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JANUARY
2017
INDIAN
GRANDMASTER
Deep Sengupta
wins Hastings
DOHA RAPID & BLITZ
Ukrainians and
Carlsen Rule
visit WWW.
WESLEY SO
britishchessmagazine. Wins the London Classic
co.uk and the Grand Tour
SUBSCRIBE · How Nigel Short won the British Knockout
& SAVE · So's progress to the top
· The FIDE Open – taken by the French
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BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE, the World’s Oldest Chess Journal
www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk
Editors
Milan Dinic, Shaun Taulbut
and Jimmy Adams
774
Prepress Specialist
Milica Mitic
GM Nick Pert
Photography
The London Classic
Maria Emelianova, Max Avdeev,
Qatar Chess Association, Harald Fietz 6 The London Classic
and Josip Asik Wesley So wins The classic and
the Grand Tour
Advertising by GM Nick Pert
Stephen Lowe
22 92nd Hastings International
Enquiries Chess Congress
editor@britishchessmagazine.co.uk
24 Doha Rapid & Blitz
ISSN 0007-0440 Ukrainians and carlsen Rule
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60 Obituary: Mark Taimanov
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Life split between chess, music
and love
by Milan Dinic
StrENgthENS
EDITORIAL TEAM
We are delighted to announce that Milan Dinic has joined our editorial team alongside Jimmy
Adams, Josip Asik and IM Shaun Taulbut.
Milan in fact joined BCM as Deputy Editor in November last year, and has already had a very
positive impact both on what we do and how we do it. We look forward to Milan introducing new
ideas for the further development of BCM.
Born and educated in Belgrade and luent in English and Serbian, Milan has spent most of
his professional life working as a journalist and reporter in Serbia, the Balkans and more
recently the UK. Milan has worked for some of the biggest names in the media world including
FOX TV and The Guardian newspaper. Since moving to London in 2014 he has continued
to publish articles on a wide rangeof topical issues such as the role of the press, terrorism,
engaging the young in politics, media ownership, Russian-Serbian relations, and more recently
politics and business in the UK.
Milan has a BA and MA in Political Science and related subjects from Belgrade University, and
a MSc in Media and Communication from the London School of Economics.
As a chess player, Milan shares BCM’s and our partner Chess Informant’s deep passion
and enthusiasm for chess. He played chess actively as a junior and participated in the youth
championships of Yugoslavia and Serbia and also the European Junior Chess Championship. His
father – Vladan Dinic – is a prominent journalist and a chess player in Serbia who was very well
acquainted with leading igures from the global chess world of that era. Thanks to him Milan has
met some of the leading chess players, including Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov,
Ljubomir Ljubojevic and Bora Ivkov (although we do not have a record of any games played
between them!) Notable chess players interviewed by Milan include the current World Champion
Magnus Carlsen, Svetozar Gligoric and our own Raymond Keene.
So, please join us in welcoming Milan to the BCM team. Milan would be delighted to hear from
you, and you can contact him directly at editor@britishchessmagazine.co.uk.
May we take this opportunity to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year!
Wesley So
wins The classic and
the Grand Tour
The 2016 London Classic
is the climax of the Grand
Chess Tour − a circuit of
international events bringing
together the world's best
players.
The winner of this year’s key
tournament, as well as of the
whole Grand Chess Tour, was
Wesley So, who has made
remarkable progress in 2016.
11.¤xe5 ¥xe5 12.£d2 e6 13.f4 ¥c7 13...¥g7 a novelty. I think that David found it over
Is the other option, when White usually plays the board, it is a decent move though.
c4. After ¥c7 Black prevents White from
playing c4 due to the pin with ¥a5. 20.¥xc5 ¥f5
better option, but after ¦c5 it is not clear 37.gxh4 ¥e6 The white kingside pawns
that White is better. 24...¦c5. are weak, so now is a good time to sacrifice
back the extra pawn.
24...£b6 25.£xb6 axb6 26.¢f2 ¢f8
27.¦d6 38.h5 gxh5 39.¦c1 ¦g8 Here David
XIIIIIIIIY offered a draw, but now I sensed that I was
better. Both players were short on time at
9-+r+-mk-+0 this stage.
9+-+-+p+p0
40.¦c5! h4 41.f5 Unseating the bishop
9-zp-tR-+p+0 from its strong square on e6.
9zp-+-+l+-0
9-+P+-zP-+0 41...¥b3 42.¦c3 ¥d5 43.¢f4
¦g2?!43...¢d6 44.¦h3 ¦g2 45.¦xh4
9+-+-+-+-0 ¦f2+ 46.¢e3 ¦xf5=.
9P+-+LmKPzP0 XIIIIIIIIY
9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0
xiiiiiiiiy 9+-+-mkp+-0
Now the position should be equal, although
White has to be a little more careful. 9-+-+-+-+0
9zpL+l+P+-0
27...¥e6 28.¦xb6 ¥xc4 29.¦b2 ¥e6 9P+-+-mK-zp0
30.a4! ¥d7 31.¥b5 ¥e6 32.¥e2 ¥d7
33.¥b5 At this stage David decided to take 9+-tR-+-+-0
some risks to play for the win, but he nearly 9-+-+-+rzP0
regretted it.
9+-+-+-+-0
33...¦b8 34.¢e3 ¢e7 35.g3 h5 36.¦b1 xiiiiiiiiy
It’s a waiting game as Black cannot cross The first mistake.
to the d file with his king because then I
can play ¦d1. 44.¢e5! ¥a2 Only move.
44...¦d2 45.¦c7+ ¢f8 46.¦d7 wins.;
36...h4 36...¥xb5 Leads to a draw. 37.axb5 44...¥a8 45.¦c7+ ¢d8 46.¦xf7 winning.
a4 38.¢d4 ¢d6 39.¢c4 a3 40.¦a1 ¦a8
41.¢b3 ¢c5 42.¦xa3 ¦xa3+ 43.¢xa3 45.¦c7+ ¢d8 46.¦d7+! Forcing the king
¢xb5 44.¢b3= away from f7.
XIIIIIIIIY 46...¢c8 47.h3 ¦h2 48.¦d3 48.¢d6
9-tr-+-+-+0 ¦xh3 49.¢c6 ¦c3+ 50.¢b6 h3 51.¦d4
9+-+lmkp+-0 Threatening ¥a6. 51...¢b8 52.¦h4 Is
better for White.
9-+-+-+p+0
9zpL+-+-+-0 48...¥b1 49.¦c3+ 49.¦f3 In the game I
9P+-+-zP-zp0 was kicking myself for not playing this
move because I can get the king into
9+-+-mK-zP-0 f6 and keep all the pawns protected.
9-+-+-+-zP0 49...¥a2 50.¢f6 ¢d8 51.¦d3+ ¢c7
52.¥e8 ¦f2 53.¦d7+ ¢c8 54.¦a7
9+R+-+-+-0 And White can start to harvest the
xiiiiiiiiy black pawns.
19...¦c8? 19...bxc5 20.¤xc4 ¥xc4 27.¦h7 ¦xc3 28.¥g5 ¦e8 29.¦a6 ¦c2?!
21.¦xc5 ¥xa2 22.h5 ¢f7 when White is 29...¦c7 Black should defend more solidly
better, but Black should be able to hold in here, his structure is worse so he will suffer,
an opposite bishop type of endgame. but White will have a tough job winning.
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9-+r+k+-tr0 9-+-+r+-+0
9zp-+-zp-+p0 9+-+kzp-+R0
9lzp-+p+p+0 9R+-+p+p+0
9+-zP-+-tR-0 9+-+l+-vL-0
9-+n+p+-zP0 9-+-+p+-+0
9+-zP-sN-zP-0 9+-+-+-zP-0
9P+-+PzP-+0 9P+r+PzP-+0
9+-vL-mK-+R0 9+-+-mK-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
20.h5 ¦g8 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.¦h4 Now 30.¥xe7! 30.¦a7+ ¢c6 31.¥xe7 ¥c4
Short can bring his other rook into the would be fine for Black.
attack.
30...¦xe7? The exchange sacrifice doesn’t
22...¤xe3 23.¥xe3 ¥b7 24.cxb6 axb6 work here. 30...¦xe2+! 31.¢xe2 ¥c4+
25.¦b5 ¥d5 26.¦xb6 ¢d7 Black cannot 32.¢e3 ¥xa6 33.¥b4+ ¢c6 34.¢xe4
take the c3-pawn immediately. 26...¦xc3 leaves White a pawn up, and Black has a
27.¦b8+ ¢f7 28.¦f4+ ¢g7 29.¥d4+ long struggle to defend, but it is far from
¢h7 30.¦h4# over.
BRITISH KNOCKOUT
Pairings and results
Qtr-final 1 1 2 3 4 5
Nigel Short 2679 ½ ½ 1 1 - 3
Daniel Fernandez 2450 ½ ½ 0 0 - 1
Qtr-final 2 1 2 3 4 5 Semi-final 1 1 2 3 4 5
Gawain Jones 2663 1 ½ - - - 1½ Nigel Short 2679 ½ ½ 1 1 - 3
Jonathan Rowson 2565 0 ½ - - - ½ Luke McShane 2655 ½ ½ 0 0 - 1
Qtr-final 3 1 2 3 4 5 Semi-final 2 1 2 3 4 5
Nick Pert 2566 ½ 0 - - - ½ Gawain Jones 2663 ½ 0 - - - ½
David Howell 2655 ½ 1 - - - 1½ David Howell 2655 ½ 1 - - - 1½
Qtr-final 4 1 2 3 4 5
Jonathan Hawkins 2590 ½ ½ - - - 1
Luke McShane 2655 ½ ½ 1 1 - 3
Final 1 2 3 4 5 6
David Howell 2655 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 2½
Nigel Short 2679 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 3½
21...¥xc4 22.¦e3 ¥g7 23.¤f4 ¦d7 to finish in 2nd place with Anand, Kramnik
XIIIIIIIIY and Nakamura in joint 3rd place on 5/9.
England’s Michael Adams recovered from
9-+r+-+k+0 a 0/2 start to finish on a solid 4/9. Veselin
9zp-+r+-vlp0 Topalov really struggled and has to be
given credit for his great fighting spirit to
9-zp-+-+p+0 win his last game against Levon Aronian to
9+-+P+p+-0 help him to 2/9.
9-vLl+-sN-+0
9+-+-tR-+-0 The FIDE Open –
9P+-+-+PzP0
9+-tR-mK-+-0 taken by the French
xiiiiiiiiy
Now So goes after the d-pawn. Alongside the Grand Chess Tour event
was a FIDE Open where over 200 players
24.a4 24.d6 ¥d4 25.¦e7 (25.¦e2 ¢f7 competed in a rated event which contained
26.¤d5 ¥xe2 27.¦xc8 ¥a6 28.¦c7 many strong grandmasters.
¦xc7 29.dxc7 ¥e5 will likely lead to a
similar fate as the c-pawn can eventually The French players Etienne Bacrot and
be rounded up.) 25...¦xe7+ 26.dxe7 ¢f7 Sebastian Maze came out on top with
27.¦d1 ¥f6 and Black can slowly try and 7½/9 followed by a group of 7 players on
round up the e pawn. 7/9. Jonathan Hawkins and Mark Hebden
were the highest placed English players on
24...¥h6 25.g3 ¥xf4 26.gxf4 ¦xd5 6½/9. Although Keith Arkell didn’t have a
27.¦e7 ¦d4 28.¥d2 ¢f8 29.¥b4 ¦e8 particularly impressive tournament, his one
XIIIIIIIIY highlight was a victory over tournament
winner, Sebastian Maze.
9-+-+rmk-+0
9zp-+-tR-+p0 The game that I have chosen to look at
9-zp-+-+p+0 represents a key encounter between Bacrot
and Bogner in which Bacrot turned a slight
9+-+-+p+-0 positional advantage into a powerful attack.
9PvLltr-zP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 Etienne Bacrot – Sebastian Bogner
9-+-+-+-zP0 London Classic Open 2016 (7.2)
9+-tR-mK-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 The Petroff is another
Two pawns down Nakamura decides it is rock solid Black option against 1.e4.
time to resign. So made the game look very
straightforward against a hugely talented 3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.d4 d5 6.¥d3
opponent. ¥d6 7.c4 c6 8.0–0 0–0 9.¤c3 ¤xc3
0-1 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.¥xc4 ¥f5 11...¥g4 Is
the main alternative.
A great result for Wesley So, it will be
interesting to see if he can challenge for 12.¦e1 ¤d7 13.¥g5 £a5 14.£d2 ¤b6
the World Championship in the future. 15.¥b3 ¤d5 16.¥xd5 cxd5 17.¥e7 ¥xe7
Fabiano Caruana scored a credible 5½/9 18.¦xe7
has competed with the World elite for many ¥h8 McShane tries to keep all the pieces
years. This game helped him on the way to on the board as he hopes to play for the win
a deserved tournament victory and £6,250. himself to try and defend his title.
30.¦xd8+ £xd8 31.¦c6 31.¤xc5 ¦e1! This 34...¦d5! wins because 35.¦c8 ¥d4+
is strong against ¤xc5, threatening £d4+. 36.¢h1 ¤g3+ 37.hxg3 ¦h5#.
An example is; 32.g4 ¥d4+ 33.¢g2 ¥xc5 XIIIIIIIIY
34.gxf5 ¦xf1 35.¢xf1 £d1+ 36.¢g2 £g1#
9-+-wq-+kvl0
31...¤xe4 32.fxe4 ¦xe4 McShane has 9+-+-+p+p0
played excellently in the complications
so far to reach a winning position, but 9-+R+-+pvL0
now things start to go wrong. 9+p+-+n+-0
33.£d3 ¦d4 33...¥d4+ 34.¢h1 ¦h4 35.¥d2
9-+-+-+-+0
¦xh2+ (35...£b8 also wins easily.) 36.¢xh2 9+P+-+-+-0
£h4+ 37.£h3 £f2 38.£d3 ¥e5+ 39.¢h1 9P+Q+-+PzP0
¤g3+ is crushing.; 33...£xd3?? 34.¦c8+.
9+-+r+LmK-0
34.£c2 ¦d1?? xiiiiiiiiy
An inexplicable blunder. 35.£xd1 ¥d4+ 36.¢h1 ¤xh6 McShane
Final Crosstable
Nr. Title Name Fed. Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 GM Adams, Michael ENG 2748 0 ½ ½ 1 ½
2 GM So, Wesley USA 2794 1 ½ ½ 1 ½
3 GM Giri, Anish NED 2771 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
4 GM Anand, Viswanathan IND 2779 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½
5 GM Topalov, Veselin BUL 2760 0 0 ½ 0 0
6 GM Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2809 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1
7 GM Caruana, Fabiano USA 2823 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½
8 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2804 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½
9 GM Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2779 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½
10 GM Aronian, Levon ARM 2785 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½
Final Standings
Nr Pno ID Title Name Rating Fed Score TPR RC
1 2 5202213 GM So, Wesley 2794 USA 6 2909 2784
2 7 2020009 GM Caruana, Fabiano 2823 USA 5½ 2861 2781
3 6 4101588 GM Kramnik, Vladimir 2809 RUS 5 2826 2783
4 4 5000017 GM Anand, Viswanathan 2779 IND 5 2829 2786
5 9 2016192 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2779 USA 5 2829 2786
6 3 24116068 GM Giri, Anish 2771 NED 4½ 2787 2787
7 8 623539 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2804 FRA 4 2740 2783
8 10 13300474 GM Aronian, Levon 2785 ARM 4 2742 2785
9 1 400041 GM Adams, Michael 2748 ENG 4 2746 2789
10 5 2900084 GM Topalov, Veselin 2760 BUL 2 2568 2788
92 Hastings nd
4NCL league in full swing
International
Chess Congress
Dominic Lawson - President of ECF, GM Deep Sengupta, winner of Hastings Masters,
with Golombek Trophy and Wayne Bradshaw, Marketing Director of Tradewise
Insurance Services - co-sponsors of the event.
The 92nd Tradewise Hastings International Chess Congress was held between 28th December 2016
and 5th January 2017. The winner of this years’ tournament was Indian grandmaster Deep Sengupta
who scored 7/9 points.
Sengupta was presented with the Golombek Trophy and first prize of £2,000. The prize giving
ceremony was attended by Judy Rogers, Mayor of Hastings, Wayne Bradshaw, Marketing Director
of Tradewise Insurance Services and Dominic Lawson, President of the English Chess Federation.
GM Sengupta’s name already appears on the trophy when he tied with Arghyadip Das for first
prize in 2010/11 but won on tie-break.
Second equal with 6 ½ points from 9 were the following who shared 2nd prize £1,200: IM Miklos
Galyas (HUN), IM R. Praggnanandhaa (IND), GM Bogdan Lalic (ENG), IM Arghyadi Das (IND) FM
Ravi Haria (ENG). Seventh equal with 6 points were:GM S. P Sethuraman (IND). GM AleksandrFier
(BRA), GM Ben Gledura (HUN), GM Murali Karthikeyan (IND), GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (DEN) and
IM Justin Tan (AUS).
The 92nd Hastings International Chess Congress was dedicated this year to the memory of long-time
Tournament Director, Con Power.
Since the well-known tournament of 1895 which brought together the greatest names in chess of
that time, Hastings has remained one of the most important places for chess in the UK and globally.
Altogether, 26 countries were represented with 11 GM’s 12 IM’s, 1 WGM and 3 IM’s participating.
GM Chris Ward held a junior coaching session which proved popular and his daily commentary was
well received as ever. GM Matthew Sadler came down and joined Chris in the commentary room
where he also took time to talk about his new book “Chess for Life” co-written with Natasha Regan.
In the next edition of BCM, we will bring you an extensive coverage of the 92nd Hastings
International Chess Congress.
Ukrainians
and Carlsen
Rule
By GM Aleksandar Colovic
correct when he said that after his next creates weaknesses in Black's camp on
move white is already better. the queenside. 12...a5! using the fact that
9...b5! was the only move here 10.bxc5 the £c2 defends the pawn on e4 13.bxa5
bxc4 11.e3 (11.£xc4 ¥b7 gives black (13.¤xa5 £xc2 14.¦xc2 ¤xe4 is Black’s
great compensation in view of his better idea) 13...b5! 14.axb6 ¤xb6 15.¤cd2
development) 11...¥a6 12.¥b2 (12.¥xc4 (15.¤xb6 £xb6 16.¥d3 ¥a6 and Black
£a5+ 13.£d2 £xc5 is good for Black) has initiative for the pawn.) 15...£xc2
12...£a5+ 13.¥c3 £c7 14.¥d4 £a5+ 16.¦xc2 ¥xa3 with complete equality.
with an equal position.
XIIIIIIIIY 13.¤a5 £xc2 14.¦xc2 ¤xe4 15.¥xb5
In these endgames, when White has a
9rsnlwq-trk+0 queenside majority and Black has an extra
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 pawn in the centre it is usually possible
to tell who has the upper hand based
9-+-+psn-+0 on the activity of the pieces. Here White
9+-+-+-+-0 is much more active and can freely use
9-zPN+-+-+0 the weaknesses on Black’s queenside.
Additionally, Black still hasn’t solved his
9zP-+-+N+-0 opening problems.
9-+Q+PzPPzP0
15...¤d6 16.¥c6 ¦b8 17.0–0 ¤b6 18.¦d1
9tR-vL-mKL+R0 White has many tempting options how to
xiiiiiiiiy
10.¥b2 Black’s problems here are his
Vassily Ivanchuk
lag in development and White’s space Photo by: Maria Emelianova/
advantage on the queenside. From this Qatar Chess Association
moment onwards Ivanchuk displays
excellent technique and outplays the World
Champion in a convincing fashion. The few
inaccuracies are excusable bearing in mind
that this was a rapid game.
continue but the computer doesn’t approve 20...fxe5 21.¤c6 ¥b7 22.¤xe7+ ¢f8
of this. 18.¥d4 ¥a6 19.¦fc1; 18.¦fc1 ¦d8 XIIIIIIIIY
19.¤e5. 9-tr-tr-mk-+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9zpl+-sN-zpp0
9-trl+-trk+0 9-sn-snp+-+0
9zp-+-vlpzpp0 9+-+-zp-+-0
9-snLsnp+-+0 9-zP-+-+-+0
9sN-+-+-+-0 9zP-+-+L+-0
9-zP-+-+-+0 9-vLR+-zPPzP0
9zP-+-+N+-0 9+-+R+-mK-0
9-vLR+-zPPzP0 xiiiiiiiiy
9+-+R+-mK-0 23.¥xe5! The geometrical motifs continue.
xiiiiiiiiy
18...¦d8 Black again misses a chance to 23...¤bc4 23...¢xe7 24.¦c7+ and the
alleviate his situation. 18...¥a6! controlling ¤d6 is lost.
c4 and finally finishing development
19.¥e5 (19.¤e5 ¦bc8; 19.¥d7!? ¥b5! 24.¥xd6 ¤xd6 25.¤c6 ¥xc6 26.¦xc6
20.¥xb5 ¤xb5 21.¤c6 ¦b7 22.¤fd4 After a flurry of activity white has landed a
still with some edge for white) 19...¦bd8 technically winning position. Even though
20.¤d4². a rapid game, Ivanchuk’s technique was
impeccable. Good technique is always a
19.¤e5! f6 20.¥f3 A very nice geometry, sign of good form!
from c6 the knight will attack 3 pieces at
once! Perhaps Carlsen missed this retreat 26...¤b5 27.¦xd8+ ¦xd8 28.¦a6
when he played his 18th move? White doesn’t want to exchange his
a3–pawn for the black e6–pawn - this
would eliminate his queenside majority
and would exchange a healthy pawn for a
Ivanchuk vs Carlsen
Photo by: Maria Emelianova/ weak one. Instead white simply tries to take
Qatar Chess Association the pawn for free.
28.¦xe6 ¤xa3.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-tr-mk-+0
9zp-+-+-zpp0
9R+-+p+-+0
9+n+-+-+-0
9-zP-+-+-+0
9zP-+-+L+-0
9-+-+-zPPzP0
9+-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
28...¦c8 29.h4 ¦c7 30.¥g4
e5 31.¦a5 ¤d6 32.¦xe5 ¤c4
33.¦f5+ ¢e7 34.¦f3 ¤e5 35.¦e3 and 2 players - Ivanchuk and Grischuk, all of
now White is two pawns up. The rest is them scoring 11/15. Both of them had a
elementary. better tie-break than Carlsen and the title
went to Ivanchuk.
35...¢d6 36.¥e2 h6 37.f4 ¦c1+ 38.¢f2
¤d7 39.¥f3 ¦c2+ 40.¢g3 ¦a2 41.¦d3+ Perhaps the decisive moment for
¢e7 42.¦c3 ¢d8 43.¢g4 Since he cannot Ivanchuk’s victory was in the penultimate
advance on the queenside, White advances round when he was trying to save the
on the kingside. It’s curious to note that his game against Anand. Instead of the desired
queenside majority didn’t make a single draw suddenly he got very lucky. This was
move after move 9 (!!) but its presence was Anand’s only loss in the tournament!
felt throughout the whole game.
61...¦xe5 0-1
”
surprised by Jobava’s 3...d5 so he steers the
game clear of complications.
6.¤xc6 £xc6 7.£e2+ ¥e6 8.£b5 £xb5
9.¥xb5+ c6 10.¥e2 0–0–0 11.c3 and I
The decisive don't see much compensation for Black
moment for here, but he managed to draw: Bok (2598)
- Jobava (2702) Doha 2016; 6.¤f3 ¥g4
Karjakin was in the followed by 0–0–0, was probably the main
penultimate round. line of Jobava's preparation.
A crazy game with XIIIIIIIIY
Wojtaszek that 9r+l+kvl-tr0
should have ended 9zppzp-+pzpp0
9-+n+-sn-+0
in a draw had an 9+-+qsN-+-0
unbelievable finish. 9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
62...¢d7 Now more checks and now 9PzPP+-zPPzP0
Black’s pawns decide.
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
63.£xh6 £e3+ 0–1 xiiiiiiiiy
6...£xd4 7.¤xc6 £xd1+ 8.¤xd1 bxc6
Carlsen had some strong words for this 9.¥e2 9.¤e3 ¥c5 10.g3 0-0 11.¥g2 ¥a6
game and quite understandably so! In and Black had piece activity as way of
15.¥g3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+r+k+0
9zp-zpl+pzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-vln+-+-0
9-+N+-+-+0
9+-+-+LvL-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
The bishops are perfectly poised now.
XIIIIIIIIY
19...¥xf3 20.¦xe8+ ¦xe8 21.gxf3 f5?!
21...¤f4 shutting the bishop, was the 9-+-+-+k+0
only chance 22.¢f1 ¢f8 23.b4 and 9+-+-+-+p0
White still has an advantage, but Black 9-+-+-+p+0
can fight.
9zp-+R+p+-0
22.¥xd6 cxd6 23.¢f1?! Preventing 9-+-+-+-+0
...¦e2, but allowing an unpleasant pin.
23.¤xa7! ¦e2 24.¦b1 and the computer 9+P+n+P+-0
doesn’t fear ghosts, something that cannot 9P+-+rzP-zP0
be said for humans. 9+-+-+K+-0
23...a6?! 23...¦c8! would have made it xiiiiiiiiy
difficult for White 24.b4 a6 25.a4 ¢f8 32.¦d8+! Of course!
with the idea of ...¢e8–e7 or ... ¤e7
26.¦d1 ¦xc6 27.¦xd5 g6 and Black 32...¢f7 33.¢xe2 And the rest is easy.
should draw.
33...¤c1+ 34.¢d2 ¤xa2 35.¦a8 ¤b4
24.¦d1 ¤b6?! 24...¦c8! 25.¦xd5 ¦xc6 36.¦xa5 ¤c6 37.¦a4 ¤e5 38.¢e3 g5
26.¦xf5 ¦c1+ 27.¢g2 ¦c2 should draw 39.h3 h5 40.f4 gxf4+ 41.¢xf4 ¤d3+
for Black. 42.¢xf5 ¤xf2 43.h4 1-0
XIIIIIIIIY A satisfying finish for Karjakin. I saw a
9-+-+r+k+0 documentary about him, made right before
9+-+-+-zpp0 the match with Carlsen. The film ends with
Karjakin twice repeating the phrase “I will
9psnNzp-+-+0 be World Champion.” And so he became
9+-+-+p+-0 one.
9-+-+-+-+0 Carlsen was disappointed by his two
shared firsts. I suppose only Carlsen can be
9+-+-+P+-0 disappointed by such a result. The public
9PzP-+-zP-zP0 expects him to win everything and it seems
9+-+R+K+-0 he expects the same. But the fact that he
shared first place in both tournaments
xiiiiiiiiy shows his unprecedented consistency -
25.b3! Finally stabilising the position and no other player comes even close. It is no
from here onwards Black doesn't stand a wonder that Carlsen confidently tops all 3
chance (even in blitz). rating lists, classical, rapid and blitz. Even
though he lost on tie-break Carlsen still
25...d5 26.¤d4 The position now resembles remains the man to beat in all time controls.
Karjakin’s fine win against Anand in the
Moscow Candidates.
the Blitz with 13/17, half a point ahead of 9...c6 10.b4 ¤f8 11.¥b2 11.a4
Gunina and Lagno. Mamedyarov (2756) - Bekker Jensen
(2462) Reykjavik 2015.
Her winning streaks in the Rapid (starting
with 4/4) and in the Blitz (finishing with 11...e4 12.¤d2 ¥f5 Now we have a typical
5/5) were impressive, but even more position of the King’s Indian Attack with
impressive for me was that she lost only colours reversed - Black has the standard
one(!) game (against Lagno in the blitz) out plan of ...h5–h4–h3 (if allowed) in order to
of the 29 games she played in both events! weaken the white squares around white’s
A truly magnificent result! king and then manoeuvre the ¤f8 via h7 to
g5 to target f3.
The tone of the dominance was set in XIIIIIIIIY
the very first round in the Rapid. Facing
Zhukova with black, Muzychuk displayed 9r+-wqrsnk+0
her attacking talent after an exemplary 9zpp+-+pvlp0
treatment of the King’s Indian Attack
reversed. The rich possibilities that Black
9-+pzp-snp+0
had at her disposal are illustrated in the 9+-+-+l+-0
analysis of White’s 24th move; they show 9-zPPzPp+-+0
that Muzychuk was setting her opponents
problems that they were unable to solve. 9+-sN-zP-+-0
And that is a recipe for success. 9PvLQsNLzPPzP0
9tR-+-tR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Natalia Zhukova - Anna Muzychuk 13.¤b3 ¦c8 Prophylaxis against a possible
b5 or d5, positioning the rook on the same
World Rapid Women 2016 Doha QAT (1.2) file as the white queen.
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤f3 ¥g7 4.e3 A 14.£d2 d5 Strengthening the centre, but
fashionable way to avoid the Grunfeld, first also allowing white direct contact earlier.
introduced into modern practice in 2013 by 14...h5 was an alternative.
Zhukova’s former husband GM Grischuk.
15.¦ac1 h5 16.a4 h4 17.h3 This is the
4...0–0 5.¥e2 d6 Transposing to the King’s preferred reaction nowadays, rather than
Indian is a perfectly viable option for King’s allowing ...h3. It is more difficult to create
Indian players. But not all Grunfeld players something when the white squares aren’t
are King’s Indian players and here lies the weakened. But in this particular case it
subtlety of white's chosen move-order. gives Black an additional option because
5...d5 6.cxd5 ¤xd5 7.e4 this is the idea of the unfortunate position of the queen on
behind White’s move order - Black cannot d2 - after the knight lands on g5 Black will
exchange on c3 and start the typical attack threaten to take on h3 and then jump to f3
against White’s centre. 7...¤b6 8.0–0 with the knight.
Grischuk (2785) - Nepomniachtchi (2717)
Riga 2013. 17...¤8h7 18.b5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.¤c5 b6
and Black's queenside is untouchable.
6.¤c3 ¤bd7 7.0–0 e5 8.£c2 ¦e8 9.¦e1
This is rare, although it has been played by 18...dxc4 Inserting this exchange ensures
Mamedyarov. 9.¦d1 has been the choice that the files on the queenside will remain
of the strong players like Dreev, Grischuk closed, but there was a stronger move with
and Andreikin. the same idea.
to the analogous line after 20 £e2 now transposes to 24...¤g4) 25.¤f4 ¥xg2
Black cannot take on b5) 22.¤d2 ¦b8 with 26.¢xg2 h3+ 27.¤xh3 (27.¢h1? ¤f3)
complex play. 27...¤xh3 28.¢xh3 £g5 29.¦g1 £h5+
30.¢g2 £g5 31.¢h3 with a repetition;
21...¥xh3 Very aggressive and putting 24.£c2 ¦xd4 25.exd4 ¥xg2 26.¢xg2
psychological pressure on the opponent. ¦xc6 with a complete mess - Black is a
21...¦b8; 21...cxd5 are two moves preferred whole rook down but her threats are huge.
by the computer and objectively it is right,
but in a rapid game the fight is always who 24...exf3 25.gxh3
will take over the initiative first. XIIIIIIIIY
22.dxc6 £e7 23.¤d4 ¦ed8 24.f4?? 9-+rtr-+k+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9zp-+-wqpvl-0
9-+rtr-+k+0 9-+P+-snp+0
9zp-+-wqpvl-0 9+-+-+-sn-0
9-+P+-snp+0 9P+LsN-+-zp0
9+-+-+-sn-0 9+-sN-zPp+P0
9P+LsNpzP-zp0 9-vL-wQ-+-+0
9+-sN-zP-+l0 9+-tR-tR-mK-0
9-vL-wQ-+P+0 xiiiiiiiiy
25...f2+! This cute move wins a lot of
9+-tR-tR-mK-0 material. Admittedly, other moves were
xiiiiiiiiy winning too. 25...£e5; 25...¤fe4.
Panic, probably missing Black’s 25th move,
but even in that case a move that fatally 26.¢g2 ¤fe4 27.£e2 fxe1£ 28.£xe1
weakens the king is probably the last one ¤xc3 29.£xh4 £xe3 White’s position is
to consider in such sharp positions. White en prise.
had three good moves at her disposal, but
against all black had an extremely dangerous 30.¦xc3 £xd4 31.£xg5 £d2+ 0-1
attack. 24.¥a6 ¤h5!? this is much more
fun! (24...¦c7 is the more automatic move)
25.¥xc8 ¥xc8 threatening ...h3 and all
3 results are possible here; 24.¤ce2 ¤g4
(24...¥xg2 25.¢xg2 ¤g4 26.¤f4 h3+
champions
play as
white
Sergey Karjakin - Magnus Carlsen
World Championship (9)
Welcome back to part two of “How rather than giving him a free pass when he
the Champions Play as White!” Sergey was White.
Karjakin’s win in game eight of the World
Championship, breaking the deadlock and In this article I will cover the games
propelling himself into the lead with just chronologically because it is not so much
four games remaining, had a huge impact about what colour the players had − it is
on the openings that the players chose. more about who was leading in the match.
For example, in such a situation as after However, in the first eight games there
game eight, it would have been perfectly were seven draws followed by a win, so
understandable if Karjakin forced a draw as this made no difference in the first half of
White, for instance. Magnus Carlsen only the match, including the tiebreaks. Now
had two more whites at that point, so it that we have that sorted, let us move onto
would also have made sense if he played the games!
more aggressive openings as Black in an
effort to sustain the pressure on Karjakin, After game eight Boris Gelfand opined, “it
forcing him to draw with both colours, is of huge significance that Karjakin has
a rest day ahead, which back then [in my a bad position in which it was difficult to
World Championship match against Vishy suggest moves, so it would be very harsh to
Anand in 2012] I did not have [after I beat call his overall play poor in this game, even
Anand to take the lead in the match]. It is though technically speaking it was, since
very important to survive your victory, to he turned a slightly worse position into an
come to terms with it. For the challenger, almost lost one.
particularly if he is playing a match at such
a level for the first time, there is a wealth of 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6
emotions after a win. No doubt I was unable 5.0–0 b5
to one hundred percent put that behind me XIIIIIIIIY
in the next game, but Karjakin has one
and a half days and a very good team who 9r+lwqkvl-tr0
should help him. I would like to warn them 9+-zpp+pzpp0
all against considering the match won.
It is all just getting started – Carlsen will 9p+n+-sn-+0
play with redoubled strength and Karjakin 9+p+-zp-+-0
needs to be prepared for that. Although I 9L+-+P+-+0
am sure he understands that perfectly well
himself. [...] The main thing, in my view, 9+-+-+N+-0
is to get a good night’s sleep, remain calm 9PzPPzP-zPPzP0
and continue to play as if the score is level.
When everything is going well for you 9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
and it is all working out there is no sense xiiiiiiiiy
changing anything.” Deviating from 5...
”
¥e7, which he had
Prophetic words! employed every
time he reached
Karjakin followed Carlsen´s openings this position in this
Gelfand’s advice in match! At the highest
game nine, playing in this match level, an early ...b5
as he had done in the were very good signals the intent to
first eight, and nearly enter the Arkhangelsk
won. From game since he won the Variation, which
ten onwards Carlsen opening battle the below the highest
indeed played with level is a more
redoubled strength. majority of the aggressive version of
You may be wondering
how it is possible that
time, but I agree the Closed Ruy Lopez
because Black’s dark−
Carlsen played in such with Kasparov that squared Bishop gets
a manner after his loss,
and yet he almost lost Carlsen took his developed the pawn
outside
chain.
game nine. We can put preparation a bit However, at the
this down to Carlsen’s World Championship
bad choice of opening lightly level, it has been so
and/or bad preparation and, Karjakin’s heavily analysed that it signals the start
subsequent good play. In my opinion, when of a long theoretical discussion, which
evaluating how well a player is playing, we typically ends in White’s favour, as long
should ignore the opening choice and their as he follows the current theory. When
preparation because this is something that the opening was taking place, I am
is done before the game. Once Carlsen’s sure that most of the people watching
preparation had ended, he was already in were thinking that Carlsen must have
XIIIIIIIIY
something up his sleeve in this variation 9-tr-+-trk+0
otherwise he is voluntarily giving
his opponent an opening advantage.
9+-+-+pzpp0
However, the huge surprise was that 9Rvl-wq-+-+0
he did not! They ended up following a 9+-+-+-+n0
variation given by Peter Svidler in his
excellent video series for chess24, which 9-+-zP-+-+0
he evaluated as, “this is playable, maybe 9+L+-vLP+-0
drawable, but not particularly enjoyable
and definitely not equal.”
9-+-+-zP-zP0
9+-+Q+R+K0
6.¥b3 ¥c5 7.a4 ¦b8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 ¥b6 xiiiiiiiiy
10.axb5 axb5 11.¤a3 0–0 12.¤xb5 ¥g4 This was where Svidler stopped his
13.¥c2 exd4 14.¤bxd4 ¤xd4 15.cxd4 variation and provided the quotation above.
¥xf3 16.gxf3 ¤h5 17.¢h1 £f6 18.¥e3 c5 Amazingly, Carlsen admitted in the press
XIIIIIIIIY conference after the game that he had not
watched this video (“I am sorry, Svidler! I
9-tr-+-trk+0 am a big fan of his work in general, but no...
9+-+-+pzpp0 I do not think he will be too disappointed”)
and presumably neither had any of his
9-vl-zp-wq-+0 seconds. He proceeded to think for nearly
9+-zp-+-+n0 thirty minutes, an incomprehensible
9-+-zPP+-+0 opening choice. After the game, Carlsen
summed up: “it was, in general, a very
9+-+-vLP+-0 difficult game so there were many difficult
9-zPL+-zP-zP0 points, for sure, and I am just happy to
survive.” On the match situation, he stated,
9tR-+Q+R+K0 “it is not a very comfortable situation, of
xiiiiiiiiy course, but the way I have to think about
This is the top line of Stockfish 8, but it it is that I have to win one game out of
does not seem very good, despite being three, and normally that is something I am
played by a World Champion in a World capable of doing.” ½-½
Championship match.
18... ¦a8; 18... ¤f4, and; 18...g6 are all Magnus Carlsen - Sergey Karjakin
more popular than the move Carlsen
plumped for, and to my mind they are all World Championship (10)
more natural. 18... ¦a8 fights for the only
open file on the board, 18... ¤f4 moves 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.d3
a Knight from the rim to an outpost, and
XIIIIIIIIY
18...g6 is generally a desirable move 9r+lwqkvl-tr0
for Black because ...¤g7–e6 becomes a 9zppzpp+pzpp0
possible manoeuvre and it helps him defend
along the half-open g-file and shorten the 9-+n+-sn-+0
c2–Bishop’s diagonal. However, the text 9+L+-zp-+-0
just follows the aforementioned variation 9-+-+P+-+0
which was spoken about in less than
glowing terms by Svidler. 9+-+P+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
19.e5 £e6 20.exd6 c4 21.b3 cxb3N
22.¥xb3 £xd6 23.¦a6 9tRNvLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
40 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
January 2017
So in Carlsen’s penultimate white, he 6...h6 7.¥h4 ¥e7 This is the typical way
opts for the 4.d3 Anti−Berlin, a line he of playing against ¥g5 when you have not
has scored very well with, defeating committed to ...d6. The point is that you first
Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, force the Bishop onto an inferior diagonal
Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon (h4-e1 rather than h6-c1), and then unpin,
Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So leaving the dark−squared Bishop looking
and... Karjakin! Obviously Carlsen has misplaced.
been the strongest player in the world
for a very long time, but is that not an 8.0–0 d6 9.¤bd2 ¤h5 This is not necessary,
outstanding record?! I am surprised he but it does simplify the position.
did not use it more often in this match.
10.¥xe7N £xe7
4...¥c5 5.c3 0–0 6.¥g5 XIIIIIIIIY
XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+-trk+0
9r+lwq-trk+0 9zppzp-wqpzp-0
9zppzpp+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-zp0
9-+n+-sn-+0 9+L+-zp-+n0
9+Lvl-zp-vL-0 9-+-+P+-+0
9-+-+P+-+0 9+-zPP+N+-0
9+-zPP+N+-0 9PzP-sN-zPPzP0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
9tRN+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy
xiiiiiiiiy Objectively, Karjakin easily won this
Giri had a very interesting opinion about opening battle, but from a practical
this move: “Similar concept to game two point of view Carlsen must have been
from Sochi match. Worse version of a very happy with it because he played
known position, but still playable. Nice, quickly and Karjakin spent a lot of
desperate idea.” time, and this is the kind of position
which he likes. Carlsen ultimately
Magnus Carlsen won this game, which is the acid test
Photo by: Max Avdeev for an opening choice, but Karjakin
infamously missed a simple tactic for
a player of his level, when Carlsen
admitted that he would have taken a
draw if he had have spotted it rather
than go for an unbalanced position
where he was worse. 1-0
And he will have chances of winning that (presumably bigger) one. This seems a very
game, perhaps even bigger ones than of uncharacteristically conservative approach
winning on tiebreaks.” However, it turned for him.” However, Carlsen (admittedly,
out that there was not much of a game in after he had won the match on tiebreaks)
game twelve: was much more positive about his decision:
“I felt that it was an advantage for me that
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.0–0 ¤xe4 I did not really have to think so much about
5.¦e1 ¤d6 6.¤xe5 ¥e7 7.¥f1 ¤xe5 game twelve and he did. Also, I felt my
8.¦xe5 0–0 9.d4 ¥f6 10.¦e1 ¦e8 11.¥f4 head was working better than it was a few
¦xe1 12.£xe1 ¤e8 13.c3 d5 14.¥d3 g6 days ago and also he was perhaps playing
15.¤a3N a bit worse, so in that sense, I thought
XIIIIIIIIY playing four games instead of one seemed
like a very good idea. Besides, it was very
9r+lwqn+k+0 refreshing to play a bit faster after all these
9zppzp-+p+p0 weeks!” ½-½
9-+-+-vlp+0
9+-+p+-+-0 Sergey Karjakin - Magnus Carlsen
9-+-zP-vL-+0 World Championship (13)
9sN-zPL+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0 “I felt − already going into the tiebreaks -
that I had a very good chance. I was calm
9tR-+-wQ-mK-0 [and] confident, so this really was not the
xiiiiiiiiy difficult part. [The tiebreak] was just a
I could annotate this opening, but I will lot of fun and I think a great chess show.,
spare you the burden of having to read but to some extent my failures earlier in
through it all. Basically, Carlsen decided to the match to win very good positions is a
make a draw in the final game of the match statistical I think I did a lot of things right
because he felt he had a better chance in in this match in terms of general strategy,
the tiebreak. When I was scrolling through openings and such coincidence, but when
the comments section of a chess24 article, I it happens over and over again, of course,
came across this comment, which perfectly there is something wrong so usually I
sums up Carlsen’s decision: “Magnus surely should have been up plus one or plus two
did not take this decision lightly. But what early on and then it is a whole different ball
I do not understand about it is that there game.” So said Carlsen after the match and
were two opportunities for Magnus to win: it is hard to disagree with him. However,
game twelve and the tiebreaks. Magnus was had Karjakin won this match I think that
favourite for both. In that situation, a very many people would criticise Carlsen for
safe draw was not the only way to reach his slump in form, rather than praise his
the tiebreaks. A draw after unsuccessfully “general strategy, openings, and such”.
pressing for hours (thereby missing the first
opportunity) would also have gotten him 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6
there. There would have been some risk to 5.0–0 ¥e7 6.d3 b5 7.¥b3 d6 8.a3 0–0
over press, but was it really THAT high? 9.¤c3 ¤b8 Deviating from 9...¥e6 and;
He did not have to go all out like in game 9...¤a5, which Carlsen had employed
eight. Is Magnus not the king of pressing earlier in the match. Like I have said before,
WITHOUT taking lots of risk? So what this is just a chess position so it makes
he actually did was not exactly SWAP one sense to present a moving target since there
opportunity for the other. He SACRIFICED are plenty of playable moves here.
the first opportunity to guarantee the second
In a two-game
match where you
are White first,
” 12.¥f1 Normally the knight uses this
square to jump to either e3 or g3, but
instead Carlsen retreats a piece that was
not attacked there, despite having pieces
which are not developed yet. It makes sense
in a Karpovian way - he wants to get his
you cannot afford pieces “out of harm’s way,” but equally this
cannot pose Black too many problems.
to lose because at
Carlsen-Karjakin 12...a5N Even this loss of tempo does not
hurt Black too much - there simply is not
level you more or that much pressure on his position.
less cannot win as
13.dxe5 dxe5 Carlsen has got nothing
Black if White goes out of this opening, so Karjakin won this
all-out for a draw opening battle. ½–½
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqk+-tr0 indicators that a chess game is interesting
is that amateurs think it is not!” as Garry
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 Kasparov stated. I think what he is trying
9-+-zp-sn-+0 to say is that chess in general, especially
9+-+-zp-+-0 when played by top players, is intrinsically
interesting as long as you are willing to dig
9-+-+P+-+0 below the surface to understand why. There
9+N+-+P+-0 were also criticisms of Karjakin’s passive
style of play in this match: “ironically
9PzPP+-+PzP0 Karjakin’s 38.¦xc7?? [in game three of the
9tRNvLQmKL+R0 tiebreak] was his second move beyond the
xiiiiiiiiy fifth rank. You cannot win the title playing
6...d5 is the mainline, but there was no way like this.” - Grzegorz Gajewski. 1–0
Karjakin was going to play this in this game
because after 7.¥g5 ¥e6 8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.exd5 Kasparov tweeted after the match:
£xd5 10.£xd5 ¥xd5 11.¤c3 ¥e6 12.0–0–0 “congratulations to Carlsen! His lack of
Black is left with few winning chances. preparation angered the Goddess Caïssa,
but not enough to drive her into the drab
7.c4 a5 8.¥e3 a4 This is a typical way Karjakin’s arms.”
of playing to create counterplay against I think that Carlsen’s openings in this match
White’s solid Maroczy Bind. were very good since he won the opening
battle the majority of the time, but I agree with
9.¤c1 9. ¤3d2 is also possible, but I like Kasparov that Carlsen took his preparation a
Carlsen’s retreat better. bit lightly. For example, in the buildup to the
match he played in a chess.com blitz knockout
9...0–0 10.¤c3 £a5 11.£d2 ¤a6 12.¥e2 tournament. I do not think that this is the most
XIIIIIIIIY professional approach. I should also mention
9r+l+-trk+0 that Kasparov is being a bit harsh on Karjakin,
but maybe this is because of their political views.
9+p+-vlpzpp0 Carlsen was in good spirits after the match:
9n+-zp-sn-+0 “I think there is a cliché in sports that you
9wq-+-zp-+-0 always need to focus on the process instead of
results and that became very difficult during
9p+P+P+-+0 those few days [after game eight], but I think
9+-sN-vLP+-0 in the tenth game at least to some extent I
managed to stay calm when I needed to. [...] I
9PzP-wQL+PzP0 am very happy that at the end of the match I
9tR-sN-mK-+R0 managed to find joy in playing. Today I have
xiiiiiiiiy to say, it was fun to play. To some extent I
It is obvious from a practical viewpoint that think that is the most important thing. I was
Carlsen won the opening battle in this game in kind of a dark place at some point in this
because he only needed a draw to defend match but I feel that now it is better, so I am
his World Championship title. White’s looking with confidence at the future.”
position has no risk, and this is exactly So sixteen games played over twenty days, and
what Carlsen wanted. Carlsen went on to although it looked like we may have had a new
win the game (as often happens when one World Champion, Carlsen retained his crown.
needs to win at all costs, one overpresses Perhaps sometimes we all get too wrapped
and loses) and therefore defend his title for up by openings, ratings, tournament standing,
the second time in a row. There were lots of pairings, colours, prize money - maybe we
accusations during and after the match that should remember why we play chess - for fun!
it was boring, but, “often one of the best 1-0
QUOTES AND
QUERIES
Memory lane: The
FlohrMikenas attack
and a local derby
by Alan Smith
6081 The sequence 1.c4 ¤f6 2.¤c3 e6 3.e4 and later on Garry Kasparov included it in
is commonly known as the Flohr–Mikenas his repertoire.
attack, yet before them both Carls and 4.e5
Nimzowitsch had successfully employed In later games 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 was more
the system. Earlier still the Dutch player popular.
Jan Frederick Heemskerk had dabbled with 4...¤fd7
it. The earliest example I have found is the 4...d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 £xf6 7.d4 c5
following game... 8.¤f3 h6 9.¥d3 ¤c6 10.¥e4 was played
in Nimzowitsch - List Frankfurt 1930,
H. E. BIRD - N. JASNOGRODSKY white won in 40 moves.
5.d4 dxc4 6.¥xc4 c6
14 Simpson's Divan 1893 6...c5 is the modern treatment when 7.d5!?
is a recent novelty played in the game
1.c4 e62.¤c3 ¤f6 Goganov - Sjodahl, Rilton Cup 2015.
2...d5 is better. 7.¤f3 ¤b6 8.¥d3 ¥e7 9.h4
3.e4 d5 To discourage 0-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9...¤8d7 10.£e2 ¤d5 11.¤e4 ¤7b6
12.¥g5 f6
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0 12...¥xg5 is met by 13.¤d6+
9zppzp-+pzpp0 13.exf6 gxf6 14.¥h6 ¥b4+ 15.¢f1 £e7
This is not great, but Black probably did
9-+-+psn-+0 not like 15...¥d7 16 ¤c5! when the double
9+-+p+-+-0 attack on e6 and b7 forces him to surrender
9-+P+P+-+0 XIIIIIIIIY
the bishop pair.
9+-sN-+-+-0 9r+l+k+-tr0
9PzP-zP-zPPzP0 9zpp+-wq-+p0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0 9-snp+pzp-vL0
xiiiiiiiiy 9+-+n+-+-0
This is the natural choice for a French 9-vl-zPN+-zP0
defence player. The alternative 3...c5
can lead to very sharp play after 4.e5 9+-+L+N+-0
¤g8 5.¤f3 ¤c6 6.d4 cxd4 7.¤xd4 9PzP-+QzPP+0
¤xe5 8.¤db5 which became popular in the
1970's . Miles and Timman both played it
9tR-+-+K+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 47
01/137
Openings
for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro, ptamburro@aol.com
The Two Knights
Defence with d4
In the previous article (in the November issue) we noted that many players have been turning
to 4.d4 and 5.e5 as a sharp continuation to attack Two Knights devotees. This might seem as
a smart choice as it beats playing against Black's initiative against 4.¤g5. Also, 5.0–0, as we
previously saw, seems to allow black easy play. Quite a few theory books have promoted the e5
move.If Black wants to wrest the initiative, he's going to have to be grounded in theory, or - as
Pinski noted (true for both sides) – it's like walking blindfolded through a minefield.
The rules of rapid development are valid and a willingness to sacrifice material always has
to be on Black's mind. At many points, Black will have a choice between going for a win with
aggressive play, or heading for a draw. That has to be up to the preference of each player.For
White's part, playing back the game that follows will help us realise it is not as easy for White
as some books make it out to be.
50 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
January 2017
(14.£xd8 ¦xd8 15.¤a3 ¦cd2) 14...£xd5 21.¤c4 ¦b5 22.¦b1 ¤c5 23.¤xa5
15.¥xd5 ¦e2 16.f4 ¤e6 17.¦ad1 ¥a6 ¦e8? Again, it seemed better to get the
18.f5 ¤c5 19.¦fe1 ¦e8 20.¦xe2 ¥xe2 luft accomplished: 23...g6 24.g3 ¦fb8
21.¦c1 ¢f8 22.¦xc5 ¦xe5 23.¤b1 c6 25.¢g2 ¤xb3 26.¤c4 and it's a tough
24.¦xc6 ¦xd5 25.¤c3 ¦e5 26.¤xe2 ¦xe2 fight still. Black’s ¦e8 was an unfortunate
27.¦a6 ¦e5 28.¦xa7 (28.g4 h5 29.h3 hxg4 miscalculation.
30.hxg4 ¦e4) 28...¦xf5 29.a4 ¦c5 30.¢f2
¦c2+ 31.¢g3 ¦c3+ 32.¢g4 ¦c4+=. 24.g3 g6 25.b4! The white rook is now
behind the passed pawn, which makes the
14.¥xd5 ¦xc2 15.¤a3 ¦e2 16.¦ac1 critical difference.
¤d3!?17.¦xc7 ¥e6 18.¥b3 a5!? Easier
is 18...¥xb3 19.axb3 ¤xe5 (19...¦xe5!?) 25...¤d3 26.¤c6 ¦e2 27.¦d7 ¤xf2?
20.¦xa7 g6. 28.¤d4 ¤h3+ 29.¢h1 ¤f2+ 30.¢g2
¤d1+ 31.¤xe2 1-0
19.¦a7!? Even in the endgame White
should always think about the point of the It’s good to see GMs battle in openings
early e5 move: coordination with f4: 19.f4. that mostly amateurs play. This way we get
to see how “the big boys” handle things.
19...¥xb3 20.axb3 ¦xe5?! Onischuk However, we also saw that they can fall
perhaps didn't want to fight tooth and nail victim to miscalculation.
to prevent the advance of the b−pawn: 20.
...¤xe5 21.¦xa5 g6 22.h3 ¦b8 23.¦b5 Usually, when writers promote an opening,
¦xb5 24.¤xb5 ¦b2 25.¤d4 ¤d3 26.f4 h5 they choose games that are won by the line
27.¦f3 ¤c5 28.h4 ¦d2 29.¤c6 ¦b2 30.b4; they are promoting. This game teaches Two
however, getting the luft played right away Knights players what they have to anticipate
seems to enhance Black’s drawing chances and avoid. It’s always much better to learn
throughout this part of the game: 20...g6 from someone else’s losses than your own!
21.¦xa5 ¦b8 22.¦b5 ¦xb5 23.¤xb5 ¦xe5
24.¤d4 ¦e4 and it’s different from the The intensity of the struggle in these d4
previous variation just given. This is quite a lines encouraged a good many players to
difficult endgame. head for the more sedate 4.d3.
1 XIIIIIIIIY
9-sn-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+K0
9-sN-+-+R+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-mk-+-0
2 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9zP-+N+-zp-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-zPK+-mk-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9p+-sn-+-+0 9n+-+p+-zP0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
J. Vancura W. Mees
CasopisCesk. sahistu1917 Tijdschrift KNSB1942
3 4
draw Win
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+R+rmk-0 9vl-+-+-mK-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-vL-0 9+-+-+k+P0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+P+-+-0
9p+-sn-+K+0 9-+-sn-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
A. Bondarev V. Vlasenko
Central Chess Club Bulletin1967 Kurganski Ty1992
draw draw
Promoting 2017:
A whole century in four studies
Looking back over the last century is a good Position, which was important to several elite
way to start the New Year. Here are four games in recent years. It’s the position with, for
studies published in 1917, 1942, 1967 and example, (White) rook a8, pawn a6, king d4
1992. (Yes, the first two were during World and (Black) rook f6, king g7; Black draws if he
Wars, but such minor matters don’t distract can get to this position, as for exampleAronian
endgame composers.) I have managed to did against Carlsen in the 2014 Sinquefield
find four studies based on promotions from cup. Vancura died in 1921 at the age of 23
100/75/50/25 years ago. (which is younger than the age at which most
Why promotions? Well, I could say that it’s study composers begin) and his composition
because lots of people make a New Year’s here was made at the age of 18. You’ll find you
resolution to get a promotion in their work, can’t stop the a−pawn promoting, so can you
but even Ibaulk at that much pretension. To dominate the resulting queen?
be honest, I was trying to find a theme in “WouterMees” study has two pawns about
the studies of those years and since most to promote, but, astonishingly, in the seven−
studies feature promoting pawns, it made move−long main line neither pawn does.
the search simple. Another Black a−pawn about to promote
If you follow super−GM tournaments, you in the Bondarev: this one you can prevent,
might recognise the name on the first study but you need to also defeat Black’s mating
- Vancura.Josef Vancurawas a Czech study attack.In the Vlasenko, Black’s third move is
composer who discovered the Vancura the big surprise.
Problem
World
by Christopher Jones
cjajones1@yahoo.co.uk
Grandmaster of Chess Composition
Solutions are given on page 58
1 2
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-snrvL-+0
9vL-tr-zP-tr-0
9-+-zp-zp-+0
9+p+nmkn+p0
9-+-zpPzp-zP0
9wQ-+-+-+-0
9P+L+lwqN+0
XIIIIIIIIY
9K+-+-+-+0
9+-zp-+q+-0
9-+r+-+p+0
9+-+L+-+-0
9-+-+l+-+0
9+-zPk+-+-0
9-+Rzp-zP-+0
9mK-+R+-+-0 9sN-+-vl-+-0
3 4
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
Viktor Syzonenko (Ukraine) K. R. Chandrasekaran (India)
Mate in 4 Helpmate in 2 - 3 solutions
ORIGINAL ORIGINAL
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-tR-0 9+-+N+-+-0
9p+k+p+-+0 9-+-zp-+-+0
9+-+-wqr+r0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-zp-zp-vl-+0 9-+-+-+-mk0
9+N+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-zp-0
9P+-+-mK-+0 9-+-zP-+P+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+K0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
Christer Jonsson (Sweden) Jozef Kupper (Switzerland)
Helpmate in 3 - 2 solutions Helpmate in 7.5
ORIGINAL ORIGINAL
world of helpmates it’s more often simply not, in fact, the case as Black has to move
called a 'follow-my-leader' effect. Whatever after ... £d7/£c8 and every move disarms
– the important thing is whether the effect the mate!
is pleasing, whatever the nomenclature! In the collaborative world of helpmates it
is always pleasingly perverse when one
Which square for the white’s side regretfully has to make a very non-
knight? collaborative move. The solution actually
In Josef's long helpmate the “.5” means that runs 1...¤e5! 2.dxe5 d4 3.e4 d5 4.e3 d6
white will start, and it is quickly apparent 5.e2 d7 6.e1¤! d8¦! 7.¤f3 gxf3 8.¢h3
that he must use this first move to sacrifice ¦h8. The mate is completely different, as
the knight in order to mobilize the pawn on (surprisingly) are the two promotions. We
d6. But which of the two possible sacrificial have to make “slowcoach” promotions to
squares? Rather like in direct-mate the comparatively ponderous white rook
problems, the composer has contrived to and black knight.
make this a difficult choice, with one move So this is an especially piquant illustration
only failing very narrowly. Try 1 ... ¤c5. of the 4-promotion feature known by its
We continue 2.dxc5 d4 3.c4 d5 4.c3 d6 5.c2 German description Allumwandlung (or
d7 6.c1¥ d8£+ 7. ¥g5 – and now, when 'AUW' for short). If you managed to solve
it appears that either 7... £d7 or £c8 will this problem, did you find both these
force 8... £h3 mate, we realize that this is variations, I wonder?
Endgame Studies
(See page 54)
Vancura
1.¦g1 ¤b1 2.¦g4 a1£ 3.¦a4 ¤a3
4.¦xa3+ £xa3 5.¤c4+.
Mees
1.¤e5 ¤xb4 2.¤f3 ¤d5 3.¤e1 ¤c7
4.¢c5 ¢e5 5.¢c6 ¤a8 6.¤c2 g5 7.h3
and Black is in zugzwang.1...¢xe5 2.a8£
e1£ 3.£e8+; 6.¢b7? ¢d6 7.¢xa8 ¢c7.
Bondarev
1.¥f6+ ¢xf6 2.¦d6+ ¢f5 3.¦a6 ¦g7+
4.¢h3 ¤f1 5.¦xa2 ¦h7+ 6.¢g2 ¦h2+
7.¢f3 ¦xa2 stalemate.Not 1.¥h6+? ¢g6
2.¦d6+ ¦f6. In the main line, 4.¢h1?
¤f3 5.¦a5+ ¢g4 6.¦a4+ ¢g3; or if,
instead, 4.¢f2? ¤e4+ 5.¢~ ¤c3.
Vlasenko
1.h6 ¥d4+ 2.¢g8 ¢g6 3.h7 ¥h8 4.d4
¤e4 5.d5 ¥g7 6.h8¤+ or 5...¤f6+
6.¢xh8 ¢f7 7.d6 ¤g4 8.d7 ¤e5
9.d8¤+.
MARK TAIMANOV
7 February 1926 − 26 November 2016
Life split
between chess,
music and love
Taimanov was the champion of the USSR
in 1956, succeeded twice in becoming
a candidate for the world champion
title (in 1953 and 1971), and was the World
Senior Champion in 1993 and 1994
By Milan Dinic
While the chess world was following the battle in 1956, succeeded twice in becoming
between Magnus Carslen and Sergey Karjakin acandidate for the world champion title (in
in New York for the title of the World Champion, 1953 and 1971), andwas the World Senior
thousands of miles away, in SaintPetersburg Champion in 1993 and 1994.
– the legendary Soviet grandmaster Mark Mark Evgenievich Taimanov was born on
Evgenievich Taimanovpassed away, on Feb. 7, 1926, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and moved
26 November 2016. He was 90. to Russia when he was 6 months old. He
Taimanov was the champion of the USSR was one of four children. His father was a
60 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
January 2017
construction engineer and his mother was Larsen 6:0 in the next match in Denver that
a musician who taught her son the piano. same year, did the Soviets realise that the
During his studies at music school, Mark was “problem” lay in the American who played like
offered the part of a young violinist in the film a machine.
Beethoven Concerto (1937). Although he had In a 2002 interview Taimanov said that “this
no previous knowledge of playing the violin, dramatic match changed my life into hell”.
he mastered it in a short period. The film was After the defeat from Fischer, the Soviet chess
a success and was awarded a prize at a 1937 federation punished Tiamanov by stripping
Paris cinema festival. him of his state salary and banning him travel
At age 11 he joined the Leningrad chess abroad.Years later Taimanov wrote a book
school and was fortunate to have Mikhail “How I became Fischer’s Victim” where he
Botvinnik, later the world champion, as the described the events that followed that match.
director. Altogether, Taimanov won over 80
Taimanov was awarded the international international chess tournaments. In 1993 and
master title in 1950, and two years later,he 1994 he became World Senior Champion.
became a grandmaster. One of his most During his long life, Taimanov met people
successful chess moments was in 1956 when like Winston Churchill, Nikita Khrushchev
he became the Soviet champion, ahead of and Fidel Castro. He is quoted saying that
players such as Averbakh, Spassky, Korchnoi, one of his most cherished possessions was a
Tal, Polugaevsky, Boleslavsky... Altogether he photograph of him playing in the Capablanca
played in 23 USSR Chess Championships(a Memorial tournament in Havana in 1964 with
record he shared with Efim Geller), tying for first Che Guevara looking over his left shoulder.
place twice (in 1952 and 1956). Alongside chess,Taimanov had a great
As a member of the Soviet national team career as aconcert pianist. With his first wife
(where he replaced Alexander Kotov), Lyubov Bruk, he trained under the Leningrad
Taimanov won the gold medal at the 12th pedagogue Samari Savshinsky and the two
Chess Olympiad in Moscow in 1956, scoring were among the best-known exponents of
six wins, five draws and no lost games. the two-piano repertoire in the Soviet Union.
Taimanov qualified for the world champion The husband-wife duo was also featured in
candidate tournaments twice – in 1953 and the Philips Classics “Great Pianists of the 20th
in 1971. Both events are among the most Century” series. In a ChessBase reprint of a
memorable in chess history. 1996 interview, when asked who his favourite
The first candidate tournament he played – composers are, Taimanov said: “Why don’t
aged 27! – took place in Switzerland (mainly in you ask which openings I like best? That
Zurich) and is widely considered as one of the would be easier to answer. But well, the
greatest chess competitions ever held. There he great Bach, Mozart, the romantics Chopin,
tied eight place, together with Alexander Kotov. Schumann and the Russians Tschaikovsky
Taimanov’s passing leaves only one survivor and Rakhmaninov.”
of the 1953 Candidates Tournament – Yuri Taimanov’s love of chess was not
Averbakh (to whose daughter Taimanovwas overshadowed by his love of life however.
briefly married to in the 1970s). He married four times.At the age of 78, he
His second appearance at the candidate fathered twins with his last wife, Nadezda,35
tournament is remembered as one of the most years younger than him. In parts of a 1996
shocking events of chess history, especially interview, reprinted by ChessBase, he is
for the Soviets. In the candidates quarterfinal quoted saying: “Women are my greatest
in Vancouver in 1971, Taimanovplayed passion. Music and chess only follow next.”
and lost to Bobby Fischer 6:0! Afterwards,a Taimanov is the author of many chess books
specially formed committee concluded that about openings and tournaments, translated
a Soviet chess player couldn’t possibly lose to different languages. He was also the
like that to an American, unless he did it – on founder of a chess academy for young talent
purpose. Only when Fischer destroyed Bent in St. Petersburg.
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 61
01/137
Wolfgang UHLMANN —
XIIIIIIIIY
Mark TAIMANOV 9r+-wq-trk+0
USSR v Rest of the World,
9+l+-vlpzpp0
Belgrade 1970 9pzp-zp-sn-+0
9+-zpP+-+-0
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 b6 4.g3 ¥b7 9-+-+-+-+0
5.¥g2 ¥e7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d5 exd5
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-sNQ+-zP-0
9rsn-wq-trk+0 9PzP-+PzPLzP0
9zplzppvlpzpp0 9tR-vL-+RmK-0
9-zp-+-sn-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
13.¥f4!? Uhlmann allows 13...b5, a
9+-+p+-+-0 decision typical of his sharp style. More
9-+P+-+-+0 natural appears to be 13.a4, but then Black
strikes with 13...b5! anyway and liquidation
9+-+-+NzP-0 follows, e.g. 14.axb5 axb5 15.¦xa8 £xa8
9PzP-+PzPLzP0 16.£xb5 ¤xd5 17.¥xd5 ¥xd5 18.¤xd5
£xd5= as in Schussler – H.Olafsson,
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0 Reykjavik 1980.
xiiiiiiiiy 13...b5 14.a4 b4 15.¤d1 White will aim
8.¤d4 Nowadays they play 8.¤h4, in order to place his knight on c4 and Black to
to avoid the lines with 8...¥c6 or, as here, chop that knight off as soon as it arrives.
8...¤c6! A typical demonstration of that sequence
8...¤c6! Black is happy to give the pawn can be seen after 15.¤b1 a5! 16.¤d2 ¥a6
back, in order to get a bit of freedom and to 17.¤c4 ¤d7 18.£c2 ¥xc4 19.£xc4 ¤b6
exchange a pair of minor pieces. 20.£b5 ¥f6 with a nice Benoni position
9.cxd5 ¤xd4 10.£xd4 c5 This is the point. for Black.
Black sets up a Benoni pawn structure 15...a5 16.b3 ¥a6 17.£c2 ¤d7 18.¥e4 g6
and obtains a queenside majority, well, 18...h6 also comes into consideration, as it
unless White captures en passant, which is is less weakening.
incredibly weedy. 19.¥d3 Reasoning that the exchange
11.£d3 d6 12.¤c3 Routine. Much more of light-squared bishops will help to
challenging is 12.a4 a6 13.¤a3! as was conquer c4.
played by Polugaevsky in a famous match 19...¤b6 19...¥xd3 20.£xd3 ¤b6 21.¤b2
against Korchnoi. The knight may come to ¥f6 22.¦ab1 ¥xb2 23.¦xb2 c4! sees the
c4 as and when necessary. pawn majority coming to life. Taimanov prefers
12...a6 a different way, but the theme is the same.