Beat the Grandmasters tactics book review

Foreword
Beat the Grandmasters

by Christian Kongsted is a
tactics puzzle book with a
very interesting concept.
The • front cover has a
picture ofa pawn with a whip,
taking down an enemy king
which is many times larger.
In this book, Kongsted puts you
Mv heartfelt
.. thanks to
in a position where you are playing .-
a grandmaster opponent, ChessGod101

and it is up to you to find Everest
Maestro CBF
the winning move in the position. EinsteinUCI
I think this is an excellent new idea. Immortal
The book contains 351 puzzles with Onion
full solutions. C529797
- Ig2 ****
It also include "a self-rating system
Loot
to assess your progress".
Mackavalanche
I've always•
done tactics books 5asseville
for the puzzles, to improve my Dr.Anon - C
calculation, Kevin
but the addition ofa 'rating chart' Nikel
Dux
is often interesting. Kongsted guarantees
Muzio 1964
that the majority of the positions in the Jordan
book have not appeared in chess puzzle Herbanmusic
books before. It's difficult to criticise a Angeloudied
tactics/puzzle book as there is little room Atik Yomin
for mistakes, and indeed I have no criticism here. Hessman
- MB2
Telepat
I really wonder why it has not been scanned before?
. - . - .. Thawra
Rupelstiltskin
Happy Chess training silversurfer
Indv.
•
the - seeker
And many others.

eat t e asters
The following positions should he seen as training he fore the real grandmaster
challenges in the following chapters. This is the easiest part of the book. In this
chapter you will he analysing positions in which you have to find a move that led
to the defeat of a player of 'master level'. In this context, I consider players of an
Elo of approximately 2200-2500 to be of master strength. In fact, most of the
games feature players with the 1M-title and other players in the strong end of this
spectrum. Basically, your aim is to find the move that wins the game. To make it a
bit easier to start with, I have chosen 25 positions with hints. After this you will
find 26 positions without hints.
Good luck!
. ,•
01
II
:~
,I
.~.
,
I
Icj
1 White to play 2 Black to play

Black's last move was ... i.c3 threat- White seems to have some prob-
ening the white queen. Why was this lems on the hack rank, but right now
move wrong? he has everything covered. What can
(Solution: see p. 22) Black do about this?
(Solution: see p. 22)
BEAT THE MASTERS
/
9
\
3 White to play 5 White to play

White cashed in too quickly with I White has a strong initiative. How
bxc5. What was Black's response? can he exploit his advantage?
(Solution: see p. 22) (Solution: see p. 22)
4 Black to play 6 White to play

Both sides are attacking, but Black White's pieces are aU in active posi-
was first to strike. How did he win the tions and ready to strike. How should
game? he proceed?
10 BEAT THE GRANDMASTERS
• 5"

How should the black attack con- How can White exploit the fact that
tinue? the black queen is not protected?
.
"-= -- . _.-- - . - - - -- -
8 Black to play 10 Black to play

Here Black played 1... • miss- How can Black exploit the slightly
ing an opportunity to win the game awkward position of the white pieces?
immediately. What should Black have (Solution: see p. 23)
played instead?
BEAT THE MASTERS 11
'7 .
,,
I
-- -- ------- -- ------ - ''''-- - -

Should White exchange queens, or How can Black win quickly?
is there something better? (Solution: see p. 23)
\ ..
._--- -= ;;-;;-----
", - - - _.. .

Black played I...Af7. How should Can White exploit the unsafe posi-
White respond? tion of the black king?
IS White to play 17 to play

The black queen seems to have too Black has a tactical strike that wins
many duties. Can White take advan- a piece. Can you spot it?
tage of this? (Solution: see p. 24)

On I i.xe7. Black played the zw;- White has just played I ~xd6, ex-
schenzug 1...tDxc3. How should White pecting to be a pawn up after 1... i.xd6
respond? 2 tDxd6+ ~e7 3 tDxb5. Does Black
(Solution: see p. 24) have a better response?
BEAT THE MASTERS 13

How can White win straight away? How can White exploit the position
(Solution: see p. 24) of Black's king?
,---------- ---
20 to play 22 White to play

Now Black played l...~e7 threat- Black has just played 1... i.d8, of-
ening the white bishop. What would fering an exchange of bishops. What
you suggest for White? was White's reply?
_0 _ _ _ _
23 White to play 2S White to play

Does I lbxd6 win material? White played Ilbxd6. How should
(Solution: see p. 25) Black respond?
24 to play
White's last move was I ~f4, pin-
ning the d6-knight. How should Black
reply?
BEAT THE MASTERS 15
Now follow 26 positions without hints. These puzzles in this section are
slightly more difficult than the previous ones. The level of difficulty is 3-4, and
the most complex puzzles appear towards the end.
------------ -- ---=

- - ------ ---- --- --"



BEAT THE MASTERS 17

---- --- ---.- ,-_.-


--- - - - ~--- -

BEAT THE MASTERS 19
= , --- .




BEAT THE MASTERS 21

Solutions for Beat the If 3... 8 then 4lDe7+. and White

also wins a piece after 3... 4I1xf8+
Masters ~xf8 S fxeS 6 e6.
4 1Ixf8+ ~ 5 fxeS "xbS 6 ~2
1) and White won.
Gashimov - Skripchenko
Dubai 2003 6)
Black gets mated: Vaulin - Kunin
1 1-0 Russia Cup (Tula) 2001
The queen sacrifice unpins the white 1 i..xc6! i..xc6 2 IIxeS!
rook on g2 to deliver mate: 1.. .'ihc3 2 White wins as he is material up and
IIxg8#. still has a strong attack.
2) 7)
Gluckman - Venkatesh Van Riemsdijk - Valiente
Commonwealth Ch (Mumbai) 2004 sao Paulo 2004
1... 2 i..xc6 IIdl+ 0-1 1. .. lIxf3! 2 i..xf3 3 ~n
It's mate next move. lLle3+ 4 fxe3 0-1
3) 8)
B. Lengyel- Alexandrova - Skripchenko Lautier
Budapest 2002 Yugoslav wom Cht
1•• .J:ldl+! 0-1 (Kragujevac) 2000
White gets mated: 2 IIxd I IIxd I + 3 l...J:lel +! ( D) wins immediately.
I .
4)
Andreev - Kornev w
Russia Cup (Tula) 2001
1... 0-1
Accepting the sacrifice will lead to
mate in two moves: 2 bxa3 lid I + 3 i.'
~a2 lIal#.
5)
Avrukh - Vlasov
Moscow 2003
1 IIxc8! IIxc8 2 lLlxfS lLleS 3 Ilxc8 After 2 ~f2 3 IIxd4 IIxal
Black is a rook up.
BEAT THE MASTERS 23
9) 12)
Hernandez - Espinosa Flores Strikovic - del Rey
Merida 2000 Burgas 2001
1 :xf7+! ~xf7 2 i.g6+ ~xg6 3 2 i.dS! i.xdS
2 ...:a2+ does not change anything,
and White won. as Black soon runs out of checks: 3
~f1 %lal + 4 ~e2 :a2+ slld2 :xd2+
10) 6~xd2 7 ~dl.
Drabke - Ginsburg 3%1c8+ 1-0
Griesheim 2004 It is mate in a few moves.
1... i.dS! 2lhal
Alternatively 2 exdS "iVxe2 or 2 13)
S :xbl+. Rathnakaran - Vijayalakshmi
2 .. J:[xal+ 3 liJxal i.xb3 4 liJxb3 Commonwealth Ch (Mumbai) 2004
0-1 1. ..llxe4+! 2 ~d2
2 fxe4 runs into 2... 1+ 3 ~d2
11) liJxe4+ 4 ~e2liJxf2 S ~xf2, and Black
Hector - Gunnarsson is lost.
Plovdiv Echt 2003 2 .. ':e2+ 3 liJxe2 4 :d7+
White won with: ~h6S~xe2
1 %lh8+! ~xh8 (D) Black won 9 moves later.
l...~g7 loses to 2 l:txf4 3
llxeS. 14)
Fahrner - Kleissl
Austrian Cht 200314
lliJxf4+! gxf42 1-0
w Black has no defence. 2 ... ~f7 (or
2 .....gS 3 'ii'xd4 and White has the
multiple threats of 'ii'xc4 and %lg I) 3
l:th7+ ~eS (if 3... ~e6 then 4 "iVg7 and
the threat of llh6+ is decisive) 4
~fS S g7+ 'it>eS 6 l:[hS+ and mate
next move.
15)
Timman - Lindberg
2l:thS++ 1-0 Malrn02oo3
Black will be mated after 2 ... 'it>gS 3 1 i.xe5!
<;t>f7 4 :h7#. I... will be met by 2 f6.
2WxdSe33 ~xf8 4 White can pick up the b7-bishop

lDeS 5 l:td 1 1-0 after 4... (or 4 ... l:teS S l:txb7) S
S... e2 6 l:tel 7 ~f2 is not xeS+ l:txeS 6 l:txb7.
dangerous for White.
20)
16) Bui Vinh - Kongsted
Yandemirov - Egorov Budllpest 2002
Ru.r.ria Cup (Tillel) 2001 2~c5!
2 Wxe6! 1-0 White sacrifices his bishop so that
Black is a piece down after 2 .. .fxe6 his king can enter the black position.
3 .i.xd8 l:txd8 4 bxc3. and this proves decisive.
2...~xf7 3 86 (D)
17)
Ott - Gutman I
German Ch (Hoeckelldorj) 2004
1..JbcS! B I , I
White loses his queen after 2 l:txcS

!~ .t.
l:te I + 3 l:txe I Wxd3. In the game White
tried 2 d7, but this was refuted by
,
2 ... l:txdS 3 l:td4.
18)
J. Ivanov - R. Perez
Seville 2004
1....i.f8!
This undevelopment of the bishop 3...~e6
is quite unusual, but f8 is the best After 3 ... bxa6 the pawn endgame is
square for the bishop as it covers both lost for Black: 4 ~xc6 ~e6 S g4 as 6
g7 and e7 from here. The game con- ~bS a4 (or 6 ... ~d6 7 ~xaS ~c6 8
cluded: ~a6 ~c7 9 ~bS ~d6 10 ~b6 with a
20-0-0 l:tcS 3 .i.g5 4 c3 .i.xd6 won position for White) 7 ~xa4 ~d7
5 lDxd6+ ~e7 6 lDxc4 l:txc4 0-1 8 ~bS ~d6 9 ~b6 winning for White.
487
19) White wins (e.g .• 4 ... ~d7 S ""b6!).
Ehlvest - Lakdawala
San Franci.rco 2000 21)
1 l:td7! + Vasiesiu - M. Grunberg
Not I ... l:txd7? 2 Romanian Ch (Targovi.rte) 2001
2~h2 3 g3 14 b2+ 1-0 1 l:tcS+
BEAT THE MASTERS 25
This decides the game at once. 1......a5+ 2 b4

1..':xc8 2 c6 1-0 If 2 ~f1 then White simply loses a
2... 3 cxd7+ ~bS 4 piece after 2 ... ~xd6.
(or 4 ... ~xcS 5 "'bS 6 Now the simple 2... ! (or
l:tdS+) 5 f4+ wins without prob- 2... a2!) would have won. After 3
lems for White. "'xb4lt'lxb4 4 It'lc4 llJc2+ 5 ~d I (or 5
~f1 l:tbl+ 6 ~g2 l:tg6+ 7 ~f3 l:txhI.
22) winning for Black) 5 ... l:tbl + 6 ~xc2
Bologan - Palo l:txh I Black is an exchange up.
Skanderborg 2003 In the game I played 2 ... l:txb4??,
2 c3! which allowed White an immediate
White sets up a mating-net. mate! 3 l:teS+ ~g7 4 l:tgl+ ~h6 5
2... ~xa5 3 l:tb7 1-0 It'lf5+! l:txf5 6 "'g7# (1-0).
It is mate next move with 4 ~a4#.
26)
23) K. ler - Thinius
Pelletier - Deviatkin Gelman Ch (Hoeckendoif) 2004
Moscow 2003 llt'lc40-0
Yes, llt'lxd6 wins material. Alternatively 1... ~e7 2 ~dS
1... 2 3 ~g5! 3 "'xb7 wins a piece for White, and
In this way, White avoids perpetual. l...~c6 fails to 2 + ~xd7 3lt'lb6+
3 •••"'xg5+ 4 ~h 1 1-0 ~c7 4 ~xe4 ~xb6 5 l:txc6+ ~a5 6
l:txd6.
24) 2~xe4~c53
G. Shahade - Novikov and Black resigned four moves later.
New YlJrk Masters 2002
1••• lt'lb5! 27)
Black sets up a mate threat. Cebalo - Tkachev
2~c1 Rabac If 2003
Not 2 ~xbS ~b2+ 3 ~bl It'la3#. 1.•• ~xf3 2 ~xf3 l:td2! 0-1
2 .•. ~e7 3 ~b2 l:txb7 0-1 3 It'lxf3+ costs White his
Black has won a piece. queen.
25) 28)
Bromann - Kongsted Burmakin - Sambuev
Farum 2003 Russia Cup (St Petersburg) 2003
In mutual time-trouble both players 1 ~dl! l:tbl 2 ~xc2lt'lf3+
went wrong, but unfortunately I made 2 ... l:txe 1+ 3 l:txe I It'lf3+ 4 ~f1
the last mistake. It'lxe I 5 ~xe I makes no difference.
3~1-0 31)
White wins a piece. Cheparinov - Kr. Georgiev
Bulgarian Ch (Sofia) 2003
29) 1... ~e41 2 ~b2
Solleveld - Janssen 2 :xe4 loses to 2 ...:xc I + 3 ~b2
Leeuwarden 200/ ~g7+ 4 ~a3 :a8+ 5 ~b3lbc5+ and
1.. ':h3! (D) White has to give up his queen.
Making room for the king to support 2...~g7+ 0-1
the c-pawn. 1...:b3? 2 :xb3 ~xb3 3 White loses material after 3 ~a3
h7 bl" 4 h8....e4+ 5 ~d2 "xf4+ is :a8+ 4 ~b3 ~d5+.
only a drawn endgame, although Black
could play on if he is stubborn. 32)
Hector - E. Berg
Gothenburg 2004
1 ~xh6! gxh6 2
w Black must now react quickly before
White plays f4, :f3-g3+ and mate.
White has a strong attack in all vari-
ations:
a) 2 .. .f6 seems to be the best try for
Black, but after 3 ~xc4 dxc4 4 :a3 f4
5 White has three pawns for the
bishop and a strong attack against the
naked black king.
b) Another try is 2 ... cxd4 3 f4lbe3
2~d2 to stop the attack by manoeuvring the
The pawn is of course taboo: 2 knight to g4, but this also fails. 4 :f3
:xb2? :h2+. lbg4 5 l:lg3 and White can play h3
2 .. ':h2+ 3 ~dl ~c3 4 :cS+ ~d3 next move, winning back the piece
5 ~e30-1 and continuing the attack.
c) In the game Black opted for 2.. .f4
30) 3 ~h7+ ~hS 4 ~rs+ ~gS 5
Wisnewski - Bindrich 'iPf8 6 ~xe6, but soon resigned as
German Ch (Hoeckendorj) 2004 White is two pawns up.
1 lbbS! axbS 2 lbbS 3
~xbS+ lbc6 4 ~b6 1-0 33)
4... b6? allows 5 f7#, while if Korchnoi - Lukin
4... then crashes through after 5 Stockholm (Rilton Cup) 2004
:xe5!. 1
BEAT THE MASTERS 27
Forcing the game into a king and 36)

pawn endgame that is won for White. Bastian - Bi
I..."xf6 2 ext'6-+- ~xf6 3 ~4 German Ch (Hoeckendoif) 2004
The better position of the white king 1 ~c6 :c8 2 lbe6! lbc6 3 :e8!
ensures the win. (D)
3...~e6
Or 3... ~g7 4 ~e5! (getting ready to
take control of the f6-square with deci-
sive consequences) 4 .. .f6+ (or 4 ... ~g8 B
5 ~f6 ~f8 6 f4 ~e8 7 f5 gxf5 8 ~xf5
and Black loses the h-pawn) 5 ~e6 f5 6
f4 and White wins.
4~g5
White forces through f4-f5, which
breaks up Black's pawn structure.
4...~e5
4 ... ~e7 can be met by 5 f3 ~e8 6 _
....... ........ _. __ . __.
~f6 ~f8 7 f4 ~g8 8 f5.
5 f3 ~e6 6 f4 1-0 1-0
Black loses the h-pawn after 6...~e7 Black has no defence to the threats;
7 f5 gxf5 8 ~xf5. e.g.:
a) 3... 4 :xf8+ ~xf8 5 :el
34) (threatening "h8#) 5... ~g8 6 :e8+
Skripchenko - Krasenkow ~h7 7 .
Wijk aan Zee 2002 b) 3... allows a forced mate in
1... ~xb2+! 2 ~b2 3 ~c2 four by 4 :xf8+ ~xf8 5 ~e7 6
Or 3 ~al 'ii'c3+ 4 ~bl :b5#. :el+ ~d7 7 .
3...11c5+ 4 ~d3 :c3 I 5 ~d2 c) 3...:xe84 + ~h8 5
Or 5 ~e2 6 ~d2 :c2#. ~h7 6 :f7+ ~h6 7 8+ ~g5 8
""2+
5... 0-1
Mate is near: 6 ~e I :e3+ 7
• 37)
Gormally - Plaskett
35) Ha.~tings 2000
Latner - Zel~ic I... +
Austrian Cht 200314 This is best. In the game Black
I ...:hl+ 2 :h2lLle2! 0-1 played I ...:c8+? and later lost.
White cannot prevent mate: 3 :xh 1 2~c2:c8+3
lLlf4+ 4 ~h2 :g2#. Or 3 ~c3 1.
3... 4 ~cl l:txc3+ 5 i.xc3 Or 6 ... cxd4 7 0.c7#.

7 0.c7 + ~a7 8 0.c6#
and Black wins.
40)
38) Palo - P.H. Nielsen
Mamedov - Kurenkov Skanderborg 2003
Baku}r 2001 1.. .lla3+! 2 ~a3 0-1
1...i.xdS! 2 l:txdS? It is mate in a few moves.
Better is 2 0.c I 0.xc3+ 3 l:txc3
4 0.d3. but Black still wins as he 41)
is a pawn up and his attack continues. Iskusnykh - Kulichov
2...0.xc31 0-1 Russia Cup (Tufa) 2001
White gets mated after 3 0.xc3 1 l:txeS+
4~al In the game White played the infe-
. I
nor ?..
39) l...lbe8 2 •
,
Czebe - Kustar Black has no decent defence. If he
Zafakaros 2001 moves the knight. White will take on
1 l:[xb7! ~xb7 f7.
If 1... l:txb7 then 2 i.c73
i.a5. and White wins material. 42)
2 'it'bS+ Dominguez - Mortensen
The game continuation 2 l:tb 1+ also Copenhagen (Politiken Cup) 2002
•
WinS. 1 i.xeS dxeS 2 l:th8+! ~xhS 3
2...~aS (D)
Or 2 ...~c8 3 i.c7 (3 ... l:tc7
4 ~b7 5 l:tbl+ ~a6 6 "a4#) 4
"a8+ i.b8 5 l:tbl and mate in a few
more moves is unavoidable. B
3"xc6+l:tb7
Or 3 ... ~b8 4 l:tbl + and mate.
4 l:tbS
4 ... i.b8 5 0.c7+! llxc7 6 0.xd4+
l:tb7 7 i.xb7+ ~xb7 8
S0.xd4!!
The most elegant continuation. The
white attack continues even without
the queen.
S.. ':xeS 6 l:tbl! as 3 ...gS
BEAT THE MASTERS 29
Black has no other reasonable way after 3 ... 4 xf6 the white at-
to defend against I:th 1#. tack is unstoppable.
4 ~h7 5 I:td7 1-0 4gxf6
White's attack is decisive.
43)
Xie Jun - mova 45)
KazaniShenyang wom Weh (2) 1999 Karr - Kouatly
IliJc6+! ~a8 French ChI (Cliehy) 2004
1... .t.xc6 is met by 2 ~xc6, when Black missed the chance to play
Black cannot take any of the white 1".l:txc8! 2 3 ~gll:te2 4
pieces: 2... (2... 3 'iWb6+ 'licl + (41:tfl loses to 4 ... 1kd4+) 4".g5
and mate next move) 3 1ka7#. and Black wins, as White must give up
21:txd7! a lot of material to avoid mate.
White can win in many different
ways, but this is the fastest. 46)
2." 3 liJb8+ 1-0 Peng Zhaoqin - E. Berg
3...~xb8 41ib6+ leads to mate, and Bundesliga 200213
White also wins after 3... l:txg2 4liJxd7 In the game White played the hor-
I:tcxc2 S ~a7 6lLJcS (the mating rific I I:tc8?? and was mated immedi-
threat on b7 decides the issue) 6 ...l:tb2+ ately with l...l:tfl#.
7 ~cl I:tbc2+ 8 ~dl I:tgd2+ 9 ~el Instead 1 .t.xg2+ 2 ~gl
1:te2+ 10 1kxe2I:txe2+ II ~xe2. wins for White because of Black's
weak back rank: 2 ......f8 31:tcS ~dS 4
44) <t>xf2.
Vufkovic - Mohota
Gibraltar 2004 47)
1 e5! g5 Tischbierek - Breutigam
After 1... dxeS 2 fxeS I:txeS 3 ~xf6 German Ch (Hoeekelldorj) 2004
(or 3... gxf6 4 I:thd I and Black Here White could have played 1
loses material) 4 'iWd8 (4 ... ~e7 liJg5 h6 2 l:txe6! l:[cI + 3 ~h2 fxe6 4
S I:thd I and White wins) S liJf7+ ~h7 5 ~xf5+! and mate next
~xd8 61:thd I White wins a piece. move.
2 fxg5 dxe5 31:txd7!
The game continuation 3 g6 also 48)
•
wms. Rabiega - Schebler
3... ~xd7 German Ch (Hoeckendorj) 2004
Or 3 ... liJxd7 4 ~xe6! fxe6 S 'ii'hS+ 1 l:tb5+! cxb5 2 1kd6+ ~a7 3 axb5
~e7 6 g6+ liJf6 7 ~xf6+ ~xf6 8 a4
'iWh4+ winning the black queen, and Not 3 ... b6? 4
4"cS+~b8 50)
4 ... b6 again allows S Skripchenko - Ulybin
S"eS+ Dubai 2003
Faster than S "d6+, as played in 1.. .l:txd4+! 2 cxd4
the game. Or 2 ~xd4 "d6+ 3 ~e4 :e8+ mat-
S...~a7 6 b61 ~xb6
•
mg.
If6 ...~a6then 7 b4! cxb3 (7 ...~xb6 2... 3~c3
8 "cS+ ~a6 9 8lilxa4+ ~b6 9 3 ~e4 'ifxe2 leaves White's king
"c5t#. defenceless in the middle of the board.
7 "cS+ ~a6 8 b4! b6 For example, 4 dSlt)c2+ S ~xf4 ~d6+
Or 8... cxb3 91ha4#. 6 ~g4 lbe3+ 7 ~hS "xh2+ 8
9 bS+ ~b7 10 lbd6+ ~b8 11 g6+ 9 ~gS 'iWeS+ 10 ~h6 ~f8#.
"xb6# 3...
This is faster than the game contin-
49) uation of 3... Now White has to
Berescu - Cosma sacrifice her queen to avoid ... "c2#. If
Romanian Ch (Targoviste) 2001 4 lbc4 then White gets mated after
I ... 4... S~d2"xd4+6~el.dl+
Other moves lead to a draw: I ... 7 ~f2 #.
2 "f7 (or 2 ... ~ 3 ~f7
{3 .....f7 4lbg6+ ~g8 S lbe7+ ~f8 6 51)
lbg6+} 4 ~f8) 3 :e8+ .i.f8 4 Felgaer - Giaccio
"g4+ S "c4+ 6 g4+ ~h7 Argentine Ch (Pinamar) 2002
7 "e4+ ~g7 8 "g4+ and Black can- 1 ! .i.xe4 2 l:ta6
not escape the checks, as 8 ... ~f6?? al- Or 2...:f8 3 ~el lilxf4 (3... gS? 4
lows mate: 9 ~gS 10 + lbe6+)4:xf4 (4 .....gSSh4
~xh4 II "g3+ ~hS 12 "g4#. 6 g4! and the black queen is trapped) S
2"c4+ g4 (or S.....gS 6 h4) 6:f3 and
2 does not work: 2... .i.xeS 3 Black loses his queen.
:xeS d2 and Black gets a new queen. 3 :e6 4 .i.el
2... 3 Or simply 4lbxe6+.
Black defended and later won the 4... 5 :xf4
game. and Black resigned five moves later.
e as er
es urse
This is the first test out of ten in which you wiJl be able to assess your own Elo
rating. Your aim is the same as in the previous chapter: you simply have to find
the best continuation.
During this test you wiJl get points if you find the right winning line. Note that
it is often not enough just to suggest the right first move. This book is about cal-
culation, so in some cases you have to be able to see the right sequence of moves.
In these tests you also should be aware that you can get minus points for suggest-
ing an obvious move that has a serious tactical drawback. For this reason, re-
member to calculate all lines to the end, otherwise you may fall into some of
traps I have laid.
Below you will find an approximate conversion table from points score to Elo
rating. You can achieve a total of 36 points in each test. I recommend that you do
not take the Elo figure too seriously after just one test, as the result will be much
more meaningful if you go through a few more tests from Chapter 4, and take an
average of your score. Be aware, though, that the result of such a test should only
be viewed as a rough guideline. Playing a few tournaments is a much more pre-
cise way to measure your Elo.
You can use as much time as you want to for these exercises, but generally I
find that somewhere between I and 2 hours seems appropriate for solving the 12
positions in a test.
Points Elo 15-17 1800

() 1000 or lower 18-20 1900
I 1100 21-23 2000
2 1200 24-26 2100
3 1300 27-29 2200
4-5 1400 30-31 2300
6-8 1500 32 2400
9-11 1600 33 2500
12-14 1700 34-36 2600 or above
In case of a negative score, the result should be counted as O.

S2 to play 54 Black to play

S3 White to play SS Black to play

THE MASTER CHAT.l.f:NGE - TEST YOURSELF 33
8
~
- - .-


J4 BEAT THE GRANDMASTERS


THE MASTER CHAT.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 35
Solutions for The aster Or 2 'iWxb5 axb5 3 dxc6 bxa4 and

Black is a piece up.
Challenge 2•.•'iWxa4
White fought on for another 14
52) moves, but the game was effectively
Molnar - Szymanski over at this point.
Prerove 2001 2 points for I ... '1L:c6!.
I... wins a knight.
1 poi1lt for I... . 55)
Van der Weide - Werle
53) Gmningen 2001
Ellers - Herndl 1...'iWe31! 2 ~dl
Austrian Cht 200314 White cannot accept the sacrifice: 2
1 :dl! (D) i.xe3 :e2+ 3 ~fl (or 3 ~d IlLlxe3+ 4
~cl :c2#) 3 ... lLlxe3+ 4 ~gl :g2#.
2... 0-1
Now 3 :el is met by 3 ...lLld4 and
B the threat of mate by... decides
the game.
3 points for 1...'iWe3+!.
56)
Kolev - Braga
Mal/orca 2000
1 hxg6 hxg6 2 :xh6! 1-0
Now 2 ...:xh6 3 :xd7! is decisive:
if 3... then 4
The rook acts as a decoy to lure the 3 poi1lts for spotting 3 rL:d7!.
black queen away from the defence of
the black king. After I..JWxdl 2 57)
Black gets mated. Khenkin - Zagorskis
2 point.r for 1 J1d 1!. Wei/burg 1995
1 ~xf6
54) Or l...~h62 ~g5 3
Hermansson - Lobron 2 'iWf8+! 1-0
Stockholm (Rifton Cup) 2004 Now Black gets mated: 2 ... ~g5 (or
1...:xc6! 2 ... ~e5 3 "f4#) 3 ~h5 4 .
Black wins a piece. Note that 2 ?? loses due to the
2dxc6 knight fork on f3: 2 ... ~f7 3
llJf3+ 4 ~g2llJxd4 and Black is just a 1.•• ~d3 2:f8 ~e4 3 ~e6 f4 4 ~6
•
pIece up. 1-0
3 points for .feeing 2 +!. Deduct Black will lose the pawn soon; e.g.,
2 points for suggesting the losing 2 4 ... f3 5 ~g5 ~e3 6 ~g4 f2 7 ~g3,
??
• • • winning for White.
3 points for 1 :e8+!.
58)
Matsuura - Lima 60)
Brazilian Ch 2000 Moldovan - Rainfray
1. •• llJh3+! 2 ~hl Creon 2001
White gets mated if he accepts the In the game I c6? was played, but
sacrifice: 2 gxh3 3 ~f2 4 this move loses, as Black's pawns are
~g2 :g6+ 5 ~h I 'iie4+ and mate more dangerous than White's. Instead
next move. IllJf6! wins. After 1.•• g3 2llJd7+ ~c7
2 .••llJf2+ 0-1 3llJxe5 the white knight reaches 0 in
White loses material. time.
3 points for 1... llJh3 +!. 3 point.f for 1 llJf6!.
59) 61)
Veingold - Candela Perez Kongsted - Aabling-Thomsen
Burgo.f 2001 Vanlese 2003
1 :e8+! (D) Black is three pawns up, but the
white attack is decisive.
1 .i.h7+ ~f8 2 .i.g6! .i.xgS
2 ... fxg6? fails to 3 :h8#.
B 3 .i.xgS f6 4 :d6+! gxf6
Other moves do not avoid mate:
4 ...~e7 5 :el+ ~d8 6llxe8#; 4 ... ~g8
5 .i.f7+ ~f8 6 :h8+ ~e7 7 d6+ cxd6
8 :n#.
S.i.xf6
and Black will get mated by l:lh8#.
3 poillt.l' for 2 .i.g6!. and al/ addi-
tio"al poi", for 4 f1xj6+!.
This is the only move that wins for 62)

White. With this check, White gains Smirin - Vragoteris
an important tempo in the fight against Katerini 1992
the black pawn. 1 .i.xfS! llJaS
THE MASTER CHAl.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 37
Black probably thought that this Threatening with mate to

move was sufficient to refute White's follow.
combination, but White had analysed 3 ••. ~g8
deeper. 3 .....d7 4 "'h6+ ~g8 transposes to
2 "xe6! (D) the game, while 3... allows im-
mediate mate after 4 "h6+ ~g8 5
7#.
4 (D)
B
1-0
The decisive blow. 2 ... ~xe6 fails to
3 ~xe6+ l:td7 4 ~xf7 l:lxf7, when
White is two pawns up. And on 2 ... S~h3!
White wins with 3 lDg6! ~xe6 4 Exploiting the fact that the queen
~xe6+ ~b8 5 lDxf8 l:lhxf8 and once has to stay and protect mate threats at
again White is two pawns up. g7 and h7. 5 g7 also wins, but the
2 points for seeing 2 "xe6!, and 2 move in the game is faster.
more for spotting the crucial 3 lDg6!. s...lDd3+ 6 ~d2 l:txf6 7 ~xd7
and White won a few moves later.
63) 4 points for seeing up to 3 g6. and
Kongsted - an extra point for suggesting 5 ~h3!
Copenhagen (Politiken Cup) 2003 or 5 g7. which are the most precise
1 ~xcSlDxc5 2l:txh8+! ~xh8 3 g6 winning lines.
ran
Now you should be ready for the first confrontations with the grandmasters. This
is the main part of the book, and there are 140 puzzles in this chapter. The first
part with 42 puzzles has hints and after that follow 98 puzzles without hints.
Once again I have put the easiest exercises in the beginning of the chapter and de-
pending on your strength, you may be able to solve the first ones just by looking
at the diagrams, without setting up the pieces. The first few puzzles are level I,
but the level quickly increases, and at the end of the chapter there are puzzles up
to level 4.
Now get ready for the main challenge - it's you against the grandmasters.
Good luck.
64 Black to play 65 to play

How can Black exploit the position Black won a rook by force. How?
of the white queen and rook? (Solution: see p. 74)
BEA T THE GRANDMASTERS 39

Here White played I i.f4. What Should White exchange the rooks
was Black's response? or is there something better?

How can White force an immediate The black bishop attacks the white
win? queen. How should White respond?
-- ----._----------- - - ---- -- -- -- - -- --

Black is an exchange down, but he The black queen on d5 is unde-
has a strong move at his disposal. Can fended. Can White take advantage of
you spot it? · ?
thIS.
71 to play 73 Black to play

How can Black exploit the fact that Black has just played ... b5. How
several of White's pieces are not cov- should White respond?
ered? (Solution: see p. 75)
BEAT THE GRANDMASTERS 41
- ~~~~ ~ ~ ~. .. .. ~ ~ - . ~ ~

Don't forget the backward diago- Black has just offered an exchange
nals ... of queens with I... Should White
(Solution: see p. 75) accept?
~!
,
7S White to play 77 White to play

White played llt)xe5. Should Black Is I .txh7+ a good idea here?
recapture? (Solution: see p. 75)
78 Black to play Black to play

White has just played I ~xg7. What Black played Lltc7, trying to ex-
should Black's response be? change one of the white rooks. How
(Solution: see p. 75) should White react to this?
= ----- --------- - - -- ------ - - --- --c,,'

Black is a rook up, but precise de- Can Black win back the pawn by
fence is needed to win the game. How playing 1...l:lxa2?
should he proceed? (Solution: see p. 76)

Here White played I tDxd5. Was Both the black queen and the e6-
that a good idea? rook are threatened. How should Black
(Solution: see p. 76) respond to this?

White played I dxe6. What is the White has just played I f5, threaten-
best answer for Black? ing the knight on g6. What is Black's
(Solution: see p. 76) best answer to this?

How should White conclude the at- Here Black played I .. .lhh2. What
tack against the black king? happens if White takes one of the
(Solution: see p. 76) black rooks?

White played I l:txc7, and Black Black's last move was 1... l:tf7xf4.
replied I ... l:tf8, which threatens both Why was this wrong?
... l:tfl # and .....xc7. What should (Solution: see p. 77)
White play?

Black has just played 1...:f8, ex- Here Black played I ... f6. What op-
ploiting White's vulnerable back rank. portunity did he miss?
White played 2 :gl and lost the game. (Solution: see p. 77)
Can you suggest a major improvement
for White?
----- - ---

Black captured White's bishop with Black took the pawn on d4 with
1. .. gxh4. How should White proceed? 1... cxd4. Should White recapture or is
(Solution: see p. 77) there something better?

Here White played I lie I. Why was Here White played I i.d4+ intend-
this wrong? ing to take the black rook on f2. How
(Solution: see p. 78) should the game continue?
--- ---

Black sacrificed a rook with 1...lIg2. Black has just played ... f4+. Where
Should White take it or play some- should the white king go?
thing else? (Solution: see p. 78)
----.--
98 Black to play White to play

Black now played 1...gxh4, and White played 1 i.f7 threatening
White recaptured with his queen. But the black queen. What is the response
there was a much stronger possibility White had missed?
for White. Can you see it? (Solution: see p. 79)
,,
- ---- -- - - - - - - - - _._-- -- .-
99 White to play tOt White to play

Black has just played ... ~5, threat- Black has just threatened White's
ening the rook. However, White has a d2-bishop by ... :a2. Should White
very strong reply. Can you spot it? move the bishop or is there another so-
(Solution: see p. 79) lution?

Here White initiated an attack with White's queen is threatened. How
1 i.xe5. How should Black respond to should he respond?
this? (Solution: p. 80)

Here White forked the black queen White sacrificed a rook here with 1
and rook with I lDf4. Was this a good llxh7. What happens if Black accepts
idea? the rook sacrifice?
There now follow 98 positions without hints. The level of difficulty ranges from
2 to 4. The initial puzzles are the easiest, but the level gradually increases to-
wards the end of this section.

r-" ...

50 BEAT THE GRANDMASJ'ERS
,------;
•
•
'-----""~ ,,--- -~=-----==. -- ...

------=~~
I,



liS White to play 120 White to play



..

-"'~"-'-'------- --------- - -

,-= -------------- ------- -- -- -
127 White to play 129 to play







58 BEAT THE GRANDMASfERS

143 Wbite to play 145 White to play


'--- - -




,-------------- ------- --- --- --,;",o,'------.w,'''"


~- .. -

--------


.'" 1:1
.-

,,
I


__ . __ I





~I
I
.~-- .. --- - - -- -

(Solulion: see p. 91) (Solution: see p. 92)
,------- ------ _..
i I
~'
. .- - - - . -- --


--. ----- - - - - -- - ------ ._- - --.
: . . .


~
1:
- ----- -


-- ~ --




Solutions for Beat the 69)

Solozhenkin - Tiviakov
Grandmasters Russian Ch (Elista) 1995
1 "e4 2 b51-0
64) White wins a piece.
Smagin - Damljanovic
Sochi 1988 70)
1...lba2 Tal - Smyslov
Black wins the exchange. BiellZ 1976
1•.•lL'lxe4!
65) Now 2:a1 was played in the game,
Jonkman - Vysochin but this lost instantly to 2 .••lL'lc5 0-1.
Ta1lfa 2002 Other moves lose as well: 2 l:te3
1••• lL'lh3+ 0-1 lL'lxf2!, and 2 l:txf3 fails to 2 ... l:txf3 3
After 2 ~f1 i.b5+ Black wins a lL'lxf3 f2#.
rook.
71)
66) Tal- Timman
Korchnoi - Miles Bru.rsels (World Cup) 1988
Tilburg 1985 1... 1 (D)
I... 0-1
Black picks up a piece due to the
knight fork on e3: 2 l:txf4lL'le3+.
w
67)
lonov - Popov
St Petersburg Ch 2003
1 i.e7 1-0
I... 7 runs into 2 d6 and Black's
queen cannot maintain its defence of
h4. i...
68)
Graf - Schmaltz This move creates an effective dou-
Bundesliga 200213 ble threat.
1 l:txd7! 1-0 2 l:tb5 'ili'xe2 3 l:t1»6+ <M7 4 'ii'g6+
White ends a piece up in all varia- ~f8 0-1
tions: l...l:txc3 (or l...l:txd7 2 l:txc8+) White does not have enough com-
2 l:txd8+ <j;e7 3 bxc3. pensation for his material loss.
72) 75)
Spassky - Hubner Dolmatov - Yusupov
liIburg 1979 Erevan Z 1982
IlLlxgS! 'iWd6 2 g3 fxgS 3 gxh4 g4 I... 0-1
4 .txd4+ S cxd4 l:tg8 6 .tgS Black wins due to the twin threats
1-0 of mate on g2 and the discovered at-
White is a rook up, and after 6 ... h6 tack ... lLlxh3+.
7 f6! he wins quickly.
76)
73) Cekro - Pelletier
C. Bauer - Sargissian Plovdiv Ec:ht 2003
Internet (Petrosian mem) 2004 No, there is a much better possibil-
I 'iWhs g6 2 1-0 ity than exchanging queens:
The rook is trapped, so White wins 2lLlc6!
the exchange. for which Black obtains This wins easily.
no compensation. 2... 3lLlxe7+ <M8 4lLlxc8 b3
SlLld21-0
74)
Yusupov - Ehlvest 77)
Saint John Ct (3) 1988 J. Polgar - Karpov
I e6! (D) Hoogeveen 2003
Yes, I .txh7+! is a strong move.
1•••~xh7 2 1-0
Black is getting mated after 2 ... ~g8
B 3 .txg7! (this move is crucial for the
combination to work) 3... ~xg7 4l:tg3+
and mate in two more moves.
78)
Tiviakov - Nakamura
LSI Wijk aan Zee 2004
I... 2 fxg3 lLle3+ 3 ~
lLlxfS 4 .tc3 hxg3
Black has a winning endgame.
Backward diagonals are easy to
overlook. This move is decisive. Black 79)
tried to fight with l..':xg2 2 lhg2 GI - Tseshkovsky
fxe6 3 ~h2 .txg2 4 ~g2 but lost a LjubljanaiPortoroz 1977
few moves later. 1•••f6 2 'iVdS+
On 2 xf6, 2 ...'ifn parries every- 82)

thing. Korchnoi - Short
2 ...~h8 3ltJd6 'ifg8 4 'iWxb5 Reykjavik 1987
After 4 "'xaS 5 No, 1 ftJxd5 is a serious mistake.
6 ftJxeS b4! Black wins the endgame. After 1...i.xd5 White resigned, as 2
4 •. if4 5 e8'iW l:txe8 6 ltJxe8 'iVe6 l:txeS l:txeS 3 :xeS+ (or 3 l:tdl l:tdS)
0-1 3... 4 1+5~h2"'e5+6
fxe5 7 ~g3 a5 is won for Black.
80) Black's a-pawn queens a few moves
Petrosian - Balashov later.
USSR Ch (Leningrad) 1977
2 l:txg6! 1-0 83)
White wins a pawn and the game. - Khmelnitsky
Both rooks are en pri.re, but Black can USSR ChI (Naberezhnye
only take one at a time: 2 ... l:txg6 3 CheiIlY) 1988
l:txc7 or 2 ... l:txe7 3 l:txgS. Black can mate White within a few
moves:
81) 1...ftJb3+! 2 axb3 l:tal+ 3 ltJbl
Tukmakov - Kochiev l:txbl#(O-I)
Ashkhabad 1978
No. this loses material due to ... 84)
2 i.d5! (D) Andersson - Hjartarson
Belfort (World Cup) 1988
1•. .l:td6! 0-1
Black will be an exchange up after
B this cross-pin. If 2 l:txb2 then 2 ... l:txd I.
85)
Kotsur - Morozevich
Moscow 2003
1. .. i.d3! 2 fxg6 + 3 ~2
Mate is forced. This is slightly faster
than 3... , as played in the game.
86)
1-0 Sadvakasov - Korotylev
Black cannot play 2... as he Moscow 2003
has problems on the back rank: 3 1 l:th5! f6
l:txd5 4 l:tcS+ mating. Black's other options are:
a) 1... gxhS 2 'iWg3+ ~f8 3 g7#. 90)

b) I... 2 lDh6+ ~g7 3 l'lxeS Short - Shirov
and White wins. Dubai rpd 2002
c) 1... l:txeS is met by 2 l:th8+ ~xh8 White could have played 2 !
3 ~g84 l:txf7 3 exf7, when Black cannot avoid
After the text-move, White crashed promotion of the white f-pawn. If
through with ... 3 ... 'ii'xcs then 4 'i6'xf8 5 l:txf8,
2 gS 3 exf6 1-0 and White has a winning endgame.
87) 91)
Rublevsky - Kalinin Rublevsky - Vescovi
Moscow 2002 Poikov.rky 2002
2 l:txg7+! ~g7 3 ~7 2l:tc6!
Or 3 ... ~h7 4 l:th3#. Stronger than 2 l:tc8 lDf6! or 2
4 1-0 + lDf6!.
4 ... ~g8 5 l:tg3+ ~h7 6 g7#. 2... h3
Black has no defence. Another try
88) is 2 ... e4 3 ~g8 4 l:tc8+ l:td8 5
Prusikhin - Godena + ~f7 6 l:txd8 and White has a
Swis.r ChI 2002 decisive advantage.
2 3 ~gS 4 l:tcS+ l:tdS 5 'iWgS+
If 2 ~xh2 then White gets mated: 1-0
2"'lDf3+ 3 gxf3 l:th8+ 4 ~gl .
2••.lDf3+! 3~ 92)
Or 3 gxf3 'iWh4 and the threat of Timman -
...l:th I + and ... 'iWh3# cannot be pre- Cologne rpd ( I) 2003
vented. 1•.•l:txd2! (D)
3 •• ':hl+ 4 ~e2 l:txbl 0-1
White resigned due to the threat of
"'lDg I + and ... .
w
89)
Grishchuk - Morozevich
Dubai rpd 2002
2~g3!
II
Black has no way to defend his rook. i
2... !~
2 ... l:txf2 loses to 3 'iWxh6.
3 l:txf41-0 •
This is stronger than the move in 96)

the game. Nenashev -
2 Tashkent 1987
Other moves are no better: 2 l:txd2 l ...~ 2 .i.xf2 gS! 0-1
3 .i.c5+ 4 .i.d4 .i.xd4+ 5 This move makes the whole differ-
#; 2 .i.xd2 3 ence. Now White cannot avoid mate .
.i.c5+ 4 .i.e3 .i.xe3+ 5 ':xe3 'if Instead, 2 ... .i.xg4+? is just a drawn
2•••'ifxn 3 ':f2 .i.c5 4 .i.d4 5 endgame .
.i.e3 .i.xe3
and Black wins easily. 97)
Kongsted - Brynell
93) Va/by rpd 2002
Svidler - Karpov White has to put the king in the
Cap d'Agde rpd 2003 right position for the queen vs pawn
2 fS! endgame. In time-trouble, at the end of
This move traps the white queen. a rapid game, I thoughtlessly played I
2...dxe3 3 .i.n .i.xfS 4 .i.xh3 .i.xh3 ~e4? believing that the white king
5 was near enough to the f-pawn to en-
Black does not have enough mate- sure the win. However, after this move
rial for the queen and later lost. the .. is drawn: 1... f3 2 b7 f2 3
+~g24 ~h15 ~g2
94) 6 'ifg6+ ~hl 7 + ~g2 8
Geller - kov ~hl 9 ~gl 10 g3+ ~hl and
USSR Ch (Tbilisi) 1978 White has no way to win.
1... 0-1 Both 1 ~d3! and 1 ~d2! are suffi-
After 2 Black wins with the cient for a win; e.g., I ~d3! f3 2 b7 f2
zwischenzug 2 .. .lhel+ 3 ~h2 hxg6. 3 + ~g2 4 'ifg8+ ~f1 (or 4 ... ~f3
5 + ~g2 6 ~e2 - the king is able
95) to reach e2, and that makes the differ-
Spraggett - Spassky ence) 5 7 ~el 6 1#.
Montpellier Ct 1985
2:Xh7+! 98)
This is the strongest reply. 2 'ifxg2 Morovic - Milos
'ifxd4+ is less clear. Santos 2003
2 ...~xh7 3 l:tf7 + ~h6 4 Both players overlooked 2 l:te4!
This is slightly faster than 4 l:tf6+, threatening ':g4+ and ':g7+. If Black
as played in the game. tries 2 ...'ikbl + then White can play 3
4 ...~g6 5 ~gS 6 liJf3+ ~g4 .i.el liJxel 4 l:tg4+ 'ii;>h7 5 .i.g7
7'ifh4# 6
In the game White played the less Accepting the queen sacrifice leads
convincing 2 "xh4, but later won the to immediate defeat for White: 2 .i.xeS
game anyway. l:cS+ 3 l:xc2+ 4 ~bl l:xf2+ 5
~al .i.xhl 6 l:xhl e2 and Black's e-
99) pawn will decide matters.
Bologan - Smirnov 2.....e7 3 l:c3 .i.xh14 l:c7+ "xc7+
Moscow 2003 S .i.xc7 exf2 0-1
1 l:83! lLlxd3 (D) White loses more material; e.g .• 6
Alternatively: l:cS.
a) 1... lLlxe4 2 dxe4 l:xa3 3 "cS
l:bS 4 and White wins a piece. 101)
b) I ... l:xa3 2 "xc5 l:bS 3 is Zviagintsev - Dautov
much the same story. Essen 2002
c) On 1... lLlb3 White has several 1 fS! l:xd2 2 f6+ ~g8
ways to win; e.g .• 2 l:xd3 3 bxa6 Or 2 ...~hS 3 lLle64 fxe7 "xe7
:dS 4 a7 l:aS 5 :bl. and White wins a 5 and White wins.
•
piece. 3 .i.xg6!? bxg6 4 .i.f8
•
4 ... .i.xf6 5 exf6 6 IS
winning for White.
S .i.g7 6 f7+ 1-0
w On 6 ...~f8 White can play 7 "d6+
S "bS+ followed by mate next
move.
102)
Akopian - Bareev
Enghien les Bains 2003
1.....e6! 2 .i.xf6+
Or 2 .i.c3 3 ~al l:dl+ and
White has to give up his queen.
2 1-0 2.....xf63 "xc3 4 :Xc3 :Xf2
White has threats on dS and c3. and S l:c2 l:dd2 0-1
if Black plays 2 ... l:cS then White sim- Black has a winning endgame.
ply wins a piece with 3 llxd3.
103)
100) Ibragimov - de
Dautov - Krasenkow Denver 2003
E.~sen 2002 No, this was the losing move.
1•.. .i.e4!! 2 l:d3 1.• ':xg3+! 2 ~xg3 gxf4+ 3 l1xf4
Or3 :g6+ 4 ~f2 :f6 win- 8 1-0

ning the white queen. Black is mated in two more moves.
3.•':g6+ 4 'M2 i.xd4+ 5 ~el
Or: 5 ~fl :g I#; 5 :xd4 lOS}
S•. ':gl+ 0-1 Yusupov - Timman
White loses his queen or gets mated: 7iIburg Ct (9) 1986
6:fl or 6 ~d2 "dl#. White wins immediately:
1.•.~xh7 2 i.g7 3 i.f611g8 4
104} i.e8! 1-0
Sax - Timman
Amsterdam 1983 106)
1 :e8 2 e6! (D) Sutovsky - Goloshchapov
Moscow 2003
1 :xg4! Ibg4 2 :g7 3.f5+
:g6
B 3 ...~h8 allows 4 :e8+ :g8 511f6+
~h7 6 :e7+ and mate next move.
4 :e7+ ~h8 5 1-0
Black is getting mated.
107}
Larsen - Spassky
Bugojno 1984
1... 2 f3 i.gl+ 0-1
After 3 I :e2+ Black wins
Getting ready to exploit the dark straight away.
squares on the kingside.
2... 108)
Black cannot take the pawn: 2 ... fxe6 Kharlov - Korotylev
3 :b7 4 :xc8 and White is a Moscow 2002
piece up; after 2... i.xe6 3 White 1 e6!
wins a rook. White opens the long diagonal and
3 exf7+ ~xf7 4 i.c4+ i.e6 decides the game immediately.
Or 4 ...~f6 5 ~e7 6 i.g5+ 1...
~f8 7 'iih8#. Or 1.. .f6 2 e7 3 i.d5+ i.xd5 4
5 i.e7 6 i.xe6+ ~xe6 7 ~h85 •
:e2+'M6 2 1-0
Or 7... ~f7 8 :xe7+ :xe7 9 If 2 ... i.xa2 then the reply 3 e7 wins
and White has won a piece. for White.
109) 113)
Sashikiran - Sorokin Bareev - Naiditsch
Dubai 2002 Rethymnon ECC 2003
1 lLlxcs lLlxcs 1 Ilh7! 1-0
After 1.....xd3 2lLlxd3 Black is just White wins a piece.
a piece down, and if 1.....xc5 White
wins quickly with 2 + ~fS 3 114)
i.a3lLlb4 4 "h5. Van der Wiel - Nijboer
2 + r;pf8 3 i.a3lLlb4 4 Wijk aan Zee 2004
1-0 1 IlxeS! lLldS
Black cannot parry the mate threat Black loses a piece in all lines:
on f7 without losing material; e.g., a) 1... llaS 2 Ilxc5 Ilxa6 3 Ilcxc3.
4 ...lla7 5 ~e7 6 "xcS. b) l... ..d6 2 Ilxc3.
c) I... 2 IlxeS IlxeS 3 Ilxc3.
110) 2 IlbS "c4 3 llexdS
Stefansson - Arencibia and White won.
Havana (Capablanca mem) 2002
1 Ilxg7+! ~xg7 2 (6+ 1-0 115)
Black is getting mated: 2 ... ~gS 3 Beliavsky - Adams
g5+ ~fS 4 g7+ ~eS 5 "gS+ Belgrade 1995
~d7 6 + ~dS 7 + ~cS S 1...lLld3! wins the exchange as af-
ter 2 Ilxc7 Black has the zwischenzug
2 ... lLlxel+ 3 "xel . White tried
111) 2 :XcI. but resigned nine moves
Mamediarov - Sui skis later.
Batumi Ech 2002
1... 0-1 116)
An unpleasant surprise for White, Kasparov - Petrosian
who ends up getting mated: 2 g4 i.fI + Bugoj,w 1982
3 i.xg2+ 4 ~xg2 5 'it'gl 1 ! 1-0
""f2+ 6 'it'h I #. Black loses in all lines:
a) l... ..xc5 2 IlxdS+ 3 IlxfS+
112) ~xf8 4 Ilc7, and White wins due to
Bacrot - Lautier the threats of a5 and Ilxf7+.
Paris 2002 b) I... S 2 IlxdS "xdS 3 "c7
1 lla7! 1-0 4 Ilxc7 reaches nearly the same
Black resigned since after l...'ii'xa7, position as in line 'a'.
2 d7! cuts off the defence of g7 and c) 1... lleS 2 7 l:xe7 3 a5 and
wins immediately. White wins a piece.
117) 121)
8eliavsky - Kasparov Smejkal - Larsen
Moscow Ct (4) 1983 Milan 1975
IlLlfS+ ~g6 IlLlxg4
Or l...~h8 2 f4. Winning a piece for White. Black
2liJe7+ ~h6 3 f4 1-0 tried l..':Sg6 but later lost the game.
White wins a piece. He cannot recapture the knight with
I...hxg4 because of 2 l:lf5! l:lxf5? 3
118) ii'h6#; l .. J!lxg4 fails to 2 'iVh6#.
Kasparov - Olafsson
Dubai OL 1986 122)
1 .txe6! fxe6 2 1-0 Geller - Spassky
Black resigned as there is no de- Moscow 1975
fence. 2 .. .'~)h8, 2 ... ~f8 and 2 ... l:tn are 1 lLlxd6! l:txd6
,I
,
met by 3 l:tc8 winning the queen. The Or l... .-f6 2 lLle4 lieS 3 lLlxgS!
two other options lose as well: .txgS 4 ~h8 Sl:lfS and White
a) 2 ... ~h7 3 ii'xh6+ ~g8 4 l:tg6+
•
WInS.
~n 5 ii'h7+ ~e8 6 l:tg8#. 2 ~h7 3c4
I ,
b) 2...~g7 3 ii'xh6+ ~n (3 ... ~g8 and White won.
,
, 4 l:tg6+ transposes to line 'a') 4 'ikh7+
,,'
j: I
and White simply wins a rook. 123)
!I Polugaevsky - Hort
119) Manila 1Z 1976
Gligoric - Tukmakov l...l:tel+ 2 ~h2 %tel 0-1
USSR-Yugoslavia (Odessa) 1975 Black exploits the pin and wins a
1 l:txcS+ .txcS 2 'iVc3 1-0 rook.
White wins a piece with this double
threat to b4 and c8. 124)
Kovatevic - Larsen
120) Bugojno 1984
Furman - Vasiukov 1 l:tb7! -'c6 2 l:txd7 1-0
USSR Cht (Riga) 1975 White wins a piece.
1 l:txd7+! .txd7 2 l:teS+ ~f7
Other moves are no better: 2 ... ~d8 125)
3 l:td5, 2 ...~d6 3 l:td5+ or 2 ... .te6 3 Liberzon - Torre
.tc4. Bad Lauterberg 1977
3 .txd7 l:thS 4 ~e31-0 1 oltgS!
The two white bishops will quickly The bishop deflects the black queen
decide the matter. from n.
1...f6 c) 2... ~f8 3 ~g8 (3 ... ~

Not 1... ?2 . 4 i.g6+ ~gS S ~hS 6 'iVxcS+
2 exf6 gxf6 3 lIael i.eS 4 tLlxdS mating) 4 and once again White
1-0 wins material.
Black loses material after 4 ... cxd5 S 2 Ilxg7+! ~xg7 3 ~
i.xf6. If 3 ... ~f6 then 4 'i;e7 (or
4 ... ~ S 'iVh7+ ~f8 (S ... ~f6 6 g5#,
126) or S... ~eS 6 'iVgS+ ~d7 7 i.fS+, 6
Quinteros - Miles • which transposes to the game)
Amsterdam (IBM) 1977 S ~dS 6 tLld77 i.fS and
1..':xg2! 2 White's attack is decisive.
2 'it'xhS loses to 2 ... llxg 1+ 3 ~h2 4 ....8+ ~7 5 'iVxe8 tLlxd3 6
1l6g2#. ~d8
2 .. ':xg2 3 Ilxg2 i.f8 Or 6 ... 'it>f8 7 picking up the
and Black won. black knight.
7 1-0
127) The black knight is lost; for exam-
Kuzmin - Quinteros ple, 7 ...'i;c7 S 7 ... ~d7 8
Polanic:a Zdroj or 7 ...~e8 8 'it'g6+.
(Rubinstein mem) 1977
1 1lxf7! (D) 128)
Larsen - Miles
Las Palmas 1978
1... tLlf3!
B The most precise way of exploiting
the pin of the d4-knight.
2gxf3
In the game White tried 2 tLlxf3 but
resigned after 2 ... llxh4 3 tLlxh4 i.f6 4
i.xf6
2 .•':xd4 3 tLle4 llexe4!
Black wins.
129)
1...tLleS Balashov - Kochiev
Or 1... ~xf7 2 'iVxg6+, and now: Lvov Z 1978
a) 2 ... 'it>gS 3 wins a rook. I... 1+ 2 i.n i.xe2! 0-1
b) 2 ... ~e7 3 ~dS 4 'it'xd6+ Black exploits the fact that White's
~eS S i.g6#. a3-rook is hanging: 3 'it'xe2 'it'xe2 4
i.xe211xa3. Note that 2 ...lIxa3 3 winning 1 ...lbxc2! 2 lbxc2 .

i.xe2?? cannot be considered a solu- Black now will win back either the
tion to this exercise. as Black loses the bishop or the knight and end up with at
bishop after 4 1Vh2+. least two more pawns.
130) 134)
Larsen - Hubner Ljubojevic - Larsen
7ilburg 1978 Bugojno 1984
1... 1•.•lbc3+! 2 bxc311bS+ 0-1
White loses a piece. White resigned owing to 3 ~al (or
2axbS 3 ~c I "xa2 and mate next move)
Or 2 lba2 3 lIxd2 lIxc I 4 3... when he is getting mated.
lbxc I lIxc I .
2.• .lIxc3 135)
White kept fighting for a while. but Beliavsky - Romanishin
a black win was inevitable. Wijk (Ian Zee 1985
lliJb6 (D)
131)
Larsen - Hort
Tilburg 1980
Black missed the chance to play B
1..Jlal. when White has nothing better
than 2l1flllxfl+! (this is even stron-
than the obvious 2 ... i.xfl ) 3 i.xn
4 5 lIxg7 lIbl 6
lIs7 lIxfl + and Black wins.
132)
Tseshkovsky - Yusupov
Erevan Z 1982
1 ! 1-0 This traps the black rook.
White wins a piece due to I ... 1.•.lIc7 2 i.d8 1-0
2lbxe7+ ~h8 3 axb3.
136)
133) - Ljubojevic
Sax - Geller 7ilbu rg 1985
Moscow IZ 1982 Ilbxa6! 1-0
Here Black played 1...lbd5 and later White simplifies into a winning king
lost. Instead he should have played the and pawn endgame. After 1... lbxa6+ 2
~b5 lDbS 3 a6lDxa6 4 ~xa6 he wins Or 3... g6 4 llhS+ ~g7 5 l:tlh7#.

the c-pawn and the game. 4l:th8+ 1-0
It's mate next move: 4 ...~t7 5 g6#.
137)
Short - Larsen 140)
Na!stved 1985 Korchnoi - HObner
1••. bS 0-1 Bruuel.f (OHRA) 1986
White loses a piece because after 2 1 l:txfS+! l:txfS 2 3
(or 2 l:td2) 2 ... a5! he can no ~xg7 4 .ixeS+
longer cover the d4-bishop. White has won material, and he
managed to win the endgame as well.
138)
Spraggett - Vaganian 141)
Montpellier Ct 1985 Korchnoi - Agdestein
1..•.ixg2+ (D) Reykjavik 1987
1 l:txf6+! ~xf6
-- -
1... l:txf6 2 l:txe4 I ~ 3 .ixf6 ~xf6
--
4 lDd5+ ~t7 5 l:txe8 ~xe8 is worse

w than the game continuation.
2 l:txe4+ ~f'I 3 ~b4
White has won material.
142)
: Van der Wiel - Gulko
Amsterdam (OHRA) 1987
1. 1 l:txa7
<it>i
,
Unpinning the f2-pawn.
1...l:txa7 2 f4
0-1 and White won.
All lines lead to mate: 2 l:txg2 l:td I +
\ J:tgl "c6+ or 2 ~xg2 "c6+ 3 e4 143)
\~he4+4 ~g3 TIm man - Yusupov
TrIburg 1987
139) 1 l:te8+! 1-0
Karpov - Ribli White deflects the black rook away
Dubai OL 1986 from covering the queen. After 1... ~h7
Black gets mated: 2 "xd4 l:txd4 3 l:txaS White is a rook
I ~xh7 2 l:th2+ ~g8 3 up, while 1... l:txeS 2 "iixd4 also leads
:dhl to a decisive material advantage.
144) 2 'iPxh2 loses to 2 ... l:thS#.

Popovic - Eingorn 2... ~d63 g4
Dortmund 1988 Or 3 l:txe2 ltd I + 4 ~g I ~xcS win-
1 lDc4! lDxc4 2 ltxe8+ 'iPh7 ning material.
White has won the exchange and 3...lte50-1
soon won the game. Black wins a piece or the exchange:
4 Itxe2 ~xcS or 4 ~f2 ~xcS S ~xcS
145) lbg3+ 6 'iPg2l:txe I 7 ~xg3.
Ljubojevic - Timman
Amsterdam (Euwe mem) 1988 149)
ll:txc7+! 1-0 Kozul - Popovic
1... 'iPxc7 2l:tcS+ picks up the black Yugoslav Cht (Zlatibor) 1989
queen. 1 ltc7!
This move wins material.
146) 1...~xc7
Psakhis - Ehlvest On other moves White plays .JIb7 or
Erevan 1988 a7 straight away.
1 l:thS+! 'iPxh8 2 'ikxf8+ ~h7 3 g5 2 a7 ~xb5 3 as'fi'
1-0 and White won.
Black's king is imprisoned, and
there is no defence to 'iPf2 and l:th 1#. 150)
- Morozevich
147) Moscow 2003
Short - Yusupov ll:td6!
Be/fort (World Cup) 1988 Exploiting the pin on the knight.
1 1Dc4 1... 2 ~xe6+ 'iPf8 3
Or 1... b3 2 bxc23 7lte8 and Black resigned a few moves
4 'ihc2 and Black cannot save the later.
knight on a2; e.g., 4 ... l:ta8 S ~a3 ex-
ploiting Black's weak back rank. 151)
2 Kazhgaleev - Pushkov
and White won. Cappel/e la Grande 2002
1 hxg6 ~xg6
148) Not I ... hxg6 2
Timman - Hjartarson 2 ~xf5!:aS
Reykjavik (World Cup) 1988 Or 2... lDxfS 3 + 'iPf8 4l:txg6
1...~xh2! and White has a decisive attack.
This is the strongest move. 1-0
2l:tel 3 ~xe6+ lDxe6 4 + mates.
152) 155)
Lalic - Van den Doel Azmaiparashvili - Shirov
Zwolle 2002 Dubai rpd 2002
I l:tg3.i.xdS L.gS! 2 .i.g3
Alternatives: Not 2 ttJxg5? "xd2#.
a) 1... %teS 2 .i.xd5 3 l:txg7+ 2 .•. g4
"xg7 4 ttJxg7 ~xg7 5 ~g6 6 Black wins a piece. Play continued
"xd5 with a lost position for Black. 3 .i.d3 ttJxg3 4 hxg3 gxf3 and Black
b) I...:al + 2 ..t>b2 l:txh I 3 g6 soon won.
4 and Black is getting mated.
c) 1... g6 2 l:txg6+ with mate. 156)
2 ! l:tal+ Kotsur - Scherbakov
n
2..... allows 3 :f3. Dubai2002
3~b21-0 1. .•gS!
Black crashes through on the king-
153) side.
Morozevich - Ljubojevic 2fxgS
Monaco (Amber rpd) 2002 Or 2 hxg5 h4 3 gxh4 4 .i.g2
I e6! .i.xe6 1-0 5 "b2 ~g6 and ...l:thS is deci-
White now plays 2 ttJf3, and Black sive. If 2 .i.xa6 then 2 ... gxh4 3 gxh4
cannot stop followed by ttJe5+. and Black wins easily, as White
which wins the black queen. has no pieces to defend the kingside.
2... 0-1
154) Black's attack is too strong. and
Nogueiras - Delgado White can do nothing but wait while
Cuba" Ch (Holguin) 2002 his kingside defences fall apart. For
1••• l:txbS! 2 exbS .i.xdS 3 %tel fS 4 example, 3 .i.g2 'ihg3 4 "b2 'ili'xh4,
"a34 may be stronger. but Black is
etc.
still winning after 4 ... .i.xe4 5 157)

ttJf8 6 "iWg3 (6 .i.d4+ 7 ~hl Milov - Topalov
"xb2 and White has to give up mate- Prague 2002
rial to stop the mating attack) 6 .....xb2. 1... 2 l:lxn+ 0-1
Now the black d- and c-pawns will de- White gets mated: 3 ~g2 :gl#.
cide the game.
Play continued: 158)
4 .•• .i.d4+ 5 ~hl "xa3 6 bxa3 Zviagintsev - Kasimdzhanov
.i.xe4 7 .i.e7 dS 8 a4 .i.e3 9 l:tel d4 Essen 2002
0-1 I '6'g6! 1-0
White wins in all lines: h4+ l:txh4 S .ixh4+ ~g4 9 "g6+

a) I....ics 2 0.f7 3 0.xh6+ ~xh4 10 l:tf4#.
~hS 40.f7+ ~gS 50.xdS with a clear b) 2 ... ~f7 3 7+ ~e8 4 "hS+
material advantage for White. cj;f7 5 l:tfl + transposes to line 'a'.
b) 1... liJd7 2 + ~hS 3 0.g6+ 3 h3! (D)
~h7 40.xe7 and White is a piece up.
c) loo.fxe5 2 .ie61 ~hS 3 fxe5
4 .if5 ~gS 5 + ~fS 6 .ie6+ .if6
7 ~e7 S B
159)
Sutovsky -
Moscow rpd 2002
1 .ixf7+! 1-0
1... ~xf7 2 + ~fS 3 0.xg6+
~eS 4 "e6+ and mate next move.
160)
Cu. Hansen - Alekseev Now the black rook has no squares
Skanderborg 2003 as it cannot give up the defence of g7.
1 l:txe6! ~d8 3 .• ':xg3 40.xg3
If I...fxe6 then Black gets mated: 2 Material is now even, but White's
l:tf7 3 ~f8 4 0.e6+ pieces are all ready to take part in the
~eS 5 "xf7#. attack on the black king. Black lost
2l:txg6+! quickly:
Stronger than the game move, 2 4... 5 "g6+ ~h8 6 l:tn
l:tee3. Threatening l:tf7.
2 ...fxg6 3 l:tdf7 4 "xg6+ 6...eS 7 'ii'hS+ 1-0
l:tg7 5 i..xg7 6 + ~xg7 7 Black will be mated: 7 ... ~gS S
liJe6 I ~g8 8 l:txf8+ 0.xf8 9 0.xd8 ~hS 9 l:tf7 "c5+ I 0 ~h I l:tgS
White has a won endgame. II'iWh4#.
161) 162)
z. Almasi - Efimov Timman - Yermolinsky
Elista OL 1998 Wijk ami Zee 1999
1 l:txf8+! ~xf8 2 cj;g8 The fastest way is:
Other moves are no better: 1 l:le8! 1-0
a) 2 ... ~eS 3 "hS+ ~f7 4 l:tfl + 1... cj;g6 2 l:txe6+ ~h7 3 l:tf6 wins
~g6 5 cj;xh5 6 + ~g5 7 easily for White, and after 1...~xeS 2
h7 the promotion of White's h-pawn Or 2 l:ld3 3 ~gl lDxf3+ 4

cannot be stopped. l:lxf3 l:lg6+ winning for Black.
2•.•fJ! 3 l:lxh4+ 4 "xg5
163) 0-1
Topalov - Kramnik White will lose his queen; 5 l:lgl
Belgrade 1995 fails to 5 ... l:lxf2+ 6 ~h ll:lxh3#.
In this complicated position, Black
won with: 167)
1....ic31! 2 a5+3~xb5 Petrosian - Bronstein
Or 3 ~xa5 • Tallinn (Keres mem) 1979
3 ...'ibc3 0-1 1 .ixh6! gxh6 2l:lxc4! 1+
Or 2 ... bxc4 3 ~g8 4
164) and White has won a pawn.
- Tal 3~h2 "f2?
Montpellier Ct 1985 3... is a better try, but White
1...l:lxf3! 2lDxfJ still has the upper hand after 4l:lg4!.
If 2 ~xf3 then 2... 3 ~g2 (3 4 ~g8 5 l:lg4+ 1-0
"e3 fxe4+ and White loses his queen; Black is getting mated: 5 ... ~f8 6
3 ~f2 fxe4+ 4 ~g2 wins for ,+ ~e8 7l:le4# or 5... ~n 6
Black) 3... 4 ~h3 I and ~e6 7 l:le5+ ~d6 8 l:lg6#.
there is no hope for White.
2 .....xdl 3lDg5 0-1 168)
•
White resigned as 3... parnes Beliavsky - Polugaevsky
everything. USSR Spartakiad (Moscow) 1979
I <,i;>gl
165) Or l...~g2 2 lDf4+ ~gl 3 1+,
Furman - Browne winning for White.
Wijk aan Zee 1975 2 +~h23
l...lDfJ+! 2 gxf3 3 .ib6 and White won.
Parrying Black's deadly threat of
... .ie3+. 169)
3 •. :iWxd3 Korchnoi - Hubner
Black has won a pawn and he rap- Merano Ct (2) 1980
idly won the game as well. I b4! lDa6
Or 1... axb4 2 l:lxa3 bxa3 3 lDb5+
166) ~d7 4lDxc7 and White is a rook up.
Miles - Korchnoi 2 b5 1-0
Wijk aan Zee 1978 Black loses one of the knights after
1...lDg5! 2lDxg5 2 .. Jhc3 3 l:lxc3.
170) Black gets mated or loses his queen:

Sosonko - Timman 4 ... ~e8 S .i.bS+ ~f7 6 'iWh7+ ~f8 7
Wijk aan Zee /98/ ~8 or 4 ... ~g8 S .i.h7+
White missed the chance to play 1 ~f7 (S ... ~h8 6 .i.fS+ ~g8 7 .i.xe6#)
f4! (D), which clears the third rank for 6 .i.g6+ ~g8 (6 ... ~e7 7 7
the white rook and wins immediately. ~f8 8 'iWf7#.
173)
Portisch - Korchnoi
B Bad Kissingell Ct (4) /983
l...l:txh3+! 0-1
If 2 then 2... 3 ~hl
l:ta6. To prevent the mate, White will
lose material.
174)
Smyslov - Hubner
Velden Ct (4) /983
1 .i.xh7! l:txh7
1...exf4 Or I ... .i.xh 7 2 ~g6+ ~g8 3 l:txf8+.
l....i.xf4 2 l:tc3 and I...l:txc I 2 l:tc3 2 ~g6+ ~g7 3 'iWg4
are much the same story. 3 as played in the game, also
2 l:tc3! l:txc3 3 bxc3 .i.g4 4 c7 eS 5 wins, but the text-move is faster. Black
f3 .i.d7 6lbd3 <M6 7 ~cS faces a deadly discovered check.
Black cannot stop White from get- 3•• .l:txn + 4 l:txn .i.f6 5 ~eS+ ~h8
ting a new queen. 6l:txf6
White's attack is decisive.
171)
Larsen - Spassky 175)
Linares /98/ Sosonko - Timman
1...g4+! 0-1 Bergen (2) /984
White resigned owing to 2 ~xg4 1...eS!
.i.hS+! 3 ~xhS . This is the fastest way.
2~f3
172) Accepting the pawn leads to a lost
Karpov - Geller endgame for White: 2 l:txeS l:te2+ 3
Moscow /98/ ~dS l:txeS+ 4 fxeS+ ~e7 (the outside
1 g6 2 l:txf7! ~xf7 3 passed pawn on g6 is decisive) S ~e4
<M84 1-0 (White does not have time to take the
b-pawn: 5 'i>c5 g5) 5 ...'i>e6 6 'i>d4 g5 178)

7 'i>e4 g4 8 b4 g3 9 'i>f3 'i>xe5 10 Svirin - Skudnov
'i>xg3 'i>d4 is winning for Black. USSR Cht (Naberezhnye
2 .. ..:d3 I 3 'i>e2 exf4 4 llxbS l:te3 I Chelny) 19RR
5 'i>r2 0-1 1...lDxe3 2 :xcl 3 :xcl ~r4
Black wins material.
176)
A. Sokolov - Smyslov 179)
Montpellier Ct 1985 A. Sokolov - S
1 :e3! Saint John Ct rpd (12) 1988
I... 2 :c2 3 :b3 also Black played l...:xc3, which is a
costs Black material. reasonable move, keeping an advan-
2 :c21-0 tage. However, Black could have won
Black loses material after 2 .....d5 3 instantly with 1....:reS 2 :el+! 3
:d3. Ibel (or 3 'i>g2 "xd6 4 :xd6 :xal)
177)
Ljubojevic - 180)
Bru.rsels (SWIFT) 1986 n - Dlugy
1.. ..:bS! 2 "xa5 (D) New York 1988
Other moves end up the same as the IlDeS! 1-0
line in the game: 2 "c7 :fc8 3 Black can do nothing about the mul-
:xb2+ 4 'i>xb2 lDd3+; 2 :b7 3 tiple threats of :f7+ and ~g5+. After
:xb2+ 4 'i>xb2lDd3+. I.. .dxe5 2 ~g5+ lDf6 3 ~xf6+ 'i>e8 4
~xh8 White has won a rook.
181)
B .t. Korchnoi - Agdestein
i Haninge 1988
1 dS! ~xdS 2 "a7 g6 3 llxdS!
and White won.
182)
Am. Rodriguez - Dolmatov
Sochil988
In the game 1... b2 was played, but it
is not clear if this move will lead to a
2 .•.:xb2+! 3 'i>xb2lLld3+ 0-1 black win with optimal play by White.
The white queen is lost. Black could have won at once with:
1•• ':xc3! 2 llxc3 d) 2 ...~gS 3 llg7+ ~f8 4 dxe7+

Or 2 ~xc3 "c4+ 3 ~d2 4 ~eS 5 llxdS+ llxdS 6 and
~e2 5 ~e3 I and the black White wins as in line 'c'.
b-pawn is decisive. 3 llxe7+ ~f8 4 .i.g7+ ~g8 5 llhl
2... 3 ~e2 1-0
3lld3 4~dl 5~el Black has to give up his queen to
"xd3 is no beUer. stop llhS#. and 5 ... cxb2+ 6 .i.xb2 does
3.....xc3 not change anything.
Once again the b-pawn is too strong.
186)
183) Zakharstov - Lastin
Ehlvest - Dlugy Ru.uiall Ch (Kra.flloiClrsk) 2003
MClZarlall rpd 1988 1. ..lL\xf2! 2 ~xf2 e5 3 "h7
1"d3 If 3 White has lost
White targets g6. d7 and c6. Black his queen. and the black attack contin-
cannot avoid material loss. ues.
,.
..
.... 1...lL\ge7 2 'ii'd7+ ~b8 3 "xe7! 3 ...lld2+ 4 ~fl 5
,"," lL\xe74lL\d7+ .i.c80-1
,)1
,
·~:..
White wins a piece and soon won White will get mated.
,I
the game as well.
I
"'i"
'"
~' :1
I II'
I 'I
187)
."
184) Ghaem Maghami - Kaiumov
Ii, Hecht - Planinc TeherCIlI 2003
I
I
,I
Wijk aall Zee 1974 1 lld6!
I,I. The game continued 1 hxg6? llxg5 This is a very strong move which
,
•
with a roughly equal position. Instead threatens lL\e7+ with a discovered at-
White could have continued 1 c4! as tack on the queen.
,
I... allows 2 hxg6. 1...~h8
l...~f8 2 . and Black must give
·,
II
",
I,
185) up his queen to avoid getting mated
·,,,' Kogan - Arencibia immediately.
. .,
. ," ,
,I HavwlCl (CClpClblallcCI mem) 2002 2lL\d8!
,
1 ~xf7 2 Dxh7+ ~e8 2... loses to the knight fork 3
Black is losing in all lines: lL\xf7+.
a) 2 ... ~e6 3 fhe7#. 3lL\xf7+ ~g8 4lL\xh6+! ~h8
,
b) 2 ... ~g6 3 llg7+ ~h5 4 llhl#. Or 4 ... gxh6 5 'ii'g6+ ~fS (5 ... ~hS 6
c) 2 ... <.t>f8 3 dxe7+ ~eS 4 exdS"+ lld7 with mate) 6 'ii'f6+ ~gS 7 l:td7,
"
•
llxdS 5 llxdS+ ~xdS 6 i..c7+ 77 also mating.

I llxc7 ~xc7 S g6. 5 lL\f7+ ~g8 6lL\g5 ~f8 7 l:td7 1-0
"
l88} 4lDe71-0
Gelfand - Aronian Black cannot defend against the
Bastia rpd 2003 strong white attack. If 4 ... lDf4 then 5
1 e4! liJc7 g4 threatening lDf5#, which cannot
Alternatively: be stopped without giving up a lot of
a) 1... b5 2 lDce5 lDb4 (if 2 ... lDb6 material, and 4 ... bl is met by 5
Black's queen gets caught after 3lDg4 ~h5 6 g4+ ~h4 7 lDf5#.
"g6 4lDf4 "g5 5 h4) 3lDg4 4
lDde5 and Black will lose his queen as 190}
4... is met by 5lDf6+. Timman - Piket
b) 1...dxe3 2 fxe3 "g6 3ll:Jce5 Amsterdam (6) 1995
4lDxf7! 1:txf7 5 :xc8+:f8 (5 ... ~f8 6 Here Black wrongly played 1... g2?
Zlxf7 ~xf7 7 e4lDe3 8 "f3+ wins for and lost after 2 ~f8 3
White) 6 l:tfxf8+ ~xf8 7 e4 ltJe3 8 However, 1...:0! would have won
"f3 winning. the game for him:
2~f4 2:xn
2 lDb6 also wins the exchange, but 2 ~f8 3 "d3 g2 wins for
the move played is stronger. Black, and after 2 "d5 :xd I + 3 I
2... lDb5 3 e5 4 lDb6 liJc6 5 g2 Black gets a new queen.
lDxa8 2.....xn+ 3 ~b2
and White won. 3 ... g2 is less clear as it allows White
to play 4 and start checking.
189) The text-move keeps control.
Topalov - Peng Xiaomin 4~c3 5
Elista OL 1998 Or 5 6 8+ ~g7 7
1 :xr6+! ~xr6 2 ~g7 + ~f6. This line shows why the
2 ... ~g5 is answered by 3 h4+ ~h6 queen is better placed on f2: White has
(3 ... ~h5 4 mates) 4 lDe7+ ~h5 run out of checks.
(4 ... ~g7 5 f6+ ~h8 6 f7 with mate to 5...~f8
follow) 5 + ~g4 (or 5 ... ~xh4 6 White cannot stop Black from get-
"xh7+ ~g5 7 ~h4 8 g3+ ~h3 ting a new queen.
9'ii'h5+~xg3 1O:f3#) 6 g7+~xh4
7 g3+ ~h3 8 ~xg3 9 "g5+ 191)
~h3 10 :f3#. Tal - Ljubojevic
3f6+~h6 Mila" 1975
3 ... ~xg6 does not help Black: 4 f7+ 1...lDxd3 2 lbd3 3 'ii'e2 ~a6
rjjg7 5 ~f8 6 (or 4 :fdl 'iWd5 5 h4 ~xd3 6 :xd3
6.....e77 7 :xf8 8 Black is two pawns up and later
~g6 9 ~h5 10 g4#. won the game.
192) 2 ... g5 loses a piece after 3 ~xdS

Geller - Korchnoi gxf4 4 ~xf6.
Moscow 1975 3liJd7! 1-0
White could have decided the game Black loses; e.g .• 3 ......xd7 4 xf6
immediately by: mating. or 3 ... ~g5 4 'it'bS+. which
I lLlxg6! fxg6 also ends up in mate.
If I ... hxg6 then 2 ~xg6 and now:
a) 2...J:ldl 3 ~h7+ 'itJhS 4 ~f5+ 195)
~gS 5 J:lxe6! and Black has to give up Timman - Spassky
his queen to avoid immediate mate. Hilversum (3) 1983
b) 2... .i.h3+ 3 h3 fxg6 (after I... !2
3... Black gets mated straight 2 does not work because of
away: 4 J:leS+ ~g7 5 "'hS#) 4 J:le6 the zwischenZllg 2... J:lxd I +. and other
and once again Black will have to give queen moves. such as 2 will
up his queen to avoid mate. transpose to the game.
c) 2... lLlxd4 3 ~h7+ ~hS 4 ~d3+ 2.. .l:txdI3 I ~c6 0-1
~gS 5 .h7+ ~f8 6 ~e7 7 White loses the knight on a4.
and White is winning.
2 ~xg6 ~h3+!? 196)
Or: 2... 3 J:lxe6!; 2 ...J:la7 3 lhe6! Polugaevsky - Torre
4 .i.xh7+ wins the black queen. Londoll 1984
3 "'xg6 I J:lxg6+! fxg6 2 'itJh8
Or 3... hxg6 4 J:le6 with a decisive Or 2 ...~fS 3 ~h6#.
attack against the black king. 3
4 J:le6 .f7 S J:lxc6 3 + ~gS 4 ~h6! straight away
White is two pawns up. leads to the same conclusion. but White
decided to win the e-pawn before pro-
193) ceeding.
Larsen - Karpov 3 ••• ~g84 ~h8
Amsterdam (IBM) 1980 4 ... ~g7 5 'it'h6+ ~n 6 e6+ ~gS 7
1.. ..i.xd4! 2 ~xd4 3 J:la3 also wins for White.
J:lel+ 0-1 S "'h6+ 'itJg8 6 ~h8 7 "ii'hS+
Black loses a piece after 4 J:lxe I ~g8 8~h6!
"'xel+5~f1 ~a6. Threatening "'g6-g7#.
8... ~fS
194) Or S... ~hS 9 ~f8+ ~gS \0 "'g6+
Portisch - Christiansen ~xfS II e6 12
London (Phillips & Drew) 1982 9 "'g6+ ~h8 10 ~xfS J:lxfS II
I ~xc4! bxc4 2 ~aS! 'ilVh6+ ~g8 12 J:la3 1-0
The attack by the white queen and 4•.•f6

rook is decisive; e.g., 12 ... ~ 13 l:tf3+ Or:
~e714 +~e6ISl:txf8andBlack a) 4 .. .lDeS fails to S lDxeS dxeS 6
has to give up his queen to avoid mate. .i.b6 "'e7 7 l:te3 and White has to give
up a lot of material to avoid mate.
197) b) 4 ... l:teS can be met by S lDxeS
Timman - Karpov dxeS 6 d6 7 l:te3 f6 S l:tg3+ ~f7
London 1984 9 l:tg7+ ~e6 10 l:te7+ and Black has
longS! 2 .i.xgS .i.b41 3 ~f2 to give up his queen to avoid mate in
3 lD<i2 l:txeS 4 l:teS S the line 1O ... ~xd6 II "'xf6+ .i.e6 12
~heS+ 6 ~f2 7 ~g I .i.xd2
wins for Black. S l:te7?
3 ...l:thf8+ 4 ~g2 The best defensive try is S... l:teS,
4 ~gl does not save White: 4 ... l:tf3 but White still wins after 6lDxeS dxeS
5 "'d4 l:txg3+ 6 ~h2 "'f3 7 l:tc2 l:th3+ 7 l:te3! exd4 S l:tg3+ 9 fxg3 as
S ~gl l:txhl#. Or4 .i.f4 l:txeS! and the the black pieces are too uncoordinated
black attack is irresistible. to fight the white queen and the many
4 •••l:txeS! S "'xeS "'f3+ 6 ~h2 pawns .
• f2+ 0-1 6 1-0
White is mated in a few moves after Now Black gets mated: 6 ... ~f7 7
7 ~h3 .i.cS+. .i.g7 ':eS S lDgS+ ~e7 9 .i.f6+ ~d7
10 7+ and mate next move.
198)
Sax- 199)
Lugallo 1987 Timman - Ljubojevic
I l:txg7+! ~xg7 2 ~g8 3 Brussels (World Cup) 1988
i.e3 4 .i.d4 (D) 1...llxg2+! 2 ~xg2 3 ~gl
.i.xg3! 4 fxg3 S ~n
After S ~hl Black's advan-
tage is decisive as his pieces are ide-
B ally placed for an attack against the
white king. One sample line is: 6 gl
7 g2l:th6+S~gl 1+9
~f2lDeS! (the knight joins the attack)
10 ~e3 'it'd3+ II ~f2 l:tf6+ 12 ~e I
~: lDf3+ 13 ~f2 lDh4+ and Black wins.
S......xe3 6 We2
This loses immediately, but other
, moves only prolong the pain: 6 I
7 l:te2 l:th6 8 ~g I lLle5 and

Black has a winning attack; 6 l:te2
+7 ~el g3 8 l:taa2 1+ 9 ~d2
g2 and Black wins.
6 •• ':f6+ 0-1
White resigned due to 7 ~e I 1+
8 I l:tf1+!.
200)
Korchnoi - Yusupov
Rotterdam ECC /988
1 l:th8+! ~xh8 2 l:tdl
Or 2 ... ~fS 3 l:th I + ~h6 4 lLlg4! Black does not have a good square
and White wins. for the bishop. and it cannot be covered
] l:txdl l:txdl 4lLlxdl either: 1... ~g5? 2 or 1... ~e5 2
Black loses material due to the lLlxe5 dxe5 3 "'2 l:ta5 4 • when
threats of '6'e8+ and f4. when Black White has won a vital pawn.
cannot keep the e7-bishop covered. 2 l:txf6 ] ..n + 4 'itog]
4.....xeS "gl+ 5 ~h4 1-0
,
, , Or 4 ... lLld7 5 lLlfS 6 f4.
,
,
I I ' ,
5 1-0 203)
I,,i'
White wins the black bishop with Benjamin - Rohde
check. USA Ch (Cambridge Sprillgs) /988
White missed the chance to play 1
, ,
201) l:tf6. when the white rook penetrates
,
,
, ,
I '
Larsen - Vaganian the black position with decisive effect.
'I ;
I I,' Esbjerg /988 Both l:tg6+ and are threatened.

, ,
1...l:tdl+! 2 ~n 1.. ':f8 2 l:tg6+ 'itoh7
'
, ,' ,'
I '
, I
: "
,I
2 ~xd I? I + leads to mate. Otherwise White wins the h-pawn;
2 .. ':xf1+! ] ~xn '6'dl+ 4 e.g .• 2 ... ~f7 3 l:txh6 and White wins;
~xg2+! 5 'itoxg2 0-1 2 ... ~h8 3 l:txh6+ ~g7 4 ~f7
5
202) 3 lLlf6+ .u.xf6
Karpov - Portisch If 3 ... ~h8 then Black is mated: 4
7ilburg /988 l:txh6+ ~g7 5 ~f7 6
1 l:tf3 (D) ~e7 7 lLld5+ ~d8 8 + l:tf6 9
This excellent quiet move threatens ~d7 IO"e7#.
l:txf6. 4 l:txf6 ~b2 5 l:tn
1... and White will win quickly.
,
I,
I
,,,
\ : II I ,
" ..." - • "lEklQ! .:] ..
e ran mas er a en
es urse
This is the second of the two test chapters. This chapter contains 9 tests with 12
puzzles in each. You can achieve a maximum total of 36 points in each test. To
find your approximate Elo rating. take a look at the conversion table below. Like
I said in Chapter 2. you should be aware that the result of such a test should only
be viewed as a rough guideline. Playing a few tournaments is a much more accu-
rate way to measure your Elo.
As in Chapter 2. remember that you need to find the winning line. rather than
just the correct move in the diagram position. In some cases. most of the points
are awarded to the key moves in the follow-up. In these tests you can get minus
points for suggesting an obvious move that has a serious tactical drawback. so it
is especially important to calculate all the important lines to a finish.
You can use as much time as you want to for these exercises. but I would sug-
gest somewhere between I and 2 hours for solving the 12 positions in a test.
Good luck!
Points Elo 15-17 1800

0 1000 or lower 18-20 1900
I 1100 21-23 2000
2 1200 24-26 2100
3 1300 27-29 2200
4-5 1400 30-31 2300
6-8 1500 32 2400
9-11 1600 33 2500
12-14 1700 34-36 2600 or above
In case of a negative score. the result should be counted as O.

Test 2


THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.F:NGE - TEST YOURSELF 99
White to play 210 White to play




THE GRANDMASTER CHAT.1.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 101
Test 3

-~~ --- -- ~------~=
I
White to play 222 Black to play

-------; 7--;; , - - - - ---------------=
_______ o.~=

THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.T.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 103
. .., .. ",,---. --. __ ._- .. _.. ~:.:. "-----


Test 4
_~________ _____ _ ____________ -0-- __ -
228 Black to play DO White to play


(Solution: see p. 131) (Solution: p. 131)
THE GRANDMASTER CHALLENGE - TEST YOURSELF 105
_• _ J
232 White to play 2J4 White to play

r· . . .
. .I

-=-- ------- --------- -----------
:
--

- - -- --
~
1:
-- - -
1:
THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.lRNGE - TEST YOURSELF 107
Test 5
. -- = ;----, = 7.----" =C--~==

(Solution: p. 134) (Solution: see p. 134)
I
.~


-~~- -~--------~ ~-- =~o-

THE GRANDMASTER CHALLENGE - TEST YOURSELF 109

:1
,

(Solution: see p. 135) (Solution: see p. (36)
Test 6
,-----==------------------ --
------- --- - ---~


THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF III




THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 113
Test 7
' .. _-- -
264 Black to play U6 to play

26S White to play 267 White to play

,-:---_._--" -= ,---_.- == ._-----"-'-'- .._-_._- - -


THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF 115

273 White to play 27S Black to play

Test 8
,,.
•
•
I.
I.
,I :
,' •

• •.'
,•
•
••
• ,
•
I (Solution: see p. 142) (Solution: see p. 142)
THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.ENGE - TEST YOURSELF Il7

.. - . _.


. _. -.
28S Black to play 287 Black to play

THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.lENGE - TEST YOURSELF 119
Test 9




THE GRANDMASTER CHATJRNGE - TEST YOURSELF 121

2')7 Black to play 299 Black to play

Test 10
~i


THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.f:NGE - TEST YOURSELF 123

---------------------------=


•
--------_. __.,-_ .. __ . __ . ,- - ._-_. -- .. -,_ ..

o utions ran master
a en e
Solutions for Test 2 207)

M. Gurevich - Malakhov
204) Saint Vincent 2002
Minasian - 1 lLlxb6! .txb6 2 .td6 lLlds
Elista OL /998 After 2... 8 3 .i.xf8 "'xf8 4 l:tc8
1 l:thS+! 1-0 lLle85 .tc6 l:te7 (or 5 ... .:tc7 6 l:tdd8) 6
Black gets mated after I.. .gxh5 2 ltd7 Black loses further material.
l:tg7+ 'it'h8 3 'fih6#. 3.txe7
/ point for / l:th5+!. Black resigned a few moves later.
2 points for J fub6!.
205)
Zviagintsev - Aleksandrov 208)
Moscow 2003 Kharlov - Iskusnykh
1...lLlxeS! 2 dxe5 'ii'xeS+ 3 Mo.~cow 2003
1 .txb4 axb4 2 :al ft'b2 3 l:e2
Black wins the exchange, and the 4 l:te2 S .te4 1-0
white counterattack is not dangerous: 3 point.r for seeillg 5.tc4. trappillg
4 lLlxf7 0-0 S .txe6 .teS 6 ttJeS+ the black queell.
~h8 0-1
/ pointfor 1... lLlxe5!. 209)
Bareev - Leko
206) Canlles 2002
Torre - Vaganian 1 ltel! .th6
Londo" /984 Other moves do not solve the prob-
1.•. gS! 2 'iVeS lem. White wins in all lines:
2 ..wxg5+ fails to 2 ... l:tg7. a) 1... lLlc6 2 l:xd6 'it'xd6 3lLlxb7+
2 .•.l:te7 'it'e7 4.:txc6.
The white queen is trapped. White b) l...lLl4b5 2 a4 lLla7 3 lLlxa6+
tried 3 l:txdS ltxe5 4 l1xeS but later 'it'd7 4 l:c7+ 'it'e6 5lLlc5+ ~f5 6 l:xd6.
lost the game. c) 1... .tf8 2 lLlxb7+ 'it'xb7 (White
2 points for l...g5!. also wins after 2 ... 'it'd7 3 lLlc5+ 'it'd8 4
lbe4:e6 5lLlg5 :f6 6lLlxh7) 3 :b5+ Black resigned eight moves later.
~a7 4 :c7+ lLlb7 5 :cxb7+ ~a8 6 3 points for seeing 2 e5+!.
:b8+ ~a7 7 :5b7#.
2 lLlxa6+ 1-0 212)
Black loses more material: 2 ... ~d7 Shirov - Korchnoi
3 :c7+ ~e6 4lLlc5+ ~f5 5 :xd6. Plovdiv Echt 2003
3 points for finding 1 1!. :c 1...lLlxf2? looks tempting. but loses
immediately:
210) 2 ~xf2 :e2 3 Da2 1-0
Onishchuk - Vescovi White has indirectly covered his f2-
Poikovsky 2002 bishop. so 3 ...:xf2 is met by 4 ~xh7+
I 1-0 ~xh7 5 :xf2.
It's mate in three: I... 2 Deduct 2 pointsfor 1... lLlxj2? which
~f53 lo.res the game. 3 points for any other
3 points for spotting 1 h7!. move which does not leave pieces en
•
pnse.
211)
Bareev - Onishchuk 213)
Moscow rpd 2002 Hjartarson - Portisch
I ~dl (D) Linares 1988
White missed the following shot:
IlLlxf7! (D)
1...lLlf4 ......·.·cc
Or I ... lLld4 2 :xd4+! winning a
knight. and after l...lLlgi 2 ~el White 1...lLlxf7
picks up the black knight with ~2. Or:
2 e5+! ~xe5 3 :e4+ ~5 4 g4+ a) I ... 2 :xe6 and 2 .....xe6?
~g5 5 h4+ ~xh4 6 Lf4 fails to 3
SOLUTIONS FOR THE GRANDMASTER CHALLENGE 117
b) 1...~xg7 2lLlxd6 3 g5+ The knight is trapped.

and White has a pawn and a strong at- 6•. ':cS 7 l:txb2 l:tct + 8 ~n ~b5 9
tack. lbd21-0
c) 1... l:txe3 2 ~h7+! ~xg7 (White 5 points for seeing the game line up
also mates after 2 ... ~xh7 3 to 5 b3.
~gS 4 1i'hS+ ~xn 5 3
~xn4 ~f85 215)
2 P. Horvath - Todorovic
Black is lost; e.g., 2 ... lLlg5 3 l:txe6 Budapest 2003
and Black loses material. In the game I ~xf7+!! f/;xf7 2 l:td7+! lLlxd7
White played I g4?, but later lost. Or 2 ...~gS 3 n+ ~hS 4
2 points for seeing 2 in the l:txeS 5 l:txf8+! and mate next move.
main line, and afurther 3 pointsfor 2 3 ~e6 4 ~d6 (D)
~h7+! in line ·c'. 4 ...~f7 5 ~g6 6 1i'g7+ ~h5
7 1i'n+ ~g4 S h3+ ~xg3 9 and
214) Black cannot cover all the mate threats.
Harikrishna - Krush
Ha.ftings 200/12
White won with the following se-
quence: w
I lLlxa4 2 l:txcs+ ~xc8 3
l:tct ~d7
Other moves are no better: 3 ... ~dS
4 ~xe7+ ~xe7 5 b3 lLlb2 6 l:tc2;
3 ... ~b7 4 ~xe7 ~xf3 5 gxf3 ~xe7 6
b3 lLlb2 7 l:tc2.
4 ~xe7 ~xe7 5 b3lLlb2 6 l:tc2 (D)
•
5 l:tdl+ ~c5
B 5 ... ~c7 6 + ~bS 7
~a7 S 1i'xe5 and Black can resign.
6 a3! 1-0
~f2# is coming up next move.
2 points for / . +!!, and 3 extra
points for 2 fld7+!. If you suggested
changing the move-order with / fld7!?
you get 2 points in consolation, as this
move is also sufficient for a win.
Solutions for Test 3 2 ~h2 l:tel 3lbg7+ ~h8 4iLlxcl

Sl:txf7 l:txel?
216) 5... is better. but White sti II
Gallagher - Nisipeanu wins the endgame after 6 <;Pxg3 l:txc I
Cappel/e la Grande 2002 7 l:txe7.
I... l:txfl! 0-1 6 f4 1-0
Black wins easily. as 2 gxf3 After this Black cannot avoid mate;
3 ~f1 fixf2# is mate. for example. 6... 7 <;Pg8 8
1 point for 1... l:tx/3!.
2 pointsfor 1 l:te5!.
217)
U Shilong - Halkias 219)
Linare.f 2002 Epishin - Short
1....i.h4+! 2 ~g2 Malmo 2002
2 ~xh410ses at once to 2 ... l...l:[el + 2 l:[xel l:txel + 3 'iPa2 (D)
2... 3 ~ .i.xf2
and Black won.
2 points for 1... .i.h4+!.
B
218)
Goloshchapov - Jobava
Dubai 2002
I l:teS! (D)
: •
3... ! 4 ~xa3 l:tal+ 5 <;Pb2

6 ~c3 ""3+0-1
White is mated next move: 7 'iPd4
1 point for 1... l:tc1+. and a further

2 point.'f for finding 3... "c4+!.
220)
I .....al+ - Fedorov
Or 1... dxe5 2 l:txg7+ ~h8 (2 ... ~f8 Batumi Ech 2002
3 l:tg8#) 3 l:tg5 and Black gets mated. liLlgS! a3
SOLUTIONS FOR THE GRANDMASTER CHAllENGE 129
Black is mated if he accepts the Threatening •
knight sacrifice: 1... hxg5 2 and 1.....gS+

mate next move. After 1... d5 2 lDh7 l... 2liJd2 3 ~h7
Black loses material as he has no 4 l:th 1+ wins the black queen.
proper square for the rook. 2ltXi2 3 4
2 lDh7 dS 3 l:txd7! Or4
and White won. 4.....fS
3 points for .vpotting J lDg5!. 4 .....xg6 5 'iWf8+ ~h7 6 l:thl+ is
the same as the note to Black's 1st
221) move.
Bu Xiangzhi - Li Wen liang Si6'h4 i6'xeS?
Qingdao 2002 After 5... 6 'fIxe7 White is the
Il:txa6 1-0 exchange up, and Black cannot avoid
Black ends up a piece down after further loss of material.
l...l:txa3 2 lDxb5 l:ta2 3 l:tbxa4 6 'iWh7# (1-0)
2 points for spotting J l:txa6. 2 points for J !, and a further 2
point.r for finding 4 or4 .
222)
Macieja - Fontaine 225)
I.vtanbul Eeh 2003 Kveinys - Sulskis
I ...l:txel + 2lDxel .i.e2 3 lDg2 lDg4 Lithuanian eh (Vilniu.r) 2002
4 ~h7 S d4+ g6 6 .i.xg6+ ~g7 I... 2 i6'dS
0-1 2 l:td5 can be met by 2 ... l:txg2+! 3
Black has to give up his queen to ~xg2 lDe6 4 ! 5 Wxd5
avoid mate. lDf4+ 6 ~f3 lDxd5.
3 point.vfor seeing up to 3 ... lDg4. 2... 3 l:txdS lDe6 0-1
White has no defence against the
223) threats of ... l:txg2+ and ... lDf4.
Krasenkow - McShane 4 pointsfor seeing up to 3 ... lDe6 in
Esbjerg 2003 the game line.
l...fxg30-1
Black wins a piece after 2 hxg3 226)
Yagupov - Korotylev
2 poims for .fugge.vting l...fxg3. Mo.vcow 2002
I.i.xn+!! ~xf7 2lDgs+ ~ (D)
224) Or:
Svidler - Short a) 2... ~g8 3 ""3+ ~h8 4 lDf7+
Dubai rpd 2002 ~g8 5 lDh6+ ~h8 6 ! and mate
li6'O! next move.
b) 2...Wf63 ~S4g4+~xg4 S ~xe2 6 ~f2lLlf6

S l:tgi + and now: After 6 ...cxd6 7 l:thel Black loses
bI) S...~h4 6 l:txe3+ 7 ~f2 material.
and White's attack is decisive. 7 l:thel 8lbe4 1-0
b2) S... ~hS 6 1+ ends up in If 8 ... .i.xe4. then 9 lLlxh7#.
mate. 2 poimsfor 1 .i.xj7+!!. and a fur-
b3) S... ~fS 6 ~f6 (6 ... .i.e4 ther 3 points/or sponing 3 in the
7lLlxe4 l:txe4 8 l:tgS+ ~f6 9 and game line.
White is material up with a continuing
attack) 7 lLlxh7+ ~e6 (or 7... ~f7 8 227)
~g8 9 8 l:txg6+ lLlf6 Anand - Topalov
(8 ...~f7 also leads to mate: 9 lLlgs+ Dortmund 2001
~f8 10 lLlf6 11 l:txf6+ .i.xf6 12 1...l:tf4!! (D)
~g8 13 + ~h8 14 7#) 9 After this move. White has no de-
lLlgs+ ~d7 10 ~c6 (lO ... ~xd6 fence. In the game Black continued
11 0-0-0+ .i.dS 12 'iVxd5+ ~e7 13 1... but his attack was neutralized
.i.cS#) 11 + ~d7 12 l:txg7 + ~d8 by 2 .i.xf2+ 3 ~h 1 4
13 dxc7+ and mate next move. ~xh2 and White managed to escape
with a draw.
w
w
J lbeJ+ 4 ~2 l:te2+
On 4 ...lLleS White should play S 2 'iVcJ 'iVh4 J .c2 lU8!
lLlxh7+ (if S fxeS? then S... 6 This is the most precise move.
~xe3 and Black wins) S...~e8 avoiding a check on c8 and getting
6 'iVg8+ ~d7 7 + ~xd6 8 ~xe3 ready to play ... g3. Black wins.
with a decisive advantage. 5 points for 1... 'D.j4!!.
SOLUTIONS FOR THE GRANDMASTER CHATJENGE 131

Bauer - Korchnoi
228) Enghien les Bains 2003
Sulava - Flear 1 l:tgl+ ¢>h8 2 1-0
Saint Vincent 2002 Black has no reasonable way to de-
I ... fend f6. and 2 .....xd6 allows 3 liJf7#.
Black has deadly threats on h2 and 3 points for 2
cl.
2liJf7+ <i;g7 3 ~xf3 'iWxe 1+ 4 ¢>g2 233)
:Xe80-1 Inarkiev - Kiriakov
1 point for 1... Russian Ch (Kra.tnoiarsk) 2003
Here Black played I ...d6. However.
229) he had something much stronger:
Vaganian - Banikas 1... liJxf3+! 2 gxf3 i.xf3 3 %lgl
Istanbul Ech 2003 4 l:tg5 h6 5 l:tg6 ¢>f7
I b7? loses. because Black can play White loses a rook.
l...liJe3+! 2 fxe3 xa63 4 2 points for I ... ltJxf3+!. and an ad-
¢>h3 (or 4 ¢>gI winning a piece ditional point for seeing up to 4 ... h6.
and the game) 4... 5 Wxd6 +6
¢>h2 I and Black wins. 234)
However. 1 "81+!. followed by b7, Glek - Rustemov
forced immediate resignation. Bundesliga 200314
2 points for 1 I+!. Deduct 2 1 Ilxd5! (D)
points for the losing 1 b7?
230)
Ye Jiangchuan - Xu Jun B
Yongchuan Z 2003
1 exf6! 1-0
Black loses his queen or gets mated
after I .....xf4 2 hxg7#.
2 points for 1 exf6!.
231)
Hasangatin - Harikrishna
Abu Dhabi 2003
I ...l:tal+ 2 ¢>g2 ¢>e4 0-1 1...exd5
The white rook has no squares. I... ? fails to 2liJe7+.
2 points for seeing 2... ¢>c4. 2 liJe7 + ¢>f7
Other moves also lose: 2... ~f8 3 ~g8 6 :g7+ ~h8 7 then 5
:e6 4 ~e8 5 /t)xd5+ ~d7 .+ ~ 6 dxe6 mates next move.
6 :f6+ ~e8 7 and mate next 4 points/or J iLg7!.
move; 2... ~h8 3 :e6 4
mating; 2 ... ~h7 3 :e6 4 237)
and Black gets mated. Browne - Ribli
3 ~f8 SurakartalDenpasar J982
Or 3... ~f6 4 "g6#. 1 /t)xg6! (D)
4 "xe7 5 llxe7 ~e7 6
and White won.
3 point.v/or J l:txd5!.
B
235)
Topalov - Ponomariov
Leon 2003
In the game White played I :g4?
and later lost. The right move is:
1 Ilxg6+! iLxg6
1... hxg62 also wins for White.
2 3dxeS
and White wins.
3 points/or J l:txg6+!. 1...l:te8
Accepting the sacrifice is no better:
236) 1... hxg6 2 ! (2 iLxg6? 3
Movsesian - Belov "e6+ ~h8 4 5 '6'xh6+
Istanbul Ech 2003 iLxh6 6 iLxd4+ iLg7 and White should
1 iLg7! /t)c4 lose) 2...~h8 3 ~g8 4 iLxg6
Black gets mated straight away if :f6 5 'iWh7+ ~f8 6 iLxd4 and Black
he accepts the sacrifice: 1... iLxg7 2 has no defence; for example, 6...:xfl +
:xg7+ ~xg7 3 ~6+ ~f6 (3 ... ~f7 4 7 :xfl+ ~e7 8 + ~d6 9
+ ~f6 5 g5+ ~xg5 6 4 ~c6 (9 ... ~d7 IO :f7+ ~c6 II iLe4+
g5+ ~f7 5 7+ ~f8 6 "h8+ ~f7 7 with mate to follow) 10 iLe4+ ~d7 II
:h7#. :f7+ and mate next move.
2 iLxc4 iLxg7 2 iLe4 3 iLxe4 :xe4 4 ..rs
2... loses to 3 iLxf6 exf6 4 1-0
:h8+ ~f7 5 :lh7#. White is threatening 'iff7#, and
3 :xg7+ ~xg7 4 ltJe6+ 1-0 Black is lost; for example, 4... 5
If 4 ... iLxe6 (4 ... ~g8 5 :h8+ ~xh8 :e6 (or 5.....e6 6 li:Je7+ win-
6 ~g8 7 "g7#; 4 ... ~f7 5 :h7+ ning material) 6 :de I :cc6 7 :xe6
Axe6 (7... 8 "d8+ and Black is 4... 5 ~d6 eS+ 6 ~c7 7

mated) 8 lbf4 and Black loses due to ~xc6
the pin on the rook. Or 7 ~b7 "c8#.
4 points for seeing that 2 ! is 7... (0-1)
the right move if Black accept.r the 4 points for 3... +!.
sacrifice. Deduct 2 points for the re-
flex 2 Lg6?, which lo.res the game. 239)
Leko - Bologan
238) Dortmund 2003
Izoria - Kupreichik
I.rtanbul Ech 2003 This move threatens ...
Black has a mating attack. 21la3
1... +2cM3lbeS+3~4(D) Other moves also lose material: 2
Ad6 ~a4 or 2 J:la5 I.
2 ......gS! 3 Ae3
Black cannot avoid losing material:
B a) 3 ! 4 Ad3 (or 4
exd5 5 Ad3 ~a4) 4... 51:txd4 e5
6 AdS ~e7 7 Ad5 ~a4.
b) 3 4 (or 4
Ad3 5 l:txd6 ~a4) 4 ... ~xe7 5
Ad3.ia4.
c) 3 f4 "c5+ 4 Ae3l:txd I + 5 I
•
3....ia4 4 ~h2 5 g3l:txdl 6

0-1
! 4~xeS After 7 gxf4 White is a piece down.
On 4 g4 5 ~xe5 0-0-0 White 4 points for 1.....e5! and an addi-
has to give up his queen to avoid ... f6#. tional point for 2... g5!.
Solutions for Test 5 2 points for 1 7!. Deduct two

points for 1 JLh3?
240)
Jenni - Renet 244)
Swiss Cht 2002 Cu. Hansen - McShane
1 2d7~h73 Esbjerg 2001
with an easy win for White. I..Jlxr2! 0-1
1 point for 1 ikxe6!. White resigned as he loses his queen
after 2 ~xf2 l%b2+: 3 ~e3 llJdS+, 3
241) ~gl llJh3+ 4 lhh3 Wkg2# or 3 ~f1
Pavlovic - V. Georgiev 1+ 4 llgl .
Plovdiv Echt 2003 3 poiflts ft)r 1... llxj2!.
1 llxc5! bxc5 2 ike4+ 1-0
It's mate in a few moves; for exam- 245)
ple, 2... 3 + ~g8 4 Berndt - Doettling
~f8S Bundesliga 200112
2 points for 1 llxe5!. 1 JLxg6! hxg6
If I... then 2 ~xe8+ ~f8 3
242) llxdS ~lte8 and White easily wins the
Leko - Grishchuk endgame.
Cap d'Agde rpd 2003 211xg6+~(D)
1..•11Jh4+! 0-1 2 ... ~h8 is met by 3 'ifh7 4
Black wins the white queen after 2 llh6.
gxh4 llg6+ 3 ~f1
2 points for 1... llJh4+!.
243) w
Kempinski - Kozul
Rethymnon ECC 2003
1
White wins a piece because of the
threat of
I ~h3?, on the other hand, leads
to a losing endgame for White: after
I... 1+2'ifxblllJxbI3JLxd7~xd7
Black is a pawn up, and he will also
pick up the dS-pawn. 3 'ike7
1..:.81+ 2 ~h2 ~b6 3 'ifxd7 Both 3... l:tee7 and 3... l:tce7 are met
and Black lost. by 411f6.
4 'ikf75 JU'6 and White resigned ten moves later.

with a won position for White. 2 points for l...a6! and a further 2
3 points for 1 Lg6!. points for seeing 3... :117. as played in
the game.
246)
H. Hunt - Yakovich 249)
Stockholm (Rilton Cup) 2002 Apicella - Bauer
1 l:txc3 2 fxe6 l:te7 3 llxb7! French Ch (Aix' les Bains) 2003
l:txb7 4 e7 White opened lines on the kingside
White wins, since Black is a piece with the following beautiful idea:
down after 4 ... ~f7 (or 4 ... l:txe7 5 1 .i.xgS! .i.xgS 2.f6+! 1-0
.i.xd5+ winning) 5 .i.xd5++ ~xe7 6 After 2 ... .i.xf6 3 l:tg3+ Black is
l:tf7+ ~e8 711xb7. mated in two more moves.
3 points for seeing 3l:txb7!. 4 points for spoiling 2 ..I
247) 250)
Brynell - Popov Yagupov - Tishin
Stockholm (Rifton Cup) 2002 Donskoi 2000
1..JWc1+ 2 ~g211xr2+! 0-1 1...lDf3+! (D)
After 3 ~xf2lDd I + White loses his
queen.
3 points for finding 2... l:txj2+!.
w
248)
Fridman - Grishchuk
Mainz 2003
1...a6!
The white queen will be trapped in
the middle of the board.
2
2 'ika5 lDd5 followed by ... l:tcS or
... .i.d8 will win the queen.
2... h6! 3 2~h1
3 'ikh4 gS 4 (or 4 'ikd4 eS win- 2 l:txf3 'W'xe4! is very strong for
ning the queen) 4 ... g4 S 'ikh4lDeS and Black (if 3 ? then 3 ... l:td 1+ mat-
White cannot stop ... lDg6 trapping the ing).
queen. 3 is still met by 3... lDds 2...
with the same ideas as before. This is the simplest move (though
3 .. .l:th7 4 'ikxh7lDxh7 2...'ifh6, as played in the game, wins as
well), threatening... I + or ... 'ii'h3

with mate to follow.
White has no defence; e.g., 3lDbd2 B
mating.
4 points/or J...lDf3+!.
251)
Gheorghiu - Ljubojevic
Manila 1974
1...:xr2? (D)
White is temporarily two pawns

w down, but the power of the d-pawn is
decisive.
S•..~
Or S ...lDf6 6 d7 lDxd7 7 lDxd7 and
White's extra piece will tell.
6lDd7+ ~e8 7 lDxc5 lDgT 8.i.xb7
lDe6 9.ic6+
White has a won endgame.
, - - - --- -- - - - - -- -- .. _.
10 rxe6 11 ~e3 eS 12 as
.ic2 13 g4 gS 14 .ib7 ~d7 IS .ixa6
This looks tempting, but fails to ... ~xd6 16 .id3 .ia4 17 a6 ~c7 18
2 3lDxeS .irs ~e4 ~b6 19 ~xeS
3...l:td2 4lDxd7lDxg3 SlDxcslDe2+ Black resigned a few moves later.
6 ~h I lDf4 7 .if3lDxh3 SlDe4 is also 5 poin/s/or proposing l...b5!. which
good for White. is the strongest move in the position.
4 ~xf2 .ixbl S d6 (D) Deduct I point/or playing 1...1hj'2?

Czebe - Szeberenyi
252) Budapest 2000
Efimenko - Korobov 1...l:txd2+!
Alushta 2002 Much stronger than 1... ttx6?, which
1 i.c5! 1-0 was played in the game.
Black loses material, as he cannot 2 ~xd2 i.gS+ 3 ~d ll:td8+ 4 i.d3
take the bishop: 1.•. l:txc5 2 lLlxd3
I point for I i.c5!. Black has a clear advantage.
3 points for 1...l:txd2+!.
253)
Klimov - Solozhenkin 257)
St Petersburg Ch 2003 Quinn - Naumkin
1 +! 1-0 Padova 2000
1... 'Iii>xh7 2l:th4+ leads to mate next 1 e3 2lLles 1VhS 31Vxe4 1-0
move. White has won a piece.
I point for l'ikxh7+!. 3 points for I e3.
254) 258)
v. Georgiev - Cebalo Leko - Anand
Reggio Emilia 2002 Cap d'Agde rpd 2003
ll:txg3! fxg3 2l:tn 1-0 1... lLlg3+! 2 hxg3 'iWh3+ 3 ~gl
Black has to give up his rook to 4 ~h 1 l:th4+! S lLlxh4 'ikxe3
avoid mate. and Black won.
2 poi1lfs for I Ilxg3!. 3 points for finding 4.. .l:th4 +!.
255) 259)
T. Pihtz - Gabriel J. Polgar - Lautier
Bundes/iga 200 If2 Enghien les Bains 2003
In the game, White played ll:txc3?, 1 i.g4!
but this continuation does not work: Or l...l:txg4 2 and Black
I...lLlxc3 2 lLle2+ 3 ~h I %lg8 4 loses both rooks.
i.a7 0-1. 21i>e1 e3 3 i.d7+ ~e7 4 i.fS+ 1-0
1 would have won straight 3 points for I i.g4!.
away. After 1... i.xd4 2 White
is threatening both mate at g7 and 260)
Black's queen on b3. Carlsen - Gretarsson
2 poi1lfs for I . Deduct 2 poi1lfs Rethymlloll ECC 2003
for I l:txc3? 1 ~f8 2 ~f7
138 BEA T THE GRANDMASTERS
2 ... J:le7 3..ifS 4 ..ixd7 wins for After 6 l:tgJ l:txgJ+ 7 J

White, as the pin on the rook is deci- White is unable to stop the decisive
•
stve. • ••
3..ig6+! 2 points for 1... f!xg2!. and a fur-

This move forces mate. 3 ..idS+ ther 2 points for suggesting 3 ... J:l83.
also wins. as played in the game.
3 .. .J:lxg6
Or 3 ... ~xg6 4 • 263)
4 "e7#(1-0) Kogan - Bruzon
2 points for finding I +! and Havana (Capablanca mem) 2002
additionally 3 points for 3 ..ig6+! or 3 l...a6! (D)
..id5+.
261)
Bruzon - Nijboer w
Wijk aan Zee 2004
1 J:lxb6! axb6 2lDd5 lDxd5 3
3 ...lDf6 loses quickly to 4 J:lxf6!

with mate on h7 to follow.
4 "xg5 lDf4 5 "xeS
and White won.
2 points for I f!xb6! and 2 more for
finding 3... lDf6 4 f!xf6!.
An excellent quiet move.
262) 2lDc6
Ljubojevic - Gelfand Or 2 f3 + 3 ~c4 bS+ 4 lDxbS
Monaco (Amber rpd) 2002 axbS+ S J:lxbS +6~c3 and
1.. .J:lxg2! 2 "xg2 White is two pieces up.
Or 2 ~xg2 J:lg8+ 3 ~h2 3+ 4 2 ...lDxe4+ 3 4lDxd8
~h J S + and Black Or 4 l:txd8+ ~c7 S J:ld3 ~xc6 6
mates. l:tdd J and Black wins.
2 .. .J:lg8 3 "h2ltg3 4 lDf2lDcxe3 5 4... b5 5 %:td3 ..ie7 6 J:lbdl?
..ixe3 6lDxf7 is stronger, but White is lost
On S J:lgJ Black plays S... J:lxgl+ 6 in any case: 6 ... "c4+ 7 ~b2 _
J and the threat of ... "f3+ 6... (0-1)
• •
decides the game. 5 points for finding the wmnmg
5 ...lDxe3 0-1 1... a6!.
SOLU110NS FOR THE GRANDMASTER CHAl.l.ENGE 139

Sax - Smejkal .
264) Vrbas 1977
Barua - Wells 1 i.xh6! gxh6 ( D)
Gibraltar 2004 1... l:ta7 2 i.e3 followed by h6 is
1...llxd3! 0-1 also winning for White.
Black wins easily as the white king
is too far away to stop the black pawn;
e.g., 2 cxd3 a5 3 ~2 a4 4 bxa4 b3 5
~e2 b2. w
1 point for 1...'lJxd3!.
265)
Kostic - Antic
Belgrade 2001
1 ! -.xe6
1.. .fxe6 2 is also winning
for White.
2l:txc71-0
2 points for 1 fue6+!. 2
In the game White wrongly played
266) 2 l:tg4?, which should have led to a
Varga - Markus stalemate draw with Black sacrificing
Budapest 2000 all his major pieces: 2... 3 g3
1..:6'c3! 0-1 l:td2+ 4 ~h3 l:th2+! 5 ~xh2 l:ta2+ 6
White gets mated; for example, 2 ~h3 l:th2+! 7 ~xh2 8 l:txg3
~dll:tal+ 3 ~e2l:tel +4 ~f2 5 stalemate.
~g2l:tgl+ 6~h2 7 ~h3l:thl#. 2... 3 e7 'ibh6
2 points for I... 3!. Or 3... l:ta8 4 e8'6'+ l:txe8 5 nxe8#.
4 ~h7
267) Or 4... 5 l:te7#.
Grishchuk - Hra~ek Sl:te7+ 6 ~h87
Bundesliga 200213 3 points for 2 . Dedu(:t 1
1 i.c5! 1-0 point for suggesting 2 l:tg4?
This is the best move. as Black has
no proper defence against After 269)
I i.a7 Black can still fight on with Nijboer - Granda
I...l:td I! 2l:txd I li)xa7. Wijk aan Zee 2004
2 points for 1 i.c5!. 1l:tft'2!
Now the black queen can only es- 1 ll'lxe6! lbdJ 2ll'lgS (D)
cape by giving up material.
1....i.c6
I ... l:.ea8 2 l:.d4 l:.xb3 3 cxb3 l:.a 1+ 4
~g2 I 5 I l:.xc I leaves White B
"
the exchange up.
2 l:.d4 f6 3 exf6 gxf6 4 gxhS 1-0
Black had seen enough.
3 points for 1 l:.ff2!.
270)
- Vescovi
Cap d'Agde rpd 1998
White exploited Black's weak back
rank with: 2.....c7
1ll'lc6! Other moves do not save Black:
Or I ... J:.dxc6 2 ihc6 l:.f8 (2 ...'ii'a8 a) 2 ... l:.xc3 3 + ~h8 4
3 'ii'xa8 l:.xa8 4 a7 and White wins the ~g8 (4 ... g6 5 "f6+ ~g8 6 ~h8
endgame) 3 l:.e8. White forces off the 7 "xh7#) 5 ~h8 6ll'lf7+ ~g8 7
rooks, and with the passed a-pawn he ll'lh6+ ~h8 8 g8+ l:.xg8 9ll'lf7#.
will win the queen endgame easily. b) 2 ... l:.d7 3 ~f8 4 l:.el
2ll'le7+ 'ii'xe7 3 l:.xe7 l:.c1+ i.e3 5 'ii'xg7+ ~e8 6 ~e7 7
Or 3 ... l:.dl+ 4 'ii'f1 l:.xfl+ 5 ~xfl i.f6+ ~d6 8 ll'le4+ ~c7 (8 ... ~e6 9
g6 6 l:.el ~f8 7 l:.al l:.a8 8 a7 winning 'ii'h3#) 9 i.e5+ l:.d6 10 i.xd6+ ~d7
for White. 1\ f5 12 ~c8 13 ll'lf6
4'ii'n l:.xn+S~xn ~f86a71-0 "d8 14 'ii'xf5+ and mate next move.
Black will have to give up his rook 3'ii'xh7+~84
for the a-pawn or try to fight a rook vs and White wins.
queen endgame after 6 ... ~xe7 7 a8 . 3 points for 1 fue6!.
6 ...l:.a6 7 l:.b7 is also an easy win for
White. 272)
3 points for 1 ll'lc6!. Leko - Kasparov
Bled OL2002
271) White missed an unexpected op-
Bates - Kosten portunity to win the game here.
British League (4NCL) 200314 1ll'lf8+! ~d6 2 c7!
In the game White played I ?, White wins, as the black bishop is
and did in fact go on to win. However, lost.
he could have won straight away: 2 ...1;xc7 3ll'le6 I ~d6 4 ll'lxgS
and White will win the endgame.

The game continuation was I lLle5
i..d8 2lLlc4 ~d5 Ih-1h. B
4 points for spotting 2 c7!.
273)
P.H. Nielsen - Rogozenko
Bundesliga 200314
1
The fastest way to win the game.
1...~g7 2 'ii'e8! 1-0
A beautiful and decisive cross-pin.
2... ~f6 fails to 3 • picking up the 8...lLld2+ 9 ~2
rook on e7 or mating: 3... llf7 4 If 9 ~g2 then 9... i..c6+ 10 ~f2
4 points for 2 'fIe8!. "d4+ II ~g3 "e5+ 12 ~f2 "f4+ 13
~ellLlxbl and Black is a piece up.
274) 10 ~g3 11 ~2
- Fedorov 12 ~e1 lLlxbl 13
Elista OL 1998 0-1
1...lLlxg4! 2lLlxr4 White is a piece down without com-
Accepting the sacrifice leads to a pensation.
quick end for White: 2 fxg4 llxg3+! 3 2 points for 1... liJxg4!. and aful1her
-'-xg3 + 4 ~f2 lLlxe4+ 5 ~f3 (or 2 points for seeing that 2 ... llxg3+! is
5 ~el i..d2+ 6 ~dl i..a4+ mating) the right follow-up if White accepts
5... 6 ~g2 (or 6 ~xe4 -'-f5#) the sacrifice.
6... 7 ~h I mating next
move. 275)
2 ...exr4 3 fxg4 fxg3 4 i..xg3 (D) Navara - S.B. Hansen
4 •. .llxg3+!? Bled OL 2002
4 ... i..c6! is another simple and very Black played I... ? and lost.
forceful solution. However. he could have won with
S~xg3 6~f2 l...hS+! 2 ~f4 llxr7+! 3
Not 6 ~f4lLle6#. 4 ~fS (or 4 ~g5 4.....g4#.
6...lLlxe4 I 7 ~e1 8 ~n 1 point for 1... h5+! and 4 points for
Or 8 ~d I 'iWd2#. 2 ... llxf7+!.
Solutions for Test 8 but resigned following 2 :fxf7 i.f5 3

:hg7+.
2 points/or I :h7+!.
276)
Chuchelov - Fta~nik 280)
Hamburg 1995 Arakhamia - Rowson
1 1-0 Gibraltar 2004
White exploits the weak back rank. White tried I i.g7+? and soon lost.
The double threat on e8 and a2 wins Instead 1 :tt4+ wins instantly:
material. 1...~g6 2 + ~f7 3 l:.h7+ ~g8
1 point/or 1 'ike2!. 4 <t1'8S i.d6#
3 points/or 1 l:th4+.
277)
Goldin - Svidler 281)
Novosibir.rk 1995 P.H. Nielsen - Larsen
113 Danish Ch (Esbjerg) 1997
Trapping the bishop. 1. ..i.e4! (D)
1...i.fS 2 g4 3 i.g2 i.xg4 4
fxg4
and Black resigned a few moves
later. w
1 point/or 1 j3.
278)
Svidler - Bareev
Wijk aan Zee 2004
1 i.xb7! 1-0
White clears the e-file for a rook with
decisive consequences. If 1... i.xb7
then White simply plays 2 l:.fel.
2 points/or 1 Lb7!. A nice shot. This move would prob-
ably have been easier to spot if there
279) had been a pawn on e4.
C. Horvath - Miezis 2 fxe4
Elista OL 1998 Or 2 e5!? 3 ~c2 f5 4 i.d3
1 :h7+! i.xf3 5 , which wins for
This is decisive as after 1... ~xh7 2 Black.
:xf7+ ~h8 3 White mates in 2...'i¥h1+ 3 ~f2 ~xe4+ 4 .xe4
two more moves. Black tried 1... ~g8
and Black won 12 moves later. 284)

3 points for 1... i..e4!. Stangl- Polzin
Austrian Cht 2004
282) 1...i..d4+! 2 :xd4 :cl+ 3 ~g2
Lobron - Glek 'ti'xh2+ 4 ~f3 WIth 5 ~f4 (D)
Bundesliga 1994/5 White loses his queen in the two
1 (D) other lines: 5 ~xg4 "h5+; 5
:fl+.
B
B
1..':c8
After l.....xd3 2 i..f6! White's mat- 5...:0+
ing threats force heavy material gains. In the game Black inserted a repeti-
l...~ is met by 2 i..f6. tion with 5... before proceeding
2 ~3lk3"a44 as in the text.
This is faster than 4 :xc8+, as 6"xn
played in the game. Or6~xg4 .
4 ...~e7 5 i..f6+ ~d7 6 6... 7~xg4 f6
1 pointfor 1 g5! and 2 more points White has to give up the rook to
for .reeing 1..."xd3 2 i..f6!. stop ... h5+ and... 1#.
2 point.rfor 1... il..d4+!. and 2 more
283) points for seeing up to 4 .....hl +.
Scherbakov - Savchenko
Orebro ECC 1995 285)
1...li:)g8+! 2 ~e6 Uhlmann - Gulko
Or 2 ~f5 li:)h6+. NikJif: 1978
2... 0-1 Black should play 1... e2! 2 :el
White loses his queen. Ae3! cutting the white king off along
3 points for 2... b3 +. the third rank, whereupon the black
king will decide the matter; e.g., 3 2 .i.xc3 is met most effectively by
~g4 ~e5 4 ~g5 ~e4 5 ~g4 ~d3 6 2 ...lDxf3+! 3 gxf3 (3 ~hl 4 gxf3
~f4~d2. transposes) 3.....xe2+ 4 ~hl "'xf3+ 5
The game instead ended: 1... ~f5? ~gl lDf4 and Black will quickly de-
2 ~g3 ~e4 3 ~g2 l:tg6+ 4 ~fl <M3 5 cide matters on the kingside.
l:tb3? (White could have reached a 2 ...lDxfJI! 3 gxf3 (D)
draw by 5 l:tb2! due to the stalemate
idea 5 ... l:ta6 6 l:tf2+!) 5 ... l:ta6 6 l:tbl
l:th6 7 ~g I l:tg6+ 0-1. White re.signed
due to 8 ~f1 e2+ 9 ~el l:tgl+. B
4 poillt.r for .feeillg the willllillK
2... l:te3!.
286)
Akopian - Kramnik
Wijk 0011 Zee 2004
1 l:th7!!
The rook is used to decoy the black
king to h7.
1... 3...
,•
If 1... ~xh7 then 2 lDxe7+ ~h6 3 A beautiful quiet move.
l:th I + .i.h5 4 g4 and Black gets mated, 0-1
and after I...lDxb2 2 l:txg7+ ~ 3 The powerful threat of ... .i.e5+ is
"'xb2 4 ~xb2 e6 5 l:txf7+ not easy to meet. The best try for White
l:txf7 6 llki6 White has a winning ad- is 4 .i.g3 and now:
vantage. a) 5 l:tgl lDxg3 6 lDb5 (6 l:txg3
2 lDxb23l:txg7+~4l:thl loses after 6 ... .i.e5) 6 ... l:tc3!! 7 lDxc3
1-0 lDfl+! 8 l:tbxfl .i.e5+ and mate in a
Black loses material. few more moves.
5 poi1llsfor 1l:th7!!. b) 5lDb5 "e2+ 6 ~gl l:tc27
8 l:tbc I 'li'xe4 with a decisive
287) advantage for Black as the white king
Gligoric - Nyback has no cover.
Stockholm (Riltoll Cup) 2004 2 pointsfor 1... l:txc3!!. and all addi-
1.. ':xc3!! 2lDxc3 tiollal 3 poi1lls for 3... 1!.
Solutions for Test 9 If Black captures the rook he will

get mated: 1...~xf6 (l...li)xf6 2
1... gxf6 2 1i'h5+ ~g7 3 7#) 2
Miles - Panno We6+ ~g5 3 i.cl+ ~h5 4 .
Bie11977 2 points for 1lLf6+!.
1.• ':xe3! 2l:lcdl
After 2 fxe3 Black picks up 292)
a white rook in all lines: 3 ~f1 (or 3 Vyzhmanavin - Beliavsky
~hl1i'h3+4~gl )3 ... 4 Novosibirsk 1995
~gl 3+. ll:lxe8+ li)xe8 2lbe7+! 1-0
2•••gxf43 fxe3 4 c;i>rt Wf3+ Black loses his queen after 2... i.xe7
5 ~gl fxe3 3 i.h7+.
and Black won. 3 pointsfor 2lbe7+!.
1 ]Joint for 1...'IL:e3!.
293)
289) -
Timman - Sax Tilburg 1988
Rio de Janeiro IZ 1979 1l:lf'8+
ll:lxc7! 1-0 This is the fastest way to win.
White wins a piece. Black cannot 1••• ~h7 2 i.xg6+! (DJ
play 1... l:lxc7 due to 2
1 point for I 'IL:c7!.
290) B
Hubner - Nogueiras
Elista OL 1998
ll:ld7!
Exploiting the fork on f6.
1...
If 1... l:lxd7 then 2 l:lxd7 1Wxd7 3
li)f6+.
2l:lxc7
Black has nothing for the piece.
2 points for 1 l:ld7!. Luring the black king into open
space.
291) 2••• ~xg6 3 1-0
Yusupov - Teske Black gets mated: 3...~xg5 4
Bundesliga 1995/6 ~h6 5l:lh8#.
ll:lxf6+! 1-0 3 points for 2 Lg6+!.
294) 7 a7 l:la6 S and Black resigned as

Kasparov - Van der Wiel he is losing after S...l:lxaS 9 l:txaS+
Amsterdam 1988 ~b2 \0 lbd3+.
IlDxaS! bxaS 2 l:lxcS! dxcS However, Black had a better move:
Or 2 ... 'i!i'xcS 3 'ii'xaS+. 1...~cS!, threatening to queen the c-
3 'ii'xf4 4 l:ld6 1-0 pawn and covering a rook check on cS
3 points for 2 'I1xc5!. with ...:c6. On 2 ~d7 Black responds
2•• ':c6! closing the c-file, and White
295) can resign. 3 ~xc6 c I" is an easy win
- Korchnoi for Black.
Moscow 1975 3 points for 1... ~c5!. and I aMi-
White played I and later lost. tional point for spotting the blocking
However, he could have won a piece 2 ... :c6!.
by 1 ~xb6! axb6 2 f4. This move is
not so easy to spot, as it seems unnatu- 298)
ral to give up a good bishop. Polugaevsky - Korchnoi
3 pointsfor 1 Lb6!. Buenos Aires Ct (14) 1980
1•• ':f4+ 2 ~dS ~fS
296) With threats on c2 and e4.
Spassky - Larsen 3 l:lc7 l:ld8+ 4 ~cS ~xc2 0-1
Tilburg 1980 Black has won a piece.
1 lbe3 l:lf3 2 lDc2 lte4 4 points for 2 ... iJ.,{5.
2 ... ltd6 loses the exchange: 3 lDe I
lDxe I 4ltxd6. 299)
3~g21-0 Browne - Andersson
Black resigned as he has nothing Brasilia 1981
better than 3 ... lbel+ 4lDxel l:lxb3 S Black could have won immediately
lDc2, when he is a piece down. with:
4 points for 2 lDc2. 1...lDc3 2 l:lf3! 3 ~gS!?
The alternatives are: 3 hxg64
297) gxf3 3+ S ~gl lDxbS and Black
Korchnoi - Greenfeld wins; 3 ~h2 llxg2+ 4 ~xg2 S
Beer.\·heba (3) 1995 ~gl 6 ~hl llh3#.
In the game Black played 1... ~cS?, 3... ! 4 gxh3 l:lxd3 5 lle3
but lost following strong play from l:lxe3 6 ~xe3 lDxbS
White: 2 l:lcS+ ~bS 3 lDc7+ ~c4 4 and Black wins the endgame.
~e2+ ~b3 Slbe6! c I 6lDxcs+ ~a3 5 points for 2... 11/3!.
Solutions for Test 10 1 '6'xc3 liJxc3 2 1:87 ~c6 3 liJd4

l:tf6 4 l:tc7 q;g7 S lDxc6
300) and White won.
Hubner - Kavalek 3 points for finding 3 liJd4.
7ilburg 1980
1 l:th8+! 1-0 305)
Black is forced into a fork that costs Chernyshov - Rustemov
him his queen: 1... ~xhS 2lbg6+. Russian Ch (Kra.moiarsk) 2003
1 point for 1 'Ah8+!. 1 f5! gxf5
Or l...~cS 2 fxg6+ fxg6 (2 ... ~xg6
301) 3 ! is winning for White) 3
Amirkhanov - Chernyshov and Black's king is in serious danger.
USSR Cht (Naberezhnve •
2 exfS ~xf5
Chelny) 1988 Or 2 ... ~cS 3 f6+ ~f5 4 g4.
1 l:txe4! simply wins a piece for 3 g4! l:tg5 4 ~xf5+ l:txf5 5 gxf5
White. and White won a few moves later.
1 point for 1 '4xe4!. 3 points for 1 f5!.
302) 306)
Wahls - Rogers Larsen - Ribli
Bunde.~liga 1995/6 Riga lZ 1979
1...l:txg2+! 2 lbg2 ~xf3 3 l...l:txe3?, as played in the game,
If 3 -.f2 then 3 ... ~xg2 4 looks tempting, but loses instantly: 2
l:tg7. l:thS+! 1-0 (2 ... ~xhS 3 WxhS#).
3... Black's best option is to cover the
and White soon resigned. threat on hS by 1...~h7!, when he has
2 pointsfor 1... 1:ug2+!. rea..onable drawing chances. One sam-
ple line is 2 ~d4llJe2+ 3 ~xe2 'ilhe2 4
303) ~xe5 1+ 5..tg2 6 ~f1 (try-
- Ljubojevic ing to escape the perpetual) 6 ... 'iVb I + 7
Vina del Mar 1988 ~e2 S ~d2 and Black
1 ..th6 ZliJxf7+ 1-0 should be able to defend.
Black gets mated: 2 ... ~h5 3 'ii'xh7+ 3 points for 1... ~h7!. Deduct 2
~g4 4 'ii'xg6#. points for l...'4xe3?
2 points for 1 +.
307)
304) Polugaevsky - Ljubojevic
Romanishin - Vaganian Linares 1985
Lvov Z 1978 Black won with:
1..•11xd3+! 2 ~xd3 "dl+ 3 ~e4 l.i.h6!

f5+ 4 ~e5 'ii'e2+ 5 ~xd4 6 ~c3 Or l...llxf2 2 f6 3 fie7
0-1 4 d6, which leads to the main line.
4 pointsfor 1...llxd3+!. 2 d6 llxf2 3"e5 f6 4 llxg2+ 5
~xg2 6~hl
308) Black must give up more material
Lputian - Luther to avoid immediate checkmate.
Istanbul Ech 2003 4 poims for I .i.h6!.
1.....el+ 2 ~h2 .i.h4!
Not 2 ... h6?, as played in the game, 311)
and not 2 ...11xd I ?? 3 either! Timman - Hubner
3lZJf2 "xf2 Wijk aan Zee 1982
Black has won a piece, for which Black missed the chance to play the
White has no compensation. stunning:
4 points for 2... .i.h4!. 1.....xb2+!! 2 llxb2 llxgl+ 3 ~a2
lIdl!!
309) A beautiful move, but very difficult
Timofeev - Shomoev to spot.
Russian jr Ch (Kazan) 2001 4
1....i.cS! 2 llxc5 llxcS Alternatives:
Stronger than 2 ... lId I +?, as played a) 4 loses to 4 ... lZJc3+.
in the game. b) 4 llb4 IIxd3 S lZJxd3 lZJc3+ 6
3"xcSlldl+ ~b3 llc6 7 lDd7 lDds and Black wins
and White can choose between get- the exchange.
ting mated or giving up his queen. c) 4 \i'xc4 bxc4 S lZJxc4 .i.xb2 6
3 point.v for 1... .i.c5!. and an addi- ~xb2 and once again Black has won
tional point for 2... llxc5. the exchange.
d) 4 lZJxc4 llxd3 S lZJxd3 bxc4 6
310) l:tb7 cxd3 and Black wins.
I. Sokolov - Van Wely 4 ...lZJc3+ 5 ~b3
Wijk alln Zee 2004 Or S ~al lDxdl 6lZJxc4 bxc4, and
I d6? was played in the game, but Black wins the rook on b2.
this only leads to a draw because 5 ...lZJxd 16 lld2 llc3+ 7 ~b4lZJxe3
Black can play 1... covering h6. and Black is two pawns up.
Stronger is: 5 poin,s for 3 ... lld I!!.
•
Ina
This is the final challenge. In this chapter I have collected the most difficult puz-
zles I have come across, and I am sure that some of them will be a tough chal-
lenge even for a grandmaster. In fact, there are quite a few puzzles in this
where the right solution was missed by grandmasters during the actual game. In
total there are 40 puzzles in this chapter. The first 10 of these have hints, but after
that you are on your own! I wish you good luck.

White is a piece down and Black Here Black took the white queen
threatens to exchange queens. Is White with 1...:xa6. What was White's re-
.
Iosmg.?
sponse?
----_.- -------

Black continued 1... .i.xg2. Should Black has just played 1... d4. attack-
White recapture? ing the e3-knight. Should White move
(Solution: see p. 160) the knight, or do something else?

White is temporarily a rook up. but Black now sacrificed the exchange
he has some potential problems on the with 1.. .l:txe2+. How should the attack
g-file. and the future of the d8-knight continue after 2 ~xe2?
is uncertain. How does he solve his (Solution: see p. 161)
problems?
THE FINAL CHAUENGE 151
--------- ------------===

Is 1 c6 good enough to win? Can Black win with 1... h2?

White has just played 1 l:t7d6. What White played 1 l:txe6. Was that a
should Black's response be? good idea?
There now follow 30 positions without hints.





<it>
. -

THE FINAL CHAllENGE 155


"'- ----- - - ------ '"

----"- ----------------


~",'-C_._ .. _. ___ .. __________________ ."~ __ ...
343 Black to play 34S to play

(Solution: see p. 169) (Solution: see p. ) 70)

------.=------ -------------- --------- ---
----_. -- ,~""

THE FINAL CHAC.l.ENGE 159
~ ~
<it> ~ _
~_~ =" ____ ~_,,-=-_~ __ .
~_~
i
.J

(Solution: see p. 172) (Solution: see p_ 172)
Solutions for The Final 2:eS+

Of course 2 .....f8 loses instantly to
I 3 iLxdS+.
312) 3 :xe8+ c;Pn 4 :as!! 1-0
Jevti': - Prokopisin This beautiful move wins immedi-
Hungarian ChI 1995 ately, as 4 ...:xa8 fails to S iLxdS+.
No, White is winning.
1 e6!! (D) 314)
Djuri': - Mrdja
Padov(l 2000
No, White ha<; something better than
B recapturing on g2:
2 :XeS! :xe5 3 :eS+ :eS
White also wins after 3 ... lbe8 4
~xg2 as Black will have to give up a
lot of material to stop the white d-
pawn.
4 ':xe8+ ttJxeS 5 d7 iLe6 6
7 f3 S~g2
and White won.
1...d6 315)
Black has no defence: - Kongsted
a) 1...'ti'xe6 2 :he I. Copenhagen 2004
b) l...fxe62 . 1 iLxf5!
c) I...dxe6 2 :d8#. White must give up his queen, but
d) I... 2 exd7+ ttJxd7 (alter- he can get a lot of material in return.
natively, 2 ... iLxd7 3 :he I + 4 1...lilh3+ 2 ~h2 :xg3 3 lilxe6!
:xeS+ iLe6 S :d8#) 3 :hel + Clearly best. In the game, White
(3 ... ttJeS 4 :d8#) 4 :xeS+ ttJxeS S played 3 iLxe6+? and later lost.
:d8#. 3...
2 :xd6 f6 3 :d8+ 1-0 Now White has many ways to win.
Black is getting mated; for exam- The most convincing is:
ple, 3.. .'~xd8 4 f8+ 9;c7 5 iLf4+ 4ttJc5+
~b6 6 .c5+ ~a6 7 . During the game I only considered
the simple 4 ~xg3 5 iLe3!
313) 'W'xe3+ 6:f3 xe2 7 iLxh3, which is
Kariakin - also good enough for a white win.
Brissago (4) 2003 4...9;b8
THE FINAL CHAl.lENGE 161
Or4 ...~c7 S b4! 6l:tbl S l:tdl and White loses his

7 l:txb7+ ~dS S ~xg3 .i.xcs 9 dxcS queen.
and White's material advantage is de- s...
cisive, since Black is losing the knight Better than S ...~xh8 6 "c3!, when
as well. White is back in the game.
5 b4! 6 l:tbl "c3 7 lbb7+ 6 f5
~a8 8 l:txe7 l:tg8 9 .i.e3 "xc4 10 and the black attack continues with
.i.d3 11 ~xh3 decisive effect.
with a decisive material advantage
for White. 318)
Kramnik - Kasparov
316) Moscow rpd 1994
Sulskis - Sorokin Yes, 1 c6! (D) wins:
Calcutta 2002
2 l:th4? was played in the game, but =., - - --
after this move Black can fight on. In-
stead 2 .i.c4!! is absolutely decisive: B
2 ....i.e6
Or 2 ...lDxc4 3 lDds and the knight
threatens the queen on c7 and a mate
in two with lDf6+.
3 l:th4 f5 4 .i.xe6+ ~h8 5 lDxf5!
White has an irresistible attack, as
S ...gxfS loses straight away to 6 g6.
••
-I
317)
- Glek 1..':xb2+
Chicago 2002 I ... lDxg4 2 cxb 7 llJes (or 2 ... l:txhS
2 •.•.i.a6+ 3 'OPel 1Df1!! 3 with a decisive advantage for
A difficult move to discover, but the White) 3 xe7 4 bS"+ ~g7 S
only one that wins the game for Black. + ~xhS 6 dxe7 wins for White.
White cannot parry all the threats. In 2~xb2 3~a3!
the game. Black lost after 3... ?4 This is a key move; other moves
~d21Dfl + S %lxfl 6 ~c2 .i.xfl only lead to a draw. Now White es-
7 l:tb8+ ~h7 8 1i'c3. capes the checks from the black queen.
4l:tb8+ 3.....CS+ 4 ~ "c2+
5 ~b5 'ii'b2+
After 4 3 "e4+ White has to 6 ~a6 7 ~b7l:lh7+
give up his queen to avoid mate. Or 7... S ~c7 l:th7+ 9 d7
4...~h7 5 %lh8+ l:txd7+ 10 cxd7 II ~dS.
8d7 6 :xg8 lbg8 7 :x85 h4 8 :x87

White wins; e.g., 8... 9 ~c7 hxg39fxg3
and the threat of is decisive. White is three pawns up and soon
won.
319)
Leko - Kramnik 322)
Linares 2004 Adams - Van der Sterren
1... i.f6!! 2 lbf6 B,mdesliga 1995/6
2 runs into 2 ... lIgS, while 2 White played I i.d2?, which gave
i.d3 can be met by 2... 3 lId7 him nothing, although he later won the
:xh3 4 :xg7 :xg7, when Black is a game. He could have finished Black
rook off straight away with:
2... 3 "xe24 g4 lll:)f6+! gxf6 2 ~h8
0-1 2 ... ~h7 makes no difference.
After S ~hl 6 ~gl 1+ 3 i.xf8 lIxf8 4 (D)
7 ~g2 :xg4+ White will have to give
up his queen, as 8 ~h3 is mate.
320) B
Sadler - Krasenkow
Bundesliga 1998/9
Yes, 1••• b2! wins:
2 :x88 3 :xc8 4 •
:xc8+ ..rs S :xf8+ ~xf8

~
Black's pawns cannot be stopped.
6 :bl a3 7 ~2 ~e7 8 ~e3 82 9
:xb281 0-1
321) By 'triangulating' with his queen,

Seirawan - Miles White can make room for his rook.
London (Phillips & Drew) 1982 4...~g7 5 ~h8 6 :e4!
Yes it was. and White wins.
1 l:txe6! llJas 2 c6! ll:)xb3
2 ... ll:)xc6 fails to 3 lIxc6+! 323)
(or 3 ... bxc6 4 4 :cl. Sher - Hodgson
3 cxd7+ ~xd7 4 :g6 llJas 5 lIb5 Isle of Man 1995
i.f6 In the game White played the natu-
Or S ... b6 6 lIbgS, which wins a ral I :f4? Black should have replied
piece for White. 1... ! with an unclear game, since
after 2 ~xd5+? ~xd5+ 3 'ihd5+ cxd5 c) 3... ~f7 4 'iif6+ ~g8 (4 ... ~e8 5
White is just a pawn down. lie I + wins for White) S 'iigS+ ~f7 6
Much stronger is: lie I , and we are in the main line once
1 'iie2! ~dS •
again.
Other moves are no better: 1... ~e6 4 ~g8
2 lIf4 costs Black. a piece, and after 4 ... ~e8 S lie I + wins for White.
I ... ~xa2 2 lIf4 3 lIxf8+ ~xf8 4 S ~f7 6 lIel! 7
L,- White is a piece up once again. ~e8 8 ~xe6 9 ~f6
2 lIf4 ~xg2+ 3 ~xg2 4 The opposite-coloured bishops fa-
lIxf8+~xf8S vour White since he is attacking, and
with an easy win. Black. cannot avoid further loss of ma-
terial.
324) 9...~f7
Van der Wiel - Kasparov 9 ...1If7 fails to IO '6'g8+ ~d7 II
Amsterdam 1988
Here the Dutch grandmaster missed IO~gS
a good chance to beat the World Cham- Threatening and'iieS+.
IO...~d7 11 .i.h6 c4 12
•
pIon. c5
1 1Ig2! 13~xf811xf8
In the game White played I g4? and White won by advancing his
and later lost. kingside pawns.
1..•f6 2 lIhS
The threat of h4 is decisive. 326)
2.. .Ild2 Seirawan -
2 ... ~h8 3 h4 changes nothing. Vancouver 1981
3 lIxd2 lIxd2 4 h4 1...Ilxb3! 2 axb3 ~xc5 3
Now White wins the bishop and the Other moves also lose:
extra piece should secure the win. a) 3 'iia8 ! (Black sacrifices a
bishop, and the rest of his pieces are
325) coordinated for the attack) 4 'ii'xc8+
Polugaevsky - Korchnoi ~e7 S lIxa5 lIhS mating.
Buenos Aires Ct (12) 1980 b) 3 lIxaS ~xa7 4 lIxeS lIxeS 5
1 .i.xc6! dxc6 2 lId7!! 3 :a I ~d4 6 lIa8 ~d8 7 ~a6 lIxe4 8
'iWxeS+ ~f7 lIxc8+ ~e7 9 ~fl ~xb2 and Black is
Other lines lead to the same finish: two pawns up.
a) 3 ... ~g6 4 ~f7 S lIel 3 ... ~xf2+ 4 l:lxf2 S lIxaS
transposes to the game. lIxaS
b) 3 ... ~g8 4 ~f7 5 lIel is Black is a pawn up and quickly
another transposition to the game. won.
327) 3llxb7
Hort - Seirawan The simplest move. 3 l:te6+! also
•
Bad Kissingen 1981 WinS.
1..•l:txb2! 3 .•. ~cS
White thought he had a good re- 3 ... iDcS loses to 4 d4! threatening
sponse to this move, but Black had when Black will have to give
seen one level deeper. up material to stop the mate. If 4 ... 'fif5
2 iDa4 llxc2+! then Black is mated after 5 1i'c7+ ~e6
Black blasts open the queenside. 6 'ii'xc6+ llJd6 7 ~f6 8
3 ~xc2l:tc8+ 4 ltJc3 4 +~bS 5 c4+ ~a6
4 ~d3 5 ~e3 (5 ~d4 'it'xa4+ Or 5 ... dxc4 6 bxc4+ ~a6 (6 ... ~a4 7
6 ~d3 (6 ~e3 l:tc3+ and White loses l:tal+ ~b3 8 'ii'a3+ ~c2 9l:ta2+ ~dl
materialJ 6... 7 iDb3 'iWxb3+ S 10 ~el II l:te7+) 7 l:txb6+!
~d2l:tc2#) 5... and the black at- ~xb6 Sl:tbl + ~a6 9 'ii'b7#.
tack is decisive; e.g., 6 ~f2 "'f4+ 7 6l:ta1!
~gl etc. 1breatening l:txa5+ and 'ii'a3+, mat-
4 •••d4S %lbl 'ii'c6 6l:tb3 ing. 6 c5 is another strong possibility.
6 l:tb4 .t.g6+ 7 ~dl dxc3 gives 6... 7 ~hl cS 8 b4! cxb4 9
Black a potent attack. l:txaS+! ~xaS 10 l:ta7+ %lxa7 11
6 ...tOdS 7 iDdbl .t.g4 8 dxc3 'fixa7#
Black has a strong attack and later
won the game. 329)
Turner - D. Howell
328) British League (4NCL) 200314
Christiansen - Alburt ll:tdS!!
USA Ch (South Bend) 1981 Blocking the queen's access to g5
1 .t.d7+ ~xd7 2l:txe7+ ~d6 and making a decoy possible.
Other options: 1••. .t.xdS? 2 gS+! ~xgS 3
a) 2 ... ~cS 3 g3! 'ii'f6 4l:teS+! %lxeS l:tfS
5 and White wins. Or 3 ... ~h6 4 iDg4#.
b) 2._.~dS was the game continua- 4 f4+ 1-0
tion. Play continued 3l:txb7 %la6 (after It is mate next move: 4 ... ~h6 5
3 ... %leS 4 l:txb6 White is just a pawn iDg4#.
up, and the attack continues) 4 "e7+
~cS 5 g3!. when it was not possible 330)
for the black queen to cover both c7 Beliavsky - Agdestein
and the black rook on fS. Therefore Aker B,ygge 1989
Black tried 5 ... l:tn 6 7 1 iDxg7! ~g7 2l:tg3+ ~h8 3 iDxf6
l:txn and White soon won. lid 1
The best defensive try. 3 ~e2 and 3 ~g2 are both bad due
4 to 3... and ... .
This strong move immediately de- 3...
cides the game. Selling up a winning pin.
4 .. ':xn + 5 ~xn 4~c4
Now Black is facing a deadly dis- 4:ted I l:txd6 S ~c4lDe7 and White
covered check on the c3-h8 diagonal. loses material, and after 4 I c2 S
S•.•l:td8 Wd3 lLld4+ 6 ~f2 Black is a
•
S... lDes is met by 6 lLlxe8 7 pIece up.
l:tgS. 4 ...lLlxd6 5 ~b3lLlfS 6 l:tedllLld4+
6 lLld7+ ttJe5 7 lLlxeS 8 l:tf3 7 l:tlxd4 ~xd4 8 ~e4 ~f6
l:tdl+ 9 ~e2 10 ~xdl ~e6 11 and Black won.
l:t1'8+ 1-0
Black resigned due to II... 12 333)
lLlg6+ ~g8 13 8+ ~f7 14lLlxf8. Slaby - Cernousek
Marianske Lame 2004
331) Black played I... ? but later
Aseev - Morozevich lost the game.
Ru.rsian Ch (Elista) 1995 1... +
Black missed the chance to play: This is the right way to go.
1..':xe2!! 2 l:tc8 2 ~c2 l:txc4+ 3 bxc4 b3+! 4 ~d3
2 l:txe2 l:tdl+ 3 ~f2 4 g3 (4 4 ~xb3 loses instantly to 4 ...
~e3 fails to 4 ... l:td3#) 4 .....xh2+ S S ~c3 , and 4 ~c3 is met by
~e3 l:td3+ 6 ~f4 is winning for 4... S ~d3 l:txd6+.
Black. 4 •..l:txd6+ 5 ~e3 l:txd2 6 l:txal
2 .. ':xel + 3 ~2 :at! l:txb27 l:txa7
The point of the combination. Black If7 ~d3then 7 ... l:ta2 S l:tbl l:ta49
now threatens ... l:lxa2+. lDc I l:tb4 and White loses the c-pawn
4~g3 as the pawn endgame after 10 lLlxb3
4 l:txdS+ nxdS and Black has too ~xc4+ II ~c2 ~xb3+ 12 l:txb3 l:txb3
much material for the queen. 4 cxd4 13 ~xb3 is lost for White due to
loses to 4 ...l:txa2+ S Black's extra a-pawn.
4 •.• ~h7 5 7 ...~xc4
Black's material advantage will tell. Black will win on material.
332) 334)
Bareev - Leko Sashikiran - Cu. Hansen
Monaco (Amber rpd) 2002 Skanderborg 2003
l..':xf2! 2 ~2 3 WfJ 1...l:txf2+! 2lLlxf2 "fJ+ 3 ~h3
3 ~h2 also loses: 3... 4 ~h3 of checks, and when that happens
~d7+ 5 tLlf5 (5 ~h411f4+) 5... 6 White will queen his f-pawn.
~h2 7 ~g3 ~xf5. 7...
3...~d7+ 4 tLlg4 7 ... ~xg7 loses straight away to 8
Or 4 ~h4 l:tf4+ mating. +.
4•.. ~xg4+ 5 ~h4 ~d7 0-1 8~eI +
White loses material. After S... ~4+ 9 l:tg3! \0
~d I I + II ~c2 Black has run out
335) of checks and White gets a new queen.
Areshchenko - Lahno 9 ~d2 10 ~e3 11
Kramalorsk 2003 ~d3
In the game Black played l...l:th4? Black has no real defence to the
but later lost. threat of l:tgS#.
Instead Black can win the game
by: 337)
1... 2 tLlf4! 3 .f5+ ~g7 J. Ivanov - Cheparinov
4 ~f8 Seville 2004
Now White's best chance is 5 tLlh5 In this messy position Black found
(5 + ~xe7 is similar), but after the only move that wins the game:
5... 6 llxh5 Black has won 1...~!2
material. Alternatives:
a) 2 l:ta6+ 3 ~b5 'iWe5+ 4
336) lDd4+! (the firepower of Black's
Motwani - Glek coordinated forces is too much for the
Belgian ChI 2004 exposed white king) 5 l:txd4 l:lb2+ 6
Both grandmasters overlooked the ~xc4 l:tc2+ 7 ~b3 is winning
fact that White can play 1 . The for Black.
expected refutation 1...llf7 fails to a b) 2 7+ 3 ~c7 (3 ~b5
powerful queen sacrifice: "a5#) 3 ... b5+ wins the black queen.
2 !l:txf6+ c) 2 ~e6 tLlc3 and now:
Or 2 ... ~h7 3 l:txg7+ l:txg7 4 ~d3+ c I) 3 l:tdS+ 4 ~xdS tLlxb5
and the attack continues. and Black's material plus will guaran-
3exf6 tee victory: 5 ~xb5 l:txdS 6 ~xc4
Black cannot resist the white attack. l:txh2.
3 •. .lld74 l:tdgI 5 l:txg7+ l:txg7 c2) 3 lla6+ 4 ~c5 5
6 l:lxg7 + ~h8 7 f7! ~xc4 l:tc6+ 6 ~b3 and mate
This seems to be the fastest solu- in a few moves.
tion. White simply plays to get a new c3) After 3 "ihc4 White gets mated
queen. Eventually, Black will run out in the middle of the board: 3 ... l:tb2+ 4
'iPc5 5 lidS l:Ia5+ 6 ""5 lDa4+ b) 4 R.xf2+! 5 ~xf2 (or 5

7~c4 ~fl and the mate threats cannot
2•••c3 3 Wb3 be stopped) 5... 6 ~fl (or 6 ~f3
3 fails to 3 ...l:Ia6+ 4 ~c5 "e2+ 7 ~g3 l:tg4+ 8 ~h3 g2#)
5 ~b4 l:tb6, winning the white queen. 6 .....e2+ 7 ~gl l:tg4+ 8 ~hl "g2#.
3 ...lDd4!? 4 Wd5 c) 4 ~g2 l:tg4 5 'ii'f4 6
4 l:txd4 loses to 4 .....a7+ 5 ~b5 ~h7 7 R.h4+ 8 ~fl 9
l:tf4 winning the white queen.
4 •..'ii'a7+ 5 ~c7 b5+ 6 ~d6
Or6 b7 7R.c6l:tf7+8R.e7 339)
f1xe7#. Carlsen - Ernst
6... Wijk aan Zee 2004
The white king is too exposed to White launched a decisive attack
defend against the combined black with:
forces. Play continued: 1 R.xh6!! gxh6
7 R.c6lDf5+ 8 ~e6lDg7+ 9 ~d6 Or l...lDxh6 2 l:txh6+ gxh6 3
10 ~e7 + 11 R.d7 12 with mate to follow.
cRe6 l:te2+ 13 ~f71Od6+! 14 2 l:txh6+ lDxh6 3 "xe7 liJf7
15 ~f6 (0-1) If 3 ... l:tf7 then 4 gxf7 and the white
f-pawn is decisive.
338) 4 gxf'J
Gulko - Ehlvest Threatening mate in two with
Horgen 1995 and l:thl#.
l...hxg3 2 hxg3 4...~g7
White lost quickly after 2 ?in If Black tries to defend by 4 ...
the game: 2 ... gxh2+ 3 ~g2 4 White can win the black queen with 5
lhc6 lDxf2! 0-1. "e5+ ~h7 6 l:thl+ "h6 7 l:txh6+.
2 ••. R.xg3! 3 .i.xe4 5l:td3! l:td6
3 'ii'xc6 !4 ~h7 5 l:tn Or 5 ... l:txf7 6 l:tg3+ ~h8 7 "h4+
R.xf2+ 6 ~hl 7 ~g2 "g3+ 8 l:th7 8 and mate next move.
'ithl 6l:tg3+
3 •.•l:txe4 Not, of course, 6 'ii'xd6?? 1+,
White loses in all lines: when White is the one getting mated.
a) 4 f3 l:th4 5 "xc6 7 6 6 ..Jlg6 7 ~xf7 8 "f5+ l:tf6
+ 7 ~g2 R.d6. Black's threat of 8 ... ~e8 only the pain: 9
... f1h2+ is decisive, and if 8 l:th I then l:te3+ ~d8 10 II 'ii'f7+
8... 9 ~f2 Wg3+ 10 ~e2 ~c8 12 l:te8+ 13 l:txd8+ ~xd8
II ~d3 'ii'xf3+ 12 ~d2 R.f4+ 13 14 .
f1xhl#. 9 (1-0)
340) 2 lift + .i.f6

Hubner - Portisch The alternatives are no better:
Abano Therme Ct (9) 1980 a) 2 ... ~gS 3 .i.xe6+ ~hS 4l:[fS+!
1 ft:)xeS+! dxe5 2l:[d4+! .i.d5 .i.xfS 5 "gS#.
Or: b) 2 ...~e7 3 'ii'g5+ .i.f6 (3 ...~d7 4
a) 2 ... ~c6 3 l:[d6+! ~b7 4 .i.dS+ l:[f7+ and mate next move) 4 exf6+
~cS (4 ... ~aS 5 l:txa6#; 4... 5 and now:
l:[xb3+ .i.xb3 6 'ii'b6+ ~aS 7 bl) 4 ...~d7 5 .i.xe6+! ~xe6 (after
5 . 5 ...~c6 6 -.d5+ ~c7 7 the na-
b) 2 ... exd43 ~c6 4 5+ ked black king is defenceless against
~b7 (4 ... ~d7 5 5 + ~aS 6 all the threats) 6 ~d7 7 "f7+
~c6 S %lc I + and mate next move.
c) 2 ...~cS 3l:[dS+! lIxdS (3 ... ~b7 b2) 4 ... ~f7 5 ~fS 6
4 .i.a5+ ~c6 5l:[b6+ l:[xb6 {5 ... ~c7 6 ~f7 7 7+ ~fS S .i.xe6 and White
l:[bxbS+ ~c6 7 ) 6 'ii'xb6#) 4 cannot stop the mate threats.
~d7 5 7+~eS 6 b3) 4 ...~fS 5 ~f7 6 7+
3l:[xd5+ ~e6 ~fS 7 .i.xe6 and White wins.
Or 3...~cS 4 ~b7 5 7+ c) After 2... ft:)f6 3 exf6 White is
~aS 6 . still an exchange down, but all his
4l:[d3! pieces are in position to attack. All
This is probably the fastest way to Black's options now lead to defeat:
win. 4 l:[c5 was played in the game. cl) 3... .i.h6 4 "d7 5
4... 5 .i.e3 6 l:[xb8 ~fS 6 "xh6+ ~eS 7 f7+ S
l:[xb87 %lxf7 and White wins.
With his king in the middle of the c2) 3 ... .i.hS 4 exd5 5 "xh7+
board without protection, Black cannot ~fS 6 "xhS+ ~f7 7 + ~f8 8
survive long. For example: 7... S + ~eS 9l:[e I + mating.
~f5 9 l:[dl (with the decisive c3) 3... .i.fB 4 ! ~eS (4 ... ~xg8
threat of l:[f1 + and l:[g I +) 9 ... l:lb5 10 5 f7#) 5 with a quick mate to
l:lfl + ~g4 II ~h4 12 .i.f2+ follow.
~h5 13 ~g5 14 .i.e3#. 3 exf6 exd5 4 ft:)xf6
Black is lost in all lines; for exam-
341) ple, 4 ... %lac2 5 7+ ~fS (5 ... ~e6 6
Blehm - Tiviakov l:[e I + mating) 6 f7 ft:)f6 7 ~xf7
Cairo 2002 Sl:[xf6+, and Black has to give up his
1 l:lxf7! ~xf7 queen to avoid mate.
If 1...exd5 then 2 e6 l:lc7 3 :dfl 5"h5+~
and White wins due to the threats of Or 5 ... ~e6 6 + ~f7 7 .i.xf6
l:[fS# and .i.xg7. with a winning attack. After 5 ... ~gS 6
THE FINAL CHALLENGE 169
~f8 7 i..xf6 Black is lost; e.g., 1-0

7... S i..e7+ ~eS 9 l:tf8#. Black resigned due to 4... 5
6 i..xf6 l:t'2 7 ~e8 i..xc6 1i'xc6 6 'iWg5+ ~hS (6 ... ~f8 7
Or 7 ... ~f7 8 g7+ ~e6 9 l:tel+ i..c5+) 7 llxeS+! l:txeS S i..xf6+.
and mate in two more moves.
8 l:tel+ ~d7 9 ~c6 10 343)
Zlcl+ ~b611 i..xd8+ l:txd8 12 1i'c7+ Bryzgalin - Smimov
'it'a6 13 llc6# (1-0) Russianjr Ch (Kazan) 2001
1...l:txd6! 2 l:txd6 3 ~h2
342) tLlf3+
Psakhis - Malaniuk Stronger than 3... ~g7?, as played
USSR Ch (Minsk) 1987 in the game.
I tLlxg7!! ~g7 2 4~g3
Threatening + winning back Or 4 ~g2 5 ~g3 6
the knight. ~g4 h5#.
2•.. tLlde8 4... S ~g2
Other tries include: 5 ~2 tLld4+ wins White's queen.
a) 2 ... ~3 ~e74 land S...1i'h2+ 6 ~ tLlgS+
the threat of l:tel wins material. Black and White has to give up his queen.
cannot keep the f6-knight covered.
b) 2... 3 %tel! threatening 4 344)
i..xf6+ ~xf6 5 Black is lost; Ki. Georgiev-
for instance. 3 ... ltJdeS 4 l:te5 5 Elista OL 1998
~f8 (or 5 ... ~hS 6 llxeS+ l:txeS Black faces the difficult task of de-
7 i..xf6#) 6 i..c5+ ttJd6 7 ~gS S fending against White's passed pawns.
Zlg5+~hS 9 In a situation like this the best defence
c) 2 ... h6 3 l:tel and Black now has is to attack and set up mating threats
to give up material, since 3... ends against the white king:
up in mate: 4 i..xf6+ ~xf6 (or 4 ... ~gS 1.. ':h6+ 2~g3
5 1i'xh6 and mate is unavoidable) 5 Or 2 ~g4 l:tg6+ 3 ~h3 l:tf5 4 l:ta4
(or 4 ~h4 ~h6 mating) 4 ... l:th5+ 5
3 llel 'iWdS l:th4 l:txd5 6 b7 l:td3+ 7 ~h2 l:tb3 and
Or 3... 4 '§g5+ ~f8 5 1i'h6+ White's pawns have been stopped.
~gS 6 i..xh7+! tLlxh7 7 l:txeS+! l:txeS 2... l:t,S 3 i..f3
8 After 3 b7 l:tg6+ 4 ~h4 ~h6 5 i..f3
4i..e4 llf4+ 6 ~h3 l:txf3+ 7 ~h2 l:tb3 White
4 l:te5 'iWd7 5 g5+ ~f8 (5 ... ~h8 6 •
can resIgn.
l:txe8+ llxeS 7 i..xf6#) 6 i..c5+ ttJd6 7 3 .. ':g6+ 4 ~r2 llgf6 S lla3 l:txcS 6
'iWh6+ ~g8 8 l:tg5+ ~hS 9 1i'g7#. b7l:tbS7~g3
7 :xa5 l:txb7 is no improvement d) 5 6 ~f5 and now

for White. White either gets mated or loses his
7.. Jlfb6 : 6 ... ~d7+ 7 ~g6 (or 7
and Black won as he has managed and Black wins) 7... 8
to stop the march of the white b-pawn. ~f7 'iWf3+ 9 ~g6
In the game Black played \...h6?,
345) but after this move the situation is less
Hjartarson - Ljubojevii: clear, although Black later managed to
•
Belgrade 1987 Win.
I... I+!
This wins at once as the black queen 346)
and bishop turn out to be a powerful Mecking - Najdorf
attacking duo. Hastings 197112
2~g5 Here Black played 1.. ...f4? and
2 ~g3 will get White mated rapidly: later lost the game. However, he had a
2 .. .f4+ 3 ~g4 ~c8+ 4 ~g5 5 win with:
~h4 . I .. Jlh3+ 2 ~e3
2...h6+! 3 ~xf5 2 ~e2 loses to 2 .....g4+ 3 ~d2
Or 3 ~g6 4 ~xf5 (4 ~ 4~e2 5 ~d2 .
5 ~e& ~c6#) 4... + 5 ~xe5 2.. Jlh4!!
(5 ~g6 "e6#) 5 .....d5+ 6 ~f4 'irg5#. This is the key move. Black now
3... 4~e6 threatens ... winning the rook
Other moves allow mate: 4 ~xe5 on d5.
or4~g6 3~e2
4... ~c6!! Alternatively:
A difficult move to find. Black now a) 3 c3 4 ~e2 :h2+ 5 ~I
threatens the deadly... ,and 1+ 6 ~gl 'iWg2+ 7 ~el 'iWxgl#.
White has no proper defence. He has b) 3 ~g 1 .c4+ 4 ~e3 l:th3+ 5
several options. but none of them save ~f2 'iWf4+ and Black wins in all varia-
him: tions:
a) 5 ~xe5 'iWh3+ 6 ~e7 (6 ~n bl) 6 ~e2 7 ~el g3+ 8
7 ~e7 'iiVd7+ 8 ~f8 'ire8#) ~e2 9 ~f2 10 ~d2
6... 7 ~f8 "'xd5+ winning for Black.
b) 5 ~d6 6 ~c7 (6 rj;e7 b2) 6 ~g2 J:.g3+ 7 ~h I 8
+7~f& 6 ... 'iWd7+ 7 ~b8 ~h2 "'e4+ mating.
7#. b3) 6 ~el Wt'g3+ 7 ~e2 (or 7 ~d2
c) 5 'iWd5+ 6 ~e7 (if 6 ~f5 'ifxg5+ 8 ~e2 9 ~f2 ikf3+ 10
then 6 ... ~d7+ 7 ~g6 "e6+ and mate ~d2 ) 7... g2+ 8 i.f2 ikf3+ 9
next move) 6... 7 ~f8 ~d2 'iff4+.
THE FINAL CHAT.l.ENGE 171
3.....e4! ~c4 4 ... b3 5 cxb3 'ii'xd2 and

Threatening mate with ... l:h2+. Black has won material.
4 l:h21 5 ~el 3•...tb3 4 ~dl .txc2+ 5 ~el
Or 5 ~f1 6 ~el l:hl+ mat- and Black won .
•
mg.
5.....h4+6~n 348)
After 6 ~dl l:hl+ White has to - Morovic
give up his queen or get mated after 7 sao Paulo 2002
~e2 + S ~f3 l:h3+ 9 ~g2 1+ White eliminated an important de-
I 0 ~f2 l:h2+ II ~g3 'ii'g2#. fender:
6.....113+ 7 ~eI 8 ~dl 1 .txd7+! 2 llk6 .i.xc6 3
Or S ~f1 mating. l:eI + ~d8 4 dxc6
8.•.l:hl+ Other moves are no better: 4 ...
Once again, White can only escape 5 l:xf7 and White's threats are over-
by giving up his queen. Alternatively, whelming; 4... 5 c7+ (after
he will get mated as in the above line: 5 ...~cS 6 l:xf7 White's attack is un-
9 ~e2 + 10 <M3 l:h3+ 11 ~g2 stoppable, while S... ~xc7 fails to 6
1+ 12 <M2 l:h2+ 13 ~g3 l:xf7+) 6 "xaS+.
5 .i.xg7
347) 5... is met by 6 l:xf7 .i.h6+ 7
Anand - J. Polgar ~bl l:a7 S l:e7.
Cap d'Agde rpd 2003 6 rxg71-0
1....txd4! 2 hd4 ha21!! (D) There is no hope for Black after
6 ... l:gS 7 'it'h7 'iics S ~c7 9
+ ~xc6 10 'ii'c4+.
w 349)
Karpov - Larsen
TIlburg 1982
llOh4!
1... l:xh4 loses quickly: 2 l:gS+ ~f7
3 l:xdS.
2lOrs! exfS
Or 2... ~f8 3 'iid6+ ~eS 4 lOg7+
and White wins.
3l:e31 ~4 ~g7
3c,t>c1 4 ...~gS 5 l:g3+ makes no differ-
3 ~xa2 4 ~bl (not 4 ~b3? ence.
lOb6! 5 .txb6 l:c3+! 6 bxc3 "a3+ 7 5l:g3+ 1-0
Black must give up his queen to Or 7 i.xd21bb2#.

avoid mate. If S... ~h7, then 6 l:tel 7 .• ":xb2+ 8 ~dl 1Ia4+ 9 ~e2
7 ~h6 8 1Ig7#. lbxe4 I 10 W lbgS+ 11 ~g4 f5+ 12
~h4lbf3+! 13 1IxO .tf6#
350)
B. Kristensen - Kongsted 351)
Gladsaxe 2004 Dzhumaev - Roy Chowdhury
Here I analysed 1....txa2+! but was Commollwealth Ch (Mumbai) 2004
not able to make it work, so I settled for White played I l:td I ? and later won.
1... i.d7? instead. However, the sacri- However, the surprising I i.h6+!!
fice does work: wins immediately:
2 ~xa2 1...~xh62
2 ~c I is objectively better. but in The white attack is unstoppable, as
that case Black has just won a pawn Black's pieces are not well coordinated
and can continue the attack on White's to defend.
king. 2 ...lbxe1
2 ... b3+ 3 cxb3 lbxb3 4 Alternatives:
5 ~bl i.c3!! a) 2 ....th4 3 ~gS 4 tbfS!
A difficult move to see from afar. (threatening with mate) 4 ...gxfS
When analysing this sacrifice, I didn't S "g7+ ~4 (S ... ~hS 6 g4+ fxg4 7
see this move, but only calculated hxg4#) 6 i.gS 7 g3+ ~f3 8
S... 1+ 6 ~c2 "xb2+ 7 ~d I. which 1IhS+ ~xf2 9 "e2#.
isn't very clear. Now Black has many b) 2 ... i.g7 3 tbfS+! and now:
threats, such as .....al + and ...lbd2+. bl) 3 ... gxfS 4 'ii'e6+ ~hS S
S... i.xb2!? also seems quite promising, ~h6 6 h4 and Black has no defence
but the text-move is probably better. against the mate.
6l:tcl b2) 3 ... ~hS 4 g4+ ~gS S ~g3
Other moves also lose: lbxel (or S... gxfS 6 1Ixg7#) 6 h4#.
a) 6 bxc3 llJd2+ 7 ~c2 8 b3) 3 ... ~gS 4 h4+ ~hS S ~xg7
~xd2l:tb2+ 9 ~eI 1#. ~g4 6 1Ih6 and mate next move.
b) 6 ~c2 lbd4+ 7 ~bl i.xb2 8 3lbfS+ ~gS
l:txb2+ 9 ~xb2 10 ~a I Or 3 ... gxfS 4 ~hS S fS+
1Ia3+ II ~bl + 12 ~allbc2#. ~h6 6 1If6+ ~hS 7 g4#.
c) 6 llJds "al+ 7 ~c2 lbd4+ 8 4h4+~4
i.xd4 (8 ~xc3 l:tb3+ 9 ~d2 lor 9 4 ... ~g4 and 4 ... ~hS are both met
~c4 "a6#) 9 ... l:txb2+ 10 ~c3 lIc2#) by S mating.
8 ... l:txb2+ 9 ~xc3 "a3+ 10 ~c4 5 lbg3
Black cannot prevent with
6 ...lbd? I 7 ~c2 mate.
Numbers refer to puzzles. When a number appears in bold, the named player had
White.
Aabling-Thomsen 61 Bates 271 Christiansen 194. 328

Adams 115,322 Bauer. C. 73. 232. 249 Chuchelov 276
Agdestein 141. 181. Beliavsky 115, 117. Cosma 49
330 135.168,292,330 Czebe 39. 256
Akopian 102.286 Belov 236 Damljanovic 64
Alburt 328 Benjamin 180, 203 Dautov 100. 101
Aleksandrov 205 Berescu 49 de Fillilian 103
Alekseev 160 Berg. E. 32. 46 del Rey 12
Alexandrova 8 Berndt 245 Delgado 154
Almasi 161 Bindrich 30, 36 Deviatkin 23
Amirkhanov 301 Blehm 341 Djuric 314
Anand 227. 258, 347 Bohm295 D1ugy 180. 183
Andersson 84. 299 Bologan 22. 99. 239 Doettling 245
Andreev 4. 83 Braga 56 Dolmatov 75. 182
Antic 265 Breutigam 47 Dominguez 42
Apicella 249 Bromann 2S Drabke 10
Arakhamia 280 Bronstein 167 Dzhumaev 351
Arencibia 110. 185 Browne 165.237.299 Dzindzichashvili 136
Areshchenko 335 Bruzon 261. 263 Efimenko 252
Aronian 188 Brynell 97, 247 Efimov 161
Aseev 331 Bryzgalin 343 Egorov 16
Avrukh 5 Bu Xiangzhi 221 Ehlvest 19. 74. 146.
Azmaiparashvili 155. Bui Vinh 20 183.338
159.270.274 BUllllakin 28 Eingorn 144
Bacrot 112 Candela Perez 59 Ellers 53
Balashov 80. 129 Carlsen 260, 339 Epishin 219
Banikas 229 Cebalo rI. 254 Ernst 339
Bareev 102, 113.209. Cekr076 Espinosa Flores 9
211. 278. 332 Cernousek 333 Fahrner 14
Barua 264 Cheparinov 31, 337 Fedorov 220. 274
Bastian 36 Chernyshov 30 I. 305 Felgaer 51
Filippov 344 Gurevich. M. 207 Karpov 77. 93. 139,

F1ear 228 Gutman 17 172, 193. 197.202.
Fontaine 222 Halkias 217 349
Fridman 248 Hansen. Cu. 160. 244. Karr 45
Ftatnik 276 334 Kasimdzhanov 158
FUlinan 120. 165 Hansen. S.B. 275 Kasparov 116. 117.
Gabriel 255 Harikrishna 214. 231 118. 272. 294. 318.
Gagunashvili 150 Hasangatin 231 324
Gallagher 216 Hecht 184 Kavalek 300
Galliamova 43 Hector 11. 32 Kazhgaleev 151
Gashimov 1 HelllJansson 54 Kempinski 243
Gelashvili 220 Hernandez 9 Kharlov 108. 208
Gelfand 188. 262 Herndl53 Khenkin 57
Geller 94. 122. 133. Hjartarson 84. 148. Khmelnitsky 83
172.192 213.345 Kiriakov 233
Georgiev. Ki. 344 Hodgson 323 Kleissl 14
Georgiev. Kr. 31 Hort 123. I3 I. 327 Klimov 253
Georgiev. V. 241. 254 Horvath. C. 279 Kochiev 81. 129
Ghaem Maghami 187 Horvath. P. 215 Kogan 185. 263
Gheorghiu 251 Howell. D. 329 Kolev 56
Giaccio 51 Hratek 267 Kongsted 3. 20. 25. 61.
Ginsburg IO Hubner 72. 130. 140. 63.97.315.350
Glek 234. 282. 317. 169.174.290.293. Korchnoi 33. 66. 82.
336 300. 311. 340 140. 141, 166. 169.
Gligoric 79. 119.287 Hunt. H. 246 173. 181, 192.200.
Gluckman 2 Ibragimov 103 212.232.295.297.
Godena 88 Inarkiev 233 298.325
Goldin 277 Ionov 67 Kornev4
Goloshchapov 106.218 Iskusnykh 41.208 Korobov 252
GOllnally 37 Ivanov. J. 18.337 Korotylev 86. 108.226
Graf68 Izoria 238 Kosashvili 204
Granda 269 Janssen 29 Kosten 271
Greenfeld 297 Jenni 240 Kosteniuk 3 I3
Gretarsson 260 Jevtic 312 Kostic 265
Grishchuk 89. 242. Jobava 218 Kotsur 85. 156
248.267 Jonkman 65 Kouatly 45
Grunberg. M. 21 Kacheishvili 317 Kovatevic 124
Gulko 142. 285. 303. Kaiumov 187 Kofu1149.243
338 Kalinin 87 Kramnik 163.286.318
Gunnarsson II Kariakin 313 319
INDEX OF PLAYERS 175
Krasenkow 34, 100, Malaniuk 342 Onishchuk 210, 211

223,320 Mamediarov 111 Ott 17
Kristensen. B. 350 Mamedov 38 Pahtz. T. 255
Krush 214 Markus 266 Palo 22, 40
Kulichov 41 Matsuura 58 Panno 288
Kunin 6 Mecking 346 Pavlovic 241
Kupreichik 238 Miezis 279 Pelletier 23, 76
Kurenkov 38 Mikkelsen 63 Peng Xiaomin 189
Kustar 39 Miles 66. 126, 128. Peng Zhaoqin 46
Kuzmin 127 166.177.288.321. Perez, R. 18
Kveinys 225 326 Petrosian SO. 116.167
Lahno 335 Milos 98 Piket 190
Lakdawala 19 Milov 157 Planinc 184
Lalic 152 Minasian 204 Plaskett 37
Larsen 107. 121. 124. Mohota44 Polgar. J. 77. 259. 347
128. 130. 131. 134. Moldovan 60 Polugaevsky 123, 168.
137. 171.193.201, Molnar 52 196,298,307,325
281.296.306.349 Morovic 98, 348 Polzin 284
Lastin 186 Morozevich 85, 89, Ponomariov 235
Lautier 112. 259 150,153,331 Popov 67, 247
Leko 209.239.242. Mortensen 42 Popovic 144, 149
258.272.319.332 Motwani 336 Portisch 173. 194, 202,
Lengyel. B. 3 Movsesian 236 213,340
Li Shilong 217 Mrdja 314 Prokopisin 312
Li Wenliang 221 MUlier, K. 26 Prusikhin 88
Liberzon 125 Naiditsch 92, 113 Psakhis 146, 342
Lima 58. 348 Najdorf 346 Pushkov 151
Lindberg 15 Nakamura 78 Quinn 257
Ljubojevic 134. 136. Naumkin 257 Quinteros 126. 127
145. 153. 177, 191. Navara 275 Rabiega 48
199. 251. 262. 303. Nenashev 96 Rainfray 60
307.345 Nielsen, P.H. 40. 273. Rathnakaran 13
Lobron 54. 282 281 Renet 240
LOffler 35 Nijboer 114. 261. 269 Ribli 139,164,237.
Lputian 388 Nikolic 198. 293 306
Lukin 33 Nisipeanu 216 Rodriguez. Am. 182
Luther 308 Nogueiras 154. 290 Rogers 302
Macieja 222 Novikov 24 Rogozenko 273
McShane 223. 244 Nyback 287 Rohde 203
Malakhov 207 Olafsson I 18 Romanishin 135. 304
Rowson 280 Spraggett 95, 138, 179 Van der Sterren 322
Roy Chowdhury 35 I Stangl 284 Van der Weide 55
Rublevsky 87, 91 Stefansson 11 0 Van der Wiel 114, 142,
Rustemov 234, 305 Strikovic 12 294,324
Sadler 320 Sulava 228 Van Riemsdijk 7
Sadvakasov 86 Sulskis I I 1,225,316 Van Wely 310
Sambuev 28 Sutovsky 106, 159 Varga 266
Sargissian 73 Sveshnikov 94 Vasiesiu 21
Sashikiran 109, 334 Svidler 93, 224, 277, Vasiukov 120
Savchenko 283 278 Vaulin 6
Sax 104, 133, 198,268, Svirin 178 Veingold 59
289 Szeberenyi 256 Venkatesh 2
Schebler 48 Szymanski 52 Vescovi 91, 210, 270
Scherbakov 156, 283 Tal 70,71, 164,191 Vijayalakshmi 13
Schmaltz 68 Teske 291 Vladimirov 96
Seirawan 321, 326, 327 Thinius 26 Vlasov 5
Shahade, G. 24 Timman 15, 71, 92, Vragoteris 62
Sher 323 104, 105, 143, 145, Vuckovic 44
Shirov 90, 155, 212 148, 162, 170, 175. Vysochin 65
Shomoev 309 190. 195, 197, 199. Vyzhmanavin 292
Short 82, 90, 137, 147, 289,311 Wahls 302
219,224 Timofeev 309 Wells 264
Skjoldan 315 Tischbierek 47 Werle 55
Skripchenko 1,8,34,50 Tishin 250 Wisnewski 30
Skudnov 178 Tiviakov 69, 78, 341 Xie Jun 43
Slaby 333 Tkachev 27 Xu Jun 230
Smagin 64 Todorovic 215 Yagupov 226, 250
Smejkal 121, 268 Topalov 157,163,189, Yakovich 246
Smirin 62 227,235 Yandemirov 16
Smirnov 99, 343 Torre 125, 196. 206 Ye Jiangchuan 230
Smyslov 70, 174, 176 Tseshkovsky 79, 132 Yelll10Iinsky 162
Sokolov, A. 176, 179 Tukmakov 81, I 19 Yusupov 74, 75. lOS,
Sokolov, I. 310 Turner 329 132, 143, 147,200,
Solleveld 29 Uhlmann 285 291
Solozhenkin 69, 253 Ulybin 50 Zagorskis 57
Sorokin 109,316 Vaganian 138, 20 I, Zakharstov 186
Sosonko 170, 175 206,229,304 ZelCic 35
Spassky 72, 95, 107, Valiente 7 Zviagintsev 101. 158,
122, 171, 195, 296 Van den Doel 152 205

Beat the Grandmasters tactics book review

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Beat the Grandmasters tactics book review

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Foreword

Beat the Grandmasters

a grandmaster opponent, ChessGod101

And many others.

1 White to play 2 Black to play

3 White to play 5 White to play

4 Black to play 6 White to play

7 Black to play 9 White to play

8 Black to play 10 Black to play

-- -- ------- -- ------ - ''''-- - -

11 White to play 13 Black to play

12 Black to play 14 White to play

IS White to play 17 to play

16 White to play 18 Black to play

19 White to play 21 White to play

20 to play 22 White to play

23 White to play 2S White to play

26 White to play 28 White to play

- - ------ ---- --- --"

27 Black to play 29 Black to play

30 White to play 32 White to play

31 to play 33 White to play

34 to play 36 White to play

---- --- ---.- ,-_.-

35 Black to play 37 Black to play

38 Black to play 40 Black to play

39 White to play 41 White to play

42 White to play 44 White to play

43 White to play 45 Black to play

46 White to play 48 White to play

47 White to play 49 Black to play

50 to play 51 White to play

Solutions for Beat the If 3... 8 then 4lDe7+. and White

2WxdSe33 ~xf8 4 White can pick up the b7-bishop

White loses his queen after 2 l:txcS

This decides the game at once. 1......a5+ 2 b4

Forcing the game into a king and 36)

3... 4 ~cl l:txc3+ 5 i.xc3 Or 6 ... cxd4 7 0.c7#.

Points Elo 15-17 1800

In case of a negative score, the result should be counted as O.

S2 to play 54 Black to play

S3 White to play SS Black to play

56 White to play 58 Black to play

57 White to play 59 White to play

60 White to play 62 White to play

61 White to play 63 White to play

Solutions for The aster Or 2 'iWxb5 axb5 3 dxc6 bxa4 and

This is the only move that wins for 62)

Black probably thought that this Threatening with mate to

64 Black to play 65 to play

66 White to play 68 White to play

67 White to play 69 White to play

70 to play 72 White to play

71 to play 73 Black to play

74 White to play 76 White to play

7S White to play 77 White to play

78 Black to play Black to play

= ----- --------- - - -- ------ - - --- --c,,'

79 Black to play 81 to play

82 White to play 84 Black to play

83 White to play 85 Black to play

86 White to play 88 Black to play

87 White to play 89 White to play