Friday, December 22, 2017

Akiba Rubinstein X Oldrich Duras - Vienna 1908

This game ilustrates two things:
(a) Rubinstein´s brilliant combination, early in the game, envolving a Queen sacrifice, to win a Pawn. (b) His skillful play thereafter to exploit his advantage. The subsequent strategy of winning with
an extra Pawn may be summed up as follows: 
(1) Rubinstein simplifies the position by exchanging as many pieces as possible.
(2) He returns the extra Pawn on one wing to create a passed Pawn on the other.
(3) He rushes the passed Pawn to the Queening square.


A game that I liked (ChessBase 14)
Rubinstein, AkibaDuras, Oldrich1–0D04Vienna10Vienna1908
1.d4 d5 2.f3 c5 3.e3 f6 4.dxc5 a5+ 5.bd2 xc5 6.a3 LiveBook: 3 Games c7 7.c4 dxc4?! This move not only surrenders the center, but help White develop his pieces. Better was 7... e6. 8.xc4 White has an edge. g4 "Knights before Bishops!", advised Lasker, way back in 1895. So, 8... Nc6 was better. 9.b4 c6 10.b2 b5 An attempt to force the Knight to retreat, but Rubinstein has other plans for the piece. Its next move initiates a spectacular combination. 10...a6 11.ce5! White is in control. xe5 12.xe5! Resist 12.xe5?! b7± 12...xd1 13.xb5+ d7 Not 13...d8? 14.xd1+ d6 15.xf7+ c8 16.xd6+- 14.xd7+
xd7! 15.xd7 h5 16.e5 c8 17.g4 g6 18.xg6 The two Bishops might enable Black to put up a good deal of resistence, so Rubinstein decides to remove one of them. hxg6 19.d4 a6 20.d2 The King moves toward the center, to take an active part in the endgame. f6 Preparing 21... e5 21.ac1! White establishes control of the open file. xc1 22.xc1! Endgame The Rook must atack in the endgame, not stay inert at h1 protecting a Pawn. . KRB-KRB e5 23.c5 xh2 24.xf8 xf8 KR-KR 25.e2 e4 26.c6 g2 27.xa6 xg4 Material is even, but Rubinstein has a great positional advantage with his two connected passed Pawns. 28.a7 Almost instinctively the Rook hastens to seize control of the seventh rank. . And now b5 would win. g1 29.b5! b1 30.a4 g5? 30...b2+± is a better defense. 31.d1 g8 31.b7+- Strongly threatening a5. a1
32.b6! Rubintein doesn´t waste time saving both Pawns. . White is clearly winning. xa4 33.a7 b4 34.b7 With the threat of winning by 35.Ra8+ followed by Queening the Pawn. g4 34...b2+ 35.e1 g6 36.a8+ e7 35.a8+ f7 36.b8 xb8 37.xb8 e6 38.e8+ f5 39.f1 Precision: White = 80%, Black = 20%.
1–0

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Isaak Boleslavsky X Georgy Lisitsin - Leningrad 1956

A good grip on the center almost always guarantees the succes of the King-side attack. Boleslavsky´s plan was to anchor his Knight on d5 square so firmly that it can never be driven away. Once his Knight reaches the magic square d5, combinations appear out of the air as a reward, allowing the King-side attack.


A game that I liked (Fritz 16)
Boleslavsky, IsaakLisitsin, Georgy1–0B76URS-ch23Leningrad1956
Knight´s Outpost at d5 A good grip on the center almost always guarantees the succes of the King-side attack. Boleslavsky´s plan was to anchor his Knight on d5 square so firmly that it can never be driven away. Once his Knight reaches the magic square d5, combinations appear out of the air as a reward, allowing the King-side attack. 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.e3 g7 7.f3 This move does many things: (a) it stregthens the center; (b) it prevents an attack on e3 Bishop (and its exchange) by 7... Ng4; (c) it prepares for a later Pawn storm by g4 and h4. 0-0 8.d2 c6 9.0-0-0 xd4 10.xd4 a5 11.b1 Threatens 12.Nd5 e5 12.e3 e6 13.a3 LiveBook: 3 Games fd8 Prepares for an eventual d5, which would free his game. 14.b5 This powerful move interferes with Black´s plan. . White is slightly better. a4
At this point Boleslavsky had two objectis in mind: (1) prevent Black from freeing himself by ...d5; (2) Establish his Knight firmly at the outpost station d5, but to bring this about it is necessary to rid the board of the two black pieces that guard the square d5: the e6 Bishop and the f6 Knight. 14...xd2 15.xd2 d5 15.c4! A brilliant sacrifice that must be accepted. Refusing the Pawn means that Black could never free himself by ... d5. It would also enable White to play 16.Nc3 (attacking the Queen) and thus gain time for 17.Nd5, establishing a strongly-supported outpost. Stronger than 15.xd6 a6 Better is 15.c7!+- And now Bb5 would win. c6 16.xa8 15...xc4= 16.c3 b3 17.xc4 xc4 One black piece has been disposed of. Now to get rid of the other. 18.g5 White pins the Knight to keep it from running away. e6 19.xf6 xf6 20.d5 Now we shall see whether Boleslavsky´s imaginative strategy is justified. The Knight now dominates the board and cannot be driven off, but was that worth a Pawn? h4! Black tries to prevent the advance of the adverse King-side Pawns. He intends to meet 21.g3 with 21... Qh6, while the reply to 21.h3 would be 21... Bh6, followed by 22... Bf4. 21.e2 f8 22.f1! A subtle preperatory move. ac8 23.g3 The Pawns begin their advance to break up Black´s King-side. g5 24.h4 White has strong initiative. h6 25.g4 Now White intends 26.g5. aiming for g5. g5 25...g7± keeps fighting. 26.hxg5+- xg5 27.h5 g6 28.g5! The threat is 29.Nf6+ followed by 30.Rxh7+ h6?
28...h8 is more resistant. 29.f6 c7 29.xh6! xg5
29...xh6 30.e7+ 30.h5! Precision: White = 54%, Black = 22%.
1–0

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Jose Raul Capablanca X SavielyTartakower - New York 1924


In this game Capablanca provides us with a magic formula for conducting Rook and Pawn endings: seize the seventh rank with your Rook, and advance your King to the sixth. Once there, his King and Rook keep the adverse King busy warding off threats of mate, and leave him no time to defend his Pawns.


A game that I liked (ChessBase 14)
Capablanca, Jose RaulTartakower, Saviely1–0A85New York6New York1924
1.d4 e6 2.f3 f5 3.c4 f6 4.g5 e7 5.c3 0-0 6.e3 b6 7.d3 b7 8.0-0 LiveBook: 5 Games e8 Customary strategy in the Dutch Defence: Black intends to attack on the King side by 9... Qh5 and 10... Ng4. 9.e2! e4 Tartakover changed his mind 10.xe7 xc3 The position is equal. 11.bxc3 xe7 Now Black could play an unwelcome intrusion move 12... Qa3, but after 12.a4! it is not possible anymore. xf3 13.xf3 c6 14.fb1 ae8 15.h3 After this move Black cannot free himself by 15... e5; 16. Bxf5. White prepares 16.f4, which will assure him the control over e5 square. f6 16.f4! Now the Queen could move back. a5 17.f3 dominating the long diagonal. d6 18.e1 to support a break by 19.e4. d7 19.e4! White opens the position to give his pieces more scope. fxe4 20.xe4 g6 21.g3 White prepares an attack on the King-side by h4 and h5, but with g3 he stabilizes the position. f8 22.g2 f7 23.h4 23.c5 seems wilder. dxc5 24.dxc5 d5 25.cxb6 axb6 26.ad1 23...d5 23...c5 with more complications. 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.ab1 e5 26.fxe5 xe5 27.a8+ g7 24.cxd5 exd5 25.xe8+ xe8 26.xe8+ xe8 Endgame KRB-KRN 27.h5 f6 28.hxg6 hxg6 29.h1 f8 30.h7 c6 31.g4 c4 Black activates his Knight. 32.g5 e3+ 33.f3 f5 34.xf5 gxf5± KR-KR 35.g3! With his Rook at the 7th rank and the g passed Pawn, Capablanca decides to send his King to the f6 square. He must have planned this many moves before. xc3+ 36.h4! f3?
36...a6± was worth a try. 37.g6!+- xf4+ 38.g5 e4
39.f6! Now the King support his Pawn and thretens with mate. White desdained capturing Black´s Pawn, which now acts as protection against check by Black´s Rook. g8 40.g7+ h8 Threatening ...Re6+! 41.xc7 White threatens Rc8+ and mate. e8 42.xf5 e4? 42...a6 43.b7 b5 44.axb5 axb5 45.xb5 f8+ 46.g5 d8 43.f6 White wants to mate with Rc8+. f4+ 44.e5 g4
45.g7+! White is clearly winning. g8 45...xg7 46.xg7 46.xa7 g1 47.xd5 c1 48.d6 c2 49.d5 c1 50.c7 a1 51.c6 Strongly threatening d6. xa4 52.d6 Precision: White = 61%, Black = 35%.
1–0

Monday, December 11, 2017

Fabiano Caruana has won the London Chess Classic 2107


Fabiano Caruana has won the London Chess Classic after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in a playoff.

Magnus Carlsen win the 2017 Grand Chess Tour!


London Chess Classic 2017 - Round 9


Caruana, Carlsen, Wesley So win their games.
All other games are draws.
Caruana and Nepomiachtch Leads

Games
Caruana, Fabiano2799Adams, Michael27151–0A299th London Chess Classic 20179London11.12.2017ChessBase
1.c4 f6 2.c3 e5 3.f3 c6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 xd5 6.g2 c5 A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation with 4 g3 6...b6 7.0-0 e7 8.a3 0-0 9.b4 e6 10.b1 f6 11.b5 d4 12.e3 xf3+ 13.xf3 b8 14.d4 exd4 15.exd4 e8 16.e1 f7 17.a4 f8 18.xe8 xe8 1/2-1/2 (27) Nepomniachtchi,I (2751)-Karjakin,S (2783) chess.com INT 2017 7.0-0 LiveBook: 10 Games 0-0 8.d3 e8 9.g5 f6N Predecessor: 9...xc3 10.bxc3 e7 11.e4 e6 12.e3 f5 13.c5 xc5 14.xc5 d5 1-0 (47) Von Wantoch Rekowski,D (2242)-Lochte,T (2170) Munich 2007 10.b3 e7 11.d5 xd5 12.xd5 d8 13.c4 d4 14.g2 h6 15.f3 c6 16.e3 xe3 17.fxe3 e4 18.dxe4 a5 19.a3 a6 20.ac1 b6 21.c2 e6 22.c3 b3 23.d2 d8 24.c1 a4 25.c5 d7 26.h3 d8 27.g4 g6 28.h1 g7 29.e5 d5 30.g1 e6 31.f2 e7 32.g1 d5 33.c4 a5 34.c2 d5 35.d4 xd4! 36.exd4 g3 37.f3 xf3 38.exf3 c6 39.h2 xg2+ 40.xg2 d5 41.c4 c5 42.xc5 xd4 43.c3 d8 43...d3 44.xd3 xc5 44.c8 b6 45.e8 g5 46.e7 g8 47.e6! fxe6 48.c2 f8 49.h7 c6
50.xc6 50.h8+! e7 51.h7+ d6 52.d8+ 52.xh6 c2+ 53.g3 d2= 52...c5 53.c2+ c4 54.d3 50...bxc6 51.xh6 f7 52.g3 d2 53.h7+ f6 54.b7 e5 55.h4 gxh4+ 56.xh4 f4 57.f7+ e3
58.g3! d1? 58...xb2± was called for. 59.e7 c5 59.g5 g1+ 60.h4 g2 61.f6 e5 62.g6 xb2 63.g5 g2+ 64.h6 h2+ 65.g7 c5 66.f7 c4 67.g7 h7 68.a6+- 68.f8 xg7 69.xg7 e4 70.fxe4 xe4 71.a6 c3 72.xa4+ d3 73.a7
1–0

Sunday, December 10, 2017

London Chess Classic 2017 - Round 8

Ian Nepomiachtchi beats Magnus Carlsen and now leads the Tournament with Caruana.
All other games are draws. Standings after 9 Rounds Games
Carlsen, Magnus2837Nepomniachtchi, Ian27290–1A049th London Chess Classic 20178London10.12.2017ChessBase
1.f3 c5 2.c3 d5 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 c6 5.c3 f6 6.f4 h5 7.d2 D13: Slav Defence: Exchange variation without ...Bf5 f6 8.e3 e6 9.d3 The position is equal. d6 10.e4 dxe4 11.xe4 e7 12.0-0 0-0 13.c2 h6 14.ad1 d7 15.a3 c8
16.c3N Predecessor: 16.b1 b6 17.b4 xe4 18.xe4 f6 19.e3 c7 1/2-1/2 (49) Safarli,E (2620)-Mammadov,Z (2442) Baku 2012 16...a6 17.c1 e8 18.fe1 f8 19.f4 b5 20.d2 b4 21.axb4 xb4 22.e5 xd3 23.xd3 a5 24.f3 b4
24...e7= 25.e3 25.xh6!± xc3 25...gxh6 26.e4 26.xg7 xg7 27.bxc3 25...xc3 26.bxc3 a4 27.a1 c2! 28.h3 f5 29.g4 h7 29...g6= remains equal. 30.c4 d7 31.c6 31.c5! 31...f6!= Hoping for ...g5. 32.xa5 b6 33.c5 xc5! 34.dxc5 xa1+ 35.h2 xa5 36.c6? White must play 36.cxb6 xb6 37.c3 36...a4-+ Black has a decisive advantage. 37.xa4 xa4 38.c6 If only White now had time for Rb3.... b6 39.c7 f6 ...e5 is the strong threat. 40.b3
c8! Precision: White = 48%, Black = 80%.
0–1












Saturday, December 9, 2017

London Chess Classic 2017 – Round 7.

Magnus carlsen,  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and  Ian Nepomniachtchi win their games.




Standings after round 7
Games
Carlsen, Magnus2837Adams, Michael27151–0A039th London Chess Classic 20177London09.12.2017ChessBase
1.f4 d5 2.f3 f6 3.g3 g6 4.g2 g7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5 7.c3 c6 8.a3 e8 LiveBook: 4 Games A03: Bird's Opening with 1...d5 8...g4 9.c2 d4 10.e4 c8 11.h3 xf3 12.xf3 dxc3 13.bxc3 d4 14.cxd4 xd4+ 15.g2 xa1 16.e3 1-0 (33) Kamsky,G (2676)-Antipov,M (2582) Bastia 2017 9.h4 b6 10.e4 dxe4 11.a4N Predecessor: 11.dxe4 xd1 12.xd1 e5 13.b5 g4 14.d6 ac8 15.fxe5 d7 16.d5 0-1 (59) Van Dooren,D (2335)-Abbasov,F (2519) Cappelle-la-Grande 2008 11...xd3 12.xc6 12.d1!= was the only way to keep the balance. e2 13.d2 e3+ 14.f2 e1+ 15.f1 12...d7 13.c7!
g4 13...ec8! 14.e5 c6 15.xe7 e8 14.e1
d4+ 14...ac8! 15.xa7 d4+ 16.cxd4 xd4+ 17.e3 17.h1 leads to mate. f2+ 18.g1 h3+ 19.h1 g1+ 20.xg1 f2# 17...xe3 15.cxd4 xd4+ 16.e3! 16.h1 leads to mate. f2+ 17.g1 h3+ 18.h1
g1+! 19.xg1 f2#
16...xe3 17.e5! f5
17...c6= 18.h3? 18.f3!± is necessary to keep the advantage. exf3 19.xf3 xe5 20.fxe5 18...c2+ 19.xd4 xd4 20.xe4 fxe4 21.xd7 ed8 22.a4
e5! 23.e1 exf4 24.gxf4 a6 25.d1 b5 26.b1
f5 Black should try 26...e3! 27.f3 27.xe3 f5 27...a7 28.xe3 xf3+ 29.xf3 d1+ 30.e1 xe1+ 31.xe1 d7 27.xf5 gxf5 28.f2 f7 29.e2 d6 30.h4 c4 31.a4 c8 32.axb5 axb5 33.a3 d5 34.c1 dc5 35.c2 a8 36.e3 ac8 37.h5 e6 38.h6 f6 39.a1 b4 40.a6+ e7 41.a7+ f6 42.e1 b3 43.b7 e6 44.b6+ 44.b4 44...e7 45.b4 8c6 46.xc4 xh6 47.xb3 d8 48.b8+ c7 49.f8 h3 50.d5+ b7 51.f7+ b8? 51...c6 52.f6+ b7 52.b3 h2?
52...c6 53.xf5 g6 54.f8+ a7 55.f7+ b8 53.b4! c8
54.a6! c6
55.f8+! Not 55.xf5 g6± 55...b7 56.d5 xa6 57.xc6 b6 58.d7+-
1–0

Friday, December 8, 2017

Magnus Carlsen New Look

London Chess Classic 2017 - Round 6

Ian Nepomniachtchi beats Michael Adams in London Chess Classic - Round 6. All other games are draws. Caruana Leads. Games
Nakamura, Hikaru2781Carlsen, Magnus2837½–½C459th London Chess Classic 20176London08.12.2017ChessBase
1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 exd4 4.xd4 f6 5.xc6 bxc6 6.e5 e7 7.e2 d5 8.h4 b7 C45: Scotch Game 8...a5 9.c4 a6 10.d2 b4 11.f3 c5 12.b3 b7 13.b2 a4 14.a3 c6 15.e3 axb3 16.d3 0-1 (28) Morozevich,A (2676)-Jakovenko,D (2710) Sochi 2017 9.c4 LiveBook: 3 Partien b6 10.h3N Predecessor: 10.c3 e6 11.d2 0-0-0 12.0-0-0 a6 13.g5 e8 14.d2 xc4 15.xc4 xc4 16.e3 0-1 (60) Francisco,R (2273)-Agrest,I (2273) chess.com INT 2017 10...e6 11.f4 0-0-0 12.a4 d5 13.a5 xc4 14.b3 b4+ 15.f2! xa5 16.d2! c5 17.xa5 xa5 18.xa5 f5 19.c3 19.e3 19...xf4+ 20.g1 he8 21.b5 a6 22.f3 xe5 23.xe5 xe5 24.xc7 ee8 24...f6 25.xd8 xd8 25.xd8 xd8 26.a3 d7 27.d3 d8 28.xh7 g6 29.h5 gxh5 30.f6 e7 31.b6 c7 32.c2 a5 33.e3 c4 33...c6! 34.c2 c6 35.bxc4 dxc4 36.a6 Keinesfalls 36.xc4?! xg2 37.e3 c3 36...a4 37.xa4 e4 38.a5 e6 39.xh5 c3 40.b3+ d6
41.c2! xc2 42.xc2 e6 43.f2 f5 44.h3 e5 45.d3 f4 46.d4+ g5 47.f3 c8 48.a4 c7 49.a8 f6 50.a6+ g5 51.d4 c4 Lieber nicht 51...c2 52.e6+ f6 53.xc7+ f7 54.c6 e7 55.f4 d7 56.xc2 52.e6+ f6 53.f4+ e5 54.d3+ d5 55.a2 55.a5+ d4 56.e2 55...d4 56.c1 White should play 56.e2+- 56...c2 57.a5 c3+ 58.f4 c8
59.xf5? Better is 59.a3!+- 59...e8! 60.f7 e1 61.d7+ c3 62.c7+ d2 63.b3+ d3 64.c5+ d4 65.b3+ d3 66.c5+ d4 67.b3+ d3 68.g4 f1+ 69.g5 b1 70.c5+= e3 71.b3 d3 72.c5+ e3 73.b3
½–½

Thursday, December 7, 2017

London Chess Classic 2017 - Round 5

Fabiano Caruana wins again, this time he beats  Viswanathan Anand. All other games are draw.
Caruana leads London Chess Classic 2017. A game that I liked
Caruana, Fabiano2799Anand, Viswanathan27821–0C659th London Chess Classic 20175London06.12.2017ChessBase
1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6 4.d3 c5 5.c3 0-0 6.xc6 C48: Four Knights: 4 Bb5, replies other than 4...Bb4 dxc6 7.h3 d7 8.e3 d6 LiveBook: 4 Games 9.e2 e8N Predecessor: 9...c5 10.g3 b8 11.f5 c6 12.g4 e6 13.g5 a5 1/2-1/2 (41) So,W (2788)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Saint Louis 2017 10.g4 c5 11.g3 e6 12.f5 c5 13.h4 a5 14.h5 a6 15.d2 d4 16.h3 f8 17.0-0-0 e6 18.b1 f6 19.c3 xf3 20.xf3 c4 20...h6! 21.c2 cxd3 22.xd3 c8 23.g5 fxg5 24.xg5 f7 25.h6 gxh6 26.c1 e6 27.b3
a4! 28.c4 28.bxa4 ea8 28...axb3 29.axb3 c6 White must now prevent ...Rea8. 30.g3+ h8 Black is not keeping still 31.d1 b5 32.c5 b4 33.b2 Hoping for Rd8! g6?
33...xc5? 34.d8!+- 33...xc5 34.xc5 xc5 34.d5!+- 34.f4 xc5 35.c4 35.xe5+? xe5 36.d8+ e8 35.fxe5 f8± 35...f8 34...b5 34...xf5 35.xe5 xe5 36.xe5+ g7 37.xg7+- 35.g1 Reject 35.xe5?! f1+ 36.c1 xc1+ 37.xc1 xe5= 35...c6? 35...g8 36.d2 36.xe5 xe5 37.xe5 xc5± 36.xe5 c6 36...ae6 36.xe5 xe5 37.xe5+ g8 38.d4? 38.b2 38...f7? 38...a7 39.d6 a6 39.h4 Precision: White = 62%, Black = 50%.
1–0

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

London Chess Classic 2017 - Round 4

First Victory in London Chess Classic 2017 belongs to Fabiano Caruana, all other  games, from all players are draws, till now. A game that I liked (ChessBase 14)
Karjakin, Sergey2760Caruana, Fabiano27990–1B489th London Chess Classic 20174London05.12.2017ChessBase
1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3 a6 7.f3 B48: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Be3 a6 without Be2 7.a3 b5 8.xc6 xc6 9.d3 b7 10.0-0 f6 11.e1 c8 12.f3 d6 13.d4 c7 14.xf6 gxf6 15.h5 e5 16.d1 e7 17.c3 cg8 18.e3 g5 19.h3 0-1 (47) Carlsen,M (2837)-Ding,L (2774) Saint Louis 2017 7...e5 8.g3 b5 9.0-0-0 f6 10.f4 eg4 11.g1 LiveBook: 21 Games. Black must now prevent e5. h5 12.e5 aiming for h3. b4! 13.a4 d5 14.b3 14.e2 14...b7!=
15.ac5N c6! 16.e4 f5 17.h3 17.exf6!= remains equal. gxf6 18.h3 xf4 19.e1 17...h4! 18.e1 fxe4 19.hxg4 xf4 20.xh4 xh4 21.xh4 And now Qg5 would win. xe5 ...e3 is the strong threat. 22.d4 g6 23.h3
g5+! 24.b1 d5 25.g1 25.d2 25...e7 26.g3 26.e3 h4 27.xh4 xh4 28.c5 26...e5-+ 27.e2
f3! 28.xf3 28.b6 is a better defense. 28...exf3 29.d4 f7 30.c1 d6 31.d3 e5 32.f2 e6 33.xb4 e4 Don't do 33...xg4 34.f1-+ 34.h1 c8 Strongly threatening ...a5. Don't take 34...xg4 35.c6-+ Much less strong is 34...xg4 35.e1 35.xa6? 35.c3 35...a5 Black is clearly winning. 36.h5+ xh5 37.gxh5 g5 38.e1 c4 39.b4 e8 40.e3 xe3 41.xe3 e5 42.g4
g5! Precision: White = 33%, Black = 87%.
0–1


White to play - Mate in 7

Monday, December 4, 2017

London Chess Classic - Round 3


Magnus Carlsen X Viswanathan Anand

Ian Nepomniachtchi X Fabiano Caruana