This position arises in the second game of the first issue of Chess Informant in 1966. It is a wild game.
White to move
Detail:
Remove the Defender
Showing posts with label removing the guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label removing the guard. Show all posts
Hidden Threats
Taking issue with Emanuel Lasker's assertion that combinations are rare, Yasser Seirawan asserts:
Had White taken the h-pawn, Black would have responded with 22...g6. The effort to rescue the trapped bishop with 23.Nf4 leads to a double attack. 23...Kg7 attacks the knight with a discovery while the king threatens the bishop directly. After 24.Nxg6 Rfe8, Black gains the bishop for two pawns and there remains the additional latent threat of Nxd4 followed by Ne2+ forking king and rook.
Hence, White's best choice after 23...Kg7 seems to be 24.Rxc6 Rxc6, and then 25.Nxg6 Rfc8 26.Ne7 Kxh7.
After the White knight captures one of the rooks, Black will have a bishop and pawn for three pawns--a clear advantage. Wisely, Pawel Jaracz played 22.Rfd1 and the game was eventually drawn after many moves.
Combinations of some sort can be found in the majority of master games, sometimes in the moves actually played and often in the variations hidden behind those moves.Seirawan's assertion may be illustrated in a position from last year's European Individual Championship. Erwin L'Ami, playing the Black side of a French Tarrasch where queens were exchanged early, stepped his king towards the middle. This move seems to have left a pawn undefended, but it is well protected by a threatened combination.
Yasser Seirawan, with Jeremy Silman, Winning Chess Tactics (2003), 5.
White to move
 |
| After 21...Kf7 |
Had White taken the h-pawn, Black would have responded with 22...g6. The effort to rescue the trapped bishop with 23.Nf4 leads to a double attack. 23...Kg7 attacks the knight with a discovery while the king threatens the bishop directly. After 24.Nxg6 Rfe8, Black gains the bishop for two pawns and there remains the additional latent threat of Nxd4 followed by Ne2+ forking king and rook.
Hence, White's best choice after 23...Kg7 seems to be 24.Rxc6 Rxc6, and then 25.Nxg6 Rfc8 26.Ne7 Kxh7.
White to move
After the White knight captures one of the rooks, Black will have a bishop and pawn for three pawns--a clear advantage. Wisely, Pawel Jaracz played 22.Rfd1 and the game was eventually drawn after many moves.
Detail:
Hidden Threats
Tactical Success
When I play blitz or rapid chess, I miss a lot. Even slower time controls do not prevent missing things. However, under time pressure, tactical mistakes are the norm. In the positions below, however, I found the correct move.* All come from one day's rapid play online.
I was hopelessly lost in the next game, but my opponent made a few errors to give me this nice position.
*"Correct" is defined as playing the move that Stockfish prefers.
Black to move
White to move
Black to move
I was hopelessly lost in the next game, but my opponent made a few errors to give me this nice position.
White to move
Black to move
*"Correct" is defined as playing the move that Stockfish prefers.
Detail:
Tactical Success
Two Exercises
Lesson of the Week
Knowledge of tactical motifs open a chess player's imagination to the possibilities. Accurate calculation verifies whether such possibilities should be played. These two exercises may prove difficult for scholastic players, but they are almost routine for strong class players. They both stem from play on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS).
Knowledge of tactical motifs open a chess player's imagination to the possibilities. Accurate calculation verifies whether such possibilities should be played. These two exercises may prove difficult for scholastic players, but they are almost routine for strong class players. They both stem from play on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS).
White to move
Black to move
Detail:
Two Exercises
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