Trajan vs. BDub-The Power of Knights

Often I see that people neglect their knights, or their opponent’s knights, in favor of the farther-reaching bishop. They either throw their knights on the 3rd or 6th rank and forget about them, or sometimes not move one of them at all. Other times they neglect to see threats posed by their enemy’s knights until it is too late. Maybe it’s because the bishop is a long range piece and the knight is more of an in-fighter, or because inexperienced players don’t quite understand the knight. Perhaps it’s because it can be harder to coordinate an attack with two knights instead of two bishops. Many times a player will throw out a bishop as soon as they can in an attempt to start an immediate attack with little back up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put the bishop down, he’s a useful guy. I’m just trying to stand up for the little guys (in case you haven’t noticed, knights are my favorite pieces).

My opponent in this game is BDub, and as worthy an adversary as he is, he did neglect the threat my knights posed until it was too late.

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 Nc6
6. Bg5 e5
7. Bxf6

No, I’m not neglecting opening theory for the second time now just for the fun of it. I want to double black’s pawns and leave him with no solid place to castle with ideas of Nxc6.

7. … Qxf6
This move here is the beginning of my opponent’s disregard for my knights. Better would have been 7. … gxf6 8. Nf5 Bxf5 9. exf5 Rc8 10. Bb5 a6 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 is better, as well as 7. … gxf6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bc4 Qb6 10. Bb3 Rg8 11. 0-0 Bh3.

8. Nd5 Qd8
This was most likely reactionary to the idea of the fork at c7, not realizing that I have another knight that I can bring to bear on that square, forcing the issue. Qg6 would have been better as there is no real way to stop the fork.

9. Nb5 Rb8

Ooops. Ok, it may seem as though I’m picking on poor BDub, but I’m not. Everyone has good and bad days. Here again he tries to get out of the fork only to step into more troubles. Now he has no choice but to lose the queen for a knight. 9. … Be6 10. Nbc7+ Kd7 11. Nxa8 Qxa8 12. Bb5 g6 13. 0-0 f5 14. exf5 gxf5 15. Qd2 Bg7 16. c4 e4 would have been better, it loses a rook for a knight, but the queen remains and the fight can continue somewhat.

10. Nbc7+ Kd7

OUCH! BDub, not aware of the danger posed by my knights, and most likely in an effort to save the queen, walks into mate. Qxc7 is better, seeing as you can’t do worse than checkmate.

11. Qg4+ f5
12. Qxf5#

And the queen steps in to take all the glory, when really the knights do all the work. In all fairness, BDub is playing better in our other games. Maybe its because I smacked him awake in this one, who knows. So, do I overvalue my knights? I try not to, but usually do to a slight degree. Can you blame me; they’re the fun pieces. I’m not saying to attack with reckless abandon with them either, just stop ignoring them and have more fun with them. See where it takes you.

Article contributed by Trajan

Referred to by many chess historians as the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of chess, Capablanca was a chess prodigy whose brilliance was noted at an early age. Richard Reti said about him ‘Chess was his mother tongue’.

According to Capablanca, he learned the rules of the game at the age of four by watching his father play. He said he noticed his father make an illegal move with his knight, accused him of cheating, and then demonstrated what he had done.
Capablanca was taken to the Havana Chess Club when he was five, where the leading players found it impossible to beat the young boy when giving him the Chess handicap of a queen. In 1901, just turned 13, he defeated Cuban national champion Juan Corzo by the score of 4 wins, 3 losses, and 6 draws.

He later began a semester as an undergraduate student of chemical engineering at Columbia University in New York City, but did not complete it, and chess became his profession.

In 1909, at the age of 20, Capablanca won a match against US champion Frank Marshall by +8-1=14. This was a comparable margin to Marshall’s World Championship loss (+8-0=7) to Emanuel Lasker in 1907. Marshall insisted that Capablanca be allowed to play in a tournament at Donostia|San Sebastian, Spain in 1911. It was one of the strongest tournaments of the time. All of the world’s leading players except world champion Emanuel Lasker were in attendance. At the beginning of the tournament Ossip Bernstein and Aaron Nimzowitsch objected to Capablanca’s presence because he had not won a major tournament. But after Capablanca won his first round game against Bernstein, capturing the tournament’s brilliancy prize, Bernstein quickly acknowledged Capablanca’s talent and said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Capablanca won the tournament. Nimzowitsch took offense when Capablanca made a comment while watching one of his blitz games, and remarked that unproven players should hold their tongue in the presence of their betters. Capablanca quickly challenged Nimzowitsch to a series of fast games, which he won “with ridiculous ease.” The assembled masters soon concluded that Capablanca had no equal at fast chess, a distinction which was to remain his until virtually the end of his life. Capablanca went on to win his tournament game with Nimzowitsch as well, using an opening setup much admired by Mikhail Botvinnik. By tournament’s end, Capablanca had astounded the chess world by taking first place at San Sebastián, with a score of +6 -1 =7, ahead of Akiba Rubinstein, Carl Schlechter and Siegbert Tarrasch. The one game he lost was against Rubinstein, one of the most brilliant chess creations of the latter’s career.

In 1911, Capablanca challenged Emanuel Lasker for the world championship. Lasker accepted his challenge but proposed seventeen conditions for the match. Capablanca disapproved of some of the conditions and the match did not take place.

In 1913, Capablanca played in his home town of Havana where he came in second to Frank Marshall. He lost one of their individual games after having a much better position. Reuben Fine claimed that Capablanca had the mayor clear all the spectators so they wouldn’t see him resign, and this story has uncritically circulated in books and around the Internet. However, Winter’s book below (pp. 47-48) documents that Fine’s story has no basis whatever. Instead, there were 600 spectators present, who naturally favored their native hero, but sportingly gave Marshall “thunderous applause”. Marshall’s own notes corroborated this-when he heard the roar, he thought that the crowd was going to kill him, and he asked for security escort “and quickly rushed over to my hotel. Afterwards I was told they were cheering for me.”

Then Capablanca scored +13 -0 =0 in a tournament in New York, although Oldrich Duras was the only International Grandmaster class opponent. This was World records in chess#Perfect tournament score|one of only a handful of perfect scores ever in high-level chess tournaments.

In September 1913, Capablanca secured a job in the Cuban Foreign Office. He appears not to have had any specific duties other than playing chess, but what he had he was reported to have carried out conscientiously. For many years, he was the most famous Cuban alive.

In October 1913 to March 1914 Capablanca traveled to Europe on his way to the Consulate at St Petersburg to play matches or exhibition games against their leading masters. In serious games, he scored 19 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss during that period. First, he defeated Jacques Mieses and Richard Teichmann in Berlin, next beat Aron Nimzowitsch in an elegant opposite-colored bishop endgame in Riga. Then in Sankt Petersburg, he played a six-game series, two games against Alexander Alekhine, Eugene Znosko-Borovsky and Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky, losing once to Znosko-Borovsky and winning the rest-his first encounters with Alekhine, who was outclassed;
Game 1
Game 2
In 1914, he beat Bernstein in Moscow in a game listed in many anthologies as a brilliancy for winning move …Qb2!! and for the new strategy with hanging pawns. In Kiev, he won among others against Fedor Bogatyrchuk. Then in Vienna he defeated both Richard Reti and Savielly Tartakower 1.5-0.5 each. Capablanca also gave many simultaneous exhibitions noted for their speed and very high winning scores.

In short, Capablanca was unrivaled as a fast chess player, even by the very best players of his own time (and perhaps of later times as well). Alekhine described with awe the feat of Capablanca playing simultaneous fast games between rounds of a tournament, giving five minutes to each opponent but taking only one for himself, and winning.

At the great 1914 tournament in St. Petersburg, with most of the world’s leading players (except those of the Austro-Hungarian empire), Capablanca met the great Emanuel Lasker across the chessboard for the first time in normal tournament play (Capablanca had won a knock-out lightning chess final game in 1906, leading to a famous joint endgame composition). Capablanca took the large lead of one and a half points in the preliminary rounds, and made Lasker fight hard to draw.
Game 1
Game 2
He again won the first brilliancy prize against Bernstein and had some highly regarded wins against David Janowsky[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1064762], Nimzowitsch and Alekhine.

However, Capablanca fell victim to a comeback by Lasker in the second stage of the tournament, including a famous victory by Lasker. Capablanca finished second to Emanuel Lasker with a score of 13 points to Lasker’s 13.5, but far ahead of third-placed Alexander Alekhine. After this tournament, Tsar Nicholas II proclaimed the five prize-winners (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Marshall) as “International Grandmaster”.

In 1919, Capablanca overwhelmed the strong Serbs Borislav Kostic with five straight wins, whereupon Kostic resigned the match. Capablanca later wrote in 1927 that he had played the best chess of his life in this match.

In 1920, Lasker saw that Capablanca was becoming too strong, and resigned the title to him, saying, “You have earned the title not by the formality of a challenge, but by your brilliant mastery.” Capablanca wanted to win it in a match, but Lasker insisted that he was now the challenger. They played a match in Havana in 1921, and Capablanca defeated Lasker +4 -0 =10. This feat of winning the world title without losing a game to the incumbent went unequalled for almost eight decades, until Vladimir Kramnik’s win over Garry Kasparov +2 -0 =13 in 2000.

The new world champion, Capablanca dominated the field at London, 1922. There was an increasing number of strong chess players and it was felt that the world champion should not be able to evade challenges to his title, as had been done in the past. At this tournament, some of the leading players of the time, including Alexander Alekhine, Efim Bogoljubov, Geza Maroczy, Richard Reti, Akiba Rubinstein, Savielly Tartakower and Milan Vidmar, met to discuss rules for the conduct of future world championships. Amongst other things, one of the conditions proposed by Capablanca was that the challenger would have to raise at least ten thousand dollars for the prize money. That same year, he gave a simultaneous exhibition against 103 opponents, the largest in history up to that time, and scored 102 wins and 1 draw, losing none.

In the following years, Akiba Rubinstein and Aaron Nimzowitsch challenged Capablanca, but were unable to raise the stipulated funds. Alexander Alekhine’s subsequent challenge, in 1927, was backed by a group of Argentinian businessmen and the president of Argentina who guaranteed the funds.

Capablanca was second behind Lasker at New York 1924, and again ahead of third-placed Alekhine. In this tournament, his loss to Reti was his first in eight years. He was third behind Efim Bogoljubov and Lasker at Moscow 1925.

As World Champion, Capablanca also underwent major changes in his personal life. In December 1921, he married Gloria Simoni Betancourt. They had a son, Jose Raul, in 1923 and a daughter, Gloria, in 1925, but the marriage ended in divorce.

Capablanca had overwhelming success in New York 1927, a quadruple-round robin with six of the world’s top players. He was undefeated and 2.5 points ahead of the second-placed Alexander Alekhine. Capablanca also defeated Alekhine in their first game, won the first brilliancy prize against Rudolf Spielmann[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1007840] and won two games against Aron Nimzowitsch.
Game 1, Game 2.

This made him the prohibitive favorite for his match with Alexander Alekhine, who had never defeated him, later that year. However, the challenger had prepared well, and played with patience and solidity, and the marathon match proved to be Capablanca’s undoing. Capablanca lost the first game in very lacklustre fashion, then took a narrow lead by winning games 3[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012490] and 7 - attacking games more in the style of Alekhine - but then lost games 11 and 12. He tried to get Alekhine to annul the match when both players were locked in a series of draws. Alekhine refused, and eventually prevailed +6 -3 =25.

Alekhine refused to play a return match, even though doing so had been a pre-condition of the match. Despite the collapse of the financial markets in 1929, Alekhine continued to insist on the London conditions, with a $10,000 purse to be secured by the challenger. Capablanca found it difficult to satisfy this condition. Instead, Alekhine played two matches against Efim Bogoljubov, a fine player, but one who posed no great threat in a long match. (Capablanca had a 5-0 lifetime record against him). Throughout Alekhine’s first tenure as champion (1927-1935), he refused to play in the same tournaments as Capablanca.

Years after he won the title, Alekhine was asked how he had beaten Capablanca. A man of no intellectual modesty, he nevertheless responded, “Even now I cannot explain that.”

After Capablanca lost the title, he won a number of strong tournaments, hoping that his showing would force Alekhine to grant him a rematch, but it was not to be. In 1931 Capablanca defeated the fine Dutch player Max Euwe +2 -0 =8. Also in 1931, he took 1st in New York, with Isaac Kashdan coming in 2nd. Then he withdrew from serious chess, and played only less serious games at the Manhattan Chess Club and simultaneous displays. Reuben Fine recalls that in this period he (Fine) could fight on almost level terms with Alekhine at blitz chess, but that Capablanca beat him “mercilessly” the few times they played.

In 1934, Capablanca resumed serious play. He had begun dating Olga Chagodayev, whom he married in 1938, and she inspired him to play again. In 1935, Alekhine, plagued by problems with alcohol, lost his title to Euwe. Capablanca had renewed hopes of regaining his title, and he won Moscow 1936, ahead of Botvinnik and Lasker. Then he tied with Botvinnik in the super-tournament of Nottingham 1936, ahead of Euwe, Lasker, Alekhine, and the leading young players Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky (avenging a defeat here) and Salo Flohr.

This was Capablanca’s first game with Alekhine since their great match, and the Cuban did not miss his chance to avenge that defeat. He had the worse position, but caught Alekhine in such a deep trap, allowing him to the exchange, that none of the other players could work out where Alekhine went wrong except Lasker, who immediately saw the mistake. Capablanca recounted this episode in ”Capablanca’s Legacy: Capablanca’s Last Chess Lectures”, pp. 111–112, expressing his admiration for Lasker’s insight even in his sixties. But Capablanca didn’t mention that his opponent was Alekhine. Their feud was still intense, so they were never seen seated together at the board for more than a few seconds. Each man made his move and then got up and walked around.

In 1937, Euwe, unlike Alekhine with respect to Capablanca, fulfilled his obligation to allow Alekhine a return match. Alekhine regained the title. Thereafter there was little hope for Capablanca to regain his title, and Alekhine played no more world championship matches until the time of his death in 1946. The absolute control of the title by the title-holder was a major impetus for FIDE to take control of it, and try to ensure that the best challenger has a shot at the title.

Capablanca won Paris 1938 with 8/10. But then his health took a turn for the worse. He suffered a small stroke during the AVRO tournament of 1938, and had the worst result of his career, 7th out of 8. But even at this stage of his career he was capable of producing strong results. In the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires, he made the best score on top board for Cuba, ahead of Alekhine and Paul Keres. More drama was missed because he refused to play Alekhine in Cuba’s match with France.

On 7 March 1942, he was happily kibitzing a skittles game at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York when he collapsed from a stroke. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, New York|Mount Sinai hospital, where he died the next morning. Remarkably, the Cuban’s great rival, German-born Emanuel Lasker, had died in that very hospital only a year earlier.

His bitter rival Alekhine wrote on Capablanca’s death, “With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again.”

source

Trajan vs. Frodo

I’m back people. Did you miss me? I’ve been on hiatus for too long, but I’m back now, at least for the time being. Have you been spreading the word about the Trajan Variation of the Petroff? You better be. I want to start a (hopefully) monthly column on attacking and tactics using my own games from Chessmaniac. First up was a worthy opponent named “Frodo”. Frodo didn’t necessarily err in the opening with the Wilkes Barre Variation of the Two Knights Defense, but personally, I have little respect for it either way. The game quickly turned into a slugfest that would have proved that material advantage means nothing when you see mate. Unfortunately Frodo did not see that I had a few options, which quickly turned his “tactical advantage” into a liability, and eventually his downfall. I hope you enjoy this game as much as I enjoyed playing it.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Ng5 Bc5

This starts the Wilkes Barre Variation. You can play it if you are feeling up for a fight, but I would avoid it, more for personal reasons than anything else.
5. Nxf7 Bxf2+
6. Kf1 Qe7
7. Nxh8 d5
8. exd5 Nd4
9. c3

MCO-14 recommends 9. d6 Qxd6 10. Nf7 Qc5 11. d3 e4 I however prefer the text as it opens up my back rank a bit, which I can utilize later, and allows for the trading of queens on my terms, if it comes to that. Not to mention it attacks the knight so it doesn’t get a good outpost at d4.
9. … Bg4
10. Qa4+ Bd7
Nd7 would be better here- 11. Kxf2 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qf6+ 13. Ke1 Qf3 14. Rf1 Qe4+ 15. Kf2 0-0-0 16. cxd4 Rf8+ V. Malada vs. N. Doric-Rijeka IM-2 2001 (White may be far ahead in material, but he’s got a horrible position. Black went on to win.)
11. d6
What was I saying about trading queens?
11. … cxd6
12. Qb4 Ne4
13. Qxb7 Qf6

Black is hoping for the checkmate here (via Bg3+ Kg1 Qf2#), not realizing that I can easily sidestep his trap. 13. … Bc6 14. Qxe7+ Kxe7 15. cxd4 Bxd4 16. d3 Nf2 17. Rg1 Ng4 18. Bg5+ Kd7 19. Rh1 Rxh8 would have been better for Frodo.
14. Qxa8+ Ke7
15. cxd4 Bxd4+
16. Ke2 Qf2+
17. Kd1
Time for me to hand back some material, but with both our positions the way they are and where the black queen will most likely end up, I don’t mind in the slightest.
17. … Qxg2
18. Kc2
Remember my 9th move?
18. … Qxh1
Someone erect a tombstone-here lays the queen. It plays no active part in the rest of the game. It’s one thing to grab material, but not if it costs you weaknesses in your position, or overall attack capability.
19. Nf7
Threatening mate (Qd8)
19. … Bb6
20. Ng5!

When going over this game with ChessMaster in preparation for writing this article, ChessMaster recommends Nc3 here. Don’t get me wrong, developing pieces is almost always a good idea, but here I disagree. I have a good attack, which you will see more evidence of, and that knight isn’t needed in it. If this is the case, development isn’t always the best way to go.
20. … Bf5
I think 20. … Nf2 21. Qxh1 Nxh1 would have been better for black, however, with ideas of Nxh7 followed by developing my other pieces, the position and material advantage would be more than enough for me to sail into an easy win in the endgame. The text allows for a new, more potent attack. Either way, it’s not looking good for black at this point.
21. Qb7+ Kf6
22. Nxh7+ Bxh7
23. Qf7+ Kg5
24. Qxg7+ Bg6
Kf4 would be a little better.
25. d4+
Not d3+ with a weak attack at the knight, which blocks the light squared bishop.
25. … Nd2+
I’ve sat in the discovered check long enough, but my previous move allows me to bring more pressure to bear on black’s pinned bishop. This move also hangs the knight. I wondered for a time about 25. … Qxc1+ (which Chessmaster recommends). I don’t like the text, but sacrificing the queen like that might be a bit much. Neither move helps black much at all.
26. Bd3
Not Kxd2, which doesn’t bring the bishop to aim at its counterpart and allows Qxh2, which gives me unnecessary trouble.
26. … e4
Again Chessmaster recommends Qxc1+ and says the text moves into a forced mate (I however didn’t see mate for a few more turns), so in this case I suppose sacrificing the queen is the better move.
27. Bxd2+ Kf5
28. Qd7+
Here I start one of my favorite things to do-the king chase. I’ll chase the king around in hopes of picking up material, forcing them into mate, or both. As you can see, it worked here.
28. … Kf6
29. Qxd6+ Kg7
30. Qe5+ Kh7
31. Qe7+
Right here is where I found mate.
31. … Kh8
32. Qf8+ Kh7
33. Qh6+

Facing 33. … Kg8 34. Qxg6+ Kf8 35. Bb4+ Bc5 36. Bxc5#, black resigns.

Queen’s Gambit Accepted

1. d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6 4 .e3 c5 5. Bxc4 a6 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. a4 Nc6 8. Qe2 cxd4 9. Rd1 Be7 10. exd4 0-0 11. Nc3

A very well known position arising from the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. White’s pieces are again on active “e” square, but black also has positional trumps. Earlier on white played a2-a4 to prevent Black expanding on the queenside with … b7-b5. This has left black with an outpost on b4, which may be used by the Knight on c6.

11. … Nd5

Black prevents Whites from playing an early d4-d5 by simply blocking the pawn. This is a theoretical position which has been assessed in various places as either equal or a slight advantage to Whites.
11…. Nb4 also preventing d4-d5 is Black’s main alternative here.

12 Bb3

Whites has many other moves, including 12. Qe4 and 12. Bd3 Ncb4 13. Bb1 in the latter variation white’s rook on a1 looks entombed, but white can often activate it with the imaginative Ra3.

12…. Re8 13. h4!?

Cutting edge stuff! As you may or may not know h2-h4 is a common way for white to play in an attempt to soften up Black’s kingside after … g7-g6 but playing this early is a Kramnik inspired idea…

13. … Ncb4

In his notes in Informator Kramnik gives the continuation 13. … Bxh4 14. Nxh4 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Qxh4 16. d5 Na5 17. Bc2, when has good compensation for the pawn.

14. h5

Kramnik continues the charge. The h pawn will be pushed to h6, thus inducing Black to make some sort of permanent weakness in his kingside. This plan is quite double edged, as the pawn itself on h6 can become a weakness, as well as a thorn in Black’s side.
14. … b6 Ne5

Amore recent example is 15.Bd2 Bb7 16.h6 g6
17.Ne4 a5 18.Bc4 f6 19.Rac1 Bc6 20.b3 Qd7 21.Re1 Kh8 22.Nh2 Na2 23.Rcd1 Nab4 24.Ng4 Bd8 25.Bxb4 axb4 26.Qf3 Qf7 27.Nd6 1-0 Stefansson - Izoria European Championship Ohrid 2001
15. .. Bb7 16. a5!

16. … b5!?

A risky decision as now White has access to the c5 square as an outpost. 16. … bxa5? 17. B14 Rf8 18. h6 g6 19. Nd7 Re8 20. Qe5 Nf6 21. Nc5 Bc6 22. Nxe6! Is gooid for white, but 16. …Rc8!? May be Black’s best move.

17. h6 g6 18. Ne4 Nc7?

This unforced retreat is a definite mistake. The natural 18. … Rc8 is stronger.

19. Nc5?!

19. Bd2 Bd5 ( 19. … Qxd4 20. Ng5, gives White a powerful attack) 20. Bxd5 Ncxd5 21. Rac1 gives Whites a clear advantage according to Kramnik.

19. …Nc5 Bd5 20.Ra3 Nc6 21.Bxd5

21. Nxc6!? Bxc6 22. Bc2 keeps an edge according to the Slovakian GM Lubomir Ftacnick.

21. .. Qxd5 22.Ncd7 Rad8!

Kasparov shows defensive ingenuity. 22. … Qg4 wins the pinned Knight on d4, while 22. … f6 23. Rad3! Fxe5 24. dxe5 Qc4( or 24. … Qa2 25. Rc3) 25. Nb6 is very good for white.

23.Nxc6 Rxd7 24.Nxe7+ Rexe7 25.Rc3 f6 26.Be3 Kf7

Black have managed to simplify but White still has control of the c5 square and the c-file, while h6 could yet prove to be either a strength or a weakness.

27.Rdc1 Qb7 28.Rc5 Nd5 29.Qf3 Nb4 30.Qe2 Rc7!?

Perhaps the match situation of being a game down persuades Kasparov to play for a win. Objectively Black should repeat with 30. … Nd5

31.Bf4 Rxc5 32.dxc5 e5 33.Qd2!

White’s passed pawn on c5 gives him the better chances.

Nc6 34.Qd5+ Kf8 35.Be3 Qd7 36.Qf3 Kf7 37.Rd1 e4 38.Qe2 Qf5 39.Rd6 Re6 40.Rd7+ Re7 41.Rd6 Re6 42.Qd1 g5?

42. … Rxd6 Qxd6 44. Qc7+ Ne7 45. Bd4 Qd5 is equal ( kramnik)

43.Qh5+ Ke7 44.Qd1 Kf7?

44. … Ke8! 45. Rd7 Re7 46. Rxe7+ Nxe7 47. Qd6. Qd7

45.Rd7+

now kramnik hits upon the right idea

45. … Kg6 46.Rg7+ Kxh6 47.Qd7 Re5 48.Qf7

Now Black is in virtual zugzwang

48. … Rd5 49.Kh1 Nd8 50.Rxh7+ Qxh7 51.Qxd5 Kg6+ 52.Kg1 Qc7 53.Qg8+ Kf5 54.Qd5+ Kg6 55.Qxe4+ Kg7 56.Qa8?
in a hurry to win the a6 pawn, Kramnik creates a problem for himself. 56. Qd5! Nc6 57. Bd4 Kg6 58. Bc3 gives white a decisive advantage.

56. … Qd7

57.Kh2

White still retains some winning chances after 57. f3

57. … Qd3 58.g3
Or 58. Qxa6 Qh7+ 59. Kg3 Qh4+ 60 Kf3 f5 and suddenly Black has counter play against the White King

58. … Nf7 59.Qb7 Kg6 60.Qxa6 Ne5 61.Qa8 Ng4+ 62.Kh3 Qf5!

Kasparov counter attack is assuming dangerous position, so much to that Kramnik now decides to bail out by giving perpetual check.

63.Qg8+ Kh6 64.Qh8+ Kg6 65.Qe8+ Kh6 66.Qh8+ 1/2

Analysis by GM Amir Bagheri

1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.f2-f4 winkensmile:In all fairness, CHESSBOT Fritz originally wanted to play 2. …e6 here, but I wanted to explore the Queen Sac line here, known as The Grand Prix Attack, and Fritz forced the move 2. …d5.

Fritz adds: [3.Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 4.Bb5xd7+ Qd8xd7 5.d2-d3 e7-e6 (5…Nb8-c6 6.e4xd5 Qd7xd5 7.Ng1-f3 e7-e6 8.Nb1-c3 Qd5-d7 9.0-0 Ng8-h6 10.Nf3-e5 Nc6xe5 11.f4xe5 Nh6-f5 12.Bc1-f4 Bf8-e7 13.Nc3-e4 0-0 14.Kg1-h1 Qd7-c6 15.Qd1-g4 c5-c4 16.Rf1-f3 c4xd3 17.c2xd3 Qc6-b5 18.Ra1-f1 Ra8-d8 19.Qg4-h3 Rd8-d4 20.Bf4-d2 Salaun,Y (2386)-Karr,J (2376)/France 2003/CBM 094/0-1 (33)) 6.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 7.0-0 Ng8-e7 8.Nb1-a3 g7-g6 9.Bc1-e3 Bf8-g7 10.Be3xc5 Bg7xb2 11.Ra1-b1 Bb2-g7 12.Na3-b5 0-0 13.e4-e5 b7-b6 14.Bc5xe7 Nc6xe7 15.Qd1-e2 Ne7-c6 16.c2-c3 Rf8-c8 17.h2-h4 Bg7-f8 Larsen,B (2515)-Zhu Chen (2490)/Bad Homburg 1998/CBM 066/1-0 d7-d5 winkensmile:I had just battled CHESSBOT Fritz to a draw in a Sicilian, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation, and during that opening, I was doing some research into the various lines of the Sicilian, in efforts to find a more interesting line to play against Fritz. Research of Opening Book, and databases are permitted in correspondence chess, and CHESSBOT Fritz was aware that I was researching the opening lines.

We were well into this variation, when I happened to look at the March 2007 issue of Chess Life, and noticed Dana Mackenzie’s article where he defeated both Fritz 9 (3161) and Crafty 19.19 (3106), as well as a respectable human, IM David Puress (2461), with this Grand Prix Attack version of the Sicilian, in which he sac’s the Queen on move 6!, and asked Fritz if he would be interested in looking into this gambit line with me after we finished this current game, and he graciously agreed. I have neither Fritz 9, nor Crafty 19.19; so I wondered how a grouchy old wood pusher like me, winkensmile (2163), might fare against a powerful silicone monster like CHESSBOT Fritz (2224+) with a gambit line that has me throwing away my Queen on move 6!?

I had first tried this line on the local club TD’s laptop (the night before), which had Fritz 9 loaded on it, in a 40/90 tourney setting, but after I went in for the immediate gain of the exchange with 10. Nf7 and 11. Nxh8, I went on to lose; so I did a little more research, and thought I would try another game with a better understanding on how this opening works, with another Fritz engine, and with little more time and research behind me.
3.Ng1-f3 DayWalker:Here why not: 3.exd5 Qxd5 , 4.Nc3 winkensmile:3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 is a playable book line of the Grand Prix Attack, and creates a position similar to the Counter-Center, but Black gets a good game after 4. …Qd8, 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Ne5 e6 7. Qf3 Be7 8. b3 Nfd7 9. Bb5 O-O, but I wanted to get Fritz into this other variation, and getting a bot out of book early is a good thing, especially where you have done some opening research! d5xe4 4.Nf3-g5 Ng8-f6 5.Bf1-c4 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [5…e6 6.Nc3 a6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Ngxe4 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 Be7 10.d3 0-0 11.0-0 b6 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Qh5 Nd4 14.c3 g6 15.Qg4 h5 16.Qd1 b5 17.Ba2 Nf5 18.Qe2 Qd7 19.Re1 bxa4 20.Rea1 Hector,J (2420)-Yrjola,J (2415)/Gausdal 1987/CBM 004/1-0 Bc8-g4 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [6.Be2 Bxe2 7.Qxe2 Nc6 8.Nxe4 Nd4 9.Nxf6+ gxf6µ] 6.Qd1xg4 Nf6xg4 7.Bc4xf7+ Ke8-d7 8.Bf7-e6+ winkensmile:8. …Ke8 forces a draw by repitition after 9. Bf7+. Kd7-c6 winkensmile:In Dana Mackenzie’s encounter, Fritz 9 played the inferior 8. …Kc7; Fritz adds: [8…Kc7 9.Bxg4 Qe8 10.Ne6+ Kb6 11.Na3µ] here, so CHESSBOT Fritz played the far stronger 8. …Kc6; note that a human opponent (IM David Pruess, 2461, also played 8. …Kc6, but went on to lose after 9. …e6; also note that 9. …e5? is encountered with 10. Nf7 Qh4+ 11. g3 Qxg4?? 12. Nxe5+! 9.Be6xg4 g7-g6 winkensmile:So, here, Fritz took the better alternative with 9. …g6, opening diagonal lines to release his dark squared Bishop, and allowing White to play 10. Nf7+, forking Black’s Queen and Rook, winning at least the exchange for counter play, and this is where we went out of book, and I was on my own. I took several days to mull over the next move, almost to my 5 day time control, compiling several pages of hand written notes by a real board and pieces.
10.Ng5-e6 winkensmile:Perhaps a bot would have played 10. Nf7+, (which is a playable move, but NOT to win the exchange, but to redeploy it to another square, like e5 later on), but after some thought, I realized that a far stronger move would be 10. Ne6!, where White’s Knight gets a powerful outpost, kicks the Black Queen, blocks the d7 pawn, and controls all the central dark squares; no point in putting such a powerful piece out of play, in the corner on h8, (even if he does win the Rook, which is out of play anyhow), and this move also prevents Black from playing his Bishop to g7 any time soon, the Queen doesn’t have too many good squares to seek refuge, (perhaps 10. …Qd7 is best). 10. Nc3 is also playable, and shows up in a few databases. (*) as does 10. Nf7 (**), but again, only to redeploy it elsewhere, and to secure squares for a Bishop attack in the center.

This is where humans can sometimes outwit an engine, who may underestimate the effectiveness and scope of a minor piece attack and where I can develop with tempo.

As Dana Mackenzie mentioned in his March 2007 issue of Chess Life, “the engine’s weakness is that they have no sense of fear”, and are completely confident in their calculations and algorithms, oblivious to the looming attack of White’s Knights and Bishops working in concert to overwhelm Black’s Queen and storm the King. The threats may scroll off their horizon, (known as the “horizon effect”), which often occurs in the various subtle endgame techniques, where pawn formation and tempo are absolutely critical. A well seasoned human player may see these things intuitively, but many bots and engines go for the material advantage without regard to these subtleties.

* 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. Bxf7+ Kd7 7. Qxg4+
Nxg4 8. Be6+ Kc6 9. Bxg4 g6 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Nf7 Qd4 12. Nxh8 Bxh8 13. Be6
Na6 14. Bd5+ Kb6 15. Bxe4 Rd8 16. Ke2 Nb4 17. a3 Nxc2 18. Bxc2 Qxf4 19.
h3 Bd4 20. Ne4 Qe5 21. d3 Ka6 22. Rb1 b6 23. b4 cxb4 24. Rxb4 Kb7 25. a4
Qh5+ 26. g4 Qe5 27. Rb5 Qc7 28. Bb3 e6 29. Bg5 Rf8 30. Bxe6 Re8 31. Bd5+
Kb8 32. Kd1 a6 33. Rb4 Qe5 34. Bf7 Rc8 35. Rf1 Ka7 36. Bf4 Qh8 37. Bd5
Rf8 38. Ke2 Rd8 39. Bh6 Rxd5 40. Rf7+ Kb8 41. Rf8+ Qxf8 42. Bxf8 Kc7 43.
Bd6+ Kd7 44. Bf4 b5 45. Be3 Bxe3 46. Nf6+ Kc6 47. axb5+ Rxb5 48. Rxb5 Kxb5
49. Kxe3 h6 50. Ng8 a5 51. Kd2 Kc5 52. Nxh6 Kd4 53. Nf7 a4 54. h4 a3 55.
Kc2 a2 56. Kb2 Kxd3 57. h5 gxh5 58. gxh5 Ke4 59. h6 Kf5 60. h7 Kg6 61.
h8=Q Kxf7 62. Qh6 Ke7 63. Kxa2 Kd7 64. Kb3 Ke7 65. Kc4 Kf7 66. Kd5 Kg8
67. Ke5 Kf7 68. Qh7+ Ke8 69. Ke6 Kd8 70. Qd7+ 1-0

** 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. Bxf7+ Kd7 7. Qxg4+
Nxg4 8. Be6+ Kc6 9. Bxg4 g6 10. Nf7 Qd4 11. Nc3 Rg8 12. Ne5+ Kb6 13. b3
Bg7 14. Nc4+ Ka6 15. a4 Nc6 16. Be2 b6 17. Nd6+ Ka5 18. Nb7+ Kb4 19. Na2+
1-0
Qd8-a5 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [10…Qd7 11.Na3 Bg7 12.c3µ] 11.b2-b4 winkensmile:After Black’s 10. …Qa5, I took another day or so to find a way to forge on with the attack and to develop my pieces with tempo, and so, in keeping with the theme with this thread, I threw another pawn at him with 11. b4!

The point being that it kicks the Queen again, and allows me to mobilize my dark square Bishop, and removes Black’s pawn on c5 so that I can play a timely Nd4+, also, seeing that Black’s King is exposed, and on the Q-side, it allows for a possible semi-open attack by my Rook on the b file later on. Hey, I already sac’d my Queen, what’s another pawn for the sake of the attack!?
c5xb4 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [11…Qxb4!? is an interesting idea 12.Nd8+ Kb6³], but on 11. …Qxb4, I might consider 12. Ba3 or 12. Nc3. 12.Bc1-b2 winkensmile:After 11. …cxb, 12. Bb2, I have some serious threats levied against Black, (aside from the obvious BxR) including Nd4+, Be5, and possibly weaving a mate net here! Fritz sees the dangers and offers up his Rook again with 12. …h5, (allowing 13. Bxh8 hxg4 14. Nxf8), but then I would have my active Bishop on h8 and my killer Knight on f8; seeing that both Black’s Rooks are already out of play (and may as well be off the board), and Black’s Bishop on f8 is also useless, I stayed true to the theme of the position and played 13. Bh3, keeping my minor piece attack alive.
h7-h5 13.Bg4-h3 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [Inferior is 13.Bxh8 hxg4 14.a3 Qh5] Rh8-g8 14.a2-a3 winkensmile:Fritz’s 13. …Rg8 took it out of being en-pries but also threatened to get his Bishop mobilized with Bg7; however, I struck another gambit shot with 14. a3!
winkensmile:In Fritz’s post mortem analysis, he gives this move 14. …e4-e3?, with an alternative: [¹14…Bh6!? 15.axb4 Qxb4+-] e4-e3 winkensmile:Up until now, Fritz had assessed my position in the negative numbers, down about a pawn or two, but here, suddenly, it assessed me at a few points ahead! After a few tweaks to Fritz’s engine here, Fritz found the amazing 14. …e3!! which caught me by surprise! I had not even considered this move! I took another few days to mull this one over. I could not capture with 15. dxe3?? which would allow both 15. …bxa3+, (winning my dark square Bishop), or even just 15. …b3+ giving me a cramped position.
15.a3xb4 Qa5xb4 16.Bb2-c3 e3xd2+ winkensmile:I played 15. axb4, attacking Black’s Queen, and Fritz, played, 15. …Qxb4, not sure if Fritz had anything better; (and here, I also mulled over 16. Ba3, but I figured I’d better stay on this diagonal with Black’s pawn threatening exd2+), and then, he still gets 16. …exd2+!

Again, I still can’t capture with 16. Bxd2, (16. Kxd2 leads to 16. …Qd6+), which allows Black to seize the initiative with 16. …Qb2, and when you have an attack going, initiative is everything! I considered 16. Kf2, but my inner senses told me to stay close to that d2 pawn, and so, I played 16. Kd1, possibly mobilizing my other Knight with an eventual Nxd2, also, this move allows me to play Re1 when it’s ripe; Fritz told me in our PM that he didn’t expect this move; this is the beauty of a human vs. bot game, in that we are often surprised at our opponent’s responses.
17.Ke1-d1 Qb4-b6 18.Ne6-d4+ winkensmile:After 16. …Qb6, I thought again for a day or two, trying to find the best way to continue the attack, and came up with 17. Nd4+, wondering where Black will place his King? This move also threatened 18. Be6, getting my Bishops into the center.

There aren’t too many good squares left for Black’s King and Queen; 17. …Kd5 allows 18. Be6, attacking the Rook on g8, and brings the light square Bishop into the fray, with mate nets beginning to form, while 17. …Kd6 allows 18. Nxd2, which threatens 19. Nc4+ forking the King and Queen, and White’s Knights and Bishops mount a fierce attack to overwhelm Black’s King and Queen, and the scent of checkmate is already in the air.

Again, take a look at this position, notice how White’s pieces are fully deployed, and ready to spring into attack, while Black’s minor pieces are totally useless, still on the back rank, and may as well be off the board! Amazing when you consider that White is playing against a bot, (with a 3100+ rating), and without his Queen!
winkensmile:Also, in this position, 18. …Kc5 is met with 19. Nxd2 e5 22. fxe5 and now, Black is running out of squares; moves like 22. … Qd8, Bg7, and Nc6 don’t prevent mate after 23. Ne4+ Kc6-c7 winkensmile:Still amusing to note that ALL of Black’s minor pieces are all on the back rank, and out of play, while White’s pieces are about to unleash some fury! 19.Bc3-a5 winkensmile:Black finally acquiesces to the loss of its Queen with 17. …Kc7, (which allows 18. Ba5, skewering Black’s lady), and with 18. …Bg7 for some counter play. At this point, Fritz was tweaked again, disabled book, with at least 60 minutes of analysis, with Deep Position analysis set, and maxed out on hash tables; the engine was also set to full bore defensive mode, hoping to salvage a draw out of this.
Bf8-g7 20.Ba5xb6+ Kc7xb6 21.Ra1-a4 Bg7xd4 22.Ra4xd4 Nb8-c6 23.Rd4xd2 winkensmile:After the following series of exchanges and after the dust settled, White is a full piece up, regaining the Queen with interest.
e7-e5 24.Nb1-c3 winkensmile:24. Nc3 finally develops my last piece and defends the f pawn (24. …exf4, 25. Nd5+ followed by 26. Nxf4).
Ra8-d8 25.Bh3-d7 Nc6-b8 winkensmile:My 25. Bd7 nullified Black’s pin with his Rook on d8, and threatened Black’s Knight, but Black’s 25. …Nb8 took me by surprise again!

I didn’t even consider this move in my analysis (again)!

26.Nc3-d5+ Kb6-c5 27.Nd5-f6 Rg8-g7 28.Rd2-d5+ winkensmile:I took another day or so mull it over, and found a way to continue the theme of the game by developing with tempo, and played 26. Nd5+ with 27. Nf6 to follow, which allowed a strong outpost, (again), for my Knight, attacking Black’s Rook, which, after 27. …Rg7, allowed 28. Rd5+ and now my Rook is also in on the attack!
Kc5-b6 29.Bd7-e6 winkensmile:At this point, I figured that it would be good to trade off pieces, and free up my Bishop, so I played 29. Be6, and 30. Rd2, keeping my Rooks close to my pawns.

Black has some serious counter play with his connected Q-side pawns, and I need to find a way to deal with this. I have been in similar positions before against masters in OTB games, being a full piece down, and managed to trade off Rooks, and pawns, and then sac my remaining piece for the last remaining pawn and it is not possible to mate with just a Bishop and a Knight, (nor either one alone)!

Even though I have material and spatial advantage, the game is FAR from being over. Pawn structure is very important in these endgames, and I must not fail to keep that in mind. One misstep here with Fritz, and he gets at least a draw! I also need to be aware of the position of my King so that I can defend the advancing Q-side pawns.

I need to double up on Black’s pawns and win another pawn or two if I can. It’s going to be a real white-knuckle finish!
Kb6-c7 30.Rd5-d2 Nb8-c6 31.f4xe5 Nc6xe5 32.Rh1-e1 Ne5-c6 33.Nf6-d5+ Kc7-b8 34.Nd5-f4 Rd8-f8 35.g2-g3 Rf8-e8 36.Re1-e2 winkensmile:Finally, I have my Rooks connected! a7-a5 37.Be6-d5 Re8-c8 38.Re2-e6 Nc6-b4 winkensmile:I played 38. Re6 double attacking Black’s pawn on g6, but Fritz continues to surprise me with 38. …Nb4! (38. …Ne7 39. Be4), which attacks my Bishop and puts pressure on my pawn on c2. I’m not too sure I have the luxury of time to capture on g5 here, as Black’s real threats are on the Q-side.

There are several possibilities here, and I have to deal with Black’s plan of pushing a5-a4 followed by b7-b5, followed by Rg7-Rc7, also, Black has Rc3, with either Rgc7, or Ra3, and so, I decided on the 39. c2-c4 push, which moves the passed c pawn, frees my Rook to move to the Q files, protects my Bishop, prevents b7-b5, also, neutralizes the threats of any capture on c2, and any penetration with Black’s Rook on the c file. If Black captures 38. …Nxd5, 39. cxd5, puts the d pawn on the fast track with d5-d6-d7 supported by both Rooks, and with threats of a timely Nd5, to Nb7.

39.c2-c4 h5-h4 40.g3xh4 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [Less advisable is 40.Rxg6 Rxg6 41.Nxg6 hxg3 42.hxg3 Re8+-; 40.Nxg6?! hxg3 41.hxg3 Rc5+-] g6-g5 41.h4xg5 Rg7xg5 winkensmile:But Fritz again finds some clever ways of breaking through! After 39. …h4, 40. gxh4, (doubling up my h pawn), then 40. …g5, 41. hxg5, Rxg6! Fritz threatens to drop his Rook to g1+, and take control of my home rank, plus reduced my pawns to only two isolated loners.
42.Re6-e7 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [42…Rg1+ does not help much 43.Ke2 Rc7 44.Rxc7 Kxc7 45.Be4+-] Nb4-c6 43.Re7-h7 Rc8-c7 winkensmile:Fritz’s 43. …Rc7 baited me to play 44. Rxc7, (hoping for 44. …Kxc7, with 45. Ne6+ winning a Rook); but Fritz has 44. …Rg1+. I had a gut feeling that Fritz had cooked up something even better, and was expecting me (even baiting me) to play 44. Rxc7, so I played 44. Rh8+ instead; besides, my Rook on the h file has more play than his Rook on the c file; why trade a better piece for a weaker one?

44.Rh7-h8+ Kb8-a7 winkensmile:Here, 45. Ne6 (forking both Black’s Rooks) doesn’t work because 45. … Rg1+ 46. Kc2 Rg7, which could cause me some problems. 45.Rd2-a2 Rc7-d7 46.Kd1-e2 Rg5-e5+ 47.Ke2-d2 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [47.Kf3 seems even better 47…Kb6+-] wow! I didn’t look at this move! Maybe this illustrates the human weakness, as I was trying to stay close to the Q-side while I still could, to deal with those Q-side pawns.

Fritz also continues with: [47…Re4 is no salvation 48.Nd3 Rd4 49.Ra3+-] Re5-e7 winkensmile:Black finally connects his Rooks, but not for long. 48.Kd2-c3 Re7-e3+ 49.Kc3-b2 Ka7-b6 50.Rh8-h6 winkensmile:[50…Re5 doesn’t change anything anymore as White has 51.Rf6+-] Kb6-c7 51.h2-h4 Rd7-d6 52.Rh6xd6 winkensmile:Time to trade off a pair of Rooks. Kc7xd6 53.h4-h5 winkensmile:Fritz adds: [53…Nb4 cannot change destiny: 54.Rxa5 Ke5 55.Ng2 (or 55. Ng6, or Ne3), Re2+ 56.Kb3 Nxd5 57.Rxd5+ (57.cxd5?! Rxg2 58.Ra2 Rg5±) 57…Kf6 58.Rd6+ Ke7 59.Rg6+-] Re3-e7 54.Kb2-c3 Re7-e3+ 55.Kc3-d2 Re3-e7 winkensmile:I want to get my King to d3, but Black’s Knight threatens Nb4+, so I have to take it off. 56.Bd5xc6 winkensmile:After 55. Bxc3, Black faces the loss of another pawn, and only has a few useless checks which only helps me bring my King over to escort the h pawn along.
Kd6xc6 57.Ra2xa5 Re7-h7 winkensmile:Black is down another pawn, and my h pawn is gathering strength. My Rook and Knight will prevent Black’s King from getting anywhere close to the K-side, and Black will have to eventually sac his Rook on the h pawn promotion, (or worse, get forced into trading off Rooks, where White gets to keep the Queen after promotion), and face the inevitable. 58.Kd2-e3 winkensmile:At this point, Fritz conceded, “there are no more good moves left, and it’s time to hit the Resign Button.” 1-0

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New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) India’s Viswanathan Anand was formally crowned world No. 1 Monday when the world chess governing body corrected its mistake and gave the pride of place to the grandmaster.

Anand, with 2,786 rating points, becomes numero uno following his triumph at the Morelia-Linares tournament in Spain last month - the last tournament taken into calculation for determining the rankings.

The 37-year-old Indian thus displaces Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria from the top. Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik are now joint second with 2,772 points, though the Bulgarian has been given the second spot.

The Indian’s elevation marks the first time in a decade that Anand, who has been among the world’s top three players for 15 years, had officially been named No. 1. He won the World Championships in 2000 but then Russian Garry Kasparov was the world No. 1.

Earlier Sunday, FIDE made a faux pas by listing on its official website Anand as No. 2, behind Topalov, ignoring the Indian’s Linares performance.

But after the All India Chess Federation (AICF) pointed the mistake out, the world body corrected its mistake and released the redone rankings Monday.

FIDE releases the world rankings every three months.

GM Krishna Sasikiran is the second highest ranked Indian on the rankings’ list. He is 25th with 2,690 rating points.

P. Harikrishna with 2,650 points is the next best-ranked Indian at the 57th position.

Anand also did well in Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Monaco last week, but performance here will only be counted in the next rankings in the July list.

Anand won the rapid title and finished joint seventh in the blindfold category. Overall, he finished second with 13.5 points behind Kramnik who had 15.5 points.

Bulgarian chess master Veselin Topalov defeated Russian Alexander Morozevich in the last round of Linares-Morelia chess tournament in Mexico.

Topalov won playing White and gained three points in the competition. The result placed him in the 7th position together with Hungarian Peter Leko.

Topalov ended games in a draw against Peter Svidler from Russia, India’s Vishwanathan Anand, Armenia’s Levon Aronian and Hungarian Peter Leko. He lost against Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.

India’s Vishwanathan Anand was held by Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the sixth round.

Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen is in the sole lead with four points after the penultimate round of the tournament. Anand and Levon Aronian of Armenia remained on his heels with 3.5 points each.

Carlsen had a quick draw with Peter Leko of Hungary while Aronian drew with top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and the Russian duel between Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler had the same fate.

Anand’s game was the longest of the day lasting 32 moves and Ivanchuk used too much time on his clock yet again.

Playing the white side of a Sicilian Najdorf*, Anand went for a relatively new idea in the opening but could not gain advantage as Ivanchuk came up with matching manoeuvres.

*The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense is one of the most complex and respected of all chess openings. It is one of Black’s most popular responses to 1.e4. The opening is named after the Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, who was born in Poland 1910.

It begins thus:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6

Black’s fifth move, …a6, aims to deny White the b5 square for his knights and light-colored bishop while maintaining maximum flexibility against White’s attack.

Black’s plan is usually to start a minority pawn attack on the queenside and put pressure on White’s e4 pawn. Often this can be done through playing …b5, …Bb7, and putting a knight on c5. White also has to look out for exchange sacrifices by Black on c3 where White usually has a knight posted guarding the important e4 pawn. This exchange sacrifice is a recurring theme in the Sicilian Defence.

The oldest, sharpest response by White is an immediate 6.Bg5, generally countered by 6…e6, followed by 7.f4, hoping to exploit the pin on the knight. The simplest response by Black is 7…Be7, leading to quick castling by both sides. However, Black’s most popular choice at the master level is 7…Qb6!?, leading to the extremely complicated Poisoned Pawn Variation (8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 (or 9.Nb3) Qa3. Black is up a pawn but somewhat underdeveloped: however, his pieces can quickly become mobile and his position is not easy for White to break. Other well-known replies to 7.f4 include 7…Qc7, championed by Garry Kasparov and Boris Gelfand, 7…Nbd7, the risky 7…Nc6!?, and 7…b5, the ultra-sharp Polugaevsky Variation.

Because of the success of various players with these variations (notably Bobby Fischer and Kasparov), White often plays 6. Be2 and goes for a quieter, more positional game, whereupon Black has the option of transposing into a Scheveningen Variation by playing 6…e6 or opt to stay in the Najdorf by playing 6…e5. 6. Bc4 (the Sozin Variation), 6.g3, and 6. f4 are also respected responses to the Najdorf.

Since the early 1990s, the English Attack (6.Be3 followed by f2-f3, g2-g4, Qd2 and 0-0-0 in some order) has become extremely popular and has been intensively analysed, although 6…Ng4!? has cast somewhat a shadow on its use following Garry Kasparov’s sucessful utilization of it.

All you need to play Solitaire Chess is a pocket chess set, or your regular chessboard and chess pieces. With the aid of the scoring table below, you can enjoy all the thrills of playing a chess game against an unseen opponent–and opponent who will make strong moves, for he is a master of the game of chess. However, you will also have an unseen partner-another chessmaster- who will correct your mistakes.

To play the game, cover the scoring table with a slip of paper at the line indicated. Make all opening moves on your chessboard up to and including the first Black move in the table. Study the position and write down your choice for White’s next move. Then expose the next line in the table and see the move your partner actually made with
White. Score par if you picked this move; if not, score zero. Make the correct White move and Black’s reply, and again select the next move. Continue in this manner, one line at a time, to the end of the game.

Now see how many points you can score. You may consider a total point score of 79-100 excellent, 66-78 superior, 51-65 good, and 32-50 fair, for the present chess game. This scale varies from game to game depending on the quality of the play. Naturally, a difficult game receives a more lenient rating than an easy one.

(You have White. Your consutation partner is former U.S. Champion Frank J. Marshall. Your opponent is French Chessmaster David Janowski. Game was played at Ostend, 1906.)

OPENING MOVES:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 a6 4.Bxc4 Nf6
5.Nf3 e6 6.a4 … Now continue with the moves below.
COVER MOVES IN TABLE BELOW. EXPOSE ONE LINE AT A TIME

b6

Nc3

Bb7

O-O

Nc6

Qe2

Nb4

e4

Be7

Bg5

h6

Bf4

O-O

13.

Rfd1

13...

Rc8

14.

Ne5

14...

Qe8

15.

Rd2

15...

c5

16.

dxc5

16....

Bxc5       

17.

Rad1

17...

Qe7

18.

Bg3

18...

Rfd8

19.

Bh4

19...

Rxd2

20.

Rxd2