Mitropa tactics

(1) Plachetka,J (2441) - Berkes,F (2511) [E14] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (4), 06.05.2002 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 c5 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nc3 h6 8.Bc2 cxd4 9.exd4 d6 10.d5 e5 11.Ba4+ Nfd7 12.b4 0-0 13.Re1 Qc8 14.Qe2 a5 15.a3 axb4 16.axb4 b5 17.Nxb5 Nb6 18.Nc3 Qxc4 19.Qxc4 Nxc4 20.Rb1 Rc8 21.Bb3 Nd7 22.Nd4 exd4 23.Rxe7 dxc3 24.Rxd7 Bxd5 25.Bf4 Be6 26.Rb7 g5 27.Be3 c2 28.Rc1 Nxe3 29.Bxe6 Diagram Black to play White is fighting to survive, the black pawn on c2 is his nemesis. How did Black finish him off? 29...Ra1 [ 29...Ra1 White cannot take the rook: 30.Rxa1 leads to mate in two. 30...c1Q+ 31.Rxc1 Rxc1# ] 0-1

(2) Horvath,A (2464) - Priehoda,V (2425) [C19] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (4), 06.05.2002 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.h4 Qc7 8.Nf3 h6 9.h5 Bd7 10.a4 Nbc6 11.Bd2 Na5 12.Be2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc4 14.0-0 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Rc8 16.Rfb1 0-0 17.Qb4 Bc6 18.Bd3 Qd8 19.Nd2 Rc7 20.a5 Be8 21.Nb3 Nc6 22.Qd6 Qc8 Diagram White to play Black has just avoided a queen exchange with 22...Qd8-c8. Why was this an embarrassing blunder? 23.Bh7+ Wins the exchange! Unfortunately White went on to lose the game. 23...Kxh7 24.Qxf8 b6 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra3 Nb8 27.Ra8 Rxc2 28.Nc5 Qd8 29.Qd6 Qh4 30.Nd3 Nc6 31.Rxe8 Nxd4 32.Re1 Nf3+ 33.gxf3 Qg5+ 34.Kf1 Qxh5 35.Kg2 Qg6+ 36.Kf1 Qxd3+ 37.Kg2 Qd2 38.Rf1 Qg5+ 39.Kh2 Rc4 40.Qe7 Rh4# 0-1

(3) Gross,D (2470) - Sarno,S (2399) [B09] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (4), 06.05.2002 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5 Bg4 9.Be2 Nc7 10.a4 a6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nd7 13.Qd3 Rb8 14.a5 b5 15.axb6 Nxb6 16.Be3 Nc8 17.Na4 Nb6 18.Nc3 Nc8 19.Ra2 e6 20.e5 dxe5 21.Bxc5 exf4 22.d6 Nd5 23.Nxd5 exd5 24.Bxd5 Be5 25.Rxa6 Rxb2 26.d7 Qxd7 Diagram White to play Black just captured an advanced white pawn (26...Qd8xPd7). But he was punished with a sharp tactical shot. 27.Rxg6+ and Black's position collapses completely. 27...hxg6 28.Qxg6+ Kh8 29.Qh6+ Kg8 30.Qxf8+ Kh7 31.Be4+ 1-0

(4) Rasik,V (2424) - Isonzo,D (2360) [C03] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (4), 06.05.2002 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.c3 c5 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.0-0 a5 9.a4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nb4 11.Bb1 b6 12.Re1 Ba6 13.Nf1 Rc8 14.Ra3 Rc6 15.Ne3 Qc7 16.Bd2 0-0 17.h4 Rc8 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19.hxg5 Nf8 20.g3 Qd8 21.f4 R6c7 22.Kg2 Nc6 23.Bc3 Ne7 24.Rh1 Neg6 25.Qh5 Qe7 26.Kf2 Rxc3 27.Rxc3 Qb4 28.Qd1 Qxb2+ 29.Rc2 Rxc2+ 30.Bxc2 Ne7 31.Qd2 Nc6 Diagram White to play White has just played 31.Qd1-d2, and Black carelessly answered with 31...Ne7-c6. Now White can force an immediate resignation. 32.Bxh7+ 1-0

(5) Plachetka,J (2441) - Golubovic,B (2462) [A29] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (6), 08.05.2002 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a3 Be6 10.b4 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Nd2 c6 13.bxc6 Nxc6 14.Rb1 a4 15.Nc4 Nxc4 16.dxc4 Bxc4 17.Rxb7 Nd4 18.e3 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Rc8 20.Nd5 Bg5 21.h4 Qa5 22.Bb2 Qa6+ 23.Kg1 Qxb7 Diagram White to play White has sacrificed a rook and the exchange. How can he now win material back and draw the game? 24.Nf6+ Bxf6 25.Bxb7 Rb8 26.exd4 Rxb7 27.dxe5 Be7 28.Bd4 Rb3 29.Qg4 Rxa3 30.Qd7 Rd3 31.Qxa4 Rd8 1/2-1/2

(6) Borgo,G (2418) - Pavasovic,D (2567) [D45] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (6), 08.05.2002 1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.a3 0-0 8.Be2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Ba2 Bb7 11.0-0 a6 12.e4 e5 13.h3 exd4 14.Nxd4 c5 15.Nf5 Be5 16.f3 c4 17.Be3 Qc7 18.Ne7+ Kh8 19.Rad1 Rfe8 20.Nf5 Nc5 21.Bb1 Nd3 22.Qe2 g6 23.Bxd3 cxd3 24.Rxd3 gxf5 25.f4 fxe4 26.fxe5 exd3 27.Qf2 Re6 28.exf6 Rg8 29.Bf4 Qc6 30.Bg3 Diagram Black to play Black has a devastating attack, where many moves will win. Which is the most elegant and decisive method? 30...Re3 0-1

(7) Jirka,J (2398) - Gozzoli,Y (2313) [E07] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (6), 08.05.2002 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 c6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Nd2 b6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Ndxe4 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Bb7 12.Be3 Nf6 13.Nc3 Qc8 14.Qc2 c5 15.d5 exd5 16.cxd5 Rd8 17.Rad1 b5 18.Rfe1 a6 19.Bg5 Qc7 20.Qe2 Bf8 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qh5 h6 23.Be4 Rd6 24.Qf5 Bg7 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Bf5 b4 27.Ne2 Bxd5 28.Nf4 Bf3 29.Rxd6 Qxd6 Diagram White to play Black's king is very precariously posted, and none of his pieces is properly defended. How can White capitalise on this? 30.Ne6+ fxe6 31.Bxe6 The threat is Qg8+ and Qxa8 (or even mate). 31...Qxe6 32.Rxe6 Rd8 33.Re1 Bd5 34.Qf5 Bxa2 35.Qxc5+ Kg8 36.Qxb4 Bf7 37.Qb6 1-0

(8) Berkes,F (2511) - Gross,D (2470) [A11] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (7), 09.05.2002 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 c6 6.b3 d5 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.d3 Qd7 9.Nbd2 Bh3 10.e4 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 dxe4 12.dxe4 Rd8 13.e5 Ng4 14.Re1 Na6 15.h3 Nh6 16.e6 fxe6 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qe2 Nf7 19.Ne4 Nc7 20.h4 b6 21.h5 c5 22.hxg6 hxg6 23.Neg5 Qc6 24.Rh1 Rh8 25.Rae1 Nxg5 26.Qe5+ Kf7 27.Qf4+ Kg7 28.Qxg5 Raf8 29.Qxe7+ Rf7 Diagram White to move. Black has just defended the check with 29...Rf8-f7, and now the white queen is under attack. What should White do? 30.Qxf7+ Kxf7 31.Rxh8 Ne8 32.Rh7+ Ng7 33.Rh4 Nf5 34.Rhe4 Kf6 35.Kh3 Qc8 36.g4 Ng7 37.Rf4+ Ke7 38.Ne5 Qh8+ 39.Kg3 Qh6 40.Nf7 Qh7 41.Ng5 Qh6 42.Rf7+ Kd8 43.f4 Kc8 44.Rxa7 1-0

(9) Touzane,O (2352) - Jenni,F (2508) [A49] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (7), 09.05.2002 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.a4 a5 7.Nbd2 d5 8.Ne5 c6 9.c3 Nbd7 10.Nxd7 Bxd7 11.Qb3 Qc8 12.Re1 Be6 13.Nf3 Ne4 14.Qa3 f6 15.Nd2 Nd6 16.b3 Bh3 17.Bh1 Qe6 18.Qa2 f5 19.Nf3 Ne4 20.Ng5 Nxg5 21.Bxg5 h6 22.Bc1 Rf7 23.f4 Bf6 24.Kf2 g5 25.e3 h5 26.Ba3 Rh7 27.Qd2 h4 28.Rac1 Kg7 29.c4 hxg3+ 30.hxg3 Rah8 31.cxd5 cxd5 32.Qd3 Bg4 33.Bg2 Rh2 34.Rh1 gxf4 35.exf4 Diagram Black to play White has just blundered, recapturing a pawn on f4 with his e-pawn instead of the g-pawn. Which tactical shot did he overlook? 35...Be2 36.Qd2 White cannot take the bishop: [ 36.Qxe2 Rxg2+ 37.Kxg2 Qxe2+ 38.Kg1 Bxd4# ] 36...Rxg2+ 37.Kxg2 Qe4+ 38.Kf2 Qf3+ 0-1

(10) Horvath,A (2464) - Brumen,D (2408) [C18] Mitropa Cup Leipzig GER (8), 10.05.2002 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.h4 Nbc6 8.h5 h6 9.Nf3 Qc7 10.Bd2 Bd7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.0-0 Na5 13.Nh4 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nc4 15.Bb4 a5 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.Qg4 Rcg8 18.Qf4 Be8 19.Rfb1 b5 20.a4 b4 21.c3 Na3 22.Rc1 Qb6 23.cxb4 axb4 24.Rc5 Bxa4 25.Rac1 Rd8 26.Ng6+ fxg6 27.Bxg6 Rhf8 28.Rc7+ Bd7 29.Qh4+ Rf6 30.exf6+ gxf6 31.Qf4 b3 32.Qxh6 Kd6 33.Qg7 Qxd4 Diagram White to play With his king on d6 Black is "dead meat". What is the most ruthless way for White to complete the execution? 34.Rxd7+ Rxd7 35.Qf8+ Ke5 36.Qb8+ Rd6 37.Re1+ 1-0