FISCHER – SPASSKY 50 YEARS ON FOXWOODS IMPROVEMENT

AUGUST 2022 USChess.org

 The United States’ Largest
Chess Specialty Retailer
888.51.CHESS (512.4377)
A tell-all book about Spassky-Fischer 1972
Gudmundur Thorarinsson
dŚĞϭϵϳϮ͚DĂƚĐŚŽĨůůdŝŵĞ͛ďĞƚǁĞĞŶŽďďLJ&ŝƐĐŚĞƌ
ĂŶĚŽƌŝƐ^ƉĂƐƐŬLJǁĂƐƉƌŽďĂďůLJƚŚĞŵŽƐƚŝĐŽŶŝĐ
ƐƉŽƌƚƐĐŽŶƚĞƐƚĚƵƌŝŶŐƚŚĞŽůĚtĂƌ͘&ŝŌLJLJĞĂƌƐŽŶ͕
ƚŚĞŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĞƌŽĨƚŚĞŵĂƚĐŚ'ƵĚŵƵŶĚƵƌdŚŽƌĂƌŝŶƐƐŽŶ
ŚĂƐǁƌŝƩĞŶĂƚĞůůͲĂůůŬĂďŽƵƚƚŚĞŵĂƚĐŚ͕ĐƌĂŵŵĞĚ
ǁŝƚŚďĞŚŝŶĚͲƚŚĞͲƐĐĞŶĞƐƐƚŽƌŝĞƐĂŶĚŝŵƉƌŽďĂďůĞ
twists and turns.
Et͊
/ƚ͛ƐŚĂƌĚǁŽƌŬ͕ďƵƚĐĂůĐƵůĂƟŽŶĐĂŶďĞƚƌĂŝŶĞĚ
Ramesh RB
ĂůĐƵůĂƟŽŶŝƐŬĞLJƚŽǁŝŶŶŝŶŐĐŚĞƐƐŐĂŵĞƐ͘ŽŶǀĞƌƟŶŐ
chess knowledge into concrete moves requires
ĐĂůĐƵůĂƟŽŶĂŶĚƉƌĞĐŝƐĞǀŝƐƵĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ͘/ŶŚŝƐĮƌƐƚŬ
of the Ramesh Chess Course, the best coach in the
world has collected hundreds of training exercises
ƚŚĂƚƚĂŬĞLJŽƵƌĐĂůĐƵůĂƟŽŶƐŬŝůůƐĨƌŽŵĂĐůƵďƉůĂLJĞƌ͛Ɛ
level to master level.
t /E E Z͊
Strategies for Success at America’s Most
WƌĞƐƟŐŝŽƵƐKƉĞŶŚĞƐƐdŽƵƌŶĂŵĞŶƚ
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/ŶƚŚŝƐŶĞǁŬ͕'D:ŽĞůĞŶũĂŵŝŶĂŶĚ,ĂƌŽůĚ
^ĐŽƩƉƌĞƐĞŶƚƚŚĞŚŝƐƚŽƌLJŽĨƚŚĞtŽƌůĚKƉĞŶ͕ĨƌŽŵ
ŝƚƐŚƵŵďůĞďĞŐŝŶŶŝŶŐƐƚŽƚŚĞũƵŐŐĞƌŶĂƵƚŝƚŚĂƐ
become today. There are many entertaining stories
ĂŶĚƐĐĂŶĚĂůƐƚŚĂƚƚŚĞƌĞĂĚĞƌǁŝůůĞŶũŽLJ͘Winning the
World OpenŝƐĂƐĞŶƚĞƌƚĂŝŶŝŶŐĂƐŝƚŝƐŝŶƐƚƌƵĐƟǀĞ͘
Private Lessons from Judit Polgar
Judit Polgar & Andras Toth
Judit Polgar was the best female chess player for a
record 26 years. In this book, she reveals some of
the secrets of her success and has created a course
based on the training she received as a young player.
It feels like private lessons from one of the best
players in the world.
džƉůĂŝŶƐŚŽǁĂŶŶŐŝŶĞĐĂŶ,ĞůƉzŽƵƌŚĞƐƐ
DĂƩŚĞǁ^ĂĚůĞƌ
DĂƩŚĞǁ^ĂĚůĞƌĞdžƉůĂŝŶƐǁŚĂƚŝƐďĞƐƚŝŶŽƉĞŶŝŶŐƉƌĞƉ
and improving your technique: playing training games
ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚLJŽƵƌĞŶŐŝŶĞ͊,ĞĂůƐŽƐŚŽǁƐŚŽǁƚŚĞƚŽƉĞŶŐŝŶĞƐ
tackle crucial middlegame themes, and presents new
strategies that the engines found in popular openings
ƐƵĐŚĂƐƚŚĞ'ƌƺŶĨĞůĚĂŶĚƚŚĞ^ŝĐŝůŝĂŶ͘zŽƵƌĐŚĞƐƐĞŶŐŝŶĞ
ĐĂŶĚŽƐŽŵƵĐŚŵŽƌĞƚŚĂŶũƵƐƚĐĂůĐƵůĂƚĞǀĂƌŝĂƟŽŶƐ͊
Free Ground Shipping On All Books, Software and DVDS at US Chess Sales
$25.00 Minimum - Excludes Clearance, Shopworn and Items Otherwise Marked
www.USCFSales.com
&ƵŶĚĂŵĞŶƚĂůdĂĐƟĐƐĂŶĚŚĞĐŬŵĂƚĞƐĨŽƌ/ŵƉƌŽǀĞƌƐ
Peter Giannatos
dŚĞƉĞƌĨĞĐƚĮƌƐƚĐŚĞƐƐǁŽƌŬŬĨŽƌĂĚƵůƚŝŵƉƌŽǀĞƌƐ
ĂŶĚŽƚŚĞƌďĞŐŝŶŶĞƌƐ͘ŽĂĐŚĞƐŵŝŐŚƚĮŶĚƚŚĞŬ͕ǁŝƚŚ
ϳϯϴĞdžĞƌĐŝƐĞƐ͕ǀĞƌLJƵƐĞĨƵůĂƐǁĞůů͘/ƚĨĞĂƚƵƌĞƐĂĐŽŵƉůĞƚĞ
ƐĞƚŽĨĨƵŶĚĂŵĞŶƚĂůƚĂĐƟĐƐĂŶĚĐŚĞĐŬŵĂƚĞƉĂƩĞƌŶƐ͘
͚ĞĂƵƟĨƵůůLJĨŽƌŵĂƩĞĚǁŝƚŚϯĚŝĂŐƌĂŵƐƉĞƌƉĂŐĞĂŶĚ
ƚƌĞŵĞŶĚŽƵƐĞdžĂŵƉůĞƐ͛͘
Fred Wilson, The Marshall Spectator
Support Ukraine – buy a Chess Book
dŚŝƐŬŝƐĂƚƌŝďƵƚĞƚŽhŬƌĂŝŶŝĂŶĐŚĞƐƐ͘&/tŽƌůĚ
Champion Ruslan Ponomariov has coordinated
ĂĐŽůůĞĐƟŽŶŽĨĐŚĞƐƐŐĂŵĞƐĨƌŽŵhŬƌĂŝŶŝĂŶ
ŐƌĂŶĚŵĂƐƚĞƌƐƐƵĐŚĂƐ/ǀĂŶĐŚƵŬ͕WŽŶŽŵĂƌŝŽǀ͕ůũĂŶŽǀ͕
ĞůŝĂǀƐŬLJ͕dƵŬŵĂŬŽǀ͕ŚƵŬŽǀĂ͕ĂŶĚƚŚĞDƵnjLJĐŚƵŬ
sisters. All proceeds of this book will go to charity in
Ukraine.
dŚĞĮŶĂůzĞĂƌŬʹƚŚĞĞŶĚŽĨĂŶĞƌĂ
ŌĞƌϯϴLJĞĂƌƐ͕ϭϰϮzĞĂƌŬƐ͕ĂŶĚŵŽƌĞƚŚĂŶϯϱ͕ϬϬϬ
ƉĂŐĞƐ͕ƚŚĞEĞǁ/ŶŚĞƐƐzĞĂƌŬƐĞƌŝĞƐĐŽŵĞƐƚŽĂŶ
ĞŶĚ͘/ŶƚŚĞĮŶĂůzĞĂƌŬ͕ŝƐƐƵĞϭϰϮ͕LJŽƵǁŝůůƐƟůůĮŶĚ
ŵŽƌĞƚŚĂŶƚǁŽĚŽnjĞŶŶĞǁŝĚĞĂƐŝŶŵŽĚĞƌŶŽƉĞŶŝŶŐ
ƚŚĞŽƌLJ͕ƌĂŶŐŝŶŐĨƌŽŵƚŚĞZŽƐƐŽůŝŵŽ^ŝĐŝůŝĂŶƚŽƚŚĞ
<ŝŶŐ͛Ɛ/ŶĚŝĂŶ͘
The updated classic with 100 extra pages
Mikhail Shereshevsky
In this widely acclaimed chess classic, Mikhail
^ŚĞƌĞƐŚĞǀƐŬLJĞdžƉůĂŝŶƐŚŽǁƚŽŵĂƐƚĞƌƚŚĞŵŽƐƚ
important endgame principles. Where other
ĞŶĚŐĂŵĞŵĂŶƵĂůƐĨŽĐƵƐŽŶƚŚĞďĂƐŝĐƐĂŶĚƚŚĞŽƌĞƟĐĂů
ĞŶĚŐĂŵĞƐ͕ƚŚŝƐŬƚĞĂĐŚĞƐƚŚĞ͚ďŝŐŝĚĞĂƐ͛ƚŚĂƚǁŝůů
ŚĞůƉLJŽƵĮŶĚƚŚĞŵŽƐƚƉƌŽŵŝƐŝŶŐĂŶĚŵŽƐƚƉƌĂĐƟĐĂů
moves in any endgame.
dŚĞ'ƌĞĂƚĞƐƚƩĂĐŬĞƌŝŶŚĞƐƐ͊
Cyrus Lakdawala
ZĂƐŚŝĚEĞnjŚŵĞƚĚŝŶŽǀ;ϭϵϭϮͲϭϵϳϰͿƉůĂLJĞĚĨĞĂƌůĞƐƐ
ĂƩĂĐŬŝŶŐĐŚĞƐƐ͘,ŝƐŐĂŵĞƐ͕ĨƵůůŽĨƚĂĐƟĐĂůƉLJƌŽƚĞĐŚŶŝĐƐ͕
ĂƌĞŚŝƐůĞŐĂĐLJĂŶĚŚĂǀĞƌĞĂĐŚĞĚĂŶĞǀĞƌͲŐƌŽǁŝŶŐ
ĂƵĚŝĞŶĐĞŽŶzŽƵdƵďĞǁŝƚŚŵŽƌĞƚŚĂŶϭϳŵŝůůŝŽŶǀŝĞǁƐ͊
In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala shows in more than one
ŚƵŶĚƌĞĚŐĂŵĞƐŚŽǁEĞnjŚŵĞƚĚŝŶŽǀďůƵīĞĚĂŶĚŚŽǁŚĞ
ŬĞƉƚŚŝƐĐŽŽůƚŽŽƵƚͲĐĂůĐƵůĂƚĞŚŝƐŽƉƉŽŶĞŶƚƐ͘
 AUGUST 2022

Please write a
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COLUMNS
10 CHESS TO ENJOY
ENTERTAINMENT
How Bobby Thought
BY GM ANDY SOLTIS

12 ENDGAME SCHOOL
INSTRUCTION
Stalemate Subtleties
BY GM JOEL BENJAMIN

14 EVENTS
IN THE NEWS
BY JOHN HARTMANN

51 PUZZLES
MAKE YOUR MOVE!
BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN
Lothar Schmid congratulates the
52 SOLITAIRE CHESS new world champion after Spassky
INSTRUCTION resigned the 21st game by phone.
From Kronsteen With Love
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI

54 BOOKS AND BEYOND 32 COVER STORY

SHOULD I BUY IT?
Sokolov’s Strategies
FISCHER VERSUS SPASSKY!
One of America’s top juniors looks back at the Fischer –
BY IM JOHN WATSON
Spassky match, which ended 50 years ago this month.
BY FM ROBERT SHLYAKHTENKO
DEPARTMENTS
4 AUGUST PREVIEW
SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE
16 IMPROVEMENT THE TARRASCH DEFENSE
5 COUNTERPLAY One Man’s Tarrasch
READERS RESPOND The Finale (Part 6 of 6)
BY FM ALEX KING
6 FIRST MOVES
CHESS NEWS FROM 21 IMPROVEMENT THE MIDDLEGAME FOR SENIORS
AROUND THE U.S. The Middlegame for Seniors
Part 1: Calculation and Solving
8 US CHESS AFFAIRS BY FM DOUG ECKERT
NEWS FOR OUR MEMBERS
24 EVENTS FOXWOODS
PHOTO: AP PHOTO / J. WALTER GREEN

57 TOURNAMENT LIFE Playing to Win

62 CLASSIFIEDS Kadric and Zhou win 2022 Foxwoods Open.
BY GM BENJAMIN GLEDURA
63 SOLUTIONS
48 COVER STORY FISCHER – SPASSKY
64 MY BEST MOVE Karolyi on Fischer
PERSONALITIES Game 5 of the 1972 World Championship match
MICHAEL KRUSE BY IM TIBOR KAROLYI

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 1

CONTRIBUTORS

FM RO BE RT
S H LYA K H T E N KO
(Cover Story) is one of the top 100
American players as of July 2022,
and is currently the 15th ranked
junior. In 2019, he became the
youngest ever Southern California
state champion, was co-champi-
on of the (now) Dewain Barber
National Tournament of Middle E D I TO R I A L
School State Champions, and won C H E S S L I F E / C LO E D I TO R John Hartmann (john.hartmann@uschess.org)
the Southern California Open. In 2020 he won a CJA award for A R T D I R E C TO R Natasha Roberts
“Best Instruction.” Since then, he has earned three IM norms and P U B L I C AT I O N S E D I TO R Melinda Matthews
pushed his rating over 2400 FIDE. Now he awaits the paperwork G R A P H I CS A S S I STA N T Nicole Esaltare
being processed! T E C H N I C A L E D I TO R IM Ron Burnett

FM ALE X K IN G U S C H E S S S TA F F
(Tarrasch) is a two-time Tennessee state champi- E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R Carol Meyer
on. He teaches chess in Memphis and plays piano S E N I O R D I R E C TO R O F ST R AT E G I C CO M M U N I C AT I O N Daniel Lucas
in his spare time. Recently he pushed his FIDE D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Boyd Reed
rating over 2300, making him a FIDE master. For D I R E C TO R O F D E V E LO P M E N T Geoffrey S. Isaak

PHOTOS: ERIC ROSEN (SHLYAKHTENKO), EMILY WOLFE (KING), WEBSTER UNIVERSITY (GLEDURA), DAVID LLADA (KAROLYI), COURTESY SUBJECT (ECKERT)
more on Alex, check out his appearance (Episode 47) on the US
D I R E C TO R O F M E M B E R S E R V I C E S Korey Kormick
Chess podcast “Cover Stories with Chess Life.”
W O M E N ’ S P R O G R A M D I R E C TO R Jennifer Shahade
A S S I STA N T D I R E C TO R O F E V E N TS Pete Karagianis
FM D O U G EC K E RT
F I D E E V E N TS M A N A G E R Brian Yang
(Middlegame for Seniors) was the 1983 and 1984
CO R R E S P O N D E N C E C H E S S CO O R D I N ATO R Michael Buss
U.S. Junior Open champion and achieved his FIDE
S E N I O R A CCO U N TA N T Debra Robison
Master title in 1986. Doug also is an international
G O V E R N A N C E CO O R D I N ATO R Jennifer Pearson
master in correspondence chess and a five-time
G O V E R N A N C E CO O R D I N ATO R Rose McMahon
Missouri State Open champion. Now retired after a long career as
M E M B E R S H I P A S S O C I AT E Christine Green
a certified public accountant, Eckert has returned to active tour-
nament play as he hunts for his over-the-board IM title. D I G I TA L A S S I STA N T Matt Monta

GM BE N J A M IN G LE D U R A EXECUTIVE BOARD
(Foxwoods) is a Hungarian grandmaster who cur- P R E S I D E N T Mike Hoffpauir (president@uschess.org)
rently studies at Webster University and competes V I C E P R E S I D E N T Randy Bauer (vp@uschess.org)
for their storied chess team. Currently rated 2637 V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F F I N A N C E Chuck Unruh (vpfinance@uschess.org)
FIDE, he is the 123rd ranked active player on the S E C R E TA R Y Fun Fong (secretary@uschess.org)
July 2022 FIDE rating list. M E M B E R AT L A R G E David Day (DavidChessDay@gmail.com)
M E M B E R AT L A R G E John Fernandez (john.fernandez@gmail.com)
IM T IBO R K ARO LY I M E M B E R AT L A R G E David Hater (dhater1@aol.com)
(Karolyi on Fischer – Spassky) is a renowned M E M B E R AT L A R G E Kevin Pryor (pryorkevin@yahoo.com)
author and trainer from Hungary. His biographical
works for Quality Chess have received glowing INQUIRIES
praise from readers and reviewers. Communications and press inquiries:
Dan Lucas at dlucas@uschess.org
Letters to the editor: letters@uschess.org
FISCHER – SPASSKY 50
YEARS ON FOXWOODS IMPROVEM ENT
Advertising and TLA inquiries or TLA display ads:
Melinda Matthews at mmatthews@uschess.org
To join US Chess or enter a tournament directed by US Chess,
Our cover story by FM Robert
go to uschess.org or call 1-800-903-USCF (8723)
Shlyakhtenko on Fischer – Spassky
is a well-grounded modern ap- Change of address: addresschange@uschess.org
proach to the match, and our cover
and opening spread art by Robert Tournament Director Certification information:
Bentley are perfect complements. tdcert-group@uschess.org
Find out more about Robert at Staff contact information: new.uschess.org/about
bentleyartist.com and find him on
Instagram at @TheRobertBentley. Please submit all other inquiries to feedback@uschess.org
or call 1-800-903-USCF (8723)
COVER IMAGE BY ROBERT BENTLEY AUGUST 2022 USChess.org

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CL_08-2022 COVER r02 JH indd
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CHESS LIFE IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE US CHESS FEDERATION

2 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 3
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4 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG


P e ns a n d f r i e n d s .. .
Super Soltis!
I enjoyed GM Andy Soltis’ June
column about “sitters” and
“walkers.”
I played many games against
GMs Pal Benko and Walter
Browne. They were both sitters,
and two of the most success-
ful players in U.S. tournament
history. Personally, I’ve been a
“walker” for 60 years. In the first
half of my career, I played sever-
al games against Soltis himself,
who was definitely a “sitter.” The
score? He won every game! Al-
ways bet on the “sitter!”
FM Asa Hoffmann
Via email
“Lucky” pens
GM Andy Soltis’ July column
made me smile. Every old-tim-
er has a story about a mishap
with a pen.
My roommate was forfeited
when he sealed an ambiguous
Send your letters to letters @uschess.org. Letters are
subject to editing for style, length, and content.
rook move ambiguously.
Much less typically, from a
M term of service to US Chess. s.
Northern California tourna-
Nor
ment 50 years ago: a player
me
picked up his king to evade
pic
check, when he noticed the
che
only legal king move was
on
mate in a few. He took his
ma
hand from the board, fidget-
han
ed with the king, eventually
set it aside with his score-
sheet. Then he made an in-
sh
terposition — while his king
ter
was off the board — which
wa
would keep the game going.
wo
His explanation to the tour-
H Area for many years.
nament director: “I thought
na
itt was my pencil,” which the
TD up
upheld!
Frisco Del Rosario
Via email
Joy in July
What a treat the July Chess Life
was for this grizzled old chess
player! It was a trip down mem-
ory lane. I first look at the table
of contents starting with your
columnists. First, there was Sol-
tis, who I invited to play in one
of my round-robin tournaments
in SF back when I was orga-
nizing those. Then FM Carsten
Hansen, Bruce Pandolfini, and
GM Joel Benjamin, all of whom
have all been guests on the Eade
Foundation YouTube channel.
Lastly, there was good old IM
John Watson, whom I published
back when I was operating Hy-
permodern Press.
Wait, there’s more. I read “A
Legend Retires” about Judy Mis-
ner, whom I first met back in
the 90s. I thought she was a vet-
eran staffer way back then! Fif-
Readers Respond COUNTERPLAY
ty-two years is a remarkable le
Then I turned to Hansen’s ’s
“Make Your Move” which h
took me back to 1972 and d
my first issues of Chess Life..
I always started each issue e
by doing the different puz--
zles on that page.
And finally, “My Bestt
Move” caused me to do a
double-take. There was a
picture of my old friend
the late Mike Splane. He
was a fixture in the Bay
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
FM James Eade
Via email
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FIRST MOVES Chess news from around the U.S.

nity for chess-playing girls around the globe

Her Move Next while developing exciting opportunities for its

rapidly-expanding community in the process.
Even as much of the chess world remained
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Celebrates Day 2021, HMN’s Her League has elevated

the typical chess tournament into a full-scale
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First Year analysis from coaches, and exciting closing

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Organization attracts members from 16 speaker series, where people from a wide
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BY CHLOE COHEN speakers also offer advice, introduce players
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are interviewed by a Her League coach who

W
HEN COVID-19 RENDERED
over-the-board tournaments
all but impossible, Her Move
Next (HMN) sought out new
ways to create chess-playing opportunities
for girls. Many chess players, the organization
knew, had missed teammates, coaches, and
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6 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

Lauder Companies, Inc.; WGM Jennifer Sha- conducting interviews; and navigating the half in a pandemic, times were tricky and I
hade, a two-time women’s chess champion; responsibilities that come with participating didn’t have much time nor chances to play
and Neela Saldanha, executive director at in a news team. They also experience the chess,” Suhana Kumar, a Her League coach,
the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation satisfaction of seeing their work published wrote. “However, when I was introduced
and Scale (Y-Rise). on a real website. Her News is in the pro- to Her Move Next, many different paths to
Players come to Her League for a unique cess of self-publishing a group short story further my chess ‘career’ and interest were
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the power of teamwork and each person’s HMN is also creating leadership oppor- new students. With this, I was able to keep
capacity for individual success. Regardless tunities for older girls, who can take on my chess skills within reach and help out a
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the yellow team, the blue team, or the green and Her News writers. Her League events time to focus on other things like school.”
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play. At the same time, the games played community time activities, interview guest League has welcomed participants from 16
in individual quads are competitive and speakers, analyze games, and mentor players states and three countries. With its monthly
exciting to watch. The dual significance of both in and out of their team Zoom rooms. events, Her League is now the most active US
teamwork and personal achievement is rec- In the coming months, HMN hopes to in- Chess-rated chess tournament for girls. HMN
ognized during each event’s closing ceremo- troduce exciting new in-person events in players continue to demonstrate remarkable
ny, which honors members of the first-place addition to its online league. growth and achieve success both on and off
team as well as the top finisher in each quad. “Her Move Next, as an organization, the chess board. Our participants are chess
For the HMN community, the first Friday of provided me with a great opportunity to players, students, mentors, and future lead-
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of any HMN event.
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“Our daughter had just started learning
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“[My daughter] Dena loved the HMN rap-
ids ... it was only a few times per year, but
this was very instrumental to her improve-
ment. The girl-to-girl coaching provided
inspiration and built a framework for her
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at this year’s KCF All Girls National Chess
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After its launch last spring, Her Move
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outlining, drafting, and editing processes;

Left: One of HMN’s online events. Right: HMN

members meet at the 2022 All-Girls National
(top) and stream from the event (bottom).
DUMMY
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Hello, St. Louis!

US Chess completes move to Missouri.

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 2022 US Chess Awards

Dr. Jeanne and Rex

Robert S. Moore Alan and Janelle Losoff Ranae Bartlett Sinquefield Tim Just

Kim Cramer Joe Ippolito David Mehler John D. Rockefeller V Steve Immitt

T he US Chess Federation is pleased to announce the 2022 Annual Award recipients. Congratulations
to all of these individuals and organizations who are advancing our mission to “empower people, enrich
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DISTINGUISHED SERVICE OUTSTANDING TEAM ACHIEVEMENT ACCESSIBILITY AND SPECIAL

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USCHESS.ORGAUGUST
USCHESS.ORG JULY 2022 9
CHESS TO ENJOY Entertainment
How Bobby
Thought
Fifty years later, we still don’t know.
BY GM ANDY SOLTIS
D
AVID BRONSTEIN ONCE SAID
that “if the best chess players
were to play with microphones
in their hands, everyone
would be able to hear how
beautifully they think.”
But we don’t really know how great play-
ers think. We can guess, by reading their
annotations. However, they often cite 10-
move variations in positions in which they
never looked more than three moves ahead.
Bobby Fischer was different. He began My
60 Memorable Games by saying, “I have tried
to be both candid and precise.” He was more
candid in that book than any previous world
champion. His openness could have helped
future opponents. He revealed, for exam-
ple, his vulnerability in dull middlegames
when he said the Exchange Variation of the
Queen’s Gambit is “insipid” and “leads to the
kind of wood-shifting that always bored me.”
Yet his annotations could also be frus-
tratingly opaque. In one of the Memorable
drafts he gave brief notes to several games
not included in the final book. Here’s one.
FRENCH DEFENSE (C03)
GM Bobby Fischer
GM Robert Byrne
U.S. Championship, New York,
12.23.1965
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. c3 e5 5.
exd5 Qxd5 6. Ngf3 exd4 7. Bc4 Qh5 8. O-O
Nf6 9. Qe1+ Be7 10. Nxd4 O-O
(see diagram top of next column)
Bobby played 11. Be2 Bg4 and then
blundered with 12. Nxc6? Bd6! 13. h3 Bxe2
and lost.
10 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
According to Bobby Fischer and His World, by
IM John Donaldson, Fischer said he counted
on 12. … Bxe2 13. Nxe7+ Kh8 14. Nf5! Bxf1
15. Ng3, winning material.
But Bobby didn’t answer an obvious ques-
tion: In the diagram, he must have seen 11.
Nxc6? would fail to 11. … Bd6!. How could
he forget this tactic one move later?
Some of the best clues to Fischer’s thought
process came in his post-mortems with his
opponents. In sharp positions, Bobby spoke
mainly about forcing variations, they said.
But Fischer would not play a move based
on a long forcing line if the position at the
end of the tunnel was fuzzy. “In sessions
after session of post-mortem analysis with
him I learned he regards a line of play whose
outcome is unclear as scarcely a cut above
one that loses by force,” Robert Byrne said.
This outcome is clear:
RUY LOPEZ, CHIGORIN VARIA-
TION (C98)
GM Bobby Fischer
GM Arthur Bisguier
U.S. Championship, New York,
12.19.1963
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.
O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3
Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13.
dxc5 dxc5 14. Nf1 Rd8 15. Qe2 Nh5 16. g3
g6 17. h4 Be6 18. Ne3 f6 19. Nd5
After a minute, Black chose 19. … Qb7.
“Fischer does not make unsound sacri-
fices” Bisguier said after the game. “I wasn’t
going to waste half an hour on the clock to
prove to myself I couldn’t take the pawn.”
Computers say both players were right.
White would have more than enough com-
pensation after 19. … Bxd5 20. exd5 Rxd5 21.
c4 — or the superior 21. a4!, and then 21. …
Rb8 22. axb5 axb5 23. c4!.
Knowing how Bobby thought saved Bis-
guier some clock minutes. But it didn’t help
his position and he was ground down after
20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Nh2 Ng7 22. Ng4 c4 23.
Qf3 Bxg4 24. Qxg4 Ne6 25. h5.
But in non-forcing positions, Fischer’s
thinking often appeared deeper than it really
was. Max Euwe contrasted the “clear and
simple” endgame play of Jose Capablanca
with the fourth game of the Fischer-Mark
Taimanov Candidates match of 1971. Bobby’s
last 25 moves “consisted of a system of com-
plicated maneuvers, difficult to understand
and still more difficult to find,” Euwe wrote
in Bobby Fischer — the Greatest?
But computers have failed to find anything
understandable in several of those moves.
Most likely, Fischer was following one of his
favorite ways of thinking: When you have
an enduring advantage, “just move around.”
Before his 1972 world championship
match, the cream of Soviet chess was asked
to predict Fischer’s thinking in the match.
Most of what they said turned out to be
wrong. Fischer’s “relative weakness” was not
the middlegame, as Paul Keres claimed. He
did not have a limited opening repertoire, as
Tigran Petrosian wrote. Miscalculations are
not “rare in his games,” as four grandmasters
— Isaac Boleslavsky, Lev Polugaevsky, Leonid
Shamkovich and Yevgeny Vasiukov — said.
However, Soviet players were pretty ac-
curate in describing the Fischer – Spassky
rematch twenty years later.
 QUIZ FOR PROBLEM 1 PROBLEM 2 PROBLEM 3
AUGUST WGM Polina Shuvalova
GM Max Warmender
GM Nils Grandelius
GM Richard Rapport
GM Daniel Dardha
WGM Polina Shuvalova
THE FIRST SUPER-
tournament of each year
traditionally occurs in Wijk
aan Zee, the Netherlands, and
2022 was no different. Magnus
Carlsen, fresh from his world
championship defense, dom-
inated the Tata Steel Masters
tournament and won it by a
point and a half. This month’s
BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE
quiz features games from that
event and the concurrent Tata
Steel Challengers. In each of PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6
GM R. Praggnanandhaa GM Andrey Esipenko GM Magnus Carlsen
the six diagrams you are asked
GM Nils Grandelius GM Anish Giri GM Richard Rapport
to find the fastest winning line
of play. This will usually mean
the forced win of a decisive
amount of material, such as a
minor piece or rook. But look
for mating threats as well. For
solutions, see page 63.

WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

his refusal to go for a forcing g5-g6 pawn

SICILIAN DEFENSE (B80)
GM Bobby Fischer
GM Boris Spassky
Match (25), Belgrade, 10.28.1992
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 e6 4. d4 cxd4
5. Nxd4 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. f3 a6
9. O-O-O O-O 10. g4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12.
g5 Nd7 13. h4 b4 14. Na4 Bb7 15. Nb6!
There was one Russian, Yuri Balashov, who
studied Fischer as he would an academic
subject. Balashov wrote his dissertation on
Bobby when he graduated from Moscow’s
State Central Institute of Physical Culture.
“Do you realize Fischer almost never has any
bad pieces?” Balashov famously said. “He
exchanges them.” This move trades a bad
white piece for an essential Black defender.
15. ... Rb8 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. Kb1 Qc7 18.
Bd3
(see diagram top of next column)
18. … Bc8?
Computers say Black should try the im-
mediate 18. … e5, the maneuver 18. … Bc6
and … Bc6-b5, or the central play of 18. …
d5. We don’t know if Fischer discussed this
with Spassky after the game — but he might
not have cared.
“During analysis, Fischer was mainly
interested in his own play, not the truth,”
another Fischer opponent, Vladimir Tukma-
kov wrote in Profession: Chessplayer. That is,
he wanted to know if he could play better.
He assumed his opponent could but it was
irrelevant. “Everyone else’s mistakes were
natural and inevitable,” Tukmakov wrote.
19. h5 e5 20. Be3 Be6 21. Rdg1
In the 1970 Interzonal Fischer’s loss to Bent
Larsen in a similar position was blamed on
sacrifice. Fischer didn’t play it because he
couldn’t calculate it to a clear end.
Here 21. g6 would have been sound.
But it takes a computer’s calculation to be
certain of 21. … fxg6 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Qg2
Rf6 24. Rdg1 Kf7, for example.
21…a5 22. g6 Bf6 23. gxh7+ Kh8 24. Bg5
“One thing he cannot do without is a con-
crete plan,” Tal had said of Fischer in 1972.
The plan is to attack the g7-square.
24…Qe7 25. Rg3 Bxg5 26. Rxg5 Qf6? 27.
Rhg1 Qxf3 28. Rxg7 Qf6 29. h6! a4 30. b3
axb3 31. axb3 Rfd8 32. Qg2 Rf8 33. Rg8+!
Kxh7 34. Rg7+ Kh8 35. h7, Black resigns.
There is no defense to 36. Rg8+ Kxh7 37.
Rh1+.
The English magazine Chess once ran a series
of “How Do Chessplayers Think?” articles.
The subjects, of varying strengths, were
shown an unfamiliar position and told to talk
about it into a tape recorder. Fischer died
before he could give us his audio stream of
consciousness. We’ll never be certain how
beautifully he thought.

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 11

ENDGAME SCHOOL Instruction

er of invention, and in the next two cases

Black was out of any other possibilities.

Stalemate A SINISTER PLAN

Vladimir Titenko
Jacob Murey
Moscow-ch (semi-final), 1963

Subtleties
Try these tricks and save a few
more draws!
BY GM JOEL BENJAMIN

W
E H AV E S E E N H O W
stalemate is a key theme in
endgames with rook pawns.
When multiple pieces populate
the board, schoolchildren may still envision
stalemate as a likely drawing method, but
advanced players need cunning sacrifices to
pull it off. Often the stronger side has only
him(her)self to blame, as carelessness is
the greatest catalyst for tactical stalemates.
GM Samuel Reshevsky infamously fell into
a stalemate trap against GM Larry Evans in
1962, but that position wasn’t really an end-
game. He should have been more alert to the
trap though, because stalemate swindled a
half-point from him twenty years earlier.
FOOL ME ONCE...
Carl Pilnick
Samuel Reshevsky
U.S. Championship (12), New York, 1942
BLACK TO MOVE
hard part is over. Pilnick still has a few tricks
up his sleeve. It looks like White’s two passed pawns will
win the day, but Murey spots an incredible
89. f4! Qf1+ resource.
When your opponent is out of weapons,
grabbing the last (movable) pawn can offer 48. … Rf2+ 49. Ke1 d2+ 50. Kxf2 d1=Q 51.
a slight glimmer of hope to a beaten player. Re6+ Kd3!
89. ... g4! 90. Qg2 Qxg2+ 91. Kxg2 Kb8 would This prevents the rook from interposing,
destroy any stalemate tricks before they with a sinister plan.
come into play.
52. c8=Q Qd2+ 53. Kg1 Qc1+!! 54. Qxc1,
90. Kh2 Qxf4+ 91. Kh1 Qe3 92. Qf5 g4?? draw.
Stalemate!
MOUSE MOVES
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770)
GM Daniil Dubov (2710)
Carlsen Invitational, chess24.com, 2021

Seemingly a practical solution, as Black

doesn’t need the kingside pawns after 93.
Qxg4 Qe1+ 94. Kg2 Qg3+ 95. Qxg3 hxg3 96.
Kxg3 Kb8.

93. Qf2!, draw.

WHITE TO MOVE
Reshevsky has already been grinding away
in the queen ending for 52 moves, and the
Of course 93. … Qxf2 is stalemate.
The best tactical stalemates in endgames
seem to come out of nowhere, as if fate
conspires to place the pieces in just the right
squares. It requires a great deal of creativity
to spot them, especially when the king is not
on the edge. Necessity is said to be the moth-
WHITE TO MOVE
White could grind out the win with 66. Bc3
Rf1 64. Re5, but what could be wrong with
threatening the bishop?
66. Be5? Rf1! 67. Rc7+ Kd5 68. Rxc2

12 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 ENDGAME
HOMEWORK
IT WOULDN’T BE ENDGAME
School without a bit of
homework.
Try your hand at these two
somewhat more convention-
al stalemate problems. The
answers appear on page 63.
Rxf5+! 69. Kxf5, draw.
Another stalemate.
My favorite stalemate-themed endgame is
actually a near-miss, where the loser had an
opportunity to fine tune the stalemate idea
to perfection. Here the king is placed rather
conventionally in the corner, but the piece to
be given away is a knight. That’s a much great-
er challenge than pitching a queen or rook!
PATHS NOT TAKEN
IM Olga Zimina (2367)
WFM Anastasia Bykova (2247)
Sharjah Cup (Women) 2020
BLACK TO MOVE
In the game, Black’s stalemate attempts were
cleverly turned aside.
53. … Rb6? 54. d5 Rxd6 55. Bxd6 Ng5 56.
Bc7 h4
I think 56. ... Ne4 offers a touch more resis-
tance as White has one more hurdle to go in
advancing the pawn. 57. Kg2 h4 58. Kh2 h3
59. Kxh3 Nd6 60. Kg4 Nc4 (60. ... Ne4 61. Be5
Nd6 62. Kg5 transposes) 61. Kg5 Nd6 62. Kf4
Nc4 63. Be5 Nd6 64. Kg5 Nc4 65. Kf6 Nd6 66.
Ke6 Nc4 (66. ... Ne4 67. Bd4 Kb8 68. Be3 Ka8 69.
Ke5) 67. Bf4 and the pawn finally advances.
PROBLEM 1
What drawing idea did White miss?
WHITE TO MOVE
57. d6 Nf3+ 58. Kg2 Ne5 59. Kh3 Nd7 60.
Kxh4 Nc5
61. Kh3!!
Only this finesse wins, as every other move
walks into knight forks. But now we have
zugzwang, the dreaded enemy of knights.
61. ... Nd7 62. Kg4
Now the king can approach, and the pawn
cannot be held back for long.
62. ... Nc5 63. Kf5 Nd7 64. Ke6 Nc5+ 65.
Ke7 Nd7 66. Ba5!
Destroying the stalemate defense for good.
66. ... Ne5 67. Bc3 Nc6+ 68. Kd7 Nb8+ 69.
Kc8 Nc6 70. d7 Ne7+ 71. Kc7 Nd5+ 72.
Kd6, Black resigned.
Returning to the original diagram, 53. ...
Rb1+! looks on the face of it like a spite
check. Clearly White’s king will run out from
the checks, and yet... where exactly will the
king go? Every path has its downside:
Kingside: 54. Kf2 Rb2+ 55. Kg3 Rb3+ 56.
Kh4. The king looks good here but Black
exploits the blocked h-pawn: 56. … Rb6
57. d5 Rxd6 58. Bxd6 Nc7! and stalemate
is achieved.
Up the middle: 54. Kf2 Rb2+ 55. Ke3 Rb3+
56. Ke4. On the surface, the king is helping,
PROBLEM 2
What should White play here?
WHITE TO MOVE
but it has wandered into range of the knight.
56. ... Rb6 57. d5 Nc5+ 58. Kf5 Rxd6 59. Bxd6
Nxa6 Black’s king emerges from its tomb to
help keep the passed pawn at bay.
Queenside: 54. Kf2 Rb2+ 55. Ke3 Rb3+ 56.
Kd2 Rb2+ 57. Kc3. This path avoids imme-
diate tactics, but the king is far from Black’s
passed pawns. Even so, only super exact play
will make a difference. The correct path
(only now!) is 57. … Rb6 when the king is
less blatantly misplaced on the c3-square,
but its distance from blocking the h-pawn
makes all the difference... with some very
precise play by Black. Play continues 58. d5
Rxd6 59. Bxd6 Ng7!!
POSITION AFTER 59. ... Ng7
Only this maneuver takes advantage of the
wayward king: 60. Bh2 (60. Kd4 h4 61. Be5
h3 62. Ke4 Ne8 63. Kf3 Nd6 64. Kg3 Nc4 65.
Bf4 Nb6 66. d6 Nd7 67. Kxh3 Kb8 68. Be3
Ne5 69. Kg3 Nc6 is equal) 60. ... Nf5 61. Kb4
h4 62. Kb5 (after 62. Kc5 h3 63. d6 Nxd6 64.
Kxd6 Kb8 stalemate is still on) 62. ... h3 63.
Kc5 Ng3! 64. Kd4 Ne4 65. Ke5 Nc5 66. d6 Kb8
67. Kf6 Kc8 68. Ke7 Nd7 and the continued
presence of the h-pawn means the bishop
can never snag the a7-pawn.
Check out the first months of GM
Joel Benjamin’s new “Endgame
School” in our Digital Archives at
uschess.org!
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 13

Three Americans
Qualify for World Cup
at Continental
Championship
With four World Cup spots up for grabs, no
fewer than 10 Americans made their way to
San Salvador, El Salvador, to try their luck
at the American Continental Chess Cham-
pionship (May 2-10).
Three of the World Cup spots are in Amer-
ican hands, with GMs Timur Gareyev, Chris-
topher Yoo, and Gregory Kaidanov claiming
seats in the 2023 FIDE World Cup (time and
date to be announced).
Here’s an interesting game from the event
by Christopher Yoo (seen above), with his
exclusive annotations.
KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE (A48)
GM Ivan Morovic Fernandez (2495)
GM Christopher Yoo (2535)
American Continental Chess Champi-
onship (7), 05.06.2022
Annotations by GM Christopher Yoo
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 c5
Trying to get rid of White’s central pawn.
4. dxc5 Qa5 5. a3 Qxc5 6. b4 Qc7 7. Bb2
Bg7 8. e3 0-0 9. c4 b6
Going for a Hedgehog setup. I think Black is
14 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
pretty solid, as White does not have a strong
central bind with the pawn on e3.
10. Be2 Bb7 11. 0-0 d6 12. Rc1 Nbd7 13.
Qb3 Rac8 14. Rfd1 Qb8 15. Nb1?!
I think he was trying to bring the knight
to c3, but it does not really improve the
position. After 15. Nd4!? Qa8 16. f3 Bh6 17.
e4 a6 18. Nc2 I wouldn’t say White is better,
but this position has much more interesting
prospects than were found in the game.
15. ... Qa8 16. Nbd2
It is clearly not ideal to move your piece
right back to where it was a move ago. Better
was 16. Nc3 a6 with equality. White cannot
play Nc3-d5, as I have several pieces con-
trolling that square. It is hard to see a plan
for White here.
16. ... Rc7 17. Rc2 Rfc8 18. Rdc1 e5
Grabbing some space in the center.
19. Ne1 a5 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Ndxf3?!
The knight was well placed on d2, guarding
the c4-pawn. After the correct 21. Nexf3 a4
22. Qa2 Ne4 23. Qb1 Black has a little some-
thing, but I do not see an advantage.
21. ... axb4?!
Trying to take the a-file, but there was a bet-
ter, more concrete way of playing: 21. ... a4!
22. Qa2 b5!? 23. cxb5 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 Rxc2 25.
Nxc2 Nb6 and with ... Qa8-e8xb5 coming up,
White is very uncomfortable here.
22. axb4 Ra7 23. Rd1 Qc6 24. Rcc1 Bf8
Going for a possible endgame with ... Qc6-a4.
25. b5?!
Giving my knight a powerful square. Better
was 25. Nd3 Qa4 26. Qxa4 Rxa4 27. Nd2 when
chances are equal.
25. ... Nc5 26. Qc2 Qe4 27. Qe2 Ra2 28.
Ra1 Rca8 29. Nd2 Qf5 30. Qf3 R8a4 31.
Rxa2 Rxa2
(see diagram top of next column)
32. Bc1
Too passive. The only move to hold the
position together is 32. Bc3! Nce4 33. Bb4
Nxd2 34. Qxf5 gxf5 35. Rxd2 Ra1 36. Kf1
and Black is still pressing, but White can
probably hold.
BY JOHN HARTMANN
32. ... Nfe4 33. Nxe4 Nxe4 34. Qxf5 gxf5
35. Nd3 Nc3 36. Re1 Rc2 37. Kf1 Na4?
This is a mistake as it lets his knight back
into the game via the b4-square. Black is
winning after 37. ... Na2! 38. Re2 Rxc1+ 39.
Nxc1 Nxc1 40. Rc2 Nb3! 41. Ra2 Na5.
38. Nb4 Rxc4 39. Ba3??
With just 30 seconds on the clock, White
blunders a piece. After 39. Bd2 Rc5 40. Ra1
Nb2 41. Nc6 Kg7 White is down a pawn with
a very difficult defense, but I do not think it
is really winning for Black.
39. ... d5, White resigned.
Results by American players: GM Timur
Gareyev, 9½/11. GM Christopher Yoo, 8.
GM Gregory Kaidanov, 8. IM Justin Sarkar,
8. GM Robert Hungaski, 7½. WGM Thalia
Cervantes, 7½. GM Dariusz Swiercz, 7. FM
Gregory Markzon, 6. Bob Holliman, 5. Edgar
Lopez De Anda, 2½.
What a day!
Most people dream of earning just one
grandmaster norm.
Germany’s Frederik Svane earned two in
less than twenty-four hours.
After scoring his initial norm in October
2021, the new “GM-elect” took the second
step towards his GM title by finishing in
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER
second place at the HSK (Hamburg Chess
Club) May Invitational with 6½/9.
This was no small task. After four draws to
start the tournament, Svane ground down IM
Lawrence Trent in 177(!) moves. Following
a fifth draw, Svane won three more consec-
utive games to finish the event and gain the
norm. Here he defeats noted theoretician
GM Vassilos Kotronias in a sharp battle.

SICILIAN DEFENSE, ROSSO-
LIMO VARIATION (B31)
IM Frederik Svane (2501)
GM Vassilos Kotronias (2465)
HSK GM 2022 (8), Hamburg, 05.26.2022
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6
5. 0-0 Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 0–0 8. h3 f5 9.
e5 Nf7 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 c5 12. dxc5
Bb7 13. Na3 Rc8 14. Be3 e6 15. Nc4 g5
16. Qd4 h5 17. Rac1 Rc7 18. Nd6 g4 19.
Nxf7 Kxf7 20. Ng5+ Kg6 21. h4 Bd5 22. b4
Qa8 23. b5 Rfc8 24. Qf4 Bf8 25. c6 Bh6 26.
f3 dxc6 27. fxg4 Rf8 28. gxh5+ Kxh5 29.
Red1 c5 30. Bxc5 Rfc8 31. Be3 Bxg2 32.
Rxc7 Rxc7 33. Qg3 Rc4 34. Rd4 Rxd4 35.
Bxd4 Bd5 36. Nh7 Bd2 37. Nf6+ Kh6 38.
Be3+, Black resigned.
With his second norm in hand, and with the
Hamburg tournament completed on May
27, Svane set off to represent his club in
the fifth weekend of the Bundesliga. Having
scored six points in the first eight rounds,
he only needed a draw against veteran GM
Eduardas Rozentalis to achieve a nine-round
norm. Just 21 moves later, Svane was a newly
minted grandmaster.
PHOTO: COURTESY HSK1830 / REINHART AHRENS
FOUR KNIGHTS
VARIATION (C49)
GM Frederik Svane (2521)
GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2523)
Schach Bundesliga (9), 05.28.2022
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bb4
5. 0–0 0–0 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2 a6 8. Bxc6 bxc6
9. Ng3 h6 10. c3 Bc5 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4
Bb6 13. h3 Re8 14. Re1 Bd7 15. Bd2 c5
16. e5 Nh7 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. Ne4 Bb6 19.
IM Frederik Svane
versus GM Eduardas
Rozentalis.
exd6 Bc6 20. Qc2 Bxe4 21. Rxe4, draw.
At age 17, Svane is not the only titleholder
in his family. His older brother Rasmus is
also a grandmaster, and at 2649 FIDE, the
elder Svane is preparing to make his first
appearance as a member of the German
Olympiad team in Chennai.
New Titles
Congratulations to these new American
FIDE titleholders, awarded between April
8 and July 18, 2022:
■ GM: Daniel Fernandez, Christopher
Yoo.
■ IM: Eddy Tian, Tiangi Wang, Jack Zhu.
■ FM: Ryan Amburgy, Arun Dixit, Alex
King, Sriram Krishnakumar, Ming Lu,
Eigen Wang.
■ WFM: Elizabeth Sloan.
■ IA: Al Losoff, Maya Myers, Judit Sz-
taray, Martha Underwood.
■ IO: Peter Giannatos, Xuhao He.
■ NA: Todd Andrews, Anthony Guerra.
The Swiss Circuit
Here are Open section winners from recent
Swiss events across the country:
2022 Reno Larry Evans Memorial (April
14-17, Reno, NV): 1st-5th: GMs Enrico Se-
villano and Alex Yermolinsky, Andy Lin,
Jiangwei Yu, Shaashwath Sivakumar, 4½/6.
199 players, eight sections.
Sheridan Wyoming Open 2022 (April 30-
May 1, Sheridan, WY):GM 1st:Anatoly Karpov
IM Justin Sarkar,
4½/5. 2nd-4th: GM Alex Fishbein, Sullivan
Mac McConnell, James Neal II, 4. 76 players,
three sections.
30th Annual Eastern Class (April 29-May
1, Sturbridge, MA): 1st-2nd: GMs Alexander
Ivanov and Mark Paragua, 4/5. 3rd-5th: GM
Jianchao Zhou, FM Danila Poliannikov, Ansh
Shah, 3½. 225 players, seven sections.
2nd Annual Niagara Falls Open (May
13-15, Niagara Falls, NY): 1st: GM Mark
Paragua, 4½/5. 2nd: GM Timur Gareyev, 4.
3rd-6th: FMs Noam Aviv Vitenberg and Erick
Zhao, William Hongyu Li, Vishruth Vinayak
Sharma, 3½. 96 players, six sections.
2022 Denver Open (May 20-22, Denver,
CO): 1st: GM Jesse Kraai, 4½/5. 2nd-3rd:
Neil Bhavikatti, Jorge Rubio, 4. 4th: Gunnar
Andersen, 3½. 190 players, four sections.
9th Cherry Blossom Classic (May 26-30,
Dulles, VA): 1st: GM Joshua Ruiz Castillo,
8/9. 2nd-4th: GM Alex Lenderman, IM Sahil
Sinha, FM Justin Paul, 6½. 266 players, five
sections.
31st Chicago Open (May 26-30, Wheeling,
IL): 1st-4th: GMs Awonder Liang, Aleksey
Sorokin, Jeffery Xiong, Jianchao Zhou, 7/9.
931 players, eight sections.
Washington Open (May 28-30, Redmond,
WA): 1st: Ananth S. Gottumukkala, 6/6. 2nd-
4th: IM Georgi Orlov, WIM Megan Lee, John
Readey, 5. Note that Gottumukkala went into
the event rated 1841 and gained 173 rating
points! 170 players, three sections.
6th Annual Carolinas Classic (June 10-12,
Charlotte, NC): 1st-4th: GMs Elshan Moradia-
badi, Daniel Naroditsky, Alexander Shabalov,
IM David Brodsky. 385 players, 11 sections.
2022 National Open (June 8-12, Las Vegas,
NV): 1st: IM Semen Khanin, 7½/9. 2nd-3rd:
GMs Vladimir Akopian and Illia Nyzhnyk,
7. 910 players, 10 sections.
45th Green Bay Open (July 2-3, Green Bay,
WI): 1st: IM Eric Santarius, 5/5. 2nd-6th:
Aditya Gupta, Josiah Stein, Evan C. Seghers,
Hiro Higuchi, Krish Sharma, 4. 109 players,
two sections. See the June “First Moves” for
more on this event.
50th Annual World Open (June 29-July
4, Philadelphia, PA): 1st-8th: GMs Mikhail
Antipov, Arman Mikaelyan, Jeffery Xiong,
Jianchao Zhou, Pablo Salinas Herrera, Bran-
don Jacobson, IMs Semen Khanin and Minh
Tuan Le, 7/9. 1452 players, eight sections.
For up-to-date chess news and
analysis, check out Chess Life
Online at uschess.org/clo on a
regular basis.
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 15
 One Man’s
H aving wrapped up our theoretical analysis in last month’s installment, we now conclude this series on the Tarrasch Defense
with some suggested resources for your further reading and research. First things first: here is a selected list of books and
other instructional materials on the Tarrasch that I think are worth checking out. They are listed in order of publication date.
MEETING 1. d4
by GM Jacob Aagaard and FM Esben
Lund (Everyman, 2002)
This book is (given that it was published 20
years ago) a bit dated, both theoretically
and with respect to the strength of the
contemporary engines used in its analysis.
Still, like all of Aagaard’s books, it con-
tains lots of deeply annotated games and
thoughtful insights. Includes coverage of
multiple approaches by Black, including
9. Bg5 cxd4 (as in Part 2 of this series),
9. Bg5 c4, and even the totally different
Hennig-Schara Gambit.
WINNING CHESS MIDDLE-
GAMES: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE
TO PAWN STRUCTURES
by GM Ivan Sokolov (New in Chess,
2009)
This book is what first inspired me to
play the Tarrasch. It is not specifically
about Tarrasch theory, but the opening
features heavily in its chapter on isolated
pawns. Sokolov’s analytical (and playing)
style is passionate and very complex. This
book is great as inspirational material
for Tarrasch players, but not intended as
comprehensive or repertoire coverage.
16 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
Tarrasch
The Tarrasch Defense for club
players. Part 6 of 6.
BY FM ALEX KING
GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE
10: THE TARRASCH DEFENCE
by GM Jacob Aagaard and Nikolaos
Ntirlis (Quality Chess, 2011)
Completely updated and improved cover-
age over Aagaard’s earlier work. Against
the main line it relies exclusively on 9.
Bg5 c4 and not this series’ 9. Bg5 cxd4. The
excellent treatment of all of White’s side-
lines formed the basis of my own Tarrasch
repertoire for many years. Again, a bit out
of date, so stronger players may want to
“trust but verify” some of the analysis with
the latest generation of engines.
THE ART OF THE TAR-
RASCH DEFENSE
by GM Alexey Bezgodov (New in
Chess, 2017)
The most recent Tarrasch-specific book
I have read. It contains wide-ranging
coverage of many different approach-
es for Black, with a large amount of
auxiliary material, including model
games by notable Tarrasch players, and
exercises. Perhaps not the best option
if you’re looking for a tight, contiguous
repertoire, like the one presented in
this series.
 The Tarrasch Defense IMPROVEMENT

GRANDMASTER OPENING “LEARN TO PLAY

PREPARATION THE TARRASCH
by GM Jaan Ehlvest (Quality DEFENSE”
Chess, 2018) (CHESS.COM
Like Sokolov’s book, not about the LESSON)
Tarrasch specifically, but the opening by IM Mateusz Bobula
figures prominently in it. Also in a (Chess.com, 2019)
similar inspirational style, although This lesser-known au-
Ehlvest’s comments are much more thor has put together a
impressionistic than Sokolov’s heav- great interactive sam-
ily detailed ones. Includes unique pling of Tarrasch theory
material on lesser-known Tarrasch and practice. The level of material is somewhat introductory, but you
exponent GM Anatoly Lein. can’t beat the price — free for full members of the site.

“THE TARRASCH “ERWIN’S OPENING LAB: THE DU-

DEFENSE” (FRITZ-
TRAINER DVD)
by GM Erwin L’Ami
(Chessbase, 2018)
For those who enjoy learn-
ing from videos, this is a
high-quality and up-to-
date production by an
extremely well-respected
theoretician. Myself, I pre-
fer books and magazine
articles!
BOV TARRASCH” (MOVETRAINER
COURSE)
by GM Erwin L’Ami (Chessable, 2019)
Specialty coverage of the recently trendy Dubov
Tarrasch with an early … B(f8)-c5. My recommen-
dation regarding the Tarrasch (or any opening) is
that you start by learning the historical main lines,
in order to properly understand the fundamental
ideas that underlie any subsequent trends. Once
you have a solid foundation, and some experience
playing the opening, then investigate specific new
developments like this one.

Next I present five of my personal “Tarrasch heroes,” with three model games by each player. Most of these games have been analyzed and
annotated by strong players — including in some of the recommended sources above — but I encourage you to analyze them for yourself,
with or without an engine. Nothing beats owning your own research and understanding of the raw material of chess history and practice.
Nevertheless, I have noted a few highlights to look for in each game.

World Championship Challenger in 1908,
SIEGBERT TARRASCH and such an influential chess writer and
pedagogue that the Tarrasch Defense might
not even be the most important opening
named after him.
Rxb2 c5 19. b5 d4 20. 0-0 d3 21. Qd2 c4
22. b6 c3 23. Qxc3 Nd5 24. bxa7 Rbd8
25. Qa5 Qxg5 26. Bb7 Bh3 27. g3 Qf6 28.
Bxd5 Qxb2 29. Rd1 Qe2 30. Ra1 d2, White
resigned.

TARRASCH DEFENSE (D40) TARRASCH DEFENSE (D40)

Fedor Dus Chotimirsky Carl August Walbrodt
Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch
Hamburg (15), 08.04.1910 Match (5), Nuremberg 1894

What to watch for: Transition from IQP
to hanging pawns. Central breakthrough.
Kingside attack.
PHOTO: WIKIPEDIA
What to watch for: Tarrasch playing against
the IQP. White’s bad bishop. Technical ending.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c5 5. Nf3

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be2 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. a3 b6 9. Ne5

Nc6 6. a3 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6 9.
Bb2 0-0 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nb5 Bb8 12.
Siegbert Tarrasch,
Nbd4 Qe7 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Qc2 Bd7 15.
circa 1900
Ng5 Be5 16. Ba6 Rab8 17. Rb1 Bxb2 18.
Bb7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. b3 Qd7 12. Bb2
dxc4 13. Bxc4 Rfd8 14. Ne2 cxd4 15. exd4
Qb7 16. f3 e5 17. b4 b5 18. Bd3 e4 19.
fxe4 Bxe4 20. Bxe4 Qxe4 21. Qd2 Nd5 22.

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 17

IMPROVEMENT The Tarrasch Defense
Ng3 Qe3+ 23. Qxe3 Nxe3 24. Rfe1 Nd5 25.
Ne4 Nb6 26. Nc3 Bf6 27. Nxb5 Na4 28. Bc1
a6 29. Nc7 Bxd4+ 30. Be3 Bxa1 31. Rxa1
Rac8 32. Nxa6 Rc3 33. Nc5 Rxe3 34. Nxa4
Ra8 35. Rc1 Rxa3 36. Nb6 Ra1 37. Rxa1
Rxa1+ 38. Kf2 Rb1 39. Nd5 Rd1 40. Ne7+
Kf8 41. Nc6 Ke8 42. b5 Kd7 43. Ne5+ Ke6
44. Nc6 Kd6 45. Ke3 Kc5 46. Ke2 Rd7 47.
Ke3 Kxb5 48. Ne5 Re7 49. Kf4 Kc5 50. Kf5
Kd5 51. Ng4 Re4 52. h3 f6 53. g3 Re1 54.
Kf4 Rf1+ 55. Ke3 h5 56. Nf2 Rxf2 57. Kxf2
Ke4 58. Ke2 h4 59. g4 g6 60. Kf2 Kf4 61.
Kg2 Ke3 62. Kg1 Kf3 63. Kh2 Kf2 64. Kh1
Kg3, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D32)
Theodor Nissl
Siegbert Tarrasch
Casual game, Munich 1932
What to watch for: Panov formation. Ex-
change sacrifice. Bishop pair. Queen sacrifice.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Nf6 7. e3 Be7 8. Be2 0-0
9. 0-0 Be6 10. h3 Ne4 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. a3
Nxc3 13. Rxc3 c4 14. Qb1 b5 15. b4 Qd8
16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 a5 18. Bd1 f6 19.
Bg3 Rf7 20. f4 f5 21. Be1 axb4 22. axb4
Qf8 23. Rc1 Bd6 24. Rf2 Rfa7 25. Rb2 Ra3
26. Bc3 R8a7 27. Qc2 Qa8 28. g4 g6 29.
Qg2 Rxc3 30. Rxc3 Ra1 31. Kh2 Rxd1 32.
Ra2 Qf8 33. Rca3 Bb8 34. gxf5 Qxf5 35.
Ra8 Qf8 36. R2a6 c3 37. Kg3 Rd2 38. Qf1
c2 39. Qc1 Rd3 40. Kf2 Bf5 41. Qxc2 Rxe3
42. Qc6 Re8 43. Qxd5+ Kg7 44. Qxb5 Qe7
45. R6a7 Bxa7 46. Rxe8 Bxd4+ 47. Kg3
Qh4+ 48. Kxh4 Bf2+ 49. Kg5 h6, mate.
GM Boris Spassky, 1956
118
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GM BORIS SPASSKY
The tenth World Champion. A player with
a noted “universal” style, he nevertheless
tended toward the kind of active piece play
that the Tarrasch fosters.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Tigran Petrosian
GM Boris Spassky
World Championship (4), Moscow,
04.21.1969
What to watch for: “Bad” vs “good” bishop.
Psychological pressure of match situation.
Kingside attack.
1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0
9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Bg4 12.
Nb3 Be6 13. Rc1 Re8 14. Re1 Qd7 15. Bc5
Rac8 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. e3 Red8 18. Qe2
Bg4 19. f3 Bf5 20. Rcd1 Ne5 21. Nd4 Bg6
22. Bh3 Rc4 23. g4 Rb4 24. b3 Nc6 25. Qd2
Rb6 26. Nce2 Bh7 27. Bg2 Re8 28. Ng3
Nxd4 29. exd4 Re6 30. Rxe6 Qxe6 31. Rc1
Bg6 32. Bf1 Nh7 33. Qf4 Nf8 34. Rc5 Bb1
35. a4 Ng6 36. Qd2 Qf6 37. Kf2 Nf4 38.
a5 Bd3 39. Nf5 Qg5 40. Ne3 Qh4+ 41. Kg1
Bxf1, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Mark Taimanov (2600)
GM Boris Spassky (2690)
Soviet Team Final (3), Rostov on Don,
08.1971
What to watch for: Early deconstruction of
pawn center. Queenside majority. King safety.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9.
Be3 c4 10. Ne5 Be6 11. Nxc4 dxc4 12. d5
Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Rc8 14. Rb1 b5 15. a4 Bxd5
16. Bxd5 a6 17. axb5 axb5 18. b3 Ba3 19.
Ra1 Bb2 20. Ra6 Nb4 21. Rd6 Qe7 22. bxc4
bxc4 23. Bf3 c3 24. Rd7 Qe6 25. Qa4 Nc6
26. Rb7 Ne5 27. Be4 Nc4 28. Qc2 Nxe3
29. fxe3 h6 30. Rf3 Rcd8 31. Bd3 Rxd3 32.
exd3 Qd5 33. Rxb2 cxb2 34. Rf1 Qe5 35.
e4 Ra8 36. Qb3 Ra1 37. Kg2 Rc1 38. Qxf7+
Kh7 39. Rf5 Qd6 40. e5, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D40)
GM Ludek Pachman
GM Boris Spassky
Interzonal (8), Amsterdam 05.29.1964
What to watch for: Dry symmetrical struc-
ture. Bishop pair. Rook endgame.
GM Garry Kasparov,
1985
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5.
d4 d5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. a3 dxc4 8. Qxd8+
Kxd8 9. Bxc4 Bd7 10. b4 Bd6 11. Nb5 Bb8
12. Nbd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Ke7 14. Bb2 Rc8
15. Bd3 a5 16. b5 Bd6 17. Ke2 Nd5 18.
Be4 Rc5 19. a4 f5 20. Bxd5 Rxd5 21. Rhc1
e5 22. Nb3 Be6 23. Rc2 Bb4 24. Ba3 Rd7
25. Nd2 e4 26. Bxb4+ axb4 27. Rb2 Rc8
28. a5 Rd5 29. Nb3 Rxb5 30. Nd4 Bc4+
31. Kd2 Rbc5 32. Rxb4 Ba6 33. Rb2 g6
34. Rc2 Kd6 35. Rxc5 Rxc5 36. h4 Kd5 37.
PHOTOS: COURTESY JOOP VAN BILSEN / ANEFO (SPASSKY); ROB CROES / ANEFO (KASPAROV)
g3 Rc4 38. h5 Rc5 39. Ra3 Ke5 40. hxg6
hxg6 41. Nb3 Rc8 42. Ra4 Rh8 43. Nc5
Rd8+ 44. Kc3 Rd5 45. Nxa6 bxa6 46. Ra2
Rb5 47. Kc4 Kf6 48. g4 fxg4 49. Kd4 Kf5
50. Rc2 Rxa5 51. Rc8 Ra4+ 52. Kd5 g3 53.
Rf8+ Kg4 54. fxg3 Kxg3 55. Ke5 g5, White
resigned.
GM GARRY KASPAROV
The thirteenth World Champion, and in my
opinion the greatest Tarrasch player ever.
His games from the 1980s still inspire me
decades later.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Predrag Nikolic (2490)
GM Garry Kasparov (2690)
Niksic (9), 09.04.1983
What to watch for: Black’s d4-pawn vs
White’s e2-pawn. Tactical breakthrough.
Technical ending.
 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9.
dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bg5 d4 11. Ne4 Be7 12. Bxf6
Bxf6 13. Rc1 Re8 14. Ne1 Be7 15. Nd3 Bf8
16. Qd2 a5 17. Rfd1 Bg4 18. Ndc5 Bxc5 19.
Rxc5 Qe7 20. h3 Bxe2 21. Re1 d3 22. Qc3
Rad8 23. Nd2 Nd4 24. Qxa5 h6 25. Rc3 b6
26. Qa6 Qg5 27. Rxd3 Qg6 28. Bf1 Qxd3
29. Qxd3 Bxd3 30. Rxe8+ Rxe8 31. Bxd3
Re1+ 32. Bf1 Ra1 33. Nc4 b5 34. Nd6 Rxa2
35. Nxb5 Nxb5 36. Bxb5 Rxb2 37. Bc4 Rc2
38. Bd5 Kf8 39. h4 g6 40. Kg2 Ke7 41. Kf3
Rc7 42. Ke4 Kd6 43. Ba2 Re7+ 44. Kd4 Ra7
45. Bb3 Ke7 46. Ke4 Kf6 47. Bd5 Re7+ 48.
Kf4 Re2 49. Kf3 Rd2 50. Bc4 Rd4 51. Ba2
Rd7 52. Bc4 Ke5 53. Ba2 Kd4 54. Bb1 Rc7
55. Ba2 Ra7 56. Bb1 Ra1 57. Bc2 Kc3 58.
Be4 Kd2 59. Kg2 Ke1 60. Bd5 Ra7 61. f4
Ke2 62. h5 gxh5 63. Bf3+ Ke3 64. Bxh5
Ra2+ 65. Kh3 f6 66. Be8 Kf2 67. Kh4 Ra8
68. Bc6 Rg8 69. g4 Ke3 70. Kg3 f5 71. Bf3
h5, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Vassily Smyslov (2600)
GM Garry Kasparov (2710)
Candidates Final (12), Vilnius,
04.07.1984
What to watch for: Central hanging pawns.
Bishop pair. Wild complications.
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Nc3 Nc6 9.
Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3
Be6 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Qa4 Rc8 15. Rad1
Kh8 16. Kh1 a6 17. f4 Na5 18. f5 b5 19.
Qh4 Ng8 20. Qh3 Nc4 21. Bc1 Bg5 22. fxe6
Bxc1 23. Rxc1 Ne3 24. Nxd5 Nxf1 25. Rxf1
Rf8 26. Nf4 Ne7 27. Qg4 g5 28. Qh3 Rf6
29. Nd3 Rxf1+ 30. Bxf1 Kg7 31. Qg4 Qd5+
32. e4 Qd4 33. h4 Rf8 34. Be2 Qe3 35.
Kg2 Ng6 36. h5 Ne7 37. b4 Kh7 38. Kh2
Rd8 39. e5 Rxd3 40. Bxd3+ Qxd3, White
resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Anatoly Karpov (2700)
PHOTO: US CHESS ARCHIVES / NIGEL EDDIS
GM Garry Kasparov (2710)
World Championship (9), Moscow,
10.05.1984
What to watch for: I had to include one
Tarrasch loss, and this is the most monu-
mental ever.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Nc3 Nc6 9.
Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qb3
Na5 13. Qc2 Bg4 14. Nf5 Rc8 15. Bd4 Bc5
16. Bxc5 Rxc5 17. Ne3 Be6 18. Rad1 Qc8 19.
Qa4 Rd8 20. Rd3 a6 21. Rfd1 Nc4 22. Nxc4
Rxc4 23. Qa5 Rc5 24. Qb6 Rd7 25. Rd4 Qc7
26. Qxc7 Rdxc7 27. h3 h5 28. a3 g6 29. e3
Kg7 30. Kh2 Rc4 31. Bf3 b5 32. Kg2 R7c5
33. Rxc4 Rxc4 34. Rd4 Kf8 35. Be2 Rxd4 36.
exd4 Ke7 37. Na2 Bc8 38. Nb4 Kd6 39. f3
Ng8 40. h4 Nh6 41. Kf2 Nf5 42. Nc2 f6 43.
Bd3 g5 44. Bxf5 Bxf5 45. Ne3 Bb1 46. b4
gxh4 47. Ng2 hxg3+ 48. Kxg3 Ke6 49. Nf4+
Kf5 50. Nxh5 Ke6 51. Nf4+ Kd6 52. Kg4 Bc2
53. Kh5 Bd1 54. Kg6 Ke7 55. Nxd5+ Ke6 56.
Nc7+ Kd7 57. Nxa6 Bxf3 58. Kxf6 Kd6 59.
Kf5 Kd5 60. Kf4 Bh1 61. Ke3 Kc4 62. Nc5 Bc6
63. Nd3 Bg2 64. Ne5+ Kc3 65. Ng6 Kc4 66.
Ne7 Bb7 67. Nf5 Bg2 68. Nd6+ Kb3 69. Nxb5
Ka4 70. Nd6, Black resigned.
FM ERIC SCHILLER
FM Eric Schiller
Author of an early book on the Tarrasch in
1984. See my obituary in the January 2019
issue of Chess Life for perspective on his
controversial literary legacy, prolificacy,
and generosity of chess spirit. Not a world-
class player, but therefore potentially more
accessible for club players than some of the
others on this list.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
IM Saevar Bjarnason (2395)
FM Eric Schiller (2230)
Reykjavik Open (7), 1986
What to watch for: White’s e2-e4 undermin-
ing break. Queen sacrifice. Another queen
sacrifice (!).
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5.
0-0 0-0 6. c4 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9.
Bg5 c4 10. Ne5 Be6 11. Rc1 h6 12. Bf4 Rc8
13. b3 Ba3 14. Rb1 Bb4 15. Bd2 Bf5 16.
e4 dxe4 17. bxc4 a5 18. a3 Bxa3 19. Rxb7
Nxd4 20. Nb5 Bb2 21. Na7 Rb8 22. Nac6
Nxc6 23. Nxc6 Rxb7 24. Nxd8 Rxd8 25.
Qc2 Bd4 26. Bxa5 Rc8 27. Bd2 Rb2 28. Qc1
Ra2 29. Be3 Bxe3 30. fxe3 Be6 31. Qb1
Re2 32. Rc1 Rxe3 33. Qb6 Re2 34. c5 Nd5
35. Qa6 Re3 36. Qd6 Nc3 37. Bf1 Ne2+ 38.
Kf2 Rd3 39. Qxe6 fxe6 40. Bxe2 Rd5 41. c6
Kf8 42. Ke3 Ke7 43. Ba6 Rc7 44. Bb7 Kd6
45. Rf1 Ke5 46. Rf8 Rd3+ 47. Ke2 Rb3 48.
Rd8 Rb2+ 49. Ke3 Rf7 50. Rd2 Rf3+ 51.
Ke2 Rxd2+ 52. Kxd2 Kd6, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
Steve Shutt
FM Eric Schiller
U.S. Open (10), Alexandria, 08.14.1996
What to watch for: White double fianchetto.
Tactical breakthrough. Technical ending.
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. d4 c5 5.
g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Nc3 0-0 9. b3
Ne4 10. Bb2 Bf6 11. Qc1 Nxc3 12. Bxc3 cxd4
13. Bb2 Re8 14. Qd2 Bg4 15. Bxd4 Rxe2 16.
Bxf6 Rxd2 17. Bxd8 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Rxd8 19.
Rfd1 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 d4 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2
Ke7 23. Kd2 Rd6 24. Re1+ Re6 25. Rc1 Rf6
26. Ke2 Kd6 27. Be4 Re6 28. Kd3 g5 29. h3
h5 30. f3 Rf6 31. a3 h4 32. g4 Ke5 33. b4 Kf4
34. Rc5 Ne5+ 35. Kxd4 Nxf3+ 36. Bxf3 Kxf3
37. Rxg5 Kg3 38. Ke5 Ra6 39. Rg7 Kxh3 40.
g5 Kg4 41. Rxf7 Kxg5 42. Rg7+ Kh6 43. Rg8
Rg6 44. Rh8+ Kg5 45. Rh7 Kg4 46. Rxb7 h3
47. Rxa7 h2 48. Rh7 Rg5+ 49. Ke4 Rh5 50.
Rg7+ Kh3, White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
FM Mark Pinto (2138)
FM Eric Schiller (2172)
Koltanowski Memorial (2), San Francis-
co, 12.15.2000
What to watch for: Positional sacrifice. Ad-
vanced d-pawn. Passed pawns.
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5
5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Nc3 0-0
9. Be3 Ng4 10. Bf4 Be6 11. h3 Nf6 12. Rc1
Qd7 13. Kh2 Ne4 14. dxc5 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 d4
16. Rc1 Bf6 17. b3 h6 18. h4 Rfe8 19. Qd2
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 19
IMPROVEMENT The Tarrasch Defense
a5 20. Rfd1 Rad8 21. Bd6 Bg4 22. a3 Qe6
23. Re1 Qxb3 24. Rb1 Qxa3 25. Rxb7 Qc3
26. Rc1 Qxd2 27. Nxd2 Rxe2 28. Ne4 Nb4
29. Bc7 Rc8 30. Rf1 Bd8 31. Bxd8 Rxd8 32.
f3 Be6 33. Rd1 d3 34. Rd2 Bd5 35. Rxb4
axb4 36. Rxd3 Rc2 37. Nd2 Rd7 38. Bh3
Be6 39. Rxd7 Bxd7, White resigned.
GM VARUZHAN AKOBIAN
Multiple Olympian for the USA, and one of
the strongest American players to include
the Tarrasch as an important part of his
repertoire.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Dmitry Gurevich (2544)
IM Varuzhan Akobian (2456)
National Open (6) Las Vegas,
03.10.2002
What to watch for: Central advance. Oppo-
site-colored bishops in the middlegame.
King safety.
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Nc3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9.
AND NOW FOR A FINAL TEST OF SORTS: below are six Tarrasch
exercise positions for you to solve. The positions are roughly in order
of increasing difficulty, and Black is to move in all cases. Answers are
to the right. Don’t peek before you solve!
EXERCISE 1 EXERCISE 2
EXERCISE 4 EXERCISE 5
20 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Bf4 Bg4 12. h3
Be6 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. Na4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4
Qa5 16. Nc3 Rc4 17. Qd3 d4 18. Nd5 Nxd5
19. Rxc4 Nxf4 20. gxf4 Bxc4 21. Qxc4 Bf6
22. Bxb7 Qf5 23. Bg2 Qxf4 24. Rd1 Qf5 25.
Qd5 Qc2 26. Re1 Qxb2 27. Bf3 Rd8 28. Qb3
Qd2 29. Rd1 Qa5 30. Kf1 g6 31. Rc1 Kg7 32.
Rc6 d3 33. exd3 Qf5 34. Bg4 Qf4 35. Qd1
h5 36. Qf3 Qg5 37. Bc8 Rd4 38. Rc4 Rxc4
39. dxc4 Qc1+ 40. Kg2 Qxc4 41. Bb7 Qxa2
42. Bd5 Qd2 43. Qb3 Bd4 44. Qf3 f5 45. Bc4
a5 46. Bb3 Bc5 47. Qb7+ Kh6 48. Qf3 Qd4,
White resigned.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (2555)
IM Varuzhan Akobian (2486)
Imre Konig Memorial (2), San Francis-
co, 09.05.2002
What to watch for: Technical approach by
White. Positional sacrifice. King safety.
1. Nf3 e6 2. c4 d5 3. d4 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Nc3 0-0 9.
b3 Ne4 10. Bb2 Bf6 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Nd2
Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. Nxe4 Bxd4 15. Bxd4
EXERCISE 3
EXERCISE 6
cxd4 16. Rc1 Qe7 17. Re1 Rac8 18. Qd2
Rfd8 19. Nc5 Bg6 20. b4 b6 21. Na6 Ne5
22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. f4 Nc4 24. Qxd4 Ne3 25.
Bf3 f6 26. Qb2 Nc2 27. Rd1 Qe3+ 28. Kh1
Qf2 29. Qb3+ Bf7 30. Qd3 Ne3 31. Qd7 Rf8
32. Rg1 Nf1 33. Qg4 Qh2, mate.
TARRASCH DEFENSE (D34)
GM Hannes Stefansson (2566)
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2610)
SPICE Cup (6), Lubbock, 09.25.2008
What to watch for: Backward b-pawn. King
safety. Rook sacrifice.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9.
Bg5 c4 10. Ne5 Be6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. e3
Nd7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Na4 Rab8 15. Qc2
Rb4 16. b3 Rfb8 17. Rfd1 g6 18. Qc1 Qd6
19. Rd2 Bf5 20. Nc3 cxb3 21. axb3 Rxb3
22. Rda2 Qb4 23. Ra3 Rb2 24. Ra4 Qb3 25.
R4a3 Rc2 26. Qe1 Qb4 27. Bf3 Rb7 28. g4
Be6 29. Na4 Qe7 30. Be2 h5 31. Bd3 Qh4
32. Bxc2 Qxg4+ 33. Kf1 Qf3 34. Qa5 Nb6
35. Ke1 Nc4 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qg5 Bg4,
White resigned.
lost. From my game Fishbein – King, Jackson 2021.
and Black has a massive attack. White is completely
25. … Ne4! 26. Bxe4 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 dxe4 28. Rxd2 Qxg3
is 25. Bf4!? Qe1+ and Black will be fine in the endgame.)
the critical line, but it backfires badly for White. (Better
24…Ba5? and eventually got ground down.) 25. Ba5? is
worse, Black has to mix things up. (In the game I played
ares 1990. EXERCISE 6. 24. ... Qxe2! Standing statically
on to win the game in Beliavsky – Illescas Cordoba, Lin-
Kg1 Bxh3 19. Bf3 Re5 Black has won a pawn and went
the pressure on White’s kingside. After 17. Kh1 Rh5! 18.
Part 2 of this series. EXERCISE 5. 16. ... Re5! increasing
position: see Petrosian – Spassky, Moscow (2) 1969 in
continues 13. Rad1 Nc4 with a common theoretical
have intentionally groveled in this way as Black.) Play
Bxd5! wins a pawn for White, although some players
12. … Na5! is the most reliable defense. (12. … Qd7 13.
my game Troff – King, Los Angeles 2012. EXERCISE 4.
although White managed to escape with a draw. From
… bxc5 24. fxe3 Rxf1+ 25. Kxf1 c4! and Black is winning,
CISE 3. 22. … Nxe3! 23. Rxc5 (23. fxe3 Bxe3+ wins.) 23.
The game is Euwe – Kroone, Amsterdam 1919. EXER-
Bxd3 and Black is up a pawn with a winning position.
Rf4 (20. e3 d2! 21. Nxd2 Bd3 wins.) 20. ... Qxb2!? 21. exd3
EXERCISE 2. 19. … d3! is a standard breakthrough: 20.
Nc3 (8. Qd2 Bb4 is crushing) 8. … dxc3 and Black wins.
Nc3! dxc3? 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. 0-0-0+! and White wins) 8.
advantage. The point is 7. Bxe5 Qa5+! (not 7. … Bb4+? 8.
ened Nb5-c7+ and leaves Black with an overwhelming
EXERCISE 1. 6. … e5! defends against White’s threat-
 The
Middle
T HE MIDDLEGAME IS
a vast topic, covering
themes from tactics to
positional play to mating
attacks. There are a tre-
mendous number of fantastic books, elec-
tronic tools, and online materials available
to help improve one’s middlegame play.
In what follows, I am going to discuss
how I train, focusing on the intersection of
intuition and calculation. As older, “experi-
enced” players, we should have developed a
lot of intuitive ideas over the years. The trick
is how to use that experience effectively!
Here “effectively” is a bit of a loaded term.
First: if your intuition is wrong, playing in-
tuitively is not effective, but destructive and
self-defeating. Second, if you are studying
material that is not suitable for your level,
your effort may be wasted. If it is too hard,
you may become discouraged.
So what does effective, helpful, and suc-
cessful training look like?
I participate in GM Jacob Aagaard’s “Killer
Chess Training,” an online chess academy.
He assigns 12 homework problems each
week in one of two sections — “friendly”
(U2200) and “killer” (2200+) — and students
can solve one or both sets of problems, de-
pending on rating and interest. I recently
heard a 2700+ grandmaster grumble that
the friendly sheets weren’t that friendly. My
point in mentioning this is to reinforce the
idea that chess is hard.
The common wisdom among top trainers
is that successful, useful training exercises
take between five and 10 minutes to solve,
with a success rate between 50% and 75%.
game for
Seniors
Part 1: Calculation and Solving.
BY FM DOUG ECKERT
Players should work to find material to
solve that fits into that range. Material can
be found in many places; there are tactics
training websites, dozens of books, and
homework sets from paid trainers. What is
important is locating material at the right
level for the individual, and also working
to solve exercises training the weakest part
of their game.
I try to solve six problems per day that
take me, on average, 10 minutes each. Why?
I’m targeting my training to be effective for
games played at a time control of G/90+30,
where I have found there are, on average, six
difficult positions per game that take about
one hour total to solve. (The remaining time
is spent on the opening and making simple
decisions in between the hard ones.) My
experience is that if I get fewer than three
of these positions correct, it is a loss. If I
get more correct, I draw or win, barring
catastrophic error.
It is important to remember that we don’t
need to be perfect to win. In fact, being per-
fect is not realistic. The point is that a 66%
success rate on these types of problems will
generate a lot of wins and very few losses.
No less than GM Magnus Carlsen indicated
his satisfaction at converting five of nine
winning positions at the 2022 Tata Steel
Tournament, an event that he won.
Where does something like Puzzle Rush
(Chess.com) or Puzzle Storm (lichess.org) fit
into all of this? In my experience, Puzzle
Rush can help build up intuition, and it can
be hugely addicting. Played three or four
times a week, it can help with blitz skills
and hone intuition. But much more than
that, it becomes an addiction, leading to
superficiality in calculation and perhaps
even doing harm.
There is a general conception that study-
ing openings is more useful than training
calculation and intuition. People complain
that the specific positions solved are not
likely to come up in their games, but every-
one has to play the opening, so why bother
solving exercises?
I believe that regular solving of exercises
develops two skill sets. First, by seeing lots
of positions, even if the specifics are not
explicitly remembered, one hones intuition.
Second, every solving session trains calcula-
tion. It is important to spend approximately
half as much time reviewing the solutions
as solving the exercises, with the goal of
trying to understand why solutions were
missed. This review process is a strong tool
for strengthening intuition by improving
our understanding of the nuances of the
positions.
Not sure that your knowledge base in the
middlegame is what it should be? Let me
mention two books that I have found useful
for many players: Mating the Castled King by
GM Danny Gormally and Your Jungle Guide to
Chess Tactics by GM Peter Prohaszka.
Gormally systemically analyzed the vari-
ous pawn and piece configurations that can
deliver mate, and created 160 problems that
range from basic to quite challenging. There
are also 150 pages of illustrative games and
game fragments that are delightful.
Prohaszka authored a comprehensive
puzzle book centered around 25 different
tactical themes. The material ranges from
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 21
IMPROVEMENT The Middlegame for Seniors
easy to ridiculously hard. As with the Gor-
mally book, this is a great title for beginners,
but it also has a lot of material that even
masters can benefit from.
Together both of these books comprehen-
sively treat the tactical tools a player must
develop. Any player who has worked through
this material can be confident they have the
tools required for the next training step.
Another key topic in chess training is
recognizing critical moments. A critical
moment is a move where the difference be-
tween finding the correct move and failing
to do so will change the game result by at
least one half-point. It is also a move where a
clear-cut solution can be found to a position,
as opposed to playing an inferior move that
leaves the position rather a mess.
As a lower-rated master, I have made
a career out of creating messes against
higher rated players that ultimately led to
my demise from much superior positions.
Minimizing messes can dramatically im-
prove our results.
So how should we think about critical
moments? In every position we determine
to be critical, we have to be prepared to
make a time investment. Then a list of al-
ternative moves should be developed. The
most promising candidate, the intuitively
best move, should be analyzed first.
GM Jacob Aagaard developed a concept
that, following an idea championed by for-
mer U.S. champion GM Sam Shankland,
he dubbed “the Shankland rule.” The basic
premise of the rule is that if a move appears
intuitively correct, but there appears to be a
tactical issue — let’s call it resistance — with
the move, calculation will in many (but not
all!) instances find a solution that enables
the move to work. Working through resis-
tance is a key component of training calcu-
lation and preparing for critical moments.
The following five examples are from
my tournament practice in 2021-2022. In
each position, the move that I believed was
intuitively best was, in fact, the best move.
In two of the positions, I did not play that
move as I was unable to accurately calculate
the consequences; in one of those games, I
was fortunate to win anyway. In the other
three positions, I trusted my instinct and
played the correct first move; in one game
I subsequently erred and lost anyway.
POSITION #1
FM Doug Eckert (2268)
FM Dalton Perrine (2281)
Charlotte Spring Norm (4), 02.14.2021
22 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
WHITE TO MOVE
20. Bxe7!
Of course this is the move I wanted to play,
but what about 20. ... f6 followed by 21. ...
Kf7, trapping the bishop?
20. ... f6 21. Rb7 Kf7 22. Bd8!
Perrine missed this — an oversight by a very
strong opponent having a tough day.
22. ... Rxd8 23. Rxc7 Rxa3? 24. Nd2 Ke7
25. Nc4 Ra4 26. Nb6 Ra6 27. Nc8+ Kf8
28. Rb1 Ne5 29. Rbb7 h5 30. Rh7 Kg8 31.
Rbg7+ Kf8 32. Ne7, Black resigned.
POSITION #2
FM Doug Eckert (2258)
FM Jason Liang (2421)
Charlotte Masters (2), 04.09.2021
WHITE TO MOVE
Eckert (L) analyzes with
Ganguly (center) and
Aagaard (R) in 2019.
This is a typical hanging pawn structure
where the first move White should be look-
ing at is 20. b4. What if Black just takes it?
The elements in the position favor a po-
tential combination, with the rook on c1
indirectly attacking the c6-bishop and a pin
on the d7-knight.
20. b4!
I played 20. Bb2 and the opportunity passed
with Black eventually winning: 20. … Rb8
21. Bxd7 Qxd7 22. Ba3 Rb5 23. Bb2 Ba8
24. Qd3 Rbb8 25. Qc3. Black already has
an advantage.
20. ... cxb4 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Nd4 Bb7
Not 22. ... Nb8? 23. Qg4+ Qg5 24. Bxc8 and
White wins.
23. Qg4+ Qg5 24. Bxd7
Here Black can probably draw, but it’s not
trivial. In hanging pawn structures, White
must try to find the most favorable moment
to play the e2/3-e4 or b2/3-b4 pawn breaks.
Once the opportunity is missed, Black is
generally fine.
POSITION #3
FM Doug Eckert (2266)
GM Ben Finegold (2538)
4th Annual John T. Irwin Tournament
of Senior State Champions (2), Cherry
Hill, 08.01.2021
(see diagram next page)
This game was previously published in
Chess Life (November 2021) but I wanted to
add some explanation. Here, we have the
hanging pawn structure on the kingside,
and I was playing with awareness of my
missed b2-b4 against Liang. At first, g3-g4
looks like it will expose White’s king. But
intuition says the move must be considered.
Absent White taking action, Black can build
up behind his pawn center.
PHOTO: COURTESY KALLIA KLEISARCHAKI

WHITE TO MOVE
20. g4 Nfe8 21. Ng3!
Instead 21. gxf5? Nxf5 is exactly what White
should avoid. Black will put a piece on d4
and the open g-file is aimed at the white
king.
21. ... fxg4 22. h4
When playing 20. g4, this was the position
I had in mind. Now for the question: what
does White have for his pawn? Quite a lot,
it seems.
The g-file is closed. If White leaves his
knight on g3 and rook on f1, Black can never
play ... Nf5-d4. White immediately threatens
Bg2-e4, Rf1-f7, h4-h5-h6 winning. Addition-
ally, White can pile up on the e5-pawn, while
Black’s dark squares are weak due to his ab-
sent dark-squared bishop. Finally, how in the
world does Black get the a8-rook, c8-bishop,
and e8-knight into play? During the game
my intuition was that is a lot for a pawn,
and it turns out that it’s +9.4 per Stockfish.
A strong GM gave me the advice when it is
your turn, you should calculate. When your
opponent is thinking, you should consider
plans, not variations. If you are always cal-
culating variations as an old man, you will
wear yourself out.
In this game I tried to follow this advice.
I had no idea how Finegold might try to
respond. After playing 22. h4, I considered
the ideas above in terms of where my piec-
es might go and what I should prevent him
from doing, i.e, ... Nf5-d4.
22. ... Qd7 23. Qc3 Qd6 24. Rde1 h6 25.
Bd2 Nf6 26. Rxe5, Black resigned.
Finegold resigned here as some combina-
tion of Qc3-e3xh6 or Re5-e6xf6 is going to
deliver checkmate or heavy material gain.
POSITION #4
FM Ryo Chen (2401)
FM Doug Eckert (2306)
SPICE Cup (5), St. Louis, 10.19.2021
BLACK TO MOVE
Ryo Chen is one of America’s great up and
coming talents at age 11. In previous moves,
we had traded mistakes in a very compli-
cated position. I had 25 minutes left with
three moves to choose from: ... Qg5-h4+,
... g4-g3+, and ... Qg5xf4+. I think that ...
Qg5xf4+ winning the pawn is the move we
want to make work, but the issue is after 31.
... Qxf4+ 32 g3 White is threatening Rd1-f1,
Qe2-e6+, and then capturing on g6 with huge
threats. What should Black play?
31. ... g3+
What about the other two moves?
(a) The position after 31. ... Qh4+ 32. Kg1
g3 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Qxg6 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Qh1+
36. Ke2 Qxg2+ 37. Kd3 Qf3+ 38. Kd2 Qxf4+
39. Kc3 Rc8+ 40. Kb3 Rxc2 41. Kxc2 Bxd4 42.
Qxh5+ Kg7 43. Qe2 is equal. This is a very
forcing line. I spent 10 minutes calculating
this variation, and I decided White was OK,
but was convinced Stockfish would tell me
Black was winning somewhere after the
game. As it turned out, my original analysis
was correct.
(b) After 31. ... Qxf4+ 32. g3 Qg5! — this
is key, getting out of the way of the main
threat. Rd1-f1 should be a move we analyze,
even if it is not immediately obvious. (I kept
focusing on 32. ... Qf6? during the game,
allowing Rd1-f1 with a decisive tempo. My
main variation at the board was 33. Rf1 Qg7
34. Qe6+ Kh8 35. Bxg6 and White is winning.)
Play continues 33. Qe6+ Kg7 34. Rf1 Rb7! 35.
Qxd6 Bxd4 36. Qf8+ Kh7 37. Qf4 Qxf4 38. Rxf4
and Black is better, although White should
hold the draw.
32. Kg1??
To my surprise, Ryo played this instantly.
The king intuitively looks unsafe on the
h3-square, but the back rank is worse. In-
tuitively, we should all understand that a
king stuck on the back rank, hemmed in
by a pawn, is in mortal danger.
White had to play 32. Kh3 Qxf4 33. Qe6+
Kf8 34. Qxg6 Qg4+?! 35. Qxg4 hxg4+ 36. Kxg3
Rc8 37. Be4 Rc4 with equality. I finally settled
on this variation believing it was a safe draw,
and as I was running short on time. I just
didn’t see 32. ... Qg5 after 31. ... Qxf4+. The
variations after 31. ... Qh4+ were so long,
I was concerned I had missed something.
This seemed safe.
32. ... Qxf4 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Bxg6 Rf8
The threat is ... Qf4-f2+-f1 mate, so White
must defend the f1-square.
35. Bd3 Bxd4+ 36. Kh1 Qh4+ 37. Qh3
Qxh3+ 38. gxh3 Rf2, White resigned.
Black efficiently mates after ... Rf2-h2.
POSITION #5
FM Doug Eckert (2271)
Lev Paciorkowski (2422)
NYC Winter IM (7), 01.16.2022
WHITE TO MOVE
Black is weak on the dark squares. The in-
tuitive move is obvious, but how can White
make it work?
23. Rxh4! Qxh4 24. Bg5 Qxh3?! 25. Bf6+
Rg7 26. Qe3!
In the game I played 26. Nd1??, thinking
the path to h6 was via Nd1-f2 and Rg1-h1.
Black subsequently won after 26. ... Qh6+ 27.
Kb1 Rag8 28. f4? Qxf4 29. Bxg7+ Kxg7 30.
Rf1 when Black consolidated his material.
26. ... Kg8 27. Ne2 c6 28. Rg4 Rc8 29. Rh4
Qg2 30. Qh6 gxf5 31. Rh1!
and White is winning. During the game,
neither my opponent nor I saw the path
Rg1-g4-h4 to get the rook decisively into
the game. The elements of the combination
were there, but hard to visualize.
For up-to-date chess news
and information, check out
Chess Life Online at uschess.
org/clo on a regular basis.
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 23
EVENTS Foxwoods Open
Playing to
Kadric and Zhou win 2022 Foxwoods Open.
BY
T HE 2022 FOXWOODS OPEN
(April 13-17) was held at the
famous Foxwoods Resort and
Casino in Connecticut. Every
serious chess player in the
Northeast knows about Foxwoods, and it
lived up to its reputation —this was one of
the best tournament venues I have ever
played at.
24 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
WIN
GM BENJAMIN GLEDURA
The Foxwoods Resort and Casino boasts
two giant hotels, more than 30 restaurants,
and a mall. (And those are just the high-
lights!) The tournament was held in a spa-
cious playing hall, with seven sections at
and nearly 500 players. The Open section
was strong indeed, with 11 GMs, seven
IMs, seven FMs, a WGM, and a WIM. With a
tournament prize fund of $50,000, everyone
was motivated.
I was the number one seed in the Open
section, and I was there to win. But everyone
was there to prove their bona fides as well,
and they fought incredibly hard. The first
big upset in the Open occurred when WGM
Mai Narva downed GM Denis Kadric in the
second round. Narva deservedly earned an
IM norm in this tournament.
I started off with 4/4, giving me a lot of
positive energy, and my second round game
with IM Michael Song was very interesting.
SICILIAN DEFENSE, ALAPIN
VARIATON (B22)
IM Michael Song (2434)
GM Benjamin Gledura (2728)
Foxwoods Open (2), 04.14.2022
I first played Michael Song at the World
Youth Championship in Brazil in 2011 — a
long time ago! Since then Michael has be-
come an IM, and he’s a pretty tough oppo-
nent. I was ready for a big fight!
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5.
Na3!?
An interesting move! Michael plays it a little
tricky, with the knight perhaps jumping to
b5 at some point.
Left: GM Benjamin Gledura consideres his
move in the ninth round of the 2022 Summer
Classic at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
After 5. d4 Nf6 (the main line of the Alap-
in) we would transpose to the game with
6. Na3.
5. ... Nf6 6. d4
After 6. Nb5 White threatens to play Nb5-
c7. The standard answer to this is 6. ... Qd8!
with ... a7-a6 next, chasing the knight away.
6. ... Nc6 7. Bc4
I felt fairly comfortable here, as I’d checked
this line recently, but this was the first move
I did not know about. It seems like a logical
way to develop the bishop with tempo.
If White wants to play 7. Nb5 this is the
best moment to do so, but Black has 7. ...
Qd8! 8. dxc5 (8. Bf4 Nd5! defends the c7-
square and hits the f4-bishop as well) 8. ...
Bxc5 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 and this endgame can
be tricky for Black, especially if you are not
familiar with it. But because I had studied
it, I was not afraid to play here. After 10. Bf4
Ne4! (10. ... Nd5?! is logical but not best: 11.
0-0-0! Ke7 12. Bg3 a6 13. Nbd4 and White has
a small but stable advantage) Black has to
go after the f2-pawn. Now 11. 0-0-0+?! fails
for concrete reasons: 11. ... Ke7 12. Nc7 Rb8
and ... Ne4xf2 is a serious threat.
7. ... Qd8! 8. Nc2
A logical move to get out of the ... c5xd4 /
... Bf8xa3 threat.
Here 8. 0-0 seems like a slight mistake but
it is actually very interesting: 8. ... cxd4 9.
Nb5! (it makes no sense to isolate one’s own
PHOTO: COURTESY SLCC / A. FULLER
pawns with 9. cxd4?!, especially in light of
9. ... Bxa3! 10. bxa3 0-0 and Black is doing
excellently) offering a pawn. After 9. ... a6!
10. Nbxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Qc7! 12. Bb3 Bd6
things are equal, but I would like this posi-
tion with Black. The pieces are harmonious,
and up next are ... h7-h6 and ... 0-0.
8. ... Qc7!
 The best square. Later the queen has a big Top: GM Denis Kadric at the 2019 Fall Classic.
role in the attack against the white kingside Bottom: GM Jianchao Zhou in round four of
the 2022 Summer Classic.
from c7.

9. Qe2 This is a very logical move. White has a clear

White defends the c4-bishop so ... c5xd4 is
not so dangerous.
9. ... Be7 10. Be3?!
I think 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Bg5 is a better way,
although Black is also fine here: 11. ... h6!
(playing for the bishop pair) 12. Bxf6 gxf6
13. 0-0-0!? Bd7 and both sides have chances.
Black will castle queenside.
This was the first moment when I thought
for quite a long time. Black has basically two
choices here: ... c5xd4 or ... b7-b6. If this
was a blitz game, I would take on d4 without
much thinking. But here I wondered what
else I might accomplish...
plan with Bg5xf6 followed by Nc2-e3, even-
tually transferring the knight to c4. What a
lovely square for the knight that would be!
Michael and I discussed 13. Na3 after
the game. It looks a little unusual in that
the knight returns to the same square from
whence it came. But during the game I
thought it was pretty logical, as the c4-square
beckons. The best piece to blockade an
isolated pawn is the knight! Now (a) 13. ...
Bb7 was my original plan, but I’m not sure
if it was correct. I think White benefits by
exchanging the light-squared bishops, so
with 14. Ba6! we remove pressure on the
long diagonal and now Na3-c4 is possible.
After 14. ... Nd5 the position is roughly
equal, but it’s not to my taste.
Instead the engine suggestion (b) 13. ...
Na5! is pretty strong. Essentially Black wins
a tempo because White has nothing better
than to play 14. Ba6 Bxa6 15. Qxa6 Rab8 16.
b3 Nd5! and now that the c3-pawn is weak,
the position slightly favors Black.

13. ... Rb8 14. Ne3?!

10. ... b6!
After 20 minutes thought, I realized that this
move makes the White position slightly un-
pleasant. Why? It turns out that the c2-knight
has no real purpose. It doesn’t belong on c2,
but then where? My move defends the c5-
pawn, which takes away the very important
d4-square. The only downside to this move is
that it slightly damages my pawn structure.
11. dxc5 bxc5
While the c5- and a7-pawns are isolated, I
thought that it was more important to re-
strict the c2-knight. I also gain a half-open
PHOTOS: COURTESY SLCC / C. FULLER (KADRIC, ZHOU)
This position is a little dry. White wants to
follow up with Bc4-d3 and Ne3-c4 which
would stabilize the position even more. How
can Black turn up the pressure?
Again 14. Na3 would be slightly more ac-
curate, allowing White to choose between
the c4- and b5- squares for a landing zone.
14. ... Nh5!
I was happy to find this move, which re-
minded me of an idea from the Karpov side is under a lot of pressure which will
system in the 4. e3 Nimzo-Indian. There, only increase when Black plays ... h7-h5-h4.
Black often has this ... Nf6-h5 idea when the
white bishop is on g5 and the queen is on e2. 16. ... Nf4!
Exchanging the dark-squared bishops gives It’s hard to imagine a better square for the
Black a good chance to follow up with a great knight than f4. Now the attack whirls up.
attack. The key ... Nh5-f4 is next!

b-file and access to the long diagonal.
12. 0-0
The immediate 12. Bg5 Bb7 13. Ne3 Rd8
would be better, but I still think the black
position is flexible with lots of ideas. One
might be ... Nf6-h5.
12. ... 0-0
Now that both sides have castled, White
has to choose a plan. How to improve the
badly-placed c2-knight?
13. Bg5
15. Bxe7 Nxe7!
Clearing the b7-square for the bishop.
16. b3?
The wrong move in a difficult situation.
The best defense has to be 16. Rfd1, fol-
lowed up by Nf3-e1. After 16. ... Bb7 (worse
is 16. ... Nf4 17. Qd2 Bb7 18. Qd7! when White
has counterplay. Admittedly this is tough to
find without the engine!) 17. Ne1 Nf4 and
finally the knight arrives at f4! After 18. Qc2
Neg6! Black is for choice. The black knights
are pretty dominant, while the white king-
17. Qc2 Bb7 18. Ne1
This prevents Black from weakening the
kingside with ... Bb7xf3, but it also traps
the rook on f1.
18. ... Rbd8!
The rook had no purpose on b8. The d-file
is more important.
19. h4
Preparing 20. g3. Note that 19. g3?? straight
away loses to 19. ... Nh3 mate.
Michael told me he was planning to play
19. Nd3 but he realized it would be a blunder

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 25

EVENTS Foxwoods Open
after 19. ... Be4! when the pin on the knight
is too strong: 20. Rfd1 Nf5 21. Nxf5 Bxf5 22.
g3 Nh3+ 23. Kf1 Qc6 and White might even
get mated.
19. ... Neg6!
From here I calculated everything until the
end. This is one of those positions where
once you know that you are winning, you
just have to play some accurate moves.
20. g3 Nxh4!
The attack is just simply too powerful.
21. f3
Not 21. gxh4?? Nh3 mate; I looked at 21.
gxf4 Qxf4 for just a few moments, but my
feelings told me I had to be winning. ... Nh4-
f3 is a deadly threat! I stopped after 22. Be2
f5! thinking ... Rf8-f6 unstoppable and the
g1-king way too weak.
21. ... Nd5!, White resigned.
The idea is 21. ... Nd5 22. Nxd5 Qxg3+ 23.
Kh1 exd5.
Armenian GM Arman Mikaelyan was in ex-
cellent form as well. We faced off in round
five, and our game ended in a draw. That
left me in the lead with 4½/5, followed by
Mikaelyan and a few others. I have to say
that playing on board one was very intense,
as I was continually facing the difficult op-
ponents throughout the event.
As events turned out, round six was crit-
ical. Facing French GM Gabriel Battaglini
Flom, we battled for 66 moves and even-
tually drew. I was still in the lead with 5/6,
but the result was disappointing, and my
momentum slowed.
In round seven I was paired with Kadric.
I have to be honest — after being slightly
fortunate to make a draw, it’s not a game I’m
proud of, and the shared point gave others
(notably Mikaelyan and Zhou) the opportu-
nity to join me at the top of the crosstable.
Heading into the final day, I was optimis-
tic, thinking that a point and a half would
be enough for first. And after round eight,
26 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
I was on track, drawing a tough battle with
second seed GM Jianchao Zhou. Mikaelyan
won his game against Danila Pollianikov,
who had an excellent performance and
achieved an International Master norm; in
doing so, Mikaelyan grabbed the lead with
6½/8, followed by myself, Zhou, and Kadric
with six points.
As chess players, we all know that the
most important round is always the last
round, as it can make or break you. When
I saw the pairings, I was not happy, as I
was set to play with the experienced and
talented GM Alexander Shabalov. “Shabba”
is well-known for his fighting and creative
chess moves, and he does not shy away from
going “all-in” when necessary. Our game was
incredibly interesting and complicated, as
we both wanted to win, but unfortunately
for me, I lost.
SICILIAN DEFENSE,
TAIMANOV VARIATION (B47)
GM Alexander Shabalov (2591)
GM Benjamin Gledura (2728)
Foxwoods Open (9), 04.17.2022
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6
5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g4 a6 7. Bg2 h6 8. h4 b5 9.
Nxc6 dxc6 10. Qf3 e5 11. Bd2 Bc5 12. a4
Rb8 13. axb5 axb5 14. Nd1 Be6 15. Ne3 g6
16. b4 Be7 17. h5 Bg5 18. hxg6 fxg6 19.
Nc4 Bxd2+ 20. Nxd2 Rh7 21. g5 h5 22. Bh3
Bxh3 23. Rxh3 Rd8 24. Qc3 Rhd7 25. Nb3
Ne7 26. Nc5 Rd4 27. Ne6 Rxe4+ 28. Re3
Rxe3+ 29. fxe3 Qd6 30. Nxd8 Kxd8 31. Rd1
Nd5 32. e4, Black resigned.
Meanwhile, Kadric defeated Mikaelyan to
claim a spot in the winner’s circle at 7/9.
GIUOCO PIANO (C54)
GM Denis Kadric (2604)
GM Arman Mikaelyan (2537)
Foxwoods Open (9), 04.17.2022
This was one of the most important games
at Foxwoods. Kadric had to beat Mikealyan
to win the tournament, as the Armenian
grandmaster was ahead of the field by a
half-point.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
The Italian game was a good choice by Kad-
ric. White usually gets a slightly better po-
sition out of the opening -- nothing crazy,
but a long, positional game.
3. ... Bc5 4. 0-0 Nf6 5. d3 0-0
Already White has several choices here. If
you play the Italian with either color, then
you need to be aware of all the tricky move
orders that both sides can use.
6. Re1
This move’s main purpose is to stop Black
from playing ... d7-d5. Other possibilities
here:
6. h3 is one of the main moves in this po-
sition; however, I think that because Black
does not need to answer with ... h7-h6, this
can sometimes be a waste of tempo. 6. ... d6
7. c3 a6 8. Re1 Ba7. Black is threatening Na5
to grab the bishop pair. 9. Bb3. We would
transpose to the game.
Perhaps the main line is 6. c3 d5 which
can lead to very complicated middlegame
positions. After 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4
Black will look to attack on the kingside.
6. ... a6!?
An interesting move order. Mikaelyan post-
pones playing ... d7-d6, and I like his rea-
soning.
Note that Black cannot successfully open
the center with 6. ... d5?! in this order. After
7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nxe5! Nxe5 9. Rxe5 Bxf2+?!
(this common sacrifice usually works against
Nf3xe5 / Re1xe5; however, here it does not!)
10. Kxf2 Qf6+ 11. Qf3! and we see the point:
the d5-knight is undefended. White should
win after 11. ... Qxe5 12. Bxd5.
After 6. ... d6 7. c3 (White has the addi-
tional option of 7. Bg5) 7. ... a6 we transpose
to the game.
7. c3
If White chooses to pin the knight with 7.
Bg5 Black has an extra option because the
pawn is not yet on d6: 7. ... h6 8. Bh4 Be7!.
Now the pin is broken and Black is com-
pletely fine. This is the reason for Mikael-
yan’s precise 6. ... a6. True, it’s just a small
nuance, but one that players who analyze
the Italian Game a lot have noticed.
7. ... d6
Black has to play ... d7-d6 sooner or later.
Now he threatens ... Nc6-a5 to nab the lovely
c4-bishop.
8. Bb3
Stepping out of the threat. White can also
give the c4-bishop “luft” with 8. a4, but I
prefer the game continuation.
8. ... Ba7
Prophylaxis: if White plans to play d3-d4
later on, this bishop retreat avoids losing
time later after White’s pawn push...
 9. h3
The solid move, and in this situation, the
right choice for Kadric. White does not want
to deal with the possibility of ... Nf6-g4.
The other common move is 9. Nbd2.
White wants to save a tempo by starting
with Nb1-d2-Nf1-Ng3, which has both ad-
vantages and disadvantages. One key point
is that Black now has 9. ... Ng4 because
White avoided h2-h3. Now Black can try to
attack the white king. Play might continue
10. Re2 Kh8! (preparing ... f7-f5) 11. h3 Nh6!
and this might look like an unusual spot for
the knight, but it helps enforce the ... f7-f5
break. After 12. Nf1 f5 13. Bxh6 gxh6 the
position is very double-edged, but if you
analyze it, you’ll realize that Black should
be more than happy to play here.
9. ... h6
Again, these positions are very rich and full
of possibilities. As mentioned earlier, Black
does not have to answer h2-h3 with ... h7-
h6. I have noticed that for many players, it
is almost an automatic response, but Black
has other possibilities. For instance, one
could try and save the tempo with 9. ... Ne7
10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Nf1 Be6!?.
Pressuring the b7-pawn. The alternative 12.
axb3 d5 puts less pressure on Black.
12. ... Qd7 13. Ng3
Finally reaching the g3-square, the knight
now supports the d3-d4 breakthrough in the
center (by defending the e4-pawn).
Note that 13. Qxb7?? would be a serious
blunder: 13. ... Rfb8 14. Qxa6 Bxf2+ 15.
Kxf2 Rxa6.
13. ... Rab8?!
Unnecessary. White was not threating to
take on b7, since the queen would have been
trapped. Now the b8-rook is tied to the b7-
pawn, which is far from ideal.
More sound was 13. ... Rfe8.
14. Be3
It is often good for White to trade the dark-
squared bishops, blunting Black’s attacking
ideas on the kingside.
14. ... Bxe3 15. Rxe3
16. ... Ng6 17. Rd1
You can see that White made very healthy,
logical moves up to this point, and that is
why he has a stable positional advantage.
17. ... Qb5?!
Not the right direction.
Better was 17. ... Rfe8, developing the
rook on the e-file and helping to keep the
center. Still, White is definitely better after
18. c4 Qc8! because of the central space
advantage, but Black has chances to hold.
18. Qc2!
In the spirit of the position, keeping the
queens on to support the central pawns.
18. ... Rfe8 19. c4!
Strong play from Kadric. White builds up
more and more central pressure.

10. Nbd2
Beginning the typical knight maneuver Nb1-
d2-Nf1-Ng3, which will help put pressure on
the black kingside.

10. ... Be6

A very sound move: Black wants to exchange
the well-placed b3-bishop. Naturally there
are options: We have arrived at the critical moment of
Interesting is 10. ... Nh5!? trying to sharp- the game. Mikaelyan has to play accurately
en the game. It appears Mikaelyan did not to equalize.
PHOTOS: COURTESY SLCC / C. FULLER (MIKAELYAN), SLCC / B. ADAMS (SHABALOV)

want to take unnecessary risks. After 11. Nf1

Qf6 12. Be3 White will have to play some
accurate moves to be slightly better.
The other main idea here is 10. ... Re8 to
be followed with ... Bc8-e6 as in the game:
11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bc2 d5 13. exd5 and Black
can capture in three different ways, with
complicated middlegames in all cases.
11. Nf1
I think that taking on e6 with 11. Bxe6 fxe6
12. Nf1 is often underrated for White. This
pawn structure can be very unpleasant for
Black to play in the long term. White will
exchange the dark-squared bishops with
Bc1-e3 and then play Nf1-h2 to defend the
kingside. This is why many people prefer
to play 10. ... Re8, so they can avoid this
structure.
11. ... Bxb3 12. Qxb3
15. ... Ne7?!
Correct was 15. ... Qe6! as Black has to re-
move the powerful queen on b3. White
should reject the trade and play 16. Qc2,
but then Black equalizes with 16. ... d5! 17.
exd5 Nxd5 18. Ree1. I think this position is
what Mikaelyan was afraid of. The pressure
on the e-file is slightly unpleasant because
the queen is misplaced on e6. But after 18.
... Qd6! (moving off the e-file) 19. Ne4 Qg6
Black would have been completely fine.
16. d4!
White now takes the opportunity to gain
some space in the center.
Top: GM Arman Mikaelyan, 2022 Spring
Classic. Bottom: Newly crowned U.S. Senior
Champion GM Alexander Shabalov.

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 27

EVENTS Foxwoods Open
19. ... Qc6 20. b4!
Gaining space and momentum on the queen-
side too.
20. ... d5?
The wrong move in a difficult position.
Better was 20. ... b6, making space for the
queen on b7, but the position after 21. d5
Qb7 22. Nf5 is still pretty sad. White’s space
advantage looms large.
21. Nxe5!
Now Kadric finishes the game most accurately.
21. ... Nxe5 22. dxe5 Rxe5 23. Qb2!
Probably what Mikaelyan missed. Now Black
is losing because the d5-pawn will fall.
23. ... Qe8 24. cxd5 Nxe4
This move is the only hope for Black, but
it is still bad.
25. f4! Re7 26. Nf5!, Black resigned.
He was joined there by Zhou, who defeated
Narva.
QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED,
TARRASCH VARIATION (D32)
GM Jianchao Zhou (2657)
WGM Mai Narva (2475)
Foxwoods Open (9), 04.17.2022
WGM Mai Narva had a great performance
at Foxwoods. Heading into this final round
game, both Mai and her opponent knew
that the winner would at least share first
place. Being higher rated and playing White,
Jianchao must have felt like this was a must-
win situation.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5!? 4. cxd5 cxd4!?
This has been very fashionable recently.
Of course 4. ... exd5 is the classic path into
the Tarrasch.
5. Qa4+
28 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
The alternative 5. Qxd4 wins a pawn too,
and after 5. ... Nc6! 6. Qd1 exd5 7. Qxd5 Bd6
(or 7. ... Be6!? 8. Qxd8+ Rxd8 with a playable
endgame) White is a pawn up while Black has
good compensation. Both ... Ng8-f6 and ... 0-0
will come and White will have to find some
very accurate moves to keep any advantage.
5. ... Bd7 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Qxd5
What did White gain by forcing the bishop
to d7? I think White wanted to keep the po-
sition complicated, hoping for errors later.
7. ... Nf6
More usual is 7. ... Nc6. After 8. Nf3 Nf6 9.
Qd1 Bc5 10. e3 Qe7 11. Be2 0-0 we transpose
to the game.
8. Qd1
Grabbing another pawn with 8. Qxb7 would
be too risky: 8. ... Nc6 (with the idea ... Nc6-
b4) 9. Qb3 Rb8 10. Qd1 Bb4 and Black has
excellent compensation.
8. ... Bc5
Narva develops her pieces straightforwardly.
I believe this line in the Tarrasch is trendy
nowadays because it is pretty easy to re-
member the ideas for Black.
9. Nf3 0-0 10. e3 Nc6 11. Be2 Qe7 12. 0-0
Now that White has castled as well, let’s
examine the position. Obviously White has
a pawn, but what does Black have for the
material? Development and space, making
it hard for White to develop his pieces. Is
that enough compensation? Hard to say, but
I reckon that if White plays some accurate
moves, it should be enough for an advantage.
12. ... Rfd8
Logical, developing the rook and pressur-
ing the d-file.
13. a3
Perhaps 13. Qc2 is more accurate because
White does not need to fear ... Nc6-b4, i.e.,
13. ... Nb4 14. Qb1 Bc6 15. a3 Nbd5 16. Bd2
Ng4! and Black has compensation, with the
knight pressuring both f2 and e3. Note that if
17. h3?? Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Nxe3! 19. fxe3 Qxe3+
20. Kh1 Qxe2 and Black wins.
13. ... Rac8
Again, logical, but perhaps not the best
choice.
With 13. ... Ne5! Black not only puts pres-
sure on the kingside but also opens the di-
agonal for the d7-bishop: 14. b4?! (14. Qc2
Bc6! and the bishop is useful on the long
diagonal) 14. ... Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Bb5 16. Qb3?
Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Bd6 and Black was crushing
in Hua – Tari, Chess.com 2022.
14. Qc2 Bd6!
A nice move by Narva. The bishop was no
longer useful on c5, but on d6 it pressures
the h2-pawn.
15. Rd1?!
Better was 15. Bd2 developing the bishop
and connecting the rooks.
15. ... Ne5!
Narva shows good feeling for these kinds of
positions. Here the knight move increases
the pressure on the white kingside.
16. Bd2 Bg4?!
Not the right follow-up. Correct was 16. ...
Nxf3+, removing the defender on f3. After
17. Bxf3 Ng4! the position is simplified,
but Black does get the bishop pair which is
enough compensation to equalize.
17. Nd4!
Played at just the right time. After exchang-
ing the light-squared bishops, Black’s com-
pensation evaporates.
17. ... Bxe2 18. Ndxe2
Here White has a clear advantage for the
first time in the game, although Black has
some chances to draw.
18. ... Nd3
I think 18. ... Nc4! would have given better
chances for compensation. White needs to
stop ... Nf6-g4, so 19. h3! (the obvious 19.
Be1? leads to a difficult position for White:
19. ... Ng4! 20. h3 Ngxe3! 21. fxe3 Nxe3 22.
Qb3 Nxd1 23. Rxd1 Bc5+ and the two rooks
are pretty strong on the open files, while the
white king is vulnerable) 19. ... Qe5 (with the
idea ... Qe5-h2+) 20. Ng3! Nxd2 21. Rxd2 Nd5!
and I think this is what Narva overlooked.
Black has good chances to draw despite
being a pawn down.
19. Be1! Nxe1 20. Rxe1
Compare this position to the one on move
15. It’s clear something has gone wrong for
14TH ANNUAL
FOX W O O D S O P E N ,
AT A G L A N C E
APRIL 13-17, 2022
M A S H A N T U C K E T, C T
Black. The position is simplified and Black
doesn’t have the bishop pair.
20. ... Ng4
Too late — Black doesn’t have enough of an
attack anymore. But after the stronger 20.
... g6 21. Red1 White retains good chances
to convert the pawn.
21. g3!
Blunting the power of the d6-bishop. Also
note that without the light-squared bish-
ops, the light squares are less of a concern
for White.
21. ... Qf6 22. Nd4! Bc5 23. Qe2! Qg6
If 23. ... Bxd4 24. exd4 Nh6? 25. Nd5! would
be a nice finish, i.e., 25. ... Rxd5 26. Qe8+
Rxe8 27. Rxe8 mate.
24. Nf3
Keeping the knight on the kingside is smart.
Also playable is 24. Rad1 Bxd4 25. exd4 Nf6,
but I think that Zhou preferred not to just
rely on the d-pawn because such positions
can be a bit tricky with the rook opposing it.
24. ... Re8 25. Nd5 Qe4 26. Rad1
The position is clearly winning for White,
Correspondence Chess
League of America


who has both pawn and positional ad-
vantage.
26. ... a5 27. h3 Nh6?!
It would be better to exchange the knights
with 27. ... Ne5, although the position re-
mains lost: 28. Nxe5 Rxe5 29. Qg4! and the
queen exchange makes it easier to convert
the pawn advantage.
28. Kg2 Nf5 29. Qd3!
Exchanging the queens is smart.
29. ... h6 30. Qxe4 Rxe4 31. Nd2
The rest of the game is pretty straightforward.
31. ... Ree8 32. Nb3 Ba7 33. Nc3 Re5 34.
Rd7 a4 35. Nxa4 Rb5 36. Rc1! Re8 37.
Nbc5 Rc8 38. Nd3 Re8 39. Nc3 Rb3 40.
Nd1 Bb8 41. Nc5 Rb5 42. Rxb7, Black
resigned.
Summing up: I think the Foxwoods Open is
a tournament that you should play at least
once. It’s not an easy tournament, with two
tough rounds a day, but it gives you plenty
of experience to learn from. The event was
well run, and I find the Foxwoods Resort and
Casino amazingly comfortable.

OPEN: 1ST-2ND: GM Denis Kadric and Jianchao Zhou, 7/9.
3RD-4TH: GMs Arman Mikaelyan and Alexander Shabalov,
6½. FIDE U2400: IM Justin Sarkar, 5½/6. U2200: Anton
Barash, 6/7. U2000: Xilin Chen, 6/7. U1800: 1ST-2ND:
Ranjan Dey and Eric Kennedy, 6/7. U1600: Donato Gamaro,
6½/7. U1400: Daniel Liu, 6/7. U1100: 1ST-3RD: Jithya Sa-
jeevan, Onyedikacha Osondu, and Varun Ramanthan, 6/7.
BLITZ: FM Igor Sorkin, 9/10. MIXED DOUBLES: Jithya Saje-
evan and Sebastian Lopez, 11½ points. IM Norms for WGM
Mai Narva and FMs Mike Ivanov and Danila Poliannikov.
For complete results, visit www.foxwoodsopen.com
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 1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, its Origin, and Influence celebrates
the 50th anniversary of the American Robert “Bobby” Fischer’s historic
win over the Russian Boris Spassky in the World Chess Championship,
ending 29 years of Soviet dominance in the sport with hundreds of
artifacts in an expansive three-floor exhibition.

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 Fi s c he r vers
One of America’s
top juniors looks
back at the
Fischer – Spassky
match, which
ended 50 years
ago this month.
BY FM ROBERT SHLYAKHTENKO

32 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 Fischer – Spassky COVER STORY

us Spassky,
5 0 YE ARS O N
COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky
I
t has been 50 years
since “The Match of the
20th Century” took
place in Reykjavik.
Writing in the 21st century,
as a person born in the 21st
century, it is difficult to
properly convey the
importance of this match
between Bobby Fischer and
Boris Spassky. Its purely
chess characteristics can
never be separated from
the political ones, for the
significance of this match
— played at the height of
the Cold War — transcends
the chess board. Fischer’s
victory was the first time
an American-born player
ever won the world
championship, and the first
time since Alexander
Alekhine’s death that a
non-Soviet player won. Yet
Bobby Fischer’s ascension
to the chess Olympus is no
less amazing than his
ultimate capture of the
throne. Indeed, one of the
most remarkable aspects of
the Fischer-Spassky match
is that it even happened.
34 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
FOREMATH
The story begins on October 24th, 1969,
when Ed Edmondson of the US Chess Fed-
eration sent Fischer a formal invitation to
participate in the 1969 U.S. Championship.
The role of the tournament in determining
the national champion was perhaps not as
important to Fischer as its role in qualifying
the top three finishers for the Interzonal
tournament — the first step towards the
world title. Fischer had participated in the
championship eight times and won with-
out exception. It was almost assured that
he would qualify for the Interzonal if he
participated in the championship.
But Fischer refused to play. He didn’t
like that the U.S. Championship was an 11-
round tournament — far too short, in his
opinion, to determine a rightful champion.
The championship was played without him;
the three spots went to Sammy Reshevsky,
William Addison, and Pal Benko. Fischer had
stuck to his principles, and as a result, his
overarching goal — the world championship
— was once again out of sight.
It was at this point that the first sacrifice
in the saga was made by Benko — not of a
piece or pawn on the chessboard, but of his
own shot at the title. Benko believed that
Fischer’s chances in the Interzonal were
superior to his own and surrendered his
spot on the condition that Fischer would
not withdraw from the cycle.
Fischer did play in the Interzonal. More
exactly, he cruised through the competition,
finishing 3½ points ahead of second-place
Bent Larsen. In so doing, he began a 19-
game winning streak (not counting a forfeit
win versus Oscar Panno) that continued in
the Candidates matches: with resounding
scores, he systematically decimated Mark
Taimanov (6-0), Bent Larsen (6-0), and Tigran
Petrosian (6½-2½) — wipeouts unheard of in
the arena of top-level chess. At last, no chess
player stood between Fischer and a match
for the world title. Yet his long, winding
path to the championship had only begun.
The bids for the match were unveiled in
PHOTOS: BERT VERHOEFF / ANEFO (THIS PAGE); ROBERT BENTLEY (LINE ART PREVIOUS PAGE)
early 1972, and presaged further difficulties
for the negotiations. Fischer considered the
prize fund to be the predominant factor,
and so the best monetary offer — Belgrade
($152,000) — automatically attracted him.
For Spassky, a Soviet citizen, this was not
nearly as important. When Reykjavik (with
a bid of $125,000) was chosen as the match
site, Fischer was deeply upset: apart from
the lower prize fund, he viewed Iceland as
a primitive country and made disparaging
remarks to that effect. Fischer signaled that
he would refuse to play unless the prize fund
was increased.
Days before the match, Fischer’s long-time
friend Anthony Saidy shepherded him to
Saidy’s family home in Long Island, where
Fischer remained — trying and failing to
avoid hordes of reporters. Several increasing-
ly desperate attempts to put him on a flight
to Iceland came to nothing, and, as a result,
Fischer missed the opening ceremony. In a
breach of regulations, FIDE President Max
Euwe postponed the match but indicated

Ed Edmondson, Bobby Fischer,
and Max Euwe in match negotia-
tions (Amsterdam, January 1972)
that he would not accept any further delay.
By this point, it seemed highly improbable
that the event would ever take place.
An active campaign soon began to coerce
Fischer into playing. British multi-million-
aire James Slater offered to double the prize
fund — removing “the element of money,” as
he put it — almost as if he were challenging
Fischer to play. Rumor had it that Fischer
also received a call from none other than
then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. By
hook or by crook, the campaign succeeded:
one way or another, Fischer was convinced.
CHESS PREPARATIONS
The players’ preparations for the match
could not have been more different. Fischer,
staying at the Grossinger hotel in upstate
New York, studied intensively — consulting
the most recent chess literature and poring
over hand-copied scores of Spassky’s games.
In early June, slightly more than a month
before the planned opening of the match,
PHOTO: EVERITT COLLECTION INC / ALAMY
Fischer flew to Pasadena, California, and
began a stringent physical routine that
included tennis, swimming, and boxing.
Spassky’s approach was reportedly much
more relaxed — perhaps too relaxed. A
falling out with his long-time second, Igor
Bondarevsky, did not help matters. In the
end, Spassky assembled a team consisting
of Efim Geller (widely renowned for his
opening erudition), Nikolai Krogius (who
would provide psychological help), and Iivo
Nei (whose skill as a tennis sparring partner
was probably just as valuable to Spassky as
his chess knowledge). Fischer was seconded
by Bill Lombardy, but, as usual, worked on
the chess mostly by himself.
Stylistically, the combatants were also
very different. Spassky possessed a univer-
sality unmatched by any other player of his
era. Though not especially innovative in the
openings, he played equally well with the
king’s and queen’s pawns and could keenly
exploit any weakness in his opponent’s play.
He especially thrived in positions with an
initiative: Spassky won many games simply
by centralizing his pieces, opening lines,
and launching a powerful attack.
With the benefit of 50 years of analysis,
both human and silicon-based, Fischer ‘s
concrete approach to chess reminds me
most of a pre-neural-net version of Stockfish.
His insistence on analyzing positions move-
by-move rather than on general grounds
placed his opening play on a different level
from any of his contemporaries. He valued
extra material highly and was quite willing
to defend for it, as shown by his dedication
to the Najdorf Poisoned Pawn. Nevertheless,
he chose active defense almost without ex-
ception; clever intermediate moves were his
trademark. In the conversion of advantag-
es (particularly when he had a safe king),
Fischer played with unrivaled precision.
I think one could reasonably argue that
Spassky had a wider, more original chess
understanding than Fischer, but these qual-
ities were more than compensated for by
Fischer’s superior opening erudition, skill
in calculation, and technique.
In modern times, Fischer’s aura of invin-
cibility has so much permeated our chess
consciousness that it seems impossible to
imagine him as anything less than a heavy
favorite in the world championship match.
Yet, at the time, an informal poll of strong
American masters in Chess Life & Review
showed that many were not so sure: Re-
shevsky, Andy Soltis, and others went on
record favoring Spassky. One reason was
that Fischer had previously never won a
game against Spassky.
However, several signals indicated that
Spassky was in poor form. His result in the
1971 Alekhine Memorial was disappointing,
to say the least, and in general, it seemed
that he had lost motivation since winning
the title in 1969. Mikhail Tal, in particular,
privately warned that “a certain laziness,
which occasionally occurs with the world
champion…should be completely eliminated
by the time of the match.”
Additionally, the Soviet team underesti-
mated Fischer: they thought that his opening
repertoire was far too limited for a 24-game
match, and that his mastery extended only
to a relatively narrow range of positions.
In particular, Fischer had practically never
deviated from his favorite 1. e4. A conglom-
erate of Soviet grandmasters were asked to
provide their opinions on Fischer to Spassky
prior to the match; of those, only Viktor
Korchnoi even considered the possibility of
Fischer playing the closed openings.
Fischer studies for the
match — note the Infor-
mant and “red book.”
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 35
COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky

Kb4 43. b6 Kxa4 the position is a fortress

draw, since White can’t stop the black king
from running back to c8) 39. ... f5 40. Kxg7
(or 40. Kg5 b6, and White can’t improve
his position: 41. Bd2 Kd3 42. Bc1 Ke4 with
a draw) 40. ... f4 41. exf4 exf4 42. Bd2 (42.
Bxf4 Kxf4 is drawn) 42. ... f3 43. Be1 Kd3 44.
Kf6 (44. a5 b6!) 44. ... Kc4 45. Ke5 b6! 46. Kd6
Kb3 47. Kc6 Kxa4 and Black is just in time.

36. ... Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4

THE MATCH
Game one began on July 11th, with Fischer
playing the Black pieces. After improving on
a 1958 game between Spassky and Nikolai
Krogius, Fischer easily secured equality and
seemed to be steering the game towards a
draw. Then, on move 29, in an obviously
drawn bishop endgame, he drastically, and
inexplicably, changed the character of the
position:
THAT BISHOP MOVE
GM Boris Spassky
29. ... Bxh2?!
Fifty years later, this move is still hard to
explain. For no reason, Fischer transforms
the position from an easy draw to one in
which he must display a high level of preci-
sion simply to hold. This position has been
so widely publicized that many people are
under the impression that Black is losing
after this move. However, as we will see,
this is not correct.
30. g3 h5
30. ... Ke7 is met by 31. a4, and the black king
cannot invade. But not 31. Ke2 Kd6 32. Kf3?
Kc5 33. Kg2 Bxg3 34. fxg3 Kxb5 and Black
is the one with all the chances.
37. ... Kc4? is a mirage: 38. Bf8 Kb3 39. a5
Ka4 40. a6! b6 41. Bxg7 Kxb5 42. Bxf6 Kxa6
43. Kf4 Kb5 44. Bd4! and Black is doomed.
But of course not 44. Ke5?? Kc4 45. Kxe6
Kd3 46. Bd4 Ke4!.
38. Bc5 a6
Another pitfall is 38. ... b6?? 39. Bxb6!.
39. b6
White keeps as many pawns on the board as
possible. Now comes the critical moment of
this endgame. Black is aiming for a fortress:
if White plays a4-a5 and Black manages to
trade off the e3-pawn, then all the second
player has to do is bring the king to c8. That
position is drawn, based on the theme of
stalemate. If White’s pawn is still on a4, how-
ever, the fortress no longer works — White
can induce the move ... a6-a5 and win the
fledgling pawn, after which the win is trivial.

PHOTO: COURTESY ICELANDIC CHESS HERITAGE SOCIETY (ICHS)

GM Bobby Fischer
World Championship (1), Reykjavik, 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7
07.11.1972 Many speculated that Fischer first planned
32. ... h3 33. Kg4 Bg1 34. Kxh3 Bxf2, only to
miss 35. Bd2! and the f2-bishop is trapped.

33. Kg2 hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6

(see diagram top of next column)

36. a4
36. Kg4 “would have led to the goal,” accord-
ing to Kasparov, but Black has a miracle
save: after 36. ... Ke5 37. Kh5 Ke4! It turns 39. ... f5??
out that Black doesn’t need to worry about The decisive mistake, allowing White’s king
the g7-pawn. 38. a4!? e5 39. Kg6 (After 39. to “come around” from the side.
BLACK TO MOVE Ba3 Kxe3 40. Bc5+ Kd3 41. Bxa7 Kc4 42. Bf2 Black holds with 39. ... e5! 40. Kg4 (Kaspar-

36 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 ov gives 40. Bf8 Kxe3 41. Bxg7 Kd4 42. Bxf6
Kc5 43. Bd8 Kb4 44. Kf3 Kxa4 45. Ke4 Kb5
46. Kd5 a5! 47. Kxe5 Kc5 48. Ke4 Kc4 49. Ke3
a4 with a draw) 40. ... g6 41. Kg3!? and now
even 41. ... f5 42. Kh4 f4 43. exf4 Kxf4! 44.
Be7 e4 45. Bg5+ Kf3 46. Bc1 e3 47. Kg5 e2 48.
Bd2 Ke4! 49. Kxg6 Kd5 50. Kf5 Kc6, forcing
51. a5 (51. Ba5 e1=Q 52. Bxe1 Kxb6 53. Ke5
Kc6 54. Kd4 a5! 55. Bxa5 b5, liquidating the
position) 51. ... Kd7 and Black reaches the
desired fortress.
40. Kh4! f4
Now 40. ... e5 41. Kg5 f4 42. exf4 exf4 43.
Bg1 Ke5 doesn’t hold: 44. Kg6 Kd6 45. Kxg7
Kd7 46. Kf7 Kc8 47. Ke8 f3 48. Bf2 (as given
by A. Levin on Chess.com) 48. ... Kb8 49.
Kd8 Ka8 50. Kc7 and Black is in zugzwang.
If the white pawn were on the a5-square,
this position would be an obvious draw.
41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5!
IMAGE: COURTESY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION
Black cannot force a4-a5 and get his king
back to a8 in time. The rest is a matter of
technique.
42. ... Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4
e5 46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49.
Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5
Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5
Kb5 56. Kd6, Black resigned.
Incensed by this loss, Fischer duly found the
necessary scapegoat — television cameras in
the playing hall. He demanded the removal
of all cameras from the venue, but manag-
ing the competing interests of Fischer, the
organizers, and the producer (Chester Fox)
was nearly impossible.
Two days later, at 5 p.m., the tension
reached a climax: Fischer failed to appear
for the second game of the match. At 6 p.m.,
Chief Arbiter Lothar Schmid, in what he
later called one of the worst moments of
his life, forfeited Fischer. Fischer once again
seemed close to aborting the match, but “a
massive telegram campaign, a phone call
from presidential advisor Henry Kissinger,
and redoubled efforts by his friends and
advisors here, made him change his mind
and cancel his plane reservations home”
(Robert Byrne in the August 1972 Chess Life
& Review).
Spassky now needed only 10 more points
out of 22 games in order to win the match.
However, one must realize that Spassky was
also under a lot of pressure at this point: he
certainly had enough grounds to discontin-
ue the match and return home, as many of
his countrymen encouraged him to do. But
Spassky was too great a sportsman to allow
this. He was no longer battling only Fischer,
but also those at home — and himself.
Spassky agreed to play game three in a
back room, away from cameras (and specta-
tors). Subsequently, Spassky would call this
a colossal psychological error, feeling that
“after winning the second game through the
non-appearance of my opponent, I was as
though in his debt…” In any case, it was time
for Fischer to strike. He chose the Benoni
and implemented a novel strategic plan,
accepting doubled h-pawns in exchange
for dynamic counterplay. Later, ways were
found for White to consolidate the position,
but Spassky was insufficiently familiar with
the nuances and failed to solve the problems
over the board. After several weak moves, he
landed in a worse position and was unable
to save a difficult ending with queens and
opposite-colored bishops.
In game four, Spassky, on the black side
of a Classical Sicilian, sacrificed a pawn in
inspired fashion and gained the bishop pair
and kingside pressure in return. On move 31,
however, he played imprecisely and allowed
White to trade queens into an opposite-col-
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 37
COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky

mentum was on Fischer’s side. He made full

use of it in game six, widely considered the
best game of the match:

QUEEN’S GAMBIT
DECLINED, TARTAKOWER
VARIATION (D59)
GM Bobby Fischer
GM Boris Spassky
World Championship (6), Reykjavik,
07.23.1972

1. c4!
Fischer played 1. e4 so exclusively that
the possibility of any other first move was
viewed almost jokingly. For example, a
prophetic cartoon on the June 1972 cover
of Chess Life & Review displayed worried
Soviet leaders Brezhnev and Kosygin ques-
tioning Spassky (who sits next to a stack of
1. e4 tomes): “But Boris, what if he doesn’t
play 1 P-K4?” In real life, Spassky’s response
was flippant: “I’ll play the Tartakower-Bond-
arevsky; what can he achieve?”

Above: LeRoy Neiman’s sketch of Fischer

leaving the hall. Right: Neiman’s rendition of
the spectators — check the notes below!

ored bishop ending with no real dangers.

In future games, this scenario would repeat
itself. It’s not that Spassky never got chances;
in fact, he had clear advantages in several
games. However, faced with dogged defense,
he all-too-often let his opponent off the hook.
Fischer, on the other hand, mercilessly pun-
ished his opponent in almost every case.
In game five (annotated beginning on
page 48 by IM Tibor Karolyi), Fischer chose
the Nimzo-Indian, but played a different line
than in the first game — an indication that
he was consciously varying his openings
to avoid Spassky’s preparation. The game
itself was a strategic brilliancy, but ended
abruptly — Spassky made a shocking blunder PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX

on move 27, a tell-tale sign that the world

champion was out of form.
The score was now even, but all the mo-

38 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 Perhaps he was counting on Fischer’s lack Above: Fischer arrives at the Laugardalsholl
of experience in the closed openings, under- venue. Right: A young fan is clearly awed by
estimating the flexibility of his opponent. As his passing idol.
this game shows, Fischer’s choice was a bril-
liant practical decision, sidestepping much
of his opponent’s preparation and forcing The strong improvement 14. ... Qb7! neu-
IMAGES: COURETSY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION (PREVIOUS PAGE); ICHS (THIS PAGE, LEFT); ICELANDIC CHESS FEDERATION (THIS PAGE, RIGHT)

Spassky to devote additional time to prepar-
ing the closed openings later in the match.
1. ... e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5.
Bg5 0-0 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6
The aforementioned Tartakower-Makogon-
ov-Bondarevsky variation.
In the 12th game, Spassky deviated with
7. ... Nbd7.
8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5
11. Rc1 Be6
The text move is an improvement on 11.
... Bb7 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Be2, and
White had some chances for an advantage
in Petrosian – Spassky, Santa Monica 1966.
12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5
tralized this variation. According to Geller,
Spassky’s team had already found this move
and Spassky simply forgot it during the
game. If true, this is another example of
Spassky’s lackluster preparation for the
match, but I can’t help but wonder — if
Spassky knew about this move during the
match, why didn’t he repeat this line in the
three future games where Fischer played
1. c4?
The point of this improvement is revealed
after 15. dxc5 (forced, as otherwise Black
plays ... c5-c4!) 15. ... bxc5 16. Rxc5 Rxc5
17. Qxc5 Na6! 18. Bxa6 (18. Qc6 Qxc6 19.
Bxc6 Rb8! [19. ... Rc8 20. Ba4 Rc1+ 21. Bd1 is
somewhat less accurate] and White cannot
save the b-pawn, because now after 20. b3?
Rc8! wins) 18. ... Qxa6 19. Qa3 Qc4 and Black
has excellent chances as in Timman – Geller,
Hilversum 1973.
23. Bc2 Bxc2 24. Rxc2 Na6! 25. a3 Rc5 with
sufficient counter-chances.
17. Be2 Nd7
Allowing White a favorable minor-piece
exchange.
The alternative 17. ... a5 18. Rc3 occurred
in the Furman – Geller game. Now the most
accurate move might be 18. ... Kf8!?, pre-
paring to trade queens with ... c5-c4. (The
immediate 18. ... c4 is also possible, but after
19. Qxe7 Rxe7 Black’s king is far from the
center.) Play might continue 19. Rfc1 c4 20.
Qxe7+ Kxe7 21. b3 cxb3! 22. Rxc8 Bxc8 23.
axb3 and Black should be able to defend.
18. Nd4

15. dxc5 bxc5 16. 0-0

Black is faced with two pins and has to
develop carefully: he risks being forced to
defend his hanging pawns passively, as well
as being left with an inferior minor piece.
Both of these things happened in the game...

16. ... Ra7

So far, the players have followed Furman –
Geller (Moscow 1970), a game that should
have been known to Spassky.
14. ... a6
Kasparov shows the line 16. ... Qb7 (other
possibilities are 16. ... Qa7, 16. ... Nc6, and
16. ... Nd7) 17. Ba4 Qb6 18. Ne5 a5 19. f4 Bf5
(19. ... Ra7!?, intending 20. f5 Bd7, is also
possible) 20. Rfd1 Be4 and gives equality
— the queen is a valuable defender of the
queenside. It’s possible to extend this line
a bit further: 21. Qb3!? Qxb3 22. Bxb3 c4
18. ... Qf8?
Spassky’s first real mistake.
It was vital to play 18. ... Nf6, taking the
e4-square under control. After 19. Nb3 (19.
Nxe6 fxe6 is no longer so dangerous) Black

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 39


can even play 19. ... Rac7! (Kasparov’s move)
and Black’s position is fully harmonized.
Capturing the a6-pawn poses more risks
for White than for Black.
19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. e4!
White wants to modify the structure in order
to activate the light-squared bishop. Black
should not allow him to do so, but how?
20. ... d4?
Positional capitulation: the hanging pawns
are now immobilized and White is able to
activate his light-squared bishop. However,
I do not see complete equality in any of the
alternatives either, which suggests that 18.
... Qf8 was already a serious error.
Let’s take a look at the other options:
(a) I am not convinced by 20. ... Nf6 21.
e5 Nd7 for two reasons:
(a1) Firstly, in Kasparov’s line 22. f4 c4 23.
Qh3 Rc6 24. b3 Nb6 White has strong pres-
40 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
sure after 25. Bg4 Qe7 (or 25. ... Qc5+ 26. Kh1
Re7 27. Qh5 Nd7 28. bxc4 dxc4 29. Bd1! When
White successfully combines play on both
flanks) 26. f5!, and again the light-squared
bishop reigns supreme.
(a2) And secondly, the prophylactic 22.
Qe3! creates difficult problems for Black:
he can no longer play ... c5-c4. After the
relatively best 22. ... Qd8 23. b3! Qb6 24.
Qg3! (not 24. Kh1 a5 25. a4 c4!) 24. ... a5
25. a4 White has frozen Black’s queenside
counterplay and stands better.
(b) 20. ... c4 21. Qh3 Rc6 22. b3 Nb6 gives
Black “a perfectly defensible position”
(Kasparov), but after 23. exd5 exd5 24. bxc4
(24. Rfe1!? is also very interesting, intending
24. ... Re7 25. Bf1 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 with some
advantage) 24. ... dxc4 25. Rfd1 I think White
still has serious chances for an advantage:
he can combine threats against the c4- and
a6-pawns with play against Black’s king.
(c) 20. ... Qd6 21. exd5 exd5 22. Rfd1 is
simply worse for Black.
(d) 20. ... dxe4!? is surprisingly difficult
to refute; somehow, Black is always able
to cover his weaknesses adequately. How-
ever, I doubt that he can hope for equality
in this case.
21. f4 Qe7 22. e5
Perhaps slightly rushed.
The preparatory 22. Qh3! improves the
position without committing to a specific
attacking plan. For example, White can con-
template e4-e5 as in the game, but also Be2-
c4 or even f4-f5 (in the case of 22. ... Nb6).
Left: Neiman’s graphite sketches of Fischer,
which, as he noted in his autobiography,
were silent enough for Fischer’s keen ears!
22. ... Rb8?!
Relatively best was 22. ... Nb6, though
Kasparov shows that 23. Qd3! (intending
Qd3-e4 and Be2-d3) is still very dangerous
for Black.
23. Bc4
Now Black’s position is truly lost: there is
simply nothing for him to do. Fischer’s con-
version of the advantage is flawless.
23. ... Kh8
Here 23. ... Nb6 is refuted by Tal’s 24. Qb3!
24. Qh3 Nf8
If 24. ... Rxb2 25. Bxe6, and in the long run
IMAGES: COURTESY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION (THIS PAGE), ICELANDIC CHESS ASSOCIATION (FACING)
Black can’t stop the advance of White’s
pawns.
25. b3 a5 26. f5 exf5 27. Rxf5 Nh7 28. Rcf1
Qd8 29. Qg3 Re7 30. h4
Further restricting the black knight. All
the preparations have been made for the
final advance.
30. ... Rbb7 31. e6! Rbc7 32. Qe5 Qe8 33.
a4 Qd8 34. R1f2 Qe8 35. R2f3 Qd8 36. Bd3
Qe8 37. Qe4! Nf6
37. ... Rxe6 does not help in view of 38. Rf8+
Nxf8 39. Rxf8+ Qxf8 40. Qh7 mate.
38. Rxf6! gxf6 39. Rxf6 Kg8 40. Bc4 Kh8
41. Qf4, Black resigned.
Spassky’s passive pieces are completely
powerless.
In this moment of great psychological stress,
after everything that had occurred, Spass-
Right: Spassky takes his leave from the stage
while Fischer ponders his next move. Unfor-
tunately we do not know which game this is!

ky showed true magnanimity: when the
spectators applauded Fischer, the world
champion joined in. It is hard to imagine
any other champion acting the same way
in that situation. Perhaps only Tal would
do such a thing.
The seventh game was drawn after a sharp
fight, but in the eighth, Fischer struck again.
He played 1. c4 for the second time, showing
that the sixth game was not just an abbera-
tion. On this occasion, Spassky responded
with 1. ... c5 and reached a playable position,
but made an awful blunder and succumbed
once more.
Only six games before this, Spassky led
by two points; now the scores were re-
versed. Something in the world champion’s
approach had to drastically change. On July
28th, he met with his trainers and resolved
to start “afresh,” significantly altering his
daily regimen. He drew the ninth game
but lost the 10th — in a Breyer Ruy Lopez,
Fischer gained a strong attack and trans-
posed into a superior ending, which he
conducted with utmost precision. Spassky’s
attempted comeback would have to wait
until the 11th game:
PHOTO: TKTK CTRL + SHIFT CLICK TO UNLOCK BOX
Fischer – Spassky
SICILIAN DEFENSE, NAJDORF
VARIATION (B97)
GM Boris Spassky
GM Bobby Fischer
World Championship (11), Reykjavik,
08.06.1972
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6
Fischer sticks to his guns, repeating the
same variation he played in Game 7. In all
other match games, he constantly varied his
openings to avoid Soviet preparation. For
this encounter, Spassky came prepared...
8. Qd2
The critical move, both then and now. Spass-
ky’s only experience facing this variation
before the match was in a 1970 exhibition
game against the readers of Pravda, where
he, obviously not wishing to show his cards,
played the placid 8. Nb3.
8. ... Qxb2 9. Nb3
Nowadays 9. Rb1 is played exclusively. Fisch-
er had faced the text move only once, in a
blitz game against Matulovic in 1970.
9. ... Qa3 10. Bxf6
Spassky tries to improve on 10. Bd3, which
brought him little success in the seventh
game of the match: 10. ... Be7 11. 0-0 h6!
COVER STORY
12. Bh4?! (as the game proves, this spirited
sacrifice is insufficient) 12. ... Nxe4 13. Nxe4
Bxh4 14. f5! exf5 15. Bb5+! axb5! 16. Nxd6+
Kf8 17. Nxc8 Nc6 18. Nd6 Rd8 19. Nxb5
Qe7 20. Qf4 g6. Black has consolidated his
position and Spassky was fortunate not to
lose the game.
10. ... gxf6 11. Be2 h5
A standard move in this pawn structure,
preventing White from playing Be2-h5.
Later, most players came to the conclusion
that the text is not strictly necessary, and
continued simply with 11. ... Nc6.
12. 0-0 Nc6 13. Kh1 Bd7
14. Nb1!?
Spassky’s novelty! Black needs to play ac-
curately to keep his queen out of trouble.
14. ... Qb4
On 14. ... Qa4 white can try 15. a3!? and the
e4-pawn is immune. The alternative 14. ...
Qb2?! is very risky on account of 15. a4! and
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 41
COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky
White threatens Nb1-c3 (or Nb1-a3) followed
by Rf1-b1, trapping the black queen.
15. Qe3 d5!?
Fischer’s trademark: he defends as actively
as possible. Most annotators consider this
to be a serious error, but I am not so sure.
More solid is 15. ... Ne7, and now: (a) 16. a3
Qa4 17. Nc3 Qc6 18. Rad1 with an unclear po-
sition. (b) 16. N1d2!? is interesting, in which
case Black should play 16. ... Rc8! to prevent
Nd2-c4. (c) 16. c4 is well met by 16. ... f5!.
16. exd5 Ne7 17. c4
The most natural move: White maintains
the central pawn on d5.
17. ... Nf5 18. Qd3
(see diagram top of next column)
18. ... h4?
This is the real mistake: however risky
Black’s strategy might be, it is too late to
deviate from it now.
Perhaps 18. ... Rc8!? deserves consideration,
e.g., 19. Nc3 b5 20. dxe6 fxe6 21. Rad1 Rc7.
42 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
I think the best move is the surprising 18.
... exd5!, which looks incredibly dangerous
in view of 19. Nc3! dxc4 20. Qe4+ Be7 21.
Nd5 Qd6 22. Bxc4
POSITION AFTER 22. BxC4
and it seems that White has a strong initia-
tive. However, appearances are deceptive:
22. ... Rc8 23. Rad1 Be6!! 24. Rfe1 (24. Nxf6+
Bxf6 25. Rxd6 Nxd6 is equally unclear) 24.
... Kf8! and Black holds miraculously, e.g.,
25. Ne3 Rxc4 26. Nxc4 Qb4!.
19. Bg4!
Black’s momentary counterplay is nipped in
the bud. Now sacrificing the knight on g3
does not work, as White’s bishop can block
on h3. Fischer evidently counted lines such
as 19. Nc3?? Ng3+! 20. hxg3 hxg3+ 21. Kg1
Bc5+ 22. Nd4 e5 and wins.
19. ... Nd6
Black is strategically lost after 19. ... 0-0-0
20. Bxf5 exf5 21. h3!! — he simply has no
counterplay.
20. N1d2 f5 21. a3!
With a series of strong intermediate moves,
Below: Neiman captures a moment from the
match. The sketch is dated July 27th (game
nine) but Fischer played White that day?!
IMAGE: COURTESY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION
 Right: A draw is agreed with a handshake.
Can anyone figure out which game this
might be?

Spassky destroys Black’s position.

21. ... Qb6 22. c5 Qb5 23. Qc3 fxg4 24. a4!
Trapping the queen; the rest becomes a
formality. An incredible disaster for Fischer.

24. ... h3 25. axb5 hxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rh3 27.

Qf6 Nf5 28. c6 Bc8 29. dxe6 fxe6 30. Rfe1
Be7 31. Rxe6, Black resigned.

In the 12th game, Fischer returned to the

Queen’s Gambit Declined (as in game six)
but found no similar success: the element
of surprise had passed and Spassky’s vast
experience in this line came to the fore-
front. The game was drawn without much
excitement.
Fischer prepared an opening surprise for
the 13th game as well: he chose Alekhine’s
Defense, a rare guest in world championship
matches. Spassky’s team had devoted mini- 44. ... e5! 59. ... h3 60. Be7
mal attention to this variation, and Spassky Rather than accept a perpetual check, Fisch- Here 60. Kc1!? should draw as well.
handled the opening unconvincingly. Never- er decides to sacrifice a piece! The next 10
theless, a pawn sacrifice gave him a serious moves are practically forced. Here 44. ...
initiative and the middlegame became an a1=Q 45. Rh7+ Kg8 46. Rh8+ is an imme-
open fight. After reaching a sharp ending diate draw.
with rooks and opposite-colored bishops,
Spassky seemed close to achieving a draw. 45. Rh7+ Ke6 46. Re7+ Kd6 47. Rxe5 Rxc3+
However, Fischer found his only chance and 48. Kf2 Rc2+ 49. Ke1 Kxd7 50. Rexd5+ Kc6
exploited it masterfully: 51. Rd6+ Kb7 52. Rd7+ Ka6 53. R7d2 Rxd2
54. Kxd2 b4

HIGH PRAISE
GM Boris Spassky
GM Bobby Fischer
World Championship (13), Reykjavik, 60. ... Rg8!
08.10.1972 “The American found a paradoxical solution:
he stalemated his own rook, but blocked
White’s passed pawn and pinned down his
bishop. Now there were five passed pawns
fighting against the white rook. Nothing
similar had ever been seen previously in
chess. Spassky was shocked and lost. Soon
Smyslov found a draw for White, but would
Black’s queenside pawns are menacing. he have found it at the board, sitting oppo-
White has to act immediately to create site Fischer?” (Botvinnik)
chances on the other side of the board.
61. Bf8 h2 62. Kc2 Kc6 63. Rd1
55. h4! Kb5 56. h5! c4 Not the only drawing move, but the most
Threatening ... c4-c3+, so White’s next move precise one: Black’s king is cut off.
PHOTO: COURTESY ICHS

BLACK TO MOVE is forced.

Botvinnik considered this endgame to be
the “finest creative achievement” of Fisch-
er’s whole career. It all began with the next
move.
57. Ra1 gxh5 58. g6 h4 59. g7
59. Bxh4? Rg8 60. Rxa2 Rxg6 is lost for White.
He needs the g7-pawn to hold down Black’s
rook.
63. ... b3+ 64. Kc3
Gligoric’s 64. Kb2 indeed holds the draw
more easily: 64. ... f4 65. Rd6+ Kc7 66. Rd1 f3
67. Kc3 f2 68. Kb2, and Black cannot further
improve his position.

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 43

COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky
64. ... h1=Q 65. Rxh1 Kd5 66. Kb2
In my view, the simplest path to a draw was
66. Re1. By keeping the king on c3, White
prevents Black’s king from penetrating to d3:
66. ... f4 67. Rd1+ Ke4 68. Re1+ Kf3 69. Rf1+
Kg2 70. Ra1! f3 71. Kxc4 f2 72. Kxb3 f1=Q 73.
Rxf1 Kxf1 74. Kxa2, with a draw.
66. ... f4 67. Rd1+ Ke4 68. Rc1 Kd3
69. Rd1+??
After a long defense, Spassky finally cracks.
Instead, White saves the game with 69. Rc3+!
Kd4 (or 69. ... Ke2 70. Rxc4 f3 71. Rc1) 70. Rf3
c3+ 71. Ka1 c2 72. Rxf4+ Kc3 and now, for
example 73. Bb4+ Kd3 74. Rf1 Rxg7 75. Kb2
as given by Smyslov.
Above: Neiman’s ink and watercolor vision of
the spectators. Right: the commentary room
in Reykjavik.
44 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
69. ... Ke2 70. Rc1
Note that White isn’t in time to play 70. Ra1,
as in the above line.
70. ... f3 71. Bc5 Rxg7 72. Rxc4 Rd7
72. ... f2 also wins, because the a- and b-
pawns are so far advanced.
73. Re4+ Kf1 74. Bd4 f2, White resigned.
Black threatens ... Rd7xd4, and if the bishop
moves, there is ... Rd7-d1. Therefore, Spass-
ky threw in the towel.
The next several games saw a complete
turnaround. Spassky, sensing that his title
was in danger, went on the attack and put
significant pressure on Fischer in the 14th
and 15th games and had serious chances in
the 18th. But he was unable to convert any
of these advantages into full points on the
scoreboard — due as much to exhaustion
and his poor form as to Fischer’s defense.
The 19th game was perhaps Spassky’s last
realistic chance to save the match.
ALEKHINE’S DEFENSE (B05)
GM Boris Spassky
GM Bobby Fischer
World Championship (19), Reykjavik,
IMAGES: COURTESY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION
08.27.1972
1. e4 Nf6
Returning to his choice from the 13th game,
but by this time Spassky had studied this
variation more carefully.
2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4
Deviating from the 13th game, where Fischer
played 4. ... g6.
5. Be2 e6 6. 0-0 Be7 7. h3 Bh5 8. c4 Nb6

Above: Interest in the match was global; here
Donner comments in Amsterdam. Right: anx-
ious fans peer into Larsen’s on-site analysis!
9. Nc3 0-0 10. Be3
Now this is the main line, but at the time
this whole variation was relatively new —
for example, it isn’t mentioned in Bagirov’s
1971 monograph on the Alekhine Defense.
At the time, 10. exd6 cxd6 11. Be3 d5! was
becoming popular. With the text move,
Spassky avoids this possibility.
10. ... d5
Now after 10. ... Nc6 White could play 11.
exd6 cxd6 12. d5!, considered favorable for
White both then and now. The inclusion of
h2-h3 is helpful, because after 12. ... exd5
13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 the h5-bishop hangs.
11. c5 Bxf3
PHOTOS: BERT VERHOEFF / ANEFO (TOP), COURTESY ICHS (RIGHT)
12. Bxf3
The alternative 12. gxf3!? became popular
only later. White prevents ... Nb6-c4, and
after 12. ... Nc8 13. f4 Black will need some
time to make use of his “counter-chances.”
(Less kind, but more accurate, is to say that
White is just better — Black’s position is
solid, but very passive).
12. ... Nc4 13. b3
This move is beneficial only from a dynamic
point of view — White opens the f-file and
prepares e3-e4 in some cases.
It’s better to preserve the bishop: 13. Bf4
b6 14. b3 Na5 15. b4 Nc4 16. Rc1 with some
advantage, as in Beliavsky – Alburt, Dau-
gavpils 1974. Black can’t play 16. ... a5 in
view of 17. b5 bxc5 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Nxd5!
13. ... Nxe3 14. fxe3 b6
Stronger is 14. ... Nc6, followed by ... b7-b6
or in some cases ... f7-f6.
15. e4!
Increasing the tension while Black’s queen-
side is still undeveloped.
15. ... c6 16. b4 bxc5!?
Fischer avoids 16. ... a5 17. a3 axb4 18. axb4
Rxa1 19. Qxa1, which leaves Black with a
tenable but prospectless position.
17. bxc5 Qa5 18. Nxd5!?
This sound move greatly complicates the
position.
However, the strongest move was 18. Qe1!,
creating the threat of Nc3xd5. After 18. ...
Qb4 19. Rd1 Na6 20. exd5 cxd5 21. Bh5 Nc7
22. Kh2 Black’s position is difficult.
18. ... Bg5!
Accepting the sacrifice is too dangerous;
Kasparov gives 18. ... exd5 19. exd5 Bg5
20. Kh1! (but not 20. d6? Be3+ 21. Kh1 Qc3)
20. ... Na6 21. d6 and the pawns are simply
too strong.
19. Bh5
According to Kasparov, 19. Qd3 was better,
missing that after 19. ... exd5 20. exd5 Na6
21. d6 Nxc5 22. dxc5 Qxc5+ 23. Kh1 Black
can hold with 23. ... Rae8! (incorrect is 23.
... Qxe5? 24. Bxc6 Rab8 25. Rae1 Qc5 26. Bd5
and with two rooks on the board, White’s
attack is overpowering) 24. Rae1 Rxe5 25.
Rxe5 Qxe5 26. Bxc6 g6! 27. d7 Bd8.
19. ... cxd5
There was no choice, as after 19. ... g6 White
has 20. Nf6+.
20. Bxf7+
20. exd5!? is also very interesting. Here the
paths diverges, and Black has a number of
reasonable moves to consider.
(a) 20. ... Na6? allows 21. Qg4!! Be3+ 22.
Kh1 Qc3 23. Rad1 and it transpires that
Black does not have a good move: 23. ...
exd5 loses to 24. Bxf7+ Rxf7 25. Rxf7 Kxf7
26. Qd7+. In contrast, 21. Bxf7+ Rxf7 22.
Rxf7 Kxf7 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Qxg5 exd5 25.
e6 Qd8! (missed by Kasparov) 26. e7 Qd7
allows Black to survive.
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 45
COVER STORY Fischer – Spassky

(b) 20. ... exd5 21. Bxf7+ Rxf7 22. Rxf7
and now:
(b1) 22. ... Qd2 23. Rc7 Na6 24. Rd7 Be3+
25. Kh1 Qxd4 26. Rxd5 (curiously, Kaspar-
ov does not comment on this move) 26.
... Qxd1+ 27. Raxd1 and White has some
winning chances, since 27. ... Nxc5? loses
immediately to 28. e6!.
(b2) 22. ... Qc3? is bad due to 23. Rb1! Nc6
24. Rbb7 Bh6 25. Kh1 Nxd4 (or 25. ... Qxd4
26. Qxd4 Nxd4 27. g4) 26. c6!.
(c) The counterattacking 20. ... Qc3!! was
best, and after 21. dxe6 Nc6! 22. exf7+ Kh8
23. Bf3! Rxf7! 24. Bxc6 Rxf1+ 25. Kxf1!?
Rb8. White is up three pawns but has great
difficulties in consolidating his advantage,
e.g., 26. Kg1 Rb4.
20. ... Rxf7 21. Rxf7 Qd2!
The most human move, forcing the trade
of queens. 21. ... Nc6!? is very complicated,
but appears to hold as well, while 21. ... Be3?
loses after 22. Kh2 Kxf7 23. Qh5+.
22. Qxd2 Bxd2 23. Raf1 Nc6 24. exd5
After 24. Rc7!? Black can only save the day
with 24. ... dxe4!! (originally noted by Olafs-
son) 25. Rxc6 (or 25. Rff7 e3 26. Rxg7+ Kh8
[26. ... Kf8 can transpose] 27. Rxh7+ Kg8
28. Rcg7+ Kf8 29. Rg4 e2 30. Re4 Kg8! 31.
Rxe2 Be3+! 32. Rxe3 Kxh7 33. Rd3 Nb4 and
the knight makes its way to d5) 25. ... e3 26.
Rxe6 (26. Rb1 Rf8!) 26. ... e2 27. Kf2 exf1=Q+
28. Kxf1 Rd8! and Kasparov analyzes this
complex endgame to equality.
24. ... exd5 25. Rd7 Be3+ 26. Kh1 Bxd4 27.
e6 Be5!
Slowly, the position clarifies and the result
becomes clear.
28. Rxd5 Re8 29. Re1 Rxe6 30. Rd6 Kf7!
31. Rxc6 Rxc6 32. Rxe5 Kf6 33. Rd5 Ke6
34. Rh5 h6 35. Kh2 Ra6 36. c6 Rxc6 37.
Ra5 a6 38. Kg3 Kf6 39. Kf3 Rc3+ 40. Kf2
Rc2+, draw.
The 20th game was drawn after haphazard
play by both sides.
The 21st game was the last of the match.
Fischer played the Taimanov Sicilian and
equalized effortlessly. Spassky played weak-
ly and was soon fighting desperately in an
Exchange-down endgame. He was unable
to save it.
Spassky resigned by telephone after the
adjournment. Bobby Fischer was now the
world chess champion. He won with a score
of 12½-8½, a resounding result given that
he started with two losses. But more than
that, he ended 30 years of Soviet domi-
nance in world chess. The static nature of
top-level chess was gone — all of a sudden,
the general public had an interest in who
won! Fischer showed that a single person
working almost entirely by himself could
become the world champion. In the short-
term, his victory surged enthusiasm for
the game in America — Chess Life & Review
reported that membership nearly tripled
between 1969 and 1972.
For a brief moment in history, chess was
on the front pages — even news such as the
Watergate scandal was considered secondary
to Fischer’s win. This boom did not last long,
but Fischer’s influence endures to this day.
Some of his attributes — his striking will to
win, for example — have become central
stylistic components of many American
players after him. He was not a prolific writ-
er, but his main work — My 60 Memorable
Games — has been a favorite book of many
players, myself included.
After such a triumph, Bobby Fischer’s
story, as we all know, takes darker and
darker turns. Fischer never defended his
title. As a person, he was (putting it mildly)
enigmatic and difficult, which further com-
plicates his legacy. But Fischer the chess
player will always be firmly engraved in our
chess history for his unparalleled play and
accomplishments.
And I think that this is right.

WHO WAS LEROY NEIMAN?
LEROY NEIMAN (1921-2012) WAS ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN
painters in twentieth-century America, famous for his vibrant
renditions of sporting events like boxing, horse racing, and Super
Bowls. Neiman’s fame grew due to his camera-friendly persona
and style, with television work for ABC’s Wide World of Sports
and multiple Olympics. Regular readers of Playboy magazine will
certainly remember his illustrations in those pages.
Neiman’s sketches of the 1972 Fischer – Spassky match were
Only when Neiman resorted to a soft graphite pencil was Fischer
appeased, leaving Neiman to document the games and goings-on
in his trademark style.
We would like to thank the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne
Neiman Foundation (leroyneimanfoundation.org) for allowing us
to reproduce these fascinating mementos of the match.
PHOTO: COURTESY LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION

done on assignment for ABC, partially as a consequence of Fisch-

er’s continual complaints regarding the sounds made by televi-
sion cameras. It was for this reason that ABC’s Roone Arledge
summoned Neiman to Iceland, and the sketches you see in this
issue are part of the work he produced there.
In his autobiography, Neiman explains that Fischer’s legendary
sensitivity to noise was not restricted to audio-visual equipment.
After beginning to sketch with a radiograph, Neiman saw Fischer
sit “bolt upright,” and glare in his direction. The scratching of the
pen was too much for Bobby to endure.
So Neiman turned to a felt-tip marker — a silent instrument,
but one with an odor that Fischer instantly noted with disdain.

46 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 Saidy on Fischer
versus Spassky
INTERNATIONAL MASTER ANTHONY SAIDY
is an eight-time U.S. Championship partic-
ipant, and the author of The March of Chess
Ideas and other notable works. Prior to the
match, Saidy accommodated Fischer at
his family home in Long Island and was
instrumental in convincing Fischer to play.
Chess Life: A lot of turmoil preceded the
match, in much of which Fischer was
involved directly. How was he able to
prepare so well for the match, in spite
of all this? What was the extent of the
help he received? How focused was he on
chess in the days before the match, when
he stayed in your Long Island home?
From his departure from Los Angeles with
me to his departure from New York to Ice-
land, I did not see him with a chessboard.
We did play one game in the air over the
continent, but it was blindfold. He mated
me, but later I discovered that he’d made
an illegal move — when it was too late to
PHOTO: TIM HANKS
forfeit him! I have a score. I do not think he
analyzed with anyone before this match or
during the Candidates matches.
Several things happened just before the
match — the call from Kissinger, and the
doubling of the prize fund by Slater. What
ultimately convinced Fischer to play?
Would he have decided to play last-min-
ute even without the added monetary
incentive?
He was a deeply ambivalent person and
unpredictable from hour to hour. Slater
shamed him into cooperating. He told
Kissinger he had decided to play.
Though many rated his chances favorably
before the match, Spassky collapsed in
the early stages. In your opinion, what
was the main cause of Spassky’s defeat?
Fischer’s antics were not intended to dis-
combobulate Spassky, but they did. A great
sportsman, Spassky also withstood horren-
dous pressure to go home in triumph after
the forfeit.
Karpov once wrote that Fischer forfeited
game two deliberately in “a stroke tai-
lor-made for Spassky.” You’ve said above
(and previously) that Fischer did not
want to disturb Spassky intentionally. To
what extend do you think he was aware
of how his demands affected Spassky
psychologically?
He did develop a bit of empathy, which
made him write Spassky an abject apology.
Karpov’s notion is typical Soviet nonsense.
It’s probably not possible to conduct an
interview about the match without ask-
ing this question: Why did Fischer take
on h2 in game one?! Krogius opined that
this was an attempt to show Spassky that
Fischer was willing to fight in literally
any position. Do you agree?
Immediately, he called himself a “fish.”
Problem one: he played out drawn positions
too long. Problem two: he underestimated
Spassky and thought he’d left a pawn en
prise. Problem three: he failed to calculate.
You’ve said that Fischer’s true reason for
avoiding a match with Karpov in 1975
was that Fischer inwardly feared losing.
Do you think he would have played if all
of his conditions had been met?
The 1972 match was a near-miracle, because
every one of 20 factors broke the right way.
Flip a coin 20 times and try to get 20 heads.
Compare Morphy, who turned away from
chess after conquering Europe and would
not touch the game again. My answer is no.
In the short-term, what was the effect
of Fischer’s victory on conditions for top
American players such as yourself? How
long did the Fischer boom last?
Chess did not become a viable profession for
the rest of us. Ed Edmondson of the USCF
sent me to play in Europe for a couple of
years, I think to repay me for my trouble
with Bobby. I beat some GMs but could not
achieve the title (which was way harder
then). I faced the music: chess could not be
my profession. My coming memoir, I Coulda
Been a Contender, will take a light-hearted
look at my erratic career. Shelby Lyman of
TV fame got a column and students out of
it. Bill Lombardy wrote about seconding
Fischer in the popular press and his reward
was ostracism from Bobby. Any American
who lived from chess before recent decades
did so from hand to mouth.
Fischer versus Spassky was quickly la-
beled as “The Match of the Century.” Has
any event surpassed it since?
The Cold War political aspect made it
unique, not the quality of the games. Pub-
licity in this country was unprecedented.
Bobby was even promised a White House
visit, which did not materialize. In recent
years, I tried to stir up press interest in our
gold-medal U.S. Olympic team and in the
title match involving Caruana. Editors did
not even return my calls.
In your opinion, how did the match com-
pare to others world championships of
the time in terms of chess quality?
The quality was spotty. For example, Bot-
vinnik raved about the 13th game. Game
six was beautiful. But there were blunders.
In your November 1972 Chess Life &
Review article, you spoke of a “new era
in American chess” thanks to Fischer.
Half a century later, what do you see as
Fischer’s legacy?
It was wishful thinking. His chief legacy
was to model the triumph of an individual
over a vast bureaucratic machine. Many
top players have thanked him for bringing
real money into championship chess. The
incomparable genius Mikhail Tal once said,
“Fischer is the greatest genius to descend
from the chess heavens.”
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 47
COVER STORY Karolyi on Fischer

Karolyi on
Game 5 of the 1972 World Championship match.
Fischer
BY IM TIBOR KAROLYI

E
ditor ’s note: What follows is an
excerpt from IM Tibor Karolyi’s new
book, Fischer – Spassky 1972, just
out from Quality Chess. There Karolyi
(following up on his earlier work The Road to
Reykjavik) analyzes the 1972 and 1992 Fischer
– Spassky matches, often in painstaking
detail. Our thanks to the author and publisher
for allowing us to reprint this material.

NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE,
HÜBNER VARIATION (E41)
GM Boris Spassky
GM Bobby Fischer
WCh Match (5), Reykjavik, 1972
According to Krogius, Fischer again arrived
late to the board, but this time only by four
minutes.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5
A Nimzo-Indian, although with a slightly
different move order from Game 1.
5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bxc3+
Fisc
Fischer plays the Hübner Vari- 9. ... Ne7
ation. Although O’Kelly and
atio
Portisch played it earlier than
Por
the German grandmaster, Hüb-
ner played it regularly during
the late 60s and early 70s.
Black creates doubled pawns
Bla
in White’s camp and it is not
easy to find play for the bish-
ea
ops. It took quite some time for
op
players of the white pieces to
pla
work out how to t treat this particular line.
Today, the Hübner variation has become a
rare guest at the highest level.
10. Nh4
7. bxc3 d6 8. e4 Spassky means business; he handles the
Spassky plays the move that was considered opening with aggression.
the main line in 1972. He wastes no time and
occupies the center as quickly as possible. 10. ... h6 11. f4
White can also sacrifice a pawn with 8. Spassky plays a novelty. Krogius quotes the
0-0 e5 9. Nd2 which was often played as well. World Champion: “I was thinking about 11. f4
for 25 minutes and got too tired.” It would be
8. ... e5 9. d5 nice to know whether Spassky found this idea
Later, players would not hurry with this over the board, or if the delegation prepared
push of the d-pawn and try 9. h3 instead. this move, which involves a piece sacrifice.
That move had been played by 1972, but It would also be so nice to know whether
only rarely. Fischer had analyzed it beforehand or not

48 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

 and, if he did, how deep he had looked into it.
11. f3 and 11. 0-0 both lead to complex
positions with mutual chances.

11. ... Ng6!

Fischer undertakes doubled pawns to ease
the position. Winning the piece with 11. ...
exf4?! 12. Bxf4 g5? is bad because of 13. e5.

12. Nxg6 fxg6

13. fxe5?!
Players have very rarely inserted this ex-
This page and next: Fischer playing the black
change ever since, instead preferring 13.
pieces against Spassky in undated games
0-0 0-0 and now 14. f5, 14. Qe1 or 14. Rb1. from the 1972 match.
After Spassky’s somewhat careless exchange,
Black’s pieces can move more freely than in
the alternative lines.

13. ... dxe5 14. Be3?!

The bishop has no better square than this
one. Nei attached a question mark to this
move, saying that White should play as in
the game but with the bishop on c1. In that
case White would possibly be a tempo up
on the game, but the tempo doesn’t make Nei correctly writes that transferring the
much of a difference here. rook to f2 should be done via a2, when
White would be a tempo up compared with
14. ... b6 15. 0-0 the game — although once again, the spare
15. Kd2!? was an option. In the Leningrad tempo doesn’t change much. 22. Be1 Qg6 23. Qd3 Nh5!?
Variation the white king often remains in The knight aims to get to f4. Exchanging
the center, or White castles long. Maybe the 17. ... Bd7 18. Rb2 Rb8 19. Rbf2 rooks is an important decision and we’ll see
idea even occurred to Spassky, who played The rooks don’t cause any real problems that White’s problems do not disappear with
the Leningrad variation so many times; it on the f-file. the exchanges.
would be a valid alternative to castling short.
PHOTOS: COURTESY ICELANDIC CHESS ASSOCIATION

15. ... 0-0 16. a4?!
Spassky is over-optimistic; it turns out the
a4-pawn will be weaker than Black’s b6-
pawn. The position would be close to equal
if White started to play for doubling rooks
on the f-file at once.
(see diagram top of next column)
16. ... a5!
Fischer fixes the a4-pawn.
17. Rb1?!
19. ... Qe7 20. Bc2 g5
Fischer gains a bit of space.
21. Bd2
Spassky’s move is a clear indication that he
has nothing clear to play for. Objectively,
White’s disadvantage is not that big, but it
would be unpleasant for anybody, let alone
an attacking player like Boris.
(see diagram top of next column)
21. ... Qe8!
Fischer starts to improve his queen.
24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8
Fischer will make two more moves and
Spassky will resign: this may well be mis-
leading and annotators have overestimated
Spassky’s difficulties, whereas computers
always remain sober.
(see diagram next page)
26. Bd1
Spassky was already in time pressure (Nei).
Tal suggested 26. g3? but weakening the
light squares is a heavy price to pay for
keeping the knight out of f4. Nei suggested

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 49

COVER STORY Karolyi on Fischer
transferring the king to c7 and the knight to
d6, commenting: “It is hard to believe that
this position could still be rescued.”
White can consider 26. h3 and after 26. ...
g4 (Black does not have to rush with this of
course) 27. h4 Ke7 Black stands better, but
maybe White can live with it. My comput-
er program gives Black an advantage, but
it hard to tell whether it is enough to win.
White might also think of keeping his
bishops where they stand and making noth-
ing moves with the queen. For example, 26.
Qe3 g4 27. Bg3 Qf6 28. Qe1 and White holds
firm for now. But even with this plan, Black
could continue to press for a long, long time.
26. ... Nf4 27. Qc2??
This horrible blunder loses immediately.
Spassky very rarely blundered, especially
not this badly: maybe only his loss to Larsen
in the USSR – Rest of the World match was
of a similar magnitude.
27. Qe3 could be met by 27. ... Qe8 28.
Qf2 Kg8 and it is hard to tell whether Black’s
forced win can be demonstrated after 29.
Qa2 or 29. Qc2.
After 27. Qb1 Nei mentions Olafsson’s be-
lief that after this move Black has a forced
win, though Iivo himself was not so sure
about it. Spassky’s second suggests defend-
ing the b6-pawn with ... Kf8-e7-d8-c7 and
playing on the kingside with ... h6-h5, ...
50 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
Qg6-h6 and ... g5-g4. Bondarevsky also
formed an opinion: “Perhaps Black had no
concrete winning strategy. That question
remains unanswered. At any rate, in my
opinion few grandmasters would have with-
stood Black’s pressure and saved the game.”
27. ... Bxa4!, White resigned.
White has to resign as he loses the e4-pawn.
Krogius recalls:
“Boris explained that he lost because
of ‘exhaustion’ ... also because of im-
pulsiveness: ‘I’ve given up too soon.
I didn’t defend in the situation when
some passive waiting was required.’”
For many years I reckoned that Fischer played
this game superbly, but now looking at it with
a computer I am less impressed by Fischer’s
play; Spassky’s blunder was decisive. Twen-
ty years later, in a press conference during
their 1992 match, Spassky would say some-
thing interesting, and I quote Seirawan’s No
Regrets book: “I think my partner, Bobby, is
somehow handicapped, because he consid-
ers himself the Champion of the World, he
feels a fantastic responsibility. It’s exactly
the same feeling that I had twenty years ago
in Reykjavik. It was very hard for me to play
normal chess then. In a couple of games, I
made one-move blunders.”
However, Fischer still deserves a lot
of appreciation for choosing his opening
wisely and dragging Boris into a middle-
game that really did not suit his style. Out
of the four games played so far, Fischer
was out-prepared in the opening and found
himself in trouble once, but in the other
three games the opening went exactly how
Bobby planned. That must have led to some
concerns for Spassky and his team.
According to Krogius, the champion’s
seconds advised Spassky to take a time out;
it was good advice, which Boris should have
taken. Maybe if Bondarevsky had been in
Reykjavik, he would have been able to con-
vince Spassky to have a rest and take some
time to recover.
Krogius recalls:
“Spassky still looked impeccable. The
Icelandic newspapers wrote: ‘After
Spassky’s loss in Game 5, we’ve been
watching him playing tennis with Nei.
Many probably thought that he was
bedridden after such a loss. But noth-
ing of the sort happened. He was still
as courageous and friendly as before.
It was interesting to watch him talk
with the Icelandic ball-boys. He would
thank them each time they brought the
ball to him.’ But the subsequent games
showed that, despite the calm facade,
he was still very nervous.”
PHOTOS: COURTESY ICHS
 August 2022 PUZZLES

BY FM CARSTEN HANSEN
THIS MONTH’S PUZZLES ARE TAKEN FROM BOBBY FISCHER’S
games at various stages of his career.
The puzzles start from easy and gradually move toward being
difficult. It is worth noting that “easy” is a relative term. If you are
new to the game, the easy ones can also represent a challenge.
Try first to solve the puzzle before reading the text at the bottom
of the page. If unsuccessful, play through the solution, but return
to the puzzle in 1-2 weeks to see if you can now solve it. That way
you gradually expand your tactical vision, and it will be more likely
that you will spot tactics as they occur in your own games. Whatever
you do, do not use an engine to solve the puzzles. You will only cheat
yourself out of improving your game. Solutions are on page 63.

TACTIC I. TACTIC II. TACTIC III.

WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE

TACTIC IV. TACTIC V. TACTIC VI.

WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE

TACTIC VII. TACTIC VIII. TACTIC IX.

WHITE TO MOVE WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE

Position 1: NOT THE RIGHT DEFENDERS Position 4: OPEN THE DOOR Position 7: BUILD THE MOMENTUM
Position 2: THIS AND THAT Position 5: LOOSE PIECES... Position 8: THE RIGHT KIND OF ROOM
Position 3: MAN IN THE MIDDLE Position 6: LACK OF BREATHING SPACE Position 9: FINDING THE SOFT SPOT

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 51

SOLITAIRE CHESS Instruction
From Kronsteen with
Love
Two giants of attacking chess do battle.
BY BRUCE PANDOLFINI
T HERE’S A FAMOUS SCENE
from the 1963 James Bond
flick, From Russia with Love.
It pretty much shows the final
position of this month’s game,
with the pawn structure being inconsequen-
tially different. In the movie, the participants
are Kronsteen and McAdams, with Kronsteen
winning. In real life, this takeoff on a 1960
Leningrad game was contested between Boris
Spassky and David Bronstein (Black), two of
the most creative attacking players of all time.
It didn’t take long for the fireworks to start,
and when they did, several astonishing moves
followed. Whether you’ve seen it before or
not, I hope you have fun playing through this
memorable masterpiece.
KING’S GAMBIT
ACCEPTED (C36)
GM Boris Spassky
GM David Bronstein
Leningrad, 1960
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4
Now ensure that the position above is set up
on your chessboard. As you play through the
remaining moves in this game, use a piece of
paper to cover the article, exposing White’s
52 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG
next move only after trying to guess it. If
you guess correctly, give yourself the par
score. Sometimes points are also awarded
for second-best moves, and there may even
7. Bd3 Par Score 4
This is a natural Spassky placement, aiming
at Black’s kingside. But you may accept full
credit for either 7. Bc4 or 7. Be2.
be bonus points — or deductions — for other
moves and variations. Note that ** means 7. … Nd7
that White’s move is on the next line.** This knight could eventually transfer to ei-
ther f6 or f8. But 7. … Bf5 might have been
3. Nf3 Par Score 4 played first. **
The logical developing move. White stops
the queen check at h4. 8. 0-0 Par Score 4
Having gotten his own king to a safer place,
3. … d5 Spassky is now ready to turn up the heat.
Bronstein gives back the pawn, hoping to
blunt White’s attack. Black certainly has 8. … h6
other replies, such as Fischer’s 3. … d6. ** Black safeguards the g5-square, but the move
is weakening. More optimistic were either
4. exd5 Par Score 4 8. … Nf6 or 8. … Ng6.**
This is the most active response and the
best. A well-known trap here goes 4. … Nf6 9. Ne4 Par Score 4
5. Bb5+ c6 6. dxc6 Nxc6 7. 0-0 Qb6+. Playing for attack, White lets go of the d5-
pawn, while centralizing his knight.
4. … Bd6
Black develops, at least temporarily support- 9. … Nxd5
ing the f4-pawn. More typical is 4. … Nf6. ** With c2-c4 in the air, Black naturally takes
the unprotected pawn.**
5. Nc3 Par Score 4
Spassky activates his queenside knight, 10. c4 Par Score 4
while supporting d5. You may accept full White pushes the attack. If now 10. … Ne7?,
credit for 5. Bb5+, 5. d4, or 5. Bc4. 11. c5 snares the bishop (1 bonus point).
5. … Ne7 10. … Ne3
One virtue of the knight being on e7 is that Bronstein decides to force a trade. The re-
it could transfer to g6, which would bolster sulting e3-pawn will soon be of interest.**
the f4-pawn.**
11. Bxe3 Par Score 4
6. d4 Par Score 4 This capture is obviously forced.
Spassky opens up for development and at-
tack. Accept full credit for 6. Bb5+. 11. … fxe3**
6. … 0-0 12. c5 Par Score 5
With the e-file open, it makes sense to get With the free move, Spassky uses it to attack
the king out of the center. ** and open the b3-f7 diagonal.
 ABCS OF CHESS PROBLEM 1
Mating net
PROBLEM 2
Mating net
PROBLEM 3
Mating net
THESE PROBLEMS ARE ALL
related to key positions in
this month’s game. In each case,
Black is to move. The answers
can be found in Solutions on
page 63.

AUGUST EXERCISE:
It’s natural to be repelled by cer-
tain variations our opponents
could try. As students of the
game, we’d like to put an end PROBLEM 4 PROBLEM 5 PROBLEM 6
to such fears. One solution is to Mating net Mating net Mating net
play into those dreaded varia-
tions every chance we get. But
we might not face the lines in
question that often. Fortunately,
we can play against and study
those situations with training
software. By such constant
practice, we can do more than
overcome our fears. We can turn
weaknesses into strengths.

12. … Be7 Black’s queen is now attacked, but yes, the his attack with 21. Nxe5, and Black is still
Possible but dubious was 12. … Bf4.** rook is still hanging with check. threatened.

13. Bc2 Par Score 5 16. … exf1=Q+ 20. … Qe7

Spassky’s idea is clear. He intends to double
on the c2-h7 diagonal.
13. … Re8
Bronstein’s defense is also clear. He will
guard h7 by placing his knight on f8. **
14. Qd3 Par Score 5
White is all set to move the e4-knight with
a serious discovery.
14. … e2
The e3-pawn has moved to e2, and it men-
aces a rook. But sounder was 14. … Nf8.**
15. Nd6 Par Score 9
Right or wrong, this is an incredible sacri-
fice. Every serious piece of software would
question it. But if Spassky hadn’t been so
intrepid, chess culture would have lost a
real gem. Meanwhile, you can accept full
credit for either 15. Qxe2 or 15. Rf2.
15. … Nf8
How many of us would have turned down
taking the rook with check? Both players
deserve credit for this remarkable game.**
16. Nxf7 Par Score 7
A rook is a rook is a rook.** White has a pawn for the Exchange, but his
attack more than makes up for it.**
17. Rxf1 Par Score 4
Spassky recaptures and activates his final 21. Bb3 Par Score 5
piece. Spassky finally exploits the diagonal he
cleared back on move 12. Another nasty
17. … Bf5 discovery looms.
Giving back a piece, trying to gain a tempo
for defense. On 17. … Kxf7, White wins by 21. … Bxe5
18. Ne5+ Kg8 (18. … Ke6 19. Bb3+) 19. Qh7+ When under attack, it’s usually wise to reduce
Nxh7 20. Bb3+ and soon mates (1 bonus the number of attackers coming at you.**
point).**
22. Nxe5+ Par Score 5
18. Qxf5 Par Score 4
Now Black can try to defend by offering a 22. … Kh7
trade of queens. On either 22. … Ne6 or 22. … Kh8, White
would have the same strong 23rd move.**
18. … Qd7**
23. Qe4+ Par Score 5
19. Qf4 Par Score 5 A powerful centralization. If 23. … g6, there
As the attacker, Spassky doesn’t want to follows 24. Rxf8, when 24. … Rxf8 25. Qxg6+
trade queens yet. He’s still looking for mate. Kh8 26. Qxh6+ Qh7 27. Ng6 is mate (1 bonus
point). And on 23. … Kh8, White has 24.
19. … Bf6 Rxf8+ Rxf8 (or 24. … Qxf8) 25. Ng6+ Kh7
Bronstein guards the e5-square and closes 26. Nxf8+ Kh8 27. Qh7 mate (1 bonus point).
the f-file, at least for now. **
Here, Black resigned. An extraordinary
20. N3e5 Par Score 5 game, which made a movie chess position
In case of 20. … Bxe5, Spassky will continue possible.

USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 53

BOOKS AND BEYOND Should I Buy It?

Sokolov’s strategies
GM Ivan Sokolov explains key middlegame themes in four
ChessBase Trainers.
BY IM JOHN WATSON

W HILE GM IVAN SOKOLOV

has reached great heights as
a player, and has been a suc-
cessful coach at an elite level,
derstanding of how to play both sides of
positions will serve you better than abstract
guidance that is supposed to apply to all mid-
dlegames. I think that the vast majority of
Rf8 18. Bd2 Bd4 19. b4! cxb3 e.p. 20. Bxb3
with a clear advantage to White.

16. ... Nf4! 17. Nxf7!? Kxf7 18. g3 g5! 19.

he is probably best known to the average
player for his writing. Sokolov has con-
tributed to opening theory for decades, in
books, articles, and recently, in Chessable
courses. But arguably his most import-
ant contributions have been middlegame
books such as the award-winning Winning
Chess Middlegames for New in Chess (first
published in 2008), and Chess Middlegame
Strategies, a three-volume work for Thinkers
Publishing (2017-2019).
He has recently completed a four-volume
video series for ChessBase called Under-
standing Middlegame Strategies, which should
appeal to the growing crowd of players who
prefer to study on a screen, with an engine
running on the side. The lessons consist
of games with a running commentary by
Sokolov, with the analysis and remarks
reproduced in an accompanying database.
The series can be purchased as DVDs or
downloaded electronically from ChessBase.
The target audience for these lessons is
fairly broad, but not unlimited. They are
not for beginners, but they can be easily
understood by tournament players, par-
ticularly those who are familiar with basic
middlegame theory. Sokolov also contrib-
utes many sophisticated insights that will
benefit even professional players. He takes
a unique approach, aiming to improve one’s
understanding of certain typical types of
positions, usually anchored to an opening or
complex of openings. While opening theory
is not his main concern, he tries to include
useful ideas and suggestions which comple-
ment the positional lesson being presented.
Sokolov’s philosophy is that deep un-
coaches concur with this approach, and yet
very few books try to implement it.
Each volume examines a series of middle-
game themes that come up in tournament
games and discusses the strategies for both
sides. The first volume explores dynamic
decisions involving pawns, with sections
about “Minor sacrifices,” “Pawn rollers,’”
“Voluntary creation of a pawn island,” and
“g- and h-pawns — dynamic ideas.” Here’s a
lovely example from the pawn roller section:
QUEEN’S GAMBIT, SEMI-SLAV
DEFENSE (D48)
GM Boris Gelfand
GM Alexey Dreev
Tilburg (2), 1993
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3
Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9.
0-0 a6 10. e4 c5 11. d5 c4 12. Bc2 Qc7
A main line position has arisen that has
been played and analyzed a lot, but it can
still contain surprises.
13. Nd4
This interesting move has become rare, the
main line now being 13. dxe6.
13. ... e5
And here 13. ... Nc5 is the theoretical move.
14. Nf5 g6 15. Nh6! Nh5 16. Qf3
This looks logical, tying Black to the defense
of f7. Sokolov comments on the entire game
Carslen – Shirov, Biel 2011, which led to
White’s advantage after 16. g3! Bc5 17. Qf3
gxf4 gxf4
Sokolov: “I assume Boris thought this posi-
tion was good for him because the Black king
is exposed and the pawn chain is stopping
the b7 bishop from being active.” Wouldn’t
most of us agree?
20. Qh5+ Ke7 21. Qh4+ Kf7
Sokolov loves the computer idea 21. ... Kd6!
22. b3 Kc5!! with the idea 23. bxc4 Kb6! and
Black actually stands better!
22. Bd1?!
A natural move, aiming for Bd1-h5+. It is
hard to criticize, but Sokolov feels that White
should have played for a draw by 22. Qh5+
Ke7 23. Qh4+. Even in this case, Black could
retain positive chances after 23. ... Ke8!.
22. ... Rg8+ 23. Kh1 Nf6!?
This incredible idea is simply remarkable.
Black sacrifices the Exchange to get pawns
rolling, even though he had a safe path to
a small advantage with 23. ... Rg7 followed
by ... Kf7-g8.

54 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG


24. Bh5+ Rg6 25. Bxg6+ hxg6
Wow. The key to understanding Black’s com-
pensation is that he can not only expand on
the kingside with ... g6-g5-g4, but has the
queenside pawn roller with ... b5-b4 as well.
26. Rg1 Be7 27. Qh6 Rg8 28. f3
White’s queen gets stuck after 28. a3 Bc8 29.
f3 Nh5! 30. Bd2 Qb6 31. Nd1 Qd4 32. Bc3 Qd3
and Black is winning.
28. ... b4!
Another important moment. Black could
equalize with 28. ... Nh5 29. Bd2 Bc8 30.
Rxg6! Rxg6 31. Qxh5 Qc5, but instead he
goes for an amazing sacrifice:
29. Ne2 Nxd5! 30. exd5 Bxd5 31. Rf1 Bf6
Black has only two pawns for a rook, but
his bishop pair and pawn rollers coordinate
beautifully.
32. Qh7+ Rg7 33. Qh3 Be6! 34. Qg2 g5 35.
a3 g4
36. axb4?!
Sokolov notes that for the defending side,
it is often crucial to feel the ‘SOS moment’
when one has to give back his extra material
and try to survive. Here 36. Bxf4! exf4 37.
fxg4 Rxg4 38. Qf3 Be5 is still hard to defend,
but 39. axb4! Bc8 40. Ng3! holds the draw,
for example, 40. ... Bb7 41. Ne4 Rg7 42. Ra5!
Kf8 43. Rc5 Qe7 44. Rxc4 Qh4 45. b3 Re7 46.
Rc5 Bf6 47. Rc4 Be5 48. Rc5 with equality.
36. ... Bd5
Now it’s too late to counter-sacrifice.
37. Nc3 gxf3 38. Qf2 Bb7 39. Ra5 Qd7
Or 39. ... Rg2.
40. Nd5 Bxd5 41. Qd2 Bc6 42. Qxd7+ Bxd7
43. Rxa6 Bh3
There’s still a mating net!
44. Rf2 Bh4, White resigned.
Here Sokolov gives the sample line 44. ...
Bh4 45. Ra7+ Kf6 46. Rxg7 Bxf2 47. Rg8 Kf7
48. Rg5 Be3 and the f-pawn marches.
Some themes from Volume 2 are “What to
trade, what to keep,” “Open files.” and “Cre-
ating Crises.” Regarding the latter, Sokolov
believes that an important difference be-
tween great players and others is that the
greats can feel when the game is heading in
the wrong direction and they have to make a
radical decision to change the character of
the game, for example, by changing pawn
structures or sacrificing material. He says
that most players delay this decision until it
is too late; knowing when act radically is es-
sential to becoming a better practical player.
Volume 3 is an in-depth look at Hedgehog
structures, which arise from a large range
of classical and modern openings. This is
a very original section, which goes well
beyond the usual hedgehog themes shown
in other books to explore recurring ideas
that sometimes don’t appear until well into
the middlegame.
The fourth volume is devoted to hanging
pawns, isolated pawns, and particular pawn
structures in the Sicilian Defense. Sokolov’s
earlier Winning Chess Middlegames is well
worth reading for his analyses of hanging
and isolated pawn positions; in this new
work, he emphasizes that he is not recycling
earlier material but using new examples that
extend his previous ideas. The following
game involves themes that are common
across many openings:
NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE,
BOTVINNIK SYSTEM (E49)
GM Magnus Carlsen
GM Levon Aronian
Leuven (rapid), 2017
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5.
Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4
c5 9. Ne2
This position has been contested in hun-
dreds of games and remain important to
this day.
9. ... Qc7 10. Ba2 b6 11. 0-0 Ba6
“Probably Black’s best move.” Sokolov gives
the instructive line 11. ... Bb7 12. Bb2 Rd8
13. c4 cxd4 14. exd4 with typical hanging
pawns, when d4-d5 is already a threat: 14.
... Nc6 (14. ... Nbd7 15. Rc1 and d5 comes
next) 15. d5! Ne5 (15. ... exd5 16. Bxf6 gxf6
17. cxd5 and Black’s kingside is ruined) 16.
Nf4 exd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 (17. ... Qd6 18. Re1
Re8 19. Qd4 with a significant advantage)
18. cxd5 Nc4 19. Rc1 b5 20. Qg4 with attack.
12. Bb2 Nc6 13. Rc1 Rfd8 14. c4 cxd4 15.
exd4
A key position in which the hanging pawns
on c4 and d4 can be either weak or strong.
White has the bishop pair aimed at Black’s
king, and a mobile center that is poised to
USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 55
BOOKS AND BEYOND Should I Buy It?

advance. Black has the more active devel- This wins a pawn, but
opment. When you have two knights versus see how White’s bish-
h-
a bishop pair, you generally shouldn’t wait ops rake the kingside.
de.
around for your opponent to build up and
open the position, but rather need to play 22. Nd4
actively to change the nature of the game. Threatening Nd4-c6
c6
and in some cases
es
15. ... Ng4?! Nd4-f5.
Not a bad idea, but it fails to affect White’s
basic advantages. Sokolov gives these al- 22. ... Bb7 23. Nf3
ternatives: Qh6 24. Ne5
a) 15. ... Rac8?! “is also not the way for “Systematically im--
Black to proceed, as White gets strong ini- proving the knight.””
tiative after 16. d5! Ne5 17. Ng3! Nxc4 18. White targets the f7-
7-
Bxc4 Bxc4 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Qg4+”, e.g., 20. ... square, which Black k
Kh8? (20. ... Kf8 21. d6! Rxd6 22. Nh5 is also now scurries to de--
difficult for Black) 21. d6! Rxd6 22. Nh5 Rg8 fend.
23. Rxc4 and White wins material.
b) When you have the knights, it’s de- 24. ... Rf8 25. Nc6
sirable to create holes on the position that Sokolov calls this
you can use to your advantage. Since 15. ... a mistake and says
e5 16 Qa4! Bb7 17 d5 is powerful for White, that Carlsen proba-
Black should try the other pawn break 15. bly thought he was
... b5!, which compromises White’s center: just winning. Better
was 25. Rc2! with
the idea Rc2-d2.
Then the d5-knight
will eventually have
to move and f7 will
fall.

25. ... Bxc6 26.

POSITION AFTER 15. ... b5
Sokolov gives 16. d5 (16. c5 Nd5 with ... b5-b4
to come; 16. cxb5 Bxb5 17. Re1 Bxe2! 18. Rxe2
Qb6 and the dynamism is gone from White’s
position) 16. ... bxc4 17. Bxf6!? (17. Bxc4
Bxc4 18. Rxc4 exd5 turned out to be equal in
Tregubov – Gharamian, Chartres 2017) 17.
... Rxd5 18. Qe1 gxf6 19. Bxc4 Bxc4 20. Rxc4.
Then “White has some compensation, but
only enough for equality.”
16. Ng3 Qf4 17. h3 Nf6 18. Ne2
18. d5! is also good, since 18. ... exd5 19.
cxd5 Bxf1 20. Rxc6! Bb5 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22.
Nh5 gives a killing attack.
18. ... Qh4 19. d5!
Sokolov: “White had even better option at
his disposal, but it’s a Stockfish solution:
19. Re1! Ne4 (probably the reason Magnus
rejected 19. Re1) 20. Ng3! Nxg3 21. fxg3 Qxg3
22. d5 Ne7 23. Rc3 Qh4 24. Rce3, which is
close to plus two! (though far from obvious
to a human!).”
19. ... exd5 20. cxd5 Ne7 21. Re1! Nexd5
Rxc6 Rad8 27. Qf3
Qd2! 28. Re2
28. ... Qf4??
This is a rapid game, so Aronian can be
forgiven for missing the pretty defense 28.
... Qd1+! 29. Kh2 Nf4!, when 30. Qxf4 Qxe2
31. Bxf6 gxf6 32. Qxf6 Qxa2 33. Qg5+ when
we have a perpetual check.
29. Rxf6! gxf6 30. Bxd5 Qxf3 31. Bxf3
The two bishops are monsters, and Black’s
king is still exposed, so he has to simplify
into a lost ending. Carlsen’s technique is
typically flawless:
31. ... Rfe8 32. Rc2 Rc8 33. Rxc8 Rxc8 34.
Bxf6 b5 35. Kf1 a5 36. Ke2 b4 37. axb4
axb4 38. Bd5 Rc5 39. Bb3 Rc6 40. Bd4 Kf8
41. Kd3 Ke7 42. Ke4 Rc1 43. Kd5 Kd7 44.
h4 Re1 45. g3 f5 46. Be3 Ke7 47. Kc4 Kf6
48. Kxb4 Ke5 49. Bc2, Black resigned.
As in all of his books, Sokolov uses well-
played games between elite players to il-
lustrate the middlegame ideas. There are
some classics, but most of the examples
are chosen from the Kasparov era up to the
present. Such a nice collection of games
makes it easy to recommend this series to
players who want to improve their chess
understanding.
Sokolov, Ivan. Understanding Middlegame
Strategies, Volumes 1-4. ChessBase, 2020-
2022. (Available at uscfsales.com, product
codes WIN0607CB (Volume 1), WIN0608CB
(Volume 2), WIN0637CB (Volume 3),
WIN0638CB (Volume 4), $33.95 each.)
For up-to-date chess news and
analysis, check out Chess Life
Online at uschess.org/clo on a
regular basis.

56 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

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Rated: N Handicap accessible: Y Residency re-
striction: N Organizer: Bryan Tillis Email: nmbtil-
lis@gmail.com Phone: n/a Website: https://www.
palmbeachchess.com/floridachesstournaments
TLA ID: 34121
HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED
GRAND PRIX
43rd Annual Southern California
Open
SEPTEMBER 3-5, FLORIDA
Event site: Sonesta Los Angeles Airport LAX Hotel
Address: 5985 West Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
90045 Overall prize fund: $20,000 GP Points: 150
FIDE Rated: Y Handicap accessible: Y Residen-
cy restriction: N Organizer: Chuck Ensey Email:
chucnglo@aol.com Phone: (858)432-8006 Web-
site: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Agg2U8P4qmAPp1S7x-
6Z363r-PM3Z?e=qTFcUm TLA ID: 34235

USCHESS.ORGQAUGUST 2022 57
TOURNAMENT LIFE See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing August 1-14

For complete details on individual events, please visit new.
uschess.org/node/[TLA ID]. You will find the event’s unique five-
digit TLA ID at the end of each TLA.
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX • STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
8th annual New York State Blitz
Championship
SEPTEMBER 4, NEW YORK
Event site: Albany Marriott Address: 189 Wolf Road,
Albany, NY 12205 Overall prize fund: $800 GP
Points: 10 FIDE Rated: N Handicap accessible: Y
Residency restriction: N Organizer: Continental
Chess Association Email: director@chess.us Phone:
3472012269 leave message including email address
Website: http://www.chessevents.us TLA ID: 33651
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT • GRAND PRIX
83 WV Chess Assoc State Champi-
onship
SEPTEMBER 10-11, WEST VIRGINIA
Event site: Huntington YMCA Address: 917 9th St.,
Huntington, WV 25701 Overall prize fund: $865 GP
Points: 6 FIDE Rated: N Handicap accessible: N
Residency restriction: N Organizer: Craig Tim-
mons Email: craigtimmons@gmail.com Phone:
3044152119 Website: https://www.wvchess.org/
TLA ID: 34086
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX • STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
SEPTEMBER 16-18, INDIANA
Event site: Noblesville Schools Community Center
Address: 1775 Field Dr, Noblesville, IN 46062 Over-
all prize fund: $15,000 GP Points: 50 FIDE Rated:
Y Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction:
N Organizer: B C Chess Club Email: bcchessclub-
indy@gmail.com Phone: 13172866183 Website:
https://www.facebook.com/indychessfun/ TLA ID:
33810
GRAND PRIX • REGIONALS
CFCC 2022 Autumn Open &
Scholastic
SEPTEMBER 16-18, FLORIDA
Event site: Holiday Inn at Lake Buena Vista Ad-
dress: 13351 State Road 535, Orlando, FL 32821
Overall prize fund: $8, 500 GP Points: 20 FIDE
Rated: N Handicap accessible: Y Residency re-
striction: N Organizer: Central Florida Chess Club
Email: info@centralflchess.org Phone: (407) 312-
6237 Website: https://www.centralflchess.org TLA
ID: 34313
HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
30th annual Midwest Class
Championships
OCTOBER 7-9, ILLINOIS
Event site: Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel Ad-
dress: 601 North Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090
Overall prize fund: $20,000 GP Points: 120 FIDE
Rated: Y Handicap accessible: Y Residency re-
striction: N Organizer: Continental Chess Associa-
tion Email: director@chess.us Phone: 3472012269
leave message including email address Website:
http://www.chessevents.us TLA ID: 33973
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX
8th annual Midwest Class Blitz
OCTOBER 8, ILLINOIS
Event site: Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel Ad-
dress: 601 North Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090
Overall prize fund: $500 GP Points: 10 FIDE Rated:
N Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email: di-
rector@chess.us Phone: director@chess.us Website:
http://www.chessevents.us TLA ID: 34325
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
Downtown Memphis National Chess
Day!
OCTOBER 8, TENNESSEE
Event site: Memphis Chess Club Address: 195 Mad-
ison Ave Suite 101, Memphis, TN 3810 Overall prize
fund: $1,980 GP Points: 6 FIDE Rated: N Handicap
accessible: Y Residency restriction: N Organizer:
Memphis Chess Club Email: info@memphischess-
club.com Phone: 7318685755 Website: https://
www.memphischessclub.com/ TLA ID: 34284
HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC •
ENHANCED GRAND PRIX
39th Annual Reno Western States
Open
OCTOBER 14-16, NEVADA
Event site: Sands Regency Hotel/Casino Address:
345 N. Arlington Ave. Reno, NV 89501 Overall prize
fund: $27,500 GP Points: 150 FIDE Rated: Y Hand-
icap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N Or-
ganizer: Jerry Weikel Email: wackyykl@aol.com
Phone: 775-747-1405 Website: http://www.renoch-
ess.org TLA ID: 34274
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX •
JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
8th annual Central New York Open
OCTOBER 21-23, NEW YORK
Event site: Quality Inn and Suites Fairgrounds Ad-
dress: 100 Farrell Road, Syracuse, NY 13209 Overall
prize fund: $5,000 GP Points: 30 FIDE Rated: Y
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email:
director@chess.us Phone: 3472012269 leave mes-
sage including email address Website: http://www.
chessevents.us TLA ID: 34188
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT • GRAND PRIX
2022 Michigan Bottom Half Class
Champions
OCTOBER 22-23, 2022
Event site: Radisson Hotel Lansing Address: 111
N. Grand Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933 Overall prize
fund: $2,200 GP Points: 10 FIDE Rated: Y Handicap
accessible: Y Residency restriction: N Organizer:
Michigan Chess Association Email: jeffchess64@
gmail.com Phone: 810-955-7271 Website: https://
www.michess.org/ TLA ID: 34323
HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
26th annual Eastern Chess
Congress
OCTOBER 28-30, NEW JERSEY
Event site: Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village Ad-
dress: 201 Village Blvd, Princeton, NJ 08540 Overall
prize fund: $25,000 GP Points: 150 FIDE Rated: Y
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email:
director@chess.us Phone: 3472012269 leave mes-
sage including email address Website: http://www.
chessevents.us TLA ID: 33992
HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR
GRAND PRIX • STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and
State Championship!
OCTOBER 28-30, TENNESSEE
Event site: Memphis Chess Club Address: 195
Madison Ave Suite 101, Memphis, TN 3810 Overall
prize fund: $5,775 GP Points: 15 FIDE Rated: N
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction:
N Organizer: Memphis Chess Club Email: info@
memphischessclub.com Phone: 7318685755 Web-
site: https://www.memphischessclub.com/ TLA
ID: 34280
GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX •
JUNIOR GRAND PRIX
17th annual Los Angeles Open
NOVEMBER 4-6, CALIFORNIA, SOUTHERN
Event site: Hilton Orange County Airport Address:
18800 Macarthur Blvd, Irvine CA 92612 Overall
prize fund: $15,000 GP Points: 80 FIDE Rated:
Y Handicap accessible: Y Residency restric-
tion: N Organizer: Continental Chess Associa-
tion Email: director@chess.us Phone: director@
chess.us Website: http://www.chessevents.us
TLA ID: 34349

Continental Chess OTB Tournament Schedule

See www.chessevents.us for details, possible changes, other events
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA OPEN: Aug 19- EASTERN CHESS CONGRESS Oct 28-
21 or 20-21, Doubletree Fresno. $10,000 30 or 29-30, Westin at Forrestal Village,
guaranteed prizes. Princeton, NJ. $25,000 guaranteed prizes.

ATLANTIC OPEN, Aug 26-28 or 27-28, LOS ANGELES OPEN Nov 4-6 or 5-6,
Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington VA. Irvine. $15,000 guaranteed prizes.
$30,000 guaranteed prizes.
INDIANAPOLIS OPEN, Aug 26-28 or 27- KINGS ISLAND OPEN Nov 11-13 or 12-
28. $14,000 guaranteed prizes. 13, Embassy Suites Cincinnati Northeast,
Blue Ash, Ohio. $25,000 guaranteed.
NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIP,
Sept 2-5, 3-5 or 4-5, Albany Marriott. Out of NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS Nov
state welcome. 6 rounds, guaranteed prizes 25-27 or 26-27, Loews Philadelphia, 6
raised to $18,000. rounds, 10 sections, $45,000 guaranteed.

MIDWEST CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS NORTH AMERICAN OPEN, Dec 26-30,

Oct 7-9 or 8-9, Westin Chicago North Shore 26-29 or 27-29, Ballys Las Vegas. Open 9
Hotel. $20,000 guaranteed prizes rounds with FIDE norms possible, others 7
rounds. $125,000 guaranteed prizes!
CENTRAL NEW YORK OPEN Oct 21-23 EASTERN OPEN, Dec 26-29 or 27-29,
or 22-23, Quality Inn Fairgrounds, Syracuse. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington VA.
$5,000 guaranteed prizes. 8 rounds, $30,000 guaranteed prizes.

58 AUGUST 2022QUSCHESS.ORG
 HERITAGE EVENT • GRAND PRIX • ENHANCED Online Scholastic Tournaments
GRAND PRIX • JUNIOR GRAND PRIX Every Saturday ARIZONA ILLINOIS
WEEKLY ON SATURDAYS AUGUST 26-28, 2022 AUGUST 6, 2022
31st annual Kings Island Open
NOVEMBER 11-13, OHIO
Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall 2022 Las Vegas Open (NV) 2022 Summer Open Chess
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N See Grand Prix or chess.vegas.. Tournament
Event site: Embassy Suites Cincinnati NE Address: Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: Event site: Salem Community Activities Center Ad-
4554 Lake Forest Drive, Blue Ash OH 45242 Overall N Organizer: DMV Chess Email: tournaments@ dress: 416 E Oglesby St, Salem, IL 62881 Overall
NOVEMBER 4-6, 2022
prize fund: $25,000 GP Points: 150 FIDE Rated: Y dmvchess.com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N Hand-
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N h t t p s : / / w w w. d m v c h e s s . c o m / s c h o l a s t i c - 17th annual Los Angeles Open icap accessible: N Residency restriction: N Orga-
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email: tournaments TLA ID:30043 (CA-S) nizer: Carl Purcell Email: purcellelectric@sbcglobal.
director@chess.us Phone: 3472012269 leave mes- See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. net Phone: 6182678145 Website: n/a TLA ID: 34062
sage including email address Website: http://www. Online Open Tournaments Every
chessevents.us TLA ID: 34170 Sunday DECEMBER 26-30, 2022 AUGUST 26-28, 2022
WEEKLY ON SUNDAYS 32nd annual North American Open 17th annual Indianapolis Open (IN)
GRAND PRIX Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall (NV) See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
2022 NC Open prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022
NOVEMBER 25-27, NORTH CAROLINA
N Organizer: DMV Chess Email: tournaments@
Event site: Hilton Charlotte University Place Ho- dmvchess.com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: ARKANSAS 2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
tel Address: 8629 JM Keynes Drive, Charlotte, NC h t t p s : / / w w w. d m v c h e s s . c o m / s c h o l a s t i c -
(IN)
28262 Overall prize fund: $11,000 GP Points: 40 DECEMBER 31, 2021-ONGOING ON SUNDAY, See Grand Prix.
tournaments TLA ID:30044
FIDE Rated: Y Handicap accessible: Y Residency THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY
restriction: N Organizer: Grant Oen Email: info@ Weekly and Monthly Rated Chess at OCTOBER 7-9, 2022
Climb the Rating Ladder Weekly
charlottechesscenter.org Phone: n/a Website: Courses with USCF Rated Online Memphis Chess Club (TN) 30th annual Midwest Class
http://www.charlottechesscenter.org/usmasters Games See Tennessee. Championships (IL)
TLA ID: 33715 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022
AUGUST 13, 2022
Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall OCTOBER 8, 2022
HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC • GRAND 2022 Oran Quintrell Memorial (TN)
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N See Grand Prix. september 10-11, 2022 8th annual Midwest Class Blitz (IL)
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
53rd annual National Chess Organizer: DMV Chess Email: courses@dmvchess.
Congress com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: https://www. SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022
dmvchess.com/ TLA ID:30600 OCTOBER 8, 2022
NOVEMBER 25-27, PENNSYLVANIA 2022 Memphis Open and City
Championship Qualifier (TN) Downtown Memphis National Chess
Event site: Loews Hotel Address: 1200 Market St, Day (TN)
Philadelphia PA 19107 Overall prize fund: $45,000
Climb the Rating Ladder with GM See Tennessee.
GP Points: 200 FIDE Rated: Y Handicap accessi-
Angel Arribas Lopez: 1100 to 1600 See Grand Prix.
- Online Course for Serious Students OCTOBER 8, 2022
ble: Y Residency restriction: N Organizer: Conti- NOVEMBER 11-13, 2022
JANUARY 7-DECEMBER 25, 2022
nental Chess Association Email: director@chess.us Downtown Memphis National Chess
Phone: 3472012269 leave message including email Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall 31st annual Kings Island Open (OH)
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
Day! (TN) See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
address Website: http://www.chessevents.us TLA See Grand Prix.
Handicap accessible: N Residency restriction: N
ID: 34207
Organizer: DMV Chess Email: courses@dmvchess.
com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: https://www. OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 INDIANA
HERITAGE EVENT • AMERICAN CLASSIC • GRAND
dmvchess.com/courses-register/climb-the-rating- 76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and AUGUST 26-28, 2022
PRIX • ENHANCED GRAND PRIX
ladder-1100-1600-fridays TLA ID: 32556 State Championship! (TN)
32nd annual North American Open 17th annual Indianapolis Open (IN)
See Grand Prix. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
DECEMBER 26-30, NEVADA Atlantic Action
Event site: Bally’s Casino Resort Address: 3645 AUGUST 20, 2022 SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022
Las Vegas Blvd. S, Las Vegas, NV 89103 Overall Event site: Online Address: playcca.com Overall CALIFORNIA
prize fund: $3,000 GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
prize fund: $125,000 GP Points: 300 FIDE Rated: SEPTEMBER 19, 2021-ONGOING (IN)
Y Handicap accessible: Y Residency restric- Handicap accessible: N Residency restriction: N
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email: PCC LBX Hangar Sunday Action See Grand Prix.
tion: N Organizer: Continental Chess Associa- Event site: LBX Hangar Building (inside and out) Ad-
tion Email: director@chess.us Phone: director@ events@chessclub.com Phone: 4124365558
Website: http://www.chessevents.us TLA ID: 34138 dress: 4150 McGowen St, Long Beach CA 90808 Over- OCTOBER 7-9, 2022
chess.us Website: http://www.chessevents.us all prize fund: 80% of total entry fee GP Points: n/a 30th annual Midwest Class
TLA ID: 34320 FIDE Rated: N Handicap accessible: Y Residency Championships (IL)
3rd annual CCA September Open
restriction: N Organizer: John Tan Email: para- See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2022
mountchessclub@gmail.com Phone: 3107356871

Online Event site: Online Address: playcca.com Overall

prize fund: $w,000 GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
Handicap accessible: N Residency restriction: N
Organizer: Continental Chess Association Email:
Website: n/a TLA ID: 31701

AUGUST 19-21, 2022

OCTOBER 8, 2022
Downtown Memphis National Chess
Day (TN)
Weekly Online USCF-Rated events@chessclub.com Phone: 4124365558 12th annual Central California See Grand Prix.
Tournaments By DMV Chess Website: http://www.chessevents.us TLA ID: 34140 Open (CA-N)
THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. NOVEMBER 11-13, 2022
Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction:
Regional AUGUST 26-28, 2022
2022 Las Vegas Open (NV)
31st annual Kings Island Open (OH)
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.

N Organizer: DMV Chess Email: tournaments@ See Grand Prix or chess.vegas.. KENTUCKY
dmvchess.com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: ALABAMA
https://www.dmvchess.com/onlinetournaments NOVEMBER 4-6, 2022 DECEMBER 31, 2021-ONGOING ON SUNDAY,
DECEMBER 31, 2021-ONGOING ON SUNDAY, THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY
TLA ID: 33569 THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY 17th annual Los Angeles Open
(CA-S) Weekly and Monthly Rated Chess at
Weekly and Monthly Rated Chess at See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. Memphis Chess Club (TN)
Online Summers Camps By DMV Memphis Chess Club (TN) See Tennessee.
Chess Every Week in the Summer See Tennessee.
THROUGH AUGUST 12, 2022 DECEMBER 26-30, 2022
AUGUST 13, 2022
Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall AUGUST 13, 2022 32nd annual North American Open
(NV) 2022 Oran Quintrell Memorial (TN)
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N 2022 Oran Quintrell Memorial (TN) See Grand Prix.
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction: N See Grand Prix. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Organizer: DMV Chess Email: camps@dmvchess. SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022
SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022
com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: https://www.
2022 Memphis Open and City
COLORADO 2022 Memphis Open and City
dmvchess.com/camps-overview TLA ID:32981 Championship Qualifier (TN)
Championship Qualifier (TN) DECEMBER 26-30, 2022
See Tennessee.
See Tennessee. 32nd annual North American Open
Online Scholastic Tournaments
Every Wednesday OCTOBER 8, 2022
(NV) SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022
WEEKLY ON WEDNESDAYS See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Downtown Memphis National Chess 2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
Event site: Online Address: lichess.org Overall Day! (TN) (IN)
prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N See Grand Prix. GEORGIA See Grand Prix.
Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction:
N Organizer: DMV Chess Email: tournaments@ OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 OCTOBER 8, 2022 OCTOBER 8, 2022
dmvchess.com Phone: 703-415-6600 Website: 76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and Downtown Memphis National Chess Downtown Memphis National Chess
h t t p s : / / w w w. d m v c h e s s . c o m / s c h o l a s t i c - State Championship! (TN) Day (TN) Day! (TN)
tournaments TLA ID:30042 See Grand Prix. See Grand Prix. See Grand Prix.

USCHESS.ORGQAUGUST 2022 59
TOURNAMENT LIFE See Previous Issue for TLAs appearing August 1-14

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT SEPTEMBER 2-5, 2022

For complete details on individual events, please visit new. NOVEMBER 20, 2022 144th annual New York State
uschess.org/node/[TLA ID]. You will find the event’s unique five- Championship (NY)
2022 New Jersey Grade School See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
digit TLA ID at the end of each TLA. Championship
Event site: Brookdale Community College - Student SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2022
Life Center Address: Lot #7, Arena Drive, Lincroft, NJ
OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022 07738 Overall prize fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE 2022 Ohio Chess Congress (OH)
See Grand Prix.
76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and 2022 Memphis Open and City Rated: N Handicap accessible: Y Residency re-
State Championship! (TN) Championship Qualifier (TN) striction: Y Organizer: NJSCF Email: tournaments.
OCTOBER 21-23, 2022
See Grand Prix. See Tennessee. njscf@gmail.com Phone: n/a Website: http://njscf.
org TLA ID: 34331 8th annual Central New York Open
NOVEMBER 11-13, 2022 OCTOBER 8, 2022 (NY)
NOVEMBER 25-27, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
31st annual Kings Island Open (OH) Downtown Memphis National Chess
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. Day! (TN) 53rd annual National Chess
Congress (PA) OCTOBER 28-30, 2022
See Grand Prix.
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. 26th annual Eastern Chess
LOUISIANA OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 Congress (NJ)
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
OCTOBER 8, 2022 76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and NEW MEXICO
State Championship! (TN) NOVEMBER 25-27, 2022
Downtown Memphis National Chess See Grand Prix. DECEMBER 26-30, 2022
Day (TN) 32nd annual North American Open 53rd annual National Chess
See Grand Prix. (NV) Congress (PA)
MISSOURI See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.

MARYLAND DECEMBER 31, 2021-ONGOING ON SUNDAY,

MARYLAND CHESS TOURNAMENTS (NORTH
THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY
NEW YORK TENNESSEE
Weekly and Monthly Rated Chess at DECEMBER 31, 2021-ONGOING ON SUNDAY,
PENN CHESS CLUB) Memphis Chess Club (TN) AUGUST 26-28, 2022
Maryland Chess runs 21+ annual K-12 tournaments THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY
See Tennessee. 4th annual Atlantic Open (VA)
every other Saturday from September through See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. Weekly and Monthly Rated Chess at
June & 12+ annual 1-day or multi-day open tour- AUGUST 13, 2022 Memphis Chess Club
naments for adults & K-12 players on weekends. SEPTEMBER 2-5, 2022 Event site: Memphis Chess Club Address: 195 Mad-
2022 Oran Quintrell Memorial (TN) ison Ave Suite 101, Memphis, TN 3810 Overall prize
See www.MDChess.org for tournament announce-
ments, registration for tournaments, updated
See Grand Prix. 144th annual New York State fund: n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N Handicap
Championship (NY) accessible: Y Residency restriction: N Organizer:
wallcharts, live standings, signup for K-12 & open SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
e-newsletters, lists of coaches & clubs, camp an- Memphis Chess Club Email: info@memphischess-
nouncements, & news. K-12 MD players who com-
2022 Memphis Open and City club.com Phone: 7318685755 Website: https://
Championship Qualifier (TN) SEPTEMBER 4, 2022 www.memphischessclub.com/ TLA ID: 32334
pete in the Varsity section (for players rated 1600+)
of 1 of 8+ annual MD-Sweet-16 Qualifiers can qual-
See Tennessee. 8th annual New York State Blitz
ify for the $48,000+ scholarship to the University
Championship (NY) SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2022
SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. 2022 Memphis Open and City
of Maryland, Baltimore County awarded annually.
UMBC is a perennial top-10 contender for the colle- 2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE) Championship Qualifier
(IN) OCTOBER 21-23, 2022 Event site: Memphis Chess Club Address: 195
giate national chess championship.
See Grand Prix. 8th annual Central New York Open Madison Ave Suite 101, Memphis, TN 3810 Overall
AUGUST 26-28, 2022 (NY) prize fund: $1,140 GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N
OCTOBER 8, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. Handicap accessible: Y Residency restriction:
4th annual Atlantic Open (VA) Downtown Memphis National Chess N Organizer: Memphis Chess Club Email: info@
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 memphischessclub.com Phone: 7318685755 Web-
Day! (TN)
See Grand Prix. 26th annual Eastern Chess site: https://www.memphischessclub.com/ TLA
OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 Congress (NJ) ID: 34283
26th annual Eastern Chess OCTOBER 28-30, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Congress (NJ) 76th Peter P. Lahde TN Open and SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. State Championship! (TN) NOVEMBER 25-27, 2022 2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
See Grand Prix. 53rd annual National Chess (IN)
NOVEMBER 25-27, 2022 Congress (PA) See Grand Prix.
53rd annual National Chess See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
Congress (PA) NEVADA
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. AUGUST 19-21, 2022
TEXAS
OHIO AUGUST 26-28, 2022
12th annual Central California
MICHIGAN Open (CA-N) AUGUST 26-28, 2022 2022 Las Vegas Open (NV)
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. 17th annual Indianapolis Open (IN) See Grand Prix or chess.vegas..
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
NOVEMBER 4-6, 2022 DECEMBER 26-30, 2022
SEPTEMBER 3, 2022
17th annual Los Angeles Open SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2022 32nd annual North American Open
2022 Michigan Speed Championship (CA-S) 2022 Ohio Chess Congress (OH) (NV)
Event site: Radisson Hotel Lansing Address: 111 N. See Grand Prix or chessevents.us.
See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. See Grand Prix or ohchess.org.
Grand Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933 Overall prize fund:
n/a GP Points: n/a FIDE Rated: N Handicap acces-
DECEMBER 26-30, 2022 SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022
sible: N Residency restriction: N Organizer: Mich-
32nd annual North American Open 2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE)
UTAH
igan Chess Association Email: jeffchess64@gmail.
(NV) (IN) AUGUST 26-28, 2022
com Phone: 810-955-7271 Website: https://www.
michess.org/ TLA ID: 34363 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. See Grand Prix. 2022 Las Vegas Open (NV)
See Grand Prix or chess.vegas..
NOVEMBER 11-13, 2022
SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2022 NEW JERSEY 31st annual Kings Island Open (OH)
2022 Glenn Snow Memorial (FIDE) AUGUST 26-28, 2022 See Grand Prix or chessevents.us. VIRGINIA
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Solutions
PAGE 11 CHESS TO ENJOY
PROBLEM 1. 60. … Kh7! sets up 61. … f6+ and mates.
PROBLEM 2. 29. … Rh1! (30. Qxh1 is met with 30. …
Qc3 followed by … Qc3-b2 mate, or 30. Rg1 Rxg1 31.
Qxg1 Qc3). PROBLEM 3. 20. Nb5! Qb6 21. Qxa7+! Qxa7
22. Nc7, mate. PROBLEM 4. 61. d7! Rxd7 62. Rxd7
Kxd7 63. Ka4 Kc6 64. e5, Black resigned. PROBLEM
5. 47. … h3+! 48. Kxh3 g2 49. Rf2 (49. Rg1 Re3) 49. …
Ke3, White resigned. PROBLEM 6. Not 27. axb6 Qxa2.
Instead, 27. Qc5! Be7 28. axb6! Qxa2 29. Qxe7 Qxc2 30.
Qxd8+ and 31. b7.
PAGE 13 ENDGAME SCHOOL
PROBLEM 1. White resigned after 50. gxf6?? gxf6 51. Kg4
Ke4 52. Kh3 Kf4, but the draw was at hand with 50. Kg4
(not 50. g6? h5 and Black wins) 50. … Ke4 51. g6! h6 (51.
... hxg6 52. fxg6 f5+ 53. Kg5 f4 54. h5 is equal) 52. Kh5!
and Black cannot progress without allowing stalemate
(Chigorin – Tarrasch, Ostend 1905). PROBLEM 2. White
fell into a cunning trap with 110. Qg6+? (110. g6 would
win) 110. ... . Kh8! and White can’t avoid stalemate
(Bachmann – Yian, National Open 2012)
PAGE 51 MAKE YOUR MOVE
TACTIC 1. 35. Rxf6! and Black resigned as the rook
cannot be captured, for instance, 35. Rxf6 Qxf6 (or 35.
... Kxf6 36. Bxg5+ or 35. ... Nh7 36. Nh5+ Kh8 37. Bxg5)
36. Nh5+, and in all cases, White is winning. Fisch-
er – Gligoric, Rovinj/Zagreb 1970. TACTIC 2. 14. ...
Qc6! Threatening mate, which is easily parried. 15.
f3 Qb5! Taking advantage of the two underprotected
bishops, which is not so easily parried ... 16. Ba4 Qxb2
and White resigned. Rivera – Fischer, Varna ol 1962.
TACTIC 3. 27. Bxc5+! Removing the essential defend-
er. 27. ... bxc5 28. Rxe6+ Boom! Black resigned on
account of 28. Rxe6+ Kxe6 (28. ... fxe6 29. Qf6 mate) 29.
Qf6 mate. Fischer – Hook, Siegen ol 1970. TACTIC 4.
20. Bxh6! gxh6? 20. ... Rh8 would have been a better
defense, although White has simply won a pawn after
21. Bg5+ Kg8 22. Rxh8+ Kxh8 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. c4 and
White will still have to work a bit for the win. 21. Qe3!
Or 21. Qd2 with the same effect. 21. ... Bg7 22. f6! Rh8
22. ... Bxf6 23. Qxh6+ of course leads to mate. 23. Rf1!
White should not cash in too soon, for instance, 23.
fxg7? Kxg7 24. Qg3+ Kf8 25. Qd3 Qe7 and while better
for White, Black can still fight. 23. ... Qb5 Or 23. ... Bf8
24. Qe4+ Kg8 25. Rg3+ and it is game over for Black. 24.
Qf3 Or 24. Qf2 with the same intentions. 24. ... Rc4 Or
24. ... Rxc2 25. Rg3 and it is game over for Black. 25.
Qf5+ and Black resigned on account of 25. Qf5+ Kg8
26. fxg7 and Black will get mated. Fischer – Kupper,
Zurich 1959. TACTIC 5. 26. b4! White undermines the
protection of the d4-bishop. 26. ... Rxf3? A little too
desperate. Black should have tried 26. ... Qf5 27. bxc5
Qxc2 28. Rxc2 Bf6 29. b4 when White has won a pawn
but there is still plenty of work to be done. After 26. ...
cxb4?? 27. Rd1, White wins material. 27. gxf3 Qxf3 28.
bxc5 Qg3+ Black was counting on these checks, but
they soon run out. 29. Kf1 Qxh3+ 30. Ke1 Qh1+ 31.
Ke2 Qc6 32. Qb3+ Kh8 33. Qf3 Qe6+ 34. Kf1 Qh6 35.
Qd1 and Black resigned. Fischer – Bobotsov, Leipzig
ol 1960. TACTIC 6. 15. ... Qa5! Black takes advantage
of White’s inability to adequately protect the knight
on c3. Additionally, the rook on a1 is trapped and
the bishop on e2 is only loosely protected. In other
words, White faces a major problem. 16. Nd5?! Nothing
works for White, for instance, 16. bxc4 Qxc3 17. Qa4
Qxa1 18. Qxa6 Rb1 and Black is winning. 16. ... Qxd5
17. bxc4 Qb7 18. Ba3 Bxa1 19. Rxa1 Rfc8 and Black
had won the Exchange and, not long after, the game.
Saadi – Fischer, Mar del Plata 1960. TACTIC 7. 26. Re3!
The only winning move, intending to remove Black’s
queen from pinning the knight and defending on f6
and h7. The immediate threat is 27. Rf3 Qg6 28. Rg4.
26. ... h6? Other defensive moves do not work either,
for instance, (a) 26. ... Ra6 27. Rf3 Qg6 (or 27. ... Qc8
28. Nxf6+ Rxf6 29. Rxf6 gxf6 30. Qxh7+ Kf8 31. Rg4 and
White wins.) 28. Rg3 Qf5 (28. ... Qf7 29. Rxh7 also wins
for White) 29. Qb3+ Qe6 (29. ... Kf8 30. d5 and Black has
a hopeless position) 30. Nxf6+ Kf7 31. Qxe6+ Rexe6 32.
Nxh7 and White is winning. or (b) 26. ... Kh8 27. Rf3 Qg6
28. Rg4 Qh5 29. Nd6 Rf8 30. Rf5 Qh6 31. dxe5 and White
wins material. 27. Rf3 Qh7 This was Black’s defensive
idea, but unfortunately for him it does not work. 28.
Nxf6+! gxf6 29. Rg3+ Kh8 30. Rg6 and facing one of
the rooks capturing on h6, Black resigned. Fischer –
Panov, Skopje 1967. TACTIC 8. 26. Qb1! The assault
on Black’s king begins and this is the only way to get
there. 26. ... Kc7 The most obvious defensive try. The
alternatives also fail, for instance, (a) 26. ... Rb7 is also
met by 27. Bc1, but now the e3-square is a possibility
for White as well. (b) 26. ... Kb7 27. Bc5 is just a disaster
for Black, and, finally, (c) 26. ... d4 27. Qxb6 Rb7 28.
Qc5 Rd8 29. Qxc4 and White has won a few too many
pawns. 27. Bc1! The only winning move. The bishop
belongs on the h2-b8 diagonal. 27. ... Qe1+ Nothing
works for Black, for instance, 27. ... Re8 28. Re3 or 27.
... Re7 28. Bf4+ Kb7 (28. ... Kd7 29. Qxb6) 29. Qb5 and
White is winning. 28. Rf1 Qxc3 29. Bf4+ Kb7 30. Qb5
and Black resigned. A possible continuation was 30.
Qb5 Qd4+ 31. Kh1 and Black cannot defend against
Qb5-a6+ without losing material. Fischer – Darga,
Berlin 1960. TACTIC 9. 24. ... Qa7! The best move,
threatening a nasty check on f2 with penetration of
White’s camp. After 24. ... Ra2 25. Kh1, White can still
fight. 25. Kg2 Or 25. Rg1 Rxa1 26. Nxa1 b4! 27. cxb4
Rc1!! 28. Rxc1 Qf2+ 29. Kh1 Qf3+ 30. Kh2 Bxc1 and
White cannot defend. Also 25. Rf1 Ra2! (pinning the
b2-pawn) 26. Rxa2 Qxa2 27. Rf2 Rxc3 wins for Black.
25. ... Ra2 26. Kf1 Or 26. Rxa2 Qxa2 27. Re2 Rxc3! and
Black is winning. 26. ... Rxc3 White resigned as the
rook cannot be captured because of ... Qa7-f2 mate,
while otherwise the threats of ... Rc3-f3+ and ... Rc3xb3
decide the game. Unzicker – Fischer Varna ol 1962.
PAGE 53 ABCS OF CHESS
PROBLEM 1. Mating net: Black mates in two: 1. …
Rxf1+ 2. Rxf1 Qh2 mate. PROBLEM 2. Mating net:
Black mates this way: 1. … Qxh3+ 2. Qh2 Ng3 mate.
PROBLEM 3. Mating net: Black mates by 1. … Qg1+
August 2022 SOLUTIONS
2. Qxg1 Ng3 mate. PROBLEM 4. Mating net: White
is mated by 1. … Qh2+ 2. Nxh2 Ng3 mate. PROBLEM
5. Mating net: Black mates by 1. … Bd3+ 2. Ka1 Nb3
mate. PROBLEM 6. Mating net: Black mates in 2: 1.
… Rxf1+ 2. Qxf1 Qh2 mate.
TOTAL YOUR SCORE
TO DETERMINE
YOUR APPROXIMATE
RATING BELOW:
Total Score Approx. Rating
95+ 2400+
81-90 2200-2399
66-80 2000-2199
51-65 1800-1999
36-50 1600-1799
21-35 1400-1599
06-20 1200-1399
0-05 under 1200
Become a US
Chess Member
https://new.uschess.org/
join-us-chess
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USCHESS.ORG AUGUST 2022 63
 MICHAEL KRUSE
CHESS COACH,
TOURNAMENT PLAYER

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING CHESS FOR

65 years. My first official rated
tournament was in Phoenix in
1985. The entry fee was $15, I
won $25, and I immediately declared myself
a professional chess player! My best chess
accomplishments were defeating a US Chess
rated expert and becoming the 2011 South
Carolina State Reserve Champion.
Nearly 25 years ago, in 1998, a co-worker
told me that GM Garry Kasparov was coming
to Peoria, Arizona for a fundraiser. A Peoria
employee told me the cost to play him would
be $2,500! Whew! Kasparov was one of my
chess heroes, but that was far more than I
could afford, so I sadly declined.
I got a call the day before the event. All
the corporate slots were sold, I was told, but
I could play the GOAT (“greatest of all time”)
for $250! I asked if they took a credit card
and paid the fee without skipping a beat.
I called my wife and told her I just spent I lost, as did all the other players, but 22. ... Qg4? 23. Qxb7 Qc4 24. h3 Ba5?
$250 to play the world chess champion. Her my game was one of the final few to finish.
response? “That may be the best move you Clearly, it was not one of my best efforts,
ever made!” but paying to play the GOAT was definitely
She was right. MY BEST MOVE! Here’s the game:
I later started a chess education business
that, over the course of two decades, intro-
duced chess to more than two thousand RUY LOPEZ (C66)
students in four states. Over time I became GM Garry Kasparov (2851)
a tournament director, served as president Michael Kruse (1430)
of three chess clubs, and eventually owned Simultaneous Exhibition, Peoria, AZ,
and operated a chess center. 1998
But what about the simul?
Kasparov was confident, with a regal 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 exd4 5.
appearance and attire straight out of GQ! Nxd4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. 0–0 Be7 8. Re1 0–0 The final mistake, leaving my king exposed.
I recall him stepping over some ropes like 9. Bf1 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 c5 11. Qd1 Re8 12. I tried to hang on, but all too soon, I had
a heavyweight champion to enter the rect- Bf4 Rc8 13. Qd2 Qc7 14. Rad1 a6 15. e5 to resign.
angular arrangement of tables. Before play dxe5 16. Bxe5 Qc6 17. Be2
began on each board, he adjusted all his Even in blitz mode Kasparov saw through 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Rxe8+ Kg7 27. Ne4 Qxc2
pieces into the centers of their squares. 17. Bxf6?! Bxf6! when 18. Qxd7? Qxd7 19. 28. Ng3 Qg6 29. Qf3 h6 30. Nh5+ Kh7 31.
PHOTO: COURTESY SUBJECT

Before the match, I overheard other par-
ticipants planning their defensive strategies.
I chuckled quietly and thought, “Yeah, like
any of us have a chance!” After all, this
was the man who had defeated the Israeli
national team earlier that year by a score
of seven to one!
Rxd7 Rxe1 would have handed me material.
17. ... Rcd8 18. Bf3 Qc8 19. Qf4 Bg4 20.
Rxd8 Bxd8 21. Re2 Bxf3 22. Qxf3
Somehow I have gotten a playable mid-
dlegame position, but now the inevitable
errors creep in.
Nxf6+ Kg7, and Black resigned.
You can read archival copies of
“My Best Move” on uschess.org,
click on “Chess Life Magazine,”
and then “Archives.”

64 AUGUST 2022 USCHESS.ORG

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glossary of terms help round out this comprehensive
and informative, fun guide.
B0137TH ESSENCE OF CHESS STRATEGY - Volume 2 - Pawn Structures
by Boroljub Zlatanovic
Volume 2 is divided into eight chapters. Unlike Volume 1, it is
possible to mix the order in which you study these chapters ,
but not to study the games within each chapter out of order,
since the examples build upon each other in complexity.
I suggest that the chapter on “Passed Pawns”
4)06-%#&456%*&%<345ý#&$"64&."/:0'5)&7"3*064
middlegame structures can ultimately give rise
$42.95 to a passed pawn in the endgame. Work carefully
through these examples, because masters use
pawn structures even in the opening to predict the
properties of endgames which can potentially arise –
this is a widely neglected aspect and can be a strong
weapon for you!
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B0027CH MAKE YOUR MOVE!
by Carsten Hansen
One of the best ways to improve your results in chess is to study
tactics. In the present book, you will be challenged more than
200 times with positions taken from the author’s popular Chess
Life column. Each set of puzzles contain three easy puzzles,
5)3&& .&%*6. 16;;-&4ý "/% 5)3&& %*'<$6-5 16;;-&4þ 03,*/(
through the puzzles and then carefully playing through
the annotated solutions will help you to improve your
$14.95 tactical radar as well as your calculation skills.
B0127TH CHEPARINOV’S 1. d4! - Volume 2
Ivan Cheparinov
From the author – Welcome to Volume 2 of Cheparinov’s 1.d4!.
In the second part of the series, I am sharing my knowledge
"#0655)&-"7&'&/4&þ".$0/<%&/55)"55)&#00,$0/5"*/4
many new and interesting ideas and I have tried to provide you
with the best practical options. Objectively speaking
Black looks good in many lines but in practice things
may look different. While I cannot promise you a big
$42.95 advantage in each line, I do believe you will have the
best practical chances during the game.
B0136TH THE DUEL - The Parallel Lives of Alekhine and Capablanca
by Bossi & Brovelli
In this book, the authors go deep into the lives of these two
legendary World Champions, who have left their mark in an
6/'03(&55"#-&."//&30/5)&*3&10$)ď5)&<345'035::&"340'5)&
20th century) and who remain – in part, due to their very different
personalities and relationship with the game – inimitable
examples for all the chess-playing generations to come.
With very precise historical descriptions and presenting
$38.95 the events in chronological order, the authors
accompany us on a journey alongside the lives of these
two legends of chess.
B0204QT A MATTER OF ENDGAME TECHNIQUE
by Jacob Aagaard
The most hated cliché in chess is: And the rest is a matter of
technique. In A Matter of Endgame Technique Grandmaster Jacob
Aagaard deals with one of the few things chessplayers hate even
more – losing a winning position. No serious chessplayer is new
to the misery of spoiling hours of hard work in a few
minutes... A Matter of Endgame Technique offers the
second-best happiness – the misfortune of others – as
$49.95 well as deep explanation of the underlying patterns of
how and why we misplay winning endgames. At just
under 900 pages, this hardcover book is actually six
books in one, explaining the technical and practical
areas of chess endgames plainly, simply and deeply.
Endgame theory is well covered elsewhere; this book is
all about technique and devoid of material to memorise.
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