#167 – February 22, 2006
IN THIS ISSUE VisualEyes • Analyze This It's really chess high season right now. We have the elite in action in Linares and dozens of GMs playing at the Cappelle la Grande open in France. It's the first Linares without Kasparov in a long, long time, but he's following the action diligently, you can be sure. In fact, we've been watching most of the rounds with him, thanks to Skype!
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But since the first half of Linares is taking place in Mexico and is nine or ten hours ahead of Moscow time, we don't get much commentary on the endgame, alas. But Garry's openings and middlegame aren't too bad. We'll have his occasional comments included in our Black Belt analysis.
Download all the chess material and annotations in this issue in PGN format text or reader software. In ChessBase format (Fritz, etc. format (CBV). Online replay page here.
The next issue will be coming from San Diego, home of the US championship. I'm webmastering and annotating for the official site, which is always a lot of fun. Exhausting fun, but fun. I'll collect player notes and comments to pass on, of course.
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Wanted: A's for Q's Did you hate word problems in math class? (Two trains are moving toward each other, one is moving...) Sorry then, because we just loved them. We've turned this favorite section into a quiz that's part find the blunder and part find the win. Or is it the other way around?
18.Kd2 h5 19.a4 Rhd8+ VisualEyes.
9...Be6 10.Nd4 Bd7 11.h5 VisualEyes.
Blocking on d3 is silly, so the king has four squares to choose from. Which of the four loses a decisive amount of material almost immediately? (You can guess that this is also the move White chose in the game.)
The move ..Ng4 is a common theme in these Dragon positions, revealing an attack by the Bg7 against the Nd4. The white queen can't cover both g4 and d4 at the same time. Black also has to count zwischenzugs with captures on c6, so you'll have to do the math. Can Black play the simplifying move ..Ng4 now or not?
12...Nxe4 13.Rxe4 Qd6 14.Qh5 White's superactive pieces create several nasty latent threats in the position against the weak black king. Indeed, the position is already close to lost for Black. Moves like ..f6 or ..g6 probably only delay disaster. So Black tries to create confusion by counterattacking with his next move, ..b5. 14...b5? VisualEyes. White can simply retreat to d3 and keep many threats. There are a few tempting moves that leave the bishop to its fate, however. Should White play Bd3 or does he have something stronger?
15...Nf2+ 16.Rxf2 Qxf2 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.Qe5+ VisualEyes. The options are clear here. Black can run with his king with Kd7 or Kd8 or block with a bishop on e7 or e6. Only one of these moves survives, the others are all crushed. That Rd1+ obliterates the king moves shouldn't take you long to figure out. So which bishop? The key is figuring out why one of the interpositions loses, of course.
4...fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 h6 VisualEyes.
21.g5 Nxe5 22.Bh7+ Kh8 23.Bf5 VisualEyes.
Black, as we say, is asking for it. He's played a wild opening against a stronger player and has allowed his king to be terribly exposed. There is still the chance of making a mistake, however. The game's not going to win itself. White can retreat the knight to h3 and plan to exploit the open black king later. Or he can play more aggressively and sacrifice in various ways right now. What should he do?
White's crushing threats on the h-file are obvious, but they aren't overwhelming just yet. With careful play Black might survive the worst. He can hope to answer gxh6 with ..g6, for example, although his long-term prospects are of course very dim. Should Black play .. Kg8 to get off the h-file? Or ..Rg8 to reinforce his defenses? Or ..Bxf5 to eliminate one of the attackers. One of these moves is much worse than the other two suggestions. Which one?
17.Bf2 Bf6 18.Bd3 VisualEyes. Both sides are a mess. White has the immediate threat of taking the f5 pawn, although then Black could play various discoveries with his Bf6. But then the bishop might take on h7 with check. Hmm. So is f5 under threat or not? Black can move the Bf6 so the rook protects the pawn, or move the Nd7 so the bishop does. Or not. So of these three options, which is the blunder: ..Nb6, ..Bd4, or ..Kh8? Two of the options are fine, relatively speaking.
15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Qf3 In the game of attack and counterattack Black has come up well short. White has several nasty threats: taking the bishop on b7, for example. This is the only one Black notices so he plays ..Rb8 to protect the bishop. This loses to a nice discovered attack. 16...Rb8?? VisualEyes. Now White has a two-pronged move that wins material, although there are a few tricks. Black also has discoveries, such as ..Nxe5 and even ..Qxa2+ with ..Nb4+ to follow. What did White play to win? Work out the full line with Black's responses.
Lucky Number 123 Wow. Linares is really off to a big bang start in Mexico. FIDE champion Veselin Topalov is in trouble while Peter Leko and Peter Svidler have raced off to 3.5/4 starts. There is daily analysis at ChessBase.com and we'll be picking out the highlights for Black Belt every week until we head to San Diego for the US Championship, right before Linares leaves Mexico and returns to, well, Linares. (The event is split between the Mexican town of Morelia and its eponymous home this year.) We watched this incredible game online live and it's truly amazing from start to finish. We picked out just this snippet, a miracle save by Aronian (who went on to blow the endgame win).
Aronian,L (2752) - Topalov,V (2801) [E55] XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (3), 20.02.2006 (D1) Not an easy position at all. Black has been in control for a while but now he has to finish cleanly or White will be able to find enough counterplay to scam a perpetual check. White wants to play Nd6, for example. The best move for
Black here is ..f5, trapping the white king and threatening .. g5, hitting the white rook. The computer also points out the freakish ..Rb1 Qa8 Rb8!!? deflecting the queen from control of g2. Topalov, down to just a few minutes, played too cautiously and allowed a miracle swindle, and it was almost worse than that. 35...f6?? [35...f5 36.g4 Ra4-+; 35...Rb1 36.Qg2 (36.Qa8 Rb8!! A true CCM, crazy computer move. But deflecting the queen works. 37.Qxb8 (37.Qg2 Bb5 The knight can't move or ..Bf1.) 37...Qf1+ 38.Kg4 (38.Kh4 g5+) 38...f5+ 39.Rxf5 (39.Kf3 Bh5+ 40.g4 fxg4+ 41.Rxg4 Qd1+ 42.Kg2 Qxg4+ 43. Qg3 Qxc4) 39...exf5+ 40.Kxf5 Bg6+ 41.Ke5 Qxc4) 36...f6! Now ..e5 is a strong threat. (36...f5 37.g4 Bb5) ] 36.Rg4! Aronian is alert to his only chance after a long defense. Never give up! 36...Bg6 37.Rxg6 Kxg6 38.Qe4+ Kf7 39.Nd6+ Ke7 40.Nf5+ Miracle! Now, the last move of the time control Topalov has seconds to decide where to put his king. Nothing looks particularly safe here and he runs for open territory. This turns out to give White great winning chances, but he manages to hold after an endgame mistake by Aronian. 40...Kd7? [40...Kf8 It's easy for a comp to find the draw here, but there are many chances for a human to go wrong with an open king against queen and knight. 41.Qxe6 Ra7 This should hold. (41...Qc5 42.Nd6 Qh5+ 43.Kg2 Rc1 44. g4 Qg6 45.h4 h5 46.g5) 42.Qd6+ Kf7 43.Qd5+ Kg6 44.Nh4+ Kh7 45.Qe4+ Kg8 46.Qe8+ Kh7; 40...Kf7?? 41. Qb7+ Kg6 42.Qxg7+ Kxf5 43.Qg4+ Ke5 44.Qd4+ Kf5 45.Qd3+ Kg5 (45...Ke5 46.f4#) 46.f4+ Kh5 47.g4#] 41.Nxg7 (D2) Now all the winning chances are White's. We're annotating this hairy endgame for Black Belt (tease!) but leave some raw lines below you can check out. Beta quality though. 41...Qf1+ 42.Kh4 Qxf2 43.Qxe6+ [43.Qd4+ Ke7 44.Qxa1 Qxh2+ 45.Kg4 Qe2+ 46.Kh3=] 43...Kc7 44.Qc4+ Kb7 45. Qe4+ Kb8 46.Qf4+ Qxf4+ 47.exf4 Ra2 48.h3 Kc8 [>=48...Ra5!?= 49.Nh5 (49.g4 Kc8 50.Nf5 Ra4=; 49.Ne8 Ra6 50.Kh5 f5 51.Ng7 Rf6=) 49...Kc7 (49...Ra6 50.Kg4 Kc7 51.Kf5 Kd7 52.Nxf6+ Ke7 53.Nd5+ Kf7 54.g4=) 50.Nxf6 Ra6 51.Nd5+ (51.Ng4 Kd7 52.Kh5 Ra3) 51...Kd7 52.g4 Rd6 53. Ne3 Rd3 54.Nf5 Rf3] 49.Kh5 Ra3 50.Nf5 Kd7 51.Kxh6 Ke6 52.Kg6 Ra5 53. Ng7+ Ke7 54.h4 Ra6 55.Nh5 [55.Nf5+!? Kf8+- 56.g4 Re6 a) 56...Kg8 57.Ng3; b) 56...Ra4 57.Ng7; c) 56...Rc6 57.Ng3 Ke7 (57...Ra6 58.Ne4 Ke7 (58...f5+ 59.Kxf5 Kg7) 59.f5) 58. h5; 57.Ng7 Re7 (57...Ra6 58.Nh5 Ke7 (58...f5+ 59.Kxf5 Kf7 60.g5 Ra5+ 61.Kg4 Ra4 62.Nf6) 59.f5 Rb6 60.Kg7) 58.Nh5 f5 59.Kxf5 Kf7 60.g5 Re6 61.Nf6 Rb6 62.h5 Rb5+ 63.Kg4 Rb4] 55...Ra8 56.Ng7 [56.Kg7 f5 57.Kg6 Rg8+ 58.Kxf5 Rf8+ 59.Ke5 Rg8+/-] 56...Ra6 57.g4? [57.h5; 57. Nf5+] 57...f5+!= Now it's a draw. 58.Kxf5 Kf7 59.Nh5 Ra5+ 60.Ke4 Ra3 61.g5 Rh3 62.Kf5 Rxh4 63.g6+ Kg8 64.Kg5 Rh1 65.Nf6+ Kf8 66.Nh5 Rg1+ 67.Kh6 Rh1 68.f5 Kg8 69.Kg5 Rg1+ 70.Kf6 Rg4 71.Ng7 Ra4 72.Ne6 Ra5 73.Nc7 Kf8 74.Ke6 Ra7 75.Nb5 Re7+ 76.Kf6 Rd7 77.Nc3 Rd6+ 78.Kg5 Kg7 79.Nb5 Rd5
80.Nc7 Re5 81.Ne6+ Kg8 82.Kf6 Ra5 83.Nc7 Rc5 84.Ne8 Rc1 85.Nd6 Kf8 86.Ne4 Rc6+ 87.Kg5 Rc4 88.Ng3 Rc3 89.Ne4 Rc4 90.Nf6 Rc1 91.Nd7+ Kg8 92.f6 Rf1 93.Ne5 Rg1+ 94.Kf5 Rf1+ 95.Ke6 Re1 96. Kd6 Re2 97.Nc6 Rg2 98.Ke6 Re2+ 99.Kd7 Kf8 100.Kd6 Rg2 101.Ne5 Rd2+ 102.Ke6 Re2 103.Kf5 Rf2 + 104.Kg5 Rg2+ 105.Kh4 Rf2 106.Ng4 Rg2 107.Ne5 Rf2 108.Kg5 Rg2+ 109.Kf4 Rf2+ 110.Nf3 Rf1 111.Ke3 Kg8 112.Kf4 Kf8 113.Ke4 Kg8 114.Ke3 Ra1 115.Kf4 Rf1 116.Kg4 Rf2 117.Kg3 Rf1 118.Kf4 Rf2 119.Ke4 Rf1 120.Ke3 Ra1 121.Kd4 Rf1 122.Ke4 Rf2 123.g7 Rg2 1/2-1/2
VISUALEYES (1) Rodshtein,M (2467) - Sorokin,M (2560) [D20] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (2), 19.02.2006 18.Kd2 h5 19.a4 Rhd8+ VisualEyes. Blocking on d3 is silly, so the king has four squares to choose from. Which of the four loses a decisive amount of material almost immediately? (You can guess that this is also the move White chose in the game.) 20.Kc3?? Trying to get the king into action against the pawns was the point of the move to d2. But Black has a pretty refutation now that the king is on the same file as the Rc8. [>=20. Ke3 This is the best square, staying active without getting into trouble. But e1 and c1 also survived. 20...bxa4 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Ra1] 20...Rd3+!-+ Ouch. No matter how White captures, the pawn recaptures on d3 with discovered check, winning the knight. Running with the king gets mated. [20...Rd3+ 21.Bxd3 (21.Kb4 Rb3+ 22.Ka5 Nc6+ 23.Ka6 bxa4 ..Rb6 mate can't be stopped.) 21...cxd3+ 22.Kd4 dxc2-+] 0-1 (2) Starostits,I (2493) - Miedema,R (2201) [B72] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (2), 19.02.2006 9...Be6 10.Nd4 Bd7 11.h5 VisualEyes. The move ..Ng4 is a common theme in these Dragon positions, revealing an attack by the Bg7 against the Nd4. The white queen can't cover both g4 and d4 at the same time. Black also has to count zwischenzugs with captures on c6, so you'll have to do the math. Can Black play the simplifying move ..Ng4 now or not? 11...Ng4?? Not! This loses material thanks to the intermezzo capture on c6. Black gets considerable counterplay, but not enough for the piece. 12.Bxg4 Bxg4 13.Nxc6?! Winning material but allowing great complications. White could have played for attack by taking the bishop and exploiting the h5 pawn to open the h-file. [13.Qxg4! Bxd4 14.hxg6 fxg6 (14...hxg6? 15.Qh3) 15.Qe6+ Kg7 (15...Kh8? 16.Qxg6; 15...Rf7 16. Rxh7!) 16.Bh6+ Kh8 17.Bxf8 Qxf8 18.0-0-0] 13...Bxd1 [13...Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Bxd1 15.Nxd8 Bxc2 16.hxg6! hxg6 (16...Raxd8 17.gxh7+ Kh8 18.f3 f6 19.Kd2 Ba4 20.Rh4) 17.Nxb7 Bxe4 18.Na5 Bxg2] 14.Nxd8 Bxc2 [14...Bxh5] 15.Nxb7 That's a piece. 15...Rfb8 16.Na5 Rxb2 17.Bd2 Rc8 18.Rh3 Rc5 19.h6 Rxa5? [19... Be5] 20.hxg7 Ra3? 21.Bc1 1-0 (3) Degraeve,JM (2553) - Tomczak,J (2357) [B01] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (2), 19.02.2006 12...Nxe4 13.Rxe4 Qd6 14.Qh5 White's super-active pieces create several nasty latent threats in the position against the weak black king. Indeed, the position is already close to lost for Black. Moves like ..f6 or .. g6 probably only delay disaster. So Black tries to create confusion by counterattacking with his next move, .. b5. 14...b5? VisualEyes. White can simply retreat to d3 and keep many threats. There are a few tempting moves that leave the bishop to its fate, however. Should White play Bd3 or does he have something stronger? 15.Rb3+- Crushing. Rg4 first was more accurate because it created more concrete immediate threats, but this move is just as winning. Black can do nothing about all sorts of breakthrough sacrifices to open lines for the rooks. [15.Rg4! This was the most powerful move, threatening Bh6 and/or the crushing Rxg7+ followed by Rb3 and the other rook comes in to finish the job. With Black's forces so out of action you have time to bring up
reinforcements. You might not even have glanced at the Rb1 in this position, but it's the decisive factor! 15... Nd7 16.Bh6! (16.Rxg7+ This works too. 16...Kxg7 17.Bh6+ Kh8 18.Nxf7+ Rxf7 19.Qxf7 Bf6 20.Bxe6 Ba6 21. Bf5 Qe7 22.Bg7+ Bxg7 23.Qxe7; 16.Rb3 This also works. What doesn't?!) 16...g6 17.Nxg6 fxg6 18.Rxg6+ Kh8 19.Bg7+ Kg8 20.Be5+ hxg6 21.Qh8+; 15.Bd3 Again, there is nothing wrong with this, and it creates a few new threats. But it also blocks the third rank the Rb1 would like to use to get into the attack. This gives Black more time to defend with desperate moves like ..g6 and ..f5. 15...g6 16.Qh6 Bf6] 15...f6 [15...Nd7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 +-] 16.Rg4 [16.Rh4 fxe5 17.Qxh7+ Kf7 18.Qh5+ g6 19.Rf3+ Ke8 20.Qxg6+ Kd7 21.Rxf8 Bxf8 22.Rh7+ Be7 23.Bg5] 16...fxe5 17.Rxg7+! Kxg7 18.Rg3+ Kh8 19.Bd3 [19.Bd3 Rf5 20.Bxf5 exf5 21.Qe8+ Bf8 22.Qf7 Qg6 23.Qxf8+ Qg8 24.Rxg8#] 1-0 (4) Riff,JN (2444) - Hrabinska,M (2225) [B49] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (3), 20.02.2006 15...Nf2+ 16.Rxf2 Qxf2 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.Qe5+ VisualEyes. The options are clear here. Black can run with his king with Kd7 or Kd8 or block with a bishop on e7 or e6. Only one of these moves survives, the others are all crushed. That Rd1+ obliterates the king moves shouldn't take you long to figure out. So which bishop? The key is figuring out why one of the interpositions loses, of course. 18...Be6? [18...Be7 This holds on for a while and Black will be right back in the game if he has time for ..Qc5. 19.Qc7! Really the only move to keep the pressure on. 19...Bd7 20.Rd1 Rd8; 18...Kd8? 19.Rd1+ Bd7 20.Qc7+ Ke7 21.Bg5+ Ke6 22.Qxd7+ Ke5 23.Rd5+ cxd5 24.Qxd5#] 19.Bh5! This was the move White has to find, winning instantly by pinning the f7 pawn. Great stuff. Black has no good answer and turns into a pincushion. 19...Ke7 20.Qc7+ Bd7 [20...Kf6 21.Bg3! Qe3 22.Rf1+ Kg7 23.Bf4 Winning material. The queen has no moves, so Black must try deflection. 23...Bb6 (23...Ra7 24.Qe5+; 23...Qd4 24.Be5+) 24.Qe5+ f6 25.Qxe6] 21. Rd1 Rfd8 [21...Rad8 22.Bd6+ Kf6 23.Bg3] 22.Bg4 Effective, although White could have gone for mate. This wins a piece without any mess and the best move is the one that makes your opponent resign! [22.Qe5+ Be6 23.Bg5+ f6 24.Bxf6+ Qxf6 (24...Kf8 25.Bxd8) 25.Qxc5+ Rd6 26.Qxd6#] 22...Bd4? 23.Qd6+ Ke8 24.Bg5 1-0 (5) Pavlovic,Milo (2494) - Van Dooren,D [C41] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (3), 20.02.2006 4...fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 h6 VisualEyes. Black, as we say, is asking for it. He's played a wild opening against a stronger player and has allowed his king to be terribly exposed. There is still the chance of making a mistake, however. The game's not going to win itself. White can retreat the knight to h3 and plan to exploit the open black king later. Or he can play more aggressively and sacrifice in various ways right now. What should he do? 7.Nf7! This drags the black king out and doesn't allow the h-file to be opened for the black rook. [7.Nxe5? hxg5 Now the h5 check isn't available to White. White hasn't gained any time by playing to e5 without Nf7 because in the game it comes with check, getting the tempo back. 8.Be2; 7.Nh3 This is lame. Black now has a chance to develop and survive. 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 Nf6] 7...Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Ke7 9.Bd3 White's not interested in grabbing the rook just yet with Ng6+. He's going to keep developing and creating chances against the black king. He's confident that he can get the material back, and more, at leisure. 9...Qe8 10.0-0 So calm! 10... Be6 11.Re1 Ready, aim... 11...Nc6 12.Ng6+ Kd7 13.Nf4 Bd6 Hoping to escape by giving the piece back. 14.Nxe6 Qf7 15.Qg4! Wipeout. Black doesn't have any moves that don't allow a killing discovered check. [15. Qg4! h5 16.Nc5+ Double check 16...Kd8 17.Nxb7#] 1-0 (6) Danielian,E (2423) - Gouanelle,F (2137) [D02] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (4), 20.02.2006 21.g5 Nxe5 22.Bh7+ Kh8 23.Bf5 VisualEyes. White's crushing threats on the h-file are obvious, but they aren't overwhelming just yet. With careful play Black might survive the worst. He can hope to answer gxh6 with ..g6, for example, although his long-term prospects are of course very dim. Should Black play ..Kg8 to get off the h-file? Or ..Rg8 to reinforce his defenses? Or ..Bxf5 to eliminate one of the attackers. One of these moves is much worse than the other two suggestions. Which one? 23...Bxf5? Terrible, eliminating the bishop but giving the white queen an invitation into the black position. One of the problems White had was how to get his bishop out of the way to activate his queen. Now Black has used a move to do just that. Now there is no defense against the various sacrifices. [23...Kg8 This gives the best
chances by avoiding various sacrifices on h6. Despite all his forces, White doesn't have a forced win here. 24. Bxd7 a) 24.gxh6 g6 25.Rg5 Qe7; b) 24.f4 Bxf5 25.Qxf5 f6 (25...g6?? 26.Qf6! (26.Rxh6? gxf5 27.Rh8+ Kg7 28. R1h7+ Kg6 29.Rh6+=) 26...gxh5 27.gxh6) 26.fxe5 fxg5 27.Qd3 Qxe5; 24...Nxd7 25.Qf2; 23...Rg8 Supporting the g-pawn also seems to survive for the moment, surprisingly. The king is further trapped in the corner, however. 24.g4! (24.Rxh6+? gxh6 25.Rxh6+ Kg7) 24...Nxf3 25.Qf2 Bxf5 26.gxf5 Nxg5 27.Rxg5 Qe5] 24.Qxf5 Rxh6+ is going to be a killer. 24...Nd7 [24...Ng6 The only thing that lasts, according to Fritz, but this is hopeless. 25.gxh6 Qxe3+ 26.Kc2 Qe5 (26...Qd4 27.hxg7+ Kxg7 28.Rh7+ Kg8 29.R1h6 Qe5 30.Rxg6+ Kxh7 31. Qxe5) 27.Qxe5 Nxe5 28.Rxe5] 25.Rxh6+! [25.Rxh6+! gxh6 26.Rxh6+ Kg8 27.Qh7#] 1-0 (7) Bykhovsky,Av (2464) - Pruijssers,R (2319) [E81] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (4), 20.02.2006 17.Bf2 Bf6 18.Bd3 VisualEyes. Both sides are a mess. White has the immediate threat of taking the f5 pawn, although then Black could play various discoveries with his Bf6. But then the bishop might take on h7 with check. Hmm. So is f5 under threat or not? Black can move the Bf6 so the rook protects the pawn, or move the Nd7 so the bishop does. Or not. So of these three options, which is the blunder: ..Nb6, ..Bd4, or ..Kh8? Two of the options are fine, relatively speaking. 18...Bd4? It turns out that this doesn't protect the pawn on f5 after all because the king is too open. [18...Nb6 The simplest way to hold things together, although the knight is stuck over on the queenside.; 18...Kh8 Now the f-pawn is protected indirectly. 19.Qh5 (19.Bxf5 Bxc3 20.Bxh7 Bxb2 21.Bc2 (21.Bg6 Kg7) 21...Qe8) 19... Nb6] 19.Bxf5!+- Very alert. The bishop is protected indirectly. Now White gets a crushing position whether Black captures the bishop or not. 19...Qf6 [19...Rxf5 20.Qg4+ The point. White wins with a fork.] 20.Be6+ Kh8 21.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 22.Qxd4+ cxd4 23.Nb5 Nb6 24.Rad1 1-0 (8) Narciso Dublan,M (2525) - Spoelman,W (2376) [A19] 22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (4), 20.02.2006 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Qf3 In the game of attack and counterattack Black has come up well short. White has several nasty threats: taking the bishop on b7, for example. This is the only one Black notices so he plays .. Rb8 to protect the bishop. This loses to a nice discovered attack. 16...Rb8?? VisualEyes. Now White has a twopronged move that wins material, although there are a few tricks. Black also has discoveries, such as ..Nxe5 and even ..Qxa2+ with ..Nb4+ to follow. What did White play to win? Work out the full line with Black's responses. [>=16...Qa6 Best, avoiding Bd2 and protecting the Bb7. 17.Qc3 Kg8+-] 17.Bd2! Hitting the queen and opening up the f-file for a mate threat against f7. 17...Nxe5 Counter-attacking the white queen and stopping the mate. But just about any white queen move wins because the knight isn't protected. [17...Qxa2+ 18.Kxa2 Nb4+ 19.Bxb4 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Bxb4] 18.Qf4 [18.Bxa5?? Bxf3 (18...Nxf3?? 19. Nxb7 Rxb7 20.Bxf3+-) 19.gxf3 bxa5-/+; 18.Nxb7 Nxf3 19.Bxa5 Rxb7 20.Bxf3] 18...Qa4 19.Nxb7 Rxb7 20. Qxe5 [20.Qxe5 d6 21.Qg3+-] 1-0
VisualEyes • Analyze This
© 2006 Mig Greengard and ChessNinja.com
