Bits and pieces from the World Team Championship
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
What a pleasure to watch the play at Ningbo, China! So many interesting and instructive games. Below is a short selection that my readers will no doubt appreciate….
What a pleasure to watch the play at Ningbo, China! So many interesting and instructive games. Below is a short selection that my readers will no doubt appreciate….
GM E. SUTOVSKY
GM L. ARONIAN
An exciting game! After some wild complications (involving a Queen sacrifice) it seems as though Black has White on the ropes. His last move (31…Nf3) threatens mate in one move. How does White defend, let alone win the game? (Solution at the end of this blog entry) Good luck!
GM MAMEDOV
GM LI
A hard fought game where both sides are struggling for the advantage. In this position White played 24.Bb6!?, attacking the Rook and should Black move his Rook (24…Rc6?, for example) then 25.Pxe5 wins a piece, since the Black Queen is attacked by the Rook on d1. HOW did Black play on the 24th move to avoid losing material? (Solution at the end)
GM J. POLGAR
GM GANGULY
Even though White is a pawn up, he has a lost position. The Black centre pawns are too far advanced. I like how Polgar won this: very artistic. She must be a fan of American football!
59…d3! 60.Qf2 d2!
And White resigned. The pawn can not be stopped from scoring a touchdown…
Touchdown!
And White resigned. The pawn can not be stopped from scoring a touchdown…
GM GRISCHUK
GM ALMASI
White is a little bit worse, but nothing to worry about; in particular, the passed c-pawn is going nowhere. White should proably play it safe with 36.Rd4 and keep the game more or less balanced. INSTEAD, probably short of time, Almasi panicked and played the horrible blunder 36.BxN ??. Almasi was probably braced for 36…Rd2-ch 37.QxR! PxQ 38.BxQ d1(Q) 39.Re3! with a solid line of defence and excellent drawing chances.
Ouch!!
White is a little bit worse, but nothing to worry about; in particular, the passed c-pawn is going nowhere. White should proably play it safe with 36.Rd4 and keep the game more or less balanced. INSTEAD, probably short of time, Almasi panicked and played the horrible blunder 36.BxN ??. Almasi was probably braced for 36…Rd2-ch 37.QxR! PxQ 38.BxQ d1(Q) 39.Re3! with a solid line of defence and excellent drawing chances.
Grishcuk won quickly with the obvious 36…QxB-ch (could it be that Almasi had not realized that this was check?) 37.Kf3 (Instead 37.Ke2 Rd2-ch is curtains) 37…Qc6! Defending the c-pawn and threatening the winning 38…Rd2. White resigned. There is nothing to be done….
GM GANGULY
GM MAMEDYAROV
The Indian GM must have originally thought that he could play 25…Re8 with a solid pawn plus. However, it was with horror that he now realized that the intended 25…Re8 would lose to 26.Nf6-ch!!, winning an exchange since 26…PxN gets mated after 27.Rg4-ch!! Ganguly panicked with 25…f5? and after 26.PxP ep Rf7 27.Nxg7 he threw in the towel.
GM ARESHCHENKO
Definitely, a great technical achievement by the young Armenian!
The Indian GM must have originally thought that he could play 25…Re8 with a solid pawn plus. However, it was with horror that he now realized that the intended 25…Re8 would lose to 26.Nf6-ch!!, winning an exchange since 26…PxN gets mated after 27.Rg4-ch!! Ganguly panicked with 25…f5? and after 26.PxP ep Rf7 27.Nxg7 he threw in the towel.
GM ARESHCHENKO
GM DING
Optically, Black seems to be alright! However, the chinese are brilliant tacticians and Ding must have long forseen the finale: 27.Rh3! Re7 (27…h6 goes off to 28.Rg3) 28.Nxh7!! Black resigned immediately!
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Superb postional play! (1)
GM YU
GM SARGISSIAN
You can gain so much by playing over instructive GM games. Here White has an undisputed positional edge (absolute control of the only open file), but the lack of minor pieces and real weaknesses in Black’s position renders it almost impossible to exploit the White advantage. However, White found an original plan involving the advance of his entire Kingside (King included!) and Black found himself unable to resist….
Definitely, a great technical achievement by the young Armenian!
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Superb positional play! (2)
GM ONISCHUK
GM MOVSESIAN
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Superb positional play! (2)
GM ONISCHUK
I really like this example! At first sight Black seems quite fine, but slowly White begins to strangle Black , like a boa constrictor. Pay attention to how White is able to make use of the weakened square on c5 and the pressure along the a-file on the Black pawn on a6. If there is a moral here, it is to avoid passive positions that contain weaknesses!
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HOW TO ATTACK THE KING (PART 1)
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 23 rd MOVE:
GM SVIDLER
GM GUSEINOV
28. Nf5!!
and Black’s position crumbled like a house of cards.
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HOW TO ATTACK THE KING (PART 2)
Nepomniachtchi very impressive against J.Polgar
POSITION AFTER 30 MOVES:
GM J.POLGAR
GM NEPOMNIACHTCHI
31.Bxa6! A stock sacrifice to expose the King 31…PxB 32.Nxa6! Qa5 33.Nb5!!
The threats are building. Every single one of White’s pieces is in the skirmish!
35…Ne5 36.Nxe8! simplest 36….Rxe8 37.Rxd6!
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HOW TO ATTACK THE KING (PART 1)
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 23 rd MOVE:
GM SVIDLER
Black is quite ok in this position and White has no real threats. Probably Svidler should play 23…e5, establishing a stable centre. INSTEAD, Black ”forgot” that with almost all of his pieces over on the Queenside he should have been more careful not to tempt fate…
23…a4?! 24.e5! Ne8 (exchanging on e5 will just open the f-file for White) 25.ba Rxa4 26.f5!
All of a suddent Black’s King is feeling very lonely! If now 26…ef5 27. Nxf5 and the White pieces flood into the monarch’s bedroom…
26…de5 27. fe6 fe6
28. Nf5!!
and Black’s position crumbled like a house of cards.
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HOW TO ATTACK THE KING (PART 2)
POSITION AFTER 30 MOVES:
GM J.POLGAR
A long manoeuvring game up til now and , as in the previous example, Black finds most of his pieces momentarily uncoordinated. This gives the young Russian superstar the window of opportunity that he was waiting for, and he did not let it go to waste!
31.Bxa6! A stock sacrifice to expose the King 31…PxB 32.Nxa6! Qa5 33.Nb5!!
A very original idea that is the key to White’s enslaught. He simply threatens to win with Rb3 and a Knight check on c7. Polgar is defenceless….
33…Bd8 34.Rb3 Bb6? Only makes things worse, though we can hardly blame Judit 35.Nxd6!
The threats are building. Every single one of White’s pieces is in the skirmish!
35…Ne5 36.Nxe8! simplest 36….Rxe8 37.Rxd6!
Black can resign. Instead, Polgar bravely played 37…Ka7 and resigned a few moves later. A brilliant example of the kind of attack that Polgar herself is famous for….
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Solutions
a) Aronian vs Sutovsky: 32.Qxe7-ch Kh6 33.Qf8-ch Kh5 34. Rc5-ch!! Ng5 (the intended 34…g5 loses immediately to 35.Qf7-ch) 35.Rxg5-ch! KxR 36.Qd8-ch! Bf6 (forced) 37. Qd3! Now Black has run out of threats and he finds it impossible to avoid losing more material. The Black King is too exposed.
b) Li vs Mamedov: 24.Bb6 !? Bh2-ch!! Saves the day. After 25.Kh1 (taking the Bishop allows …Qd6-ch, winning the White Bishop on b6) 25…Rb7 26.Bxa5 Bd6! Black has a pleasant position. The game was eventually drawn.