Attacking the Castled King

     In view of the example in the previous post it is not surprising that players take care to castle early as a matter of principle. But, as mentioned, as soon as castling takes place the King has a permanent residence and if its defenses are defective it's possible to destroy his home with a flashy tactical attack. 

     In the previous game black wasted time before castling and found himself in a difficult situation. Of course he could have defended himself, but doing so required more precise play than was practically possible. 

     In the following we see that it's just as dangerous to waste time after castling as it is before castling. Soviet GM Andre Lilienthal (May 5, 1911 - May 9, 2010, 99 years old) vividly proved the point in when he delivered a quick defeat that was made possible simply because he had more pieces in play than his opponent, GM Miguel Najdorf (April 15, 1910 - July 4, 1997, 87 years old). Lilienthal's accumulation of pieces allowed him to simply crush his opponent.

 

[Event "Saltsjobaden Interzonal"] [Site ""] [Date "1948.07.22"] [Round "?"] [White "Andre Lilienthal"] [Black "Miguel Najdorf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E29"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1948.07.16"] {Nimzo-Indian: Saemisch Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 { Lilienthal adopts the most forthright way of meeting the Nimzo-Indian by putting an immediate end to the pin at once. The price is doubled c-Pawns. His next goal is to play e2-e4.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 b6 8. Ne2 O-O 9. e4 Ne8 {Black's intention here is twofold. 1) he wants to prevent the N from being pinned by Bg5 and 2) he wants to make a timely strike at the center with ...f5. It's a good plan, but it requires careful execution.} (9... d6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 e5 {is an alternative.}) 10. O-O (10. f4 f5 11. Ng3 g6 12. Be3 d6 13. O-O Na5 14. d5 Ng7 15. Qc2 {Draw agreed. Miron,L (2498)-Berescu,A (2456) Calimanesti-Caciulata ROU 2014}) 10... d6 (10... Ba6 {attacking the c-Pawn is solid, but it does not produce much of anything after} 11. Qa4 (11. Qc2 Na5 12. dxc5 (12. Be3 Bxc4 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Bxc5 d6 15. Bb4 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Qc7 { Black's weak d-Pawn offsets white's weak c-Pawn.}) 12... bxc5 13. Be3 Rc8 14. e5 h6 15. Ng3 {unclear.}) 11... Na5 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Rb1 {with equal chances.} ) (10... Bb7 11. f4 f5 12. exf5 exf5 13. dxc5 bxc5 {with equal chances. Kuljasevic,D (2501)-Perunovic,M (2589) Kavala 2008}) 11. e5 (11. f4 {is interesting.} f5 12. Ng3 g6 13. Qf3 {with equal chances. Metge,J (2170) -Sutherland,J (2085) Auckland 1997}) 11... dxe5 12. dxe5 {[%mdl 32]} Bb7 (12... Nxe5 {loses because the N on e8 has interrupted the communication between black's Q and R on f8.} 13. Bxh7+ Kxh7 14. Qxd8) 13. Bf4 {The position is equal.} f5 {This may look suspect, but it's actually black's best move.} 14. exf6 {How should black recapture?} e5 {Najdorf is playing with fire.} (14... Nxf6 {This is OK.} 15. Qc2 e5 16. Bg5 h6 {with equal play.}) (14... Qxf6 { This is OK, too.} 15. Qc2 e5 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. Bc1 Nd6 {with equal play.}) ( 14... gxf6 {This is not OK.} 15. Re1 Ng7 16. Ng3 f5 {Necessary to cut off the line of the B.} 17. Qd2 Qf6 18. Bg5 Qf7 19. Rad1 {White's position is superior. }) 15. fxg7 {The King's defenses are stripped away.} Rxf4 16. Nxf4 exf4 17. Bxh7+ {[%mdl 512] This unforeseen sacrifice wrecks black's defenses. Najdorf ends up with three pieces for a R, but it costs him him the game. White has a significant advantage, but with extremely careful play black can put up a stiff defense. In practical play the task was too daunting even for the mighty Najdorf!} (17. Qf3 {Perhaps Najdorf was expecting a move like this. If so, then after} Nf6 18. Qxf4 Qxd3 19. Qxf6 Qg6 20. Qxg6 hxg6 {the unbalanced material situation is quite unclear. In Shootouts white scored +3 -0 =2}) 17... Kxh7 18. Qh5+ Kxg7 19. Rad1 {[%mdl 32] White needs to bring a R into play and this is the right one. Playing Rfd1 allows black to equalize!} (19. Rfd1 Qe7 20. Qg4+ Kf8 21. Rd7 Qf6 22. Rxb7 Ne5 23. Qh5 Nd6 {and white can make no headway...5 Shootouts ended in draws.}) 19... Qf6 (19... Qe7 20. Rfe1 {This move shows why the other R was the right one.} Qf7 21. Qg4+ Kf8 22. Rd7) 20. Rd7+ {The R on the 7th decides the game/} Kf8 21. Rxb7 Nd8 22. Rd7 Nf7 23. Qd5 {Nice! But not 23.Re1 at once. This grandmasterly move, centralizing the Q, was not flashy, but it's vital in order to keep the attack going.} (23. Re1 { Obviously white needs his remaining piece in play, but this allows black to play on.} Ned6 24. Qf3 Re8 {and black has practically equalized.}) 23... Rb8 ( 23... Rc8 {is a wee bit tougher.} 24. Re1 Nc7 25. Qd1 Rd8 26. h3 {A safety measure.} Rxd7 27. Qxd7 Qd8 28. Qg4 Qg5 {and white has the win, but he will have to work for it.}) 24. Re1 (24. Rxa7 {is too greedy. After} Ne5 25. Rd1 Nc6 26. Rd7 Ne5 {White is clearly better, but black is annoying him.}) 24... f3 25. Re3 {Black resigned} (25. Re3 Qg6 (25... Rd8 26. Rxd8 Qxd8 27. Rxf3 Qxd5 28. cxd5 {The ending is lost for black.}) 26. Rxf7+ Qxf7 27. Rxf3 (27. Qxf7+ Kxf7 28. Rxf3+ {is a very difficult ending to play and in fact, in Shootouts (which resulted in 80+ move long games) white only scored =0 -3 =2!!}) 27... Qxf3 28. Qxf3+ {is an obvious win.}) 1-0