Find the best continuation

This position came up in a recent blitz game at Delaney's Coffee Bar, a popular meeting place for chessplayers in West Vancouver, B.C. It is White (Dadian) to play. It was obvious to me that Black's situation is critical and in fact I was looking for the best way to finish things off.

All of White's previous play has been aimed at conquering h7. It may appear that success is at hand, but there is a problem. When the knight on h5 moves away, Black will capture on f6 and defend the mate. And if White sacrifices a piece somewhere, Black will have the defensive resource Bc5-f2+, returning the piece and exchanging queens. On top of that Black is threatening a5-a4.

After a few seconds' reflection (this is a blitz game, remember) I noticed my hand reaching out to defend the f-pawn with 1.Rf1?! My opponent immediately went wrong with 1...Rad8? and after 2.Rxd8 he was soon forced to resign because of a general collapse on f7.

The next day I reconstructed the position and started looking for the best line for White. It turns out that mate on h7 is a chimera of sorts. In the diagram position White should abandon the original focal point and shift his attention to g7.

1.Qg3!

The threat is obvious: 2.Nxf7+ Rxf7 3.Bxf7 Qxf7 and now 4.Qg7+ followed by 5.fxg7 mate. This is how things would go after, say, 1...a4? Instead, Black must get off the mate by clearing g8 for his king:

1...Nh6

Now White can win the exchange with 2.Ne6!? fxe6 3.Qg7+ Qxg7 4.fxg7+ Kg8 5.gxf8+ Rxf8 6.Bxe6+ Kh8 but then Black's bishop pair would give him quite a bit of compensation. Happily for White there is something stronger:

2.Nxf7+!

Black's reply is forced because of the continuing threat of Qg7 mate.

2...Rxf7 3.Bxf7 Qxf7

The first wave of the assault appears to be over, and White has given up a rook for two bishops. He must press his attack before Black can consolidate.

4.Qg7+! Qxg7 5.fxg7+ Kg8 6.Rd7!

The point of White's combination. Black's king is short of squares and is facing a deadly check on f6. Playing the rook to f8 doesn't help so there is only one defensive try left:

6...Nf7

With Black's knight cutting off the defence of White's g-pawn, it is starting to look like White's attack has run out of steam. To renew the threat of Nf6+ White must protect the g-pawn with his other rook. The square g1 is covered, so there is only one way forward:

7.Rh2!!

The beauty of this move is that White can calmly leave his important-looking d7 rook to be taken after, say, 7...Bc8. With Black's king completely entombed, 8. Rg2 will renew the threat of mate with Nf6. Black must rush over a piece to defend f6 against the deadly check, and his rook on a8 is the only viable candidate.

7...Re8 8.Rg2 Re6

Black's defensive exertions have prevented an immediate mate, but they have also weakened his back rank. This adds a final resource to White's arsenal:

9.Rxf7!

The rook cannot be captured because of 9...Kxf7 10.g8Q+, so White recovers a piece. He is now up the exchange and is threatening 10.Rd7 with further destruction. There are no realistic defensive chances left and Black can safely resign.

I hope the reader has enjoyed these variations as much as I did while working them out.

Temporary initiative

Whenever you can make a series of attacking moves and force your opponent to retreat or play defensively, it's tempting to think that you must have some advantage. But that isn't always true. It's important to pay close attention to the “shape” that remains when the forcing sequence is over. If you haven't landed a real blow, you might find yourself suddenly on the defensive.

This is what happened to Gyula Sax of Hungary in his game with Dragoljub Velimirovic of Yugoslavia in the Tungsram international tournament held at Budapest in 1973. In the early middlegame Sax went in for a forcing sequence, failed to achieve anything significant, and then could only sit and watch as Velimirovic's forces came to life. Sax was forced into a pawn-down endgame and he eventually succumbed to Velimirovic's technique.

G.Sax – D.Velimirovic, Budapest 1973 Sicilian Dragon B76

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Bd7 7.Bb3 g6 8.Be3 Bg7 9.f3 0-0 10.Qe2 Na5 11.0-0-0 a6 12.Qd3 b5 13.Bg5 Nxb3+ 14.Nxb3 b4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Bg7 17.Qe3 Rb8 18.e5 Be6 19.f4 Rb5 (diagram) 20.Qf3 Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Rxd5 22.Qxd5 dxe5 23.Qxd8 Rxd8 24.fxe5 Bxe5 25.g3 Rd5 26.Re1 a5 27.Nd2 Bxb2+ 28.Kxb2 Rxd2 29.h4 Rg2 30.Re3 f5 31.Rxe7 Rxg3 32.h5 gxh5 33.Re5 Rg5 34.Rxa5 h4 35.Rd5 h3 36.Rd1 Rg3 0-1

The position after 9...0-0 is well known to theory but in place of the standard 10.Qd2, Sax tried the unusual 10.Qe2!? It's hard to know what to make of this move but in any case Velimirovic didn't hesitate to force off his opponent's dangerous bishop with 10...Na5!

Instead of castling queenside, Sax should have recognized that his attacking chances were already behind schedule on account of the slow move 10.Qe2. It was probably better to castle kingside, centralize his pieces, and maintain a solid position.

After 12...b5 Sax did not realize how quickly the tide was turning against him; otherwise he might have tried the centralizing 13.Nd5!?, aiming to neutralize Black's queenside initiative. With the aggressive 13.Bg5?!, Sax started on an adventure that was bound to end badly for him. The idea was to capture on f6, then attack Black's bishop with Nd5, and then play e4-e5. But if Sax had looked closely he would have seen that although this manoeuvre pushes Black around, it doesn't break his position in any way.

If Sax had captured Black's b-pawn with 17.Nxb4, then after 17...a5 he would have been exposed to strong counterplay. But after 17.Qe3 Rb8! Velimirovic was starting to take over, and after 19...Rb5! things became critical for Sax. He could not bail out with 20.exd6 (intending the forking move 21.dxe7 if Black captured on d5) 20...exd6 21.Qf3 because Velimirovic would have the powerful manoeuvre 21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 Rxd5 23.Qxd5 Qf6! and White cannot defend the square b2.

Sax was now seriously lamenting the exchange of his dark-squared bishop. He tried 20.Qf3 but after the multiple exchanges on d5 Velimirovic played his trump move 22...dxe5. Because his queen was unprotected, Sax was forced to acquiesce to a pawn-down endgame. With the extra advantage of bishop versus knight Velimirovic had no difficulty scoring the full point.

Lalic vs Spraggett, Sevilla 2010

Four players tied for first in the recent Sevilla Open, each scoring 7 points from 9 games. Three of them were on 6.5 points and achieved the leading score by making a draw in the last round. But one of them – Kevin Spraggett of Canada – started the last round on 6 points and had to win his final game against Bogdan Lalic in order to join the leaders. This was a particularly impressive result for Spraggett because he had the Black pieces.

How does one win to order against a strong grandmaster? It helps if he or she also needs to win, and that was the case here. Bogdan Lalic also started the last round with 6 points and was clearly determined to join the leaders. The first result was the appearance of a very sharp opening system – the Modern Benoni.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.e4 0-0 9.Bd3 a6 10.a4 Nh5!?

"Knight to the rim” can be dodgy but Black must prevent 11.Bf4, which would give White a very unpleasant bind. In fact White can force it through but that comes at a price as we shall see.

11.0-0 Nd7 12.Re1 Re8 (diagram)

13.g4!?

White rises to the challenge, but the weakening of his kingside will soon have negative consequences. Stronger was 13.Bg5 and if 13...Bf6 then 14.Be3.

13...Nhf6 14.Bf4 h5 15.g5

If 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.Bxd6 Ne5 17.Bxe5 Bxe5 with a kingside initiative for Black.

15...Nh7 16.h4 Ne5

Black could also consider 16...Qe7!?

17.Nxe5 dxe5 18.Be3 f6 19.Qf3

Stronger was 19.Qd2!? After the move in the game White starts on a negative trend from which he does not recover.

19...fxg5 20.hxg5 Nxg5 21.Qg3 Nh3+ 22.Kh1 Qf6 23.Bf1 Nf4 24.Bxc5 Bd7 25.a5 Rac8 26.Ba3 Bh6

This turns out well, but 26...g5 27.f3 Bf8 was perhaps even better.

27.Rac1 h4 28.Qh2?

It was better to sacrifice a pawn with 28.Qe3 Bg5 29.Qf3 Nxd5 30.Qxf6 Nxf6 31.Rcd1, trading off the queens and getting some free play for White's pieces.

28...Bg4! 29.Re3 Nh5

With this "echo" move Black wins the exchange in simple fashion and it is now rather difficult to suggest any improvements for White.

30.Rce1 Bxe3 31.Rxe3 Ng3+ 32.Kg1 Nxf1 33.Kxf1 Rc4 34.f3 Rec8 35.Ke1 Bd7 36.d6 Kg7 37.Rd3 h3 38.Rd5 Re8 39.Qg3 Rh8 40.Rd2 Rh5! 41.Rf2 Qd8 42.f4 Qh4 0-1

A powerful display by the Canadian grandmaster!

Ljubojevic vs Beliavsky, Tilburg 1981

The former Soviet champion Alexander Beliavsky scored a memorable victory in the Tilburg 1981 international tournament. The field comprised most of the world's elite, including future world champion Garry Kasparov as well as the former champions Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian. In fact, the only leading players who were not present at Tilburg were Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. They were otherwise occupied in a world title match in Italy.

No one wins a tournament of this calibre without some luck. In particular Beliavsky had to survive a mutual time scramble in his game with Ljubomir Ljubojevic before finally achieving a draw. Curiously, Beliavsky's annotations to this game in Informant 32 leave a few unanswered questions. Today we will look at the exciting conclusion of this game, supplementing Beliavsky's annotations with a few extracts from my notebook.

In the first diagrammed position, the time control at move 40 is looming, and things are complicated. Beliavsky as Black has just played 35...Rf6, threatening 36...Bf2. Ljubojevic correctly decides to bail out by offering the exchange of queens.

36.Qg3 Qxg3 37.Nxg3 Nxh3!?

A clever psychological blow. Whenever the opponent puts a piece en prise, it is natural to believe that taking it must be wrong...

38.Rf1?

White is defending comfortably after 38.gxh3 Rxg3 39.Bg4! Rf2 40.Rxb7 Bc5 41.b4! and now Black has nothing better than 41...Rgg2 and a draw by repetition (Beliavsky).

38...Nf2+ 39.Kh2 (second diagram) 39...d5?

Beliavsky gave 39...Rf4! (threatening 40.Rxb7 Rh4+ 41.Kg1 Nh3+and wins) 40.Nf5 Rg5 41.Bxf7(?) and now 41...Rgxf5 wins immediately since the bishop is also attacked. However, White can defend more stubbornly with 41.Be2! Rgxf5 42.g3! Rg4!? 43.Kg2 Rxa5 44.Rxf2! Rgg5 45.Rxf7 although Black still has the advantage after 45...b5.

More convincing is 39...Rg5! If 40.Rxb7 then 40...Bd4 intending 41...Be5, while if 40.Be2 then 40...Rfg6, with a decisive attack on White's knight in both cases.

Beliavsky gave 39...d5 the question mark. But it might deserve two because it does more than throw away the win.

40.Rxb7?

Fate has given Ljubojevic a chance of his own. He can win the exchange with 40.e5! since the attacked rook is short of squares. Black can recover the material with a counterattack: 40...Bb8! 41.exf6 Ne4 42.Bxf7 Rg4 but after 43.Rxb7 Rh4+ 44.Kg1 Bxg3 45.Rf3 Bh2+ 46.Kf1 Nd2+ 47.Ke2 Nxf3 48.gxf3 White's a-pawn is extremely dangerous and should cost Black the game.

40...Bd4?

The final mistake, after which the game peters out to a draw. Beliavsky gave 40...Bc5 41.Rxf7 Rxf7 42.Bxf7 Rg7 43.exd5 Bd6 44.Be6 Bxg3+ 45.Kg1 cxd5 46.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 47.Kxf2 Rb7 with a slight edge to Black, but for some he reason he failed to notice the defensive shot 40...Bb8!, winning material. White is practically forced to play 41.Rxb8 Rxb8 42.exd5 cxd5 43.a6 Rxb2 and can make things difficult with the further 44.Ra1 Rb8 45.a7 but it is hard to believe that Black is not winning after 45...Ra8.

After the text move 40...Bd4, Ljubojevic played the simple

41.Rxf7

forcing off a pair of rooks. The game ended in a draw a few moves later.

Do you know how to analyse?

This complicated position was cited by Alexander Kotov in his well-known book Think Like a Grandmaster. He wrote:

I once analysed in detail the apparently simple, but in fact very tricky position of the diagram. Then I asked the people in the group to study it and in the course of half an hour write down all the variations which they thought should be examined. They were not allowed to move the pieces. Then we examined the position together and so exhausted all the possibilities it contained. It turned out that it was far from simple to discover all the special features of the position. This can be shown by the fact that one strong master in his notes wrote that White would win by 1.e8Q and gave the beautiful variation 1...Rxe8 2.Qxg7+ Bxg7 3.Rxe8+ Qf8 4.Rxf8#. He also took account of the cunning reply 1...Rg1+ which fails to 2.Kh3 Qf5+ 3.Kh4. However, he failed to find the excellent rejoinder 1...Rd2+! and Black draws. Taking the rook is bad – 2.Qxd2 Rxe8 3.Rxe8 Qc6+ and 4...Qxe8. 2.Kf3 (or f1) loses to the reply 2...Qf5+, while after 2.Kh1 there comes 2...Rd1+ with perpetual. Black has a very fine win after 2.Kh3 viz. 2...Qf5+ 3.g4 Qf1+ 4.Kh4 Rxh2+ 5.Kg5 Rc5+ 6.Q(either!)e5 Qf6#.

That is the way to work on the second important factor in developing analytical ability – the ability to find the really important lines.

Good advice, but today we are going to turn the sword on Kotov and demolish his assessment of the test position.

After the initial moves

1.e8Q Rd2+ 2.Kh1

Black is not obliged to settle for perpetual check. He has another, much stronger idea:

2...Rxb2!!

For a small price Black destroys a key player in White's attack and transforms his pawn majority into a powerful force. This idea is somewhat counter-intuitive because it allows White to keep two queens on the board. However, it turns out that the “queen pair” is not very effective!

3.Qe6

There were many other choices:

a) 3.Qxc8? Qd5+ and mates;

b) 3.Qce5 Rxe8 4.Qxc5 Rd8 5.Qh5 Rdd2 6.Re1 Rxh2+ (6...c3 7.Rc1 Kg8 8.Qh3 Re2 9.Qh5 Rbd2 and White is helpless) 7.Qxh2 Rxh2+ 8.Kxh2 b4 and Black is winning;

c) 3.Qxb2 Rxe8 4.Rxe8 Qc6+ and wins;

d) 3.Qe4 Ra2 4.Qce5 Qxe5 5.Qxe5 b4 and wins;

e) 3.Qee5 Rb3 4.Qe1 Qxa3 and Black is winning.

3...Rf2 4.Qe1

If 4.Qee5 Qb6 5.Qe6 Rc6 6.Qe4 Rcf6 7.Qcd4 Bc5 8.Qa8+ Rf8 9.Re8 Qg6 10.Qxf2 Rxe8 11.Qxe8+ Qxe8 12.Qxc5 Qb8 and White can safely resign.

4...Rf6 5.Qe4 c3

and Black's pawns decide the issue; for example: 6.Kg2 c2 7.Qc1 Rd6 8.Re1 Rcd8 9.Qexc2 Qxc2+ 10.Qxc2 Rd2+ 11.Qxd2 Rxd2+ etc.

The search for important candidate moves has to be relentless!

Capablanca on Moscow 1925

The following interview with J.R. Capablanca was conducted by a Berlin newspaper in 1925. The World Champion had stopped while en route from the recently-concluded Moscow tournament.

...We were received in the capital of the Soviet Union with genuine Russian hospitality, straight from the heart, and the Soviet Government did everything to make the participants' visit to their country as pleasant as possible. During our entire stay in Moscow we were the guests of the government, and were at all times treated with great courtesy. For example, we were freed from all hotel expenses, even the most trifling ones, and accommodation in Moscow as well as the train trip to Russia and back was paid for by the Soviet Government on behalf of all the players.

All of the tournament participants were pleasantly surprised by the extraordinary enthusiasm for chess displayed by all levels of the Russian population. As is well-known, the competition was held in the magnificent Hotel Меtropol, and with such a weight of spectators that the enormous tournament hall appeared to be too small. It was constantly overflowing, and was made to contain three and even four times its capacity, while the tickets for each round were were sold out days in advance. For me this is an indicator of the Russians' genuine enthusiasm for chess, which one could even describe as a passion.

The Soviet Government gives chess a important place in its system. By way of illustration, a formal reception for the players was arranged by Mr Krylenko, the general public prosecutor of the USSR. Mr Krylenko, along with fulfilling his important duties in the field of justice, is also the head of the Chess Section for the entire Soviet Union.

Bogoljubow's victory was met with the greatest enthusiasm by his fellow countrymen. A crowd followed him through the streets, and everywhere he went he was met with deafening applause.

As to the techniques and methods of the Moscow tournament, I will refrain for the time being from making any judgements in this respect. I can only express the view that this tournament has confirmed once again the old assertion that in an international competition there can be no absolute, mathematical certainty as to its outcome. Even where the greatest players are taking part, there is still the possibility that a third party will overtake them. This is what happened in Moscow. In general, the strength of all the participants was well-known to everyone, and everyone had a full opportunity to display their abilities. In my case, I had already had the chance to cross swords with Bogoljubow, in London [1922] and New York [1924].

In any case, the young chessplayers of the USSR survived their baptism of fire in Moscow in excellent fashion, and showed that they are worthy of the hopes placed upon them for the future.

Torre, the youngest participant in Moscow, is improving from tournament to tournament right before one's eyes.

It is still not clear whether I will be able to play in the Semmering International Tournament, which is set to take place in March, 1926. But this tournament also promises to be very interesting, with such players as Alekhine and Tartakover in the lists...

Levenfish on Moscow 1925

Today we offer another extract from Grigory Levenfish's 1967 book Selected Games and Reminiscences.

...The Moscow International Tournament was set to begin on November 9^th. The organizing committee did not repeat the mistakes made in connection with the St Petersburg tournament of 1914. The preparatory work had already begun in April, and the entry consisted of 10 Soviet and 11 foreign masters. The committee managed to secure the participation of the world champion Capablanca, the ex-champion Lasker, as well as Rubinstein, Reti, Marshall, Tartakower, and Spielmann, so the entry was truly a strong one.

The Fountain Hall of the Hotel Metropol was chosen as the playing site. This hall is not directly connected to the outside atmosphere. The ventilation system had been designed for approximately 200 restaurant patrons, but during the tournament the number of spectators approached 1,000. The fountain only made the situation worse, and the “climate” can only be described as damp and tropical. Capablanca, who was used to the heat of Havana, told me he would not object if the participants were allowed to wear bathing costumes during play. The order was given to make the ventilation system more powerful, but that was going to take more than a week, and meanwhile the players had to tolerate the heat and the noise. Rubinstein and Spielmann in particular had trouble adapting to the conditions. On the other hand Bogoljubow felt fine, being the picture of health to start with. In the second half of the tournament I managed to acclimatise myself to some extent, but it was already too late. I finished the tournament in 15^th place, winning two prizes: one for the best result over the last five rounds, and the other for the best score against the foreign players.

I was amazed by Lasker's adaptability. At the age of 57 he played the whole tournament with great energy and ended up in second place.

All in all the tournament went extremely well. Every day a huge crowd of people would surround the booking office in search of tickets, and the mounted police had to be called in to maintain order.

In the end Bogoljubow achieved the very best result of his chess career. For some time he considered it necessary to go along with Soviet chess organisers, even though he had been living in Triberg continuously since 1914. But when the All-Union Chess Section suggested that Bogoljubow refrain from competing in certain events abroad, he refused to comply and was excluded from the ranks of Soviet chessplayers.

Earlier I referred to the extraordinary interest in the tournament shown by the public. In spite of the high admission price it was not easy to find tickets. However, among the spectators one could spot a number of flashily-dressed women – apparently the wives of new capitalists – who did not understand anything about chess, but who thought it important to make an appearance at such a popular and well-attended gathering. The hot-blooded Capablanca was especially popular with these women, and after the tournament he was able to relate more than one adventure reminiscent of The Decameron...