Tactical position of the month (August 2010-NH Amsterdam)

White to play and win !

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Move by Move: Anand-Morozevich Mainz 2008

Here is the tactical phase in Anand-Morozevich, Mainz 2008 where the world champion Anand outpowered his opponent:

Position 1: White just played 21 Ng4

Here, Black could have played 21..h6 22Bd2 Rad8 with chances for both sides.
Instead, Morozevich went for the more forcing 21..Nf4.

21..Nf4?

22 Bf4 ef4

Position 2 after 22..ef4. White to play

Here, it is possible that Morozevich was initially expecting 23 Nf5 or 23 Nh5.Instead, Anand found a neat combination starting with 23 Nh6+!.

23Nh6+!

Position after 23Nh6+ :Black to play

Black cannot take the knight: 23..gh6 24 Qg4+ Kh8 25 Qf5. In this variation, 24..Bg7 is met by 25Nf5. Morozevich played the only move 23..Kh8.

23..Kh8

24 Nf7+ Kg8

Position 3: White to play

Here White missed an immediate finish. 25Bh7+! Kf7 26 Ng5+ Kg8 27Qb3+ Kh8 28 Qf7! and mate follows. Instead Anand played 25 Ne4.
25 Ne4

Position 4 after 25Ne4. Can Black take the knight on f7?

Here, 25..Kf7 26 Bb3+! Ke7 27 Nd6+ wins for White. on 26..Re6, 27 Ng5+ wins. The game continued as follows:
25..Ne5
26 Nfd6! Rd8 ?! ( trying to pin the knight)
27 Qh5!

The last tactical move by Anand.

Position 5 after 27Qh5!

Does Black win a piece by 27..Bd6 in Position 5 ?
The answer is no. 27..Bd6 28 Nd6 Qd6 29 Bh7+ Kf8 30 Re5 and White regains the knight on e5 with a winning attack.

Morozevich played 27..Be4 28 Ne4 h6 and after 29 Qf5, White converted his advantage and won the game in 47 moves. This game played in rapid time controls shows Anand's strength in calculating complex variations.

Gashimov-Nabaldian 2008 (level: medium)

Another tactical position from Gashimov. Here White has clearly the initiative against the exposed black king. Gashimov found the most dangerous next 2 moves and Nabaldian wasn't able to find the most resilient counter.

Can you find the decisive 2 moves Gashimov played ?

White to play and win

Gashimov-Nabaldian Capelle-La-Grande 2008


Hint: First move is a check, second isn't...

Sicilian Attacks with Black : Tactics Quiz !

The previous post featured a nice sicilian game won by GM Ivanchuk in his last game against Cheparinov in the M-Tel 2008 tournament.

Here, we present 4 tactical training positions. There are all issued from the Sicilian Defence, and all feature a tactical idea leading to the victory of the black pieces. Please note that a previous post showed an attack from Kasparov in a Sicilian Scheveningen against GM Michael Adams in Linares 2005.

The roster in this quiz includes games from GMs J.Polgar, Delchev and V. Ivanchuk (again!)

1.


1.Black to play and win ( Ehlvest-Ivanchuk, 1991)
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2.

2. Black to play and win (Zaragatski-Delchev 2005)
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3.

3. Black to play and win ( Nijboer-J.Polgar 1989)

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4.

4. Black to play and win ( Xie Jun-Polgar 1988)

SOLUTIONS:
Replay all games on a board with annotations here

December 07 Chess Quiz #1

White to play and win !

Sutovsky-Smirin 2002

Hint: E. Sutovsky is a top GM with a focus on creativity and attack. He has created many masterpieces at the top level. Here, he concludes the attack with a brilliant sac leading to a forced mate.

Replay the solution here : http://www.geocities.com/thechesscorner/dec20072.htm