A Queen Sacrifice Based on Intuition

    The great attacking genius Mikhail Tal once told another player, "You calculate variations excellently, but you really must work on your intuition.” 

    What’s intuition? It’s the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. Viswanathan Anand explained it when he said, "Intuition is the first move I think of." 

    For chess players intuition comes from the knowledge of chess and experience. In simple or familiar positions we often play automatically, but when things get complicated we have to calculate variations. 

    It happens that some times our calculations don’t go very deep and we make a decision based on other factors. The strong English GM John Nunn said of a game he played that aside from checking a few minor things he had calculated almost nothing the entire game. 

    When the following game was played the Queen sacrifice instigated at move 11was known, but whenever it was first played in pre-engine days its soundness had to be based on intuition. When this game was played in 1999 engines had reached the level where even GMs had a hard time beating them. Still, at that time the soundness of white’s Queen sacrifice was open to question. 

    The little known GM (title award in 1978) Adrian Mikhalchishin (born in 1954) was born in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, around 43 miles from the border with Poland. 

    His opponent was GM (title awarded in 1999) Dusko Pavasovic (born in 1976). He was born in Split, Croatia, but he plays for Slovenia and was the Slovenian champion in 1999, 2006 and 2007. He is also an FIDE Trainer. The game was played in the 1999 Nova Gorica (Slovenia) Open. It was won by GM Zdenko Kozul a half point ahead of seven others, including Pavasovic. In spite of winning this fantastic game Mikhalchishin only scored 4 points and finished in 50th place.

 

[Event "Nova Gorica"] [Site "Nova Gorica"] [Date "1999.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Adrian Mikhalchishin"] [Black "Dusko Pavasovic"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2518"] [BlackElo "2539"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1999.??.??"] {D45: Semi-Slav: e3} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. e4 Nxe4 8. Nxe4 dxe4 9. Qxe4 e5 10. dxe5 O-O {This is a well known position and white has now tried developing both Bs to different squares, but his next move surrendering the Q is the most popular.} 11. exd6 {Even though white does not quite get full material compensation for the Q there are other factors to be considered so the position is considered to be one that offers equal chances to both side.} Re8 12. Qxe8+ Qxe8+ 13. Be3 {For the Q white has a R+B+P which is very neary enough compensation materially, but he has problems with his development and K safety. Engines evalaute the position as equal, but practically speaking GMs differ. Some think the position is good for black while other maintain that the P on d6 is a valuable weapon and white should have a good game.} b5 {Thus move is a novelty, but mot an especially good one. even though white's K might come under attack.} (13... Ne5 {is black's black's best move and it was Stockfish's top choice after about 20 minutes of analysis.} 14. O-O-O Nxf3 15. gxf3 Bd7 16. Bd3 Qe5 17. Rhg1 g6 {is equal as was played in Mikhalchishin,A (2490)-Flear,G (2320) Mexico 1980}) 14. O-O-O {This is quite risky as it plays into black's hands by exposing his K to attack. A safe course was 14.Be2 and then castling K-side.} Nf6 15. Bd4 {The idea behind this move is to eliminate the black pieces that are blockading the d-Pawn. Nevertheless, it might have been a better idea to support the d-Pawn with 15.c5. And now black might have better played 15...c5 himself to prevent white from protecting the d-Pawn.} Be6 16. Bxf6 {According to plan, but 16.c5 was still a good option.} gxf6 {Oddly, the doubled Ps are not a serious weakness here because white his more important things to tend to.} 17. c5 {Finally. The protected passed P is a bone in black's throat. Still, Black has a Q vs, R+N+P, so the chances remain about equal/} b4 {Black finally makes a bad move!} (17... Bxa2 18. Bd3 a5 19. Rhe1 Qd7 20. Nd4 {Technically the position is even, but practically speaking you have to like white's centralized pieces and extra space. Still, it's interesting that Shootouts lead to some interesting play, but white only managed to score +0 -1 =4!}) 18. Kb1 {Now that his K os safe and the P is protected white can claim a bit pf an advantage.} Qd8 (18... Bf5+ {was better because after} 19. Ka1 Qe4 20. Ba6 {Threatening Bb7} Bd7 21. Rhe1 Qf5 22. Rc1 {Black has sufficient defensive resources.} Kf8) 19. Nd4 {Of course he wants to eliminated the B...see the next note.} Bd5 20. Rc1 {This somewhat odd looking move is actually quite brilliant..it prepared the exchange of Bs. Black's B is hindering the advance of the d-Pawm. Refer to the note back on move 15!} Qa5 21. Nb3 Qd8 {Black has no really satisfactory move.} (21... Bxb3 22. axb3 Kf8 23. Bd3 h5 24. Rhe1 Re8 25. Be4 Qa6 26. Rc4 {and white is winning; black cannot defend everything.}) 22. Bc4 Be4+ {Naturally black wants to keep his B.} 23. Ka1 Qd7 24. f3 {White is clearly winning.} Bf5 25. Nd4 Re8 (25... Bg6 {keeps the B, but it's way out of place on h6. After} 26. Rce1 Qd8 27. Re7 {The P on d6, the attack on f7 and the control of the e-file assure white of the win.}) 26. Rhe1 (26. Nxf5 Qxf5 27. Rhd1 {would also be a win for white.}) 26... Re5 27. Rxe5 fxe5 28. Nxf5 Qxf5 29. Rd1 Qd7 {Holding up the d-Pawn. or so ot seems.} 30. Bb5 {[%mdl 512] This problem like move made black resign.} (30. Bb5 Kf8 (30... cxb5 31. c6 Qxc6 32. d7 {and the P queens.}) 31. Bxc6 Qd8 32. Bb5 {clearing the way for the c-Pawn.} Qa5 33. c6 Qxb5 34. d7) 1-0

Weak Squares

`In 1925, Aron Nimzovich’s My System was published in Germany. The English edition (translated by Philip Hereford and published by G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.) wasn’t published until 1929. In it he expounded his theories of prophylaxis, blockade and much more, while providing ground-breaking insights in Pawn structures. 

    Nimzovich’s followup companion book, Chess Praxis, was originally published in German in 1929. It was an exposition of his theories filled with 109 of his well annotated games. At some point World Champion (1963-1968) Tigran Petrosion got a copy of the book and it had a great influence on his development. 

    Needless to say, to some extent the material is outdated and, as might be expected, engines have punched holes in some of the analysis, but unless you are a Grand master many of his explanations are enlightening. 

    As a player Nimzovich is not highly esteemed today, but at the height of his career in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s Chessmetrics ranks him in the top five in the world. 

    The following game was an example of weak squares of the same color. Mieses seems to have a satisfactory position attacking in the center and, but Nimzovicj’s counterattack on the weakened light squares on the Q-side lead to victory. The game was played at Hanover in 1926 in celebration of the local club’s fifty year anniversary. Eight players were invited, including two very strong foreigners, Nimzovich and Rubinstein. 

 

[Event "Hannover"] [Site ""] [Date "1926.08.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Aron Nimzovich"] [Black "Jacques Mieses"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A28"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "1926.08.09"] {A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 {Nimzovich called this his special Dresden Variation. Today it has come to be known as the Nimzovich Variation. It's characterized by this early center P advance and the development of the Ns by both sides. It often leads to closed positions and a more strategic and less tactical game. Both players aim to control the center with Ps and Ns. The P-structure can vary greatly which leads to different middlegame plans. One of the main ideas for white is to expand on the Q-side, while black often looks for counterplay on the K-side or in the center.} Bb4 5. d3 d6 6. g3 Bc5 7. Bg2 {Nimzovich thought the preventative 7.h3 was also worth considering. However, that move seem to have been rarely tried in this position. In any case it does not lead to more than equality.} Ng4 {Normal moves here are 7...Nd4 and 7...Bg4. The "threat" of capturing on f2 is innocuous.} 8. O-O f5 {Typical risky play by Miese. Castling was a safe option. Nomzovicj comments that this position is hard to evaluate: Black appears strong on the dark squares (f2 and d4), but white seems to be in a position to initiate some counterplay based on the light squares. Engines prefer white by about a P and a half.} (8... Nxf2 {This is rarely a good idea.} 9. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 10. Kxf2 O-O {When discussing this type of situation (B+N vs. R+P_ GM Arthuir Bisguier once commented that he belueved that against a weaker opponent he could win with either side. Of course, that's usually the case, but here engines give white a consoderable advantage.}) 9. Nd5 {This results in equality. According to Nimzovich two other moves worth considering were 9.exf5 and 9.Bg5 which is preferred by Stockfish and keeps the advantage in white's favor.} h6 {This is highly questionable because as Nimzovich points out it damages his dark square as it is a loss of time and it also helps white with his light squared plans: Again, castling seems almost obvious.} 10. exf5 Bxf5 {Already the engines are declaring a decisive advantage for white! Great! The N is headed for g6.} 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Ng6 Rg8 13. h3 {Nimzovich wrote that now that he has control of all the light squares, hr now sets about driving his opponent off the dark. ones. However, this move loses most all of his advantage!} (13. Be3 {For reasons only known to Stockfish this move is rated much higher as black cannot capture the B.} Bxe3 14. fxe3 Nxe3 15. Nxe3 Qg5 16. Bxc6+ bxc6 17. Qf3 {is winning for white.}) 13... Nf6 14. Be3 {[%mdl 2048] Preparing for b4, because if he had played it straight away the reply 14...Nd4 would have been possible. At this point white's advantage consists of a strong initiative.} Bxd5 {This is the wrong capture. Nimzovich wrote that it seems 14...Bf7 was necessary. He commented that while black is defending against the individual threats he is not achieving anything by way of clearing up the situation on the light squares. All this seems somewhat esoteric, but it IS a bad move.} (14... Bf7 {and apparently Nimzovich overlooked} 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bxc5 {Black has three captures (16...cad5, 16...Bxd5 and 16...Nxd5), but white retains a clear advantage after each one. Just ti guve inr variation...} Nxd5 17. cxd5 dxc5 18. Re1 Qe7 19. d4 cxd4 20. Qxd4 O-O-O 21. Rxe5 Qf6 22. Rae1 {with what should be a decisive advantage,}) (14... Bxe3 {This move (not mentioned by Nimzovice, perhaps deliberately) very nearly equalizes.} 15. fxe3 Bxd5 16. cxd5 Ne7 {and white cannot claim ant really significant advantae; in Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4}) 15. cxd5 Nd4 16. f4 Qd7 17. b4 Bb6 18. fxe5 dxe5 19. Nxe5 Qe7 20. Nc4 {Black is of course lost, but Mieses' inventiveness in looking for a way to save the game is commendable.} Kd8 {Q-side castling is out of the question.} (20... O-O-O 21. Nxb6+ axb6 22. Bxd4 Nxd5 23. Qb3 Qd6 {White is clearly winning.} 24. Rae1) 21. a4 {This is not as bad as Nimzovich seemed to think when he stated (cirrectly) that there is a win with 21.Re1 or even the fancier 21.d6} (21. d6 cxd6 22. Re1 Qc7 23. Nxb6 Qxb6 {with a clear win.} 24. Qd2) 21... Re8 22. Kh2 Ne2 23. d6 {White let himself be hoodwinked. Simply 23.Qxe2 would have won quite easily. (Nimzovich)} (23. Qxe2 Bxe3 24. Qb2 Qd7 25. Rfe1 Bg5 26. Ne5 Qe7 27. d4 {To the untrained eye it may look like black os OK, but Nimzovich and the engines realize "white is clearly winning."}) 23... cxd6 24. Re1 {This is also a poor move! Capturing on b6 with either piece is better, but there is an even better continuation.} (24. Rf3 Nc3 25. Qb3 Ncd5 26. Nxb6 Nxb6 27. Bd4 Qe6 28. Qxe6 Rxe6 29. a5 Nbd7 30. a6 {and threats along the a8-h1 diagonal prove decisive. A hard line to spot!}) (24. Qxe2 {is simplest.} Bxe3 25. Qf3 {pinning the B. If} d5 26. Rfe1 d4 27. b5 Rb8 28. b6 axb6 29. Rab1 {White has broken through.}) 24... Bxe3 25. Rxe2 Bg1+ 26. Qxg1 Qxe2 {Unfortunately for black, white's "loss of the exchange has force the game away from the normal course of development, but it made no difference to the essential element of the situation - namely the attacking possibilities on the (ligjt) squares." Nimzovich} 27. Nxd6 Re7 28. a5 (28. Qd4 {leads to a quick knocjout.} Rd7 29. Nxb7+ Ke8 (29... Kc8 30. Rc1+ Kb8 31. Qf4+ {mates}) 30. Qc4 Qxd3 31. Qc6) 28... Rd7 29. Re1 Qd2 30. Nc4 Qxb4 31. a6 {[%mdl 32] The attack is not over and this is the breakthrough.} Rc8 32. Rb1 {It's not over 'til it's over. - baseball player Yogi Berra} (32. axb7 Rxb7 33. Bxb7 Qxb7 34. Qd4+ Qd7 35. Qe5 Rc7 {And black is still fghting...for all practical purposes it might even be said he has equalized!}) 32... Qa4 33. axb7 {Nimzovich now proves he can win a won game.} Rb8 34. Qc5 Rc7 35. Qd4+ Nd7 36. Qxg7 Rc5 37. Qh8+ Kc7 38. Qxh6 Qc2 39. Qd6+ Kd8 40. Rf1 Ke8 41. Rf8+ {[%mdl 512] Brilliant! It's mate in 9, so Mieses resigned.} (41. Rf8+ {OK, so the prosaic 31.Qe5+ mates 3 moves sooner...this is prettier.} Nxf8 42. Qxb8+ Kf7 43. Qf4+ Kg7 44. b8=Q Qxg2+ 45. Kxg2 Ne6 46. Qfd6 Rc8 47. Qxc8 Nf4+ 48. gxf4 a6 49. Qcf8+ Kh7 50. Qdh6#) 1-0

A Maze of Complications

    When it comes to World War II one rarely thinks of Cuba, but the country became involved in 1939 because of its geographical location at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. Havana's role as the principal trading port in the West Indies and Cuba's natural resources made it an important participant in the American Theater. 

    Consequently, Cuba was one of the greatest beneficiaries of the United States' Lend-Lease program. Still, Cuba did not declare war on the Axis powers until December 1941, making it one of the first Latin American countries to enter the war. Cuba lost six merchant ships during the war and the Cuban Navy was credited with sinking one German submarine. 

    Before Cuba got fully involved in the war, there was a tournament held in Havana toward the end of January in 1940 that aroused great interest, but only in Cuba. The only major chess magazine in the U.S. in those days was Chess Review and despite the fact that Isaac Kashdan who was one of the country’s top players (along with Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine) won the tournament it received scant mention and only a few games survive. 

    The event was held in one of the mo st beautiful buildings in Havana, the Centro Asturiano. During the evening tourists watched the games. The players we re entertained by various government offices and they were taken on outings by the city’s notable citizens. 

    In the following game Kashdan defeats a player known only as “Paz” in a game that at one point had a maze of tactical possibility that never happened. I was unable to locate any information on Señor Paz, but his play in this game was quite impressive ans he made a good account of himself and nearly succeeded in holding the formidable Isaac Kashdan to a draw.

 

[Event "Havana International"] [Site "Havana CUB"] [Date "1940.01.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Isaac Kashdan"] [Black "Paz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C14"] [Annotator "Stickfish 17/Dragon by Komodo"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "1940.??.??"] [Source "British Chess Ma"] {C14: French: Classical System} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qd2 a6 8. f4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. g3 {White usually plays 10.dxc5, but the slower text has actually yielded better results.} b5 11. Ne2 {Usual is the immediate 11.Bg7} Nb6 12. b3 Bb7 (12... b4 13. Rc1 c4 {with complete equality.}) 13. Bh3 {A P offer which black refuses although he could have safely accepted it.} g6 (13... Nxd4 14. Nexd4 cxd4 15. Qxd4 Nd7 16. O-O Nc5 {White has no continuations that offer more than equality. As for black's extra P, due to the blocked nature of the position and his cramped pieces he has little chance of putting the P to good use. Five Shootouts were uneventful draws.}) 14. O-O Rc8 {The game Is taking a normal course fir the French. White Is planning a K-side attack while black counters on the Q-side. However, black might have considered capturing twice on d4 which would have simplified the position a bit.} 15. Rf2 {A real GM move, This plans to defend the c-Pawn and, at the same time, prepares to double Rs on the f-file.} Nd7 16. Re1 {Evidently this is designed to prevent ...f6} cxd4 {The correct continuation.} (16... f6 17. dxc5 fxe5 18. Nxe5 Nxc5 19. Nxc6 Bxc6 20. Bxe6 Nxe6 21. Nd4 Bd7 22. f5 {and white is winning.}) 17. Nfxd4 ({This is interesting, but not better than the text.} 17. f5 gxf5 18. Bxf5 {Black should now play ...h5-h4 with interesting play, but he must not play} exf5 19. Nfxd4 Ndxe5 20. Nxc6 Rxc6 21. Nd4 f6 22. Nxf5 Qc7 23. Qh6 {with a winning attack. A likely continuation might be} Rg8 24. Nd4 Rd6 25. Rxf6 Rxf6 26. Qxf6 Rg7 27. Rxe5+ Re7 28. Ne6 Qd6 29. Qf8+ Kd7 30. Qd8+ Kc6 31. Nd4+ Kc5 32. b4+ {etc.}) 17... Nc5 {A well-played move that keeps things equal. White must now prevent ...Ne4.} 18. Bg2 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Ne4 {An interesting position. In Chess Review magazine an unidentified annotator called this a positional error because black's Ps are all on the same color as his N which means it is very limited in scope. He added that in addition after the exchange black's P on e4 is very weak and will probably be lost in any resulting ending. Stockfish, however, finds no fault with wither 19...Ne4 or 19...O-O and evaluates the position at dead even. In its evaluation Dragon by Komodo aggres with Stockfish.} 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. b4 {An important restraining move. It also opens up the possibility of Nb4-c5 should the need arise.} Rd8 22. c3 Qc7 23. Qe3 h5 24. h4 O-O {Here or at some point black could also consider repositioning his B with ...Bd5-c4} 25. Kh2 Kg7 26. Ref1 (26. f5 {is tempting, but it doesn't seem to lead to anything either. After} Qxe5 27. Ref1 Bd5 28. f6+ Kh7 29. Nf3 Qc7 30. Ng5+ Kg8 31. Nxe4 Kh7 {White has to take the draw with 32.Ng5+}) 26... Rc8 {[%mdl 8192] With this logical looking move attacking the c-Pawn black finally has slipped up.} (26... Rg8 {renders 27.f5 innocuous.} 27. f5 exf5 28. Qg5 Kf8 29. Qh6+ Ke7 30. e6 Ke8 31. exf7+ Qxf7 32. Nxf5 gxf5 33. Rxf5 Qg6 34. Qxg6+ Rxg6 35. Rf8+ Ke7 36. R8f7+ Ke6 37. Rxb7 {and the double R ending will most likely be drawn.}) 27. f5 {Now this is a knockout punch as it leads to a winning attack.} Bd5 {With this and his next move black avoids some violent white threats, but the ensuing exchanges allow white to obtain a fairly easy ending.} (27... Qxc3 {is no better.} 28. Qxc3 Rxc3 29. fxe6 Rc7 30. exf7 Bd5 31. e6 {and white is winning.}) 28. Qg5 {Wham!! The addition of the Q to the attack is fatal. Black is mow faced with a maze of choices, but none of them help him save the game.} Qd8 {Faced with a maze of choices, Paz chooses the best try. It's not sufficient to save the game, but it's still the best move available.} (28... Qxc3 {This is just as bad as before.} 29. fxg6 fxg6 30. Qe7+ Kh6 31. Rxf8 {[%emt 0:00:07] mates in} Qd2+ 32. R1f2 Qe3 33. R2f7 {Black can only avoid mate by tossing material.}) (28... Qxe5 {is met by} 29. f6+ Kh7 30. Qxe5) (28... exf5 {[%emt 0:00:16] Stockfish spots a mate in} 29. Nxf5+ Kg8 30. Qf6 Qxe5 31. Qxe5 f6 32. Qxd5+ Kh8 33. Qd7 Rg8 34. Nd6 Rg7 35. Qxc8+ Rg8 36. Qd7 Rg7 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Nxe4 g5 39. Nxf6+ Kg6 40. Qh8 Ra7 41. Qxh5+ Kg7 42. Qh7+ Kf8 43. Nh5+ Ke8 44. Rf8#) (28... e3 {This is also a good try as there is no forced win and it leads to complications. For example...} 29. Qxe3 Rce8 30. Qg5 exf5 31. Nxf5+ Kg8 32. Rd1 Ba8 33. Nh6+ Kh7 34. Rd6 Rxe5 (34... Re6 35. Rxe6 fxe6 36. Rxf8) 35. Qxe5 Qb7 {Threatening mate on h1} 36. Rd1 Kxh6 37. Qf4+ Kh7 {White is the exchange up and theoretically at least should win.}) 29. fxe6 {Kashdan misses a stronger, but hard to see, line.} (29. Qe3 {is more deadly.} Qc7 30. Qg5 Qd8 {and white has a nice finish.} 31. Nxe6+ Bxe6 32. fxe6 Qxg5 33. Rxf7+ Rxf7 34. Rxf7+ Kg8 35. hxg5 Rxc3 36. Rf6 Rc7 37. Kg2 {White picks off the e-Pawn and wins the ending.}) 29... Qxg5 30. hxg5 {White now has only a modest advantage, but Kashdan was one of the best endgame players in the world and so practically speaking black us facing a difficult task trying to hold the game.} (30. Rxf7+ {is not nearly as god as the text!} Rxf7 31. Rxf7+ Kg8 32. hxg5 Bxe6 33. Rf6 Bg4 34. Rxg6+ Kh7 35. Rc6 Re8 36. e6 e3 37. Kg2 e2 {It's doubtful that white can win. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4}) 30... fxe6 {Missing his last chance to try and save the game.} (30... Rc7 {keeps white's advantage at a minimum after} 31. Kg1 e3 32. Rxf7+ Rcxf7 33. exf7 Rxf7 34. Re1 {White needs to keep the R on if he wants to have any chance at winning.} Rf2 35. Rxe3 Rg2+ (35... Rxa2 {at once would lead to an eventual loss.} 36. e6 Kf8 {Black has problems in that his R is out of play.} 37. Ne2 Ke7 38. Nf4 Bc4 39. Nxg6+) 36. Kf1 Rxa2) 31. Rxf8 Rxf8 32. Rxf8 Kxf8 {[%mdl 4096] Kashdan now gets to strut his stuff in the ending.} 33. a3 e3 34. Kg1 Ke7 35. Nc2 e2 36. Kf2 Bc4 37. Ne3 {Played to bring the K to a strong square.} (37. Nd4 {was sufficient to win though as it wins the e-Pawn.} Kd7 38. Nxe2 Kc6 39. Nf4 Ba2 40. Ke3 {followed by Kd4 keeping the black K out and then a K-side P falls..}) 37... Bd3 38. Ng2 Bc4 39. Nf4 Kd7 40. Nxg6 Ke8 41. Nf4 {[%csl Be2,Bh5]} Kf7 42. Nxh5 Kg6 43. Nf4+ Kxg5 44. Nxe2 Kf5 45. Ke3 Kxe5 46. Nf4 Kf5 47. Nd3 {Black resigned. The threat is Nc5 winning the a-Pawn. Paz put up a good fight, but Kashdan's play was just a bit more precise.} (47. Nd3 Bxd3 48. Kxd3 Kg4 49. Ke4 Kxg3 50. Ke5 Kf3 51. Kxe6 Ke3 52. Kd5 Kd3 53. Kc6 Kxc3 54. Kb6 Kb3 55. Kxa6 Kc4 56. Ka5 {and the b-Pawn falls,}) 1-0

A Paul Keres Correspondence Brilliancy

    The legendary Estonian Paul Keres (1916-1975, 59 years old) was one of the strongest players never to win the World Championship. He was universally admired for his clear-cut style of play and chivalrous personality. Born in Narva, Estonia his family moved back to Parnu roght after WW I. 

    He was very active in correspondence play during his youth and the following brilliancy prize game is an example of his correspondence play in which he defeated a prominent correspondence player of the era. The game was played in an international correspondence tournament. 

    Fred Reinfeld claimed that this game is the earliest known game in which Keres carries out an attack in the grand manner that he was known for. Reinfeild added that, "One can only marvel at the poise and sophistication of the youthful victor.” You can view a post card sent by von Feilitzsch HERE.

[Event "Int'l Correspondence Tmt"] [Site ""] [Date "1932.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "M. von Feilitzsch"] [Black "Paul Keres"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C22"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "1932.??.??"] {C22: Center Game} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 {This antiquated opening was mostly abandoned by 1900 because it gives white no advabtage. In the 1980s strong tactical players like Alexander Shabalov and later Alexei Shirov, Michael Adams, Judit Polgár and Alexander Morozevich revived it, but it never caught on.} exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 {This is the nearly universal reply; white loses a tempo.} 4. Qe3 {This, the Paulsen Attack, is undoubtedly the best place for the Q.} Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 O-O 7. O-O-O Re8 8. Bc4 {Usual is 7.Qg3, but the move played is an attempt to obtain a speculative attack at the cost of a Pawn.} d6 {[%mdl 32] Keres suggested 8...Na5 and ...d5} (8... Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Nxe4 10. Qf4 {with equal chances as in Winawer-Steinitz, Nuremberg, 1890., but Keres prefers to take the offensive}) (8... Na5 {was a suggestion of Keresm but after} 9. Be2 d5 {Also suggested by Keres.} 10. Nxd5 Nxd5 11. Qd3 Qf6 12. Qxd5 {the chances are equal.}) 9. f3 {Instead of this defensive move white should probably have developed with 9.Nf3} Na5 (9... Ne5 {wa superior.} 10. Bb3 a5 11. a4 c6 12. Nge2 b5 {and black is developing a dangerous initiative.}) 10. Bd3 (10. Bb3 Nxb3+ 11. axb3 a5 12. Qf2 Bd7 13. Nge2 a4 14. bxa4 Bxa4 15. Nb1 {Black is better. Romero Holmes,A (2490)-Karpov,A (2725) Madrid 1992}) 10... d5 {Freeing himself.} 11. Qg5 h6 (11... d4 {White should now play 12.Nd5 with equal chances and not} 12. Nce2 h6 13. Qg3 Bxd2+ 14. Rxd2 c5 15. c3 Nc6 16. Bb5 Qa5 17. Bxc6 bxc6 {and black has a decisive advantage. Rudd,J (2288)-Rayner,F (2166) Hastings ENG 2013}) 12. Qh4 d4 13. Nce2 {Too passive. 13.Nd5 was better.} Bxd2+ 14. Rxd2 c5 {White is not only sadly lagging in his development, but he is also facing aP- storm against jis K.} 15. c4 {This only makes matters worse as it weakens his dark squares, but ot's hard to suggest anything that could really be considered better.} Be6 16. b3 {It's futile to try and avoid this weakening move.} b5 {The attack begins in earnest. Black is winning.} 17. Nf4 {Making way to develop the other N.} bxc4 18. Nxe6 Rxe6 19. bxc4 Rb8 20. Ne2 Qb6 {Black's P advances gave resulted in the opening of the b-file which he now proceeds to exploit.} 21. Kd1 Qb4 22. Qg3 Nd7 {There is more to this unassuming move than meets the eye. It defends the R and in doing so freeing the Q-and at the same time makes room for his other R along the third rank. But it also prepares some spectacular play/} 23. Rc2 Qa3 24. f4 {There is nothing better, but Keres refutes it in spectacular fashion.} Rg6 25. Qf3 {Watch this...} Rxg2 {[%mdl 512] This R cannot be taken.} 26. e5 {A last hope. This keeps the R under attack and threatens to win black's Q with Bh7+} (26. Qxg2 Qxd3+ 27. Rd2 Rb1+ 28. Nc1 Qa3 29. Rc2 d3 {wins.}) 26... Rb1+ {A nice finale.} 27. Rc1 Nxc4 {[%mdl 512]} 28. Rxb1 Ne3+ 29. Qxe3 dxe3 30. Bc4 Qa4+ 31. Bb3 Qe4 32. Rb2 {Keres is not done with impressive moves!} Rxe2 {White resigned.} (32... Rxe2 33. Kxe2 (33. Rxe2 Qb1#) 33... Qxh1 34. Kxe3 Qc1+) 0-1

Mikhail Yudovich, Sr.

    The obscure Soviet Master, writer and journalist Mikhail Yudovich (1911-1987) was born in Roslavl in central Russia and is known mostly as co-author with Kotov of the book The Soviet School of Chess. 

    In 1930, he tied for 5–9th in the Moscow Championship and in 1931, he took 4th in the same event, and shared 3rd in the USSR Championship in Moscow (Botvinnik won). He was the Soviet Correspondence Champion in 1966. 

    Yudovich was awarded the titles of International Master in 1950, International Correspondence Master in 1961, and International Correspondence Grandmaster in 1973. His son, Yudivuch, Jr. (1932-1992) was also a strong player. And that;s about ll that is known of him. Chessnetrics estimates his highest ever world rank to have been #46 in 1937 with a rating of 2580. 

    The following game was played in 1937 in a small tournament held in Moscow as a sort of tuneup for some of the Soviet players for upcoming tournaments in Margate, England, Kemeri, Latvia and the International Team Tournament. 

    Reuben Fine was visiting Russia and besides the Moscow event participated in another small tournaments in Leningrad which he also won. 

    During his brief stay in Russia his time was occupied principally with chess, but he wrote that he also had many deep impressions of life in Russia. One thing he commented on was the “thirst for knowledge”; for example, studies of mathematics, languages and engineering. Aside from that, what caught his attention was people’s enthusiasm for work and for life itself. He saw it as a sign of a new, rising culture. 

    One wonders if Fine was aware that in 1937, Russia was in the midst of the Great Purge, a period of political repression that took place from 1936 to 1938. It was a way for Joseph Stalin to consolidate his power and eliminate his political opponents. Some of the events that took place included the arrest of worker responsible for what was considered a harmful population growth. 

    Then there were the Moscow trials that saw many party, government and economic activists branded as enemies. In the Polish Operation the NKVD arrested people of Polish background, including peasants, railway workers, industrial laborers and engineers. 

    Fine wrote that one of the signs of this new culture was particularly apparent in the field of chess. Chess books were being sold in the tens of thousands and every chess player considered it necessary to read all the books on chess that they could get. 

    He also observed that practically everyone in the county was interested in chess and spectators at tournaments displayed extraordinary interest and applause was a common occurrence. 

    Fine was impressed with the Soviet masters who, he said, confirmed his observations that they all apply themselves diligently and persistently. They were not only familiar with all the Soviet chess literature, but also with the foreign. 

    Fine was invited to play in these two tournaments to test the young, inexperienced Soviet players. The head of Soviet chess Nikolai Krylenko was very angry with the their play. When he asked, "Can't somebody beat Fine?",  Yudovich announced that he would. When asked how he expected to do it, Yudovich showed Krylenko an obscure game that Fine had won and future GM  Ragozin had found a mistake in Fine's play that refuted the line.

    Fine gave the following game he lost to Yudovich as an example. Yudovich “bluntly refuted” one of Fine’s favorite variations. Fine also found it interesting that practically all the Soviet masters favored energetic attacking play and did not fear a loss. 

 

Tactical Blows by Kotov

    Today’s game is another instructive win by Alexander Kotov. This time the victum was the English IM Harry Golombek (1911-1995, 83 years old). Born in London, he warded the IM title at its inception in 1950 and an Emeritus GM title in 1985. Golombek was British Champion in 1947, 1949 and 1955. He was an accomplished author with biographies on Capablanca and Reti as well as other lesser known chess books. 

 

 

 

 

 

    In this game Kotov again demonstrates his tactical prowess. We all enjoy tactics and this game shows how sometimes in a very deeply calculated variation a surprise tactic is lurking. And, sometimes they are found only by accident. In this game Kotov used a tactical blows to solve a comp1icated strategical problem.

 

[Event "Venice ITA"] [Site "Venice ITA"] [Date "1950.10.??"] [Round "11"] [White "Alexander Kotov"] [Black "Harry Golombek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E24"] [Annotator "Stockfosh 17"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1950.??.??"] {E24: Nimzo-Indian: Saemisch} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {This sharp move, the Saemisch Variation, has fallen into disuse in favor of the Rubinstein Variation (4,e3) or the Capablanca Variation (4.Qb2). Originally 4. a3 was a direct attempt to refute the Nimzo0Indian. White accepts doubled Ps to get the two Bs.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 {Black has several possibilities; the most common is to blockade the c-Pawns with 5....c5 and then proceed to attack them with ...b6, ...Ba6, ... Nc6-a5 and ...Rc8. As compensation, white gets a strong P-center.} d6 {This seldom played move has not proven very successful.} 6. f3 (6. e4 {This is an interesting move suggested by Stockfish which has been played only rarely. In the few example I foind black always played 6...e6, bit theengine line looks intriguing.} Nxe4 7. Qg4 f5 8. Qxg7 Qf6 9. Qxf6 Nxf6 10. Bd3 {with equal chances.}) 6... e5 {Golombek choose a system that aims to restrict the advance of white;s Ps. White's goal is now to break thorough while black will try to consolidate his position.} (6... c5 {is an alternative. } 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be3 b6 9. Bd3 {and black can play either 9...Na5 or 9...e5 with equal chances.}) 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be3 (8. Bg5 Qe7 9. Ne2 Bd7 10. Ng3 h6 {with equality. Bosiocic,M (2562)-Postny,E (2662) 13. EICC Plovdiv BUL 2012}) 8... b6 9. Bd3 O-O (9... Na5 10. Qe2 c5 11. g4 Qe7 12. h4 Ba6 13. d5 O-O-O {equals. Malinovsky,P (1971)-Rocha,S (2316) World Senior 50+ 2022 Assisi ITA}) 10. Ne2 Ba6 (10... Na5 11. Ng3 c5 12. d5 a6 13. Qe2 Qc7 {White has the more active position. Dimitrov,R (2437)-Emiroglu,C (2260) 52. World Juniors Kocaeli TUR 2013}) 11. Ng3 {This makes room for the Q on e2 in the event black plays ... Na5 with a double attack on the P on c4. In failing to play 11...Na5 Golobek's position begins to deteriorate.} Qd7 {The Q is badly placed here as it allows white to carry out a P maneuver which secures him a positional advantage.} 12. Nf5 {Even better was 12.O-O and 13.f4} Ne8 {This move is too pssive. On order to stay in the game b;ack needs to play energetically.} (12... Kh8 {A high class waiting move.} 13. Bg5 (13. f4 {would be a mistake because after} exf4 14. Bxf4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Rae8 16. O-O (16. Qf3 Qxf5) 16... Rxe4 {Black is much better/}) 13... Nh5 14. d5 Na5 {with equal chances.}) (12... Nh5) 13. f4 f6 ( 13... exf4 {This is ineffective with the N on e8 and not f6.} 14. Bxf4 Ne7 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. O-O {with an active position.}) (13... Ne7 {Challenging the N on e5 is his best try. After} 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. O-O {Black has two moves that give him some active play: 15...f5 and 15...c5?!}) 14. d5 {White has to play vigorously or else black will generate counterplay on the Q-side. Consequently, Kotov decides to block the center which sets a clever tactical trap.} Na5 { Attacking the c-Pawn is routine and quite logical, but Golombek has not noticed the lurking dangers. Although white still has the better of it, challenging the N on e5 with 14...Ne7 was better.} 15. c5 {[%mdl 544] Kotov makes an astute observation stating that "tactics are the service of strategy. " With this move white turns the weak c4 square into a strong styrategic outpost. that practically decides the outcome. Whi te's strong P-formation separates so that they are unable to offer any coordinated resistance.} Bxd3 16. c6 {Driving a serious wedge in black's position.} Qd8 17. Qxd3 {Notice how poorly placed all of black's pieces are.} g6 18. Nh6+ Kg7 19. f5 {Beginning the final assault against which black is destitute of any real defensive resources.} g5 {WIth the pitiful hope yjay his opponent will allow the K-side to be locked up.} 20. h4 (20. Ng4 h5 21. Nf2 Nb3 {and black can offer some resistance.}) 20... Nb3 {Of course the N cannot be taken.} (20... Kxh6 21. hxg5+ Kg7 22. g6 Rh8 23. Qe2 {White adds his Q to the fray.} Kg8 24. Qg4 Ng7 25. Rh6 {Intending to double on the h-file.} Qe7 26. Qh4 {wins.}) 21. Rb1 Nc5 22. Bxc5 dxc5 {Black is completely helpless.} 23. Qg3 Kh8 (23... g4 {is just a fraction better.} 24. Nxg4 Qe7 25. Nf2+ Kh8 26. Qe3 Rg8 {with a very faint hope that he can use the g-file to beat back the attack.} 27. g4 {...but it's not likely; black's pieces are just too limited in scope.}) 24. hxg5 fxg5 25. Ng4 Nf6 26. Qxe5 Qd6 {Leading to mate is 26 ... Qe8 27 Nxf6 Qxe5 28 Rxh7. Now, however, the exchange of queens and knights is forced, after which the rook ending is won without difficulty for White thanks to the menacing c6 pawn.} ( 26... Qe8 {hoping to trade Qs is met by} 27. Nxf6 {which eventually leads to mate. Black cannot play} Qxe5 28. Rxh7#) 27. Qxd6 {[%mdl 64]} cxd6 28. Nxf6 Rxf6 {[%mdl 4096] Golombek has successfully beaten off the attack and reached a double R ending whicj are often difficult for the superior side to win. but here white plays with gfreat finesse and opens files for his Rs while black's are powerless.} 29. Kd2 Re8 30. Kd3 Kg7 31. a4 {Kotov begins a very clever winning maneuver.} Rf7 32. a5 {[%mdl 512]} bxa5 33. g4 Rfe7 34. Rhe1 Kf6 { One might expect white to attempt some sort of a R invasion on the a- or h-file, nut he has a tactical trick up his sleeve that results in two connected passed Ps on d5 and c6 which are decisive.} 35. e5+ {[%mdl 512] Decisive. Golombek's play was actually quite good, but Kotov's was even better! } (35. e5+ {A sample line might be} dxe5 36. Ke4 {Black has no useful move.} Rd8 37. Rh1 Rf7 38. d6 {There was no way to prevent this.} a4 39. c7 Rc8 40. Rh6+ Kg7 41. Rb8 Kxh6 42. Rxc8 a3 43. Rg8 a2 44. c8=Q a1=Q 45. Qe6+ Rf6 46. Qxf6#) 1-0

Losing in the Opening

    The earliest known work on theory was by the Spaniard Luis Ramirez de Lucena, published around 1497. It included, among other things, analysis of eleven openings. Although he did not use the names they are known by today, the analysis included the Giuoco Piano, Ruy Lopez, Petrov's Defense, Bishop's Opening, Damiano's Defense and the Scandinavian Defense. 

    Appearing at about the same time was the Gottingen Manuscript which includes openings now known as Damiano's Defence, Philidor's Defense, the Giuoco Piano, Petrov's Defense, the Bishop's Opening, the Ruy Lopez, the Ponziani Opening, the Queen's Gambit Accepted, a form of the London System, Bird's Opening and the English. 

    The first author to attempt a comprehensive survey of the openings was Aaron Alexandre in 1837. The Russian player CarlJaenisch produced the first openings analysis on modern openings in 1842. 

    In 1843, Paul von Bilguer published the German Handbuch des Schachspiels, which which went through several editions, the last being published in 1916 It was one of the most important opening references for years. 

     In 1911, R. C. Griffith and J. H. White published the first edition of Modern Chess Openings. It was the standard reference for decades and sometime annotated games included the location in MCO where the line could be found. MCO-11 was the opening book I grew up with!

    In 1943, Reuben Fine published Ideas Behind the Chess Openings which sought to explain the principles underlying the openings. In 1948, he published Practical Chess Openings, a competitor to MCO.

    In 1964, I.A. Horowitz published Chess Openings: Theory and Practice, which in addition to opening analysis includes a large number of illustrative games. Neither Fine’s nor Horowitz’ opening books succeeded in taking the place of MCO.

    A major advance in opening theory came in the days of Nimzovich and the Hypermoderns who claimed control of the center from the flanks, rather than its occupation, was effective.

    Alekhine et al also contributed to opening theory. Their idea idea was that it was necessary to take into account a11 the features of the position and look at all its characteristics. Only then was it possible to select the best move. As a result, sometimes it was possible to establish a winning position right in the opening and that is exactly what Kotov accomplished in the following game. The game lasted 33 moves, but white was lost at move 8! 

    Alexander Kotov was born in Tula. He was a Soviet Champions and two time participant in the Candidate tournaments. A prolific author, he is probably best remembered for his book Think Like A Grand master. 

     His opponent, Bukhuti Gurgenidze (1933-2008, 74 yeas old) was awarded the IM title in 1968 and the GM title in 1970. He won the Georgian Championship twelve times between 1955 and 1973. This game was played in 1954 in the Semi-Finals of the USSR Championship which was won by Vladimir Antoshin ahead of Kotov. Gurgenidze finished tenth (out of 16)

.

[Event "Semi-Finals USSR Chp, Yerevan"] [Site "Yerevan URS"] [Date "1954.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bukhuti Gurgenidze"] [Black "Alexander Kotov"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B23"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "1954.??.??"] {B23: Closed Sicilian} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {In this, the the Closed Variation, white doesn’t open the center with an early d2-d4. Instead, he often fianchettos the light B and plans to slowly build up on the K-side.} Nc6 3. Nge2 {The setup white adopts in this game has not neem very successful and the N pn e2 is not especially well placed.} Nf6 4. g3 {This move, also, is not very highly recommended because, as Kotov explained, the white squares οn the K-side are weakened ίη that brief moment when the B is still onm f1. Kotov's mext coi[le pf moves demonstrate the concept quite clearly!} d5 {Kotov, realizing he has no time to lose, acts with great energy. If he doesn't act immediately then in a couple of moves white will placed his B on g2 and castle when his position would be solid.} 5. exd5 Nd4 {By threatening ...Nf3 black exploits the momentary weakness of the white squares.} 6. Bg2 (6. Nxd4 { is not satisfactory because of...} cxd4 7. Nb5 {to which Kotov intended to answer with 7...Qb3, but has better with...} e5 {White has no really satisfactory reply.} 8. dxe6 Bxe6 9. Bg2 Bc4 {The N is trapped because if} 10. a4 Qe7+ 11. Be4 Qxe4+ 12. Qe2 Qxe2#) 6... Bg4 7. d3 {A natural move, but is is also where white starts to go wrong. In this case it's a simple one move delay in castling.} (7. h3 Bf3 8. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 9. Kf1 {has been seen in a few games and while theoretically the position is equal white has not done especially well indicating that practically speaking black has good chances.}) (7. O-O { is, as might be expected, his best continuation.} Bf3 (7... Nxd5 8. f3 Bf5 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 {Here, too, black appears to have something of an advantage, but it's probably not enough that he can demonstrate a clear superiority.}) 8. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 9. Kg2 Nd4 {White's kight squares on the K-side are weakened and the d-Pawn is a goner, but b;ack, who is lagging in development, probablt cannot untilize those factors.}) 7... Nxd5 8. Bxd5 { [%mdl 8192] This loses! Gurgenidze did not realize how effective the Q will be on d5.} (8. Qd2 {was necessary, but black has the edge after} Nf3+ 9. Bxf3 Bxf3 10. Rg1 e6) 8... Qxd5 {Simple and decisive.} 9. f3 {It was probably here that Gurgenidze realized he can't take the Q.} (9. Nxd5 {leads to mate.} Nf3+ 10. Kf1 Bh3#) 9... Qxf3 {The game is already decided, but white can hardly resign after only 9 moves; it would just be too embarrassing.} 10. Rf1 Qg2 11. Be3 Nf3+ {Things can't get much worse for white.} 12. Rxf3 Qxf3 13. Bxc5 {White has a N+P vs. a R, but worse than the material deficit is his miserable position.} h5 {Planning to rip white's K-side to shreds.} 14. Kd2 g6 15. Be3 h4 16. Qg1 hxg3 17. hxg3 Bh3 {Mission accomplished. The next step is an invasion on the K-side.} 18. Nb5 Rc8 19. Re1 a6 20. Nbd4 Qg2 21. Qxg2 Bxg2 22. Nf4 Bh1 23. Bg1 Bg7 24. c4 Rd8 25. Nc2 e5 26. d4 Kf8 27. Ne2 {White cannot claim to have even one well placed piece.} exd4 28. Ncxd4 Bf3 29. Ke3 Bg4 30. Kf4 Bxe2 31. Nxe2 Rd2 {Not only are white's three pieces useless his K is exposed.} 32. Nc3 Rh5 33. Nd5 Bd4 {White resigned. His opening lead to a catastrophic debacle in a nearly flawlessly played game by Kotov!} 0-1

Fritz 19 Opponents

    The last several days have brought our first nasty weather. It’s been cold dreary and we had our first snow. Now today it's warmed up with solid overcast and drizzle; it ‘s a good day to play a couple of test games against the personalities on my fairly new Fritz 19 program. 

    I don’t really enjoy playing against engines, but wanted to at least test the feature. I have read a number of reviews of Fritz 19 and am surprised at how many people have found fault with the program. I have several ChessBase programs and have had no difficulties with them whatsoever. One person found it offensive that ChessBase used animal avatars for the personalities! 

    Fritz 19’s pre-set opponents are: Beginner, Hobby Player, Club Player, Strong Club Player, Master Candidate and Grandmaster. For each opponent you can choose a style: All Around, Aggressive, Swindler, Positional, Timid and Endgaome Specialists. 

    I have no idea and have been unable to locate an estimated rating for any of the personalities. I am guessing a Club Player would fall in the range of 1700-1800 and Strong Club Player 2000-2100. 

    These personalities with their different playing style could be fun for those who enjoy playing against engines and it could also be good training for those who arr actually hoping to improve. 

    In any case, here is a casual game I played against the Positiona; Hobby Player personality. I played two casula games lasting about 15-20 minutes each. One against the Aggressive Club Player and one against the Positional Hobby Player. I defeated the Aggressive Club Player in a game in which we both played sloppy chess. It seemed the engine was giving me tactical chances, most of which I missed. 

    The second game against the Positional Club Player was more difficult and was actually instructive. The personality put up strong resistance and when we reached the critical position I missed the best line and went into an ending that proved to be pretty difficult, at least for me. 

    Analyzing the game with Stockfish leads me to believe that the game could very well have been played by a couple of non-Masters. In conclusion, although I still prefer live opponent, I think the personalities do make good sparring partners. 

[Event "Casual Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Positional Hobby Player"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D03"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2024.12.09"] {D03: Torre Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 {This old favorite of mine, the Torre Attack, is rarely seen in modern play. White sims quick development and hopes to obtain attacking chances on the K-side.} Ne4 {Black usually plays 3... e6, but this move is a crucial continuation as it questions the early B move and prepares for quick counterplay.in the center. Black hopes to seize the initiative by gaining a tempo on the B.White's main choices are 4.Bf4 and 4.Bh4 } 4. Bh4 {This move leaves the B on a less active square, but the hope is that it will interfere with black’s development. The disadvantage is that it has no effect on the Q-side and so allows black to prepare pressure against the P on b2 by ...c5 and ...Qb6.} (4. Bf4 {This is the more principled continuation. After 4..c5. white has to support the center with either c3 or e3.} c5 5. e3 Nc6 {White can now play just about any reasonable move.}) 4... c6 {This is solid, but passive. More robust was 4...c5} 5. Nbd2 g6 {A novelty, but the finchetto is a very solid approach.} (5... Nxd2 6. Qxd2 Qb6 7. c3 Bf5 8. e3 e6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Qb5 {an here Leuba,D (2295)-Kamber,B (2270) Suhr 1991 agreed to a draw.}) (5... Bf5 6. e3 {Equally good was 6.Nxe4} Qb6 {with equality/ Moran Llera,J-Gadeo Colomina,F (2088) Linares 2005}) (5... Qa5 6. c3 Bf5 7. Nxe4 Bxe4 8. e3 Nd7 9. Bd3 Nf6 {Boring! Pyrzynski,M (1980)-Velecky,V (2104) Polanica Zdroj 2006}) 6. e3 Qa5 7. c3 Bg4 {Black would have dine better capruring on d2 or retreating to d6.} 8. Be2 {This is too routine. 8.h3 was more precise.} Bg7 9. O-O O-O {An outright error losing a P. 10...Nxd2 was best } 10. h3 {I must confess that I totally overlooked the win of a P with 10.Bxe7} Bxf3 11. Nxf3 {Now I realized black's e-Pawn was attacked, but so did the Hobby Player!} e6 12. Qb3 b5 {This is the wrong reaction to the attack on the b-Pawn. 11...Qc7 or 11...Qb6 are acceptable.} 13. a4 {With no prospects on the K-side white's attention turns to the Q-side.} Nd7 {A mistake that loses a P and leaves white with a decisive advantage. Correct was 13...bxa4} 14. axb5 Qc7 15. bxc6 Qxc6 16. Rfc1 a5 17. Bb5 Qc7 18. c4 Qd6 {Here I did npt see any clear way of forcing the issue on the Q-side so decided to switch operations back to the K-side/} 19. Ng5 (19. cxd5 {is crushing.} exd5 20. Bc6 {picks up the d-Pawn after which black os quite helpless.}) 19... Nd2 20. Qd3 Nxc4 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Qxc4 Nb6 23. Qc5 Qd8 {A tactical mistake. Trading Qs would have at least kept black on the game.} 24. Nxh7 {[%mdl 512] Attacking both the Q and R. } Qxh4 25. Nxf8 Qd8 {Why give up another P?!} 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Qc7 e5 28. Qxd8+ Rxd8 {It would seem the ending is easilt won for white.} 29. Rc6 (29. dxe5 Bxe5 30. Rxa5 Bxb2 {is won, but there looks to be a lot of technical problems for white to solve.}) 29... Nd5 30. Rxg6 Kf7 31. Ra6 exd4 32. exd4 Bxd4 33. R1xa5 {I thought about resigning for the machine here, but decided to play on not realizing that black still has some play keft.} Nb4 34. Ra8 Rd6 35. Rb5 Nd3 36. Rb7+ Kg6 {How can I meet the attack on f2?} 37. Rc8 {Not this way!} (37. Rg8+ {Like this!} Kf5 (37... Kh5 38. Rf7 Kh6 39. Kf1) 38. Rf7+ Ke6 39. Rg6+) 37... Bxf2+ 38. Kf1 Kg5 {[%mdl 8192] Missing the opportunity equalize.} ( 38... Re6 39. Rg8+ Kf6 {Mate is threatened with ,,,Re1# so...} 40. g3 Re1+ 41. Kg2 Bc5 {and theoretically the chances are equal. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4}) 39. Rg8+ Kh6 40. b4 {Playing on the wrong side of the board!} (40. g4 { and white stays cle on top as g5+ would win.} Bh4 41. Rh8+ Kg5 42. Ke2 Nc1+ 43. Ke3 {White gets his K into play and black's pieces are tied up.}) 40... Re6 { Threatening ...Re1#} 41. g4 Re5 {[%mdl 8192] A tacticl mistake that should have lost outright. 41...Bh4 and ...Bf6 makes it much more difficulr for white to make progress.} 42. g5+ {An excellent move that simplfies into an ending that is easier to win.} Rxg5 43. Rxg5 Kxg5 44. b5 {Of course 44.Ke2 wins a piece. As things are bow winning is not so easy! Stockfish is giving me about a 5 Pawn advantage, but I do not play at Stockfish's level,} Nc5 45. Rc7 Ne4 46. Rc6 Kf5 47. b6 Bxb6 48. Rxb6 {[%mdl 4096] White must be very careful not to lose the P and be left with a R vs N>} Nd2+ 49. Ke2 Nc4 50. Rb5+ Ke4 51. Rb4 Kd5 52. h4 {This required a bit of calculation to maje sure the P cannot be stopped!} (52. Rxc4 Kxc4 53. Kf3 (53. Ke3 Kd5 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Kg5 Kf7 {draws}) 53... Kd5 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Kg5 Kf7 56. h4 Kg7 57. h5 Kf7 {The P can;t be forced to h8 so the game is drawn.}) 52... Ne5 53. Rb5+ Ke6 54. h5 Kf6 55. h6 Ng6 { This ending is turning out to be nuch tougher than expected!} 56. Rb6+ Kf7 57. h7 Nh8 58. Rb7+ {Now all white needs to do is bring up the K.} Kg6 59. Kf3 Kf6 60. Ke4 Kg6 61. Ke5 Nf7+ (61... Kh6 62. Kf5 Kh5 63. Rb8 Ng6 64. h8=Q+ {wins}) ( 61... Kg5 62. Rg7+ Kh6 63. Kf6 Kh5 64. Rg8 {wins/}) 62. Rxf7 Kxf7 63. h8=Q { Here I did something you can't do in a real game...I resigned for my opponent.} 1-0

John Littlewood, Always Dangerous

    English FM John Littlewood (1931-2009) was always a dangerous opponent who on a good day could defeat anybody. In any tournament he played in he was always skulking about waiting to ambush the unwary. An enterprising player, he was not in the least timid about sacrificing material. You can read his complete biography HERE. 

    His opponent in the following game was Edwin Bhend (born in 1931) was awarded the IM title in 1960 and was Swiss champion in 1966. He represented Switzerland in 10 Chess Olympiads from 1952 to 1982. According to the FIDE web site Bhend is still active at the age of 93! 

    The following game, played at the Clare Benedict Team Tournament in 1961, features a spirited attack combined with silois positional play. 

    The Clare Benedict Cup was a team tournament for teams from Western and Northern Europe, which took place 23 times from 1953 to 1979. Clare Benedict (1871–1961), a distant relative of author James Fenimore Cooper, was author and patron. She was originally from Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Switzerland in 1945, where she founded the tournament.

 

 

    The English team was Jonathan Penrose, Peter Clarke, Michael Haygarth and Littlewood. The Swiss team was Dieter Keller, Max Blau, Edgar Walther, Bhend and Hans Johner. 

[Event "Clare Benedict Cup"] [Site "Neuhausen SUI"] [Date "1961.04.05"] [Round "?"] [White "John Littlewood (England)"] [Black "Edwin Bhend (Switzerland)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B11"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "1961.04.05"] {B11: Caro-Kann: Two Knights Variation} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d4 Nf6 7. Bd3 {At the time this was line was quite familiar from the 1958 Smyslov·Botvinnik return match, but here Littlewood essays what was at the time a much recommended, but rarely trie Pawn sacrifice. Today it has become the main continuation. For the Pawn white obtains the better development, open lines and a dangerous initiative. However, with caredul play black should be abe putup an adequate defense.} dxe4 8. Nxe4 Qxd4 9. Be3 Qd8 {Black had three other possibilities: 9...Qxb2 which is too dangerous, 9...Qe5 and 9...Bb4+ (recommended. The text may be considered the safest continuation} 10. O-O-O {[%mdl 1024]} Nbd7 11. Qg3 (11. Bc4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 Be7 13. Rhe1 O-O 14. Bxe6 {In this complicated position white is better, but in Mamedov,R (2657)-Eljanov,P (2717) Berlin 2015 he only managed to draw.}) 11... Qa5 12. Kb1 Nd5 {Black has difficulty coordinat his development; however, his position is basically sound.} (12... O-O-O 13. Ng5 Ne5 14. Be2 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 {lead to a quicj draw in Hujbert,F (2444)-Wang,P (2455) Budapest 2014}) 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. f4 O-O-O 15. c4 N5f6 16. Bc3 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Nc5 {Oddly, this move leaves black with a difficult game. The neutral 17...h6 keeps the balance. Or, if black is feeling adventerous he can play 17...Be7} 18. Rxd8+ Qxd8 19. Bc2 f6 {Suddenly it becomes clear that white has the better position. The pressure he exerts against black's K-side is more than enough compensation for the P especially now that black has weakened his e-Pawn.} 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. Qe3 {A fine multi-purpose move! It threatens both the e-Pawn and the a-Pawn (after b4) and allows him to advance on the K-side with g4.} a5 {A slightly safer way of guarding the a-Pawn was 21...Kb8} 22. a3 Kb8 23. b4 axb4 24. axb4 Na6 25. c5 (25. Qxe6 {is inferior.} Bxb4 26. Bxb4 Nxb4 27. Rd7 Qa5 {Threatening mate on a2, so...} 28. Kc1 Qa1+ 29. Kd2 Qb2 {and black is better.}) 25... Qc8 26. g4 {White has tied down the black Q-side and so he now turns his attention to the K-side. Still, there is no reason for black to panic because with care his position is solid enough to withstand the pressure.} (26. Qg3 {is technically stronger because black will have to retuen the P in order to complete his development.} Nc7 27. Kb2 {A waiting move.} Be7 28. Qxg7 Qf8 29. Qxf8+ Rxf8 30. f5 {This is even better that capturing the h-Pawn.} e5 31. Bb3 {White has a positional advantage, but can ge win? It seems unlikely as 5 Shootout ganes were drawn.}) 26... Nc7 27. g5 Be7 (27... Nd5 {loses in a nifty fashion...} 28. Rxd5 {[%mdl 512]} exd5 29. gxf6 $18 gxf6 (29... b5 30. fxg7) 30. Bxf6 Rg8 31. Be5+) 28. gxf6 Bxf6 29. Be5 {Although not fatal, practically speaking this piun causes black some anxiety. At least one annotator (pre-engine) based hos evaluation on the games outcome and claimed that black was lost. We engine users know that the game is dead equal...theoretically that is; black must defend accurately which is earier for Stockfish than a human!} Rd8 30. Rd6 Ka7 31. Qa3+ {Unable to make progess on the K-side, Littlewood switches back to the Q-side.} Na6 32. Qa5 {Hoping for b5.} Rxd6 (32... Be7 {The pre-engine annotator recommeded this as black's best chance, bit it's his worst...it loses.} 33. b5 Rxd6 34. cxd6 Bd8 35. Qc3 {and the N is lost.}) 33. Qb6+ Ka8 34. cxd6 Bd8 35. Qd4 {Threatens to win with d7.} Qd7 36. Bd3 g6 37. Qa1 Ka7 38. Bd4+ Kb8 39. Qa4 Qf7 40. Be5 {In spite of white's best efforts black has been holding on, but his next move is a slip that should have allowed white to invigorate his position.} Ka7 {[%mdl 8192] Walking into a pin is rarely a good idea and this move is no exceptiom to that gemeralization.} (40... g5 {Counterattack!} 41. Be4 gxf4 42. b5 {The problem with this line of defense is that when playing 40///g5 black has to see the one move that doesn't lose!} Qh5 {This one.} 43. bxa6 Qxe5 44. axb7 Qb5+ 45. Qxb5 cxb5 {and the Bs of opposite color assure the draw.}) 41. b5 cxb5 42. Bxb5 (42. Qxb5 {was even stronger.} Bb6 43. Qa4 g5 44. d7 gxf4 45. Bd4 Bxd4 46. Qxd4+ b6 47. Qa4 b5 48. Qd4+ Nc5 49. Qxc5+ Kb7 50. d8=Q) 42... Qf5+ {Littlewood now wraps up the game with a few swift blows.} 43. Ka2 Qf7 44. d7 Bb6 45. Bxa6 bxa6 46. Qc6 {Black resigned. Bhend's play was actually very good, but Littlewood's was better!} (46. Qc6 Qe7 47. Qc8 Qd8 48. Bb8+ Ka8 49. Bc7+ Ka7 50. Qxd8) 1-0

The Turton Theme

    The fields of problems and of practical games are far removed from each other. Problems are artificial constructions in the form of of a puzzle. The problem has no element of psychology and the idea of a fight is absent. Though they still exist, in our modern world fans to this art form has shrunk in favor of tactical problems taken from actual play. 

    It’s rare when themes from the world of problems occur in practical play, but it does happen. One such instance is the Turton theme which is a kind of doubling (usually involving a Queen and Bishop) in which one piece moves along a line allowing a second to move onto the same line in front of it...this second piece then moves in the opposite direction to the first. Is that clear?! Perhaps a three mover by Otto Wurzbueg will make it clear. I have set it up HERE. 

    The following brevity illustrates the Turton Theme which is one of the earliest and simplest plans which also often occurs in practical play. A Bishop withdraws over a critical square which is to be occupied by the Queen. Thus type of maneuver is frequently sen in the Queen’s Gambit. 

[Event "Semi-Finals USSR Chp, Baku"] [Site "Baku URS"] [Date "1951.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Andre Lilienthal"] [Black "Leonid Shamkovic"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "1951.05.??"] {D43: Semi-Slav} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3 Nd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qf4 10. Bd3 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 b6 (12... Rd8 {This defense is well analyzed and this is the usual continuation.} 13. Rad1 b6 14. Bb1 Bb7 15. c5 Qc7 {White has the more active position. Rajkovic,D (2485)-Kosic,D (2515) Budva 1996}) (12... Qc7 13. Bc2 Rd8 14. Rad1 b6 15. h4 Bb7 16. Qe3 c5 {is equal. Galperin,P (2383)-Nomin Erdene,D (2386) Novi Sad 2019}) 13. Bc2 {Although white's advantage is minimla, this is the first phase of the Turton Theme.} Bb7 14. Qd3 {This completes the regrouping of the pieces for the attack. After Shamkovich's careless next move allows the final phase of the attack.} Qc7 {Black quick collapse after this is quite stunning.} (14... Rfd8 {was called for.} 15. Ng3 Nf8 16. Re5 g6 17. Qe2 Bf6 18. Ne4 Bxe5 19. g3 Qxf3 20. Qxf3 Bxd4 {Kobylkin,E (2444)-Paramonov,D (2362) Alushta 2004. White is better and in the game he went on to win.}) 15. Ng3 {[%mdl 32]} Nf6 {At first glance black has covered h7 and his position looks safe, but white already has a decisive advantage.} 16. Ne5 {[%mdl 128]} Rfd8 17. Nh5 {[%mdl 512] With the exception of the Rs *which aren't needed) all of white's pieces are poised for the final attact.} Kf8 (17... Nxh5 {allows mate in 2.} 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Qh8#) 18. Qg3 {Althoigh immediate 18.Nxg7 would also win this is the strongest move on the board.} Ne8 (18... Nxh5 19. Ng6+ {wins the Q.}) 19. Nxg7 {[%mdl 512] Black resigned. As before the N cannot be taken.} (19. Nxg7 Bd6 (19... Nxg7 20. Ng6+ {wins the Q.}) 20. Nxe6+ fxe6 21. Qf4+ Kg7 22. Re3 {This Rook lift finishes the game without difficulty. For example...} Kg8 23. Qxh6 Bxe5 24. dxe5 Qg7 25. Qxe6+ Qf7 26. Qh6 Rd7 27. Rg3+ Ng7 28. e6 {etc.}) 1-0

Monkeying Around With Engines

    When annotating games for this Blog I always use the latest version of Stockfish at 10-15 seconds per move, but is it the best engine to use for that purpose? And, what are the engines that GMs use? 

    Stockfish is the unchallenged strongest, but pure strength is not always all there is to it because in opening preparation a player’s aim is to reach a position that he is familiar with, but not his opponent. At least in over the board play; correspondence play is another matter. 

    Of course, such a position must have possibilities to play for a win. To that end, analysis by a weaker engine can actually be preferable even though the position might be won by Stockfish. This kind of opening preparation only applies at the upper levels where surprising the opponent is more important than playing the absolute best move. At the non-Master level such things are far less important because most players don’t follow the “book” more than five moves anyway! In fact, for many of us winning a won position is not assured. 

    Correspondence GM Jon Edwards, winner of the 2022 World Correspondence Championship, has said that in modern correspondence play which permits unlimited engine use, in order to get an edge, a player must make better use of all the tools available than his competitors can. 

    In addition to Stockfish and Leela, he found that Houdini would sometimes be able to generate ideas not found by the other engines, but you had ti run it for several days. 

    Also, of great importance was a database of correspondence games and he noted that even elite OTB players rely on the games of top correspondence players. 

    When it come to over-the-board play, Sadler says that using Leela with its Win-Draw-Loss evaluation can generate some interesting opening ideas that are difficult to refute over-the-board. 

    The Win-Draw-Loss Evaluation is an interesting concept. Traditionally, chess engines evaluate position in terms of Pawns. Leela developers clam that is not the most logical way to evaluate a position. Unfortunately, most chess GUIs are not able to display WDL probabilities. 

    My ChessBase programs have Fat Fritz (based on the LCZero engine), but it needs a very high performance graphics card which I do not have in order to achieve its full playing strength. 

    My chess programs have 25 engines available and in a two minutes per game tournament with five engines competing that I ran, Stockfish 17 walloped them all except for a draw against Drain by Komodo. Because of that I played a match between the two and Stockfish scored a decisive victory (+8 -1 =7). Consequently, there is nothing new to report...Fritz and Stockfish are still the winners. 

    Back in the days of infancy of engines I was playing e-mail chess with the Correspondence Chess League of America which did not allow engine use. Nevertheless, it was obvious that some opponents were using them anyway. It didn’t matter a whole lot though because at first engines could be beaten. Twenty years ago Correspondence GM Robin Smith published a book telling us how to do it. 

    Eventually though two things happened: 1) stopping engine use became a losing battle and 2) engine got too strong and Smith’s book was all but useless. As a result of engine use I switched to playing on Lechenicher SchachServer, a site that allowed engine use. 

    I stopped playing there when almost all the games were colorless draws. A while back I checked out the site and noticed that unlike in the old days the site has little activity and it takes forever plus a couple of days for tournaments to fill up. 

    The below game was played in 2008 when some of the top engines were Fritz, Shredder, Rybka, HIARCS, Junior, Zappa, Jonny and Fruit. Rybka was released in August of 2008 and was available from both Chessbase and Convekta. It was strong enough that it won a match against GM Joel Benjamin that year. 

     Rybka won the World Computer Championship in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. But then in 2010 it was striped of its titles and banned from future events by the International Computer Games Association because the developer was accused of plagiarizing code from other programs, especially Fruit. HIARCS 12 supplanted Rybka as the top engine. Stockfish 1.0 was released in November, 2008. It was an offshoot of the open-source engine Glaurung. 

     In the following game I believe I was using the Fruit engine which was commercially available from September 2005 until July 2007 when it became free and its further development ended. 

 

[Event "Lechenicher SchachServer Open"] [Site ""] [Date "2008.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "T.N."] [Black "Tartajubow"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1975"] [BlackElo "2050"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2008.09.11"] {D00: Queen Pawn Opening} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 {This innocuous move suggests that my opponent was letting whatever engine he was using select his moves without any input on his part.} Bf5 4. Bd2 {This move reinforced my belief that my opponent was allowinf his engine, and a rather weak one at that, select all of his moves.} (4. Nh4 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. g4 Bg6 7. Bg2 e6 8. g5 Nfd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. e4 c6 11. h4 Nb6 {White has the better position, but he was apparently content to accept the draw offered by his higher rated opponent. Young,A (2390)-Golod,V (2552) Santa Monica 2004}) (4. h3 e6 5. g4 Bg6 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bg2 c5 9. O-O {The position is about even. Sluka,R (2319)-Sosna,J (2364) Czechia 2015}) 4... e6 5. e3 c6 6. a3 Bd6 7. Ne2 Nbd7 8. Ng3 O-O {Somewhat better was 8...Bg6, but rightly or wrongly, I reasoned that white had lost time with his N maneuvers and if he took the B then I could gain even more time advancing the K-side Ps.} 9. Nxf5 exf5 10. Bd3 Ne4 11. c4 Ndf6 12. c5 Bc7 13. O-O {Srockfish 17 evaluates this position as equal and recommends either 13...Ng5 or 13...g5} Qe7 14. Re1 {This rates a ? and after the recommended 14.Be1 (apparently preserving the two Bs) the position is equal. Stockfish recommends plating the immediate 14...g4, but the text is also quite good.} Qe6 15. h3 {White is dawdling and with this move he slightly weakens his K-side. More to the point was 15.b4 although it must be admitted that white’s position is not very promising.} g5 {Initiating a strong K-side attack.} 16. Bc3 g4 17. Ne5 {For better or worse white had to minimize the damage to his K-sid and play 17.hxg4.} gxh3 18. g3 {Played with the forlorn hope of keeping his K-side closed.} (18. gxh3 Kh8 19. Qf3 Rg8+ 20. Kh1 Bxe5 21. dxe5 Ng4 22. hxg4 Rxg4 {wins for black.}) 18... Bxe5 {Eliminating white's only well placed piece.} 19. dxe5 Ng4 20. Bxe4 fxe4 {White has a won position, but there is no way to force a breakthrough on the K-side. However, white's next move is a gross blinder that loses immediately. He could have tried to hold on with any reasonable move.} 21. f3 h2+ 22. Kg2 h1=Q+ {White resigned.} (22... h1=Q+ 23. Rxh1 (23. Kxh1 Qh6+ 24. Kg1 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Qf2#) 23... Nxe3+) 0-1

Wild and Wooly

    Re the title...is it spelled woolly or wooly? Wooly is predominantly used in American English while woolly is predominantly used in British English (the UK, Australoa and New Zealand). Either way you spell it, that describes the following game between Kupreichik and Sokolov that was played in the Bad Woerishofen Open in 2001. 

    Viktor Kupreichik (1949-2017, 67 years old) of Belarus won the individual gold medal at the 15th World Student Team Championship in Ybbs, Austria) in 1968. He was awarded the GM title in 1980. 

    Andrei Sololovw (born in 1963) from the Soviet Union was awarded the IM title in 1982 and the GM title in 1984. He became a Candidate in 1985 amd was World Junior Champion in 1982, USSR Champion in 1984 and joint Moscow Champion in 1981. In Candidates matches he beat Rafael Vaganian and Yusupov, but lost to Karpov on the Candidates Final in1987. 

     The game was played in the Bad Woerishofen Open Tournament. The event was won by Aleksej Aleksandrov with an 8-1 score. He was followed by: Amon Simutowe, Slobodan Martinovic, Sergey Kalinitschew,Ivan Farago, lerij Filippov. Yannick Pelletier, Sebastian Siebrech, Alexander Grafm Zoltan Vargam, Arkadij Naiditsch and Fabian Doettling with 7-2. Both Sokolov amd Kupreichik scored 6-3.

    Their individual game was a wild one!

[Event "Bad Woerishofen Open"] [Site "Bad Woerishofen GER"] [Date "2001.03.21"] [Round "7"] [White "Viktor Kupreichik"] [Black "Andrei Sokolov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2453"] [BlackElo "2566"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2001.03.15"] {B20: Sicilian: Keres Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 {(B20: Sicilian: Keres Variation) 1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 (This is known as the Keres Variation because of his successes in 1943-1944 when he occasionally played it. Though it can transpose into regular lines if white plays 3.d4 it is considered an offbeat line. With 2.Ne2, white aims to develop the N to a more flexible square. From e2, the N can go to g3, f4 or d4. Its advantages are it's surprise value and its flexibility and it avoids the main lines and the heavily analyzed lines like the Najdorf, Scheveningen or Open variations.} d6 3. g3 h5 {Highly original!} 4. d4 (4. h3 e5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. c3 g6 7. d4 Bg7 8. Be3 {with a slight advantage. Vallejo Pons,F (2650)-Nakamura,H (2644) Cuernavaca 2006}) 4... h4 (4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 h4 6. gxh4 Rxh4 7. Nc3 Qa5 8. Nb3 Qe5 9. f4 Qh5 10. Qxh5 Rxh5 11. Nd5 {equals. Romanov,E (2501)-Loskutov,O (2397) Moscow 2007}) 5. dxc5 Bg4 6. gxh4 Nc6 7. cxd6 exd6 {This looks logical, but white now gets a good position/} (7... Ne5 {keeps the balance.} 8. Bg2 (8. dxe7 Nf3#) 8... e6 9. Bg5 Qxd6) 8. Bf4 Qxh4 {Aggressive, but somewhat risky play.} 9. Nbc3 Bxe2 10. Nxe2 g5 11. Be3 Qxe4 12. Rg1 Qb4+ 13. c3 Qxb2 14. Rb1 {[%mdl 2048]} Qxa2 15. Rxb7 Nf6 {After this black is in serious trouble because he needs f6 as an escape square for his Q.} (15... Nge7 $16 {was necessary.} 16. Nc1 Qa5 17. Rxg5 Qxc3+ 18. Bd2 Qf6 {with full equality.}) 16. Nc1 Qa5 17. Rxg5 d5 (17... Qxc3+ {fails...} 18. Bd2 {Note that f6 is now unavailable to the Q so...} Qd4 19. Qb3 Qe4+ 20. Kd1 Qe6 21. Bb5 Rc8 22. Qc3 {wins a piece.}) 18. Nb3 Qxc3+ 19. Bd2 Qb2 20. Bb5 {White has a decisive advantage.} Rc8 {This akkows a mate in 15...not that it matters.} 21. Qe2+ Ne4 22. Rxd5 (22. Qg4 $18 Qb1+ 23. Nc1 f5 24. Qxf5 Qxc1+ 25. Bxc1 Bb4+ 26. Kf1 Nd2+ 27. Bxd2 Rc7 28. Rxc7 Be7 29. Bxc6+ Kd8 30. Qd7#) 22... Qb1+ 23. Nc1 Bb4 24. Bxc6+ Rxc6 25. Rb8+ Ke7 26. Bxb4+ Ke6 {White is winning, but he must not get careless and take the R!} 27. Re5+ (27. Rxh8 Qxb4+ 28. Kf1 Kxd5 {and black has completely equalized.}) 27... Kxe5 28. Bc3+ Kd6 29. Rxb1 Nxc3 30. Qd3+ Kc7 31. Qg3+ {Black resigned.} (31. Qg3+ Kd8 32. Qb8+ Kd7 33. Rb7+ Ke6 34. Qxh8 Rb6 35. Qe8+ Kd5 36. Rd7+ Rd6 37. Qxf7+ Kc6 38. Rc7+ Kb6 39. Rxc3 Rc6 40. Rb3+ Kc5 41. Nd3+ Kd6 42. Rb7 Rc1+ 43. Kd2 Rc7 44. Rxc7 a6 45. Qd7#) 1-0