Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna

by Emmanuel Neiman

  Here White just has to acknowledge that Blacks queen and king are located on the same diagonal, in order to find:

  34.Rxb3!+− cxb3 35.Bxb3 Bd5 36.Bxd5 Rxc3

  If 36…Qxd5, 37.Qxc8+wins.

  37.Bxe6+ Kf8 38.Bxf5

  1-0

  Alignment/Line Clearance

  Aginian,Nelly

  Kosintseva,Tatiana

  Tbilisi 2011 (1)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Be7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 e5 9.Nde2 Be6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Bf5 12.c4 Nd7 13.Nc3 Bg6 14.Be2 f5 15.0-0 a6 16.Kh1 Rc8 17.Rac1 Nf6 18.b4 Nh5 19.Rfd1 Bh4 20.Bf1 f4 21.Bf2 Ng3+ 22.Bxg3 fxg3 23.Qe2 Bg5 24.Ra1 gxh2 25.Ne4 Bxe4 26.Qxe4 Rf4 27.Qe1 Bh4 28.Qe3 Bg5 29.Qe1 e4 30.fxe4 Qb6 31.Bd3 Rcf8 32.Qe2 Qd4 33.Rab1 Bd8 34.Qh5 Rh4 35.Qe2 Bb6 36.c5 dxc5 37.e5 Qg1+ 38.Rxg1

  The first alignment is the one of the black rook and the white king on the h-file. As a rule with alignments, we should not consider the Obstacles’. Without the h2-pawn, for instance, Black will give a dangerous check with the rook. The second alignment is the battery of the black queen and bishop. They are not connected yet, because of the c5-pawn, but this is a significant factor to look for before starting your calculations.

  The mating line is straightforward:

  37…Qg1+!

  Not the slow 37…C4, because then 38.Bxh7+ Kxh7 39.Rxd4 wins the queen, thanks to another alignment, in White’s favour.

  38.Rxg1 hxg1Q+

  Discovery attack number one.

  39.Kxg1

  39…c4+

  0-1

  Discovery attack number two: both lines have been opened, and Black will give mate: 40.Qf2 Rxf2 41.Rf1 Rxa2+ 42.Rf2 Bxf2+ 43.Kf1 Rh1#.

  Pin and Counterpin

  Howell,David

  Sandipan,Chanda

  Germany Bundesliga 2010/11 (9)

  1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.a3 Qd7 8.Be2 Rd8 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.c5 g6 11.Bf3 g5 12.g3 f5 13.Nge2 f4 14.gxf4 g4 15.Bg2 Bg7 16.Nb5 0-0 17.Nd6 Ne7 18.Ng3 Nc8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Qd3 Qa4 21.Rd1 Bd7 22.0-0 Bb5 23.Qb1 Bxf1 24.Bxf1 Bxd4 25.b4 Bg7 26.Nf5 Rc7 27.Rd3 b6 28.Rg3 bxc5 29.Rxg4 f6 30.Qd3 c4

  White, to play, could take on d5, with a complicated game. Instead, he decides to use the alignment on the g-file in order to play for the pin and win the bishop.

  31.Qg3

  The pin ought to bother Black, but with an alignment we should take all the pieces on the line into account. Looking at the g-file, we notice that the black bishop is pinned by White’s rook and queen, but also – important detail – that White’s king is standing on the same file.

  Thus it is Black, not White, who is winning:

  31…Qd7! 32.Nxg7

  32.Ne3 is better, but 32…f5 33.Rg5 Kh8 gives Black a winning position; 32.Rxg7+ Qxg7! 33.Nxg7 Rxg7 and Black wins.

  32…Qxg4!

  0-1

  33.Qxg4 Rxg7 wins the queen and the game. Note that the immediate 32…Qxg7 would fail to 33.Bg2!.

  All alignments have to be carefully examined. Sometimes a combination is the result of many of them:

  Reading the lines

  Samhouri,Ahmad

  Polgar,Judit

  Khanty-Mansiysk ol 2010 (1)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 a6

  7.Ba4 b5 8.Bc2 e5 9.d3 Be7 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Nf1 Re8 12.d4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bg4 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Ne3 Bh5 16.h3 Rc8 17.g4 Bg6 18.Nd2 Qb6 19.f4

  This is a complicated position. Let’s try to find all the alignments that are involved:

  - The first and more important is the pin exerted by the black queen on the e3-knight.

  - The second and third alignments are leading to c2. Both the c-file and the h7-b1 diagonal see Black’s long-range men looking at the c2-bishop.

  - The fourth one is well-hidden: it is the pressure on the semi-open e-file by the e8-rook. Can you believe that in the game, this rook will be able to take the e3-knight within four moves?

  19…Nd5!

  This shot reveals all the alignments. 19…Rxc2!? was also in Black’s favour.

  20.exd5 Bxc2 21.Qe2

  Black has taken a bishop against a knight, but the worst for White is yet to come.

  21…Nd3 22.Rf1 Bh4!

  Beautiful! All Black’s men prove active attackers in this game.

  23.Rf3 Nxf4

  0-1

  Even if the king looks secure in an apparently closed position, putting an enemy piece on the same line always makes sense. Here are two similar examples of a combination that I have called:

  The Tin Opener (1)

  Glek,Igor

  Arkhipov,Sergey

  Tomsk 2001 (2)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bxc6 Nxc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qc7 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.e5 Bb7 11.Nd2 c5 12.Nc4 Bd5

  White’s knight is under attack, and if we defend, Black has time to play …Be7 and castle queenside, thus obtaining full equality. But a surprising combination is possible, thanks to the alignment on the e-file:

  13.Nd6+! Bxd6

  13…Ke7 loses quickly to 14.Qh5, attacking f7. Now the only defensive try is 14…g6, but then there is a mate in two with 15.Bg5+ (15.Qg5+ is the same) 15…f6 16.Bxf6#.

  14.Qxd5

  Black resigned. After 14…exd5 15.exd6+ both e-pawns have been removed and the e-file is opened; 15…Kd8 16.dxc7+ wins a piece.

  The Tin Opener (2)

  Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime

  Degraeve,Jean-Marc

  Nimes ch-FRA 2009 (2)

  1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.c3 g6 6.h4 h5 7.Nf4 e6 8.Bd3 Qb6 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Re1 a6 11.Nd2 cxd4

  Black should probably have played this a few moves ago. Now White has an adequate resource:

  12.c4! dxc4 13.Nxc4 Qc7

  14.Nd5!

  Exactly the same combination, in the reversed order. It is a very useful tool to remember: when you have a series of forced moves, it makes sense to try and vary their order (see Part III, page 159).

  14…Qb8

  The main line was crushing. After 14…exd5 15.Nd6+! Ke7 (15…Kd8 16.Nxf7+ Kc8 17.Nxh8+−) 16.Bg5+ f6 (on 16…Ke6 17.Qf3 is killing, for example 17…Nxe5 18.Rxe5+ Kxd6 19.Qxd5#) 17.exf6+ Kxd6 18.Bf4+.

  15.Ndb6 Ra7

  Black is still alive, but in a completely passive position, with his king stuck in the centre. White now has the pleasant choice of when and where to execute his opponent. He chooses the positional way, first developing all his men before looking for a forced finish.

  16.Bg5 Nh6 17.Qf3 Rh7 18.Rad1

  Played in classical style. All White’s pieces are active, whereas Black can hardly make any move without allowing a winning possibility.

  18…Ng4

  18…Bc5 19.Bxh6 Rxh6 20.Nxd7 Kxd7 21.Qxf7+.

  18…Qc7 19.Nd5! Qb8 20.Nf6+.

  19.Qf4 Bc5 20.f3 Ne3

  And it appears that Black lost on time here. Many variations give White the win, the simplest being 21.Nxd7 Kxd7 22.Nxe3 dxe3 23.Bxg6+ Kc7 24.Bxh7 e2+ 25.Kh2 exd1Q 26.Rxd1, with an overwhelming advantage.

  Chapter 4

  Knight Fork Distance

  A fork is a double attack carried out by a knight or a pawn. We won’t deal with the pawn fork here, because it requires the alignment of two attacked pieces, which we have dealt with under signal no. 3 (previous chapter).

  The knight’s distance has to be examined separately, because the knight works in circles instead of lines like the other pieces (see on this subject The King by Donner, New In Chess, 2006). This means that it can attack all the other pieces without being under attack itself. Every time that pieces are at a knight fork’s distance, there is a motif, which implies the possibility of a winning tactic.

  Razuvaev,Yury

  Mestrovic,Zvonimir

  Keszthely 1981 (11)

  1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bxc4 e6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.h3 Bh5 8.0-0 Be7 9.e4 Nb6 10.Be2 0-0 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Nd2 Bg6 13.Bf3 Qe7 14.a3 Bxc3 15.bxc3 e5 16.d5 Nfd7 17.Qb3 Qd6 18.c4 Nc5 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.Qb4 Nd7 21.Nb3 Qb6 22.c5 Qxb4 23.axb4 f5 24.exf5 Bxf5 25.Rfe1 Bc2 26.Nd2 Rf4 27.d6 c6 28.b5 Nxc5 29.bxc6 bxc6 30.Bxc6 Rd8 31.
Rec1 Rxd6 32.Rxc2 Rxc6 33.Rxa7 Rd6 34.Nf3 Nd3

  34…Rd5 was better: 35.Ra5 e4 and Black should hold.

  35.Ng5! h6 36.Rc8+ Rf8 37.Raa8 Rf6

  White won thanks to a curious fork:

  38.Nh7!Kxh7

  After 38…Rxc8 the in-between move 39.Nxf6+ wins the exchange after 39…gxf6 40.Rxc8+.

  39.Rxf8 Rb6 40.Ra7 Nf4 41.Kh2 Ne6 42.Rf5 Rb5 43.h4 Kg6 44.g4 Rb2

  1-0

  The fork is one of the motifs that you have to foresee to enter the combination. If a piece is at ‘knight fork’s distance’, it makes sense to try to decoy another one to a ‘forking square’.

  Here are two examples:

  Euwe,Max

  Davidson,Jacques

  Amsterdam 1926 (1)

  Here we witness an elegant finish by the future World Champion. The g5-knight attacks the e4-pawn, and from e4 it will attack the queen. White was able to force Black’s monarch to come out at fork distance with:

  1.Qd8+ Kg7 2.Qxf6+ 3.Nxe4+ Ke5 4.Nxc5

  The pawn ending is winning.

  Ozsvath,Andras

  Honfi,Karoly

  Budapest 1953

  In this famous position, White is two pawns up. We can see that the striking factor is the prominent d4-knight, which is at checking distance from the king on e2. A series of sacrifices will prepare the winning fork:

  1…Qxc1! 2.Qxc1 Rxc3! 3.Qe1

  3.Qxc3 Ne2+.

  3…RC1!

  A typical tactical device: a decoy sacrifice in order to lure the queen to the square where the fork is the most effective.

  4.Qxc1 Ne2+ 5.Kf1 Nxc1

  With advantage to Black.

  Giri,Anish

  Meier,Georg

  Dortmund 2011 (3)

  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Bb7 11.Ne5 Nh5 12.Bd2 Nhf6 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Nc6 Bxc6 15.Qxc6 a6 16.e3 b5 17.Qc2 Qc8 18.Qd3 Qc4 19.Bf1 Ne4 20.Be1 Rfc8 21.b3 Qxd3 22.Bxd3 e5 23.a4 exd4 24.exd4 b4 25.a5 Ng5 26.Be2 Rc2 27.Kf1 Rb2 28.Rd2 Rxd2 29.Nxd2 g6 30.h4 Ne6 31.Nf3 Kf8 32.Rc1 Ke8 33.Bd2 Bd8 34.Ra1 Be7 35.Ra4 Nb8 36.Bxb4 Bxb4 37.Rxb4 Nc6

  38.Ra4 Ke7 39.Ke1 f6 40.Kd2 Nc7 41.Ne1 Nb5 42.Nc2 Kd6 43.Kd3 Re8 44.Bf3 Rc8 45.Kd2 f5 46.h5 Rc7 47.Be2 Ra7 48.h6 Ra8 49.Bd3 Ra7 50.Bf1 Ra8 51.Be2 Ra7 52.Bd3 Ra8 53.f3 Ra7 54.Bf1 Ra8 55.Be2 Ra7 56.Bd3 Ra8 57.Ke3 Re8+ 58.Kd2 Ra8 59.Ke3 Re8+ 60.Kf2 Ra8 61.Kg2 Ke6 62.f4 Kd6 63.g4 fxg4 64.Kg3 Nc3 65.Ra1 Ne4+ 66.Bxe4 dxe4 67.Kxg4 Rb8 68.Rb1 Nxa5 69.Ra1 Nc6 70.Rxa6 Rxb3

  Can you visualize the future fork?

  71.d5!+− Kxd5 72.Rxc6 Kxc6 73.Nd4+ Kd5 74.Nxb3 e3 75.Nc1

  1-0

  Orlov,Andrey

  Pantaleoni,Claudio

  Palau 2007 (4)

  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Bg5 c6 11.Ne2 Bd7 12.c4 Bd6 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Rc1 h6 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Bh4 Rb8 17.Nb5 Bf4 18.Rc2 Bd7 19.Nc3

  Bg4 20.Qb1 Rb6 21.Re1 Re6 22.h3 Rxe1+ 23.Qxe1 Re8 24.Qf1 Be6 25.Bb5 Rf8 26.Qd3 Bg5 27.Bxg5 hxg5 28.Qd4 Qc7 29.Bd3 Qd7 30.Nb5 a6 31.Nc7 a5 32.Qe5 g4 33.h4 d4 34.h5 Rc8 35.h6 gxh6

  The best move for White is based on a surprising fork:

  36.Nxe6!

  White also had a clear advantage in the game, where 1.Qxf6 Rxc7 2.Qxh6+ was played.

  36…Rxc2

  And now comes the crowning combination: the striking

  37.Bh7+!! Kxh7

  37…Nxh7 38.Qg7#.

  37…Kh8 38.Qxf6+ Kxh7 39.Qg7#.

  38.Nf8+ Kg8 39.Nxd7 Nxd7 40.Qf5

  Attacking four enemy pieces (on c2, d7, g4, a5).

  40…RC1+ 41.Kh2 Nf8 42.Qxg4+

  and White is winning.

  The strongest players sometimes manage to forget a simple fork, so you must consider all of them. Here’s a theoretical trick that has already made several victims:

  Korneev,Oleg

  Van Wely,Loek

  Krumbach Open 1991 (2)

  1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Qe2 Bg4 9.Be3 Qa5 10.0-0 0-0 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nc6 13.Ne2 Nd7

  Can you see Black’s threat?

  14.c3?

  Also played, for example, in Hiibner-Kortchnoi, World Cup Skelleftea 1989.

  14…Nde5! 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Qg3 Nxd3 17.Bg5 Rae8

  17…Nxb2 18.Bxe7 Rfe8 19.Qxd6 Nc4−+.

  18.Bxe7 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Rxe7 20.Qxd3 Qxb2

  with advantage to Black, who eventually won the game.

  Romanko,Marina

  Zaiats,Elena

  Taganrog 2011 (5)

  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 c5 8.dxc5 bxc5 9.e3 d6 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.f3 Qc7 13.Bd3 Rb8 14.Ne2 d5 15.Rb1 Ba6 16.0-0 Rb6 17.Rfc1 Rfb8 18.b3 Qb7 19.Kf2 Qe7 20.Qc2 g6 21.Nc3 dxc4 22.Bxc4 Bxc4 23.bxc4 Nd7 24.g3 Ne5 25.Ne4

  Can you see the problem with White’s position? The alignment of the king and the queen, added with the possible knight fork, enables

  25…Rb2!

  0-1

  If 26.Rxb2 Rxb2 27.Qxb2 Nd3+ wins the queen.

  Here’s a classical study that illustrates two types of fork.

  The reader should not be afraid of such studies; just try to find direct and concrete threats, and look for the defensive possibilities. This is the best calculation training.

  Kasparian,Genrikh

  study 1935

  1.Ne8

  The threat is to give mate in two with 2.Ng7+ and 3.Bf5 mate. If 1.Nf5 Kg4=.

  1…Kg6 2.h5+ Rxh5

  2…Kxh5 3.Ng7+ Kg6 4.Bf5#.

  3.f5+ Rxf5

  4.g4 Re5

  Or wherever.

  5.Bf5+ Rxf5

  And now the winning fork forces the mate:

  6.Ng7

  And mate on the next move.

  The other defence 1…Rxf4 is no better: 2.Ng7+ Kg6 3.h5+ Rxh5 4.Bf5+ Rxf5 5.g4 leads to the same position.

  Let’s round off this theme with a little joke. This is the end of another famous study:

  Herbstman and Kubbel

  End of a study 1937

  Black to play could queen, but then the fork on f3 would win the queen, forcing a theoretically drawn position (two knights against bare king). Thus, in order to prevent the fork, Black under promotes:

  1…e1N!?

  Three knights should win, if two can’t… but a surprise is awaiting him.

  2.Nf3+!

  So the knight fork brings a draw in all cases! White reaches a totally unexpected draw.

  2…Nxf3+ 3.Kg3

  A triple attack, that can only be parried by a triple defence…

  3…Ke3

  Black should be winning, but it is a draw… stalemate!

  Chapter 5

  Trapped Pieces

  This fifth signal is a motif inherent to all board games. Given that the number of squares is limited, the theme of domination (meaning that a piece has no more available squares, and is therefore dominated by the opponent’s pieces) is possibly the most important in chess, checkmate being the supreme form of domination.

  We will study two types of trapping. In the first type, the piece has no more squares and is taken. In the second type, the piece cannot be taken, but is just kept in jail, so that it has no more influence on what happens on the rest of the board. The first case results in material gain, the second in positional gain.

  A piece may be trapped in the enemy’s camp, but also by its own forces:

  Troitzky,Alexey

  study 1924

  Here is a typical case of trapping. First, we should notice that without the black pawn on f5, the position would be an immediate draw. The bishop takes the f-pawn as soon as it advances on its diagonal, and White is unable to win. But we will see that more often than not, the walls of a jail are formed by the prisoner’s own men–in this case, the f5-pawn.

  Black would like to be able to play the bishop to g8 at some point, but White won’t let him.

  1.Kh6 Kh8

  Forced, as are all Black’s following moves.

  2.Nh4 Kg8

  When the king comes to g8, his next move has to be …Kh8, so Wh
ite has a tempo to find the best route for the knight. 2…Bg8 3.Ng6#.

  3.Nf3

  3.Ng6 Bxg6 4.Kxg6 Kf8 5.Kxf5 Kf7 is a simple theoretical draw.

  3…Kh8 4.Ne5 Kg8 5.Nd7 Kh8 6.Nf8!

  Attacking the bishop.

  6…Bg8 7.Ng6#

  Sometimes a piece can voluntarily cage itself in, in the hope of freeing itself some time later. But when the queen is involved, this is a dangerous business:

  Lobron,Eric

  Hort,Vlastimil

  Dortmund 1982 (5)

  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d4 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 exd4 11.Rd1 Ne5 12.Qg3 Nh5 13.Qh2 d3 14.f4

  14…Bh4!

  A clever piece sacrifice: Black gives a knight in order to imprison the queen.

  15.fxe5 Bg3 16.Qh1 Qh4 17.Rxd3

  If 17.Rf1 0-0!

  18.Nd2 (if 18.exd6 Bxd6, threatening 19…Bc5+ and 20…Qg3 checkmate. The most solid is 18.Rf3 dxe5 19.Be3 Qxe4 20.Nd2, but then Black retains a good advantage with 20…Qg6, while material is now equal! (three pawns against a piece)) 18…Nf4 (threatening 19…Ne2 checkmate) 19.Rf3 dxe5 with two pawns for the sacrificed piece, and complete domination.

  17…Qxe4!

  17…Bf2+ 18.Kh2 Bg3+ is only a draw.

  18.Rd1 Nf4

  19.Bxf7+

  An attempt to free the queen, but it is too late: the position of the white king has been weakened. If 19.Bxf4 Qxf4 20.Rf1 Qe3+and mate.

  19…Kxf7 20.Bxf4 Bxf4 21.g3 Qe3+ 22.Kf1 Bxe5

  0-1

  Black is winning thanks to the attack on the king, and his material superiority. 22…Bxg3 23.Qg2 Rhf8