|
| 
|
Sherlock Holmes chess
06.02.2010
– A very original sequence happened in this Sicilian encounter from the recently finished festival in Wijk aan Zee. The black knight is attacked, but onto which square it should go now is only one question (A).
The other interesting issue is: what was actually White's last (and best!) move (B),
as a reaction in turn to which black move (C)?
What do you think, Watson?
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
|
| 
|
Fire on board...
04.02.2010
– ... has become Alexei Shirov's trademark. In the tournament in Wijk aan
Zee, which Shirov started with five wins in a row, the 37-year-old chess
magician from Riga once more justified this reputation.
In many middlegame positions he managed to put his opponents under
pressure with inventive attacking play. And even in the endgame, one
always has to take into account that Shirov might set the board on fire.
This happened in the eleventh round in his game against Vladimir Kramnik, where he played 35.c5! in the diagram position. GM Karsten Müller has analysed the endgame for
ChessBase Magazine Online.
|
| 
|
Wijk aan C
28.01.2010
– Seeing all these superstars at the Corus Tournament 2010, one can easily forget that also the C-group provides a wealth of highly interesting chess. For example this game, where White after Black's last move 23...Bg7-f6 had to parry the attack on his queen. The strike
24.Rxf5 in your opinion leads to what?
A) advantage for White;
B) balanced play;
C) advantage for Black.
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
|
| 
|
The wrong choice of ending
27.01.2010
– In round 7 in Wijk, Nigel Short was within touching distance of a win over Ex-World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. In the position in the diagram he had to
decide whether to exchange queens or to gobble up another pawn with Qxc5. Short chose
50.Qxc5, but after 50...Be6! 51.g4 Bxf5 52.Qxf5 Qb2+ the
activity of the black queen turned out to be the decisive drawing factor, despite Black being two pawns behind. But how should the minor piece ending after
50.Qxf6 gxf6
be evaluated? Can the extra pawn be made to tell in the struggle of knight against bishop? Yes, says GM Karsten Müller in
ChessBase Magazine Online.
|
| 
|
A stunning exchange sacrifice...
24.01.2010
– ...in the Marshall Attack was unleashed by Peter Leko in the 4th round in Wijk aan Zee versus Lenier Dominguez. Playing black, here he was facing the question of whether it would be advisable to immediately occupy the long diagonal with
23...Bc6 despite the riposte 24.d5, blocking it with tempo. What do you think?
A) this wins for White;
B) Black prevails;
C) the position eventually remains balanced.
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
|
| 
|
The knight is a lousy defensive piece
22.01.2010
– When left on its own, a knight frequently has difficulties holding together
one flank in problems. If the pawns are not occupying one of the few
formations which suit it, it generally cannot manage the task. This motif underlies the piece sacrifice
35.Rxc4!? Rxc4 36.Nxc4 Kxc4 37.Ke4! - played in
the game Lock-Webb from the Masters in Hastings - with which White set his opponent serious practical problems. How would you evaluate the resulting position?
Can Black still hold the draw or will the white pawns triumph? GM Karsten Müller has
analysed the position for
Chess Base Magazine Online.
|
| 
|
Opening trap or not?
21.01.2010
– When Magnus Carlsen lost a pawn against Loek van Wely on his
10th move in well-known way, many might wondered whether he had
not fallen into a familiar opening trap. After all, on the CD-ROM "1000 Opening
Traps" the pawn loss was branded a mistake, and so far statistics clearly
seemed to confirm this. Yet reportedly the Norwegian had followed a
recommendation of Garry Kasparov, and it soon turned out that Black gets quite a
lot for the pawn.
Buy
"1000 Opening Traps" in shop anyway
Replay Van Wely - Carlsen
with annotations
|
| 
|
To sacrifice or not to sacrifice?!
19.01.2010
– A complicated position arose during time trouble in
Tomashevsky (2708) vs Fier (2653). The pawn structure leaves us in no doubt:
it was a King's Indian. The sacrifice 35...Bxg4 is on the cards, but
calculating through all the consequences accurately is hardly possible. What
does your intuition tell you?
A) The sacrifice is unsound. Black does not get sufficient compensation.
B) The sacrifice is playable. The position remains balanced.
C) 35...Bxg4 decides the game in Black's favour.
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a larger version of the
diagram.
|
| 
|
'The best game of the last 20 years'...
16.01.2010
– ... Jan Timman wrote about this encounter between two absolute top grandmasters of the 70s and 80s. Here Black played
21...Bb5 and later succumbed in a remarkable attack. How would you assess the position after
21...Nxc7 instead?
A) The second player maintains his plus pawn without risk;
B) White gets the advantage;
C) the result is a draw by perpetual check.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
|
| 
|
More about barriers
15.01.2010
– Our endgame blog started the New Year on the subject of barriers. Just a week later, we can offer you two more examples on this important theme. In Getz-O'Toole, played in the Masters in Hastings, White won in exemplary fashion with the help of a horizontal barrier. A vertical barrier could be seen in Sasikiran-Aronian, where a draw would have been the correct result. But the world class Armenian GM went wrong, allowing Sasikiran to win with flawless technique. Would you have found the correct move in the diagram? Black to play and draw! The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the
diagram.
|
| 
|
The automatic recapture...
09.01.2010
– ... of the bishop was what White expected in this position after
25.Bxg7, yet immediately after his move he suddenly realised the possibility 25...Qxb3 26.axb3 Rba6. How would you assess the situation after that?
A) Black checkmates;
B) this eventually leads to a position with equal chances;
C) White gets the advantage.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
|
| 
|
Bishop sacrifice on h7 leads to spectacular victory
06.01.2010
– Whereas the main attention was focussed on Azerbaijan's victory over Armenia at
the start of the World Team Championship, the hosts Turkey had the joy of a
spectacular win: 19-year-old Emre Can defeated Yuri Shulman, almost 200 Elo points
stronger, in a Tarrasch French with the help of a bishop sacrifice
on h7. The 2008 USA champion, however, was not following the recommendations of
Hannes Langrock, whose four-part article in CBMs 126-129 presents the theory of
the 3...Be7 system in great detail and with a lot of original analysis. Here is
the game with brief notes.
Full analysis by Igor Stohl will follow, in February in CBM 134.
|
|
|
