Today’s 5-second tactics!
“Pressure makes diamonds” ― George S. Patton Jr.
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gm Predke, Alexandr
gm Bologan, Viktor
From yesterday’s round of the Russian Team Championship. Position after 42 moves. An excellent game so far by Bologan who has masterfully outplayed his opponent, using small resources to tie Black’s hands. White now played the reasonable 43.Qe8+!? Nf8 44.hg7! to increase his advantage, and eventually won. HOWEVER, in the above position White has a much stronger continuation that just floors Black…do you see it?
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Chekhov, Sergei
gm Morozevich, Alexander
Also from yesterday’s Russian Team Championship. Position after 39 moves. Morozevich has a large postional advantage and must win with correct play. The experienced Morozevich realized that the obvious 40.Ne4 would allow Black to keep kicking with 40…Nd4!, as the White Rook is awkwardly placed, so he sought another path. Do you see it?
WHAT IS WHITE’S BEST WINNING PLAN?
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gm Mista, Aleksander
gm Kryvoruchko, Yuriy
From Sunday’s round of the German Bundesliga. Position after 27 moves of play. White has a large positional advantage on the Queenside, but not rush things. If he now plays the hurried 28.RxR+?! QxR 29.a5 Qd5! and Black can still offer stiff resistance. White has a much more convincing path…
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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21st TCh-RUS 2014.4.7 Bologan, Viktor–Predke, Alexandr: 43.Nge5! fxe5 44.Qxe6+ Kf8 45.Qc8+ Kf7 46.Qd7+ + and mate is not far off.
21st TCh-RUS 2014.4.7 Morozevich, Alexander–Chekhov, Sergei: 40.Rxc6! Qxc6 41.fxg5 hxg5 42.h4! This clever idea wins a piece and the game. 42… gxh4 43.g5 d5 44.cxd5 Qxd5 45.Qxf6+ Kg8 46.g6 Qc4 47.Qxf7+ Qxf7 48.gxf7+ Kxf7 49.Ne4 c4 50.Kg2 a6 51.Kh3 c3 52.Nxc3 Kf6 53.Kg4 Ke5 54.Ne4 Kd5 1-0
Bundesliga 2014.4.6 Kryvoruchko, Yuriy–Mista, Aleksander: 28.Qb7!! This kills all resistance. Ofcourse the Queen can not be taken. The game ended quickly after 28…Qc8 29.a5 Kf8 30.Qxc8 Rxc8 31.a6 Ke7 32.a7 Nd7 33.Rxd7+ 1-0