Saturday’s winning 5-second tactics
“To live this life…in the pain and the glory. In the mess and the grace. In the sacred and the desperation. This is the stuff of which real superheros are born.”
― Jeanette LeBlanc
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Richter, A (2118)
fm Menna Barreto, F (2275)
SPICE Cup Open Saint Louis 2015.10.20 Position after 38 moves. An easy one just to warm you up!
WHITE TO PLAY AND MATE!
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gm Corrales Jimenez, Fidel
fm Brown, Michael William (2367)
SPICE Cup Open Saint Louis 2015.10.18 Position before Black’s 31st move. White has the sensitive g2-square covered by his Queen, but this is of little consequence. He should have never let Black’s Knights get so close to his King…
BLACK TO PLAY AND FORCE MATE!
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Molinaroli, Martin (2247)
Duijn, Rob (2256)
Haarlem Masters 2015.10.17 Position before Black’s 29th move. Off-hand, things seem quite reasonable for White…but appearances can be very deceptive in chess.
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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fm Erwich, Frank (2370)
fm De Jager, Jaap (2415)
Haarlem Masters 2015.10.23 I like this example very much, especially for its originality! White stands a bit better after 20…Nd5! 21.Bxe7 Qxe7 22.Qxe7 Nxe7 , but not much to write home about. In any case, this was not to Black’s taste so he simplified another way:
20..Nxe4?! 21.Bxe7 Rfe8
Black intends to capture the Bishop with a completely even game, but a NASTY surprise awaits him!
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
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im Das, Arghyadip (2467)
gm Bok, Benjamin
19th Hoogeveen Open 2015.10.23 Position after 20 moves of a French Defence. White had sacrificed a pawn in the opening to gain the initiative, but Black seems to have things under control.
21.Bf5!
A strong move! If now 21…exf5?! 22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Re7+ wins. Black finds the best move…
21….Qb4!?
22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Bxe6+! Bxe6 24.Qe3!
Ouch!! The point of White’s play!
24…Rxc1 25.Qxe6+ Kg6 26.Rxc1
The smoke has cleared and things look grim for Black, whose King is not very happily posted on g6. Relatively best now is 26…Qe4!? though after 27.Qd7 Re8 28.h3 it is unlikely that Black will hold in the long run. However, probably short of time, Black erred with 26…Rd8(?), when 27.Rc7! would end the game immediately (White instead played 27.Re3!?, also strong–but not as strong–and won the game quickly enough anyway.) MORAL OF THE STORY: fortune favours the brave!
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Lahav, Michal (2015)
wgm Zimina, Olga (2378)
European Club Cup 2015 Skopje 2015.10.21 Position before Black’s 14th move. Here Black thought a while whether to take the Greek gift on e4 (instead of the solid and riskless 14…e6!) but could not resist the temptation…
14…Bxc3!? 15.Bxc3 Nxe4
It is always risky to give up your King Bishop, especially against a more experienced (and stronger!) player…
16.fxg6! hxg6 17.Qd5!
Now Black should retreat his Knight to f6 and pray. I don’t see anything forcing for White immediately, though I do not trust Black’s position…INSTEAD, Black had other ideas:
17… Bf5 (?)
Experience teaches that one should not play first very provocatively (taking the Greek gift) and then ‘normally’…
18.RxB!
Ofcourse!
18…gxf5 19.Qxf5 Nxc3
Well, atleast Black is consistent!
20.Qg5+! Kf8 21.Qh6+ Kg8
22.Bd3!!
It is forced mate. Black played on a few more moves before resigning.
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