Sunday’s 5-second tactics
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ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVING FIRST
im Kalashian,David
gm Chibukhchian, Artur
The 74th ch-ARM 1st League, just the other day. Position after 45 moves. A super-sharp position with each side having a passed pawn on the 7th rank! In such situations having the move can make all the difference in the world:
46.Qc4+!
If now 46…Kf8 47.Qf4+! and 48.Qb8+! wins
46…Kh8!?
47.Qb5!!
Now it is all clear! The combination of weak back-rank and pawn on the 7th is too much to defend against! The game continued one more move: 47…Qc8 48.Qb8! and Black threw in the towel.
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Guerreiro, Nuno
Vasquez,Antonio
The Portuguese Tch taking just the other day. Position after Black’s 19th move (19…Bf5). The position of the Black King in the centre fully justifies White’s Exchange sacrífice:
20.Rxf5! PxR 21.Qxf5
The strong d-pawn and easy access to e4 for the White Knight spell bad news for the Black pieces. Black quickly needs counterplay…
21…Rg8!? 22.Ne4! Rxg2 23.d6 Qd7 24.Qxe5 Qe6
Now exchanging on e6 and then taking the Knight on e7 should be enough to win the game in the long run, but it would be nice to end the game long before then!
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH BLACK!
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im Lovik,La
gm Berg,Em
Also the Portuguese Tch. Position after 22 moves. The combination of weak back-rank and lack of development spell problems for Black. Do you see how the grandmaster is going to take advantage of this?
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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im Pena Gomez, M
gm Korneev,Oleg
From the TCh-ESP CECLUB Finals 2013 just the other day! Position after 22 moves. It was a normal game up to last move (22…Ne6?–22…Ncd7! is indicated). Now a tactic exists that allows a quick finish. Do you see it?
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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THROWING AWAY A GOOD POSITION…
fm Coll Ortega, Jordi
fm Gonzalez Diaz, Diego
From the TCh-ESP CECLUB 5th-12th 2013 just the other day. Position after White’s 27th move (27.Rcd1) Black has an excellent position! His active Queen and well posted Knight tie White up. It will be difficult for White to not lose a pawn in most continuations. In any case, as White is not threatening anything special, a solid move like 27…Rab8 (amongst others) is a good place to start.
INSTEAD, probably over confidente, Black sticks his head into the lion’s mouth:
27…Rad8??
Probably only counting on 28.QxR? RxQ 29.RxR+ Kh7, when Black can not possibly be worse….
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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DESPERATE TRICK!
fm Petrosyan, Manuel
fm Vardanian, Haik G
From the 74th ch-ARM 1st League just the other day. Position after Black’s 35th move (35…Qxc4!?) Ofcourse, Black is busted and has been for a while. HOWEVER, he tries a desperate trick to try to reverse his fortunes…Should White take the Queen (either way) then he gets mated along the back-rank! Instead, White was too clever to fall into this trap…
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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SOLUTIONS
Portuguese Tch 2013; Vasques, António–Guerreiro, Nuno: 25.d7+! Crushing 25…Kxd7 26.Rd1+ Ke8 27.Qh8+! Bf8 28.Nd6+ Ke7 29.Nxc8+ Qxc8 30.Qe5+ 1-0 It is forced mate.
Portuguese Tch 2013; Berg, Emanuel–Løvik, Lasse: 23.Qe8+! Rxe8 24.Rxe8+ Bf8 and now 25.Bd3! Bf5 26.Rxa8 Bxd3 27.d5 followed by exchanging on f8 wins the most easily. In the game continuation White also won easily enough with 25.Bb3 Qe7? ( 25…b5! allows Black to continue to resist ) 26.Rxe7 Bxe7 27.Rc7 1-0
TCh-ESP CECLUB Finals 2013; Korneev, Oleg–Pena Gomez, Manuel: 23.Bh6+! 1-0 Taking the Bishop will get mated soon after 24.QxN, while 23…Kg8 is not an option.
TCh-ESP CECLUB 5th-12th 2013; Gonzalez Diaz, Diego–Coll Ortega, Jordi: 27… Rad8 28.Qxe4! Rxe4 29.Rxd8+ Kh7 30.Ng5+ Kh6 1-0 It is mate after 31.Nxf7+ and 32.Rh8++
74th ch-ARM 1st League; Vardanian, Haik G.–Petrosyan, Manuel: 36.Rxa7+! Kxa7 37.Qa5+ Kb7 38.Rd7+ 1-0 It is mate next move.