Attack with GM Julian Hodgson 0952937301, 9780952937302

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Attac with

G.M. Julian

Hodgson

• Hodgson Enterprises.

y

*** LONDON

First plbIished 1 996 Copyright ©

ISBN

1 996 Julian Hodgson

0 9529373 0 1

PlDlished by: Hodg&ln Enterprises 1 32 Purves Road London NW1 0 STG

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval �stem or transmitted in any form or by any means, electron, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. .

A Hodgson Enterprise Book

Cover design by Mark Levitt Typeset by Hodgson Enterprises Printed in Great Britian by BPC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter

CONTENTS Page

INTRODUCTION

5

Chapter One - All OUT FOR THE KING 9

1

J Hodgson-D Paunovic

London-Belgrade 1976

2

MAdams-A Dreev

Wijk aan lee 1996

11

3

J Gallagher-V Vehi Bach

Biel 1995

14

4

A Shirov-D King

Gausdal 1990

18

5

G Kasparov-V Anand

WCC, PCA 1995

21

6

A Karpov-V Topalov

Linares 1994

24

7

V Ivanchuk-A Shirov

Wijk aan lee 1996

28

8

V Ivanchuk-A Yusupov

Brussels 1991

31

Chapter Two - THE KING HUNT 35

9

N Short -L Ljubojevic

10

N De Firmian-J Granda Zuniga Donner Memorial 1996

37

11

M Sadler-L Brunner

Bern 1996

40

12

R Cifuentes-V Zvjaginsev

Wijk aan lee 1995

43

Euwe Memorial 1988

Chapter Three - THE LEAD IN DEVELOPMENT 46

13

A Sokolov-J Speelman

Madrid Rapidplay 1988

14

J Gallagher-S Jackson

British Championships 1988

49

15

J Hodgson-J Granda Zuniga

Donner Memorial 1996

51

16

M lIIescas-A Miles

Linares lonal 1995

54

17

S Atalik -A Miles

Heraklion 1993

57

18

G Kasparov -V Anand

Tal Memorial 1995

60

Chapter Four - USING THE INITIATIVE 19

M Tal-I Rogers

San Francisco 1991

63

20

N Short-I Sokolov

London PCA-Intel GP 1995

65

21

G Kasparov- N Short

WCC, PCA 1993

67

22

A Shirov-J Polgar

Buenos Aires 1994

71

23

J Speelman- N Short

WCC quarter-final 1988

73

24

J Polgar- L Van Wely

Donner Memorial 1996

76

3

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

Chapter Five

-

THE EXCHANGE SACRIFICE

25

L 011 - J Hodgson

Groningen PCA 1993

79

26

Z Almasi - I Sokolov

Wijk aan Zee 1995

83

27

B Damljanovic - G Kamsky

Belgrade 1991

86

28

B Gelfand -A Dreev

Tilburg 1993

88

Chapter Six

RAKING BISHOPS

-

29

J Hodgson - B Gulko

Groningen 1994

92

30

J Granda Zuniga - G Kamsky

Donner Memorial 1996

95

31

L McShane -A Baburin

Cambridge 1995

98

32

J Hodgson - KArkell

Isle of Man 1996

101

Chapter Seven

-

WEAK COLOUR COMPLEX

33

G Flear

British Championships 1989

104

34

G Kasparov -A Shirov

Horgen CS 1994

107

35

N Short

Tilburg 1991

109

Wijk aan Zee 1985

112

36

-

-

J Hodgson J Timman

A Beliavsky

-

J Nunn

Chapter Eight

-

THE PAWN ROLLER

37

M Sadler

38

MAdams - S Tiviakov

39 40

-

J Hodgson

A Morozevich - M Petursson P Yee - J Hodgson

4

Lloyd's Bank Masters 1989

115

WCC quarter-final PCA 1994

118

Lloyd's Bank Masters 1994

120

New York Open 1995

123

INTRODUCTION I intend this book to be the first one in a series on attacking chess. There are literally thousands of games that have been played over the years, most of which are pretty dull and tu rgid. I have only selected the creme de la creme - the ones that have really caught my imagination. My hope is that they will capture yours too.

On my rou nds to all the different tournaments I decided to find out ex­ actly what people wanted in a book on chess. I was often asked why I hadn't written a book on similar lines to my "Combat Chess" Videos, so I thought why not write a series of books sim ilar to them. I was warned against the perils of making the books too expensive or cluttering them up with too many variations so that they were no longer reader friendly. Here then are some of my aims for the series on at­ tacking chess: I wanted it to be both entertaining and educational at the same time. To this end each book will contain 40 great attacking games (some of which are my own, he says modestly! ) and annotate them in a light­ hearted yet (hopefully! ) instructive way. I have tried to make it possible for the reader to be able to follow the games anywhere, so with this in mind there are plenty of diagrams and amusing anecdotes to make it flow more easily. Thus it can be read while travelling on the train to work, lying in bed at home or even relax­ ing in a hot bath without necessarily having to get out a chess set. I have written the book as if I were actually a friend talking you through these games, whether it be in you r home or in the pub over a few drinks. I hope after reading this book you feel that you still want me as a friend!

5

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

The Attack Statistics Box I am a great believer in the theory that if you have more pieces attack­ ing than your opponent has defending, then the chances of your attack succeeding are quite high. One important point to remember, how­ ever, and one that is often forgotten is that the king counts as a de­ fender (and also on less frequent occasions (e.g. endings) even as an attacker}.

When looking at these games with my wife (estimated strength 1 500) I noticed that she did not always count all the correct pieces (especially the indirect) that were attacking and defending . This is a key part of playing chess well. I therefore thought that it might be useful to show as a simplified diag ram of what a grandmaster counts when deciding whether an attack is viable. You may want to use these to test if you are counting correctly too.

Direct

Indirect 4

F Direct

6

Indirect

Let me briefly explain each section . Box A. These are the direct attackers. Each piece in this box is valued at

one pOint. I should just add that in exceptional cases pawns can count as well. B.

These are the direct defenders. Each piece in this box is valued at one point.

c. These are the indirect attackers. Each piece in this box is valued

as a half point. Indirect attackers are those pieces that can join the attack within a couple of moves. D. These are the indirect defenders. Each piece in this box is valued

as a half point. Indirect defenders are those pieces that can join the defence within a couple of moves . E.

Sum total of direct and indirect attackers.

F.

Sum total of direct and indirect defenders.

If we now subtract box F from box E, then as a general ru le the greater the positive value the greater the chance of the attack succeeding. This of course is only a rough guide so it needs to be used with care. I could modify this system considerably but then it would lose m uch of its point as then it would no longer act as a quick and easy guide to see at a glance.

7

ATTACK with GM Julian

Hodgson

NOTATION Check

+

1

Good Move

!!

Excellent move

? ?? I? ?I

Bad Move Blunder Interesting Move Dubious Move World Championship Cycle

WCC

-

I

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Order Directly If you like this book Why Not Order the next one directly and get an autographed copy of

"Attack with GM Julian Hodzson" Book 1 or 2 with your

own personalised message.

Support Your Grandmaster and Author For SPECIAL OFFER see back page

8

:

ALL OUT FOR THE KING

1

ALL OUT FOR THE KING

The fundamental idea of chess is to checkmate the enemy king. You can be three queens u p but if you r king is in check and has nowhere to run then you lose the game - it is as s imple as that.

slow. I n about eight hours my game (the j u n ior match) was the only one to finish. Since that time I have never been too keen on telephone matches!

The pOint I ' m trying to make is that when the king is at stake everything else is of secondary i m po rtance.

London - Belgrade 1976

White : J u lian Hodgson B l a c k : Dragan Paunovic 1 e4 Yes , it might seem hard to be­ lieve now but I didn't always play the Trompovsky.

CH ECKMAT E I S F I NAL In the eight games in this chapter the successful side do­ nates varying amounts of wood (or plastic) to achieve this ob­ jective . They are all games I have e njoyed playing through many times over - I hope you do too .

1 c5 2 tDf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tiJxd4 tiJf6 5 tiJc3 g6 ...

I n my youth I used to love play­ ing against the D ragon - I can't say the same now!

6 1.e3 1.g7 7 f3 0-0 8 'fId2 tiJc6 9 1.c4 1.d7 1 0 0-0-0 A standard D ragon position has been reached - what was not so standard was the fact that it had already taken three hours to get there !

GAM E 1 The fol lowing game took place when I was only th i rteen . London were playing Belgrade in a tele­ phone match. The match seemed to take forever as the com m u n ication between the two cou ntries was interm inably

I did, however, q u ite enjoy play­ ing the Yugoslav Attack against someone f rom Belgrade!

10 9

...

'fIb8

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

M m m . . . For a brief spell this m ove was fashionable. The idea is to start s hoving up Black's queenside pawns but in this case it is rather optim istic. As a general rule in the Dragon , Black's queen is well placed on dB as it aids the defence of the king and also protects the rather vul nerable e7 pawn - a constant problem for Black.

If we take a look at the stats we find that it is actually Black that is i n trouble . The problem is that Black's queen on bB and rook on aB cannot even up the num­ bers as they are too far away from the scene of action . W hite's pieces on the other hand are all ready to join the fray at a moments notice.

1 6 hxg6 ! hxg6 1 6 . . . exd5 1 7 lbxd5 is equally hopeless for Black.

1 7 "g5 ! This is the key move that b reaks throug h Black's defence - there is no good way for Black to deal with the th reat to the knight on f6.

1 1 h4 I n my youth I always felt that this pawn th rust would lead to m ate along the h-file - now I am a little older (and wiser) I know this is not necessarily the case.

1 1 . . . J:tc8 1 2 � b3 The hasty 1 2 h5? would lose a piece to 1 2 . . . lbxd4 1 3 "xd4 lbg4! 1 4 "d3 lbxe3 1 5 "xe3 l:txc4.

1 2 . . . as 1 3 h 5 ! tl)xd4 1 4 �xd4 a4 1 5 �d5 e6

1 7 ... e5

At fi rst sight it m i g ht seem as if W h ite is i n desperate trouble as the bishop on d5 is trapped but looks can be deceptive!

Out of the fryi ng pan into the fire; now the bishop on d5 comes to life. One variation I had been hoping for was 1 7 . . . 10

ALL OUT FOR THE KING

exd5 1 8 "xf6! i.xf6 1 9 i.xf6 h8 is unavoid-

GAM E 2 Eve ry so often we all come across our chess playing bog­ eyman; that playe r against whom we j ust seem to perform m uch worse than expected . I am s u re Alexei D reev (an ex­ ceptionally strong player in his own right) m ust feel that way about M icky Adams. Alexei botches u p good positions, loses drawn ones or j ust s i mply gets wel l and truly hammered in bad ones.

I was extremely proud of this move but I have to confess this idea was not completely new to me. A few years before the g reat M i khail Tal had used a s im ilar rook sacrifice to defeat me in a si mu ltaneous display - I was also on the black side of the D rago n . The move itself forced resig nation as 1 8 . . . i.xh8 would lose to 1 9 'iVxg6+ i.g7 20 "it'xf7+ 'iii> h 8 21 l::t h 1 + lLlh7 22 "g6 fol lowed by mate on h7. Against 1 8 . . . �xh8 I had i ntended the si mple 1 9 i.xf7 exd4 20 l:th1 + lLlh7 21 'ii'x g6 with mate on h7.

On the other side of the coin, M icky is always really eager to take Dreev on. He felt playing h i m in t h e fin al of th e PGA rapid was the d ream pairi n g . So here t h e n is yet anothe r sad defeat in a long line of disasters for Alexei Dreev.

Wh ite : M ichael Adams B l a c k : Alexei Dreev W ij k aan Zee 1 996

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 liJd2 M icky always plays the Tar­ rasch Variation against the French Defence - it is not nec­ essarily the most exciting option i n this position but it is ve ry safe and reliable.

At the time this game was vir­ tually considered the refutation of 1 0 . . . "it'b8 - I don't think that too muc h has changed in the last twenty years .

3 c5 4 exd5 'iVxd5 5 liJgf3 cxd4 6 .i.c4 'iVd6 7 0...

11

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson o

14

liJf6 8 liJb3 liJc6 9 liJbxd4 liJxd4 1 0 liJxd4

•••

0-0

This was always considered to be i m possible on account of M ic ky's reply! !

1 S liJxg71 J:d8 !?

This is a completely standard position . W h ite has a small but significant lead i n development; Black on the other hand has the better long term p rospects due to his s u perior pawn structure. The extra centre pawn is nor­ mally wo rth more than W h ite's q u eenside majo rity.

T h i s was t h e star move that b reathed new life i nto this varia­ tion. The obvious 1 5 . . . 'it>xg7 was not considered any good on account of 1 6 'iVd4! (th reaten in g 1 7 .i.h6+) 1 6 ... e5 1 7 'iVh4! when W h ite will win the piece back with a good positio n .

16 'ii'f 3 In their previous encou nte r M icky played the inferior 1 6 "e2 and got a dubious position befo re fighting back to reach a winning end ing which eventually ended , as you would expect, in a d raw!

10 a6 1 1 :e1 'ii'c 7 1 2 �b3 �d6 1 3 liJfS !

16

•••

•••

�xg7

M icky ignores the th reat to the h2 pawn and i nstead goes on the offens ive by attacking g7.

13

•..

�xh2+ 1 4 � h 1

I n the olden days (about five years ago ! ) Black would play the rather ugly looking 1 4 . . . 'iti>f8 which was considered the main line. Then i n 1 992 d u ring the European Team Championships in Debrecen Alexei Dreev u n leashed a real bombshell of a novelty (ru m o u r has it that it was Gary Kasparov's b ig idea ! ) on the very same, the one and only, M ichael Adams . H e re it is:

17 �h6+! This is the point of Micky's last move. The bishop is taboo as 1 7 . . . 'it>xh6 loses t o 1 8 'iVxf6+ 'it>h5 1 9 1:[e3! when the black king is not long for this world. 12

ALL OUT FOR THE KING

17

...

Cili>g6 1 8 c3 lbd5

mega threat.

20 i.c1 1

This obvious move is also the losing move. Alexei should have played 1 8 . . . iDh5! when after 1 9 .i.e3 f5 W h ite has compen­ sation for the piece as Black's army is so u ncoord inated and his king so exposed on g6 but I can see no obvious way for M icky to continue his attack. I suspect that the position is still far from clear - maybe we will have to wait for a part I I I of this epic.

1 9 l:tad1 ! !

I l ike this l ittle manoeuvre, as M icky has cleverly manipulated his pieces to their optim u m squares; b y firstly developing the rook stuck on a1 to d1 and only then tucking the bishop safely out of the way on c 1 .

20

...

i.d6

The bishop sheepish ly retreats after g rabbing its booty.

21 i.xd5 Basically, M icky at the moment is a whole piece down, but B lack's queenside is u ndevel­ oped and his king is very ex­ posed on g6. He therefore, calm­ l y removes Black's best de­ fender, the knight on d5, and at the same time opens the central files for his rooks to penetrate i nto the heart of Alexei's posi­ tion .

21 . . . exd5 22 .l:.xd5

This i s the brilliant move that has total ly changed the as­ sessment of this line. M icky simply brings his last piece into play - so easy to see when you know the move!

1 9 . . . f5 Of cou rse, Alexei would have liked to have whipped off that bishop on h6 but then nasty things would have happened to his king: 1 9 . . . 'iti>xh6? 20 J:[xd5! Le point! 20 . . . l:txd5 21 "f6+ 'ith5 22 :e3! when 23 l:lh3+ is a

Look back and see how both of W h ite's rooks are steaming down the board . 13

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

22 . . . i.d7 23 "'h3 1 i.f8

Alexei had to do something about the th reat on h6 but this move opens u p new avenues of attack for Micky. However, good alte rnatives were not readily forthco m i n g . ego 23 . . . f4 24 'ii' h 5+ 'ili>g7 25 :g5+ ..th8 26 'ii'f 7 when mate follows shortly.

24 :e3 ! W e ' re going i n !

24 . . . �g7 W e l l , I'm leavi n g then!

25 :g3+ �h8 26 'iVh4! W atch THAT a 1 - h8 diagonal.

26 ... i.e6 27 i.f4 To get to the vital long diagonal, M icky skilfully exploits the fact that Alexei lost control of b8-h2 d iagonal when protecting h6 on move twenty-th ree.

GAM E 3 At the end of April 1 994, my good friend Joe Gal lag her and I played in a rather strange tou r­ nament in Metz, France. I called it strange because the ven u e where w e played was rig ht next to a railway platform of the town's central station. Mind you , i t d i d not seem to effect me too much as I went on to win the tou rnament q u ite convi nci ngly. But I d i g ress . Joe and I spent most of the tou rnament d iscussing which football teams would get rele­ gated from the P remier Division {We are as it happens both fa­ natical Chelsea supporters - but then nobody's perfect! } . O n the odd occasion when we we re not discussing these i m po rtant is­ sues, we looked at a l ittle bit of chess . Joe s howed me a huge novelty he had prepared for W h ite agai nst the Sicilian De­ fence. I was most i m p ressed . Unfortunately, Joe did not get a chance to use it in that particu­ lar tou rnament. It was only more than a year late r at the Chess Festival in Biel, that he got the opport unity that he had been waiting for. All I can say is that he certainly made the most of it!

27 ... i.e7 28 i.xc7 And that was the end of that as 28 . . . iLxh4 is rather well met by 29 iLe5+.

14

ALL OUT FOR THE KING

White : Joe Gallagher Black: Victor Vehi Bach

replaces the automatic 1 3 f4 (the normal move) with some­ thing a lot more test i n g !

Biel 1 995

1 3 eS ! !

1 e4 cS 2 �f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 �xd4 �f6 S �c3 d6 6 g4

This move exploits the latent pin that the rook on d1 exerts over the queen on d8. Now Black has a difficult decis ion: to open or close the position?

1 3 . dS? ! .

.

Black elects t o close the posi­ tion which is the wrong decision because now Joe has a free hand on the kingside to launch a devastating attack. Black's queenside cou nte rplay is far too slow. Howeve r, keeping the position open was not m uch of an improvement either, on ac­ count of Joe's lead in develop­ ment. Here are some sample variations:

The Keres Attack has such a fearsome reputation that ve ry few players are prepared to take it o n . This partly explains why Joe had to wait so long to u nleash his secret weapon .

A) 1 3 . . . dxe5! ? 1 4 .llx e5 "a5 is Black's most active conti nuation but there is a large hole i n it which is 1 5 i..x g7! ! opening up Black's king . 1 5 ... 'it>xg7 1 6 'ii' h 6+ 'it>g8 1 7 l:txd7! i.. x d7 1 8 i..d 3 when Black will suffer heavy material losses to avoid mate on h7.

6 . . . �c6 7 gS �d7 8 h4 i.. e 7 9 i.. e 3 0-0 10 'ii' h S a6 1 1 0-0-0 �xd4 1 2 i.. x d4 bS

B) 1 3 . . . dxe5 1 4 .llx e5 'ii'e 8 is much more pass ive but at least Black's king has more protec· tion 1 5 i.. g 2 l:ta7 1 6 .lld 4 nc7 1 7 l:the1 with a pleasant advan­ tage for W h ite. C) 1 3 . . . dxe5 1 4 i..x e5 lDxe5 ! ? This was m y suggestion when

This is the position that Joe had showed me over a year ago. He 15

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

Joe f i rst showed me the posi­ tion. Black g ives up his queen for a rook and a bishop. This should not normally be enough compensation but Black's posi­ tion would then be very solid and hard for W h ite to break­ down . O n top of that Black's two bishops (especially the e7 one) could come i nto their own as the position is relatively open.

1 4 .i.d3! This move forces Black to weaken his kingside pawn for­ mation which will have the ef­ fect of speeding up Joe's at­ tack.

.i.e3+ 2 0 � b 1 'iVxgS 2 1 'iVh3! with more than enough play for a mere pawn.

1 6 h5! J o e wastes no time. He is p re­ pared to sacrifice a pawn i n or­ der to open l ines agai nst the black monarch. At no stage does Joe al low his opponent a chance to bring his queenside pieces into the game. Time is of the essence!

16 .xg5+

�xd4

17

.xd4

Black g rabs a pawn but at some cost - a second file is opened u p down which J oe's pieces can i nvade.

14 ... g6 1 5 .g4 �c5

I

1 8 f4 .e7 19 hxg6 fxg6 The more positional recapture with the rook's pawn (towards the centre) would have the seri­ ous tactical d rawback of allow­ ing mate down the h file. J oe would sim ply play 20 "g 1 ! and then 2 1 "ii' h 2 when nasty things would happen to the black king.

20 f5 ! !

Exchanging his good bishop is not a decision that Black would have taken l i g htly but the alter­ native 1 S . . . .!Dcs is m uch worse as then Joe wou l d p roceed with 1 6 .i.xcS! .i.xcs 1 7 hS .i.xf2 1 8 hxg6 fxg6 1 9 l:txh7! This is a standard move i n such a posi­ tion - the roo k is taboo because 20 'iVhS+ wou ld then force mate in only two m o re m oves . 1 9 . . . 16

ALL OUT FOR THE KING A blow of i m mense proportions - the black king wi ll not be able to hide for much longer. It is al­ ways nice to make a m ove that you r opponent thinks they have got covered! 20 tDxd5?! was also tempting but after 20 . .. 'ii'f 7! Black can sti l l struggle on .

20

...

because he is h u nting m uch bigger game - the enemy king!

22

...

�h8 23 e6+

One ve ry important pOint that is ofte n ove rlooked is the fact that not only pieces cou nt as attack­ ing u n its but so do pawns such as the e6 one here.

gxfS

23

K

•..

12Jf6

Agai nst 23 ... 'ii'f 6 Joe had plan­ ned the beautiful 24 ii.xf5 ! ! 'ii'x d4 25 l:.xh7 mate .

24 .1i.xfS

We can see from the Stats ta­ ble that Joe is ready for the final onslaught. Note that in this po­ s ition I have cou nted the e6 pawn as an attacking u n it for it is virtually worth a piece.

Now Black's position is ripe for the picki ng. All of Joe's pieces are ideally placed to join in the attack so it is no su rprise that Black's rqsistance does not last much longer.

21 12JxdS ! Here comes the caval ry!

21 ... exdS Declining this generous offering with 21 . . 'ii'f 7 is met by 22 ..txf5! when total carnage wil l ensue. .

22 1:[dg 1 + !

l!

ave Of cours � Joe could played 22 .xd5+ d8 33 l:taxa7 when I will leave it to you to work out how many m ates i n one are on the men u .

3 2 :xa7+ �xd6 3 3 l:xbS 'iVg4 34 :dS+ �c6 35 :a1 Alexei now res i g ned as there is no adequate response to the simple plan of doubling both 30

ALL OUT FOR THE KING rooks against the c4 pawn and then exchanging off i nto a win­ ning king and pawn ending.

d4 lDd7 S lDc3 1.g7 6 lDf3 lDgf6 7 0-0 0-0 8 'ii'c2 l:e8 9 l:td1 c6 1 0 b3 "iie 7 1 1 a3 e4! ?

No doubt some of these two's further encounters will b e appearing in some of my futu re books.

Normal here i s t o p lay 1 1 . . exd4 but Artu r decides to go for i t and boldly advances h i s e5 pawn wel l into enemy territo ry a b rave but risky decision. .

GAM E S

12 lDgS e3 13 f4 lDf8 1 4 b4

It is hard to imagine the tens ion that there m ust have been in the following exciting encounter between Vassily Ivanc h u k and Artur Yusupov. Vass ily had been leading for most of this Quarter-final World Champion­ ship Match u ntil he lost the final game i n which Artur played with g reat energy and creativity.

Vassi ly gets his q ueenside play going. It is now a race to see whose attack is qu icker.

1 4 ... 1.fS 1 S 'ii' b 3 h6 1 6 lDf3 lDg4 1 7 bS gS!

They then went i nto overtime i n which i t was A rt u r w h o dealt the f irst decisive blow. After the game had fi nished Vassily went outside the hotel and let out an a l m i g hty scream - I don't blame h i m ! S i nce that game was p layed, he has not qualified for another match in a World Championship Cycle. Are the psychological scars from this game sti l l with h i m? We can only wait and see. Let's hope not.

Both players are j ust ignoring what the other is doing!

1 8 bxc6 bxc6 1 9 lDeS ! ? Vassily uses the pin o n the d6 pawn to gang up on the c6 pawn. However, it does have the serious d rawback of taking the knight on f3 away from the defence of his king.

Wh ite : Vassily Ivanchuk B l a c k : Artur Yusupov Brussels 1 991

19 gxf4 20 lDxc6 'ii'g S 21 1.xd6 lDg6 •.•

1 c4 eS 2 g3 d6 3 1.g2 g6 4 31

A11ACK with GM Julian Hodgson I have to say I would not e njoy playin g either colou r. I would expect to get mated as W h ite and lose the ending as Black!

22 ttJd5 'ii'h 5 23 h4

The critical pos ition - W h ite is a piece u p but can he defend?

25 ttJde7+ After the game finished eve ry­ one thought this was the deci­ sive m i stake and gave 25 �ce7+ as winning for W h ite but they had all m issed Artur's bril­ liant idea 25 . . . �h8 26 �xf5 'ii' h 2+ 27 �f 1 i.e5! ! This is it!

So let us try to get to g rips with the position: Black's queenside is something of a wasteland but that is not so important when all the action is happening on the kingside.

It is clear that A rt u r's chances of a successfu l outcome are not at all bad . I have cou nted the e3 pawn i n the statistics because it is such a thorn in W h ite's side as it virtually c uts the board in two. The only reason Vassily is in the game at all is because he has an an noyin g check on e7 which can slow Black down.

23

.•.

ttJxh4 ! ?

Artu r goes for it. W hat a hero!

24 gxh4 'iVxh4 32

Artur prevents i.xf4 for one vital tempo, while opening up the g file for his last p iece the roo k on a8. Now Black is winning as follows 28 i.xe5+ 1:xe5 29 dxe5 1:g8! (th reatening 30 . . . Wh 1 +! ! 31 i.xh 1 �h2+ 32 �e 1 1:g 1 mate. ) 30 �dxe3 The only

ALL OUT FOR THE KING move. 30 . . . fxe3 31 �xe3 "f4+! 32 .i.f3 �xe3+ 33 �e1 ':g1+ 34 'itf2 �g4+! 35 �xg1 "h2+ 36 �f1 "f2 mate! W h ite should therefore have played 25 .i.xf4, when the best Black can do is force a perpet­ ual check with 25 . . . "f2+ 26 'iii> h 1 "h4+ but at this stage of the game Vassily was stil l play­ ing for a win . W ho would n't?

28 ... :g6 ! !

25 ... h8 26 lbxf5 'iVh2+ 27 �f1

Two pieces down - what's an­ other rook between friends?

It is hardly believable that Black has enough play for two pieces but that is the beauty of chess.

29 'iVxa8+ �h7 30 'ii'g 8+! Vassily finds the only way to prolong the game. There is no other way to prevent 30 . . . 'ii' h 1+ ! ! followed b y mate i n two.

27 ... :e6 It seems logical to bring the rook i nto the attack but 27 . . . .i.f6! was even stronger as then the bishop joins the f ray. The main line ru ns as follows : 28 l:td3 or (28 cS ':g8 29 "d5 "h1+ ! ! with mate to follow) 28 . . . .i.h4! , this is the point of Black's p revious move, 29 l::tx e3 .i.f2 ! , look at that bishop go! 30 ':xe8+ ':xe8 31 e4 "g1+ 32 e2 'ii'x g2 and now there is no way for W h ite to defend his poor monarc h .

30 ... �xg8 31 lbce7+ �h7 32 lbxg6 fxg6 33 lbxg7 lbf2 ! !

28 'iWb7? This is the decis ive m istake. Vass ily could still have made a d raw with 28 �ce7! l:[xe7! 29 �xe7 "g3 30 ..tg 1 with another d raw by perpetual check. 33

The final b rilliant move i n a tru ly brilliant game. There is no ade­ quate way to defend against 34 . . . �h3.

34 i.xf4 'ii'xf4 35 lbe6

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson The alternative 35 ':db1 loses as follows : 35 . . . lLlh3+ 36 'ite1 'iVh4+ 37 'itd1 'ifxd4+ 38 'itc2 'iVxc4+ 39 'itb2 'ifxe2+ when it is actually Black who has more pieces !

It is mate next move.

35 'iVh2 36 l:tdb1 lDh3 37 l:tb7+ g3 (the other two moves 28 ... �xh3 and 28 ... �g2 both get mated i n 5 moves) 29 :%g 1 + �g2 30 �e4 �f4 31 "g4+ �xe5 32 'ifxg5+ �xe4 33 ':'ge 1 + 'it'f3 34 'ife3 mate. Thank you Fritz! You are more than j ust a pretty interface .

28 ... 1:g8 29 1:d2+ .i.g2 30 .f4+ 1:g3 31 .i.e4 'ii' x e4 32 'ii'x e4

It m i g ht seem as if the black king has a death wish but there is no escape from the maraud­ ing white a rmy. A stats box shows the hope­ lessness of Lj ubo's task.

28 .xg5 This i s the move that I too would have played but accord­ ing to m y computer Fritz 4 it is 37

At this j u nctu re Lj u bo decided to call it a day. I have to say that is often more enjoyable taking you r opponents pieces than de­ livering checkmate. Oh yes , and by the way, all the j u n iors seemed most i m p ressed !

GAM E 1 0 It is not often that you see a

A'ITACK with GM Julian Hodgson game that j ust seems to flow from start to finish. The follow­ ing is one such example. W hat made such a big impression on me was the way J u lio G randa Z u n iga coordinated his small army to generate an overwhelm­ ing attack so qu ickly. After only five moves the queens had al­ ready been exchanged , but in only fifteen more the wh ite king had found itself i n a mating net!

White : Nick De Firmian Black: Julio G randa Zuniga Donner Memorial 1 996

move!

8 ... f6 ! J u lio plans to open the central files to bl ast away at N i ck's k i n g .

1 e4 d5

9 i.b5 fxe5 1 0 i.xc6 bxc6 1 1 fxe5

I can definitely recommend this move . . .

And still N ick's pieces are stuck on their original squares.

2 exd5 'iix d5

1 1 ... i.c5 1 2 lLlf3

. . . as I have yet to see a good way for W h ite to play this posi­ tion.

3 d4 I don't think this is it!

3 ... e5 ! 4 dxe5 4 lilf3 would have been more prudent.

4 ... 'iix d1 + 5 �xd 1 lLlc6 6 f4 i.f5 7 c3 0-0-0+ 8 �e1 J ust take a look at this position for a moment; J u lio has devel­ oped three pieces while N ick's are yet to get out of the starting blocks. To make matte rs worse, W h ite can no longer castle and o n top of that it is stil l Black's

At last! In this type of position , time i s of the essence. If W h ite is allowed to complete the rest of his development re latively unhindered , then he will have good prospects on account of his extra pawn and Black's long term pawn weaknesses on the 38

THE KING HUNT queenside. J u lio, therefore, al­ lows N ick no opportunity to re­ g roup.

12

. . •

ltJf6 ! 1

Absol utely brilliant! The knight is taboo on accou nt of 1 3 exf6 Ahe8+ 1 4 'it>f 1 .i.d3 mate.

Sad ly 18 It)xg5 is no i m p rove­ ment on account of 1 8 . . . l:Id3+! 1 9 It)f3 :g8! 20 'itr'f4 .i.h7 when N ick's king will not s u rvive for very long on f4-.

1 8 ... gxh4+ 1 9 ltJxh4 i.h7 20 ltJf3 l:thg8

1 3 i.g5 N ick sens ibly continues his de­ velopment but he did have one other i nteresting possibility: 1 3 b4! ? .i.b6 1 4 c4 c5! 1 5 exf6 Ahe8+ 1 6 'it>f2 cxb4+ 1 7 'it'g3 :e4! 18 h3 gxf6 1 9 'it>h2 :e2

W h ite's king is now i n a mating net.

21 l:txh5

I don't know whether J u lio saw this line when he played 1 2 . . . It)f6 but i f h e d i d then I a m as­ tou nded ! There is no good way for N ick to deal with the threats , especially agai nst g2.

This loses material but the al­ ternatives are even worse as he loses a king! Here is one ex­ ample: 2 1 e6 It)e3+ 22 �f2 :xg2+ 23 'it>xe3 l:Id3+ 24 �4 :g4+ 25 ..tt e 5 Axf3

1 3 ... h6 1 4 i.h4 g5 ! 15 i.f2 i. xf2+ 1 6 �xf2 ltJg4+ 1 7 �g3 h5! J u l io never allows N ick a free m ove to complete his queen­ side development.

and it is mate on either f5 or e4.

18 h4 39

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson

21 ... l[)f6+ ! 22 :gS l[)e4+ 23 �h4 l[)xgS 24 l[)xgS

GAM E 1 1

-------

Eve ry February there is a lovely chess festival i n Bern. Usually the tou rnament is a 9 rou nd Swiss, but i n 1 996 the sponsors wanted something d ifferent; as a res u lt a 32 player knock-out tournament was organised in­ stead.

J u lio now finds the last accu rate move that puts an end to the proceedings.

24 ... l%d1 ! N ick never gets a chance to move his u ndeveloped pieces.

Matthew Sad ler played the out­ standing game of the first rou n d . He dispatched Switzer­ land's number 1 home bred player, Lucas Brunner, in a g lo­ rious king h u nt. It is definitely worth seeing agai n .

2S e6

White : Matthew Sadler Black: Lucas Brunner

Or 25 tLlxh7 l:[h1 mate

Bern 1 996

2S :1g1 26 l[)d2 ':xa1 27 l[)df3 �e4! 28 l[)d4

1 d4 dS 2 c4 dxc4

• . •

Two knights are no match for two rooks and a bishop.

28 ... cS 29 l[)b3 ':g1

I

A very brave choice from Lucas as Matthew is THE world's leading expert on the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Often , how­ ever, playing you r opponent's opening against them is a use­ ful tactic as they can feel very u ncomfortable as i n effect they are playing themselves - but that was not the case here!

3 e3 l[)f6 4 �xc4 e6 S l[)f3 cS 6 'ii'e2 a6 7 dxcS �xcS 8 e4 bS 9 �b3 �b7 1 0 �c2 And mate follows shortly.

This is a new move ; 10 e5 is more normal. 40

THE KING HUNT

1 0 ... tt)bd7 1 1 0-0 'ii' b 8 1 2 tt)bd2 0-0

after 15 . . . l:td8! the white q ueen is trapped. Howeve r, it is m uch more d ifficult to see what Black would have done against the seemingly very strong 14 lLlg5. Can you see the reply? 14 . . . h5! ! i s the star move with the following brilliant point: 15 'ii'd 3 g6 16 'it'xd7 tbxe5! and again the white queen has no moves !

1 4 ... tt)gxe5 1 5 i.f4!

It m i g ht appear as if noth ing much is going o n , but from al­ most nowhere Matthew lau nches a massive attack.

1 3 e5! A good move that d rives away Black's best kingside defender.

Matthew develops another piece and at the same time pins Black's knight on e5.

1 5 ... tt)xf3+ 1 6 'ii'xf3 Now the queen has to move so losing time.

1 6 ... "87 1 7 "h3 i.d4

1 3 ... tt)g4 1 4 tt)e4 ! ! One of the hardest parts of be­ ing a good attacker is being able to see the opponent's de­ fens ive resou rces before it is too late.

1 8 tt)c5 ! tt)f6 Lucas cannot captu re the knight on c5 on accou nt of 19 'ii'x h7 mate

1 9 tt)d7! Very strong. Lucas has to lose material as there is no way he can m eet the twi n th reats of 20 lLlxf6+ and 20 lLlxf8.

It is reasonably obvious that 14 'it'd3 g6 1 5 'it'xd7 is not good as 41

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

1 9 ... ':fd8?

21st m ove .

There was a good case for 1 9 . . . g6 and giving up the ex­ change. W h ite would then have no real attack and would be forced to try to eke out a win in t h e ending - not an easy task as Black's position is so solid.

26 . . . �f6 27 'ii'x g7!

20 tDxf6+ �xf6 21 �e3 ! An i m po rtant move - Black's bishop is forced to relinquish the h4 - d8 d iagonal which will mean that his king will become m uch more exposed .

21 ... �d4 22 'ii'x h7+ d2 tLlb4+! picking up the rook on a6.

16

• . •

�xb5 1 7 ttJe1

If 1 7 'ii'x d6 then 1 7 . . . tLld3+! is good for Black.

17

••.

�e6 !

A good move, Black does not allow W h ite to exchange bish­ ops as that would ease his op­ ponent's task considerably.

25

• . •

g5 ! !

First Tony uses the f pawn as a battering ram and then he fol­ lows u p with the g pawn - a lovely concept.

1 8 'iVd2 f5 !

26 l:e1 Ad8 27 'ii'e2 gxf4 28 �e5 f3 !

I l i ke this move. Everything possible is done to open lines against the enemy king.

Note how Suat is neve r g iven the chance to get off the ropes.

29 'ii'x e8 fxg2+ ! ! 30 �xf8

1 9 'iVxd6 'iVe8 ! 59

ATfACK with GM Julian Hodgson So can you see the final attack­ ing m ove needed to finish it off?

p ro m inent at the beginning of this centu ry. I am sti l l hoping G a ry will one day give the King's Gambit a whi rl - maybe he is waiting u ntil the year 2000!

White : Gary Kasparov Black: Viswanathan Anand Tal Memorial, Riga 1 995

1 e4 eS 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 i.c4 i.cs 4 b4! 30

. . •

gxh 1 lD+ ! 1

W hat a move! Tony promotes a pawn to a knight, captu res a rook and gives check all at the same time - it is not every day that that happens! Suat now sportingly resigned. He could have played on with 3 1 �e1 but the ending is hope­ less after 3 1 . . . l:txe8+ 32 �e2 �b5! winning fai rly comfortably.

GAM E 1 8 Gary Kasparov has a knack of breathing new l ife i nto old l ines that everyone else had forgot­ ten about. In 1 990 he i ntro­ d uced the Scotch Gambit i nto his repertoire in his World Championship M atch with Anatoly Karpov with reasonable success. Five yea rs on, he res­ u rrected anothe r of the romantic openings that were more

An i nvention of Captai n Evans d u ring the 1 820's, while sailing on the Royal Mail steam boat between M i lford Haven and W aterford (Wales- I reland) . Not a lot of people know that! The gam bit has stood the test of time, although it has rarely been played at master level over the last few decades as top playe rs are reluctant to g ive up a pawn so early in the opening.

4 ... i.xb4 S c3 i.e7 6 d4 This is the point of the gam bit: Gary uses the time that the sacrifice has g iven him to b u i ld an imposing centre. W he n I look at this position I always think it will be a long time before Black's extra pawn on b7 will become a relevant factor.

6 . lDaS 7 .i.e2 . .

7 �xf7 + is maybe worth an outing in a blitz game, but it would take a brave person to 60

THE LEAD IN DEVELOPMENT chosen to win back some ma­ terial with 1 7 ..i g7 ! ? ..if6 1 8 ..ixh8 ..ixh8 1 9 c!Llc3. Gary is qu ite happy to s i mply increase the pressu re and remain two pawns down for the time being.

give it a try in a normal game.

7 ... exd4 8 'ii'x d4!

17 ... f6 Vishy comm its a fu rther weak­ ening but after the obvious 1 7 . . . ..ie6 then 1 8 ..ig7! ..if6 1 9 ..ixh8 ..ixh8 20 cS! would be good for W h ite.

1 8 c5 Ci:Jf7?

Capt u ring with the q ueen on d4 is Gary's new idea.

I don't l i ke this move as it wastes fu rther time but even after 1 8 . . . ..ie6 1 9 cxd6 ..ixd6 20 c!Lle4! Vishy is in trouble.

8 ... lDf6 9 e5 ! Now Gary starts Black's pieces .

hassling

1 9 cxd6 cxd6 20 'ife3 !

9 . . . lDc6 1 0 'ii' h 4 lDd5 1 1 'ii'g 3 g6 Not a move that Vishy would have wanted to play but the natu ral 1 1 . . . 0-0 would simply be bad on account of 1 2 ..ih6! wi nning the exchange.

Of cou rse Gary does not retreat the bishop because then Vishy would be able to castle i nto relative safety.

20 ... Ci:Jxh6 21 'ii'x h6 i.f8

1 2 0-0 lDb6 1 3 c4 d6 1 4 :d1 lDd7 1 5 i.h6! Now Black will be u nable to castle for the foreseeable fu­ t u re .

1 5 . . . lDcxe5 1 6 lDxe5 lDxe5 Gary is now two pawns down but he has al ready realised that Black will find it extremely hard to complete his development.

1 7 lDc3 Many players would have now 61

This position is definitely worthy of a diagram . Twenty moves into the game all Black's pieces are back on their original squ­ ares ! It's not often that you see

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson that happen at such a high level. That is part of the reason why Gary is such a great player - he can make even the strong­ est opponents seem like begin­ ners .

22 "e3+ �f7 23 lLld5 ! i.e6 24 lLlf4!

explain why Vishy did not carry on any longer: A) 25 . . . .td7 26 .tc4+ �e8 27 'ifd2 ! wi n n in g the queen. B) 25 . . . d5 26 .tf3 :te8 27 lDxe6 'ii'x e6 28 'ifxe6+ (28 .txd5) 28 . . . l:1xe6 29 .txd5 wi n n i n g a rook. C) 25 . . . l:1e8 26 lDxe6 'iVxe6 27 'iVxe6+ �xe6 (or 27 . . . l:1xe6 28 .tc4 ! ) 28 .tb5+ wi nning the rook on e8. D) 25 . . . .th6 26 .i.c4! winning a piece. E) 25 . . . 'iVd7 26 .i.b5! This is the key variation. 26 . . . 'ifxb5 27 'ifxe6+ �g7 28 l:1ab 1 'iff5 29 l:1xb7+ �h6 30 'iVxf5 gxf5

After this retreat Vishy is in desperate trouble.

24

. . .

'iie 7?

Finally Vishy c racks u nder the strain - it is hard to keep on finding good moves i n such a d ifficu lt position . Even after the improvement 24 . . . .td7 I doubt if Vishy would have held out for very m uch longer. e . g . 25 'ii' b 3+! �g7 26 'ii'x b7 when it is hard to see a reasonable move for Black.

Although the position looks pretty disg usting for Black, he can stil l g rovel on. But I have to say if I had this position against Kasparov I wou l d be sorely tempted to save us both time and make a q u ick departure to the nearest available bar! N ot an option for Vishy as he . is stil l a teetotaller.

25 ':e1 1 Somewhat s u rprisingly Vishy resigned i n this position - no doubt he did not want to g ive Kasparov the pleasu re of i nflict­ ing fu rther punishment! I shall g ive the followi ng variations to 62

USING THE INITIATIVE

4

USING THE INITIATIVE

W hat exactly is the i n itiative? It is a fickle friend i ndeed ; you can have it one moment and then lose it the next move . I s u ppose it is when you create th reats in a section or sections of the board which constantly forces the opponent onto the defensive in order to parry them . I n tennis, for example, son smashing the ball i nitiative ; one weak however, c a n quickly over t o t h e receiver.

the per­ has the smas h , hand i t

GAM E 1 9 I could not write a book on at­ tacking without including at least one game from the G R EATEST genius of them all the one and only Mikhail Tal , t h e m agician from Riga.

what is more I really enjoyed the game! I remember he sacri­ ficed a rook against my D ragon to send my king i nto o rbit. I am s u re this game was the inspira­ tion for my rook sacrifice against Paunovic. If someone asked me what ex­ actly was the special quality that Tal had , then I would have to say that he understood how to co-ordinate a scatte red army perfectly - he could make the i m possible a reality. Tal saw the chess board as a whole rather than as d ifferent sections, which enabled him to do things that other playe rs si mply could not even d ream about.

White : M i khail Tal Blac k : lan Rogers San F rancisco 1 99 1

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lDd2 dxe4 4 lDxe4 lDd7 lan elects to play the u ltra solid Rubi nstein Variation - a sensi­ ble choice against the m ighty M isha!

I f i rst got the chance to play him in a s i m u ltaneous display at the Cavendish chess club when I was o n ly 1 0 years old - an ex­ perience that I will never forget. He absolutely crushed me and

5 lDf3 lDgf6 6 lDxf6+ lDxf6 63

A'ITACK with GM Julian Hodgson

7 Jtd3 cS 8 dxcS JtxcS 9 "e2 0-0?!

wou ld be on the offensive.

T h i s is l iving dangerous ly. l a n probably should have played 9 . . . "fIc7 which even sets a trap 1 0 It)e5? �xf2+! 1 1 �xf2 "fIxe5! 1 2 "fIxe5 It)g4+ although I doubt Tal would have fallen for it.

lan has to suddenly try to extri­ cate his queen from a5 - as it happens an impossible task. A normal move such as 1 3 . . . �b7 would be met by 1 4 a4! fol lowed by b4.

1 0 JtgS "as+ 1 1 c3 �e7 1 2 12JeS b6? !

1 4 Jtc6 1:a7 1 S b4 .a3 1 6 'iVc2 !

1 3 ... a6

Take a good look at this posi­ tion . I would be d istinctly nerv­ ous as W h ite: my king is stil l i n t h e centre while m y opponent's is n icely tucked away on g8. O n top o f that, m y pieces are all over the place and my queen­ side pawn structu re seriously comprom ised.

This is extremely p rovocative at the best of times but against Tal it is almost s u icidal!

1 3 JtbS ! ! This move has Tal written all over it. Instead of playi ng for the obvious checkmate against the opponent's king, he plays to mate Black's queen!

None of this, however, bothers Tal for he has already worked out that Black wi l l have to suffer heavy mate rial losses to save his queen, which makes all the other factors i rre levant.

I am s u re I would have spent all my time analysing such tempt­ ing possibilities as 1 3 · �xf6? ! �xf6 1 4 It)c4 "fIg5 1 5 'ir'e4 with a double-attack on the rook and the pawn on h7 but after Black's reply 1 5 . . . 'ir'f5! 1 6 "fIxa8? 1 6 . . . 'ir'xd3 it wou ld be B lack who

1 6 ... l2JdS The only move as 1 6 . . . b5 would lose prettily to 1 7 It)c4 ! ! 64

USING THE INITIATIVE Tal is in his element. Look how his pieces are stru ng out over all corners of the board . But there is one crucial point that should not be missed - he has one more piece than his oppo­ nent!

21 ... i.xc3+ 22 �e2 ':e8+ 23 �f3 :e6 1 .7 . . . bxc4 1 8 .i.c1 trapping the queen !

1 7 1.xd5 exd5 1 8 1.c1 1.f5 ! A desperate attem pt to save her majesty but she is doomed.

1 9 1.xa31 lan was of cou rse hoping for 1 9 'iVd2? 'iVa4 but no such luck!

1 9 ... i.xc2 20 �c6! The stin g in the tail !

lan boldly plays like the great man himself but his position does not have quite the same oomph. The alternative 23 . . . d4 was also no good on accou nt of 24 l:.ac1 .i.e4+ 25 'it>g3 l:.a8 26 l:thd1 ! h6 27 l:xc3! dxc3 28 l:.d7 with a healthy piece u p .

24 l:[hc1 ! 1.e4+ 25 �e2 ! Misha is not afraid of ghosts lan has no usef ul discovered checks.

25 ... d4 26 f3

20 ... i.f6! Again lan finds the toug hest defence . 20 . . . l:tc7?! 21 lLlxe7+ l:.xe7+ 22 �d2 .i.e4 23 b5! wou l d lose the exchange.

That was about it! There is nothing l i ke a spot of Tal magic - I stil l don't know q u ite how he does it!

21 �xa7 GAM E 20 The next game was played in the first round of the knockout stage of the peA rapid in Lon­ don. The story of Ivan Sokolov's q ualification was qu ite an amus­ ing one. He, together with E ric Lobron (the d river) and Loek 65

ATTACK with GM Julian Hodgson van Wely (the teetotaller) came all the way together from Hol­ land by car. They all arrived in Hastings for the qualifier to the main event i n London. G uess what: they all qual ified!

White : Nigel Short Black: Ivan Sokolov London PCA 1 995

1 3 ... c5 1 4 b4 ttJc6? This is actually a mistake. Black had to first play 1 4 . . . cxb4 1 5 axb4 lLlc6 1 6 exd5 lLlxd5 1 7 lLle4 when W hit e has a pleasant pos itional advantage.

1 5 exd5 ttJxd5 16 ttJe4 cxb4 1 7 ttJfg5 ! ! ;o==��

1 e4 e5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 i.b5 a6 4 i.a4 ttJf6 5 0-0 i.e 7 6 'iVe2 N igel has had an incredible amou nt of success with this move . I ndeed, it was one of the main reasons for his heavy de­ feat of Anatoly Karpov in the World Championship Semi-final Match in 1 993. Karpov j ust couldn't find an effective anti­ dote.

6

. n

b5 7 i.b3 0-0 S c3 d5

Optically this move looks im­ pressive, but it is a l ittle loosen­ ing.

9 d3 i.b7 1 0 lIe1 lieS 1 1 ttJbd2 i.fS 1 2 a3! A typical Short move . It is both a waiting and an agg ressive move rolled into one.

It is about at this stage that I should let you into a l ittle secret. N igel was still followi ng a previ­ ous game he had played agai nst Robert H uebner, in the Manila I nterzonal i n 1 990. The only person in the audito ri u m who d i d not seem t o know this fact was a certain very strong grandmaster who happened to be defending the black side!

17 ... f6?

This is Black's feeblest defence but I suspect Ivan was very de­ pressed for by now he m u st 12 ... ttJa5 1 3 i.a2 have realised that he had been This is the point. W h ite gets to cau ght in some vicious prepa­ keep the bishop on the ve ry ac­ ration ; little did he know that it tive a2-g8 d iagonal , f ro m where was ove r five yea rs old and had it takes aim at the potentially all been played before! H uebner vulnerable f7 pawn . found the toughest defence 1 7 66

USING THE INITIATIVE . . . h6 1 8 'ii'f 3! hxg5 1 9 lLlxg5! "f6 20 'ii'x d5! lLld8 21 "d7 .ioc6 22 'ii' h 3! This is the star move that makes the whole variation viable. Mate is th reatened on h7 which allows W h ite time to captu re on b4 and so emerge a pawn u p - a remarkable piece of analysis by Nigel.

18 -.h5 ! Another bone c rusher! B y now I'm s u re N igel was enjoying h imself.

1 8 ... fxg5 1 9 liJxg5 h6 20 .f7+ �h8 21 .i.xd5 .i.c5 22 -'g6 ! .i.xf2+ 23 �h1 'iix g5 24 .i.xg5 Sokolov now resigned as 24 .ioxg5 .ioxe 1 would be mated in two after 25 .iof6! .

GAM E 2 1 I n the September o f 1 993, the biggest chess event i n Eng­ land's history took place i n Lon­ don. It was , of cou rse, the match between the W orld Champion Gary Kasparov and the Challenger, England's very own Nigel Short. The match provided g reat enter­ tain ment. All the games we re extremely hard fought which is not often the case i n something so tough and g ruelling as a World Championship Match. The game below is one I actu­ ally com mentated on while it was happening at the London Chess Centre. It was a classic demonstration of how to con­ duct an attack from the open­ ing, to the m iddlegame, right through into the ending. However, m uch to my embar­ rassment, I ended the commen­ tary about half an hour early as I thought N igel's position was resignable - how wrong I was ! O n arriving home, the first thing my wife said to me was N igel had m issed an opportunity to make a d raw.

N igel played the enti re game in about five m i nutes flat. Ivan, however, showed his true char­ acter by winning the rematch with W h ite, and then winning the blitz play-off.

I was shocked and amazed that even the strongest player of all time could almost th row away all his p revious hard work with 67

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson one silly error. It proves j u st about anything is possible in chess!

White : Gary Kasparov Blac k : Nigel Short

wee, peA 1 993

1 d4 One of Gary's g reat strengths is that he can play either 1 d4 or 1 e4 with equal dexterity.

1 . . . lDf6 2 c4 e6 3 lDc3 �b4 4 .c2 This is Gary's pet system again st the N i mzo- I ndian . T�e . idea is to p revent W h ite s queenside pawns from being doubled. However, over the last few years Black players have found new ways to neutralise this line. This is one of the main reasons why Gary has switched to p laying 1 e4 more often .

1 1 lDge2! This is Gary's big improvement over 1 1 .i.e5 which he had played in game five. N igel had this move covered and u n ­ leashed a b i g novelty t o d raw q u ite comfortably. Gary said that after game five, he did not sleep very wel l for the next fou r days , a s h e saw i t as a matter of hono u r to find a way to deal with N igel's i mpertinent new move! In game 7 he took a time out by playin g 1 e4 but then by game 9 he was ready to strike! For it had taken Gary and his team over fifty hours of analysis to perfect his new move.

1 1 . . . i..f5 1 2 i.. e5 0-0

4 ... d5 5 cxd5 exd5 5 . . . 'iVxd5 6 lLlf3 "f5! ? is one of Black's new ideas .

6 i.. g 5 h6 7 i.. h 4 c5 8 dxc5 g5 9 i.. g 3 lDe4 1 0 e3 "a5 I n this very complex position there are a host of othe r inter­ esting possibil ities. It says m uch for N i gel's strength of characte r that he managed to put u p so much resistance when it wo u l d have been clear t o h i m that he had been caught i n some of Gary's lethal home brew! 68

USING THE INITIATIVE

1 3 lbd4 .ltg6 1 4 lbb3! lbxc3 1 5 .ltxc3! .ltxc2 1 6 lbxa5 .ltxc3+ 1 7 bxc3 b6 1 8 �d2!

Now it's time to take stock : W h ite is a pawn u p , has th e better m inor piece and a more compact pawn structure, but Black does have serious cou n ­ terplay down t h e c f i l e . The position is stil l far from easy.

1 9 ... ':c8 20 h4! Excellently played! Gary finds the q u ickest way to activate his king's rook.

20 ... lbd7 Believe it o r not we are still fol­ lowing Gary's home prepara­ tion. He stopped his analysis around this point as he felt W h ite had a clear advantage. He still however, plays the next phase of the game with g reat skill and energy. N igel makes him work every step of the way.

1 8 . . . bxa5

N igel decides to complete his development. The alternative 20 . . . g4 is wel l met by 21 i.e2 h5 22 f3! opening up the kingside.

21 hxg5 lbxc5 ! This is much stronger than the obvious 2 1 . . . hxg5? ! when Gary had worked out the follow­ ing way to win : 22 .l:1h5 f6 23 i.b5! ttJxc5 24 l:tah 1 ttJe4 25 i.c6!

The alternative 1 8 . . . J.a4 is also good for W h ite after 1 9 cxb6 axb6 20 ttJb7! i.b3 2 1 a3!

1 9 �xc2

Beautifu l ! 25 . . . l:txc6 26 l:th8+ winning the exchange and with it the game.

22 gxh6 lbe4 23 c4! lbxf2 69

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson

24 :h4! f5 25 l:d4 dxc4 26 .i.xc4+ d6 42 ':h5 ':d2 43 ':xh1 ? !

29 . . . ':b2+ 30 e6 38 "e8+ wi nning.

37 :a3 i.c1 38 ttJe3 And Shirov decided to call it a day. A fantastic, creative achieve­ ment by Gary. His first com­ ment to me after the game was that he could have played it in a s i m u ltaneous (especially as he had spent less than an hou r for the whole game) . He had proved his poi nt!

GAM E 35 The following game impressed me g reatly. It sees N igel at his very best. The finish is particu­ larly amazing - i n fact it has in­ spired me a few times. N igel often uses the following ex­ pression when he has played a good game of chess : Domi­ nate , Trap and - Flatten !

The white q ueen closes i n for the kill.

30 ... we ,...6... 8

White : Nigel Short B l a c k : Jan Ti mman

The o n ly move a s 3 0 . . . :txd3? wou l d lose i m mediately to 31 'ii'd 7!

Tilbu rg 1 99 1

3 1 i.c4 1:c2 32 "xh7!

I don't think I 've seen N igel play anyth ing else.

The q u ickest path to victory.

32 ... :'xc4 33 ..g8+ �d7 34 ttJb6+ �e7 35 ttJxc4

1 e4 !

1

. . .

ttJf6

A very b rave choice from Tim1 09

A'ITACK with GM Julian Hodgson man. Ever since N igel beat Lev Alb u rt in a match between The B ritish Champion and The American Champion, 7 1 , no one has been particu larly eager to play the Alekhine, as N igel won all fou r W h ites in that opening - it was a massacre. -

2 e5 lDd5 3 d4 d6 4 lDf3 U ndoubtedly the best move. The Alekhine used to be a lot more f u n when eve ryone tried to blow it away with the Fou r Pawns Attack.

4 ... g6 5 i.c4 lDb6 6 i.b3 i.g7 7 'iie 2! An important move in W hite's plan , whose whole strategy is based on keeping the eS pawn as a strong point.

e6. Short is very consistent in keeping eS wel l defended .

1 3 . . . e6 1 4 lDd2 lDd5 1 5 lDf3 'iic 5 1 6 .e4! N igel cal m ly improves t h e pos i­ tion of his queen. From e4 it can go to h4 and launch a dan­ gerous attack against the black king.

1 6 ... 'ii b 4 Black: "W ould you like to ex­ change queens?"

1 7 i.c4! W h ite: "No, than k you . I want to checkmate you ! "

1 7 ... lDb6

7 ... lDc6 8 0-0 0-0 9 h3! It is essential to prevent Black from playing .i.g4 which would c reate i ntolerable pressure against eS. Note that 8 . . .i.g4 was not playable on accou nt of 9 .i.xf7+ �xf7 1 0 �gS+. .

9 ... a5 1 0 a4 dxe5 1 1 dxe5 lDd4 As a general ru le, it is a good idea for the side with less space (in this case , Black) to exchange pieces. The d rawback of this plan, in this position, is that Black will later lose time with his queen.

1 2 lDxd4 'iVxd4 1 3 :'e1 !

This is much stronger than 1 3

1 8 b3 ! Excellently played. N igel is p re­ pared to double his q ueenside pawns in order to keep the ini­ tiative.

1 8 ... lDxc4 1 9 bxc4 :e8 20 ltd1 A very important move. By controlling the only open file, N igel makes it extremely d ifficult for

1 10

WEAK COLOUR COMPLEX his opponent to complete his development.

30 ... h5

20 ... "c5 21 "h4 b6 22 -*.e3 "c6 There was a strong arg u ment to play 22 . . . "f8 in order to de­ fend the dark squares around the black king. Play might then continue 23 l£lg5 h6 24 l£le4 g5 25 .i.xg5! hxg5 26 "xg5 - when W h ite's attack is eas ily worth a piece.

23 -*.h6 .i.hS Black has t o keep t h i s bishop to have any hope of staving off the attack.

24 lidS! .i. b7 25 lIad 1 Jan is now completely tied up. He would like to play 25 . . . .i.xe5 but afte r 2 6 ':xa8 .i.xa8 27 l:td8! He has no good way to p revent 28 "e7 as 27 . . . .i.d6 allows 28 l:txd6! 'ifxd6 29 'iff6 winning.

25 ... .i.g7 26 :Sd7 :US Sad , but true. The more active 26 . . . 'ife4 would lose spectacu­ larly to 27 ltxf7! ! 'ifxh4 28 .r:.xg7+ h8 29 l£lxh4 winning.

27 .i.xg7 x g7 2S 1:[1 d4! N igel b ri n gs another piece into the fray.

2S . . . :aeS 29 .f6+ �gS 30 h41

The only move to prevent the aforementioned plan.

31 �h2 ! ! This m ust b e one of the m ost amazing concepts I have ever see n . W h ite's plan is s i mply to play his king to h6! and then de­ l ive r mate on g7. There is l ittle Black can do to prevent this from happening.

31

. . .

l:cs

This move loses without a fight. Black had to try 3 1 . . . .i.c8 when Nigel would have had to find 32 g4! ! which seems to win i n all variations . e . g .

A) 3 2 . . . .i.xd7 3 3 gxh5 � h 7 3 4 l£lg5+ �h6 3 5 l£lxf7 + l:txf7 36 "xg6 mate . B) 32 . . . hxg4 33 l£lg5! .i.xd7 34 h5 gxh5 35 'ifh6 followed by m ate on h7.

32 �g3 !

It was only at this stage that Jan realised to his absol ute horro r and astonishment exactly what was going o n , but now there is 111

The th reat is simply to move the h pawn to h6, and then delive r m ate on g7.

A'ITACK with GM Julian Hodgson nothing to be done.

32

•..

game that I sti l l do remember, and still stands out like a shin­ ing beacon was the following masterpiece - played i n the "A" g ro u p .

llce8 33 �f4

A joy to behold!

33

. . .

�c8 34 �g5

John N u n n took great delight i n showi ng m e the game on the same evening i n the bar. W hat he li ked most was the fact that he had got in some vicious preparation that he had been savi ng u p for the last couple of years . So here goes . . . .

Timman now decided to th row in the towel. There cannot be too many things worse than being mated by the opponent's king i n the middle game. There are two variations: A) 34 . . . .i.xd7 35 �h6 followed by 36 "g7 mate. B) The beautiful 34 . . . ..th7 35 "xg6+ �h8 36 "h6+ Wg8 37 ..tf6 followed by 38 "g7 mate.

GAM E 36 Every January there is a big chess festival i n W ij k aan Zee, a small village not very far from Amsterdam . I n 1 985 I was lucky enough to be i nvited to the "B" g roup. Now, ove r ten years on , I cannot remember any of my games - they have all faded in t h e m ists of ti me. H owever, one

White : Alexander Beliavsky Black: John Nu nn W ij k a a n Zee 1 985

1 d4 lLlf6 2 c4 g6 3 lLlc3 �g7 4 e4 d6 John has been a loyal convert to the King's I n d ian for more than a decade - you need his b rilliant mathematical mind to remember all the variations .

5 f3 0-0 6 �e3 lLlbd7 7 'iVd2 c5 8 d5 lLle5 A very provocative move. Black puts his knight i n the middle of the board and dares W h ite to try and remove it.

9 h3 Alexander takes up the chal­ lenge, and p repares 1 0 f4, but look at the holes appearing around his king, (g3, h3 and f4) .

9

. . .

lLlh5 !

Very di rect, but also ' very effec112

WEAK COLOUR COMPLEX tive . The knight i m mediately homes i n on W h ite's black squ­ are weaknesses .

1 0 .i.f2?1 W e are now ban g, s mack i n the middle of John's wonderful opening preparation . Alexander is walking straight through a m inefield without a care in the world . It is worth pointing out that the obvious 1 0 f4 is wel l met b y 1 0 . . . �g31 exploiting the weakness on g3.

10

'•.•

f5 1

The u ndermining of centre commences .

W hite's

1 1 exf5 ':xf5 1 1 John was partic u larly pleased with this m ove . By now q u ite a large c rowd was building up i n t h e bar t o watch John's rendi­ tion of his masterpiece.

12 g4

to an end. He felt that this was the key move - the queen joins the attack with a vengeance . I still find it hard to believe that Black really has enough com­ pensation for a whole piece (and I am s u re that Alexander probably felt the same) and that is one of the reasons that this game is so impressive. It takes a long time to realise q u ite how bad W h ite's position is.

14 tDe4 It might seem strange that W h ite moves one of his few de­ veloped pieces rather than his kingside minor pieces . How­ ever, if you try movi ng either of the bishops (f2 or f1 ) or the knight on g 1 you wi l l find that they all lose material i m medi­ ately.

1 4 ... .i.h6 Now we see one of the poi nts behind 1 3 . . . 'iVf8.

15 'iVc2 'iVf4 16 tDe2 It would have been tempting to remove the rook on f3 but that wou ld lose as fol lows 1 6 �xf3 �xf3+ 1 7 �d 1 i.f5 1 8 i.d3 �d4! 1 9 i.xd4 'iVf3+! wi nning the house - W h ite's pieces wi l l fall o n e b y one.

16 ... ':xf2 1 In for a penny i n for a pou nd.

12

• • •

':xf3 1 3 gxh5 'l'f8 1 1

I t was around this stage, that John's p reparation was com ing

Bri l liantly played , and very logi­ cal too. John sacrifices a further exchange to have absol ute control over the black squares .

113

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson p rett ily to 22 . . . "e4! 23 1:[g 1 'ii'd 4! forki ng the white rooks .

22 . . . tiJxc4 The clean up operation commences.

23 'ii'f2 tiJe3+ 24 �e2 'ii'c 4! John's delicate hand ling of his q ueen is a sheer joy to behold!

25 �f3 :f8 The end is near as Black's last piece joins in the attack.

1 7 tiJxf2 tiJf3+ 1 8 �d1 'ii' h 4! 1 9 tiJd3 �f5

26 1:g1

It g ives me goose pimples j ust looking at those raking bishops.

20 tiJec1 W h ite might be a rook u p but look at the poor creatu res betwee n them they are attack­ ing a s u m total of three squares (one less than the black king ! ) .

A white rook actually makes a move j ust before the final c u r­ tai n comes down .

26 ... tiJc2 !

2 0 ... tiJd2 !

This move really appeals to m e. S ix moves a go t h i s sam e kn ight landed on d2 with stu n n i n g ef­ fect and now here it is again wreaking even more havoc on c2. It was at this stage that John felt he was winning. W h ite has no good way to defend the pawn on c4.

27 �d1 �xd3 At this point, Alexander decided to call it a day. W ho can blame him?

21 hxg6 hxg6 22 i.g2 The obvious 22 b3 wou l d lose 114

THE PAWN ROLLER

8

THE PAWN ROLLER

"Les pions sont I'ame du jeu"; so wrote Andre P h ilidor in the m iddle of the 1 8th Centu ry, which translated l iterally means "the pawns are the very life of the game." Philidor was clearly a man ahead of his time. Pawns are especially danger­ ous when they can be advanced as a broad phalanx: they then can destroy everything in their path, gain space for the heavy artillery behind, or force the de­ cisive breakthrough towards the enemy king. Final ly, they can make that one last tri u mphant leap to the eighth ran k where they transform from a l ittle pawn to a m ighty queen.

GAM E 37

impartial observer.

Matthew also added that on the night before the game he had been reading the chapter on u nderm i ning the pawn chain i n that famous book " M y System " b y Aaron Nimzowitsch. Well, I would have to agree that it was a very good game and I think the great Aaron N i m zow­ itsch would have ag reed too.

White : Matthew Sadler Black: Jul ian Hodgson Lloyd's Bank Masters 1 989

1 d4 d6 2 c4 e5 3 tiJf3 e4 4 tiJg5 f5 5 tiJc3 tiJf6 6 h4 c6 7 tiJh3 tiJa6 8 .i.g5 .i.e7 9 e3 tiJc7 1 0 tiJf4

I had neve r g iven the following game m uch of a second thought. I'd been well beaten by E n g land's latest ris ing star, M atthew Sad ler. It was only when Matthew had told me a few years on (seven to be pre­ cise ! ) that it was one of the best games he had ever played , that I decided to g ive the game an­ oth e r look, but this time as an In effect, it is Black who is 115

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson playing the White side of a F rench Defence (yes, I know it sou nds c razy, but if you take a closer look you will see some s i m ilarities) . However, W h ite has got a rather good version a s his bishop on g5 is outside the pawn chain, rather than stuck behind it on c 1 .

W ith his last move, Matthew h its at the front of the pawn chai n , the pawn on e4; with this one he strikes at the base, the pawn on f5 - classic strategy accord ing to N i m zowitsch .

1 6 . . . d5 ====;m;;�=

1 0 ... 0-0 1 1 �e2 tLle6 1 2 'iVd2 tLlxf4 1 3 �xf4 tLle8 I don't u nderstand why I played this move; did I really want to take the pawn on h4?

1 4 0-0-0 a6 Then why didn't I take it? It is of cou rse a hot pawn to captu re as it opens up the h file but it is stil l better tha n what I played.

1 5 f31 Now Matthew begins the p roc­ ess of u ndermining the black pawn chain. It is s u rprising how often when you look at some­ thing the night before , you rec­ reate something si m ilar the next day - amazi ng how the s u bcon­ scious works !

Now you see my pawn centre . . .

1 7 gxf5 b 4 1 8 tLlxe4 ! dxe4 1 9 fxe4

Now you don't! I n t h ree powe r­ f u l moves Matthew has de­ stroyed the core of my position. I remember finding it very hard to find any co nstructive m oves probably as there we ren't any!

1 5 ... b5 1 6 g4!

19 116

...

a5 20

�d3 a4

THE PAWN ROLLER This is all rather aimless but I could see nothing better to do. The problem for Black is that W h ite's mass of pawns in the centre control all the important squares. I might be a piece up but there is nowhere useful for me to put it!

21 �g3 Matthew g radually improves the placing of his pieces before tru ndling u p his central pawns . I felt l i ke a steamroller was com­ ing towards me, and I had no­ where to ru n .

21 . . . liJf6 22 'iVe2 h5 23 e5 liJg4

Oh no, there's another one! Have you eve r seen a more im­ posing centre than this? I was sorely tempted to end it all here as I cou ld not see the slightest glimmer of cou nte rplay.

32 ... g6

At least my knight is happy, but it is fighting a lonely crusade.

A desperate attem pt to break u p W h ite's pawn centre .

24 :df1 "a5 25 �b1 :a7 26 :f3 iod8 27 :hf1 a3 28 b3 :e7 29 c5

33 fxg6 1 The white rooks come i nto play.

33 ... 'iVg7 34 l:U7 :'xf7 35 gxf7 They just keep com ing.

35 . . . :'f8 36 .id6 'iix d4 37 �xf8 .if6 At last I had a threat - my only one of the game.

38 :'xf6 1 Dam n ! He spotted it!

38 . . . liJxf6 39 i.d6

Now the pawns start to roll.

29 ... �h8 30 .ic4 'iia7 31 e6 :tee8 32 e41

W ith the i m m i nent arrival of a second q ueen it seemed a good time to call a halt to the pro­ ceed in gs . Rarely have I felt so utte rly helpless d u ring a game.

117

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson

GAM E 38

a well p repared opponent.

I can safely say that I have never felt q u ite as nervous or on edge as I did before the fol­ lowing game - and I was n't eve n playi n g ! Let me explai n : I was seconding M icky Adams d u ring his match with Sergei Tiviakov in the PCA World Champion­ ship Quarte r-finals i n New York.

We had discovered i n o u r preparations before t h e match that Sergei had seve ral systems agai nst 3 �b5+. Havi ng lost the f i rst game with white, it came as no s u rp rise when he chose his most aggress ive weapon .

3 . . . ttJc6 4 0-0 oltg4

M icky had won the first game in the most ridiculous playing conditions imag i nable, i n the centre of the Tru m p Tower (a shopping mall) right next to a cafeteria overflowing with shop­ pers . It is one of the most s u r­ real sights I have ever wit­ nessed (but I had to s m i le). Anyway afte r that one game play was moved to an art gallery on the fifth floor, but I dig ress. Let the game commence and everything will become clear.

White : Michael Adams Black: Sergei Tiviakov

5 h3 olth5 6 c3 'ii b 6? ! To me, Black's opening set-up looks exceptionally risky as he is a l on g way from getting king­ side castled but this m isses the point. Sergei is intending to castle queenside and play for a kingside attack - a remarkable concept.

7 ttJa3 a6 8 olta4 lIc7 9 d4 W hen we had reached this po­ sition in our pre-game analysis, I felt that W h ite's position was enormous. He is way ahead i n development a n d has a big presence in the centre. Believe it or not we we re also following the preparation of Tiviakov who was playing extremely confidently.

9 . b5? ! . .

W CC (PCA) Quarter-fi nal 1 994

1 e4 c5 2 ttJf3 d6 3 olt b5+! T h e exclamation mark is for the move's psycholog ical val u e as M icky had never played this i n his life before. Sergei was at that time the world's lead i n g ex­ pert on the Dragon - a hard opening to break down against 118

THE PAWN ROLLER This was the position that had m e tossing and turn i n g in my sleep the night before . W h ite can of cou rse j ust retreat the bishop but I was convi nced that sacrificing a piece with lLlxb5 had to be good because Black is j u st so undeveloped and his king is severely lacking i n pro­ tection . .

T he n all of a sud d e n it ca m e to me d u ring my sleep as I real­ ised what the key move was . I woke up at about 3 o'clock i n t h e morn i n g a n d started analys­ ing the position. I was so ex­ cited I even woke up my poor wife to let her in on the good news and show her ALL the variations - she did not seem as enthusiastic as I was about it! U nfortu nately for her she had to l isten to me rabbiting on about this position u ntil noon when M ic ky would normally wake up to get ready for the game. I showed the idea to Micky, who although d u ly impressed , was still reluctant to g ive up a piece without a more thorough analy­ s is .

1 0 �xb5 1

10

. • .

..... b 5 0-0-0 ax b5 1 1 .iL.X

T h i s was the position where I found the new move that so excited me. A previous game between Iskov and Larsen from 1 979 had continued 1 2 'ifa4 lLlb8 1 3 dxc5 when the position seemed far from clear. How­ eve r, the following move changes that assessment!

1 2 b4 ! ! I thought it was essential for W h ite to try to open u p a file on th e queenside before Black has a chance to complete his devel­ opment. It seemed to me that after this pawn th rust Sergei would have a hard time beating off the attack, but we could take nothing for g ranted as Sergei is a g reat defender.

12 i.. xf3 1 3 gxf3 ! ttJb8 1 4 'iVa4 ! ••.

After an u nbearable fifteen mi­ n ute think M icky decided to take the plunge. He told me after­ wards what swung his decision: he d id not want my wife's dis­ tu rbed sleep to have been in vain !

M icky's handling of the rest of the game is fau ltless. I asked him later why he had not played the obvious 1 4 bxc5 dxc5 1 5 :b1 ? to which he pointed out that B lack could possibly defend 1 19

AITACK with GM Julian Hodgson h imself with 1 5 . . . :td6! . The text is much more clinical as Black has no useful moves.

14

...

velopment but it is now too late to help. The obvious 20 . . . lDxc6 would lose to 21 bxc6 lDxd5 22 'ifb5 ! lDxe3 23 'ifa6+ wi nning.

c4

A desperate attempt to keep the pos ition closed but now M icky switches plans and prepares the advance of h is queenside pawns.

21 a4 �f6 22 as ltJxc6 23 bxc6 ltJxd5 24 'ii b 5 !

1 5 d5! An excellent move that pre­ pares 1 6 .t.c6 followed by a later b5-b6.

15 ltJf6 1 6 �e3 ltJfd7 1 7 �c6 e6 1 8 b5 1 .•.

The boys start to rol l .

1 8 ... exd5 19 exd5 ltJb6 20 'ii' b 4!

Although Black is still a piece u p he has no good way to parry the th reat of 25 'ifa6+ followed by 26 :tb1 . Sergei attempts to make an escape route for his king to the kingside but M icky is ready for h i m .

24

M icky's plan is very s i m ple - he will cal m ly advance the a2 pawn as far as it will go - Sergei finds no good answer to such a d i rect plan. I , myself, was even starting to relax as I was now s u re that M icky would wi n .

20 . i.. e 7 . .

At last Sergei completes his de-

. . .

l:tde8 25 � b6

Sergei now resigned on accou nt of the fol lowi ng variation 25 . . . 'ife7 (or 2 5 . . . lDxb6 2 6 axb6) 26 'iia6+ �b8 27 �c7+! ! �xc7 28 'ii b 7+ �d8 29 'ifb8 mate. I was one relieved and happy bunny!

GAM E 39 ------

I n 1 994 a young R u ssian, Alexander Morozevich, took the Lloyd's Bank Masters by storm .

1 20

THE PAWN ROLLER He scored an incredible 9.5 out of 1 0 with an Elo performance well ove r 2900. He played with the carefree abandonment of youth . Look how he dispatches land's n u mber one player geir Petu rsson who has reputation of being a ve ry player to beat.

Ice­ Mar­ the hard W h ite prepares to gain space on the queenside. It is q ui et moves such as this which show the d ifference between a good and a g reat player.

White : A Morozevich Blac k : M Petursson Lloyd's Bank Masters 1 994

1 2 . . . lDge7 1 3 lDbd2 lDf5 1 4 ..td3 ..te7

1 e4 c5 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 ..tb5 You would expect the young Russian to play a main line Sicil­ ian but his real genius l ies in finding new ideas in the lesser explored variations.

3 ... d6 4 0-0 ..td7 5 lIe1 lDf6 6 c3 a6 7 ..tf1

1 4 . . . �fxd4? would lose a piece to 1 5 .txd4 �xd4 1 6 'iVa4+ when either the knight on d4 or the bishop on g4 will d rop off.

1 5 'it'b1 ! 'it'd7 1 6 b4

It is a very n ice feeling tucking the bishop back on f 1 where it defends the king and keeps out of the way of W h ite's other pieces .

7 . . . ..tg4 8 d4 cxd4 9 cxd4 d5 1 0 e5 lDg8 1 1 ..te3 e6 Black has wasted a lot of time but he has achieved a French type position with his white squared bishop outside the pawn chain - a definite plus

1 2 a3 !

The queenside com mences . . .

expansion

1 6 . . . ..t h 5 1 7 :a2 0-0 am 1 21

s u re

Morozevich

was

ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson waiting for this move - now he can launch an attack on the kingside with freedom .

would then change plans and switch to attacking down the b file.

1 8 h 3 �h8

25 a4! Another very strong q u iet move that temporarily takes Black's knight on a7 out of the game.

25 ... b6 26 tbd3 ! The knight reroutes to the king­ side. After the g reedy 26 ttlxa6 Black would obtai n some activ­ ity with 26 . . . 'ifc4 !

26 . . . �g8 1 9 :f1 1 I l ike this prophylactic move sooner or late r Black's knight on f5 will captu re the bishop on e3 when after fxe3 the white rook will be well placed on f 1 .

The black king sensing the im­ pending storm tries to flee - it can ru n but it cannot hide!

27 h4!

1 9 ... l:ac8? ! 20 g4 tbxe3 21 fxe3 �g6 22 �xg6 hxg6 22 . . . fxg6 would have been more p rudent but then W h ite wou ld have good long term p rospects as Black's th ree to two majority on the kingside would be worthless .

23 tbb3 Now the · point of 1 7 :a2 is re­ vealed - the rook is ready to swing over to the kingside with devastating effect - sadly for Black his pieces do not have the same mobility.

23 .. tba7 24 tbc5 "c6 .

If 24 . . . .txc5 25 bxc5 W h ite

Here we come!

27 ... 'Vi'd7 28 g5 The careless 28 h5? would al­ low Black to close the position up with 28 . . . g5!

28 . . l:c3 29 h5! gxh5 30 tbf4 :xe3 .

Black decides to carry on g rab­ bing material but the alterna-

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THE PAWN ROLLER tives are no better. e . g . 30 . . . g6 31 �xg6! wi nning or 30 . . . l:!.fc8 31 �xh5 g6 32 �f6+ �xf6 33 gxf6 'iii'f 8 34 l:!.h2 when m ate will fol low shortly.

31 liJxh5 'it'cS

This loses on the spot but there is no good alternative. R ela­ tively best was 34 . . . 'ifxa4 when play would contin u e 35 l:!.g2 l:!.c8 (or 35 . . . l:!.e4 36 'ir'c 1 ! followed by 37 "ii' h 6.) 36 l:!.xg6+! 'it'f8 37 l:!.g2 l:!.e4 38 �g5! with an ove rwhelming attack.

35 'iVc1 ! Co mmonly known as a goolie crusher! Any rook move allows 36 'ii' h 6 so Black res igned. A lovely ; controlled attacking game. It is very impressive how the you n g R ussian switched the play from the queenside to the kingside with such ease.

32 liJfS+! It j ust had to be played !

32

. . •

�xfS 33 gxfS

A pawn so close to the oppo­

nent's king always spells dan­ ger.

33 ... gS 33 . . . l:!.c8 would lose to the direct 34 1:[g2 g6 35 l:!.xg6+

34 llc2 'ii'd 7

GAM E 40 Although this next game is not the most attacking of games, I felt I j u st had to include it. For when I am j ust another name from the dim and d istant past, I doubt that I will be remembered for any of my brilliant attacking victories (he says modestly! ) or any of my eve n more crushing defeats . No, I suspect the game that has the best chance of keeping the Hodgson name going is one that I played in the first rou n d of the 1 995 New York Open. At the time it m ade no impres­ sion o n me whatsoeve r, proba-

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ATIACK with GM Julian Hodgson bly as I had j u st got off a plane and arrived at my board dis­ tinctly jet lagged. It was only much later when I saw it in a chess magazine wondering why it was in there that I realised what I'd created. My game contained an Excel­ sior - that is when a pawn ad­ vances fro m its original square to the eighth rank (preferably in consecutive moves) . Th e n on f u rther investigation , I found I had actually c reated a real little rarity which normally only eve r occ u rs in com positions. I n fact, they are so rare in I nter­ national Chess, that there have been probably only about 20 in the whole history of the game. Out of these only about 1 0 are complete ones where the pawn actually p romoted in the game. Maybe only 2 or 3 including this one have so many captu res and what makes it rarer stil l , is the fact that it is i n the m iddlegam e .

Still feeling rather g roggy, I was in no mood to take the bait on c3.

6 cxd4 ttJf6 7 ttJc3 0-0 8 i.b3 I think you could safely say that W h ite's ope ni ng strategy has been a s uccess. He has both the centre and easy development.

8 . . . 1.g4 9 h3 1.xf3 "'xf3 ttJc6 1 1 1.e3 ttJd7 'iVd1 ttJa5 1 3 0-0 ttJb6 "'e2 ltc8 1 5 ltfd1 ttJbc4 1.g5 a6 1 7 ltd3

10 12 14 16

A lucky escape. 1 7 li:ld5! Ae8 1 8 e5! looks horrible for me.

17 ... b5 1 8 ltad1 lte8 1 9 i.c1 e6 20 "g4 ttJxb3 21 axb3 ttJa5 22 ttJe2 ltc2 Now my position is perfectly all right because W h ite has no real attack.

23 1.g5 "'a8 ! My queen is well placed on the long white d iagonal .

24 lt1 d2 f5 !

So with all these featu res could this be the ONLY one of its kind?

White : Patrick Yee B l ac k : J u l ian Hodgson New York Open 1 995

1 e4 g6 2 d4 1.g7 3 1.c4 U n usual, but by no means bad .

3 . . c5 4 c3 cxd4 5 ttJf3 d6 .

Act One: Here comes the jewel 1 24

THE PAWN ROLLER (or should I say the J u le(s) of the c rown ! ) .

one piece and then forks two more !

25 'ifh4

27 :c7 dxe2

Capturing the f5 pawn is not possible as 25 exf5 loses the knight on e2 after 25 . . . exf5! when the white queen has no good squares.

25 ... fxe4

Act Two

26 l:[xc2 exd3

Act Five : The final part of the play " M ission I m possible! " The extra queen is vital as I m ust give up my other one to fend off W h ite's m ati ng attack.

29 h2 'ii' b 7! Act Three: my favou rite move of the game as my pawn captu res

And that was that. My claim to immortal ity!

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