Today’s 5-second tactics

“There is a time for work, and a time for love. That leaves no other time.” ― Coco Chanel
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Shyam, Sundar M
Tran, Quoc Dung
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.12 Position before Black’s 23rd move. Ofcourse Black stands better, White’s pieces uncoordinated. But the key to the position is the Black Bishop-pair: in such Benoni/Kings Indian positions the Bishop-pair rule like a lion in the jungle.
HOW DOES BLACK EXPLOIT THIS?
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Pham, Le Thao Nguyen
Hoang, Thi Bao Tram
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.13 A tough positional struggle is in progress. White has a slightly weaker pawn structure, but his pieces stand more active. The outcome is anyone’s guess…
CAN BLACK TAKE THE E-PAWN?
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Pham, Le Thao Nguyen
gm Ni, Hua
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.12 Position after 14 moves of play. Black’s last move was the logical looking 14…Na5, trying to probe the Queenside. What follows next must have come to a complete surprise to Black, as well as to all of the spectactors! Definitely one of the most brilliant concepts that I have seen this year…
HOW DOES WHITE GET A BIG EDGE?
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Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando
Souleidis, Georgios
HSK GM Hamburg 2014.3.9 Position after 34 moves of play. Despite even material, White has a big advantage: advanced Pawn on the Kingside and actively placed pieces (even the King!). Black on the otherhand, has no play, little coordination and finds himself helpless, relegated to waiting for White’s break-thru…how is your technique today?
HOW DOES WHITE WIN QUICKEST?
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SOLUTIONS
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.12 Tran, Quoc Dung–Shyam, Sundar M: 23… Re3! Sending White into a tailspin. 24.Qd1 (Taking the Rook loses the Queen to …Bd4) 24…Qh4! 25.Kh1 Rxf4 26.Nb6 Rd4! 0-1 Nothing to do with the coming …Be5
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.13 Hoang, Thi Bao Tram–Pham, Le Thao Nguyen: 28… Kxe5?? 29.Rxd8 1-0 After 29…RxR 30.Re1+ wins a Rook no matter where Black moves his King.
4th HD Bank Cup Ho Chi Minh City 2014.3.12 Ni, Hua–Pham, Le Thao Nguyen: 15.Nxd5!! Brilliant and well calculated. 15… exd5 ( No better is 15…Bc6 16.Nxe7 Qxe7 17.Rc3 and White has an extra pawn) 16.e6! (The first point; White threatens the Bishop and Bc7) 16… Bc6 17.exf7+ Kxf7 18.Ne5+! The second point: White has a winning attack. The game concluded 18… Kf6 ( 18…Ke8 19.Qe2 ) ( 18…Kg7 19.Bh6+ Kf6 20.Qf4 ) 19.Rfe1 Be8 20.Nf3 ( 20.Bh6 is even faster ) Nc6 21.Ng5 Rxg5 22.Bxg5+ Kg7 23.Rxe7+ Nxe7 24.Re1 Bf7 25.Rxe7 Qb6 26.Qe3 Kg8 27.h4 Rc8 28.h5 Qc6 29.Qg3 Kf8 30.Qe5 Kg8 31.Qxf5 Rf8 32.Bf6 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 1-0
HSK GM Hamburg 2014.3.9 Souleidis, Georgios–Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando: 35.Rxc8!! Rxc8 36.Rxc8 Kxc8 37.f6! The whole point! The pawn is unstoppable. The game concluded 37… Rg8 38.f7 Rf8 39.Kf5 b5 40.Kf6 a5 1-0