Thursday’s chess tactics quiz!
“Everyman has his own DESTINY: The only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” ― Henry Miller
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“Paul Gauguin was originally a successful stockbroker in Paris, married, had five kids. One day he came home from work and told his wife he was leaving, that he was through supporting the family, that he had had enough. Just like that he fucking took off.
He said he had always felt that he was a painter, so he moved to a rat-infested shithole and started painting. His wife begged him to come back, his bosses told him he was insane, he didn’t care, he was following his heart.
He left Paris, moved to Rouen, went from Rouen to Arles, from Arles to Tahiti. He was searching for peace, contentment, trying to fill that fucking hole he felt inside, and he believed he could fill it. He died in 1903 in Tahiti, blind and crazy from syphilis, at age 54, but he did it. He filled his fucking hole, made beautiful work, made beautiful, beautiful work…
It takes a brave man to walk away, to care so much that he doesn’t care about anything else, to be willing to obey what he feels inside, to be willing to suffer the consequences of living for himself. Every time I stand before his work it makes me cry, and I cry because I’m proud of him, and happy for him, and because I admire him.”
― James Frey, My Friend Leonard
Part I: Russian Higher League
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- 69th ch-RUS HL Kolomna 2016.6.22 Khismatullin, Denis–Cherniaev, Alexander. Position after 9 moves, Black having played the rash 9…g5?!. How does White refute this move?
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- 69th ch-RUS HL Kolomna 2016.6.22 Oganian, Miran–Volkov, Sergey. A wild position! Black had just played 36….Nc3, forking two of White’s pieces. White to play and win!
Part II: Iasi Open
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- 3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.18 Piasetski,L–Istratescu,A. A tough fight, where the initiative is worth its weight in gold. Black to play and win!
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- 3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.15 Manolache,M–Banzea,Alexandru-Bogdan. Position after 17 moves. Clearly, Black is lagging in developemnt. There must be a way to exploit this…White to play and CRUSH!
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- 3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.16 Itkis,B–Nevednichy,V. Position before Black’s 23rd move. A wild and difficult game for both sides. The Black Bishop is attacked, while White’s King appears safe enough: if23…Qh3 24.Qf2! Rh4 25.Kf1 and White is better! Black to play and CRUSH!
Part III: Miscellaneous
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- MITROPA Cup Prague 2016.6.21 Kollars, Dmitrij–Gazik, Viktor. Black is threatening to take on h3 with check. Probably the best defence is 28.h4!?, with a very unclear game. INSTEAD, wanting to win, White decided to complicate things…28.Nc4?! (see next diagram)
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- White was planning on the Bishop having to retreat, since 28…Nxh3+ 29.Kh1 and Black has two pieces attacked. WHAT DID WHITE OVERLOOK?
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- 9th Asrian Mem Yerevan 2016.6.20 Kalashian, David–Nanyan, Georgy. Position after 12 moves. White clearly has a more coordinated piece deployment. WHITE TO PLAYA ND CRUSH!
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- Albena chess festival 2016.6.21 Tsenkov, Tsenko–Korduban, Valerij. Black to play and crush!
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SOLUTIONS
69th ch-RUS HL Kolomna 2016.6.22 Khismatullin, Denis–Cherniaev, Alexander: 10.Bxe4! dxe4 (Objectively, better to take with the Bishop and limit the damage to a pawn less) 11.Nxg5 e5 12.Qb3! ( 12.dxe5 is good enough, but the move played is crushing ) Bg6 13.Bxe5! Nxe5 14.dxe5 Qxg5 15.Qxb7 Rd8 16.Qxc6+ Ke7 17.Qb7+ Ke6 18.c6 Qxe5 19.c7 Bd6 20.cxd8=N+ 1-0
69th ch-RUS HL Kolomna 2016.6.22 Oganian, Miran–Volkov, Sergey: 37.Qg4! Rxe5 38.Rd8+ Kf7 39.Qg6+ Ke7 40.Qd6+ 1-0 mate next move
MITROPA Cup Prague 2016.6.21 Kollars, Dmitrij–Gazik, Viktor: 28.Nc4? Nxh3+ 29.Kh1 Nxf2+ ! Oops, White overlooked this. After 30.RxN Qc1+ leads to mate 0-1
9th Asrian Mem Yerevan 2016.6.20 Kalashian, David–Nanyan, Georgy: 13.Qh5! g6 14.Nxg6! fxg6 15.Qxg6+ Kf8 (15…Kd8 16.Qg7) 16.f4 Qxb2 17.f5 (Also 17.Ng5) Qg7 18.fxe6+ Nf6 19.Rxf6+ Bxf6 20.Bxc5+ 1-0
Albena chess festival 2016.6.21 Tsenkov, Tsenko–Korduban, Valerij: 21…Bxe3! 22.Qxe3 (Resigning is a promising alternative) 22…Qc2+ 23.Bd2 Rxe3+24.Kxe3 Re6+ 0-1
3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.18 Piasetski,L–Istratescu,A: 20…Nxc6! 21.dxc6 Qe5! The point. The White King is suddenly helpless. 22.Kc1 Rxc6 0-1
3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.15 Manolache,M–Banzea,Alexandru-Bogdan: 18.f5! Bxe5 19.dxe5 exf5 20.e6! Bxe6 And now 21.Qc3! ends the game immediately ( In the game the concluding moves were 221.Bb2?! Nc6?! (21…Rd2! unclear) 22.Rae1 Qf8 (Rd2!) 23.Rxe6! 1-0
3rd Iasi Open ROU 2016.6.16 Itkis,B–Nevednichy,V: 23…Rh4! 24.Rb8+ Kf7 25.Qb4 Rxg2+ 26.Kxg2 Rxh2+ 27.Kf1 Rh1+ 28.Kf2 Qh2+ 29.Ke3 Qxe5+ 1-0