EC Men's tactics

(1) Tregubov,P (2632) - Nedev,T (2518) [D71] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (1), 30.05.2003 [Medium] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Nf3 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.0-0 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Qxd4 Bxd4 11.Nb5 Be5 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.gxf4 0-0 14.Nxc7 Rb8 15.a4 Bd7 16.a5 Nc8 17.Rfd1 Bc6 18.Rac1 Nd6 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Rd2 Ne4 21.Rd4 Nd6 22.b4 Rfc8 23.Na6 Rb5 24.e4 f6 25.Nc5 Kf7 26.e5 Nf5 27.Rd7 Rxb4 28.e6+ Ke8 29.Rxa7 Nd4 30.Kf1 Nb5 31.Rb7 Rxf4 32.a6 Nd6 33.Rb3 Rc4 34.Rxc4 Nxc4 35.Kg2 Nd6 36.a7 Nb5 Diagram White to play There is one sure way to queen that a-pawn. Can you find the move that won the game for White? 37.Rxb5 cxb5 38.Na6 Kd8 39.Nb8 Kc7 40.a8Q Rxb8 41.Qa7+ Rb7 42.Qc5+ Kb8 43.Qb4 Kc8 44.Kf3 Kb8 45.Ke4 Ka7 46.Kd4 1-0

(2) Smirnov,P (2615) - Meijers,V (2512) [B42] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (1), 30.05.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Qc7 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Qe2 d6 8.c4 Nc6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.f4 Be7 11.Nc3 Nd7 12.Kh1 Bf6 13.Bd2 a5 14.e5 dxe5 15.Ne4 exf4 16.Nxf6+ Nxf6 17.Bxf4 Qe7 18.Rad1 Bb7 19.Bc2 Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Rd1 Qb6 22.Bd6 h5 23.c5 Qb4 24.Qe5 Bc8 Diagram White to play There is one pretty move to end this game in favour of White. How long does it take for you to spot it? 25.Be7 Bd7 [ 25...Kxe7 26.Qd6+ Ke8 27.Qd8# ] 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Qd6 Qb7 28.Rd3 Qc8 29.Rb3 Qd8 30.Be4 f5 31.Bf3 1-0

(3) Atakisi,U (2296) - Ruck,R (2569) [B97] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (1), 30.05.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nb3 Nbd7 9.Qf3 Qc7 10.0-0-0 Be7 11.Qg3 b5 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nd7 15.Bxb5 axb5 16.Nxb5 Qb6 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.exd6 Rxa2 20.Kb1 Ra7 21.Rhe1 Nb8 22.Qxh7 Nc6 23.Qd3 Bd7 24.Re4 Rg8 25.Qc3 Qa6 26.Qf6 Qc8 27.Kc1 Ra4 28.Rf1 Rf8 29.Re3 Rg4 30.Rh3 Rg6?? Diagram White to play Black has just played 30...Rg4-g6, instead of the required 30...Rg4-g8 with a safe position. How did White punish the blunder? [ 30...Rgg8 ] 31.Qxf7+ [ 31.Qxf7+ Rxf7 ( 31...Kd8 32.Qxf8+ Be8 33.Rh8 Qd7 34.Rf7 ) 32.Rh8+ Rg8 33.Rxg8+ Rf8 34.Rgxf8# ] 1-0

(4) Moiseenko,A (2627) - Potkin,V (2522) [D45] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (2), 31.05.2003 [Medium] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Qe7 9.Rg1 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 dxc4 13.Bxc4 0-0 14.h4 c5 15.g5 cxd4 16.Qxd4 Rd8 17.0-0-0 b5 18.Bxb5 Bb7 19.Qd6 Diagram Black to play Can you see the three-move combination that wins the game? 19...Rac8+ 20.Kb1 Be4+ 21.Ka1 Rc1+ 22.Rxc1 Qxd6 23.Rgd1 Qb6 24.Rxd7 Bxf3 25.Rxd8+ Qxd8 26.Ba6 Bc6 27.b4 Qd6 28.f4 g6 29.b5 Bd5 30.h5 gxh5 31.f5 Qe5+ 0-1

(5) Stevic,H (2550) - Arduman,C (2361) [C86] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (2), 31.05.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.d3 Re8 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Re1 Be6 12.Nf1 Bf8 13.Ng3 Qd7 14.Be3 Ng4 15.Bd2 dxe4 16.Bxe6 Qxe6 17.dxe4 Na5 18.b3 Nb7 19.h3 Nf6 20.Nh2 Nc5 21.Ng4 Rad8 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Be3 Qc6 24.c4 b4 25.Rad1 Qg6 26.Qf3 c6 27.Nf5 Kh7 28.h4 Qf6 29.g4 Qg6 30.g5 h5 31.Ng3 Kg8 32.Bxc5 Bxc5 33.Nxh5 f6 34.Ng3 fxg5 35.h5 Qh6 36.Nf5 Qf6 37.Kg2 Rxd1 38.Rxd1 Rd8 Diagram White to play It is always nice to end an attacking game with a coup de gras. How did the 23-year-old Croatian IM force his opponent into submission? 39.Nh6+ [ 39.Nh6+ Kh7 ( 39...gxh6 40.Qxf6 ) 40.Rxd8 Qxd8 41.Qf5+ Kh8 42.Nf7+ ] 1-0

(6) Potkin,V (2522) - Chuchelov,V (2592) [B22] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (3), 01.06.2003 [Easy] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bd3 dxe5 9.dxe5 N8d7 10.Qe2 Nc5 11.Bc2 Nd5 12.0-0 Bd7 13.a3 Be7 14.Nd4 Qb6 15.Qg4 g6 16.b4 Na4 17.Re1 Rc8 18.Bb3 h5 19.Qd1 Diagram Black to play White has just returned his queen from g4 to d1. You should see the tactical opportunity in a flash. 19...Rxc1 20.Qxc1 Qxd4 21.Nd2 Nac3 22.Nf3 Qf4 23.Qb2 0-0 24.Rac1 Na4 25.Qe2 Nab6 26.Qd3 Qg4 27.Qe4 Qxe4 28.Rxe4 Rd8 29.Re2 Bc6 30.Rd2 Kg7 31.Rcd1 a6 32.Nd4 Ba4 33.Rc2 0-1

(7) Fedorov,A (2604) - Meijers,V (2512) [C00] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (3), 01.06.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 d5 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.g3 Be7 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 h6 8.Na3 b6 9.e5 Nd7 10.c4 d4 11.Nd2 Bb7 12.f4 a6 13.Ne4 Qc7 14.Nc2 h5 15.h3 0-0-0 16.Bd2 f6 17.exf6 gxf6 18.f5 exf5 19.Rxf5 Rdg8 20.Bf3 Nce5 21.b4 cxb4 22.Rb1 Nc5 23.Nxb4 Qd7 24.Nxc5 bxc5 25.Rxe5 fxe5 26.Qxe5 Kd8 Diagram White to play The white attack cannot be stopped. But can you see the most powerful tactical shot? 27.Nc6+ [ 27.Nc6+ Bxc6 28.Rb8+ is the clincher.] 1-0

(8) Mastrovasilis,A (2487) - Hracek,Z (2584) [A28] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (3), 01.06.2003 [Medium] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 c5 10.Qh4 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.Bd2 Be6 14.0-0-0 Rac8 15.Be2 Nb4 16.Bxb4 cxb4+ 17.Kb1 b3 18.axb3 Bxb3 19.Rc1 Rhd8 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.Bd3 a5 22.h4 h6 23.e4 a4 24.Rh3 g5 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.Rg3 Rc5 27.Rg4 Be6 28.Rg3 b5 29.Bc2 Kd6 30.Rd3+ Ke5 31.Rd8 Rc8 32.Rd1 Diagram Black to play After White retreated his rook from d8 to d1 Black had a clear-cut way to end the game in his favour. 32...Rxc2 [ 32...Rxc2 33.Kxc2 Bb3+ 34.Kd2 Bxd1 35.Kxd1 Kxe4 and Black easily wins the endgame.] 0-1

(9) Mastrovasilis,D (2456) - Marin,M (2568) [B09] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (3), 01.06.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5 Bg4 9.Bc4 Nc7 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 e6 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Qxb7 Rab8 16.Qxa7 Rb4 17.Nb5 Nfe8 18.Bf1 exf4 19.c3 Re4 20.Qb7 Re5 21.Nxc7 Nxc7 22.Qf3 Nd5 23.a4 Ne3 24.Rd2 Nf5 25.Rf2 Nh4 26.Qd1 Rd5 27.Qe1 Re5 28.Qd1 f3 29.g3 Rd5 30.Qe1 Re5 31.Qd2 Rd5 32.Qe3 Qd6 33.gxh4 Qg3+ 34.Kh1 Rd1 35.Qxe6+ Kh8 36.Bf4 Qxf2 37.Rxd1 Rxf4 38.Rd8+ Bf8 39.Qe5+ Kg8 Diagram White to play How die the 19-year-old Greek master finish off his attack. To hone your tactical skill you should work out the staircase mate in eight moves. 40.Bc4+ Rxc4 [ 40...Rf7 41.Bxf7+ Kxf7 42.Rd7+ Kg8 43.Qe6+ Kh8 44.Qf6+ Kg8 45.Qf7+ Kh8 46.Qxh7# ] 41.Qd5+ Kg7 42.Rd7+ Kh8 43.Qe5+ Kg8 44.Qe6+ [ 44.Qe6+ Kh8 45.Qf6+ Kg8 46.Qf7+ Kh8 47.Qxh7# ] 1-0

(10) Karadeniz,E (2308) - Vokarev,S (2498) [D00] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (3), 01.06.2003 [Medium] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.Ne5 cxd4 8.exd4 Qb6 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Nxc6 Qxc6 11.Re1 a6 12.a4 b6 13.Bf3 e6 14.Be5 Bd7 15.Qd2 Rfc8 16.h4 b5 17.Re2 Qc4 18.h5 Qb4 19.Ra2 Qf8 20.Qf4 Ne8 21.Bxg7 Qxg7 22.h6 g5 23.Qg4 Qxh6 24.Nxd5 f5 25.Qg3 exd5 26.Bxd5+ Kh8 27.Bxa8 Rxa8 28.Re7 f4 29.Qb3 Nf6 30.axb5 a5 31.b6 g4 32.b7 Rb8 33.Rxa5 g3 34.fxg3 Ng4 35.Qf3 Be6 36.Rxe6 Qxe6 37.Ra8 Qe1+ 38.Qf1 Qe3+ 39.Kh1 Nf2+ Diagram White to play Black has just played Ng4-f2. Is that the end for White, or can he turn tables on the attacker? 40.Qxf2 Qxf2 41.Rxb8+ Kg7 42.Rg8+ Kxg8 43.b8Q+ Kg7 44.Qxf4 Qxc2 45.Qe5+ Kf7 46.d5 Qc1+ 47.Kh2 Qh6+ 48.Kg1 Qc1+ 49.Kf2 Qd2+ 50.Kf3 Qd1+ 51.Kf4 Qf1+ 52.Kg5 Qxg2 53.d6 Kg8 54.Qe8+ Kg7 55.Qe5+ Kg8 56.d7 h6+ 57.Kf5 Qf3+ 58.Ke6 Qc6+ 59.Ke7 Qb5 60.Kd8 Qc4 61.Qe8+ Kg7 62.Qe7+ Kg8 63.Ke8 Qc8+ 1-0

(11) Erdogan,H (2239) - Reinderman,D (2516) [A86] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (4), 02.06.2003 [Medium] 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Nh3 d6 7.d5 Nbd7 8.0-0 Ne5 9.b3 c5 10.Bb2 a6 11.Nf4 Rb8 12.a4 Ne8 13.Ne6 Bxe6 14.dxe6 Nc7 15.a5 Kh8 16.Bd5 Nc6 17.Qd2 Nd4 18.Na4 Ndxe6 19.Bg2 Na8 20.Bxg7+ Kxg7 21.f4 b5 22.axb6 Nxb6 23.Nc3 Nc7 24.e4 Kg8 25.exf5 gxf5 26.Rfe1 e6 27.Rad1 Nc8 28.Na4 Qf6 29.Re3 Rb4 30.Bc6 Rf7 31.Qg2 Kg7 32.Red3 Qe7 33.g4 fxg4 34.Qxg4+ Kh8 35.Rg3 Qf8 36.Qe2 Rxf4 Diagram White to play The Turkish player Hakan Erdogan has invested two pawns into this attack, but he has to find a critical move here to finish it off. 37.Nxc5 Ne7 [ 37...dxc5 38.Qe5+ ] 38.Nd7 Qf5 39.Qb2+ e5 40.Nxe5 with mate to follow. 1-0

(12) Grant,J (2253) - Sulypa,A (2492) [A29] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (4), 02.06.2003 [Medium] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Be7 8.d3 0-0 9.Bd2 Be6 10.Rc1 f5 11.a3 a5 12.Qc2 a4 13.e4 fxe4 14.Nxe4 Diagram White to play To take or not to take, that is so often the question. Can you work out the tactics in this position? 14...Rxf3 15.Bxf3 Nd4 16.Qxc7 Nxf3+ 17.Kg2 Nxd2 18.Nxd2 Bg5 19.f4 exf4 20.Qxd8+ Rxd8 21.gxf4 Rxd3 22.fxg5 Rxd2+ and Ivanchuk's second Alexandre Sulypa is winning with two minor pieces for a rook. 23.Kg1 Bd5 24.Rf5 Bc6 25.Rf2 Rxf2 26.Kxf2 Kf7 27.Kg3 Nd5 28.Re1 Nb6 29.Rc1 Ke6 30.Kg4 g6 31.Rc3 Bd5 32.Kf4 Bb3 33.Rh3 Nc4 34.Rxh7 b5 35.Rb7 Nd6 36.Rb6 Kd5 37.h4 Bd1 38.Rb8 Kc5 39.Rd8 Bh5 40.Rh8 Kd5 41.Rd8 Ke6 42.Rb8 Kd5 43.Rd8 Kc5 44.Rh8 Bd1 45.Rd8 Bc2 46.Ke3 Nc4+ 47.Ke2 Bf5 48.Rf8 Nxb2?? The tenatous defence by Scotland's Jonathan Grant has paid off. Sulypa loses his nerve and blunders away the game. [ 48...Bg4+ 49.Kf2 Nxb2 ] 49.Rxf5+ gxf5 50.g6 Nc4 51.g7 Nxa3 52.g8Q Kb4 53.Kd3 Nc4 54.Qf8+ Kb3 55.Qxf5 Nb2+ 56.Kd4 b4 57.Kc5 a3 58.Qd5+ Kc3 59.Qd4+ Kc2 60.Kxb4 a2 61.Qe4+ Nd3+ 62.Kc4 a1Q 63.Qxd3+ Kb2 64.Qc3+ 1-0

(13) Kupreichik,V (2529) - Morrison,C (2170) [B07] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (4), 02.06.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.Qd2 Be7 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.Kb1 Rfe8 11.h3 Bh5 12.g4 exf4 13.Bxf4 Bg6 14.e5 Nd5 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.exd6 Bf8 17.Rhf1 N7b6 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Ne5 f6 20.Nxg6 Bxd6 21.b3 Ba3 22.g5 Qe4 23.gxf6 Qxg6 24.Be5 Nd5 25.Rg1 Qh5 26.Rde1 Bb4 27.Rxg7+ Diagram Black to play White has just played Rg1xPg7+. Where must Black move his king: to f8 or h8? Black chose the wrong alternative and went down in a mating attack (which you should work out by yourself). 27...Kf8?? 28.Qxb4+ Nxb4 29.Bd6+ Re7 30.Bxe7+ Ke8 31.Bxb4+ good enough, but [ 31.Bc5+ Kd8 32.Rg8+ Qe8 33.Rgxe8+ Kd7 34.R1e7# ] 1-0

(14) Vokarev,S (2498) - Asmundsson,I (2327) [B42] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (4), 02.06.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 b5 6.0-0 Bb7 7.a4 b4 8.Nd2 e5 9.Nf5 g6 10.Ne3 Nf6 11.a5 Bc5 12.Nec4 d5 13.Nxe5 dxe4 14.Bc4 0-0 15.Nb3 Bd6 16.Qd4 Nc6 17.Nxc6 Bxc6 18.Bg5 Be7 19.Qe5 Re8 20.Nd4 Bb7 21.Rad1 Nd7 Diagram White to play Anyone can feel the first move of White's final combination. But can you work out the continuation completely in your mind? 22.Bxf7+ Kxf7 23.Qe6+ Kg7 24.Nf5+ gxf5 25.Rxd7 Qxd7 1-0

(15) Ftacnik,L (2611) - Savchenko,S (2559) [D17] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (5), 03.06.2003 [Easy] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4 e6 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Qc2 g6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Ba2 Nb6 14.Rd1 c5 15.dxc5 Nbd7 16.e4 Bxc5+ 17.Kh1 fxe4 18.Bg5 Be7 19.Bh6 exf3 20.gxf3 Rc5 21.Rg1 Kh8 22.Rad1 Rh5 23.Bxf8 Qxf8 24.Nd5 Ne5 25.Qe2 Bd8 26.Nxf6 Bxf6 27.f4 Nc6 28.Rd7 Nd4 29.Qe4 Nf5 30.Rxf7 Qd8 31.Qf3 Rh4 32.Qd5 Qb6 Diagram White to play Lubomir Ftacnik, one of the GMs in charge of the ChessBase games collections, overlooked a mate in three. Surely this would never happen to you?! 33.Rxf6 [ Lubomir missed 33.Rxh7+! Kxh7 34.Qg8+ Kh6 35.Qxg6# ] 33...Rxh2+ 34.Kxh2 Qf2+ 35.Qg2 Qxf4+ 36.Kh1?? Oops. To his great disappointmet Ftacnik must concede a draw by perpetual check. 36...Qh4+ 37.Qh2 Qe4+ 38.Rg2 Qe1+ 39.Rg1 1/2-1/2

(16) Erdogdu,M (2303) - Vajda,L (2592) [B08] 4th IECC Istanbul TUR (5), 03.06.2003 [Medium] 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Be3 Bg4 8.Qd2 a6 9.d5 Nb8 10.a4 e5 11.a5 Ne8 12.Ra4 Nd7 13.Ne1 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 f5 15.exf5 gxf5 16.f4 e4 17.g4 Nc5 18.Rc4 b5 19.axb6 cxb6 20.gxf5 b5 21.Rd4 Rc8 22.b4 Nb3 23.cxb3 Rc6 24.Rxe4 Nf6 25.Re6 Nxd5 26.Bd2 Rxc3 27.Nf3 Rxb3 28.Qe4 Nf6 29.Qd3 Qb6+ 30.Be3 Qb7 31.Rxd6 Rxb4 32.Bd2 Re4 33.Ng5 Re7 34.Ne6 Rfe8 35.Be3 Kh8 36.Bd4 Ne4 37.Rb6 Qd5 38.Nxg7 Rg8 Diagram White to play Black has just pinned the knight with Re8-g8. 39.Rg6 Nf6 [ 39...hxg6 40.Qh3# ] 40.Nh5 Rgg7 41.Rxg7 [ 41.Rxg7 Rxg7+ 42.Nxg7 and White is, as Fritz would put it, 19.12 pawns up] 1-0