Yusupov, artur chess lessons

First published in 2004 Cover design and layout: Art & Satz Ulrich Dirr, Miinchen Page design and layout: Art.& Satz Ulrich Dirr, Miinchen Typeset with PDFTE Managing editor : Ulrich Di

ARTUR YusuPov

9 783935 748070 ISBN 3�935748�07�8

Chess Lessons

ARTUR YusuPov Chess Lessons

Translated and edited by Daniel King

© Chessgate AG 2004

www.chessgate.de

All rights reserved No part of i:his publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission

First published in 2004

Cover design and layout: Art & Satz Ulrich Dirr, Miinchen

Page design and layout: Art.& Satz Ulrich Dirr, Miinchen

Typeset with PDFTE)(

Managing editor : Ulrich Dirr, Miinchen

Preparatory work by Thomas Lemanczyk, Solingen

Printed and bound by Druckerei & Verlag Steinmeier, Nordlingen

ISBN 3•935748-07-8

Appendix -187

I n d ex of co m posers a n d a n alysts- 187

I n d ex of games- 189

Explanation of symbols - 196

Preface

Between 1999 and 2002 I produced and published in Germany a small series of ten trai ning

quite popular with German-speaking readers, and others too Many of my chess colleagues liked this form of individ ual trai n i ng; and some of them used the material in their cl asses too This favou rable reaction prom pted the idea of an Engl ish translation

Although the booklets were aimed at pl ayers of d ifferi ng abil ities, most wanted the complete set And that's how these d ifferent themes h ave ended up in one book You could also look on this d iversity as a strength if a reader, with chess am bitions, wants to test his overall ability Moreover, for chess trainers this book provides several ready-made lectures, and many usefu l exercises covering d ifferent aspects of the game, al ready sorted

in terms of their level of d ifficu l ty

There are th ree themes and tests that fal l under the head ing 'tactics' : chapter 1 , back­ran k combi n ations; chapter 6, double attack; and ch apter 10, trapping a piece These chapters are, on the whole, the sim plest, and pl ayers rated below 1500 Elo should probably start with them

Two chapters deal with positional themes: chapter 4 , exchanging pieces ; and chapter 9,

coloured bishop; and chapter 8, zugzwang These fou r chapters are more challenging and perhaps suitable for players w ith an Elo above 1500 H owever, pl ayers of any strength cou ld profit from studyi ng them

Two chapters deal with the q u estion of calculation: chapter 2, candidate moves ; and chapter 7, the process of elimination These themes are more su i table for players with an Elo rati ng greater than 1800 Less experienced p l ayers should go th rough the examples and try to solve the one and two-star positions

Chapter 5 deals with a strategical theme, passed pawns in the midd legame, and contains many additional examples that could also be used by club players as exercises For more advanced players, i t should be enough to p l ay through these examples carefu l ly on the chessboard

How should an ambitious p l ayer work with this book? I suggest two possi bil ities : a direct approach; and one based on the d ifficu l ty of the exercises

With the d i rect approach, go thro ugh the examples at the start of the chapter, then tackle the exercises The exercises are m arked with stars accord i ng to their d ifficulty Accord ing to you r rati ng, each star gives the following scori ng and th inki ng time:

- Below 1500 Elo, 1 point for solvi ng a position i n under 10 min utes

- Below 1800 Elo, 1 point and up to 7 m i n u tes

- Above 1800 Elo, 1 point and u p to 5 m i nutes

So, for example, an exercise with three stars should take a player with an Elo of 1650 a

find the answers, and you can see how well you understood the theme

V I I I PREFACE

There are some special exercises i n the chapters on calculation that you m ust p lay through move by move Check the i nstructions before you try these exercises

I also suggest an alternative method of approaching th is book - according to the

d ifficulty of the exercises Th is m ethod is suitable for players with an Elo below 1500 I n each chapter, wor k through the exam ples, then try to solve the positions up to the second level of difficulty When you have fin ished the book, come back and consider positions on level three If you are comfor table with the results, raise the level again If you fi nd you aren't yet ready for the next level , put the book back on the shelf, d o some other chess wor k, but after a couple of months come back and try again !

But in the end, per haps the most i m por tant th ing is not to take a l l these poi nts too ser iously I hope you wil l just enjoy the book

Final ly, I would l i ke to thank several people who hel ped to make this project possi ble:

my wife Nad ia for her hard wor k on the German version ; my chess teacher Mar k Dvoretsky; Jurgen Da niel, my p u blisher, for encouragi ng the idea of an Engl ish translation; and U l i Dirr for the layout of the book a n d for correcti ng some mistakes in the or iginal Ger ma n

ed ition

1 Back-Rank Combinations

Recogn ising the early outl i nes of mating

com binations is a vi tal ski l l The theme of

the weak back-rank is common, so studyi ng ex­

ercises of this kind shou ld pay off Although

these com binations are, on the whole, fai rly

easy, they are sti l l stri king and im pressive

Certain featu res are typical of th is type

of position:

1 ) the lack of an escape square for the cas­

tled ki ng;

2) the weakness of the back-rank;

3) an open file occupied by heavy pieces

-they are the main players in these combi­

Here both ki ngs are in danger The pawns

prevent White's king from leavi ng the back­

rank Although Black's king has an escape

square, it is occupied by the q ueen In addi­

tion, both back-ra n ks are insufficiently pro­

tected White can mate im med iately with 1

18'd4-d8#, or in two moves, starting with 1

a7-a818' + Black t o play wou l d wi n i m medi­

ately by 1 Ek1-c8+ or 1 18' h7-b1+

The attacker isn't afraid of sacrificing ma­terial to get a dead ly check on the back-rank Deflection and double attack are the most important elements in these combinations

Ossip Bernstein -J ose Capablanca

1 • Wb6-b2 !

A double attack on q ueen and rook At the same time the wh ite q ueen is deflected from protecti ng the i m portant back-rank square d1 Natural ly, the black q ueen ca n­not be captu red beca use of mate I n stead,

it wou l d have been a m istake to play 1

2

2 Wb2-b1 3 We2-f1 Wb2xc2

and Wh ite resigned

Xie J u n - Nana loseliani

Th is was one of the most d ra matic and

im portant ga mes of the whole tou rnament

C H A PT E R I BACK-RANK COM B I N ATIONS

Black's pos ition is tota l ly lost, but the for­mer World Cha m pion Xiejun evidently un­derestimated her opponent's th reats Sud­denly the Georgian losel iani got a brea k to

wi n the game and with it last m i n ute q ual­ifi cation to the candidates' fi na l However, she was sl ightly short of ti me and played 37· cs-q ?, m issing her big chance What's

so special here ? Looking more deeply into the position, you can see that Wh ite's back­

ra nk is only protected by the queen, which also guards the rook on f1 l oseliani could have played

37· ··· 'Wd4xa4 1!, exploiting the weakness of the back-rank

Aga i n , White can not accept the queen sacrifice H owever, even after 38 � b5-e2 §d1xf1+ 39 �e2xf1 Wa4xc2 40 a6-a7 §b8-d8 41 a7-a8� §ds xas 42 Ab7xas cs-q, Black's win wou l d just be a matter of time

4 CHAPTER I BACK-RANK COMBINATIONS

6 CHAPTER I BACK-RANK COM BINATIONS

8 CHAPTER I BACK�RANK COMBINATIONS

10 CHAPTER 1 BACK·RANK COMBINATIONS

SOLUTIONS El-I TO EI-17

Solutions

0 E1-1

Minic - Honfi, Vrnjacka Banja 1966

I Wa7 ! +-(1 '/:1xa7 2 l'!xdS+ ; 1 l'!xa7

2 HxdS+ ; 1 '/:1c8 2 l'!xdS+ '/:1xd8 3· l'!xdS+

Yxds 4· g3 + - ; 1 l'!dcS 2 '/:1xc7 l'! x q 3 ·

bl.dS+) I-o

0 E1-2

Fontein - Euwe, Amsterdam 1939

I • • • .E1.cJ! 2 • .E1.xci Wdi+ o-I

Shirov - Yusupov, Bundesliga 1995/96

(variation from the game)

0 E1-11 Alekhine - Bernstein, Vilnius 1912 (variation from the game)

I • .E1 xg7+ tbxg7 2 Wf7+ �hs 3· Wfs+ E1.xfs 4· E1 x f8#

0 E1-12

Janowski - Burn, Oostende 1907

I Wxd7 !! (1 l'! x e8+ l'!xeS 2 '/:1xd7? '/:1xd7 3· l'! x d7 gel+ 4· Gt:lfi GLJe2+ - + ; 1 l'! xd7? l'!xd7

2 '/:1x d7 '/:1 xd7 3· l'!xd7 l'!e1 + - + ; 1 '/:1xd7!! '/:1xd7 2 l'!dxd7 +-] I-o

Mikenas - Bronstein, Tallinn 1965

I • • • • .E1 x a3 !! (2 l'! xa3 V:1ei + ; 2 '/:1xa3 V:1ei + 3· l'! x e1 g x e1#; 2 bxa3 '/:1xai+ 3· l'!b1 l'!e1+ 4·

g xe1 '/:1xe1+ -+] o-I

Alekhine - Reshevsky, Kemeri 1937

1 .E1.xb8 + ! �xbs 2 Wxes+ ! I-o [ 2 fxes 3 ·

l'!fS+ +-)

0 E1-17

Torre - Timman, Hamburg 1982

I2 SOLUTIONS E I-I8 T O E I-29

1 lD(J+ z �gz [2 exfJ1il'xfi + J �xfi Ah3+ tDfs + o-1

4· �gi Eiei#) z Wxft+! -+ o-1

0 E1-18

Reti - Bogoljubow, New York 1924

1 Af?+ �hs z Aes! 1-o

Alekhine -Johner, Trinidad 1939

1 l!cs! [I Eic7 g6 2 1il'd6 \31 x d6 J exd6 �g7 J

Capablanca- Fonaroff, New York (casual) 1918

•· tDh6+ �hs z Wxes!! Wxes 3· � xf7+ 1-o

0 E1-23

Vodopyanov - Kanzyn, 1974

1 \Mgt+!! z �xg• fH 3· �hi fxe1W o-1

0 E1-24

Shampouw - Silalachi, Indonesia 1971

•· WxeS! Wxhs z eDe7+! eDx e7 3· WxfS+

�xfs 4· gds# 1-o

0 E1-25

Sokolov - Yusupov, Riga (m3) 1986

19 . tiJ xes!! zo tDxes [20 Eixd8l2Jx6+ -+ J

zo • Wq! z1 Wez [21 Eixd8 �xc2 22 Eixf8+

�xf8 23 Eib8+ CLJc8 -+ J z1 Wxes u Ae3

0 E1-26 Lepek- Kohnen, 1962

1 gcz! Wxd4 z l!c4! Wb6 [2 �d2 J Eic8+ Eid8 4· �xd2 +- 1 3· l!cS+ gds 4· Wbs! +- •-o [ 4· \31d4 S· \31e8+ 1

0 E1-27 Crouch - Speelman, Hastings 1992

z6 g xd7 :: [26 El.b8! Etas 27 Eia1!! \31 xai (27 Eidxb8 28 El.xa2 +-) 28 Ei x d8+ !!xds 29

\3fxai] z6 • l!fs z7 l!bz gxes %-%

0 E1-28

Sliwa - Stoltz, Bucharest, 1953

•· Wxc6! bxc6 z b7 Wds 3· bsW [3 El.ai 6h3, El.a8J 3· •• l!dt+ 4· l!xd• Wxbs S· eDb7! +­

•-o

0 E1-29 Lowcki - Tartakower,Jurata 1937 Black has to try to exploit the weakness of the back-rank by deflecting the white queen from its defence The best way to achieve this aim is the double attack on queen and rook

Nothing else works :

[4 \3fd2� S· El.xes; 4· \31eJ �� s \3fxeJ +- ;

4· \31h4� S· !!xes ; 4· \3fd3 S· �gi 1il'd4+ ;

4· \3ff4 S· h4 1

The white queen was well placed on ei This deflection forces it to leave its best position S· We•

[s fixes \31 xes -+ ; s 1il'di 1;31f4 - + ; s 1il'g1 1il'e2 -+ 1

S· ••• 'i!fd3!

A crucial move The queen has to control the im­portant fs square s 1;31e2 was worse because

SOLUTION EI-30

of the deflecting sacrifice 6 l"!.f5 ! (Black also has

back-rank problems!)

6 �g1 'Afd4+ 7· �hi Wdz! -+

Now the double attack works You may only

award yourself the points if you found this move

0-I

0 E1-30

Adams - Torre Repetto, New Orleans 1920

In this celebrated example, both sides have back­

rank weaknesses But White has the possibility

of deflecting Black's queen from its main task, the

protection of the rook on eS

1 Wg4! Whs

[1 @ds 2 @ xes @ xes (2 l"! xe2 3· @xdS+

Axds 4· l"! xe2) 3· .§ xeS+ ]

2 Wc4!! 'Afd7 (2 l"! x c4 3· l"! xeS+ @ xeS 4· § x eS#] 3· Wc7 !! Wbs 4· a4 !!

13

The key move, and the only one to get points The immediate 4· 1i:t xb7? would have been a mistake, because of the counter 4· @ xe2! ex­ploiting the weakened back-rank: 5· El.xe2 El.ci+ 4· Wxa4

[4 l"! xe2 5· @ xeS+ ; 4· @ xe2 5· El.xe2] S· i!e4

Now White threatens 6 @ xeS

S· Whs Black can no longer play 5· 1i:t x e2!

6 Wxb7! 1-o

less than 5 points beginner

15

Before we sta rt to calculate, we have to

identify the most l i kely possibil i ties: these

are the cand idate moves All ca lculation be­

gins with the selection of candidate moves

Someti mes we are lim ited to one si ngle pos­

si bi lity, but more often we can choose be­

tween two or three moves I n some rare

cases we may fi nd even more alternatives

than this Wh i l e a computer wi l l calcu late

all possi ble l i nes in a position, we deli ber­

ately limit our choice to the main lines Th is

is our strength , but unfortu nately it can also

turn out to be the main weakness of human

thi n king: if we l i m it o u r choice too much,

we can simply m i ss the strongest contin ua­

Th is game was played at a critical mo­

ment: the German team faced R u ssia, the

tournament favourites For the whole game

Eric Lobron had had to defend an almost

lost position His stu bbornness finally paid

off : i n the diagram position Black has a sav­

ing resource There fol lowed :

6o • •.• fs 61 ab6

simple theoretical d raw: 61 @g2 62 cs h1� 63 � x h1 @xh1 64 c6 f4 65 q f3 66 c8� f2)

The time control had been reached, so

E ric cou ld calmly consider the position Our team captain, Grandmaster Darga, was de­lighted to see a si mple way to d raw He glanced at E ric, looking tired after the long struggle, and rea lised that he was prepar­ing to resign Sadly, the ru les of chess don't permit any prom pting, so our team lost an

i m portant half poi nt B lack only has two candidate moves (or rather, two candidate ideas) : 61 f4 and advancing the pawn ; or

61 'i!?g2 to wi n the rook for the pawn first Lobron satisfied hi mself that after 61 f4 ?

62 @cs @g2 63 @d4 f3 64 @e3 f2 65 @e2 the white king returns i n ti me to stop the passed pawn, and he resigned The other idea was either not considered by Black, or

he rejected it too early i n h i s calculations

He cou ld have drawn easily with 61 @g2 !

th i s calculation If the strongest conti nua­tion fal l s i nto the master's m i n d , then i n the majori ty of cases further ca lcu lation is unnecessa ry

Here I fel l into deep contem plation I n

return for the sacrificed pawn I have a great

lead in development and a mighty initiative

14 �c2 suggests itself, gai n i ng a tempo for

further development, but I fai led to fi n d a

clear way to gai n the advantage The posi­

tion after 14 18'b6 15 � b1 18fq 16 Af4

(16 G[)xds 18fxe5) 16 lLle6 is better for

White, but I got the feel ing that the starting

position prom ised more The evaluation of

a position is l i ke a compass for the chess

player; it led me back - eventua l ly - to the

search for other candidate moves The right

attitude led to success I fou nd a move that

created five th rears ! After

ca ptu res and attacks Some of these moves

ca n be d isca rded i m med iately, but others remai n as cand idate moves With these re­mai n ing moves you have to begi n calcu lat­

i ng One ca n i magi ne the whole game as

a series of problems When analysing the candidate moves and moving the pieces in you r m i n d , it is advisable to look at the posi­tion through your opponent's eyes and to include his possibilities

I t is also very i m portant not to immedi­ately engross your mind in calculation After you

d raw u p you r cand i date moves, carry out

a short a nalysis with a provisional assess­ment of the position If you fai l to fi n d a clear and attractive conti nuation among the chosen moves, it is advisable to retu rn to the starting point and to search for further candidates Ask yourself occasionally if there aren't other possibilities Sometimes it happens that during the calculation of variations you

m ight spot new ideas that change the way you view the initial position

My trainer Mark Dvoretsky gave me th is

study to solve I spent a long time looking

for a resou rce in th is d ifficult endgame, but

without success N oth i ng good comes of

1 <i!>g7?, because of 1 . f!e8 Blocking the

h-pawn with the rook is a somewhat better

approach, but for a study, the lines are sim­

ply too complicated and, in the end , aren't

good enough for a d raw I was i n deep

con-17

tem p lation with these l ines when my train­er's voice d istracted me: 'What haven't you considered yet?'

I found the sol ution straightaway:

in these first moves is more dangerous than

a m istake i n the tenth move of a variation The key to solvi ng a p roblem is very often the discovery of the best conti nuation, but not its calculation When going through the exercises and solutions from this booklet you should concentrate on the search for candidate moves Try to find all the candidate moves, first If these moves don't help much,

go back and ask yourself: what other possibili­ ties are there in this position?

18 CHAPTER 2 CANDIDATE MOVES

� Exercises (sol utions p 24-27)

20 CHAPTER 2 CANDIDATE MOVES

Yusupov - Salov, Barcelona 1989

1 • ••• Ae2.! (1 Abi � 2 Ad3 Axa2�� 3· Ac2 +­

] 2 Ad3 (2 Aa4 Abi -+ J 2 • • • • Axb3 3· Abt

Ae4 -+ o-1

Olland - Wolf, Karlsbad 1907

1 �b2.! [I l'!h5� l'!ci + 2 \Sixci \Sfxh5 +) 1 • •••

gd3 2 Wet [ 2 \Sig4 +-) 2 • ••• Ae6 [ 2 'i!?h7 3·

Anand - Salov, Paris (rapid) 1991

1 Ad2.! (1 A x fs 'i!?xfs 2 \Sff3 f6 ±] 1 • •• • Wes

2 gel Wxet 3· Axe1 Ad7 4· Ah6 gfe8 S· W6

What was overlooked by the two players : the second or even the first move�

I &h6! Axh2+ (I tt:\e6 2 \Sig4 f5 3· \Sfxf5 gxh6 4· tt:\f6+ + - ; I gxh6 2 tt:\f6+ + -) 2 'i!?hi \Sic6 (2 Ad6 3· tt:\xg7 l'!ds 4· \Sih5 ±) 2 Axg7 kq 3· \SffJ tt:\g6 4· Ah6 ± (4 Af6 ±)

I ••• t0g6! 2 h4 The position has become very complicated The situation afi:er 2 Af6!� was also unclear :

2 Af6!� Afs!� (2 gxf6 IS tt:\xf6+ 'i!?fs 3· \Sfh5 &e6 4· tt:\ x eS !! xeS 5· f4 c3 6 b3 ±) 3· \Sfxd5 &g4 oo or 2 \Sfx d5!� A x h2+ 3· 'i!?hi Ag4! 4· &xg6! hxg6 5· tt:\f4 &xf4 6 Axf4 t

I realised here that I had probably missed a win and I lost interest in playing on I offered a draw which my opponent accepted

Afi:er 2 Ae6 ( l> \Sid7) 3· e4 \Sid7 (or 3· dxe4 4· Axe4 \Sfd7 5· Axb7 Ag4 6 \Sids Ae6 7·

SOLUTIONS E 2·9 TO E 2-IS

il.c6 Axds 8 Axd7 �e2 55) 3· es Axes 4· dxes

Ag4 S· e6! V!1xe6 6 ctJf4 A x f3 (6 tt::l x f4 7·

Wxf4 f6 8 Axf6 gxf6 g �aei ;!;) 7· tt::lxe6 �xe6

8 gx fJ h6 chances are balanced

Tomczak - Anand, Lugano 1988

I l!e6 ��

Correct was 3S· "l!1h6+ 'i!tg8 36 �e6 (ll 1i1gs, 1"l.f6)

and White wins

I • • • • Wxe6! -+ o-I

Anand - Andersson, Monte Carlo (rapid) 1997

Anand finds a surprising way to win a pawn

I ti:)xd4! Axg2 2 ti:)fs We6 3· Wgs ti:)e8

Oq . g6 4· tt::lh6+

4· ct>xg2 h6 S· Wg4 ti:)df6 6 Wf) +­

There followed

6 • • • • e4 7· dxe4 ti:)xe4 8 l!fdi @h7 9·

bxcs bxcs Io l!ds �8f6 n Axf6! �xf6 I2

gxcs l!ab8 I3· l!di l!b2 I4 ti:)d4 We7 IS· l!bs

and Black resigned

0 E2-11

Richard Reti, I92.2

To win the game, White has to attack the g-pawn

with his knight as quickly as possible

I ti:)e8!! [I tt::lds+ 'i!fe6 2 tt::lf4+ 'i!ffs 3· ltJe2 'i!tg4

4· Ad7+ 'i!fh4 S· tt::ld4 'i!fgs = ] I • • • • @e6 [I

lUb3 2 tt::lg7 tt::ld4 3 · tt::lhs tt::lfs 4· Ac2 (4 Abs)

4· ctJe3 s Ae4 + - ; I tL.lc4 2 tt::lg7 tt::ld6

(z ctJe3 3· tL.lhs tt::lfs 4· Abs 'i!fe6 s Ad3) 3·

il.cz +-] 2 �g7+ ct>es 3· ti:)hs I-o

0 E2-12

Jindrich Fritz, I96S

I Ab7! [I bs 'i!fe3 2 Ab7 'i!fd4 3· 'i!fxa7 'i!lcs -+]

I • • • • l!xb7 [1 'i!fe3 2 'i!fxa7 bs 3· 'i!tb6 'i!fd4

4· Ac6 = ; 1 • • • bs 2 'i!fxa7 =] 2 bs! [ 2 'i!fxb7�

as -+] 2 • • • • l!b8 [ 2 1"l.d7 = ; 2 'i!fe3 �� 3·

ci;>xb7 'i!fd4 4· 'i!fxa7 'i!fcs S· 'i!i>a6 0) 3· ct>xa7

gh8 4· @xb6 ct>e3 S· ct>c7 [s 'i!ta7 �hi 6 b6

2S

l"l.ar+ 7· 'i!i>b8 = ] S· • • • <t>d4 6 b6 ct>cs 7· b7 l!h7+ 8 @c8 @c6 9· b8�+ =

Tigran Gorgiev, I930 The key to this study is the zugzwang position af­ter move 6 Both sides have to reach this position with the other to move

I c6!

1 a4� h6 ! 2 as hs 3· a6 h4 4· a7 h3 S· c6 h2 6 C7 hi1i1# is too fast! I a3� hs! 2 a4 h4 3· as h3 4· a6 h2 s a7 hiV=1+ is too slow!

I • • • h6 [I c;!tq 2 a4 'i!f x c6 3· as 'i!tbs 4· 'i!tb7 ! = ; 1 • • •

h s 2 a4 !) 2 a3! hs [2 c;!tq 3· a4 'i!fxc6 4· as 'i!tbs S· 'i!tb7! 'i!fxas 6 'i!fc6 hs 7· 'i!fds and the king reaches the h-pawn.) 3· � h4 4· as h3 S· a6 h2 6 a7 =

0 E2-14

Smyslov - Lilienthal, Moscow 1938

I Wa7 � Correct was 1 V!1ds ! 1"l xb3 (if 1 • • • "l!1xb3, then

2 ds! +- and d6 ; 1 • • • .1"l.e6 wasn't better because

of 2 f4 +- with the threat of ds) 2 1i1f6+ 'i!tg8 3· e6 and White wins

I • • • • Wxb3 � Instead, I V!1xd4 � 2 e6 + - was also poor ; but 1 • • • .1"l xb3 would have led to equality (2 e6 1"l.b7)

26

[3 15'xh2 4· �f3 ! f!.e8 s E!.hi 15'q 6 Ah8 ! +-]

4· Wf6 !

+-and because of 4· 15'xa2 S· Ah6 15'as+ 6 'i!?di

'i1a4+ 7· 'i!?ci 'i1ai + 8 'i!?c2 'i1a4 + 9· 'i!?bi Black

resigned

0 E2-16

Yusupov - Adams, Dortmund 1994

I • • • • WdJ �

I 1i1fs!! would have saved the game:

A) 2 Ag3 'i1e4 3· d6 (3 'i1f] =) 3· h4! = ;

B) 2 Ae3 15'e4 3· �gs 15'xds (or 3· 'i!?g6 4· d6

il,[6 S· Axf6 1i1f4+ 6 'i!?gi 15'e3+ 7· 'i!?fi 15'd3+ =)

4· Af6 'i1g8 S· A x es 'i!?h8 6 A xg7+ 1i1 xg7 7·

Even simpler than 6 d8'i1 il,es+ 7· g 3 Axg3+ (7

15'xg3+ 8 'i!?hi 15'xh3+ 9· 'i!?gi 15'g3+ 10 'i!?fi)

I I 'i!?hi 1;3ffJ+ I2 1i1g2

Black resigned

In sharp positions it is very dangerous to base

one's play on general assessments alone

Sadly, this was the wrong choice Needless to say,

I saw the alternative 1 e6 !, but afi:er 1 • • • E! x d6

2 e7 Ac6 ( 2 il,g6 3· f!.f8+ 'i!?h7 4· Afs +-) 3·

SOLUTIONS E2-I6 TO E 2-I9 f!.f8+ 'i!?h7 I calculated just one line:

A) 4· t:l.d8 t:l.f6 and none of the three continua­tions promises White victory :

AI) S· il,d7 Axd7 6 f!.xd7 f!.e6 = ; A2) S· t:l.d7 !? il, x d7 (s CLlf4 6 e8'i1 <'Ll x h3+ 7· gxh3 il, xd7 8 1i1xd7 hs! = ) 6 A x d7 f!.b6 7· Afs+ g6 8 Axg6+ 'l!?g7 = ;

A3) S· f!.xd3 'i!?g6 6 Ad7 Axd7 7· f!.xd7 'i!?f] t

But you always have to search for candidate moves, and not j ust in the initial position ! Afi:er the intermediate check, White wins very easily : B) 4· Afs+ ! g6 s f!.d8 f!.f6 (s gxfs 6 E! xd6

<'Lles 7· t:l x c6 + -) 6 Ad7 A x d7 7· t:l x d7 and there is no defence against 8 e8'i1 + !

I n the game Timman managed to hold the position afi:er

I • • • • �h7 2 Ag2 Axg2 3· �xg2 �g6 ±

0 E2-19 Dautov - Yusupov, Bundesliga 1997/98

I Ag6!!

I almost fell off my chair when he made this move

I • • • • fxg6

I t:l.b7 2 t:l x e6 + 'i!?f8 wasn't any better, due

to 3· Axf7! f!.xf7 4· <'Llg6+ 'i!?g8 S· f!.e8+ 'i!?h7 6

s g3 'i!?f7 6 f!.d6 �e7 7· E!.xds (Or 7· f!.b6 lLld7

8 E1 x a6 b4) 7· 'i!?e6 8 E!.es+ 'i!?d6

4· • • • .l3.c8 S· .l3.xd7 Axh4 Let's weigh up the results of the combination White is much better: his pieces are more ac­tive than Black's and his pawn structure healthier Later Dautov gave me some chances, but his even­tual win was certainly deserved

SOLUTIONS E 2-20 TO E2-22

0 E2-20

Yusupov - Schlosser, Bundesliga 1997/98

I Wes (with the idea Ah7) looks promising, but

I couldn't find a concrete way to continue afi:er

I h6! My main hopes were connected with I

dxe6�, but then I saw that I f! xdi 2 exf7+

@f8 ! 3· f! x di iJ, x e4 would be better for Black

I went back to the beginning and found another

candidate move

1 CiJgs!

Now White attacks with vigour

1 h6

If I ft:lxc4 2 Axh7+ 'i!?f8 3· We2! �xds (Or

3· • l'h ds 4· tt:J xe6+ !! fxe6 S· �xe6 f! xdi 6

l/jg8#) 4· �hs with a decisive attack

Black's king position would have been too open

afi:er 4· g6 There would follow s tt:J x d8 (s

frxe6 f!g8 6 CUes is good too) s f! xd8 6

Or 7· 'i!?f7 8 �h7+ (8 dxe6+ 'i!?g8 g f!xd8+

Erxd8 ro �g6+ +-) 8 'i!?f8 g dxe6 +-

The point The rook is unpinned

But Black can put up a better defence: B3) I 0 0 0 't!ff8 ! 2 cu x f6 (2 Ah6 !�) 2 0 0 0 Axf6 3· � x f6 � x f6 4· � x f6 gxf6 s � xds exds 6

.!"! x h7 't!fg8 and Black still has counter chances But, besides the move Najdorf played in the game, there is still one more candidate move C) 1 Ac2!! (an idea of Zaitsev)

The threat is 2 � x h7+ and if Black takes the bishop, White wins the rook afi:er 2 11, x f6 A x f6 3· � x h7 + and 4· �xc2 Let's consider Black's possible defences :

CI) I g6 2 Axf6 + - ; C2) 1 • h6 2 Axh6 +-;

C3) 1 • • 't!ff8 2 Axh7 ft:l xh7 3· �hs! + ­aren't too interesting

In principle, there only remains C4) I El.xc2 2 �xf6 h6 (2 Axf6 3· ®xh7+ 'i!?f8 4· � x c2 +-) 3· �hs! A x f6 (3 El.f8 4·

�xg7 +-) 4· �xf7+ 'i!?h7 (4 'i!?h8 5· El.xh6+ !

28

gxh6 6 lUg6#) 5· �xh6 + ! 'i!?xh6 6 'l/jg6#

Zaitsev's analysis removes any doubts To find

a move like I Ac2!! during an actual game is in­

credibly tough, but the constant search for candi­

date moves can help us a little bit

6 Axg7+ �e7 7· Axes Axg7 8 l:!xh7 1-o

PRACTICAL E XERCISES 29

Practical exercises

Try to play the following two studies l i ke real games You take White and allow you rself one hour's thi n ki ng ti me Cover the m oves and diagrams with a sheet of paper When you have made your decision, you are allowed to look at the right move (on the solutions page), the comments, and you r 'opponent's' next move For every correct move you are awarded points

The left column shows you a study by Matous, the right one, a study by Pogosjants Concentrate on the candidate moves and don't try to calculate everything from beginning

30 C HAPTER 2 CANDIDATE MOVES