Art of Attack in Chess

by Vladimir Vukovic

  18 ... Nc4+

  The storm has regained its force once more; the end is not far off.

  19 bxc4 Rxa4+ 20 Kxa4 Qa2+ 21 Kb4 Qb2+ 0-1

  For if 21 ... Qb2+ 22 Kc5, then 22 ... Qxf2+, and White loses his queen; or if 21 ... Qb2+ 22 Ka5, then 22 ... Qa3#.

  A fine example of a consistent pursuit of the king.

  Chigorin - Caro

  Vienna, 1898

  Vienna Game

  1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 f4 d5 4 d3

  Theory discarded this move long ago, since Black, by sacrificing his knight on e4, can obtain at least a draw. Correct is 4 fxe5.

  JN: 4 fxe5 usually transposes to the game continuation after 4 ... Nxe4 5 d3 Bb4. White has other possibilities at move 5, but none gives him any advantage.

  4 ... Bb4 5 fxe5 Nxe4 6 dxe4 Qh4+ 7 Ke2

  The king, having lost the right to castle, takes the first step on its long journey, which is to end on the square a1!

  7 ... Bxc3 8 bxc3 Bg4+ 9 Nf3 dxe4 10 Qd4 Bh5! 11 Ke3 Bxf3 12 Bb5+

  A risky move, first played by Steinitz against Blackburne in 1876. Correct here is 12 gxf3 on which Black can get a draw with 12 ... Qe1+ 13 Kf4 Qh4+, etc. Chigorin, in playing 12 Bb5+, avoids this possibility, for a draw was naturally not to his liking.

  12 ... c6 13 gxf3

  13 ... Qh6+!

  The co-creator of the Caro-Kann Defence departs from the theory of his time and hits on the very best move. The theoreticians of the day rejected it, probably because Caro lost the game, and noted in their books that Black obtains the advantage by continuing 13 ... cxb5 14 Qxe4 Qxe4+ 15 Kxe4 0-0 16 Be3 Nd7. However, it seems that these old masters either examined this position by feeble gas-light or else they supposed that White would now have to succumb by playing 17 Rad1? Nxe5 18 Kxe5 Rfe8+ 19 Kf4 g5+. However, by modern reckoning White would have the better game, if he were to play consistently for a central position with 17 Bd4. In view of the threat of 18 Rab1 a6 19 a4, Black’s best reply is 17 ... a6; then there follows 18 Rhg1 with the intention of weakening Black’s position on the long dark diagonal.

  14 Kxe4

  Chigorin takes a further risk; 14 Ke2 would have been good enough for a draw after 14 ... Qh3 (not 14 ... exf3+ on account of 15 Kf2 Qh3 16 Bf1!) 15 Rd1 exf3+ (15 ... Qxf3+ is weak, because of 16 Ke1! and White saves his bishop) 16 Kf2 Qxh2+ 17 Ke3 Qh6+ with perpetual check (for if 18 Ke4 Qh4+ 19 Bf4, Black can play 19 ... cxb5).

  14 ... Qg6+ 15 Ke3 cxb5 16 Ba3 Nc6 17 Qd5 Qxc2 18 Rac1 Qf5 19 Rhe1 Rd8?!

  Black clearly cannot take the e-pawn because of 20 Kf2; but 19 ... b4 would have been better and safer than the move played. After 20 Bxb4 (20 cxb4 0-0 21 b5 Rfe8 is in Black’s favour) 20 ... Nxb4 21 cxb4 0-0 the exposed position of White’s king together with his scattered pawns gives Black a considerable advantage. Thus in the event of 22 Red1 (22 Rc7 is weaker because of 22 ... Rae8 23 f4 Rd8 24 Qe4 Qh3+) 22 ... Rae8 23 f4 Qh3+ 24 Qf3 Qxh2 25 Rd2 Qh6 Black threatens both ... Rxe5+ and ... f6. The queen’s great manoeuvrability comes into its own in situations like this.

  20 Qxb5

  20 Bd6 also came into consideration, though 20 ... f6 would then have led to a difficult and unclear position.

  20 ... a6

  20 ... g5 could have been parried by 21 Rcd1.

  21 Qb1

  The queen must cover the d3-square and if 21 Qf1 then Black could have carried out an artificial castling by means of ... Kd7-c8 and so made his advantage clear.

  JN: In fact 21 Qf1 Kd7 can be met by 22 Qd3+ and White escapes into a playable ending. 21 Qf1 is best answered by 21 ... Nxe5 and White cannot exploit the line-up on the e-file because his own king is so exposed.

  21 ... Qg5+ 22 f4

  White has to consent to this move, which exposes his king still further; 22 Kf2? is not good on account of 22 ... Qh4+ 23 Kf1 (neither 23 Ke3 Qh6+ nor 23 Kg1 Rd2 is any better) 23 ... Qh3+ 24 Kf2 Qxh2+ 25 Ke3 Qd2+ 26 Ke4 g5 and Black wins.

  22 ... Qg2 23 Bd6

  If 23 Qe4 then 23 ... Qxa2! 24 Bd6 Rd7 and Black succeeds in consolidating the position of his king while remaining a pawn ahead. Also interesting is 23 Qc2 Qh3+ 24 Ke4 f5+ 25 exf6 gxf6. The opening up of the e-file is of no help to White, since his king has nowhere to go; in view of the threat of mate he is forced to play 26 f5, on which 26 ... Ne5 wins.

  23 ... Qh3+ 24 Ke4

  To engineer a possible escape for the king via d2 White would have to give up his h-pawn; moreover, there would also be a permanent danger of the exchange of queens. For this reason he prefers to embark on new adventures.

  24 ... f5+ 25 Kd5

  This position caused amazement among some of the spectators, who attempted to get the manager of the tournament to intervene, since it was clear that White’s piece on d5 was his queen and that on b1 his king! The position is, of course, a strange one; what is also unusual is that within seven moves the white king has reached a1. Clearly, it is helped in this by Black, who checks unnecessarily instead of building up a mating net. Black played 25 ... Qg2+?, when the correct move was 25 ... Rc8!. In that case White’s king would get into trouble on the c-file, which it would have to cross to extract itself from the scrape it has got into. The following variations illustrate the strength of the rook move and are at the same time instructive as regards play against an exposed king: 25 ... Rc8! and now:

  1) White carries out a counterattack with his queen: 26 Qxb7 Qg2+ 27 Kc5 Ne7+ 28 Kb6 Rc6+ 29 Ka7 Qf2+ 30 Ka8 0-0+ 31 Bb8 Rb6 and Black wins.

  2) The white king tries to force its way through to the a1-corner; this gives rise to the most interesting point in the analysis. After 26 Kc4 Black does not try any checking moves, but instead first consolidates his own position by 26 ... g6!!, having observed that White has no good move to make. If 27 Rc2 or 27 Qc2, then 27 ... b5+ 28 Kb3 Nd4+, while if 27 Rcd1, then 27 ... Nd4+; if 27 Red1 or 27 Rf1, then the ring is tightened by 27 ... Qe3; and if 27 Qb6, then 27 ... Na5+ 28 Kd5 (or 28 Kb4 Qxh2!) 28 ... Qg2+ 29 Ke6 Qxa2+ 30 Kf6 (or 30 c4 Nxc4, etc) 30 ... Rc6 31 Qa7 Rf8+ 32 Kg7 Rc7+! 33 Bxc7 Rg8+ 34 Kf6 Qf7+ 35 Kg5 Qe7+ and mates.

  JN: In this line Vuković fails to take his own advice and gives too many checks, which actually allow White to escape by 34 Kh6! Qxh2+ 35 Kg5 Qg3+ 36 Kf6, etc. The correct continuation is 32 ... Qe6! and there is no way to meet the threat of 33 ... Rg8+ 34 Kh6 g5+.

  The possibility of 27 Kb3 still remains. There is admittedly no mating net then, but with 27 ... Qxh2 Black obtains a material advantage and goes on to threaten both 28 ... Qxf4 and 28 ... Na5+ followed by ... Nc4.

  3) The white king tries to defy the danger of mate by advancing to b6. Black then has a number of continuations, the simplest of which seems to be 26 Kc5 Qxh2 27 Kb6 Qxf4 28 Kxb7 (if 28 Qb3, then 28 ... Qf2+ 29 Bc5 Qxc5+ 30 Kxc5 Na5+ with a won ending) 28 ... Qc4 29 Kxc8 Nb4+ 30 Kb7 Qb5+ 31 Ka7 Nc6+ followed by 32 Ka8 Kd7+ and mates.

  The actual game took the following course:

  25 ... Qg2+? 26 Kc4 b5+ 27 Kd3 Qf3+ 28 Kc2 Qf2+ 29 Kb3 Rc8

  30 Rc2

  White obviously cannot play 30 Qxf5 since then 30 ... Na5+ leads to mate; instead, he gives up his f-pawn and then by retreating his king quickly to a1 safeguards his position.

  30 ... Qxf4 31 Kb2 Na5 32 Ka1 Qc4?

  A further mistake; he could still have fought for a draw by 32 ... Qf3!. The square c4 is naturally more suitable for the knight.

  33 e6 Nc6

  After 33 ... Rc6 34 Qd1 Nb7 35 Be5 Black cannot play 35 ... Rxe6 because of 36 Bxg7 Rg8 37 Rxe6+ and White wins.

  34 Qd1 h5?

  A terrible move; he should have played 34 ... Rd8.

  35 Rg1! Rh7 36 Rxg7! 1-0

  Since if 36 Rxg7 Rxg7, then 37 Qxh5+ followed by 38 Qh8+ and White forces mate.

  In addition to this strange game, I shall extract from the treasury of chess curiosities three more encounters which have particular relevance to the theme of a king’s successful wandering. The series opens with a game between Hamppe and Meitner, in which the pursued king seeks asylum among the enemy pawns and is successful to the extent that the opponent cannot
obtain anything beyond perpetual check.

  Hamppe - Meitner

  Vienna, 1872

  Vienna Game

  1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Bc5 3 Na4

  3 Nf3, which was often played by Anderssen, is the soundest answer to 2 ... Bc5. Hamppe’s move is of doubtful value because of the bishop sacrifice on f2.

  3 ... Bxf2+

  In return for the bishop, Black obtains a promising attack on the king, which is deprived of the right to castle.

  4 Kxf2 Qh4+ 5 Ke3

  If 5 g3 then 5 ... Qxe4 6 Qe2 Qxa4 (not 6 ... Qxh1 because of 7 Nf3 and 8 Bg2) 7 Qxe5+ Ne7 8 Qxg7 Rg8 9 Qxh7 d6 and Black has the better position.

  5 ... Qf4+ 6 Kd3 d5

  7 Kc3

  White plans b3 and Kb2. If 7 Nc3, then 7 ... Nf6! 8 Qe1 (or 8 Qf3 dxe4+ 9 Nxe4 Bf5, etc) 8 ... dxe4+ 9 Kc4 whereupon Black should not continue with 9 ... Be6+ 10 Kb4 e3+ 11 Ka3 Nc6 since White replies with 12 b3 followed by Kb2, but rather with 9 ... e3+! 10 Kb3 Nc6 11 a3 Be6+ and wins. This illustrates the method of countering a king’s planned withdrawal to safety.

  JN: The 8 Qf3 line is only equal after 10 Qxf4 exf4 11 Ke2! Nxe4 12 d3 followed by Bxf4, restoring the material balance.

  7 ... Qxe4 8 Kb3

  If 8 d4 then 8 ... Nc6 9 Bb5 (or 9 b3) 9 ... exd4+ and Black has three pawns for his bishop as well as good prospects for a continuing attack on White’s king or, indeed, his knight on a4.

  8 ... Na6 9 a3

  9 c4? would be weak because of 9 ... b5!. Similarly, 9 Bxa6 bxa6 10 c3 Qxg2 11 Qf3 (or 11 Ne2 Bg4 12 Re1 Ne7!) 11 ... Bh3! is bad for White.

  JN: This is highly disputable after 12 Qg3 Qxh1 13 Qxe5+ Kf8 14 Nxh3, and White could quickly develop a strong initiative.

  This is a typical example of an attack against a displaced king being deferred on the grounds that further action would only help the consolidation of the king’s position. Thus, for example, after 9 Bxa6 bxa6 10 c3, 10 ... Rb8+ would enable White to prepare a new home for his king on b2 by 11 Ka3 and b3. Instead, Black directs his attack against the other flank and, while mowing down some pawns, tries to exploit the general lack of development of White’s position.

  9 ... Qxa4+!

  Effective, and probably necessary, although it gives no more than a draw. If 9 ... Be6 White would reply 10 d4! exd4 11 Bxa6 bxa6 12 Nf3 with the better prospects. Bilguer’s Handbuch answers 9 ... Be6 with 10 d3? d4+ 11 c4 dxc3+ 12 Kxc3 and considers that White retains the advantage. However, after 12 ... Qd4+ 13 Kd2 Nf6! 14 Qc2 (if he stops 14 ... Ne4+ by 14 Nc3, then 14 ... Nc5!) 14 ... 0-0-0 15 Nf3 Qf2+ 16 Kd1 Ng4 Black has excellent chances based on ... e4 and ... Ne3+.

  10 Kxa4 Nc5+ 11 Kb4

  JN: In his book, Draw!, Wolfgang Heidenfeld offered some rather convincing analysis to prove that White could have won by 11 Kb5!.

  11 ... a5+ 12 Kxc5

  If 12 Kc3? then 12 ... d4+ 13 Kc4 b6 14 Kd5 f6 15 Kc6 Kd8, and the mating net is complete.

  JN: Heidenfeld pointed out that this line can be improved by 14 Qf3 Be6+ 15 Qd5 Ne7 16 Qxe6 fxe6 with an unclear position.

  12 ... Ne7 13 Bb5+ Kd8 14 Bc6!

  The only reply!

  14 ... b6+ 15 Kb5 Nxc6 16 Kxc6

  Against 16 c3? or 16 Ka4?, 16 ... Nd4+ is decisive.

  16 ... Bb7+ 17 Kb5

  He must not capture! If 17 Kxb7? then 17 ... Kd7 18 Qg4+ Kd6 and White has no defence against 19 ... Rhb8#.

  17 ... Ba6+ 18 Kc6 ½-½

  Black keeps up perpetual check with the bishop on b7 and a6. White’s king must not venture to a4 because of ... Bc4 and then ... b5#.

  An original ending to a king hunt!

  The next game abounds in dramatic features and gives us an opportunity for some more remarks on the subject of attacking a king that has lost the right to castle.

  Morphy - Barnes

  Simultaneous Display against Five Masters, London 1859

  Petroff Defence

  1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bc4

  Morphy regularly employed this against the Petroff; it does no more than leave the position evenly balanced.

  3 ... Nxe4 4 Nc3

  A dubious gambit originating from Kieseritzky.

  4 ... Nxc3 5 dxc3 f6!

  A good, as well as necessary, move in this position.

  6 0-0 Qe7?!

  After this White has approximately equal chances. Correct was 6 ... Nc6! 7 Nh4 g6 8 f4 f5! with advantage to Black.

  7 Nh4 d6 8 Qh5+ Kd8 9 f4

  9 Ng6? fails against 9 ... Qe8.

  9 ... Be6 10 Bxe6 Qxe6 11 fxe5 dxe5 12 Ng6 Bc5+

  White regains the pawn, since if 12 ... Qe8?, then 13 Qd1+! unpins the knight with gain of tempo.

  13 Kh1 Re8 14 Qxh7 Qg8 15 Qh5 Nd7 16 b4?

  A positional mistake, since he forfeits the chance of c4, without which his pawn attack is ineffective. 16 a4 was correct.

  16 ... Bd6 17 Bd2 Qf7

  Threatening ... Nf8.

  18 Qg4 Qe6 19 Qe4 Nb6!

  Owing to the weakness on c4. White’s position has lost its sting. Morphy now decides to compromise his game still further by sacrificing his knight; there is probably nothing better.

  20 Qxb7 Qg4 21 a4 Rc8 22 Rad1 Qxg6 23 Be3 Nc4 24 Qc6 Qf7

  Clearly not 24 ... Nxe3 because of 25 Rxd6+ Ke7 26 Rd7+ Kf8 27 Qc5+.

  25 Bxa7 e4

  25 ... Ke7 would also have been good, followed by ... Kf8 (‘delayed artificial castling’).

  26 Rd4 Qh5

  Black begins to have his threats. 27 h3 is obviously met by 27 ... Qe5, while if 27 g3 then 27 ... Rh8 28 h4 Qe2, threatening mate by either 29 ... Qxf1+ or 29 ... Rxh4+. Morphy now finds the one reply which still offers resistance.

  27 Rf4! e3 28 g4 e2

  28 ... Qh4 was probably even stronger.

  29 gxh5 e1Q+ 30 Kg2 Re2+ 31 Kh3 f5?

  Black has drawn his opponent’s king out of position but now, when he is faced with the task of producing a mating attack, he stumbles. 31 ... f5? only appears to tighten the net (that is, by the threat of 32 ... Qf1+ 33 Rxf1 Rxh2#); in fact it allows the king to escape via g5. 31 ... Qf1+ 32 Rxf1 Rxh2+ 33 Kg4 Ne5+ would also have been unsound, since after 34 Kg3! Nxc6+ White can liquidate by interpolating 35 Rxd6+ cxd6 36 Bb6+ and only then 37 Kxh2.

  31 ... Qxc3+ 32 Rd3 (forced) 32 ... Qe5 33 Qf3 Ke7, etc was one line which led to victory.

  32 Qxc4! Qf1+ 33 Kh4 Rxh2+ 34 Kg5 Qg2+?

  After this fresh mistake Black ought to have lost. 34 ... Qg1+ 35 Rg4 Qe3+ might still have resulted in a win.

  JN: In fact, it wins rather easily after 36 Kg6 Qh6+ 37 Kxf5 Qxh5+ 38 Rg5 Rf2+ 39 Rf4 Rxf4+ 40 Qxf4 Qf7+. It follows that White should have played 32 Rxc4! instead of 32 Qxc4?, when the position would indeed have been unclear.

  35 Rg4!

  By sacrificing his rook White succeeds in blocking the g-file and thus obtaining a respite for his king in the comparative safety of g5. Naturally, the king is only secure there for one or two moves, but in the present position that is enough, for White also has some threats at his disposal.

  The initiative now passes to White, and he should win quickly. The creation of a ‘makeshift shelter’ for one or two moves is often extremely important when the king is being pursued, always on the assumption, of course, that the counterattack made possible by the gain of time promises to be successful.

  35 ... fxg4 36 Qf7?

  Fortune smiled on him earlier, but now he loses the game which he could have won, e.g. 36 Rxd6+ cxd6 37 Qg8+ Ke7 (if 37 ... Kc7 or 37 ... Kd7, then 38 Qf7+ Kc6 39 b5#) 38 Qxg7+ Ke8 (or 38 ... Ke6 39 Qf6+ Kd5 40 Qf7+! mating next move) 39 Qg6+ Ke7 (if 39 ... Kd7 then 40 Qf7+ Kd8 41 Bb6+ Rc7 42 Qxc7+ Ke8 43 Qd8+ Kf7 44 Qf6+ Kg8 45 Qg6+ Kf8 46 Qxd6+, etc) 40 Qf6+ Ke8 41 Qe6+ Kd8 42 Bb6+ Rc7 43 Qxd6+ etc.

  36 ... Qc6! 37 b5

  If 37 Qf8+ then 37 ... Qe8 38 Rxd6+ cxd6 39 Qxd6+ Qd7 40 Bb6+ Ke8 41 Qxh2 Qe7+ and Black captures the bishop by further checking.

  37 ... Qd7 38 Rxd6 Qxd6 0-1

  Barnes played a number of games against Morphy; with his distinctive positional style, he was the most successful of all the British masters ag
ainst that combinative genius.

  Now comes the third and last example from the collection of curiosities – the game between Michelet and Kieseritzky, in which the hunted white king is not only saved but goes on actively to participate in the attack on his black colleague. The key to this success is the confinement of Black’s queen in a most unusual ‘cage’.

  Michelet - Kieseritzky

  Paris, 1845

  King’s Gambit Accepted

  1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 g5 4 Bc4 g4 5 Ne5

  Today the Muzio Gambit 5 0-0 is considered more promising.

  5 ... Qh4+ 6 Kf1 f3

  The so-called Cochrane Gambit, which is favourable for Black.

  7 d4 Nf6 8 Nc3 Bg7

  8 ... fxg2+ is also good.

  9 g3 Qh3+ 10 Kf2 d6 11 Nxf7 Rf8 12 Ng5 Qg2+ 13 Ke3

  13 ... Bh6?

  An unsound idea, since White can obviously counter it by Kd3, after which the bishop will have done nothing but lose control of the long diagonal.

  13 ... Nc6 was correct, and if 14 a3 then 14 ... Ke7 threatening 15 ... h6.

  14 Kd3 Nc6 15 a3 Bxg5 16 Bxg5 Nxe4

  This sacrifice is incorrect, but Black’s position was already inferior as a result of his mistake on the 13th move. White’s king is quite happy on d3.

  17 Qe1 Bf5 18 Nxe4 f2 19 Qe3 Kd7 20 Bd5 Rae8 21 Raf1!

  White actually encourages Black to carry out his threat to win the queen, producing an original riposte to it.

  21 ... Bxe4+ 22 Bxe4 Rf3 23 Qxf3! gxf3 24 Bf5+

  White now wins the other rook, leaving the black queen boxed in at g2. White conducts the ending with what is in effect an extra piece and, logically enough, takes his king into battle as well.

  24 ... Re6 25 d5 Ne5+ 26 Ke4 h5 27 dxe6+ Ke8 28 Bf6 h4 29 Bxe5 dxe5 30 Kxe5 hxg3 31 Kf6 1-0

  The final position deserves a diagram.

  Black is lost. since he has no proper defence against Bg6+ followed by e7+ and e8Q, etc. Black’s play throughout this game is an example of how ‘not’ to conduct an attack on a wandering king.