Leko vs Anand : Italian Game - White wins in 22 moves !

Game was played as part of chess24.com Legends Online tournament.

Leko( White) against Anand(Black).

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 h6 8. Re1

White has expanded with 7 a4. apart from that classic c3,d3,0-0 and Re1. White will prepare d3-d4.

Leko does not play h2-h3 as he will have Nbd2-f1-g3 and Black doesn't have Nd4 to take advantage of the pin.

 8...O-O 9.Nbd2 a5 10. Nf1 Be6 11. Bb5!

Anand played 10..Be6 and was ok to take with f pawn on 11Bxe6. instead Leko plays 11 Bb5!
leading the diagram above.
The point is not only to double the pawns via Bxc6 but to weaken d4 to play d3-d4  and control the center.

11..Na7 12. d4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nxb5 14. axb5 Re8 15. Ng3 Bd7 16. h3

Black to play in diagram above. Maxime Vacher-Lagrave had the same position in 2018 against Karjakin who chose 16..c6!? and after exchanging on c6, white played against the d6 pawn with Bf5 and black against the b2 pawn with Qb6 and Rab8.

Anand chose 16..Re5. a move the engines like, was it preparation ? it took me a while to understand that Black wants to take on d4 and then capture the b5 pawn with the rook via Re5xb5.

Anand could also play 16..Bd4 17 cd4 Bxb5 capturing the pawn with the bishop in d7.

lets see what happens next.

17. f4 Bxd4+ 18. cxd4 Rxb5

Anand has executed his rook Manoeuvre and won the b5 pawn. White to play. What would you play with white here ?


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 19e4-e5 comes to mind : however  Black would reply 19..Nh7.
 Leko found a stronger move.
He played in the diagram above 19 Ra3!. The "Rover" also known as Rook Over Manoeuvre. 
White brings his second rook to the kingside via Ra3-f3 or Ra3-g3.


 19. Ra3! d5? ( 19..Nh7 or 19..Ne8 were better) 20. e5 Ne4

White to play
Here Leko found the best move again, 21 f4-f5!. He is not interested in exchanging on e4 regaining the pawn. He is clearly playing for the king's side attack. Anand did not find the best move 21..Qh4 and lost very quickly.

21. f5 Nxg3? (21..Qh4) 22.Rxg3 Bc8? 1-0

Anand resigned in the final diagram above after playing 22..Bc8? without waiting for white's move ! Leko would play 23 Bh6 or 23 f6 winning easily.

Maybe Anand intended 22..Bxf5 on which 23 Bxh6 Bg6 24 e5-e6! gives a large advantage to White.


Here's the animated replay

full game here

Carlsen miniatures in bullet chess

Hello Magnus Carlsen won yesterday  the monthly bullet tournament on lichess


I thought I would showcase 2 super quick wins ( miniatures) against GMs.

First, Andrew Tang (US GM-penguingm1 on lichess! ) plays 1 d4 d5 2Bf4 which is a sideline -Queen's Pawn Game or London-

Here's how Black won this game Magnus, playing under DrNykterstein username

[Event "Titled Arena July '20"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.07.25"] [Round "?"] [White "penguingim1"] [Black "DrNykterstein"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2996"] [BlackElo "3174"] [Annotator "thechesscorner@gmail.com"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "60"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 cxd4 4. exd4 Nc6 5. c3 Bf5 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. Bxd6 (8. Bg3 Bxg3 9. hxg3) 8... Qxd6 9. Nh4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. h3 g5 12. Be2 (12. Qg4 f6) 12... Nf6 13. O-O O-O-O {sharp} 14. b4 Kb8 15. b5 Ne7 16. Re1 Ng6 $1 17. Nf1 Nf4 18. Ne3 $4 (18. Bf3) 18... Ne4 $1 19. Rc1 Nxh3+ $19 {20 gh3 Rh3 21.Ng4 Nf2! 22Nf2 Qg3+ wins} 0-1

Sicilian Grand Prix and Closed Sicilian: a black repertoire with analysis

https://lichess.org/study/fYXlK6zq

my lichess game against GM Akobian

Here's the game played on lichess.org server

GM Var Akobian was streaming and he picked up my challenge.

Yes I lost the game, but not without a fight!

on move 30, he blundered and 31 Rxc4! would have turned tables around. later on rook ending could have been saved. He played the opening very quickly and first 16 moves were following his game against J. Ehlvest in 2009. I was out of book earlier and had to figure out a way to play the position

opening is French Defense Nd2  : 1e4 e6 2d4 d5 3Nd2 Nf6. This is GM Akobian main opening

opening is French Defense Nd2  : 1e4 e6 2d4 d5 3Nd2 Nf6. This is GM Akobian main opening

https://lichess.org/

Tactics positions to solve

5 tactical positions to solve today


top10chess.blogspot.com

solutions



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more h7-h5 games with Black

Animated game with e6-d6 combined with early h7-h5 for Black

e6-d6 and g7-g5 & h7-h5 early on: how to surprise your opponent with Black

Featuring the new pgn viewer from chesstempo.com along many other features you can find on the website like tactics training, database games, play online, guess the move, and much more.

 

I encourage you to check it out !
alysis
we want show here a game with Black where 

-Black doesnt castle early
-develop along e6-d6, Nf6 and Nbd7, Be7,Bb7 
-decides to strike with h7-h5 launching an attack. 
 

1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Qc7 5. Be2 b6 6. O-O Bb7 7. Re1 d6 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nf6 10. Bd3 Nbd7 continuing with a hedgehog set-up. controlling center from white (maroczy bind). 11. f4 g6 12. Qf3 h5 the start of the plan described in the introduction    
[Event "POL-ch 64th"] [Site "Opole"] [Date "2007.02.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Tomczak, Jacek"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2457"] [BlackElo "2637"] [Annotator "thechesscorner,@gmail.com"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3kb1r/1bqn1p2/pp1ppnp1/7p/2PNPP2/2NB1Q2/PP4PP/R1B1R1K1 w kq - 0 13"] 13. h3 Be7 14. Nb3 h4 $1 {[%cal Yf6h5] with idea Nh5} 15. Be3 g5 $5 16. Nd2 (16. fxg5 Ne5 17. Qe2 Nfd7 18. g6 (18. Rad1 Rg8 19. Qh5 O-O-O) 18... Nxg6) 16... gxf4 17. Qxf4 Ne5 18. Be2 Nfd7 19. Rad1 Rg8 $1 {black is not in a hurry to castle and instead threatens whites king.} 20. Qf2 Rg3 21. Kh1 Nc5 22. Nf1 Rg7 23. Rd4 O-O-O {Blacks attack is further along} 24. b4 $1 {definitely the best chance for white} Ncd7 25. Bf4 f5 $1 {[%cal Yb7g2] Black would like top en b7-g2} 26. Nd5 $5 exd5 27. cxd5 Bg5 28. Bxg5 Rxg5 29. Qf4 Rdg8 30. Rc1 Nc5 {giving back the piece to close the c-column} 31. Ne3 Kb8 32. bxc5 bxc5 33. exf5 Qg7 34. f6 Qg6 35. Rdd1 (35. f7 $1 Nxf7 36. Rd2) 35... Rxg2 $1 36. Bg4 Rg3 37. f7 $4 (37. Rg1 $1) 37... Rf8 38. Bf5 Rxf7 {Black is winning here} 39. Qxh4 Rxf5 40. Nxf5 Rg1+ $1 {a neat finish} (40... Rg1+ $1 41. Rxg1 Bxd5+ 42. Kh2 Nf3+ 43. Kh1 Nxg1+ 44. Qe4 Bxe4+ 45. Kh2 Qg2#) 0-1 [Event "EU-ch blitz"] [Site "Tallinn"] [Date "2016.12.17"] [Round "2"] [White "Lumiste, Rene"] [Black "Andreikin, Dmitry"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B43"] [WhiteElo "2055"] [BlackElo "2737"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2016.12.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. Bd3 Qb6 7. Nb3 Bb7 8. Be3 Qc7 9. O-O Nf6 10. a3 Be7 11. Kh1 d6 12. f4 Nbd7 13. Bg1 h5 14. Nd4 Rc8 15. f5 e5 16. Nf3 Qb8 17. Qe2 h4 18. Rad1 h3 19. g3 Qa8 20. Nd2 Rxc3 21. bxc3 d5 22. Be3 dxe4 23. Bxb5 axb5 24. Qxb5 Bc6 25. Qc4 Ng4 0-1

e6-d6 hedgehog model game for Black : Wojtasjek (2637)

Hedgehog play with White

We will study how to play against Hedgehog formation with White Pieces.

 1e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Qb6 6. Nb3 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c4 d6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Be3 b6 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Qd2 Be7 



  


We reached a standard position.

Black has a6,b6, and d6,e6 structure. Knights on d7 and f6, Bishops on B7 and e7.

White has Nb3,Nc3,Be3,Bd3,Rc1 and Qd2. pawns on e4 and c4. f3 to support e4 Maroczy bind.

What is next for White ?  Play on the queen side. Bring the queen to f2, with Be3-Qf2 targetting b6.
bring Rf1 to d1, bishop to f1, play h3 to avoid Ng4. Then push pawns.

Black adopts Fischer plan with Bishop on d8-c7.

13. Rfd1 O-O 14. f3 Rac8 15. Bf1 Rfe8 16. Qf2 Bd8 17. h3 Qb8 

Now White wants to move Nb3 here to d4 and activate b2-b4,then Nb3-a4

18. Nd4 Bc7 19. Kh1 Ne5 20. b4 Ba8 21. Nb3 Ned7 22. Na4 Bc6

We reach another key moment after 22..Bc6.

Game 1: Na4-b2 followed by a4-a5

Game 2:Na4-c3 followed by b4-b5 and e4-e5

Hedgehog themes and games

Official Website here

Games featuring hedgehog formation for Black
First we show games with Kh8,Rg8,g7-g5 and Bc7 which Fischer used Then we look at d6-d5 breakthrough After this, we show games with e4-f4 structure for white Then, b3,Bb2 structure for white and a few games with White's plans being succesful

Tactics/Tactics calculating exercizes

Position 1(easy) : black to play and win

Position 2(easy): Black to play and give checkmate

Position 3 medium: Black to play and win: spot the winning move

Position 4-Difficult : choose between two moves listed below the diagram. Black to play

Position 5-Difficult : choose between two moves listed below the diagram. Black to play

Owen defense ..b6,..Bb7 with Nc3 white

The main position to analyze is after the moves

1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Nc3 e6 4 Nf3 Bb4 5Bd3 Nf6

Official Website

Owen Defense B00. Nc3,Nf3,Bd3 lines for white , ..b6,..Bb7,e6,Bb4 for Black


Nc3 gives more options to Black versus quick Bd3,Qe2 with c3/Nd2 options

1..b6,..Bb7 Owen Defense: White repertoire

Official Website

Quick repertoire against b6,Bb7,e6 plans for Black. Owen Defense B00


Main idea is Nf3,Bd3,Qe2 and not playing e4-e5 too quickly.
Another tip is not committing to Nc3 early: maybe c3,Nd2 are needed. No Bb4 for Black

Main Game is Dorfman-Miles 1992 where I am giving improvements for white - Black ended up winning that game. Also C. Bauer move order 6 d5!? with e4,d4,Bd3,Qe2,Nf3 is worth noting

Carlsen-Giri Game Analysis with Variations and PGN

Official Website here chess24

Brilliant attack by Carlsen against Giri , using his prep in semi-tarrasch.
Carlsen-Giri 2020

Carlsen-Giri 2020
chess24.com chessable final

Magnus Carlsen Against Anish Giri 2020 win

 

Can you guess the winning move for White(Carlsen) against Black(Giri) in their rapid game chessable final 07/04/2020.

official website:  chess24.com

Caro Kan Repertoire : Panov Ending Line 1

Caro Kan Line 1: Panov attack ending

Opening repertoire for White : Caro Kan Panov