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/ 97
SLT
HLS)
Ua tes
AMC ELH
ee Tae cM ltr) Mastering Chess Tactics
Neil McDonald
Batsford Ltd, London Introduction
aking a successful
combination is,
fone of the most
enjoyable parts of
1 game of chess. 1
still have the
scoresheet of my first ever
combination which was made when
1 was a relative newcomer to chess.
It was a two move knight fork
which won my opponent's queen.
With all the modesty of youth [later
wrote ‘a brilliant finish, though
say it mysell?” in big red letters on
the scoresheet. My sense of elation
‘sas understandable, Up until then I
had been the vietim of m
combzations and hese at last T had
ssrasped the mechanies of preparing
® combination of my own. It was a
great moment and I felt very proud
of myself,
The good news is that tactical
skill can be leamt. There may be a
‘ot of beauty and depth but there is
no magic or mystery even in the
‘most profound sacrifice.
J had three aims in writing this
Doak:
io show the reader all. the
archetypal tactical patterns
teach the art of combining
two or more of these pattems in
complex combinations
10 examine the strategical
prerequisites for a successful
combination
‘Thus you will find here every
tactical device you will need in 2
game of chess, except those
specifically aimed at the king. It is
‘envisaged that a companion book in
this series will cover all methods of
attack against the king.
Some tactical ideas are simple 10
calculate, but difficult to see in the
first place, If there is a win present
in the position but you have never
seen the necessary tactical idea your
task becomes the chess equivalent
of reinventing the wheel—a labor-
ious and time consurin
and you may not even succeed in
doing itt
business,
The player most famed for his
combinations was Paul Morphy
Who was the world’s best player
way back in the 1850s. [ have a
ook of his best games by Philip
Sergeant, written in 1916. This con-
tains the advice
“Morphy was an artist; and the
best way to enjoy an artist is not 10
dlisseet him
This is an impressive statement
high sounding and full of authority:
it is also wrong. Afier all, if 6 Introduction
Sergeant had no wish to find out the
secret of Morphy’s genius, why did
he write a book on him? We all
want to know what makes an artist
tick, whether he is a painter, a song
‘writer ora sportsman. In this book |
have made liberal use of the games
‘of Garry Kasparov, the greatest star
of our age, who shows an absolute
mastery of all forms of chess
combination.
Remember that some of the
greatest chess minds in the world
such as Kasparov himself, Shirov
land Morozevich fall victim to the
combinations given here, So don't
worry if you don't understand
everything the first time you read
this book! It may well be that you
will come back 10 it at different
points in your chess career and each
time you will understand a bit more.
I have tried to describe every
single tactical operation that a
player might face or need to use in a
game, Whenever I couldn't find a
notable example in the published
games of the great masters or
wanted additional material 1 have
referted to my own humble games,
both won and lost. I hope I will be
forgiven for this indulgence.
Whatever our strength if we fear
the basics of tactical play we can
sometimes carry out what would
have seemed before to be a chess:
board miracle. 1 hope this book
gives you a lot of fun and provides
you with the ammunition to make
some Kasparov-like combinations!
Neil McDonald
Gravesend, England
1 Knight Forks
ith its bizarre
and seemingly
imegular mover
ment, the knight
‘causes the inex
perienced player
a lot of grief. I is far easier to keep
track of threats from a bishop which
moves neatly along diagonals of the
same colour than the side-swerving,
colour-hopping horse.
‘The most troublesome feature of
all is the knight fork:
A knight fork occuss when two
pieces are simultaneously attacked
by a knight. In the diagram White
has just played 1 QeS+. The black
‘king has to move out of check and
then White takes the queen
Tn the next diagram, there is no
immediate knight fork but one can
be prepared
White would ike to play 1
‘Wxe62? but then 1..W1 is mate.
Instead the queen exchange 1
Wat7+ Lxt7 drags the black king
‘onto a square where it is separated
from his rook by the distance of a
knight fork. Now 2 DeS+ $e6 3
)xe6 wins the rook.
The knight's power to attack
simultaneously pieces so widely
apart makes it an enormous danger
for the unwary. Here is an example
from one of my own games that
remains vividly in my mind twelve
‘years after it was played, 8 Knight Forks
N.McDonald - A.Stromer
Cappelle la Grande 1991
Black to play
Thad lingered on many moves in
this hopeless position. Black’s rook
cuts off the white king fom the
passed pawn, and after the correct
58.. (or
2 Wh8+) ted 3 Weal while
Black to move wins with a lateral
skewer: L.al=W 2 g8-W (there is
nothing better) 2,.89h1+! (exploit
ing the bed position of the white
king 10 set up the skewer) 3 23
Welt 4 hs Wes
‘Skewers in the opening are quite
unusual, but the following is a fine
example of a trapper trapped!
Ha:
Hungarian Championship 1973
1 ef 06.2 43.65 3 14 d6.4 ON g6
5 feS dred 6 Oine5
According to Tartakower a com
bination just shows that someone
has blundered. Certainly someone
has blundered here as the © pawn
‘can’t be given up for nothing, but is
White or Black? Bilek exploited
the double attack to win the knight
with 6..¥aS+ 7 2d? Wre8, but
White had the last laugh with the
skewer 8 23! We7 9 Kxh8 when
hhe was the exchange and pawn up.
Black, a Hungarian Grandmaster,
had forgotten that with 4.6%? he
was ruining his indirect defence of
the €5 pawn,
Kasparov used the threat of a
skewer to build up an initiative in
the following example.
G.Kasparoy - R.Ponomariov
Linares 2002
Black to play
Black is a pawn up but seriously
‘behind in development. Therefore
he played 19..a6 attacking the
bishop, with the idea of gaining
time to put his bishop ont
excellent d5 square after 20 Sad b5
21 Bcd Qb7 22 EAM ds.
Kasparov however found an
excellent way to frustrate this plan’
20 Eh3t when if 20..axbS the
skewer 21 Wxh7+! Exh7 22 Bxh7+
8 23 Bxc7 leaves White the
exchange up. Ponomariov saw this
and played 20..e7 but after 21
Rd3!—the bishop is delighted to
have the square vacated by the rook
and threatens 22 xg6+!—21..£3
22 g4t White kept up the attack and
eventually won on move 38
Skewer 71
Mallleseas Cordoba ~
‘A.Morozevich
Pamplona 1998,
White t play
Here Ilescas played 22 adh
counting on having pressure on dS
ina quiet position, However, 0.
tactical firebrand like Morozevich,
there is no such thing as a quiet
positon. Here he applied a skewer
with decisive effect 72 Skewer
An unexpected retreat with the
big threat of 23...06 spearing the
‘white queen against the rook on fl
23 Dxds
Giving up the exchange straight
away. If instead
(a) 23 Bgl @a6 24 We6 (if 24
Wha e325 Wo} AL mate)
24,43 25 Rei Dos 26 Wad Les
‘winning White’s queen.
(b) 23 Bfel a6 24 Web (or 24
Wo4 a3 scinning the exchange)
24. a3 25 BEM? (better to give up
the exchange with 25 Wad5)
25,.,Db4 26 Wad x61 winning,
A wonderful demonstration of the
power of the skewer.
23..S96 24 Wxb6 SRxfl 28 Hafl
xa? 26 Wrd8 Exd8
The exchange up for a pawn and
with two weak pawns to attack
Black made short work of the
endgame,
27 Re3 Des 28 dd eS 29
D3 Dxe3 30 bre} Sxd4 31 Deas
Ee8 32 Dbs HeS 33 Od6 Bxe3 34
3 Hee2 1
J.Hodgson - D-Norwood
British Championship,
Eastbourne 1991
Afer the rather eccentric opening
moves 1 d4 g6 2 h4!? 2)f6 3 gs
Sig? 4 Dad? 5 § ¢3 exd4 6 exdd
Black was tempted to attack two
white pawns with 6..Wb6. There
followed 7 Dest
Black completely missed the point
of this and replied 7..Wb4+?
expecting (0 gain time by attacking
the knight and foreing it to retreat
back to d2. However, after 8 &d2!
Wares (or 8..WbS 9 of and the
threat of 10 @d6+ gives White the
initiative) 9 Ket the black queen
‘couldn't escape as 10 Zxc8 mate
‘would follow. Strictly speaking, the
fact that it is mate on 8 rather than
a win of material makes this a pin
rather than a skewer, since the king
is more important than the queen;
but the mechanism of attacking
picce with an ‘y-ray’ through the
enemy queen is more typical of @
skewer than a pin, After 9..xe1
10 dtxel De6 11 DE3 White had a
distinct material advantage but a
Graw was immediately agreed due
to the tournament situation—Julian
Hodgson only needed half a point to
become the 1991 British Champion,
10 Skewer Puzzles
1
Sugden - N.McDonald
Hastings Challengers 2001/2002
White to play.
Seeing that after 38 c7 Black can
stop the passed pawn with 38, 218,
White played 38 Ze pinning the
rook. How should the game now
finish?
2
Anand - T.Radjabov
FIDE Grand Prix, Dubai 2002
White to play.
Black's king has been driven out
into the open and is surely doomed,
but what is the simplest way to
finish the game? 74 Skower Puzzles
3
N.MeDonald - B.Jacobs
GLC Masters, London 1986
Black to play
With two extra passed pawns
Bue ealy winning, Hate he
layed 42..2, calculating that (@
beer Geet td One? aI
wins, or (b) 43 xed Sixe2 and if
White captures. the knight then
Heft regains the piece with a
skewer afier which the rook and
pawn endgame is easily won for
Black. What was the flaw in this
caleulation?
4
N.MeDonald - Gulzsak
Elekes tournament, Budapest 1995
White to play
White gave up the f pawn with 52
shea! Hat? Why?
11 Discovered Attack
‘ve always wondered why
this isn't called uncovered
attack? Whatever its name it
can be a fearsome tactical
weapon as the following
examples show
abede fen
White plays 1 Qf4 or I eS. The
knight attacks the bishop and at the
same time an attack By the rook is,
uncovered--or discovered—on the
knight on d8. The black pieces can’t
defend cach other so next move
‘White will capture one of them,
White plays 1 dieS+ uncovering
am attack on the black king by the
bishop and also attacking the black
rook with his king. Black can't deal
with both threats and so is forced to
give up the rook with either 1...2d3
2 Sixd3+ or |..tig5 (or anywhere
else) 2 xd6. Because this example
involves a discovered attack on the
black king itis also referred t0 a5 a
discovered check, The most famous
example of discovered check was
recorded as far back as 1620 by
Greco. It goes 1 e4 05 2 13 x6 3
Fes Drei 4 Wer Dior? 3
@o6+: the black king is in check 76 Discovered Attack
from the queen and therefore he
loses his own queen to the knight
You will have noticed in these
examples that the strength of a
discovered attack comes from the
fact that there are two threats: one
from the piece that is lying hidden
in ambush and a secondary one
from the piece that moves out of the
way (0 reveal the ambush, Therefore
itis closely related to the theme of
double attack. If the defender
cannot deal with both threats he is
Vikely to lose material
A-Morozevich - J.Polgar
Frankfurt-West Masters 1999
White to play
In this position White has every
chance to win, but he fell for 2
horrible swindle.
43 Weg?
Not 43 Exe7 Wre7, but 43 Wh6t
wins nicely, for example 43...2%e2+
44 Gh2 exb6 (or 44.AxE4 45
Exe?) 45 Bxi7+ wig8 46 c7 xf
47 c8-M Dstt 48 We7+ and White
picks up the knight to end all
resistance.
B..DBH
This clears the way with gain of
time for the discovered attack
44 ext
It 44 fl Edi+ is a mighty
‘check(!) all the same,
Uncovering an attack on White’s
‘queen,
45 WE Zxt1+ 46 dextt Wed
Not only has White lost. the
queen, but to cap it all he now drops,
the bishop to a double attack.
47 seg? Wald 48 a4 6 0-1
‘S.Pedersen - N.MeDonald
London 1997
Black to play
Here White has a very pleasant
position with the two bishops and
Potential pressure along the e file
‘Therefore I tried to entice him into a
blunder with
28...e6!? 29 Wbs?
‘A natural move that attacks dS,
but it falls straight into the trap.
29,.xd4+!
Black unexpectedly wins a key
pawn for if 30 cxd4 the discovered
attack 30..e1+! 31 Excl WxbS
‘wins White’s queen. There followed
30 dhl e6 31 Lael
Still 31 oxd4 Bel wins,
Banke? 32 b3 O16 33 Wad
ath} 34 203 y8 35 We eS!
‘Another discovered attack
36 EixeS ed 37 Wahs Ext
cand finally a fork. If 38 gxtt
Dg3+ wins Whites queen,
38 xed xed 39 Hired dred 40
Exe Hef and Black won,
G.Kasparoy - K.Georgiev
Sarajevo 2000
abed
abedef gn
White 10 play
Discovered Attack 77
Black has an extra pawn, but his
pieces are under great pressure. Tn
Particular his rook is very precari
ously placed on €7. The obvious
way 10 uncover an attack on it is
with 27 Qe7+, Then 27..Bxe? 28
Exc? g5 29 &g3 DieS and 28 hxe7
Exel 29 Excl Wxe7 30 Excs+
a7 are both somewhat better for
White, but not crushing
Kasparov found a much stronger
move:
27 eT
With this move order White gets
to capture both black rooks after
27..Hixe7 28 QxeT+ Wre7 29
Bxc7, leaving him two exchanges
up. In contrast, in the 27 @e7*
xe7 line above, White can capture
either rook, but neither is with
‘check, giving Black time to save the
remaining rook, either with 28.5
or 28,.2xcl
21..B x06
Giving up the queen is the only
way to play on.
28 xB Exel+ 29 Exe Dxf8 30
ws
Kasparov homes in on the weak
£7 square.
30...S06 31 Be7 xd
Or 31.85 32 exfS! xd
(32..gxf5. 33 We3) 33 6 and the
threats of 34 Exg?+ and 34 7+
can't both be stopped.
32 exdS (5 33 d6 Has 34 Whét
10 78 By
‘covered Attack
The gouble attacks carry the day!
3 it: 34,.cad6 White has either
bo nar 36 mya7 Dea? 37
BAT 9. 35 Bag?+ dxgT 36 Wer
Se gp) Wado, Meanwhile if 34.85
Bhs and the threat of 36 WI7
Stay tly be met by 36.-Ed7 losing
Soap) BxaT Dxd7 38 We8s DAS
‘or 36..Ad7 when 37 Exd7!
End? 33 Wer attacks both king
androg’
©.dela Riva Aguado -
‘A.Morozevich
Pamplona 1999
White to play
Inthe diagram above White
played 32 2f6 which on the face of
it looks very strong. Besides threat
ening 33 @©xg8 it attacks h7 a third
Time. If 32..Wxio 33 Bsh7 or 33
Exh? is mate—an extreme example
of a successful deflection, On the
other hand there is nothing
compelling Black to take the knight.
Black could defend with 32..g7,
bbut Morozevich found something
‘much stronger.
32.00
Blocking the white queen's attack
fon h7 and uncovering an attack by
the black bishop on the knight. The
game ended abruptly wit
33 Wxed?! xf 34 Uxa8?
If 34 Wxh4? Bxdl+ is our
familiar zwischenzug, winning a
rook after 35 &h? Sxh, but White
wouldn't last long even after the
sensible 34 We2.
34x04 OL
Going back to the diagram, after
32 046 eff, much tougher was 33,
‘Dxed!? eS — the point, attacking
the rook on c7 and uncovering an
attack on White's queen — 34
Exuh7+ with two variations
(2) 34..Wxh7 35. Wad! now
Black even loses after 35,,Exd8?
36 Exd8+ dg? 37 Bd7+ when the
skewer wins back the queen and
leaves White oxo pawns up. Un-
fortunately for him after simply
35,.Wxed 36 d2—he has to guard
against 36..18f4—he is a piece
down for two pawns with litle
hope
(b) 34..doxh7 35 Dgs+ (after 35
16+ Shs! the black king is come
pletely safe) 35..<¢e7 36 Se6+
h8 37 Zixd8 WE! and as White is
soon mated after 38 g3? Exg3 he
has to give up the knight with 38
2it7+ Gat7 39 Wad, with a similar
situation to the end of variation (a)
above.
A.Fedoroy - U.Adianto
‘Olympiad, Istanbul 2000
abedefgh
White 10 play
Here Fedorov played 31 Dxe6!
which is very powerful for if
31..Bxd7 32 Eg8+ Bd8 33 Bxd+
‘Waxd8 34 @xd8 leaves Black in big
trouble in the endgame—the h pawn,
ison its way to h8. So Black tried
Discovered Attack 79
31.28 32 Weds?
Instead 32 h6! leads toa beautiful
win—remember that passed pavwns
should be pushed! Now 32.. 2142+
33 scl is nothing for Black, 30 he
should try 32.._2e4 33 h7! xg3 34
Wace! sexed 35 n+ aed? 36
Wa7+ reo (if 36.808 37 WER
Teads to mate: 37.. Bas 18
DrxcG+! bxc6 19 hxg3 leaves White
the exchange and a pawn up.
15.008
If 15, Bae8 16 ©g6 still wins the
exchange, while on 15.868 16
Zfxes Wixg3 17 hxg3 White is a
pawn up after either 17.fe6 18
Exe6 or 17..he8 18 Dxi7 Het
16 Bre?
Of course if now 16 Sg6? Exel~
16..4xe7 17 81
Attacking the bishop and at the
saine time clearing the way for 18,
Bel
17.86
The bishop has no safe retreat as
17.826 18 Hel 18 19 £5 wins
1 pawn while the enormous power
of 15 Wg3 reveals itself after
17.Gn5: 18 Het Wis (if 18..Wd6
19 xh5 wins a piece) 19 Zest
fxe6 20 @xe6 and Black can’t both
save his queen and prevent We7
mate
18 Xet Wes 19 Qx07!
Desperado: the knight gives itself
up for an important pawn before
White captures the bishop.
19,4347 20 261
Another useful —_zwischenzug
which forces the black queen 10 3
‘square where she blocks in her rook.
If immediately 20 fxg4 He8 battles
20...8 21 fxgd Wd
There was no other way to pre
vent 22 Deb.
22 Bee WER
Losing quickly but if 22..We7 23
eT and Black isin a decisive bind
23-05 WIT 24 Bato! 1-0
1.24, 25 Be6 oF 24..gxt6
25 Geb fb6 26 Des+ and wins the
back queen.
The next example is a warning
that even in the most harmless
looking positions you have 10 be
alert for tacties.
D.Norwood - S.Collins
ANCL, Birmingham 2002
White 1 play
There doesn’t seem to be much
going on in this quiet position
Therefore White played the statexi-
cally good 17 Had1 counting on
having 2 good position because of
his control of the d file. However,
Discovered Attack 83
he was hit by a “bolt of lightning:”
17..2d8!!. "This threatens "both
18.-2)xe3 and 18... followed by
19. 2xh3+. If 18 exdS exds 19
Deb Wha? followed by 20..xet
is overwhelming GM. "David
Norwood sank into deep thought
and then submitted to huge material
losses in order to keep the initiative
with 18 Bea!? Ghxe3 19 Wed Axa
20 Exdi. Black is of course win-
fing, but White managed to build
up a big atiack afer 20..Wh4 21
hg? Keas 22 Zd6 6 23 We2 5
24 Rb? WeT 25 a3 Add 26 Ded
eS 27 xe$ iie5 28 hd £6 29
Gir 30 Ges Haat 31 Wadi Wad
32 Wel a5? (here 32..H6! to rule
‘out White's kingside pawn advances
‘would surely be a straightforward
wvin) 33 5! fags 34 Ot Was 35,
hot £6 36 Ded es 37 Bed WaT
38 dys a4 39 Wes axb3 40 axb3
Be8 41 (3 WIT 42 G06 Exes 43
Qg4 with an unclear position: Black
is the exchange and two pawns up
but there are huge dark square holes
in his kingside which White's
Knight, queen and monster pawn on
16 are all well placed to exploit.
Meanwhile White has achieved a
blockade on the light squares. The
game eventually finished as 9 draw
Going back to the diagram position,
17 Des keeps a slight edge for
White as the tick 17.2245? fails to
1B exd5 exd5 19 Ded,
As we saw at the start of the
chapter a particularly powerful form
of discovered attack is discovered
‘check. 84 Discovered Attack
L.Aronian - J.Plaskett
Hastings 2000/2001
abedet
White to play
Here White played 33 xd! eT
1f33.,cxd5 34 3+ picks up the
rook, while 33..¢7 34 @xd7
‘bxd7 (or 34. Bxd5 35 DbG+ with a
fork) 35 Sxc6+ da8 36 Het and 37
‘Enxad with an easy win,
34 Lxcé!
White gets maximum benefit from
the potential discovered attack. If
now 34,,s2x06 35 Db3+ kbs 36
OyxaS xas 37 HeS+ with a double
attack on the king and bishop.
34..2d6 35 Rrad sea8 36 Hed
‘and, with two extra pawns, White
soon won.
12 Discovered Attack Puzzles
You decide to play the French as
Black, but after 1 ef e6 2 d4 5 3&5
5 4 €3 De6 § 013 a7 your oppo-
nent plays in the style of the Ruy
Lopez with 6 2bS What should you
2
L.Williams - N.McDo
Lloyds Bank Open 1994
White 0 play
Work out how Black should
respond to 25 £4. 86 Discovered Auack Puczles
3 Black threatens 33...£{5 and
Shaw -N.MeDonald 34..aixbI destroying the defender
Cafe Baroque tournament, of 62, or the combinational
London, 1995 33._ixb2+! 34 Bxb2 Welt 35 3b]
We3+ 36 Hb2 bxa3 winning, so
White met both threats by 33 Wa5.
If Black now plays the 33...,2xb2+?
combination he won't be able to
play 36..bxa3_at the end of it
because of 37 Wxc3+.
However, after Black’s reply
White resigned straight away. What
was il?
5
J.Aagaard - N.MeDonald
Drury Lane tournament 1997
White 10 play
White_grabbed a pawn with 41
WaT+ 206 42 Wres Was this a
good idea?
4
S.Karjakin - V.Topaloy
FIDE Grand Prix, Dubai 2002
White to play
Rather than retreat his knight,
White played 24 h3_ and there
followed 24.gxfS 25 xf. A
awischenzag: White's idea is that
1 after the black queen moves to
safety he ean regain his knight with
26 hxg and stay 2 pawn up. What
was wrong with this idea?
White to move
6
G.Kasparoy - RI
wsimdzhanov
‘Wijk aan Zee 1999
White t0 play
Most club players would be
thinking which of Black's pawns 10
capture—the one on a7, 67 or h6.
Probably they would settle for 34
@xh6+. However, Kasparov came
up with a clever way to use a
discovered attack, Can you find it?
(a clue: the black rook is awkwardly
placed as it has to defend the bishop
on e2!),
Discovered Auack
1
N.McDonald - A.Bang
European Cup, Reykjavik 1999
White t0 play
White is a pawn down, How
should he play and what is your
assessment ofthe position? 13 Trapping Pieces
his is a very demo-
cratic tactical weapon
as any piece can trap
any other piece. The
punishment for falling
into a trap may vary
from a long term in prison to a swift
death sentence,
With 1 de6! White traps the
knight and will capture it in two
moves with $7 and &xa8. Then
hhe will queen his pawn. Black's
king is t90 far away to save the
night or stop the pawn queening.
Here the bishop traps the knight
‘on 8, On the other hand, it can’t
‘win it without the help of another
piece.
One of the most well known ofall
traps. Black grabs pawn with
1.SUxh2? but after 2 g3! the bishop
is shut in. Now a race begins to free
or capture the bishop: 2..h5 3 3
hd 4 Qg2! hxg3 5 fg3 and the
bishop perishes. The best Black can
do is 5..Sxg3 but 6 dexg3 gives
White a winning endgame.
G.Buckley - J.Shaw
Hastings Challengers 2002
White to play
White has fantastic compensation
for the pawn: the black bishop is
‘entombed on bf and he has a strong
passed pawn and control of the open
e file
White now played 33 Hde3!?. A
crafty move as Black, in time
pressure and fearing 34 Hest,
automatically played 33..3g7 when
after 34 Ef the black queen
suddenly found itself trapped. The
game ended 34..2xd6 35 Exd6t.
This leads to a quicker win than the
simple 35 Ex Ext6. 35,.Wxd6 36
Trapping Pieces 89
Waf?+ Sho 37 Wer 1-0 Black is
unable to guard against mate on
both 7 and h7 unless he plays
37...Wxe7, but then 38 Wne7 leaves
hhim with’ only a bishop for the
queen. Buckley had worked
everything out 10 a finish, but you
have to be very sure that you have
calculated correctly if you tum
down the chance to be a queen for a
rook up: think how embarrassing it
‘would be if you had got it wrong!
V.Kotronias - M.Godena
White to play
White has built up a powerful
attacking position and with 32 Be3!,
threatening to skewer the king and
rook with 33 Wa8, he could have
set Black huge problems. Instead he
played 32 eS? which on the face
of it looks equally strong. In fact it
falls for a devilish trap: 32.208!
33. Was WreS! Kotronias had
thought this impossible due to the
pin that follows, but after 34 Ec3
Weed! 35 bxed it is true thet White 90. Trapping Pieces
has won material, but how ean he
ever extricate his queen? Black has
only to exercise a litle care and the
queen's entombment will remain
permanent, as the rest of the game
demonstrates:
35..Exg3 36 Soh? Eyed 37 4
He7! 38 He3 Hes!
Black defends the bishop so that if
White ever tries to rescue the queen
with €5-06 he can play @xc6
keeping the prison intact.
39 bd Bas
Cutting off the white king from
interfering with the passed pawns he
is about to create
40 €5 (6 41 a4 Ge6 42 04 eS and
White resigned as the passed
ppawns are unstoppable. Once the
white queen was shut in, this was a
very easy win for Black.
V.Anand - P.Svidler
Linares 1998
abedefeh
Black to play
Here Black to move could
extricate his rook with 33...2¢6, but
Svidler became ambitious and tried
33..d8? 34 eS WIS. Now given
fone free move and Black will play
Dhd with good chances. However,
he was allowed no respite as Anand
trapped the rook:
35 ba! Ze
The rook drops at once after
35..He2 33 gt
36 Wart
Nevertheless the rook is forced 10
the fatal c2 square.
36..0e2 37 gat Ohs
Also hopeless is 37..xd2 38
gxfS and Black has two pieces
hanging,
38 px Ox+
39cchit
‘The only square for the king! If
instead 39 dg? nd? 40 Be? Black
has the fork trick 40... to save
the piece — 41 Bxc2? @xe3+ 42
E3 xe?
Or 39 dbf? Dxd2 40 Be? and here
40,.Bet? 41 xed Dred 42
xed dred 43 fHe6 looks like an
awful endgame for Black, but
instead he can fight strongly with
the exchange sacrifice 40,..Exc5 41
dxe5 Det 42 dy? exiS with a
very impressive array of passed
pawns in the centre, In fact, I think
White might even be hard pressed to
draw this!
39..Aixd2 40 Her Died
The knight is still pinned after
40..Be1+ 41 g2. Black could
have tried 40..Hxe5!? 41 Bxes Ded
42 Exc? exf5 with similar counter-
play to that in the note above on 39
though much inferior as
White's rook has already broken
through to 7. In any case Black
might as well have given this a go
as he resigns in two moves!
41 Exe? @ixe3 42 Be? 1-0
It 42..Oxf5 43 Qxe6 and not
only is White the exchange up but
Black centre pawns are harmless.
A.Bezgodoy - S.Hmadi
Tunis Open 1997
White to play
Trapping Pieces 91
After 22 bd! there is no immedi-
ate threat to the knight because if 23
bbxa5?? White is mated on b2 after
23..Wxa3+. On the other hand, the
knight cannot retreat as 22...2¢6
allows White to make a combination
to destroy the defence of the other
knight: 23 Dexd5! exd5 24 Dads
WIT 25 Sixo4. Now White has two
‘extra pawns and the attempt by
Black to win a piece with a pin
rebounds: 25.6 26 Wh6!
attacking Black’s rook so that it
drops off if Black takes twice on 5.
‘White also threatens 27 b6+! axb6
28 Sixt. If 26...2°b8 to avoid this
then 27 @ib6!— anyway —27...Sixe4
28 xed Zh7-—_what else?—29 e6!
Hxh6 30 ext7 Mf6 31 Bgl! and 32
2Bg8 will mate or queen the pawn,
22.06
Black strengthens his centre to
avoid the variation above but in
doing so he cuts off the retreat of his
knight
23.1!
Defending a3 and so winning a
piece. Black now makes a forlom
sacrifice in an attempt to open up
the white king.
23..8xa3 24 Dead Wib4 25
pres
Black’s pieces are to uncoord=
inated to pose any real threat to the
white king. Still, White's queen and
the knight on f6 are rather shut out
of the game. How can he bring them
into action? Bezgodov. shows us
how.
26 Who EAT 92 Trapping Pieces
‘The only move for if 26..Bg2 27
WIB+ se7 28 Wd6+ wins at once.
27 Dxast
‘The key to exploiting the extra
piece is to break up Black’s pawn
structure and regain the initiative,
White could trap the rook with 27
RhS? when if 27..He7 28 WR,
bbut Black can turn the tables and
win with 27..Qe4! and there is no
200d way to prevent mate on b2.
27..0xd5 28 06 2x06 29 Wre6+
47 30 Wat5
Threatening 31 2g4. Black could
safely resign now. The remaining
30.nibe7 31 WeS+ Heb 32 dues
Wied 33 Dc3 Wad+ 34 deb1 What
35 Pal Ach 36 xed xed 37
We6+ e538 Des
Not even giving Black the pleas
ure of some checks.
38..