Monday’s 5-second tactics
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Below are two pretty combinations taken from the games of the late Igor V. Ivanov. Igor had a knack for highly tactical attacks and won the brilliancy prize on more than one occasion. Enjoy!
Igor V. Ivanov 1947–2005
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gm Ivanov,Igor
gm Seirawan,Yasser
Ch USA Los Angeles 1991 Position before Black’s 36th move. Yasser had earlier spoiled a winning game, allowing the foxy Ivanov to create counter chances on the Kingside. Now the situation is ripe for payback…
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Ivanov,Igor
Chicago 1993. Position after White’s 18th move. White had left his King in the centre too long, provoking Igor to sacrifice a piece for attacking chances. At first sight, White appears to have everything undercontrol: 18…Ba6+ allows the Bishop to intervene, and 18…Nf4+ is just nonsense. Could it be that Igor had overestimated his position?
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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Ch USA Los Angeles 1991 Seirawan Yasser –Ivanov Igor V : 36… Ne2+ 37.Kh1 Qxh3!! Now taking the Queen allows a discovered check followed by mate. The game continuation is no better: 38.Rg1 Qg2+! 0-1
Chicago 1993 Lindsay Fred–Ivanov Igor V: 18…Qf3+!! Cute. Taking the Queen gets mated after 19…Ba6+. The game continued 19.Kf1 Nxe3+! 20.Bxe3 Rxc1 21.Qxc1 Qxh1+ 22.Ke2 Qxh2 and the rest is easy. Black has material advantage, positional advantage as well as the attack! 23.Nc6 Ba6+ 24.Kd1 Qh5+ 25.Kc2 Qf5+ 26.Kd1 Qg4+ 27.Kc2 Qc4+ 0-1