ISSUE 17

MODERN CHESS
MAGAZINE

Typical Attacking Ideas

Attack the Weakest
Point
You Don't Know?
So, Dig Deeper!
Part 3

Brilliant Missed Opportunities

Missed Mating Ideas
Benoni Structures :
White is Going for a
Central Strategy
Endgame Series 17
CONTENTS
3
3
Endgame Series 17 - Strategies in Endgames with Same - Colored Bishops - Part 2
(GM Davorin Kuljasevic)
So,Wesley (2810) - Fedoseev,Vladimir (2731) / FIDE World Cup (5.2) 16.09.2017
8 Videnova,Iva (2326) - Schippers,Maurice (2289) / 21st Hoogeveen Open 2017 (9.7)
13 Kuljasevic,Davorin (2574) - Pacher,Milan (2440) / Mitropa Cup 31st (5)
19 Malakhov,Vladimir (2689) - Bareev,Evgeny (2677) / RUS-chT Dagomys (6) 07.04.2008
27 Carlsen,M (2881) - Le Quang Liem (2712) / FIDE World Blitz 2014 (7.1) 19.06.2014

Benoni Structures - White is Going for a Central Strategy (GM Mihail Marin)
39
39 Padevsky,Nikola - Matulovic,Milan / Rubinstein Memorial 01st (5) 1963
41 Rogozenco,Dorian (2480) - Marin,Mihail (2515) / Ciocaltea Memorial 1993
43 Penrose,Jonathan - Tal,Mihail / Leipzig ol (Men) fin-A (11) 08.11.1960
44 Ghitescu,Theodor - Kavalek,Lubomir / Bucharest (4) 1966
46 Ghitescu,Theodor (2450) - Matulovic,Milan (2525) / Havana ol (Men) fin-A (4) 1966
47 Li,Zunian (2465) - Sax,Gyula (2535) / Biel Interzonal (16) 1985
47 Gulko,Boris F (2585) - Ghitescu,Theodor (2440) / Rubinstein Memorial 15th(2) 1977
48 Knaak,Rainer - Matulovic,Milan / Parcetic Memorial 5th (10) 1972
48 Zsinka,Laszlo (2420) - Marin,Mihail (2480) / Berliner Sommer 06th (8) 1988
49 Kortschnoj,Viktor Lvovich (2650) - Ljubojevic,Ljubomir (2565) / EU-chT (Men) 05th (4.3) 09.07.1973

You Don't Know? So, Dig Deeper! - Part 3 (GM John van der Wiel)
50
50 Introduction
50 Exercise 1 - 5
55 Conclusion

Typical Attacking Ideas - Attack the Weakest Point (GM Nikolai Ninov)
57
57 Polugaevsky,Lev - Tal,Mihail / URS-ch37 Moscow (2) 07.09.1969
59 Georgiev,Krum (2465) - Ionescu,Constantin (2495) / Dubai ol (Men) (13) 29.11.1986
64 Qashashvili,A (2378) - Oleksienko,M (2640) / 15th ch-EUR Indiv 2014 (9.34) 12.03.2014
72 Test 1 - 5

Brilliant Missed Opportunities - Missed Mating Ideas (IM Afek Yochanan)

74
74 Leko,Peter (2749) - Svidler,Peter (2735) / Amber-blindfold 14th rapid 2005
75 Alburt,Lev - Giorgadze,Tamaz / URS Games Soviet Union 1971
75 Stoltz,Goestav - Pilnik,Herman / Saltsjobaden Interzonal 1952
75 Cheparinov,I (2659) - Georgiev,Ki (2658) / 1971 34th Tringov Memorial 2012
76 Sultan Khan,Mir - Bogoljubow,Efim / Olympiad Prague 1931
76 Miezis,Normunds (2511) - Bischoff,Klaus (2553) / Bundesliga 1011, 2011
76 Jakovljevic - Ivkov / Mayo, 2000
77 Kortschnoj,Viktor (2544) - Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2698) / Gibraltar Masters 9th 2011
77 Naiditsch,Arkadij (2689) - Svidler,Peter (2754) / World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk 2009
77 McShane,Luke J (2649) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2565) / Pamplona 2003
78 Ni Hua (2673) - Le Quang,Liem (2703) / Asian Continental, 2012
78 Solution 1 - 10
 Modern Chess Magazine
Endgame Series 17 -
Strategies in Endgames with
Same - Colored Bishops - Part 2
Hello, Dear chess friends!
In this issue, we will continue examining
endgames with same-colored bishops.
While in the previous issue we mostly
looked at positions with fairly simple
pawn structures (long pawn chains,
symmetrical pawn structures, no passed
pawns, etc.), this time we will expand our
analysis to imbalanced pawn structures.
It might be useful to review some of the
rules about such endgames that we have
formulated in the previous issue. The
fundamental one is Capablanca's rule
that states: When you have one bishop
left on the board, place your pawns on
the opposite colored squares to your
bishop. It is also important to create as
many weaknesses for your opponent as
possible as one weakness is usually not
enough to win in such endgames. In
addition, one of best defensive strategies
for the weaker side is to trade the
bishops with hopes of transposing into
another, more favorable type of
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3
endgame. We will take a detailed look at
five practical examples with same-
colored bishops and imbalanced pawn
structures and try to draw some
common conclusions for this type of
endgame. In them, you will have a
chance to see wonderful endgame
technique of top players such as
Carlsen and Wesley So, as well as
some instructive mistakes. Our first
example is from the game between
Wesley So and young Russian star
Vladimir Fedoseev, played in the last
year's World cup. As I followed this
game on and off in live transmission I
was impressed by So's maneuvering
technique. In a position that appeared to
be quite difficult to break, he kept on
finding less than obvious maneuvers
until his opponent's position fell down
like a house of cards. Let us take a
closer look.
So,Wesley 2810
Fedoseev,Vladimir1 2731
FIDE World Cup (5.2) 16.09.2017
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
White's advantage in this endgame is
undisputable. Black has three pawns on
the "wrong color" and defending them
requires his bishop to remain passive.
Even his king can not maneuver much
as it needs to protect the key f4 pawn. If
white king had an in-road into black's
position it would be all over right here
and now, but Fedoseev has set up his
pawns in such a way that white king
cannot pass the fourth rank. It is no
secret, then, that black is hoping to set
up a fortress. How Wesley So
systematically proceeds to break it down
is both instructive and impressive in its
own right. 57.Kg1 A logical
centralization of the king. Kf5 58.Kf2
Kg5 59.Kf1 Kf5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
60.Ba3! Even though the bishop was
placed very well on d6, putting pressure
on the weak f4 pawn, Wesley So found
an even better square for it - e1!
[ The necessity of the intended
bishop's maneuver can be understood
from the following variation: 60.Ke2
Kg5 61.Kd3 White has, naturally,
centralized his king and is ready to
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4
carry out c3-c4 break, but the timing is
wrong because of h3! 62.gxh3 Kh4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and Black's counterplay via h4 square
guarantees him a draw with accurate
play. That is why the bishop is needed
on e1. 63.Bxf4 h5! ( Hasty
63...Kxh3? throws away the draw
64.Bh6! Kg3 65.f4 Kg4 66.c4+- )
64.c4 dxc4+ 65.Kxc4 Kxh3
66.Be5 h4 67.d5 Kg2 68.f4 h3
69.f5 h2 70.Bxh2 Kxh2 71.Kb5
Kg3= ]
60...Ke6 61.Ke2 Kf5 62.Bc1 Kg5
63.Kf1 Bc7 64.Bd2 Bd8 65.Be1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
White has completed the bishop's
maneuver to e1. He is now ready to
bring his king to d3 and break in the
center with c3-c4. Kf5 66.Ke2 Ke6
67.Kd3 Kd7 68.c4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now black has four weaknesses (a5,d5,
f4, and h4) and his defense hangs by a
thread. Kc6
[ The alternative 68...Ke6
has a benefit of controlling the e5
square (we will see in the game that
white won by maneuvering his bishop
to this square), so it is worth
analyzing: 69.Bc3 White can use the
same bishop maneuver as in the
game. Bb6 70.Bb2 Bd8 71.Ba3 Bc7
72.Bf8 Bd8 73.Bh6 Bc7 74.Bg5 h5
75.Bxh4 Bb6 76.Bg5 Bc7 77.Bh6
Bb8 78.Bg7 Bc7
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5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and we reach the critical position. The
only way to successfully convert the
extra pawn is 79.c5! putting black in
zugzwang. ( but not 79.Be5?because
black can save the game with a pretty
self-stalemate motive: dxc4+ 80.Kxc4
Bxe5 81.dxe5 Kxe5 82.Kc5 Kf5
83.Kd5 Kg5 84.Ke4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Kh4! 85.Kxf4= Stalemate! ) 79...Bb8
( 79...Kf5 80.c6 Ke6 81.Be5+- )
80.c6 Bc7 ( 80...Kd6 81.Be5+ Kxc6
82.Bxb8+- ) 81.Be5!
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and this time there is no salvation in
the pawn endgame. Bd6 82.c7+- ]
69.Bc3 Now white bishop will do its
magic thanks to the theory of
correspondent squares (please refer to
issue 11 of Endgame series). Bb6
70.Bb2 Bd8 71.Bc1 Bc7 72.Bd2!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The first zugzwang for black
(correspondent squares are d2 and c7).
He can move neither his bishop nor the
king, so only pawn moves remain. h5
73.Bc3 Bb6 74.Bb2 Bc7 75.Ba3 Bd8
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6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
76.Bf8 The active move in the game
wins, of course, though white could
have also won in a more "academic"
way.
[ He can force the familiar zugzwang
position for the second time with
76.Bc1!? Bc7 77.Bd2 Now black has
to use up his remaining pawn moves:
h3 78.gxh3 h4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
All white needs to do now is to get the
 Modern Chess Magazine 7

same position with black to move. In Zugzwang. ) 84.Bd2 Bd8 85.Be1

essence, he needs to "waste" one Kd6 and finally 86.Bd2!+-
move, which is a technique we a b c d e f g h
explained in an earlier issue on
8 8
zugzwang and mutual zugzwang. He
can again do it with the bishop: 7 7
A) In addition, white has another
6 6
route to victory, using triangulation
with the king: 79.Kc3!? Bd6 5 5
80.Kc2!
4 4
a b c d e f g h
3 3
8 8
2 2
7 7
1 1
6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5

4 4 wins the second pawn. ]

3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and after dxc4 ( If 80...Bc7
white would complete triangulation
with 81.Kd3+- and get the same
position with black to move. Black
would be in the final zugzwang! )
81.Bxa5 white gets two passed
pawns in the bishops endgame,
which is enough for victory. For
example: Kd5 82.Kc3 Ba3 83.Bb6
Kc6 84.Bc5+-;
B) 79.Be1 Bd8 80.Bc3 Bb6
81.Bb2! White bishop has more
maneuvering options and he wins
the battle of correspondent
squares. Bc7 82.Ba3 Bd8 83.Bc1!
Bg5 ( or 83...Bc7 84.Bd2+-
76...Bg5
[ In case of 76...Bc7 77.Be7 Kd7
78.Bxh4 Ke6 79.Bg5 white wins the
same way as in the note to 68... Ke6. ]
77.Bg7! The bishop is headed toward
e5-square, which proves to be the
winning maneuver. Kd6 78.Be5+ Kc6
[ 78...Ke6 79.Bc7+- ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine
79.Kc3! and black is in zugzwang again.
Bh6 80.Bf6 Bf8 81.Kd3
[ White cannot win the a5 pawn yet
81.Bd8 due to Bb4+ ]
81...h3
[ Nothing is changed by 81...Bd6
82.Bxh4 Bc7 83.Bf6 followed by Be5,
as in the game. ]
82.gxh3 Bd6 83.Be5! and black loses
his f-pawn, so he resigned. Impeccable
endgame technique by Wesley So!
1-0
The next two examples bear some
similarities in pawn structure to the first
one, though in general, they both have
different features. In the first one, we
will see how white missed a study-like
win based on many instructive endgame
ideas.
Videnova,Iva 2326
Schippers,Maurice 2289
21st Hoogeveen Open 2017 (9.7)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Despite equal material, Black is in trouble
because the white king is much more
active than its counterpart. The pawns on
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8
f4 and b5 are vulnerable and if white
should win one of them, he would
obtain a dangerous passed pawn.
Here he can immediately put black in
zugzwang with: 44.h3! when he needs
to yield access to either c5 or c6 square.
[ But not 44.Ke4?! due to Bd2
45.Bxf4 Bxb4= ]
44...Bd2
[ If 44...Ke7 45.Kc6 wins the b-
pawn. ]
45.Kc5 Ke6! Black is losing the pawn
on b5, but it is not over yet. He can still
put up serious resistance by bringing his
king to the central square d5. 46.Bc7
Be3+ 47.Kc6 Bd2 48.Kxb5 Kd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The king on d5 shoulders white king
from getting to the c-file, while also
threatening to achieve counterplay
against the f3 pawn with Kd4-Ke3, etc.
White has a narrow path to victory
which, however, she failed to find during
the game. 49.Bb6 Be3! Black's defense
is largely based on this move, using the
f4 pawn as the defender of his bishop.
50.Bc5! This is the only way forward.
 Modern Chess Magazine
White needs to secure the square b6 for
his king; thus the bishop has to go to c5.
[ The game saw 50.Bc7? Bd2 51.Bb6
Be3 52.Bd8 Bd2 53.Bf6 Ke6 54.Bg7
Kd5 55.Bb2 Be3 56.Bc3 Bf2 57.Bg7
Be1 58.Bh6 Bd2 59.Bg7 Be1 60.Bf6
Bd2 61.Ba1 Be1 62.Bh8 Bd2
63.Bb2 Be3 64.Bf6 Bd2 65.Be7 Be3
66.Bc5 Bd2 67.Ba7 Be3 68.Bb6
Bd2 69.Bc7 Be3 70.Ka6 Kc4 71.b5
Kd3 72.b6 Bxb6 73.Bxf4 Ke2
74.Kxb6 Kxf3 75.Bg5 h4 76.Bxh4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and draw was agreed. ]
[ It should also be noted that the crude that does it! Bd2
50.Ka6? does not win as black's
counterplay after Kc4 51.b5 Kd3
52.Bc7 Ke2 53.b6 Bxb6 54.Kxb6 Kxf3 53.Kc7! It is essential to bring the king to
secures him a draw. ]
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9
50...Bd2 51.Kb6 Be3 52.h4!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
his saved pawn tempo (see Endgame
series, issue 12) is the move that white
had missed in the game, thinking that
she must return to b5 with the king, which
achieves no progress. However, putting
the pawn on the square of the
"wrong" color is less important than the
fact that black bishop has to leave the
diagonal g1-a7. This allows white king to
finally move forward and open the way
for its passed pawn. In essence, black is
in zugzwang and it is again the h-pawn
[ The king move 52...Kc4 allows
53.Kc6 Kd3 54.b5+- ]
c7,
[ as in case of 53.Kb7 instead, black
draws with Be1 54.Be7 Ke6!=
winning one of the pawns. ]
53...Be1 Black's counterplay, naturally,
is based on the weakness of h4 pawn.
54.Be7! Defending the pawn is the only
road to victory.
[ It may seem tempting to play 54.Bd6
Bxh4 55.Bxf4 ( 55.b5 Bf2= ) 55...Be1
 Modern Chess Magazine
56.b5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
which seems to be winning as white
has two passed pawns, but black has
a wonderful tactical motive that saves
the game: h4! 57.b6 Bg3
White cannot avoid the bishops trade
and the resulting queen endgame is
drawn: 58.Bxg3 hxg3 59.b7 g2
60.b8Q g1Q= ]
54...Kd4 With this move black tries to
secure a draw by winning the f3 pawn as
soon as possible.
[ It has to be said that now 54...Ke6
is answered by 55.Kd8!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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10
which is the key move he would not
have, had he gone to b7 earlier. White
keeps both pawns alive and gradually
wins by pushing b4-b5 etc. ]
[ Another alternative to 54...Kd4 is
54...Kc4 when white wins with 55.Kc6
Kd3 56.b5 Ba5
A) However, white would need to be
very careful, as a seemingly equal
idea: 57.Bd6?
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Ke3 58.Bc7 leads to a drawn
endgame after Bxc7 59.Kxc7 Kxf3
60.b6 Kg2 61.b7 f3 62.b8Q f2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
The key difference compared to
the line with white Bd8 is that here
white king is one file further from
the h-pawn, which makes the pawn
endgame (after white queen sacs
itself for the f-pawn) drawn:
63.Qg8+ Kh2 64.Qf7 Kg1
A well-known theoretical position
teaches us that the queen can not
win against the f-pawn, so white's
only winning idea is to sacrifice the
queen and then take the remaining
h-pawn with his king. 65.Kd6 f1Q
66.Qxf1+ Kxf1 67.Ke5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
However, white is one move too late
as black can avoid the shouldering
with Ke2! achieving the side-
opposition, which, as we have
learned, leads to a draw in pawn
endgames with rook pawn.
( 67...Kf2?? 68.Kf4+- ) 68.Kf4 Kd3
69.Kg5 Ke4 70.Kxh5 Kf5=;
B) 57.Kd7! preparing to play Bd8 as
in the main line. Kc4 ( 57...Ke3
58.Bd8 wins like in the main
variation. ) 58.Bd6 Kxb5 59.Bxf4+-
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11
with a winning bishops endgame
thanks to the superior position of
white king. ]
55.b5 Ke3
[ Nothing is changed by 55...Ba5+
56.Kd7 Kc4 57.Bd6! Kxb5 58.Bxf4
Be1 59.Bg5+- followed by f3-f4 with
an easy win. ]
56.Kd7!
[ 56.b6? would allow black to eliminate
the dangerous passed pawn with Ba5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and the resulting endgame is drawn.
For instance: 57.Kc6 Bxb6 58.Kxb6
Kxf3 59.Kc5 Ke2 60.Kd5 f3 61.Bc5
f2 62.Bxf2 Kxf2= ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 12

The final precision. 56...Ba5 62.Bc5 Bxc5 63.b8Q+- ]

[ Taking the pawn immediately is also 57.Bd8!
possible, but it does not save Black.
a b c d e f g h
56...Kxf3 White pushes the pawn to
the seventh rank by force: 57.b6 Bf2 8 8
58.b7 Ba7 59.Bc5 Bb8 7 7
a b c d e g h
f 6 6
8 8

7 7 5 5

6 6 4 4

5 5 3 3

4 4 2 2

3 3 1 1

2 2 a b c d e f g h

1 1 White forces a pawn endgame: Bxd8

a b c d e f g h
58.Kxd8 Kxf3 59.b6 Kg2 60.b7 f3
and now White wins with a theoretical 61.b8Q f2
maneuver that forces black bishop on
the shorter diagonal: 60.Bd6! a b c d e f g h
( but not 60.Kc8? when the bishop
8 8
can stay on the longer diagonal: Be5
and after 61.Bb6 Kg2 62.Bc7 Bxc7 7 7
63.Kxc7 f3 64.b8Q f2= we reach a
6 6
drawn endgame that was analyzed in
the sub-variation 54...Kc4. ) 60...Ba7 5 5
61.Kc8 Kg4
4 4
a b c d e f g h

8 8 3 3

7 7 2 2

6 6 1 1

5 5 a b c d e f g h

4 4 The key difference compared to the

3 3
similar endgame analyzed after 54...Kc4
is that the bishops were traded on the d-
2 2 file instead the c-file, which gives white
1 1 king an extra tempo in the upcoming pawn
a b c d e f g h
endgame:
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 Modern Chess Magazine
62.Qb7+ Kg1 63.Qg7+ Kh2 64.Qf7
Kg1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
65.Ke7! White wins by force after giving
up the queen for the f-pawn as he
moves in to capture the h-pawn. f1Q
66.Qxf1+ Kxf1 67.Kf6 Kf2 68.Kg5
Kf3 69.Kxh5 Kf4 Black is one tempo
short of achieving a drawn endgame.
70.Kg6+- A great example with a lot of
instructive endgame motives.
1/2
I have had same-colored bishops
endgames about a dozen times in my
tournament practice, both as a stronger
and as the weaker side. One of the
most instructive games was against
Slovakian IM (at the time) Milan Pacher,
where I demonstrated the importance of
driving defender's bishop from the
longer to a shorter diagonal.
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Kuljasevic,Davorin 2574
Pacher,Milan 2440
Mitropa Cup 31st (5) 04.06.2012
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White should definitely be winning in
this pawn up bishops endgame. He has
a protected passed (e-) pawn and black
has a weak pawn on f4. He just needs a
good plan to strengthen his position.
Here is what I thought during the game:
White's winning plan has several
schemes (mini-plans) : 1) Bring white
bishop to b8-e5 diagonal to attack the
f4 pawn 2) If needed, force black bishop
off the b8-e5 diagonal to a shorter
diagonal (with the help of white king on
c6) 3) When black bishop is on a shorter
diagonal (c1-e3 or g3-h2 or g5-h6),
use tactical motives to use his limited
maneuvering range (such as zugzwang,
deflection, or trapping the bishop)
55.Ke2 Centralizing the king with the
intention to bring it to the queenside, if
needed.
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ However, after the game, I
discovered another, even faster way
to win that does not involve attacking
the f4 pawn. White can simply
continue 55.Bd4! Be7 ( If 55...h5
then 56.Bf2 Be7 and it is even easier
for white to play 57.g3!+- ) 56.Bf2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
white prepares g2-g3, which Black
can prevent by playing Bd6
But then, White has a simple way to
support the pawn break with his king:
57.Kg1! h5 58.Kh2 Bc7 59.g3 Kf7
60.gxf4 Bxf4+ 61.Bg3+-
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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14
The point of this simple plan is that
white has transformed his advantage
in the form of superior pawn structure
into a different type of advantage -
two connected passed pawns. This
advantage is decisive since black's h-
pawn can be easily blocked by either
of white's pieces, while black's
attempts to sacrifice the bishop for
both white's pawns are illusory. I will
not get into analysis of this endgame,
but I encourage an interested reader
to check for him/herself how white
wins. ]
55...h5 56.Kd3 Bd8 Black wants to
keep the options for his bishop open
with this move.
[ The alternatives, as far as diagonals
are concerned, are first 56...Bg3
when white is winning with a
maneuver that is analyzed in the
similar position after 61...Be1. ]
[ and secondly 56...Bg5 which is much
worse as black bishop is poorly placed
on the g5-h6 diagonal. White can
take advantage of it immediately with
57.Bc1!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
creating a threat of g2-g3 and pretty
much forcing
A) Since after 57...Bh6 white uses
the pin on the pawn 58.g3!
A1) The pawns can be easily
blocked after 58...fxg3 59.Bxh6
h4 ( or 59...g2 60.Be3 h4
61.Bg1+- ) 60.Ke2 h3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
61.Kf1+-;
A2) 58...Ke5 transposing into a
winning pawn endgame with
59.Bxf4+ Bxf4 60.gxf4+ Kxf4
61.Ke2 h4 62.Kf2+-;
B) or 57...Kf6 58.Kd4+-;
C) 57...h4 58.Bd2 and white wins
by maneuvering his bishop to c7,
king to c4 and pushing the e-pawn,
as analyzed in the sub-variation
64...Bd2 below. ]
57.Kc4
[ Tempting, but wrong is the following
operation: 57.e5? Kd5 58.e6 Kxe6
59.Ke4 Bc7 60.Bc1 Kf6 61.Bxf4
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15
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White has basically exchanged his
e-pawn for black's f-pawn, which is
not sufficient to win the game. If you
compare it with the g3-break, here
only one of white's connected pawns
is a passed pawn. Again, I will let
the readers find out on their own how
this endgame is drawn. ]
57...Bb6 58.Bd4 Ba5
[ Staying on the long defensive
diagonal with 58...Bc7 would not last
for too long. White continues 59.Kb5
Bd6 ( 59...Kd6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
is only a temporary measure against
Kc6. White can wiggle his way to c6
regardless, with some fine
maneuvering: 60.Bf6 Bb8 61.Bg5
Kd7 62.Kc5 Ke6 63.Kc6 etc. )
60.Kc6 Bb8 and now we bring the
bishop to 61.Bb6 Be5 and
62.Bc7+- ]
59.Kb5 Bd2 60.Kc6 Ba5 61.Bb6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Bb4 This is an inferior option.
[ Black had the last opportunity to
swing the bishop to the shortest - but
the least exposed diagonal: g3-h2.
61...Be1 62.Bc7 Bg3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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16
White has an instructive way of taking
advantage of the poor position of the
black bishop on g3. First, he brings
his king back, closer to the bishop:
63.Kc5! Bf2+ 64.Kc4 Bg3 65.Kd4
Bf2+ 66.Kd3 Bg3 67.Ke2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and here Black is in a very curious
zugzwang. He would like to keep his
king on e6 and bishop on g3, but as
he has to move one of them (h5-h4
creates another weakness and loses
automatically), he makes his position
worse. Let's see how! Kd7 ( 67...Kf6
keeps the contact with an important
square e5, but has another - tactical
drawback: 68.Ba5 Now the intended
Bh4 is not possible due to the skewer:
69.Bd8+!+-;
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
67...Bh2 on the other hand, loses to
68.Bb6 when black bishop will get
trapped after the subsequent 69.Bf2 )
68.Ba5 Bh4 ( 68...Ke6 would allow
White to trap black bishop nicely with
69.Be1 Bh2 70.Kf1 Ke5 71.Bh4!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Ke6 72.Kf2 Ke5 73.g3 Ke6
74.Kg2+- ) and now 69.Bd2!
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17
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
wins on the spot as black cannot
defend the pawn with his king. I his
king was still on e6, he would have
had the Ke5 defense. Both bishop
defenses are inadequate, as we can
see: Bg3 ( 69...Bg5 70.g3+- )
70.Be1+- so white obtains an easily
winning position. ]
62.Bc7 Bd2 63.Kc5! The king has
done its job kicking away black bishop
from the longer diagonal. Now it is time
to attack it on the shorter one! Be3+
64.Kc4 Bc1 This loses very quickly.
[ Truth be told, even after the more
stubborn 64...Bd2 65.Kd3 Bc1
66.Bb8!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
Black finds himself in zugzwang.
Notice how white can "waste" a move
with the bishop thanks to extra
squares on the long diagonal h2-e5,
whereas black cannot do the same
with his bishop on the shorter one. h4
Only this pawn move does not lose
outright, but it creates a new
weakness in and of itself. ( 66...Kf6
loses to 67.e5+ Kf5 68.Kd4 Ke6
69.Ke4+-; while in case of 66...Be3
white can use a tactical motive based
on the contact white king has with
black bishop: 67.g3!+- ) White wins
after 67.Ba7 Ba3 68.Kc4 Bd6
69.Bf2 Be7 70.Bb6!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
bringing the bishop back to the long
diagonal, with the added possibility of
attacking the new weakness on h4
from d8 square. Bf6 ( If 70...Bd6 then
71.Bd8+- wins the h-pawn. ) 71.Bc7
Bg5 and now the simplest is 72.e5+-
followed by Kd4-e4 etc. ]
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18
65.Kd3 Kd7 66.Ba5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and Black resigned, skipping the agony.
White threatens to cut black bishop of the
c1-h6 diagonal with Bd2 and after Bb2
he wins with 67.Bc3 Ba3 68.e5 Ke6
69.Ke4 Bc1 70.Ba5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
bringing the bishop to g5 slowly, but
surely: Bb2 71.Bc7 Bc1 72.Bd8 Bb2
73.Bf6 Bc1 74.Bg5 and White finally
wins the f4-pawn.
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine
In the next example, we shall see the
dangers that lie in seemingly “dead-
drawn” endgames with same-colored
bishops. From it, I would especially like to
drive home the point of the importance of
active defense (with both the bishop and
the king). Evgeny Bareev, a very strong
Russian GM, repeatedly failed to achieve
maximum activity in defense, counting on
holding the position with minimum effort,
but his passive defense was methodically
picked apart by an excellent technical
player GM Vladimir Malakhov.
Malakhov,Vladimir 2689
Bareev,Evgeny 2677
RUS-chT Dagomys (6) 07.04.2008
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
It is difficult to believe that such a strong
player like Evgeny Bareev could lose this
position with black pieces, but this is
exactly what happened in his game
against Vladimir Malakhov. It is already a
small miracle that white has gotten this
far from a completely equal and dry
position out of the middlegame. In this
www.modern-chess.com
19
endgame, he is definitely pushing a little
after the move 37.g5! White is creating
a weakness on the kingside.
Considering black's queenside pawns
are on the color of the bishop, we can
already talk about the two weaknesses
and black should, therefore, thread
carefully. Bf5
[ It would be wrong to capture the
pawn 37...hxg5? as it allows white to
bring his king forward: 38.Kg4 Bc2
39.e4 Kd6 40.Kxg5 Ke7 41.Kf5+-
and black loses either his e- or g-
pawn. ]
38.Bg4 Be4 39.Be6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White bishop is best placed on this
diagonal as it keeps the possibility of
attacking the a6 pawn from c8. Bc6
A small mistake. There was no need to
de-centralize the bishop.
[ Instead, there was nothing wrong
with centralizing the king 39...Kd6
since the critical response 40.Bc8
( Of course, white can play a waiting
move such as 40.Bh3 but that does
not strengthen his position. )
can be met with 40...Kc7!
when taking the pawn 41.Bxa6
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
contains risk for White, too, as his
bishop gets trapped: Bc6 42.gxh6
gxh6 43.Kg4 White tries to infiltrate
with his king while Black is capturing
the bishop on a6. Bd7+ 44.Kf3
and now Black can either force a draw
with Bc6+= ( or even play for more by
capturing the bishop: 44...Kb6
45.Bxb5 Bxb5 46.Ke4 Be8 47.Kxe5
Bxh5 48.e4= although this endgame
should be drawn as well, as White
sacrifices his pawns to capture the h-
pawn. )]
40.Kg4 Kd6 41.gxh6 gxh6
[ Of course, not 41...Kxe6?? 42.h7+- ]
42.Kf5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
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4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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20
White has made in-roads into black's
camp. This would be much more difficult
to achieve had black bishop remained on
e4. Be8 The only move, basically.
[ 42...Be4+ would come too late in this
case due to 43.Kf6 Bf3 44.Bf7+-
winning the h-pawn. ]
43.Bc8 Bxh5 44.Bxa6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Who benefited from the exchange of h-
for a-pawn? It might seem that black
did because he has a passed pawn now;
however, we should also keep in mind
that white has improved his king's
activity significantly in the process and
this is, as we know, an extremely
important factor in simple endgames,
such as this one. The position is still
well within drawing margin, but the value
of each mistake increases exponentially
for black. Be8 Not the only move.
[ Ofcourse, 44...Be2? iswrongonthe
accountof 45.a4+- ]
[ However,another movethatdeserved
attentionis 44...Kc6!?
45.Bc8 ( Thepointbeingthat 45.Kxe5 is
metby Bg4!=
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
when the bishop is trapped on a6. )
45...Kd6 46.Bb7 and now black's
bishop is on a more active diagonal,
so something like Be2= should hold a
draw without great difficulties. ]
45.Bb7 Bf7 Again, not the most precise
bishop move. It is more passive on this
diagonal.
[ The best square for black bishop is
e2 from where it controls both b5 and
h5. Thus 45...Bh5! 46.Kf6 Be2
47.Be4 h5=
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2 2
1 1
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21
would most likely lead to a draw. If
white tries to win the pawn with
48.Kg5 Ke6 49.Bg6 the counterplay
with Kd5 is sufficient for a draw, as
the reader can ascertain for him/
herself. ]
46.Bf3 Bd5
[ Perhaps black could have tried to
defend the pawn passively with
46...h5 47.Kg5 Be8 This looks
somewhat ugly, but it is difficult for
white to take advantage of it. 48.e4
( The point of this passive defense is
that all pawn endgames are drawn
because black breaks in with his king
via d5 and c4. For example: 48.Bxh5
Bxh5 49.Kxh5 Kd5 50.Kg5 Kc4
51.Kf5 Kb3 52.Kxe5 Kxa3 53.Kd4
Kxb4 54.e4 Ka3=; or 48.Be2 Kd5!
49.Bd3 e4 50.Be2 Ke5 51.Bxh5
Bxh5 52.Kxh5 Kd5 53.Kg5 Kc4
54.Kf5 Kb3= ) 48...Bf7 49.Bxh5 Bc4
50.Kf6 Bd3 51.Kf5 Bc4=
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
which is also a draw. The pawn on e4
does not help white's winning
chances. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
47.Bd1 Ba2 48.Bf3 Bd5 49.Bh5
This is the problem with black's
inaccuracy on move 45. Now white
bishop can safely block the h-pawn, so
he only needs to pick it up with his king.
Bc4 50.Kf6 Bd3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
51.Bf3! White is making sure black does
not obtain counterplay via d5 square.
[ Hasty 51.Kg7? would allow Kd5 ]
51...Bc4
[ In case of 51...e4 white has 52.Bh5!
Kd5 53.Bf7+ and the black pawn on
e4 blocks his own king from
penetrating through this square. ]
52.Kg6 Bd5 53.Bh5 The h-pawn is lost,
that much is clear. White has made
serious progress in this dry endgame,
but black's defensive resources are not
exhausted yet. Be6?! It is difficult to
understand black's play in this endgame.
Once more he neglects one of the basic
endgame rules - activating the king.
[ It was much better to play 53...Ke7
54.Kxh6 Kf6
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22
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
when white king is shouldered to the
edge of the board (for example, black
used this defensive idea in Videnova-
Schippers). After, say, 55.Be2 Bc4
56.Bf3 Bb3 57.Bc6 Bc4 58.Kh7
Kf7= Black can just keep the side-
opposition and I don't see how white
can strengthen his position enough to
win the game. ]
54.Kxh6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 23

Bd7? This is the crucial mistake. As we a b c d e f g h

have learned, in bishops endgame the 8 8
weaker side should, in most cases, try
to put their bishop on a more active, 7 7

"longer" diagonal. Here black puts the 6 6

bishop on a shorter diagonal,
5 5
[ when 54...Bc4 would still keep great
drawing chances. The game might 4 4
continue 55.Kg7 Bd3 56.Kf6 Bc4
3 3
57.Bg6 Bd5 58.Bd3 Bc4! This is the
defensive motive we have seen in the 2 2
second example. 59.Be4 Bb3 60.Kg7
1 1
Ke7=
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h

8 8
leaves black in passivity. Now white
7 7
king can break through after Kd6
6 6 57.Kg7 Ke7 58.Kg6!
5 5 a b c d e f g h

8 8
4 4
7 7
3 3
6 6
2 2
5 5
1 1

a b c d e f g h 4 4

3 3

It is again difficult for white to make 2 2

progress. Black bishop can actively
1 1
defend the b-pawn, while also
controlling important penetration a b c d e f g h

squares on the diagonal a2-g8, so

that white king can not break in via
This is the first zugzwang. Kd6 ( or
8th rank as he did in the game. ]
58...Bc6 59.Kf5 Kd6 60.Kf6 ) 59.Kf6
55.Bf3? White, in turn, does not take his
Be8 60.Bg6 Bc6 61.Kf7 White's goal
chance.
is to penetrate via the 8th rank. He
[ He could have prevented the black
can do it by repeatedly putting black
bishop from coming to c4 "forever"
in zugzwang, when as a result, he will
with 55.Be2! and if Kd5 then 56.Bd3!
lose control over the key squares

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 Modern Chess Magazine
such as f7, e8, c8 and b7. Bd7
62.Bd3 Bc6 63.Bf5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This is the second zugzwang position.
The point is that black cannot keep
his bishop on the short c6-e8
diagonal anymore and any king move
gives white king the access to the
juicy e7 square. Bg2 ( 63...Kd5
loses outright to 64.Ke7 Kc4
65.Kd6+- ) 64.Ke8 Bd5 65.Kd8 Bc4
( Black can not take control of the c8
square with 65...Bb7 due to 66.Bd3 Ba6
67.Be4!+- ) 66.Kc8 Bd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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24
Now white just needs to bring his king to
b7 square and it will be all over. This is
not too difficult to achieve, he just needs
to attack the second weakness - the b5
pawn: 67.Bd7! Bc4 68.Be8 Ke7 69.Bg6
Black has defended the pawn, but now
there are also two undefended squares -
c7 and b7, so white finally breaks in: Kd6
( 69...Bd5 70.Kc7+- ) 70.Kb7 Kd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The last attempt to gain counterplay.
71.Kc7! The final precision. We need
to keep an eye on the e5 pawn, which
is black's last trump. ( 71.Kb6?! Be2
72.Be8 is the wrong approach
because after Ke4 73.Bxb5 Bxb5
74.Kxb5 Kxe3 we allow black to
promote the e-pawn and the resulting
queens endgame is by no means
easily winning. ) 71...Be2 72.Be8 Ke4
 Modern Chess Magazine
( 72...Bd3 73.Bc6+ Kc4 74.Kb6+- )
and now 73.Kd6!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
seals the deal. White will eliminate the
e-pawn and the rest is easy. For
instance: Bc4 74.Bc6+ Kxe3
75.Kxe5 Kd3 76.Kd6 Kd4 77.Kc7
Kc3 78.Kb6 Kb3 79.Bxb5 Bd5
80.a4 Kxb4 81.a5 Bb7 82.Bd7!+- ]
55...Be8 56.Kg5 Ke6 57.Bg2!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
A nice waiting move that highlights the
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25
poor position of black bishop. But, as we
said, it is his own fault as he could have
activated this bishop on multiple
occasions. Kd6 The king move is forced
as all other bishop moves lose.
[ 57...Bf7 58.Bc6+- ]
[ 57...Bd7 58.Bh3++- ]
58.Kf6 Bh5 59.Bf1! White finally finds
the right setup, the one that we analyzed
in detail after 55.Be2!
[ 59.Be4? instead, would allow black
to activate his bishop with Be2= ]
59...Be8 60.Be2 Bc6 61.Kf7 Kd7
62.Bg4+ Kd6 63.Bf5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now the game proceeds according to
the analysis to 55.Be2!, so you can also
refer to them. White is putting black in
zugzwang after zugzwang in order to
penetrate with his king along the 8th
rank. Bf3
[ 63...Kd5 64.Ke7+- ]
64.Ke8 Be2 65.Be4 Bc4 66.Kd8 Bd5
[ Another possibility was 66...Be6
taking away the c8 square. This is
only temporary, however. White can
break this defense with: 67.Bg6 Bg4
 Modern Chess Magazine
68.Bd3 Bd7 69.Be2!
a b c d f g h cannot be stopped and then the b-pawn
e
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Zugzwang and Black has to yield: Bc6
70.Kc8+- ]
67.Bf5 Bc4 68.Bg4 Be6 69.Bf3
[ We have already seen that the
exchange of bishops in similar
positions can lead to counterplay for
Black after 69.Bxe6 Kxe6 70.Kc7
Kd5 71.Kb6 Ke4 72.Kxb5 Kxe3
etc. ]
69...Bd5 70.Bh5 Be6 71.Be8!
Only like this can White make progress.
[ Attacking the pawn from the front
71.Be2 does not work due to Bc4! ]
71...Bc4 72.Kc8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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26
and White is finally breaking in. Kb7-b6
will fall. Black needs to look for
counterplay with Kd5 73.Kc7 Bd3
[ If 73...Ke4 then only 74.Kd6!
wins, as we saw in an earlier analysis.
( 74.Kb6? Kxe3 75.Bxb5 Bxb5
76.Kxb5 e4= ) 74...Kxe3 75.Kxe5
Kd3 76.Kd6 Kd4 77.Kc6 Kc3
78.Kc5 Kb3 79.Bxb5+- ]
74.Bc6+ Kc4 75.Kb6 and white is
winning. e4 76.Bxb5+ Kc3
[ 76...Kb3 hardly makes any
difference. 77.Kc5 Kxa3 78.Bc6+- ]
77.a4 Kxb4 78.Bc6 Bf1 79.a5 Bd3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
80.Bd5! This is a nice move that puts
Black in the last zugzwang.
[ It was still possible to throw the win
away with 80.a6?? Bxa6 81.Kxa6
Kc3 82.Bxe4 Kd2= ]
80...Kc3
[ If 80...Ka4 now 81.a6 works as
black king is further away from the e-
pawn. ]
81.Kc5! and black resigned in the view
of Kd2 82.Kd4 followed by Bxe4.
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine
Finally, I saved the best for last. Magnus
Carlsen's endgame technique in the
following blitz (!) game is one for
endgame textbooks. His opponent, a top
50 player Le Quang Liem, also showed
up and gave Carlsen run for his money
with a stubborn defense in a tough
same-colored bishops endgame.
Eventually though, after some prolonged
maneuvering, he committed an
imperceptible inaccuracy that Carlsen
capitalized on immediately. You can also
see the whole battle live in a Youtube
video
Carlsen,M 2881
Le Quang Liem 2712
FIDE World Blitz 2014 (7.1) 19.06.2014
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black was probably not too excited about
entering a same-colored bishops
endgame where all of his pawns are on
the same color as his bishop.
Sometimes, though, we don't have much
of a choice and we need to defend worse
positions, such as this one. Black's
defensive chances, similar to
www.modern-chess.com
27
the example from So-Fedoseev game,
lie in setting up a fortress with b6. Then,
white needs to undertake a series of
maneuvers to break the fortress.
Considering that this was a blitz game
(3min+2 sec increment time control), it
is all the more impressive how
accurately both players have played it.
39...Kd7
[ There was another - more active, but
also riskier defensive setup: 39...f5!?
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The point behind this move is to
prevent g2-g4 and h4-h5 breaks that
happened in the game. Of course, this
creates new weaknesses for black after
40.exf6+ Kxf6 namely, the pawns on e6
and g6. This, however, is compensated
by a possibility to achieve active
counterplay in the center with the e6-e5
break at the right moment. White
should, therefore, continue: 41.Kd4 b6
42.Be4 Be8
 Modern Chess Magazine 28

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and here we reach the critical position.
If Black can just move his bishop back
arrives just in time: 44.Kc2 exf4
45.gxf4 Bd7 46.Kb3 Bf5!
Activating the bishop. 47.Bg2 Bd3
48.Bh3 It is absolutely necessary to
prevent the black king from
reaching f5. ( 48.Kb4?? Kf5-+ )
48...Ke7 49.Kb4 Kd8 50.Bg2
Kc7!=
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5

and forth (d7-e8), it would mean that 4 4

he has a fortress. Meanwhile, white's
only remaining break g3-g4 is not as 3 3

effective here as it was in the game. 2 2

However, he still has an ace up his
sleeve - by bringing his king to b4, he 1 1

can attack the b5 pawn twice and a b c d e f g h

capture it. This plan is time-
and now that he has prevented
consuming, but it is the winning plan,
Bc6, black can claim a draw thanks
so it has to be implemented carefully.
to his active bishop that defends
A) since if white starts moving his
both his weak pawns.;
king to b4 immediately: 43.Kd3
black's counterplay with e5!
B) 43.Bg2! This waiting move is
necessary, Bd7 ( In case of
a b c d e f g h 43...Kf5 white wastes a tempo with
8 8 44.Bf3! Kf6 45.Be4 and black
7 7 finally has to move his bishop from
e8: Bd7 46.Kd3+- which pretty
6 6
much transposes into the main
5 5 variation below. )
4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
44.Bb7! Another waiting move.
( It was still too early to engage the
king 44.Kd3 Kf5 45.Bh3+ Kf6
46.Kc2 Be8 47.Kb3 because black
again obtains counterplay with
e5 )
B1) The other relevant attempt is
44...Kf5 45.Be4+ Kg4
when Black is trying to actively
compensate for deficiencies of
his position. The only problem is
that it does not work: 46.Bxg6
Kxg3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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29
47.Ke5! This f4 pawn is the key.
( It would be wrong to play
47.Bxh5 Kxf4= ) 47...Kxh4
and white wins with: 48.Kd6!Bc8
49.Kc7+- basically trapping the
bishop.;
B2) 44...Be8 45.Be4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black is finally in zugzwang as he
needs to move his bishop away
from e8. Bd7 46.Kd3 The point
is that Back needs to waste
another tempo on defending the
g6 pawn: Be8
if he wants to push e6-e5. This
lost tempo will prove decisive:
47.Kc2 e5 48.Kb3 exf4 49.gxf4
Bd7 50.Kb4 Bf5 51.Bc6 Bd3
( or 51...Bc2 52.Kxb5 Kf5
 Modern Chess Magazine
53.Kxb6 Kxf4 54.a4+- ) 52.Bxb5
Be4 53.Bd7!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
slowing Black down for another
move. Bf5 54.Be8 Bd3 55.c4!
preparing Kb5-xb6. Kf5 56.Kb5
Kxf4 57.Bf7 Kg4 58.Kxb6
Kxh4+-
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and almost by force we have
reached a very interesting pawn
race. It turns out that white is faster
by a single tempo! But its analysis is
already beyond the scope of this
article, so I would encourage the
reader to investigate it. ]
www.modern-chess.com
30
40.Kd4 b6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now the white king is denied from
entering via c5 square, but it was still
worth provoking this slight weakening.
White will later use the squares on
h1-a8 diagonal to increase the
maneuvering scope of his bishop.
41.Ke3 Kc7 42.Kd2 Bd7 43.Ke3 Kc6
44.Kd4 Kc7 Given this was a blitz game,
it is easy to understand why players
have played some "empty" moves just to
gain valuable seconds on the clock. Now,
however, Carlsen finally takes a
concrete action: 45.Be2! Bc6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 31

46.g4 In theory, the weakest link in the a b c d e f g h

pawn chain is its base. Carlsen's plan is 8 8
in accordance with this rule as it allows
him to attack the f7 pawn (base) with a 7 7

series of exchanges on the kingside. 6 6

[ I should also mention that white is not
in time to bring his king to b4 with 5 5

46.Kd3 Bd7 47.Kc2 Kc6 48.Kb3 4 4

Kc5 ]
3 3
46...hxg4 47.Bxg4 Kd7
a b c d e f g h 2 2

8 8 1 1

7 7 a b c d e f g h

6 6 and Black is obviously not in time to

bring his king to c5, as in variation 46.
5 5 Kd3. Bd7 52.Kb4+- ]
4 4 49.h5 gxh5 50.Bxh5 Be8 51.f5!
3 3 a b c d e f g h

2 2 8 8

1 1 7 7

a b c d e f g h 6 6

48.Be2! Impressive precision by the 5 5

World champion in a blitz game.
4 4
[ Playing 48.h5 gxh5 49.Bxh5
immediately would allow black to 3 3
protect the pawn conveniently with
2 2
Ke7 ]
48...Kc7! The ex-World blitz champion 1 1
Le Quang shows his skill, too. He was a b c d e f g h
actually in some sort of zugzwang and
he found the most stubborn defense. This was the point of Carlsen's
[ He could not remain with the f7 pawn intermezzo on move 48. Kd7
48...Ke7 (or 48...Kd8) due to the attack
on the second front: 49.Kd3! Kd7 [ 51...exf5 loses the piece to 52.e6+- ]
50.Kc2 Kc7 51.Kb3

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
52.f6 Now Carlsen has fully fixed the
weak pawn on f7 and he should be
winning. Kc7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
53.Bf3?! With several seconds on the
clock, it is virtually impossible to
calculate the seemingly risky line
involving the king march to g7. One has
to go by intuition mostly and Carlsen
decided to torture his opponent slowly
instead. Well, the final result was still
the same, so who can blame him?
[ The king's march starting with 53.Ke3
would be decisive, but white needs to
calculate precisely whether black's
counterplay with Kc6 54.Kf4 Kd5
is dangerous. It turns out that after
55.Bf3+! Kc4 56.Kg5 Kd3
( 56...Kxc3 is just too slow: 57.Kh6
Kb3 58.Kg7 Kxa3 59.Kf8+- ) 57.Kh6
Ke3 58.Bh5 Kf4 59.Kg7 Kxe5
60.Bxf7+-
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32
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
white wins the f-pawn by force and it
is all over. ]
53...Bc6 54.Be2 Be8 55.Bd1 Bd7
56.Bb3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The point of the bishop's maneuver to b3
was to be able to bring the king to the
kingside without fearing counterplay
with Kc6 because the bishop controls
both c4 and d5. Impressive clarity of
thought! Be8! As I said earlier, I am also
impressed by Le Quang's tenacity in
defense.
[ How many people would fall for the
trap 56...Bc6??
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
57.Bxe6!+- with several seconds on
the clock. My guess is, quite a few... ]
57.Ke4 Kd8! Following white king. He
should not reach g7-square. 58.Kf4
Bd7 59.Bd1
[ In case of 59.Kg5 Ke8 60.Kh6 Kf8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black would be just in time. ]
59...Bc6 60.Be2 You may want to skip
the maneuvering part from this until 78th
move. Bd7 61.Bd3 Bc6 62.Ke3 Kc7
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33
63.Kd2 Be8 64.Be4 Bc6 65.Bc2 Be8
66.Kd3 Kc6 67.Kd4 Kc7 68.Ke4
Bc6+ 69.Kf4 Kd8 70.Bb3 Bd7
71.Kg5 Ke8 72.Kh6 Kf8 73.Bc2 Bc6
74.Kh7 Bd5 75.Bd3 Bc6 76.Be2
Be4+ 77.Kh8 Bc6 78.Bf1!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
An important waiting move. Black can
not move his king, so he has to move
his bishop to either d7 or e8,
surrendering the long diagonal to white.
Bd7 79.Bg2 You might remember how I
said that it was useful for white to
provoke the move b7-b6. If this pawn
was still on b7, black would have had
the move Bc6! now and who knows what
might have been... Be8 80.Bb7 Bd7
81.Ba6 Here we see another attacking
motive - the b-pawn can be attacked
from a6 as well. We will see later why
this is important. Bc6 82.Bc8
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Be4 Black is going for active defense,
which, as we have observed, usually
gives him better chances.
[ Black could also keep the bishop on
the short diagonal with 82...Be8
when he always has one bishop move
in store and he can just try to keep
the fortress-like this: 83.Bb7 Bd7
84.Kh7 Be8 White would have had to
get back with his king: 85.Kh6 Bd7
86.Kg5 Ke8 87.Kf4 Kd8 88.Ke3 Kc7
Now white wins with 89.Bf3!
This is the best square for the bishop
as it can move to both e2 and h5. Kd8
90.Bh5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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34
If we use some imagination, in
basketball terms this move creates a
classical "pick-and-roll". Black
defenders (king and bishop) are
scrambling to defend the main threat
(Bh5-xf7), but whichever way they
switch their defensive roles (Be8 or
Ke8), they will get punished by the
"roller" (white king penetrating to the
free space), as you can see in the
variations: Ke8 ( 90...Be8 blocks his
own king from reaching f8 and white
simply wins by rolling to the kingside
with 91.Kf4 Kc7 92.Kg5 Kc6 93.Kh6
Kd5 94.Kg7 Kxe5 95.Bxf7+-
as we have seen in an earlier
comment. ) 91.Kd3!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now white king switches to the
queenside as black king is not in time
to reach the c5-square. Bc6 92.Kd2
Kf8 93.Be2 Kg8 94.Bd3+-
 Modern Chess Magazine
You could also say that black king
and bishop were tripping on each
other's toes, but I liked the
basketball analogy better :) ]
83.Bd7 Bd3 84.Bc6!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Carlsen's maneuvering is flawless. With
this move he kicks black bishop from
b1-h7 diagonal, which enables his king
to return to the center. At the same time,
black king can not move towards the
center because the Bc6 cuts him away
from it. Bc4 85.Kh7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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35
After some more maneuvering, the next
critical moment occurs on the move 100. I
should also add that at some later point in
the game, black would have had the right
to claim a draw according to the 50-
move rule, but this being a blitz game, Le
Quang did not have this luxury... Bd3+
86.Kh6 Kg8 87.Kg5 Bc4 88.Kf4 Kh7
89.Kg5 Kg8 90.Bd7 Kh7 91.Be8 Kg8
92.Kf4 Kf8 93.Bc6 Kg8 94.Ke4 Kh7
95.Kd4 Bf1 96.Be8
Kg6 97.Ke3 Kf5 98.Kd4 Kg6 99.Ke4
Bc4 100.Kf4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Bf1?! This hardly perceivable inaccuracy
was convincingly punished by the world
champion. The point is that black bishop
is not placed well on f1 as it lacks some
maneuvering squares he would have
had from e2.
[ We should, therefore, investigate the
most stubborn move 100...Be2
 Modern Chess Magazine
Now after 101.Bc6 Kh6 102.Bb7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black has the option to switch to
defending b5 pawn from diagonal
d1-a4. Bd1! and now white wins
with some fine maneuvering, the
goal of which is to take away already
limited number of squares from the
black bishop: 103.Ke3! taking away
e2 square. ( 103.Ba6 Ba4 is black's
point, when white can indeed hardly
make progress because of the
passive position of his bishop. )
103...Bb3 ( or 103...Kg5 104.Be4!
Bb3 105.Kd4 Bd1 106.Bd3 Ba4
107.Be2! Kh6 108.Bf3 Bb3
109.Bc6 Bc4 110.a4+- )
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36
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and here the key move is 104.Bf3!
taking away the d1 and e2 squares.
( 104.Be4 Bc4 105.Kd4 Be2
would keep black in the game. )
A) The counterplay with the king
104...Kg5 105.Kd4 Kf4 comes at
the wrong time since after 106.Bc6
it is clear that black bishop is
placed poorly on b3: Bc4
( 106...Ba4 107.c4+- ) 107.a4+-;
B) 104...Bc4 105.Kd4 Bf1
The only way to keep the bishop
active. But after 106.Bb7!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
Black bishop has no time to switch
to defense from a4 and white finally
wins the b5 pawn. Be2 107.Ba6
Kg5 108.a4 bxa4 109.Bxe2 a3
110.Bc4+- ]
101.Bc6 Kh6 Losing outright.
[ A tad more stubborn was 101...Be2
102.Bb7 Bd1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
with a similar idea to what we
analyzed in 100...Be2 variation.
However, here a tactical problem
appears for black, namely the position
of his king on a light square. White
wins an important tempo with
103.Be4+ Kh6 in order to bring his
bishop to a better diagonal 104.Bd3
Ba4 Now it's all just a matter of a few
precise maneuvers: 105.Ke3 Kg5
106.Kd4 Kh6 ( Black cannot activate
his king 106...Kf4 due to
107.Bg6!+- ) 107.Be2! Kg5 108.Bf3
and the dominant position of white
pieces does not allow black bishop
anything better than Bb3 when
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37
109.Bc6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
wins the pawn in one of two tactical
ways: Bc4 ( or 109...Ba4 110.c4+- )
110.a4+- ]
102.Bb7 Bc4 103.Ba6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black resigned due to the inevitable 104.
a4. A fantastic display of endgame
technique (in a blitz game!) by Magnus
Carlsen. As a result of our examination
of these examples, let us make some
important observations about this type
of endgame that hold true in the majority
of similar cases. Making such
 Modern Chess Magazine 38

generalizations is useful as they can

come in handy in the heat of tournament
battle.
1. The weaker side should put their
bishop on the longest possible diagonal
in order to have enough maneuvering
squares for the bishop and avoid getting
in zugzwang.
2. Consequently, one of the best
strategies for the stronger side is to drive
the defender's bishop from the longer to
a shorter diagonal.
3. Once defender's bishop is on the
shorter diagonal, the stronger side can
use a variety of tactical motives to take
advantage of it, such as zugzwang,
saved pawn tempo, triangulation,
trapping, removing defender, pin, and
skewer.
4. It is often essential for the stronger
side not to allow the opponent to obtain
counter-play by activating his king.
5. When active defense does not work,
the last resort of the defender is passive
defense - setting up a fortress. We have
completed our discussion of endgames
with same-colored bishops. Please join
us in the next issue with more interesting
endgame strategies!
1-0

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
Benoni Structures -
White is Going for a Central
Strategy
In the previous article, we have focused
on Black advancing his queenside
majority. When adopting this plan he
frequently relies on the fact that he can
keep White's majority under control by
defending the e5-square against the
central break e4-e5. The g7-bishop plays style.
an important part, of course. Another
aspect is that after e4-e5 the d5-pawn is
likely to become vulnerable. On the other
hand, if properly sustained by pieces, this
pawn could become a threatening force.
We will distinguish between two main
situations: White breaks the center with the
help of his pieces or by using the f-pawn
to sustain his colleague. We shall start with
the optimal situation for White
corresponding to the first category when
the attack on the wing is effectively met by
a central break by perfect piece
coordination.
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39
Padevsky,Nikola
Matulovic,Milan
Rubinstein Memorial 01st (5) 1963
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6
5.Nf3 Bg7 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0
exd5 9.cxd5 Na6 10.h3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Nc7?!
[ Now and on the next move Black
does not pay attention to the advance
of the e-pawn. 10...Re8
is an important alternative. ]
11.e4 b5?! Played in the same careless
[ True it was late for using the rook for
delaying the pawn advance:
11...Re8?! 12.Re1 Nd7 13.Bf4 Qe7
14.e5 with advantage to White since
...dxe5 now or within a couple of
moves would run into d5-d6. ]
[ The best chance to stay in the game
was 11...Nd7 12.Bf4 Qe7
with freer play for White but a solid
position for Black. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
12.e5! With the actual piece placement
the d5-pawn is more of a strength than
weakness so there is no counter-
indication to the thematic last move.
Nfe8
[ Trying to keep the d-pawn. If
12...dxe5 13.d6 Ne6 14.Nxe5
White does not even have to take
the exchange, thus offering Black
some chances on light squares, as
his position is very strong anyway. ]
13.Bg5! An active developing move
causing Black problems with finding a
good square for the queen. f6
[ This weakens the e6-square and
obstructs the own bishop but 13...Qd7
puts the queen in a dangerous
situation: 14.Ne4 dxe5 ( Or if 14...c4
15.exd6 Nxd6 16.Nc5 Black cannot
defend e7 with 16...Qe8 due to 17.
Re1 trapping the queen while Qf5
17.Be7 wins the exchange. ) 15.Nxc5
Qd6 ( The queen is a bad blocker but
there is no way of keeping this square
for the knight. 15...Qxd5 16.Be7
does not offer enough compensation
for the exchange as White remains
active. ) 16.Rc1 With strong white
pressure. ]
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40
14.exd6 Nxd6
[ Otherwise 14...fxg5 15.dxc7 Nxc7
Keeping g5-defended but unblocking
d5. 16.d6 Ne6 17.Re1 with strong
white initiative. The game move keeps
the control on d6, even though not for
long. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
15.Be3 This and the next move show
that Black's queenside action has only
left him with weaknesses. Na6
[ 15...c4 allows 16.Nd4 followed by
Nc6 soon. This is one of the situations
when the white light-squared bishop
is optimally placed in the fianchetto
by over defending d5 and increasing
the control over c6. ]
16.a4! b4 17.Nb5 The first step to
unblocking the passed pawn. Bb7
18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.Nd2! Once again
White can regroup with all the comfort
mainly due to his bishop. Rfd8
[ Only not 19...Bxd5? 20.Nc4+-
wins a piece. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Nc4 Qd7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White has removed the blockade on d6
and has a strategically winning position.
In the next phase he will slowly regroup,
putting his main bid on the central pawn.
21.Qb3 Qf7 22.Rad1 Rac8 23.Rd2
Bf8 24.Rfd1 Rd7 25.Na5 With the
major pieces optimally placed White
starts improving the position of his minor
ones. Ba8 26.Bf1 Nb8 27.Bb5 Rdd8
28.Bc4 Bd6 29.Nc6 Rd7 30.Nxb8
Rxb8 31.Bxc5! White won a pawn and
after twenty more moves the game. Kg7
32.Bxd6 Rxd6 33.Qe3 Re8 34.Qc5
Red8 35.Qxb4 Qd7 36.Kh2 Qf5
37.Qc5 a6 38.Qe3 h5 39.b3 Bxd5
40.Qf4 Bxc4 41.Qxf5 Rxd2 42.Rxd2
gxf5 43.Rxd8 Bxb3 44.a5 f4 45.gxf4
Kg6 46.Kg3 Bc4 47.Kh4 Bb5 48.Rd6
Bc4 49.f5+ Kxf5 50.Kxh5 Ke5
51.Rb6 Be2+ 52.Kg6
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
41
Rogozenco,Dorian 2480
Marin,Mihail 2515
Ciocaltea Memorial 1993
With the bishop placed elsewhere than
on g2, the central break tends to lead to
double-edged consequences as the d5-
pawn remains more vulnerable while the
intrusion to c6 is less probable. The next
game was by far less one-sided than I
thought after I signed the scoresheet
below zero. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6
4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.h3 0-0 7.Bg5
e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.Nf3
c4 11.Bc2 b5 12.a3 Na6 13.0-0 Nc5
14.Re1 Qb6 15.Qd2 a5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black's counterplay starts taking
concrete forms so White has little choice:
16.e5! dxe5 17.Nxe5 Bf5!?
[ An interesting dynamic approach.
The static 17...Bb7 18.Rad1
is also unclear, as the c6-square is
well defended and White's only
constructive plan is advancing his
central pawn, with uncertain
consequences. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
18.Bxf5!?
[ Embarking interesting play. If 18.d6
Bd3 Black exchanges his c4-pawn for
the d6-pawn with equality. ]
18...Nb3 19.Qf4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Nxa1? In the most interesting moment
Black overlooks the next move.
[ 19...Nh5! would have kept the game
unclear. Many of White's pieces are
hanging so he has to resort to
extreme measures to avoid losing
material: 20.Nd7! Nxa1! ( But not
20...Nxf4? 21.Nxb6 Nxa1
22.Rxa1+- ) 21.Rxa1 ( The move
order is forced for White. too for if
21.Nxb6? Rxe1+ 22.Kh2 Nxf4-+ )
21...Qb7 22.Qf3 gxf5 23.Qxf5 Ra7
24.Nc5 Qb6 with excellent white
compensation for the exchange but
not more. ]
20.Be6! A thunder out of the blue. White
cuts off the connection of the enemy
queen with the kingside, thus obtaining
a winning attack. fxe6 21.Bxf6 exd5
www.modern-chess.com
42
[ The lesser evil was probably 21...Rf8
22.Nd7 Qd8!? 23.Nxf8 Qxf6 24.Qxf6
Bxf6 25.Nxe6 with "just" a clearly
better ending. ]
[ Knaak recommends 21...Bxf6
22.Nd7! Bxc3 overlooking that after
23.Nxb6 Bxe1 24.Nxa8 Rxa8
25.Qe4 Bd2 26.dxe6+- White wins
due to the uncoordinated and hanging
black pieces. ]
22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Qf7+ Kh8 24.Nxd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The knights are impressive. Qe6
[ 24...Qd6 is no better: 25.Nf6 Re7
26.Nxg6+ hxg6 27.Qxe7+- ]
25.Qxe6
[ A clearer win was 25.Nf6! Qxf7
26.Nxf7+ Kg7 27.Nxe8+ Rxe8
28.Rxe8 Kxf7 29.Rb8+- ]
25...Rxe6 26.Nf7+ Kg7 27.Rxe6 Kxf7
28.Re7+ Kg8 29.Rb7+- and White did
not face any serious problems
converting his obvious advantage into a
win. Nb3 30.Rxb5 Rd8 31.Ne3 Nd2
32.f3 Rd3 33.Kf2 a4 34.Rd5 c3
35.bxc3 Rxd5 36.Nxd5 Nc4 37.Ke2
Kf7 38.Kd3 Nb2+ 39.Kd4
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine
The second way of carrying out e4-e5
implies using the f-pawn for sustaining his
colleague. We will not examine here the
cases when ...dxe5 can be simply met
with fxe5, with a crushing space
advantage, but the more interesting case
when White carries out what we could call
the Penrose plan.
Penrose,Jonathan
Tal,Mihail
Leipzig ol (Men) fin-A (11) 08.11.1960 16.Be3 b5 17.axb5 Rb8 18.Qf2 axb5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5
5.cxd5 g6 6.e4 d6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.Nge2
0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 Qc7 11.h3 Nbd7
12.f4 Re8 13.Ng3 c4 14.Bc2 Nc5 15.Qf3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White does not make a secret out of his
plan of preparing e4-e5. Tal's antidote
will prove ineffective. Nfd7?! After this
move none less than 4 black pieces are,
directly or not, control the e5-square.
But this does not prevent e4-e5
physically and what's worse weakens
www.modern-chess.com
43
the control over e4 and breaks the
queen's connection with the kingside.
[ The correct continuation is 15...Rb8
16.Be3 ( 16.e5 is premature as after
dxe5 17.f5 Black has 17...e4 with
strong counterplay while after 17.fxe5
Rxe5 18.Bf4 Nfd7 he gets more than
enough compensation for the
exchange. ) 16...b5 17.axb5 axb5
18.e5 dxe5 19.fxe5 Rxe5 20.Bd4
Rg5 with adequate counterplay. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19.e5! Quite a nice way to play against
one of the most brilliant World
champions. dxe5? The threats exd6
followed by Nce4 or Nce4 at once are
unpleasant but the last move just plays
into White's hands. 20.f5! The essence
of the "Penrose attack". White gets
strong kingside threats and the e4-
square for his knights.
[ Tal might have expected 20.fxe5 Rf8
with white initiative but certain black
counter chances due to the weakness
of the e5-pawn. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
20...Bb7
[ Due to the threat fxg6 followed by
Qf7+ Black has no time for the
aforementioned counter-break ...e5-
e4. And if 20...Rf8? 21.f6! Bh8
22.d6! Qxd6 23.Nf5! Qxf6 24.Nd5
White's attack is winning. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
21.Rad1
[ A strong consolidating move, but
21.fxg6 fxg6 22.Bxg6! would have
been even straighter, for instance
hxg6 23.Qf7+ Kh7 ( 23...Kh8
24.Qxg6+- ) 24.Nh5 Rg8 25.Nf6+
Kh8 26.Rf5+- In order to avoid mate
Black needs giving up his queen with
Nxf6 ]
21...Ba8 22.Nce4 White's initiative is
hard to control already. Na4 23.Bxa4
bxa4 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Qf7+ Kh8
26.Nc5
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
44
Many years ago it was my trainer
Theodor Ghitescu who made me familiar
with the Penrose plan, one of his
specialties and favorite methods, but
recently I discovered that he was not
always successful with it. In the next
game the aforementioned ...e5-e4 turned
tables around, yielding Black the
initiative.
Ghitescu,Theodor
Kavalek,Lubomir
Bucharest (4) 1966
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4
Bg7 6.Bd3 e6 7.Nge2 exd5 8.cxd5 0-0
9.0-0 Na6 10.a3 Re8 11.f3 Nd7 12.f4
Nf6 13.h3 c4 14.Bc2 Nc5 15.Ng3 Nfd7
16.e5 dxe5 17.f5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
With respect to the previous game,
White is a few tempi down from the point
of view of his global attack. He would
need at least his queen on f2 to make
things work out properly. e4!
In the absence of pressure along the f-
 Modern Chess Magazine
file Black is in time clearing the path for
his bishop and rook, avoiding the
suffocating blockade on e4 at the same
time. All other continuations offer White
at least good compensation for the pawn.
For instance:
[ 17...Nf6 18.Be3 Qd6 19.fxg6 hxg6
20.Qf3 and White has caught up with
the development stage from the
Penrose-Tal game. ]
[ 17...Qb6 18.Be3 Qxb2 19.Nge4
Nxe4 20.Nxe4 is very dangerous for
Black due to the misplaced queen and
already vulnerable king. ]
[ 17...b5 wastes a tempo which White
can use with 18.Be3 e4 19.Bd4 ]
18.Ncxe4
[ 18.Be3 Qh4 possibly followed by ...
Nd3 is not a solution either. ]
18...Nxe4 19.Nxe4 Ne5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black has activated his play and White's
incomplete development makes him
vulnerable. 20.f6?! Stabilizing the
queenside is an obvious concession as
it does not offer attacking chances.
[ True, 20.g4 is too slow: b5 21.Bg5
www.modern-chess.com
45
Qb6+ 22.Kh2 Bb7 23.fxg6 hxg6
and the White king does not feel too
comfortable. One point is that the
tempting 24.Nf6+? runs into Bxf6
25.Rxf6 Qc7 26.Kg1 Nd3-+
ith decisive counterplay. ]
[ Possibly best was 20.Nc3
stabilizing the centre, but Black's
position would have remained
preferable fter Qb6+ 21.Kh1 Bxf5
22.Bxf5 gxf5 23.Qh5 ( 23.Rxf5
Nd3-+ offers Black a crushing
domination. ) 23...Qg6 24.Qxf5 Nd3
25.Bd2 Rad8 ]
20...Bf8 21.Be3
[ If 21.Nc3 Black can think of b5!?
already: 22.Nxb5 Nd3 23.Bxd3
Qxd5 with strong initiative. ]
21...Bf5! Planning ...Nd3. 22.Rxf5
[ A desperate attack. 22.Qd4 Rc8
fails questioning Black's stability. ]
22...gxf5 23.Ng3 Ng6 24.Bd4 Qxd5
25.Nxf5 Bc5 26.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 27.Kh1
Re6-+ Black has parried all threats and
had little trouble winning. 28.Qh5 Kh8
29.Qh6 Qf8 30.Qg5 Rae8 31.Nh6
Re1+ 32.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 33.Kh2 Qd6+
0-1
Even if White can take over the
complete control of the position by
blocking on e4 and so on, Black has a
chance of building up a passive but hard
to break fortress. Here is such a typical
case when White failed to find the right
method at the critical moment.
 Modern Chess Magazine
Ghitescu,Theodor 2450
Matulovic,Milan 2525
Havana ol (Men) fin-A (4) 1966
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4
Bg7 6.Bd3 0-0 7.Nge2 e6 8.0-0 exd5
9.cxd5 Ne8 10.Be3 Nd7 11.f4 a6 12.a4
b6 13.Rb1 Bb7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black has taken some measures against
the main plan, but with the pawn on e4
still the bishop is passive on b7. This
allows White widening the theater of
operations: 14.Qd2 Rc8 15.b4 Nef6
16.h3 Re8 17.Bf2 Qc7 18.b5 a5
Since ...c5-c4 would just allow Nd4-c6,
Black is doomed to passivity. 19.Bc2 h6
20.Rbe1 Qb8 21.g4 Nh7 22.Bg3 Re7
23.e5 Finally the thematic break. dxe5
24.f5 g5 The same policy as on the
queenside: Black tries keeping the
position blocked on both wings. 25.d6
Ree8 26.Ne4 Nhf6 27.N2c3 Rcd8
28.Rd1 Nxe4 29.Bxe4 Bxe4 30.Nxe4
Qb7 31.Qg2 Qa8 32.f6 Bh8 33.Rf5
Re6
www.modern-chess.com
46
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Everything has goe White's way but now
he stumbles on the way to converting
his advantage. 34.Rdf1?!
[ There was no need for defending f6
and White should have opened the
kingside at once: 34.h4! Nxf6
( 34...Bxf6 35.Rdf1 is no better.;
34...gxh4 35.Bxh4+- defends the
pawn and prepares a slow but
decisive attack: Nf8 36.Rh5 Ng6
37.Rxh6 Nf4 38.Qc2+- ) 35.Nxf6+
Bxf6 36.Qxa8 Rxa8 37.Rxf6! Rxf6
38.d7 Rd8 39.Bxe5 threatening Bc7.
Black needs finding a way to play with
a bishop down but White has every
chance to win. ]
34...Nf8! After this well-timed regrouping
Black is in time to stop the enemy
initiative. 35.h4 gxh4 36.Bxh4 Ng6
37.Bg3
[ The familiar 37.Rh5 runs into Nf4 ]
37...Rdxd6! The the simplest way of
neutralizing White's threats.
[ 37...Qd5 38.Rh5 Qd4+ 39.Kh2
maintains White's pressure. ]
38.Nxd6 Qxg2+ 39.Kxg2 Rxd6
Due to his stability on dark squares
 Modern Chess Magazine
Black has enough compensation for the
exchange. 40.Kh3 Re6 41.g5 hxg5
42.Kg4 e4 43.Kxg5 Nf8 44.Be5 e3
1/2
Li,Zunian
Sax,Gyula
Biel Interzonal (16)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White continued his attack with 25.Bxb6
Nxb6 26.Qh6 leaving Black little choice:
Nxd5 Now, White should find the right
way to finish the attack. 27.Nxd5?
[ This allows Black escape dry out of
deep trouble. Correct was 27.Be6!
Reminiscent of Rogozenco's Be6.
Nxf6 ( 27...Nxc3 28.Bxf7+ Kxf7
29.Qxh7+ Ke6 30.Nc5+ Kd5
31.Nxb7 also offers White a decisive
attack while; 27...fxe6 28.f7# mates. )
28.Bxf7+! Kxf7 29.Qxh7+ Ke6
30.Nc5+ Kd6 31.Nxb7+ Kc6
www.modern-chess.com
47
32.Nxd8++- with an extra exchange
and a continuing attack. ]
27...Bxd5 28.Ng5 Bxf6 29.Qxh7+ Kf8
30.Be6 Bxg2+!
[ The saving move. If 30...Bxe6
31.Nxe6+ Ke7 32.Nxd8 ]
2465 31.Kg1 Qa7+ 32.Kxg2 Rd2+ 33.Kh3
2535 Rd3+ 34.Kg2 Rd2+ 35.Kh3 Rd3+
1985 1/2
Gulko,Boris F 2585
Ghitescu,Theodor 2440
Rubinstein Memorial 15th(2) 1977
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black was caught on the wrong foot, but
reacted with the thematic 22...e4
23.Nfxe4?!
[ White should have kept his light-
squared bishop at any cost, as this
piece is very important for the attack:
23.Qh3! Ne5 24.Bb3 ( 24.Ba2!? )
24...Qd8 ( Or if 24...c4 25.Bc2 Bxd5
 Modern Chess Magazine
26.Nfxe4 f6, Ng5 Nd3 27.f6 Bxe4
28.fxg7 Kxg7 29.Nxe4 Rxe4
30.Bxd3 cxd3 31.Qd7
with a continuing attack. ) 25.Nfxe4
Bc8 26.Bc2 Bxf5 ( 26...Nc4 27.Bg5
is also promising for hite. ) 27.Rxf5!
Finally putting the bishop to work. gxf5
28.Ng5+ Kh8 29.Qxf5 Nf6 30.Nh7
Neg4 31.Nxf8 hite retrieved the
exchange with obvious advantage. ]
23...Ne5 24.Qe2 Nxc4 25.Qxc4 Bd4+
26.Kh1
[ Or if 26.Be3 Bxd5 27.Qxd5 Qxd5
28.Nxd5 Rxe4 29.fxg6+ Kxg6
30.Bxd4 Rxe1 31.Rxe1 cxd4
32.Rd1= with a probable draw. ***Ater
the last move the simplest way to
equality was 26...Re5. ]
0-1
Knaak,Rainer
Matulovic,Milan
Parcetic Memorial 5th (10)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
48
Apart from the familiar plan of blockingon
e4, White has the permanent threatd5-d6.
18...bxa4! Indeed, this is the
best. Black
clears the path for the knightto d4, turning
d5 into a weakness.
19.Nxa4
[ 19.Bxa4 Rxb2 20.Qc1 allows
Rxf2!? 21.Rxf2 e4 22.fxg6 hxg6
23.Ngxe4 Nb6 with excellent
compensation for the exchange. ]
19...Nb5 20.Nxc5 Nd4 21.Nxd7
[ It may have been better fighting
against the central knight with
21.Nb3!? even though after Nxc2
22.Qxc2 Bb7 Black's play remains
more pleasant. ]
21...Bxd7 White's attack has come to
an end and Black retains very active
play.
0-1
Zsinka,Laszlo 2420
Marin,Mihail 2480
1972 Berliner Sommer 06th (8) 1988
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 49

White's control over the light squares a b c d e f g h

seems to offer him an advantage. 8 8
Nevertheless, Black has more than
enough counterplay. 22...b5! 7 7

Indeed, it is essential to drive the enemy 6 6

queen away from the a2-g8 diagonal. 5 5
[ If 22...Nxd5?! 23.fxg6 the g6-pawn
is taboo due to the pin while if Nf4 4 4

24.gxf7+ ( 24.Nce4 Nxg6 25.Nxh5 3 3

Rd4 26.Qc2 with initiative is also
2 2
interesting. ) 24...Qxf7 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7
26.Nxh5 Bh8 with playable, but 1 1
worse position for Black. ] a b c d e f g h
[ For once 22...e4 does not solve the
problems after 23.fxg6 fxg6 Black has played the opening highly
24.Ngxe4 ] originally and now hoped to win material
23.axb5 axb5 24.Qxc5 Relatively best. with 12...Nb6 13.e5!! Of course! Queen
[ 24.Nxb5 Qxd5 ] retreats would allow ...axb5 with unclear
[ 24.Qxb5 Qxb5 25.Nxb5 Nxd5 ] play. The central break immediately
[ 24.Qb3 Nxd5 25.fxg6 fxg6 takes advantage of the exposed king's
26.Rd1? c4! 27.Qxb5 Qxb5 28.Nxb5 position, even though it implies
e4-+ ] sacrificing the queen. dxe5
24...Nxd5 25.Qxb5 [ The point is that after 13...Nxa4
14.exf6+ the king is in lethal danger.
[ This hands in the initiative to Black.
A better chance for approximate Kf8 ( Or if 14...Kxf6 15.Rxe8 Qc7
equality was 25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Nge4 16.Bg5+ Kf5 17.Bd3+ Kg4 18.Re4+
Nf4 27.Ra1!? Nd3 28.Qxb5 Qxb5 Kh5 19.Rh4# ) 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8
29.Nxb5 Rf8 30.Rxf8+ Rxf8 31.b3 16.fxg7+ Kxg7 17.Bxe8+- ]
Nf2+ 32.Nxf2 Rxf2= ] 14.Qa3! Another important move. Kf8
25...Qxb5 26.Nxb5 Rb8 27.Nd6 Red8 [ There is no time for 14...axb5?
28.Nc4 h4 due to 15.Qxc5+ Qd6 16.Rxe5+ Kd7
17.Re7+ Qxe7 18.Qc7# ]
[ Even stronger was 28...Rdc8! for if
15.Bxe8 exf4 16.Qxc5+ Kg8 17.Ba4
29.Nxe5 h4! the e5-knight is
[ 17.Bxf7+ Kxf7 18.d6 followed by
hanging. ]
Re7 would have yielded a decisive
29.Ne4 Rb4 30.b3! Nf4
attack with approximately equal
With preferable play for Black already.
material. ]
0-1
17...Nxa4 18.Nxa4 Nxd5 19.Rad1
Black does not have compensation for
Kortschnoj,Viktor Lvovich 2650 the lost exchange and could not save
Ljubojevic,Ljubomir 2565 the game despite stubborn defense.
EU-chT (Men) 05th (4.3) 09.07.1973 1-0

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
You Don't Know? So,
Dig Deeper! - Part 3
Exercise 1
Introduction
After two articles in which we tried to train
and develop your abilities and
agility in risky unusual positions, it is
time for something...more of the same.
This time we go back to the 1980's
when there were quite a few new,
experimental and sharper treatments of
the Caro-Kann Main Line being born.
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4
Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7
8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6
11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Quite regular
play so far, but that is about to change.
Be7 Instead of the classical Qd8-c7 and
0-0-0 Black keeps the options of castling
short or not at all. 13.Qe2
I like this move, getting ready to tackle the
themes in the center, better than the
slowish 13. Ne4 or 13. Kb1. On the latter,
13...a5 (another Lobron move) was
considered interesting and modernistic
back then. Rc8
www.modern-chess.com
50
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This was already a surprise to me, counting on
13...0-0 or ...a5.
EXERCISE 1:13...Rc8 may not be the best
move, but Black has certain ideas with it.
Determine those, then decide on your 14th
move and after the logical reply, find out what
White's TWO best 15th moves are. That
requires some sharp calculations!
Exercise 1 - Answer
Exercise 2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
14.Ne5 Makes it harder for Black to
liberate his game. c5 According to plan,
but Black faces two potential problems
 Modern Chess Magazine
after this. In a later game Lobron
employed 14...b5 to beat a weaker
player, but it doesn't look impressive to
me. 15. f4 is already a good aggressive
option here. 15.dxc5 This is one of the
ways to trouble Black.
[ The other one is 15.Rhe1
A) 15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nd7
17.Qg4 is just bad for Black.;
B) 15...cxd4 16.Nxf7! Kxf7
17.Qxe6+ Kf8 18.Nf5
B1) 18...Nc5 19.Qxe7+ Qxe7
20.Rxe7 and White wins.;
B2) 18...Ng8 19.Nd6!
( 19.Ba5?Qxa5 20.Nxe7 Qg5
+! );
B3) 18...Bc5 19.Nh4! g5
20.hxg6 Qe7 ( 20...Qe8
21.Qb3!+- ) 21.Qxe7+ Bxe7
22.Nf5 loses for Black.;
C) 15...0-0 16.Ng6! Re8
17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 ( The move
17...Rxe7? fails into 18.Nf5 ) 18.d5
as in Y. Grünfeld - Lobron, New
York 1986. Apart from 18...Nxd5.19.
Bxh6 Black can also consider 18...
Qd6!? This is only very slightly
better for White, I believe. ]
[ but not 15.Nxd7 Qxd7 16.dxc5
Qa4! with good active play for Black ]
15...Nxe5
[ 15...Rxc5?! 16.Nxd7 Nxd7
17.Ne4 is not what Black aimed for. ]
www.modern-chess.com
51
16.Bxh6!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
I hope you found this during the exercise,
as well as the lines with 15. Rhe1. Only
easy, when you already knew all the
theory! EXERCISE 2 - Now, what will it
be for Black: 16... Qa5 or 16...Ned7 ?
Exercise 2 -Answer
Exercise 3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
16...Qa5! It is a close call. This move is
more attractive, but only the right choice
if Black finds all the best follow-ups.
 Modern Chess Magazine 52

[ Let's analyze 16...Ned7 17.Bxg7
A) 17...Rh7 more suitable to stop
the h-pawn, but the rook remains
vulnerable. 18.h6 Qa5
In this position, White has a choice.
( Now 18...Bf8 would fail to 19.Bxf6
Qxf6 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Qd3++- )
A1) 19.Kb1 Rxc5! ( 19...Nxc5
20.Nf5!? could mean big trouble
for Black ) 20.Ne4 Rd5 21.g4!
with excellent chances for White.
It is very hard to defend Black's
position.;
A2) 19.Rxd7 Nxd7 20.Qe4
when in my Informant analysis I
kingside pawns will pull the most
weight. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1

gave only f5 ( Nevertheless, I a b c d e f g h

failed to mention (or notice! Poor
The first thing that Black had to do right.
work, even now I am analyzing
EXERCISE 3 - Both players are trying
without a computer - the same
to attack, as befits 24-year olds. Now,
as I always ask from you, reader)
does White need to do something for his
the line 20...Nf6 21.Bxf6 Bxf6
defense or not? The good news: this is
22.Qxh7 Bxb2+ 23.Kxb2 Qb4+
a relatively short exercise.
24.Kc1 Qf4+! which promises
Black a draw, e.g. ) 21.Qxe6
Qxc5 22.c3 with great
Exercise 3 - Answer
compensation for White.;
Exercise 4
B) 17...Rg8 18.h6 Bf8 19.Nf5
( in my Informator analysis of 1984 I
gave 19.Rxd7 which is strong after a b c d e f g h

19...Kxd7, but apparently missing 8 8

Nxd7 20.h7 Qg5+! and 21...Qxg7,
7 7
favoring Black. )]
17.Bxg7 Rxc5! 6 6
[ 17...Qxa2 18.Qxe5 ( Here, even
5 5
18.Qb5+ looks very strongл ) 18...Ng4
19.Qf4! doesn't quite work for Black 4 4
and even ]
3 3
[ on 17...Rh7 the alert 18.Bxf6 Bxf6
19.Ne4 Be7 20.Nd6+ Bxd6 21.cxd6 2 2
Rc6 22.f4 Nd7 ( 22...Nc4 23.d7+
1 1
Kd8 24.Qg4! ) 23.a3
a b c d e f g h
and the dangerous center and

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
18.a3 Obviously White cannot
ignore Black's play.
[ After 18.Bxh8? Qxa2 the main
threat Ne5-c4 (often also Qa2-a1+)
is just too strong, for instance
19.Rd4
( or 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Ne4 Bg5+
21.Nxg5 Nc4 and the attack can't be
properly stopped. ) 19...Qa1+
20.Kd2 Qxb2-+ ]
[ The move 18.Bxf6 is not so
serious. For instance: Bxf6 19.Ne4
Qxa2!20.Nxf6+ Ke7 Black is
winning. ]
[ After 18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.Qxe4
, If nothing else appeals, Black can
opt for 19...f5 and 20...Rh7. ]
[ More important is to find out why
18.Kb1 isn't as good as the text
move. Black responds with Nc4
and then has an additional idea:
19.Bxh8
( . Another possibility becomes very
tricky: 19.Ne4 Nxe4 20.Qxe4
Nd2+ 21.Rxd2 Qxd2 22.Bxh8
Rxh5!Only with 23.g4! White can
now avert defeat, but Black will be
comfortably equal at least. From
these variations we learn that
White's king is better on c1 than b1,
hence 18. a3 ) 19...Na3+ 20.bxa3
Rb5+ and the attack guarantees
him at least a draw. ]
18...Nc4
[ Trying to save Rh8 still causes
problems: 18...Rh7 19.Bxf6
Bxf6 20.Ne4 Bh8 21.Nxc5
Qxc5
www.modern-chess.com
53
And now, 22.Rh4! Gives White the
initiative. ]
[ or 18...Rg8 19.h6! ]
19.Qf3!
[ This time 19.Bxh8 runs into Nxb2!
with at least sufficient attack ]
[ 19.Ne4 is a bit more testing.
Probably the only good reaction is
Nxe4 20.Qxe4 Nxa3! but then Black
is fine (21. ba3 Rhxh5). Attacking Nf6
and possibly opening up the h8-a1
diagonal may help White's defense. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
EXERCISE 4 - So yes, 16...Qa5 was
attractive. White had to find some
excellent moves. But Black, too, has to
take a final hurdle. How should Black
play in order to prolong a good fight with
close to equal chances? This is a crucial
moment and the toughest exercise, so
dig really deep!
 Modern Chess Magazine
Exercise 4 - Answer
Exercise 5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19...Nd5?! Lobron goes wrong and won't
get a chance to undo that anymore.
What else could Black try?
[ 19...Nxb2?! 20.Kxb2 Nd5 21.Rxd5!
( Not 21.Bxh8 Rb5+ ) 21...Rxd5
22.Bxh8 and Black has an insufficient
attack. ]
[ 19...Nxa3!?
A) The by now infamous Informator
analysis gives only 20.Qxa3 Rxc2+
21.Kxc2 Bxa3 22.Bxf6 and White
wins. Not true, as Black has
( but I think White should prefer
22.Bxh8 After that it is unlikely that
a perpetual check scenario will
materialize, but Qc5+ 23.Kb1
Bxb2! may come close. ) 22...0-0!
That is still interesting after
23.Rh4 ( rather than 23.bxa3 Rc8+
24.Kb1 e5! );
B) 20.bxa3! Rc3 21.Qxb7
( The move 21. Qxb7 is better than
21.Rd3 Bxa3+ 22.Kd2 Rxd3+
23.Kxd3 Qb5+! ) 21...Bxa3+
22.Kb1 Rc5 ( or 22...Rc4 23.Qb8+
www.modern-chess.com
54
Ke7 24.Bxf6+ Kxf6 25.Qxh8+ Ke7
26.Nf5+! and White wins. ) 23.Qb8+
Ke7 24.Qd6+ Ke8 25.Qd8+!
and Black can resign. ]
[ 19...Qa4! to target c2 is Black's best
bet. 20.Rd4! With 20. Rd4 White pins
Nc4 but unfortunately closes the diagonal
for Bg7 to b2. Now we split up the
analysis: Black's best is Qb5!when White
is forced to opt for
( 20...e5?! 21.Bxf6 exd4 22.Qe4!White
has a winning attack. ) 21.b4
A) Bad is 21...a5 in view of 22.Bxf6
Nxa3 ( 22...axb4 23.Rhd1! )
23.bxc5 Qb1+ 24.Kd2 Qxc2+
25.Ke1 Black has to resign.;
B) 21...Rd5 22.Bxh8 ( 22.Rxc4 Qxc4
23.Bxh8 Qa2 24.Qb3
and Black won't find realistic
compensation. ) 22...Rxd4
23.Bxf6;
C) 21...Rhxh5! 22.Bxf6
( This was actually played in the only
other game that went like this (with
16. Bxh6! etc. ), Iotov - R. Dimitrov,
Bulgarian League 2014 (30 years
later!). It continued: 22.Nxh5 Rxh5
23.Rxh5 Nxh5 24.Rxc4 Qxc4
25.Qxh5 Qf1+ 26.Kb2 Qxg2
27.Qb5+ Qc6 with an ending, that
Black drew without difficulty. )
22...Rxh1+
23.Nxh1 Rd5 ( 23...Rf5? runs into
24.Qg3! This could be missed over
the board. ) 24.Rxd5 Qxd5
25.Qxd5 exd5 26.Bxe7 Kxe7
27.a4 White is a pawn up, but can he
really hope for anything with
such inferior pieces? I think he can. Two
examples: d4 ( or 27...Ke6
28.Ng3 Ke5 29.c3! ) 28.Ng3 Ke6
29.Ne4! in both cases, there is nothing
easy about it for Black. Shall we say 'clearly
slightly better' for White, then? ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Bxh8 Rb5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
EXERCISE 5 - Most of the hard work
has been done, but don't lean back too
early. How would you continue here as
White?
21...Nxa3
Exercise 5 - Answer
Conclusion
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
21.Qg4 Something had to be done about
the big threat 21...Bg5+ and there are 3
ways.
[ Another strong move is 21.Ne4
www.modern-chess.com
55
since after f5 22.Nd2 Nxa3
White can just follow up with 23.h6
It turns out that Black doesn't have
real threats on the queenside. ]
[ Another good idea is 21.Rxd5!? exd5
( In a case of 21...Rxd5 White plays
22.Bc3! controlling d2 and making
way for the h-pawn, must be pretty
hopeless for Black, ) 22.Qe2 Kd8?!
( After 22...Kd7 White has an
additional resource: 23.Qg4+! Kc6
24.Bc3 when Black doesn't have
enough. So 21. Rxd5 was also good.
The text, that takes away the g5
square and attacks something, is
clearest, though. ) 23.Re1 Bg5+
24.Kd1 Rxb2 25.Qe8+ Kc7
26.Qxf7+ Kc6 27.Re6+ Nd6
( 27...Kb5 28.Qd7+; 27...Kc5
28.Ne4+! ) 28.Rxd6+ Kxd6 29.Qg6+
And White wins. ]
[ 21...Nxb2 is no improvement. After
22.Rxd5 Rxd5 23.Qg8+ Kd7
24.Bxb2 Bxa3 25.Qxf7+ White wins
easily. ]
22.Rd3! Good zonal defense on the
queenside and preparation for a king
march, when necessary. f6 A desperate
attempt, since 22...Nxc2.23. Rxd5! and
a subsequent Kxc2 will be quite safe for
White. 23.bxa3?!
[ Actually, 23.Qxe6 Rxb2 24.Qg8+
Bf8 25.Qg6+ Kd7 26.Qg4+
is even more convincing. I don't
remember what spooked me. ]
23...Bxa3+ 24.Kd1 Nc3+ 25.Kd2!
This is probably the most practical
decision.
 Modern Chess Magazine 56

[ the move 25.Ke1 is also winning. ]

[ Also good is 25.Rxc3 but after Qxc3
White should play 26.Qxe6+
( In a case of 26.Qg8+ Kd7
it suddenly turns out that White is the
one who should find a way to hold the
balance. ) 26...Be7 27.Ne2!
The most precise move. Black will
soon run out of ideas after 27...Rb1+.
28. Nc1 or 27...Qa1+. 28. Kd2 Qa5+
(28...Qxh1.29. Bxf6). 29. Nc3 . So in
fact all 25th moves are good enough. ]
25...Nb1+ Anything else is more
hopeless. 26.Ke2 Re5+ 27.Kf3 Nd2+
28.Rxd2 Qxd2 29.Qg6+ Kd7 30.Qd3+
And Black resigned. Well, then: are we
feeling a little more comfortable in wild
positions already? Of course, the real-
life arena is the best learning school.
Probably next month I shall give you
one more crazy game to practice on and
then we will put this subject to rest. For
a while.

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
Typical Attacking Ideas -
Attack the Weakest Point
Attacking Ideas - Use the Weakest Point
in the Position of Your Opponent We
have had so far several articles
dedicated to various methods of
attacking the short-castled king.
Sacrifices on practically every square in
front of it have been examined. These
items are constantly enriched with new
examples. Besides, many masterpieces
from the past deserve a special attention.
All of us can still learn a lot from them.
Here is supposedly the most famous
analytical product of the pre-computer era
of chess.
Polugaevsky,Lev
Tal,Mihail
URS-ch37 Moscow (2) 07.09.1969
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c5
5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4
8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2
0-0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0-0 b6 13.Rad1
Bb7 14.Rfe1 Na5 15.Bd3 Rc8
www.modern-chess.com
57
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
A popular opening line of the Semi-
Tarrasch. The knight is aiming the c4-
outpost, but White has a dangerous
pawn sacrifice at his disposal. 16.d5!
exd5 17.e5! Nc4 18.Qf4 Nb2
Going for White's most dangerous piece,
but here came the prepared surprise!
[ Here is why Black should be
extremely careful: 18...Rc7?!
19.Bxh7+! Kxh7 20.Ng5+ Kg6
21.h4 J. Flesch - L. Kovacs,
Budapest, 1969, when the attempt to
stop the pawn by 21.... Rh8 22.Rd3
Rh5 is powerfully refuted by yet
another advance
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 58

a b c d e f g h
23.e6!+- Rxg5 24.e7 Qe8
25.Qxc7 ] 8 8
[ 18...Qc7? 19.Bxh7+! Kxh7 20.Ng5+ 7 7
Kg6?! ( 20...Kg8 21.Qh4 Rfe8
22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.Qh8+ Ke7 6 6

24.Qxg7 ) 21.Qg3! Qe7 22.Ne6+ 5 5

Kh7 23.Qxg7# Bodiroga-Berry, ICC
4 4
INT, 2009 ]
3 3

2 2
a b c d e f g h

8 8 1 1
a b c d e f g h
7 7
Qf6
6 6
[ 25...Nxd1? 26.e7 Qe8 27.exf8Q+
5 5 Qxf8
4 4 a b c d e f g h

8 8
3 3
7 7
2 2
6 6
1 1
5 5
a b c d e f g h
4 4

3 3
19.Bxh7+! Kxh7 20.Ng5+ Kg6 21.h4!!
The big point of White's fantastic 2 2

operation! 21.... Rc4 1 1

[ 21...Nxd1? 22.h5+ Kh6 23.Ne6+ a b c d e f g h
Kh7 24.Nxd8 Rcxd8 25.Rxd1+-
D. Gurevich-J. Massana, New York, would offer to White a pleasant choice
1985 ] - 28.Nh6+ ( 28.h6 Rh4 29.Qg6!Bc6
22.h5+ Kh6 30.h7+! Rxh7 31.Qxc6+- )
[ 22...Kxh5? was punished at once by 28...gxh6 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.Re8
one of the most active contributors of Qxe8 31.Qxe8+ Kg7 32.Qe7+ Kg8
Modern Chess series with 23.g4+ 33.Qxb7+- ]
Kh6 24.Qh2+ mating, Avrukh-Donk, 26.Qxf6 gxf6 27.Rd2 Rc6 28.Rxb2
Antwerp, 1998. ] Re8
23.Nxf7+ Kh7 24.Qf5+ Kg8 25.e6! [ 28...Bc8 29.Nh6+ Kh7 30.Nf5
Rxe6 31.Rc1 Rc7 ]

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
29.Nh6+ Kh7 30.Nf5 Rexe6 31.Rxe6
Rxe6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
32.Rc2! Rc6 33.Re2! Bc8 34.Re7+
Kh8?! 35.Nh4+- f5 36.Ng6+ Kg8
37.Rxa7 Black resigned. A remarkable
game! A couple of hours before the
game Polugaevsky was seen over a
chess board with a complex middlegame
on it. The witnesses later recognized the
position after 25.e6! Quite possibly the
Soviet GM was familiar even with the
final one - something, which is a dream
of many contemporary players due to
their silicon friends. To sum up, he and
the other players as White in the
inserted games had the luxury to follow
the typical bishop sac with a knight
check. With the enemy queen already on
the kingside, Black could not even think
of returning his king to the back rank.
And what about different situations, in
which our forces have still to
concentrate on the kingside? Can, for
instance, a piece sacrifice be so
efficient when the king is not forced to
go in front of his shelter?
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
59
A late December afternoon of 1986 in
Pazardzhik (Bulgaria). Krum Georgiev
came to the local club to demonstrate
some of his games from the Olympiad in
Dubai. Of course, the main focus was on
his new win against the Soviet team.
Similar to his famous game with Garry
Kasparov in Malta, 1980, he developed
a fierce attack, this time his victim was
the country champion Vitaly
Tseshkovsky. However, it appeared that
Krum had more to show ...
Georgiev,Krum 2465
Ionescu,Constantin 2495
Dubai ol (Men) (13) 29.11.1986
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 Nc6 4.Bb2 d6
5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 a6 7.Be2 Bd7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black's passive reaction can hardly be
approved. Even more, the bishop is
depriving the knight of its natural
location on "d7" and White is, therefore,
getting a favorable version of the
Maroczy bind.
 Modern Chess Magazine
1.c4! Nf6 9.Nc3 Be7 0.0-0 0-0 11.Nc2!
Rc8 12.f4 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 Rfd8 14.Bd3
Be8 15.Qe2 Qc7 16.Rae1 Bf8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
17.Ne3 The most natural continuation,
after which the typical knight sacrifice
on "d5" is gaining in power - a familiar
subject from an earlier article.
[ As we know, destroying the shelter of
the king with 17.Nd5 exd5 18.exd5
deserves serious attention, for
example 18.... Ne7 19.Bxf6 gxf6
20.Qg4+ Bg7 ( 20...Kh8? loses at
once to 21.Rxe7! ) 21.f5 b5 22.Re3
bxc4 23.bxc4 and Black will have to
give back his extra piece by Ne7-g6.
Even then his king cannot feel in
safety - after Nc2-d4 a new sacrifice
on "g6" will be in the air. ]
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60
17...Ne7 18.Bb1 Qb8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19.e5! dxe5 20.fxe5 Nd7
I would forever remember Krum's
instructive comment: "The most
vulnerable square is the one, which
is protected by the king. On the next
move, it will be covered or defended,
so it is the moment for"
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
21.Bxh7+! Kxh7 22.Ne4! Kg8 23.Ng5
g6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
24.Ng4 The pieces are approaching
Black's king one after another. White
could also insist on the transfer of his
queen to the h-file by
[ 24.Qf2 Bg7 ( perhaps White wanted
to prevent any opportunity for 24...Bh6
, but after 25.Qh4 Bxg5 26.Qxg5
Nf5 27.Nxf5 exf5 28.Qh6
there is no satisfactory way to meet
the coming 29.e6 ) 25.Qh4 Nf8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
61
26.Ng4 Rd2 ( quick mate is in sight
after 26...Nf5 27.Rxf5 exf5 28.Nf6+
Bxf6 29.exf6 ) 27.Nf6+ Bxf6 28.exf6
Bc6 29.fxe7 Bxg2+ 30.Kg1 Qa7+
31.Rf2 Qxf2+ 32.Qxf2 Rxf2
33.Kxf2 , winning a piece. ]
24...Nf5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
25.Rxf5! exf5 26.Qf2!
[ Engines are highly optimistic about
26.e6!? Qf4 27.exd7 Qxg4 28.Qe5
Qh4 ( 28...Qh5 29.dxc8Q Rxc8
30.Qf6 Rc6 31.Qd8 Rd6 32.Qxd6!
Bxd6 33.Rxe8+ Bf8 34.Nf3 f4
35.Ba3 Qa5 36.Bxf8 Qxa2 37.Bb4+
Kh7 38.Ng5+ Kh6 39.Nxf7+ Kg7
40.Ng5 ) 29.Nf3 Qh6 30.Qxe8!]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
26...Be7
[ 26...Bg7 27.Qh4 and White is
crushing through in case of 27... fxg4
28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.e6 Ne5 30.e7+
Kxe7 31.Qxg7 Rc5 32.Bxe5 Rxe5
33.Rxe5+ Kd7 34.Nxf7 Bxf7
35.Qxf7+ Kc6 36.Qxg6+ Rd6
37.Qxg4 ]
27.Nf6+ Nxf6
[ More resistance could offer 27...Bxf6
28.exf6 Qd6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
29.Qh4 Nxf6 30.Ne4! fxe4 31.Bxf6
Qxf6 32.Qxf6 , even though White's
material (the pawn on "e4" is also in
danger) and positional (the weakness
of the dark squares around the king
stays on, a march of the h-pawn will
further reveal it) advantage is
www.modern-chess.com
62
indisputable. Here are some sample
lines: 32... Bd7 ( 32...e3 33.h4 Rd3
34.Qg5 Bc6 35.Rxe3 Rxe3 36.Qxe3
Re8 37.Qd3; 32...Rd2 33.h4 Rcd8
34.h5 R2d6 35.Qe7 Bc6 36.hxg6
fxg6 37.Rf1; 32...Bc6 33.h4 Rd7
34.h5 gxh5 35.Qg5+ Kf8 36.b4;
32...Rd7 33.h4 Rc6 34.Qf4 Re6
35.Rxe4; 32...b5 33.h4 Bd7 34.h5
gxh5 35.Rxe4 Re8 36.Rf4 Be6
37.Qg5+ Kf8 38.cxb5 ) 33.Rd1 e3
34.Qe7 e2 35.Qxe2 Re8 36.Qd2
Bc6 37.Kg1 /+- ]
28.exf6 Bxf6 29.Qh4 Rd1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black had probably put his hopes on
this witty deflecting idea, but, to his
sorrow, tactical measures were not
working for him anymore 30.Qh7+ Kf8
31.Ba3+ How nice - the fianchettoed
bishop joins the attack with the decisive
effect! Rd6 32.Bxd6+ Qxd6
A pretty small combination follows.
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
33.Rxe8+! Kxe8 34.Qxf7+ Kd8
35.Ne6+ Qxe6 36.Qxe6 Rc6 37.Qg8+
Kc7 38.Qxg6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The smoke has cleared and White is
completely winning. In an individual
event the game could have finished right
now. Rd6 39.g3 Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Rd2+
41.Kh3 Be7 42.a4 Rf2 43.Qf7 Kd7
44.Qd5+ Kc7 45.c5 Bd8 46.b4 Kc8
47.b5 axb5 48.axb5 Bc7
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63
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
49.Qe6+ Kd8 50.c6 bxc6 51.bxc6
Rd2 52.Qg8+ Ke7 53.Qg5+
And Black finally resigned. My feeling
was that I had just seen something
extraordinary, it left me unable to say a
single word. Even today it is extremely
difficult for me to find the right
description for all this beauty, maybe a
chess symphony would be appropriate.
It remains my favorite game ever played
by a Bulgarian and by far not only
because Krum is a fellow-citizen of mine.
The value of this win can be hardly
defined as well - it secured him a GM-
norm with a round to spare and this
important team victory in the
penultimate round vs. our Romanian
neighbors allowed Bulgaria to finish on
the prestigious 6th place!
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine 64

Let us now enjoy a relatively recent 19.Ng4 ( 19.f5 d5 ) 19...Nxg4

example, in which White went for a similar 20.Qxg4 exf4 21.Bxf4 Bd6 22.Nc4
intuitive sacrifice and his attack prevailed,
Bxf4 23.Qxf4 Ba6 ( 23...Qxf4
even though his opponent's rating was 24.Rxf4 Rab8 ) 24.Kh1 Qxf4 25.Rxf4
almost 300 points higher. Bxc4 26.Bxc4 Ne5 ]
19.e5 Nd7? Objectively speaking, this
Qashashvili,A 2378 retreat should be considered as a
Oleksienko,M 2640 misstake, albeit far from evident.
15th ch-EUR Indiv 2014 (9.34)12.03.2014 [ ?Black had to be consistent with
19...d4 20.exf6 Bxf6 , when
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 a b c d e f g h
5.Nc3 b5 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Qc7 8.0-0
8 8
Bb7 9.Qe2 b4 10.Nd1 Nf6
11.f4 a5 12.Nf2 Nc6 13.Be3 a4 7 7
14.Nd2 Be7 15.Rac1 0-0 16.c3 bxc3
6 6
17.Rxc3 Qb8 18.a3
5 5

a b c d e f g h 4 4
8 8
3 3
7 7
2 2
6 6
1 1
5 5 a b c d e f g h

4 4
21.Bxh7+! Kxh7 22.Qh5+ Kg8
3 3 23.Nde4! Be7 24.Ng4! brings us to
the critical position:
2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1
8 8
a b c d e f g h
7 7

d5
[ Black has achieved a satisfactory
position by Sicilian standards. His
opening strategy has apparently been
aimed at this push, but the course of
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3

the game revealed the proper moment 2 2

for it had not come yet. Instead, here
he could take control over the central 1 1

e5-square by 18....d6 or 18...e5 a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 65

relatively best is Nf3+ 29.Rcxf3 Bxf3 30.Rxf3

A) a natural move like 24...Ra5 Qe5 31.Bd2 Rb8 32.Qh6 Rxb2
allows incredible brilliancies in the 33.Bxa5;
view of 25.Nef6+! ( an amazing B) 24...Qd8!
echo-line is the inhuman 25.f5! B1) the sharp battle can end in
Rxf5 26.Rxf5 exf5 an amazing repetiton after
25.Rf3 Ra5 26.Nh6+ gxh6
a b c d e f g h
27.Rg3+ Kh7 28.f5 dxe3
8 8

7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6
8 8
5 5
7 7
4 4
6 6
3 3
5 5
2 2
4 4
1 1
3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2
27.Ngf6+!! Bxf6 28.Bg5!!+- )
25...Bxf6 26.Nxf6+ gxf6 27.f5! 1 1

( 27.Qg4+? forces Black to find a b c d e f g h

27... Rg5 28.fxg5 f5! 29.Qh5
dxe3 30.g6 Kg7 and White's 29.Rh3! ( Black may try for more
maximum is a perpetual - 31.Qh7+ in case of 29.Rg6 Qd1+!
Kf6 32.Qh4+ Kg7= ) 27...Ne5 30.Qxd1 fxg6 31.fxg6+ Kxg6
28.Bg5!!+- 32.Rxe3 Raf5 ) 29...Kg8!
a b c d e f g h 30.Rg3+ Kh7 31.Rh3! Kg8!=;
8 8
B2) 25.f5 exf5 26.Ng5 Bxg5
27.Bxg5 dxc3 28.Bxd8 Raxd8
7 7 29.Qxf5 Bc8!,
6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
eliminating the most dangerous
enemy piece - Black has little to
worry about after 30.Nf6+ gxf6
31.Qxf6 cxb2 32.Qxc6 Bf5;
B3) most critical is 25.Rd3!
Ra5! , connected with another
queen sacrifice after 26.f5!
( 26.Nh6+ gxh6 27.Qxh6 dxe3
28.Rf3 e2 29.Kf2 Qb6+ 30.Rde3
Ne5 31.Rg3+ Ng6 32.Rxg6+ fxg6
33.Qxg6+ Kh8 34.Qh6+ Kg8= )
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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66
26...dxe3! 27.Rxd8 Rxd8
28.Nxe3 Nd4 29.Ng5 Bxg5
30.Qxg5 f6 31.Qg6 exf5
32.Rd1 with decent chances to
hold after 32... Be4
(while 32...Re5 33.Nxf5 Rxf5
34.Rxd4
Rxd4 35.Qxf5 Rd1+ 36.Kf2
Rd2+ 37.Ke1 Rxb2 38.g4
Rxh2 39.Qb5 is a striking
reminder of the missed practical
chance by Ionescu even at the
sight of the same pieces on the
board. )]
The text has been punished in the spirit
of the aforementioned Georgiev -
Ionescu.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Bxh7+! Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Ng4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
An appropriate moment to compare both
games. The typical bishop sacrifice has
occurred, but White has still to add more
fuel to his attack. Here the forces of
both sides are much better placed,
Black must watch for a deadly check on
"f6" (to any move of his own knight from
''d7''), while White has already brought
his queen on the h-file and his rooks
are ready for a lift to ''h3''. He has the
better chances, but, as can be seen from
the lines below, his task is not a routine
one. 22.... Re8
[ 22...Bd8 23.Bf2 Re8 24.Rh3 Kf8
25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Bh4+ Nf6
27.Qxg7+- ]
[ 22...g6 23.Qh6 Re8 24.Nf3!
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67
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
(this familiar knight maneuver will
reveal the increased weakness of the
dark squares as a consequence of
the obliging 22....g6) d4 25.Ng5 Bxg5
26.fxg5 Re7 27.Bxd4 Qf8 28.Bc5!
Qxh6 29.Nxh6+ Kf8 30.Rxf7+ Ke8
31.Bxe7 Nxe7 32.Rh7 Nf8 33.Rxe7+
Kxe7 34.Rc7+ Nd7 35.Rxb7 Ra5
36.Ng4+- ]
[ 22...f6!? 23.Bd4! Qe8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 68

24.Nh6+ Kh8 25.Nf7+! Kg8 26.Rh3 Rxc5 35.Rxf6;

f5 27.Be3! B) 27...d4
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

A curious position - the brave piece

on ''f7'' is immune and White is ready
for a decisive reinforcement by a
transfer of his second rook or knight
via ''f3'', as shown by:
A) 27...Ba6 28.Rff3 Nf6 ( 28...Be2
29.Qg6 Bh4 30.Rxh4 Rxf7
31.Rfh3+- ) 29.exf6 Bxf6 30.Bc5
Ne7 31.Rfg3 Be2 32.Nf3 Bxf3
33.gxf3 Rc8 34.Rg6!+-
28.Rff3 Ncxe5 29.Rfg3 Ng4
30.Qg6 Bh4 31.Rxh4 Rxf7
32.Rgh3 Kf8 33.Rh8+ Ke7
34.Rxe8+ Rxe8 35.Bxd4+-;
C) 27...Bc5 28.Bxc5 Nxc5 29.Nf3
Ne4
a b c d e f g h
8 8

a b c d e f g h 7 7

8 8 6 6

7 7 5 5

6 6 4 4

5 5 3 3

4 4 2 2

3 3 1 1

2 2 a b c d e f g h

1 1

a b c d e f g h 30.N3g5 Nxg5 31.fxg5 Nxe5

32.g6 Nxg6 33.Nd6+- ]

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 Modern Chess Magazine 69

[ 22...Rc8 23.Rf3 g6 24.Qh6 Bf8 a b c d e f g h

25.Qh4
8 8
a b c d e f g h
7 7
8 8
6 6
7 7
5 5
6 6
4 4
5 5
3 3
4 4
2 2
3 3
1 1
2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1

a b c d e f g h
23.Nh6+ gxh6 24.Qxh6 f5
25.Bd4!+- Bh4 ( 25...Bg5 26.Rg3 )
f5 26.exf6 Rc7 27.Rh3 Kf7 28.Nf3 26.Rff3! ]
Ke8 29.f7+ Kxf7 30.Qh7+ Ke8 [ 22...f5 23.Nh6+ Kh7 24.Nxf5+ Kg8
31.Ng5 with an irresistable attack ] 25.Nh6+ Kh7 26.f5+- ]
[ 22...Qd8 23.Rf3 d4 24.Rh3 Bh4 [ 22...Rd8 23.f5! Ncxe5 ( 23...exf5
25.Nf6+ Nxf6 26.Qxh4 Nh5 27.Qxh5 a b c d e f g h
f6
8 8
a b c d e f g h
7 7
8 8
6 6
7 7
5 5
6 6
4 4
5 5
3 3
4 4
2 2
3 3
1 1
2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1

a b c d e f g h
24.e6! fxe6 25.Nh6+! ) 24.fxe6 Bf6
( 24...fxe6 25.Nh6+! gxh6
28.f5! Qd5 29.Rc5! ] 26.Bxh6+- ) 25.Bc5!,
[ 22...Qe8

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 Modern Chess Magazine 70

a b c d e f g h 27.Nf1? An unexpected slip.

8 8 a b c d e f g h

7 7 8 8

6 6 7 7

5 5 6 6

4 4 5 5

3 3 4 4

2 2 3 3

1 1 2 2

a b c d e f g h 1 1

a b c d e f g h

preparing a decisive rook lift along [ Correct was 27.Rf1 Bc5+ 28.Kh1
the 3rd rank ] Qxf1+ 29.Nxf1 and Black is helpless
In the game White assured it in the same against the mortal checks along the g-
vigorous manner. 23.f5! exf5 file -
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 8
8 8
7 7
7 7
6 6
6 6
5 5
5 5
4 4
4 4
3 3
3 3
2 2
2 2
1 1
1 1
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h

24.Nh6+! gxh6 25.Bxh6 Qxe5 Nf8 30.Rg3+ Ng6 31.Rxg6+ fxg6

26.Rxf5 Qe1+ 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 33.Qg7# ]
27...Nce5 28.Bd2 Qxf1+?
[ Returning the favour. It is difficult to
say why Black deviated from 28...Qh4

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
29.Rg3+ Qxg3 30.Nxg3 , when he
would have had a choice between
several reliable options, with 30... Ra6
being the safest of them. ]
29.Rxf1 Ng6
[ 29...Ra6 30.Kh1 Ng6 31.Rg3 Rf6
( 31...Rc8 32.Bc3+- ) 32.Rxf6 Bxf6
33.Rxg6+ fxg6 34.Qxg6+ Kf8
35.Bb4+ Re7 36.Qg4 Ke8 37.Bxe7
Bxe7 38.Qxa4 and White must
convert his material advantage. ]
[ the insertion of 29...Bc5+ 30.Kh1
is not very helpful, e.g. Re6
( 30...Ra6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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71
31.Bg5! Bf8 32.Rh3 Bg7 33.Qh7+
Kf8 34.Bd2! Bb4+- ) 31.Rxf7 Nxf7
32.Qg4+ Ng5 33.Qxg5+ Kf7 34.Rf3+
Rf6 35.Qh5+ Ke6 36.Qg4+ Kd6
37.Rxf6+ Nxf6 38.Bf4+ Kc6
39.Qe6+ Kb5 40.Qxf6+- ]
30.Rcf3 Bc5+ 31.Kh1 Re5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
32.Qh3!?
[ 32.Bg5! Rf8 33.Rh3 Nf6 34.Qh6
Rxg5 35.Rxf6 ]
32...Bc8 33.Qg3+- Ndf8
[ even 33...Re7 does not stop
34.Rxf7 ]
34.Rxf7 Re6 35.Bc3 Ra7
[ so is with 35...d4 36.Bxd4 ]
36.Rxa7 Bxa7 37.Qc7 d4 38.Bd4
Black resigned, a tremendous
creative achievement by the Georgian
player!Time in chess is of big
importance, very often a tactical
opportunity is gone on the next move.
All of us have been taught that the
player, who has the advantage, is
obliged to attack. The biggest masters
of chess combinations had a special
 Modern Chess Magazine
feeling when to invest material as well as
of how to exploit the targets. In their
classification, the squares/pieces, which
are protected only by the king, must be
on the top places and serve as a hint. It
is therefore recommended to have in
mind the possible checks/sacrifices on
these weakest points. Are you still
wondering why? If so, then go back to
the beginning and the square, on which
the game can be decided by Kindermatt!
1-0
Test 1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
21.Nf3! Ne4
[ 21...Ne7 is strongly met by 22.Ne5!
Bxe5 23.fxe5+- ]
22.Ng5! Nxg5 23.fxg5 and the opened
f-file will once again cost Black at least a
piece.
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72
Test 2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
With a rook and 2 pawns for 2 knights,
we have a material balance. Black king,
however, is in danger. How can White
build his attack? 25.Rxe4! Of course!
We should remove the defense. dxe4
26.Qh7+ Kf7 27.Rh6! Very nice quite
move. The threat is mate in one. Nd5
28.Qg6+ Kg8 It seems that White has
run out of attacking resources. Do you
agree? 29.f5!! Fantastic idea. White
opens up the position and brings his
bishop into the attack. After this move,
the lines are pretty forced. e3 30.Qh7+
[ or 30.Ba3 e2 31.Qh7+ Kf7 32.Kf2
Qxa3 33.Qg6+ Ke7 34.Qxe6+ Kd8
35.Qxd5+ Kc7 36.Qc6+ Kb8
37.Qxe8+ Bc8 38.Rc6 e1Q+
39.Kxe1 Qb4+ 40.c3!+- ]
30...Kf7 31.fxe6+ Rxe6 32.Qf5+ Rf6
33.exf6 gxh6 34.Qxd5+ Kg6 35.h4!
[ 35.Qe4+ Kf7 36.Qxe3+- ]
35...Be2 36.Qe6! Black is helpless.
 Modern Chess Magazine 73

Test 3 A typical bishop sacrifice has forced a

a b c d e f g h strong GM to "activate" his king. Try to
mate him! 22.Qh4+ Kg6 23.Qh7+!
8 8
Kxg5 24.Qxg7+ Kh5 25.g4+! Bxg4
7 7 26.Qh7+ Kg5 27.h4+! Kf4 28.Qh6+
With a mate in two moves.
6 6

5 5

4 4
Test 5
a b c d e f g h
3 3
8 8
2 2
7 7
1 1
6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
Black is two pieces up but his king is in
danger. What is White's most precise 4 4
way to continue the attack? 19.hxg5
3 3
dxe4 20.Qh5+ Kf5 21.Rg3! The idea is
22.g6 with a mate to follow. Rh8 2 2
22.Qxh8 Nxe5 23.Qh7+! An important
1 1
intermediate move after which the game
is over. Kf4 24.dxe5 Kxe5 25.Rd1+- a b c d e f g h

White is winning. This position arose in the game So, W

Moradiabadi, E, played in 2014. Can you
Test 4 discover how Wesley started a
dangerous attack?
a b c d e f g h
16.g4! fxg4 17.Ng5!! Beautiful knight
sacrifice. White needs open files and
8 8
diagonals. Next few moves are rather
7 7 obvious.
hxg5 18.Bh7+ Kh8 19.Rxg4 gxh4
6 6
Crown the game like Wesley So! 20.Nf3
5 5 g5 21.Nxg5!! (a second knight sacrifice
4 4
on the same square!) 21..... Bxg5 22.f4
Nf6
3 3 [ 22...Bf6 23.Qg6! Qe7 24.Rhxh4
2 2
Bxh4 25.Bg8! would have been a
spectacular finish either! ]
1 1 23.Rxg5 Nxh7 24.Qxh7+ With a mate
a b c d e f g h to follow.
www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 74

Brilliant Missed a b c d e f g h

8 8
Opportunities - Missed 7 7
Mating Ideas 6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

Black's last move 25...Rg5 persuaded

Tactics, calculative skills and out of
the box thinking may be trained in
various ways. We will try to do it by a
series of training sets of exercises
displaying creative continuations
which were simply missed over the
board in real time and found in the
post-mortem. Here is a simple
example of a game between two
world-class players played in the
famous Melody Amber tournament.
Leko,Peter
Svidler,Peter
Amber-blindfold 14th rapid
white to play instinctively a defensive
move: 26.Rf2??
[ With both rivals totally overlooking
the mate in three: 26.Rg6+ hxg6
( 26...Kh8 27.Qf6# ) 27.Qxf7+ Kh8
28.Qh7# ]
After 26...e3 27.dxe3 Qxe3 28.Kh1
Qxa7 29.Bxh3 Rxb5 White's position
was hopeless and indeed he eventually
lost. It must be said that the players had
a good excuse for this incredible
oversight: It was a blindfold game. The
next 10 exercises were played in the
normal classical event and still in all of
them the winning moves were missed.
By the players but hopefully not by you.
Their order is according to their difficulty
degree from the easiest to the toughest
2749 nut to crack. Let's improve on the
2735 grandmasters!
2005 0-1

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 75

Alburt,Lev Cheparinov,I 2659

Giorgadze,Tamaz Georgiev,Ki 2658
URS Games Soviet Union 1971 34th Tringov Memorial 2012
a b c d e f g h

8 8 a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6 7 7

5 5 6 6

4 4 5 5

3 3 4 4

2 2 3 3

1 1 2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1
Being three pawns down, Black was happy
a b c d e f g h
with perpetual check following 51...Nf6+ draw
agreed in view of 52.Kg3 Ne4+ 53.Kg4 Nf6+
etc. Was black right to grab the draw? White was already celebrating and
1/2 hastily played 88.e7+? Kg7!
Now the black King escapes! 89.e8Q
Stoltz,Goestav b1Q 90.Qf7+ Kh6 91.Qh7+
Pilnik,Herman [ White loses his last pawn after
Saltsjobaden Interzonal 1952 91.g7 Qb6+ ]
a b c d e f g h
91...Kg5 92.Qh5+ Diagram # Kf6!
and the game duly ended in a draw 10
8 8
moves later. What went wrong?
7 7 1/2
6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
a b c d e f g h

41.Kg3 Black settled for a peaceful result

perpetual check by perpetual check. Was
that the right decision?
1/2
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 Modern Chess Magazine 76

Sultan Khan,Mir exposed white king to force a draw if he

Bogoljubow,Efim likes. He indeed went for a draw by
Olympiad Prague 1931 repetition: 41...Nd4 42.Rf8 Ne2 43.Rf3
a b c d e f g h Nd4 44.Rf8 Draw agreed. Was there
8 8
indeed not more than this "vegetarian"
positional draw?
7 7 1/2
6 6

5 5
Jakovljevic
4 4 Ivkov
3 3
Mayo 2000

2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1
8 8
a b c d e f g h

Black played here 58...Bc4 to restrain the 7 7

passed pawn and the game ended in a draw 6 6

considering the material equality. Should
black consider another factor for a better 5 5
outcome?
4 4
1/2
3 3
Miezis,Normunds 2519 2 2
Bischoff,Klaus 2553
Bundesliga 1011 2011 1 1

a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h

8 8 Black rushed to activate his deadly

7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black is an exchange down but enjoys
sufficient counterplay against the
www.modern-chess.com
bishop battery by 1...Qxf4!? 2.Bxf4
e3+ but apparently missed the counter
sacrifice 3.Bf3!!
[ Not 3.Kh2 Rg2+ 4.Kh1 Rxe2+
5.Kg1 Rg2+ 6.Kh1 Rc2+ 7.Kg1
Rxc1+ 8.Kh2 Rc2+ 9.Kg1 Rg2+
10.Kh1 e2-+ ]
3...Bxf3+ 4.Kh2 Rg2+ 5.Kh1 Rg3+=
and draw was agreed as black realized
he had nothing better than repeated
checks. Was there anything better in
the initial promising position?
1/2
 Modern Chess Magazine 77

Kortschnoj,Viktor 2544 Naiditsch,Arkadij 2689

Vallejo Pons,Francisco 2698 Svidler,Peter 2754
Gibraltar Masters 9th 2011 World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk 2009
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 8
8 8
7 7
7 7
6 6
6 6
5 5
5 5
4 4
4 4
3 3
3 3
2 2
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h 1 1

White to play and win. a b c d e f g h

White panics and rushes to decide the

Earlier in the game white sacrificed a piece battle on the kingside by 37.g6+ Ke8
to obtain attacking chances against the
38.Rh7 Qf6 39.Qg1 c5 40.a3 Bf5
enemy king. To maintain his advantage he
chose for the positional approach: The 41.Rh6 Rg8 42.g7 Qxh6
game continued : White's efforts have ended up in nothing.
29.Rda1? Kf8 when White's attack reached Can you propose a more subtle and
a dead end after 30.Bd5 e2 31.Qf2 Bd4 effective option for white?
32.Qxe2 Nxd5 33.Ra8+ Kg7 34.Qf3 Kh6 0-1
35.R1a7 Qf4
a b c d e f g h
McShane,Luke J 2649
Nakamura,Hikaru 2565
8 8
Pamplona 2003
7 7 a b c d e f g h

6 6 8 8

5 5 7 7

4 4 6 6

3 3 5 5

2 2 4 4

1 1 3 3
a b c d e f g h 2 2
What did white miss? 1 1
0-1
a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine
All White pieces are directed against the
enemy king, however, all squares
around the king seem well protected.
The game continued: 37.g3 h2+
38.Kh1 Qh3 39.Bh4 Nf4!= 40.Qh8+
Kf7 41.Qf6+
[ 41.Rxf4+ exf4 42.Qh7+ Ke8
( 42...Ke6 43.Nxf4++- ) 43.Qg8+ Kd7
44.Qf7+ ( 44.Qd8+?? Kc6-+ )
44...Kc6 45.Qxa7 Qf1+ 46.Kxh2
Qf2+= ]
41...Kg8 42.Qh8+ when black had to
settle for just a draw. What did he miss
in the diagrammed position?
1/2
Ni Hua
Le Quang,Liem
Asian Continental
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
A stormy opposite wing attacks led to the
diagrammed highly charged position.
Black tried to hinder the opponent's
mating threat by 29...h5 but was forced
to throw in the towel following 30.Qxh5
Ba3+ 31.Kxb3 Could he do better than
that?
1-0
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78
Solution 1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
2673 What is common between all exercises is
2703 that in all of them a mating possibility was
2012 missed. Furthermore, all winning
variations were missed by famous
grandmasters which might be a kind of
comfort for us all. The quite alternative
threatening 52...Nf6# decides at once.
51...Qh2!
1/2
Solution 2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 79

If he was aware that time control was Solution 4

over he should have taken a break,
prepare a cup of coffee and spot the
forced win: 41...Rh3+ 42.Kf4 Rf3+!! a b c d e f g h
43.Qxf3 Qe5# 8 8

Solution 3 7 7

6 6

5 5
a b c d e f g h
4 4
8 8
3 3
7 7
2 2
6 6
1 1
5 5
a b c d e f g h
4 4

3 3
The knight controlling the white squares
2 2 is overloaded. Thus a deflection is
1 1 called for : 58...Re4+!! 59.Nxe4 Bd7+
60.Kh4 Rh2+ mating next.
a b c d e f g h

The wrong move-order. White should Solution 5

first have gained control over g7,
preventing the K from escaping the a b c d e f g h
mating net. Hence 88.Nf5!
8 8
[ Or 88.Nh5! with the same idea. ]
88...h1Q 89.e7+ Ke8 7 7
[ 89...Kg8 90.e8Q# ]
6 6
90.Ng7# Also possible is
5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 80

Black missed the surprising 41...Bxh3!! a b c d e f g h

42.Rxh3 8 8
[ 42.Kxh3 Qh5# ]
[ 42.Bh1 Bf1! ] 7 7

[ 42.Bxh3 Qg1# ] 6 6
42...Qf4+ 43.Kh1 Qc1+ 44.Bf1 Qxf1+
5 5
45.Kh2 Qg1#
4 4

Solution 6 3 3

a b c d e f g h 2 2
8 8
1 1
7 7 a b c d e f g h

6 6
White to play and win.
5 5
Winning was right away 29.Ra7!! Qxa7
4 4
30.Qxe5+ Kf8
3 3 [ 30...Re6 31.Bxe6! ]
31.Rd8+ Kg7 32.Rg8+! The knight is
2 2
pinned Kh6 33.Qf4+ Kh5 34.Be2+
1 1 Ng4 35.hxg4+ Kh4 36.g5#
a b c d e f g h

Correct was: 1...Qg7!! 2.Rg1 Qxg1+! Solution 8

3.Bxg1 e3+ 4.Kh2 Rg2+ 5.Kh1 Rxe2#
Solution 7
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 81

37.Rh4! This quite retreat was not easy Solution 10

to find. Qc5 38.Rf4+!! Nxf4
[ 38...Kg8 39.g6+- ] a b c d e f g h
[ 38...Ke8 39.Qh5++- ] 8 8
39.Qh7+ Ke8 40.Qxe7#
7 7

Solution 9 6 6

a b c d e f g h 5 5

8 8 4 4

7 7 3 3

6 6 2 2

5 5 1 1

4 4 a b c d e f g h

3 3
A counterattack is the best defense.
2 2 Black missed a great combination:
29...Ba3+ 30.Kxb3
1 1
[ 30.Kc3 Rxc4+ ]
a b c d e f g h
30...a1N+!! To deflect the rook first !
White's all pieces are active. It is time to [ as the premature 30...Qxb6+
crown the attack. 37.Bh6!! Since all is met by 31.Bxb6 Nd4+ 32.Rxd4! ]
31.Rxa1
other white pieces are already ideally
placed a bishop sacrifice makes the [ 31.Kc3 loses to Rxc4+! ]
difference: The threat is 38.Qh8# Qxh6 31...Qxb6+!! 32.Bxb6 Nd4+ 33.Kc3
[ 37...Ng7 allows 38.Qd8+ Kh7 [ 33.Bxd4 fails to Rcb8+ 34.Kc3
39.Nf8+ Kh8 40.Nd7+ Kh7 Bb4+ 35.Kb2 Bd2+ ]
41.Nf6++- ] 33...Rxc4+!! 34.Kxc4
38.Ne7+ Kh7 [ 34.Kd2 Nxf3+ ]
[ 38...Rxe7 39.Qxh6+- ] 34...Rc8+ 35.Bc5 Rxc5#
39.Qf7+ Qg7
[ Or 39...Ng7 40.Qg8# ]
40.Qf5+ Kh8
[ 40...Kh6 41.Qxh3+ Kg5 42.Rf5# ]
41.Qh5+ Qh7 42.Qe8+ Kg7 43.Rf7+
The shorter route to mate while
[ 43.Qf7+ Kh8 44.Ng6+ Qxg6
45.Qxg6 wins too. ]
43...Kh6 44.Rxh7+ Kxh7 45.Qg6+
Kh8 46.Qg8#
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