How I Became an IM
IM Irina Bulmaga
Question 1.
White took on d6. How would a
Master respond to this outrage?
Question 2.
How can Black break through the
shield of White’s monarch?
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Question 3.
Here Black has a tasty fork with
c5-c4, but the knight on e7 is
hanging.
What should Black do?
Question 4
I bet you’d be happy with Black’s
position here.
Can you check again and see
what the enemy can do?
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Question 5
Black’s knight is pinned but we still
can’t take it because our rook
would be hanging.
What’s the best move for White?
Question 6
Barely movable king!
Can White break through?
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Question 7
And what should White’s plan of
action be in this position?
Question 8
It looks like Black is defending
well.
How should White continue?
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Question 9.
How should White respond to
…Nxf4?
Question 10.
Any tactics for Black?
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Question 11.
White is in trouble here and calls
for back-up, binging the cavalry to
f1.
How should Black continue his
attack?
Question 12.
Black threatens g5-g4.
Can you see the right continuation
for White here?
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Question 13.
White’s last move, Ne5, looks
winning.
What should Black do?
Question 14.
How can White exploit the weak h-
file?
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Question 15.
Black has managed to break into
our base, but there is nothing to
fear.
How should White proceed?
Question 16.
We have two of our men hanging
and the enemy has only one.
How does White come out of this
with a small material gain?
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Question 17.
Whoever strikes first wins!
And it’s White to play…
Question 18.
White didn’t want to give an extra
tempo to Black by swapping
queens, so he brought his rook up
to defend his queen.
What is Black’s best move here?
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Question 19.
White has invaded our defenses
with their queen.
How should Black respond?
Question 20.
Can you spot Black’s idea when
he made the bishop offering?
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Question 21.
How can Black win material here?
Question 22.
How can Black break through the
enemy’s shield and mate him?
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Question 23.
Here both sides have material
hanging.
How can White get the best out of
this situation?
Question 24.
The enemy is against the ropes!
Find the strongest line here.
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Question 25.
Unprotected man on the board!
How can we use that to create
some lines of attack?
Question 26.
How can White increase the
oxygen supply to the sniper on
g2?
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Question 27.
Overloaded piece on the board!
How can we defend against
Black’s diabolic idea of getting a
second wife?
Question 28.
White just played Rf3. How do we
punish this poor defense?
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Question 29.
Black threatens to win material if
our pinned knight moves away.
How does White come out of this
situation intact?
Question 30.
Agent Dylan the d-pawn is
desperate for promotion.
Can you help him out?
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Solutions
1 (1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5) 20...Ba4 21.Rxa4 Rxb2! with strong initiative on the dark
squares.
2 (1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5) 28...Bxb5! 29.Rh1 Bxc4 30.bxc4 Rc8 with better chances.
3 Advanced Caro-Kann 18...Nxe5! 19.dxe5 c4 recovering investments and
destroying White's center.
4 Advanced Caro-Kann 25.Bxd5! If Black recaptures, then e6! with decisive attack!
5 Attacking the French 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Bxh7+! Kxh7 27.Qxd8.
6 Attacking the French 25.Rxg6+ hxg6 26.Qxg6+ Kh8 27.Qxf7 Rg8 28.Bf8 Mate is
inevitable.
7 Attacking the Najdorf 21.Bxf7+! Black will be under a lot of pressure.
8 Attacking the Paulsen 21.Bxg6 Qxf6 22.Bxh7+ Kh8 23.Qh5 Kg7 24.Rxd7+ Rf7
25.Bd3 Qf4+ 26.Kb1 Rxd7 27.Qh7+ Kf6 28.Qxd7.
9 Attacking the Paulsen 33....Nxf4 34.Bc4! Mate soon.
10 29…BxN 30.cxBc4+ wins the queen.
11 English 19...Qf2+ 20.Kh1 Bxd4 21.Ng3 Qg1+ 22.Rxg1 Nf2#
12 English 22.Bd7!! Re6 23.Bxe6 Bxe6 24.Nxf6 Qxf6 25.Rxc6!! with a strong initiative
on queenside.
13 Italian 1...Bxf2+ 2.Kh1 BxR 3. NxR KxN 4.Qd5+ Kg6 5.Rxe1 Bc6 up a pawn for
the endgame.
14 Italian 1.Rxg6 Rh4 2.Ne6 followed by Rf5+ winning the queen.
15 KID 1.axb Be7 2.Rh1 Qb8 3.RxN.
16 KID 1.Na4 Bd6 2. Nxc QxN 3. BxN.
17 Mate in 4: 1.Rh7+ KxR 2. Qe7+ Kg6 3.Qg7+ KxN 4.Qg4#
18 Najdorf 27...Nc5 28.O-O Nxd3.
19 Najdorf 41...Rf8 42.Qe6 Qd8 43.c5 bxc5 44.bxc5 Rf6 trapping the queen!
20 Nimzo-Indian 28.Qxa4 Qxe4 29.Kf2 Nd3+ 30.Kg3 Qh4+ 31.Kf3 Qf4+ 32.Ke2 Nc1#
21 Nimzo-Indian 42.... Qf4+ 43.Bxf4 exf4+ 44.Kf3 Rbxe2 winning a piece.
22 Paulsen 19...Bxa2+! 20.Kc1 f3+ 21.Re3 Rxe3 22.fxe3 Bxe3+ 23.Kd1 Rxd3+
24.Ke1 Rd1+! 25.Kxd1 Qd8+ and White will be mated soon.
23 Pirc 17.Bxg4 Bxg4 18.Nxe5 Bxd1 19.Nxc6 Bxh5 20.Nd4 exchanging a central
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pawn for a flank pawn. White stands better.
24 Pirc 39.Nh7+ Kg8 40.Nxh6+ Kg7 41.Nxf7 and it’s hopeless for Black.
25 Reti 12.... Nxg4! 13.Nxg6 Bh2+ 14.Kh1 fxN 15.Nf3 Bc7 16.e4 Nh6 White's king
position has been destroyed and Black is a pawn up.
26 Reti more (oxygen to bishop on g2) 21.Nd5 cxd5 22.cxd5 Ng5 23.h4 Qd6 24.hxg5.
27 Ruy Lopez 42.Rc8!! The rook is overloaded and can't defend against mate on
either g7 or g8.
28 Ruy Lopez 45.Rf3 Rxg2+ 46.Kxg2 Nd4 with a deadly attack.
29 Sicilian (3.Bb5+) 27.Nf5+ Qxf5 28.Qxf5 Rxd1 29.Qc5+ wins the game.
30 Sicilian (3.Bb5+) 43.Rxf6 Qe3+ 44.Rf2 clearly winning.
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