Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna

by Emmanuel Neiman

  16.Qb8+Nxb8 17.Rd8#

  Anastasias Mate

  1.Ne7+ Kh8 2.Qxh7+ Kxh7 3.Rh5#

  Pillsbury’s Checkmate

  Bishop and Knight Mate

  1.Nh6#/1.Ne7#

  Bishop and Rook Mate

  Two Bishops Mate

  Looking for a Checkmate

  Exercise 1

  Schneider,Lars-Ake

  Tal,Mikhail

  Lucerne ol 1982 (13)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 Qc7 7.Bd3 g6 8.0-0 Bg7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Kh1 e5 11.Qe1 b5 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Qh4 h6 14.a4 b4 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bb7 17.Bd2 Bxd5 18.Bxb4 Nc5 19.Rad1 Be6 20.Be4 Rc8 21.Bd5 0-0 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.Bxc5 Qxc5 24.Qg4 Kh7 25.Qxe6 Rc6 26.Qh3 Qxc2 27.Rd7 e4 28.Ng5+ Kh8 29.Nf7+ Kg8

  (Solution on page 143)

  Exercise 2

  Giri,Anish

  Laznicka,Viktor

  Francete 2010 (7)

  1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Nc3 cxd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.Bg5 0-0 11.Rc1 Nb4 12.Bb1 b5 13.a3 Nbd5 14.Nxd5

  Exchanging a knight, just like Grischuk in his game with Gelfand (page 134): not the traditional way to handle positions with the isolated pawn, when the player with the isolani is supposed to keep his minor pieces, if he can.

  14…Nxd5 15.Qd3 g6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Ne5 Bb7 18.Qf3 Bf6 19.Be4 Qe7

  20.Bxd5!?

  Another minor piece exchange, in order to get rid of a defender of the dark squares, against a piece that will never be able to attain them.

  20…Bxd5 21.Qf4 Bh8 22.Ng4 f6 23.Rc7e5 24.Qc1 Qe6 25.h3 exd4

  (Solution on page 144)

  Chapter 8

  King Position

  The king’s position is the most important factor in the evaluation of a position, both from a tactical and a positional point of view. This is the consequence of the modern rules, which state that the game is usually won thanks to a checkmate (certain earlier rules stated that stalemate or taking all the opponent’s men were also ways to win). Chess is ‘Shah’, the king!

  There are two possible defects in the king’s position: either it is too tightly covered, or it is too exposed. In both cases, the king may catch a bad cold.

  Usually the king castles. After that it is standing in the corner, which eases the task for the attacker. However, usually the king is well protected by a shelter of three pawns. The basic method of attacking the king is extraction, which means that you pull the king out of his castle with some sacrifice in order to drive him towards your men.

  Lasker,Edward

  Thomas,George Alan

  London 1912 (casual game)

  1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e4 fxe4 7.Nxe4 b6 8.Ne5 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.Qh5 Qe7

  Black’s idea is that in case of the discovered attack 11.Nxf6+, attacking h7 twice, he has the ‘uncovering defence’ 11…gxf6, when the protection of h7 is taken care of.

  10…g6 or 10…Bxe5 was better.

  11.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 12.Nxf6+ Kh6

  12…Kh8 leads to a nice mate picture: 13.Ng6#.

  13.Neg4+Kg5 14.h4+

  14.f4+ is just as strong: 14…Kxf4 (14…Kh4 15.g3+ Kh3 16.0-0! and mates next move with 17.Nf2) 15.g3+ Kf3 16.0-0#.

  14…Kf4 15.g3+Kf3

  16.Be2+

  This is the most stylish solution. 16.Kf1, with the double threat of 17.Nh2 and 17.Be2, would have mated one move earlier; and so would the simple 16.0-0, with the single but completely undefendable threat of 17.Nh2+ with checkmate on the next move.

  16…Kg2 17.Rh2+ Kg1 18.Kd2#!

  18.0-0-0 mate was a less elegant, but valid alternative.

  The following example demonstrates once again that when our short-range king is driven far inside the enemy camp, we should calculate the variations carefully, because the way back is long and arduous.

  Kasparian & Manlevian

  1936

  However costly it is, here we must consider the sacrifice of the queen, which drives the black king into unknown territory. The signal is the alignment between the g2-bishop and the king, but above all the poor position of the king after the queen has been sacrificed on c6.

  The general technique of attracting the king is, from the attacker’s point of view, firstly to make sure that the monarch can’t get back, secondly to lure him as close as possible to our pawns, and then thirdly to accurately calculate the checkmate line.

  1.Qxc6+ Kxc6

  If 1 …Kb8, 2.Nd4 Qa6 3.Qd7 is completely crushing.

  2.Ne5+

  This check prevents the monarch from returning home via d7. The calculation is not so difficult here, because Black has nothing but only moves.

  2…Kc5 3.Nd3+

  Nice geometry: while the knight takes care of the dark squares, the bishop and pawns look after the white ones.

  3…Kd4

  Now the third rank (the squares e3, d3 and c3) needs control. This job is done by the white king:

  4.Kd2 Qf5

  Or any other move, since there are no checks available…

  5.c3#

  Another important tip for the attacker is to learn by heart the classical mating patterns (see in the bibliography, p. 223, L’Art de faire mat, or Improve your Chess Now). We will give an example in order to demonstrate how far in advance a strong player can anticipate a basic pattern.

  Damiano’s Mate

  Take Damiano’s Mate – a typical position which requires two elements: a pawn fixed on g6 (or g3 for Black), and the queen. Most checkmates involve two pieces, one of them being the queen.

  Damiano’s Six-Mover

  Black has castled kingside, while White has been able to plant a pawn on g6, thus covering the h7-square and preventing the black king’s escape via f7. With the help of its precious assistant, the lone queen will able able to deliver the final blow on h7. Black also has undefendable mating threats on b2 and a2, but White is to move first here.

  When you see such a possibility, you must immediately visualize the previous diagram (Damiano’s Mate). Then you will find the mate in six moves easily.

  1.Rh1+ Kg8 2.Rh8+ Kxh8 3.Rh1+ Kg8 4.Rh8+ Kxh8 5.Qh1+ Kg8 6.Qh7#

  The tactical theme is line clearance. Both white rooks are sacrificed to allow the queen to go to h1.

  Looking for Damiano

  Benjamin,Joel

  Carter,H

  London Lloyds Bank Open 1982

  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nxe5 d5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d4 0-0 8.Bg5 c6 9.Qd3 Nfd7

  When he played his next move Benjamin had already calculated the final checkmate:

  10.h4!?f6

  10…Nxe5 was better (not 10…Bxg5 because after 11.hxg5 the h-file gives White too much attack). Benjamin already saw that Damiano’s Mate was almost forced after

  11.Nxd5!! cxd5 12.Bxd5+ Kh8 13.Ng6+hxg6 14.h5

  This is where the g5-bishop comes in handy; it keeps Black from preventing the opening of the h-file, as …g6-g5 is impossible.

  14…Qa5+ 15.c3 Qxd5

  That’s all, folks!

  16.hxg6+ Kg8 17.Rh8+ Kxh8 18.Qh3+Kg8 19.Qh7#

  Building on Damiano’s Mate

  Kwapinski,Leszek

  Blomqvist,Erik

  Stockholm 2011/12 (6)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.0-0 Bc5 10.Kh1 h5 11.Qe2 e5 12.Be3 Bg4 13.f3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Be6 15.c5 h4 16.b4 Nh5 17.Ne2 0-0-0 18.b5 cxb5 19.a4

  We can see that Damiano’s Mate would be possible if the black knight could come to g3, and White’s h-pawn had to take it. This is not yet the case, because the knight on e2 also controls g3. Thanks to other tactical motifs (the alignment of white men along the a6-f1 diagonal, the possibility of a knight fork on g3 – at checking distance from h1), Black is able to bring about the desired pattern by force:

  19…Rxd3! 20.Qxd3 Bc4 21.Qe3 Bxe2 22.Qxe2

  This is the first step. 22.Rfc1–+ Bc4 23.axb5 Bxb5 24.Rcb1 Rh6 25.Rd1 Nf4 26.Rd6 Rxd6 27.cxd6 Qxd6 28.Qa7 Qd2 29.Qc5+ Kd7 was the game finish.

  Step two:

  22…Ng3+ 23.hxg3 hxg3+
24.Kg1

  24…Rh1+

  The flashy way! First 24…Qd8 or 24…Qe7 amounts to the same. 24…Qxc5+ is also easily winning: after the sequence 25.Rf2 gxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Rh1+ 27.Kxh1 Qxf2 the game is over.

  25.Kxh1 Qd8 26.Rfd1 Qh4+ 27.Kg1 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Qh1#

  The basic attacking patterns deal with the destruction of the enemy kings shelter. Various classical destructive sacrifices are well-known, such as the sacrifice on h7 (the Greek gift, or Greco’s mate) and the sacrifice on h6.

  We will mention here the beautiful double bishop sacrifice, which was played for the first time in the following game:

  Lasker,Emanuel

  Bauer,Johann Hermann

  Amsterdam 1889 (1)

  1.f4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.b3 e6 4.Bb2 Be7 5.Bd3 b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Ne2 c5 10.Ng3 Qc7 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Qc6 13.Qe2 a6

  14.Nh5! Nxh5

  14…Rfd8 is more resilient, but still losing after 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bxh7+ Kxh7 17.Qh5+ Kg8 18.Bxf6 gxf6.

  White wins easily if he manages to spot the technical move here. Can you?7

  15.Bxh7+

  The first bishop is sacrificed in order to get rid of the h7-pawn, and to enable the queen to come to h5 with tempo.

  15…Kxh7 16.Qxh5+ Kg8

  Now the second bishop is sacrificed, eliminating the g-pawn, so that a quick checkmate will be possible after the arrival of the rook on g3 or h3.

  17.Bxg7 Kxg7

  There is another possibility to parry the threatened mate on h8: by moving the f-pawn. On 17…f6, 18.Bh6 is a typical method (18.Rf3 is also good). White wants to play Qg6 and Qg7 mate, so Black has to give up the rook: 18…Rf7 19.Qg6+ Kh8 20.Qxf7 Rg8 21.Rf3 and mate by Bg7+ and Rh3 is unavoidable.

  On 17…f5 the best move is 18.Be5 Bf6 (after 18…Rf6 19.Rf3 Kf8 20.Rg3 Black will be mated all the same) 19.Qg6+ Kh8 and now the arrival of the rook is decisive: 20.Rf3, and mate.

  18.Qg4+Kh7 19.Rf3 e5!

  A clever defensive try.

  20.Rh3+ Qh6 21.Rxh6+ Kxh6

  22.Qd7!

  Winning a bishop, and the game.

  22…Bf6 23.Qxb7 Kg7 24.Rf1 Rab8 25.Qd7 Rfd8 26.Qg4+ Kf8 27.fxe5 Bg7 28.e6 Rb7 29.Qg6 f6 30.Rxf6+ Bxf6 31.Qxf6+ Ke8 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qg7+ Kxe6 34.Qxb7 Rd6 35.Qxa6 d4 36.exd4 cxd4 37.h4 d3 38.Qxd3

  1-0

  The technique is quite simple, yet let’s look at a similar example. When Tarrasch was congratulated after the following game, he declared that he had no merit, because the winning method had been already discovered by Lasker, back in 1889!

  Nimzowitsch,Aaron

  Tarrasch,Siegbert

  St Petersburg 1914 (S)

  1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 0-0 8.Bb2 b6 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.Rc1 Qe7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nh4 g6 13.Nhf3 Rad8 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Bb5 Ne4 16.Bxc6 Bxc6 17.Qc2 Nxd2 18.Nxd2

  The basic requirements for the double bishop sacrifice to work are:

  -a chance to bring in the queen with tempo;

  - the possibility to quickly bring a rook into action, so that one major piece controls the g-file and the other one the h-file, thus allowing the checkmate.

  Here all the conditions are fulfilled thanks to Black’s next move, giving the d5-square to the rook while opening the long diagonal (a8-h1).

  18…d4! 19.exd4

  Losing by force. 19.Rfe1 was a better chance.

  19…Bxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Qh4+

  The first major piece has been brought in with tempo.

  21.Kg1 Bxg2 22.f3

  The main line is 22.Kxg2 Qg4+ 23.Kh2 Rd5.

  Here comes the second major piece. White has a surprising defence, but it does not save the game: 24.Qxc5! Rh5+ 25.Qxh5 Qxh5+.

  The material balance is not so clear here, but just as in Lasker’s game, Black wins another piece thanks to a double attack: 26.Kg2 Qg5+ 27.Kf3 Qxd2−+.

  22…Rfe8!

  Tarrasch continues coolly, aiming all his men on the white king.

  23.Ne4

  On 23.Kxg2 Re2+ mates quickly.

  23…Qh1+ 24.Kf2 Bxf1 25.d5

  On 25.Rxf1 Qh2+ nets Black a queen.

  25…f5 26.Qc3

  White takes his chance and now also has undefendable mating threats.

  26…Qg2+ 27.Ke3

  27…Rxe4+! 28.fxe4f4+

  There was a mate in three available, beginning with 28…Qg3+ 29.Kd2 Qf2+ 30.Kd1 Qe2#.

  29.Kxf4 Rf8+ 30.Ke5 Qh2+ 31.Ke6 Re8+ 32.Kd7 Bb5#

  A final position that deserves a diagram.

  Kuzmin,Gennady

  Sveshnikov,Evgeny

  Moscow ch-URS 1973 (14)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Na4 0-0 11.c4 Bd6 12.f4 Nxe4 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.c5 Be7 15.Bd4 Nd5

  You know the method. Of course, you will need to calculate – one cannot give up two precious bishops speculatively! Okay, take your time, calculate and find the winning move White played.

  16.Nb6!!

  Before the ritual sacrifice, White has to deflect the central black knight. The ‘normal’ 16.Bxh7+ fails, for a reason that is hard to spot: 16…Kxh7 17.Qh5+ Kg8 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Qg4+ Kh7 20.Rf3? (20.Qh5+ is a draw)

  White brings on his rook to give mate on h3, as usual, but there is a defence here: the surprising 20…Nxf4!, controlling the h3-square: 21.Rxf4 f5 and Black holds. If 22.Qh3+ Kg6 23.Qg3+ Bg5 shielding against discovered checks.

  The same motif works after 19…Kh6, but 19…Kh8? 20.Rf3 Nxf4 (or 20…Nf6 21.Rh3 Nh7 22.Qh5+−) is different: 21.Rxf4 f5 22.Qh3+ Kg7 23.Qg3+ Kh7 24.Rh4+ Bxh4 25.Qxc7, netting the queen.

  Or 21…Qe5 22.Qh3+ Kg8 23.Rg4+ Bg5 24.Qh5! f6 25.Qg6+ Kh8 26.Rg3 Qf5 27.Rh3 Qxh3 28.gxh3, with a winning material advantage.

  16…Nxb6

  If 16…Rb8 17.Nxd5, followed by the double sacrifice. Now it’s a piece of cake…

  17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh5+ Kg8

  19.Bxg7 Kxg7

  On 19…f6 20.Qg6 Rf7 21.Bh6+ Kh8 22.Qxf7 wins.

  19…f5 20.Qg6 is the same.

  20.Qg4+Kh7 21.Rf3

  White wins.

  Exercises

  Exercise 1 Signal 1

  *8

  Czempiel,Henryk

  Nowak,Kamil

  Gora Swietej Anny 2012 (8.13)

  1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.e5 Ng4 8.exd6 exd6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Bf4 0-0 11.Re1 Nge5 12.Bxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Qh5 Qd4 15.Re4 Qd2 16.Re2 Qf4 17.Nd5 Qxc4 18.Nxe7+ Kh8 19.Rxe5 Bg4 20.Qh4 Be6

  (Solution on page 144)

  Exercise 2 Signal 1

  **

  Richter,Michael

  Berg,Emanuel

  Gothenburg 2011 (4)

  1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.c3 c5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.Nf4 Nxd4 10.Qh5+ Ke7 11.exf6+ Nxf6 12.Ng6+ hxg6 13.Qxh8 Kf7 14.0-0 e5 15.Nb3 Nxb3 16.axb3 Bf5 17.Bxf5 gxf5 18.Bg5 Bc5 19.Qh3 g6 20.b4 Bb6 21.Qb3 Qd6 22.Be3 Rd8 23.Bc5 Qe6 24.Bxb6 Qxb6 25.Rfc1 a6 26.b5 axb5 27.Qc3 Qe6 28.Ra7 Rd7 29.Qc5 d4 30.Qxb5 Qe7 31.Rd1 e4 32.Qc4+ Qe6 33.Qb5 Qe7 34.Qc4+ Kg7 35.Rxd4 Rc7 36.Qb3

  (Solution on page 145)

  Exercise 3 Signal 1

  **

  Mamedov,Rauf

  Adhiban,Baskaran

  Moscow 2012 (4.29)

  1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.d3 g6 4.Nd2 Bg7 5.e4 dxe4 6.dxe4 0-0 7.Ngf3 a5 8.0-0 a4 9.c3 a3 10.Qc2 axb2 11.Bxb2 Nc6 12.h3h6 13.a4 Be6 14.Nd4

  Bd7 15.Nc4 Qc8 16.Kh2 Na5 17.Ne3 e5 18.Nf3 Re8 19.c4 Nc6 20.Rfd1 Nh7 21.Nd5 Nf8 22.Bc3 Be6 23.Qb2 Nd7 24.a5 Kh7 25.Rdb1 Nc5 26.Ne1 Ra7 27.f4 f5 28.exf5 Bxf5 29.Rd1 Ne4 30.Bxe4 Bxe4 31.Qf2 Ra6 32.Ng2 Nd4 33.Nh4 Rc6 34.fxe5 Bxd5 35.Rxd4 Bxc4 36.Re1 Rf8 37.Qc2 Qe6 38.Rg4 Bb3 39.Qd3 Qd5 40.Rd4 Qc5 41.Bd2 Bxe5 42.Rd7+ Rf7 43.Ng2 Bg7 44.Bf4 Qc2 45.Re3 Rxd7 46.Qxd7

  (Solution on page 145)

  Exercise 4 Signal 1

  **

  Tiviakov,Sergey

  Tukmakov,Vladimir

  Rostov-on-Don 1993

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Bf4 Bd7 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.f3 d5 12.Qe1 Bb4 13.a3 Ba5 14.Bd2 d4 15.e5 Qc7 16.Ne2 Bxd2+ 17.Qxd2 Qxe5 18.Nxd4 Bd7 19.Bc4 0-0 20.Bb3 Qc7
21.h4 Rad8 22.Qe3 Rfe8 23.Ne2 Bc6 24.g4 Nd5 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Bxd5 27.g5 hxg5 28.hxg5 e5 29.Nc3 Bc6 30.Ne4 Re6 31.Rd1 Qe7 32.Nc5 Rd6 33.Re1 Qd8 34.Nd3 Rg6 35.Nxe5 Rxg5

  (Solution on page 145)

  Exercise 5 Signal 1

  ***

  Petrosian,Tigran

  Pachman,Ludek

  Bled 1961 (6)

  1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.d3 e6 6.e4 Nge7 7.Re1 0-0 8.e5 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Nb3 Nd4 12.Bf4 Qb6 13.Ne5 Nxb3 14.Nc4 Qb5 15.axb3 a5 16.Bd6 Bf6 17.Qf3 Kg7 18.Re4 Rd8

  (Solution on page 146)

  Exercise 6 Signal 1

  ***

  Brkic,Ante

  Nestorovic,Dejan

  Sarajevo Open 2012 (6)

  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Qf3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.0-0-0 d6 9.Qg3 0-0 10.f4 Nc6 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nh5 13.Nxc6 Nxg3 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.hxg3 Qxe5

  (Solution on page 146)

  Footnotes

  7 19.Qh6! is the move, shutting in the king first — with Rf3-g3 to follow.

  8 The number of stars refers to increasing difficulty, from * to *****

  Chapter 9

  Unprotected Pieces

  This signal points to the most natural tactical theme: the double attack. In his book Tactics for the Advanced Player, Yury Averbakh states that most of the combinations are based on a double attack, meaning attack on two different sectors. From a strategic point of view, this theme is also known as the double weakness principle: if a player has only one weakness, and his opponent is able to attack it, say, four times, he should be able to defend it four times. But if in the same position there is another weakness, then the attacker should win by alternating threats on both weaknesses.