Chess Strategy: Exchange Sacrifice in the endgame, power of two bishops

Here is an older video of the game I played 10 years ago, where the power of two bishops in the endgame is full revealed. A blog entry with the game analysis: http://roman-chess.blogspot.com/2009/06/paul-keres-memorial-2002-part-2-two.html

Kramnik in the Sveshnikov – The Breakthrough Style

The book of Vladimir Kramnik’s  games published in Russia in the end of the 1990’s was called the “Break”, and for a while it became my constant source of aesthetic pleasure. I did not understand back then why people talk about Kramnik as a boring or even solid player, and still don’t understand it now – from following most of the tournaments where he plays. This is a player with a very dynamic sense of pawn structure and of how pawns and pieces release their power in unexpected (to the opponent) moments of the game.

Merely looking through a collection of his games in B33 ECO classifications I immediately came across several examples (I had known most of them from before, but a couple were new to me!). These games were played against the top players of the world, with good results. While regretting that Kramnik stopped playing the Sveshnikov, I do understand that one has to switch repertoire from time to time – in part to develop one’s style, but also to avoid computer preparation as lines that Kramnik makes popular – get overanalyzed to death and become difficult to play for a win.

Lutz –Kramnik, 1995
  26…e3 ripped White’s position apart before queenside pawns could promote.

Polgar – Kramnik, 1998
  With unexpected 38… a4, Black undermined White’s knight and pinned 3 White pieces along the long diagonal.

Anand – Kramnik, 1998
After 13. Qf3, Black fought for initiative by sacrificing two pawns – 14…f5! 15. exf5 d5! getting enough counter play for the material.

Shirov – Kramnik, 2000
With 20…d5!! Black was able to transfer the b8 rook to the kingside via b6, and again – obtain enough counterplay.

Leko – Kramnik, 2000
with 36… b4, Kramnik puts more pressure on White’s tangled position, although in time trouble the game ended as a draw after Black missed a win.

Pawn Breakthrough in the Sveshnikov Sicilian

Solving Simple Tactics – Part 4

White to move and win in all positions

 

 

Starting off with the World Championship game, another collection of queen sacrifices!

Tactical Themes in Sicilian Defence

DDT3000 – perikitosax, ICC, 2009, 15 minutes per game

Black to Move. Can Black take on ‘e4’ with the pawn?

I posted several days ago a great game by Tiviakov, where the rook sacrifice on the ‘f’ file was the winning idea after White played ‘f4-f5’ in Sicilian Scheveningen. I then remembered having played something similar myself on ICC not that long ago. Well, such games do stay in the chess player’s memory and warm his heart at night, so that’s indeed what has happened, and I was easily able to find that game.

Black made a similar mistake in my game, underestimated White’s initiative and captured with 23…fxe4?? (23…Nc2!? 24. Rxc2 Qc4! was correct). After 24. Rxf7! he had to resign on the next move.

White won after 24… Kxf7 25. Qxh7 1-0 with mate to follow.

Black really has to watch out for this theme in this line of the Sicilian, if it works, it is usually quite deadly!

Tiviakov’s crushing attack against Van Wely

Tiviakov – Van Wely, 1995

 White to move.

In this typical Sicilian Scheveningen, White has developed pressure on the kingside, and had just opened up the ‘f’ file via f4-f5-fxg6. But then Black also has some threats, and his knight has just grabbed on ‘c2’ (which actually was a mistake). How can White unleash his potential on the ‘f’ file in the most aggressive manner?

Click Here to replay the whole game. Or watch the youtube video from my channel:

Play Like Grischuk – Chess World Cup Fragments

Grischuk – Genba, 2011
 White to Move. Does White’s attack succeed after 21. Bf6 gxf6 22. exf6 Rg8?

In the end of the above variation Black is able to cover up g7 with the rook – but is that sufficient?

Online Tactics – Find the combination

Garryncha – slipperyfish, ICC, 2004
White to move. White has a powerful battery on the g file, but Black controls the center. That control however is fragile – the Queen defends the ‘d7’ rook, which defends ‘d5’ pawn, which in its turn defends the ‘e4’ rook, which also defends the ‘e5’ pawn. This sounds like a house of cards – and it is, White just has to find one precise move!

PrezAcc – Garryncha, ICC, 2004
Black to move. The goal of the rather unexpected combination is to lure Black king into a mating net. I am glad that I was able to find this trick in the blitz game, and not sure if it would have occurred to me today.

Combination by Efim Geller

Geller-Anikaev, 1979

White to move

On his way to winning chess USSR championship at the age of 55, Yefim Geller wins this brilliant attacking game. Watch the video for the solution and to see the whole game. A pawn storm on kingside results in the attack and invasion on the ‘f’ file. White’s play is a response to Black’s negligent 13… Rfc8, which weakened f7 pawn. Hint: the final shot aims at bringing the dark squared bishop to the long diagonal.

An overlooked counter attack from a Botvinnik game

In a classic, but underestimated training game Botvinnik – Ragozin, the following position arose after White’s 28. Re1-e3.

 Black to move. Can Black capture on c3?

The threat is to attack on the ‘h’ file, and in particular – to trap Black’s queen with Re3-h3-h7. In his notes, Botvinnik did not dwell too much on this position, but the capture on ‘c3’ is very thematic throughout this game, so I felt curious to check what happens if Black bravely ignores White’s idea, and carries on with his counter attack! Let me share some analysis.

Yes he can!! Yes he can take on c3. In fact, it would have led to a forced draw, and given that in the game Black went down after 28… Ng8 pretty fast, making a draw against the strongest player in the world was probably a great option (1947 was the only year in the twentieth century without a world chess champion). Play would continue:
29 . Rh3 Rxd4

Black carried out his plan of destroying the White center. Just two moves ago there were two White pawns on c3 and d4, now there are two Black rooks
30. Rh7 Rg4!!

When your opponent attacks your queen, you should hang your rook as well!! This is what you get when you analyse a game with a computer, but in reality this is a very harmonious development of Black’s ideas – he destroyed White's center so that his pieces could get some freedom, and now they have it - big time. White’s queen is guarding the knight, which is guarding the White rook, so if either one of them gets distracted, White’s whole plot falls through. He does have enough resources to get a draw though.
31. Nd7+ Ke8
32. Qxg4  Rc1+  (Bad was 32... Qxh7?? 33. Nf6+)
33. Bf1 Qa1!
34. Qe2 Nd5!
 Black is down a full rook for only a couple of pawns!!
35. Ne5 Nc3
36. Rh8+ Ke7
 now White has to scramble for a draw:
37. Nxg6+! fxg6
38. Rh7+ Kf8
39. Rh8+ Ke7
40. Rh7+
 draw by perpetual check

In the game Botvinnik won with a nice sacrifice, but I think this draw would have been a much more exciting finish to this game. This is probably one of the more interesting discoveries I ever made while analysing a grandmaster game from a book. Perhaps that’s because I had rarely analysed games from printed books with the help of a computer…

Pawn storm in the Sicilian – Salov swindles Gelfand

Salov – Gelfand, 1998

White to move

The d4 knight is attacked, but it is an essential piece for White’s initiative. How to keep the attack going and justify White’s pile of heavy pieces on the ‘h’ file?
Watch the video for the answer and to see the entire game – White actually got a bit carried away with his sacrifices and was lost right before the time control, but a fortunate swindle brought him a full point.

Spoiled Sacrifice in a Blitz Game

DDT3000 – pirulo, 2010, ICC, 3 minutes per game

 White to move 

This is a typical IQP position, with one pair of minor pieces gone off the board, but White (myself) still having enough resources for the attack. Books have been written about this structure, Winning Pawn Structures by Baburin being my favourite one. Black has pressure on b2, and White does not want to play b2-b4 as that would weaken the c3 square. Running down to the last minute on the clock, I realized that my main idea is to exploit the pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal, and that this was as good moment as it would ever be. So …

23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Nxe6! A typical idea, all of White’s pieces have lined up for this sacrifice, so if it does not work now, it is not likely to work later either. I already once blogged about a similar sacrifice on e6, where the placement of the White pieces was quite alike.

Black to move. Black’s rook on f8 and knight on d5 are hanging, so he has to accept the ‘gift’.

24 ... fxe6 25. Rxe6 Qd8?!

White to move.

Here I messed up my little ‘creation’, and according to my previous idea (from 5 seconds ago), I continued to build up the pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal with 26. Qf3? That allowed Black to escape and the game later ended in a draw. However, there was a much better and simpler idea, that would have left White up two pawns, with a winning position. What was it? Hint – White uses the fact that Qh3 may later attack Rc8.

PS. I find that these IQP structures are really hard to hold for Black without allowing White his moment glory with a d4-d5 breakthrough or piece sacrifice around the weakened kingside structure like in this example. It is quite rare to see a game (at least in my experience) where a favourable opportunity would never present itself and Black would just exploit the weakness of the d4 pawn.

Missed Sacrifice in Kortchnoi – Dreev

Kortchnoi – Dreev, 1992

White to move r2q2k1/pp1nrp2/2pb1n1Q/8/2BPp3/8/PPPB1PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 19

Having invested one piece into opening up Black’s king, Viktor Kortchnoi should have thrown in another one!
19. Bb4 would have won the game, since after 19… Bxb4 20. Re3, the rook threatens to swing both to g3 and to h3.

Instead Viktor the great must have overlooked the idea completely and settled for perpetual check! Click here for the complete game.

Knight sacrifice in Sicilian Defence - video

Jiganchine – Change He Li, Vancouver, 2008.

 White to move  rnb2rk1/2qnbppp/pp2p3/3pP3/P2N1P2/2N1BB2/1PP3PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 13

Black has somewhat delayed the development of his queenside, and I had a combination at my disposal. I missed the chance, during the game, but now made a youtube video about it – watch it to see the solution!

(I am still working on making the audio in my clips sound better, this one is yet another attempt).

Book Review - Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games by Igor Stohl

My blog entries are usually driven by analyzing games, and I must have not done much of that in the last month or so, thus the shortage of posts. Recently I have mostly been following chess events, in Moscow, London and Wijk An Zee. Sergei Shipov from http://crestbook.com has been putting up amazing video reviews of each round, and I have tried to watch every one of them.

This post is mostly a quick note that Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games, Volume 2  by Igor Stohl is a very good collection of games of this great player. Annotations are written in context of Kasparov’s opening repertoire and give good insight into the second part of his career, as it progressed from 1994 to 2005, including arguably his best years in 1999-2002. I studied the games that directly included the openings that I play, but I would like to do a more thorough review of all games in the book that were played in Open Sicilian, as I can foresee that getting insights of Kasparov’s understanding of these structures is beneficial beyond learning the specific variations.

I will only give a quick taste of what Kasparov’s style was like at his prime – when he was able to combine superior opening preparation with aggressive play in the middlegame. In both games, in the same line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian, Kasparov developed strong attack against opponent’s king, and when his queen was attacked, he responded with completely unexpected counter strikes (ok, in my books these moves were as unexpected as a move at a GM level ever gets!). One of the combinations was played against Kramnik, making that game even more remarkable.

Kasparov – Kramnik, 1994

  White to move. Replay the game

Kasparov-Lautier, 1994

White to move. Replay the game

 

 

Summary: I am strongly considering getting Volume 1 as well!

Sacrifice on April Fool’s day

Black to move
r4rk1/pbq2pp1/7p/1B6/3pP3/6b1/PPP1Q1P1/R1B2R1K b - - 0 22

This game was a decisive one in a BC CYCC (Canadian youth championship) qualifier of 2000, played on April 1st. Playing with the Black pieces, I missed a very nice way to wrap up this game. What strikes you about this position? Material is even, but White’s queenside is still undeveloped. White’s king is weak, and those dark squares will be really hard to cover up. If only I could transfer a heavy piece to the kingside, that would be decisive, but the e4 pawn is on the way, and Rae8-e4-h4 also seems not possible yet because e8 is covered. If …a6, then Bd3 and e4 is better protected.

22… Rae8!! I really wish it had occurred to me to play this move, since if White accepts the sacrifice, he really has no chance of defending.
23. Bxe8?! Rxe8 Arguably – the bishop was a more valuable piece than any one Black’s rooks.

  White to  move. There is no defence: all Black pieces are in the game – he had no use for both rooks in this attack anyway.

23. Bd3 f5 is more resilient, but Black now Black is attacking for free, and also should win:

  White to move. Black wins here as well.

The blog is really turning into the listing of my missed opportunities in 10 year old games. A real sign that my playing strength has not changed much since then (but computers got a hell lot stronger and now show me all these tricks that I did not realize at the time …)

Game in the viewer:

Endgame with bishops of opposite colour – video

White to move. Can he save the game?

Watch the video to see the solution. White’s worse (objectively – he’s losing) and my only chance is to capture on f4 with the bishop, so that I can stop the `h` pawn, and so that `f` pawn does not become too dangerous as well.
However, that does not work immediately: 47. Bxf4? Kxf4 48. g6 Bxf3 49. g7 Bd5 -+ blocking the pawn. But White has a study-like way to make this idea work, and in the game I managed to find the right move order.
Black, an International Master, did not find the way around the position, and the game ended as a draw. Looking at it now, 7 years later, I realized that Black was still winning, but this draw is still nonetheless one of my better efforts when it comes to saving lost positions. This was somewhat inspired by my article about endgames with bishops of opposite colour, and in particular – the Kotov-Botvinnik game.

PS. This is likely my last blog post for the 2009. Happy new year and best wishes for 2010!

Sacrifices in the Sicilian – with video

I recorded a video about an online 15 minute game I played. Over the course of the game, I played a nice sacrifice, but also missed several tactical shots that would have won the game on a spot. You can try to solve the positions below for White, there are two bishop sacrifices, one exchange sac (that was the one I found during the game), and a rook sac! The video will contain the answers.

White to move. Black’s g7-g6 was very risky, how can White prove that?

White to move. Black’s king has very few defenders – how to exploit that?

White to move. The rook is guarding e6, how can we distract it?

White to move. Two bishops are on fire, but the king is about to escape.

Replay through the video to actually see the solution and the entire game:

I also posted it on youtube: part 1 and part 2.

Pawn sacrifice in Closed Sicilian

This position could have occurred in one of my recent online games

  White to move

White sacrificed a pawn (on b2), but has a surprisingly (to me) strong initiative.
14. e5!! dxe5 15. Nc6!! Out of nowhere, White generates dangerous threats! Black king is stuck in the center and his queenside pieces are not developed, so White opens up files and diagonals just on time.

now probably  best is 15... Qc7 and something like this could happen: 16. Bb6 Qd7 17. Nxe5 Qxd1 18. Rfxd1 O-O 19. Bc5 Re8 20. Bd6 Rd8 21.Bxb7 Bxb7 22. Rxb7 Ne4 23. Nxf7 Rdc8 24. Rc1 and and White maintains winning chances.

But what if Black wants to be ‘shown’?

15…dxc6?! 16. Bxc6+ Bd7 17. Bxa8 Qxa8 18. Qd6!

Black to move. Rb8 is a decisive threat. White is winning. 18… Ne4 19. Rb8+ Bc8 20. Qc7 +-

Sharpen your Endgame Skills - Breakthrough in a Rook Endgame

Do you ever analyze your games with a computer and find really unusual hidden possibilities? It can be worth it sometimes!

  Black to move

I came across this curious position while analysing one of my games from a recent tournament. Black has the initiative, but in most lines White is active enough to trade off all the pawns. The d2 pawn is a strength and a weakness at the same time. Computer found a brilliant concept:

53… g3!! You can check yourself that taking on f2, or f5 is not quite sufficient.
The idea is to win control over the e3 square, so after 54. fxg3 Re3 + Black wins the rook.

 
The king has to stop attacking the d2 pawn, so after 55. Kc4 Re1 – Black wins the rook and is on time to collect White’s weak pawns. The d pawn proves to be a strength in this variation!

Click here to read more about rook endgames on my blog.