Simple chess by Tukmakov

Most of the time chess is a difficult game. But sometimes some players, usually very strong grandmasters, make it a very simple game :-) Have a look at this one, by chess legend Tukmakov, showing that more space can be enough to win a game!

() vs. ()
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[Event "Zurich op-A 20th"] [Site "Zurich"] [Date "1996"] [Round "6"] [White "Roemer, Ulrich"] [Black "Tukmakov, Vladimir B"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2250"] [BlackElo "2580"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "1996.12.26"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "SUI"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. a4 Nc6 9. Nbd2 Qe8 10. Nc4 a6 11. c3 Rd8 12. Qb1 Nd5 13. Bh2 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Ncxe5 dxe5 16. Rd1 Qe7 17. Qa2 e4 18. Nd2 Be5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20. Bc4 Kg7 21. Nf1 Rd6 22. Rd2 Rfd8 23. Rad1 f5 24. a5 b5 25. Bxd5 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd5 28. Qa3 Bf7 29. b4 Bc4 30. Qc1 Kf7 31. Qd2 Ke7 32. h4 Bd3 33. f4 Qd5 34. Ng3 Qb3 35. h5 Ke6 36. hxg6 hxg6 37. Qc1 Kd5 38. Nf1 Bxf1 39. Kxf1 Kc4 0-1

Cmilyte - Demina WWCC

The Women World Chess Championship began yesterday in Turkey. Here is an easy positional win of the first round.

() vs. ()
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[Event "WCh Women"] [Site "Antakya TUR"] [Date "2010.12.05"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Cmilyte, Viktorija"] [Black "Demina, Julia"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2514"] [BlackElo "2323"] [Annotator "SR"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ {Bogo-indian defense} 4. Bd2 a5 (4... Qe7 { is the main move}) 5. g3 d5 (5... b6 {switches to a Queen's indian}) 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Qc2 c6 {maybe not the best idea} (7... c5 {is more logical}) 8. O-O Be7 9. Bg5 {now it's like a semi-slav but with the weird move a5 for black} h6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nbd2 {planning the typical advance e4} Nd7 (11... b5 $5) 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Be7 {this bishop lost a lot of tempi : Bb4-e7-f6-e7} 14. Rad1 { very comfortable play for white! With a good center and a better development} Qc7 {playing for the thematic e5} 15. Qc3 {stopping black's plan} b6 { what else?} 16. b3 Bb7 17. Ne5 Rad8 18. c5 $1 {that's really thematic! White block the bishop in b7. On the other hand it's important to check that black can't play an easy Nd7-f6-d5 (which could be met here by Nc4-d6).} b5 (18... Nf6 19. Nc4 {is nice for white}) (18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 bxc5 20. Nxc5 { almost with a dream positional advantage for white!}) 19. f4 {Consolidating. White's position is pleasant but now Cmilyte must find a way to advance.} (19. b4 $2 {with the idea to stop b5-b4 and thus locking up the bishop in b7, but it wouldn't work} axb4 20. Qxb4 Ra8 { with Ra4 coming, with undreamed-of counterplay for black}) 19... Rfe8 { black's position is really cramped.} 20. a4 Nf8 $2 { a mistake which gives a good opportunity to white} (20... b4 {was normal} 21. Qc4 Nf6 22. Nxf6+ Bxf6 23. Qe2 { with a solid edge for white, even if not so easy to turn into victory.}) 21. Nd6 $1 {Cmilyte doesn't miss the chance} Bxd6 22. cxd6 Rxd6 (22... Qxd6 23. axb5 {is even worse for black}) 23. axb5 { with a pin and too much pressure on c6} f6 24. Nxc6 { white won a pawn and keep better pieces} (24. b6 {was easier} Qd8 25. Nc4 { winning}) 24... Bxc6 $2 (24... Ng6 {was better}) 25. bxc6 { now this passed pawn, very well protected, is a monster} Ra8 26. Qc5 Ng6 27. d5 e5 (27... Rad8 {was the last (very small) hope}) 28. Be4 Ne7 29. fxe5 fxe5 30. Ra1 Nc8 31. Bf5 (31. b4 $18 {was simple and strong too}) 31... Qb6 32. Qxb6 Nxb6 33. Be6+ Kh7 34. c7 {as it could be forseen the pawn now costs the knight} e4 35. Rac1 h5 (35... Nc8 36. Rf8 {would end the game}) 36. c8=Q Nxc8 37. Bxc8 {black can't even take in d5 :-)} Rb8 38. Bf5+ Kh6 39. Rc6 1-0

Very nice study

To start this snowy December, here is a "not so simple not so hard" study of Herbstmann.

[Event "Niv 2"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Etude Herbstmann"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/4B1pp/8/pp1PppP1/b3p3/P7/P3KP1P/2k5 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "11"] 1. g6 $3 (1. Bb4 Bd1+ 2. Ke1 Bh5 3. d6 Be8) (1. d6 b4) 1... hxg6 2. Bb4 $1 Bd1+ (2... axb4 3. d6 $18) 3. Ke1 Bg4 4. Bd2+ Kc2 5. Bf4 $1 exf4 6. d6 $18 *

White to play and win.

Hint : the first idea doesn't work immediately. The second idea does but you will have to find a third idea for that!

Gros combat Paikidze - Galliamova

En vidéo :

() vs. ()
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[Event "Russian Championship Super Final women"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2010.11.24"] [Round "8"] [White "Paikidze, Nazi"] [Black "Galliamova, Alisa"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B82"] [WhiteElo "2401"] [BlackElo "2487"] [Annotator "SR"] [PlyCount "166"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 {un choix intéressant } (6. g4 {l'attaque Keres}) (6. Be2 {est classique}) 6... a6 7. Qf3 { une ligne à part entière} (7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Kh1 Qc7 10. a4) 7... Qb6 8. Nb3 Qc7 { la Dame a joué deux fois mais le Cb3 trois fois et est moins bien placé} 9. g4 b5 10. g5 {une ouverture très agressive !} b4 { les noirs sont prêts pour le combat !} 11. Nb5 axb5 12. gxf6 gxf6 13. Bxb5+ Nd7 14. f5 { un coup typique contre cette structure, qui va forcer un affaiblissement} e5 15. Bd3 $146 (15. Qd3 $14 {avec un bon contrôle des cases blanches}) 15... Bb7 16. O-O {il est toujours difficile de savoir où mettre le Roi dans ce genre de position. Ce coup est cependant un peu risqué.} (16. Be3 {et soit on laisse le Roi au centre, soit on peut tenter 0-0-0 en sacrifiant a2 !} Bc6 17. O-O-O Rxa2 18. Kb1 Ra8 19. Qh5 $13) 16... Nb6 17. Be3 Nc4 {un coup typique de sicilienne} 18. Bxc4 {affaiblit fortement e4} (18. Bc1 { n'était pas agréable mais limitait un peu les dégâts}) 18... Qxc4 19. Nd2 Rg8+ 20. Kh1 Qxc2 {Galliamova relève le défi !} 21. Rac1 Qd3 (21... Qxb2 { de l'incorrigible module évidemment}) 22. Rc7 Qb5 23. Rfc1 {les blancs ont pris le contrôle de la colonne c en échange du pion, la position est à double tranchant} Rd8 {il faut défendre le Roi, notamment contre Dh5} 24. a4 (24. Qh5 Rd7 25. R7c4 Rg7 (25... d5 $2 26. Rc8+ Bxc8 27. Rxc8+ Rd8 (27... Ke7 28. Bc5+ Rd6 29. Bxd6+ Kxd6 30. Qxf7 $18 ) 28. Rxd8+ Kxd8 29. Qxf7 $18) 26. Bh6 Rg8 27. Bxf8 Rxf8 $15) 24... bxa3 25. bxa3 {menace Tb1} Rd7 26. Qd1 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Be7 28. Qc2 { la Dame surveille toujours e4 et a fait le tour pour s'approcher du Roi noir} Bd8 $1 {les noirs chassent la Tour très bien placée en 7ème rangée} 29. Rc4 d5 {et réalisent leur percée thématique !} 30. Rb4 Qc6 {les noirs ont la paire de Fous, un pion de plus, une meilleure sécurité du Roi, ils peuvent donc même se permettre l'échange des Dames} 31. Qb1 {tandis que les blancs doivent les garder à tout prix et espérer une contre-attaque} Ba8 32. Rb8 d4 $1 (32... dxe4 $2 {ne permettrait pas l'ouverture de la grande diagonale, le Fou en e3 étant difficile à déloger !}) 33. Bf2 {les blancs doivent être très vigilants car si le Cavalier ou la Dame quittent la défense de e4, ils sont carrément mat !} Rg4 {les noirs envisagent bien sûr de sacrifier la qualité en e4 !} 34. h3 Rf4 $6 ( 34... Rxe4 {méritait une sérieuse attention} 35. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 36. Qxe4 Bxe4+ 37. Kh2 Kd7 {avec une position très agréable pour les noirs : f5 tombe, ce qui fera donc 3 pions passés liés. La seule interrogation est le pion a qui peut s'avérer un peu ennuyeux.}) (34... Rg5 { suivi de prise en f5, évitait la combinaison blanche}) 35. Kg1 $2 { la jeune joueuse manque sa chance} (35. Bxd4 $1 { était un joli coup tactique ! Voyez-vous l'idée sur exd4 ?} Rxe4 $1 36. Rxd8+ Kxd8 37. Bb6+ Ke8 38. Nxe4 Qc4 $1 39. Kh2 Bxe4 40. Qb2 { et les noirs sont mieux mais les blancs peuvent espérer}) 35... Rxf5 { la Tour est évidemment imprenable} 36. Kf1 {la position est devenue très tactique et difficile à jouer, surtout à l'approche du contrôle de temps} Rf4 37. Qb4 Rxe4 {les noirs se lancent finalement} 38. Nxe4 Qa6+ $2 { une erreur due au zeitnot} (38... Qxe4 39. Rxd8+ Kxd8 40. Qf8+ Kc7 41. Qxf7+ Kb6 42. Qxf6+ Bc6 $17 { était incalculable et difficile à juger en crise de temps}) 39. Kg1 Bxe4 40. Bxd4 $1 {cette fois Paikidze a trouvé ce coup !} Qe2 { les joueuses se rendent coup pour coup} (40... exd4 41. Rxd8+ ({ou} 41. Qxd4) 41... Kxd8 42. Qxd4+ Kc7 43. Qxe4 Qxa3 44. Qxh7 {et les blancs respirent mieux} ) 41. Qa4+ Ke7 42. Bc5+ Ke6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Qd7+ Kf4 45. Qg4+ Qxg4+ 46. hxg4 Ba5 {on y voit plus clair. Les blancs ont profité du zeitnot pour s'en sortir. La finale est équilibrée.} 47. Rb5 (47. a4) 47... Bc3 48. a4 Bc6 49. Rb6 Bxa4 50. Rxf6+ Kxg4 51. Rxf7 h5 {la position s'est simplifiée et est annulante mais les joueuses doivent terminer la partie avec 30 minutes au KO (après le 40ème coup) !} 52. Rg7+ Kf5 53. Be3 Bd1 { ce sont bien sûr les noirs qui jouent pour le gain} 54. Kf2 Bg4 55. Kg2 Ke4 56. Bf2 Bd4 57. Bh4 (57. Bxd4 exd4 58. Kf2 {était nulle selon les tables de Nalimov }) 57... Kf4 58. Rf7+ Ke3 59. Kg3 e4 60. Re7 (60. Bf6 $11) 60... Kd3 61. Bg5 e3 62. Bxe3 {une décision pratique, les blancs ont de bonnes chances de nulle. En effet, tout joueur ayant les bases en finales peut trouver quelques idées pour annuler : sacrifier la Tour contre pion et Fou naturellement, ou simplement sacrifier sur le Fou de cases blanches puisque les noirs se retrouveraient avec la case de promotion de la mauvaise couleur.} Bxe3 63. Kh4 Bb6 64. Re8 ( 64. Rh7 Bd8+ 65. Kg3 Ke4) 64... Bd4 65. Kg5 Bd1 66. Re7 Be3+ 67. Kh4 Be2 68. Rh7 Bb6 69. Rh8 Bd4 70. Re8 Bf6+ 71. Kh3 Bf1+ 72. Kh2 $2 {Selon Nalimov, alors que c'était nulle théorique depuis la prise du pion e3, ce coup est une faute qui offre le gain aux noirs en... 69 coups. Il s'agit là de considérations échappant aux simples mortels que nous sommes.} (72. Kg3 $11) 72... h4 $2 { par contre ce coup est une faute reconnaissable à oeil humain ! Voyez-vous comment les blancs annulent?} (72... Kd4 $17 {gagnait selon l'ordinateur. Nous autres humains préférerons utiliser l'expression "conservait des chances de gain".}) 73. Rf8 $4 {une occasion manquée sûrement à cause du zeitnot} (73. Re1 $1 {forçant la disparition du Fou de cases blanches, annulait en 2 coups} Be2 74. Rxe2 Kxe2 $11) 73... Be5+ 74. Kh1 Be2 { Galliamova ne laissera plus d'occasion à sa jeune adversaire} 75. Rf2 Bg4 76. Rf7 h3 77. Rh7 Ke3 78. Rh4 Bc8 79. Rh7 Kf2 80. Rc7 { un coup astucieux pour jouer pour le pat} (80. Rf7+ { pouvait encore résister quelques temps} Kg3 81. Ra7 Be6 82. Ra5 Bf4 $17 { et à force de manoeuvres les noirs l'emporteront (selon la théorie !)}) 80... Bg4 81. Rf7+ Kg3 ({sûrement pas} 81... Bf3+ $4 82. Rxf3+ Kxf3 $11) 82. Rf1 Be2 83. Rf5 (83. Rf2 $5 Bd3 84. Rd2 Be4+ 85. Kg1 h2+ 86. Rxh2 Bd4+ 87. Kf1 Kxh2 $19 ) 83... Bf4 {ponctue un beau combat !} 0-1

Partie folle Kosteniuk - Paikidze

Une fois n'est pas coutume, voici une partie commentée en français. (it's rare but here is a game commented in French) () vs. ()
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[Event "Russian Championship Super Final women"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2010.11.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Black "Paikidze, Nazi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2507"] [BlackElo "2401"] [Annotator "SR"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7 8. c4 Nbc6 9. Qa4 a6 (9... dxc4 10. Nc3 a6 11. O-O-O Qa5 12. Qxa5 Nxa5 13. Nxf5 Nxf5 14. Bb6 Nc6 15. f4 Rc8 16. Bf3 Be7 $11 { Leko,P (2751)-Anand,V (2783)/Miskolc HUN 2009/1/2-1/2 (42)}) 10. Nd2 Qd7 $146 { le premier choix de l'ordinateur, donc pas une nouveauté très surprenante !} ( 10... Rc8 11. Rc1 Qd7 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxc6 Bb4 14. O-O Rxc6 15. Rxc6 Qxc6 16. Qxc6+ bxc6 17. Nb3 $14 { Kosteniuk,A (2524)-Girya,O (2414)/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2010/1/2-1/2 (34)}) 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Rc1 Bb4 14. O-O $1 {un fort sacrifice de qualité} Nxe3 (14... O-O {était plus sage du coup, même si les blancs gardent un petit plus du fait de la structure}) 15. Qxb4 Nxf1 16. Nc4 Qe7 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. Rxc6 {les blancs ne sont pas pressés de prendre le Cf1 !} Kg8 19. Bxf1 a5 20. Qc5 $16 {les blancs sont gagnants, ils ont un pion pour la qualité mais dominent tout l'échiquier de manière impressionnante} h5 (20... Bg6 {pour défendre f7} 21. Rc7 Qd8 22. Bb5 $16) 21. Rc7 {magnifique Tour en 7ème rangée} Qf8 22. Ba6 { une idée orignale mais pas nécessaire} ({on peut comprendre que les blancs ne soient pas très intéressés par obtenir la finale survenant après} 22. Rxf7 Qxf7 23. Nxf7 Kxf7 24. Qc7+ Kg6 25. h4 $14) ({Par contre} 22. Bb5 $142 { n"aurait pas laissé de chances aux noirs, par exemple :} Bg6 23. h3 Kh7 24. Qe3 Rd8 {rêvant de rendre la qualité sur le monstre en d6 et le pion e5} 25. Qa3 { pas question !} f6 {luttant contre le point d'appui du Cd6} (25... Rb8 26. Qxa5 Ra8 27. Qc3 Rxa2 28. Be8 $18) 26. Bd3 {éliminant la seule bonne pièce noire} fxe5 27. Bxg6+ Kxg6 28. Qg3+ Kh7 29. Nf7 Rc8 30. Rb7 Rb8 (30... Kg8 31. Qg6 $18 {avec une nouvelle domination totale}) 31. Ng5+ Kg8 32. Nxe6 $18) 22... Bg6 23. Bc8 {pour couper complètement le jeu en 2, cependant sans obtenir quelque chose de concret} Kh7 24. f4 Qd8 25. g3 {les blancs ne savent pas trop comment procéder. Le jeu d'échecs est exigeant : il ne suffit pas d'obtenir une position de rêve, il faut aussi savoir comment la transformer en victoire !} Rb8 26. Bb7 f6 $2 (26... Re8 $3 {était une libération inespérée} 27. Nxe8 (27. h4 Re7 $11) 27... Qd1+ 28. Kf2 Rxb7 $1 (28... Qd2+ 29. Kf3 $11) 29. Rxb7 Bd3 30. Ke3 Qe2+ 31. Kd4 Qf2+ 32. Kxd3 Qxc5 $15) 27. Be4 f5 { quelle horreur pour le Fg6 !} 28. Bb7 Rf8 $2 (28... Re8 $1 { toujours le même thème}) 29. b3 (29. h4 {pour tenter de bloquer le Fg6} a4 30. b4 axb3 31. axb3 Be8 32. b4 Rf7 $1 {la seule chance pour se libérer} 33. Nxf7 Qd1+ 34. Kg2 Rxb7 $1 35. Rxb7 Qe2+ 36. Qf2 Bc6+ 37. Kg1 Qd1+ 38. Qf1 Qd4+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7 $11) 29... h4 {bien sûr, pour trouver enfin du contre-jeu} 30. Kg2 Bh5 {les noirs s'accrochent à leur seule pièce active} 31. Qc6 (31. Qc3 Rh8 32. h3 hxg3 33. Bc8 Qh4 34. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 35. Kxg3 Bf7 $1 36. Rxf7 Rhxc8 37. Nxc8 Rxc8 38. Ra7 Rc3+ 39. Kh4 Rf3 40. Rxa5 Rxf4+ 41. Kg5 Rf2 42. Ra6 Rg2+ 43. Kf4 g5+ 44. Kf3 Rh2 45. Kg3 Rd2 46. Rxe6 Rd3+ 47. Kf2 Rxh3 48. Rf6 Rh2+ 49. Kg3 Rxa2 50. Rxf5 Kg6 51. Rf6+ Kh5 $11) 31... Be8 32. Qc3 Bd7 33. Kf2 $2 (33. Qxa5 $16 { aurait laisser les noirs agonisant} g5 34. Bd5 $1 $18) 33... Kh8 { pour préparer g5} 34. Qxa5 g5 {maintenant le terrain devient un peu glissant, avec l'aile Roi qui s'ouvre sur les 2 Rois} 35. Qc3 h3 36. a4 $2 (36. fxg5 { gagnait assez facilement} f4 37. g4 f3 38. Qc2 Rf4 39. Qd2 Qxc7 40. Qxf4 Qc2+ 41. Kg3 $18) 36... gxf4 37. gxf4 Qh4+ 38. Ke3 $2 (38. Qg3 { était un chemin sûr vers la victoire} Qxg3+ 39. Kxg3 Rg8+ 40. Kf3 $18 { les pions a et b vont faire la différence}) 38... Be8 39. a5 (39. Bc8 Qh6 40. Rb7 Rxb7 41. Bxb7 Qg7 42. Qe1 Qc7 43. Kd3 $16 { avec une relative sécurité du Roi, laissant aux blancs de meilleures chances}) 39... Rg8 40. Nxf5 Qg4 41. Qe1 $2 {une gaffe} (41. Ng3 {était le coup logique} Rxb7 $1 42. Rxb7 Qxg3+ 43. hxg3 Rxg3+ 44. Kf2 Rxc3 45. Rb8 Rc2+ 46. Kg1 Rg2+ 47. Kh1 Rg8 48. Kh2 Bc6 49. Rxg8+ Kxg8 50. Kxh3 Bb5 $11) 41... exf5 {maintenant les noirs jouent avec une Tour de plus, même si l'issue reste incertaine !} 42. a6 Bh5 43. e6 Rge8 44. Kd3 {malgré la Tour de moins et leur Roi en plein centre, les blancs ont assez d'activité et de pions passés pour annuler !} (44. e7 $2 Rbd8 $19) 44... Rbd8+ 45. Kc2 Kg8 (45... Qd1+ 46. Qxd1 Bxd1+ 47. Kc3 Rxe6 48. a7 $11) 46. a7 (46. e7 $13 {avec le chaos sur l'échiquier !}) 46... Qxf4 47. Rd7 $2 {la dernière erreur} (47. Qg1+ { en intermédiaire faisait encore nulle} Bg4 48. Rd7 Rxd7 49. exd7 Qc7+ 50. Kb1 Qxd7 51. a8=Q Rxa8 52. Bxa8 $11) 47... Qxh2+ ({ou} 47... Rxd7 48. exd7 Qc7+ 49. Kb2 Rxe1 50. a8=Q+ Kh7 $19) 48. Kc3 Rxd7 49. exd7 Qc7+ 50. Kd4 Qxd7+ 51. Kc3 Rxe1 52. a8=Q+ Kg7 53. Bd5 Re8 54. Qa5 Re5 { une partie complètement folle où Kosteniuk aurait mérité la victoire} 0-1

Kramnik - Shirov of last week

Here is my analysis of this wild game played in the last round of the Memorial Tal tournament. Both player were suffering before the game, Shirov 3/8, Kramnik 3,5/8.
() vs. ()
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[Event "5th Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow/Russia"] [Date "2010.11.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2735"] [Annotator "SR"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 {this is the Cambridge Springs defense. The name derives from a 1904 tournament in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania in which the defense was used several times. Practitioners of the opening have included Efim Bogoljubov, Vasily Smyslov, and Garry Kasparov.} 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Rc1 {a very rare move by Kramnik} ({ the main line goes} 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. Rc1 h6 10. Bh4 c5 11. a3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 b6 ( 12... Qxa3) 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. O-O {with a small plus for white}) 8... h6 9. Bh4 Bb4 10. a3 $5 { Kramnik sacrifices a pawn, the idea is well known though this position is new} (10. Qd2 {would transpose in the main line but it was not Kramnik's idea}) 10... Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qxa3 12. Qd2 b5 (12... c5 { would be the main line with the rare 12...Qxa3}) 13. Bd3 O-O 14. O-O Bb7 15. c4 {creating a weakness in c6} (15. e4 {is another possibility} N5b6 16. Ra1 Qd6 { with compensations for white but probably not more}) 15... bxc4 16. Bxc4 N5b6 17. Bd3 Rfc8 ({safer was} 17... Ba6 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19. Rxc6 Rfc8 $11) 18. Bb1 ( 18. Be4 Qf8 19. Rfd1 {and black can't move a lot}) 18... c5 { Shirov exchanges his weak pawn} 19. dxc5 ({Kramnik wasn't sure of} 19. Be7 { and showed this variation :} Nd5 20. Bd6 Rc6 21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Rxc5 Rxc5 $13 ( 22... Rxd6 $2 23. Ra5 Qb3 24. e4)) 19... Nxc5 20. Qd6 Qa4 (20... Rc6 { would have forced the Queen to return in d1 or d2} 21. Qd1 (21. Qg3 Ne4 22. Bxe4 Rxc1 23. Bxb7 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Qd3+ 25. Ke1 Qc3+ 26. Kf1 { with a draw, as shown by Kramnik})) 21. Nd4 (21. Rxc5 Bxf3 $15 { would be good for black because the Bh4 is hanging.}) 21... Qd7 (21... Ne4) 22. Qf4 g5 $6 {Shipov said you can't play like this if you are a human!} (22... f5 {was probably dangerous too!}) (22... Qd5 {is more human} 23. Qg4 h5 24. Qg3 Ne4 25. Bxe4 Qxe4 {and black is more than ok}) 23. Qf6 (23. Bxg5 { wasn't good because of} Nd5 ({but not the tempting} 23... Qd5 $2 { because of the nice} 24. Bh7+ $1 Kf8 25. Bxh6+ Ke8 26. Qg3 $18)) 23... gxh4 24. Qxh6 f5 (24... Ne4 {was the other way to block the Bb1} 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. f3 e5 27. fxe4 exd4 28. e5 d3 29. Qg5+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ Ke7 31. Qf6+ Ke8 $11 { with a draw}) 25. Rxc5 $1 {wow, a piece down Kramnik sacrifices an exchange!} Rxc5 26. Nxe6 {this totally destroys the last shield of the black king} Rac8 ( 26... Rd5 {keeps the material but} 27. e4 $40 { will open the diagonal to the black king, with good chances for white.}) 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Bxf5 {now the black king can't count on any pawn protection, which is always very dangerous} Rxf5 {Shirov knows very well he has to give some material back to reduce white's attack} (29... Rc1 30. Qg5+ Kh8 31. Qxh4+ Kg8 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33. f3 {to open the path for the white king} Rxf1+ 34. Kxf1 $44 {despite being a rook down, white is by no way worse}) 30. Qxf5 Bd5 ({Better was} 30... Qe7 {to protect the h pawn! A draw is likely.}) 31. Qg5+ Kf7 32. Nf4 Bc4 $2 (32... Bb3 {this strange move kept some chances according to the computer. But in practice black's position remains very difficult to play.}) 33. Ra1 Rg8 (33... Rc7 34. h3 $14) 34. Qh5+ Kf8 35. Qxh4 { white has now enough material for the bishop and is still attacking} (35. Rd1) 35... Bf7 {it's really difficult to defend this position with a very weak king and no possibility to counter attack} 36. h3 { simply preventing all back rank mates} Rg7 (36... Nc4 37. Qh6+ Ke7 38. Qa6 Rb8 $14) 37. Qh8+ Rg8 38. Qf6 Nd5 39. Qd4 Qf5 40. Rxa7 {the last pawn} Nxf4 41. exf4 {of course white is not ready to exchange queens, he wants to take other benefits from the position of the black king} Qd5 42. Qb4+ Kg7 43. Qe7 Kh8 $2 ( 43... Rc8 {activating the rook was a more stubborn defense}) 44. Qh4+ (44. Qf6+ Rg7 45. g4 Kg8 46. Rc7 Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Rh7 49. Kg3 { pawns will advance more and more, white is probably winning}) 44... Qh5 (44... Kg7 45. Qg5+ Qxg5 46. fxg5 Kg6 47. f4 Bc4 48. Rd7 Ra8 49. g4 {impressive pawns! } (49. Rd6+ $2 Kf5 50. Rd4 Be2 51. Kf2 Re8 { and it's unclear if white could win because} 52. g4+ Bxg4 53. hxg4+ Kxg4 { is a draw}) 49... Ra3 50. Kh2 Be6 51. Rd6 Kf7 52. f5 Ba2 53. h4 Ra4 54. g6+ Ke7 55. Rb6 Rxg4 56. h5 Rh4+ 57. Kg3 Rxh5 58. f6+ Kd7 59. Kg4 Rh1 60. f7 Rg1+ 61. Kh5 Rf1 62. Rb7+ Kc6 63. Ra7 Be6 64. Kh6 $18) 45. Qf6+ (45. Qxh5+ Bxh5 46. Kh2 Be2 47. Re7 (47. g4 $2 Bxg4 48. hxg4 Rxg4 {is draw}) 47... Bd1 48. f5 Rg5 49. Re1 Bh5 50. Re5 Kh7 (50... Kg7 $2 {would trap his own rook :-)} 51. f4 Kf6 52. fxg5+ Kxe5 53. g4 $18) 51. f3 Bf7 (51... Bxf3 52. gxf3 { would be a funny ffh endgame, probably winning though}) 52. g4 {must win}) 45... Rg7 46. f5 Kg8 (46... Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qd5 48. g4 Qd2 49. Kg3 Qd3+ 50. Kh4 Qb3 51. Ra8+ Bg8 52. Qd4 $18) 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Qc4 $2 { helping white even if it was winning anyway} (48... Qb5 49. f6 Rg5 50. Qf4 Qd5 51. g4 Qc5 52. Re7 Qd5 53. h4 Rg6 54. g5 $18) 49. Qxc4 Bxc4 50. Rxg7+ Kxg7 51. g4 $18 {with 3 pawns it would be draw but 4 is too much for the bishop} Kf6 52. Kg3 Ke5 53. h4 Bd5 (53... Kf6 54. Kf4 Bd3 55. g5+ Kg7 56. h5 $18) 54. h5 Bb3 55. h6 Bg8 56. Kh4 Kf6 57. f3 Bh7 58. Kh5 Bg8 59. g5+ {nice game by Kramnik} 1-0

World youth ratings updated

My pages on world youth ratings were updated with November ratings and 2011 categories.

Rook ending

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "N1"] [Site "France"] [Date "2010.11.13"] [Round "?"] [White "GL"] [Black "SL"] [Result "*"] [WhiteElo "2152"] [BlackElo "2196"] [Annotator "arna"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5p1p/1k4p1/4K2P/R4PP1/pr6/8/8 b - - 0 0"] [PlyCount "23"] 1... gxh5 2. gxh5 Rb5+ 3. Kf6 Ra5 4. Rb4+ Kc5 5. Rb1 a2 6. Ra1 Kd4 7. h6 Ke4 8. f5 $1 (8. Kg7 Kf5 9. Kxh7 Kf6 10. Kg8 Ra8+ 11. Kh7 Ra7 12. Kg8 Kg6 13. Rg1+ Kxh6) 8... Ra6+ $1 9. Kg7 (9. Kxf7 Kxf5) 9... f6 10. Kxh7 (10. Rf1 a1=Q 11. Rxa1 Rxa1 12. Kxf6 Ra6+ 13. Kg5 Kf3 14. f6 Ra5+ 15. Kh4 Rf5) 10... Kxf5 11. Kg7 Ra7+ 12. Kf8 Kg6 {black wins} *

"Must win" situation. How should black proceed ?

Karjakin - Shirov played yesterday

() vs. ()
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[Event "5th Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow/Russia"] [Date "2010.11.08"] [Round "4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2735"] [Annotator "Sylvain"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000+30:900+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 { Archangelsk defence is one of Shirov's favorites} 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 { 9.a4 and 9.h3 are the main moves here} O-O 10. Nbd2 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bg5 exd4 {12...Na5 is tried more often but not very successfully. Before this game 12... exd4 has been played only once.} 13. Bd5 {this sharp move leads to a variation where black will get 2 pawns for the exchange.} dxc3 14. Bxc6 cxd2 15. Bxa8 Qxa8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qxd2 Qxe4 {here we are. This looks promising for black : bishop pair and 2 pawns for the exchange, this is balanced} 18. Rfe1 Qf5 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Qxg5+ fxg5 { black's structure is better now but white gets an active knight} 21. Nf5 Bg6 22. Ne7+ Kg7 23. Nd5 ({That's modern chess opening preparation!} 23. Rad1 { was Jobava-Grigoryan in 2008. White won in 48 moves, reaching a rook vs bishop+2 pawns endgame.}) 23... Rb8 24. Rad1 Kf8 {preventing Re7 thanks to c6} 25. g4 $1 {white needs to play very actively because black could end better in the endgame. Karjakin would like to place his knight firmly in f6.} c5 26. h4 ({the computer is afraid of the bishop pair and asks to take in b6} 26. Nxb6 Rxb6 27. Kg2 {is still balanced. Black has better chances but it's difficult to activate the bishop, the king and the d pawn!} b4 28. Rd5 c4 29. Rxg5 c3 30. b3 Rc6 31. f3 f6 32. Ra5 Bf7 33. Kf2 d5 { finally, but still no way to play with the Kf8 and white have active pieces} 34. Ke3 Re6+ 35. Kf2 Rd6 36. Rc5 Rd7 37. a3 d4 38. axb4 Bxb3 $11) 26... gxh4 27. f4 {discreetly threatening to trap the bishop :)} f5 28. g5 { nice idea by Karjakin: now he got f6 for his knight and the Bg6 is less strong. } Bf7 29. Nf6 c4+ (29... Rd8 30. Nxh7+ Kg7 31. Nf6 d5 32. Re7 c4+ 33. Kg2 { is almost the same than the game, white having enough activity in compensation} ) 30. Kg2 Rd8 31. Nxh7+ Kg7 32. Nf6 b4 33. Re7 (33. Nd5 { with the idea Ne7, was safer} Bxd5+ 34. Rxd5 c3 35. bxc3 bxc3 36. Re7+ Kg8 37. Re2 Rc8 38. Rc2 Rc4 $11) 33... c3 34. bxc3 bxc3 35. Nd7 { very good activity for white} Ba5 36. g6 $1 {impressive, 2B+2p against R+N can be really strong but Karjakin played so actively that it's Shirov who is having a hard time!} Kxg6 37. Kh3 {threatening to win the Bf7} Rxd7 {only move} 38. Rxd7 Bb4 39. Kxh4 Bxa2 {3 pawns for 2 exchanges: nice!} 40. R1xd6+ $1 { white immediately gives one exchange back to eliminate the c and d passed pawns } (40. Rc7 $2 {could become dangerous for white, the bishop pair can be very strong to support passed pawns.} a5 41. Kg3 Bb3 42. Rc1 Kf6 43. Kf3 a4 44. Ke3 Bc5+ 45. Kd3 c2 46. Rxc2 { sooner or later white will have to give one exchange back} Bxc2+ 47. Kxc2 Ke6 48. Rc8 a3 49. Kc3 Kd5 50. Kd3 $11) 40... Bxd6 41. Rxd6+ Kf7 42. Rc6 { of course the c pawn is more important} a5 43. Rxc3 {now black is playing for a draw. This game was played in the fourth round and Shirov lost first 3 games in endgames! One could imagine what he had in mind here : "no no please let me draw this one...".} a4 44. Rc6 {cutting the black king} Ke7 45. Kg3 (45. Ra6 Bb3 46. Kg5 Bc2 47. Rc6 Bd3 48. Rc3 Bb1 $1 {only move} (48... Be4 49. Rc4 $18) 49. Rc1 Bd3 $11) 45... Kd7 46. Ra6 Bb3 47. Kf2 Kc7 48. Ke1 Kb7 49. Rh6 (49. Ra5 {was more challenging} Kb6 50. Re5 $1 Kc6 51. Rxf5 a3 52. Kd2 a2 53. Ra5 Kd6 54. Kc3 Bd5 55. Ra6+ Ke7 56. Kd4 Bb3 57. Ke5 Kf7 58. f5 Kg7 $1 59. Ra7+ Bf7 $11 ) 49... Kc7 50. Kd2 a3 51. Kc3 a2 52. Kb2 Kd7 53. Ra6 Bc4 54. Ra5 Be6 55. Ra7+ Kc6 56. Ra6+ Kd7 57. Kc3 Kc7 58. Kd4 Kb7 59. Ra3 Kb6 60. Ke5 Bc4 61. Kxf5 { it's a draw} Kc5 62. Kg6 Kb4 63. Rxa2 Bxa2 {Nice game. It's impressive and instructive how Karjakin played with the "supposed slightly worse" material R+N against 2B+2p.} 1/2-1/2

Delightful study of the weekend

Kakovin - 1936

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "1936.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Kakovin"] [Black "?"] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/2p5/3prpb1/4k3/4p3/4KP2/4NP2/2R5 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "13"] 1. f4+ Kd5 2. f5 $1 Bxf5 (2... Re8 3. fxg6 $18) 3. Nf4+ Ke5 4. Rd1 $1 c6 5. Rd5+ $1 cxd5 6. Nd3+ exd3 7. f4# 1-0

White to play and win. (level medium)

Ivanchuk wins Cap d'Agde

Vassily Ivanchuk wins Cap d'Agde rapid tournament with a 1,5-0,5 victory against last edition's winner Hikaru Nakamura. In this final match both games opened with a King's gambit!! I commented the first one.

(2754) vs. (2733)
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[Event "Le trophée CCAS 2010"] [Site "Cap d'agde"] [Date "2010.10.31"] [Round "1"] [White "V. Ivanchuk"] [Black "H. Nakamura"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 $5 {wow, Ivanchuk shows another time he is a great chess player! It's the final of the tournament, he faces very strong Nakamura against whom he lost 2 years ago here, and he goes for a King's gambit!!} Nc6 $5 { good choice by Nakamura to play a rare defense to face Ivanchuk's surprise} 3. Nf3 f5 {this looks crazy but it's a solid defense! I played it a couple of times myself after having seen it in a "101 surprises in the openings" book by Burgess 10 years ago.} 4. d3 { of course white has many other possibilities but Chuky decides to play securely } d6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 {that's funny, one could expect wild stuff from a King's gambit but finally here is this symetrical position which leads to a positional game} 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Be3 O-O 11. O-O fxe4 12. dxe4 Be6 { almost symetrical but black played h6 which is not very significant for now} 13. a3 Kh7 14. Kh1 {both player played prophylactic moves with their King} a6 ( {the computer is claiming that black could take a small edge with} 14... Bc4 15. Re1 (15. Qxd8 Raxd8 16. Rfd1 Ng4 17. Bc5 Nd4 $1 {getting the f2 square}) 15... Qe8 $1 16. Qc1 Rd8 {with a very small plus for black}) 15. Bg1 Rf7 16. Qe2 Nd4 17. Qd3 Nxf3 18. Qxf3 Rd7 (18... Ng4 {is not useful} 19. Qe2) 19. Rad1 Bg4 20. Rxd7 {white had to foresee that of course} Bxf3 21. Rxd8 Bxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Rxd8 {so, it's dead draw, isn't it?} 23. Be3 g5 {after the game a player told me that Nakamura said he played like an idiot by putting his pawns on black squares...} 24. h3 Kg6 25. g4 {whereas white are putting their ones on white...} c6 {I'm not sure if white is already winning here but it's a textbook exemple. White has the good bishop, black the bad.} 26. Rf2 b5 {ok, that's white!} 27. Rd2 Rxd2+ 28. Bxd2 Bf8 29. Kf3 h5 $2 {one could think it's good idea to exchange a pawn which was on black, but it's not sure at all, because now g5 is weak.} (29... Nd7 {must be a better defense}) 30. Ne2 hxg4+ 31. hxg4 Nd7 ( 31... Bc5 32. Nc1 Bb6 33. Nd3 Nd7 34. b3 Bd8 35. Be3 Be7 36. a4 bxa4 37. bxa4 Kf6 {black suffers but maybe he can hold}) 32. Nc1 c5 $6 { oops, another pawn on black...} (32... Nc5 {must be better}) 33. Na2 Nb8 $2 ( 33... c4 {was forced} 34. Ba5 Bd6 35. Nb4 Nb8 36. b3 cxb3 37. cxb3 Kf6 38. Nd5+ Ke6 39. b4 Nc6 40. Bb6 Nd4+ 41. Bxd4 (41. Ke3 Nc2+ 42. Kd3 Nxa3 43. Bd8 Nc4 44. Bxg5 Kf7 45. Bd8 Kg6 $11 {and black must hold}) 41... exd4 42. Ke2 Bf4 43. Kd3 Ke5 44. Nc7 Bc1 45. Nxa6 Bxa3 46. Nb8 Kd6 47. Kxd4 Bxb4 48. e5+ Ke6 49. Na6 Bc3+ 50. Kxc3 Kxe5 $11) 34. c4 $1 {Grandmaster technique in action! This blocks c5 on black and maybe seals black's fate!} bxc4 (34... Nc6 $1 35. Nc3 Nd4+ 36. Ke3 b4 37. axb4 cxb4 38. Na4 Ne6 {g5 is so weak!} 39. Kd3 Bc5 40. Ke2 a5 41. Nxc5 Nxc5 42. Be3 Nxe4 43. c5 Kf7 44. Kf3 Nf6 45. Bxg5 Nd5 { remains unclear}) 35. Nc3 Nc6 36. Nd5 Nd4+ 37. Ke3 Kf7 38. Nb6 Ke6 39. Nxc4 Be7 40. Ba5 Nb5 (40... Kf6 41. Kd3 Ke6 42. Ne3 Nf3 43. Kc4 Bf8 44. Nf1 { to play Bb6 without Nd2+} Kd6 $13 {and the outcome is still unclear}) 41. Kd3 Nd6 $2 (41... Nd4 $13 { transposes in 40...Kf6}) 42. Nxd6 {and the American player resigned, understanding that this endgame with 3 black pawns on black is totally winning for white} (42. Nxd6 Kxd6 (42... Bxd6 43. Kc4 Be7 44. Bb6 {wins a pawn and the game}) 43. Kc4 Kc6 44. Bd2 Bf6 45. Be3 Be7 46. b3 a5 47. a4 $18 { is a very wellknown zugzwang in this kind of endings!}) 1-0

Brillancy by Shirov 2 days ago

() vs. ()
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[Event "Unive Crown Group"] [Site "Hoogeveen NED"] [Date "2010.10.26"] [Round "2"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Tiviakov, Sergei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "2749"] [BlackElo "2637"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2010.10.25"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 {Tiviakov is fond of this move and worked a lot on this variation. But one can say what he wants, this is not a normal place for a Queen in the opening!} 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. f4 { the two main moves are 7.Nc4 and 7.Bf4} Nb6 8. g4 Nbd5 (8... Be6 9. Bg2 g6 10. O-O {is Shirov-Tiviakov, Benidorn 2008, 1-0 !}) 9. Bg2 {this seems to be a little improvement on 9.g5 played in 2 games in 2008 and 2009 (black won in both!)} g6 10. g5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nd5 12. c4 { forcing the knight to go to an ugly square} Nc7 13. c5 Qd8 { so, how could Qxd5-Qd6-Qd8 have been useful?} 14. d5 $1 {you know Shirov...} cxd5 (14... Nxd5 $2 15. c4 f6 16. cxd5 fxe5 17. dxc6 {and white has some edge}) 15. c4 {you just can't give Shirov so much space and better placed pieces without being attacked!} e6 16. Bb2 {both white bishops are beautiful} Bg7 ( 16... Rg8 {may be better but is not very appealing!} 17. Ng4 Be7 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxf6 Qd7 20. O-O {and you only have to look a few seconds to the position to understand that white is just winning}) 17. Nc6 {of course} bxc6 18. Bxg7 Rg8 19. Be5 {nothing can challenge this bishop on dark squares} Bd7 {very nice bishop!! Well, I'm not sure, is the knight on c7 really better? Sure he can go to a6! Or more seriously in d5 after dxc4.} 20. O-O {dream position} Rb8 { maybe some activity?} (20... dxc4 $2 {is unfortunately not playable because of} 21. Bf6 Qb8 22. Rb1 Nb5 23. Rxb5 cxb5 24. Bxa8 $18) 21. Qa4 { well, the only square on the b file for the rook is b7 actually...} Rb7 (21... dxc4 {may have been the last (very small) hope} 22. Bxc6 (22. Rfd1 Nd5 { yes, the Be5 is worth a rook}) 22... Rc8 23. Bxd7+ Qxd7 24. c6 Qd5 25. Rac1 $16 ) 22. Rab1 Qc8 23. Rxb7 Qxb7 24. Rf2 d4 $2 { a mistake but black was dead lost anyway because of Rb2 coming} 25. Qa5 Kd8 ( 25... Na6 26. Bf6 Qc8 27. Rb2 {with some Rb7 idea, is of course crushing}) 26. Be4 {Tiviakov has had enough of this ugly position! Effortless win by Shirov.} 1-0

Nice attacking chess by untitled player

Under 2200 players can play very good attacking chess too! Have a look at this one.

() vs. ()
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[Event "26. European Club Cup 2010"] [Site "Plovdiv BUL"] [Date "2010.10.18"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Mossong, Hubert"] [Black "Katzourakis, Pavlos"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2184"] [BlackElo "2141"] [Annotator "chessallovertheworld.blogspot.com"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2010.10.??"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "BUL"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. Nge2 e6 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Nf6 8. f4 Qc7 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Qe1 Be7 11. f5 b4 12. fxe6 fxe6 13. Nf4 $1 {like in a Sozin!} bxc3 14. Nxe6 Qb6 15. Nxg7+ $1 { attacking chess, white saw he can let black take in b2} (15. bxc3 { was possible but less strong}) 15... Kf7 16. Nf5 cxb2 17. Bxb2 Qxb2 18. Rb1 Qxc2 19. Rxb7 {only one pawn for the piece but both rook targetting the black king and a killer Nf5!} Rhd8 (19... Qa4 $1 20. d4 $1 cxd4 21. e5 $1 dxe5 22. Nxe7 Kxe7 23. Qxe5+ {with a decisive attack}) 20. e5 $1 { opening all lines, white is totally winning} dxe5 21. Nxe7 Rab8 (21... Kxe7 22. Qxe5+ Kf8 23. Rxf6+ {with a quick mate}) 22. Nc6 {nice move to end a nice game} (22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Qxe5 {was crushing and nice too}) 1-0

Bad surprise

() vs. ()
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[Event "26. European Club Cup 2010"] [Site "Plovdiv BUL"] [Date "2010.10.18"] [Round "2.6"] [White "Andriasian, Zaven"] [Black "Khmelniker, Ilya"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2579"] [BlackElo "2483"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3rr1k1/b1pq1pp1/p1bp1n1p/1p2nN2/4P3/1BP1NP2/PP1Q2PP/R1B2R1K w - - 0 19"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2010.10.??"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "BUL"] 19. Nxg7 Bxe3 20. Nxe8 1-0

Black just played 18...Rad8. Which tactical problem did he totally overlook ?

Grandmaster plan in N vs B endgame

This nice endgame was played some days ago in Bundesliga.

() vs. ()
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[Event "Bundesliga"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2010.10.10"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Postny, Evgeny"] [Black "Sandipan, Chanda"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2595"] [BlackElo "2641"] [Annotator "SR"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3n4/pp5p/2p2k2/5p1P/1PP1p2p/2P1P2P/4BP2/2K5 w - - 0 25"] [PlyCount "36"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] {How would you assess this endgame?} 25. c5 { this looks logical to free the bishop's way} (25. f4 $1 exf3 { to get e5 and g5 for the knight} 26. Bxf3 { maybe with the pressure on c6/b7 white could save the game?} Nf7 27. Kd2 Ng5 { black has to pressurize h3 or white will save the game!} (27... Ne5 $2 28. Be2 Kg5 {black is better : space advantage and white's king has problems to become active. And h3 and h5 are weak, despite being on white squares.} 29. c5 { and here black has to find} h6 $1 (29... f4 $2 30. h6 $1 { saves the game thanks to the clever idea Bd1-c2} (30. exf4+ Kxf4 31. c4 h6 32. b5 Nd7 33. Kc3 Nxc5 34. Kb4 Ne4 35. bxc6 bxc6 36. c5 Nf2 37. Bf1 Kg3 $19) 30... Kf5 (30... f3 31. Bd1 Nc4+ 32. Ke1 {only move} Nxe3 33. Bxf3 Kf4 34. Be2 Nf5 35. Bg4 Ne7 36. Kf2 Kg5 37. Ke3 Kxh6 38. Kf4 $11 { and with an alive King and b7/c6 on white, white is ok}) 31. exf4 Kxf4 32. Bd1 Nf3+ 33. Kd3 Kg3 34. Ke3 Ng5 35. Bc2 Kxh3 36. Kf4 Nf7 37. b5 $1 Kg2 (37... Nxh6 38. bxc6 bxc6 39. Be4 Kh2 40. Kg5 Nf7+ 41. Kxh4 Nd8 42. Bxh7 a5 43. Bc2 $11) 38. Bxh7 Nxh6 39. bxc6 bxc6 40. Be4+ Kg1 41. Bxc6 h3 42. Bd5 h2 43. c6 Nf7 44. c7 Nd6 45. Ke5 Nc8 46. Kd4 $11 (46. Ke6 $4 a5 $19)) 30. Bd1 (30. c4 f4 31. exf4+ Kxf4 32. Kc3 Kg3 $19) 30... Kf6 31. Be2 Nf7 { back to the good g5 square! So it was stupid to play Ne5.} 32. Bf1 Ke5 33. Ke2 Ng5 34. Bg2 f4 35. c4 Kf5 36. exf4 Kxf4 37. b5 Ne6 38. bxc6 bxc6 39. Kd3 Nxc5+ 40. Kc3 a5 41. Bxc6 Kg3 $19) 28. Bg2 Ke5 { better King, pressure on h3, it's winning, if black plays carefully} 29. Ke2 f4 (29... b6 {is less natural} 30. Bxc6 Nxh3 31. Kf3 h6 32. Kg2 Ng5 33. Ba4 Ne4 34. Kh3 Nxc3 35. Bb3 Ke4 (35... a5 $2 36. c5 $1 {only move} a4 37. cxb6 Kd6 38. Be6 Nd1 39. Kxh4 Kc6 40. Kg3 Kxb6 41. Kf4 a3 42. Kxf5 Nxe3+ 43. Kg6 Kb5 { threatening Nc4} 44. Bb3 $11) 36. Bc2+ Kxe3 37. Bxf5 Kd4 38. Be6 b5 39. cxb5 Nxb5 40. Kxh4 Kc3 41. Kg4 Kxb4 42. Bg8 Nd4 43. Kf4 a5 $19) 30. c5 (30. b5 $2 { gives black a free a-passed pawn} f3+ $1 31. Bxf3 Nxf3 32. Kxf3 a5 $19) 30... Kf5 {white will very soon be in some zugzwang} 31. exf4 Kxf4 32. b5 (32. h6 Kg3 33. Kf1 Nf3 34. Bh1 Kf4 35. Kf2 Ng5 36. Bg2 Ne4+ 37. Ke1 Nxc3 38. Bf1 Nd5 39. b5 cxb5 40. Bxb5 Nf6 $19) 32... Ne4 33. bxc6 bxc6 34. Kd3 (34. c4 a5 35. Kd3 a4 36. Kc2 Nxc5 37. Kb2 Kg3 38. Bxc6 Kxh3 39. Ka3 Kg4 40. Kb4 h3 $19) 34... Nxc5+ 35. Kc4 Ne4 36. h6 a5 37. Kb3 c5 38. Ka4 Nxc3+ 39. Kxa5 Ne4 40. Kb5 Nf2 41. Kxc5 Kg3 42. Bf1 Nxh3 $19) 25... Nf7 26. Kd2 Ng5 27. Bf1 Ke5 { black is on top. More space, better King and pressure on h3.} 28. Kc2 f4 29. Kd1 f3 $1 {taking more and more space! It's very difficult for the computer to find a winning plan! Could you?} (29... fxe3 30. fxe3 { and black will win h5 but it's not easy to win the game}) 30. Kd2 h6 { the first step is to grab h5, this will allow to play h6-h5} 31. Kc2 Nh7 { now h3 is not attacked any more but the white bishop can't take benefit of that } 32. Kd2 Nf6 33. Bc4 Nxh5 34. Bf7 {would have the bishop been able to reach c8, of course it wouldn't be the same story} Nf6 35. Bc4 (35. Bg6 $5 { could almost have saved the game!} a5 $1 {another black's idea} (35... Ng4 { a very important idea, coming again and again in this endgame} 36. Ke1 a5 37. bxa5 Nf6 38. Kd2 Nd7 39. Bf7 Nxc5 40. Bc4 $13 { to stop Nd3. I'm not sure black can win now}) 36. bxa5 Nd7 37. Be8 Nxc5 38. c4 {white may feel out of danger but black is able to win} Kd6 39. Bg6 Kc7 40. Bf5 (40. Bh5 Nd3 41. Bxf3 Nxf2 42. Ke2 Nxh3 43. Bxe4 Ng5 44. Bd3 Kd6 45. Bf5 Ne6 46. Kf3 Nc5 47. Bc8 Kc7 48. Bf5 Nb3 $19 49. Kg4 Nxa5 50. Bd3 Kd6 51. Kxh4 Kc5 52. Kh5 Nxc4 53. e4 Kd4 54. Be2 b5 55. Kxh6 b4 56. Bd1 Ne3 57. Ba4 c5 $19) 40... Kb8 41. Kc3 Nd3 42. Bxe4 Nxf2 43. Bxf3 Nxh3 44. Kd4 Ng5 45. Bh1 Ka7 46. e4 Ka6 47. Kc5 Kxa5 48. e5 h3 49. Kd6 Kb4 50. e6 Nxe6 51. Kxe6 Kxc4 52. Kf5 h2 53. Kg4 Kd3 54. Kg3 c5 55. Bxb7 c4 56. Kxh2 c3 57. Bc8 Ke4 $19) 35... Nh7 $19 { going back to g5} ({or} 35... Ng4 36. Ke1 Kf6 37. Bf1 Kf5 38. Bc4 Ne5 39. Bf1 h5 {will allow Ng4 for ever} 40. Kd2 Ke6 41. c4 Ng4 $1 42. Ke1 Nh2 $19 43. b5 Ke5 $19 {zugzwang}) 36. Kd1 Ng5 37. Bf1 Kd5 { stopping all Bc4. Now the last step: h5 and Ng4 are unstoppable} 38. Kd2 (38. Kc2 Nf7 39. Kb3 Ne5 40. Kc2 (40. c4+ Ke6 41. Kc3 Kf5 42. Kd4 h5 43. b5 Ng4 $19) 40... h5 41. Kd2 Ng4 42. Ke1 Nh2 $19 {with zugzwang to come}) 38... Nf7 39. c4+ (39. Kc2 Ne5 40. Kb3 h5 41. c4+ Ke6 42. b5 Ng4 $19) 39... Ke5 40. Kc3 h5 41. Kd2 Nh6 42. Ke1 Ng4 {with total domination and zugzwang!} 0-1

Areshchenko: Scheveningen killer

Ukrainien strong GM Alexander Areshchenko won 2 Scheveningen sicilians in a row in Bundesliga (German team championship). You will find them commented below.

[Event "Bundesliga Bremen - Hamburg"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2010.10.09"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Areshchenko, Alexander"] [Black "Ftacnik, Lubomir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B85"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2568"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 Qc7 9. Kh1 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Qg3 Rad8 ( 14... Bc6 {Areshchenko-Lammers, Bundesliga 2010 (7)}) 15. Rae1 Rd7 16. Bd3 Re8 17. Re3 g6 18. Ref3 d5 19. e5 Ne4 {black is fine} 20. Qe1 b4 (20... Nxc3 { simple chess was good too} 21. Bxc3 d4 {opening for the bishop} 22. Ba5 Qc8 23. Rh3 Qa8 $11) 21. axb4 Bxb4 22. Rh3 Qd8 (22... Rc8 $11) 23. Qe3 Nxc3 24. bxc3 Bf8 25. f5 $1 {it takes some time for the computer to find Areshchenko's move} exf5 (25... Qc7 {cold blood defense} 26. Qg3 exf5 {forced} 27. Bxf5 { with better chances for white}) 26. Bxf5 {white's idea} gxf5 (26... Rc7 27. e6 $1 {crushes black}) 27. Rg3+ Kh8 (27... Bg7 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. e6+ Kg6 30. Rf3 $18) 28. e6+ f6 29. Rxf5 (29. Qg5 Bg7 30. Qxf5 Rc7 31. Rh3 h6 32. Rxh6+ Bxh6 33. Bxf6+ Qxf6 34. Qxf6+ Bg7 {looks unclear}) 29... Bg7 30. Rh5 {now black can' t save his position. White is pressing both on dark squares (with the bishop) and light squares (on h7). And the small e6 pawn is very useful too.} (30. Rxf6 {would have been flashy} Bxf6 (30... Qxf6 31. Bxf6 Bxf6 32. exd7 Rxe3 33. Rxe3 Kg7 34. Re6 Bd8 35. Re8 Bf6 36. d8=Q Bxd8 37. Rxd8 Bc6 38. Rd6 $18) 31. e7 $1 { with a nice picture} Qxe7 32. Bxf6+) 30... Rc7 31. Qd3 h6 { the bishop is trying to hold black's castle} (31... Bf8 32. Qg6 { mating! Black can't defend h7, g8 and f6!}) {thus...} 32. Rxg7 {bang!} (32. Qe3 $18 {was the calm but as efficient alternative}) 32... Rxg7 (32... Kxg7 33. Qg3+ Kh7 34. Qh4 Kg7 35. Rxh6 Rxe6 36. Rh7+ Kf8 37. Qh6+ Ke8 38. Qg6+ Kf8 39. Bc5+ {mating}) 33. Rxh6+ Kg8 34. Qh3 {black will be mated very soon} 1-0 [Event "Bundesliga Bremen - Delmenhorst"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "2010.10.08"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Areshchenko, Alexander"] [Black "Lammers, Markus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B85"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2395"] [Annotator "Sylvain"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Qe1 O-O 11. Qg3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Kh1 Bc6 ({ In the 1st round, Ftacnik tried} 14... Rad8 {and lost in 34 moves}) 15. Rae1 Qb7 16. Bd3 b4 17. Nd1 (17. axb4 Qxb4 18. Ne2 Qb7 19. e5 Nh5 20. Qh3 g6 21. Bc3 Bb5 22. f5 exf5 23. exd6 Bxd6 24. Bxf5 Rae8 {and black may hold}) 17... bxa3 18. bxa3 g6 19. Nf2 {all this is welknown, the position must be balanced} Rac8 20. Qh3 Rfd8 21. Rb1 Qd7 22. Qh6 Bb5 23. Nh3 Bf8 (23... d5 24. Ng5 Bf8 25. Qh3 $14 {+=}) (23... Bxd3 24. cxd3 Rb8 25. Ng5 e5 26. Bb6 Re8 27. fxe5 Bf8 28. Qh4 Qg4 29. Qxg4 Nxg4 30. exd6 Bxd6 31. Nxf7 Bxh2 { is the computer's defense, though white is still a pawn up}) 24. Qh4 Nh5 25. g4 Be7 26. Ng5 e5 27. gxh5 Bxg5 28. Qxg5 exd4 29. f5 $16 { and suddenly black's castle is falling apart} Re8 (29... Qe8 {was a better try} 30. hxg6 fxg6 31. fxg6 hxg6 32. Rf6 Kh7 33. e5 Bxd3 34. cxd3 Rd7 35. Rg1 Rg7 36. Rxd6 $18) ({or} 29... Rc5 30. Qh6 Qe7 31. hxg6 hxg6 32. fxg6 f6 33. Rxf6 $1 Qxf6 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. g7+ Qxg7 36. Rf1+ $18) 30. f6 Kh8 31. hxg6 Re5 (31... fxg6 32. f7 $18) 32. Qh6 {f7 is coming} 1-0

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Funny tactic

(2385) vs. (2330)
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[Event "Athens"] [Site "?"] [Date "1994"] [Round "2"] [White "Kofidis, Andreas"] [Black "Gogolis, Alexandros"] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2q2k1/1p4p1/p1np3p/2b1pr2/6n1/2NQ4/PPP1NPB1/R1B2RK1 w - - 0 15"] [PlyCount "5"] [EventDate "1994.??.??"] *

Black just sacrificed with 14...Rxf5. How should white react?

Final results of chess olympiad

The last round was incredible. Ukraine couldn't win against Israel (2-2) whereas Russia wasn't able to overcome Spain (2-2)! Ukraine won again after 2004. No win for Russia since 2002.

Some big clashes of this last round:
Poland 1,5 - 2,5 Hungary
France 2 - 2 Armenia
Azerbaijan 2 - 2 Russia-3
Cuba 1,5 - 2,5 USA
England 2 - 2 Czech Republic
India 2,5 - 1,5 Georgia

Final ranking in the open section:
1.Ukraine 19
2.Russia 18
3.Israel 17
4.Hungary 17

Individual board gold medals: (with Rating Performance)
1st board: Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2890
2nd board: Emil Sutovsky ISR 2895
3rd board: Vitaly Teterev BLR 2853
4th board: Sergey Karjakin RUS 2859
5th board: Sebastien Feller FRA 2702

All results here

King's hunting at chess olympiad

() vs. ()
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[Event "39th Olympiad Men"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2010.09.22"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Black "Novita, Anjas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2356"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2010.09.21"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "ISR"] [BlackTeam "INA"] {This game was played in the match Israel vs Indonesia} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Qxd4 8. Bxb4 Qxe5 {white sacrificed 2 pawns to get the dark-squared bishop and keep the black king in the center. The hunting is open !} 9. Na3 b5 10. Bd6 Qxb2 {third pawn !} 11. O-O a6 12. Rb1 Qc3 {black don't want the fourth :-)} ( 12... Qxa2 {the computer wants !} 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. Qd6 Rb6 16. Qc7 {but he agrees the price is a whole rook !} O-O 17. Qxb6 Qxe2 { with a crazy position, probably winning for white though}) 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14. Qd6 {still no castle} Rb6 15. Nxc4 ({another good possibility was} 15. Rfc1 Qa5 16. Qc7 {white lets black castling but creates a very unpleasant pin} O-O 17. Nxc4 bxc4 18. Qxb6 Qxa2 19. Rb2 Qa3 20. Bxc6 $16) 15... Qxc4 16. Rbc1 Qxe2 ( 16... Qxa2 17. Rxc6 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Bd7 19. Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. Rd1 Qd5 (20... g6 $2 21. Qxd7+ Kf8 22. Qd6+ Kg7 23. Qe5+ $18) 21. Rxd5 exd5 22. Qxd5 { and white is winning}) 17. Bxc6+ (17. Rxc6 $2 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Nd7 19. Bxd7+ Bxd7 20. Rd1 g6 $1 {and black survives}) 17... Nd7 18. Rfd1 $5 ({Rodshtein would like more than this: } 18. Bxd7+ Bxd7 19. Qxb6 O-O 20. Qxa6 $16) 18... Kd8 {only move} 19. Qd4 Rxc6 20. Rxc6 Ke7 {black is still ahead in material but his king is still hunted !} 21. Rc7 h5 {black tries to create some counter play} 22. Rdc1 h4 $2 (22... f6 {was better, the position remains very unclear}) 23. Qxg7 hxg3 24. Qg5+ f6 25. Qg7+ { the black king is forced to try his luck in the center of the board} Kd6 26. Qxg3+ e5 $2 ({More resilient was} 26... Ne5 27. R7c2 Qd3 28. Rxc8 Qxg3+ 29. hxg3 Rxc8 30. Rxc8 a5 31. Kf1 $16 {and white has to work to win that}) 27. R7c6+ Kd5 {unfortunately forced} 28. Qg2+ e4 29. Qg3 e3 30. Rd6+ {the simplest} (30. Qg2+ {was even stronger} Kd4 31. Rd6+ Ke5 32. f4+ Kxd6 (32... Kxf4 33. Qxe2) 33. Rc6+ Ke7 34. Qg7+ Kd8 35. Qxh8+ Ke7 36. Qg7+ Kd8 37. Qg8+ { and black will be mated}) 30... Ke4 31. f3+ Qxf3 32. Rd4+ Kxd4 33. Qxf3 $18 Ne5 34. Rd1+ Kc4 35. Qxe3 Rh3 36. Qd4# {The king was finally trapped !} 1-0

Ivanchuk 5/5 at Chess Olympiad!

Vassily Ivanchuk must play between 2900 and 3000 Elo when he is in good shape. For now he is, he won all his Olympiad games so far. You can find them below. In all 5 games the same feeling: he wins effortlessly...

[Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Ahmed, Abdul Sattar abdul"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C27"] [WhiteElo "2342"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Iraq"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IRQ"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. d4 dxc4 6. Qe2 Qxd4 7. Nf3 Qd5 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nc6 11. Ba3 f6 12. Nd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 Qf7 15. Nc5 b6 16. Nxd7 Rxd7 17. Rxd7 Qxd7 18. Qxc4 Rd8 19. h3 Kb7 20. Rb1 Qd5 21. Qa4 Qxa2 22. Rb2 Qd5 23. Kh2 Qd2 24. Bc5 Qxc3 0-1 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.22"] [Round "2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "McNab, Colin A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2445"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Scotland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "SCO"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. e4 e5 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. Be3 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Bb7 11. f3 Re8 12. Qd2 c6 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. b4 Rad8 15. Bf1 Ne5 16. Bg5 a6 17. b5 axb5 18. cxb5 c5 19. Nc2 c4 20. Kh1 Nd3 21. Bxd3 cxd3 22. Nb4 Qc5 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Ncd5 Bg7 25. Qxd3 Rc8 26. a4 h5 27. Na6 Bxa6 28. bxa6 Qa5 29. Qb5 Be5 30. f4 Bc3 31. Re2 Kg7 32. g3 h4 33. gxh4 Rh8 34. Rc2 Be1 35. Qb2+ Kh6 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. Qg2 Bxh4 38. Qh3 1-0 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.24"] [Round "4"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Beliavsky, Alexander G"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2632"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Slovenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "SLO"] 1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nxd4 8. Nf3 Nxf3+ 9. Qxf3 Qc7 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. O-O Bc6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Rad1 e6 14. Nd5 O-O-O 15. Bxc6 exd5 16. Bxd5 Kb8 17. Rc1 Qd7 18. Rcd1 Be7 19. g3 Qc7 20. Rc1 Qd7 21. Rfd1 Rc8 22. Bxb7 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qxb7 24. Qf4+ Ka8 25. Rc7 1-0 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.25"] [Round "5"] [White "Sokolov, Ivan"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A57"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bosnia Herzegovina"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Qc2 bxc4 5. e4 d6 6. Bxc4 g6 7. b3 Nxe4 8. Bb2 Qa5+ 9. Kf1 Nf6 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Re1 Qd8 12. Qe2 Nbd7 13. h4 Ne5 14. Bb5+ Bd7 15. f4 Nh5 16. Bxd7+ Qxd7 17. Qe3 Qf5 18. Nh3 Qd3+ 19. Kg1 Qxe3+ 20. Rxe3 Ng4 21. Rf3 Bd4+ 22. Kf1 Ne3+ 23. Ke2 Nxg2 24. Ng5 h6 25. Nge4 Ngxf4+ 0-1 [Event "39. WCO"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.27"] [Round "6"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Leko, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2724"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Hungary"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "HUN"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bd3 Qc7 12. Bd2 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. a4 bxa4 15. Rxa4 Bb7 16. Rc4 Qa7 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rac8 20. Qd4 Bc5 21. Qc3 Rcd8 22. Qc2 Rfe8 23. Ng5 g6 24. Ba5 Bb6 25. Bc3 e5 26. Ne4 Re6 27. Bb4 Kg7 28. Rc6 Nf6 29. Rxe6 fxe6 30. Nxf6 Kxf6 31. Ra1 Qb7 32. Bc3 a5 33. Qa4 g5 34. h4 h6 35. Qg4 Qh7 36. Qh5 Qg6 37. Bxe5+ Kf7 38. Qf3+ Kg8 39. Qc6 1-0

Vachier-Lagrave outplayed Gelfand

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "39th Olympiad Men"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2010.09.23"] [Round "3.17"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2010.09.21"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "FRA"] [BlackTeam "ISR"] {This game was played on the first board of the France-Israel match} 1. d4 {No Petroff, thanks!} d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 {Maxime prefers this sharp anti-moscow gambit} 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 b4 (14... c5 {was played 3 times in the Gelfand - Leko match last month, Gelfand was white and scored 2,5/3. By playing b4 he probably wanted to avoid some home preparation... but according to Rybka it's the best move and Maxime was ready}) 15. Na4 c5 {attacking both white central pawns} 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxd7+ Kxd7 19. O-O-O+ (19. Rd1+ Ke7 20. Bd6+ Ke8 $11) 19... Ke8 20. Bf4 Nxc5 21. Bxb7 Nxb7 22. Bxh6 Nc5 (22... Rxg2 23. Be3 { and the Nb7 is not very impressive, but the h pawn is still ready to run}) 23. Be3 Nd3+ 24. Kb1 Rxg2 25. h5 {in the interview after the game, Vachier-Lagrave said he was prepared until there approximatively. White has sacrificed a pawn to get the h-passed pawn} f5 {this move looks logical to come with the king} 26. h6 Kf7 27. h7 Rh8 {White played h5 h6 h7 but what to do now ?} 28. b3 $1 { destabilizing the knight} e5 {black wants to stop Bd4 to take in f2} (28... Nxf2 29. Rd7+ Ke8 (29... Kf6 $2 30. Rh6+ Rg6 31. Bd4+ e5 32. Bxe5+ Kxe5 33. Rxg6 $18) 30. Rxa7 Nxh1 31. Ra8+ Kf7 32. Rxh8 Rh2 33. bxc4 Ng3 34. Bf4 Rh1+ 35. Kc2 Ne2 36. Be5 f4 37. Kd2 Nc3 38. Bxf4 Rh5 39. Be5 $1 Ne4+ 40. Kd3 Nf2+ 41. Kc2 Ng4 42. Bd6 $18) 29. bxc4 {Wath carefully this second passed pawn...} Nxf2 30. Bxf2 Rxf2 { at first sight one could think this endgame is balanced} 31. c5 { the sentence of this game is : passed pawns should be pushed !} Rf3 { Boris knows since a very long time that rooks should be behind passed pawns, so he is going to c3. But amazingly he is already dead lost!!} (31... e4 32. c6 e3 33. c7 e2 34. Rc1 $18) 32. c6 $18 (32. Rc1 $2 Rd3 33. c6 Rdd8 34. c7 Rc8 {beautiful picture :-) But it must be draw}) 32... Rc3 33. Rd7+ Kg6 (33... Ke6 34. Rh6# {is unexpected !}) (33... Ke8 34. Rg1 Rxc6 35. Rxa7 $18) 34. c7 { impressive: 2 pawns reached the seventh rank after a mere 34 moves} f4 35. Rd6+ Kg7 36. Rg1+ Kf7 (36... Kxh7 37. Rh1+ Kg7 38. Rd7+ Kg8 39. Rd8+ Kg7 40. Rdxh8 $18) 37. Rd8 {Maxime still had 1 hour on his clock. Very few players can say they defeated the ultra solid and experimented Boris Gelfand with so much ease. } 1-0

39th chess Olympiad

I know it's not very original but Chess Olympiad are such a beautiful event I can't resist speaking of it!

In 2010 it will be played in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).

In the Open section, 150 teams are expected.
A tough battle is predictable between Russia-1 (Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler, Karjakin) and Ukraine (Eljanov, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Efimenko). But there are a lot of other strong teams like China, Hungary (with Judit), Armenia (2006 and 2008 titles holder!!), Azerbaijan (withouth Gashimov), France (without Bacrot), Israël, England (experience+youth), etc.
Russia (last time winner in... 2002) will have 5 teams in Open, Russia-2 being 4th seed and Russia-3 19th!
Past winners

In the Women section, 108 teams are expected.
Here too Russia-1 is the hot favorite but hasn't win since... 1986!! Main rivals will be China, Ukraine and Georgia, as usual.
Past winners

First round will be played on September 21^st, 11^th round on October 3^rd.

My Youth Ratings page

I worked on it for a while and I'm finally happy to announce the creation of my page on youth chess players sorted out by their FIDE ratings. You will find:

• World tops 10 (boys&girls) in each category (U10 U12 U14 U16 U18 U20)
• Full world ranking (all players) in each category
• Country ranking in each category
• Possibility to compare each country ranking to the world ranking 

Feedbacks are welcome!

I will probably update these pages on each new ratings list.
Next month (19-31 October) will take place 2010 World Youth Chess Championship in Greece.

Crazy computer tactical pattern

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2010.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "NN"] [Black "NN"] [Result "*"] [ECO "?"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/pb1q1pp1/1pR1p2p/3r4/Q7/P3PN2/1P2BPPP/6K1 w - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "11"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [SourceDate "2000.01.01"] 21. Rc4 b5 22. Ne5 Rxe5 23. Qxa7 Rg5 24. Qb8+ (24. Rg4 Rxg4 25. Bxg4 Qc6) 24... Kh7 25. Rd4 Rxg2+ 26. Kf1 *

White took a knight in c6, Black (thus a piece down) just played Qd7, pinning the rook. After 1.Rc4 b5 The computer says white can stay in the game with the stunning 2.Ne5!! . Try to understand why.

(you can see the answer by clicking one time on the board and then with the right arrow of your keyboard)

Armageddon blitz

Vladimir Kramnik earned the 4th place for the 2010 Bilbao tournament (October) by winning the sudden death blitz game against Levon Aronian. Before that they played two 4'+3'' games, Kramnik won the first and had an easy draw in the second but forgot his clock and lost by time.
Here you can see these 3 blitz games :
http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/2010/en/fotos-y-videos/
As we can see, the end of the last one was somehow chaotic, but that's forced with only a few seconds on the clock. I would even say that these player are really dexterous and nifty.
It would have been quite unfair if Kramnik wouldn't have qualified because in slow games he won 1,5/2 against Aronian. I have no idea why direct encounter is still not the first criterion to decide between 2 players when one of them won, it's an heresy!

But no chess fan could be satisfied with this kind of end between world class players. It makes me remember 2 famous cases of sudden death in 2008 :

Krush - Zatonskih (US championship)



Socko - Foisor S. (Women World Championship) (beginning at 1:15)




In Socko - Foisor, first the arbiter decided it was a draw, but then Socko made an official claim which was accepted and she won the game, thus qualifying for the next round.

Losing the way Krush lost or the way Foisor lost, are definitely unsatisfactory for chess. I understand that at a point organizers want to put an end to the match, but in my opinion armageddon blitz should never be played without increments. Why not playing these armageddon with 5+2 for white (forced to win) and 4+2 for black? Would this really be an advantage for black? I'm not sure.
What is your opinion?

Double exchange sacrifice stories

The 5th game of the Gelfand - Leko rapid match played some days ago was a fantastic battle featuring 2 Rooks against Bishop+Knight+pawn+activity. Here is this great game, I added some comments and variations to the already good job of match commentators Berkes and Meszaros.
This made me think of another game with a double exchange sacrifice, Zhu Chen - Taimanov 1997. You can see it here too. Let me know if other games with this pattern come in your mind.

[Event "Miskolc Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Leko, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [Annotator "Berkes/Meszaros/SR"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2010.03.07"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 c5 15. e5 {Novelty. In the first game 15.dxc5 happened. This move opens the way for the c3 knight.} Nd5 16. Ne4 O-O-O 17. O-O {#} Rxg3 $1 { very interesting exchange sacrifice!} 18. Nxg3 (18. fxg3 $2 Ne3) 18... Nf4 $1 { It's a very deep plan! For the exchange Black has stong pressure on the d-line and better pawn structure. For now he has a strong Nf4 and d4 won't stay here. } 19. dxc5 (19. Qd2 Qxd4) (19. a4 b4) 19... Qc7 20. Bxb7+ Qxb7 (20... Kxb7 $2 21. Qf3+ Nd5 22. Ne4 $18) 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. gxf3 Bxc5 23. Ne4 Bd4 24. Nd6+ Rxd6 $1 {Second beautiful exchange sacrifice !!} 25. exd6 {#} Kd7 $5 { Leko misses his chances! He could capture the b2 pawn for example:} (25... Bxb2 26. Rab1 c3 27. Rxb2 $8 (27. Kh2 $2 Kd7 28. Kg3 Nd3 $17) 27... cxb2 28. Rb1 Nd3 29. Kf1 a5 $1 30. Ke2 (30. a3 $2 a4 $1 {is a pleasant move} 31. Ke2 b4 32. Kxd3 bxa3 33. Kc2 a2 34. d7+ Kd8 $19) 30... Nc1+ 31. Kd2 Nxa2 32. Rxb2 Nb4 $132 { with an exciting position.}) 26. a4 $1 {Gelfand is trying to break Black queenside pawns and open new lines for his rooks.} (26. Rab1 Kxd6 27. Rfd1 e5 { is drawish. Black pieces are really impressive.}) 26... b4 27. Rac1 $1 (27. Rfc1 c3 28. bxc3 Bxc3 29. Kf1 Bxa1 30. Rxa1 a5 31. Rc1 Kxd6 32. Rc8 Nd5 33. Rb8 Kc5 {and black plays for the win}) 27... c3 {#} (27... Ne2+ 28. Kg2 Nxc1 29. Rxc1 c3 30. bxc3 Bxc3 $11) 28. Rfd1 $3 {This fantastic move uses the x-ray power of his rook and opens the way for the king!} (28. bxc3 Bxc3 29. Rb1 a5 30. Rfd1 Nd5 {and I don't think black is in danger. Perhaps it's black who is playing for a win!}) 28... e5 (28... Ne2+ $2 29. Kf1 Nxc1 30. bxc3 Bxc3 31. Rxc1 Kxd6 32. Ke2 Ke5 (32... Kd5 $6 33. Kd3 h5 34. f4 $1 a5 35. f3 $16) 33. Ke3 Bd4+ 34. Kd3 Bxf2 35. h5 $13 { with good practical winning chances for White, according to Berkes/Meszaros.}) (28... cxb2 29. Rc7+ Kxd6 30. Rc4 $1 Nd5 (30... e5 $2 31. Rxb4 Kc5 32. Rdxd4 $1 exd4 33. Rxb2 $16) 31. Rcxd4 Kc5 $1 { #This is one of the most beatiful endgames we ever saw!} 32. R4d2 Nc3 { N+2 pawns against 2 rooks!} 33. Rc2 Kc4 34. Rb1 b3 35. Rcxb2 (35. Rbxb2 bxc2 36. Rxc2 a5 $44) 35... Nxb1 36. Rxb1 Kc3 37. Kg2 Kc2 38. Re1 b2 39. Kg3 h5 $8 ( 39... a5 40. Kg4 b1=Q 41. Rxb1 Kxb1 42. Kh5 Kb2 43. Kxh6 Kb3 44. h5 Kxa4 45. Kg5 $18) 40. Kf4 f6 41. Ke4 b1=Q 42. Rxb1 Kxb1 43. f4 $1 a5 44. f5 exf5+ 45. Kxf5 Ka2 46. Kxf6 Kb3 47. Kg5 Kxa4 $11) 29. bxc3 bxc3 (29... Ne2+ 30. Kf1 Nxc3 (30... Nxc1 $4 31. cxd4 $18) 31. Rd3 a5 32. f4 f6 33. fxe5 fxe5 34. f4 $18) 30. Kf1 {#} f6 $6 (30... a5 {was better possibility to try to save the game!} 31. Rc2 Nd5 32. Ke1 h5 $1 33. Rd3 (33. Rb1 Nb4 34. Kd1 Kxd6 $44 { and another time B+N are at least worth 2R here}) 33... f6 34. f4 $16 Nxf4 35. Rdxc3 Bxc3+ 36. Rxc3 Kxd6 37. Kd2 $14) 31. Rc2 Nd5 (31... Ng6 32. Rd3 Nxh4 33. f4 Nf5 34. fxe5 fxe5 35. Rdxc3 Bxc3 36. Rxc3 Kxd6 37. Rc8 e4 38. Ra8 e3 39. f4 Ng3+ 40. Ke1 Nh5 41. f5 Ke5 42. Rxa7 Ng3 43. Rf7 h5 44. f6 h4 45. Rf8 h3 46. f7 Ke6 47. Rh8 Kxf7 48. Rxh3 Ne4 49. Rxe3 Nc5 50. a5 $18) 32. Rb1 a5 33. Ke2 Nb4 { #} 34. Kd1 {This is also winning, but} (34. Rxb4 { was easier, according to Berkes/Meszaros} axb4 35. Kd3 Kxd6 (35... b3 $2 36. Rxc3 $18) (35... Bb6 $2 36. Kc4 Ba5 37. h5 Kxd6 38. Rc1 Ke6 39. Kb3 Kf5 40. Rd1 Kg5 41. Rd6 f5 42. Re6 Bc7 43. Kxb4 Kxh5 44. Kxc3 Kg5 45. Rc6 Bb8 46. Kd3 h5 47. Ke2 h4 48. Rc8 Ba7 49. a5 $18) 36. Kc4 Bc5 37. a5 Kc6 38. a6 Bd4 39. Ra2 Kb6 40. Kxb4 Ka7 41. Kc4 $18) 34... Kxd6 35. Rb3 Nxc2 36. Kxc2 h5 37. Rb5 Bxf2 38. Rxa5 Bxh4 39. Rb5 Bf2 40. Rb7 Kc6 41. Rf7 $18 {The rest is easy} Kb6 (41... h4 42. Kxc3 Kc5 43. Rxf6 Bg3 44. Rh6 Be1+ 45. Kb3 Bf2 46. a5 Kb5 47. a6 h3 48. Rxh3 Kxa6 49. Kc4 $18) 42. Rxf6+ Ka5 43. Rf5 Kxa4 44. Rxe5 h4 45. Kxc3 { With this victory Gelfand again leads the match!} 1-0 [Event "Veterans-Women"] [Site "Copenhagen"] [Date "1997.??.??"] [Round "4"] [White "Zhu Chen"] [Black "Taimanov, Mark E"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2515"] [BlackElo "2425"] [Annotator ",Sylvain"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "1997.07.23"] [EventType "schev"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "DEN"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. Qc2 { a rare move, usually white play 5.g3 or 5.Nc3} O-O 6. g3 d5 7. Bg2 { somehow we are back in a catalan line} Nc6 8. O-O Bd7 9. Rc1 { pressure on the c-file will be a major theme of the game} Re8 10. Bf4 { increasing pressure on c7 and making the bishop in b4 feel a little stupid} Bd6 {back to a good place!} 11. cxd5 Nb4 $1 (11... Nxd5 12. Bxd6 cxd6 13. e4 $14) 12. Qd1 Nbxd5 (12... Bxf4 13. gxf4 exd5 $11) 13. Be5 Bc6 14. Nbd2 Nb6 $11 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. e4 e5 17. d5 Bb5 18. a4 Bd7 {black have a very safe position} 19. Ne1 {aiming for c5} h5 $5 20. Nd3 (20. Qxh5 Nxa4 $11) 20... h4 { black creates some play on the white castle, nothing really dangerous though} 21. b3 g6 $1 {with the idea to convey a rook in h8, this kind of move is difficult to find for a computer} 22. Qe2 Kg7 23. Qe3 { typical queen centalization} Rh8 { have a look at how black wait with the h4 pawn} 24. Nc5 Bc8 {black want to keep this important attacking piece, even if it means no job for the a8 rook yet.} 25. Nd3 {white changes his mind} Bd7 26. Rc2 hxg3 27. fxg3 Rh5 28. Rac1 { you may wonder why white is doubling here whereas c7 is defended by a bishop. You will understand very soon!} Rah8 29. Nf1 {human typical defense. The computer wants to play some dangerous defenses based on h2-h4. I can't recommand this kind of move at all!} Qg5 $6 (29... Ba3 {trying to disturb white} 30. Rxc7 $1 Bxc1 31. Nxc1 Bc8 32. Qc5 {with compensations}) (29... Qd8 { was solid, even if a5 is weak}) 30. Qxg5 Rxg5 31. Rxc7 $1 {First exchange sacrifice. A very logical one, white get bishop and pawn for the rook, a strong passed pawn in d5, and activity.} Bxc7 32. Rxc7 Bc8 $2 { this loses the e-pawn} (32... Rc8 {activity against activity!} 33. Rxb7 Rc3 34. Nxe5 Rxe5 35. Rxb6 Re8 36. Nd2 $14) 33. h4 Rgh5 34. Bf3 R5h7 35. Nxe5 { white must be winning now} Kf6 36. Nd3 Rd8 37. e5+ {impressive central pawns} Kg7 38. e6 Kf6 39. Nf4 (39. Nc5 Nxd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5 41. Rxc8 fxe6 42. Ne3 { was easier}) 39... Na8 $1 {I always like knight-corner-moves} 40. e7 $1 { Zhu Chen measures up!} (40. Rc5 b6 41. Rc6 Bb7 42. Rc3 fxe6 43. Nxe6 $14) 40... Re8 41. Rxc8 $1 {and here comes the second exchange sacrifice!!} Rxc8 42. d6 { So, what do we have ? White are two exchanges down, but have 2 pawns in compensations, and what pawns! Central, passed, connected, on the 6th and 7th rank!} Nb6 {forced to prevent d7} 43. Bxb7 Rhh8 (43... Rb8 44. Nd2 { and the bishop is untouchable}) 44. Ne3 (44. Bxc8 Nxc8 45. e8=Q Rxe8 46. d7 $16 ) 44... Rb8 45. Bc6 Ke5 (45... Nc8 46. Nfd5+ Ke6 47. e8=Q+ Rxe8 48. Bxe8 Nxd6 49. Bb5 $1 $16) 46. d7 Nxd7 47. Bxd7 {a piece back} Kd6 48. e8=Q Rhxe8 49. Bxe8 {and an exchange back} Rxe8 { so now white is just winning, even if she has to be careful nevertheless} 50. Nc4+ Kc5 51. Nxa5 Kb4 52. Nb7 Kxb3 53. a5 { without this pawn maybe it wouldn't be so winning, but it's on the board!} Re1+ 54. Kg2 Ra1 {good old rule: the rook behind the passed pawn} 55. Nd6 Rxa5 56. Nxf7 {but it's too easy for white} Rf5 57. Nh6 (57. Nh8 $4 { it's never too late to make a mistake} g5 $11) 57... Rf6 58. Ng4 Ra6 59. Ne5 { very nice game from Zhu Chen} 1-0

Ivan's oversight

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "InventiChess 2010"] [Site "Antwerp"] [Date "2010.09.03"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Docx, Stefan"] [Black "Sokolov, Ivan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2342"] [BlackElo "2641"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1r4k1/R2b1ppp/2p4q/3p4/Q5nP/2BBr1P1/P4P2/5RK1 w - - 0 22"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1-0

Black just played Rxe3. Which tactical problem did he overlook ?

New FIDE ratings: young leaders

Boys: U20: Carlsen, Magnus 2826 NOR U18: Caruana, Fabiano 2700 ITA U16: Giri, Anish 2677 NED U14: Nyzhnyk, Illya 2538 UKR U12: Artemiev, Vladislav 2356 RUS U10: Sevian, Samuel 2105 USA

Girls: U20: Muzychuk, Anna 2535 SLO U18: Muzychuk, Mariya 2464 UKR U16: Hou, Yifan 2578 CHN U14: Zhai, Mo 2148 CHN U12: Sidorova, Anna 2124 RUS U10: Rosado Perez, Maria Jose 1981 COL

August report of the blog

Chess all over the world in August, it was :

• 31 articles
• 2 games commented in video
• 10 commented games
• 9 endgames
• 11 selected exercises (all answers are here)
• the first 3 games of Hammer in Arctic Stars commented here the same day at 21:07
• Andreikin-Stupak commented some days before chess.com
• Edouard-Tkachiev commented one day before chessbase.com
• comments on French championships, British championships, World junior championships, among others
• 1108 pages seen, thanks!

In September I will probably publish once every 2-3 days.

Knight endgame

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "ch-RUS Higher League"] [Site "Irkutsk RUS"] [Date "2010.08.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Frolyanov, D."] [Black "Tomashevsky, E."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2587"] [BlackElo "2708"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5pk1/3p2p1/1p1Pp2p/4P3/2n2P1P/P2N2PK/8 w - - 0 51"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2010.08.20"] {This endgame is better for black because their knight is more active, but probably not winning} 51. a3 h4 52. g3 f5 53. Kg2 (53. gxh4 $2 f4 54. h5 (54. Kg2 Kh6 {is similar to the game}) 54... gxh5 (54... g5 55. h4 $1 Kh6 56. hxg5+ Kxg5 57. Kg2 Kxh5 58. Kh3 Nd1 59. Nb1 Kg5 60. Nd2 Ne3 61. Nb1 Nc4 62. Kg2 Kh4 63. Kh2 $13) 55. Kg2 Kf8 56. Kf1 Ke7 57. Nb3 Kd7 58. Na5 Nb1 59. Nc6 Nxa3 60. Ke2 Kc7 61. Kd3 Kb6 62. Kc3 Kc5 63. Kb3 Nc4 64. Kc3 h4 65. Nb4 Nb2 66. Nc6 Nd1+ 67. Kc2 Nf2 68. Ne7 Nxh3 69. Ng6 Ng1 70. Nxh4 Ne2 $19) 53... hxg3 54. Kxg3 Kh6 55. Kf2 f4 56. Kg2 Kg5 57. Kh2 Kh5 58. Kg2 Nd1 59. Kh2 Ne3 60. Nb1 Nc2 { the white knight is paralyzed, it's not funny for white} 61. Kg1 Kh6 62. Kf2 Kg5 63. Kg1 Kf6 {but black has to create threats on both sides of the board to win, which is not an easy task here} 64. Kf2 (64. h4 Kg7 (64... Ke7) 65. Kf1 Nd4 66. Nd2 Kh6 67. Kg2 Kh5 68. Kh3 Nc2 69. Nb1 Ne1 70. Nc3 Nxf3 71. Nxb5 Nxh4 72. Nxd6 g5 73. Nf5 $1 g4+ 74. Kh2 g3+ 75. Nxg3+ fxg3+ 76. Kxg3 Ng6 77. a4 Kg5 78. a5 Ne7 79. a6 Nc8 80. Kf3 Kf6 81. Kg4 Na7 82. Kh4 Ke7 83. Kg5 Kd6 84. Kf5 Nb5 85. Kf6 $11) 64... Ke7 65. Kg2 Ke8 66. Kh2 Kf7 67. Kg1 Kf8 68. Kf2 Ke7 69. Kg2 Ne3+ 70. Kf2 Nc4 71. Kg2 (71. Ke2 Kd7 72. Kd3 Kc7 73. a4 Nb2+ 74. Kc3 Nxa4+ 75. Kb4 Nc5 (75... Kb6 76. Na3 $11) 76. Kxb5 Nb3 77. Kc4 Nd4 78. Nd2 $11) 71... g5 72. h4 $4 {White can't play this ! Cat and mouse play by black worked. White were on defense and lost their calm, wanting to draw by force. This can often happen when defending a long time slightly worse endgames.} (72. Kf2 Kd7 73. Kf1 Ne3+ 74. Ke2 Nc2 75. Kd3 Nd4 76. Nd2 Kc7 77. Kc3 Kb6 78. Kb4 Ne2 79. Nb1 Nc1 (79... Ng1) 80. a4 bxa4 81. Nd2 Ne2 82. Nc4+ Kc7 83. Nd2 Ng1 84. Kxa4 Nxh3 85. Kb4 Nf2 86. Kc3 g4 87. fxg4 Nxg4 88. Nf3 Nf2 89. Nd2 Kd7 90. Kc4 Kc8 91. Kb5 Kb7 92. Ka5 Nd3 93. Kb5 Kc7 94. Ka5 Kd7 95. Kb5 Nc5 96. Kb6 Na4+ 97. Kb5 Nb2 98. Kb6 Nd1 99. Kb5 $13 {I'm not sure black can win that}) 72... gxh4 73. Kh3 Kd7 74. Kxh4 Kc7 $19 75. Kg5 Kb6 76. Kf6 Kc5 77. Ke7 Kd4 78. Kd7 Ke3 79. Kc6 Kxf3 80. Kxb5 Nb2 81. Kc6 Ke3 82. Kxd6 f3 83. Ke7 Nc4 84. Nc3 Kd2 85. d6 Nxd6 0-1

Sunday's rook endgame, key idea

"Chess teaches you to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good and it trains you to think objectively when you're in trouble." - Stanley Kubrick

Sébastien - Wilfried

[Event "Ste Foy"] [Site "?"] [Date "2010.08.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Poulet, S."] [Black "Farge, W."] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5p2/2p1k3/r3P1p1/2PK2Pp/P4R1P/8/8 b - - 0 0"] *

Black to play, a pawn down. How to draw ?
(not very difficult)

Hammer's unlucky day

Arctic Securities Chess Stars began today in Norway, with Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer. Hammer was the unlucky player of the day (he missed a draw and 2 wins!). I commented his 3 games below. Don't miss Carlsen's incredible mistake against him.

[Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2800"] [BlackElo "2636"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/1pp3p1/2n2p1p/p1b1p3/P1N1P3/2P2P1P/1P4P1/3KB3 b - - 0 31"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] {Symetrical pawn structures, same material, nothing really special, but Anand will try to put some pressure on his young opponent} 31... h5 (31... Kf7 { keeping things as they are, for now, looks more logical}) 32. g4 hxg4 33. fxg4 {now it's not symetrical any more, but it's still equal} g5 34. Ke2 Kf7 35. Kd3 Ke6 36. Nd2 Nb8 (36... Kd6 37. h4 gxh4 38. Bxh4 Ke6 { and even if e5 and f6 are on dark squares, it must be equal}) 37. b4 axb4 ( 37... Bb6 38. Nc4 Nd7 39. h4 gxh4 40. Bxh4 c6 41. Kc2 Bd8 42. Bf2 axb4 43. cxb4 Nb8 44. Be1 Na6 45. Ne3 Be7 46. Kb3 b5 47. a5 Bf8 $11) 38. Nb3 Bb6 39. cxb4 c6 40. Kc4 Nd7 (40... Na6 41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nc7+ 44. Kc4 b6 $11) 41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nb8 (43... Ba7 $11 44. Bb4 Bd4 45. Nxd4+ (45. Nc5+ Nxc5 46. Bxc5 Bxc5 47. Kxc5 Kd7 48. Kb6 Kc8 49. a6 bxa6 50. Kxa6 Kc7 51. Kb5 Kb7 $11) 45... exd4 46. Kc4 Ke5 47. Kd3 Nb8 48. Be1 Nc6 49. Bg3+ Ke6 50. Bc7 Kd7 51. Bb6 Ke6 52. Bxd4 Nxa5 $11) 44. Nc5+ {forcing a favourable exchange} Bxc5 45. Kxc5 {but despite white small advantages, it's not enough to win} Nd7+ $8 (45... Nc6 $4 46. Kb6 Nd8 {doesn't hold} 47. Kc7 Ke7 48. Bd2 Ke8 49. Bb4 Nc6 50. a6 $18) 46. Kb5 Kd6 47. Bb4+ Ke6 (47... Kc7 $2 48. Be7 Kb8 49. Kc4 b6 50. axb6 Nxb6+ 51. Kb5 Nc8 52. Bxf6 Nd6+ 53. Kc6 Nxe4 54. Bxe5+ Kc8 55. Bd4 Kd8 56. Kd5 Ng3 57. Bf6+ Ke8 58. Bxg5 $18) 48. a6 bxa6+ 49. Kxa6 {black are dominated by e4, the Bb4 and soon white king coming back, but it's still a draw} Kf7 ( 49... Nb8+ $4 50. Kb7 Nd7 51. Kc7 $22 {zugzwang}) 50. Kb7 f5 $4 { Hammer probably thought the endgame was lost, but it wasn't!!} (50... Nf8 $8 51. Bxf8 Kxf8 52. Kc6 (52. Kc8 Ke8 53. Kc7 Ke7 54. Kc6 Ke6 55. Kc5 Ke7 56. Kd5 Kd7 $11) 52... Ke7 (52... Ke8 $4 { wanting to take the opposition, is a well known mistake} 53. Kd6 Kf7 54. Kd7 Kg6 55. Ke8 Kg7 56. Ke7 Kg6 57. Kf8 $18) 53. Kc7 Ke6 $8 { maybe the move Hammer missed} (53... Ke8 $4 54. Kd6 $18 {-52...Ke8}) 54. Kd8 Kd6 (54... Kf7 $4 55. Kd7 $18) 55. Ke8 Kc5 { and black draws because he will promote the e pawn} 56. Ke7 Kd4 57. Kxf6 Kxe4 58. Kxg5 Kf3 59. h4 e4 60. h5 e3 61. h6 e2 62. h7 e1=Q 63. h8=Q Qd2+ 64. Kf5 Qf4+ 65. Ke6 Kxg4 $11) (50... Ke8 $4 51. Kc7 Nf8 52. Bxf8 Kxf8 53. Kd7 Kf7 54. Kd6 $18) 51. exf5 e4 52. Kc6 Ne5+ 53. Kd5 Nd3 54. Bd2 Nf2 (54... Kf6 55. Be3 $18) 55. Bxg5 Nxh3 56. Be3 1-0 [Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D42"] [WhiteElo "2826"] [BlackElo "2636"] [Annotator ",Sylvain"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r2k1/6pp/6b1/R7/2rp4/2B2P2/PP4PP/2R3K1 w - - 0 30"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] 30. Rd1 { Hammer was quickly outplayed and is 2 pawns down, but he will fight to survive} Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 (31... dxc3 $4 32. Rxd7 $18) 32. Ba5 Rc2 { the seventh rank is always interesting for a rook} 33. h4 d3 { this passed pawn is becoming dangerous for Carlsen} 34. a4 $2 (34. Bc3 Re7 35. Re5 Rxe5 36. Bxe5 d2 37. Kf2 Bf7 38. Ke3 Bxa2 39. Rxd2 $16) 34... Re7 { and Ree2 is coming now!} 35. h5 (35. Rd2) 35... Be8 36. Rb8 (36. Rb4 Ree2 37. Rg4 Bd7 38. Rg3 Bxa4 39. Rxd3 Rxb2 40. Rd8+ Kh7 41. Bc3 Rb7 42. Rb8 Ree7 { both rooks are back from the 7th to the 2nd! Black has very big drawing possibilities}) 36... Ree2 37. Rxd3 { white took this dangerous pawn but now black rooks are at their best} Rxg2+ 38. Kf1 Rh2 (38... Rcf2+ {was another good move} 39. Ke1 Re2+ 40. Kd1 Kh7 41. Rxe8 $1 Rxe8 42. Bc3 Rg5 43. b4 Rxh5 44. b5 Rh1+ 45. Kc2 h5 46. a5 h4 47. b6 h3 48. f4 Rb8 49. Be5 Rc8+ 50. Kd2 Rh2+ 51. Ke3 Ra2 52. b7 Re8 53. b8=Q Rxb8 54. Bxb8 h2 55. Rd1 Rxa5 56. Ke4 Ra2 57. Rh1 Kg6 58. f5+ Kf7 59. Be5 Re2+ 60. Kf4 Rf2+ 61. Kg4 Re2 62. Bxh2 g6 $11) 39. Rd2 $4 { incredible, the number one in the world is human!!} ({He probably planned to put the Bishop here and mixed up in his head at the very last moment} 39. Bd2 Kf7 $1 (39... Rhxd2 $4 {is losing in this variation} 40. Rxe8+ Kf7 41. Rxd2 Rxd2 42. Rb8 $18) 40. Ke1 Bxa4 $11 { and it's equal, black rooks have sufficient activity for the pawn}) 39... Rhxd2 $4 {Hammer was really short in time, he had seconds left on the clock, and he was probably calculating some Bd2 move beforce Calsen played.} (39... Rc1+ 40. Rd1 Rxd1+ 41. Be1 Rh1+ 42. Kf2 Rhxe1 $19) 40. Bxd2 Kf7 { Jon Ludwig has some chances now though} 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 {but Carlsen's technic will now be almost flawless. It's almost the same endgame than Gelfand's first win against Leko in the match they are currently playing in Hungary!} 48. Re5+ Kh6 49. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 { all Magnus' pieces are on dark squares} Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 (57... Rxc5 58. b6 Ke6 59. Bxc5 Be4 60. Be7 $18) 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61. Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7 Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 $2 { another small flaw for the human Magnus!} Bd5 $2 (70... Rf5 {was a draw!}) 71. Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 {rapid play often leads to interesting fights!} 1-0 [Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Hammer, J."] [Black "Polgar, Ju"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E53"] [WhiteElo "2636"] [BlackElo "2682"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Qb3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bb7 12. Ne5 Nbd7 (12... Qc7 { is the move usually played here} 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bb5 Nc6 15. Rfe1 $14) 13. Nxf7 Rxf7 14. Bxe6 Qe8 $8 15. Ba3 Nf8 16. Bc4 Qd7 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7 18. c4 Ne4 19. Qd3 Ne6 20. d5 N6c5 21. Qd4 $14 Rc8 22. Rfe1 Nd6 23. Rac1 Nf5 24. Qd2 h6 25. Rc3 Qg6 26. h3 $2 (26. Qf4) 26... Nh4 27. Rg3 Ne4 28. Rxg6 Nxd2 29. Rg4 Nhf3+ 30. gxf3 Nxf3+ 31. Kf1 Nh2+ 32. Ke2 (32. Kg2 Nxg4 33. Re7 $1 { is typical computer play}) 32... Nxg4 33. hxg4 Rxc4 { white d pawn is dangerous but it seems black is now able to hold} 34. d6 Ba6 35. Kf3 Bb5 (35... Bb7+ 36. Ke3 Rc3+ 37. Kd4 Rxa3 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. d7 Rxa2 40. d8=Q Rd2+ 41. Ke3 Rxd8 42. Rxd8 Ke7 43. Rb8 Bc6 44. Rg8 Kf6 45. Rc8 $14) 36. Bb2 Rc2 37. Bd4 Rd2 (37... Bc6+ 38. Kf4 Rd2 39. Ke5 Rxa2 40. Ke6 Ra4 41. Be5 Rxg4 42. Rc1 Bb5 $11 {white will have a hard time to win this}) 38. Ke4 Kf7 39. Kd5 Be2 40. Kc6 $2 (40. Rc1 {with good winning opportunities} Bf3+ (40... Bxg4 41. Rc7+ Ke8 42. Re7+ Kd8 43. Rxg7 Bd7 44. Rg8+ Be8 45. f4 h5 46. f5 Rd1 47. f6 Rf1 48. Ke6 $18) 41. Ke5 Bxg4 42. Rc7+ Ke8 43. Re7+ Kd8 44. Rxg7 Re2+ 45. Be3 h5 46. Rxa7 b5 47. Kf6 Rc2 48. f4 $18 {and the f pawn runs fast}) 40... Bf3+ 41. Kc7 Rxd4 42. d7 Rc4+ 43. Kb8 Rd4 44. Kc7 Rc4+ 45. Kb8 Rd4 1/2-1/2

The good choice

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2r2k1/p4p1p/1p3Q2/5p2/1bbP4/4R3/PP3PPP/6K1 w - - 0 26"] *

White is on the attack. How to proceed now ?
Allocated time: < 1 min.

Another black disaster in Spain

() vs. ()
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[Event "Team Ch-ESP"] [Site "Sestao ESP"] [Date "2010.08.26"] [Round "4"][White "Graf, A."][Black "Rubio Tapia,J."][Result "1-0"][ECO "E81"][WhiteElo "2590"][BlackElo "2103"][PlyCount "47"][EventDate "2010.08.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nbd7 7. Nh3 {an interesting setup} e5 8. Be2 $5 {a rare move, usually white play 8.d5} Nh5 9. O-O f5 {a risky decision, the center is not closed and black's castle can be weakened} 10. exf5 gxf5 11. f4 {thanks to the Nh3} exf4 $6 (11... exd4 12. Bxd4 Nhf6 {was more logical, even if white keeps an edge}) 12. Bf2 $1 {gaining time on the Nh5} Nhf6 13. Nxf4 {excellent square for a knight} Re8 14.Bh4 {black has already a very embarrassing position after a mere 14 moves} c6 15. Nh5 Qb6 (15... Nf8 {trying to clog his castle} 16. Bg4 {flashy} Ng6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Bxf5 Bxf5 20. Rxf5 $16) 16. Nxg7 Kxg7 17. Qd2 {now you can count many weaknesses in black side: dark squares (like yesterday's game!), light squares, back rank...} Ne4 18. Nxe4 Rxe4 19. c5 $1 dxc5 20. Qg5+ Kh8 21.Bc4 Rg4 22. Qxg4 $1 {not difficult but pleasant! Do you see the end?} fxg4 23. Rf8+ $1 Kg7 24. Rg8+ 1-0

It's interesting to see that Graf won another game in the same 24 moves in 1998 with this variation (but 8.d5).

Miniaturized master

() vs. ()
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[Event "Sants Open A"] [Site "La Bordeta ESP"] [Date "2010.08.25"] [Round "6"] [White "Rodshtein, M."] [Black "Leniart, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B39"] [WhiteElo "2609"] [BlackElo "2423"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2010.08.20"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 c5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Be3 Ng4 $5 8. Qxg4 Bxd4 $2 {It has already been tried (without success!) but it's an unlogical move : usually white work hard to exchange this bishop, for example with Qd2 and Bh6. So, exchanging it for free seems really strange.} (8... Nxd4 9. Qd1 Ne6 10. Rc1 {is the main line of 8...Ng4}) 9. Bxd4 Nxd4 10. O-O-O Nc6 { moreover this knight has to move again! All this looks really ugly for black.} 11. Qf4 d6 12. c5 {very logical} O-O 13. h4 $1 (13. cxd6 Be6 { and black will try to complicate the game}) 13... h5 14. Be2 Qa5 15. g4 { white don't care about the d pawn, they only want to mate this poor black king without his fianchetted bishop!} Nd4 $2 {black tries something but it can't work when there are so many threats on his king} (15... Qxc5 16. Rd5 $1 { to prevent Qe5} Qb4 17. a3 Qb6 18. gxh5 $18 { and I would not like to be the black king...}) (15... hxg4 16. h5 { with a strong attack}) 16. Rxd4 e5 { black's idea but they forgot a small detail : their king!} 17. Qh6 exd4 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. g5 1-0

Who said only beginners let their poor king alone with all dark squares weakened ? :-)