U S A $ 1 2 . 9 9 E U R O P E 1 1 . 9 9 2 0 1 8 # 3 W W W. N E W I N C H E S S .

C O M

READ BY CLUB PLAYERS IN 116 COUNTRIES

The Blitz Whisperer

Maxim Dlugy It’s Fabiano
Matthew Sadler Caruana
My all-time hero vs Magnus
Louis Paulsen Carlsen!
Forgotten chess Berlin Candidates
innovator l The drama
l The games
‘Superman’ Adhiban: l The winner speaks
My win in Reykjavik
Opening Surprise
Aronian’s ‘Patzer
move’
Nigel Short
Why Twitter?
Judit Polgar
Breaking
strategic
rules
Just
Checking
Lawrence
Trent

ISBN 978-90-5691-782-1
 Her best and most
instructive tactics

NEW!

To reach the 8th spot in the FIDE World Rankings and belong to the very best
for many years, as Judit Polgar did, you obviously have to be a brilliant all-round
chess player. S�ll, she will be first and foremost remembered for her a�acking
skills. Her electrifying combina�ons and tac�cal strokes of genius set her apart.

Award-winning author Charles Hertan has selected Judit Polgar’s best and most
instruc�ve tac�cs. They are arranged by theme and presented with helpful
explana�ons and lots of prac�cal advice. You will be inspired by her clever
traps, stunning sacrifices and cunning endgame tricks. You will learn from her
calcula�ng skills and counter-intui�ve ideas.

paperback | 256 pages | €24.95 | available at your local (chess)bookseller or at newinchess.com | a A publica�on
Download the New In Chess app:
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 More than just an
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paperback | 464 pages | €24.95 | available at your local (chess)bookseller or at newinchess.com | a A publica�on
 A
2018#3

3 Contents

EW
IN
CH
‘Don’t take

ESS
life too
seriously.’

8 Exhilarated and exhausted 54 Louis Paulsen (1833-1891)

Ray Charles and his braille chess set as A reappraisal of the 19th century
seen by star photographer Neal Preston. German master Louis Paulsen, one of
the chief pioneers of the modern school.
10 NIC’s Café
Stephen Hawking loved chess and 64 The Blitz Whisperer
Fodor’s Travel Guide suggests you meet In his new column Maxim Dlugy reveals
Jude Acers in New Orleans. the secrets of blitz, the most popular
form of chess on our planet.
12 Your Move
Not amused by Nigel Short’s attack on 72 Short Stories
their passion, correspondence chess For years he had looked in perplexity at
players shoot back. the medium, until Nigel Short warmed
to Twitter.
14 The World Championship purse
Over the years the prize-money for 74 Secrets of Opening Surprises
the world title match has decreased On more than one occasion Levon
significantly. Aronian has been successful with a
Patzer move that fails to impress at first
15 Fair & Square sight.
Which novel did Vladimir Nabokov see
as his ‘warmest’ book? 78 The spirit of Fischer
In a vivid and highly personal account
16 Goodbye to Berlin (what else would you expect?), Adhiban
The FIDE Candidates tournament in Baskaran describes why he had to win
Berlin brought more drama, hypno- the Reykjavik Open and how he did it.
tizing clashes and permanently shifting
story lines than any pundit could have 94 Sadler on Books
foreseen. Fabiano Caruana kept his cool Amid a fine crop of new books, Matthew
and became the first American Chal- Sadler was rightly curious about a fasci-
lenger since Bobby Fischer in the unified nating account of a period in Alekhine’s
World Championship. life that is shrouded in mystery.

25 Celeb64: Leonard Nimoy 98 An epiphany

Hans Ree remembers the painful
44 Interview: Fabiano Caruana moment when he felt that he couldn’t CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to the play chess anymore. Vishy Anand, Adhiban Baskaran,
World Championship Challenger. Jeroen Bosch, Maxim Dlugy, Anish Giri,
100 Another Anand victory John Henderson, Johann Hjartarson,
50 Judit Polgar Jan Timman looks at Anand’s impres-
Konstantin Landa, Dylan McClain,
There is beauty in breaking strategic sive showing in the Tal Memorial in
Maxim Notkin, Judit Polgar, Hans
rules, as Judit Polgar shows. Moscow.
Ree, Hans Renette, Matthew Sadler,
53 Maximize Your Tactics 106 Just Checking Nigel Short, Wesley So, Jan Timman,
Find the right moves. What is Lawrence Trent’s life motto? Lawrence Trent

S U B S C R I P T I O N S : p. 104 C O L O P H O N : p. 13 A7
Exhilarated
and Exhausted
N
eal Preston is one of the
most prolific and highly
regarded rock photographers
of all time. He’s toured
with some of the greatest rock bands in
history, getting the kind of rare access
that hard-core fans would almost kill for.
He’s a true insider; a shutterbug legend
hailed with having ‘a backstage pass to
history’.
Preston has now published a near
50-year retrospective of his incredible
work. His stunning new book, Exhilarated
and Exhausted, is a veritable who’s who
of rock royalty with more than 300 iconic
photographs of the stars he worked with,
such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen,
Bruce Springsteen and many others. The
book is already being acclaimed as one
of music’s most extensive and significant
photography collections.
One shot is of Ray Charles in 1981 with
his fabled braille chess set. Charles loved
to play chess, and he never missed a
chance to challenge a new opponent.
‘The Genius’ quickly threw the gauntlet
down to Preston – and the photographer
was only too happy to pick it up.
‘Now I’m not Bobby Fischer, but I’ve been
playing chess since I was a kid,’ Preston
recalls in the book. ‘Yeah, I was a little
distracted because I wanted to make sure
I could shoot, but I was fairly certain
I could beat Ray Charles, with all due
respect to everyone out there.
NEAL PRESTON

And he hammered me.’ ■

8A
RAY CHARLES

A9
 NIC’s Café
NIC’s Café

and he certainly wasn’t the easiest is the same. ‘Both are strategic games,’
A brief history of his chess opponent at any game, particularly Jackson says, ‘And you need a strategy

W
hen Stephen Hawking, chess.’ in any game you play, to be honest.
the eminent physicist Especially basketball.’
and author of A Brief Strategic games

I
History of Time, died n past editions, we’ve covered the March Madness

A
on March 14, aged 76, in his home in chess-playing skills of some of nd can we be surprised that
Cambridge, England, many tributes the top sporting stars of the MLB chess plays a role in college
were paid to his enormous contribu- (baseball) and NFL (football). basketball as well? The
And now the NBA is getting in on the NCAA men’s basketball
act, with a recent feature appearing phenomena of ‘March Madness’ in the
in The Arizona Republic newspaper USA all evolves around what’s become
revealing that the Phoenix Suns’ Josh known as ‘The Science of Bracke-
Jackson uses his chess skills to help tology’ or predicting the knockout
get him an advantage on the basket- winners, as 64 teams become 32, that
ball court.
On the court Jackson is a whirl-
wind of aggressiveness and emotion,
but before each NBA game it’s a more
thoughtful and reflective Jackson who
chills out by playing chess. Jackson
Stephen Hawking playing chess with his son says he’s been playing chess since he
Tim. In the background his daughter Lucy. was a child, and he firmly believes that
chess and basketball aren’t entirely
tion to cosmology. Here we’d like to dissimilar.
remember his varied chess connec- He was captivated by chess at the
tions throughout his life. age of nine or ten after seeing his
In the 2014 movie of his life, The stepfather playing and he soon fell
Theory of Everything – starring Eddie in love with the game. At school he The UMBC basketball team celebrated
Redmayne in the Oscar-winning lead continued to pursue his fascination one of the biggest upsets in college
role – we discovered that as a student with chess by starting his elementary sports. Inspired by their chess team!
at Cambridge, chess-mad Hawking school’s chess club.
was so far ahead of his class and his Now, Jackson takes a small chess in turn becomes the ‘Sweet Sixteen’,
tutor that he would often sneak chess board on every Suns road trip. The ‘Elite 8’, and then the ‘Final Four’ that
books in to read during lectures. differences between chess and basket- decides the eventual winner.
And then there was the memorable ball are obvious, but it’s the similari- The perennial No.1 seeds and
occasion in late 2015, when Hawking ties that attract Jackson. Both pursuits multi-time winners is the University
took a futuristic chess variant main- require studying the opponent, of Virginia. Only this March, in the
stream after being challenged by trying to figure out his next move Sweet Sixteen stage, in what’s been
Hollywood actor Paul Rudd to a game and then reacting. One response is described as one of the biggest upsets
of Quantum Chess, that was narrated physical, one mental, but the process ever in college sports, Virginia were
by Keanu Reeves. The video went sensationally knocked out by huge
viral on its release, and at last count underdogs University of Maryland-
had received over 5.5 million views on Baltimore County (UMBC), the No.
YouTube. 16 seeds. Then, in the postgame inter-
For Hawking, chess was also a game views, the biggest surprise of all for
that allowed him to bond with his son, the media came when they discovered
Tim. Last year, in a BBC documentary that the UMBC’s inspiration for their
on the occasion of Hawking’s 75th headlining success was their very own
birthday, Tim revealed that he and his chess team.
famous physicist father were fiercely The UMBC is credited with creating
competitive over-the-board. ‘There the idea of a high-powered collegiate
was no compassion at all,’ he shared. The more thoughtful and reflective Josh chess program. Its program director,
‘My father is hugely competitive, Jackson, figuring out his next move. Dr. Alan T. Sherman, a professor

10 A
 NIC’s Café

of computer science and electrical, Ball winner’s social media page!): new Kickstarter-funded local docu-
started building the program from ‘Exchange t-shirts with Cristiano mentary, ‘The Man in the Red Beret’,
scratch in the early 1990s. Other Ronaldo was particularly memorable.’ that is currently being produced by
colleges followed their model, New Orleans-based K&D Video and
including Webster University. This Hey Jude expected to be released early next year.

I
year UMBC reached the Chess Final t’s not often that a chess player
Four and is still a powerhouse, but the is endorsed by an internation- The Coldest Game

W
team isn’t as dominant as it once was. ally-renowned guide, but Fodor’s hat does a washed-up
Still, after the biggest college basket- Travel Guide series now recom- chess master do instead
ball upset of all time, the players mends that, when visiting New of chess? The answer, as
praised their chess team. ‘Don’t forget Orleans, all chess lovers should check we discovered from the
about them, either. They’re still big’, out Jude Acers, one of the game’s latest edition of the movie and showbiz
UMBC centre Nolan Gerrity said in a greatest promoters and characters. magazine Variety, is to try your hand
widely viewed video, ‘They paved the at the espionage game. At least that’s
way. We looked up to them.’ the premise of the upcoming new spy
thriller, The Coldest Game, directed
The Real thing by Lukasz Kosmicki and starring Bill

R
emember when in Pullman.
December 2013, Magnus In the film, Pullman’s character
Carlsen received the VIP Joshua Mansky – described as a
treatment at Real Madrid’s complex man who resents authority,
Bernabéu stadium? As guest of lacks social skills and lives mainly
honour for Real’s league match inside his own head – is recruited
with Real Valladolid, Carlsen was by a seductive CIA agent (played by
presented with a shirt with his name otte erbeek and abruptly flown to
on it, was introduced to the crowd, got Jude Acers, ‘The Man in the Red Beret’. arsaw to face off against a ussian
to meet the stars, and then performed chess champ (Evgenij Sydikhin) at
the honorary kick off For the last 40 years, the irrepress- an international tournament in the
And what’s good enough for ible Acers, with his trademark red iconic Palace of Culture and Science
Magnus is also good enough for beret, has taken on all comers for $5 in the city centre of the Polish capital.
Ukrainian GM Anna Muzychuk! a time at his sidewalk gazebo fabled The match turns out to be a sort
Recently, she also received the VIP ‘World Chess Table’ on Decatur Street of proxy for the Cuban missile crisis
treatment at the Bernabéu before in the French Quarter. in the film n one scene featuring a
eal s fi ture with eportivo laves A national master at 17, Acers
She also swapped shirts with star played Bobby Fischer and Walter
striker Cristiano Ronaldo and got to Browne – and his National Open
meet winger Gareth Bale. On Ronal- draw against Browne was voted a ‘Top
do’s Facebook page, Anna wrote Ten’ theory game in the world in 1970
(as you do on a multi-time Golden in Chess Informant.
For many years, Acers topped the
U.S. Chess Federation’s most-active
list, and during his many and often
wondrous national chess tours the
consummate showman has staged
countless simultaneous and blind- Director Lukasz Kosmicki
fold exhibitions to promote the game, and Bill Pullman on the set
even earning an entry in the Guinness of The Coldest Game.
Book of World Records for a then-
record 179-opponent simul on Long phone call from President John F.
Island in July 1976. Kennedy, Pullman’s Mansky finds
All of which is an apt moment to himself reluctantly saddled with intel-
reveal that the life and times of Jude ligence duties as he preps for the next
No offence meant, but it looks like Acers – who barely survived Hurri- chess match, bristling: ‘I knew it’s not
Anna is up an exchange. cane Katrina – is also the subject of a about the chess.’

A 11
 Your Move

An elderly man 17-move draw, Jonathan got up from Revolutionary, published by New In
Thank you for mentioning Ortvin his chair, put on his coat and, patting Chess, to Google ‘Kingpin Breyer’
Sarapu in your Infographic ‘The his heavy-laden briefcase, told me that where they will find a link to a four
Kings of Their Countries’ in New In he now had work to do! He never had part article containing further interest-
Chess 2018/1. any desire whatsoever to become a ing material not included in my book.
One day in early 1999, I happened
to visit the famous Mission Bay Beach A bit too much
in Auckland, New Zealand. I saw half In New In Chess 2018/2, GM Nigel
a dozen tables on the beach where Write to us Short concludes that correspond-
New In Chess, P.O. Box 1093
people were playing chess! An elderly ence chess has lost purpose. I would
1810 KB Alkmaar, The Netherlands
man was sitting alone in the first board. like to point out that I believe many of
or e-mail: editors@newinchess.com
I naturally went to play with him. Letters may be edited or abridged the top OTB players would not agree
I was new in New Zealand and had with him – correspondence chess
no idea who the elderly man was. I games serve as one of the most valua-
might have played 8 or 10 blitz games ble resources for opening research and
with him and to my surprise he won professional chess player and, having fresh ideas. Examples of that can be
more games than I did! I blamed my obtained a PhD in Psychology, took found in many games. Let me just men-
poor performance on the past 15 years his career as a university lecturer very tion the most recent and rather popu-
or so that I hadn’t played any chess. seriously. lar one, where in the game Aronian-
A few weeks later, I saw the photo- I visited Jonathan several times in Kramnik, Candidates 2018, Round 3,
graph of the elderly man in The New the late 1990s and he told me he had Black came up with the surprise move
Zealand Herald, he had just passed in fact made a New Year’s resolution 7...♖g8, and went on to win the game.
away. Only then did I come to know on January 1st 1980 that he would not Kramnik himself said in an interview
that he was IM Ortvin Sarapu, the ‘Mr play over-the-board competitive chess after the game that ‘a couple of years
Chess’ of New Zealand! I also under- again, but would instead pursue cor- ago he found this very strong resource’,
stood why nobody else dared to play respondence chess, at which he soon while some chess portals indicated that
him when I did. became the highest rated player in the move was ‘played once before in a cor-
Uday Bajracharya world. respondence game’. The truth is that
Sydney, Australia He only broke his resolution once, the move was first played on November
in 1984, when he lost a match game for 20th, 2012, by the late CC IM Kopeikin,
Jonathan Penrose Hampstead, his long term club. How- as every correspondence player could
I would just like to point out one small ever, in the 1990s  he  declined Joop know by simply looking at his database.
error on the ‘Kings of their Countries’ van Oosterom’s invitation to play in After that, the move has been played at
page in New In Chess 2018/1. Jona- a Women vs. Veterans match-tourna- least in four more CC games.
than Penrose, ten times British cham- ment in London. While we CC players have gotten
pion, did not give up over-the-board With the proliferation of chess rather used to the fact of being ignored
play in 1970, as stated, but continued engines in the early 1990s, he subse- and not credited for our achievements,
to compete in British Championships, quently also gave up correspondence it is a bit too much to call the whole
county and club  matches, over the play. At that time he did not even own discipline to be without purpose. As
next decade. a computer! many OTB GMs on my mailing list
Nevertheless 1970 did have some Jonathan Penrose was awarded the would confirm, I’m sure.
significance, as in this year Penrose grandmaster title retrospectively in Leonardo Ljubičić
twice fainted at the board. The cause 1993 but no one ever doubted his play- ICCF Marketing Director
was later diagnosed as hypoglycae- ing strength. At the Leipzig Olympiad
mia, low blood sugar, exacerbated by in 1960 he scored 2½ points against Running the extra mile
stress. After these episodes I think he three World Champions. He defeated I’d like to react to Nigel Short’s column
put less mental effort into his play and Mikhail Tal and Max Euwe and agreed about correspondence chess in New
he never won the British Champion- a draw against Bobby Fischer in a won In Chess 2018/2. And let me begin by
ship again. position, due to severe time pressure. saying that I appreciate him as a chess
As it happens, I was one of his last And at that time he wasn’t even an IM! player and a writer. My name is Tizi-
over-the-board opponents, since I Jimmy Adams ano Mosconi, a lousy OTB Candidate
played him in the London League Hoddesdon, UK Master and two-times Italian Corre-
near the end of 1979. After shaking P.S. On another topic, may I invite spondence Champion. While I’m cer-
hands at the end of an uneventful any readers of Gyula Breyer: The Chess tainly far less experienced than you

12 A
 Your Move

regarding tournament chess, I think organization of work, but is also artistic them in our pages. Just as our read-
I can expand your knowledge of the if you try to find unconventional plans. ers are free to vent their agreement or
correspondence world. How could et me make a final comparison to disagreement. We aim to be an open
you judge it with practically no expe- running. There are many running dis- platform where there is room for dif-
rience? Do you believe that a power- tances, from 100 metres to the mara- fering views.
ful computer is enough to win corre- thon. he sprinter has very different It is also tempting at this point to
spondence tournaments? qualities from the middle distance and refer you to GM Erwin l’Ami’s new
Why don’t you give it a try? Believe marathon runner. But nobody would column in our Yearbook, in which
me, you won’t go far. Of course, armed say that the latter is not a real runner, he presents interesting opening ideas
with all the best tools (opening books, because he’s a terrible sprinter. Enjoy from the world of correspondence
all the top engines, tablebases etc) the sprint and the middle distance, Mr. chess. Here’s a quote from his first
you could draw most of your games Short, but please respect those who column in Yearbook 126: ‘Google’s
but at the top level you will also lose want to run the extra mile. Alpha Zero may have destroyed
a fair share of them. I’ve made a living Tiziano Mosconi Stockfish, but it wouldn’t stand a
of taking the game to positions that Italy chance against the best correspond-
engines misjudge, and even if incre- ence players out there.’
mentally difficult to do, we are far Deeply disappointed
from the day when this will no longer I was sincerely surprised and deeply Socrates or Plato
be possible. disappointed to see that in New In According to Saravanan (New In
This is often underestimated by Chess 2018/2 you published Nigel Chess 2018/2), Vidit says he found
over-the-board players, because their Short’s article with the provocative it di cult to read Homer ough!’ ,
games are usually decided by short- title ‘Obsolescence ‘. If the purpose Aristotle and ocrates oo tough!!’ .
term tactics that computers are able to was to offend the entire correspond- Reading Socrates isn’t just tough – it’s
find in a few seconds, so they believe ence chess community, then you bril- impossible. He wrote nothing. Our
that with enough power and time, the liantly succeeded in this. knowledge of Socrates comes mainly
engines will be able to find everything. If somebody does not understand a from Plato, but we have no idea how
In correspondence chess it’s not like particular type of human activity, but accurate Plato’s version is.
this. When you heavily misjudge a presents his point of view publicly, it Chris Holmes
position, a material imbalance, a pawn is the responsibility of the editors to St. Maur des Fossés, France
storm, a long term pin, a fortress, then recognize this (unless they themselves
no increase in calculating power can share the presented point of view).
save you. One thing that Nigel Short fails to COLOPHON
If my words can’t convince you, I recognize is that correspondence chess PUBLISHER: Allard Hoogland
hope my results will. I’ve won 49 of is first of all a research laboratory for EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam
the 78 games I’ve played till now, and chess. Without it many brilliant ideas HONORARY EDITOR: Jan Timman
I believe most of my opponents used (such as the recent novelty in the Aro- CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Anish Giri
EDITORS: Peter Boel, René Olthof
the best IT tools they could put their nian-Kramnik game) may never see ART-DIRECTION: Jan Scholtus
PRODUCTION: Joop de Groot
hands on. And, brace yourself, my the light of day. The argument that cor- TRANSLATORS: Ken Neat, Piet Verhagen
computer is a tremendous 9-year- respondence chess is drawish, because SALES AND ADVERTISING: Remmelt Otten

old PC with two cores, practically a the human ‘blunder’ factor is virtually PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE:
dinosaur, plus a mediocre 5-year-old eliminated from the game, is complete Alina l’Ami, Maria Emelianova,
Lennart Ootes, Neal Preston, Berend Vonk
laptop. Correspondence chess has nonsense. It is similar to saying that COVER PHOTO: New In Chess
undoubtedly changed in the past ten scientists should not use computers
© No part of this magazine may be reproduced,
or twenty years, but I don’t believe the in their research, because that under- stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, recording or otherwise,
time has come to pronounce it dead. mines their achievements. Chess may without the prior permission of the publisher.
Chess is a mix of sport, science and art, be purely a sport for some people, but
NEW IN CHESS
and the different time controls high- it is also art and science for others. P. O . B O X 1 0 9 3
light these components. Bullet chess Kirill Oseledets, 1810 KB ALKMAAR
THE NETHERLANDS
is all about instinct and speed; blitz is Chicago, IL, USA
PHONE: 00-31-(0)72-51 27 137
about selectivity and initiative; tourna- SUBSCRIPTIONS: nic@newinchess.com
ment chess requires stamina, knowl- Editorial postscript: EDITORS: editors@newinchess.com
ADVERTISING: otten@newinchess.com
edge, memory, calculation and many Needless to say, we do not necessarily
other qualities; correspondence chess share Nigel Short’s views or opinions. W W W. N E W I N C H E S S. C O M
is scientific in that it re uires precise As a columnist he is free to express

A 13
 InfographIc

The Shrinking World Championship Purse

When Magnus Carlsen faces Fabiano Caruana in London in One reason for the smaller purses is that organizational costs
November in a match for the World Championship, the two players are clearly very high. World Chess, the commercial partner of the
will be fighting for the lion’s share of a prize fund of one million World Chess Federation, or FIDE, which is now organizing the
euros, or about $1.25 million at the current exchange rate. That is matches, is staging them in cities that are quite expensive (London
a sizable payday for professional chess players, who often earn far in 2018 and New York City in 2016).
less than that. Still, title matches have been held in those cities before, and
But, as the chart below illustrates, it is significantly less than with bigger prize funds, so other factors are likely in play.
the prize funds of some previous matches. DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN

TOTAL PRIZE FUNDS

3,000,000 DUELING CLAIMS Garry
In dollars, using contemporary exchange rates where
necessary. Amounts not adjusted for inflation. Garry TO WORLD TITLE Kasparov-
In most cases, the winner received either Garry Garry Kasparov- 2,550,000 Vladimir
Kasparov- Anatoly Garry Kramnik
5/8 or 2/3 of the prize fund. Exceptions Kasparov- Garry Kasparov-
Anatoly Anatoly Karpov
included 2006 and 2008, when the prize Karpov Kasparov- Viswanathan Anatoly 2,000,000
funds were divided equally. Karpov Nigel Anand Karpov-
Garry 1,628,571
Short Gata
Anatoly
Anatoly Kasparov- 1,555,555* 1,500,000 Kamsky
Karpov- Anatoly Anatoly
Bobby Karpov- Karpov- 1,125,000
Fischer- Viktor Karpov
Kortchnoi Viktor Jan
Boris Kortchnoi Timman
Spassky 666,667
560,000
400,000 413,793
250,000
1972 1978 1981 1985 1986 1987 1990 1993 1993 1995 1996 2000
Reykjavik, Baguio City, Merano, Moscow London and Seville, New York London Netherlands New York Elista, London
Iceland Philippines Italy Leningrad, Spain and Lyon, (three sites) Kalmykia
U.S.S.R. France and Jakarta,
Indonesia

Zwolle,
Arnhem,
Reykjavik Amsterdam Moscow
London
Photo
Bonn Elista
Lyon Sofia
Sochi
New York Seville
Brissago Merano
Anatoly Kaporv and Viktor Kortchnoi
in Baguio City, in 1978.

Baguio City
Mexico City Chennai

Photo

*Kasparov and Karpov Jakarta

donated the London
portion of the prize fund -- Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko
about two-thirds of the total -- in Brissago, Switzerland in 2004.
to the victims of the nuclear
accident in Chernobyl.
San Luis

DUELING CLAIMS
Viswanathan 2,800,000
TO WORLD TITLE
Anand-
Vladimir Viswanathan 2,550,000 2,500,000
Kramnik Anand- Viswanathan
Vladimir World Veselin Magnus Magnus Magnus
Champion- Anand- Magnus
Kramnik- World Vladimir Topalov Boris Carlsen- Carlsen- Carlsen-
ship 1,900,000 Carlsen-
Peter Champion- Kramnik- tournament Gelfand Viswanathan Viswanathan Sergey
Fabiano
Leko ship Veselin Anand Anand Caruana
Karjakin
tournament Topalov 1,300,000
1,200,000 1,250,000 1,250,000
1,000,000 1,000,000 1,100,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2012 2013 2014 2016 2018
Brissago, San Luis, Elista, Mexico Bonn, Sofia, Moscow Chennai, Sochi, New York London
Switzerland Argentina Kalmykia City Germany Bulgaria India Russia

14 A
 Fair & Square
Holger Czukay: ‘The bass player’s somewhere else where there are with friends, colleagues to eat
like a king in chess. He doesn’t no spectators and absolute quiet.’ good food, enjoy life, train well
move much, but when he does he (Commenting on playing in the and sit down at the board to try
changes everything.’ (The found- recent Tal Memorial, with the spec- to find new ideas, then you will
ing member and bassist with early tacular backdrop of the playing find them.’ (As the Berlin Candi-
1970s Cologne-based band Can, hall being the Russian Museum of dates got underway to find his next
who died last year aged 79) Impressionism) challenger, the World Champion
headed to a training camp in Oman
Quini: ‘It wasn’t Michael Birch with this message)
that uncomforta- OBE:
ble, if you knew ‘When I was a kid, Garry Kasparov: ‘Losing can per-
how to move into I really liked suade you to change what doesn’t
the right position. playing chess, need to be changed, and winning
One day they which is pretty can convince you everything is
brought me down a copy of Marca geeky; I just enjoyed it – thinking, fine even if you are on the brink of
so that I could see the football exercising my mind. And I found disaster.’
results and in the end they gave computers to be like an eight-
me a television and everything. hour day chess game.’ C.E. Tobisman:
And a chess set. I played on my (The computer entrepreneur and ‘Chess was a gen-
own, but I like playing on my Bebo tycoon) tleman’s game –
own.’ (The Spain and Barcelona every bit as nasty
striker Quini, who died recently Vladimir Nabokov: ‘Of all my as a bar brawl, only
aged 68, on being kidnapped for 25 Russian books, The Defence con- infinitely more
days in March 1981. He forgave his tains and diffuses the greatest deliberate.’
kidnappers, who were unemployed “warmth”, which may seem odd (The American author and comic
and desperate for money to seeing how supremely abstract book writer, in her novel Doubt, the
support their families) Chess is supposed to be.’ first in the series of her Caroline
Auden legal thrillers)
Alexander Yako- Michael Chabon:
venko: ‘It is a big ‘A friendship Amar Bose: ‘No one ever won a
game of chess that across sectarian chess game by betting on each
we will play. All lines is not a move. Sometimes you have to
this information common phenom- move backwards to get a step
campaign will enon, in his expe- forward.’
fizzle out sooner or later because rience. In the past, it has struck (The American engineer and found-
there is nothing to fuel it – there is him that, apart from homosexu- ing chairman of Bose Corporation,
not a single fact and no informa- als, only chess players have found 1929-2013)
tion is being revealed.’ a reliable way to bridge, intensely
(The Russian Ambassador to the but without fatal violence, the Neil deGrasse Tyson: ‘Chess in
UK, on the tit-for-tat political fall- gulf that separates any given pair the Schools works because chess
out between the two nations fol- of men.’ is a metaphor for life.’ (The chess-
lowing the recent nerve agent (The American novelist and short loving American astrophysicist,
attack on a former Russian spy in story writer, in his 2008 Hugo author, and science communicator)
Salisbury) Award-winning novel The Yiddish
Policeman’s Union) Jennifer Shahade: ‘I love chess,
Vladimir Kramnik: ‘I would but it’s the height of decadence.’
prefer chess in museums with lots Magnus Carlsen: ‘My philoso- (Quoted in Paul Hoffman’s 2007
of spectators and some noise than phy is that if you get together book, The King’s Gambit)

A 15
 BERLIN

Fabiano Caruana
prevails in sizzling
Candidates to
Goodbye
challenge Magnus
Carlsen to Berlin
LENNART OOTES

16 A
 BERLIN

Expectations were high,

seemingly too high, but the
FIDE Candidates tournament
in Berlin brought more
drama, hypnotizing clashes
and permanently shifting
story lines than any pundit
could have foreseen. At
the Kühlhaus – a derelict
industrial structure turned
into a cavernous free-fight
theatre – the heat was on from
move one. Vladimir Kramnik
went on the rampage, lavishly
mixing beauty and blunders.
Top favourite Levon Aronian
collapsed completely in the
most tragic implosion of his
career. With one round to go,
four players could still win. And
then Fabiano Caruana stood
erect, kept his cool and became
the first American Challenger
since Bobby Fischer in the
unified World Championship.
DIRK JAN TEN GEUZENDAM
reports from the German
capital.

A 17
 BERLIN

F
or those who had been eight Candidates were playing, but if For journalists, the conditions also
at the Candidates tour- they wanted to sit down for a moment, left a thing or two to be desired, because
nament in Moscow two they had to move up to the fourth the press room was cramped and quite
years ago, the venue of floor. Here there was a big space where Spartan. And it was only after an
the Berlin Candidates felt sort of they could follow the German live emphatic request on the second day by a
familiar. In Moscow, the old and commentary, have a drink and watch German journalist that (instant) coffee,
deserted Telegraph building at a the post-game press conferences. The tea and water were provided.
stone’s throw from Red Square had fifth f loor was off-limits for chess
been cleverly redecorated with the fans, unless they forked out a sizable Exclusive coverage
black and white house style of World amount of euros to buy access to the Even more painful was the struggle
Chess (formerly Agon). Although the VIP-room with free drinks and the with the live broadcast. As most of
environment felt rather naked and international live stream with Judit the spectators are obviously sitting
barren to some visitors, it certainly Polgar. at home (and interest in the Candi-
worked well in pictures. In Berlin, the dates was huge), World Chess puts
old Kühlhaus, built in the early 19th Message in a bottle great emphasis on the Internet broad-
century and at the time Europe’s Attractive as all this may sound, the cast, and they claim that they provide
biggest cold storage unit, felt even old Kühlhaus also posed logistical a unique viewing experience that is
more derelict and desolate, but here, challenges that the organizers had worth the money they are charging. In
too, the black and white of World insufficiently prepared for. Only hours fact, World Chess CEO Ilya Merenzon
has not yet given up on the idea of
providing exclusive coverage, blocking
‘When he reached for the door, “some other chess sites, as part of a commer-
cial plan to make their events profit-
random person” came out, making it able. If you look at other sports, this is
not an illusory ambition, as many chess
clear to him that their only toilet was fans, spoiled by free broadcasts, often
not even their exclusive right.’ say, but of course it didn’t help that once
again a lot went wrong with the official
broadcast. The most painful moment
Chess felt in sync with what you see before the start of the first round, must have been when in the early
in many modern artists’ plans for workmen were still hammering away, rounds it proved impossible to show
abandoned factories and other indus- but for some problems it was hard to all four boards simultaneously and
trial structures. And once you were find a solution. There were far too few the following message appeared on the
inside, it didn’t take that long to get toilets in the building, and the players screen: ‘While we work on resolving the
used to the dark spaces interspersed had to make do with one toilet that issue with the moves broadcast, please
with spot-lit areas where the only had no water the first few days. In follow the games live at chessbase.com,
colour you saw were strips warning one of his many hilarious deadpan chessbomb.com, chess.com, lichess.org
the visitors where they might trip and comments at the press conferences, or your favorite app.’ Ouch.
fall or ruin their clothing against the Alexander Grischuk recounted how Merenzon endured the setbacks with
rough concrete walls. he had rushed to the toilet in time- his usual outward equanimity, saying
World Chess has clearly gone trouble, only to find it occupied. Five they will keep trying to improve and
for a contemporary way to present minutes later he tried again, and continue to be ready to learn. It’s this
their events, and this is a laudable when he reached for the door, ‘some quiet friendliness that often endears
ambition. Not everyone will have random person’ came out, making it him to the players and the people he
been taken by the overall set-up, clear to him that their only toilet was works with, but as long as so many
but few will forget how, hanging not even their exclusive right. Even stitches are dropped during each event,
on the railings on the second and more embarrassing for the organizers it probably just as often drives them to
third floors, they stared down at the was Grischuk’s reaction to a question despair.
players on the first floor as if they at another press conference where he
were watching an illegal cock fight or was asked what he was carrying in A celebration of chess
a shady free fight. the plastic bag he had with him. He However, amid all these headaches
On the first floor, in the playing shrugged his shoulders, picked up the and glitches, Merenzon held one huge
area, the spectators could walk bag and showed a big water bottle that trump: the Berlin Candidates was an
around the four cubicles in which the was almost half filled with urine. unforgettable slugfest with great fights

18 A
 BERLIN

in each and every round, and seem-

ingly endless excitement. A celebra-
tion of chess at its best, and regard-
less of whether you were watching at
home or had the privilege of being
in Berlin, you didn’t want to miss a
moment. Not a day went by without
one or more games that left the
experts and fans shaking their heads
in disbelief and admiration.
Anyone who had witnessed the first
Candidates tournament of ‘the new
LENNART OOTES

era’, in London in 2013, where Magnus

Carlsen edged out Vladimir Kramnik
in a gripping finale, must have felt
that this was a unique moment in Anyone entering the Kühlhaus to watch the Berlin Candidates tournament
chess history (which of course it was), was warned that he or she did so at their own peril.
but by now we know that the Candi-
dates has become a competition sui
generis where great chess and perma-
nent excitement are guaranteed. And Levon Aronian spondence games. Black brutally
Berlin was no exception. Vladimir Kramnik threatens ...g ( xg xh gxh h ).
Finding an explanation for the Berlin 2018 (3) 8.♔h1
uninhibited mayhem t hat we Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence Played rather quick ly. Aronian
witnessed may not be that easy. Some 1.e4 Aronian hardly ever plays probably wanted to keep Kramnik
suggested that setting the scene in 1.e4. In an old interview on Sergey guessing about whether he was still in
the Kühlhaus was a smart decision, Shipov’s website, he once said that he his preparation. At the same time, this
because it provided the kind of rough never plays 1.e4, because he wants to is a natural move, stopping ...g . The
and unpolished backdrop reminis- have something new to play when he alternative was . bd .
cent of futuristic action movies in becomes an old-age pensioner. 8...♘h5!? This is a new move. Two
non-descript societies after Earth 1...e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 ♘f6 4.d3 correspondence games saw ...h .
has been struck by some disaster. ♗c5 5.♗xc6 dxc6 6.0-0 9.c3? This move will only harm
Others rightly pointed at the fact that . bd is more common, when White White’s position. It takes away the
so much is at stake at this last hurdle keeps the option of going 0-0-0. c3-square from the knight and
before the World Championship 6...♕e7 7.h3? . bd is the main weakens the d3-square.
match. But then, playing it safe, first move, and now ... g .h h , . c would lead to a better version of
and foremost avoiding defeat and followed by ... d , and if needed (after the game, when after ...g . xe g
looking for your chances in a handful ...f7-f6), the bishop can get back into .d d .g xe .dxe xe
of games, would be a more sensible the game via f7. .h d Black will castle queenside
approach, wouldn’t it? 7...♖g8! and enjoy a comfortable game.
Or maybe the players were simply 9...g5! 10.♘xe5 g4! The key move.
11.d4 ♗d6 12.g3 ♗xe5 13.dxe5
motivated to give it their all. This was
undeniably the case with Vladimir
T_L_M_T_ ♕xe5 14.♕d4
Kramnik, who lost no time to show jJj.dJjJ
his intentions. In the first round, he ._J_.s._ T_L_M_T_
defeated Grischuk and, following _.l.j._. jJj._J_J
a draw with his other compatriot
Sergey Karjakin in the second round
._._I_._ ._J_._._
(as there were more than one Russian _._I_N_I _._.d._S
and American participant, they were IiI_.iI_ ._.qI_J_
paired against each other as early as rNbQ_Rk. _.i._.iI
possible to avoid any suspicions), he
played a game for the ages in Round 3 A novelty for OTB practice, but it had Ii._.i._
against Levon Aronian. already been played in four corre- rNb._R_K

A 19
 BERLIN

14...♕e7?! Objectively stronger

was 14...♕xd4 15.cxd4 gxh3 16.♔h2
♗e6 17.♘c3 0-0-0 18.♗e3 f5 19.exf5
♗xf5, when Black has an extra pawn.
The opposite-coloured bishops
give White some hope, but with the
knights still on the board, his defen-
sive task is pretty difficult. The extra
pawn on h3 is much more annoying
than it is weak.
15.h4 Not the only move. After
LENNART OOTES

15.♗e3!? gxh3 16.♘d2 White has a

very dangerous position, but here he
is finally developed and ready to look
for chances. Vladimir Kramnik’s brilliant win in Round 3 was a brutal blow for top favourite Levon
15...c5 16.♕c4? 16.♕d3 would Aronian. This photo is from their second encounter, that the Armenian also lost.
have kept White very much in the
game: 16...♗d7 17.c4 0-0-0 18.♘c3
♖ge8 19.♖e1 ♗c6 20.♘d5, and Black sion that many showed no doubt and city where he had lived for many years.
is likely to win a pawn using the pins claimed that this was already ‘the game In Round 4, Aronian seemed to recover
(...♕e5 f5 or ...♗xd5 cxd5 ♘f6), but of the tournament’. It probably was, from his loss to Kramnik with a win
the game is far from over. but there was much more to come. against Karjakin, but that was the last
16...♗e6 17.♕b5+ c6 18.♕a4? Kramnik continued to play with game he won; five more defeats followed.
This loses on the spot. The only way abandon. He also reached a winning The pain was shared by the local fans
to keep the game going was 18.♕d3 position against Fabiano Caruana in who welcomed him with an extra warm
♖d8 19.♕e3, as ...f5 is prevented. Round 4, but when that game took a applause at every press conference.
18...f5! dramatic turn and he lost, his tourna-
ment took a dramatic turn as well. By The deserved winner
T_._M_T_ Round 9, Kramnik had lost three more
games, and his chances to write history
In a Candidates tournament there is
only one winner and, cruelly, it doesn’t
jJ_.d._J had virtually been reduced to zero. matter too much where you finish if you
._J_L_._ With admirable courage, the former don’t win. In Berlin, the winner was
_.j._J_S World Champion fought on and defi- Fabiano Caruana, a deserved winner,
Q_._I_Ji nitely contributed heavily to the enter-
tainment, not in the least because of
who played strong and confident chess
and was ready to fight back after losing
_.i._.i. his permanent optimistic views of a game at a very unpleasant moment.
Ii._.i._ his own chances in the post-game His main rivals were Shakhriyar Mame-
rNb._R_K press conferences. Even the normally dyarov, who was in contention all
reticent Ding Liren started shaking his through the event, and Sergey Karjakin,
Now 19.exf5 is impossible, and ...f5-f4 head and smilingly begged to disagree who made an impressive comeback and
will come with devastating effect. when Kramnik assessed his chances in climbed back to the top after a disas-
19.♗g5 After 19.exf5 ♘xg3+! is the their game too favourably. trous start.
point: 20.fxg3 ♗d5+ 21.♔g1 ♕e2 For Aronian, the Berlin Candidates The fight for first place remained
22.♖f2 ♕e1+, followed by mate. will always remain a painful wound. unclear till the very end, with Alexander
19...♖xg5 20.hxg5 Now every- Following his magnificent results in Grischuk and Ding Liren also having
thing wins, but Kramnik finishes the past year, the Armenian was seen as good reason to keep up their hopes.
the game in style. 20...f4 21.♕d1 the number one favourite. Earlier disas- Describing all the twists and turns, even
♖d8 22.♕c1 fxg3 23.♘a3 ♖d3 ters at Candidates tournaments would only in the final rounds, would require
24.♖d1 ♗d5! 25.f3 gxf3 26.exd5 be forgotten; this was his moment. It many pages, so we will let a selection
♕e2 27.♖e1 g2+ White resigned. was not to be, the Candidates curse of great games do the further talking.
continued. Sadly, Aronian was only a More thoughts about the tournament
Drama shadow of the superb player who won and observations about the competi-
There were still 11 rounds to go, but almost everything there was to be tors can be found in the interview with
this game made such an impres- won before he arrived in Berlin, the Fabiano Caruana starting on page 44.

20 A
 BERLIN

The first game we look at was played 15...♖xb2

in ound 1. ergey ar akin, the T_.dM_.
winner of the 2016 Candidates tour- _Jj. J_J ._._. M_
nament, could not have had a worse J_J_._J_ _. . J_J
start. bviously, top-seed hakh-
riyar amedyarov had no reasons to
_._._._. J_J_._J_
complain. ._. I_._ _._._._.
_Q .bI_. ._.dI_._
Ii._.i.i _. ._I_.
NOTES BY r._. ._R I ._.i.i
Anish Giri
12.♗xd4?! r._._R .
There were many good options, but
Sergey Karjakin this is not one of them. t ust doesn t 16.♕xe7
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov work, because two moves later Black ar akin decided to shut the game
Berlin 2018 (1) will not be forced to waste a tempo down, but in hindsight it might have
Ruy Lopez, Smyslov Variation protecting the e7-knight. been easier to keep the knights on the
12.0-0-0 is interesting and needs board. The knight on e7 doesn t strike
1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 g6 further investigation. me as one you need to be afraid of.
The g6 panish is rather off beat, ost natural is probably 12.♖d1, After 16.♘d1! ♖b5 17.♘e3 don t
but unlike its reputation, it is not a when after 12...c5 13.♕xb7 0-0 think White is any worse. Again, the
risky opening. ts only problem is 14.♘e2 Black would have to show that e7-knight is actually pretty awkward,
that pretty much whatever variation he had done his homework here. and the natural ...♕e5 leads to further
White chooses, Black will have very 12.♕xb7 is a third alternative. simplifications.
few winning chances. 12...♕xd4 13.♕xb7 0 0 14.♕xc7 16...♕xc3 17. g2 ♖c2 18.♖ad1
4.c3 a6 5.♗xc6 dxc6 6.d4 t was a bit naive to expect that Black 18.h4!? was a decent move to begin
This system was reintroduced at top would have to defend his e7-knight with.
level by Naiditsch. here. With the white king stuck in 18...♖xa2 19.♖c1 ♖c2 20.♖xc2
6...exd4 7.cxd4 the centre, Black has more than one ♕xc2 21.♖a1 ♕c4
good option. Black is a pawn up for now, but White
T_LdM S can clearly win back the pawn at any
moment.
_Jj._J_J T_._. M_
J_J_._J_ _. . J_J ._._. M_
_._._._. J_J_._J_ _._. J_J
._.iI_._ _._._._. J_J_._J_
_._._N_. ._.dI_._ _._._._.
Ii._.iIi _. ._I_. ._ _I_._
rNbQ ._R Ii._.i.i _._._I_.
7...♗g4!? r._. ._R ._._.iKi
After 7...♗g7 8.♘c3 ♘e7 9.h3 0-0 r._._._.
10.0-0 h6 11.♗f4 g5 12.♗e5 ♘g6 14...♖ab8
13.♗xg7 ♔xg7 14.d5, White got 14...♘d5!? forces massive simpli- 22.♕b7?!
some risk-free pressure in Naiditsch- fications: 15.♘xd5 (15.exd5 ♕d3! t was cleaner to play for some domi-
tevic, Croatia 2014 (1-0, 40). is dangerous for White) 15...cxd5 nation with 22.h4!? and at the very
8.♕b3 16.♕c3 ♕xc3+ 17.bxc3 ♖fe8, and least cover the g5-square first, before
There are plenty of interesting cannot imagine any other result than going for the sacrificed pawn.
options to consider, but this is forcing a draw here. 22...♕b5 23.♕xa6 ♕g5+
the capture on f3, clarifying the 15.0 0 24. f1 ♕f6 25. g2 ♖b8
situation. After 15.♕xe7 ♖xb2 White has to Black of course keeps the game going,
8...♗xf3 9.gxf3 ♗g7 10.♗e3 castle anyway, because 16.♘d1? ♖c2 since he is running no risk. A precise
♘e7 11.♘c3 ♗xd4 17.♖b1 ♕d3 wins for Black. move was required here.

A 21
 BERLIN

32.h4?! Better was 32.♕b7!,

For those who like S aererum alique peliberum
.t._._M_
exeribus
_._._J_J
quasperat
esedis ma num volest
pores comnimaximet aut
stopping ...b5-b4 for the time being:
32...♕c5 33.♔g2, and now Black can’t
to play aggressively quatium Q_J_.dJ_
reperib ustinverum con- push the pawn forward, since 33...b4
with Black _._._._.
sequodit pa sum repel molecat anis
resto volorehenis dolorempori dit
is met with 34.e5!.
32...b4 33.♕b7 ♕c3 34.e5 b3
volupti._._I_._
quo doluptat fugit laut harum 35.♔g2 ♕c4 36.♕b6
_._._I_.
ex esequiaes cus, in nectota esequae
rerenis._._.iKi
est, sum faccaereium natum
._._._._
r._._._.
alit ut etus, quid ute destion emposap
iendanias aditissi que omnimpo ssi- _._._JmJ
mus26.♖a5?
alibero26.♖a3! was not thevel-
iunt volenissinis only .q._._J_
lismove,
doluptabut nobisoneetofesasam fewdevery neat
conse- _._.i._.
ones.nos
quam,
autem
Whitea atqui
activevolectemodia
should
temkeep theventis
id unt
and for that hecuscilit
should have
queen
accushis
._D_._.i
f3-pawn
aped maio que firmly protected
nobist eiustis with
sequosthe _J_._I_.
rook:vel26...♖b5
alique iuntibus(26...♕g5+ 27.♔h3!)
voloreped quaepel ._._.iK_
27.♕c8+ ♔g7 28.♖a8
entium diatem faciur sum verum ♖g5+ 29.♔f1,
ad _._._._.
maand White
vidunt latquae holds
roriam thanks to his
nossiminvel
eoscounterplay. 26...♖b3
eost pores illabo. 27.♕c8+?
Non comnihilles 36...h6
27.♕e2
essi quibuswould estixs,atodipxam
least keep
sume the 36...♕xh4 would be not such a bad
b5-square
molorume volo indecheck.
volorum 27...♔g7
eariore deal, as it’s not so easy to promote
28.♕g4 I think Karjakin
ssunte porrorit enihil ipitatem hillam simply the b-pawn: 37.♕xb3 ♕g5+ 38.♔f1
The Tarrasch Defence is one of the autblundered
odissintis the nobis rook swap. I adit
doluptatem don’t ♕xe5 and it is hard to judge such an
most ambi�ous ways to play against think
modit he Itamus
labo. wouldinustibusdae
have misjudged
sam, unusual endgame, but my feeling is
1.d4. Black immediately fights for the theest
quis queen
ullupta ending, because
ereperumet it looks
vellia sit that it is objectively tenable.
centre, gets a lot of space and develops quiextremely
commolestem dangerous for White.
alit voluptaquam, 37.♔g3 ♕d5 38.f4 ♔h7 39.♕b8
his pieces without many problems. se num quuntem verae perum fuga. ♕c4 40.f3 ♕c3 41.♕f8 ♕c4
42.♕b8 ♔g7 43.♕b6 ♕d5
Former Russian Champion ._._._._
Namus et laborumque derum ratur?
Tessequatem faceritia non pligen-
Alexey Bezgodov has created a deeply _._._JmJ
researched journey into the posi�onal
impora conet et ulparch ictatibus,
._J_.dJ_
odis aliam, sitas et, sent, ut de debi-
._._._._
structures and the key moments tae. Urr._._._.
aut alitate mporibe riatias pel- _._._Jm.
in the fight for the ini�a�ve. ._._I_Q_
labo repellab id minvelici ut alignate .q._._Jj
quo cus quam, autem eos explauta _._Di._.
nosam_T_._I_.
“That the author has decided to write an ent a nos re, consequi optio-
._._.iKi
ris et fugianderi vel idebita tiatumet
._._.i.i
original opening book is immediately clear
in the first part where he shows that four occaerf _._._._.
erspernam ent eatatur aut _J_._Ik.
Tarrasch systems with a poor reputa�on omni iumque voluptatem dis estotaq ._._._._
are not so bad a�er all.”
28...♖b5!
uibusap 29.♖xb5
idebitatqui cxb5 30.♕d7
te simus dolup- _._._._.
♕g5+
tatur? 31.♔f1
Xerio totatet♕e5?! 31...♕c5!,
eume volestia
Schaakmagazine
sit,and the queen
omnisqu is lessqui
untiam, centralized
dolestibusbut 44.♕b8
“Well suited for all levels of player, but better placed.
voluptatio quisinctur? Quiant, id ut Better was 44.♕b4!, not letting the
doluxtiam, atempor alitas deni derio queen enter the annoying g1-e1 areas:
par�cularly those around 1800 – 2200,
dolor ._._._._
recto que solupiet qui te sen- 44...♕d1 45.♕c3 ♕c2 46.♕d4, and it
who are looking to learn how classical
chess is played.” _._Q_JmJ
ditem recum harum solorepe volorer
spienderibus duntinc illest eic te mag-
seems that the black b-pawn cannot
make the final two steps without
IM John Donaldson ._._._J_
nim veria dellab ipiet aut omnima- allowing a perpetual of sorts.
_J_.d._.
iostis ratemque et laut endigenditio 44...♕d1! 45.♕b7 ♕g1+
320 pages | €28.95 ._._I_._
eicipient aborios reserfero ditasi aut 46.♔h3 ♕e3 47.♔g2 ♕e2+
_._._I_.
quam quae ped mo maiore nobit re,
qui del erionemque cusam laborepudi
48.♔g3 ♕e1+ It appears that the
checks are useless, since ...b2 is going
._._.i.i
available at your local (chess)bookseller
or at www.newinchess.com acepror ehendunt. to be met with e6!, but White didn’t
_._._K_.
Pudicipit fugitatus enis porionse spot the trap.

22 A
2A A R T I K E L N A A M ( VA R )
 BERLIN

With the queen standing on b4 and not ne of the key games was the
._._._._ on b7, White has an important resource: encounter in ound 4 between
_Q_._Jm. 54...♕e3+ 55.♔g4 ♕e2+ 56.♔g3 b2 Kramnik and aruana. he ussian
._._._Jj 57.♕c3+! ♔h7 58.♕b3! ♕e1+ 59.♔f3!. seemed to be on his way to another
54...♕h2+ 55.♔e3 ♕g1+ 56.♔f4
_._.i._. ♕c1+ 57.♔g4 ♕e3 It’s quite funny
victory that would strengthen his
leading position. Instead, he lost
._._.i.i that amedyarov actually managed to control and allowed aruana to take
_J_._Ik. create a zugzwang and force Karjakin the lead.
._._._._ to play 58.f4. But even here, ergey
_._.d._. didn’t spot the defence and just decided
to give up the pawn and go for a slowly NOTES BY
49.♔g2? losing position.
Jan Timman
49.♔h3! ♕e3 5 .♔g2, and now it’s
Black to move again. Brilliant!
49...♕e3!
._._._._ Vladimir Kramnik
_._._Jm. Fabiano Caruana
._._._._ ._._._._ Berlin 2018 (4)

_Q_._Jm. _._._.i. Petroff Defence

._._._Jj .q._._K_ 1.e4 e5 2. f3 f6 3. xe5 d6

_._.i._. _J_.dI_. 4. f3 xe4 5.♕e2
._._.i.i ._._._._
_J_.dI_. _._._._. T dM .t
._._._K_ 58.♔g3?? gain there was 58.f4!, jJj._JjJ
_._._._. with the same comment as on move ._.j._._
54. ince the line is very important, I _._._._.
50.♕b4 ow, after 5 .♔g3, Black
will win: 5 ...g5! 51.hxg5 hxg5 52.fxg5
will give it again: 58...♕e2+ 59.♔g3 b2
6 .♕c3+! ♔h7 61.♕b3! ♕e1+ 62.♔f3!,
._._ _._
♕xe5+ 53.f4 ♕e3+ 54.♔g4 ♕e2+ and Black is too late to queen and ght _._._ _.
55.♔g3 b2, and here White is unable o the perpetual at the same time. IiIiQiIi
to stop the ...♕d3 or ...♕e1 check. 58...♕xg5+ 59.♔f2 ♕d5 r .k _
50...g5 51.hxg5 hxg5 52.fxg5
♕e2+ 53.♔g3 ♕xe5+?
With the queen on b4, both players
._._._._ ou might think that, after his
magnificent start (2 out of 3),
missed that the evaluation of the _._._Jm. Kramnik would have been happy
position is completely di erent from ._._._._ with a draw, but this is not neces-
the lines after 5 .♔g3. _._D_._. sarily the case. t some time during
53...b2! wins: 54.e6 ♕e5+ 55.♔g2
fxe6.
.q._._._ the 198 s, passky once told me
that this system is very suitable for
_J_._I_. playing for a win, leading, as it does,
._._._._ ._._.k._ to a queenless middlegame with lots

_._._Jm. _._._._. of manoeuvring space.

5...♕e7 6. c3 xc3 7.dxc3
._._._._ White has no chances of giving a ♕xe2+ 8. xe2 c6 9. e3 e7
_._.d.i. perpetual here and Black gradually 10.0 0 0 0 0 11.♖he1 f6 12. d2
♖e8 13. f3 e5 14. f4 ♔f8
.q._._._ cruises to victory.
60.♔e3 ♔g6 61.♔e2 ♔f6 62.♔e3 15. d5 c6 16. b3 f5 17.h3
_J_._Ik. ♔e6 63.♕b6+ ♔d7 64.♕a7+ o far, the game has developed quite
._._._._ ♔c6 65.♕a6+ ♔c5 66.♕a4 peacefully. It is hard to imagine
_._._._. ♕c4 67.♕a5+ ♔c6 68.♕a1 that, 1 moves from now, the players
♔b5 69.♕b2 ♔b4 70.♔d2 ♕f4+ will be at each other’s throats in an
54.♔f2 71.♔e1 ♕h4+ White resigned. extremely sharp fight, culminating
54.f4! had to be played (here or later). in a pawn race.

A 23
 BERLIN

T_._Tm._
jJ_._JjJ
._Jj.l._
_._.sL_.
._._.b._
_Bi._._I
IiIn.iI_
_.kRr._.
17...g5 The first sharp move. The
alternative was 17...h5.
18.♗h2 ♔g7
With 18...d5, Black could have poured More drama. In Round 4, Vladimir Kramnik seemed to be on his way to another
oil on the waves. White would have victory. Instead, he lost control and allowed Fabiano Caruana to take the lead.
nothing better than 19.c4, offering a
bishop swap leading to a dead-drawn
position.
19.c4 g4 20.♘e4 ♗xe4 21.♖xe4 T_._T_.m 30.♗xg2 ♖xd6 31.♖h1 ♖ad8 Black
♗g5+ 22.♔b1 gxh3 23.c5
jR_._._J is better. But the text is more forcing.
29.d7 ♖e2 30.♗xg2 ♖xf2 31.♗c6
._Jj._._
T_._T_._ _.i.sJl.
Kramnik’s courage to go adventuring
like this is admirable. He is a piece
jJ_._JmJ ._._._._ down, and couldn’t possibly have
._Jj._._ _B_._._. calculated all the consequences. The
_.i.s.l. IiI_.iJb
white majority looks dangerous, but
._._R_._ _K_R_._.
objectively speaking Black is winning
here. In time-trouble, however, this is
_B_._._J very hard to prove.
IiI_.iIb 26.cxd6 ♘f3 27.♗a4
_K_R_._. Passive moves are no good. White
._.t._.m
has to sacrifice his queen’s bishop in
Kramnik goes adventuring, and order to create a strong pawn front. jR_I_._J
I must agree that the text is very 27...♘xh2 28.♗xc6 ._B_._._
tempting. Objectively best was _._._Jl.
23.gxh3, after which Black restores
the balance with 23...f5.
T_._T_.m ._._._._
23...f5 jR_._._J _._._._.
Caruana picks up the gauntlet. 23... ._Bi._._ IiI_.t.s
hxg2 24.cxd6 ♘f3 25.♖g4 ♔f6 _._._Jl. _K_R_._.
26.♖xg2 ♖ad8 would have given him
a good position, with a very well-
._._._._ 31...♘g4 Stronger was 31...♘f1!, the
positioned knight. The text is more _._._._. reason being that it would have given
ambitious. IiI_.iJs Black the extra check on d2, and
24.♖b4 _K_R_._. White cannot advance his c-pawn.
This was what Kramnik had in mind. After 32.a4 ♘d2+ 33.♔a2 ♘c4
He is going to harvest pawns on the 28...♖ad8! 34.♗b5 ♖xc2 35.♔b3 ♖d2 36.♖xd2
queenside; but with the result that A power move that Kramnik had ♘xd2+ 37.♔c3 h5 the black passed
Black will get a dangerous majority underestimated. Black does not need pawns would be too strong.
on the kingside. to move the rook under attack. In the 32.♖xa7
24...hxg2 25.♖xb7+ ♔h8! press conference, Caruana said that 32.c4 was called for to set the majority
The best square for the king. Now the he had tried to get the spectacular moving as quickly as possible. After
knight is poised to jump to f3. 28...♖e4 to work. After 29.♖g1 ♖e6 32...♘e3 33.♖g1 ♗e7 34.♖c1 ♗c5

24 A
35.♖b5 ♗d4 36.c5 White is just in 36...♔e7 37.a5 ♖f4 38.c3
Celeb 64 John Henderson
time to preserve the balance. Keeping the black rook away from b4.
32...♘e3 33.♖g1
._.t._._
._.t._.m _.rIm._.
r._I_._J ._._._.j
._B_._._ iB_._Jl.
_._._Jl. ._._.t._
._._._._ _.i.s._.
_._.s._. .i._._._
IiI_.t._ _K_._.r.
_K_._.r. Leonard Nimoy
38...♔d6
33...h6 In time-trouble he had An unfortunate move, but with In the pantheon of geekdom, Leonard
only two minutes left Caruana so little time this was very hard to Nimoy’s iconic Mr. Spock on Star Trek
goes wrong. In such sharp positions, see. He should have gone 38...♖g4 holds a top spot. The pointy-eared,
the slightest hesitation may have first, after which White has a choice mind-melding, neck-pinching
serious consequences. He should between two rook moves half-Vulcan science officer on the
have struck with 33...♖xc2, the point A 39.♖h1, and now after 39...♘d5 Enterprise is credited with being the first
being that after 34.♗a4 ♖f2 White 40.♖c5 ♔d6 41.♖c8 ♖xd7 42.♖d1 to popularize three-dimensional chess.
still cannot capture on g5 because of ♖d8 43.♖xd8+ ♗xd8 44.c4 ♗xa5 And he’s perceived to be ‘unbeatable’
the mate. Without the c-pawn, the 45.♖xd5+ ♔e7 46.♖xf5 ♖g5 47.♖f1 at this futuristic version of chess, much to
white majority is a lot less dangerous, h5, and White’s winning chances are the annoyance of Captain Kirk.
allowing the black majority to decide minimal. Following the cancellation of Star Trek
the issue. B 39.♖e1 f4 40.a6 f3 this is the in 1969, Nimoy was soon to find work
34.♖c7! A subtle move, indirectly difference with the game; now Black again in the ensemble cast of the cult
protecting White’s c-pawn. does not need to take his king to d6 spy series Mission: Impossible. This
41.♖c8 ♖xd7 42.♖e8+! ♔xe8 43.a7 time as ‘The Great Paris’, a master of
makeup and disguise… and his chess
._.t._.m f2 44.a8 + ♔e7, and the position
is equal, e.g. 45.♖h1 ♖g1+ 46.♔a2 skills were soon to come in useful here
_.rI_._. ♖xh1 47. xh1 ♖d5, and the f-pawn also.
._B_._.j is so strong that White has no In the 1970 episode ‘A Game of
_._._Jl. winning chances at all. Chess’ the MI team had to take down a
39.♖b7 ♖g4 40.♖e1!
._._._._ ust Yet despite tbeing
before he tperceived
ime-cont asrol,
being
nefarious grandmaster scheming to rob
a vault of all its gold, that’s conveniently
_._.s._. ‘unbeatable’
Kramnik at thisa futuristic
unleashes version of
power move. located in the same hotel as the chess
IiI_.t._ chess, hetoalways
He intends lost to
capture onCaptain Kirk.
e3 if the tournament he’s the favourite to win. But
_K_._.r. f-pawn continues its advance. Paris foils his plan by beating him, and
40...f4 41.a6 he does so by cheating, using a false
34...♔g7 Black wants to take his king hearing aid that was relaying him all
the moves from a super-computer.
to the centre. The point of White’s
move would become clear after
._.t._._ Nimoy’s love for chess was highlighted
34...♖xc2 35.♖xg5! ♖xd7! 36.♖c8+ _R_I_._. in the 2016 documentary on his life,
♔h7 37.♗xd7 ♖xc8 38.♖xf5!, with I_.m._.j For the Love of Spock. His filmmaker
excellent winning chances for White. _B_._.l. son, Adam Nimoy, explained that his
A beautiful, study-like variation.
35.a4 ♔f7 36.♗b5
._._.jT_ father’s passion for chess was such that
their home always had numerous chess
A winning attempt in mutual time- _.i.s._. sets around it, and he and his sister
trouble. After 36.a5 ♖xc2 37.a6 .i._._._ Julie would spend evenings challenging
♗f6 38.a7 ♖xb2+ 39.♔c1 ♖c2+ the _K_.r._. their father to the more conventional
game would have ended in a draw by two-dimensional variety of chess.
perpetual check. 41...h5

A 25
 BERLIN

Caruana quickly added this move, has penetrated, but poses no danger. Af ter 47...♖g1+ 48.♔b2 ♖ x h1
probably because he wasn’t sure that 43...h4 44.c4 Consistent; but 49.♗xh1 ♗f6 50.♔c1! (not 50.♔b3,
they had made the time-control. 44.d8♕+ ♗xd8 45.♖d7+ would also in view of 50...♘f5! 51.♔c4 ♘d4, and
Critical was 41...f3. After 42.a7 f2 have been possible. After 45...♔e6 Black just manages to save his skin)
43.♖xe3 ♗xe3 44.♖b8 ♗xa7 45.♖xd8 46.♗c6 ♖xa7 47.♖xa7 ♖g5 48.♔b2 50...♗g5 51.d8♕ ♗xd8 52.♖d7 the
♖g1+ 46.♔a2 f1♕ 47.♗xf1 ♖xf1 White has a winning position. black rook is lost, after which the
48.♖a8 White has a winning rook 44...h3 45.c5+ ♔e5 connected passed pawns will decide
ending. the issue.
42.a7 White is clearly far ahead in 46...♖xa7 47.♖g8 ‘And wins,’
the race.
T_._._._ Kramnik must have thought.
42...♖a8 43.b4 iR_I_._.
After an 11-minute think. The ._._._._ ._._._R_
advance of the b-pawn is strategically _Bi.m.l. t._I_._.
justified, and it doesn’t throw away
White’s win. But as Caruana indicated
.i._.jT_ ._._._._
afterwards, 43.c4! would have been _._.s._J _Bi.m.l.
stronger, since White would be threat- ._._._._ .i._.jT_
ening 44.c5+ ♔xc5 45.♖c1+, followed _K_.r._. _._.s._J
by 46.♖c8, and Black is helpless.
Caruana had been planning 43...♔c5. 46.♖b8? Meanwhile, Kramnik was ._._._._
Judging by Kramnik’s reaction during running out of time again: 18 minutes _K_.r._.
the press conference, he had wanted to for 15 moves. The text, flashed out
avoid this king move, although White quickly, throws away the win. The 47...♗f6!
would win easily after 44.b4+ ♔d4 correct approach was 46.♗c6 h2 A vicious resource. Out of the blue,
45.♗c6 ♔c3 46.♖c7. The black king 47.♖h1!, stopping the black h-pawn. Caruana launches a mating attack.

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26 A
 BERLIN

48. 8 It must have been with a 54.♔b3 ♖a8 he always has the option 58... f3
heavy heart that Kramnik gave up of perpetual check.
53.♖c 4
this mighty pawn. He had no choice,
however, because after 48.♖xg4 ♔f5 The point of the previous move.
._._._._
Black threatens mate on a1. But the knight is no more useful on _._._._.
48...♗x 8 4 .♖xg4 ♗f6 d4 than on e3. Black should have ._._.lR_
inserted 53...h2, and after 54.♖h6 _.i _._.
._._._._ ♘d4 55.♗g4 f3 the position is equal.
T_._.j._
t._._._. _._B_ _J
._._.l._ ._._._._ ._._._._
_Bi.m._. _._._._. _K_.r._.
.i._.jR_ ._._.lR_
_._.s._J _.i.m._. 5 .♖ ? The final error. With

._._._._ .t.s.j._ 59.♖xf6 ♘xe1 60.♗f1 h2 61.♖h6

White would narrowly have made the
_K_.r._. _._._._J draw.
K_._B_._ 5 ...♖a + Winning. 6 .♔c2 ♖x
Materially speaking, White is still _.r._._. White cannot take back, because this
OK, but the black pieces are posted would allow the h-pawn to queen
in extremely active positions, and 54.♗ 3 With more time, Kramnik unopposed. 6 .♗a6 ♖ 2+ 62.♔c
Black’s passed pawns undoubtedly would undoubtedly have found ♗b2+ 63.♔b ♔xc5 64.♗b7 e5
carry a punch. It is always hard to 54.♗g4!, and suddenly Black is in big 65.♖f6 f3 66.♖f5 f2 White resigned.
switch to defensive mode after giving trouble in view of a devastating check
away the win. on e1. After 54...♖a4+ 55.♔b2 ♗h8
5 .♖g6 56.c6 ♖a7 57.♗xh3 White is probably Wesley So never really got going and
This is good. White wants to try to winning. His c-pawn is very strong. will prefer to see his rst Candidates
eliminate the strong black bishop. 54...♖a4+ Now Black can justify his tournament as a learning experience.
5 ...♖b7 And the proud white pawn knight manoeuvre. The only game that he won may serve
front is hoovered up. 55.♔b b3 as an example of the many fascinating
5 .♗e2 51.♗f1 was also suffi- fights fought by all participants.
cient to maintain the balance. After
51...♖xb4+ 52.♔a2 ♗h4 53.♖e2
._._._._ Moreover, it was a great game on the
American’s part and a crucial one for
♔f5 White has 54.♖b6, after which _._._._. Aronian, since it dealt a further heavy
neither player can go for the win. ._._.lR_ blow to his aspirations.
5 ...♖xb4+ 52.♔a2 _.i.m._.
T_._.j._
._._._._ _ _B_._J NOTES BY

_._._._. ._._._._ Wesley So

._._.lR_ _Kr._._.
_.i.m._. Wesley So
56.♖e + A precarious position to Levon Aronian
.t._.j._ play in time-trouble. With 56.♖c2 Berlin 2018 (6)
_._.s._J White could also have preserved the Ruy Lopez, Anti-Marshall Attack
K_._B_._ balance, e.g. 56...♔e6 57.♖e2+ ♔f7
_._.r._. 58.♖h6 ♖a1+ 59.♔c2 ♘d4+ 60.♔d2 Berlin is an interesting city, and
♘xe2 61.♔xe2, with a draw. our long stay there, although sleety,
52... c2 Caruana had 15 minutes 56...♔ 5 57.♔c2 4+ 58.♔b snowy, rainy, bitingly cold and full
left here, half of which he used for the And here, 58.♔c1 was a good alterna- of personal ups and downs, was not
text. This knight move is probably a tive. A check on a1 is harmless now, unpleasant. The food everywhere was
winning attempt, albeit a very risky because White can interpose his terri c and the sta was always
one. With 52...♔e6 Black could have bishop. After 58...♗e5 59.♖a6 a draw kind and worked to preserve order
forced a draw. After 53.♖b1 ♖a4+ is a likely outcome. (with chess personalities you get a

A 27
 BERLIN

medal just for trying that). The venue this move is. Anyway, I wonder who 13...♕c8 Protecting both the a6- and
was ... okay ... maybe a bit odd. Since first came up with the idea. Grischuk, e6-pawns. 13...♕e8 is the alternative.
major chess events tend to draw a lot Caruana, or Kasim?
of parents with young children, I am
.tD_.tM_
not sure dark and edgy was the right
approach.
T_Ld.tM_ _.j.l.jJ
I started this event with a bad case of _.jJlJjJ J_SjJs._
nerves that took me by surprise. Since J_S_.s._ i._.j._.
I don’t normally get nervous, I was _J_.j._. .j._I_._
confused by my own symptoms and
wondered if a cold sweat and an accel-
I_._I_._ _N_I_N_.
erated heartbeat meant I was dying or _B_._N_. .iI_.iIi
something. General unfocused anxiety .iIi.iIi r.bQr.k.
is hard to understand. With everything rNbQr.k.
going blurry for me, by the time I got to 14.h3 White prepares ♗e3 by
Levon in Round 6, I was aching to do 8...b4 This weakens the c4-square, preventing ...♘g4. 14.d4 is the most
something right on the board. but who cares? Black has had good principled idea, to open the centre, but
1.e4 e5 results here recently. 8...♗b7 9.d3 d5 Black seems completely fine there.
Levon doesn’t really play anything but 10.exd5 ♘xd5 is a good alternative. 14...♘d8
1...e5 these days, and why should he? 9.a5 By going for this move first, Black has many good alternatives here,
He gets good results with it. White avoids the variation 9.d3 ♗c5. e.g. 14...♘d7 or 14...♕b7 (intending
2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 9.d4 d6 was proved to be okay for ...♕b5), but 14...♘d8 looks the most
I thought he might go for the Berlin Black in the recent games Caruana vs straightforward. Just play ...c5 and
with 3...♘f6, and perhaps Levon Matlakov and Karjakin vs Carlsen. I equalize... why not?
should play it more often. also tried it against Levon in London 15.♗e3
4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.0-0 ♗e7 three months earlier. It is better to open the centre right
9...d6 9...♗c5 10.c3 wins a tempo, away, but White does not have much
T_LdM_.t since I get d4 in one move.
10.d3 ♗e6
after 15.d4 exd4 16.♘bxd4 c5 17.♘b3
♘d7.
_JjJlJjJ 15...c5 16.♘bd2 ♘c6 17.c3 ♖b5
J_S_.s._ T_.d.tM_ After 17...d5?! 18.♗g5 the doubled
_._.j._. _.j.lJjJ
pawns are clearly going nowhere.
18.d4
B_._I_._ J_SjLs._
_._._N_. i._.j._.
IiIi.iIi ._D_.tM_
.j._I_._ _._.l.jJ
rNbQ_Rk. _B_I_N_. J_SjJs._
Black has many alternatives on move .iI_.iIi iTj.j._.
5, but as usual Levon is very confident rNbQr.k. .j.iI_._
and happy to play the Marshall against
anybody. 11.♗xe6 These days, everyone just _.i.bN_I
6.♖e1 I was wondering if I should go goes for the doubled pawn when they .i.n.iI_
for 6.d3 b5 7.♗b3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.♘c3 get the chance. I guess no one likes r._Qr.k.
and play this very popular variation. double pawns. In this position Black
It does seem to give White a ‘no risk’ gets the open f-file and some light- 18...exd4
and easier to play position, but the square control in return. Levon mentioned afterwards that
downside is that the line is too well But 11.♘bd2 ♗xb3 12.♘xb3 is a valid Black could have equalized with 18...
analysed. alternative and might be reasonable. bxc3 19.bxc3 exd4 20.cxd4 c4 21.♘xc4
6...b5 7.♗b3 0-0 8.a4 White might get a slight advantage ♘xe4, and with such a well-placed
After 8.d3 d6 the awesomely shocking here if he gets in a quick d3-d4. rook on b5 Black cannot be worse:
move 9.♗d2!? was used twice against 11...fxe6 12.♘bd2 ♖b8 13.♘b3 22.♘b6 ♕e8. All Black’s pieces are
Levon in the Candidates. I am still 13.c3 was played by Carlsen against active, too.
trying to figure out what the point of Aronian and is another critical move. 19.cxd4 ♘xa5 20.dxc5 dxc5

28 A
 BERLIN

._D_.tM_ ._._.t.
_._.l.jJ _._S_.jJ
J_._Js._ J_D_Jl._
sTj._._. _Tj._._.
.j._I_._ .jQ_I_._
_._.bN_I _I_.bN_I
.i.n.iI_ R_._.iI_
r._Qr.k. _._R_.k.
I was quite happy when he took the 28.♖ad2
pawn. White has at least enough 28.♗f4 e5 29.♗g5! is very strong,
compensation for it and Black’s pieces according to the computer. Black’s
are uncoordinated. In fact White has king can quickly get very vulnerable.
many moves to get good play. 21. c1, 28...♘b6 After 28...♘e5 29.♘xe5
21. a4, 21.♕e2, are all possibilities. ♗xe5 30. d8 b8 31. xf8 xf8
I chose: 32.♗xc5 wins a pawn.
21.♖a2 Because it seemed like a 29.♕c2 ♕c7 29...♕c8 was better,
very sophisticated way to play. as after 30.e5 ♗e7 31.♗g5 ♕e8 Black
21...♕b7 Probably not the best. is only slightly worse.
In many cases, the e6-pawn will 30.e5 ♗e7 31.♘d4
lack protection. The computer likes
21...♘d7, with the idea of ...♘b8-c6.
._._.t.
MARIA EMELIANOVA

22.b3 A good move that simply

aims to put my queen on c2 and then _.d.l.jJ
activate the rest of my pieces. Js._J_._
_Tj.i._.
._._.tM_ .j.n._._ Wesley So will prefer to see his first Candidates
as a learning experience. The American won only
_D_.l.jJ _I_.b._I one game, but that instructive win showed what
J_._Js._ ._Qr.iI_ a fine and accomplished elite player he is.
sTj._._. _._R_.k.
.j._I_._ 31...♖c8
_I_.bN_I 31...♕xe5 32.♘xb5 axb5 33. e2 ♕c3 33.♘f4
R_.n.iI_ is what I had expected. Here White is A very powerful shot would be
_._Qr.k. better, but I have to play very accu- 33. d6!, which Levon spotted! I
rately to increase my advantage: would play this very beautiful move
22... 8 34.♕e4! ♕xb3 35. ee1, a difficult if I was given another chance! White
Levon played this quickly. I thought variation to see, but apparently very is threatening ♗f4 and wins. If you
he would take on e4, but he estimated strong. run this position with the computer,
correctly that this was too dangerous. 32.♘xe6 ♕xe5 and you keep pressing the space bar,
After 22...♘xe4 23.♘xe4 ♕xe4 it will give the line 33...c4 (33...♗xd6
24.♗g5 ♕b7 Black is two pawns up. ._T_._. 34.♘g5) 34.♗d4 ♕xd6 35.♗xg7
But here 25. d2!, which I did not see,
is very strong, leaving Black on the
_._.l.jJ g 8 36 . xd 6 ♗ xd 6 37.♕d1
d5 38.♗d4 f7 39.♘g5 xg5
verge of losing. Js._N_._ 40.♗xb6, and apparently Black’s
After 22...♘d7, Levon didn’t like _Tj.d._. king is way too vulnerable.
23.♕e2, because the queen is well .j._._._ 33...♖f8 Black panicked. 33... g8!
placed here.
23.♕c2 ♘d7 24.♖ea1 ♗d8
_I_.b._I would probably be enough to hold.
34.♖e2
25.♘c4 ♘xc4 26.♕xc4 ♗f6 ._Qr.iI_ ow I am back on track.
27.♖d1 ♕c6 _._R_.k. 34...♕c3

A 29
 BERLIN

42.♕xb4 ♖c8 43.♕xc4, winning. This position might look like very
._._.t.m 39...♕xg6 40.♖xg6 hxg6 easy to win, but over the board it’s
_._.l.jJ not so trivial (note to all you kibitzers
Js._._._ ._._.t.m watching the engines instead of the
_Tj._._. _._.l.j.
game – chess is harder than you
think). If Black could get ♖+♗+♙♙ vs
.j._.n._ J_._._J_ ♕+♙♙♙, it might be a draw.
_Id.b._I _T_._._. 45...♖a5 If 45...a5, 46.♗d6 ♖8b6
._Q_RiI_ .jS_._._ 47.g4, and White wins.
46.♕d3 ♖d8 47.♕b3 ♖c8
_._R_.k. _._._._I
35.♕b1 ._._.iI_ ._T_._.m
35.♕a2! a5 36.♗c1 is even faster but _QbR_.k. _._._.j.
what I played is enough.
35...♕f6 36.♗c1 c4 37.bxc4 41.♕e4! J_._.lJ_
♘xc4 38.♖e6 ♕g5 The most accurate. Without this the t._._._.
win could be quite tricky.
41...♗f6 Black can’t keep the knight,
._._._.i
._._.t.m so he just tries to get some kind of bQ_._._.
_._.l.jJ fortress. 41...♘e5 runs into 42.f4 ♗c5+ .j._.iI_
J_._R_._ 43.♔h1 ♘f7 44.♕xg6, winning. _R_._.k.
_T_._.d. 42.♕xc4 b3 43.♗a3 ♖fb8 44.♖b1
.jS_.n._ b2 45.h4 48.♕b7 48.g4 might well be the
easiest. After g5 the black bishop will
_._._._I
._._.iI_ .t._._.m have no safe place to go. But then I saw
that I could win the g6-pawn by force.
_QbR_.k. _._._.j. 48...♖d8 49.♕b3 ♖c8 50.♕b4
J_._.lJ_ ♖b5 51.♕g4 ♖c3 52.♗xb2 ♖xb2
39.♘g6+ Here I spent all my _T_._._. 53.♖xb2 ♖c1+ 54.♔h2 ♗xb2
remaining time making sure I hadn’t
missed anything.
._Q_._.i 55.♕xg6 The game is totally lost for
Black. The black king is simply too
With a few minutes left on the board b._._._. vulnerable and the a-pawn is not fast
it was very difficult to spot 39.♖d7 .j._.iI_ enough. Nor does his bishop have a
♗f6 40.♖f7! ♖bb8 41.♖xf8+ ♖xf8 _R_._.k. safe place to park.

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30 A
 BERLIN

With the following game we have which Black aims to castle queenside
._._._.m reached the decisive phase of the tour- and one in which he castles kingside.
_._._.j. nament. In a must-win situation, 7.♗e3 ♗e7 8.♕d2
J_._._Q_ ergey arjakin kept his chances alive The traditional way of playing this vari-
_._._._. in ound 12 by beating (and catching
up with) abiano aruana, who at that
ation. I picked up the fashionable 8.♗d3
recently, scoring an important victory
._._._.i point was sharing the lead with ame- over Hou ifan in Wijk aan ee. The
_._._._. dyarov. With this win, arjakin pulled point is to develop the queen to e2 rather
.l._.iIk more than level, because it would make than to d2, where it obstructs the future
_.t._._. his tiebreak better than aruana’s if they
were to end up sharing rst place.
d1-rook. It was introduced into top
practice by ichael Adams in his game
55...♖a1 If 55...♗f6 then 56.g4. against my young self, back in the day
56.g4 a5 57.♕h5+ ♔g8 58.♕b5 when I was playing the etroff exclu-
♗a3 59.♕e5 ♖d1 60.♕e6+ NOTES BY
sively and no one was there to stop me.
60.♕xa5 saves us a few moves, but I 8...♗e6 9.0 0 0 ♕d7
Anish Giri
thought I could win a piece by force.
60...♔h7 61.♕e4+ ♔h8
62.♕a8+ ♔h7 63.♕xa5 ♗d6+ Sergey Karjakin T_._ _.t
64.♔g2 Fabiano Caruana jJj lJjJ
Berlin 2018 (12) ._Sj _._
._._._._ Petroff Defence, Nimzowitsch Variation _._._._.
_._._.j 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘f6 3.♘xe5 d6 4.♘f3
._._._._
._.l._._ ♘xe4 _.i.b _.
._._._. IiI .iIi
._._._Ii Ts d l.t _.kR_ _R
_._._._. jJj._JjJ 10.a3 10.♔b1 was considered to be the
._._.i _ ._.j._._ most universal move here, soon followed
_._T_._. _._._._. by the subtle a3, b3 waiting moves (an

evon could have resigned here with

._._S_._ idea of eter eko’s, I believe, who won a
masterpiece against an meets in Wijk
a clear conscience, but I suppose he _._._ _. aan ee almost 10 years ago).
thought why not make a few more IiIi.iIi 10...h6
moves bQk _R A relatively fresh twist to a well-known
64...♖d4 65.♕f5+ ♔h8 66.♕h5+ theme. The problem is that 10...0-0-0
♔g8 67.g5 ♔f8 68.♕g6 ♗e7 5.♘c3 This move was considered is met by 11.♘d4!, when 11...♘xd4
69.♕f5+ ♔e8 70.♔h3 ♖d6 harmless in arpov’s time, but it has 12.♕xd4 leads to a double attack on the
71.♕h7 ♔f7 72.f4 ♖d4 73.♕f5+ been an established main line for over a pawns a7 and g7, so White can a ord to
♔e8 74.♕e5 ♖b4 75.♔g4 ♔f8 decade now, and small wonder, because make a useful move.
76.♕f5+ ♔e8 77.♕e6 ♖d4 the queenside pawn structure after dxc3 10...a6 and 10...♗f6 are typical useful
78.♕e5 Black resigned. secures a safe position for the white king moves for this variation. White has a
after castling queenside. broad choice of options.
I wish I had played better chess in the ecently, agnus arlsen’s brilliant
andidates, but I did what I could analytical team revived the old move T_._ _.t
and you can’t change the past. I have
events ahead of me and hopefully
5.♕e2, and although abi was continu-
ously put onto the defensive, he somehow
jJj lJj.
those will bene t from what I learned managed to emerge unscathed, scoring ._Sj _.j
here. nly od knows the road that 2 out of 3 in his games against arlsen, _._._._.
I will take, so it’s probably best to ramnik and o. ._._._._
live one moment at a time, enjoy the
journey and not look too far behind,
5...♘xc3 6.dxc3 ♘c6 There are
many ways in which Black can handle
i.i.b _.
or too far ahead. this variation, but essentially they can .iI .iIi
be divided into two categories one in _.kR_ _R

A 31
 BERLIN

11.♘d4!? In a recent game, Carua- the d5-square looks weak, and you 17.♕xd5 would play into Black ’s
na’s second, Rustam Kasimdzhanov would think that if you start with hand. After 17...♕xd5 18.♖xd5 ♗xf3
started with the typical 11.♔b1, ...d5 and White is unable to stop ...0- 19.♖xd8+ ♖xd8 20.gxf3 ♖d5 Black
when his lesser known opponent 0-0, then Black will solve all of his has full compensation for the pawn.
replied with the by now typical idea problems. In fact, this move also has White’s extra queenside pawn is close
11...♖g8!? (Kasimdzhanov-Li Di, some downsides, as Black will have to worthless, and his kingside is ruined.
½-½, 71, Chengdu 2017). to constantly watch his rather weak 17...♗xd1 18.♖xd1 ♕c7
11...♘xd4 12.♗xd4 pawns on d5 and c5. Preparing a ...d4 Preparing a regrouping, ...♖ge8 and
push seems impossible and the struc- ...♗f6.
19.c4 ♖ge8 20.♕f2
T_._M_.t turally desirable ...b6 weakens the
long diagonal.
jJjDlJj.
._.jL_.j
Tighter was 14...0-0-0 15.f4 g6 16.♗f3
h5 17.h3 ♗f6 18.♖he1 ♖ge8, because
._MtT_._
_._._._. this is fine for Black. jJd.lJj.
._.b._._ 15.f4!? Preparing ♗f3, which will ._._._.j
i.i._._.
be nicely placed behind the pawn, as _.jB_._.
.iIq.iIi
per the Soviet-School books.
15...0-0-0 16.♗f3 ♗g4
._I_.i._
_.kR_B_R A very tempting attempt at simplifi- i._.b._.
cation. As the game proceeded, I was .iI_.qIi
12...♖g8 Typical. The question is under the impression that this was _.kR_._.
always whether White will be able a positional blunder. After a closer
to use a couple of tempi until Black look I changed my opinion to merely 20...b6
castles long to establish a small posi- a ‘bad practical decision’. This works because Black is just in time
tional plus, or whether the drawish 16...f5 was more solid, but after to arrange counterplay along the e-file
tendency of the position will prevail. 17.♖he1 ♗f 7 18.♗f2 as Sergey with ...♗f6, but it was also possible to
13.♗e2 pointed out at the press conference, play the positional ...f5 first: 20...f5!?
13.c4 is the standard thing to do, White keeps some pressure. 21.♖d3 b6 22.♔b1 ♗f6. Here Black can
intending ♕c3 and preparing to set up a passive defence, when it will
meet ...c5 with ♗c3. Eventually the
position revolves around the equal-
._Mt._T_ be very hard for White to find a way to
break through. A decent plan for Black
izing ...d6-d5 break. Here, clearly jJ_DlJj. is to place his pawn on a5 and hide the
♔b1 would have been more useful ._._._.j king on a7. Still, White is the one having
than a3, but you can’t have it all. _.jJ_._. easier play. For now, h3-g4 is a way to
13...c5 14.♗e3
White’s advantage is not signifi-
._._.iL_ open a second front, while a well-timed
b4 can turn out to be nasty as well.
cant, and if Black is bothered by it, i.i.bB_. 21.g4!?
he should probably choose another .iIq._Ii Using the opportunity to grab space on
opening variation. Here I believe _.kR_._R the kingside.
Fabiano took a superficial decision. After 21.♖d3 ♗f6 22.♔b1 ♕e7 23.♕f3
17.♗xd5! would prevent the brilliant tactic that
T_._M_T_ A brilliant positional sacrifice that
would require some effort from the
Sergey allowed in the game.
21...♗f6 22.♔b1
jJ_DlJj. more materialistic amongst us and
._.jL_.j comes more natural to the romantics. ._MtT_._
_.j._._. 17.♕e2!? looks completely empty, but
j.d._Jj.
._._._._ curiously enough, White can fight
for a small something even here: .j._.l.j
i.i.b._. 17...♗xf3 18.♕xf3 ♕c6 19.♖he1 _.jB_._.
.iIqBiIi ♗f6 20.♗f2 ♖d7 21.g4, opening a ._I_.iI_
_.kR_._R second front, and combined with the
i._.b._.
well protected but still slightly weak
14...d5 Optically a fine move. The d5-pawn, Black is still under some .iI_.q.i
pawn on d6 appears backward and pressure. _K_R_._.

32 A
 BERLIN

22...♖d7?
This is where things went south in
this game. Fabi should have exploited
White’s minimal lack of coordination
with 22...♕e7!, and now, after 23.♖d3
(clearly the move Sergey was counting
on), 23...b5! 24.g5 bxc4 25.gxf6 gxf6
gives Black excellent counterplay.
23.♖d3
Black’s problems are of a strategic
nature. With White pushing on the
kingside, Black’s passive defence is
pretty much doomed to failure. He
MARIA EMELIANOVA

has to create some concrete play, but

concrete play, as we know, can some-
times be good and sometimes bad.
23...g5? This is counterproductive.
Eventually White will regroup and Sergey Karjakin had a disastrous start, but the Russian kept fighting and after a sensational
target the weak h6-pawn. win in Round 12 over Fabiano Caruana, he was suddenly at the top of the table again.
23...♗d4 was a better shot, but the
position after 24.♗xd4 cxd4 25.♕xd4
is extremely unpleasant.
24.♔ 2 ♖ee7 25.♕f3 27.♕f1! Preparing ♖h3. Curiously White should convert without much
enough, with the bishop on d5, the king trouble, starting with 33.h4.
33.g5 ♕d6 34.♕ 8 ♖e8 35.♕ 4
._M_._._ on c8 and the wide open h1-a8 diagonal,
you would expect White to win with ♕g6 36.♕g4 ♖e5 37. 4 ♔e7
j.dTtJ_. some kind of mating battery, but since 38.♖d2 b5 This break comes far
.j._.l.j he controls the entire board, the decisive too late. Now pretty much anything
_.jB_.j. blow comes on the kingside. Black loses wins, but White forces a simple and
._I_.iI_ a pawn and with it the full house.
27...♖d6 There was no defence against
completely winning endgame.

i._Rb _.
KiI_._.i
♖h3, but now White simply wins the
g5-pawn.
._._._._
_._._._. 28.fxg5 ♗xg5 29.♗xg5 xg5 j._T J_.
30.♕f5 ♖dd7 31.♕xg5 ._._._D_
25...♔d8 25...♖xe3 26.♖xe3 ♕xf4 _JjBt.i.
27.♕e2 leaves Black with the classic
scenario of unequally strong oppo-
._M_._._ ._I_._ i
site-coloured bishops. White will j.dTtJ_. i._._._.
shut the diagonal with c2-c3 and .j._._._ KiI ._._
Black’s gaping h1-a8 diagonal ensures _.jB_.q. _._._._.
he is completely lost.
26.♗d2 ♔c8
._I_._I_ 39.♗xf7!? ♕f5 40.♖xd7 ♔xd7
i._R_._. 41.♕xf5 ♖xf5 42.g6 ♔e7 43.cxb5
._M_._._ KiI_._.i White has far more pawns and complete
j.dTtJ_. _._._._. control.
43...♖ 5 44.c4 ♖x 4 45. 4 ♖g4
.j._.l.j The rest is easy. Black has nothing to 46. 5 ♔d6 47. 6 ♔c7 48.♔b3
_.jB_.j. offer in return for White’s domination. Black resigned. The black king has to
._I_.iI_ His king is still potentially weak and keep the b6-break in check, so White
i._R_ _. White has the easy plan of just pushing
forward the h-pawn.
can slowly but surely walk his king all
the way up the board to support the
KiIb._.i 31...♕e5 32.♕ 6 ♔d8 eventual g6-g7-g8 finale.
_._._._. 32...f6 is a little more tenacious, but

A 33
 BERLIN

Caruana was not the only player to 10.♕xd2 0-0 11.♗c4 15...♖e8 A fashionable preparatory
lose in Round 12; co-leader Mame- move, since the immediate 15...♘f6
dyarov also bit the dust. In the press
conference, the Azeri admitted that
TsLd.tM_ is met solidly by 16.d5. Alternatives
are 15...h6 and 15...♕f6, but as the
he had been under the impression jJ_._JjJ position is not all that forced yet, here
that, playing the white pieces, he ._._J_._ and on the next move, both sides have
couldn’t possibly lose to Ding Liren, _._._._. plenty of options and subtleties.
who so far had drawn all his 11
._BiI_._
games. A careless underestimation
of the Chinese number one, who now _._._N_. ._TdT_M_
suddenly became a contender as well, I_.q.iIi jL_S_JjJ
at least in theory. r._.k._R .j._J_._
_._._._.
So far both players followed the
established theory. Here the old way
._.iI_._
NOTES BY
to develop the pieces was to bring the _B_._N_.
Anish Giri I_.q.iIi
knight out to c6, but people have long
realized that with the knight even- _._Rr.k.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tually ending up on a5, the thematic
Ding Liren breakthrough d5! ...exd5 e5! is pretty 16.h3
Berlin 2018 (12) dangerous. The modern way is to Wesley So tried 16.♖e3 ♘f6 17.♕d3
Queen’s Gambit Declined, develop the knight to d7, closer to the against Dominguez in their match
Semi-Tarrasch kingside. in November last year. The rook
11...♘d7 12.0-0 b6 13.♖ad1 ♗b7 on e3 is reasonably harmoniously
1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘f3 d5 4.♘c3 14.♖fe1 placed, but if White chooses to
c5 postpone the thematic d5-break, the
T_.d.tM_ position becomes very subtle and
TsLdMl.t jL_S_JjJ
philosophical.
16.d5 immediately is possible as well,
jJ_._JjJ .j._J_._ but seeing that Kramnik had allowed
._._Js._ _._._._. it at the very same Candidates tour-
_.jJ_._. ._BiI_._ nament and Wesley had not gone for
._Ii._._ _._._N_.
it, it probably means that things are
not so simple here.
_.n._N_. I_.q.iIi 16...♘f6 17.♕f4 Just a few rounds
Ii._IiIi _._Rr.k. before this game, So and Kramnik
r.bQkB_R had gone down the same path.
Early attempts with d5 have been 17...♘h5
Ding, who has lately been relying tried in various versions by Levon
on the Semi-Slav, had very likely
lost faith in this opening after being
Aronian. This, however, is one of
the most traditional ways to play this
._TdT_M_
caught out by Grischuk in the sharp variation: rooks to the centre. jL_._JjJ
Anti-Moscow. Although I am sure he One other well-known plan is a4-a5 .j._J_._
will eventually sort things out, for the with the rook on a1, but lately Black _._._._S
rest of this tournament he probably
promised his coach to play some-
seems to have gotten that under
control, mostly due to the fact that
._.iIq._
thing more solid. The Semi-Tarrasch the engines have shown that the _B_._N_I
is a frequent guest in the games of pawn sortie is not as dangerous as I_._.iI_
Kramnik and Dominguez, but also previous engines have been showing. _._Rr.k.
of Wei Yi, who was seconding Ding. So romantic.
Ding himself also has some experi- 14...♖c8 15.♗b3 Kramnik’s novelty. Black is fishing
ence with it. Obviously 15.♗d3 is an alternative. for move repetition, and if White
5.cxd5 ♘xd5 6.e4 ♘xc3 7.bxc3 The bishop has its pluses and minuses chooses to refuse, he will have to send
cxd4 8.cxd4 ♗b4+ 9.♗d2 ♗xd2+ on both crucial diagonals. his queen to a passive square.

34 A
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18.♕h2 h6
Curiously, there are some cases in the
Semi-Tarrasch in which ...h7-h6 is the
most useful move, and this seems to
be one of those cases.
19.♘e5
The first deviation from the afore-
mentioned game.
19.d5 exd5 20.exd5 (20.e5 is a typical
pawn sacrifice that always has to
be considered, especially when the
ni ht is so mis laced ...♖ e1
1.♘ e1 ♕f6 .♘d3 ♗a6 3.♕e5
♗ d3 .♕ h5 led to massive sim li-
fications in So-Kramnik, with a
position that appears pretty drawish.
19...♘f6 20.♕f4 b5
Black ’s choice of active plans As Ding Liren listens to interviewer Anastasiya Karlovich, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
is extremely limited, but this is is trying to come to terms with a defeat he had not imagined possible.
certainly one of them.

._TdT_M_
jL_._Jj. ._.dT_M_ oth 3.d5 e5 and 3.e5 had to be

._._Js.j jLt._Jj. considered, but the consequences are

rather murky.
_J_.n._. ._._Js.j 23...♖xe3 24.♕xe3 ♗c6 25.♖c1
._.iIq._ _J_.n._. ♕b6 26.f3

_B_._._I ._.iIq._
I_._.iI_ _B_.r._I ._._T_M_
_._Rr.k. I_._.iI_ j._._Jj.
_._R_.k. .dL_Js.j
21.♖e3 White starts some intimida-
tion, but without burning bridges yet. 22.♘d3 _Jn._._.
or no , ♖ 3 a ears to be a threat Considering how things went from ._.iI_._
and d5 is in the air. here on in, feel this as the rst ste _B_.qI_I
1.♘ f7 f7 .e5 is a nice etite in the wrong direction. Sending the I_._._I_
combinaison. White’s main idea
is to merely regain the sacrificed
ni ht to c5 is very lo ical, but rst
of all it gives Black the opportunity _.r._.k.
knight, which leads to simplifica- to trade the threatenin e3 roo , and
tions, so lac can a ord to ma e a secondly, the knight on c5 is largely Somehow I don’t like the look of this
useful move: 22...a5!, when it is hard hitting empty air. move here. At the very least, if you
for White to apply more pressure, 22.d5 was very challenging, but make it, you should probably forget
since the threat of ...a is not so easy after ...e d5 3.e d5 ♕d6 .♕ 3, about e5 and and ust focus on
to meet. re arin the nasty ♘ , lac keeping control of the position in the
... 5 3.♕f5 is somethin a 77 appears to have a clean defence in centre and on the queenside.
player can miss when lying on the ...♖d 5.♘ ♕ 3 6.♘ f6 26...♖d8
couch on a Sunday morning anno- f6 7.♖ 3 f , and an e eri- Black has nicely regrouped around
tating the game, but not something a enced player already sees the drawish the c5-knight and is ready to start
2770 player should miss while playing contours of this position. his play on the queenside. That said,
in the Candidates. 22...♖c3 White’s central control should still
21...♖c7 Classy. Black uses the opportunity to be enough to maintain the balance.
Protecting the f7-pawn and ready to trade the rooks. Very elegant. For that, however, one should start
meet ♖ 3 ith ...♘h5. 23.♘c5 feeling the danger, and as Shakh later

A 35
 BERLIN

admitted, he didn’t think he would ‘Finally, Shakhriyar’s 28.♘xe6 fxe6 29.♗xe6+ ♔f8 30.d5
lose to Ding, who so far had not won
a single game in the tournament (nor regrets of not having could have been Shakh’s idea, since
the point behind ♔f2 is now revealed:
had he lost any).
27.♔f2 a5
gone forward had 30...♕xe3+ 31.♔xe3 ♗d7!? 32.♗xd7
♘xd7 33.♖c7 ♔e8 – White can’t
taken hold of him, so relax here, since Black has a potential
passer, but it seems that objectively
._.t._M_ he pushed... at the this endgame is fine for White. In
_._._Jj. fact, it is simply double-edged.
.dL_Js.j worst moment.’ 28.d5 exd5 29.♘e6 also forces an
endgame, in which White is trying to
jJn._._. hold from a position of weakness.
._.iI_._ with the end approaching, his result Finally, 28.a3 should help slowing
_B_.qI_I of +2 was fine, but not yet thrilling. down Black’s counterplay. Black
I_._.kI_ The position was pretty safe and the is very comfortable, but it seems
_.r._._. opponent (in Shakh’s eyes) pretty
innocent. At the same time, he was
still very early for him to claim any
advantage here. He can choose
not ready to burn bridges and not between many ideas, the immediate
28.g4 decisive enough to go for g4!? or d5!? ...a4-b4, ...♕b8 – flirting with the
White’s play looks strange. It is or e5!? at an earlier stage, when it dark squares on the kingside – or just
possible to find a reason behind each was more appropriate. Here, finally, a neutral and useful move like ...♗e8.
move, but the combination of f3, ♔f2 Shakhriyar’s regrets of not having 28...a4 29.♗c2?!
and g4 had me thinking that Shakh gone forward had taken hold of him, After 29.♗d1! ♘d7 30.♘d3 White is
could not decide whether he should so he pushed... at the worst moment. still keeping his stuff together.
play for a draw or for a win. Indeed, Typical. 29...♘d7

With answers to urgent ques�ons such as: 126

• How did Anish Giri start winning with the English Opening?
• Is the Grand Prix in for a revival thanks to Alexander Grischuk’s
reintroduc�on of the 7.d4-pawn sac?
• What is behind Rauf Mamedov’s mind-boggling queen sac in the Rossolimo?
• What posi�onal set-up vs the Moscow Sicilian is a pet line of two Norwegian
World Champions?
• Which Ulf Anderssonesque idea in the Symmetrical English brought Radjabov
a surprise win against Svidler?
• How did Ian Nepomniachtchi crush the Advance Caro-Kann with 5...c5 ?
• What happened to Magnus Carlsen in the Dragon Sicilian vs Gawain Jones?
• Does White have anything a�er the annoying 5...♘f6 retreat in reply to
5.♘c3 in the Petroff?
• How shocking is Mamedyarov’s wake-up call 6...g5!? in the Siesta Varia�on?
• Does the new move 9...b5 signify a paradigm shi� in the Giuoco Piano?
• Is Sanan Sjugirov’s queenside castling plan a big blow to the Hybrid Slav?
• How strong is Alexander Grischuk’s ‘midfield bishop’ on e4 in the Central
Varia�on of the QGA?
and many more!
paperback | 256 pages | € 29.95 | available at your local (chess)bookseller or at newinchess.com

“There is something about nearly every opening one can think of.” – British Chess Magazine

36 A
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4 ... a7 ! Picking up the f7-bishop. robably a good move. Black is getting

._.t._M_ White resigned. ready for the standard move a2-a4.
_._ _Jj. I cannot imagine how it must have felt
.dL_J_.j for ing iren to win a game at the
.t.d.tM_
_Jn._._. andidates after drawing 11 in a row.
_.j. JjJ
J_.iI_I_ J_ _.s._
_._.qI_I After his loss to Karjakin and a _J_Jj._L
I_B_.k._ welcome rest day, aruana showed
._._I_._
_.r._._. character and resilience when he
reclaimed the sole lead by beating _BiI_ _I
.♗d ? Now Black can just push Aronian in the next round. The Ii. iI_
forward the b-pawn. The knight American must have felt encouraged r _.r.k.
should have been kept alive. when his opponent walked straight
30.♘d3 b4 can be met by 31.d5, and I into his preparation. .♗g5 d e4 An interesting alterna-
don’t actually see why Shakh refused tive 13...♗xf3 14.♕xf3 d4.
to make this move. 4.d e4 h 5.♗c Back to square
...♘ c5 . c5 4 Defending NOTES BY
one. Caruana said he had prepared up
this position is a thankless task. to this point. The position is equal, but
Jan Timman
2.♗c4 ♗d7 32...♗e8 was possible easier to play for White.
too: 33.d5 b3! 34.axb3 a3!, and Black
Fabiano Caruana
is winning.
.g5 h g5 4. g5 ♗e8 5. e7 Levon Aronian .t.d.tM_
Berlin 2018 (13) _.j. Jj.
._.tL_M_ Ruy Lopez, Anti-Marshall Attack J_ _.s.j
_._.qJj. _J_.j._L
.e4 e5 2.♘f ♘c .♗ 5 a
.d._J_._ 4.♗a4 ♘f 5. ♗e7 . e 5
._._I_._
_.r._._. 7.♗ 8.d d 9.♗d2 _Bi._ _I
JjBiI_._ Ii._ iI_
_._._I_I _Ld.tM_ r .r.k.
I_._.k._ _.j. JjJ 5...♗g Aronian wants to take
_._._._. J_ j.s._ his knight to h5. An alternative was
_J_.j._. 15...♘a5 16.♗c2 ♕c8 to take the king’s
White’s counterplay comes too late.
5... ! .a a 7. 4 a8
._._I_._ rook to d8.
.♘ d2 ♘h5 7.♘f ♗c5 8.g
8.d5 a2 The most direct win, but _B_I_ _.
there were more. IiI .iIi .t.d.tM_
9.d e a 4 .e f7 ♗ f7 r _ r.k. _.j._Jj.
4 .♗ f7 ♔h7 42. h4 h
4 . h5 When going for 38...a2, Grischuk had tried this cautious J_ _._Lj
Black had to see a final detail here. development move against Aronian _J .j._
two rounds earlier. During the press
._._I_._
_._._._ conference, aruana observed that
_Bi._ iI
_._._BjM with such a move White cannot hope
for an advantage, but that it did lend Ii._ i._
._._._.d the position a peculiar character. r. .r k.
_._._._ 9...♗g4 Against rischuk he played
.i._I_.q 9...♔h8, which looks strange. evel- 8...♔h7 This kind of move shows
_._._I_I oping the bishop makes more sense.
.c d5 There is no reason to leave
that Aronian was not in the best of
forms in Berlin. It is hard to imagine
._._.k._ out this advance. that Black will be able to effect the
d._._._. .h ♗h5 2. e2 8 advance ...f7-f5. A solid move seemed

A 37
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18...♘f6 to attack the e-pawn. After

19.♗c2 ♕c8 20.♔g2 ♖d8 White
cannot boast an advantage.
19.♔g2 ♕e7 20.♗c2 ♖fd8 21.b4
♗b6 22.a4 Black’s hesitant play has
allowed White to take the initiative
on the queenside.
22...♘f6
This is a very sloppy retreat. Better
was 22...♕e6 to protect the queen’s MARIA EMELIANOVA

knight. After 23.♘e3 White would be

slightly better.

.t.t._._ In Round 13, Fabiano Caruana reclaimed the lead by defeating Levon Aronian. Demonstrating
good sportsmanship, the Armenian accepts his sixth loss with a smile and a firm handshake.
_.j.dJjM
JlS_.sLj
_J_.j._.
Ii._I_._ .t.t._._ play and is far stronger than 25...♘xg4

_.i._NiI _.j._JjM 26.hxg4 ♗xg4, although White would

have to be careful even here. After 27.f3
._B_QiK_ JlS_Ds.j ♗h3+ 28.♔g3! ♘e7 29.♘e3 Black has
r.b.rN_. _J_.j._L insufficient compensation.
Ii._I_.n 26.hxg4 ♘xg4 27.♘f5
23.♘h4
Caruana decides not to go for the
_.iB_.iI The alternative 27.♗e3 was not entirely
clear after 27...♘xe3+ 28.fxe3 ♖xd3!
pawn, saying afterwards that he ._._QiK_ 29.♕xd3 ♕g4+ 30.♘g3 ♕xh4 31.♕d7
wanted to keep everything under r.b.rN_. ♖d8! 32.♕xf7 ♖d2+ 33.♔f3 ♘e7, and
control in this important game. With Black’s counterplay should not be
23.axb5 axb5 24.♕xb5 he could in 25.g4 Caruana picks up the gauntlet, underestimated.
principle have won a solid pawn, and despite his intention to keep everything 27...♘xf2
the question of whether 24...♗xf2 will manageable. He must have felt very
yield sufficient counter-chances is
crucial. After 25.♕xc6 ♗xe1 26.♘xe1
sure of himself. But the complications
arising now favour White less than
.t.t._._
♖d6 27.♕c4 ♕e8 White must indeed it would seem. The alternative 25.f3 _.j._JjM
be careful. Black is threatening to was objectively better, since it is not JlS_D_.j
take his rook to c6, which is why entirely clear how Black should solve _J_.jN_.
White must provide extra cover for
his e-pawn with 28.♘d2!. Black has
his problems on the queenside.
Ii._I_._
_.iB_._.
insufficient compensation. 28...♖a8 is
met by 29.♖b1. The text yields White
.t.t._._ ._._QsK_
a solid positional advantage, which _.j._JjM r.b.rN_.
justifies Caruana’s choice. JlS_Ds.j
23...♕e6 24.♗d3 _J_.j._L 28.♗c2 It’s almost invisible to the
Increasing the pressure on the queen-
side. But exchanging on g6 first in
Ii._I_In human eye, but the alternative 28.♗b1
would have been stronger. A game
order to restrict Black’s counterplay _.iB_._I between top computers instead of top
would have been stronger. ._._QiK_ players would probably have continued
24...♗h5 r.b.rN_. as follows: 28...g6 29.♘1e3 gxf5 30.exf5
A wild attempt to create counter- ♕f6 31.♕xf2 ♘xb4! 32.a5! ♗a7 33.♔f1
play. Objectively better was 24...♕d7 25...♗xg4! Aronian may not have been ♘d3 34.♘g4 ♗xf2 35.♘xf6+ ♔g7
25.♖d1 ♘e7 to keep the position in the best of forms, but his intuition did 36.♘h5+ ♔h8 37.♖d1 ♘xc1 38.♖xd8+
ticking along. After 26.f3 White not always let him down. The bishop ♖xd8 39.♔xf2, and White has some
would be slightly better. sacrifice yields Black sufficient counter- winning chances, although with three

38 A
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NOTES BY
pawns for the piece, Black should be able protecting square h5 35...♖g8 36.♘g2
to draw. ♖f4!! 37.♖xe5 ♖xf2 38.♗xg5 ♗d4!
Anish Giri
And if White had captured the knight on 39.♗h4, and White just manages
move 32 I will return to this question in to keep the balance. A spectacular Alexander Grischuk
a moment. variation; Fabiano Caruana
28...g6 29.♘1e3 Hemming in the B 33.♗b2 obvious, but now the Berlin 2018 (14)
black knight that has penetrated. white king will be forced up the board Petroff Defence, Steinitz Variation
29...gxf5 30.exf5 ♕f6 31.♕xf2 The 33...♕g5+ 34.♕g3 ♖d2+ 35.♔f3 ♕h5+
critical moment of the game. Caruana 36.♔e4 ♖g8, and to prevent a mating 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘f6
had 13 minutes left here Aronian 11. attack, White is forced to give up his After having lost the previous must-
queen with 37.♗d1 ♖xd1 38.♕xg8+ not-lose game against arjakin in the
.t.t._._ ♔xg8 39.♖axd1. Black can retain some
advantage with 39...♕h4+ 40.♔d3 f6!.
main line of the etro , I thought there
was a high probability that abiano
_.j._J_M Variation A looks like the best option. would switch his first line of defence,
JlS_.d.j After the text, Black’s position is basi- but the stubbornness of the American
_J_.jI_. cally hopeless. Opening the e-file and knows no bounds.
3.d4 ♘xe4 4.dxe5
Ii._._._ vacating square e5 hardly helps the
black attack. I suspect that Aronian
_.i.n._.
._B_. K_
had become demorali ed after all his
setbacks and had more or less stopped
sLdMl.t
r.b.r._. believing in his chances. jJjJ_JjJ
32.♖h1 ._._._._
31...e4 pectators following the _._.i._.
game online saw that Black could have
created sufficient counter-chances with
.t.t._._ ._._S_._
31...♘xb4!!, an ama ing knight sac that _.j._J_M _._._N_.
the computer finds in relatively short JlS_.d.j IiI_.iIi
order. uring the press conference it _J_._I_. rNbQ B_
became clear that neither player had
considered it. asparov might actually
Ii._J_._ 4...d5 4...♗c5 leads to fascinating
have found the knight sac. Its point _.i.n._. variations. I once lost a painful rapid
becomes clear after 32.cxb4 forced now ._B_. K_ game with it, after having mixed up my
32...♖d4. Black has deployed both rooks r.b._._ analysis: 5.♗c4 ♘xf2 6.♗xf7+ ♔xf7
in one fell swoop. The white king, which 7.♕d5+ ♔g6 8.♕xc5 ♘xh1 9.♘c3 d6
appeared to be fairly safe, suddenly finds 32...♖d6 ow 32...♘xb4 was no 10.♕c4 h6 11.♘d5 ♖f8 12.♕e4+ ♔f7
itself in the crossfire of Black’s major longer e ective. Black is helpless after 13.♗xh6!, etc. 1-0, 22 Almasi- iri,
pieces. And the b6-bishop also plays 33.♗xe4 ♘d3 34.♕h4. Beijing blindfold rapid 2011. After
an important part in the background. 33.♗xe4 ♖g8 34.♔f1 ♘e5 that game, waiting for the elevator, I
White is two pieces up, yet his position is 35.♕f4 c6 36.axb5 ♖g5 37.bxa6 met ugar ashimov, who was always
anything but easy to defend, as witness: ♕d8 38.f6 ♘g6 39.♖xh6 ready to cheer you up after a bad game.
Black resigned. He told me come on’ and said that I
.t._._._ should have played 4...d5, because I am
a solid boy. abiano is a solid boy, too.
_.j._J_M abiano Caruana won the Candidates 5.♘bd2 The point of starting with
Jl._.d.j a full point ahead of amedyarov and 4.dxe5. 5.♗d3 could also be reached
_J_.jI_. arjakin. till, the last round was a via the 4.♗d3 d5 5.dxe5 move order.
5...♘xd2
Ii.t._._ nail-biter in which a lot happened,
and the situation remained far from Back in the day, 5...♘c5 was considered
_._.n._. clear till the first time-control. Then a little more cunning.
._B_. K_ the dust settled, because it became 6.♗xd2
r.b.r._. clear that the American was not only 6.♕xd2! was epomniachtchi’s
ANALYSIS DIAGRAM going to earn the right to challenge favourite. Indeed, the idea of throwing
agnus Carlsen, but was also en route the queen out to f4 at any point seems
A 33.♔h3 ♕g5 34.f6+ ♔h8 35.♗d1 to winning his final game. appealing, but no doubt both players

A 39
 BERLIN

had done their homework here as cxb4 13.cxb4 0-0 it is not immediately wants to unpin: 13...0-0 14.♕d2, and
well. clear how to regroup properly. White now ♘d4 is not necessarily a killing
6...♗e7 7.♗d3 c5 8.c3 ♘c6 can get access to the d4-square, but threat, but at least it is more sensible
the annoying pin stops him from than in the game.
13...0-0 14.b4 h6 15.♗g3 b6
T_LdM_.t taking control of it. Perhaps 14.g4!?
is called for, but then things get more 15...♖ad8! seems stronger. I don’t see
jJ_.lJjJ complicated. the need to go ...b6, as bxc5 can be
._S_._._ 14.♕b1 is also possible, but Black met by ...♗xc5.
_.jJi._. seems fine in the ensuing compli-
._._._._ cations: 14...♗xf3 15.♗xh7+ ♔h8
16.♗f5 ♕c7 17.gxf3 g6 18.♗c2 ♘xe5.
T_._.tM_
_.iB_N_. 12...♕e6!? j._.lJj.
Ii.b.iIi 12...0-0 is met solidly by 13.♕c2!, .jS_D_.j
r._Qk._R whereas the tempting ...♘d8-♘e6 _.jJi._L
Somehow we made all the most
manoeuvre hits on some e6! tactics:
12...♘d8?! 13.g4 ♘e6 (13...♗g6 14.e6!
.i._._._
natural moves, but reached a rather ♘xe6 15.♘e5, and White crushes i.iB_NbI
unexplored position. Here 9.h3 has through, since a check from the a4-e8 ._._.iI_
been the most popular move and the diagonal will be deadly) 14.gxh5 r._Qr.k.
natural castling is almost a novelty. ♘xf4 15.e6!, and this mess does not
9.0-0 ♗g4 look safe for Black. The text-move, 16.♘d4?
Very natural, why else did they preparing ...0-0 and ...♗g6, is natural White’s position out of the opening
play h3? In fact, Grischuk started and good. didn’t look all that great, but this
spending a lot of time from here on transforms a level and unclear
in.
10.♖e1 ♕d7 11.h3 ♗h5
T_._M_.t position into a very bad one for
White. It is an absolutely non-
11...♗f5 was played in Vallejo- jJ_.lJjJ Grischuk decision and a very, very
Garcia, Spain 2009. ._S_D_._ rare case in which his excellent (and I
_.jJi._L absolutely mean this) strategic under-
T_._M_.t ._._.b._ standing lets him down. Most likely
Alexander just collapsed after a very
jJ_DlJjJ _.iB_N_I long and nerve-racking struggle to
._S_._._ Ii._.iI_ stay in contention and didn’t come to
_.jJi._L r._Qr.k. this game with enough energy.
._._._._ 13.a3
16.♗e2 was still an excellent idea.
White has his own trumps in this
_.iB_N_I The plan with b4 is positional, but structure and the ♘d4 shot is on the
Ii.b.iI_ since Black is not forced to give up cards here.
r._Qr.k. control of the key d4-square, it is not 16...♗xd1 17.♘xe6 fxe6
too threatening. 18.♖axd1
12.♗f4 13.♗e2! is my computer’s advice 18.♖exd1 was a better version, but
Tempting was 12.b4!?, but after 12... and it is not rocket science; it merely then Fabi doesn’t have to push ...b5:

Berlin 2018
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TPR
1 Fabiano Caruana IGM 2784 USA ** ½½ ½0 ½½ 1½ ½1 1½ 11 9 2885
2 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov IGM 2809 AZE ½½ ** 1½ ½0 1½ ½1 ½½ ½½ 8 2829
3 Sergey Karjakin IGM 2763 RUS ½1 0½ ** ½½ ½1 ½½ 1½ 01 8 2836
4 Ding Liren IGM 2769 CHN ½½ ½1 ½½ ** ½½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 7½ 2806
5 Vladimir Kramnik IGM 2800 RUS 0½ 0½ ½0 ½½ ** 10 ½½ 11 6½ 2766
6 Alexander Grischuk IGM 2767 RUS ½0 ½0 ½½ ½½ 01 ** 1½ ½½ 6½ 2770
7 Wesley So IGM 2799 USA 0½ ½½ 0½ ½½ ½½ 0½ ** 1½ 6 2737
8 Levon Aronian IGM 2794 ARM 00 ½½ 10 ½½ 00 ½½ 0½ ** 4½ 2662

40 A
 BERLIN

18...c4 1 .♗c2 ♗g5!, and Black is

slightly better. It is simply that his
pawn structure is very desirable, as
long as White doesn’t get the f4-g4-
f5-pawns rolling.
18...c4 19.♗c2 b5!

T_._.tM_
j._.l.j.
._S_J_.j
_J_Ji._.
NEW IN CHESS

.iJ_._._
i.i._.bI
._B_.iI_ Mission accomplished. Fabiano Caruana and his second Rustam Kasimdzhanov know
_._Rr.k. that they can start preparing for Magnus Carlsen, but first they are happy to pose
with official commentator Judit Polgar to promote her Global Chess Festival.
I am pretty familiar with these pawn
structures, since they can arise
from the Open Spanish, an opening
both Fabiano and I have studied a b- and c-pawns. Not a happy defence 24...♗g3! The bishop on d6 serves
great deal. Here White’s position is ahead. a sad defensive purpose, and with
completely toothless and Black can 22.♗f2? White has already lost the this beautiful bishop manoeuvre,
choose when to break through with struggle on the queenside and in the Black places it on a very beautiful and
...d4 or just crush through with a centre. The bishop pair is irrelevant vital square, from where it attacks e5,
sacri ce on b4. It is also interesting and his only hope is to get his kingside covers the e1-square, but most impor-
to compare this position with a bad going. tantly, totally devaluates White’s
endgame that could theoretically After 22.h4! ♗f4 23.♗xf4 ♖xf4 kingside pawns. This position looks
appear from the Chebanenko Slav 24.h5 White would get some poten- strategically lost for White. Black
(1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♘f3 a6 tial for counterplay, as his kingside can push ...g5, ...h5-h4 to x it even
5.e3 b5 6.c5). The sac on b5 is a motif pawn structure has got a beautiful further and then eventually break
there as well. makeover. Black will probably break through with ...d4, with or without
20.a4 a6 21.f3 through with ...d4 as fast as possible sacri cing on d6.
before White prepares g3 and f4. Then 25.♖e2 g5 26. f1 f7 27.♗c7
♖e8 28.♗d6
T_._.tM_ White should manage to weather the
storm with simpli cations: 24...♖c8
_._.l.j.
J_S_J_.j
25.♗g6 d4 26.axb5 axb5 27.cxd4.
Black can take either pawn and he is
T_._T_._
_J_Ji._. pushing, but with accurate defending _._._M_.
IiJ_._._ and a good bishop on e4, White can J_SbJ_.j
_.i._IbI
hold this together. _J_Ji.j.
22...♗f4 23.♗c5 ♖fd8 24.♗d6
._B_._I_ IiJ_._._
_._Rr.k. T_.t._M_ _.i._IlI
_._._.j. ._B_R_I_
21...♗g5!?
J_SbJ_.j _._R_ _.
A very clean way to maintain the
pressure without getting involved in _J_Ji._. 28...♖ac8
any complications. IiJ_.l._ Everything is good, but since it’s not
But 21...♘xb4! 22.cxb4 ♗xb4 23.♖e2
♗e7 looks very promising for Black,
_.i._I_I yet clear how to arrange the rooks,
it was possible to start with fixing
when a likely scenario is that White ._B_._I_ the kingside even further: 28...h5
will try to give the c2-bishop for the _._Rr.k. 2 .♖a1 h4.

A 41
BERLIN

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42 A available at your local (chess)bookseller or at www.newinchess.com

 BERLIN

29.♖a1 ♖ed8 30.♗b1 ♖d7 with four rooks on the board, White Actually, the rest was pretty straight-
31.♖a3 would be unable to defend his king. forward. Black can shuff le rooks
31.axb5 axb5 32.♖a6 was called for. around, creating threats to the white
At least White prevents ...d4 for now.
._T_._._ king as well as trying to break down
the c2-square blockade. If all of this is
_._._M_.
._T_._._ ._._J_.j
not enough, there is the reserve plan
of sending the king to g3.
_._T_M_. _B_.l.j. 45.♖d7 ♖c8 46.♗e4 h5!
J_SbJ_.j .iJ_._._ From a weakness on h6, the pawn
_J_Ji.j. r._.kI_I
turns into a serious potential asset on
IiJ_._._ R_._._I_
h4.
47.♔d3 ♖b2 48.♔e2 h4 49.♖d1
r.i._IlI _T_._._. ♔e5 50.♖a1 ♖d8 51.♖d1 ♖db8
._._R_I_ 52.♖a1 ♗d2 53.♖a6 ♖d8 54.♖c6
_B_._K_. 40.♖a7+? ♖b1 55.♔f2 ♖a1 56.♖c4 ♖d4
A useless check to make move 40. 57.♖c8 ♖b4 58.♔e2 ♔f4 59.♔f2
31...d4!? A well-timed push. The 40.♖a8! was the path to salvation: ♖bb1 60.♖f8+ ♔e5 61.♗d3 ♖b2
position transforms into a very 40...♖xa8 41.♖xa8 ♖xb4 42.♗a4, and 62.♔e2 ♖e1+ 63.♔f2 ♖c1
unpleasant opposite-coloured bishop White will have to suffer endlessly,
endgame for White. Some minor with no guarantee that he will hold,
drawish tendencies could not scare but it was still the best chance. It’s a ._._.r._
Fabiano, who by this point would not typical 50/50 case here. _._._._.
be unhappy with a draw. As his rivals
had both failed in their winning
40...♔f6 41.♗d7 ♗f4+ 42.♔e2
♖d8
._._J_._
attempts, a draw would yield him _._.m.j.
the desired date with the World ._._._.j
Champion, who I imagine could ._.t._._ _.jB_I_I
easily get nervous watching his future r._B_._. .tRl.kI_
opponent play this one out with an
iron hand.
._._Jm.j _.t._._.
32.axb5 axb5 33.cxd4 ♘xd4 _._._.j.
34.♖ea2 ♘c6 35.♗e4 ♗xe5 .iJ_.l._ Forcing the rook trade under favour-
36.♗xc6 ♖xd6 37.♗xb5 _._._I_I able circumstances.
R_._K_I_ 64.♖xb2 cxb2 65.♖b8 ♗c3
66.♗e4 ♗d4+ 67.♔e2 ♔f4
._T_._._ _T_._._. Finally the g2-pawn, the second
_._._M_. weakness, falls.
._.tJ_.j The b4-pawn has to fall. White 68.♖b4 e5 69.♖b7 ♔g3
_B_.l.j. is unable to stay coordinated and
.iJ_._._ protect the pawn at the same time.
43.♖c2
._._._._
r._._I_I Or 43.b5 c3 44.♖c2 ♖b2, and wins. _R_._._.
R_._._I_ 43...♖xb4 44.♗c6 c3! ._._._._
_._._K_. _._.j.j.
._.t._._ ._.lB_.j
The position looks rather drawish at
first, but it soon transpires that the
r._._._. _._._ImI
strong passer, combined with a very ._B_Jm.j .j._K_I_
uncomfortable white king, will be _._._.j. _.t._._.
enough for Black’s victory. .t._.l._
37...♖d1+ 38.♔e2 ♖g1 39.♔e3
♖b1
_.j._I_I White resigned.
Not a bad final position to qualify for
Perfectly natural, but it allows White ._R_K_I_ the match with. Black is in complete
to trade a pair of rooks. After 39...c3!, _._._._. control. ■
A 43
 INTERVIEW

Interview Fabiano Caruana

With his goal in sight, his nerves got the better of
him. Suddenly he lost a game, and victory in the
Candidates tournament was threatening to slip
through his fingers. Time
to show his true mettle.
Fabiano Caruana kicked
‘I took pretty
himself, went to see The
Shape of Water and
much all
bounced back with two
final wins to earn the right
my chances’
to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the world title. The
next day, the American Challenger looked back on
his greatest success to date in an interview with
DIRK JAN TEN GEUZENDAM.

W
hen I meet Fabiano doesn’t look very different from how if I was putting too much pressure on
Caruana at the Scandic he looked when I talked to him two myself at some point. Although if I
Hotel in the centre of years ago after he had finished second had not won, there would still have
Berlin, which has been in the Moscow Candidates after a been a next time. It’s not as if my
his home for three weeks, he looks last-round loss to Sergey Karjakin. career would be over.’
calm as always. He must be very There I suggested that he must be
pleased, thrilled, perhaps still devastated, a suggestion he laconi- What did you do after Moscow? Make
jumping for joy inside, but if so, he cally denied, saying he was fine and a structured plan to reach the world
doesn’t show it. Sure, he was happy to that there would be a next time. As title match in 2018? Let’s do everything
have a small celebration with some we sit down in a quiet corner of the right now?
friends last night, but nothing extrav- restaurant on the third floor of the ‘No, I can’t say I did everything
agant. And no, he didn’t go to sleep at Scandic, I remind him of that conver- right. I made a lot of mistakes. It
a crazy hour. Also because he had to sation and tell him that I still can’t was important that it was the second
get up in time to start a long session believe that at that point he was so time, which is always very different.
of interviews. laid-back. It’s like, take Ding Liren, who played
In fact, now that he has won the ‘Yeah, I was a little bit more laid- so well here, but should have pushed
Candidates tournament, something back last time. This time I really a bit more. Next time he will probably
that he had wanted so much, he wanted to win it, and I almost felt as have that extra push and maybe that

44 A
 INTERVIEW

‘It probably helps that I have

been beaten down so many
times in my chess career that
I am ready to get hit again.’

LENNART OOTES

A 45
 INTERVIEW

will take him to the top. You just never dates. Karjakin did very poorly in Wijk myself, which is nice. Also, I took a
know. It’s always a slightly different that year and he won the Candidates. It break during this tournament, because
feeling at your first time, when you doesn’t really mean anything.’ my phone account had a devastating
kind of cannot fully believe that you life-ending glitch. So I was phoneless
are able to win it. Maybe that was what What were the main changes in your life for the last month and a half, which
happened last time. I did everything over the past two years? was actually a good thing. But when I
right, I fought as well as I could, but in a ‘I went through some relationships get home I will get myself a new phone.’
few critical moments I just didn’t have since, like, 2016. That, I would say,
what it takes. This time I guess I did. I is the main thing. And I also went If Kashmir is your favourite Led
missed, I’d say, one big chance, against through some business changes. Zeppelin song, I’d like to know your
Ding Liren, but otherwise I took pretty Lawrence Trent was my manager, and numbers two and three.
much all my chances. I was much more of course I was very grateful for all ‘I am not even sure it’s my favourite.
experienced than two years ago. I was the help he gave me, and that ended. I’d probably put Achilles’ Last Stand
a relatively experienced player at the Obviously I have a personal relation- up there. But Kashmir is definitely up
top back then, but now I had two extra ship with all the people I work with, so there, too. And the third one, I don’t
years and a lot of failures and a lot of this is also part of my personal life. I really know, maybe Black Dog. I like
successes as well. And recently I had was trying to find the right approach some of their earlier stuff too, like
been playing well, been feeling good and my new manager was Rhonda Good Times, Bad Times.’
about my chess. I had two very impor- Coleman. We worked together for a
tant victories at the end of last year. year, and then that ended and now I am We talked about your disappointing
OK, then Wijk aan Zee was a terrible being represented by two people, Eric result in Wijk aan Zee. What did you
tournament, but that happens some- Kuhn and Mehreen Malik, who are not do in the month between Wijk aan Zee
times. Every once in a while, you have really known in the chess world. They and Berlin?
a disaster where you get a huge minus are very capable and very supportive. ‘First I went home for about 10 days.
score and you can’t do anything right, They have a lot of connections in the I was alone, I tried to get into good
but it didn’t really affect my play here.’ world, in terms of media, in terms of shape. Because obviously after a tour-
companies, clients, things like that. nament you are not in the best physical
It’s tempting to believe that you were They are trying their best to get my shape and you’re also tired. I tried to
hiding in Wijk aan Zee... name out there and see what they can regain my energy. And then I went to
‘(Immediately) No, I wasn’t hiding do. And I think they are doing a good Miami, where I was joined by Rustam
anything. Things just didn’t go right job. I mean, I also hope that I maybe (Kasimdzhanov), obviously, and
from the start, and at that point you helped their job a bit (laughs) with this also by Cristian Chirila and Leinier
lose motivation, especially in a long tournament.’ Dominguez for the entirety of it. We
tournament like Wijk aan Zee.’ worked together, and near the end
I remember that a couple of years Alejandro Ramirez came for three,
You weren’t staying away from certain ago, people around you urged you to four days and he also helped out. We
openings? be more active on social platforms, kind of chilled out and worked on
‘Not really. I mean, to be honest I didn’t and I thought, but that’s not Fabiano. chess for a good part of 15, 16 days. It
even know what I would prepare at that I couldn’t see you tweet every day... And was nice. Miami in February is actually
point, and I had some slightly chaotic you didn’t. the place to be.’
preparation before Berlin. I played ‘I still don’t. Sometimes I feel the urge
some stuff here which was probably to tweet something. At some point, That was at the place that you have
not the most dangerous prep of all I had this social media company there?
time. Queen b3 in all the lines of the that was handling my social media ‘No, no, my place was rented out, so we
Catalan. But still it kind of worked accounts, but it didn’t quite work just rented an Airbnb. An older house,
perfectly, because I won one game out. Also because they messed a few but a very large one, perfect, and we
at the start with it and then almost things up (laughs) and posted things could go to the beach. We had plenty of
another. I certainly wasn’t hiding prep which weren’t quite true or which were room even for five people.’
in Wijk aan Zee, and I didn’t want to just flat-out mistakes. Like once they
do badly. But I quickly forgot about it. said my favourite song was Kashmir Several of them are from St. Louis,
I don’t know, I thought there is a main (by Led Zeppelin), but they spelled where you are living now. Do you have
challenge. OK, it wasn’t great, but two it Cashmere. And then I got so many a contract with the Club or with Rex
years ago, I did very well in Wijk and messages telling me how it should be Sinquefield...
that didn’t mean that I won the Candi- spelled. But now I handle all the stuff ‘I don’t think I can really say anything

46 A
 INTERVIEW

about that. But the Club does support ‘I think if you are not ready for a A key moment early on in the tourna-
me in any way they can, and this is fight you have no chance to win this ment was your game against Kramnik
invaluable help.’ tournament.’ in Round 4, full of ups and downs,
which gave you a boost and clearly
And the details you might divulge in the But you should also enjoy the pain... e ed i . did u e e ien e
future... ‘Oh, I definitely don’t enjoy the pain lle e
‘I don’t think so. I mean, the Saint (laughs). But I am ready to forget about ‘The thing was that I couldn’t get too
Louis Chess Club is supportive of all it and move on to the next game, which upset. At some point, I realized that I
American players and they are also I guess is a very helpful quality. It had messed up the position completely,
equally supportive of me, so I also probably helps that I have been beaten but I didn’t have time to think about it,
hope that I can make them proud, for down so many times in my chess career because we already had a new position,
instance with this tournament victory.’ that I am ready to get hit again. And I which was complicated and where I
was hit in this tournament, obviously. had to fight. Then I made this ...h5
Did you get a message from Rex move, which was absolutely neces-
Sinquefield sary and a very good practical chance.
‘Actually, I haven’t gotten an email Probably my most important move of
from him. After I won London he sent the game. And then I was winning, but
me an email. But I have the feeling that it’s not like it was automatic. At the end
I get a lot of text messages that I can’t of the game, I made some good moves
see, which is kind of an issue. So maybe and that was necessary.’
once I get a new phone, I will be able to
check them all.’ Did you manage to keep your calm in
e
When you came here, you were ready ‘Not really. I mean, I can’t say I kept

MARIA EMELIANOVA
for a long battle. Did it help that you my calm when I messed up a winning
had been through such a long gruelling position. I was too low on time, and
e en e e after the time-control I also wasn’t
‘Yeah, I was prepared for the same sure, but at least I had more time than
thing as last time a very long fight in
which you shouldn’t try to go crazy
‘If you are not ready for a him; that was very important. At some
point, I offered a draw, with a bad
from the start. We actually saw that fight you have no chance move, which was a strange decision,
players who did badly at the start, but probably what ultimately won me
suddenly were in contention again. to win this tournament.’ the game. Rustam really enjoyed this
Like Sergey (Karjakin), who had a lot. Me playing a bad move and then
the most disastrous start you could offering a draw. That’s really some-
imagine and then led the tournament It’s not every time that I recover from a thing you don’t see every day. Maybe
two rounds before the end. We have loss, but this time I did it (in the last two if I had offered a draw with another
seen this on many occasions. I think rounds) and even more than I needed move, he would have taken it, who
some of my recent tournaments have to. That was great. But I was helped knows. Although I have a feeling that
helped me get ready for the tension and a lot by some luck. That I got my prep Kramnik will not take a draw in any
the stress of it. But the stress did get to against Levon (Aronian) in Round 13, position these days.’
me at some point, which resulted in a that I won this game. Because other-
few poorly played games, especially wise I would have been in a must-win Most of the time when I was observing
this game against Sergey in Round 12, situation the final round and who you here, you looked confident and
where I just got completely outplayed knows I might have lost that game. But calm. But then you tend to confuse
and beaten without a single chance. It you need some luck to win the Candi- me, as you once told me that you were
was really critical that I pulled myself dates. I don’t think you can do without. di e en e e le. e
together after this loss.’ Magnus (starts laughing), when he won might hide their nervousness, but that
in London in 2013, had pretty much when you look nervous you are not.
You are a fighter and you know that all the luck in the world. Only maybe ‘But this time I was actually very
only the strong will survive. Is it also Vishy (Anand) in 2014 kind of did it just nervous. For most of the tournament
e in u en Seein i e i - through pure strength over his compet- I wasn’t, but I was very nervous before
tion) I mean, some people hate battles, itors alone. Although even there I can my game against Shakhriyar (Mame-
some people love battles... remember a few lucky moments.’ dyarov), and I think it showed in some

A 47
 INTERVIEW

of my decisions at the start of the game. ‘Yeah, the tiebreak was ruined by that I didn’t feel Aronian was playing
And against Kramnik, and obvi- loss... But also I would have been a the way he was playing in previous
ously against Karjakin. In these three point ahead, and if my last two games tournaments.
games my stress just hit a level that was were drawn someone had to actually ‘Levon is such an enterprising player
unsustainable, and after I lost against win both games on demand, which and sometimes it works out beautifully
Karjakin it relieved some of the stress is a colossal task. So yeah, it was very and sometimes it doesn’t. But he also
somehow, which was necessary.’ unpleasant and I started wondering made some bad decisions. His decision
how I had managed to screw it all to play 1.e4 against Kramnik was a
This stress builds up before you go to the up so badly. I kicked myself for a few critically awful decision. I think he
game... hours and then I managed to get to will agree. Because if he had played a
‘It’s before the game, preparing the sleep and forget about it.’ normal game, it could have been a very
night before. Sometimes you struggle different tournament for him.’
with sleep as well, which isn’t great. The next day was a free day and you
Usually I have no problems sleeping went to see The Shape of Water. Rather What did you think when you saw 1.e4
during tournaments, but around this than go to an action-packed movie you on his board?
period I was waking up earlier than I went to a different world temporarily... ‘I was surprised and I remembered
normally do. This was a tough period ‘Yeah, that was a good idea. Friends that he played 1.e4 against Karjakin in
in the tournament, probably the had been telling me about it months the last round of the Candidates 2014
toughest. And it ended with a loss and before, you have to see this, and I and it didn’t work out for him. Well,
for whatever reasons things got easier.’ didn’t get a chance. And we’re here he was actually better in that game, so
in the centre of Berlin and there is a I shouldn’t say it didn’t work out for
What is it that you try to do to release movie theatre close by, so why not? It him, but he still lost. He is not a natural
the tension? was also a really-well made film, so e4-player, and I thought the line was
‘You try your best, you try to go out, it gave me a good feeling and I could just strange. He prepared poorly and
walk and enjoy the fresh air, watch forget about everything for a couple of he ran into, like, the only line in which
a movie or play some video games, hours.’ Black can actually mate White in this
something to take your mind off chess, opening. And Kramnik was probably
but there is always something in the One thing nobody could fail to notice in shocked that he actually got a chance to
back of your mind. It’s a very useful this Candidates tournament were the use it. And against Levon, of all people.’
skill to actually be able to forget about unbelievable fights, people throwing
chess after the games, which I gener- everything at each other. A more Levon Aronian was one of the top
ally have, but sometimes it betrays me.’ common strategy might have been for favourites, perhaps the top favourite
most players to proceed cautiously for many people, and he finishes last.
After the loss in Round 12 against and to try and grab their chances to Is there any explanation for that or is it
Karjakin, at the post-game press confer- slowly build up a plus score. What was just the cruelty of sport?
ence, you looked groggy, like a boxer happening here? ‘I really don’t know what went wrong
who was suddenly hit by a blow he had ‘That’s what I was trying; I was not with his play; only he can say that.
not seen coming in a fight he believed to going crazy or anything. But what can He was definitely the best player last
have under control. you do when you’re playing Kramnik? year in terms of his results. Obviously,
‘When we faced the time-trouble The game takes an unexpected turn, Magnus is always consistently good,
phase, I realized that I had landed in no matter what.’ great even, but Levon won so many
the most hopeless position that I could tournaments that you cannot say he
imagine. I also saw that Shakhriyar Maybe you were trying that approach, was not the best player of 2017. It’s
(Mamedyarov) had lost and I started but there were various players that just bad luck that he comes to this, the
wondering how all this could happen. weren’t. There was such mayhem, how most important tournament, not in the
Because all I needed was a draw and I do you explain that? same form as he came to, let’s say, the
would be a clear point in the lead and I ‘Well, players play according to their World Cup or Norway Chess or any of
could pretty much coast in my last two style. I don’t think you can tell a the tournaments he won last year. But
games.’ player to play calmly, quietly. If it’s he probably also made some bad deci-
going against his style it’s not going sions. He was fighting, but the thing is,
Essentially you lost one and a half points to be good for him. So Kramnik plays you can either fight or try and limit the
in that one game against Karjakin, the way he feels he needs to. It’s his damage and you’ll end up in fifth place
because in case of a tie with him the approach to chess these days and it’s or whatever and it will be one of those
tiebreak rules would favour him now. just as legitimate as...’ unremarkable, bad tournaments.’

48 A
 INTERVIEW

Is that the secret of this tournament, win. was wondering how ergey was would never ever consider offering a
that it doesn’t make any sense to lick going to sur i e this position. walked draw and neither would you.
your wounds? by their board right before he played know agnus wouldn’t consider
t doesn’t actually make a difference ...h , and started wondering, why not it, but that wasn’t really what was
if you’re second or if you’re in last ...h nd ing also looked confused, thinking about. think if you gi e
place. ell, it makes some difference, and after he played it ergey started this position to e on or ergey,
you don’t want to ha e a bad tourna- shaking his head, so figured that he akamura... mean, if it’s ery
ment, no matter what. ut he tried had blundered. t was a bad blunder he complicated, then understand, ,
and it could ha e worked out. e was kind of lucky that it didn’t totally take a draw and play safe. ut the
saw it almost worked out for ergey spoil his position. o was only worried opponent has no counterplay, you
ar akin . He tried and he had some at that point about ramnik’s game ha e a pawn, the bishop pair, e ery-
luck against esley o , and suddenly against amedyaro . ot because thing is protected, and am winning.
he was back in the race. nd maybe thought he had a bad position, but o saw no risk and also thought,
Levon, with some luck, would have if can win the game, ha e an obli-
been back in the race too. ut instead gation to win it. ut it’s not supposed
of ha ing some luck he was ust ha ing to be a statement to agnus or
one bad game after another.’ anything.’

After your loss to Karjakin in Round Your analysis is quite clinical and
12 you bounced back against Aronian, makes sense, but it cannot be a coinci-
who walked straight into your prep. dence that when I was talking to Judit
That win must have given you a huge Polgar after the game, it turned out
boost. we had had exactly the same idea. Oh
‘Yeah, because I suddenly didn’t have yeah, this is about Magnus. But you

MARIA EMELIANOVA
to win the last round. didn’t ha e to don’t think it was.
go out of my way to win. fter a draw o, ust thought it was about the
definitely would ha e had to play for position. I don’t think anyone could
a win. didn’t want to repeat the situa- ha e critici ed me if took the draw,
tion of last time, when I had to play an
opening that hate, one that leads to a
‘I kicked myself for a because at the end of the day rating
points don’t matter, the win will
bad position out of the opening, which few hours and then I be forgotten and the tournament
ha e to first not lose, try to e uali e is really all that matters. ut still
and then try to outplay my opponent. managed to get to sleep think, if you ha e a winning position
hich is not a pleasant feeling from and forget about it.’ and you consider yourself a good
the start. his way could ust play a player, then you should try to win it.
normal game. nd if somehow didn’t f you’re not ready to win a position
win and ergey or hakhriyar found because anything can happen. He is like that, then why are you here ’
a way to win, that would be bad luck, ery ambitious, he is down a pawn,
but it happens. thought my chances he has a ery attracti e position, so he Well, maybe Magnus was not on your
if drew my last game were going to be could easily push too hard. ut then mind then, but last night when you
ery good.’ was in my own time trouble, didn’t see were trying to get to sleep, was he on
his game, and after mo e saw it and your mind?
That was your mind-set before the final it was a draw, so was happy smiles .’ o, didn’t think about him at all
round. But once you sat down, it may laughs . hen prepare for the
have been slightly different. To what At the start of our talk I said that I had match, obviously I will, but this has
extent were you following the other the feeling that this tournament began ust finished. hen start preparing
games, in which there was so much for you at the end of the Candidates for the match ery seriously, ob i-
going on? Players on who you had to tournament in Moscow. Here, when you ously he will be on my mind, but
count were maybe not spending their were playing the final part of your game before that...’
time cleverly, taking risks at strange against Grischuk and you could have
moments... offered a draw but decided to play on, I ou mean there were entirely different
thought that ing wouldn’t lose was thinking that I was witnessing the things on your mind last night....
against ar akin , especially after his beginning of the match against Carlsen. o, mainly wanted to sleep. was
...h . hen thought he was going to You knew that in this position Magnus e hausted after yesterday.’

A 49
 Judit Polgar

Strategic beauty
Beauty in chess is often connected with dashing
sacrifices or unexpected tactical twists and turns. But
JUDIT POLGAR shows that breaking with preconceived
strategic rules can be beautiful, too.

P
ositional play and strate- Boris Spassky This secures the f5-square for his
gic thinking tend to be Jonathan Penrose knight, but allows Black to block the
associated with dogmatic Palma de Mallorca 1969 position completely.
views that require that 33...g5 34.♗d2 ♗e5
one should always act according to
generally accepted and fixed rules.
.q._S_S_ This may seem premature, but after
♘e2 Black would have to play it any-
When a player sidesteps these rules _L_D_._M way. With such a passive black position
and offers his own, personal interpre- ._.j.jJj it is not clear how White could use this
tation of a strategic theme, we can _.jI_._. tempo, as in the next phase Black will
speak about originality. Or, even
though strategy is generally regarded
.jIlIbIi mainly play ...♘g8-e7-g8. Apart from
all this, Black may have been afraid of
as ‘dry’, about beauty. _I_N_Bn. the thematic break e4-e5, clearing the
Six months after he became World ._._._K_ e4-square for White’s minor pieces.
Champion by defeating Tigran _._._._. 35.♗e3 ♘e7 36.♘xe5 fxe5
Petrosian, Boris Spassky played a
game that was considered by many
as illustrative of his style. Botvinnik
In the above position, White’s advan-
tage is beyond doubt, but due to the
.q._S_._
once stated that Spassky was the first blocked structure Black may hope _L_Ds._M
truly universal player in history, and to defend his fortress. According to ._.j._.j
although this may have been an exag- the rules, White should undermine _.jIj.jI
geration, there was no doubt about his
original and harmonious play, which
Black’s control of e5 with g4-g5, but
33.g5 fxg5 34.hxg5 ♗c8 offers Black
.jI_I_I_
featured a perfect combination of the too much counterplay. Therefore _I_.bBn.
diametrically opposed elements of tac- Spassky went for the paradoxical: ._._._K_
tics and strategy. 33.h5!? _._._._.
With all his pawns blocked on dark
S a y ay featured a erfect squares, Black has got rid of his ‘bad’
bishop, but precisely this makes his
c bi ati f t e dia etrica y ed structure vulnerable, since his knights
cannot reach g6, f7 or d7 to consoli-
e e e t f tactic a d trategy. date the central squares. In addition,

50 A
 Judit Polgar

the b7-bishop can hardly be consid- 43. xa2 ♘xc6 44. a ♘d Black could not have avoided taking
ered ‘good’, as its mobility is strongly 45. b The key to my manoeuvre. a kingside decision for too long, for
reduced. 45... 5 instance 48... f6 4 .♗a5 ♘e7 5 . f8
All these factors allow White an elegant While in the previous game h4-h5 froze ♘g6 5 . g8 ♘e7 52. h7.
sacrificial solution to the strategic plot. the kingside, this similar move now pre- 4 . xg4 f6 5 .♗a5 ♘e7
37.♗xc5 dxc5 3 . xe5 pares to open it with a later knight sac-
With a minimum of white accuracy
Black will be crushed by the central
rifice on g4.
Keeping the extra piece would not
.q._._._
pawns. None of his minor pieces is able have been in Spassky’s style 45... b7 _._DsS_.
to put up resistance. 46. xd6 g7 but not 46... f7 ._.j. ._
47. xd8 ♗xd8 48.♘d6 , with an extra bNjIj.j.
._._S_._ pawn and an overwhelming positional
advantage 47.♗xe5 ♘xe5 48. xe5
._I_IjI_
_L_Ds._M g8 the only move that does not allow _._._I_.
._._._.j immediate tactics 4 . f6, threatening ._._. ._
_.jIq.jI xh6 and e4-e5 and casting Spassky in _._._._.
.jI_I_I_ the undesirable Penrose part from the
previous game. 5 . f Probably the only winning
_I_._Bn. 46. xb6 ♘f7 Black has no time for move, preventing Black from isolating
._._._K_ counterplay 46...hxg4 47.♘xd6 gxf3 my queen from the kingside with ...♘c8.
_._._._. 48.♘f5 f7 4 .♗a5, winning a knight. After the neutral 5 .♗c7 Black could
47. b g7 4 . 3 probably have saved the game 5 ...♘c8
3 ...♘g 38... d6 3 . a does 52. e2 there is no other constructive
not bring any relief. 3 . b ♘ef6
4 .♘f5 ♘e7 4 .♘x 6 ♘exd5
.q._._._ plan 52... e7 53. d3 ♘h6 54. c3
♘f7 55. b3 ♘h6 56. a4 ♘xg4
42.cxd5 x 6 43. f g7 _._D_S . 57.fxg4 f3. The f-pawn has become
44. xc5 ♘d7 45. d6 7 ._.j._S_ unstoppable and White already needs
46.e5 47. 6 7 4 .e6 _NjIj.jJ to start looking for perpetual check.
c2 4 . g3 - . 5 ...♘g6 52. g ♘e7 53. 7
._I_IjI_ My domination is impressive, but a key
A beautiful game by Spassky, but it so _.b._I_I element is the missing black bishop,
happened that, decades later, he found ._._. ._ which leaves his structure vulnerable,
himself on the other side of the barricade _._._._. the same as in the previous game.
in a similar situation. 53... e 54.♗c7
Black’s chances to hold seem much bet-
Judit Polgar
Boris Spassky
ter than in the previous game. He has
no passive light-squared bishop and his
._._D_._
Budapest 1993 (4th match game) knights safely defend d6 and e5, protect- _.b.sS_
ing him against the dreaded positional ._.j. ._
s._. ._ sacrifice. But on the other hand, White _NjIj.j.
_._D_._.
has more queenside space, allowing me
to penetrate with all my pieces, includ-
._I_IjI_
l.j._Sj ing the king _._._I_.
nNjIj.j. 4 ... xg4 ._._. ._
._I_IjI_ Spassky perfectly understood that 48... _._._._.
h4 would spare me the trouble con-
_.b._I_. nected with ...♘h4 and ...♘h6xg4, 54... a
_ _. .i allowing the plan based on 4 . e2 Spassky must have had enough of play-
._._._. f6 5 .♗a5 ♘e7 5 . d3 ♘c8 52. c3, ing ‘against himself’ and decides to
when Black could hardly resist on the launch a desperate counterattack.
I had reached the first control with queenside. But the pawn exchange helps Passive defending would most likely
clear domination and now found a me to clear the h3-square, which will not have saved him either 54... d7
forced way to penetrate with the queen: eliminate the risk of a perpetual based 55. g2 ♘c8 56. g the king is head-
4 .♘c6 xa2 42. xa2 xa2 on ... a4 in the decisive phase. ing for d3, starting with a small triangle

A 51
 Judit Polgar

aimed at catching Black on the wrong Judit Polgar 44.c5! Everything is prepared now for
foot. 56.♕g8 ♘e7 57.♕f8, hoping Vishy Anand the main plan.
for 57...♘c8? 58.♗a5, followed by the Wijk aan Zee 1998 44...dxc5 45.♕xc5 ♗d8
decisive 59.♘c7, runs into 57...♘g6 Due to the a5- and b4-pawns the bishop
58.♕b8 ♔e7, and Black is still alive)
56...♘e7 57.♔f2 ♘c8 58.♔e2 ♘e7
._.l._._ can still be regarded as ‘bad’ while the
king feels insecure after the recent pawn
59.♔d3 ♘c8 60.♕f5+! ♕xf5 61.exf5 _._._JmJ exchanges. In the next phase, I will
(the king’s presence in the centre is ._TjD_J_ increase my pressure until I play the last
essential to neutralize the break ...e5- j._Nj._. paradoxical (and decisive) pawn move,
e4) 61...♔e7 62.♗a5 ♔f6 63.♘c3
♔e7 64.♘e4 ♔e8 65.f6 ♔d7 66.♘f2,
.jI_I_.i f3-f4. Both players were guilty of small
moments of hesitation, but this doesn’t
and the king marches in with decisive _I_R_.i. change the character of the position or
effect. .i._.iK_ the validity of the plan.
55.♘xd6 ♘xd6 56.♗xd6 ♕a2+ _._Q_._. 46.♖c1 ♔f7 47.♕e3 ♔g7 48.♖c4!
57.♔g1 ♕a1+ 58.♔h2 ♘g6 ♖d7 49.♕c1 Setting up the optimal
59.♗c7 ♕a8 During the game The main difference with other Sicil- battery with the queen behind the rook.
I noticed that 59...♘e7 would set ian bad-bishop positions is that the 49...h5 50.♖c6 ♖d6 51.♖c8 ♕d7
an amusing trap: 60.♗d8? ♕h1+! queenside is frozen. This deprives 52.♕c5 ♔h6 53.♖b8 ♗f6 54.♕e3+
61.♔xh1, with a draw by stalemate. White of the plan based on b4-b5,
Unfortunately for Black, 60.♗xe5+,
followed by 61.♕h8+, wins the queen.
but it also means that Black has more
pawns on dark squares than usual.
.r._._._
The logical conclusion based on these _._D_._.
D_._._._ aspects is that White could and should ._.t.lJm
_.b._._Q
break in the centre with c4-c5 and/or j._Nj._J
._._.mS_
f2-f4, as if absolving Black from the
bad-bishop issue. We will see later
.j._I_._
_.jIj.j. why this is effective, but for the time _I_.qIi.
._I_IjI_ being the plan needs to be prepared. .i._._K_
_._._I_.
36.h5 ♗g5 _._._._.
._._._.k ._._._._ 54...♗g5? This loses quickly, but ren-
_._._._. _._._JmJ
ders the game more instructive from the
point of view of our main theme.
60.♗xe5+! ._TjD_J_ 54...♔g7 would have prolonged the fight
Humanly speaking, the simplest way. j._Nj.lI but not saved the game: 55.♖a8 ♕b5 (if
60...♘xe5 Or, if 60...♔xe5, 61.♕g7+
♔d6 62.♕xg6+ wins. 61.♕f5+ ♔g7
.jI_I_._ 55...♕c6 56.♖a7+ ♖d7 57.♕b6 wins)
56.♘c7 (threatening 57.♘e8+) 56...♖d3
62.♕xe5+ ♔g6 63.♕f5+ ♔h6 _I_R_.i. 57.♕e2 ♕d7 58.♘d5, winning the
64.♕f6+ ♔h7 65.♕f7+ In view of .i._.iK_ a5-pawn.
65...♔h8 66.♕h5+ ♔g7 67.♕xg5+ _._Q_._. 55.f4! Bad pawns... defend the king, so
Boris resigned. this exchange is not as paradoxical as it
37.♕f3! looks. 55...exf4 56.♖h8+ And in view
What both examined games have in The start of a long regrouping aimed of 56...♔g7 57.♕d4+ ♗f6 58.♕xf6+
common is the relative badness of the at creating threats along the h-file. ♖xf6 59.♖h7+! ♔xh7 60.♘xf6+ ♔g7
‘bad’ bishop. Instead of freeing Black’s This is essential in order to provoke 61.♘xd7 Anand resigned.
position, its exchange for a knight only ...fxg6.
offered White additional tactical ideas. 37...♖c8 38.♖d1 ♖c6 39.♕e2 Conclusions:
In the next game, the bad bishop will ♖c8 40.♖h1 ♔g8 41.f3 ♖b8 ■ Piece activity is essential even in
be there all the way, but my winning 42.♕f2 ♖b7 43.hxg6! fxg6 blocked positions.
plan will be original in a different way. Black needs to make this structural ■ Bad bishops sometimes defend good
The best evaluation of the position concession and expose his king after pawns, so their exchange may leave the
below that I can give is that I would be the inevitable opening of the centre. pawn chain vulnerable.
disappointed not to win such a fantastic If 43...hxg6 then 44.♕g1, followed by ■ In positions with complete domina-
position. ♕h2, with a decisive attack. ■
tion patience is essential.

52 A
 TACTICS

MAXIMize
your Tactics
with Maxim Notkin

Find the best move in the positions below

Solutions on page 71

._.t.l _ ._._.t._ ._._T_ _

._._Jj. _._._. . _ _. .iJ
._._._J_ ._I_._.m J_.jT_._
_._._._. j.j._._J _Jj._._.
._Qb._S_ ._I_I_.i ._._._._
_I_S_Di. _I_.lJ_. _I_. .qI
I_._.i.i I_._._R_ Ib._.rI
_._.rRk. _._._._K _._.r.k.
1. Black to play 2. White to play 3. White to play

T_._S_ _ ._._T_ _ ._._._ _

_._Rj.lJ _. ._._J _._._.jJ
._._._J_ ._._.tJ_ ._J_R_T
j.j.i._. j._J_._. j.iJi._
I_._._._ ._. S_._ ._.i.t._
._.bI_. _.i._Q_. _.i._._Q
.tI_._I_ .i._R_Ii I_._.r i
k._._._R _._._Rk. _._._.k.
4. Black to play 5. White to play 6. Black to play

._T_.t _ ._.t._.t ._._._Tm

_._._JjJ jJ_. .mD j. ._.tJ
J_._S_._ ._._.j._ ._._J ._
_J_._._. _._._R_J _.j.j._.
._Db.q _ ._Ij._Sq ._I_ jS_
_.i._._. _._._.i. i.q._Ni.
I_ _.iIi Ii._._._ ._._.i.i
r._.r.k. _._.r.k. _._.rRk.
7. White to play 8. White to play 9. Black to play

A 53
 LOUIS PAULSEN

Louis
Paulsen
The forgotten chess innovator

During his lifetime, Louis Paulsen

(1833-1891) was regularly described as
an unworldly eccentric. A silent man, tall,
with a remarkably big head that drew the
S
ome people become
immortal by playing
attention of both phrenologists and hat brilliant games, others
find themselves on the
makers. In the early 1860s, he was one of other side of the medal. Lionel Kiese-
ritzky, Curt von Bardeleben and
the strongest, if not the strongest active chess Johann Hermann Bauer, if remem-
bered at all, are mainly remembered
player in the world. Nowadays, few people as the losers of classic games against
Adolf Anderssen, Wilhelm Steinitz
remember him, and if they do, it is mostly and Emanuel Lasker. In a way, Louis
Paulsen fits in with their company.
for the Paulsen Variation of the Sicilian. Ask someone if they know a game
HANS RENETTE believes it is high time for a played by Paulsen and if they do,
there is a fair chance that they will
reappraisal and looks at the legacy of one refer to the game Paulsen-Morphy,
played in the final of the first
of the chief pioneers of the modern school, American Championship in New
York in 1857.
whose ideas changed our game. For those who do not know the
game:

54 A
 LOUIS PAULSEN

LIBRARY OF CLEVELAND

With his opening ideas Louis Paulsen was ahead of his

time. Many contemporaries found his manoeuvres tedious
and were not thrilled by his often excruciatingly slow play.

A 55
 LOUIS PAULSEN

Louis Paulsen 1857. In the final, he was decisively master (perhaps not even Morphy)
Paul Morphy beaten by Paul Morphy, 6-2, but could have beaten him in a match.’
New York 1857 Paulsen had shown his talent and Frederick Edge, secretary of Paul
Four Knights Opening above all impressed the world by his Morphy, observed: ‘Mr. Paulsen’s
1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♘c3 ♘f6 blindfold exhibitions. Remarkably, it game is steady and analytical to a
4.♗b5 ♗c5 5.0-0 0-0 6.♘xe5 was only after New York that he began nicety. Modelling his operations on
♖e8 7.♘xc6 dxc6 8.♗c4 b5 to study opening theory, of which he profound acquaintance with Philidor,
9.♗e2 ♘xe4 10.♘xe4 ♖xe4 had been fully unaware while playing he makes as much out of his pawns as
11.♗f3 ♖e6 12.c3 ♕d3! 13.b4 Morphy. most others of their pieces. In reply
♗b6 14.a4 bxa4 15.♕xa4 ♗d7 After returning to Europe he to Mons. de Rivière, I once heard
16.♖a2 ♖ae8 17.♕a6 continued to do so, now together Morphy say, “Mr. Paulsen never
with his other brother Wilfried, makes an oversight; I sometimes do.”’
._._T_M_ a minor master himself, as his
sparring partner. In Europe Louis The picture of thought and
j.jL_JjJ scored impressive results, and in the amiability
QlJ_T_._ early 1860s he might be termed the Despite his achievements in chess,
_._._._. strongest active player in the world, Paulsen lived a quiet and uneventful
.i._._._ together with – or perhaps even ahead
of – Adolf Anderssen. As the chess
life at Nassengrund, working as an
accountant for the family estate. His
_.iD_B_. journalist Leopold Hoffer wrote: ‘At brother Wilfried was a renowned
R_.i.iIi that time Paulsen was at the zenith of potato farmer, while the corn liquor
_.b._Rk. his strength, and we have no hesita- they produced, ‘Alter Nassen-
tion in asserting that no then living grunder’, also reached wide fame.
17...♕xf3 18.gxf3 ♖g6+ 19.♔h1
♗h3 20.♖d1 ♗g2+ 21.♔g1
♗xf3+ 22.♔f1 ♗g2+ 23.♔g1
♗h3+ 24.♔h1 ♗xf2 25.♕f1
♗xf1 26.♖xf1 ♖e2 27.♖a1 ♖h6
28.d4 ♗e3 0-1.

Kieseritzky, von Bardeleben and

Bauer were strong chess masters and
were amongst the best players of their
time. The same is true for Paulsen –
but he was a much more multi-faceted
chess personality.

Studying openings
Louis Paulsen was born in 1833 at
his family’s estate of Nassengrund,
near Blomberg, in Germany. At an
early age his father taught him how
to play chess, and he showed a signif-
icant talent for the game. In 1854,
Louis followed his brother Ernst to
LIBRARY OF CLEVELAND

the United States, where they settled

in the Far West, in Dubuque, Iowa.
In this rapidly growing trading settle-
ment, Ernst founded a wholesale
tobacco business for which Louis New York, 1857. Louis Paulsen and Paul Morphy at the board surrounded by
did the book-keeping. His fame as a participants and organizers of the First American Chess Congress. Standing in
chess player spread rapidly and he was the middle (without beard) is a young Willard Fiske, who wrote the tournament
invited to play in the first American book and edited The Chess Monthly from 1857 to 1861 with Morphy.
chess congress held in New York in

56 A
 LOUIS PAULSEN

While Louis was active in the chess ran out before the completion of the
world, his remarkable achievements required number of moves, and the
caused eye-witnesses to scrutinize game was scored against him...
his character and personality. One of
the finest portraits o Paulsen comes
‘Louis Paulsen loo ed, and believe
was, a very fine ellow. all and with
Louis Paulsen
from the hand of George Alcock
MacDonnell, whose literary talent
a massive head, he was the picture
of thought and amiability. He was
a short timeline
resulted in two books filled with very gentle in all his actions, and, 1833, January 15: Born in Blomberg,
anecdotes about his contemporaries. though he seldom opened his lips, Lippe, Germany.
In 1862, at the London tournament, yet he was never wanting in kindli- 1854: Moves to Dubuque, Iowa.
Paulsen and Mac onnell played a ness or courtesy. In short, no foreign 1857: Runner-up, behind Paul Morphy,
game. In his book Knights and Kings chess player was ever in this country at the first American Chess Congress in
of Chess, published in 1894, MacDon- more respected for his character or New York.
nell gives the following description of admired for his skill.’ 1859: Sets new blindfold record, taking
the German master: it to ten boards.
‘Herr Louis Paulsen was a very There are plenty of descriptions of 1860: Attempts to play a match with
simple-minded, unworldly-wise man, Paulsen’s physi ue and the way he Morphy fail. Returns to Europe, to his
always absorbed in the work upon carried himself, most of them from family’s estate in Nassengrund, near
which he was engaged, and forgetful the years that he gave his blindfold Blomberg.
of everything else. Some years ago exhibitions. All of them are similar: 1861: First place in Bristol, beats Ignaz
he visited Baden, and entered his Paulsen was a very calm and silent Kolisch in a match.
name for the tourney there. He took man, tall, with a remarkably big head 1862: Finishes second in London behind
lod in s or the first ni ht, but not that drew the attention of both phre- Adolf Anderssen; draws a match with
findin himsel com ortable in them, nologists and hat makers. him.
resolved to change his quarters. Paulsen possessed a modest and 1864: Beats Max Lange and Gustav
Accordingly he started early next reclusive character. He avoided atten- Neumann in a match.
morning on a voyage of discovery; tion and social events as much as he 1866: Narrowly survives an attack of
and, after inspecting many apart- could. ehind the board Paulsen jaundice.
ments, at last succeeded in obtaining moved slowly and avoided any 1876-1880: Retains his unbeaten status
what he thought would be a suitable movements that might disturb his in match play (a.o. beats Anderssen
lodging. He engaged it and told the opponent. He is regularly described twice). Tournament victories in Leipzig,
attendant he would send in his port- as an eccentric, as in this article of 12 Frankfurt and Brunswick.
manteau in the afternoon. “Oh!” said August 1865 in The New York Clipper: 1886: Negotiations to play a world title
the girl, “your luggage is here. It is in ‘You may be sure that when I (a match with Wilhelm Steinitz fall through.
one of the rooms on the opposite side correspondent of Hazeltine, living 1889: 4th-7th in his last tournament in
of the house. Don’t you know you in Dubuque) came here (a year Breslau.
slept here last night, and I gave you a o as ed or Paulsen, hopin he 1891, August 18: Dies in Nassengrund.
your breakfast this morning?” He might have returned from Europe.
had only wandered about the town in But they could only show me where
a circle, and was now returning to the he had been. “There was the corner
house whence he had started. where he sat and, blindfold, won business, then silently gliding away.
‘On another occasion – towards of me and three others,” said one, Mr. Paulsen was ri ht in leavin
the end of a tournament game – an “There,” said another, “was his cigar Dubuque: they didn’t appreciate his
unmistakable draw – he pored and store where he used to play before great worth and powers, and could
pored over the board until at last his giving himself to chess; and there not understand the soarin i hts o
opponent, seeing that the sand-glass the room where, poring over the his wonderful genius.’
was just running out, pointed to it, che uered field, he trained his mind
and asked him what he was thinking for future immortal conquests. There Tournament and match record
of, for that nothing could be done, few, if any, could gain admittance All in all, Paulsen too part in
the game being a draw by its nature. to him.” The profanum vulgus still tournaments of significance. Of
hin in o e claimed Paulsen remember him only as a pale young these he won five and finished second
“why, if we draw, I have the move man, lost in abstractions; wandering, in four. The highlights of his career
next game, and I was thinking what at times, from his house to say a few were in the early years, between 1857
opening I should play.” Then his glass words to the manager of his tobacco and 1864, and from 1877 till 1880,

A 57
 LOUIS PAULSEN

when some considered him the best Severe wake-up call ‘It may be fairly doubted whether
in the world again. His lesser results After his loss to Morphy in New York more than the name of Paulsen was
were often explained by Paulsen’s in 1857, Paulsen developed from a so easily defeated by the youthful
difficulty handling the time-limit of theoretical ignoramus to one of the hero in the New York tournament,
20 (or even 15) moves per hour that great theoretical innovators of our for the play of the former only devel-
became usual after 1862. He was an game. Paulsen’s influence on opening oped subsequently, and his whole
extremely slow player, and many theory has been immense and must career would well indicate that he
excellently set up games were marred not be underestimated. With both might have made a better score when
by mistakes in his time-trouble. black and white, he came up with he was at his real best, though no
Paulsen has always been held in novelties in topical lines, coher- doubt (..), Morphy would have been
higher esteem as a match player. He ently developed totally new systems his superior anyhow.’
played seven matches against strong and also refuted various romantic Paulsen understood that his lack
masters like Anderssen, Kolisch openings. of theoretical knowledge was prob-
and Neumann, of which he won five His loss to Morphy had been a lematic, and once he began to cherish
and drew two. Against Anderssen, severe wake-up call. For many people, hopes of a match with Morphy,
he drew one match and won two. the first impression was that he he pu rc ha s e d St au nton’s
As late as 1886, a possible match for was simply outclassed by the Handbook and had the most
the World Championship between American phenomenon (as all recent edition of Bilguer’s
Steinitz and Paulsen was in the offing. of his contemporaries were), Handbuch, edited by von der
Although Steinitz lauded Paulsen, he but he must have realized that Lasa, sent to him. Just like all
cannot but have thought that such while his opponent was book- his other books, these copies,
a match would render him rela- wise, he possessed no filled with observations
tively easy money, given the fact that theoretical knowledge in his handwriting, are
Paulsen had lost all his tournament worth mentioning and still in the possession of
games against him, with the excep- had to work everything ‘Morphy had the Paulsen family.
tion of the first one they played. out by himself at the Sadly, his hope for
In his early career, Paulsen was board. grown weary of a match with Morphy
best known as a blindfold expert. He In his Morphy biog- c a m e t o n a u g ht .
began experimenting on a modest raphy, The Pride and chess and was Morphy had grown
scale in Dubuque against two weak
opponents. During the American
Sorrow of Chess, David
Lawson writes uncon-
also reluctant weary of chess and
was also reluctant to
Chess Congress, he gradually set
himself bigger challenges, with
vincingly that ‘Paulsen
had certainly been more
to deal with the deal with the excru-
ciating  slowness that
exhibitions against two, three, four active t ha n Mor phy excruciating Paulsen had demon-
and then five opponents. With the prior to the Congress. strated in the New York
latter exhibition he improved on While Morphy was yet a slowness that tournament. He only
the previous record held by Kieser-
itzky. In 1858, Paulsen took on seven,
college student, playing
but a few games of chess Paulsen had offered a few offhand
games in which he
eight and ultimately 10 opponents.
He even began an exhibition on 15
here and there, Paulsen
had been active in the
demonstrated would give Paulsen the
odds of pawn and move
boards, but this attempt had to be
aborted due to the lack of interest of
western United States
for some time, playing
in the New York – while Paulsen clearly
had something more
his opponents. nu merou s bl i nd fold tournament.’ honourable in mind.
Paulsen was known for his exag- and casual games with Some of his contempo-
gerated modesty, but he was always many strong players.’ In raries had their doubts
calmly confident about his abili- actual fact, Paulsen played only little about Morphy’s unwilling attitude:
ties in this form of chess. It seemed in Dubuque and against very weak ‘(I)t strikes us (...) that a graceful
to cost him hardly any extra effort, opposition. acceptance of Mr. Paulsen’s chal-
and he played more than one model More correct appears Steinitz’s lenge would have been more conso-
game without seeing the board. After estimate that ‘Morphy found his nant with that character for knightly
having suffered from a severe illness principal adversaries unprepared and courtesy and liberal feeling, which
in 1865-1866, his performances grad- rusty, and in consequence his victo- Mr. Morphy has previously so admi-
ually became rarer, but the reputation ries were more decisive than they rably earned.’ [Morning Courier and
he had earned never went away. probably would have been otherwise. New York Inquirer, 20 October 1860]

58 A
 LOUIS PAULSEN

Opening innovator
The new ideas he had started to work
on, Paulsen unleashed in Europe,
was his set-up against the Evans
ambit, which he first played in the
decisive game in the first round of the ECF Book of S
quas
a
e

after his return from the New World.

Soon he gained a reputation as a theo-
Bristol tournament against Kolisch.
After 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗c4
the Year quat
sequ
retician. With white, Paulsen showed ♗c5 4.b4 ♗xb4 5.c3 ♗a5 6.d4 resto
himself to be a loyal 1.e4 player. In exd4 7.0-0 d6 8.cxd4 ♗b6 9.d5 volu
his match against Kolisch, he quickly ex es
built up a 6-1 lead, mainly relying on
his opening novelties. One of Pauls-
T_LdM_St reren
alit u
en’s principal contributions was in jJj._JjJ iend
the Advance Variation of the French, .lSj._._ mus
which he resurrected for nearly a _._I_._. lis d
decade, until Tarrasch brought it
down again (temporarily).
._B_I_._ quam
aute
Paulsen designed a scheme that _._._N_. aped
intended to dominate the entire I_._.iIi aliqu
board. Against weaker opposition he rNbQ_Rk. entiu
often reached this dream scenario, as ma v
in the following game. he came up with 9...♘a5 ... ce eos e
was common. 10.♗b2 ♘e7 – where “What li�s this book is Timman’s essi
Louis Paulsen in earlier games the knight used to affec�onate, in�mate descrip�ons molo
Adolf Stern land on f6. of the personali�es of the world ssun
Frankfurt 1878 champions. The most informa�ve, aut o
French Defence, Advance Variation Of course, he is chief ly known to interes�ng and revealing book on mod
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 modern players for the Paulsen the world champions covered, both quis
♕b6 5.♘f3 ♘c6 6.♗e2 cxd4 ariation of the Sicilian. t the first as people and chess players.” qui c
7.cxd4 ♗b4+ 8.♘c3 ♘ge7 9.0-0 American Congress, he had met se nu
From the Judges’ Report of
♘f5 10.♘a4 ♕d8 11.a3 ♗e7 Morphy’s 1.e4 uniquely with 1...c5, Nam
12.b4 a6 13.♗b2 ♗d7 14.♖c1 trying to avoid openings that were the ECF Book of the Year Te
b5 15.♘c5 h5 16.♗d3 ♗xc5 more popular in those days and with imp
17.♖xc5 ♘h4 18.♘xh4 ♕xh4 which the book-wise Morphy would “A very interesing book, full of anecdotes odis
19.f4 ♔e7 20.f5 ♖ac8 21.g3 have been much more familiar. His I have never seen elsewhere (..) tae. U
♕h3 22.♖f4 early use of the Sicilian could hardly Entertaining and instruc�ve, Timman’s labo
be called a success, and apart from a Titans is also Timman’s finest.” quo
._T_._.t game against Steinitz in London 1862
(that was equally dramatic), Paulsen
Sean Marsh, CHESS Magazine (UK) nosa
ris e
_._LmJj. banned the Sicilian from his tourna- occa
J_S_J_._ ment practice for 20 years.
“An elegy for what has been lost, for
be�er and for worse, in modern chess (..)
omn
_JrJiI_J It was only in the beginning of the
This is Timmans best book to date.”
uibu
.i.i.r._ 1880s that Paulsen began to experi-
ment with several Sicilian set-ups. It John Hartmann, ChessLife Magazine (US)
tatu
sit, o
i._B_.iD has often been said that Louis stood volu
.b._._.i at the cradle of the Dragon Varia- “Even chess insiders will find in the stories dolu
_._Q_.k. tion. ndeed, he tried fianchettoing a lot of informa�on they don’t know.” dolo
his bishop for the first time against Uwe Bekemann, German ditem
And Black resigned. Steinitz in the above-mentioned Correspondence Chess Federation spien
game in London 1862, but this was nim
However, Paulsen’s most numerous no success at all. iosti
and important contributions to Its reintroduction into master 320 pages | €26.95 eicip
chess theory were designed for Black. practice occurred at Wiesbaden in quam
Working on his own as well as with 1880, where Wilfried Paulsen played available at your local (chess)bookseller qui d
Wilfried, he put several romantic it first on uly . he next day ouis or at www.newinchess.com acep
lines out of business. Revolutionary also played it – one of the few times in Pu

2A A 59 ART
 LOUIS PAULSEN

his life – and two days later Winawer

followed into Louis’ footsteps against
the same opponent, Alexander
Fritz. Soon it became the trademark
opening of Henry Bird, who had also
played in Wiesbaden, and became the
first master to employ it regularly.
The next year, in Berlin, Paulsen
played the variation that would
carry his name, but is also known as
the Kan Variation (named after the
ILLUSTRIRTE ZEITUNG

Russian master Ilya Kan, 1909-1978).

At least as much credit, however, must
go to his brother Wilfried, who had
already played it in 1879 and 1880, and
continued playing this opening much The international tournament in Wiesbaden in 1880.
more intensively than his brother. Sitting at the table are Joseph Henry Blackburne and Louis Paulsen.
In Vienna 1882, Paulsen tried to In the middle (arms crossed) Wilhelm Steinitz is one of the onlookers.
exploit the then usual practice of
waiting with the push d4, when, after
1.e4 c5 2.♘c3 ♘c6 3.♘f3, he played
3...♕b6, with the idea of turning ♕c6 25.bxc5 d5! 26.cxd5? White and planning, both of which were
the game into a Closed Sicilian. This should play for a draw with 26.♘d6 virtually non-existent at that time.
early queen sortie met with general ♗xd6 27.cxd6 dxc4 28.♕d4 ♖c8 An impressive example is the game
disbelief. Minckwitz wrote: ‘We 29.dxc4 ♕xc4 30.♕xc4 ♖xc4. 26... Paulsen-Von Bardeleben, Breslau
don’t know what to say of this move’, exd5 27.♘g3 1889. Paulsen began with 1.e4 e5
and Zukertort commented: ‘A very 2.♘c3 ♗c5 3.♘f3 d6 4.♘a4 A
inferior continuation.’ Paulsen’s score
with it was pretty depressing, yet he
._._T_M_ typical Paulsen sortie – always ready
to guarantee himself the bishop pair.
usually got good positions, as in the _J_LlTjJ 4...♘d7 5.d3 ♘gf6 6.♗e2 0-0
following game, after White’s 17th J_D_._._ 7.0-0 c6 8.♘xc5 ♘xc5 Paulsen’s
move, against Mackenzie. _.iJ_._. set-up has been very modest – see also
his ninth and 11th move. 9.♘e1 d5
George Henry Mackenzie
._._.iI_ 10.exd5 ♕xd5 11.c3 ♗f5
Louis Paulsen _.bI_.n.
Vienna 1882 I_._.q.i T_._.tM_
_._.rRk. jJ_._JjJ
T_._.tM_ 27...♗xc5? Here Paulsen errs. ._J_.s._
_J_LlJjJ Instead, 27...♗xg4! ruins White’s _.sDjL_.
Jd.jJ_._ position. Black threatens 28...♕xc5 as
._._._._
_.j._._. well as 28...♗h3. The game continued
_.iI_._.
with 28.♖xe8+ ♗xe8 29.♗d4
._IsIi._ ♗f8 30.f5 ♕a4 31.♘h5 ♖c7?! Ii._BiIi
_.bInN_. An utterly careless move. 32.f6! and r.bQnRk.
Ii._.qIi Black was hooked.
r._._Rk. At first sight Black stands very well,
position after 17.♕f2 Purposefulness and planning but now Paulsen demonstrates his
Paulsen’s opening innovations were plan. 12.f4 e4 13.d4 ♘a6 14.♘c2
Paulsen’s position is solid, and he well thought out and often led to a The centre is blocked, White’s knight
now rightly expands. small (or large) middlegame advan- is on its way to juicy squares and
17...f5! 18.exf5 ♘xf5 19.♖ae1 tage, which Paulsen extended with he has a free hand on the kingside.
♖ae8 20.♘xf5 ♖xf5 21.♘d2 ♗f8 precise positional play. His games are 14...♕a5 15.♘e3 ♗d7 16.♘c4
22.g4 ♖f7 23.♘e4 ♗e7 24.b4 characterized by a purposefulness ♕d8 17.f5 etc. (1-0, 58).

60 A
 LOUIS PAULSEN

Another such game that continues to

impress and which we count among
his best, was the following one
ceived ideas, and in the beginning of
his chess career – when the “Romantic
School ourished – he stood apart, Don’t judge this S
quas
a
e

against Neumann. preferring defence to attack. He did

this when Morphy and Anderssen
book by its cover! quat
sequ
Louis Paulsen lived, when brilliant combinations and resto
Gustav Neumann fierce attack characterized the mode of volu
Berlin 1864 (3rd match game) play. The principles of modern chess ex es
Scotch Game had not yet been laid down, and to be reren
1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.d4 exd4 on the defensive meant to wait for the alit u
4.♘xd4 ♗c5 5.♗e3 ♘xd4 Not unexpected onslaught. In Paulsen’s iend
the most challenging plan. 6.♗xd4 time, a player who worked hard over mus
♗xd4 7.♕xd4 ♕f6 8.e5 ♕b6 the board to cope with the problems lis d
9.♕xb6 axb6 of the position in a game was consid- quam
Neumann has fulfilled his aim for ered the antithesis of a genius. Paulsen aute
simplification, but as Paulsen will therefore never recovered from the aped
demonstrate with iron logic, his prejudice of his contemporaries, even aliqu
problems are far from over yet. after he became successful against entiu
10.♘c3 Anderssen, with whom he drew one ma v
match and from whom he later won eos e
T_L_M_ t two short ones.’ (Louis Paulsen: Father
of Hypermodern chess?)
essi
molo
_JjJ_JjJ It may look like the publica�on of a ssun
.j._._._ That Paulsen fell into oblivion can be
politburo subcommi�ee, but this book aut o
_._.i._. partly explained by the obscurity of
is actually extremely good:
mod
._._._._ the publications in which he wrote
on the game and the fact that in u-
quis
qui c
_.n._._. ential authors like Richard Réti and a wonderful selec�on of 90 games se nu
IiI_.iIi Max Euwe neglected him. A look at of one of the most dynamic chess Nam
r._.kB_R the sources nevertheless shows that players Te
some of Paulsen’s contemporaries analysed by well-known chess imp
10...♖a5? The decisive mistake were conscious of what he was trying odis
author GM Sarhan Guliev
already. The immediate 10...f6 would to do and showed their appreciation tae. U
have corroded White’s stronghold – for his e orts and talent. with an opening essay on Topalov’s labo
the e5-pawn, while after 11.♘d5 d8 Steinitz’s appreciation of Paulsen career by GM Sergey Klimov quo
12.exf6 ♘xf6 White’s strongest piece becomes clear in his obituary. Though with a foreword by Veselin Topalov nosa
would be swapped o as well. What Steinitz had claimed to be the inventor himself ris e
follows is vintage Paulsen. 11.f4 f6 of the modern school and its princi- in a first-class English transla�on occa
12.0-0-0 fxe5 13.b4! ♖a8 14.fxe5 ples, he always granted that others had omn
in a 460 page deluxe hardcover
♘h6 15.♗c4 ♘f5 16.♘d5! d8 inspired him. Besides Carl Hamppe, uibu
17.♖hf1 g6 18.g4 ♘e7 19.♘xe7 whom he became well acquainted to edi�on.
tatu
xe7 20.♖f7+ e8 21.e6 dxe6 while still in Vienna, Paulsen was the sit, o
22.♖xc7 Black resigned. second player to exert his in uence “I hope that readers will enjoy this volu
upon him – and probably none other book. It only remains for me to say dolu
The antithesis of genius equalled him in this: a huge ‘thank you’ to Grandmaster dolo
In an article on Paulsen, Imre König ‘He was one of the chief pioneers Guliev for his cap�va�ng analysis.” ditem
notices that his subject was only little of the modern school which has been spien
Veselin Topalov
appreciated in his time. Differing so much decried during its advance, nim
notably from the romantics, Paulsen but has established itself victoriously iosti
was categorized by his contemporaries after a hard struggle against a sort of 467 pages | €29.95 eicip
as a boring player. König writes: ‘And sentimental opposition. So far from quam
how is it that Louis Paulsen’s name my wishing to be intolerant against available at your local (chess)bookseller qui d
remained so long in obscurity? It is the adverse critics of the modern or at www.newinchess.com acep
because we still labour under precon- principles. I freely beg to state that in Pu

2A A 61 ART
 LOUIS PAULSEN

the early part of my career I myself Dr. Osip Bernstein, Oldrich Duras
was an absolute believer in the old and last, but not least, Louis Paulsen.’
system, and I well recollect that when That ‘last, but not least’ can easily
I first met Kolisch and Anderssen, be replaced by ‘in the first place’ – at
I expressed myself in very deroga- least chronologically – because before
tory terms about Paulsen’s style of Paulsen, defence in chess was an
play. But both those masters warmly utterly neglected territory.
defended Paulsen against my general Paulsen’s most impressive work of
criticism and this set me thinking. art, in which he perfectly combined
Some of the games which I saw defence with counter-attack, occurred
Paulsen play during the London against Adolf Anderssen in the
congress of 1862 gave a still stronger Hamburg 1869 tournament. After
start to the modification of my own 17 moves, with Black (Paulsen) to
opinions, which has since developed, move, the following position had been
and I began to recognize that chess reached.

NIGEL WEBB
genius is not confined to the more
or less deep and brilliant finishing Adolf Anderssen
strokes after the original balance of Louis Paulsen was often described Louis Paulsen
power and position has been over- as tall with a remarkably big head. Hamburg 1869
thrown, but that it also requires the The other gentleman in this photo from
exercise of still more extraordinary
powers, though perhaps of a different
around 1861 is George Webb Medley. ._.lTtM_
kind, to maintain that balance or _L_D_JjJ
respectively to disturb it at the proper JsJj._._
time in one’s own favour.’ [New York 22.b5 ♘b8 23.h4 ♖f7 24.g5 fxg5 _.j.j._.
25.♗h5 ♖d7 26.hxg5 d5 27.f6
Daily Tribune, 23 August 1891]
gxf6 28.gxf6+ ♔h8 29.♗xh6
._._I_I_
A look at Paulsen’s London games ♘xf6 30.♖g6 ♖f7 _InI_NrI
yields several great positional displays. I_IbQi.k
Take, for example, the following
Ts.d._.m _._._.r.
position from his game against
MacDonnell, in which Paulsen _J_._T_. position after 17.♖ag1

launches a, now classic, type of attack, .j._.sRb Clearly Anderssen has grim plans on
but also makes sure that Black’s _I_Jj._B the kingside against Paulsen’s king
queenside pieces stay out of the game.
J_._I_._ and the doubling of his rooks, albeit
on an as yet closed file, looks impres-
Louis Paulsen _.iI_._. sive already. Yet there are no direct
George MacDonnell I_._._._ problems looming for Paulsen: he has
London 1862 _._Q_Rk. strong influence in the centre and can
rely on his beloved bishop pair. Here
31.♖fxf6 ♕xf6 32.♖xf6 ♖xf6
._.d._M_ 33.♕g4 ♖xh6 34.♕c8+ ♔g7
he came up with a brilliant move –
also the top choice of modern engines:
_J_.tJj. 35.♕xb7+ ♘d7 36.♕xa8 ♖xh5 17...♘a8!! Clearly showing that
.jSj.s.j 37.♕b7 dxe4 38.♕xd7+ ♔g6 he has detected his worst piece and
t._.jI_. 39.♕e6+ And Black resigned. designed a plan to improve its pros-
J_._I_._ Great defensive players
pects. Anderssen succeeded in creating
a dangerous attack – but Paulsen’s
_.iIbB_. In the chapter ‘Heroic defence’, defence was first class all over and he
Ii.r._Ii in his book Chess Praxis, Nimzo- prevailed in 43 moves. ■
_._Q_Rk. witsch praises a few chosen ones:
position after 18...♖e7 ‘The number of great defensive Hans Renette is the author of Louis
players is quite small. The author Paulsen: A Chess Biography, which
Paulsen here continued craftily with knows only of the following: Steinitz, will be published by McFarland later
19.g4 ♘h7 20.♖g2 f6 21.b4 ♖a8 Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Amos Burn, this year.

62 A
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 The Blitz Whisperer
Maxim Dlugy

An opening perfectly
suited for blitz
In our time, blitz encompasses the vast majority of all chess games
being played on this planet, thanks to the numerous platforms that have
created a wonderful way for chess players to interact across continents
and generations. Starting with this issue, our new columnist MAXIM
DLUGY will guide you through the fascinating world of blitz, giving
expert tips and showing great games.

I
love blitz. Ever since my Tal Memorial Blitz tournament in the nature of the position when it was
father’s friend brought a Moscow, I noted that the outright necessary. Most likely reason: lack of
chess clock to one of our winner, Sergey Karjakin, who scored time to figure it out.
reg u lar ga mes a nd an amazing 10/13 points, and the
explained the rules, I became fasci- runner-up, Hikaru Nakamura, with Sergey Karjakin
nated with the additional dimension 8½/13, both did an outstanding job Boris Gelfand
that time provided. It’s only thanks to with the white pieces. Sergey scored Moscow Tal Memorial 2018 (12)
blitz that I am writing this column, as 6/7 points, allowing two draws, while Larsen Opening
it enabled me to continue playing Hikaru scored 5/6, also allowing only
chess in the years when I had limited two draws. While both of them tried 1.b3 e5 2.♗b2 ♘c6 3.e3 d6 4.c4
time for it due to my other profession. different openings with White, they g6 5.♘f3 ♗g7 6.♗e2 ♘f6 7.d4
In this inaugural article, I will scored 6/6 playing the Larsen (1.b3) 0-0 8.0-0 ♗f5
focus on specialization in blitz. Opening! (in one game, Hikaru
When choosing an opening for
blitz, it’s important that you know
actually played b3 on move 2, after
starting with 1.♘f3). Hikaru won all
T_.d.tM_
the basic development patterns that four games with the Larsen Opening, jJj._JlJ
you will choose, depending on your while Sergey won both games that ._Sj.sJ_
opponent’s replies, and that your he played. I decided to analyse what _._.jL_.
opening will create certain positional
or tactical problems that your oppo-
makes this opening so good for blitz
and wondered why these players don’t
._Ii._._
nents will have to spend time solving. play it more often in tournaments? _I_.iN_.
Don’t forget that in blitz a minute is Let’s take a look at some of the key Ib._BiIi
worth much more than in a tourna- ideas. In the following game against rN_Q_Rk.
ment game, so even if your opening Boris Gelfand, you can see Sergey
simply forces your opponent to think, gradually improving his position, The trick Black is relying on is that
without getting you an objective taking more and more space until if White ever captures on e5, Black
advantage – it’s worth playing! Boris simply loses his knight. Black’s will play ...♘g4, pinning the pawn
When analysing the results of the mistake was that he did not change along the long diagonal. The position

64 A
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER

is e ual, ut let s see how it goes all

wrong for la k.
. 3 6 la k has de eloped his
pie es, and it was time to start
fighting for entral s uares with ...
e d4 1 .♘ d4 ♘e4. n this ase la k
would e a solutely fine after 11.♘
1 . g g 13. d4 f
14. f3 d4 1 .e d4 fe , although
the endgame would remain compli-
ated, with han es for oth sides.
10. 3

T_.d.tM_
jJj._Jl.
._Sj.sJj
_._.jL_.
MARIA EMELIANOVA

._Ii._._
iI_.iN_I
.b._BiI_
rN_Q_Rk. This year’s Tal Memorial was a Rapid & Blitz event. In the
Blitz, Sergey Karjakin won, scoring an amazing 10/13 points.
10... e8 With the Larsen Opening the Russian scored a perfect 2/2.
Gelfand wouldn’t mind a typical
ing s ndian stru ture after d , ut
will need to come up with tactical
antidotes to White’s space advan- 12...♘e4 Three. 18... g5 1 . 2 Four.
tage, whi h takes time in lesser This exchange simply helps White 1 ... 5 20. d2 Five. 20...♗e4
known positions than his well clarify his advantage. It was crucial 21.f3 Six. 21...♗f5 22.e4 Seven.
researched King’s Indian main lines. to start counterplay immediately 22... d2 23.♗ d2 Eight.
simpler way to play was 1 ...e d4 with 1 ...g 13.♘d e4, taking mu h 23...♗d7 24.c5 Nine. 24...d c5
11.♘ d4 ♘ d4 1 . d4 ♘e4 13. f3 needed spa e, when the position 25.b5
d4 14. d4 e . hese massi e would be roughly balanced.
exchanges would save time for later 13.♘ e4 ♗ e4 14.♘d2 ♗f5
and allow la k to e pe t a pea eful 15.b4 T_._T_M_
outcome. _JjL_Jl.
11.d5 ♘b8 12.♘c3
Ts.dT_M_ S_._._J_
jJj._Jl. _IjIj._J
Ts.dT_M_ ._.j._Jj ._._I_._
jJj._Jl. _._IjL_. _N_._I_I
._.j.sJj .iI_._._ ._.bB_Ik
_._IjL_. i._.i._I r._._R_.
._I_._._ .b. BiI_
iI .iN_I r._Q_Rk. nd ten ame o er. la k loses a
.b._BiI_ piece and resigned. Amazing how
r._Q_Rk. ow, with simple mo es, White the position simply played itself!
creates a huge advantage. Watch Now imagine you are playing a blitz
ow, unless la k starts something Sergey’s baby steps! game and the position plays itself
fast, White will e signifi antly 15... 5 16.♗c3 One. 16...♘ 6 – wouldn’t that just be a great thing
better. 17.♘b3 Two. 17... b4 18. b4 to happen? The Larsen Opening

A 65
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER

allows you to develop both bishops 10.a3 c6 11.♕b1 A smart idea, but 48 seconds? A bit
and knights quickly, saving you time too much for a blitz game. This will
on thinking in the opening. Your
opponent, on the other hand, may
Ts.d.tM_ become costly later.
13.cxd5 exd5 14.e4 b5
start thinking about finding the best _J_.lJjL Grischuk has decided to play aggres-
moves to try and punish you for not ._J_Js.j sively to compensate for his time lag.
playing the conventional 1.d4 or 1.e4. j._J_._. It’s generally a good idea to steer the
In the next game, Alexander
Grischuk, as Black, chose the Clas-
._I_._._ game towards forcing play when you
are short of time, as it will enable you
sical London System Defence to iI_I_Ni. to make decisions quickly and lead to
Sergey’s Réti set-up (b3 combined .b.nIiBi positions that are generally easier to
with g3), but faltered in the middle- rQ_._Rk. play.
game when he started getting low on 15.♖e1 ♕b6 16.a4
time. This allowed Sergey to keep up This move was new to Grischuk,
the pressure well into the endgame,
which eventually earned him a win.
who had already won twice against
♕c2 in this position versus Caruana
T_._.tM_
and Rapport by playing ...♘a6 in _._.lJjL
Sergey Karjakin response. The slightly different queen Sd._.s.j
Alexander Grischuk placement got Grischuk thinking jJjJ_._.
Moscow Tal Memorial 2018 (1)
Larsen Opening
for 39 seconds to decide on the best
square for his knight. The classic
I_._I_._
counterplay with ...♘bd7, ...♗d6, _IbI_Ni.
1.b3 d5 2.♗b2 ♗f5 3.♘f3 e6 ...♖e8 and ...e5-e4 seems fine here, ._.n.iBi
4.g3 h6 5.♗g2 ♘f6 6.0-0 ♗e7 but Alexander chose another set-up. rQ_.r.k.
7.c4 0-0 8.d3 ♗h7 9.♘bd2 a5 11...♘a6 12.♗c3 c5

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66 A
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER

opponent, so you can choose when

to take time to create a significant
advantage.
20.♘e5 dxe4 21.dxe4 ♘d4
Black has to try to at least get the
bishop for the knight, as he is about
to lose the a-pawn anyway.
22.♗xd4 cxd4 23.♘ec4 ♖b8
24.♕xd4

.t.l.tM_
_._._JjL
._._.s.j
j _._._.
BEREND VONK

R_N I_._
_I_._.i.
._.n.iBi
_._.r.k.
Sergey invested 55 seconds in this pile up on it, while also controlling hite has a clear advantage, with an
move, which fights for the c4-square, action on the 4th rank. An excellent extra pawn and a time advantage on
as otherwise Black’s space advantage multi-purpose move, leaving him in the clock. Against most players this
could become significant. control. would be enough for ar akin to win
16...♘c7 A strange decision that 18...♘e6 19.♕a1 ♗d8 easily, but Grischuk fought like a tiger
took Black over 3 seconds. It would before finally succumbing to Sergey’s
have been much faster and stronger
to simply play the intuitive 16...♘b4,
T_.l.tM_ speed and accuracy (1- , 67).
The moral lay plans with a slight
filling the gap provided by hite’s _._._JjL twist and you are sure to get your
previous move. Black’s retreat gives ._._Ss.j opponent thinking. 11.♕b1 was in
hite a significant advantage. j jJ_._. essence the nuance that got Black off
17.axb5 ♕xb5
R_._I_._ balance.

_IbI_Ni. Nakamura’s blitz philosophy

T_._.tM_ ._.n.iBi hen ikaru akamura plays blitz,
_.s.lJjL ._.r.k. it’s almost always mostly about speed.
._._.s.j is blitz philosophy is quite simple
j jJ_._. This move took a record 58 seconds and very practical lay ultra-fast
._._I_._ and put Black in a very bad time situ-
ation. It’s interesting that for his reply
at the start of the game to put your
opponent in an inferior time situa-
_IbI_Ni. Sergey, who was ahead by almost tion. Continue the game at a rhythm
._.n.iBi two minutes, took 57 seconds, to that will not allow him to catch up on
rQ_.r.k. make sure that he would remain time. Create tactical and positional
in a dominant position. The key in threats that force him to think, and
Grischuk thought for a further blitz is to have more time than your when he is very short on time, hit
18 seconds and decided that after
...♘xb5, which was the point of his
previous move, hite simply moves he e b ha e e
the bishop to b2, and the weaknesses
on b3 and d3 will no longer be pres-
e ha e ca
sured. So he takes with the queen. ch e he a e e c ea e
18.♖a4 Sergey immediately picks up
on the weak a5-pawn and prepares to a g ca ad a age.

A 67
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER

‘Passive play in the ending is

him with a difficult tactical problem going to get you in trouble!’
to solve. Most of the time, this works
great and allows him to win seem- strength of the opening that he managed 27.h4 ♖xd1 28.♖xd1 ♖d8
ingly bad or completely bland posi- to outplay both his opponents from here.
11...♕d6 12.♗b2 ♘e4 13.♗xg7
tions. Let’s see how he takes out
former World Blitz Champion Dmitry ♔xg7 14.♕xd6 ♘xd6 15.♗e2 c5
._.tS_._
Andreikin. j._.mL_J
T_L_.t._ .j._.jJ_
Hikaru Nakamura
jJ_._JmJ _.j._I_.
Dmitry Andreikin
Moscow Tal Memorial 2018 (6) ._.s._J_ ._._I_Ii
Larsen Opening _.j._._. _In.k._.
._._._._ I_._B_._
1.b3 e5 2.♗b2 ♘c6 3.e3 g6 4.d4
_I_.i._. _._R_._.
exd4 5.♘f3
I_._BiIi 29.♖f1
T_LdMlSt rN_._Rk. Hikaru is true to himself and main-
tains the tension. I am pretty sure
jJjJ_J_J Dmitry spent 41 seconds on this move, Magnus Carlsen would have believed
._S_._J_ deciding to fix White’s b3-pawn on in his ‘first to get a passed pawn’
_._._._. a light square. Since there are many advantage here and have played
._.j._._ reasonable moves, I would suggest that
playing any of them faster would have
29.♖xd8 ♔xd8 30.g5. As Black cannot
create counterplay on the queenside,
_I_.iN_. been a better course of action. his position looks pretty sad on the
IbI_.iIi 16.♖d1 ♖d8 17.♘c3 ♗e6 18.e4 b6 kingside. Passive play in the endgame
rN_QkB_R 19.f3 ♔f8 20.♔f2 ♘b7 is going to get you in trouble!
29...gxf5 30.exf5 ♘c7 31.♗c4
5...♗g7 It’s interesting that not a
single brave person has tried to hang on
T_.t.m._ Here Black could have taken on c4 and
have aimed for that weak pawn with
to the extra pawn after 5...♗b4+ 6.c3 jS_._J_J ...♘e8-d6, but he opted for counter-
dxc3 7.♘xc3 ♘f6 8.a3 ♗xc3+ 9.♗xc3 .j._L_J_ play with ...b5 instead.
0-0 10.♗b2. It probably has something _.j._._. 31...♗e8 32.g5 b5 33.♗g8
to do with the long diagonal, although
._._I_._
the engine thinks Black is fine.
6.♘xd4 ♘f6 7.♗e2 0-0 8.0-0 ♘xd4 _In._I_. ._.tL_B_
9.♗xd4 d5 10.c4 dxc4 11.♗xc4 I_._BkIi j.s.m._J
r._R_._. ._._.j._
T_Ld.tM_ _Jj._Ii.
jJj._JlJ
Black has opted for a somewhat passive
way of playing this position. Instead
._._._.i
._._.sJ_ of breaking with ...c4 or ...f5 earlier, or _In.k._.
_._._._. gathering his forces on the d-file before I_._._._
._Bb._._ fighting for it, he chose to offer trades by _._._R_.
retreating. This gives White time to take
_I_.i._. over the space on the kingside, creating And this is vintage Hikaru! Unex-
I_._.iIi an unpleasant situation for Black. pected moves like ♗g8 create the
rN_Q_Rk. 21.♘b5 ♔e7 22.f4 ♘d6 23.♘c3 illusion that Black has blundered,
♖ac8 24.g4 f6 25.f5 ♗f7 26.♔e3 forcing your opponent to lose hope
Amazingly, this position also occurred ♘e8 Once again a retreat. Black should and miss reasonable responses, while
in Hikaru’s game against Boris be aiming for counterplay on the queen- also squandering the remains of your
Gelfand in this same tournament. side and play ...a5 to prepare ...c4 at the time. Dmitry now spent 39 seconds
I see no reason to avoid this position right time. After 26...a5 27.♘b5 ♘xb5 but missed the best reply.
for Black, and it is testament to Naka- 28.♗xb5 h5, Black would still have a 33...♗h5?
mura’s blitz abilities and not to the reasonable position. Correct was 33...♗c6, stopping ♖h1

68 A
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER

from defending the h4-pawn. Now,

after 34.♗xh7 ♖d4 35.g6 35.♖f4
is met by 35...b4, and Black is safe
35...♔f8 36.h5 ♔g7, hite would
need to extricate his bishop with
37.h6+ ♔xh6 38.♗g8 ♔g7 39.♗f7,
but after 39...♖h4 Black has enough
play to keep things balanced.
34.♗xh7 c4 35.bxc4 bxc4 36.♖c1
♖d3 37.♔f2 ♖d2 38.♔g1
♖d4 39.♖e1 ♔f8 40.♘e4 ♘d5
41.gxf6 c3 42.♗g6 c2 43.♘g5 MARIA EMELIANOVA

._._.m._
j._._._.
._._.iB_
_._S_InL Blitz ace Hikaru Namakura finished second in Moscow. The American’s
._.t._.i blitz philosophy is ‘quite simple and practical’ as Maxim Dlugy
puts it. Fortunately he also explains what he means by that!
_._._._.
I_J_._._
_._.r.k.
Hikaru Nakamura to simply play 7...♗h5, forcing
ven though Andreikin had defended Alexander Grischuk ikaru to look for a different plan.
extremely well, the eight seconds he Moscow Tal Memorial 2018 (8) 8.♘xg6 hxg6 9.e4 ♘c6 10.♕e2?!
had left stopped him from finding the Réti Opening
draw with ...♖g4+, and he went all out
with: 43...♘e3?? orgetting about 1.♘f3 ♘f6 2.b3 d5 3.♗b2 ♗f5
T_.dMl.t
the knight on g5. After 44.♘e6 4.g3 e6 5.♘h4 jJ_._Jj.
♔g8 45.f7 hite can prepare to ._S_JsJ_
ueen or rook the f-pawn, so Black
Ts.dMl.t _.jJ_._.
resigned.
jJj._JjJ ._._I_._
As you can see from this game, ._._Js._ _I_._Ii.
ikaru s unassuming opening was _._J_L_. IbIiQ_Bi
designed to lull his opponent into a
._._._.n rN_.k._R
false sense of security, while in fact he
has played these positions hundreds _I_._.i. It would have been more sensible to
of times and knows the pitfalls asso- IbIiIi.i take on d5 instead, but ikaru has an
ciated with the various set-ups. In rN_QkB_R interesting idea. 10...♘d4 11.♗xd4
this case, Andreikin s passive play cxd4 12.♕b5 ♕d7 13.♕xd7
led him to a difficult endgame, which ere a kamura demonstrates ♔xd7 14.e5 ♘g8 15.c4
took him to under 10 seconds. his another one of his typical plans. e
was when ikaru, who still had more forces a trade of his knight for the T_._.lSt
than 30 seconds left, prepared his final
assault, which proved successful.
opponent s bishop, even at the cost
of compromising his pawn struc-
jJ_M_Jj.
ture. e plans to prove that in a blit ._._J_J_
In the final game that we will look at, game, these little blemishes will go _._Ji._.
ikaru akamura shows that to win unnoticed, while he will eventually ._Ij._._
at blit , you have to forego emotion
and simply move swiftly and confi-
trade into a superior endgame with a
bishop for the knight.
_I_._Ii.
dently, no matter the position. An 5...♗e4 6.f3 ♗g6 7.♗g2 c5 I_.i._Bi
instructive lesson. Interesting, but it was uite possible rN_.k._R

A 69
 THE BLITZ WHISPERER
‘Being familiar with positions in blitz
is more important that the objective
This seems to have been White’s evaluation of the positions you get.’
idea. Even though this looks really
unpleasant for White, Hikaru doesn’t next move, but it failed to improve his 34.♔e2 ♘xd2 35.♖d1 ♘xb3+ 36.♔f3
mind. He forges ahead. position. Solution: simply play some- a4, it would still be anyone’s game,
15...dxc3 Here, 15...♖c8 was also thing fast instead, e.g. ...f6, ...♔e7, although White’s chances are to be
possible, eyeing the h2-pawn in ...♗c5, ...♔c6, or whatever... preferred.
case of cxd5. For example: 15...♖c8 21...♖c5 22.♗h3 ♘e7 23.♘d4 30.♖h7 ♔e7 31.♗d3
16.cxd5 (after 16.d3 ♗b4+ 17.♔f2 g5 ♘c6
18.a3 ♗c3 19.♖a2 ♘e7 Black is also
._._._._
much better) 16...♖c1+ 17.♔f2 ♖xh1
18.dxe6+ ♔xe6 19.♗xh1 ♖xh2+
._._._.t _J_.mJ_R
20.♗g2 ♔xe5, and Black is a healthy _J_M_Jj. ._._J_J_
pawn up. ._S_J_J_ j._Ji._.
16.♘xc3 ♘e7 Taking some more j.tJi._. .s._.i._
space with 16...g5! would have given
Black a nice positional advantage.
._.n.i.i lI_B_.i.
17.f4 ♘f5 18.♘e2 ♖c8 19.♔d1 lI_._.iB I_Ti._._
♗a3 20.♖b1 a5 21.h4 I_.i._._ _R_K_._.
_R_K_._R
._T_._.t And now Black forgets about his
It’s quite likely that Sasha had simply
missed this tactical retort. Now White
_J_M_Jj. bishop on a3, which thanks to the crashes through on the kingside.
._._J_J_ rook on c5 is now trapped. 31...♖c7 32.♗xg6 ♔f8 33.♔e2
j._JiS_. 24.♘c2 ♖xc2 ♘xa2 34.♖bh1 ♘c1+ 35.♔f3
♘xb3 36.♖h8+ ♔g7 37.♗d3
._._.i.i And this is a bit impractical. Why not
force White to play a3 first, before ♘xd2+ 38.♔g4 ♘e4 39.♗xe4
lI_._.i. sacrificing on c2? After 24...♗b4 25.a3 dxe4 40.f5
I_.iN_B_ ♖xc2 26.♔xc2 ♗xa3, Black should
_R_K_._R keep the balance.
._._._.r
25.♔xc2 ♘b4+ 26.♔d1 ♖c8
Of course, Black is still better here, 27.♗f1 ♖c2 28.h5 Of course, _Jt._Jm.
but a clear plan of action is not visible. Hikaru immediately senses that there’s ._._J_._
This is what forces good blitz players, bigger fish to fry on the kingside and j._.iI_.
when exasperated, to keep looking
for chances instead of playing fast
launches his offensive there.
28...gxh5 29.♖xh5
._._J_K_
and practical moves. Grischuk took l._._.i.
a minute and three seconds for his
._._._._ ._._._._
Moscow 2018 blitz _J_M_Jj. _._._._R
1 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2868 10
TPR
2973
._._J_._ Mate is unavoidable now, so Black
2 Hikaru Nakamura USA 2842 8½ 2884 j._Ji._R resigned.
3 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2768 7½ 2830 .s._.i._ The question begs to be asked: If
4 Vladislav Artemiev RUS 2834 7 2795 lI_._.i. Hikaru wins so many worse and
5 Alexander Grischuk RUS
6 Vladimir Kramnik RUS
2846
2784
7
7
2795
2799
I_Ti._._ unpretentious positions in blitz, why
7 Daniil Dubov RUS 2767 6½ 2783 _R_K_B_. does he play an opening that gives
8 Dmitry Andreikin RUS 2828 6½ 2778 him these positions? My answer is that
9 Vishy Anand IND 2801 6 2762 29...g6 The losing move, quite being familiar with positions in blitz
10Peter Svidler RUS 2793 6 2763 uncharacteristic of Sasha Grischuk. is more important than the objec-
11Alexander Morozevich RUS 2663 5 2714 Black should have abandoned the tive evaluation of the positions you
12Vladimir Fedoseev RUS 2688 5 2712 kingside and concentrated on the get. So to b3 or not to b3 is up to you,
13 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2714 5 2710 queenside, where he has real play. but whatever you do, try to under-
14Boris Gelfand ISR 2745 4 2646 After 29...♔c6 30.♖h7 ♖xa2 31.♖xg7 stand the plans connected with your
♘c2 32.♖ xf 7 ♘d4 33.♖h7 ♘f3 opening! ■
70 A
 Solutions
f a ge 5 3

e ac c

._.t.lM_ ._._.t._ ._._T_M_

n._._Jj. _._._.n. _ _. .iJ
._._._J_ ._I_._.m J_.jT_._
_._._._. j.j._._J _Jj._._.
._ ._S_ ._I_I_.i ._._._._
_I_S_ i. _I_.lJ_. _I_.s. I
I_._.i.i I_._._R_ I ._.rIn
_._.rR . _._._._K _._.r. .
1. Gholami-Alekseenko 2. Gordievsky-Romanov 3. Vitiugov-Gledura
Aeroflot Open 2018 Aeroflot Open 2018 Gibraltar 2018
28...♘f4 Spurning the rook, 43.♘f5+ ♖xf5 43...♔h7 loses to 35.♖xe3 ♖xe3 36.♘g4 And
threatening either 29...♘h3 or 44.♖g7+ ♔h8 45.♖d7. 44.♖g6+ Black resigned in view of 36...♖xg3
29... g2. 29.gxf4 h3 Followed The point. After 44...♔xg6 45.exf5+ 37.♘h6 mate, 36...♖e6 37.♗f6, or
by 30... xh2 mate. White resigned. the c-pawn promotes. Black resigned. 36... g5 37. xe3.

T_._S_M_ ._._T_M_ ._._._M_

_._Rj.lJ _. ._._J _._._.jJ
._._._J_ ._._.tJ_ ._J_R_T
j.j.i._. j._J_._. j.iJi._
I_._._._ ._.nS_._ ._.i.t._
n._. I_. _.i._ _. _.i._._
.tI_._I_ .i._R_Ii I_._.rBi
._._._R _._._R . _._._. .
4. Piorun-Petrosian 5. Lou Yiping-Goriatchkin 6. Kvisla-Tarjan
Aeroflot Open 2018 Gibraltar 2018 Gibraltar 2018
25...♗xe5 Here White opted for 29.♖xe4 ♖xf3 Or 29...♖ef8 28...♖xg2+ 29.♖xg2 29. xg2
26.♗d4 ♗xd4 27.♖xd4 ♖b4 and 30. xf6 ♖xf6 31.♖xf6 dxe4 ♖xf2 or 29.♔xg2 ♖xf2+ 30.♔xf2
eventually lost in the ending. Black 32.♖f8+!. 30.♖xe8+ ♔f7 31.♖f8+ f4+ and 31...♗g4 lose a piece.
had to have foreseen 26.♘c4 ♖b4+ ♔xf8 32.♘e6+ The same motif! 29...♖f1+ 30.♔xf1 ♗e2+ 31.♔g1
27.♘xe5 ♖ab8 , forcing 28.♖h4 to Black soon resigned. If 31.♔xe2 xh3, attacking both
avoid checkmate. rooks. 31... xh3 and Black won.

._T_.tM_ ._.t._.t ._._._Tm

_._._JjJ jJ_.n.m j. ._.tJ
J_._S_._ ._._.j._ ._._Js._
_J_._._. _._._R_J _.j.j._.
._ . _ ._Ij._S ._I_BjS_
_.i._._. _._._.i. i. ._Ni.
I_B_.iIi Ii._._._ ._._.i.i
r._.r. . _._.r. . _._.rR .
7. A.Muzychuk-Venkatesh 8. Prasanna-Papp 9. Morozov-Minasian
Gibraltar 2018 Gibraltar 2018 Yerevan 2018
23. e4 23. xg4 ♘xd4 24.♗xh7+ Instead of playing 32.♖e4? White 28...♘xh2 29.♔xh2 If 29.♘xh2
is not much. 23...♗f5 23...g6 could have crashed through with fxg3, winning material. 29...fxg3+
loses to 24.♗b3. 24. xf5 g6 Here 32.♖xf6 ♘xf6 33.♖f1 ♖df8 30.fxg3 30.♔g1 gxf2+ 31.♔xf2
25. f6 ♘xd4 led to a draw. White 34. g5+ ♔f7 35.♘d5 (this ♖g2+ 32.♔e3 ♘g4+ 33.♔d3 ♖d8+.
missed the stunning 25. xe6 retreat makes it all clear) 35... e4 30...♖xg3 31. xe5 Now 31... g7
fxe6 26.♗b3 c7 27.♖xe6 , 36. xf6+ ♔e8 37. xh8 ♖xh8 is met by 32.♔h1!. But Black played
winning decisive material. 38.♘f6+ and wins. 31...♖3g5 and White resigned.

71
A 71
A
 SHORT
TWITTERATI immediately after the games, to give their fresh impres-
sions to the many thousands of online viewers. When
their appearance was unexpectedly delayed by several
minutes, the show’s producer, Macauley Peterson, was

I
t is not often that I give credit to Susan Polgar, but incensed to discover they had been intercepted by Susan
I must acknowledge her indispensable role in my Polgar to conduct an interview of her own.
apostolic conversion on the subject of social media That evening, when confronted by Macauley, an osten-
back in 2013. No sooner had I arrived in the Arctic city of sibly contrite Susan Polgar claimed that the impropriety
Tromsø, to commentate on the second half of the FIDE was accidental – an unintentional gaffe. That profound
World Cup, than the unabashed self-promoter, whom insincerity was exposed when she committed precisely
I was about to replace, schmoozed up to the esteemed the same offence the following day and the day after-
editor of New In Chess, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, to wards, despite repeated complaints, until the organisers
compliment him on the wonderful magazine. It would eventually put a stop to it. The unprofessionalism and
be the most perfect publication, she gushed, were it not
for those obscene articles, unsuitable for children, from ‘Needless to say, none of this
that licentious columnist from England. And though
she might not have requested directly that I be sacked offended anyone except the
forthwith, that was undoubtedly the sentiment she followers of Polgar’s trashy
conveyed.
It was intriguing to observe Ms. Polgar’s stint as a website, who bleat in chorus
commentator. The sessions would begin with the press when encouraged to do so.’
officer – her husband Paul Truong – snapping dozens of
photos of his wife in action, to be used later, primarily on naked malevolence of the duo continued with tweets
her own website rather than for the benefit of the tourna- attacking me for mentioning, on air, that the hotel had
ment which was employing them both. While talking live no laundry service (an insult to our hosts, allegedly)
on air, Polgar could miraculously tweet simultaneously and for asking our guest Eva Repkova about her former
from her account, without even using her hands. Alas, this boyfriend Vladimir Kramnik. Needless to say, none of
source of wonderment had a mundane, rather than super- this offended anyone except the followers of Polgar’s
natural, explanation: a domineering active spouse, with a trashy website, who bleat in chorus when encouraged to
laptop, who apparently knew her mind far better than she do so.
did herself. This set me thinking: it is extremely difficult to combat
It was no secret that Polgar wished to cover the entire a swirling torrent of invective and condemnation unless
event and was greatly piqued when I took over with Dirk you have a media outlet of your own. So tightly censored
Jan. The change of personnel coincided, to the minute, is Polgar’s blog and twitter account by the indefatigable
with the decision by the press officer to ignore the studio Truong that contrary opinion, if it can be posted at all,
and instead photograph the action in the playing hall – survives no longer than an astronaut in a punctured
invariably with his wife standing in the background. spacesuit. As websites require constant maintenance, and
Indeed, Frederic Friedel from ChessBase once remarked my spouse has better things to do with her life than to laud
with mocking, mirthful admiration at Ms. Polgar’s my every action with bombastic, magniloquent oratory,
extraordinary ability to position herself perfectly, with the unctuous uxor option was not available. Twitter it had
or without the permission of others, so as to be visually to be.
recorded, for posterity, to advantage. For years I had looked in perplexity at this medium.
Such vanity, while risible, is relatively harmless. Unfor- What was the point? With such a tight limit on charac-
tunately, the same could not be said of the couple’s delib- ters one barely has space to say anything. And why should
erate attempts to sabotage our official broadcasts. Instruc- one ‘follow’ others anyway? Steadily though, the forum
tions had been issued to usher in the players to the studio, grew on me. After a few false starts, I gradually learned to

72 A
STOR IES
make the odd pithy comment and was rewarded with the questioningly at the latter term. I do, in fact, own a small
satisfaction of a growing audience, which now numbers a field full of oli e trees and ha e e en been known to har est
respectable, but by no means massive, 26k+. What I had them, but the appellation was intended more in jest than as
not previously appreciated was to what extent traditional an accurate designation. I am not so sure Hikaru is joking.
journalism has come in the modern era to depend upon The size of an individual’s following, while providing
the Twittersphere. Why should a harassed hack bother a rough approximation, does not always reliably give
with the effort of researching stories if he can simply fill an indication of his or her importance. Numbers can be
column inches with quotes instead? As media outlets tend in ated by fair or foul means. or a start they can e en be
to copy from each other, it becomes possible to surf the purchased. One might expect the Norwegian chess-god to
wave of global coverage with a single catchy tweet – as I
first disco ered after posting a photo of myself as the solo
passenger on an ir imbabwe ight.
‘As media outlets tend to copy from
It is not only the orthographically-challenged U.S. each other, it becomes possible to
President who has realised the potency of the short
message, but quite a few chess players too. For the World
surf the wave of global coverage
Champion (185k followers) it presents the opportunity to with a single catchy tweet.’
reach out to his fans but also, conveniently, to sell them
his new Magnus Trainer for Android. However, Twitter is head the ranking list, but his ‘fan-base’ – to use the term
much more than a handy commercial marketing tool: no loosely – is eclipsed by that of Natalia Pogonina (241k).
less importantly, it can also be used to deliver withering Notwithstanding the fact that the clear majority of chess
retorts to uppity colleagues. After recent goading from players are male, who generally like looking at images
Anish Giri (38.7k followers), Magnus – who is by no of attractive females (her pinned tweet is of an allegedly
means a prolific tweeter – lashed back with the stinging ‘revealing’ photo-shoot, from 2013: it isn’t really, by the
rebuke: way), this seems surprising – particularly given the bland
‘Come on, that is just weak. Win a tournament for the nature of her posts, and that she is not, and has never
first time in your life and maybe people will start taking been, world champion. One may be on the path to solving
you seriously.’ the mystery, however, after discovering that she ‘follows’
While not strictly accurate (Anish has, of course, won over 80,000 accounts herself. Obviously, no normal
several tournaments), the exaggeration pointedly drew person does this, which would lead this particular amateur
attention to the Dutchman’s paucity of elite trophies. Sherlock Holmes to suspect a computer algorithm.
Hikaru Nakamura (65.9k) chipped in: Alexandra Kosteniuk (271k), lest my memory fails me,
‘Finally, somebody gets fed up with @anishgiri and all also used to follow an absurdly implausible number of
of his ridiculous tweets!’ accounts. These have now, apparently, been culled to a
Anish responded to Magnus with a strategic retreat, but very manageable 146. But one chess player, with a huge
not before throwing a parting pebble: following who has no need for puffery or massaging of
‘Don’t know about people, but you seem to be taking statistics is Garry Kasparov (421k). For comparison, that
me seriously..!’ is 415,000 more than the inveterate publicity-seeker who
aybe but only in the sense one takes a swatted y trounced him in the 2014 FIDE Presidential Election.
seriously. Magnus’ brutal put-down has subsequently arry’s profile states hairman of the uman ights
entered chess parlance, with even the gentle Vidit oundation . isiting ellow at xford artin.
Gujrathi publicly teasing Anish with the same jibe lately. Author, speaker, 13th World Chess Champion’. The order
person’s profile gi es a good indication how he or she re eals his current priorities. ou will find plenty of tweets
would like to be perceived. Nakamura styles himself as a about Putin politics and artificial intelligence: little alas
‘professional chess player and investor/trader’. Perhaps for the poor chess fan, about our beautiful game.
it would be a tad hypocritical for a man who previously
described himself as an ‘olive farmer’ to raise an eyebrow Nigel Short

A 73
 a ea a e
Aronian’s tiebreak system

Jeroen Bosch

I
t can be useful to have a 5...♘a6 6.e3 c6 7.♘c3 Vachier-
TsLdM_.t surprise system up your Lagrave now castled, which is a posi-
jJj.jJlJ sleeve for special occa- tional error, because after 7...0-0
._._.sJ_ sions. At the Gibraltar 8.♗xa6! bxa6
_N_J_._. Masters, Levon Aronian was involved
._.i.b._ in a tiebreak with Maxime Vachier-
Lagrave. Just the right moment to pull
T_Ld.tM_
_._._N_. a rabbit out of your hat: in this case, j._.jJlJ
IiI_IiIi Aronian’s special version of the Barry J_J_.sJ_
r._Qk _R Attack. Pretty soon, the Armenian _._J_._.
had a positional edge, which he
converted seemingly effortlessly. It’s
._.i.b._
not clear, though, whether the French _.n.iN_.
top player was all that surprised, since IiI_.iIi
he had faced the same system against r._Qk._R
5.♘b5!?
the same opponent before! Let’s see
what it’s all about. Black has a bad structure, while his
1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 g6 3.♘c3 light-squared bishop (which ought to
Ah, avoiding both the Grünfeld and compensate him) is a liability as well.
the King’s Indian! If you want to play Play continued 9.h3 Avoiding ...♗g4
in this way, you have to be ready for (9.♘e5!?⩱). 9...♘d7 10.0-0 ♗b7
the classical Pirc that would arise 11.♘a4 ♖c8 Black should strive
after 3...♗g7 4.e4 d6. Not many Black for counterplay with 11...c5 12.♘xc5
players will opt for 3...c5, which leads ♘xc5 13.dxc5 ♖c8. 12.b4 Now
to a Schmidt Benoni after 4.d5. There that ...c5 has been prevented Black
is only one way to ‘punish’ White for is clearly worse. 12...a5 13.♘c5
his third move, to wit: ♘xc5 14.bxc5 ♗a6 15.♖e1
3...d5 Preventing e2-e4 and staking a a4?! 16.♕d2 ♗b5 17.e4! dxe4
claim in the centre. 18.♖xe4 ♗c4 19.♗h6 ♗xh6
4.♗f4 ♗g7 And here Aronian likes 20.♕xh6 f6 21.♘d2 ♗d5 22.♖e3
to play the crude 5.♘b5!? forcing ♖b8 23.c4 ♗f7 24.♖e4 g5
Black to move his queen’s knight to 25.♖ae1 With a superior position in
the edge of the board. Aronian-Vachier-Lagrave, Gibraltar
he e e h Let’s just see what happened in
Aronian-Vachier-Lagrave, Gibraltar
2018 (tiebreak 2.4, 1-0, 50).

a e e ha 2018, first, before I explain why there We have seen a successful example
is more to this Patzer move than of 5.♘b5, let’s briefly return to the
ee he e e. meets the eye. position after Black’s fourth move.

74 A
 S.O.S.

on ...♘a6-b8. bviously, 6...c6 7.♘c3 And now

TsLdM_.t 0-0 8.h3 and 6...0-0 7.h3 c6 8.♘c3 10...c5 (Kjartansson-Petursson,
jJj.jJlJ simply lead us to the same position, but eykjavik 2017), and here 11.dxc5
._._.sJ_ there are some alternatives along each ♗xc2 12. d2 ♗f5 13.♖ad1 yields
_._J_._. way.
7.h3 This is how Aronian plays this
White a slight but pleasant edge.
Black can also take a pawn on move
._.i.b._ position. thers have also tried 7.♗e2 10, but 10...♘xc2 11.♖c1 ♘b4 12.g4
_.n._N_. and 7.c4. ♗c8 (12...♗e4 13.♘e5!) 13.a3 ♘a6
IiI_IiIi 14.♗xa6 bxa6 15.♘e5 favours White.
r._Qk _R T_Ld.tM_ Possible is 10...♗xc2 11. d2 ♗f5
12.a3 ♘a6 13.♗xa6 bxa6 14. e2,
Most popular now is the so-called jJj.jJlJ when White has enough for the pawn,
Barry Attack with 5.e3 0-0 (5...c6 _._.sJ_ but objectively not much more. But
6.h3 0-0 will transpose to Varia- _N_J_._. his play is still simpler than Black’s
tion II below) 6.♗e2. White’s play is
not as innocuous as it looks. See, for
._.i.b._ put a rook on the c-file and knights on
c5 and e5.
example, 6...b6?! 7.♘e5 c5 8.h4! ♗b7 _._.iN_I 7...♘e4 8.♗e2 c5 (8...c6 9.♘c3
9.h5 ♘c6 10.hxg6 hxg6 11.♗b5!, IiI_.iI_ a5 10.0-0 ♘xc3 11.bxc3 xc3
which has been known to be bad for r._Qk _R 12.♖b1 c5 13.♖b3 a5 14.c4, with
Black since at least Murshed- ogers, enough activity for the pawn) 9.0-0
ong Kong 1984 (and the Australian 7...c6 hasing away the annoying b6 10.a4 c4 11.b3! cxb3 12.c4 dxc4
GM soon started to successfully play knight. Practice has also seen 13.♗xc4, with an obvious advantage
this with White). The main theo- 7...♗d7 8.♗e2 c5 9.c3 a5 10.a4 c4 in edoseev- onka, Antalya 2017.
retical problem for White, though, 11.♘d2 ♗xb5?! 12.axb5 xb5 13.b3!, 8.♘c3 ♘c7
is 6...c5 7.♘e5 ♘c6, which shouldn’t with excellent positional compensation So while White has wasted two tempi
promise him a realistic chance for an for the pawn in K.Alekseenko-Belyakov, (♘c3-b5-c3), Black has made use of
opening edge. We will see that this Sochi 2017. the time gained by playing ...c6, and
is the main reason why Aronian’s 7...c5 may look active, but the black ...♘b8-a6-c7. The problem is that
5.♘b5 is so clever. knight now remains glued to the edge of the knight is not really well-placed
Now that we have become acquainted the board for a considerable time 8.c3 here, and together with ...c6 Black’s
with the ‘traditional’ way of playing b6 (8...♗f5 9.♗e2 cxd4 10.exd4 ♘e4 position gives a solid but rather
this line, let’s return to our S S 11.0-0, and White has a very favour- passive impression (for 8...♘b8, see
subject 5.♘b5. able version of a London System the 6...c6).
Black is forced to play 5...♘a6 6.e3 knight is really stuck on a6, areyev- White now has to make up his mind
ostello, Irvine 2016) 9.a4 ♘e4 10.♗d3 about where to put his kingside
T_LdM_.t ♗d7 11.♘e5 (11.0-0) 11...♗e8 12.♗xe4
dxe4 13.♘c4 d8 14.d5!, with a good
bishop.

jJj.jJlJ
_._.sJ_
game in mus-Popovic, brenovac
2004. In case of 14...♗xb5 15.axb5 ♘c7,
T_Ld.tM_
_N_J_._. White goes 16.♗xc7 xc7 17.d6 exd6 jJs.jJlJ
._.i.b._ 18. xd6, with an edge. ._J_.sJ_
_._.iN_.
Playable is 7...♗f5 8.♗e2 c6 9.♘c3 _._J_._.
IiI_.iIi
♘b4 10.0-0
._.i.b._
r._Qk _R T_.d.tM_ _.n.iN_I
jJ_.jJlJ IiI_.iI_
And now we will study both 6...0-0
._J_.sJ_ r._Qk _R
(Variation I) and 6...c6 (Variation II).
_._J_L_. 9.♗e2
Variation I .s.i.b._ arlier Aronian had played 9.♗d3,
6...0-0
In this move order I will concentrate
_.n.iN_I when 9...♘d7 10.0-0 ♖e8 11.e4 dxe4
12.♗xe4 ♘e6 13.♗e3 ♘f6 14.♗d3 b6
on ...♘a6-c7, while after the imme- IiI_ iI_ 15.♖e1 favoured White somewhat in
diate 6...c6 (Variation II) I will focus r._Q_Rk. Aronian-Svidler, Berlin blit 2015.

A 75
 S.O.S.

Likewise, 9...♘e6 10.♗e5 c5 11.0-0 all that big – in fact, it was often negli- pin: 17.h3 ♘b8 18.g4 ♗d7 19.♘xe4
b6 12.♘b1!? ♗b7 13.c3 ♕d7 14.a4 a6 gible – but the knight was always ♗c6) 17...♘b8 (17...h5 18.h3 h4 19.g4
15.♗h2 ♘e4 16.♘bd2 ♘6g5 17.♘xg5 awkward on c7. Reason enough for hxg3 20.fxg3, followed by 21.g4; note
♘xg5 18.b4 c4 19.♗c2 was a touch Black to place the steed on its original 20...♗xh3? 21.g4 ) 18.g4 ♗d7
better for White in Feller-Poghosyan, square in our next line. 19.♘xe4, and Black is in serious trouble.
Heusenstamm 2015. As was 9...a5 – 7...♕b6 8.♖b1 ♗g4 9.♗e2 0-0 10.0-0
10.0-0 b5 11.♖e1 ♘e6 12.♗e5 ♗a6 Variation II ♗xf3! 11.♗xf3, Bukal-Bratovic, Zadar
13.a3 in Grischuk-Cheparinov, Berlin 6...c6 2017, and now 11...♘d7 12.e4 dxe4
blitz 2015. Immediately chasing the knight back 13.♘xe4 ♘c7 is hardly anything for
9...♗f5 to where it came from. White. Black is planning ...e5.
Black was fine after 9...b6 10.0-0 ♗b7 7.♘c3 ♘b8 8.h3
11.♗h2 c5 12.a4 a5 13.♘e5 ♘d7 Aronian’s favourite little move to
14.♘xd7 ♕xd7 15.♗g4 e6 16.♕d2
♗c6, although White also won this
TsLdM_.t preserve the dark-squared bishop, and
of course natural fare for every player of
tiebreak game in Aronian-Vachier- jJ_.jJlJ the London System.
Lagrave, Tbilisi 2017 (6.9). ._J_.sJ_ 8...0-0 9.♗e2
10.0-0 ♖c8 11.♗h2 ♘e4 12.♘xe4 _._J_._. Modest, but usually the bishop is better
♗xe4 13.c3 ♖e8 14.♕b3
._.i.b._ placed on e2. White got nothing in an
Internet blitz game Aronian-Grischuk
_.n.iN_.
._TdT_M_ IiI_.iIi
(2016) after 9.♗d3 c5 10.0-0 b6 11.♘e5
♗b7 12.♗h2 ♘c6 13.♗b5 ♖c8 14.♖e1
jJs.jJlJ r._QkB_R e6 15.♘xc6 ♗xc6 16.♗a6 ♖a8 17.a4
._J_._J_ ♕e7 18.♘b5 until Grischuk missed
_._J_._. This transposes to a regular Barry White’s threat 18...♗b7? 19.♗d6,
._.iL_._ Attack (5.e3 c6), as we have noted
above! Aronian’s clever 5.♘b5 means
winning an exchange.

_Qi.iN_I
Ii._BiIb
that Black cannot play the most active
line (with ...c7-c5). Note that we have
TsLd.tM_
r._._Rk. already seen what happens when jJ_.jJlJ
Black allows 7...0-0 8.♗xa6!. ._J_.sJ_
A symmetrical position without Some alternatives: _._J_._.
weaknesses for either side. Still,
Black’s awkward knight on c7 means
– 7...♕a5 is best met by 8.♘d2 ♘h5
9.♘b3 ♕b6 10.♗g5.
._.i.b._
that White has something to play for. – 7...♕b6 8.♖b1 ♘e4 9.♘xe4 dxe4 _.n.iN_I
14...♖b8 15.♘e5 ♗f5 16.♖fd1 10.♘d2 c5 11.d5 0-0 12.c3 ♖d8, IiI_BiI_
♗e6 17.♖ac1 ♕c8 18.c4 and now 13.♕b3! (13.♗c4 ♘c7!, r._Qk._R
White has made progress in the Jepson-Pedersen, Copenhagen 2001)
centre, and all his pieces are more 13...♕xb3 14.axb3 ♖xd5 15.♗c4 ♖d8 9...♘bd7
actively placed. ■ Black can play 9...c5, but at least he
18...♖a8 19.cxd5 ♗xd5 20.♕a3
f6 21.♘d3 e5 22.dxe5 fxe5
T_Lt._M_ now has ‘officially’ lost a tempo (...c7-c6-
c5). White has the useful tempo h2-h3
23.♘c5 b6 24.e4 24.♗g4!, jJ_.jJlJ extra. This may not mean the world, but
followed by 25.e4, would have spelled S_._._J_ at least something has been achieved on
trouble for Black. 24...♗f7 25.♘d7 _.j._._. top of taking your opponent out of his
c5 26.♕c3?! 26.b4!. 26...♖e7?
26...♘d5 or 26...♘e6. 27.♗xe5
._B_Jb._ Grünfeld or KI comfort zone. Grischuk
twice played 9...c5 in an Internet blitz
♗xa2 28.♗xg7 ♖xd7 29.♗h6 _Ii.i._. match against Aronian.
And White is completely winning, but .i.n.iIi – 10.0-0 cxd4 11.exd4 ♘c6 12.♘e5
somehow failed to convert in another _R_.k._R ♗f5 13.♘xc6 bxc6 14.♘a4 (14.♕d2!?)
nerve-wracking game from their epic 14...♘d7 15.c3 was about equal in
2017 World Cup tiebreak, Aronian- and this endgame favours White if Aronian-Grischuk, Internet blitz 2016.
Vachier-Lagrave, Tbilisi 2017 (6.7). he finds the nice rook moves 16.♖a1! An important alternative is 12...♕b6
In all the examples we have seen, (avoiding a pin: 16.♘xe4 ♗f5!) 13.♘xc6 bxc6 (or 13...♕xc6 14.♗b5
White’s edge from the opening wasn’t 16...♗f5 17.♖g1! (avoiding a second ♕b6 15.a4) 14.♘a4, which is actually a

76 A
 S.O.S.

well-known position from the regular is 13...bxc3) 14.cxb4 axb4 (Puuska-

Barry Attack. In Aronian’s version, ._Td.tM_ Pavlidou, Reyk avik 2015), White
White has an additional tempo: h2-h3. _J_SjJlJ should have played 15.♕b3!, when
This is a modest achievement, but
sometimes it’s the little things that
J_._LsJ_ Black should sacrifice a pawn with
15...c5 16.dxc5 ♘xc5 17.♕xb4 ♘fd7.
count! A model game from White’s _.jJn._. Another option is 11.♘b1!?, to opt
point of view in the regular Barry is ._.i.bI_ for a London set-up with c2-c3 and
Hebden-Nunn, Hastings 1996/97. _.n.iI_I ♘b1-d2. Again White’s claim would
– 10.dxc5 ♘bd7 11.0-0 ♘xc5 12.♗e5
was the other Aronian-Grischuk
IiI B_._ be that ...b5 weakens the queenside
somewhat.
Internet blitz game from 2016. Again _.kR_._R 11...a5 12.♗d3 ♘b6
it isn’t much, but to emphasize once 15.h4 h5 16.♘xd7 ♕xd7 17.gxh5
more: in the regular move order they
all play h2-h3 at some stage, and that
(perhaps the immediate 17.♗e5 is even
more accurate) 17...♘xh5 18.♗e5, and
T_Ld.tM_
means that White has a useful addi- Black’s position is more difficult to _._.jJlJ
tional tempo! play; Carlsen-Salem, Doha blitz 2016. .sJ_.sJ_
■ 9...♕b6 10.♖b1, and here you might 10.0-0 b5 jJ_J_._.
well like to study two Hebden e orts: Gaining space on the queenside makes
sense. At least Black is taking advantage
._.i.b._
i.nBiN_I
TsL_.tM_ of the fact that he has had to play ...c6.
– Not 10...a6?! 11.a4 c5 12.a5! , .iI_.iI_
jJ_.jJlJ Tregubov-Kozul, Doha 2016. r._Q_Rk.
.dJ_.sJ_ – 10...♖e8 11.a4 a5 12.♗h2 ♘b6
_._J_._. 13.♗d3 ♗f5 14.♗xf5 gxf5 15.♘e5 was Please note that 13.e4 can be met by
._.i.b._ a little something in Ftacnik-Heine-
mann, Hamburg 1998.
13...♘a4!, the point being 14.♘xa4
dxe4.
_.n.iN_I – 10...♘e8 has been played a couple If now 13.♘e5, then 13...♗b7 14.♖e1
IiI_BiI_ of times, but it allows 11.e4 dxe4 ♘fd7, and Black had comfortable
_R_Qk._R 12.♘xe4 . equality in Nigalidze-Kantans, Kazan
– Now that White has castled, 10...b6 2013.
– 10...c5 11.♘b5! ♘c6 Hebden-Van does not run into a fast h2-h4 type of White should therefore renew the
den Doel, Escaldes 1998, and now attack, and is therefore playable: 11.a4 threat of e3-e4 with 13.♖e1 ♖e8 Or
12.♗c7 ♕a6 13.dxc5 favours White. a5 (Malaniuk-Aronian, Batumi 1999). 13...♗b7 14.e4!? b4 15.e5. 14.♘e5
– 10...♘fd7 11.0-0 ♘a6 12.b4! ♕d8 – White was better after 10...♘e4 Interestingly, White changes tack:
13.e4 dxe4 14.♘xe4 b6 15.d5! c5 16.a3 11.♘xe4 dxe4 12.♘d2 f5 13.f3 exf3 14.e4 b4 15.axb4 axb4 16.♖xa8
with a considerable plus in Hebden- 14.♘xf3 in Stefanova-Bodnaruk, ♘xa8 17.♘a4 dxe4 18.♗xe4 ♘xe4
Guidarelli, France 1999. Riyadh blitz 2017. 19.♖xe4 . 14...♗b7 15.♕f3 b4
■ Rather slow is 9...b6, and now 16.axb4 axb4
both 10.g4 ♖e8 11.g5 ♘fd7 12.h4 e5
T_Ld.tM_
13.♘xe5 ♘xe5 14.♗xe5 ♗xe5 15.dxe5
♖xe5 16.♕d4 ♕e7 17.0-0-0 Blatny- j._SjJlJ T_.dT_M_
Lechtynsky, Brno 1990, and 10.h4 ._J_.sJ_ _L_.jJlJ
♗g4 11.♘e5 ♗xe2 12.♕xe2 ♕c8 _J_J_._. .sJ_.sJ_
13.0-0-0 ♘bd7 14.f3 e6 15.g4, Hebden-
._.i.b._ _._Jn._.
O’Connell, Bunratty 2000, are clearly in
White’s favour. _.n.iN_I .j.i.b._
■ In case of 9...♗f5, it pays o to study IiI_BiI_ _.nBiQ_I
the blitz play of the World Champion: r._Q_Rk. .iI_.iI_
10.♘e5 (10.0-0 ♘bd7 11.♕c1 ♖e8 r._.r.k.
12.♗h2 ♘e4 13.♘xe4 ♗xe4 14.♘g5 11.a3
♗f5 15.g4 e5! was sharp and unclear There is something to be said for 11.a4 Now 17.♖xa8 ♕xa8 18.♘e2 was
in Aronian-Giri, Stavanger blitz 2017) b4 12.♘a2, when White claims that equal in Grandelius-Kantans, Tallinn
10...♘bd7 11.g4 ♗e6 12.f3 c5 13.♕d2 Black has only weakened his queen- 2016. However, 17.♘a2! would have
♖c8 14.0-0-0 a6 side. After 12...a5 13.c3 ♕b6 (better favoured White. ■
A 77
 REYKJAVIK

The Spirit
of Fischer
Adhiban Baskaran wins Reykjavik Open

What was it that inspired the winner of the Reykjavik Open? The
change of the tournament’s name to Bobby Fischer Memorial
in honour of one of his heroes? The spot on the Indian national
Olympiad team that he was fighting for? Or the teasing
question by his friend Erwin l’Ami how many times he had
claimed first place in his career? It was all of this, of course, as
ADHIBAN BASKARAN describes vividly in a highly personal
(what else would you expect?) account.

I
t was the year 2015 cover! (issue 2017/2, if you want to Some years later, Russians vs Fischer
when I came across the check!) True, it is always good to have became another of my favourites. It
New In Chess cover a contingency plan in place. was fascinating to read how he battled
featuring Erwin l’Ami Nevertheless I was very excited the entire Russian contingent and
after his spectacular 8½/10 win in to play in Iceland this year, since it came out on top (inspiring stuff!).
Reykjavik (a victory with a round to was the place where one of my child- As we all know, Fischer spent his
spare!). I remember thinking to hood heroes, Bobby Fischer, became final years in Iceland and died there
myself that it would be nice to have World Champion! His book My 60 in 2008. This year, on the occasion
my picture on the cover, and I made a Memorable Games was one of the first of what would have been his 75th
mental note that winning Reykjavik books I read when I started learning birthday, the Reykjavik Open was
was one way to do it! But of course I chess (the other being Attack with renamed Fischer Memorial to honour
found another way to do it when my Mikhail Tal, but more on that in a his memory.
shared third place in the 2017 Tata later article ☺), and it was really capti- A further major motivation for
Masters resulted in another epic NIC vating and full of amazing games. me to win this event was the fact

78 A
 REYKJAVIK

What better place to draw inspiration?

Adhiban Baskaran in the quiet corner
of the Bókin bookshop in the centre
of Reykjavik where Bobby Fischer
spent many hours reading during the
final years of his life in Iceland.
ALINA L’AMI

A 79
 REYKJAVIK

that there was a major battle going Adhiban Baskaran And after 20...♔h8 comes 21.♕h5!
on for the final spot in the Indian Eivind Olav Risting ♗xe5 22.♗g6+ ♔g8 23.♗xf7+ ♔f8
Olympiad team (the other four are Reykjavik 2018 (4) 24.♗xe8, winning.
more or less decided). And my dear 21.♘c4
friends who are fighting with me for
T_LdT_M_
the spot, Sethuraman and Ganguly,
had already overtaken me in the _J_._JjJ T_L_Tm._
rating list... Hence my last hope was J_.lSs._ _J_._JjB
this event! _._Jn._. Jd.lS_._
The top names in the field included
._.i._._ _._S_._.
Richard Rapport, Pavel Eljanov, Gata
Kamsky and yours truly (I don’t i.nB_._I ._Ni._._
know how to be modest ☺). The .i._.iIb i._._._I
venue was once again the beautiful r._Q_R_K .i._.iIb
Harpa Concert Hall, which is next position after 17...♘e6 r._Q_R_K
to the sea, and at times I would stare
blankly into the sea and feel at peace. 18.♗c2!? I had been preparing a 21...♕xd4
It is good news that the contract for funny trick with my preparatory 21...♗xh2 22.♘xb6 ♘xb6 23.♔xh2
the tournament to be held at Harpa moves ♔h1 and ♗c2. is also sad for Black, as he will never
has been extended for three more be able to win the h7-bishop without
years, and I would really recommend giving up a piece of his own.
those who have never been there to 22.♗xd6+ ♘e7 23.♕xd4 ♘xd4
visit Iceland! The weather is really ‘I just hated that fact, 24.♘b6 ♗e6 24...♖a7 runs into
pleasant and this is coming from a
guy who lives in one of the hottest and I swore to myself: 25.♗c5!?, with huge material gains.
25.♘xa8 ♖xa8 26.♖ad1 ♘dc6
places in the world, Chennai.
“Fine!! I will win some 27.♗e4 Black resigned. After this
game I was pretty much unstop-
Inspiring walks
All invited players were given
more.” And that’s pable and went on to win five games
(including this one) in a row!
coupons that they could use in a how it all started...’
variety of nice restaurants. The hotel However, the biggest upset of
where everyone stayed was a five- Round 4 was provided by Johann
minute walk from the venue, which 18...♕b6 And he fell for the main Hjartarson. Yes, the same guy who
gave all the players a good excuse cheapo!! battled the Magician from Riga and
to get some nice exercise in... both 19.♘xd5! ♘xd5 19...♕xd4 won’t fell victim to the legendary 36.♖c5!!
before the games and after them! My help either: 20.♘xf6+ gxf6 21.♘xf7! (in Tal-Hjartarson, 1987, also played
schedule before the game would be ♗xh2 22.♕h5!, winning on the spot. in Reykjavik!).
to have a nice lunch with the l’Ami
family (Erwin and Alina), return to
my room to rest a bit and then go to
T_L_T_M_ T_._S_._
the venue, which meant more walks, _J_._JjJ _._L_.mJ
but I was hoping to cash in on the Jd.lS_._ .dNj._J_
advice from a former Reykjavik Open _._Sn._. _JrIj._S
winner!
I started with a very modest 2 out
._.i._._ .i._Ij._
of 3, and during one of our walks i._._._I _._B_N_I
Erwin asked, ‘So, AD, how many .iB_.iIb .q._.iI_
tournaments have you won?’ To my r._Q_R_K _._._.k.
horror I realized it was so few I could
literally count them on one hand... 20.♗xh7+! 20.♘c4 ♕xd4 is not Tal-Hjartarson
Reykjavik 1987
I just hated that fact, and I swore to so bad for Black compared to what
position after 36.♖c5
myself: ‘Fine!! I will win some more.’ happens in the game.
And that’s how it all started... This 20...♔f8 Or 20...♔xh7 21.♕h5+, But of course Hjartarson is first and
happened in Round 4. and I collect most of Black’s material. foremost remembered for his victory

80 A
 REYKJAVIK

over Viktor Kortchnoi in the 1988

Candidates. I happily interrupt my
Icelandic tale for his notes to his
tion. It goes without saying that my old
2640 rating from the inactive list went
quickly down the drain and positive
WINNER S
quas
a
e

win against Pavel Eljanov and his results against so-called ‘weaker 2017 BEST INSTRUCTIONAL quat
thoughts on his recent return to chess players’ were by no means guaranteed. BOOK – CHESS JOURNALISTS sequ
(as an amateur) after he left profes- It seems to me that the absolute playing resto
OF AMERICA (CJA)
sional chess many years ago to pursue strength has increased in tandem with volu
a legal career. the in ation in the rating system. ex es
Occasionally, though, one can play a reren
decent game like in the good old days, alit u
NOTES BY
or even win a tournament, like the iend
surprise I encountered last year when mus
Johann Hjartarson
I won the Nordic Zonal, qualifying for lis d
the World Cup in Tbilisi, where I was... quam
Pavel Eljanov the oldest player out of 128 at the tender aute
Johann Hjartarson age of 55 and got duly knocked out in aped
Reykjavik 2018 (4) the first round by avara. Hmm... aliqu
King’s Indian Defence, Bayonet Attack The fol low ing ga me f rom t he entiu
Reykjavik Open served as a pleasant ma v
The writer of these notes is a player d j vu when I managed a decent eos e
who left professional chess over 20 game against a much stronger player, essi
years ago at the top of his game for a a positive reminder to me and possibly molo
regular career in law. In fact, I had not others that in the royal game of chess The fascina�ng and o�en hilarious story of ssun
played a full-length tournament for anything can happen after all. aut o
Lakdawala’s struggle to release his inner
17 years (with one exception) when 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 6 3.♘c3 ♗ 7 4.e4 mod
hawk. He makes you think about ques�ons
I picked up the thread again three d6 5.♘f3 0 0 6.♗e2 e5 7.0 0 ♘c6 quis
you may not have thought about a lot before:
years ago. The triggering event was 8.d5 ♘e7 9.b4 a5 10.♗a3 ♖e8 qui c
the 2016 European Team Champion- • Does deliberately breaking a rule come se nu
ship in Reykjavik. As the host had the
privilege of sending two teams, the
T_LdT_M_ easy to you? Nam
Te
Icelandic Chess Federation decided _Jj.sJlJ • How good are you at ignoring a threat?
• And at refusing a draw offer? imp
that the second team would consist ._.j.sJ_ • Do you find it difficult to weaken your
odis
of yours truly and my old Olympiad j._Ij._. structure in exchange for ini�a�ve or
tae. U
teammates from the 1980s and 90s,
Helgi Olafsson, Margeir Petursson,
.iI_I_._ a�ack?
labo
quo
Jon Arnason, as well as our living b.n._N_. • Do you like games with opposing wing nosa
legend Fridrik Olafsson, who was I_._BiIi castling? ris e
one of the top players in the world r._Q_Rk. • Do you know when to trade in ini�a�ve for
material?
occa
from the late 1950s until he assumed omn
the role of FIDE president in 1978. This strange-looking move has been uibu
I played a few tournaments in prepa- the pet line of the young Argentinian Chess for Hawks teaches an important but
tatu
ration with pretty disastrous results, GM Perez Ponsa, who has employed neglected skill: how to obey the posi�on’s sit, o
but then it gradually came seeping it on several occasions, either in this requirements instead of your natural volu
back. I enjoyed playing to the extent particular position, as he did against inclina�on. dolu
that I just could not stop and have me at the 2016 Baku Olympiad, or by dolo
“A very good manual for those who feel
gone on taking part in a few tourna- inserting 10...axb4 first, which seems ditem
ments a year ever since. Needless to less exact – for more details see René they got stuck at a certain level and can’t spien
say, it is not easy to assume the new Olthof’s survey in Yearbook 124. The quite find the way to break through to the nim
role of an amateur player, and one latent idea is to close the queenside with next level.” Carsten Hansen, author of ‘The iosti
has to adopt a new frame of mind in ...c5, which leaves White with rather Chameleon Sicilian’ eicip
which it is all about the fun and any limited chances of a typical queenside quam
illusions of good results must take a o ensive, and moving the action to the 288 pages | €22.95 | available at your local
qui d
back seat. Reminiscing on a glorious centre or the kingside, which gener- (chess)bookseller or at www.newinchess.com acep
past will just be a source of frustra- ally favours Black. On the downside, it Pu

2A A 81 ART
 REYKJAVIK

11...c5 12.♗c1 (12.dxc6?! ♕xa5

13.♗b2 ♘xc6 gives Black a very
pleasant game since 14.♕xd6?? ♖d8
traps the queen) 12...♖xa5 13.a4 ♖f8
14.♗d2 ♖a6 15.♕c2 ♘e8 16.♖f b1
h6 was Hjartarson-Perez Ponsa, and
now 17.♖b5!? f5 18.a5 is perhaps
slightly better for White.
12.♗b4 ♖a8

T_LdT_M_
_Jj.sJlJ
._.j.sJ_
_._Ij._.
.bI_I_._

LENNART OOTES
_.n._N_.
I_._BiIi
Johann Hjartarson is about to play 23...♕h4! in his game against Pavel Eljanov
that ended in a sensational victory for the Icelander. ‘A positive reminder to me and
r._Q_Rk.
possibly others that in the royal game of chess anything can happen after all.’
13.a4
Again 13.c5 dxc5 14.♗xc5 c6 leads to
equality after either:
comes at the cost of two tempi, since on the next few moves, which gave me A) 15.d6 ♕a5 16.♖c1 ♕xc5 17.♘b5
the black rook is not of much use on a substantial advantage on the clock ♕b4 18.♘c7 ♖d8 19.♘xa8 ♕xd6;
e8 and will eventually need to move that lasted throughout the game. B) or 15.dxc6 ♕a5! 16.♗c4 ♕xc5
back to f8 to support the typical 11.bxa5 17.♗xf7+ ♔xf7 18.♘g5+ ♔f8 19.cxb7
...f7-f5 thrust. White’s alternative of ♖b8 (19...♗xb7 20.♘e6+) 20.♕b3
taking en passant on c6 often proves
to open the centre in Black’s favour.
T_LdT_M_ in Lalic-Perez Ponsa, Cappelle-la-
Grande 2015. It’s a perpetual after
Jan Timman once told me that if _Jj.sJlJ the forced 20...♘ed5 21.♘xd5 ♖xb7
someone surprised him with a clever ._.j.sJ_ 22.♕f3 ♗g4 23.♘xh7+ ♔f7 24.♘g5+
idea in the opening, he would be i._Ij._. ♔f8 25.♘h7+.
13...c5
ready to use it against someone else
later. This requires the ability to play
._I_I_._ Cautious souls have thrown in a third
almost any given opening, as Jan b.n._N_. tempo to support d6 with 13...♗f8,
always did with either colour, which I_._BiIi but this was not to my taste.
must be considered a great asset in r._Q_Rk. 14.♗a3
the new age of massive computer Eljanov took my word for it and
preparation. My humble opinion is 11...♖xa5?! played his move rather quickly.
that the element of surprise in the Played without thinking. I am rather However, it was a perfectly viable
opening is vastly underestimated embarrassed to divulge that I had option to grab the pawn on d6,
nowadays, even amongst the world mixed up the move order with my leaving Black with the challenging
elite – not to mention the fact that game against Perez Ponsa, which task to prove that he has sufficient
having different openings unfold saw 11...c5 at once. Mind you, this long-term compensation: 14.dxc6!?
rather than seeing yet another Berlin also happened frequently in the good ♘xc6 15.♗xd6 ♘d4 (15...♗g4!?)
Wall is much more likely to please the old days, so it did not necessarily 16.c5 ♕a5 was seen in a correspond-
crowd, if that counts for anything... have anything to do with people ence game that was drawn. To recap,
On this occasion I tried my best, even saying that the brain starts shrinking Black could have avoided this line if
though I am no expert in the KID. It around 50... The text may transpose he had used the correct move order
seems that 10...♖e8 took Eljanov by to the current game with equal tempi on move 11.
surprise, since he spent a lot of time if White plays 12.♗b2. 14...♖a6

82 A
 REYKJAVIK

b
a 26.♗x ?! Better was 26.♗c1! ♕h5
._LdT_M_ 27.♕a2, and things are still unclear.
_J_.sJlJ Now White has no way of preventing
T_.j.sJ_ a the opening of the f- le.
26... x 2 .♗ 1 4
_.jIj._. a
I_I_I_._
b.n._N_. a a ._._. M_
._._BiIi a _J_L_.sJ
r._Q_Rk. T_.j._.d
_NjI_._.
15. 2?! Withdrawing the knight
is possibly premature, since White
I_I_.j _
deprives himself of the typical pretty solid on the back end of the long r._._Ni.
r._._Ni.
Bayonet ♘g5-e6 sally after Black s diagonal. 22.♕c2 was more natural. ._._._.i
standard ...f7-f5 advance. ftentimes, 22... 23.♖ 1 4! ._.rBk.
Black commits to ...h6 to prevent it,
28. x 4? 28.♕c1 ♖aa8, and Black has
which is undesirable once the kingside
opens up and obviously costs a tempo
._._ M_ a considerable advantage but White
as well. White still had plenty of other _J_L_.lJ can still defend.
useful moves like ♖b1, ♗c1, ♕c2, etc., T_.j._._ 28...♖x 4 2 .♖ ?
with a slightly better position. Now _NjIsJ_. A desperate sally in time-trouble that
Black equalizes pretty easily.
15...♖ 8 16.♗b2 8 1 . b5
I_I_._.d just loses valuable time, but it is hard
to find meaningful improvements,
5 18. x 5 x 5 18...♘xf5!? 19.♘e4 r._._._. e.g. 29.♕a2 ♘f6 30.♗g2 ♘gh5, with a
♘d4 20.♗xd4 exd4 21.♗g4 ♗f5, with .b.nB_Ii clear advantage for Black.
equal chances, was also possible. ._.r.k. 2 ... 6 Even stronger was 29...♘f5!
1 .4 62 .x 5 30.♖xd7 ♖xf3, winning.
24. 3?! White should have gone back, 3 . 30.♘d2 ♘f5 31.♖e2 ♖g4+
._Ld M_ 24.♖f1, and it seems that Black has
nothing better than 24...♕e7, with a
32.♗g2 ♘h5 gives Black a massive
attack. Now the second black rook
_J_._.lJ possible repetition of moves. he text joins the party with decisive force.
T_.j._ _ causes a serious weakening on the
_NjIiJ_. kingside, giving Black increased pros-
._._._M_
I_I_._._ pects of forcing the opening of the f- le
with ...f4. _JnLr.sJ
_._._._. 24... 6! Eljanov had probably T_.j.s.d
.b.nB_Ii missed this, since he took considerable _.jI_._.
r._Q_Rk. time for the next few moves.
I_I_. ._
25. 3 4
2 ... x 5?! I somehow felt that it nteresting was 25...f4 26.♘xe5 dxe5 r._._N_.
was in the spirit of the position to keep 27.♗xe5 ♖g6, with ample compensa- ._._._.i
the ing s ndian bishop alive, which tion and an easy game. ._._Bk.
is probably not correct.
Easier equality is obtained with ._._ M_ 3 ...♖b6! 31.♖ 2 ♖x 4 32. 6
♖ 1 33. a2
either 20...♗xe5 21.♗xe5 ♘xe5 or,
even better, 20...♕e7!? 21.♔h1 ♗xe5
_J_L_.lJ Playing in the impressive Harpa
22.♗xe5 dxe5!?, mobilizing the rook T_.j._.d concert and conference centre is for
along the 6th rank, where it can _NjI_J_. the most part fantastic. However, it
later take part in the o ensive on the I_I_._ _ has like six different concert halls,
kingside.
21.♖a3 ♗ 22. a1?!
r._._Ni. one of which is close to the playing
area. Around this point, a concert was
A rather dubious deployment of the .b._B_.i about to start there, with the audience
queen far from home, since Black is ._.r.k. ocking in with the usual noise and

A 83
 REYKJAVIK

commotion. Thankfully, I still Official Women European Fischer Vladimir Hamitevici

had around 20 minutes left in this Random Champion’ (I am totally Richard Rapport
completely winning position. It took exhausted ☺). I think such chess suits Reykjavik 2018 (5)
15 minutes to organize my thoughts, people like Rapport and myself... Global Opening
when I was finally able to produce though at the end of the day, I refuse 1.a3 h6 I mean, how do you even
some logical moves to bring home the to believe that classical chess will end. come up with such a move? Only
bacon against this strong player. I am This can be played for a refreshing Rapport knows...
sure that my distinguished opponent, change, but nothing more! 2.c4 2.b4 g5 was probably his inten-
who was in desperate time-trouble, Coming back to the Reykjavik tion?! And then maybe 3.♗b2 ♘f6.
was no less disturbed. Open, I felt the only thing that might 2...c6 And now he plays normally ☺.
stop me were my games with black! How does he do it?
3.d4 d5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.♘c3 ♘f6
._._._M_ I was rocking with White, whereas I
had drawn the two games with black 6.♗f4 ♘c6 7.e3 ♗g4 8.♗e2
_J_L_.sJ against Indians (maybe the latter ♗xe2 9.♘gxe2 e6
.t.jNs.d was the real issue and I was getting
_.jI_._. worried for no reason). In Round 5,
T_.dMl.t
I_._._._ I finally managed to break the jinx
with a nice win against Haria Ravi, jJ_._Jj.
r._._N_. after which I knew that I was very ._S_Js.j
Q_._R_.i close to my goal! Though, to be _._J_._.
_.t._Bk. honest, in Round 5 there was only
._.i.b._
one game that was on everyone’s
33...♖b4 34.♖g2 ♖g4 mind. Enter Rapport! i.n.i._.
I don’t think his opponent, .i._NiIi
._._._M_ Vladimir Hamitevici, had any idea r._Qk._R
who he was messing with (or he know
_J_L_.sJ only too well ☺) when he went 1.a3, Around here Rapport happily told
._.jNs.d which was immediately met, without Erwin l’Ami, ‘I have a good version
_.jI_._. thinking, by the stunning 1...h6. of the Slav Exchange; my h6 is more
I_._._T_
r._._N_.
Q_._._Ri
_.t._Bk.
35.♖b3? An oversight, but White is
also lost after 35.♘xg7 ♕xg7 36.♕b2
♖xg2+ 37.♕xg2 ♘xd5.
35...♘xe6 36.dxe6 ♗xe6
As he is about to lose more material,
White resigned.
■■■
Fischer Random
We continue with another inter-
mezzo. On the rest day, an exciting
Fischer Random tournament was
held, which was won by Aleksandr
Lenderman. As Rapport finished
second, he was crowned the ‘First
Official European Fischer Random
BEREND VONK

Champion’ (Whew! That was too

long and tiring to write☺), while
Alina l ’Ami became the ‘First

84 A
 REYKJAVIK

useful than a3.’ Erwin was like, ‘Well

if you say so!’
1 .h3 ♗e7 11. 12.♘a4
♖c8 And Rapport convincingly won
the game! (0-1, 44)

But back to myself. At many junc-

tures during the event I would think:
‘Will I really be able to make it to the
team? Maybe I should just accept the
reality and get ready for the worst...’
But at the same time I said to myself:
‘If I am going down, I won’t go down
without a fight!’
The Aeroflot Open last year was
one of the worst tournaments I had
ever played, and in Round 6, I was
happy to be paired against one of the
ALINA L’AMI

players I had played there. I thought to

myself: ‘Time for some payback’, and
I was determined to use every ounce Richard Rapport was one of the top favourites and, as always, true to his original
of strength I had... And so I put on my self. ‘I mean, how do you even come up with such a move? Only Rapport knows…’
Superman T-shirt, which I use when I
need to show that I mean business ☺.

Adhiban Baskaran 5...axb5 11.♘xd5 ♗xd5 12.♗c3 e6 felt like

Alejandro Ramirez Ramirez previously had a stunning only helping Black.
Reykjavik 2018 (6) win against Tomashevsky at the 2013 11...e6
Benko Gambit World Cup in Tromsø after 5...g6
1.d4
I hope Fischer will forgive me for
6.♘c3 ♗g7 7.e4 .a4, which leads
to very interesting territory.
Ts._Ml.t
opening with 1.d4, as he mainly 6.♗xb5 a5 7.♘c3 ♗b7 8.♗d2 _L_J_JjJ
preferred the king’s pawn for the first b6 9.♘f3 ♘xd5 1 .a4 ._._J_ _
move! _BjS_._.
1...♘f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5
a6 5.e3
Ts._Ml.t I_._._._
_L_JjJjJ _.n.iN_.
TsLdMl.t .d._._._ .i.b.iIi
_._JjJjJ _BjS_._. r._Q_Rk.
J_._.s._ I_._._._ 12.a5
_IjI_._. _.n.iN_. Passed pawns must be pushed!
._._._._ .i.b.iIi ere, after 12.♘e5, 12...♕xg2+! was

_._.i._. r._Qk._R Ramirez’s amazing point 13. xg2

♘xc3+ 14.♕f3 ♗xf3+ 15. xf3. This
Ii._.iIi 1 ... g6 ? would possibly give White some
rNbQkBnR 1 ...e6 11. ♗e7 is how the main advantage, but there was no need to
line continues, and the results aren’t go for this line.
In the live commentary, Simon so bad for Black. 12...♘c7 After 12...♗e7 13.a6!
Williams joked that he found the If Black goes for the bishop with ♗xa6 14.♘e5 ♕f6 (in case of 14...♕f5
Benko Gambit always a pain, but 1 ...♘c7, then 11. ♘xb5 12.axb5 15.♘ xd7! ♘ xd7 16.♖ xa6 ♖ xa6
now he knows what to play against it! ♖xa1 13.♕xa1, with a clear advantage 17.♗xa6, lack will not be in time to
Opponents of Simon, you have been for White (one plan is ♘e5 c4). get his king to safety due to the threat
warned! 11. of e4) 15.f4! Black is in trouble.

A 85
 REYKJAVIK

13.e4! Never back down! 18...♕h5 25...♕g4 26.e5

Af ter 18...♗ xb5 19.♕xb5 exf5
Ts._Ml.t (both of us under-estimated the
cold-blooded 19...♗e7!, after which
._T_Ml.t
_LsJ_JjJ I would probably have gone for _.bJ_._J
._._J_D_ 20.♘e3 ♖a7 21.♕b6 ♖a8 22.♕b7 0-0 .qL_.jJ_
iBj._._. 23.♕xd7, with a healthy extra pawn) i.j.i._.
._._I_._ 20.♕b7! Black will be too late.
And 18...exf5 19.exf5+ loses due to
._._._D_
_.n._N_. the threat of 20.♘d6+. _._._.n.
.i.b.iIi 19.♘bd6+ ♔d8 20.♕b6+ ♘c7 .i._.iIi
r._Q_Rk. 21.♗f4! _._Rr.k.
13...♘xb5 After 13...♗xe4 14.♘h4 26...♕b4
♕f6 15.♘xe4 ♕xh4 16.♖e1 White
T_.m.l.t After 26...fxe5, 27.♗xe5 ♖g8 28.♕b3!
has a killer development advantage _.sJ_.jJ d5 (28...c4 runs into 29.♗f4+, cutting
and a strong initiative for the pawn. .qLnJj._ off the defence of c4) 29.♗f4+ ♔f7
14.♘xb5 ♘a6 15.♖e1! i.j._N_D 30.♖xd5! ♗xd5 31.♕xd5+ ♔g7
Simple and strong.
15...f6 The only way to prevent ♘e5.
._._Ib._ 32.♗e5+ ♔h6 33.♕xg8 was one of
the lines I saw during the game.
16.♘h4! ♕f7 17.♕b3! _._._._. 27.e6
A double blow!! Threatening both .i._.iIi
18.♘c7+ and 18.♘f5. r._.r.k. ._T_Ml.t
21...exf5 22.♘xf5!? _.bJ_._J
T_._Ml.t After 22.exf5 ♗xd6 23.♗xd6 ♖c8 is .qL_IjJ_
_L_J_DjJ a very surprising rejoinder, as there is i.j._._.
S_._Jj._ no killer move, but... 24.♕xc5! wins.
.d._._._
iNj._._. I felt the game continuation to be
_._._.n.
._._I_.n much simpler.
22...♖c8 .i._.iIi
_Q_._._. _._Rr.k.
.i.b.iIi ._Tm.l.t
r._.r.k. _.sJ_.jJ
Once t he c6 -bishop loses its
protection, Black’s entire position
17...♗c6 .qL_.j._ collapses... And that, my friends, is
17...c4 18.♘c7+ ♘xc7 19.♕xb7 ♗d6 i.j._N_D how you get your revenge in style!!
20.♗b4 also looks depressing, since
Black will be unable to castle.
._._Ib._ After 27...♕xb6, 28.exd7++ is a pretty
finish. Black resigned.
18.♘f5! _._._._.
.i._.iIi Great potential
T_._Ml.t r._.r.k. Another guy who made a significant
_._J_DjJ 23.♖ad1!
impact on this year’s edition was my
young countryman Nihal Sarin (13).
S_L_Jj._ Bring all your toys to the party! He played some great games, and at
iNj._N_. 23.♗xc7+ ♖xc7 24.a6 was my first some point everyone’s only concern
._._I_._ intention, but after 24...♕e8 25.a7 was not to play him! (They were fine
_Q_._._. ♗a8 things weren’t so clear.
23...♔e8
facing me or Rapport ☹)
A nice positional understanding,
.i.b.iIi 23...♗a4 24.b3 is also hopeless. razor-sharp calculation skills and
r._.r.k. 24.♗xc7 g6 25.♘g3 good endgame knowledge are some
Preparing the deadly e5. There was of Nihal’s trademarks. My friends
As my trainer noted, ‘You were no need to allow 25.♘d6+ ♗xd6 believe that he has the potential to be
attacking on all fronts!’ 26.♖xd6 ♔f7. great some day!

86 A
 REYKJAVIK

Mustafa Yilmaz
Nihal Sarin
Reykjavik 2018 (7)

Td._T_M_
jL_._JjJ
._Jl.sS_
_J_._.b.
._.nI_._
_.n._.i.
IiQ_Bi.i
r._R_.k.
LENNART OOTES

position after 16.♗g5

16...♗e5 17.♗e3 An inaccuracy,

which was all Nihal needed to turn ‘A nice positional understanding, razor-sharp calculation skills and good
the game around! After 17.♘f5 White endgame knowledge’ are some of 13-year-old Nihal Sarin’s trademarks.
can hope for a slight edge.
17...b4! 18.♘a4 ♘xe4

21.♘xc3 bxc3 22.♘xe5 ♕xe5

Td._T_M_ 23.bxc3 ♕e6!
you won’t know unless you try !
I skipped the excursion to ischer’s
jL_._JjJ I assume Yilmaz had missed this strong grave to prepare for my Round 7
._J_._S_ move. game and told my friend Niranjan
_._.l._. 24.♕a4 ♘e5 25.♕f4 h6! Kicking the (who did go on the trip) to put some
Nj.nS_._ ueen out, after which White’s position
is close enough to losing.
flowers on the grave on my behalf.
Needless to say, it worked wonders!
_._.b.i. 26.♖d2 g5 27.♕a4 This round turned out to be the
IiQ_Bi.i warm-up for the final showdown for
r._R_.k. T_._T_M_ the highest honour. The following
game by Rapport, played on Board 1,
19.♘xc6 jL_._J_. was easily one of my favourite games
Better was 19.♕xe4 c5 20.♘c6 ♕c7 ._._D_.j of the event!
21.♗f3 ♗d4 22.♘e7+ ♖xe7 23.♕xb7 _._.s.j.
♕xb7 24.♗xb7 ♖xb7 25.♘xc5 ♗xc5
26.♗xc5 f6, with a probable draw.
Q_._._._ Richard Rapport
19...♕c7 20.♖ac1 _.i.b.i. Aleksandr Lenderman
I_.rBi.i Reykjavik 2018 (7)
T_._T_M_ _.r._.k. Sicilian Defence
1.♘f3 c5 2.e4 e6 3.c3 ♘f6 4.♗d3
jLd._JjJ 27...♕h3 27...♕f5!, with the deadly ♘c6 5.0 0 d5 6.e5 ♘d7 7.♗b5
._N_._S_ threat of ...♘f3+, would have crowned
_._.l._. Black’s attack. 28.f3 ♘xf3+ 29.♗xf3 T_LdMl.t
♗xf3 Although Black still has a clear
Nj._S_._ advantage, the game ended in a draw
jJ_S_JjJ
_._.b.i. after 41 moves. ._S_J_._
IiQ_Bi.i _BjJi._.
_.rR_.k. Flowers on Fischer’s grave ._._._._
20...♘c3! Nihal correctly judged
Before the event I was telling my friends:
‘I hope the spirit of ischer will be with
_.i._N_.
that the position arising after the mess me!’ At the same time I knew it wasn’t Ii.i.iIi
would be more than fine for him. going to be easy to play like ischer! But rNbQ_Rk.

A 87
 REYKJAVIK

7...a6 10...g5!? looks like a much better way 14...♘xa4 15.♕xa4 ♕d6
7...♗e7 was played just one day before to play the position. 16.cxd5! Continuing the fight for
in the same event... Could this be 11.c4! the e5-square... The entire game
Rapport’s source of inspiration? In Now the c8-bishop has been added to revolves around it!
that game between Daniel Fernandez the list of Black’s problems. 16...cxd5 The comp prefers the ugly
and Alina l’Ami, 8.d4 was played, but 11...f6 The comp doesn’t get it at all 16...♕xd5!?, and I won’t even bother
it looks hasty. Rapport’s treatment of and assesses the position after 11...a5 to mention its assessment, because I
the position is much sexier ☺. as 0.00. feel it would ruin the greatness of this
8.♗xc6 bxc6 9.d3! 12.exf6 ♗xf6 13.♘c3 ♘b6 game.
17.♗f4 ♕b6 18.♖e2
T_LdMl.t T_Ld.tM_
_._S_JjJ _._._.jJ T_L_.tM_
J_J_J_._ JsJ_Jl._ _._._.jJ
_.jJi._. _.jJ_._. Jd._Jl._
._._._._ ._I_._._ _.jJ_._.
_.iI_N_. _.nI_N_. Q_._.b._
Ii._.iIi Ii._.iIi _._I_N_.
rNbQ_Rk. r.bQr.k. Ii._RiIi
r._._.k.
Making sure the doubled c-pawns 14.♘a4!
remain a permanent headache for Removing the last defender that 18...♗e7
Black. could actually put up a fight for the After 18...♗xb2 19.♖b1, 19...♕b5! is
9...♗e7 10.♖e1 0-0 important e5-square. a nice idea, but after 20.♕xb5 axb5

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88 A
 REYKJAVIK

21.♗d6 ♖d8 22.♗xc5 hite has the a ead fe a which led to an exciting title clash
better position.
19.♗e5 ♕b5 c e a in ound 8. And because they had a
rest day in the Candidates in erlin,
etter was 19...d !, cutting off the
ueen, and lac is doing fine.
d e a d a we had to compensate for the lac of
excitement with our game ☺.
20.♕ 4 ef e a The moment of destiny
T_L_.tM_ e !! y plan had been very clear in
the event and win it alone! ut as I
_._.l.jJ was getting closer to my goal, those
J_._J_._ 25... 5 negative feelings returned... I told
_ jJb._. r 25...♗d7 26.♕g6, followed by myself firmly his is my destiny...
._._._Q_ g , with a crushing attac . And in
case of 25...♗b7 26. g h7 there
and I won’t let anything get in the
way of my destiny!’ I already felt that
_._I_N_. is 27.♗xg7! ♖xg7 28.♖xe6, with a ischer’s spirit was guiding me and it
Ii._RiIi strong attac . was time for uperman to return!!
r._._.k. 26.♕ 6 c4
hat else? Adhiban Baskaran
After this, facing apport from the 27.dxc4 ♕xc4 28.♖c2 ♕d5 Richard Rapport
blac side becomes a coshmar! 29.♘f3 ♗b7 30.♖xd4 ♕xa2 Reykjavik 2018 (8)
20...♖f7 21.♖d1 ow that all pieces 31.♖c7 Slav Defence, Geller-Tolush Gambit
have been activated, it is a pleasure to It is time for the finish. ere we go. he clash of the itans!’
watch apport go in for the ill. 31...♕a1 32. 2 ♗xf3 33.♖f4! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
21...♗f8 22.♕ 3 ♗e7 ♖af8 34.♖c8! In my preparation I had mainly been
expecting 2... c6 ☺.
3.♘f3 ♘f6 4.♘c3 dxc4 5.e4!
T_L_._M_ ._R_.tM_ oing all in! he eller olush
_._.lTjJ _._.lTj. ambit!
J_._J_._ J_._J_Q_ 5...b5 6.♗e2 e6 7.0-0
_ jJb._. _._.b._J
._._._._ ._._.r.i TsLdMl.t
_._I_N_Q _._._L_. j._._JjJ
Ii._RiIi .i._.iIk ._J_Js._
_._R_.k. d._._._. _J_._._.
23.♕ 3 An epic manoeuvre, and uch beautiful geometry! lac is ._JiI_._
it too a while to understand what clearly struggling to defend against _.n._N_.
hite wanted! the numerous threats. Ii._ iIi
23...d4 oo late... 34...♖f6 35.♖xf6 ♗xf6 36.♗xf6
2 ...♗f8 2 .♗d6!, and hite will ♖xc8 37.♕x 7 ate. r.bQ_Rk.
rule the dar s uares! A fantastic win.
24. 4 6 25.♘ 2! 7...♗e7
As I was playing on oard 2, I got up ater, in the uropean Champion
T_L_._M_ to see the result and smiled to myself, ship, lac played 7...♗b7, which
_._.lTj. because I new there was only one
way to catch him now! I managed this
is more critical, but hite was up
to the job 8.b !? ♗b 9.e5 ♗xc
J_._J_.j feat than s to a mista e in an e ual 10.exf6 gxf6 11.♖b1 c5 12.bxc cxd
_ j.b._. endgame by the renchman axime 1 .♖xb5 ♗c6 1 .♖c5 ♗e 15.♗d
._.j._.i agarde maybe he can become ♗xd 16.♕xd a6 17.♖b5 ♕d6
_._I_. . in the future to carry on the legacy of
MVL).
18. h ♕c6 19.♗a ♖c8 20.♕g
♕xc 21.♕d6 ♗b 22.♗xb , with
Ii._RiIn han s to these victories, apport a crushing win for hite in ubov
_._R_.k. and I bro e away from the pac , ostny, atumi 2018.

A 89
 REYKJAVIK

17...♘c8?
Panic! Although he remains worse,
better for Black was 17...♘d5 18.♖xc6
♗b7 19.♖xc4, transposing to the note
to 16...♘d5.
18.♖xc6 ♗b7

T_S_.tM_
jL_._JjJ
._R_J_._
_._.i._.
I_J_.i._
_.i._B_.
._._._Ii

ALINA L’AMI
r.b._.k.
Superman in civilian clothes. Adhiban Baskaran was happy to learn that the wonderful Harpa
Concert Hall will be the venue for the Reykjavik Open for at least the next three years. 19.♖xc8! A simple shot that deter-
mines Black’s fate.
19...♖axc8 20.♗xb7 ♖b8 21.♗a6
8.a4! And now he has to give back White controls the battle, and the
the pawn, which was the drawback of
...♗e7.
outpost on b3 is more or less useless.
16.♖d6
.t._.tM_
8...b4 9.e5 bxc3 10.exf6 ♗xf6 j._._JjJ
10...cxb2 11.fxg7 bxa1♕ 12.gxh8♕+
T_._M_.t B_._J_._
reminded me of the famous Alekhine
j._._JjJ _._.i._.
game with four queens on the board!
11.bxc3 ♗a6 12.♘e5! Preventing LsJrJ_._ I_J_.i._
...♘d7. 12.♗a3 ♘d7 doesn’t look so _._.i._. _.i._._.
bad for Black.
I_J_.i._ ._._._Ii
12...♗xe5 12...0-0 13.♗f3 is clearly
_.i._._. r.b._.k.
better for White.
13.dxe5 ♕xd1 14.♖xd1 ._._B_Ii 21...♖b3
r.b._.k. 21...♖b6 is met by 22.♗b5!, followed
Ts._M_.t 16...0-0
by ♗e3, winning.
22.♗a3 ♖d8 23.♗b4 ♖d2
j._._JjJ Or 16...♘d5 17.♗f3! 0-0 (17...♖c8 24.♗xc4 ♖bb2 25.♗f1 h5 26.a5
L_J_J_._ 18.♗xd5 exd5 19.♗a3 looked very a6 27.♗c5 g6
_._.i._. nice for White) 18.♖xc6 ♗b7 19.♖xc4
I_J_._._ ♖fc8 20.♖xc8+ ♖xc8 21.♗d2, with a
healthy extra pawn.
._._._M_
_.i._._. 17.♗f3 _._._J_.
._._BiIi J_._J_J_
r.bR_.k. T_._.tM_ i.b.i._J
I felt this should be really good for
j._._JjJ ._._.i._
me. Rapport may have underesti- LsJrJ_._ _.i._._.
mated the dangers of his position; the _._.i._. .t.t._Ii
extra pawn is sadly not felt here. I_J_.i._ r._._Bk.
14...♘d7 15.f4 ♘b6
After 15...♘c5 16.♖d6 ♘b3 (16...♘e4
_.i._B_. And here, while I was thinking about
17.♖xc6 ♘xc3 18.♗f1! ♗b7 19.♖xc4, ._._._Ii how to win, Rapport lost patience and
with a clear White advantage) 17.♖b1 r.b._.k. resigned.

90 A
 REYKJAVIK

During this round, there was another All this is something of a digression threatens to seize complete control of
game besides my own that intrigued from the game I played in Round 8 the centre with e2-e4.
me, because it looked as if White was against the Moldova grandmaster 4...d5 5.cxd5 ♘xd5 6.e4 ♘xc3
cruising through for a miniature! Vladimir Hamitevici. 7.bxc3
Let’s have a look at it through the eyes 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 b6!?
of its creator!
Ts. M .t
TsL M .t jLj.jJjJ
j.jJjJjJ .j._._._
.j._.s._
NOTES BY
Konstantin Landa _._._._.
_._._._. ._.iI_._
Konstantin Landa
._Ii._._ _.i._._.
Vladimir Hamitevici _._._._. I_ _.iIi
Reykjavik 2018 (8) Ii._IiIi r.b.kB R
Queen’s Indian Accelerated r b kB R
7...e6 Now the resulting positions
For me this was a second succes- A move which rules out many very much resemble the Petrosian
sive invitation to Reykjavik. I was popular openings on the spot! At Variation in the Queen’s Indian
born and grew up in Siberia, so that one time, I was also interested in it, Defence, the only difference being
I can easily endure a cold wind, but but after looking at the positions that White has economized on the
how Indian players cope with such resulting from the opening, I decided move a2-a3. If I remember correctly,
weather and also contrive to win that White can immediately cause it was somewhere around here that
remains a mystery to me! problems. my enthusiasm for studying 2...b6 as
The Icelandic capital increasingly 3.♘c3 Black came to a halt. However, there
resembles an enormous tourist city, Catalan fanatics may encounter the may be other opinions.
and the tournament organizers had following set-up by Black 3.g3 ♗b7 The Venezuelan Iturrizaga, an
some problems in accommodating 4.♘f3 g6! (after the standard 4...e6 adherent of the 2...b6! varia-
the players – all hotels are booked White’s advantage is equally imper- tion, obtains more lively positions.
up six months in advance! But ceptible) 5.♗g2 ♗g7 6.0-0 0-0 7.♘c3 e prefers 7...e5, but even here, in
how can you not to go Iceland for a ♘e4!, and in my view Black has my view, it is only Black who has
holiday – the people here are hospi- successfully solved all his problems. problems to solve after 8.♘f3 exd4
table and know how to enjoy them- 3...♗b7 4.♕c2 9.♗c4 ♘c6 10.0-0 d3 11.♗xd3 ♕e7
selves to the full! The most principled move. White 12.♗f4.

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A 91
 REYKJAVIK

8.♘f3 ♗e7
My opponent had already played this
several times, as I had seen in my
database.

Ts.dM_.t
jLj.lJjJ
.j._J_._
_._._._. Konstantin
Landa won a
._.iI_._ flashy miniature
_.i._N_. against Vladimir
I_Q_.iIi Hamitevici by
r.b.kB_R using a plan for
White that he had
found when he
9.♗b2!? was considering
A novelty. To be honest, I don’t under- to play Black’s
LENNART OOTES

stand why this logical move remained unusual opening

unnoticed by the chess public. himself.
After studying attempts by White to
gain an advantage after 9.♗b5+ c6
10.♗d3 c5 11.♗b5+ (if now 11.0-0,
Black has the preparatory exchange This move is the whole point – the pawn 14...♗f6?
11...cxd4 12.cxd4 0-0 13.♗b2 ♘c6!, advances to d5 and capturing it proves Played after only a short think. My
which gives him a satisfactory game to be dangerous. opponent’s intuition let him down in
in the style of the Lasker Defence) 11...exd5 The main line of the analysis this game.
11...♗c6 12.a4 you have to ask was the variation with the pawn sacri- Of what I had prepared at home I
yourself what if, instead of throwing fice 11...b5 12.dxe6 (12.c4 bxc4 13.♗xc4 remembered only 14...f5 15.♖fe1 ♕f7
the bishop around, you make the exd5 14.exd5 ♘d7 15.0-0 ♘b6 16.♖fd1 16.♕xf5 ♕xf5 17.♗xf5 ♗xf3 (Black
developing move ♗b2. ♘xc4 17.♕xc4 ♗d6 18.♖ab1 is sound, does not have time to capture the
9...0-0 but does not yield any advantage) 12... piece in a different order: 17...♖xf5
Now 9...c5 gives White an important c4 13.exf7+ ♖xf7 14.♗e2. I was ready 18.♖xe7 ♗xf3 19.♖e8+, with a fatal
tempo – the bishop leaps to b5 in one to play this position, in which White pin along the 8th rank) 18.♗d3! ♗f6
move: 10.♗b5+ ♗c6 11.♗d3. has an extra pawn, for which Black has 19.gxf3.
I suspect that future revivers of the compensation. However, the lesser evil was 14...♕d6
variation for Black will start playing 12.exd5 ♕xd5 Black cannot be satis- 15.♖ad1 ♕h6 16.♗e4 ♗xe4 17.♕xe4
9...♘d7!?, but then the knight will fied with variations like 12...h6 13.c4 ♘c6 18.♖d7 ♕e6, with only a small
never go to c6, and this would fully b5 14.cxb5 ♗xd5 (14...♕xd5 15.0-0-0 advantage for White.
satisfy me. ♕xa2 loses to 16.♗h7+ ♔h8 17.♗xg7+) 15.♖ad1!
10.♗d3 c5 11.d5! 15.0-0-0, with a decisive attack.
13.♗xh7+ ♔h8 14.0-0
Ts._.t.m
Ts.d.tM_ Ts._.t.m jL_._JjB
jL_.lJjJ jL_.lJjB .j._.l._
.j._J_._ .j._._._ _.jD_._.
_.jI_._. _.jD_._. ._._._._
._._I_._ ._._._._ _.i._N_.
_.iB_N_. _.i._N_. IbQ_.iIi
IbQ_.iIi IbQ_.iIi _._R_Rk.
r._.k._R r._._Rk. 15...♕xa2?

92 A
 REYKJAVIK

Vladimir decided to follow the prin- Reykjavik 2018

cipled path right to the end. Ts._.t.m
His last, and far from obvious, j._._Jj. 1 Adhiban Baskaran IND 2650 7½
chance was 15...♕h5! 16.♗e4 ♗xe4 .j.r._.l 2
3
Maxime Lagarde
Mustafa Yilmaz
FRA 2587
TUR 2619
7
7
(the black queen is in trouble after
16...♘c6 17.♖d5! ♕h6 18.♗c1)
_.j._._Q 4 Eugene Perelshteyn USA 2513 6½
17.♕xe4 ♘a6 18.♕b7 ♘b4 19.cxb4 ._._B_._ 5 Erwin l’Ami NED 2634 6½
♗xb2 20.♖d5 ♕g4 21.bxc5, although _.i._I_. 6 Pavel Eljanov UKR 2713 6½
White is obviously clearly better. .d._.i.i 7 Richard Rapport HUN 2715 6½
I should mention that 15...♕c6
16.♕f5 g6 17.♕h3 ♔g7 does not
_._._Rk. 8
9
Suri Vaibhav
Alejandro Ramirez
IND 2544
USA 2568
6½
6½
work either on account of the inter- Black resigned. 10 Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa IND 2507 6½
position of the bishop 18.♗c1! There could have followed 20...f6 11 Elshan Moradiabadi USA 2535 6½
16.♕f5! 21.♖xf6 ♖g8 22.♔h1! with unavoid- 12 Deimante Cornette LTU 2447 6½
Now the white pieces will weave a able mate. 13 Johan-S.Christiansen NOR 2486 6½
mating net within a few moves. 14 Matthieu Cornette FRA 2620 6½
16...♗xf3 15 Emre Can TUR 2603 6½
16...♕xb2 hits on 17.♕h3. Back to my story. After my cool win 16 Konstantin Landa RUS 2613 6½
17. xf3 against Rapport, I was leading by 17 Nodirbek Abdusattorov UZB 2518 6½
half point going into the last round. 18 Gata Kamsky USA 2677 6½
Ts._.t.m Yilmaz was the only player trailing
me, so a draw would be su cient to
19 Hannes Stefansson ISL 2533 6½
20 Kidambi Sundararajan IND 2427 6½
j._._JjB win the event outright. The day before 21 John Bartholomew USA 2477 6
.j._.l._ the final round, I was asked in the live 22 Vladimir Hamitevici MDA 2512 6
_.j._Q_. commentary if I was going to put on 23 Joshua Friedel USA 2562 6
._._._._ my Superman T-shirt again. I laughed
it off and said: No, it has served its
24 Konstantin Kavutskiy USA 2383 6
_.i._I_. purpose. I have worn it thrice and one
25
26
Ravi Haria
Johann Hjartarson ISL 2513
ENG 2424 6
6
Db._.i.i more time would just be asking for 27 Shiyam Thavandiran CAN 2399 6
_._R_Rk. ilma to make an o cial complaint!’ 28 Benjamin Gledura HUN 2632 6
Though I will let you in on a secret 29 B orn hor nnsson ISL 2399 6
17...♕xb2 on what really went on in my mind at 30 Justin Sarkar USA 2322 6
Other moves would not have saved that point: ‘It’s the man that makes the
31 Nihal Sarin IND 2534 6
Black either. or instance, 17...♕c4 shirt!’
32 Sabino Brunello ITA 2542 6
18.♕h5 ♕h4 19.♖d5 ♕xh5 20.♖xh5 I played a decent game, allowed
David H. Cummings CAN 2322 6
♘d7 21.♗f5+ or 17...g6 18.♕xf6+ some minor chances that luckily my
34 Mark Kvetny GER 2408 6
♔xh7 19.c4. opponent didn’t capitalize on and I
35 Sergey Grigoriants RUS 2568 6
But there is one that, in my view, drew without too many problems.
36 Tatev Abrahamyan USA 2369 6
is pretty: 17...♗g5 18.♕h3 ♗h6 Immediately after the game, the
37 Gabriel Bick USA 2416 5½
19.♗e4 f5 20.♖d6! (in the comput- organizer of the event, Gunnar
38 Shailesh Dravid IND 2246 5½
er’s opinion, two or three other Bjornsson, asked me to give a speech
39 Quentin Loiseau FRA 2427 5½
moves also win) 20...fxe4 21.♖xh6+ at the closing ceremony. To which
gxh6 22.♕xh6+ ♔g8 23.♕g6+ ♔h8 I replied: Of course! I have been 40 Niranjan Navalgund IND 2275 5½
24.♔h1! ♘d7 25.♖g1 ♖f7 26.c4+ dreaming about this moment ever 41 Aloyzas Kveinys LTU 2511 5½
♕xb2 27.♕xf7 ♕e5 28.♕xd7, and since I came to Iceland!’ 42 Lenka Ptacnikova ISL 2200 5½
Black cannot avoid mate. I managed In my speech I thanked Tania 43 Dirk Maxion GER 2187 5½
to calculate as far as this position, Sachdev, who bullied me into playing 44 Daniel Howard Fernandez ENG 2505 5½
while Black was considering whether this event, and Erwin l’Ami, who 45 Alina l’Ami ROU 2306 5½
to capture the bishop. provoked me by asking how many 46 Tibor Kende Antal HUN 2419 5½
18.♕h5 ♗ 5 19.♗e4+ ♗h6 events I had won so far. And I ended 47 Nikhil Kumar USA 2277 5½
Now my opponent had been counting with this note: ‘I have always been a big 48 Eivind Olav Risting NOR 2304 5½
only on 20.♕xf7 ♘d7 21.♕xd7 ♖ae8, fan of Bobby Fischer and I am happy to 49 Evgeniya Doluhanova UKR 2275 5½
with a bad, but still playable position. win this tournament dedicated to him 50 Laura Unuk SLO 2346 5½
20.♖d6 to honour his memory!’ 248 players, 9 rounds

A 93
 Sadler on Books

My all-time
figures of that period are examined in
the context of the tumultuous events
following the Russian Revolution. Just
like Boris Gelfand – who provides the
foreword to the English edition – I read

chess hero
the book from cover to cover in one go.
I particularly enjoyed the sketches of
Odessan players of that period, some
of whom were completely unknown to
me, while others were just half-remem-
bered names from tournament cross
tables like Verlinsky, List, and Vilner.
I was intrigued to learn that List had a
Amid a fine crop of new books strong English connection, as after first
emigrating to Berlin in 1920, he then
MATTHEW SADLER was particularly (and moved to England – fleeing Hitler
– in 1938. Tkachenko calls him the
rightly!) curious about a fascinating account champion of Odessa and Great Britain
of a period in Alexander Alekhine’s life that is due to having won the British Light-
ning Championship in 1953 (at the age
shrouded in mystery. of 66!). I do wonder though where this
claim comes from: the yearbook of the
English Chess Federation lists the start

W
ith the number of chess author is a chess problem and study of the event as 1954 when it was won
books being published composer and a native of Odessa. The by Leonard Barden.
nowadays, you would have book is largely dedicated to a part of The chance to see some new
thought that modern Alekhine’s life that is shrouded in Alekhine games and analysis was also
authors would run out of subjects to talk mystery, starting in the summer of a major attraction of the book and the
about. However, every month still 1914 when war broke out and Alekhine following example made me jump
brings surprises: historical discoveries, was interned in Mannheim, where he up in delight. It’s taken from a 1956
original middlegame themes, amazing was leading in a strong tournament, article by Odessite Alexander Iglitsky
studies. Reading all of the books is quite and ending in 1921 when he once again (also profiled in the book) entitled
heavy work at times, but certainly never began to take part in earnest in inter- ‘Alekhine imagines’.
boring! national competitions. In fact, so little ‘Alekhine often shared his latest
This issue’s crop is no exception. was heard of Alekhine in the West analysis with us. Let me show you a
About three months ago, I talked to Ilan during this period that – as detailed in piece here. It is typical of just how
Rubin – a former Kent junior, just like one of Edward Winter’s excellent Chess carefully and deeply Alekhine checked
me, and founder of the Elk and Ruby Notes pages – rumours circulated that all commentary appearing in the
publishing company – and he said he Alekhine had been executed in 1920. press, in particular that written by the
was working on an exciting Alekhine The book focuses on three trips that then World Champion Lasker and by
project. In the past few years, I’ve spent Alekhine made to Odessa: the first Capablanca.
a lot of time analysing Alekhine’s games in April 1916, the second in October ‘Lasker commented on the collec-
and he’s become my all-time chess hero. 1916, and the third, which was much tion of games from the international
Even more than his games, I have been more extended, from mid-October Chigorin Memorial (St. Petersburg,
astonished by the quality of his analysis: 1918 to July 1919. The third period 1909). As was typical for the then
at times, I have had to pinch myself to coincided with a period of anarchy in World Champion, he would often
remember that his annotations were Odessa with rival forces battling for provide just a general evaluation of the
produced without the help of an engine. control and it was during this time that position, limiting himself to outlining
An exciting Alekhine project sounded Alekhine’s life was seriously in danger. the right game plan. Alekhine would
like something I would want to read! The book is a wonderful mix of then make the effort to carry out
Alekhine’s Odessa Secrets. Chess, War chess, chess history and modern more extensive and fastidious analysis
and Revolution by Sergei Tkachenko history, in which Alekhine’s life, games in order to either confirm or refute
(Elk and Ruby) did not disappoint. The and analysis, and the important chess Lasker’s conclusions.’

94 A
 Sadler on BookS

beautifully produced book illustrated

Iglitsky then demonstrates the opening with many photos and facsimiles
moves of Forgacs-Spielmann: of original documents. A treat for
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♗g5 Alekhine’s Odessa an one interested in le hine s life
♗b4 5.e5 h6 6.exf6 hxg5 7.fxg7 Secrets and times and the Odessan players
♖g8 8.h4 by Sergei Tkachenko with which he spent so much time in
Elk and Ruby, 2018 and
TsLdM_T_
jJj._Ji. 16.♗xf5 exf5 17.♖h6 The Correct Exchange in the Endgame
._._J_._ by Eduardas Rozentalis is another
_._J_.j. T_.d._Q_ Thinkers Press title. I still remember
.l.i._.i jJjLm.lI
o entalis s fantastic a ilit to in
technical games from my professional
_.n._._. ._S_._Tr days, so if anyone should be able to
IiI_.iI_ _._J_Jj. rite a oo li e that, then he should
r._QkBnR ._.i._._ The book starts appropriately with a
typical Rozentalis win in the Exchange
In the game Spielmann played 8...gxh4, _.n._._. Lopez: the sort of game that makes
but Lasker commented: ‘It would have IiI_.iI_ ou thin xc is a in for hite
een simpler and more acti e to first pla r._.k.n. Funnily enough, Sergey Kasparov
xg f hite then pla s h , dedicates a whole chapter to this vari-
lac de elops further ith c o ation in Doubled Pawns – A Practical
This is how Alekhine continued it: 17...♗xh6 xg hxg Guide so I was getting a severe case
8...♖xg7 9.♕h5 ♘c6 10.♕h8+ ♗f8 xg xg f xg xd is of déjà vu hile pla ing through this
on t put an comments to the game,
just the diagrams before the crucial

de h e h e c d ha e exchanges, and you can guess whether

lac too the right decision or not
e d ed a h a d bec e d Eduardas Rozentalis
ha e e ea a e . Tom Wedberg
new York 1997
ruy lopez, exchange Variation
11.h5 ♗d7 12.h6 ♖g6 13.h7 ♔e7 more resilient as Iglitsky points out. 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6
14.♗d3 f5 15.♕g8 ♗g7 18.♕xg6 ♕f8 19.♘xd5+ ♔d8 4.♗xc6 dxc6 5.0-0 ♗d6 6.d4
20.♕g8 and queening is inevitable. exd4 7.♕xd4 f6 8.♗e3 ♘e7
T_.d._Q_ However, the meat of the book is the
9.♘bd2 ♗e6 10.♕c3 0-0 11.♘c4
♗xc4 12.♕xc4+ ♔h8 13.♖ad1
jJjLm.lI extraordinary amount of work that ♕e8 14.♗c5
._S_J_T_ Tkachenko has put into bringing
_._J_Jj. together so many sources from that
T_._Dt.m
._.i._._ time to shed fresh light on such topics
as le hine s officer s uniform and _Jj.s.jJ
_.nB_._. decorations, the time he spent in a J_Jl.j._
IiI_.iI_ he a ail in , his su se uent _.b._._.
r._.k.nR employment in the Foreign Depart- ._Q_I_._
ment of the Odessa Gubernia Exec-
Iglitsky comments that ‘it looks at utive Committee, and his various _._._N_.
first glance that Black has demon- marriages. At times the book reads IiI_.iIi
strated hite s entire manoeu re to e like a spy novel, and you wonder how _._R_Rk.
unsound. However, Alekhine demon- Alekhine could have endured all this
strated a deeply hidden resource that and still ecome orld hampion 14...♗xc5 15.♕xc5 ♘g6
decisi el strengthens hite s position ust se en ears later t s a onderful, 16.♖fe1 ♕f7 17.b3 ♖fe8 18.♘d4

A 95
 Sadler on BookS

the game and the mistakes made, but 8.♕c2 ♘xc3 9.♕xc3 c5 10.b3
also the skills involved in realising such ♗f6 11.♗b2 ♘c6 12.♕d2 d5
The Correct an advantage. For example, after move 13.dxc5 dxc4 14.♗xf6 ♕xf6
Exchange in the 35.a3 he comments: ‘Such endgames 15.bxc4 bxc5 16.♖ab1
Endgame usually do not require long calculations,
by Eduardas
Rozentalis
just two or three precise moves ahead
should do the job’, which is definitely
T_._.tM_
Thinkers Press, 2018 some advice I will try to remember! jL_._JjJ
After this first complete game, Rozen- ._S_Jd._
talis examines the problem of exchanging _.j._._.
pieces from various angles in four short ._I_._._
T_._T_.m chapters, each with six exercises to test
the lessons learnt. Yet another excellent _._._Ni.
_Jj._DjJ complete game takes up Chapter 6 and I_.qIiBi
J_J_.jS_ then you get a final test with 35 exer- _R_._Rk.
_.q._._. cises to solve. After some solving, I was
._.nI_._ exchanging pieces along with the best of
them, which isn’t necessarily my natural
The opening is over and it is pretty
obvious that Black’s game is in a
_I_._._. style! A good, improving book! poor state. With his last move, White
I_I_.iIi ■■■ not only attacks the bishop but also
_._Rr.k. threatens to win the pawn on c5 by
The New In Chess Book of Chess Improve- means of ♖b5 and ♕e3.
18...♕f8 19.♕xf8+ ♘xf8 20.f3 ment, compiled and edited by Steve 16...♗a6 17.♕c2
♖ad8 21.♔f2 ♔g8 22.♘f5 ♔f7 Giddins and published not surpris-
23.♘e3 b5 24.♖xd8 ♖xd8 25.♖d1 ingly by New In Chess is a dive into
the treasure trove of 33 years of New In
T_._.tM_
j._._JjJ
._.t.s._ Chess Magazine. If you are reading this
article, then I hope you’ll agree that right L_S_Jd._
_.j._MjJ from the beginning, New In Chess has _.j._._.
J_J_.j._ been blessed with great players writing
._I_._._
_J_._._. wonderful annotations. This book is
_._._Ni.
._._I_._ an extremely successful attempt to turn
these great insights into a complete chess I_Q_IiBi
_I_.nI_. masterclass covering all aspects of the _R_._Rk.
I_I_.kIi game: attack, defence, pawn structures
_._R_._. and endgames, to name but a few. How The first of a series of quiet queen
many books could present games anno- moves of the stalking kind that Karpov
25...♖xd1 26.♘xd1 c5 27.♔e3 tated in depth by eight World Cham- excels in.
♔e6 28.f4 ♘d7 29.♘b2 ♔d6 pions and a series of other great players? 17...♘b4 18.♕b3 ♖ab8 19.a3
30.g3 ♔e6 31.♘d3 ♔d6 32.g4 c4 Much of the material is familiar – but ♘c6 20.♕a4 ♖xb1 21.♖xb1 ♘b8
33.bxc4 bxc4 34.♘b4 c6 35.a3 a5 well worth revisiting – but Steve Giddins
36.♘a2 ♘b6 37.♘c3 c5 38.h4 ♔e6
39.♘b5 ♔d7 40.g5 ♔e6 41.gxf6
has also done a good job unearthing
some less obvious gems. I particu-
.s._.tM_
gxf6 42.♘c3 ♘d7 43.♘d5 ♔f7 larly enjoyed playing through the game j._._JjJ
44.♔f3 ♔g6 45.♔g4 h5+ 46.♔f3 Andersson-Nikolic from the 1984 Thes- L_._Jd._
♔f7 47.♔e3 ♔e6 48.f5+ ♔f7 saloniki Olympiad, expertly annotated _.j._._.
49.♘f4 ♘e5 50.c3 ♔e7 51.♘xh5
♘d3 52.♘f4 ♘e1 53.a4 1-0.
by Tom Wedberg. Q_I_._._
Ulf Andersson i._._Ni.
It’s the type of game that you might just Predrag Nikolic ._._IiBi
whizz through in ChessBase and not Thessaloniki 1984 _R_._.k.
pay much attention to, but Rozentalis’ Queen’s Indian defence
comments are very instructive, both 1.♘f3 ♘f6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 ♗b7 4.♗g2 Black’s premature attack has been
in highlighting the crucial moments in e6 5.0-0 ♗e7 6.d4 0-0 7.♘c3 ♘e4 thwarted in the most humiliating

96 A
 Sadler on BookS

T_LdM_St
jJ_._JjJ
The New in Chess ._S_._._
Book of Chess
Improvement
The Art of the
Tarrasch Defence
_. J_._.
by Steve Giddins by Alexey Bezgodov ._.n._._
New in Chess, 2018 New In Chess, 2018 _.n._.i.
Ii._Ii.i
fashion. In fact, the black knight and 3 ...♖c5, which blocks the knight and
r. QkB_R
bishop are stuck on their uncomfortable clears the way for the a pawn. r the alwe system 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6
s uares. herefore hite first improves 39...f6 After this hite wins uite eas 3.♘c3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.♘f3 ♘c6
his kingside before cashing in. ily. he critical line is 3 ...♖b5 . f 6.g3 ♘f6 7.♗g2 cxd4 8.♘xd4 ♕b6
22.h4 ♕e7 23.♖xb8 ♖xb8 24.♕xa6 d . g a5 . f3 a 3. e
♕c7 25.♕a4 h6 26.h5 ♔f8 27.♕c2
♔g8 28.♔h2 ♕d6 29.♕e4 ♖b3
and now hite has produced the dou
ble threat of either stopping the a pawn
T_L_M .t
30.a4 ♖b4 31.a5 ♕d5 or winning the one on g . Black has two jJ_._JjJ
possibilities 3... e , saving his king .dS_.s._
._._._M_ side pawns . c ♖b 5. d3 a3 _._J_._.
j._._Jj.
. c3 and Black is stopped, or 3...a3
. f5 ♖b 5. f3 a . a ♖ a
._.n._._
._._J_.j . g and hite should win with _.n._.i.
i.jD_._I knight and four pawns against rook and Ii._IiBi
.tI_Q_._ pawn, especially since h is weak. r. Qk._R
40.♔g2 ♔xd7 41.♔f3 ♖b5 42.♔e4
_._._Ni. a5 43.g4 hite has time to construct a he book then goes further with pre
._._IiBk self protecting pawn chain on the king senting material on all the side lines
_._._._. side. and Bezgodov’s own favoured choice in
43...a4 44.♗c4 ♖b1 45.f3 ♔c6 the main line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3
orces the e change of ueens, after 46.♔d4 ♖c1 47.♗f7 a3 48.♔d3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.♘f3 ♘c6 6.g3
which hite’s attacking chances disap ♔c5 49.♘c2 Time to harvest. Black ♘f6 7.♗g2 ♗e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.♗g5
pear and Black can hope for counterplay plays on for a couple of moves, but his re- cxd4
in the ending with rook and passed pawn sistance is broken.
far removed from the white king on h .
32.♕xd5 exd5 33.cxd5 c4 34.d6
49...♖d1+ 50.♔c3 ♖d7 51.♗a2 ♖e7
52.e3 ♖a7 53.♔b3 ♖d7 54.♔xa3
T_Ld.tM_
♔f8 35.d7 ♔e7 36.♘e5 ♖b5 ♖d2 55.♔b3 . jJ_. JjJ
37.♘xc4 ♖c5 38.♘e3 ♖xa5 39.♗d5 ._S_.s._
Masses of instruction in a beautifully _._J_. .
._._._._ produced book. armly recommended ._.j._._
j._ImJj. ■■■ _.n._Ni.
._._._.j inally I also managed to s ueeze in a Ii._IiBi
t._B_._I read of Ale ey Bezgodov’s The Art of the r._Q_Rk.
._._._._ Tarrasch Defence ew In Chess . It’s a
_._.n.i. slightly unusual opening book, perhaps
best comparable to ictor Moskalen
he book ends with a series of chapters
in which great players play and fight
._._Ii.k ko’s approach. he book starts o with against the arrasch, and then rounds
_._._._. a presentation of four lesser known o with a chapter of e ercises taken
or even ignored ideas in the main line from arrasch efence games. It’s a
A difficult decision, especially under arrasch efence such as the Curt von good summary of the opening with
time pressure since it seems natural to Bardeleben system 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 some e tra unusual ideas thrown into
keep the pawn on d . owever, 3 . h3 3.♘c3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.♘f3 ♘c6 the mi to give the reader some e tra
proves erroneous after the strong reply 6.g3 cxd4 7.♘xd4 ♗c5 unpredictability. Recommended ■
A 97
 Hans Ree

An epiphany at the
Lost Boys Open
Chess For Life, a book by Matthew Sadler and
Natasha Regan about the joys of playing chess
at an advanced age, evoked a less cheerful
memory in HANS REE.

I
remember the moment chess and suddenly I see that my (Long Live the Queen), written and
when I felt that I couldn’t position has completely changed directed by Esmé Lammers, who is a
play chess anymore. It was for the worse, without me having granddaughter of Max Euwe. There
in 2001, after a loss in the the faintest notion of what has been is a scene in which IM Hans Böhm,
first round of the Lost Boys Open in going on. I take such dreams as an playing himself as a commentator
Amsterdam. I’m not sure why I was so intimation of the dangers that lie in at an international tournament,
upset then. True, my opponent had, as I wait for older chess players or senior welcomes a participant who has
see in retrospect, 140 rating points less citizens in general. just lost his game. ‘You were badly
than me and, what’s more, he had About the vagaries of memory. outplayed, weren’t you?’ says Böhm,
played the Dutch Defence, which I had I remembered the tournament, the and of course he gets the typical
always considered an inferior opening. location, the Dutch Opening and answer: ‘Outplayed? No, I wouldn’t
But that shouldn’t be enough reason for the variation that I chose to combat say that. But I made an unnecessary
the loss to have such an impact. it. I thought I remembered a chaotic error and after that it was hopeless.’
Tigran Petrosian liked to play against time-scramble, and over the years An unnecessary error, always.
the Dutch and seems to have said that I had become convinced that my Esmé Lammers had a good ear for
if he would play the dreaded opening opponent had been the Russian GM chess players’ evasions. I wonder if
himself – which he occasionally did – Evgeny Gleizerov. When I consulted she ever heard the expression from
then for the rest of the game he would the database, crutch of my failing her grandfather. In an interview she
always be thinking about the desirable memory recently, I found that once said that as a young student she
move ...f5-f7 to repair the pawn chain. Gleizerov didn’t even take part in had a part-time job as Euwe’s chauf-
I shared Petrosian’s low opinion of that Lost Boys Open and that in fact feur, often driving him on trips
the Dutch, and in fact I have an excel- my opponent had been the Austrian through Europe for chess matters.
lent score against it, but then in 2001, I FM Andreas Bachofner. And the She had been amazed by his fantastic
lost against it as White. So what? Such time-scramble, if it had occurred at memory. ‘Now at the third crossing
things happen, don’t they? all, can’t have been terribly exciting, from here you’ll have to take a left’,
When I try to reconstruct my since I see now, with help of the he would say, somewhere in Austria
feelings after that game, it seems to engine, that I had already been lost at on a highway on which he had been
me that I had the idea that some- move 24. 10 years earlier.
thing incomprehensible had happened By the way, the organizer and
and that during the final stage I no On the road with Euwe and chess journalist Berry Withuis,
longer had any idea what was going Withuis about whom I wrote in New In Chess
on. Almost like in a recurring dream There is a beautiful Dutch film from 2017/4, used to drive chess masters
I have. In the dream, I am playing 1995 called Lang Leve de Koningin and grandmasters all over the Neth-

98 A
 HANS REE

erlands to the simul displays that he nature of chess. If you only thought As it would be in the West, Chinese
had organized, and once told me that right, you wouldn’t lose. internet reactions were scathing.
he always regarded other road users W hen I was one of Viktor What was the age of the schoolmaster,
as dangerous enemies who could Kortchnoi’s seconds for his Candi- people wondered. Was he senile? But
attack at any moment, either by foul dates matches against Petrosian in just like Donner, this schoolmaster
intent or by a stroke of madness. He 1977 and against Portisch in 1983, had been quite shrewd. He had wanted
would be prepared. I was impressed by his optimistic to stimulate non-exact creative
Recently, his daughter Jolande attitude that basically all problems thinking, and indeed some of the
Withuis wrote a book about how it in chess could be solved by hard answers he got were quite ingenious.
was to grow up as a child in a Commu- work. I think I owe a lot to my work
nist family during the Cold War. One with Viktor, not so much because of Losing as a wake-up call
of the lessons she learned from her the technical results of our work in Reluctantly I have to return now to the
father at a young age: ‘In a café, always opening variations, but because of his game I mentioned at the start of this
sit with your face to the entrance and inspiring attitude. article.
be aware of a second exit. You’ll see The late lamented Dutch grand- I am writing this during the Candi-
who comes in and you’ll be able to master Hein Donner showed the dates tournament in Berlin. At the
get out so that they won’t shoot you opposite attitude in an article about press conference after Round 2,
unexpectedly in the back.’ That was his son, who was doing homework for Levon Aronian said: ‘Generally, when
because of his World War II experi- his elementary school. Hein gave him you make big blunders, it’s kind of a
ences. Maybe his attitude to other an extra exercise that started conven- medicine. Because it wakes you up.
cars on the road stemmed from the tionally with a ship going up a river At some point, we all think we’re
same source. Anyway, on our way to at a certain speed, but ended with very clever and we’re invincible and
the simuls we felt safe in his car. the absurd question: how old is the then you play a very bad game and
captain’s wife? you understand that there is a lot to
Two captains on a river The boy calculated frantically, improve, a lot of area to work on.’
About unnecessary errors, some phil- coul ot fi a solutio a u er- And Alexander Grischuk said:
osophically inclined people might standably became very angry when ‘Losing is always very inspiring.’
hold the view that such things do not his father told him that the whole This is an uplifting attitude. These
exist and that every event proves its point of this exercise had been to show players are not only marvellously
gifted, they are also still young and
resilient, even though it must be said
‘A schoolmaster in Nanchong had put that Aronian played far below his
almost the same question in an exam for normal strength against Kramnik the
next day.
11-year-old pupils: “A ship has 26 sheep Not to compare myself to the gods,
but I must say that in my case the
and 10 goats on board. What is the age epiphany of 2001, with its sudden and
striking realization that I couldn’t
of the captain?” ’ play chess anymore, has never left me
since.
own necessity by the mere fact that it that some problems are not solvable, So be it. At least, writing about it
has happened. That may be a legiti- because of a lack of relevant infor- has steered my mind to other, more
mate way to think, but not a way to mation. You might call it Donner’s pleasant memories.
live. I used to be able to persuade version of the logician Kurt Gödel’s This article was originally intended
myself, at least at intervals, that my famous Incompleteness Theorem, to start out as an introduction to a few
errors in chess had in principle been adapted to the level of a child. things I wanted to say about a book
avoidable. If I could just think in the Donner may have been ahead of I had read recently, Chess for Life by
ri ht a oul fi the ri ht mo e his time, for recently I read in a BBC Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan
and would not lose. report that a schoolmaster in the (Gambit Publications 2016). As you
This wasn’t really arrogance, Chinese city of Nanchong had put can see, my would-be introductory
because as ell a are of the i er- almost the same question in an exam part has expanded vastly at the cost of
ence between the great players and for 11-year-old pupils: ‘A ship has 26 the intended main subject, leaving just
me. It was more a simplistic and very sheep and 10 goats on board. What is enough space to heartily recommend
much ‘pre-computer’ idea about the the age of the captain?’ this interesting book.

A 99
 Jan Timman

And another victory

for Vishy Anand
After he lost the world title in 2013, many predicted the end of Vishy
Anand’s career. These experts must feel pretty silly now, as five
years on, at 48, the ‘Tiger of Madras’ continues to roar and bite.
JAN TIMMAN looks at his impressive showing in the rapid part of the
Tal Memorial in Moscow.

I
n 1991, Vishy Anand traditional New Year’s tournament in in Chennai in 2013. Some people
faced a crucial trial in Reggio Emilia and winning the observed somewhat sneeringly
his young career. In the tournament. that he would be better off with-
quarter-finals of the Anand had more than just an drawing from the next Candidates
Candidates matches in Brussels the enormous talent for the game. In tournament. Anand gave them the
Indian super-talent, 20 years old at the recent documentary about most convincing reply possible: by
the time, was to play Karpov. Earlier Magnus Carlsen, Frederic Friedel of winning the Candidates.
that year, he had defeated the former ChessBase emphasizes the phenom- Last year, he failed to qualify for the
World Champion with Black in enal way in which Anand had famil- Candidates tournament in Berlin at
Linares, yet most experts were of the iarized himself with the technolog- the World Cup in Tbilisi. This time,
opinion that he wouldn’t have a hope ical developments of that time. That all the critics agreed: this was the
in hell. But the match went all the way combination of talent and exem- end of the Anand era. But again the
to the wire, with Karpov only plary preparation guaranteed that Indian confounded his critics with
managing to clinch victory in the he would have a long and brilliant his resilience: not long afterwards, he
final game. With this performance, career. won the Rapid World Championship,
Anand staked an indisputable claim If a World Champion – or another 25 years after his victory in Reggio
for a place in the world top, but not top player – continues to play Emilia. No, there isn’t any sign fore-
everyone agreed. ‘Just tricks,’ was after 40, there are bound to be shadowing the end of an era. Anand
Kortchnoi’s disdainful comment on short periods of apparent decline. has been at the top for more than a
the young Indian’s play. Yes, tricks, I When this happens, hordes of sour quarter of a century. In Wijk aan Zee
thought, but very deep tricks. During critics come out of the woodwork that combination of talent and exem-
the final days of that year and the first claiming that his career is finished. plary preparation could be seen at
days of 1992, Anand removed all This happened to Anand after work again. He confronted Gawain
doubts by beating Kasparov at the his first match against Carlsen Jones in the latter’s pet line of the
Sicilian and inflicted an impressive
‘No, there isn’t any sign foreshadowing the defeat.

end of an era. Anand has been at a top for It came as no surprise that in his next
event, the Tal Memorial in Moscow,
more than a quarter of a century.’ Anand won the rapid part, romping

100 A
maRia EmELianOVa Jan Timman

The Tal Memorial rapid cast photographed at the general prize-giving in the Museum of Russian Impressionism: Anand, Dubov,
Gelfand, Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Karjakin (winner of the blitz), Kramnik, Nakamura, Svidler and Mamedyarov. Barely visible
between Dubov and Gelfand, the man who made the event possible, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

through the tournament with playful This line was incredibly popular on e6, but as with many lines that
ease. His most spectacular win he more than a decade back. I remember haven’t been played in a while, one
achieved against Grischuk and he that especially around 2002 this tends to forget all the finesses.
kindly agreed to annotate that game was a topical line. However, fashion 14.♘e2 b5 15.♘g3 ♖fd8
for our magazine. has moved on and it was almost a 16.♗xg7 ♔xg7 17.♕g5 ♘d7
s rprise to see it again. n the first 18.♘f5+
round against Dubov I had faced
NOTES BY
the more topical line of 4...bxc6
and ... h White on after
T_.t._._
Vishy Anand
moves, see page ed. . _._S_JmJ
10.♗h6 ♕d6 11.0-0-0 a5 12.g4 ._JdL_J_
Vishy Anand a4 13.♔b1 _Jj.jNq.
Alexander Grischuk
moscow rapid 2018 (8)
J_._I_I_
Sicilian Defence, Rossolimo Variation
T_L_.tM_ _._I_N_I
_._._JlJ IiI_.i._
1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 g6 .jJd.sJb _K_R_._R
4.♗xc6 dxc6 5.d3 ♗g7 6.h3 ♘f6 _.j.j._.
7.♘c3 0-0 8.♗e3 b6 9.♕d2 e5
J_._I_I_ his plan, started ith . g , is a
fairly positional idea. One, it gets rid
T_Ld.tM_ _.nI_N_I of the lac ishop there are some
j._._JlJ IiIq.i._ lines in which Black can play, for

.jJ_.sJ_ _K_R_._R instance, ... and ... a , hich

is no ta en o t of the pict re and
_.j.j._. 13...♗e6 obviously it is helpful to open the
._._I_._ lac co ld have played ... e here, g-file. I felt fairly confident at this
_.nIbN_I and the plan is quite simple: coming
to e6, which is a really nice square,
stage, because I thought I could put a
lot of pressure on the black kingside,
IiIq.iI_ either via c7 or after recapturing on whereas his counterplay on the
r._.k._R g7. I didn’t feel the bishop belonged queenside is much slower.

A 101
 Jan Timman

18...♗xf5 19.gxf5 a3 20.b3 was quite promising, so I tried to look not only as Grischuk played, but also
for some good move. In fact, the eval- in the variation after 26...f6 below.
T_.t._._ uation right now seems to be about
equal. I finally came up with this idea
It’s very easy for Black to play ...♖g8,
as it’s a very natural move to make:
_._S_JmJ of lifting the rook to g5 and f5, which you want to bring the rook to g6 or
._Jd._J_ seemed to be dangerous, so I charged g7 and create a defensive set-up. This
_Jj.jIq. forth with my h-pawn. may unduly have made 26.♖f5 seem
._._I_._ stronger than it was. As I will show
below, more than one alternative
jI_I_N_I T_.t._._ to the mistake he made seems to be
I_I_.i._ _._S_J_M working quite nicely for Black. White
_K_R_._R ._J_.dJj obviously has compensation, because
the rook on f5, while it is not going to
20...h6 _Jj.jI_. take a huge part in the game, is still
Grischuk prefers to keep his king on ._._I_.i a very dangerous piece and is going
h7 and bring his rook to g8, which is jI_I_Nq. to tie down a few black pieces. White
quite a reasonable defensive plan. He I_I_.i._ is not without compensation, but it
could also have considered shifting
his rook into another direction. _K_R_.r. is insufficient. So my gamble was a
lucky one that paid off.
Something like 20...♖g8, perhaps 26...♖g8??
followed by ...♕f6. And even ...♔f8 23...gxf5 24.♕h3 f4 25.♖g5? Grischuk played this fairly confi-
and ...♔e7 might have been a good This is a real mistake, because after dently. The problem is that it is the
defensive plan. this Black is better. If I had played move the hand almost wants you to
21.♕g3 ♔h7 25.♔c1!, it would not have been make, which I had noticed as well,
easy to see how Black can improve because it was the move that kept
T_.t._._ his position. He cannot take over
the g-file, because the rook on d8 is
popping up. But once you see the
right idea for White, you eventu-
_._S_J_M defending the knight on d7. Nor can ally work out by elimination 26...f6
._Jd._Jj the black knight move easily in view and 26...♔h8, both of which Sasha
_Jj.jI_. of ♖g5. And if ...♕e6, we exchange suggested right after the game. Even
._._I_._ queens and White has enough
compensation for the pawn because
in the post-mortem, it was not easy
to get away from the idea that White
jI_I_NqI of Black’s pawn weaknesses. had compensation, but of course the
I_I_.i._ 25...♕e6 26.♖f5 computer defends it extremely easily.
_K_R_._R To begin with, Black would have

22.♖hg1
T_.t._._ been better after 26...f6 27.♘g5+ (or
27.♖h1 ♔h8 28.♘g5 ♕e7 29.♕g4
The eternal question of which rook. _._S_J_M ♖g8 30.♕h5 ♔g7 31.♖g1 hxg5
The advantage of 22.♖dg1 is that I ._J_D_.j 32.hxg5 ♔f8, and Black wins) 27...
have a rook ready on the h-file when _Jj.jR_. fxg5 28.hxg5, and should win after
I go h4, ♘g5+. The disadvantage of
22.♖dg1 is that the rook would no
._._Ij.i 28...♕g6 (here, again, 28...♖g8 is a
blunder: 29.♖f7+!) 29.♖h1 h5.
longer ‘attack’ the black queen, so jI_I_N_Q But after 26...♔h8 Black will also
Black could play ...c4 more effectively. I_I_.i._ have the upper hand.
The problem with 22.h4 gxf5 _K_R_._. Now I could immediately execute the
23.♘g5+ is that, as you can see, after move I had prepared, because I could
23...hxg5 24.hxg5+ ♔g7 25.exf5 This was my big point, because I felt see that he had blundered.
Black simply sidesteps the attack that the rook was very uncomfort- 27.♘g5+ hxg5 28.♖xf7+!
with 25...♖g8 and ...♔f8, and White able for Black over there and that It was only here that it hit him what
is a piece down. some combination of ♖h1, ♘g5+ had happened. He sat for a while,
22...♕f6 23.h4?! and ♕g4 would work. It seems that trying to come to terms with a game
At this point I had about five minutes I misjudged the position. Part of the that only seconds ago he must have
left, and needless to say, Grischuk had problem could be that it’s very easy been confident about. It took him
far less than that. I felt my position to keep considering the move ...♖g8 some time to absorb it, but then he

102 A
 Jan Timman

very sportingly decided to let the

spectators see the mate.

T_._._T_
_._S_R_M
._J_D_._
_Jj.j.j.
._._Ij.i
jI_I_._Q
I_I_.i._
maRia EmELianOVa

_K_R_._.
28...♕xf7 29.hxg5+ ♔g7 30.♕h6
Mate. In Moscow, the city where he was born and lives, Daniil Dubov (21)
continued to impress with his original and creative play.

This brilliant win by Anand met with

wide acclaim and the final phase
inspired the German study composer Vishy Anand pawn with extra cover, and when the
Martin Minski to create the following Daniil Dubov moment suits, Black will play ...g6-g5
study. moscow rapid 2018 (1) to blow up the white centre.
Sicilian Defence, Rossolimo Variation 16.♘a4 g5! The right moment.
17.hxg5 hxg5 18.♘xg5 The alter-
._._._.m 1.e4 5 2.♘f3 ♘ 6 3.♗b5 g6 native was 18. xg5, intending to sac-
_._._._. 4.♗x 6 bx 6 5.0 0 ♗g7 6.♖e1 ♘h6 rifice an exchange: 18...♘xg5 19.♕xg5
._._D_Tj 7. 3 0 0 8.h3 f5 9.e5 ♘f7 10. 3 ♕xg5 20.♘xg5 xe5 21.♖xe5! dxe5
_._._R_. The alternative is 10.d4, but the more 22.♖e1. After this, Black ust man-
._._I_Ni restrained text-move is more common.
Black has a wide choice. Gelfand, the
ages to maintain the balance with
22...♖g7 23.♘f3 e4.
_._._.jQ great expert of this system, usually 18...♘xe5 19.♗xe5
._._._._ goes 10...d6, but also plays 10...♖b8
_._. ._. on occasion. Another possibility is
._ dT_M_
10... a6, which ubov himself has
Minski, Chess Star 2018
White to play and win played as well. t._._. .
(dedicated to Vishy anand) 10...a5 A new move. ._JjJ_._
j.j. J .
It goes as follows:
1.♘e5! ♖g8 2.♘f7+ ♔h7 3.♘g5+!
T_ d.tM_ N_I_._._
hxg5 4.♖f7+! ♕xf7 5.hxg5+ ♔g7 _._JjS J _._I_._.
6.♕h6 Mate. ._J_._J_ Ii.q.iI_
j.j.iJ_. r._.r. .
‘Mate with two self-blocks’ this is
called in study jargon. What it means
._._._._ 19... xe5? Scuppering the whole
is that, in the main line, the black _.iI_N_I idea. Black should have played
rook and queen have been lured to Ii._.iI_ 19... xe5 to keep his structure intact.
squares that the king will no longer rN Qr. . White can still make a positional sac-
be able to access. The study is, in fact, rifice, but not a very convincing one.
a styli ed version of the final part of 11.♗f4 e6 12.♕ 2 h6 13.h4 ♖e8 20.♘f3! After this accurate move
the game. 14. 4 6 15.♘ 3 ♖a7 Anand converts his advantage in
Dubov now adopts an interesting exemplary fashion.
Anand also played a good game strategy – waging an indirect war in 20...♗f6 21.♘xe5 ♖h7 22.♕f4
against Dubov. the centre. White cannot provide the ♗g5 23.♕g3 ♖g7 24.♕f3 ♕ 6

A 103
 Jan Timman

25.♖e2 ♗f6 26.♖ae1 ♖g5 27.♕e3 11...dxc3 12.♗d3 ♕d6 13.♖e1+ 20...♗f5
f4 28.♕xf4 ♖f8 29.♖e3 ♖f7 30.♖g3 ♗e7 14.c5!? Sacrificing another Nakamura has defended excellently
♖xg3 31.♕xg3+ ♖g7 32.♕e3 ♖g5 pawn! 14...♕xc5 15.♗xe7 ♘xe7 so far, but it has cost him a lot of
33.♘f3 ♖f5 34.♘c3 ♗d4 35.♘e4 16.♖e5 ♕d6 17.♗b5+ time. The text is not bad in itself, but
Black resigned. now Black will be forced to defend

Dubov had more interesting ideas in

T_L_M_.t extremely accurately. In a classical
game, Nakamura would probably
the opening. Against Nakamura he jJj.sJjJ have played 20...c2!, when after
uncorked a sharp variation that was ._.d._._ 21.♖xd6 cxd6 22.♘d3 ♗f5 23.♕xc2
especially suited to rapid games. _B_.r._. a6 he would have no problems at all.
21.♖xd6 cxd6 22.♘d7+ ♔f7
Daniil Dubov
._._._._ 23.♕c4+ ♗e6 24.♕f4+ ♘f5
Hikaru Nakamura _.j._N_. 25.g4
moscow rapid 2018 (2) I_._.iIi Dubov was still playing fast. Black
English Opening, mikenas attack r._Q_.k. must be wary now.
1.c4 ♘f6 2.♘c3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4
5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 ♕xf6 7.d4 e5
8.♘f3 ♘c6 9.♗e2 The usual reply is
The first point of the pawn sacs: it is
no longer safe for Black to castle.
T_._._.t
9.♗g5. 9...exd4 10.♗g5 ♕g6 11.0-0 17...♔f8 18.♕e2 f6 19.♖d1 fxe5 jJ_N_MjJ
20.♘xe5 ._.jL_._
T_L_Ml.t Dubov was still playing a tempo. _B_._S_.
jJj._JjJ
Black is a rook and two pawns ahead,
but is now forced to give his queen.
._._.qI_
._S_._D_ _.j._._.
_._._.b. T_L_.m.t I_._.i.i
._Ij._._ jJj.s.jJ _._._.k.
_.i._N_. ._.d._._ 25...♖ad8? The decisive error.
I_._BiIi _B_.n._. Black should still have played 25...c2.
r._Q_Rk. ._._._._ Things will look hairy after 26.gxf5

And this is new. White sacrifices two

_.j._._. ♗xa2 27.f6, but now both 27...♖hc8
and 27...g5 are sufficient to hold.
pawns in order to create attacking I_._QiIi 26.gxf5 ♗xd7 27.♗c4+
chances. _._R_.k. 27.♕c4+ would also have won, but

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104 A
 Jan Timman

Dubov has sharply calculated the also the start of a remarkable manoeu-
final phase. vre. ._.t.lDm
27...d5 28.♗xd5+ ♔f6 29.♕d6+ 19.♕e3 ♘d4 20.♘xd4 cxd4 _Lt._Jj.
♔xf5 30.♗c4 ♖ e8 31.♗d3+ 21.♕e2 ♖d8 22.b3 a5 23.♘ 2 .s._J_.j
♔g5 32. 4+ ♔ 5 33.♕g3 ♗g4
34.f3! legant. 34...♖d4 35.♔f2
j.iJi._Q
._.t.dM_ .j.j.bNi
_Lt.lJj. _I_I_.i.
._._T_._ .s._J_.j
jJ_._.jJ I_._.iB_
j._Ji._. _._Rr.k.
._._._._ .jIj.b.i
_._._._M _I_I_.i.
26...♘d7! overing square f6. In the
._.t._Li I_._QiBn
end, the c pawn will fall anyway.
27.♘ 2 ♘xc5 28.♕e2 ♗a6 29.♘f3
_.jB_Iq. _._Rr.k. ♕ 7 The triumph of the black strategy.
I_._.k._ The queen has been deployed in origi-
_._._._. White withdraws the knight in order to nal fashion. Black is on top and won on
put his queen on h5. After that he wants move 44. ramnik s queen manoeuvre
35...c2 Too late. Black could still to return the knight to g4. reminded me of another game.
have set a trap with 35...g5, with the 23...♔ 8 24.♕ 5 ♕g8 ramnik
point of 36.fxg4+ ♖xg4 37.♕f3 ♖f8!
38.♕xf8 ♖f4+, and a draw. But White
prepares to counter this plan with an
ingenious queen manoeuvre. But it is
T_.dM_.t
would win with 36.♕c7!. tactically incorrect. Black could safely j._.sJj.
36.♗xc2 ♖f8 have played 24...a4, as after 25.♘g4 h7 .jS_J_.j
And Black resigned in view of 37.♕e5+. the White attack is no longer dangerous. _._Ji._I
25.♘g4 Now Black s plan is validated.
ramnik had both ups and downs in A strong reply would have been 25.♘f3,
L_Ji._.r
the Tal emorial. omething inter- after which Black will find it hard to i.i._N_.
esting happened in his game against protect the d pawn, his problem being ._I_BiI_
vidler. that 25...♗c5 will fail to 26.♗xh6! gxh6 r.bQk._.
27.♕xh6+ ♕h7 28.♕f6+, and wins. The
A.Sokolov-Jussupow
Peter Svidler d8 rook is unprotected. Riga Candidates match 1986 (1)
Vladimir Kramnik 25...♗f8 Now the black king has found position after 13.♗e2
moscow rapid 2018 (3) optimum security in a most curious
manner. 26.c5 This is what vidler A position from the Winawer in the
T_.d._M_ had planned. After 26...♖xc5 27.♗xh6!
gxh6 28.♘xh6 White will win, because
rench Defence. ussupow played
13...♔d7! 14.♗e3 ♕g8! 15.♕d2
jLt.lJj. the f pawn and again the d8 rook are ♕ 7 and went on to win the game.
.sS_J_.j unprotected. But Black is not forced to A queen creeping back into the fray via
_.jJi._. take the c pawn. h7: it s an ama ing theme.
.jI_.bNi
_._I_Ni. Moscow 2018 rapid cat. XXI
Ii._QiB_ 1 Vishy Anand iGm inD 2776
1
*
2
0
3
½
4
1
5
½
6
1
7
1
8
½
9 10
½ 1 6
TPR
2884
_._Rr.k. 2 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov iGm aZE 2809 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 5 2798
position after 18.♘g4 3 Sergey Karjakin iGm RUS 2763 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5 2803
4 Hikaru Nakamura iGm USa 2787 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 5 2801
A typical position in the ing s 5 Boris Gelfand iGm iSR 2695 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 4½ 2768
Indian Attack. White goes on the 6 Alexander Grischuk iGm RUS 2767 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 4½ 2760
rampage, while Black has counter- 7 Daniil Dubov iGm RUS 2701 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 4 2724
play on the queenside. White has 8 Vladimir Kramnik iGm RUS 2800 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 ½ 4 2713
taken his knight to g4, meaning that 9 Peter Svidler iGm RUS 2760 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 3½ 2681
a sacrifice is in the air. 10 Ian Nepomniachtchi iGm RUS 2751 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 3½ 2682
18...♕f8 A preventive measure, but

A 105
 Just Checking
Just CheCking
N

Lawrence Trent

EW
IN
CH
ESS
CURRENT ELO: 2440
DAT E O F B I R T H : April 28,1986
P L AC E O F B I RT H : London, UK
P L AC E O F R E S I D E N C E : Berlin, Germany / London, UK

What is your favourite city? of the most ferocious attacking players of life. A man who lives fully is prepared
Nothing beats London, although I abso- of all time. to die at any time.’ – Mark Twain.
lutely adore Vienna.
Is there a chess book that had a pro- When were you happiest?
What was the last great meal you had? found influence on you? Playing football in the park around the
Milos in London, with the one and only The Seven Deadly Chess Sins by Jona- age of 8.
IM Ali Mortazavi. than Rowson.
Who or what would you like to be if
What drink brings a smile to your face? What was your best result ever? you weren’t yourself?
Drinks bringing a smile to other peo- Winning the Porto San Giorgio Open A worldy philosopher.
ple’s faces. back to back 2005/06.
What is the best piece of advice you
Which book would you give to a dear And the best game you played? were ever given?
friend? Steingrimsson-Trent, Andorra 2013. Don’t take life too seriously.
How Much is Enough? by Edward Skidelsky.
What was the most exciting chess Is there something you’d love to learn?
What book is currently on your bed- game you ever saw? The Drums.
side table? Just choose one of the games from this
The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein by year’s Candidates! We were utterly spoilt. Where is your favourite place in the
GM Genna Sosonko. world?
What is your favourite square? Granada, Spain.
What is your all-time favourite movie? g7 – all my good sacrifices happen there.
The Godfather I. What is your greatest fear?
Do chess players have typical short- Losing love through carelessness.
And your favourite TV series? comings?
The Sopranos. They’d all be useless on a desert island. And your greatest regret?
If I die without getting my GM title, that
Do you have a favourite actor? What are chess players particularly will be it.
Marlon Brando. good at (except for chess)?
Plants vs Zombies. Maybe Hearthstone. How do you relax?
And a favourite actress? Oh, and some can play poker. Netflix!
Meryl Streep.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or? What does it mean to be a chess
What music are you currently listen- Twitter! player?
ing to? Unparalleled mental anguish.
1980s hip hop. How many friends do you have on
Facebook? Is a knowledge of chess useful in
Is there a painting that moves you? Too many who aren’t friends. everyday life?
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène On a subconscious level, probably.
Delacroix. Who do you follow on Twitter?
A lot of very uninspiring people. What is the best thing that was ever
Who is your favourite chess player of said about chess?
all time? What is your life motto? ‘Chess is mental ***bation’ – Bobby
Judit Polgar – Brilliant person and one ‘The fear of death follows from the fear Fischer.

106 A
 Spend less time on
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