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    Jacob Aagaard Inside The Chess Mind 2004

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    Jacob Aagaard Inside the Chess Mind 2004

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    Jacob Aagaard Inside the Chess Mind 2004

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    Jacob Aagaard Inside The Chess Mind 2004

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    Teel: aT WSSU how players (le Ok TL} PaO ee] a Me Ld EVERYMAN CHESS “’Acoe AAaGAARD Copyrighted Material First published in 2004 by Gloucester Publishers ple (formerly Everyman Publishers ple), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECT OAT Copyright © 2004 Jacob Aagaard. ‘The right of Jacob Aagaard to be identified as the author of this work has been as serted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act L988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication m: system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostan tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher, \ be reproduced, stored in a retrieval , Magneuc British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data rd for this book is available trom the British | ibrary A catalogue re ISBN 1 85744 357 8 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 064374480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECLV OAT tel: 020 7253 THR87 fax: 0207490 3708 email: info@everymanche: website: www.everymanehe com com Lveryman is the registered trade mark of Random House Inc. and is used in this work under license fram Random House Inc EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Chief advisor: Garry Kasparov Commissioning editor: Byron Jacobs logan Chess) ‘Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton. Cover design by Horatio Monteverde. Production by Navigator Guides, Printed and bound in the United States by Versa Pre: Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material CONTENTS Introduction 1 The Test Positions 2 ‘The Participants 3. Test Position 1 4 Test Position 2 Test Position 3 6 — Test Position 4 7 ‘Test Position 5 8 Test Position 6 est Position 7 10 Test Position 8 t Position 9 est Position 10 13 What can we learn from the Tests? Copyrighted Material Wy 29 39 50 60 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind has ever been done before. It has, The Dutch psychologist and chess fan Adnaan de Groot tested a lot of top che the age groups), This led to different conclusions, which it is logical to relate to. Bur then we are already ar the second consideration, What kind of book would 1 like to write, ane with that comes: what kind oF book would [personally liked to read, had | nor disposed of my last name in favour of my middle name at the age of s players in the late 30's and early 40’s (the decades, nor 12 (which would have meant that someone eke would have been asked to write the book). I quickly came to the conclusion that a scientificall really something that inter diversity T expected in the tests, originating from the test subjec ties, age, idiosynerasies and backgrounds. This is what | have tried to bring into the ly as possible while still making sense; y-oriented book was not ested me. What fascinated me about this project was the ” different personali book by quoting the players as prec! ©. avoid- ing redundancy and less coherent ta guage into written language. Still, though this book should be seen mostly as.an ther ha confused as a twelve-vear-ald boy basic questions and conclusions along the way. The main conclusion of the expetiment as such. It almost instantly became obvious to me that the selection king or, in other words, changing spoken lan- pirical study — where the au- If messed up and ina nudist colony — there has been some room for allowed the material to take its own form, and found hims the limitation of exercises could have been cleverer and more rounded. Also, that in order to make any conclusions of scientific value, more tests would have been needed. Probably the best way would have been to do the tests at least three times (though maybe with dif ferent exercises from time to time), allowing the possibility of reshaping the tests based on the conclusions of the first set of results. For practical reasons this was not possible, mainly because it w Heine Niclsen and Artur Yusupow to: participate even on them to participate almost regularly would simply have been impossible — and inde- s hard t summon the guts to ask people like Peter in the testing, Asking cent, would never fully Another important conclusion was that performance in the tests correspond with the actual playing strength of the different participants. (This goes ‘ty of form on the day.) Practical use of and knowledge about opening theory does not play a great part in the testing (mainly because, a author of many opening book: tendency to be represented enough in my writing already); neither does the ability ro see simple tactics, nor the psycho- logical aspect of the game; minor piece endings and pawn endings are not repre- sented; chaotic positions are simply absent; closed positions also did not get a beyond the obvious div an the subject has representation here (mainly beeause | had decided to give a solution to all exercises ny decent about a closed position). ‘Thar nd a weakness. It is certain and would not have been able to write anyth every position has a final solution is both a strength strength for the book as a reading experience, but it does influence the comparative player value of the exereises, as this greatly favours the logical player over the (Peter Heine Nielsen vs. Artur Yusupow could be mentioned) 6 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material fntroduction What is very important for me to stress — Silence now, Shut that book and listen, Hey! Open it again, I was just kidding — is thar the exerci pe rive pov, or Skovgaard against Skoygaard is not really interesting, as it would in no way teflect how these people would do in a real over-the-board game, The strength of a plaver in a fluent situation is not the same as that of the test room, The positions will naturally appeal more to some than others, and concentration level will not be that of the tournament hall for everyone. Talking into a microphone might deer ties of one and increase the ability of another. Whar /r interesting is to examine the thought process itself, and try to judge when it is successful and when it is unsuccessful, and why. Not thar there will be an answer on how best to think, or a certain algorithm to follow. There simply cannot be, as nd reservations, this is a book about chess as the sport of the mind. It is a deep study of ten positions of different origin and character, and an insight into what different chess players of different strength have thought about them, ‘This can be used as infotainment or even as a mir- tor to the reader, who is of course invited to do the exercises himself. Rather than giving answers, this book scts out to pose questions. Rather than to teach and preach a truth, this book is intelligent. Rather than being scientific or in- structional, this book wants to inspire and communicate, Chess is a game of beautiful complexity, evolved to give the most possible meaning to our many-sided i tion, as well as the greatest possible challenge to our minds, Chess thinking is the sence of chess as an art and as a competitive sport. It is where we can be rewarded for our attempts to grasp the depth of this artistic combinatorial mathematics with mo- ments of clarity and revelation. This book is dedicated in great gratitude to its heroes: the people who were brave enough to open up their minds for the rest of us to gain some insight inte the diver- sity of chess thinking. re not meant to be com- any way. To judge the performance of Peter Heine Nielsen against Yusu- se the abili~ there is no single answer. But with all its imperfections $ Jacob Aagaard, Copenhagen, May 2004, Copyrighted Material 7 Copyrighted Material CHAPTER ONE The Test Positions The following ten positions will be dis- cu ves af this book by chess players at all levels. But first you have the chance to compare sed for the next 150 pa your own findings with those of GMs Peter Heine Nielsen and Artur Yusupov, , Dr. Ive Timmermans, Pie 8 115, and several as well as those of IM Jesper I other really nice and. smart people who play chess at different levels and who were kind enough to help me with th little project. The best method would probably be Wo try to solve the exereises in exaetly the hi this you necd to have a tape recorder or same fashion as they did. In order to do recordable minidisk, or just a micro phone inserted into a computer. In case the you, you can of course jot down and the most important main lines on a piece of paper, Only for lity check is of less importance to nici dare moves ‘Test Position 2 you need to have opposi- tion of some kind: either a frend who can use the comments in this book to play the strongest reply to almost any move you can came up with, or maybe more realistically, by playing the position inst a strong chess-playing program such as Fite 8 Here the computer ds to should be given at least 10 se come up with an answer, but not much more than that. That is if your computer has 256 Mb RAM a h slower, then give it more time. If you do nd a processor of ar ast 1000 MHz, If your computer is not own a computer you ean ty the ald trick with a piece of paper and the solu- tions. 1 would recommend that you do all the te s before proceeding with the book, as did the subjects, though the order in which you do them is com- pletely continuous thought process: you will be not starting from To complete the test irrelevant. ‘This will give a more concentrated and seratch cach tim will take somewhere around three hours all in all ‘The main reasons for doing these exercises as a is that, if you ions with un- have not faced these pest certainty yourself, it will be very difficult to associate with the challenges and diffi culties of the participants in this experi- ment, The danger is that you will then find it less valuable to go through their a Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material The Test Positions differently structured thought process ‘The second best option is that you look at the positions and then follow the thought processes of the participants in order to learn more about the position as you go along, In both cases it is highhy important thal you refrain from looking ai the solutions to the different exercises before you actually get to that part of the book, The eyes that see do structure the world, just as far as the world exists and is thereby wit 4 Imagine that you do not know the rules ‘of chess and then try to look at the board without seeing possible moves, but only chunks of wood. It should not be possi ble. Or that you do not see possible cap- tures, You cannot unleam the rules of in the structures w chess or fonget how to take a piece, iqually, only with the a you be able to forget the solutions, the positions anew. stance of time and be able to me: But it would be strange to go through the solutions to the 10 exercises and then put the book away in a drawer for three years before you continue reading it. So why not forget about looking at the solutions for now, and take a trip into. the unknown together with these won- derful and intelligent and highly different people, who have been so kind as to look at these exercises and share their thought processes, well aware of the mis- takes they were bound to commit. Without further ado, let us turn to the different positions, Copyrighted Material g Copyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind Test Position 1 Test Position 3 White to move. Take 5 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking into a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. Test Position 2 White to play. Take 7 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking into a or writing atterwards. muicrupho down your thoughts Test Position 4 White to move, ‘Take 30° minutes and ply the white position as if it was a game and you had 30 minutes to the end of the gar friend who i: in this book, ‘ chess-playing program like [rilg: a computer ke 10 minutes to king into a microphone or writing down your White to move. T: find the strongest continuation, thoughts afterwards, 10 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material The Test Positions Test Position 5 Test Position 7 Black to move. ‘Take 6 minutes to find White to move. Take 5 minutes to the strongest continuation, talking into a find the strongest continuation, talking microphone or writing down your into. a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. thoughts afterwards. Test Position 6 Test Position 8 White to move. Take 8 minutes to Black to move. Take 12 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking find the strongest continuation, talking into a microphone or writing down your into a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. thoughts afterwards. Copyrighted Material m7 Inside the Chess Mind Copyrighted Material Test Position 9 Test Position 10 Black to move. ‘Take 10 minutes to White to move. Find the strongest find the strongest continuation, talking — continuation, Do this talking to a micro- into a microphone or writing down your — phone or ing notes on a piece of pa- thoughts afterwards, per at cmely intervals. ake the time you find necessary and write it down too. 172 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material CHAPTER TWO The Participants Grandmaster Artur Yusupov Artur is originally from Moscow, but wife and his nwo chil- dren, a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, in Weissenhorn in southern Ger- many. He Breatest achievement in life to be becoming a ther to his children, but in chess reach- ing the semi-final of the candidates tour- nament on three separate occasions. His now lives with considers his best world ranking was 3rd, in 1986, af- ter Kasparov and Karpov. He used to be a professional chess player, but these days he calls himself a professional trainer — probably! At the age of 43 he has an Elo rating of 2589 and is ranked 7th in Germany and 142 in the world (as of January Ist 2004). According to this author, this mainly due to his peaceful nature and lowered ambitions; Yusupov is still a y strong player, During the testing Yusupow was calm and focused, scratching his legendary big red beard, mumbling out phrases in Eng- lish, often with Russian syntax. His atti- tude towards the test was generally very of adventure. ve relaxed and full ‘l no longer consider myself a professional player, he would say, ‘I no longer do any training and 1 am no longer in top shape.’ To the fact that he had recently departed from FIDE’s top 100 list, he exclaimed: “What a relief! Now I no longer have to worry about such sill things as rating.” Testing Yusupov was a very pleasant experience, except for a most unfortu- during the fourth test posi- tion the microphone broke. The failure nate featu to the microphone was minor, but suffi- cient to ruin the taping, This was only discovered some days after the test had finished and the poor writer had few choices at his disposal: One was to completely disregard the participation of this, the most famous of participants. Definitely not fair to the readers, though it would save the au- thor’s face. Another was to rearrange the test, hypnotise the German grandmaster and make him lose all recollection of the po- sitions and do the test all over. Unfortu- nately the writer did not pos the abilities required for this Harry Potter Copyrighted Material Lia Copyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind solution, nor the owl-number of Harry Potter himself. So he was left with: ‘The third and only option. When the mistake was discove ed the writer had a complete fit and threw his laptop out the window. \ few minutes down the line, when no improvement to the situation had been detected, the writer did the only possible thing, He sat down and reconstructed | Yusupoy and answers thoughts to the best of his ability, The writer of this book would like t6 express his deepest regrets to the readers for the absence of a complete account of the testing of Grandmaster Yusupov. | hope that the book will not lo: I i overall value from this obvious flaw. On the way | would like to thank God for yet another sublime lesson in humil- ity, If you continue this way I amy sure very small things are in store for me in deed. ‘The game I have chosen to present Yusupov is one he himself considered to be his best ever. Yusupov-Sokolov Moseow Championships 1988 Catalan Opening 1 d4 O46 2 c4 e6 3 g3 dd 4 ug2 dxce4 5 $3 c5 6 0-0 “ic6 7 eS ad7 Sokoloy played this line all the time against the Catalan in the 80°s. 8 \xc4!? Not the main choice at the ti &a3 was more mainstream, B...0xd4 9 644 Ads 10 Dd6+ x6 11 Qxd6 P\de7 12 \d2 0-0 13 Wb3 Anew move at the ume. 4\c4 NeB In Informant 46° Yusupov gives 14.5 15 Bxc7 Bxb3 16 Bxd8 Mval 17 Re7 after 17, as clearly better for White, but 2 this is not so clear White cannot play 18 Bel? because of 18.03! and Bi is much better, After 18 Ado White would still keep the ad- vantage though. 15 Rfd1 OFS 16 Sc5 eb Black is trying to cling on to the extra as pawn — his excuse for giving away the two bishops. 16..AW/ £6 is brutally met by 17 g4! &h4 18 Sxe6! and Black is very weak on the dark squares and might be about t6 lose BF a Be 17 e4! A.wonderful positional decision, Black is alowed to have a passed pawn, but White has the initiative and the tvo bishops, and therefore also the advan- tage. 17... \fe7 ‘The alternative was. 17. Heo 19 Dxck Exc8 20 Was and White wins the exchange. The endgame is only slightly better for him, but in practice this might prove tw be 14 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material torture for Black, 18 Ad6 BAB 19 Axb7 ‘This is not about winning a pawn, as it does not do se, but about eliminating the black bishop. 19.,.Qxb7 19... We71? was probably better here. 20 Wxb7 2b8 21 Wa6! After 21 Sve? we? 22 Wya? Yusu- ‘d6! and Black has good counterplay along the open files and against the ill-placed white quee time and age Fnig & thinks the position is simply equal. 21...Axb2 22 Wa4!? Wb8?! Yusupov thinks that 22...We8 is bet- ter, but after 23 a3 he li ition given to him by his two bish- ‘ops and the better coordination. 23 Ltt! The second bishop is brought into play. 23...15!? 24 2a3 Eb6 24. 25 Bxb2 Wxb2 26 Wh3+ and Black will have a difficult endgame. 25 exf5 Ab4 xf5 26 Bact was the alternative (preferable according to Yusupov), but pov gives 2 In our es the com- White is much better here as well. The Participants 26 Zab1! “\ec6? After this White is able to organise a strong attack. } was 26..Aed5 when Yusupoy was intending 27 Sc Gh8 28 Qxb4 Bxb4 29 Exba Wxb4 30 Wexb4 with excellent winning chances in White has a superior t knight and the black king has difficulties getting into the game. 27 Sg2 Zd8 27..8kc8 28 Bxb4 Bxb4 29 a3 Deo 30 Exb6 Wab6 31 Hel and White wins material. 28 ixc6! Dxc6 29 Exb6 Wxb6 30 We4+ LhB 31 WET! With the threats 32 68 and 32 £6, 31...2g8 Forced. If 31..Ab4 32 fol Bes 33 fxg7+ Exp? 34 WEB+ and White wins a piece. 32 16 Wad8 33 2e7! With the idea 34 fxg7+ and 35 S26. 33...2\xe7 34 fxe7 Wd? 35 Ed3! ith the idea 36 BA and 37 Wxp8+ winning. 35...h6 35.04 36 Bxddt Wadd 37 Wxe8+ Hxps 38 8 mare. 36 33 Rc8 Copyrighted Material 16 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind ‘This attempt at counterplay: is. fu probably the product of time trouble, 37 WI8+ Wh7 38 LI7 Net+ 39 wig2 We6+ 40 teh3 WeG+ 41 wha 1-0 Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen Peter is a 30-year-old grandmaster, born May 1973, living in / Denmark. He is 8 one by a narrow margin, but will soon hus, currently Scandin: number mn due to a few bad re lose this pe sults. But that he belonys to the absolute top here is beyond question, He is well known for his prep: and for his great physieal size: | metre and 98 em in height he is a true tower, terribly intimi dating when he leans over the board. ion His best result so far was to win the North with Peter Svidler, but Iam sure that a Cup in Esbjerg 2001 together P Here a even greater things will happen to him over the years. His Blo at the time of writing is 2638, bu aid he will lose a few points on the next list. Outside of tournament life he is sin- gle, at times a history student, and alse. the joint author of The Acelerated Dragou with Carsten Hansen (Batsford 1998). During the test Peter had a few prob- lems concentrating but, as he said, these kind of exercises are nor the natural play- ing field for him, which also explains akes, He sces himself some of his mt more as a intuitive player. Here is a very attractive game from him, in which he beat the Bulga Nielsen-Kir-Georgiev Istanbul Olympiad 2000, Seani-Shar Defence 1 d4 O46 2 3 d5 3 c4 c6 4 cd e6 5 gS h6 6 Sh4 dxc4 7 e4 gh B 93 b5 9 Ge2 Gb7 10 h4 g4 11 eB hS 12 0-0 “\fd7?: Certainly nN invitation. Peter's first thought was: is this really possible? His answer to this question was: probably not 13 Oxf 7!! With this sac bhick King’s’ position for a perpetually ce White opens the ongoing attack. 13...0xt7 14 £3 4g8 14..uxf3 was played in another game, bur did not help Black much 15 fxg4 e5 16 g5! Peter Heine explains: “The idea is to tale on hS with bishop, as well as con trolling (6, making sure Black's knights will have their problems protecting their king? 16 gxh5 was 16...exd4 16, 17 d5 Peter thinks that the white attack is very dangerous. An important point here is thar it is hard for Black to develop the queenside, as the pieces seem to be in Iso dangerous for B Wel? was maybe better, but after cach other's way. 17 SxhS Eh7 Wh The following line given by Peter shows how attack is very strong. 16 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material The Participants lowing line given by Peter shows how dangerous the attack is. 17...dxc3 18 B74 dg7 19 Wade D6 20 Wxe3 Gxt? 21 BxiG+ dips 22 Boot eh7 23 Wes and White wins. 18 Ag6 We7 Against 18...Bg7 the German grand- master Christopher Lutz gives the fol- lowing winning line 19 Wh5 We7 20 Bis! dxc3 21 afl when Black has no defence. He might in principle be two pieces up, but he has 3 or 4 pieces out of play, so White has more pieces where it counts; c.g, 21..Weo 22 Sf7+ Bxt7 23 Sisf7 Sp7 24 26 and White wins. 19 26! A wonderful shot that increases the pressure with gain of tempo. 19...Wg7 19,..Wxd6 loses to 20 S&xh7+ Gxh7 21 Wh5+ dys 22 o6 We? 23 Eé7 and it seems like it is all over. A computer might come up with 23,.4f6 24 Exf6 Dd? 25 Be? G6 26 Ext6 dxc3 27 e5 exb2 28 Bafl and White wins with 29 Br. 20 Axh7+ Wxh7 21 Wig4! After destroying the black pawn struc- ture on the light squares, White can enter he pleases, 21...4g6 21...dxd6 22 We6+ @h8 23 Bry and White wins. 22 Oxf8 e5 Black cannot save the position, After 22...20xf8 White wins in the following 23 StxfB+ dexf® 24 Heit Ge7 25 Lr Wes 26 Wes Adz 27 Wao+ eds 28 ¢5 Bc8 29 BP dxc3 30 6 cxb2 31 Wau7+ debs 32 Wot tek 33 7 bie 34 Wh? and wins (Nielsen). 23 Wh3 bd? 24 Se7 Ze8 Black accepts simply being material down as well as under attack, But then 24..dxe3 25 h5 Wes 26 Weot Bh7 27 Wh6+ Bg8 28 266 and Black is toast. 25 hS Wg7 26 2f6 Dxf6 27 gxf6 WI7 28 ES wh7 29 Wg3 dxe3 30 Exe5 cxb2 31 Sf1 Bxe5 32 WxeS 2c8 33 Wxb2 2e6 34 We5 b4 35 B43 c3 36 Bg3 c2 37 Wt4 c1W+ 38 Wxe1 Wxh5 39 Ng5 Wha 40 g3 Wh3 41 Bg7+ wh8 42 Wg5 1-0 International Master Jesper Hall Chess writer, teacher and player. 32 years old. Elo 2487, Currently working on both chess books and a children’s book, From Lund in 5 ly purchased a house in the count den, bur has ree with his wife, with whom he has a baby daughter. Hall-Sadler German Bundesliga 2002 Caro-Kann Defence 1 e4 c6 2 c3 d5 3 DFS This is a less standard variation, which suits standard Hall well. 3...294 4 h3 Oxf3 5 Wats 6 6 d3 the non-theoretical and non- Copyrighted Material 7 Copyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind e6 7 Gd2 Sbd7 8 94 b5!? Many moves have been played here, 9 g5 b4 10 d1 \g8 11 ed 11 d4 with a slight edge was also pos sible. 11...4d6 12 hd De7 13 h5 UbB 14 Wg2 Ge5 15 Mb1 15 0-0-07? would bring the white king into a true thunderstorm, as the majority of the white pieces imed at the side. Black would have a winning, after 15...WWa5!, ! (Lukacs) was stronger, in order to tid White of the two bishops 16 e2 aS 17 hd hbo?! This looks very artific 17.041? with unclear play (ILukaes). 18 Wh3 2c¢3! 19 g6 hxg6 20 hxg6 Exh4 21 gxf7+ “xf? al. Better White is always better now. He has k will suf. fer from the weakness of the g-pawn for fewer pawns islands, and 131 avery long time, Theoretically that is, In the game he just loses thar pawn without much resistance. 22 Wxh4 Of6 23 bxc3 bxc3 24 ixb6 cxd2+ 25 vixd2 Wxb6 26 e5! White starts his attack on the black king, 6... 07 27 2hS+ g6 28 Oxg6+! This tactic decides the game. 28...2\xg6 29 Wh7+ wfB 30 Wrg6 Wb4+ 31 we2 We7 32 Wg7+ weds 33 Wo8+ se7 34 Wo5+ we8 35 2\g4 We3 36 tdi Wd4 37 At6+ A\ef6 38 Wxt6 Wg4+ 39 v2d2 c5 40 a3 a4 41 £3 Wg8 42 4c3 hd? 43 Wa d4+ 44 cid2 te6 45 Wed+ Sh6 46 Wg4 WHT 47 f4 bb 48 Ye2 Wh7 49 Wf3 Wh7 50 wkd2 “b6 51 Wel Wh4 52 Wed Wi2 53 wb2 Wd2 54 Wg6 Wc3+ 55 wb1 Wxad 56 Wxe6+ we7 57 Wed Wb4+ 58 vad wd7 59 #5 a3 60 Yb3 1-0 Dr. Ivo Timmermans Ivo Timmermans is a medical doctor from Maastricht, Holland. He was born famously on April Ist 1960, When his parents sent a telegram to his grandpar- ents, they replied, “Ha ha, very funny.” For the last 12 drug. research ars Ivo has worked as for different biotech companies. He is single and with no children is not responsible for overpapu- lating the planet, His highest ever Ho was 2295, In the past few vears he has circled around 18 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material The Participants 2200, but recently he has improved somewhat and now has 2237 Elo. His playing level varies much from day to one day he can beat nwo strong IMs, as indeed happened at Santa Domingo 2003, and the next he can lose like a child. His best result is probably Gro gen Open 1997, a 2400 performance where he had a game for the IM norm. He was also ghost writer and assistant for Nie Jun’s autobiography Chess Chanr- pion from China (Gambit 1998), which comes highly recommended. OF his other achievements it could be mentioned that Ivo has twice completed an Ironman triathlon (swim 24 miles, bike 112 miles, then run-a marathon), has run a marathon in just over 3 hours, has a helicopter licence and a brilliant sense of humour. ‘The following game justly makes him proud. Timmermans-Hennigan Boca Chica 2003 Sivilien Defence ‘This is the second game in a double round in Santa Domingo. In the morn- ing Ivo had won against Rene Stern, a very strong German IM, with Black in only 25 moves. Here, in the afternoon, he proved to himself thar it was no coincidence. 1 e4 cS 2 D3 \c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 2yxd4 M6 5 Dc3 dé 6 2g5 e6 7 Wd2 a6 8 0-0-0 id7 9 f4 &e7 10 53 bS 11 2x6 gxf6 12 &b1 b4?! 12... §Wb6 is considered more solid. 13 \e2 Wb6 14 f5 e5 This is considered forced. The threat of White’s last move is to play as follows: 14.05 15 Det We5 16 fxe6 feeb 17 g3 Ba 18 &h3 and the light squares in the black camp are under heavy fire (Radu- lov-Padevskij, Bulgaria 1975). 15 Wh6 a7 ‘This is a new idea and though it looks dubious, it might be the entire line which is to blame. A previous game continued 15...0-0-0 16 @p3 Dad 17 Dhd L6 (Yeo-Hennigan, Swansea 1995), and now White could have gained a clear advan- tage with 18 @xt6! because of 18,5216 19 WxfG xed 20 Ayxe5! and White is winning. 16 Ag3 Ivo correctly targets the black camp where it is weakest. First he develops, then he strikes. 16...Ab5 17 cd WeS 18 Gb3 a5 19 hs S48 19.04 20 Sxf7+ Hd8 21 Dxt6 and White is winning, 20 S\g5!! The only inactive minor piece is brought into the game, [f White had played with less imagination the game would probably have ended with a dra 20 Astor Qxfo 21 Wee a4 22 2d5 Hc8 23 Mg5 (23 Hel? a3 24 Figs axb2 Copyrighted Material 9 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind and Black even wins) 23..2a3+ 24 bxa3 Wexc2+ with perperual check to come: 20...fxg5 Black is also worse after 20..a4 21 Dott Bds 22 Axtt+ Be? 23 Pett Bxe6 24 Bxc6 a3 25 Hd5 We6 26 Exb5! Wexb3 27 Wsh7 to protect his king and win some Black’s fragile king and his inability to and White has ma activate his roaks gives him a bleak fu ture. 2116 2c6 21...S.d8 22 7 mate. 22 fxe7 iixe7 23 Wxgh+ “d7 24 D6+ teeB? Better was 24.87 when White needs to find 25 Wy7! (25 Dxh7 Bos 26 We7+ Sho 27 WaT Buy? 28 AG a4 29 Ret Add is nor clear) 25....2d4 26 Bd2 with a clear advantage. 25 WI5+ Sic? 26 xh? a4 27 H\xfB! Everything has been calculated very accurately, Eixf8 28 Qd5 Ads 29 Wr and White is technically winning, 28 Wxf7+ b6 oe mae 29 axb3! Again a matter of accuracy. Afiet 29 exb3? White loses to 29,,.8xe4+ 30 Wal Bxa2t! 31 Bxa2 DAc3+ 32 bxc3 Wadt+ 33 ib? Wad mate 29.0104 29,.\c3+ looks tempting, but White wins with 30 bxc3 Bxc3 0..bxe3 31 Wer Gxc7 32 Ae6+ Sho 33 Aixc5 and it is all over) 31 17+ Qxd7 32 Bxcot+ Leo 33 Bxc6+ Weeo 34 Bl and Black has no chance. 30 Sxd4! exd4 30. Wedd 31 eG Wyed 32 Wert b5 33 Wxd6 and White wins. 31 eb The start of a brilliant cooperation be- pveen the knight and the queen. 31...WeS 32 We7+ “bs 33 Ads Axed 34 Af7! Iris beautiful, don’t vou think? 34.,.Wd5 35 O\xd6+ Wa6 36 xed Wxed 37 Wed+ wa 38 We5+ wa6 39 51 1-0 Tom Skovgaard Residence: Skovlunde, Denmark Born month and year: February 1951 Profession: [T consultant Height: 1.78m Family statu arried, 4 children Highest Flo tating ever: 2076 (current) Best result: No. 1 with 42/5 in ‘Sydkys- ten’, October 1998 (performance rating 2384; average of the opponents’ rating Skovgaard-Mortensen Danish Pri Sidlian Defence ry League 1972 1 e4c5 2 Of3 06 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axdd a6 5 id3 \c6 6 Se3 Wc? 7 0-0 MG B D\b3 2e7 9 1c3 bS 10 a3 0-0 11 f4:d6 12 Wf3 &b7 13 Wh3 e5 14 20 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material CHAPTER TEN Test Position 8 Test Position 8 Black to move. ‘Take 12 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking inte a microphone or writing down. your thoughts afterwards. Sten Vesterli ‘We are still in the opening, Lam a pawn up. Let us take a look.” ‘He has a knight on hd, He is attacking f7 with the bishop. My knight is hanging, his knight is hanging,’ ‘T can take his knight. He can then et- ther recapture with the b-pawn, ‘This will give him two isolated pawns, which is not in his interest. But he can take on {6, and then I will recapture with the queen. Then I am also threatening his knight on h4. It is not in White’s interest.’ ‘Tf take on 3, then he will exchange queens with check and 1 will lose the possibility of castling, He will take my knight. Then I will have two isolated pawns. [tis nor ternbly ingenious. | will lose the right to castle without material gains. It cannot be right.’ ‘If L move the knight he will play e6, bishop takes ¢6, bishop takes e6, pawn takes e6, queen takes the knight (g4).” L.A 2 6" *2...fxe6." (long pause) ‘lL have to do something about the !\6. Lither [ have to move it or | need 98 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material CHAPTER TEN Test Position 8 Test Position 8 Black to move. ‘Take 12 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking inte a microphone or writing down. your thoughts afterwards. Sten Vesterli ‘We are still in the opening, Lam a pawn up. Let us take a look.” ‘He has a knight on hd, He is attacking f7 with the bishop. My knight is hanging, his knight is hanging,’ ‘T can take his knight. He can then et- ther recapture with the b-pawn, ‘This will give him two isolated pawns, which is not in his interest. But he can take on {6, and then I will recapture with the queen. Then I am also threatening his knight on h4. It is not in White’s interest.’ ‘Tf take on 3, then he will exchange queens with check and 1 will lose the possibility of castling, He will take my knight. Then I will have two isolated pawns. [tis nor ternbly ingenious. | will lose the right to castle without material gains. It cannot be right.’ ‘If L move the knight he will play e6, bishop takes ¢6, bishop takes e6, pawn takes e6, queen takes the knight (g4).” L.A 2 6" *2...fxe6." (long pause) ‘lL have to do something about the !\6. Lither [ have to move it or | need 98 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind 4 We7+ Abd? ...” ‘Ldxe3 2 Sixt7+ Gxt7 3 Wxd8 exh? 4 Wc7+ Dbd7 5 Bxb2 Vb4+ 6 Bl }®d5 7 bt. ‘What else is there. Hmm.’ What else? 1.294 perhaps, no he always has 2 Wb3, that does not look right somehow. 2...e7 and now just castling or something terrible.’ ‘Maybe 1...2b4. If he plays 2 exf6 maybe 2...0-0. So 1..8b4 2 exf6. No, that does not look right either? *Ludxc3 2 Sxt7+ @xt7 3 Wxd8 no, it does not look good enough. What else?’ LAS maybe. Then 2 Wadd Be6, maybe. What is that position like? Maybe that is ok. Yes.” Ads 2 Bsd5 exd5 3 Wrd4 Aco, that is ok.’ me YR @ v3 ay ‘Maybe 1..“2d5 is at least playable. 2 G\xd5 exd5 3 Bb5+ Ac6. It seems pos- sible at le ‘Just a last check 1..dxe3 Gxt? 3 Wxd8. (pause)’ ‘Yeah well, [| just cannot get this to 2 @xf7+ work, So what is left?’ LAd5. My pletely happy.” ‘Knight, phew. (pause) intuition is not com- Time up. ‘T would have played 1...Ad5 as I feel right now. Maybe White is a little bit bet- ter then. Maybe there is something even better, [ just could not get it to work. Tom Skovgaard ‘So we have a fairly sharp position carly in. the opening, White has developed three pieces, and Black has only devel- oped one, and it is threatened. However, Black has a pawn.’ ‘Let us take the obvious, sharp line.” *Luwdxe3 2 exfo. Oh my God, this goes 2 Wedst Bsd& 3 L.dxe3 on and on. ext6 cxb2’ ‘4 &xb2 (Not 4 fxe7 of course). So if White exchanges the queens, | cannot recapture, as it will lose the rook. But T can keep the pawn there if 1 wish. No. Maybe, 4...¢5, | might play that. Letting the white pawn be, 700 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Test Position 8 ‘Let us look for alternatives. Maybe 1.25. Maybe moving my knight, threatening the “h4. To 24? To d5? No, not to d5, it will simply help him to get rid of the threat. Maybe 1...g4,’ ‘Certainly a candidate move.’ ‘Maybe I have a problem with 2 Sxf7t. 2..8xf7 3 Wt Oh, It looks a little bit dangerous. But maybe not that much. 3...@98 or 3...@e8. What then, 3...82g8 4e6. ‘No,’ ‘If White does sacrifice the bishop, what then. He can protect 5 with 2 4)f3. No, I am still threatening etl,” ‘He could play 2 De4.” ‘| like this move. 1..Ag4, 2 Det 4\xe5 and Black has a good position. I can even give a check on b4 if | wish.” not ‘T can also play 1...2b4 now. It is also an interesting idea. So we have 1..Ag4 and 1,..8b4. I think the first line I con- sidered with 1...g5 is not that interesting,’ ‘1..8Lb4 2 exf6 dxc3 3 Wxd8+ Gexd8 4 0-0. Hmm.’ 4 Go, Me *4...0-0." (Jacob: Here it is really not clear if Tom is talking about 3 0-0 ()-0, which makes sense, or if he is really thinking what he says he is thinking, I would guess 3 0-0 0-0, but I will leave it to the reader to decide.)’Yes. Of course it is messing up my king’s position, but I am at least one pawn up. And maybe I will also win the £6-pawn. But | am way behind in development.’ What about 1...WaS. 2 exf6 dxc3 3 0-0. No. I will not get my king into safety. 1...8b4 looks better, as 1 can cas- tle. But he can exchange the queens then, when I take the knight on c3/’ What was the problem with the 1..Agd line. It was the reply 2 Bxf7+ Sxf7 3 We+ begs, and White has no attack,’ ‘But 1...g4 is only threatening the e5-pawn. He can protect that with 2 af or 2 f4, and my knight will get into trou- ble later. But I can capture his knight then, and I will win a piece. He needs to move the knight. 1.4 2 Bed Axes? Copyrighted Material 101 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind °3 Bxt?+ Sx? 4 Dgst+. Oh we have a problem here, 5 Wo3+, | might be mated here. 4...22¢7 5 We2. Ir looks very dangerous. Maybe 1...8.b4 is better. He cannot move his knight. He probably will have to capture my knight then, or play 2. 2d2. No, then 2..dxe3. 1..2b4 2 ext dxc3 3 Wxd8+ Bxd8 4 0-0. Hmm.’ ‘No — a better line... 1...dtb4 2 ext 0-0. 3 0-0 Bxfo, threatening the other knight. | am at least a pawn up. I can play 3...dxc3. No, he has 4 &xf7+, break- ing up my king’s position.’ “Maybe L..2b4 2 exf6 0-0. No, that was not it.” 2 exfo Wxto. Yes. This looks very good. | am two pawns up. He cannot save his knight. But he can castle.’ ‘L...&b4 2 0-0, Can 1 move the knight 102 then? Oh, there is another option here. Can | play 1..ec4 2 Dxed Wahd. No. That is bad. 3 Bxf7+ *|...b4 2 0-0. That was the problem. 2...0-0, of course.’ “And if White moves his knight, | will knight Threatening his knight. This looks fine. 1 move my somewhere — g4. am a pawn up.’ 1...8b4, with 1 min. and 54 sec. re- maining on the clock, Peter Heine Nielsen ‘A well-known position from the Slav. Or known is maybe too much. T cannot remember everything accurately, but I do recollect something with a queen sactri- fice here, or could it be another position, No, what [ remember is |...dxe3 2 217+ Sexf7 3 Wyxd8 and then’ Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Test Position & *3,..&b4 seems to be a typical desper- ado. But of course it does need a fair bit of calculation. 4 Wxh8 cxb2+ 5 @e2 bxal W 6 Wyg7¥ ‘which could immediately be consid- ered as relatively uncomfortable.’ ‘A good question is: What alternatives are there here?” ‘Another obvious move is 1...Ag4, which might not threaten 2...dxe3, which can be considered later, but at least threatens 2...\Wxh4. So let us say 1.4 2 @f3 and we have similar problems as before.” “Are there other candidate moves?” ‘Let me calculate the sharp lines.’ “udxe3 2 @xf7+. | have to take it 2...&@x7 3 Wxd8, Now I am calculating 3..8b4, but also to be considered is 3...cxb2,” 2 am ‘Let us take the simplest lines first. 3..cxb2 4 Qxb2 &b4+ 5 Wd2 Lxd2+ 6 xd? edt. There | have a piece more, which is to be considered as satisfactory.” ‘So let us try to continue. Once again, the queen sacrifice and 3...cxb2’ ‘His obvious move is 4 We7+, and it seems to come to me as something which someone has played once.” ty mee Ye oie pp gd uy Ye, a am 2 We, deh Re “4 We7+. | would tvpically consider to put something in between, but it all ends rather unfortunately. | would like to play 4..Abd7 5 Bxb2 Bd5, queen.’ trapping the ‘However, as far as I can see, he then has 6 e6+ at his disposal, after which the queen escapes. Hmm.’ ‘Now I am calculating psychopathic moves such as 3...cxb2 4 We7+ and then 4.06, but what I fear than is 5 Qxb2. Copyrighted Material 103 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind Now my problem is that after 5...2b4+ 6 Be2 Ads then the g7-pawn is hanging, But 4..8c6 5 &xb2 1 seem to have 5...2a6. | cannot sce any problems then. 5...2a6 seems to trap the queen.” ‘Okay. I will try to go through the lines again,” “Ludxc3 2 @xf7+ Wxt7 3 Wxd8 exb2 4 Yc7+ (seems like only move) 4.86. i Uy Ws 2 Loy ‘With how many pieces am I trailing? Now T have two pieces for the queen, So if he castles and I take a queen, he is missing just about every picce there is.” ‘On 5 0-0 T would play 5... Dab before T take my queen.’ (pause) ‘T find it difficult to see any problems with this line, but then of course [ have preconceptions because it is this line that I think I remember, (long pause)’ ‘l have arrived at a place where I can- not see any reasons to depart from my main line, which goes 1...dxc3 2 S.xf7+ xt? 3 Wexd8 exb2. And now the only move that seems to make sense is 4 We74, and then you play 4..8e6 to block the e-pawn’s march forward. Now 5 Wxc8+ Abd7 and 5 @xb2 a6 makes no sense for White, so we are talking about a really special move if White is to be saved. It could be 5 £4 bxal 6 5+ 5, but it does not seem to be realistic.” ck to compensate the material losses, but still it is possible that this is the road by which he should travel.’ ‘lam pretty sure that this is what | would have played, as | did not really see any alternatives. Well, that is, 1 did not really finish concluding on 1...Ag4 actu- ally. | would believe that after 1..A®g4 2 Wes then 2..Axe5 or even 2... Wxh4. L.Bet 2 APB then 2..dxe3 is nor so fortunate, as 3 @xf7+ now wins. And after 2.,.@e7 he probably has 3 Det and then it looks as if it is not so clear. But of course it could be questioned,’ ‘But 1 saw no problems with the theo- retical line 1...dx¢3, so this is my final choice.” Yl 104 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Test Position 8 Artur Yusupov Artur was shaking his head when I pre- sented him with this position: “What are you doing to me, Jacob?’ he exclaimed, then sank into thought. He calculated several moves and liked many of them, before finally settling for lines similar to those given above by Peter Heine Niel- sen, with 1...dxe3. Ivo Timmermans “The last moves must have been ...d4 and €5, so let me see. White is one pawn down. He has three minor pieces in play. Black has just one, the knight on £6.’ ‘What does Black want?’ ‘There are some problems in the posi- tion. For instance: If the d-file opens, then &xf7+ could be a problem at some point. If the knight on £6 moves, then h4 is hanging,’ ‘White is close to castling, while Black needs one more move. So it should ptobably be one of Black’s objectives: to get the king into safety. But let me first check the candidate moves. Obviously both knights are hanging.’ ‘L...dxc3 is one move. Another candi- date is 1...&b4. One more is 1...Wa5, but Lam not sure if this is any good. 1... We7 seema a bit odd after 2 0-0, Then 2,..dxc3 3 exf6 leaves White fully devel- oped.’ ‘Let us start by looking at 1...dxe3, There might be other candidates like 1..<4fb6, but let us first look at the nor- mal moves.” ‘Ludxe3 2 Sxt7+ Gxt7 3 Wxd8 exb2, threatening ...&b4+. Okay...” ‘udxe3 2 Qxf7+ Se7 3 exf6+ and something nasty, | suppose. Okay.’ ‘L..dxe3 2 &xf7+ Gxt7 3 Wrxd8 cxb2 — oh 3...8.b4 straight away. No, | think I will take on b2. Take, take, take. If Stb4+ then Wad2 and ...&xd2+ and it is ok. This is probably not what you want to do. White will take on f6 and Black has a horrible pawn structure, so it is probably not good, (It is nor clear to me exactly what line Ivo was looking at here. Maybe 2 Wxd8+ — see the following,)’ So White has the advantage in both 2 &xf7+ and the 2 Wxd8+ line. So do you want to play 1...82b4? This is interesting. At least there is no more threat of &xf7+ if I rake on c3, So Black cannot escape the pin. Now he can take on f6, he can castle, he can play b3. If 2 Wb3 then even 2...€d5 3 Sxd5 &xc3+ and then both d5 and h4 are hanging, and | can Copyrighted Material 705 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind castle. So 2 Wb3 is not so dangerous. What you probably do is 2 0-0 dxe3 3 exf6 0-0 and then you cannot... Well, you can play 4 fxg7, well, it is a bad position.” ‘1...2b4, Okay, let us say that you play 20-0 and I play 2...0-0 3 ext6. Okay not very...” *...2b4 2 0-0 dxe3 threatening to ex- change queens, 3 Wxd8+ @xd8 4 exto. And then IT can play... Hmm. Twill just go back again,” “Leib4 20-0 dxc3 3 Wxd8+ @xd8 4 exf6.” ‘L might play 4..¢xt6 in this line, Or 4,.8e6, but White is still better in this line.’ ‘So what I would like to do here is to play something more active like 1... ed, possibly. Okay, now the knight is hang- ing on h4. So what do you do after 106 L...2ie42 You can save the knight on h4, not by playing in to fS. You can play 2 wpe, threatening... 2... Wixh4 is not possible — 3 Wxt7+" Wynd 3 Wet7+ Bds. Okay, try again.” “Ped, Okay, if he plays 2 AGB or something, | will play 2...&b4 and I cas- tle, without problems. Or maybe I will play 2 B05. ‘2 Ded Qb4+, and you gor a pretty normal position, Black is still a pawn up, Because then 80... ‘|..Ae4. The critical line is maybe 2 His Wsh4 3 Wx t7+ Sds! ‘and maybe 4 h3, or 4 e6 or 4 ed, Black should be able to hold this posi- tion. If the knight goes away from c3 you got a check on b4. And ..2f8 is coming up.” ‘So 1.4. ‘Okay, so L..dxc3 is not working. 1...2b4 gives a bad position. 1.4 scems ok, very sharp, bur you can probably survive the attack. As White cannot castle directly, you can always sacrifice a piece back with Wx f2+ if you do not like it. Black can probably survive this position. Are there other candidates that | have missed.’ *[....2e7 is interesting, Missed that.’ Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Test Position & “1...8¢7 with the idea 2 exf6 &xf6 and both knights are hanging.’ ‘If you play 3 3 then 3..dxe3. Lf 3 We2+ then 3..f8 you can always es- cape via g8 and h7. ‘1udheT 2 Act Axed. If 2 0-0 then 2...0-0 as well without ruining your pawn chain. Yes, I like that move. Let me just check if it does not fail tactically. 2 exf6 &xf6 3 Ded Sxh4 then 4 Lf4 is com- ing, maybe with 4Ad6+, but you simply play 4...0-0 and you are out of harm’s way. Let me just check.’ 1..@e7 2 exf6 Bxf6. Another idea is to play 3 WF3 because 7 is hanging, but you play 3...0-0. Okay, 4 Hed Qxhd 5 Whs. It is possible that it gives some initiative. But I can always play... Okay — time up. 1...2e7'is my first choice and my second choice is 1..g4.’ Sidsel Haeg ‘That it is a mess is easy to state. First thought is if I should take the knight or not. If I take then he can exchange the queens with check. It ruins Black’s right Maybe I can move my knight with a threat on h4. That might sustain it to castle. — I don’t know if it is a precise term — pressure, Maybe it would also be possible Copyrighted Material to do something wise and pull myself together and get closer to castling. (pause)’ ‘Black is perhaps behind in cevelop- ment. The question is if there is a way to get the initiative.’ (pause) ‘Does White have enough initiative for the pawn?’ (pause) Where can I play the knight? If I play it to gd, then | am threatening the @h4. But it is also advancing a piece that has already been developed. If White played 2 @£3, then the black knight will be hanging loose on g4, But then maybe then it will be prudent to take the knight on ¢3?? (pause) 2 £3 Wxh4t 3 93. It also looks as if it is going to be very messy, but White will have a loose position on the kingside, so maybe it pays off” ‘Taking on c3 does not look good, as he can exchange queens and take on f6. Then I will have a doubled f-pawn. It is of course not necessarily so always, but f5 looks as if it will be good for the knight. Or the bishop after exchanges.’ ‘1...8g4 does not look right on ac- count of 2 £3 - right in the face.” ‘The knight might also be able to go to d5, 2 Axd5 exd5 and the knight on h4 will be hanging.’ (pause) 107 Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind Time up. ‘Ok 1...4g4 and now possibly 2 Af3 as the best move. Then I considered tak- 2...2.b4, which I am more likely to go for.’ Sidsel did not like 2...dxc3 3 YWxd8+, not realising that she would be a piece up in the endgame. She did not sce the ideas with &xf7+ at all at any point. ing on 2...dxe3 or Still she managed to solve this posi tion which so few others could do! Peter Skovgaard ‘Two knights are hanging, and of course it seems most Obvious to take the white knight, as the black knight does not have that many good squares. But if then probably 2 Wxd8+ Gxd8 3 exf6.’ L.udxc3, ‘What can you play then? I could play 3..db4 for example. If 4 fxe7 then 4,..exb2+ and 5...bxal which protects the Hh8. But if instead of 4 fxg7 he plays then T can plan... 4 0-0, for example, Hmm, yes what can you play then?’ Right, 1..dxc3 2 Wxd8+ Gxd8 3 exf6 Bb4 4 0-0. with 4..exf6, but then his rooks enter at Then | can just recapture eLand dl, Itis probably not so good.’ ‘Maybe the first move is 1..e4. What good possibilities does he have? Maybe he can play 2 Wr, threatening £7.’ ‘What can I do then? Then | have 2...A\se5, which defends 7, both the queen and the bishop. And af- ter 3 Wed 1 can play 3...e7, which looks really good — for me. So he cannot play 2 We on 1... Aged, so what else?” ‘|... ed then comes...’ (pause) ‘lam threatening two knights. Maybe threatening he can play 2 &xf7+ or maybe it is just a 2 QSxf7+ bx? 3 senseless sacrifice. We3+ dees...” tt i tt Gin m UY, 4 “Yomi A “then it seems to be over.” ‘What else will he be able to play on L..Ag4. How ean he protect the knights?” “He might be able to play. (pause) ‘L cannot sce how he can protect both knights.” ‘Maybe 2 Ae4 and if 2...\Y4xh4 then 3 2&5 and the queen is not so well placed. In the case of 3.4h5 then 4 Wexd4, 108 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Test Position 8 What should Black do then? He seems to be forced to play 4...8e7, and the question is if White has some tempting possibilities. He can maybe play 5 Rxe7 Bxe7 6 Wd6+ Ges and then maybe 7 We7, threatening the bishop on c8 and 4\dG6+. Black is probably in trouble.’ 1,.)p4 2 Ded Wxh4 3 Bg5, then Black might have some other moves. Something like 3...“Axf2’ foi ott ae nil Y “ne “yg ‘but White can just play 4 @xf2, and Black has gained nothing, But 3...Wh5 and then 4 Wxd4. Then maybe 4...2d7, but then 5 AdG+ Bxd6 6 exd6, no, then the bishop is hanging on g5. So he can- not play 5 Ado’ ‘Or maybe 1..Ag4 2 Det Wah 3 5, then maybe 3..2b4+. It looks pretty ok. Then 4 Bel and 4..Whs. Then maybe 5 Wxd4 0-0. . “It looks ok for Black.’ 1...Ag4. On 2 43, which Peter had not considered, he fell into thought. Fritz 8 In this position the program used more time to get to a serious depth, as there were a lot of tactics and a lot of pieces on the board. ” after about 5 min., and did not change, The evaluation got stable could not change, as it needed to control all the silly moves (after 7 min. 1...Bg8, which only appeared for a very brief moment; Friéz uses more time on’better’ moves) before it can start over with the primary candidates. After 8 min. we stopped the program, 1...Ag4. Proposed solution Test Position 8 The posiiton for this puzzle is known to theory and arises after the following sequence. 1 D3 dB 2 d4 AE 3 c4 c6 4 Ac3 dxc4 5 a4 Of5 6 Ah4 2cB 7 e4 eS 8 &xc4 exd4 9 e5 is of course This confusing. Many moves are ok, but only highly position two give Black a certain edge, and only one of them is clearly strong, But let us Copyrighted Material 109 inside the Chess Mind of them is clearly strong, But let us take them all in ascending order. Ad5?! 10 Wxd4 2e6 2e7 11 ABS Abo 12 Wxds+ Lxd8 13 Bb3 Aad 14 Bei Ve 15 Bxe6 fxeb 16 d4 eed7 17 Hdl gave White a slight edge in Mititelu — Pfeiffer, Leipzig 1960) 11 O)f3 11...8e7 (11..2b4? 12 Bixd5 Sxc3+ 13 Wxe3 Sxd5 14 205 Wad7 15 Was ho 16 Bh4 5 17 Bes We7 18 0-0 with an unclear game) 12 0-0 0-0 13 Ned 4 14 Od6 Sxd6 15 oxf4 e7 16 %c3 &xc4 17 Wxed and White is a little better here, where Porin- tos and Sokolow agreed a draw ar Wijk aan Zee 1970, b) 9....2.g4?! is not that clear. we Z /, ae ‘ 770 Copyrighted Material After 10 Wb3 We7 11 3 dxe3 12 hsgd Axed 13 06 Ae5 the position is a Mess, c) 9...2b4?! also only leads to a mess. 10 exf6 Wxf6 11 0-0 dxc3 (11.,.Wexh4 12 Belt 2c7 13 Bed Wo 14 Hf4 with a strong attack for White is not recommendable) 12 Wb3 a5 13 23 0-0 14 2.95 Yg6 15 bxc3 s ‘Wy yy OW Ww “ \ ~ os SS cP ~ a and the position does not seem clear to me. d) 9...dxc3?! It is of course very tempting to sacri fice the queen, And in Awni’s Creative Ghess (ves, again!) this move Is given an’? Actually, despite the deeply fascinating and original tactics, this move hardly leads to an advantage, and is therefore a Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material lot of energy spent on virtually nothing. 10 &xt7+ (10 Wxd8+ dxd8 11 exf6 &b4 leaves Black with slightly better chances) 10...2xf7 11 Wxd8 cxb2 (11...&b4? 12 We7+ and White wins) 12 Wc7+ ve6! 13 Wxc8+ Abd7 eae i Tj, dhe Yi, A, Mt 2 Ys 14 Yxb7?! (White realises that he has gone wrong and tries to create a mess. But stronger was 14 Wxd7+ @xd7 15 Bxb2 Bb4+ 16 Be2 Axed which gives Black a better game, but only just. 17 f4 @c4 18 Sxg7 regains the pawn, though White is lacking in development and will be under attack) 14...bxaTW 15 Wxc6+ “f7 16 e6+ &g8 17 0-0 Web 18 Wxa8 Wxe6 19 Yxa7 Wd5 20 Wc7 &f7 21 AF3 2d6 22 We2 h6 23 Ah4 Wed 24 Wa2+ we7 25 AF3 De5 26 “xed Wxeb 27 g3 Wd5 28 We2 &f7 29 Ed1 Hc8 30 We2 Weé 31 WH3 He2 32 2e3 Ha2 33 Wb7+ 2e7 34 &c5 He2 35 ab Wed 36 2e3 Wa4 37 Hd4 Wxa5 38 Wb3+ see8 39 Wh8+ “f7 40 Wb3+ we8 41 Wb8+ &t7 42 Yb3+ and a draw was agreed in Larsen-Teschner, Wagen- ingen 1957. It is not without reason that a book on Bent Larsen was called Bent Fighter! Sull, Black is of course winning even here... Larsen — the Test Position 8 e) 9...2e7!? This is interesting and probably one of the only two moves to guarantee an advantage. 10 exf6 2.xf6 11 Se4? Now White is just much worse, 11 We2+! We7 12 Aet Oxh4 13 BFA 26 also looks good for Black, but it was a better try. 11...2xh4 12 0-0 0-0 13 Wh5 2e7. So far Inkiov — Ve- likov, Plovdiv 1982. Black went on to win, though not in the safest way. f) 9...g4! is strongest. 4 4 Y ,iuoH asm e £ Do Fa Y Ye a . £8 as ’ ea an we 10 Af3 (Forced. If 10 Ac4 Axe5 and that dream is over. The same goes for 10 We Axes 11 Wet We7 and wins) 10.,.2b4! Now White will come out of the opening a pawn down for absolutely nothing. 11 4b3 We7 12 Axd4 Axe5 Z Ye

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