Issue 64

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Weekly Newsleter
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Table of Contents
Editorial Preface 2
4 best games of the past week 3
Puzzle section 15
Endgame section 18
Clash of the Titans 23
Surprise section / study 25
Solutions 26
Editorial Preface
In the current issue of CEWN 64 (achess number), indeed,
alot of chess was played.
The new European Champion is the Ukrainian GM Alex-
ander Moiseenko. He played great chess and totally de-
served this victory. Second place went to Alekseev and
third to Romanov, all three obtained 8/11 points.
A very good result was showed by probably the oldest
Top GM, Alexander Beliavsky, who was Worlds Nr 3 many
many years ago. He also got 8/11.
The Super Tournament in Norway is getting ruled by Ser-
gey Karjakin with 5,5/7. Close behind is Magnus Carlsen
with 5/7 and there are two more rounds to go. It is going
to be avery exciting fnish.
The FIDE Women Grand Prix was won by Khotenashvilli
Bella with agreat 8/11. 2nd place went to Muzychuk Anna
with 7.5/11 and 3rd to Kosintseva Tatiana with 6.5/11.
In the current issue, we analyze alot of interesting games
from the recent Top events!
We wish you a lot of chess joy with your new issue of
CEWN, the 64th.
Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
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4 best games of the past week
(1) Karjakin,Sergey (2767)
Radjabov,Teimour (2745) [B30]
Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (1.5), 08.05.2013
[Csaba Balogh]
An impressive positional performance by Karjakin.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 White tries to avoid the Svesh-
nikov defense. Usually, he does this by playing 3. Bb5,
but the text move is also possible.
3...g6 4. Bb5 White succeeded to avoid Radjabovs pet
line with 3. Bb5 e6, but of course, this g6 system is the
other huge main line.
4... Bg7 5.00 Black has to decide how to fnish the de-
velopment. Radjabov chooses one of the most popular
ways with e5- Nge7, but it has adrawback, that it weak-
ens the d5 square.
5...e5 6.d3 Nge7
7. Bc4 White immediately focuses his pieces on the d5
square. Usually, the Sveshnikov players are not impressed
by this, since they are used to face this in many lines.
7...h6 Black prevents the potential plan of Bg5, trading
one of the defenders of the d5 square.
8.a3! This is aknown plan in this kind of closed positions.
White initiates by grabbing space on the queenside with
b4. Black should not prevent it with a5 because the b5
square gets crucially weakened.
8...00 9.b4! White could save a tempo by not playing
Rb1, since accepting the pawn sacrifce would lead to
more than enough compensation.
9...d6 [9...cxb4? 10.axb4 Nxb4 11. Ba3! Nbc6 12. Bd6
Black is completely tied up!]
10.bxc5 White has achieved some positional trumps by
taking once towards to the center, forcing Black to take
outwards. Also, the b-fle will be an important factor in
the game later on.
10...dxc5
11. Re1! At frst sight, amysterious move, but actually, it
is avery deep positional idea. Karjakin would like to set-
tle his knight on d5 and he gets ready to take back with
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exd5, after which the e5 pawn is hanging, thanks to Re1.
Black can hardly carry the d5 knight if he does not take it.
11...Kh7 Black would like to get counterplay by playing
f5, so he left the pin. [11... Bg4 just gives temporary activ-
ity. 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nd4 14.Qd1 White just got the
bishop pair and the d4 knight will be kicked out soon af-
ter Nd5 and c3.]
12.Nd5 Be6 Black succeeded to get rid of the d5 knight,
but another piece is replacing it there, which will also be
very annoying. [12...Nxd5 13.exd5 and e5 is hanging.; 12...
f5 is premature at the moment. 13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14.exf5
gxf5 15. Bb2 White quickly puts very strong pressure on
the e5 pawn. There is adirect threat with Bd5, winning
the e5 pawn.]
13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14. Bd5! Whenever Black takes on d5, he
will create avery strong protected passed pawn (after c4)
for White.
14...Nd4 [14... Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd4 16.c4 White takes
on d4 next (or plays Nd2, Bb2-d4 as in the game) and
the structure is seemingly similar, but actually, White has
alarge advantage because the d4 pawn is not apassed
pawn.]
15.Nd2! Another stron g positional move to save the
knight for the future. White sees the following position in
his eyes: he will play c4, Bb2 and Bxd4 , when the knight
dominates the g7 bishop. The game demonstrates this
well.
15... Bxd5 [15... Rad8 would be met by 16.c3 Nc6 17.c4
Nd4 18. Bb2 and Bxd4 next, followed by queenside
play. White forces Black to play b6, which is going to be
countered by aminority attack with a4-a5.]
16.exd5 Rad8 17.c3 Nb5 18.c4 Nd4
19.a4! Another great move! Prophylaxis against Blacks
idea to push b5 and bxc4, when he will also obtain apro-
tected passed pawn on d4. [19. Bb2 b5 20. Bxd4 cxd4 is
what White cleverly prevented.]
19...Qd7 20. Rb1 Provoking the b6 move to make a5
more efective.
20...b6 21. Bb2 White has a very easy game from now
on. All the moves on the queenside suggest themselves.
21... Rfe8 22.a5 Qc7 [22...bxa5 would just help White,
since it weakens the c5 pawn. 23.Ne4 Rc8 24. Ba3]
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23.Qa4 Focusing all the pieces on the queenside. Black
cannot create any serious counterplay.
23...f5 24.axb6 axb6 25. Bxd4 cxd4 White got what he
wanted with the passed pawn on d5, the b6 weakness
and the superior knight. He has various ways to increase
the advantage. He could double his rooks on the b-fle or
prepare for an invasion on the a-fle. Karjakin chooses the
most direct way.
26.Qc6 Qxc6 27.dxc6 Rc8 [27... Rb8 was clearly abetter
defense for Black. White plays here again 28.f4! Rec8 (28...
exf4 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 30. Rxb6 c6 is too strong. The knight
is coming too support it with b3.) 29.fxe5 Rxc6 30.Nf3
Bf8 31. Ra1 with ahuge advantage for White.]
28. Rxb6 Re6 29.f4! White wins the e5 pawn.
29...e4 The best chance to get rid of some material, as
White has enough left to win the game. [29... Rcxc6
30. Rxc6 Rxc6 31.fxe5+- followed by Nf3 and d4 will also
fall soon.]
30.dxe4 fxe4 31. Rxe4 Rexc6 32. Rxc6 Rxc6 33. Re7
Driving the rook to its most active place on d7, where it
disturbs the king and prevents all the Black ideas con-
nected with the d-pawn as well.
33...Kg8 34. Rd7 Bf8 35.Ne4 Provoking the advance
of the d-pawn, when it becomes more vulnerable. White
threatens to take on d4 at the moment, because he pre-
vented Bc5, and Rxc4 does not work because of the
mate after Nf6 and Rh7.
35...d3 36.Kf2 Ba3 Black already wants to take on c4,
because Nf6 is not mate anymore after Kf8. White sim-
ply protects his pawn and is going to take it with the king.
37. Rd4 Kf7 [37... Bb2 would be met by 38. Rd8+ Kg7
39.c5! Ba3 40. Rd5+- and Ke3 next.]
38.Ke3 Bc1+ 39.Nd2 and the second pawn is lost,
which is already too much for Black.
39... Bxd2+ 40.Kxd2 Ra6 41.c5 [Black resigned in view
of 41.c5 Ra2+ 42.Kxd3 Rxg2 43.c6 The black king is cut
from the c-pawn. Agreat game by Karjakin! It is very hard
to win such aclear-cut game on the highest level.]
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(2) Anand,Viswanathan (2783)
Topalov,Veselin (2793) [B90]
Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (3.5), 10.05.2013
[Csaba Balogh]
A huge theoretical battle between two of the greatest
Najdorf players.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
6. Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Black has various diferent
setups here and Topalov has big experience in almost all
of them. Recently, he played some games with the 8...h5
line.
8... Be7 9.Qd2 00 10.000 Just afew weeks ago, To-
palov beat Caruana in the 10. ..a5 line, but this time he
went for the most common continuation.
10...Nbd7 11.g4 b5
12. Rg1! This is ademonstration by the World Champion
to the Najdorf players, showing which line they should
go for. The main line is by far 12.g5, but the text move also
has huge theory. Actually, this was introduced by Anand
himself back in 2006 against Morozevich.
12...Nb6 [12...b4 is the other option for Black. 13.Nd5
Bxd5 14.exd5 a5 15.g5 Nh5 16.Kb1 a4 17.Nc1 with
many games in the database, but it is considered to be
slightly better for White. Here we can see the main idea
behind the 12. Rg1 move, that the rook joins to the battle
through g4!]
13.Na5! At the moment, White is threatening with Nc6
and also preparing for anice positional pawn sacrifce.
13... Rc8 [13...Qc7 is the other move which leads to avery
similar position to the one in our game. 14.g5 Nh5 15.Nd5
Bxd5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Qxa5 18.Kb1 White is
aiming for this position in these lines. He has sacrifced
apawn, but the bishop pair gives huge compensation for
that. He is intending to bring the rook to the game with
Rg4, which could be followed by, for instance, c4, or just
Bd3-e4. From apractical point of view, White has amuch
easier game here. 18...Qc7 19. Rg4 g6 20. Rb4! White is
ready to open the position with c4!]
14.g5 Nh5 15.Kb1 Nf4 Black threatens to push b4 now,
as Nd5 is prevented. White makes asimple prophylactic
move against it. [Topalov deviates from the Anand-Kar-
jakin 2009 game, which continued with 15...g6 Recently,
there was a strong novelty by White and probably
Anand wanted to play this too. 16.a3! and we will proba-
bly transpose to the game.; It is important to mention that
15...b4 is met by 16.Nd5! Nxd5 17.exd5 Qxa5 18.dxe6
fxe6 19. Bh3 Black cannot protect the e6 pawn.]
16.a3! g6
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17.h4! White protects the g5 pawn, which was not hang-
ing at the moment, but White is preparing for the same
pawn sacrifce that was seen in the 13...Qc7 line; there, at
the end, is very important to have the g5 pawn protected.
17...Qc7 Black is making some useful moves. He wants to
play Rfd8 and is ready to push d5 then. White has to start
the action.
18. Bxf4 exf4 19.Nd5! This is a standard method in
this line to facilitate the c6 square for the knight. Black is
forced to accept the sacrifce.
19... Bxd5 20.exd5 Nxd5! 21.Qxd5 Qxa5 [21...Qxc2+?
is just acheck. 22.Ka1 Another point of the 16.a3 move
to have the back-rank open. Otherwise, Qc1 mates.]
22. Rg4! And now comes the rook into the game. White
wins back the pawn and the arising opposite-colored
bishops position is better for him, as he can create amuch
more dangerous attack against the black king, while the
one on b1 is very safe. Here we can also see the point of
the h4 move g5 is protected otherwise, Black would
simply win it after Rc5. It is slightly strange what Topalov
has prepared in this game, because all white ideas were
already well-known so far and he got an advantage.
22... Rc5 23.Qb3 d5 Black decided to close the a2-g8 di-
agonal in order to reduce the pressure on the f7 pawn,
but on the other hand, he creates a clear weakness for
himself on d5. [23... Rf5 would have been met by 24. Bd3
and Rxf4 next.]
24. Rxf4 Qc7 25. Rfd4 Qh2 Black would like to trade his
d5 pawn for the one on h4, which would solve his prob-
lems. [25... Rd8 is met by 26.f4! with two unpleasant ide-
as. One is to destroy Blacks pawn structure with f5 and
the other is simply Bg2, taking on d5.]
26.c3! Very nice, cold-blooded reaction by Anand. The
idea can be seen in the next move.
26... Rd8
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27.Qc2! White brings back his queen to the game, using
the fact that the endgame is horrible for Black.
27...Qg3 [27...Qxc2+ 28.Kxc2 Black cannot prevent b4
followed by Rxd5. After that, the a6-b5 would become
the next targets, which are fxed on the bishops color.
28...f6 29.f4]
28.f4! Black was ready to play Bf8-g7, so White had to
hurry to improve his position. He wants to play Bg2 now.
28... Bd6 [28...Qxh4 should hav e been played, although
White has aclear plus here as well. The important thing
is that after 29. Bg2 Black can get rid of a pair of rooks,
which seriously eases his defense. 29... Rc4! 30. Bxd5
Rxd4 31. Rxd4]
29. Bg2 Bxf4 30. Bxd5 Both rooks are on the board
and the f7 pawn is extremely vulnerable after the white
bishop has occupied its ideal place. He immediately
threatens to take it.
30...Kg7 31.Qe4! Anand protects his d5 bishop in order
to free his rook to go to f1, pressing the f7 pawn.
31...Qe3 Black obviously would like to exchange the
queens, but White is not forced to agree... [31... Be5 loses
to 32. Rf1! Bxd4 33.Qxd4+ and mate to follow.]
32.Qh1! Aspectacular move! The threat is Qf1 or Rf1.
32... Rd7 Topalov tries to guide the weakness, but it does
not help anymore.
33. R1d3? This gives chances for salvation. [33.Qf1! was
the right move. 33... Be5 Covering the f6 square, but it
blocks the queens route back to the e-fle. White wins.
(33... Rcxd5 does not work. 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 35. Rxd5 Qe4+
36. Rd3+-) 34. R4d3! Qf4 There is no other square to go...
35. Rf3!+-]
33...Qe5? Spoiling the sudden chance. [33...Qf2! is not
easy, suddenly. The point is that after 34. Rf3 Qxd4!
35.cxd4 Rc1+ 36.Qxc1 Bxc1 Black escapes into only
aslightly worse endgame. 37. Bc6 Rc7 38.d5 Bd2]
34.Qf3 Bh2
35. Be6! Avery nice winning move, although it was not
the only one. [The simple 35. Bb3 was also enough. 35...
Re7 36. Re3! Qxe3 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38. Rd8+ Re8 White
can play for the spectators with 39.Qxf7+ Kh8 40.Qg8+
Rxg8 41. Rxg8#]
35... Re7 [35... Rxd4 36.Qxf7++-]
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36. Re4! White wins the queen, because it cannot leave
the f6 square.
36... Rxe6 37. Rxe5 Rcxe5 The rest is a matter of tech-
nique, but of course, for the World Champion, it is not
adifcult task.
38. Rd8 Threating Qa8.
38... Re4 39.Ka2 Just to avoid all the checks. White has
time for everything.
39... Bf4 40. Rd7 Kg8 41. Ra7 Creating anew threat of
Rxa6, Black resigned the hopeless position.
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(3) Hammer,Jon Ludvig (2608)
Wang,Hao (2743) [E60]
Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (5.5), 13.05.2013
[Arkadij Naiditsch]
The frst win of Hammer at the tournament, and in what
afantastic fghting game! It is clear that Wang, with +140
ELO points above his opponent, tried to complicate
things as much as he could, but lost the battle in avery
complex position.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 After these two moves, we still do not
know whether the game is going to be aKID or aGruen-
feld.
3.f3 Lately, White started to choose this move order to
avoid the main Gruenfeld.
3... Bg7 [3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3
is, of course, the other main line.]
4.e4 d6 and we are in the KID.
5.Ne2!? Hammer quickly forces things away from the
theory. This slightly strange-looking move is actually
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quite logical. White wants to play Nec3-Be3- Nd2 in or-
der to get avery strong center.
5...a6!? Quite a creative move from Wang. Black is not
trying to act in the center by playing c5 or maybe at
some good moment e5, but preparing the c6-b5 idea.
6.Nec3 c6 7.Na3 To me, it looks a bit too creative.
[7. Be3 b5 8.Nd2 looks more solid for White.; 7.a4?! would
be atypical inaccuracy here. 7...a5! and Black would con-
tinue with Na6 winning control of the dark squares.]
7...b5 8.Nc2 00 9. Be3 Nbd7 All the standard moves
are done. Now it is time to think about afuture plan.
10.cxb5 After this move, Black should be doing fne.
[But, what else to play for White?! In case of 10. Be2 bxc4
11. Bxc4 d5 Black is fne as well.]
10...axb5 11. Be2 Bb7 To develop our pieces is never
wrong.
12.00
12...e5! I think this was a good positional decision by
Black in a very complex position with a lot of diferent
ideas. He realizes that he needs to attack the white center
and not allow his opponent to play Qd2, Rad1, a3, after
which, Whites advantage would grow.
13.Qd2 exd4 14. Bxd4 We have a typical position for
the KID structures. A lot of motives are based on tacti-
cal possibilities. Black usually looks for active play while
White tries to keep things together. Objectively, I think
this position should be good for Black.
14...Qe7 Queen to e7, rook to d8, very logical. Another
usual place for the black queen is c7, but now it would
be not optimal because of Rac1 and the queen could get
quickly under attack.
15.a3 A risky move. Now the black knight gets the b3
square. [15. Rfd1 would have been more solid.]
15...Nc5 16. Rad1 Atactical defense against Nb3.
16... Rfd8 Very solid [Maybe this pawn sacrifce would
be possible as well. 16...Nb3 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qxd6
Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Be5 Black is apawn down, but the dark-
squared bishop is amonster piece that clearly gives very
good compensation.]
17. Bf2 Ne6?! Aslightly strange decision. Probably Wang
did not want to exchange pieces and tried to keep the
position as complicated as possible. [17...d5! If Black can
play d5, he should defnitely do it! In my opinion, Black is
already slightly better here.]
18. Bh4! A good place for the white bishop. No more
Nh5 or d5 because of the pin, and amove like g5 is clear-
ly not an option for Black.
18... Rd7 19.Qc1 Qe8 Black is moving his pieces away
from the nasty pin.
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20. Rfe1 Nh5 21. Bf1 White consolidates in the center
as well. The position remains very complex.
21... Be5 I think Wang asks too much from his position
and provokes White into something that he might regret.
[21...Qf8 would be apossible solid way to go on.]
22.g3! It might be that Wang blundered this very strong
reply by White. The idea of playing f4-f5 next can be very
dangerous for Black.
22...f6 The beginning of some crazy complications.
23.f4 Hammer has no fear at all and he is right! Whites
play is stronger here.
23...g5 Nothing else left for Black to do.
24.fxe5 gxh4 25.exd6? Quite aserious mistake. [25.Qh6!
White should have continued in adynamic way. 25...fxe5
Probably Black got abetter option, but here Whites idea
becomes more visible. 26. Bh3! and Black would have
troubles to get his pieces together.]
25...hxg3 Now the white king gets seriously weakened.
26.hxg3 Rg7 Suddenly, Whit e is under big pressure, but
the position remains very complicated.
27.Ne2! Good defense by Hammer. He needs to ex-
change at least acouple of pieces to reduce the power of
Blacks attack.
27...Nxg3 28.Nxg3 Rxg3+ 29.Kf2 Rg7 We are in
front of a very funny position. Who is better here? It is
hard to say. At frst sight, Whites king is very badly placed
on f2, but on the other hand, if White manages to play
Bd3-Rg1, suddenly, the black king would be in trouble.
Whites idea Ne3- Nf5 next might be very dangerous as
well. Black needs to react very quickly.
30.Ne3 The white knight is on aroll.
30...Qh5 31.Nf5 It is funny to see how just one knight
holds Whites position together.
31... Rg5? In avery complex position, Black gives his op-
ponent abreak to consolidate. [First 31...Qh2+ to force
the white king to a bad square on e3. 32.Ke3 Rg5 and
only now Rg5 would give Black avery dangerous attack.]
32. Re3! Now the White king is escaping to e1!
32...Qh2+ 33.Ke1 Suddenly, Black has no more threats
against the white king, and the d6 pawn is getting super
strong.
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33...Nf4 34.d7 [White could have fnished the game on
the spot by playing 34. Rd2! frst hitting away the black
queen from h2, which will also disturb Blacks Rg1. 34...
Qg1 and only now 35.Qc3 The f6-pawn is going to fall
and, with it, the whole black position.]
34... Rd8 35.Qc3 Of course, Qc3 is strong here as well. It
is clear now that White is doing much better.
35... Rg1 Threatening Ng2.
36. Rg3+ White is exchanging one of the few active piec-
es Black has.
36... Rxg3 37.Nxg3?! Hammer asks for too much now.
[37.Qxg3+ would also lead to a much better endgame
for White.]
37...Qh4! The game is getting tricky again. Whites
knight cannot reach his best square on f5 because of the
nasty pin.
38.Kf2 Kf7? [Iwould like to know what did White want
to play against 38...Qh2+ 39.Kf3 Nh5 and it seems like
Black is back in the game.]
39.b4 It is always good to fx Blacks pawn structure, but
the Qh2 idea is still there.
39...Ne6? The wrong direction. [39...Qh2+ with an un-
clear position.]
40.Qf3! With the 40th move, White fxes his advantage!
And it is already quite abig one. The bishop on b7 is re-
ally adead piece and the d7 pawn is superdangerous it
can always be protected with Bh3 in the future.
40...Ng5? It was the last chance for Black to complicate
things by playing 40...c5!.
41.Qf5 Now White completely dominates the position.
Bg2-Rh1 is adeadly threat.
41...Ne6 Black tries to react to Whites threat, but the
bishop is coming to h3 now.
42. Bh3 Qf4+ 43.Qxf4 Nxf4 44. Bf5 We can clearly
see that there is no escape for Black.
44...Ke7 45. Rh1! The simplest! Black is playing abish-
op down.
45... Rh8 46.Ke3 The last precise move.
46...Ne6 47. Bxe6 Kxe6 48. Rxh7 Asmall tactic.
48... Rd8 49.Nh5 and it is over. What a great fghting
game!
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(4) Aronian,L (2813) Hammer,J (2608) [D85]
Supreme Masters 2013 Sandnes NOR (6), 14.05.2013
[Arkadij Naiditsch]
A great game on the topic: If you dont remember the
lines, dont even try to play the Gruenfeld! In amore or
less well-known position, Hammer gets lost and tries to
play by himself. A big mistake! The Gruenfeld is one of
the most attractive openings for Black right now, but it
requires very good memory and precision. Things can go
wrong very quickly, as the next moves show.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The very main Gruenfeld.
4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8. Rb1
At the moment, 8. Rb1 is one of the most popular moves.
The idea of this move is simple, to be ready to answer
with d5 against Blacks Nc6. On the other hand, Black
has been showing great results here and it would be re-
ally very interesting to know what Aronian had prepared
here, that is still not known to theory.
8...00 9. Be2 cxd4 This move starts avery forced line.
[9...b6 deserves attention here as well. Alot of free time is
also needed to memorize all the long lines!]
10.cxd4 Qa5+ This is the key idea. Black is simply win-
ning a pawn, but losing two very important tempos in
exchange.
11. Bd2 [Of course, White should not try to protect the
a-pawn by exchanging his queens. 11.Qd2?! Qxd2+
12. Bxd2 b6 and as the well-known rule goes, in aGru-
enfeld, if Black reaches an endgame, afull point is closer
than ever :).]
11...Qxa2 12.00
12... Bg4 The main move for Black. His idea is simple, to
attack the white center and combine this with aquick ad-
vancement of the a-pawn, which might become danger-
ous very quickly. As for White, of course, to make use of
the strong central pawns which always give some attack-
ing chances in the future. However, as I said before, the
position is very forced.
13. Rxb7 This logical move was not played very often.
[13. Bg5 h6 14. Be3 Nc6 is sort of the main line here.]
13...Nc6? This logical move, which, in most of the cas-
es, is the correct one, is simply a big mistake! [13... Bxf3
14. Bxf3 Bxd4 is the main move here, with an evaluation
of equality. It would be great to see what kind of new
hammer Aronian had prepared here. The number 2 in the
world is very well-known astonishing preparation.]
14.d5! The punishment comes immediately. This very
logical move is just winning the e7 pawn.
14... Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 White is aclear pawn
up, but things are still not that easy. Black still has quite
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afew drawing chances due to the strong a-pawn, which
can become very fast and difcult to stop.
16...a5! The last Black joker, and avery strong one.
17.d6 Iam not sure whether this is the easiest way to go for
White or not. [The simple 17. Be3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 with-
out destroying the structure 18...a4 19.e5 and I think
White has quite asolid advantage.]
17...a4 Blacks only hope moved one more square up.
18.e5 It is logical for White to try to close the bishop on
g7, but only if he is on time to stop the a-pawn and keep
the pawn on e5 alive. We will see this during the next
moves.
18...Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Now Black can also hope for some
kind of perpetual check.
19...Qb2 20. Be3! Very strong move by Aronian.
20...a3 [It looks very tempting for Black to take on e5.
20... Bxe5 White has a nice trick against this. 21.Qd5
Bg7 22. Rxf7! and the rook on a8 is hanging. 22... Rxf7
23.Qxa8+ Bf8 24. Rd1 Also, it is very important, of
course, to keep the d6 pawn alive the d7 threat is just
deadly. 24...a3 25.d7+-]
21.Qd5
21... Rae8? and Black panics again, and this will be the
last time. [Of course 21...a2? is just losing to the already
known idea 22. Rxf7+-; But 21... Rab8 would keep Black in
the game. Of course, White is doing better, but the posi-
tion is still not that simple as it might look like. 22.f4 Black
wanted to play Rb5. 22... Rb5 23.Qc4 Now the pawn on
e5 is not hanging. 23... Rb4 24.Qa6 Qb3 and it is not that
easy for White to improve his position.]
22. Rxe8 Simple and good.
22... Rxe8 23.d7 and Whites d-pawn is faster than Blacks
soldier on the a-fle.
23... Rd8 24. Bg5 Afast process by the number 2 in the
world against Mr. Hammer, whosepreparatio n did not
hammer at all :).
10
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Issue 64
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of May 2013
Puzzle section
(5) Karjakin,S (2767) Carlsen,M (2868)
Supreme Masters, 13.05.2013
[CEWN]
1... +
(6) Fedorchuk,S (2660) Szwed,J (2354)
European Championship, 06.05.2013
[CEWN]
1. +-
(7) Khairullin,I (2657) Pashikian,A (2603)
European Championship, 07.05.2013
[CEWN]
1.
(8) Papp,G (2570) Potkin,V (2666)
European Championship, 07.05.2013
[CEWN]
1... =
16
Issue 64
17
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of May 2013
(9) Socko,B (2647) Gritsak,O (2549)
European Championship, 07.05.2013
[CEWN]
1. +-
(10) Danielian,E (2478) Fedorchuk,S (2660)
European Championship, 07.05.2013
[CEWN]
1... +
(11) Kraemer,M (2544) Ernst,T (2387)
European Championship, 09.05.2013
[CEWN]
1. +-
(12) Nepomniachtchi,I (2710) Shengelia,D (2546)
European Championship, 13.05.2013
[CEWN]
1. +-
17
Issue 64
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of May 2013
(13) Nakamura,H (2775) Topalov,V (2793)
Supreme Masters (blitz), 07.05.2013
[CEWN]
1. +-
(14) Shulman,Y (2570) Finegold,B (2505)
US Championship, 10.05.2013
[CEWN]
1... +
18
Issue 64
17
th
of May 2013
Endgame section
(15) Vachier Lagrave,M (2718) Balogh,Cs (2644)
European Championship, 11.05.2013
[Chess Evolution]
I managed to get an endgame with an extra pawn, but
to convert it should be extremely difcult because of the
limited material left on the board. Black can only create
apassed pawn with the e5 break, but it leads to further
exchanges.
48. Rxh5 White trades the rooks, as he does not see how
can Black break through. Although it is going to be much
more difcult for him to defend as it looks, at frst sight...
In my opinion, if White keeps the rooks on the board, that
should hold as well, but of course, Black can try for very
long by going with the king to the queenside.
48...Kxh5 49.b3 Aprincipled move to put the pawn on
alight square, where the Black bishop cannot attack it.
49...Kg4 50. Bd2 Kf3 51. Be1 Blacks only chance to
win the game is to get behind the b3 pawn. It looks im-
possible to get there, but things are not so easy.
51...Kg2 The king is heading to the e1 square, but of
course, it will not be easy to get the bishop out from the
diagonal.
52. Bd2 Kf2 53. Bb4 a6 I also put my pawn on a light
square to avoid getting attacked later on. [There was
anice trick, for example, after 53...Kf1 White cannot trap
the bishop with 54. Bc5 with the idea of paralyzing Black,
because of 54...e5! 55. Bxb6 e4+! This intermediate check
wins the game. 56.Ke3 axb6+]
54. Bd2 Bc7 Black does not need to hurry to make pro-
gress, since White can only pass with his bishop...
55. Bc3 Bf4 56. Bb4
56...Kf1! Getting ready to drive the bishop to e1 to send
it away from the e1a5 diagonal.
57. Bc3 Bg5 58. Bb4 Bh4 59. Ba5 Be1 60. Bd8 White
transfers his bishop to the h4e1 diagonal this time, but
this is one square shorter than e1a5, and it is enough for
Black to get him into zugzwang!
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60... Bb4 61. Bh4 Ba3 62.Kd2! Good prophylaxis
against the Bc1 threat. [62. Bg3 would have been met
by 62... Bc1 63. Bh4 Bf4! and White is in zugzwang. If
the king moves, Ke2 comes closer, while on any bishop
move, Ke1 is possible.]
62... Bd6 63.Ke3 Bh2 White is in zugzwang. He must
allow for Black to play Ke1!
64. Bg5 [64.Kd3 Bf4 and Ke1 next.; 64.Kd2 Bf4+
65.Kd3 Bh6 and again, Ke1 next.]
64...Ke1 65.Kd3
65...Kd1 Igot closer to my aim of getting my king to b2,
but this time I need to send away the bishop from the
c1h6 diagonal. It can only be done if Itransfer my bishop
to c1.
66. Bd2 Bd6 67. Bg5 Ba3
68.Kc3!! Brilliant defense by my opponent! Only this
hidden idea saves White from losing! [If White continues
waiting, then 68. Bf4 Bc1 69. Bd6 Bd2 70. Bc5 Be1! This
is the key and it wins for Black. Kc1 is threatened now,
because after Ba3, Black has Kb1. White is forced to play
71. Ba3 but Black can create azugzwang with atriangu-
lation! 71... Bf2 72.Kc3 Bg3 73.Kd3 (73. Bb2 loses to
73...e5!+ and e4 next, as the pawn cannot be taken.) 73...
Be1 Here we are! Only the bishop can move now. 74. Bb2
(74. Bd6 Kc1+ wins.) 74... Bb4 and here is another zug-
zwang. Black wins. 75. Ba1 Kc1+]
68...a5 I was very unhappy to make this move, putting
by pawn on adark square, but Icould not make progress.
[The point of the 68.Kc3 move is that after 68... Bc1
White has 69. Bxc1!! Kxc1
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70.b4! and the pawn endgame is drawn. White holds
the draw by keep the opposition with the king. 70...
Kb1 71.Kb3 Ka1 72.Ka3 Kb1 73.Kb3 Kc1 74.Kc3
Kd1 75.Kd3 Ke1 76.Ke3 Kf1 77.Kf3 Kg1 78.Kg3 Kh1
79.Kh3= Wherever the king goes, White just follows him.;
68...Ke2 would have been another way to progress, but
this time White can trap the bishop by 69.b4! The only
move to rescue it from the threat of Kb3 is 69...Kd1 but
now 70.Kb3 Bc1 71. Bxc1 Kxc1 72.Kc3= and we have
the same draw.]
69.Kd3 Bc1 With the pawn on a5, Ialready cannot win
the game, as White has atargetthere.
70. Bd8 Bd2 71. Be7! Another only move to have Ba3
check on Kc1.
71...Kc1 72. Ba3+ Kd1 73. Be7 Bb4 [73... Be1 The tri-
angulation does not help anymore. 74. Bg5 Bg3 75. Bd8
White can force the bishop back to e1...]
74. Bg5 Ihad to admit that my opponent defended per-
fectly and agreed to adraw.
(16) Khalifman,A (2614) Meier,Geo (2655) [A16]
14th Euro Indiv 2013 Legnica POL (4.16), 08.05.2013
[Chess Evolution]
At frst sight, this position seems to be winning. In such
cases, many GMs use to say that, somehow, it should be
winning. But in fact, it is adraw! Blacks main idea is sim-
ple, to give away the bishop for the c-pawn and arrive in
time with the king to a8. Let us take alook at how Georg
Meier defended with Black.
52. Bxa5 Kd7 Logical and good. The black king belongs
to the squares c6-b7-a6.
53. Bb6 Kc6 54.a5 If White would not play a5, Black
would just keep the king on c6.
54...Kb7 The only way. White wants to play Be3 with
the threat of playing a6 next.
55.Ke4 Ka6 56.Kd5 Now the game is about equal if
White can push the c4 pawn to c6 somehow.
56... Bb4 57.Kc6 Bd2 58. Bd8 [Of course 58.c5? leads
to an immediate draw. 58... Bb4 59.Kd5 Bxc5=]
58... Be1 59.Kd7
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59... Bb4! Good defense by Black! By no means, he
should allow White to play c5.
60. Bc7 Bc5! Again, the right choice, preparing to cover
the c5 square from the diagonal a7-g1.
61. Bd6 Be3 62. Bb4 [62. Bc7 Bc5 This just brings us
back to the main position.]
62...Kb7 No reason now to allow the White king on c6. It
seems like there is no breakthrough, or is there?!
63.Kd6 Bf2 64.Kd5 Be3 65. Bc3 Bf2 Black just keeps
on waiting.
66. Bf6 Khalifman fnds nothing better than to bring the
bishop back to b6.
66... Be1! Meier keeps playing the exact moves! Blacks
bishops best position is on b4!
67. Bd8 Bb4 68. Bb6 Be7 Strangely enough, Meier
changes his defense. [68...Ka6 would be, of course, pos-
sible as well, and we would go back to the beginning of
the game.]
69. Bc5 but also here, White cannot do any signifcant
improvement.
69... Bg5 70. Bd4 Bd2 71. Bb6 Bb4 and the bishop is
back on b4.
72. Bd8 Ba3 73.Ke6 Bb4
74.a6+! After moving around for along time, White tries
his last chance.
74...Kxa6 75. Be7 Finally, White gets rid of the black
bishop from b4 and advances the c-pawn, however, the
a-pawn is gone, so the position is still adraw. What hap-
pened now is just unbelievable! Meier simply resigns af-
ter defending so well for over 20 moves! What ashock for
both players! The position is adraw, and actually, adraw
that is not that hard to fnd. 75... Ba5 76.c5 Kb5 77.Kd7
Kc4! 78.c6 Kd5! This is the trick, Black needs the king on
22
Issue 64
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d5 and not on b5. The idea is that if White gets the bishop
to c7, Black would be forced to go to the b8-g1 diago-
nal, and then White will have no chance to transport the
bishop to d6 because the black king will be placed on d5!
What atragic loss for Georg Meier.
10
23
Issue 64
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Clash of the Titans
(17) Lilienthal,Andor Capablanca,Jose Raul [E24]
Hastings 3435 Hastings (5), 01.01.1935
[Kamil Miton]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6
A typical plan to create pressure against the weak c4
pawn.
6.f3 d5
7. Bg5 I am not sure if this is the right decision. White
could play [7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 00 9. Bd3 c5 10.Ne2 Ba6
11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12.00 leads to other kind of structure.
The main plan for White is to push e4 after Ng3 Bb2
(or sometimes, the bishop on f2 is well placed as well),
but in general, it is not an easy task becasue Black can
look for counterplay over the e-fle with his heavy pieces.
Besides, h5h4 is and idea to kick the knight out from g3.
Irecommend you to look at one of the most famous clas-
sical games Botvinnik Capablanca.]
7...h6 8. Bh4 Ba6 9.e4? To look for active play with
two bishops seems to be logical, but it was too optimis-
tic. White should play [9.cxd5 exd5 10.e3 Bxf1 11.Kxf1
Nbd7 12.Ne2 00 13.g4 Re8 14. Bf2 c5 15.Kg2 and
White is better.]
9... Bxc4? Capablanca took the wrong pawn. He could
have played [9...dxe4 10.fxe4 (10.Nh3 Nbd7 11.Nf2 g5
12. Bg3 e3)
10...g5! Black is winning the pawn and White will not be
able to get the initiative because of his inferior develop-
ment. 11. Bg3 (11.e5 gxh4 12.Qf3 Nbd7 13.exf6 c5) 11...
Nxe4 12. Be5 f6 13.Qh5+ Kd7 14. Bd3 Bb7]
10. Bxc4 dxc4 11.Qa4+ Qd7 [11...Nbd7 12.Qxc4 (12.e5
g5) 12...c5 13.Ne2 00 (13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Qc8 15.Qb4;
13...Qc7 14.00 00 15.a4 Qb7 16. Rfd1 Thanks to his bet-
ter center, White has a typical slightly better position.)
14.e5!? At this moment, this idea is interesting, because
White can try to create an attack against the king. 14...g5
15. Bf2 Nd5 16.h4! Rc8 17.Qd3]
12.Qxc4 Qc6 13.Qd3 Of course, White keeps the queen
on the board as he will need it to support the initiative
on the kingside. [13.Qxc6+ Nxc6 14.Ke2!? With the idea
24
Issue 64
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of May 2013
not to allow the black knight to take the good c4 square.
(14.Ne2 Na5) 14...Na5 15.Kd3 c5 16.Ne2 00]
13...Nbd7 14.Ne2 Rd8 Capablanca ut the rook here in
order to have some tricks with Ne5, but the rook on d8
has disadvantages as well: White will have some threats
with e5 later.
15.00
15...a5 Strange decision. This move weakens the posi-
tion and loses time. Maybe the Cuban player was afraid of
some Qa6 idea, but we will see below that it is not dan-
gerous. [15...00 The most logical. 16.Qa6 Nb8! 17.Qxa7
Qc4 18. Bxf6 Rd7 and the white queen is in atrap.; 15...
Ne5 The idea of gaining control over the c4 square does
not work because of 16.Qc2 Nc4 and now 17.d5! exd5
18.Nd4 with adecisive attack.]
16.Qc2 [16.c4 e5 (16...Ne5 17.Qc3 Nxc4 18. Rfc1 b5
19.a4) 17.d5 Qc5+ 18. Bf2 Qe7 19.Nc3 Nc5 20.Qc2 00
21. Rab1 Nfd7 22.Na4 Black is not able to create ablock-
ade on the queenside. White is going to play Rb5 next
and push c5 later, which should give him good play.]
16...Qc4 17.f4 Rc8 because of the e5 threat.
18.f5 e5 Logical. Black is trying to close the position to
avoid falling under pressure. Castling was very risky, let us
see why it is so. [18...00 19.e5 Nd5 20.f6 Blacks position
looks very dangerous because all the white pieces are
well placed to attack the king. 20...gxf6 Only move. (20...
g5 21. Bxg5 hxg5 22. Rf3 Rfd8 23. Rh3 Nf8 24. Rh5 Ng6
25. Rxg5 Kf8 26. Rxg6 fxg6 27.Qxg6 Rd7 28.Qh5 Kg8
29. Rf1+-; 20...g6 21. Rf3 Kh7 22. Rh3 Rh8 23. Bg5 Kg8
24. Bxh6 c5 25. Rf1 cxd4 and now comes the nice
26.Qxg6+ fxg6 27.f7+ Kh7 28. Bf8#; 20...Ne3 21.Qd2
Nxf1 22. Rxf1 c5 23.fxg7 Kxg7 24. Bg5 with adecisive at-
tack.) 21. Bxf6 (21.exf6; 21.Qd2 Kh7; 21. Rf3 fxe5 22. Rg3+
Kh8 23.Qd2 Kh7 24. Rh3 Rg8 25. Bg5 Rg6 26. Bxh6 Kg8
Now the king is safe, Black takes the initiative.) 21...N7xf6
22.exf6 Kh8! with the defensive idea Rg8-Rg6. Black is
on time! The position is unclear.]
19.dxe5 [19. Bxf6 Nxf6 (19...gxf6 looks unclear as well.)
20.dxe5 Qxe4 (20...Qc5+ 21.Nd4 Qxe5 22.Qa4+ Kf8
23. Rae1 and soon after Nf3, White will push e5 and crush
his opponent.) 21.Qxe4 Nxe4 22. Rf4 Nc5 23.Nd4 00
Black does not have any serious weakness, so the posi-
tion should be fne.]
25
Issue 64
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of May 2013
19...Qxe4?? A huge mistake by Capablanca. He over-
looked the nice tactical idea [19...Nxe5 20. Bxf6 gxf6
21.Nf4 Now the only chance for White is to create pressure
against the f6 pawn. Otherwise, Black will be just better.
21...Qc5+ (21...c6 22.Qf2 Attacking the b6 pawn and pre-
paring Qh4- Nh5. 22...Qc5 23.Qxc5 bxc5 24. Rab1 White
is better here. Black cannot put the king on e7 because of
the check on b7.) 22.Kh1 Rd8 23.Nd5 c6 24.Nxf6+ Ke7
25.Nh5 Rd3 with good counterplay.]
20.exf6!! Fantastic! Now White is winning. All the pieces
come with tempo to the fnal attack!
20...Qxc2 21.fxg7 Rg8 22.Nd4 Qe4 23. Rae1 Nc5
24. Rxe4+ Nxe4 25. Re1 Rxg7 26. Rxe4+ 10
Surprise section / study
(18) Troitzky
[CEWN]
1. +-
26
Issue 64
17
th
of May 2013
Solutions
(19) Matinian,N (2491) Jobava,B (2702)
European Championship, 05.05.2013
[Solutions]
31... Rd1+! 32.Kh2 Rh5!! 33. Rxf4 [33.axb3 Rxh4#]
33...Nxc5+
(20) Butkiewicz,L (2410) Shimanov,A (2639)
European Championship, 05.05.2013
[Solutions]
28...Qe8!! 29.f5 [29.Qc5 Qxe6! 30. Rxe6 Rd1+ 31.Qg1
Rxg1+ 32.Kxg1 fxe6+]
29...Nf8! 30.Qg4 fxe6+
27
Issue 64
17
th
of May 2013
(21) Hagen,A (2400) Lupulescu,C (2634)
European Championship, 05.05.2013
[Solutions]
44.h4!! Be3 [44...Qxg4 45.Qf8+ Kg6 46.Qg8+ Kf6 (46...
Kf5?? 47.Qc8+!+-) 47.Qf8+ Kg6 (47...Ke6?? 48.Qc8++-)
48.Qg8]
45. Rg7! Qe4+ 46.Kh2 Qc2+ 47.Kh3 Qf5+ 48.Kh2
Qf2+ 49.Kh3 Qf5+ 50.Kh2 Qf2+ 1/21/2
(22) Shimanov,A (2639) Prizant,J (2537)
European Championship, 06.05.2013
[Solutions]
38.Nf5!! Nxf5 [38...gxf5 39. Rxd7 Bxb2 40. Rxe7+-; 38...
Rxd2 39.Nxe7+ Kf8 40. Bxg7+! Kxg7 41. Rxd2+-]
39. Rxd7 Nxh4+ 40.Kg3 Bxb2 41. Rd8+ Rxd8
42. Rxd8+ Kg7 43.bxc5 bxc5 44.Kxh4 10
28
Issue 64
17
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of May 2013
(23) Djukic,N (2555) Khairullin,I (2657)
European Championship, 06.05.2013
[Solutions]
37...Kc6!! [37... Rxa8? 38. Rb8]
38. Rxb3 [38. Rxc8 Kxb7+]
38...cxb3 39. Rxc8 b2 40. Rb8 Kxc7 41. Rb3 a4 01
(24) Arnold,M (2538) Gareev,T (2674)
USA Championship, 03.05.2013
[Solutions]
14...Nxc3? [14...Ng3+!! 15.hxg3 Qxg3 16. Bf3 Bd6!
17.Kg1 Bc5+ 18. Rf2 (18.Kh1 Qh4#) 18... Bxf3+]
15.bxc3
29
Issue 64
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th
of May 2013
(25) Mchedlishvili,M (2640) Javakhadze,Z (2448)
Nakchivan Open, 30.04.2013
[Solutions]
24.Nf5!! [24. Rg1? Ng6; 24. Bxg7? Kxg7]
24... Bxh6 [24...exf5 25.Qg5 Ng6 26.Qxg6+-]
25.Qxh6! exf5 26. Rh1! 10
(26) Haslinger,S (2535) Short,N (2692)
4NCL, 05.05.2013
[Solutions]
27... Rxe4! 28.Qxe4 Bf5 29.Qe7 [29.Qe1 Bxb1
30.Qxb1 Qxc5 31.Qxb2 fxg3 32.hxg3 Qxd5+]
29... Bxb1 30.Qxg5+ Bg7+
30
Issue 64
17
th
of May 2013
(27) Lou Yiping (2482) Yu Yangyi (2675)
Chinese league, 30.04.2013
[Solutions]
26...Nd3+!! 27.Kd1 [27.exd3 Re8+; 27.Kf1 Nxc1+]
27...Nf2+ 28.Ke1 Nxh3 01
(28) Jobava,B (2702) Lan,Z (2165)
Chinese league, 03.05.2013
[Solutions]
28. Rxd4! 10[28. Rxd4! cxd4 29. Bc2! g6 30.Qf6#]
(29) Sackmann
[Solutions]
1.c7 Nd6 [1...Nb6 2.Nd5!! Nbxd5 (2...Nfxd5 3.g8Q+-)
3.c8Q+-]
2.Ne4!! Ndxe4+ 3.Kf4 Nd6 4.Ke5!+-