The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3: Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill!

The

ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill by

Karsten Muller and

Merijn van Delft

2010 Russell Enterprises, Inc. Milford, CT USA

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill by Karsten M tiller Merijn van Delft

ISBN: 978-1-888690-66-8

© Copyright 20 10 Karsten MUller, Merijn van Delft All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published by: Russell Enterprises, Inc. P.O. Box 5460 Milford, CT 06460 USA http://www.russell-enterprises.com [email protected]

Cover design by Janel Lowrance Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Signs and Symbols

6

Introduction

7

1. Principles and Methods of the Defender la) Chess is not Checkers 1b) Intennediate Moves 1c) Calculate to the End 1d) The Elimination Method 1e) Prophylaxis If) Structural Weaknesses Ig) Do Not Panic Ih) "Being" instead of "Doing"

9 10

12 13 14 16 17

19

2. Defending against an Attack on the King

2a) Counterattack

26

2b) Exchange Attacking Potential

29

2c) Bringing in More Defenders 2d) A Spanner in the Works

33 36

2e) Evacuating the King from the Danger Zone

38

2f) Destroying the Hannony of the Attacking Army

39

2g) Closing Inroads 2h) The King as an Important Defender

42 44

3. Fighting against the Initiative

3a) Counterplay 3b) Tactical Defense 3c) Wresting the Initiative from the Opponent

46 48 51

3d) Neutralizing the Initiative

54

The

ChessC~fe

Puzzle Book 3

4. Perpetual Check

57

5. Stalemate 5a) In the Endgame

60

5al) Second-rank Defense: Rook+Bishop vs. Rook

60

5a2) Bishop versus Rook

61

5a3) Queen versus Rook

63

5b) In the Middlegame

64

6. The Right Exchange 6a) A Very Problematic Rule of Thumb

66

6b) Exchanging Pieces and Changing the Character of the Position

68

6c) An Active Rook Should Be Exchanged

70

6d) A Rook Fighting a Minor Piece Welcomes Exchanges

70

7. Exchange Sacrifices 7a) Russian Exchange Sacrifices

76

7b)B\ockade

79

7c) Opposite-color Bishops

80

7d) A Strong Unopposed Bishop

83

7e) The Initiative

86

7f) Typical Exchange Sacrifices 7fl) The Sicilian Exchange Sacrifice

89

7f2) The French Exchange Sacrifice

91

8. Defense against a Minority Attack 8a) White's Objectives

95

8b) Defensive Motifs against the Minority Attack

97

4

9. Defending Inferior Endgames 9a) Activate the Rook

lO3

9b) The Defender Exchanges Pawns

lO7

9c) The Mighty Passed Pawn

lO9

9d) Fortresses

112

10. The Great Tigran Petrosian

117

11. Easy Exercises

124

12. Tests

131

Solutions Chapter Exercises

164

Easy Exercises

186

Test Solutions

190

Bibliography

216

5

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3

Signs and Symbols

1-0

White wins

0-1

Black wins

Y2-Y2

Draw agreed

+

check

""

mate a strong move

!!

a bril1iant or unobvious move a weak move, an error

7)

a grave error

!?

a move worth consideration an equal position

;!;

White stands slightly better

±

White has a clear advantage

+-

White has a winning position

:j:

Black stands slightly better

=+=

Black has a clear advantage

-+

Black has a winning position

00

an unclear position

00

with compensation

01

Olympiad

m

match

ch

championship

wch

world championship

corr

correspondence game

[W]

White to move

[B]

Black to move

(D)

see the next diagram

6

Introduction I just tried not to make my position worse - and. more importantly, not to make it better. World Champion Contender David Bronstein The book is finally ready! What you are holding in your hands is Part 3 of the ChessCafe Puzzle Book series. Originally this book was planned to come out a bit earlier; but since both authors have been involved with a multitude of chess projects, things have been somewhat delayed. In this regard (and at the risk of being viewed as immodest) we would like to take particular note of Karsten's bestseller, Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games ofthe American World Champion, and Merijn's new book (co-authored with his father), Developing Chess Talent. Chess enthusiasts will find both of considerable interest and they should both be available at chess dealers worldwide. Both authors you say? The ChessCafe Puzzle Books I and 2 were written by Karsten Muller alone. But fans of the ChessCafe Puzzle Book series need not be worried: basically nothing has changed - you are still looking at a good old Karsten Muller product, since he was responsible for the selection of at least 90% of the positions and came up with the basic concept. The expected "who did what" question is easy to answer: Karsten focused on the variations and Merijn on the text. This should not be taken too literally, however. We both checked every move and every word in the book, and even switched roles at times, so it really was a coproduction. The underlying concept was that Karsten's mathematical background and Merijn's psychological background would complement each other nicely. While this should not be taken out of perspective either, we think it worked out well. That we both live in Hamburg, Germany was not essential, in view of modern communication options, but it also did not hurt. So what is this book about? As you may know the first book in this series was about tactics, and the second about strategy. This third book is about defense. It is in fact an area in which Karsten himself felt he could use some improvement. One of the best reasons for writing a book is because you would like to read it yourself. Defense is a special subject. Of course, we all like to attack and win. Who wants to be under pressure, defending, suffering and then lose? Nobody, naturally, but the first step is to realize that defending has many faces. If your opponent has played a desperate, incorrect piece sacrifice for instance, you may have no choice but to defend. And the reward is usually fitting: not just a draw, but a win. There are many more scenarios when coldblooded defense is rewarded with a full point. The world's strongest players are, without exception, phenomenal defenders and legendary fighters. That brings us to our next point: it is all about choosing the right mindset. You need to learn to enjoy defense, to take pleasure from putting up the most stubborn resistance possible. Chess is a game of mistakes; don't worry if something goes

7

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 wrong, just keep on fighting. A positive attitude is essential. Throughout this book, you will encounter positions that appear difficult to solve unless you have an optimistic approach. And that difficulty gets turned up a notch in a real game situation, as there is nobody tapping on your shoulder during the game motivating you to find an unexpected brilliant defensive move! There are two types of defenses - (a) "Heroic," i.e., saving lost positions; and (b) "Casual," i.e., basic defensive technique. Both are of vital importance. For the former you should have enough energy and mental strength to fight hard at the board to make the conversion of the winning advantage as difficult as possible for your opponent, while still enjoying yourself. We hope to give you reasons for this in the present volume by showing how tenacious defense is often rewarded. To be able to master this difficult art fully, you should know the basic defensive techniques and themes, and that is where we start. Principles like "Do not panic" and "unforced thinking" (sometimes also described by the phrase "Chess is not Checkers") playa significant role. If you violate them, then you may pay the price. Instead, you should keep a clear head, try to put the pressure on your opponent and try to enjoy the defensive task at hand. This does not mean, for example, trying to draw by making mass exchanges just for the sake of exchanging. This is not the way the game works. You end up assisting your opponent, and your opponent may sense that you are scared. The art of defense is connected more to concepts like prophylaxis, calm calculation, maintaining confidence and a clear head, as well as elimination (or removal) methods, counterattacking at the right moment and the exchange of attacking or winning potential. Because of the strong influence of computers, chess has become much more concrete and now players are willing to take higher risks when grabbing material. You should participate in this trend and improve your defensive skills and your confidence when playing passive positions. Of course, we all want to win attractive attacking games, but when this approach does not work or is not available, then adjust to the circumstances and defend. The best way to train your defensive skills is to play inferior positions against strong opponents and to analyze the games later. The next best is probably to study the concepts of defense and to solve a lot of exercises. And that is what this book is all about. A final word about the difficulty of the exercises: different readers will experience different degrees of difficulty for the same problems. Not to worry. Do not be concerned if you cannot solve an exercise, if you make mistakes or generally suffer through the solving process. It is not the test results but the training effort that counts and that will help you to become a stronger player. Good luck! Karsten Muller Merijn van Delft Hamburg, April 20 10 8

Chapter 1 Principles and Methods of the Defender 28.~e3

.llf4! and after 29.Axf4 ~xc5 a5 31..lld6 ~c3 32.~xa5 and the opposite-color bishops give White excellent chances for a draw. 25 ... ~xh2+ 26. 'it'fl Ac6! The bishop switches diagonals with deadly effect.

la) Chess is not Checkers

30.~a4

The first important principle of the defender is that you are not forced to take pieces as in checkers. Always have a fresh look at the position and consider your options. In the example below the legendary Garry Kasparov found himself in the unusual role of defender, as he is of course known for his irresistible attacks. He either miscalculated something, or maybe forgot about the "chess is not checkers" principle? 01.01 GKasparov (2775)V.Kramnik (2775) Dos Hermanas 1996 [BI

27.Ag5 The most stubborn defense would have been 27.~a5! forcing Black to find 27 ... Ac7!. 27 ... Ab5+ 28.~d3 ~e8! While Black brings his last piece into play, White is completely helpless although a rook up. 29.~a2 ~hl + There was even a forced mate available: 29 ... ~xd3+! 30.~xd3 (30:i!fxd3 '{;;1hl + 31.~e2 'liYel#) 30 ... '{;;1hl+ 31.~e2 '{;;1g2+ 32.'i&e3 ~xe4#. 30.~e2 Etxe4+ 31.~d2 ~g2+ 32.~cl ~xa2

33.Etxg3 ~al+ 34.~c2 ~c3+ 35.~bl ~d4 0-1 White resigned because of 36.Af6 Axd3+ 37.~a2 Abl +! and mate follows.

24 ... ~xf3! 25.~xf3? This automatic recapture is surprisingly a mistake. Kasparov had to think in an unforcing way and bring new forces to the defense: 25.~a2!! would have been a fantastic second rank defense. The prototype of this defense is a black queen on c7 in the Sicilian, taking care of defending the soft spots on g7 and h7. Black now has nothing better than 25 ... ~xfl + 26.~xfl 'liYxfl + 27.~xfl ~c8

In line with the "chess is not checkers" principle, you have to free yourself from stereotypical thinking. In the following example White was in a somewhat dogmatic positional thinking mode, whereas the position was asking for highly dynamic solutions. 9

The ChessCaje Puzzle Book 3 33.Axc5!! dxc5 34.d6 and the strong dpawn combined with threats against the black king provide White with nice compensation for the piece, for example:

01.02 V.Shishkio (2463) A.Areshcheoko (2575) 73. UKR-ch Kharkov 2004 [W]

34 ... 4Je6 (34 ... 4Je8 35.d7 §a8 36.E:xe4! 4Jd6 37.§e6 §d3 38.4Jf6) 35.E:xe4 4Jf8 36.§e8 §f7 37AJf6. 29 ..• axb3 30.axb3 E!a3 3Vi~jlg2

29.E!ael? This is too slow. It seems that the knight must go to the beautiful blockading square e4. But there are no such forced automatisms in chess. Instead there is a big battle for the initiative going on. 29A~g4! would have been strong and only after 29 ... e4 is there is time for 30.§ael. The calm 30.E:abl also comes into consideration. Now after neutral moves, White can continue with the disturbing 4Jf6. If Black continues to attack on the queenside, a nasty surprise awaits:

31 ..• 8:xe3! Now it's Black who lands the first tactical blow. 32.E!xe3 bxc4 33.E!dl cxb3 34.4Je4 lclb5 The knight does an excellent job in defending both d6 and a3. 35.lcld2? The last chance for counterplay was 35.4Jxc5! dxc5 36.d6 4Jxd6 37.§xd6 since the direct 37 ... b2?! 38.E: xa3 bl'l!!f 39.E:a8+ ~f8 40.E:xf8+ ~g7 41.§ff6! only leads to a draw. 35 ... b2 36.Wf2 36.E:xa3 4Jxa3 37.4Jbl 4Jxbl 38.E:xbl e4 and Black is winning. 36 ... lclc3 37.Wel e4 38.lclb1lclxb1 0-1

30 ... axb3 31.axb3 bxc4 (31...lh3 32.Axc5!! dxc5 33.d6 is similar) 32.bxc4 §a4.

Ib) Intermediate Moves This principle logically follows from the previous one: always be on the lookout for intennediate moves. Both sides can at any point decide to interrupt a seemingly forced variation with an intermediate move (a/k/a a zwischenzug).

10

Principles and Methods of the Defender 01.03 J.Speelman (2597)P.Ricardi (2474) FIDE-weh k.o. Las Vegas 1999 (B]

01.04 S.Bromberger (2505) J.Timman (2565) Gennan Bundesliga 2006 [B)

28 ... Axh2+? Black couldn't resist the temptation to execute the classical double bishop sacrifice. Instead he should have settled for the modest 28 ... 'lil'e7 29.~xh2 -'ixg2 The standard procedure 29 ... 'lil'h4+ 30.~gl .llxg2 doesn't work because the rook is hanging. 30.E!dl! A strong zwischenzug. White refuses to be victim of Black's brilliant attacking play. 30.~xg2? only leads to a draw after 30... 'lil'g5+ 31.~f3 'lil'h5+ 32.~g3 while Black should stay clear of 32 ... .§e5? since after 33.~xf7+! all tactics neatly work in White's favor. 30 ... ~h4+ 31.~xg2 'l11Ig4+ 32.~f1 ~xc4+ 33.~el ~c3+ 34.E!d2 b5 Perhaps Black missed that 34 ... .§d8 is refuted by the strong 35.'lil'c21, 35.~b3 Now White simply is a piece lip. 35 ... ~al + 36.E!dl ~e537.Ab2'l111h238.~d5

30..•Axb2!? The intermediate move 30 ... iic3!? is met by 31..§e7! and now after 31...~xb2 White can take back with 32.~xb2! (In this case 32 ..llb5?? allows 32 ... 'lil'c1 #) 32 ....§xb7+ 33.'§xb7 and as Oliver Reeh has pointed out, Black can't win because of his imprisoned king. 31.Ab5! An intermediate move in both a timely and spatial sense. It not only interrupts the nice tactical flow of moves Black initiated, but also physically blocks the b-file. 31.'lil'xb2? loses to 31. .. .§xb2+ 32.~xb2 'lil'b4+. 31...Ad4 32. ~xb8+! The point ofWhite's previous move: an emergency exit into the ending. 32..•~xb8 33.E!e8+ ~xe8 34.Axe8 Axf2 35.h5 The endgame is easily drawn because of the presence of opposite-color bishops. 35 ••. -'ie3 36.c3 f2 37.Ab5 ~g8

~gl+ 39.~e2 ~g4+ 40.~f1 ~h3+

41. ~g2 ~f5 42. ~c6 ~h3+ 43.~e1 1-0

Ac5 41.Ac6 ~d6 42.Ab7 ~e5 43.Ac6 a5 44.a4 Ae3 45.Ab7 d4 46.cxd4+ Axd447.~f1 Y2""'ll

In the following fascinating example both sides have intermediate moves at their disposal.

A special kind of intermediate move is the desperado: a piece that will be lost anyway grabs some material along the way.

38.~c2 ~f8 39.~dl ~e7 40.~e2

11

The ChessCaje Puzzle Book 3 01.05 A.MilesComputer Deep Thought Long Beach 1989 (B)

01.06 F.Va II ej0 Pons (2686)-

1 ... ~xe4 2 •.Q.xd8?! The stunning desperado 2.'li¥xh6!? would have been more tenacious: 2 ... gxh6 3.~xdB ~xf2 4.§hgl + ~h7 5 ..1.1.£6 (5.§xd6!? cxd6 6.Jlh4 is an interesting try to confuse the issue) even when 5 ... .§.gB! (5 ... M4+? 6.~c2 .\lg5 7.l£ld5I£lxdlB.Ad3+
01.13 Z.Medvegy (2512)K.Miiller (2515) Gennan Bundesliga Hamburg 2007 (BI

would have been more precise.

36... ~d4

24 ... §bcS 25.4Jc6 Here I was convinced that I must counterattack immediately and quickly played 25...~h4?? without checking everything in detail, which turned out to be a big mistake. Black must exchange on c6 first and offer very tenacious resistance: 25 ... .llxc6 26.dxc6 ~h4 27.Axd6 ~xe4 37.b6? After 37.E!bl, Black needs the

Here A.e7 is no longer possible. 28.Ab4

same trick as in the game to keep the position balanced: 37 ... E!a3! 38.b6

~f2!

~g3+1 39.~xg3

E!xg3 40.hxg3 ~e4 37 ... §al 3S.§bl 38.~e2 ~c5! 39.b7 ~c2! is a killing back-ranker. 38 ... 4Jg3+!! 0-1 After 39.hxg3 the rook returns to the h-file

41..§b2

~e3=.

with devastating effect.

29.'l!.i"xf2 ~xf2+ 30.~h2 .§xel 3Ulxel ~d3 32.Ac3 E!xc6 33.E!dl E!d6 34.~g3 E!d5 and the struggle continues. 26.-'txd6 4J xe4 27.Ae7! Now White isjustwinning. 27...4Jg3+ 28.~gl ~4 29.f6 ~h8 30. ~2 ~g5 31.§e5 ~g6 32.§e3 4Je4 33. ~c2 ~xc6 34.dxc6 4Jd6 35. ~xg6 hxg6 36.§cl 4Jc4 37.§ec3 4Jxb2 3S.c7 4Jc4

17

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 the draw as well. 37.Eldc3! would have been the best defense, giving up a rook for the powerful black-square bishop. Obviously it was hard to adjust to the new circumstances. After 37 ... Axdl 38.~xdl Axc3 39.bxc3 ~b6 Black is only slightly better. 37 ... Axdl

38.'§xdl 4)e3 39 . .§dd2 4)xc2+ 40..§ xc2 §b3 41. h2 ~xc3 3.~xc3 Black can put up a stubborn fight for the draw.

36

Defending against an Attack on the King Exercises (Solutions on page 170) E02.14 I.Nataf (2553)M.Bluvshtein (2462) Montreal 2004

E02.16 A.Giri - M.van Delft Den Bosch blitz 2009

[W] Things don't look good here; is there a way out?

[B) In Giri-Van Delft played in the 2009 Dutch blitz team championship, the most frequently seen moves were consistently (but unknowingly) played from moves 6-16. Then 17.E!g3 was a novelty, but still analyzed by Bologan in his book The King s Indian - A Complete Black Repertoire. What refutation does Bologan give?

E02.15 A.Suetin - V.Bagirov 31. URS-ch Leningrad 1963

[B] Black has not reacted very well to a creative queen sacrifice and is in extreme danger. Can you see a way out?

37

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 2e) Evacuating the King from the Danger Zone

02.11 V.Belov (2595)A.Dreev (2650) 9th Aeroflot Open Moscow 2010 [B)

Sometimes the king's residence is about to be ovemm and the only defense left is to bailout. That would be by running away immediately or having to open a flight route first. 02.10 J.Stocek (2518)V.Neverov (2569) Prerov2001 [B]

Dreev solved the problem immediately: 17... ~d8! After 17 ... e6 18.0-0 ~d6 19.:8ae1 Black must do something for his king anyway, but then White's knight can come quickly: 19 ... 'it'd7 20.'tIilhl 'tJc7 21.4Jg4 with a slight initiative. 18.0-0 'it'c719.a4 19.'it'h1 can now be answered by 19 ... 'it'b8 20.4Jg4 ~g7 21.:8ael e6 22.4JeS :8c7=. 19... ~b8 20.1i,b5 e6 21.1i,xc6 ~xc6 22 . .£id3 Yl-Yl and a draw was agreed as Black is certainly not worse after 22 ... Ad6.

34 ... dxe5? The king cannot survive in the middle. There was a very pretty and surprising way to bring it to safety: 34 .. .'~d3+ 35.~al O-O-O! and Black is fine. Suddenly castling queenside on move 34 has greatly accelerated the evacuation of his king. 35.E!xe5+ 'it'f8 36. ~hl ~g7 Inserting a check on d3 wouldn't have helped either: 36... ~d3+ 37.~al ~g7 38.!'1g5+ ~f6 39.~h6+ 'tIile7 40.:8eS+ 'it'd7 41.'l£yhl! 'tIild6 42.:8el! creating a winning attack by moving both pieces backward! 37.E!g5+ ~f6 38.~h6+ 'it'e7 39.E!e5+ ~d7 40.~d2+ ~c6

Sometimes the king can sUlvive deep in enemy territory - the so-called "steel king." 02.12 V.Gashimov (2759)A.Grischuk (2736) 7th World Team Championship Bursa2010[B]

41.~d41-0

The safety of the king is an extremely important factor in the middlegame and you should always take this into consideration and take measures, if necessary: 38

Defending against an Attack on the King At first sight Black seems to be in great danger, but Grischuk has calculated precisely that this is an illusion: 29 ... ~a4!! After this brilliant move, the attack is over as the king heads for a safe haven. Losing is 29 ... ~xh5? 30.axb4+ ~xb4 31.gxh5 (Van DelftlRis in Chess Vibes Openings) 30.axb4 30.§f4 wouldn't help either, as after 30 ... \(;hh5 31.gxh5 (31.§.xb4+ ~xa3-+) 31. .. 4::\a2+ 32.§'xb4+ 4::\xb4 33.axb4 §.d8 Black is technically winning. (Van Delft/Ris) 30... ~xd3 31.~a5+ ~b3 White has run out of checks, while he has to deal with mate and the hanging bishop. 32.Eixc3+ ~xc3+ 33.Ad2 b6! A strong zwischenzug, forcing White to give up control over e5. 34.~xb6 ~e5+ 35. ~dl J1,b7! Returning material is the easiest way to bring the rooks into play.

36.~xb7

Eihd8 37.Eif3+

~a2

38.Eif2

38... ~bl!Touchdown! 39.~f3Eiac8 Threatening mate on el, so White is forced to play 40. ~b3+ ~b2 41.~xb2+ ~xb2 0-1 after which Gashimov resigned, as he can't prevent entering a lost pawn ending after §'c2 and§'xd2.

Exercises (Solutions on page 171) E02.17 V.Anand (2735)V.Kramnik (2765) Las Palmas 1996

E02.18 B.Gelfand (2695)J.Polgar (2718) George Marx Memorial Pacs 2003

[B) This position from the Sicilian Rauzer was a topical in the mid-1990s, with White trying a direct attack on the black king. What was Kramnik's instructive way to tum back the attack?

(W] The White king is in grave danger, and it seems impossible to escape. Can you find a way out?

39

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 21 .•. fxe6? Now White's attack kicks in.

21) Destroying the Harmony of the Attacking Army

Surprisingly, in the middle of this raging attack, Black has time for 21...E!e8! which lends extra support to the essential e6-square and leaves White at a loss for a convincing attacking move. 22.E!e4 (22.E!efl fails to the strong zWischenzug 22 ... Ah4! which completely destroys the harmony of White's army) 22 ... .Q.xe6 Now after the spectacular 23.E!xe6!? (23.Axe6 fxe6 24.'~fxg6+ .l1g7 and the attack has come to a halt) 23 ... fxe6 24.'lli'xg6+ Ag7 25.E!f3! (the rook has stable squares on the third rank) 25 ... ~d7! (after 25 ... b5 26.E!h3 Black has to find the preventive 26 ... \t>f8! 27 .E!f3+ ~g8 leading to a repetition of moves) 26.Eif6! (26.E!h3? E!e7! was Black's point) 26 ... b5 27.Axe6+ Eixe6 28.E!xe6 E!f8 Black comes out on top. 22.E! xe6! Very powerful. 22 ... ~g7 After 22 ... 1be6 23.~xg6+ the bishop on e6 lacks support: 23 ... 'lli'g7 (23 ... Ag7 24 ..llxe6+ with a quick mate to follow) 24 ..llxe6+ E!t7 25.Axt7+ ~f8 26.~xf6 and White has won back everything with interest.

As we have mentioned before, your opponent's attacking set-up might look more impressive than it really is. Sometimes there might be a way to disrupt the harmony between his pieces. The right push at the right place might throw some ofthe pieces out of balance, after which the attack loses momentum. The following example illustrates this concept.

02.13 V.Anand (2725)B.Gelfand (2700) Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee 1996 (B]

23.E!xe7+ Axe7 24.E!xf8 Jtxf8 25.h4! 1-0 The white attack simply continues.

40

Defending against an Attack on the King Exercises (Solutions on page 171)

E02.19 I.Nepomniachtchi (2587)S.Brynell (2501)

E02.20 A.Anderssen - P.Morphy Paris 1858

Corns C Wijk aan Zee 2007

(B) Can you find a way to embarrass White's attacking position?

(B) Black's position is very tough to handle: he is facing a giant pawn on d6, his king is in trouble and counterplay seems far off. Can you find Black's only defense?

41

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 2g) Closing Inroads

save the bishop, which leaves his king rather helpless. 3Vi!filbl The following line illustrates well the power of Black's attack: 31.'it>b2 ~xa3+ 32.'it>c3 ~a5+ 33.~c2 ~a2+ 34.'~c3 .§c8+ 35.'~b4 Ad8!. The Najdorf bishop that often just quietly sits on e7 doing a useful job keeping the Black position together, now joins the attack with decisive force. 36..§al Aa5+ 37.'it>b5 .§b8+ 38.~c6 (or 38.g5! 40.f6+ .tlf5 41.!!f2 il1e5 42.il1d2+ 'it>g6 and finally the black king is safe, not in the least because he did a good job defending himself. 35 ... ~cl+

We would like to finish this chapter with a final, significant principle, one that was already pointed out by the first official world champion Wilhelm Steinitz: The king itself should be considered a defensive unit. In Hodgson's terms, the king should be added to the box of defenders (which is compared to the box of attackers). On a related note, Hodgson, among others, gives the king four points for practical purposes, i.e., stronger than a knight or a bishop, but weaker than a rook.

36.'i&h2 .§h8+ 37.Wg3 §ag8+ 38.Wf2 .§xg2+! Such a sacrifice comes naturally. 39.Wxg2 ~hl+ 40.Wf2 §h2+ 41.'i&g3 ~gl + 42.Wf3 .!£)d4+ and White had seen enough. 0-1 In the next example the king can defend itself almost singlehandedly:

02.16 E.Berg (2539) -A.Graf(2605) EU-chT 15th Gothenburg 2005 [BI

02.17 A.Shirov (2719)P.Svidler (2754) World Cup Khanty Mansiysk 2009

34 ... 'i&f7! After the more passive 34 .. .'ot)f8? 35.'~g6 !!a7 36.f5 lieS 37.'~h6+ 'it>gS 3S.!!e3 Black gets duly mated. 35.§ xd5? This allows Black to take over the initiative. White had to try 35.il1h7+ ~xf6 36.il1xd7.

[BI 23 ... ~a7! 24.ldf6+ Wh8 24 ... 'it>g7?? runs into 25AJeS+ 'it>h6 26.il1h4*. 25.~h4Wg7!!

44

Defending against an Attack on the King "This spectacular move (Steinitz would be delighted!) parries White's attack, and Black keeps a decisive material advantage." (Krasenkow in CBM 134) 26.E{e3 26.4::lh5+ 'it'fB 27.'ljH6 ~xf2+ 28. ~xf2 4::lxf2 29.~xf2 gxh5-+

(Krasenkow) . 26,..§d6 27.E{f3 h6 28.4Je4 §xd5 29. ~f6+ Wg830.E{c3 4Je5 31.E{f4 ~xa2 32.Wh2 ~e2 33. ~h4 §a6 34.g4 g5 35 . .£J xg5 hxg5 36.t\'xg5+ E{g6~1

Exercises (Solutions on page 172) E02.23 J.Fang - J.Rizzitano Newton 1984

[WI Blackjust took on h3, what to do?

E02.25 E.Liss (2513) - I.Smirin (2652) Tel Aviv 1999

[B] White thinks he is attacking, but nothing is further from the truth. How did Black continue?

E02.24 S.B.Hansen (2499)M.Kopylov (2421) Intemational Hamburg-ch 1999

(B) Where would you put your king, defending this position as Black? 45

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3

Chapter 3 Fighting against the Initiative 34 .•. a3! After a spectacular and basically winning combination, the young Carlsen played some sloppy moves and now Black can fight his way back into the game. With the text, Kotronias opens up the white king's position, which guarantees enough counterplay. 35.hxa3 35.'ll-f'xa3 §a7 is not possible. 35 ... gxh6 Eliminating this dangerous passer is one step closer to safety. 36. ~xe5 A better try might have been 36.~bl but after 36 ... §xf6 37.'ll-f'xe5 ~f2 White doesn't seem to have anything better than a perpetual either. 36... ~d3! After this final key move, there is nothing left for White but to give a perpetual. 37. ~eS+ ElcS 3S. ~e5+ Etc7 39. ~eS+ EtcS 40. ~e5+ Yl-Yz

3a) Counterplay Having discussed the direct attack on the king and how to defend against it, we now turn to the more general theme of the initiative and how to fight it. The initiative is a central concept in chess, and yet not a very easy one to explain. The initiative cannot be seen, it can only be felt. The side that dictates matters on the board is said to have the initiative. Indeed the initiative can often lead to an attack on the king, but it does not necessarily follow that it does. Especially on an amateur level, having the initiative is a most powerful weapon, because most people do not know how to defend properly or simply do not feel like defending; they lose heart and with it the game. In this section we will examine this tricky subject and we will see that it is not as difficult as one might imagine. If your opponent is in possession of the initiative, the first thing you need to do is to see if you can get some counterplay.

Often correct defense comes down to precise calculation. In the following example Black had everything under control because of his strong passed pawn that provided enough counterplay:

03.01 M.Carlsen (2581)V.Kotronias (2599) Calvia Olympiad Mallorca 20041B)

03.02 M.Kaminski (2395) H.Stefansson (2495) Cappelle la Grande 1993 IB)

46

Fighting against the Initiative 1 ... exd3! This is not a gamble, but based on accurate calculation. 2 ..11.a7 The obvious reply, emphasizing the strength of the pawn on b7. 2 ... E!xb7!! Black can give up some heavy material, since by now his own passed pawn has become very strong. 3.~ x b7 d2

4.~xd7 ~xd7 liz-liz It all fits very neatly: the white bishop obviously cannot interfere and the white rook has no access to a I. White will have to return his queen, after which a dead equal position remains.

Exercises (Solutions on page 173)

E03.01 C.Hansen (2626)GHertneck (2572) German Bundesliga 2002

E03.02 U.Kunsztowicz (2305)K.MiiUer Hamburg-ch 1988

[B) Black looks fairly tied up by the dominating pawn on d7. Is he able to create counterplay?

[B) What would have been the correct way to create counterpJay?

47

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 110 ... ~e7! 111.g6 ~f8 with a wellknown fortress. 107 ... .£)f6 108.§.g7 Af4109.§.f7 Ag5110.~c5 .£)e4+ 11 O... {)xg4 111.'it>d6 {)e3 112.mS+ AdS 113.c7 e6 {)e3 (124 ... 'it>c7 125.Eif5 AdS 126.g5 wins.) 125.fif7 'it>dS 126.Eid7+ ~cS 127.Eig7 d7137.Eixh6 Axh6+ 13S.~xh6 'it>e7 139.~g7 winning. 120.13g7 .£)h3120 ... ..Q.d2121.g5! hxg5 122.h6Ac3123.c5 (of course 106.Ei xd6? Ae7 is the point) 106... xe5 {)xd7+ 109.cxd7+ 'it>xd7 110.g5 and now the easy-to-miss 48

Fighting against the Initiative remaining knight is helpless against the white passed pawns. 121 ... l£lxg5 122.~g6 ~c7 123.~xh6

l£lf7+

124.~g71-0

The following example underlines the importance of always keeping a cool head. Black panicked because he had missed White's last move (10.Ag5) and felt obliged to resign. 03.04 J.Mueller - S. Tidman Bunratty Masters 2007 [B)

After the hidden tactical defense 10 ... jtb4! it's even Black who has the upper hand. The obvious 10 ... Ae7 would also have been better than resigning since 11.-'1.xe4 (after 11.Axe7 ~xe7 the bishop on e4 is indirectly defended again) 11...Axg5 12. ~c3! Winning back the pawn. 12 ... c6 13.-'1.xc6+ ~xc614.~xc6+ ~f815.~f3 admittedly gives White the initiative, but nothing is decided yet. 11.c3 11. ~xb4 'l£fxg5 and -'1.e4 is indirectly defended. 1l.J1xd8 Axd2+ 12.~xd2 Axg2 winning back a rook. After 11.-'1.b5+ every legal move except 11.. .'it'f8 does the job. 11 ... ~d5! 11...Ae7 still works as well. 12.l£l0 12.Axe4 '«Yxe4+ is with check. 12.cxb4 Axg2 again wins back a rook. 12... Axd313. ~xd3 Ad6 and it does not look like White has enough compensation for the gambit pawn.

49

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 Exercises (Solutions on page 174) E03.03 R.Antonio (2540)P.Roca (2365) Yangon zt 1998

E03.05 V.Bologan (2620)A.Onischuk (2657) Biel1999

[B] Can you keep Black's shaky position together?

(B) This is a known theoretical position from the Petroff Defense. Why doesn't Black simply lose a piece here?

E03.04 J.Becerra Rivero (2500)H.Spangenberg (2530) Matanzas 1994

[B] Black has many options, but only one of them keeps him in the game. Can you spot it?

50

Fighting against the Initiative 3c) Wresting the Initiative from the Opponent In the best case scenario, you can even wrest the initiative from your opponent. This is comparable to a "steal" (intercepting the ball) in basketball. Again, you need to believe in your chances while defending in order to be able to take over. 03.05 M.Chandler - U.Andersson Sarajevo 1985 [B)

17...d4! A typical pawn sacrifice to bring the powerful bishop on c6 to life. Black is comfortable from this point on. IS.e7 tfJIxe7 19.Axd4 Axd4 20. tfJI xd4 tfJIg5 21. tfJIc4+ hS 22.tfJle2 h6! Black's compensation is of a positional nature, which means that he can take the time to improve his king's position. 23.h3 .§.ceS 24.tfJlg4 tfJId2 25.tfJlg6 §.xf1+ 26.§.xfl §.el 27.'§'xel tfJIxel+ 2S.h2 tfJIcl 29. tfJIf5 Y2-Yl The fight for the initiative usually already starts in the opening: 03.06 S.Dolmatov (2608)S.Sivokho (2469) [C78] Chigorin Memorial St Petersburg 2000

15 ..•f6! The legendary defender Ulf Andersson is not going to 1"'ait in this position and let White play f6 himself. For example: 15 ... b5? 16.f6! gxf6 17.Ah6~h818.exf6.Q.xf619.-'txf8and

Af6 is hanging. 16.exf6 Of course not 16.fxe6? fxe5; 16..Q..d4 fxe5 17.Axe5 d4! is similar to the game. 16 ... j},xf6 17.fxe6

1.e4e5 2.4)£3 4)c6 3.Ab5 a64.Aa4 4)f6 5.0-0 b5 6.Ab3 Ac5 7.a4 §.bS S.c3 d6 9.d4 Ab6 This is a well-known position from the Archangelsk Variation of the Ruy Lopez. As in almost any opening, White has decent chances for a theoretical edge, but a player like Shirov can be found on the black side of the discussion. Black tends to have "laser bishops" on b6 and b7, which gives his position great counterattacking potential. Ten years ago Dolmatov came up with an interesting new concept for White in this position.

51

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 10.a51? The psychology behind this move can only be understood if we have a brieflook at the main line first. In that line, 10.axbS axbS 11.4Ja3 0-0 12.4JxbS Ag4, Black has sacrificed a pawn for smooth development in the best gambit traditions. The black king is safe and his pieces are in perfect harmony. White does have to solve concrete problems and he is very far from cashing in on his (backward) extra pawn on b2. Without special preparation, White can easily end up worse. Now, objectively speaking, lO.aS!? shouldn't be a problem for Black, but often it will be White who sacrifices a pawn for active play. Black, who may have been looking forward to a game of attacking chess, suddenly is forced into the role of defender, something he may have problems adjusting to. 10..• ~xa5? This definitely gives White the initiative. lO ... Aa7 l1.h3 0-0 l2 ..ile3 fla8! (l2 ... exd4l3.cxd4 4Jxe4 l4.~c2 ~e8 lS.4Jc3! with excellent gambit play. l2 ... 4Jxe4!? l3.,ildS exd4 is a complex alternative that tends to leave White with an edge after the complications are over, starting with l4 ..ilxe4 dS lS.4Jxd4) 13.4Jbd2 Ab7 14.flel fle8 is the correct way of playing, as in Anand-Shirov, Wijk aan Zee 2010. 1l.gxa51 A strong positional exchange sacrifice. 1l ••. Axa5 I2.dxe5 ~g4 After 12 ... dxeS l3.~xd8+ ~xd8 l4.4JxeS the majority of black pieces are under attack.

B.Ag5! The point, as Black is now forced to seriously weaken his kingside. B ... f6 l3 ... ~d7 14.e6! fxe6 lS.4Jd4 is even worse. I4.exf6 gxf6 I5.Ah4 and the stage was set for a nice attacking game by White. I5 ... c5 I6.h3 h5 I7.4)bd2 gb7 I8.Ad5 gg7 I9.e5 ~xe5 20.,£)xe5 dxe5 2I.4)e4 gh6 22. ~f3 ggg6 23.gdI 'i.fjlf8 24.Ae6 ~e8 25.Axc8 ~xc8 26.Axf6 'i.fjlg8 27.Ag5 ~f8 28.~xf8+ 'i.fjlxf8 29.Axh6+ gxh6 30.~xc5 Ab6 3I.~d7+ rlJe7 32.~ xe5 ge6 33.~d3 gd6 34.h4 rlJf6 35.rlJf1 rlJf5 36.g3 a5 37.rlJe2 ge6+ 38.~d2 gd6 39.geI ~g4 40.ge4+ ~f3 4I.gf4+ rlJg2 42.gf5 b4 43.c4 Ad4 44.gxa5 Axb2 45.gxh5 Ac3+ 46.rlJc2 rlJf3 47.gb5gd448.~xb4gxc449.~d3

gc8 50.gf5+ rlJg2 51.4)c2 ~h3 52.~e3 jlb4 53.h5 gc6 54.gb5 Ac5 55.h6 jlxe3 56.gh5+ ~g4 57.gh4+ ~f3 58.fxe3 gd6+ 59.lit'c4 gd8 60.h7 gh8I-0

52

Fighting against the Initiative Exercises (Solutions on page 174) E03.06 C.Horvath (2519)Yu Shaoteng (2535) Budapest 2000

E03.08 A.shirov (2746)Y.Anand (2762) FIDE-Wch k.o. New Delhiffeheran 2000

(W] White enjoys a material advantage, but is therefore seriously lagging in development. Is there a way to wrest the initiative from his opponent?

[BI Positions that normally lead to a win, no longer do so against the world's best defenders. How did Anand save himself here?

E03.07 A.Shirov (2751) - Y.Akopian (2660) Merida 2000

[BI In positions with opposite-color bishops, the initiative usually counts for a lot. How should Black proceed?

53

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 3d) Neutralizing the Initiative

03.08 S.Rublevsky(2658) J.Polgar (2681) Russia-The World Moscow 2002 IB]

Related to the previous subject is neutralizing the initiative before it can be fully developed. 03.07 L.Kritz (2549) B.Macieja (2613) EU-ch 6th Warsaw 2005 (B)

16 ... 11,g4! Giving up the pair of bishops to catch up in development is by far the best practical decision as Black gets some activity. The retreat 16... .§.d8? is strongly met by 17.'l~d +and White's position plays itself. 17.lil b5 17 .,a,xg4?
170

Solutions E02.16: 17 ... .!fjb4?? If you chose this move as I (MvD) did in the game, you score no points since that just loses. 17 ... i;\tf7 is a decent option scoring some points, but the maximum points go to the amazing 17 ... ~g4!! and suddenly Black takes over. 18.Ae3 .!fjcd3+ 19.~d2 .!fjxf2 2O.~gl.!fjxh3 21.'§xg6 .!fjxg122 . .§gxg1 and soon: 1-0

E02.17: 17 ... .§fe8! An excellent decision, creating a flight route for the king via f8 to e7. 18. ~e2 In case White tries to break through anyway, he has to give up his very important blacksquare bishop, which gives Black strong central domination, while his king will be perfectly safe: 18.Axf6? Axf6 19J!xh7+ ~gB 20.~h5 ~xf4+ 21.~bl ~f8 and Black is clearly better. 18 ... h6J Again based on cool judgment, since White is not going to give up his important bishop on h6. 19 . .§f1 ~g8! Now White has to decide on his bishop's future. 20 ..\lh4 .!fjd5 It is clear that Black has won the opening battle and his position is in fact slightly preferable. E02.18: 21.§d8+!1 A fantastic way to open a escape route for the king. A nice find by Gelfand, considering the fact that it was a rapid game. There were certainly other moves to choose from, but all of them leave Black with a strong attack. Taking on b7 right away allows mate in two: 21.i;\txb7?? Ae3+ 22.'~bl 'iiia2#. 21 ... ~xd8 After 21...'iiixdB? 22.'I¥rxb7 0-0 23.c3! the white king is perfectly safe. 22.~xb71 A double rook sacrifice like in the old days! 22 ... ~al+ 22 ... .Ile3+ doesn't work anymore since after 23. ~dl i;\tal + 24.\te2 all black pieces are hanging.

23.~d2 ~xh1 24.~b8+ ~d7 25.~b7+ 25.i;\txhB? ~xg2+ 26 ..ile2

i;lt'g6! leaves Black with the initiative.

25 ... ~d8 Now the position is completely balanced. After a tense struggle, in which both sides played for a win, Black eventually came out on top. 26 •.!fjg5 J,te3+ 27.~xe3 ~e1+ 28.~f3 ~xgS 29.~b8+ ~d7 30.~b7+ ~e8 31.~b8+ ~d8

32. ~x b4 h5 33.Axa6 f5 34..\lh5+ ~f7 35. ~d6 ~g5 36 ..\le4 ~e7 37.b4 ~xd6 38.exd6 .§d8 39.bS .§xd640.~e3~e741.Ad3gS42.e4

f4+ 43.~e2 eS 44.Ae4 §d4 45..\ld5 e4 46.b6 e3 47.b4 .§d2+ 48.~e1 ~d8 49.b5 g4 SO.Ae4 §b2 51.Ad5 h4 52.h3 f3 S3.gxf3 g3 S4.f4 g2 SS ..\lxg2 §xg2 S6.eS §b2 0-1 E02.19: 18•.. .\la6? After this move the position remained highly unclear, but Black could have gone for the tactical IB ... 4Jxe4! 19.dxe4 (19.i;lt'f3 4Jd6! 20. i;\txa8 ~b7 and the white queen does not get out alive) 19 ... i;\tb5 20.i;lt'e3 and here the powerful 20 ... ~a6! is a rude awakening. Now Black wins back the piece without his queen being trapped. After 20 ... i;\txb2 21.§.fbl ~c2 22 ..ilb3 the black queen is snared. 19.e4 ~e7 20.§f3 .§ad8 21 . .§g3 ~h7 22 . .§f1 .\le8 23 ..\lb1.!fje8 24.e5 g6 25.Ac1 §h8 26.§g4 .!fjg7 27 . .!fjg3 .!fjfS 28•.!fje4 ~g7 29 ..1lb2 .\lb7 30..!fjd6 .\le6 31.d4 Axd6 32.d5 Ac7 33.d6 ~e8 34.dxc7 §c8 3S.J;\.xf5 exfS 36.§g3 Ae4 37. ~h4 ~e6 38.§d1 ~h7 39.§d6 ~xe4 4O.§dxg61-0 E02.20: 39 ... e31 Morphy found the only move to stay in the game. In fact this little pawn move disturbs the coordination between the white pieces; they suddenly look a bit clumsy. 171

The ChessCaje Puzzle Book 3 39 ... Ei cS? 40. ~f6! is even stronger than it might look at first glance. 39 ... ~gS? 40.Eig3! is another nasty one. The rook cannot be taken because then the dpawn is through. 40.l3.xe3? Anderssen cracks completely. It was time to save the half-point with 40.~f6 Eixc4 41.~fS+ EigS 42.~f6+=. 4o ... l3.xc4 41.tlYf6l3.c1+ 42.'iflh2 tlYxf4+ 0-1 E02.21: 44 ... l3.g5!! A great example of closing inroads. Either the g-file will be closed or the white queen will be distracted from the diagonal to b8. 44 ... ~xh4+ 45.~xh4 Eifxf6 is roughly equal and the immediate 44 ... l1.g6 45.'~'bS+

~g7

46.~gS+

~xf6

(46 ... ~h6 47.~fS# is a nice mate) 47.'~h8+ wins back the queen with an equal position. 45. tlYxg5 After 45.hxg5 Eie3 46.~g4 ~e5+ 47.~hll1.f7 Black remains two pawns up. 45 ... .11.g6 46.4)g4 l3.e8? Unfortunately Black starts to slip. 46 ... h5 47.4Jf2 ~f6 still keeps a technically winning position. 47.h5 .11.e4? This loses the house. 47 ... Af7 was needed, so that after 48.c1 e3!. Without this little guy White would survive, but now it's all over. S.~e1 Ac3, winning.) 2... Axd4 Here another major effort is needed for White to stay in the game; the key move is 3.i.H5! (3.~c2? e3 leaves Black dominating) and after 3 ... c2+! 4.~xc2 ~a2+ 5.~dl ~b1 + 6.'it>d2 ~d3+ 7.~c1 ~c3+ S.~dl 'l!1xb3+ 9.~e1 ~b1 + 10.'~d2 White is still hanging in there and the following attempt doesn't change that: 10 ... e3+ l1.~e2 i£yb5+ 12.~d3 ~xd5 13.Eif4! 'l!1g2+ 14.~dl =. 1 ... e3! A truly elegant introduction to what is about to follow. 2. tlYxe3l3.f4!! 0-1 A hammer blow of the most powerful sort. 2... Eif4!! 3.~xa7 Eixf1+ 4.'~a2 Eial#. What a picture! E02.23: 21.gxh3? Now Black's attack becomes really serious. The white king should have defended f3 itself with 21.~f2! which allows Black to give a perpetual with 21...Axg2 22.'it>xg2 'l!1h2+ but nothing more. 21 ... tlYxf3+ 22.'iflgl tlYxh3 22 ... f8! since after 27.~xd7 (27.exd5 EieS is now clearly better for Black) it enables the strong centralizing 27 ... EieS! when it's White who has to start thinking about damage 172

Solutions control with something like 28.~f5 Jtc6 29.~xc5 dxc5 30Jk4 f5 31.Elxc5 fxe4 32j~e2 and Black is slightly better. 27.exd5!? Understandably, White tries his luck in the attack. Objectively stronger might be 27. ~xd7 ~c6 2s.~xc6 ~xc6 29.Eld4 with a clear advantage in the ending. 27 ....(~'e3! The only move to stay in the game. Here 27 ... EleS 28.~h4!just loses as the white queen combines attack (h7) with defense (el). 28.§.a1 §.dd8 29 ..~h5 ~g7 30.'l!\'xh7+ ~f8 31.§.f1 So far Black has done well in a difficult position, but now he cracks under the enduring pressure. 31 ... ~e7? After the cool 31...~e5 it's not clear whether White has more thanjust compensation for the exchange. 32. ~h4 §.h8? Now White wins by force. 32 ... ~g5 still gives chances for survival. 33.'{11{xf6+ ~d7 34. 'l!\'xf7+ ~d8 35.J1.f51-0 E02.25: 22 ... ~f7! The black king is not afraid and clears a square for the queen on g8. 23.!3.h3 'l!\'g8 24.§.h8? This tactic just does not work. The natural alternative 24.fxg6+? ~xg6 25.~xg6+ ~xg6 26.Elh6+ 'it'f7 27.Elh7+ 'it'xf6 2S.Elfl + also fails to 2S ... .f'lf4 29.~xf4 exf4 30.Elxf4+ and here any legal king move wins. It turns out that only the modest retreat 24.~g2! keeps White in the game. 24 ...gxf5! And suddenly it becomes clear that White isn't winning the queen, which leaves Black simply a piece up. 25. 'l!\'g7+ 'l!\'xg7+ 26.fxg7 Ad7 0-1 Chapter 3 E03.01: 36... ~h7?! Not a bad move in itself, after which the repetition of moves is a natural outcome of the game. Because of some deeply hidden tactical

details though, Black had even better at his disposal: 36 ... h3+!! would have been the introduction to a fantastic winning sequence. 37.'it'fl (taking the pawn with 37.~xh3 allows the brilliant 37 ... E!.xd7!! 38.~xd7 [3S.E!.xd7 ~xf3 is the same] 3S ... ~xf3 with the deadly threat of Elh6. Now after 39. ~cS+ ~h7 40.~f5 the undefended position of the white rook decides the issue: 40 ... ~xdl with a technically winning position.) 37 ... ~xf3!! Here Black can even allow his rook to be taken with check, because of the powerful little guy on h3. 3S.~xdS+ ~h7 39.~gS+ (39.~h4+

E!.h6 40.dS~ h2! also wins) 39 ... ~xgS 40.d8~+ ~h7 41.~d3 ~g2+ 42.~e2

And now this position only wins because of 42 ... Elf6! (the immediate 42 ... h2 doesn't work because of 43.~f3) 43.~e3 h2 and White is helpless. A remarkable set ofvariations! 37.§.h1 Preventing the nasty little pawn move. 37 ... 'l!\'e7 The right decision as well, keeping the dangerous d7 under control. 38.§.d1 'l!\'f6 39.§.h1 t}fe7 4O.§.d1 t}ff6 Y~Y:z E03.02: 25 ...fxg6?? This blunders a piece. With 25 ... E!.c6! Black could have created a so-called "swinging rook," taking advantage of the exposed white king position. After White's strongest reply, 26.Ah5!, (instead, 26.gxt7+ E!.xt7 27.Jlxe4 dxe4 28.~xe4?? allows 2S ... ~g5+ 29.~g2 E!.g6! 30.~xg5 Elxg5+ 31.'itlh2 E!.f6! mating) Black can give up the exchange with 26 ... Elf6! 27.gxf7+ ElSxf7! 2S.Axf7+ 'it'xf7 29.E!.c7+ ~gS and White won't be able to prevent the perpetual with E!.g6-h6. 26.a4! An unpleasant surprise. 26 ... !3.c4 26 .. .'~d7 27 ..!txe4 ~g4+ 2S.Ag2 doesn't work either. 27.§'xc4 t}fxc4 28.t}fxc4dxc4 29.J1.xe41-0

173

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 E03.03: 17 ... Ae7! A very strong tactical defense. After other moves, White gains the upper hand: 17 ... exf5?? l8.~xe8+ ~c7 19 ..\ld8+ is the tactical defense White based his play on. 17 ... Ab4? l8:l~txf7 bxc4 (18 ... Axel 19 ..\lxe6! ~b8 20.~xd7 gives White a winning attack) 19. ~xd7+ 'it'b8 20.Af4+ 'it'a8 21.c3 and now the sacrifice on c3 doesn't give Black full compensation. lS.Axe6?! This just isn't enough. The most stubborn defense would have been the queen sacrifice 18.Axb5!? exf5 19.Axd7+ 'itJb8 20.Axe7 ~xe7 21.§xe7 and Black still has to show some good technique after 21...~xa2 22.c3 ~d8 and Black is clearly better. 18 ..\lxe7?? doesn't work because of the simple l8 ... exf5 lS ...fxe619. ~g4 .Q.xg5+ 20. ~xg5 ~bS There is nothing wrong with 20 ... ~xa2. 21.~xg7 .£lb6 22.Etxe6 Etxe6 23.~xhS+ .£le8 24.a3 ~e7 25.l3.d3 ~f4+ 26.~b1 l3.el + 27.~a2 ~e4+ 2S.l3.b3 a5 29.~e3 ~f1

by Becerra Rivero and Moreno. This leaves us with the only move to keep hope alive: l...~ xf2!! The rook that was hanging on f7 anyway, gives itself up for the greater good. 2.'it'xf2 ,llxd3 3.§xd3 Axd6 and Black has done a great deal of damage control. 2.~xe5! Now it's all over. 2 ... l3.fd7 After 2... ~ff6 3.§xd6 §xd6 4.~h8+ W the worst is yet to come for Black: 5.Ae5! winning. 3.~hS+ ~fi 4.ru3+ ~e7 5.~gSl-0

30.~g3+~a731.l3.d3.£lb632.~b3 Ete4 33.~a2 Ete1 34.~b3 .£ld5 35.a4 l3.e4 36.e3 bxa4+ 37. ~e2 l3.e1

E03.06: 16. ~e3 This one can be found by means ofelimination. 16...Ae517.b4! The key move, throwing the Black pieces off balance. The twin variations l7.~xe5?? .\lxf2+ and l7.~g5?? ~f3+! l8 ..\lxf3 Axf2+ show White is walking a tightrope. Additionally 17. ~c3 .\lb4 18. ~e3 Ac5 only leads to a draw. 17...Axb4After17 ...~xb4l8.~xe5the aforementioned variations are no longer available. lS.0-0! Now white is simply an exchange up. lS....Q.e319.l3.b1 Ae2 20.Etb7 4Jg4 21. ~xa7 ~e5 2l....\lxd2 22.~xa5 Axa5 23.§b5 regains the piece. 22 ..£lf3 ~xe2 23.l3.bS.Q.b4 24.l3.x b4 1-0

3S.~g4 ~xf2+

39.l3.d2 .£le3+

40.~d3~f1+0-1

E03.04: 1 ... l3.xd6? This loses immediately. 1...Ae7? 2.~g3 .\lxd6 (2 ... §xd6 3.~xe5! is the same) 3.~xd6! ~xd6 4.~xe5! ~ff6 5.§xd6 ~xd6 6.~xf6 ~xf6 7 ..\lxf6 with a winning ending according to Becerra Rivero and Moreno in Informant 62. 1.. ..\lxd3? 2.~xf7 Axe4 3.~d8 with a winning attack. 1...~d7? 2.~c4 ~xd3 3.§xd3 .\lxc4 4.~d8 ~b4 5.'itfc1!! 'it'f7 (5 ... Aa6 6.Aa3 wins) 6.~xc4 ~xc4 7.bxc4 with a technically winning position. A pretty finish would be 7 ... §d6 8.~xf8+! ~xf8 9.Aa3 ~e7 10.f4! as again pointed out

E03.05: 20 ... Ab1!! A very elegant tactical defense. The bishop moves with gain of tempo, disconnecting the white rooks and thereby creating back rank problems. 20 .. .f5? also saves the piece since the white f-pawn is pinned, but it does leave the initiative with White after something like 21.§ad1 ~c4 22.h3!? 21.'l\?tel 21.§xe8+ ~xe8 doesn't change anything. 21. .. .Q.f5 Black is perfectly fine. 22.~d1 'l\?txd1 23.l3.exd1 l3.adS 24.f3 ~g7 YI-YI

E03.07: 26 ... ~a4? This allows a nasty tactic. 26 ... d3! would have been a good start. After the forced sequence 174

Solutions 27.§xd5+ (27.cxd3? c2 and 27.§)(d3? don't work) 27 ... exd5 28.§xd3 ~c1+ 29.'it'g2 ~xc2 it is White who should start looking for a perpetual with 30.~d4. 27.§.xe6! Crashing through. 27 ... §.xg3+ This is good damage control, but White still gets a technically winning position. 27 ... Axe6 28.§xd4+ wins the queen. 27 ... 'it'xe6 28.§el + 'it'd7 29.~xe7+ ~c6 30.~d6+ wins the house. 28.hxg3 4)f5 29.i:/h7+ 'it'xe6 30.i:/g6+ 'it'd7 31. i:/ xf5+ 'it'c6 32. i:/f6+ 'it'c5 33.i:/e7+ 'it'c4 34.i:/e5 'it'c5 35.f4 b5 36.f5 'it'c6 37.i:/f6+ 'it'c5 38.i:/e5 'it'c6 39.§'xd4 i:/al + 40.'it'f2 i:/hl 4l.§'xd5 i:/xd5 42.i:/xc3+ 'it'd6 43.i:/d3 a5 44.'it'e3 a445.i:/xd5+ 'it'xd5 46.'it'd2 b4 47. 'it'c1l-0 ~c1 +

E03.08: 24 ... g5! A moment ago it looked like White was in possession of the initiative, but now he has to worry about keeping his kingside together. 24 ... §hc8?! 25.§xc8 §xc8 26.1='!.xb7 4:Jd8 27.1='!.b6 is still unpleasant for Black. 25.g3 h5! Again very much to the point. 26.§.bx b7 §. xb7 27.E!. xb7 h4 28.'it'g2 hxg3 29.hxg3 gxf4 30.gxf4 E!.h4 3l.'it'g3 E!.hl! The black rook and knight are a surprisingly effective duo in this position, as will be illustrated by the following variations. 32.'it'g2 White sensibly decided to repeat moves. 32.Ab5? 4:Jd4 33J1.e8 is refuted by the cool 33 .. .'M8! and now 34.lixf7?? blunders apiece to 34...§h7. 32.§b64:Jd4 33.§a6?? also blunders a piece, since after 33 ... §dl the bishop is trapped in the middle of the board! 32... E!.h4 33.'it'g3 §.hl34.'it'g2 %-Yz E03.09: 29 ... E!.h5! Black kept a cool head and found a creative rook maneuver to neutralize the pressure.

30.c6 §.d5! Returning the piece, but also forcing the exchange of one pair of rooks. 31.§.xd5 exd5 32.E!.xd5? Faced with such stubborn resistance, White goes too far! A perfect example of how good defense can win you games. The normal course of the game would have been 32.cxd7+ §xd7 33.~xa5 §c7+ 34.~bl ~e4+ 35.~al 'ffi'c4 with an equal position. 32 •.• 4)f8! An unpleasant surprise. 33.§.xd8+ 33.§e5 4:Je6! leads nowhere. 33 ... i:/xd8 34. i:/e5+ 4)e6 0-1 E03.10: 22 ... §.fc8!! A very dynamic solution, sacrificing the pawn to get counterplay along the b-file. After 22 ... b5? 23.4:Jc5 as 24.~d2 White enjoys the superior minor piece. 23.'it'd2 White realizes that he should keep the files closed. 23.g2 fide8 35.fie3 ~e7 36.~xe2 dxe2 37.~xe2 fid8 38.fie5± fid4 39. ~e3 ~d7 40.fie3?! f6 41.fie7 ~e8 42.h4 'it>h7 43. ~c5 fie4 44.~a7 fixe7 45.~xe7 fic846.~d6 fid8 47. ~c5 fie8 48. ~d6 Yz--~ E06.05: 20.'it>hl?? This runs into a direct attack. 20 ..llxg6? is also wrong as Black gains control after 20 ... hxg6 21.~xg6+ 4Jg7 22.~hl ileS 23.~g4 ~f6. The attacking potential must be reduced by 20 ..£\e2! .£\xe2+ (20 ... .£\c6? 21.c£Jg3±) 21.Axe2 ~c7 22.ild3 and Black has enough compensation for the exchange but not more. 20 ... ~h41 21.'it>gl fif8 22.~e2 Now it is too late for this because of 22 ... ~ xf3+ 23.fixf3 fixf3 24.~g3 fixf2l? 25.'it>xf2 ~xh2+ 26.'it>e3 ~xg3+ 27.'it>d2 e5 28.fifl ~f4 29.fihl Ah3 30.'it>el e4 31.Axe4 dxe4 32.fidl ~e6 33.'it>bl ~f8 34.fid8

~el+ 35.'it>a2 Ae6+ 36.b3 ~f2 37.fid2 ~f3 38.~g5 ~c3 39.fie2 M5 40.'it>bl h5 41.fig2 ~f3 42..§g3 ~e60-1

E06.06: 22 ... 'it>f7? This allows White to keep all the rooks on the board, with his rooks active and Black's passive. The tactical trick 22 ... §eS! almost equalizes as 23 ..§ xf6+?! runs into 23 ...'!:le7 24 ..§c6 ~d7 25 ..§f6 ~e7=. So White must try something like 23 ..§c6, but after 23 ... .§adS he is only very slightly better. 23 . .§e6 .§d7 24•.§el ~e7 25.Eke6 ~d5 26.a5

26 ... fib8? Too passive. Black must try to exchange pawns and to get some prospects for his rooks with 26 ... bxa5 27.c£Jxa5 .§bS 2S.c£Jc4 ~g7 even ifhis queens ide structure is weakened. But activity is much more important here as a rook usually gains a lot in strength if it can be used to create counterplay. White remians for choice after, e.g., 29.h4 of course. 27.axb6 axb6 28.~d6+ 'it>f8 29.e4 ~c7 30 ..§xf6+ 'it>g7 31.~e4 fie7 32.fif3 b5 33.b3 bxc4 34.bxe4 fib4 35 . .§e3 ~e8 36 . .§ee3 .§c7? 36 ... h5 is more tenacious. 37.~g5 fie8 38.h4 Even the mating attack 3S . .§e7+!? ~f6 39.'§xh7 is playable: 39 ...~xg5 40.§f3 .§xc4 41.h4+ ~g4 42 . .§ff7 '§c2 178

Solutions 43.fl,f4"". 3S ... h6 39.4)e6+ ~f6 40.4)f4 ~f7 41.:5£3 :5b7 42.:5ce3 4)d6 42 ... 4Jf6 43.4Jd5 fl,c6 44.fl,e5 +43.4) xg6+ 1-0 E06.07: 36 ... :5bbS? Too passive. White's pressure against fT will be very difficult to deal with. Counterplay with 36... fl,xd2 37.fl,xd2 g5! (Lutz in CBM 92) is the order of the day: 3S.fl,d5 g4 39.4Jd2 fl,bS=. 37.:5xdS+ §.xdS 3S.Ac4 4)fS? This just wastes valuable time. Black's last chance is to try to get some activity with 3S ... b5!? 39.Axb5 g5. 39.:5a7 4)e6 The rook exchange 39 ... fl,d7?! runs into 40.fl,xd7 4Jxd7 41.e6! 4Jf6 42.e7 4JeS 43.il.b5 +(Lutz). 40.:5b7 :5eS 41.:5xb6 4)fS 42.4)g5 :5e7 43.f4 4)d7 44.:5b7 ~fS 45.4) xf7 4) xe5 46.:5bS+ 1-0

~xd7 54.AfT Af2 55.il.xg6 \t'c7 56.g4 fxg4 57.~xh5 il.xh4 5S.~xg4 Jlf2 59.t>g5 'ft1f5+ 38.~h6 'li¥f8+ with a perpetual) 36 ... 'ft1gl + with a perpetual. 34.h2 h5 35.~xg6+ fS 36. .Q.d6+ E!e7 37.~f6+ eS 3S.~xe7+ 1-0 2 points for 35 ...§'xh4+! !. TOS.03: 22 ... .§e5! With this accurate move Black even turns the tables. Of course not 22 ... hxg5?? 23.4Jf6+ gxf6 24.'ft1h7#; 22 ... '>t>hB and 22 ... §.e7 get 1 point each. 23.f4 .§f5! A weird square for the rook, but it's all based on precise calculation. 24.g3 24.4Jg3 g6 25.'ft1e2 §.xf4-+ 24...g6 25.~h4e41 Black is not in a hurry taking the knight. 26.h2 After 26.4Jf3 Ae7! the queen gets trapped: 27.ifyxh6 (27.~g4 h5-+) 27 ... ..Q.xe4 2B ..\lxe4 §.h5 -+ . 26 ... g7

196

Solutions 27. ~g4 hxg5! Now the knight is taken under more favorable circumstances. 2S.4)xg5 .§xg5 29.~xg5 ~b6! Pinning the rook on e3. 30.f5 J1e7 31.~f4 ~xb2 32 . .§xe7 ~xc2+ 33.'§1e2 ~xf5 34.~xf5 gxf5 35..§e8 .§d7 36 . .§d2 ~f6 37.~g1 4Je5 38.~f24Jd3+ 39.~e3J1c640 ..§bS .§e7+ 0-12 points for 22 ... §e5!. TOS.04: 104 ... ~e4? The wrong direction. After 104 .. stg4 105.§g6+ ~h3 Black's active forces cannot be defeated, e.g., 106.§g5 (106.f5 114 107.g4 §b2+ 10S.~f3 §b3+ 109.~f4 §b4+ 110.~e5 §xg4=) 106 ... h4 107.gxh4 (107.g4 §b2+ 10S.~f3 §b3+ 109.~e4 ~g3=) 107 ... ~xh4 10S.§gS §a3109.f5§a5=.105.~g2!Theking

must join the battle. The greedy 105.§xh5? §b2+ 106.~gl ~f3 107.§g5 §bl+ 10S.~h2 §b2+ 109.~h3 §bl= spoils it. 105 ... .§b2+ 105 ... §b5 106.~h3 ~f3107.~h4 §b1 10S.§xh5+106.~h3 ~f3 107..§xh5 .§g2!? sets a trap.10S ..§g5? Now the rook is in the way of White's escape route. Only 108. ~h4!! wins as Black cannot avoid the rook exchange after 10S ... §xg3 109.§g5+-. 10S... .§g1109.~h2 .§g2+ 110.li£lh1 .§f2 111..§g6!? White threatens to advance his pawn in typical fashion 111 ... .§a2? The king had to retreat immediately with 111... ~e4 to stop the advance of White's pawns, e.g., 112.~gl §a2113.§b6~f3114.§b3+

't'g4 115.~f1 §c2 116.§e3 §a2 117.§e2 §a3=. 112.f5 .§a5 113.f6 .§f5 After 113 ... §aS!? White also has to improve his king first: 114. ~gl (114.f7? is refuted by 114 ... §fS 115.§g7 ~f2!=) 114 ... §bS115.f7 §fS 116.§g7~e4117.g4't'e5118.g5We6

119.g6

~f6

120.§gS+-. 114. Ii£lg1 !

Now White's pawns will decide the day. 114... ~e4 115.g4 .§f4 116.li£lg2 li£le5 117 .g5 ~f5 118 . .§g7 ~e6 119.~g3 .§f1120.~g41-0 3 points for 104 ... ~g4. TOS.OS: 26 ... 4Jh5! A clever way of wresting the initiative from White. The knight is untouchable for obvious tactical reasons. 27.4Jce4 27.§xfS+!? §xf8 2S.§xfS+ JlxfS 29.4Jxh5 ~xh5 30.~e1 gxh3 31.~e6+ ~f7 32.'€Yxh3 is almost equal. 27 ... 4Jxg3+ 28.4J xg3 gxh3 29.b3 .§aeS 30.~h2 .§xf5 31..§xf5? 31.4Jxf5! ~e5+ 32.'t'xh3 ~hS 33.~h6 gives White good drawing chances. 31. .. .§e5?! The preventive 31...h6! would have been strong. 32. ~g5! Reducing the pressure by taking off the queens. 32 ... ~xg5 33.Jlxg5 4Jc2! Keeping up the pressure. 34.Jld8? This runs into a tactical shot. 34.~d2 and 34.Af4 were much better practical chances. 34... 4Jd4! 35 ..§f4 .§e3 36..§g4 ~f7 37 . .§e4 .§xb3 0-1 2 points for 26 ... 4Jh5!. TOS.06: 32 ... 4JeS? This simply loses. 32 ... 4Jg4+' 33.~f3 (33.'t'e2 §e6+ 34.~f3 [34.4Je4 §xe4+ 35.~f3 §ed4=] 34 ... 4Jh2+ 35.~g3 §gS+! gives Black a nasty initiative as well) 33 ... §f6+!! A fantastic piece sacrifice giving Black an enduring initiative: 34.~xg4 §g8+ 35.~h5 §xf2 36.§a6+ (36.4Jf5 §xf5+ 37.~h6 §f3 38.~h7 §g2 39.§d5 §h3+ 40.§h6 §hg3 41.§dS+ ~b7 42.§d7+ ~c8 43.§a7 ~bS 44.§e7 §xa2=, Glek) 36 ... WbS 37.4Jf5 §xf5+ 3S.'it'h6 §f2 39.~h7 §fg2=. 33.4Jb5 Effectively unpinning the knight. 33 ... .§h3+ 34.~e21-0 2 points for 32 ... 4Jg4+ and 2 more for 33 ... §f6+!!.

197

The ChessCaje Puzzle Book 3 T05.07: 38.~xf7+! All other moves are fairly hopeless, but this queen sacrifice saves the draw. 38... Etxf7 39.Etc8+ ~g7 and in view of 40.Etxf7+ ~xf7 41.Etc7+ ~e8 42.Etc8+ ~e7 43.Etc7+ ~d8 44.Etc8+ = Yz-Yz a draw was agreed. 1 point for 38. ~xf7!. T05.08: 27.g3! Staying calm and simply blocking the g-file turns out to be most effective. More concrete moves tend to backfire: 27 ..£\d6+? ,1lxd6 28.E!.e8+ ~b7! 29.~xc4 E!.xg2+ 30.~hl E!.xh2+ 31.~gl E!.g2+= with a perpetual (Mikhalevski). 27.Axe7? E!. xg2+ 2S.~hl E!.g4 29 ..£\d6+ cxd6 30.~fS+! ~b7 31.~d7+ ~aS 32.'~1C8+ ~a7

33.~c7+ ~aS 34.Axd6 E!.g8 3S.,a,g3 .ilg4 36.E!.d2 ~xc3 is better for White, but gives Black too much counterplay. 27,..Etg4 28.~f3 j'ta3 29.4)d2 ~xa4 30.4) xb3 Etg8 31.4)d4 Ad7 32.Eta1! 1-0 1 point for 27.g3!.

Test 6 T06.01: 20 ... ~b6!The only way, other logical moves fail: 20 ... .£\xal? 21..£\f7+ ~g8 22 . .£\xdS lhxdS 23.~xc6+-; 20 ... AxeS? 21.dxeS ~b6 (21..A::\xal 22.'~xc6 E!.cS 23.~xdS ~xd5 24.AxdS .£\b3 25.AgS +-) 22. ~xb6 .£\xb6 23.Af7! .£\xal 24.AgS ~g7 2S ..ilxe8 E!.xeS 26.E!.xal E!.xe5 27.Ae3+-. 21.4)f7+ 21.~xc6? ~xc6 22 ..£\xc6 doesn't work because of 22 ... .£\b6! 23.Af7 .£\xa124.AxeSE!.xe8. 21 ... ~g8 22.4)h6+ ~h8 23.4)f7+ 23.~f7? is met by 23 ... §e7 when only Black can play for a win: 24.AxdS §xf7 2S ..£\xf7+ ~gS 26.Ac4 h6!? 23 ... ~g8 24.4)h6+ ~h8 25.4)f7+ Yz-Yz 1 point for 20 ... ~b6!.

T06.02: 26 ... Af5? This meets with powerful refutation. The counterattack 26 .. .'~·f4! draws by force: 27.Ac4+ (27.E!.xc5? dxcS 28.Ac4+ ~xc4 29.g6 ~e4+ 30.~fl hxg6 31 ..£\xg6 llb7 -+; 27.§c4 ~xh2 2S.g6 ~xf2+ 29.~d2 hxg6 30.~xg6+ ~h8=) 27 ... Ae6 2S ..ilxe6+ .£\xe6 29.~xe6+ ~h8 30.§xc7 ~xh2 31.-tlfS ~gl + 32.~e2 ~xg5 33 ..£\xd6 E!.xf2+! 34.~xf2 ~d2+ 35.~f3 ~d3+= (Ftacnik). 26 ... ~g7? doesn't work either: 27 ..ac4+ ~hS 2S . .£\g6+! ~xg6 29.~xfS+ ~gS 30.~xg8* 27.Ac4! Distracting the black pieces. 27 ...d5 27 ... Ae6 2S.g6 hxg6 29.§g2+-; 27 ... .£\d3+ 28.~d2 d5 29.g6 Axg6 30.Axd3+-. 28.g6! The key move, opening files against the black king. 28 ... hxg6 2S ... .ilxg6 29.-tlxg6 hxg6 (29 ... ~xg6 30.Axd5+ ~hS 31.~xg6 hxg6 32.§xc5 +-) 30.§g2 +- 29.Etg2 dxc4 30.4) xg6 102 points for 26 ... ~f4!. T06.03: 20 ... Etc8! After this counterattacking move it turns out that White's king is in fact the more exposed one. 21.4)e4 Etc4 22.4)g5+ ~g6! A very cool reply. 23. ~g3 4)h5! Another accurate move, leaving Black firmly in control. 24.~f3 24.~xeS §g4+ 2S.~f2 ~g2+ 26.'\t'el §xg5 27.AxgS ~xgS leaves Black on top as well. 24:~'h3 '£\f4! only makes matters worse. 24 ... ~xf3 25.4)xf3 Ad6 26.Etadl Ab8 27.Etd2 Etg4+ 28.Etg2 Etxg2+ 29.~xg2 4)f4+ 30.~hl 4)e2 31.Af2 e4 32.4)h4+ ~g5 As they say, endings are better for Black in the Sicilian. 33.Ete14)f4 34.Etxe4 Etxh4 35.Axh4+ ~xh436.a4e5 37.axb5 axb5 38.c4 ~g4 39.cxb5 ~f3 40.Etc4 e4 41.Etc8 Ad6 0-12 points for 20 ... §cS!.

198

Solutions

T06.04: 23 ... Ag4! Throwing a spanner in the works. 23 ... ~h8? 24.~xe5+ ~g8 25.~xe6+

~h8

26.~e5+

~g8

27.§c3+-; 23 ... ~f7? 24.4:Jg5+ ~e7 25.~xe5 ~f6 26.§c7+ Vrfixc7 27.>{lfxc7+ .ild7 28.~xb7 §c8 29.d7 32.Af4 ~xf4 33.~xc2 ctJxg5+ 34.~f2 ~xg4 35.~e2! "and White is by no means worse" (Shirov); 27.E!xd2 ~bl + 28.i11f1 ctJf3+ 29.'it>f2 ~x£1 + 30.'it>x£1 ctJxd2+ 31.'it'el ctJe4=. 1 point for 26 ... ~e4!.

'it'f5 with good winning chances: 31 .••h6 32. .§c8+ ~f7 33.g4? White has no time for this. 33. ~f1 + was called for, but Black keeps winning chances after 33 ... ~f5 34.g4 ~xf1 + 35.~xf1 E!d2. 33... ~e4 34. .§c4 ~d5 0-12 points for 31.~c2!. T07.08: 41..§xg7? 41.E!d7! ctJf5 (41...e2 42.d5+ 'it>f6 43.E!d6+ '!le7 44.E!xg6 hxg6 45.E!e4+ '!ld646.E!e5! E!f8 47.Ael E!xf4 48.E!xe2+-) 42.d5+ 'it>f6 43.c7 E!xg3+ 44.'it>h2 and White is winning: 44 ... e2 45.E!c6+ ctJd6 46.E!dxd6+ (Ribli) 46... 'it>g7 47.E!e6+-. 41. .• .§xg7 42.c7 ~d7 43.~f3 .§xg3+! 0-1 I point for 41.E!d7! and 2 more if you calculated until 44.'it>h2. Test 8 T08.01: 55 .•. ~b4? Morozevichmisses 55 ... E!xh5! 56.E!a5+ 'it>b4 57.E!xh5 stalemate. 56 . .§b6+ ~c5 57 . .§xh6 ~b4 58.~c2 .§c3+ 59.~d2 .§h3 60 ..§h8 ~c5 60 ... '!lxb3 61.h6 '!lb4 62.h7 'it>b5 63.E!bS++- 61.~c2 ~b5 62.~d2 ~c6 63.h6 ~b7 64.b4 ~a7 65.~e2 .§h4 66.~£3 .§xb4 67•.§g8 .§h4 68 . .§g6 ~b7 69.~g3 .§hl 70.~f4 ~c7 71.~f5 ~d7 72.~f6 ~e8 73.~g7

1-0 I point for

55 ... E!xh5!. T07.07: 31 . .§cl? "Nerves and timetrouble - Alekseev misses his chance to save the game and win the tournament with 31.~c2! E!d8 (31...h6? 32.~c8+ '!le7 33.E!f1 +-) 32.'~c5+ (32.~c7!? 'it>e8 33.~xb7=) 32 ... 'it'g8 33.~xe3=" (Stohl in CBM 127); 31.~g2? h5 32.E!el ~g4 gives Black a strong initiative, e.g., 33. ~xb7 e2 34.'it>f2 h4 35J~!xe2 hxg3+ 36.'it'el ~d4 37.'~aS+ 'it'f7 38.~b7+ 'it>g6 39.~e4+ ~xe4 40.E!xe4 gxh2 41.~h4

T08.02: 26 ...d4! After the exchange of queens White's attack is over but his structural deficits remain. 26 ... ~xd6? 27.E!xd5 ~h6 2S.E!dg5 plays into White's hand. 27.~xc6 .§xc6 28.'§xd4 b4 29.d7 .§d8 30.j}.d2 30J:!el .§c7 31..§e8 E!dxd7 32.'§xd7 '§xd7 33.Ae5 f6-+ 30... .§c7 31 . .§g5 .§cxd7 32..§xd7 .§xd7 33.~c2 .§c7+ 34.~d3 .§c5 35..Q.e3 .§xg5 36..Q.xg5 Ac5 37.£3 37.AdSAxf2 38.ilxa5 ilc5 201

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 39.~c4 !iJ..e7 40.Axb4 Axb4 41.~xb4 f5-+ 37 ...f6 38•.Q.f4 Ab6 39.~c4 ~f7 40.~d5 g5 41.Ad6 h5 42.Ab8

45.Ae5 g4 46.fxg4 fxg4 47.hxg4 'it'g5

Other moves lead to mate: I9 .. .fxe5? 20.~h6+ ~g8 21..§.gl + ~t7 22 ..§.g7+ 'lie8 23.~g6+ .§.f7 24.~xf7#; I9 ... ~e7? 20.~h6+ ~h7 (20 ... 'lig8 21..§.gl+ ~f7 22.~g6#) 21.~xf8+

48.~e2

~f3-+

~g8 22.~h6+ ~h7 23.~xf6+ ~g8

45 ... ~h5 46.~f1 Ad4 47.Ac7 a4 48.bxa4 Axb2 49.~e2 Ad4 50.~d3 b3 51.a5 g4 52.fxg4+ fxg4 53.hxg4+ ~xg4 54.a6 b2 55.~c2h3 56.Ae5 ~f5 57.Ah2 57.!iJ..xd4 h2 58.a7 hI ~ 59.~xb2-+ 57 ... ~e4 58.~bl ~d5 59.a7 Axa7 60.~xb2 ~e461.~c2 ~f3 62.~d3 ~g2 0-1 and White resigned in view of63.Ae5 Af2 64.~e2 .Q.g3 65 ..Q.xg3 ~xg3 66.~f1 h2-+. 2 points for 26 ... d4!.

24 ..§.gl + +-. 20.~xd3 20:t!¥xd3 is much worse: 20 ... fxe5 21.~g6 .§.xf2+ 22.~c3 .§.xh2 23 . .§.gl i!i'fS-+. 20 ... ~e7 21.e4 Now 21.~h6+ is met with 21...~h7+ check! 21 ... ~g7 22.~h5+ Maybe 22.',~Yxg7+ ~xg7 23.Axc7 should have been tried. 22 ... ~g8 23 ..Q.d4 c5 24.Axc5 Etc8 25.f4 25.Ad6 would have been more stubborn. 25 ... ~a6 26 ..Q.f2 ~b4+ 27.~e2 Etxa2 0-1 3 points for I9 ... Ad3!! 20.~xd3 ~e7.

~g643.~e4f5+ 44.~d3 h445.~e2 ~xg4

49.~fl

T08.03: 28. ~h2? It would have been correct to swap queens: 28.~xg4 hxg4 29 ..§.e4 (29Jhf4? Axg5! 30 ..§.xe8 Jlxf4-+. Also possible is 29.4Je4!? f3 30..§.gl 'lig7 31..§.xg4 f5 32.gxf6+ Axf6 33 ..§.fl -'te7) 29 ... f5 30.gxf6 '§'xf6 31..§.fxf4 .§. xf4 32 ..§. xf4 !iJ..xh4 33.4Je4 and White is slightly better (Finkel) 28 ... Ad8! Suddenly Black starts a nasty counterattack. 29.l£le4? This makes matters worse. 29 ..§.xe8 .§.xe8 30 ..§.xf4 (30.~xf4? ~h3+ 31.'ligl .ilb6+-+) 30 ... .§.el+ 31.4Jf1 ~dl 32.~f2 '§'e2 33.~f3 ~el is the lesser evil (Finkel). 29 ...f3 30.Etgl Etxe4!! A brilliant piece of calculation, killing all White's hopes of saving the game. 31.Etxg4 Etxel+ 32.Etgl Etfe8 33.~f2 33.~g3 .§.xgl + 34.~xgl Aa5 35.'lih2 .§.e2+ 36.'lih3 Ac3-+ 33 ... Etle2 34.~g3 34.~xf3 .§.8e3 35.'~f1 Ab6-+ (Finkel) . 34 ... Ab6 35.Etfl Et8e4 36.~h3 Etg4! 0-1 I point for 28.~xg4 and 1 more for 29 ..§.e4 or 29.4Je4. T08.04: 19... Ad3!! Fantastic defense!

T08.05: 31 ... Eta2+! 32.~bl Etb2+! 33.~al Y:rYz is completely forced and gets 1 point. T08.06: 36.~c2! Etxa2 37.~xb4 Etxe2 38.c6 Ete5 39.~d3 Ete2 40.~b4 YZ-YZ and as the knight dominates the rook, a draw was agreed. 2 points if you saw this line until the end. T08.07: 58.Etg6? 58.a6! bxa6 59.§g6 4Jb4 60.§xh6+ ~g7 61.§d6 (61.§h2 a5 62.~c7 a4 63.§b2 a3 64.§xb4 transposes) 61...a5 (61...Ae4 62.~a7=, Reeh) 62.'lic7 a4 (62 ... Ae8 63.~b6 a4 64.~a5 4Jc6+ 65.'itlxb5 a3 66 ..§.d2=) 63 ..§.d4 a3 64.§xb4 a2 65.~xc6 al~ 66.'§'xb5 This position is a draw: 66 ... ~t7 67.§b7+ ~e8 68.~c7 ~a5+ 69.'~d6 ~d2+ 70.~c7 ~d8+ 71.~c6 ~a8 72.~c7 ~e7 73.~b6+ ~e6

74.c6",. 58... ~b4! 58 ... ~h7?? 59.§xc6! bxc6 60.a6+- 59.Etxh6+ ~g7 60.Etd6 ~a6+ 61.~a7 ~xc5 62.Etxc6 bxc6 63.~b6 ~a6! 0-11 202

Solutions point for SS.a6 bxa6 59.§.g6 and 2 more, if you calculated until the endgame §. +ft versus "(j;f. T08.08: 44.~e7! Convincingly using a known drawing mechanism. 44 ... ~xe7 44 ... §.aS 45.§.a7! .§as 46.§.xaS+ E!.xaS 47.,axb3! 4Jxb3 48.E!.d3 ~d2 (4S ... 4Jd4 is met by 49.§xc3 gS SO.§.c4 gxf4 Sl.§.xd4 f3 52.h4=) 49.§.xb3 ~xf4 50.gxf4 .§a4 Sl.§.f3= (Baburin in Chess Today #3267) 45.4)g6+ ~h7 46.4)f8+ g7 40.h5 c;t>h7! 41.~h3 YZ-YZ I point for 36 ... ~b4!' TIS.07: 47.h3! The right decision. Other moves are losing: 47.~c5? ~e5 48.'it>xb4 'it'd4 49.~b3 'It'd3 50.'ifta4 e5 51.b4 e4 52.b5 e3 53.b6 e2 54.b7 el ~ 55.bS"i!¥ ~al+ 56.~b5 "i!¥b2+-+; 47.'It'e4? e5 48.'it'd5 b3 49.~c4 e4 50.'it>d4 e3 51.'it'xe3 'it'e5 52.'it'd3 'it'f4 53.d5! e4! 49.c;t>xe4! c;t>e6! 50.c;t>d4! ~d6! 51.c;t>e4 51.'iftc4 'it'e5 52.'it'xb4 'it'f4 53.c4 ~xg4 54.b4 ~f3= 51 ... c;t>e6! 52.c;t>d4! ~d6! 53. ~e4 ~e6! Yz-Yz 2 points for 47.b3!. TlS.08: 59.c;t>f2! Yes, by taking distant opposition. 59.~f3? 'It'f7 60.'it'e3 'ifte7 61.~f3 ~d6 62.'it'e4 e8 60.c;t>e2 c;t>d8 61.c;t>d2 c;t>c7 62.c;t>e3! 62.'It'c3?? g4 63.hxg4 h4-+ 62 ... ~d6 63.~d2! ~e5 64.~e3 'it'd5 65.c;t>d3 ~e5 Y:rYz 1 point for 59 .lit'f2!.

Test 16 T16.01: 31 ... l3.a2! With the idea of ... .ilb3. 31...~al? 32.~a6 (32 ..ilc2?? Ac6+ would be too hasty.) 32 ... ~g7 33.Ac2+- 32.l3.h7 Black's point is revealed in the line 32 ..ild5 Ac6!! A hammer blow, after which it's White's turn to keep a cool head and find 33.~d7! (33.~xa2? Axd5+ -+) 33 ... ~xf2+ 34.~xf2 Axd7= 32... l3.d2 Yz-lh 3 points for spotting 31...~a2 32 ..ild5 Ac6!!. TI6.02: 1... l3.f5+!1 The only way out. 1...~c8? 2.~e8+! ~xe8 3.f7+ ~g7 4.fxe8~ c1 ~ 5.~f7+ Iit'h6 6.~h7+ 'It'g5 7.h4+ 'it'f6 (7 ... lit'g4 8.Af5+ Iit'f4 9.~h6++-) S.~f7+ lit'e5 9.~e7+c2 E!xb5 55.E!xg5=. 53 ...4)e4 54.Elxb3 Elxb3+ 55.~a2 Elb5 56.Elg4 4)