Weekly Newsletter

Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
Editorial Preface combined with a nice puzzle section, plus endgame lec-
tures and a surprise section that will change every week.
Enjoy!
Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter (CEWN)
is here!
The most important events of the Chess Week
In the beginning of February, during my stay in Buda-
pest, I had a few nice dinners with my “old” friend Balogh
1. German Bundesliga, rounds 11 to 15
Csaba. In our talks about the Chess Evolution books, and
what changes could be made in the future for their im- My club Baden-Baden continues its domination in the
provement, we came to the idea to create a “light ver- German Bundesliga with 1 point lead ahead of Bremen.
sion” product for a larger audience, aiming to help the Next weekend, March 17th and 18th , will take place the
chess development of the “chess lovers” of all levels. clash between the two teams and we can expect a very
This is how the idea of CEWN was born. Of course the road exciting battle for the pole position. The surprising team
from an idea to a complete product was long, it required of Eppingen, which has been sharing until the last round
a lot of work and will require even more in the future as the 2nd place with Bremen, lost surprisingly to the team
it has to be updated every week. But we are both very of Hamburg and is now without chances to reach the
enthusiastic about CEWN and we truly believe it is going golden medals.
to be a great addition to any chess player’s daily fun! For 1. OSG Baden-Baden 20
that we promise our readers a full dedication, bringing 2. Werder Bremen 19
you the most exciting read in your email every week. You 3. SC Eppingen 17
can judge for yourself whether our efforts are worthy by 4. SG Solingen 15
yourselves after the first issue of CEWN J 5. SF Katernberg 15
To make it especially enjoyable for our readers, we de- 6. SG Trier 13
cided to start with six different languages, as we believe 7. SV Wattenscheid 13
that reading in the mother language is a lovely extra for 8. SV 1930 Hockenheim 11
every chess fan. 9. SF Berlin 11
10. Mülheim Nord 10
In our weekly newsletter we will try to be creative and not 11. Turm Emsdetten 8
only present “dry” chess material, but interesting articles, 12. SK König Tegel 7
making the reading experience enjoyable for all. Readers 13. Hamburger SK 6
will be able to find four of the most interesting games 14. SC Hansa Dortmund 5
from the past week, a rare game from a World Champion

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012 15. USV TU Dresden 4 4-7. WGM Jaracz Barbara 2281, WIM Worek Joanna
16. SC Remagen 2 2234, WFM Kulon Klaudia 2238 and WGM Szczep-
kowska-Horowska Karina 2377 — 5.0
8. WFM Iwanow Anna 2180 — 3.5
2. Polish Championships 2012 9-10. Chrząszcz Malvina 2074 and WIM Matras-Clement
Agnieszka 2305 — 2.0
A particularly exciting event with a dramatic finish came
to an end. Mateusz Bartel and Bartlomiej Macieja shared
the first place with the amazing score of 7 out of 9. In the Arkadij Naiditsch
tiebreak luck was on the side of Bartel, who makes with
this result his hat-trick at the Polish Championship. Just
a few weeks ago Mateusz managed to win the Aeroflot
Open and qualified with it for the Super Tournament in
Dortmund. An amazing year for the Polish GM!! For that
we have dedicated a special featured game by the cham-
pion in this first edition of CEWN.
The clear 3rd place in the tournament was taken by Mi-
ton Kamil with 6,5 and 4th is Radoslaw Wojtaszek with 6
points.
1-2. GM Bartel Mateusz 2658 and GM Macieja Bartlo-
miej 2617 — 7.0
3. GM Miton Kamil 2623 — 6.5
4. GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2706 — 6.0

In the female section the first place was shared as well.

Rajlich Iweta and Majdan-Gajewska Joanna finished with
6 points from 9, the 3rd place went to Zawadzska Jolanta
with 5,5.
1-2. IM Rajlich Iweta 2428 and WGM Majdan-Gajewska
Joanna 2387 — 6.0
3. WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2358 — 5.5

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
4 best games of the past week with tempo. 10...c5! Black prepares for counterattack on
the queenside with a6 and b5. He tries to give a role for
his knight on a5.
(1) Naumann,Alexander (2546) 11.e4 d7 12.c2 a6 13.b3! For White it is necessary to
— Rapport,Richard (2547) [E62] hold the c4 pawn. If Black could force him to take on b5,
then he would achieve big advantage. However, if White
Schachbundesliga 2011/2012 (11), 26.02.2012 manages to keep his structure, then the a5 knight will be
[Balogh Csaba] out of the game forever.
After checking numerous games, Arkadij and I agreed 13...b5 14. b1 h5 15. b2 e5! After White successful-
without any doubts, that the following game was the ly stabilized the queenside pawn structure, Black is forced
best of the week. The White player is a solid GM from Ger- to find another plan. Rapport finds an excellent way to do
many, Alexander Naumann, while Black is the 2nd young- this, he organizes his play on the kingside.
est grandmaster in the World, Richard Rapport! He is cur- 16.e2 f5! 17.f4!
rently the prodigy of Hungary, and is only 16 years old. In
a very complicated and difficult middlegame, both play-
ers found the strongest moves and the game finished
with a spectacular perpetual check. Let’s get it on!
1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 g7 4.g3 0–0 5. g2 d6 6.0–0
c6 7.c3 The starting position of the King’s Indian de-
fence, 4.g3 system. Black has many different setups, from
which, the main move is 7... a6, with the same idea as the
text move, preparing for queenside action with b5.
7... b8 8.h3 After preventing g4, White wants to oc-
cupy the center with e4. [8.e4 g4] The tension has grown to the maximum! All the pawns
and pieces have prepared for the battle. So it is time for
8... f5 A very rare move! According to my database, immediate action!
only 9 times it has been tried before. The idea is simply to
stop e4. [The main move is 8...a6 9.e4 b5 with very long 17...bxc4 18.bxc4
theory, and hundreds of games.]
9.d5 a5 10.d2 Logical reac tion by White. He sends
the knight to the edge of the board, where in general it is
poorly placed, and at the same time, he wants to push e4

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
25... d4! [25...xf4+? 26.xf4 xf4 27. b8+ suddenly
Black king would get into danger.]
26. f3 Seems like, Black can resign, but...

18... xb2!! A fantastic intuitive exchange sacrafice by

Rapport! He wants to clarify the situation and opens up
the center for his bishops, in order to lunch a mating at-
tack. The value of the King’s Indian bishop on g7 will be
much higher than the rook on b2. 26...xc4!! Lightning from a clear sky! White cannot ac-
19. xb2 exf4 20.gxf4 fxe4 21.xe4 h4!? Black could cept any of the hanging pieces because he would lose
have reset the material equality, but he prefers to save more material. However, he also comes up with a brilliant
his bishop for the attack! [21... xb2 22.xb2 would lead idea!
to more or less balanced position in both lines. 22...e7 27.xd6!! Naumann tries to lure the knight, if he manag-
(22... xc4 23.c3 b6 24. xd6) 23.c3] es then the queen could be taken. Meanwhile, he threat-
22. bb1 Naumann tries to save his exchange advantage ens to take on c4 with both pieces, since e4 is not hang-
for the future, but with this he gives an important tempo ing anymore. So, Black needs to act urgently! [27.xc4?
to his opponent. 22... xh3 23. xh3 xh3 Only the a5 xe4–+; 27. xe3?? xe3+–+]
knight seems to be out of the game, but it has a very im-
portant role, to prevent White from playing b3, bring-
ing in this way an important defender around his king.
24. f2! The only move! Tries to protect the king. 24...
e3!? Very talented and resourceful idea. He had to fore-
see his 26th move and, and also the consequences of it.
25.g2 White threatens to trap the queen with f3,
however, Rapport had this idea in mind.

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2nd of March 2012
27... xf4!! Amazing! Another sacrafice!! Let’s count!
From White’s point of view, his rook and knight are hang-
ing, while on the other side queen, rook, and knight are
in the air.
28.xf4! White chooses to take the right piece!
28...xf4+ 29. xf4 xf4 30.xc4 g4+! And after
a  plenty of only moves by both sides, White ended up
with a rook more, but Black can give perpetual check
with the cooperation of his remaining pieces.
31.h2 [31.f1 White cannot escape this way 31...g1+
32.e2 f2+ 33.d1 f1+ 34.d2 f2+ 35.c1 (35.
d3 f5+=) 35...e1+ 36.d1 c3+ 37.c2=]
31...h4+ 32.g2 g4+ 33.h2 h4+ 34.g2
g4+
Draw! A very exciting game, where both players deserved
to get the full point, but unfortunately it was not possi-
ble for any of the sides, they had to share it. My experi-
ence strangely shows that in games likes this, when all
the pieces are hanging, there is very high percentage for
draws. But in any case a fantastic game, truly deserving to
win the title game of the month! 1/2

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2nd of March 2012
(2) Lauber,Arnd (2464)
— Baramidze,David (2591) [E50]
BL 2011/2012 (11), 26.02.2012
[Arkadij Naiditsch]
1.d4 We do not witness often a win for black in “Nimzo”
in 24 moves! For this help from White is needed and of
course a great play by Black. In the current game White
problems are starting by being greedy with 9. dxe5
e 10.xe5. On this Black reacts with the right idea, but
a wrong concrete play giving White a chance for a great
tactical blow 12. xf7!!. Instead White is choosing the
wrong 12.xd7 and getting very quickly under deadly
attack. Let’s see details of how the game developed.
1...f6 2.c4 e6 3.c3 b4 4.e3 More usual is the move
order 4....0–0, and at 5. f3 c5. In the current game it
makes no difference, but in general it could...
4...c5 Back to the main lines, another option for White is
5.f3 [5.ge2 cxd4 6.exd4 0–0 7.a3 e7 8.f4]
5...0–0 6. d3 xc3+?! I don’t think this can be the right
desicion. Black is giving away his bishop and White has
not even asked Black for it by playing a3. We can find
thousands of games played after [6...d5 7.0–0 c6].
7.bxc3 d6 8.e4 White is too impatient. Better is first to
wait for the Black knight to come out to c6 and then play
e4, and at Black’s e5 to have d5 with a tempo. [8.0–0 c6
9.e4 e5 (9...cxd4 10.cxd4 e5 11.d5 b4 12.c5! a very im-
portant move, in case Black would have managed to play
d7 and made the blockade on c5, Black would have
been the one smiling) 10.d5 e7 11.h4! In this type of
positions it is usually important to start first some action
on the king side. 11...g6 12.xg6 hxg6 13. g5]
8...e5 9.dxe5?! This is a very concrete play, but a serious
mistake. Better would have been of course to move 9.d5
and White might be still a bit better. [9.0–0?! cxd4 10.cxd4
g4 And only Black can be better; 9.d5 bd7 10.0–0
h5]
9...dxe5 10.xe5
Who said A must say B. [10.0–0 c6 still probably with
more or less equal position.]
10... e8?! The most logical, but not the correct one. Here
we see a clear example of how vast the game of chess
is. Probably almost all of us would have played here the
move that we see in the game and eventually would have
ended up with a 0 instead of having a stable advantage
and push for a full point. [10...d6! a hard move to find
over the board. 11.f4
a) 11.f3 d8! Here we can see the idea of 10...d6
12. e2 (12.e5 xd3 13.xd3  xd3 14.exf6  xc3 con
With a big and clear advantage in the endgame) 12...
xd1+ 13. xd1 xe4 14. c2 e8 15. e3 c6 16.0–
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Issue 1
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0 b6 White’s position is really unpleasant and prob- 11...bd7
ably the pawn on c3 will fall soon. Not often we can see
the case when the combination of + is dominating
against + , of course White’s horrible pawn structure
is heping that.
b) 11. f4 e8 12. c2

12.xd7? Giving away a sudden chance. [12.xf7!

12...c7! A silent but very strong move. White cannot

save the exchange of two light pieces against the Blacks
rook, which gives Black a clear advantage 13.0–0 xe5
14. xe5 xe5 15.d8+ e8 16. fd1 c6 17.c7 g4
18.f3 c8; 11...c6 Black needs to act very quickly, not
giving White a “free” move to castle. 12.0–0 (12. xc6
xc6 13.0–0  xe4) 12...xe5 13.fxe5 xe5 14.e1
g5! Amazing move! Not often we can see moves like
that, but in the concrete situation it is giving Black a sta-
ble advantage. With the move 14...g5 Black is not letting
White’s bishop out of c1 to f4, which is disturbing White’s
development. Black’s idea is easy, to be safe on the king-
side and by playing d7-c6, ae8 eat away White’s pawn
on e4. But of course a move like “g5” is clearly a move
from the category “dont try this at home”.]
11.f4 [11. f4 c7]
A fantastic move! White is giving away a piece for just a pawn,
but getting in exchange enough time to castle and now be
the one with dangerous threats! 12...xf7 13.0–0 Due to
many tactical threats, Black is not able to keep a piece up,
even to give it back for 2 pawns. Now we can feel clearly the
power of White’s bishop pair combined with White’s central
pawns! 13...g8 14.e5 b6 It might be that Black has chanc-
es for escaping, but White is doing clearly much better.]
12...xe4! A great move based on exact calculation.
[12... xd7? 13.e5 and White is just a pawn up.]

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
13.e5 Probably better chances for escape would give 20... d7! White is not able to defend one of his bishops,
[13.0–0 xd7 14. e1 c6 White’s position is very bad, which is leading to immediate loss of the game.
but still not lost.] 21. b1 de7 22.g1 xe2+ 23.xe2 xe2 24. xb7
13...h4+ 14.g3 xg3 15.hxg3 [15. g1 e4+-+] g2 0–1
15...xh1+ 16.d2 xd1+! The most simple win.
17.xd1

17...f6! The key move of Black’s idea started with 12...

xe4! White’s knight does not have other squares for es-
cape than to go back to f3 , which is giving enough time
to create deadly threats.
18.f3 g4 19. e2 ad8+ 20. d2

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
(3) Bartel,Mateusz (2658) 13...b4 Both sides have their plans. White needs to con-
— Markowski,Tomasz (2612) [B40] centrate on kingside attack, while Black must try to find
counterplay on the queenside, with a5, a6 ideas.
Polish-ch Warsaw POL (9), 26.02.2012
[Balogh Csaba]
The second game that we will look into this edition of
CEWN is from the last round of the Polish individual Cham-
pionship. Bartel had to win, in order to win the event. His
opponent was the strong and experienced GM Tomasz
Markowski. Bartel played the game with huge self-confi-
dence because he has just won the strongest open of the
season - Aeroflot Open in Moscow. Let’s enjoy the game!
1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.c3 a6 4.g3 White decides to play a 14.h4! Protects the knight and But in any case a fantastic
non-theoretical position to force his opponent into think- game, truly deserving to win the title game of the mon-
ing right from the start of the game. thin that way creates the dangerous threat of f5! It forces
4...b5 5. g2 b7 6.d3 d6 7.0–0 f6 [Practice shows Black to send away the attacker from g5, but with this he
that it is better to start with 7... e7 to prevent White’s weakens his own kingside.
next move.] 14...h6 15.h3 a5 16.f5! The attack is coming anyway,
8.g5! White lunches immediate attack, frees the way even if it is less dangerous than with the knight on g5.
for his f-pawn. Now the knight might appear on f4, and later on h5 with
potential sacrifices. White wants to play f6!, this forces
8...c6 9.f4 e7 10.e2 White wants to occupy the
Black to take on f5.
center with his pawns. He is intending to play c3 and then
d4. 16...exf5! 17. xf5 bxc3 [In my opinion, here Black
should have chosen a different direction for his bishop
10...0–0 11.c3 d5 Markowski wants to open up the posi-
with 17...b6 18. f2 c8! 19.ef4 (19.hf4 g4!) 19...
tion, but of course Bartel is not partner in this plan. White
bxc3 20.bxc3 cxd4 21.cxd4 f5! with double-edged posi-
has to keep the center closed, in order to attack on the
tion.]
flank. This is an important rule!
18.bxc3 cxd4 19.cxd4 a6 White protects his knight on
12.e5! d7 13.d4 Prevents Black from pushing d4 by do-
e2, attacks the d5 pawn, and brings another piece into
ing it himself.
the attack. However, it might seem, that he closes the
way back for his rook on f5, where it could be trapped.

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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
20.hf4! b6 [interesting tactical lines arise after 20...
g6!? 21.xg6! fxg6 22. xd5+ h7 23. xf8 (23.d2
g5!) 23...xf8 24. xc6 xe2 25.xe2 xd4+ 26.e3!
c5! (26...xa1 27.xh6+ g8 28.d5+ e6 29. xe6#)
27.h2! which favours for White at the end.]
21. b1!! Bartel prepares for a sacrifice with both of his
rooks. Now, he is ready to take on b6, and then on d5.
21...g6? [21... c8 22. xb6! xb6 23.xd5 d8 24. f2
would have given more than enough compensation for
White, but still, this should have been the way for Black
to play.]
22.xg6! The fireworks begin with an intuitive knight
offer which destroys the defenders of the king! 22...fxg6
23. xf8+ xf8 24.f4! Bartel is not in a hurry! He is a
piece down and plays a quiet move. However, this kind of
quiet moves are sometimes the most unpleasant. In one
move White has created so many threats (xg6, e6,
c2, g4, xb6) that Black is unable to defend himself.
24... b8 [Even the computer’s most stubborn move
gives no chance to save the game: 24... c8 25.xg6!
f5 26.xf8 xb1 27. xh6! xb1, and g4 threats
27... f5 28.f3! xd4 29.f2+-]
25.g4 [25.c2! was more precise, according to the
computer as well 25...e7 26.xg6+- with winning at-
tack.]
25...e8 26.xg6 g7 This allows White to finish the
game beautifully. [26...h7! would have been the only
move, but still after 27.f4 White has only a small mate-
rial disadventage (2 pawns for the piece), yet his strong
attack continues. (27.h5!? also very interesting. 27... d3
28. xb6! xb6 29.f4 Despite being a rook down, the
threat of xd3 and xd5 gives white better position.)]
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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
27. xb6!! After eliminating the defender of the d5
pawn, White’s bishop enters the battle and decides the
outcome of the game.
27... xb6 28. xd5+ h7

29.f5!! [29.f5 and Black resigned because after 29...

xg6 (otherwise f8+ double check and then h7
mate) 30. g8+! xg8 31.xg6+- and Black cannot do
anything against the threats xh6 and d5. Great victory
from Bartel, who continued his winning streak! Right af-
ter winning the Aeroflot open, he became Polish Cham-
pion as well!] 1–0

12
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
(4) Lenic,Luka (2641)
— Zherebukh,Yaroslav (2580) [E81]
BL 2011/2012 (10), 25.02.2012
[Arkadij Naiditsch]
We are facing a very interesting and exciting game with
many culmination moments! It seems like the opening
battle was won by Black, who managed to get a nice po-
sition. Afterwards in a very complex position Black made
a mistake, instead of 23... e6 ? Black should have played
the 23... xd4 with a better position. Then we see a rare
position where White is material down, but is totally
dominating the board. A great example of a typical game
of a Kings-indian defence! Let’s get it on!
1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6. e3
c6 [6...c5 This is the main move of the theory.]
7.d2 a6 a relatively rare continuation. Black is avoiding
a concrete play against White center for a while-instead
they are trying first to create some pressure by playing b5
and only after to continue with e5 or c5moves.
8.a4 a radical action against Black’s plan, but it is leav-
ing a whole on the b4 square and probably leaving White
without any opening advantage. [8. d3 b5 9.ge2 is
another way for White to continue the game.]
8...a5 [Why not 8...bd7 9. d3 e5, and the answer is
bacause is probably because of the 10.d5! (10.ge2 exd4
11. xd4 c5!? an interesting tactical try to get imme-
diatelly a comfortable positions. (11...a5 this would lead
us to a similar position as we can see later in the game)
12. c2 b6! (Black is not in time to get the ideal posi-
tion after 12...a5 a 13.e5!) 13.a5 now Black wanted to play
a5 13...b4)]
9. d3 [9.g4 a6 10.h4 (10.h6?!  xh6 11.xh6 b6
12.0–0–0 b3!) 10...h5 11.g5 d7 12.0–0–0 With a very
sharp play and chances on both sides. White will try to
create an attack by pushing the f pawn forward, Black in-
stead will search his counter chances by playing c5 or try-
ing a break through by playing b5.]
9...a6 10. d1 A profilactical move against the Blacks
threat b4. [10.ge2 b4 11. b1 To exchange the
bishop for black’s knight is not an option for White. Af-
ter the exchange Black will do perfectly fine 11...e5= And
White’s rook on a1 is out of play.]
10...e5 11.ge2 e7 To me this move is looking a little
strange. Why not to choose the 11...exd4 or 11...d7, both
of these moves seem to be more logical. 12.0–0 exd4
13. xd4 [13.xd4 d7 and due to the weak field on
b4, Black is doing well.]
13... e8
14.h1 White is putting the king on the safe square h1
and preparing for the future attack by plaing f4-f5.
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Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
14... f8 Black is trying to get the knight to c5 without
exchanging the bishops. A dangerous plan because it
costs Black at least a tempo and White is fully prepared
to start a strong play on the kingside. More safe was. [14...
d7 15. xg7 xg7 16.g3 dc5 17. e2 d8 18.f4 f6
White has more space and some attacking chances on
the king side, but the position is far away from clear. In
case Black manages to play e6-f7 then d7-d8 then
b4 and maybe to break through with d5 — Black will
do very nicely.]
15. de1 in my opinion an “over preparation” from White,
it was time to start some action by playing [15.g3 d7
16.f4 and we are having a very unclear position. The first
assessment says Black’s position is looking very passive
and dangerous, but Black’s position has also many pluses.
In case Black manages to develop pieces like: dc5, b4,
h6 Black will create a strong pressure on White’s center,
and each movement in the center will generate a hole in
it which Black immediatelly would make use of. In fact,
here we are facing a very typical king indian position with
very good chances for both sides. May the stronger play-
er win :)] 15...d7 16.f4 Finally White is starting to march
forward. 16... h6 17.g3
17...ac5?! [17...dc5! letting also the bishop on c8 to
participate in the game 18. c2 b4 and here we can
clearly see why White should have not played 8.a4.
19. xc5 (19.e5 dxe5 20. xe5 e6 even if the position is
still super complicated, it looks like Black’s chances are
not worse than of his opponent.) 19...dxc5 20.e5 White is
trying their last hope, to bring the  to f6, but it seems
that White is too slow for that. 20... e6 21.b3 (21.ge4
ed8 22.e2  xc2 23.f6+ h8 24.xc2 d4 and Black
is dominating the game.) 21... ad8 22.f2 f5! a very im-
portant move, often used as a “blocker” against the White
attacking attemps.]
18. c2 b6! absolutely correct play by Black, he needs to
try to be as solid as possible in the center, and wait for the
White’s break through hoping to have enough rrsistance
against it.
19.f2 f8
20.e5 White had enough of moving around and starts
the concrete action — finally!
20...dxe5 21.fxe5 g7 The culmination of the game.
There is not a single major exchange until now, all pieces
except a few pawns are on the board, and White has a
14
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012 very wide range of attacking possibilities. It is very hard
to take the right desicion over the board.
22.ce4?! White is choosing the wrong knight move [a
very interesting sacrifice was 22.f5!? gxf5 23.xf5 f6
24.f4 g4 25.e4 xe4 26. xe4 With a strong at-
tack.]
22... xe5
And here White goes for a very spectacular move
23.d6!? Probably the decisive mistake of the game.
[Also 23.xc5 would bring White no winning chances
after 23... xd4 (23...bxc5 24. xe5  xe5 25.e4 for
a pawn White has a strong initiative due to Black’s bad
development.) 24.xd7 xe1 25.xd4 xf1+ 26.xf1
xd7 27.xd7 c5 In this a bit unusual position, prob-
ably only Black is the one who can fight for a win due
to the bad White pawn structure plus very uncordinated
position of White pieces. In case Black manages some-
how to get out the rook from a8 to d or e file, the position
of White could get from dangerous into bad.]
23... e6? [23... xd4! would have been the correct reply,
Black needs to change pieces and the more the better,
for it the main goal is to reduce White’s attacking pow-
er. 24.xd4 xe1 25. xe1 e6 We can see that Black is
doing now very solid again. 26.d2 a6 27.b3 (27.df5
b4!) 27...dc5 and it is quite unclear if White has any-
thing for the pawn. Black is doing clearly better!]
24.xf7 f6
[24... xd4 25.xd4 and the mate on h8 is deadly.]
25.xe5! Great play by White. White will be material
down, having only Rook + piece against the Black queen,
but the open position of the Black’s monarch plus the un-
der development of the a8+c8 gives White enough
time to create a deadly net around Black’s King [Too
15
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
passive way to bring Black into trouble is 25.e3?! xf7
26. xe5 xe5 27.xe5 e6 ]
25... xf2 26. xf2 e7 [26...d6 This move is giving
White a chance for a very beautiful finish

Black is hopeless against the White attack.

27.g4! xd4 28. e8+ g7 29.h5+! gxh5 30. e7+
g8 31.h6+ h8 32. xh7#]
27. fe2 xe5 [27...d6 28.xc6 xc6 29. e8+ f8
30. 1e7 ce6
28...e6 Best way to fight in a lost position, more quick-
ly the game would end after. [28...d6 29. e8+ f7
30. e5 d2 31. c3! With a deadly attack on the na-
ked king.] 29.c5 a pretty move, White wants to bring an
extra piece into the attack by playing b3, but White’s
position is already strong enough to end the game even
without it. [29. c3 and the next White move is e4 after
which White threat will lead to a loss of some material for
Black and the loss of the game consecutively.] 29...bxc5
30. c3 c4 The only move to block the  [immediately
loosing is 30... b8 31. d3! The bishop is reaching his fi-
nal destination, the diagonal a2-g8] 31.e4 f8

31.h5!!]
28. xe5+-

16
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
32. b1 White is bringing the bishop to a2 where Black 2 tempos in the last 2 moves doesn’t help Black to have
will not be able to protect his c4 pawn. [Another move a chance for an escape.
with the same idea would have been 32. d1 Black can- 36... d8 37.h3 [37. f1 Again the same winning move
not defend against the multiple White threats like g4 would end the game instantly, probably such an inaccu-
or e2 and in case of 32...c7 33. e2 d5 (33...a6 racy can be only explained by the deep time trouble.]
34.f1+-) 34. xc4 a6 35. xd5 xc4 36. d7+- White
is obviously winning.] 37... d7 38. e6 g7 39.f6+ f7 40.xd5
32...c7 33. a2 d5 This move is losing immediatly.
[White would have a chance for a pretty combination
now 33... a6 34. xa5 d5 35. xa6! a very typical,
but anyway beautiful sacrifice 35... xa6 36. xc4 Black
is a queen up for only 2 light White pieces, but nothing
can save Black from a 0 in the tournament table 36... xa4
37.f6+ f7 (37...xf6 38. xd5+ With just a piece up
for White) 38.xd5 xc4 (38...cxd5 39. xd5# a very nice
mate!!) 39. f1+ e8 40. xf8+ xf8 41.f6+-]
34. xc4 b7 Too much is too much, Black resigns 1–0

35.g5 This move doesn’t change much, but why not

to finish the game immediatly by playing [35. f1! h6
36.f6+ h8 37.xd5+-]
35...h6 36.e4 We can rarely see such a domination
of the White pieces over the Black ones. Even loosing

17
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
Puzzle section (7) Henrichs,T (2473) — Fontaine,R (2552)
Schachbundesliga, 25.02.2012
(5) Vallejo Pons,F (2716) — Maiwald,JU (2459) [Balogh Csaba]
Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 
[Balogh Csaba]


(8) Fontaine,R (2552) — Najer,E (2637)

(6) Wegener,D (2364) — Nisipeanu,LD (2638) Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012
Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 [Balogh Csaba]
[Balogh Csaba] 
=

18
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
(9) Huschenbeth,N (2510) — Postny,E (2622) (11) Moranda,W (2568) — Gajewski,G (2616)
Schachbundesliga, 26.02.2012 Warszawa, 23.02.2012

[Balogh Csaba] [Balogh Csaba]

 

(10) Volokitin,A (2686) — Steingrimsson,H (2562) (12) Moranda,W (2568) — Mista,A (2587)
Schachbundesliga, 25.02.2012 Warszawa, 26.02.2012
[Balogh Csaba] [Balogh Csaba]
 

19
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
(13) Kempinski,R (2610) — Jaracz,P (2542)
Warszawa, 24.02.2012
[Balogh Csaba]


(14) Jaracz,P (2542) — Kuzmicz,K (2451)

Warszawa, 26.02.2012
[Balogh Csaba]


20
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
Endgame section 1. g7+! f8 2. h7! The winning technique! Because of
the mate threat, Black is forced to move into the f7 check,
but then he quickly loses he rook. 2...g8 3.f7+ f8
(15) 4. h8+ e7 5. xb8 1–0

[Balogh Csaba]
In the first month, we will study theoretical rook end-
games. It is really useful to remember all these exam-
ples because despite the small amount of pieces on the
board, we can very often meet these situations in prac-
tice! 1... h6 Occupying the 6th rank is a very important
defensive method. This is the so-called Philidor position.
White’s only try to improve his position is to push his
pawn, but then the king will have no shelter against the
vertical checks, and Black holds the draw. 2.e6 h1= 1/2
(17)
[Balogh Csaba]
In contrast to the previous example, in case of g- and h-
pawns, Black can hold the draw, even with passive de-
fense. 1. g7+ h8 2. h7+ g8 White’s only winning
chance could be i7, however the chess board is not wide
enough to make this move. 1/2

(16)
[Balogh Csaba]
In case the defensive side had no possibility to take the
active position, and gives perpetual check vertically,
then White has a winning position, if he has e- or f-pawn.

21
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
(18) have 5 pawns on the same file, against the Philidor de-
[Balogh Csaba] fense, he could not win the game. 1/2

Useful to know, if White has 2 g-pawns, and Black is

forced to defend passively, then White can convert his
adventage into winning. 1. a6! Very precise move to
avoid stalemate! [After 1.g7? Black would survive in spec-
tacular way 1... c6+ 2.g6 xg6+! 3.xg6 stalemate] 1...
b8 2.g7! This time, there is no danger of giving stale-
mate. 2... c8 3. f6! b8 4. f8+! The 2nd g-pawn gets
its role. This is the only way to win! 4... xf8 5.gxf8Q+
xf8 6.h7 1–0

(19)
[Balogh Csaba]
If Black has the chance to defend with the Philidor meth-
od, he holds the draw even against doubled pawns.
White could have double e- or f-pawns as well, against
the right defense, he can not win the game. 1.g6 b1!
And, as we already know, Black holds the draw with verti-
cal checks. 2.h6 h1+ 3.g5 b1 4.g7 b6 5.h5
c6 6.g5 b6 7.g6 b1 The funny thing is, White could

22
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
Clash of the Titans e7 should have been played, but still after 11. b3 0–0
12. e3 f6 13.f3˛ White has a small advantage, thanks
to his nice central pawns.]
(20) Alekhine,Alexander — Opocensky,Karel [D10]
11.d5!! The World Champion immediately opens the files
Paris Paris, 1925 on Black’s king, which is stuck into the center. 11...exd5
[Balogh Csaba] 12.g3! This subtle in-between move is needed before
I would like to present you a game played by the 4th taking back on d5, in order for the bishop on c4 not to
World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine. The game hang 12...f6 13.exd5 c5 Black decides to find shel-
was played in 1925, when he was 43 years old. Two years ter for his king on f8. [We will see, if he wants to castle,
later he won the Title against Capablanca. Alekhine it would not help as well. 13... e7 14. e1 e5 (14...0–0
played this game in his usual tactical style, bringing all his 15.dxc6!+-)
pieces into the attack, and when the moment arrived he
made a final decisive blow.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.c3 f6 4.e3 f5 An inaccuracy in
the Slav defence. Because of this, Black loses the fight for
the center. Alekhine finds the best way to exploit it.
5.cxd5! xd5 By taking with the knight, Black admits his
mistake in the previous move, and enters a slightly worse
position. [Still it is a better decision than taking with the
pawn since after 5...cxd5 which would be the necessary
reaction, if Black wants to equalize in the opening, White 15. f4! very nice temporary piece sacrifice 15...xc4
quickly attacks the weakend b7  with 6.b3 and the 16.d6 0–0–0 (16...0–0 17.dxe7 fe8 18.d7
typical defence with 6...b6 would not work, because of
7.xd5! xb3 8.xf6+! check, and White wins a pawn.]
6. c4 e6 7.ge2! The right de velopment of the knight.
White’s plan is to push e4 in the next move, since then
after xc3, he can take back with the kningt, controlling
the e4 square. 7...d7 8.e4 xc3 9.xc3 g6 10.0–0
h4?! Hard to explain this move, Black starts kingside ac-
tion with his queen. However, he loses important time in
development, which Alekhine effectively exploits. [10...

23
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012 Black has serious problems with activating his pieces, due
to the e7 pawn.) 17.d5!! In order to be able to take on e7,
White must first close the d-file. 17...cxd5 18.dxe7 de8
19.xd5+- and mate is coming soon, all the lines are
open in front of the Black king. Alekhine would definitely
find all these hard moves, this kind of play was in his vain.]
14. e1+ f8 15. f4! Developing, and defending the f2
square at the same time.
15...b6 16. b3 [16.dxc6!? bxc6 17.e4 xe4 18. xe4
xc4 19. xc4+- Would lead to big adventage for White, 20.e4! Forces Black to give up his defending bishop
but Alekhine prefers to keep many pieces on board, in on g6. Of course, our hero happily sacrifices his b2 little
order to mate his opponent.] pawn.

16...h5 Black tries to push h4, trying to create some attack
on the h-file. At the same time he opens the h7 square for
his king. If he could reach there, then he could make some
kind of artificial castling and connect the rooks. [16... d8
17.e2 xd5 18.xd5 cxd5 19. ad1+-]
17.h4! Alekhine does not give any counterplay to Black.
17...g8 18. c1! Great move, brings the last unem-
ployed piece into the fight. This is a typical sign of a great
player!
18... d4 19.dxc6 bxc6
20... xe4 21. xe4 c5 [21... xb2 22. c5+-]
22.e2! Small, but brutal move. White wants to pene-
trate on the e-file with his rook. e7 and e8+ are the
main threats, this forces Black to make another weaken-
ing around his king.
22...g6 23. g5 d6 24.f3! White lunches decisive at-
tack against the Black king, by attacking the f7 and g6
pawn. 24...f8

24
Issue 1
2nd of March 2012
[24... h7 25. f4 f8 26. h6! not the only possible win, Surprise section / study
but definitely the nicest 26... xh6 27. xf7 and the pin
decides the game 27...c4 28. xc4!! to keep open the diag-
onal for the bishop on b3. 28... xf7 (28... xc4 29. xc4+- (21) Evreinov
Black is a rook up, but simply unable defend his king 1971
from the mating attack.) 29. c8+! xc8 30.xf7+ h8 
31.g8# A picturesque mate!]
25. xd4! White destroys the main defender, and opens
the file for the other rook to finish the game. At this mo-
ments, we can realize how great was theGrandmaster’s
18th move.
25...cxd4 26. c6!! The final blow. The rook unexpected-
ly stops on c6! Probably Black was waiting for c7, which
is also winning, but the text move is much stronger.
26...h7 [26... h7 27. xg6+ g7 28.xh5+-]
27. xf7 c8 28. xg6 and xh5 is coming with mate,
so Black resigned. A beautiful crush by Alekhine, who
showed in this game again how fantastic tactical abilities
the great Champion had. 1–0

25