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Lampert, Jonas (2376)

gm  Solodovnichenko, Yuri

Position after Black’s 25…d5(?).  The past few moves have seen an attempt by Black to seize the initiative and push White back.    Clearly White can not take the pawn as the Rook on e2 will be lost; and 26.e5?! would be strongly met with 26…Rac8, with a solid plus.

HOWEVER, Black’s 25th move crossed the redline.  Perhaps Black’s sense of danger escaped him for a moment, perhaps he did not see White’s surprising reply.  In any case, in chess each player is responsible , not just for his moves, but for his results.  Excuses count for little at the end of the day…

WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN MATERIAL!

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QUEEN HUNT!

gm  Postny, Evgeny

gm  Trent, Lawrence

Position before Black’s 19th move.  Despite being 2 pawns up, the White position is shattered and all of White’s pieces are on horrible squares.  Such thingscan  happen–even to grandmasters–when one is caught off guard.  Here Postny’s energetic play pays dividends:

19…Nbd4!

The White Queen has few squares to run to.  20.Qh5 would be met by 20…g6, when 21.Qh6?!  Be5! traps the beast.

20.Qg4 Ne5!

Once more White’s reply is forced.  Losing immediatley would be 21.Qh5? g6!  when 22.Qh6  Nef3+ and 23…Bxg5! wins the Queen or mates; and taking the Bishop (21.Qxf4??) simply loses the Queen in one move!  White must instead retreat his Queen and the next few moves are all forced:

21.Qg2 Ndf3+! 22.Kh1 Nxh4 23.Qg1 Nef3 24.Qg4

Now simply 24…Bd2 should be enough to win the game, but there is a better way to win!  He can win the White Queen!

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!

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im   Hambleton,A

Røyset, Pål (2173)

It is surprising how many strong and experienced players fall victim to the Winawer French when they focus too much on building a strong mass of pawns in the centre rather than on completing their development.  Here the young Canadian is able to expose White’s problems with energetic play…

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!

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SOLUTIONS

Solodovnichenko, Yuri–Lampert, Jonas: 26.a4! This wins a piece 26… bxa3  (26…Qc4  27.Rc1) 27.Nc3! Qa5 28.b4 (You can also take the Knight here) 28… Qc7 29.exf5 Rxe2 30.Nxe2 And White should win, though he must exercise care as the pawn on a3 can cause problems. Probably Black was short of time and he goes down faster than he should in the game continuation  30… Rc8 31.f6 Qe5 32.Qa2 Qe4 33.Rd1 Rc2 34.Rxd5 h5 35.Rd8+ Kh7 36.Qxf7+ Kh6 37.h4 1-0

Trent, Lawrence–Postny, Evgeny:   24…Bxg5! Threatening mate in one move.  White resigns as after 25.Qg3  Bf4! 26.Qg4 f5!  27.Qh5  g6! the White Queen is lost.

Røyset, Pål–Hambleton, Aman:  19…Ngxe5! 20.dxe5 Nxe5  Black has many threats and White’s undeveloped pieces can not put up much resistance.   21.Ng1 ( Not the best, but 21.Kd1 d4! Introduces …Bc6 threats) 21…Nd3+ 22.Kd1 Nxc1 (22…Qf6 is also nasty)  23.Rxc1 Bxf1  and the rest was mopping up:  24.Ne2 Bg2 25.Re1 Bc5 26.Nc3 O-O 27.Kc2 Qf6 28.f4 Qg6+ 29.Kd1d4 0-1