Today’s 5-second tactics
”Speed is the essence of war.” Sun Tzu
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gm Bruzon,L
Rodriguez,Eric
Québec Open just last week. Position after White’s 29th move (29.Nxe6). White has been outplayed since the opening . For the past several moves it has become clear that he will lose the game. Eric therefore decided to put his fate on one super-sharp tactic (29.Nxe6)…if Bruzon does not find the best move then White might even turn the tables and win! And should the Cuban star find his way…well White was lost anyway!
In the postion above, Black can not take the Knight as 30.Qxe6+ gives White the advantage, either mating or winning material. Did Bruzon overlook this move??
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Arizmendi Martinez,JL
gm Norwood,D
Andorra Open just last week. Position after 21 moves. Norwood was in great form this tournament and played several exceptionally tactical games. This is one. Here both sides are striving to win, with Black hoping to pick up one of the doubled pawns on the d-file. Should he succeed in doing so, then White’s position will become critical.
Curiously, contrary to appearances, the doubled-pawns are STRONG! Norwood played the first surprising move:
22.d6!
Here if 22…Qxd6 then White wins with 23.Qc3! Qb6 24.d5! f6 25.Re6 and Black is busted or if instead 22…Bxd6 23.Qc3! attacks the Knight and threatens the winning d5!, mating along the long diagonal. So Black’s next move is reasonable:
22…Bg5!?
Gaining time by attacking the Knight on d2. If now the immediate 23.Qc3 then Black gets the upper hand after 23…BxN 24.QxB Nb3 25.Qc3 NxR! 26.RxN f6!, when White does not have enough for the Exchange. INSTEAD, Norwood now has an ace up his sleave!
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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im Panjwani,R
nm Masse,H
The Québec Open, just last week. Position after 23 moves. Black has a dominating position. The control of the a-file (as well as White’s 1st rank), the well placed Bishop on d5 and pressure on b4 and d4 restrict White’s chances to undertake any counterplay. Therefore, White decided to simply wait and move his Knight back and forth between h4 and f3. As we will immediately see, this is a serious mistake that is energetically punished:
24.Nh4? Nxd4!!
QUESTION 1: What happens if White takes the Knight?
White, clearly taken aback by Panjwani’s last move, stumbles even further and tries to take out the powerful Bishop on d5:
25.Ng6
QUESTION 2: BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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im Devereaux,M
fm Garcia,Raul
Andorra Open, position after White’s 35th move (35.a3) Ofcourse, despite even material, Black has a clearly won game, dominating White completely. Never the less, I find it curious that White overlooked a forced mate in 3 moves!
BLACK TO PLAY AND MATE IN 3!
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im Kjartansson,G
im Macias Murillo,B
Andorra Open, position after 33 moves. Black is busy on the Queenside while White does not hide his intentions on the Kingside. Clearly things favour White: the pawn on h6, combined with the active Bishops, construct a bad omen for Black.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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SOLUTIONS
Rodriguez,Eric—Bruzon,Lazaro: 29…Qe2!! 0-1 To avoid mate on the backrank White must lose lots of material.
Norwood, D–Arizmendi Martinez, JL: 22.d6! Bg5 ( 22…Qxd6 23.Qc3! Qb6 24.d5 f6 25.Re6 or 22…Bxd6 23.Qc3! ) 23.d5!! Qxd6 24.Qc3 f6 25.Qxa5 Bxd2 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Qxb5 1-0
Masse, Hugues..Panjwani, R: Question 1: 25.QxN? QxB+!! Is a forced mate; Question 2: 25… Nxe2+! (Computers recommend 25…Nf3+, but it is about the same thing) 26.Qxe2 Bc4 0-1
Garcia, Raul–Devereaux, Maxim : 35…Qh1+ 36.Kxe2 Qe1+ 0-1 After 37.Kf3 Qe4++
Macias Murillo, Bryan–Kjartansson, G: 34.Bxg6!! hxg6 35.h7+ Kg7 36.Nxf7! I tis all over but the shouting. 36… d4 37.h8=Q+ Qxh8 38.Qxh8+ Kxf7 39.Qh7+ 1-0