Clumsy

In an online game yesterday, I managed to trap my own queen. Nonetheless, I had compensation until I missed some things that should have been clear. Later, I dodged my opponent's forced draw with a losing move. Trouble begins at move 24.

Black to move

24...Rab8?

This move surrenders most of my advantage.

24...Qxd2+ 25.Kxd2 Bc6+-+

That I have been looking at discoveries in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Tactical Chess Positions (2020) makes this oversight even more distressing.

25.Qxa7 Ne5?

25...Rxb2! 26.Rxd3 exd3 27.Qa3 Rc2 was a little more difficult to see, but I could have done more to find ways to use my greater piece activity and the vulnerability of the White king.

26.Rxd3 Nxd3+

White to move

27.Ke2?!

27.Kf1 Rxb2 is equal. White's apparent material superiority includes a rook with near zero prospects of deployment.

27...Rxb2 28.Kd1

28...Kf1 is better.

28...Nxf2+ 29.Kc1 30.Kd1-+

Black has a bishop and rook for the queen. White's rook remains on its starting square.

Black to move

Rxg2??=

I considered 30...Be8, but failed to see a clear way forward after 31.Qc7. It should not have been difficult to see 31...Nf2+ 32.Ke1 Rdd2 and checkmate should come soon.

30...f4 was an alternative to which I was oblivious. 31.h3 Be8 and now 32.Qc7 is met with a clear mate threat 32...fxe3! White must give up the queen.

31.Qc7 Rc8 32.Qxd7 Nf2+? 33.Ke1?

33.Kd2 gives White an advantage

33...Nd3

Here, I was sure that I could force a draw if necessary, but that is an illusion. However, my threats render it necessary for White to force a draw with checks by the queen.

34.Kf1 Rf2+ 35.Kg1 Rxc3

White to move

36.Qd5+ Kf8 37.Qd8+ Kf7 38.Qd7+ Kf8 39.Qd6+ Ke8??

Of course, surrendering to the repetition with either 39...Kg7 or 39...Kf7 was the correct course.

40.Qe6++-

Black to move

My king is forced to a dark square where the queen can fork my king and rook.

I could have resigned here, but played on as my opponent was behind on the clock. White's rook became active in the final assault on my king.

Building Pattern Understanding

My intention with my after school club on Thursday was to reinforce some opening principles by showing the students some short games where king safety or piece mobility was horribly neglected by one player. Nonetheless, most of the miniatures that I shared from memory concerned a weakened e1-h4 diagonal--an important pattern.

The first two were exceptions, but both involved quick knockouts of the Caro-Kann Defense, which should be solid. The first game was played over-the-board in 2011 when I arrived twenty minutes late for round two. 

Stripes,J. -- Opponent
Eastern Washington Open, 1 October 2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 h6

6...e6 or 6...Nf6 would be normal.

7.Ne5 Bh7 8.Bc4 e6 9.Qh5 Qe7

This unfortunate blocking in of the bishop is the computer's top recommendation to my surprise.

10.O-O Nf6 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.Bf4

I wanted to maintain a piece on e5.

12...O-O-O??

12...Nxe5 13.Bxe5 and White is slightly better.

White to move

I asked the students to find my move.

13.Nxc6 and Black resigned facing checkmate or the loss of his queen.

The second game was played online. A catastrophic blunder spoiled a difficult but playable position that I have done well against.

Stripes,J. -- Internet Opponent

Chess.com 3 April 2024

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h6?!

4...h5 and 4...c5 both get played against me regularly.

5.g4!? Be4 6.f3 Bh7 7.e6! fxe6

7...Qd6 might be best here. I've seen it once.

8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3

Black to move

9...Nd7??

9...e5 or 9...Qd6 are playable.

10.Qg6#

Then, I showed the students the first game in Irving Chernev, The 1000 Best Short Games of Chess (1955).

Gibauld -- Lazard

Paris 1924

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.h3??

Black to move

4...Ne3 and White resigned.

After showing this game to some online students one morning in 2021, I played the following game that afternoon. Pulling the game from my database reminded me that I played an identical game again in 2023.

Stripes,J.--Internet Opponent
Chess.com 7 October 2021

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Ngf3 d6

Watch what develops as it will appear in another game, too.

5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3??

Black to move

6...Ne3 7.fxe3 Bg3#

The next game was presented to the students as one that I saw at the Mead High School Chess Club about 2006, but others have played it, too. It seems that I even played it on chess.com once in 2009.

A Visitor -- A Mead Team Member
Mead High School c.2006

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 

White to move

4.Nc3??

When I've had the diagram position against Michael Cambareri, he has played 4.Nf3 or 4.d5. I usually end up losing after a battle.

My students found the conclusion quickly.

4...Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+

5...Bxg3+ 6.hxg3 Qxg3# is more common.

6.hxg3 Bxg3#

This next game is the source for the banner at the top of the page. It was played online in less than a minute during my lunch break while teaching chess in elementary school classrooms.

Internet Opponent -- Stripes,J.
Chess.com 18 January 2012

1.e4 e6 2.f4 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6!? 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 Qh4+ 8.g3 Nxg3 9.Nf3

Black to move

9...Qg4??

9...Qh3 was best.

10.hxg3

10.Rg1 was slightly better.

10...Qxg3+ 11.Ke2??

11.Kf1 and White is much better.

11...Qg2+

White to move

12.Ke3?

Moves into checkmate. 12.Ke1 loses the rook, but holds out longer.

12...Bc5+ 13.Ke4 f5+ 

With students, I always ask them to find the only move to get out of check. En passant is difficult for young chess players.

14.exf6 d5#

The last game appears in Emanuel Lasker, Common Sense in Chess (1917), has been played by Eric Rosen more than once, and appears in his video and Lichess Study on the Stafford Gambit. I have played the entire game nine times on chess.com.

Several Players -- Stripes,J.
chess.com November 2022 - October 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bg5??

Black to move

6...Nxe4

I played 6...O-O the first time that I found myself in this position and won after a long battle.

7.Bxd8?

White still loses with 7.Be3, the best option. Eric Rosen's study offers the variations and I showed the main ones to my students.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4#

I hope my students will guard the diagonal leading to their king and also will exploit the vulnerability when their opponent fails to do so.

Active Rook

Black's position is not comfortable. Neither rook is well-placed. The rook on a5 could become trapped, while the one on f8 is passively defending a pawn that currently has only one attacker.

Black to move

30...Rd8

Black chose the only reasonable move.

31.Ree7

Opting for two pigs seems reasonable, but the engines are concerned about White's king.

31...Rf5

Postgame analysis with chessdotcom's system identified this move as good, but not best. The engine prefers 31...Rd1+ 32.Kf2 Rf5+, which I considered. But, I decided the checkmate threat led to a clearer sequence that did not activate White's king. Black's king is going nowhere. 

On my computer, Stockfish 16 sees a 0.08 difference between the two moves.

32.h3

An alternative would be moving one of the rooks to d7.

32...a5 33.Rab7 Rf6

Black anticipated this position when he played 30...Rd8. White's targets are secure, making progress difficult.

White to move

34.Re5?!

It appears that this move, played after 40 seconds thought in a ten minute game, is aimed at hitting Black's b-pawn with both rooks in order to create a passed pawn on the c-file.

34...Rd1+

Meanwhile, Black has intentions to hit the g-pawn and make his opponent's king sweat a bit. Stockfish favors Rd2, which is rooted in the same plan. My move was played instantly without much thought, but as it forces Kh2, which can be followed with Rd2.

35.Kh2 Rd2 36.Re4 h5!

Keeping White's rook off g4.

37.Re8+ Kh7

White to move

38.Rbb8??

After this blunder, Black has an advantage. The magnitude of the advantage is greater the stronger the engine. Chessdotcom's analysis feature puts Black's advantage at 1.8 pawns, but Stockfish 16 running on my computer has it at 3.38.

Black's king will be checked, but so will White's.

38...Rff2 39.Rh8 Kg6 40.Rxb6 f6

White's moves have been aggressive, but not best. When White's checks come to an end, the problem of White's vulnerable king grows.

White to move

41.Rb5?

King safety had to be addressed.

41.Rxg2+ 42.Kh1 Rg3?!

Here I missed a simple 42...Rge2 leading to forced mate after some spite checks. After the next move, however, mate was again on the horizon.

43.Rhxh5 Rc3 White resigned

Vulnerable King

An entertaining game from P. H. Clarke, 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures (1963) offers a lesson in vulnerability. White’s king appears more exposed, but Black’s king is in mortal danger on its starting square.

Black to move

The game is Barshauskas — Chesnauskas, Championship of Lithuania 1955. Black’s problems stem from the greater mobility and coordination of White’s forces. As Clarke notes, “It is worth remarking that while the position of the Black king in the centre is of the utmost import, the comparatively exposed state (i.e. to the normal castled position) of the White monarch is of lesser significance. The reason lies, of course, in White’s lead in development” (31).

The game continued 17…Bc5

Clarke notes that 17…Be7 would at least “admit the danger”.

18.Nxe6?

18.Bxe6 Bxe6 19.Nxe6 maintains the advantage.

18…Bxe6 19.Bxe6

Black to move

What would you play as Black? After making the wrong choice, Black resigned four moves later.

King Safety

Working through the games in Kevin Wicker, 200 Modern Brilliancies (1981), I came upon this mess from a postal game between Toni Cipolli and Semen Gubnitsky played in 1977.

White to move

Cipollini did not find the right idea. Nor did Wicker.

The Art of Defense

This position is analyzed in Modern Chess Miniatures (1960) by Leonard Barden and Wolfgang Heidenfeld. It is from Corte -- Jac. Bolbochan, Mar del Plata 1946.

Black to move

The second position and analysis can be found in Colin Crouch, Chess Secrets: Great Attackers (2009). The position is from analysis of Kasparov -- Sokolov, Vilnius 1975.

Black to move

What would you play?

Foolishness

One year ago, I won the Eastern Washington Open. This year, I finished second in A Class with 3.5/5.0. I won three games, lost one, and took my usual third round bye. My loss was to a young girl who I played in the first round last year. She finished with 4.0 and a tie for second place in the event.

I gave her an easy game because I engaged in some foolishness.

Deng,Lily -- Stripes,James [B43]
Eastern Washington Open (2), 28.09.2019

1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2

Black to move

6...Bb4

I play this move because it has brought me success in blitz.

6...Nc6 is the normal move.

7.Bd2

7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qd3 Nc6

7...Nf6 8.Bf3

8.0-0 Nc6
(8...Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Nxe4 is a line that makes a virtue out of 6...Bb4, as in Fuchs,J (2197) -- Farago,I (2482), Nuremberg 2008, which Black went on to win after a long battle. )
9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bd3 a5 11.Qe2 d5 12.a3 Be7 Nezhmetdinov,R -- Furman,S/Moscow 1957, URS-ch was drawn in 31 moves.

8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Nxc6 dxc6

Black to move

8...Qe5?!

Emboldened by the odd placement of White's bishop, I put my queen where I knew she could be vulnerable.

8...Nc6 is simple and correct.

9.Nde2 Nc6

9...g5 at least makes sense.

10.a3

Black to move

10...Ba5??

10...Be7 11.Bf4 Qa5 12.b4 Qb6;
10...Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Qc7

11.b4+- Bb6 12.Bf4 0-1

I was home early.

X-Ray

How difficult?

Yesterday morning, I had this position in a blitz game. While looking for tactics exercises for my beginning students after showing them Paul Morphy's Opera Game, I put this position on the demo board. We did not discuss it, as they were busy playing chess and I was working with them on basic manners and sportsmanship.

After club, I put the position on Facebook thinking most followers there would solve it quickly. Although the second person to post offered the strongest move, which I had played in the game, I was surprised at some of the other responses. Is this position more difficult than I thought?

White to move

It seemed to me that it should be easy to remove both knights and then snatch the bishop.

15.e4

The strongest move, according to Stockfish.

I expected 15...Nb4 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qxd7 and a clear advantage for White, probably decisive.

Black could have made things interesting with 15...h6, when the strange looking 16.Bh4 is the engine's choice. The computer likes 16...g5 17.Qd2

Black to move

Analysis position

I would have been stunned by 15...h6, realizing that my advantage was not to be gained as easily as initially anticipated, and played 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.e5 Nd5 and then would have considered 18.Bxd5.

Looking through this game this morning, I found that I used a mere two seconds on the position in the first diagram. My recollection of the game was that I had used more time than that. It turns out that I had spent twelve seconds on this position the previous move. I planned 15.e4 before exchanging my knight for my opponent's bishop.

White to move

14.Nxb6 Qxb6

Now, the position is the first diagram is reached. My opponent had played 13...Bd7, placing the bishop on a vulnerable square. Superficially, this error is a simple developing move that prepares to bring the bishop to a better square while connecting the rooks.

After my 15.e4, my opponent thought for thirteen seconds. As it was a three minute blitz game, that's a relatively long think.

15...Bc6

This move surprised me, but my reply was simple and easy.

16.exd5 Nxd5

White to move

17.Qg4

Again, I played the strongest move with fantasies of getting an easy checkmate or otherwise exploiting a pin along the g-file. Nonetheless, I spent fifteen seconds on this move.

17...f6 18.Bxd5

How did I miss 18.Qxe6+? Checkmate fantasies.

We played another fifteen moves before my opponent resigned.

Greek Gift?

As far as I have been able to determine, the so-called Greek Gift (a Bxh7 sacrifice) earned its name because some chess writer confused the Italian chess player Gioachino Greco (c.1600-c.1634) with the artist Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541-1614). The latter was Greek, but lived in Spain where he was generally known as El Greco (the Greek). In any case, the name stuck. The thematic sacrifice is present in several games recorded by G. Greco.

But, Greco is from a part of Italy, Calabria, where a large number of people are ethnically Greek. Italy was not a unified nation before 1871, except under the Romans. Calabria at the time of Greco's birth was ruled by the Kingdom of Aragon, which had a hand in uniting Spain in the fifteenth century. Some historical works speculate that Greco's parents were Greek, although the sourcing for Greco's early life appear non-existent. He was a young man in the 1620s is about all that is known. The place of his birth is known from manuscripts believed to be in his own hand: Celico, a village near Cosenza.

Is the sacrifice sound in this position?

White to move

Beating Your Dad at Chess

Game of the Week

My exercise set for the Knight Award has this position.

White to move

It is the exercise that my students find most difficult among the dozen in that set. The position arose in a game Paul Morphy played against his father when he was twelve years old.

An earlier position from this game appears as the third position in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018).

White to move

In the game, Paul Morphy's father, Alonzo, made several errors. Maybe he was not a very strong chess player. Maybe he sought to help build his son's confidence. Young Paul's moves are not in every case the first choice of today's engines, but his overall play demonstrates that already at the age of twelve, he understood the importance of rapid mobilization of his pieces and was not afraid to sacrifice material to exploit a vulnerable king.

Morphy,Paul C -- Morphy,Alonzo [C51]
New Orleans, 1849

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4

7.0–0 became a common reply in the 1860s. Both moves score well for White.

7...Bb6

7...Bb4+ is possible

8.0–0

Black to move

8...Na5

The elder Morphy neglects development, but as his son is usually credited with discovering the importance of development, our judgement should not be too harsh.

8...d6 would have been better.

9.Bd3 d5

Opening the e-file cannot be good for Black. The king's vulnerability will create the conditions for young Paul to show the skills that would become his signature.

9...Ne7;
9...d6

10.exd5 Qxd5

Father seems determined to help his son.

10...Ne7 11.Ba3 0–0 12.Qc2

11.Ba3 Be6 12.Nc3 Qd7

See Engqvist's position above.

13.d5!

Morphy understood that material does not matter when Black's king is vulnerable.

13... Bxd5

13...0–0–0 14.Qc2 (14.dxe6 Qxd3 15.exf7 Nf6 16.Be7)

14.Nxd5

My main line while looking at the position in Engqvist's book was 14.Bb5 c6 15.Re1+ Be6. I had not yet recognized the game as the source for my exercise.

14...Qxd5

White to move

15.Bb5+

Engines like 15.Re1+ Kd8 16.Be4 Qd7 (16...Nf6 avoids checkmate) 17.Qxd7+ Kxd7 18.Rad1+ Kc8 19.Bf5+ Kb8 20.Re8#

15...Qxb5 16.Re1+ Ne7 17.Rb1

Much better is 17.Rxe7+ Kf8 18.Ne5.

17...Qa6

This move offers White a forced checkmate.

17...Qd7 18.Rxe7+ Qxe7 19.Bxe7 Kxe7 White still has a decisive edge, but has much work remaining after his relatively weak move 17.

White to move

18.Rxe7+ Kf8 19.Qd5

There is a faster checkmate, but it is hard to fault Morphy for pursuing a checkmate in two that can be delayed through spite checks.

19.Rxf7+ Kxf7 20.Qd7+ Kf6 21.Be7+ Kg6 22.Qe6+ Kh5 23.g4#

19...Qc4

See my position for the Knight Award at the top of this post.

19...Bxf2+ delays the end with spite checks.

20.Rxf7+ Kg8 21.Rf8# 1–0

I beat my dad when I played him at age fifteen, but my play lacked the sort of combinations that Morphy displayed. No record was made of the game (see "My First Chess Book").

A Snubbed Handshake

Game of the Week

After languishing on my shelves for a decade or longer, Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking (2005) by Neil McDonald came off for some serious study. Marginalia on many pages reveals that I have previously worked through the first several games, but have not worked through the whole. I spent half a morning last week creating a database with all thirty games and then racing through all of them for a first look. The next step was to work through the first game carefully before reading what McDonald has to say about it.

The plan is to study each game, then read McDonald's comments. I followed this process with the games in Irving Chernev, Logical Chess: Move by Move (1957). McDonald follows Chernev's classic by commenting on every move.

The first game in McDonald's book is the game that began with Victor Kortschnoj* holding out his hand before the game, only to be snubbed by Anatoly Karpov who said he he would no longer shake hands because of Kortschnoj's behavior. The behavior in question concerned his complaint about the seating in the audience of Dr. Vladimir Zukhar, a parapsychologist who was part of Karpov's team. Kortschnoi wanted Zukhar further back from the stage where the match took place. This game was the eighth in the championship and the first that was not drawn. Karpov went on to win the match, reaching his sixth win in game 32. Kortschnoj won five games.

McDonald does not discuss this historical background, despite his comment in the Introduction:

[P]sychological factors should be considered. ... When there is no obvious right or wrong, the character of the player has a major impact on the decision taken. This can be for both good and bad as the games of even the greatest players are frequently won and lost by impulsive or inspired decisions.
McDonald, Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking (5-6)

Karpov,Anatoly (2725) -- Kortschnoj,Viktor (2665) [C80]
World Championship 29th Baguio City (8), 03.08.1978

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6

What are the merits of the Morphy variation? McDonald does not ponder this question, nor offer much help towards an answer. He does dress the move 3...a6 with an exclamation mark.

4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4

Black temporarily wins a pawn. The exchange of center pawns shifts the focus towards active piece play. Playing through this game, I game to realize that my understanding of the Open Spanish is somewhat underdeveloped. It's not something I've played as Black, nor often faced as White.

5...Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3

6.d4 b5

6...exd4 seems dubious 7.Re1 f5 8.Nxd4 Be7 9.Nxf5 d5

7.Bb3 d5

7...Na5? invites tactics

a) 8.Bd5 c6 9.Bxe4

b) 8.Bxf7+!? Kxf7 9.Nxe5+ Kg8

b1) 9...Ke6 10.Qg4+ Ke7 11.Qxe4;

b2) 9...Ke8 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 (11...Nf6 12.Re1+ Be7) 12.Qxg6+ Ke7 13.Bg5+ Nxg5 14.Qxg5+ Kf7 15.Qxd8; 10.Qf3 Qf6 (10...Nf6 11.Qxa8; 10...Qe8 11.Qxe4) 11.Qxe4 Bb7 12.Qd3)

8.dxe5

This pawn will not be easily removed by Black and controls some key dark squares.

8...Be6

White to move

There are things that I don't like about Black's position: the backwards c-pawn, placement of the bishop in the pawn chain, and White's pawn striking at f6 and d6. But, Kortschnoj understood these consequences of his fifth move. This position has been played many thousands of times by top players with many Black wins. White's overall score is strong, but Kortschnoj's wins with Black include such opponents as Tal and Petrosian, and even Karpov later in this match.

My database contains 97 games with this position and Kortschnoj as one of the players, nearly always as Black. The overall score is 50% with 24 wins for each side and the rest draws.

My assessment of this position was skewed by lack of familiarity with the Open Spanish compounded by the tendency to annotate by result. Because Kortschnoj lost, I was looking for defects very early in the game. However, this position is an interesting tableau in the Spanish.

9.Nbd2 Nc5

9...Nxd2 Seems plausible and has been attempted by strong players, but with a score exceeding 75% for White. 10.Bxd2 Be7 (10...Bc5)

10.c3

Is White already slightly better? Black's light-squared bishop is part of a pawn chain, while White's e-pawn puts a clamp on the dark squares. Meanwhile, Black's king remains in the middle of the board. This position has appeared well over 1800 times in the annals of chess with a 58% score for White, but with over 400 Black wins.

Black to move

10...g6?!

This move was criticized by Raymond Keene and others. Keene's criticism appears in a book that I bought about forty years ago, when it was new: Raymond Keene, The World Chess Championship: Korchnoi vs. Karpov (1978), which claims to be the "inside story of the match". Keene was part of Kortschnoj's team. However, another book suggests that Keene was too much focused on journalistic dispatches to England to be an effective team player. Persona Non Grata (Thinkers' Press, 1981) lists as authors Viktor Kortchnoi with Lenny Cavallaro. However, Kortschnoj is consistently referred to in the third person in this book, suggesting that Cavallaro may have had the leading hand as author.

Persona Non Grata offers an account of the snub.

The 8th game. Viktor arrived at the table; Karpov did not get up. Kortchnoi sat down and held out his hand. Karpov replied that from that moment he had no intention of giving him his hand. ... The shot hit home. Kortchnoi played a poor tenth move (among others); Karpov conducted his attack quite well. (39-40)

What were the alternatives? Four moves have been played more often that Kortschnoj's.

a) 10...Nxb3 is fourth most popular 11.Nxb3 Be7
b) 10...Bg4 is third in popularity and Black has done well
c) 10...d4, the second was popular move was played by Kortschnoj later in this match, and three times in the 1981 match.
d) 10...Be7 strikes me as simple. It is the most popular move. There is no rush to castle as the king might find safety on the queenside or be needed for an endgame.
e) 10...Nd3 ihas been played less often than 10...g6, but still appears in more than two dozen games. 11.Qe2 is the usual continuation 11...Nf4 12.Qe3 g5 13.Rd1.

11.Qe2

Kortschnoi repeated his 10...g6 twice in later years, leading to

a) 11.Re1 Nd3 12.Re3 Nxc1 13.Rxc1 Bh6 14.Rd3 0–0 15.Qe2 Ne7 16.Rd1 c5 17.Bc2 Bf5 18.Nf1 Bxd3 19.Bxd3 Qc8 and White won in 87 moves, Fedorchuk,S (2564) -- Kortschnoj,V (2634) Warsaw 2002.
b) 11.Bc2 Bg7 12.Re1 Nd7 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.cxd4 and drawn in 28 moves, Almasi,Z (2676) -- Kortschnoj,V (2632) Budapest 2003.

11...Bg7 12.Nd4!

Kortschnoj believed this pawn sacrifice was not in Karpov's character, or so Keene claimed.

Black to move

12...Nxe5

12...Nxd4 13.cxd4 Nb7 (After 13...Nxb3 14.Nxb3 0–0 McDonald points out a simple winning plan--moving all the heavy pieces to the c-file to hammer away at the backwards c-pawn.)
12...Qd7 is favored by McDonald and was played by Mihai Marin in 2007: 13.f4 0–0 and Black won in 45 moves, Thesing,M (2393) -- Marin,M (2551) Predeal 2007.

13.f4

I thought that Black was already in deep trouble at this point, but in 2012 Sarunas Sulskis went on from here to win with Black.

13...Nc4

13...Ned3 was Sulskis's choice. 14.f5 (14.Bc2 Nxc1 15.Raxc1 0–0) 14...gxf5 15.Nxf5 Rg8 16.Bc2 Sulskis seems to have taken the weaknesses of Kortschnoj's position and turned them into strengths. 16...Qg5 17.Nxg7+ Rxg7 18.Nf3 Nxc1 19.Raxc1 (19.Nxg5 Nxe2+ 20.Kh1 Rxg5–+) 19...Qg4 There is not much left of White's attack. 20.g3 Ne4 21.Qg2 Qh5 22.Rfe1 0–0–0 and Black went on to win in 71 moves, Azarov,S (2667) -- Sulskis,S (2595) Jurmala LAT 2012.

14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5

Black to move

Black has won even from this position, but there was a rating gap over over 400 Elo favoring the second player.

15...Rg8±

I think that Karpov has the upper hand at this point in the game.

15...Bf8 16.Nf3 Ne4 17.N3d4 c5 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Qh5+ Kd7 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Ne3 Nd6 22.Ng4 Bg7 23.Bg5 Qe8 24.Qh3 h5 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.Bxf6 Rf8 27.Rad1 Kc6 A secure king! 28.Rde1 Ne4 29.Be5 Qg6 30.b3 Rf5 31.Rxf5 Qxf5 32.Qxf5 exf5 33.bxc4 dxc4 34.Rf1 Rf8 35.Rf4 Kd5 36.Bg7 Rf7 37.Bh8 Ke6 The bishop is trapped 0–1 De Coverly,R (1992) -- Sarakauskas,G (2415) Bournemouth ENG 2015.

16.Nxc4 dxc4

16...Nxb3 17.axb3 bxc4 18.bxc4 Black's king will suffer.

17.Bc2 Nd3 18.Bh6 Bf8

18...Bxh6 was more stubborn 19.Nxh6 Rg7 (19...Rg6 20.Nxf7) 20.Nf5 Rg6 (20...Rg8 21.Rad1) 21.Rad1

White to move

19.Rad1+–

Black's king is stuck in the middle. All White's pieces are in the attack, while Black's pieces are mostly tied down or watching helplessly.

19...Qd5

19...Bc5+ 20.Kh1 Qd5 21.Bxd3 cxd3 22.Rxd3 Qc6 23.Ng7+ Rxg7 (23...Ke7 24.Bg5+ Kf8 25.Nxe6+ and checkmate is coming soon) 24.Bxg7 Bd6+-

20.Bxd3

White's decisive final attack brings pressure along the three central files d-f. McDonald emphasizes the absence of Black's queen's rook from the battle. This decisive blow had to happen now, or Black would castle queenside and have exceptional counterplay. In such a case, Black's wrecked kingside pawn structure becomes rather an open line against White's monarch.

20...cxd3 21.Rxd3 Qc6 22.Bxf8 Qb6+

This move gains a necessary tempo, but is not enough to save the game barring a blunder from Karpov.

22...Kxf8 23.Nd4 Qb6 24.Qxe6 Kg7 25.Qxb6 cxb6+-

23.Kh1 Kxf8

McDonald points out 23...Rxf8 24.Qf3 Rd8 25.Ng7+ Ke7 26.Qf6#

24.Qf3 Re8 25.Nh6

Wasn't f7 the target when White played 1.e4?

Black to move

25...Rg7

a) 25...Ke7 26.Nxg8+ Rxg8 27.Qf6+ Ke8 28.Rd8#
b) 25...Kg7 26.Qf6+ Kf8 27.Nxf7 Qc6 (27...Qb7 28.Nd8+ Bf7 29.Qxf7#) 28.Ne5+ Bf7 29.Qxf7#
c) 25...Rg6 26.Qxf7+ Bxf7 27.Rxf7#

26.Rd7

All four of White's pieces aim at f7. This move seems obvious in retrospect, but perhaps is not immediately obvious. McDonald gives it a double exclam, calling it "The star move" (17).

26...Rb8

26...Bxd7 27.Qxf7+ Rxf7 28.Rxf7#

27.Nxf7 Bxd7

a) 27...Ke8 28.Ne5 Rg8 (28...Rxd7 29.Qf8#) 29.Qf6 Qd6
     a1) 29...Bxd7 30.Qf7+ Kd8 31.Qxd7#
     a2) 29...Qc5 30.Qxe6+ Qe7 31.Qxe7#
30.Rxd6 cxd6 31.Qxe6+ Kd8 32.Qd7#

b) 27...Bxf7 28.Rxf7+ Kg8 29.Rf8+ Rxf8 30.Qxf8#

28.Nd8+

Black resigned.

28...Bf5 is the only defense against checkmate 29.Qxf5+ Ke7 30.Qf8+ Kd7.

1–0

McDonald's annotations are light, focusing on the essential position elements in the game with a few tactical variations.

*Spelling note: I favor the spelling of Viktor Kortschnoj that is used in Chess Base for this post, but where the name in quotes or front matter of books, I retain the spelling employed in those books.

Smash Through

Black to move

From Gelfand,B. -- Kramnik,V., Berlin 1996. This game is featured in Neil McDonald, Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking (2004), which I am going through superficially this morning. My intention is to go through the games and then the book more slowly in the coming weeks.

Perceive the Threats

I think this position from a ten minute blitz game yesterday is instructive.

Black to move

Black played 27...Ba6 and fell to a forced checkmate. But, Black's only move to maintain an advantage (as Stockfish sees it) is not so easy to find.

Planning

In 1864, Johannes Zukertort reached a level in his chess skill high enough that Adolf Anderssen no longer gave him odds. That year, the two played a number of games. David Levy and Kevin O'Connell, Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games, vol. 1 1485-1866 lists eight games between these two players in 1864. Zukertort had White in all eight. Levy and O'Connell list their source for the games as Neue Berliner Schachzeitung (1867). Zukertort began serving as principal editor of this serial in 1867.

Anderssen's play reveals weaknesses that were less frequent in his tournament play of the time. These games offer a number of interesting positions for exploring the elements of chess strategy.

Black to move

After 12.Qe2

What are the plans for both sides?

Anderssen castled and went on to lose after several errors.

A Pig and a Fork

After executing an elementary tactic in a blitz game a few days ago, I started looking for training positions for my beginning students. A rook on the seventh (or second) rank is sometimes called a pig, perhaps because of its tendency to gobble up pawns. Sometimes a weak back rank that is not fatally weak--that is, there is no checkmate--can lead to a position where a rook becomes a pig with check that also attacks a pawn. This situation occurred in my game.

Black to move

26...Qd1+ 27.Qxd1+ Rxd1 28.Kf2 Rd2+

The fork

29.Ke3 Rxb2 30.Ra4 a5 31.Ra3 Rxh2

White to move

With a two pawn advantage, Black went on to win.

I used the Manoeuvres search tab in ChessBase to find some training positions with hopes that my students could learn to play similar positions easily. My search was not narrow enough and I had to go through a hundred games to find a few of the sort that I sought. But other tactics emerged in this batch of games as well, and I filed away several positions.

This position from Euwe,M. -- Kroone,G., Amsterdam 1919 is simple enough.

White to move

32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Rc7+ Kg6 34.Rxb7

White has restored the material balance and has healthier pawns and an active king. The effort to create threats and counterplay led Black to reduce his own rook's mobility and White won. Whether White already has a clear advantage, however, is less clear. The ending may prove instructive for my students. In particular, it was from this position that Stockfish evaluated the game as going from an advantage for White to a decisive advantage.

Black to move

Black played 38...a2. The engine sees Black holding after 38...Ra2.

White more clearly gains a decisive advantage with the maneuver in Zukertort,J. -- Pitschel,K., Paris 1878. This game also featured a queen exchange to simplify matters, as in my game.

White to move

34.Rc8+ Kg7 (other moves lead to a quick checkmate and another elementary lesson for my students.

35.Qg3+Qxg3 36.Kxg3

Black to move

36...Rc1

And now the fork on the seventh. White won the rook ending easily, or so it seemed.

37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.Rxa7 Rxc2 39.Rd7 Rxc3+ 40.Kh4 e4

Black also has a passed pawn.

41.Rxd6+ Ke5

White to move

42.Rxb6?

White let Black back into the game, but nonetheless went on to win. The lessons from this point in the game are for another day.