Key moment : November 2010 GM edition

White to Play

What are the candidate moves and what is your assessment of the position ?

Classic Tactical finish

Svidler-Jakovenko 2009

White to play and win

Find the right move ( tactics again )

White to play and win

Hints:
White should capitalize on having all his pieces developed.
At least two Black pieces are not well coordinated and should be targeted.

Tactics from Mainz 2009 ( ORDIX open )

Fresh GM tactics today !

I Black to play and win : Easy Puzzle

Sasiskirian-Bacrot 2009, Ordix(10)

II White to play. What is the best move for White here ? Medium difficulty

Sargissian-Gashimov Ordix(10) 2009

III White found below a strong attacking move. White to win (Medium difficulty)

Navara-Stevic Ordix(9) 2009

Technique & tactics

White to play in the following position. What is the best move for White ?

Alternatively, try to win this position with White against your favorite chess engine.

1.?

Tactical Motif XII: Opening/Closing Lanes

This is the last of our tactical motifs. We hope you enjoyed the overview.

Closing a lane can be useful to carry on an attack, it is also called interference ( fr: interception), as the goal is to intercept the defence. Opening a column/diagonal is a common motif where the attack gains intensity.

Let's look at one example of each kind.

Closing lines: White to play
Miles-Pritchett 1982

1.?

Miles played the fantastic 1.Be5!!

This moves covers b2 (X-Ray), while interfering with black defensive pieces. 1..R8e5 or 1..R2e5 lets 2Qg7#,
while 1..Be5 breaks the coordination between rooks : 2.Qe8 follows. In chess composition, this theme is called a Novotny.


Black resigned after 1.Be5!!





Opening lines: Alekhine-Borochov 1932
White to play and win

Alekhine played 1.Ne6!. While this moves closes the c8-h3 diagonal temporarily( interference again!), it also opens the g-column.

After 1..Be6, the genius ahead of his time played 2Qh7+!!, where 2..Kh7 3Rh3+ wins with check-mate following.

A great example of both concepts !











Exercise: White to play and win
Larsen-Matanovic, 1965

Tactical Motif XI: Drawing Combinations

Tactics can be used to defend as well. Drawing combinations can revolve around perpetual checks and/or stalemate.

Illustration: Portisch-Kasparov, 1981
Black to play:

1...? Here a young Garry Kasparov is two pawns behind and Portisch is on his way to promote the d6 pawn. Garry uncorked a combination which saves the day and the half point.





1.. Rd2! 2.Qd2 Qf3+ 3.Qg2 Ng3+! ( The point) 4 hg3.



Let's see the position reached on the next diagram


Portisch-Kasparov 1981 after 4 hg3
Black to play


Here, Kasparov can force the perpetual.

4..Qh5+ 5Qh2 Qf3+ 6 Rg2 Qd1+ 7 Qg1 Qh5+
8 Rh2 Qf3+

Despite being an entire rook up, White cannot escape checks from the Queen.

The perpetual check resource is a very important drawing motif.






Exercise: Miles-Rachels 1989
Black to play and draw

1...?

Tactical Motif II:Deflection

Deflection ( fr: Deviation) consists in forcing a piece away so that you can carry on a tactical winning idea.

Illustration: White to play and win

White would like to play Nd7+, but Black controls d7.

1.Qh5! threatening Qh6# forces 1..Nxh5.

But since the Black knight left his post, White can conclude by 2.Nd7#. ( Delgado-Lorente 2000).

Now it's your turn to solve the following: White to play and win



















Tal-NN

Tactical Motif I: Double Attack

The double attack is a very common tactical motif. It's about creating two threats at once.

Double Attack Motif Illustration
White to play and win















Here, White can attack the two knights at once by playing 1.Qe1!

Now it's your turn to practice: White in the first, Black in the second position

Position I: Hellers-Colias 1990;

Position II: Renet-Nunn 1989

Chess Tactics Explained

In the next days, I will review and explain all 12 classic chess tactical motifs necessary to calculate variations and to find winning moves in various situations. Of course, combinations and sub-variations often make use of multiple themes at the same time.

After reviewing each theme, I will add tactical exercises to be solved using the same motif.


Any questions, please drop comments & remarks...

Tactics Explained (Long Diagonal)

We will explain illustrate the attack along a diagonal as our main tactical motif today.



Let's take a look at the following position, White to move:

Svesnikov-Scherbakov 1991, White to play and win

Hint: White has a battery composed of Bc3 and Qe5. However 1 Ne6 is countered by 1..f6, blocking the long diagonal a1-h8. Is there a direct way to conclude the attack.

Solution is given below.

Solution

1 Qg7+!! Kg7 2 Nf5++ ( double check) Kg8 3 Nh6#.

Puzzle #2 (November 07)

White to play and win

Hint : Black king seems safe but what about Black's queen ?

Replay Solution on a board : http://www.geocities.com/thechesscorner/nov_2.htm

October 07 solutions

10 positions were given in October in previous post. Each puzzle presents a combination played

at Grandmaster level.
Here are the solutions, together with explanations.

Play and Calculalte Well !



Puzzle 1:1. g6! Threatening mate in h8. 1..Bh4 2 Rh4 Kf8 3 Qh8+ Ke7 4 Qg7+ Kd8 5 Rh7 gives a winning attack.

(Dvoyris-Benkovic, 2003)



Puzzle 2:1. Rbf6! Black can't take the rook because of mate in h7. 1..Bh3 2 Rh6! is the neat finish. (Kolbasin-Borson, 2007)



Puzzle 3:1..Bg2+! 2 Kg2 Kg5+ 3 Kh1 Rg6 wins easily for Black.
(Vidal-Giorgadze 2007)


Puzzle 4:1. Rg3! 1-0. If Black takes the rook, White has the intermediate check 2Qf8+.
(Motylev-Dreev, 2007)


Puzzle 5:1 Nd5! ed5 2 Bc6+ Qc6 3 Bf6! regains the piece with interest. 3..Rg8 4 Be5 Be5 5 Re5+ Kf8 6 b5! wins ( idea is 6..Qb5 7 Rf7+! with mate, or 6..ab5 7 Qb4+ )
(Fillipov-Kasian , 2007)


Puzzle 6:1Nf6! h6 2 Qh6+ gh6 3 Rg8 #. Nice combination (a la capablanca) by the ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov
(Karpov-Stojanovic, 2007)


Puzzle 7:1 c5! ( obstruction: the move prevents the queen from coming back ) Kg8 2 Ne7+ Re7 3 Bf6! with a winning attack.

(Van Wely-Jakovenko, 2007)

Puzzle 8: 1Bh7+! Kh7 2 Ng5+ Kg8 3 Qe6+ Kh8 4 Qh3!+ and on ..Qh6, White exchanges the queens and plays Ne6 winning the exchange. Classic theme !

(Sokolov,A-Stucki, 2007)

Puzzle 9: 1Nb7 Qb7 2 Na5! Overloading : White gains material on every reply.

(Kveynis-Lapinsky, 2007)

Puzzle 10: 1c6! bc6 2 Rb1 Qa3 3 Rb8+ Kd7 4 Nb4! Obstruction : 5.Qd6 is a deadly threat. Nice attack started by opening lines.

(Jobava-Khamrakulov, 2007)

September 2007, puzzle 5

Position 5, September 07

White to play and win

Serper-Barsov, 1988

September 2007, Puzzle 2

Position 2, Sep 07

Black to play and win

(Adorjan-Miles, 1985)