Tuesday’s 5-second tactics
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wfm Zarkovic, Mila
fm Lukovic, Vladimir
Belgrade Open just a couple of days ago. Black had just played 21…Rh8, defending h7. For the moment the Black defences seem to hold, but Black’s problems run deeper than a few White threats: Black’s pieces are uncoordinated and the Knight on b6, in particular, is completely useless. White has a clever trick up his sleeve…do you see it?
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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fm Pantelic, Sasa
fm Kacakovski, Dimitar
Belgrade Open. Position after White’s 25th move. Black has sacrificed a piece to trap the White King in the middle of the board. For the moment, however, White seems to have everything undercontrol: if 25…Nxe2 26.NxN survives (26.RxN?? Qg1++); or if 25…Qd2+ 26.Kf1 and the check on d1 simply does not work. White’s Knight on c3 is his strongest piece!
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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fm Vibbert, Sean
im Young, Angelo
St.Louis last week. Position after 19 moves of play. If the Black King was safely castled on the Kingside then the game would be a normal Dutch-type of struggle. However, the Black King on e7 is a real eyesore! What are you going to do about it?
HOW SHOULD WHITE PLAY?
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gm David,A
gm Rombaldoni,A
The Italian Championship taking place right now! Position after 20 moves of play. Both sides have their pieces awkwardly posted, but it is White’s move and that makes all the difference!
WHAT IS WHITE’S BEST PLAY?
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Solutions
Lukovic, Vladimir–Zarkovic, Mila: 22.Nh5+! gxh5 (Not taking the piece is no improvement: 22…Kg8 23.Qg3! Nd7 (stopping Qb8+) 24.Bxg6! etc) 23.Qg3+ Kh6 24.Qe3+ Kg7 25.Qe5+ Kg8 26.Qg3+ 1-0 It is forced mate
Kacakovski, Dimitar–Pantelic, Sasa: 25… Rd3!! Threatening the Knight . The Rook can clearly not be taken. 26.Ne4 There is nothing better. Now the simplest way to win is 26…Rd5! Instead, Black rushed things unnecessarily with 26…f5?! Now White can save himself with the clever 27.Kf1!: best is then 27…Rd8 28.Nc3 Nh3 29.Rg2 Nf4 30.Rf2 Nh3 with a repetition. Instead, the game continuation was 27.Ng3? Qd2+ 28.Kf1 0-1 White resigned without waiting for 28…Qd1+ forcing mate
Young, Angelo–Vibbert, Sean: 20.e4!! dxe4 21.Nxe4 fxe4 22.Qxe4 Kd8 23.Qxe6 Be7 24.Ne5 Nxe5 25.dxe5 Ng8 26.Rd1+ Ke8 27.Rd7 Rd8 28.Rxb7 Bxb7 29.Bf6 Bc8 30.Qxc6+ Kf8 31.Bxe7+ Nxe7 32.Qf6+ 1-0
Rombaldoni,A –David,A: 21.e5! dxe5 ( Relatively best is 21…Bxf4 22.Bxf6 Qc7 though after 23.g3 Bxe5 24.Nxe5 dxe5 ( 24…Qxa5 25.Nxd7 ) 25.Rxb5 White must win. ) 22.Nxg6! hxg6 23.Qxg6+ Bg7 24.Nxe5 1-0 Black is going to lose a lot of material.