Today’s winning 5-second tactics
”Time discovers truth.”
Lucias Seneca 5BC-65AD
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im Nakar, Eylon (2463)
gm Short,Nigel
PokerStars Isle of Man Masters Douglas 2015.10.4 Position after 19 moves. Black’s last move (19…a5) intends, after the natural 20.b5, to gang up on the White c-pawn: 20…Ne7 followed by …Nd7 and …Rac8. Such logical positional play is why the French Defence is a popular tournament weapon. HOWEVER, Short will now demonstrate why more players do NOT play the French …
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
”I was very pleased!”
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fm Zisman, Philip (2305)
gm Greenfeld, Alon
PokerStars IoM Masters Douglas 2015.10.3 Position after 20 moves of play. Black has not placed castling on his list of priorities, and is about to pay the price.
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
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THE ‘DESPERADO’ THEME
gm Vishnu Prasanna, V
gm Harikrishna, Pentala
Photo of Harikrishn vs Vishnu several moves before the diagram position above. (Photo by organizers on its FACEBOOK)
PokerStars IoM Masters Douglas 2015.10.4 Position after 22 moves. FASCINATING! Black appears to have caught White in a trap. Even though a piece up at the moment, White has several pieces attacked, and especially his Bishop is pinned along the e-file. Several variations to show the pickle that White is in: If 23.Ng3 Qxa5 with advantage; if 23.Nh6+ Kf8!, once more with edge, which is also the case with 23.Nd4 d5!. It appears that White has little better than 24.Bxh7+ Kxh7! (not 24… Kf8? 25.Rxe8+ Kxe8 26.Nab3! winning –Franz Bisping) 25.RxR QxR with a roughly level position.
23.Nc4!
The first of two very surprising moves! Now if 23…d5? White wins with 24.Nh6+! Kf8 25.Ba3+ etc. So Black’s play is forced…
23…QxN
Again, with his Bishop pinned to his Rook, and it very much seems as though White will lose atleast a pawn. The reader can verify for himself that neither 24.Nh6+ nor 24.Ne7+ work, nor does the defensive 24.Ng3!? have a satisfactory reply after the clever 24…Re6!
WHITE TO PLAY AND CRUSH!
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fm Berry, Neil (2355)
gm Jones, Gawain
PokerStars IoM Masters Douglas 2015.10.3 Position after 35 moves. Black has played in a reasonably solid manner against his much higher rated opponent, and now seems to have the draw well in hand, not so much because of the opposite colour Bishops, but because all of White’s entry points into Black’s position are under Black’s control. Or so it seems…
36.g5!
Unexpected, but it seems more bluff than real at first sight. White threatens to open up the Kingside, thus Black’s next move is forced. Note that passive defence loses: 36…Qe8 37.gxh6 gxh6 38.Qf6! Kh7 39.Bf4! Nd8 40.Bxh6! Kxh6 41.Nf8+ and mate must not be far off..
Grandmaster Gwain Jones , age 27, is one of England’s top players, and is a feared attacker.
36…PxP 37.h6!
Now if 37…gxh6 38.Qf6! Qb2+ 39.Kh3 g4+ 40.Kh4 and Black must resign.
37…Qe8!
Now White must be careful! Tempting, but wrong, is 38.PxP Qf7!! when the advantage would change sides!
38.Qf8+!!
The whole point of White’s combination started at move 36. After 38…Qxf8 39.h7+ Kxh7 40.Nxf8+ Black resigned as he loses a piece 1-0. So, going back to the position given above after 35 moves, the game is not equal at all: White has a number of small, but clear advantages: better Bishop, powerfully placed Knight, absolute control of the f-file. Jones’ found the plan that exploited his advantages (which is not so surprising, considering how strong he is) but what is quite remarkable is how HELPLESS Black was to stop it.
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