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Too Early or Too Late?
Bartolovich
Abkin
St. Petersburg 1902
The title is a reference to a well-known story involving Bobby Fischer and Efim Geller (see Solution overleaf).
In our game White resigned with the worst possible timing, at the very first move where he could force a draw, precisely thanks to his over-passive position.
Solution
Solution 3
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Bartolovich
Abkin
St. Petersburg 1902
Geller, who was White and leading three to zero in their personal contest, offered a draw as early as move 9, with a smile. Fischer laughed and replied ‘Too early!’. Then a long fight followed, and when Geller offered a draw for the second time, Fischer, who was enjoying a small advantage, was reported to have declared ‘Too late!’. The American won this game.
1. Qf4-f6+ Kh8-g8
2. Qf6-g7+ Kg8xg7
3. h5-h6+
And wherever the king goes, White is stalemated.
Why is this a hard-to-see-move?
Stalemate is surprising when there are so many pieces left on the board.
Back
EXERCISE 4
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Poisoned Pawn
Mohr,Georg
Zube,M
Nuremberg 1989
White has a choice: to take back on g2, or to capture on d7 first, with an intermediate check. What would you choose?
Solution
Solution 4
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Here’s the integral game, where White, rated 2450 Elo, resigned after eight moves!
Mohr,Georg
Zube,M
Nuremberg 1989
1. c2-c4 e7-e5
2. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6
3. Ng1-f3 f7-f5
4. d2-d4 e5-e4
5. Bc1-g5 Ng8-f6
6. d4-d5 e4xf3
7. d5xc6 f3xg2
Here White had to take on g2, with approximate equality. Unfortunately for him, without giving it a second thought he decided to take the pawn with check, a mechanical in-between move.
8. c6xd7+?
He had to play 8.Bxg2 dxc6 9.Qa4∞. Now White was forced to resign after
8. … Nf6xd7!
The only capture that he had not taken into account. Black is attacking both the rook – with a queen promotion – and the bishop, so he will remain a piece up after 9.Bxg2 Qxg5 and a rook up after 9.Bxd8 gxh1Q.
Why was this a hard-to-see-move?
White was not expecting a counterattack when he gave a check. He also underestimated the strength of a possible promotion, which wins a rook.
In fact it’s so hard to see that two Soviet masters in 1970 overlooked it as well. Razuvaev (in the U18 Soviet Championship in Dubna) and later that year Doroshkevich in round 9 of the formidable 22-player Soviet Championship in Riga. The former played on till move 15, the latter also resigned instantly.
Back
EXERCISE 5
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A Technical Trick
Dolmatov,Sergey
Kupreichik,Viktor (variation)
Minsk ch-URS 1979 (10)
A technical question. In this endgame, the black king is too far away to stop the white h-pawn. But Black has a way to gain a crucial tempo. Do you see it?
Solution
Solution 5
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Dolmatov,Sergey
Kupreichik,Viktor
(variation)
Minsk ch-URS 1979 (10)
1. … Rb2-f2+!!
A superb intermediate move, and the only winning one.
1…Rxg2 2.h5 Kb7 3.Kf5 Kc7 4.h6 Kd7 5.h7 Rh2 6.Kg6 Ke7 7.Kg7 Rg2+ 8.Kh8=;
1…Kb7 2.h5 Kc7 3.h6 Kd7 4.h7 Rb8 5.Kf5 Ke7 6.Kg6=.
2. Kf4-g5
Now Black has a small technical trick that enables him to win a valuable tempo. Without the g2 pawn, the solution would be exactly the same.
On 2.Kg3 Rf8 is a win, as you can easily check. Just bring the black king to the corner.
2. … Rf2xg2+
3. Kg5-f6 Rg2-h2!
This manoeuvre wins a tempo and the game, as the rook is now ideally placed behind the pawn while the white king is obliged to move backward in order to protect the passed pawn.
4. Kf6-g5 Ka7-b7
5. h4-h5 Kb7-c7
6. h5-h6 Kc7-d7
7. Kg5-g6 Kd7-e7
8. Kg6-g7 Rh2-g2+
9. Kg7-h8 Ke7-f6
9…Kf7 also wins: 10.h7 Kg6 11.Kg8 Ra2 12.h8N+ Kf6−+.
10. h6-h7 Rg2-a2
And mate.
Why is this a hard-to-see-move?
Black gives an in-between check instead of taking the pawn. In so doing he gives White the choice to keep his material – with a poorly placed king, or to give it up to advance more quickly.
Back
EXERCISE 6
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Fatal Alignment
Harikrishna,Pentala
Volokitin,Andrey
Bermuda 2005 (7)
White missed a very difficult combination here, based upon the bad position of several black pieces, especially the black king and rook who are awkwardly situated on the same file. Can you manage to calculate the forced sequence that wins material?
Solution
Solution 6
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Harikrishna,Pentala
Volokitin,Andrey
Bermuda 2005 (7)
This is a typical example of a difficult combination for the human mind, whereas computer programs are able to solve it quickly.
The tactical themes are clear enough: White is in the driving seat, because Black’s position lacks harmony. There is a weak pawn on f5 and the rook on f8 might fall victim to some combination exploiting the alignment with his king. Meanwhile, Black’s knights are out of play, particularly the one on c7. Bearing all this in mind, can you find the win?
1. Bc2xf5!!
1.Ne2 was played in the actual game, with an equal position and a quick draw.
1. … Be6xf5
2. Rd4-f4 Kf6-g5
If 2…Ke6 then 3.g4±. There follows a non-obvious move that you must have foreseen in the starting position, before sacrificing the bishop.
3. g2-g3!!
A quiet, hard-to-find move. White takes the time to consolidate, and threatens 4.Rxf5+ Rxf5 5.Ne4, winning back the rook. There’s simply no defence against that, and White wins a pawn, with good chances of winning the endgame.
Why was this a hard-to-see-move?
Here there are two difficulties:
- The quiet move following the sacrifice and the pin is not obvious;
- It is not easy to visualize the domination of the king by the two white knights.
Back
Footnotes
1 See ‘L’oeil tactique’, E. Neiman 2003, 2010, Payot.
2 In general we only deal with ‘normal games’ with a time control of e.g. 2 hours per player. The beauty and subtlety of the present example moved us to include it in the book.
3 Forced in the broader sense, i.e. imposed by logic, like taking back a piece when the opponent has just captured yours.
4 Prins is one of the heroes of the great collection of Donner’s writing The King (New In Chess). About his team mate, Donner gently wrote ‘He cannot tell a bishop from a knight’. Prins is also the star of another joke attributed to Mikhail Botvinnik. During an exhibition game, Botvinnik and Polugaevsky were playing against Keres and Prins. Botvinnik observed that the game was unfair, because he and Polu had four hands to play with, while Keres had only one, as he needed the other to keep Prins from meddling in the game (see Hans Ree, ‘Enthralling Battles’, New In Chess 2009/4).
5 Another famous novel by Himes – also relevant to our theme – is entitled Blind man with a gun and deals with black people’s fight for equal rights in the USA in the 1960s.
6 The answer is yes.
Chapter 2 – Geometrically invisible moves
The human mind does
not allow us to keep a neutral attitude while thinking and calculating moves – unlike computer programs, which are able to study every possibility with equal accuracy. There is a limitation to the number of moves that humans can deal with, and there is also another problem: some moves are harder to see for us than others.
We have not been able to find scientific proof on the topic; still, we dare venture that forward moves are easier to find than backward moves. Here’s one hypothesis: human beings usually walk forward, they seldom walk backward and hardly ever horizontally (unless you practise some sport like tennis, or some form of dancing).
Another idea is inherent to the game itself: at first all our men are standing at the back of the board. Then we learn to move pawns (always forward) and to develop pieces toward the centre and in the direction of the opponent’s pieces. There is a general movement from the back to the front, and some players are even reluctant to go backward ‘on principle’.
A – Horizontal effect
Horizontal moves are the hardest to see. In chess clubs, sometimes players joke ‘patzer cannot see the horizontal’. In the following examples, we can see that this difficulty also affects players at a higher level.
Ivanchuk,Vasily
Svidler,Peter
Nanjing 2008 (1)
White is two pawns up but his position looks critical. White’s king is surrounded by enemy pieces, including the black queen, and has no escape, e2 being under the control of the g4 bishop. The only protection against the imminent checkmate threat is the knight on g3. White’s pieces are scattered all over the board. Notably the rook on d3 and the bishop on b5 are exposed. Once you take into account the alignment on the fifth rank you may spot an immediate win. However, in this game, with eight minutes left on the clock, Black chose to give perpetual check with 34…Qh3+ 35.Kg1 Qh2+ 36.Kf1 Qh3+ 37.Kg1 Qh2+ and a draw.
The move with the horizontal point
34. … Rh6-h5!
35. Qe5-e4
(35.Nxh5? Qh1 is mate)
35. … Rh5xb5
won easily, as Black gains a material advantage while keeping strong attacking possibilities.
Naiditsch,Arkadij
Svidler,Peter
Khanty-Mansiysk 2009 (3.6)
This example is taken from a crucial game from the World Cup, during the rapid playoffs. Black had to win this game, but White, to move, missed a nice win here. Can you spot it?
1. Rh5-h4!+−
The rook is used with horizontal effect.
1.g6+ was played in the actual game, with an eventual win for Black, and with this victory Svidler qualified after the blitz session.
1. … Qd4-c5
1…Qg7 2.Rh7.
2. Rh4-f4+!
The point of the rook manoeuvre. With this exchange sacrifice White makes his way toward the black king. The knight holds Black’s position together.
2. … Nd5xf4
If 2…Kg8 3.g6 and mate;
If 2…Ke8 3.Rxf8+ Kxf8 4.Qh8+ Kf7 5.Qh7+ Kf8 6.g6 Be6 7.g7+ Ke8 8.Qg6+! wins.
3. Qh2-h7+ Kf7-e8
4. Qh7xe7#
B – Circuit
‘Circuits’, which involve various moves by the same piece with changes of direction, are difficult to work out in advance. Here is an example of mutual blindness, described by the winner.
Rook circuit
Yusupov,Artur
Kortchnoi,Viktor
Pulvermühle 2006 (2)
In this tense position, White is attacking c6, while Black is dreaming of a battery involving the light-squared bishop on e4 with the queen on f3.
Yusupov told the authors that he had noticed a nice possible defence against this set-up, if Black had first taken on g3.
33. … Bf5-e4
Here are Yusupov’s thoughts:
‘I had seen that after 33…hxg3 34.hxg3 Be4 35.Rxc6 Qf5 36.Rxc8 Qf3 37.Rxe8+ Kh7
Analysis diagram
I could play 38.Rh8+ Kxh8 39.Qc8+ Kh7 40.Qh3+ and White repels the attack. But at first Kortchnoi’s direct attempt looked very strong to me, and I only saw the defence afterwards.’
33…Qe7! was good, with the idea of starting a strong counterattack on the dark squares in case of 34.Rxc6 hxg3 35.hxg3 Bxg3 (35…Rxc6 first is the same) 36.fxg3 Rxc6 37.Qxc6 Qxe3+ 38.Nf2 Qxg3+= 39.Bg2 Reg, forcing 40.Rf1∞ when Black is not worse.
34. Rc3xc6 Qd7-f5
35. Rc6xc8 Qf5-f3
36. Rc8xe8+
Black resigned, as he saw – a little late – that his attack was non-existent because after 36…Kh7 White has the obvious 37.Rxe4. That is, obvious if you have the position on the board before you. Indeed, a resource that was also available in the previous variation quoted by Yusupov. This rare rook circuit Rc3xc6xc8xe8xe4 is very difficult to visualize in advance, as is illustrated by the lines calculated by the players during the game. For a similar circuit, see Capablanca-Thomas, Chapter 4, page 152.
Bishop circuit
Yusupov,Artur
Pirrot,Dieter
Germany Bundesliga 1994/95 (13)
The issue looks unclear. Black is a pawn up and appears to have a strong position, although his queen looks to be in danger. Can you find a way to trap it?
1. Bc7-g3!!
It is not easy to imagine the manoeuvring of this bishop from c7 to e1, in order to take the trapped queen on c3. Yet it is inevitable, once you grasp the idea. The text, introducing the circuit Bc7-g3-e1xc3, is also an invisible move.
1. … Re4-e8
2. f2-f3
Since 2…Rxe3 3.Be1 loses the queen.
2. … Nd7-c5!?
3. Bg3-e1+−
1.Qc1 was played in the game, with better chances for Black at this point (although White later won).
Queen circuit
This is a well-known theoretical position that can be reached via various move orders: for example, the Nimzo-Indian Defence or the Panov Variation of the Caro-Kann.
1. Nc3-e4!?
Setting a beautiful trap.
For example, 1.Ba4 was played in a game between two World Champions: 1…a6 2.Nxd5 Qxd5 3.Qe3 Bf6 4.Bb3 Qh5? 5.d5!+− and 1-0, 29 in Smyslov-Karpov, Leningrad ch-URS 1971.
1. … Nc6-b4?
This is the logical ‘refutation’, but now a very strange queen circuit wins for White.
1…Bb4!? is an interesting try.
2. a3xb4 Nd5xb4
3. Qd3-b5!
3.Qb3?−+ was played in the game Ruiz Jimenez-Gomez Esteban, Barcelona ch-ESP 2000 (0-1, 36).
3. … Nb4xc2
4. Qb5-e5+−Be7-f8
4…f6 5.Qxe6+ Kh8 6.Qf7 Bf8 (6…Rg8 7.Neg5 fxg5 8.Rxe7+−) 7.Nxf6.
5. Ne4-f6+
Winning the queen.
The circuit Qd3-b5-e5, with decisive threats, is highly unexpected.
C – Changing wings
Some moves are very difficult to see because they involve surprising operations on the opposite wing.
Such was the case in the variation missed by Veselin Topalov in the following game, found in Andrew Soltis’s book The wisest things ever said about chess (Batsford, 2008).
Kasimdzhanov,Rustam
Topalov,Veselin
Leon 2007 (2)
In this very rich and complex game, White has just played the thematic central break e4-e5, with an initiative. Nevertheless Black could keep his chances alive, with a pawn up, a solid position and some attacking chances on the kingside, if only the black queen were able to fly over the board in order to join the attacking knights.
1. … Ng4xh2!
A very difficult move! White has an edge after 1…dxe5 2.d6! e4 3.Bc4+ Kh8 4.Nc3.
2. Kg1xh2
2.Re1 is possible, but then, if anyone, Black has the advantage after 2…N2g4.
2. … c5-c4!∞
With a beautiful point.
3. Bd3xc4?
3.Bc3! cxd3 4.Qxd3 Rab8 with chances for both sides. After 4…Ng4+, in order to keep the equilibrium White has to play the unnatural but highly effective 5.Kh3! (5.Kg1?! Qc5+; 5.Kh1 Qc5 with some p
ressure) 5…Rec8∞; 5…Rab8? would lose to another demonstration of play on two wings: 6.Rxg7+ Kxg7 7.e6+ Kh7
Analysis diagram
and now 8.Kxh4!!, with the idea 9.Kg5 and 10.Rh1+, wins.
3. … Nh6-g4+
4. Kh2-g1
And now ‘Guess who is coming to dinner?’
4. … Qa3-g3!
And Black wins. Here’s what Max Notkin declared about this game: ‘If our eyes had the capability of taking in various sectors, probably we’d play stronger chess’ (Soltis, The wisest things ever said about chess, Batsford 2008, Chapter 17: ‘You can’t see 64 squares at the same time’).
Here various themes make the task harder for the seeker. The horizontal action of the queen, the change of wings ‘over’ the d3 bishop in order to reach g3 (a square originally controlled by a white pawn), also a change of rhythm (a knight sacrifice followed by a slower pawn move) and another thing that cannot be fathomed by a careful examination of the position: the history of the game, where the black queen had oscillated between various squares on the a-file, making her flight to the other side even more unexpected.
The great difficulty to see this move can only be explained by the very human difficulty to see the whole board simultaneously, because the main variation is neither long nor difficult to calculate. A high-level illustration of geometrical invisibility.
Invisible Chess Moves Page 5