Ivan Bukavshin (RIP)
Twenty year old Russian star Ivan Bukavshin (May 3,1995–January 12, 2016) died suddenly yesterday, apparently of a stroke. You can find an excellent over-view of Ivan’s chess career HERE. By all accounts, he seemed destined to superstardom. His games were filled with fight and he hated short draws, very reminiscent of the great Bent Larsen. Below are a couple of tactics from Ivan’s recent games.
St.Petersburg Summer Rapid 2013.8.31 GM Bukavshin,I– (2200) Utkin,V. Black had just played 25…h6, politely asking the Knight to leave. The passed pawn on c5 guarantees White a longterm positional advantage, and so White can now continue 26.Nf3 with a good game, but Ivan saw that the activity of his pieces might give him an even better move.
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
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Tseshkovsky Mem Sochi 2014.9.24 GM Shaposhnikov,E–GM Bukavshin,I. Position before Black’s 22nd move. The exposed position of the White monarch assures Black the upper hand, but the presence of opposite colour Bishops means that there a lot of hidden defensive resources. For example, if Black now gets fancy with the cute 22…Rxf3 ( the idea is 23.Kxf3 Be4+! 24.Ke3 Qb5 25.Qe2 Rf3+! 26.Qxf3 Qd3+ etc) then White can bail out with 23.Qe5! Qd7 24.Qxg7+! with very good drawing chances in the ending. So Black must play with precision…
BLACK TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
