The most instructive games of the young grandmasters 9781857445343, 1857445341

Table of contents :
Backcover......Page 0
Copyright © 1999 Paul Motwani......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Introduction......Page 8
01 Vasily Ivanchuk......Page 12
Test 1......Page 27
02 Viswanathan Anand......Page 29
Test 2......Page 39
03 Michael Adams......Page 41
Test 3......Page 53
04 Alexei Shirov......Page 55
Test 4......Page 65
05 Loek van Wely......Page 67
Test 5......Page 74
06 Matthew Sadler......Page 76
Test 6......Page 84
07 Gata Kamsky......Page 86
Test 7......Page 93
08 Veselin Topalov......Page 95
Test 8......Page 103
09 Vladimir Kramnik......Page 105
Test 9......Page 111
10 Peter Svidler......Page 114
Test 10......Page 122
11 Judit Polgar......Page 124
Test 11......Page 131
12 Tal Shaked......Page 133
Test 12......Page 141
13 Peter Leko......Page 144
Test 13......Page 152
Solutions to Tests and Puzzles......Page 154
Index of Games and Puzzle Positions......Page 177

Citation preview

The most instructive games of the

young grandmasters

EVERYMAN CHESS Paul Motwani

the most instructive games of the

young grandmasters

by Paul Motwani EVERYMAN CHESS Everyman Chess, formerly Cadogan Chess, is published by Everyman Publishers, London

First published in 1 999 by Everyman Publishers plc, formerly Cadogan Books plc, Gloucester M ansions, 140A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HD in association with Gambit Publications Ltd, 69 Masbro Road, London W 1 4 OLS .

Copyright © 1 999 Paul Motwani The right of Paul Motwani to be identified as the author of this work has been as­ serted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1 988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85744 534 1 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, 6 B usiness Park Road, p.a. Box 833, Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475-083 3 . Telephone 1 - 800 243 0495 (toll free) All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Gloucester Mansions, 1 40A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HD tel : 0 1 7 1 539 7600 fax : 0 1 7 1 379 4060

EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan Chess) Chief Adviso r: Garry Kasparov Series Editor: Murray Chandler Edited by Graham Burgess and typeset by John Nunn for Gambit Publications Ltd. Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wilts.

Co nte nts

Symbols & Abbreviations Introduction Dedications 1 Vasily Ivanchuk Game 1 V. Ivanchuk - V. Anand Game 2 A. Shirov - V. Ivanchuk

5 6 9

Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1 994 Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1994

10 10 18

Viswanathan Anand 2 Game 3 V. Anand - N. Short Dortmund 1 997 Game 4 J. Polgar - V. Anand Lina res 1997

27 27 32

3 Michael Adams Game 5 M. Adams - G. Serper New Yo rk 1996 Game 6 V. Topalov - M. Adams Dortmund 1996

39 40 46

Alexei Shirov 4 Game 7 A. Shirov - V. Akopian Linares 1995 Game 8 V. Kramnik - A. Shirov Vienna 1996

53 53 59

5 ' Loek van Wely Game 9 L. van Wely - S. Giardelli Buenos Aires 1 995 Game 1 0 A. Skripchenko - L. van Wely Antwe rp 1 998

65 65 68

Matthew Sadler 6 Game 1 1 M. Sadler J. Hellsten Pula Echt 1997 Game 12 I. Smirin - M. Sadler Ischia 1996

74 74 79

7 Gata Kamsky Game 1 3 G. Kamsky - N. Short Lina res peA et (5) 1994 Game 1 4 J. Lautier - G. Kamsky Groningen 1995

84 84 87

-

4

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

8 Veselin Topalov Game 15 V. Topalov - A. Yusupov Novgorod 1 995 Game 1 6 B. Gelfand - V. Topalov Linares 1 997

93 93 96

9 Vladimir Kramnik Game 1 7 V. Kramnik - B. Gulko Horgen 1 995 Game 1 8 M. Adams - V. Kramnik Belgrade 1 995

1 03 1 03 1 06

10 Peter Svidler Game 1 9 P. Svidler - A. Dreev Russian Ch (Elista) 1 997 Game 20 A. Shirov - P. Svidler Tilburg 1 997

1 12 1 12 1 16

1 1 Judit Polgar Game 2 1 J. Polgar - G. Milos Slio Paulo (1) 1 996 Game 22 A. Shirov - J. Polgar Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1 994

1 22 1 22 1 26

12 Tal Shaked Game 2 3 T. Shaked - H . Hamdouchi Cannes 1 997 Game 24 P. Acs - T. Shaked Budapest 1 997

131 131 1 35

13 Peter Leko Game 25 P. Leko - V. Kramnik Belgrade 1 995 Game 26 V. Topalov - P. Leko Vienna 1 996

1 42 1 42 1 46

Solutions to Tests and Puzzles Index o f Games and Puzzle Positions Index of Openings

152 1 75 176

Symbo l s & Abbreviat i o n s

+ ++ # x !! !? ?! ? ??

1-0 112-112

0-1 0-0 0-0-0 FIDE

WPM WIM FM

check double check checkmate captures brilliant move good move interesting move dubious move bad move blunder the game ends in a win for White the game ends in a draw the game ends in a win for Black castles king side castles queenside Federation Internationale des Echecs Women's FIDE Master Women's International Master FIDE Master

WGM IM GM Ch Cht Wch Ech Wcht Echt Z IZ Ct jr wom mem rpd OL ECC corr simul (n) (D)

Women's International Grandmaster International Master International Grandmaster championship team championship world championship European championship world team championship European team championship zonal event interzonal event candidates event junior event women's event memorial event rapidplay game olympiad European Clubs Cup correspondence game simultaneous display nth match game see next diagram

Introduct i o n

Welcome on board The Most Instructive Chess Games of the Young Grand­ masters, an action-packed adventure and a stimulating voyage of discovery in which we shall together explore a rich collection of irresistible situations within our Royal Game. So the following statement by Szent Gyorgyi provides us with an appropriate inspirational motto: 'Discove ry consists of seeing what eve rybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought '. One could easily imagine detective Sherlock Holmes delivering those power­ ful words to his friend-in-fiction, Dr Watson, and in real life I am suddenly re­ minded that GM William Watson was chatting with me about the potency of vigorous attacking chess, several rounds before he won the 1 994 British Champi­ onship at Norwich. Willie, who is renowned for his own very effective enterpris­ ing play, was especially enthusiastic about the abundance of fresh, attacking games that were (and still are) being generated by many top, bold, energetic, young grandmasters, and the names of 13 such stars stand out in bold at the top of pages in this book. It goes without saying that all of the featured stars have won heaps of prizes in important events, and so I will avoid gobbling up lots of space by not attempting to give long lists of tournament victories, impressive though they are. Incidentally, we' ll be starting with the oldest player (but still only a 29year-old) in Chapter 1 , and then continuing in decreasing order of age throughout Chapters 2- 1 3 , so we should all feel younger at the end ! There is quite a bit of variation regarding chapter length, simply because I felt that some games needed more notes than other ones in order to tell each 'story' clearly. By the way, maybe you'll discover that you share the same birthday as one of the famous stars, and so I've given a few details about their special dates to inject a small and healthy dose of fun at the start of each chapter. It is no wonder that Philip Vanparys, a Belgian chess student of mine, de­ scribed the 1 3 titans as 'a really cool group' when one considers that 1 1 of them were ranked in the world's top 20 according to the official FIDE rating list of 1 July 1 998. I also decided to put the spotlight on a highly talented young GM who has not yet jumped into the top 1 00 since he shot to fame by winning the 1 997 World Junior Championship, and we' ll meet another hero at no. 38 armed with the skills to climb towards the summit. He is the top-rated GM among the numer­ ous young titled players that keep emerging out of a total population of less than

Introduction

7

15 million people in the Netherlands. Spread throughout that country and five other ones are Jim Anderson, FM Graham Burgess, Harald Fietz, Tom Ftirsten­ berg, Jeremy Gaige, Geurt Gij ssen, Hans Moors, IM Craig Pritchett, Stewart Reuben, IM Jonathan Rowson, IM Johan van Mil, and Ken Why Id, all of whom I would now like to specially thank for the extremely helpful information or sug­ gestions which they gave me, and I am also particularly grateful to Gambit Publi­ cations and Cadogan/Everyman for offering me the interesting project of writing this book. Naturally, a different author might have selected a different set of model play­ ers, but, as the cover title indicates, it is primarily great and instructive games that we will focus on. I made the final choices of instructive battles after playing over more than 3,000 games in sources (picked deliberately) without notes, thereby making the whole experience a really testing and enjoyable process of discovery. Consequently, from the sizeable initial sample, the chosen material starring in the pages ahead comprises my own personal annotations and analysis to some of my favourite encounters involving today' s young GMs . From time to time, you may wish to cover up moves, with a card for instance, and then have fun working out strong continuations yourself. A wide spectrum of openings features, and I hope that this will help us to be­ come more balanced, complete, and creative chess-players . However, it is no coincidence that the Sicilian Defence appears more often than any other opening, since it is the absolute no. 1 battlefield used by the majority of top players nowa­ days. There is also a good supply of game-related puzzles (including 64 Reader's Challenges, and lots more goodies ! ) which, in effect, make us step into the shoes of the grandmasters . Full solutions are given at the end of the book (pages 152-74). The puzzles are further designed to increase our abilities in resourceful, logical, original, and tactical thinking. The importance of the last adjective was emphasized by GM Dr Savielly Tartakower (22.2.1887-4.2.1956) when he stated 'Chess is ninety-nine percent tactics' . If a sequel to this book follows after a few years, then more great games will have been played by new stars, including Etienne B acrot (born 22.01.1983 in Lille, France) and Ruslan Ponomariov (born 11.10.1983 in Gorlovka, Ukraine), who are currently the two youngest grandmasters of all time.

If you have previously seen certain battles in this book, then a strong positive attitude is now to view those games like brilliant movies being revisited . This time, let's try to notice more detail than ever before, and remember our inspira­ tional motto 'Discove ry consists of seeing what eve rybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought'. It is also useful to have two chessboards side by side

8

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

when studying the deeply-annotated encounters, because one board can be used for all analysis while the other board is for playing through the actual games. Chess has sometimes been called ' the gymnasium of the mind ' , and now the hour has come for us to work hard and sharpen our mental weapons as we leap into the exciting pages ahead. As an extra-quick warm-up activity, one might like to verify that the 20 letters in gymnastic weapons hour can be rearranged to give youngest wa r champions . . and they 're waiting for us in the following daring chapters . . . .

Paul Motwani Brussels, 3 December 1998

Dedicatio ns

This book is dedicated to Chris Morrison, whose captaincy of the Scottish team at the 1992 Manila Olympiad included the happy task of bringing me the news that I had been awarded the title of International Grandmaster. Having just turned 30 did not make me one of the youngest GMs on our planet, but I was over the moon anyway ! Six years later, Chris very pleasantly surprised my wife Jenny and I by visiting us in Brussels on 23 July 1998, giving a lovely book gift and treating us to a won­ derful meal . So now it gives me great pleasure to offer this book to you, Chris, and I hope that its feast of exciting games and related instructive puzzles will be a most enjoyable lasting source of stimulating food for thought.

Paul Motwani Brussels, 3 December 1998

1 Vas i ly Ivanchuk

' S ound strategy, nice tactics . . . Vasily Ivanchuk (interview in New In Chess magazine, no. 2, 1996) '

Date of Birth

Thesday

18

March

1 969

Place of Birth

Berezhani. Ukraine

Grandmaster Title

1 98 8

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998 . World Ranking

2730

4

Vasily Ivanchuk possesses all the artistry of the brilliant Russian musical com­ poser Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ( 1 844- 1 908). who was born exactly 1 25 years to the day before the 29-year-old top Ukrainian grandmaster. It is also quite ap­ propriate that the first name of this world-class player originally derives from the Greek name Vasilis. meaning 'royal. kingly'. His fantastic achievements include winning a hat-trick of first prizes at the Linares super- tournaments of 1 989, 1 99 1 . 1 995, and one eminently suitable phrase to describe Ivanchuk is 'Playing to Win '. Incidentally, a book carrying that title was written some years ago by GM Jim Plaskett, who also happens to share the same birthday of 1 8 March ! A beautiful blend of sound strategy and nice tactics is coming up now in the form of a great double-bill featuring two of Ivanchuk's best games played in Oc­ tober 1 994 at the Sicilian Polugaevsky Tournament in Buenos Aires. Not many people can keep GM Viswanathan Anand in the sort of vice-like grip which Ivanchuk exerted using the Maroczy Bind in round three. Game 1 V. Iva nchuk - V. Anand Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1994 Sicilian Defence, Maroczy Bind 1 e4 Ivanchuk also opens regularly with I c4, 1 d4 or 1 lDf3, so it is normally

very difficult for opponents to prepare against him. However, in this particu­ lar eight-player double-all-play-all tour­ nament, every one of the 56 battles be­ gan with 1 e4 c5 as a special tribute to GM Lev Polugaevsky (20. 1 1 . 1 93 430.8 . 1 995), who passed away in Paris the following year at the age of 60, bu t

11

Vasily Ivanchuk

not before giving us a treasure-trove of wonderful insights into the Sicilian Defence through many of his own games, and via great books such as The Sicilian Labyrinth and Sicilian Love. 1 . . cS The basic logical idea behind the Sicilian is simply to control the central d4-square, while also interfering with White's natural wish to build an ideal pawn-centre by 2 d4. 2 lDf3 White is the first one to develop a piece, whereas 2 d4 cxd4 3 'ii'xd4? lDc6 would already be better for Black. Instead of the unwise early ex­ cursion with the white queen, some players like the Morra Gambit, 3 c3, but it was dealt a crushing blow in the line 3 . . . dxc3 4 lDxc3 e6 5 lDf3 i. c5 ! , as detailed o n page 17 o f my book S. T.A. R. Chess. .

Reader's Challenge no. 1 Consider yet another alternative, namely 2 d4 cxd4 3 lDf3 . Black then has a sneaky possibility which saves his d4-pawn and sets a trap. a) What is the cunning trap? b) Instead, why is 4 c3 ! dxc3? 5 lDxc3 a really favourable version of the Morra Gambit for White? When ready, you can compare your answer with those given on page 152. lDc6 2 ... Nowadays Anand seems to favour 2 . . . d6, perhaps partly as a result of the

invaluable experience which he gained both as White and B lack from 1 1 games involving 2 . . . d6 out of his 1 8 clashes with Garry Kasparov i n the 1 995 PCA World Championship. 3 d4 As a logical alternative, the Rosso­ limo Variation, 3 i. b5, is a good way for White to continue developing pieces at lightning speed while also avoiding the immense body of theory associated with the many ' open ' sys­ tems stemming from 3 d4 . However, the moves 3 d4 cxd4 4 lDxd4 were a prerequisite for all the games in this particular Sicilian ' theme tourna­ ment' . cxd4 3 .. 4 lDxd4 g6 If 4 . . . lDf6, then Black would wel­ come 5 lDxc6 bxc6 6 e5 ?? because of 6 . . . 'ii'a 5+, but note that 5 lDc3 g6? ! 6 lDxc6! bxc6 7 e5 really is good for White. Black may choose to eliminate any worries concerning e4-e5 by playing 4 . . . e5, and after 5 lDb5 Black can choose between the Kalashnikov Variation, 5 . . . d6, and the L6wenthal Variation, 5 . . . a6, for example. S c4 (D) The Maroczy B ind, named after Hungary 's Geza Maroczy (3. 3 . 1 87029. 5 . 1 95 1 ), seizes some more space for White, and gives him an iron grip on the d5-square. Personally, nowa­ days I would never allow an opponent to play this against me, although about 15 years ago I did actually have a few .

12

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

games involving 4 . . . g6 as Black. While it may be too extreme to label that move with a ' ?!' , I really do not like the cramped positions that often result from it. �f6 S ... 5 . . . i.g7 6 i.e3 �f6 7 �c3 �g4 8 'ii'x g4 �xd4 is an alternative line, which is normally answered by 9 'ii'd l , attacking the d4-knight and pre­ venting it from delivering a fatal fork at c2. Reader's C h a l l e n g e no. 2 (solution given on page 1 5 2) The situation arising after 5 . . . i. g7 6 i. e3 �f6 7 �c3 d6 8 i. e2 0-0 9 0-0 �g4?? occurred in games at two inter­ national tournaments that I know of during 1 997. Why is Black' s ninth move a blunder?

d6 6 �c3 6 . . . i.g7 is possible too, because al­ though after 7 �xc6 bxc6 8 e5, 8 . . . �h5 ?? 9 g4 is a painful reminder for Black of the saying 'A knight on

the rim is dim ' , he should of course play 8 . . . �g8, when White' s e5-pawn can quickly become a weakness to be attacked by moves such as . . . Va5, . . . d6 or . . . f6. Personally, instead of 7 �xc6, I would prefer good simple de­ velopment with 7 i. e3, but note that 7 i.e2? �xe4 ! wins a precious pawn for Black due to his double attack on the d4-knight. �xd4 7 i.e2 One idea behind this move is to draw White's queen forward to d4 so that Black may subsequently gain some time by threatening to attack the white queen using a fianchettoed bishop on g7 . However, that only in­ conveniences White for a fleeting mo­ ment, and does not in any way affect his spatial advantage, which is the dominant feature of the position. i.g7 (D) S 'ii'xd4

w

9 i.e3 0-0 10 'ii'd2 White easily nullifies Black's threat of 1O . . . �g4.

13

Vasily Ivanchuk

10 .i.e6 "as 1 1 0-0 12 :abl !? (D)

B

l:tbd l 1eaves Black i n trouble at d 6 due to threats of 19 c5 and 1 9 f6. 13 b3 1 3 b4 is over-ambitious because af­ ter 1 3 . . . 'ii'd 8 White's c-pawn would be in trouble. 13 lLld7 Black would no doubt wish that 1 3 . . . b5 could shake his opponent's control of the position, but instead of 1 4 cxb5 ?? 'ii'x c3 or 1 4 lLlxb5 1i'xd2 1 5 i. xd2 lLlxe4, White can play the now well-timed advance 14 b4 ! . 1 4 llfc1 14 lLld5 is possible too, but after 14 . . . 'ii'x d2 White must not make the capture 1 5 lLlxe7+, because Black has 1 5 . . . �f8 . 14 'ii'd8 Black wants to play . . . lLlc5 without allowing a fork by b4. 15 lLld5 lLlc5 16 .if3! Some people would automatically defend the e4-pawn with 16 f3 , but Ivanchuk's move does not obstruct his light-squared bishop's view towards the kingside, where White plans to com­ mence attacking operations shortly. as 16 At least Black will not be forced to retreat his knight immediately if he has stopped or dissuaded White from playing b4. However, I still recall a game that I lost as Black to GM Jon Arnason in Chicago on Tuesday 23 August 1 983, since, although I did not make any blatant blunders, White won principally because my position was ...

This move was a novelty at the time of the game (at least in published en­ counters between top players), yet it is actually very logical for White to shift his queen ' s rook off the al -h8 diago­ nal because potentially it could have experienced problems from the g7bishop, especially if the white b-pawn advances to b3, for example, to sup­ port the exposed c4-pawn on the half­ open c-file. l:tfc8 12 Some c hess students of mine sug­ gested 12 . . . itlg4, but then White's promising paths include 13 itld5 and 1 3 .id4 .ixd4 14 'i'xd4 1i'e5 15 'ii'xe5 , because although after 1 5 . . . itlxe5 , 1 6 b3 g5 ! lets Black's knight stay o n a central post, a much stronger possibil­ ity is 16 f4 ! . That powerful example of ' f for forward ! ' is followed directly by another one in the case of 16 . . . itlxc4? 17 f5, while 16 . . . lDc6 17 f5 ! ? .id7 1 8 •..

...

•.•

14

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

cramped, and Anand is suffering from the same serious problem. 17 h4! (DJ Ivanchuk further increases his spa­ tial advantage by advancing on the kingside, whereas the careless move 17 a3? on the opposite wing would have spoiled White's excellent posi­ tion on account of 17 . . . a4 ! , intending to meet 1 8 b4? with the fork 18 . . . lLlb3 .

and so now White opens up the e-file to expose the weakling. 'ii'd7 18 . 19 'ii'e 2! Yet another classy move by Ivan­ chuk. The black e-pawn suddenly feels pressure from White's queen, and the queen on e2 also indirectly prevents the advance . . . bS . Furthermore, 1 9 ...• fS is ruled out (most of all) because of 20 ..tg4 . 19 . :e8 If Black attempts to close the kingside with 1 9 . . . hS, then at lightning speed White responds by prising open that region of the board by 20 g4 ! , af­ ter which 20 . . . hxg4 2 1 ..txg4 fS 22 ..th3 (threatening to force open more lines with 23 hS ) 22 . . . ..tf6 23 hS ! gS 24 f3 ! leaves Black facing threats such as 2S �h l followed by lIg 1 , and 25 .c2 ! g4 26 fxg4 fxg4 27 .g6+. 20 hS Simple, strong, consistent chess. ir'f5 20 ... 2 1 :dl A prophylactic move to deny Black the possibility of ...•d 3 . 21 ... ..te5 At first sight the line 2 1 . . . gxhS 22 ..txhS lLle4 may look dangerous for White in view of the threatened fork 23 . . . lLlc3 , but 23 .d3 ! is a complete answer. Black's position remains diffi­ cult after 23 ...•xhS (24 ..tf3 could not be allowed) 24 .xe4 because of his inferior pawn-structure and poor kin g safety. Another important point is that if 2 1 . . .lLle4, then White should win .

.

..

B

..txdS 17 ... Let us ask 'Why does Black capture on dS, thereby giving up one of his bishops for a knight?' . The question can be answered readily if we start to consider the (lack of) alternatives. 17 ...•d7?? walks into the fork 1 8 lLlb6, and i f 1 7 . . .h S then 1 8 ..tgS is very unpleasant to face because 18 . . . f6 would shut in the g7-bishop while also weakening the g6-hS pawn-chain. 17 . . . fS 18 ..tgS ! is terrible for Black too. 18 exdS ! The notes to Black's last move high­ lighted the weakness of the e7-pawn,

Vasily Ivanchuk

with 2 2 g4 ! 'ii'e S 23 .i.d4 lLI c 3 24 'ii'c 2 ! 1Wxd4 (what else?) 2S lIxd4 i.xd4 26 llc 1 , planning 27 'ii'd 2. 22 g4 (D)

B

IS

b) 26 . . . dxcS 27 'ii' x eS fxg4 28 'ii'g S+ c;i;>h8 29 ':xh7+ �xh7 30 llh 1#. c) 26 . . . fxg4 27 1We4 ! (now the un­ happy h7-pawn cannot be defended) 27 . . . 'ii'xcS 28 'ii'xh7+ (perhaps an even clearer path to victory for White than 28 Axh7 1Wd4 29 'ifg6+ .i.g7 30 lIbh 1 �f8 , although then he still wins with 3 1 A 1 hS e6 32 dxe6 Ae7 33 Ah8+ ! .i.xh8 34 AfS+ .i.f6 3S Axf6+ 'ifxf6 36 'ifxf6+ �e8 37 1Wh8#) 28 . . . �f8 29 1WfS+ (D) branches into:

B

g for ' go for it' is an attacking motto of mine, and on the receiving end even GM opponents rarely look comfort­ able ! 22 "cS 22 . . . 1Wd7 ?? costs Black a piece to 23 .i.xcs dxcS 24 'ii'xeS , and 22 . . . 'iVf6 gets squashed by 23 gS, which turns into an even worse nightmare for the harassed queen in the line 23 . . . 1WfS ?? 24 .i.g4 'ife4 2S f3 . 23 �g2 White prepares to slide at least one rook over to the h-file. .i.g7 23 The black king recalls his bishop for defence, and one can easily under­ s tand his avoidance of terrifying lines such as 23 . . . gxhS 24 lIh ! ! hxg4 2S .i. xg4 fS 26 .i.xcS and then, e.g. : a) After 26 . . . 1VxcS 27 .i.xfS the h­ pawn will very soon be history. ...

••.

c l ) 29 . . . .i.f6 30 lIh8+ �f7 3 1 1WhS+ �g7 32 'ikh7#. c2) 29 . . .'lig8 30 'ife6+ �f8 (for 30 . . . �g7 see the next Reader's Chal­ lenge) 3 1 Ah7 .i.g7 32 Abh 1 'ikd4 33 A 1 hS Aec8 34 AfS+ �e8 3S Af7, and as is so often the case, doubled rooks on the seventh rank spell defeat for the opponent. d) 26 . . . :f8 27 .i.h3 'ikxcs 28 f4 (in fact, 28 .i.xfS ! is even stronger due to 28 . . . AxfS 29 'ii'g 4+, but the move 28 f4 also produces some instructive vari­ ations) 28 . . . .i.xf4 (28 . . . .i.g7 29 'ife6+

16

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

lIf7 30 .i.xf5 is also terrible for Black) 29 .i.xf5 ( D) and now there are two variations :

dl) 29 . . . lIxf5 30 'ir'e6+ lIf7 3 1 lIxh7 ! and then 3 1 . . .lIf8 3 2 'ii'g 6+ lIg7 33 'ir'xg7# or 3 1 . . .'iii> xh7 32 'ir'xf7+ �h6 33 ':h 1 + �g5 34 :h5+ c,i?g4 35 "iif5#. d2) 29 . . . "iie 3 30 'iWg4+ .i.g5 3 1 1Ibel "ii f4 (3 1 . . ."iid 2+ 3 2 1Ie2) 32 .i.xh7+ b8 23 ... 24 Agl (D) 24 'ii'e 5+ 'ifxe5 25 lIxe5 .tcS ! leads to: a) 26 lIe4 e5 ! , and Black is cruis­ ing to victory. b) 26 lLlxe6 :feS ! 27 lLlxdS %be5 (planning 2S . . . lIe7 followed by . . . rl;c7, and the black king will have a tasty 'knight-time' ! ) 2S lLlf7 lId5 , when the numerous threats include 29 . . . .te6 30 lLlhS AdS to ensnare the unhappy white knight.

23

25 . . . b5 ! , but not 25 . . . .tcS? because of 26 lLlc6+. 25 lLlxe6 25 'ife5 produces lines that are al­ most identical to those given in the note to White's 24th, and once again only Black would be smiling. 25 .txe6 26 'it'xe6 'it'xh2 27 'it'e3 27 'ife5+ 'ifxe5 2S lIxe5 leaves the d3-pawn en prise. 27 ... 'iti>a8! (D)

B

24 ... 'ilic7 Black's queen immediately redirects her long-range vision towards the fresh weakness at h2, although 24 . . . 'ilid6 would have accomplished the same thing while also keeping an eye on the d4-knight and thereby threatening to win instantly with 25 JIf4. It is im­ portant, too, that 25 lIb2 could simply be answered by the bold advance ..

A wise player does not move his king into a corner without good rea­ son, because apart from one precious tempo being spent, the king may well be required later near the middle of the board to play a central role in the struggle, especially if the battle should 'go the distance ' into an endgame. However, in the current game an over­ riding feature of the position is the general looseness and lack of safety in White 's camp. Therefore, Ivanchuk simply stopped Shirov' s exchanging

24

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

queens by 28 "g3+, which would have alleviated his problems considerably. 28 J:[g3 If 28 "g3 1Wh6 29 g5 "c6 (threat­ ening 30 . . . :f3) 30 J:[e3, then 30 . . . ..c2 wins at least one pawn for Black. 28 J:[c8! (D)

position was becoming unbeaIable anyway. 31 lU3! (D) ...

.••

Black knows that tactical possibili­ ties can easily arise based on the sensi­ tivity of the first rank (where White's king is located), and 29 :h3? l:tc l + ! i s one illustration (with the further points being 30 'iVxc I 'iVxh3+ and 30 l:te l :xf2+ ! 3 1 'iVxf2 'iVxh3+). Read er's C h a l l e n g e n o . 8 (solution given on page 1 53) Is 29 . . . l:tc l + actually a threat now?

29 l:g2 "hl+ 30 l:gl 'ii' h4 31 l:g2? This fatal error was played in time­ trouble, but the pressure on White's

At lightning speed, Ivanchuk's ra­ zor-sharp mind spotted the neat point that 32 'iVxf3 loses immediately after 32 . . ....h l + 33 J:[g l "xf3 . 32 'ii'd2 32 "e6 allows Black to win ele­ gantly with the continuation 32 . . . :c l + 3 3 l:el l:xf2+ ! 3 4 l:xf2 'iVh l + 3 5 'iti>e2 l:txe l +. 32 ... 'ifhl+ 33 l:gl 'ifh3+ 0-1 White resigned in a hopeless posi­ tion, faced with the loss of at least his d-pawn, but in Chapter 4 we will see Alexei Shirov in dazzling form. Right now, though, it's time for another spe­ cial treat in which we get to experi­ ence some further interesting and instructive situations from games of Vasily Ivanchuk.

25

Vasily Ivanchuk

Test 1 1.3

1.1

P. Nikolic - Ivanchuk Moscow rpd 1 995

Ivanchuk - Shirov Monte Carlo Amber rpd 1 996

Black to play and win.

White to play and win.

1.2

1.4

Kotsur - Ivanchuk Lucerne Wcht 1997 Should Black now move his queen?

HUbner - Ivanchuk Dortmund 1 997 Black is to play. Does he have com­ pensation for being a piece down?

26

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

Black resigned in this pos ition. Would he have any better option if we altered the position by giving White an extra pawn on f3 and also removing the g7-pawn from the board?

1 .5

Solutions to this test start on page 1 5 3 , but now an exciting new chapter is running towards us like a tiger from Madras . . .

Timman - Ivanchuk Wijk aan Zee 1 996 After a tough fight, it is now Black to play and win. Bra i nteaser no. 1

Ivanchuk - Tiviakov Linares 1 995

2 Viswanathan Anand

'I definitely want to make some big pushes' Viswanathan Anand (interview in New In Chess magazine, no. 3, 1 998) Date of Birth

Thursday 1 1 December 1 969

Place of Birth

Madras, India

Grandmaster Title

1988

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998

2795

World Ranking

2

I happen to know that, in Sanskrit, 'Anand' means 'happiness ' , because my fa­ ther, Nand Motwani, has almost the same first name. Viswanathan is actually the family name of our second hero in this book, but he is affectionately known as 'Vishy' , which is almost as quick as the player himself! The feared yet popular 'Tiger from Madras ' is said to have slowed down slightly since the teenage days, when he sprinted through most games, and en route picked up numerous presti­ gious titles such as World Junior Champion in 1 987. Nevertheless, any changes through maturing certainly did not hold him back in recent super-strong events at Belgrade, Groningen, Wijk aan Zee, Linares, Villarrobledo, and Tilburg, where Anand very impressively finished first or first equal each time. The saying 'Thursday 's child has far to go' has never been more apt ! One can safely state that this 29-year-old whirlwind has already made many ' big pushes ' , and his current ranking shows that in a chess sense he is tantaliz­ ingly close to the summit of Mount Everest. However, nowadays Anand lives in Spain, and so it is quite appropriate that we are about to see him skilfully employ­ ing the Spanish Opening against GM Nigel Short. Game 3 V. Anand

-

N. Short

Dortmund 1997 Ruy Lopez (Spanish) 1

e4

eS

2 lbf3 lbc6 3 .i.bS Anand chooses the Ruy Lopez, which is named after a Spanish priest who analysed it in 1 5 6 1 . 3 ... a6

28

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

This is the most common response to the Spanish because it is well­ known that 4 .txc6 dxc6 S lDxeS ? ! can b e answered strongly b y S . . . ..gS or S . . . ..d4 ! , but for those players who are seeking an alternative system with Black, I can recommend 3 . . . lDf6, as in Game 3 of S.T.A.R. Chess. lDf6 4 .ta4 4 . . . bS S .tb3 lDaS 6 0-0 d6 7 d4 lDxb3 8 axb3 f6 9 lDc3 (threatening 1 0 lDxbS) 9 . . . .tb7 1 0 lDh4 ! (planning 1 1 'fi'hS+ g6 1 2 lDxg6) 1 0 . . . lDe7 1 1 dxeS ! dxeS ( l l . . .fxeS 1 2 f4 is extremely dan­ gerous for Black) 1 2 "f3 followed by 1 3 1Id 1 was good for White in Anand­ Agdestein, Baguio City jr Wch 1 987. .te7 5 0-0 When playing Black, Anand often employs the Open Variation, s . . . lDxe4, which is best answered by 6 d4 or 6 :e l . 6 lIe1 d6 6 . . . bS is the main move, but in blitz games I have often seen even experi­ enced players castling automatically, and forgetting that 6 . . . 0-0?? loses a pawn to 7 .txc6 dxc6 8 lDxeS . 7 c3 White prepares the advance d2-d4, because 7 d4 bS ! 8 .tb3 (8 dxeS is pos­ sible, but innocuous) 8 . . .lDxd4 (8 . . . .tg4 is good too) 9 lDxd4 exd4 1 0 'fi'xd4?? loses to 1 0 . . . cS followed by . . . c4. However, 7 .txc6+ bxc6 8 d4 exd4 9 lDxd4 .td7 10 "f3 ! , with ideas of playing eS followed by lDxc6, is a log­ ical alternative path to the one taken in the actual game.

.t g4 7 8 d3 Anand now decides to delay push­ ing his d-pawn to d4, because the f3knight (which would normally assist a central advance) has been pinned by Black's last move. lDd7 8 ... In some lines Black may be able to achieve the manoeuvre . . . lDcS-e6 to fight even harder for control of the d4-square, and . . . fS could become a possibility too. 9 .t e3 ! (D) .••

Now 9 . . . lDcS? 1 0 .txcS dxcS 1 1 .txc6+ bxc6 1 2 h3 ( 1 2 'ii'a4 ! ?) is terri­ ble for Black, because 1 2 . . . .txf3 1 3 "xf3 leaves him with a seriously crip­ pled structure on the queenside, and 12 . . . i.hS simply loses a pawn to 1 3 g4 .tg6 14 lDxeS . .txf3 9 ... Quite understandably, Black may not like the look of 9 . . . 0-0 1 0 lDbd2, because then it is n o longer possible to exchange material with 10 . . . .t gS

29

Viswanathan Anand

(which occurs in the actual game), and so the black pieces would remain rather congested. However, it is also true that giving up a bishop for a (shorter-range) knight constitutes at least a small con­ cession, which again leaves White with an undeniable, enduring edge at the end of the opening phase in this battle. 10 "xf3 i.g5 0-0 11 tDd2 12 i.c2 Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 9 (solution given on page I S4) White rejected the move 12 d4, but why?

h6 12 13 l:lfi! White shifts a rook back to fl be­ cause he knows that, to be consistent with the move lO . . . i.gS, Black must soon exchange bishops on e3, and af­ ter the reply fxe3 the fl -rook will be ideally placed on an open file. 13 ... tDb6?! The black knight on b6 performs no really positive function there, and in­ stead it looks more purposeful to play 1 3 . . . g6 with the idea of . . . fS soon af­ terwards. 14 l:ladl White is ready to advance d3-d4 now that the d2-knight has been pro­ tected again (and that point is empha­ sized by the solution to the last Reader 's Challenge). i.xe3 14 15 fxe3 !

The logical follow-up t o White 's 1 3th move. 15 g6 16 1Wg3 'ii'g 5 17 'ii'h3 Anand does not mind moving his queen again, because he knows that its black counterpart, which has been drawn forward to gS , will be troubled by the possibility of White playing llf3-g3. 1;g7 (D) 17

w

18 :f3 llg8 l:laf8 19 Adfl 20 i.b3! The ' Spanish bishop' re-emerges to turn up the heat against the most sensi­ tive point in Black's camp. tDd8 20 For the moment Black is just man­ aging to withstand the pressure, but his passive position is practically de­ void of any active prospects. 21 tDc4 The logical idea behind this move is that after eliminating the b6-knight •.•

30

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

White will be threatening to penetrate Black' s camp at d7 with the lady in waiting on h3, and that explains Nigel Short ' s retreat at move 22. tLlxc4 21 "ile7 22 i.xc4 23 l:tf6! This powerful move is like rolling a huge boulder in front of the f7-pawn to lock in all of Black's pieces. l:teS 23 If 23 . . . 'ilVxf6 24 l:txf6 'it'xf6, then 25 'ilVd7 ! will cost Black dearly on the queenside, but on the opposite flank White must of course avoid 25 "ilxh6?? l:thS. 24 'ii' h4 Anand gives more support to his f6-rook because Black was threaten­ ing 24 . . . 'ilVxf6, intending 25 Axf6 'it'xf6 26 'ilVd7 l:te7 . It is also worth noting that 24 l:xf7+ tLlxf7 25 l:xf7+ 'ilVxf7 26 i.xf7 �xf7 27 'ii'xh6 is pos­ sible for White, but Black's position is solid, and so the white queen, even with two extra pawns, would have a hard time trying to conquer Black's two rooks. AgfS 24 . . 25 b4 White already has a vast superiority on the king side, and now he seizes more space on the other wing too. 'ii'd7 25 ... 26 i.d5! (D) Here White just probes his oppo­ nent's uncomfortable cramped posi­ tion and, in effect, says to Black 'What can you do now?' . The point is that

B

.•.

.

26 . . . c6 (played in the actual game) weakens the d6-pawn, and 26 . . . l:te7 ? falls into a deadly trap. Reader's C h a l lenge n o . 10 (solution given on page 1 54) What is the ' deadly trap ' that 26 . . . l:te7? walks into?

26 c6 tLle6 27 i.b3 2S 'ii'g3 White's queen eyeing the e5-pawn has stopped 2S . . . d5, while also worry­ ing Black's strained f7-g6 chain. 2S 'ii'dS tLlg5 29 'ii'f3 30 'ii'g4! d5 If 30 . . . 'ii'xf6 3 1 Axf6 �xf6, then the invasion 32 'ilVd7 is horrible for Black. Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 11 (solution given on pages 1 54-5) In response to 30 . . . Ae7, how can White win material by force?

31

exd5

cxd5

31

Viswanathan Anand

32 h4 'h for hunting ! ' is a memorable at­ tacking motto of B elgium's Gorik Cools. 32 �h7 33 :6fS f6 34 hS �gS After 34 . . . g5 35 'ii'f3 e4 36 'ii'g 3, the d5-pawn is doomed. 1i'd6 35 hxg6 36 d4 This same move would have been even more unpleasant for Black after 35 . . . �xg6, as in that case White's threats include 37 .t c2 to get at the ex­ posed enemy king. 36 �e4 (D) .•.

AxeS 37 dxeS 37 . . . fxe5 loses very quickly to 38 1If7+. 38 lIxeS 1i'xeS 3 8 . . . fxe5 39 1If7+ ! ':'xf7 40 gxf7+ �g5 (40 . . . xf7 41 'it'xe4) 41 'it'c8 cj;xf7 42 'ii' x b7+ is hopeless for Black. 39 l:.fS 'ii'xc3 40 :xdS 'ii'xe3+?

40 . . . 'it'e1+ 4 1 "'h2 'ii'h 1 + 42 �xh1 �f2+ 43 gl �xg4 44 :d7+ xg6 45 lbb7 ':'c8 offered Black better chances of fighting on, and this line il­ lustrates that even when one has been 'against the wall' for a long time, con­ stant alertness and tenacity can still bring possibilities of survival . 41 h2 Now Black has no useful checks left, and his own king is in deadly peril. 41 �gS (DJ ...

w

42 'it'd7+! 42 'it'f5 threatens 43 ':'d7+, but Black can defend with 42 ... :e8, and so Anand instead forces his opponent's king to come forward immediately ... and then White's pieces are ready to finish the game with a merciless at­ tack. 'iii'xg6 42 ... 43 .tc2+ 'iti>hS After 43 .. . f5, 44 :d6+ h5 (44 . :f6 45 'it'xf5+) 45 .td 1 + h4 46 :xh6# is a clear path to victory for White. ..

32

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

44 'ii'fS This move stops 44 . . . .. f4+, while also tightening the noose around Black's king and threatening 45 .id 1 + c;Ph4 46 "g4#. c;Ph4 44 4S :d3 White shatters Black's only hope, which was 45 . . . ..g3+. •.•

Vishy had with White about to play his 27th move in the blindfold clash Anand-J.Polgar, Monaco 1 995 . Th i n k before you m ove l

(solution given on page 1 55)

w

Read er's C h a l l e n g e no. 12 (solution given on page 155) Imagine that the c2-bishop were in­ stead on d3 prior to the last move (and so 45 l:td3 would not be possible). How could White still force a quick win?

'ii'e S+ 4S c;PhS 46 g3+ 'ii'e 2+ 47 .idl+ Nigel Short sportingly allows Vishy Anand to say a chess-player's favour­ ite word . . . 4 8 .ixe2# (1-0) 'Checkmate ! ' . We will shortly be seeing the star of Chapter 2 in action again, this time at the 1 997 Linares super-tournament, where Anand' s first win of the compe­ tition came as Black against the Ruy Lopez in round 8. You' ll be pleased to hear that we 're visiting sunny Spain, and sitting opposite us there will be the greatest female chess-player of all time. One game against GM Judit Polgar is already tough, but I ' m going to double the pressure now by also plunging you into the situation which

Anand J. Polgar Monaco Amber blindfold 1 995 -

White has a choice of 24 legal moves, but can you find the strongest one, just as Vishy did? Game 4 J. Pol g a r V. Anand Linares 1 997 Ruy Lopez (Spanish), MI/lller Defence -

1 e4 eS 2 �f3 �c6 3 .ibS a6 4 .ia4 �f6 S 0-0 This situation, which has occurred in literally millions of games, is as

33

Viswanathan Anand

well-known a s the Taj Mahal, but Black' s next move disturbs the reflec­ tion of Game 3 . 5 J.cS I have personal experience of this active move, and of the related line S . . . bS 6 J.b3 J.cS . However, I feel that the latter option can be strongly an­ swered by 7 a4 ! , and so nowadays I prefer Anand's chosen move-order. 6 c3

4 . . . b6 ! ? S "dS ?, where White ' s queen has unwisely come forward too early again?

...

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 13 (solution given on page I SS) After 6 lLlxeS lLlxeS 7 d4 bS ! , I have been very successful as Black in the line S J.b3 J.xd4 9 "'xd4 d6 (threat­ ening . . . cS -c4), while with S dxeS lLlxe4 9 "'dS ? (D), White falls into one of my favourite opening traps.

6 bS 7 J.b3 Almost 2S years ago in Dundee (Scotland ; not S outh Africa or the USA ! ), a great teacher n amed Paul Fitzpatrick introduced me to the ' Greek gift' sacrifice by using as an example the moves 7 J.c2 O-O? (7 . . . d6 is a very important move, so that after S d4 J.b6 Black can maintain a pawn on eS to give himself a strong foothold in the centre) S d4 exd4 (S . . . J.d6 9 dxeS lLlxeS ? 1 0 lLlxeS J.xeS 1 1 f4 is also disastrous for Black) 9 eS lLldS 10 J.xh7+ ! (once seen, the Greek gift is practically never forgotten) 1 O . . . xh7 I l lLlgs+ (now Black gets hit by a Tro­ j an horse) and then: a) 1 1 . . .�gS 12 'ifhs ':eS ( 1 2 . . ....xgS would prolong the game a bit, but without changing the final result) 1 3 'ii' x f7+ �hS 1 4 "hS+ �gS I S "h7+ �fS 16 "'hS+ �e7 17 'iix g7#. b) 1 1 . . .�g6 12 'ii'd 3+ fS 1 3 exf6+ �xf6 1 4 "'f3+ �g6 ( 14 . A i'eS loses quickly to IS ':e l + �d6 1 6 lLle4+) I S "'e4+ :fS 1 6 g 4 wins for White. 7 d6 7 . . . lLlxe4? S "e2 dS (S . lLlxf2?? 9 d4) 9 d3 lLlf6 1 0 d4 ! is extremely un­ pleasant for Black. S a4 S d4 J.b6 9 dxeS (this move is harm­ less to Black, but one should u nder­ stand why) 9 . lLlxeS (threatening the .•.

.

a) Can you spot the trap? b) Incidentally, can you find a sim­ ilar trick for Black after the moves I d4 lLlf6 2 c4 eS 3 dxeS lLle4 (the Faj arowicz Variation of the B udapest Gambit) 4 a3 (to prevent 4 . . . J.b4+)

.

.

.

34

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

pin 1O . . . .tg4) IO lDxeS dxe5 1 1 "xd8+ �xd8 is very comfortable for Black, whose king is ideally placed near the centre to play an active role in the middlegame without danger from queens . Furthermore, if 12 .txf7, then 1 2 . . . :f8 1 3 .tds lDxdS 14 exdS .tb7 shows Black's fS-rook and bishop­ pair pointing menacingly in the gen­ eral direction of White's king. ltb8 8 Although IM lonathan Rowson re­ cently branded the alternative 8 . . . .tg4 with a ' ? ! ' , I find it to be a very natural developing move, and its other practi­ tioners include super-GMs Anatoly Karpov, Michael Adams, and Anand himself in the later game A.Kovace­ vic-Anand, Belgrade 1 997 . 9 d3 9 d4 may seem more obvious, but after 9 . . . .tb6 Black threatens to put a lot of indirect pressure on White's d4pawn with the pinning move 1O . . . .tg4. Therefore the prophylactic 1 0 h3 is of­ ten played, followed, for example, by 1 O . . . .tb7 ( 1 0 . . . lDxe4?? 1 1 .tdS ) 1 1 lIe l 0-0 1 2 axbS axbS 1 3 lDa3 exd4 14 cxd4 lDaS I S .tc2 b4 1 6 lDbl cS 1 7 .t g S h 6 1 8 .th4 cxd4 ! , a s in Anand­ Shirov, Wijk aan Zee 1 99 8 . Then White chose 19 lDbd2 instead of 1 9 lDxd4, which would have allowed 1 9 . . . b3 ! 20 lDxb3 lDxb3 2 1 .txb3 gS 22 .tg3 lDxe4, with an excellent dy­ namic position for Black. 9 0-0 axb5 10 axb5 11 lte1 .tb6

Here, the black bishop simply avoids the possibility of getting hit by any sudden advance d3-d4. 12 lDbd2 (DJ

.•.

lDg4! 12 This direct attacking move is really rather effective, and it is well worth noting a very similar idea for Black in the Giuoco Piano (or Italian Game) at the end of the line 1 e4 eS 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 i.c4 lDf6 4 d3 .tcS S c3 a6 6 0-0 (6 d4? exd4 7 cxd4 .tb4+ occurred in a blitz game Stanton-Motwani, Dundee 1 990, and the abrupt finish was 8 .td2 .txd2+ { 8 . . . lDxe4 9 .txb4 lDxb4 1 0 .txf7 + ! �xf7 1 1 " b3+ i s fine for White } 9 lDbxd2 dS 1 0 exd5 lDxdS 1 1 " b3 .te6 ! 1 2 'ifxb7 ?? lDaS 0- 1 ) 6. . . .ta7 7 .tb3 d6 8 lDbd2 0-0 9 ltel 1 ! lDg4 ! , because 1 0 lte2 i s answered by 1O . . . �h8, planning 1 1 . . . fS . h8 1 3 lIe2 lDh6 14 h3 In this special case, the knight re­ treats to an edge of the board so as to leave the f7-pawn free to leap forward.

35

Viswanathan Anand

15 lbn 1 5 g4 lbxg4 ! ? 1 6 hxg4 .i.xg4 gives Black two pawns and a powerful initia­ tive in return for the sacrificed knight. fS 15 ... 16 .i.gS (DJ 1 6 .i.xh6 gxh6 1 7 d4 "f6 ! also leaves White struggling to contain the energy emanating from Black's active army.

"ii'e8 16 gxb6 17 .i.xh6 18 lbg3 After I S d4 f4 White can no longer play lbg3, and so Black's queen will soon land on h5 , thereby creating threats such as . . . .i.xh3 . 18 ... lbe7 ! ? If I S . . . f4 1 9 lbf5 .i.xf5 2 0 exf5 lhf5 , then 2 1 'iWc2 ! threatens the push d3-d4 without allowing the reply . . . e4 . White would then have reasonable compensation for her deficit of one pawn. f4 19 d4 20 lbfS

20 lbn ? would be much too passive. 20 lbxfS e4 21 exfS 22 lbd2 Reader's C h a l l e n g e no. 14 (solution given on page 1 55 ) After 2 2 .i.d5 .i.xf5 23 .i.xe4? .i.xe4 24 lbd2 d5 25 f3, can you find a very strong continuation involving ' f for forward ! ' for Black?

.i.xfS 22 ... 23 lbxe4?! 23 .i.d5 ! is better, with the follow­ ing lines in mind: a) 23 . . . f3 24 lbxf3 ! c6 25 .i.xe4 ! i.xe4 26 lbd2 d5 27 f3 , which looks similar to the last Reader's Challenge, but a crucial difference is that Black no longer has his important f-pawn. b) 23 . . . e3 24 fxe3 fxe3 25 lbn , and White's position is not nearly as diffi­ cult as in the actual game. 23 . ..-g6 23 . . . f3 24 gxf3 .i.xh3 might at first sight seem terrible for White, but after 25 lbg3 the situation is far from clear. Indeed, the black king on hS cannot ignore the possibility of the opponent soon playing 1i'd3 followed by .i.c2 and/or :'ae l , and then :'e7. Another path of temptation for Black is 23 . . . .i.xe4 24 f3 (24 .i.d5 ? ? .i.xd5 25 l:txeS l:lbxeS shows White winning the black queen, but .:t+2i. is much too high a price) 24 . . . d5 25 fxe4 dxe4 (25 . . . f3 ? 26 gxf3 l:txf3 27 .i. xd5 l:xh3 .

.

36

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

28 llg2 is suddenly very serious for Black), but 26 .i.d5 may be just OK for White. .i.xh3 24 f3 ':be8 25 'ii'd2 If White 's queen had stayed on d l , then Black would now be threatening to win by 26 . . . ':xe4 ! 27 fxe4 (27 llxe4 'iVxg2# or 27 .i.c2 llxe2 28 .i.xg6 l:txg2+) 27 . . . f3 28 llf2 .i.xg2, with a decisive attack against the king. lle7 26 llae1 Black is preparing to play . . . :g7, and that now prompts White to move her king off the g-file. llg7 27 �n 28 llf2 Imagine the horror if White had somehow touched the g-pawn, only to discover that its sole legal move is 28 gxh3 , allowing 28 . . . 'iVgl#. 28 .i.d7 'ii' h5 (D) 29 .i.c2

w

30 �e2? (D) 30 b4 ! would have stopped the pow­ erful push which Anand plays next,

but it is also important to realize that 30 . . . d5 (30 . . . 'iVh l + 3 1 �e2 'iVxg2?? 32 llxg2 llxg2+ 33 12Jf2) 3 1 12Jc5 .i.xc5 32 dxc5 'iVh l + 33 �e2 'iVxg2 34 'iVd4 ! followed by �d2 is OK for White, as it is not easy for Black to utilize the surplus doubled h-pawns effectively. 30 b4! White's king has just begun to shel­ ter nearer the queenside, so Black im­ mediately opens up extra lines there. 31 �d1 3 1 cxb4 'iVb5+ is hopeless for White after 32 .i.d3 'iVd5 or 32 �d l lla8 . 31 bxc3 .i.e8 32 bxc3 33 llm 'ii'aS 34 llh1 h5 The h-pawn strides forward confi­ dently, enjoying the extra support which Black's 32nd move intended for it. 35 12Jf6? White 's position was unenviable, but this move accelerates events and lets Black win very quickly. 35 ... "a1+ 36 'ii'c l 36 �e2 walks into 36 ... l:txg2+. 'iVxc3! 36 ... 37 12Jxe8 37 ':xe8 ':xe8 38 12Jxe8 llxg2 3 9 :f1 'iVxd4+ 4 0 �el .i.a5+ is another way for White to exit. 37 ... llxg2 The pieces huddled around White's king cannot save him from the deadly checks which Black threatens at d4 or B, so it's time to throw in the towel. 0-1 .•.

Viswanathan Anand

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 15 (solution given on page 155) Imagine that the h5-pawn was not on the board at the end of the game. In that case, how could White force checkmate in seven moves (starting at move 38)?

2.2

w

Soon we will be in a whole new chapter with another chess genius, who is affectionately known as 'Tricky Mickey' , but first let's enjoy the fol­ lowing six tricky treats from further instructive games involving Vishy Anand, the friendliest yet deadliest 'Tiger from Madras' .

Test 2

Anand - Khalifman Moscow rpd 1 995 Sticking with the same tournament, White can win quickly now. 2.3

2. 1

Morozevich - Anand Moscow rpd 1995 Black to play and win.

37

Anand - Vagaoian Riga Tal mem 1995 White to play and win.

38

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmas.�ers

B ra i nteaser no. 2

2.4

Anand - Adams Linares PCA Ct (5) 1 994 White is about to play his 52nd move. He found a deadly idea that caused Black to resign at move 5 3 . 2.5

Anand - Spassky Cannes (Youth vs Veterans) 1 989 White to play and win .

One player has just advanced his most precious piece, and he thinks ' If only it could be my turn to move, then I would win almost instantly, but unfor­ tunately my opponent now has a forced win ' . There are three questions for you to answer: a) Whose turn is it to move, White or Black? b) How can that player win by force? c) How would the other player have won if it had been his turn to move? Solutions to this test start on page 1 5 5 , but now a new chapter is radiat­ ing energy from j ust around the cor­ ner. . .

3 M ichae l Adam s

'Put the ball in the back of the net' 'Mickey ' Adams (on numerous occasions!) Date of Birth

Wednesday

17

November

Place of Birth

Truro, England

Grandmaster Title

1 989

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998

27 1 5

World Ranking

8

1 97 1

Miracles appear to happen on the chessboard when the pieces are being guided by the exceptionally gifted hands of Michael Adams, who was born on the offi­ cial feast day of Saint Gregory the Wonderworker. It's also quite appropriate that November 1 7 marks the birthday of film celebrities such as Danny de Vito, Rock Hudson, and Martin Scorsese, since Mickey loves movies almost as much as chess. Really good moves seem to get reeled off effortlessly by England's super­ talented top-ranked grandmaster, but behind the outwardly relaxed scenes, some work has certainly played an important part in bringing modest Mickey numer­ ous great rewards such as equal first place at Dortmund 1 998, undefeated on a score of 6/9 in a ten-player field with a highly impressive average FIDE rating of 2699. After recently becoming his country 's first-ever player to smash through the 2700-rating barrier, the 27-year-old man from Truro is calmly progressing even further while his moves storm opponents along the way. An earlier example of a ' demolition j ob ' is provided by the following 1 996 game in New York, where GM Grigory Serper gets pounded by a power-packed Adams ball heading straight for the back of the net. In the Sicilian Richter-Rauzer, Bl ack has rarely been hit by an earthquake registering so strongly on the Richter scale ! Such potent play enabled Mickey to win the 1 2-player all-play-al l event on 8 11211 1 ( 1 112 points clear of the runner-up ! ) with a fabulous 2780 tournament rat­ ing performance (TPR). He must have been up on 'cloud nine' , and Mickey' s many fans might like t o note that the nine letters i n see o u r TPR c an b e rear­ ranged to make Serper out !

40

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

Game 5 M . Adams - G. Serper New York 1 996 Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Attack 1 e4 cS 2 lDf3 d6 cxd4 3 d4 lDf6 4 lDxd4 lDc6 S lDc3 6 � gS The Richter-Rauzer Attack is so di­ rect that it heads the list of White's ag­ gressive options at move six, but perhaps 6 � c4 can claim a share of the top spot too. 6 ... e6 Read er's C h a l l e n g e n o . 16 (solution given on page 1 56) Consider the position after 6 . . . 'ifaS 7 � b5 � d7 S � xf6 ! ? (S lDb3 is a nat­ ural alternative) 8 . . . gxf6 (D).

that 9 . . . lDxd4 and 9 . . . 'ifb4 would both lose for Black? 7 "d2 An interesting sideline is 7 � b5 ! ? � d7 8 � xc6 bxc6 9 "f3 , planning the push e4-e5 soon. 7 ... a6 Before challenging the g5-bishop with . . . h6, Black prevents most ideas involving lDdb5 , because 7 . . . h6 8 � xf6 ! 'ii' x f6? 9 lDdb5 "d8 1 0 0-0-0 spells disaster for the. d6-pawn. The key move 8 � xf6 ! is vastly superior to 8 � h4?, which gets punished by the little tactic 8 . . . lDxe4 ! . 8 0-0-0 (D)

B

w

Can you discover an interesting move involving the white queen so

An immediate threat now is 9 lDxc6 bxc6 10 e5 , exploiting a pin on the black d-pawn. 8 ... h6 8 . . . � d7 9 f3 lDxd4 10 'ifxd4 b5 was played in J.Nunn-Kopec, British League (4NCL) 1 998/9, and Grand­ master John Nunn won in crushing style, starting with a case of 'f for

Michael Adams

forward ! ' as follows: 1 1 f4 ! (the threat of 1 2 eS fully justifies White ' s second move with his f-pawn in this game) 1 1 . . . .i.e7 1 2 eS dxeS 1 3 fxeS tbdS 1 4 .i.xe7 tb xe7 I S .i.d3 'fIc7 ( 1 S . . . 0-0 loses a pawn to 16 .i.xh7+ �xh7 1 7 'fIxd7) 1 6 tbe4 (White ' s knight i s ea­ ger to reach the juicy outpost at d6) 16 . . . tbfS 17 'fIf2 ! ( 1 7 tbd6+ lets Black get out of trouble by exchanging queens by 17 . . . 'fI xd6 1 8 'fIxd6 tb xd6 19 exd6) 17 . . . 'fIxeS (Black decides to grab a ' hot' pawn instead of playing 17 . . . 0-0, because then White stays firmly in control of the game with 1 8 g4 tbe7 1 9 tbd6, which threatens 20 .i.xh7+ ! �xh7 2 1 'fIh4+ �g8 22 'fIxe7) 1 8 g4 tbh6 (White wins quickly after 18 . . . tbd6 1 9 tb xd6+ 'fIxd6 20 .i.xbS { or 20 .i.e4 } and 18 . . . tb d4 19 llhe 1 0-0 20 .i.f1 nets a piece for White on the d-file; finally, 1 8 . . . tbe7 1 9 l:[he 1 0-0 20 b4, threatening tbcs or gS and then tb f6+ gives White a very strong attack) 1 9 l:the 1 ! .i.c6 ( 1 9 . . . tbxg4 10ses to 20 'fiB , threatening 2 1 'fIxg4 or 2 1 tb d6+ to uncover a deadly attack against B lack ' s a8-rook, but in the ac­ tual game White still finds a really crisp finish) with this position (D). 20 .i.xbS ! 'fIc7 (Black could not capture White's bishop because of the killing reply 2 1 tbd6+) 2 1 tLld6+ 1 -0. Black resigned instead of going in for 2 1 . . .'ii,? f8 22 'fIcs (one of many win­ ning moves) 22 . . . axbS 23 tLlfS+ �g8 (23 . . . xg7 19 i.xf7 ! ! (D) .•.

B

The lines in the last note empha­ sized the importance of the f7-pawn, and so White's bishop boldly sacri­ fices itself to eliminate one of the few defenders near Black's king. 19 l:txe2 19 . . . 'iit xf7 20 'ifxh7+ leads to : a) 20 . . . e6 2 1 'ifxg6+. b) 20 . . . 'it>f8 21 l:xd6 i.e6 (2 l . ..'ii'f5 22 :b3 :xe2 23 :dS+ :eS 24 'ifhS+ wins quickly for White) 22 :xe6 %be6 23 :xb7 'ii'e l + 24 g2 leaves Black helpless against the threats of mate at f7 and hS. c) 20 ... �f6 2 1 lIxd6+ and then: c l ) 2 1 . . . i. e6 22 lIxb7 with threats like 23 'tWf7+ �g5 24 'ii'f4+ �h5 25 'ii' h4#. c2) 2 1 . . . :e6 22 'tWhS+ 'it>e7 23 :xe6+ 'it>xe6 24 :b3 leaves the fatally exposed black king without any satis­ factory defence against White's nu­ merous threats, such as 25 :e3+. 20 i.d5 White's bishop returns to d5 to cut off Black's queen's view of the king­ side. 'ii'c5 20 ... 21 'iff4 :e7 2 1 . .. i. e6 loses immediately to 22 lIxb7+. 22 l:tbc1 'ifb6 23 :e1 (D) ...

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 30 (solution given on page 1 60) Imagine that the e l -rook could somehow be beamed onto one of the six unoccupied squares on the h-file,

68

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

B

Black ' s queenside units never got ac­ tivated, and Black was, in effect, play­ ing two pieces down. Some lovely tactics are coming up soon in Loek van Wely's game against WGM Almira Skripchenko at the 1 998 Lost B oys tournament in Ant­ werp, but first let's warm up again by looking at the following position. Where to look?

and that it would then still be White ' s turn t o move. a) Which square would enable White to win most quickly? b) Which square would enable White to force mate in three moves? c) On which other square (not oc­ curring in 'a' or ' b ' ) would White's rook actually be attacked by Black? d) Which square would enable White to force mate in four? e) Which square should White not choose for the transported rook? t) Only one square remains (which was not used in parts 'a' to 'e' ), and in that case can you discover how White forces mate in eight, with the first move being a check? g) Imagine that White 's c l -rook suddenly disappears from the board. Would this affect parts 'a' to 'f' at all? 'ifd8 23 ... 1 -0 24 'ii'd4+ ! Black resigned because of 24 . . .'itfS 25 'it'h8# or 24 . . . �h6 25 'ii' h 4+ 'it g7 26 :'xe7+. It is worth noting that

(solution given on page 1 60)

w

Van Wely - Kamsky Amsterdam 1 996 White to play and win quickly. Game 1 0 A . Skripchenko

-

L. van Wely

Antwerp 1 998 Sicilian Defence, Rossolimo Variation 1 e4 2 lDf3

c5 lDc6

Loek van Wely

Loek very often plays 2 . . . d6, with a recent case being Ahmad-Van Wely, Elista OL 1 998, which continued 3 c3 lLlf6 4 �e2 (4 �c4 ! ? �xe4 5 'ii'a4+ lLlc6 6 �xf7+ �xf7 7 'ii'xe4 is a fasci­ nating favourite line as White of Vladimir B aklan, a young Ukrainian IM) 4 . . . g6 (4 . . . lLlxe4?? 5 'ii'a4+) 5 0-0 �g7 6 �b5+ �d7 7 �xd7+ 'ii'x d7 8 lIe l 0-0 9 d4 lLla6 ! ? (this is an inter­ esting way to keep the tension in the centre for a little longer by not yet ex­ changing pawns on d4) 10 �g5 cxd4 ! 1 1 cxd4 d5 ! (this is perfectly timed be­ cause if 12 e5 , 12 . . . lLle4 hits the g5bishop) 12 �xf6 exf6 13 exd5 lLlb4 ! followed by 14 . . . lLlxd5 , with an excel­ lent position for Black. e6 3 �b5 Among top players, this move and 3 . . . g6 represent Black's most popular responses to White's 3 �b5, the Ross­ olimo Variation, named after GM Nico­ las Rossolimo ( 1 9 1 0-75) who scored numerous beautiful wins with it. lLlge7 4 0-0 White may soon play �xc6, and Black wants to be able to recapture on c6 with a knight, thereby keeping his pawn-structure intact. Of course, White could have played the earlier capture 4 � xc6, as Holland' s newest young GM, Erik van den Doel, did in Van den Doel-Motylev, Erevan jr Ech 1 998. The continuation was 4 . . . bxc6 5 d3 lLle7 6 lLlg5 ! ? (this original idea of Australia's GM lan Rogers gives White's f-pawn the freedom to go for­ ward, and s ometimes the queen may

69

consider zooming out to h5) with this position (D).

6 . . . f6 (6 . . . h6 7 lLlh3 d5 8 f4 g6 9 0-0 �g7 10 lLlf2 �a6 I 1 lLla3 0-0 1 2 IIbl l:r.b8 1 3 c4 favoured White in Rogers­ V.Milov, Baden 1 998, because Black's bishops were not active enough to compensate for his crippled queenside pawn-structure) 7 lLlh3 g6 8 0-0 �g7 9 lLlc3 0-0 1 0 f4 d6 1 1 �e3 l:r.b8 1 2 l:r.bl f5 1 3 'ii'd 2 �a6 1 4 l:r.fe l 'ii'd7 1 5 e5 ! (this energetic thrust is designed to de­ stroy the base of Black's d6-c5 pawn­ chain) 1 5 . . . dxe5 16 fxe5 � xe5 1 7 �xc5 � g 7 1 8 lLlg5 ! � h 6 ( 1 8 . . . e 5 1 9 lLlf3) 1 9 'ii'f4 l:r.fe8 20 'ii' h 4 � xg5 2 1 'ii'x g5 . Black's position i s now riddled with weaknesses on the dark squares in particular, and White won 20 moves later. 5 b3 5 c3 d5 6 exd5 'ii'x d5 7 l:r.e l �d7 8 lLla3 ! lLlg6 9 �c4 (made possible by White's 8th move) 9 . . . 1Wh5 1 0 d4 cxd4 l l lLlb5 ! l:lc8 1 2 �e2 ! (threatening to embarrass Black's queen with 1 3 lLlg5)

70

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

1 2 . . . 'iVd5 1 3 lLlfxd4 a6 (if 1 3 . . . lLlxd4 14 lLlxd4 then Black must meet the se­ rious threat of 1 5 �f3) 14 �f3 'iVc5 1 5 �e3 ! gave White a dangerous initia­ tive in Rublevsky-Shabalov, Elista OL 1 998. Reader's C h a l lenge n o . 31 (solution given on pages 1 60- 1 ) 5 :e l lLlg6 6 c 3 d5 ? ! occurred in Benjamin-Shaked, US Ch (Denver) 1 998. Can you discover the same re­ ally strong seventh move which GM Joel Benjamin played as White?

5 6 �xc6 7 �b2

a6 lLlxc6 b5 (D)

cxd4 10 lLlxd4 'iWf6 ! transposes back into the main game) 9 . . . d6 10 lLlbd2 e5 (shutting out the b2-bishop) 1 1 lLln g6. Russia' s IM Alexander Cherniaev was then probably very satisfied after emerging from the opening phase with such a pleasant position as Black, and he went on to win in another 20 moves . 8 cxd4 9 fud4 �b7 10 :el ? This may look quite plausible but it is actually an error, as Black's power­ ful next move demonstrates, and so White should have preferred 10 lLlxc6 for example. 10 'iff6! (D)

w

w

The attack by White's bishop to­ wards g7 currently makes it difficult for Black to develop his fS-bishop, so instead he decides to gain some space on the opposite wing. S d4 H.Meyer-Chemiaev, Martigny 1 998 deviated with 8 l:te l � b7 9 d3 (9 d4

Suddenly it is White who is in trou­ ble on the al -h8 diagonal . �c5 1 1 c3 Now both of Black's bishops are pointing menacingly in the general di­ rection of White's king. 12 1i'd2 0-0 lLle5 ! 13 a4

Loek van Wely

The increasing intensity of the storm of black pieces gathering near the kingside is worrying for White. 14 axb5 14 f4 llJg6 1 5 g3 ( 1 5 :'fl ..txe4) 15 . . . e5 16 fxe5 llJxe5 leaves White facing the threat of the terrible fork 1 7 . . . llJf3+. 'it'g6! 14 ... The e4-pawn is certainly feeling the heat now, but White must be even more concerned about Black eliminating the d4-knight and then landing a fatal fork at f3 with his own knight. 15 'iWe2 Of course 1 5 f4?? loses instantly to 1 5 . . . llJf3+. f5 ! 15 ... Loek's f-pawn leaps forward into the fray. 16 f4 If 1 6 llJd2 fxe4 (Black is threaten­ ing 1 7 . . . llJf3+ among other things) 1 7 llJxe4, then Black can win material with 17 . . . ..txd4 1 8 cxd4 llJf3+. 16 ... fxe4! ! (D) 17 bxa6 After 17 fxe5 e3 (threatening the deadly 1 8 . . J:tf2) 1 8 l:.fl :'xfl +, 1 9 'iWxfl AfS 20 'it'e2 A f2 i s hopeless for White, as is 1 9 'iit x fl ..txd4 20 cxd4 l:tf8+ 2 1 'iit e l :'f2 22 'ii' x e3 :'xb2 23 llJd2 'ii' x g2 24 bxa6 'ii' h 1 + 25 llJfl

71

w

..tg2 26 'ii'f4 (26 0-0-0 is desirable but sadly illegal ! ) 26 . . . ..txfl 27 'iWxfl 'it'e4+ 28 1ti>d l 'iWc2+ 29 'it>e l 'iWd2#. 17 llJf3+ 18 'iirh 1 llJxel Axal 19 axb7 llJd3 20 ..txal Black has a decisive material ad­ vantage, and the game ends rapidly. 21 llJd2 ..txd4 22 cxd4 d5 0-1 White resigned because even her b7-pawn could not cause an iota of bother for Black without the support of other white units. I ' m sure that many people will be looking forward to seeing England's hero of Chapter 6 in action, but first Loek has a few more treats for us.

72

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

Test 5 5. 1

5.3

Van Wely - Topalov Monaco Amber blindfold 1997

Van Wely - Leko Groningen 1 995

White to play and win more material by force.

Black is to play. In spite of having rooks doubled on the seventh rank, Loek is going down here because after his opponent's next two moves White must give up an exchange.

5.2

B

Sadler - Van Wely Buenos Aires 1 995 What is Black's strongest move?

73

Loek van Wely

Brainteaser no. 5

5.4

Galego - Van Wely Breda ECC 1998

Van Wely - Kamsky Groningen 1 995

Black is to play. The threat of 3 1 j.,a7 looks fatal for him, but he finds a sav­ ing resource.

Must Black keep his c7 -rook on the c­ file (to protect the c2-knight), or can he afford to move it away?

5.5

Solutions to this test start on page 1 6 1 , but now get ready to saddle up for lots more action starting on the next page . . .

Svidler - Van Wely Groningen 1995 It is Black to play and win.

6 Matthew Sad l er

'Matthew Sadler set a record that may never be beaten' British Chess Magazine, July 1 997 (regarding 1 0 consecutive wins with Black that Sadler scoredfor England in the 1 996 Erevan Olympiad followed by the 1 997 European Team Championship in Pula) Date of Birth

Wednesday 1 5 May

Place of Birth

Gillingham, Kent, England

Grandmaster Title

1 993

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998

2660

World Ranking

19

1 974

Matthew Sadler i s well-named, because besides being exceptionally hardwork­ ing at chess, he also has tremendous talent for it ; and (in Hebrew ) 'Matthew ' means 'gift of the Lord ' . At the board, Matthew is always concentrate� and seems to radiate immense power, which turns into great victories such as his win­ . ning of the 1 997/8 Hastings Premier tournament with 7/9 ( 1 112 points clear of the runners-up ! ) . I find myself picturing some inexhaustible source of radioactivity, and curiously one of the discoverers of radium 1 00 years ago was Pierre Curie ( 1 859- 1 906), who had the same 15 May birthday as 24-year-old Matthew ! An­ other celebrity sharing the same link is Norway 's top GM, Simen Agdestein, who is a famous footballer too, but now it's time to see Matthew 'putting the boot in' against a strong Swedish IM at the 1 997 European Team Championship. Game 1 1 - J. H e l l sten Pula Echt 1 997 Slav Defence, 4 ... a6

M . Sadler

dS 1 d4 c6 2 c4 As it happens, the Slav Defence is also one of Matthew Sadler's favourite

weapons as Black, even though proba­ bly the Queen ' s Gambit Accepted (2 . . . dxc4) tops his list. 3 �f3 In the case of 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 �c3 , I would choose 4 . . . �f6 as Black because 4 . . . �c6 allows the energetic thrust 5 e4 ! , intending 5 . . . dxe4 ? ! (5 . . . e6 is better) 6 d5 �5 7 'ii"a4+ �d7 8 'ii"xe4

75

Matthew Sadler

lLlg6 9 lLlf3 lLlf6 1 0 'it'd4, with a pow­ erful position for White. 3 lLlf6 4 lLlc3 a6 S a4 In Game 8 White played 5 c5, but Matthew decides to maintain the ten­ sion between the pawns at c4 and d5 . The course of the current game will show that 5 a4 actually represents ,a very toughJ�st for Bla.ck regarding the , viability of the 4 . . . a6 system. S g6 One can almost prove that 5 . . . dxc4 is not good by noting that the same sit­ uation could be reached via the move-order 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 lLlf3 lLlf6 4 lLlc3 dxc4 5 a4 a6?, but of course in practice Black most often plays 5 . . . �f5 to prevent 6 e4 . 6 �gS (DJ .•.

B

Griinfeld Defenclt. I have in mind 1 d4 lLlf6 2 c4 g6 3 lLlc3 d5 4 lLlf3 �g7 5 �g5, which is already pretty good anyway, and Matthew' s opponent has not yet developed his king ' s bishop. This begs the question ' What was Black' s best option out of his 30 legal possibilities at move five?' . Well, per­ sonally, I would favour 5 . . . �f5 , after which 6 'ii'b 3 1Ia7 is reminiscent of Game 8 again. Reader's C h a l lenge no. 32 (solution given on page 1 62) At the end of the preceding note, if White continues with 7 a5, why would 7 . . . e6 be a serious error by Black?

�g7 6 0-0 7 e3 8 'ii' b 3! e6 Now the c8-bishop 's scope is se­ verely restricted because absolutely all of Black's pawns are on light squares, but White was threatening to eliminate the f6-knight followed by the d5-pawn. 9 as! This move exerts a clamp over the b6-square, and thereby prevents Black from advancing his b-pawn to make room for . . . �b7 . 9 lLlbd7 10 �e2 'ii'e7 1 O . . . b5 1 1 axb6 'ii' x b6 1 2 'iVxb6 lLlxb6 1 3 c5 lLlbd7 14 �f4 leaves Black in a horrible mess, in which the iso­ lated a6-pawn has been added to the long list of weaknesses in his position. •..

It is quite possible that Black's very plausible-looking last move was actu­ ally an error in a subtle sort of way, be­ cause now White has an improved version of a certain line against the

76

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

1 1 h3 This useful little move frees the h2-square so that in general the g5bishop can rest there if it gets chased by a sequence such as 1 1 . . .h6 12 i.f4 tLlh5, but it is also possible that White's king may later wish to go to h2 after castling kingside, and indeed that hap­ pens at move 24. :e8 1 1 ... .f8 12 0-0 Black is having to resort to awk­ ward, convoluted manoeuvres, be­ cause in such a cramped position his pieces are really struggling to find rea­ sonable squares. 13 i.f4 Who can blame White's dark­ squared bishop if it is dreaming a little about landing on d6? tLle4 13 ... It is not easy to suggest anything else for Black, since 13 . . . tLlh5 14 i.h2 dxc4 ( 1 4 . . . e5 ? 15 cxd5) 15 i. xc4 e5? loses by force to 1 6 g4 : a) 1 6 . . . tLlhf6 1 7 dxe5 . b) 1 6 . . . e4 17 tLlg5 . c) 1 6 . . . exd4 1 7 exd4 tLlhf6 1 8 tLlg5 :e7 1 9 i.d6. dxe4 14 tLlxe4 15 tLle5 ! 1 5 tLld2 lets Black break out of his cramped position with 15 . . . e5 ! 1 6 dxe5 i.xe5 , with the points 1 7 tLlxe4?? i.xf4 1 8 exf4 lhe4 and 1 7 i.xe5 lbe5 . .e7 15 ... White was threatening 1 6 tLlxd7 i.xd7 17 'iWxb7.

16 :fdl 17 tLlxd7 18 cS (DJ

f6 'it'xd7

B

Now White's powerful queen has one eye on Black's king at g8 while the other remains fixed on the b7-pawn. 18 ... 'ilf7 Black may be hoping to play 1 9 . . . e5, but White spots and stops that idea in a flash. 1 8 . . ...d5 ? 1 9 i.c4 'iWf5?? 20 g4 would have ended Black's suffering instantly. 19 i.c4 f5 20 lId2 White is systematically making the positions of his pieces even better, and this last rook move allows the other rook on al to swing over to f1 , where it will be facing Black's queen. 20 i.f6 21 11ft i.d8 22 'it'b4 The momentary alarm bell at as has been dealt with calmly. 22 i.c7 23 i.e5

Matthew Sadler

Concerning the dark-squared bish­ ops, White would like Black to be the one to do the capturing, because the recapture dxe5 would open the d-file and increase White's advantage. 'fie7 23 ... 24 c;l;>h2 In effect, this move declares to Black ' OK, it's your turn again, and even though there is nothing con­ structive that you can do, you must move' . 'fif7 24 25 'fie3 l:ld8 25 . . .'ife7 would not threaten to win a pawn by 26 . . . .i.xe5+ 27 dxe5 'ifxc5 ?? because 28 .i.xe6+ costs Black his queen to 29 'ifxc5. 26 l:lfdl l:le8 27 f3! (D) .•.

B

White's pieces are optimally placed, and so this is the perfect moment to prise open the position. 27 exf3 'fie7 28 gxf3 29 l:lgl

77

White utilizes the freshly opened g-file, but the fact that he immediately switches back to the d-file on the next move suggests to me that either time­ trouble was becoming a factor in the game or White was just toying with his opponent to emphasize how poor Black's position is. 29 l:ld8 'ifi1f8 30 .l:.gdl 31 e4! Now Black cannot prevent White from opening up more lines because 3 l . . .f4 10ses to 32 d5 .i.xe5 (32 . . . exd5 33 .i.xc7 'ifxc7 34 'ifh8+ costs Black his queen to the skewer 35 'ifxh7+) 33 'ifxe5 . Then, for example: a) 33 . . . 'ifxc5 34 'iff6+ 'ifi1e8 35 dxe6 ':xd2+ 36 .l:.xd2 'ife7 37 'ii' h 8+ 'ii'f8 38 .l:.d8+. b) 33 . . . exd5 34 'ifh8+ c;l;>f7 35 'ii'x h7+ 'ifi1f6 36 'ifh4+ g5 37 'ifh6+ g l ':xel+ 25 ltxel 'ii'xel+ 26 'ilffl 'ii'x fl#. i.e3 18 :xe3 19 i.xe3 Now 20 f4? is met by the deadly piece of lateral thinking 20 . . . .:xg3+ ! , while 20 �xd5 ? allows another sacri­ fice: 20 . . . �xg3 ! , with the point 2 1 'ii'x e3 �xe2++ 2 2 � f2 'ilg2# o r the same finish via the move-order 2 1 'iii> f2 �xe2 22 'ii'x e3 'ii'g2#. 20 �f2 The e3-rook can also be challenged by 20 i.fl , but after 20 . . . .:xe l 2 1 'ilfxe l (if 2 1 'ii'x g5 ?? ':xal , then the white bishop is doomed) 2 l . . .i.xfl 22 'iii> x fl Black has 22 . . . b6 ! in order to undermine White's protection of the d6-knight. 20 d4 (D) .•.

2 1 . . .'ii'e 7, intending 22 i.c4 :xe l 23 'ii'x e l �e5 . Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 45 (solution given on page 1 66) In the case of 2 1 �cb5 �f4 ! ! 22 �4, how should Black continue?

':xe2+ ! 21 .. 22 lIxe2 'ii'dS Suddenly it becomes clear that the f3-pawn is critically weak without any light-squared bishop to protect it, and 23 'ii'c 4 loses to 23 . . . :xd6 ! (intending to answer 24 cxd6 with 24 . . . 'ii'x c4), while after 23 'ii'd 2 �e5 24 lIxe5 'ilfxe5 25 �xb7 ':b8 26 c6 'ii' b 5 ! the threat of mate at fl gives White no time to rescue his attacked c-pawn. 23 �e4 (D) .

...

21 �dl ? 2 1 �ce4 i s necessary, but o f course Black would still stand very well after

B

23 ... �eS Black now threatens both the check 24 . . . �d3+ and the capture 24 . . . �xf3 , intending to answer 25 'iii' xf3 ? with 25 . . . 'iff5+.

1 00

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

l:le8 ! 24 'ifg5 The main threat now is 25 . . . �d3+ 26 c;itgI 'ii'xg5 27 �xg5 l:lxe2 28 �xh3 l:le I + 29 'iltg2 �xb2. 25 :d2 (D) White could try other moves, such as 25 "h4, but his position is lost any­ way, especially with the aI -rook and d I -knight being virtually out of play.

25

'ii'c 4?

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 46 (solution given on page 1 66) Of course Black is still winning, but can you discover a much quicker route to victory for him?

26 �dc3 26 l:le2 is not a better way to stop Black's threat of mate at fI , because after 26 . . . 'ifd3 27 �d2 �g4+ ! White loses his e2-rook.

h6! 26 ... A neat decoy which bears fruit for Black in the line 27 'it'xh6 dxc3 28 bxc3 (or 28 �xc3 'ilixc5+) 28 . . . 'ilixe4 29 fxe4 �g4+ 30 �f3 �xh6. 27 'ii'h4 dxe3 exb2 28 :d8 After a long journey that started at c7, the pawn now standing on b2 is nearly a queen, and so Black can afford to give up a rook, even with check ! h7 23 ':'f6 ! i.c2 (23 . . :ii'e8 loses to 24 ':xg6 ! , planning to answer 24 . . . 'ii'x g6 with 25 i.e4) 24 ':f7+ �h8 25 i.e4 i.xe4+ 26 lL1xe4, which leaves Black helplessly facing 27 lL1f6 and 27 'ii'g 6. lLIe5 21 22 i.f4 lLIbd7

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 53 (solution given on page 1 68) To console Black a little, let us imagine that we can change the final

1 16

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

locations of his queen and knight with­ out moving any of the other pieces. How many different ways can you place the black queen and knight so that White' s king is actually check­ mated? Make it a double

(solution given on page 1 68) Svidler also produced a beautiful finish in the following position:

B

Game 20 P. Svi d l e r Tilburg 1 997 Sicilian Defence, PaulsenlKan Variation

A. S h i rov

cS 1 e4 2 It.)f3 e6 3 d4 Personally, I have enj oyed experi­ menting with some interesting rarer options, including 3 b 3 , 3 c4 and 3 'ii'e 2; the last of those moves is de­ signed to discourage Black's d-pawn from occupying the centre, because 3 . . . d5 ? ! 4 exd5 'ii' x d5 5 It.)c3 gives White a big lead in development. 3 cxd4 a6 4 It.)xd4 The Paulsen Variation (also known as the Kan Variation) is named after Germany's Louis Paulsen ( 1 5 . 1 . 1 8331 8 . 8 . 1 89 1 ), and is one of the most flexible Sicilian systems because Black has not yet declared where any of his pieces will later develop, but in the meantime the move 4 . . . a6 provides the possibility to expand on the queen side with . . . b5 while also keeping White 's pieces away from the b5-square. S It.)c3 Many players prefer 5 i.d3 because then White's queen 's knight does not become a target for Black to attack by means of . . . b5-b4 . bS S 6 i.d3 If 6 i.e2, then after 6 . . . i.b7 White must worry about 7 . . . h4. ...

Dreev - Svidler Russian Ch rpd (Elista) 1997 You are invited to find the best con­ tinuation for Black (to play). Our visit to Elista is over, and from there our minds shall now take us 5 . 1 6 degrees north and 39.09 degrees west across the globe so that we land in the Dutch town of Tilburg on Friday 3 Oc­ tober 1 997 in time to see the following great game, which brought S vidler his first-ever win against GM Alexei Shirov.

-

...

1 17

Peter Svidler

Reader's C h a l lenge no. 54 (solution given on pages 1 68-9) 6 g3 .tb7 7 .t g2 transposes to the fascinating game Plaskett-Volzhin, Hastings 1 997/8, where the continua­ tion was 7 . . . b4 8 lLla4 lLlf6 9 0-0 (a typically bold offer of a pawn by GM Jim Plaskett) 9 . . . .t xe4 10 .txe4 lLlxe4 1 1 l:.e l d5 1 2 lLlxe6 ! ? (D).

later than move 22?) 1 8 "c4+ �d8 ( 1 8 . . . lLlc5 19 lLlxc5 "xc5 20 "xe6+ �b7 2 1 l:.d7+ �c8 22 "e8# is another way for Black to exit) 1 9 'it'c6 l:.a7 20 lLlb6 1 -0 (question 2: if 20 . . . 'fi'b5 , then can you find a way to checkmate Black by force not later than move 24 ?). 6 ...

"b6 ! ? (D)

B

1 2 . . . fxe6 1 3 "h5+ cj;d7 ? (in the line 1 3 . . . g6 1 4 "e5 'fi'f6 ! Black sensibly lets White win back a piece by 1 5 :'xe4 in order t o reach a safe position via 15 . . ...xe5 1 6 1::t xe5 �f7) 14 :'xe4 ! dxe4 1 5 .tf4 (in effect, White is not even down on material, as Black's dor­ mant pieces lined along the back rank can do little to protect his exposed king, which is about to be slaughtered by White's attacking forces) 1 5 . . .'lr>c8 16 l:.d 1 lLld7 17 "e2 'it'a5 (question 1 : after 1 7 . . . l:.a7 1 8 'ifc4+, one line is 18 . . . �b7 19 'fi'xe4+ �c8 20 'fi'c6+ l:.c7 2 1 'it'a8+ lLlb8 22 lLlb6#, but if 18 . . . :c7 19 'it'xa6+ �b8, then can you also checkmate Black by force not

Although it is often not good to bring one's queen out into the open early in the game, the special idea be­ hind the current move is to make White's centralized knight retreat to a less active post. 7 lLlb3 7 .te3 is answered by 7 . . . .t c5 . 7 ... "c7 The black queen has accomplished the point that was described in the note to Black's 6th move, and so now it re­ treats to avoid harassment because White was threatening 8 a4 ! , with the idea 8 . . . b4 9 a5 'fi'c7 10 lLla4 followed perhaps by lLlb6. 8 f4

1 18

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

8 a4 b4 9 lLle2 � b7 was comfort­ able for Black in an earlier game Svidler-Ehlvest, Pula Echt 1 997, and so it is logical that Svidler wanted to play the position with colours reversed. d6 8 ... Black continues to stay flexible re­ garding his pieces, and in any case he should not play 8 . . . lLlf6 because of 9 e5 . lLld7 9 'iVf3 10 0-0 lLlgf6 1 1 �d2 1 1 e5? uncovers an attack from f3 towards a8, but 1 1 . . . � b7 is a simple, strong response for Black. 11 b4! ? •••

Read er's C h a l l e n g e n o . 55 (solution given on page 1 69) Can you discover why 1 1 . . . �e7 1 2 l:.ae l O-O? i s very bad for Black?

12 lLldl After 1 2 lLla4? 'W'c6 the wise saying 'A knight on the rim is dim' comes to mind once again. ..ib7! 1 2 ... Black does not need to protect his b-pawn yet because 13 ..ixb4?? loses to 1 3 . . .'W'b6+. 13 lLlf2 White gives extra support to his e­ pawn since he anticipates that Black may be planning . . . a5 -a4 followed by . . . lLlc5 . 13 a5 bxc3 14 c3 �e7 15 ..ixc3

16 l:.ac1

'W'b6! (DJ

w

Black actively encourages his op­ ponent to play � d4 soon, because later there could then be possibilities for Black to gain time by means of . . . e5 . 17 g4? ! This move is too ambitious, and in fact it is more dangerous for White's king than for his opposite number, especially as Black's b7-bishop is pointing menacingly in the general di­ rection of the white royal couple. a4 17 ... 18 ..id4 18 lLld4 lLlc5 is great for Black. �d8 18 0-0 19 lLld2 lLle8 20 g5 Black retreats calmly because he sees that White's over-extended f4-g5 pawn-chain is about to be broken up by an energetic . . . e5 reaction in the centre. 21 h4 e5 22 �c3

1 19

Peter Svidler

After 22 fxe5 dxe5 23 i.e3 f5 ! White faces the terrible threat of 24 .. .f4 (whereas 24 . . . fxe4 could at least be answered by 25 i. c4+). 22 ... exf4 23 'iVxf4 lDe5! Black does not hesitate to offer his opponent the possibility to win a pawn by capturing twice at e5, because in between those captures by White the move . . . dxe5 will liberate the e7bishop and open the d-file to Black's advantage. 24 i.xe5? It would have been prudent to decline Black's gambit. 24 dxe5 i.d6 25 'ii'xe5 26 "f5 Not 26 "d4?? losing instantly to 26 . . . i. h2+ followed by 27 . . . "xd4. g6 26 27 'ii'f3 i.e5 28 lDc4 Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 56 (solution given on page 1 69) 28 lDg4 is well met by 28 . . . i. d4+, intending 29 �h 1 f5 ! , but if Black plays instead the vastly inferior move 28 . . . i.xb2??, then can you find a lovely winning continuation for White?

28 i.d4 29 l:cdl f5 ! (D) The fS-rook is keen to j oin Black's fabulous bishop-pair in exerting pres­ sure towards White's king. 30 i.e2 •.•

w

White would probably have pre­ ferred to put a pawn back on e2 and re­ start the game, because the reality is that 30 "e2 is no better than the actual move since Black has 30 . . ...c7, threat­ ening a deadly check at g3 and plan­ ning to answer 3 1 �g2 with 3 1 . . .lDg7 ! followed by . . . lDh5 . However, it is worth noting that 3 1 . . :"f4? is vastly inferior (to 3 1 . . .lDg7) due to 32 lDh3 ! , with the point 3 2 . . . 'it'xh4 33 :f4. fxe4 30 lDg7 ! 31 'ii'g3 Black can allow 32 lDd6 because 32 . . . lDf5 33 lDxf5 :xf5 keeps his win­ ning position intact. lDf5 32 'iVd6 33 'ii'e6+ After 33 'ii'x d8 :axd8 White would be helpless against the impending in­ vasion at g3 or h4 by Black's knight. �h8 33 'iVc7 ! 34 lDd6 Black has noted that 35 lDxb7 loses quickly to 35 . . . 'ii'g 3+. 35 lDxf5 :xf5 0-1 .••

.•.

1 20

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

White resigned in view of 36 l%xd4 "g3+ 37 'iii> h l e3+ 38 �e4 "xh4+ (38 . . ...h3+ 39 c;l;> g l l%xfl + 40 .i.xfl 'ii'xe6 also does the job for Black) 39 cligl l%xg5+! 40 �xg5 'ii'g 3#.

1 0.2

Even if 1 1 was not my new house number, I would still feel at home in the forthcoming Chapter 1 1 because of the fabulous attacking moves that we will be seeing there by the high­ est-rated lady player of all time. Just before Judit Polgar takes the stage and dazzles us with her brilliant games, let's enj oy the final act of Peter S vid­ ler's performance . . .

Onishchuk - Svidler Tilburg 1997 It is Black to play and win material .

Test 1 0 10.1

1 0.3

w

w

loseliani - Svidler Lucerne Wcht 1 997 Black has just played 14 . . . c7 -c5 . Was that a blunder?

Svidler - Zapata New York Open 1995 It is White to play and win.

121

Peter Svidler

B ra i nteaser no. 10

10.4

Svidler - Burmakin Russian Ch (Elista) 1 994 You are invited to discover a way for White to win a pawn. 10.5

w

Svidler - Minasian Erevan 1 997 Black has just retreated his dark­ squared bishop from g7 to fS, and White realizes that his opponent may be planning 1 2 . . . .i.b4 next move. a) To which square can White's queen retreat so as to set a trap for Black? b) After White plays the correct move in part 'a' , he is actually threat­ ening to win by force. Can you explain why? Solutions to this test start on page 1 69, but now it's time to meet a very special lady. . .

Svidler - Dmitriev Novgorod 1 995 Can you find the very best move for White?

1 1 J u d it Po l gar

'The queen is the most powerful piece in chess' Anatoly Karpov Date of Birth

Friday 23 July 1 976

Place of Birth

Budapest, Hungary

Grandmaster Title

1 99 1

FIDE Rating o n 1 July 1998

2665

World Ranking

17

One day, Hungary's super-talented Judit Polgar may well succeed i n becoming the World Champion, and thereby demonstrate in real life a point which is cer­ tainly true on board the Royal Game : the queen is the most powerful piece in chess. The young lady made headline news in December 1 9 9 1 when, at the age of only 15 years and five months, she won het country's national championship in an emphatic manner, and also became the youngest-ever grandmaster (at that time). Judit's play exhibits tremendous attacking flair and tactical alertness, which always makes her an exceptionally dangerous opponent for anyone to face . In Hebrew, 'Judit' means 'praise' , and there was again a good measure of that being given when the Hungarian heroine won the 1 998 VAM tournament in Hoogeveen on a highly impressive score of 516, 1 112 points clear of GM Jan Timman in the runner-up position. Let's now enjoy some warm weather and great moves in the Brazilian coastal city of Sao Paulo, where Judit Polgar got off to a flying start by winning the first game of her 1 996 match against GM Gilberto Milos. Game 2 1 J . Pol g a r G . M ilos Silo Paulo (1) 1996 Sicilian Defence, Taimanov Variation -

1 e4

cS

2 lLlf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 lLlc6 S lLlc3 'jIc7 In the Taimanov Variation, Black tries immediately to utilize the open section of the c-file.

Judit Polgar

Reader's C h a l lenge no. 57 (solution given on page 1 70) In the case of S . . . tD f6. Black must be prepared for the possibility 6 tDxc6 bxc6 7 eS. as occurred for example in Chandler-J.Nunn played in the infor­ mal surroundings of a Pizza Express restaurant in London on 13 June 1 998. The game continued 7 . . . tDdS 8 tDe4 'ifa5+ 9 c3 (if 9 .id2. then Black may play 9 . . ... b6. planning 1 0 . . . 'ifxb2 or 1 O . . . 1Wd4) 9 . . . .ia6 1 0 .id3 fS ? ( . . . fS can sometimes be a very good move in this variation of the Sicilian Defence. but right now Black encounters tacti­ cal problems and his king becomes se­ riously exposed) 1 1 exf6 tD xf6 (D).

1 23

6 . . . tD f6? with 7 tDdbS because Black is practical I y lost after 7 . . . 'ii'b 8 8 .if4 ! tD e5 (8 . . . e5 leaves a horrible hole at d5) 9 .ie2 (preparing to play 'ifd4 without allowing . . . tD f3+) 9 . . . a6 1 0 'ifd4 ! d 6 1 1 0-0-0 axb5 1 2 .ixeS . in­ tending 12 . . . dxe5?? 13 'ifd8#. 6 a6 tDr6 7 .ig2 8 0-0 (D)

w

Can you now discover an energetic way for White to win by force. just as GM Murray Chandler did in the actual game? 6 g3 Personally. this is also my own fa­ vourite reply to the Taimanov Varia­ tion; White is now ready to answer

8 d6 After 8 . . . .ie7 9 :e l tD xd4 (9 . . . 0-0 is mentioned later. in the note to White's I Sth move of the game). I dis­ covered the novelty 10 e5 ! over the board in Motwani-Liang Jinrong. Chi­ cago U-26 Wcht 1 98 3 . One of the main ideas behind my new move was that after 1O . . . tD c6 1 1 exf6 .ixf6 1 2 tD dS 'ifd8 1 3 .ie3 ! Black has n o satis­ factory answer to the threat of 14 .ib6. My full annotations to the game can be found in lnformator 36. 9 :e1 Now 10 tDxc6 bxc6 1 1 e5 ! dxe5 1 2 :xe5 can b e considered as a threat

1 24

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

because it leaves B lack with a poor pawn-slructure on the queenside, and of course 1 2 . . ...xeS ? allows 1 3 .i.xc6+ followed by 14 .i.xa8 . .i.d7 9 bxc6 10 lLlxc6 If 1 0 . . . .i.xc6, then 1 1 lLldS ! is un­ pleasant for Black. n lLla4 The positional pawn sacrifice 1 1 eS ! ? brought me success in Motwani­ Velikov, Dubai OL 1 986, where the continuation was 1 1 . . .dxeS 1 2 "e2, intending 12 . . . .i.d6 (GM Petar Velikov lost time through 12 . . . .i.h4 1 3 a3 .i.d6 in the actual game) 1 3 .i.gS with some initiative for White. lld8 n .. Black could not play 1 1 . . .cS ? be­ cause 1 2 eS uncovers a deadly attack from g2 towards a8 . c5 12 c4 13 .i.f4! .i.e7 1 3 . . . eS leaves Black with a gaping hole at dS, and after 14 .i.gS White threatens I S .i.xf6 followed by the simple, strong manoeuvre lLlc3-dS . 14 e5 (D) 14 ... dxe5 15 .i.xe5 The lasting result of White's thrust at move 1 4 is that she now has a supe­ rior pawn-structure on the queenside. One might well ask the question 'Has Black already made an error?' , and in response I would suggest that the line S . . ..i.e7 9 lle 1 0-0 1 0 lLlxc6 dxc6 1 1 e5 :dS 12 'ir'f3 lLldS is safer and more solid than the move S . . . d6 which Milos

B

..•

.

chose, even though other top grand­ masters have played it too. \WaS 15 ... If I S . . ...cS??, then 1 6 lLlb6 is a quick way to win a queen ! 0·0 16 lLlc3 .i.c8 17 ..wf3 :Xd1 18 :ad1 lld8 19 llxd1 20 h3 White is perfectly happy to allow all the rooks to be exchanged because that does not affect the dominant fea­ ture of the position: Black's inferior pawn-structure. lIxd1+ 20 ... lLld7 21 ..wxd1 2 1 . . . ..dS? loses quickly after 22 "xdS+ .i.xdS 23 .i.d6 lLld7 (23 . . . .i.b6 24 lLla4) 24 .i.c6 (clearer for White than 24 lLla4 lLlb6) 24 . . . .tf6 2S lLla4 ! , intending to meet 2 S . . . lLleS b y 26 .i.xeS ! .txeS 27 lLlb6, after which Black's cS-bishop is doomed. \Wb4 22 .tf4 22 . . . .i.f6 23 lLle4 ! .i.xb2 24 lLld6 "dS (24 . . . lLlb6? loses instantly to 2S

1 25

Judit Polgar

lLlb7 .txb7 26 'ii'd 8#) 25 'ii'f3 leaves Black facing threats such as 26 'ii'c 6 and 26 lLlxf7 �xf7 27 .te5+. 23 'ike2 (D)

B

White is threatening to win imme­ diately with 29 "g4+ followed by 30 .th6. CS 28 29 g4! eS 30 'iWe2! Much more unpleasant for Black than 30 .t xe5 fxg4 31 hxg4 "e6. C6 30 3 1 .tdS+ Now 3 l . . ..te6? walks into 32 gxf5 ! .txd5 33 cxd5, threatening 34 "g4+ and intending to meet 33 . . . exf4 with 34 "xe7, but 3 l . ..'itt fS is Black's rela­ tively best option. 'itth 8? 31 Black's king will not be happy, con­ fined to a corner. 32 gS! (D) .•.

.•.

23 ...

.tC8

Reader's C h a l le n g e no. 58 (solution given on page 1 70) If 23 . . . .tf6, then what is White's strongest response?

B

'ii' b6 24 lLle4 Black wants to stop any immediate invasion at d6, but his opponent is a very persistent lady ! 25 'iWd2! lLlC6 26 lLlxC6+ gxf6 Now Black will also have worries concerning the safety of his king. 27 b3 The queenside pawns are now se­ cure, and so White's queen will be free to concentrate on attacking Black's king. 27 .te7 28 'ii'd l

White clears a path for her queen to zoom out to h5, and simultaneously undermines Black's f6-e5 pawn-chain. 32 "c7 White also wins after 32 . . ...d6 3 3 "h5, viz. 33 . . . .te6 34 g6 o r 3 3 . . . fxg5 34 'fIf7 'fIg6 35 .txe5+. •..

1 26

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

i.f8 33 'fi'h5 ! 33 . . . exf4 allows 34 'fi'e8+ �g7 35 'fi'g8#. 34 gxf6! 34 'ii'e 8 We7 35 'ilhc8 exf4 is less clear. 1-0 Black resigned because of 34 . . . exf4 35 'ii'e 8 'i/Vd6 36 'iff7 ! i.e6 37 i.xe6 'ii'd l + 38 �h2 followed shortly by 'ii'g 8#. B ack in Chapter 1 we saw a great double bill of battles at the 1 994 Sicil­ ian Polugaevsky Tournament in Bue­ nos Aires, and I am excited about the prospect of soon revisiting the event via Game 22. First, though, let's solve a neat puzzle . . .

Now you see it l 7

(solution given o n page 1 70)

w

J. Polgar - Xie Jun (minus one white piece) Monte Carlo Amber rpd 1996

White is about to play her 29th move. There is also one invisible white piece (not a queen) somewhere on the first rank. Exactly where and what should it be so that White can win by force as quickly as possible? Game 22 J. Po l g a r Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1 994 Sicilian Defence, Taimanov Variation A. S h i rov

-

cS 1 e4 2 lLlf3 e6 cxd4 3 d4 4 lLlxd4 lLlc6 d6 S lLlc3 6 g4! ? In the normal form of the Keres At­ tack, Black has already played . . . lLlf6 instead of . . . lLlc6, and so 7 g5 can then be considered a threat because it at­ tacks the f6-knight. Of course, the cur­ rent 6 g4 advance is still an aggressive move which also gains space for White, but Polgar has retained the flexibility of developing her g8-knight to e7, thereby steering clear of the gal­ loping white g-pawn. a6 6 ... Now Black will not have to worry at all about the d4-knight jumping to b5 and attacking the d6-pawn when . . . lLlge7 is played soon. lLlge7 7 i.e3 8 lLlb3 Here White spends a tempo to re­ treat his centralized knight so that

1 27

Judit Polgar

Black cannot exchange pieces at d4. In later encounters during 1 996 and 1 997 , Shirov deviated by choosing 8 f4 on two occasions (that I know of) against Judit Polgar, and White won both games. For Black the energetic reaction 8 . . . lDxd4 9 'ii' xd4 eS merits some attention because if 10 fxeS, then 1 O ... lDc6 looks good, but a more testing response is 1 0 'ii'a4+ ! , intend­ ing to meet 1O . . . i.d7 ( l O . . . bS ? loses to 1 1 lDxbS or 1 1 i. xbS+) with 1 1 'ii'b 3, after which White ' s threats include 1 2 i. c4, 1 2 'ii'x b7 and 1 2 fS . 8 bS 9 f4 Shirov-Salov, Linares 1 993 featured 9 'ii'e 2, but after 9 . . . lDaS ! 1 0 0-0-0 lDc4 Black's c4-knight looked so im­ pressive that it really was well worth spending the necessary tempi to get it there. i. b7 9 10 'iWf3? ! One can already see that potentially the white queen may later experience problems because it is facing Black's b7-bishop, and so 10 'ii'd 2 merits con­ sideration. 10 gS! ! (D) Judit Polgar had already thought of this stunning new move during her preparation for this game against Shirov. It is wonderful to see such cou­ rageous play, and very fittingly Judit was awarded the prize for the best novelty of the tournament. One can generally find some logic behind good moves (no matter how ...

•••

•.•

w

surpnsmg or spectacular they may seem at first sight), and in the case of 10 . . . g5 it is clear that Black wants White ' s f-pawn to shift from f4, as then the e5-square becomes a beauti­ ful outpost for Black's pieces to use. 1 1 fxg5 After 1 1 0-0-0 gxf4 1 2 i. xf4 lDg6 Black has a very pleasant position, and at no cost in terms of material. lDe5 11 12 'iWg2 After 1 2 'ii'f6 l:g8 Black's threats include 1 3 . . . lDxg4 and 1 3 . . . b4 to un­ dermine the protection of White's e­ pawn. So instead the white queen pas­ sively defends the pawns on e4 and g4 . b4 12 13 lDe2 1 3 lDa4 is met strongly by 13 ... lDd5 ! , with the point that 1 4 exd5 ? i. xd5 1 5 'ii'g l ? fails to ls . . .lDf3+ and 16. . .lDxg l . h5 ! ! 13 ... Black's h-pawn becomes a hero, just like the g-pawn did previously. Looking to the other wing of the board, 1 3 . . . lDc4 1 4 i. d4 e5 may seem .•.

.•.

1 28

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

tempting for B lack, but after 1 5 liJg3 ! White threatens 1 6 .i.xc4. 14 gxh5? 14 gxh6 .i.xh6 1 5 .i.xh6 ( 1 5 g5 allows 1 5 . . . liJf5 ! ) 1 5 . . Jhh6 1 6 0-0-0 liJ7g6 gives Black superb piece-play in return for her one sacrificed pawn. So perhaps the bold move 14 O-O-O ! ? i s White's relatively best option, with the important point that 14 . . . liJxg4? 1 5 .i.d4 e 5 1 6 h3 ! is bad for Black, who should instead play 14 . . . hxg4. liJr5 ! 14 ... Like an uncontrollable river, Black's pieces flood towards White's camp. 15 .i.f2? It would be quite understandable if Shirov was feeling overwhelmed by his opponent's exceptionally powerful play and relentless threats such as 15 . . . liJxe3 and 15 . . . liJh4, but White's best chance of fighting on lay in the line 1 5 exf5 .i.xg2 1 6 .i.xg2. H e l pmate ! (solution given on page 1 70) A 'helpmate ' is basically a se­ quence in which one player actually helps the opponent to achieve check­ mate. Continuing from the moves at the end of the previous line, what is the quickest helpmate you can find?

15 'ii'xg5! ! A stunning reminder that the queen is the most powerful piece in chess. 16 liJaS 1 6 'ifxg5 liJf3+ 17 'iit d l liJxg5 is nightmarish for White. .••

liJe3 ! ! (D)

16

w

The e3-knight is ecstatic about hav­ ing played such a beautiful move, but Black's other knight also sparkles in the short, sweet lines 1 7 'ii'x g5 liJf3# and 17 .i.xe3 'ii'x e3 1 8 liJxb7 liJf3+ 1 9 d l 'ii'd2#. 17 "g3 "xg3 liJxc2+ 18 liJxg3 19 d l liJxal 20 liJxb7 b3! Black's b-pawn arrives in time to bail out the cornered a I - knight, and so White will definitely be left with a fa­ tal material deficit. liJxb3 21 axb3 22 �c2 liJc5 dxc5 23 liJxc5 liJr3 24 .i.el liJd4+ 25 .i.c3 26 'iitd3 .i.d6 27 .i.g2 If 27 .i.xd4 cxd4 28 �xd4, then 28 .. .'�e7, followed quickly by . . . :hd8 for example, wins easily for Black. 27 .i.e5 .••

1 29

Judit Polgar

The black bishop enjoys tasting the juicy central outpost, and it also stops White's threat of 28 e5 . 28 �c4 'ilte7! 29 ':al If 29 c,txc5 :hc8+ 30 �b4 ':ab8+ (30 . . . i.d6+ also wins swiftly) 31 �a3 �c2+ 32 c,ta2 i.xc3 33 bxc3 ':xc3, with ... ':a3# to follow. �c6 29 ... 0-1 White resigned as 30 �xc5 l:lhc8 leaves him without hope of survival.

1 1 .2

Soon we will be meeting a talented young man called Tal, but first Judit Polgar has some special final chal­ lenges for us . . .

I t i s White t o play and win from this position, which is based on J.Polgar­ Bareev, Moscow rpd 1 996.

W

Test 1 1 1 1 .3

1 1.1

J. Polgar - Shirov

Amsterdam 1 995 Should White now move her g5-bishop, or is there a stronger possibility?

J. Polgar - Ivanchuk Monaco Amber rpd 1 995

It is White to play and win.

1 30

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

Brainteaser no. 11

11.4

Shirov J. Polgar Dos Hermanas 1 995 -

It is Black to play and win. 11.5

In the given position, which is based on lPolgar-Karpov, Monte Carlo Am­ ber rpd 1 996, White has an invisible piece (not a queen) somewhere on the e-file. a) Exactly where and what is the invisible piece if White can now force mate on the third move? b) Exactly where and what is the invisible piece if White can now force mate on the fifth move? Solutions to this test start on page 1 70, but now we're heading off to America to meet one of the country 's hottest young stars ...

Kamsky J. Polgar Buenos Aires (Sicilian theme) 1 994 -

What should Black play now?

1 2 Tal S h a ked

' I just want t o see where I can go' Tal Shaked Date of Birth

Sunday 5 February 1 978

Place of Birth

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Grandmaster Title

1 997

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998

2490

World Ranking

nla

The great chess talent of Tal Shaked was already very clear by the time he had achieved the international master title at the age of 1 6, and over the following three years the big strides forward culminated in his winning the 1 997 World Ju­ nior Championship, undefeated with an impressive score of 9 112/1 3, and simulta­ neously completing his grandmaster title. Since then, Tal has experienced some set-backs (perhaps through competing in several ultra-tough tournaments a little too soon), but his words quoted above reflect a calm and positive attitude which should ultimately result in further great progress. In ancient Persia, chess was originally called shah-mata, with ' shah' meaning 'king' , and Tal Shaked certainly ruled the board in the following controlled win over Morocco's GM Hichan Hamdouchi at the 1 997 Cannes Open. Game 23 T. Sh a ked - H. H a m d o u c h i

Cannes 1 997 Modern Defence 1 e4 g6 � g7 2 d4 3 .!Dc3 d6 3 . . . c6 4 �e3 d5 5 'ii'd 2 ! worked out very well for White in Motwani-Hou­ dart, Erps-Kwerps sim 1 997 (given in

my book S. T.A. R. Chess) because 5 . . . .!Df6 is met by 6 e5, and if Black plays 5 . . . dxe4 instead, then after 6 .!Dxe4 White again enjoys a spatial ad­ vantage together with a lead in devel­ opment. a6 4 �e3 It is clear that Black wants to ex­ pand on the queenside with . . . b5 . An­ other common continuation is 4 . . . .!Df6 5 .!DD 0-0 6 'ii'd 2, when the main idea

1 32

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

w

b) Another ' white lightning' vic­ tory occurred in de la Riva-lruzubieta, Salamanca 1 995, where Black fell fast as follows : 6 . . . c6 7 .th6 b5 (7 . . . 'ii'a5 is mentioned in the next Reader 's Chal­ lenge) S .td3 (White develops another piece at lightning speed, and the extra protection at e4 nullifies any threat of Black playing . . . b4) S . . . .t g4 9 .txg7 rj;xg7 10 l£lg5 ! (the knight gallops for­ ward, not fearing 1 O . . . h6 because of 1 1 h3) 1 0 . . . b4 ( l 0 . . . e5 1 1 h3 .tcS 1 2 dxe5 dxe5 1 3 a4 b 4 1 4 l£le2 a5 1 5 f4 l£lbd7 1 6 0-0 was nice for White in Sadler-Szmetan, B uenos Aires 1 995) I I l£le2 'iVb6? (Black should seriously consider exchanging his light-squared bishop for the e2-knight instead of getting driven back by f2-f3) 12 f3 .tcS 1 3 h4 e5 14 h5 ! h6 ( l4 . . . l£lxh5 1 5 g4 l£lf6 1 6 l£lxh7 is terrible for Black, who is then facing 17 'iVh6+) 15 dxe5 dxe5 (D).

1 2 l£lxg5 ! hxg5 1 3 h6 .thS 1 4 .txg5 (threatening 1 5 h7+ rj;g7 1 6 .th6+) 1 4 . . . 'iVd7 1 5 'iVf4 l£lh7 1 6 'iVg3 f5 ( 1 6 . . . l£lxg5 1 7 h7+ ! 1/;g7 1 S 'iVxg5# makes a pretty finish) 17 .tf6+ rj;f7 I S .txhS 1 -0. G M Dimitri Reinderman resigned due to I S .. J:txhS 19 'Wg7+.

1 6 hxg6 ! hxg5 ( 1 6 . . .fxg6 10ses to 1 7 l£lh7 ! , intending 1 7 . . . rj;xh7 I S lIfxh6+ rj;gS 1 9 11fxg6#) 1 7 11fxg5 c5 ( 1 7 . . . fxg6

in White' s simple yet rather potent plan is to attack in the neighbourhood · of Black' s king by soon challenging the fianchettoed g7-bishop with .th6, followed by hurrying the h-pawn up the board towards the trembling black king. White ' s attacking recipe has proved to be so effective on numerous occasions in practical play, that it is well worth seeing the following pair of I S-move 'twin' wins: a) 6 . . . .tg4 (6 . . . l£lg4 7 .tg5 h6 S .th4 g5 9 .tg3 certainly does not trou­ ble White either) 7 l£lg5 ! led to a crushing loss for Black in A . Kogan­ Reinderman, Antwerp 1 99 5 : 7 . . . a6 (7 . . . h6 is answered by S h3 ! ) S f3 .tcS 9 h4 e6? (much too timid) 10 h5 ! h6 1 1 l£lh3 g5 (D).

133

Tal Shaked

1 8 1i'h6+ { or 1 8 � c4 } 1 8 . . .� f7 1 9 � c4+ �e8 20 'iixg6+ �d8 2 1 :h8 ! is also disastrous for Black) 18 1i'h6+ 1 -0. B lack resigned in view of 1 8 . . . �g8 1 9 1i'h8#. Reader's C h a l lenge no. 59 (solution given on page 1 7 1 ) Deviating from the game i n part ' b ' , another possibility is 7 . . ...a5 8 h4 ! ?, as in Stripunsky-Bonin, Manhat­ tan Chess Club 1 998. How can Black then win a pawn, and is it safe to do so?

S 'iid2 6 a4 7 .!Ddl

bS b4 0.f6 (D)

w

8 f3 White 's central e4-pawn is more important than Black' s b-pawn, and so White is not interested in 8 'ii'x b4 0.xe4 . 8 as bxc3 9 c3 10 bxc3

Now White's central duo at d4 and e4 feels very secure, having support from pawns at c3 and f3 . 10 0-0 1 1 �d3 cS 12 0.e2 White wisely declines the offer of a pawn, because after 1 2 dxc5 dxc5 1 3 � xc5 B lack obtains tremendous activity by 1 3 . . ...c7 or 1 3 . . . 0.bd7, planning . . . lI d8 or . . . 0.e5 respectively. 12 cxd4 13 cxd4 0.c6 14 0-0 0.b4 d5? ! 15 �b5 I t i s understandable that Black wants to challenge White's proud pawn-centre, but in a moment the f6knight gets pushed back away from the kingside, and soon White starts to mount a strong attack towards the poorly-defended black king. 0.d7 16 e5 0.b6 17 �h6 18 �xg7 �xg7 19 0.e3 �d7 20 0.g4! (D) With speed, the steed plans to he � p his queen to land at h6, and if Black tries to prevent that by 20 . . . � xg4, then after 21 fxg4 the freshly opened f-file enables White to follow up quickly with the powerful manoeuvre :a3-h3, for example. 20 �xb5 After 20 . . . h5? 2 1 'ii' h 6+ �g8 22 � xd7, 22 . . ... xd7 ? loses instantly to 23 0.f6+ ! exf6 24 exf6 followed by the unstoppable 25 "g7#. ••.

1 34

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

B

21 axb5 tiJc4 Black hopes to obtain some counter­ play on the queenside, but the real ac­ tion is happening on the opposite wing. c;l;>h8 22 'ifh6+ 23 f4 :tg8 23 . . . tiJd2 is an attempt to stop 24 ':f3, but White still wins quickly by 24 :ta3 ! ':g8 25 ':h3 :tg7 26 f5 ! (threat­ ening 27 "xd2 or 27 f6) 26 . . . gxf5 27 tiJf6 ! and then : a) 27 . . . exf6 28 exf6 'it'g8 29 fxg7+ 'ifxg7 30 'it'xd2. b) 27 . . . tiJxfl 28 "xh7+ ! :txh7 29 l:txh7#. 24 :tf3 f5 If 24 . . . 'it'f8 25 "h4 tiJd2 26 lIh3 ':g7 (26 . . ...g7 loses to 27 "xe7 or 27 tiJf6 exf6 28 exf6), then White wins neatly with 27 tiJf6 ! , intending 27 . . . h5 28 'ifxh5+ ! gxh5 29 l:txh5+ lIh7 30 l:txh7#, which echoes variation ob' of the previous note. exf6 25 exf6 26 :h3 :ta7 (DJ 27 f5!

This thrust is immediately fatal for Black, because suddenly he has no sat­ isfactory way of defending his g6pawn. For example, 27 . . . 'it'e8 loses to 28 tiJxf6 'it'xe2 29 'it'xh7 + ! (a now­ familiar tactical point) 29 . . . :txh7 30 lIxh7#, and if 27 . . . gxf5 28 tiJxf6 J:tgg7, then 29 tiJf4 threatens 30 tiJe6 and 30 tiJg6+ ! l:txg6 3 1 "xh7+ ! ':xh7 32 :txh7#. 27 g5 28 tiJxf6 :gg7 29 tiJh5 lIgf7 'ife8 30 f6 31 tiJg7 White threatens to deliver mate at h7 or simply to gobble the g5-pawn, so Black is practically forced to give up more material. 31 lbg7 3 2 fxg7+ :txg7 33 :to ! White activates his final ' heavy ' piece, based on the fact that 33 . . . 'ifxe2 allows 34 l:tf8+ l:tg8 35 'it'xh7#. tiJd2 33 tiJc2 34 lIf5

1 35

Tal Shaked

Black would love to get the chance to make the capture 35 . . . .!iJxd4, in­ tending 36 lL\xd4?? "e l+, but White reacts by playing one of the many win­ ning moves that he can currently choose from. 35 'ii'd6 :f7 (D) 35 . . ... xe2 threatens mate in two more moves, but White gets there first with 36 :f8+ :g8 37 "f6#.

tournament in B udapest during June 1 997. First, though, let' s consider the following question. Play for a pawn?

(solution given on page 1 7 1 )

Shaked - Stevic Cala Galdana U-1B Wch 1 996

36 l:txf7 A pretty alternative is 36 "g6 ! "xe2 37 l:txh7+ ! l:txh7 3 8 :f8#. 36 'ii'xf7 37 'ii'd8+ 'ii'g8 38 'ili'xg8+ A simple route to victory. 'i&i>xg8 38 ... 1 -0 39 b6 •••

Tal Shaked is coached by Interna­ tional Master John Watson, who is a renowned expert on the French De­ fence, and very soon we will see that opening being used to good effect against a young Hungarian IM at a

Does White (to play) have some compensation for his one-pawn defi­ cit? Game 24 P. Acs T. S h a ked Budapest 1 997 French Defence, Tarra sch Variation -

e6 1 e4 2 d4 d5 3 .!iJd2 The Tarrasch Variation is named af­ ter Germany's Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (5 . 3 . 1 862- 1 7 . 2 . 1 934). When players choose this variation with White it is often an indication that they prefer to

136

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

avoid the Winawer Variation (3 ltJc3 i.b4), in which Black pins White ' s queen' s knight. cS 3 After 3 ... ltJf6 4 e5 ltJfd7 (4 ... ltJe4 5 ltJxe4 dxe4 6 i.c4 c5 7 d5 gives Black serious problems) 5 c3 c5 6 f4 ltJc6 7 ltJdf3 'ifb6, White can play the very promising move 8 a3 ! , with which he threatens 9 b4 and stops ideas of . . . i.b4+ after a possible exchange of pawns on d4. cxd4 4 ltJgf3 5 exd5 5 ltJxd4 is not a bad move, and yet Michael Adams is one of the few top players who have actually employed it with White in an official game. 5 1Wxd5 'iWd6 (D) 6 i.c4 ...

w

7 0-0 7 ltJe4 is not good due to 7 . . ... b4+, but in practice White has scored well with 7 'ife2 ! ? followed soon by ltJb3 or ltJe4 and later 0-0-0 to trouble Black's unit at d4.

ltJf6 7 8 ltJb3 ltJc6 Of course, 8 . . e5 ? 9 ltJxe5 "xe5 10 :e l is terrible for Black. liJxd4 9 ltJbxd4 10 'iWxd4 This move will not worry Black, but personally I would also enjoy playing against 10 ltJxd4 because 1O . . . a6 (stop­ ping white pieces landing at b5) 1 1 l:te l "c7 1 2 i.b3 i.d7 1 3 c3 i. d6 1 4 h 3 0-0-0 is a popular path that creates an exciting situation in which the players can try to attack kings on op­ posite wings of the board. i.d7 10 Black develops a fresh piece and waits to see if White will play 1 1 "xd6, after which 1 1 . . . i.xd6 immedi­ ately activates Black's second bishop. 1Wxd4 11 i.f4 :c8 12 ltJxd4 A heavy black piece comes into play with gain of time, since a white bishop is attacked. ltJd5 13 i.e2 h5 ! (D) 14 i.g3 White handled the opening phase rather timidly, and so Black does not hesitate to seize the initiative with an energetic thrust threatening 15 . . . h4. 15 h4 i.c5 16 ltJb3 1 6 Aad l ? lets Black win at least a pawn by 1 6 . . . i. xd4 1 7 :xd4 :xc2. i.b6 16 Black's dark-squared bishop stays on the a7- g 1 diagonal, pointing men­ acingly towards White's king. ..•

.

•.•

•..

1 37

Tal Shaked

w

w

17 c3 .!De7! If the black knight can reach f5 then it will cause considerable discomfort to White's units on g3 and h4. f6 18 i.d3 Black's pieces are already placed purposefully, so logically it is now a good idea to push more pawns steadily forward, gaining space at the same time. a6 19 a4 20 i.d6 e5 i.a7 21 as i.e6! 22 i.e4 This move forces White to retreat his knight, or to defend that piece in a passive manner. lId8! 23 .!Del 24 i.xe7 White loses material after 24 lId l .!Dc8 2 5 i.g6+ i. f7 or 24 i.a3 i.c4 25 lte l .l:.d2. 24 1ixe7 (D) Black has a huge advantage be­ cause he controls the d-file and has a powerful bishop-pair in an open posi­ tion. Furthermore, the mobility of his

kingside pawns is instantly decisive in the little line 25 .!Dd3 ? f5 . 25 lIa4 White could not play 25 i. xb7? on account of 25 . . . i. c4 26 lIe l .l:.d2. 25 ltd7 .l:[b8 26 ]:lb4 27 .!Dd3 White wants to prevent 27 . . . i. c5 , and he can allow 27 . . . f5 because 28 .!Dxe5 fxe4 29 .!Dxd7 followed by 30 lI xe4 keeps him in the game. 27 lIc7 Now Black threatens to win mate­ rial by 28 . . . f5 29 i. f3 e4. 28 .l:.e1 ]:ld8 !

•.•

•••

Reader's C h a l l e n g e n o . 60 (solution given on page 1 7 1 ) Can you discover the reason why 28 . . . f5 was rejected by Black?

29 i.g6 The threat of 29 . . . f5 forced White's bishop to react, but of course it could not capture at b7 because that would have left the d3-knight en prise.

138

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

:ed7 29 I would prefer 29 . . . .i.c4, intending to meet 30 �f4 with 30 . . . :d2 3 1 �h3 .i.e6 32 :n .i.c5 , after which White's b-pawn will fall . :d2 3 0 �f4! If 30 . . . exf4 White should avoid 3 1 .i.f5?, since then 3 1 . . . :d l ! 32 :e4 :xe l + 33 l:txe l :d6 wins for Black, but instead 3 1 :be4 :d6 32 .i.f5 is fine for White. 31 :xb7+? White 's relatively best option was to eliminate Black's e6-bishop, be­ cause after 3 1 �xe6, White has hopes of survival after either 3 1 . . . �xe6 32 :n or 3 1 . . ..i.xf2+ 32 �n �xe6 (not 32 . . . .i.xe l ? 33 �xd8) 3 3 :e2. 31 :8d7 32 :xd7+ .i.xd7 33 h2 33 :e2 l:td l + 34 ..t>h2 .i.b5 is also extremely unpleasant for White. .i.xf2 33 34 l:te2 :xe2 35 �xe2 .i.xh4 36 .i.xh5 (D) •••

B

.i.b5 36 ... This threatens 3 7 ... g6 ! , for example 38 .i.f3 e4 39 �f4 exf3 40 �xg6+ �f7 41 �xh4 f2 and 42 . . . n 'if. How­ ever, 36 . . . .i.g5 is a more harmonious move, when 37 �g3? would walk into the deadly pin 37 . . . .i.f4. 37 �g3 .i.g5 It would have been terrible to allow a fork at f5 . 38 �f5+ 'itf8 .i.d3 39 �d6 .i.c1 40 .i.f3 The material situation is still equal as the players pass through the first time-control, but Black's bishops con­ tinue to look lethal. .i.d2 41 b4 42 b5 42 �e4 is more tenacious because if 42 . . . .i.xe4? 43 .i.xe4 .i.xc3 44 .i.d3 .i.xb4 45 .i.xa6 .i.xa5 , then 46 .i.d3 draws, even though White is two pawns down. He can soon play g4 and get his king to f3, after which Black can do no better than eventually reaching some­ thing like the following position (D) :

1 39

Tal Shaked

The white bishop is ready to sacri­ fice itself for the two pawns if . . . e4+ happens, and so Black cannot make any progress. i.xc3 42 ... 43 bxa6 If 43 b6 i.xaS 44 b7, then 44 . . . i.c7 stops the b-pawn promoting and also causes trouble for White on the b8-h2 diagonal. i.xa6 43 i.xb7 44 i.b7 q;e7 45 lDxb7 46 a6 i.d4 �e6 47 g4 �d5 48 q;g3 The bishop is single-handedly stop­ ping the a-pawn advancing further, and so Black's king is free to support his e-pawn's intended steady march to promotion. e4+ 49 �f3 g6 50 Cite2 f5 51 lDd8 f4 52 lDf7 This is the clearest way to win, be­ cause Black keeps his pawns con­ nected, leaving White with no defence against the imminent . . . f3+ followed soon afterwards by . . . e3-e2. So it's time to reset the pieces for the next game. 0-1 Hungary's Peter Leko will be mak­ ing the first move in Game 25, but be­ fore then we still have some more great moves to find in the current chapter. . .

Test 1 2 12.1

Shaked VI. Georgiev Linares open 1 997 -

White has just played 75 b7 . Was that a blunder? 1 2.2

B

Benjamin - Shaked US Ch (Parsippany) 1 996 Black to play. Does he have anything better than resigning?

140

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

1 2. 5

1 2. 3

B. Finegold - Shaked

Las Vegas 1 995

Shaked - Hodgson Hawaii 1 998

a) Does 1 3 . . . �xe4 win for Black be­ cause White's f4-bishop is attacked? b) What is Black's best move?

How can White (to play) deal with the double attack against his e4-bishop and h I -rook?

1 2.4

Brainteaser n o . 1 2

Santo-Roman - Shaked Cannes 1 997

Shaked - Frenklakh Hawaii 1 997

Black now played a winning piece sacrifice. What was it?

It is Black's 1 5th move. He now decided to retain his light-squared bishop by

Tal Shaked

retreating it. Then White's best re­ sponse did not involve moving a piece at move 1 6. a) What did Black play at move 15?

141

b) What was White's best re­ sponse? S olutions to this test start on page 1 7 1 , but now we 're heading off to meet our final hero . . .

1 3 Peter Le ko

'Now I have started to play much more aggressively' Peter Leko Date of Birth

Saturday 8 September 1 979

Place of Birth

Subotica, Yugoslavia

Grandmaster Title

1 994

FIDE Rating on 1 July 1998

2665

World Ranking

16

The first name o f this hero actually means 'rock' , and Peter Leko certainly looked super-solid at the 1 998 Fontys tournament in Tilburg, where he scored 71 1 1 without losing a game. His play is courageous at the same time, which re­ minds me of the fact that King Richard I of England, ' the Lionheart' (born in 1 1 57) shared the same 8 September birthday ! Peter Leko went into the history books when in early 1 994, aged only 14 years and 4 months, he became the youn­ gest-ever grandmaster (up to that time). The following year at B elgrade, he achieved a memorable victory over GM Vladimir Kramnik with a fine blend of controlled and aggressive play. Game 25 P. Leko V. Kra m n i k Belgrade 1995 Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Attack -

cS 1 e4 2 �f3 �c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 �xd4 l2Jf6 d6 S �c3 Kramnik often plays 5 . . . e5, which is known as the Pelikan Variation.

Then for White I like 6 �db5 d6 7 �d5 �xd5 8 exd5 �e7 (another line is 8 . . . �b8 9 a4 ! ?, intending to meet 9 . . . a6 with 10 �a3 followed if possi­ ble by �c4 and a5 to exert a strong clamp on the queenside) 9 c3 ! ?, after which the plausible-looking move 9 . . . �g6? ! is actually bad because of 10 'W'a4 ! (in response to 9 . . . a6? the same sneaky move wins instantly) 1O . . . �d7 1 1 'W'c4 ! (threatening a fatal fork at c7) 1 1 . . Jtc8? ( 1 1 . . .�xb5 is rel­ atively best, but of course White stands

143

Peter Leko

very well after 12 'ii'x b5+) 12 'ifb4, leaving B lack in double trouble at a7 and d6.

W

Reader's C h a l l en g e no. 61 (solution given on page 1 72) 1 2 . . . i.xb5 (D) occurred in Mot­ wani-Borwell, Perth 1 990.

W

Can you discover a way for White now to win by force? e6 6 i.gS i.e7 7 1i'd2 7 . . . a6 featured back in Game 5 . 8 0-0-0 0-0 9 f4 h6 (D) 10 i.h4 10 i.xf6 i.xf6 is an alternative. Then 1 1 lLldb5 e5 is possible, with Black utilizing the tactical point that White's f-pawn cannot move from f4 because of the winning reply . . . i.g5 . Going further, 1 2 g3 a6 1 3 1L1xd6 i. g4 was played in Kupreichik-Fedoro­ wicz, Hastings 1 984/5 , where Black had lots of activity as compensation

for one sacrificed pawn, and White had to avoid losing material through 14 i.e2 i. xe2 15 'ili'xe2? lLld4 ! . In an earlier game, Wagman-Torre, Lugano 1 984, White could not resist the temp­ tation to grab the d-pawn quickly with 1 1 lLlxc6 bxc6 1 2 'ii' x d6, but then 1 2 . . . 'ifb6 gave Black excellent play, and he was ready to answer 13 e5 by 1 3 .. Jld8, intending to meet 14 'ifa3 with 14 . . . 'ife3+ 15 e l ':d8, after which White ' s at­ tacked queen cannot safely protect the a I -rook. 'iic4 18 Black's queen infiltrates White's camp, leaving the unit at e5 to be cap­ tured by the f6-pawn in some lines. For example, after 19 'iVe2 'iVd4+ 20 'ile3 'iVxe3+ 2 1 �xe3 fxe5 , 22 lLld3 ? loses quickly to 2 2 . . . .i.h6+ 23 �e2 (23 f4 exf4+ 24 gxf4 ':he8) 23 . . . lLld4+ 24 'iii> d l lLlb3 . 19 .i.h3 If 19 exf6, then 19 . . . 'iVd4+ 20 'it'e2 (20 n allows 20 . . . lIbal ! 2 1 'ilxal d l 'i1+) 20 . . . i.h6 gives Black an over­ whelming position, and one possible finish is 2 1 lLld6+ lhd6 22 cxd6 ':e8+ 23 n .i.d3+ 24 lLlxd3 'ilxd3+ 25