The game is over. Black will not get his pieces back to protect his king: 18…c4 19.Qe3! followed inevitably by Qh6.
Exercises
Exercise 1 Signal 7
Bondarevsky,Igor
Botvinnik,Mikhail
Moscow ch-URS 1941 (19)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.e3 Bg4 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Nd7 6.Bd3 Ngf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.b3 0-0 9.Bb2 e5 10.Be2 e4 11.Nd2 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 Bb4 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 Re8 15.f3 Nf8 16.Rf2 Qd7 17.Raf1 exf3 18.Rxf3 Re6 19.Qd3 Rae8 20.Nb1 Ng6 21.Be1 dxc4 22.Qxc4 Rxe3 23.Rxe3 Rxe3 24.Bf2 Nd5 25.Nd2 Ngf4 26.h3 Rc3 27.Qa4 Ne2+ 28.Kh2
(Solution on page 156)
Exercise 2 Signal 7
*
Hawkins, Jonathan
Mackle,Dominic
North Shields ch-GBR 2012 (6)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Bf4 Bb7 9.0-0 d5 10.Ne5 a6 11.Qc2 b5 12.b3 Nbd7 13.Rfd1 Rc8 14.e4 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Nd7 16.exd5 cxd5 17.cxd5 b4 18.dxe6 Rxc3 19.Qf5 Bxg2 20.Rxd7 Qa8 21.Rxe7 fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8
(Solution on page 156)
Exercise 3 Signal 7
**
Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar
Huschenbeth,Niclas
Gibraltar 2012 (5.8)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bd2 Be7 8.Qc2 0-0 9.e4 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Bd3 Nc6 14.e5 h6 15.0-0 Rfd8 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Be4 Qb6 18.Qa4 Rac8 19.Bb1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.h4 h5 22.Re1 g6 23.Qf4 Kg8 24.Ng5 Bxg5 25.Qxg5 Nd4 26.Re3 Qc7 27.Kh2 Bd5
(Solution on page 157)
Exercise 4 Signal 7
**
O’Connell,Gerard
Brady,Stephen
Dublin 2012 (7)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nf3 b6 7.0-0 Bb7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qc2 a6 10.Bd2 Bd6 11.Ne5 c5 12.f4 cxd4 13.exd4 Nc6 14.Ne2 Rc8 15.Qd1 Ne4 16.Rc1 Ne7 17.Ng3 b5 18.Qe2 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Ng6 21.Nf5 Bb8 22.g3 Nxe5 23.fxe5 Ba7 24.Kg2 Kh8 25.Qf4 Bc8 26.Rc6 Bxf5 27.Bxf5 Qa5
(Solution on page 157)
Exercise 5 Signal 7
***
Gonzalez Garcia,José
Teran Alvarez,Ismael
Seville 2011 (5)
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Qd2 Rc8 8.Nxc6 Bxc6 9.f3 a6 10.0-0-0 e6 11.Kb1 Be7 12.h4 0-0 13.Ne2 b5 14.Nd4 Qb6 15.g4 b4 16.Be3 Qb7 17.g5 Nd7 18.g6 Nc5 19.h5 Bf6 20.Bg5 Be5 21.gxh7+ Kxh7 22.Nxc6 Rxc6 23.f4 Bc3 24.Qg2 Na4
(Solution on page 157)
Exercise 6 Signal 7
***
Fedorchuk,Sergey
Ponomariov,Ruslan
Spain tt 2011 (5)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+ Bxd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.Qd3 h6 9.Nd2 Rc8 10.Nc4 Qc7 11.Ne3 Nf6 12.0-0 Be7 13.a4 Qc5 14.Rd1 Be6 15.Qe2 0-0 16.Rd3 Bd8 17.Qf3 Kh7 18.Nf5 Rc6 19.b3 Ba5
(Solution on page 158)
Chapter 15
Solutions
Solution Swing Door 1 (page 75)
26…b5!
enables Black to enter the ‘swing door’ mechanism. Both the knight and the queen are attacked, so White has to try a counterattack:
27.Qxc5
Here, Blacks queen is attacked, but so is White’s knight, which defends the queen. 27.Qe6 is better, but the ending is lost after 27…Qxe6 (27…Qf8 also wins, threatening 28…Rd6) 28.fxe6 bxa4 29.exf7+ Kxf7 30.Rxh7 axb3 31.cxb3 Rd3–+ with an easy win. This is the right moment to set up the discovered attack:
27…Rd6!
Auto-pinning the rook. Now the White knight has to move but after
28.Nc3
28…Rd1+!
wins the queen.
Back
Solution Swing Door 2 (page 75)
The winning move is again the auto-pin
32.Re3
The answer
32…Nd4
is forced. If 32…Na5 33.b4 wins a piece.
33.Rd3!
The pinned piece is now the attacker. The only try is
33…Nb3
The situation looks similar to the one at the beginning, but there is a huge difference: the white rook is on an open file, which allows a striking finish.
34.Qf6+! Rxf6 35.exf6+ Kg8 36.Rd8+ Qf8 37.Rxf8+ Kxf8 38.cxb3
1-0
Back
Solution Swing Door 3 (page 75)
The adventurous Russian champion (with white) plays an acrobatic game, taking pawns (three!) without being able to get his queenside pieces into play. For the moment White’s queen attacks Black’s, so the second player resorts to our known mechanism:
20…RC6!
The white rook is attacked, and it must keep the queen protected because of the threatened discovered check …Rxc1+. All the same, the ‘pinned’ rook has chances to join an attack on the white king via the sixth rank.
21.Rh5!
The only chance. In the game, White played 21.Rf5 Nd6 22.Qd3 Rxe3 23.dxe3 Qxf5 24.a3 Qh3+ 25.Kg1 Nf5 and White resigned, because checkmate cannot be avoided.
21…g6 22.Re5!
In order to take on e8 with check, so Black plays
22…Kxh7 23.Kg1
Avoiding some checks. But now Black wins back material.
23…Nd6 24.Qxb4
On 24.Qd5 Rc5 wins.
24…Rxe5
with a large advantage to Black, thanks to the good coordination of his forces.
Back
Solution Checkmates 1 (page 80)
Practice is necessary in this field. Even if we know all classical mating patterns, it is not easy to spot them in a complicated game. Here White missed a surprising checkmate:
30.Qxh6!!
30.g3 was played in the game, after which Black won.
30…Qxb2
If 30…Bxh6 31.Nxh6+ Kh8 32.Rxf8#. If 30…Rxf7 31.Rd8+ Bf8 32.Rxf8+ Rxf8 33.Rxf8#.
After the text move, a well-known pattern appears:
31.Qh8+!Bxh8 32.Nh6#
An ‘Epaulette Mate’.
Back
Solution Checkmates 2 (page 80)
This game was played some weeks after Grischuk-Gelfand (see page 134). It seems that Giri had seen the game, because he played exactly like Grischuk, eliminating the enemy pieces that were controlling the dark squares, in order to attack precisely on this colour.
I was playing in the same hall and I remember that the young Dutchman was playing extremely quickly. He actually spent more time in the analysis room, looking at and commenting on a short draw between Nataf and Van Wely, than at his board. Now I can see why: he had done his homework!
26.Bf8!!Rxf8
In the game there followed 26…Ree8 27.Qc5 and Black resigned.
The best defence was 26…Qb6. After 27.Rd7 Be6 White has the winner 28.Bc5!, which threatens mate on h6 while tackling the queen.
26…Kxf8 27.Qh6+ also leads to a quick checkmate.
27.Nh6#
1-0
Back
Solution 1 Signal 1 (page 89)
White has to identify the typical mating pattern (see ‘The Basic Checkmates, page 76) called ‘Anastasia’s Mate’:
21.Qxh7+! Kxh7 22.Rh5#
Back
Solution 2 Signal 1 (page 89)
The mating threat is obvious: a back-rank checkmate with …Rc1+. White needs two pieces to defend against this check: the queen and the rook. Against this double defence, Black uses a double deflection and wins instantly:
36…Qb4!!
0-1
Both the queen and the rook are under attack. There is no defence, because if 37.Qd1 (or 37.Qe3) 37…Qxd4! wins the rook due to 38.Qxd4 Rc1+ and checkmate follows.
Back
Solution 3 Signal 1 (page 89)
46…Rd6!
0-1
White’s queen was defending against the threat of …Bd5, attacking the pinned knight on g2. After the interception by the black rook, White loses at least the knight: 47.Bxd6 Bd5 or 47.Qe8 Rd2 48.Qe4 Bd5 49.Qxc2 Rxc2.
Back
Solution 4 signal 1 (page 90)
White is able to reach the opponent’s monarch thanks to the sacrificial
36.Nxf7!
&nbs
p; Black has to take because the knight is forking his heavy pieces.
36…Kxf7 37.Qe6+ Kf8
And now the scattered black men are unable to defend against the simple
38.Rh1
Threatening mate in one. Black could give a rook back by Rg1+, but the resulting position would be hopeless, so he resigned.
Back
Solution 5 signal 1 (page 90)
19.Qxf6+! Kxf6 20.Be5+ Kg5 21.Bg7!
1-0
Checkmate by h2-h4+ and Bf3/h3 follows inevitably.
Back
Solution 6 signal 1 (page 91)
16.Rxh7+!+− Kxh7 17.Bd3+
Bringing on a new attacker while liberating the first rank for the other rook.
17…g6
Not 17…f5 18.Rh1#.
18.Rh1+ Kg7 19.Bh6+ Kf6 20.Bxf8
The threat is 21.Ne4, so the black queen has to move in order to provide some room for the king.
20…Qe3+
20…Bd7 allows the elegant finish 21.Ng8+! Kg5 22.Ne4+ Kg4 (22…Kf5 23.Nh6#) 23.Nh6#.
21.Kb1 Ke5
Or 21…Bd7 22.Ne4+ Ke5 23.Bg7+ f6 24.Bxf6#.
22.Ne4
Now the threat is 23.Bg7 with checkmate. There is no other defence than to give the queen. Black preferred to resign.
Back
Solution 1 Signal 2 (page 96)
24.Bxc6 Rxc6 25.Qe4!
After this double attack, 25…Re6 is the best try, but White wins the queen with 26.Qa8+Qe8 27.Rd8.
Back
Solution 2 signal 2 (page 96)
In this wild rapid game, Black has just defended the h pawn. In doing so, he offers a neat finish to his opponent. 18…Ra8 would have been unclear.
19.Qc1!
Attacking two unprotected men and winning a piece. Black resigned.
Back
Solution 3 Signal 2 (page 96)
In this open position, three white men lack protection: the el-rook, the b2-pawn (both attacked once and defended once) and the c5-knight. Unsurprisingly, Black is able to strike and win:
30…Qe5!
A double attack. White has to part with the el-rook because checkmate is threatened on b2.
Also, 30…Rxe1+ 31.Rxe1 Qb4!, attacking three unprotected points.
Back
Solution 4 signal 2 (page 97)
24.b4!
This in-between move had escaped the attention of the Dutchman.
24…Bxb4 25.Nc2
And now the two pieces are simultaneously under attack. One is lost.
25…Bd2 26.Bxd2 Nb2+ 27.Ke2 Kd5 28.Bc1 Nc4 29.Kd3 Nb6 30.Ne3+ Ke6 31.Nc4 Nc8 32.Na5 Nd6 33.Bf4
1-0
Back
Solution 5 signal 2 (page 97)
14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Ng5
Threatening mate in one (16.Qxh7) while opening the long diagonal for the g2-bishop. 15.Rxd5 is also good.
15…Bxg5 16.Bxd5
16…Qe7 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 18.f4 Qh5 19.Bxa8
1-0
Back
Solution 6 signal 2 (page 97)
15.Bxb7 Rxb7
The rook on b7 is en prise (step one).
16.Qg4+!
We must reposition the queen for several reasons, the key one being that we must gain access to the f3-square.
16…Kh8 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.Qf3!
The final move, a clear double attack on the two unprotected pieces, on f6 and b7.
18…Bxb2 19.Ra2 Rb6 20.Rxb2 f6 21.Rbd2 e5 22.a5 Ra6 23.Rd7 Rxa5 24.Rd8
1-0
Back
Solution 1 signal 3 (page 103)
28…Rd8
0-1
After 29.Qxc5 Black wins a rook with 29…Rxd1+ 30.Kf2 bxc5.
Back
Solution 2 signal 3 (page 103)
Here, with all the black pieces aligned on the diagonal, White’s dark-squared bishop is stronger than a rook.
35.Rxf6! Qxf6 36.Bb2 Re5
37.Qc7+
1-0
Back
Solution 3 signal 3 (page 103)
Black looks stable enough with the bishop on b4 protected twice. This is just an illusion because what really counts here is the alignment on the a-file between Black’s king and rook. So
45.Rdxb4+!
1-0
On 45…axb4 46.Ra1+ Kb5 47.Rxa7 wins.
Back
Solution 4 signal 3 (page 104)
This is a slightly unusual position, with all the major pieces on the d-file. This game is an illustration of the ‘X-ray’ power of the long-range pieces; this power is the capacity to attack ‘through’ another piece on the same file. For example, the d8-rook attacks d1 in some variations, as strange as it may seem.
24…Qxd3!
After 24…Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 White wins the d8-rook.
25.Bxd3
25.Rxd3 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 Rxd1+.
25…Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 Bg4! 0-1
26…Bb3 was also good. Black finishes accurately with a classical use of a pin. First an in-between move to misplace the rook, and then the attack on the pinned piece, winning material: 27.Rd2 Bf5−+.
Back
Solution 5 signal 3 (page 104)
27.Bf4!! Qxf4
On 27…Qxa1+, 28.Rd1+is the point-a winning countercheck.
28.c6
1-0
White is winning here. For example, after 28…Rxc6 29.Rxd8+ Rc8 30.Rxc8+ Kxc8 31.Rd1 Black is helpless against White’s attack with the queens on the board, and will lose in the ending if he is able to exchange them.
Back
Solution 6 signal 3 (page 104)
Here is a very subtle example. All the black men are on the back rank, the white rook on c8 pins the bishop on the queen and the king – a very unpleasant situation. Nevertheless, most (if not all) of Black’s problems would be solved if he was allowed to play his king to g7. So White first sacrificed the useless bishop:
35.Bxh6+!
In order to remove the protecting rook from the eighth rank. After
35…Rxh6
White was able to make good use of the pin thanks to the accurate
36.Qb8!+−
The point is that on 36…Ke7 (after 36…Kg7 37.Rxd8 Black has to give the queen in order to avoid checkmate) there follows 37.Qd6#.
On 36.Qa8 Ke7 would still hold.
Back
Solution 1 signal 4 (page 112)
22…Ncd3!
The e2-pawn is overloaded.
23.Bb7
23.exd3 Nxf3+.
23…Nxe1 24.Rxe1 Rxc3!25.Kg2
25.Qxc3 Nf3+ 26.exf3 Qxc3.
25…NC4 26.Qxf6 Nxe3+ 27.fxe3 gxf6 28.e4 Rc2 29.a4 Kg7 30.Kf3 Rd2 31.Bd5 f5
0-1
Back
Solution 2 signal 4 (page 112)
When – with white – you move the queen on dark squares, and specifically on d2, knight fork chances will appear for the opponent. In case of a king in the centre, there is a possible fork on f3 (also an alignment on the a5-e1 diagonal). In case of kingside castling, there is a possible fork on f3. In case of queenside castling, there is the alignment on the cl-h6 diagonal, and the fork on b3, like in this example.
This means that tactically, it is dangerous to move the queen on the other colour. ‘Keep your queen on its original colour’ could be handy as a general piece of advice for the beginner.
15…Nxa2+ 16.Nxa2 Nb3+
0-1
Back
Solution 3 signal 4 (page 112)
White is already winning here, of course. A typical combination ends the game. The d5-knight attacks e7 with check. The standard idea is to attract the queen to a forking square, and this is done with
28.Rc8!
1-0
On 28…Qxc8 29.Nxe7+ Kf8 30.Nxc8 wins.
Back
Solution 4 signal 4 (page 113)
Here the motifs that should serve as a signal are:
- the unprotected bishop on e3;
- the alignment between the two queens;
- the knight fork distance, when the knight comes to e3.
Here is how
Black exploits White’s weaknesses:
17…Bxc3!
Giving up his strong bishop to eliminate the queen’s defender.
18.bxc3 Nd5!
0-1
19.Qxc4 Nxe3+ 20.Kf2 Nxc4 and Black is a piece up.
Back
Solution 5 signal 4 (page 113)
White has engineered a counterattack against Black’s standard push …g5-g4 with g2-g3. The position of the bishop on f2 and the king on h2 allow Black to win a piece thanks to a forking threat:
24…h4! 25.gxf4
If the king or the bishop moves, to avoid the pawn fork, for example 25.Kh1, completely crushing is 25…hxg3 26.Be1 gxh3. 25.fxg4 was White’s best option, but Black has a great advantage after 25…hxg3+ 26.Bxg3 fxg3+.
Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna Page 12