Seven Brutalities 2

No one can win a game of chess unless the opponent goes wrong, so it might be said that inducing error is one of the primary tasks facing the tournament player. This assumes of course that one's technique is up to exploiting the error. There are many ways to send the opponent down the path to danger, and a popular one is playing an unexpected opening variation.

A few months before this game I had spent some time looking through a monograph on the Schliemann Defence by the Hungarian master Tibor Florian. I was reasonably prepared for the main lines, but got a pleasant surprise when my opponent wandered into a sideline that had first been seen in the nineteenth century.

Forbes G - Scoones D

B.C. Championship (1) 1977

Spanish Game C63

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d4?!

The correct move here is 4.Nc3.

4...fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.dxe5 c6 (diagram) 7.Bc4?!

White has already gone wrong but this accelerates the negative trend. For better or worse the piece sacrifice 7.Nc3!? must be tried. I remember having an improvement on Florian's analysis but I can't remember what it was.

7...Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Qxe5 9.Bxg8 Rxg8 10.Qe2 d5 11.f4 Qf6 12.Bd2 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qh3

White is a pawn down and is being overrun on the light squares. No further commentary is required.

14.Nd1 Bg4 15.Nf2?! Bxe2 16.Nxh3 Bf3 17.Rg1 Bc5 0-1

It is always great to start a tournament with a quick win, especially as Black!

Hammer and anvil

Grandmaster Mikhail Gurevich has had a long chess career and many of his impressive wins have found their way into Chess Informant and other publications. Today I would like to show an encounter that did not go so well for him thanks to some imaginative play from his opponent, the Azerbaijani WGM Firuza Velikhanli. It is probably worth remembering that one of her more illustrious countrymen is none other than Garry Kasparov.

Velikhanli F - Gurevich M

Izmir Open 2006

Pirc Defence B09

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5 Nc7 9.a4 Bg4?!

The alternative 9...Rb8 10.Kh1 Bg4 is considered more accurate than the text because the tempo spent on 10.Kh1 slows down White's kingside initiative.
10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 e6 12.Bd2 exd5 13.exd5 a6 14.a5 Rb8 15.f5!?
A novelty. The game J.Polgar-Todorcevic, Pamplona 1990 went 15.Bc4 Nd7 16.Na4 and White won after a long struggle.
15...Nh5 16.Qg4 Bd4+ 17.Kh1 Be5 18.Rf3!?
Also interesting was 18.Ne4, for example, 18...Bxb2 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Rab1 Bg7 21.Bg5! and Black is forced to make concessions. The text move 18.Rf3 is the prelude to a very fine positional pawn sacrifice.
18...Nf6 19.Qh4!
Quite inconsistent would be 19.Qc4 b5 20.axb6 Rxb6 with counterplay for Black.
19...Nfxd5
Because of the disappearance of Black's light-squared bishop, capturing White's d-pawn is somewhat risky, to say the least. But it is difficult to suggest a better plan for Black.
20.Bg5! Qd7 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.Bc4! Nc7?
Black had to try 22...Nb4 in order to keep White's bishop from returning to d3. But even here White is doing extremely well after 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Re1 Rbe8 25.Bh6 Qd8 (or 25...Bg7 26.Rxe8 Qxe8 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Qf6+ Kh7 29.Rf4 and wins) 26.Qg4 d5 27.Bxf8 Qc7!? 28.Bh6 dxc4 29.Qxc4.
23.Re1!
Yes, another exclamation mark. This is not latter-day Reinfeldism, but a simple reflection of the quality of White's play.
23...Rbe8?! (diagram)
After 23...Ne8 the simplest way is 24.fxg6 hxg6 25.Bd5 with a dominating position for White. The text gives Velikhanli the opportunity to finish the game with a “Baku de grace.”
24.fxg6 hxg6 25.Rxe5! Rxe5 26.Bf6 Rh5 27.Qxh5!
Black ends up a piece down after the forced 27...gxh5 28.Rg3+ Qg4 (since 28...Kh7 29.Bd3+ Kh6 30.Bg7 is a very pretty mate) 29.hxg4, etc., and therefore he resigned.
1-0

Seven Brutalities 1

Here is the first of seven miniature games taken from various stages of my so-called career. Each game features some hard-hitting tactical play... hence the title, borrowed from an old article in Joel Benjamin's magazine Chess Chow. (My favourite chess magazine of all time, by the way. After it folded unexpectedly I was depressed for months.)

Scoones D - Holzknecht A

Victoria 2005

Pirc Defence B08

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Be3 Bd7 10.f3 Nh5 11.Qd2 e6 12.Bc4 exd5 13.Nxd5 c6 (diagram) 14.Bg5! 1-0

Al Holzknecht is a local expert who plays resolutely for a draw whenever he is up against higher-rated players. Needless to say, this approach does not always produce the desired result. This game is no exception.

7...Ne5 is hardly the best way for Black. Such theory as exists on this position says Black should retract his last move with 8...Nb8, as in the old game Leonhardt-Chigorin, Carlsbad 1907(!) In fact I have played 8...Nb8 myself with success.

The decentralising 10...Nh5 might have worked out if Black had continued with 12...Nf4!? If White accepts the pawn sacrifice Black gets excellent compensation through dominating the central dark squares.

Instead, Black exchanges pawns with the aim of clearing up the situation in the centre. Unfortunately, 13...c6? is not the correct follow-up, as White demonstrates. But even after the stronger 13...Be6 14.Rfd1 the position is better for White.

After 14.Bg5! Black is losing at least a pawn on account of his awkwardly placed queen and the unavailability of the defensive move 14...f6. Still, resignation was a pleasant surprise!

Interference

The first diagram shows a position from the game Janowski-Schallop, Nuremburg 1896. White has active pieces but seems to be losing the initiative because of the counterattack on his rook. He solves that problem with a surprise move:

1.Bd5!
An interference sacrifice, closing off the defence of c6 by the Black queen. If Black plays 1...Qh3 then White can simply win a rook with 2.Bxc6+.
1...exd5 2.Qxc6+ Kd8 3.Qxa8+ Kd7 4.Qb7+ Ke6
Other moves are obviously no better. Black is continuing out of pure inertia.
5.Qc6+ Bd6 6.Bf4!
Black resigned. He is mated after 6...Qxh1+ 7.Kd2 Qxa1 8.Qxd6+ Kf5 9.Qe5+ Kg6 10.Qg5.

The second diagram shows a position from the game Scoones-Gregg, Portland 1976. My opponent has sacrificed a piece for some counterplay against my king, which is more annoying than it looks because of my passive bishop on g3. After studying the position for a short time I saw an opportunity to break Black's resistance by sacrificing the bishop in unusual fashion:

1.Be5! dxe5
If 1...Bxe5 then 2.Qf8+ Kd7 3.Bf5 mate. The strongest line of resistance is 1...Qa3+ 2.Kd1 dxe5 3.Qxg7 (not 3.Qg8+? Qf8) 3...Bxf3 4.gxf3 Qd6 but after 5.Ke2 the win is not in any doubt.
2.Qg8+ Kd7 3.Qxg7+ Kd6 4.Qxh6+ Kc5 5.Qxg5
Black's position is hopeless and he resigned after a few more moves.

Janowski's combination must be valued more highly than my mundane effort, for two main reasons:

1. In Janowski's game, the sacrifice is the only way to win or even avoid serious disadvantage;
2. In my game, the sacrifice is effective but not strictly necessary. White is already a piece ahead and has an alternative winning line that starts with 1.Qg8+ Kd7 2.Bf5+.

I do not believe I had seen the Janowski combination when my game was played. But I know I had seen something like it. One must study the classics!

Ljubo's missing games

In 1978 the Yugoslav GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic was the convincing winner of a medium-strength international tournament held in the Serbian town of Titovo Uzice. The tournament crosstable and a few games were published in Chess Informant 26, but for some reason most of Ljubojevic's wins were left on the cutting room floor.

No matter – we're now solidly in the era of chess megabases, so it should be a simple matter to whistle up Ljubo's games from this event for a closer look at his uncompromising playing style. It should be simple, but it isn't. The ChessBase Big Database contains just 29 games from Titovo Uzice 1978. Only five of those were played by Ljubojevic. This is more than the three that published were in Informant 26, but it's still not good enough.

We're also solidly in the era of the internet, so after this minor setback the search was on for Ljubo's missing games. I'm happy to report that after much digging I have recovered all 13 of his efforts from Titovo Uzice.

Matulovic-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (1) 1978
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bd6 10. Nbd4 O-O 11. Be3 a6 12. Bd3 Ng6 13. Qd2 Be7 14. Rfe1 Bg4 15. Bf5 1/2-1/2

Ljubojevic-Jovcic, Titovo Uzice (2) 1978
1.b3 d5 2.e3 e5 3.Bb2 Bd6 4.c4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Qf6 8.cxd5 Qxf3 9.gxf3 cxd5 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Rg1 g6 12.Nb5 Ke7 13.f4 Nc6 14.Nxd6 Kxd6 15.Be2 Rhe8 16.fxe5+ Nxe5 17.f4 Ned7 18.Rc1 Rac8 19.Rxc8 Rxc8 20.Kd1 Ne4 21.Rg2 a6 22.h4 Ke6 23.Bf3 f5 24.Bd4 Nef6 25.d3 Kf7 26.b4 b6 27.a4 Ke6 28.Rb2 Kf7 29.a5 b5 30.Rg2 Ke6 31.Kd2 Kf7 32.Rg1 h5 33.Rg2 Rc6 34.Bd1 Rc8 35.Bb3 Rg8 36.Rg1 Ke7 37.Rc1 Kd6 38.Be5+ Nxe5 39.fxe5+ Kxe5 40.Rc6 Rf8 41.d4+ Ke4 42.Ke2 1-0

Andersson-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (3) 1978
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. e3 d5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Be2 dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 8. a4 cxd4 9. exd4 b6 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Qxd5 Bb4+ 13. Bd2 Bxd2+ 14. Nxd2
1/2-1/2

Ljubojevic-Ermenkov, Titovo Uzice (4) 1978
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Nc5 6.f3 a5 7.Be3 Be7 8.Nge2 c6 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.Bxc5 dxc5 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Na4 Kc7 13.Nc1 Be6 14.Nd3 Nd7 15.b3 Rhd8 16.h4 f6 17.0-0-0 Bf7 18.g3 Nb6 19.Ndxc5 Rxd1+ 20.Kxd1 Nxa4 21.Nxa4 Bb4 22.Bd3 c5 23.Kc2 Be8 24.Nc3 a4 25.Nd5+ Kd6 26.Kb2 axb3 27.axb3 Bf7 28.Nc3 Be8 29.Rd1 Bc6 30.Bc2+ Kc7 31.Bd3 Ba3+ 32.Kc2 Bb4 33.h5 h6 34.Rh1 Kd6 35.Be2 Bxc3 36.Kxc3 Ra2 37.Re1 Be8 38.g4 Bc6 39.Bd1 Kc7 40.Bc2 Kb6 41.Rd1 Kc7 42.Rf1 Kd6 43.Rf2 Ra3 44.Bd1 Bb7 45.Kb2 Ra8 46.Rd2+ Kc7 47.Be2 Bc6 48.Kc3 Rd8 49.Rb2 Rb8 50.Bd1 Rd8 51.Bc2 Rb8 52.Rb1 Kc8 53.Ra1 Ra8 54.Rf1 Rb8 55.f4 exf4 56.Rxf4 Bd7 57.e5 fxe5 58.Rf8+ Kc7 59.Rf7 Kd6 60.Rxg7 Rf8 61.Be4 Rf4 62.Kd3 Bxg4 63.Rg6+ Ke7 64.Rxh6 Bd1 65.Bd5 Rh4 66.Re6+ Kd8 67.h6 Bxb3 68.Ra6 Ke7 69.h7 Kf8 70.Ra7 e4+ 71.Kc3 Rh3+ 72.Kb2 e3 73.h8=Q+ Rxh8 74.Kxb3 e2 75.Ra1 Kg7 76.Re1 Rh2 77.Kc3 1-0

Tringov-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (5) 1978
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Nb6 5.a4 a5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.Be2 Bg4 8.exd6 exd6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Nbd2 Na6 12.Nf1 Bh5 13.c3 Nc7 14.Ng3 Bg6 15.Bd3 Nbd5 16.Bf5 Re8 17.Bd2 b5 18.Qb3 Nb6 19.Qc2 Ncd5 20.axb5 cxb5 21.b3 Qc7 22.Qd3 Qc6 23.Rec1 Rec8 24.h4 a4 25.bxa4 bxa4 26.h5 Bxf5 27.Nxf5 Qc4 28.Qe4 Bf8 29.Ne3 Nxe3 30.Ng5 f5 31.Qxe3 Qd5 32.Qg3 Nc4 33.Bf4 Re8 34.Rcb1 a3 35.Qd3 h6 36.Nf3 Nb2 37.Qc2 Re4 38.Bc1 Rg4 39.Kf1 Qc4+ 40.Kg1 Qd5 41.Kf1 Nc4 42.Qa2 Qf7 43.Rb5 Rc8 44.g3 Qxh5 45.Kg2 Qf7 46.Nd2 d5 47.Nxc4 Rxc4 48.Bxa3 Bxa3 49.Qxa3 f4 50.Qa8+ Kh7 51.Rb8 fxg3 52.Rh8+ Kg6 53.Ra6+ Kh5 54.f3 Rxc3 55.Raxh6+ gxh6 56.fxg4+ Kxg4 57.Rg8+ 0-1

Ljubojevic-Rajkovic, Titovo Uzice (6) 1978
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.h3 0-0 8.Bb3 Nc6 9.Be3 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.0-0 Bxb3 12.axb3 a6 13.Qe2 Rc8 14.Rfd1 Nd7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Nd5 Re8 17.Ne3 Qb6 18.Ra4 Rc5 19.Qd2 Nf6 20.Rd4 Qc6 21.b4 Re5 22.f3 Ra8 23.g4 h5 24.Kg2 hxg4 25.hxg4 Rh8 26.Rc4 Qe8 27.f4 Rxe4 28.Rxe4 Qc6 29.Nd5 Nxe4 30.Nxe7 Nxd2+ 31.Nxc6 Nc4 32.Rd4 Ne3+ 33.Kg3 bxc6 34.Rxd6 Nxc2 35.Rxc6 Nxb4 36.Rb6 a5 37.Rb5 Ra8 38.g5 Nc6 39.Rc5 Nd4 40.Rd5 Nf5+ 41.Kf3 a4 42.Rc5 Rb8 43.Ra5 Rb3+ 44.Ke4 Rb4+ 45.Kf3 Nd4+ 46.Ke3 Ne6 0-1

Kovacevic-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (7) 1978
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 a6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.b3 Nbd7 10.Bb2 Be7 11.Rfd1 0-0 12.Ng5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Qb8 14.Nge4 Rd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Qxd6 Qb7+ 17.Kg1 Ne5 18.Qa3 Nc6 19.Ne4 Be7 20.Nd6 Qc7 21.c5 bxc5 22.Nc4 Nd4 23.Rd2 Bg5 24.f4 Bf6 25.Kf2 Qc6 26.Qa5 Rd5 27.Rad1 Rh5 28.h4 g6 29.Qb6 Qd5 30.Qc7 Rxh4 31.Rg1 Rh2+ 32.Kf1 Qf5 33.Rg2 Qb1+ 34.Kf2 Rh1 35.Nd6 Rf8 36.Ke3 Nb5 37.Nxb5 Bxb2 38.Nd6 Bc1 39.Qa5 Bxd2+ 40.Qxd2 Rd1 0-1

Ljubojevic-Kurajica, Titovo Uzice (8) 1978
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Qc7 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.b3 Ngf6 8.Bb2 Bd6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Ne5 11.Re1 0-0-0 12.a3 h5 13.Qe2 Rde8 14.c4 dxc4 15.d4 Nd3 16.e5 Nxb2 17.bxc4 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Nd7 19.Ne4 Qxe5 20.c5 Kc7 21.Rab1 f5 22.Nd6 Qxe2 23.Rxe2 Rb8 24.Rexb2 Nxc5 25.Rc2 Kxd6 26.Rd1+ Ke7 27.Rxc5 g6 28.a4 Rbd8 29.Rb1 Rd7 30.a5 a6 31.Be2 Kf6 32.f4 h4 33.Re5 Re8 34.Re3 Ree7 35.Reb3 e5 36.fxe5+ Rxe5 37.Bf1 Ree7 38.Kf2 Kg5 39.R1b2 Kf6 40.Be2 Kg5 41.Rb4 Rh7 42.Bf3 Kf6 43.Rc4 Rd3 44.Ke2 Rdd7 45.Rb3 Rhe7+ 46.Re3 g5 47.Rb4 Rxe3+ 48.Kxe3 Re7+ 49.Kd4 Re5 50.Rxb7 Rxa5 51.Bxc6 Ra3 52.Rh7 a5 53.Bd5 Rg3 54.Rf7+ Kg6 55.Rf8 g4 56.hxg4 fxg4 57.Ke5 h3 58.Rg8+ Kh7 59.gxh3 Rxh3 60.Rg5 Rh2 61.Be6 a4 62.Bf5+ Kh6 63.Kf6 Rb2 64.Rg8 Rb6+ 65.Be6 Rb7 66.Rxg4 Rb5 67.Rxa4 Rg5 68.Rh4+ Rh5 69.Rg4 Ra5 70.Bc4 Rc5 71.Bf7 Rc6+ 72.Be6 Rc5 73.Rg8 Rc7 74.Rg6+ Kh7 75.Rg1 Kh8 76.Rd1 1-0

Smejkal-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (9) 1978
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. O-O O-O 8. Bf4 Be7 9. Nc3 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Qc2 Na6 12. a3 Qd7 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 14. Rac1 h6 15. Ne5 Qe6 16. Qb3 Bf8 17. Nb5 c5 1/2-1/2

Ljubojevic-Jansa, Titovo Uzice (10) 1978
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Qb3 Nb6 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.d5 Ne5 12.Be2 Nxf3+ 13.gxf3 Bh5 14.Rg1 Qc8 15.Nb5 c6 16.Nxa7 Rxa7 17.Bxb6 Ra8 18.a4 Qh3 19.Rg3 Qxh2 20.Bf1 Be5 21.Rh3 Qf4 22.dxc6 bxc6 23.a5 Bc7 24.Bxc7 Qxc7 25.a6 Rfd8 26.Bc4 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1 Rd8 28.Qc1 Rd4 29.Kf1 Qd7 30.Kg2 Bxf3+ 31.Rxf3 Qg4+ 32.Rg3 Qxe4+ 33.f3 Qe5 34.Qc3 Qd6 35.a7 Rd2+ 36.Kh3 Qd7+ 37.Rg4 1-0

Todorcevic-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (11) 1978
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.f4 d6 7.Nf3 e6 8.0-0 Nge7 9.Be3 Nd4 10.Bf2 Nec6 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Rb1 b5 13.Ne2 b4 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Qe2 0-0 16.h4 Rb5 17.a3 a5 18.axb4 axb4 19.b3 Bd7 20.Ra1 Ra5 21.Qd2 Qb6 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.Be1 Rb8 24.Bf3 e5 25.fxe5 dxe5 26.Kg2 h5 27.Kh2 Qc5 28.Bd1 Qe7 29.Bf3 Kh7 30.Qe2 Rc8 31.Qd1 Be6 32.Rf2 Ra8 33.Bd2 Qc5 34.Bg5 f6 35.Bd2 Ra2 36.Be1 Bh6 37.Qe2 Bxb3 0-1

Ljubojevic-Radojcic, Titovo Uzize (12) 1978
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.f4 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bd3 d5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Be3 a6 11.Ne2 Nc5 12.Nfd4 Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bd7 15.0-0 Bc5 16.Rf3 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 g6 18.Bc5 Rc8 19.Qd4 Qa5 20.Rc3 Qa4 21.Bb4 Rxc3 22.Qxc3 Qc6 23.Qd2 b5 24.b3 f5 25.exf6 Kf7 26.Rc1 Rc8 27.Qd4 a5 28.Bxa5 Qc5 29.Qxc5 Rxc5 30.Bb6 Rc6 31.Bd4 Ra6 32.Ra1 h6 33.Kf2 Ke8 34.Ke3 Kd8 35.Bc5 Be8 36.Kd4 Kc7 37.Kc3 g5 38.g3 Ra8 39.Kb4 Rb8 40.Re1 Bf7 41.f5 1-0

Bagirov-Ljubojevic, Titovo Uzice (13) 1978
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 c5 10. Rd1 Bf6 11. Qd3 d5 12. cxd5 exd5 1/2-1/2

USCF Senior Master and Chess Digest publisher Ken Smith used to recommend studying the games played by a tournament winner. I hope you find this set by Ljubomir Ljubojevic enjoyable and instructive!