DE CEMBER 2 0 1 4 5 0 MOV E S MAG AZI NE .

C OM

The Next Challenger?

Caruana’s Story

Chess Train
Rogers Returns

Evelyn Koshnitsky
1915-2014

Carlsen defends
his crown In-Depth
Game Analy
sis
gers
By GM Ian Ro

L u bomir Ftacn ik M ax I lli n gwort h C h r i s Walli s

Tale of Two Cities h3 N aj d or f Part 2 Tour Time
 EDITORS

Ed i to r i a l
Moulthun Ly

MAIN CONTRIBUTORS Or neglected agreeable of discovery concluded oh it sportsman.

Ian Rogers Week to time in john. Son elegance use weddings separate. Ask
too matter formed county wicket oppose talent.
Max Illingworth It has been a busy few months in the chess world, and particularly at
Junta Ikeda 50 Moves. We faced some unforeseen hurdles as we transferred to
a new site resulting in a slight delay in the release of the December
Chris Wallis issue. We should be over those issues soon and there won’t be any
more delays in the future (and we certainly haven’t folded to those
who were wondering!).
GUEST WRITER
Now to the issue itself. The big news since we last left you was Magnus
Lubomir Ftacnick Carlsen retaining his title as World Champion after defeating Vishy
Anand in a rematch. Vishy earned the right to challenge Magnus by

PHOTOGRAPHY year. Seemingly rejuvenated, he pushed Magnus and the match was
Cathy Rogers much closer than in Chennai a year ago - had Vishy taken the gift

Peter Doggers
Closer to home, Australia lost the beloved Evelyn Koshnitsky who
Mike Klein passed away aged 99. Evelyn was a most remarkable woman who
spent a lifetime promoting women’s and junior chess and was awarded
Mike Loh the ‘most loved person in Australian chess’ award which was created
James Lim in her honour. Evelyn had an incredible impact on Australian chess,
and she will never be forgotten.
Elliott Renzies
Also in this issue: Lubomir Ftacnik tells us about his experiences as
COVER Australian coach at the World Youth Chess Championship, Max wraps
Peter Doggers up his h3 Najdorf review and shows his games from the Hjorth Open,

European chess trip and Junta has some mind-blowing promotion

50 Moves Magazine © studies for you to solve.

New issues are released on the Happy reading

February, April, June, August,

October and December.

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 Contents
4 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Find out what happened during the World Championship with game-by-game analysis from Ian
Rogers. See all the exciting games and crucial moments that decided the match.

28 THE CARUANA STORY

page 4 Ian Rogers chats with Fabiano Caruana after his impressive win at the Sinquefield Cup.

34 PROBLEMS AND STUDIES

Junta Ikeda goes through thousands of problems to present the most interesting studies involving
promotions

36 EVELYN KOSHNITSKY TRIBUTE

Written tributes to a beloved Australian who greatly contributed to the development of women’s
chess.

46 AUSTRALIAN OPEN INTERVIEW

page 28 A chat with the young organisers of the Australian Open leading up to the event in early January 2015.

54 CHESS TRAIN
Ian Rogers takes you on a ride through Europe, playing one of the funnest tournaments.

page 34 page 62 62 h3 Najdorf (Part 2)

Max Illingworth explores this new and very trendy opening variation of the Najdorf in a two-part
survey.

70 ENDGAMES
Chris Wallis continues his thorough examination of rook and pawn endgames.

74 TOUR TIME
Chris Wallis takes you through Europe as he explores tournament by tournament.

96 A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Lubomir Ftacnik gives insight on his experiences coaching Australia at the World Youths 2013
page 96
and 2014

DECEMBER 2014 3
READY, SET, SOCHI

As the clock ticked past midnight on

WORLD
the deadline day for bids to host the
World Championship, not one single
offer to host the biggest match in
CHAMPIONSHIP
chess had been made. FIDE eventually
announced Sochi as the venue for the
World Championship but, in the wake
of Russia’s aggression in Eastern
REMATCH
Ukraine, it was a controversial choice
and at one point it looked as if
Carlsen would potentially relinquish
his title without a fight. Sanity
eventually prevailed and just one year
after Magnus Carlsen became World
Champion for the first time after
defeating Vishy Anand, he was set
to defend his title against the same
opponent.

Chennai saw an out-of-sorts Anand

face Magnus at the top of his game
and in the end the blowout was not
so unexpected. This time, things
were different. It seemed the burden
of the title had been removed and
allowed Vishy to play freely; his
stunning victory in the Candidates
tournament silenced his critics and
he had every reason to be more
optimistic heading into this match.

Meanwhile, for the first time in

recent memory, Magnus seemed
beatable. He was coming off a few
shock losses at the Olympiad and he

Carlsen
was never in the hunt for tournament
victory at the Sinquefield Cup after
his loss to Caruana.

The stage was set for a fantastic

World Championship rematch - and
the players did not disappoint.
 sochi 2014

vs Anand
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 1
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Sochi Wch 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
The Grunfeld Defence is something of
a surprise since Anand had played both
sides of this opening in previous world
title matches - with White versus Gelfand
in 2012 and, rather unsuccessfully, with
Black against Topalov in 2010. But “you
have to play something!” said Carlsen
when asked if he feared Anand’s prepa-
ration in the Grunfeld.
4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” admitted
Carlsen, though 5.Bd2 must have been
high on his list of possible anti-Grunfeld
systems since Anand had used it to beat
Carlsen’s second Hammer in 2013.
5...Bg7 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 0–0 8.Qd2
Nc6
Hammer, and most other top players,
have preferred 8...c5 , but Carlsen’s
choice proved no surprise for Anand.
9.Nf3!? Bg4
Carlsen, who had clearly expected 9.d5
rather than 9.Nf3, spent 16 minutes on
this obvious move, trying to work out
Anand’s intentions.
10.d5 Bxf3 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.gxf3 Ne5
6 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
13.0–0–0!? (D)
Anand was criticised for this ambitious
idea but, he insisted after the game “I
didn’t mix up my moves! These days you
don’t get a huge advantage with White in
every game.”
13....c6!
By now Carlsen had fallen more than
half an hour behind Anand on the clock,
well spent. 13...e6 14.f4 Ng4 might be
playable but looks far more unstable for
Black.
14.Qc3 f6 15.Bh3!
Anand took a total of half an hour over
serious think for the game. “15.Bh3 was
nice,” said Carlsen, “just taking away the
c8 square from the rook. [Now] it’s not
so easy to get out.” Carlsen would have
been hoping for 15.dxc6 Qb6! 16.cxb7
Rab8! when Black will regain one pawn
with lasting pressure against the White
king.
15...cxd5 16.exd5!
Anand is happy to work with a wrecked
pawn structure in exchange for an outpost
on e6 for his bishop. 16.Rxd5 Qb6 would
be comfortable for Black.
16...Nf7 17.f4 Qd6! (D)
17...Nd6 would be the automatic choice
of most players, but then Anand could
proceed with his plan unhindered (Kb1,
18.Qd4 Rad8 19.Be6 Qb6!
”The key is that if I get to exchange
queens, even under bad circumstances,
that’s an achievement for me and I
should be holding fairly easily,” explained
Carlsen.
20.Qd2?!
After 20.Qxb6 axb6 Black will put his
knight on d6 and draw easily, so Anand
took only two minutes in deciding to keep
the queens on the board. However now
Carlsen begins to create chances for
himself.
20...Rd6!
I was a little tentative at the start,” admit-
ted Carlsen, “but by move 20 I felt that I
was calculating normally and everything
been to put the Black knight on d6, but

Carlsen prefers to dislodge the e6 bishop.
21.Rhe1 Nd8! 22.f5 Nxe6 23.Rxe6 Qc7+
24.Kb1 Rc8 (D)
- but allowing ...a4 didn’t help,” admitted
cult position and am even slightly better,”
said Carlsen.
25.Rde1
Commentator Svidler viewed 25.h4 as
much safer, but Anand’s choice is also
25...Rxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd8
26...gxf5!? is playable, though it is hard
to see Black winning after 27.d6 exd6
to force the d6 break in any case.
27.Qe3! Rd7 28.d6!?
An obvious liquidation, but Kaidanov’s
suggestion of 28.Qe4 seems to be even
simpler, since 28...Kf7 can be met by
29.Qh4.
28...exd6 29.Qd4 Rf7 30.fxg6 hxg6
31.Rxd6
“This position shouldn’t require much
work to hold, said Anand, “but after some
imperceptably careless moves it started
to get very annoying.”
31...a6 32.a3 Qa5 33.f4 Qh5 34.Qd2?!
“Between move 34 and the time control,
I got into a spot of bother,” said Anand.
Anand pinpointed the start of the slide well
- instead of agreeing to passivity over the
next moves, he could immediately have
broken the shackles with 34.Rd8 Qxh2
35.Qe4!, headed to e8, when Black’s king
is too exposed to offer winning chances.
34...Qc5 35.Rd5 Qc4 36.Rd7 Qc6
37.Rd6 Qe4+ 38.Ka2 Re7 39.Qc1 a5!
40.Qf1?!
“I was down to about three minutes,
Anand. There was still time to go active,
since after 40.Qc8 Qxf4 41.Rd8 White
should have enough counterplay to hold.
Giving away a pawn just before the time
choice, however.
40...a4 41.Rd1 Qc2 42.Rd4! (D)
“I was getting a bit optimistic but when
he found this idea I didn’t see a way to
win,” said Carlsen.
42...Re2?
SOCHI 2014
“I couldn’t find anything,” admitted
Carlsen, who spent only seven minutes
on this move, but the alternative line
he analysed with Anand after the game
turned out to be close to winning. ”After
42...Re3 we were discussing 43.Rd7+
Kh6 44.Rxb7 Rb3 - I think he should
have tried that,” said Anand. Indeed after
45.Rxb3 axb3+ 46.Ka1 Qxh2 White’s king
is so badly placed that Black is close to
winning. 43.Qd1 has been suggested as
White’s best chance but after 43...Qxd1
44.Rxd1 b5, followed by ...Rb3, ...f5 and
...Kh6–h5, White’s drawing chances are
again remote.
43.Rb4 b5
Now Carlsen stopped to think for 16
minutes, noticing White’s ingenious 44th
move, but by now it is too late to change
course.
44.Qh1!!
“I was a bit wobbly for a few moves but
then got back on track,” said Anand. “44.
Qh1 is is very important because I need
to go somewhere where I can [control]
the light squares - d5 and so on.”
44...Re7
“He doesn’t have time to bring his rook to
the back rank [with] 44...Rd2 because I
go 45.Qb7+ Kh6 46.Qa8 ,” said Anand.
45.Qd5 Re1 46.Qd7+ Kh6 47.Qh3+ Kg7
48.Qd7+
½–½
DECEMBER 2014 7
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 2
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3
Avoiding the main line, 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4
Nd6 which Carlsen himself used suc-
cessfully with Black in the 2013 world
title match.Carlsen’s second Peter Heine
Nielsen, watching the game, played on
November 9, from his Sochi hotel room,
tear down the Berlin wall...”.When asked
about this after the game Carlsen smiled,
“That’s clever, I didn’t actually think of
that... though [4.d3] wasn’t a real Berlin
defence.”
4...Bc5 5.0–0 d6
A small surprise for Anand, who had tried
the alternative main line 5...Nd4 in his two
those games being a 2011 win against
Carlsen, albeit in a rapid game.
6.Re1!?
Carlsen is, as usual, going his own way.
6.c3 is the almost universal choice in
modern times of strong players here.
6...0–0 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.h3 Re8 9.Nbd2
Carlsen was quite open about his modest
too bad. We get a more or less equal but
playable position and that’s OK by me.”
8 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
9...Nd7 10.Nc4 Bb6 11.a4 a5 (D)
12.Nxb6
“I wasn’t particularly thrilled about taking
on b6 but I didn’t see too many useful
moves. He is preparing ...d5 and I didn’t
see what I could do,” said Carlsen. “I can
go 12.Bd2 but it doesn’t look very impres-
sive to me. He can just play 12...Nf8 fol-
lowed by ...Ng6, and possibly after that
...f6 and ...d5. Black is OK.”
12...cxb6
“Very sound,” said Carlsen. “Actually I
thought even 12...Nxb6 was not too bad
here. [Black is] threatening f5 and if 13.d4
exd4 14.Nxd4 Bd7, it’s nothing special,”
he explained.
13.d4 Qc7?!
Very natural, but now White’s knight is
given a chance to reach f5. Svidler’s sug-
gestion of 13...c5 should be dead equal.
14.Ra3! Nf8 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nh4 Rd8
17.Qh5 f6 18.Nf5 (D) Be6?!
“18...Qf7! was much better,” said Anand.
“I just miscalculated something when
playing Be6. I kept hesitating between
Qf7 and Be6 and went with the [wrong
one]. Even then it is not catastrophic, but
maybe the slip had started already.”” [Until
now] it’s an absolutely normal position,”
Carlsen added. “We discussed 19.Qe2
Ne6 20.Rg3 Kh8 when Black should be
quite alright”
19.Rg3
“I felt I might have a slight initiative but
after 19.Rg3 I was getting a bit more opti-
mistic,” admitted Carlsen.
19...Ng6
“If black has to play 19...Ng6 and go for
this position then it’s clear that some-
thing has gone pretty seriously wrong,”
said Carlsen. “To be honest there aren’t
any really easy choices. The position is
unpleasant.” Anand opined.
20.h4!
“I thought 20.h4 was very good so I didn’t
look too much for other things,” admit-
ted Carlsen. “I think after 20.Bh6 gxh6
21.Rxg6+ hxg6 22.Qxg6+ it is just a per-
petual, no?” Carlsen’s analysis contin-
ued 22...Kf8 23.Qxf6+ Qf7 “when I have
a perpetual but I didn’t see anything
more.” (23...Bf7?! 24.f4! exf4 25.e5! is
analysts wanted White to continue with

24.Qxh6+ Ke8 25.Qh8+ Kd7 26.Rd1+
Kc7 27.Qxe5+ Kb7 28.Nd6+ Rxd6
29.Qxd6 but after 29...Rg8! Black has a
safe king and chances to take over the
initiative should White attempt to push his
pawns too quickly. So Carlsen’s choice,
decided intuitively rather than by calculat-
ing this long line, turned out to be correct.
20...Bxf5
A tough decision and a recognition that
18...Be6 was a waste of time.By now
Anand had realised that 20...Rd7 runs into
21.Bh6!! Nf4 (21...Rf8 is a better chance,
(the lovely point of White’s attack is that
Bg6 24.Qg5 when White’s attack is
overwhelming.
In fact Black has a defence, one which
was probably not considered by any non-
since it looks so crazy - 20...Kh8 !!?? The
point is that 21.Rxg6 allows the tactical
defence 21...Qf7! 22.Nxg7 Qxg6 23.Qxg6
hxg6 24.Nxe6 Rd6 when the White knight
is trapped and Black should hold.After
20...Kh8 White can play more peacefully
with 21.Qf3, but after 21...Bxf5 22.exf5
Ne7, Black has solved the problem of his
21.exf5 Nf4!
The active choice, played after only 12
seconds’ thought. The alternative 21...
Nf8 22.Bh6 Rd7 is passive - the knight
on f8 is particularly bad - though break-
ing through is not easy for White.
22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3 c5 24.Re6! (D)
Rab8?!
“Just a blunder,” said Anand. “I had to
play 24...h6! followed by ...Rd4, for what
it’s worth. At least then the c3 rook is a
little dominated - it can’t get to where it
wants to go.” After 25.Rc4 Rd4 26.Qe2
White retains an edge but with one less
pair of rooks on the board, Black’s defen-
sive task is easier.
25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 Rf8 27.Rce4
“Here I thought I should be [close] to
winning,” said Carlsen.
27...Rb7 28.Qe2 b5!
Anand realises that activity is absolutely
29.b3
“I missed b5,” admitted Carlsen. “I
thought I could play 29.Re7 here but that
doesn’t work due to 29...Qd6 .” In fact
30.f3! Rxe7 31.Rxe7 bxa4 32.Qe4 would
still be extremely strong for White. Again
Carlsen’s intuition was correct when he
said “Today I feel that I didn’t play in
the most precise way after I gained an
advantage.”
29...bxa4
29...c4!? might have been a reason-
able practical chance, since the refuta-
tion - 30.axb5 cxb3 31.b6!! - is far from
obvious. The point is that 31...b2 allows
SOCHI 2014
32.Qc4! b1Q 33.Re8+ Qf7 34.Rxf8+ with
mate to follow.
30.bxa4 (D)
A surprise to many, but Carlsen explained
“I have a very nice construction on the e
the rook away. Maybe 30.Rxa4 works but
it felt more natural to take with the pawn.
I [considered] 30...Rb4 31.Rxa5 but then
he can go 31...f3! and there are some
this line White is lucky to be able to force
a draw via 32.Qxf3! Qc7+ 33.Qg3! Qxa5
34.Re7 Rf7 35.Re8+ .Carlsen also men-
Qc8 31.Qg4 (Also after 31.Qc4+ Kh8
I didn’t see anything in particular, but
maybe I should play like this and then go
see how to proceed.”
30...Rb4!
h6 31.c3 all the major pieces remain on
the board and Black will simply lose the
f4 pawn.
31.Re7 Qd6
31...Qxf5 loses to 32.Rxb4 axb4 33.Qc4+
Kh8 34.Qf7!, forcing mate.
DECEMBER 2014 9
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

32.Qf3 Rxe4 33.Qxe4 f3+
black, especially since after 33...Kh8
34.Re8! Black is in big trouble because
if 34...h6 I have 35.Qd3!! and that’s it,”
said Carlsen.
34.g3 (D)
...h5?
A terrible blunder. Anand may have
believed that 34...Qd2 was unplayable
due to 35.Qe6+ Kh8 36.Qf7 - a very
common theme in this game - but it turns
out that after 36...Qxf2+ 37.Kh3 Qf1+!
38.Kg4 h5+! Black survives and holds.
Therefore White would have to have con-
tented himself with 35.Qxf3 Qxc2 36.Kg2,
which should win after 36...h6 37.Qb7
Qxf5 38.Rxg7+ Kh8 39.Rc7, although
there is still considerable work to do.
“I was surprised by 34...h5 - I did not
think it was possible - and had to double
check if 35.Qb7 was really winning,”
said Carlsen “But anyway it is a dread-
ful position to defend. I tried to put him
under pressure. Obviously you can’t win
without blunders but you must play well
to induce those.”
1-0

”It’s a pity, because I almost got back into

the game,” said Anand. “It’s a pity, but Carlsen
what can you do?”
Leads
35.Qb7
1.5-0.5

Doeberl Cup Book

by Bill Egan

A great collection of history,

annotated games, photos and
players. It is recommended
for all Australian chess fans.

Jeremy Silman made a nice

review of Doeberl Cup book -
see link below:

http://www.jeremysilman.
com/shop/pc/Doeberl-Cup-
The80p3872.htm

10 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

Game 3
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Sochi Wch 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6
Moving away from game one’s Grunfeld
Defence but the decision was later regret-
opening. He was well prepared and got a
good position - you can’t do much worse
than that!”
3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7
This move has almost replaced the old
main line 6...c5 at the highest level, with
White’s response also almost de rigeur
given Black’s threat to equalise com-
pletely with 7...c5.
7.c5!? c6
7...Nh5 was employed twice by Kramnik
at the Petrosian Memorial in Moscow just
days before this game, with both oppo-
Nxf4 9.exf4 and achieving little. No doubt
Kramnik has an improvement on 8.Be5
c6?! with which he lost badly to Topalov
at Norway Chess in June.
8.Bd3
8.h3 is also commonly played but Anand
remains happy to allow ...Nh5.
8...b6
8...Nh5 9.Be5 would lead back to the
aforementioned Topalov-Kramnik game.
9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Rxa6 (D)
12.b5!
stronger after 8.h3, since White has not
lost a tempo with Bf1–d3–a6. However
-
iar with the variation and there are differ-
ences in every postition, with and without
the pawn on h3.”
12...cxb5 13.c6 Qc8! 14.c7 b4 15.Nb5
a4! 16.Rc1 Ne4 (D)
17.Ng5!
“[This is] a line Levon [Aronian played]
against Mickey [Adams last year] in
Bilbao,” said Anand.
SOCHI 2014
17.Nd2 had been tried more frequently
but then 17...e5! is playable for Black.
17...Ndf6
Capturing twice on g5 allows Nd6 and
17...e5 18.dxe5 is simply good for White
because the d5 pawn is hanging.
18.Nxe4
18...Nxe4?
Played immediately (after spending half
automatic recapture may already be the
decisive error. After 18...dxe4! White
can win the exchange with 19.Nd6 (19.
20.Bxd6 b3! 21.Bxf8 Kxf8 but after ...Nd5
and ...Ra7, Black will win the c7 pawn
with no problems.
19.f3 Ra5 20.fxe4!
Anand’s powerful new idea. Aronian
had played 20.Qe2 against Adams
and achieved nothing after 20...Qd7!
20...Rxb5 21.Qxa4 Ra5 22.Qc6 bxa3
Black would prefer to have time for
22...dxe4 but after 23.a4! Black has no
counterplay.
DECEMBER 2014 11
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
23.exd5 Rxd5 24.Qxb6
“I have to pause for this [capture]
because otherwise he plays 24...b5.
There were so many variations I can’t
remember exactly but probably 24.Qxb6
was still in my preparation. The difference
in [passed] pawns is what I am playing
for,” explained Anand. “The pawn on c7
restricts him much more than the pawn
on a3 [does me].”
24...Qd7 25.0–0
“I was considering 25.Qa6 after which he
is more or less forced to go 25...Qc8 (25...
I can improve my queen with 26.Qc6 but
after 26...Ra5 he is threatening ...a2. I
was quite happy when I saw 26.Rc6! so
I went for that.”
25...Rc8 (D)
26.Rc6!
“I had seen the position up to 24.Qxb6
from afar and I thought I could hold,” said
Carlsen. “But then he had 25.Rc6! and I
don’t see what I can do.”
26...g5!?
“The plan with ...g5 and ...Bb4 doesn’t
12 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
work but it was very difficult.” said
Carlsen. For example, after 26...Ra5,
trying to play similarly to the previous
note, White can respond 27.Qxa5 Qxc6
28.Rb1! and Black is in trouble.
27.Bg3 Bb4! (D)
“I hadn’t seen this” admitted Anand. “Of
course White is the one [on top] but the
position is still very tense.”
28.Ra1!
Anand confessed to being very happy
instead of moving the bishop he could
start repeating with the rook - 28...Rb5
29.Qa6 Ra5 , etc. So I realised I should
use the other rook - that way I always
watch the a3 pawn.”
28...Ba5
“If the bishop goes back 28...Be7 I can
play some prophylactic move such as
29.h3 and then 30.Qb7 is coming,” said
Anand.
29.Qa6!
“Now Black is collapsing very fast,” said
Anand.
29...Bxc7 (D)
“On 29...Bb4 I have 30.Rb6! Ra5
31.Qxc8+ Qxc8 and now 32.Rxb4! [is
winning],” said Anand.
30.Qc4!
“It is important to pin with the queen,” said
Anand. “After 30.Rac1? Ra5! followed by
...a2 and the rook will have to go back
[to a1].”
30...e5
Desperation. “Now I knew I was winning
so it was just a question of being careful,”
said Anand.
31.Bxe5 Rxe5 32.dxe5 Qe7 33.e6!
The problem with 33.Rc1 is that he can
throw [away] the pawn and play 33...a2
34.Qxa2 Qxe5 ,” said Anand - though
even here White must win sooner or later
after 35.g3 Qxe3+ 36.Kh1
33...Kf8 34.Rc1
1–0
Photos by Peter Doggers
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 4
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3
Carlsen had used this version of the
King’s Indian Attack in many blitz and
rapid games, including against Caruana
and Svidler, so 3.g3 will not have come
as a great surprise for Anand.
3...Nc6 4.Bg2 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.0–0 Nf6
7.d4 Be7 8.Be3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 (D)
9...Bg4
Improving on 9...0–0 10.h3 when White
can maintain a slight edge.
10.Qd3 Qd7
“This is a typical isolani position,” said
Anand. “Black uses his activity to com-
pensate for the [isolated pawn].”
11.Nd2 0–0 12.N2f3 Rfe8 13.Rfe1
14 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Not tempted by 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Ne5
Qb7 when White’s bishop pair won’t be
of great importance.
13...Bd6 14.c3 h6 15.Qf1 Bh5 16.h3
Bg6 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.c4
19...Be4
“What I need is the bishop coming to d5
and being able to play ...Nh7–g5 later. I
didn’t see any point to provoking White
said Anand.
20.Bd4 Nh7 21.cxd5 Bxd5 22.Rxe8+
Rxe8 23.Qd3 Nf8 24.Nh4
“I could have tried 24.Bc3 ,” said Carlsen,
“but then after 24...Ng6 it will be very hard
to achieve anything.”
24...Be5!
“I missed this - now there is nothing,”
admitted Carlsen.
25.Bxd5 Qxd5 26.Bxe5 Qxe5 27.b3 Ne6
28.Nf3 Qf6 29.Kg2 Rd8 30.Qe2
“Very lazy,” said Carlsen, “I should just go
30.Qc2 when he has to exchange rooks.
It should still be a draw, of course, but at
least I am symbolically better.”
30...Rd5 31.Rxd5 cxd5 32.Ne5 Qf5 (D)
33.Nd3 Nd4 34.g4! Qd7 35.Qe5 Ne6
36.Kg3 Qb5
“After 34...Qd7 I was worried I might be
a little worse, but after 36...Qb5 37.Nf4
White is not losing,” said Carlsen. After
the game Anand preferred 36...d4 but
“after 37.Qe4 White is so centralised that
it is hard to believe Black has anything.”
37.Nf4 Nxf4 38.Kxf4 Qb4+ 39.Kf3 d4?!
40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qxf7
41...Qd2!
Played after using 20 minutes of the
hour he was given at the move 40 time
control.”Saving the game,” said Anand.
“When I played 39...d4, I thought that
41...Qc3+ 42.Ke4 d3 was an easy draw,
but then I saw 43.Qf3! when I am much
worse.”
42.Qf5+ Kh8 43.h4 Qxa2 44.Qe6! Qd2!
“Very precise,” said Anand. “44.Qe6 was
a good try because he threatens to mate
with g5.”
45.Qe8+ Kh7 46.Qe4+ Kh8 47.Qe8+
Kh7
½–½

Game 5
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Sochi Wch 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+
A small surprise, since Carlsen has used
4...Ba6 almost exclusively when playing
the Queen’s Indian Defence.
5.Bd2 Be7
The young Carlsen suffered a heavy
defeat against Leko in 2006 with 5...
Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Ba6!?
6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6
A pioneer of this variation, Alekhine, used
7...Ne4?! to beat Max Euwe in their return
World Championship match of 1937 but
the move has almost disappeared since
it leaves Black a tempo behind a main
line of the Queen’s Indian - one where
the White bishop goes to d2 voluntarily
more reputable alternatives for Black,
but Carlsen’s choice is considered the
most solid.
8.e4 d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Ne5 0–0 11.0–0
Nc6 12.cxd5!?
12.Bf4 has been considered a more
ambitious line, but Anand has prepared
very deeply.
12...Nxe5 (D)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
13.d6! Nc6 14.dxe7 Qxe7 15.Bg5 h6
16.d5
“I had looked at this line long back and
thought it should be better for White,”
said Anand.”Definitely White is a bit
better,” added Carlsen, “and it turned out
to be quite complicated, but it should be
holdable.”
16...Na5!
16...Rad8 is more risky, due to the reply
17.Qa4 - stronger than the queen sacri-
Rb8 followed by 20.Rxb7, with equality.
17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.dxe6 Qxe6 19.Re1 Qf6
(D)
20.Nd5!
Without this idea, Black would have no
problems at all.
20...Bxd5
“We were both analysing 20...Qxb2 ,” said
Anand, “and now [there is the forcing line]
21.Re2 Qa3 22.Re3 Qb2 23.Rb1 Qxa2
24.Ra1 Qb2 25.Rxa5 bxa5 26.Rb3 Qa2
27.Rxb7 when perhaps white can play
this position [for a win].”
21.Bxd5 Rad8 22.Qf3 Qxb2
“After 22...Qxf3 23.Bxf3 I can put my
rook on d7 and my knight on b7, but it
is always going to be torture [to defend],
even without rooks, since the bishop is
much stronger than the knight and the
light squares on the queenside are poten-
tially weak” explained Carlsen.
23.Rad1 Qf6
“It took me a while to work out 23...Rd6
24.Bxf7+ Rxf7 25.Re8+ Kh7 26.Qxf7
Rxd1+ 27.Kg2 and the problem for Black
is that 27...Rd6 28.Qf5+ Rg6 29.Re6
[wins]. We both made the same mistake
of thinking that 29 ...Qc1 check and ...Qg5
was possible, though only for about a
second before realising that ...Qc1 was
23...Rd7 24.Qf5 Rc7 (24...Rfd8?
unpleasant for Black.
24.Qxf6 gxf6 25.Re7!
“This is nice because it threatens
26.Bxf7+,” said Anand. “The ending
looked pleasant to me but perhaps Black
has just enough resources.”
DECEMBER 2014 15
SOCHI 2014
25...Kg7 (D) “After 26.Kg2 I thought he would play
26...f5 because I can no longer take on
f7. (Anand was meaning the variation
27.Bxf7? Rxd1 28.Bb3+ Kf6 29.Re6+
”Maybe 26...Nc6 is better,” interjected
Carlsen. The players analysed 27.Rc7
Ne5 28.Rxa7 Rd6 29.Bb3 Rxd1 30.Bxd1
Rd8 “and now 31.Bh5 is met by 31...
Ng6 and 32...f5, though it is unpleasant,
while 31.Bb3 Rd2 gives Black just about
I think 26.Rc7 would have been [my best]
try,” decided Anand. “It’s not completely
clear but after 26...a6 I have 27.Rd3
26.Rxa7 when if 27...Rd6 I have the 28.Bxf7! trick
again.”
26.Kg2 and Rc7 are both interesting
tries,” said Anand. ”So perhaps 27...Kh8 is forced,” said
Anand talks through the critical moments of the game
Photo by Peter Doggers
16 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Carlsen, before changing his mind and
preferring 27...Rc8 28.Rdc3 Rcd8 when
should hold the position.
26...Nc6 27.Rb7
“Now it is just a draw. [Originally] I had
thought I would play 27.Ra4 and get a
better bishop versus knight position,” said
Anand, “but then it hit me that after 27...
Rd6 28.Bb3 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 Rd8 it would
be very hard to do anything [when the
Black knight reaches d4.]”
27...Nb4 28.Bb3 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 Nxa2
30.Rxb6 Nc3 31.Bf3 f5 32.Kg2 Rd8
33.Rc6 Ne4 34.Bxe4 fxe4 35.Rc4 f5
36.g4 Rd2 37.gxf5 e3 38.Re4 Rxf2+
39.Kg3 Rxf5 ½–½

Game 6
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6
The Kan Variation, which had been an
Anand favourite as a junior back in the
1980s, though notably Anand had tried
it once in 2014, in a Bundesliga game.
5.c4
5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 has become the
modern main line of the Kan Variation,
though Anand tested the older 6...Ba7
in his Bundesliga game against Bobras,
eventually drawn.
5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4
7.Qd3!?
The most fashionable choice, invented
due to White’s failure to gain any advan-
tage in the sharp line 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.a3
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- once used by Kramnik to win a minia- not very nice,” said Carlsen.
ture against Svidler - or the even sharper
Illingworth Gambit 8.0–0 !!?? 8...Nxd4
9.e5!
7...Nc6
The tactical point behind 7.Qd3 is seen
in the variation 7...Qc7 8.a3! Bxc3+
9.Qxc3 when grabbing the e4 pawn runs
into 9...Nxe4 10.Nb5! axb5 11.Qxg7 Rf8
12.Bh6 Qc5 13.f3!! and Black is defence-
less, as Svidler discovered against
Nepomniachtchi at the 2014 World Blitz
Championship in Dubai.
8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.e5 Nd7 20.hxg6 Nxg6 21.Rh5 Bc6 22.Bc2 Kb7
23.Rg4 a5!
Black’s safest choice. 10...Ne4 is very
risky in view of 11.a3! Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 A key part of Black’s counterplay.
Nxc3 (Kramnik suggested that 12...b6 Eventually Black will have to abandon
and later ...Nc5 might be drawable “but the h6 pawn but by then he hopes to have
a pawn on a3 and create problems for
when the Black knight has some way White on the queenside.
to go before reaching safety and White
24.Bd1
pawn.
“I should be much better but I struggled
11.Bf4 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Kc7 13.h4! b6
14.h5 h6!? move my [g4] rook but it is not so easy as
he will attack my g pawn,” said Carlsen,
A controversial decision, since the g7 with the variation 24.f3 Ne7! in mind.
pawn is left behind, but both players
were still moving a tempo and presum- 24...Rd8 25.Bc2 Rdg8
ably knew what they were doing.
15.0–0–0 Bb7 16.Rd3! 16...c5 17.Rg3
Rag8 18.Bd3 Nf8 (D)
All part of Anand’s preparation, but
Kramnik was scathing, saying, “Maybe
a computer thinks this is equal but to a
human it looks unplayable.”
19.Be3 g6!
“He doesn’t have to play 19...g6 - he can
play 19...Bc6 and 20...Be8, but it is really
DECEMBER 2014 17
SOCHI 2014
26.Kd2??
“[I saw that this was a blunder] just after
I made the move,” admitted Carlsen.
when you see the position on the board
it just hits you. It was just a feeling of com-
plete panic. There are very few moves
that completely spoil my position - just
26.Kd2??.”
Karjakin was one of the astounded spec-
tators, saying, “When Magnus blun-
dered with 26...Kd2, I was in the playing
hall, and wanted to scream 26...Nxe5!!!
It could have changed chess history I
guess!”
“I could put the king on d1 to get the same
position [as later],” said Carlsen, though
it turns out to be not so simple to bring
the king back to the kingside because
26.Kd1 allows 26...Nf8! 27.Rxg8 Rxg8
when White cannot save the g pawn
because 28.g3? allows 28...Bf3+.
26...a4??
26...Nxe5! is very good,” said Carlsen
27.Rxg8 Nxc4+ 28.Kd3 Nb2+ 29.Ke2
Rxg8 30.g3 Bd5 White will be very lucky
to survive, “though I don’t think the posi-
tion would have been dead lost,” added
Carlsen.
”When you’re not expecting a gift some-
times you just don’t take it,” Anand admit-
ted. “I had the same problem [as Magnus]
- as soon as I played 26...a4 I saw it. I
was looking for this a5–a4 counterplay
and I was just very focused on that.”
”I don’t think I kept a poker face,” said
Carlsen. “Sometimes you’re very, very
lucky and you get away with it. As Vishy
said, the position is stably better for
White so you don’t expect such things to
18 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
happen. But you have to stay alert - most 34.axb3 a2 35.Bb2 Rad8!
of the time you get seriously punished for
such an oversight.”
27.Ke2
“Now [to avoid 27...Nxe5!] I have to allow
a3. [After the blunder] I wasn’t that con-
plan,” said Carlsen.
27...a3 28.f3
By now it was obvious that Anand was
position in front of him, with sighs and 32...Bc6?
head shakes before returning to try to
analyse. “Given the way I played the rest
of the game, probably [it affected me],” fatal error. He did not have the energy or
admitted Anand.
32...Ka7!! The point is that after 33.Bxa8
28...Rd8 29.Ke1 Kxa8 34.Rxh6 Rd1 35.Bxa3 Ra1! Black
has a remarkable amount of counterplay
Carlsen declines to cash in his advantage and after 36.Ke3 Nxe5, both 37.Re4 Ng6
with 29.Bxg6!? fxg6 30.Rxg6 because and 37.Rg7 Nxc4+ 38.Kf4 Nd6 are very
after 30...Be8 31.Rg7+ Rd7 32.Rxd7+ hard for White to break down.
Bxd7 Black has significant drawing
chances in the opposite bishops ending 33.Bxg6 fxg6 34.Rxg6 Ba4 35.Rxe6
after ...Be8–g6–b1. Rd1
29...Rd7 30.Bc1 Ra8 31.Ke2 Ba4! 35...Bb3 is no longer playable for Black in
view of 36.axb3 a2 37.Bb2 Rad8 38.Rd6!
“I liked my setup here but I jumped the
gun with Ba4,” opined Anand. Carlsen 36.Bxa3 Ra1 37.Ke3 Bc2 38.Re7+! 1-0
added, “We discussed 31...Ne7! when
Black has very good chances to hold “Usually you feel happy when you win,”
the game. “Both players were too pessi- said Carlsen. “Today it’s mostly relief!”
excellent winning chances, whereas after
Anand’s move, Black has more resources
than Anand had realised. Carlsen
32.Be4+! (D) Leads
The immediate 32.Bxg6 fxg6 33.Rxg6
allows Anand’s idea 33...Bb3! when
3.5-2.5
White can easily get into trouble, e.g.

Game 7
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0
Heading for the main line. “Leading
by a point it seemed like a good idea,”
said Carlsen. “As you can see from the
game, there isn’t a lot of risk for White
and once in a while you manage to get
some pressure.”
4...Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5
Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5
11.Bf4
A parting of the ways. Anand, playing
White, had tried 11.Bg5 and 11.Rd1 as
well as 11.Bf4, while Carlsen’s preferred
choice in this position had been 11.Ne2.
11...Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 (D)
14.g3!?
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
“This is a topical line which has been
around recently, with a lot of games in
the Grand Prix recently,” said Anand.
14...Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Rg6 16.h4 f6 17.exf6
gxf6 18.Bf4 Nxh4 19.f3 Rd8 20.Kf2 Rxd1
21.Nxd1 Nf5 22.Rh1 Bxa2 23.Rxh5 Be6
24.g4
24.Bxc7 Rh6 leads to an immediate draw,
so White must remain a pawn down.
24...Nd6 (D)
25.Rh7
Continuing to follow the game Giri-
Radjabov, played a few weeks previously
at the Tashkent Grand Prix tournament -
though after the game Carlsen wanted to
make clear that “in general I don’t follow
trends set by Giri and Radjabov!”
25...Nf7!
Radjabov had played 25...f5?! after which
26.Rxc7! , instead of Giri’s 26.g5 , would
have been strong.
26.Ne3 Kd8 27.Nf5 c5 28.Ng3 Ne5!
Anand is now committed to the ending
which arises in the game. “I wasn’t sure
whether or not to go for it, but otherwise
I didn’t think my position was very nice,”
admitted Anand.
29.Rh8+! Rg8 30.Bxe5! fxe5 31.Rh5 (D)
31...Bxg4!
“If 31...Rf8 32.Ke3 Bd5 33.Ne4 Bxe4
34.Kxe4 and I thought his connected
passed pawns [will be] quite fast,” said
Anand. “I considered 34...Rf4+ 35.Ke3
Rb4 36.Rxe5 Rxb2 37.Rxc5 but I was
not very happy with it - my pawns are
to a draw here it is very, very narrow.
Practically, 31...Bxg4 is the best choice.”
32.fxg4 Rxg4 33.Rxe5 b6
“It was a bit annoying that neither 33...
Rb4 or 33...Rc4 works, and that I have
to play 33...b6,” said Anand. “If I start
with 33...Rc4 then 34.c3 and 35.Re4
[exchanges rooks].”
33...Rb4 34.b3 c4?! 35.Re4! also works
out well for White.
34.Ne4 Rh4 35.Ke2 Rh6 36.b3 Kd7
37.Kd2 Kc6 38.Nc3
“Initially I was convinced that there
DECEMBER 2014 19
SOCHI 2014
should be a way to win this ending,” said
Carlsen, “but maybe it should just be a
“It was a tough ending but with one or two
Anand. “I have seen similar endgames
before. It isn’t really what you enjoy but
it is part of the territory [when you play
the Berlin].”
38...a6 39.Re4 Rh2+ 40.Kc1 Rh1+
41.Kb2 (D)
Spectators watching the action live
Photo by Peter Doggers
20 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
41...Rh6
on a set-up,” said Anand. “Then I would
have about 10 moves of peace and quiet
before the next decision came along.”
42.Nd1 Rg6 43.Ne3 Rh6 44.Re7 Rh2
45.Re6+ Kb7 46.Kc3 Rh4 47.Kb2 Rh2
48.Nd5 Rd2 49.Nf6 Rf2 50.Kc3 Rf4
51.Ne4 Rh4 52.Nf2 Rh2 53.Rf6 Rh7
54.Nd3 Rh3 55.Kd2 Rh2+ 56.Rf2 Rh4
(D)
57.c4!
“I couldn’t see how to make progress
without playing c4,” said Carlsen. “I need
to get my knight to d5 and my rook to
the seventh rank. That plan cannot be
stopped but with a pawn on c4 he can
get counterplay.”
57...Rh3 58.Kc2 Rh7 59.Nb2 Rh5
60.Re2 Rg5 61.Nd1
61...b5! 62.Nc3 c6 63.Ne4 Rh5 64.Nf6
Rg5!
“I have to play this exact move,” said
Anand. “ 64...Rf5 is bad because of
65.Re7+ Kb6 66.Nd7+ Ka5 67.Ne5! and
now after 67...Rf2+ even 68.Kd1 works
because the knight is coming back to d3.”
65.Re7+ Kb6 66.Nd7+ Ka5 67.Re4 Rg2+
“I have to drag his king to e1 before I [take
on c4,” explained Anand.
68.Kc1 Rg1+ 69.Kd2 Rg2+ 70.Ke1 (D)
 SOCHI 2014

24.Qxh6+ Ke8 25.Qh8+ Kd7 26.Rd1+ oflittle

R+N+2Ps
dominatedv R+4Ps
- it can’t
he already
get to where
signed it 32.Qc4! b1Q 33.Re8+ Qf7 34.Rxf8+ with
Kc7 27.Qxe5+ Kb7 28.Nd6+ Rxd6
29.Qxd6 but after 29...Rg8! Black has a
up
wants
for suffering!”
to go.” After 25.Rc4 Rd4 26.Qe2 mate to follow.
White retains an edge but with one less
Game 8
safe king and chances to take over the 78...Kc4
pair of rooks 79.Nf2
on theKb5board,80.Rb1+
Black’s defen-
Kc4 30.bxa4 (D)
initiative should White attempt to push his 81.Ne4
sive task Ra3is easier.
82.Nd2+ Kd5 83.Rh1 a4
pawns too quickly. So Carlsen’s choice, 84.Rh5+ Kd4 85.Rh4+ Kc5 86.Kd1 Kb5 Anand, Viswanathan 2792
decided intuitively rather than by calculat- 87.Kc2 Rg3 88.Ne4 Rg2+ 89.Kd3 a3
ing this long line, turned out to be correct. 90.Nc3+ Kb6 91.Ra4 a2 92.Nxa2 Rg3+ Carlsen, Magnus 2863
93.Kc2 Rg2+ 94.Kb3 Rg3+ 95.Nc3 Rh3 Sochi Wch 2014
20...Bxf5 96.Rb4+ Kc7 97.Rg4 Rh7 98.Kc4 Rf7
99.Rg5 Kb6 100.Na4+ Kc7 101.Kc5 Kd7
A tough decision and a recognition that 102.Kb6 Rf1 103.Nc5+ Ke7 104.Kxc6 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7
18...Be6 was a waste of time.By now (D) 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 c5
Anand had realised that 20...Rd7 runs into
21.Bh6!! Nf4 (21...Rf8 is a better chance, Carlsen switches to the older line, after
70...bxc4! his ill-fated result in game 3 with 6...Nbd7.
(the lovely point of White’s attack is that
“Very accurate,” said Anand. “70...bxc4 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 (D)
Bg6 24.Qg5 when White’s attack is
dying to play 70...Kb4 but then [my] king A surprise to many, but Carlsen explained
gets dragged back.” 25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 Rf8 27.Rce4 “I have a very nice construction on the e
In fact Black has a defence, one which
”There were some
was probably not traps,” added
considered byCarlsen.
any non- “Here I thought I should be [close] to the rook away. Maybe 30.Rxa4 works but
“For example 70...Kb4 is not very good winning,” said Carlsen. it felt more natural to take with the pawn.
because of 71.cxb5+ Kxb5 72.Re8!
since it looks so crazy - 20...Kh8 !!?? The and I [considered] 30...Rb4 31.Rxa5 but then
his king is in some trouble.”
point is that 21.Rxg6 allows the tactical 27...Rb7 28.Qe2 b5! he can go 31...f3! and there are some
defence 21...Qf7! 22.Nxg7 Qxg6 23.Qxg6
“ 70...Rg7
hxg6 24.Nxe6 71.Nxc5Rd6Kb4 was
when thealso interest-
White knight Anand realises that activity is absolutely this line White is lucky to be able to force
ing,” added Carlsen, “but after
is trapped and Black should hold.After 72.Nxa6+ a draw via 32.Qxf3! Qc7+ 33.Qg3! Qxa5
Kxb3 73.Nc5+ at least then the game
20...Kh8 White can play more peacefully completed, with Black’s two pawns elim- 34.Re7 Rf7 35.Re8+ .Carlsen also men-
goes on.”
with 21.Qf3, but after 21...Bxf5 22.exf5 inated 29.b3 but now Carlsen discovers that
Ne7, Black has solved the problem of his the rook and knight versus rook ending Qc8 31.Qg4 (Also after 31.Qc4+ Kh8
71.Rxc4 Rg3 72.Nxc5 Kb5 73.Rc2 a5 offers “I missedvery little
b5,”asadmitted
Black’s king
Carlsen.
cannot“I I didn’t see anything in particular, but
74.Kf2 Rh3 75.Rc1 Kb4 76.Ke2 Rc3 even thought be forced
I could to
play
the29.Re7
back rank
hereandbut that
so 9...Re8!?
maybe I should play like this and then go
77.Nd3+
21.exf5 Nf4! Kxb3 the
doesn’t
Norwegian
work duegivestoup29...Qd6
trying after
.” Inonly
fact
18
30.f3!
of hisRxe7
allocated
31.Rxe7 50 bxa4
moves. 32.Qe4 would “Not see howthe most
to proceed.”
common move in this
Finally Anand has eliminated Carlsen’s
The active choice, played after only 12 still be extremely strong for White. Again position,” said Anand with significant
last pawn, so
seconds’ the worst
thought. Thethat can happen
alternative 21... 104...Rd1
Carlsen’s 105.Rg6
intuition wasKf7correct
106.Rh6 when Rg1he understatement.
30...Rb4!
isNf8
a rook and knight v rook ending.
22.Bh6 Rd7 is passive - the knight 107.Kd5At said “Today Rg5+I feel
108.Kd4that IRg6
didn’t
109.Rh1
play in
this point Anand had only eight minutes
on f8 is particularly bad - though break- Rg2 the 110.Ne4
most precise
Ra2 111.Rf1+
way after Ke7
I gained
112.Nc3 an 9...Qa5 has been the almost universal
left but for the remainder of
ing through is not easy for White. the game he Rh2
advantage.”
113.Nd5+ Kd6 114.Rf6+ Kd7 115. choice h6 31.c3 here,
all the
including
major pieces
being remain
used by on
played faster than 30 seconds per move Nf4 Rh1 116.Rg6 Rd1+ 117.Nd3 Ke7 Carlsen the board in aand
severeBlack
loss
will
against
simplyKramnik
lose the
and never dropped below that level.
22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3 c5 24.Re6! (D) 118.Ra6 29...bxa4 Kd7 119.Ke4 Ke7 120.Rc6 Kd7 inf42009. pawn.The most famous game with
Rab8?! 121.Rc1 Rxc1 122.Nxc1 ½–½ 9...Qa5, which might have served as
78.Ra1 29...c4!? might have been a reason- the 31.Re7
spiritual
Qd6predeccessor to Carlsen’s
“Just a blunder,” said Anand. “I had to able practical chance, since the refuta- plan, was a key encounter from the 1978
“Iplay
could settle followed
24...h6! for a drawby but in general
...Rd4, for what tion - 30.axb5 cxb3 31.b6!! - is far from World 31...Qxf5Championship
loses to 32.Rxb4match
axb4
between
33.Qc4+
there is no harm in playing on,” said
it’s worth. At least then the c3 rook is a obvious. The point is that 31...b2 allows Korchnoi Kh8 34.Qf7!,and Karpov.
forcing That
mate.game contin-
Carlsen. “When he went for this ending

DECEMBER 2014 21
SOCHI 2014
with the tactical point 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5
Nd4! though Korchnoi handled the com-
plications brilliantly and eventually won
(with later analysis showing that 10...Re8
10.Bg5
Played after 11 minutes thought. One
tactical point behind Carlsen’s plan
was 10.Rd1 e5 11.Bg5 d4 12.Nd5 Be7
13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Be2? d3! , when Black
won a piece and the game in Thomas-
10...Be7! 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.Bd3 h6 13.Bh4
dxc4 14.Bxc4 a6!? (D)
Carlsen was still blitzing out his moves, yet
seemed to be almost falling asleep while
his opponent was thinking. “I was not in
the best of shape at the start,” Carlsen
admitted, “but I managed to [become]
fresher as the game progressed.”
15.0–0
“Perhaps 15.Ba2 [immediately] is worth
trying,” said Anand, without offering any
variations. Play could continue 15...b5
16.Bb1 and now, since 16...Bb7? walks
into mate, Carlsen would have had to
choose between 16...Rd8 and the com-
puter’s sharper preference 16...g5!?
17.Bg3 b4.
22 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
15...b5 16.Ba2 Bb7 17.Bb1
17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Ne4 Be7 19.Rd7 Qb6
20.Bb1 g6 21.Qc3 Rad8 22.Rxe7 Rxe7
23.Nf6+ Kf8 24.Nd5 Nd4!!
17...Rad8! (D)
“A very accurate move,” said Anand.”My
opening looked very risky for Black,”
admitted Carlsen, “but once I am in time
with 17...Rd8, there is very little for White
to do.”]
18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Ne4
“[Unfortunately] 19.Qh7+ does not
land,” said Anand, “because after 19...
Kf8 20.Ne4 he can just play 20...Rxd1
21.Rxd1 Rd8 .”
19...Be7 20.Nc5
Almost an hour behind on the clock,
Anand plays for safety. “20.Ng3 was inter-
esting but after 20...g6 21.h4 I thought
he could still play 21...Rc8 ,” explained
Anand.
20...Bxc5 21.Qxc5 b4!
“Now White’s advantage is only sym-
bolic,” said Anand.“
22.Rc1 bxa3 23.bxa3 Qxc5 24.Rxc5
Ne7 25.Rfc1 Rc8 26.Bd3 Red8 27.Rxc8
Rxc8 28.Rxc8+ Nxc8 29.Nd2 Nb6
30.Nb3 Nd7
“Now I just have to be a little bit careful to
navigate [the game] into a drawn bishop
ending,” said Carlsen.
31.Na5 Bc8 32.Kf1 Kf8 33.Ke1 Ke7
34.Kd2 Kd6 35.Kc3 Ne5 36.Be2 Kc5
(D) 37.f4
“There’s nothing I can do,” admitted
Anand. Carlsen was a little more nervous
about 37.a4 but after 37...Nc6 38.Nxc6
Kxc6 39.Kb4 Kb6 40.a5+ Kc6 “Black just
goes between d6 and c6,” said Anand.
37...Nc6 38.Nxc6 Kxc6 39.Kd4 f6 40.e4
Kd6 41.e5+ ½–½
41.e5+ fxe5+ 42.fxe5+ Kc6 holds easily
because the White king has no entry
squares.
Carlsen
Leads
4.5-3.5

Game 9
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0
Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5
Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5
11.Ne2
Varying from game 7, but hardly a sur-
prise for Anand since Carlsen had used
it to defeat Jakovenko in 2009.
11...b6 12.Rd1 Ba6 13.Nf4 (D)
13...Bb7!?
Anand’s improvement on a famous
Dominguez-Ponomariov game where
White had slowly strangled his opponent
Nd4 15.Nxd4 Rxd4 16.a4. Why play
...Ba6 and then ...Bb7? “This is some-
thing I would rather not explain!” said
Anand with a laugh.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
14.e6
“I didn’t know what to do here,” said Game 10
Carlsen, who thought for 16 minutes on
this move.”
14...Bd6!
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Sochi Wch 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7
5.Qb3
The Russian Variation, employed
by Botvinnik in his successful World
Championship rematch against Smyslov
in 1958.”A very interesting line,” said
Carlsen, “always with chances for both
“This is known,” said Anand. “e6 is often sides. [Kasparov and I] looked at [such
met by ...Bd6 and I knew that it was com- lines] when we were training in 2009 and
fortable for Black. I didn’t really expect 2010.”
[Magnus to force a draw] but when it
happens there is not much that Black 5...dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Na6!?
can do.”
The old Prins Variation, a Kasparov
15.exf7+ favourite, rather than the more trendy
7...a6.
“I thought about 15.Re1 but 15...f6 should
be ok for Black,” said Carlsen. 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.0–0 exd5 11.exd5
Re8 (D)
15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Kf6 17.Ne4+
“As long as I don’t see anything clear in
the position and he is better prepared
than I am, [I am] ok with a draw,” said
Carlsen. “My preparation wasn’t good
enough to get a [real] game.”
17...Kf7 18.Ng5+ Kf6 19.Ne4+ Kf7
20.Ng5+ ½–½
12.Bg5!?
DECEMBER 2014 23
SOCHI 2014

A recent idea, luring the Black pawn to h6
before returning to e3. It would not have
come as a complete surprise to Carlsen
because it had been used by Anand’s
second Wojtaszek in 2012.
12...h6 13.Be3 Bf5
Kasparov’s old idea 13...b6 may be play-
able here since now 14.Qh4 can be well
met by 14...g5!.
14.Rad1 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4! (D)
with 19...b5 (19...Qxb2 20.Bxg7 Qxc1
21.Rxc1 Kxg7 22.Rxb7 might be Black’s
best chance to bail out but the endgame
-
gerous ideas such as Qd1–d5 and Ng5.
18.Qxb2!
“I was considering 18.Bxg7 Qxc1
19.Rxc1 Kxg7 20.Bxa6 bxa6 21.Rxc5,”
said Anand, “but it seemed inadequate to
me and Magnus mentioned that he was
going to play 21...Red8 22.Rd1 Rab8!
which solves everything.”
“I was relieved when he gave me the e
think my problems are solved.”
”Perhaps 24.Rfe1 was slightly better than
[this],” added Anand, “but I thought that
after 24...Nc6 White wasn’t getting any-
where - though it is not as if I got a whole
lot more [than this with the game continu-
ation].” Anand should have gone for this
option because after 25.Rb1 Rad8 26.h4,

18...Bxb2 19.Ng5!

“I underestimated 19.Ng5,” said Carlsen.

“I was too optimistic - [maybe because I
was sure that] 18.Bxg7 would be imme-

”19.d6 and19.Bb5 were also tempting,

Anand.

Taking advantage of the extra move ...h6
given to him by Anand’s 12.Bg5. In the
main line where White plays Be3 imme-
White would be close to winning after
15.Ng5 Bf5 16.d6 and if 16...Qd7 17.Qb3!
Black is close to lost.
16.Qc1
“16.d6 will have to be checked,” said
Anand, challenging Carlsen to use the
Grunfeld again in game 12.
19...Bd4!
24...Re8 25.Rc1 Re6 26.h4 Be5!
“Very precise,” said Anand. 19...Bf5 27.Bxe5 Rxe5 28.Bxb7
would be more natural but after 20.Bb5
Red8 21.d6 it is not easy for Black to 28.a3 Nc6 29.Bxc6 bxc6 also leads to a
cope with the threat of 22.Rfe1–e7. drawn rook endgame.
20.Nxe4! 28...Rxb7 29.d7 Nc6 30.d8Q+ Nxd8
31.Rxd8+ Kg7 32.Rd2 ½–½
“After 20.Bb5 Bxd5! 21.Bxe8 Rxe8 Black
Anand.
20...Rxe4 21.Bf3

16...Qf6 17.Bxh6 Qxb2

“With the two bishops he does have some
pressure,” said Carlsen, “but whether it
Carlsen
Black would prefer to eliminate the d
is enough to gain something substantial,
I don’t know.”
Leads
pawn with 17...Bxd5!? 18.Rxd5 Rxe2 but
after 19.Rd7! Black’s position is awkward 21...Re7 22.d6 Rd7 23.Bf4 Nb4 (D)
5.5-4.5
as an attempt to hang onto the pawn 24.Rd2?

24 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

Game 11
Carlsen, Magnus 2863
Anand, Viswanathan 2792
Sochi Wch 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0
Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5
8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 (D)
9...Bd7!?
One of Black’s more ambitious moves,
planning - eventually - to redeploy the
Black king on b7.
10.Nc3
In the previous World Championship
match, Anand, playing White against
Carlsen, had tried 10.Rd1 Be7 11.Nc3
Kc8 12.Bg5 and had secured no adva-
natge, though the game later sharpened
dramatically and both players missed
chances.
10...h6 11.b3 Kc8 12.Bb2 c5
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
12...b6 13.Rad1 Ne7 was the original
method used by Kramnik to shut down
Kasparov in their 2000 world title match
and Kramnik had also used it to beat
Anand in a rapid game a few years later.
13.Rad1 b6 14.Rfe1
White usually prefers to play 14.Nd5 and
15.c4 immediately.
14...Be6 15.Nd5 (D)
24.Bc3!?
“I understood that if he doesn’t take the
pawn either way, the position stays very
tight,” said Anand.
24.cxb5?! c6! 25.bxc6+ Kxc6 would play
into Black’s hands while 24.axb5 a4
25.bxa4 Rxa4 26.Rc1 Be7 ensures that
Black regains the pawn with a small ini-
tiative. This might, however, have been
White’s best defence.
15...g5! 24...bxa4 25.bxa4 Kc6! (D)
The start of an extremely deep plan. The
hole on f6 is necessary to prevent White
playing 16.Nf4, when the d7 square may
become accessible to a White rook.
16.c4 Kb7 17.Kh2 a5 18.a4 Ne7 19.g4!?
“Perhaps I didn’t play the best way from
move 19 to move 23 because all of a
sudden [he] created a lot of counterplay,”
admitted Carlsen.
19...Ng6 20.Kg3 Be7 21.Nd2 Rhd8
22.Ne4 Bf8 23.Nef6?! (D) b5!!
26.Kf3!
A bolt from the blue. “It is hard when you
are playing such an important game and
the position is not at all under control,” and d5 both desperately need overpro-
said Carlsen. tection, so I thought this was the best
DECEMBER 2014 25
SOCHI 2014
“way to try to keep control,” said Carlsen.
26...Rdb8
“I saw that I could play 26...Bg7 27.Ke4
Bxf6 28.exf6 Bxd5+ 29.cxd5+ Kd6 and
Black probably is better,” said Anand,
though White could improve with 27.Nh5
“and it’s about equal. I was focussed on
26...Bg7 and didn’t [see] 26...Be7!. I
wasn’t thinking very clearly at this point.”]
27.Ke4
“My position looks quite impressive but
he has enough activity and Black should
be, at least, not worse,” said Carlsen.
“[White has] too many vulnerable spots
to cover.”
27...Rb4?
Optically impressive but this positional
-
ted Anand, who spent only a few minutes
on this critical decision. “I was looking at
27...Rb3 which I think is about equal. I
calculated 28.Rb1 Rab8 29.Rxb3 Rxb3
30.Bxa5 and now I cannot take the
h-pawn because [my rook] gets sidelined,
so 30...Ra3 31.Bxc7 Rxa4 and I evalu-
ated this as equal.” (In fact after White
26 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
defends the c-pawn, 32...Bg7 will regain 33...Ra6
33...Kc6 is well met by 34.Rd4! followed
”I can’t say why I went for the exchange
might have been the best try, hoping for
was punished,” added Anand. “Earlier I 34.Rc1 Kc8! However even here 35.e6!
was still playing objectively but I took a is strong, while 34.Nd5 Bd6!? 35.Kd4! is
nervous decision.” even simpler for White.
Carlsen hesitated less than a minute 34.Nd5 Rc6 35.Rxf7 Bc5
before taking the rook, later explaining
that the move was “[Anand’s] biggest
mistake. In general I’m a believer in mate-
about that.”
28.Bxb4 cxb4 29.Nh5!
his bishop from e6, which is by far his
strongest piece” said Carlsen. “Once this
bishop goes from e6 I can invade with the
36.Rxc7+! Rxc7 37.Nxc7 Kc6 38.Nb5
29...Kb7 30.f4 gxf4 31.Nhxf4 Nxf4 Bxb5 39.axb5+ Kxb5 40.e6 b3 41.Kd3
32.Nxf4 Bxc4
“Towards the end I got really excited and
had to try to control myself,” said Carlsen.
41...Be7 42.h4 a4 43.g5 hxg5 44.hxg5
a3 45.Kc3 1–0
Carlsen
Retains Title
33.Rd7! 6.5-4.5
After he gave up the exchange I played
it quite forcefully and he didn’t have any
chances,” said Carlsen.
SOCHI 2014

Photos by Mike Klein

28 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 FA B I A N O C A R U A N A

The Caruana Story

F
abiano Caruana’s victory at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup placed a spot-
light on the 22-year-old Italian, whose rise to the top of world chess
has rarely been documented. Here, in an extended interview with Ian
Rogers, Caruana talks of his childhood in the US and life after his family
move to Europe.

“I have a brother & a sister, much older than me.
They have their own families. My brother has two
kids and lives in Florida. My sister has two kids and
lives in New Jersey.
“I went to school until the age of 12. I went to Public
School 321 right across from my house at 450 2nd
St in Brooklyn, [NewYork], then to Andries Hudde,
another public school.
“I played the piano when I was 6 or 7. It was brief –
only about 1 year and I have forgotten everything.
I went to the Pan Ams and the World Youth; in places
like Spain, Argentina, Greece, Columbia. So they gave
I enjoyed travelling and it was fun to get away from
school for a while.
“I played at the Marshall Chess Club pretty much
every night. It wasn’t such a long drive. The club was
in Manhattan but travel took some time with New
Caruana made his debut at the
weekly Tuesday Masters tour-
nament in February 2004, but
would sometimes need to for-
‘I played at the
feit games to get home before
midnight.
Marshall Chess
They made an exception and I played before my
rating was 2200. There were 4 games, game 30 [30
minutes per player per game IR].
I would play them almost every Tuesday night.
My father made a deal with the school - I think it
was Hudde - that, because the tournament would
home and it would take until about 1am, I could
come in a bit later to school in the morning. There
were some strong GMs who played - Yudasin,
Stripunsky - because the Tuesday Masters had up
other tournaments at the Marshall. Blitz I would
just play for fun amongst friends.”
Then at the end of 2004 Caruana and his parents
moved to Europe.
“My father is American though his mother is Italian
and his grandparents as well. My mother is from
Italy so I am pretty much entirely Italian heritage. I
have a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles from all
over Italy. My mother wanted to go back for some
time. Part of the idea was that I would be able to
focus more time on my chess
and get a proper experience
playing classical tournaments.
Italy but for some reason it
got changed to Spain. I wasn’t

“The Tuesday night Masters Club pretty involved in the change. So we

all moved.
was open to anyone with a
rating of 2200 or above. much every
night’ DECEMBER 2014 29
 Ian chatting with Caruana after his big win
Photo by Cathy Rogers
Spain, not to play chess, but I managed to ma-
noeuvre. Once we moved to Madrid I didn’t go
to school at all. I don’t know if it was allowed in
Spain to not go to school but I think they didn’t
even know I was there.
“My father was always pretty supportive but my
mother thought I should stay at school – she was
a bit more apprehensive. If I had wanted to drop
chess at any time she would have supported me.
My father would have said don’t – keep playing
chess. I had a coach in Spain, Boris Zlotnik.
“I changed Federations [from US to Italy] in 2005.
At the time I was promising but nothing special –
2300 more or less. I had a choice since I have two
passports and the idea was that since I am living
in Europe, I should play for Italy, closer to home.
30 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
“The Italians have given me support through-
out the years, though at the start it wasn’t
much. The Federation doesn’t have a huge
budget but they do what they can; they actually
have a budget for the best players.
Now the Italians give me a fee which helps
cover my training which helps me to play a lot
throughout the year. They also give some mon-
ey for the Olympiad and the European Teams;
they support me.
The US Chess Federation never gave me sup-
port when I was playing for the US – although
maybe they had no reason to.
“In 2007 I went to Hungary, with my family;
there I worked with Alexander Chernin. All my
coaches contributed in some way to shaping
me as a player.
 His play left his competition absolutely speechless
Photo by Cathy Rogers
and after that they have all been Russian. I inherited
their work ethic which is pretty good; if there is one
way to play chess it is probably like the Russians.
In 2009 the Caruana family moved to Lugano, the
Swiss city on the border with Italy.
“It was only 10 minutes by car across the border and
we were close to the Federation in Milano, just an
hour’s drive right to the Federation [headquarters]
which was nice. Around that time we all had a meet-
ing with CONI which is the
main governing sports body
in Italy – it oversees all the
sports, though chess is a foot-
note. I was only once drug
‘ If I am working
tested, after I won the Italian
Championship in 2009.”
alone I’ll do a bit
At the end of 2010 Caruana but I am not very
began training with Vladimir
Chuchelov, his Belgium-based motivated ’
with Caruana when they were together at
tournaments but more recently the relationship
has become full-time.
“I don’t like to work alone so much. If I am working
alone I’ll do a bit but I am not very motivated. But I
still try to keep on.
“When I am working with Chuchelov it could be
6 hours a day. But again it depends, sometimes
we work on Skype for a couple of hours. When
we have a session together we
work most of the day. We are
usually talking every day about
something – sometimes less,
sometimes more.”
The Caruana family moved
back to Spain again in 2013, but
Caruana admits to not keeping
up with the language changes.
DECEMBER 2014 31
 F E AT U R E I N T E R V I E W

“I don’t have much Spanish and Hungarian not

it’s enough. When I am with my team I speak

Italian to them and they more or less understand.
I understand what they say entirely.

Caruana’s win over Carlsen in round 3 of the

challenge, caused considerable media interest in

Italy.

“In Italy I don’t think people care so much about

chess, so it was nice to see I was in the Gazetta
dello Sport and also in Corriere della Sera. In the
past I have done interviews for Italian television
and newspapers before but it’s sporadic. This time
there were a couple of stories which was very nice
to see but I think it will probably all be forgotten.

“On Facebook and Twitter I received a lot of mes-

sages of support, also from various chessplayers
– so that was nice.
Here [in Saint Louis] I think there was a lot of me-
dia attention - they had Fox Sports covering.”

When not playing chess, Caruana mentioned a

range of interests.

“I love movies – I wanted to go the theatre in Saint

Louis but never got around to it.

“I don’t play sports like Magnus but if there is a

pool I swim a lot. When it’s hot I love to go the
pool though [in Saint Louis] the weather was very
strange – some days there was a lot of rain and it
got quite cold. I played squash a couple of years Caruana celebrates his unbelieveable performance
ago but now I am into swimming; it is not so easy Photo by Cathy Rogers

“I have a lot of chess books but nowadays I don’t
really read chess books. I have no interest in open-
ing books, – but there are some books that inter-
est me; Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors and
Revolution in the Seventies. That series of books
was great to read, but not much interesting comes
out. I read the occasional novel.
-
thing that’s going on though I don’t have very
strong opinions on anything. In any case I proba-
bly wouldn’t share them. I am also very interested
in what’s going on in chess politics but it doesn’t
It would have completely reshaped how things are run –
well, maybe. But what can you do? – it’s not a great situa-
tion at the moment.”
So where does Caruana see his chess career heading?
My short term goal is to get into the top two places in the
Grand Prix and qualify for the Candidates tournament. It’s
already started so it is time to get ready for that.”
Do you feel pressure that everyone will expect you to play
like you played here?

a big thing. It would have changed chess life for “I think people are pretty surprised and wondering if I can
everyone – not just top players, not just Magnus. keep up the good results but nobody expects that. I don’t
expect it either; I don’t think it’s really possible.

32 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 FA B I A N O C A R U A N A

“I will see what I can do if I can get into the

Candidates tournament. I can qualify for that, I am
pretty sure. And if I play like I did here then I can
win the candidates as well.

“Becoming World Champion that is everyone’s

ambition - or I might come to the realisation [that
it is not going to happen] at some point, but at the
moment I think I do have chances.

“I don’t think I will have a career like Korchnoi or

Smyslov but I will play while I have chances to
improve. I don’t see why someone can’t compete
with people who are much younger. I understand

you get older. I don’t consider 40 as that old at this

stage. I understand Vishy and Boris [Gelfand] can
clearly compete but they are not in the best shape
that they have ever been.

“I suppose I will be in chess for the next 20 years

or so. I probably won’t be a trainer and I don’t have
the patience to write but I will still be involved in
chess.”

However there was one question about which

Caruana felt uncertain – whether or not he could
see himself at some time returning to play for the
United States.

“I’ve been asked that nearly every day I have been

here. I can’t say too much about it. People obvi-
ously have interest in me playing for the US - I am
sure a lot of people want to see it. At the moment

reasons to stay with Italy.”

So is there something you would really like to do?

“Skydiving!” Fabiano accepts his Ice Bucket Challenge

Photo by Cathy Rogers
***

DECEMBER 2014 33
PROBLEMS & STUDIES

Promotions...
By Junta Ikeda

The theme for the studies in this issue is promotion – in all six positions, the stipulation is
White to play and win. Studies are seen by many as the epitome of beauty in chess, and
it is no surprise that the concept of promotion is so popular in this field. In a tournament
game, pawns can usually only dream of reaching the endgame where they might have a
chance to promote, but in studies, they are often the star(s) of the show, especially when
holding so much potential energy on the 7th rank – will they become a queen, or does the
position require an underpromotion?

An underpromotion is often required when the opponent has a stalemate defence against
a promotion to a queen (so a rook or bishop is chosen instead), or a knight may threaten
immediate mate upon arriving at the battlefield, against the incarcerated enemy king.
With the wealth of grandiose compositions upon my search, I had a tough time deciding
on six studies, but I can assure you that you will enjoy and perhaps have your mind blown
by the truth concealed in these six positions.

As usual, the series is in a generally increasing order of difficulty – this time the first two
studies are the prelude, showcasing the theme in a crisp and concise, or cute, setting.
There is another layer added with study #3, while #4 takes matters onto a whole new di-
mension – in fact, Black’s pawn on f2 is threatening to promote with mate on e1 and f1, so
White must work some real magic with his own soldiers on the 7th rank to find the narrow
path to victory. #5 follows a similar pattern, but in my opinion is even more spectacular.
#6, as you can see from a glance at the position, is a real celebration of promotions – how
many pawns will you have to promote to break Black’s resolve?

These are the kinds of chess problems that are worth spending hours and hours to rack
your brains over, to sweat and bleed your way through the opponent’s cunning defences,
and be amazed at the composer’s genius once you have found your way through the laby-
rinth (or peeked at the solution). Until next time, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

34 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 PROBLEMS & STUDIES

Promotions
Solutions page 92

1. A. O. Herbstmann 2. G. Costeff 3. S. Tkachenko

2nd, Tyovaen Shakki 1934 4th Honourable Mention, Thèmes 64 StrateGems 2004
1981

4. E. L. Pogosjants after M.S.Liburkin 5. D. Gurgenidze 6. G. Costeff

1st Honourable Mention, Schakend 1st Special Commendation, EG 1999
Nederland, 1975 Nadareishvili JT 1983

DECEMBER 2014 35
 EVELYN
KOSHNITSKY
A Tribute to a Beloved Australian Icon

36 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 E V E LY N K O S H N I T S K Y
Written by Cathy Rogers
for Evelyn’s Eulogy
Early this month, Australia lost its most loved chess
icon.
When I was just a little girl I remember my mother
taking my sister and me into the chess club in the old
YWCA in Liverpool Street in the centre of Sydney to
be taught chess and later to play in tournaments. This
was in 1964. I met many of the top chess players of
the day, Fred Flatow, Max Fuller, Phil Viner, Narelle
Kellner, Trevor Hay, Cecil Purdy to name a few. Over
the next few years I kept hearing about a mythical
couple – the Koshnitskys. They had to be mythical
– everyone talked about them but I never met them.
They remained an integral part of the Sydney chess
community and yet as elusive as any non-existent
creature you care to mention.
chance to meet this famous couple about whom I
had heard so much and in whose existence I was
by then prepared to believe. I travelled to Adelaide
where they were the organisers of the Australian
Girls Championship. The organisation of this tour-
nament was perfect in every detail right down to the
wonderful party at the Koshnitskys’ beautiful old
house in the leafy suburb of Malvern.
My initiation into the Koshnitsky’s web of magic had
begun.
My real friendship with the Koshs began in earnest
in the early 80’s – 1982 to be exact, when Ian and
adult enough to really appreciate all they did for
their only reward being the satisfaction of organis-
ing the perfect chess event and seeing the enjoyment
they gave to the entire chess community.
For Ian this was not a revelation – he had already
become a disciple as early as 1977 when he and
Darryl Johansen were invited to Adelaide for a Young
Masters’ tournament.
DECEMBER 2014 37
 Indeed that was the beauty of the Koshs’ char-
acters. Although quite a bit older than us they
a tournament and at the end of it say goodbye
to the players and forget us. They retained an
interest in all of us – they genuinely cared. They
followed all of our careers whether we were
weak like me or strong like Ian. They encour-
aged and mentored all of us.
Despite organising the three great Lidums tour-
naments between 1970 and 1991, their partic-
ular focus was on junior chess and women’s
chess. They were passionate about increas-
ing the participation rates of both these demo-
graphics and were hugely successful in doing
so.
‘A lifetime’s work
promoting girls’
chess had been
justly rewarded’
It is no surprise that for a long time Adelaide
was the centre of women’s chess in Australia
and that South Australia is the only state to
have a woman win their State Championship
(three times)!
In 2006 Evelyn came to Brisbane to visit the
Australian Championship which was held con-
currently with the Australian Junior. This just
happened to be the year that Angela Song won
the Australian Junior ahead of all the boys – the
38 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
absolutely exhilarated – a lifetime’s work pro-
moting girls’ chess had been justly rewarded.
She relived this moment on many occasions for
years to come.
I have so many fond memories of Evelyn over the
years. I was with her at a number of Olympiads
and the Olympiads were always richer for her
presence. One night in Thessaloniki many of
the Australians had tired of the hotel food and
decided to go to one of the delightful typical
Greek tavernas in the hills above the city. Garry
and Evelyn joined us and at the end of the meal
Garry hailed a cab unaware most us were in
discussion about heading to another place for
ice cream. Garry beckoned Evelyn to join him
in the cab saying it was too late to go anywhere
else. Evelyn instead gently closed the door on
Garry and said it was too early to head home.
She was coming with the rest of us.
In 2000 and 2002 Evelyn sadly had to come to
the Olympiads without Garry who had died in
1999. At each of these events she was an hon-
oured guest. At the Bled Olympiad in Slovenia
it was impossible to see the games because the
tournament hall was too small for spectators.
However, such was her standing in the inter-
national chess community that one word to
a VIP pass that gave her access to all areas of
the Olympiad. After the Istanbul Olympiad
in 2000 Evelyn and her daughter-in-law Ngan
stayed with us for a few days in Amsterdam.
In 2000 Evelyn was still very much mobile and
active. After dinner in the city we walked for
some time around the residential parts of the
city centre. One strange trait of the Dutch then
was that they either never closed their curtains
or more often had curtains that framed the
window decoratively but couldn’t be closed.
Passing one such house I looked past Eveyln
into the house and saw a young man who
clearly had just emerged from the shower.
 E V E LY N K O S H N I T S K Y

He was discreetly facing away from the
window and I quickly said to Evelyn ‘look at
that!’ She turned to look just at the same time
as the young man turned around full frontal.
Rather than being shocked the spritely 85 year
old squealed with delight and commented she
hadn’t seen anything like that for quite some
time.
Evelyn was a fun-loving person but one who
held very strong opinions about a number of
things, especially in politics. Her most fervent
hate was Australia’s ever more vicious treat-
ment towards refugees. Despite her incredi-
friend to all who approached her and one who
would never accept the attitude that something
just couldn’t be done.
I will miss Evelyn enormously although in
truth I think many of us have been missing
the real Evelyn for some time now. However,
there is one thing about Evelyn I won’t miss. I
won’t have to hear an incredulous or possibly
mischievous Evelyn tell me ever again that she
shares her birthday with Hitler.

could still always muster the energy to react

indignantly and with disgust at our successive
governments’ dehumanisation of those seeking
asylum in our country. In 2003 when asked to

seeker who had been interned in Villawood

for new arrivals to our shores.

I have so many fond memories of Evelyn. Until

to fail her she was independent, resourceful

and refreshingly opinionated. But even once
she became immobile and greatly dependent
on others, her mind remained sharp for a long
time and she could converse on any topic
including all the forbidden ones – politics, sex
and religion and in just about every category
Evelyn and I were soulmates.

Australian chess has lost a loved and revered

treasure. An exceptional and compassion- Evelyn handing a prize to the young
Emma Guo
justice and fairness, one who would not toler- Photo by Cathy Rogers
ate bigotry or discrimination, one who was a

DECEMBER 2014 39
 Magazine clipping
Provided by Gary Wastell

40 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Graeme Gardiner
Previous FIDE Zone President and former
ACF President
Without question, my fondest and most abiding
memory of Evelyn was when, aged 91, she skipped
across the stage like a two year old at the Austra-
lian Junior Championships held at the Carlton Crest
in Brisbane in 2006. She presented the trophy to
Champion, Angela Song. I truly believe it would not
be possible for anyone to look happier than Evelyn
did on that occasion.
Denis Jessop
Former ACF and ACTCA President
Evelyn Koshnitsky’s reputation in the Australian
chess community was justly formidable and to be
admired especially regarding promotion of wom-
en’s and junior chess. In that context I was privi-
leged to meet her several times when I was an ACF
Councillor and ACT Chess Association President.
Even then she was well on in years but her enthu-
siasm for, and passionate love of, chess was clearly
apparent. I was very sad to hear of her death.
Australian chess may never see her like again.

Written Tributes to Evelyn

Robert Jamieson
Australian Junior Chess League
Former Australian Champion and ACF President
Charles Zworestine
Australian Junior and NSW Junior Chess Leagues.
There are no words that are adequate to describe
the magnitude of Evelyn (and Gary’s) contribu-
It is impossible to do justice to the amazing contri-
tion to Australian Chess and to the help that they
bution to chess in this country of Evelyn Koshnitsky.
gave so many aspiring chess players, myself very
Whether it be to women’s chess, girls chess or
much included. They organised the most impor-
junior chess, Evelyn always had something to give.
tant tournament in Australian Chess history, the
The incredible number of successful events which
Karlis Lidums International Australian Open back in
would not have occurred without Evelyn’s input
1970-71, which introduced Australia to international
has been well documented. But what will perhaps
chess and gave me my start as a leading player.
be remembered even more fondly is her personal
Many years ago, on a long car trip to Adelaide to
touch – how Evelyn could remember almost ev-
play in one of the Evelyn’s tournaments, we did
ery one of the players she met, and how she was
however attempt to put into words what everyone
always ready with a smile, a friendly greeting and
felt about Evelyn. It took the form of a very short
words of encouragement to all of these players.
Her loss is tinged with sadness; but this will always
of the 1994 Australian Championships, and which
be overcome by the memory of the legacy she has
I’d like to read out again. It goes as follows:
left behind. She was indeed the “grande dame”
of Australian chess… The AusJCL extends sincere
Mother Mary MacKillop may be a saint,
condolences to her sons, Peter and Nick, and all
But a Mrs. K she ain’t,
the family she has left behind.
Our Evelyn works night and day
Teaching children how to play.
We think she’s more like Mother Therese
…. but would make her a saint if that’d please her.

DECEMBER 2014 41
 E V E LY N K O S H N I T S K Y

Guy West
Former Australian Champion and ACF President

I’m very sad to learn of Evelyn’s passing, but what

an amazing life she led!

Having South Australian roots myself (my mater-

nal grandparents lived in Adelaide and my mother
grew up there), I always felt a special connection
with the Kosh’s and to me they always seemed like
the heart and soul of South Australian chess.

Evelyn was never one to live in the shadow of her

illustrious husband and although not a champion

in the chess scene as organiser, administrator and

mentor, with a special interest in women’s and girl’s
-
tralia punched way above their weight in women’s

talents as Anne Slavotinek, Anne Martin, Cathy De-

pasquale, Jill Clemeti and Kylie Coventry, to name
but a few.

Evelyn had a great warmth and a sense of humour

that never deserted her. She made people feel like Evelyn handing a prize to Alex Jule
they were special to her and so became something Photo by Cathy Rogers

of her own. One of her sons, Peter, married Viet-

namese star Ngan Phan and enabled her to settle
in Australia and become one of our leading female
players.
Always honest and direct, with a ready laugh and
a twinkle in her eye, Evelyn was one of the most
been blessed to have. Fortunately she is one of
those characters who is unforgettable and will be
easily carried in the hearts and memories of all who
knew her.
Phil Viner
Former ACF President
Evelyn was an indomitable spirit, and one
of the true greats of Australian chess.
Another of the signposts which have
helped to guide and illuminate the way in
the chess community over the years (like
her husband Garry, Cecil Purdy and John
Purdy before her) has vanished.

42 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Aivars Lidums
Former SACA President

It was a sad day when I heard from Peter Ko-

shnitsky that his mother Evelyn was no longer with
us.

year old South Australian Junior Chess Champion

I was invited to play in the Australian Junior Chess
Championship at the University of Sydney.

Evelyn had organized and it was a tremendous

success. She not only ran the tournament but also
organized billeting and the wellbeing for the inter-
state boys.
After the Koshnitskys moved to Adelaide in 1960
I had the opportunity to work with her when we
organized the three ambitious international tour-
naments: 1971 Karlis Lidums International,
1986/87 Adsteam – Lidums International and
1990/91 Adsteam- Lidums International. Evelyn
and Gary were both involved in the organizing
committees but Evelyn did most of the secretarial
and correspondence work.
In the days when there was no email it was not an
easy task but Evelyn took it all in her stride. Evelyn and Miona Ikeda
Photo by Cathy Rogers
life. I think she will be remembered not only for
her warm and generous personality but for her
lifetime dedication to junior and women’s chess.
Evelyn was never a limelight seeker and success in
junior and women’s chess was her reward. Morris Needleman
I am sure Evelyn’s contribution to chess will be Former ACF and NSWCA President
remembered appropriately.
At the Australian Championships in Ballarat,
Terrey Shaw was to be awarded the medal for
journalism (Purdy medal?). Terrey had driven
to Ballarat after a late night preparing for Law
exams and was exhausted.
At dinner Evelyn and Gary were reminiscing
with Terrey. In the middle of Evelyn talking to
him Terrey fell fast asleep. Without missing
a beat Evelyn looked up and asked “do you
think it was something I said?”

DECEMBER 2014 43

Evenlyn handing a prize to Laura Moylan
Photo by Cathy Rogers
Photo by Cathy Rogers
44 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Leonid Sandler (CV)
Current Chess Victoria President
With the passing of Evelyn Koshnitsky, the
Australian chess community has lost a giant
who dedicated all of her remarkable life to the
game of chess in our country.
Evelyn and her late husband Garry (born in
The Russian Empire in 1907) were probably the
the 20th Century.
Together they have touched countless hearts
of the Australian chess public.
Evelyn and Garry (together with the Lidums
family) had invited me to play in Adelaide at
the Lidums Australian Open in 1990.
This trip to Australia had changed my life and
in 1992 I emigrated to Australia.
I can never forget Evelyn’s super-friendly open
smile.
She was always helpful , showing genuine in-
terest in every player.
In all these years she was very keen to attend
as many chess events as she could.
She will be dearly missed in the hearts and
souls of the Australian Chess Community and
her contributions well remembered for the
many years to come.
Alan Goldsmith

Mrs Evelyn Koshnitsky, or Mrs K or Evelyn or Debbie (as preferred by her husband Garry) was just one of
those wonderful people you need luck in life to meet. Mrs K, as she was known to thousands of students
mainly in Adelaide but also many years previously in Sydney, had a warm affectionate smile and nature
and fortunately for Australia, was passionate about chess. And by passionate, I mean she loved it. She
could not play particularly well as she did not have enough practice when she was growing up in the Riv-

- the ability to think ahead, think strategically, and the willingness to do plenty of hard work.

Evelyn met the other love of her life, Garry, in Sydney in the 1940s. Garry was an Australian chess cham-
pion and it was a match made for the chessboard. Together they went about creating an Australian chess
set. Garry teamed up with another chess fanatic, Cecil Purdy, to write the very successful ‘Chess Made

League. And then chess in the junior ranks started to bloom.

Evelyn helped promote chess everywhere, both in the junior and senior ranks and in particular school
chess and junior state and national chess championships. She also did everything she could to encour-
age girls’ and women’s chess. She was always practical and for many years the school matches in Ade-
laide were run in the ‘Buttery Section’ of John Martins - a big Department store - and the noise, heat and
the fun associated with the chess played there left an indelible mark on the thousands of students who
took part over the years.

She was also always forward-looking. When she and Garry ran the ACF for two years in the 1960s in
Adelaide, she setup a Lifetime Membership Scheme which raised a lot of money very quickly which she
hoped would be invested to provide a sustainable means, using just the interest, to fund future Olympi-
ad teams. Unfortunately a subsequent ACF Council invested poorly and all the monies evaporated .. but
it was that kind of strategic thinking that had Evelyn and Garry organising events which seemed way out

the lives of many of the world’s current leading grandmasters, including Vassily Ivanchuk and Boris Gel-
fand.

It’s impossible to do justice to all of Evelyn’s work and achievements. She was churning out bulletins and
letters in a time without computers and word processors or the Internet, and when the technology ar-
rived, she embraced it willingly. She was very instrumental in the running of the fabulous Karlis Lidums
International and the subsequent Adsteam-Lidums Tournaments and she made life-long friends from all
over the world. For many years she organised interstate chess matches for teams of women and girls
using runners and phones to transmit the moves, and when the Internet arrived, she started using that
instead.

There are thousands of memories of Evelyn, such as her being at Council meetings where we all sat
around and talked while she busily worked out the draw for the next round of a tournament before com-
puters could do it, and also contributed to the discussion - but one memory that really was funny hap-

in the city - another thing that Evelyn and Garry had a huge involvement in establishing - and it was a hot
Sunday afternoon and the Centre was packed. Evelyn was typically rushing between the boards checking

her leg. And naturally an ambulance was called but for at least an hour, Evelyn lay in the middle of the
-
fere with the chess matches.

Evelyn had a great love of life and people. She hated injustice and racism. She loved music, especially
opera, and read widely. Evelyn was a wonderful model for us all.

DECEMBER 2014 45
 CHESS
ON
CASTLE
HILL
The 2015 Australian Open is shaping up
to be one of the best ever, with a record-
breaking prizefund luring strong overseas
Grandmasters who will be joined by all
three of Australia’s active GMs and the young
guns from the Olympiad team. We caught
up with one-half of the ambitious organis-
ing duo, Kevin Tan, who is co-organising the
event with his friend Peter Yang.

46 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

So when did the idea of organising the

Australian Open different to the others

to the playing hall to get the players and

-

-
we got the good news that we had won ‘ We feel that
the rights to hold it and we were over the also got other a few other things we’ll be able
to inject an
added level of
-
excitement ’
selves before and during the

- -

you say share a taxi with friends and for

DECEMBER 2014 47
 Castle Hill RSL
Venue for the Championships

already with the prizepool being the

shortly after winning the bid we

rewarding players that do well we also

48 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

roof!

Castle Hill RSL

‘ Ian Rogers
commentary and lavish RSL Club;
I daresay the best
boards to analyse
-
games and play taurants within the

blitz ’ -

Castle Towers Shopping Centre within -

North Sydney Leagues Club DECEMBER 2014 49

Previous Australian Open Venue
 for anyone that has an interest in
Australian Chess then Castle Hill RSL

effort into this and we would love for

Castle Hill RSL Relaxation Room

Kick back during your game

Left: Kevin Tan and Aboriginal Man

Below: Peter Yang

Photos by Peter and Kevin respectively

50 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 Grandmaster John Nunn is a widely known
and well-respected author. His opening books
were at the forefront of theoretical knowl-
edge, while John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book
was guaranteed to be great coming from a
three-time World Problem Solving Champion.

His latest book, John Nunn’s Chess Course,

moves away from these topics and focuses on
important middlegame concepts. The book is
based on the games of World Champion
Emanuel Lasker, who reigned over the chess
world for 27 years.

The focus is on the middlegame and endgame concepts, which have

been grouped into themes. The games are all chosen because of their
instructive quality more than anything else.

- Lasker is often termed to have a ‘universal’ playing style as he could

handle all types of positions quite well.
- In modern chess there are many subtleties and new opening inno-
vations involved and this was not the main focus.
- There is relatively little material written on Lasker

The themes are focused on fairly concrete topics early on before taking

consider concepts like queen-less middle games and manoeuvring that

are not often looked at.

By Moulthun Ly

52 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2014 53
 Imagine a chess tournament where the arbiter
asks all players to compete in a spirit of fair play,
starts the clocks and disappears. Where your
mobile phone can ring and nothing happens.
Where Spassky carries your luggage from city
to city. And where the tournament winner can be
decided by following Ruy Lopez’s famous dictum
from the 16th century, “Place the board so that
the sun is in your opponent’s eyes”.

Welcome to Chess Train 2014!

54 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 Probably the coolest train you will ever see
When Pavel Matocha first reached
agreement with Czech Railways to
run a tournament on a train travelling
between cities in Central Europe, it was
viewed as a novel experiment. First of
all there were doubts that chessplay-
ers, used to silence, could be convinced
that a moving train was an appropriate
place for a tournament.
Four years later the Chess Train is
viewed by Czech Railways as one of
their best advertisements for rail travel
and, with a new Sachovy Vlak locomo-
tive pulling the carriages, the future of
the Chess Train has been guaranteed
until 2016.
Each year the Chess Train travels to
ancient cities – both famous and rarely
discovered – in and around the Czech
Republic. The 2014 train travelled
from Prague to Vienna to Budapest to
Trencin to Krakow and back to Prague.
The train itself was a spectacular sight,
the Sachovy Vlak locomotive leading
10 carriages, painted with chess insig-
Champions.
Thus Steinitz, Lasker, Alekhine and
Euwe formed the four playing areas,
with the arbiters’ carriage Capablanca
in the middle. Tal and Smyslov pro-
vided excellent food and drink, while
the remaining World Champions were
for relaxing, apart from poor Spassky
who had to carry everyone’s luggage.
Each morning would see a few rounds
of a rapid tournament completed, after
which the 76 players - plus rail crew,
organisers, arbiters, chefs, spouses,
children and dog - would become after-
noon and overnight tourists in a new
city, before reboarding the train the fol-
lowing morning. Hotels – 3, 4 or 5-star
depending on the traveller’s budget –
were booked by the organisers.
-
thing possible to make sure that the
tour was memorable, from the lavish
opening breakfast at the century-old
Government Lounge at Prague’s Hlavni
Nadrazi (Central Station) to the closing
ceremony with ’natural’ prizes for every
player on top of the small cash prize
fund.
DECEMBER 2014 55
m

While the Chess Train supremo and defector from Czechoslovakia

Matocha was happy to have four
time, he was equally pleased to see
other competitors who had made a
family of four from Saudi Arabia and
88-year-old Marianne Hartlaub from
Germany. (Hautlaub successfully pros-
ecuted the tournament’s only protest,
overturning a loss on time to gain a
rematch, which she won.)
highlights from the city visits. Vienna for
in lederhosen and women in dirndl
dresses celebrating Octoberfest but for
others it was the city of pick-pockets –
teenage Russian-speaking girls working
in pairs near the main station - gaining
two victims from the Chess Train with
other players narrowly escaping loss.
By the time the train reached Budapest
on the second evening, 2013 winner
Vlastimil Hort was a clear leader in the
tournament, having beaten two GMs.
(Hort, a World Championship Candidate
in communist times, was the crowd
favourite, not just for showing how
well he can play nearing 70 but also
using downtime in the restaurant car
to regale travellers with tales of Polish
kings, Bobby Fischer’s secrets and the
history of Crimea.) The afternoon in
Budapest for some was a chess game
in Szechenyi Baths but this writer pre-
ferred a tour of 800-year-old Buda
Castle.
The next two days saw Hort’s star wane
slightly, with the train visiting the Slovak
cities of Trencin – with time for more
castling – and Zilina, before reaching
spectacular Krakow, the Polish capital
for 500 years.
the longest leg of the journey, from
rounds of the tournament and com-
petition become (slightly) serious with
highly appropriate for an extraordinary
trip – with the train’s choice of route,
bizarrely, deciding the eventual winner.
three GMs plus Czech IM David
Kanovsky, who had taken a full point
lead after round 10 only to be brought
down by top seed Martin Petr.
Prior to the start of the tournament,
it had been suggested to players that
they may wish to consider keeping
score for as long as possible during the
games (20 minutes plus 10 seconds per
move). The reason was not to preserve
the games for posterity but to ensure
that games could be reconstructed if
sudden braking by the train disturbed
the pieces, as had happened on an
earlier Chess Train.
soon it became clear that if just one of
the leaders could win, they would prob-
ably win the tournament outright.
First the top board battle between Petr
and fellow GM Petr Neuman ended in
a dramatic draw.

Neuman, P
Petr, M 30.Bd5? Neuman had caught Petr in a sharp Grunfeld line and now played what
he thought to be the winning move, but Petr finds an incredible defence.
Chess Train 2014, Round 12
The quiet move 30.Kh2! was the only way to ensure victory, with the idea 30...
Kg7 31.Bc1! when there is no defence against threats such as 32.Bd5 and 32.f5.

30...Kh8!! 31.Qxf7 Qxh3!! Now Neuman stared at the position, unable to believe
that despite his extra rook he might actually be facing defeat. After only a few
minutes he found the only way to save the game.

32.Rf2! Bd4 33.Bb2!! Qg3+ 34.Kh1!

A wonderful echo of Black’s earlier sacrifice. Black has no time to take the rook
because of 34...Qxf2? 35.Qf6+!! with mate to follow and must therefore agree
to a perpetual check.

34...Qh3+ 35.Kg1 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh3+ Draw

56 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Above: Parliament of Budapest Below: Chess shop at the market
 Hort, V
Trikin, I
On board two another co-leader Rogers was doing poorly against Russian
Chess Train 2014, Round 12 Oleg Maksimov but Maksmimov ran very short of time and felt obliged to
accept a draw.

That left Hort and Kanovsky, both close to winning on boards three and four,
as likely Chess Train winners – but then came two extraordinary incidents.

Shortly before Trikin played his last, desperate move, ...Qg7-g5, the train
had gone around a bend and Hort found himself looking almost directly
into the sun. Hort, short of time, became agitated, waving for someone to
close the window curtains, and then went back to analysing the position –
which should be easily winning if White plays axb6. Instead Hort spent 20
-
centration was interrupted again – but this time by his opponent telling him
that White had lost on time!

Kananovsky, D Suddenly Kanovsky could win the tournament outright by beating the Saudi visitor
Khairat, A Ahmed Khairat who was appearing on a top board for the first time. (Khairat
lives in Saudi but represents Egypt on the FIDE list.)
Chess Train 2014, Round 12
Kanovsky (White) has been chasing Khairat’s king around the board and now
needed only to find 1.g4! to end the struggle and take outright first place. However,
with 40 seconds left on the clock, Kanovsky went for the obvious 1.Re6+ Kf5
2.Qxh6 but was shocked by 2...Kg4!

Suddenly Black’s king, headed for h3, is becoming the aggressor and Kanovsky
was beginning to panic. Now the subtle 3.Qc1! was the last winning try but
Kanovsky continued 3.Rxd6?! and after 3...Qf3! White can hang onto a draw
with 4.Qe3 (though the riskier 4.Rd2 Kh3 5.Kf1 is also holding, just.)

4.Qd2? which allowed Khairat to complete his king march with 4...Kh3! 5.Kf1
Qg2+! 6.Ke1 Qg1+ 7.Ke2 Rxf2+ and Black soon won.

(For those wanting an even more spectacular variation on the theme of a Black
king march to h3, Jelen-Larsen, from another multiple venue tournament in
Slovenia in 1977, is worth checking out.)

58 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
their unlucky losses and went back to enjoying the ride. “The great thing about the Chess
Train,” said Hort, in a famous quote from 2013, “is that when I have a bad position I can
always look out of the window and see something pleasant!”

This writer, ultimately the fortunate winner by half a tie-break point, can only concur with
Hort. The Chess Train was the most fun I had ever had at a tournament, a world away from
the stress of modern tournament chess from which I retired seven years ago.

For those wanting a reminder of the good old days, when winning wasn’t everything and
enjoying the journey was as important as reaching the destination, the Chess Train is for you.

2014 Chess Train Final scores:

=3. Hort(Ger), Nauman(Cze) Kanovsky(Cze), Khairat(Egy), Trikin(Rus), Maksimov (Rus) 8.5.

DECEMBER 2014 59
Prizegiving with a familiar face
Doeberl Cup Book
by Bill Egan

A great collection of history,

annotated games, photos and
players. It is recommended
for all Australian chess fans.

Jeremy Silman made a nice

review of Doeberl Cup book -
see link below:

http://www.jeremysilman.
com/shop/pc/Doeberl-Cup-
The80p3872.htm
OPENING SURVEY
h3 Najdorf
(part 2)
By IM Max Illingworth
Apologies for White’s heavy score in my
game selection, but we need to see the
game that brought 6.h3 into the spotlight
at Grandmaster level
Karjakin, Sergey 2732 White
Van Wely, Loek 2681 Black
Nice Rapid 2008
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
5...e6 6.g4 The Keres Attack is a major
system, and it’s interesting to note that
after the main move 6...h6, White’s stron-
gest system is probably 7.h3 as the most
common 7.h4 can be met by the unusual
7...e5!? which doesn’t seem bad for Black
at all. The interested reader can investi-
gate this more closely.
6.h3 e6
6...g6 deserves a mention too, though it’s
unlikely that your opponents will be famil-
iar with both the Najdorf and Dragon. In
any case, White’s h3 seems a lot more
useful than Black’s ...a6:
7.g4 Bg7
(The Dragadorf style 7...b5!? has only
been played once but might be neces-
8.Bg2 0–0
62 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Wijk aan Zee 2007 saw the Dutch GM
Nc6 11.Qd2 0–0 12.0–0–0 seems a safer
version for Black as there’s no Bh6, but
the g-pawn takes up some space and
White also has a pretty secure hold of
the centre. The game continued 12...
Nde5 13.b3 Qa5 14.f4 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Nc6
16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Kb2 and White had a
dominant position - Black can’t attack
White’s king and while f5 will take some
time to prepare, it was smashing when it
was played in the game.
9.Be3 Nc6 10.Qd2 Bd7 11.0–0–0 Rc8
(11...b5 was played by Carlsen some
years ago, but then 12.g5! Nh5 13.Bf3
prepares to take on h5, and avoiding that
with 13...Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4
12.f4 (D)
12...Na5
(12...b5 13.e5 b4 14.Nce2 Nxd4 was
the aforementioned Carlsen game, and
would have kept the edge with 15.Nxd4!
Ne8 16.Qxb4 Qc7 17.Qb7 dxe5 18.Qxc7
Rxc7 19.fxe5 Bxe5 and this endgame
favours White as he has the better major-
ity and his pieces are somewhat more
13.b3 Qc7 14.Nde2 b5 This was all seen
and with the key move 15.Kb1! White
can avoid all Black’s tricks. After 15...b4
16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 White has a sig-
exchange the Dragon bishop, and then
White can switch between attacking the
backward e7-pawn and opening lines on
the kingside with pawn exchanges. It’s
probably best to change tack right off the
bat with 17...e5 18.dxe6 Bxe6 , but this
structure is always very nice for White
and 19.Rhe1 followed by Bd4 is not what
Black is after.
7.g4 There are a lot of different options
for Black, but we will save them for the
next two games, and just focus on the old
reason why 6.h3 was considered totally
harmless. 7...b5 8.Bg2 Bb7
At the club level, where your opponent
is unlikely to be familiar with 6.h3, this is
what you’ll face most often, and it does
threat of ...b4 has to be dealt with.
9.0–0! The key point is that we now have
a very strong, Najdorf/Morra style piece
e4-attack plan
9...b4
9...h6 10.Re1 e5 is a radical way to
12.Ne3 Nbd7 13.a4 b4 14.Ncd5 saw a
White knight reach d5 anyway, and after
14...Nxd5 15.Nxd5 a5 16.c3 bxc3 17.bxc3

White’s lead in development was the
most important factor in 1–0 Carlsen, M
- stuck in the centre and he faces a very
9...Nfd7 on the other hand feels a
bit awkward and slow, and in 1–0
Olginka 2011, 10.f4 Be7 11.f5 e5 12.f6!
initiative with 12...Nxf6 13.Nf5 0–0 14.g5
Ne8 15.Qg4 . Black soon tried to break
9...Nc6?! was once tried by Dominguez,
but he didn’t repeat the experiment, prob-
9...Qc7 10.Re1 Be7 has scored well for
Black but not been seen much lately,
probably because of the thematic 11.Nd5!
exd5 12.exd5 0–0 (after looking at the
main game you’ll understand why Black
to return the piece, but this doesn’t solve
his problems completing his develop-
ment, and 13...Nxd5 14.Nf5 Rd8 15.Bxd5
Bf8 16.Bf4 gives White strong pressure
against Black’s isolated d6-pawn and
more active piece play. This ensures that
Black is in no position to exploit White’s
loose king.
10.Nd5! (D)
only gets a pawn, but Black’s king will be
strong initiative. Black also can’t ignore
it easily due to the threat to the b4-pawn.
10...exd5 11.exd5 Be7 12.Nc6
12.g5 Nfd7 13.Nc6 Qc7 14.Nxe7 Kxe7
transposes to the game, but may be more
accurate to deprive Black of ...Bxc6.
12...Qc7
12...Bxc6 13.dxc6 doesn’t allow Black
to keep his piece: 13...Qc7 14.g5 and
Black should return the piece and accept
a slightly worse position by castling as
14...Ng8? 15.Qd5 followed by Re1, Bf4
and a3 in some order is a lot worse. The
queenside pieces are all locked up by
the c6-pawn.
13.Nxe7 Kxe7 14.g5 Nfd7
14...Ng8!? is another option gained by
White’s move order, intending ...Kf8 and
...Ne7, though I doubt anyone would have
the nerve to play this over the board and
White keeps great positional compensa-
tion regardless.
15.Re1+ Kf8? (D)
A decisive mistake, although in Van
OPENING SURVEY
Wely’s defence it’s nearly impossible to
defend against White’s attack with so little
time on the clock. 15...Kd8 was neces-
sary, but here too White keeps a very
strong attack and with 16.Qd4 f6 17.a3!
White advantageously opens lines for his
pieces. Obviously we don’t mind Black
16.Qe2 Qd8 17.Bf4 Ne5 18.Bxe5 dxe5
19.Qxe5 Black has preserved his extra
pawn, but it is still at home, and there’s
no good defence to the build-up along the
19...h6 20.Qf4 a5 21.g6 f6 22.Re6 Bc8
23.Re3 Qb6 24.Rae1 Bd7 25.d6 Ra7
26.Qc4 1–0
Perunovic, Milos 2613 White
Zhigalko, Andrey 2681 Black
European Te a m CC 2013
I should include at least one Black win
in this column, and the game is a pretty
standard example for this Scheveningen
structure.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 Nfd7!?
7...d5 is the main line, and will be covered
7...h6 to prevent g5 was covered very
well in Bologan’s DVD on the Open
Sicilian, and I refer you to his coverage,
as a model example for White:
8.Bg2 Be7 (8...g5 is covered in detail by
f4 break then undermine a knight on e5
DECEMBER 2014 63
OPENING SURVEY

9.Be3 Nc6 10.f4 Nd7 11.0–0 White has
achieved the basic setup, and after
Grischuk’s next he even saves a tempo
moving the queen.
11...Nxd4 12.Qxd4 0–0 13.Qd2 Rb8 (13...
b5 14.e5 d5 15.Ne2 gives White a nice
French structure - the computer says it
is equal but his queenside play leads
nowhere and White will steadily prepare
14.Rad1 b5 15.Ne2 Qc7 16.f5 Nf6 (16...
Ne5 looks nice but after 17.b3 Black is
17.Ng3 Re8 18.Bd4! e5 19.Be3 Bb7 (D)
Bologan’s analyses, while 9...Nd7 10.Be3
Na5?! 11.0–0 Be7 12.Kh1 (White could
13.f5! Ne5 14.g5 Re8 15.f6 gave White
a very powerful kingside attack in 1–0
Angeles 2011. Black’s problems can be
traced back to 10...Na5 which is too slow
for the position.
8. g5!
It is very important for White to play
this move before Black prevents it with
8.Bg2 Be7 , as now it will be very hard
for White to advance his kingside pawns,
and the f4-f5 plan isn’t as effective as
before. However, this is a very common
mistake by White so I’ll show some
games to illustrate how Black can even
10.Qd2 0–0 11.0–0 Nde5 12.b3 Nxd4
13.Bxd4 Ng6 gave Black a nice dark-
study Ftacnik’s annotations of this game
in Mega Database to understand how to
Anand understood that he was in some
positional danger and averted the crisis
with 10.h4! Nde5 11.g5 in his Candidates
game against Topalov this year, although
11...Nc4 12.Bc1 0–0 13.b3 Qa5 14.Nde2
N4e5 15.f4 Ng4 16.Bf3 h5 17.Bxg4 hxg4
was still very pleasant for Black in 0–1
BIH 2014 - White is behind in develop-
ment and is bound to lose the initiative
while he catches up.

most of White’s losses at Grandmaster 8... b5

level occur when White doesn’t get in g5
quickly enough. 9.Be3 Nc6 and now: 8...Be7 Black isn’t actually threatening
...Bxg5 because of the riposte Nxe6!
10.Qe2 0–0 11.0–0–0 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5
13.e5 d5 14.f4 (14.Qe3?! has scored
well for White, but 14...b4 15.Ne2 a5
16.Kb1 Ba6 17.Nc1 a4 is then a strong
reply - Black is calling all the shots with

Now Navara played the very strong
20.Bxh6! gxh6 21.Qxh6 Nh7 22.f6 , gar-
nering a ferocious attack. Black’s pieces
are so out of play that it’s hard to call it a
7...Be7 will be considered under 7...Nfd7
as after White’s best move, 8.g5 Nfd7 ,
we have a transposition to the note to
Black’s 8th move, where I’ll explain why
it is important for White to play g5 as
7...Nc6 8.Bg2 Qc7 might be an inac-
curate move order in light of White’s
9.f4!? , when 9...h6 transposes back to
Tashkent 2013, but went crazy with 15.f5?
b4 16.Nb1 (this is the only safe square
18.Kb1 Ba6 19.Qf3 Bc5 20.Bxc5 Nxc5
21.f6 b3! and Black’s attack soon crashed
through.
10.0–0 0–0 (I would be tempted by 10...
This position is well known from the 6...
exf4 14.Bxf4 Ne5 15.Nd5 Be6 16.Nxe7+ a6 Keres Attack...but there it is White to
Qxe7 was equal, but Black outplayed move! But even with a tempo less, White
has good prospects for an advantage.
10...0–0 11.f4! Nxd4 12.Qxd4 b5 13.0–
notice how White is unable to advance 0–0 Rb8 14.h5 Qb6
Desperate, but 14...b4 15.Nd5! exd5

64 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

the consequences reach its horizon.
15.Qd2 Qc7 16.a3 Nc5 17.b4 Nd7 18.f5
Rd8 19.h6 g6 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Nd5! exd5
22.Qxd5+ Kf8 23.Rh2 Qc3 24.Rf2+ 1–0
game for the pyrotechnics at the end, and
for Black either.
9.a3
9.Bg2 Bb7 10.0–0 is ineffective as after
10...Be7 there’s no e5 tactic like there
was without g5 Nfd7 inserted.
9...Bb7 10.Be3 Nb6 (D)
Funnily enough, 10...Be7 might be a
mistake after White has played g5 and
before he has castled kingside. 11.h4
Nb6 12.Qd2 N8d7 13.0–0–0 Rc8 and
now White has done well in correspon-
dence with 14.h5 Ne5 15.Qe1! (prophy-
Qc7 16.Rh3 Nec4 17.g6! Bf6 18.gxf7+
Kxf7 19.Bxc4 Nxc4 20.Rf3! h6 21.Qg1!
Qe7 22.Qg2 Ke8 23.Qh3 and Black
was unable to resist White’s initiative in
11.Bg2 I can’t help but feel that this auto-
matic move is too slow.
11.Qh5?! g6 12.Qg4 makes no sense to
me as 12...N8d7 13.h4 Ne5 14.Qh3 Nbc4
15.0–0–0 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 h5! sees White
lose too much time, and he doesn’t even
11.h4!? N8d7 12.h5 hasn’t been tried, but
g6 will soon be quite annoying to split up
Black’s pawn structure. If Black counters
in the centre with 12...d5 , 13.Rh3! e5
14.exd5! exd4 15.Qxd4 Bd6 then begins
to get extremely complicated.
11...N8d7 12.0–0 Be7 13.f4 This setup
is quite effective when Black’s knights
are on c6 and d7, but here the queen’s
knight will come to the much more frus-
trating c4 square.
13...0–0 14.h4 Rc8 15.f5 This is double-
edged, but going on the defensive with
15.Bf2 Nc4 16.Qc1 is not that inspiring
either.
15...Nc4 16.Bc1 e5 17.Nde2 f6 Black
has to do something about White’s pawn
storm.
18.Rf3? This just blunders a pawn, and
we can stop here.
18.g6 hxg6 19.fxg6 looks really scary, but
after 19...f5! there’s no mate in sight as
18.Nd5 is also a decent move - as is often
the case in these middlegames, all three
results are possible.]
18...fxg5 19.b3 g4 20.Rg3 Ncb6 21.Rxg4
Nf6 22.Rg3 d5 23.exd5 Nbxd5 24.Nxd5
Nxd5 25.Bg5 Bxg5 26.Rxg5 Qb6+
27.Kh2 Ne3 28.Qg1 Rxc2 29.Re1 Bxg2
30.Rxg2 Qh6 31.Rxg7+ Kh8 32.Kh3
Qxg7 33.Qxe3 Rg8 34.Qf3 e4 0–1
OPENING SURVEY
Svidler, Peter 2753 White
Volokitin, Andrey 2638 Black
Dubai UAE Rapid 2014
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 d5
This is the most principled response,
opening up the centre to make White’s
g4 lunge less appropriate.
8.exd5
White has also tried 8.Bg2 quite regularly,
but 8...e5!? is then an interesting reply
and I’ll give some crazy and untested
variations: 9.Nf3! d4 10.Nxe5! (Black is
very comfortable if White doesn’t break
10...Qc7 11.Bf4 (11.Qxd4 is a piece sac-
13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxc5 Be6 15.f4 Qc7
16.Qxc7 Nxc7 17.f5 Bd7 18.Bf4 Kd8
intending ...Kc8, ...Re8, ...Bc6 and ...Nd7,
11...dxc3 12.Ng6 Qb6 13.Be3 (13.Nxh8
cxb2 14.Rb1 Be6 15.0–0 Nc6 16.e5 Nd7
is also a total mess - my computer thinks
computer’s ‘horizon effect’ where trapped
13...Qe6 I’d love to sac the queen but it
doesn’t work 14.Nxh8 cxb2 15.Rb1 Bb4+
16.Kf1 Qc4+ 17.Kg1 Bc3 and this posi-
tion is a total mess, though my comment
from the previous variation also applies
-
gling then swapping on e4 twice and
We can rule out 8.e5? Nfd7 9.f4 Qh4+
DECEMBER 2014 65
OPENING SURVEY
8.Nde2!? isn’t as silly as it looks. 8...Nxe4
(Inserting 8...Bb4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Nxc3
9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Be3 (D)
White will regain his pawn eventually
as it’s too risky for him to play ...f5, but
2007, Black used that time to catch up
in development with 11...Nc6 12.0–0–0+
Ke8 13.Nc3 Bd7 14.Nxe4 Nb4 15.Nc3
Bc6 16.Rg1 Bf3 17.Rd2 Rd8 18.Rxd8+
Kxd8 19.a3 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.c4
Bc6 22.c5 and White can claim a sym-
bolic advantage, but Black held the draw
easily. Still, over the board Black hasn’t
found this optimal response.
8...Nxd5 9.Nde2
This has almost completely super-
seded 9.Bd2 which is neutralised by 9...
b5! 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.0–0 Nxc3 12.Bxc3
Bxg2 13.Kxg2 b4! 14.Be1 h5 15.f4 hxg4
16...Nd7 17.Qf3 Rc8 . This isn’t the only
good response either.
9...Bb4
66 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
the ending of which I analysed on my blog
which is linked on the 50 Moves website
9...h5!? occurred in the high-level game
even be the way for Black to equalise - I
refer you to Ftacnik’s annotations to this
game in Mega Database for the details.
10.Bg2 (D)
10.Bd2 keeps White’s structure intact
but we’ll see in the game that we should
welcome the exchange on c3. 10...
Nxc3 11.Nxc3 (Inferior is 11.Bxc3 Bxc3+
12.Nxc3 Qb6! , when b2 is not easy to
defend and after 13.Qd2 Qxb2 14.Rb1
Qa3 15.Bg2 0–0 16.0–0 Nd7 White was
11...Bd7! As long as Black remembers to
contest the long diagonal, he’s absolutely
15.Be3 Qc7 and in this equal position
White continued ambitiously with 16.g5
Nd7 17.Qg4 Be7 18.c4!? , and after 18...
Kh8 19.Qf4 e5 20.Qf5 f6 21.g6 Rfd8!
22.gxh7 Nf8 the middlegame was still
10...0–0 11.0–0 Bxc3
11...Nxc3 12.Nxc3 Qc7 13.Qd4! is a bit
better for White as Black still needs to
catch up in development. 13...Bd6 (13...
Nc6 14.Qc4!? (14.Bxc6 Bxc3 15.Qxc3
bxc6 16.Be3 is good for a low-risk, small
Be7 17.a4 Rac8 18.c3 Qb8 19.Qe2
and White’s position was easier to play
14.Be3 Bd7 15.Rad1 Bh2+ 16.Kh1 Be5
17.Qb6 (D) and Black has to accept an
endgame where White has the better
majority and somewhat more active
pieces.
I’ll give two examples from high-level cor-
respondence chess:
17...Bc6 8.Qxc7 Bxc7 19.Ne4 Nd7 20.Nc5
Ne5 21.f4 Bxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Nc4 23.Bc1 b6
24.Rd7 Rfc8 25.b3 Nd6 26.Nd3 b5 27.Bb2
Bb8 28.Bd4 and I should really stop here,
but it’s clear that White had a strong ini-
tiative and good winning chances in 1–0
17...Qxb6 18.Bxb6 Bxc3 19.bxc3 looks
ugly for White, but the doubled c-pawns
are secure and the binding power of the
b6-bishop is more important.

19...Bc6 20.Rd4 e5 21.Rd6 Bxg2+
22.Kxg2 f5 23.Rfd1 Nc6 24.Rd7 fxg4
25.hxg4 Rab8 26.R1d6 was the further
so active that it’s not surprising that he
won.
12.Nxc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 This is a pretty
typical structure for this line and White is
slightly better as his doubled pawns on
there’s also the bishop pair to work with.
We also saw in the previous note how
...a6 weakened Black’s queenside too.
13...Qc7
13...Qa5 14.Qd6! Qxc3 15.Ba3 Re8
16.Rad1 Nc6 17.Rd3 Qe5 18.f4 Qa5
19.Rfd1 e5 20.f5 gave White fabu-
lous compensation for the pawn in 0–1
it, Black’s down a c8-bishop and a8-rook!
14.Qf3 (D)
14.Ba3 Rd8 15.Qf3 Nc6 seems all right for
Black as he has ...e5 and ...Be6 coming,
but with 16.Qe3! e5 17.Bc5 Re8 18.f4!
White can keep his initiative burning and
play f5 in many cases, and there’s also
14.Rb1!? should also be good for an
compensation in similar positions if Black
takes on c3, and 14...Nc6 15.Be3 b5?!
16.c4! Rd8 17.Qe2 b4 18.c3 was a lot
better for White who, after undoubling
his pawns, is left with the bishop pair
and initiative ‘scot free’. ½–½ Adams,M
St Petersburg 2013.
14...Nc6 15.Rd1 Bd7?! This is too
passive, and Black has to play 15...e5
16.Ba3 Rd8 17.Rxd8+ Qxd8 to get his
bishop out, though 18.Qd3 Be6 19.Rb1
retains some pressure against the vul-
nerable b7-pawn.
16.Ba3 Rfd8 17.Bd6 Qc8 (D)
18.Qf4 18.c4! was even better to clamp
down on the queenside with c5, but White
is better in any case and went on to win
a nice game.
Summary and Recommendations
In this final game I’ll summarise the the-
oretical status of the lines I’ve just exam-
ined and offer all my recommendations
in the one place.
OPENING SURVEY
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 This move is best for
playing for a win.
6...g6 is a good version of the Dragon for
White.;
6...e5 should be answered with 7.Nde2 as
(7.Nb3 gives Black several good replies,
including 7...Be7!? and avoiding ...Be6 if you
want to reduce your workload.)
7...h5! White is better with g4 and easy king-
side play if Black avoids this, but now Black
is OK if he understands the nuances after
either 8.g3 or 8.Bg5 , though I slightly prefer
White’s game after the latter move.
7.g4 Nfd7 This is my recommendation for
Black, anticipating White’s g5 which he
should play against most normal Black
moves.
7...b5 should be avoided as White will have
a strong Nd5 sac at some point, and;
7...d5 is the solid main line but gives White
a small edge if Black continues down the
main line with 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nde2 Bb4 , so
you should probably investigate(9...h5!? if
you want to play 7...d5.) ]
8.g5! White should remember to play
this move as 8.Bg2?! Be7 makes it hard
for White to advance his kingside pawns
effectively.
8...b5 and you need to remember some
key lines (including that you should avoid
the automatic ...Be7), but Black is doing
fine with plenty of fight still ahead.
DECEMBER 2014 67
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IM Max Illingworth
Australian Champion 2014

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68 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
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ENDGAME

Endgame Lessons
with FM Chris Wallis
fortress was left to the reader, so we will begin by
explaining why this method of defence is needed
and how it is supposed to work. We will then
explore Romanovsky’s Zone, a useful mnemonic for

reached when a rook restrains the pawn from the

rear.

Finally, it is convenient that this sort of ending arose

that encounter.
Diagram 1

Supposing that, in diagram 1, White’s pawn were

on a7 rather than a6; the position would be a very
simple draw as White’s rook is bound to stay on a8 to
chaperone the pawn, and if the king tries to relieve
this duty by moving to b6 (for example), Black’s rook
harries it with nuisance checks from which there is
So what is really going on?
As so often happens with controversial endgame
theory, an entirely new idea was required and turned
the evaluation on its head. Czech study composer

verdict in an analysis published posthumously in

1924, where he demonstrated the radical new idea
with a pawn on the 6th is that the king can now of operating with the rook to the side of the pawn. In
shelter in front of it; thus, passive defence becomes the exercise let us shift White’s king to e3 (diagram 2);

forestalled - Black’s king is frozen in place by the
spectre of Morphy’s skewer, and so it is ‘invisibly’
repelled from the pawn and cannot approach (for
example, if the king were at e7 we ‘stop the music’
with a6-a7, and the king is caught without a chair -
there is no answer to the threat Rh8.
Black then draws with 1...Re1+! 2 Kd4 Re6 3 Kc5 Rf6,
since the winning plan of supporting the pawn with
the king runs into an endless series of checks: 4 Kb5
Rf5+ 5 Kb6 Rf6+ 6 Ka7 Rf7+ 7 Kb8 Rf8+

This will be a very important motif later on.

Therefore, early analysts declared Black’s case
hopeless, and this conclusion seems well supported
by the preceding argument, especially combined with
our intuition that the rook is best placed behind the

70 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

Rook&PawnvRook
Lesson 3 - Romanovsky’s Zone
Diagram 2
On the other hand, supposing White’s king began at
d3, it would be impossible to establish the draw, at
least in that manner: 1...Rd1+ 2 Kc4 Rd6 3 Kb5 and
White now threatens to move the rook; while Black’s
rook is too close to deliver the checks, eg 3...Rd5+ 4
Kc6 and that is the end of that.
special set of circumstances, and, following the
two special positions, theory further developed its
context; in particular, Pyotr Romanovsky took a
in the Soviet periodical Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1950, by
publishing his famous drawing zone.
The zone is shown in diagram 3 above. Its meaning
is that Black to move can draw when White’s king lies
upon one of the marked squares; otherwise, White
can win by force. Naturally, the closer White’s king is
illustrated by our comparison above of e3 and d3,
but as we shall see this is not merely a matter of
distance and comparatively obscure considerations
ENDGAME
Diagram 3
for instance, with various queen vs bishop and rook’s
pawn situations which depend on precisely how
many moves it takes for the king to reach a critical
square, around which the zone is arithmetically
constructed as if with a compass.
in the exercise with the king at f5 (and compare to
e5), while the reader is encouraged to apply similar
reasoning to the boundaries on other ranks.
It seems natural to try the same rook lift we used
earlier, even with the king at f5, but this would be
useless: 1...Rf1+ 2 Ke5 Rf6 loses simply to 3 Rg8+
Kxg8 4 Kxf6, so delivering the check merely helps
White bring his king closer. Other attempts to reach
the 6th seem too slow, for example 1...Rb1 2 Ra7+
followed by Rb7 is winning and the same applies
to 1...Rc1 2 Ra7+ (in these cases the checks usefully
contain Black’s king). The draw is possible only with
the help of a nuisance check that tips the balance in
Black’s favour: 1...Ra5+.
DECEMBER 2014 71
ENDGAME

Rook&PawnvRook
Lesson 3 - Romanovsky’s Zone
If the king moves to the 4th rank with 2.Ke4, a

2...Rb5 3 Ra7+ is critical.

If Black tries the obvious 3...Kf6 (it’s easy to show that

White wins with Black’s king on the 8th, and this is Diagram 4
often true), then 4 Kd4 Ke6 loses to 5 Ra8 as Black’s
king is caught in the open; White will play a7 followed
by a winning tactical clearance, that is Morphy’s
skewer or possibly just a check. Black’s mistake is not
obvious;

3...Kg6 was necessary, whereupon 4.Kd4 is met by

4...Rb6 5 Kc5 Rf6
note that 6.Ra8 must be met either with 6...Kg7 or
6...Kh7. Now, we will analyse the new Carlsen – Aronian rook
ending encounter mentioned above.
2.Ke6

Black responds 2...Rh5 and if 3.Ra7+, 3...Kg8

(possible since White has no time to bring the pawn
to a7 – 4.Rb7 allows 4...Rh6+ followed by Rxa6) –
4.Kd6
Rh6+ 5 Kc7 Rf6

(very important, enabling Rf8+; 4...Rg6, while Diagram 5

objectively drawn, can become awkward, for example

draw.

The main point to be observed in our starting point

of diagram 5 is that adding an h-pawn (or, for that

normally be ‘intolerable’ as it ends up interfering

greatly with the rook.

72 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 ENDGAME

Rook & Pawn v

Rook
White wins, but only with 1 Rg8! - minimising the
have included this example to prove that it is indeed checking distance! - forcing 1...Rxa7 when 2 Rg7+
important, and might have chosen many more... wins Black’s rook via a skewer.

74 Kd7 Rf6 75 Ra8 Kg7 76 Kc7 (it should be noted
that if the pawn is advanced, we must transfer the
rook behind the pawn: 76 a7 allows 76...Ra6 with an
easy draw, but 76...Rf7+ 77 Ke6 Rb7 misses 78 Rg8+
winning).
Ironically, the ‘routine’ 1 Rh8, playing for the same
tactic, would itself lose by skewer to 1...Rh1+ ! After
the correct 1 Rg8!, White needs to play one more
careful move: 1...Rh1+ 2 Kg2, and then Black can
resign.

76...Rf7+ 77 Kd6 Rf6+ 78 Ke5 Rb6 (it’s catch-22 for
White; while he can force the rook to leave f6, this
is achieved by removing his king from the scene of
action)
79 Ra7+ Kg6 80 h5+
players are naturally suspicious of these ‘gifts’; see if
The position doubles as an exception to Tarrasch’s
rule (reversing the position of the rooks would
result in a draw), and an exception to this notion of
maximising the checking distance, which are both,
in most cases, important principles to bear in mind,
even if concrete analysis can and does overrule them
surprisingly often.

Kh6 81 Kf5 Rc6 82 Re7 (Carlsen abandons the

winning attempt and instead forces a position with
two kings!)

82...Rxa6 83 Re6+ Rxe6 84 Kxe6 Kxh5.

Finally, a couple of useful references include John

Nunn’s ‘Understanding Chess Endgames’, ‘Dvoretsky’s
Endgame Manuel’ and also ‘Fundamental Chess
Endings’ by Lamprecht and Muller.

Next time we will jump from the linear world of rook

endings straight into some cavalry charges to begin a
new three-column series on knight endings.

DECEMBER 2014 73
 EUROPEAN CHESS TRIP

TOUR TIME !
CHRIS WALLIS

Chris joins the growing number of Australian players making their

way to Europe to play chess and see some of the sights along the way!
He recounts his trip, reminiscing on the highs and lows and a few
coincidental meetings along the way.

C
IRCUMNAVIGATING Europe
as a chess enthusiast can
be a delicate balancing act
between tournaments and
tourism;theculturalandchess
heritage of this continent are both entic-
ing. Nevertheless, by punctuating more or
lessintensecompetitionatRiga,Triesteand
IsleofMantournamentswithaneasytravel
itinerary, I was able to make the most of it
andhavereturnedwithawealthofvaluable
experiences to relate. Along with a written
accountofpartsofthis‘odyssey’,thecolumn
features three fully annotated games, the
most memorable from each event.
Riga was an excellent starting point,
and by coincidence I stayed at the same
hotel as Leonid Sandler, who, after his
attendance at quite an eventful olym-
piad, followed on across the Baltic to
visit his home town!
Architecturally, the city is a spectacu-
lar blend of eras and styles, beginning
with the emblematic spires of the old
town and meandering via grand art
nouveau façades and austere Soviet
monuments to arrive at modern sky-
scrapers and the gigantic tournament
venue, the Kippsala Exhibition Centre.
Natural beauty was also well repre-
sented in the tranquil gardens along
the city canal and the central parks
- a wonderful setting for, apart from
the plentiful historic statues, padlock
bridges and boathouses, the Tal mon-
ument in Vermanes Square! Meanwhile
the rich cultural and natural heritage
of the city was well represented by the
extensive museums and exhibitions.
Riga was on rotation as the ‘Cultural
Capital of Europe’ for 2014, playing host
to special concerts and exhibitions (for
example I visited Dali’s ‘Knights of the
Round Table’); while the city celebrated
river Daugava, which would have been
missed had I not bumped into Leonid in
the hotel lobby that night! Incidentally,
the tournament was scheduled during
the week that the ‘Baltic Way’ freedom
movement was to be celebrated – I
noticed with a little surprise on August
23 that a brass commemorative plaque
on the ground referred to this date (!),
August 23, in 1989, when a monumen-
tal bid for independence was made
with the longest ever human chain of
676 kilometres across Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania.
‘Riga was an excellent
starting point’
Looking purely at the results, my tourna-
ment appears disappointing – a promising
start with a nice win over GM Fedorov dis-
integrated into a series of draws with that
insatiable predator of hard-earned rating
points,theunderratedjunior...nevertheless,
participatinginatournamentofsuchaston-
chess horizons, and after all I didn’t lose so
many games! Meanwhile, Leonid was very
happy to test the younger crop of Latvian
players, including the national champion
GMKovalenko,andacertainAlexeyShirov...

74 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
 Left-to-right: A city canal; a monument to Mikhail Tal; the Riga Opera; Art Nouveau
Wallis, Christopher 2348
Fedorov, Alexei 2562
Riga Technical Univeristy Open
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
0–0 6.Be3 e5 7.Nge2 c6 8.Qd2 Nbd7
9.d5 cxd5 10.cxd5 a5 (D)
secure the c5 square for his knight and
to start active operations on the queen-
side, but on the other hand weakens the
b5 square. I failed to adjust to the new
situation.
11.g4
I noticed the idea of 11.Nb5 but thought
it would be futile owing to 11...Ne8 , a
move Black would want to play anyway,
since if I then consolidate with 12.Nec3 ,
the kingside is left weakened and Black
will expand with 12...f5 . It seems I over-
rated Black’s counterplay, and it is in fact
his compromised queenside, especially
as White retains the option of castling
queenside!
11...h5
Black decides to block the kingside,
in order to try to push through on the
queenside.
12.g5 Ne8 13.Nc1 Nc5 14.Nb3
14.Nd3 b6 15.0–0–0 is suggested by the
computer, but somehow I wasn’t inter-
ested in ever castling queenside, espe-
cially after ...a7-a5.
14...b6 15.Rg1
Forestalling ...f7-f5, but this is less
important for Black now that he has
real prospects on the queenside. When
playing Nb3 I had planned 15.Bb5 to
exploit the weak queenside light squares,
but decided this left my f3 pawn and king-
side a bit loose.
15...Nc7 16.Qc2
Since I could not favourably resolve the
b3-c5 knight tension, I decided to change
my tune! 16.Nxc5 bxc5 seemed without
prospects as Black can carefully build up
play on the queenside - certainly the iso-
lated a-pawn is no great asset for White,
since it will be used to strike against
his position or in aid of an attack on the
b-pawn.
16...Bd7 17.Nd2 Qe7
Connecting the rooks, but the queen is
not especially well placed here. If 17...b5
I planned 18.Bxc5 dxc5 19.a4 b4 20.Nb5
best line, though after 20...Nxb5 21.Bxb5
Bxb5 22.axb5 Qb6 23.Nc4 Qxb5 24.b3
it is perhaps optimistic to claim a work-
for White to stay in control of things...
DECEMBER 2014 75
17...Rb8 is hence the most logical option,
either in case of Bxc5 or if Black wishes
to advance ...b6-b5.
18.Nc4 Rfb8 19.Rd1
Prophylaxis against . ..b6-b5. Of course it
seemed a bit miserable to just be waiting
for Black’s play without any active ideas,
but then there is no special reason why
White should stand so very worse here...
19...a4
19...b5 20.Bxc5 bxc4 21.Bxc4 is very
problematic for Black, who must refrain
from this line. This is what Rd1 was in
aid of.
20.a3
I kind of hated playing this (Black’s a4
pawn is now restraining both a and b
pawns) but thought I had to control b4,
as otherwise Black could activate the c7
knight through a6. 20.Na3 would have
been futile, as White loses the ‘arms race’:
20...Qe8; For a hopeful few seconds I
thought Black had missed 20.b4 , but
unfortunately 20...axb3 21.axb3 N7a6!
is miserable for White.
20...N7a6 21.Qf2
I evaluated 21.Na2 b5 very pessimisti-
cally since there seemed no point moving
the knight to c6 without using the d5
square straight away, and this was prob-
ably correct: 22.Na5 b4 23.Nxb4 Nxb4
24.axb4 Rxb4 25.Nc6 Bxc6 26.dxc6 Ne6
is highly uncomfortable for White, since
the c-pawn is more a weakness than a
strength.
21...b5 22.Na5 (D) Qe8
A view of Salzburg
A surprise - White really doesn’t mind losing
a pawn for some activity here! 22...b4 was
expected. 23.axb4 Nxb4 24.Nc4 Nb3 then
looked miserable, but I could see nothing
better.
23.Nc6 Bxc6 24.dxc6 Qxc6 25.Qd2
25.Nd5 Rb7 seemed to accomplish little, but
26.Nf6+ Bxf6 27.gxf6 is way more interest-
ing than I gave it credit for!
25...Bf8
I was half-expecting 25...Ne6 and very
likely would have played this as Black, for
practical reasons; the truth is that Black
is taking on a certain risk with 25...Bf8.
26.Qxd6 Qxd6 27.Rxd6 Bf8 followed by
...Bc5 is obviously favourable for Black,
while if d6 is not taken then Black has
effectively gained a tempo on the game.
thought I had to control b4, as otherwise
Black could activate the c7 knight through
a6. 20.Na3 would have been futile, as
White
 a little while. 33...Nh7 34.Rxh5 gxh5 35.Bxh7
on a certain risk with 25...Bf8. 26.Qxd6
Qxd6 27.Rxd6 Bf8 followed by ...Bc5 is 30...Bxf6
obviously favourable for Black, while if
d6 is not taken then Black has effectively 30...Nd4 31.Bxd4 exd4 32.Bg4
gained a tempo on the game.
31.gxf6 Rg8?
26.Nd5 Nc7 27.Nf6+ Kh8 28.Bh3 N7e6

28...b4 would be hard to deal with - the point
is 29.axb4 Nb3 30.Qc3 Qxc3+ 31.bxc3 a3 .
29.Qf2 Bg7
29...b4 on the other hand runs into 30.Nxh5
gxh5 31.Qh4 Ng7 32.g6 followed by Qg5,
with a very unclear position.
30.Qh4
It was nice to be able to play moves like this
without feeling much of a burden of calcu-
lation - the move is so natural it would be
remarkable if it were not best! Of course the
computer throws a fit but calms down after
control of his nerves. Whatever the case
may be, he is now losing. 31...Qe8 was
expected. 32.Bg4 Qg8 33.Rxd6 b4 is
then extremely complicated, and any-
thing might have happened.
32.Rg5 Nf8 (D) 33.Bf5!!
My original intention of 33.Rxh5+ gxh5
34.Qxh5+ Nh7 35.Bf5 actually fails to
35...Rg6 36.Bxg6 fxg6 37.Qxg6 Rg8
38.Qh6 Nb7. After coming up against this
stumbling block, I noticed that it was pos-
sible to invert the move order in the initial
combination.
I was surprised that he resigned so soon,
but it is actually simple to win. 35.Bxh7
Rg6 36.Qxh5 (36.Bxg6 fxg6 37.Qg5)
36...Rxf6 37.Bf5+ Kg7 38.Qh7+ Kf8
39.Bg5. Of course I had seen this idea -
however, sometimes there are so many
strong-looking moves that one may be
confounded even in such a crushing posi-
tion, and I certainly would have played on

A bit more sightseeing - Cheverney Chateau, France

 Left-to-right: Rialto Bridge; a little canal; chess-themed shop window; playing Derek in Salzburg.
After a very brief visit to Rome, during
which I somehow managed unintention-
ally to leave the transit area and then to
da Vinci Airport after a desperate yet fruit-
ful search for my baggage tag, I arrived
at Marco Polo Airport, Venice. I caught a
bus down the Ponte della Libertà, which
effectively bisects the mainland side of
the Venetian Laguna. The hotel was just
a few bridges away from the Piazzele
Roma bus terminus near the entrance
of the Grand Canal. The most peculiar
feature of the room was a red plastic
enquiry at reception revealed that this
was, naturally, a dispenser of mosquito
repellent! Venice has even more of a
problem with such pests than Australia!
The following day was spent walking
round to the major sights, including St
Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge, and
was notable particularly for some of the
- -
ways became a kaleidoscope of staring
carnival masks, bric-a-brac, vendors,
porters and above all, I suppose, fellow
visitors representing all corners of the
globe in the bright and sunny tourist
season...
78 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
led to Trieste, where, at the train station, I
‘managed’ to reproduce a famous anec-
dote concerning another absent-minded
chess player, Akiba Rubinstein. The won-
derful story mentioned in ‘The Human
Comedy of Chess’ by Hans Ree, is that
Rubinstein, on arriving in Amsterdam,
simply said to the taxi driver, ‘Take me to
my friend Mr Oskam!’ I came armed with
the name of my destination, the ‘Palazzo
Vivante’, pronounced ambiguously, and
only another driver’s smart phone was
able to save the day!
a harbour town of 200,000, set between
and on rolling hills and peppered with neo-
classical architecture, winding cosmopol-
itan streets and even a genuine Roman
Theatre! The opulent renaissance archi-
tecture of the Palazzo Vivante, however,
was a stark contrast to the poor standard
of accommodation offered by the organ-
fast’ consisted of a few bread rolls, butter
and a vending machine, so it is better to
follow the example of English IM David
Eggleston who, forewarned by his experi-
ence the previous year, stayed in a much
nicer bed and breakfast for the equivalent
price and also managed a GM norm!
Perhaps more than anywhere else in
Europe, I felt quite at home in Trieste as
if I were in the familiar Italian precinct of
whisker of scoring an IM norm and only
‘must-not-lose’ pairing as Black against
the dominant tournament winner, Andrey
Vovk of Ukraine. Still the tournament was
an outstanding experience, especially as
the Palazzo Vivante was the most spec-
tacular tournament venue imaginable, as
revealed by the photos, and despite the
warning on accommodation I can heart-
ily recommend it.
On the way to the next tournament, I
crossed continental Europe by train
passing through Austria, Switzerland
and France. The most unusual thing that
happened is that I bumped into Derek Yu
on the way to a laundromat in Salzburg,
and we had a great day of sightseeing
including quite a silly draw played on the
giant chess set near the cathedral! If I
had to nominate the best scenery of the
trip, Lucerne and Salzburg must be equal
well into September, was also fortunate!
 Wallis, Christopher 2348
Sumets, Andrey 2662
Trieste Open
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5
For the second time in the tournament,
though this may have been a coincidence
since Sumets had previously tried this
line.
5.Nge2 cxd4 6.exd4 0–0 7.a3 Be7 8.Nf4
d6
Before this game I never knew about 8...
d6, a good try to keep the position inter-
esting - certainly I don’t understand why
after 8...d5, in a situation where they are
playing for a win.
9.Be2
Getting the opponent out of theory, I
think, even if the move had few other ben-
is clearly the most logical approach. For
some reason I didn’t think Sumets would
push ...e6-e5 so early.
9...e5 10.Nfd5
I was reluctant to release the bishop
from e7, but I really had little choice in
the matter. [10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 isn’t
Nc6 Black is equal, and his position may
already be easier to play.
10...Nxd5 11.Nxd5
Of course not 11.cxd5 exd4 12.Qxd4 Bf6,
when Black’s control of the dark squares
will tell.
11...Nc6 12.dxe5 dxe5 (D) 13.0–0
I avoided 13.Be3 due to 13...Bg5 , but
probably White can ignore this and
castle: 14.0–0 (I also saw that 14.Bc5
14...Bxe3 15.fxe3 I tended to underrate
the ‘weak’ e3 pawn, my position is much
more active and I should be slightly better
due to the strong knight on d5.
13...Bc5 14.Kh1
As I didn’t want to play Be3 ‘in general’, I
decided to try to unsettle whatever minor
piece arrived on d4 by playing f2-f4.
14...Bd4
Actually I anticipated 14...Be6 and was
looking at 15.f4 Nd4 16.fxe5 Bxd5 17.cxd5
Qxd5 , which I wasn’t sure about. There
are numerous deviations by Black to be
taken into account along with this line.
15.Qb3
- 21.Bf4 followed by a similar (though not
bishop to the defence of the b7 pawn.
15...Rb8
Nevertheless 15...Be6 could be played:
16.Qxb7 Na5 17.Qc7 Bxd5 18.Qxd8
Bxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Rfxd8, when Black is
though translating this into a won game
may be tricky.
16.Qg3 f5
16...Kh8 17.f4 Re8 was expected, and
looks like a viable alternative.
17.Bg5 Qe8 18.f4 (D)
needs to open the centre to use his
superior development. Black can avoid
activating White’s pieces by ...e5-e4, at
the cost of loosening his defence of the
bishop at d4 and basically re-opening the
tempting but it’s totally incorrect: 18...gxf6
19.Bxf6+ is met by 19...Qg6.
18...Bxb2
18...e4 19.Rad1 looked excellent for
White.
19.Rab1 exf4
would have worked very nicely here too.
20.Bxf4 Be5 (D)
A horrendous move, though after it was
played by Sumets it had a kind of ‘stamp
of authority’ and I found it easy to believe
he had anticipated Rfe1. I calculated
20...Qxe2 21.Bxb8 Qxc4 22.Ne3 and
completely overestimated my advantage.
DECEMBER 2014 79
m
21.Bh5
I ended up choosing this as it was forcing
and led to clearly known outcomes but
intuitively Re1 looked much better and
I probably could have convinced myself
there was no defence. 21.Rfe1 threat-
ens Bf3, since ...Bxf4 Nxf4 and Bd5+ is
clearly a win (though I hadn’t noticed this
oddly helpless against the slow Bf3-d5.
21...Bxf4
Now Black is dead lost. The reason is sur-
prising, I suppose, since the bishop which
just moved to h5 is going to return to the
centre, taking two moves, but Black’s
position is completely hopeless. 21...
Nxe5 23.Qxe5 Bd7 24.Qd6 was about
equal, and probably annoying for Sumets
as he would have hardly any possibilities
to play for a win.
Right:
Battling
Swedish
GM Tiger
Hillarp-
Persson
22.Nxf4 Qe5 23.Bf3 Nd8 28...Qc8
Of course the whole thing works because 28...Qxc5 29.Rxd7 Qb5 30.Bxf7+ Rxf7
23...Bd7 loses to 24.Bd5+ Kh8 25.Ng6+ 31.Rdd1 is also quite simple.
hxg6 26.Qh4#
29.Qh5 Be8 (D)
24.Bd5+ Nf7 25.Rbe1 Qd6 26.c5
26.Bxf7+ Rxf7 27.Re8+ Rf8 28.Ng6 is
perhaps amusing, but it’s also inaccurate
and unnecessary. 28...Qxg6 29.Rxf8+
Kxf8 30.Qxb8 Qe6 and White still has
work to do, since the queen and rook are
uncoordinated.
26...Qc7 27.Qh4 Bd7
27...Qxc5 28.Re7 wins.
28.Re7
28.Nh5 Qxc5 29.Qg3 Qd4 30.Bxf7+ 30.Ne6 g6 31.Qh4 Bc6 32.Qf6 1–0
was more accurate - Black’s rook at f8
is overloaded.
 As opposed to the bustling metropolis of
of Man was a breath of fresh air. This
started with the taxi drive from the airport
the famous ‘Fairy Bridge’ and explained
that when in need of a lucky day, the
islanders visit the fountain and bid the
fairies ‘Good morning!’.
I found Douglas Bay to match all my
expectations of the British coastline.
White buildings of uniform height neatly
lined the curving promenade, which gave
way to a seawall, the rocky beach and
the often turbulent tides of the bay itself.
Prominent grassy hills stretched around
the bay to either side, and a little island
was decorated with a miniature sand-
castle! Meanwhile, there came a steady
battering of waves on the bold face of
the wall, and while this held the ocean in
check its tumultuous fury was vented in a
Right:
Time to
buy a
lottery
ticket?
violent spray upon the pavement beyond!
The tournament began well – after a
Jones, the only player in the field I
had previously encountered, my play
improved and co-produced several inter-
impeccable anglophone Dutch amateur
Ludo Tolhuizen, involved the skewer
motif which is discussed in the ending
the expense of the young Israeli IM Eylon
Nakar, following on from an eventful draw
in a ‘blast from the past’ of American GM
James Trajan. James has come back to
chess after a hiatus of some 30 years as
his wife was interested in travelling, and
it would not be surprising to see him in
Australia at some point! He has proven
that the strength of his play persisted in
the interim, and his future battles with
various ‘youngsters’ should attract a lot
of interest.
One of the highlights of the tournament
was a conversation with the top seed,
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, at breakfast
one morning – I remember that at one
point, when I was bemoaning the diffi-
culty of keeping up with theoretical inno-
vations as an amateur and the implica-
tions for repertoire choice, he agreed that
he spends the vast majority of his time
working on the opening. As Maxime said,
although players like Richard Rapport
may adopt unconventional lines like 1 b3,
these lines may still be analysed! This
problem of keeping up with the breakneck
pace of modern theory is perhaps best
answered by a sort of compromise, and
many GMs seem to just develop special-
isations in particular lines while accept-
ing playable positions in others, as you
can’t stay on the cutting edge of every-
thing – as Tiger Hillarp-Persson proved
in a later round by severely refuting one
of the variations I had planned to play in
the game with Nakar.
 Wallis, Christopher 2347
Nakar, Eylon 2424
Isle of Man Masters
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0
5.f3 d6 6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5
9.Ng3 h5 (D)
Black doesn’t really gain time by doing
this - although White must play Nf1–
d2, Black had to play ...h7-h5-h4, so it
is a simple question of whether the sit-
uation with a pawn at h4 and knight at
d2 is better than the initial layout. The
knight at d2 is better centralised and has
more possibilities since on g3 it would be
the h-pawn. On the other hand it is often
chosen by players with detailed theo-
retical knowledge who out-prepare their
opponents, so the better score (than 9...
10.Be2 h4 11.Nf1 e6 12.Nd2
12.f4 was played in a brilliancy by
Tomashevsky, but Black later improved
with the improbable 12...Nxc4!? 13.Bxc4
b5 with compensation after 14.Bxb5 exd5
15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Bg4 17.exf6 Bxd1
18.fxg7 Kxg7 19.Bxc5 h3
Actually Tiger later told me that he
82 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
13.gxh3 is forced - then, Tiger consid-
13.g3 Nxc4 14.Bxc4 b5 15.Bxb5 exd5
16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Bg4 18.exf6 Bxd1
19.fxg7 Kxg7 20.Bxc5 Bf3 is the point.
12...exd5 13.cxd5
This exchange helps Black by opening
now White’s knight at d2 and bishop at
e2 also have increased scope.
13...a6
13...h3 , see my game with Tiger.
14.0–0
My opponent had never seen this. 14.a4
looks very natural, preventing ... b7-b5,
but White can take the opposite approach
of allowing that move and then trying to
exploit the loose queenside pawn struc-
ture eg a2-a4 and then bring a knight to
c4, or occasionally b2-b4 to induce ...c5-
c4 and then put a knight on d4, or this
type of thing.
14...h3
14...b5 15.h3 is the main line, such as
it is.
15.g4
The pawn at h3 turned out to be surpris-
ingly resilient - while it has strayed very
deeply into Black’s territory, White would
need to invest a fair amount of time in
rounding it up - unless he captures it as
part of some other manoeuvre...
15...b5
What else?
16.g5 Nh7
16...Ne8 wouldn’t be very strong if Black
intends to continue as in the game (it
takes e8 away from the rook, and also
Svetushkin’s 17.f4 Nd7 18.Bg4 Nb6
19.Qf3 looks convincing.
17.f4
Setting up a ‘hammock’ pawn structure.
17...Nd7 18.Bg4 Bd4
A very interesting move, which took me by
surprise. In fact it had been played once
before, in the U20 World Championship,
and we unwittingly followed this game
until the 22nd move when I deviated.
19.Bxd4 cxd4 20.Ne2 Nc5
20...Nxg5 was suggested by Tarjan when
I showed him the game - I had basi-
cally neglected it, assuming that 21.fxg5
of interesting - after 22...Ne5 23.Bxc8
Raxc8 24.Nf3 Qe3+ 25.Kh1 Nd3 26.Qe2
however White is doing very well, and
this was not a hard sequence of moves
to play.
21.Ng3 (D)
A very solid alternative to capturing the
pawn. 21.Nxd4 Nxg5 seemed very prob-
lematic. 22.Bxc8 (22.Nc6 brings about
problems of a different nature: 22...Qb6
23.fxg5 Nxe4+ 24.Kh1 Nf2+ 25.Rxf2 Qxf2
Rxc8 23.fxg5 (23.Qe2 Ngxe4 24.Nxe4
Re8 25.Nc6 Rxc6 (Not 25...Qh4 , but only
due to 26.Qf2 , when the knight’s harness
26.Nf6+ Qxf6 27.Qxe8+ Kg7 28.Rae1
(28.dxc6 Qd4+ 29.Rf2 Ne4 30.Raf1 Nxf2
23...Qxg5+ 24.Kf2 Rfe8 is critical, and
Black is winning.
Also 21...Qb6 looks strong, and I con-
sidered 22.Bxc8 (22.Bf3 allows 22...Na4
21...Re8 22.Kh1
I like this move, which turned out to be
very useful.
22...a5
I think Black’s idea was to play ...a6-a5-
a4 and then put the queen on a5, as he
didn’t want to play ... Qa5 immediately,
but it’s not worth the effort. This particular
move, ...a6-a5, is ok as it prevents b2-b4.
22...Qb6 looks natural.
22...Qa5 23.Bf3, to prepare Nb3, is
strong.
22...Bxg4 23.Qxg4 Qa5 would be another
way to play ...Qa5, but then White might
build up a kingside attack with f4-f5 while
the opponent’s queen is preoccupied.
23.Qf3 a4 24.Bxc8 Rxc8 25.Qf2
I liked this positional manoeuvre of the
in the game! Ironically, it turns out to be
inaccurate. 25.b4 axb3 26.axb3 is best -
White now threatens b3-b4 in combina-
tion Qd3xd4, and also can play to win h3
or d6 in case of 26...b4 , with 27.Qg4 Qd7
much else for Black to try, and at this
stage he apparently thought Nf5 led to
30.Qh4 Kh8 31.Nxd4 Rb2 32.Nc6 Rg2 a draw.
25.Qg4 Qd7 doesn’t work so well for
White since the c4 square isn’t available
for the d2 knight, and also it’s important
for the rook to be able to move to a7 in
25...d3 26.Qd4 (D)
30.Nf5
When I was showing this game to Tarjan,
he surprised me by saying the authors
of the tournament bulletin (which I didn’t
unclear position, and not necessarily an
advantage. They must be using an out-
dated engine, though I’ll grant the advan-
26...Nf8 tage didn’t have to be as big as what the
game led to!
I don’t recall why Black didn’t go ahead
30...gxf5
kingside was vulnerable. 27.Rf2 discon-
nects the rooks, while 27.Rad1 makes 30...f6 of course loses, most simply due
b2-b4 less threatening. to 31.gxf6 gxf5 32.Qg1+ .
31.Rxh3 Kf8 (D)
major pieces, looks strong.
27.b4 axb3 28.axb3 Qb6
Apparently this is not so useful anymore -
the move is quite a serious mistake. 28...
Qc7 introduces some very surprising tac-
tical ideas, which constrain White a good
deal: 29.Rf3 now is met by 29...Nxb3
30.Nxb3 Qc2 31.Rg1 Qxb3 32.Qxd3
Qxd3 33.Rxd3 Nd7, for instance.
29.Rf3 Nfd7 (D)
Allowing the combination, but there’s not
DECEMBER 2014 83
Of course the alternatives are not very
attractive and so Black was willing to try
this king move. 31...Re5! is surprisingly
strong, and I hadn’t analysed it very much
- then, 32.fxe5 Nxe4! 33.Rxd3 (33.Qxb6
Nxb6 and Black is very active here as
position following 34.Kg2 Nxd3 35.Qxd3
dxe5 36.Qxf5 is murky but can only be
better for White, due to Black’s vulnera-
ble king.
I thought he would see the queen sac
and play 31...Ne5 32.fxe5 Rxe5 (32...
decided on 33.Nf3 (since I wasn’t so sure
about 33.exf5 Qb7, though 34.Nf3 Qxd5
35.Qh4 is again an easy win.
32.Qf6!!
This move is pretty but it isn’t so hard
running to e7. It works as the captures on
Left-to-right: Lucerne; Salzburg, Innsbruck, Salzburg Castle
expected 32.exf5 when he had planned
32...f6 - the point is 33.gxf6 Ne4 when
he thought White must deliver perpetual:
34.Rh8+ Kf7 35.Rh7+ Kg8 (35...Kf8 is
owing to 36.Qxb6 Nxb6 37.Nxe4 Rxe4
Rc1+ 39.Kg2 Re2+ 40.Kh3 Re3+ 41.Kh4
Rg1 42.Raf7+ Kg8 43.Rb7 with the threat
Nxb6 38.Nxe4 Rxe4 39.Rag1 Nxd5 40.f7
32...Nxf6 33.gxf6
The really nice thing is how quiet the posi-
tion seems. Of course it’s a nuisance for
the queen could desperado against the
rook at g1. 33.gxf6 Kg8 loses as the king
is told to go back: 34.Rg1+ Kf8 35.Rh8#
1–0
Ironically, the chess tournament, effec-
tively one of the strongest opens in the
world, was overshadowed by its sponsor,
the chess was pretty much in a kind of
was reserved for the poker. While every-
body was grateful for this generous act of
charity from the ‘gamblers’, it is natural
attracting sponsors that it is led to play
more people know the rules of chess than
poker, and there must be just as many
players with a casual interest in the royal
game. Perhaps food for thought...
And on that note, I will sign off on my
travels and wish the reader Merry
Christmas!
Racing to
Victory
Max Illingworth continues his recent love-affair with
Melbourne, crushing the field at Melbourne Chess
Club’s 2014 Hjorth Open with a stunning 9/9.

F
OR THE FOURTH consecutive year I spent Melbourne Cup day in
Melbourne...but not for the races! The 89 players at the 2014 MCC Hjorth

among other things, a spacious, comfortable abode for the top players,
provided they could stay on the top 6 boards!

Credit for the overall success of the tournament must go to the organ-
isers, especially Simon Dale and arbiter Kerry Stead, and of course the
titled players who made the tournament more attractive by entering

by Australian standards.

Fitzroy (the suburb where the Melbourne Chess Club is located) is a quite
lively suburb, with plenty of shops and most importantly, some very nice
restaurants! A staple of my diet was lunch at the Viet Rose, usually with
one of my students or other friends! And for breakfast and dinner I was
very capably looked after by my relatives who I stayed with for the dura-
tion of the event :).

On the day before and the day of the tournament, I coached one of my
students (who had a very successful tournament) for 6 hours. Two of my
friends considered this to be ‘crazy’ but private coaching doesn’t wear me

game on the evening, although my opponent fought quite well before

blundering. After a convincing and not so convincing win the next day,
I established my lead with three wins against players rated in the mid
2300s from Rounds 4-6 - and it is these games that I have annotated for
this report.

DECEMBER 2014 85

Illingworth, Max 2468
Goldenberg, Igor 2346
In my game against Igor I managed to
reach a winning position basically from
my opening preparation, but threw it
away with a slack move before tricking
my opponent.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6
5.Nc3 d6
My opponent played this move order to
reach the Scheveningen while avoiding
the Keres Attack, but I played it anyway!
6.g4
Even when Black places his knight on e7
instead of f6, grabbing lots of kingside
space proves useful given that Black will
generally castle kingside at some point
To fully appreciate the merit of such an
approach, you might like to peruse my
article on the 6.h3 Najdorf elsewhere in
this magazine, where similar positions
arise.
6...a6 7.Be3 Nxd4
7...Nge7 might be answered with 8.Nb3
when Black doesn’t have the ...Nxd4/...
Nc6 resource to liberate his position. If
Black prefers the 8...Ng6 deployment,
9.Qe2 Be7 10.0–0–0 intending f4 is quite
ominous, and preventing it with 10...e5
gives up the d5-square: 11.Nd5 Bg5 (or
12.h4! Bxe3+ 13.Qxe3 Bxg4 14.f3 Bh5
15.Nd2 threatening Qg5!, and White is
clearly for choice.
8.Qxd4 Ne7 9.f4
9.0–0–0 would be a more precise move
order.
86 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
9...e5
9...Nc6 10.Qd2 Qh4+ is the extra option
I allowed with my move order, but 11.Qf2
Qxf2+ 12.Bxf2 is a better endgame for
White.
10.Qa4+ Bd7 11.Qb3 exf4 12.Bxf4
Ng6? (D)
This should have been a decisive mistake,
had I thought for a bit longer here! 12...b5
was necessary to prevent Bc4, but after
13.Be2 Ng6 14.Bg3 Be7 15.0–0–0 0–0
16.Nd5 it is clear that White is better. The
position reminds me a lot of the subject of
my Yearbook 110 survey which reached
a similar pawn structure.
13.Bg3?
I saw the winning line of 13.Bc4! Nxf4
(13...Be6 gives up a pawn if I want it, or I
can play 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Bg3! Qd7 16.0–
0–0 Be7 17.Rhf1± with an extremely
g5 16.Bh5! but told myself ‘this is way
too unbelievable to work’. But it just wins!
16...Qa5 (or 16...Be6 17.Qxb7+ Bd7?
Kd8 18.Qf6+ Kc7 19.Qxh8 and the extra
exchange and pawn is decisive.
13...Be7 14.Bc4?
14.Be2 would have still been slightly in
my favour.
m
14.0–0–0!? Bxg4 15.Be2 Bxe2 16.Nxe2
14...0–0 15.0–0 Bxg4?
15...Ne5! 16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.Bxf7+ Kh8 is
a lot easier for Black to play - my king is
open and the bishop pair are very dan-
gerous. The pawn count is not that impor-
tant in such a sharp position.
16.Bxf7+ Kh8 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Nd5
Now I have re-established control of the
position and can claim a serious advan-
tage as it’s hard for Black to use his
bishop pair and his pawn structure is
riddled with weaknesses.
18...Bf6 19.Kg2?
For some weird reason I eliminated all
White’s good options and that left me with
a bad one! 19.c3! stops Black’s idea of
...Bd4 and leaves White in total control
of the position. I didn’t want to cut my
queen off temporarily but there’s no way
for Black to exploit this.
19...Qd7 20.Nf4 Kh7
Not the most precise, but even this is
playable. 20...Qe8! is what I expected,
21.h3 g5?
The decisive mistake. 21...Bh5 22.Nxh5
gxh5 23.Qd5 was my intention, but we
both missed the defence 23...Qb5!= after
22.hxg4 gxf4 23.Rxf4 +-
White is just a pawn up with a safer king,
although Black’s next makes it easy.
23...g6?
23...Qb5
m
24.Raf1
24.Rh1+ Kg7 25.Rxf6 Rxf6 26.g5 Rf7
27.Qc3+ Kf8 28.Rh8+ Ke7 29.Rxa8 also
did the trick.
24...Qe7
24...Bg7 25.Rh1+ Bh6 26.g5
24...Be7 25.Rf7+ Kh8 26.Qc3+
24...Kg7 25.Rxf6 Rxf6 26.Qc3 Raf8 27.g5
25.Rxf6
Black resigned as he loses a piece
to Qxb7 after all the captures on f6.
Certainly not a high-quality game, but I
succeeded in executing the strategy I’d
planned before the game. 1–0
Canfell, Greg 2332
Illingworth, Max 2468
Going into this round, Greg and I were
the only players still on a perfect score.
This was the game where I really found
my form in the tournament. There was a
large break between the completion of
of the second round of the day, so I had
time to talk to friends and play through
my opponent’s most recent games on
ChessTempo.
1.Nf3
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 but I was very
well prepared for the Closed Sicilian and
he’s gone for the KIA against me ever
since.
1...c5
Inviting a transposition to a Sicilian or
Symmetrical English, but I surmised that
Greg would avoid them.
2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0–0 Nc6 5.e4
5.c4 was the main alternative.
5...e6!?
I wanted to play an Anti-KIA system I’d
taught to a student some weeks before-
hand, but White avoided it with a clever
move order. 5...d6 6.c3 e5 is legal but my
opponent probably expected a Botvinnik
formation.
6.c3!
Now it will cost me a tempo to play ...e5
to stop d4, so I need something a bit
different.
6...Nf6!
The only way to keep real winning
chances, and also exploiting the one
defect of c3 - it leaves e4 unprotected.
6...Nge7 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 d5 9.e5 is very
safe for White and certainly the position
he was aiming for with his move order.
6...d5 7.exd5 exd5 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4
Nge7 10.Be3 on the other hand is also a
bit better for White.
7.d3
me out of the ...Nge7 setup. 7.e5 Nd5
8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d6 10.Bg5 is the critical
line, but Black can be quite happy after
10...Qc7 11.exd6 Qxd6 - the position is
about level and all three results are pos-
sible here.
7.Re1! 0–0 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5
Ne4 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 is probably
best play, when objectively White is a bit
better.
7...d5 8.Nbd2
8.e5 Nd7 9.d4 0–0 10.Bf4 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6
Qe7 Black successfully regains his pawn.
8...0–0 9.Re1 b6 (D)
This is also a position I’ve gone through
with some of my students... only with
colours reversed! I was more familiar
with what White’s attacking plans are in
such a position, but at least I knew what
to avoid...
10.a3?!
The wrong plan - White should be playing
on the kingside! Meanwhile every pawn
move on the queenside means more
open lines on the queenside for me when
I get in ...b5-b4. 10.e5 Nd7 11.d4 is sug-
gested by the computer, but I wasn’t at
all unhappy with this structure and 11...a5
12.Nf1 Ba6 would be a very logical start.
10...a5
It was also tempting to just develop the
bishop, but the insertion of a3 and ...a5
should be in my favour.
11.exd5 exd5 12.Nf1
12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 is what White
in the position for three minor pieces
but not four, but it takes too much time
and 13...Bg4 14.Qf1 Qd6 15.Re1 Rfe8
favours Black.
DECEMBER 2014 87
12.d4!? equals my space, but is too min-
imalistic to be played on Australian soil.
12...Be6
12...Bb7 was my original intended loca-
tion for the bishop, but my hand moved it
to e6 to cover the d5-square against Bg5/
Ne3 business.
13.Bf4 h6
A very normal move for such positions,
depriving White of Qd2/Bh6 or for that
matter Ng5.
14.Qd2?!
This is quite bad but I failed to take the
opportunity offered. 14.Ne5 is better, but
again I would meet it with 14...Ne7! to
keep all the pieces on the board. Then
anything can happen.
14...Kh7?!
I saw 14...g5! but I thought my oppo-
nent could play 15.Be3? , missing that
after 15...d4 16.cxd4 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4
18.Bxa8 I have the intermediate move
18...Nb3 winning the house. 15.Be5 is
required, but giving up the bishop like this
is a clear concession.
15.Ne5 Ne7 16.Qc2
White lines up his queen against my king,
but it’s hard to make use of this and [16.
Qd1 with equality should be preferred.
16...Rc8 17.Re2 Nf5
17...d4 is a move I wanted to avoid as
it gives White squares for his pieces
without any obvious gain for me.
17...g5!? 18.Bd2 Nd7 is the computer’s
choice, but it feels totally inconsistent to
play in such a way.
18.Rae1 b5 19.h3! (D)
88 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
A very cunning move, threatening Nxg6!
followed by g4 and if the knight moves,
d4 is very strong. Fortunately I have a
good reply.
19...g5!
19...a4 20.Nxg6 Kxg6 21.g4 Kh7 22.d4‚
gives White a strong attack.
20.Bc1 Kg8?!
Getting my king out of danger, or so I
thought... 20...Re8 was correct as 21.d4
Kg8!
21.b3?
A big mistake I found hard to understand.
After the game my opponent told me
he’d just forgotten about ...b4. I thought
21.Ng6 led nowhere after 21...Re8 , but
actually White has 22.g4! fxg6 23.Rxe6
Nh4 24.Bh1 Rxe6 25.Rxe6 with a serious
advantage
21...b4
Now White has big problems stopping a
later ...Nd4.
22.Bd2
22.g4! Nh4 23.c4 was the last chance to
keep a playable position and I expected
this. At the very least I can play 23...Nxg2
24.Kxg2 Nd7 and work on getting my
bishop and queen lined up on the long
diagonal.
22...Qb6
A logical move to threaten ...bxc3 and
...d4, but 22...Nd7! 23.Nxd7 Qxd7 was
even better, exchanging White’s only
good piece.
23.Nf3 bxc3 24.Qxc3 Nd7 25.Qc2
fxe6 27.Qa6 Rce8 28.Rxe6 Nb8 is also
clearly better for Black.
25...Rb8
I couldn’t see a forced win so I kept
control of the position and allowed my
opponent to make a mistake in beck-
oning time pressure. 25...Nd4 26.Nxd4
cxd4 was my original intention, but after
27.Qb1 White has ideas of pushing with
b4 and I felt I would struggle to turn my
advantage into a win here.
26.Rb1
26.g4! Nd4 27.Nxd4 Bxd4 28.Rb1 was
more tenacious, but I am still clearly
better after 28...Ne5.
26...Rfc8
26...d4 27.b4 wasn’t so clear to me but
I couldn’t see a useful move for White
other than b4 so I prevented it..
27.Ree1
27.g4 Nd4 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.Qd1 Nc5
wins a pawn but this may have been the
last chance for White.
27...d4? (D)
This just looked winning but I overlooked
an opportunity for White.
27...Nd4 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.Qd1 Nc5
30.b4 Nxd3 31.bxa5 Qd6 was the correct
way to establish a decisive advantage.
28.g4?
Now it really is all over. 28.h4! g4
29.N3h2 is suddenly not so clear. I still
have 29...Bxb3 (I missed that after 29...
h5 30.Bf4! attacks my rook so I don’t win
c3! 32.Bxb8 Qxb8 33.Nxg4 the position
has become totally crazy and all three
results are suddenly possible, even if with
Max beat Azeri IM Kanan Izzat, studying in Melbourne, in a crucial game. (Photo: Elliot Renzies)
the cold-blooded 33...Nc5! 34.Be4 Nd6!
35.Nxh6+ Bxh6 36.Qxh6 Ndxe4 37.dxe4
Qe5! Black keeps a gigantic advantage.
28...Nd6 29.h4
29.Rxe6 is what I would have played as
White, but clearly an exchange is too
much to give up as far as saving the
game is concerned.
29...Bxb3 30.Qb2 c4!
- within half a point of me. James went on
terattack in the centre!
31.dxc4 Nxc4 32.Qa1 d3 33.Bc3 Bxc3
34.Qxc3 Nxa3
Just winning lots of material, and as long
as I don’t get mated I’ll win the game.
35.Qxd3 Nxb1 36.Qxd7 Be6 37.Qe7
Rc7 38.Qf6 (D) Bd7!
38...Bxg4?? 39.Re8+! would have been
a real pity.
39.Qa1 gxh4 40.Ne5 Be6 41.Qa4 Qb4
42.Qd1 Nc3 43.Qd2 Nd5 44.Qd1 Qb3
45.Qd2 Qc3 46.Qd1 Nf4 47.Be4 Nh3+
48.Kg2 Ng5 49.Re3 Qc5 50.Bd3 Bd5+
51.Kh2 Rb2 52.Nd2 Qc1 53.Re1 Qxd2
White resigned. 53...Rxd2 forced mate
but considering I’d nearly blundered the
game away earlier, I followed the Soviet
advice of taking the piece over mate!
Going into my next game I was in the
outright lead, with only James Morris
of 7.5/9 but most chess reporters con-
veniently omit that he took a half-point
bye in Round 1 and, by means of this
Swiss Gambit (whether intended as such
and was much better rested when he did
encounter them (which outweighs the
disadvantage of ‘losing’ half a point on
general will understand this and eliminate
or at least restrict half-point byes to make
their tournaments as fair as possible (not
DECEMBER 2014 89
 Illingworth, Max 2468
Morris, James 2366
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6
The Pirc isn’t the worst opening in the
world, but you really have to know it to not
get killed as Black, and my opponent’s
- 14...exf4 15.Bxf4 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Nxa2+
gests it was not a prepared action...
4.f4 Bg7 5.Bd3 0–0 6.Nf3 Bg4?
This move fails to prepare the ...c5 or
...e5 break to challenge White’s centre,
and that’s enough to give White a clear
advantage. 6...Na6 to prepare ...c5 or
6...Nc6 to facilitate ...e5 are the correct
moves.
7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nc6 9.Be3 Nd7
9...e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f5 is also clearly
better for White, but at least Black got a
pawn in the centre.
10.e5 Nb4 11.0–0–0 c5
11...Nxd3+ 12.Rxd3 Qc8 13.Kb1 followed
by h4-h5 will give White a nearly winning
kingside attack.
12.dxc5 dxe5 (D)
90 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Curiously enough this has also been
seen in Rogers-Jones, North Rocks
Open 1988 and Wang Zili-West, Kuala
Lumpur 1990, but Black played 12...Qa5
in those games, going on to lose. 12...
Nxc5 can be answered in a number of
ways, the simplest being 13.Bxc5 dxc5
14.h4 with a practically winning attack.
13.Bb5 Qa5 14.Bxd7 e4
17.Kb2 is also completely winning for
White. The bishop on d7 totally paraly-
ses Black’s position...not to mention that
I am a piece up!
15.Qxe4 Bxc3 16.a3!
16.bxc3 Nxa2+ 17.Kb2 Nxc3 18.Qd4
Nxd1+ 19.Rxd1 with a decisive advan-
tage was my original intention, and is no
less strong, but perhaps simpler.
16...Rad8
Unfortunately I lost my concentration
when I realised I was going to be a piece
up for nothing.
17.Kb1
17.f5! was even stronger.
17...Na6 18.bxc3?
This is totally careless, although fortu-
nately I am still probably winning with
best play. 18.Qxe7 leaves me two pawns
up for nothing. 18.Qa4 Qxa4 19.Bxa4+-
is also possible if I want to deprive Black
of all counterplay.
18...Rxd7! 19.Rxd7 Qb5+ 20.Kc1?!
20.Ka2! Qxd7 21.Rb1 Rb8 22.g4 is indi-
cated by the computer, when Black has
no way to attack the White king. However
I was still reeling from the shock of having
blundered and therefore went for the
endgame as soon as possible.
20...Qxd7 21.Rd1 Qc7 22.Qe5? (D)
As this endgame is a draw with best play,
it was a mistake to go for it and it’s only
because of my opponent’s bad time man-
agement that I managed to win the game.
getting the queens off the board. Here
22...bxc6 23.Qe5 Rc8 24.c4 is clearly
better for White, although it’s an open
question as to whether it’s winning with
best play.
22...Rc8?
22...Qxe5 23.fxe5 Nb8 was correct, when
I don’t see a way for White to make prog-
ress as Black has blockaded himself on
the light squares and the pawns on dark
squares completely wreck my bishop.
23.Qxc7 Nxc7
23...Rxc7 24.Rd8+ Kg7 25.Ra8 Nxc5
26.Bd4+ f6 27.Bxc5 Rxc5 28.Rxa7 Rxc3
29.Rxb7 Rxa3 30.Rxe7+ Kf8 31.Re4
should be a winning endgame for White.
24.Rd7 Kf8?
I expected this move as well, but 24...a6
is a better defence so the a6-pawn is not
attacked after a later c6. 25.c4 Kf8 26.c6
bxc6 27.Bc5 Ne6 28.Bxe7+ Ke8 29.Ra7
Rc7 30.Rxc7 Nxc7 31.Bd6 Ne6 is then
just a draw as White has no way to break
through the light-squared fortress.
25.c6! b-pawn for my c3-pawn and then win. I
don’t really see how he stops this plan.

30...Ke8

30...Kf7 31.Ra6 Nc4 32.Kb4 e5 33.Kb5

Rc8 34.fxe5 fxe5 35.Bxb6 e4 36.a5 e3
37.Bxe3! Nxe3 38.Rc6 Ra8 39.a6 is also
winning for White.

31.Ra8+! Nc8 32.Rb8!

Probably the only way to break Black’s

fortress.

32...Kd7 33.Rb7+ 37...e4

Now I should be winning with best play.

Black’s position is hopeless as he can’t 37...Nxb6 38.c5+ Rxc5 39.Rxb6+ Kd5

25...b6
25...bxc6 26.Bc5 Nd5 27.Rxa7 should be
winning for White - the outside passed
pawn is too strong and my bishop domi-
nates the knight.
26.Kb2
stop my plan of Kb4/c4-c5.
33...Kd6
33...Rc7 34.Rxc7+ Kxc7 35.c4 Kc6
36.Kb4 is hopeless for Black as I succeed
in getting in c5.
40.Rb5 Rxb5+ 41.axb5 is an easily
37...Rxb6+ 38.Rxb6+ Nxb6 39.c5+
38.Be3 Ke5 39.Rb5+ Ke6 40.Bd4 Kd7
41.Rd5+ Ke7 42.Re5+ Re6 43.Bc5+ Kd7
44.Rxe6 Kxe6 45.a5

26.a4 stops my opponent’s next move 34.c4 h5 35.Kb4 e5

and was therefore a little more accurate.
26...Ne8 27.Rxa7 Rxc6 28.Ra6
26...Nb5 27.a4 Nd6 28.Kb3 Rxc6
29.Rxa7 f6 30.Bd4
This attempt at counterplay is easy to
thwart.
36.fxe5+ fxe5 (D) 37.Bxb6!
I love the domination of the bishop!
45...Kd7 46.Kb5 Nd6+ 47.Bxd6 Kxd6
48.a6 Kc7 49.Kb4 1–0

My plan is to attack his b6-pawn with Black could resign here, but he played
on to the very end. .
Ra6, bring my king up to b5, trade the

I secured tournament victory by subsequently defeating Kanan Izzat (in what was probably
my best game of the tournament) and Luke Li, and in the last round I also managed to win
against Christopher Wallis to win with a perfect score. This result brought me much closer to the
Grandmaster title by raising my FIDE rating to 2493.

The key to my good result was in working hard in the weeks up to the tournament and not feeling
as nervous during the games. Interestingly enough, immediately after playing the tournament
I felt I had played almost error-free chess, but a deeper analysis showed that I had a fair bit of
luck as I gave my opponents some opportunities, which however they did not make full use of.

satisfying week in Melbourne :)

DECEMBER 2014 91
 PROBLEMS & STUDIES Solutions

1.Bh7+ In this study, White’s bishop and two 1.g7 Bd5 2.f8=Q!
connected passers overwhelm Black’s
1.Rg1+? Bg6 2.Rxg6+ Kf7 3.exf8=Q+ rooks. 2.f8=R? Nxg7 3.g4 (3.Rh8+ Kxg3
Kxf8=
1.Bc2! with the threat of g7-g8=N#
1...Kh8 2...Nxf8 3.gxf8=R!

1...Kg7 2.exf8=B+! (2.exf8Q+? Kxh7 2.Kg8 Rxf7 3.Bxf7+ Kh6 4.Bxe6 Re2 3.gxf8Q? Bxf3+ 4.Qxf3=

1...Rxc2 2.g7 Kg6+ 3.Kg8 Rc8+ 3...Kxg3 4.d4 Bxf3+

1...Kxh7 2.exf8=N+! Kg8! 3.Nxd7+-
(3.Rxd7? Kxf8 4.h6 Kg8 The position
is now a theoretical draw. 5.h7+ Kh8!
4.f8=N+!
4...Bc6 5.Rf6 Bd5 6.Rf5 Bc6 7.d5 +-
4.f8=Q? Rhc2 5.Kh8 Rh2+ 6.Kg8 Rhc2=
5.Rxf3+ Kxf3 6.d5 Ke4 7.d6 Kd5 8.d7
4...Kh6 Kc6 9.d8=N+!

2.exf8=R+! 4...Rxf8+ 5.gxf8=R!+- (5.gxf8=Q? Rh8+ 9.d8=Q?=

9.d8=R?=
2.exf8=Q+? Kxh7 3.Rxd7= 9.d8=B?=
5.Kh8 threatening g8=N# again
2...Bg8 1-0
5.Kf7? Rf2+ –+
2...Kxh7 3.Rxd7+-
5...Rxf8+ 6.gxf8=R!
3.Rxg8+
6.gxf8=Q+? Kg6+ 7.Kg8 Rh8+ 8.Kxh8=
3.Rxd7??=
6...Kg6+ 7.Kg8 Rh4 8.Rf6#
3...Kxh7 4.Rxd7+
1-0
1-0

92 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

A survey of the position reveals that a
move by any other piece than the bishop
gets mated quickly.
1.Bb2+
1.Bd2+? Kxd2 2.Nf3+ Kc1 3.Ng3 Be4 –+
1...Kd2!
1...Kc4 2.Ne3+ Kc5 3.Nd3+ +-
1...Kb3, Kb4 and Kxb2 fall to 2.b8=Q++-
2.Nf3+ Kd3!
2...Kc2 3.Ne3+ +-
2...Ke2 3.e8=Q+ +-
2...Kd1 3.Ne3+ +-
3.Ne5+ Ke2
3...Kd2 4.Ng3 Kc2 5.Ng6! Bxg6 6.e8=Q
Bxe8 7.b8=N! Bg6 8.a8=Q +-
3...Kc2 4.Ne3+ Kb1 5.Ng6! Bxg6
6.e8=Q Bxe8 7.b8=N! Bg6 8.a8=Q +-
3...Ke4 4.Ne3 Kxe3 5.Ng4+ +-
4.Ng3+ Kd1 5.Ng6! Bxg6 6.e8=R!
6.e8=Q? Be4+ 7.Qxe4 f1=Q+ 8.Nxf1=
6...Bxe8 7.b8=N! Bg6 8.a8=B!
A beautiful idea - underpromotions to
rook, knight and bishop in succession
8.a8=Q? Be4+ 9.Qxe4 f1Q+ 10.Nxf1=
1-0
PROBLEMS & STUDIES
White is dominating on material, but
faces the threat of ...Bd4 and a recurring
stalemate defence with the king on a1
1.e3
1.a3? Bd4+ 2.Ka2 Rb2+ 3.Ka1 Rb4+
4.Ka2 Rb2+ 5.Ka1 Rb4+=
1.d8=Q? Bd4+ 2.Qxd4 Rb1+ 3.Kxb1=
1...Bxe3 2.Rg2 Bd4+ 3.Rb2 Rxb2
3...Bxb2+ 4.Kb1 Bxg7+ 5.Kc2+-
4.Rg2
4.d8=Q? Rb4+ 5.Qxd4 Rb1+ 6.Kxb1=
4...Rb4+ 5.Rb2 Rxb2 6.h8=B!
6.h8=Q? Rb4+ 7.Qxd4 Rb1+
6...Bxh8 7.d8=Q!
7.e8=Q? Bd4 8.d8Q Rb4+ 9.Qxd4 Rb1+
10.Kxb1=
7.c8=Q? Bd4 (7...Bg7 8.e8=N Bd4
8.d8=Q Rb4+ 9.Qxd4 Rb1+ 10.Kxb1=
7...Bg7
7...Bc3 8.c8=R! (8.c8=Q? Rb4+
7...Bd4 8.Bd3+- and the stalemate is
lifted
8.e8=N! Bc3 9.c8=R!+-
Fantastic - going one further than the
Pogosjants study with promotions to
the four pieces with 6.h8=B, 7.d8=Q,
8. e8=N and 9.c8=R (9.c8=Q? Rb4+
What on earth is going on here? White
has lost only one pawn, with six pawns
on the 7th, but the threat of ...Nf3+ from
Black is hard to meet.
1.h8=R!
1.h8=Q? Nh7! 2.Qxh7 (2.Nh3? Rxh3
3.Qxh5 Qg1+ 4.Bxg1=
1.Rxe3+? and 1.Qxe3+? fall to Nf3+–+
1...Rxh8 2.exf8=R!
2.exf8=Q? Rh5! 3.Qh8 Nf3+ 4.Qxh5
Qg1+ 5.Bxg1=
2...Rh5 3.Rh8 Rxh8 4.f8=R!
Again, 4.f8=Q? Rh5 5.Qf7 (5.Qxf4+?
4...Rh5 5.Rh8 Rxh8 6.d8=R! Rh5
7.Rh8 Rxh8 8.c8=R! Rh5 9.Rh8 Rxh8
10.b8=R! Rh5 11.Rh8 Rxh8 12.a8=R!
Rh5 13.Rh8 Rxh8 14.Ra7!
Now the 7th rank is open!
14...Nf3+ 15.Rh7 Rxh7+ 16.Nxh7 Qd2
Black would still be mating quickly here,
if it were not for
17.Qxf3+
1-0
DECEMBER 2014 93
 C it y
t h e
e ss i n
C h
These are exciting times for Australian chess –
an increase in junior participation across the
country has contributed to a steady produc-
tion line of top quality young players, perhaps
best evidenced by the fantastic performance
of our youngest ever Open team at the recent
Olympiad. David and Sabrina Koetsier did a fan-
tastic job organising the National JETS camp,
have continued their great work by promoting
the game to the general public.
Tell us a bit about your project and how it came
about.
We believe we have an obligation to share our passion
for the game and show everyone that chess has no
age, cultural or gender barriers and can be played by
everyone and everywhere. This is why we are working
together with Splash Adelaide this year. This is an
organisation that works with the community to bring
streets and public spaces to life through a series of
activities, events and projects.
chess boards on North Terrace (one of Adelaide’s main
streets) and had the opportunity to sit down and play
a game or two. There were giant boards, small boards
and three-way chess. Anyone could try a game of Blitz
and David would do simultaneous exhibitions. We also
worked together with other Splash projects, which led
to a sunny afternoon in the Adelaide Parklands where
over 3000 people visited and challenged each other
over a game of chess.
Chesslife’s David & Sabrina Koetsier
How have people reacted?
The responses have been amazing and very posi-
tive. It has started the conversation with parents,
children and schools and we believe it will lead to
a greater participation in chess. We are excited to
extend these projects over summer and will be on
North Terrace during the Lidums Australian Young
Masters tournaments. We’ll also continue with our
events through the parklands right through the
summer.
That sounds great! Where to from here?
There is a generation of parents that would have
learned chess at school and we should remind
them of the fun times they had and inspire them
to pass these skill onto their children.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if this could be the start of
a nationwide project whereby we all help inspire
the next generation of chess players?
We’d love to see chess popping up in cities right
around Australia. Who knows where the next great
chess talent will come from – it might be a child who
came across a board in the city with his parents and
never looked back.
DECEMBER 2014 95
 A Tale of 2 Cities
Lubomir Ftacnik reflects on this experiences
as coach of Australia at the 2013 and 2014
World Youth Chess Championships.

T
HE World Youth Chess Championship in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates in December 2013 was

Australian visit in July 2013 I have tried to help a few players to improve their understanding
of chess, get their calculation and strategical perception of the game to a new level. The invita-

chance to bring the relationship to the new level, where I shared the coaching priviliges with Armenian
GM Hrant Melkumyan who is lately coming ‘Down Under‘ more often for personal reasons.

The organisers in the UAE were enthusiastic with promises to pay for most of the expenses of the partic-
ipating children, helping with the high costs for parents and other team members. There were concerns

lure kids away from the greatest family ocassion in the Christian world, but these concerns were proven
unfounded. The world is much more colourful in ethnicity or religions; also the holidays for most chil-

participation records. The burden of success in numbers of players has caused a true chaos before the

and boys, became quite heated.

-
aging. Every single player managed to lose rating as their performance rating did not reach their current
-
estimates their real strength. Even so it wold be nice to see at least a few Australians outperform their
expectations and make the proverbial jump to the higher level. Relatively, the best results were achieved

anybody if not for his unfortunate draw in the last round and Kashish Christian with a score only slightly

against weaker opponents and thus he undershot his expected result by more than 200 Elo points. Ari
Dale had just won the Oceania Zonal event and was expected to show his rising strength in the promi-
nent tournament – unfortunately he was overmotivated and in bad chess form. In ‘retaliation“ not much

Dale, Ari 2289
Shumskis, Aleksandrs 1849
Wch U16 Al Ain 2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.d5 Ne7
5.e3 Ng6 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.Nge2 0–0 8.Bd2
d6 9.Ng3 Ne8 10.Qc2 Nh4 11.Bxh7+
Kh8 12.Bf5 Nxg2+ 13.Ke2 Nh4 14.Bxc8
Qxc8 15.f3 Qh3 16.Rag1 Bxc3 17.Bxc3
f5 18.Qd1 f4 19.Qf1 (D)
White’s opening has not gone well and
the immediate task for Ari is to limit the
damage.
19.exf4 Rxf4 20.Rf1 Nf6µ
19...Qd7! 20.Ne4
The Australian team at the 2013 WYCC
20.e4 Nf6 21.Kd1 g5 22.Kc1
20...fxe3 21.Rg3
It is easy to criticise players in tacti-
cal positions since we can rely on the
help of computers in the post mortem
analysis. White would have done better
to exchange the queens in the line start-
ing with the knight jump 21.Ng5! Nf6
22.Qh3 Qxh3 23.Nxh3 b5.
21...Nf5 22.Rg5 Kg8 23.h4 Qa4! 24.Kd3
24.Qb1 Qxc4+ 25.Qd3 Qxd3+ 26.Kxd3
Ne7µ
24.b3 Qxa2+ 25.Kd3 Qxb3–+
24...b5!
Black’s attack on the queenside is dev-
25.b3 Qxa2? (D)
DECEMBER 2014 97
m
Less experienced players have prob-
lems to understand the importance of
forceful play in sharp positions. Any loss
of momentum could turn out to be dan-
gerous. 25...bxc4+ 26.bxc4 c6! 27.dxc6
Qxc6 –+
26.Qh3! Nd4
Dale eventually prevailed against Shumskis
26...b4 27.Rxf5 bxc3 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Qf5+
Kg8 30.Qe6+ Kh8 31.h5³; 26...Qxb3 27.Rxf5
b4 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Qf5+ Ke7 30.Qg5+ Kd7
31.Qg4+ Kd8 32.Qg5+=
27.Bxd4 Qxb3+?
Shumskis is losing patience, even though
his position was still superior after the
correct recapturing of the knight. [27...exd4!
28.Qe6+ Rf7 29.cxb5 Qxb3+ 30.Kxd4 Rb8
31.Nc3 e2µ
28.Bc3 Qxc4+ 29.Kxe3 Nf6 30.Qe6+
Kh8 31.Rhg1?
White could have won after the more precise
Rd1 supporting the d5 weakness. 31.Rd1!
Rae8 32.Nxf6 g6 33.Qd7 Qf4+ 34.Ke2 Qxf6
35.Qg4+-
31...Nxd5+?
Black panicked and began to try his
luck with checks. He did not realise that
there still existed a way to stay on top.
31...Rae8! 32.Nxf6 Qxc3+ 33.Ke2 Qc4+
34.Ke3 Qf4+ 35.Ke2 Rxe6 36.Rh5+ Qh6
37.dxe6 Rxf6 38.Rxh6+ gxh6µ
32.Kd2 Qa2+?
32...Nf4 33.Qxc4 bxc4 34.Rxg7±
33.Kc1 Qa3+ 34.Bb2 Qe3+ 35.Kb1 Nf6
35...Qxf3 36.Qxd5+-
36.Qe7
White was rather lucky that his adversary
has misplayed a very good position. 36.Qe7
Rg8 37.Nxf6+-
1–0
Siow Lee, Dylan
Bennett, Owen 1695
Black has just played 20...f6? and White takes control.
Wch U14 Al Ain 2013
21.h6! Suddenly the kingside will open up and the white pieces can spring to
action in no time.

21...Na5 22.hxg7+ Kxg7 23.Nh5+ Kg8 24.Qd2 The computer has more roman-
tic ideas about the best continuation and suggests sacrificing a few pieces. The
humble people prefer to keep it safer, especially in situations that are winning
anyway. 24.gxh7+ Kxh7 (24...Kh8 25.Nh4 Kxh7 26.Qg4 Rg8 27.Ng6 +-) 25.Nxd4!
exd4 26.Qg4 Rg8 27.Qh3 Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1 +-

24...Rf7 Sheer desperation. Black has realised his case is lost and thus resorts
to extreme measures. 24...Bd6 25.gxh7+ Kh8 26.Nh4+-; 24...hxg6 25.Qh6 gxh5
26.Bh3+-

25.gxf7+ Kxf7 26.Qh6 Nb3 27.Qxh7+ Ke8 28.Qg6+ The bishop on c1 will
manage to find a noble usage - 28.Qg6+ Kf8 29.Bh6# 1–0

Tarmastin, Laura 1791 42.Bd1? In an equal position from the Marshall Gambit White has decided to
Guo, Emma 2011 threaten Re2. 42.Rd1 was equal.

Wch U18 Girls Al Ain 2013 42...Ne3! 43.Kg1? Qxa2?! Emma is unfortunately missing an unusual problem
for White with the defence of the basic rank. The position with opposite coloured
bishop would have been hopeless for the defender after 43...Nxd1 44.Rxd1
Bc2! 45.Rd2 (45.Rf1 Bd3 46.Rd1 Qe2 47.Rd2 Qf1+ 48.Kh2 Bg6 –+) 45...Qe1+
46.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 47.Kf2 Rxc1–+

44.Qc7?? The panic button rarely helps to improve matters in difficult positions.
White’s situation was serious, but definitely not lost after 44.Re2 Rd8 45.Bb3
Qxb3 46.Bxe3 Re8µ

44...Qb1! 45.Qxc6 Qxc1 46.Rd4 46.Qd7 Bf5–+

46...Qxb2 47.f4 Be4! The mate on g2 can only be averted with massive mate-
rial losses. 0-1

DECEMBER 2014 99
 Sardana, Rishi 2373 28...Kxd6 32...e4 33.Bg1 Ne6 34.f5 Nf4+ 35.Kf1
Eggink, Ryszard 2165 Nd3 36.Ke2
28...Rxd6 29.Bxe5 Ne6 30.Bxd6+ Bxd6
Wch U16 Al Ain 2013 31.Nxb7 - White is struggling to overcome some

27...Nd4? (D) 27...Na5! 28.b4 Nc4 28...Bxd6 29.Nxb7 Rd7 (29...Rc8

29.Nxb7 Rc8 30.Re1
Rxd6 31.Bxe5+-27.Rxd1 g4 36...Bc7 37.Bf2 Kb3?

29.Nxb7+ Kd5 30.Nxd8 Bxd8 Attention is the key to success in chess,

but in the games of young players it is
Eggink has sensibly decided to sacri- rather precious commodity. Everybody
has to learn, that mistakes are simply
resistance. costly. 37...Be5!?

31.f4 Kc4 38.Bd4+- g6 39.fxg6 fxg6 40.Rb1 Bf4

41.Rf1 Nc1+ 42.Kf2 Nd3+ 43.Ke2 Nc1+
31...e4 32.Kf2 Bb6 33.Ke3 a5 34.b3 h4 44.Kd1 Nd3 45.Bc3 a5
35.Bg1 f5 36.a4+-
Black is in some kind of zugzwang, any
32.h4 move will diminish his position.

28.d6+! Rishi has not found the courage to create 46.Bxa5 Nxb2+ 47.Ke2 Nd3 48.Bd2
Bg3 49.Rf6 Bxh4 50.Rxg6 Bg3 51.Rb6+
An impressive tactical blow. 28.Rxd4 of a witty g-pawn advance. 32.g6! fxg6 Kc4 52.g6 Be5 53.Re6 1–0
exd4 29.Bxc7 Rxd5 only led to equality. 33.fxe5 Bh4 34.Bg1 Nf5 35.Kf3 +-

Hrant Melkumyan analyses with Rishi as Emma and Jack look on

 Abdimash, Zhaniya
Christian, Kashish 1685
Wch U14 Girls Al Ain 2013
21.e3 (D)
White obviously does not feel any
danger. A more experienced player
would consider counterplay with the
help of a d-pawn advance. 21.d5! cxd5
22.Rd1 Be6 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Rxd6 Rd8 The white bishop on c3 is a patently bad
25.Rxd8+ Kxd8 26.Rd1+ Kc8= piece, tragically mismatched with White’s
pawn structure. 30.Kd3 Rxf2 31.e4 Bxg3
21...hxg3 22.hxg3 32.Be1 Rg2 33.Bxg3 Rxg3 34.Rg1 Rhh3
35.Ke3 g4 –+
22.fxg3 Bg6 23.a3 f5=
30...Bxg3 31.Ke1 Bxf2+
22...Kd7 23.Bc3 Rh6 24.Rd1? Bg4
25.Rdc1? 31...Rxf2 32.Rxf2 g4 33.Kd2 Bxf2 –+
The gift of two full tempi would be too 32.Kd2
much in most positions. Abdimash is not
appreciating the fact that the attack along The second retreat of the white king
comes in a completely lost position. [32.
Rxf2 Rh1+ 33.Kd2 Rxa1 34.Rxf3 Rh2+
35.Kd3 Ke6–+
27.Rxd1 g4
32...Re8 0–1
25...Bf3! 26.Kf1 Rah8 27.Bxf3
27.d5 Rh1+ 28.Bxh1 Rxh1#
27...exf3 28.Ke1 Rh1+ 29.Kd2 R1h2
30.Rf1
Kashish Christian
 Puccini, Jack 2073
Yu, Wenlu 1862
Wch U14 Al Ain 2013
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 e6 8.Qf3 Qc7
9.0–0–0 b5 10.Bxb5 axb5 11.Ndxb5
Qb8 12.e5 Bb7 13.Qe2 dxe5 14.Qc4
Bc5 (D)
18.N3xd5 exd5 19.Qxd5 Bxg5 20.fxg5
Rxa2 21.Qxa2 Qxc7 22.Qa3+ Ke8
23.Rd3 Kd8 24.Qa8+ Qc8 25.Qa5+=
1/2 Naiditsch,A 2664 - Gelfand,B 2729
Dortmund 2006
15.Bxf6 Bd5?
The Chinese player is panicking as this
weak move could hardly have been pre-
pared at home. The violent main line after
15..gxf6 is open to discussion, but with
best play Black should have been able
to hold equality.
15...gxf6 16.Rxd7 Be3+ 17.Kb1 Kxd7
18.Rd1+ Ke7
winning line and play it, even though the
best players would sit tight and calcu-
late longer. The best continuation could
have saved a lot of effort for both parties
involved! 19.Nd6+! Kd7 20.Qxe5 Kc6
21.Qxe3+-.
19...Kf8
19...Qxc7 20.Qxa8+ Ke7 21.Qxh8+-
20.Qxa8
The grab of the rook is winning but it was
much better to interpose the check on
22.Rxd6 h6 23.Rd8+ Kh7 24.Rxh8+ Kxh8
25.fxe5 +-

21.Nxa8 Qxa8 22.Qe7 (22.fxe5 fxe5 20...Qxa8 21.Nxa8 Ke7 22.fxe5 Rxa8
23.Rd7 Bc6 24.Qg4+ Kf8 25.Qb4+ Kg7 23.exf6+ Kxf6 24.Rhf1+ Kg6 25.Rd3 (D)
26.Qg4+ Kf8 27.Qb4+ Kg7 1/2 Weinzettl,E
2327 - Kalod,R 2512 Ceska Trebova

exd5 25.Qg5+ Kf8 26.Rxd5 f3 27.Rd8+

The position is extremely dangerous for
a player that is not well prepared from
home. In the era of game databases
and computer engines there is additional
danger - what if the opponent knows
much more?
14...Be7 15.Nc7+ Kf8 16.Rxd7 Nxd7
17.Rd1 (17.Bxe7+ Kxe7 18.Rd1 Bd5
19.N3xd5+ exd5 20.Nxd5+ Kd8 21.Nb4
Qc7 22.Qxf7= 1/2 Van der Wiel, J 2540
17...Bd5
Qxd8 28.Qxd8+ Kg7 1/2 Bobras,P 2581
- Czakon,J 2504 Lublin 2008
21.Qxd4+ Ke7 22.Qc5+ Kf6 23.Rf1+ Kg6
24.Qe7 f5 25.Qxe6+ Kg7 26.Qe7+ Kg6
27.h4 (27.g4 Rf8 28.gxf5+ Kh5 29.Rg1
Qf4 30.Ne2+- 1–0 Dimitrov,V 2360 -
28.h5+ Kxh5 29.Qf7++- 1–0 Tal,M -
Stean,M Hastings 1973
No wonder Jack was happy when he saw
19.Qb4+ Ke8 20.Nd6+ (20.fxe5 Qxe5 a position like this a few moves ago on
21.Nd6+ Kf8 22.Qxb7 Ra7 23.Qf3 Qf4 the horizon of his calculations.

17...Bxg5 18.fxg5 Bd5 19.N3xd5 Ra7
20.Nb5 exd5 21.Qxd5 Ke7 22.Nxa7
Qxa7 23.Qd6+ Ke8= 0–1 Yang,K 2417
17...Nf6 18.fxe5 Nd5 19.Bxe7+ Kxe7
20.Qc5+ Kd7 21.N3xd5 Bxd5 22.Nxa8
Qxa8 23.Qd6+ Kc8 24.Rd3 Qa5 25.Rc3+
Kb7 1/2 Perunovic,M 2562 - Doric,D 2482
Vogosca 2007
22.Nxe3 Bc6= 25...Bg5 26.Rg3 Ra4 27.b3 Rh4 28.a4
f6 29.h3 Kh6 30.Rg4 Kh5 31.Rxh4+
16.Nxd5 exd5 17.Qxd5 Be3+ Kxh4 32.a5 Kg3 33.a6 Kxg2 34.a7
Kxf1 35.a8Q Kf2 36.c4 Kg3 37.c5 Kxh3
38.Qf3+ Kh4 39.c6 h5 40.c7 g6 41.c8Q
gxf6 19.Kb1 ± f5 42.Qc2 Bf6 43.Qcf2+ Kg5 44.Qf4#
1–0
18.Kb1 Nxf6 19.Nc7+
What to do in a completely winning posi-

102 50 MOVES MAGAZINE

 Loh, Zachary 2036
Kovalevsky, Stanislav 1856
Wch U14 Al Ain 2013
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.b3 c6
5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.d4 0–0 8.0–0
Re8 9.Ne5 Bc7 10.f4 Nxe5 11.fxe5
Nd7 12.Nd2 f6 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.e4 e5
15.dxe5 Bxe5 16.Bxe5 Rxe5 17.cxd5
cxd5?! (D)
Kovalevsky could have equalised with a
timely bishop move.
17...Bg4! 18.Qc1 cxd5=
18.Nc4! Bg4
18...Re8 19.e5 (19.exd5 b5 20.Na3 Qb6+
21.exf6 cxb3 22.axb3
19.Qd4 Rxe4 20.Bxe4 dxe4
the pawn could be called a sensible prac-
tical solution, but objectively stronger was
the retreat of the rook on the 18th move.
21.Qxd8+ Rxd8 22.Ne5 Bh3 23.Rfd1
Re8 24.Nc4 h5 25.Ne3 Nh7?
The long route of the knight to the
f3-square deems this form of counter-
would have been White’s technical task
after 25...Ng4! 26.Nxg4 Bxg4 27.Rd2 e3
28.Rc2
26.Rac1 Ng5 27.Rc7! Bg4
27...Nf3+ 28.Kh1 Rf8 29.Rxb7+-
28.Rdc1 Nh3+ 29.Kg2 Kh7 30.Nxg4
hxg4 31.Rxb7 e3 32.Re1
The weakness of the g4-pawn indi-
cates that Black’s counterplay will be
unsuccessful.
32...Rf8
The long route of the knight to the
f3-square deems this form of counter-
play unsatisfactory. White’s technical
-
cult after 25...Ng4! 26.Nxg4 Bxg4 27.Rd2
e3 28.Rc2
33.Re2! a5 34.Re7+- The rook and the
Black should have aimed for counterplay
with rook and bishop.
34...Rc8 35.R7xe3 Rc1 36.Re1 Rc2+
37.R3e2 Rc3 38.Re4 Ng5 39.Rc4 Rd3
DECEMBER 2014 103

T
HE WORLD YOUTH Chess
Championship in 2014 was
meant to be virtually without
Australianplayers,astoomany
of the best juniors showed no
willingness to brave the trip to Durban,
South Africa, perhaps as the liberated
Africansuperpowerisnotanespeciallysafe
country. The organisers did a fairly good
job, but could not change the fact that the
- Song and Clarise Koh managed to
cial hotels was a well know ‘no go‘ zone for
Fortunately Australia is a country
full of people with big hearts and
Durban welcomed no less than
11 of their players, the same as
Al Ain. The second tier of juniors
had arrived with modest expecta-
tions that were not overblown. This
time I was the only coach helping
seven of the players. Compared to
respects more pleasurable work
as the players were willing to train
together. Attemps to make concrete
104 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
Durban
preparation, enlighten, instruct, achievements.
motivate or improve understanding
were alternating with bits of natural For the sake of objectivity it has to be
playfulness and encouraging good- noted, that Durban has seen smaller
will of pupils. number of international junior chess
stars and numbers were often com-
pensated with more humble talents
a year ago, since several players have from African countries. Despite that
done better than their expected we have to admit that the overall
score. Licia Yao as well as Kevin score of the 2014 group has easily
-
slightly overshoot their personal ous year.
rating levels while Sebastian Bracks
and Xander Liebert received their The parents of the aspiring juniors
will have to ask serious questions
and ratings. The shining stars Tom in future years before committing
Maguire and Zhi Lin Guo overshot time and expenses to World Youth
their expected score in great style; Chess Championships. Attitude, will-
please note that they both made
only 0,5 point out of last 4 rounds. real chess hunger of young players
Their success could have easily should score many points. Hopefully
been sensational, but lack of expe- the mix in 2015 in Greece will be
rience against stronger opponents
and possibly issues with physical rising level of the new chess gener-
- ation in Australia.
centration and ability to perform
and fight) have moderated their
 Left: Al Ain playing hall; Above: The Australian team in Durban
Kay, James
Luanchan, Yuan Tai
Wch U14 Durban 2014
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6
5.Nc3 Qc7 6.f4 Bb4 7.Qd3 Nf6 8.e5 Nd5
9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nc6 11.a4 Qb6
12.Be2 0–0 13.0–0 d6 14.Rab1 Qa7?
(D)
Black is feeling clever with the queen
retreat to a safe place at the edge of the
board. The lady might be safer there,
but her impact on the position is thus
much diminished. 14...Qc5 15.Kh1 dxe5
16.Nxc6 e4 17.Qxe4 Qxc6 18.c4 Ne7
19.Bd3 would have been a stronger
alternative.
15.Kh1! dxe5 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.fxe5
Qc7 18.Qg3?!
James deserves credit for realising that
his chances are hidden in the vulnerabil-
ity of the enemy dark squares. The exe-
cution of the conceptual plan is far from
perfect since the aggressive line with
18.c4 was much more forceful. 18.c4 Ne7
19.Qd6! Ra7 20.Bb4±
18...Ne7! 19.Be3
19.Bd3 c5 20.c4 Ng6 21.Bc3 Bb7=
19...Nf5 20.Qf4 Nxe3
20...c5 21.Bf3 Ra7 22.Bf2 Bb7=
21.Qxe3 c5 22.Bf3 Ra7 23.Rfd1 Bb7
Luanchan is slowly working his way out
advantage is mostly symbolic.
24.Rd6 Rb8? (D)
Another clever move that suffers due to
DECEMBER 2014 105
m

the cramped location of the piece in question. Black will become

hopelessly tied down. 24...Bxf3 25.gxf3 Qa5 26.Rg1 g6 27.Rg4
Rd8 was equal.

25.Rdb6! h6 26.Be4 Rd8

A desperate attempt to use the vulnerability of White’s back

rank for unpinning the rook. 26...a5 27.R6b5 g6 28.Qf3 Qxe5
29.Bxb7+-

27.Bxb7 Rxb7 28.Rxb7 Rd1+

The check here bears purely symbolic value. Black must have missed
from afar that his check on the d1 is not mate even without White’s
rooks on b1. 28...Qxb7 29.Rxb7 Rd1+ 30.Qg1+ -
Position after 24...Rb8?

Getting ready for another tough game

Liebert, Xander
Ben Mesfer, Mohamed
11...Ng4? Black’s hopes to control White’s access the h4 square are futile.
Wch U10 Durban 2014
12.h3 Nh6 13.Bg5! Qc8 14.Qh4 Kh7 15.Nd5 The failure of the defensive
concept is glaringly obvious and Black will be smashed from the board by the
huge superiority of White’s attacking pieces. White is effectively using 6 attack-
ers and Black can barely claim two defenders - a disasterous ratio!

15...Rh8 15...f5 16.Nf6+ Rxf6 17.Bxf6 +-

16.Nf6+ Bxf6 17.Bxf6

Ben Mesfer is so hopelessly lost that it makes no sense to criticise white’s

innacuracy in omitting the forced mate continuation. 17.Qxh6+ Kg8 18.Qxg6+
Bg7 19.Qxf7+ Kh7 20.Qh5+ Bh6 21.Qxh6#

17...Kg8 18.Bxh8 Kxh8 19.Qxh6+ Kg8 20.Ng5 Be6 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qh7#

Jacobs, Cavon 18.Nxc5? A strategic mistake, worsening the ratio of pieces White has mobil-
Koh, Cedric ised against the enemy army. Suddenly Black will be able to launch a queen-
side attack in no time and the defender can never catch up. 18.Nf3 Bd5 19.Bg5
Wch U18 Durban 2014 Rxg5 20.Nfxg5 Bb4 21.Qg3 Ndxe5 =

18...Nxc5 19.Bf4 Nb4!? The computer is even more ruthless with the help of
the immediate check on b3. 19...Nb3+! 20.cxb3 Qc5+ 21.Kd2 Bxb3 22.Rc1 (22.
Bd3 Rxg2+ 23.Ne2 Qa5+ 24.Kc1 Qa1+ 25.Bb1 Rd5–+) 22...Qb4+ 23.Ke2 (23.
Kd3 Bc4+ 24.Ke4 Bd5+ 25.Kd3 Qb5+ 26.Kd2 d3–+) 23...d3+ 24.Kf3 d2–+

20.Kd2 d3! White has become lost with breathtaking speed, and the lesson
of his tragic mistake in the move 18 will probably stay with him for some time.

21.Rc1 dxc2+ 22.Ke3 Nb3 22...Ncd3 23.Bxd3 Qc5+ 24.Ke2 Nxd3 25.Be3 Qc6
–+

23.Qc3 Nd5+ 0–1

DECEMBER 2014 107

 Song, Kevin
Naseem, Essa
Wch U12 Durban 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7
9.b4 Nh5 10.c5 Nf4 11.Be3 f5 12.Bc4
h6 13.Bxf4 exf4 14.e5 Kh7 15.Re1 g5
16.Nb5 Ng6 17.exd6! (D) cxd6
17...Bxa1 18.dxc7 Qf6 19.Qxa1 Qxa1
20.Rxa1 g4 21.Nfd4+-
18.Nxd6 g4
Naseem can not decide when to take the
offered exchange on a1. In the peace of
the home laboratory it seems that seeking
counterplay in this moment would present
White with his biggest problems. 18...
Bxa1 19.Qxa1 a5 20.Nd4 axb4 21.Nxc8
Rxc8 22.Ne6 Qf6 23.Nxf8+ Qxf8 24.d6
Rxc5 25.Qd4 Rc8 26.d7 Rd8 27.Bb5+-
19.Nd4 Be5?
often live under the impression that they
have time for everything. Black is build-
ing a battery along the a1–h8 diagonal
with the bishop in front, but the situation
was calling for immediate action. 19...
Qf6 20.Nb3 g3 21.hxg3 fxg3 22.fxg3 Qg5
23.Qd2 Qxd2 24.Nxd2 a5 25.Rab1 Bc3
26.Re2 Bxb4 27.Kh2 Kh8 28.Nf3 Bxc5
29.Nxc8 Rfxc8 30.Rxb7±
20.Nxc8 Qf6 21.Ne6
I have reached the end of my imagina-
tion in having to explain why both players
have ignored the obvious capture of the
bishop on e5. 21.Rxe5! Nxe5 22.Nd6
Lubo giving some pre-game tips
Nxc4 23.Nxc4+-
21...Raxc8 22.d6
Kevin is bravely teasing the enemy with
the chance to take the a1 rook, but the
endgame would have been lost for the
defender. 22.Rc1 g3 23.d6+-
22...Nh4
22...Bxa1 23.Qxa1 Qxa1 24.Nxf8+ Nxf8
25.Rxa1 a5 26.a3+-
23.d7 Rcd8 24.Rc1
At the end of the day, White decided to
save the material. For the sake of com-
pleteness it might be noted that even
the consequent play for promotion of
the d-pawn with 24.Nxf8+ was amply
26.Re8 Nf3+ 27.gxf3 Qg6 28.Rxf8 gxf3+
29.Kf1 Qg2+ 30.Ke1+-
24...Rh8 25.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.Qd5 Without
counterplay, Black is not able to resist
any longer. 1–0
 Maguire, Tom
Mantutle, Mosa
Wch U16 Durban 2014
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7
5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bf5 7.Nc3 e6 8.Nge2
Be7 9.Nf4 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg5 (D)
11.Nxe6!?
Tom is a rather gifted player that has not
yet matured into somebody striving to
play perfectly. The knight jump to e6 is
certainly spirited, but it is risky after the
best reaction from Black, and it does not
promise an advantage. [11.Nh5 Bxe3
12.fxe3 Qg5 13.Nf4=]
11...fxe6
11...Bxe6! 12.Bxe6 Bxe3 13.Bxf7+ Kxf7
14.fxe3 Rf8 15.0–0+ Kg8 16.Qb3+ Kh8
12.Qh5+ g6
Not objecting to the weakening of the
dark squares. 12...Bg6 13.Qxg5 Qxg5
14.Bxg5 Nxd4 15.0–0=
13.Qxg5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 Nxd4 15.Rd1
White was not able to get an advantage,
but at least he is trying to pursue the ini-
tiative and active play. 15.f3 a5 16.Be3
Nxb3 17.axb3=
15...Nxb3 16.axb3 a6
16...Bc2 17.Nb5 0–0 (17...Bxd1 18.Nxc7+
Kd7 19.Nxa8 Bxb3 20.Nxb6+ axb6
20.Bf6 Nd5=
17.Rd2 Nd7 18.b4?! (D) It is much
easier to be precise in the analysis after
gone. White believes that the adversary
can not take the pawn on e5, but unfor-
tunately it is not true. 18.0–0! h6 19.Rfd1
Rh7 20.Bxh6 Nxe5 21.Bg5 Rd7 22.f3
18...h6?!
It is easy to understand the trepidation
that Black must have felt about the com-
plications after 18...Nxe5! Objectively
the best line was a bit complicated to be
18...Nxe5! 19.Bf6 Nd3+ 20.Rxd3 Rf8
21.Rf3 Rxf6 22.g4 Be4! 23.Rxf6 Bxh1
24.Rxe6+ Kf7 25.Re3 Bc6
19.Bf6 Nxf6 20.exf6 Rf8 21.f3 g5 22.g4
Bg6 23.h4 Rd8
A sure sign that Black is beginning to feel
the heat. White has managed to create
serious initiative with the help of the open
24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.Rh6
Rg8
nearly all of White’s pawns with an objec-
tively equal position, but the game move
Rxg4 29.Rxe6 Rxb4 30.Re2 a5=
27.Kd2 Bf7?
After a few good defensive moves Black
is losing faith in his position. His chances
-
fer to the f7-square. 27...Ke8 28.Ne4 Kf7
29.Ke3 Rd8 30.Nxg5+ Kxf6 31.Ne4+ Kg7
32.Rh2 Bxe4 33.Kxe4=
28.Ne4
28.Ke3 Rg6 29.Rxg6 Bxg6 30.Ne4 e5
31.Nxg5+-
28...e5 29.Nc5
It is quite tempting to jump around the
Objectively stronger was to put the lid on
the opponent and see what he does with
his passive pieces. 29.Rh7 Ke8 30.Ke3±
29...b6 30.Nd3 Kd7 31.Nxe5+ Ke6
32.Nxf7 Kxf7 33.Kd3 Rg6?
Black has been worn down by Tom’s
lasting initiative and tries to untangle with
the rooks exchange. Unfortunately the
ensuing pawn ending is hopelessly lost
for him. 33...Re8 34.Rh7+ Kxf6 35.Rxc7
Rd8+ 36.Ke4 Re8+ 37.Kd5 Rd8+ 38.Kc6
Rd4 39.b5 axb5 40.Kxb5±
34.Rxg6 Kxg6 35.Ke4 Kxf6 36.f4! gxf4
37.Kxf4 Kg6 38.Ke5 Kg5 39.Kd5 Kxg4
40.Kc6 Kf5 41.Kxc7 b5 42.Kb6 Ke6
43.Kxa6 Kd6 44.Kxb5 Kc7 45.Ka6 Kb8
46.b5 Ka8 47.b6 Kb8 48.b7 1–0
DECEMBER 2014 109
 Guo, Zhi Lin 1632
Beinenson, Katsiryna 1980
Wch U16 Girls Durban 2014
1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nd7 3.e4 e5 4.d5 Ngf6
5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bd3 0–0 7.Nge2 c6 8.0–0
Re8 9.Ng3 Bf8 10.Bg5 h6 11.Be3 g6
12.Be2 Qe7 13.Qd2 Kh7 14.Rad1 c5
15.Bf3 Bg7 16.Nge2 Nf8 17.g3 N6d7
18.Qd3 Nb6 19.Bg2 f5 20.f4 fxe4
21.Bxe4 Bh3 22.Rf2 Nbd7? (D)
22...Kg8 23.f5 gxf5 24.Rxf5! (24.Bxf5 e4
26.Ne4 Nf6 27.N2c3
23.f5!
The strategic impact of this pawn advance
is simply tragic for the defender, since
the dark square bishop is limited by the
unsuitable pawn structure.
23...gxf5 24.Bxf5+ Bxf5 25.Qxf5+ Kg8
It would have been natural to try for control
e6 square fatally weak. 25...Ng6 26.Ne4
Rf8 27.Qe6! Rxf2 28.Bxf2 Qxe6 29.dxe6
Ndf8 30.Rxd6±
26.Ne4 Rad8
26...Nh7 27.Qg6 Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Nhxf8
29.Qxd6+ +-
110 50 MOVES MAGAZINE
27.Rdf1
White’s pieces are enjoying better
locations and prospects than their
counterparts.
27...Nh7 28.Qg6 Ndf8 29.Qh5 Rd7
30.Rf7 Qd8 31.Rxd7 Qxd7 32.Bxh6
On a relative scale of various disasters
this elimination of the h-pawn is some-
what helpful for the defender. 32.N2c3
34.Qg5+-
32...Rd8 33.Bxg7
33.Bg5 Nxg5 34.Nxg5 e4 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8
36.Nf4 Bd4+ 37.Kg2 Re8 38.Qg6+-
33...Qxg7 34.N2c3 Ng6 35.Qg4! a6
Black is unable to cope with the numer-
ous threats. 35...Nh8 36.Qe6+ Nf7
Ngf8 36.Qh4 Rd7 37.Nb5+-
36.Qe6+ Kh8 37.Nxd6 Ng5 38.Nf7+
Nxf7 39.Qxf7 Qxf7 40.Rxf7 b5
41.b3 bxc4 42.bxc4 e4 43.Nxe4
Ne5 44.Re7 Nxc4 (D) Beinenson has
managed to activate the knight but the
reward will be a painful mate on h7.
45.Nf6 1-0
Koh, Clarise
Berkovitz, Sherryn
Wch U18 Girls Durban 2014
20.Qd2! Clarise has achieved ideal coor-
dination of her forces and Black’s knight
is forced to retreat.
20...Nb8 21.e6 Qb7 21...Qe7 22.Rxc5
bxc5 23.Bd6 Rd8 24.Bxe7 Rxd2 25.Bg5
Rc2 26.e7+-
22.exf7+? It is a great pity for both players
that White has missed the winning com-
bination. Lack of an opponent’s devel-
opment can best be exploited by force-
ful play. 22.e7! Bxe7 (22...Re8 23.Rd8
23.Rxe7! Qxe7 24.Bd6 Qe6 25.Bxf8 Kxf8
26.Rd8+ Ke7 27.Rg8 Qd7 28.Qg5+ Ke6
29.Qe3+ Kd6 30.Qf4+ Kc6 31.Qe4+ Kc7
32.Qxa8+-
22...Qxf7 23.Bg3 Nc6 24.Re4 Bb4
25.Rd3 Rad8 26.Ree3 Bxc3 27.Qxc3
Rxd3 28.Rxd3 Qxa2 29.h3 Qe6? Black
has survived the greatest scare, but her
about the best line of defense has laid
to the tragic oversight with the “natural”
queen retreat. 29...b5 30.Rd6 Ne7
h6 31.Kh2 Qa4 32.Rg3 Rf7 33.Qe3±
30.Rd6 Qf7 31.Qxc6 and White went on
to win with an extra piece.
Final Results Tables:

SNo Name Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rk. Group

36 WIM Guo Emma 2011 1 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6.5 29 U18 Girls
87 Mithran Mirakla 1655 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 4.5 88 U16 Girls
66 Christian Kashish 1685 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 5.5 62 U14 Girls
20 Sardana Rishi 2373 ½ 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 7.5 10 U16 Open

32 IM Dale Ari 2289 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 6.0 72 U16 Open

163 Rodgers Brent G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 167 U16 Open
44 CM Puccini Jack 2073 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6.0 87 U14 Open
53 Loh Zachary 2036 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 6.0 82 U14 Open
186 Siow-Lee Dylan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 5.0 114 U14 Open
25 Willathgamuwa Kevin 1799 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 6.0 78 U10 Open
109 Willathgamuwa Rowan 1726 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 5.0 142 U12 Open

140 Chellappah Mishael 1556 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 5.0 132 U12 Open

SNo Name RtgI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. Rk.

14 Lim Christopher 1385 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6.0 25
26 Bracks Sebastian 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 4.0 56
77 Leibert Xander 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 4.5 80
24 Lim Cassandra 1431 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 5.5 29
61 Song Kevin 1582 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 5.5 55
30 Yao Licia 1618 1 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 6.5 22
64 Kay James 1660 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 4.0 84
64 Maguire Tom 1810 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 4.5 68
53 Guo Zhi Lin 1632 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 ½ 5.5 37
57 Koh Cedric 1836 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 5.0 49
53 Koh Clarise 1446 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 4.0 56

DECEMBER 2014 111

1915-2014