19.Kxg2 Qxc2+ 20.Rf2 Qc6+ 21.Kg1 h6) 15...Nh5 A strange move, suggested by the engine, probably with the idea not to allow Bh6. (15...Rae8 was possible too.) 16.g4 (16.Ng5 exf5 17.exf5 B xc3! 18.bxc3 N xd3 19.cxd3 Qxc3 Black is a pawn up and he is putting the pressure on g2.) 16... Bf6 17. Bg5 (17.Qh3 The queen is not on h4 so black can play 17...exf5

18.gxh5 fxe4 Xe4; 17.Ng5 h6 18.fxg6 hxg5 19.Qxh5 fxg6 20.Qxg6+ Qg7 21.Qxg7+ Kxg7 With a very pleasant endgame for Black.) 17... Bxc3 18.bxc3 exf5 19.gxf5 Rfe8 20. Rae1 With unclear play as both kings are weak.; 14... Rfe8!?÷] 15.e5 Ne8 Black’s bishops are now very limited. White has a stable advantage but Najdorf decided to finish game with a sacrifice and active play. 16.Ng5 [16.Ne2 White is controlling the d4 square and has a stable advantage.] 16...h6

24


17.Nxe6! [17. Bxg6 fxg6 18.Nxe6 Qc6 19.Nxf8 d4! 20.Qg3 Bxf8 21. Bxd4 Ng7 Black gets easy play and the position is completely unclear.] 17...fxe6 18. Bxg6 White only has two pawns for the piece but the black pieces are very limited and White has good chances to create an attack against the black king. 18...Qd8 A logical move. Black wants to help defending with the queen. [18...Qc6 19. Rf3] 19.Qh3 [19.Qg4 White has the very unpleasant idea Bf2-Bh4 to force Black to drive away the queen from the king. 19...Nc7 (19...Qe7 20.Bf2!) 20. Bf2 Compared to the game, the f4 pawn is not hanging. 20... Bxe5 21.fxe5 Nxe5 22.Qg3 Qg5 23.Qxg5 hxg5 24. Bh5 The bishop pair and the weak dark squares give White a big advantage.] 19...Qe7

d5 square available. [20...Nc7 21.Ng3 d4 22. Bxd4 Nd5 23.Nh5] 21.Nxd4 [21. Bxd4 With the idea Ng3- Nh5.] 21...Nc7 22. Rae1 It is still very hard to makes moves for Black. Nd5 is not possible because of the e6 pawn and Nc5 doesn’t work because then White can push f5, so Black plays 22...a5 Not a stupid move because the rook can support the king over the 6th rank from a6 after a potential f5 break. [22... Rad8 23.Qg4 With the idea Bf2-Bh4 or Bd3-Qg6.] 23. Bd2 [23.Qg4 Followed by Bf2-Bh4 again.] 23...b4 24.Qg3 From this square the queen will protect the e5 pawn, which means that White is slowly preparing the final f5 action. 24...Qc5 [24... Rad8 25.f5

19...20.Ne2! The knight comes into play. [20. Bf2 doesn’t work now because of 20... Rxf4 21.Ne2 Rxf2 22. Rxf2 Nxe5µ]

25...Nxe5! And the d4 knight is hanging, but White can first play 25. c3! and only then f5!]

20...d4! A good practical move. Black sacrifices a pawn to get activity. The bishop on b7 will be active and the

25.c3 bxc3 [25...bxa3 26.bxa3 Kh8 27. Bb1 Rg8 28.Qh3 with f5 next] 25


26. Bxc3+- Ra6 [26...Qe7 27.f5 (27.h4 Preventing Qg5.) 27...Qg5 28.f6 Qxg3 29.hxg3 Bh8 30. Bc2 White should be winning because of the dead bishop on h8.]


27. Bd3 Rb6 28.f5 exf5 29.Nxf5 All of White’s pieces are attacking and the position is winning in many ways.

(18) Tamkov

29... Rxf5 30. Rxf5 Ne6 31. Rf6 Kh8 32. Ref1 Ndf8 33. Rf7 Bd5 34. Rxg7 Nxg7 35.e6 Nfxe6 36.Qg6 Bxg2+ 37.Qxg2 [The last trap was 37.Kxg2 Nf4+]

[CEWN] 1. =

37... Rb8 38.Qg6 1–0

26


Solutions

(20) Rublevsky,S (2695) — Safarli,E (2660) World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013

(19) Mamedyarov,S (2753) — Nguyen Ngoc,T (2625)

[Solutions]

World rapid Championship, 06.06.2013 [Solutions]

54.Kg7? [54. Rg2+!! Kh6 (54...Kh4 55.R xb2 R xb2 56.Be6+-) 55. Be8! Bxf6 56. Rg6+ Kh5 57. Rxf6++-] 20.Nxc5! Qc8 [20...dxc5 21. Bxb8+-]

54...Kh4=

21.Nxa6 Qxa6 22.c5+-

27


(21) Vasquez,R (2542) — Khairullin,I (2658)

(22) Inarkiev,E (2680) — Al Sayed,M (2498)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

19... Rxf5! 20. Rxf5 Ne7–+

22.Nd8? [22. Rf3 Qc5; 22. Rd3!! Qc5 (22...cxd3 23.Ng5+ Kh8 24.Qxh7#) 23.Nh6+! gxh6 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 (24... B xf8 25.Rg3+ Kh8 26.Qf7!+-) 25. Rf3+ Kg7 26.Qf7+ Kh8 27.Qe8+ Kg7 28. Rf7++-] 22... Bf6!

28


(23) Akopian,V (2691) — Kamsky,G (2741)

(25) Zvjaginsev,V (2659) — Vasquez,R (2542)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

35. Rxd4! Rxd4 36.c7+-

20.Qg6!! hxg5 21. Rh3 Rfc8 22. Re1 1–0

(24) Dreev,A (2668) — Riazantsev,A (2708)

(26) Swiercz,D (2631) — Nyzhnyk,I (2635)



[Solutions]

[Solutions]

25...Qxf6!! 26.exf6 Re1+! 27. Rxe1 Kxh7–+

32... Bxf2+! 33.Kxf2 Qg3+ 34.Kg1 [34.Kf1 Bd3+–+] 34...Qxe1+–+ 29


(27) Fressinet,L (2693) — Sebag,M (2527)

(29) Rinck


[Solutions]

[Solutions]

29.g5! Nxg5 [29...Qxg5 30. Bxf3+-] 30.f4+-

2.Ne6! Kxf7 3.Ng5+! Ke7 4.Nxf3 c2 5.Ng1!! c1Q = [5...Kf6 6.Ne2=]

(28) Delchev,A (2622) — Fedorchuk,S (2660) French league, 08.06.2013 [Solutions]

59... Rd2+! 60.Nxd2 Qf2+ 61.Kh3 Bg2+ 0–1[61... Bg2+ 62.Kg4 (62.Kh2 Bf1+ 63.Kh1 Qg2#) 62...h5+ 63.Kxh5 Qf5#] 30

Editorial Preface Table of Contents Editorial Preface

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3

The Tal Memorial has come to an end. Boris Gelfand is the proud winner of this very prestigious event with 6/9, as he showed very strong and solid play throughout the whole tournament. The World Number 1, Magnus Carlsen, took second place with 5,5/9. The 3rd place was shared by Mamedyarov, Caruana and Andreikin - all with 5/9.

Puzzle section

15

The big surprise of the tournament was the horrible of Vladimir Kramnik, with 3/9.

Endgame section

18

Clash of the Titans

22

The National Championship of Ukraine was won jointly by Ponomariov and Krivoruchko, with 7.5/11. The 3rd place went to Korobov with 7/11.

24

The Super Rapid ”Geneva Masters” is under way with Kramnik, Nakamura, Mamedyarov, Bacrot ...

25

The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix is coming to an end. Before the final round, Koneru is leading the event.

Surprise section / study Solutions

As usual, the CEWN Nr 70 is packed with the most exciting moments of the past week. Enjoy! Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh

2

4 best games of the past week (1) Carlsen, Magnus(2864) - Nakamura, Hikaru(2784) [A13] 8th Tal Memorial(8.5), 2013.06.22 [Balogh Csaba]

like to obtain a healthy piece arrangement by developing the bishop to b7, the knight to d7, followed by a6 and c5, occupying the center. 7.Qb3 Bb7 8.O-O Nbd7 9.d4 a6 Black is ready to push c5, White has to do something against it.

A convincing positional victory by the World Number 1. 1.c4 e6 [We usually reach the game’s position from the following move order: 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 White would like to transpose to the Catalan opening, but by delaying d4, he avoids many long theoretical lines. 4...dxc4 5.Qa4+ c6 6.Qxc4] 2.g3 As usual Carlsen only aims for a more or less non-theoretical, but playable position, where he can slowly outplay his opponent. 2...d5 3.Bg2 c6 Black is now threating to take on c4 as with his last move he prepared to protect the extra pawn by playing b5. 4.Qc2 Nf6 5.Nf3 dxc4 6.Qxc4

10.Ne5! The critical continuation! [10.a4 unfortunately does not stop Black from playing 10...c5! because 11.axb5 could be met by 11...Bd5! and Black takes back the pawn on b5. 12.Qc2 (12.Qd1 12...axb5 equalizes for Black.; White cannot protect his pawn by playing 12.Qa4?? as it would drop the a1 rook after 12...axb5) 12...Be4 13.Qb3 Bd5 is a well-known way to make a quick draw by repetition.] 10...Qb6 Nakamura follows the fresh try of Ponomariov. [More common is 10...Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nd7 but White seems to get the initiative after 12.Bf4 Be7 13.Nc3 followed by Ne4 and occupying the d6 square.] 11.Be3 Because of the d5 threat, Black needs to play c5, but his pieces are not ideally prepared for this break yet. 11...c5 12.Nxd7 Nxd7

6...b5 This setup is quite popular for Black recently. He would

3

playing 17.Rac1! 17...O-O 18.Qc2! White is simply threatening to win the c5 pawn with taking on d6 and then on c5. 18...Rac8

13.d5! This is a standard break in many openings. White wants to open the d-file for his rooks and works out the d5 square for his knight. Black is lacking two tempi (Be7 and 0-0) to solve all the problems. 13...e5?! Nakamura was definitely unhappy with this antipositional decision. White seriously increases his advantage now. First of all he obtained a strong passed pawn on d5 and he can also create some holes in the queenside pawn structure. [13...exd5 is the only try to equalize, as it was played by Ponomariov: 14.Bxd5 Bxd5 15.Qxd5 Rd8 16.a4 (An improvement could be to play 16.Rd1 16...Be7 17.Nc3+= followed by removing the queen from d5 and occupying it with the knight.) 16...Be7 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nc3 O-O 19.b4?! This was an inaccuracy. (19.Qe4+= followed by Nd5 is better for White.) 19...Qf6! 20.Nxb5 cxb4 Black has equalized. Meier-Ponomariov, Dortmund 2011]

19.Bh3!h With a decisive advantage for White. Black is completely paralyzed.] 17...O-O 18.Rac1 exf4 Another sad decision to give up the center, but in a bad position it is hard to make good moves. [Black could not play the logical 18...Rfe8 19.fxe5 as he has no good takeback: 19...Nxe5 (19...Bxe5 loses to 20.d6! The diagonal is suddenly open for the f7 pawn. 20...Qb8

14.a4! White wants to play Na3 next, which forces Black to move with his b5 pawn. Both after taking on a4 or pushing b4, the knight will occupy the c4 hole. 14...b4 15.Nd2c It is hard to get more from the opening than this.

The prettiest finish is 21.Rxf7! Kxf7 22.Nxe5+ h) 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.Bxc5h With a clear extra pawn.]

15...Bd6 16.Nc4 Qc7 17.f4 Carlsen wants to seize the initiative. [It could have been done even more effectively by

19.Bxf4 Bxf4 20.gxf4 White simply wants to advance his central pawns by playing e4-e5. The bad news for Black is that 4

he cannot prevent it, since the only attempt to do it would be f5, but it opens the b3-g8 diagonal and White wins after d6. 20...a5 21.e4 Rae8

computer recommends a brutal way to finish the game: 27.Nf5! 27...Ree8 28.Qg3 Black needs to cover the g7 square by playing 28...Rfg8 but it moves into 29.Nh6 Rg7

22.e5! A terrible picture from Black’s point of view.

30.f5h This position is a nightmare.]

22...Ba6 23.Rfe1 As if he was in zugzwang, Black decides to await his faith.

27...Qb8 28.Qf2 fxg5 is the new threat, because Black cannot take on e5 anymore because of Qf6 check.

23...Kh8 [23...Nb6 Black cannot kick out the knight, since this move simply drops a pawn after 24.Nxa5; 23...Bxc4 does not solve any problem as after 24.Qxc4 Black is still doomed.]

28...gxf4 29.Qxf4 Bd3 Bringing a defender for the king to g6. From now on Carlsen starts to make some really dubious moves, which is very uncommon for him.

24.Nd6 Re7 [24...Red8 loses on the spot after the following little combination: 25.Nxf7+! Rxf7 26.d6!h And the rook is hanging on f7.] 25.Qe3 Carlsen simply prepares an attack against the c5 pawn with Ne4. [He could have palyed for even more with 25.Qg3 The Nf5 threat provokes another weakening: 25...g6 26.Ne4h followed by d6, Qh4 and Ng5. White is winning.] 25...Qd8 26.b3 Before playing Ne4, White deprives Black from playing c4. 26...g5!? Nakamura tries the best practical chance to complicate the matters a bit. 27.Kh1 White prepares for the opening of the g-file. [The

30.Re3? A terrible blunder, which could have cost half a point. [30.Bh3! was the easiest win, with the idea of taking on d7 followed by Qf6, Rg1 and Nf5 mate. Black is helpless.] 5

30...Bg6? [Black misses the chance to get back into the game with 30...Rxe5! 31.Rxe5 (31.Rxd3 31...Qxd6 is fine for Black.) 31...Qxd6 32.Rf5 Qxf4 33.Rxf4 c4! Breaking through on the queenside. Black is suddenly not worse anymore.]

38...f5 [38...Bxb3 is met by 39.Rf5 Black loses the c5 pawn. 39...Ng4 40.Rxc5h] 39.Kg2! It feels like Black should already have counterplay, but it looks as if nothing is working for him.

31.Rf1 Rxe5! This move would have been much stronger a move earlier, but still this is the only chance. 32.Rxe5 Qxd6 33.Re8?! [33.Re3! was better again to have the b3 pawn protected against Bc2 ideas. 33...Qxf4 34.Rxf4 Followed by d6. White is winning.] 33...Qxf4 34.Rxf8+ Kg7! Black gets a much better version now compared to taking back on f8. Carlsen had probably missed this idea when he played 33.Re8. 35.Rxf4 Kxf8 Black is back in the game again. If he gets his king to d6, he might already overtake the initiative, so the next move is forced.

39...c4 [39...Kf7 is met by 40.Rf2! Bxb3 (40...Be4+ 41.Kg3 Ke6 42.Rd2h White succeeds to coordinate.) 41.Rxf5+ Ke6 And the small trick brings home the full point for White. 42.Rxe5+! Kxe5 43.d7h; On 39...Nf7 40.d7 Ke7 41.Rc4 Bxb3 42.Rxc5c White maintains his winning chances.] 40.Bxc4 Be4+ 41.Kg3 Nxc4 42.bxc4

36.d6! Ne5 Nakamura would like to break through with c4, which White prevents with his next move. 37.Bf1! Bc2 [Black should have gone for 37...Ke8! in order to block the d-pawn 38.Bb5+ Kd8 and White should have started to work again to squeeze out some advantage.] 38.Bb5! A great move, making use of the fact that the black bishop must keep control of the f5 square.

42...Ke8 [Unfortunately for Black 42...b3 43.Rf2 Bc2 does not work because of the study-like finish 44.Rd2! Ke8 (44...b2 45.d7h Promoting with check.) 45.c5! b2 (The blockade 6

does not help: 45...Kd7 46.c6+!h) 46.d7+! Kd8 47.c6! Very effective cooperation between the pawns and the rook. 47...b1=Q 48.c7+ Kxc7 49.d8=Q+ h] 43.c5 Bc6 [43...Kd7 44.Rf2 Kc6 White easily wins as the c5 pawn is untouchable. 45.Kf4h] 44.Rxf5 Bxa4 The last task is to stop the pawns, but it is not a difficult one for Carlsen. He brings his rook behind the b-pawn.

(2) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar(2753) - Carlsen, Magnus(2864) [E62] 8th Tal Memorial(9.2), 2013.06.23 [Arkadij Naiditsch] We are at the last round of the Tal Memorial. In case of a win, Carlsen would share the first place but in case of a loss, Mamedyarov would overtake the World Number 1. So the stakes are high.

45.Re5+ Kd8 46.Re7 Bc6 [46...b3 47.Rb7h Black cannot make progress.; 46...Bd7 also loses after 47.Rxh7 b3 48.Rh8+ Be8 49.c6 b2 50.d7h]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Carlsen usually prefers to play the Nimzo or the Queen’s Gambit.

47.Rc7 It should have been an easy 30 moves victory for Carlsen, but he suddenly lost concentration and it was enough for Nakamura to jump out from his cramped position and to almost save the game. 1-0

4.Nf3 d6 5.g3 Mamedyarov is choosing a more "silent" system against the KID. It is obvious that Carlsen is looking for a "fight" in this game and is ready to play a game " all or nothing". So with 5.g3 Mamedyarov is making it clear that he prefers a more "calm" meeting at the chess board.

3.Nc3 Bg7 No Gruenfeld either.

5...c6 A rare move, after 5...0-0 6.Bg2 Nc6 we are of course back in the mainlines. 6.Bg2

6...Bf5 This was Carlsen’s idea: quickly leave the theory, but to be honest, this is looking really strange to me. Can a move like 6...Bf5 be objectively good?! The move is at least looking 7

very unnatural and Mamedyarov will prove us that nobody should make such "jokes" against him in the opening.

structure, but Mamedyarov continues to play a great game.

7.O-O Ne4 That’s the main idea of Bf5. Now the bishop on g7 is getting a bit more active and an exchange of a piece is clearly good for Black. 8.Re1 White is preparing to play e4 in the future. 8...O-O

14.Rb1! A fantastic move! The b7 pawn is very important because it is closing the white bishop from f3. So by forcing Black to play b6 or even winning the b7 pawn, White would reach a big advantage. 14...exd4 [After 14...b6 15.Ba3 White’s initiative is very strong.] 9.Qb3! A very strong move! It forces Black to take a decision. 9...Nxc3 [After 9...Qc8 10.Nh4! Black doesn’t have Nxc3 with tempo anymore. 10...Nxc3 11.Nxf5 And White has a clear advantage.] 10.bxc3 White’s position looks very good! The b7 pawn is hanging and e4 is coming next. 10...Qc8 11.e4 Bg4 We can clearly see that White is doing better, but what to play next? 12.e5!? A strong idea. [To include 12.Rb1 12...b6 13.e5 is also looking very nice for White.] 12...Bxf3 Not a nice move to play, but what else to do? White wanted to play the very unpleasant Bg5 next. [And after 12...Nd7 13.exd6 exd6 14.Bf4! Black would lose the d6 pawn.] 13.Bxf3 dxe5 Black is trying to destroy White’s pawn

15.cxd4 White does not hurry as Black cannot protect b7 and e7 at the same time. 15...Bxd4 16.Qxb7 The b7 pawn is of course more important. We can clearly see that White already has quite a solid advantage. 16...Qf5 What a bluff by Magnus Carlsen! But it might be the best practical decision. [16...Qxb7 17.Rxb7 would lead to a very unpleasant endgame for Black.] 17.Kg2? This move still guarantees White a nice advantage, but [White could have finished the game in one move after 17.Bb2!! 17...Bxb2 18.Qxa8 and White is just an exchange up. 18...Nd7 19.Qxa7 I think the game would be over soon here.] 17...Na6 Now Black is a little bit back into the game. 18.Bh6 White is also back into the game with a strong move. 8

The bishop on h6 is a very irritating piece for the black king, who is now in big danger. 18...Nc5

19.Qxe7?! Once again White misses his chance of finishing the game... [19.Qxc6! This move requires exact calculation, but again it is not too difficult to find. Usually it should have been a piece of cake for Mamedyarov. 19...Rfc8 20.Qxa8 Rxa8 21.Bxa8 And White should be not afraid of Qxf2. 21...Qc8 (21...Qxf2+ 22.Kh1 Nd7 23.Rxe7 simply leads to mate!) 22.Bf3 Whites advantage should be close to winning.] 19...Nd3 20.Re4 Black still needs to play very accurately not to get into trouble again. 20...Bg7?! A strange move. [Why not simply play 20...Ne5! and Black is more or less fine.] 21.Rd1 Bxh6 22.Rxd3 All the white pieces are very active and Black is going to lose at least the pawn on c6.

25...Rfd8! Another great move by Black! It would make no sense to try and keep the c6 and a7 pawns alive as this is simply impossible. Instead Black is trying to create some counterplay. 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Bxc6 Rd2 White is winning both pawns on the queenside, but Black is capturing a very important pawn on f2. 28.Rxa7 Bd4 29.Rd7 Rxf2+ 30.Kh3 Be5 Black’s idea is to play h5-g5-g4 next. 31.Rd5 Bc7 32.Rd7 Be5 33.Rd5 Bc7 34.Rd7 Mamedyarov was probably a bit upset to not reach more than this endgame, but of course even here White could have tried to play on for a win with 33.a4 for example. The position is still quite tricky. I have asked myself many times how Carlsen does it?! It seems like against him, even great tactical players are missing quite obvious hits. :) 1/2-1/2

22...Bg5! A very strong move! Black has to force the queens exchange in order not to get mated. As we know, with opposite colored bishops on the board, the attacking side has an extra advantage. 23.Qe5 Qxe5 24.Rxe5 Bf6 25.Ra5 [25.Rc5 was maybe a bit more precise.] 9

(3) Karjakin, Sergey(2782) - Anand, Viswanathan(2786) [B97] Moscow RUS(9.4), 2013.06.23 [Balogh Csaba] A very sharp theoretical duel in the poisoned pawn variation of the Najdorf. It would be interesting to know the preparation of both players. I can easily imagine that they both have analyzed everything until the last move of this game.

8.Qd2 White has no good way to protect the b2 pawn, since he does not want to play a move like Rb1 as he wants to castle queenside. 8...Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 The starting position of the poisoned pawn variation. White is the first one who has a couple of choices here.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 White goes for the sharpest setup against the Najdorf. 6...e6 7.f4

10.e5 This is the new wave. The old mainline is 10.f5. 10...h6 [10...dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 (11...Nd5 If Black wants to go for this option, it is extremely important to include the h6-Bh4 pair of moves because of the nice tactical trick of 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Rb3 Qa4 7...Qb6 Fischer’s favorite move is the most concrete option for Black with a direct attack against the b2 pawn. On the other hand, Black spends some very important tempi to grab that pawn and his undeveloped pieces led to many quick defeats. However the current theory is so deep here that - having analyzed everything with the strongest computers until move 25-30 - the players with good memory are ready to go for the complications, as the lines are not worse for Black, usually they end with perpetual check. :) In many lines both sides are forced to make only moves, otherwise Black gets mated or White ends up with material disadvantage without adequate compensation.

14.Nb5!! and Black cannot prevent Nc7, while with the h6-Bh4 moves the bishop would be hanging on h4! 14...axb5 15.Bxb5+ h) ] 10

11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nd5 [12...g5 and 12...Nfd7 are also huge theoretical lines.] 13.Nxd5 exd5

14.e6! [14.Rb3 14...Qa4 15.Nb5 Qxh4+ is the point behind playing 10...h6 11.Bh4.; After some "normal" moves like 14.Bd3 14...Bc5 15.Bf2 Nc6 Black develops his pieces and White finds himself being a pawn down.] 14...Bxe6 15.Rxb7 This is the novelty according to my database. [The previous games continued with 15.Nxe6 15...fxe6 16.Bd3 Be7 17.Bg6+ Kd8 Black is already two pawns up, but his king cannot be said to be safe. 18.Bxe7+ Qxe7 19.O-O Creating the threat of Rf7. 19...Nd7! 20.Rf7 (20.Rxb7 was met by 20...Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Ra7! Black has more or less consolidated his position and he still has an extra pawn.) 20...Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Rf8 22.Rxg7 Rf6! And most of the games here ended with a draw after repetition: 23.Rg8+ Rf8 24.Rg7 Rf6]

16.Bb5!! With the threat of Nxe6 and the d7 pawn is hanging. 16...axb5 17.Nxb5 White threa ts with mate on c7 and taking the queen. Black can stay in the game with 17...Bb4! Freeing the f8 square for the king, but he ends up in a bad position after 18.Nc7+! Kf8 19.Rxb4 Rc8 20.Nxe6+ fxe6 21.O-O Kg8 22.c4!c Black still didn’t manage to solve the problem of his king. White has a strong attack.] 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Be2 [17.Bd3 would deprive White from the option he had in the game. 17...O-O White cannot increase the pressure.; 17.Rxg7?? is a terrible blunder because of 17...Bb4] 17...O-O The difference between the previous move and 17.Bd3 is that White has

15...Bd6 Getting ready to castle. [A logical developing move like 15...Nd7 perfectly illustrates the dangers of Black’s position. 18.Qd4! It is not easy to deal with the threat on g7. At first sight, Black has three playable options, but only one of them works... 11

18...Rf7! [18...e5 leads to a worse endgame after 19.Qxd5+ Kh8

22...Qe5 23.Bg3 Qe3+ 24.Bf2 Qe5 25.Bd4!? White could have agreed to a draw, but he tries another deep trick to win the game. 25...Qxh2+ 26.Kf2

20.Kd1!! Avoiding the queen checks on c3 and c1. Black cannot develop his b8 knight, which disturbs the coordination between the pieces. White threatens to play Bd3 followed by Qe4 or Rb3 and the a8 rook is hanging. 20...Rf4! The only move. 21.Rb3! Rd4+ (21...Qxa2 22.Rxb8+ h wins the a2 queen.) 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Rxa3 Bxa3 24.Bf3 Ra7 25.Re1c With material equality, but the bishop pair combined with the more active pieces give White a clear advantage.; 18...Qc1+ is tempting, but it only helps White because after 19.Bd1! Black has nothing else than 19...Rf7 20.Rxf7 Kxf7 21.O-O! Castling with tempo and the queen gets into a pin on c1. 21...Kg8 22.Qb6h (22.Bg4 also wins.) ]

26...Qf4+! Anand finds the last only move and holds the draw. [26...e5? looked good as well, but White has a fantastic win here:

19.Rxf7 Kxf7 20.O-O Kg8 It feels like White should have some crushing move here, but he must lose an important tempo on preventing the threat of Bc5. 21.Qg4 Qe3+ 22.Bf2 [22.Kh1!? was another interesting try, after which Black has to defend precisely with 22...Nd7! (22...Nc6 is refuted by 23.Bf6! Bf8 24.Bd3! With the threat of Qg6-h7. 24...Nb4 25.Bd4! Qg5 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Bg6h Black cannot hold the pressure.) 23.Bd3 Rf8 24.Re1 Nf6! This intermediate move is a key resource in Black’s defence. 25.Rxe3 Nxg4 26.Rxe6 Bxh2 With an equal endgame.]

27.Ke1!! Opening the f-file for the rook, and creating a hidden threat. 27...Nc6 (27...exd4 leads to a forced mate after 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Qe8+ Kh7 30.Bd3+ h) 28.Bg1!! This is the point and suddenly the queen gets trapped. 28...Qh1 29.Bc5h] 27.Qxf4 Bxf4 28.Bg4 White is two pawns down at the moment, but he inevitably wins back the material. 12

28...Nc6 [28...e5 looks like a blunder because of 29.Be6+ Kh8 30.Bxd5 but Black can still save the game: 30...Nc6! 31.Bxc6 Rc8 32.Bb7 Rc7] 29.Bxe6+ Kh8 30.Bxd5

(4) Kramnik, Vladimir(2803) - Gelfand, Boris(2755) [A36] 8th Tal Memorial(9.3), 2013.06.23 [Arkadij Naiditsch] Kramnik played what is probably one of his worst tournaments in the last years, -3 is a very tough result. So we are in the last round and it is clear that White has no ambitions whatsoever to play this game and would be happy with a short draw. How to do it ? Sometimes when you are in a bad shape it is not an easy task at all. This game is about: how to make a draw when you want a draw! :) 1.c4 is one of Kramnik’s main moves and probably also one of the safest ones.

30...Rd8! The last subtlety to get rid of the bishop pair. The game is a dead draw now. 31.Bxg7+ Kxg7 32.Bxc6 Rd2+ 33.Kf3 Rxc2 34.Be4 [34.Kxf4 34...Rxc6] 34...Rc1 35.Rxc1 Bxc1 The 15.Rxb7 novelty was a nice try by Karjakin, but Anand was well prepared. Some slightly weaker player would probably have fallen for one of the many traps, but the World Champion has found all the only moves. 1/2-1/2

1...c5 [1...e5 is a more aggressive reply, but Gelfand does not usually choose it.] 2.Nc3 g6 Black is ready to play quite a fighting line after 3.g3! If White is playing for a draw, this is a great move! Keeping the position symmetrical. [3.Nf3 3...Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 would lead to a fighting position.] 3...Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.e3! Again an excellent choice if you are playing for a draw. [5.Nf3 would lead to a normal, long term play.] 5...e6 With this move Black is making it clear that a draw is also fine with him. 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.O-O O-O We see a total symmetry.

13

13.Bxd5 White’s best try to get something out of the position. 13...exd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Bxd4 We can see that Kramnik reached his first goal of avoiding any kind of complicated positions. Now the question is, can White get any small advantage here or not? 16.Nc7 Rb8 17.Nb5 The a7 pawn is White’s target.

8.d4 cxd4 Black has to stop repeating White’s moves, but not for a long time. 9.Nxd4 White continues avoiding any complications. [9.exd4 9...d5 would again lead to a bit more fighting position.] 9...d5 10.cxd5 Nxd4 A forced move. [After 10...exd5?! 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd2 White’s position is a little bit better.] 11.exd4 Nxd5 As we can see, the position is already very close to a draw.

17...Bb6 18.Bh6 Rd8 19.Bf4 [Another try could have been 19.Bg5 19...f6! The only move. 20.Bxf6 Bxf2+! again seems to be the only way to continue the game. 21.Kxf2 Rf8 22.Re7 Rxf6+ 23.Ke3 Bg4 24.Nd4 Rf7 And it seems that Black is doing perfectly fine. ] 19...Ra8 20.Nc7 Bxc7 21.Bxc7 Rf8 Opposite colored bishops, equal pawns, it is clear that this position should be very close to a draw, but White can still try to "push " a little bit. 22.Bd6 Rd8 23.Bc7 Rf8

12.Re1! A very good move in this particular situation. Now Black has to be a bit accurate in "making a draw".

12...Qb6! As I was watching this game live, I remember that Gelfand played this move almost instantly. Boris still has a huge reserve of prepared lines from the WCC match last year.

24.Bd6 Kramnik continues repeating moves. He really had enough of this tournament. [I am sure that if Kramnik had been in better shape, Black would still have had to suffer for quite some timeafter 24.Re7 With a minimally better position for White.] 24...Rd8 25.Bc7 Rf8 We have no w faced a "start-finish" 14

draw game, which is sometimes the best you can do from a practical point of view... Nakamura for example lost his last 3 games, and maybe a "dry" recovery draw would have been a not too bad result - only from a practical point of view! :) 1/2-1/2

Puzzle section (5) Ponkratov, P(2605)-Khismatullin, D(2658) Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.21 [CEWN] 1... i

(6) Shimanov, A(2664)-Dubov, D(2638) Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.22 [CEWN] 1... i

15

(7) Tomashevsky, E(2709)-Predke, A(2492)

(9) Harika, D(2492)-Kosintseva, T(2526)

Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.23 [CEWN]

WGP Dilijan, 2013.06.24 [CEWN]

1. h

1... i

(8) Andriasian, Z(2610)-Minasian, A(2505)

(10) Onischuk, V(2581)-Pridorozhni, A(2512)

2013.06.20 [CEWN]

Voronezh Open, 2013.06.21 [CEWN]

1. h

1. h

16

(11) Smirnov, P(2635)-Maletin, P(2611)

(13) Mareco, S(2557)-Janev, E(2444)

Izmailov memorial, 2013.06.18 [CEWN]

Varna Open, 2013.06.21 [CEWN]

1. h

1... i

(12) Mareco, S(2557)-Janev, E(2444)

(14) Mekhitarian, K(2544)-Ashwin, J(2472)



1. h

1. h

17

Endgame section (15) Grachev, B.(2683)-Dubov, D.(2638) Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.23 [CE Team]

31.c5! Bc7 32.Rxb8+! Excellent evaluation of the resulting endgame! White transposes to an opposite colored bishop endgame with equal pawns, but the quick invasion of the king on the queenside gives him all the chances to win the game. 32...Bxb8 33.Ke2 h6 Black has to waste an important tempo on advancing the h-pawn before driving his king to the other side of the board. White basically has an extra pawn on c4, since the doubled f-pawns cannot be counted as more than one. However the strong bishop on d4 and the appearance of opposite colored bishops give Black decent chances for survival.

34.Kd3 Kf8 35.Kc4 Ke7

29.Rdb1 White would like to keep his active rook on the 7th rank. 29...Bb6 A natural decision to force some exchanges by closing the b-file, but it allows a clever simplification. [29...Rxb7 30.Rxb7 is also quite unpleasant. Black cannot activate his rook, while White has different ways to make progress. He can for instance play on the light squares by putting the pawns to f3 and g4, driving the bishop to d5 and marching to f5 with the king.] 30.Rxb8 Rxb8

36.Kb5 White is ready to trap the bishop with Kc6-b7! 36...e4! Black uses his only chance to free his bishop, but it costs him a pawn. But in many opposite colored bishop endgames one pawn is not relevant at all. The bigger problem is that after White gets his king to b7 and takes the a7 pawn he obtains two passed pawns on the queenside. [The passive 18

defence with 36...Kd8 37.Kc6 Bc7 38.Kb7 a5 leads to a quick, but nice defeat after

39...Kc7! It was necessary to prevent Kb7. 40.Ka6 f5 The pawn cannot be taken because of Kc6. 41.Bd5 Bg1 42.a4 Bxf2 43.Kb5 The correct evaluation of the entire endgame is based on this position. It looks like White is winning, but let’s check the possibilities:

39.a4! Black is in zugzwang. He can neither move his king nor his bishop. 39...h5 40.h4h And Black doesn’t have any move.] 37.Ka6 [37.h3 It was more logical to keep the h-pawn as it might be useful later on. Ka6 is coming anyway...] 37...Kd8 [37...Bxh2 is met by 38.Kxa7 Bg1 39.Kb7! Bxf2 40.c6 e3 41.Bd3h White easily stops the e-pawn, while the c-pawn will inevitably promote in the next moves.] 38.Bxe4 Bxh2 Black could not stay passively with Kc7-c8 in order to prevent Kb7, because White wins the f7 pawn after Bd5 and he obtains a passed pawn on both flanks, which makes the position easily winning.

43...Kb8 Black is ready to put his king to a7, which is the best chance. [43...f6 Black should rather focus on stopping the queenside pawns than wasting a tempo to protect the uselessf-pawn 44.a5! Kb8 This move is necessary in any case when White plays a6 to prevent a7... 45.Kb6 Bg3 Another obligatory move to have Bc7 against the a6-a7 threat, but it does not help. 46.a6 Bc7+ 47.Kc6 Bg3

39.Kxa7

48.Kd7! Followed by c6-c7 and after Bxc7 a7, winning the 19

bishop and the game thanks to the last standing pawn on g2. 48...h5 49.c6 Be5 50.c7+ Bxc7 51.a7+ Kxa7 52.Kxc7h] 44.Bxf7 [44.Kb6 44...Bg3]

(16) Neverov, V.(2515)-Volokitin, And(2687) 82nd ch-UKR 2013(10), 2013.06.25 [CE Team ]

44...Ka7 45.Bh5 White has all the time in the world to find the ideal place for his bishop, since Black has nothing better to do than waiting. 45...Be3 46.Be2! This is the right diagonal, with the idea to advance the pawn to a6 followed by Kc6-Kd6 and c6 and to have the a6 pawn protected. 46...Kb7 [46...Bg5 Changing the bishop’s diagonal makes no difference. White wins after 47.a5 Bd8 48.a6 Bc7 49.Kc6 Ba5 50.Kd7h and c6-c7.] 47.a5 Bf4 48.a6+ Kc8 [48...Kc7 loses to 49.Bf3 Kb8 50.Kb6 Bc7+ 51.Kc6 White wins as we have already seen in the 43...f6 line.] 49.Bd3 Bb8 50.Kb6 [Black resigned in view of 50.Kb6 Threatening to play a7. 50...Bc7+ 51.Kc6 Bb8 52.Bxf5+ Kd8 53.Kb7h An instructive endgame, which shows the difficulty of opposite colored bishop endgames. We can save many bad positions by escaping into them being 2 or 3 pawns down, but sometimes even with material equality we are just unable to hold. I am pretty sure that Grachev did not know whether the endgame was won or drawn when he exchanged the rooks, but he probably felt that the invasion of his king would give him very good practical chances.] 1-0

A very interesting and practical rook endgame saw the day after move 40. Black will very soon be a clear pawn up, because the white pawn on b5 will be lost. But whether the position is more "losing" or closer to a "draw", this we will find out during the next moves. 40...h6 41.Rc6 [An attempt to make a "barricade" against the Black king would not lead to anything: 41.h3 41...Rxb5 42.g3 And Black has the move 42...g5 anyway, so it’s about the same as in the game.; 41.Rc8! To active the rook would have been a good idea in any case as the rook is not standing on its best position on c6. 41...Rxb5 42.h3 Followed by similar ideas as in the game, except that White would not have lost a tempo by playing Rc8.] 41...Rxb5 42.h3 White wants to play g4 next and exchange all the pawns, so Black is forced to act. 42...g5! Clearly the best winning attempt.

20

43.fxg5 hxg5

44.g3 White is trying to avoid f4 followed by Kh4-Kg3, which is very logical.

52.Rf4+ Kd3 53.Rxg4 We are now in a position where things are very forced. 53...b4 54.Rg8 Rc3 55.Rb8 b3 56.Kf3! White is in time to activate his king. 56...Kc2+ 57.Kf4 And the game should end in a draw.) 48.Rg6+ Kh5 49.Rg8 b5 White has to do something, Black wants to play Rb1 and bring the pawn to b3 after which White will be forced to leave the nice position on g8 with his rook. 50.Rf8 Kg6 51.Rg8+ Kf7 52.Rb8 Ke6 53.Re8+ Kd5 54.Rd8+ Kc4 55.Rf8 Once again White’s only chance is to take the f5 pawn. 55...Rd3 56.Rxf5 b4 57.Rf8 And White seems to be in time again to hold the draw.] 46.hxg4+ fxg4+

44...Rb2+ 45.Kf3 g4+? Quite a mistake! [To check the White king first and only then 45...Rb3+ 46.Kf2 to play g4 would give Black much better winning chances as the white king now has to stand on a passive position on f2. 46...g4 47.hxg4+ Now Black has to decide whether to take with the king or the pawn. Both lines are looking pretty complicated. 47...Kxg4! gives Black better winning chances (47...fxg4 seems to be possible as well, but White should be just in time to make a draw: 48.Rc8! It is very important to activate the rook. 48...b5 49.Rh8+ Kg5 47.Ke4? And White is giving Black the favor back. [47.Kf4! would have been a much stronger move. In comparison to the game, White would now have his king on e5 and not on e4, which makes a huge difference. 47...Rb3 48.Rc8 Rf3+ 49.Ke5 Rxg3 50.Rh8+ Kg5 51.Rg8+ Kh5 52.Rh8+ And here we can clearly see why White’s kings position on e5 is much better. Black doesn’t have Kf6 and is now a tempo down, which is extremely important. 52...Kg6 53.Kf4 Rg1 54.Rb8 And White should easily hold the draw.] 50.Rg8+ Kf5 51.Rf8+ Ke4 The black king has to run to the b-pawn, as it is impossible to hold on to the g4 pawn.

47...Rb3 48.Rc8 Rxg3 49.Rh8+ Kg5 50.Rg8+

21

Clash of the Titans (17) Rubinstein, Akiba-Nimzowitsch, Aaron[A55] San Sebastian(22), 1912.03.19 [Kamil Miton] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 Nbd7 A rare continuation which leads to King’s Indian structures. 50...Kf6! That’s the point! Black is in time to give up the g-pawn and get his own king to e5! 51.Kf4 Rb3 Nobody cares about the g-pawn anymore. 52.Kxg4 Ke5 The black king is on his way to b4, after which the position is theoretically winning.

4.Nc3 e5 5.e4 Be7 Its hard to say what the advantages of placing the bishop on e7 are, instead of the more typical development on g7. Maybe when White will close the center after d5, the bishop can be activated over d8-b6. 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O Re8 8.Qc2

53.Re8+ Kd4 54.Kf4 b5 The black rook from b3 is cutting White’s king on the 3rd rank, which gives Black a clear point! 55.Rd8+ Kc4 56.Ke4 Rc3 Nothing helps White anymore. 57.Rd4+ Kb3 And once again we saw how complicated rook endgames are and how easy it is to make a crucial mistake which makes a difference of half a point! 0-1

8...Bf8 9.b3 I’m not sure if this plan is the best for White. The bishop on b2 looks good only in case Black takes on d4. [9.Rd1+= ] 9...c6 10.Bb2 Nh5 Black is trying to create some weaknesses on the kingside. [10...exd4 11.Nxd4 Nc5 12.f3 And now Black has the typical break 12...d5 When this move works, Black is usually fine. 13.exd5 (13.cxd5 13...cxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Bc4 Qh5 17.Rad1 Bd7) 13...cxd5 14.Rad1 White has the initiative.] 22

11.g3 Nb8?! I understand that Black wants to develop his bishop and launch some play against the white king, but this move cannot be good! Black could for example play b6-Bb7, then later maybe a6-b5 and in case White plays d5 in order to limit the b7 bishop, then the bishop on b2 will have the same problem.

(18.Bxe5 18...Qxe5 19.Rd8 With unclear play.) 18...Bc5+ 19.Kh1 Nd7 20.fxe5 Nxe5 Once again Black has nice compensation.]

12.Rad1 Qf6

16.Nxe5 Rxe5 [16...Ng2!? ]

13.Nb1?! Rubinstein ’s idea is correct, he understands that Black’s development is very bad and that he has chances to break the position in the center but he should have done it in a different way: [13.c5! 13...Bg4 (13...exd4 14.Nxd4 dxc5 15.Nf5 Qg6 16.Bc1 Black has problems with the queen and the knight.) 14.Nh4 (14.cxd6 14...Bxf3 15.dxe5 Rxe5 16.Qd3 Bxe2 17.Nxe2 Rd5 18.Qc2 Qg6 And Black escapes.) 14...Bxe2 15.Nxe2 White is much better!]

17.Bf1 Nd7 18.Qd2 [18.gxf4 18...Qg6+ 19.Kh1 Bg4 20.Bg2 Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Re7 22.Ba3 And I suppose that here it is better for Black to give back the exchange and get compensation because of the dark squares instead of playing 22...c5 because after 23.Nc3 followed by e5, White will get nice play over the h1-a8 diagonal and on the d5 square.] 18...Bxf1 Black wouldn’t have had any problems after [18...Bg4 19.Bxe5 (19.Qxf4 19...Qxf4 20.gxf4 Rxe4 21.Rxe4 Bxd1 22.Rd4 Bg4=+) 19...Nxe5 20.Qxf4 Qxf4 21.gxf4 Nf3+ 22.Kg2 Nxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Rd8n]

13...Bh3 14.Rfe1 [14.dxe5 14...dxe5 15.Nxe5 Rxe5 16.Bxh5 Bxf1 17.f4 (17.Kxf1 17...Qe7 18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.Be2 Na6 Black has full compensation thanks to the weakness of the dark squares.) 17...Bh3 18.Bxe5 Bc5+ 19.Kh1 Qe7 Followed by Nd7. White is a pawn up but his pieces are very badly coordinated and his king is not safe.]

19.Rexf1 [19.Kxf1 19...Ne6 20.Qxd7 Bc5 21.f4 (21.Rd2 21...Qf3 22.Bxe5 Qh1+ 23.Ke2 Qxe4+ 24.Kf1 Qh1+ With perpetual check.) 21...Qh6 22.Bxe5 Qh3+ 23.Ke2 Qxh2+ 24.Kf3 (24.Kd3 24...Bb4i) 24...Bf2 With very unclear play. 25.Reg1 Bxg1 26.Qd2 Qh1+ 27.Qg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Bb6]

14...Nf4 15.dxe5 [15.Bf1 15...Bg4k]

19...Nh3+ 20.Kg2 Ng5 21.f4 Qg6 22.fxg5 Rxe4 [22...Re7 23.Ba3 Qxe4+ 24.Kg1 c5 25.Nc3 White is better because of the weak d5 square.]

15...dxe5 [15...Nxe2+ 16.Qxe2 dxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxe5 18.f4

23

23.Qxd7 Re2+ 24.Rf2 Qe4+ 25.Kg1

Surprise section / study (18) Soukup [CEWN] 1. =

25...Bc5?? A huge overlook and the i mistake. [25...Rxf2 was the correct move. 26.Kxf2 Qc2+ 27.Qd2 Qf5+ 28.Qf4 The only move to avoid perpetual check. 28...Qc2+ 29.Rd2 Qxb1] 26.Bd4 This move is winning too, but it was easier to mate in two moves... [26.Qxf7+ 26...Kh8 27.Qxg7+] 26...Bxd4 [White could have had more problems to find the best move after 26...Re1+ 27.Rxe1 (27.Rf1 27...Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf3+ 29.Ke1 Bb4+ 30.Bc3 Qe3+ 31.Kf1 Qf3+) 27...Qxe1+ 28.Kg2 (28.Rf1? 28...Qe6 29.Qxe6 Bxd4+ 30.Kg2 fxe6 31.Nd2 White has the e4 square for the knight, but on the other hand Black can play a5-a4 to activate the rook.) 28...Qe4+ 29.Kh3 Qxd4 30.Qxf7+ Kh8 31.Qxb7c] 27.Qxd4 Re1+ 28.Rf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Qh1+ 30.Kf2 [30.Qg1 30...Qf3+ 31.Ke1 And the white king will simply escape after 31...Re8+ 32.Kd2h] 30...Qxh2+ 31.Kf3 White is simply winning in this position. 31...f6 32.Qd2 Qh3 33.Qd7 f5 34.Nc3 Qh5+ 35.Kg2 Qxg5 36.Qe6+ Kh8 37.Ne2 Qh5 38.Rd7 Re8 39.Nf4 Rxe6 40.Nxh5 ... 1-0

24

Solutions (21) Karjakin, S(2782)-Mamedyarov, S(2753) (19) Kramnik, V(2803)-Anand, V(2786) Tal memorial blitz, 2013.06.12 [Solutions]

Tal memorial blitz, 2013.06.12 [Solutions]

41...cxd3!! 42.Nf3 [42.Nxc6 42...d2i]

51...Qe3? [51...Nxf4+! 52.gxf4 Qe3+ 53.Kh2 Qxf4+ 54.Kh1 Qxh4+ i]

42...Rc2+ i

52.Bd6=

(20) Caruana, F(2774)-Carlsen, M(2864)

(22) Morozevich, A(2760)-Carlsen, M(2864)



42...Bf2+!! 43.Kxf2 Rc2+ 0-1 [43...Rc2+ 44.Ke1 Qg3+ 45.Kd1 Qd3+ i]

51.Qg5+! Kh8 52.Qf6+! Kg8 53.Nf5! 1-0 25

(23) Mamedyarov, S(2753)-Carlsen, M(2864)

(25) Navara, D(2707)-Hou Yifan(2595)


Prague blitz, 2013.06.14 [Solutions]

17.Nc7! Rxc7 [17...Rab8 18.Rxd7h]

15...Nxe5! 16.Qxd7 Nxd7i

18.Bxc7 Qxc7 19.b4h (24) Kravtsiv, M(2626)-Volokitin, A(2687)

(26) Petrosian, T(2649)-Anurag, M(2401)

Ukrainian Championship, 2013.06.15 [Solutions]

Grand Europe Open, 2013.06.11 [Solutions]

85.Rxd1?? [85.Rxa2h ]

33...Qc1+!! 34.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 0-1

85...a1=Q 86.Rxa1=

26

(27) Smirnov, P(2635)-Bocharov, D(2617) Izmailov memorial, 2013.06.17 [Solutions]

21.Nc6+!! bxc6 22.bxc6+ Nb6 [22...Ka8 23.Qa6 Rdb8 24.Rb7h] 23.a5 Kc7 [23...Qxc6 24.axb6 axb6 25.Rfb1h] 24.Qa6h (28) Cvetkovic, S(2387)-Nabaty, T(2579) Grand Europe Open, 2013.06.11 [Solutions]

17...Qxg3! 18.fxe5 Ng4! [18...Qxc3h ] 19.Qxg4 [19.hxg4 19...Rf2!i] 19...Qxe1+ 20.Kh2 Qxc3 21.Qxe6+ Kh8 0-1 27

Solutions

(20) Shimanov, A(2664)-Dubov, D(2638)

(19) Ponkratov, P(2605)-Khismatullin, D(2658)

Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.22 [Solutions]

Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.21 [Solutions]

41...Qb1+ 42.Kh2 [42.Kf2 42...Qc2+ i] 23...Bxf2+!! 24.Rxf2 [24.Kh1 24...Bb6i] 24...Re1+! 25.Bf1 [25.Rf1 25...Qc5+ 26.Kh1 Nf2+ 27.Kg1 Nh3+ 28.Kh1 Qg1+ 29.Rxg1 Rxg1#] 25...Qc5!i 26.Na4 [26.Kg2 26...Nce3+ i; 26.h3 26...Rxf1+! 27.Kxf1 Nge3+ i]

42...Rh4+! 43.Kg3 Qg6+! 0-1 [43...Qg6+ 44.Kxh4 (44.Kf2 Qxe8i) 44...Qg4#] (21) Tomashevsky, E(2709)-Predke, A(2492) Ekaterinburg, 2013.06.23 [Solutions]

26...Qd4! 27.Kh1 Nce3 28.Bxe3 Nxe3 0-1

31.Nf6+! Kh8 [31...gxf6 32.Qxf6h] 32.Qxe3 Bxe3 33.Nxe8 Rxe8 34.Bc7h

26

(22) Andriasian, Z(2610)-Minasian, A(2505)

(24) Onischuk, V(2581)-Pridorozhni, A(2512)

Asrian memorial, 2013.06.20 [Solutions]

Voronezh Open, 2013.06.21 [Solutions]

25.Nxd5+! 1-0 21.Nf6+! gxf6 22.Qxf6h Bg7 [22...Qg4 23.Qd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8#] 23.Qe7# 1-0 (23) Harika, D(2492)-Kosintseva, T(2526)

[25.Nxd5+ 25...cxd5 26.Qxg5h] (25) Smirnov, P(2635)-Maletin, P(2611) Izmailov memorial, 2013.06.18 [Solutions]

WGP Dilijan, 2013.06.24 [Solutions]

22.Rxf5!! [22.Nxd5 22...Qd8 23.Rxf5 Qxf6 24.Rxf6 exd4=] 35...Rxd5!! 36.exd5 [36.Qxe5 36...Rdxe5i]

22...gxf5 23.Nxd5 Qd7 [23...Qd8 24.Qxf7#]

36...Qxb2 37.R2xe8+ [37.Rxb2 37...Rxe1+ i]

24.Bxf7 Be7 [24...Qxf7 25.Qxd6+ h; 24...exd4 25.Be6+ h]

37...Kg7i

25.Qxe5 Kxf7 26.Nb6 1-0 [26.Qg7+ 26...Ke6 27.Nb6!h] 27

(26) Mareco, S(2557)-Janev, E(2444)

(28) Mekhitarian, K(2544)-Ashwin, J(2472)

Varna Open, 2013.06.21 [Solutions]

Varna Open, 2013.06.23 [Solutions]

17.b4! Qf6 [17...cxb4 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.Rxa6h] 18.bxa5h (27) Mareco, S(2557)-Janev, E(2444) Varna Open, 2013.06.21 [Solutions]

19.Nxe6!! Bxe4 [19...fxe6 20.Qxd7+! Qxd7 21.Nf6+ Kf7 22.Rxd7+ Be7 23.Rxb7 Rxc2+ 24.Kb1 Rxf2 25.Ng4! Rd2 26.Bc4h Rc8 (26...Nc6 27.Rc7 Rd6 28.Rxc6 Rxc6 29.Ne5+ Kg7 30.Nxc6h) 27.Ne5+ h; 19...Qe7 20.Qxd7+! Qxd7 21.Nf6+ Ke7 22.Rxd7+ Kxe6 23.Rxb7h; 19...Rxc2+ 20.Qxc2 Nxc2 21.Nxd8h] 20.Nxd8 Rxc2+ 21.Qxc2 Bxc2 22.Nxf7! Rh2 [22...Bxd1 23.Nxh8h; 22...Kxf7 23.Rxd7+ h] 23.Rd2! h Nc5 24.Rd8+ Kxf7 25.Rxf8+ Kg7 26.Bd4+ Kxf8 27.Bxc5+ Ke8 28.Bxb4h

29...Rxe3! 30.Qc2 [30.Nxe3 Qxg3+ 31.Ng2 Qxb3i] 30...Rxg3 0-1

28

(29) Soukup [Solutions]

1.Rd1! Bf4 [1...e2 2.Rd2+! Ka1 3.Rxe2! dxe2 4.Kd2=] 2.Rd2+!! exd2+ Kd1=

29

cewn 1 à 70

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