101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures A collection of sparkling modern gems to instruct and entertain aad Oy101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures John NunnFirst published in the UK by Gambit Publications Ltd 1999 Copyright © John Nunn 1999 The right of John Nunn to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent pur- chaser. A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 901983 16 1 DISTRIBUTION: Worldwide (except USA): Biblios Distribution Services, Star Rd, Partridge Green, West Sussex, RH13 8LD, England. USA: BHB International, Inc., 41 Monroe Turnpike, Trumbull, CT 06611, USA. For all other enquiries (including a full list of all Gambit Chess titles) please contact the publishers, Gambit Publications Ltd, 69 Masbro Rd, Kensington, London W14 OLS. Fax +44 (0) 20 7371 1477. E-mail 100561.3121 @compuserve.com. Visit the Gambit Publications web site at http://www.gambitchess.co.uk Edited by Graham Burgess Typeset by John Nunn Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wilts. 10987654321 Gambit Publications Ltd Managing Director: GM Murray Chandler Chess Director: GM John Nunn Editorial Director: FM Graham Burgess Assistant Editor: GM John Emms German Editor: WFM Petra NunnContents Introduction Symbols E. Pedersen - Gallmeyer, Denmark 1971, Sicilian Najdorf Tal - Uhimann, Moscow 1971, French Tarrasch Planinc - Najdorf, Wijk aan Zee 1973, Sicilian Najdorf Balashov — Andersson, Wijk aan Zee 1973, Sicilian Scheveningen Lombardy — Quinteros, Manila 1973, Sicilian Najdorf Spassky - Rashkovsky, USSR Ch, Moscow 1973, Sicilian Najdorf Velimirovié - Vasiukov, USSR — Yugoslavia match, Tbilisi 1973, Sicilian Taimanov 8 Vasiukov - Velimirovié, USSR - Yugoslavia match, Tbilisi 1973, Sicilian Rossolimo 9 Ivkov - Timman, Amsterdam (IBM) 1974, Alekhine Four Pawns 10 Quinteros — Ribli, Montilla 1974, Nimzo-Indian Classical 11 Vaganian - Kupreichik, USSR Ch, Leningrad 1974, Trompowsky Attack 12 Vaganian — Planinc, Hastings 1974/5, English Opening 13 Tal - F. Olafsson, Las Palmas 1975, Modern Defence 14 Tal - R. Byrne, Biel Interzonal 1976, Sicilian Defence, 4 Wxd4 15 Browne - R. Byrne, USA Ch, Mentor 1977, Dutch Defence, 2 c3 16 Spassky - Larsen, Bugojno 1978, Caro-Kann, 4...2f5 17 Gulko - Savon, Lvov Zonal 1978, Modern Benoni, Taimanov 18 Browne — Ljubojevi¢é, Tilburg 1978, Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein 19 Hug - Korchnoi, Switzerland 1978, Catalan Opening 20 Tal - Larsen, Montreal 1979, Sicilian Richter-Rauzer 21 Spassky - Tal, Montreal 1979, Queen's Indian Classical 22 Sosonko - Hiibner, Tilburg 1979, Catalan Opening 23 Sax — Ljubojevié, London (Phillips & Drew) 1980, c3 Sicilian 24 Korchnoi - Hiibner, Johannesburg 1981, Queen's Indian Defence 25 Beliavsky - Larsen, Tilburg 1981, Caro-Kann, 4...2f5 26 Psakhis — Geller, Erevan Zonal 1982, Queen's Gambit Tartakower 27 Kasparov - T. Petrosian, Bugojno 1982, Bogo-Indian Defence 28 Tal - Van der Wiel, Moscow Interzonal 1982, English Opening 29 Van der Wiel - Ftaénik, Arhus 1983, Sicilian Poisoned Pawn 30 Ljubojevié - Kasparov, Nik&ié 1983, King’s Indian Attack 31 Timman - Polugaevsky, Tilburg 1983, Nimzo-Indian Sdimisch 32 Spassky - Seirawan, Zurich 1984, Pirc Defence AANERLNE 10 11 12 14 16 17 18 20 21 23 24 26 27 29 31 32 35 37 39 41 43 44 45 47 48 50 52 53 54 56 584 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES 33 Nunn - Sosonko, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984, Sicilian Velimirovié Attack 34 Timman - Ljubojevié, Linares 1985, Sicilian Poisoned Pawn 35 Yusupov — Nogueiras, Montpellier Candidates 1985, Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation 36 Tal - Korchnoi, Montpellier Candidates 1985, Sicilian Richter-Rauzer 37 Knaak - Adorjan, Szirak 1985, Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein 38 Korchnoi — Greenfeld, Biel 1986, English Opening 39 Chandler - Vaganian, Dubai Olympiad 1986, French Winawer 40 Adorjan - Kudrin, New York Open 1987, Queen's Indian Defence 41 Seirawan — Beliavsky, Brussels (World Cup) 1988, Slav Exchange 42 Ehlvest - Andersson, Belfort (World Cup) 1988, Sicilian Taimanov 43 Kudrin - King, London (NatWest Young Masters) 1988, Caro-Kann 44. Ehlvest - Kasparov, Reykjavik (World Cup) 1988, English Opening 45 Knaak - Speelman, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988, Queen's Pawn 46 I. Sokolov - Tseshkovsky, Wijk aan Zee 1989, English Opening 60 62 63 65 67 68 70 n B A 75 77 79 81 417 Kasparov - Spelman, Barcelona (World Cup) 1989, Modern Defence 82 84 48 Polugaevsky - Kudrin, New York Open 1989, Griinfeld Exchange 49 Ivanchuk - Csom, Erevan 1989, Nimzo-Indian Defence, 4 f3 50 Hodgson — Zsu. Polgar, European Team Ch, Haifa 1989, Trompowsky Attack 51 Ki. Georgiev - Zaichik, Palma de Mallorca (GMA) 1989, Sicilian Najdorf 52 Geller - Dreev, New York Open 1990, French Tarrasch 53 Adams - Wolff, London (Watson, Farley & Williams) 1990, Pire 54 Khalifman — Nikolié, Moscow (GMA) 1990, French Winawer 55 Arencibia ~ Seirawan, Manila Interzonal 1990, Modern Defence 56 Smagin - Sahovié, Biel Open 1990, Nimzowitsch Defence 57 Timman - Korchnoi, Tilburg 1991, French Defence, 3...dxe4 58 Sveshnikov — Scherbakov, USSR Ch, Moscow 1991, Sicilian Rossolimo 59 Watson - Meduna, Prague 1992, Caro-Kann, 4...2\d7 60 Timman - Kasparov, Linares 1992, King’s Indian Sdimisch 61 Beliavsky - Gelfand, Linares 1992, Queen’s Gambit, Slav Defence 62 Seirawan - Short, Amsterdam (VSB) 1992, Queen's Gambit Declined, 5 &f4 63 Geller - Chiburdanidze, Aruba 1992, Owen’s Defence 64 Krasenkov — Sveshnikov, Moscow 1992, Semi-Slav Defence 65 Fischer - Spassky, Match (9), Sveti Stefan 1992, Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation 66 G. Georgadze — Adorjan, European Team Ch, Debrecen 1992, Griinfeld Exchange 86 87 88 90 92 93 95 97 99 100 102 103 106 107 109 1 113 11s101 Brituiant Cuess MINIATURES 5 67 Piket - Sturua, European Team Ch, Debrecen 1992, Queen’s Gambit Declined 117 68 Yakovich — Balashov, St Petersburg Zonal 1993, Sicilian Sozin 118 69 Kasparov - Gelfand, Linares 1993, Sicilian Najdorf 119 70 Zsu. Polgar - Speelman, Dutch Team Ch 1993, English Defence 121 71 Suba — Sax, Budapest Zonal 1993, Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein 123 72 Lobron — Azmaiparashvili, Groningen PCA Qualifier 1993, Modern Defence 125 73 An. Sokolov - Shirov, French Team Ch 1994, Modern Defence 127 74 Adams - Tiviakov, PCA Candidates (2), New York 1994, Sicilian Defence, Moscow Variation 129 75 Akopian - Khenkin, Tilburg 1994, Sicilian Defence 130 76 Spangenberg - Ftaénik, Moscow Olympiad 1994, Sicilian Defence, Grand Prix Attack 133 77 Smirin - Alterman, Haifa 1995, Petroff Defence 136 78 J. Polgar - Shirov, Amsterdam (Donner Memorial) 1995, Sicilian Defence, Moscow Variation 138 79 Kramnik - Beliavsky, Belgrade 1995, Réti Opening 140 80 Kramnik - Ehlvest, Riga (Tal Memorial) 1995, Semi-Slav Defence 142 81 de Firmian — Hiibner, Polanica Zdroj 1995, French Classical 144 82 Yurtaev - Shulman, Vladivostok 1995, King’s Indian Defence 145 83 IMescas — Sadler, Linares Zonal 1995, Queen's Gambit Accepted 146 44 Timoshenko — Yudasin, St Petersburg 1996, Sicilian Scheveningen 147 #5 Romanishin - Ehlvest, Biel 1996, Queen’s Gambit Orthodox 149 86 Miles - Atalik, Beijing 1996, Queen’s Pawn 151 87 Bologan ~ Tischbierek, Vienna Open 1996, Alekhine Defence 152 88 Smirin — Ricardi, Erevan Olympiad 1996, Scandinavian Defence 154 #9 Kasparov - Hraéek, Erevan Olympiad 1996, Sicilian Richter-Rauzer 156 90 Khuzman - Minasian, European Team Ch, Pula 1997, Schmid Benoni 158 91 Vaganian - Fedorov, European Team Ch, Pula 1997, Modern Defence 160 92 Spangenberg ~ Tkachey, Villa Martelli 1992, Four Knights Opening 162 93 Hellers - Cu. Hansen, Malmé 1997, French Winawer 163 94 Emms - Summerscale, London (Drury Lane) 1997, Philidor 165 95 Shabalov — Stefansson, Winnipeg 1997, Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein 167 % Onishchuk ~ Hertneck, Biel 1997, French Defence 168 "7 Leitio — Baburin, Europe vs Americas, Bermuda 1998, Queen's Gambit Accepted 169 O&% Timman - Van Wely, Match (6), Breda 1998, Sicilian Scheveningen 171 99 Kramnik - Lautier, Tilburg 1998, Semi-Slav Defence 173 Shirov — Hratek, Match (2), Ostrava 1998, Caro-Kann Advance 174 palov - Ivanchuk, Linares 1999, English Opening 176 1olIntroduction How does one profit from reading a book of miniature games? There are, I think, two main benefits. First of all the games in this book are uniformly entertaining. There is no question that it is more fun to play over a brilliant sacrificial 20-move win than an 80-move game decided by technical endgame play, no matter how skilful the latter might be. The second benefit is educational. Every player has suffered the humiliation of a rapid loss, followed by a quick departure before anyone can ask “Was it a quick draw, then?”. Is there a pattern to such defeats? Are they pure accidents, or can they be avoided? Instruction is usually more ef- fective if it is also entertaining, and in this book [ am aiming at a combination of the two. First of all I would like to describe the process of writing the book, before moving on to tackle the questions posed above. Initially this book was not in- tended to focus on modern games, but after looking at a lot of famous miniature games, I couldn’t really see the point in annotating old chestnuts again. If you take a famous game such as Larsen-Spassky, USSR vs Rest of the World, Bel- grade 1970, practically everything sensible one can say about this game has al- ready been said in one place or another - my task would really be reduced to compiling a précis of existing annotations. Doubtless there will be a few readers who have not seen this game before, but I suspect most would just turn over the page to get on to the next game. Therefore I decided to change tack, and restrict my book to games played after 1970. Even within this range, I have concentrated especially on the past decade — almost exactly half the games are from the 1990s. Most of these games are too recent to have been repeatedly anthologized and suf- fered the ‘death of a thousand annotations’; I hope they will be unfamiliar to many readers. The next problem was that there is no generally accepted definition of a minia- ture game. Different authors have taken different limits, with 25 moves being perhaps the most common, but with a significant minority opting for 30 moves. However, I soon decided on a 25-move limit, long enough for the games to have real substance, but short enough that they are something out of the ordinary. A harder decision was to exclude drawn games. Although there are a few exciting miniature draws, I felt that these did not really fit in with the theme of recogniz- ing and exploiting errors in the opening and early middlegame. Having settled on these basic criteria, I then listed all decisive games of 25 moves and under in my database. To my horror, there were over 65,000 such games. Clearly, it would be impossible to play over all these, so I opted to impose a further restriction: both players must have an Elo rating of at least 2500. The logic here is that I did not want to include games which consisted merely of a101 Britutant CHEss MiniATuRES 7 pretty final combination, or where a strong player simply crushed a much weaker opponent — I wanted games which were real struggles and demonstrated how to refute typical errors. I did relent on this criterion with a handful of games which were favourites of mine — I hope readers will forgive this tiny inconsistency. This reduced the number to around 1,300 and I then played over all these to choose 120 for the book. The slight excess was because | anticipated that some games would fall by the wayside when subjected to detailed analysis, and so it proved. My choice in this final, manual stage was based on various factors. First and foremost, the game had to be a high-quality, exciting struggle. Secondly, it should contain some instructive points. Finally, I made an effort to avoid repeat- ing familiar themes. Of course one should have a @d5 piece sacrifice in the Sicil- ian somewhere in the book, but the frequent repetition of such standard themes would quickly become tedious. Therefore I included a considerable proportion of games containing novel or unfamiliar ideas. Having chosen my games, the next step was the analysis thereof. Firstly I col- lected together existing analyses of the games. Everybody knows the phenome- non of ‘annotation by result’ ~ all the winner's moves are praised, while the poor loser gets question marks scattered over his moves like confetti. I found this ten- dency to be especially pronounced with miniature games. This is perhaps not surprising, as one would assume that the loser must have made quite a few bad moves to lose so quickly, and there is no time left for any good ones! I confess to having made a slip along these lines myself (see my Informator annotations of Game 33 -I completely overlooked 18....xa3!). However, in reality a surprising number of the games turned out to remain in the balance until very near the end. Perhaps approaching time-trouble was the cause, or maybe it was just the pres- sure of having been under attack almost from move one, but in many games the defender unexpectedly collapses after having previously held his opponent at bay by accurate defence. Readers may be aware that I have a fondness for detailed annotations. The ‘101’ format, however, which is designed for easy reading, limits the amount of space available for notes. Even when I tried to keep my notes short, they were still too long, so I had to prune my notes down to the essentials (sigh of relief from some readers...). The consequence is that while all the essentials are pres- ent, some supporting lines of analysis are ‘behind the scenes’, as it were. How- ever, the pleasant advantage is that thanks to the plentiful diagrams the games and most of the analysis can be followed without a chess set. In view of the space shortage, I have also limited my opening notes to a bare mention of the main al- ternatives. If readers are interested, they can easily follow these hints up in the many specialized opening books available (or just look in Nunn’s Chess Open- ings). Returning now to the lessons of the games themselves, are there typical errors which occur time and time again? The answer is undoubtedly yes. The statistics8 101 Briuiant CHESS MINIATURES for castling in these 101 games are quite revealing. The winner castled in 84 of the games (61 times kingside and 23 times queenside), Of these 84 games, the loser castled in just 27 games. Clearly, getting one’s king stuck in the centre is a major factor in many quick losses. In some of these games the loser’s failure to castle was involuntary; perhaps he was already under such a vicious attack that he had no time to castle, or he still had pieces on the back rank so that castling was physically impossible. In these cases the failure to castle is merely a symp- tom of the disease and not the primary cause; the real error occurred earlier. However, there are also some games in which the loser could perfectly well have castled, but chose not to (see Games 25, 45, 67, 87 and 97, for example). How is it that these grandmasters managed to make such an elementary mistake as get- ting their king trapped in the centre, when every beginner knows that it is advis- able to castle early on? The answer to some extent lies in the ultra-pragmatic nature of top-level chess today. At one time, if a player was able to castle, he did so on the principle that it was usually a ‘good thing’. These days, players are more questioning. They say “Is castling really the best move? Can I spend the tempo more profitably on some other operation?”. When this attitude works, then the game is hailed as an example of ‘knowing when to ignore the rules’. The problem is that when it doesn’t work, the game ends up in this book! If you leave your king in the centre voluntarily, then you are walking a tight-rope without a safety-net. Under these circumstances, misjudging the risk factor or missing a tactical resource by the opponent can have dire consequences. The lesson here is that you have to balance the possible benefits of leaving your king in the centre against the risk involved. If you think that the alternative operation you are conducting instead of castling is truly important, then it is worth considering the matter carefully. Of course, the risk is less if your king is ready to castle in one move than if you, for example, also need to develop a bishop before you can castle. However, even having castling ‘on tap’ may not be enough if your opponent keeps you off balance by dynamic play — see Game 101 for a good example of this. Of course, this (and the other points made in this introduction) can be turned around. If your opponent has left his king in the centre, it is worth looking for a way ‘to keep him busy so that he doesn’t find the time to castle. ‘Another theme which occurs surprisingly often is Black coming to grief as a result of grabbing the b2-pawn with his queen — take a look at Games 11, 15, 29, 34 and 81. Once again, since this manoeuvre is well-known to be fraught with danger, how is it that so many grandmasters have lost as a result of precisely this operation? The wisdom, or otherwise, of taking the b-pawn naturally depends very much on the particular position. All the above cases fall into the marginal area between ‘safe’ and ‘suicidal’. Once again, one must take care not to ‘anno- tate by result’. Of course, Black lost the above-mentioned games, but that does not necessarily mean that his whole plan was misguided. In the early days of the Sicilian Poisoned Pawn, Black often suffered embarrassingly quick defeats.101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 9 Later on, when the correct defensive ideas were better understood, Black’s results improved and it is now regarded as one of the most challenging responses to 6 2g5 in the Najdorf. However, that is not to say that there is no longer any danger for Black in the Poisoned Pawn - see Game 29, for example, where a new idea for White leads to a rapid victory. Somewhat more controversial is the b-pawn grab in Game 11; Black’s punish- ment here was so drastic that this line was put out of business. However, take a look at the possible improvements on moves 6 and 7. Had Black played one of these and won, the reputation of this particular b-pawn grab might now be very different. Deciding whether to take a particular b-pawn (assuming that it is a ‘marginal’ case) depends very much on your attitude to chess in general. If it is a theoretical line (such as the Sicilian Poisoned Pawn or the French line of Game 81) then a prerequisite is thorough home preparation. If it is a new or little-known position, then by taking the b-pawn you may well increase your chances both of winning and of losing. However, if your style does not lend itself to careful defence then you should think twice. A final point is that you should not commit yourself to taking the b-pawn and then have second thoughts about it when the moment ar- rives. For example, if you have played ...Wb6 with the sole idea of preventing your opponent developing his cl-bishop, and then he moves it anyway, it is a bit late to start thinking about whether ...Wxb2 is a good idea. White scores very well in this book (73 wins to 28 losses). However, it is cer- tainly possible to lose a miniature game with White. Many of these losses are the result of another common error: playing as if you have the advantage when you have not. Players at higher levels are particularly prone to this error when they are White, because possession of the white pieces is regarded as a very valuable asset. It is seen as a failure if one emerges from the opening with ‘only’ an equal position. Examples of this phenomenon may be found, to a greater or lesser ex- tent, in Games 12, 26, 38, 41, 67 and 86. As one plays over these games, a famil- iar pattern emerges. White makes an inaccuracy in the opening, which allows Black to equalize. However, White either does not appreciate the new situation or ignores it, and continues to play aggressively, often grabbing material. The result is a loss of the initiative and a savage attack by Black. It is quite easy to overesti- mate the advantage conferred by playing White; it is, after all, only one tempo and in unbalanced, dynamic positions other factors may be more important than a tempo (such as piece activity, king safety, etc.). Wishful thinking obviously also plays a part; the white player is unwilling to accept that he has done some- thing wrong and lost his initial advantage, so his sense of danger is dulled. A further common error is that of removing important defensive pieces from the vicinity of one’s king, or at any rate from positions where they can help in the defence of the king. Examples may be found in Games 21 (19 @c4?), 45 (14 a47), 93 (21...Dec67) and 99 (17...2c4?). It is interesting to note that all these are knight moves. Repositioning a knight tends to be a more committal decision10 101 Brituiant CHess MiniaTURES than repositioning a line-moving piece. If, for example, you move a queen from £6 to a6, it still controls some squares on the kingside, such as g6 and h6, but if a knight moves from e5 to c4, then it no longer has any influence at all on the kingside and can only regain it by retracing its steps. In some of the above cases, the loser was motivated by the desire to generate some counterplay (Game 99, for example), but this has to be carefully judged. There is little point in arranging your pieces for active play on the queenside if you are mated on the kingside be- fore this counterplay gets off the ground. In such cases one has to be pragmatic; if the active option doesn’t work, then one should just settle for quiet, passive de- fence in the hope that things will take a turn for the better later on. Perhaps surprisingly, not all these games are tactical attacking smashes. It is possible to win positionally in 25 moves or less ~see, for example, Games 27 and 30, both of which involve a not so gradual positional strangulation. Coinci- dentally, both these games were won by Kasparov, not a player one normally as- sociates with python-like squeezes. In other games it is the defender who triumphs. In Game 31, Polugaevsky brilliantly refutes an opportunistic attack by Timman along the h-file, while in Game 76 careful defence is but the prelude toa shattering counterattack. Over-aggressive play by White is refuted in Game 55. Seirawan counters White’s ambitious kingside pawn advance instructively and is careful never to allow his tactically-orientated opponent to stir things up. When the central counterattack crashes through, White’s position collapses like a house of cards. In short, then, there are indeed common errors which can lead to a quick loss, and these errors occur at all levels of play right up to grandmaster level. Knowing the danger signals should enable you both to avoid these errors yourself and to exploit them when your opponent slips up. John Nunn Chertsey, May 1999 Symbols + check Ch championship ++ double check corr. correspondence game # = — checkmate 1-0 the game ends in a win for x capture White !! brilliant move Yo-¥a the game ends in a draw ! good move 0-1 the game ends in a win for 17 interesting move Black 71 dubious move (n) nth match game ff bad move (3a) see diagram 3a, etc. 2? blunder ECC European Clubs Cup101 Britiianr CHEss MiniATURES 1 E. Pedersen - Gallmeyer Denmark 1971 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation 1e4 c5 2 Dt3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Alo 5 Dc3 a6 6 Vg5 e6 7 f4 bS 8 e5 dxe5 9 fxeS We7 10 exf6 We5+ 11 Re2 Wxg5 12 0-0 We5 13 &£3?! 13 @h1 and especially 13 f3! are currently believed to be more dangerous for Black. 13...2a7 14 2c6!? We5+?! According to present-day theory, 14...Dxc6 15 Rxc6+ Rd7 16 Bxd7+ Exd7 17 W£3 2d6 is fine for Black. 15 @h1 Bd7 (1a) Not 15...Axc6? 16 De4 Wh6 (after 16...Wd4 17 Dd6+! Wxd6 18 fxg7 Hes 19 gxf8W+ Wxf8 20 &xc6+ La7 21 WE3 Black will suffer due to his exposed king) 17 fxg7 &xg7 18 Dd6+ de7 19 2xc6 £5 20 AxfS+! exf5 21 Bel+ $f6 (21...t2£7 22 Wd5+ dg6 23 Wd6+ transposes, as 23...R.£6 loses to 24 Me8+) 22 Wd6+ dg5 23 h4+! with a deci- sive attack. 16 @xb8! This queen sacrifice, first played in the current game, is the only way for White to continue his attack. Con- trary to R.Marié’s analysis in Informator 12, it should lead to a draw against best defence. 16...Hxd1 17 Haxdl The threat of 18 &c6+ forces Black’s reply. 17...gxf6 18 De4 (1b) 18...Wc7? The fatal error. 18...WF5! is the best defence. After 19 #d3 (19 Dxf6+ Wxf6 20 Rc6+ Se7 21 Hxf6 xf6 is equal) 19... WE4! White is forced into the drawish liquidation with 20 @xf6+, etc. 19 Axf6+ Se7 20 2h5! Threatening a beautiful mate in four by 21 Dc6+ Wxc6 22 Ags+ Hxg8 (22,,,$e8 23 Qxf7#) 23 Hxf7+ de8 24 Hg7#. 20...2g7 (1c) 21 Dc6+! Wxc6 Or 21... £8 22 Dd7+ Sxd7 23 Wxf7+ g8 24 DeT#. 22 DgB+! be8 22...Hxg8 23 Bxt7+ Se8 24 Bc7+ S18 25 Hd8+ and mate next move. 23 &xf7+ df8 24 Xd8+ 1-0 i AWAY ia Wags e 1b: After 18 e4 . WS “eure @ ee ee le: After 20...82g712 10] Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES ABAm eed “ewe 2c: After 11...Wxc3? 2 Tal - Uhimann Moscow 1977 French Defence, Tarrasch Variation 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Dd2 c5 4 Dgt3 Ac6 5 &b5 It is hard to surprise Wolfgang Uh!- mann in the French Defence, which he has played throughout his long career, but Tal apparently succeeded with this move since the East German grandmaster now thought for 20 minutes. In fact the move had been played before, but only very infrequently. 5...dxe4 These days 5...a6 is considered to be a simpler method of equalizing. 6 Axe4 2d7 7 &g5! (2a) As usual, Tal plays for rapid piece development. 7...Wa5+ 8 Dc3 exd4 A few years later, in Nitevski-Uhl- mann, Skopje 1976, Uhlmann improved by 8...26 9 Rxc6 KRxc6 10 d5 (10 dxc5 Sxc5 11 We2 @f6 is equal) 10...2xd5 110-0 2c6 12 DeS We7 13 Hel Df6 14 Rxf6 gxf6 15 Dxc6 Wxc6 16 WhS Le7, and this time Uhl- mann went on to win, 9 @xd4 Tal relates that at first he was attracted by the piece sacrifice 9 &xc6 2xc6 10 Wxd4 &xf3 11 gxf3, but 11...Wxg5 12 Wad+ b5! 13 AxbS We5+ 14 Sf] Se7 seemed insufficient for White. In addition, Black could play safe with 11...Wb4, quenching White's attacking ambitions. 9...%b4?! (2b) Black plays for the win of a pawn, but the resulting dark- squared weaknesses give White ample com- pensation. 9...2e7 is sounder; after 10 Wd2 (10 &e3 We7 11 We2 Af6 12 0-0 0-0 is level) 10...2£6 (but not 10...2xg5 11 Wxg5 xd477 12 &xd7+) 11 0-0-0 a double- edged position arises. 10 0-0! &xc3 11 bxc3 Wxe3? (2c) Consistent, but far too risky (especially against Tal). The continuation 11,..a6 12 2xc6 Rxc6 13 Axcé Wxgs was a much better chance. After 14 Wd6! @h6 (but not 14...e7 15 Bfdl! Dxc6 16 Wd7+101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 13 oe ie 2d: After 14...a614 101 Brituant Cuess MINIATURES mB iB wae AWA ie eum oe “aw a ia 3c: After 14 fxe5 3 Planinc — Najdorf Wijk aan Zee 1973 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation 1e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Af6 5 De3 a6 6 2g5 Abd7 7 f4 e6 8 WE3 2e7 9 0-0-0 We7 10 2d3 h6 The Browne System, currently considered Black’s safest response to the 10 £43 line. The main idea is that af- ter 11 Rh4 g5 12 fxgS De5 13 We2 Afgs Black will regain the pawn and establish a knight on the powerful central square e5. The only real problem with this plan is that Black’s king is condemned to stay in the centre for some time. However, the current view is that White has no way of exploiting this factor. 11 Wh3 (3a) This move attempts to cross Black’s plan of forcing through ..5, OF at least to extract a concession if he goes ahead with it. 11...c5?! In 1973, it was early days for this line and it was not yet established that 11...@b6 is the best move. The point of playing the knight to b6 is to in- crease Black's control of d5 so that a later ..e5 cannot be met by &xf6 followed by dS, 12 Ehel 12 £5 is another possibility, when Black’s best may be the surprising 12...€d5!?. 12...8g8 (3b) Black wants the g5-bishop to make up its mind; if it retreats to h4, then Black can continue with 13...g5. 12...@d7 is a more solid alternative. 13 e5!? White simply leaves his bishop on g5 and uses the tempo to crash through in the cen- tre. However, this involves sacrificing a pawn and the outcome is not at all clear. 13...dxe5 13...hxg5 14 exf6 Rxf6 (not 14...gxf6? 15 Wh7 Hf8 16 DFS and White has a very strong attack) 15 dS Wd8 16 Wh7 is also unclear. 14 fxeS (3c) 14...hxg5 Certainly not 14...Dd5? 15 Bxe7 Dxe7 (15...Dxc3 16 Rxc5 Dxd1 17 2d6 wins) 16 Wg3 Dxd3+ 17 Exd3 followed by De4-d6, 15 exf6 Rxf6101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES Is ‘This game is normally portrayed as a com- plete whitewash, probably due to the notes in Informator 15, where 13 e5 was already given as ‘winning’. However, this is far from the truth, as we shall see. 15...gxf6 is a rea- sonable alternative to the move played; for example, 16 Wh7 @xd3+ 17 Hxd3 Bs 18 OS Wi4+ 19 dbl WxfS 20 Wxf5 exfS 21 4\d5 Hh8 with an unclear position. 16 @dS WaB (3d) 16...WaS is well met by 17 &c4! shxd4 18 b4 Wd8 19 Eixd4 def8 20 bxc5 exdS 21 Wa3 with a strong initiative. 17 &h7?! An imaginative idea, which in the game suc- ceeds dramatically. However, it might have been stronger to continue 17 Wh7! @xd3+ (17... £8 18 Dxf6 Wxf6 19 Hfl Dxd3+ 20 Wxd3 We7 21 £3 also favours White) 18 Hxd3 H£8 19 Axf6 Wxf6 20 D3 b5 21 Des with a clear advantage. 17...2h8? After this Black is indeed in trouble. There often comes a point when the defender has to sacrifice material himself to prevent the attacker's initiative getting out of hand. Here Black should have played 17...Wxd5 18 &xg8 (or 18 Axe6 Wxd1+! 19 Sxd1 Rxe6 20 Hxe6+ @xe6 21 &xg8 0-0-0+ and the unusual fork wins for Black) 18...Wxa2 19 2xf7+ (other- wise White would even be worse) 19...8xf7 20 Wh5+ g8 with a draw. 18 DFS (3e) 18...¢4 There is no longer any defence, al- though this does make life fairly easy for White. 18...2ad is the best try, but even then 19 Dd6+! df8 20 Dxf6 Wxf6 21 Bcd Wid+ (21...We7 22 Hfl e5 23 Bxf7+! Wxf7 24 Wa3+ We7 25 Bd8+ £7 26 Dd6+ wins) 22 Hd2! Wixc4 23 Wa3+ Zc (23...d2e8 24 Wid6 Rd7 25 Wxd7+ $£8 26 Hf2 is decisive) 24 Hd8+ de7 25 Hxh8 is very good for White. 19 Wg3 Now Black faces the threat of 20 ADcT+. 19...2£8 (3f) 20 DAxf6 1-0 Owing to 20...Wxf6 21 Wd6+ de8 22 xg7+ mating. “SS oy Get Ne Bagel aM A Am MBAR i! gin 2 3£: After 19...8f816 101 Britutant CHESS MINIATURES i" wom By Ain SAY oe ss 4c: After 21...82h8 4 Balashov - Andersson Wijk aan Zee 1973 Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation 1e4 c5 2 Df3 e6 3 Dc3 Dc6 4 d4 cxd4 $ Axd4 a6 6 Re2 We7 7 0-0 Af6 8 2e3 d69 f4 2e7 10 Wel 0-0 11 Wg3 Axd4 12 2xd4 b5 13. a3 Rb7 14 Bd3 These days 14 #h1 is overwhelmingly the most popular move, with 14 Hae] in second place. 14...g6 14...e5! 15 fxe5 DhS followed by 16...dxeS is the correct antidote to White’s plan, and is the reason why 14 £d3 is almost never played today. 15 £5 Zae8?! Not a very good move as it exposes Black to the possibility of 2e3- h6, trapping the rook. 15...Dh5 16 Wh3 e5 17 Se3 Df4 18 Bxf4 exf4 19 Bxf4 2£6 is better, with good dark-squared play for the pawn. 16 Wh3 (4a) Attacking c6. 16...gxf5? This certainly meets the threat of 17 fxe6, but at what a cost! 16...e5 17 £e3 Hc8 18 Rh6 Hfe8 is better, although 19 285 gives White some advantage. 17 Wh6 Not 17 exf5 e5, when the diagonals leading to Black’s king are blocked. 17...e5 17...Wd8 loses to 18 £3. 18 Hxf5 gd This must have been the defence Andersson was counting on. It seems that the result will be the exchange of the d4-bishop for the g4-knight, when Black's grip on the dark squares gives him good chances of holding on. 19 Wh3 exd4 (4b) 19.,.D£6 20 DdS &xd5 21 exd5 exd4 22 Exf6 wins for White. 20 Ad5! White does not take the g4-knight but simply presses home his attack. 20...Wda7 After 20...2xd5 21 exd5 Black is powerless to defend h7. 21 e5! Again White refuses the knight and sets up the usual attack against h7. 21... (4c) 21...Dxe5 22 Bg5+ wins the queen. 22 HhS £5 23 €6 1-0 As 23...Wxe6 24 Exh7+ Sg8 25 Bh8+ dt7 26 Wh7# is mate.10] BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 6 Lombardy - Quinteros Manila 1973 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation 104 c5 2 Dl3 d6 3 dd cxd4 4 Dxd4 Dl6 5 4\c3 a6 6 Rg5 e6 7 £4 2e7 8 WE3h69 Lhd We7 10 0-0-0 Dbd7 These days Black usu- ally waits for £d3 before playing ...h6. 11 dke2! And this is why. Against ...h6, the {I-bishop is better placed on e2. 11...2b8 Spending an extra tempo preparing ...b5 i unappealing, but after the immediate 11.. White can utilize the weakness of g6, e.g. 12 Rx16 Dxf6 13 e5 b7 14 Wig3 dxe5 15 fxeS QNU7 16 Dxe6 fxe6 17 Wg6+ dd8 18 Wxeb Bek 19 WES with a massive attack, 12 Wg3 g8 All these rook moves are not a good sign. 13 Hhfl bS (5a) 13...g5 is the alterna- live, but then 14 fxg5 DeS 15 DE3 favours White. 14 Qxe6! Again exploiting the weak- hess created by ...h6. 14...fxe6 15 Wg6+ &d8 15...8£8 loses to 16 e5 dxeS 17 £5 Wd8 18 Qxf6 gxf6 19 Wxh6+ Bg7 20 fxe6. 16 eS dxeS (5b) 17 £5? White should have pre- ferred 17 2xf6 Rxf6 18 WE7 Hh8 19 Ded with a very strong attack. 17...exf5 17...Wc6 18 WE7 Hf8 19 Wxg7 b4 20 &£3 Wb6 is also unclear. 18 2xf6 &xf6 19 Dds Web 20 Exf5 Ef8? 20...We6! is a better defence, as after 21 &g4 Black can run White’s queen out of squares by 21...We8 22 Wh7 Bh8. 21 2g4 Hb6? (5c) Black collapses. 21...We6 (21...20b7 is also better than the text) is still playable, although now White can continue 22 He3 WE7 23 Wd3 Hb7 24 Wa3 and his at- tack at least compensates for the piece. 22 Exf6! Crushing. 22...gxf6 Or 22...2xf6 23 Wxg7 He6 24 WE7 and wins. 23 Wg7 Hb7 Black cooperates in making the game a min- iature. 23...He8 loses to 24 Axb6 Wxb6 25 Exd7+ &xd7 26 Wxd7#. 24 We7# (1-0) 17 = Se a A ws Sb: After 16...dxe5 28.2.0 ve vas a shw7 ewe Lk DE ET yee ARAM MARY a Sc: After 21...2b6?18 101 Britiiant CHESS MINIATURES a maw ‘awe ms 6a: After 8 243 ue 6c: After 16 Wf2! (analysis) 6 Spassky - Rashkovsky USSR Ch, Moscow 1973 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation Led c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Do 5 Dc3 a6 6 Begs e6 7 £4 We7 8 2d3 (6a) An interesting line against 7...Wc7; for the moment White does not commit his queen. 8...Qbd7 This may already be inaccurate, since it allows White to develop his queen to e2 and prepare for eS more quickly than usual. After 8...e7 White would be more or less forced to transpose into normal lines by 9 Wf3 because 9 We27! h6 10 2h4? loses a pawn to 10...Axe4. 9 We2 bS 10 0-0-0 £b7 11 Bhel It contrast to the line with the queen on f3, the e4-pawn is not pinned and therefore White is already threatening 12 €5. 11...Se7 12 e5 dxe5S 13 fxe5 DAS (6b) 14 &xe7 Perhaps slightly inaccurate, although it requires exceptionally deep analysis to show this, The alternative 14 Axe6! seems to give White the advantage in every line. Then 14...fxe6? is very bad due to 15 WhS+ ba8 (or 15...g6 16 Bxg6+ hxg6 17 Wxh8+ @DfB 18 Bxe7 Wxe7 19 Ded leading to a clear advantage for White) 16 Axd5 &xd5 17 Rxe7+ Sxe7 18 Wh4+! (the key move; if Black’s king moves to e8, the h-pawn is pinned and so &2g6+ is possible) 18...2e8 (18...g5 19 Wxg5+ de8 20 We7 Bfs 21 Rxh7 WaS 22 Bed! Wxa2 23 Bxd5 exdS 24 ©6 Ac5 25 e7 wins) 19 &g6+ hxg6 20 Wxh8+ 28 21 Hfl WeS 22 Wg8 We7 23 Hf2 followed by 24 Edfl and wins. Thus Black has to try 14...&2xg5+ 15 @xg5 Dxc3, but then 16 Wf2! (6c) (a very hard move to see in advance!) 16...d5 (16...2)xa2+ 17 $Hb1 Dc5 18 6 £6 19 Vxh7 and 16.5 17 bxc3 Axd3+ 18 Hxd3 0-0 19 WES g6 20 Wh3 h5 21 Ed7 are worse) 17 e6 Axa2+ 18 bl Df6 19 &xh7!, while very complex, is101 BRiLuiaNT CHESS MINIATURES gouty better for White, e.g. 19...xh7 20 dS Zxg5 21 exf7++ Hf8 22 Exes witha winning attack, 14...2xe3 14...2xe7 loses to 15 We4 Dxc3 16 Axes Web 17 We5+, hut 14..Qxe7 15 &xb5, which is usually xiven as winning for White, does not seem completely clear to me. One sample line is 15...axb5 16 DexbS Wb6 17 Dd6+ SFB 18 Bil Des 19 D4xf5 Bxa2 20 @c4 Wd 21 3 Bul+ 22 dd2 Bxdi+ 23 Bxd1 Wes 24 gcl! und now White is certainly better, although in such a variation virtually anything is pos- nible! 15 Wg4 (6d) 15 bxc3 Bxe7 16 Wed RUS 17 Bed Bxed 18 Dxe6 Wxc3 is un- clear, 15...2xd1 The best chance, because 15...Dxe5 16 Wxg7 Dxd1 17 BxeS Wxe7 18 Wxh8+ dd7 19 Wg7 Df2 20 &xh7 cer- tainly favours White. 16 Axe6! (6e) Not 16 d6 DxeS! 17 QxeS Df2 18 Axes (if 18 Wkxg7, then 18...2xd3+ 19 @b1 Dxe5 20 Wxh8+ Ge7 21 WxeS Wxe5 22 Hxe5 &xg2 wins for Black) 18...2xd3+ (18...fxe6 19 Wxe6+ We7 20 Wxe7+ &xe7 is also slightly better for Black) 19 #b1 Wxe5 20 Bxe5 Dxe5 21 Wxg7 Dg6 22 Dc7+ Se7 23 AxaB Hxa8 and Black has an edge. 16...Wc6? Black collapses under the sustained tactical barrage. He had to accept the knight, and af- ter 16...fxe6 17 2d6 Wb6 (17...Wc6 loses to 18 Wg5 Df6 19 Red Wd7 20 2xb7 Wxb7 21 exf6) 18 Wxe6+ (18 We5 Df6 19 exf6 0-0-0 20 fxg? Shg8 21 Sc5 We? 22 Bxdl ‘Bxg7 and White certainly has no advantage) 18...8d8 19 RFS &c6 (19...We6? 20 We7+ ‘cB 21 6 wins for White) 20 We7+ &c8 21 6 a tremendously unclear position arises; both 21...2f6 and 21...2d8 seem playable. 17 Dxg7+ Sxe7 18 We5+ (6f) White now wins by force, 18...f6 18...@f8 19 DE5 wins after 19...Wg6 20 We7+ Sg8 21 e6 fxe6 22 Bxe6, 19..Wxg2 20 We7+ dg8 21 €6 or 19.,.DE2 20 6 Dxd3+ 21 SI. 19 exf6++ dB 20 £7+ Sc7 21 Weds 1-0 19 N ao ARAT i ee 6f: After 18 WeS+20 101 Brituiant Cuess Miniatures Ta: After 11...e5 ‘ \ ae Sr S NDS Te: After 16 Wxb3 7 Velimirovié - Vasiukov USSR - Yugoslavia match, Tbilisi 1973 Sicilian Defence, Taimanov Variation 1e4 c5 2 Af3 Dec6 3 dd exd4d 4 Dxd4 €6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 We7 7 0-0 b5 The most com- mon line today is 7...@£6. 8 DAxc6 Wxc6?! If Black does play 7...b5, then here he recap- tures with the d-pawn. The problem with the text-move is that the queen is tactically vul- nerable on c6, both to ideas on the long diag- onal and to possible @d5 tricks. 9 &£3 2b7 10 &£4 d6 After 10...2c8 both 11 Hel and 11 e5 Wc7 12 Ded are good for White. 11 Hel White is already threatening 12 a4 b4 13 @d5. 11..e5 (7a) 12 a4! It was this inno- vation which put the whole line out of busi- ness for Black. Hitherto, the less incisive 12 &id2 had given White little after 12...f6. 12...b4 12...exf4 13 &5 d5 14 Dxd5 0-0-0 15 axbS WxbS 16 c4 We8 17 Wb3 gives White a crushing attack. 13 Dd5 exf4 (7b) 14 c3! An amazingly calm move. 14 e5 appears more natural, but after 14...0-0-0 15 Be7+ Dxe7 16 2xc6 Axc6 the position is far from clear, as Black’s minor pieces could become very active. 14...b3? A hopeless attempt to keep the queenside files closed. 14...bxc3 is the best chance, but even then 15 Hcl Wd7 (15...Bb8 16 e5 Wd7 17 Db6 Rxf3 18 exd6+ Sd8 19 Wxf3 wins) 16 e5 dxeS 17 Exc3 Rxd5 18 Rxd5 Hd8 19 BxeS+ Le7 20 2c6 Wxc6 21 Wxd8+ Sxd8 22 Exc6 Af6 23 Exa6 gives White the advantage thanks to his active rooks and connected passed pawns. 15 e5! 0-0-0 Or 15...dd8 16 Wxb3 Hb8 17 ®e7! and Black’s position collapses. 16 Wrxb3 (7c) 16...2b8 17 Db4 Wa7 18 2xb7 xb7 19 Dd5+ La8 20 Db6+ Ba7 21 ®xd7 Exd7 22 Had! 1-0101 Britutant CHESS MINIATURES 21 8 Vasiukov - Velimirovié USSR - Yugoslavia match, Tbilisi 1973 Sicilian Defence, Rossolimo Variation It only seems fair to give Vasiukov’s re- venge! 1e4 c5 2 Df3 Dc6 3 Rb5 e6 4 Axc6 ‘This immediate exchange is not very popu- lar today, with most players preferring 4 0-0. 4,..bxc6 Certainly the right recapture. Taking with the d-pawn does not fit together with .c6, which blocks in the c8-bishop. 5 0-0 Wc7 (8a) Any move which fights for control of e5 cannot be bad, but it seems more flexi- ble for Black to bring his kingside pieces out by 5...De7 6 b3 Dgé 7 &b2 £6, followed by ...2e7 and ..,0-0, securing comfortable equality. 6 d3 d6 7 Zc3 Df6 8 We2 Threat- ening to play 9 5; the resulting exchange of pawns would leave Black’s c-pawns looking particularly weak. 8...e5 (8b) More or less forced to block White’s threatened advance, but this additional pawn move leaves Black somewhat behind in development. The closed nature of the position means that this is not necessarily disastrous, but he certainly has to take care. 9 Dh4 White seeks to exploit his lead in development by opening the po- sition up with £4. 9...g6 9...2e7 10 f4 exf4 11 &xf4 0-0 12 @h1 gives White an edge as he has the simple plan of 23 followed by 25, with pressure along the f-file and a more active bishop. 10 4 exf4 (8c) 11 e5?! A very dynamic continuation, although per- haps not objectively best. The simple 11 Rxf4 Dh5 12 Vg5 Rg7 13 DES (13 g47 h6) 13...Re5 14 Dh6 f6 15 Le3 is better, with a rather unclear position in which both knights on the h-file are oddly placed. 11...dxe5?! Black misses the chance to exchange off his light-squared bishop, which is otherwise in serious danger of being blocked in by ...d7. = em 8c: After 10...exf422 101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 11...2g4! would have exploited White’s optimism; after 12 @£3 (12 Wel dxe5 13 Sixf4 Dd7 is fine for Black) 12...2xf3 13 Bixf3 (13 Waf3 dxeS 14 g3 g5 is unconvinc- ing) 13...dxe5 14 &xf4 Dd7 15 Ded £5 1 cannot see any good way for White to stop Black completing his development by ...2g7 (or ...Re7) followed by ...0-0. 12 Rxf4 DAT 13 Hael White has sufficient play for the pawn but no more, 13...2g7 14 Df3 £6 15 Ded 0-0 16 Le3 (8d) 16...e8 17 g4 Recap- turing the c5-pawn is at best equal for White, so he decides to continue on the kingside. There is little risk in this approach, as the c5-pawn is doomed anyway. 17...f5 An am- bitious and risky move, but not yet an error. 17...2Df8 is a safer option, heading for e6. Then 18 @fd2 £5 19 gxf5 gxf5 would be un- clear. 18 gxf5 gxf5 19 Afg5! (8e) 19.6? Only this move gives White the chance to press home his attack. 19...h6 is also bad af- ter 20 WhS Be? 21 Bxf5! hxgs (21...0£8 22 Bxf8+ dxfB 23 Hel+ dg8 24 We6 hxgs 25 Di6+ SEB 26 Dh7-+H+ Sg8 27 HESH) 22 Wg6 Wad8 (22...@h8 23 Dxgs D8 24 Nxf8+ 2xf8 25 Hfl wins) 23 Axgs Dl 24 BxfB+ fxf8 25 Efl+ mating. Black's correct de- fence is 19...D£8! 20 WhS He7 21 &xc5! hO! (21...fxe4 loses to 22 2xe7 Wxe7 23 HE7 We5+ 24 dh1) 22 Dg3 hxgs (2...f4 23 Sixe7 Wxe7 24 Df3 fxg3 25 hxg3 is also unclear) 23 &xe7 Wxe7 24 Dxf5 Kxé5 25 EZxf5 De6 with an unclear position. 20 @xf6+ Qxf6 21 Wh5 He7 (8) 22 Dxh7! Bg7+ 22...Exh7 23 We8+ g7 24 He2! Eh4 (24,.. WET 25 Bg2+ &g5 26 Hxgs+ wf6 27 Wkxc6+ also wins) 25 Hg2+ gd 26 Hxg4+ fxg4 27 @h6+! Sxh6 28 Exf6+ mates. 23 Phi WE7 24 Dxf6+ Wrf6 25 Bgl 1-0 Since 25...Re6 26 Hxg7+ Wxg7 27 c4! gives White a decisive attack.101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 23 9 Ivkov - Timman Amsterdam (IBM) 1974 Alekhine Defence, Four Pawns Attack 1 od DIG 2 e5 DdS 3 d4 d6 4.c4 Db6 5 £4 45 6 Dc3 e6 7 DL dxeS 8 fxeS 2b4? In the carly 1970s, ....2b4 was played in vari- ions of the Four Pawns Attack. This is viable when White’s bishop is on €3, lut here White can use the extra tempo to Inunch a vicious attack by sacrificing his d- pawn. 9.243! (9a) This plan had been played before, as we shall see, but the current game wave it such a high profile that ....2b4 disap- peured virtually overnight against non-se3 lines. 9...xd3 9...c5 10 Rxf5 exfS 11 dS 4)xe4 12 0-0 also gives White a very strong initiative. 10 Wxd3 c5 11 0-0 cxd4 12 Des White already has two very strong threats: 13 @fg5 and 13 c5 followed by 14 Dd6+. 12...D6d7 Or 12...D8d7 (12...0-0 loses to 13 Dfgs D&d7 14 Dd6 g6 15 Wh3 h5 16 Agxf7) 13 a3 Dc5 14 DxcS Bxc5 15 Dgs Bf8 16 @xh7 with a horible position for Black, Vetemaa-Ma.Tseitlin, Parnu 1973. 13 @fgS! White consistently sacrifices a second pawn to further his attack, 13...@xe5 14 Wg3 Abd7 (9b) Forced, as 14...Dbc6 loses to 15 Dxe6 fxe6 16 Wxg7. 15 2f4 Once the e5-knight gives way, White will crash through on £7, 15...Wb6 Black tries to defend tactically. 15...Wa5S 16 a3 &e7 17 b4 is also very bad, while 15...0-0 16 2xe5 @Dxe5 fails to 17 Df6+! @h8 18 Dfxh7. 16 &xe5 £6 17 2d6 17 c5 is also decisive. 17...f4g5 18 2xb4 Wxb4 19 Dd6+ ge7 Af- ler 19...4d8 20 Df7+ White wins a whole rook. 20 Hf7+ @d8 21 Wxg5+ dc7 22 Db5+ Sc8 23 Hafl Now White threatens both 24 Hxd7 and 24 a3. 23...b6 (9c) 24 Eixd7 &xd7 25 Wxg7+ 1-0 It is mate or loss of the queen. 9b: After 14...Abd7 sana waa oe soe an ‘ean “zs 9c: After 23...b624 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES Obey ied 10c: After 10 Hd1?! 10 Quinteros - Ribli Montilla 1974 Nimzo-Indian Defence, Classical Variation 1 d4 Af6 2 c4 e6 3 Dc3 2b4 4 We2 The Classical Variation, by which White pre- pares 5 a3 &xc3+ 6 Wxc3, thereby avoiding doubled c-pawns. The cost is a loss of time; White has to move his queen twice, and on 3 it is exposed to further attack by ...De4, The theme of positional advantage versus lead in development is central to this game. 4.05 5 dxc5 0-0 6 2f4 (/0a) An unusual move which has now largely disappeared from practice. 6 a3 2xc5 7 AE3 Ac6 is cur- rently preferred, with a slight advantage for White. 6...a6 Better than 6...2xc5 7 DF3 cf, which is similar to the last note except that White has even managed to avoid play- ing a3. 7 a3 7 2d6 is tempting, but White cannot maintain his extra pawn after 7...Re8 8 a3 WaS 9 Bel &xc3+ 10 Wxe3 Wxc3+ 11 Exc3 e4. The continuation 12 Hc2 DaxcS 13 &xc5 Axc5 leads to an equal endgame. 7..&xe3+ 8 Wxc3 Ded (10b) Black can also play the safer 8...A\xc5 9 b4 @ceé4, fol- lowed by ...d5, with comfortable equality. The text-move is more double-edged, but probably about equally strong. 9 Wd4 Daxc5. 10 Hd1?! (10c) This is too slow and allows Black to take the initiative in the centre. 10 b4 is the best move, when the critical line runs 10...2)b3 11 Wxe4 Axal 12 2e5 (White must round up the knight quickly, or else Black may rescue it by ...a5-a4; if 12 Wbl, then 12...Wf6 and it is not clear how White will catch the knight) 12...a5 13 &xal (13 Whol axb4 14 axb4 Wb6 15 &xal Hxal 16 Wxal Wxb4+ 17 Sd1 Wb3+ 18 &d2 d5 gives Black enough for the piece) 13...axb4 14 Wa4. In this key position either 14...f6 or 14...Wg5 leads to an unclear situation.101 Britutanr CHEss MINIATURES 25 5 The rest of the game centres around lack knights. If White can drive them ‘mck and complete his development, then the two bishops will give him a clear advan- tage. Black’s aim is to strike before White’s remaining pieces enter the game. This is an- other example of the quite common situa- lion in which it is the owner of the two knights who has to open up the position. 11 b4?! White ambitiously attempts to drive the knights away before completing his de- velopment, but the result is that they occupy even more advanced posts. 11 cxd5 (not 11 13? @b3 followed by 12...Wa5+ and Black wins) 11...exd5 12 e3 (12 Wxd5 2e6 13 Wkxd8 Hfxd8 gives Black good play for the pawn) is the best chance. Without being too ambitious, White just prepares to develop his kingside. This would lead to approxi- mate equality. 11...Qa4 12 £3 Forcing the other black knight forwards! 12...Dec3 (10d) 12...26? 13 e4 would be excellent for White. 13 Bd3 13 Hcl dxc4 14 Wxed £d7 followed by ...Bc8 only increases Black’s lead in development. 13...f6 Black once again foils White’s attempts to get rid of the intrusive knights; if now 14 Hxc3, then 14...e5 wins the exchange. 14 @d2 e5 15 Whd d4 Threatening 16...2£5. 16 3 At last the e-pawn moves, but too late. 16...2£5 17 &xc3 17 exd4 loses material to 17...2xd3 18 &xd3 e4, 17...Axc3 Not 17...2xd3? 18 &xd3 and White has at least a draw. 18 Bd2 (100) 18...dxe3! 18...@\b1 is also very good, but is not as forcing as the text. 19 Hxd8 E.axd8 Black’s queen sacrifice is decisive. 20 2e2 Hd2 (10f) With the deadly threats of 21...2fd8, followed by 22...Rd1+, and 21...2d3. 21 g4 &d3 Now the e2-bishop falls. 22 @f1 Dxe2 23 Axe? Hxe2 24 Sgl Hd8 0-1 There is no answer to the threat of moving the bishop, followed by ...Bd1#. 10f: After 20...d226 10] Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES 1c: After 17 0-0 11 Vaganian — Kupreichik USSR Ch, Leningrad 1974 Trompowsky Attack 1d4 Df6 2 2p5 c5 3.d5 A sharp alternative to the more positional 3 2xf6. 3...Wb6 This must be the critical test of 3 d5 as White is forced to sacrifice his b-pawn. 4 2)c3 Wxb2 5 2.2 Wb6 6 e4 dé6 An alternative idea is to block the centre by 6...e5, e.g. 7 £4 d6 8 fxeS dxe5 9 Qf3 Dbd7 with unclear play. 7 £4 g6? (1/a) It is a mistake to allow White to break through in the centre. Black should have put up a fight for the e5-square by 7... Dbd7 8 DE3 We7. 8 eS An early central advance can sometimes rebound on the at- tacker, but not here as White has a lead in development to back up his aggression. 8...dxe5 8...Dfd7 9 Df3 &g7 10 Bl Wa8 11 €6 fxe6 12 Dg5 gives White a similarly vicious attack. 9 fxe5 Dfd7 10 Af3 2g7 11 Eb1 Wd8 12 e6! White strikes quickly be- fore Black can castle. 12...fxe6 13 Ags! (11b) The advancing pawns have torn holes in Black’s defences; now the heavier pieces move up to exploit the weaknesses. 13...Df6 14 &b5+ SFB A sad necessity, as interpos- ing on d7 allows 15 xe6. 15 dxe6 a6?! 15...Wd4 would have been a better chance, but even so, the position after 16 Ae2 Wd5S 170-0 is very unpleasant for Black. 16 £e3! WaS Or 16...Wc7 17 &c4 b5 18 Rd5 Acé 19 0-0 2b7 20 “ce4 with an enormous ini- tiative. 17 0-0 (1c) White’s attack is so strong that he can afford to offer the bishop. 17...h6 17.,.axb5 loses to 18 HxbS Wce7 19 Bd5 WeS 20 Qxc5. 18 Wd3 Exploiting Black’s new weakness at g6. 18...dg8 19 Wxg6 Rxe6 20 Axe6 Hh7 21 Hxf6 Dd7 22 &xd7 1-0 It’s quite nice to take three enemy pieces on consecutive moves without any re- prisal.101 Britutant CHESS MINIATURES 12. Vaganian - Planinc Hastings 1974/5 English Opening 1. d4 Df6 2 ¢4 c5 3 DL3 cxd4 4 Dxd4 e6 5 §\c3 &b4 6 Abs An ambitious attempt to wuin the two bishops without conceding doubled pawns, the defect being the time it costs. 6 g3 is considered better today. 6...0-0 703 &xc3+ 8 Axc3 d5 9 2g5 (12a) The only try for the advantage. After 9 e3 Acé White’s dark-squared bishop is blocked in und Black has no problems. 9...h6 10 &xf6 Wxf6 11 exd5 11 3 is possible, with a likely transposition to the next note. 11..exd5 12 Wxd5? Too greedy, as Black’s lead in devel- opment provides excellent compensation for the pawn. 12 €3 is better. If 12...2d8 then 13 Wd4 blocks the d-pawn, while after 12,..c6 13 Wxd5 Hd8 14 WE3 White's chances are much better than in the game, as Black’s queen can no longer swing over to b6. 12...d8 13 We3 Wb6 (12b) Gaining time by attacking the b2-pawn. 14 Hdl 14 b4 is certainly no better. After 14...0c6 15 e3 Be6 16 Re2 a5 17 b5 De5 Black has more than enough for the pawn (indeed, he will soon win one of White’s queenside pawns). 14,..Exd1+ 15 Dxd1 Ac6 16 We3 ‘Trying to defend by tactical means, which is always dangerous when one is behind in de- velopment. However, even after the margin- ally better 16 €3 2e6 17 2e2 Hd8 18 0-0 Hd2 Black will soon regain the pawn with good play. 16...2d4! (12c) 17 We8+ White trees his e-pawn with gain of tempo, but his queen proves tactically vulnerable on e8. 17...@2h7 18 e3 If 18 Wxf7, then 18...2.£5 19 3 ADc2+ 20 dd2 &g6 21 Wed Hd8+ 22 cl Dal wins. 18...Dc2+ 19 Gd2 2£5! This rook sacrifice gives Black the advan- tage in every variation. 20 Wxa8 20 Wxf7 27 3 wena ne Z 7ass 12c: After 16...0d4!28 101 BRituiant CHESS MINIATURES x (aa sow sus 12f: After 22...Wco7+! 0-1 &g6 transposes into the previous note. 20...Wd6+ (12d) 21 Sel First of all, 21 e2 fails to 21...Wd3+ 22 £3 Wxd1+ 23 Be2 Dd4+! 24 exd4 Wb3+ 25 bf4 g5+ 26 dxi5 We6#. 21 c3 also loses, although the win- ning method is not at all simple. Here is a summary of the analysis: 21...We5+! and now both 22 &b3 Aal+ 23 db4 (23 da2 Wd5+ transposes to the analysis of 22 dd2 below) 23...b6 24 We6 £d7! 25 2d3+ 2626 Sixg6+ dg7 and 22 dc4 We7+ 23 &b3 Re6+ 24 $a4 Whé6 win for Black. There- fore, White has to try 22 $d2, but even here 22,..Wd5+ 23 dc3 (23 e2 Wd3+ wins as after 21 de2 above) 23...WWa5+ 24 b4 (24 Sb3 Dal+ 25 Ga2 Wd5+ 26 04 Wrxe4+ 27 @xal Wel+ 28 &a2 Le6+ 29 b3 We2+ 30 deal Wxb3 31 c3 Wxc3+ 32 &bl 2f5+ 33 a2 Wo2+ 34 dal 2e6 wins) 24... Wxa3+ 25 ded2 Wxb4+ 26 cl (26 Ac3 Da} gives Black a winning attack, e.g. 27 #e2 Wxc3 28 Wd8 Zc4 29 Wd4 We2+ 30 del Db2) 26...2al 27 £3 Db3+ 28 &b2 Dd2+ 29 dc xf wins. 21...Dal (12e) 22 Wxb7? Up to here White has defended quite well, but now he loses in one (admittedly attractive) move. 22 Bcd WeS 23 Dc3 Wxcd 24 WB is a much better defence which is conveniently ignored in almost every annotation of this game I have ever seen! Black should con- tinue 24... )b3+ 25 ddl We4+ 26 De2 (26 Sel Wxg2 27 Bfl &h3 28 Wd3+ £5 should be winning for Black as White is paralysed and can hardly meet the threat of ...Aal-c2+ forcing a decisive liquidation) 26...We4! (taking the g-pawn only increases White’s defensive chances) 27 @e1 Wb1+ 28 Wdl1 ‘Wxb2 29 Dd4 (29 Dg3 Wic3+ 30 de2 We4+ 31 Sel &c2 wins) 29...Dxd4 30 exd4 Wxa3 with a clear advantage as White will find it very hard to stop the connected passed pawns while his king is so exposed. 22...We7+! (129) 0-1101 Brituanr CHEss MINIATURES 29 13. Tal -F Olafsson Las Palmas 1975 Modern Defence 1 c4 d6 2.d4 g6 3 2c4 46 Because of the curious move-order, we have already reached in uncommon position — in a million-game dutabase, I could only find 36 occurrences. ‘The majority of these soon transposed into normal lines, for example after 4 @c3. 4 We2?! (13a) This move seems inaccurate as il gives Black the opportunity to launch an curly attack on d4 by missing out ...%g7. 4...De6! 5 DF3 2 g4 Now White is forced to spend time defending d4. 6 c3 6 &bS is no better; after 6...0d7 7 c3 e5 8 d5 Dcb8 9 h3 R&xf3 10 Wxf3 Qe7 11 g3 Rg5 Black equal- ized in Tal-Matulovié, Skopje Olympiad 1972. 6...e5 Black consistently pursues his attack on d4, 7 2bS 7 d5 De7 8 &g5 2279 Dbd2 h6 10 &e3 c6 is equal. 7...exd4 8 cxd4 @d7 White has still not solved his problems with the d4-pawn. 9 &e3 &g7 (13b) Finally the pressure against d4 forces White to ex- change on c6. The resulting position is very pleasant for Black. He has the two bishops, an open b-file for his queen’s rook and the chance to open the diagonal for his dark- squared bishop by playing a later ...c5. White is not yet worse, but he certainly has to take care. 10 &xc6 bxc6 11 Dbd2 0-0 12 Hel Better than 12 0-0, when 12...2b8 would be awkward as 13 b3 would run into 13...c5. Also, by attacking c6, White forces Black's hand. 12...c5 13 dxc5 &xb2 14 Hc2 2.g7 15 0-0 Ke8 (1 3c) Black’s position is very com- fortable; he only has to play the most natural moves. 16 Hdl 16 cxd6 cxd6 17 h3 &xf3 18 Wxf3 is a safer route to equality; after 18...De5 19 We2 d5 20 exd5 Wxd5 21 Acta draw is not far away. 16...2xe5 Now White has to part with his other bishop, but in RvE “i 3 eR ON Ce © = 13b: After 9... jo 27 ane a 2 oon 13c: After 15...e830 101 Brittiant CHess MINIATURES 13f: After 25...We5! 0-1 compensation he gains some time. 17 &xe5 dxc5 18 Exc5? It is the knight rather than the rook which belongs on c5 and so White should have played 18 “b3 We7 19 AxcS maintaining the balance. After 19...Had8 20 Bxd8 Bxd8 21 h3 &xf3 22 Wxf3 Wd6 23 g3 the position is equal. 18...Wd6 19 Edel Ad- mittedly, White now has pressure against c7, but winning this pawn means little if Black's bishops are allowed to develop their full power. 19...2h6 (13d) 20 Hxe7?! After 20 Biic2 Rxd2 21 Wxd2 Hxe4 22 Bxc7 &xf3 23 gxf3 Hd4 Black has a clear advantage, but anything is better than a forced loss. 20...Had8 Not 20...2xf3? 21 Wxf3 and the attack on £7 allows White to escape. 21 H1e2 The stage is set for a spectacular combina- tion based on White’s weak back rank. The alternative 21 B7c2 &xf3 22 gxf3 Wd3! 23 Sfl Rxd2 24 Wxd3 Hxd3 25 Bd Exf3 26 Hdxd2 Exe4 leaves Black with a clear extra pawn, 21...S.xd2 22 Wxd2 (/3e) 22...WE4!! 23 He7 A tricky Tal defence. 23 Wel Hxe4 and 23 Wel &xf3 24 gxf3 Wxf3 are dead Jost. 23...Hf8! An equally tricky reply. Al- though Black no longer has the possibility of ...Bxe4, the loose rook on e7 is a tactical weakness. Both 23...xd2 24 Hxe8+ &g7 25 @xd2 and 23...Wxd2 24 Hxd2 would even have given White the advantage. 24 Wa5 There is no reasonable square for the white queen; for example, 24 We2 &xf3 25 Wxf3 (25 gxf3 Wig5+ picks up the rook) 25...Wd6 threatens both 26...Wd1+ and 26...Wxe7, or 24 Wel Sxf3 25 gxf3 Wxf3 26 Bd2 Wr4 27 Hc2 We4+ and Black wins. 24...&d1+ The immediate 24...Wg5 is equally good. 25 Del WeS! (13f) 0-1 The final exploitation of White’s back rank also takes advantage of the undefended pieces on a5 and e7.101 Britutanr CHess MINIATURES 14 Tal - R. Byrne Biel Interzonal 1976 Sicilian Defence, 4 Wxd4 14 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Wxd4 Dc6 5 ALbS White is prepared to surrender the two hishops to keep up the momentum of his de- velopment. However, this line is not regarded us very threatening for Black. 5...2d7 6 Lxc6 2xc6 7 Dc3 AL 8 Vg5 e6 9 0-0-0 Le7 10 Ehel 0-0 11 Wd2 Preparing Dd4 followed by £3 or £4. 11...Wa5?! Not the most accurate, as after @b1 the black queen will be exposed to d5 tricks. 11...We7 12 dd Bfd8 is better, with equality. 12 Add Buc8 13 &b1 (/4a) Now 14 4d5 is a real threat, and meeting it costs Black a tempo. 13...¢2h8 If 13...Bfd8, then 14 Dds Wxd2 15 Dxe7+ Bf8 16 Hxd2 &xe7 17 £4 with the awkward threat of 18 e5. 14 £4 Now White can choose whether to continue with e5 or £5, depending on Black's response. 14...h6?! 14...Xfd8 is best, securing the d6-pawn and preparing to answer 15 €5 by 15...dxe5 16 txeS Dg8. 15 ha! (145) Naturally, Tal does not retreat the bishop but maintains it on g5. 15...hxg5? This move is crushingly refuted. 15...2fd8 was still best. 16 hxgS @xe4 (14c) lack tries to exchange queens by returning the piece, but White is having none of it! 16...Dh7 fails to 17 g4 dg8 (17...Axg5 18 Bhi+ wins) 18 Wh2 &xg5 19 Bhi &h6 20 5 Dxg5 21 fxgs Wxgs 22 Bdgl and wins. 17 Wd3! Black is defenceless. 17...xg5 Or 17...Dxc3+ 18 bxc3 Hg8 19 hl £5 20 g6, winning. 18 Dxe4 2xed 18...2xf4 loses to 19 Zh1+ 2h6 20 Af6. 19 Bxe4 Rh6 20 g4 £5 21 Exe6 &xf4 21...fxg4 loses to 22 Hhi He7 23 We6 Hfc8 24 He8+ Hxe8 25 Wxe8+ ‘bh7 26 De6. 22 DxfS 1-0 There are just too many threats: 23 Zh1+, 23 Ae7 and 23 Wh3+, for example. Ww somrn sf WAG 14c: After 16...Axe432 101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES & =e b» “~ A Meee eg Boo Se \c> 15b: After 9...Wb6 15c: After 14 0-0 15 Browne -R. Byrne USA Ch, Mentor 1977 Dutch Defence, 2 Dc3 1d4 £52 ADc3 Df 3 2g5 d5 3...6 isa solid alternative, avoiding the doubled pawns. Af- ter 4 e4 fxed 5 xed M7 theory considers the position to be roughly equal. 4 Sxf6 exf6 5 e3 Be6 6 243 (15a) 6...g67! Black adopts an entirely passive stance, simply support- ing his d5- and f5-pawns by ...c6 and ...g6. It is much more dynamic to defend the pawns by ...Wd7, using the extra time for piece de- velopment. Perhaps 6...2\c6 7 Wf3 Wd7 is most accurate, with a roughly level position. 7 W£3 c6 8 Dge2 Ad7 9 h3 This exposes the dark side of Black's plan. Although his pawn structure appears solid, White can undermine it with h3 and g4; if Black then exchanges on g4, White’s hl-rook will be very well placed to exploit the weakness of Black’s h- pawn. 9...Wb6 (15b) After 9...h5 10 24 hxg4 11 hxgd fixg4 12 Rxg6+ Be7 13 We2 Rho 14 0-0-0 Black’s king is a long-term target. 10 g4! An excellent and courageous move, especially as White had a perfectly safe al- ternative in 10 0-0-0, 10...Wxb2? Of course this is consistent with his previous move, but, just as in Game 11, taking the b2-pawn turns out badly for Black. He should have cut his losses with 10...fxg4 11 hxg4 &£7 (11..Wxb2 is bad because of 12 Hb1 Wa3 13 &xg6+) 12 0-0-0 0-0-0 13 Hh3, but even here White can develop kingside pressure by doubling on the h-file. 11 Xb1 Wa3 12 exfS 2£7 12..gxf5 13 Hb3 Was 14 Bxb7 Rb4 15 Sd2 0-0-0 16 Hxb4 Wxb4 17 226+ &c7 18 Hb] is similar to the game. 13 Bxb7 ‘&b4 Black has to go in for this, otherwise he remains a pawn down. 14 0-0 (/5c) 14 bd2 Wb2 15 Hc7! is also promising for White. 14...0-0-0 If 14...2xc3, then 15 Hb3JO] Brituant Cress MINIATURES 33 Wxn2 16 Dxc3 Wa5 17 Hfbl is clearly better tor White. After the text-move, the rook on (7 is rapped, and the knight on c3 is hang- ing. However, this is precisely the moment when White can launch a vicious attack by nucrificing the exchange. 15 Exb41 In Infor- mator 24, Byrne and Mednis give the line 15 n6 &xc3 16 We3 DeS as clearly better for Slack, even though White can win straight away by 17 Bxa7+@b8 18 Hxf7 (Black will he lucky to escape with the loss of ‘only’ a piece). Instead, Black should meet 15 2a6 by 15...8d6!, after which the bishop and rook battery is surprisingly ineffective; in- dleed, White would be forced to give up the exchange by 16 Hxa7+ &b8 17 Exd7 Exd7 18 Hbl+, with unclear play. 15...Wxb4 16 hu6+ &c7 17 Hb1 Wd6 Black must prevent the deadly 18 Wg3+. 18 Hb7+ c8 (15d) At first sight Black is hopelessly lost, but it proves surprisingly tricky to finish him off. 19 Bb3+ 19 Bb6+ dc7 20 Ab5+ cxb5 21 Exd6 &xd6 22 Qxb5 certainly favours White, but he should be hoping for more trom diagram 15d. To begin with, White re- peats moves. 19...c7 20 Zb7+ dc8 21 4 ‘The strongest continuation. White threatens not only 22 exd5, but also 22 AbS! cxb5 23 Wc3+ Qc5 24 Eb6+, etc. 21...0b8 (/5¢) As good or bad as any other defence. 22 Ab5! An elegant conclusion. 22...cxb5 23 We3+ \c6 Or 23... Wc6 24 Hxa7+ mating. 24e5 A killer move. Black’s queen has no reason- able way to maintain its defence of the knight on c6. 24...WWe7 White also wins after 24...fxe5 25 dxe5 d4 26 Axd4, 25 e6 (15f) 1-0 A cruel finish. White is attacking both bishop and queen and, now that d7 is cov- ered, has the even more serious threat of 26 Eb6+. There is no defence. 15f: After 25 e6 1-034 101 Brituianr CHESS MINIATURES 16b: After 14...c4 (Hex _w_® eae © @ wa i w 4 FE gg ARR WE 16c: After 18...f6 16 Spassky - Larsen Bugojno 1978 Caro-Kann Defence, 4... 2f5 1e4.c62.d4.d5 3 Dc3 dxed 4 Axed 2155 Dg3 2g6 6 D3 Dd7 7 2d3 An unusual plan. White almost always plays h4, either here or on the previous move, in order to gain space on the kingside. 7...Wa5+?! 7...c6 is safer; after 8 0-0 Agf6 9 c4 Bd6 (or 9...Re7) the position is equal. 8 &d2 We7 Black’s idea is that because White’s queen is no lon- ger guarding the d3-bishop, White is more or less forced to exchange bishops himself. Whilst this aim is desirable, it is not worth giving White the free tempo 2d2. 9 2xg6 hxg6 10 We2 e6 10...Agf6 11 0-0-0 is also awkward for Black, as 11...0-0-0 loses to 12 Dg5. 11 Hed (16a) 11...0-0-0 11... Dgt6 12 Degs &e7 runs into 13 Dxf7! Sxf7 14 Deg5+ He8 15 Dxe6 W6 16 0-0-0 with a very dangerous attack. 12 g3 Preparing £4. 12.59! 12...Ddf6! 13 Degs (13 24 WaS+) 13...2d6 would have been much better; White retains slight pressure, but Black will be able to develop his remaining pieces by ...Dh6-£5, with reasonable play. 13 2f4 We6 13...WaS+ 14 c3 cxd4 15 We4+ Ac 16 Dxd4 Bh5 17 0-0 is also good for White. 14 0-0-0 4 (16b) 15 2c3! Black is power- less to prevent White’s breakthrough by d5. 15...Dh6 15...Dgf is still met by 16 Dg5. 16 d5! exd5 17 Exd5 Black’s attempt to block the position has failed and White pow- ers through in the centre. 17...c5 17...D£5 18 Db5 Bc5 19 Wxcd! wins as 19...2e3+ 20 fxe3 Wxc4 21 @xa7# is mate. 18 Hhd1 £6 (16c) 18...Khe8 loses to 19 Bxd7. 19 Hd6! A forceful conclusion. 19...Sxd6 20 Hxd6 We5 21 Hd5 1-0 As 21...Wc6 22 Ab5 is de- cisive.101 Britutanr CHEss MiniATURES 35 17 Gulko - Savon Lvov Zonal 1978 Modern Benoni, Taimanov Variation 1d4 Zf6 2 4 €6 3 Ac3 5 4 d5 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 £4 2g7 8 Bb5+ This is cur- rently thought to be the sternest test of the Modern Benoni, although it is an option only available in move-orders without an early 3. 8...Dfd7 9 a4 The most flexible line; White waits for ...a6 before deciding where to put the bishop. Depending on Black’s ex- act moves, the destination could be f1, e2 or d3, or White might even exchange on d7. 9...0-09...Nith4+ 10 g3 We7 is another possi- bility, although this is currently in disfavour. 10 £3 Da6 11 0-0 Dc7 11...Db4 is tempt- ing, but on b4 the knight often proves to be out on a limb. 12 £3 a6 (17a) 13 Wel Even today it isn’t clear which is the stron- gest move. 13 4d2 is well met by 13...Df6!, but 13 dh1 is also very logical. 13...2b8 14 e5!? White goes straight for Black’s throat. Those of a calmer disposition might prefer 14 a5, which gives White a slight advantage. However, White cannot expect to continue positionally for long, as a breakthrough by ¢5 or {5 is an essential component of this system. 14...2)b6 (17b) The only reasonable move; Black homes in on White’s weak d5- pawn, 15 £5! White’s last move has effec- tively committed him to play for the attack, regardless of any sacrifices involved. He cannot hope for an advantage after the timid 15 Be4 (15 Ded is answered by 15...S£5) 15...£5 16 exf6 Wxf6 17 a5 @c4 18 We2 bS 19 axb6 @xb6. 15,..dxe5 16 fxg6 fxg6! (17c) Not 16...hxg6? 17 Dgs Dbxd5 (17...f6 18 @Dh7! Sxh7 19 Wh4+ sg8 20 2xg6 HET 21 Wh7+ £8 22 Bh6 is decisive) 18 Wh4 Df6 19 e3! (19 Bxf6? Wd4+ 20 Wxd4 cxd4 kills the attack) 19...Ace8 (19...Wxd3 20 wi wi 17c: After 16...fxg6!36 101 Britian CHEss MiniaTuRES 17f: After 22 Dxe5! Exf6 Wxe3+ 21 Gh Wxgs 22 Wxg5 &xf6 23 Wxf6 is very good for White) 20 Badi with a crushing attack. 17 &g5 Wd6 There is no ideal square for the black queen. Here it is exposed to attack by Ze4, while after 17...Wd7 the c8-bishop is blocked in, a fac- tor White can exploit by 18 a5 Abxd5 19 Rc4 We6 20 Re7! HFS 21 AxdS Dxd5 22 Rxd5+ Wxd5 23 dl followed by a winning penetration to d8. 18 Wh (7d) 18...2cexd5 This move was criticized by Gulko in Infor- mator 25, but it seems to me that the real er- ror comes later. After 18...Abxd5, Gulko gave 19 Hadl 2e6 20 &c4 We6 21 2h6 as unclear, but it seems to me that White is in very bad shape after 21...0xc3 22 bxc3 &xh6 23 Rxe6+ Dxe6 24 Wxh6 e4 25 Des Wrxad. Instead, White should reply 19 De4 W6 20 Hacl b6 21 &h6, with a strong at- tack in return for the two pawns. 19 Had] c4! 19.26 20 Ded We6 21 Bh6 gives White enough for the pawns. 20 Axd5 (17e) 20 Se4 We5+ 21 dhl has been recom- mended, but it seems worse than the text- move, €.g. 21.,.2e6! (21...6 is also play- able) 22 xd5 (22 e3? Dxe3 23 Dgs h6 24 @xe6 Dxd1 25 Hxd1 Wf2 and Black wins) 22...@)xd5 23 Rxd5 Rxd5 24 Re7 Web 25 &xf8 Hxf8 with an advantage for Black. 20...cxd3? Only this move costs Black the game. The correct line is 20...Axd5! (not 20..,Wxd5? 21 2xg6! We5+ 22 dh1 hxg6 23 Re7 followed by g5 and White wins) 21 Rxc4 e6 22 Shi (22 Wes Wes+ 23 hl Df4 24 Lxe6+ Dxe6 with an edge for Black) 22...Wc6 23 Bfel Ac7 24 2xe6+ ®xe6 and, if anything, Black is slightly better. 21 De7+ Gh8 22 DxeS! (17/) This crushing blow lands on an apparently well- defended square. 22...2f5 After 22...Wxe5 23 Dxg6+ Black loses his queen, but even the move played costs Black a piece. 23 ExfS Qxe5 24 Bxe5 Ef7 1-0101 Britutant CHEss MINIATURES 18 Browne - Ljubojevié Tilburg 1978 Nimzo-Indian Defence, Rubinstein Variation 1d4 Df6 2.04 e6 3 Dc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-05 2d3 05.6 D3 d57 0-0 cxd4 8 exd4 dxc4 9 2xc4 b6 10 2g5 2b7 11 Hel Abd7 12 Hel Bc8 (18a) 13 Wb3!? An innovation at the time of this game — formerly White had played 13 RU3. These days neither move is thought to give White any advantage; for example, 13 Rd3 eB 14 We2 &xc3 15 bxc3 We7 is ap- proximately equal. 13...We7?! Browne's novelty reaps an instant reward, but it was not easy to find a good continuation at the board. 13...We7? loses to 14 @bS!, while 13...Ra5 14 De5 Axe5 15 dxeS Wd4, which was recommended by Ljubojevié in Infor- mator 26, is bad in view of 16 &xe6! Dg4 17 2e3 Axe3 18 &xc8, when White wins material. Black’s two reasonable lines are the solid 13...%e7 and 13...2xc3 14 Bxc3 h6 15 &h4 We8, with equality. 14 2d5! (/8b) 14 d5 is the more obvious method of ae to exploit the e-file pin, but it fails to cS 15 Dad WaS 16 dxe6 &xel and ie cannot justify his sacrifice. 14,..2.a6?! Black cannot fully equalize, whatever he plays. After 14...&xd5 15 @xd5 Black has to give up his queen, while if 14...1b8, then 15 2xb7 Bxc3 16 Wxc3 Hxb7 17 d5! e518 b4 and Black cannot avoid having his pawn structure damaged by dxe6. 14...2xc3!? is probably the best defence, but after 15 &xb7 (not 15 @xf6? Rxel! 16 Hxc8 Rxf2+ 17 sbxf2 Dxf6 winning a pawn) 15...2xel 16 Exc8! (White must avoid 16 Rxc8? 2xf2+!, when 17 &xf2 loses a pawn to 17...De4+ 18 gl Dxgs, while 17 Sf1 Qxd4! 18 Dxd4 @c5 19 4c6 We7 favours Black) 16...h6 17 Bhd Exc8 18 &xc8 La5 Black does not B 37 i ze a aka 24 a i ae wal i me ON AB AS 18c: After 15 Wa438 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES eat ame AY aA ak 2 “a a at 18f: After 23 Dd4 1-0 fully equalize as his bishop is badly placed on a5. 15 Wad (18c) 15...&xc3 15...Db8 16 Rxf6 gxf6 17 2e4 Wd6 18 Bb1 is good for White in view of Black’s weakened king- side, while after 15...8a5 16 a3 Black’s bish- ops are very clumsily placed. 16 bxc3 Ab8 After 16...2d3, 17 2b3 followed by Me5 gives White the advantage, but not 17 Wxa7? Wd6, when White’s queen is in trouble. 17 &b3 Threatening 18 d5. Black’s problem is that preventing d5 generally involves allow- ing White to break up his kingside by &xf6. 17...b5 Or 17...Wd7 18 Wa3 and Black can iad avoid doubled f-pawns. 18 WaS (18d) 721 This leads to a rapid disaster, but even after 18,,.We7 19 Wa3, followed by &xf6, Black is in a bad way. 19 2xf6 gxf6 20 d5! (/8e) The thematic central break- through comes even though Black’s queen is no longer on the e-file. White’s idea is two- fold: first of all he intends to weaken the f5- square and secondly he opens the fourth rank for a lightning queen switch to the king- side. 20...exd5 20...e5 21 Wb4 leaves Black in deep trouble. 21 Wb4 Also here Black is helpless; his shattered kingside is totally devoid of defensive pieces, while White’s queen, bishop and knight are all poised to at- tack. 21...Wd7 Or 21... Bfe8 22 We4+ Shs 23 Wh5 dg7 24 2c2 Bxel+ 25 Hxel Hh8 26 “d4 and White wins. 22 Wh4 ¢g7 22...Mice8 23 2.c2 £5 24 Wig5+ @h8 25 Axes Exe8 26 &xf5 We7 27 Wh5 [6 28 Qxh7 is decisive. 23 Add (18f) 1-0 At first sight an early resignation, but Black cannot meet the twin threats of 24 &c2 and 24 He7. For ex- ample, 23...A\c6 24 &c2 or 23...n6 24 He7.101 Brituanr CHEss MINIATURES 39 19 Hug — Korchnoi Switzerland 1978 Catalan Opening 1 Df3 e6 2 g3.d5 3 Rp2 c5 40-0 Ac6 5 c4 dxcd A rather unusual move. 6 Wa4 Black's move-order could have been better exploited by 6 Ba3 followed by Axc4. 6...247 7 Wxce4 Bc8 8 Ac3 8 d4 b5 9 Wd3 (9 Wxb5? ©b4 wins material) 9...cxd4 10 Axd4 @b4 11 Wd1 e5 12 a3 is unclear. 8...0f6 9 d4 Transposing into the normal Catalan. 9...b5 10 Wd3 cxd4 10...c4! 11 We2 £e7 is safer, with equality, 11 Dxd4 De5 11...Dxd4 12 Wxd4 cS 13 Wd3 is also slightly better for White. 12 Wdl Wb6 (19a) 13 2g5?! Too slow. A few years later, in Ribli-Unzicker, Lucerne Olympiad 1982, White gained a slight advantage by 13 a4! bxa4 14 @xa4 WB 15 R£4 Rd6 16 Dc3. 13...2e7 14 Bel 0-0 Black has completed his development and the position is now equal. 15 Df3 Dxf3+ 16 2xf3 Bid8 17 Wb3?! 17 Dea &c6 18 Wel is better, forcing exchanges. 17.b4 18 Ded? (19b) 18 Rxf6 Rxf6 19 Be4 Be7 may be slightly better for Black, but it is certainly preferable to the text-move. 18...Dxe4! The start of a decisive combina- tion. 19 &xe7 Excl 20 Excl Wxf2+ 21 Sh1 White is attacking rook and knight, but Black has a way out. 21...%¢e8! 22 Wd1 22 Eid1 loses to the attractive knight manoeuvre 22...2d2! 23 Wd3 Dfl 24 Bg? Ae3, while 22 Exc8+ &xc8 23 Wd1 Wxf3+! 24 exf3 2+ drops a piece. 22...2xel 23 Wxel &c6! Setting up a threat which White fails to notice. 24 &xb4? (9c) Oddly enough, 24 Wal is the best defence, taking the queen well out of range of Black’s knight, although even here 24...a5 should win. 24...Wxe2! 0-1 As 25 Qxe2 Axg3-++ 26 Sgl Axe2+ wins a piece. Y | Ze i NEARS &8 10] Britutant Cress MINIATURES 26c: After 14...d4! 26 Psakhis - Geller Erevan Zonal 1982 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower Defence 1d4 d5 2.4 e6 3 Ac3 Qe7 4 DL3 D6 5 Rg5h6 6 Lh4 0-07 e3 b6 8 Rxf6 Slightly unusual; the most common lines are 8 cxd5, 8 Hcl, 8 Re2 and 8 2d3, but there are a number of sidelines for White, including the text-move. 8...xf6 9 exd5 exd5 10 Wd2 (26a) White intends to exert pressure on d5, so as to prevent the freeing thrust ...c5. 10...Se6! 10...2b7 can be met by either 11 b4.c5 12 bxe5 bxeS 13 dxc5 WaS 14 Ecl or simply 11 Bd1, effectively restraining ...c5. 11 Bd1 We7 12 g3 This is the critical move because after 12 &2 Hd8 13 0-0 Dd7 14 We2 c5 Black frees himself and equalizes. 12...05! 12...Ad7 13 &g2 Efd8 is also pos- sible, although it is less dynamic than the text-move. 13 dxc5?! (26b) Again the criti- cal move, because if Black is allowed to play ..c5 without a fight, White’s plan of Wd2 and Hd1 looks rather pointless. However, it turns out that the tactics are on Black’s side, so White might have been better off heading for equality with 13 2.g2 Bc6 14 0-0 cxd4 15 Dxd4 Dxd4 16 exd4 Wa7. 13...2d8! This is the point of Black's play. Black secures the d5-pawn, and now threatens 14...bxc5 with a good game as he still has his dangerous dark-squared bishop. 14 cxb6 Consistent, but White is really playing with fire. 14..d4! (26c) 15 227! There are several other du- bious lines, e.g. 15 Axd4?! &xd4 16 222 &xb6 17 We2 Ad7 18 Rxa8 Hxa8 19 0-0 &h3 20 Efel &g4 with advantage to Black in view of the weak light squares around White’s king, 15 ®e2?! 2d5 16 2g? axb6 17 a3 Dc6 with a very strong initiative for Black, or 15 De4? Bd5 16 Dxf6+ Wrf6 17101 Britutanr CHESS MINIATURES 49 Wia4 Wxf3 18 b7 Hd7! 19 &b5 (19 bxa8W kxu8 and 19 Wa4 &xb7 also win for Black) 19, Wxh1+ 20 ded2 Wxd1+ 21 @xd1 213+ and Black wins. The best defence is proba- bly 15 &e2, when 15...2c6 16 Dxd4 Bxd4 17 exd4 Dxd4 18 0-0 2c4! 19 Wxd4 Bxa4 20 Exd4 2xe2 21 Hel axbé is slightly better for Black, but should be a draw. 15...c6 16 G\xd4 16 De4 dxe3 17 Wxe3 Exdl+ 18 ‘Wxd1 axb6 is clearly very good for Black, while 16 exd4 &b3+ 17 De5 xd1 18 DdS Bxd5 19 Rxd5 Qxe5 20 bxd1 Hd8 21 dxeS uxb6 is winning. 16...2xd4 17 exd4 (26d) 17 Bxa8 Bxa8 18 exd4 2d5+ 19 We2 Rxhl 20 Wxe7 &xe7 21 bxa7 Hxa7 favours Black. ‘The three pawns do not provide enough compensation for the piece when Black has two bishops against a knight, 17...Sh3+ 18 WE 18 Re4 Qxd4 19 We2 &xc3+ 20 bxc3 Hc8 21 £3 axb6 is bad for White. 18...Exd4 19 We3 19 Wxd4 &xd4 20 Exd4 Wf6 21 H4 (21 Hd3 WES 22 He3 axb6 23 2xh3 Wxh3+ is similar) 21...Wc6 22 Bgl &xg2+ 23 Exg2 axbé leads to an inferior (for White) version of the ending which could have arisen after 15 2e2. 19...Wb7 (26e) 20 £3? Only this move leads to defeat. 20 Egl! Exd1+ 21 Dxd1 is correct, when Black can- not achieve more than a modest advantage; for example, 21...0xg2+ 22 Exg2 Wa6+ 23 We2 Wxa2 24 Egl axb6 25 &g2 Hu8 26 Hel or 21...2d8 22 We2 (but not 22 3? xg2+ 23 Bxg2 Bxc3 24 bxc3 Wa6+! 25 bel Wxa2 and Black wins) 22...2xg2+ 23 Exg2 Wxb6 24 gl (or 24 £3 Wo6 25 Ac3 &xc3 26 bxc3 Wxc3 27 Hf2) 24...Was 25 bg2 Wxa2 26 Hel. 20...Exd1+ 21 Dxdi Wa6+ 22 dg1 22 df2 Hd8 23 b7 Wxb7 also wins. 22...Hd8 (26f) 23 Df2 &d4 24 Wel Rxf2+! 0-1 Because 25 @xf2 (25 Wxf2 Hd14) 25... Wxb6+ 26 df1 (26 We3 Hd2+) 26....c8! wins. = Wa eae Ag ml Wary i execs 26¢: After 19...Wb7 26f: After 22...Hd850 101 Britiant CHess MINIATURES 27c: After 12...We7 27 Kasparov - T. Petrosian Bugojno 1982 Bogo-Indian Defence 1d4 Df6 2.04 e6 3 Df3 Bb4+ 4 2d2 We7 5 g3 2xd2+ 6 Wxd2 0-0 7 2g2 d5 (27a) These days this variation of the Bogo-Indian is played almost exclusively with the idea of ~.d6 and ...e5. It is logical for Black to put his pawns on dark squares, given that he has exchanged off his dark-squared bishop. 8 0-0 dxc4 Black is aiming to liquidate all the central pawns, but the danger is that White’s g2-bishop will exert nagging long-term pressure against Black’s queenside. The al- ternative plan is to support the d5-point by, for example, 8...2d8 9 Hcl c6. Although Black’s position is solid, White has a small but long-term advantage due to his more ac- tive bishop. 9 a3 (276) 9...c5? But this is definitely wrong. As explained above, the whole plan of liquidating the centre has its dangers for Black; to make matters worse, Black executes this plan in a way which costs valuable time. 9...d8 is better; for ex- ample, 10 We2 (or 10 Axc4 c5 11 Hfdi Da6 with just an edge for White) 10...c5 11 dxc5 Wxc5 12 Hfd1 offers White no more than a slight advantage. 10 dxc5! 10 @xc4 allows Black to transpose into the previous note by 10...2d8, 10...Wxe5 After 10,..d8 White can keep the advantage by either 11 We3 Dd5 12 Wd4 or 11 W4 a6 12 Wxc4 Wxc5 13 Wxc5 Dxc5 14 De5. 11 Hacl Dc6 12 ®xc4 Sooner or later Black will have to move his queen again; this loss of time ex- plains why his 9th move was a mistake. 12...We7 (27c) 12...d8 13 Wid We7 (if 13...0d5? then 14 Wxf7+!) 14 Dfe5 DxeS 15 @xe5 gives White the same type of pres- sure as in the game. 13 Afe5 DxeS 14 Axe5 It is not at all clear how Black can develop10] BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 51 his queenside pieces. 14...0d5 15 Bfd1 Stepping up the pressure. 15 &xd5 Bd8 lets Black off the hook. 15...b6 Black hopes to play ...f6 and ...e5, so as to develop the c8- hishop, but this plan doesn’t even get off the ground. 16 Wa5! (27d) Despite White’s pres- sure, accuracy is necessary to prevent Black freeing himself. This move stops 16...f6 on account of 17 c4 @xc4 18 Xxc4 followed by penetration onc7. 16...g6 The immediate 16...22d8 fails because of Black’s weak back rank: 17 @c4! Bxdl+ (17...0d5 18 Rxd5 exd5 19 @b6 wins) 18 Hxd1 @d7 19 We7 is decisive. The move played prepares ...Hd8. 17 Ba3! Again preventing 17...2d8, this time owing to 18 Wc5! (there is now no cap- ture on di with check) 18...WxcS 19 Hxd8+ W18 20 Bxf8+ dexf8 21 Hc7 and White wins. 17...Dd5 18 e4 Blocking the fianchettoed bishop, but only for a moment. Of course, White has no interest in winning a pawn on d5, as Black would gain some freedom — White’s position is so strong that he can play for more. 18...Qb6 18...Wb4? loses to 19 Bxd5. 19 Rf1! He8 (27e) Black was intend- ing 19...f6, but now this move fails to 20 4c4 Dxc4 (20...Rd7 21 DAxb6 axb6 22 Wxb6 2c6 23 a3 gives White a pawn more with a good position) 21 Exc4 b6 22 We3 a6 23 Hc7 since the d3-rook is defended. White’s prophylactic play reminds one of ... Petrosian! 20 Hdd! Another useful move, uctivating the fl-bishop. Black is now to- tully paralysed. 20...2£8 20...S.d7 loses af- ter 21 Dxd7 Dxd7 22 Hc7. 21 a3! Sg7 22 b3 White slowly but surely prepares a4-a5. 22...2g8 23 ad Hd8 (27) Or 23...e2g7 24 Wu2, followed by a5. 24 We5! 1-0 After 24...Wxe5 (if 24...We8, then 25 @g4 wins) 25 Bxd8+ W£8 26 Bxf8+ dxf8 27 Hc7 itis only a question of how many pawns Black is going to lose. 27f: After 23...Hd852 101 Brituiant Cress MINIATURES 28 = Tal - Van der Wiel Moscow Interzonal 1982 English Opening 1 c4 Df6 2 Dc3 e6 3 D3 b6 4 e4 2675 £3 White intends to form a powerful cen- tre by &c2 and d4, so Black must react quickly. 5.05 6 0-0 Dc6 7 e5 Dgd 8 Red cB?! Current theory prefers 8...£5 9 exf6 Dxf6 10 Bxc6 Rxc6 11 d4 Qxf3 12 Wxf3 cxd4 13 Db5 with a roughly equal position. 9 d3 (28a) 9...AgxeS It is risky to accept. 9...£5 10 exf6 Dxf6 11 &£4 2e7 12 Ab5 0-0 13 &d6 Wa8!? is safer, with at worst a slight disadvantage. 10 AxeS Axe5 11 £4 Black's king is still far from safety. 11...0c6?! 11...2xe4 12 Dxe4 ADc6 13 £5 Le7 is better; White has a dangerous attack, but nothing clear-cut, 12 £5 g6?! 12...2e77! is similarly dubious, e.g. 13 Wg4 2£6 14 Dbs 0-0 15 fxe6 fxe6 16 Wh3 g6 (16...h6 17 2xh6) 17 Rh6 Kg7 18 Rxg7 Sxg7 19 Dd6 We7 20 @E7! Bxf7 21 Exf7+ @xf7 22 Wrxh7+ and wins. 12...2)d4 is the best chance, but even then 13 WhS Sxe4 14 Dxed4 exfS 15 Rg5 h6 16 Bae] @e6 17 Lhd gives White a very strong attack, 13 2g5 gxf5 (28b) 14 2xf5! &e7? The only chance was 14...exf5, but af- ter 15 We2+ De7 16 Hacl Bg8 17 Bxe7 Bxg2+ 18 Wxg2 &xg2 19 Rh4+ Le4 20 Dxed fxe4 21 Bxed+ Re7 22 Bxe7+ dd8 23 Bfxt7 &c7 24 2g3+ dec6 25 Hxh7 Wd8 26 Bhg7 Black is tied up and can hardly op- pose the advance of White’s h-pawn. 15 Wh5 Decisive. 15...2xg5 15...exf5 16 Hael Sd8 17 Dds wins. 16 Wxgs De7 16...exf5 17 Hael+ $18 18 Wh6+ Sg8 19 Dds and 16...We7 17 DbS Wb8 18 &xh7 a6 19 Exf7! are hopeless, 17 2e4 Threatening 18 AbS. 17...2.xe4 18 Dxed pa ae bate An ‘ attractive finish. 19...@xf7 20 Wié+ Sg8 21 28c: After 18...Wc6 Wrxe7 £8 22 Hf! 1-0101 Brituant CHEess MINIATURES 29 Van der Wiel — Ftaénik Arhus 1983 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Poisoned Pawn 1 ed c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxdd 4 Dxd4 Al6 5 De3 a6 6 Lg5 06 7 £4 Wh6 8 Wd2 Wxb29 Hb1 Wa3 10 2e2 (29a) This line against the Poisoned Pawn suddenly materialized in the early 1980s. After initial successes, anti- dotes were found and it is now rarely seen. 10...2e7 11 0-0 De6? Black has a number of playable lines, including 11...h6, 11...Wc5, 11...Dbd7 and 11...Was, but this isn’t one of them. 12 Axe6 bxe6 13 e5! dxe5 14 fxe5 We5+ 15 whi WxeS 16 2£4 (29b) 16...Ded ‘There is nothing better, e.g. 16...WaS 17 {3 Qd7 (17...0-0 18 DdS) 18 Hb7 Wd8 und now White can choose between 19 a4, 19 Be4 and 19 Hdl, all of them very un- pleasant. 17 Axed Wxed 18 2£3 Wed 18...Wad 19 We3 247 20 Wxe7 Hf8 21 2hs und £7 will collapse. 19 £46! (29c) 19...£5?! Losing by force, as does 19...f6 20 25+ nO (20...8f8 21 Bxf6+! mates) 21 Rxe7 \hxe7 22 Wh6. 19...2a7 is the best chance, wlthough after 20 &xe7 Hxe7 21 Wd6 £6 (21...£5 22 Qxc6+ SFT 23 HxfS+ exfS 24 d5+ Wxd5 25 Wxd5+ 26 may be Black’s hest chance, although this should be a win) 22 QhS+ g6 23 Exf6! Wd5 (23...gxh5 24 Hb8 mates, while 23...£7 24 Hxf7 &xf7 25 We7+ $16 26 Hel! gives White a winning attack) 24 Wb8 Wd7 (or 24...Wd8 25 2£3 Bc7 26 Wb2! Hg8 27 WeS with crushing pressure) 25 @£3 Hf7 26 Ext? &xf7 27 W14+ sg8 28 Bd We7 29 Wes White has a paralysing bind. 20 Kfd1 Ba7 20...2xd6 21 Wrxu6 @f7 22 We7+ £6 23 Hb6! WeS 24 Exc6 Wa7 25 Wd6 followed by 26 Hc7 wins. 21 Zb4 Wxa2 22 &xe7 txe7 23 Wd4 1-0 The fork of a7 and g7 wins a rook. B 53 Any Oe 29c: After 19 &d6!54 101 Brittiant CHESS MINIATURES 30 Ljubojevié - Kasparov Niksié 1983 King's Indian Attack ed c5 2 Af3 e6 3 d3 Dcé 4 g3 d5 5 Abd2 g6 6 &g2.2g77 0-0 Dge7 8 Zel b6!? (30a) An instructive move. If Black plays 8...0-0, then White replies 9 e5 with an automatic Kingside attack by fl, h4 and h?2-g4, Black delays castling in order not to present White with such an obvious target. Only af- ter Black has developed counterplay in the queenside or centre will he consider cas- tling. Of course, one must always take care when leaving one’s king in the centre. Here, however, the risk is small. Black is ready to castle if things should start looking danger- ous; for example, if White opens the e-file by exd5, thereby giving up the option of e5, Black will probably castle very quickly. 9 h4 9c3.a5 10 a4 2a6 is similar to the game. 9...h6 Now h5 can be answered by ...g5. 10 3 If White plays 10 5, then Black changes plan and aims for queenside castling. After 10...We7 11 We2 2b7 12 Af1 0-0-0, for ex- ample, White’s set-up, which would be very effective against kingside castling, looks somewhat out of place. 10...a5 White’s last move weakened d3, so Black both gains queenside space and prepares for ...Sa6. It would be a mistake to play 10...2a6 as 11 exd5 exd5 12 Wad would be very unpleas- ant. 11 a4 11 e5 Wec7 isa little awkward for White as 12 d4 cxd4 13 cxd4 would be well met by 13...2b4. 11...a7 (30b) Black con- sistently aims to play as many useful moves as possible before castling; now he intends wulld7 and ...226, 12 ®b3 An inaccuracy. White should have tried either 12 exd5 exdS 13 Db3 0-0 14 &F4 or 12 e5 Ra6 13 Afi ii 9 with a roughly equal position in either case. Salt ace 12...d4! Black immediately exploits White’s101 Brittiant CHESS MINIATURES omission of exd5. If the e-pawns had been exchanged, White would be able to develop his bishop at £4, whereas now this would be pointless as Black can just reply ...e5. 13 exd4 13 e5 dxc3 14 bxc3 Bd7 15 d4 cxd4 16 exd4 0-0 is fine for Black, 13..cxd4 14 &d2? (30c) A serious positional error. It was essential to play 14 e5 to gain some space, when 14...2a6 15 Hed Zd7 16 2f4 is un- clear. 14...e5! Now White is in trouble. Black has more space and can develop his remain- ing pieces easily. White, on the other hand, is completely tangled up: where can his mi- nor pieces move to? 15 Zcl Le6 16 He2 White tries to solve the puzzle of rearrang- ing his pieces, but his contortions contrast sharply with Black’s comfortable develop- ment. 16...0-0 (30d) Black finally castles. Needless to say, White no longer has any at- tacking chances on the kingside; indeed, (hanks to the weakening move h4, it is White’s kingside which is in danger. 17 2e1 £5 18 Dd2 18 exf5 gxf5 doesn’t help. 18...£4 Black’s space advantage increases. Now he threatens 19...fxg3 followed by 20...Sg4. 19 £3 Or 19 gxf4 exf4 20 Af3 De followed by ...27c6 and Black will end up with a knight on e5. 19...fxg3 20 &xg3 g5 The di- rect attack starts. 21 hxg5 (30) 21..g6! Black would much prefer to take on g5 with his queen. 22 gxh6 &2xh6 The pawn is irrel- evant as White's kingside is on the point of collapse. Eleven moves ago, when Kasparov played ...fa7, he could hardly have imag- ined that this rook would now be joining ina kingside mating attack! 23 Dfl Hg7 24 Bf2 e3 25 b3 25 Axe3 dxe3 26 Hfl (26 Me2 WS 27 Wel 2d4 wins) 26..We5 27 De2 4 finishes White off. 25...D£4 (30f) 0-1 26 Ha2 Dxg? 27 @xg2 Wh4 is catastrophic. Ww 30f: After 25...2£4 0-156 101 Brituant CHess MINIATURES ee @ >i « & WY Nes ae ee ie ne PE RGEC A 3le: After 13...cxd4! 31 Timman - Polugaevsky Tilburg 1983 Nimzo-Indian Defence, Stimisch Variation 1d4 Af6 2 c4 e6 3 Ac3 Bb4 4 e3 c5 5 Qd3 0-0 6 a3 2xc3+ 7 bxc3 Dc6 8 De2 b6 9 e4 A typical Samisch Nimzo-Indian position; Black aims to win the c4-pawn with ...2a6 and ...2a5, while White plays for a kingside attack. Here Black must prevent a deadly pin by 10 £2g5, but 9...h6 must be avoided as it seriously weakens Black’s kingside. 9...De8 (31a) The correct solution, side-stepping the pin without creating a weakness. 100-0 226 1] f4 At first sight White’s attack, based on £5-f6, looks very dangerous, but with accu- rate play Black can defend, 11...a5 11...f5 is the alternative, stopping White’s f-pawn one move earlier than in the game. Theory regards the resulting position as unclear. 12 £5 £6 (31b) Black must prevent {6 by White; for example, 12...2xc4 13 £6 Dxf6 14 2g5 gives White an extremely dangerous attack. 13 D4 13 Hf3 cxd4 14 Bh3 exf5 15 exfS led to a win for White in Cvitan-H.Griin- berg, Polanica Zdroj 1985, but at this stage the position is just unclear. 13...cxd4! (31c) The most accurate. 13...exf5 14 exf5 &xc4 is inferior because of 15 &xc4+ @xc4 16 dxc5 threatening 17 Wd5+. 14 WhS 14 fxe6 dxc3 15 e5 looks dangerous, but after 15...fxe5 16 2xh7+ (16 WhS D6 17 WxeS dxe6 18 Wxc3 Wd6 also defends) 16...¢xh7 17 Wh5+ @g8 18 Dg6 Black has a neat de- fence in 18...Exfl+ 19 @xfl Wf6+ 20 &gl Wre6 21 2g5 Als 22 Sxt6 Wxi6 23 Hei c2! 24 Exf6 clW+ 25 Efl Wh6. This line shows that Black’s pawn captures are not only motivated by the desire for material gain — sometimes they provide a mechanism for counterplay. After 14 cxd4 Black can safely take the c-pawn: 14...exf5 15 exfS101 BRittiant CHess MINIATURES 57 Rxc4 16 Rxcdt+ Dxc4 17 WhS Ded6 18 4)g6 We8 and Black had a clear advantage in Ker-Hellers, Gausdal 1986. 14..exf5 (31d) 15 exf5? White plays for mate, but this is too ambitious. He should have continued 15 Wxf5 Dd6 (15...dxc3 16 e5 g6 17 Axgé and White wins after 17...2f7 18 exf6 Bxf6 19 Wd5+ &g7 20 Df4 or 17...Dg7 18 De7+ Wixe7 19 Wxh7+ G£7 20 exf6) 16 Wd5+ DE7 17 cxd4 Ec8, when White’s active pieces give him fair compensation for the coming loss of the c4-pawn. 15...0d6! Cool de- fence, clearing 8 for the black queen. Oc- cupying this square will not only force White to spend a tempo avoiding the queen exchange, but the action of Black’s queen along the e-file will provide counterplay. 16 2f3 We8 The immediate 16...xc4 allows 17 Bh3 h6 18 Dg6 &xd3 19 Bxd3, when a sacrifice on h6 is threatened, e.g. 19...2e8? 20 &xh6 gxh6 21 Hg3! He3 22 Wxh6 Dxf5 23 DeT++ E7 24 Wh7+ Se6 25 Dxé5 with a decisive attack. 17 Dg6 (3/e) After 17 Wh4 &xc4 18 Hh3 h6 19 Dg6 &xd3 the sit- uation is entirely different, as the f5-pawn is on prise. 17..£.x04 The cavalry arrives just in time; Black is threatening 18...2xd3 19 Exd3 Wel#, so White has to interrupt his attack, 18 £f4 18 2xc4+ Daxc4 19 cxd4 Dxf5 20 Wxf5 hxg6 leaves White with little to show for the two pawns. 18....2xd3 Now the bishop bears down on the g6-square, and the attack collapses. 19 Zh3 (3/f) The last desperate chance, as 19 &xd6 hxg6 and 19 Bxd3 @xf5 are easily winning for Black. 19...&x£5! Not 19...h6 20 Hxd3 and White is suddenly better. 20 Wxh7+ White finally breaks through to h7, but the cost has been too high. 20...7 21 Bg3 Ded 22 DeS+ 22 Hel Dxg3 23 Hxe8 &xg6 gives Black far too much for the queen. 22...e6 0-1 White will be at least a piece and two pawns down. al 31f: After 19 Zh358 101 Britian CHESS MINIATURES 32c: After 14...0d7 32 Spassky - Seirawan Zurich 1984 Pirc Defence 1e4.d62.d4 Df6 3 Dc3 g6 4 Df3 2g7 Sh3 0-0 6 2e3 This system became popular in the 1980s but is less often seen these days. White delays the development of his fl- bishop until he has a better idea where it will be well placed. 6...a6 7 a4 b6 8 &c4 2b7?! It is risky to allow White to advance in the centre. 8...e6 is currently regarded as giving Black excellent equalizing chances. 9 e5 Des 9...dxe5 10 dxeS Wxdl+ 11 Exdl is simply bad for Black as 11...$2xf3 loses ma- terial after 12 exf6, while 9...0e8 10 e6 £5 11 d5c6 12h4 gives White a very dangerous attack. 10 Dxe4 &xe4 (32a) 11 gS! At the cost of the g-pawn, White opens a file to- wards Black’s king and gains a number of tempi for his attack. 11....xg2?! 11...d5? 12 Rb3 Rxg2 13 Hgl Red 14 Axed dxed 15 Wgé regains the pawn with tremendous pressure on the light squares. 11...2b7 12 Weg4 e6 offers better defensive chances, but this is still a pretty grim prospect for Black. 12 Hgl 2c6 13 Wg4 (32b) White threatens 14 €6 {5 15 Wh4 h6 16 AE7 with a decisive attack, so Black is obliged to make another non-developing move to prevent the advance of White’s e-pawn. 13...e6 13...dxe5 14 Wh4 h6 runs into the combination 15 @xf7! Exf7 16 Bxg6 Rd5 17 dxeS Bxc4 18 Wxc4 c6 (Black must try to free his £7-rook; this threatens 19...Wd5) 19 Ed1 We7 20 We6 with total paralysis. 14 0-0-0 White com- pletes his development. The threat is 15 h4 and if Black replies 15...h5, weakening g6, then White has only to retreat his queen to be threatening a deadly piece sacrifice on 6. 14...Dd7 (32c) 15 h4 15 Dxf7 Bxf7 16 Wrxe6 W£8 17 Wxt7+ Wxf7 18 2xf7+ Sxf7101 Brituianr CHESS MINIATURES 59 19 d5 AxeS 20 dxc6 Axc6 would be ex- tremely difficult to win, so White goes for more. 15...dxe5 15...h5 16 Wg3 We7 (trying lo support e6) 17 Dxe6 fxe6 18 Wxg6 wins for White. 16 dxe5 16 @xe6 looks promis- ing, but is not so clear after 16...fxe6 17 Wrxe6+ @h8 18 Wxc6 exd4 19 Axd4 Rxd4 20 Exd4 W£6!. 16...We7 (32d) 17 Exd7!? An imaginative sacrifice to gain a tempo for h5. This move can hardly be criticized, be- cause it gives White the advantage. How- ever, it is worth mentioning that the simpler 17 £4 would have given White a very strong attack without any additional material in- vestment. 17,..2xd7 17...Wxd7 18 h5 is no better, e.g. 18...Rfe8 19 @xh7! gxh7 20 hxg6+ dg8 21 gxf7+ Wxf7 22 2h6 He7 23 Sixg7 Wxg7 24 &xe6+ dh8 25 Wh4+ Wh7 26 W£6+ Eg7 27 RES and wins. 18 h5 (32e) 18...f5?! This allows White a rather easy win. Black’s other defences require accurate play by White. First of all, after 18...h6 19 hxg6! hxgS 20 &xg5 We5 (20...We8 21 gxf7+ Bxf7 22 2£6 WE8 23 Wg6 followed by 24 &d3 wins) 21 2f6 Wxf2 22 2xg7 Wxgl+ 23 Wxgl &xg7 24 2d3! Black still has seri- ous problems with his exposed king. Sec- ondly, 18...Bfd8 19 Axh7 &xe5 loses to 20 hxg6 £5 21 WxfS &xb2+ 22 dxb2 Wb4+ 23 &b3 Wxb3+ 24 cxb3 exf5 25 Rh6! and White gains too much material. Finally, 18...&xe5 19 Axh7 Wh4 (19...2fd8 trans- poses to the previous line) 20 2.4! Wxc4 21 RxeS Wxg4 22 Df6+ g7 (22...hh8 23 Dxgd+ wins) 23 Qxd7+ £6 24 Hxg4 fxeS 25 Bxg6+ fh7 26 Dxf8+ Hxf8 27 Exe6 gives White a very promising rook ending. 19 Wh3 £4 19...h6 loses to 20 hxg6 Rxe5 21 DET. 20 hxg6 Rxe5 21 Dxe6 21 D7 also wins. 21...2xe6 22 2xe6+ (32f) 22.87 22...@h8 23 Zhi wins. 23 gxh7+ 1-0 It is mate in a few moves. a aa Mama me eR AA AY Say ate ie 4 @ g 32f: After 22 2xe6+60 101 Bariuianr CHess MINIATURES 33e: After 16 AxdS 33. Nunn - Sosonko Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984 Sicilian Defence, Velimirovié Attack 1e4.c5 2 Df3 Ac6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 D6 5 Dc3 d6 6 Bcd e6 7 Re3 a6 8 We2 We7 9 0-0-0 Da5 10 243 bS 11 a3 (33a) 11...2b7 11,..21b8 is the main alternative, but Black is still not threatening ...b4 because this would leave the a6-pawn hanging. 12 g4 d5 The critical move, as once the f6-knight is pushed away by g5, Black will find it much harder to generate counterplay. 13 exd5 Axd5 (33b) Everything looks fine for Black, since the open diagonal from b7 to hl works against White in exposing the h1-rook to attack. 14 @adxb5! Were it not for this tactical point, White’s whole plan would indeed be mis- conceived. 14,..axb5 There is not much to choose between this and 14...Wb8. After the queen move, 15 Axd5 &xd5 16 Ac3 Bxh1 17 Bxhl gives White fair compensation for his small sacrifice. Objectively the position should probably be assessed as ‘unclear’, but in practice it is much easier to play the white side. 14...We5? is bad in view of 15 Dxd5 Sixd5 16 £b6! W4+ (16...Wxe2 loses to 17 DcT7+) 17 Sb1 Bc8 18 LxaS Axhl 19 Bxhl axbS 20 &xb5+ de7 21 Bb4+ Sf6 22 &d2 with a decisive attack. 15 &xb5+ ‘dB Forced, as 15...206 16 Dxd5 exd5 17 Rb6+ We7 18 2xa5 Wxe2 19 Rxc6+ de7 20 Hhel and 15...Ac6 16 Dxd5 exd5 17 c5+ Re7 18 Rxc6h+ Rxc6 19 Khel win for White. 16 Axd5 (33c) 16...exd5 Best. After 16...2xd5 17 Hxd5+! exdS 18 Hdl White has a clear advantage, c.g. 18...c8 19 Hxd5 &d6 20 Ra6+ Ab7 21 Sxb7+ bxb7 22 W5+ &c8 23 &b6 Mb8 (23... Wd7 24 Wc4+ Hb7 25 Eb5 Hab 26 &c7+ da7 27 &xd6 wins because Black cannot recapture the bishop) 24 Wa6+ Wb7 25 Wxb7+ @xb7101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES 61 26 Bxd6 and, with three connected passed pawns for the exchange, White has a win- ning position; 18...2e7 19 Bxd5+ c8 20 W13 (threatening 21 Hd7) 20...Hb8 21 2a6+ wins; 18...@b7 19 &g5+ &c8 20 We8+ 4d8 21 Exd5 wins; 18...2c6 19 Wed! De7 20 Eixd5+ is decisive; and finally 18...2d6 19 Bxd5 Ab7 (relatively best; 19...ec8 transposes to the first line) 20 &a6 Kxa6 (20...2b8 21 &xb7 Hxb7 22 Wd3 dd7 23 Lc5 Hb6 24 WES+ dB 25 &xb6 Wxb6 26 4 wins) 21 Wxa6 e7 22 We2 gives White three pawns and a continuing attack for the piece. 17 Bd3! (33d) The rook switch to c3 cuts off the black king’s escape route via c8 and bB. 17...2e4! Again Black finds the best defence. 17...2d6 18 Hc3 Ac4 19 Hdl Bc8 20 Sxe4 dxe4 21 Wxc4, 17...Wd6 18 Bc3 Re7 19 Bel Dc6 20 Rb6+ Sd7 21 WE3 and 17.,.05 18 Hc3 Rxe3+ 19 Wxe3 Wd6 20 b4 are all lost for Black. 18 Xe3 (33e) The alternatives 18 &xc4 Wixc4 19 2b6+ &d7 20 Wf3 Hc8 21 Wxf7+ Se7 and 18 Hel @xe3 19 Wxe3 We7 are unclear. 18...2b4? (33f) Only this move costs Black the game. 18...&xa3! is the correct defence, where- upon 19 bxa3 (19 xc4? loses to 19...2b4!) 19.,.xa3 20 Exa3 (20 Exe4 dxc4 21 Hdl+ ‘bc8 22 Hd7 Bal+ 23 @b2 Ha2+! 24 bl Bal-+ is perpetual check) 20...xa3 21 Hel (the threat is 22 &g5+ followed by 23 We8+) 21...Gc8 (21...Axb5 22 WxbS We is also only very slightly better for White) 22 Wd3 DxbS 23 Wxb5 Wed 24 Wxcd+ dxc4 25 &d4 leads to an insignificant endgame edge for White. 19 Eixc4! This further sacrifice proves decisive. 19...dxe4 20 Hd1+ @c8 21 Xd4 The most convincing win; Black must return a piece, but then material is equal while White's attack persists. 21...2d5 22 Uxd5 2d6 23 Edd 1-0 Further material loss is inevitable. Ame my ‘ee ee 33e: After 18 Hc3 33f: After 18...2b4?62 101 Brituiant CHess MINIATURES wa ae Qe TO Z a “nS 34b: After 19 We3 oie a a 2 eee a ane & ew wa Amamen -_ 34c: After 22 Wh3! 1-0 34 Timman - Ljubojevié Linares 1985 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Poisoned Pawn 1e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Df 5 Dc3 a6 6 Bg5 e6 7 £4 Wh6 8 Wa2 Wxb29 Eb1 Wa3 10 &e2 Re7 11 0-0 Abd7 We have the same line of the Poisoned Pawn as in Game 29. As was mentioned there, 11...h6, 11...WeS and 11...WaS are also playable. The move played appears most natural, but al- lows a surprising breakthrough in the centre. 12 e5 dxeS 13 fxeS Dxe5 14 2xf6 2xf6 (34a) Currently theory gives 14...gxf6 15 Bed £5 16 Hb3 Wad as best, with an unclear position. However, Ljubojevi¢ can hardly be criticized for the natural text-move. 15 Hxf6 gxf6 16 Ded Dd7? But this is definitely wrong. 16...We7 17 Wf4 dd8 18 Dxf6 Dd7 19 @xd7 2xd7 20 Bxb7 is the best continu- ation, when White is slightly better. 17 Kb3 Wxa2 After 17...Wa4, 18 We3 (threatening 19 Ha3) 18...e5 19 DE5 gives White an enor- mous attack, e.g. 19...Wc6 20 Wb4 Dc5 21 Dg7+ LB 22 AxcS Lxg7 23 Deb+ fxe6 24 Hg3+ $f7 25 Rh5#. It is now too late for 17...We7 in view of 18 Dc6! bxc6 19 Ad6+ $d8 20 WaS+ Db6 21 Wxb6+ &d7 22 Ded! Hd8 23 Hd3+ de8 24 Wxc6+ 2d7 25 Hxd7 and wins. 18 Dd6+ Gf8 18...€e7 fails to 19 Wo4 Wal+ 20 @f2. 19 We3 (34b) 19...2g77! Loses straight away. Black should have tried giving up a piece to safeguard his king, by 19... g8 20 Dxc8 g7 (20...De5 21 Bxb7 is very good for White). Then 21 Ad6 Des 22 @f3 gives White a dangerous attack, but Black would still be fighting. 20 D4f5+ exf5 20...€f8 loses to 21 We7. 21 Dxf5+ g6 21...2f8 22 Wb4+ mates. 22 Wh3t (34c) 1-0 Black cannot meet the threats of 23 He3#, 23 We4# and 23 Wh5#.101 BRituiant CHESS MINIATURES 63 35 Yusupov — Nogueiras Montpellier Candidates 1985 Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation 1d4 d5 2.04 €6 3 Dc3 c6 4 AL3 D6 5 Res 4\bd7 6 cxd5 exd5 7 €3 2d6 Black intends the ambitious plan of ...D£8-g6, followed by .oh6, forcing the exchange of White’s dark- nquared bishop. The defect is that his king hus to stay in the centre for a long time. 8 kd3 DEB (35a) 9 De5 The sharpest reply; White intends £4, cementing his knight on 5. 9...WWb6 A rather greedy move aiming at the b2-pawn (we have already seen a num- her of fatal b2-pawn grabs in this book!). 4... We7 is a playable alternative, when 10 £4 ho 11 Sh4 gS 12 fxgs hxgs 13 Rxgs Hes 14 &h4 Bxe5 15 dxeS WxeS 16 WA3 is un- ‘lear, but an attacking player would favour White as Black’s king is trapped in the cen- le for the time being. 10 0-0 White does not want to spend a tempo covering his b-pawn. ),..Sxe5 10...Wxb2 11 cl is very danger- ; for example, 11.,.2g6 12 £40-0 13 Bc2 Wh6 14 2x16 gxf6 15 Dg Qxe4 16 Wxe4 with a very strong attack, Timman-Ljuboje- vié, KRO match (5), Hilversum 1987, Black \herefore decides to eliminate the dangerous knight, but this has the effect of weakening his dark squares. Black is not yet seriously worse, but the fact that his king is still in the centre means that even a slight misstep could prove fatal. 11 dxeS (35b) 11...g4? 'his move is a mistake because of White’s atrong reply. 11...26d7 is correct, when 12 14 (12 Wad is dubious due to 12...2e6) 12. Dc5 13 Dad Dad 14 Wxad Deb was unclear in Gulko-Smagin, Moscow 1984, 12 Wad! (35c) This exposes the weakness of Hluck’s previous move: 12...Axe5 loses to 114)xd5, while 12...2e6 is impossible as the e “a & ewes: 35b: After 11 dxe5 Ro OR Yee 35: After 12 Wad!35f: After 16...228 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES g4-knight hangs. 12...Wxb2 After 12...2d7 White can gain a large advantage by either 13 66 Bxe6 14 Dxd5 Bxd5 15 Wed or 13 Wa3 £6 14 exf6 gxf6 15 &£4. Since the alter- natives are impossible, the text-move is practically Black’s only constructive possi- bility. However, the dangers are obvious. 13 Bacl (35d) Not, of course, 13 Axd5?7 Wxe5 and the threat of mate at h2 turns the tables. 13 ®bS is also inferior because 13...cxb5 14 &xb5+ 2d7 15 Hab] &xb5 16 Wxg4 247! is unclear. 13...2d7 13...Axe5 loses to 14 Ec2 Wb6 15 Axd5, while 13..a5 14 Db5! Deb 15 Dd6+ SF8 16 Wxg4 Wxe5 17 DxcB hS 18 b6 won for White in Hjartarson- Ljubojevié, Tilburg 1989 — another zero for Ljubo in this line. 14 Wd4! (35e) Sometimes it is the relatively quiet-looking moves which turn out to be the most deadly. By lining up the two queens on the same diagonal, White sets up the threat of 15 Axd5 (15 Ded and 15 @bS are also threatened). In addition, Black has to worry about the possibility of 15 6 Rxe6 16 Wxg7, trapping the rook. 14...f6 There is no defence, e.g. 14...0g6 15 26 Lxe6 16 &xg6 hxg6 17 Wxg7 Sd7 18 bl and White wins, or 14....c8 15 h3 Dh6 (15...Axf2 fails to 16 We5) 16 WeS gs (the position of Black's knights is comical, at least for everybody except Nogueiras) 17 Wd6 De6 (17...Dd7 18 e6 fxe6 19 Wxe6+ PLB 20 Rid is decisive) 18 Dxd5 cxd5 19 Ebl, followed by 20 &b5+. 15 exf6 gxf6 16 Qxf6 Eg8 (35f) Or 16...Dxf6 17 Wxf6 Bg8 18 &xd5. 17 DbS! The discovered attack motif arises in any case. Now Black loses his queen. 17...Wxb5 17...Wxd4 18 Dd6# is an attractive mate. 18 &xb5 Deb 19 Wb2 exbS 20 2h4 1-0101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES 65 36 Tal - Korchnoi Montpellier Candidates 1985 Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Attack 1 e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 AE 5 De3 Dcb 6 2g5 e6 7 Wd2 Le7 8 0-0-0 0-0 9 Db3 a5 10 a4 dS 11 2bS! (36a) This move, originally an idea of Vitolin’, came to prominence as a result of the current game. ‘Today it is regarded as White’s best move and is the reason why the variation with ¥...a5 10 a4 d5 is now rarely seen. 11...dxe4d 11...2b4 may be Black’s best chance, al- though White can retain an edge with either 12 e5 Dd7 13 Rxe7 Wxe7 14 £4 or simply 12 Bhel. 11...Axe4 12 Axed dxed 13 Wxd8 Qxd8 14 Qxd8 DxdB 15 Dc5 £5 16 Rd6 gave White some advantage in the earlier game Tal-Sisniega, Taxco Interzonal 1985. Korchnoi attempts to improve on this, but his move also fails to solve Black’s main problem — his inability to develop the light- squared bishop. 12 Wxd8 2xd8 (36b) After 12...Bxd8 Tal gave 13 Axed Axed 14 Rxe7 Bxd1+ 15 Hxd1, but this does not appear es- pecially clear after 15...2xf2. Therefore 13 Bxd8+ 2xd8 14 Hdl Re7 15 Bxc6 bxc6 16 4)xe4 is better, with an advantage for White. 13 Hhel 13 &xf6 2xf6 14 Dxe4 also gives White an edge. 13...a7 Other moves also fail to equalize. After 13...2b6 14 2xf6 gxf6 15 Dxe4 £5 16 Dlo+ Sg7 17 Dd7 Kxf2 18 4x18 xel 19 Dxe6+ White retains an ad- vantage whichever way Black recaptures, sh6 14 2x6 2x6 15 Dxed gives White 1 useful extra tempo over the previous note and, finally, 13...Dg4 14 Qxd8 Dxd8 15 4)xc4 is clearly better for White. 14 2c4 h6 14...2c6 15 Dc5 also favours White. 15 ALxf6 gxf6 Or 15,..2xf6 16 Axes Re7 17 4)bc5 and Black’s development is still diffi- cult; for example, 17...b6 18 @d7 &xd7 19 B Be 36a: After 11 2b5! 36c: After 16 Axe4101 Brittiant Cxess MINIATURES | L a i“ ore @ 36e: After 22 Ad4 Ag AB Bt 36f: After 24 2b5 1-0 { 2xd7 with advantage to White. 16 Dxe4:! | (36c) 16...£5 17 Dd6 &c7 Black intends y 18...2.d8, forcing the knight either to retreat or to be exchanged off for the troublesome + bishop. 18 g3 The immediate 18 “c5 b6 19 Dxc8 Rf4+! (not 19...Haxc8 20 Dxe6) 20 bi Baxc8 21 Axe6 Bxc4 22 Dxf8 SxfB 23 Bd7 4c6 is unclear. White therefore cuts out the check on f4 which proved so useful to Black in this line. 18...b6? (36d) This runs into a surprising combination. 18...2d8 is the best defence; however, even in this case 19 DbS! (19 DxfS Hxd1+ 20 Sxdl exf5 21 He7 &b6 22 Bxf7 @h8 is unclear) 19...2xb5 20 &xb5 gives White the advan- tage; for example, 20..Exd1+ 21 Bxdl eS 22 Be with continuing pressure. 19 Dxf5t This unexpected move exchanges two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn. However, in the resulting position White's rooks will be extremely active. 19..exfS 20 &d5 2e6 The only move, as 20...2b8 loses to 21 He7. 21 RxaB Hxa8 21...2xb3 is no better; for example, 22 Hd7! &xa4 23 Hxc7 Bxa8 24 Eee7 Ac6 25 Hxf7 and Black will lose more pawns. 22 2d4 (36e) Black's poorly coordi- nated minor pieces are in no position to re- sist White’s pressure along the central files, The knight on a7 is particularly ineffective. 22...$.d5?! Loses more material, but there is no saving the game; for example, 22...He8 23 Dxe6 fxe6 24 Hd7 &b8 25 Hb7 Acé6 26 Exb6 d4 27 c3 Ra7 28 Ma6 and again Black’s pawns are falling. 23 Ze7 Hc8 Both 23...Rd8 24 Dxf5! Be6 25 He8+ kh7 26 De3 Ac6 27 Hd6 and 23...Sd6 24 Hd7 win for White. 24 @b5 (36f) 1-0 As 24...xb5 25 Exd5 Ad6 (or 25...2a7 26 Hdd7) 26 Bxc7 Hxc7 27 Hxd6 leads to an easily won rook ending.10] Britiiant CHess MINIATURES 37 Knaak - Adorjan Szirak 1985 Nimzo-Indian Defence, Rubinstein Variation 1d4 Af6 2.c4 €6 3 Dc3 Ab4 4 e3 b6 5 De2 shn6 6 De3 0-07 e4 Deb 8 243 Das? An error which is severely punished by White. Wlack heads off to win the c4-pawn, but he leaves White with a free hand in the centre. K...e5 is better, preventing the further ad- vance of White’s e-pawn. 9 &g5 Setting up u very awkward pin. 9...h6 10 hd! (37a) 10...d6 Accepting is no better, e.g. 10...hxg5 IL hxgS g6 (11...De8 12 WhS £5 13 26 mates) 12 gxf6 Wxf6 13 e5 We7 (13... WE 14 DhS wins outright) 14 De4 Qe7 15 WE3 (5 16 exf6 2xf6 17 Dxf6+ Wxf6 18 Wh3 27 19 0-0-0 with a very strong attack for no material sacrifice. 11 hS Forcing Black’s hand, 11...hxg5 12 hxgS Axed 12...De8 (12...Dh7 13 eS Wxg5 14 &xh7+ Sxh7 15 (4! Wh6 16 Df6+ gxf6 17 Wd3+ wins) 13 Wd £5 (forced) 14 exf5 exf5 15 Qxf5 Ext5 16 Wxf5 gives White a large advantage, e.g. 16...x04 17 @f4 We8 18 Hn8+! dexh8 19 ‘W18+ and 200-0-0, winning. 13 &xe4 (37b) ‘Threatening 14 @f6+ followed by 15 Wh5. 13...Wxg5 The rook on a8 is the least of Black's worries. If 13...He8, then 14 Dxg7! sbxg7 15 Hh7+ £8 16 WhS mates. 14 f4 Wh6 15 W£3 White could have won more quickly by 15 Af6+ Wxf6 16 2h7+ @h8 17 RgG+ teg8 18 Bh8+ hxh8 19 Whs+ dys 20 Wh7#. 15...d5 16 2h7+ 16 Dt6+ would still have been effective. 16...@h8 16...Wxh7 17 Df6+ gxf6 18 Hxh7 dxh7 19 Wh5+ g7 20 Wg4+ and 21 &f2, mating. 17 2c2 &g8 (37c) 17.,.S€7 18 0-0-0 Sg8 19 Df6+ Rxf6 20 Bxh6 gxh6 21 cxd5 is also hopeless. 18 6+! Finally White sees it! 18...Wxf6 19 &h7+ Ph8 20 Rg6+ g8 21 Zh3+! 1-0 67 37e: After 17...2g868 JO1 Briwuant CHESS MINIATURES wh AR GO RAN BAY “Ga 38c: After 12...b5! 38 Korchnoi - Greenfeld Biel 1986 English Opening 1 D3 Dfe 2 04 c5 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 c6 5 ®DbS? A very unusual move. It is wrong to move the d4-knight again without any par- ticular reason. While grandmasters know all sorts of exceptions to the standard principles of chess, this move is not one of them, and not even Korchnoi can offend against basic opening principles without being punished at least occasionally. 5 c3 and 5 g3 are the most common moves. 5...d5 5...b4+ 6 Rd2 Bxd2+ 7 Wxd2 d5 8 cxd5 a6 is a safe equalizing line. 6 cxd5 6 2£4 &b4+7 Dlc3 0-0 8 Ac7 DhS is fine for Black as the knight will never emerge from a8. 6...a6 (38a) After 6...2xd5 7 e4 White is slightly better, but 6...exd5 7 2103 a6 8 Dd4 2c5 9 3 0-0 10 &e2 Ac6 11 Axc6 bxe6 12 0-0 Rd6 led to equality in Smyslov-Furman, USSR Ch 1961. 7 @5c3?! 7 @d4 would be an admission that the knight’s foray to b5 was a mistake. Then, as in Smyslov-Furman above, Black would gain easy equality. However, this might have been better than the game continuation. 7...exd5 8 2e3 After 8 Rg5 d4 9 Rxf6 Wxf6 10 Ads Wes Black is clearly better. 8...2c6 (386) Now White suffers from his lack of control of 44 and is forced into artificial measures to prevent the advance of Black’s d-pawn. 9 £d4 Dxd4 10 Wxd4 We7 Black consistently continues the fight for control of d4; now he prepares -Stc5. 11 e3 2e5 12 Wad+ 12 Axd5 Axd5 13 Wxd5 gives Black a very strong initiative for the pawn after 13...0-0 or 13...2e6 14 We4 Wb6. 12...b5! (38c) Black must be pre- pared to sacrifice to keep the initiative. After 12,..2d77! 13 &b5 White would manage to castle and thereby maintain the balance. 13101 Britutant CHess MINIATURES &xb5+ Taking an exchange but falling fur- ther behind in development. 13 @xbS is the other main possibility, but after 13...We5! 14 Dc7++ (both 14 B5c3+ Qd7 15 Was d4 and 14 Dd6++ Be7 15 DxcB+ Hhxc8 16 Qd2 Wxb2 17 Hb1 Wc3 18 Hb7+ #f8 are clearly better for Black) 14...8e7 15 Dxa8 (or 15 WaS Wd6 and Black wins) 15...Wxb2 Black has the advantage, e.g. 16 Dc7 2b4+ 17 @d1 a5 18 2d3 Wxal 19 We2 2b7 and Black holds the initiative. 13...axb5 14 Wxa8, 0-0 (38d) 15 b4 Ingenious, but ultimately unsuccessful. 15 2d2 &b7 16 @xb5 Wb6 17 Wa4 &c6 wins the knight on bS, while at the same time trapping White’s king in the centre. Another possibility is 15 Dxd5 Dxd5 16 Wxd5, but then Black wins by 16...%b4+ 17 $e2 (or 17 Dd2 Ha8) 17...2e6 18 Wed 2cd4+ 19 $f3 £5. Finally, 15 0-0 Dg4 16 g3 &b7 17 DxbS Web 18 Wa4 d4 19 £3 dxe3 gives Black a winning attack. The text-move is an attempt to deflect Black's bishop from the a7-g1 diagonal before entering this last line. 15...2xb4 16 0-0 2g4 (38e) White’s bare kingside, poor development and mis- placed queen give Black too strong an at- lack. Note that 16...2xc3? 17 @xc3 Wxc3 loses to 18 Hacl. 17 g3 Or 17 £4 &xc3 18 Hc] Wa5 and Black wins. 17...%b7 18 AxbS 18 Wa7 2c5 19 @xbS We6 wins as in the analysis of 15 0-0 given above. 18...We6 19 Wad d4 20 £3 White’s moves are all forced. 20...Wh6! (38/) Even with the bishop on b4 rather than c5, Black has a winning attack. 21 We2 There is no way out, since 21 fxg4 Wxe3+ 22 Ef2 Wed forces mate. 21...d3 22 We2 Or 22 Wb2 d2. 22...@xe3 0-1 It is not often that such a skilled defender as Korch- noi loses so quickly. = 69 le e N “ Ar 38f: After 20...Wh6!70 101 Brittiant CHESS MINIATURES 39c: After 24 @d5! 1-0 39 Chandler - Vaganian Dubai Olympiad 1986 French Defence, Winawer Variation 1 e4 6 2. d4.d5 3 Ac3 2b4 4 e5 b6 5 a3 £8 Black intends to keep his ‘good’ dark- squared bishop and exchange off his ‘bad’ light-squared bishop by ...Sa6. 6 Df3 Wd7 7 &bS!? (39a) The manoeuvre 2bS-a4 ap- peared in the early 1980s and immediately caused problems for Black. White’s idea is simply to avoid the exchange of his light- squared bishop. 7...c6 8 a4 Ra6 9 Ae2 Not only enabling castling, but also prepar- ing to reactivate the a4-bishop by c3 and &c2. 9...h5? Black wants to secure his knight on f5, but ...h5 permanently weakens the kingside dark squares. 9...2b5 is probably the best try; if then 10 $b3, Black can start immediate counterplay by 10...c5. 10 0-0 @h6 11 Bel Le7 11...DF5 12 c3 Re7 13 &g5 favours White. Far from exchanging his ‘bad’ bishop, Black faces the exchange of his ‘good’ bishop. 12 3 g6 13 Af4 Ds 14 QDh3 Preparing 25. 14...2b5 15 2c2 5 16 Rg5 Ac6 (39b) 17 Rf6! Even better than exchanging bishops. 17...2xf6 After 17... g8 18 Bigs White is already threaten- ing 19 &xf5. 18 exf6 Wd8 18...cxd4 19 Rxf5 gxf5 20 @xd4 leaves Black's position tiddled with dark-squared weaknesses. 19 dxc5 bxc5 20 Df4 Attacking d5, 20...Wxf6 21 Wxd5! 21 Dxd5 Wa8 lets Black off lightly. 21...21c8? Loses forthwith. 21...0fe7 was the only chance, but even then 22 Wxc5 Waxi4 23 Wxb5 Eb8 24 Wad Wxa4 25 2 xad wins a pawn as 25...2xb2 loses to 26 DeS 2b6 27 Habl. 22 Wxc5 a6 22...2a6 23 Rad ®fe7 24 De5! wins more material. 23 a4 Dce7 Black attempts to rescue the trapped bishop tactically. 24 @d5! (39c) This attrac- tive blow wins a piece. 1-0101 Brituant CHESS MINIATURES 71 40 Adorjan - Kudrin New York Open 1987 Queen's Indian Defence 1 dd D6 2 Df3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 g3 2a6 5 Dbd2 Rb7 6 Lg2 c5 7 ef (40a) 7...cxd4 ‘The greedy 7...2xe4? is not a good idea: 8 Ded d5 (8.213 9 Wh5 g6 10 Wh3, 8...0d6 9 &xb7 Dxb7 10 WF3 and 8...£5 9 Dxe4 fol- lowed by 10 Wh5S+ are all winning for White) 9 cxd5 exd5 (9...2xd2 loses to 10 Axf7!) 10 Wa4+ @d7 11 Axed dxe4 12 Kh3 RcB 13 Wce6 2b8 14 Axf7 and wins. 8 e5 Dga?! 8.,.@ed is the contemporary preference, with roughly equal chances. 9 0-0 We7 Other moves have been tried, with equal lack of success. 10 Hel &.c5? (40b) Trying to keep the extra pawn is too greedy. Black’s best chance is 10...h5 11 h3 Dh6 12 Dxd4 Rxg2 13 &xg2 2c6, when White may be able to maintain an edge, but not more. 11 Ded! Black’s development does not look too bad, but he suffers from the badly placed knight on g4, and the fact that the e5-pawn drives a wedge into his position. Note that 11 h3? is bad due to 11...2e3!. 11...d3 The alterna- tives are no better, e.g. 11...Dc6 12 &£4 0-0 13 h3 Dh6 14 Kxh6 gxh6 15 Df6+ deg7 16 Wd3 Bh8 17 Dh5+ wf8 18 Wd2 with a large advantage for White, or 11...2xe4 12 Bxe4 £5 13 exf6 Dxf6 14 4 WeB 15 Dxd4 Dred 16 xe4 Ac6 (16...2a6 17 WhS+ ff8 18 @Dxe6+ dxe6 19 WE3 wins) 17 Dxc6 dxc6 18 b4! Sxb4 (18...2¢7 19 WhS+ £8 20 W£3 &£6 21 Edi is very good for White) 19 Wa4 203 20 2xc6+ Gf7 21 Hdl Md8 22 Bxa8 Exdl+ 23 Wxd1 Wxa8 24 Wd3 and White wins a pawn for nothing. 12 Dfg5?! (40c) A brave move, but it is not altogether necessary to give up the important e-pawn. 12 Wxd3 would have given White some ad- vantage at no risk; for example, 12...xe5 13 1 eB OR | BABA a AR rvs ga gwe Ss 40c: After 12 Dfgs!72 = 40f: After 21 Df5! 101 Brituiant CHEss MiniATuRES Dxe5 Wes 14 24, 12...0-0 13 Dxcs WxeS 14 Be2 Ac6 15 Dgs g6 16 Ded! Wre5 17 h3, or 12...2xe4 13 Wxed Qxf2+ 14 Hfl Rxel 15 xel, and White is better in every case. 12...@xe5 13 &f4 Threatening 14 xc5. 13...d6 13...£6 loses to 14 Wh5+ @e7 15 Dxf6! gxf6 16 Hxe5! fxeS 17 WE7+ Sd6 18 @xe5+, while 13...2e7 14 WhS g6 15 Wh6 2£8 16 Df6+ Se7 17 Wh4 gives White an enormous attack. 14 Wh5S The storm clouds are gathering. The immediate threat is to the e6-pawn. 14...8? A major con- cession. 14...d2? is also bad after 15 xe6! dxelW+ 16 Exel We7 17 D6xcS Lxe4 18 Dxed Dob 19 Axd6+ Wxd6 20 &xe5 and wins. Black’s best defence is 14...26 15 Wh6 @bd7! (not 15...Rxe4 16 Dxe4 Dbc6 17 Af6+ Se7 18 Wh4 We8 19 Rxe5 dxe5 20 e4+, when White wins after 20...df8 21 W6 Hg8 22 WE3 or 20...8d6 21 Rxc6 Wxc6 22 DxeS Wb7 23 Wi4) 16 Wg7 0-0-0, with very unclear play, 15 @\xe5 bxc5 (40d) The stage is set for the final onslaught. 16 Rxe5! ‘The start of a combination shattering Black’s position. 16...dxe5 16.,.&xg2 loses to 17 Bxc5!, 17 Qxe5 WA7 18 2xb7 Wxb7 (40e) 19 Dxe6+! Another forceful blow. Black cannot play 19...fxe6 due to 20 246+, so his king has to move again. 19...@g8 20 4xg7 20 &xg7 fxe6 21 Le5 also wins. 20...Dc6 Black’s queenside development comes too late to help save his king. 20...Ad7 also loses to 21 AES. 21 DES! (40f) White's final sacri- fice. 21...Axe5 Or 21...f6 22 Dh6+ wf8 (22...g7 23 Wg5+) 23 2d6+ dg7 24 Wes+ Sxh6 25 L4H. 22 Wg5+ Dgo 23 Wf6 1-0 Since 23...Gf8 24 Wg7+ Ge8 25 @d6+ picks up the black queen.101 Brittianr CHEss MINIATURES 41 Seirawan - Beliavsky Brussels (World Cup) 1988 Slav Defence, Exchange Variation 1 d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3 Dc3 Af6 4 cxd5 cxd5 5 fd Dc6 6 e3 BES 7 Af3 e6 8 VS Ad7 9 0-0 9 Wad is another major line. 9...2e7 10 &xc6 White exchanges on c6 before Black can play ...28c8, when he would be able to tuke back with a piece. 10...bxc6 11 Hcl Bc8 11...g57! 12 Rg3 hS 13 h3 g4 14 hxgd hxgé is premature as 15 “d2 followed by e4 opens the centre before Black’s h-file attack has really got going. 12 ad? (4a) Playing the knight to the far edge of the board allows [lack to start a kingside attack. The alterna- live 12 BeS Dxe5 13 Rxe5 £6 14 2g3 c5 is equal. 12...g5! Unexpected and very strong. ‘This attack is fully justified as Black’s king is safe, his central pawn structure is solid und White cannot quickly open the position hy playing e4. 13 2g3 h5 14 h3 g4 15 hxg4 hxg4 16 DeS There is no ideal square for this knight. 16 Dh2 Df6! 17 Dc5 Mxc5 18 xcS De4 favours Black as 19 xg4? loses to 19...Wg5, while 16 2d2 b4! opens the way for ...Wg5-h5. 16...DxeS 17 2xe5 17 dxeS c5 gives Black a positional advantage thanks to his active bishops. 17...{6 18 2¢3 ‘&f7 Creating a path for the queen to reach the h-file. 19 Hel? (4b) 19 £3 gxf3 20 Wx13 is better, although Black is on top after 20...Wg8. 19...h5! Black prepares to dou- ble on the h-file, while retaining the option of... WaS. 20 Wd2 20 Sf1 Wa! cuts off the king’s escape route as 21 #e2? leads to mate after 21... Wb5+ 22 @d2 Wd3#, 20...2e4! If Black can conquer the e2-square, White’s king will be cornered. 21 @f1 (4c) 21 Dc3 Wh8 22 ¢f1 23 leads to a quick mate. 21..,.23! 0-1 It is mate in a few moves. B 73 =_e aka en i lc: After 21 @f174 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES pele Re A ce wrk XN e 42c: After 19 Hg8+! 1-0 42 Ehlvest - Andersson Belfort (World Cup) 1988 Sicilian Defence, Taimanov Variation Led c5 2 D3 e6 3 d4 cxd4d 4 Dxd4 Dc6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 We7 7 £4 Dxd4 8 Wxd4 b5 9 &e3 2Rb7 10 0-0-0 A double-edged line in which White aims for rapid development at the cost of putting his king in the c-file fir- ing-line. 10...2c8 11 2d2 Necessary to meet the threat of ...b4, but this move appears slightly artificial. 11..0f6 12 &£3 2e7 (42a) 12.,.WaS 13 Wa7!? is complex, while 12...05 13 WxeS Wxc5S 14 &xc5 Exc5 15 Bel gives White an edge. 13 Zhd1?! De- spite its success in this game, the text-move is today regarded as inaccurate. The main line runs 13 g4 d5 (13...8c5 14 Wxc5 Wxc5 15 &xc5 Hxc5 16 Hhdl is unclear) 14 exd5 b4 15 Ba4 &xd5, which led to a draw in the game Nijboer-J.Polgar, Wijk aan Zee 1998, 13...0-0 14 eS &xf3? This natural move is an error. Instead, Black should play the im- mediate 14...b4! 15 Dad (15 &xb7 Wxb7 is slightly better for Black, while 15 exf6 bxc3 16 Wxc3 Wxc3 17 fxe7 Wxe3 18 exf8W+ Sxf8 0-1 was Hector-P.Cramling, Valby 1991) 15...Rx£3 16 gxf3 (16 exf6 &xf6 wins for Black) 16...2d5 17 Db6 Axb6 18 Wxb6 We4 with an unclear position. 15 gxf3 b4? (42b) The preliminary exchange on f3 has serious consequences for Black owing to the open g-file. 15...Qh5 16 Wxd7 favours White, so Black should have tried 15...0e8 16 Wxd7 b4 17 Wxe7 Dxc7 18 Hd3 Sxc3 19 Hxc3 Dd5 with just an edge for White. 16 exf6 bxe3 17 %g2! The point. 17...Wb7 17...cxb2+ 18 Sb1 Kc5S 19 Exg7+ Sh8 20 ‘Wad3 mates. 18 Hxg7+ @h8 19 Bg8+! (42c) 1-0 As 19...Exg8 (19...d¢xg8 20 Bgl+ Shs 21 fxe7+ wins) 20 fxe7+ Bg7 21 Xgl Wxb2+ 22 Sd1 Wbl+ 23 &cl mates.101 Brituiant CHeEss MIniATURES 43 Kudrin - King London (NatWest Young Masters) 1988 Caro-Kann Defence 1e4 c6 2.d4.d5 3 Dc3 dxe4 4 Axed DLE 5 ®xf6+ exf6 At first sight, this line appears anti-positional, as White’s queenside major- ity can create a passed pawn, while Black’s crippled kingside majority cannot. In the Ex- change Variation of the Spanish, where a similar transformation of the pawn structure occurs, Black has the two bishops as com- pensation, which is not the case here. How- ever, it is not easy for White to exploit his better pawn-structure since the endgame is still a long way off, and Viktor Korchnoi has achieved some success on the black side. 6 3 2d67 2d3 0-08 Wic2 Me8+ 9 De2 267! (43a) Slightly inaccurate, since this gives White a target for his kingside attack. Both 9...h6 and 9...d¢h8 are more solid than the text. 10 hd Re6 11 hS White already threat- ens to take twice on g6. 11...f5 (43b) 12 hxg6 The preliminary exchange is impor- tant. 12 &h6? is a serious mistake because after 12...g5 there is no good defence to the threat of 13...W£6. Julian Hodgson won two games during 1988 thanks to this mistake. Abramovié-Hodgson, London 1988 contin- ued 13 Wd2 £4 14 g3 e415 gxf4 Bxfd 16 Wxf4 gxf4 17 Hg] Wh4 18 0-0-0 &h8, while Pereira-Hodgson, Almada 1988 went 13 Rxf5 WEE 14 Qxh7+ dh8 15 2g6 Bcd 16 2d3 &xd3 17 Wxd3 Wxh6, with a winning position for Black in both cases. 12...fxg6 13 2h6 (43c) Developing the bishop to an active square and preparing to castle queen- side, 13..0d7 13 Wb is also possible, de- fending g6 so that g4 can be met by ...fxg4. 14 g4!? White strikes before Black can rein- force his kingside with 14...Af6. 14.245 43b: After 11 ofS ee ee fe \ a ts 43c: After 13 oe 3 see P leon mom IN a76 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES i@ ox wo 43d: After 15 0-0-0! ZA 43f: After 18,..g7 At first sight this disrupts White’s attack, as the rook has no safe square on the h-file. However, White's attack is now so danger- ous that he can afford to invest some mate- rial. 15 0-0-0! (43d) 15...2xh1? This move lands Black in serious trouble. His light- squared bishop, which covers the weak di- agonal from b3 to g8, is far more important than White’s rook on dl. 15.,.@£8 16 2d2 fxg4 is the correct defence, preserving the light-squared bishop while leaving open the option of taking on h1 later. White still has attacking chances, but there is nothing clear-cut. 16 Hxh1 The light-squared weak- nesses give White’s attack more to bite on. 16...2.£8 16...Wf6 17 gxf5 gxf5 18 Bxf5 DEB gives White several ways to maintain the ad- vantage, ¢.g. 19 2xf8 Sxf8 20 Bh5 with a continuing attack. Of course, 16...fxg4 fails to 17 &xg6. 17 Rd2 (43e) Not 17 gxf57? &xh6+ 18 Bxh6 Wg5+. After the text-move, the main threat is 18 gxf5, but White might also simply strengthen his attack by 18 @f4. 17...fxg4? Loses straight away. 17...0b6 is only slightly better, as 18 Af4 (18 gxf5 W4d5! is less clear) 18...Ad5 (not 18...fxe4 19 2xg6 hxg6 20 Wxg6+ £27 21 DhS We7 22 &h6 WE7 23 Wxg4 and White wins) 19 gxfS Dxf4 20 Rxf4 WS 21 £3 gives White a distinct advantage. Therefore 17...\f6 was the best chance, but 18 &c4+ Ad5 19 gxf5 remains distinctly unpleasant for Black. 18 Wb3+ 7 (43/) 19 Bxh7+! White finishes the game off with an attractive rook sacri- fice. 19...6xh7 20 Wf7+ h8 White also wins after 20...2g7 21 Wxg6+ dg8 22 04+, 21 Hf4 1-0 Black has no reasonable way to defend g6.101 Brituiant CHEss Miniatures 77 44 Ehlvest - Kasparov Reykjavik (World Cup) 1988 English Opening 1 c4 Df6 2 Dec3 e5 3 ALI Ac 4 e3 Qb4 5 We2 0-0 6 d3 6 DdS is a more critical con- tinuation. 6.,.2e8 7 £d2 &xc3 8 &xc3 d59 exd5 @ixd5 10 Se2 (44a) A type of reversed Sicilian Scheveningen has been reached, al- though with one pair of minor pieces re- moved. As so often happens with reversed openings, White has no problems gaining equality, but playing for an advantage proves more difficult. 10...2£5 10...Wd6 is also ad- equate for equality. 11 Hdl White takes time cout to counter the possibility of ...db4. Af- ter LL e4 Af4!? (11...Axc3 12 bxc3 Red 13 0-0 a5 is roughly level, Taimanov-Kuz- min, USSR Ch, Leningrad 1974) 12 exf5 Dd4 13 Rxd4 exd4 14 Dgl (140-0 Bxe2 15 Wb3 Wd5 favours Black) 14...Wd5 15 0-0-0 Wxa2 the position is unclear. 11 0-0 is play- able and probably safest, because 11...2db4 12 &xb4 Dxb4 13 We3 Axd3 14 Hfdl e4 15 el is just dead equal. 11...a5 12 0-0 We7 13 a3 13 e4 leads to nothing after 13...Ddb4! 14 Wbl Bg4. 13...a4 (44b) 14 Sel?! White would like to improve the po- sition of his pieces by Ad2-e4, but it is not $0 easy to achieve this; for example, 14 Ad2 Dxc3 (14...Dd4 is less effective as 15 exd4 exd4 16 2£3 dxc3 17 &xd5 cxd2 18 2xb7 is fine for White) 15 Wxc3 @d4 and Black is slightly better. However, nothing good can come from the text-move. Although White preserves his two bishops, he delays his de- velopment by several moves. 14 Efel is best; White improves the position of his rooks and waits to see Black’s plan before committing himself. 14...2g6 Black easily sidesteps the threat of 15 e4. 15 We4 15 d2 is still bad, this time because of 15...Df4. 44b: After 13...a478 101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES = we wrens 44f: After 24...e4 15...ed8 16 2d2? (44c) White thinks the time is ripe to reposition his knight, but he Tuns into a tactical storm. 16 d4 4b6 (or 16...c4 17 Bd2 We5 straight away) 17 Wc3 4 18 Dd2 Wes 19 Dc4 Ads 20 Wel He8 would have restricted Black to an edge. 16...Dd4! A typical Kasparov move. 17 exd4 White must accept as 17 2£3 Db6 18 We3 DbS followed by ...2xd3 wins for Black. 17...Df4 18 23 Bxd4 (44d) 19 WbS. After this White’s queen is trapped, but even 19 Wa2 (19 We3 &xd3 20 g3 De2+ 21 Sxe2 Lxe2 is also very good for Black) 19...2xd3 20 &xb7 Zad8 is very bad for White, e.g. 21 Hal (in order to recapture on fl with the knight; 21 &f3 &xfl 22 @xfl e4 23 2e2 Wg5 wins for Black) 21...Wd7 (threatening 22...c6) 22 Df3 Wb5! 23 Axd4 exd4 24 2d2 Rxfl 25 Hxfl De2+ 26 Gh1 Dg3+ 27 hxg3 Wxfl+ 28 @h2 Wxf2 and the black d-pawn will be decisive. 19...c6 20 &xc6 Or 20 Wb6 Ha6 and there is no es- cape. 20...bxc6 21 Wxc6 Wd8 The imminent loss of the d3-pawn is the least of White’s worries. The congested mass of white pieces means that he will be hard-pressed to avoid the immediate loss of the exchange after ++&xd3, 22 DE3 Hd6 (44e) White's difficul- ties with his queen are not over and now Black gains time by chasing it around. 23 WhS 23 Wb7 loses to 23...2b6. 23...Hd5 23...2.xd3 24 WreS is less clear. 24 Wb4 Or 24 Wb7 2xd3 25 2c3 2xfl 26 Axes De2+ (but not 26...Bxd1?? 27 Wxf7+ Sh8 28 Dg6+ and White mates) 27 @h1 Dxc3 28 Wxf7+ @h8, winning for Black. 24...e4 (44f) Even stronger than 24...2xd3, 25 2c3 25 4d? loses after 25...Wh4! 26 g3 (26 Dxe4 Be2+ 27 hl Wxh2+! 28 Sxh2 Bh5#) 26...Wh3 27 gxf4 Hh5 forcing mate. If 25 Hd2, then 25...Axd3 finishes White off. 25...e2+ 0-1101 Briuiant CHess Miniatures 79 45 Knaak -Speelman Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988 Queen's Pawn 14 d62c4 e53 Df3 e4 4 Dgs £55 Dc3 6 6 Dh3 Da 7 e3 Df6 8 d5 (45a) Perhaps a slightly inaccurate move. White should pre- fer 8 4f4, and only play d5 when Black is committed to ...Ac7 (ruling out ...2c5) or ...de7 (excluding the possibility of ...g6 and ...Sg7). 8 Se2 is another popular move, again waiting for Black to declare his inten- tions. 8...g6 Black immediately takes the op- portunity to develop his bishop on the long diagonal, which White has opened by ad- vancing his d-pawn. 9 b3 S2g7 10 2b2 0-0 Now that White has played d5, Black is happy to leave his knight on a6 since it has a possible future at c5. 11 Wd2 Another slight slip. Individually, these small errors are not especially noteworthy, but taken together their effect is significant. White should pre- fer 11 2e2, preventing Black’s next move in the game. At first sight this seems bad be- cause of 11...Wa5 (11...cxd5 12 xd5 gives White an edge) 12 Wd2 cxd5, but this may be met by 13 @xed!, 11...g4! (45b) A good move. Black gives White cause to worry over the eventual destination of his king. If he plays 0-0, Black has an automatic attack by ...Whd and ...&e5, while 0-0-Ois not very tempting as White's king can also become exposed on the queenside, e.g. 120-0-0 cS 13 Sb1 (or 13 dxc6 bxc6 14 Wxd6 Dd3+ 15 Bxd3 exd3 16 Wxd3 We7 and Black is a lit- Ue better) 13...Wb6 14 dxc6 bxc6 15 Wxd6 Hb8 lining up for a sacrifice on b3. There- fore White leaves his king in the centre. 12 Re2 Dc5 (45c) 13 Hd1?! Stepping up the Pressure against the d6-pawn, but it turns out that White has no time to take this pawn. 13 0-0-0?! is also dubious after 13.,.0e5 45: After 12...0c580 10] Britutant CHEss MINIATURES ie > ely. as eclvm> 45f: After 18...De5! 0-1 aiming at d3, while 13 b4 Dd3+ 14 &xd3 exd3 15 Wxd3 £4!7 16 Dxf4 g5 17 Dh3 Des gives Black good compensation for the two pawns. In fact, this was the right moment for 13 0-0! since 13...Wh4 can be countered by 14 dxc6 bxc6 15 Wxd6. Instead 13...2e5!7 leads to an unclear position. White’s failure to castle here costs him dearly. 13...Wh4! 14 ®a4? Alarmed by the increasing pressure, White heads for liquidation, but this decen- tralizing move gives Black the chance to launch a decisive attack. White should have tied either 14 0-0 2c5 15 Qxg4 fxgd 16 Ad gS 17 g3 Wh6 18 Afe2 d3 19 Bal or 14 dxc6 bxc6 15 b4 (15 Wxd6 Axe3! 16 Waxc5 Dxg2+ 17 d2 Wxh3 18 Wxc6 bs is very good for Black) 15...2\d3+ 16 2xd3 exd3 17 Wxd3 DeS 18 We2 (not 18 Wxd6 xc4 and wins) 18...Wxc4. In both cases Black has a slight advantage, but White would still be in the game. 14...f4! (45d) With a winning attack. 15 &xg7 Forced, since 15 exf4 e3, 15 0-0 £3 and 15 &xg4 @d3+ are all hopeless for White. 15...fxe3 16 We3 There is no defence. It makes little difference whether the queen moves to b2, c3 or d4. 16...Hxf2 After this Black has many threats, the most deadly being 17...Bxg2+ 18 &f1 and now either 18...Wxh3 or 18...xh2+. 17 &h8 (45e) White has the pleasure of threat- ening mate in one himself, but it is too easy for Black to block the long diagonal. How- ever, other moves are no better, e.g. 17 Dxc5 Bxg2+ 18 Sf1 Wxh3 19 Rxg4 Hxgd+ 20 Se2 WE3+ mating, or the neat line 17 g3 Wrxh3 18 Qf (18 Bh8 Bxe2+) 18...Axh2!. 17..Bxg2+ 18 Bf1 Des! (45f) 0-1 This move, combining defence and attack, leaves White helpless, e.g. 19 RxeS 2xh3 20 Wxe3 Ef8+, etc.101 Brituianr CHEss MintaTURES 8 46 I. Sokolov - Tseshkovsky Wijk aan Zee 1989 English Opening 1 c4 e5 2 g3.d6 3 2g2 26 4 e3 2g7 5 De2 h5!? With the knight committed to e2, it is not so easy to deal with the advancing h- pawn, 6 d4h47 Dbc3 Dh6 Aiming to exert pressure on d4 by ...c6 and possibly ...£5. 8 e421 Ambitiously trying to sideline the knight on h6, but d4 is weakened. 8...2.g4 Already threatening to take on d4. 9 Wd3 Unpinning the knight and preparing to drive Black back by £3. The immediate 9 £3? is met by 9...h3. 9...d7! (46a) Again pre- venting 10 £3, this time due to 10...exd4 11 ‘Nxd4 h3 12 Qf1 Bxd4 13 Wxd4 De5. 10 5 Now White need not worry about the pressure against d4, but Black gains more time. 10...c5 11 We3 h3 12 £f1 £5 13 £3 ‘The critical moment. 13...fxe4! (46b) A cor- rect sacrifice, which White should not have uccepted. 14 fxg4? Now Black's initiative proves too strong. 14 fxe4? is also bad, e.g. 14...0-0 15 Dgl Wf6! 16 Re2 (16 Vxh3 d3+! 17 Wxd3 WE2#) 16...2.x02 17 Wxe2 4\d3+ 18 Wxd3 Wi2+ 19 &d1 We2 and wins. 14 @xe4! is correct, when 14..,0-0 15 G)xc5 and 14...2xf3 15 Wxf3 Bfs 16 Drs ext4 17 Axc5 dxcS 18 We4+ favour White. 14...Df5 15 Wa3 Dxed 16 fxg4 De7 is best, with an unclear position. 14...Dxg4 15 Wgl 15 WS loses to 15...2d3+ 16 ddl Ddf2+ 17 Sc2 WxgS 18 &xg5 Dxhl. 15...We ‘There is no defence. 16 Ad1 16 Abs d3+ 17 &d2 We7 18 dc3 Adf2 seals White's kingside in completely. 16...d3+ 17 &d2 WI3 (46c) Threatening 18...2h6+ 19 dc2 \b4+ followed by mate. 18 a3 This does not meet the threat, but after 18 Dec3 Dgf2 Wlack picks up a whole rook. 18...2h6+ 19 ‘he2 Db4+ 0-1 As 20 axb4 Wa3# is mate. 46c: After 17...WE382 101 Brituiant CHESS MINIATURES Wey x 47e: After 14 b4! 47 Kasparov - Speelman Barcelona (World Cup) 1989 Modern Defence 1d4.d62.e4 g6 3.4 e5 4 D3 exdd 5 Axdd 2g7 6 De3 Ac6 7 Le3 ADge7 8 h4!? (47a) The most direct plan. White aims to exploit the absence of a black knight from £6. 8...6 Aiming to meet h5 by ...g5. 8...f5!? and 8...n5 are playable alternatives, although White has good chances to retain a slight advantage af- ter any move. 9 2e2 An awkward reply for Black. The weakening of the kingside cre- ated by ...h6 rules out ...0-0, but it is not easy for Black to organize ...0-0-0 because his queen is in the way. 9...f5 The correct choice, because Black must develop his pieces. 10 exfS DxfS 11 DxfS Rxf5 12 Wd2 (47b) 12...Wd7? 12...W£6!? offered better chances, keeping an eye on the h4-pawn and exerting pressure along the long diagonal. 13 0-0 0-0-0 A critical moment. White must act quickly, or he will come to regret playing h4. In the game Black never gets a chance to exploit the slight weakening of White’s kingside because he is too busy on the other side of the board. 14 b4! (47c) The most vig- orous. The slower 14 Hacl #b8 15 b4 Axb4 16 2£3 Dab 17 DbS Dc5 18 Axa7! Wad! (18...€xa7? 19 &xc5+ dxc5 20 Wa5+ Sb8 21 &xb7 c6 22 Ra6 Ha8 23 Hl Rxbl 24 Bxbi wins for White) 19 Db5 g5 proved less effective in Epishin-Hedke, Groningen 1996. 14...Dxb4 14...6b8 is no better, e.g. 15 b5 De5S 16 Ad5 g5 (16...Dg4 17 Bxg4 &xg4 18 abl, intending 19 2b3, also gives White a very dangerous attack) 17 a4 Dg 18 Rxg4 Oxg4 19 Qxa7+ bxa7 20 b6+ cxb6 21 a5 bS (21...&xal 22 axb6+ Sb8 23 Hxal threatens 24 Ha8+ and if 23...WE7, then 24 WaS @c8 25 Wb5! &b8 26 Dc7 Wxc7 27 Ha8+ &xa8 28 bxc7 and mate next101 Britutant CHess MINIATURES move) 22 We3+ &b8 23 a6 Wc6 (23...bxa6 24 Hxa6 wins) 24 a7+ a8 25 Ha5! with a decisive attack for White, Schén-Danner, Budapest 1989. 15 DbS! (47d) 15...2\c2 Or 15...Sxal 16 Wxb4 @e5 17 &F3 c5 18 @®xa7+ Sb8 19 Wa3 (threatening 20 2b5) 19...We7 20 g4 (in order to gain bl for the rook) 20...2d7 (not 20...8c2 21 Hel Ehfs 22 Db5 W6 23 dS trapping the bishop) 21 bl Hadf8 22 &xb7 Wxb7 23 Bxb7+ &xb7 24 AbS and White is better. 16 2£3 (47e) 16...d5 There is no defence; for exam- ple, 16,..Sxal 17 Dxa7+ &b8 18 Hbl! cS 19 @c6+ dc8 20 Was Db4 (or 20...Wxc6 21 &xc6 bxc6 22 Wa7 and wins) 21 Bxb4 cxb4 22 Wa8+ dc7 23 Rb6+! Sxb6 24 WaS# and 16...Axe3 17 Wxe3 Qxal 18 Wrxa7 Wg7 19 Wxb7+ €d7 20 Hel! Bc8 21 @xd6 are both winning. If 16...c5, then 17 Had] Re5 18 Axa7+ Sb8 19 Abs results in material equality and a continuing strong attack for White. Perhaps the main line is 16,..2)xal 17 xa7+ #b8 18 WaS and now, although there are many variations, one can sce immediately that White’s threats are ex- tremely strong. A sample line runs 18...Bde8 19 @b5 Wa8 20 Wa7+ dc8 21 Wxb7+ &d7 22 Dxc7 We8 23 Web+ Se7 24 Ri4 Hds 25, Hel+ Bf8 26 RdS Rf6 27 Leb Bxe6 28 4)\xc6+ Sf7 29 Wd5 Bd7 30 h5 and Black is in big trouble. 17 &xd5 Mxal Both 17...c6 18 Dxa7+ Sb8 19 Rf4+ and 17...Rxal 18 4)xa7+ &b8 19 Hb1 b6 20 Wa5 are winning tor White. 18 Dxa7+ &b8 19 Wh4! (479 19...Wxd5 This only prolongs the game slightly, 19...c5 20 &£4+! a8 21 Wa5 also wins, while 19...c6 20 &£4+ €a8 21 Abs forces mate. 20 exd5 De2 21 WaS Dxe3 22 fxe3 In addition to his material advantage, White retains a strong attack. 22...&he8 23 bS Exd5 24 Wxc7+ a8 25 WaS+ 1-0 83 BAAaWT Z ATE: After 19 Wb4!84 101 Britutanr CHess MINIATURES AZ / Ld "nvoeen 48b: After 12 #f1! BY Dy ew7e7s| 48c: After 16.45! 48 Polugaevsky — Kudrin New York Open 1989 Griinfeld Defence, Exchange Variation 1d4 Af6 2 c4 g6 3 Dc3 d5 4 cxdS DxdS 5 e4 Dxc3 6 bxe3 2g7 7 Rcd c5 8 De2 Dcé 9 2e3 0-0 10 Hel!? (48a) An interesting idea pioneered by Polugaevsky. For decades White had automatically castled here, but “Polu’ realized that there are some merits to moving the rook first. 10...exd4 One impor- tant point is that if Black continues as if White had castled, by 10...g47! 11 £3 Da5 12 &d3 cxd4 13 cxd4 e6, then 14 d5! no longer involves an exchange sacrifice. 11 xd4 Wa5+ The most natural attempt to ex- ploit the fact that White has not castled. 12 fl! (48b) The key point of White’s idea. It does not matter that White blocks in his h1- rook, as his plan is to start a kingside attack by h4-hS, and this will activate the rook in situ, 12...3047 12...Wa3!? is currently con- sidered a critical move. The point is that af- ter 13 h4 &g4! White can no longer play £3. Therefore, White may have nothing better than 13 Wb3, but the exchange of queens re- moves a lot of the sting from White's plan. 13h4 Hac8?! 13,..e57! 14 d5 Dd4 15 Axd4 exd4 16 S.xd4 2.xd4 17 Wxd4 won for White in Polugaevsky-Korchnoi, Haninge 1989. However, 13...2fc8!? is probably better than the text; White’s attack involves h5 and hxg6, followed by transferring the queen to the h-file, Giving the king a free square on f8 means that this will not threaten mate. 14 hS e5 14...e6 15 hxg6 hxg6 16 e5 De7 17 Wd3 Efe8!? 18 2d2! Wad 19 2b3! Excl+ 20 xc Wb4 21 Wh3 proved very unpleasant for Black in H.Griinberg-Gauglitz, East German Ch (Zittau) 1989. 15 hxg6 hxg6 16 5! (48c) 16 &d2 had been played in an ear- lier game Guseinov-Khuzman, Baku 1988,101 Britutanr CHEss MINIATURES Typically for Polugaevsky, he is ready with a deep improvement. 16...0d4 16...e7 17 &g5 also favours White. 17 Dxd4 (48d) 17...4xe4 The critical position arises after 17...exd4 18 &xd4 2b5 (or 18...xc4 19 Exc4 and now 19...Wa6 20 Wd3 transposes to the game, while after 19...&b5 20 2xg7 Sxcd+ 21 cgi hxg7 22 Wel we transpose to the main line of this note) 19 &xg7 Hxc4 20 Hxc4 xc4+ 21 bg] Sxg7 22 Well! (48e), Black has a wide range of options, but none is satisfactory: 1) 22...£6 23 Hh3!! a6 (23...Wxa2 24 Wh6+ £7 25 Wh7+ de8 26 Wxb7! Wal+ 27 eh2 We5+ 28 g3 Wd4 29 Wc8+ #£7 30 Wd7+ mates) 24 Wh6+ &f7 25 Wh7+ Ge8 26 d6! WeS (26...Wd8 27 Hc3 b6 28 e5! Wad7 29 Wxg6+ WE7 30 We2 wins) 27 We7 Wal+ 28 th2 We5+ 29 g3 We6 30 2h7 and wins. 2) 22,..Bc8 23 Wh6+ £6 24 We4+ &e7 25 We5+ Sd7 26 Hh7 Hf 27 We6+ &d8 28 Wd6+ Se8 29 Wb8+ Wd8 30 Wxb7 winning the a7-pawn, after which White has three pawns and a strong attack for the piece. 3) 22...We5 23 Wb2+! £6 24 Wxb7+ Hf7 25 Hh7+ €xh7 26 Wxf7+ @h6 27 Wxf6 and the central passed pawns are too strong. 4) 22...Wa4 23 Hh4! £6 24 Wh6+ £7 25 Wh7+ @e8 26 Wxb7 with a decisive attack. 5) 22...Wb4 23 a3 leads into one of the above lines (with an insignificant difference in the position of White’s a-pawn). 18 Hxc4 Wa6? Loses at once. 18...exd4 19 Qxd4 Qb5 20 Rxg7 Rxc4+ 21 Sgl ‘bxg7 transposes into the above analysis. 19 Wea3! exd4 20 &xd4 &b5 21 Wh3! White’s thematic switch to the h-file. 21...&xe4+ 22 gl £6 23 Wh7+ df7 24 Bh6! (487) 1-0 ‘Ihere are too many threats, e.g. 24...25 25 2x6 or 24...0h8 25 Wxg6+ 2F8 26 Hxh8+ kxh8 27 2c5+ mating. B |, 85 Re Ve AWW BAD ao me @ 48f: After 24 Eh6! 1-086 101 BriLutant CHESS MINIATURES 49c: After 17...¢c7 49 Ivanchuk - Csom Erevan 1989 Nimzo-Indian Defence, 4 f3 1 d4 Df6 2 c4 06 3 Ac3 Lb4 4 £3 c5 5 dS &xc3+ If Black is going to play ...AhS, he should do so straight away. 6 bxc3 Db5S An attempt to exploit the weakening created by 3.7 g3 Cutting out the check on h4. 7...f5 8 e4 £49 dxe6 The sharpest line. 9 &.xf4 and 9 De2 are also playable. 9...fxg3? (49a) A tempting but incorrect move. 9...W{6 10 e2 fxg3 11 22 is better, although theory gives White the edge here too. It may well be that Black cannot justify his attempt to seize the initiative at such an early stage. 10 Wd5! g2 10...Df6 11 Wxc5 g2 12 Rxg2 dxe6 13 Ae2 favours White, while 10...Wh4 11 &g5 g2+ 12 &xh4 gxh1W loses to 13 Wxh5+ g6 14 WeS, 11 WxhS+! 11 xg? Wh4+ 12 Sf1 also favours White, but the text-move is even stronger. 11...g6 12 We5 Wh4+ 13 de2 gxh1W (49b) 14 Wxh8+ &e7 15 Wg7+ Sxe6 Or 15...2d6 16 WE8+ Sc6 (16...exe6 17 2h3+ Wxh3 18 Wg8+ 2d6 19 Bf4+ de7 20 Rg5+ Hd6 21 Hdi+ mates) 17 Wxc8+ Sd6 18 Wi8+ Bc6 19 Af4 and wins. 16 2h3+ Sd6 16...Wxh3 17 Wg8+ transposes to the previous note. 17 Wf8+ dc7 (49c) 17.,.8c6 18 Wxc8+ d6 19 WE8+ #6 20 Bf4 Sb6 21 Bbi+ ga6 22 We8 mates. 18 {4+ Black is forced to surrender a queen to avoid being mated. 18...Wxf4 18...%b6 19 Ebl+ €a6 20 Wxc8 transposes into the note to Black’s 17th, 19 Wxf4+ d6 Material equality has been restored, but Black is dead Jost. 20 Hdl First White goes for the king... 20...Dc6 21 Wxd6+ @b6 22 Wg3 ...and now returns for the queen. There is no way to meet the threats of 23 &g2 and 23 &xc8 Exc8 24 Dh3. 22...h5 23 Rxc8B Exc8 24 @Dh3 h4 25 Wi2 1-0101 Brituant CHESS MINIATURES 87 50 Hodgson - Zsu. Polgar European Team Ch, Haifa 1989 Trompowsky Attack 1d4 Df6 2 &gS Although this opening is named after Trompowsky, Hodgson has done more than anyone else in modern times to advance the theory of 2 25. 2...e6 3 e4 h6 4 2xf6 Wxf6 Black has gained the two bish- ops, but at the cost of considerable time. 5 D3 d6 6 Dc3 c6 6...0d7 7 Wd2 a6 is a solid line for Black, intending ...We7, and ...£2g7. 7 Wd2 e5 8 0-0-0 Re7 8... 9 dxe5 dxe5? is a classic opening blunder which has caught several victims: 10 @b5! gives White a decisive attack. 9 #b1 Pre- venting Black forcing the queens off by -.Wg5. 9...d7?! 9...0-0 is more flexible. 10 h4 exd4 Now 10...0-0 11 Re2 is awk- ward for Black; the c8-bishop is blocked in and White has an automatic attack by g4, etc. 11 Axd4 AeS (50a) 11...0c5 12 £4 Red 13 Re2 Bxe2 14 Ddxe2 favours White, but is better for Black than the game. 12 £4! Dga Now 13 @db5 0-0 14 Dxd6 Rxd6 15 Wxd6 ®f2 is unclear, so further preparation is nec- essary. 13 h5 This threatens 14 g3 followed by 15 e5 dxe5 16 Ded. 13...2d8 Allowing the sacrifice on b5, but there was nothing better. 14 Adb5! (50b) 14...cxb5 15 Rxb5+ &d7?! Now White wins without difficulty. 15...%f8 is better, even though 16 e5 We6 (16...WES 17 Wxd6+ e7 18 Wd8+ 2xd8 19 Bxd8+ de7 20 Bxh8 is very good for White) 17 Khel! d5 18 Dxd5 gives White two pawns and a very strong attack for the piece. 16 Rxd7+ &xd7 17 We2 The utility of White’s hS becomes obvious. 17...Wxf4 The only way to save the knight. 18 Ehf1 We5 18...Wg3 19 Wb5+ dc8 20 EXxf7 mates. 19 EES (50c) 19...Wh4 20 Wb5+ &c8 21 Bxf7 Re7 22 Dds 1-0 B Ace ba 50b: After 14 @db5! 417 Oko ame su a 50c: After 19 KES88 101 Brituiant CHess MINIATURES 5le: After 16 e5! 51 Ki. Georgiev — Zaichik Palma de Mallorca (GMA) 1989 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation Led c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 &c4 e6 7 0-0 bS 8 2b3 Le7 9 W3 Wb6 10 2e3 10 2g5!7 is now theoreti- cally ‘hot’, 10...Wb7 11 Wg3 Abd7 11...0-0, 11...b4 and 11...c6 are alternatives. The move played is more risky as it invites a pos- sible sacrifice on f5. 12 Zfel The immediate 12 @f5 is also possible. 12...Ac5 (51a) 13 @f5 Dxb3! The best defence. 13...exf5 14 Wxg7 Ef8 15 &xc5 dxc5 16 exfS leads toa decisive attack for White. 14 @xe7!? (51b) 14 Dxg7+ Sf8 15 Rh6 (15 axb37 h6 leaves the knight trapped and vulnerable to capture by ...Hh7) 15...2xal 16 €5! is also very un- clear. 14...2xal Not 14...Wxe7 15 axb3 2b7 16 2g5! with advantage to White. 15 Wxg7 Ef8 Black could also try 15...Axc2 16 Wxf6 (16 2g5 Wxe7 17 Wxh8+ #d7 18 2xf6 2b7! 19 Wg7 WEB is level) 16...Axel (not 16...0187 17 Sg5 Dxel 18 DES We7 19 @d5 exd5 20 Dxd6+ Wxd6 21 Wxd6 £6 22 S&h6 Hg8 23 Wic6+ and wins) 17 Axc8 Hxc8 18 Wxh8+ @d7 19 Wxh7 ¢c6 20 h4, with a very unclear position. 16 e5! (51c) This un- expected move causes Black most problems. 16...dxe5? Other lines are: 1) 16...b47 17 @h6 bxc3 18 Wxf8+ 7 19 Axc8 cxb2 20 exf6 b1W 21 Wxd6+ dxcB 22 W£8+ dd7 23 Wxf7+ wins as the black king will be forced onto the b-file. 2) 16...d7? 17 Rg5! d5 (or else De4) 18 £5 exf5 19 e6 with a winning attack. 3) 16...2h5? 17 Wxh7? Wxe7 18 De4 Dxc2 19 Dxd6+ Wxd6 (19.647 20 Wxc2 favours White) 20 exd6 xel 21 WxhS Hg8 22 Wh7 Hed 23 7+ dxd7 24 Wxf7+ 6 (or 24...22d6 25 2f4+ 05 26 Wi6+ 206 27 Wrxe5+ de7 28 2.3 and Blackis in trouble)101 Briwuiant CHess MINIATURES 89 25 @f1 winning the knight, when White is better. 4) 16...Axc2! 17 Zh6 (17 exf6 Axel 18 2h6 Wxg2+ 19 Wxg2 Axe? wins for Black) 17...Ad7 (or 17.,.xel 18 Wxi8+ &d7 19 Ded5! @xd5 20 Wxd6+ Se8 forcing a draw) 18 Hdl! fxe7 19 Exd6 de8 20 Hxd7 dxd7 21 Wxf8 Wxg2+ 22 dxg2 2b7+ 23 &g3 Exf8 24 QxfB leads to a draw. 17 &c5 Dd7 (51d) White is better after 17., WT 18 Ded5 Wxc5 19 Dxf6+ ke7 (or 19...€48 20 Dce4 We7 21 Hxal) 20 Axh7 Hd8 21 Ded. 18 Axc8 This is sufficient to win, but a more forcing line would have been 18 @£5!! exf5 (18...AxcS 19 d6+ He7 20 Dxb7 Vxb7 21 Wrxes Dd7 22 We5+ £6 23 Wh4 xc2 24 Wxh7+ also wins) 19 Hxe5+! bd8 (19...xeS 20 Wrf8+ dd7 21 We7+ $06 22 Wd6#) 20 Ads Wxd5 21 Hxd5 Hes 22 We3! and Black is helpless. 18...xc8 18... Wxc8 19 Ded We6 20 Df6+ bd8 21 &x£8 wins. 19 2xf8 Not 19 De4? Wxed 20 Uxe4 Hxc5, when Black turns the tables. 19...Dxf8 20 Ded Wh6 (Sie) 21 Wxe5? Only this move endangers the win. 21 @f6+ stc7 22 We5! is stronger, when Black is de- lenceless, 21...Exe2 Best, as 21...20xc2? 22 ‘N6+ Sd8 23 Bdl+ and 21...206 22 c3 Dc2 23 Df6+ Sd8 24 Hdl+ Bc8 25 Wes win for White. 22 Hd 2d7?! Black could have forced a clear-cut draw by 22...0\g6! 23 We5 (23 Di6+? G8 24 Dxh7+ tgs 25 416+ &g7 26 Dh5++ h6 wins for Black; 23 We7 We7 24 Af6+ de7 25 Dg8+ is also u draw) 23...h6 24 Wxh6 He2 25 Af6+, ete. 23 Dd6+ (S1f) 23...d8? Losing at once. 23...%e7 would still probably have held the draw, e.g. 24 Wg5+ $18! 25 Wi4 DeS! 26 Wh6+ or 24 Df5+ eB 25 Wh8+ DB 26 4\c3 We5S 27 Hxal Hel+ 28 Excl Wxcl+ 29 @f1. 24 Wh8+ 1-0 White forces mate in u few moves. An exciting if not flawless ame. Te 7 Sat . 5lf: After 23 Dd6+90 10] BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 52c: After 15,..c6 52 Geller - Dreev New York Open 1990 French Defence, Tarrasch Variation 1e4 e6 2d4 d53 Dd2 a6 4 Def3 c5 5 exdS exd5 6 Re2 c4 (52a) An ambitious move. If Black manages to maintain the pawn at c4, White’s minor pieces, especially his light- squared bishop, will be severely restricted in their mobility. Everything now depends on whether White can blow up Black's queen- side pawn chain. 7 0-0 2d6 8 b3 b5 9 a4 &ib7 The alternative is 9...c3, when again White must sacrifice a piece, by 10 axb5 cxd2 11 2xd2. Although White’s practical results have been good in this position, the theoretical status is less clear. After 11...2\f6 (11...2b7 12 bxa6 Dxa6 13 &xa6 Hxa6 14 We2+ We? 15 Wxa6! 2xa6 16 Exa6 fa- voured White in Geller-Kekki, ECC Matyn- kyla 1986) 12 04 dxc4! (12...0-0 13 cS &c7 14 b6 Rxb6 15 cxb6 Wxb6 16 Wa5 is good for White) 13 bxc4 0-0 the position was un- clear in Kr.Georgiev-Nikolié, Burgas 1993. 10 bxc4 bxe4 (52) 11 &xc4! Once again, a piece sacrifice is necessary to break up the pawns. 11...dxe4 12 @xc4 Black will find it hard to castle, and in the centre his king comes under a prolonged assault. 12...e7 12...De7 13 Dxd6+ Wxd6 14 2a3 We7 15 Hel Ac6 16 d5 0-0-0 gives White a tremen- dous initiative, e.g. 17 c4 (17 dxc6!? is also promising) 17...D£5 18 Wb1 Ded4 19 Dxd4 1xd4 20 Wid3 and wins. Thus Black is forced into the retrograde text-move. 13 Ze] We7 Black dreams of castling queenside. 13...6f8 14 Ebl gives White strong long-term pres- sure, e.g. 14...We7 15 d5 &c5 16 d6 We8 17 Dfe5 D6 18 Dxf7 Sxf7 19 He7+ SFB 20 Hexb7 and Black is in serious trouble. 14 Ebi Threatening 15 Exb7. 14...Wxed 15 Exb7 ADc6 (52c) 16 Dd2! It would be a101 Brituiant CHEss MiniATURES mistake to try to regain the material by 16 a3?! 0-0-0 17 Rxe7 Dgxe7 18 Hbxe7 @xe7 19 Exe7 as after 19...khe8 White's initiative would have totally disappeared and Black would be slightly better. 16...Wxd4 Or 16..,.Wxa4 (16...Wd5 17 c4 only makes matters worse) 17 d5 @a5 18 Hc7 Wf4 (18...$d8 19 d6! &xd6 20 Ae4 wins) 19 Ec3 Sf8 20 Dc4d Wxc4 (20..,W6 21 De5) 21 Exc4 Axc4 22 We4 Dd6 23 c4 Dl6 24 Wa4 with a large advantage for White. 17 &b2 (52d) 17...Wxa4?! Grabbing this pawn is suicide. 17... Wf4 is a tougher defence, but White still has an excellent position after 18 @f3 (not 18 &xg7? 0-0-0!) 18...8d8 (or 18...d2f8 19 Wd7) 19 We2 £8 20 Wxa6 Hc8 (20...Ab4 21 Wb6 Ads 22 Was Wd6 23 ‘Edi and 20...b8 21 Wb5 win for White) 21 Bd7 Wb8 22 Des. 18 Hed?! (52e) This finesse is a slight inaccuracy offering Black a small chance of survival. 18 &xg7 0-0-0 19 Hb3 regaining the sacrificed material is simple and good; for example, 19...R£6 20 Rxh8 Rxh8 21 4 Was (21,,.Exd2 22 Zb8+) 22 W£3 We? 23 De4 with overwhelming threats, 18...Wa2?! Black lets the chance slip by. 18...WaS is correct; after 19 &xg7 (19 Bc4 Bd8 20 Wg4 h5 21 We2 WdS is winning for Black) 19...0-0-0 20 Xb1 Wxd2 (20...ixd2 21 Wf3 Wa2 22 Hal Wxc2 23 &xh8 favours White) 21 Wg4+ dc7 22 &xh8 Wxc2 23 Heel White would, itis true, retain good chances because of Black's ex- posed king, but there would still be some fight left. 19 &xg7 0-0-0 20 Xb3 (52/) With the queen shut out on a2, Black has no chances at all. 20...2.£6 Or 20...2f6 21 Hic4! Exd2 22 Exc6+ dd7 23 Wxd2+ dxc6 24 Wce3+ and wins. 21 Wg4+ dc7 22 Wfd+ cB 22...8d6 loses to 23 Hd3. 23 Axf6 Dxi6 24 Wxi6 Wxc2 25 WES5+ 1-0 al ow gS mee B 52f: After 20 Bb392 101 BRILLIANT CHESS MINIATURES 53 Adams - Wolff London (Watson, Farley & Williams) 1990 Pirc Defence 1e4d62d4 263 Dc3 227 4 2e3 c65 Wd2 bS 6 h4 Df6 7 £3 We7 7...h5 has been the most popular choice, achieving reasonable results for Black. 8 &h6 Exploiting the omission of ...h5. 8...2xh6 9 Wxh6 2e6 After 9...Abd7 10 Dh3, 11 Ags followed by 12 Wg7 is a threat. Therefore Black first develops his bishop, so as to be able to take on h3. 10 @h3 (53a) 10...2xh3 The draw- back is that this capture now costs Black a tempo. 11 Bxh3 Abd7 12 0-0-0 Db6 13 Sb1 0-0-0 14 We3 White’s queen has done its duty in preventing ...0-0 and can return to the centre. 14...e5 If Black does not take ac- tion, then White will play g4 and h5. 15 a3 (53b) 15...d5? It is risky for Black to open the game while positionally inferior, espe- cially as his king is insecure. 15...%he8 would have restricted White to an edge. 16 dxeS 16 Wg5 exd4 17 Bxd4 is also promis- ing. 16..Wxe5 17 £4 We7 17...Wc7 18 5 @fd7 19 Rxb5 cxbS 20 AxbS Ac4 21 Wxa7 gives White three pawns and an initiative for the piece. 18 e5 Afd7 18...g4 19 WE3 hS 20 He2 followed by dé is also good for White. 19 a4! a6? An error allowing White’s attack to break through. 19...b4 is best, al- though even here 20 a5 bxc3 21 axb6 axb6 22 Wxe3 Wc5 23 Wd2 &b7 24 b4 We7 25 b5 favours White, Note that 19...bxa4? fails to 20 Dxa4 Dxa4 (or 20...Wb4 21 Bd4) 21 Wrxa7 Dac5 22 Hb3!. 20 a5 Winning for White. 20...a8 (53c) 20...Dc4 loses to 21 Wa7. 21 @xd5! An attractive final combina- tion. 21...cxd5 22 Wa7 c7 23 Ec3 Db8 24 g3! 1-0 Black cannot meet the threat of 25 3+,101 Brituant Cress MiniATURES 93 54 Khalifman - Nikolié Moscow (GMA) 1990 French Defence, Winawer Variation 1 e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3 Dc3 2b4 4 e5 c5 5 a3 &xc3+ 6 bxc3 De7 7 Wed 0-0 8 2d3 ®bc6?! 8...f5 is the main line. 8...Abc6 is now considered inferior on account of the continuation played in this game. 9 Wh5 (54a) 9.2571 9.,.Dg6 is a better chance, although also insufficient for equality, e.g. 10 Df3 We7 11 Re3 c4 12 Kxg6 fxg6 13 Wg4 and White is slightly better. 9...h6? is a blunder which has claimed a number of vic- tims: 10 &xh6! gxh6 11 Wxh6 DFS 12 Rxf5 exf5 13 0-0-0! gives White a decisive attack. 10 @£3 £6 11 g4! (54b) This direct approach gives White a very strong attack. His queen and minor pieces are already in good attack- ing positions; opening the g-file allows the rook to join in, 11...c4 11...fxe5?! is bad af- ter 12 gxf5 e4 13 Dgs h6 14 Axe! dxe4 15 Hgl!, while 11...g6 12 Wh3 Dg7 13 Wh6l is also unpleasant for Black. 12 gxf5 This in- novation, instead of the previously played 12 exf6 and 12 e2, effectively put the whole line out of business for Black. 12...cxd3 13 Bgl (54c) 13...exf5 This is the critical posi- lion. Firstly, let’s dispose of Black’s inferior defences: 1) 13...We8 fails to 14 Wxe8 Bxe8 15 exf6 exf5+ 16 De5! DxeS 17 Hxg7+ witha large advantage to White. 2) 13...dxc2 14 2h6 HE7 15 &d2 247 led to catastrophe after 16 &xg7! Exg7 17 Wh6 WE8 18 Hxg7+ Wxg7 19 Hel Wxgl 20 ®Dxgl fxeS 21 £6 1-0 in M.Palac-V.Kova- éevié, Vinkovci 1995. 3) 13...Wa5 14 Hxg7+! &xg7 15 @h6+ seh8 16 Qxf8 Wxc3+ 17 Sfl Wral+ 18 eo and Black cannot meet the threat of 19 7. B 54c: After 13 Egl94 101 Brituiant CHEss MINIATURES 54d: After 17 fxg6 (analysis) a “7 2 54f: After 18 Hgi+ 1-0 4) This leaves 13...De7, undoubtedly the most resilient of Black's defences. Although perhaps nota forced loss, there is nothing at- tractive about this line for Black. White con- tinues 14 exf6 Hxf6 15 Exg7+!! &xg7 16 Wy5+ Dg6 (16...£7 17 De5+ wins) 17 fixg6 (54d) 17...hxg6 (or 17...We7? 18 Wh6+ and now both 18...@h8 19 &g5 Hxg6 20 ‘Wxg6 and 18...2g8 19 &g5 hxg6 20 Wh4 7 21 De5 win for White) 18 24! 2d7 (the alternatives 18...def7 19 @e5, 18...018 19 Wh6+ and 18...WaS 19 Re5 Wxc3+ 20 sof] Wxal+ 21 dg? are all lost for Black) 19 BeS dxc2 (19...c8 20 cxd3 Bxc3 21 €d2 and White wins after 21...2b3 22 Bgl Se8 23 Hed) 20 ha! with the branch: 4a) 20...We7 21 hS Bf8 (21...Re8 22 ®h2 is similar) 22 Dh2 wins. 4b) 20....a4 21 hS Hf7 22 Oxf6 Wxi6 23 DeS+ de? 24 Dxg6+ G7 25 De5+ be7 26 £4 Hc8 27 ded? leading to a winning end- ing. 0) 20....Se8 21 Dh2! f7 22 Who! ve7 (22...g5 23 Wh7+ Gf8 24 Wh8+ ¢f7 25 Ded and 22...2b5 23 Des HES 24 We7+ He8 25 Df6+ Exf6 26 Rxf6 Was 27 We8+ are also hopeless for Black) 23 &xf6+ @xf6 24 WE8+ Rf7 25 Dgd+ SES 26 Wxf7+! Sxg4 27 Se2 (forcing mate) 1-0 Kruppa- Komarov, Kherson 1991. 14 Qh6 Bf7 15 Sd2! (54e) Clearing the first rank for White’s last piece to join the at- tack. 15...2e6 16 2xg7! We have already seen this sacrifice in line ‘2’ above; here, ina slightly different setting, it also proves deci- sive. 16...2xg7 17 Exg7+ Sxg7 18 Egl+ (54f) 1-0 There is no defence, e.g. 18...2h8 (or 18.88 19 Wxh7 Ec8 20 Hg7) 19 Dh4 @Dxd4 (19...Wd7 20 Dg6+ Hg7 21 Dts+ $h8 22 Wh6 wins Black’s queen at the very least) 20 Dg6+ deg7 21 Df4+ dhs 22 cxdd and wins.101 Britutanr CHESS MINIATURES 95 55 Arencibia - Seirawan Manila Interzonal 1990 Modern Defence 1.d4 d6 2 Dc3 g6 3 h4?! Amazingly, in a million-game database I could only find one other example of this position. 3...2g7 3...Df6 4 e4 transposes into a line of the Pirc. 45 Dc6 5 Df3 e5! (55a) Seirawan re- acts thematically to White's flank advance by counterattacking in the centre. Thanks to the time White has spent pushing his h- pawn, Black is not behind in development. 6 h6 2f6 7 dS White closes the centre and drives the knight back to base. 7...b8 8 e4 2e7 (55b) Black intends to develop by ... D6 and ...0-0, Eventually, he might aim for counterplay by ...f5, but he will have to take care in view of the proximity of White’s h- pawn to his king. 9 &b5S+ 9 Be2 Df6 10 Qd2 followed by Ac4 is approximately equal. 9...d7 Not 9...c6? 10 dxc6 bxc6 11 &c4 with a slight plus for White. 10 g4? So tar White has played ambitiously but has not taken too many risks. However, with this further pawn advance (aimed at preventing Black’s kingside development) he goes too far. 10 Re3 Dgf6 11 Ad2 is safer, with equality. 10...Dgf6 Before g5 seals Black in. 11 Hb4 (55c) 11 g5 DhS favours Black as f4 is a tempting square for the knight, while 11 Big 0-0 followed by ...Ac5 will at- tack e4 and g4. 11...a6 Black is careful not to allow White to mix things up. 11...0-0 12 @E5!7 gxf5 13 exf5 may not be objectively sound but it would certainly be troublesome in practice. 12 2d3 c5 Attacking g4. As 13 £3 and 13 Egil both run into 13...Axg4, White is forced to push. 13 g5 Dh5 14 Nel Far from giving attacking chances, White's carly kingside advance has left him scram- bling to hold on to his protruding pawns. 5Se: After 11 @h496 101 Brituiant CHess MINIATURES 14...Df4! 15 Bxf4 15 Df3 0-0 followed by ..£6 is no better. 15...exf4 16 £3 0-0 (55d) Black has a clear advantage. Thanks to all his pawn moves, White is well behind in de- velopment. In contrast, Black is safely cas- tled and is ready to break open the position by ...f6, both activating his dark-squared bishop and opening lines towards the white king. 17 &e2? White seeks a tactical solu- tion to his positional problems, even though this is almost always a bad idea. 17 Wad2 £6 18 gxf6 2xf6 19 0-0-0 favours Black due to his extremely powerful dark-squared bishop, but at least it would still be a fight. 17...f£6 18 Dada After 18 Wd4 Dd7 19 0-0-0 De5 White is forced to take on f6, when Black has an even larger advantage than in the note to White’s 17th move. 18...fxg5 19 b4 This is White’s idea: he hopes to win material, because 19...d7 allows 20 De6, 19... 2£6 (55e) The long dark diagonal, on which three white pieces are conveniently lined up, proves the Achilles’ Heel. 20 Wd2 20 bxc5 dxc5 regains the piece with an overwhelm- ing position. 20...2e5 Clearing £6 for the queen. 21 Hdl 21 bxc5 W6! 22 0-0-0 dxcS wins, while 21 0-0-0 £3 followed by ...2f4 is catastrophic. Thus the king must stay in the centre. 21...Wf6 (55f) White’s position is hopeless. His plan to gain material has backfired and he is a pawn down with his king trapped in the centre. 22 &g4 22 bxc5 dxc5 wins for Black. 22...&xg4 23 Exe4 DAT 24 Dce2 £3 0-1 Since 25 Aci Rf4 26 Wo3 DeS 27 Hgl &xcl 28 Hxcl Wed leads to further material loss. This game provides a textbook example of the refutation of a premature attack. 55f; After 21...W6101 BRittiant CHESS MINIATURES Smagin - Sahovié Biel Open 1990 Nimzowitsch Defence 56 1 e4 Ac6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 The position resem- bles a 3 e5 Caro-Kann in that Black can de- velop his light-squared bishop outside his central pawn-chain, 3...2f5 4 3 e6 5 Qd2 An unusual move. 5 Me2, 5 2d3 and 5 Df3 are more common alternatives. 5...f6 5...Wd7 followed by ...0-0-0 is another possible plan. 6 £4 fxe5 7 fxe5 Dh6 8 Ddf3 DL7 9 De2 (56a) White’s idea is to hunt down the {5-bishop by @g3 and (after ...&g6) h4. However, this plan requires several time- consuming knight moves. 9...2e7 10 Dg3 2g4? 10...2g6 11 h4 0-0 is more logical, playing for a lead in development. After 12 h5 Qe4, for example, White cannot play 13 Dxed as 13...dxe4 followed by 14...2h4+ wins for Black. 11 243 “gS (56b) The point of Black’s previous move was to exert pres- sure against the pinned knight, but it runs into an unexpected tactical riposte. 12 Axg5! 12 &xg5 Rxg5 13 0-0 followed by We2 would also be favourable for White since Black’s bishops are awkwardly placed. How- ever, the sacrificial text-move is more force- ful. 12...xd1_13 Dxe6 Wb8 13...Wd7 is refuted by 14 xg7+ followed by 15 &£5, trapping Black’s queen. After 13...Wc8, White continues 14 Dxg7+ &f7 15 2h6 gd 16 0-0+ dg8 17 DES W8 18 Dxe7+ Dxe7 19 h3 (to play DhS) 19...Rxh3 20 D5 with a decisive attack. 14 Axg7+ (56c) 14...22d8 14.,.$f8 is met by 15 Rh6 2g4 16 0-0+ &g8 17 h3 and now both 17...2£8 18 Eixf8+ Wxf8 19 hxg4 and 17...2d7 18 e6 Re8 19 Axe8 Wxe8 20 Hf4 are clearly better for White. After 14...2f7 White has at least two routes to the advantage. He can continue simply by 15 A7£5 2g4 16 Dh6+ Ri aa agae 2 g a enema Am 2 GAR awe 7 56b: After 11...Dg5 56c: After 14 Axg7+