Today’s 5-second tactics!
“Time is the school in which we learn, Time is the fire in which we burn.”
Delmore Schwartz, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories
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gm Zhigalko, Sergei
gm Stupak, Kirill
ch-BLR Minsk just yesterday. Position before Black’s 21st move. A chaotic position, arising from a g3-benoni. No Knights on the board; instead, Bishops. But in such positions the Bishops can be so lethal…
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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Nikitenko, Mihail (2100)
gm Zhigalko, Sergei
Minsk, once more. Position after Black’s 24th move (24…Nxd5) A sharp position arising from a Be3-Najdorf, seemingly all the rage these days. If now 25.Rxd5 Rxc6! (certainly not 25…RxR? 26.RxR QxR 27.BxQ RxQ as 28.a5 is a Knightmare) the game is unclear, with White possibly a tad better. But unclear in anycase. INSTEAD, in the above position, there is much better!
HOW CAN WHITE GET A BIG EDGE?
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im Lomako, Pavel
gm Aleksandrov, Alexei
Minsk. Position after White’s 15th move (15.Nb5?!). Grandmaster Aleksandrov has an insteresting style, preferring intense manoeuvring games as opposed to more dynamic play. Here his sense of danger fails him, and he commits a subtle error, overlooking a very strong blow.
BLACK TO PLAY AND GET A BIG EDGE!
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fm Harutyunian, Tigran K (2387)
im Andersen, Mads
Andranik Margaryan Mem , Yerevan, yesterday. Position after 55 moves of play. Ofcourse, White must have the advantage with his outsider passed pawn, but the game will not win itself! If now 56.a5? Kd7! and Black will succeed in drawing the game, as the reader can verify for himself. INSTEAD, there is much better
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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ch-BLR Minsk 2014.1.12 Stupak, Kirill–Zhigalko, Sergei: 21…Rxe6! 22.Bf2 (Obviously taking the Rook is answered by …Qg3) 22… Qg5 23.Bh4 ( 23.h4 Qg4 ) Qxh4 24.dxe6 Qg3 0-1 25.e5 is answered by …Bd4+ and …Be5 with a mating net
ch-BLR Minsk 2014.1.11 Zhigalko, Sergei–Nikitenko, Mihail: 25.Qxc5!! dxc5 26.Rxd5 with clear positional advantage. The White pieces dominate the important squares. White will also pick up a pawn or two in the coming play (the Black e-pawn and h-pawn are difficult to properly defend) and combined with the passed a-pawn give White excellent winning prospects.
ch-BLR Minsk 2014.1.11 Aleksandrov, Aleksej–Lomako, Pavel: 15…a4! This strong move, evidently overlooked by White, wins material! The game continued 16.Nec3!? axb3 17.Qxb3 (17Qb2 c4 is even worse) 17…c4 18.Bxc4 dxc4 19.Qxc4 when White has insufficient material for the piece. Even so, White drew the game after some sloppy play by Black!
Andranik Margaryan Mem Yerevan 2014.1.12 Andersen, Mads–Harutyunian, Tigran K: 56.Kc6!! f5 57.a5 f4 58.a6 f3 59.a7 f2 60.a8=Q f1=Q 61.Qe8+ 1-0 White wins the Black Queen.