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Volume 137

JUNE 2017

GreNke Chess CLassiC:

Aronian’s “chess with conidence” 4NCL:

Fith successive crown for Guildford iNside: How to…

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GM Bassem Amin, Chess Olympiad 2016

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June 2017

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BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 323

IMPRESSUM

Contents BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE Founded 1881 www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk Chairman Shaun Taulbut Director Stephen Lowe

Editors Milan Dinic and Shaun Taulbut Prepress Specialist Milica Mitic Photography Maria Yassakova, 2017 FIDE World Chess Grand Prix oicial, Jim Doyle (USChess.org), GRENKE Chess Classic oicial, WSTC 2017 oicial / Niki Riga Advertising Stephen Lowe Enquiries [email protected] ISSN 0007-0440 © The British Chess Magazine Limited Company Limited by Shares Registered in England No 00334968 Postal correspondence: Albany House, 14 Shute End Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1BJ Subscription [email protected] 12 monthly issues UK: £55 | RoW: £85 Printed in the UK: by Lavenham Press Ltd Cover photography: Ding Liren, 2017 FIDE World Chess Grand Prix oicial / Maria Yassakova

324 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

325

The rise of ding liren

325 Moscow FIDE Grand Prix 2017 Convincing win for ding liren By GM Aleksandar Colovic 339 Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) Guildford win the Division 1 Championship By GM Tom Rendle and IM Shaun Taulbut 348 The American “Super Nationals” – the largest rated tournament in history Incredible 5,577 kids playing in one tournament By Pete Tamburro 351 Becoming a better player How to maximise your improvement in chess? Study the classics! By Theo Slade 362 Grneke Chess Classic 2017 Defining Moments ARONIAN’S "CHESS WITH CONFIDENCE" By GM Aleksandar Colovic 372 World Senior Team Championships 2017 Russia at the top, England third By IM Shaun Taulbut

June 2017

Moscow FIDE Grand Prix 2017

Ding Liren

By GM Aleksandar Colovic, Photos: 2017 FIDE World Chess Grand Prix official / Maria Yassakova The second of the four planned FIDE Grand Prix tournaments took place in Moscow from 12 − 21 May. When compared to the first tournament in Sharjah, which had many uneventful and short draws, Moscow can be considered a slight improvement. The Grand Prix took place in the Telegraph Building in central Moscow. The tournament, a nine−round Swiss, was the second of the four−part Grand Prix. Ding Liren was the sole winner of the tournament, with 6/9 (three wins and six draws), defeating Boris Gelfand in the last round. He was followed by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who in April won (for the second time!) the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamrkir (Azerbaijan) ahead of Wesley So, Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik.

Safety first still dominated the state of mind of the players in Moscow. But. as I wrote in the March issue when writing about Sharjah, “when a lot is at stake the result is the only thing that matters.” Only this time we actually had an outright winner. Ding Liren is on the rise. After winning the 5−player double round robin in Shenzhen (analysed in the April issue) he won the Moscow Grand Prix and is now a firm favourite to qualify for next year’s Candidates tournament. As in Shenzhen, he again displayed his remarkable qualities - an immaculate technique, excellent opening preparation and admirable fighting spirit. Here is an example of Liren’s endgame technique. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 325

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Ding Liren - Ernesto Inarkiev Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (2.4)

IIIIIIII 9-+-+r+k+0 9+-+-+p+-0 9p+-+-zp-zp0 9+-tR-+-+-0 9-+-vL-+P+0 9+-zPl+P+-0 9-+-+-mK-zP0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

34.¥xf6 White is a pawn up, but the opposite-coloured bishops give Black some drawing chances. This is the objective evaluation. In practice, these positions are notoriously difficult to defend and more often than not the stronger side manages to win. Just how that happens is illustrated by the Chinese player. 34...¦e6 35.¥d4 ¢f8 36.h4 White’s only plan is to advance on the kingside, which he will do, but not immediately. First, he applies the famous “do not rush” principle, which is aimed at tiring the opponent, who, on the other hand, is forced to calculate concrete lines after every single change in the position. 36...¢e8 37.¦c8+ ¢d7 38.¦f8 ¢e7 39.¥c5+ ¢f6 40.¦h8 ¢g7 41.¥d4+ f6 42.¦d8 ¥c4

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-tR-+-+0 9+-+-+-mk-0 9p+-+rzp-zp0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+lvL-+PzP0 9+-zP-+P+-0 9-+-+-mK-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

326 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

43.¦d7+! A curious moment. Why not 43 g5, winning a pawn? 43.g5 hxg5 44.hxg5 ¦c6 45.¥xf6+ ¢g6 and in fact losing the f6–pawn helps Black he just needs to make sure the blockade on f5 and g6 holds. 43...¢g8 44.¦a7 White controls the 7th rank but that is far from decisive as the f6–pawn limits the ¥d4 and when White finally pushes g5 it will lead to more pawn exchanges. 44...¥d3 45.¢g3 ¦c6 46.h5 ¥c2 47.f4 ¥d1 48.¢h4 All is ready for the g5 push. Black manages to slow it down with his next move, but it is impossible to prevent in the long run. 48...¦d6 Preventing g5 for now. 49.¦a8+ 49.g5? fxg5+ 50.fxg5 hxg5+ 51.¢xg5 ¦d5+ and Black wins the h5– pawn. 49...¢f7 50.¦h8 52.¦c7+ ¢g8

¢g7

51.¦c8

¢f7

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53.¦c5 Following the plan to push g5. 53.f5!? is an interesting idea suggested by the engine. The idea is simple, to play ¥e3 and take on h6. It wins, but White had to make sure that the pure bishop endgame is winning. 53...¥f3 54.¥e3 ¦c6 55.¦xc6 ¥xc6 56.¥xh6 ¥d5 57.¥e3 ¢f7 (57... a5 58.¥d4 ¢f7 59.h6 a4 60.¥xf6! ¢xf6

June 2017

With a little help from my … MUM! In a brief interview for Chess.com Ding Liren shared his reaction to winning the tournament. “It’s a glorious moment for me; I feel very happy. Last night I felt a little anxious, nervous and a little stressed out about today’s game but today I played very well, I think.” “I played much better than I imagined and I also had many promising positions although I couldn’t win them. But the quality of the games was very good.” When asked about his seconds and his team and how they helped him prepare, Liren unexpectedly mentioned his mother: “My mother accompanied me here. She cooked my meals for me so I could spend more time studying chess!” “I feel very good here. I enjoyed it”, said the winner of the Moscow Grand Prix. 61.g5+ ¢f7 62.g6+ ¢f6 63.h7 ¢g7 64.¢g5 and White’s pawns will promote.) 58.¥d4 ¢e7 59.h6 ¥g8 60.c4 (60.¥xf6+! again this wins 60...¢xf6 61.c4 easy for an engine, a human would never go into this unless having no other way. 61...a5 62.c5 a4 63.c6 a3 64.c7 a2 65.c8£ a1£ 66.£f8+ ¢e5 67.£g7+ ¢f4 68.£xa1) 60...¢d6 61.¥xf6. 53...¢f7 54.g5 Simplifying the position, as only two white pawns will remain on the board after the exchanges, but even here Black continues to suffer.

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+R+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+k+-zP0 9zp-+r+-+-0 9-+-vL-+K+0 9+-zP-+-+-0 9-+l+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 64...¢d7? Black finally cracks, after 30 moves of successful defence. 64...¢f7 was the only move 65.¦a8 ¥f5+ 66.¢f3 ¢g6 67.¦a6+ ¢h7 68.¥e3 and the game goes on - there is neither a forced win for White nor a forced draw for Black. 65.¦a8! Now White wins the a-pawn. Black decides to keep it, but then loses a piece. 65...a4? 65...¢e6 66.¦a7 ¦d7 67.¦xa5 and eventually White should win this endgame, but a lot of moves will have to be played. 66.h7! ¥xh7 67.¦a7+ ¢c6 68.¦xh7 And the rest was easy for Ding Liren. He tried but he failed: With 4.5/8 and needing a win, Boris Gelfand pushed too hard and lost in the decisive game against Ding Liren in the last round

54...fxg5+ 55.fxg5 hxg5+ 56.¢xg5 ¥c2 57.¦c7+ ¢e6 58.h6 ¦d5+ 59.¢g4 ¦d7 60.¦c6+ ¦d6 61.¦c7 ¦d7 62.¦c5 White tries to use the principle of two weaknesses - Black’s first weakness is White’s strong passed h6–pawn and the second one is the situation on the queenside - Black has to defend the a6–pawn and be careful about White’s c-pawn. 62...¦d5 63.¦c8 a5 64.¦e8+ BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 327

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68...¦a5 69.¦h6+ ¢d7 70.¢f4 a3 71.¦h1 a2 72.¦a1 ¢c6 73.¢e4 ¢b5 74.¢d3 ¦a8 75.¢c2 ¢c4 76.¢b2 ¦b8+ 77.¢xa2 ¢d3 78.¦h1 ¢c2 79.¢a3 ¢d3 80.¦h5 ¦b1 81.¢a4 ¦b8 82.¦b5 ¦a8+ 83.¢b4 ¦c8 84.¦b7 ¦c4+ 85.¢b5 ¦c8 86.¥g7 ¦d8 87.c4 1–0 The Chinese clinched the tournament victory in the last round, when an aggressive Boris Gelfand, with 4.5/8 and needing a win, pushed too hard and lost. This made Ding Liren the sole winner with 6/9.

The solid Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Mamedyarov is another player who has had an excellent run lately. After winning the exceptionally strong Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir (where he ended Wesley So’s unbeaten run) and scoring 4/4 at the Russian Team Championship, he showed that he can be solid too. With 5.5/9, Mamedyarov finished second on his own and is now leading the overall standings for the Candidates qualification. His best effort came at the expense of Michael Adams – a second loss for the British player against Mamedyarov in the Grand Prix series.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Michael Adams Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (3.5) 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤f3 b6 5.e3 ¥b7 6.¥d3 0–0 7.0–0 d5 7...c5 is a major alternative; 7...¥xc3!? 8.bxc3 ¥e4 is what Fischer and Alekhine used to play. 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 The more positional alternative. 9.¤e5 is the more aggressive option, establishing a Pillsbury knight on e5 and 328 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

following up with f4. Adams lost a game to Caruana in 2016 in this line 9...¤bd7 10.f4 c5 11.¤e2 c4 12.¥f5 1–0 (64) Caruana,F (2787)-Adams,M (2744) Wijk aan Zee 2016. 9...¥d6 10.b4 ¤bd7 11.£b3 a6 Varying from his game against Yu Yangyi played a month and a half earlier. 11...c6 12.a4 a5 13.bxa5 ¦xa5 ½–½ (37) Yu Yangyi (2750) - Adams,M (2761) Shenzhen CHN 2017. 12.a4 £e7 13.¦b1

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-trk+0 9+lzpnwqpzpp0 9pzp-vl-sn-+0 9+-+p+-+-0 9PzP-zP-+-+0 9+QsNLzPN+-0 9-+-+-zPPzP0 9+RvL-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

13...c6 I have always considered this positionally dubious after White’s next move. Undoubtedly Adams did his homework, but sometimes it is better to play non-weakening moves, even if the engine says the weakening ones are OK. Not a very good tournament for the English player Michael Adams

June 2017

13...¦fe8 is the main move here; 13...¤e4?! allows White to show the hidden dynamic potential of his position: 14.¤xd5! ¥xd5 15.£xd5 ¤c3 16.£b3 ¤xb1 17.£xb1, with excellent compensation. 14.a5! ¦fb8 14...b5 makes sense too - now White’s plan is to strive for e4, but Black has that square well covered. 15.axb6

XIIIIIIIIY 9rtr-+-+k+0 9+l+nwqpzpp0 9pzPpvl-sn-+0 9+-+p+-+-0 9-zP-zP-+-+0 9+QsNLzPN+-0 9-+-+-zPPzP0 9+RvL-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

15...¥c8?! It is surprising how fast White can exploit the disharmony of Black’s pieces.

Stable and solid: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

than the pawn. 20.¥xc6 £c7 21.£e4 ¥f5! with counterplay for Black. 20...£c7 21.¥h7+ ¢f8 22.¤e5 ¤d5

XIIIIIIIIY 9rtrl+-mk-+0 9+-wq-+pzpL0 9p+pvl-+-zp0 9+-+nsN-+-0 9-zP-zP-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+Q+-zPPzP0 9+RvL-tR-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

15...a5! is a better try and I would guess Adams forgot his preparation here. 16.¥a3 ¥c8! - with more tension on the queenside, this move is now possible. Probably Adams remembered the move (¥c8) but not the exact position when it should be played. Quite a common occurrence in modern preparation. 17.¤a4 ¤e4 with unclear play.

23.¤xf7! Note that Black’s rooks are hopelessly cut off by the equally hapless ¥c8.

16.£c2! ¤xb6?! 16...¦xb6 was better, but White is clearly better after 17.¤a4 ¦xb4 18.¦xb4 ¥xb4 19.£xc6.

23...£xf7 24.¥g6 ¥f5 The unfortuna tebishop has to be sacrificed in order to bring back the rooks, but it is too late now.

17.e4! Immediately opening the position and taking advantage of the somewhat abandoned kingside.

25.¥xf5 ¤xb4 26.£e4 ¤d5 27.¥e6 £f6 This allows a nice mating finale. 27...¦e8 28.¦b3 and Black would not live for long.

17...dxe4 18.¤xe4 ¤xe4 19.¥xe4 h6 19...g6 20.¦e1 £f8 21.¤e5 is equally unpleasant.

28.¦xb8+ ¦xb8 29.£h7 g5 30.£g8+ And soon enough Black will be mated. 1–0

20.¦e1! The initiative is more important BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 329

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Odd decisions and interesting developments The tournament had a fair share of odd decisions, interesting situations and opening revelations. Here is a selection of them!

Ian Nepomniachtchi - Yifan Hou Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (1.7) 1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 ¤f6 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 This recapture, as a way to avoid the Carlsbad structures, became popular after Kramnik used it in the London Candidates in 2013, but let us not forget that Fischer had already played this in 1959. 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.¦b1 This move takes the b4–square away from the ¥f8 and prevents further simplifications. 7.¤f3 cxd4 8.cxd4 ¥b4+ is the usual Semi-Tarrasch. 7...¥e7 8.¥b5+ for 8.¤f3 see SvidlerRadjabov. 8...¥d7 9.¥xd7+ ¤xd7 A novelty and perhaps a move that “encouraged” Nepomniachtchi to take on b7. He probably remembered the Aronian-Vallejo game from Sharjah, where Black took with the queen, so he tried to find a way to “punish” Black... 9...£xd7 10.d5 ½–½ (48) Aronian,L (2785) -Vallejo Pons,F (2709) Sharjah UAE 2017.

The Moscow Grand Prix was the second in a series of four tournaments taking place across the globe. The top two players will qualify for the Candidates tournament next year to select a challenger for the World Championship 330 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

10.¦xb7??

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wqk+-tr0 9zpR+nvlpzpp0 9-+-+p+-+0 9+-zp-+-+-0 9-+-zPP+-+0 9+-zP-+-+-0 9P+-+-zPPzP0 9+-vLQmK-sNR0 xiiiiiiiiy

An incredible move. Nepomniachtchi was apparently out of form in Moscow but m Black’s simple refutation is definitely something he should be able to see even when completely out of sorts! 10.¤f3 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 ¤b6 and the rook is trapped. 12.£d2 £c8 13.¦xe7+ ¢xe7 14.¤f3 f6 And Black won on move 60. 0–1 Gelfand used the Accelerated Fianchetto on two occasions and drew comfortably. I was surprised to see that such an opening theoretician as Vachier Lagrave could not find a promising way against Black’s early pawn sacrifice after having already seen Gelfand play it in Round 1 against Giri.

Maxime Vachier Lagrave - Boris Gelfand Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (3.2) 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¤c3 after 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 I doubt whether Gelfand would have played 4...g6, which allows the Maroczy Bind. More likely he would have gone for the Sveshnikov, which served him so well in the match with Anand in 2012.

June 2017

3...g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.¤xd4 ¥g7 6.¥e3 ¤f6 7.¥c4 0–0 8.¥b3 d5!?

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwq-trk+0 9zpp+-zppvlp0 9-+n+-snp+0 9+-+p+-+-0 9-+-sNP+-+0 9+LsN-vL-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Quite a surprising move and, if it does indeed solve Black’s problems, then this is a major opening revelation because White’s set-up is considered as the most testing in the Accelerated Fianchetto. 8...d6 would be a Dragon, but things there are not entirely rosy for Black.; 8...a5 is the other major option, but White has been doing well after 9.0–0. 9.exd5 ¤a5 10.£d2 Gelfand also faced other moves here: 10.£f3 ¤xb3 11.axb3 ¥g4 12.£g3 ¥h5 13.d6 ¤g4 with unclear play: 1–0 (36) Ponomariov,R (2709)-Gelfand,B (2743) Tashkent 2016; 10.0–0 ¤xb3 11.¤xb3 b6 12.d6 £xd6 13.£xd6 exd6 and the bishop pair compensates for the structural damage. ½–½ (40) Oparin,G (2616)-Gelfand,B (2725) Moscow RUS 2016. 10...¤xb3 11.¤xb3

Safety-first still dominated the state of mind of the players in Moscow. “When a lot is at stake the result is the only thing that matters.”

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwq-trk+0 9zpp+-zppvlp0 9-+-+-snp+0 9+-+P+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+NsN-vL-+-0 9PzPPwQ-zPPzP0 9tR-+-mK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy 11...b5! Continuing in the same aggressive manner. 12.¤xb5 £xd5 13.£xd5 ¤xd5 14.¥d4 ¦b8

XIIIIIIIIY 9-trl+-trk+0 9zp-+-zppvlp0 9-+-+-+p+0 9+N+n+-+-0 9-+-vL-+-+0 9+N+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+-mK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Gelfand is the first to deviate, but this move is the engine’s first choice, so Vachier must have been prepared. 14...¤b4 15.0–0–0 ¤xa2+ 16.¢b1 ¤b4 17.¥xg7 ¢xg7 18.¦he1 and White had unpleasant pressure in the game from the first round: ½–½ (34) Giri,A (2785)-Gelfand,B (2724) Moscow RUS 2017. 15.¥xg7 ¢xg7 16.¤a3 ¤b4 17.0–0–0 ¤xa2+ 18.¢b1 ¤b4 19.¦he1 ¦e8 Compared to the game with Giri here White’s knight is worse on a3 and Black’s rook is better on b8. 20.¦d2 ¥b7 21.c3 ¤d5 and the game is equal. ½–½

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Usually, people are not surprised when Svidler plays the Grunfeld, but Harikrishna managed it. He played a novelty in a wellknown position and ended up worse only two moves later.

Pentala Harikrishna – Peter Svidler Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (3.6) 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¥e3 c5 8.¦c1 0–0 9.¤f3 £a5 10.£d2 ¦d8 11.d5 e6 A verywell-known position.

And White has no compensation for the pawn. He lost in 40 moves. 0–1 Adams didn’t have a very good tournament. Here he plays two moves that I find impossible to explain.

After winning the 5-player double round robin in Shenzhen (analysed in the April issue)

12.d6 A new move. 12.¥g5 is the main move; 12.c4; 12.¥e2 12...£a4 13.h4?

XIIIIIIIIY 9rsnltr-+k+0 9zpp+-+pvlp0 9-+-zPp+p+0 9+-zp-+-+-0 9q+-+P+-zP0 9+-zP-vLN+-0 9P+-wQ-zPP+0 9+-tR-mKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

A bad move. 13.e5 is the only way to justify White’s 12 d6. A sample line can be 13...¤d7 14.¥g5 ¦f8 15.£e3 b6 16.h4 h5 with unclear play. 13...£xe4 14.h5 £d5 XIIIIIIIIY

9rsnltr-+k+0 9zpp+-+pvlp0 9-+-zPp+p+0 9+-zpq+-+P0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-zP-vLN+-0 9P+-wQ-zPP+0 9+-tR-mKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

332 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Ding Liren won the Moscow Grand Prix and is now a firm favourite to qualify for next year’s Candidates tournament Michael Adams - Ian Nepomniachtchi Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (4.8)

XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-+-+k+0 9+rwqnvlpzp-0 9R+-zpl+-zp0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9Nzp-+P+-zP0 9+P+-vL-zP-0 9R+P+-zPL+0 9+-+Q+-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

24...¥f8 The position is dynamically balanced. A natural thing would be to move the knight from the rim. 25.¥f3 A rather vague move. 25.¤b2 ¥e7 26.¤d3. 25...¤f6 26.¥g2? But this is just bad, missing Black’s manoeuvre.

June 2017

26.¤b2 was still OK.

Hou Yifan scored an enviable +1, her second win coming after a harakiri by Hammer.

26...¥d7! 27.¤b2 Too late now.

Yifan Hou - Jon Ludvig Hammer 27...¥c6 And White cannot defend the e4– pawn. He lost both the pawn and the game on move 49. 0–1

Somewhat similarly, Radjabov also played two moves with the same piece, but he was luckier than Adams.

Peter Svidler – Teimour Radjabov Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (5.2) 1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 ¤f6 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.¦b1 ¥e7 8.¤f3 0–0 9.¥c4 ¤c6 10.0–0 b6 11.¥f4 ¥b7 12.¦e1 cxd4 13.cxd4 ¤b4?

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wq-trk+0 9zpl+-vlpzpp0 9-zp-+p+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-snLzPPvL-+0 9+-+-+N+-0 9P+-+-zPPzP0 9+R+QtR-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

In his own words, Radjabov forgot his preparation. As in the Mamedyarov-Adams game, we have a case where the player remembered the move but not the exact position when this move should be played.

Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (7.7)

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63.¦e3 This is a draw if Black just hops around with the knight, which is what he had been doing for some time now. 63...¤d2 64.¦d3 ¤f1 there was nothing wrong with 64...¤e4. 65.¦a3 f4?? This must have been a hallucination. Did Black think he was winning with this? Again, nothing wrong with hopping with 65...¤d2. 66.gxf4 ¢f5 67.¦a1 The only move that wins, but not a very difficult one. Equal with the men: Hou Yifan scored an enviable +1 in Moscow

13...¦c8! 14.¥f1 ¤b4! is was what he had analysed. 14.£d2 ¤c6 15.d5ƒ and Black was very lucky not to lose. ½–½

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 333

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67...¤d2 68.¢d3 ¤b3 69.¦b1 ¤c5+ 70.¢e3

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+p+p+0 9+-sn-+k+-0 9-+-+-zPpzP0 9+-+-mK-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+R+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

And the rest is easy...

70...e5 71.¦b5 ¤d7 72.fxe5 ¤f8 73.e6+ ¢f6 74.¢f4 ¤xe6+ 75.¢xg4 ¤d4 76.¦b6+ ¢f7 77.e4 ¢g7 78.e5 ¢f7 79.¦f6+ ¢g7 80.¢g5 1–0

In what was perhaps one of his most important games in the tournament, Mamedyarov showed creativity under pressure in the penultimate round against Svidler.

Peter Svidler - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (8.2) 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.d3 b5 6.¥b3 ¥c5 7.¤c3 d6 8.¤d5 One of the many possible ways to play for White. Svidler comes prepared with Vachier’s idea played last year against Giri (in a blitz game - maybe that is why it went unnoticed by Mamedyarov?). 8...h6 9.c3 0–0 9...¦b8 is probably going

Mamedyarov finished sole second and is now leading the overall standings for the Candidates qualification 334 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

to become the main move after this game. 10.¤xf6+ £xf6 11.¥d5 ¥d7

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12.¦g1!! I will have to disappoint the readers here if they thought I was going to praise the Frenchman’s creativity. Alas, the move is the first choice of Stockfish at depth 28 (at least on my computer). 12...¤e7!! A no less worthy retort! The engine scoffs, but the human player believes in spirit over matter! 12...£d8 13.g4 ¢h8 14.g5 gave White an almost-winning attack: ½–½ (36) Vachier Lagrave,M (2789)-Giri,A (2782) Paris 2016; 12...h5 is the engine’s solution. 13.¥xa8 ¦xa8 14.g4 £e6 By eliminating the strong d5 Black is safe against an attack now, but he is an exchange down. 15.¤h4 Svidler is still in aggressive mode. 15.¥e3 was more prosaic and probably better: 15...¥xe3 16.fxe3 d5 17.exd5 ¤xd5 18.£d2 with 0–0–0 to follow. 15...d5 16.¤f5 ¥c6 17.£e2 dxe4 18.dxe4 ¤g6 And Black is not much worse any more! ½–½ The last rounds saw the tensions rise and the players were committing strange mistakes. Here Grischuk let Nakamura off the hook in one move.

June 2017

Alexander Grischuk - Hikaru Nakamura Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (8.3)

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18...¤f6 White has excellent compensation here because of his pressure on the c-file and the backward c7–pawn. Grischuk’s next move, which allows Black to get rid of these problems in a single move, is impossible to explain rationally. 19.¦a6?? 19.¦ac1 and Black will suffer for a long time. 19...c5 Was this a difficult move to see? 20.dxc5 £c8 20...¦c7 is better according to the engine, but the game move is good enough. 21.¦c6 ¦c7 22.¦xc7 £xc7 23.c6 a5 24.¦c1 h6 Black will create a passed World Champion contender, Russian GM Sergey Karjakin paid a visit to the event

b-pawn and White won’t be able to make progress. ½–½

From victory to defeat, in 4 moves Nepomniachtchi had a horrible tournament, but his Round 8 loss to Harikrishna was particularly painful – he went from winning to losing in 4 moves.

Ian Nepomniachtchi - Pentala Harikrishna Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (8.7)

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25...¤g6 26.¦e1?! White is winning after the most natural 26.d7 ¥xd7 (26...¥a6 27.£d3 ¦f1 or ¦d1) 27.exd7 ¤e5 (27...£xf1+ 28.¦xf1+ ¢e7 29.¦e1+ ¢f7 30.¥h5 ¦d8 31.¦d1 and Black cannot untangle) 28.£e2 ¤xg4 29.¦f1! 26...¥xe6 27.¥xe6 ¦d8 28.g3?

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After this White cannot win any more. 28.c5 bxc5 29.£c4...¥f1 29...¤f4 (29...£d4+ 30.£xd4 cxd4 31.¦f1+ ¢e8 32.¥f7+ ¢d7 33.¥xg6 wins a piece) 30.¦f1 g5 31.g3 ¦xd6 32.¥g4 and this should be winning for White. 28...¦xd6 29.£e2 £c3 30.¢h1??

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But after this White is lost. What an incredible transformation in only 4 moves! 30.£f2+ £f6 31.£e2 is a repetition. 30...¦d2 31.¦f1+ ¢e7 32.£e4 ¤e5 And Black won in 56 moves. 0–1

There are two more Grand Prix tournaments left to play, in Geneva in July and Palma de Mallorca in November… Only Mamedyarov (who currently leads the series), Ding Liren, Grischuk and Vachier Lagrave still have realistic chances

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Nakamura had a low-profile tournament, scoring +1, just as in Sharjah. These results do not offer him great chances of qualification but he has been uncharacteristically cautious. In the last round, however, he was very lucky that Svidler did not look in the “correct direction” and actually accepted his draw offer.

Hikaru Nakamura - Peter Svidler Moscow Grand Prix 2017 Moscow RUS (9.3)

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35.¦e4 Nakamura had the guts to offer a draw here and, as they say, “no guts, no glory.” It must have been a glorious feeling for him when Svidler actually accepted! After 35.¦e4 ¦h1 White is in really big trouble. It is very surprising that Svidler didn’t realise this. It is not so much about the exact move 35...h1. In this position, Black can play on forever and a win would have significantly improved Svidler’s chances of qualification as he would have shared 2 nd place, thus gaining more Grand Prix points. 36.£d2 (36.¢d2 a4 37.¢c2 ¦h3 ...£6) 36...a4 37.£c3+ £f6! White cannot exchange queens because b2 is weak. But even the simple king move is good enough: (37...¢h7) 38.¦e7 b5! and White hangs on for dear life. ½–½

June 2017

(Outgoing?) FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulating Ding Liren on his victory

The Moscow Grand Prix was the second in a series of four tournaments taking place across the globe. The top two players will qualify for the Candidates tournament next year to select a challenger for the World Championship. Twenty−four of the world’s top players are competing in the Grand Prix, with 18 playing in each tournament, and each player competes in three of the four competitions. There are two more Grand Prix tournaments left to play, in Geneva in July and Palma de Mallorca in November, but the number of candidates for the first two spots has decreased significantly - only Mamedyarov (who currently leads the series), Ding Liren, Grischuk and Vachier Lagrave still have realistic chances. It should be interesting, at least for them.

FIDE GranD PrIx MOscOw TOurnaMEnT- sTanDInGs name 1 Ding Liren 2 shakhriyar MamedyaroV 3 anish Giri 4 Hikaru nakamura 5 alexander Grischuk 6 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 7 Yifan Hou 8 Teimour radjabov 9 Peter svidler 10 Boris Gelfand 11 Evgeny Tomashevsky 12 Pentala Harikrishna 13 Francisco Vallejo Pons 14 Jon Ludvig Hammer 15 Michael adams 16 Ian nepomniachtchi 17 a r saleh salem 18 Ernesto Inarkiev

6/9 5.5/9 5/9 5/9 5/9 5/9 5/9 5/9 5/9 4.5/9 4.5/9 4.5/9 4/9 4/9 3.5/9 3.5/9 3.5/9 2.5/9

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Book review

The Stories and the Games: For many years Jan Timman was one of the best chess players in the world. He combined his brilliant successes on the board with a passion for writing and meticulously analysing his own games and those of his rivals. Three times he was a World Championship Candidate and in 1993 he played in the final of the FIDE World Championship.  In this unique work, Jan Timman portrays ten World Chess Champions that played an important role in his life and career. Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) he never met, but the story of how in Lisbon he bought one of the last chess sets belonging to the fourth World Champion is one of many highlights in this book.  Timman has a keen eye for detail and a marvellous memory, and he visibly enjoys sharing his insider views, up close and personal, including many striking and hitherto unpublished revelations about the great champions. Timman’s Titans not only presents a personal view of these chess giants, but is also an evocation of countless fascinating and even sensational episodes in chess history.  Each pen portrait is completed by a rich selection of illustrative games, annotated in the author’s trademark lucid style. Always to the point, sharp and with crystal-clear explanations, Timman points out the highs and lows of the play of the title holders, frequently by means of lesser known but nevertheless significant games. The Dutch grandmaster also includes the most memorable games he himself has played against the champions – wins, draws and losses!

▪ Alekhine ▪ Euwe ▪ Tal Botvinnik ▪ Smyslov ▪ Petrosian ▪ Spassky ▪ Fischer ▪ Karpov ▪ Kasparov Jan Timman  is a former world championship candidate who rose to the number two spot of the FIDE world rankings. He is the author of several highly acclaimed bestsellers, such as Timman’s Selected Games, Curacao 1962, On the Attack!, Power Chess with Pieces and The Art of the Endgame. To conclude, we cannot do better than concur with the opinion of IM Jeroen Bosch, who wrote so pertinently in Schaakmagazine: “One of the finest chess books that have recently been published ... Although Timman doesn’t keep silent about matters such as match fixing, abuse of power or excessive drinking, he writes his portraits with a fundamentally positive view. The joy with which the book is written is contagious.”

My World Chess Champions by Jan Timman Softback. 320 pages. New in Chess. £22.95. 338 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

June 2017

Four Nations Chess League (4NCL)

Guildford win the Division 1 Championship By GM Tom Rendle and IM Shaun Taulbut In the Division 1 Championship going into the final 5th weekend Guildford 1 and Cheddleton 1 were level in terms of match points having won all of their

111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118

w b w b w b w b

Guildford 1 Sadler, Matthew D Jones, Gawain C B Anton Guijarro, David Van Kampen, Robin Edouard, Romain Pert, Nicholas Le Roux, Jean-Pierre Milliet, Sophie

g g *g g g g g i

matches. However, Guildford 1 won the match between the two teams on the last weekend by a wide margin as follows (look at Table 1).

Table 1 2629 2680 1 - 0 2671 ½ - ½ 2679 1 - 0 2639 ½ - ½ 2631 1 - 0 2565 ½ - ½ 2542 1 - 0 2352 1 - 0 6½ - 1½

This was the fifth successive championship success for Guildford who were led by Matthew Sadler and Gawain Jones. Guildford’s team manager Roger Emerson also brought in David Anton, a strong Spanish Grandmaster, for the final weekend to add to their strong regular European GMs Robin van Kampen and Romain Edouard. Daniel Fernandez playing for Guildford made his third and final GM norm and Ravi Haria playing for Wood Green HK also made a GM norm. The final standings of Division 1 are:

Cheddleton 1 Sokolov, Ivan Howell, David W L Hawkins, Jonathan Grandelius, Nils Williams, Simon K Fodor, Tamas Jr. Kirk, Ezra Steil-Antoni, Fiona

2552 g 2628 g 2684 g 2585 g 2641 g 2452 g 2513 f 2365 wi 2155

Guildford 1 (1st), Cheddleton 1 (2nd) and Guildford 2 (3rd). We now look at some of the games and interesting positions from the 4th and final weekends.

Simon K Williams - David Guthrie 4NCL Division 1a Telford, ENG (7.14) [Tom Rendle] 1.e4 c5 2.¥e2 ¤c6 3.d3 g6 4.f4 ¥g7 5.¤f3 ¤f6 6.0–0 0–0 7.£e1 d6 8.£h4 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 339

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¥g4 8...b5 seems more to the point for Black here. Black should be playing on the queenside if possible. 9.¤bd2 ¥xf3 10.¤xf3 ¤d4 11.¥d1 e6 12.¤g5 h6 13.¤h3 ¤d7 14.£g3 ¢h7 Black must seek counterplay in the centre with 14...d5! although White still has excellent attacking chances after 15.c3 ¤c6 16.f5. 15.c3 ¤c6 16.f5 ¤de5

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17.¥c2 17.¥g5! is perhaps even stronger here as Black is forced to accept a bad position for no material as compensation. 17...f6 (not 17...hxg5? 18.¤xg5+ ¢g8 19.£h4 and Black has to give up his queen to slow down the attack.; 17...¥f6 18.fxg6+ fxg6 19.¦xf6! ¦xf6 20.£h4 is also game over for Black.) 18.fxg6+ ¤xg6 19.¥e3 and White clearly has a significant advantage, albeit with some work still to do. 17...exf5 18.exf5 gxf5 18...¥f6 is objectively a better chance but Black’s position is hardly pleasant after 19.¥e3 g5 20.¤f2. 19.¦xf5 ¤g6 20.¦h5 An unusual rook manoeuvre but certainly an effective one here. Simon increases the pressure on h6 and in the medium term there is no way to defend. 20...¤ce7 21.¥f4 d5 22.¦f1 ¦c8? This allows the final breakthrough which Simon 340 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

executes in fine style. 22...¤xf4 23.¤xf4 d4 and Black can struggle on. 23.¥xh6! ¥xh6 24.¤g5+ ¢g7

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25.¦xh6! Another sacrifice on h6 and the black king is driven out into the open. 25...¢xh6 26.¦xf7 ¦h8 26...¦xf7 27.¤xf7+ avoids mate but costs Black the queen on d8. 27.£h3+! ¢xg5 28.£e3+ ¢h4 29.£g3+ ¢h5 30.¥d1+ ¢h6 31.£e3+ ¤f4 32.£xf4+ ¢g6 33.£f6# . 1–0 A beautiful king hunt to end a fine attacking game from the Ginger GM.

Andrew Dunn – Matthew D Sadler 4NCL Division 1b Telford, ENG (7.52) [Tom Rendle] For Guildford 1 Matthew Sadler has probably been the best player so far. Normally to be found on board 1, he still scored 7.5/8, dropping only half a point with a draw as Black against Peter Wells back in round 3. Here we join him in complete control against North East Englands Andrew Dunn. 1.d4 ¤f6 2.¤f3 c5 3.e3 d5 4.¥d3 ¤c6 5.c3 ¥g4 6.h3 ¥h5 7.¤bd2 e6 8.£a4 ¤d7 9.0–0 ¦c8 10.¦e1 ¥e7 11.¤e5 ¤cxe5 12.dxe5 0–0 13.£c2 ¤xe5 14.¥xh7+ ¢h8 15.¥d3 ¤xd3 16.£xd3 c4 17.£c2

June 2017

b5 18.¤f1 ¥g6 19.£e2 ¥d3 20.£h5+ ¢g8 21.f4 f6 22.¤g3 ¥c5 23.£g4 £d7 24.¥d2 a5 25.a3 ¦ce8 26.¦ad1 f5 27.£f3 e5 28.¢h2 ¦e6 29.¤e2 ¥e4 30.£f2 exf4 31.¤xf4 ¦h6 32.£g3

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32...¥e7! Simply threatening to trap the queen with …¥h4. 33.¤g6 Preventing ...¥h4 but allowing a much nicer finish! 33.¢g1 ¥h4 34.£h2 g5 is thoroughly miserable for White. 33...¦xg6! 34.£xg6 ¦f6 35.£h5 or 35.£g3 ¥d6 pinning and winning the queen. 35...¦h6 36.£e2 The queen has escaped has Black overlooked something? 36...£d6+ 37.¢g1

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37...¦xh3! The queen might have escaped but the white king will not be so fortunate! A lovely finish from Matthew. 37...¦xh3

38.gxh3 £g3+ 39.¢f1 £xh3+ 40.¢g1 £h1+ 41.¢f2 ¥h4# 0–1

Laurent Fressinet - James Moreby 4NCL Division 1b Telford, ENG (7.53) [Tom Rendle] Of course, another of Guildfords strengths is their ability to bring in top class GMs during the season. Laurent Fressinet missed the first 3 weekends before coming in to score 2/2 in rounds 78. As with the last game we see more pieces running rather short of squares... 1.d4 ¤f6 2.¤f3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.¤c3 ¥b4 5.¥g5 h6 6.¥xf6 £xf6 7.e3 0–0 8.¦c1 c6 9.£b3 ¥xc3+ 10.£xc3 ¤d7 11.b4 dxc4 12.¥xc4 ¦e8 13.¤e5 ¤xe5 14.dxe5 £e7 15.0–0 c5 16.bxc5 £xc5 17.£b2 £e7 18.¦fd1 ¦d8 19.¦xd8+ £xd8 20.¥e2 b6 21.¦d1 £c7 22.¦c1 £e7 23.£c3 ¥d7 24.¥a6 £e8 25.£c4 ¥a4

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26.£c7 White is certainly in control here but Blacks position is solid and it seems the game is likely to continue for a long time. Certainly what comes next is rather unexpected. 26...¥b5 26...£f8! was more accurate and now White should content himself with a slight edge after 27.h3 (27.¥c8 now allows counterplay with 27...£a3). 27.¥c8! Suddenly the rook on a8 is BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 341

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embarrassingly short of squares! All is not yet lost, however. 27...a5? The decisive error. 27...¥d3!! keeps Black in the game as now 28.£b7 can be met by (28.¥b7 ¦b8 29.¥f3 and White is still clearly better.) 28...¥e4! 29.£xe4 ¦xc8 with an equal ending. 28.£b7 ¦a6 29.h3! Whats the rush? The rook on a6 is going nowhere! 29...a4 30.¦d1 Now Fressinet switches his focus to the black queen which is in a similarly precarious position. There is no good defence to £c7 and ¦d8. 30...£f8 33.£b7

31.£c7

¦a8

32.¦d8

Daniel has just played 30...h4 and his position would be comfortable except for the awkward placement of the king on f8. It is not in so much danger for the moment but it does hamper the coordination of the Black rooks. 31.£e3 31...¥f6 31...¦h8 makes a lot of sense here as well although now Black would have to deal with the awkward 32.£g5. 32.¦ed1 hxg3 33.hxg3 ¦xd1+ 34.¦xd1 £xc4 34...a5! was well worth considering here - at the very least that a-pawn should prove a distraction for White who now has to find something active to do.

¥e8

1–0 Black resigned rather than lose all his pieces after 33...¦a5 34.¥d7.

35.¤a5 35.£h6+ Also dangerous was 35...¢e7 36.£f4 e5 37.£d2 £c7 and Black is just about holding on. 35...£c7 36.£h6+ ¥g7 37.£g5? 37.£h4! is stronger, as we shall see.

Christian Bauer – Daniel W Gormally 4NCL Division 1a Telford, ENG (7.41) [Tom Rendle] 1.e4 c5 2.¤c3 e6 3.¤f3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.¤xd4 b5 6.¥d3 ¥b7 7.0–0 £c7 8.¦e1 ¥c5 9.¥e3 ¥e7 10.¥d2 d6 11.a4 bxa4 12.£h5 g6 13.£h3 ¤d7 14.¤xa4 ¤gf6 15.¥h6 ¤c5 16.¤xc5 dxc5 17.¥g7 ¦g8 18.¥xf6 ¥xf6 19.e5 ¥e7 20.¤f3 h5 21.b3 ¢f8 22.£g3 g5 23.¤d2 ¦d8 24.£e3 c4 25.bxc4 ¥c5 26.£e2 ¥d4 27.¦ab1 g4 28.¥e4 ¥c8 29.¤b3 ¥xe5 30.g3 h4

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37...¥d4? Daniel tries to go for a repetition of moves but perhaps now was the right time to go on the attack. Of course, just before move 40 this is a very tough decision to make. 37...f6! 38.£d2 f5 sets White some real problems. After 39.¥g2 ¥f6 Blacks king looks safe enough and he still has an extra pawn. 38.£h6+ ¥g7 39.£h4! White declines the repetition and in doing so sets a nasty trap...

Guildford 1 and Cheddleton 1 were level in terms of match points having won all of their matches. However, Guildford 1 won the match between the two teams, deciding the winner

June 2017

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+l+-mkr+0 9+-wq-+pvl-0 9p+-+p+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9-+-+L+pwQ0 9+-+-+-zP-0 9-+P+-zP-+0 9+-+R+-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy 39...¥d7? ...into which Black falls.

An unfortunate mistake just before the time control. 39...f6! was now completely forced although it no longer comes with a tempo against the white queen. The position seems to be a draw with best play after 40.¤c6 ¦h8 41.£xg4 f5 42.£g5 (42.£f3!?) 42... fxe4 43.£c5+ ¢e8 44.¦d8+ ¢f7 45.¦d6 ¢g8 46.¦d8+ ¢f7 47.¦d6=. 40.¥c6! £xa5 or 40...¥xc6 41.¤xc6 f5 42.¦d8+ ¢f7 43.£h5+ ¢f6 44.¦xg8 £xc6 45.£e8 and White should win easily enough. 41.¦xd7 Suddenly theres no defence to ¦d8+, winning at least a rook. 41...£a1+ 42.¢g2 1–0 Fabien Libiszewski - Ravi Haria 4NCL Division 1c Telford, ENG (8.23) [Tom Rendle] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.e5 ¤e7 5.a3 ¥xc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 7.£g4 ¤g6 8.h4 h5

Daniel Fernandez playing for Guildford made his third and final GM norm and Ravi Haria playing for Wood Green HK also made a GM norm

9.£g3 ¥a6 10.¥xa6 ¤xa6 11.¤e2 £d7 12.a4 ¤b8! 13.f4!? Perhaps a little ambitious but otherwise White could hardly claim an edge. 13.¥g5 looks more circumspect to me. 13...¤c6 14.f5 exf5 15.0–0 0–0–0 16.£g5 ¢b7

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I think it is fair to say the opening has been a success for Black. For the moment he is a pawn up, but that seems likely to drop at any moment. More importantly, Black has the safer king and Whites bishop on c1 could become a problem for him in the endgame. I am sure when White went for 14.f5 he envisaged recapturing with ¤g3f5 but at this point Libiszewski should have baled out with £xf5. 17.¤g3?! 17.£xf5 ¤xh4 18.£f4! (18.£xd7 ¦xd7 19.¥g5 ¤g6 and White still has some work to do before regaining the pawn.) 18...¤g6 19.£xf7 ¤ce7 20.£f3 ¦hf8 21.£h3 £xh3 22.gxh3 ¦xf1+ 23.¢xf1 ¦f8+ 24.¢g1 ¦f5! and Black has the more comfortable endgame ahead. 17...¤ce7 18.¤xh5 ¦h7 Suddenly the knight is very awkwardly placed on h5. If it retreats, the pawn on h4 will drop so g3 is logical, but soon it is the queen on g5 that is surprisingly short on squares! 19.g3 19.¤f4 ¦dh8 20.¤xg6 ¤xg6 is at least clearly better for Black as 21.g3 is simply met by 21...¤xh4! 22.gxh4 ¦xh4 with a winning attack. 19...£c6! BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 343

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An excellent move from Ravi - suddenly if the white knight retreats to f4 then ...f6 will trap the queen. 20.¥d2 ¦dh8 21.g4 Desperation, but otherwise the knight simply drops. 21...fxg4 22.¤g3 ¦xh4 23.¦xf7 ¦h3 24.¥e1 ¦xg3+! 24...¦xg3+ 25.¥xg3 £xc3 wins the house. 0–1

Gawain Jones - Alexander Longson 4NCL Division 1c Telford, ENG (10.22) [Shaun Taulbut] 1.e4 c5 2.¤c3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.¤f3 ¥g7 5.¥b5+ Trying to disrupt the Black development with this check rather than the immediate ¥c4. 5...¥d7 6.¥c4

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6...¤c6 7.d3 ¤a5 Black goes after the bishop pair: a positional advantage, but the trade-off is that White gains time. 8.¥d2 Better than 8.¥b3 when 8...b5 gives Black good play. 8...¤xc4 9.dxc4 e6 10.£e2 A smooth development. White prepares to castle queenside and has the potential attack against the black pawn on d6 down the half-open file. 10...¤e7 11.0–0–0 £c7 12.f5 White charges into the attack, offering a pawn: a strong practical choice which gives Black much to think about. Also playable was 12.h4. 12...0–0–0 Probably best was to accept the sacrifice with 12...gxf5 13.exf5 ¤xf5 14.¤d5 £d8 15.¥g5 f6 when 16.¤h4 retains the initiative; Whites attacking play is worth a pawn; instead Black plays to remove his king from the centre. 13.¥g5 Black cannot defend the pinned knight because of the threat of f6 so must play ...f6 himself. 13...f6 14.fxe6 fxg5 After 14...¥xe6 15.¥f4: aiming at the d6 pawn with strong pressure gives White the edge. 15.exd7+ ¦xd7 16.¤b5 £b6 17.e5

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+k+-+-tr0 9zpp+rsn-vlp0 9-wq-zp-+p+0 9+Nzp-zP-zp-0 9-+P+-+-+0 9+-+-+N+-0 9PzPP+Q+PzP0 9+-mKR+-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

White breaks through into the Black position aiming for a quick kill. 17...d5 The alternatives were not attractive; 17...

June 2017

dxe5 18.¦xd7 ¢xd7 19.¤xe5+ ¢c8 20.¤f7 is winning or 17...g4 18.e6 ¦dd8 19.¤g5 ¥h6 20.£xg4 and White has a big advantage.

Robin van Kampen – Sam E Collins 4NCL Division 1c Telford, ENG (9.33) [Shaun Taulbut]

18.cxd5 ¦xd5 19.¦xd5 ¤xd5 20.¤xg5 ¢b8 20...¥h6 21.h4 is also very strong for White.

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.d3 A slow system retaining the tension.

21.c4 21.¤f7 ¦f8 22.¤bd6 leads to a strong bind and is better than the game for White.

5...d6 6.c3 A standard Ruy Lopez move allowing the bishop to drop back to c2 if needed and preparing d4 at some point.

21...¤b4 22.¦f1 Threatening to invade on f7 with the rook.

6...g6

22...¦e8 A good move holding the e-pawn. Not 22...¤xa2+ 23.¢b1 ¤b4 24.¦f7 ¥h6 25.e6 ¤c6 26.e7 ¦e8, when 27.¤xh7 is devastating. 23.¤f7 a6 24.¤c3

XIIIIIIIIY 9-mk-+r+-+0 9+p+-+Nvlp0 9pwq-+-+p+0 9+-zp-zP-+-0 9-snP+-+-+0 9+-sN-+-+-0 9PzP-+Q+PzP0 9+-mK-+R+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

24...¤c6 24...£e6 is the best move blocking the dangerous pawn, when Black is equal; now White is much better again. 25.¤d5 £a5 26.¢b1 ¤xe5 A tactical mistake allowing a winning pin. 27.¦f4 ¢a7 28.¦e4 £a4 29.¤c3 Not 29.¤xe5 ¦xe5 30.¦xe5 ¥xe5 31.£xe5 £d1#. 29...£d7 30.¤xe5 ¥xe5 31.¦xe5 ¦xe5 32.£xe5 £d3+ 33.¢c1 1–0

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9+pzp-+p+p0 9p+nzp-snp+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9L+-+P+-+0 9+-zPP+N+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

A good development of the king’s bishop. Black has few problems on the kingside now. 7.h3 ¥g7 8.¥e3 0–0 9.¤bd2 ¦e8 9... b5 10.¥b3 ¥d7 is a good alternative, not allowing an exchange on c6 to double the black pawns. 10.0–0 h6 11.¦e1 11.¥xc6 is logical, reaching a position similar to the game. 11...d5 Black plays actively but White is able to neutralise this break; 11...¥d7 is good. 12.¥xc6 bxc6 13.£a4 ¥d7 14.£c2 White plays very solidly aiming to probe the weak squares around the doubled pawns. 14...¤h5 15.d4 15.¤b3 is logical but Black could try 15...f5 16.¤c5 ¤f6, challenging in the centre, White aims to liquidate the Black centre pawns, leaving the weak pawns on the queenside more open to attack. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 345

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This was the fifth successive championship success for Guildford who were led by Matthew Sadler and Gawain Jones 15...exd4 Also possible is 15...dxe4 16.¤xe5 ¥xe5 17.dxe5 ¦xe5 18.¥d4 ¦e8 19.¤xe4 ¥f5 20.g4 £g5 21.¤xg5 ¥xc2 22.gxh5 hxg5 23.hxg6 with an edge for White in the endgame. 16.¥xd4 ¤f4 17.¥e3 ¤e6 18.¦ad1 £f6 19.¤b3 dxe4 20.¤fd2 White plays very calmly, aiming to recapture with the knight on e4 rather than the queen. 20...¤f8 21.¤xe4 £h4 22.f3 The key move, defending e4 and allowing the bishop to drop back to f2. 22...¥f5 23.¤bc5 ¤e6 24.¥f2 £e7 25.£a4 Unpinning the queen and homing in on the weak pawns; White has a big positional advantage. 25...¤xc5 26.¤xc5 £g5 Giving up the pawn on c6. Defending with 26...£f6 is well met by 27.g4 ¦xe1+ 28.¦xe1 ¥c8 29.¦e8+ (29.¢g2 is safe and good) 29... ¢h7 30.¢g2 ¥xg4 31.¦xa8 ¥xf3+ 32.¢f1 £g5 33.¦e8 when White is winning. 27.£xc6 ¦xe1+ 28.¦xe1 ¦d8 29.£xc7 ¥xh3 30.g4 h5 After 30...¥xg4 31.¤e4 wins. 31.¤e4 £d5 32.c4 Deflecting the queen from the defence of f7 wins the game. 32...£d3 33.¤g5 hxg4 After 33...¦f8 34.£g3 hxg4 (34...¥xg4 35.fxg4 £xc4 36.gxh5 gxh5 37.¤e4) 35.£h4 wins. 34.£xf7+ ¢h8 35.¦e8+ Checkmating Black. 1–0

346 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Matthew D Sadler – Ivan Sokolov 4NCL Division 1c Telford, ENG (11.11) [Shaun Taulbut] 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.¤c3 exd5 5.cxd5 g6 6.e4 d6 7.f3 White builds a solid centre with this move. 7...a6 8.a4 h5 Black gains space on the kingside at the cost of this potential weakness. 9.¥g5 ¥e7 9...¥g7 10.a5 £c7 unpins the queen and is more flexible. 10.¥e3 Preserving the bishop is important: a good retreat. 10...h4 Trying to gain a march on the kingside but White simply carries on with his development. 11.£d2 ¤bd7 12.¤h3 The knight emerges to a good square where it can go to f2 or g5. 12...¤e5 13.¥e2 Allowing Black to exchange on f3 if he wishes, as this would leave Black weak on the light squares. 13...¦b8 13...¥xh3 14.gxh3 £a5 15.f4 ¤ed7 16.0–0 with good play for White. 14.0–0 ¢f8 14...0–0 15.¤f2 is better for White so Black aims to put his king on g7. 15.a5 b5 16.axb6 £xb6

XIIIIIIIIY 9-trl+-mk-tr0 9+-+-vlp+-0 9pwq-zp-snp+0 9+-zpPsn-+-0 9-+-+P+-zp0 9+-sN-vLP+N0 9-zP-wQL+PzP0 9tR-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

June 2017

17.b4 White exploits the pin. Black cannot capture with the queen because of ¦b1 winning and is in difficulties. 17...¥xh3 18.bxc5 A good intermezzo. White creates a pawn roller in the centre if Black recaptures on c5.

22.¦xh8+ ¢xh8 23.¥xd2. 19...£xd2 20.¥xd2 ¦b2 21.¦fd1 ¤h5 The best practical chance; 21...dxc5 22.f4 ¤ed7 23.e5 ¤h5 24.¦xa6 is winning for White. 22.f4 ¦xd2 Black tries to gain counterplay by sacrificing the exchange but White will gain a monster passed c-pawn.

18...£b2

XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-+-mk-tr0 9+-+-vlp+-0 9p+-zp-snp+0 9+-zPPsn-+-0 9-+-+P+-zp0 9+-sN-vLP+l0 9-wq-wQL+PzP0 9tR-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

On 18...dxc5 19.gxh3 ¤ed7 20.¦fb1 £c7 21.¦xb8+ £xb8 22.f4 ¢g7 23.e5 is winning for White as the black pieces are driven back. 19.gxh3 White could win more easily with 19.¥h6+ ¢g8 (19...¢e8 20.¦fb1 £xd2 21.¦xb8+ ¢d7 22.c6+ ¤xc6 23.¦b7+ ¢c8 24.¥xd2 ¢xb7 25.dxc6+ ¢xc6 26.¦xa6+ ¢b7 27.gxh3 with an extra piece) 20.¦fb1 £xd2 21.¦xb8+ ¢h7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

23.¦xd2 ¤xf4 24.c6 ¢g7 25.¦c2 25.¦xa6 is also good. 25...¤xh3+ 26.¢f1 ¤f4 27.¤a4 27.¦xa6 is best but this should also win easily. 27...¥d8 28.¦b1 28.c7 ¥xc7 29.¦xc7 should win but White wants to queen his pawn. 28...g5 29.¦b8 ¥c7 30.¦xh8 ¢xh8 31.¦b2 g4 32.¦b7 h3 33.¢f2 White must stop ...g3 and has a tactical trick in mind. 33...¥a5 34.¥xg4 ¤fd3+ After 34...¤xg4+ 35.¢f3 ¤xh2+ 36.¢xf4 ¤f1 37.¦b1 defends h1 in time. 35.¢e3 ¤xg4+ 36.¢xd3 ¤xh2 37.¤b6 ¤g4 38.c7 The c-pawn queens. 38...¤f2+ 39.¢e2 h2 40.c8£+ Black resigned as after 40...¢g7 41.£f5 wins.

Division 1 championship - Final standings 1 2 3 4 Guildford 1 6½-1½6½-1½ 8-0 cheddleton 1 1½-6½ 6-2 5½-2½ Guildford 2 1½-6½ 2-6 2½-5½ 3cs 1 0-8 2½-5½5½-2½ white rose 1 3-5 4-4 3-5 6-2 Barbican 4ncL 1 3½-4½ 3-5 3½-4½3½-4½ wood Green HK 1-7 5-3 3-5 3½-4½ Grantham sharks 1 ½-7½ 2½-5½2½-5½1½-6½

1–0

5 6 7 8 GP Pts 5-3 4½-3½ 7-1 7½-1½ 45 14 4-4 5-3 3-5 5½-2½30½ 9 5-3 4½-3½ 5-3 5½-2½ 26 8 2-6 4½-3½4½-3½6½-1½25½ 8 4-4 5-3 4-4 29 7 4-4 4½-3½4½-3½26½ 5 3-5 3½-4½ 5-3 24 4 4-4 3½-4½ 3-5 17½ 1 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 347

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The American “Super Nationals” – the largest rated tournament in history

Incredible

5,577 kids playing in one tournament by Pete Tamburro, [email protected] The “Super Nationals VI” became truly super in Nashville, Tennessee between 12th and 14th May. The K−12 (primary and secondary: ages 5−18) tournament attracted an astounding 5,577 young people along with coaches and parents! Twelve players with 2400 ratings and above participated. With a record number of participants, “SuperNationals VI” has become the largest rated tournament in history! US chess has been flourishing in large part because of the rising popularity of school chess tournaments. State chess federations now routinely hold one day K−12 tournaments (Game 30, 4 or 5 rounds in one day). Often, they will attach them to two or three−day open tournaments on weekends. The better players then “graduate" into the open tournaments, and many federations find the children outnumbering the adults there as well. A 348 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

good many grandmasters have developed chess schools or simply collected a group of motivated students. The GMs are a presence at the tournaments. You will often see them going over the games after their students are finished with them. There is much optimism about more young stars being developed as with Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Jeffrey Xiong, Sam Shankland, et al. None of the chess growth is accidental. State chess federations hold all sorts of youth tournaments that are rated by the USCF or just unrated... but always with lots of trophies. ‘Chess in the schools’ (the actual name of the organization in New York City) has been widely promoted. The Kasparov Chess Foundation gives a free multi−volume set called ‘Teaching Chess Step by Step’ that gives 40

Photo by uschess.org, Jim Doyle

June 2017

lessons for 5−10 year−olds and a set of behavioural objectives to show school boards the valuable learning going on. Even a teacher who doesn’t know how to play chess can follow it. A good many IMs and GMs have created chess schools and use creative ways to draw in young players. Two−day “workshops” on chess are offered to the youngsters as well, complete with free pizza. The results have been phenomenal and have revived US chess. Take a look at the top Under 10, Under 15 and Under 21 rankings and you will be able to infer the patterns of which States are producing the top young players and the promising future.

under 10 1 Guo, arthur 2 Yoo, christopher woojin 3 chasin, nico werner 4 wang, Jason Yuyang 5 Tian, Eddy

10 10 10 10 10

GA CA NY OH NJ

USA USA USA USA USA

2244 2240 2211 2209 2176

under 15 Li, ruifeng Burke, John Michael checa, nicolas Kim, Yoon-Young Yu, Jennifer r wang, Michael nydick, Brandon asaria, Danial Titus, andrew Lewis Furfine, Jacob

15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

TX NJ NY CT VA CA NY CA MN IL

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

2668 2532 2528 2352 2347 2327 2319 2316 2304 2293

16 16 15 19 17 20 17 14 18 20

TX MA TX CA MO TX MN WI UT TX

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

2733 2672 2668 2589 2586 2584 2571 2562 2555 2552

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

under 21 xiong, Jeffery sevian, samuel Li, ruifeng Brown, Michael w chandra, akshat Yang, Darwin Tang, andrew Liang, awonder Troff, Kayden w Drozdowski, Kacper

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 349

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Problem World by christopher Jones [email protected] Grandmaster of Chess Composition

Solutions are given on page 382

1 2 3 4 XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-vL-+K+0 9+-+p+-+-0 9-+-+k+p+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-wQ-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+L+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy Bob Lincoln (usa)

IIIIIIII 9K+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+p+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+N+k+N+0 9+-+-vLl+-0 9-+-zPR+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy christer Jonsson (sweden)

Mate in 2

Helpmate in 2 - 2 solutions

ORIGINAL

ORIGINAL

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+p+p+0 9zPN+-+-+-0 9lvLk+N+p+0 9+p+-+-+-0 9-zp-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+K0 xiiiiiiiiy christer Jonsson (sweden)

IIIIIIII 9-+-+-+-mK0 9+-zp-zpPzp-0 9P+PzpP+Pmk0 9+-+-+-trr0 9-+-+-vL-vl0 9+P+-+-zp-0 9-+-zP-+P+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy Paul Michelet (London)

Helpmate in 3 - 4 solutions

Mate in 12

ORIGINAL

ORIGINAL

350 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

June 2017

Becoming a better player How to maximise your improvement in chess?

Study the classics! By Theo Slade Every chess player who is trying to improve will have to grapple with the question: what is the best thing to study that will improve my game most quickly and efficiently? Growing up in England, it seemed to me that the chess culture was geared towards strong opening preparation, a sharp tactical eye, and ... something else that separated the best from the rest, but I did not know what that was. Furthermore, I was not sure that many other people knew that either. I therefore spent most of my study time on learning opening theory and solving tactics, and I became good in both. I achieved a 2400 rating on Chess.com’s Tactics Trainer,

and I usually got good positions out of the opening that suited my style. However, it became tougher to keep on improving studying mainly these topics. I feel that I am not the only player who emphasised studying openings and tactics, so, hopefully, this article will be helpful to a wide range of players, and maybe even coaches and writers. When I moved to Florida, my new coach was GM Lars Bo Hansen, who I have talked about in my articles before; at one point, he was in the top 100 in the world. Throughout our relationship, he constantly emphasised the

One of the greatest players to study and learn from: Jose Raul Capablanca (1888 – 1942) BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 351

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importance of studying the classics − reading books that annotated the games of early World Champions such as Alekhine, Steinitz and Lasker, and studying their games collections. I was always a bit hesitant to oblige, mainly because I did not find it as enjoyable as other forms of more modern study. For example, I much preferred watching videos on chess24 presented by GM Jan Gustafsson covering opening theory rather than reading a dog− eared book published in 1920 in descriptive notation! However, I eventually came around to the conclusion that studying the classics is invaluable for three reasons: 1) They give you a feel for how positions were “originally” played before players started to learn from their predecessors. 2) Back then, the state of opening theory was nothing compared to what it is today, so it is easier to see what a player was thinking because they were “out of book” from a much earlier point in the game than a modern player would be. 3) When studying the classics, a lot of the games are between a top player in the world and someone that most people would not have heard of and, usually, they are nowhere near as strong as their opposition. Therefore, it is easy to see what the stronger players’ ideas are, what they are planning, and the moves they want to play. On the other hand, if you played through a game between Caruana and Carlsen, for instance, because both are so good they would cancel each other out and you would not see what their ideas are that clearly. I think a lot of the top players these days do play a modernised version of how their counterparts from yesteryear played. For example, you can see similarities between Carlsen and Capablanca, Gelfand and Rubinstein, and Nakamura and Alekhine. The best place to find and study the classics is in books because the author has already selected the best games, and you can learn more from them if they are annotated. 352 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

One of my favourite early World Champions is José Capablanca, because of his positional style, and the way he seemed to win “dead drawn” endgames. The following game emphasises this.

Lis Molina Carranza - José Capablanca Buenos Aires casual, 19/05/1911

XIIIIIIIIY 9K+R+-+-tR0 9zPP+-+PzP-0 9-+P+-+P+0 9+-+Pzp-+-0 9-+-zp-+-zp0 9zp-+-+pzp-0 9-zp-+-+-+0 9+ktr-+-+r0 xiiiiiiiiy

In this position, Black is a lot better for two reasons: on the queenside, he is better because he has a pawn majority and he can easily use it to create a passed pawn, and on the kingside it is very difficult for White to create a passed pawn with his pawn majority. In fact, Black is the one who will be attacking on the kingside, despite having a pawn minority on that side of the board, because he can implement a minority attack. A minority attack is when you advance your minority with the intention of creating pawn weaknesses in your opponent’s majority, so in this position, for instance, Black could play ...g5, ...h5, and when ...g4, with the idea ...gxf3 gxf3 when White has a backward f3−pawn on a half−open file. Therefore, Black is attacking on both sides of the board, which is never a good sign for White. 22…c5. 23.¢g1 ¢f7?!

The best place to find and study the classics is in books because the author has already selected the best games

June 2017

GM Lars Bo Hansen constantly emphasised the importance of studying the classics - reading books that annotated the games of early World Champions such as Alekhine, Steinitz, and Lasker, and studying their games collections

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-tr-+0 9+-+-+kzp-0 9-zp-+-+-zp0 9zp-zp-zp-+-0 9-+-zpP+-+0 9+P+-+P+-0 9-zPP+-+PzP0 9tR-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

It would be nice if I could present Capablanca’s play as if he played perfectly, but unfortunately that is not the case. When playing, analysing or writing about chess, it is important to remain objective, even if that ruins the narrative you are trying to create. In this position, Stockfish 8 shows another interesting way of playing the position: 23...¦ac8! with the idea ...c4 bxc4 ¦xc4, followed by ...¦fc8, when Black is putting a lot of pressure on the c2–pawn down the c-file. 24.¢f2 ¢e6 However, Black’s play also makes a lot of sense because he is simply bringing his king towards the centre. 25.¢e2 b5 Black improves his position on the queenside... 26.¢d2 g5 ... and then he improves it on the kingside! This is a feature of Capablanca’s play - he often switched the play from one side of the board to the other to keep his opponent guessing. 27.h3?! This just helps Black open more lines on the kingside. 27.¢e2! would have been better instead, just sitting tight for the time being.

27...h5 28.g4 This is an ugly move, but there was nothing better - Black was threatening ...g4. 28...h4

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-tr-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+k+-+0 9zppzp-zp-zp-0 9-+-zpP+Pzp0 9+P+-+P+P0 9-zPPmK-+-+0 9tR-+-+R+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

Black’s minority attack has succeeded: White has a backward f3–pawn on a halfopen file. 29.¢e2 ¦f7 Black could be planning to double his rooks on either the f-file or the a-file. 30.¦f2??

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+r+-0 9-+-+k+-+0 9zppzp-zp-zp-0 9-+-zpP+Pzp0 9+P+-+P+P0 9-zPP+KtR-+0 9tR-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

But White guesses incorrectly. It was not BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 353

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much of a threat for Black to double his rooks on the f-file, because the f3–pawn was already sufficiently defended. Instead White should have prepared for Black doubling his rooks on the a-file with: 30.¦a2!µ. 30...¦fa7 31.¢d3 a4 A simple but effective transformation of advantages. This undoubles White’s b-pawns, but you should not be too attached to your advantages since it is very rare to have an advantage and convert it directly into a win. Normally, that advantage isconverted multiple times before you checkmate your opponent. For example, let us say you have the advantage of the two bishops. You may trade one of them to weaken your opponent’s king. Then you may give up your attack to go into an endgame with a better pawn structure. Then you win one of your opponent’s pawns because it is weak. Only then do you convert your material advantage. This is a typical scenario, but you have transformed your advantage three times, so you should not be afraid to do so. 32.bxa4 c4+ A useful intermezzo. 33.¢d2 ¦xa4 34.¦b1 ¦a1 35.¦ff1 ¦xb1 36.¦xb1 ¦a2 Black makes use of the open a-file.

When studying the classics, a lot of the games are between a top player in the world and someone that most people would not have heard of, and usually, they are nowhere near as strong as their opposition. Therefore, it is easy to see what the stronger player's ideas are 354 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

37.¢d1 b4 38.¢d2 ¢d6 39.¢d1 ¢c5 King Up For The Endgame (KUFTE)! 40.b3 c3 41.¦c1 d3 No matter how dominating your positional advantage, at some point you must use tactics to bring home the bacon. 42.cxd3 ¦h2 43.¦c2 If White tries to generate counterplay with 43.¦a1 , then Black skewers White’s king to his rook with 43...¦h1+ 44.¢c2 ¦xa1, winning. 43...¦h1+ 44.¢e2 ¢d4

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-zp-zp-0 9-zp-mkP+Pzp0 9+PzpP+P+P0 9-+R+K+-+0 9+-+-+-+r0 xiiiiiiiiy

Zugzwang! Any White move worsens his position! 0–1 Hopefully you enjoyed this game, learned from it, and use this article as inspiration for you to study the classics more! And a final note: In order to understand chess, as with anything else in life – it is of the utmost importance to study the roots and understand how things evolved. This is something that has been mentioned by all top chess players time and time again. All of them, without exception, have rigorously studied the games of the pioneers of chess so they could better understand the initial ideas and intensions and how they evolved over time.

June 2017

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro, [email protected]

Blackburne was not merely an openings theoretician who tried to find a positional edge, He brought his pieces into active play against lesser opponents who did not understand how important that was in generating counterplay There are two British immortals from whom an amateur can learn some great early lessons: F.D. Yates and J. H. Blackburne. Both of these men played with an aggression and a simplicity that was easy to understand. You knew what they were doing. Their plans for the middle game announced themselves in the opening. Blackburne was going to attack the castled king. When Szymon Winawer started playing the Winawer French, Blackburne avoided the positional implications of the move 3...¥b4 and went for piece play on the kingside. The following game shows an idea of Blackburne’s that never caught on, probably with good reason. However, when I started playing with it, I was surprised to find even 1800 and 1900 rated players having trouble with meeting this idea. It was with good reason that Blackburne was nicknamed “Black Death” during his lifetime! Let us take a look at a 19th century amateur having similar difficulties in a blindfold simul against Blackburne. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 355

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J. Blackburne - J. Wilson Moulet's Hotel, Blindfold Simul (of 8), 1878 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 The Winawer Variation. Most modern players would not think of allowing the black queen bishop more freedom by exchanging on d5 after Black has played 3...¥b4, preferring 4.e5 with a positional struggle. However, even stalwarts such as Tarrasch and Steinitz supported the idea. Steinitz went so far as to write that the bishop was misplaced. White could ignore it and Black would eventually have to lose time bringing it back into the action on the kingside. Not only that, but he felt that Black playing ¥xc3 would allow ¦b1 and c4, with some initiative on the queenside for White. 4.exd5 exd5 5.¤f3 How very Blackburne! Next time out we will look at how the great masters then tried 5.¥d3 and 6.¤ge2 ideas, but Blackburne wants the other knight on e2! 5...¤f6 6.¥d3 ¥g4 When I started playing this, this bishop pin was instantly played by everyone! 7.0–0 0–0

XIIIIIIIIY 9rsn-wq-trk+0 9zppzp-+pzpp0 9-+-+-sn-+0 9+-+p+-+-0 9-vl-zP-+l+0 9+-sNL+N+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

OK. Here we are! The modern player of Black is happy with this position. Nasty pin there. But Blackburne violates modern principles with a unique idea. 356 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

8.¤e2 8.h3 ¥h5 9.¥g5 ¥xc3 10.bxc3 £d6 11.¥h4 gives equal chances. The question is, which player will be more comfortable in this position: a French player with an open game or an open games player with an open game? It’s a very practical question! A game of mine ended once with: 8.¥g5 c6 9.¤e2 ¥xf3 10.gxf3 ¤bd7 11.¢h1 £c7 12.¦g1 ¦ae8 13.¥h6 ¤h5 14.¦xg7+ 8...¥xf3 This also never fails. Modern players are programmed to create structural weaknesses. What is Black Death up to? It is almost naive in its simplicity of purpose: ¢h1 and ¦g1 along with £f1–h3 with a kingside attack. 9.gxf3 ¤e8

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Today’s player is taught early on that a kingside demonstration should be met with counterplay in the centre. In this game, Black wants to contest the kingside attack, and thus justifies Blackburne’s idea. A) 9...¥d6! 10.¤g3 c5! 11.dxc5 ¥xc5 12.¥g5 ¤bd7 13.¤f5 ¦e8 14.¢h1 £b6 15.¦b1 ¥xf2 16.£d2 ¥c5 17.£g2 g6 18.c3 ¥f8 and even Blackburne could not do much with this. The ‟loss of time” with the bishop gained a pawn and now contributes to the defence. I had several games go like this. B) 9...¤bd7 10.¤g3 g6 11.¢h1 ¦e8 12.¦g1 ¥f8 13.¥g5 ¥g7 note the loss of time with the Winawer bishop that was

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mentioned above. Still, it is another very reasonable way over the board to come up with defensive ideas against this blatant attack. 14.f4 c6 15.f5 £c7 (15...£b6) 16.fxg6 hxg6 17.¤f5! gxf5? (17...c5) 18.¥h6 ¤g4 19.¦xg4 ¦e1+ (19...fxg4 20.£xg4) 20.£xe1 fxg4 21.£e3.

Wilson after Black’s 9th move ¦e8: 10.¤g3 ¤c6 11.¢h1 ¤e7 12.¦g1 f5 13.£f1 ¦f7 14.£h3 He could do this one move sooner with 14.¥g5! £c8 15.c3 ¥d6 16.¦e1 ¤g6 17.£h3 f4 18.¥f5 £b8 19.¤h5 ¦f8 20.¥h6 14...£d7 15.¥g5 ¤d6 16.c3 ¥a5

Blackburne-Winawer, London, 1883, opened a different file opposite the black king: C) 9...¤h5 10.¤g3 ¤xg3 11.hxg3! ¥d6 “The return of the bishop shows the weakness of Black’s third move”, said Blackburne. 12.¢g2 f5 13.¦h1 g6 14.c4! c5 15.dxc5 ¥xc5 16.cxd5; D) 9...¤c6 10.c3 ¥d6 11.¤g3 ¦e8 12.£c2 gives equal chances. But let us return to the game Blackburne –

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The Black Death played over 50,000 games Although he learned the game at the relatively late age of 18, Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924), nicknamed “The Black Death”, dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. Less than three years after learning the moves, Blackburne entered the 1862 London International Tournament and defeated Wilhelm Steinitz in their individual game (although Blackburne finished in 9th place). His first major international success was in a strong tournament at Baden-Baden in 1870, where he shared 3rd place with Gustav Neumann, behind Adolf Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz but ahead of Paulsen, De Vere, Szymon Winawer, Samuel Rosenthal and Johannes von Minckwitz. Blackburne is considered to be one of the most influential people of the chess world and

an icon of the Romantic chess era because of his open and highly tactical style of play. His large black beard and aggressive style earned him the nickname of “der Schwarze Tod” (“the Black Death”, based on the plague of the same name) after his performance in the 1873 Vienna tournament. Blackburne was an active player for over 60 years. According to P. Anderson Graham, who edited Blackburne’s Games at chess, he played between 50,000 and 100,000 games! He was exceptionally brilliant in blindfold chess, and played many simuls and exhibition games which helped provide his living. Along with his games, Blackburne’s life is also filled with colourful events. One famous anecdote involving Blackburne had him drinking his opponent’s glass of whisky during a simul and then uttering, “He left it en prise and I took it en passant.” BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 357

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White’s opening plan has now translated into his middlegame attacking set up. He has one more member of his army to bring up to the front, but, meanwhile, the cavalry will keep Black busy. 17.¤h5 ¤g6 18.¦ae1 ¦af8 Black has approached his defensive plan by seemingly surrounding his king with his knight, heavy artillery and strongly placed f5 pawn. However, Blackburne has his open g-file with the rook opposite the king and he had probably noted that Black could be taken advantage of on the dark squares and even on e6, so... 19.¥f4 ¤xf4? A disastrous move! As Blackburne puts it, “it opens the sluicegates.” He notes that 19...c6 was his best defensive chance, with no notes in support, but even then it can turn out badly: 19...c6 20.¥e5 ¥c7 21.¦xg6 hxg6 22.¤f4. 20.¤xf4 c6 21.¤e6 ¦e8 22.¤g5 Winning the exchange and the game. It doesn’t always have to end in mate. 22...g6 23.¤xf7 £xf7 24.¦xe8+ £xe8 25.¥xf5 ¤xf5 26.£xf5 £e2 27.£g4 £xf2 28.f4 ¥c7 29.£c8+ ¢g7 30.£xc7+ ¢h6 31.h3 £f3+ 32.¢h2 £f2+ 33.¦g2 £f1 34.£e5 1–0 This game is instructive for the average player on many levels. It shows, in the notes as well, an attacking plan based on an open file that leads to the enemy king. It also shows that while it is nice to know how to double White’s pawns with ¥xf3, it is better to know also how to counter-attack in the centre, to take the sting out of the attack. The loss of time issue is interesting as well. If it is part of purposeful counterplay as demonstrated in the move nine notes, it is OK. In less cohesive sequences it can be a simple loss of 358 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

In some lines Black can double White’s pawns with ¥xf3, but it is better for Black to know also how to counter-attack in the centre, to take the sting out of White’s attack time. Blackburne, in his games, was not merely an openings theoretician who tried to work out how to gain a positional edge. He brought his pieces into active play against lesser opponents who did not understand how important that was for counterplay. Passive play is a waiting room for defeat. Next time we’ll investigate the “next generation’s” approach with the exchange variation of the Winawer.

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QUOTES AND QUERIES

The Centre Attack as a surprise weapon By Alan Smith The Centre Attack is a useful surprise weapon. Morphy, Tal, Short and Michael Adams have all played it with success. Here is an example where black strayed off the best lines.

Gert Ligterink - Jan Hein Donner Netherlands ch Leeuwarden 1974 1.e4 e5  2.¤f3 ¤c6  3.¥b5 a6  4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.d4 exd4 6.0-0 ¥e7 7.¦e1 b5 8.e5 ¤xe5 9.¦xe5 bxa4?

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This is a mistake, 9...d6 is better but white keeps a nagging edge with 10.¦e1 bxa4  11.¤xd4 ¥d7  12.£f3 0-0 13.¤c6 ¥xc6  14.£xc6 Ribli- Karpov, Hungary Russia 1969 1-0. 10.¤xd4 0-0 11.¤f5 ¦e8 12.¥g5 d6 The alternative 12...¤d5?  was refuted in the game R.G.Wade - L.Schmid 1950 13.¤xg7! ¢xg7  14.£xd5 c6  15.£d4 f6  16.¦e3 c5 17.¥h6+ ¢xh6 18.£g4 f5 19.¦h3+ 1-0. 13.¤xe7+ ¦xe7  14.¥xf6 gxf6  15.¦h5 ¥b7 16.¤c3 ¦e5 17.¦h4 ¦g5

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The first new move of the game! 17...£e8 18.f4 ¦e3 19.¢f2! ¦e6 20.£g4+ and 1-0, Ghizdavu- Andersson, Groningen 1968-69. 18.¤e4 ¦g6 Haye Kramer suggested 18...¥xe4 19.¦xe4 a3 as an improvement. Black still has a lot of sick pawns to look after. 19.£h5 h6 20.¤g3 £f8?

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A wasted move, Kramer pointed out that 20...£d7 21.f3 ¦e8 was a better try. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 359

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21.£a5! c5 22.£c7! £b8  23.£xb8+ ¦xb8  24.¦xa4 ¦g5 25.¦d1 d5  26.¦f4 ¥c8 27.¦xf6 ¦xb2 28.f4!  ¦xg3  29.hxg3 ¦xc2  30.¦xd5 ¥e6 30...¥b7 still loses to 31.¦d7 ¦xg2+ 32.¢f1 ¥f3 33.¦fxf7. 31.¦h5 c4 32.¦fxh6 ¦xa2 33 f5

6091  The Jaenisch Defence to the Ruy Lopez is  reached by the move order 1.e4 e5  2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 f5. Some sources name the defence after Schliemann, who never played it!  Analysed by Jaenisch, it was pioneered by Cochrane, Lowenthal and Falkbeer. Later on Steinitz, Blackburne and Lasker all dabbled with it but Marshall was the first strong player to use it regularly. Here is a typical game.

Herbert Rosenfeld - Frank James Marshall Match game 1, Manhattan Chess Club 1910 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 f5 4.¤c3 ¤f6 Accepting the gambit with 4.exf5 is dubious 4...e4 5.£e2 £e7  6.¥xc6 bxc6!  7.¤d4 c5 8.¤b5 d5 9.£h5+ ¢d8 10.0-0 ¤f6 and white is struggling C.F.Buck - F.J.Marshall, New Orleans 1904 0-1. 4...¤f6

The modern trend is 4...fxe4  5.¤xe4 360 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

5.exf5 Capablanca preferred 5.£e2.

5...e4 6.¤h4 6.¤g5 is also supposed to be 1-0  strong.

Leeuwarder Courant 29th March 1974

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d5  6.¤xe5 dxe4 7.¤xc6 and now either 7...£d5 or 7...£g5 with involved play. Speelman used the latter to defeat Timman in their 1989 Candidates match.

6...d5 7.d4 White is better according to Pachman in his 1965 book  Open Games. That may be the case, but unless White is well versed in accepting the King’s Gambit, the position is not easy to handle. 7...¥e7 8.g4 0–0 9.¥xc6? This opens lines for black’s pieces. 9.¤g2 was safer. 9...bxc6 10.¤g2 ¥a6! Where is white’s king going? 11.¥g5 ¦b8! 12.¦b1 c5 13.dxc5? This loses.  13...d4  14.¥xf6 ¥xf6 15.¤e2 White has nothing better 15.¤xe4 ¦e8 16.f3 ¥h4+ 17.¤xh4 £xh4+ 18.¢d2 is refuted by 18...¦xe4! 19.fxe4 £g5+  20.¢e1 £e3+ and mate next move. 15...d3 16.¤ef4

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6092  Quite how Schliemann’s name became attached to 3...f5 in the Ruy Lopez is a mystery. He was the author of another defence 3...¥c5  4.c3 f5 which is now named after Cordel, who never played it! Here is the stem game of that line.

Kade - Adolph Karl Wilhelm Schliemann Schwerin 1867 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¥c5 4.c3 f5 5.d4 fxe4  6.¥xc6 dxc6  7.¤xe5 ¥d6  8.£h5+ g6 9.¤xg6 Tempting but wrong. 9.£e2 is stronger. 9...¤f6  10.£h4 ¦g8  11.¤e5 ¥xe5  12. dxe5 £d3! 13.h3 ¥e6 14.exf6 14.¤d2 0-00 also worked out in black’s favour in the game J.Castillo- L.Bronstein Buenos Aires Ol 1978. 14...0-0-0 15.¥d2 e3!  16.f7 exd2+ 17.¢d1 ¥xf7 18.qf4 ¥xa2... 0-1 19.¤xd2 loses to 19...¥b3+ 20.¢e1 ¦ge8+ Schachzeitung January 1868, p.22-23 6093 There is a positional trap in the 1.e4 e5 games that often catches unwary players. When White plays 0-0 then ¥g5 must wait until after Black has castled. In the next game an American champion forgot and lost swiftly.

Samuel Lipschutz - Alfred Ettlinger

he was 1st ahead of both Frank James Marshall and Showalter and this was probably his best result. However, in the 1895 tournament he wasn’t so fortunate, suffering this defeat from Ettlinger in only 16 moves! 1.e4 e5  2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 exd4  4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤xc6 bxc6 6.¥d3 ¥c5?! 6...d5 is better. 7.0-0 7.e5 is more forceful. 7...d6  8.¥g5?! This is fine if Black has already castled short or if White has not previously castled. Here it is a serious gaffe.

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8...h6 9.¥h4? Compounding his error, he really needed to try 9.¥xf6 or 9.¥e3. 9...g5!  10.¥g3 h5!  11.h4 ¤g4  12.hxg5 £xg5  13.£d2? This loses, but white’s game was already unappetising. 13...¤e3! 14.¦e1 h4 15.fxe3 hxg3 16.¥c4 ¥g4! 0-1 New York Tribune 19th May 1895

Manhattan Chess Club Championship, 1895 Samuel (Sam) Lipschutz was born in Ungvár (west Ukraine) and emigrated to the USA on 4th September 1880. He played in two international tournaments, London 1886 finishing 6th and 6th again at New York 1889. In the 1900 Manhattan Chess Club Championship BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 361

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Defining Moments in the

Grenke

Chess Classic 2017

Aronian’s "chess with confidence" By GM Aleksandar Colovic Photos: GRENKE Chess Classic official 362 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Have you ever thought of defining moments in your life and then managed to pinpoint the exact moment when the future course was determined? Although it is relatively easy in retrospect to track down these moments, it is quite a different thing to realise their significance when they are actually happening. The Grenke Chess Classic was a 7−round tournament, something akin to a 100m sprint. The start is vital and there are not many opportunities for changing the course of events later on. It is not surprising therefore that the final outcome of the event was decided as early as Round 2, even though at the time of this game it was impossible for anyone to determine the significance of its outcome. The tournament was held in Germany from 15 to 22 April. The event featured

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Magnus Carlsen - Levon Aronian 4th GRENKE Chess Classic Karlsruhe GER (2.2) 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 ¥e7 6.¦e1 b5 7.¥b3 0–0 8.a4 The Marshall has been added to the category of lines that are not in vogue any more.. Apart from being extremely well analysed, it also gives Black excellent play, so there is no point for the White player going in there. 8...b4 9.d3 9.d4 is the other main move, leading to more forcing play. 9...¥c5 This has been Aronian’s choice of late. 9...d6 has been played by Aronian in 2013. 10.¤bd2 ¤a5 11.¥a2 c5 ½–½ (55) Karjakin,S (2780)-Aronian,L (2802) Wijk aan Zee 2013. 10.c3 Played mostly in computer games. People say that Carlsen neglects his openings, but there is nothing further from the truth - he follows everything and knows exactly what he is doing, often playing lines that at first sight may seem innocuous, but which actually pose problems. World Champion Carlsen and fellow Top 10 players Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian, as well as women’s no. 1 Hou Yifan. Levon Aronian dominated the field, finishing a point and a half in the lead (5.5/7). Magnus Carlsen did not seem to be at his best, although he shared the second place with Fabiano Caruana (both scoring 4/7). Carlsen’s rhythm is not very well suited for short tournaments. He needs time to get into a tournament, at least a few games, to get into his stride. There was no time for that in Germany and his missed win in Round 1 against outsider Bluebaum was already costly. Then came (what turned out to be the decisive) Round 2, against an opponent who frequently poses him problems.

10.¥e3 ¥xe3 11.¦xe3 d6 ½–½ (29) Yu Yangyi (2729)-Aronian,L (2785) Doha QAT 2016. 10...bxc3 10...d6 is an alternative.

People say that Carlsen neglects his openings, but there is nothing further from the truth - he follows everything and knows exactly what he is doing, often playing lines that at first sight may seem innocuous, but ones that pose problems BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 363

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11.bxc3 ¦b8 12.¥g5 Carlsen’s favourite move in the Spanish. He even plays it when Black has the option to unpin himself by ...e7. 12...h6 13.¥h4 g5

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There is no danger in the sacrifice on g5 when Black can still unpin by ...e7. 13...¥e7. This makes sense and it was possible to play like this - Black’s idea is to play ...(h5 and exchange the bishops. 14.¥g3 (14.¤bd2 ¤h5) 14...d6 15.h3 avoiding the exchange 15...¤h5 16.¥h2 ¤f4 17.d4,with some initiative for White. 14.¥g3 ¤h5 15.¤bd2 15.¤xe5 ¤xg3 16.¤xc6 dxc6 17.hxg3 (17.d4 ¤xe4! 18.¦xe4 ¥d6 is equal) 17...¦xb3! 18.£xb3 £xd3 gives Black excellent compensation because g3 is hanging. 15...¤xg3 16.hxg3 £f6 17.¤c4 Even though Black won the bishop pair I would say that White’s position is easier to play - he can manoeuvre with the knights (especially the knight on e3 will be very flexible, having the options to go to d5, f5 or g4) and threaten to expand in the centre by d4. Black’s plans are less obvious and are mainly reactive, depending on White’s. 17...d6 18.¤e3 ¥e6 18...¥xe3 19.¦xe3 ¥e6 20.¥xe6 fxe6 21.£c2 could have occurred in the game had Black taken on e3. This is equal according to the engine, but for a human it is always more pleasant to 364 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

play with White, who has a more compact position with a safer king. 19.¥xe6

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19.¤d5 is the engine’s preference. For some reason, the computer always prefers forced lines, probably because it calculates them so well?! 19...¥xd5 20.¥xd5 ¤e7 threatening ...g4 as f2 is tender. 21.¥c4 g4 22.d4 ¥a7 and things get serious as d4 is hanging after the (f3 move. 23.¤h4 exd4 24.cxd4 h5 with unclear play after 25.e5. 19...fxe6 20.£c2 h5 21.¦ab1 ¦xb1 22.¦xb1 h4 After 22...g4 the engine gives Black a rather solid advantage. I find this

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puzzling, so let us try to find out why this may (or may not) be the case.

23.gxh4 gxh4 24.¦b7 Seeking counterplay and after Black’s next things sharpen up.

23.¤h2 (23.¤h4. The knight is stranded here so I would say it is not very comfortable for a human to put it there. The engine’s evaluation of both moves is approximately similar.) 23...¢f7!! the depth of computer calculations is amazing nowadays. Consequently, they come up with incredible positional moves. 24.¦b7 (24.¤hf1 ¢e7 25.¦b7 ¢d7) 24...£d8 25.¤hf1 ¢e7 26.¦b1 (26.¤d2 ¢d7 27.¤dc4 h4! while White was improving the position of his knight, Black improved the position of his king by centralising(!) it on a board full of pieces in order to liberate the king’s flank for the ...h4 break.) 26...¢d7 27.£e2 keeping more pressure on g4 as a way to dissuade Black from ...h4 27...£g5 28.¤d2 h4 29.¤df1 hxg3 30.¤xg3 ¦g8 31.¦b2 it is apparent that White is devoid of constructive ideas, making this position a dream for Black, but White is also very solid and it is not easy to find a way how to make progress with Black. At depth 39 the engine still plays moves like b6, h4, h6, c5, f6 and gives Black an advantage of 0.77. Draw the conclusion yourselves.

24...h3?! Rather impatient. As usual in such situations, the threat was stronger than its execution, so Black should have spent one more move to stop White’s counterplay before starting out on his own. 24...¦f7 there was nothing wrong with this 25.¤h2 ¥xe3 26.fxe3 £h6 27.£e2 ¢f8 is still approximately balanced. 25.¦xc7 hxg2 26.£e2 ¤e7 27.¤e1! The knights are good defensive pieces and White’s threat now is to soak up the pressure along the f-file and the g1–a7 diagonal and remain a pawn up after taking (1g2. 27...¦b8 Changing the line of attack like this can often be successful, but Black cannot threaten much along the b-file. Objectively the move is not good, but it is an understandable human reaction. 27...£h6 28.¤1xg2 ¦f7 looks like “no compensation” to the human eye, but the engine insists it is still very much equal. To realise this, you need engine-like abilities. A sample line is 29.¦d7 ¥xe3 30.£xe3 £h5! 31.¦d8+ ¢g7 32.¦xd6 ¤g6 33.¦xa6 ¦f3 3 pawns down Black “easily” holds the draw 34.¦a7+ ¢h8 35.£b6 ¦f8! 36.£xe6 4 pawns down, but no problem at all 36...¤f4 37.¤xf4 exf4 and now White is forced to take a perpetual after 38.¦a5™ £xa5 39.£h6+. 28.£g4+ 28.£f3! £g7 29.¤g4! was much stronger 29...¦f8 30.£xg2 ¦f4 31.¤e3 forcing the exchange of queens with a probably winning endgame. 28...¤g6 Aronian hopes to fish in muddy waters. Additionally, it wasn’t easy to see that after 28...¢f8 29.£f3 £xf3 30.¤xf3 ¢e8! White’s rook finds itself short of squares. 31.d4 ¥b6 32.¦c4 a5! 33.dxe5 d5! Round one: the game which turned out to be decisive for the winner BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 365

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34.exd5 ¥xe3 35.fxe3 ¤xd5 and with such hopelessly weak pawns White cannot hope to win. 29.¤f3 ¦b2

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37.¤xg4 ¤f4+ 38.¢g3 ¤d5 39.¤xe4.

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34...¤f4+ 35.¢g3 ¤e2+ 36.¢g4 £f5+ The only move - Black loses the ¥c5 but the pawn on c2 keeps him out of danger.

29...¥xe3 30.fxe3 ¦f8 31.¦d7 with ¦d6 to come and Black has no counterplay at all in view of his pinned ¤g6.

37.£xf5 exf5+ 38.¢xf5 dxc3 39.¦xc5 c2 All forced up to here and now surprisingly White cannot win any more.

30.d4! exd4 31.e5! A wonderful combination - 30 d4! closed the g1–a7 diagonal, killing Black’s counterplay against f2 and 31 e5! deflects the defender of the ¥c5.

40.¦c8+ ¢g7 41.¦c7+ ¢g8 42.¢f6 Perhaps Carlsen was banking on this, trying to create a mating net?

31...dxe5 31...dxe3 32.exf6 exf2+ 33.¢xg2 gives nothing.

42...c1£ was entirely possible and from a practical perspective it was the easiest way. 43.¦c8+ ¢h7 44.¤g5+ £xg5+™ 45.¢xg5 ¦f1! White cannot keep the f2– pawn, meaning that after he takes the a6– pawn there will be only one pawn left on the board. 46.¦a8 ¦xf2 47.¦xa6 ¢g7 with a certain draw.; 42...¦b8 is the engine’s best move. But, look below at what Aronian had to see in order to play this move!

32.¤c4 ¦b1+ 33.¢xg2 e4 Aronian finds the best practical chance. 34.£xe4? And Carlsen cracks! In truth, the lines weren’t easy to calculate, especially in time trouble. 34.¤fe5! dxc3 (34...£f5 35.£xg6+ £xg6+ 36.¤xg6 dxc3 37.¤f4 c2 38.¤e2 ¥d4 39.¤d6 and White manages to control the c-pawn.; 34...e3 35.¦f7! defends f2 from afar!) 35.¦xc5 £f5 36.¤d6 the strongest move according to the engine, although other moves like 36 (e3 and 36 c8 win as well. This, actually, makes it more difficult for White because he has many tempting possibilities and cannot be sure which one is the best, making the choice more timeconsuming and problematic. 36...£xg4+ 366 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

42...¦g1This smells of panic...

A) 43.¤ce5 c1£ 44.¦g7+ ¢f8 45.¦f7+ White must take the draw (45.¤g6+? ¢e8 46.¦g8+ ¢d7 47.¦xb8 ¢c7 and White can only lose this) 45...¢g8 46.¦g7+ with a perpetual. B) 43.¦g7+ ¢f8 44.¤fe5 it must have been this that scared Aronian. Now Black has only one move to avoid being mated 44...¤f4™ (44...c1£? allows White to deliver a very pretty mate 45.¤g6+ ¢e8

June 2017

46.¦g8+ ¢d7 47.¤ge5+ ¢c7 48.¦g7+ ¢d8 49.¦d7+ ¢e8 50.¤d6+ ¢f8 51.¤g6+ ¢g8 52.¦g7#) 45.¤d7+ other moves lead to a perpetual only 45...¢e8 46.¢f5!? a last try 46...c1£ (46...¤d5 was another option, leading to wild lines 47.¤c5! ¤e7+™ 48.¢e6 c1£ 49.¦xe7+ ¢d8 50.¦d7+ ¢e8 51.¤d6+ still pushing for more! 51...¢f8 52.¤ce4 an amazing position! White has only two knights for a queen, yet it is Black who needs to find a way to draw! 52...£h6+ 53.¤f6 £h3+™ 54.¢e5 £c3+ 55.¢f5 £f3+ with a perpetual.) 47.¤f6+ ¢f8 48.¦g8+ ¢f7 49.¤e5+ ¢e7 50.¦xb8 £c2+ 51.¤e4 ¤d5 52.¦b7+ ¢e8 53.¢e6 ¤f4+ 54.¢f5 ¤d5 finally with a repetition! 43.¤xg1 43.¤g5!? Another inhuman move! 43...¦xg5 44.¤d6! c1£ (44...¦g2 45.¦c8+ ¢h7 46.¦xc2 ¦xf2+ 47.¢e5 ¤f4! 48.¦c7+ ¢g8 with a drawn position even if White manages to take the a-pawn) 45.¦xc1 ¤xc1 46.¢xg5 and Black still needs to work to draw this, even though it is a drawn position. 43...c1£ 44.¤xe2 £h6+

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Black should still be able to draw, but there is still play left in the position. 45.¢e7 £h7+ 46.¢d6 £d3+ 47.¢c5 £xe2 48.¢b6 £xf2+ 49.¢xa6 ¢f8 Carlsen tried to extract something out of nothing here, but he didn’t get any more chances.

50.a5 ¢e8 51.¤b6 £f5 52.¦d7 £c5 53.¦h7 £e5 54.¦d7 £c5 55.¦d5 £c6 56.¦h5 £c3 57.¢b7 £g7+ 58.¢a6 ¢d8 Aronian shows his sense of humour. 58...£a1 59.¦d5+

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59...¢c7! 60.¦d7+ ¢b8! 61.¦d8+ 61.¦xg7 would have been a nice finish. 61...¢c7 62.¦c8+ ¢d6 63.¤c4+ ¢d7 64.¦c5 £g1 65.¢b6 £b1+ 66.¢a7 £b4 67.¤b6+ ¢d6 68.¦h5 ¢c6 69.¦h6+ ¢b5 70.¦h5+ ¢c6 ½–½ A grandiose battle! Carlsen had only one moment to win the game and he missed it. This was the moment that defined both players’ paths in the tournament. Aronian, exhilarated by the saved draw

The Grenke Chess Classic was a 7-round tournament, something akin to a 100m sprint. The start is vital and there are not many opportunities for changing the course later on BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 367

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against the strongest opponent, won his next 4 games (beating Vachier, Bluebaum, Naiditsch and Hou Yifan) while Carlsen got stuck and won only one game (against Meier) while drawing the rest.

To make it somewhat bizarre, Aronian could have won all the remaining games after the game with Carlsen. In the last round he managed not to win with a clear piece up against Caruana.

The winner of "The GRENKE Chess Classic 2017", Levon Aronian, receives the trophy from Christian Bossert, Chairman of the "Schach Zentrum Baden-Baden"

Aronian: I prefer to play in any tournament that I win In an interview after winning the tournament Levon Aronian said he had “a very good result and my play was good too... except the first and the last round.” Asked whether it was true he had not touched a chess board for two months, as it was rumoured on Twitter, the Grenke champion had this to say: “I was kind of taking some time off and enjoying life generally. I played a lot and some tournaments did not go as I planned, so it was time for me to rest from chess.” When it comes to the question of which type of tournaments he prefers (as Magnus Carlsen said, the Grenke tournament was quite short in his view) Aronian had a witty comeback: “I prefer to play in any tournament that I win - it doesn’t actually matter.” He did, however, point out that “in short tournaments the stakes are much higher. It’s much tougher and you need more concentration.” 368 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

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Fabiano Caruana - Levon Aronian 4th GRENKE Chess Classic Karlsruhe GER

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20.¤e4 White has good compensation for the pawn in view of his excellent (e4, but nothing more than that. What follows next is something quite unexpected at this level... 20...¢g8 21.¤c5 Possible, but obviously with the following blunder in mind. 21.b3.

The knight has no way out after this. We can only scratch our heads asking ourselves how this could happen to a player of Caruana’s stature... 22.¤e4. 22...¦c8 23.b3 c5! Blocking the only exit via c5. 24.c4 ¦d6 25.¤xg7 ¢xg7 26.¥xe5 ¦d3 And now it is even more unbelievable that Aronian failed to win from this position. ½–½

21...¦d5 22.¤xe6??

Failing to win two tournaments in a row (So won in Wijk) is something we are not accustomed to seeing from Magnus Carlsen. He will need to win something fast in order to re-establish his dominance Truly baffling! It is no surprise that this draw was a bitter pill to swallow, one that certainly tarnished Aronian’s glorious triumph – for just imagine if he had won this and scored 6/7! Nevertheless, it was a result that for quite some time Aronian had been waiting for. He needs his “chess with confidence” to play well and this victory will provide that much-needed confidence. As for the World Champion, failing to

win two tournaments in a row (So won in Wijk) is something we are not accustomed to seeing. He will need to win something fast in order to re-establish his dominance, otherwise the pack will smell blood and he may find it even more difficult to win events. With So’s recent dominance, Aronian’s latest triumph, Caruana’s presence, Kramnik’s resilience and Mamedyarov’s rise, it is getting very crowded at the top! BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 369

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Endgame studies

The answers are given on page 383

by Ian Watson

[email protected]

1

XIIIIIIIIY 9k+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-zp0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+P+0 9+K+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy P. Byway

2

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3 4 Original Composition

Original Composition

(a) Diagram: Win (b) Black pawn h6 to h5: Win

draw

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Canadian Chess Chat 1980

Szachy 1965

draw

win

E. asaba

370 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

V. nestorescu

June 2017

study or Endgame? “Endgame studies” is the name we give our art, but it is an odd name for some of the compositions it includes. This month’s positions could be simply called “endgames”. Next time, we will look at some that very definitely can’t be called “endgames”. These four could maybe have occurred in games, and they only have a small number of pieces, notably no queens, so “endgame” is entirely appropriate − no more so than for the first, with only two pawns to accompany the kings. Paul Byway’s pawn endgame is a ‘twin’ - two compositions in one; solve the diagram position, then solve again from the diagram but this time with the Black h−pawn on h5, not h6.

From Anders Gillberg of Sweden, we have an attractive and pleasingly clear−cut drawn endgame. The Asaba and Nestorescu endgames are harder, but not too tough, although I made a mess of the Asaba when faced with it in this year’s European Chess Solving Championship. The event took place in May in Riga, and our UK team came fourth in the Championship, behind Poland, Serbia and Russia. Give yourself a half hour on each of these two endgames if you want to test yourself against the clock, as the ECSC solvers do. On move nine in the Asaba, please don’t make the same mistake I did!

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World Senior Team Championships 2017

The Champions (left to right): Evgeny Solozhenkin, Sergey Ivanov, Alexander Khalifman, Sergey Ionov

Russia at the top, England third By IM Shaun Taulbut Photo: WSTC 2017 official / Niki Riga 372 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

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The 50+ and 65+ World Senior Team Championships, a 9-round Swiss tournament, took place from 24 April to 2 May in the Creta Maris Beach Resort on the Greek island of Crete. The over 50s tournament was won by St Petersburg (Russia) with their top board being Alexander Khalifman. Second were Armenia, whose first board was Rafael Vaganian, and England’s first team came in third. The total prize fund is 10,000 euros (£8,660). A number of world-famous Grandmasters took part, including former world champion Alexander Khalifman, former world championship Candidates Rafael Vaganian and Jon Speelman, three-time world champion in chess problem-solving John Nunn, former USSR champion Artashes Minasian and one of the best British and world players ever Nigel Short (the oldest GM in the world top 100). The England first team in the over 50s comprised of Nigel Short, John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Keith Arkell and Terry Chapman. Nigel Short was in very good form, remaining undefeated on 8/9. In comparison, Khalifman (St Petersburg) scored 6/9, as did Vaganian (Armenia). John Nunn scored 4.5/8, Terry Chapman had a score of 3.5/5, Jon Speelman notched up 5.5/7 and Keith Arkell had a tally of 5/7. Teams from Scotland, Wales and England took part. England’s second team consisted of GM James Plaskett, FM Andrew Lewis, Jim Burnett and Chris Fegan and they finished 10th. Wales took 11th place and Scotland was 14th. England also had a third team which finished in20th place. Here are a few of the most interesting games of some of the strongest British players from the over 50s tournament.

Mark Adams (1971) - John Nunn (2600) World Senior Teams +50 Hersonissos GRE (9.3) Wales v England I 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 ¤f6 4.¤c3 cxd4 5.¤xd4 a6 6.h3 e5 7.¤de2 h5 Preventing White from expanding with g4, h5 has become popular here. 8.¥g5 ¥e6 9.¥xf6 9.¤g3 is also playable but White opts for the exchange. 9...£xf6 10.¤d5

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White has a slight edge due to his control of d5, but Black has counterplay with the two bishops. At the moment the position is balanced. White has a slight lead in development. 10...£d8 11.¤ec3 g6 A logical choice, protecting the pawn on h5 and preparing to develop the kingside bishop on h6. 12.a4 White chooses to prevent ...b5, but 12.¥c4, adding to the control of d5, is the most active move, not fearing a Black ...b5. 12...¤c6 13.¥d3 This is probably too passive for the position. 13...¥h6 The position is now equal with Black ready to castle. 14.0–0 0–0 Black has the easier position to play. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 373

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15.£e1 ¦c8 A logical choice, aiming to use the half open c-file; White has no easy plan and chooses to open the position which allows the Black bishops into play.

32.£h8+ ¢g5 and White has no defence against the discovered check.

16.f4 exf4 17.¤xf4

25.£c3 £f4 26.hxg4 ¥g7 27.£e1 ¥e5

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17...¤e5 Black could have played 17...¥xf4 18.¦xf4 ¥xh3, which wins a pawn as White cannot recapture because of ...£g5+, although White has some play after 19.¤d5. 18.¤xe6 18.¤cd5 is best, with some chances. 18...fxe6 19.¦xf8+ £xf8 Black has the edge because of his strong knight on e5 and control of the dark squares. 20.£e2 £f4 21.£f2 £g5 22.¢h1 ¦f8 23.£d4 ¤g4 Black starts a direct attack against the white king on the dark squares. 24.¤d1 White has few defensive options now, and none seems sustainable. A) 24.hxg4 £h4+ 25.¢g1 ¥f4 leads to mate; B) 24.¦f1 ¤e3 25.¦g1 ¦f2 26.£xd6 ¦xg2 27.£xe6+ ¢h7 28.£f7+ ¥g7 29.£f2 ¦xg1+ 30.£xg1 £f4 31.¥e2 ¥e5 and White is lost; he has no useful moves; C) 24.£xd6 ¤f2+ 25.¢h2 ¥g7 26.£xe6+ ¢h8 27.¤e2 ¥e5+ 28.¢g1 ¦f6 29.£c8+ ¢g7 30.£xb7+ ¢h6 31.£c8 £e3 374 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

24...£d2 24...£h4 is also very strong here.

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28.g3 £xg4 29.¢g2 £f3+ 29...¦f3 wins, as in the game. 30.¢h3 £g4+ 31.¢g2 ¦f3 0–1

Jon Speelman (2511) – Sergey Ionov (2535) World Senior Teams +50 Hersonissos GRE (6.1) England I v St Petersburg 1.d4 d5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 ¥b4+ 5.¥d2 ¥e7 6.¥g2 0–0 7.0–0 c6 8.£c2 b6 9.¥f4

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9...¥a6 Also playable are 9...¥b7 and

June 2017

9...¤bd7. 10.cxd5 cxd5 10...¤xd5 is worth consideration, attacking the bishop on f4. 11.¦c1 White takes control of the c-file, which giveshim the edge. 11...¤bd7 12.¤c3 ¤h5 13.£a4

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White plays on the queenside.

13...¤xf4 After 13...¥b7 then 14.¥c7 £xc7 15.¤xd5 £d6 16.¤xe7+ £xe7 17.¦c7 ¥e4 18.£xd7: there is then a clear advantage for White with the extra pawn. 14.£xa6 ¤xg2 15.¢xg2 White has a nagging edge due to his pressure on the queenside. 15...£c8 16.£xc8 ¦fxc8 17.¤b5 ¥f8 If GMs Nunn (front) and Speelman (back) produced some great games at the event!

17...a6 18.¤c7 ¦a7 19.¤xd5 wins material so Black retreats the bishop. 18.¤c7 ¦ab8 19.a4 White has the advantage but Black should sit tight with ....g6. 19...¤c5 20.dxc5 ¦xc7 21.cxb6 ¦xc1 22.bxa7 This intermezzo wins the game; Black must stop the pawn from queening. 22...¦a8 23.¦xc1 ¦xa7 24.b3 g6 25.¤d4 ¢g7 26.¤c6 ¦b7 27.b4 Black cannot capture on b4 with the bishop because then ¦b1 wins a piece; so the pawns advance to victory and in consequence Black resigned. 1–0

John Nunn (2600) – Alon Greenfeld (2550) World Senior Teams +50 Hersonissos GRE (7.3), England I v Israel 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤c6 5.c4 The Maroczy Bind; White takes control of d5. 5...¥g7 6.¥e3 ¤f6 7.¤c3 0–0 8.¥e2 d6 9.0–0 ¥d7 10.£d2

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10...¤xd4 11.¥xd4 ¥c6 Black has less space and White has a slight edge because of this, but Black has no weaknesses. 12.f3 ¤d7 Black offers the exchange of BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 375

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dark-squared bishops in order to blunt White’s initiative. 13.¥e3 White retains the bishop.

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GM John Nunn

13...a5

Preparing an outpost on c5 for his knight: a key strategy.

18.f4 After 18.g3 £f6 19.¥d4 £xf3, winning a pawn.

14.b3 ¤c5 15.¦ab1 White removes the rook from the action of the black dark-squared bishop and prepares a later a3 and b4.

18...¥xc3 19.£xc3 ¤xe4 20.£b2 20.£e1 £f6 is better for Black.

15...e6 16.¦fd1 ¥e5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wq-trk+0 9+p+-+p+p0 9-+lzpp+p+0 9zp-sn-vl-+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9+PsN-vLP+-0 9P+-wQL+PzP0 9+R+R+-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy The critical position; Black is holding his own. 17.¥f1 17.¥d4 £e7 18.a3 gives White a slight edge. 17...£h4 Now Black is better, with an attack on the kingside. 376 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

20...¦fe8 A strong move, getting the rook into play. 21.g3 £h5 22.¥g2 22.¥e2 £h3 23.¥f1 £f5 is better for Black 22...e5 Opening the position for the black rook on e8. 23.¦f1 exf4 24.¥xf4

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June 2017

24...¤xg3 With the deadly threat of ...¦e2, so White resigned. 0–1

Nigel Short (2683) – Boris Kantsler (2436) World Senior Teams +50 Hersonissos GRE (8.3) England I v Ashdod Chess Club (Israel) 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.g3 The King’s Indian Attack, leading to a slower game. 3...¤c6 4.¥g2 ¤f6 5.d3 d6 6.0–0 ¥e7 7.c4 White stakes a claim in the centre, which changesthe nature of the struggle. 7...0–0 8.¤c3 ¤e5 9.¤e1 9.¤xe5 dxe5 leaves White with a weak pawn on d3. 9...¥d7 10.f4 ¤c6 11.g4

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Building a kingside pawn storm is the White plan.

11...¤e8 12.¤f3 ¤c7 13.¥e3 ¦b8 Black aims for counterplay with ...b5: logical and good. 14.a4 a6 15.g5 White presses on; Black expands as planned on the queenside. 15...b5 16.axb5 axb5 17.b3 White can now meet bxc4 with bxc4 himself, otherwise Black would have an attack on the b-pawn. 17...f6 18.h4 Overprotecting g5. White has an easier game to play. 18...¢h8 19.¦f2 ¥e8 20.¤e2

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A key plan, bringing the knight to g3 and aiming at the kingside. 20...bxc4 20...¦a8 is possible, challenging the white rook, but Black has adequate play. 21.bxc4 d5 Black counters in the centre - a good plan. 22.exd5 exd5 23.¤g3

A number of world famous Grandmasters took part, including former world champion Alexander Khalifman, former world championship Candidates Rafael Vaganian and Jon Speelman, three-time world champion in chess problem-solving John Nunn, former USSR champion Artashes Minasian as well as Nigel Short (the oldest GM in the world top 100) BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 377

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XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-wqltr-mk0 9+-sn-vl-zpp0 9-+n+-zp-+0 9+-zpp+-zP-0 9-+P+-zP-zP0 9+-+PvLNsN-0 9-+-+-tRL+0 9tR-+Q+-mK-0 xiiiiiiiiy A complex position has arisen. 23...¥d7 24.¦c1 ¥g4 24...d4 25.¥d2 ¤a6 with the idea of ...¤ab4, which is better for Black, as the knight on b4 is strong. 25.£f1 Unpinning is wise and White aims to play to attack the black queen’s bishop. 25...£d7 25...¤b4 is best, aiming at d3. 26.¤h2 ¥e6 27.f5 ¥g8 28.¤g4 ¥d6 29.¤h5 The white attack grows strong, exploiting the space advantage.

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29...£e8 A mistake. 29...£f7 is best, guarding g7 with the queen. 30.¤xg7 Destroying the black kingside with a piece sacrifice 30...¢xg7 31.gxf6+ ¦xf6 32.¥g5 ¦f7 33.¦e1 £d7 34.cxd5 White has two pawns for the piece and a strong attack: very 378 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

difficult for Black to defend. 34...¤d4 35.f6+ ¢h8 36.¤h6 ¥g3 37.¤xf7+ ¥xf7 38.¦e7 White wins back material.

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38...¥xf2+ 39.£xf2 £g4 40.¦xf7 ¤xd5 41.¢h2 White threatens the black knight and brings his king to a safer square. 41...£e6 After 41...¤b4, 42.¦e7, threatening f7, wins - eg after 42...¤xd3 White wins by the brilliant 43.¦e8+ ¦xe8 44.f7 ¤xf2 45.fxe8£+ ¢g7 46.£e7+ ¢g8 47.¥d5+. 42.¦a7 ¤c6 After 42...£e5+, 43.£g3 £xg3+ 44.¢xg3 ¤c3 45.¢g4 ¤e6 46.¥h6 ¦g8+ 47.¢f5 ¤d4+ 48.¢e5 ¦xg2 49.¦a8+ ¦g8 50.¥g7 is mate. 43.¥xd5 £xd5 44.f7 Black now resigned; he has many checks but the f-pawn wins the game; eg, after 44...£d6+, 45.¢g1 ¦b1+ 46.¢g2 £d5+ 47.¢g3 £e5+ 48.¥f4 £g7+ 49.¢h3 ¤xa7 50.¥g3 is decisive. 1–0 Against Israel Nigel Short had a positional edge and reached this position when White had just played his 43rd move ¢d1.

June 2017

Nigel Short was in very good form remaining undefeated on 8/9; Terry Chapman scored 3.5/5 and Jon Speelman 5.5/7

Alexander Huzman (2550) Nigel Short (2683) World Senior Teams +50 Hersonissos GRE (7.3), EnglandIIIIIIII I v Israel

9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-mkp+-+0 9+p+p+p+-0 9-+-zPn+p+0 9zP-vlNzPnzP-0 9-+L+-zP-+0 9+-vLK+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy FInaL sTanDInGs

Black now played the startling 43...¥xd4 and White resigned because, if 44.exd4, ¤c3 is mate. White could, however, have played on with 44.¢e2.

rk sno FED Team Games 1 2 RUS saint Petersburg 9 2 4 ARM armenia 9 3 1 ENG England I 9 4 3 ISR Israel 9 5 5 ISR ashdod chess club 9 6 8 RUS russia women 9 7 11 GER VsG 1880 Offenbach 9 9 8 6 AUT austria 9 15 GRE athens/crete 9 10 7 ENG England II 9 11 17 WLS wales 9 12 12 GER rochade Bielefeld revival 9 13 14 LAT Latvia women 9 14 10 SCO scotland 9 15 16 SWEsweden I 9 16 9 FIN Heart of Finland 9 17 13 GER Germany women 9 18 18 NOR Oslo 9 19 20 SWEsweden II 9 20 19 ENG England III 9 21 21 BER Bermuda 9 22 22 ENG sccu 125 9

+. 9 7 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 3 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 0

= 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 0 0 2 1 1 2 1 1

- TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 TB5 0 18 295 0 1620 1755 1 15 260 0 1680 1815 2 14 265 0 1720 1860 3 12 255 0 1725 1865 3 11 200 0 1720 1860 4 10 190 0 1415 1525 4 10 160 0 1605 1675 4 9 195 0 1640 1775 4 9 170 2 1670 1780 4 9 170 0 1715 1850 4 9 160 0 1495 1565 4 8 185 0 1355 1425 3 8 180 0 1400 1470 4 8 175 0 1330 1440 5 8 170 0 1300 1370 5 8 140 0 1780 1940 4 8 135 0 1645 1790 5 7 170 0 1250 1320 5 7 160 0 1255 1325 5 6 145 0 1290 1360 7 3 110 0 1365 1435 8 1 70 0 1330 1440 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 379

06/137

Amazing new books by New In Chess!

The Fianchetto Solution When FIDE master and experienced chess teacher Emmanuel Neiman learned that some of his pupils hesitated to play in competitions for fear of being crushed in the opening, he wanted to help! He already knew that amateurs have little time to seriously study opening theory, so he had to come up with a practical, complete, easyto-learn and solid opening repertoire that would not get out of date rapidly. And that is what he did. Here he advises amateurs to play (with both colours!) the flexible King’s Fianchetto system, where the bishop is a defender of the king and at the same time an attacker. No matter which side you are, you use the same basic ideas: as White you target the light squares and as Black the dark squares, while applying roughly the same strategies, plans and tactical motifs. Emannuel Neiman had previously coauthored Invisible Chess Moves with Yochanan Afek as well as Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna, both of which proved to be highly successful books on tactics and training. But for the present work, he appropriately teamed up with Samy Shoker, who gained the Grandmaster title by mainly playing the King’s Fianchetto systems – even sometimes beating 2700+ rated players with it! The result is a complete and practical repertoire which will give club players a sound and flexible middlegame position in which they can feel at home. The authors do not promise a large advantage every time you play their system, but one thing is certain: after studying this entertaining book you can play the opening confidently and you will be a better all380 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

by

Emmanuel Neiman, Samy Shoker Softback. 272 pages. New in Chess. £19.50.

round player because you will have also learned many essential middlegame lessons. Even very strong players might derive benefit from the original ideas given here and use them in their practice as an easy-to-play weapon. Indeed, the 72 exercises and 52 illustrative games, as well as the wealth of tips on how to handle fianchetto positions in any part of the game, make this much more than just an opening treatise. Here is a snapshot of how the authors impart their wisdom and analytical findings to you, taken from a very detailed chapter on the Modern defence against 1.e4. They never miss an opportunity for the fianchettoing side to seize the initiative at the very earliest stage! 1.e4 g6 2.d4 ¥g7 3.f4 d6 4.¤f3 c5 5.c3

June 2017

¤f6 Attacking the centre again!

XIIIIIIIIY 9rsnlwqk+-tr0 9zpp+-zppvlp0 9-+-zp-snp+0 9+-zp-+-+-0 9-+-zPPzP-+0 9+-zP-+N+-0 9PzP-+-+PzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

6.dxc5

A) On 6.e5 ¤fd7 7.¥e2 0–0 8.0–0 ¤c6 9.¥e3 cxd4 10.cxd4 ¤b6 11.¤c3 ¥f5 12.¦c1 12...¤b4 is equal (or 12...¦c8!? 13.d5 ¤b4 14.a3 ¦xc3 15.¦xc3 ¤4xd5 with compensation) B) After 6.¥d3, 6...cxd4 is weaker with a bishop on d3. Black is logically trying to attack it as soon as possible. 7.cxd4 0–0 8.¤c3 ¤c6 9.0–0 ¥g4

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wq-trk+0 9zpp+-zppvlp0 9-+nzp-snp+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-zPPzPl+0 9+-sNL+N+-0 9PzP-+-+PzP0 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

We will now describe Black’s plan step by step. 1) the knight attacks d4; 2) the bishop attacks the knight that defends d4; 3) by renewing the attack on d4, Black intends to free the g7-bishop 10.¥e3 And Black concludes the assault on

the centre with the thematic 10...e5!?. This move is excellent in this particular structure. 11.fxe5 dxe5 12.d5 ¤d4 Fourth step: the knight reaches the d4-square. If it is exchanged, the fianchettoed bishop will gain scope. 13. ¥e2 ¥xf3 14. ¥xf3 ¤e8 15.¦c1 ¤d6 The position is equal. Both black knights are well placed. The first enjoys a strong outpost on d4, while his brother is a perfect blockader on d6. 6...0–0 7.¥d3 ¤bd7! After 7...dxc5 White can shut in our fianchettoed hero with e4e5. In this kind of position, Black should then play ...f7-f6 to free the bishop, but we don’t feel that the position is good for the second player: 8.e5! ¤d5 9.¥e4 ¤b6 10.£e2 ¤c6 11.0-0 f6² 8.cxd6 exd6 9.0–0 ¤c5 10.¦e1 ¦e8 11.£c2 11.e5 dxe5 12.¤xe5 ¥g4 13.¥e2 (13.¤xg4 ¦xe1+ 14.£xe1 ¤xg4 15.¥c4 £b6 16.¢h1 ¤e4! and Black is winning) 13...¥xe2 14.£xe2 ¤fd7 15.¥e3 ¤xe5 16.fxe5 ¥xe5 and Black takes the pawn back with a clear advantage. 11...¤xd3 12.£xd3 ¦xe4 13.¦xe4 ¥f5 With a much better game for Black. White cannot resist the second player’s initiative. Throughout the book the authors give bold headers to highlight their recommended courses of action against the opponent’s various possibilities, e.g. ‘playing …b7b5-b4 against £d2’, ‘the blockade with … e7-e5’, ‘the …h7-h5 idea’, etc. This enables the reader to grasp many principles of play applicable to fianchetto-type positions, as well as gaining precise technical knowledge by playing through concrete lines of play. All in all, a very well-structured and creative piece of work designed to offer an all-purpose solution to the problem of preparing an opening repertoire with both the white and black pieces! BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 381

06/137

Solutions to Problems First, an apology: the 4th problem in the May issue was by myself and not (as stated) by Michael McDowell. Apologies indeed for this error – especially to Michael!

A wealth of play It’s always a pleasure to see how much play our frequent contributor Bob Lincoln can extract from 7 pieces in the short space of ‛mate in 2’ variations. I say v̔ ariations’ plural because a lot of the play is in the tries. In this case, if we include mates that are threatened or that are used to refute inadequate defences in the tries there are no fewer than 9 mates in this value-for-money problem. Black only has ...d6, ...d5 and ...g5 available (though he may acquire king moves if White moves away a piece guarding a potential flight square), but care needs to be taken to force mate next move. Try 1.¥c7? - this threatens both 2.£d6 and 2.£e5, but 1...d5! thwarts both. The try 1.£c5? does not threaten anything, but prepares to meet 1...d5 by 2.£e7 and 1...g5 by 2.¥f5; it, however, fails to 1...d6!. Or, 1.¥d1? (threat 2.¥g4); but now 1...d5!. Or 1.¥e4? (threats 2.£d5 and 2.£f6) – but now 1...d6!. Finally, we arrive at the key – 1.¥a4! threatens 2.¥xd7, and prepares to meet 1...d6 by 2.£e4 and 1...d5 by 2.£f6. The key grants a flight, but 1...¢f5 still allows 2.¥xd7#.

Wealth of play, helpmate style In the first of Christer Jonsson’s two helpmates, we see how a leading exponent of this genre also extracts full value from a handful of pieces. With the exception only of the Pawns, each of which plays a part in only one of the two solutions, all the pieces play vital roles in both solutions. If you have tried solving it, you may have decided that it is unlikely that all four white officers would be deployed in the two mating positions, and this may have been a useful clue in finding (with Black playing first) 1.¥xg4 ¥g5+ 2.¢f5 ¦e5 and 1.¥xe2 ¤a3 2.¢d3 ¤f2. Note too the interchanged functions of the white officers: The rook and the knight at g4 are both captured in one line and administer the 382 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

mate in the other line (the ‛Zilahi theme’); and the ¥e3 and the ¤c4 alternate the two different types of guard duty, each moving to a new guarding square in one solution and staying put in the other. Note too the cunning placement of the white king on the masked diagonal of the multi-tasking black bishop, preventing Black from playing ¢f5 or ¢d3 on move 1. The diversity of play is all the more commendable in view of the near-symmetry of the diagram, apparently portending boringly similar solutions.

A helpmate of the future

‛Helpmate of the future’ (or ‛HOTF’ for short) was coined some years ago to describe the efforts by helpmate composers to develop the genre by incorporating 2 pairs of related solutions in the same diagram. Christer’s 3-mover is a HOTF, and so we are again looking at value for money! Again, we might feel that White has more artillery than he needs and that one of his officers may be jettisoned, so it is perhaps not surprising that the first two solutions start with the black king capturing pieces – 1.¢xb5 ¥c5 2.¢a6 ¥b6 2.¥b5 ¤c5 and 1.¢xb4 ¤d4 2.¢a3 ¤c2+ 3.¢a2 ¤c3. More surprising maybe is that in the other pair of solutions all three white officers are necessary, as the highly mobile black king this time heads east – 1.¢d5 ¥e1 2.¢e5 ¥g3+ 3.¢f5 ¤bd6 and 1.¢d3 ¤bd6 2.¢e2 ¤f5 3.¢f1 ¤fg3. One feature that unites all four solutions is that we have four attractive model mates: each square around the black king is either blocked by a black unit or guarded by only one white officer. Again, every single unit on the board is used in at least one mate; the play is wideranging; the highly peripatetic black king goes to no square twice; and the only repeated white move, ¤bd6, is unlikely to detract from the solver’s pleasure.

June 2017

(see page 350)

We need knights... ...five, to be precise, in Paul Michelet’s ambitious 12-mover. It may not be a record to show five promotions to knight but it is certainly a very significant achievement of a difficult task. In the diagram position we need to prevent 1...¢xg6+, which will activate all Black’s forces, so we start as we mean to go on with 1.f8¤!. From here on, the priority is to avoid stalemate. Black plays 1...d5, and play continues 2.a7 d4 and now the second knight promotion, 3.a8¤. We continue 3...d3 4.¤b6 cxb6 5.c7 b5

6.c8¤ b4 7.¤d6 exd6 8.e7 d5 9.e8¤ d4 10.¤f6 gxf6 11.g7 f5 and now the fifth sub-promotion 12.g8¤ is mate! Although this motif for generating a chain of knight promotions has been seen before, this is a highly intensive and pleasing rendering of it. If you have seen comparable problems, or indeed have comments on any of the problems in this column, don’t hesitate to email me!

Endgame Studies Byway (a) 1.¢c2 ¢b7 2.¢d3 ¢c6 3.¢e4 ¢c5 4.g3 ¢c4 5.g4 wins. Attractive tempo play by the white pawn, which also occurs in: 3…¢d6 4.¢f5 ¢d5 5 g4. Similarly, 4…¢d6 5.¢f5 ¢d5 6.g4. (b) 1.¢c2 ¢b7 2.¢d3 ¢c6 3.¢e4 h4 4.¢f5 ¢d6 5.¢g4 h3 6.¢xh3. In this twin, Black is of course trying to convert the white g-pawn into an h-pawn. This is related to a famous 1915 composition by Adamson, and Paul sent it to me in 2015 perhaps as a centenary homage to Adamson. I think Paul’s is, however, sufficiently different to stand in its own right, not least because of the twinning.

Gillberg 1.¦d4 ¥e4 2.¦xe4 ¥c3 3.¦e7 ¥d4+ 4.¢a8 d2 5.¦b7 d1£ 6.¦b1 £xb1 stalemate. Unusually, I do not think there is any need to give any explanatory notes or sidelines – would that all studies were so clear-cut!

Asaba 1.¥g8 d5 2.¥xd5 ¥c6 3.¥xc6 ¤db1 4.¦g8+ ¢h7 5.¥e4+ ¢h6 6.¦g6+ ¢h5

(see page 370) 7.¥d5 a1£ 8.¥f7 ¢h4 9.¢g2 ¢h5 10.¢h1 ¢h4 11.¢g2 draws. 1.¦a1? ¢xh7. Alternatives in the main line are: 1…¤dc4 2.¥xc4 ¤xc4 3.¦a1; and 3…¤ab1 4.¦g8+ ¢h7 5.¦a8. My mistake was to go for 9.¦g4+? (instead of the correct 9.¢g2), which loses to 9…¢xh3 10.¥e6 ¤c4. By putting the 9.¦g4+ line, I dropped two of the five points available for solving this study – curses…

Nestorescu 1.a6 ¥c5+ 2.¦xc5 ¤e4+ 3.¢d5 ¤xc5 4.e7 b1Q 5.e8Q+ Qb8 6.Qc6+ ¤b7 7.¢e4 wins. 1.e7? ¤f7+ 2.¢d5 b1£ 3.e8£+¤d8 4.¦c8+ ¢b7 5.£d7+ ¢a6 6.axb6 £d3+; in this line, 2.¢d7 b1£ 3.e8£+ ¥d8 4.£xf7 £b7+ and also in that line, 4.axb6 £b5+ 5.¢d6 £xc6+. Alternatives in the main line are: 1…¤e4+ 2.¢e5 ¢b8 3.e7 wins, as does 1…¢b8 2.¢d7. 2.¢xc5? ¤xe6+ 3.¦xe6 b1£. 2…b1£ 3.¦c8+ Qb8+ 4.¦xb8+ ¢xb8 5.e7. 3.¢e5? ¤xc5 4.e7 b1£ 5.e8£+ £b8+. 3…¤f6+ 4.¢e5 ¤g4+ 5.¢f4. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 383

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