Posted by ChessMaven in Tactics
on Mar 8th, 2015 | Comments Off on Tactics from FIDE Grand Prix Tbilisi 2015
This week’s tactical exercises come from the recently concluded 3rd leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tbilisi.
The 9th round encounter between Baadur Jobava and Vachier-Lagrave was a fine attacking achievement for the Frenchman –
Jobava – Vachier-Lagrave round 9
Black enjoys a space advantage. Meanwhile, White is suffering from a badly placed bishop, and the king on f3 is in front of the rest of its army – not a good arrangement with so many forces remaining on the board.
43…h4! 44.g4
White would love to secure the e4 square for his knight. For example, after 44…fxg4 45.hxg4 Bg5 46.Ne4 Rf7+ 47.Kg2, he would have a gone a long way in solving his problems. MVL had other plans –
44…e4! 45.dxe4 fxg4+
And here Jobava was facing a tough decision. On either capture of the pawn g4, he will be under pressure due to his opponent’s dark square play. On 46.hxg4, MVL was planning 46…h3, which is very hard to deal with. For example, after 47.Rh1 Be5 48.Rxh3, Black can execute a tactic that is hanging over many of these variations – 48…d3! 49.cxd3 Bxb2 -+. 46…Be5 47.Nc4 Rf8+ 48.Kg2 Bg3 with an invasion along the f-file is also very strong.
In the game, White chose 46.Kxg4, but after 46…Rf7!, the King was entombed on g4 and had to face direct attack –
position after 46.Kxg4 Rf7!
Exercise #1. Why is retreating the king with 47.Kf3 a mistake?
The game continued with the relatively best 47.Rf2, but after the forced sequence 47…Rg8 48.Rf5 Nd6 49.Rh5 Be5 (threatening mate) 50.Rf1 Rxf1 51.Nxf1 Nf7 (threatening …Nh6+) 52.Bc1, Black switched to the queenside with 52…Rc8!, and eventually converted the advantage.
One of the sharpest struggles of the tournament occurred in the same round –
Kasimdzhanov – Grischuk round 9
position after 30…Qe2
With seconds left on the clock, Kasim played 31.c6?, and after b2 32.Qc4 Qd2!, Black was winning.
analysis diagram after 31.c6 b2
Exercise #3. Black to move. Would 32.Qd1 save White?
The game concluded in Black’s favor after the equally hopeless 34.Qb3 Rcf8 35.Qd1 Rxf2!.
It turns out that in the critical position after 30…Qe2 –
position after 30…Qe2
White could have kept the balance with the trade offer 31.Qc4!. Kasim said in the press conference that he didn’t like 31…Qxc4 32.Rxc4 a4, when the passed a and b pawns look very intimidating –
Posted by ChessMaven in Tactics
on Mar 2nd, 2015 | Comments Off on Tactics from Zurich Chess Challenge 2015
This week’s tactical exercises come from the recently concluded Zurich Chess Challenge.
We’ll take a closer look at two games by Anand, which happen to be particularly instructive. The second round encounter between Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian –
Anand – Aronian round 4 (Classical)
Exercise #1. Black played 20…Bc6, which allowed a powerful response. What was it?
22…Nxf2!! is the only move. After the forced sequence 23.Nxa5 (23.Kxf2 Rb8 24.Nxa5 Rxb3 25.axb3 (25.Nc6 Qh4+!) is not better for White) Nxd1 24.Nb7 Qxd7 25.Rxd1 Qc6 –
In the blitz portion of the tournament, Anand converted his material advantage impressively in a rook ending against Nakamura –
Anand – Nakamura round 4 (Blitz)
White is up a pawn, and forces a winning pawn ending. 53.Rc6! Rxc6 54.bxc6 Kd6 55.f4! Kxc6
56.g4!. Launching a typical breakthrough. Black played 56…Kd6, and White won with the extra passed pawn after 57.gxh5 gxh5 58.Ke4.
An important alternative would have been 56…hxg4 57.f5! Kd6 58.fxg6 Ke6 59.Kf4 b5.
analysis diagram
Exercise #5. White has a far advanced passed pawn on g6, but Black is creating its own passed pawn on the other wing. What is the clearest way to a win for White?
