Mating the Castled King

Danny Gormally

Quality Chess

www.qualitychess.co.uk First edition 2014 by Quality Chess UK Ltd

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Key to Symbols used 4 Preface 5

Chapter 1 - A Few Helpful Ideas 7 Chapter 2 - 160 Mating Finishes 16 Bishop Clearance 17 Back-rank Mate 22 Bishop and Knight 30 Breakthrough on the g-file 40 Breakthrough on the b-file 49 Destroying a Defensive Knight 54 Breakthrough on the h-file 63 Dragging out the King 79 Exposing the King 97 Greek Gift Sacrifice 102 Queen and Bishop 116 Queen Breakthrough to h7 126 Rook and Bishop 136 Kingside Fianchetto 145 Rook and Knight 158 Mate in the Corner 167 Mate on the h-file 169 Queen and Knight 175 Smothered Mate 181 Tw o Rooks 185 Chapter 3 - Pawns and Pieces 189 Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 205 Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 259 Chapter 6 - Ty pical Pawn Breakthroughs 301 Chapter 7 - Conclusion and Exercises 320

Name Index 330 Key to symbols used White is slightly better Black is slightly better White is better ± Black is better + +- White has a decisive advantage

-+ Black has a decisive advantage equality with compensation iiii with counterplay ? Cl> unclear

a weak move ?? a blunder a good move !! an excellent move !? a move worth considering ?! a move of doubtful value mate # Preface

Right from when we firststart to play chess, we are taught quick knock-out ways of checkmating our opponent's king. We quickly learn Scholar's mate and other speedy methods of scoring an easy win. At that point, the more difficultand sophisticated job of trying to break down a castled king is only a vague outline in our mind. Eventually we develop various slapdash methods of attacking the king that has fledto safety. However, it seems to me that the topic of attacking the castled king is poorly represented in chess literature, and as a consequence, very few of us are true masters of this tricky subject.

While writing this book, it occurred to me that attacking the castled king can be broken down into three different methods: 1) A blitzkrieg attack. This is the kind of attack that comes out of nothing. A good example of this is when a hook can be attacked with ii.xh6, which we will look at in detail in this book. From seemingly little danger, the enemy king comes under a terrible assault. 2) Playing directly fo r the attack. Typically White (though sometimes Black, of course) plays fo r an attack right from the opening. Pawn storm in the Sicilian are typical of this, or the Wel -h4 method of trying to break down a kingside fianchetto. In this book we'll examine many examples of this type of attack. 3) Theattack is an indirect consequence of the previous play. This type of attack tends to arise as a consequence of general play, and is the most common. Only once we have achieved strategic dominance do we launch an assault. Karpov was a master of this, only choosing to attack when everything was in his favour.

I learned a lot from writing this book. I've always been a very intuitive player rather than having a great mastery of the theory of the game. As I consider myself a natural attacking player, I was surprised during the process of writing this book to discover how little I knew about the specifics of attacking a castled king. It seems to me that we spend more time studying the finer points of the game, like positional strategy and pawn structures, and fo rget about what really wins the game - mating the guy's king.

I think it's a common misconception that when you become a grandmaster, all the secrets of chess knowledge are revealed to you. Like some secret freemasons' ceremony, where as well as learning about the shape-shifting lizards who control the world government and who faked the moon landings, you also learn about the deep mysteries of chess strategy. Sadly it isn't true, and like everyone else I have to work at it. (Certainly writing this book helped immensely in that regard.) A chess brain is like a muscle which has to be continually exercised. I've tried to emphasize throughout this book how important it is to keep looking at lots of chess puzzles in magazines, etc. Chess is all about pattern recognition, it's all about knowing past situations and putting that knowledge into practice, and you have to keep working on that ability. Mating the Castled Kin 6 g

Even so, I hope the reader enjoys this book, and remember fo lks, it's only a game. Anyone who knows me will be aware I struggle to take anything too seriously, and I've tried to reflect that. As well as the serious theory, you'll also learn about: TheTo wer of Terror - a satanic monument to evil which has the power to destroy an enemy army on its own. TheTw ins of Evil - dreaded harbingers of doom that have often been known to hang out at Terror Tower. TheSho tgun - not to be confused with the Sniper, this is an extremely dangerous weapon that comes in very useful in close encounters.

Enjoy.

Danny Gormally Alnwick, March 2014 Chapter 1

A Few Helpful Ideas

First of all, I'd like to establish some common ideas and themes in the reader's mind. Theseideas will come up time and again throughout the book, so it's worth becoming acquainted with them now, in order to make the subsequent chapters easier to understand. I would like to look at the fo llowing ideas:

1) The least-defended square. Where is the attack most likely to succeed? What points in the enemy position are vulnerable? 2) What constitutes a weakness in the king's position? How can it be exploited? 3) Under which circumstances is playing fo r mate most likely to succeed? 4) Opening filesaro und the king, drawing the enemy king out into the open. 5) Elimination of defenders, overloading of pieces. 6) Entrapping the enemy king.

1) Theleast-defended square How does an attack break through? We have to find a weakness to latch onto, an Achilles heel in the opponents armour. When we first learn chess we are taught to concentrate on attacking the f7-square, because that square is defended only by the king. The problem of the f7-square is often solved by castling, but then other weak squares and vulnerable points may arise, which the astute attacking player can target. For example, White frequently launches an attack aimed at the h7 -square, as that square is fu rthest from the protection of the black pieces. Sometimes several squares become vulnerable, as in the fo llowing game where Black suffers a dire fa te when the weakened squares around his king are ruthlessly invaded. Mating the Castled King 8

Leonid Yurtaev - Denis Lopushnoy 16... fXe6 17.Wh7t mf8 IB.ltJe5! IS completely destructive. To msk 1998 16... �xe6 attempts to stem the tide by at least getting the bishop out, but the attack is too strong: 17.Wh7t <±>fB IB.E\xe6! and White wins. 17.ex£1t<±>f B IB.Wg6! ltJf6

a bede f g h 14. .txgS!! Thisshuddering blow rips the black kingside a e bed f g h asunder. There is no real choice but to take the 19.E\xe7! impudent cleric; White would simply have an One of the keys when attacking is to keep extra pawn if the sacrificeis declined. throwing power moves at the opponent, not giving him time to breathe. 14... hxgS lS.tiJxgS f5 19... �f5 When attacking we should always consider 19... <±>xe7 loses to 20.E\el t mfB 21.ltJh7t the consequences of the king fleeing, but in ltJxh7 22.E\eBtand mate next move. this case the king cannot escape: 19... Wxc4 20.E\ael is no fun either, fo r 15.. J:%d8 example 20 ...�g4 21.ltJh7t ltJxh7 22.E\eBt fo llowed by mate. 20.E\eBt! When you have a strong attacking set-up, such moves floweasily . 20 ...E\xeB 21.fXeB=Wt Followed by mate on £1.

16.'1Wh4gd8 17.�h7t cj;lfS18 .e6! Cruelly closing the net around the black king.

a e bed f g h 18... �f 4 16.e6! IB... ltJf 6 doesn't survive fo r long either: A crucial blow. Such resources are often 19.Wg6 mgB 20.ltJe5E\f B lurking in attacking positions. 16... Wf 4 Chapter - Few Helpful Ideas 1 A 9

Opposite-coloured bishops might have notorious drawing tendencies in the endgame, but in the middlegame they can be a decisive factor fo r the player who is doing the attacking. Here White's dark-squared bishop cannot be opposed, and the black king looks to be in dire peril.

32 ....ih7? Black can throw a huge obstacle into White's a e path with the computer defence: bed f g h 21.�f7t!! Ei:xf7 22.exf7t h8 (or 22 ...f8) 32 ...ttJg 6! 33.Ei:d4! 23.riJg6# After 33.�f6? Black defends with 33 ...�f 8.

19.�g6@g8 20.tLJeS Black can only avoid mate by giving up his queen. 1-0

2) What constitutes a weakness in the king's position? A weakness in the king's position can take many fo rms. It may be a lack of pawn cover around the king; it may be a pawn move in a e front of the king which provides a hook which bed f g h enables the opponent to open a file; or it may 33 ...�e 7!! be the weakness of a complex of dark or light Brilliantly preparing to attack the white squares. bishop. The compliant 33 ...�f5 ? allows 34.Ei:h4! ZurabAzmaiparashvili - Vassily Ivanchuk with mate to fo llow. 34.Ei:xe4f5 35.�xg6 Tilburg 1994

3 a e 2 bed f g h 35... �f7! 1

a bed e f g h 10 Mating the Castled King

Theclever point, almost impossible to see in king's pieces have strayed to the other side of advance. the board, fa r from a possible defence of the 35 ..."\Wxg7 ? 34.Ei:xe6 would leave Black to king, then pyrotechnics often fo llow. Thereare struggle a pawn down in the ending. certain situations when the opponent's king is 36."\Wxf7t'it>xf7 bereftof defenders that seem to activate a killer Black regains the piece, when the endgame instinct in attacking players. should be a draw. However, this cybernetic tight-rope defence proved beyond even the JulianHodgson -Jens-Uwe Maiwald mighty human calculating machine Ivanchuk. Bermuda 1997 33.i.e5! The terrible glare of this bishop proves too much. The finish could be: 33 ...lLlf 5 34."\Wf6 'it>f8 35.g4! "\Wf3 and now the ultra-calm:

a bed e f g h Black may have a material advantage, but his a e pieces are scattered around the board, and lack bed f g h 36.h3! White prevents ..."\Wg4t before taking any real coordination. By contrast, White's the knight. 36 ..."\Wxh3 37."\Wh8t+- seemingly modest army is compact and primed fo r the final assault. (A bit like the film 1-0 300 perhaps, where a tiny fo rce of Spartans outwit 3) Under which circumstances will playing and outbattle a vast army of Persians.) for mate most likely succeed? Can you findthe best continuation? Knowing when the situation is right to go fo r the jugular often comes down to our intuition 31.tLlf4!! and experience. The late Mikhail Tal was Hodgson immediately finds the key to the famous fo r having an almost psychic ability position! If you didn't find this move, don't in this respect, fo r knowing when even the worry - I didn't either. When I first came slightest weakness in his opponents' defence upon this position, it was as part of a training would justifY a bloodthirsty attack. Although exercise, and I must have tried every other the majority of us cannot hope to have the legal move before finally stumbling upon this same level of intuition as a Tal, there are still one. It was one of those frustrating moments guiding positional principles that can help us when you feel like banging your head against get an instinctive feel fo r the correct moment to something solid, until you remember that it's launch an attack. For example, if the opposing just a chess puzzle. The best moves often have Chapter - Few Helpful Ideas 11 1 A more than one purpose, because it is much The black king is in a mating net, facing more difficultto deal with several threats than threats such as 34.'Wxa7! 'Wxa735 .:B:d8# just one, arid this is the case here. Not only 1-0 does this move attack g6, but it also creates the crushing threat of taking on e7, and Black 4) Opening files around the king, drawing cannot defend against both threats at the same the enemy kingout into the open time. Theki ng may seem safe when ensconced in its own camp, but if we can manage to open files 31.'Wf3 can be met by 31...'Wg8, with the around the king and fo rce it into the open, point that 32.lLlf4 :B:xf4! 33.'Wxf4 lLlb6 just then the task of attacking the king becomes about clings on. much easier, and strong continuations may flownatur ally. 31...e5 Black decides he cannot let White take on Evgeny Gleizerov - Igor-AlexandreNataf e7, but now danger strikes from the other side. Stockholm 1998 31...'Wxf4 is mated by fo rce: 32.'Wxe7t cj;>g8 33.�c4t! :B:xc4 34.:B:d8t'Wf8 35.:B:xf8# 8

31...:B:xf4 allows White to pick up a huge 7 amount of material with a series of fo rcing 6 checks: 32.'Wxe7t cj;>g8 33.�c4t! :B:xc4 34.:B:d8t'Wxd8 35.'Wxd8t cj;>g7 36.'We7t cj;>g8 5 37.'We6t cj;>g7 38.'Wxc4+- A good illustration 4 of the truism: loose pieces drop off!This is quite 3 a common theme when the king is running around in the centre. Even if he cannot fo rce 2 mate directly, the attacking player often has 1 the back-up that he can pick up loose material. a bede f g h 32.i.xg6t @g8 33.ttJe6 23 ... ttJd7!? Annotating this game, Igor Nataf"modestly" gave this (and most of his next few moves) two exclamation marks, claiming that Black is already clearly better. With the g3-pawn hanging over the white king like the sword of Damocles and any subsequent sacrifice on h3 likely to prove destructive, Black clearly has good attacking prospects. However, the naturally optimistic French player was probably a bit too optimistic at this point. Analysis suggests that White has not stepped beyond the boundary of equality just yet.

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 12

24.tt)xg7? White takes the bait, but he has missed 8 Black's next brilliant rejoinder and his game 7 goes down quickly. 6

24.ltJxd4? exd4 is positionally undesirable, 5 giving the black knight a magnificent square on e5. 4 3 24.�b2! is the correct way to continue, aiming 2 to defuse the coming attack by removing as much material from the board as possible - 1 exchanges oftenfa vour the defender. 24 ...ltJxf5 a bed e f g h 25.exf5 �xf5 26.ltJe4 It's strange just how 24".i.xh3!! often the sacrifice of a pawn enables us to free This amazing intermezzo must have jolted our position; here White's pieces can suddenly Gleizerov well and truly out of his slumber. breathe a lot easier. 26.. .'IWh4 27.�fl ! ltJf6 28.�xe5 ltJxe4 29.�xg7t 'it>xg7 30.fxe4 �xh3 25.gxh3 31.gxh3 f3 White cannot decline the sacrifice, fo r example: 25.'it>gl Wh4! 26.ltJfl Ela6! and ...Elh6 will be lethal. 8 7 25".g2t! 6 Nataf will sacrifice as much material as he 5 needs to - all that matters is that he beats a 4 path to the white king.

3 26.@xg2 2 Nataf rightly points out that allowing this pawn to live is hardly an option: 26.'it>glWh4! a e h bed f g 27.ltJf5 Wxh3! 28.ltJxd4 Elg8! and the mating Nataf said in his original annotations that attack is unstoppable. this would be winning fo r Black, but this seems wildly optimistic. Mter 32.Wd4t Elf6 33.Elb2 White is ready to sacrificethe bishop back on g2, taking the sting out of the attack. Here we see a common phenomenon - the player who wins a game likes to give the impression to the reader that the game was winning all along. It can be quite hard to be objective in these situations and to accept that our play may not have been perfect throughout.

a bede f g h Chapter - Few Helpful Ideas 13 1 A

26 ... E:g8!27.�b2 29.\Wxc2 \Wg5 Nataf gives this move a question mark, but 0-1 given the precarious situation of the white A good illustration of how important it is king, it's highly unlikely that White can survive fo r the king to have cover. Here White may in any case. have had a serious material advantage, but it was all fo r nothing because the open filesmade 27.g;,h2 Elxg7 28.Elg1 Elxg1 29.@xg1 "Wh4! his defensive task impossible. As someone once A key idea, cutting offthe possibility of the said about Tal, all he needs is one open file and white king fleeing to the queenside. 30 . .ifl the game is over! "We1! Black tightens the noose and the game won't last much longer. 5) Elimination of defenders, overloading of pieces 27.Elh1 is the best defence, but it should not To break down a sturdy defence, we often need be enough to save White: 27 ...Elxg7 t 28.g;,fl to identifYan important defensive piece that we "Wh4 29 . .ib2 "Wg3! 30 . .ixd4 "Wg2t 31.@e1 must eliminate. This piece may be defending a "Wxhlt 32 . .ifl exd4 33."Wxd4 Ele8! and the key square or a complex of squares, and with knight will join in the attack with ...ltJe 5. its removal the attacking floodgates will open, and finding the decisive breakthrough will 27 ...E:xg7t 28.@f1 prove much less burdensome.

Rune Djurhuus - ErikJelling 8 Copenhagen 1996 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3 a bed e f g h Black to play and win. 2 1 28 ... lLlc2!! a b c d e f g h A superb coup de grace. Vive la France! 22.�a3! Vive la Emperor! The knight distracts the A brilliant strategic decision! Once the white queen, which can no longer come to the bishop on e7 is removed, there will be nothing defence of its king. to defend the weakened dark squares around the black king. After the obvious 28 ..."Wg5 , White can play 29 . .ixd4 exd4 30."Wxd4 and hold on by his 22.•. \Wd8 23 .\Wh6!�xa3 fingertips. Mating the Castled King 14

Black cannot evict the white queen: 26.l'!xa3! Wxa3 27.l'!xe6! Ouch! Mate quickly 23 ...l'!hS? fo llows.

Returning the piece does not help either: 24 ...Wf 6 2S.Wxh7t mf8 26.l'!xa3 and since 26 .. .1''l:xgS loses to 27.Wh6t, White is winning.

a e bed f g h 24.ltJf6t! �xf6 2S.Wf8#

5 a bed e f g h 4 26J:he6!fxe6 27.lLlxe6# 1-0 3 Essentially White won this game because he 2 perceived the key to the position - the black bishop on e7. Theexchange or removal of this 1 bishop from its duties, defending the dark

a bede f g h squares on the kingside, proved too much fo r 24.�eg5! the defence to bear. Good attacking play is often about identifYing as many candidate moves as possible; not just 6) Entrapping the enemy king playing the first move that comes into your One of the recurring themes of attacking play head. If you have a promising position, take is when the enemy king runs out of space your time and have a look around - you don't to manoeuvre and becomes trapped. In this want to miss that easy win! situation the king enters, to use a climbing analogy, the "death zone" where the slightest The simple 24.l'!xa3 is also much better fo r setback will send it hurtling to its doom on White, but Black can at least slow down the the rocks below. Thisis a theme to which we'll attack with 24 ...l'!hS!. return throughout the book, but fo r now it should be useful to look at the fo llowing game. 24 ...�b4 Hanging on to the piece with 24 ...Wd6 loses in similar fashion to the game: 2S.Wxh7t! mf8 15

ZoltanAlmasl . - AlexanderKhalifman

Ubeda 1997

a b 25...Wfh3" " Th·IS sweepmg. ueen lunge creates the q terrib I e t hreat 0 f ... El:f2! an d ...�xg3 . White is 31.""b5 Wlg4 power less to prevent both. . a["f I man pOinted ou< '" ,J"m. ve Kh d . W.� 26.Wlxd6 to finIS h offt h e king: 3 1 ...h5! 32.bxa6 h4. 33.gxh4 \l!if3# Trying to run whh ,he king WOllId not save

White eIt. her· . 26.'>Y� g 1 �xg3! 27.hxg3 Wlxg3t 32.Wg2 t 33 <;!;>h3 El: 34• !l.4 !lhSt 28.mhl El:f2! 29.� x f2 e3t an d wm. s . IS 35J�h4 �xh4t\l!ia 36.� xh4 Wle2 26 ... El:f2 The rook is lost, so White had seen enough . . 0-1 Th;, allnchmg rook move seals the deal. . ! This game IS. a goo d illustration of how d an gerous I·t is to have a kin g entrapped wit. h 27 . .ixfl e3t 28.Wfd5 .bd5t 29.cxd5 oxf2 to m anoeuvre - you are . 30.El:fl El:f8 no room often little more than one false step away fro m bemg. mated. Chapter 2

160 Mating Finishes

Chess players should have the ability to remember and recognize patterns and themes that repeatedly occur in practice. Themore examples we see, the more ingrained these patterns will become, until eventually they are second nature. Any chance you get, you should look at chess puzzles in magazines or online, especially those with a White (or Black) to play and win motif. That's the simplest way to improve your tactical ability as well as your fa miliarity with patterns. Just soak up as many examples as you can, until you succeed in turning your chess brain into a well-honed, pattern-recognition machine.

In this chapter I would like to present a selection of classical patterns that relate to mating the castled king. This should improve the reader's knowledge of mating patterns no end, and even a quick glance through these examples should develop the reader's ability to replicate these examples in practical games. However, I recommend that even on completion of this book the reader should continue to improve this knowledge by accumulating as many examples as possible. Make a filecalled Mating the CastledKing on your computer, and put in any interesting examples that you can find. Keep adding to it, and remember to look through the examples regularly.

This chapter contains 160 of the most common mating finishes. Of course, it isn't possible to show every possible pattern, but this selection should give the reader a good classical basis. In many ways this chapter is the most important one in the book, because if you are not aware of the basic patterns, how can you expect recognize a winning attack when you have one?

I have grouped the examples by theme, and have started each section by giving a basic pattern which is typical fo r that theme, fo llowed by a selection of diagrams without comments. The reader is encouraged to decide what he would play in each position before going on to the discussion of the positions in the fo llowing pages. Bishop Clearance 8 7

6 The impudent cleric, who has strayed fa r into enemy 5 territory, gives his life to clear the way fo r the heavy artillery to come in and land the killer blow. 4 3

1.�g8t! @xg8 1 ...iWh6 2.:§: xh6t gxh6 3.iWh7#2.Wfh7# 2

a e bed f g h

Kiefer- Krumm, Germany 1999 Vaskans- Serebriakov, Riga 1965

CD 8 8 CD 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Schmidt - Bergvoll, Copenhagen 2004 Schott - Cwiek, Nice 2004 H.

CD 8 8 CD 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 18 Mating the Castled King

1. DanielKiefer - JohannesKrumm 30 .•.cj;>hS Black may have fe lt that he was covering all Germany 1999 his weak points, in which case the fo llowing would have come as a rude awakening. 8 31..tgS! 7 The bishop sacrifice heralds the end, with White now attacking the h7 -square three 6 times. 5 I know some players might be tempted to play 4 fo r beauty with 31.Wi'g6? 3

2 8 bn"J"//n,,,,","",/=

1 7

6 a b c d e f g h What a position! Something has gone 5 terribly wrong with Black's early middlegame 4 strategy, with all the white pieces occupying 3 ideal attacking stations, and the black king ripe fo r the taking. 2

a e 30. .th7t! bed f g h The most fo rcing, though White's position This hopes fo r 31 ...fxg6 ? 32.liJxg6#, but sadly is so commanding that he has a wide choice of 31.. . .txg5!-+ throws a spanner in the works. winning moves. 31..• g6 The elegant retreat 30 . .te2! threatens mate Practically the only way of preventing mate, on h7 as well as simply taking the h5-knight. but now White blows up the black kingside After 30 ...hxg5 31.hxg5 .txe5 32. .txh5, the completely. obvious 32... .tx d4? allows a beautiful finish: 32 . .txf7!

3 a e bed f g h 33.Wi'h7t!! xh7 34 . .txf7# 2 1

a b c d e f g h Chapter - Bishop Clearance 2 19

32 ... hxg5 17.hxg5 32 ...i.xe S is similar to the game: 33.'lWxg6 With the h-file now prised open, mate and White m:ites or gains a decisive material becomes inevitable. advantage. 17 ... lLlxd4 32 ...i.xgS unsurprisingly does not save Black's Desperation. skin either; after 33.hxgS! Ei:xf7 34.'lWxg6 White regains the piece with an unstoppable 18 . .th7t@h8 attack.

33.YNxg6 8 1-0 7 2. Horst Schmidt - MatsBergvoll 6 5 Copenhagen 2004 4

a bede f g h 19. .tg8t! YNh6 19... mx g8 20.'lWh7#

20.Ei:xh6t Mate fo llows on h7. 1-0

bed f g h a e 3. Uldis Vaskans- AlexanderSerebriakov 16.i.g5! Thisunexpected blow wins by fo rce. Theidea Riga 1965 of trapping the queen with this configuration of pieces (black queen on f6 , white bishops on e4 and gS) is actually quite common. Here the 8 queen is not completely trapped, but saving it 7 comes at a price. 6

16... hxg5 5 This opens the h-file, with devastating 4 consequences. 3 Sidestepping with 16... 'lWe6 simply loses a 2 piece to 17.dS. 1

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 20

This type of mating attack crops up time 4. RaimundSchott - Loic Cwiek and again in the Sicilian Dragon in particular. Nice 2004 White will offer the exchange of bishops with j,h6, and if Black declines this exchange by playing ...j,h 8, then the possibility of White playing j,f8! presents itself; the tempo that White gains to play his queen to h6 may prove decisive.

15.�h6! In this particular example, Black is already hopelessly lost. He lacks the queenside counterplay to distract White from his bloodthirsty hunt of the black king.

15... �h8 After 15... lLlh5 the refutation comes quickly: a bed e f g h 16.l'hh5! gxh5 17.'lWg5+- Black may appear to have counterplay along the c-file, but White can keep it under control. 16.�f8!tiJx b3t 17.axb3 �xf8 18.�f8!! Attacking on opposite wings is all about time. White ensures that he will remove by fo rce the piece that is playing a crucial role in the defence of the black king - the h8-bishop. 18.. J'!:xf8 None of the alternatives can save Black.

18... Wxf 8 loses trivially to 19.1'hh8t Wg7 20.'lWh6#.

Simply ignoring the impudent bishop won't do either: 18... 1"!:xc3 19.1"!:xh8t! Wxh8 20.'lWh6t lLlh7 21.'lWg7#

Thedesper ate attempt to stem the flooddown the h-filewith 18... lLlh5 is also met with blunt fo rce: 19.1"!:xh5! gxh5 20.j,xe7 j,xc3 21.bxc3 with a devastating attack on the dark squares.

19.1"!:xh8t! With the removal of this bishop, Black has no way of defending the weakened dark squares around his king. Of course not 19.'lWh6? j,g7. Chapter 2 - Bishop Clearance 21

19... @xh8 20.�h6t @g8

a bede f g h 24.@al! a bed e f g h Ve ry sly! White has calculated the finish to 21.tiJd5! perfection. The standard idea to undermine the defensive knight on f6 . It was still possible to go wrong: 24.Wxb2?? 'iWc3t25 .Wa3 'iWg7and Black wins! Allowing Black to block the h-file with 21.l"i:h1 tLlh5 might give the defender hope, as 24 ... l"i:xa2t25.@ xa2 tiJc3t 22.l"i:xh5? gxh5 23.'iWg5t is only good enough 25 ...'iWc2t 26.Wa 3! wins. fo r a draw. However, even here White can win with 22.tLld5!'iWd8 22.tLlf4!. 26.@al Black has run out of checks. 21..Jhc2t 22.@bl tiJxd5 1-0 22 ...tLlh5 23.tLl xe7# It is crucial to identify Out opponent's key defensive pieces - it is only with the removal of 23J�hl l"i:xb2t!? these pieces that the attack can break through. Black is not laying down without a fight. In this example, White removed firstthe dark squared bishop and then the f6 -knight. Back-rank Mate Back-rank mate is one of the firstmating patterns we learn in chess: 1.�e8t �xe8 2.�xe8# When coaching juniors I always try to drum into them the dangers of not giving an escape route fo r your king. Even when there seemingly is no danger, a mating attack can strike out of nowhere, so it pays to make time fo r ...h6 or ...g6 .

a e bed f g h

Herzog - L. Kaplan,Vienna 1994 Chigorin - Znosko-Borovsky, Kiev 1903 0 8 8 o 7 7

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a bede f g h a bed e f g h Nicevski- Magomedov, Chelyabinsk 1991 Beeker - Landenberger, Mannheim 1990 W. CD 8 8 CD 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter 2 - Back-rank Mate 23

Nyvlt - Soucek, Hradec Kralove 1992 Yahya - Gormally, Turin (01) 2006

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Bacetic - Lazarevk, Cetinje 1993 Ciocaltea- Kholmov, Dresden 1956

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Bernstein- Capablanca, Moscow 1914 Andreev- Khmelnitsky, Naberezhnye Chelny 1988

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 24 Mating the Castled King

5. Adolf Herzog - LaelKaplan Black must have fe lt that his attack was succeeding, as 29.Wff2 runs into 29 ...tDh 3t. Vienna 1994 But as so often, there is a nasty sting in the tail.

29.ttJe7t @hS 30.ttJf7t! 8 If the knight is taken, there is a back rank 7 mate: 30 ...:B:xf7 31.WfdSt:B:f S 32.Wfxf8# 6 1-0

5 7. MikhailChigorin - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky 4 Kiev 1903 3

2 8

7 bed f g h a e 6 Wo rried by the threatening knight on f5 , Black has just challenged it with the 5 unfortunate retreat 2s ...ibb7-cS ?? Blocking 4 the bS-rook gives White a tactical chance, which he takes with both hands. 3 2 29.�xf8t! 1 This leads directly to mate: 29 ...<;t>xf S

30.:B:dStWfxdS 31.:B:xdS# a bed e f g h 1-0 White ends the game elegantly, taking advantage of the weak back rank: 6. Risto Nicevski - MagaramMagomedov 29.ttJe7t! :gSxe7 Chelyabinsk 1991 None of the other lines can save Black either. For example: 29 ...:B:2 xe7 30.Wfxe7! f6 31.:B:dS! :B:xdS (3 1 ...ibb5 32.WffSt! :B:xfS 33.:B:xf8#) 8 32.WfxdSt �f7 33.Wfe7t <;t>gS 34.WffS# 7

6 30.:gdSt!:geS 31 .�f8t! A good example of simple but effective 5 calculation. 4 1-0

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Back-rank Mate 25

8. Wo lfgang Beeker - Martin Landenberger 17... .ie6 Black must suffer the loss of an exchange. , Mannheim 1990 If he chooses 17... Wxc5 then he will lose 8 his whole army: lS.EldSt WfS 19.EleeS h6 20.ElxfSt �h7 21.ElxcS+- 7

6 18• .ixfS c;f;>xfS Black decided not to test White's technique. 5 The ending with the extra exchange is easily 4 won. 1-0 3 2 9. Dtto Nyvlt - Miroslav Soueek

Hradec Kralove 1992

a bed e f g h White has mobilized his fo rces to the maximum and every one of his pieces is performing a useful role.

16.WfxfSt!! Of course not 16.WxdS? ElxdS, when Black fights on.

a bed e f g h 30.Wfe7! White is playing fo r mate! He has noticed the weakness of Black's back rank. This is much more effective than the mere win of a pawn by 30.lLlhxg7, when Black can soldier on with 30 ...We5 .

bed f g h 30 ..J� xdl t 31.ElxdlWfe2 a e A despairing final lunge. 16... WfxfS 17• .ic5! The point of White's sacrifice,ex ploiting the back rank. Such combinations are as much 32.WfxfSt! about using the advantage of the move as Mate next move. anything else. 1-0 Matin the Castled King 26 g

10. Nikola Bacetic - AleksandarLazarevic 22.i.xb7! Eld7 23.Wxf8t! �xf8 24.i.a3t Eld6 25.i.c6 f5 26.Ele8t WO 27.Elae1 and White's Cetinje 1993 attack is decisive. 21.Wxf8t! 8 Snap mates are always the best: 21...Wxf 8 7 22.i.a3t �g8 23.Ele8# 1-0 6

5 11. Ossip Bemstein -Jose RawCapablanca

4 Moscow 1914

a bede f g h Sometimes the threat to give mate on the back rank can be veiled.

20.b5 axb5?? Black decides to meet the positional threat of b5-b6, bur unfortunately he simply misses that he is threatened with something fa r more devastating. a bed e f g h Thetheme of the weakness of the back rank 20 ...i.h3 was called fo r, allowing the a8-rook to participate in the defence of the back rank. was brilliantly exploited in this finish which has gone down in the annals of chess history.

8 27 ... llJxc328J hc3 �xc3 29.�xc3 Is there a way fo r Black to take advantage of 7 White's weak back rank? 6 ,,=,/,''''''--

4 8 3 1""""-""·,,, 7

2 6

a c e 5 b d f g h However, White is still doing well after 4 21.i.d5!, combining the defence of the g2- 3 pawn with increasing the pressure on the black queen side. Play could continue 21...:!'hd8 2 1

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Back-rank Mate 27

29... �b2 !! 13. Victor Ciocaltea- Ratmir Kholmov The greats like Capablanca make chess look Dresden 1956 so easy. This b'rilliant shot decisively overloads the white queen, and Black wins after 30.Ek2 �b l t 31.Wfl Wxc2 or 30.Wel Wxc3! 31.Wxc3 8 :!'i:dl t 32.We1 :!'i:xe1#. 7

Note that 29 ...Wb l t? 30.Wfl :!'i:dl?? would be 6 no good as 31.:!'i:c8t reminds Black of his own back-rank problems. 5 0-1 4

12. MohamedSaleh Yah ya - Danny Gormally 3 2 Tu rin 2006 (01) 1

a bede f g h 33.E:e8! With the obvious threat of 34.:!'i:xf8t �xf8 35.We8#. Often such threat of a back rank mate will fo rce the opponent to make concessions - and give us time to create additional threats.

33 .. . g6 Desperately trying to open up some breathing space fo r the black king.

a bed e f g h I played 27 ...:!'i:xe l t? 28.:!'i:xe 1 :!'i:xel t 29.Wxel 33 ...Wd6 Wal 30.Wxa l j,xal and went on to win this At first sight this looks like a reasonable endgame. However, I missed the chance to win alternative, but White can continue to pile on the spot with the beautiful: on the pressure with: 34.:!'i:dl! Wc5 27 ...�c 2!! My England teammate, Nigel Short, brought this to my attention after the game. 8 White is defenceless, as either capture of the 7 queen allows 28 ...:!'i:xe l t with mate next move. 6

Incidentally 27 ...Wa 2!, though perhaps 5 not quite as beautiful, is also good enough to 4 win. 3

a e bed f g h Mating the Castled King 28

35.E.I:d7! White threatens to win material with 36.E.I:xfSt 'lMrxfS 37.'lMrdl. Note that the immediate 35.E.I:ddS? would be a blunder because of 35 ...E.I:b l t 36.�h2 'lMrclt. 35 ...E.I:b l t Neither 35 ...E.I:c3 36.'lMre1! E.I:c1 37.E.I:xfSt nor 35 ...E.I:xeS 36.'lMrxeSt 'lMrfS 37.E.I:dS offer Black any hope. 36.�h2 h6

a bed e f g h White threatens 36.E.I:xfSt 'tt>xfS 37.'lMrh6t 'lMrg7 3S.E.I:eSt+-.

Of course, when you have the initiative it's important not to agree to any premature exchanges and to continue to play as directly and aggressively as possible. Black has no realistic hope, with his rook stuck on b3 and the queen also out of the game on c3, of a e h bed f g coordinating his fo rces to defend against the 37.f6! looming attack. Stopping Black from defending the f7-pawn by ...'lMrf 5. 35 ...'Wc5 37... gxf 6 3S.'lMra2 35 ...E.I:xeS 36.E.I:xeSt �g7 37.f6t! 'lMrxf6 White wins, as he threatens 'lMrxf7t as well 3S.E.I:gSt is a neat point. as the rook. 36.'Wd8!gxf5 34.'Wc4!'Wc3! 36 ...E.I:xeS 37.E.I:xeSt �g7 3S.E.I:gSt 'tt>h6 Forced, as everythingelse loses on the spot. 39.'lMrh4# For example, 34 ...E.I:c3 35.'lMrxb4 and a rook will fa ll. 37JhfSt 'Wxf838J�e 8 'Wxe839.'Wxe8t � g7 40.'Wa4�bl t 41.�h2 b3 42.'Wxa6 34 ...E.I:b2 35.'lMrc5!'lMrg7 36.f6 'lMrh6 37.'lMrcS! is White will win the b-pawn by fo rce, after also completely hopeless. which the game is an easy technical win. 1-0 35.'Wh4!

14. AfrikanAndreev - Igor Khmelnitsky

Naberezhnye Chelny 1988 , l.e4 liJf62.e5 liJd5 3.c4 liJb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 Chapter 2 - Back-rank Mate 29 dxe5 6.fxe5lLlc 6 7.i.e3i.f5 8.lLlc 3 e6 9.lLlO Awakening the sleeping giant on a8. i.g4 10.�d2 i.e7 11.0-0-0 �d7 12.h3 i.f5 13.d5! 15.�f4 Seemingly threatening to take on e6, but Black ignores this threat.

15... i.b4!

3 a bed e f g h This advance is positionally well motivated, 2 but it needs to be fo llowed up correctly, 1 something that White utterly fa ils to do in this game. The bishop on f5 is a very dangerous a bede f g h piece, casting a laser-like glare towards the 16.dxe6?? enemy majesty, and the seemingly calm White has a complete breakdown in his situation is liable to explode into violence on calculation and opens the d-file,ensuring there the slightest mistake. is no escape route fo r his king. The finish is quick. 13... lLla5!

Excellent! Black immediately begins 16 ••• lLlb3t! fo cusing on the Achilles' heel in the white Opening up the path fo r the rook. armour, the c4-point. In his attempts to cover this weakness, White ends up creating a much 17.a:xb3 E!a1t 18.liJblE!x bl# worse one ...

14.i.xb6? 8 A really bad idea. White must have thought 7 that the fo llowing line was in his favour, but when playing fo rcing lines you have to be very 6 careful that you have worked everything out 5 precisely, which wasn't the case here. 4

14.1Mfd4!wo uld directly cover the c4-pawn and 3 allow White to keep an opening edge. 2

14.•• a:xb6 1

a bede f g h Bishop andKnight 8 7 One of the most difficult mates fo r the amateur player 6 to master is the endgame with bishop and knight against a bare king. (I consider myself lucky that I've never had 5 to demonstrate how to win this in a practical game - I'm 4 convinced it would be an embarrassing experience.) In the 3

middlegame, though, the bishop and knight often work 2 beautifully well together and may sometimes deliver a

snap mate, as in this example: l.lLlfSt@g 8 2.lLlh6# a e bed f g h

- Zunker, Germany 1994 Letreguilly - Frat, Reunion 2004 Kalix @ 8 8 7 7

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a bede f g h a bed e f g h Cramer - Zilverberg, Leeuwarden 1992 Neumann - HernandezOnna, Dresden 1969 @ 8 8 @ 7 7

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a bede f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter 2 - Bishop and Knight 31

Lichman - Solonar, Willingen 2001 Smetana - Pad, Havirov 1971 8 @ 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bede f g h Kuijf - Hodgson, Wijk aan Zee 1989 Tsvetkov - Pyatirichenko, Kiev 1999 8 @ 7

a bed e f g h Brady - O'Brien, Dublin 1992 @8 8 7

a bed e f g h a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 32

15. Wolfgang Kalix - Michael Zunker 16. Adrienne Cramer - Paul Zilverberg

Germany 1994 Leeuwarden 1992

a bede f g h a bede f g h A typical Maroczy Bind type of position. White has a beautifully developed position, Black has unwisely moved his knight to g4, and is threatening to open further avenues opening up the long diagonal fo r the sleeping of attack with h4-h5 etc. Black by contrast giant on b2. How does White take advantage has rather retarded development, with his of this? queenside pieces casting a particularly sorry impression. However, that's not an excuse to 18.lLlf5!! lose in rwo more moves ... Forcing mate. 15... i.g7?? 18... tiJxh6 A terrible blunder, walking straight into a lS... �f 6 19.�xf 6 only delays the mate by cute combination. one move. Disaster could have been averted if Black had 19.tiJxh6# fo und 15.. J';1eS!, which would have prepared the idea of playing ...�g7 by giving the king an additional retreat square on fS . It's always 8 important to give your king as much space as 7 possible! 6 16.'Wxg7t!! 5 It's important to be alive to combinations like this. This is why learning different patterns is 4 so important, because if we know the patterns 3 involved, it becomes much easier to reproduce them in an actual game. 2 1 16... i>xg7 17.tiJf5t i>g818.tiJh 6#

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Bishop and Knight 33

17. Olivier Letreguilly -Jean Frat 18. AbrahamNeumann - Roman Hemandez Onna , Reunion 2004 Dresden 1969

The fo llowing game caught my attention. It is a good example of how two bishops and a knight can combine to deliver mate.

l.e4 e5 2.tDa tDe6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tDxd4 e6 5.tDc3 '?Ne7 6.�e3 a6 7.�e2 llJf6 8.0-0 d6 9.f4 �d7 10.'?Nel b5 11.a3 �e7 12.'?Ng3 0-0 13.:B:adl tDxd4 14.hd4 �e6 15.e5 dxe5 16.he5 '?Nb6t 17.@hl a5 18.�d3 b4 19.tDe4! Taking advantage of the fact that the black knight on f6 is pinned, due to the threat of a bed e f g h 26.'?Nxf5t!! mate on g7. White is tactically on the ball and spots the hidden mate. 8 26 ...exf5 7 After26 ...tt:lf 6, White has many ways to win, 6 fo r example 27.tt:lg6t <±>gB2B .�c4 or 27.exf6!? exf5 2B.tt:lg6t \t>gB 29.f7t. 5 4 27.tDg6t @g8 28.�e4t �e6 29.he6t 3

2 8 1 7 a bede f g h 6 19... tDh5?! 5 It's dangerous to leave the knight on e4 unmolested. 4

3 19... �xe4 ! would have removed a lot of the poison from the position, and after 20.�xe4 2 :gadB prospects are roughly equal. 1 20.'?Nh3!g6 21.axb4 axb422. tDg5 a bed e f g h 29 ...'?Nf7 30.Lf7# Creating a rather large threat, which Black Theblack kinghas been utterly strangulated. completely overlooks. 34 Mating the Castled King

White has a choice of knight retreats. Which would you choose?

21.ll.)f3? Going the wrong way! The knight was urgently needed as a defender on the queenside. Despite the dangerous-looking open b-file leading to his king, White would not have been too badly placed ifhe had fo und 21.ttJc2! :gabS! 22.ttJb4 with unclear play.

21...�f5t Now the a5-knight comes into its own. a bed e f g h 22 ...�b5?? A real lemon. Black loses the game because 22.@c1 he fa ils to findthe right idea - the white knight 22.<;t>alis rapidly mated: 22 ...ttJb 3t 23.axb3 must be removed at any cost! To that end, Wia5# 22 ...il,x g5! demands to be played. Although this weakens the dark squares, after 23.fXg5 22.il,d3 loses in trivial fashion to 22 ...e4. :ga5!Wh ite does not have any obvious way of getting to them. 8 23.VNxh5! 7 A lovely finish: 23 ...gxh 5 24.il,xh7# 6 1-0 5

19. Peter Lichman- StefanSolonar 4

Willingen 2001 3

a bed e f g h Now a rook to the b-file would be good enough, but Black fo und a move that won on the spot.

22 ...VNb3! White is mated after 23.axb3 ttJb3#, and otherwise 23 ...Wixa2 is crushing. 0-1

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Bishop and Knight 35

20. MarinusKuij f -JulianHodgson 17... VNxa2 18.VNb4

,Wijkaan Zee 1989 8

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1 a bede f g h White may have thought he was escaping bed f g h a e from the mating net, but Hodgson ruthlessly Any kind of weakness on the queenside can shatters these hopes. lead to defensive problems, as shown here by Julian Hodgson, a real attacking maestro in his 18.•. 'Se2! day. Thisneat tactic overloads the d3-bishop and 16... VNb3! leads to the win of the queen. Doubtless this came as a real shock to his 19.he2 lLlb3t 20.VNxb3VNxb3 21 .�d2 VNe3 opponent. It turns out that the strength of the 0-1 bishop on the g6-bl diagonal renders White completely helpless. 21. DevakiPrasad - ThandalamRavi

Black even had an alternative way to smash India 1991 through the defences: 16.. .1''1:xe2! 17.Wfxe2 (l7.Wfxb4? 'Sc2#) 17.. .ltJc5 Black threatens l.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 .if54. lLlc3 e6 5.g4 .ig6 ...tiJa b3t fo llowed by mate, and 18.'Sd2tiJxc4 is quite hopeless fo r White.

17. .id3 White loses in all variations:

17.tiJc3is met brutally by 17... Wfxa2 ! 18.tiJxa2 tiJb3#.

17.tiJa3 covers the c2-square and threatens to take the a5-knight, but even here Black wins by fo rce: 17... Wfxa2 18.Wfxa5 'Sxe2! and there is no defence. 36 Mating the Castled King

A very sharp line of the advance Caro-Kann has arisen. Every move takes on much greater 8 significance than in more sedate lines, as the 7 slightest misstep can cost either side dearly. Personally I'm not a great fan of this line from 6 White's point of view - to fightfo r an advantage 5 he has to thrust all his pawns up the board at a very early stage, something I'm loath to do. 4 3 6.lLlge2 c5 7.h4 h6 8 . .ie3 Wfb6 9.f4 llJc6 10.£5 2 White throws caution to the wind, but the 1 drawback of all these pawn moves is that they a bed e f g h leave a lot of empty space in his position. It's 13.llJf4 Wfa6?! a bit like a fo otball match - you send all your With accurate play by White, this attack fo rwards up front at the firstopportunit y and on the queenside should not really succeed. as a consequence you get hit on the break! Fortunately fo r Black, in this game such accuracy is not fo rthcoming ...

8 14.fxe6 llJb4 15.exf7 llJe7 16.a3 7 The first part of a horribly misguided plan. The big problem is that this weakens the b3- 6 square. Just one weakness can be enough to 5 mate a castled king! 4 White would have retained a big, possibly decisive attack if instead of weakening his 3 queenside, he had calmly developed: 16.ig2! 2 Thepoint is that now 16... ixc2 can now be met by 17.a3! ixd 1 18.'IMi'xd1, which fa vours White. 1

a bede f g h 16... lLl xc2 10... .ih7 I1.Wfd20-0-0 11...'IMi'xb2 12.E!:b1 'lMi'a3 13.E!:xb7 is not a good idea; the white rook is in too active a position.

12.0-0-0 c4! The exclamation mark is fo r the strategical boldness of Black's decision. A lot of players would prefer to keep the tension in the centre, but Black is clearly announcing that he wishes to close the position and aim fo r a direct attack on the queenside. The battle lines have been drawn!

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Bishop and Kni ht g 37

17.g5?? 23. Oleg Tsvetkov - A. Pyatirichenko A real disaster, completely overlooking the Kiev 1999 reply which ends the game immediately. Therewas still a chance to avoid a complete debacle: 17.Wf2! would vacate an important 8 square fo r the white king and retain the advantage. 7 6 17 ... c!tJa1! Mate or loss of the queen will soon fo llow. 5 0-1 4

22. JaroslavSmetana - Vadav Pad 3 2 Havirov 1971 1

bed f g h 8 a e It's amazing how often weakening the b3- 7 square comes back to haunt White. In this position Whitemakes a horribly overoptimistic 6 decision that backfirescomplet ely. 5 14.a3? 4 Completely overestimating his position. This 3 often happens - you labour under the delusion 2 that you stand much better, and so findsome unfortunate plan to "justifY" that belief. 1 14.dxe5?? is even worse, offering Black a choice a bed e f g h Black has emerged from the opening of mates in two: 14... Wxd l t! 15.lLlxdl li:Jxa2# excellently placed and now seizes his chance to or 14... li:Jx a2t! 15.li:Jxdl Wxdl #. go on the offensive. To avoid these d-file disasters, White would 13 ... c!tJb4! have been strongly advised to block this file permanently with 14.d5!. Whitecreates threats There is no way to defend the c-pawn! of his own with Wa7 etc., and Black must react White's game now goes downhill quickly. resolutely: 14... li:Jx a2t! 15.li:Jxa2 Wa4 16.i.d3 14.a3 c!tJxc2 15.c!tJg3? i.xd3 17.Wxd3 Wxa2 18.

15.ttJd5 ttJxe3 16.ttJb6t r;i]c7 17.ttJxd7 17J!xal dxc3t 18.'tt>xc3 ics 19.'lMrdl 'lMra4 ttJxdl is no help. 20.b3 ib4t!

IS... ttJal! Ye t again White has managed to overlook 8 this move. It shows how dangerous it is to 7 allow a knight anywhere near your king. 6

I should point out that Black had another 5 good option in 15... g6! intending ...�h 6t. If 4 White replies 16.'lMrd2, then 16... ttJal ! is even stronger than in the game. 3 2

8 1

7 a bede f g h 21.'tt>b2 6 21.axb4 '1Mrxalt 22.'lMrb2 axb4t picks up the 5 queen. 4 21...!!xdlt22.ttJx dl Wfd7 3 White could easily have thrown in the towel 2 at this point.

1 23.ttJf3 ics 24.ie2 id4t 2S.'tt>a2 ixal

a bede f g h 26.!!xal ge8 27.gdl gxe2t 16.'tt>dl? 0-1 White panics completely. This certainly avoids the immediate mate, but it turns out 24. Stephen Brady - Michael O'Brien that the cure is almost as bad as the disease. Dublin 1992 16.ttJe4 ttJb3t 17.r;i]bl ttJc5!! 18.ttJfd2 'lMrxd4 is also disastrous. 8

However, with a simple retreat of his knight 7 White could have minimized the damage: 6 16.ttJd2 'lMrxd4 17.ttJde4 ttJb3t 18.�c2 'lMrxdl t! 19.'lMrxdl !!xdl 20.�xdl ttJc5 Black 5 has a good edge in the endgame, but the game 4 is not over yet. 3 16... exd4 2 The white position has turned into a disaster 1 zone. a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Bishop and Knight 39

16.�bl This sneaky move contains a diabolical trap, which Black walks straight into.

16 ...ie7? ? 17.tiJb5! Thetrap is sprung!

17 ...b6 A horrible move to have to make, but there was little choice. None of the alternatives offer much hope: 17.. .'IWa4 18.b3! or 17.. .'IWb6 18.�c7 or 17 ...'lWxd2 18.tt:lxa7#.

18.tiJd6t! ixd6 19.ixd6

a bed e f g h 19... �xd2 Losing on the spot.

19 ...<;t>b7 would avoid mate but drop the queen to 2o.ib4 'lWa421 .b3.

20.ia6# Breakthrough on the g-file� A queen and knight make a very powerful combination; a queen, knight and bishop are deadlier still. Here we see what can happen if the g7 -square is not adequately defended: l.hg7! hg7 2.<�f5 A nasty two-punch combo! Mate fo llows.

a e bed f g h

Mubayiwa - Mgijima, Maputo 1996 Soltis - D. Gurevich, Lone Pine 1981

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Luukkonen- Vallas, Kokkola 2003 Ehlvest - Andersson, Belfort 1988

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the g-file 41

Kubicka - Zawadzka, Straszecin 1999 Casafus- G. Mendez, Buenos Aires 1993

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Wade - Burstein, Munich 1954 Vulevic - Kunz, Pizol 1998

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a b c d e f g h M. Gurevich - Suba, Murcia 1990

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a bed e f g h a b c d e f g h Mating the Castled King 42

25. Brute Mubayiwa- AndrewMgij ima 20.,ixg7! The f- pawn will finish the job: 20 ...j,xg7 Maputo 1996 21.f6 and Black must give up his queen. 1-0

8 26. Tommi Luukkonen- Pekka Vallas 7 Kokkola 2003 6

5 8 4 7 3 6 2 5 1 4 a bede f g h 18.�g4!? 3 This is White's best chance, aiming to use 2 the tempo gained by threatening the e4-bishop 1 to set up an attack on the g7 -pawn.

a bed e f g h 18... .ib7? ? What I find most impressive about White's Black carelessly fal ls in with White's plans. play from this position is how quickly he scores a knockout attack. Defending the bishop with IS... d5 is correct. Theimp ortant point is that this clears the 6th 16.�g4! rank so that 19.j,h6?would fail to 19... Wb 6t. Immediately eyeing up the g7 -square. With his queen stranded on b5, Black already lacks a 19. .ih6!.if6 satisfactory defence. 19... g6 20.fXg6 also leads to mate. 16... .ixd5 16... g6 enables White to break through by simple and straightforward means: 17.fXg6 hxg6 IS.Wxg6t decisively utilizes the mighty cleric on d5.

16 ...mhS 17.lt:lh5 g6 also allows White to break through: IS.fXg6 hxg6 (lS... fXg6 19.j,h6!+-)

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the g-file 43

27. AndrewSoltis - DmitryGurevich

Lone Pine 1981

a e 4 bed f g h 19.�g5! �xg5 20.Wxg5 gxh5 21.1"1n lLld7 3 22.Wh6t Wg8 23.1"1f5 and Black is helpless against the coming 1"1g5#. 2 1 17.ih6! bed f g h Thisclever intermezzo proves to be decisive. a e White has got himself into desperate trouble on the queenside, and now plays his last 17••• if6 Black allows a quick finish. The alternative remaining trump - the hope of a snap kingside was to try and hang on to a miserable position attack. an exchange down after 17... g6 18.ixf 8 �xf8 19.exd5. 17.'%Vh5! bxc3?? Black falls into the trap of believing that White doesn't have any real threats.

17... e5! would have prevented White's counterplay and won easily.

18.'%Vh6!

5 a bed e f g h 18.ixg7! ixg7 19.tiJh5 4 1-0 3

a bede f g h Mating the Castled King 44

Now the tables are turned completely and it 17.�g2! Yfib7 is White who is winning. Quite simply, all the Black only hope is to try to counterattack tactics work in his favour. Gurevich must have along the b-file. missed this idea completely. 18.�xg7t c;i>h8 18... eS 18... gxh6 19.9xh6t �g5t 20.�xg5# is the main idea.

18... f6 19.9xf6 does not help Black either, fo r example: 19... �xf 6 20.�xg7t �xg7 21.iWxg7#

19.heS! Theunf ortunate position of his queen on c6 is fatal fo r Black.

19 ... dxeS 20."\Wxc6 cxb2t 21.c;i>xb2 .ie6 22.Yfic7 1-0 a bed e f g h 19.9g8t! 28. JaanEhlvest - Ulf Andersson White sacrifices the rook to ensure that his Belfort 1988 capture of the bishop comes with discovered check. Neither way of taking the rook offers any hope: 19... �xg8 20.fXe7t f6 21.iWxf6t 8 �g7 22.iWf8t �xf8 23.exf8=iWt �g8 24.�d4t e5 25.�xe5# or 19... �xg8 20.�gl t �h8 7 21.fXe7t f6 22.exf8=iWt �xf8 23.iWxc3 with 6 an easy win fo r White. 5 1-0 4 29. Iwona Kubicka -Jolanta Zawadzka

3 Straszecin 1999 2

1 8

a bede f g h 7 The strong Estonian grandmaster Jaan Ehlvest demonstrates the dangers of a 6 breakthrough on the g-file, inflicting a quick 5 defeat on the likeable Swedish grandmaster, 4 Ulf Andersson, who was usually so hard to beat. 3 2 Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the g-file 45

10.0-0?! 17.i.h6! White "castles into it". When Black is so Black is already helpless. He has no clearly primed fo r an attack, it is hardly a wise counterplay at all on the queenside to try and idea to move the king into the danger zone. distract White from the coming onslaught.

1 0 .�xh3 'IWxh3 11.'IW c2, preparing to evacuate 17 ... �fd8 the king to the queenside, is much more 17... �xh6 18.'lWxh6lZlf 6 is no better: 19.94! sensible. �h8 20.g5 lZlh5

10... h4! Of course.

11.11Jxh4?? Thismove simply isn't possible here.

It is better to cover the d4-square with: II.e3! hxg3 12.fXg3! (of course not 12.hxg3?? �xg2 13.�xg2 'lWh3t fo llowed by mate) 12... �xg2 13.�xg2 'lWh3t 14.<;t>gl Although Black a e retains an attack, no immediate breakthrough bed f g h is evident, and White is ready to improve her 21.�xh5! As Fischer would say, White's attack defensive chances with 'lWel -e2 plays itself. 21 ...gxh 5 22.'lWf6t <;t>g8 23.g6! and White wins. 11... �xh4! When trying to break down a kingside 18.�xh5! fianchetto, such an exchange sacrifice is often 18... gxh 5 19.'lWg5and mate fo llows. a key component. 1-0 This idea of sacrificing the h-rook fo r the 12.gxh4'lWg4 13.11Je4 'lWxg2# blockading knight comes up most often in opening like the Pirc and Sicilian Dragon, 30. Robert Wade - Sylvain Burstein where White's strategy tends to be clear - open the h-filewith h4-h5-hxg6, then play �h6 and Munich 1954 exchange bishops, fo llowed by 'lWh6 with a mating attack. To block the attack along h-file, Black will oftentry to post a knight on h5, and 8 that's when this sacrifice becomes possible. 7

a bed e f g h 46 Mating the Castled King

31. Hans Johner - Stephen Smith White is the exchange to the good and easily winning. However, as we have discussed before, Paris (ol) 1924 the key when you have a material advantage is not to try to protect your advantage passively, but to play with suitable aggression.

27.g4! V!ie728. V!ih6t�h8 29.g5 �h5 It might seem that Black has everything covered defensively, but in fa ct White has calculated it all to perfection and now finishes the game offwith two quick tactical strokes.

a bede f g h timely pawn breakthrough supplies the A straw that breaks the camel's back.

34.g6! �xf6 34 ...fxg6 also leads to fo rced mate: 35.�xg6t 'lWxg636. 'lWf8t 'lWg8 37.E!:xg8#

35.g7t bed f g h 1-0 a e 30J:hh5! gxh5 31.g6! 32. Ruben Casafus- Gustavo Mendez White wins the queen or mates, fo r example: 31...f5 32.�f7t cj;Jg833 .'lWxh7tcj;Jf 8 34.'lWh8# Buenos Aires 1993 1-0 33. Vj ekoslav Vulevic - HansKunz

8 Pizol 1998 7

a bede f g h

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the g-file 47

Black might have been hoping that his advanced d-pawn would provide 8 compensation, but White does not let it 7 distract him from the attack. 6

32.lLle5! .ixh5 5 32 ...d2 33.lLlxg6t fxg6 34.f7t is mate next move. 4 3 33.g6!! 2 Surely this move should not be possible - after all, Black is defending this square 1 fo ur times! But whichever way he chooses to a bede f g h capture this impudent invader, Black is utterly 37.VNf3 helpless. Surprisingly missing 37.�hg7#.

37 .. J�g7 1-0

34. MikhailGurevich - MihaiSuba

Murcia 1990

5 a bed e f g h 4 33 ....ixg6 3 There is nothing better. 2 33 ...l::1 xg6 34.�f8t delivers mate next move. 1

33 ...fxg6 34.f7! unleashes the devastating a bede f g h potential of the slumbering cleric on b2. 19.. J�xh4! This breaks White's attempted blockade on 34. lLlxg6t the kingside. 34.l::1xg6 is also decisive. 20.gxh4 .ih6! 34 ... fxg6 35.f7tl::1 d4 36.f8=VNd2 This bishop is so strong that White must return at least the exchange. Mating the Castled King 48

21.e3 23 ...tiJdl! 24.2"i:cx dl �xdl 25.tiJxf6 The fe eble attempt to hold onto the extra 25.2"i:xdl allows a quick mate: 25 ...2"i:xd l t material with 21.2"i:al would see Black quickly 26.Wel �e3t! 27.l2lf2 2"i:xel# break through on the g-file:21 ...�e3t 22.l2lf2 25 ...2"i:d 2! 26.hc6 White still has no good way to capture the black queen, fo r example: 26.Wf5t �b8 27.2"i:xdl �e3t! and Black mates next move.

26 ...2"i:xfl 27.2"i:xdl 27 ....te3 ! Theexchange of queens has not diminished the attack; Black threatens ...2"i:f 1 mate.

28.c;!?hlbxc6 29.2"i:gl

a e bed f g h 22 ...g3 ! 23.hxg3 Wg4 with a murderous attack.

21...tiJxe3 The simple 21...�xe3t 22.2"i:xe3 l2lxe3 was also strong.

22.�d2 �xd3 23.�fl? White had to exchange queens, although 23.Wxd3 2"i:xd3 24.l2lxf6 2"i:xb3 gives Black good compensation fo r the exchange. White's main problem is how bad his king is - utterly immobilized by the black pieces. a bed e f g h 29 ....tg 2t! Black has used several mating ideas in a 8 single game - very impressive! 7

6 30.2"i:xg2 2"i:f1t31 .2"i:gl2"i:x gl# fine attack by Suba, especially when you A 5 consider that this was a rapid game. 4

a bede f g h ------

Breakthrough on the b-file : 'uuuF�m� Often a knight can be sacrificedto open up the b-file. This 6 is a typical case: 5 1...lLlc3t! 2.bxc3 2.<;t>a1 lLlxd1-+ 2 ... bxc3t 3.'it>alWib2# 4 3

a e bed f g h

Figler - Kirpichnikov, Moscow 1966 Gi. Hernandez - Movsziszian, Cala Galdana 1999 @8 ® 7

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Brown - O'Donnell, Va ncouver 1989 Hebden - Gormally, Helensburgh 2013 P. @8 8 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Mating the Castled King 50

35. IIya Figler -VladimirKirpichnikov 26 ..JUb8! The star move, which needed to be seen Moscow 1966 in advance. Black now has a threat of taking the cl-knight, gaining a decisive material advantage. 8 7 27.�e2 �xc2t 28.�f3E:lb 2 6 This is good enough to win, as the white king is too exposed to survive in any case. 5 However, 28 ...:!%f 8t! was even quicker: 29.Wg4 4 :!%b4t30.� h3

bed f g h 22 ...ltJc a3t! 23.bxc3? e Theequ ivalent of putting your head into the lion's jaws. The less materialistic 23.ttJxc3! would have led to an ugly endgame fo r White, but this was the only way to avoid immediate loss: a e bed f g h 23 ...bxc3 24.b3 'Mra3 25.'Mrcl 'Mrxcl t 26.'�xcl 30 ...g4 t! 31.�h4 :!%xfl terminates proceedings. :!%xflt 27.:!%xfl :!%bH 29.E:fgl E:ffit 30.�g4 E:b4t 31.�h3 g4t 23 ...bxc3 t 32.�h4 E:rz Now the attack is just too strong. Thebreakthrough on the b-filehas led to the 24.�cl �xa2 25.�dl king perishing on the h-file. 0-1 25.ttJxc3 loses material to 25 ...:!%xfl t 26.:!%xfl 'Mral t. 36. PaulBrown - Tom O'Donnell 25... :!%bl t 26.ltJcl Va ncouver 1989

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the b-file 5 1

19... liJc 3t! the passed e-pawn. It would have been more Once again, this is the key move. accurate to go fo r the breakthrough with 27 .. .1'hb6! 28.1'hf6 1"i:xb3t! 29.cxb3 1"i:xb3t 20.liJxc3 bxc3 21.e6t �c7 22.b3 �b6 30.�c2 1"i:xa3and the white king is defenceless. 23.'iNcl �a624.a3 28.liJxd4 The immediate 28.e7 would allow Black to 8 break through in style: 7

a b c d e f g h a e h 24 ...�b8! bed f g 24 ...1Mrxa3 ? 25.1Mrxa3 �xa3 26.lLlf4 a5? 28 ...lLlx b3! 29.cxb3 1"i:xb3t 30.�c2 1"i:ab6! backfires rather badly after 27.lLle2! a4 3 1.e8 =1Mr1"i:b2t 32 .1Mrxb21"i:x b2t 33.�cl 1Mrxa3 28.lLlxc3! �b8 29.�b2 and the rook is trapped. 34.1Mre7t �c8 35.1Mre8t �b7 36.1Mrdlt 'kt>a6 Instead of this, Black sensibly just cranks up and mate is looming. the pressure. 28 ...cxd4 29.�a2?! Black had to be distracted from his queenside attack at any cost. To that end, 29.e7! was the only way to set Black any practical problems, 8 even if it turns out he is winning in any case after the accurate: 7

1 OD

a bed e f g h 27 ...liJd 4 a e bed f g h The knight was doing a good job watching 29 ...1Mrb6! Wh ite is defenceless, fo r instance: Mating the Castled King 52 a) 30.e8=W 8:xb3t leads to mate. Creating a deadly threat of ...8:a4! which would fo rce White to open the b-file. b) After 30. cj;>a2 i>d7! Black has the decisive threats of ...8:ba5 and ...8:xa3 t 21.<.tal 21.We 1 does not address Black's threat: c) 30.8:f2 sets the trap: 30 ...8:x b3t?? 31.cxb3 21...8:a4! 22.bxa4 Wb4t leads to mate. Wxb3t 32.8:b2! and White wins. However, simply 30 ...i>d7! isagai n winning. 21 ...tiJ eS! Cranking up the pressure and giving White

29.•• VNb4! a difficultchoice. Thec3-pa wn effectively suffocates the white king. 22.8:h3? 0-1 The rook looks horribly awkward here.

Generally speaking, moves that look bad are 37. GilbertoHemandez - KarenMovsziszian bad, and that is certainly the case here. This strange rook manoeuvre telegraphs an attack Cala Galdana 1999 against h7 - Black may not have had any intentions of castling before, but he certainly 8 has none now!

7 It is surprising that White did not find the 6 natural 22.8:ffl !. With this sword of Damocles hanging over his head, it is surely an important 5 defensive requirement to reinforce the defence 4 of his back rank, a point that becomes important in a few moves. 22 .. .tt:Jc6 23.f6 exf6 3 24.Wel! and matters remain unclear. 2

1 22 ...tiJx d3! Simple chess is often the best. a bede f g h 18... tiJc 3t! 23.8:xd3 White has failed to make any progress in his 23.cxd3 c2 24.8:cl 8:xd4! 25.�xd4 allows an attack and now Black takes over the initiative. elegant finish: The knight is given up to create an eternally poisonous attacking unit on c3. Although Black's attack is not yet decisive, it is extremely unpleasant fo r White to face.

19.tiJxc3 The alternative 19. bxc3 loses on the spot: 19... bx c3t 20.i>alWb4! is game over.

19 ...bxc3 20.b3 8:b4!

a e bed f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the b-file 53

25 .. :�c3t! shows the additional attacking right frame of mind fo r finding the fo llowing benefits of the c-pawn. breakthrough.

17.•. tLl c4! 23 .•.'!Wa3 24J3x c3 Opening the b-filewill be crushing. 18.'!Wd3 Accepting the knight allows Black a mating attack: lS.bxc4 '!Wb4 19.e5 '!Wa3t 20.<;ilbl %'IabSt 21.tLlb5%'Ix b5t 22.cxb5 '!Wxa2t 23.<;t>c1 '!Wal#

lS.'!We2�xc3 19.tLlxe6 '!Wb4!is also mating.

18 .•.'!Wb4 19 .tLlb5 tiJb2 20.'!We2

7 a bed e f g h 24 .. .1:hd4! 6 A lovely finishingtouch. White is mated after 25.�xd4 Wfc1# or 25.Wfe1 %'Idl t! 26.Wfxd l 5 �xc3t 27.<;ilblWfb2#. 4 0-1 3

38. MarkHebden - Danny Gormally 2

Helensburgh 2013 1

a bede f g h 20 ....ic4! 8 Thissecond piece sac on the c4-square finally 7 fo rces open the b-file. 6 Although 20 ...tLlx dl is also winning, 21.<;t>xdl! 5 would keep the game going fo r a while. 4 21.bxc4 tLlxc4 22.c3 '!Wxb5 23.e5 :gab8 3 24.'!Wc2 '!Wa5 25.a4 :gb2 26.'!Wxb2 tLlxb2 2 27.@xb2 '!Wxa4 28.exd6 2S.%'Ialloses to 2S ...%'IbSt.

a bed e f g h 28.•. '!Wb4t had just written the first draft of this 0-1 book when I played this game, so I was in the Destroying a Defensive Knight � White's kingside is often held together by a knight on 6 f3 , and so removing this knight can open the way to the h2-square: 1...E:ill2.e ill�xh2t 3.�fl�xfl.# 5 4

a e bed f g h

C. Richter - Nijboer, Netherlands 2005 Seirawan - Lobron, Bad Kissingen 1981 @)8 8 ® 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 T

a bede f g h a bede f g h Hartmann - Dressier, Untergrombach 1991 Bischoff - Pichler, Germany 1997 K. ®8 8 @ 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a bede f g h a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Destroying a Defensive Knight 55

Koneru - Waters, Scarborough 1999 Espinosa - Ramon Pita, Havana 1992

a bed e f g h Tanguy- Fiear, St Affrique 2000 ® 7

1 6.

a bede f g h

1 ....

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 56

39. ChristianRichter - Friso Nijboer game. Moreover, when you are a pawn down, as White is here, you need to act decisively; Netherlands 2005 you don't have the time to indulge in quiet, strategical moves. I would file this mistake 8 under the heading "Pointless pawn moves".

7 White could in fa ct have gained serious 6 compensation fo r his pawn deficit with 17.lLle5!, aiming to impose a bind. After 5 17... \Wxe2 18.:8xe2 White would have some 4 nice pressure in the endgame. If Black instead tries to crash through with 17... �xf 2t? 3 18.\Wxf2 lLlg4, then 19.1Llxg4! :8xf2 2o.lLlxf2 2 gives White more than enough material fo r 1 the queen.

a bede f g h 17... lLlg 4 30 .. Jhf3! Black is now winning by fo rce. After 31.exf3 \Wh2t32.�f l �b5t! White is quickly mated. 18.gfl 0-1

40. Markus Hartmann- Jan DressIer

Untergrombach 1991

2 18 . . . gxf3! Again the removal of this knight proves key. 1 19.h3 gxg3 20.b4 a bede f g h We join the game when White still had a 20.hxg4 is hopeless after both the simple chance to avert disaster. 20 ...:8xg4 and the flashier 20 ...\Wh3 21.\Wf3 :8f8!. 17.a3? Far too slow. Failure to pay attention to 20... gxg2t your opponent's threats can cost you the 20 ...\Wx h3! is even quicker. Chapter 2 - Destroying a Defensive Knight 57

21.@xg2 c!Lle3t 26J'he6 0-1

41. Yasser Seirawan- Eric Lobron 8

Bad Kissingen 1981 7 6

a bede f g h Now the German grandmaster Eric Lobron (who incidentally is rumoured to be dating the Estonian supermodel Carmen Kass - if only my own love life was so successful) breaks bed f g h a e through elegantly: The idea of sacrificing the exchange on f3 arises most commonly in the Dutch Defence. 26 .. J'hf3! A lot of my fr iends seem to love this opening Capturing the knight this way is more (personally I've rarely been an advocate), incisive than: 26 ...exf 3 27.exf3 8:xf3 28.8:e2! perhaps the primary exponent amongst them being grandmaster Simon Williams - he even sensationally defeated world championship candidate Boris Gelfand with this very opening! He tends to explain it as fo llows: "You play ...�e8 , ...�h 5, and then just mate White." If only everything in life was so simple. In the diagram position, Black has emerged from the opening with a "dream Dutch" position. All his pieces are lined up against the white king and primed fo r the final attack.

a e h 25 ...e4! bed f g At first sight this looks a hard defence fo r Rudely disturbing the sentry on f3 from its Black to break down, but there is a way. blissful slumber. 28 ...�h2t 29.@f1 �xg3! 30.�d2 �xb2 31.�xb2 8:bf8! 32.�xf3 �xf3 33.<;t>gl �f4! The immediate 25 .. J'hf3? 26.exf3 �h2t 34. <;t>f1 �h2 and the attack is decisive. 27.f1 would leave Black without a good fo llow-up. 27.exf3 exf3 28.@f1ti'h2 Mating the Castled King 58

28.l"i:d2 8 28.l"i:d3 l"i:f6 29.l"i:e2 would avoid mate, but 7 smacks of desperation. Black could just take the exchange at a time of his choosing. 6

5 28 ...l"i:f6 29.l"i:e e2 Giving the king the fl -square, but that will 4 not save White. 3

2 8 1 7 bed f g h a e 6 Despite being a whole rook to the good, White is utterly helpless in the face of Black's 5 overwhelming threats. 4 29.hg7 YNxg2t 30.@el YNxf2t 3 0-1 2

42. KlaDSBischoff - Juergen Pichler 1 bed f g h Germany 1997 a e 29 ••• l"i:xf3! The decisive breakthrough, leading to mate: 30.�xf3 'lWh2t 31.�f l 'lWxf2# 8 0-1 7

6 43. Humpy Koneru - Clive Waters

5 Scarborough 1999

a bede f g h

27 •.•YNh5! Black intends simply ...l"i:f 6xf3, and even the uber-solid German grandmaster Klaus Bischoffcan not do much about this thematic breakthrough sacrifice.The bla ck bishop on a6 plays a most useful role in denying any escape route fo r the white king. a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Destroying a Defensive Knight 59

As we have seen, this ...:8xf 3 idea has claimed that year, and because I was so short of money, many illustrious victims. In this game, future I got up every morning to input the games star Humpy Koneru fo und herself in serious into the bulletin. tedious job, but spending A difficulties. Something has gone horribly hours each morning looking at mating wrong with White's position. All her pieces patterns like this seemed to pay off, as after on the kingside are huddled together, like fo ur rounds I was clear leader of the British soldiers bunkered down in the First Wo rld Championship! Wa r, waiting in a trench fo r a shell to put them 0-1 out of their misery.

44.FabieD Tanguy - GleDD Flear 17... fxg3 18.hxg3 St Affrique 2000 The other recapture is no better: IS.fX g3 �xg2 19.'it>xg2 :8xf3! 20.'it>xf3 :8fSt and White is quickly mated. 8 18.. Jhf3! 7 The most accurate. 6

IS... �xg2 19.'it>xg2 :8xf3 20.:8hl! was White's 5 rather desperate last try, although even here she 4 is unlikely to survive after 20 ...:8xg3 t! 21.fXg3 3 ctJe3t 22.Wgl 1!t1xe2. 2

19.ixf3 1

a bede f g h 18,..:8e4! When we have active pieces, we should use them.

IS... lLlg 4! is also strong, threatening 19... lLlh 4!! with mate to fo llow. After 19.1Llf4 �xf4 20.exf4 :8e4! Black is winning; he threatens ...:8xf4! as well as simply ...:8aeS fo llowed by ...:8e2 .

19.�hl White wants to chase the queen away with lLlegl, but he will not be given the time. a bed e f g h 19... ig2 ! Nothing else would save White either, fo r The point! Mate is threatened on hI and h2, example 19.1Llf4 �xf4 20.exf4, and now Black and White cannot stop them both. can choose between 20 ...lLlg 4 transposing If memory serves me correctly, I was to the previous note, or the even simpler responsible fo r inputting this game into 2o ...lLlx f4 21.gxf4 :8xf4-+. ChessBase. I was also playing at Scarborough Mating the Castled King 60

19... llJh 4!! A killer shot! Thisneat blow smashes through the white defences, removing the protection of the f3 -knight by blunt fo rce.

20.llJf4 20.tLlxh4 2"i:xh4!shows the benefitof bringing the rook to an active position.

a bed e f g h 15. .ixe7?? White had various ways to prevent Black's next; any of 15.iie3, 15.g3 or 15.Wd2 would have kept White in the game.

15... llJd4! Black undermines the f3 -knight which is preventing mate on h2, and mate or loss of the

a bed e f g h queen fo llows. This... tLld 4! is quite a common 20 ...2"i:xf4! trap and it's surprising how often players will Black simply powers his way through to the fall fo r it in practice. As described below, your white king. poor aurhor has been one unsuspecting victim. 0-1 21.llJxh42"1xh4 22.gxh 4 '\Wxh2# 46. JulioEspinosa -Vivian RamonPita 45. PaulJohner - Savielly Tartakower Havana 1992 Berlin 1928 The ...tLld 4! trap occurs most often in the This game provided the first well-known Morra Gambit against the Sicilian Defence. example of a common method of deflecting It's ironic that with this opening White is often the f3 -knight. looking fo r a swift knockout, but sometimes ends up coming unstuck himself. l.e4 c5 2.llJOllJf6 3.llJc3 d5 4.exd5 lLlxd5 5.lLle4 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.llJxd4 .ie7 8 . .ib5t l.e4 c5 2.llJOlLlc 6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3! .id7 9.c4 llJf6 10.llJc3 0-0 11.0-0 '\Wc7 4 ...tLlf 6 would transpose back into the c3- 12.'\We2 llJc6 13.llJO2"1f e8 14 . .ig5 lLlg4 Sicilian, but taking the pawn is the real test.

5 ..ic4 e6 6.0-0 llJf67.llJx c3 '\Wc78. '\We2?! A standard idea, but Black meets it with venom. Chapter 2 - Destroying a Defensive Knight 61

I can't pretend I'm a great expert on this Oblivious to the danger, I just as quickly opening, but in Mayhem in the Morra, Marc blundered with 1 O.Ei:fl ??, whereupon he Esserman advocates gambiting a second snapped out 10... ttJd 4! and my face started pawn with 8.ttJb5! Wb8 9.e5!. In the event going really red. I resigned, but then the worst of 9 ...ttJx e5 1O.ttJxe5! Wxe5 11.Ei:e1, White thing was that since the game had finished in obtains a fe arsome attack. just ten minutes, I had another three hours to wait fo r my lift back - a painful lesson.

S... liJ g4! Fortunately I got my revenge on this guy in our next encounter. I played a pretty good game and obtained what seemed like a winning position on adjournment. I analysed the adjourned position fo r days and days, becoming obsessed with it. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I was indeed winning, but when I rang him up to organize the resumption of the game, he resigned! I don't think I've ever been more disappointed to see an opponent give up.

After8 ...ttJg 4!, White's best is probably 9.ttJb5! to cover the d4-square before kicking the g4- knight, though 9 ...Wb8 1O.h3 h5! nevertheless 9.h3?? gives Black the initiative. A terrible error, but I think the difficulty of seeing the next move is that the black knight 9 .•• liJd4! moves onto an empty square. In fa ct, I had this Crushing. position once in a London League game, when 0-1 I was just a young whippersnapper (more than 20 years ago!) and I played 9.Ei:dl? My 47. Viktor Bologan - Sergei Movsesian opponent, a confident Greek guy (his actual Sarajevo 2005 name escapes me, so "confident Greek guy" will have to do), who I later discovered shared a flat in Blackheath with the late IM Bob 8 Wa de, quicklyre plied 9 ...ic5 !. 7

a bed e f g h

a e bed f g h Matin 62 g the Castled King

17.�xd7! small sacrifice to make, because with this A useful defensive unit out of the way, Whitewill have a field dayon the kingside.

17.Wc3 j,f6 18.ltJxf6 t ltJxf6 19.a3 is certainly promising fo r White, but nowhere near as convincing as the exchange sacrifice.

17.•. Wfxd7 18.Wfc3Wfg4

a bed e f g h 19.1Llfg5! Black can only avoid mate by giving up his queen.

19•.• Wfxg5 20.llJxg5 .if6 21.Wfa hb2 22.lLlxf'7b5 23.lLlxh6t @h7 24.Wfxf8 bxc4 25.Wfxc5 1-0 Break�hrough on the h-file � There is a wide range of ways to break through on the 6 h-file, but one of the most dangerous is when the assault is supported by a pawn on g6. This pawn has such 5 fo rmidable attacking power that, fo r the purpose of this 4 book I have christened it the "Tower ofTe rror" . (Apologies 3

if this sounds too much like a bad 1970s Hammer 2 horror film!) This pawn can act as a crucial springboard fo r the white pieces, as in the diagram position: a e h 1.�h8t! @xh82.'?Nh5t @g 8 3.'?Nh7# bed f g

Kostic - Orlov, Belgrade 2001 Middelburg - Michiels, Groningen 2001 V. P. @8 7

a bed e f g h Glotov - Antoshin, Moscow 1952 0)8 8 ® 7 7

6 6

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a bed e f g h a b c d e f g h Mating the Castled Kin 64 g

Capablanca - Vassaux, Buenos Aires (01) 1939 Gerhold - Hinteregger, We rfen 1998

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Houska - Simonsen, Copenhagen 2003 Bosboom - Bitalzadeh, Holland 2005

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Micic - Kokkila, Espoo 1987 S. We bb - Cafferty, Bristol 1968

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the h-file 65

Kohout - Kotva, Czech Republic 1997 Chiburdanidze- Goldman, Moscow 1983 @8 ® 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bede f g h Wiese -Wucke, Germany 1993 Mahler - Norsoller, Esbjerg 2005 (08 ® 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bede f g h Adams - To morhuyag, Moscow (01) 1994 Weidemann- Hartmann, Germany 1982 8 @ 7

a bede f g h 66 Mating the Castled King

48. Vladimir Kostic - Pavle Orlov 49. Vladimir Glotov -Vladimir Antoshin

Belgrade 2001 Moscow 1952

a bed e f g h 15.h5! 37.�g6t! Driving the bishop into passIvity, and All of White's pieces stand in ideal attacking starting to weave a dangerous mating pattern. positions, so quite rightly he recognizes that now is the time to strike, and again it is this 15... .if7 16 .�h4! knight check which will enable the white pawn Black's pieces are too clumsily placed to do to get to g6. anything about the coming onslaught. 37 ...EI:x g6 16 ...�b 6 37 ...hxg6 38.hxg6t is mate next move, Attempting to defend the g6-square with and 37 ...\Wxg6 38.hxg6 EI:xg4 39.EI:xh7# is no 16... \We8 would fa il dismally: 17.tLlg6t better. Anyway! 17 ...�xg6 18.hxg6 h6 (18... \Wxg6 19.�e6 ttJb6 20.�f5 wins fo r White) 19.�e6 38.hxg6 h6 ttJb6 20.�f5 EI:g8 21.\We3 �f8 This looks Desperately trying to avert disaster on h7. absolutely disgusting fo r Black, and indeed with 22.EI:h2! fo llowed by EI:dh1, White will decisively break through on h6. 8 7 17.�g6t! The knight is immune: 17 ...�xg6 18.hxg6 6 h6 19. \We3 fo llowed by EI:xh6t leads to mate, as 5 does 17... hxg6 18.hxg6t 'it>g8 19.95! fo llowed 4 by EI:h8tand \Wh5t. Black did not feel inclined to play 17... 'it>g8 3 and struggle on an exchange down. 2 1-0 1

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the h-file 67

39Jhh6t! gxh6 40J!:h7# 17.tlJgGt!hxgG 18.hxg6 The pawn on g6, the dreaded Tower of

50. To m Middelburg- BartMichiels Te rror, creates many powerful mating motifs, as demonstrated by the stunning finishof this Groningen 2001 game.

7 8 6 7 5

4 6 5 3 4 2 3 1 2 a bed e f g h 15.�h3! @h8? 1 Black was presumably reluctant to play a bede f g h 15... ctJa5 as this takes some of the pressure 19.tlJgl! away from the key central squares, but this This Nirnzowitschian retreat puts the final is certainly preferable to the choice made in nail in Black's coffin. The white queen is the game, which runs into a very strong and heading fo r h5, with devastating consequences straightforward attack. fo r the black king. 16.tlJh4! 19 ..J!:e 8 20JWh5 �d6 Aiming at the vulnerable g6-square.

Black was hoping to tempt his opponent into 16.i.xe6?, when 16... ctJx d4! 17.ctJfxd4 cxd4 18.i.xd5 fxe5 gives Black excellent play.

16... tlJa5 Ve ry few players could bring themselves to play 16.. .f5 as it takes all the pressure off the centre, and is an admission of strategic fa ilure. In any case it also fa ils tactically to 17.ctJg6t!. Black would have to give up the exchange without compensation, as 17... hxg6 18.hxg6 <;t>g8 19.ctJgl! leads to a nasty attack. 68 Mating the Castled King is completely winning, but White has something even better in store ... 8 7 21."%Vh8t!! Black is mated by 21...�xh8 22.i1..xe6#. 6 I find it impressive how many pieces were 5 involved in the attack, and how the pawn on g6 proved a pivotal point around which White 4 based his attacking efforts. 3 1-0 2

1 51. LevMilman - Joseph Fang

Mashantucket 2005 a bede f g h 29."%Vg6t!! Beautiful! The black king will be caught 8 between its own pieces on the f- file and the 7 white rook on the h-file.

6 29 ...fxg6 The other captures, 29 ...tDx g6 and 5 29 ...Wxg6 , both lead to the same mate: 4 30.hxg6t �xg7 31.Ei:h7# 3 30.hxg6t @xg7 31.53h7# 2

1 52. Jose Raw Capablanca - GuillermoVas saux Buenos Aires (ol) 1939 a b c d e f g h

27.•. ltJe5 Black defends against the threatened discovered check by attacking the white queen, 8 but Milman is able to use a brilliant queen 7 sacrificeto open up the h-fileand finishBl ack off. 6 5 The attempt by Black to avoid the coming 4 storm by giving up his queen (often an effective measure is halting an attack) is also doomed to 3 fa ilure: 27 ...Wxf5 28.Wxf5 i1..xg7 29.h6! i1..e5 2 30.f4 i1..h8 31.h7t! �g7 32.Wg5# 1 28.ltJe7t! @h7 a bede f g h pawn on g5 can often play a key role in A preventing the black king from escaping a Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the h-file 69 mating net. In this game, White uses this One of England's strongest fe male players element to ensure that his h-fileattack proves shows how dangerous an advanced pawn can deadly: be in supporting an attack.

28.�xh7t!! 29.'lMrg6t! The g-pawn's control of the h6-square will Thisqueen sacrificequic kly breaks through. allow the white queen to enter the attack, with decisive effect. 29 ...<.!lh8 Taking the bait leads to an instant mate:

28 .•.<.!lxh7 29.'lMrh3t <.!lg7 30 .'lMrh6# 29 ...hxg6 30.�h8#

Running the king the other way does not avert mate either: 29 ...�f 8 30.�xh7 �xh7 31..�h6t! �xh6 32.'1Wxh6t �g8 33.'lMrh8t�f7 34 .'lMrg7#

30.�xh7t!! �xh7

a bed e f g h 53. Jovanka Houska - Hans Simonsen

Copenhagen 2003

a bede f g h 31.f7!! brilliant interference idea, cutting across A the black defence, and at the same time clearing the f6-square fo r the bishop.

31...'IMr& White is mating in all lines, fo r example: 31...�xhl 32.�f6#

32.�f6t'lMrxf6 33 .'lMrxh7# beautiful attack. A a bed e f g h Mating the Castled Kin 70 g

54. Cedomir Midc - Tero Kokkila 55. Michael Gerhold - ArthurHinteregger

Espoo 1987 We rfen 1998

bed f g h a e a bed e f g h 29JWxg6t! The strong f6 -pawn and the rooks doubled The initial sacrifice is not a surprise fo r us, on the h-file give White an overwhelming but the fo llow-up is impressive. position. The only thing stopping him from breaking through immediately is the black 29 ••• E:g730 .�xg7t!! knight on f8 , which defends against any Brilliant; there will be no escape. sacrifices on g6 or h7. Therefore White's task is to undermine or exchange this knight. 30 ...c;i>xg7 31 .E:xh7tc;i>g6 31...�f8 and 31...i>g8 are both mated by 33• .ic 1! fo rce: 32.Ei:h8t�f7 33.Ei:1 h7t i>g6 34.tZlh4# An excellent rerouting! Thebishop heads fo r a3, on a mission to assassinate the handsome steed on f8 . After this daring mission is completed, the tenuous defence that Black has erected will quickly fa ll apart.

33••• E:a734 • .ia3 Decisive.

34..• �d7 35.hfs E:xf8 35 ...�xf 8 is similar; White can win with 36.li:lg5! (intending 37.Wfxg6!), or with the immediate 36.Wfxg6!.

a bed e f g h 32.lZJd4! The crowning of the attack. Only 32 ...i.f8 stops mate, but it just loses the queen. 1-0 Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the h-file 71

21.ctJgS! After 21...fxg5 22.hxg5, mate is inevitable. 1-0

57. Simon Webb - BemardCafferty

Bristol 1968

a bede f g h 36.'?9xg6t!! hxg6 37J�h8t Sadistic players might have been drawn to the possibility of: 37.ctJg5!ctJf7 38.2"i:xg6#

37•.. @f7 38.2"i: xf8t Mate is fo rced: 38 ...mxf 8 39.2"i:h8t <;t>f7 40.ctJg5# a bede f g h 1-0 It might seem that Black has all bases covered 56. ManuelBosboom - Ali Bitalzadeh and can look towards the white queenside, but the next move shatters these delusions: Holland 2005 19. .!iJgS! Forcing open the h-file.

19 ... '?9alt 20.lLlblfxgS 21.hxgS �Uc8 Black now has serious threats of his own, so Whitemust strike quickly.

22.'?9xh7t @f8 23.'?9h8t�g8 23 ... <;t>e7 24.'?9f6t <;t>e8 25.2"i:h8t leads to mate.

24J�f6t! It is inaccurate to play 24.'?9f6t? <;t>e8,when 25.2"i:el t? ctJe5t! would be an embarrassing a bed e f g h Often White will use a pawn on h4 to discovered check, turning the tables completely! support an incursion by a knight into g5. The Instead White could keep a dangerous attack presence of such a knight may be intolerable with 25.'?9xg6t me7 26.'?9f6t me8 27.md2!, fo r Black, but if it is taken then the h-file is but the game continuation is much more prised open, with devastating consequences. convincing. Mating the Castled King 72

24 ...@eS 2S.V9xgst @d7 26.Vge6t @c7 58. Vratislav Kohout - MilanKotva 27.V9d6t @b6 2s.V9b4t@a 6 29J3h3! Czech Republic 1997

8 Thenext game originated from the supposedly sedate London System, but it quickly 7 degenerated into a splatterfest: 6 l.tlJa dS 2.d4 lLlf6 3 . .if4 e6 4.e3 .ie7 5 S.tlJbd2 0-0 6.lLleS lLlbd7 7 . .id3 �eS S.h4 4 cS 9.c3 lLlxeS 10.dxeS lLld7 11.lLlalLlfS

2 8

1 7 6 a bede f g h strange position involving lots of pins, but A 5 the bottom line is that White is just winning. Simon Webb, who wrote one of my favourite 4 books, Chess for Tigers, had clearly calculated 3 this part of the game excellently. 2 29 ... b6 30.V9c4t @b7 3IJ3h7t lLle7 32Jhe7t @bS a bede f g h 12.lLlgS 8 Theidea of going fo r a direct attack against the black kingside before committing the 7 white king is actually quite standard fo r the 6 London System. The solidity of White's set up means that he can steer the game towards 5 attacking play without any great fe ar of 4 succumbing to a quick counterattack.

3 12 ...f6 13.V9hS!g6 2 13... fXg5 14.hxg5 g6 would let White 1 crash through: 15. .ixg6! hxg6 16.WhSt <;t>f7 17.�h7t tLlxh7 lS.Wxh7t <;t>fS a bede f g h 33.V9xcst! 33 ...<;t>xcS 34 J::lfS # 1-0 Chapter - Breakthrough on the h-file 2 73

8 8

7 7

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a e a e bed f g h bed f g h Now either 19.0-0-0! or 19.�e2! leaves 18.�g6t! ttJxg6 19.Wfh7t�f 8 20.Wfxg6+- Black helpless against the plan of �h 1 fo llowed by Wfh8t and �h7#. 16.hxg6 i.g5 17.gxh7t �h8 It might seem that the attack has reached a 14.1!Nh6fxg5 dead end, but there is a surprise in store:

8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 bed f g h a e bed f g h 15.h5! a e 18.1!Ng7t!�xg7 19.h8=1!Nt�f7 20.�e2?! 15.hxg5? Wfa5 16.�xg6 hxg6 17.Wfh8t�fl White could have put the finishingtouch to 18.�h7t ttJxh7 19.Wfxh7t is now only good his beautiful idea with: 20.exf4! �xf4 21.�h7t! enough fo r perpetual check. Compared with ttJxh7 22.Wfxh7t�f 8 the note above Black has an extra tempo, which means that if White tries to bring his rook to the h-file, the black king can escape 8 with ...�d8 and ...me8 . 7 15... gxf4 6 Black is already without a defence; the 5 opening of the h-fileproves too dangerous. 4 L"",//N._N.""

e'''''''"" Thebla ck king is also quicklydispa tched in the 3 ".J' line: 15... gxh 5 16.�xh5 gxf4 17.�xh7t mfl 2

a e bed f g h 74 Mating the Castled King

23.i,g6 Wd7 24.WhBt 'it>e7 25.Wf6# The 47.Ei:dS Wle3t 4S.@h7 Wlg549.Ei: Sd6t @a5 final mate shows why the black bishop had to 50.gs=WIWlx h5t 51.@g7 be deflected from the g5-square on the 20th 1-0 move. 59. HansWiese - HansWu cke 20 ....if6? Germany 1993 This gives White another chance to finish the game offin style. 8 20 ... Wb6! would have made matters most unclear, as in many variations the black king 7 can escape to the queenside. 6

8 4

7 3

6 2

5 1 4 a b c d e f g h 3 It is always dangerous to allow the a2- gB diagonal to be opened, as this example 2 demonstrates. 1 21.lLlf4! a bede f g h 21.Wlh5t? Te mpting the black d-pawn to advance, the first part of White's devious plan. White makes life hard fo r himself] 21...d4 21.i,g6t!! 'it>xg6 22.Ei:h6t wins on the spot. 21...Wd6 would allow White to win the d5- pawn with either 22.i,c4 or 22.ltJxd5!? 21 .•.@e 7 22.exf4 Wlb623.e xf6t @dS 24.b3 e5 25.fxe5 22.Ei:e4!? The game is completely unclear again, Setting up a veiled threat, which Black now and White only collected the full point after completely misses. various further adventures. 22 ... Ei:aeS?? 25.•. c4 26 . .ic2 cxb3 •.ixb3 27 Wlc7 2S.f4 .ie6 29J::!:hdl Wld7 30.@f3 b5 31.f5 .if7 It's amazing how often our opponents walk 32.Wlg5 Ei:xe5 33.g4 Ei:cS 34.Wlg7 Ei:xc3t straight into our traps. 35.@f2 WleS 36.Ei:d2 Ei:ce3 37.Ei:adl Ei:e2t 3S.@g3 Ei:5e3t 39.@h4 tlJd7 40 . .ixd5 .ixd5 22 ...i,f 5! would have covered th� vulnerable 41.Ei:xd5 Ei:h2t42.@g 5 Ei:h5t43 .gxh5Ei:g3t g6-square and enabled Black to maintain the 44.@h6 Ei:xg7 45.fxg7 @c7 46.Ei:xd7t @b6 balance. Now the game ends abruptly. Chapter 2 - Breakthrough on the h-file 7S

the camel's back. Incidentally, Kasparov and Fischer were also masters of using the h-pawn as an attacking weapon. We'll look at this attacking idea in more detail in Chapter S. In the meantime, let's see how Adams fo rced a decisive breakthrough here.

23.llJg6t! Theknight is given up, to be replaced by the dreaded Tower of Terror on g6.

23 ...hxg6 It looks unpleasant to play 23 ...<;t>gS wa lking a bed e f g h 23 . .ic4t @h8 24.tiJg6t hxg6 25J�h4# into the line of fire of the white light-squared bishop, and in any case after 24.tbxfS cj;>xfS 60. Michael Adarns- NyarnaaTo morhuyag 2S.dxeS White is just better, without any complications. Moscow 1994 (01) 24.hxg6 .id6 Black clears the fS -square fo r his king.

The attempt to deny White access to the hS square with 24 ... iWfS!? runs into a fo rceful response:

a bed e f g h Michael Adams is a very methodical attacking player who uses recurrent themes very well. I used to watch his games when I a e was younger, and I admired the way he always bed f g h seemed to use his h-pawn as an attacking 2S . .id3! tbxc3 (2S ...iWxd3 26.iWhSt <;t>gS weapon. I didn't really understand what he 27.iWh7#) 26.bxc3 e4 27.2''1xe4! and the attack was doing, pushing his h-pawn to h4 then crashes through. hS, but it seemed like a good idea. With the benefit of hindsight, the idea behind 25.�h5t @g8 26.dxe5 the push of the h-pawn can be both to gain White should not start the king chase too vital space and also to introduce additional soon; after 26.iWh7t <;t>fS 27.iWhSt? <;t>e7 attacking ideas, it can be the straw that breaks 2S.iWxg7t <;t>e6! Black would still be fighting. Mating the Castled Kin 76 g

26 ....L.:e5 27J�x e5! fxe528 .i.g5! 17.i.c4t@h8 18.g3! By guarding the e7 -square, White threatens By defending the bishop, White prepares 29.Wh7t cj{fB 30.WhB#. ttJg5, but also has another less obvious threat. The immediate IB.ttJg5? would have been 28 ...We6 premature, as after IB... Wxf 4 19.Wh5 h6 Black defends.

8 18.. .llJa5 Unfortunately fo r Black, she has no time 7 fo r IB... h6 because of 19.a3! j,a5 20.b4 j,b6 6 21.1"i:el and the queen is trapped in the middle of the board. 5

4 19.tiJg5! So simple. 3

a bede f g h 29.i.e7! Blow fo llows blow. Black has to give up the queen to prevent the imminent mate. 1-0

61. Maia Chiburdanidze- AstraGoldman

Moscow 1983

5 20.Wh5! 4 Now though, White can go fo r mate. 3 20 ...h6 2 After 20 ...g6 21.j,e5t!, all White's pieces are 1 combining beautifully to fo rce mate.

a bede f g h 21.Wg6! Already with an unpleasant position from After 21...hxg6, the queen switches back to the opening, Black has just made things worse deliver mate: 22.Wh5# by putting her queen on an exposed square. 1-0 Chapter - Breakthrough on the h-file 77 2

When I first started playing club chess, few of my opponents were fa miliar with this mate, so I was able to score a lot of quick wins with this method.

62. Sonja Mahler -Jonathan NorsoUer

Esbjerg 2005

a e bed f g h I6. .ieS!! Now all the white pieces are involved in the attack, except the hI-rook. It's too much fo r the black king. White threatens I7.2:'1xh6t gxh6 I8.'iWh7#,and I6... .ie4 fa ils to I7.'iWxe4! llJxe4 I8.:B:xh6#.

16.�xe4! h6 17.�g6 I7. .ieS also wins, transposing to the variation above.

bed f g h a e 17... �aS t 18.'it>e2 White has played an unconventional 1-0 opening, placing her rook on hS, but it has worked our very well. So well, in fact, that she 63. Joerg Weidemann -WolframHartmann is simply winning after her next move. Germany 1982 IS.llJgS! Thismove may be obvious in itself, but the important point is that White is ready to deal 8 with Black's attempted defences. 7

Is... ie4 6 This fa ils tactically, but there was nothing 5 better. 4 The attempt to block the attack down the 3 h-filewith IS... h6 is brilliantly refuted. 2

a bede f g h Black's fragile defence is being held together by the lateral defence of the h7-pawn by the c7-rook. Mating the Castled King 7B

34JH'7! This crunching interference move ends the game at once.

34... hS Mter 34... ii.xf7 , White breaks through with 35.Wxh7t 'it>fB 36.WxhBt ii.gB 37.Ei:f1 t with mate to fo llow.

3S.!ihhS! hf7 35 ...gxh 5 36.Wxh5 is mate next move.

36.tl�f6t! a bed e f g h When attacking, you should give your 36... hf6 37.gxf6 opponent no time to breathe. lovely final attack. 37 ...ii.xe6 3B.WhBt A Wf739. Ei:h7# 1-0 Dragging out the King Theidea ofluring the opposing king fo rward, where it will be exposed to the fu ll power of your army, is a powerful attacking device. A sacrifice on the f7-s quare is a typical way of dragging the king out of its shelter.

l..ixf7t �xf7 2.'Wb3t �g6 The advancing king will soon perish, but the alternatives also lose: 2 ...'kt>f 8 3.tLlxe5 and mate on f7 is inevitable. Theblack queen drops after a e f h 2 ...vtie6 3.tLlg5t or 2 ...tLld5 3.vtixd5t vtie6 4.tLlxe5t 'kt>f6 bed g 5.i.g5t. 3.tLlxe5t �h5 4.'Wh3#

Wal lis - Lea, Mount Buller 2004 Kiriazis- Mitsakos, Athens 1999

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Kosdivy- Kviatkovska, Mlada Boleslav 1995 Piter - Murach, Augustow 1996

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Mating 80 the Castled King

Fischer - Reshevsky, New Yo rk 1958 Zakic- Cvetkovic, Aosta 1989 @8 ® 7 7

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5 5

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a bed e f g h a bed e f g h Cruz Lima -An. Hernandez, Cuba 1993 Ed. Lasker- G. Thomas,London 1912

a bede f g h Urankar - Wenzel, Germany 1995 @8 8 7 7

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a bede f g h a bede f g h Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 81

Petursson - Gudmundsson, Reykjavik 1986 Tolnai - Sjoberg, Zalakaros 1992 @8 ® 7

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Piket - Douven, Hilversum 1988 M. Pavlov - Kononenko, Alushta 2004 6)8 8 @ 7 7

5 5

4 4

3 3

1 .... 1 ....

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Lopez Martinez - Plaskett, Hastings 1988 @8 7

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 82

64. Christopher Wallis - Tom Lea 8 Mount Buller 2004 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3 a bede f g h 2 18.Wff7t! 1 Closing the net.

bed f g h a e 18... g6 14.. J�e 8?? 18... \t>x h4 19.tLlf3# Black should be always be aware that a vulnerable f7-sq uare can lead to a lightning 19.tiJdf3gh8 attack in the Ruy Lopez. Black is being mated by fo rce, and even 15. .ixf7t!! trying to cover the g4 square with 19... ic8 does not help. White meets it with: 20.tLlf5! White takes immediate advantage of his ixf5 21.exf5 E1:h8 opponent's blunder. An important point is that Black's light-squared bishop has strayed to the a6-square, leading to a crucial weakness on e6 - such small details can make all the difference.

15 .. ,<�xf716 .Wfb3ti>g6 Thealternati ves were not acceptable either.

16... d5 17.dxe5 tLla5 C17... tLl g8 18.exd5 is pitiful fo r Black) 18.Wa2! White regains the lost piece with an overwhelming position. a e bed f g h 22.Wxf6! ixf6 23.g4# A pretty mate, showing 16... mf 8 17.tLlg5 is also disastrous; Black will the dangers to a king fo rced into the open. be mated or lose his queen.

17.tiJh4t i>h5 17 ...mh6 18.tLldf3 t g5 19.Wf7also leads to a quick mate. Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 83

12.. J'�e8?? 8 Thislook s natural, but is a simple blunder. 7 13 . .ixf7t!c;t>xf7 14.Wfb3td5 6 As in the previous example, Black's king 5 will not survive if it goes fo rward: 14...

3 8

2 7 1 6 5 a b c d e f g h 20.Wfxf6! 4 White removes the defender of the g4- 3 �{'\iiip�,rii;j/" ""='\@%,'n/"////",n" ,,,////h'/"///"nA square to threaten mate with the g-pawn, 2 although 20.tLlf5! fo llowed by either 21.tLlg7# or 21.tLlg3# is even quicker. a e bed f g h 16.Wff7t! g6 (or 16... Wx h4 17.tLlf3t Wg4 20 ....ic8 21.g4t .L:g4 22.hxg4t c;t>xg4 lS.h3#) 17.tLlf5 .ics lS.tLlg3t

Mlada Boleslav 1995 15.•. Wfd7 15... tLla5 16.tLlxe5t WgS 17.Wfbl is also hopeless fo r Black.

2 bed f g h a e 1 Thisis similar to the preceding example, and again shows how important it is to stay alert, a bede f g h even in apparently sedate situations. Can you see how Whitefinishes it off? Mating the Castled King 84

16.�xc6! IS.fxg5t cj;JgS 19.iWxd5t cj;JhS 2o.tZlf3 White Killer tactics; after 16... iWxc6 17.tLlxe5t is a healthy pawn up. White has a decisive material advantage. 1-0 15.tLlh4t c;!;>h6 If you have been paying attention to the 66. Dimitrios Kiriazis- AchillesMitsakos previous examples, you will know how to deal with 15... cj;Jh5. Athens 1999

a e bed f g h 16.iWf7t! g6 (l6... cj;Jx h4 17.tLlf3#) White can now win quite easily with 17.tLldf3 fo llowed by g2-g4 t, or he can play the more spectacular: a bede f g h 12... ge8?? 17.g4t! �xh4 IS.tLlf3t cj;Jxh3 19.1Llg5tcj;Jxg4 Once again, Black casually disregards the 20.cj;Jg2 exd4 2l.f3t �h4 22.E!hl t �h3t defence of the crucial f7-pa wn. 23.E!xh3#

13.Lf7t!c;!;>xf7 14.�c4t c;!;>g6? 16.tLldf3tg5 17.tLlxg5 The king should have retreated, although As well as being under the constant threat of White keeps a considerable advantage: mate, Black is facing huge material losses. 14... cj;Jf S 15.tLlg5 d5 16.exd5 tLlxd5! (l6... tLla 7 17... d5 17.d6 is crushing) 17... cj;Jg7 is met by Is.iWf7t �hS 19.tLlxh7! and the black position falls apart.

a e bed f g h 17.f4! �xg5 (l7... exf 4 loses to IS.E!xf4t!) Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 85

18.exdS Noticing 13.�f5#, Black resigned. lS.tLle6t! is even more effective: lS... �h5 1-0 19.1Mre2tcj;Jxh4 20.�g5# 68. Robert Fischer - Samuel Reshevsky

18•.. �c8 19.dxc6 New Yo rk 1958 Here too, 19.tLle6t! is quickest. Thef7 -sq uare is an obvious weakness at the 19... ,tfS 20. lLle6t �hS 21.lLlxf5 start of the game, but once we have castled it's 1-0 easy to assume that we no longer have to worry about it. However, Black must still be wary, 67. Slawomir Piter - T. Murach as the great Bobby Fischer demonstrated in a Augustow 1996 classic encounter with Reshevsky. l.e4 cS 2.tlJO tlJc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lLlxd4 g6 S.lLlc3 ,tg7 6.,te3 lLlf6 7.,tc4 0-0 8.,tb3 lLlaS? This move is a serious blunder, as Fischer convincingly shows.

S ...a5 !? is one of many reasonable candidate moves here.

a bed e f g h 9 ... lLld7?? Black aims to redeploy this knight to the c5-square. This may be positionally well motivated, but Black fa iled to check that it was tactically viable.

9 ...tLlx d4 lO.lMrxd4 �e6 would have been much more sensible.

1O.ixf7t! Thepenalt y fo r such carelessness is severe.

10... �xf7 11.lLle6! 9 ...tLlh5 loses the knight to lO.g4. Giving Black an unpleasant choice - lose the queen or be mated. He chose the latter. The only realistic alternative is 9 ...tLlx b3, but the fo rcing sequence lO.exf6 tLlxal 11.fxg7 11...�xe6 12.�dSt @f6 �xg7 12.�xal gives White a big advantage. Mating the Castled King 86

10• .ixf7t ! The position is easily won fo r White, and Fischer is observant as ever. despite desperate defence by Reshevsky, Fischer's technique is as impeccable as ever. 1O... @xf7

10... Ei:xf7 11.tLle6! simply traps the queen. 12•.• tLlc6 13.Wd2 .ixeS 14.0-0 tLld6 IS. .if4 tLlc4 16.We2 �4 17.Wxc4 @g7 IS.tLle4 .ic7 19.tLlcS Ei:fG 20.<:3 eS 21.:gadl tLldS 8 22.tLld7 :gc6 23.Wh4 :ge6 24.tLlcS :gfG 7 2S.tLle4 :gf4 26.Wxe7t :gf7 27.Wa3 tLlc6 2S.tLld6 .ixd6 29.:gxd6 .ifS 30.b4 :gffS 6 31.bS tLldS 32.:gdS tLlf7 33.:gc5 a6 34.b6 5 .ie4 3S.:gel.ic6 36.:gxc6 bxc6 37.b7 :gabS 3S.Wxa6 tLldS 39.:gbl :gf7 40.h3 :gfxb7 4 41.:gxb7t :gxb742.WaS 3 1-0 In fa ct, this whole trap with 1 O.�xf7t has 2 been seen in a number of games since this 1 fa mous Fischer encounter, proving that not all of us pay enough attention to the classics. a bede f g h 11..!lJe6! Black now faces a dismal choice - either give 69. Jose erm Lima - AngelHernandez up his queen or allow his king to be drawn Cuba 1993 into the centre, where a bloody slaughter awaits him. 8 11...dxe6 7 Thealtern ative 11...�x e6 leads to an elegant execution of the monarch: 12. W d5 t �f5 6 5

a bede f g h l.tLlxf7!!

a e White lands the first blow of a two-punch bed f g h 13.g4t! �xg4 14.Ei:g1t c;t>h5 15.Wg2! and combination. mate next move. I should mention that the le�s spectacular 12.WxdS 1.�b5! is also strong. White wins material after Chapter - Dragging out the King 87 2 either 1...lLlxe5 2.�xe8 or 1...�xe7 2.dxe7 6.E1el! Wxc3 7.l"i:d3t Wxd3 E1xe7 3.�xd7. 7 ...Wg 4!? would avoid being mated, but it would not save the game. For example: 1...'it?xf72.'1Wxe6t! 8.l"i:xc3 lLlf6 9.�f7�xe7 1O.dxe7 �f5 1l.f3t Themain idea, luring the king fo rward. This 'it?g5 12.h4t 'it?h613 .�xe8 l"i:xe8 14.g4 and brilliant concept demands accurate calculation Whitegai ns a decisive material advantage. of the subsequent king hunt. 8.cxd3 lLlf6

2 ... 'it?xe6 Black has to accept the queen sacrifice, as 2 ...Wg 7 3.�c4! would not offer any hope.

3.�c4t 'it?f54Jl:d5t

a e bed f g h 9.h3!! 9.�b3? would allow Black to escape after 9 ...'it?g 4 1O.l"i:e5�f 5. 9 ...�xh3 1O.�b3! Closing the trap on the black king. 1O... Wg 4 11.l"i:e5! Threatening 12.�dl#. 11...�f1 12.�e6t 'it?f3 13.l"i:e3# bed f g h a e truly geometric variation which proves 4 lLle5? A ... Black could have set White more difficult the soundness of the initial sacrifice. I'm not practical problems with the bold: sure if Cruz saw all this when he sacrificed 4 ...Wf 4! his queen, but he probably intuitively and However, even in this case it can be seen that correctly sensed that the black king would be the white attack is simply too powerful. in too much danger to survive. 5.g3t Wf3

a e 1 bed f g h a bede f g h Mating the Castled King 88

5.ii:xe5t! xe56.i�e1 t f4 7.g3t g4 70. Hans Urankar- Johannes We nzel 7 ...�f 3 8.1"i:e5!shut s the trap. Germany 1995 8 . .ie2t h3 Mter S ...<;t>f 5 9 . .id3t <;t>g4 lO.1"i:e4t, the 8 king is mated wherever it £lees: 7

a b c d e f g h a e 26.�xf7t!! bed f g h lO... <;t>h5 11.1"i:h4# or 1O... <;t>h3 ll..ifl# or When all your pieces have reached ideal lO... �f 3 11.1"i:f4# or lO... �f 5 11.g4#. attacking stations, you know it's time to break through.

8 White's pieces are so well placed that he even 7 has another way to sacrificehis queen: 26.fxg7! LOxc4 27.gxfS=�t �xf8 (27 ...1"i:xf 8 28.1"i:g4t is 6 mate next move) 28.1"i:xf7t�g8 29.1"i:g7t �hS 5

a bede f g h 9.£3! Mate with .ifl is coming - a beautiful attack indeed. a e f h 1-0 bed g 30.1"i:xb7t Many other moves win too, but this seems easiest. 30 ... LOe5 31.1"i:fSt! 1"i:xfS 32 . .ixe5t 1"i:f6 33.1"i:xbS+-

26... xf7 27. fxg7t e7 The black king cannot escape the awesome Chapter 2 - Dragging out the King 89 power of the white pieces: 27 ...

8 14.•. @xf7IS . .tc4tge6 7 Black must give up the rook, as moving the king allows instant mate: 15... �e7 16.tLJxf5 # 6 or 15...

a bed e f g h 28.g8=\1;lf 8 The new queen ensures that the black king 7 will not survive long. 6 28 ...

71. SrdjanZakic - SrdjanCvetkovic 1 Aosta 1989 a bede f g h

8 18.tLl3dSt! 18.tLJxa8 is also promising, but White has 7 bigger game in his sights. 6

18..• @d8 19.tLle6t @e8 20 . .td2 5 Theblack queen is short of squares. 4 20 ...\1;lfa4 21 ..tb3\1;lfxe4 22.gh el! 3 Decisive. Black must give back the queen, 2 after which White wins quite easily. 1 22 ...gb8 a bed e f g h Any attempt to save the queen is quickly 13... exf5 ? mated, fo r example: 22 ...\Wxh4 Black unwisely opens up the position. Mating the Castled King 90

72. EdwardLasker - George Thomas 8 London 1912 7

a e bed f g h 23.l2lec7t mf7 24.l2lf4t d5 25.�xd5#

23Jhe4 fxe4 The difference in mobility of the respective armies is striking, and the black kingremains a bed e f g h in serious danger. double check can be an extremely powerful A attacking device, fo rcing the opposing king to flee. Here Edward Lasker sacrifices his queen 8 to set up a lethal double check. 7 11.�xh7t!! @xh7 12.tiJxf6t @h6 6 The king must embark on a dangerous 5 journey, as the alternative 12... mh8 13.l2lg6# would be a beautiful mate. 4

3 13.tiJeg4t Drawing the enemy king fu rther fo rward. 2 13 ...@g S 14.h4t @f4 IS.g3t @f3 1 It is rare that a king can march so fa r into a bede f g h enemy territory and get away with it, and this 24JUl tiJceS 2S.�b4 tiJf326.tiJ dc7t @e7 case is no exception. 27J�dl! White's advantage is overwhelming and he quickly mopped up.

27 ...llJc S 28.tiJxcS as 29.tiJSa6 axb4 30.llJxb8 tiJxh4 31.tiJbS �g4 32J3xd6 e3 33J'�b6e2 34Jhb7t 1-0

a bed e f g h Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 91

16.ie2t be bravery bordering on stupidity, as after 16.0-0! is equally effective, meeting any 21.lDg5! ixe3 22.fXe3 White clearly has a reply with 17.lDh2#. powerful attack.

16.. .'j;lg2 17J:�h2t'kt?gl 18.'kt?d2# 21.�f6t'kt?h6 Lasker no doubt calculated this whole line 21...<;t>h8?? is not a wise choice: 22.l'l:h3# back on the 11th move. 22.:gh3t'kt?g 5 73. AlbericO'K eUy de Galway - JonathanPenrose 8 Va rna (01) 1962 7

a bede f g h 23.tiJh7t! Who said a knight on the rim is dim? This nifty move ensures the draw. a bed e f g h O'Kelly uses the power of the double check to escape a dubious position against many 23 ...'kt?g4 24.ie2 t times British Champion Penrose. If White plays 24.<;t>fl ? to threaten 25.f3t It>f4 26.l'l:h4#, then Black can defend with 20.'lWxh7t!! 24 ...ixf2! . beautiful way to save your bacon. A 24 .•. 'kt?f4 25.id3! 20.l'l:h3 loses trivially to 20 ... dxe4 21.'lWxh7t It>f8, and the black king escapes via the e7- square. 8 7 20.lDg5is slightly more complicated, but after 6 20 ...h6 21.ih7t <;t>f8 22.lDxf7!?'lWxf7 23.ig6 'lWe7 24.l'l:f3t if6, Black emerges with the 5 advantage. 4 20 ...'kt?xh7 3 It would require a lot of nerve to decline the 2 sacrifice with 20 ...<;t>f 8? Indeed, this would 1

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled Kin 92 g

25 .•. g4 Threatened with mate in one by 26.:B:h4#, Black has no choice but to repeat, despite his vast material advantage. Other methods of covering the h4-square leave Black worse:

25 ...�f 6?! 26.g3t! cj;>g4

7 a e bed f g h 6 26.ttJf6!! �xf6 5 26 ...g4 27.g3t sees Black mated after

4 27 ...�f 3 28.�e2# or 27 ...� g5 28.ttJh7#. 27.g3t �g4 3 27 ...�f 3 also leads to fo rced mate: 28.:B:e3t 2 �g4 29.f3t �xh3 30.�fl# 28.:B:h6 a e bed f g h 27.ttJxf6t! gxf6 (27 ...x h3? 28.�fl#) 28.:B:h4t cj;>g5 29.f4t Black has to give up the queen to 8 prevent mate, after which White enjoys an 7 edge in the endgame: 29... \&xf 4 30.:B:xf4± 6 L=,/" O'''" ",,,,/,,

25 ...\&e7? 26.:B:f3t cj;>g4 27.�e2! leaves Black 5 unable to prevent mate, fo r example: 4 3 F""" ,,,,,,,,,,

a e bed f g h White now threatens 29.h3t �f3 30.:B:e3#, and Black has no good defence. For example: 28 ...d4 29.h3t �f3 30.:B:xf6t \&f4 31.�fl ! \&xf6 32.�g2#

26.i.e2tf 4 27.i.d3g4 a e bed f g h Accurate calculation by both players has 27 ...�e5 28.:B:f6t cj;>h429. g3t �h3 30.ttJg5# resulted in a repetition.

25 ...g5? 1/2-1/2 Thismeets with a spectacular refutation. Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 93

74. MargeirPetursson - 26.Wf4t c;t>xh527.g4t hg4 Kristjan Gudmundsson 27 ...

Reykjavik 1986 28.fxg4t c;t>h429 .Wh6t After 29 ...

6 75. Jeroen Piket - Rudy Douven

5 Hilversum 1988 4

3 8

2 7

1 6

a bed e f g h 5 Black's queen is stranded on el, completely 4 unable to come to the assistance of the king, and White is quick to take advantage of this 3 fa ct: 2

22.tiJd5! �d8 1 Even the desperate 22 ...f6 cannot save Black: bed f g h 23.CtJxf6t l"1xf6 24.Wxf6 l"1b8 a e Black now makes the seemingly counter intuitive decision to exchange his uber powerful knight on g3, but he has realized that he can then sacrifice his queen on the very same square.

40 ...tiJ xe2 40 ...CtJx fl , with the same fo llow-up as in the game, is equally good.

41.he2 Wg3t!!

a e Ouch! bed f g h 25.�xc4! Wxhl 26.l"1d8# 42.hg3 hxg3t 43.c;t>g4 23.tiJf6t c;t>g724.�xd8 tiJxd8 25.tiJh5t! Thebla ck king is fo rced up the board.

25 ...c;t>h 6 25 ...�f 8 is also fa tal: 26.Wd6t c;t>e827 .CtJf6# 94 Mating the Castled King

least it would avoid the rout that we see in the 8 game. 7 11...tLlxb2! 6 Tr ue to his direct style, Plaskett doesn't hold 5 back and sacrificestwo pieces to bring the king out into the open. 4

3 12.@xb2 i.a3t! One of the advantages of playing the Sicilian 2 Taimanov compared to lines with an early 1 ...d6 is that Black's dark-squared bishop can often play an active role in the game. a bede f g h 43 ... tLle7! The white king has stumbled straight into 13.@xa3 the wolf's lair, and now there is nothing to be After 13.ct?b3 Wa5! the white king is done against the threat of ..."f1,g6#. marooned on b3, utterly at the mercy of the 0-1 black fo rces. 14.ctJc6 dxc6 15."f1,d4 c5 and White can resign. 76. Josep Lopez Martinez- JamesPlaskett 13.ct?bl Wxc3 14.�c1 �xc1 15.ct?xc1 Wait Hastings 1 988 16.ct?d2Wxd4 t is also hopeless.

13... Wxc3 t 14.tLlb3 8

a bede f g h In Sicilian positions, the attacking benefits of a knight on the c4-square can be considerable. a bed e f g h 14... i.c6! 11.0-0-0? This closes the trap on the white king and White unwisely castles into it. threatens ...b4#.

Going on the defensive with 11.�c1 or The immediate 14 ... b4t? 15.ct?a4 would be l1.ctJdlis hardly appealing fo r White, but at much less clear. Chapter - Dragging out the King 2 95

15. .tc5 a5! White has no defence against 1G... b4t fo llowed by mate. 0-1

77. Tibor Tolnai - MatsSjoberg

Zalakaros 1992

6 a bede f g h 5 16... lLlxe4! Finally the attacked knight moves. Now 4 17.il.xe4 Wb4 t wins easily fo r Black after 3 either lS.li:lb3 il.xe4 or lS.Wb3 Wxb3t 19.axb3 il.xe4. 2 0-1 78. MaximPavlov - DmitryKononenko a bed e f g h 12.g5? A1ushra2004 When attacking this knight, White was no doubt counting on it having to move away, but Black can ignore the threat. 8 7 Black's other knight is the real danger, and White should have removed it with 12.il.xc4. 6 5 12 ... tiJxb2! 13.�xb2 .ta3t! 14.�bl 4 desperate retreat, but advancing is even A worse: 3 2 14.c;t>b3WdG! leads quickly to mate. 1 14.c;t>xa3 loses in similar fashion to the previous a bede f g h example: 14 ...Wx c3t 15.li:lb3 il.c6 1G.il.c5 a5 16... d5 !? and White has no good defence against ...b4t . Black's queenside attack has such potential that he is happy to give away an important 14 ...Wxc3 15. .tc1hc 1 16J'hc1 central pawn to allow the dark-squared bishop to join in.

17.exd5? Mating the Castled King 96

White does not see the storm coming, and blithely continues on his merry way. It was time to admit that something had gone wrong with his opening and play the more circumspect 17.tDce2, although he cannot hope fo r any advantage.

17... tiJx b2! Black does not miss his chance.

18.'�xb2 �a3t 19.c;t>xa3 After 19.<;t>b3, Black tightens the noose with 19... WI'a5 !, an idea we are already familiar with. a bed e f g h 20 ...�d7! 19.<;t>b1 Wl'xc320 .ii.c1 tDc4! is also hopeless fo r 20 ...b4t! 21.a4 Wl'b2 also does the job. White. 21.�c5 b4t 22.hb4 �xb4 19... Wixc3 t 20.tiJb3 Mate with ...�a4# is on its way. 0-1 Exposing the King 8 7 One of the most familiar ideas in attacking the castled 6 king is a subject we have already discussed - the hook. A typical example of the hook is when White latches onto 5 a weakening pawn move in front of the black king by 4 sacrificinga bishop on h6. In the most dangerous version 3

of this sacrifice, White is able to fo llow up with a quick 2 \Wg6t. a e f h 1.J.xh6 gxh62.�g6t

Anoshkin- Kruchev, Belorechensk 2007 Vladimirov- Murshed, Calcutta 2001 (08 7

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Bakulin - S. Sokolov, Moscow 1973 Adams - Skripchenko, France 1999 @8 8 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a bed e f g h a bede f g h 98 Mating the Castled King

79. Alexander Anoshkin - Boris Kruchev Black could almost resign here - not only is he material down, but his position is a Belorechensk 2007 complete mess.

8 17 ... VMb6 18.hli.h5 19J�ael gfe8 20.i.e7 llJf8 21.VM£3! 7 Smashing through on fl. Black had finally 6 seen enough. 1-0 5

4 80. Nikolac Bakulin- Sergey Sokolov

3 Moscow 1973

1 8

7 a bed e f g h 15.i.xh6! 6 A decisive blow, effectively devastating the black kingside. 5 4 15... i.f6 15... g:x:h6 is no good: 16.Wg6t h8 3 17.Wxh6t! (even stronger than 17.Wxg4) 2 17... <;t>g8 lS.tLlg5! i.xg5 19.hxg5 and the 1 threat of g5-g6 is crushing.

a bed e f g h The alternative 15... i.xf 3 is also summarily 21.i.xh6! dispatched: 16.E1xf3 g:x:h6 17. W g6 t hS This idea crops up time and again in practical 1S.Wxh6t <;t>gS 19.E1xg3t+- play. In this example, the sacrifice is not only natural, but also extremely strong, as all of 16.ttJg5! i.xg5 17.i.xg5 White's pieces are aiming at the enemy king.

21... gxh6 22.gg3t h8 23.VMd2 ttJg8 8 24.gxg8t! 7 An important link in the chain, this removes a key defender. 6

5 24 ...xg8 25 .VMxh6£3 26.VMg6th8

a bede f g h Chapter - Exposing the King 99 2

30J�g3t <;t>f8 31.gxg8t <;t>xg8 32.VNh7t 8 Mate fo llows on h8. Like all good attacking 7 games, every white move had a purpose, and no time was wasted. 6 1-0 5 81. Evgeny Vladimirov- NiazMurshed 4 Calcutta 2001 3

a b c d e f g h 27J�c3! Of course White is not satisfied with perpetual check. Despite his extra material, Black is strangely powerless against the coming attack. 27 .. 28.VNhSt<;t> g7 .iU6

a bede f g h 2 l.lLlgS ! White immediately hits on the Achilles heel in Black's position - the vulnerable pawns on h7 and f7 - and goes directly fo r the attack.

21...h6 21.. .j,xgS 22.j,xgSwould avoid the coming firestorm, but is still highly unpleasant fo r Black. It is obvious that White has an ongoing attack as well as the advantage of the two bishops. a bed e f g h 29.Lf5! 22.tLlxf7! Blow after blow! Of course. There is no going back. By this point in the book we should all know that the 29 ...i�g 8 pieces are mere pawns in a bigger game - to None of the alternatives can save Black, fo r achieve the ultimate objective of mating the example: 29 .. .1'hfS 30.:i:!g3t j,gS 31.:i:!xgSt opposing king. For further examples of this, see :i:!xgS 32.1Wxgst �f8 33.1Wf6t �e8 34.1Wf7# Chapter 4 on Breakthrough with the Pieces. Even giving up the queen does not help: 29 ...1WxeS 30.dxeS :i:!xfS 31.:i:!g3t�f 8 32.1Wg6! and wins. 100 Mating the Castled King

26 ...�g5 ! Black's idea is that after 27.W1'xg5t W1'g7 , the potential mate on g2 fo rces the exchange of queens. Instead White should prefer 27.Ei:g3, retaining a strong attack, though 27 ...Ei:d7 2S.Ei:xg5t Ei:g7 allows Black to fighton.

26.gxc8 gxc8 26 ...W1'xcs 27.Ei:g3 is no better.

27.gg3! It is important not to allow Black to counterattack: 27.�xg7?? Ei:clt 2S.�fl �xg2 a bede f g h 24.hh6! 29.W1'hSt<;t>f7 30.W1'h5t lZlg6 and Black wins. Further avenues are opened up. 27... .id8 24... ltJrs 24 ...gxh6 leads to a quick mate with checks 8 all the way: 25.W1'g6t

a bed e f g h 25 ...ga c8 When I first played through this game on Black could put up a sturdier defence with: ChessBase, it gave this position as a puzzle - 25 ...gxh 6! 26.W1'xh6 White to play and win. I tried about twenty different moves before finally giving in! Can the reader do better than me and find the decisive continuation here?

28.ha6! This neat tactic overloads the enemy queen and quickly wraps up the game. It is easy to miss this because the natural inclination is

to look towards the kingside � an inbuilt prejudice with attacking players. But true attacking geniuses see the entire board! a e bed f g h Chapter 2 - Exposing the King 101

28.• .'IWxa6 20 ...j,xd 5 loses in similar fashion to the game: 2S .. J::k 1 t 29.j,xc1 WExa6 30.j,h6 also gives 21.WEg5t \t>hS22.WEf 6t \t>gS23J:1x d5!+- White a decisive attack. 20 ...:B:fcS hopes to struggle on a pawn down, 29J'hg7t <;!,Jh830 .Wff7 but unsurprisingly it fa ils: 21.WEg5t 'it>fS Mate is inevitable. 1-0

82. Michael Adams- Almira Skripchenko

France 1999

6 a e bed f g h 5 22.j,xe6! Stripping the king of its remaining 4 protection. 22... fxe6 23.WEf6t \t>gS 24.WExe6t \t>g7 25.:B:d5 Theking is too exposed to survive. 3

2 21.Wfg5t <;!,Jh8Wff6t 22. <;!,Jg 8

8 a bed e f g h A timely piece sacrifice may strip the black 7 king of its pawn cover, after which the heavy pieces can come in to finish the job. Michael 6 Adams is well known as a positional player, but 5 he also has a keen tactical eye. Here he comes up with a clever sacrifice to expose the enemy 4 king. 3

2 19 •.L:g7! <;!,Jxg720.i.xd5! A crucial link in the chain. The removal of 1 this key defensive piece, which was controlling a bede f g h so many important squares (in particular the 23.E:xd5! f6 -square), leaves Black helpless. A nice way to terminate proceedings.

20.•. exd5 23•. J�fe8 24.:B:g5t<;!,Jf8 25.Wfd6t None of the alternatives offered any salvation White wins after 25 ...:B:e7 26.:B:el WEdS either. 27.WEh6t. 1-0 Greek GiftSa crifice 8

This theme is believed to be named after the epic tale 7 of the Trojan horse - a devious military strategy that 6 the Greeks used to infiltrate the ancient city of Troy. Personally I findthis fascinating story of the siege ofTroy 5 represented poorly in modern culture, with the Brad Pitt 4 movie, the imaginatively tided Troy being a particularly 3

dismal example. 2 basic demonstration of the pattern fo r the Greek A Gift sacrifice occurs in the diagram position: 1.i.xh7t! a e Removing a crucial defensive unit, the pawn on h7, and bringing thebed black king outf into g the h open, where it is exposed to a deadly attack by the queen and knight. 1...'�xh7 2.liJg5t �g8 3.�h5 Mate swiftly fo llows on h7.

Spraggett- Salman, To ronto 1983 Furman - Geller, Riga 1958 @8 8 7 7

6 6

5 5

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a bede f g h a bed e f g h Loose - Niephaus, Bad Oeynhausen 1942 RidameyaTa tche - Mora Manez, Barcelona 1996 8 @ 7

a bede f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter - Greek Gift Sacrifice 2 103

Vagle - Tollefsen, Oslo 2005 Em. Lasker - J. Bauer, Amsterdam 1889

a bed e f g h a bede f g h Busto Prendes -Andres Gonzalez, Asturias 2000 Muse - Lagunow, Berlin 1993

a bed e f g h a bede f g h J. Jonsson - H. Jonsson, Reykjavik 1969

a bed e f g h 104 Mating the Castled King

83. KevinSpr aggett- NachumSalman

To ronto 1983

a bede f g h 16.i.xh7t!Wxh7 17.tLlg5t classic situation has arisen which occurs A in most Greek Gift sacrifices. Black has the f g h a e choice of either retreating with the king, or We join the game here to see how Black set marching bravely into the main battlefield himself up fo r the sacrifice. Black should be and exposing His Majesty to the fu ll power constantly aware of the possibility of a sacrifice of White's pieces. Neither choice tends to be on the h7-squa re. Just the slightest defensive slip, taking your eye off this possibility, can particularly pleasant. lead to sudden disaster. 17 ... Wg6 14... 0-0? 17... WgS leads to mate: lS.'lWh5 E\eS 19.'lWxf7t

14... 'lWc7! would have been more sensible, keeping Black's options open. Sometimes it can be a good idea to keep the king in the centre fo r a time. One of the chess cliches beaten into us when we are younger is that "castling makes the king much safer", but in chess you can't rely on cliches. Sometimes you have to think outside the box! In this specific example, castling is the decisive mistake.

a e f h 15.e5! bed g typical finish, with the king suffocated by The knight on f6 , the only piece holding A its own pieces. together the defence of the kingside,is brutally pushed away, enabling the finalattack. 18.h4! 15... tLld 5 Thispawn push is very powerful here. Chapter - Greek Gift Sacrifice 2 10S

22.llJgS! If the threatened mate is prevented, the knight on dS will drop, leaving White with a decisive material advantage. 1-0

84. WaIter Loose -WaIter Niephaus

Bad Oeynhausen 1942

7 18.. .'�e7 6 Thedef ensive possibility of 18.. Jl:h8,tho ugh 5 well-motivated, does not quite work. It runs into a subtle thrust: 19.hSt! l::i:xhS 20.We4t fS 4 21.exf6t �xf6 22.Wf3t �g6 23.Wf7t �h6 3 24.tLlxe6t White will soon have the pleasant choice between giving checkmate and taking 2 the enemy queen. 1

bed f g h 19.hSt @h6 a e Again we join the game when Black still had 19... �f S 20.g4# a chance to avert disaster. 20.lihe6t @h7 21.Wid3t! 12,..i.b7? This fo rces the king back into its box, under This simple developing move is fa r too circumstances fa vourable to White, who now casual; Black fails to sense the danger. His wins easily. position is already unpleasant, but this makes 21...@g8 Black's situation critical. 21...g6 loses material to 22.tLlxf8t Wxf8 In chess, you should always be aware of what 23.WxdS. your opponent is planning. IfBlackhad thought about what was White was threatening, he could have minimized the damage and taken the sting out of the sacrifice with 12... w'e7 , which crucially covers the gS-square. Mter 13.eS tLldS, the sacrifice 14.w'xh7t? doesn't work, as 14... �xh7 lS.tLlgSt w'xgS! simply leaves White a piece down. White would do better with the more restrained 14.tLlxdS exdS lS.tLld4 with a clear advantage.

a bed e f g h Mating the Castled King 106

13.e5! tiJfd7 14 •.ixh7t! The Greek Gift sacrifice tends to be such a 8 deadly weapon that Black should not allow 7 V////,/.-- it at all. In fact when I searched fo r Greek 6 Gift games on ChessBase, the statistics where overwhelmingly in favour of the attacker, one 5 reason being that in the positions where it 4 occurs, Black's army tends to be too fa r away 3 from the action to realistically come to the 2 king's defence.

a e bed f g h 14••• @xh7 15 .lilg5t @g6 17.iWh7t@g 4 18.iWh3# The black king was again faced with the choice of retreating or advancing. 17.exf6t 17.ctJxe6 iWe7 18.ctJxf8 t ctJxf8 is far from 15... mg8 would meet the same fate pointed clear. It is much more important to maintain out in the previous example: 16.iWh5 Ele8 the attack on the kingrather than "cash in our 17.iWxf7t! @h8 18.iWh5t @g8 19.iWh7t mf8 chips" too early by grabbing a small amount 2o.iWh8t me7 21.iWxg7# of material.

17... @xf6 Black has survived the first wave of attack, but his defences have been exposed to such a degree that he cannot hope to survive the second wave.

5 bed f g h a e 4 16JWd3t Themost direct. 3 2 16.h4!? threatens the devastating 17.h5t, and is an interesting alternative. However it can be 1 met by 16... Elh8 !, when White has little choice a bede f g h but to continue as in the game with 17.iWd3t. 18.Elel! As so often in positions like this where the 16••• £5 king is horribly exposed, the attacking side has This further weakening is fo rced, as 16... mh5 a lot of choice. leads to mate: Chapter - Greek Gift Sacrifice 107 2

18.l2ke4t! is just as strong: 18... �e7 19.Wi'c3! Wi'b620.tLl xc5! Wi'xc5 21.Wi'xg7t <;t>e822.lLlx e6 8 with devasta'tion. 7

18... e5 6 There is no escape: 18... :8e8 19.1Llce4t! �e7 5 20.lLlxe6 �xe6 21.lLld6t lLle5 4

a bede f g h 26J��ac1 �e6 27.�e4 tDc5 28J:hc5 �a7 29.g4 �f4 30.i.xf4 �xg4t 31.i.g3 �xe4 32.�xe4 lLld7 33.i.xe5t 'kt>f5 34.�e2 lLlxc5 35.i.d4 �c7 36.�e5t 'kt>f4 37.�xc5 �d7

a e 38.i.e3t'kt>f3 39.�f5t'kt>e 2 bed f g h 22.:8xe5t!! �xe5 23.�f4t �xf4 24.Wi'f5# 1-0 A fine demonstration of the long-term dangers Black managed to avoid getting mated to the exposed king. immediately, but the knight on g5 and the activity of White's pieces offered such 19.1Lld5t?! dangerous attacking prospects that defending 19.1Llce4t! �xe4 20.lLlxe4t �e7 21.�g5t proved impossible in the long run. This is a lLlf6 22.lLlxc5 is simpler, and White emerges good example of what is meant by the second two pawns up. wave of attack.

19 ...,bd5 20.�xd5 �b6! 21.tDe4t <;t>g6 85. Semen Furman- EfimGeller 22.lLlxc5 In his earlier calculations White probably Riga 1958 missed that he can't simply regain material here with 22.Wi'xa8 as this would run into 8 22 ...lLlc 6!. But in such positions where Black is in total disarray, it's not surprising that there 7 is a strong alternative. 6 22 ...�xc5 23.�e4t! �f5 5 23 ... �f724.Wi' xa8 lLlc6 25.Wi'b7+- 4 24.i.e3�c6 25.�g4t 'kt>f6 3 It may look as if Black has managed to escape 2 to a certain degree, but in fact his cause remains hopeless, as his king is still exposed and he has 1 too many loose pieces liable to be captured. a bede f g h Matin 108 g the Castled King

This example is included to remind you Black is not always without resources in 8 Greek Gift positions - if he can find some 7 way to defend the h7-square, he can often repel the attack. In the current game, Efim 6 Geller comes up with an impressive defensive 5 idea. 4

17.e5 ttJd5 18 . .ixh7t�xh7 19.1iJg5t �g8! 3 Retreating is the correct choice this time. 2 19... i>g6? 20.We4t leads quicklyto mate after 1 20 ... i>h5 21.Wh7t i>g4 22.Wh3# or 20 .. .f5 a bed e f g h 21.exf6t i>xf6 22.Wxe6#. 22.g4 'Wg6 23.'Wxg6 fxg6 24.f7t �xf7 25.ttJxf7 �xf7 19... i>h6? 20.Wg4! also leaves the king helpless The fireworks have fizzled out and White is against White's multiple threats. left with only a slight edge in the endgame. Furman pressed fo r a while, but eventually the 20.'lWh5 game was drawn . ..../2-% 8 86. Jose Ridameya Tatche -JulioMora Manez 7 Barcelona 1996 6

a bede f g h It looks as if Black could now resign, but can you see Geller's amazing defence?

20 ...ttJf6 !! brilliant resource that needed to be seen in bed f g h A a e advance - this gives up a piece but enables the Here we see how White may prepare a Greek queen to come to the defence of the kingside. Gift sacrifice. White could play something simple, like castling either side, but he comes 21.exf6'Wf5! up with a much more dangerous idea that is Black manages to defend the h7-square. especially thematic. Chapter 2 - Greek Gift Sacrifice 109 lO.h4! 1l.hh7t? Often the presence of a pawn on h4 will make Although this proved successful in the game, the Greek Gift sacrifice yet more venomous; it is in fact an error. especially when combined with a rook on hI, as the capture of the knight on g5 will open 11.lLlg5!is the accurate move order, and after up a devastating attack down the open h-file. 11...fxg5 12.�xh7t! �xh7 White wins with Pushing the h-pawn also introduces the idea 13.hxg5t as in the game. of a possible lift of the rook from h1-h3. (In Chapter 4 there are more examples of this dangerous attacking theme.) lO... f6? 8 Black reacts badly. This attempt to 7 counterattack the centre is strategically well motivated, but like many strategical ideas, 6 it will only work if it is backed up by sound 5 tactics. In this case Black never has the chance 4 to realize his strategic idea, as his opponent rather rudely mates him. 3 2 Analysis shows that there was only one reasonable alternative. 1O... h6! is objectively 1 best, concretely defending against the threats. a bed e f g h 11.0-0-0 lLlc5!Hitting the dangerous bishop 12... fxg5 ? on d3 removes a lot of the poison from the Advancing with the king leads to a swift position. A player may be reluctant to make execution: 12... �g6? 13.h5t �f5 14.g4t such a concession as ... h6, thinking that this �xf4 15.lLlxe6# may lead to a weakness which White can eventually latch on to with g4-g5 ete., but in However, Black can survive by retreating some situations there is simply no choice. the king with 12... �g 8!. The point is that 13.�h5? fails to 13... fxg5 14.hxg5 lLldxe5-+. Black is ready to lop offthe white g-pawn if it advances, and so there is no mate. White would instead have to try 13. lLlxe6, but then 13... �a5 is unclear.

13.hxg5t �g8 13... �g6 would have actually led to mate in seven according to the computer: 14.�h5t �f5 15.lLle2! White has threats of�h7t, g6t and g4t, and Black can't defend against them all.

a bed e f g h 110 Mating the Castled King

2 a e bed f g h 1 20.ttJxf7! 20.<;t>xf7 21.g6t and now both 21...<;t>f822.W xe6 and 21...<;t>f6 22.Wf3t<;t> g5 a bede f g h 14J:�h8t! 23.l"i:dg1 t lead swiftly to mate. The g-pawn plays a decisive role in mating the black king after 14.. .'j;lxh8 15.Wh5t <;t>g8 20.Wh5t 16.g6. Now the f7-sq uare becomes the least 1-0 defended point.

87. RaymondVagl e -VegardTo llefsen 20 ...� g8 21.Wxf7t�h 7

Oslo 2005

1 a bed e f g h 22. l"i:d3! bed f h a e g White cannot mate with the queen and 18.g5! knight alone, but a timely rook lift pushes the As we have already seen, pushing away this defences over the edge. Black is completely key defensive knight is a crucial link in White's helpless. attacking chain. 22 ...hg5 18... liJd 7 19.hl7t!�xh7 There is nothing else. After 19... <;t>f 8 White can pursue the attack with: 23.l"i:h3t i,h624Jhh6t! Chapter 2 - Greek Gift Sacrifice 111

Mate fo llows on g6. White showed a anything better than taking the perpetual knowledge of mating patterns and use of that is on offer. his attacking resources that would make a 15.l'!h3tLlc 6 16.Wfh7t grandmaster proud! 16.g4? is too slow in this specific position: 1-0 16 ... fxg4! 17.Wfh7t �f7 1B.Wfh5t g6 19.Wfh7t �eB 20.Wfxg6t �d7 21.tLlxe6 88. AbetBusto Prendes - l'!gB! and White does not have time fo r Alberto AndresGonzalez 22.Wff5 because 22 ...gxh 3t wins. 16... �f7 17.Wfh5t Asturias 2000 After 17.l'!g3 l'!gB White may soon be regretting that he didn't take the draw. 17... �gB= Black's attempt to play on with 17 ...g6 ?? leads to disaster: 1B.Wfh7t �eB 19.Wfxg6t �d7 20.tLlxe6 WfeB21 .l'!h7!+-

1 12.ixh7t!? c;t>xh7 13.VNh5tc;t>g 8 14JH3! bed f g h Aft er this the computer shows its evaluation a e 15.l'!h3! as 0.00, indicating that with best play it should Now White does have a big attack. be a draw by perpetual check. But from a practical point of view, with tension mounting 15•.• tLlc6 and the clock ticking, it's infinitely preferable Thisloses, but the white attack was now too to be White here. Just the slightest mistake will strong in any case. mean Black fa lling offa very high precipice.

14... f6? 15... f5 no longer defends: 16.g4! fxg417 .Wfh7t �f7 1B.l'!h6!with overwhelming threats. Mistakenly keeping the tension III the position. 15... WfeB 16.Wfh7t �f7 17.l'!g3 l'!gB 1B.f5! is also crushing. The black king does not have 14 .. .f5! enough space to escape all of White's attacking This should indeed lead to a draw with best resources. play, as White does not realistically have 112 Mating the Castled King

15... fXe 5 just opens up the f- file, which helps immediate draw) 19... :gg8 20.f5! Theposition White even more: 16.fXe5 dxe5 17.'Wh7t cj;Jf7 remains very sharp. Note how White is using 18.l'W t j,f6 19.j,h6! and White's attack is his pawns to try and break down the last line crushing. of defence.

16.Wfg6? Mter the move played, a very common It is imperative to fo llow up a sacrifice sequence ends the game: incisively. The brilliant 16.f5!! would have crowned the attack and swept Black from the board: 8 7

8 6

7 5 6 L",-////m 4 5 3 4

3 2

2 1

bed f g h a e a e f h bed g 17.:gh7! :gO 16.. .lDxd4 17 ... j,f6 18.'Wh5is the same. An important idea is that 16... exf5 17.e6! cuts off theking's escape route. Is.Wfh5! 17.'Wh7t�f7 18 .'Wg6t�g8 1-0 And now comes a lovely sequence: 19.j,h6!! 89. Johann Jonsson - Halldor Jonsson 19.cxd4?! dxe5 allows Black some counterplay. Reykjavik 1969 19... :gf7 19 ...ttJx f5 20.j,xg7! ttJxg7 21.:gh7 :gf7 22.'Wh6and mate is imminent. 20.j,e3! :gfS21 .cxd4 'We8 The only way to stop the threat of :gh7 fo llowed by 'Wh5. 22.'Wh7t �f7 23.:gg3 :gg8 24.j,h6! j,f8 25.exf6+-

16... fxe5 ? Overlooking White's rather large threat.

Black's only chance was: 16... ttJx d4! 17.cxd4 'We8 18.'Wh7t cj;Jf7 19.:gg3!? (I9.'Wh5t is an a bed e f g h Chapter - Greek Gift Sacrifice 2 113

We shall see another bold attack that was successful in practice, though only after 8 the opponent 'missed a couple of defensive 7 opportunities. 6

9.�xh7t!? i>xh7 10.'?9h5ti>g 8 1 UU3 liJf5 5 Black could give some space to his king with 1l...f6 !? 12.ltJg6, and only now 12... ltJfS, 4 when the situation is unclear. 3

12J:!h3 2 1

a bede f g h White to play and win. 16.e4!! Black must have missed this earlier. Suddenly the cl-bishop comes alive!

16 ... �h4 17.f5!.bg3 18.'?9xh6t i>g8 19.£6 '?9xf6 20.'?9xf6

a bed e f g h 7 12... liJh6? 6 12... �h4 ! was a better way to block the h-file. The black minor pieces look precarious, 5 but Black can defend by kicking away the 4 white queen. For example: 13.g4 g6 14.ltJxg6 fxg6 lS.'IWxg6tltJg 7 16.gS �e8 17.�xe8 Ei:xe8 3 18.Ei:xh4 and the position is roughly balanced. 2 13.liJg4! 1 An important resource, throwing more a bede f g h wood on the fire. The curtain could have been drawn here. White has won too much material and the 13 ... e5 14.liJxh6t gxh615 .l!g3t i>h7 attack is still ongoing.

20 ...�f 4 21.�xf4 exf4 22.e5 l!e8 23.liJd2 liJa6 24.l!f1 l!e6 25.'?9d8t i>g7 26.l!xf4 l!g6 27.g3 l!b8 28.lLlf3 �e6 29.'?ge7 l!f8 30.liJg5 l!h8 1-0 114 Mating the Castled King

90. Emanuel Lasker- JohannBauer 18.�g4t <.t>h7 18... �f 6 1 9.'!Wg5# Amsterdam 1889 19.�f3! Therook lift is such an important attacking motif that we will see it OCCut over and over again in the course of this book.

19 ... e5 20.�h3t �h6 21.�xh6t <.t>xh6

a bed e f g Some motifs and attacking themes come to public attention when they are played in a memorable game or by a famous player, and are then absorbed into the general consciousness. great example is this fa mous A Lasker game, where he was able to carry out bed f g the double bishop sacrifice to perfection. This a e Materially it would seem that Black is not soon became the model game fo r such an idea. that badly off, but of course Lasker has seen 15.hl7t!! this fa r when he played 15.�xh7t!! and now shows there is a sting in the tail. This brilliant and decisive intermezzo must have come as a jolting shock to Bauer, who 22.�d7! was presumably calmly awaiting the friendly Gaining a decisive material advantage. recapture on h5. 22 ....if6 23.� xb7 <.t>g724. �fl�a b8 25.�d7 15... <.t>xh7 16.'1Wxh5t<.t>g 8 17. .ixg7! �fd8 26.�g4t <.t>f8 27.fxe5.ig7 28.e6 �b7 Lasker had calculated all this to perfection. 29.�g6 f6 30.�xf6t .ixf6 31.�xf6t <.t>e8 The black king is stripped completely bare of 32.�h8t <.t>e7 33.�g7t <.t>xe634.�xb7 �d6 protection, exposed to a bloody execution by 35.�xa6 d4 36.exd4 cxd437.h 4 d3 38.�xd3 the marauding white fo rces. 1-0 17... <.t>xg7 Nowadays this double bishop sacrifice is familiar, but at the time this game was played Unfortunately fo r Black there is no real Lasker was treading new ground, which made alternative: 17... f5 18.�e5! '!We8 19.'!Wh8t�f7 his achievement all the more commendable - 20.'!Wg7# one of the classics. Chapter 2 - Greek Gift Sacrifice 115

91. DrazenMuse - AlexanderLagun ow After 17.Ei:x e4 �xe4 18.Ei:cl White would face a long struggle to convert his advantage. Berlin 1993 Instead of this, Black casually stumbles into a fo rced mate. 8

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a bed e f g h 1 16.�e4!? a bede f g h This is not the most accurate as it allows 17.hl7t! Black to avoid mate by giving up his queen fo r White is even better prepared than in the rook and bishop. Lasker game, as the white rook on e3 is already in position to swing across to the kingside. With 16.Ei:g3! White could effectively combine attack with the defence of the g2-pawn. 17... c.t>xh7 18.�h5t c.t>g8 19.hg7 f5 16... f6 1 nWh5 is winning fo r White, as is Taking the bait leads to a snap mate 16... g6 17.'iWh5, when the threats include 19... c.t>xg7 20.Ei:g3t c.t>f6 21.'iWg5# 18.'iWxh7t! 'kt>xh7 19.Ei:h3t 'kt>g820.Ei: h8#. 20.�h8t 16... �d7? 1-0 Perhaps Lagunow wasn't fa miliar with his Lasker theory? If Black had understood how much danger he was in, then he surely would have realized that the queen sacrifice 16 ...'iWxe4! was absolutely essential.

a e bed f g h Queen andBisho p

The queen and bishop can combine in many ways to carry out a mating attack. In this example, 1.\Wh7t is not immediately mate because the black king has the f8 - square available, but that is not enough to save Black: l..ih7t cj;Ih8 2 . .ig6t! The key move, aiming at the f7-square, where mate will be delivered. 2 ...cj;lg 8 3.'1Wh7t

cj;I4. ffi xf7 # a e VIi bed f g h

Marinkovic - U. Bischoff, Germany 1987 Suhobeck - Tesoro, Ve ntura 1971

@ 8 8 @ 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Anastasian - Caruso, Paris 1999 Scalise- Albarran,Arg entina 2000

@ 8 8 ® 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter - Queen and Bishop 117 2

Polo - Plazas Oliveros, Cali 2000 Pascual Arevalo - Yanez, Spain 1989

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

a bed e f g h Hernandez Ayala - San Martin, Pasao 1998 @8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1

a bed e f g h a bed e f g h D. Gurevich - Jacobs, Dallas 1996 Van den Bosch - Milner-Barry, TheHa gue 1939 @8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3

1 1

a bed e f g h a bede f g h 118 Mating the Castled King

92. MilanMarinkovic - Ulrich Bischoff

Germany 1987

a bede f g h 30.i.h7t! �h8 31.i.g6t Mate arrives by 31...mg8 32.'iWh7t mf8 33.'iWxf/#. bed f g h a e 1-0 28.Wff4!? Objectively, this attack should not achieve 93. Ashot Anastasian- Augusto Caruso anything, though in the game it turned out to be an unqualifiedsu ccess Paris 1999

28 ...gxh5?? Disastrous. Evidently Black was not familiar with this particular queen-and-bishop mate, or he would have realized that his king cannot possibly escape after this. Instead, Black had two acceptable ways to play:

28 ...j,g7 is solid and more than okay fo r Black. After 29.l::lc5 'iWb6 30.b4 Ei:e6 Black has an edge, as the white king is slightly vulnerable.

If Black really wants to take the h5-rook, then 28 ...j,g5 !? 29.hxg5 gxh5 is the way to do so. a bede f g h This may look dangerous, but both 30.'iWf5 15.Wff3! Ei:g6 and 30.gxh6 'iWf6! enable Black to defend. Black's numerous pawn weaknesses are likely to be impossible to defend in the long run. 29.Wfxh6 However, while he is attempting to hold on The queen must choose the correct square; to material, Black loses something even more after 29.'iWf5? Ei:e8there is no mate. important - the game.

29 .. J�e8 15 ...i.xc3 16.bxc3 i.d5?? terrible blunder, which the sharp-eyed A Chapter - Queen and Bishop 119 2

Armenian grandmaster immediately exploits. 17.ltJxb6 axb6 lS. .txaS WxaS 19. .te3! should It was time to admit that something had gone also be winning fo r White, but the text is fa r wrong and play a defensive move, even if this more incisive. When you see a continuation means shedding material: 16 .. .'it>g7 17 . .txc6 that looks as if it might be winning, have White is simply a pawn to the good with a nice another look around; there might be something position to boot. even stronger!

17."Wg4t! 17••• gxf6 More accurate than the immediate 17.Wf5, 17... <;t>hS is unfortunately no improvement, when Black could struggle on with 17... :gf eS. as it leaves the monstrous knight on f6 unmolested, an unpalatable consideration from

17••• h818. "WfS! a defensive point of view. lS.Wh5 h6 19. .txh6! Thepin along the 5th rank means that Black is destructive. White is attacking with fo ur loses his queen. pieces, which is almost overkill. 19... g6 1-0 This combo of the queen and bishop pointing towards the h7-point, I like to call the "Shotgun". The two pieces combine perfectly to perform a deadly surgical strike on the enemy king.

94. AlexSuhobeck - AlfredTe soro

Ve ntura 1971

a e bed f g h 20 . .tg7t! <;t>xg7 21.Wh7#

18."Wg4t! important point. White fo rces the king to A the worst possible square before attempting to deliver mate. It's essential to be as accurate as possible in attacking positions, rather than just playing the firstmove that comes into our head.

Although the natural lS.Wh5 is also winning, Black at least avoids an immediate mate:

a bed e f g h lS... :geS! 19.Wxh7t <;t>fS 20.WhSt ile7 Black was presumably expecting his 21.Wxf6t ild7 22 . .tf5t :ge6 23.:gd1 t .td6 opponent to grab the exchange, but there is 24.Wxf7tand Whitewins the house. something far nastier in store.

18••• h819 ."WfS

17• .!Llf6t!! Mate is unavoidable. thunderous blow! A 1-0 120 Mating the Castled King

95. Luis Scalise - Gustavo Albarran 8 Argentina 2000 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3

a b c d e f g h 2 19... gxf6? 1 Admittedly 19.. .cJih8 looks horrible, but it's the only way to avoid an immediate mate. a bede f g h Another good example of the Shotgun. Then 20.WhS? h6! 21.WfS g6 allows Black to defend. However, White can simply play must admit that this terminology sounds too 20.ttJxh7, when he is winning easily after much like Charlie Storey's infamous opening manual The Sniper fo r my liking, but I hope 20 ...g6 21.ttJxf8 or 20 ...Ei:fe8 21.WhS. Perhaps you'll fo rgive that. (Please don't sue me, Black preferred to be put out of his misery. Storeymeister!) 20.Wg4t! 18. .![}h5! Always an important part of constructing Clearly this attacks the f4 -pawn, but that is the Shotgun. not the main threat. 20 ...�h8 21.YNf5 18... �a d8? 1-0 Black endeavours to get his rook into play, to try to gain some compensation fo r losing the 96. Vincente Polo - Alfonso PlazasOliveros f4 -pawn, but he overlooks the real threat. Cali 2000

It was necessary to protect the king with, fo r example, 18... g6. Then 19.ttJxf4 simply wins a pawn, but Black can struggle on.

19. .![}f6t! Ye t again this sacrifice, inflicting fresh weaknesses on the kingside, proves to be the crucial breakthrough. Chapter - Queen and Bishop 121 2

Black's opening play has been a bit flaky, to It was time to cut his losses and jettison material say the least, and White now cranks up the to create counter-chances with 15... 1We7! pressure in methodical fashion. 16.�xd5 2"i:d8! 17.�xb7 2"i:xd2 18.�xa8 2"i:xc2 19.2"i:b This unbalanced situation favours 13.J.e4!e6 White,l. who enjoys a significant material An unpleasant move to have to make, as advantage, but as Black's remaining pieces are it fu rther weakens the dark squares atound active and well placed, this should at least offer the black king. However, this concession will some practical chances. soon be fo rced, as otherwise Black will simply lose material. This is an important lesson to 16. .!iJh5t! absorb: through tactical threats we can often White doesn't have to be asked rwice, and induce crucial strategic concessions from our makes use of the weakened dark squares on the opponents. kingside to play a winning combination.

13 ...�b7 has no independent significance, as 16 ...gxh5 17 .1Wg5t �h8 18.1Wh6 after 14.2"i:dl (or 14.0-0-0) Black is fo rced to Due to the tardy development of the black transpose to the game by 14... e6. queenside, the f8 -rook is now en prise, making mate inevitable. 14.2"i:dl!? 1-0 14.0-0-0! is even stronger, tucking away the king and connecting the rooks. 97. Jonny Hector -Jan Plachetka

14... J.b7 15.lbf4 Gausdal 1989 Black's position now looks critical - can he defend?

2 a bede f g h 1 Jonny Hector has long been one of Sweden's finestattacking players. Here he conjures up a a bed e f g h 15.. :�a5 ? finefinish, seemi ngly out of nowhere. Not with this. In his desperation to avoid 22.J.xh7t!! losing material, Black takes his queen fa r The best attacking players are constantly away from the main action on the kingside, a alert to opportunities to create a mating attack. decision that proves immediately fa tal. 122 Mating the Castled King

22 ...@xh7 23J�g4! f6 The black king is precariously placed, and 23 ...:gg8 24.1Mfh5# Gurevich strikes with sudden fo rce.

24JWh5t! 33J�xh5t! c!lJxh5 Thispoint had to be seen in advance. With 33 ...'it>g8 34.:gxg7t! 'it>xg7 35.1Mfg2t also the queen on h5, a subsequent �h6t becomes leads quickly to mate. deadly. 34.'�xh5t@g 8 35Jhg7t! @xg7 24 ...@g8

1 bed f g h bed f g h a e 25.:gxg7t!a @xg7 26.J.h6te 36.f6t! Mter 26... 'it>h8 27.�xf8t 'it>g8, White can This accurate intermezzo prevents any ideas win easily with 28.�xc5, though I suspect Black has of fleeingwith his king. that Hector would have finished in sryle with 28.:gxf6! �xf8 29.1Mff7t 'it>h8 30.:gg6, leading Mter 36.�h6t?! 'it>f6 37.1Mfg5t'it>e5, there is no to fo rced mate. quick mate. Although White is still winning, 1-0 he could easily become confused and let Black escape. 98. DmitryGurevich -John Jacobs 36 ...exf6 Dallas 1996 Without the pawn on f5 to hide behind, the king cannot come up the board: 36 ...'it>xf 6 8 37.1Mfg5# 7 37.J.h6t 6 Mate is fo rced: 37 ...'it>h7 38.�xf8t 'it>g8 39.1Mfxf7t 'it>h8 40.1Mfg8# 5 1-0 4

a bede f g h Chapter Queen and Bishop 123 2 -

99. Antonio PascualArevalo - Pedro Yanez 19.i.f6! The bishop effectively constructs a deadly Spain 1989 cage around the black king. ��- � ��.� 19 ... ttJxf6 20.�g5t @h7 21.exf6 8 .Ea /� : �m� ;/� � 21... :gg8 22.'lWh5# 7 �I '_i)�{lY-_i 1-0 6 .""%' "rif "�� r� ��" 100. J. Hemandez Ayala- Perez San Martin 5 � � Pasao 1998 4 ��!. '�� 3 '�" ��r� �� "" ' ' ' 2 "" } ';;{ "'\ ''' ' I ' O;;:;J' A.�� %�v��

a bed e f g h Even if the i.h6t idea doesn't immediately lead to mate, the discovered check by the bishop can often win material or give White the chance to reroute the bishop to the equally dangerous f6 -square.

13.ixh7t!! @xh7 14.�h5t @gS 15.:!'hg7t! bed f g h 'it>xg7 16.i.h6t@h7 a e It is clear that Black is in dire trouble. 16... g8 17.'lWg4t h7 18.'lWg7# 21.�h5t @gS 22J3xg7t! 17.i.g5t @gS IS.i.xdS 78 6 5 43 2 1

a bed e f g h We are fa miliar with this idea by now; White a bed e f g h IS... ttJc 6 strips away the king's protection and makes the 18... :gxd8 10ses more material after 19.'lWg5t. queen and bishop combination lethal. 124 Mating the Castled King

22 ... @xg7 23.i.h6t!@g 8 which was one of the turning points of the war Black did not want to struggle on in a when it fo undered just short of Moscow, this lost position after 23 ...�h7 24.�g5t <;t>g7 particular assault is not doomed to fa ilure. 25.�xd8, but allows mate instead. 20 ...�xd3 24JWg4t @h8 25.Vfig7# Black also shifts fo rward a tank, but his T- 16 lacks the frightening mobility of the Sherman 101. Johannes vanden Bosch on g3, which now blazes a destructive path StuartMilner- Barry towards the enemy's position.

TheHa ue 1939 g 21.�xg7t! Objectively this is only good enough fo r a draw, but the aggressive advance of the tank, deep into offensive territory, throws panic into the enemy ranks.

21...@xg7 22.i.xh6t

a bede f g h Sir Stuart Milner-Barry was well known fo r two things; firstly the Milner-Barry Gambit in the French Defence, and also fo r being one of the Bletchley Park codebreakers during the Second Wo rld War, along with other leading English chess players such as Harry Golombek. bed f g h In my younger days I was lucky enough to a e 22 ...@g8? meet Stuart, as we both played fo r Charlton Milner-Barry stumbles. With the resilient chess club. In this game, played the same year 22 ...<;t>h7! it is more than likely that peace that war broke out, he was unfortunately on negotiations would have soon been signed. the receiving end of a brutal kingside attack. 23.�e3t (Mter 23.�xf8t <;t>g8there is no good 20.�g3!? fo llow-up fo r White, fo r example 24.�h6 can be met by 24 ...\Wd 4!.) 23 ...<;t>g8 24.\Wg4t To use Second Wo rld Wa r phraseology, Neither side can do better than repeat moves. with this cunning tank manoeuvre, setting the enemy general in its turrets, White opens 23.Vfig4ti.g5 24.i.xg5 a fresh offensive against the Eastern Bloc. Unlike the ill-fated Barbarossa campaign that the Germans waged against the Russians, Chapter - Queen and Bishop 125 2

a bed e f g h 24 ...\Wd4 Black lunges fo rward with his heavy units, which have been kept in reserve, but unfortunately fo r him they have entered this particular battle much too late.

24 .. .f5 is not much better after 25.exf6 l::1£7 26.l::1eI! , when Black is still fa cing a terrible attack. For example, 26 ...l::1 d4 27.�f4t �h8 28.l::1e3 and the rook-lift wins.

2S.J.f4t cj;>h7 26.\WhSt cj;>g8 27.J.h6! gg3 28.hxg3 \Wd329 .\WgSt Decisive material gains will fo llow, so Stuart waved the white flag. 1-0 Queen Breakthrough to h7 :

6 queen landing on h7 is often devastating. In this typical A example, a rook is sacrificed to enable the queen to enter 5 the position: IJhf7!

a e bed f g h

Tiviakov - Van WeIy, Groningen 1995 Salai - Blatny, Bmo 1990

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Kovalev- Skomorokhin, Leningrad 1989 Kiik - Tuominen, Naantali 1996

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter 2 - Queen Breakthrough to h7 127

Bogorads - Wilke, Gladenbach 1999 Nogueiras- Esquivel, Santa Clara 2004 S 8 @ 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h De Vita - Costantini, Montecatini Te rme 1998 Liu Wenzhe - Donner, Buenos Aires (01) 1978 @)8 7

a bed e f g h Euwe - Fischer, New Yo rk (1) 1957 Quinteros - Femandez Novas, Buenos Aires 1995 @)8 8 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bed e f g h 128 Mating the Castled King

1 02. Sergei Tiviakov- Loek vanWe Iy

Groningen 1995

3 a bede f g h 2 23.�d2! 1 Tiviakov is well up to the challenge. This quiet retreat demonstrates how helpless Black bed f g h a e is. White now has a huge threat of'Wh6. Quite often the crucial idea involved in a breakthrough is to distract the enemy king It is important to be accurate in even the from the defence of a key square or pawn, in most overwhelming of attacking situations. this case the h7-pawn . The immediate 23.'Wh6? would be a mistake 21.�f7!! because of23 ...'Wxfl t! and after either 24.E\xfl The idea of sacrificing the rook on this tLlxe3 or 24.�xfl �xf7, the game becomes square is quite fa miliar in Scheveningen-type unclear again. structures. 23 ...eS 24.llJdS! LdS 2S.exdS hS 26.gxh6 By contrast, the straightforward 21.'Wxe6t �h8 �h8 leads nowhere.

21...llJffi The rook is immune: 21...�xf7 22.'Wxh7t �f8 23.E\fl t tLlf6 24.gxf6 leads directly to destruction. 22.�af1.! Bringing up the reinforcements. It turns out that the rook on f7 was just the lead scout fo r the main raiding party. 22... 'i9c4 desperate but at the same time tricky A defence. a bede f g h 27.�g7! 22 ...tLlx e3 is decisively met by 23.'Wh6!. Threatening 28.h7! among other things. Chapter 2 - Queen Breakthrough to h7 129

27 ... lbh7 28.'?ge6 26.lbd5 '?9a3 1-0

103. Andrei Kovalev -Vadim Skomorokhin

Leningrad 1989

a bede f g h 27.'?9d7!�h8 28.Ei:f1.ig7 29.Ei:f7 With the queen stranded on a3 and unable to assist the defence, Black is helpless and the game is effectively decided. a bed e f g h 24J'lf7! 29 ... lbc5 30.'?9xd6Ei:f8 Landing on a barren square, but penetrating to the heart of the position. If White can break through to h7, the black king will be subjected to a violent attack.

24 ...h5 Once again the rook is immune: 24 ...<;t>xf7 25.'1Wxh7t �g7 (25 ...<;t>e6 26.�h3#) 26 f1 t J''l <:/!;;e7 27.�xg7t <:/!;;dS 2S.Ei:f7 and White's attack is crushing.

25.Ei:xb7! sacrifice that is reminiscent of one that A Kasparov once used to defeat Shirov. In that game, the sacrifice of an exchange gave a bede f g h Kasparov long-term control over the light 31.gxg7! squares and a powerful, untouchable knight on Ye t again we see how important it is to d5. Here the idea is even stronger and White remove defensive pieces. In this game White already has a decisive attack. gave up both his rooks fo r the two enemy bishops, in each case to advance his attacking ambitions. 25••• lbxb7 White is also winning after 25 ...Ei:xb7 26.ctJd5. 31...�xg7 32.'?9xe5t �g8 33.lbf6t gxf6 34.'?9xb8t Ei:f8 35.'?9xb6 '?9cl 36.'?9xg6t Mating the Castled King 130

c;f{h837.�xh5t c;f{g7 38.g6 lLle6 39.�h7t 105. KalleKiik - RistoTu ominen c;f{f6 40.g7 ttJxg7 41.e5t c;f{xe5 42.�xg7t l3f6 Naantali 1996 finethematic attack by Kovalev. A 1-0

104. LadislavSalai - Pavel Blatny

Bmo 1990

a bed e f g h 36.l3xd6 36.f7t doesn't quite work: 36 ...Elxf7! 37.gxf7t'kt>xf7 38 .Wh5t ctJe739 .Wh7t

a bede f g h When the queen's breakthrough to h7 is supported by an advanced g-pawn, not only are there many mating patterns, there's always the danger fo r Black that the pawn will become a queen. White was able to use this promotion idea with a bit of tactical sharpness in this game.

a e 33.l3h8t! bed f g h "I don't need that rook. Thequeen and pawn 39 ...'kt>e8!! The queen is immune because of will be enough to finishhim off!" mate in two moves, and the black king can escape from fu rther checks via the d7 -square. 33 ...c;f{xh8 34.�h3t c;f{g7 35.�h7t c;f{fS 36.g7t c;f{e7 37.g8=�t 36 ...�xd6 37.�h5! White has an overwhelming material White must combine the threat to mate on advantage. h7 with the defence of the d I-square. 1-0 Chapter 2 - Queen Breakthrough to h7 131

40.g8=�t! l"i:xg8 41.�h7t 'it>e842 .�xg8# 8 39.gxf8=�t 7 White can also go into a winning queen ending with 39.�h8t '\t>£1 40.gxf8=�t 6 �xf8 41.�h7t 'it>xf6 42.�xb7. 5 39 ...�xf8 40.�g6t '\t>h841. £1 Black is totally tied down (for example, 4 41...�g7 loses to 42.�h5t) and White will 3 win by advancing his g-pawn. 2 38.'�h7t @fS39.g 7t @e8 1 Mter 39 ...'it>e7 the coronation is also bed f g h decisive: 40.g8=�t l"i:£141 .�hxf7# 37 .. Jixf6?a e Black collapses. Instead he could fo rce White 40.g8='*ltl"i:fS 41 .'*lhf7t! to work fo r the point with: 1-0 37 ...�d7! 1 06. MihailsBogorads - Dieter Wilke

Gladenbach 1999

4 a e f 38.g7! bed g h 3 38.f7t? 'it>g7 39.�h7t '\t>f6 and the king 2 escapes. There is no time fo r 40.g7 because of: 40 ...�d 1 t 41.'\t>h2�h 1# 1 38... �d6 a bede f g h Black cannot save his rook: 38 ...l"i:d8 What a terrifying position! It resembles 39.�h8t 'it>f7 the 1970s arcade classic, Space Invaders. Not surprisingly, Whitehas a decisive attack.

32.'*lf4 White plays fo r mate. In fact his advantage is so overwhelming that even offering the exchange of queens with 32.�f5 would have been completely winning fo r him: 32 ...�xf5 33.l"i:xf5 l"i:xb834.l"i: xc5+-

a e bed f g h Mating the Castled King 132

32 ...�xe6 33.�h6 The key to these positions with the queen This is simplest, although White can also on h7 and the defending king on f8 is clearly win by chasing the king up the board: 33.f7t to open the e-file - cutting offthe black king's mg7 escape route. 19.tiJd5! Decisive. 19 ...exd5 20.tiJd7t! neat tactical shot. Thequeen delivers mate A next move. 1-0

108. MaxEuwe - Robert Fischer

New Yo rk (1) 1957 a e bed f g h 34.i.e5t! mxg6 35.Wg3t Wg4 36.Wd3t mg5 37.Wd2t <;t>h4 (37 ...<;t>g 6 38.E1f6t 8 mh7 39.Wh6#) 38.i.f6t mg3 39.Wel t i.f2 7 40.Wxf2# 6

33 ..J:!xf6 5 33 ...Wd7 is quicklysqua shed by 34.f7t. 4

34.�h7t

a bed e f g h 107. Igor De Vita - Roberto Costantini The dangers of allowing a white queen to Montecatini Te rme 1998 reach h7 are aptly demonstrated by this game, in which the young Fischer was confidently dispatched. 16J:!ael Therook occupies the e-file,preparing to cut offthe black king's escape.

16 ... liJb4 17.�h7t

18.a3! tiJxc2

a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Queen Breakthrough to h7 1 33

White can win by fo rce with the more direct: 8 lS.Wxh7! The black pieces are doing an effective job 7 of smothering their own king. Black must 6 now unpin his knight to answer the threat 5 ofWhSt. lS... f6 4 lS... WcS 19.1Llb5 also leads to a terrible 3 attack, fo r example 19... Ei:dS 20.Ei:c1 WbS 21.Ei:c7 and Black can resign. 2

a bed e f g h 19.ttJcxd5! !hd5 19... ixd5 20.WhS# is the point; Black must keep the e-fileblocked.

20.ttJxd5 Mate or loss of the queen will fo llow. 1-0

a e 109. JesusNogueiras - Luis Esquivel bed f g h 19.ixf6! gxf6 20.WhSt! lLlgS Santa Clara 2004 2o ...igS 21.Wh6# 21.lLlg6t

7 18 ... '?Nxe7 19.'?Nxh7'?Ng5 This move loses material, but 19... Wd6 6 would not offer much solace either: 20.WhSt 5

2 8

1 7 6 a bed e f g h The Cuban grandmaster Jesus Nogueiras 5 had earlier sacrificed the exchange fo r good 4 attacking compensation. Now he increases the pressure with a powerful queen thrust. 3 2 17.'?NhS! i.e6 18.he7t?! 1

a bede f g h 134 Mating the Castled King

20.liJxd5! Sometimes a queen sacrifice will dismantle Thistrick, which we have seen before, gains the last line of the opponent's defences. In this a material advantage. case it might appear Black has survived the queen's breakthrough to h7, but he is in fo r a 20 ...f6 nasty shock. 20 ...j,xd 5 21.LOd7# 16.'?Nxg6t!! @xg6 17. .th5t@h 7 18 . .tf7t The black king is caught in the deadly 8 crossfire. 7 18... .th6 6

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a bede f g h 3 21.ttJf4! fxe5 22.liJxe6t �he6 23.'?Nh8t @f7 24.'?Nxa8 2 White is two pawns up with an ongoing 1 attack; the game is effectively over. a bed f g h 19.96t! @g7 20 . .txh6te 24 .. '!!b6 25.h4 '?Nd226. E:xe5 '?Nelt 27.@h2 Mate is fo rced: 20 ...�h8 21.j,xf8t �h4 '?Nf4t28.@h 3 E:e6 29.'?Nxb7t @f6 30.'?NO 22.Ei:xh4# 1-0 1-0

110. LillWe nzhe -Jan Hein Donner 111. MiguelQu interos - Buenos Aires 1978 Liliana FemandezNovas (01) Buenos Aires 1995

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a bed e f g h a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Queen Breakthrough to h7 135

In this example, White's queen sacrifice And now the beautiful 28.0-0-0#! does not lead directly to mate, but the black king finds itself at the mercy of White's minor 26.tlJe4t @f527.0! pieces.

20.�xg6t!! 8 Not the only way to win, but certainly the 7 most attractive. 6

20 ... @xg6 21.i.hSt @h7 22.i.f7t i.h6 5 23.g6t @g7 24.i.xh6t 4 Now the black king can crawl out to f6 , but there will be no respite from the stinging, 3 irritating minor pieces. 2 24 ... @f6 1

a bede f g h With :B:h5# threatened, Black now has to resort to desperate measures. Note how all Black's pieces are bottled up on the queenside, unable to take any part in the defence.

27 ... :B:xf7 28.gxf7 �xh6 29.f8=�t �f6 30.�g8 �g6 31.�hSt @f4 32.tlJe2t A possible finishis: 32 ...<;t>xf 3 33.:B:a3t�x e4 34.�xg6t j,f5 35.�g2# 1-0

a bed e f g h 2S.eSt! dxeS 25 ... �xe5 is mated in short order: 26.:B:h5t �d4 27.:B:h4t�d3

a e bed f g h Rook andBisho p Even when a pawn has been moved in front of the defending king to give it some air, it is sometimes possible to use a bishop to prevent the king's escape and then deliver mate on the back rank with a rook. Here the queen is sacrificed to set up the mating pattern: l.�xf8t!

a e bed f g h

Nunn - Fox, Bristol 1980 Nunn - Portisch, Reykjavik 1988

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a bede f g h a bed e f g h J. Polgar - Chilingirova, Thessaloniki (01) 1988 Villing - Storkebaum, Griesheim 1999

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a b c d e f g h a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Rook and Bishop 137

Pinto - Meyer, Dortmund 1999 Maksimenko- Misailovic, Yugoslavia 1994 8 8 8 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bede f g h Polzin - Vo loshin, Austria 2006 Paulsen - Morphy, New Yo rk 1857 @8 8 7 7

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a bed e f g h a b c d e f g h Anderssen - Suhle, Breslau 1859 Bevers - Kunisch, German 1996 y @) 7

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a b c d e f g h 138 Mating the Castled King

112. John Nunn - Terry Fox In order to avoid disaster, Black should have kicked away the white queen with 16... j,g 7!. Bristol 1980 17.'Wxf8t! Players like Nunn do not mIss such opportuni ties.

17 ...Wxf8 18 . .th6t Mate fo llows. This game provides a good demonstration of the perils of not completing your development. 1-0

113. Judit Polgar- Pavlina Chilingirova

Thessaloniki 1988 (01)

a bede f g h One ofJohn Nunn's strengths was in playing straightforward attacking chess, and here he takes advantage of a lead in development to put his opponent under pressure.

15J�e7! 'Wd6 16J�fe1 c5?? Black simply does not sense the danger.

Safeguarding the bank rank with 16... j,d7? looks plausible, but White could then strike from a different direction: 17.j,f4 'Wc6

a bed e f g h 14.E!:ael! Judit Polgar brings another piece to bear down on the black position. Black can now win a piece, but at the cost of fa tally weakening the dark squares around her king.

14... .L:c3 It is hard to give Black good advice here.

a e bed f g h Declining the material with 14... j,g7 also 18.E!:le5!! White threatens 19.E!:h5!, and leaves her facing a decisive attack. For 18... j,xe 5 19.j,xe5 leaves Black helpless to example: 15.j,c4 'W.xb2 16.ltJd5 95 17.ltJf6t prevent 'W.g7#. �h818.ltJxh5! gxh5 19.Wxh5t �g8 20.j,d3 f5 21.j,c4tand mates. Chapter 2 - Rook and Bishop 1 39

IS.bxc3 �xbS 114. John Nunn - LajosPortisch

Reykjavik 1988 8

a bed e f g h 16.�h6! a bede f g h The queen takes up position, with the 32J�e4! obvious threat of iLf6. With this simple move, White threatens 16... �f5 33.l'%h4 mg8 34.l'%g4t cj;>h8 35.Wg7#. 16.. .f6 also leads to mate: 32 .. J!:g8 Since 32 ...Wf8 loses to 33.Wxf6t, bringing the rook over is the only way to try and defend the h7-pa wn, but Nunn has a neat combination lined up.

a e 5 bed f g h 17.iLxf6! l'%xf6 18.l'%e8tmf7 19.Wf8# 4

17.�xf8t! 3 In such dominating positions, combinations 2 flow naturally: 17... mxf 8 18.iLh6t cj;>g8 1 19.1'%e8#

1-0 a bede f g h 33.�xh7t! Mate fo llows by fo rce: 33 ...mxh7 34.l'%h4t cj;>g7 35.iLh6tmh7 36.iLf8# 1-0 140 Mating the Castled King

115. Dieter Villing- Ulrike Storkebaum 116. Rodrigo Pinto - Gerd Meyer

Griesheim 1999 Dortmund 1999

a bede f g h a bed e f g h 26 ... .!lJh5?? 25 ..J:�e 6! 26... .te7 would have kept the game going. Although the queen and bishop are lined up impressively on the as-h 1 diagonal, there 27.YNxh5! seems to be no way through. By swinging White is alive to the tactical possibilities. the rook over to the kingside, Black aims to increase the pressure on the enemy defences. 27 ... �e7 At the same time, the rook lift sets a devious The point of the sacrifice is of course trap. 27 ...gxh 5 2S . .tf6#. 26.i.b3?? YNxf3!! Crunch! 8

7 27.d5 Taking the bait is also quickly routed: 6 27.gxf3 5

a bede f g h 28.i.f6t After 2S ...'it>gS 29.YNh6,mate fo llows. 1-0 a e bed f g h Chapter - Rook and Bishop 141 2

27... �g6t 28.Whl �xf3# 33.�xfSt

27.•. �g6 39.�xf6t

a bede f g h a bed e f g h The 19th century player Adolf Anderssen, a There would seem to be no way through, as contemporary of Paul Morphy, is famous fo r �h6 is met by... f6 , but there is a nasty surprise creating the Evergreen Game. He also showed in store fo r Black. good understanding of tactics in the current game. 24.lLlfS! This elegant knight leap is decisive. Black 18.�gl! must take measures to prevent the threatened Forcing Black's reply. mate, but in doing so, he loses material. 18... lLle8 19.Wfxg7t! lLlxg720.�x g7t

25.lLlxe7t Wfxe7 26.i.d6 Black could resign here, but perhaps out of inertia he struggled on fo r a few more moves.

26 ...Wfg7 27.i.xf8 28.�d�xfS e1 g5 29.WffS Wfg630.Wfxg6thxg631.�e8i.c832.�le7i.fS 142 Mating the Castled King

The rook now has the g7 -pawn in its sights, 8 and it turns out that the black queen has no 7 suitable squares.

5 8

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1 4 3 a b c d e f g h 2U�g8t! 2 This double check is the key to the 1 combination, sacrificing one rook to enable the other to deliver mate. a bed e f g h 21...@xg8 22J�gl t Wlg523 Jhg5# 25 ...Wle5 After 25 ...Wf 6 26.ib2 the g7-pawn falls, 119. AndreiMaksimenko - while 25 ...Wh4 26.ig5 traps the queen. Nebojsa Misailovic 26. .ib2 Wlc5t 27. .id4.ie2 Yugoslavia 1994 A desperate last try.

After ...27 Wc6 the rook and bishop combine to deliver mate: 2S.2'hg7t�hS 29.2"1xf7tcj;JgS 30.2"1g7t cj;JhS31 .2"1g5t2"1f 6 32.ixf6#

28.2"1xg7t @h8

a bede f g h It is clear that by moving the e3-rook White can uncover an attack on the black queen, but at present there are no active squares available to the rook. The fo llowing move changes that.

23.f4! .ixf4 24.ltlxf4 Wlxf4 25.�g3! a bed e f g h Chapter - Rook and Bishop 143 2

29.l:l!g8t! 29 ...'it>xg8 30.1Wg3t leads to mate. 1-0

120. LouisPaulsen - PaulMorph y

New Yo rk 1857

7 a e bed f g h 6 20 ...f5 ! (20 ...�g 2t? 21.mgl �xf3t 22.1Wxg6 5 hxg6 23.d3 is not clear) 21.l'!dl �g2t 22.mgl �xf3t 23.mn �xdl Black has regained the 4 sacrificed material, while keeping a huge 3 attack. 2 20 ... ig2t 21.glix£3 t 22.fl

a bed e f g h 8 If Judit Polgar is the attacking queen of chess, then Paul Morphy was the first king. 7 There seemed to be something magical about 6 the way that his pieces would just glide into perfect positions. Here Morphy was able to 5 unveil an attacking masterpiece, making great 4 use of the active rook on e6. 3 17... Wfx£3 !! 2 A shocking and beautiful blow. Black's queen 1 sacrificeleaves the white monarch at the mercy of the black rooks and bishops. a bede f g h 22 ...ig2 t 18.gx£3 l:l!g6t 19.hlih3 22 ...l'!g2! is the fastest way to finish it off: Black already threatens mate by 20 ...�g2t 23.d4 l'!xh2 and then 24 ...l'!h l#. 21.'it>gl�xf 3#. 23.glih3t 20.l:l!dl?! Even quicker is: 23 ...�e 4t! 24.mn 20.l'!gl? is quickly mated after 20 ...l'!xg l t 21.'it>xgl l'!elt. The most resilient defence is offered by 20.1Wd3!, though even this fails against accurate play: 144 Mating the Castled King

This sacrifice is the key idea, though White can also play it a move later: 16.�e7 l:'!f7 17.l:'!xd5! l:'!xe7 18.l:'!xd6t <;t>f8 (l8... ie6 19.ixe6t gives White a decisive material advantage)

a e bed f g h 24 ...if 5! Black switches the angle of attack, as they would say in tennis, and mates with ...ih3#.

24.hlhf2 a e Now White can only avoid mate by giving bed f g h up his queen. 19.1:'!d8tl:'!e8 2o .ib4t c5 21.ixc5#

2s.WffI i.xfl 26J�xfl �e2 27.�al �h6 16 ...cxdS 17.i.xdSth8 18 .�e7! �g8 28.d4 i.e3 Black's pieces are all huddled on the back 0-1 rank, so it is hardly surprising that White has a Typically powerful play by Morphy - every mating combination. move had a purpose.

121. Joerg Bevers - SiegfriedKunisch

Germany 1996

a bed e f g h 3 19.i.xg7t! 2 Thefinish would be: 19... l:'!xg7 20.l:'!e8tl:'!g8 1 21.l:'!xg8# 1-0 a b c d e f g h 16.�xdS! KingsideFianchetto 8 7 Black will often castle kingside behind a fianchettoed 6 bishop, and this useful defensive piece generally makes his king harder to attack. However, if this bishop is removed, 5 then the fresh weaknesses that arise on the dark squares 4 can suddenly make the king extremely vulnerable. The 3

diagram shows a typical situation where the white queen 2 has penetrated to the h6-square and 1.£6will be fo llowed

by the white queen delivering mate on g7. a e bed f g h

DeJong -Westerveld, Netherlands 1993 Wagman - Astengo, Genoa 1986 M.

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 146 Mating the Castled King

T. Bjornsson- L. Weiss, Tel Aviv (01) 1964 Zhirnov - Zhukov, Kiev 2004 @) 8 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a bed e f g h Kalka- Van Beek, Holland 2005 Carvalho - Linskens, Montevideo 1954 @ 8 8 7 7

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a b c d e f g h a bed e f g h Chapter - Kingside Fianchetto 147 2

Mudrochova - Sedlakova, Bmo 1991 Kuligowski - L. Femandez, Caracas 1976 @ 8 7 7

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a bed e f g h a bede f g h 148 Mating the Castled King

122. Migchiel De Jong -Wim Westerveld 8 Netherlands 1993 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4

3 a bed e f g h 2 25 ...'?Nxb2?? 1 The obvious 25 ...ltJx c3! would have led to a perpetual check after 26.fxg6! hxg6 27.�e6! a b c d e f g h 24.£5! fxe6 28.iWxg6t mh8 29.iWh6t. Instead Black goes fo r more, a greedy strategy that backfires When all your pieces are well placed, horribly on him. then you must attack! White introduces the dangerous threat of iWh6 and �h3, fo llowed 26.f6! by mate. Black presumably only considered the line 24 ... ltJa4! 26.�h3 iWg7!. However, White's clever move cuts across Yo u should always try to defend actively if it this defensive plan and interferes with the is possible to do so. Thiswould appear to leave queen's retreat: 26 ...exf 6 27.�h3+- the king to its fa te, but in fact things are not 1-0 so clear. 123. G. Gusia - DraganBarlov The panicky 24 ...ltJd 7?, trying to bring the knight back to bolster the defences, would Berne 1980 have been much worse: 25.fxg6! (It might at first appear that 25.�xe7? is winning easily, but there is the effective rejoinder 25... �xc4! 26.fxg6 �xg4 27.gxh7t �xh7, and Black is hanging on.) 25 ...hxg6 26.�h3! �a8 27.iWh6 iWxb228 .iWh7tmf 8 29.iWh8tand Whitewins material.

25.'?Nh6!

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Kingside Fianchetto 149

20JWh6 ttJe6 124. Stuart Wagman - Corrado Astengo The knight rushes to the rescue of the black Genoa 1986 king and covers the vulnerable g7 -square, but the fragile truce will be undermined if White can remove this defensive piece. 8 21.ig4 d5 7 6

a bede f g h 15.'?Ne1! Focusing on the dark squares. Thekey is that the white queen has to reach h6.

a bed e f g h 15 ...@h8 16.ig5 '?Nd7 It may look as if Black is defending ... or is After this, Black has no way of resisting the there a way through? mating attack. However, even the attempt to use a knight 22JHS! to hold the fo rt on h7 can only end in fa ilure: A cold shower! Black might have fe lt that he I6.. .t2Jd7 I7.Wh4 Elg8 I8.Elf3 liJf8 I9.Jth6 was okay, as 22.Jtxe6? fxe6! enables his queen liJe5 20.Elh3 liJed7 21.Elfl Black is horribly to defend laterally. But now 22 ...gxf5 23.Jtxf5 cramped and can do little. 21...c6 22.Jtg4+ leads to mate, as does 22 ...Elf d8 23.Elh5 gxh5 White simply threatens to take on d7, then on 24.Jtf5, so Black resigned. f8 , fo llowed by mate on h7.

White had another way to win with 22.Elae 1, when Black has no good defence against the intended rook-lift with Ele3-h3. 1-0

a bed e f g h 150 Mating the Castled King

Theknight on e6 is preventing mate on g7, game is somewhat cramped and the knight but it's a precarious defence and with his next on eS casts an awkward impression. 15... :B:dS! move White overloads this knight. would have made a lot more sense, with the idea of taking on e5 and then plonking a knight on 19JU4! �g8 d4, freeing his position. For example: 16.tt:lg4 19... tt:l xf4 20.Vffg7# dxe5 17.fxe5 tt:ld4! 1S.tt:lxd4 :B:xd4 and matters are fa r from clear. 20.Wfxh7t The rook was drawn to gS, where it 16.tLlgS! .ixgS 17.fxgS g6 contributes to the smothering of its own king: Saddling himself with a terminal weakness 20 ...c;t>xh7 21.:B:h3# on f6 , but it is already difficult to suggest 1-0 anything better, as White will fo rce this concession at some point anyway.

125. NeilFairclough - G. Laroche 17... a5 1s.Vffh5! g6 19.Vffh4 �a6 20.tt:lg4 and Thessaloniki 1 988 (01) White's initiative is unstoppable.

8 18.lLlg4! as 19.Wfe3 'kt>h8 20.Wfh3 �g8 21.Wfh6 Wfe7 22.�f4 WffS 23.Wfh3 i.a6 7 24.lLlf6! 6 Theknight has finally landed on f6 , and the black kingside can no longer be defended. 5

4 24,..tLlxf6 24 ... :B:g725.:B: h4 is no better. 3 2 2S.gxf6 .ixd3 1 Mter 25 ... h5 26.:B:h4 �xd3 27.cxd3, Black is defenceless against the threat of :B:xh5 leading t a bede f g h to mate. White demonstrates that the knight on d1 is fa r from redundant: 8 Is.lLlf2! 7 Heading fo r e4 with a dangerous initiative, which encourages Black's next move. 6 5 IS,..dS? By closing the centre in this way, Black takes 4 all the tension out of the position, effectively 3 offering White a free hand to attack on the kingside. 2 1 Black's cause is fa r from hopeless, even if his a bede f g h Chapter 2 - Kingside Fianchetto 151

26JWxh7t! �xh7 27.!!h4t 20.e5! 27 ...�h6 28.!!xh6# White shows good understanding of the 1-0 initiative! This makes way fo r the knight to come to e4. 126. Tomas Bjomsson - Leon Weiss

Tel Aviv (01) 1964 20•.• dxe5 Unfortunately fo r Black there is little better:

20 ...�f8 21.�xf8 Ei:gxf8 22.exd6 leads to an easily won endgame fo r White.

20 ...d5 21.c5! and the knight is trapped in rather amusing fashion.

21.lLle4 Thequeen and knight are a well known and highly feared attacking combination in chess. It's considered that they can even be superior to a queen and rook in many attacking situations. And with the pawn on f6 , the queen and a bed e f g h 16.f4! lLlb6? knight become even more deadly. A serious mistake, after which White's 21...'?Nf8 kingside attack plays itself. And now the coup de grace:

It was imperative to hold up the white f- pawn, 22.lLlg5! either with 16.. .f6 or the more risky 16... f5 !? 22 ...�xh6 23.lLlxf7# 1-0 17.£5!.id7 17... gxf5 18.�g5t �f8 19.exf5 �d7 20.f6 is 127. Anatoli Vaisser - Karin Brulhart also hopeless. Cannes 1990 18.f6t�h8 19.'?Nh6!!g 8

a bede f g h a bed e f g h 152 Mating the Castled King

A pawn on f6 can be a real thorn in Black's 128. Arkadius- Ka1ka Lucien Beek side, and may enable any number of mating van Holland 2005 finishes. Such is the case here, as the gifted attacking player Vaisser uses this pawn to set up a mating attack.

20.lLlh7! Making full use of the dominant pawn on f6 .

White could also sacrifice the knight with 2o.lLlxf7!,when both 20 .. J''1xf7 21.j,xg6 and 20 ...'it>xf7 21 .iWg5:1'1g8 22 .iWh6 leave the black king too exposed to survive.

20•. J�e 8 20 ...�xh7 21.iWxh5t �g8 22.j,xg6 a bed e f g h terminates proceedings. White would like to play lLlg5 fo llowed by iWh7t, but he must first give extra protection 21.Wfg5! ttJe6 22.Wfh6Wfb6 to the f6 -pawn. 27.:1'1afl! 8 Saving the knight with 27.lLla4 would give Black a crucial tempo fo r the defence: 7 27 ... :1'1b7! 28.:1'1afl j,e2! 29.lLlg5 (29.:1'11f2 6 lLlg4-+) 29 ...j,xf 6 30.iWh7t �f8 31.:1'1xf6 j,xfl and the f7-pawn is sufficiently defended. 5

4 27••• lLld7 Aft er 27 ...bxc3 28.lLlg5 j,xf6 29.:1'1xf6, the 3 threat ofiWh7tfo llowed by :1'1xf7t is crushing. 2

1 28.:1'1xg4 �xf629.:gxf6! lLlx f6

a bede f g h Realizing that 23.lLlg5 leads quickly to mate, Black resigned. 1-0

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Kingside Fianchetto 153

30Jhg6t! fxg6 31.�xg6t 24.�xg7! i'!xg7 25.Wi'xh6 i'!h7 26.i'!g3t 'it>h8 Mter 31...�h8 32.liJxf6, the threat ofWi'h6# (26 ...i'!g7 27.i'!xg7t! Wi'xg7 28.Wi'e6t 'it>h8 can only be p'revented by Black giving up his 29.i'!O also wins fo r White) 27.Wi'f6t i'!g7 queen. 28.i'!f5! White will win the queen by fo rce. 1-0 24.�xg6t! hxg6 129. AlexandrZhirnov - Sergei Zhukov 24 ...i'!g 7 changes little: 25.i'!xh7! i'!xg6 26.i'!h8# Kiev 2004 2S.i'!h8#

130. Norbert Thomas- AlexanderMatzies

Griesheim 2000

4 a bed e f g h Thecurrent position doesn't strictly speaking 3 involve a fianchetto, but by attacking the h 7- 2 pawn, White tempts the g-pawn fo rward to set 1 up a standard mating pattern.

a bede f g h 23J!h3! g6? 2SJ&xh7t!! @xh7 26J'�h4t .ih6 27.lLlgst Mt er this the way fo rward fo r White is clear. @g8 28J'�xh6 Despite only having one piece fo r the queen, The only way to create any practical problems, White's rook, knight, and bishop combine although it is still losing, was by 23 ...h6 !. White perfectly to fo rce mate. would then have to findthe continuation:

a e 1 bed f g h

a bede f g h 154 Mating the Castled King

28 ...@f8 29.�h 8t c!lJg8 30 . .!iJh7# 8

131. Flavio Carvalho- Rogelio Linskens 7

Montevideo 1954 6

8 4

7 3

6 2

5 1 4 a bed e f g h 3 33 ...c4! Another alternative that needed checking 2 was the blunt pushing of the d-pawn, although 1 this only seems to lead to a draw: 33 ...d2 34.�h4! dl=�t 35.Ei:xd l Ei:xdlt a bede f g h Despite the strong bishop on f6 , White 36.mh2 Ei:cd8! 37.Ei:xh7Ei:8d2t 38.m g3 is objectively in a lost position, two pawns This appears hopeless fo r Black, as it looks down. His only practical chance is to play as if the white king will escape on the dark fo r an attack, and hope that his opponent squares, but he has a saving resource: miscalculates somewhere.

32.�h6 White is now threatening to win with 33.�h4, but Black can counterattack the exposed white king.

32 ...� d4! Correctly going fo r the win.

Black could have fo rced a draw here with a e f 32 ...ii.xg4 ?! when White has two choices, both bed g h 38 ...Ei:g 2t!! 39.mxg2 leading to a draw by perpetual check: 33.�h4 39.mf4 Ei:fl t 40.mg5?? would be rather c4! 34J'hh7 �c5t 35.mfl ii.e2t= or 33.�xg4 careless: 40 ...Ei:f5# �xh6 34.�xd7 �e3t 35.mg2 �e2t 36.mg3 39 ...�a8t 40.mf2 Ei:fl t! 41.mxfl �f3t �e3t=. 42.me1 �e3t= 33.h3 34.@h2 The only practical chance; anything else would be strongly met by ...�c5 !. Chapter 2 - KingsideFianchetto 1 55

34 ...cxb3 35.@g3 �c2 Black is quickly mated: 37 ...c;t>xh7 38 .iWh4t 35 ...b2! is also strong: 36.�d1 �cl 37.iWh4 c;t>g8 39.iWh8# 1-0 Despite the dubious objective merits of the white attack, Black still had to step very carefully, which he fa iled to do.

132. Helena Mudrochova - Ivana Sedlakova

Bmo 1991

a e 7 bed f g h 37 ...iWc5 ! 38.Ei:xh7 Ei:xg4t! Perhaps Black 6 missed this resource in his calculations. 39.hxg4 iWe3t 40.c;t>h2 Ei:c2t Black's attack 5 gets there first. 4

36.�gl 3 2

1 8 bed f g h 7 a e Thewhite queen is of course immune because 6 of the mate on h8, but Black is threatening to 5 kill the attack by exchanging queens on g4. White uncorks a sparkling interference move. 4

3 25.�e4!! By preventing ...iWxg4 t White paves the way 2 fo r the final attack. 1 25.tLle4! is also winning, but the game a bed e f g h 36 ...Y!! a8?? continuation is more incisive. Oh dear! The queen abandons its crucial 25 ...dxe4 defensive role. Neither 25 ...Ei:xc3 26.Ei:xh6! nor 25 ...�g7 26.Ei:xh6! is any better. Black would still be winning easily after 36 ...d2 37.iWh4Ei:d3t 38.<;t>f 4 iWc5!, when it is the white king that is fa cing mate. 156 Mating the Castled King

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a bede f g h a bede f g h 27.�h4! 24 ...�xd3 White threatens 2B.l"i:hBt�xhB 29.WfxhB#, Black is also mated after 24 ...�xh 6t and both 27 ...�xh6 2B.Wfxh6 and 27 ...�xf 6 25.Wfxh6tand 26.WfhB#. 2B.Wfxf6 also lead to mate. 1-0 24 ...l"i:xc2 t hopes fo r 25.<;t>xc2? �xd3t with counterplay, but is coolly refuted by 25.<;t>dl! 133. Giulio Lagumina- Guiseppe Agnello with mate to fo llow.

Catania 1993 25.�h8#

134. Adam Kuligowski - Luis Femandez 8 Caracas 1976 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3 a bede f g h In this rather wild position, White's attack 2 gets there first. 1

22.�h4 l"i:xb2 a bed e f g h A desperate lunge. Playing �f4-h6 is the right idea, but it is important to time it precisely. 23.�h7t

The most accurate, fo rcing the enemy queen 135. Robert Aschenbrenner- Herbert Benda to an unfortunate square. Austria 2002 20.j,h6�e8 21.Wxg7 Wxe4 is less convincing. Even though White is better, the active black 8 queen will make it difficultfo r him to convert the advantage. 7 6 20 .. JWxg2 21.�h6! 5

a bede f g h If the bishop on g7 is pinned against the king, White can often use this device to fu rther his attacking ambitions.

17.�f6! Exploiting the passive position of the black a bed e f g h 21...cxb4? pieces, Whitesig nals the finalattack. Losing at once, but even the superior 17... �xh6 18.B:xe7! 21...�e8 22. Wxg7 looks lost fo r Black. A beautiful final stroke. Both 18... Ei:xe7 and Compared with the variation in the previous 18... Wxe7 run into 19.Wh8#. note, the black queen is out of play here. 1-0 Rook andKnight A knight on f6 , imprisoning the enemy king, can lead to many well-known mating patterns, and works very well in combination with a queen or rook. In this case, 1.l"i:e8 leaves Black helpless against the threat of l"i:g8#.

a e bed f g h

Holland - Shaw, London 1995 N. Medvegy - Hilmer, Stockerau 1992

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Rodgaard - Touzane, Internet 2003 Borocz - Scerbin, Budapest 2000

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Chapter - Rook and Knight 159 2

Op den Kelder - Goudriaan, Hengelo 2003 Kosic - Filipovic, Igalo 1994

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Karpov - Salov, Linares 1993 Sunye Neto - Kasparov, Graz 1981

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 160 Mating the Castled King

136. Christopher Holland -John Shaw 27 ...Wh 3t!! 28.�xh3 ltJg5t 29.�g2 E'i:xf2t 30.cj;>gl ltJh3# London 1995 27... �xh3t! 8 Mate fo llows: 28.cj;>xh3 E'i:h4t 29.cj;>g2 E'i:h2# 0-1 7

6 137. John Rodgaard - OlivierTo uzane

5 Internet 2003

a bede f g h Queen sacrifices are always a pleasure to play. From this position fu ture grandmaster John Shaw finishes offhis opponent in style.

26... �h6 ! 26 .. .'IWg4! is equally strong, with the nasty threat: 27 ...Wh3 t! 28.cj;>xh3 E'i:h4t 29.cj;>g2 a bede f g h E'i:xh2# The idea of putting the king on hI in the mainline King's Indian only works if White 27.h3 plays accurately. Black's kingside attack is often Missing the fo llowing sacrifice, but White's so powerful that sacrifices in front of the king task was hopeless in any case. are common.

The alternative 27.E'i:h1 takes his eye off the 23 ...�xh2 t! 24.i>xh2 lLlg3t f2 -point, and allows an even more spectacular Theknight and rook combine perfectly. finish: 25.i>gl�hl#

a e bed f g h Chapter - Rook and Knight 161 2

138. Nora Medvegy- Frank Hilmer 26.tiJf6! The knight here could be described as an , Stockerau 1992 octopus. It creates multiple threats, the main ones being to take on e8 or h5.

26 ...i.c5 As so often in these opposite castling scenarios, it's all about who gets the attack in first. Black would rather not spend time on this slow move, but he has no choice.

After 26... a4 the simple 27.tLlxe8t wins fo r White, as he breaks through on O.

Removing the knight is no good either: 26... .ixf 6 27.gxf6t Wg8 28:\M!h6and mate on a bed e f g h g7 is looming. Black has threats on the b2-square, but White can end the game immediately, 27.gxh5! Breaking open the h-filesignals the end fo r 24JWxh7t! Black. Forcing mate - the double check proves lethal. Sacrificing the knight on the same square also leads to mate: 27.tLlxh5t! gxh5 28.Wf6t cj;Jg8 24 ...li>xh7 25.tiJf6 t Ii>h8 26J:�h3t 29.E!:xh5 and now either 29 ...tLlg 6 30.E!:fh3 or 1-0 29 ...tLlh 7 30.E!:xh7! cj;Jxh731 .E!:h3t.

139. IstvanBorocz - Dmitrij Scerbin 27 ...f!.e7 Budapest 2000 Resigning himself to the inevitable.

27 ...gx h5 28.tLlxh5t Wg8 29.tLlf6t cj;Jg7 30.Wh4 is also a quick kill.

2 a bed e f g h 1

a bede f g h 162 Mating the Castled King

2SJ3hS! White threatens Ei:g8#, and 28 .. .'jrxh8 also 8 leads to mate: 29.Wfh4tc;f;>g 7 30.Wfh6# 7 1-0 6

140. Joram Op den Kelder - 5 Etienne Goudriaan 4 Hengelo 2003 3

2 8 1 7 a bede f g h 6 19.i.xh7! 5 Even more direct than 19.Ei:h3which should also be winning. White fo rces mate in elegant 4 fa shion. 3

19•.• llJxh7 20.Wfxh7t! <;t> xh7 21.Ei:h3# 2 141. Anatoly Karpov -Valery Salov

a bed e f g h Linares 1993 17.Wfh4 The brave knight has buried itself on e7, deep into enemy lines, like a kind of sleeping assassin, waiting to help deliver the killer blow to the enemy king. Black has to be careful of all kinds of mating patterns connected to this intrepid steed. White takes aim at h7 with the queen.

17... Ei:eS None of the alternatives offer any hope. Black is crushed in all variations, fo r example: 17 ...lLlx e4 18.�xe4 f5 19.1Llg6t c;f;>g820.� d5t Ei:O2l .lLle7t <;t>f8 22.Wfxh7 lLlf6 23.�xf6+- a bed e f g h We join the game in time to see Karpov IS.Ei:e3! launch the finalassaul t. Increasing the pressure on h7. White can also win spectacularly with 2l.lLld5!,when it 26.g6! is clear that the f6 -knight is overloaded. When a strategic genius like Karpov makes sacrifices, you know you are in trouble. With IS.•. i.b7 this thrust he opens up the kingside when Chapter - Rook and Knight 163 2

Black isn't prepared fo r it; most of his pieces 31...tLlg6? are mere spectators on the queenside. The Faced with overwhelming threats, Salov pawn sacrificealso clears the way fo r a white blunders. However, Black was in a hopeless knight to reach g5. situation anyway, fo r example: 31...�e7 32.C2Jxh7! Wxh7 33.�e4t Wg8 34.�h3! and a 26 ...fxg6 massacre of the black king beckons. Of course 26 ...hxg6 is quickly dispatched by 27.�h4t Wg8 28.tLl g5. 32.tLlf7t Wg8 33.YNxg6!

27.£5!gxf5 28. �xf5 tLld7 29.�df1 8

7 8 6 7 5 6 4 5 3 4 2 3 1 2 bed f g h 1 a e Mter 33 ...hxg6 34.�h4, Black cannot

a bed e f g h prevent �h8#. Increasing the pressure down the f- file. 1-0 White has in mind ideas such as �f7and C2Jg5- Another good demonstration by Karpov of e6. how to play controlled attacking chess.

29 ••• tLle5 30.�5f4 YNb631. tLlg5! 142. DraganKosic - BrankoFilipovic

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a b c d e f g h 164 Mating the Castled King

16.g6! Very strong. With the queens exchanged, 8 Black may have fe lt quite safe, but now fresh 7 avenues are opened, and the black king is extremely vulnerable to the combined power 6 of the rook, bishop and knight. 5

16... hxg6 17.ltJh4! 4 Thisseemi ngly eccentric knight lunge to the 3 side of the board is actually an important link 2 in the attacking chain. White has a simple but deadly threat - to take on g6 and deliver mate 1 with the rook on h8. a b c d e f g h White threatens the e-pawn, and ensures 17... lLlf618 .ltJxg6 that the pressure is unrelenting. This is a good This wins the game, as Black must lose tip fo r when you are in a situation when you material to stave offmate. have gained material; instead of just resting on your laurels, the most effective way to finish 18... lLlh7 your opponent offqu ickly is to keep up the The only way to prevent mate, but now pressure, to keep playing with vigour and White brings up reinforcements. aggression.

19.�b3! 21...�e8 22.�b7! ltJf823.ltJg 5 �e7 24.�b8 g6 25.lLlh7 1-0 8 7 143. JaimeSunye Neto - GarryKasparov

6 Graz 1981 5

a b c d e f g h 19... �d7 Again fo rced, to prevent �bh3, but now White happily "cashes in his chips" by grabbing the exchange.

a bed e f 'g h Chapter - Rook and Knight 165 2

When an attacking player of the charisma Closing the trapdoor on the white king. and calibre of Kasparov has his pieces Kasparov said that he couldn't remember swarming around your king, you can almost seeing such a mating configuration before. fe el the aggression coming in waves from his body language. Yo u might not see the finish yourself, but you can tell it's coming by the 8 way he bears intensely down on the board. 7 4 1...ttJf3t! 6 Winning by fo rce. 5 Black can also reverse the order of his moves: 4 41...�xe3! 42.fxe3 (or 42.Wxe3 lZlf3t-+ ) 3 42 ...lZlf 3t and now 43.<;t>hl transposes to the next note, while 43.<;t>f1 is the game. 2 42.�fl 1

After 42.cj;Jhl Kasparov had prepared the a bede f g h brilliant combination: 42 ...he3 !! Anyway!

43.fxe3 43.Wxe3 is no better: 43 ...l'!d l t 44.<;t>e2 l'!el#

a e bed f g h 5 42 ...�xe3 !! 43.fxe3 (43.gxf3 �xf4 is also 4 hopeless; Black's threats include ...e3 as well as simply ...2'l:xf2 fo llowed by ...l'!h2#.) 3 43 ...l'!dxg2 ! 44.lZlxg2 l'!g3! 2

a bede f g h 43 ..J�dx g2! 44J&c3 44.lZlxg2 10ses the queen to 44 ...lZld 2t.

44 ..J3h2! White cannot create any meaningful threats, so Kasparov calmly tightens the vice.

a e bed f g h 166 Mating the Castled King

a bede f g h 45.tLle2 @h7 46.'Wc8ghl t 47.@t2tLld 2 White has no good way to defend against ...2"1f 1#. For example: 48.tLlf4 2"1h2t 49.c;t>e1 2"1gl# 0-1 Mate in the Corner 8 7

6 Sometimes White may shore up a weak h2-pawn by playing his king into the corner and retreating his bishop 5 to the gl-square, but this leaves the king vulnerable to any 4 check on the long diagonal: 1...'\Wxf3t! 2.B:xf3J.. g2# 3

a e bed f g h

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a bed e f g h a b c d e f g h Nikolaiczuk- Sandmeier,Wi ttlich 1980 8 8 7

a bed e f g h 168 Mating the Castled King

144. Sergei Krivoshey- Mikhail Golubev This attempt to shore up the f3-pawn is a horrible stumble. Internet 2004 White should have defended against the threats 8 with 37.1Wc6!, when 37 ...exf 3 38.Elxf3 ttJxf3 39.1Wxf3 would be unclear. If Black instead 7 tries 37 ...Eld3 38.fxe4 f3 , then 39.Elxg3! 1Wxfl 6 40.ttJe5 Eldl 41.Elxg5t �xg5 42.1Wg6t cj;Jh8 43.1Wh5t leads to a draw by perpetual check. 5 4 37 ...1Wxg2 t! 3 Now it's fo rced mate after: 38.<;t>xg2 Elxd2t 39.Elf2 (or 39.�f2 exf3t 40.cj;JgI ttJh3t 2 41.<;t>hl g2#) 39 ...exf3t 40.cj;Jhl (40.cj;Jfl 1 Eldl#) 40 ...g2t 41.Elxg2 fxg2# 0-1 a bede f g h It is very dangerous fo r White to allow a 146. Lyndon Gurr - David Okike black pawn to reach g3, because this sets up all kinds of nasry combinations. The pattern England 1999 in the diagram should be familiar to all King's Indian players.

30.. .'I�Yxg2t! 3Ut lxg2 .!iJh4t 32.<,tlhl g2# 145. LotharNikolaiczuk - Toni Sandmeier

Witdich 1980

a bed e f g h 35 ..J�x a7! Deflectingthe white queen from the defence of the f3 -pawn.

Black's kingside attack is so strong that he can even win with: 35 ...1Wg5 ! 36.Elxa8t �f8 37.Elxf8t <;t>g7 38.1Wa7t cj;Jh6 and White is a bede f g h 36... e4! helpless against the mate threats �n gl and g2. With a pawn already on g3, Black aims to bring another one to f3 . 36.'1Wxa7Wixf3 t! Overloading the poor rook: 37.Elxf3 �g2# 37 . .!iJd2?? 0-1 Mate on the h-file 8 7

6 Any opening of the h-file will more often than not lead to an extremely perilous situation fo r the black king. The 5 diagram shows one of the classical ways that mate can 4 occur on the h-file: 1.c!tle7t i>h7 2.�h3# 3

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 170 Mating the Castled King

147. HakanDegismez - Etem Durucay 148. RuedigerWo cke -Jens Wulff

Kusadasi 2004 Germany 1992

a bede f g h a bed e f g h Themating idea has quite a simple execution 13.h4! here. White's knight is already in place so all he Black must now find some way to meet the needs to do is bring a rook to the h-file. threat of g4-g5.

21.0-0! �xb5 13... c5 14.g5! hxg5? Whatelse? Rather suicidally, Black allows the h-file to be opened. 22J:'U3lLl f6 A desperate attempt to plug the hole on the 14 ...cxd4 is a much better defence. If White h-file. meets it with the simple 15.tLle2, retaining his threats on the kingside, then Black can sacrifice the f6 -bishop with 15... lLlc5!?, resulting in a thoroughly messy position.

15.hxg5 hd4

4 a bede f g h 23Jl:h3tlLlh 5 24Jhh5t 3 24.1Wxh5t! also mates. 2 1-0 1

a bed e f g h Chapter 2 - Mate on the h-file 171

White now has the simple plan of Certain openings are much more likely to transferring his queen to the h-file. lead to mating scenarios on the h-file than others. One such opening is the King's Indian 16JWf4! ge8 Attack, which was made famous by some It may look as if Black has everything under model games of Bobby Fischer. We'll come control, and is ready to fleewith his king in the back to this opening at various points during event of the direct 17.iWh4. But he has missed this book, but suffice to say that White's plan an important tactical detail... is generally very thematic and straightforward - moves like h4-h5, lilfl -h2-g4 and j,f4 come 17J!h8t! Wxh8 18.'?Nxf7 naturally and easily. In the current position Black is completely cramped, particularly by the pawn on g5. All White has to do is get 8 a rook to the h-file, and the attack should 7 quicklybr eak through. 6 20.�f3 5 White prepares �g2 fo llowed by Elhl.

4 Another way to clear the way fo r the rook is: 3 20.<;t>h2!? d4 21.lilf6! (21 .Elhl is also good fo r White, though 21...g6 22.iWh3 h5!? might 2 allow Black to struggle on) 21...gxf6 22.Elh1 1 Elg8 23.exf6 and White's attack is winning. One beautiful possibility is: 23 ...lilg 6 a bed e f g h Elh1 is coming, with mate. 1-0

149. Marcelo Cukier- ZoltanLehmann

Halle 1995

a e bed f g h 24.iWxh7t!! <;t>xh7 25.<;t>glt lilh4 26.Elxh4t <;t>g6 27.Elh6t <;t>f5 28.j,h3#

20. . . tLlg6 20 ...d4 looks a better attempt to interfere with White's plans, but after 21.j,e4 j,xe4 22.dxe4 White will soon bring a rook to the h-file. For example: 22 ...a3 23.<;t>g2 iWc6 a bed e f g h 172 Mating the Castled King

(23 ...ax b2 24.Ei:hl h6 25.lLlxh6! and the attack lLlxf4 t 24.gxf4 g6 25.\Wh4 fo llowed by lLlf6, crashes through) 24.lLlf6! gxf6 25.f3 Ei:g8 Ei:dhl etc. 26.Ei:hl lLlf8 27.gxf6 lLleg6

a e bed f g h 28.\Wxh7t!! lLlxh7 29.Ei:xh7t 'it>xh7 30.Ei:hl t a bed e f g h lLlh4t 3l.Ei:xh4t @g6 32.Ei:h6# At firstit looks as if there is no way through fo r White, but now came the coup de grace:

8 23.g6! 7 The final dagger in Black's heart: 23 ...fxg6 6 (23 ...lLlx g6 24.\Wxh7#) 24.\Wxh7t lLlxh7 25.Ei:xh7t 'it>xh726.Ei:h l# 5

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2 6 1 5 4 ,-=,/,'NN bed f g h a e ''''''' ' 21.@g2 Ei:g8 3 , ,." ",./ Although Black was in trouble anyway, there 2 seems something not quite right about his last couple of moves. It's almost as if he's playing a e bed f g h fo r a self-mate. An elegant mate. 1-0 22.�hl llJgffi Perhaps earlier Black thought he could defend here with 22 ...lLld f8 , but on reaching this position he probably realized that this would be met by the methodical and crushing build-up of pieces on the h-file: 23.Ei:h2! Chapter - Mate on the h-file 173 2

150. S. Gorzel - Renate Schmidt 17... i.xg5 Not surprisingly there is no realistic defence Germany 1993 available to Black. For example: 17... �f8

2 a e bed f g h 18.ttJg6t (Theprosaic 18.�hS wins of course,

a bed e f g h but somehow seems less elegant.) 18... hxg6 The black king is in a gruesome situation, 19.hS! Mate is unavoidable, yet again showing utterly surrounded and entrapped by its own the dangers of allowing your king to become army, while the white pieces buzz around entrapped on the edge of the board. angrily, threatening to land a lethal sting to the black king's heart. 18.hxg5 llJf8 19.96!

17.llJg5! Prising open the h-file,af ter which the white attack is totally overwhelming.

17.hS looks very strong, threatening ttJg6t, but Black can defend with 17 ... h6. White then retains a strong attack with 18.g4, but it is not nearly as convincing as the game continuation.

7 a bede f g h 6 The finish could be 19... ttJx g6 20.l::\xh7t c;iJxh7 21.�hS# or 19... �e7 20.gxh7 ttJxh7 5 21.ttJg6#. 4 1-0

a bed e f g h One of my attacking heroes Queen andKnight 8 7

6 Queen and knight can combine in many ways to fo rce mate, with this pattern being one of the most frequent. 5 Theknight discovery fo rces mate: 4 3

1.lt)h5t! l.liJe8t! is equally good; the important thing is 2 that it is double check, so that Black cannot interpose.

1...@g8 1...mh6 2.Wig7# 2.fig7# a e bed f g h

Thelen- Pachman, Prague 1943 Klaic - Lovric, Correspondence 1967

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Justen - Albrecht, Germany 2004 Mikenas - Schmitt, Brno 1931

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 176 Mating the Castled King

151. Bedrich Thelen- Ludek Pachman An attractive move, cutting off the king's escape route to make mate inevitable, although Prague 1943 the more brutal 33.'Wd6t! does the job too. 1-0 8 152. DedefJusten - HansAlbrecht 7 Germany 2004 6

5 8 4 7 3 6 2 5 1 4

a bede f g h 27.llJf6t

32.llJh5t

a b c d e f g h 33.d6

a bede f g h Chapter - Queen and Knight 177 2

Increasing the pressure to the maximum. 36.�xd8 �xd8 37.�g5! �f8 37 ...Eld7 does not bring any solace either: 32.. J�d8 33.tiJe2! 3S.�f6! Ele739.tLle 6+- Theknight heads fo r its dream square. Black has no pawn breaks or active play that can 38.lLle6! challenge White's large strategical advantage. The knight is simply too strong here; there is no defence. 33 ... ltk8

a bede f g h a bede f g h 38... �b4 34.lLld4!? 3S ...�c3 is no better: 39.Elc1 �f6 40.�xf6 Playing fo r activity. If White did not want (or 40.ElxcS+-) 40 ...Elxf 6 41.ElxcSt+- to sacrifice the c-pawn, he could play more conservatively with 34.:1'kl tLlb6 35.tLld4 tLld7 39.�c1! 36.tLlc6, which also leads to a great advantage White plays the final phase of this game fo r White. most accurately.

34 ...�xc4 35J�e8t �f8 39... lLlb6 35 ...ElxeS ?? is a blunder that loses the queen: 39 ...EleS 40.�f 6 �b7 41.Elc7+- 36.ElxeSt ElfS 37.ElxfSt cj;lxfS 3S.tLle6t

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a bede f g h a bed e f g h 178 Mating the Castled King

40JWe7! 28 ....td5 40 ...:8:£1 41.Wfe8tis mate next move. Trying to plug the holes. 1-0 28 ...lLlx b3 enables White to perform the 153. Pero Klaic- DusanLovric Dance of Death:

Correspondence 1967 8

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3 a e bed f g h 2 29.lLlh6t <;t>h8 30.lLlx£1t <;t>g8 31.lLlxg5! and mate can only be averted with ruinous material 1 losses.

a bed e f g h knight hopping between the h6- and £1- The only other reasonable choice was to give A squares more often than not spells doom fo r up the queen fo r a few pieces with: the black king. I like to call this the "Dance 28 ...c4 29.lLlh6t �h8 30.lLlx£1tWfx£1 of Death". Forced, as otherwise lLlxg5 wins. 31.Wfx£1cxb3 28.VNg6 common situation fo r Ruy Lopez-type A structures has arisen, with the white queen hovering menacingly around the black kingside. Black now has a difficult choice.

a e bed f g h 32.h4! This accurate thrust takes advantage of the fa ct that Black can hardly allow the h-file to be opened. 32 ...g4 After 32... gxh4 33.�xh4, a white rook will soon head fo r the open h-file, with a bed e f g h Chapter - Queen and Knight 179 2

catastrophic consequences fo r the black knight fo rk - rather a nice geometric variation! king. 33.hS! 34.g0! V!1e735 .i.h4!i.c7 And with hS-h6 coming, there is no way fo r Black to maintain an effective defensive blockade. 8 7 29.i.xd5 tLlxd5 30.tLlh6t @h8 31.tLlxf7t @g8 6 5

a bede f g h 36.Ei:d7! Overloading the beleaguered enemy queen and fo rcing a quick mate after 36... Wxd7 37.Ei:xf6. Another good example of how you should aim to use allyo ur pieces in an attack.

a bed e f g h 1-0 32.tLlxg5! White correctly calculates that Black will not 154. VladasMikenas - LudwigSchmitt be able to resist the second wave of attack. Bmo 1931 Te mpting, but nowhere near as strong was 32.etJh6t Wh8 33.j,xeS. White takes 8 advantage of the potential knight fo rk on £1, but this variation burns out to rough equality: 7 33 .. J::lxeS 34.etJ£1t Wg8 3S.etJxeS WxeS 6 36.exdS Wf6 37.Wc2°o 5

32.•. tLlf6 33.ge 3 i.d6 4 Now White can dismantle the opposing 3 king's defences with ease, but Black is already beyond the point of no return. 2 1 33 ...Ei:e7 34.Ei:B Wh8 3S.Ei:fS! Targeting the eS pawn. 3S ...Wc6 (or 3S ...etJc 6 36.j,h4! a bede f g h and White has the decisive threat of 37.etJh7! Despite the threatening nature of the white etJxh7 38.Ei:hS+-) 36.j,xeSWe8 37.Ei:xf6!Wxg6 pieces, Black could be fo rgiven fo r thinking 38.Ei:xg6 The bishop is taboo because of the that he has all bases covered in this position. 180 Mating the Castled King

However, White soon dispelled any such illusions.

20J�xc8! Forcing the knight's entry to f5 by the bluntest means available.

20 ..JUxc8 21.�f5 YNfS 22.�xh6t @h8 23.�xf'7t Theknig ht's Dance of Death is devastating.

27 ... @g8 24.�e5t @h8

a bede f g h 25.YNg5! The attack on the light squares is crushing.

25 ...YNc5 26 .YNh4t Mate fo llows: 26 ...tt'lh 7 27.tt'lg6# 1-0 Smothered Mate 8 7 One of the most famous mating finishes in chess is the 6 smothered mate, where the opposing king is smothered by its own pieces and a solitary check is enough to put 5 the poor monarch out of its misery. The most classical 4 smothered mate involves a queen and knight. 3

2 l.ttJOt �g8 2.ttJh6t! The key move. Only with the

knight on this square can we later fo rce the rook to go to a e bed f g h g8. 2.ttJe5t �h8 gets nowhere. 2 .•. �h8 3.W!g8t! :gxg8 4.ttJO#

Schnur - Thiemann, Recklinghausen 2002 Wang Vue - Najjar, Dubai 2005

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a b c d e f g h a bede f g h Yagupov - Khusnullin, Tula 1999

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a b c d e f g h 182 Mating the Castled King

155. EdmundSchnur - Sebastianlhiemann 19.. JiJb6? The knight goes the wrong way. Instead Recklinghausen 2002 19... ttJf 6! 20.ttJh6t �h8 would leave White unable to win, because the f6 -knight covers the g8-square and prevents the queen sacrifice. 8 i. � � ��" � 7 � ��r�f Y-,

''''' ' � 6".l�� .�� %� � %,,/� 5 �' _iVf� "',,�% �/""" 4 �� 3 "j;)% �� lIi �� fllf� �r� ��,� 2 �_�� f[j""% �ffj 1 � �.""'�= .�

a bed e f g h 16.�e4! When we're material up, it's generally a good a bede f g h idea to exchange material, as this makes the 20.llJh6t! @h8 21.�g8t! realization of the advantage much easier. Here 21.. .Elxg8 22. ttJ fl # White uses the "threat" of exchanging material 1-0 to set up the smothered mate. 156. Igor Yagupov - RafkatKhusn ullin 16... �h5 17.g4! Ye t again we see how important it is to keep Tu la 1999 up the pressure when we have the advantage. This sharp lunge overloads the black queen, which cannot now defend fl and h7 at the same time.

17... �h4 18.ll:H7t! The black rook on f8 is also overloaded, unable to defend both the a8-rook and the fl square.

18... @g 8 19.�d5? AllowingBlack a defence. It was important to first control the f6 -square with 19.j,g5! 'lMrh3, and only now 20.'lMrd5. Black would have to a bed e f g h "take his medicine" with 20 ...Elxfl 21.'lMrxa8t When we think in terms of good attacking Elf8 22.'lMre4,but in that case he'd simply be an chess, it's often about having a good fe el exchange down and hopelessly lost. and understanding, to see which are the key defensive pieces fo r the opponent, and how Chapter - Smothered Mate 183 2 best to remove them. This is exactly what 157. WangYue - Ahmad Najjar White does with his next move. Dubai 2005 22.ixe4! Simple and decisive. White removes the 8 knight on e4, the only piece which was holding the whole fragile black position together. 7 6 22.Elxe4! is an equally good way to remove the knight. White wins after 22 ...Wxe6 23.ixg7t, 5 while 22 ...fXe4 leads to the same mate as in the 4 game: 23.tDg5Wg6 24.Wxh7t! Wxh7 25.tDf7# 3 22 ...ixe4 2 After 22 ...Wxe6 23.ixf5, Black must give 1 up his queen to avoid mate. a bed e f g h 22 ...ixe5 is another route to the mate that 15.ixflt! occurs in the game: 23.tDg5 Wg6 24.Wxh7t Chinese players are renowned fo r their great Wxh7 25.tDf7# tactical abilities, and Wang Yue, despite his preference fo r a positional style, is no different. He does not miss the chance to drive the black king into the open, where it is exposed to the full power of his fo rces. Black's main problem is that his minor pieces are so congested that they simply trip over each other, offering little protection to the king.

15... i>xfl 16.�g5t The correct move order, as it cuts down Black's defensive possibilities.

16.Wb3t? would be inaccurate: 16... ie6 17.tDg5t �g6! 18.tDxe6 tDxe6 and if White takes the e6-knight, his own knight on c3 hangs. a bed e f g h 24.Wxh7t! Wxh7 25.�f7# 16... i>g8 17.Wb3t 184 Mating the Castled King

a bed e f g h 17... i.e6 17... <;t> h8 leads to the famous smothered mate which we have already seen: 18.ttJf7t <;t>g8 19.ttJh6t <;t>h820 .1Wg8t ttJxg8 21.ttJf7#

17... ttJd5 does not help either: 18.ttJxd5 �xg5 19.ttJe7t <;t>h8 20.1Wg8#

18.liJxe6 The combination has been calculated to perfection by Wang Yue, and he now regains the sacrificed material with an easily winning position.

18... liJxe6 19.Wixe6t �h8 20.Wib3 �ad8 21.i.f4 �d7 22.h3 lLlhS 23.i.h2i.gS 24 .�e1 �ed8 2S.lLle4 i.e7?26.Wif7! lLlf6 27. liJxf6 1-0 Two Rooks 8 7

6 If there are open lines towards the defending king then two rooks may deliver mate on the edge of the board. In 5 this example, the queen is sacrificed open up the king: 4 l.Wfxh7t�xh7 2.:Sh 2# 3

a e bed f g h

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a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h Khalifman- Huzman,Tas hkent 1987

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a b c d e f g h 186 Mating the Castled King

158. JuditPolgar - Lars80 Hansen

Vej strup 1989

a bed e f g h 32.cj;lh4!? Wixg2?? Seemingly confused by the bold king march, Hansen produces a shocking blunder. a bede f g h Tw o rooks on the seventh rank are a very 32 ...E!:e4 t 33.';t>g3 E!:e2 would have enabled powerful attacking duo, and often spell great Black to make a draw by repetition. danger fo r the enemy king, as is the case in the current game. Judit Polgar is one of the most 33.Wig7t!! impressive attacking players of our time and Take that! The poor black king will be her ability to break down even the sturdiest of mated by the two rooks, with the white bishop defences is striking. and king also playing active roles in the final mating attack. 29JH3! Aiming at the f7-pa wn. With her usual accurate calculation, Judit has seen that White's attack is a little more dangerous than Black's, though with accurate play the game should end in a draw.

29•.• Wiglt 30.cj;lg3 g6 31.Wixh6�e 2 With this move Black signals a sudden counterattack, but Judit is alive to all the demands of the position, and she now uses her king as an attacking weapon!

a bed e f g h After 33 ...<4?x g7 34.E!:fxf7t,the black king is mated whichever direction it runs: 34 ...<;t>h6 35.�h7# or 34 ...<4?g8 35.E!:g7t <4?h8 36.E!:h7t <4?g8 37.�bg7#. 1-0 Chapter - Two Rooks IS7 2

159. AlexanderKhalifman 29.:gfg3 :gxg4 30.Wxg4 leads to mate. AlexanderHuzman

Tashkent 1987

a bed e f g h 29.�xh7t! Thefinish would be 29 ...<;t>xh7 30.:gh4t and a bed e f g h 26.tiJf5! 31.:gg3#. I imagine that Khalifman, who later became 1-0 FIDE Wo rld Champion, had already seen the mate at this point. It is important to control as 160. Bakalec-Viktor Shishkov many squares as possible on the kingside, and Dnipropetrovsk 1966 exchanging offthe light-squared bishop helps do this.

26 ...ixfS 27.exfS �d4? Sadly fo r Black, he is completely devoid of any counterplay.

27 ...:ggS may have been rejected by Huzman as it drops a pawn fo r nothing to 2S.Wxf7. However, at least he would have been able to stave off mate, albeit with a pretty horrible position: 2S ...:gdf S 29.:gxgSt :gxgS 30.ltJe4 WdS±

bed f g h 28J�g4 ic5 a e Sometimes we have to think outside the Huzman, who was one of the last people box - fo rget about the material and decide to defeat Kasparov, must have seen the finish how best to use our pieces to fo rce mate. All coming by this stage, but there is precious little White'spie ces occupy ideal attacking positions he can do about it. and it's now time fo r the final breakthrough. But where? It seems like Black has everything It is too late fo r 2S ...:ggS , because then defended. If we take on g6, Black is ready to 188 Mating the Castled King recapture with the f7 -pawn when his rook will then be defending h7. So we need to be a little more persuasive ...

26.VNxh7t!! A beautiful sacrifice, allowing the white rooks to take complete control of the h-and g-files.

26•.• @xh7 27.hxg6t @g7 27 ... mg8 28.gxf7#is a nice mate.

a bede f g h 28.gxf7tttJg 5 29.fxe8=tLlt! Even more effective than promoting to a queen. 1-0 Chapter 3

Pawns and Pieces

This chapter is all about examining the two classical methods of attacking the castled king, with pawns or pieces, and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Clearly the more straightforward method is to attack with the pieces, simply because that tends to be blunter and quicker, and such attacks may often be based on pure calculation. Attacking with pawns requires a subtlety that draws more heavily on intuition. Are those pawns near the opponent's king dangerous or can he easily beat offthe attack? Such questions are often none too easy to answer, and a player's success or fa ilure often depends on how well he is able to judge the chances of such an attack coming off.

Attacking with the pieces Some players seem to have an innate ability fo r attacking play. Theyhave an uncanny knack fo r sensing when their opponent's king is in danger. When we think of great attacking players, Tal springs most readily to mind. However, one of the games that made the greatest impression on me when I was younger was the fo llowing attacking tour de fo rce by the greatest player in history, Garry Kasparov. When I first saw this game in the newspaper as a 14-year-old, I was astonished by the attacking imagination shown by Kasparov. I had this vision of world championship matches being dominated by stuffy old men playing insipid chess, but Kasparov seemed to be the antithesis of that. Here was someone who was playing with complete freedom, sacrificing his pieces with abandon, seemingly treating it not as a high-pressured world championship match at all, but as a fr iendly game down the local chess club! The final combination took my breath away.

Garry Kasparov- Anatoly Karpov

Wo rld Championship, Lyon/New Yo rk (20) 1990 l.e4 e5 2.tlJOtlJc 6 3.�b5 a6 4.�a4 tlJf65.0 -0 �e7 6.�el b5 7.�b3 d6 S.d 0-0 9.h3 �b7 1O.d4 �eS l1.tlJbd2 �f8 12.a4 h6 13.�c2 exd4 14.cxd4 tlJb4 15.�bl cS 16.d5 tlJd7 17.�a3 f5 lS.�ae3 tlJf6 19.tlJh2 'it>hS 20.b3 bxa4 21.bxa4 c4 22.�b2 fxe4 23.tlJxe4 tlJfxd5 190 Mating the Castled King

about this; he underestimates the danger he is 8 in and ends up stumbling into a mating attack. 7 Kasparov also pointed out that there was the 6 option of: 5 24.iWh5! This creates immediate threats against the 4 black king. Objectively this would have 3 been better as it maintains some advantage fo r White. 2

1 ��=-� a bede f g An extremely sharp position has arisen on the board. Such a situation lends itselfvery well to Carry's great strengths of stunning tactical vision and brilliant attacking imagination. One thing that stands out is that while Black has made good progress on the queenside and stands much better placed on that side of the board, his king is in great peril. By contrast, a e White's king is in no danger whatsoever. This bed f g 24 ...c3 was a recurring theme of the theoretical duels Black has to try and close the b2-h8 diagonal. the two K's had in this opening in their world Thegreedy 24 ...lLlx e3? is prettily refuted by: championship encounters, and in fact it was 25.iWxh6t Wg8 26.lLlg5!gxh6 27.�h7# Kasparov's success in spearing the Ruy Lopez Carry pointed out that Black would that convinced Karpov to shelve this opening have had the possibility of sacrificing the and take solace in the ultra-solid Caro-Kann. exchange to take the heat out of the attack The fo llowing notes are heavily based on an with 24 .. J":\e5!? 25.�xe5 dxe5. Black has excellent video of the 1990 match in which killed the attack, and though White enjoys a Carry espouses his feelings about the game material advantage, it would take him many in typically exuberant fashion and also gives moves to convert it. the viewer a glimpse into the astonishing 25.�xc3 calculation fe ats he managed in the game. 25.lLlxc3? fa ils to 25 ...lLlx e3. Some of the variations are very impressive 25 ...lLlx c3 26.lLlxc3 l":lxe3 27.l":lxe3 iWg5! indeed. This ensures that, unlike the game, Black 24J�g3?! doesn't have to fe ar being quickly mated. 28.iWxg5 hxg5 29.lLlf3 Carry: "I decided ro play attacking." Karpov The two bishops offer some compensation thought this move showed that Kasparov was fo r Black's pawn weaknesses. Although White too optimistic about his chances, and he even has an edge in the endgame, whether he would said in the video that he was already looking , be able to convert it is another matter. fo r ways to win the game! But in the game Karpov is too casual about the way he goes Chapter - Pawns and Pieces 191 3

that piece, it can abruptly halt your attacking 8 ambitions. 26.W.xd3 cxd3 27.:B:xd3 and now 7 27 ...We 7!.

a bed e f g h 24 .. J�e6 2S.ltJg4 �e8? a e f Kasparov calls this the decisive mistake and bed g h his reasons fo r this are compelling: "Karpov is With this Karpov would have removed the playing too generally: this is a problem with danger from the position and even taken over his style, he's playing a position where general the initiative himself] moves are not good. He is not looking fo r the best move. Here you should look fo r the best move! Yo u have nine obvious moves and 8 eight of them are losing. It's not normal chess 7 values; he has big advantage on the queenside 6 but his king is in danger. Yo u must change your scale in your mind but Karpov couldn't 5 do that. He played normal move which is 4 lost by fo rce." Effectively Carry is saying this is Karpov's Achilles heel; a lack of desire to 3 switch to concrete analysis and calculation and 2 instead being overdependent on his extremely well-tuned fe el fo r the right move in any given 1 position. Thisis a common mistake that we are a bede f g h guilty of from time to time. Now Carry unleashes a thunderbolt.

25 ...ltJd 3!+ was the only move according 26.ltJxh6!! to Kasparov. It loses a pawn but more These hiddenblows are one of the advantages importantly "kills" one of White's bishops. of attacking with pieces. Pawns are much more The b I-bishop is an extremely dangerous straightforward and easier to anticipate as they attacking piece, taking aim at the weakened have limited mobility, but having to calculate light squares around the black king. One of the every possible piece move can be tiresome fo r drawbacks of attacking with the pieces is that a defender. We can file this sacrifice under if you are heavily dependent on a particular "Shocking knight moves" a subject we will piece to fo rce home an attack, then if your come back to several times during the rest of opponent has the opportunity to exchange the book. 192 Mating the Castled King

26... c3 28.E!:g5! 'lWxdl Karpov had a difficultchoice. There is nothing better; the black queen is overloaded and cannot defend f7. Garry demonstrates many beautiful lines if 29.ltJf7t 'i!:?g8 30.ltJxh6t �h8 31.E!:xd l c3 Black takes the knight: At firstthis looks good fo r Black, but there is 26... E!:xh6 27.ltJxd6! a sting in the tail. 32.ltJf7t 'i!:?g8 33.�g6! Showing there is no escape fo r the king, even in the endgame

8 ',=CF""" ,,,,,,,F

7 �0 ..l1,,"" 6

a e 3 bed f g h 27 ...'lWh5 2 It may look as if this will allow Black to escape, but another unexpected blow now a e bed f g h lands. 33 ...ltJf 4 The desperate attempt to slow down the 33 ... cxb2 34.E!:h5leads to mate. attack by giving up the queen is also refuted: 34.�xc3 ltJxg6 35.�xb4 �xb4 27 ...'lWxe l t 28.'lWxe1 E!:xd6 29.'lWe4! ltJd3 35 ...�xf7 36.E!:dlt �f6 37.E!:xg6t �xg6 30.'lWh4t �g8 And now White crashes 38.E!:xb7 is an easily won technical ending. through: 31.�xg7! �xg7 32.'lWg4+- 36.E!:xg6 �xf737.E!:b6! The modest 27 ...'lWd7 fails to: 28.'lWg4! One of the bishops drops and White wins. 'lWxg4 29.ltJf7t 'i!:?g8 30.ltJxh6t gxh6 31.E!:xg4t 'i!:?f732 .�g6t 'i!:?g833 .�f5t! 'i!:?f7 27.ttJrscxb2 28.'lWg4 34.�e6t 'i!:?e8 35.�xd5t White is winning the house. 8

1 a e bed f g h a bed e f g h Chapter 3 - Pawns and Pieces 193

The good news fo r Black is that he has Thereis no time to bring up reinforcements managed to eliminate the dangerous b2- with 31...�a7 as 32.tLlf6! wins on the spot: bishop; the bad news is that White is still 32... �f7 33.2"i:e8! tLlxf6 34.�xh6t tLlh7 attacking with six pieces. As Carry points 35.�xh7t �xh7 36.2"i:xf8t �g8 37.2"i:fXg8# out, "This is too much fo r one king." Often good attacking play is simple mathematics. If you are attacking with more pieces than 8 your opponent has defending, then more 7 often than not the game will end in your favour. 6 5 28 ...i.c8 4 Karpov desperately tries to plug the holes in his position, but it is too late. 3 2 29.�h4t �h6 30.tiJxh6 gxh6 1

a bed e f g h 32.ltlg5! �f6 32 ...�xe l 33.tLlf7#

33.�e8 "Now five pieces in attack but just three defenders left," Carry says with a chuckle.

33... i.f5 33 ...i. b7 34.�xh6t! �xh6 35.tLlf7#

a bede f g h 31.

34.Wxh6t! Energyof the pieces As the commentator points out, it is most One of the advantages of attacking purely unusual to have a queen sacrifice in a world with the pieces is the speed with which we can championship game. The beautiful geometry organize an attack. Pushing our pawns fo rward of this final combination astonished me at the takes time and sometimes we lack the luxury time, even if the variations are quite simple. fo r that, but an aggressive attacker can always look fo r ways to launch a speedy attack against 34 ...Wxh6 35.ltJf7 t �h7 36.�xf5t Wg6 the opponent's king with just his pieces, taking the defender offguard . A perfect example of such a lightning attack was demonstrated by 8 Acs in the fo llowing game. 7 Loek Weir - Peter Acs 6 van Hoogeveen 2002 5

4 l.d4 ltJf6 2.c4 e6 3.ltJc3 �b4 4.e3 0-0 5.�d3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.ltJge2 l3e8 8.0-0 3 �d6 9.a3? 2 Van We ly, who has an optimistic style, 1 completely ignores any designs that Acs might have against his kingside, something that a bede f g h comes back to haunt him. 37.�xg6t Garry decides to take all the bounty that is 9.f3?! is also not too great - Black counters on offer. actively with 9 ...c5! when the white set-up just looks clumsy. 37.:E'i:xg6! is even more elegant, and would have been a fittingconclusion to a beautifully played In the light of what happens, most prudent attack: 37 ...tUe 7 38.:E'i:xe7 i.xe7 39.:E'i:g3# would have been the simple 9.h3!, stopping any fu nny business on the kingside, and only 37 ... �g7 38J'ha8 �e7 39J:!b8 a5 40.�e4t then getting on with the queenside pressure. �xf741 .hd5t Karpov finally threw in the towel. 1-0 An extraordinary attacking game, but really the turning point of this game was Karpov's inability to identifY White's most important attacking unit (the bishop on bl), and subsequently his failure to exchange off this piece led to his defeat. Chapter - Pawns and Pieces 195 3

9 ... ltJg4! Ve ry bold! Acs has evil on his mind.

Note that the tempting 9 ...�x h2t? would be premature: 1O.cj;Jxh2 tDg4t 11.cj;Jg3! 'lWd6t 12.f4 and White defends.

1O.h3 10.tDg3 'lWh4 l1.h3 tDxf2 is certainly not what White had in mind.

a e bed f g h 1O ... ltJh2! 14... �xh3 ! Once you say A, you must say B. 14... 'lWg5t 15.cj;Jhl is just a draw, but Black is justifiedin playing fo r more given that he l1.�el has an obvious attack. 14... 'lWx h3? may look threatening too, but then 15.tDf4! would enable White to defend. 15.f4! This is White's best defence, intending to put the knight on g3, but the problem is that the black bishop can now come to rest on f3 , creating an unbreakable mating net around the white king. 15... �g4 ! 16.'lWb3�f 3 17.tDg3 �xf4 18.tDce2 �d6 19.�d2 �e6! White is quite lost.

14•.• i.xh3! lS.ltJcxdS

a bed e f g h l1...ltJf3t!! Brilliantly calculated by the Hungarian. 8 7 12.gxf3'lW gst 13.cj;lhlWfh4 14.ltJf4 Beset by difficult practical problems so 6 early in the game, Van Wely desperately tries 5 to bolster his king's defences. In fa ct, analysis 4 shows that he is already in trouble and quite possibly lost by this stage. 3 2 14.c;t>gl Thisinvi tes a repetition. 1

a bede f g h

lS•.• �e6! Therook enters play with decisive effect. 196 Mating the Castled King

16.tlJxe6 .ifSt17 .<.t>gl'?Nh2t 18.<.t>fl .ig3! 19. .ixe5 fxe5 20.£3 0-1 A beautiful example of a blitzkrieg attack. Acs correctly worked out that the knight 8 sacrifice was sound. Having an extra piece is 7 little comfort to the defender if he ends up getting mated. 6 5 Attackingwith the pawns 4 If pieces can overwhelm a king's shelter with sheer fo rce of numbers, as in the Kasparov 3 game above, what of pawns? Clearly a different 2 approach is needed here. Pawns can change the character of a landscape. Not fo r nothing 1 did Philidor call pawns the soul of chess. They a bed e f g h bring an extra element, they can sharply alter 20 ...e4! the make-up of the position in a single stroke, There is no respite. The pawns beat a path and they can help to break through what through fo r the heavy pieces. otherwise seems an impregnable defence. 21.'?Nc5exf3 22.exf3 �ae8 AlexanderBeliavsky - Vassily Ivanchuk The white kingside is now thoroughly Belgrade 1995 exposed, and there is little hope of beating off the attack.

23.�xd5

2 a bed e f g h It would seem there is no obvious way 1 through here, as Black's piece play has come to an impasse. But Ivanchuk proves otherwise: a b c d e f g h 23 ...h6! 18... g5 ! Again a calm move in the middle of the This innocuous-looking pawn move heralds storm. There is no hurry here ' fo r Black as the decisive breakthrough. the f3-pawn is dropping by fo rce, after which Chapter - Pawns and Pieces 197 3

White's position will crumble as a matter of The normal way fo r Black to stop the course. advancing f- pawn would be to blockade it with his own f- pawn, but here this fails trivially: 24J�eS Wixf3 2S.Wic4t �g7 26Jhe8 gxe8 23 ...f5 24.2"i:xg6+- 27.Wid4t�g6 28.Wid3tge 4! Tightening the vice. 24.£5! The game is effectively over. The pawns 29J�el �hS overwhelm any credible defence Black could Black unpins his rook, and now White put up. has no good defence to the threat of ...2"i:xe3 fo llowed by ...'if!1xg2#. 24 ...�d8 0-1 24 ...gxf5 25.2"i:xg8t 2"i:xg8 26.�xf5 and White wins easily. Pawns can also be used as battering rams to break down a firmly constructed castle door 2S.ltle2! and create new pathways and space fo r the There are many ways to win, but this is the brave soldiers coming up in the rear. They most effective. Like an assassin fo r hire, the certainly performed this role in the next game. knight is brought in to ravage the king's already Mihail Kobalija - TigranNalbandian weakened defences. All of the white pieces are now taking part in the final slaughter. Moscow 1999 2S ...b6 It is difficult to suggest anything better, fo r example 25... f6 26.fXg6 is hopeless fo r Black.

26.ltlf4 gS

4 a bed e f g h 23.f4! 3 With this thematic thrust White announces 2 his intention to batter his way through with the f- pawn - confident in the knowledge 1 that no hot oil will be flung down from the a bede f g h defending castle onto his battering ram. Or in 27.Wixh7t! chess-speak: Black lacks any counterplay. Of course there were many paths to the goal, fo r example 27.f6!, but the method chosen by 23 .. J�ae8 White is both effective and elegant. 198 Mating the Castled King

27 ... @xh7 28.f6t@h 6 Danny Gormally -John Emms After 28 ...�h8 29.Ei:xg5, White will deliver Scarborough 1999 mate down the h-file. In this variation we see how effective the f- pawn is as a stopper to prevent the black army coming to the defence of its king, while earlier it threatened to split open the black defences with fxg6. A real dual purpose pawn!

29.Ei:h4t!

6 bed f g h 5 a e 15... h6? 4 Theequiva lent of putting your head into the 3 lion's jaws.

2 I5... b5! would have called my bluff.

a bede f g h 29 ...gxh4 30.tLl e6t @h5 31.�dl#

Thedisadvantages of pawn play One of the disadvantages of attacking with your pawns is the danger of creating weaknesses in your own position, and subsequently leaving yourself vulnerable to a counterattack. If your attack flounders then your opponent may be able to floodthe space behind your aggressive a e f pawns with his pieces. In the fo llowing game bed g h Black prepares to develop his bishop to the from the British Championship, I had tried long diagonal, and the main point is that the to blow my opponent away from an early obvious 16.'lWe4g6! 17.'lWxa8? fa ils to I7... .ib7 stage, but he already has a chance to gain the I8.'lWa7 .ic5 and the queen is trapped. But if advantage. I cannot create direct threats then my whole strategy has backfired and I'm just saddled with all these pawn weaknesses.

16JWe4! There is no way back now. John visibly Chapter 3 - Pawns and Pieces 199 winced after this, as it suddenly dawned on Dimitri Reinderman- Ivan Sokolov him what was happening. Amsterdam 1999 16 ...hgS l.e4 eS 2.f4 exf4 3.i.c4�e 7!? 16... g6 17.lLlxe6! was what John had missed. It's always nice to get the opposing king to move so early in the game, so 3 ...Wh4t !? 16 ...hxg5 17.hxg5 g6 18.'1We3 leaves Black 4.c;t>f l lLlc6°oappeals to me. helpless against the threat ofWh3.

17.hxgS llJcS 18JWe3 hxgS 3 ...lLlc 6! is claimed to be the refutation of 3.i.c4 in John Shaw's recent book The King's Gambit.

4.llJc3 c6 S.'WhS llJg6 6.llJf3i.e7 7.d4 d6 8.eS dS 9.i.d3llJa 6

bed f g h 21."\Wxd3 a e 1O.llJe2? 1-0 Ve ry casual and in fact very bad. After this Castling on opposite sides Black can already claim an advantage. When the players have castled on the same If White had asked himself what Black's next side, throwing all our pawns fo rward in front moves was going to be, he might have hit upon of our castled king clearly involves huge the key to the position. If Black can play ...lLlb 4! nsks. . However, with castling on opposite and exchange the bishop on d3, not only does sides, carrying out a pawn storm against the this cripple the white pawn structure, but it opposing king not only becomes an acceptable also exchanges offa potentially useful attacking strategy, but is often the main one. Opposite . piece. So White should have prevented this castling is seen most often in the Sicilian, and with 10.a3! Perhaps he was concerned about we shall look at many of these typical Sicilian the difficulty in regaining the f- pawn after attacks in the rest of the book. Here though is lo... lLlc 7 1 1.lLle2 lLle6, but it seems to me that a King's Gambit in which Black turns White's White has good compensation fo r the pawn aggressive kingside strategy against him. 200 Mating the Castled King after 12.g3 fxg3 13.hxg3. And let's face it, if Trying to exchange pieces with 17.lLlf4 you are concerned about being a pawn down, would lose in amusing fashion: 17... lLlx f4 you shouldn't play the King's Gambit in the 18.�xf4 g6! and the queen is trapped. firstpla ce!

10... lLlb4! Remember what I said about not allowing our attacking pieces to be exchanged? Bobby Fischer, who treasured the white light-squared bishop above all other pieces, would never have allowed this!

11.0-0 lLlxd3 12.cxd3

7 17... lLlh 4! 6 Sokolov has an impressive natural fe el fo r 5 the initiative. 4 18.lLlg3 g6 19.%Ve2 3 Black already has a good position, but now 2 he steps up decisive operations by launching an all-out pawn assault on the kingside. 1

a bede f g h 19... g5 ! The problem with White's structure is that White will not be able to prevent lines being although the doubled d-pawns may do a good opened against his king. job of controlling some important squares in the centre, White is now devoid of any useful pawn breaks and his position has no real potential.

12... h6 13.hf4 i.e6 14.i.e3 %Vd7 15.h3 0-0-0 16J:Ul gdg8! Signalling his intention to start aggressive actions on the kingside. Black's assault may not look particularly quick, but by contrast White has no attacking hopes against the black queenside whatsoever, so it is a one-sided battle. Chapter - Pawns and Pieces 201 3

20J'hfl Mter 20.liJg4 h5 21.liJf6 �xf6 22.exf6 g4 the g-file is ' opened by fo rce: 23.�f4 liJg6! 24.hxg4 �xg4 25.iWd2 h4! Black has a huge attack.

20 ...hS! Black gladly sacs a mere pawn. He is after a bigger prize - an open file to the white king.

21.tlJxhS g4! a e bed f g h The simple 27 ...liJf 5 28.�f4 liJxd4 is good enough, while there is also the spectacular 8 27 ...iWf 5!! 28.�xf5 liJxf5 and White has to 7 return the queen to avoid mate.

6 27 ...h2 28.�xf7 �gI t! 29.i.xgI hxgl=Wft 5 30. @xgI �gst 4 Going to the h-filegets mated, and going to the f- filedrops a rook, so White gave up. 3 0-1 2 The next game was a much less one-sided battle. We pick it up on the 13th move.

a bede f g h 22.tlJf6 Peter Svidler- Igor Glek An admission of failure. Haifa 1 996

White is also in trouble after 22.hxg4, when his king is an easy target fo r the black fo rces 8 hovering around the kingside: 22 ...�xg4 23.liJxg4 �xg4 24.liJf4 �gg8! Black has 7 the simple and powerful idea of ...liJf 5-g3. 6 Meanwhile White has no real counterplay 5 to distract Black from his attacking ambitions. 4 3 22 ...i.xf6 23.�xf6 gxh3 24.g4 Desperation. 2 1 24... i.xg4 2S.tlJxg4 �xg4t 26.@hI �g2 bed f h 27.iWdI a e g 27 .�6f2 gives Black a choice of ways to win: 13... hS?! Already demonstrating to his opponent that 202 Mating the Castled King he is heading fo r an opposite castling scenario. 20.1tJf3! Incidentally, it is interesting that Igor Glek's What often sets players like Svidler apart is FIDE rating was slightly higher than Peter their intuitive appreciation of exactly where Svidler's at the time this game was played. Since each piece belongs and their ability to steer then their chess careers have taken strikingly their pieces towards better pastures. Here different paths. Svidler is firmly planted in Svidler realizes that the knight is doing little the world chess elite with a rating of around on d4, and reroutes it to f3 . Not only might it 2750, but Glek, who once approached the leap into e5 from here, it also frees up the d-file heights of 2700 himself, has dipped to around fo r his heavy pieces (the rook may go to d4 2450! Which just goes to show that anyone is and then c4, fo r example), and it enables the vulnerable to a dip in fo rm. possibility of Wia7, putting more pressure on the black king. Tr uly a multi-purpose move! 13... .td6! would have been the most natural Realizing the dangers now fa cing him, Glek continuation. tries to hustle up a desperate attack, but his efforts come to nothing. 14.�f3 i.d6 15.h3 i.h2t 16.@hl i.e5 17J3fel 0-0-0 20 ...i.c5 21 .�d2 1tJg4 22.i.f4! 17... lt:lg 4 is met by 18.g3. Reminding Black that his own king is in danger. 18J�adl �dg8 We saw a similar idea from Sokolov in the 22 ... 1tJxf2t23.@h 2 �d8 previous game, preparing fo r kingside activity. 23 ...lt:lg 4t is easily refuted: 24.hxg4 hxg4t But the big difference is that Reinderman was 25.ct?g3!and the white king is quite safe. very passively placed in that game, whereas Svidler is ready to launch his own attack on the queenside. 8 �*�"''''� �� r%'�"'' 19.�e3! i.d6 �� lI Sacrificingwith 19... lt:lg 4? doesn't work here: : " *," 20.hxg4 hxg4t 21.ct?gl and Black's "attack" 5a � a a i quickly peters out. 4 �.� :1i. �. �� 3��rf�"�"�;c'�<'.� �%,�,//.�� '�;/"'; 2 �w[j � ar�� 1 .""%.��m"""."'"

a bed e f g h 24.�e5! It's important when attacking to do so with vigour and energy, to deny your opponent time to recuperate. Most of Svidler's pieces are now aiming towards the black king.

24 ...i.b6

a bede f g h Chapter - Pawns and Pieces 203 3

24 ...tUg 4t yet again gets nowhere: 25.hxg4 27Jhc6t bxc6 28.�xc6t �c7 hxg4t 26.�g3!+- After 28 ...�c7 White wins with 29.�a4! as in the note to the 25th move. 25.�d6! lLlxdl Glek may have hoped that 25 ...�c7 would 29.hc7 i.xc7t 30.�gl l"i:d8 31.�xa6t save him, but then realized that White breaks �b8 32.ltJd4 through by fo rce: 26.E:k5 �c6 27.l"i:xc6! bxc6 Black might as well have resigned here. 28.�xc6 tUxdl 32 ... l"i:d6 33.ltJc6t l"i:xc6 34.�xc6 l"i:d8 35.i.c2 l"i:d6 36.�e8t l"i:d8 37.�b5t �c8 38.�a6t 1-0

To sum up, let's look at the most salient points again:

1) When attacking with pieces, it is important to recognize the importance of time, to act with vigour and aggression. Don't allow your a e bed f g h opponent time to organize a defence. However, 29.�a4! The black king cannot escape the if it is clear that the opponent cannot improve vice created by the white pieces. 29 ...<;t>b8 his defensive set-up, then a quiet move may be 30.�b6t <;t>c8 3I.�xa6t �b8 32.tUe5! in order. We saw in the Kasparov game that his White's domination is complete. total control gave him time to play 3I.�h2!, though in any case that move fitted in with his attacking plans. 8

7 2) Be aware of the danger of having your attacking pieces exchanged off.In the Kasparov 6 - Karpov game the key idea was 25 ...tUd3!, 5 exchanging the important attacking bishop on bI. Similarly, in the Sokolov game White 4 had the chance to avoid the exchange of his 3 bishop on d3, but didn't take it, after which his 2 attacking chances disappeared and Black had a free hand on the kingside. 1 3) Adding pawns to the attacking mix can a bed e f g h 26J�c5t! quickly result in an explosive cocktail. Pawns Svidler crashes through Black's defences. can be used as battering rams to break down an opponent's otherwise watertight defence. 26 ...i.c6 One of the drawbacks of attacking with pieces 26 ...�xc 5 27.�b8# is that we have to weigh up extremely carefully if giving a piece away is worth the attacking 204 Mating the Castled King chances, but sacrificing a pawn to open lines and files is more often than not worth the investment.

4) Attacking with pawns does have its drawbacks. Be careful that the lines opened towards your own king do not lead to problems. However, when the players castle on opposite sides, charging your pawns fo rward becomes one of the main strategies fo r breaking through to the opponent's king. Chess games often turn into races as both players strive to advance their pawns as quickly as possible. Chapter 4

Breakthrough with Pieces

Part 1 - Themes

The ability to break through with the pieces is an essential requirement fo r any attacking player. In the next two chapters we'll be discussing the various ways in which to achieve this, fo cusing on two categories: themes and sacrificial breakthroughs. General themes crop up repeatedly in attacking play, and that certainly applies to situations where we must break down a castled king's defences. Learning these general themes should not only help our results, but will also improve our overall understanding of chess.

Thecombination of queen andknight One of the themes that crops up again and again is how well the queen and knight combine. I remember I learnt this the hard way when I faced a Russian grandmaster at the Hastings chess congress. Thiswas in the old days when we used to play on the pier, and it was like an Arctic winter. Everyone, even the Russian contingent who were presumably used to such sub-zero temperatures, had to wear protective clothing during the games so not as to die from hypothermia. Anyway, he sacrificed the exchange and we reached a situation where I had queen and rook against queen and knight, but I had no play and it was clear he was pressing. It seemed like I was being tortured fo r hours. I held on fo r dear life, and to my great relief my opponent somehow contrived to get into terrible time-trouble, and then his flag fe ll. This was a special moment to me because it was my first ever win against a grandmaster! This game was certainly a case of "learning on the job" fo r me. Afterwards I fe lt that I had a much greater understanding and respect fo r just how powerful this combination of the queen and knight could be.

The fo llowing game demonstrates just how fo rmidable an attacking duo the queen and knight are. White is the Portuguese grandmaster Luis Galego, one of the most affable and laid-back chess players you could ever hope to meet, while his opponent is Ve selin To palov, one of the most intense and, unfortunately fo r Luis, also one of the strongest. 206 Mating the Castled King

LuisGalego -Veselin Topalov After 36.<;t>hl Black has a pleasant choice between 36 ...tt'lx e2 and 36 ...tt'ld l, in each Ye revan 1996 (01) case with mate next move. 36 ...tt'ldl! A brutal finish.

34 .. 35.�xf1 Wfxe2t36.@gl Wfelt .'IWal

a bede f g h The black knight is firmly embedded on c3 and casts a bewitching spell over the white position; by contrast there is a distinct lack of coordination between the white pieces. bed f g To palov cashes in on his strategical domination a e Next move the knight will hop into e2, with a crushing blow - elite players rarely miss closing the net around the king, so Luis gave such tactical opportunities. up. 0-1 33 ..J:hf1! Taking advantage of the fact that the white To sum up, it's well worth remembering how heavy pieces are far away from the action and powerful the combination of queen and knight in no position to offer any defence. Also, with is, because it crops up time and time again. the knight waiting on c3 to ambush it, the white king can hardly hope to escape to the Weaknessof theal -h8 diagonal queenside. Many themes have a strong strategical basis. 34J:hc6 I'm a firm believer that everything stems from the opening, and having a constructive plan If White takes the rook immediately, his makes it much easier to move from the opening king lands in a mating net: into the middlegame. In many openings Black 34.<;t>xfl Wh3t 35.�gl will fianchecco his bishop on the kingside, and 35.<;t>el Whl t 36.�f2 tt'ldl#is one pretty castle on that side as well. This gives White variation. a very clear strategical plan - to exchange off 35 ...Wxg3 t! that bishop and then derive benefits from the 35 ... tt'lxe2t 36.�f2 Wh2t 37.<;t>e1 tt'lc3 dark-square weaknesses that arise, not least of 38.<;t>f l tt'ldl! also mates, but takes a bit which is the al-h8 diagonal. The weakness of longer. this diagonal gives rise to many combinational 36. <;t>fl possibilities. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 207

SarunasSulskis - Aleksei Holmsten before too much damage is inflicted on his position. In this case it is doubtful whether he Linares 2001 can, because h4-h5 is coming so quickly. l.e4 c5 2.liJa liJc6 3.i.h5 g6 4.i.xc6 dxc6 5.d3 i.g7 6.h3 liJf67.liJc 3 0-0 8.i.e3 liJd7 Nevertheless, 12... We7! should have been 9.�d2 h5 preferred, aiming to mobilize his army as quickly as possible. 13.�xg7 i>xg7 14.li:le3 To my mind this allows White too easy a �a6! (Black must avoid 14.. .f6? 15.h4!, when ride - he can now exchange offthe g7 -bishop! White has an automatic attack.) 15.b3 :gad8 At least Black is fully mobilized and may have If I were Black here, I would prefer 9 ...:ge8 some chances of defending against the coming 1 O.�h6 �h8, keeping the advantage of the two assault. bishops in the hope that it might compensate fo r the damaged pawn structure. 13.i.xg7 i>xg7 14.cxh3 f6 15.liJe3 �h6 16.�c3 :gh8 8

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1 2 __ �L-�� a bed e f g 1 10.i.h6! a b c d e g White carries out his strategical plan. If 17.:ga3! only everything in life was so simple. Showing that it will not be easy fo r Black to regain this pawn. It's not the pawn that's 10... e5 Il.a4! important in itself, but what it represents: it Sharply definingthe pawn structure. blocks the b-fileand thus prevents Black from activating his fo rces. This gives White a free 11...h4 12.liJdl hand to carry out his attacking plans on the Theknight heads fo r e3, where it will aim at other side of the board. the juicy squares on g4 and c4. 17 ...i.a6 18 .0-0 :gfd8 19.:gcl 12... h3?! Now the weak pawns on the c-file also A hint of panic. The normal plan fo r Black become a target. Realizing this, Holmsten in this line is to play ...We7, ...f6 , ...:ge8 and decides to aim fo r some activity at any costs ...li:lf 8-e6. The opening tends to revolve - but in doing so he runs into a mating around whether Black can carry this plan out attack. 208 Mating the Castled King

19 ... tlJf8?? 26.:B:xg5t <;t>h8 27.tt:lf7#) 23.tt:lh6t Wf8 A real howler, which is immediately pounced 24.Wh8t We7 25.Wxh7t Wd6 26.tt:lf7t Wc7 upon by the ever-vigilant Sulskis. 27.tt:lxd8 :B:xd8 28.Wxg6 White has a decisive material advantage, although admittedly Black 19... Wb4! was essential. White enjoys an edge could struggle on fo r some moves. after 20.tZJe1!? :B:b7 but Black can at least hope to fight.

a bede f g h 22.tlJg4! h5 23.tlJh6t h7 24.tlJf7g5 ? After 24 ...Wg8 White would have had to a bede f g h 20.tlJxe5! settle fo r a win on material: 25.tt:lxd8 :B:xd8 No doubt Black was thinking along 26.Wxc5+- strategical lines, and fo rgot about a possible tactical refutation. 25.�h8t g626.tlJ e5#

20 ...fxe5 21 .Wxe5t g8 Nigel Davies also managed to carry out the strategical plan of exchanging dark-squared 21...<;t>f7 offers little hope either: 22.tt:lg4! bishops in the fo llowing game. Threatening mate in one. Nigel Davies - Tiger Hillarp Persson

Reykjavik 1998

a e bed f g h 22 ...tt:ld 7 What else? (22 ...g5 23.:B:xc5! and the rook enters the game with decisive effect: 23 ...tt:ld 7 24.tt:lh6t <;t>f8 25.Wd6t <;t>g7

a bed e f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 209

18 . .!lJxa4!? c4-pawn with 23 ...�e 6!' It turns out there is a This may seem dubious, as all of White's tactical sting in the tail if White grabs the b 7- queenside pawns will now become vulnerable. pawn: 24.�xb7?! Elab8! 25.a6 Elxb7! 26.axb7 However, Black will require several moves to lLlf3t 27.�hl lLlxh4 and White has lost take them, and in the meantime White hopes control over the position. Instead White can to brew up some activity of his own. improve his position slightly with the more circumspect 24.1Wc3!. 18 ....!lJxa4 17.bxa4 .!lJd7?! This turns our to be a strategical error. 23.�c3 d5? Why? Because it allows the g7 -bishop to be This is a serious error, after which the black exchanged! position goes downhill rapidly.

17... 1Wb4! would have maintained the balance: It is surprising that the Swedish player did not 18.lLlb3 �f5! 19.1Wcl! Elxa4 20.�c3 1Wxc4 avail himself of the natural 23 ...�e6! 24.�fl (20 ...1Wa3 21.�b2 1Wb4 is a draw) 21.1Wb2 d5. It is true that after 25.e4! White has good 1We622.El d4! Theposition is unclear. pressure in similar vein to the game, but at least Black is not losing the d5-pawn directly. 18 . .!lJb3! ixb2 19.�xb2 The black kingside is now slightly weakened. 24.e4! This may not seem relevant now, bur the It is surprising how often this is much problem is that Black must now watch out stronger later in the game than it is on move fo r his dark squares fo r the rest of the game, one! without the protection of his dark-squared bishop. 24 ...ie6 25.exd5 ad5 26.ixd5 ixd5 27Jhd5 E:ac8 28 . .!lJc5 �b5 19... .!lJe5 20.a5 �b4 21.a3 �a4

a bede f g h a bed e f g h 29 . .!lJd7! 22.Eld4! .!lJxc4!? An unexpected blow! Suddenly the weakened Wa lking into an awkward pin. f6 -square becomes the launching pad fo r the final assault. After 22 ... c5 23.Elh4! Black can target the 210 Mating the Castled King

29 ...tlJd 6 The strong Spanish player Miguel Illescas Black is losing in all variations: has sacrificed the exchange, calculating that the weakened dark squares around the black 29 ...'lWxd 5 loses the queen to 30.tt:lf6t. king are well worth the material investment. Not surprisingly, he's right and he now powers 29 ...'lWc6 also loses rather trivially: 30.tt:lf6t through with a crisp attack: 'kt>fB 31.tt:lxeB! 'lWxd5 32.'lWhBt r:l;e7 33J'1:elt and a decisive check fo llows on f6 . 18.Wi'd4! f6 19.Wi'd5t @h8 20.Wi'f7 gg8 21.tiJd5! Black is almost paralysed. Therook needs to guard g7 and the black queen must defend the f6 -pawn, which leaves pinning the knight as 8 the only attempt at a defence. 7 21...i.c4 6

5 8 4 7 3 6 2 5 1 4 a bede f g h 31.Wi'd2! ge7 32.Wi'h6# 3 1-0 2 Miguel IllescasCordoba - Georg Mohr bed f g h Ye revan 1996 a e (01) White to play and win.

8 22.gd3!! Playing on the theme of overloading. 7

6 22 ...Wi'fS 22 ...i.xd3 23.tt:lxf6 is clearly terminal. 5

4 22 ...i.xd5 23.exd5 leaves Black helpless against the rook switch to the h-file: 23 ...c6 24J'1:h3 3 E\cB25 .'lWxh7t! 'kt>xh726. i.fB# 2 23.i.xf8ggxf8

a bede f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 211

@g5 39.h4t @f5 40.'lMi'xb7 41.Wf3t <±>e5 :gO 42.We3t �d6 43.Wg3t and another pawn drops.

a bed e f g h 3S.@g3 �xfG39. Wfe5 24 ...ixd3 25.Wfc3ia6 26.ltJxfG 1-0 Black now struggles on fo r some moves, bur the weakness of his king proves to be the Colour-complex attack decisive factor. Again we see how well the In Mark Dvoretsky's excellent book Positional queen and knight work together. Play, he talks about the attacking potential of opposite-coloured-bishop positions in the middlegame. Unlike the endgame where such positions tend to have notorious drawing tendencies, in the middlegame the opposite bishops often become a potent attacking weapon. But the possibiliry of exploiting a colour-complex weakness is not just restricted to positions with opposite-coloured bishops. Any weakness in the king's position can lead to a complex of squares of one colour being vulnerable to an attack. We have already seen in the Kasparov - Karpov game in Chapter 3 how effective Kasparov's bishop on b 1 became because of the weakness on g6 and h7. The a bed e f g h 26 .. J�acS 27.Wfd4 �c4 2s.Wfxd6 @g7 29.e5 lesson from this game was not lost on Karpov, �xf4 30.h3 h5 31.'it>h2 ib5 32.Wfc7t as he showed a couple of years later to decisive �f7 33.WfbS @h6 34.WfgS ic4 35.b3 ie6 effectagai nst Shirov. 36.WfeS�7xfG 37.exfG id5 The capture of the f6 -pawn would also succumb to accurate play: 37 .. .l'hf6 38."\Mi'e7 212 Mating the Castled King

Anatoly Karpov- Alexei Shirov deep blue sea. Faced with the impending threat of a knight landing on f5 , Shirov takes Biel 1992 measures to ensure he won't be overrun on the long diagonal, but the weaknesses now l.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.�c3 lLlf6 4.e3 e6 5.�f3 incurred on his light squares turn out to be �bd7 6.Wfc2 i.d6 7.i.e2 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 decisive. 9.i.xc4 b5 Themain alternative, 20 ...g6, does not look 9 ...a6 !? is an interesting alternative, awaiting attractive either, given the obvious potential developments. of the b2-bishop, but this would have been the lesser evil. It is not immediately clear how White can exploit the weakness of the al-hS 8 diagonal. 7 Now though, Karpov gains a large advantage 6 with concrete play.

a bed e f g h 10.i.e2�e 8 l1.�dl Wfc7 12.b3 e5 13.h3! Prophylactic and typically Karpovian. He is a master at building up his positions slowly and with great patience.

bed f g h 13 ... i.b7 14.i.b2 a6 15.dxe5 �xe5 16.a4 a e 21.i.xe5! Wfxe5 22.i.d3! �ad8 17.lLlg5! Wfe7 18.�ce4 �xe4 19.�xe4 i.b4 Forcing a fu rther weakness, which turns out to be decisive. More or less fo rced, as the alternatives are unpalatable. Allowing White to take on d6 22 ...h6 23.i.g6�f8 24 .�f5! grants him the advantage of the two bishops Karpov is a strategic genius! Effortlessly he with a pleasant long-term advantage, whereas has achieved a "death grip" on the light squares. 19... �b8 20.ttk5! gives White a positional From f5 this knight will head to h4, taking a bind. crucial role in the final assault. Black's bishops, 20.�g3! on the other hand, are completely redundant, looking upon the battlefield action fo rlornly Eagerly taking aim at the somewhat denuded like banished clerics. black kingside. 24 ...c5 20 . . . f6? In desperation Shirov tries to break out. Black is caught between the devil and the Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 213

25.axb5 axb5 27... �x dl t 28.V!fxdl �a8 29.V!fg4!V!fc6 25 ...ie4 does not bring relief either: 26.iWc4t WhS '27.tLlh4! and White wins.

a bede f g h 30.�xb7!

a bed e f g h Demolishing the last potential protector of 26.�a7! V!fc7 the light squares. At first sight it looks as if Black should have tried the more fo rcing 26 ...iWbS , though 30 ...V!fxb7 31 .V!fe6t ci>h8 32.�e4 Karpov would surely have fo und the fo llowing beautiful sequence: 27.tLle7t! �hS

a e bed a bede f g h 2s.if5!! Simply leaving the rook en prise, 1-0 White demonstrates the fe arsome strength of A majestic strategic demonstration from his light-square attack. 2S ...iWxa7 (Declining Karpov. Thiswasn't so much a chess game as a the rook with 2S ...2"1deS 29.tLlg 6t WgS 30.2"1aa1 glorious Mozart symphony! offers little comfort to Black. Mter 30 ...2"10 31.tLlf4! White's threats are decisive.) 29.tLlg6t Dark-squaremastery WgS 30.ie6t Wh7 31.tLlxfS t �hS 32.iWh7# Players like Capablanca, Fischer and Karpov treasured the white light-squared bishop. 27. .!lJh4! However there is a breed of player who falls Threatening ihlt. into a different category, like Kasparov, who 214 Mating the Castled King seems to cherish the black dark-squared 28 . .txb5 bishop more. Such a piece tends to come to White has got nowhere with his queenside prominence in openings like Sicilian Dragon play, and it is now time fo r Black to strike. and the King's Indian, of which the fo llowing position is a prime example.

Joris Brenninkmeijer- Jeroen Piket

Netherlands 1992

a bed e f g h 28 ...V;¥e3! 29.e xf5?! It is difficultto understand what White had in mind here, as this just seems to weaken his own structure while strengthening that of his opponent. a bede f g h White is fully primed fo r queenside action, It was time fo r White to admit the fa ilure of but unfortunately fo r him it's not exactly clear his strategy and resign himself to an inferior what his targets are. By contrast Black has a endgame: 29.Wel Wxel t 30.1'hel l"i:cS't Black definite target - the white king. enjoys an edge due to his control of the c-file 21.. . .th6! and better minor pieces. In addition to this the A typical idea in this opening, Black hurries white queenside pawns are overextended and to exchange the dark-squared bishops. I know vulnerable to capture, but at least Black would what you're thinking: "Haven't you already require many moves to achieve his goal. told us that White wants to exchange the fianchettoed bishop to fu rther his attacking 29 ...gxf5 plans and get at the dark-square weaknesses?" Now Black has an open g-file to work with The point is that every opening has its own as well. rules. In the King's Indian, the central pawn structure means White tends to concentrate on 30.a5 �f4 31.�c7 f1! l"i:gS33 .Wc2! is White's best defence, with the idea that 33 ...l"i:xg2 34.l"i:xf7t <;t>xf7 22.V;¥dl .tg5 23 . .tfl

8 26.•. ge6! 27.h3 7 Strong grandmasters like Beliavsky rarely play without a plan, and I suspect that when 6 he played g2-g4 his idea was to continue with 5 27.�g2 and f2 -f4 to gain space. However, on reaching this position the drawbacks of this 4 plan may have occurred to him: 3

a bed e f g h 32 ... li)g5! 33.h4 li)gh3t! 34.gxh3gg8t Mt er 3S.Whl 1Wxf2 the black fo rces floodin with inevitable mate. 0-1

In the next game, Kramnik's pieces are a e f beautifully coordinated and everything is bed g h primed fo r the final attack. It only takes one 27 ...1Wd6! Intending to reroute the bishop mistake to tip the scales decisively in his favour. from f6 to c7, after whichany pawn on f4 will become a target. 28.f4 bS! 29.gS �d8 Black AlexanderBeliavsky - Vladimir Kramnik has a multitude of threats including ...�c7, ...�b6, ...b4 and ...E:e3. It is highly unlikely Belgrade 1997 that White would be able to keep his position together.

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1 a b c d e f g h 25 ...<;t> g7! 26.g4?! a b c d e f g h 216 Mating the Castled King

27 ....tg5 Dark-squared domination. Therook cannot Now White is deprived of the idea of be taken in view of mate. generating any play with f2-f4, and his position loses any energy it contained. He is gradually driven back before the final blow is delivered. 8 28.Wfc2Wfd6 29.Wfb3 7

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3 bed f g h 34 ...gxc3! a e 2 In good positions combinations come 1 naturally. Mter 35.bxc3 �b5t 36.Wel Ei:e6t White is soon mated. a bede f g h 29... .td8 ! 0-1 Now this manoeuvre is simply decisive. Breakthroughwith a small army 30. .tg2 Wff4 31.gc1 .tc7 32.gfdl gf6 Yo u don't always need to be in a middlegame 33.Wfc2 with a huge army to effect a breakthrough. Sometimes a modest fo rce may break through It may look as if Beliavsky has covered all in the simplest of positions. bases, but Kramnik has other ideas. JonathanSpeelman -JonathanLevitt

8 London 1992

a b c d e f g h 33 ...ge3!

a bed e f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 217

White has slight pressure in what appears to to achieve a pawn structure that best suits his be a very dull position. Jonathan Levitt, fo rmer attacking ambitions. chess pro turned cricket betting pro, thought he'd solve any lingering problems by fo rcing Vladimir Kramnik- Nigel Short the exchange of pieces: Dortmund 1995 24 ...f6?? l.tLla d5 2.d4 tLlf6 3.c4 e6 4.tLlc3 fie7 24 ...h6! would have been very close to 5.�c2 0-0 6.fig5 h6 7.i.xf6fixf6 8.E:dlg6 equality. 9.e3 c6 25.tLlg6! This unexpected knight leap is decisive.

25 ... E:a8 25 ...Wa8 would not save Black either: 26Jhe8t Wxe8 27.Wd5t Wf7 27.Wd8t fo llowed by mate.

26.tLle7t c;t>h827.'1We6!

a bede f g h This type of pawn structure is often seen in the Moscow variation of the Semi-Slav. White has more space, but Black hopes that his position will prove resilient enough, and in his favour he has the two bishops.

10.fid3dxc4 l1.fixc4 tLld7 12.h4! Not so much preparing an attack as intending to loosen up Black's pawn structure bed f g h a e further with h4-h5. The black king is completely suffocated and ttJg6t is coming. It was difficult to see this 12... �e7 13.a3 fig7! turn of events a few moves ago! Levitt had seen The immediate 13... e5?? is of course not enough and resigned. 1-0 possible because of 14.Wxg6t.

Breakthrough on the e6-square It might look tempting to leave the bishop on f6 and prepare ...e5 with 13 ...�g 7?!, but this In the opening and early middlegame, play would run into problems: 14.h5 g5 15.�a2 often revolves around determining the kind of e5 16.�bl 8:h8 17.d5! and Whitecements his pawn structure that is most in our favour. In advantage. the fo llowing game, Kramnik is quickly able 218 Mating the Castled King

Black should have taken the sting out h4-h5 8 with 15... Ei:dS! Then 16.h5 g5 17.Wh7t �fS 7 doesn't really get anywhere fo r White, as the queen will soon be driven back with ...lDf 6. 6

5 16.0-0 .ib7

a bede f g h 14. .ia2! As we saw in his game against Beliavsky above, Kramnik wastes no time in manoeuvring his bishop to even more fruitful pastures - a masterclass in rerouting of the pieces!

14... b6 15. .ibl a bed e f g h 17.llJg5! Ominously fo r Short, the knight moves 8 closer to his kingside. 7 17 .. J1!fd8 6 17... �f 6 is met by lS.lDce4! increasing the 5 pressure. 4 18. .ia2 ttJf6 19.e4 ttJg4 20.e5 3

a bede f g h Now Black has a difficultdecis ion, to allow h4-h5 or not?

15... h5?! The big problem with this is that the black pawn structure becomes very inflexible and vulnerable to sacrifice. Black will now have to play with a lot of energy and accuracy to avoid falling into trouble. a bed e f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 219

20 ..Jl:d7? Far too slow, Black simply does not have enough time fo r such luxuries.

It was vital to obtain counterplay immediately, something that could have been achieved with: 20 ...c5!

a e bed f g h 23 ...�e 4!! 24.lLlxe4 �xe4 25.Wxe4 Wxh4 26.WxaBt �fB 27.�fe1 Wxf2t 2B.mh1 Wh4t With perpetual check! Not surprisingly this is a silicon-inspired variation, and the chances of finding such a line in a practical game is quite minimal unless you are Rybka, or better still, Hikaru Nakamura. a e bed f g h 21.�xe6! 21.ttJe2! This sacrifice is highly dangerous. Black The knight reroutes towards f4 , putting does have a path to equality, but whether he unbearable pressure on the rigid e6-f7-g6-h5 would have fo und it at the board is another structure. The�xe6 sacrifice is still in the air, issue. and with the extra support from this knight it 21.d5 exd5 22.lLlxd5 Wxe5 23.f4 seems will be decisive. to put Black in difficulties, but there is a brilliant saving resource: 21..Jl:ad8 It is now too late fo r 21...c5, as it is met by the shuddering blow with which we are already familiar:

a e bed f g h 23 ...Wd 4t!! 24J'hd4 �xd4t 25.

2l...fxe6 22.Wxg6 �xd4! 23.lLlb5 a e bed f g h 22.�xe6! fxe6 23.Wxg6 �d5 24.lLlf4 with a crushing attack. 220 Mating the Castled King

6 ...e6 7.i.b3 b5 8.0-0 i.e7 9.Wff3 Wfc7 8 10.Wfg3 0-0 7 Nowadays 1O... ttJc 6 is generally considered to be the main line. As we've seen already, it can 6 be a good idea to leave the king in the centre 5 so that it does not become a target - there's also the option of later castling queenside. 4 One possible continuation is: 11.ttJxc6 'lWxc6 3 12.Ei:el �b7 13.a3 Ei:d8 14.a4!?oo

1 8 7 a bede f g h 22.he6! 6 The rigid pawn structure finally comes back to haunt Short. This hardly counts as a 5 sacrifice, as White's attack is so overwhelming. 4 22 ...fxe6 23.Wfxg6 ClJxe5 24.Wfh7t �f8 3 25.liJf4 2 1-0 1

The breakthrough on e6 tends to occur most a bede f g h often in the Sicilian Defence - White has to 1l.i.h6! take strong measures to break down the tough Kasparov plays as aggressively as possible. carapace of pawns on e6 and d6 that fo rm a Yo u must remain true to your strengths! defensive barrier fo r the black king. Often this sacrifice occurs when the black king is still 11...ClJe8 12.Ei:adl i.d7 13.ClJf3!? in the centre, but in many variations it can As in Svidler - Glek on page 201, Kasparov remain a dangerous attacking device deep into decides the knight on d4 is contributing little the middlegame. to the attack and needs to be rerouted to somewhere more productive. It's important Garry Kasparov - Boris Gelfand that White should try to strike fa irly quickly, as if Black can consolidate then he stands well Linares 1993 in the long term (for example, the bishop on l.e4 c5 2.liJf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ClJxd4 ClJf6 b3 can be bad in an endgame). 5.ClJc3 a6 6.i.c4 13... b4 14.ClJe2 a5?! One of the most fe ared lines in the Sicilian Gelfand decides to take aim at the b3- Najdorf - the Sozin variation. I am a Najdorf bishop, which is sorely lacking squares. player myself, and along with 6.�g5 this is the This idea is strategically well motivated, but line I am most afraid of facing. In the Sozin the problem is it turns out to be too slow White will aim fo r aggressive and speedy ' and allows Kasparov to build up a useful development, and try to score a knockout blow. ini tiative. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 221

It was better to just get on with development: 17 ... tt:Jc6! was still the way to dampen White's 14 ...tt:Jc 6! 15.tt:Jf4 �hB 16.�g5 tt:Jf6 initiative. It is not apparent to me how White could then break down the tough black position, though doubtless Kasparov had his ideas.

a e 4 bed f g h Black has few problems and unlike in the 3 game, he doesn't have to worry about any 2 knight landing on d4. 1 15.lDf4 �h8 16 . .tg5 lDf6 a bede f g h It was not too late to revert to the correct 18.lDd4! plan with 16... tt:Jc 6!. Forcing a breakthrough on e6.

17.'lNh4.tb5? 18... .te8 Gelfand stubbornly refuses to complete his Realizing that his plan has backfired, development. He takes his eye offe6 and is Gelfand desperately tries to plug some of the punished harshly fo r this transgression. holes in his position, but it is too late.

17 ...a4 was not the right way either, as White Grabbing the booty with 18... �xfl is can simply sacrificethe bishop. spectacularly refuted: 19.tt:Jdxe6 fxe6 20.�xe6! h6 21.�xh6! and White smashes through by fo rce.

Losing a move with 1B... �d7 is the only way to discourage White from sacrificing on e6, but this gives him time to strike in another direction: 19.tt:Jh5! (l9.�xe6 �xe6 20.tt:Jdxe6 fxe6 21.ttJxe6 'lWc8 22.ttJxfB 'lNxf8 is quite unclear, but 19.1:'!:d 3!?, going fo r a direct mating attack, is interesting.) 19... 'lNd8

a e 20.tt:Jf3! ttJc6 bed f g h 18.�c4! 'lWxc4? 19.e5! This creates havoc on the kingside, as 19 ...dx e5? loses on the spot to 20.tt:Jg6t. 222 Mating the Castled King

example: 24 ...We7 25.Wc4! <;t>g7 26.Wg8t mh6 27.�d3! and the slaughter begins.

a e bed f g h 21.�xd6! Black has failed to hold his position together.

19.tlJdxe6! Black is simply too uncoordinated and a bed e f g h underdeveloped to deal with this exploding 25.V!fg4 bomb. 25 ...j,g7 26.We6 leads to mate. 1-0 19 ...fxe6 20.tlJx e6 V!fa7 The... llJd 7-b6-c4 theme White castles queenside in a number 8 of opening variations. When Black has 7 fianchettoed on the kingside, this may be part of a plan involving W d2 and j,e3 fo llowed 6 by j,h6 and h4-h5, intending to mate Black 5 in double-quick time. Such a situation can arise in the Sicilian Dragon, the Pirc and the 4 Samisch Kings Indian. To meet this threat 3 of a kingside attack, Black is well advised to 2 create counterplay as soon as possible; you don't want to allow a one-sided game. One of 1 the ways that Black can create active play of his own is by the knight manoeuvre ...ttJb 8- a bede f g h 21.e5! d7 -b6-c4, putting significant pressure on the Opening yet more lines. white queenside.

21...dxe5 22.tlJxf8 i.xf8 23.i.xf6 gxf6 Yvan Masserey -Jeroen Claesen 24JMS! Lean 1996 Kasparov is as ruthlessly accurate as ever. l.e4 d6 2.d4 tlJf6 3.tlJc3 g6 4.i.e3 i.g7 ' 24 ... tlJd7 5.V!fd2tlJb d7 6.0-0-0 c6 7.h3?! There is no defence that will save Black, fo r This seems to me to be mixing plans. White's Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 223 basic idea is to play Jth6 fo llowed by a quick 10.'�e2?! opening of the h-filewith h2-h4-h5 etc, and I Opening the b-file with1 0.Jtxc4 looks risky, don't see how 7.h3 fits in with this. but it's not as easy fo r Black to gain an advantage as it looks at first glance. Nevertheless, he gets Immediately carrying out his plan with decent play: 10... bxc4 11.tLlge2 :8b8 12.Jth6 7.Jth6!? was to be preferred. 0-0 13.Jtxg7 'kt>xg7 14.tLlg3 iMl'b6 15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 Jte6 17.d5 Jtd7and I would assess the chances as roughly equal. 8

7 10... ia6 Black chooses to be consistent with his plan 6 of attacking on the queenside supported by the 5 c4-knight.

4 A most reasonable alternative would have 3 been to gain the advantage of the two bishops: 10 ...tLlx e3 11.iMI'xe3 b4 12.tLlce2 iMl'a5 Black 2 is well placed, but he does not have the same obvious plan of attack on the queenside that he has in the game. a bed e f g h ...bS! 7 Black does not hesitate to show his own l1.@bl iMl'aS attacking ambitions. Often in such variations it is possible to leave the black king in the 8 centre, and "just get on with it". 7 8.id3 lbb6 9.g4 lbc4! 6 This presents White with an early dilemma. Does he dare to open a file on the queenside, 5 given that his king is already committed to 4 that side? 3

a bede f g h 12.ic1 12.Jtxc4 is much less attractive now than it was on move 10 - White will inevitably have to play b2-b3 at some point, which will cost him a tempo with the queen getting away from the glare of the a6-bishop.

12... 0-0 13.eS??

a bed e f g h 224 Mating the Castled King

Caught in the gathering storm of Black's 16 ....L:e5 17.tiJxe7t 'i!7g7 18.tiJxc6 Wfc7 queenside initiative, White hurries to create White could have thrown in the towel here. counterplay in the centre, but at the worst His material disadvantage is just too much. possible moment! This move fa ils tactically.

13... dxe5 14.dxe5 8 7

8 6

7 5

6 4

5 3

4 2

2 a bed e f g h 19.tiJxe5 Wfxe5 20.f4 Wfc5 21.h4 :Sfd8 1 22.tiJe2 :Sac8 23.b4 Wfxb4t 24.ii.b2t 'i!7g8

a bede f g h 25.£5.ib7 26.:Shfl .ie427.a3 .ixd328.cx d3 14... llJxe5! Wfb3 29.:Sd2 b4 30.a4 Wfxa4 31.tiJg3 b3 Of course. Thiscompl etely busts White. 0-1

15.Wfxe5 tiJd5 16.tiJxd5 In the preceding game Black managed to White must accede to a hopeless material confuse the issue by refusing to commit his imbalance. king to castling fo r a number of moves. In the next game Black goes one step fu rther by 16.Wfel does not offer any solace either: refusing to castle at all!

OskarHirn - Henryk Dobosz

Nuremberg 1999

l.d4 g6 2.e4 .ig7 3.tiJc3 d6 4 ..ie2 a65 . .ie3 tiJd7 6.h4 h5 7.tiJab5 8.tiJg5 c6 When facing the Modern Defence, especially at blitz, I have played in similar fashion to White in this game, though I normally post my bishop on d3 rather than e2. This gives a

a e number of advantages, fo r example you can bed f g h 16... ii.xc3 ! (l6... 4Jx c3t? 17.bxc3 ii.xc3 manoeuvre the knight from c3 via e2 to f4 , 18.Wfxe7! would allow White to escape) where it eyes up some juicy squa�es on g6, e6 17.bxc3 4Jxc3t 18.cj;>b2Wfb4 t 19.�al Wfb1 # and h5; another gain is the possibility of later sacrificinga pawn with e4-e5 to open the way Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 225 to g6. To play good attacking chess you must Now the question is, what can White do? give your pieces the chance to do so! One of He can hardly push in the centre with e4-e5 the problems with having the bishop on e2 is or d4-d5, as neither advance achieves anything where to put the knight if Black plays ...b5- b4; concrete. Nor can he play f3 -f4, as this gives instead of somewhere productive it may have away the g4-square. to go to a4 or bI.

14• .!lJd1!? This is a sensible move as the knight provides important protection fo r the b-pawn. However, we shall see that White's plan is to manoeuvre the knight round to f2 , which is unwise as it leaves his king short of defenders.

Incidentally, attempts to hustle up some play with the immediate 14.g4 fa il miserably: 14 ...hxg4 15.f4 f6 ! and the knight is lost.

14 ...d5 15. .!lJf2?! It was surely time fo r White to fo rget about a bed e f g h 9.'lWdl .!lJh6 10.£3 tlJb6 11.0-0-0 �b8 the mirage of a kingside attack and start to 12.�dg1 think about consolidation - 15.l"i:e 1! would Telegraphing his intention to play g2-g4. have achieved that aim. It is clear that Black But Black is ready fo r it! will try to undermine the white centre, so White needs to be as ready fo r that as possible.

12.•. .!lJ c4! 13. .L:c4 This exchange is fo rced here. 13.'lWd3? is clearly not an option: 13... lt:'lx e3 14.'lWxe3'lWb6 15J'%dle5 and White is in big trouble.

13 ... bxc4

5 bed f g h 4 a e 15••• c5! 16.g4? 3 Continuing to pursue an attack that is simply not there. 2

1 16•.• dxe4

a bed e f g h 226 Mating the Castled King

16 ... cxd4!? is also good: 17 . .txd4 e5 lS . .ta7 have discussed, is vital in attacking play. The :8:b7 19. .tc5 d4! Black has a big attack on the fo llowing game demonstrates not only this queenside, similar to the game. rook manoeuvre, but also the idea of breaking through on f7, reminding us that the f7-square 17. .tf4 is vulnerable not just at the start of a game. White has passed the point of no return. 17.lLlgxe4 cxd4 lS. .tf4 can be met by the Helgi AssGretars son - Gabriel Sargissian crushing lS... :8:x b2! stripping the already Bled 2002 beleaguered white king completely bare. (01) I.d4 tlJf62.c 4 e6 3.tlJf3b6 4.a3 .tb7S.tlJc 3 8 dS 6.cxdS tlJxdS 7.'?Nc2 •.td2.te7 8 tlJd7 9.e4 lL:\xc3 10 . .txc3 0-0 11.0-0-0 7 All very thematic so fa r. 6

5 8

4 7

3 6

2 5

a bed e f g h 3 17... e3! 18.�xe3 lS.Wxe3 loses on the spot to lS... .tx d4. 2

18•.• cxd4 19.!!dlc3! a bed e f g h The danger of enemy pawns so close to the 11...'?Nc8?! king is evident. Anand has played the idea 11.. .c6! in this 20.bxc3 '?Nb6 position. This appears slow (it looks much more active to play fo r ...c5, fo r instance) but An effective example to show how leaving the idea is quite devious - to play ...b5, ...a5 your king in the centre can completely and eventually ... b4, fo cusing on the fa ct that bamboozle your opponent - it is much easier White has created a hook on a3. If the pawn to attack a fixedtarget! 0-1 was still on a2 this plan would have much less merit, but in this situation it's extremely The!!h 3-g3 manoeuvre dangerous. For example: 12.h4 b5 13. .td3 a5! Intending ...b4 next, with excellent play White will sometimes try to carry out a rapid against the white king. 14. .td2 b4 15.a4 c5 attack by playing h2-h4 and :8:h3-g3. Why 16.d5 c4! 17. .txc4 lLlb6!+ is this? Well, it's simply an issue of time. By using this path fo r the rook as opposed to 12.h4! the conventional route, :8:hl- el-e3-g3, he White wastes no time getting on with it. has saved a whole tempo. And time, as we Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 227

12.. J�d8 13.l3h3!h6 14.i.d3cS lS.dS! Next White doubles on the h-file and his The problem fo r Black is that taking this threats are just too strong. 19... �d6 20.l3dh1 pawn opens up lines fo r the white bishops to mf8 21.l3h8tcj;e7 22.l3e 1 t+- become attacking monsters, but there is little choice. Thebest line of defence is: 17... �x d5! 18.l3e3! l'!f1c7 19.�e5! l'!f1c6 20.�xf6 �xf6 lS ... exdS 16.exdS lLlf6 Of course not 16... �x d5?? 17.�h7t.

a e bed f g h 21.�b5! �xg5! (21...l'!f1xb5?? allows a snap mate: 22.l'!f1h7t mf8 23.l'!f1h8#) 22.�xc6 �xe3t 23.fXe3 �xc6 The material situation is close to level, but White should have a bede f g h White now unleashes a thunderbolt: decent chances of grinding out a win in the endgame. 17.lLlgS! l3xdS?! None of the alternatives offered Black an 18.l3e1 easy life, but there was one line that would An extremely complex middlegame has have brought him close to equality: arisen with much to calculate. Even an excellent calculator like Sargissian quickly goes 17 ...hxg5 18.hxg5 ctJxd5 is powerfully met by: wrong. 18... �c7? ! Missing a big tactic.

Thefo llowing variation also demonstrates how dangerous White's attack is: 18... �d6 19.cj;bl! Getting out of the way of any annoying checks and retaining the threats on the kingside. 19... l'!f1d7 20 .�c4! hxg5 21.hxg5 l'l:xg522. �xf6 gxf6 23.l'!f1h7tcj;f 8 24.l'!f1h6tl'l:g7 25.l'!f1xf6 and Whiteis winning.

a e bed f g h 19.�d2!! Simply taking a move out to defend 19.i.h7t@f8 against Black's threat of taking the g5-pawn. 228 Mating the Castled King

22.�hg3 �h5 8

a bede f g h White to play. How can he put Black to the sword? a bede f g h 23.�xe7! 20.filxf7!! Gretarsson continues to attack with vigour. Crashing through. 23.ctJe5! (or 23.ctJh8!) 23 ...ctJx h7 24.ctJg6t! is 20... �f 4t also winning. Black refuses the bait, but he is facing a huge onslaught in any case. 23 ...�xe7 24.�xg7 ltle8 Taking the piece would also lead to his Mter 24 ...ctJx h7 25.ctJe5tWd8 26.g4! We8 demise: 20 ...Wxf7 21 .Wg6t Wf8 27.Wxh7, all the white pieces are taking part in the finalslaughter .

3 a e f bed g h 2 22.Ei:he3! Emphasizing how useful the rook on h3 is in an attacking sense - so much better 1 than on hI! 22 ...i.d6 23.i.xf6 i.f4 24.Wc2 a bed e f g h i.xe3 25.Ei:xe3 White'sattack is overwhelming. 25.�e4t �f8 26.�g8t �xf7 27.�g6t �xg8 28.�e6t 21.�ee3 �g4 It's mate next move. 21...Wxf722 .Wg6t Wf8 23.Ei:hg3! is curtains 1-0 fo r Black. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 229

Part2 - Sacrifices and understanding is just that bit better than his opponent's. To shatter a king's position we sometimes need to step beyond the ordinary and introduce a 6 ...a6 7 . .!lJbdl .ta7 8.ti)f1 h6 9.ti)g3 0-0 bit of magic - this is where sacrifices come into 10.0-0 .te6 l1.h3 �d7 12 . .te3 play. Quite often a sacrifice will be needed to break down an otherwise impregnable defence. 8 � ��p ��;� TheE:xf6 sacrifice 7 �,�� ,�� Petrosian was perhaps the first great master 6 'l�� _i_'o,z� of the exchange sacrifice. All of today's strong � 5 � � ". � ..... chess players have assimilated these lessons � from history into their veins - to the point ;iI;" 4 .� � � �� where exchange sacrifices that might have ��,� ��,� �zn/?� seemed extraordinary fifty years ago are now 3 �Ji�� t3J�lZJ0 t3J 'OU commonplace. In the fo llowing game the 2 lnooz� ��!S ;m mighty Norwegian Wo rld Champion Magnus Carlsen demonstrates his appreciation of the 1 �H"�'.j== strength of such a sacrifice. a bede f g h 12... .!lJe 7 Magnus CarIsen - HikaruNakamura 12... d5!? might well be sufficientto equalize, but even that would be no guarantee of gaining London 2011 a result against Carlsen. He is always happy to l.e4 e5 2.ti)f3 ti)c6 3 . .tc4 ti)f6 4.d3 .tc5 play right to the end, until the last drop of 5.c3 d6 6 . .tb3 blood has been extracted from the position. 13. .!lJh4 ti)g6 14.ti)hfS ti)e7 15.ti)xe7t �xe7 16.ha7 E:xa7 17.f4 c5 18. .tc2 b5! 19.�dl E:b7 20.a3 a5 21.E:f2 b4 22.axb4 axb4 23.E:af1 bxc3 24.bxc3 exf4 25.E:xf4 .!lJh7 26.d4 cxd4 27.cxd4 �g5 28.�h2 .!lJf6!?

a bed e f g h A seemingly innocuous choice of opening, but that is typical Carlsen. He is happy to postpone the battle until the middlegame and endgame, confident that his chess knowledge

a bede f g h 230 Mating the Castled King

Nakamura must have been feeling confident that this would offer good chances fo r Black, here, because there seems to be little danger on though Carlsen and Naka both seemed to be the kingside and he is getting ready to infiltrate quite dismissive of this idea after the game - it with his rooks on the queenside. is strange how players of similar strength can have a completely differentview of a position! Carlsen now comes up with a strong manoeuvre that is typical of the best players in the world - 30.h4! Yffg6 they play to restrict their opponent's chances!

29.i.dl! 8 Controlling the h5- and g4-squares, and 7 preparing to play h3-h4! 6

29•. JUb8?! 5 Thisis not quite losing, but it gives Carlsen a 4 tactical chance to abruptly alter the landscape of the position, at the very least setting 3 Nakamura huge practical problems. 2

Black can play 29 ...2"i:aS, but this runs into 1 similar problems to the game: 30.h4 'lWg6 a bed e f g h 31.2"i:xf6 gxf6 32.d5! with a big initiative. 31.2"i:xf6!! This shattering blow took Nakamura find it interesting that Kramnik, completely by surprise. Not because he commentating during the game, indicated hadn't seen it, but because he had simply a possible exchange sacrifice here: 29 ...2"i:b I! underestimated the strength of the sacrifice. 30.h4

31.•• gxf6 32. Yfff4 !

3 a e f bed g h 2 30 ...2"i:x dl! 31.2"i:xdl tLlg4t 32.gl 'lWxh4 33.tLlf1 2"i:aS!In a complete reverse of the game 1 continuation, Black is down the exchange, bed f ,g h but importantly he has the initiative - a very a e White does not even have a pawn fo r the important weapon in chess. Kramnik suggested exchange, so what has he gained from this Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 231 sacrifice? There are at least a couple of points He could have put up more resistance with: worth mentioning: 34 ...Wlg6! 35 .d5 .ic8

1) Black's pawns are shattered and vulnerable to attack. If White can win the d6-pawn he will gain a dangerous passed d-pawn to go with his other advantages.

2) The biggest gain is in the quality of the pieces. All of White's pieces are coordinating well, and the knight threatens to land on h5, where it will support a mating attack as well as taking aim at the f6 -pawn. In many situations (for example, those with a shattered pawn a e bed f g h structure) a knight is a much more dangerous 36.Wlxd6! attacking piece than a rook. By contrast, Carlsen could also go fo r a better endgame Black's pieces are badly placed, his rooks lack with 36 . .ih5 Wlg7 37.Wlxf6 Wlxf6 38.Ei:xf6 any target and the queen is vulnerable to attack Ei:2b739 .Ei:xd6. by the white pieces. However, 36.lLlh5f5 ! is not clear. 36... f5 37.Wle5! 32 ..J:�b2 Facing a rampant Carlsen, such a position It is difficultto give Black any useful advice would be almost impossible to defend. here. Nakamura at least hinders the threat of It'lh5fo r the time being. 35.d5 .ic8 36.tiJh5 WlfS 37 . .!lJxf6t �h8 33. .ih5Wlg7 34 . .if3! 38J:�cl! So Carlsen renews it - It'lh5 is now a huge threat.

2 a bede f g h 1 Completing the domination.

a bed e f g h 34 ..J�a 8?! 38 ...�g7 39.e5! dxe5 40.tiJh5t �h7 Under pressure, Nakamura fa ils to find the 41..ie4t most accurate line of defence. 1-0 232 Mating the Castled King

I was reminded of the strength of this :9:xf6 I had only really analysed White's 17th idea in the fo llowing game I played against a move in combination with 18.f5?, and had promising junior. overlooked this simple recapture. Perhaps the fact that the game was played at 10 o'clock in

Peter Williams- Danny Gormally the morning had some connection with my lethargy at the board. Coulsdon 20 12

18•.• lLle8 8 I'm fo rced into grovel mode. Theawful truth had dawned on me that the natural response 7 would be quickly swept aside: 18... lLlx e5? 6

a bede f g h

15••• .id7? Completely fa iling to see the strength of a e bed f g h White's threat. 19.:9:xf6! 6gxf 20.lLlce4 and with 'lWh6 and lLlxf6 t coming, it's hasta la vista fo r Black. 16.f4! lbg6 17.e5! A near-decisive breakthrough! 19.1Llce4 Vf!c7 20.e6!

An excellent sacrifice. As well as getting a 17•.• dxe5 huge passed pawn on d6, White also weakens the black king's position.

8 20 •••fxe6 21.d6 Vf!c6 22.:9:xf8t lLlxf823.:9:£1 7 lLlg6

a b c d e f g h 18.fxe5!

a bed e f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 233

24 . .ig4?! 27.�f4? Up to now my opponent had played this Missing a final chance to use the f- file to game perfectly, but now he starts to go astray. secure victory: 27.2''1f7! �c6 (27 ...g6 2S.:ge7! gxh5 29.�xh6 leads to mate) 2S.'IWc3 White I didn't see a defence to 24 . .ih5! with the idea intends to play :ge7 fo llowed by .ixeS and of taking on g6 and then infiltrating down �xg7#, and I have no good way to stop this. the f- file. 24 ...�d5 25 . .ixg6! hxg6 (perhaps 25 ...�xd2 26 . .if7t! is the point my opponent 27... tDf5! missed) 26.�f4 .ic6 27.�fSt �h7 2S.�e7! With the f- filenow blocked, matters are not Black's king will not survive much longer. at all clear, and I was even able to win the game in the end. 24 ...�b6 2S.h4?! The idea of using the h-pawn to break down The�h6 idea a king's defences is a very useful one which One of the most effective ways of hounding will be discussed in detail later in the book, an opponent's king to its doom is by flushing but here it's simply overkill. Thewhite pieces it out of its castled position to be mated by the already out in the battlefield are more than queen and rooks. A kingfe els safe and secure well placed enough to finish the job without hidden behind a wall of pawns, but drag it into the need fo r any assistance. the open and it starts to feel vulnerable. One particular way of doing this can be with �h7t I saw that my opponent could still play the fo llowed by :gh6, when the g6-square may right plan with 25 . .ih5!, but as he hadn't prove impossible to defend. played it last move I figured there was a good chance he wouldn't play it this turn either. Wo uter Spoelman- AlexandreDgebuadze Fortunately I was right! Germany 2009 2S ...h6! After25 ...tLJx h4 White's pieces stream down the f- file: 26.�f4 tLJf5 27.tLJxf5 exf5 2S . .ixf5 .ixf5 29.�xf5 and Black is defenceless.

26. .ihS tDxh4! The best chance, aiming to block the f-file.

a bede f g h 16.e6! A nice softening-upmove . 16... fxe6 16... .ixe6 10ses a piece to 17.tLJg5h6 lS.tLJxe6.

a bed e f g h 234 Mating the Castled King

17.tLlg5 h6 18J�fxgG hxg5 19.hxg5 f4 Theother way to win was by: 21.�d4! e5 20JWh7t i>f7

3 a e f 2 bed g h 22.Ei:h6! Now this is decisive. 22 ...c;t>e8 1 23.'lWg6t�d8 24.'lWxg7+-

a bede f g h 2U�h6?! 21...i>e8! This is generally a strong idea, bringing the Black correctly tries to rush his king to safety. rook into the attack, but in this particular position there are two continuations that are Taking the piece meets a grisly end: 21...fxe3 even stronger! Whitewould have finished the 22.Ei:f6t �e8 23.'lWg6t �e7 24.'lWxg7t and game much more effectively if he used his White wins. bishop to attack on the dark squares.

21.g6t! c;t>f6 (21...c;t>e8 22.�d4 e5 23.'lWxg7 exd4 24.Ei:h7 is even quicker) 22.'lWh4t �xg6 23.�d4! e5 24.'lWh5t �f6

a bed e f g h 22.VNgGt After the remarkable 22.�d4! gxh6 23.'lWg6t a e Ei:f7 24.gxh6, White would stand better as the bed f g h 25.Ei:xb7!! Ei:h8 26.Ei:xc7 Ei:xh5 27.Ei:xh5 Ei:xc7 h-pawn is very difficult to stop. However, 28.Ei:xe5Wh ite has a decisive advantage in the having the courage to play such a line over the endgame. board is not so easy.

22 ...Ei:f7 23.Ei:h7?? Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 235

Once again 23.j,d4! is the key move, when Presumably Black had missed that 24 ...fxe3 23 ...gxh6 24.gxh6 transposes into the variation would lose to a fo rced sequence of checks: in the previdus note. 25.Elh8tme7 26.Elxd7t mxd7 27.Wxf7t<;t>c6

28.Elxc8t +-

8 2S.i.d2 WlaIt 26.i>e2 ge7 27.Elh8t i>e7 7 28.gxe7 WleSt29.i>fl Wlxe7

5 8

4 7

3 6

2 5

1 4 3 a bed e f g h 23 •••WleS?? 2 It is fo rtunate fo r Spoelman that his 1 opponent didn't call his bluff and play the most obvious move - taking a piece! a bede f g h 30.e6! 23 ...fxe 3! would have been winning fo r Black. The dark squares do indeed turn out to be Mter 24.Elxg7 exf2t 25.<;t>fl Wf4!, White the decisive factor. Faced with the deadly threat cannot play 26.Elxb7? Wcl t and so he has no of j,b4t, Black is fo rced to jettison a piece. way to continue the attack. 30 ... aS 31.cxd7Wlxd7 32.i>gl Wla733. i.xf4 eS 34.Wle6gxf 4 3S.ge8t 8 1-0 7 King's Indianbreakthrough with ...tl)x dS 6 What is the most powerful attacking piece? The 5 queen, of course. Lesser pieces can be sacrificed to make way fo r Her Majesty, who arrives on 4 the scene resplendent in her moment of glory, 3 like Boadicea appearing on the battlefieldin her 2 chariot, ready to deliver the final blow to the enemy. One of Black's central attacking ideas 1 in the King's Indian is to get a pawn to g3, the queen to h4 and deliver mate on h2. Thisis such a b c d e f g h 24.Elxb7! a powerful concept that the issue of material Phew! becomes unimportant, and one particular idea worth knowing is the ...itJx d5 sacrifice, clearing 24 ...Wlxe3 t the way fo r the queen to reach h4. 236 Mating the Castled King

Spyridon Skembris - Altin Cela Correct! Clearing the d8-h4 diagonal and played with one idea in mind - to mate the Thessaloniki 1997 white king!

23.exdS ttJxdS24.�e l After 24.h3 Wfh4 it's all very simple - Black hacks away at the king, with subtlety taking a back seat: 25.Ei:dl i.xh3! and White is quickly mated.

24 ...Wlh4! 2S .h3

a bede f g h 21.Wla7 White's attempts to make headway on the queenside have hit a dead end, so Black does not miss his chance to soften White up.

21...g3! 2V!i:JbS? Oblivious to Black's evil intentions.

a bede f g h

2S •.• hh3 26.gxh3 Wlxh3 27J:HlttJe 3! White cannot cover the g2-square effectively, so he will be mated. 0-1

The Greek gift fleeting tactical opportunities If our opponent moves his pawns in front of his king, we have to weigh up whether or not this gives us attacking chances that were not previously present in the position. Sometimes the opportunity to sacrifice and a bede f g h get at the enemy king will be a fleeting one, What would you play as Black here? What and this is when accurate calculation is so possible attacking plans can he have? Thepawn important. Such a scenario came about in the on g3 looks dangerous, but how can we make fo llowing game, taken from a fa mous world use of it? If only we could get a queen to h4 ... championship match. 22 ... .!tJexdS!! Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 237

ViswanathanAnand - GarryKasparov 21...'�xh722.tt:lg5t! Anand said he had seen this idea, but peA-World Championship, New Yo rk (3) 1995 underestimated just how strong it was. 22 ...ixg5 22 ...mg8 23.'.Wh4 ixg5 24.fxg5 '.We8 8 25.2"1xf8t mxf8 26.2"1fl t 'tt>g8 27.ixg7! 7 mxg7 28.'.Wh6t'tt> g8 29.2"1f6 Black will have 6 to give up his queen to prevent mate, after which the advanced g-pawn will cost him 5 more material. 4 22 ...'tt> g6 23.f5t! exf5 24.tt:lge4t 'tt>h7 25.tt:lxf6 t 2"1xf6 26.ixf6 gxf6 27.2"1f4 also 3 wins fo r White. 2 23.fxg5! Thisis the real point. Thepawn proves to be just as useful an attacking unit as the knight a bed e f g h was. What is the best continuation fo r White 23 ...mg 6 here? Try to weigh up all the possibilities, but After23 ...'tt> g8 24.'.Wh4e5 25.g6 the g-pawn bear in mind that this is extremely difficult plays a decisive role. - it proved beyond the world championship challenger!

20.hc5? Not such a bad idea in itself, the real mistake is that White misses a golden opportunity to win the game at once.

Mt er the game Anand was unsurprisingly annoyed that he didn't take the chance to play: 20.exf6! ixf6 21.ixh7t!! This which would have ripped the black a e bed f g h king from its moorings and enabled Anand 24.2"1f6t! gxf6 to win the game in brilliant fashion. Mter 24 ...2"1xf 6 25.gxf6t 'tt>h5 26.'.Wh3t mg5, the remorseless silicon machine gives mate in nine moves starting with 27.'.Wh7!. 25.gxf6t 'tt>h5 25 ... 'tt>f7 26.'.Wg7tme8 27.'.We7# 26.'.Wh3t'tt> g5 27.2"1fl ! Theblack king will soon be mated. 20 ...dxc5 As Anand said in his notes, "Kasparov was so relieved to see 2o.ixc5 that he didn't want to speculate anymore."

a e bed f g h 238 Mating the Castled King

21..tc4 .td5! Thedanger has passed, and the game fizzled 8 out to a draw some moves later. 7 Rook sacrificeon e6 6 Sometimes White can sacrificeon e6 fo r long 5 term attacking chances or just to generate some play. A typical example of this is the thematic 4 sacrifice of a rook fo r a bishop on e6, which 3 crops up in many situations. Thegeneral idea 2 is to disrupt the black pawn structure and to create weaknesses on the light squares, where 1 White's pieces can infiltrate. a bed e f g h 15.E:xe6! MichalKrasenkow - EduardasRozentalis I mentioned above that such a sacrifice often Krynica 1997 gives long-term attacking chances, but in this particular position it is more or less winning - White just has too many threats. 15... fxe6 16.llJg5! As well as aiming at e6, this has the deadly idea of smashing through on h7.

16... W/a5

a bede f g h 13.W/d3! Black may have felt fairly safe at this point, but the subsequent course of the game soon shows that this is not the case.

13... g6 Forced, to meet the threat of �xf6 fo llowed bed f g h by mate on h7. a e Black's idea is to meet the immediate 14. .th6E:e8 17.tDxh7 with 17... Wf 5, but Krasenkow has seen further.

17.h4!! Overloading the black pieces. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 239

17•.. WffS 19... liJf B 20.�f7t �hB 21.Wh5! c5 22.Ei:d3! Mt er 17... Wfxb4 IB.liJxh7! Black is quickly (even stronger than 20.�xeB) 22 ...Wc6 23.Ei:g3 mated. The rook comes to support the rest of the swarming white army, and Black is helpless. Ta king with the bishop would not save Black either: 17... �xb4 IB.liJxh7! Thisnow works as the f6 -knight is no longer defended. IB... Wf5 8 19.Wxf5 gxf5 20.liJxf6t Wf7 21.liJxeB White 7 wins on material. 6

18.Wfe3! 5 White breaks through decisively on e6 after 4 IB... Wg4 19.h3 or IB... Wxc2 19.Wxe6t �hB 20.Wf7Ei:gB 21 .Wxh7t! liJxh7 22.liJf7#. 3 1-0 2

Yo na Kosashvili- Peter Gelpke 1

Netherlands 1996 a bede f g h 20.ig7! ixg5 20 ...Wx g7 21.Wh7t �f6 22.liJe4t Wf5 23.Wh3t and 24.Wf3#.

21.Wfh8t@f7 22.Wfh7 It turns out that the most important factor is that the black queen will be hanging on c7 in many variations. Black cannot safeguard his king without incurring decisive material losses.

22 •.. lLlffi Akin to resignation, but no better is: 22 ...Ei:hB 23 .�xhBt �fB

a bed e f g h White's pieces are lined up menacingly, but there seems to be no way through - or is there? A little imagination is needed. White to play and win.

18J:�xe6!! Superb! Black's kingside defences are now stripped bare, bit by bit.

18... fxe6 19.ixg6! hxg6 a e f 19... �xg5 20.Wxg5 is also decisive. bed g h 24.�e5! WcB 25.�d6t Mate is fo rced. 240 Mating the Castled King

23.i.xf8t@xf8 24.�xc7�b8 Sicilian Defence positions. One of the strong benefits of this sacrifice is that Black can play fo r long-term compensation. Not only can the 8 sacrifice open up the white queenside to an 7 orgy of violence in the middlegame, a lot of the endgames are entirely acceptable fo r Black 6 as well. 5 MikulasManik - AlexanderKaliksteyn 4 Philadelphia 1993 3

2 8 1 7 a bede f g h 2S.�d3! i.e726.�f3t @g 8 27.�d7 6 In material terms, Black is not doing too 5 badly, but his scattered and ineffective army, his exposed king and White's activity combine 4 to ensure that he is completely helpless. 3 27 ...'tlg 7 28.�xe6 i.h429. �f7t@h6 30.g3 2 i.gS 31.h4 i.cl32.�f6 �g 8 1

a bed e f g h 8 A typical Dragon position has arisen. Black now comes up with a thematic Dragon 7 sacrifice. 6 16... �xc3 !? 17.bxc3? 5 I find it surprising that White did not avail 4 himself of the chance to exchange queens with 17.Wxc3! Wxc3 18.bxc3 ctJxh5 19.�d4! f6 . 3 Admittedly, Black has obvious compensation 2 fo r the exchange. He has the option of bringing the knight back into the game via f4 1 and e6, and all of White's queenside pawns are

a bed e f g h crippled and vulnerable, but the game would 33.hS! @xhS 34.�h7t i.h63S.�f 4 have remained close to equal. Instead of this, 1-0 White rather unwisely looks fo r an attack that is simply not there. The... �xc3 exchange sacrifice Just as E\xf6 is a useful attacking resource fo r 17 ... tiJxhS 18.g4 i.xc3 19.�h2 tiJf620.Wh6 White in kingside attacks, the ...E\xc3 sacrifice Still fishing fo r an attack, but Black gets often works well fo r Black, particularly in there first. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 241

24.tlJc1ia4 25.�e3 �e6 8 The rook joins the attack, leaving White 7 defenceless. 6 26.f4 �b6t 27.'it>a1 .te2! 28.liJb3 ixb3 5 29.�bl 29.fxe5 'lWa4 fo rces mate. 4

a bede f g h 20 ...a5! 21.�d3 Mter 2 1..�.d4 a4 22.j,xf6 j,xf6 23.'lWxh7t �f8 White's attack peters out to nothing, as Black has complete control of the dark squares.

21...�e8 22.id2 ie5! The simple 22 ...j,xd2 23.'lWxd2 j,b5 would have offered Black sufficient compensation a bede f g h fo r the exchange, but the move played is even 29 ...'lWa4 30.�b 2 ixa2 31.'lWhl ib3t stronger. Mter 27.�bl j,c2t, White is soon mated. 0-1 23.c3 'lWe4! Sergei Movsesian- Garry Kasparov

Sarajevo 2000

2 a bed e f g h A dream Dragon position! Black's dark 1 squared bishop is much more important bed f g h than a rook, and Black's perfect coordination a e overwhelms White. The rook on d3 looks Here we see an example of the ...�xc3 particularly pitiful. exchange sacrificeplayed at the highest level. 242 Mating the Castled King

13.. Jl:xc3 ! King's Indian breakthrough on the g-file In his notes to this game, Kasparov was From Black's perspective, the King's Indian quite dismissive of his opponent's play, is often characterized by a rapid assault with saying that allowing this sacrifice was a "lack pawns and pieces against the white king. of chess culture", implying that Movsesian Black will try to push his pawns as fa r into didn't understand how bad his position would enemy territory as possible in order to induce become. Harsh words. weaknesses, against which he then can strike with his pieces. 14.bxc3 'Wc7 lS.ltJe2 fie7 16.gS 0-0 17.h4 lLla4! AlejandroHoffman - Veselin Topalov Kasparov held the initiative and he went on Villarrobledo (rapid) 2000 to win.

1 bed f g h bed f g h a e a e 33 ...fixg4! 18.fic1 lLleS 19.hS dS 20.'Wh2fid6 21 .'Wh3 lLlxd3 22.cxd3 b4! 23.cxb4 �c8 24. �al With the white knights lined up on the g-file dxe4 2S.fxe4 fixe4! 26.g6 in rather ugly fashion, To palov decides this is the right moment to rip apart the pawn cover Desperation, but after 26.dxe4 White would which is the only thing protecting the poor be quickly mated: 26 ...!ie 5t 27.ttJd4 !ixd4t white king from Black's marauding fo rces. 28.�xd4 'Wxcl t 29.l"i:xcl l"i:xcl# 34.hxg4 �xg4 3S.fie4 26... fixh l 27.'Wxhl hb4 28.gxf7t �f8 29.'Wg2 �b8 30.fib2 lLlxb2 31.lLld4 lLlxdl There is nothing else; the white knight on g2 32.lLlxe6t �xf7 33.lLlxc7 fic3t 34.'Wb2 is move-bound. �xb2 3s.lLldS �bSt 36.lLlxc3 lLlxc3 37.a3 3S ...'Wg7! �bl# Cranking up the pressure along the g-file to unbearable levels.

36.'Wdl �xg2t 37.�hl lLlf6 38.lLlh3 lLlxe4! Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 243

b d f a bed e f g h a c e g h 39.�d2 12.a3! After 39J:l:xe4, Black mates with: 39 ...2"i:h 2t! A useful move In such positions, White 40.�xh2 Wig2# removes any possibility of Black playing 0-1 .. .t2:lb4. It also creates the option of later playing �a2-b 1. ThelLlxh7 breakthrough Thisbreakthrough sacrificetends to occur when 12... b6 13.�d3 .tb714 . .ta22"1e 8 Black has been softened up on the kingside, During the game I'm sure I was more with the pawn on g6 being particularly weak. concerned about Black playing 14... ttJf 6, just I managed to create just such a scenario in the to try and exchange some pieces and dull the fo llowing game. white attack. It is well known that in isolated queen's pawn positions, Black should strive fo r Danny Gormally- Josep Lopez Martinez exchanges as the strategic weakness of such a pawn becomes more pronounced with every Gothenbur 2005 g exchange. However, I would have had an interesting l.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.lLlc3 lLlf64.lLlf3 c5 5.cxd5 way to sharpen matters: lLlxd5 6.e3 lLlc6 7 . .tc4 cxd4 8.exd4 .te7 9.0-0 0-0 10J�el .tf6 Il.lLle4 .te7?! I think this move deserves criticism as Black has lost a couple of tempos and White wasn't really threatening to take on f6 anyway.

11... b6 seems more sensible, when I probably would have continued in similar vein to the game with 12.a3 �b7 13.Wid3, with a sharp battle in prospect.

a e bed f g h 15.ttJeg5!? h6 16.ttJxe6! fXe6 17.�xe6t (or 17.2"i:xe6! 'tt>hB 1B.ttJh4) 17 ...�hB 1B.ttJh4! 244 Mating the Castled King

White's attack is analogous to the Karpov - It was time to make some positional Shirov encounter that we saw on page 212. concessions to try and avert the coming storm with 20 ...�a6 21.We4 �xg5 22.�xg5 Wd6, 15.i.d2B:c s 16.B:adl g6 although it must be admitted that 23.tt:le5 looks pretty disgusting fo r Black.

a bede f g h 17.h4! a bed e f g h Thematicand strong. Not only can this pawn 21.tlJxh7!! be used as a crowbar to prise open the black It's party time! With so much pressure on g6 kingside, but it also acts as a useful support to this sacrifice is perhaps not surprising, but it's any fo ray that White should choose to make still always nice to play such a combination. with his knights. 21... �xh7 22.hx g6t �gS 17 ...lLlb S lS.lLleg5! i.f6 Black is already facing a difficulttask.

Taking on g5 would be anathema of course, but kicking away the pesky knight is not an option either: 18... h6? allows White to crash through with either 19.tt:lxe6! or 19.tt:lxf7!.

19.h5 B:c7 20.i.bl I am fu lly into the softening up process and the dangers are all there fo r Black to see, but he merrily continues with his plan, apparently without a care in the world.

a bed e f g h 20 ...B:d 7? 23.i.h6! I was shocked that my opponent was being I enjoyed playing this move, which takes so casual about his kingside. I thought that control over the vital g7 -square. My reasoning unless I'd missed something obvious, I had a during the game was that to conduct a successful huge threat against his king. Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 245 defence Black would almost certainly have to 26... @g8 play either ...i.g7 or .. J'%g7 at some stage, so I'm glad he didn't find the defensive idea of let's control that square and discourage him 26 ...ttJf 4!, although I am still winning easily fr om doing so. During this game I fe lt I was provided I find the slightly awkward 27.Wh2!. really "in the zone" and "seeing everything like a fo otball". At this point in my career I was 27.ttJxe6 �e8 28.i.g6 �c8 29.�d3! �xe6 playing much better than I ever had before ... 30.�xe6 �e7 31.�g3 or since, fo r that matter. 1-0

23 ...fxg6 The.!lJxg5 sacrifice to set up a deadlypin Thereis nothing that can save Black: 23 ...i.g7 A bishop on g5 pinning a knight on f6 brings 24.gxf7t Elxf7 25.Wh7t �f8 26.ttJe5! and the many benefits, not least of which is that if defence crumbles. Black tries to break the pin with ...h6 and ...g5, he has to take into account the weakening of 24JWxg6t �h8 25.ttJg5 his kingside, and on many occasions he may 25.Wh5! is also extremely strong. As Kasparov run into a nasty piece sacrifice. would say, White's attacking resources are simply too great fo r "one king". ParimarjanNegi -Wo uter Spoelman

25 ...�ee7 Wijk aan Zee 2007 After 25 ...ttJf 4 26.ttJf7tElxf7 27.Wxf7 We7 l.e4 e5 2.ttJa ttJc6 3.i.b5 a6 4.i.a4 ttJf6 28.Wxe7 Elxe7 29.i.xf4 White wins easily on 5.0-0 b5 6.i.b3 i.b7 7.�el i.c5 8.d material. 0-0 9.d4 i.b6 10.i.e3 exd4 l1.cxd4 ttJa5 12.i.g5! ttJxb3 13.�xb3 h6 Faced with the impending threat of e4-e5, 8 � _ � � Black elects to break this annoying pin. 7 � �I" m�" �� m"" " 6 . • .t."� 14.i.h4g5 ? :. But this runs into a sharp reply. 5 "',,%�� :� "'"�m''''' 4 . �� ." � � � 8 3 � � � � � 7 2"j.��.�� 6 •.t ' �IP. � 5 a bed e f g h 26.�h5?! 4 26.Elxe6! was even more convincing, but I 3 missed that after 26 ...Elxe6 I could win with 27.i.g7t! Elxg7 28.Wh5t �g8 29.i.h7t!, 2 which would have been a beautiful domination 1 on the light squares. a c d e g 246 Mating the Castled King

15.ltJxg5! 20 ...c6 21.Wh4 �h7 22.Wh6 leads to mate. Not only does this increase the pressure on the f6 -knight to almost unbearable levels, but 21.Wfh4�h7 22.Wfg5t �g6 it also rips open the black kingside, exposing it to the fu ll fo rce of White's marauding army.

15... ltJxe4 Sadly fo r Black, taking the bait with 15... hxg5 16.�xg5 leaves him without a credible response; there is no adequate defence against the crushing threats of e4-e5 and Wg3.

6 a bede f g h 5 23.ltJd5! 4 With the huge threat ofWh6. 3 23 ...�xd4 24.�xd4 c5 2 If 24 ...f5 25.Wh6

a bede f g h 25.1tJf6t �g7 26.liJe8t �g8 27.Wfh6 16J:'he4! 1-0 Of course, Negi has no intention of backing down. Peter Wells- MatthiasThesing

Germany 1998 It would be a big mistake to bail out with 16.ttJxe4? Wxh4, when Black is fine. White is after bigger fish.

16... �xe4 After 16... hxg5 17.Elg4 the g5-pawn falls.

17.Wg3! hxg5 18 . .ixg5 Wfe8 19..if6t �g6 20.1tJc3! It's always satisfying when a simple developing move proves to be decisive. White secures his back rank, after which Black is strangely helpless against the final assault.

20 ...Wfe6 a bede f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 247

Although the position may look almost Black can actually defend by walking the symmetrical, White's lead in development tightrope in a line of play that was, not allows him to press. surprisingly, indicated by the computer: 17... �b8! 18.'lWxd4'lWc7! 14.�c2! White now has the strong threats of 'lWd3 and 'lWxd4.

He should not be too hasty in grabbing the d4-pawn, as 14.tLlxd4?! �e5! gives Black good play.

14... h6 15.�h4 g5 A provocative decision that tempts Wells into an adventurous sacrifice. a e bed f g h 16.lbxg5! 19.d6! 'lWxc2 20.�xf6 �a7 21.'lWh4 'lWh7 Objectively this should not bring any great 22.'lWf4 'lWf5 23.'lWxf5 �xf5 24.2"i:fdl The advantage with best play by both sides, but all endgame is unclear, though easier to play fo r the practical problems lie with Black. White.

16 ...hxg5 17.hg5 18.�xd4! Wells showed fine judgement when sacrificing the knight to appreciate how perilous Black's situation would be here. The poor knight on f6 is now pinned in two directions - such positions are impossible to defend.

18 ...�d7 19J3ael l3c8

6 a bed e f g h 17... <.t> g7? 5 Under pressure, Thesing immediately loses 4 his way. 3

17... 2"i:e8 18.'lWxd4! is also promising fo r White, 2 fo r example: 18... �e5 19.'lWh4 �xal 20.2"i:xal 1 Wa5 21.2"i:fl and Black is helpless.

a bede f g h 248 Mating the Castled King

20J��e3! .ib5 25 . .ixd5! 20 .. J'hc2 allows White to break through Thepoint of this sacrifice is to fo rce a pawn decisively with 21.:9:f3 i?e722 .d6!. through to e6, throwing Black into complete disarray. 20 ...:9:e8 runs into an attractive refutation: 21.:9:g3! i?e5 (or 21...i?xg3 22.fxg3! with a 25 ...exd5 26.e6 lbfS decisive attack down the f- file) 22.i?xf6t �xf6 Removing the pawn does not help either: 23.Wh4# 26 ...fxe6 27.Wxe6t �f8 28.ct:Jg5! i?xg5 29.i?d6tand White wins. 21..ixf6t Mter 21...Wxf6 22.Wg4t Black must give up 27.exflt@xfl 2s.lbg 5t his queen to avoid mate. Leaving Black with a miserable choice. 1-0 2S ...@e S Breakthroughon d5 28 ...i?xg5 is also hopeless: 29.i?xg5 Wd7 The fl-e6-d5 pawn chain might look very (Mter 29 ...Wd6 30.Wf3t �g8 31.:9:e7 Black solid, but if White can smash his way through has to give up his queen to prevent mate.) it he can beat a path to the black king. The 30.We5! �g8 31.i?e7!A nice interference with fo llowing example comes from a King's Indian the queen's defence of the g7 -square. 31...ct:Je6 Attack, an opening favoured by Bobby Fischer. 32.Wf6 Black is defenceless. White's attacking play tends to be thematic and easy to remember. General ideas fo r White include playing h2-h4-h5-h6 to fo rce 8 a weakness on g7, exchanging dark-squared 7 bishops with i?g5 and exploiting the dark squares with the manoeuvre ct:Jf3-h2-g4. There 6 is sometimes also the possibility of breaking 5 through directly with a sacrificeon d5. 4

Kart Robatsch- Etdis Cobo Arteaga 3

Havana 1963 2 1

8 a bed e f g h 29.lbe6 7 Although this was successful in the game, it 6 allows a hidden defence. 5 The most convincing way fo r White to 4 demonstrate his advantage is 29.We5! i?xd3 3 30.Wg7. As well as the obvious 31.Wflt �d7 32.Wxd5t, White is also threatening 31.ct:Jfl! 2 fo llowed by ct:Jd6t, and Black has no good 1 defence.

a bed e f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 249

29 ... lLlxe6 With his queen under attack, it might seem that Black has no choice, but he can counter by targeting the white queen: 29 ...d4 !! 30.We5 30.We4 is met by 30 ...�b7! 31.We5 ltJxe6 32.Wxe6 �fS 33.�e5 �d5 34.�g7t �eS 35.We5 :B:c6and the black king survives.

a bed e f g h 35.Wfxh7? With 35.:B:abl! Whitewould have crowned his beautiful attacking concept. 35 ...WgS 36.Wa7 gives White a decisive attack, while 35 ...:B:bS 36.Wxh7 is also winning.

a e bed f g h 35•.• Wfg8 ! 30 ...�f 6!! 31.ltJxdSt Now matters become unclear again. 31.ltJc7t looks dangerous, but Black can The important difference compared to the defend: 31...�f7 32.Wxc5 �xd3 33.:B:eS previous note is that 36.Wa7 can be met by WxeS 34.Wd5t ltJe6 35.ltJxeS :B:xeS and 36... :B:aS . Black has more than enough material fo r the queen. 36.Wfxg8 gxg8 37.d4 cxd4 38.cxd4 gh8 31...�xe5 32.:B:xe5t WxdS 33.:B:ae1 39.d5t d7 40.gabl Despite the simplifications, White still has play against the black king. The conclusion could be: 33 ...dxc3 34.:B:d5t ltJd7 35.�g5t �c7 36.�f4t WdS= With a repetition of moves.

30.Wfxe6 :B:b6 Black has nothing better.

31.Wfg8td7 32.Wfxd5t :B:d 6 32 ... WeS enables White to go back to take the h-pawn: 33.WgSt �d7 34.Wxh7 White's threats, such as �g5 or doubling on the e-file, bed f g h are overwhelming. a e 40•.• i.c4? ? A terrible blunder, allowing the rook to reach 33.hd6 hd6 34.Wff7tc 6 b7. Thesimple 40 ...:B:xh6 was fine fo r Black. 250 Mating the Castled King

4U�b7t

Breakthrough on f7 - two minor pieces for a rook Theattacki ng player oftenhas to weigh up the consequences of taking on f7 and sacrificing rwo minor pieces fo r a rook. Generally speaking, a knight and a bishop are much more powerful than a rook in the middlegame, but there can be the added factor of the black king being exposed. a bed e f g h 19.i.xh6! RadenkoGalic - Vaso Bojanic The main point of the combination. White Banja Luka 2004 exposes the king fu rther while gaining time to bring his queen's rook into play.

8 19... ltlf6 7 Taking the bounty would have exposed Black to the full fo rce of White's queen and 6 rwo rooks: 19... gxh6 20.'lWg6t (the immediate 5 20JJ:adl is good too) 20 ...Wf 8 21.'lWxh6t Wf7 22.E!adl White will soon pick up the hanging 4 black knight on d5, and has a rampant 3 initiative to boot.

2 20.�g6 �fS 1 Mter this, White wins yet another pawn and obtains an easily won endgame. a b c d e f g h IS.i.xf7t! White strikes before Black has managed 20 ...�f8 might have been a better practical to achieve full mobilization. This drags the choice. enemy king into the open and weakens his defences on the kingside. Most important of all, the need to defend the king will throw the black ranks into disarray.

IS... E!xf7 16.ltlxf7

a e bed f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 251

However, if White finds the accurate 27.•. cj;>xe828.b 4 liJd7 29.cj;>f1a5 30.c6! bxc6 21.�g5! then Black is practically move-bound. 31.bxa5 liJb8 32.cj;>e2 cj;>f7 33.cj;>d3 cj;>f6 The bishop dn c8 has no useful squares, fo r 34.f4 liJa6 35.cj;>c4 c5 36.h4 cj;>g637.cj;>d5 example 21...�d7 22.l"i:ad1 and White will win cj;>f6 material. 1-0

Theearly liJg5 sortie The fo llowing is a classic example of a rapid early attack against a castled king. White has delayed castling in order to be able to launch a blitzkrieg assault.

George Norman- John O'Hanlon

Hastings 1921

7 a bed e f g h 21..L:g7! Wfxg7 22.Wfxg7t cj;>xg7 23.l"i:xe7t 6 cj;>f824. l"i:ael 5 White has too many pawns, and the game is decided. 4 3

24 •.•.id7 25.g 4 l"i:e8 26.l"i:xe8t.ixe8 2

I 8 a b c d e f g h 7 9.h4!? 6 Expressing his desire to go fo r an early knock-out, White increases his control over 5 the g5-square and plans a Greek giftsacri fice. 4

9 •.•f6 3 Black plays to undermine the centre yet 2 fu rther, but given the aggressive intention of White's play, he will have to continue with great care. a bed e f g h 27.l"i:xe8t?! I would prefer to act straight away with Not really necessary as retaining the rook 9 ...cxd 4!. Black must certainly take into was an easy win, though the pawns turn out to account the immediate Greek giftsacri fice,but be too strong in any case. the absence of White's dark-squared bishop 252 Mating the Castled King means that such an attack is not convincing I2... �xg5 ! It is essential to capture this way here: 10.�xh7t?! mxh7 11.tLlg5t to get the queens off. (l2... hxg5 13.hxg5 �xg5 14.1"i:h5! gives White too dangerous an attack.) 13.hxg5 Wxg5 I4.Wxg5 hxg5 I5.dxc5 tLld7 Theending is not at all unfavourable fo r Black.

5 a e bed f g h 11...mh6! 12.Wd3 g6 13.h5 mg7! I4.hxg6 4 1"i:h8!The attack is essentially refuted. Thebest 3 White can do is: I5.tLlxf7! 1"i:xhl t I6.me2 2 1"i:xaI I7.tLlxd8 �xd8 18.Wh3 mxg6 19.Wg4t Black has a huge amount of material fo r the 1 queen, but his exposed king means that White a b c d e f g h has chances to save the game. 11.VNhS! White should not be tempted by: lO.llJgS!? 11.�xh7t!? mxh7 12.hxg5t mg8 13.1"i:h8t! White doesn't hesitate. This shows the mf7! (l3... mxh8 ? I4.Wh5t mg8 I5.g6 leads benefit of not castling too soon - White can to mate) 14.Wh5t g6 15.1"i:h7tme8 16.Wxg6t use the h I-rook as an attacking unit. md7 It might appear that the king has reached safety, but White has a final trick to secure the lO... fxgS ? draw. Putting his head into the lion's jaws.

It is still possible fo r Black to eschew immediate material gain and safely block the attack: 1O... f5 ! Il.Wh5 h6 I2.Wg6!

a e bed f g h 17.tLlxd5! exd5 18.Wd6t me8 19.Wg6t with a perpetual check.

1l... h6 a e bed f g h Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 253

1l...g6 12.j,xg6 hxg6 13.Wxg6t �h8 14.tt:lxd5! would have been the logical fo llow 14.hxg5# Of course, this variation would up to White's excellent play. Mter 14... exd 5 be not possible if White had already castled 15.j,xf5! j,xf5 16.gxf5, White's threat off5 -f6 kingside! will prove decisive.

1l...Elf5 12.j,xf5 exf5 13.hxg5 cxd4 14.Wxh7t 14.•. i.xg5 ? �f7 15.Wh5t �e6 16.0-0-0! For a small Returning the compliment. investment of material, White has gained an It seems that both players missed the overwhelming attack. possibility of: 14... Elx g5! 15.Wh7t �f716 .Elh3

12.Wg6! l:U5 A last attempt to shore up his defence, which is leaking more water than a holed Titanic.

12 ...cxd4 allows a snap mate: 13.Wh7t �f7 14.j,g6#

13.g4! White continues to act with aggression and venom. a e bed f g h 13 ... i.d7 16... j,c6! 17.Elf 3t �e8 and the king escapes to Black must not open up the diagonal to his the queenside. king: 13 ...Elf 4 10ses to 14.Wh7t �f8 15.j,g6!. 15.gx5i.e8 16.Wxe6t i.f7 17.Wd6 White is now back on track and he has few problems converting the extra exchange in the endgame.

3 a bed e f g h 14.hxg5? 2 Thisallows Black a chance to turn the tables. 1

White must certainly avoid 14.gxf5?? j,e8 a bed e f g h 15.Wxe6t j,f7,when his queen is trapped. 17 ...Wxd6 18.exd6 cxd4 19.tLle2 tLlc6 20.£4 i.f6 21.a3 E:d8 22.@f2E:xd6 23.E:agl @f8 254 Mating the Castled King

24.c!lJg3 c!lJa5 25.b3 c!lJc6 26J�el a6 27.llJh5 15... ttJ b6! ? might be a better way to prepare fo r i.xh5 2SJ;xh5 'i!lf7 29J;h2 c!lJdS 30.i.e2 the looming sacrifice: 16.�xh6 gxh6 17.Wxh6 'i!lf8 31.i.h5 c!lJf7 'i!lf3 32. l3dS 33.i.xf7 f5 ! It's not clear if White has anything better 'i!lxf734.l3e 6 l3cS35.l3d 6! l3c3t36.'i!lg 4 d3 than perpetual check with 1S.Wg6t WhS 37.cxd3 l3xb3 3S.l3xd5 l3xa3 39.l3c2 l3b3 19.Wh6t. 40.l3cS l3b2 41.l3c7t i.e7 42.l3dd7 l3e2 43.'i!lf3 It is also possible to try to slow down the attack 1-0 with the bold 15... g5! 16.�g3 ttJb6 17.�c2 ttJxd5 lS.Wd3 f5 19.Elfe 1 c6, with unclear Thei.xh6 sacrifice play in prospect. We've already seen how dangerous it is fo r Black to allow a hook on h6 fo r Whiteto pin 16.i.xh6! his attack to. Let's look at this idea in more A crunching right hook! detail in an excellent game of Seirawan's. 16... gxh6 17.Wfxh6 Yasser Seirawan - Igor Ivanov

Los Angeles 1991

2 a bed e f g h 17... c!lJf8 1 A somewhat passive move to have to resort to, but reasonable alternatives were short on a b c d e f g h 15.Wfd2! the ground. With this move White telegraphs his intention to crash through on h6, but Black 17 ...f5 is ineffective here as the white bishop fa ils to appreciate the gravity of the threat. All can immediately enter the attack: 1S.Wg6t! of White's pieces are ideally placed to attack '\t>hS (1S... '\t>f S 19.�xf5+-) 19.Wxf5 ttJfS the black kingside, fo r example the bishop on 20.Wf7+- d3 is aiming at h7, and the knight on f3 may later go to g5. 17 ...ttJf 6? lS.ttJg5 leads quickly to mate, fo r example: 1S... �fS 19.�h7t WhS 20.ttJxf7# 15... l3eS Walking into the eye of the storm. IS.l3ael! To use a phrase often attributed to Seirawan himself, "Let's invite everyone to the party!" Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 255 l8... id7 19J3e3! if6! 21...lLlg6! 22.lLlxf7 ii.xh6 23.lLlxd8 �exd8 24.�xg6t ii.g7+

21.dxe5ixe5 22.l3fe1

a bed e f g h 2 White to play - what is the strongest 1 continuation?

a b c d e f g h 20.ttJe5?! 22 ...f5? A beautiful idea, but one with a serious flaw. This leads to disaster, as Black will be defenceless once a white rook reaches g3. A different knight leap would have kept the flames burning: 2o.lLlg5!! ixg5 (20 ...�xe3 ?? With 22 ...ii.g7! Black could have still put 21.ii.h7t leads directly to mate) 21.�g3 f6 up stern resistance: 23.Wh5 (23.�g3 lLlg6! is 22.f4 We7 23.fxg5 f5 24.g6 Wf6 25.�f4 �e7 unclear) 23 ...lLlg 6 24.ii.xg6 fxg6 25.Wxg6 Wf6 26.�h4! (threatening g6-g7!) 26 ...Wg7 27.Wg5 26.Wg3 I would rather be White here, but White will obtain a third pawn fo r the piece, nothing is decided yet. and his initiative is ongoing. 23.f4! 20 ... �xe5? Seirawan goes into Terminator mode. With 20 ...ii.g7! Black could have refuted the attack, fo rcing White to seek refuge in a rather 23 ...id4 24.i>h2!'Wf6 miserable ending: 21.�g3 24 ...ii.xe3 25.�xe3 leaves the black king is helpless against the final attack, fo r example: 25 ...f7 26.Wh5t lLlg6 27.Wh7t f6 8 28.g4! lLlxf4 29.g5t It>xg5 30.�g3t f6 7 31.Wg7# 6

5 25.l3g3t i>f726.'Wh5t ttJg 6 27.l3xg6! l3h8 27 ...Wxg6 28.�e7t and wins. 4 3 V'=",,,,, jmm,,,,,,,,, 28.l3h6t 2 1-0

a e bed f g h 256 Mating the Castled King

Rodrigo Rafael Vasquez -Juan Borges Mateos One of the benefits of being on the attacking side is that quite often there is only one clear Santa Clara 1998 path of play available to us, whereas the defender might have to choose between several 8 lines of play, all of which may appear acceptable on the surface, but only one of which allows 7 him to survive. With a ticking clock, pieces 6 lined up scarily towards our king, no computer to guide us, and a motivated and confident 5 opponent, how many players can hold their 4 nerve and find the right defence? Such a 3 situation was exemplified in the fo llowing encounter between two chess heavyweights. 2

1 Teimour Radjabov - Peter Svidler Morelia/Linares 2006 a bede f g h 19.i.xh6! This standard sacrificewins by fo rce.

19 ..•gxh6 20 .'lWxh6tiJf 4 There is no defence, fo r example: 20 ...il.e7 21.lLlg5! lLlg7 (21...lLlxg5 22.'lWxg5t c±>h8 23.'lWh6t<;t>g8 24.Ele5 +-)

a bed e f g h 14.i.xh6! We should now be familiar with this sacrifice, though here there is the slight but important

a e difference that White's light-squared bishop bed f g h 22.il.g6!! fxg6 23.lLlce4! Undermining the f6 - is not lined up on the bl-h7 diagonal. If knight. 23 ...il.e6 (23 ...lLlx e4 24.'lWh7t c±>f8 the bishop were on b 1 then this idea would 25.'lWh8#) 24.'lWxg7t! C±>xg7 2S.lLlxe6t White surely be decisive, but even with the bishop gains a decisive material advantage. not ideally placed, the sacrifice is still strong. Radjabov may also have hoped that findingthe 21.'lWg5t! right line over the board would prove beyond Thefinish could be: 21 ...c±>f 8 22.'lWxf6 lLlxd3 Svidler - and this turned out to be the case. 23.'lWh8# 1-0 14 ... Elc8 15.i.b3gxh6 16.'lWxh6 Chapter 4 - Breakthrough with Pieces 257

remains extremely dangerous, as all his pieces are ideally situated fo r attacking the exposed black king.

17J�e5! Faced with the huge threat of Ei:h5, Black's reply is fo rced.

17... £5 ISJhe6! i.xe6 19.i.xe6t i>hS 20.i.xcS �U6 20 ...�xcB 21.'De5!is immediately decisive.

a bed e f g h 16... ttlh7? With a choice between knight moves, Black picks the wrong one, meaning that White's enterprising sacrifice has paid off.

The correct path would have been: 16... 'Dg 4! 17.�f4! f5 17... e5 IB.'Dxe5! j,g5 19.�e4 is good fo r White.

a bede f g h 21.�h5 The all-seeing machine points out an attractive alternative: 21.�e3!? 'Dc2 22.�d3 'Dxal 23.j,xf5 'DfB 24.j,e4

� •• 8 � {." "%�""';.''''

''''' � 7 % % '''''''� %� 6 . . . a e bed f g h IBJl:xe6 5 �. �. ""(.. The computer suggests IB.Ei:ad I!? as a � 4 r.��:.�� promising alternative. It looks rather slow, � 3 �fi�� but it is useful to prevent any counterplay � � involving ...'Dd 3, and a fu ture d4-d5 break 2 ."�""� ". "'�!''�r:il�'''' may prove strong. � �� a e IB... Wg7 19.Ei:e2 j,eB 20.h3 'Dd3 21.�d2 bed f g h 'Dgxf2 22.Ei:xf2 'Dxf2 23.�xf2 Despite Black's extra rook, the computer Thiswo uld have enabled Svidler to minimize claims that White is close to winning. It is not the damage, but even so White's initiative easy fo r Black to defend his light squares. 258 Mating the Castled King

21..J1*!xcS 22.�el 39.11Jd5 Wxb2 40.WfS �cl 41.ltJxe7t Material is about equal, but White has a big 1-0 advantage due to the exposed black king. So what have we learnt from this chapter? Here 22 ....tfS 23 .lLle5 <;!;>gS 24.Wdl lLlg5 are a few points to sum up:

1) Sacrifices can appear out of thin air, as in 8 the game we just looked at. Be on the lookout 7 fo r hidden opportunities; it's important to remember that these possibilities may be 6 fleeting. 5 2) Don't be afraid to sacrifice. Material is a small price to pay if it means getting at the 4 enemy king. That doesn't mean we should 3 sacrifice willy-nilly and just expect to win. It means weighing up each individual case on 2 its merits and using our calculation, intuition 1 and experience to assess whether a sacrifice is appropriate fo r the situation. a bed e f g h 25.Wb3t?! 3) Certain attacking themes tend to appear White could have won on the spot with: again and again. As well as using this book as a 25.'Wel! i.h6 guide, you should look around fo r other sources and material that may prove useful fo r your own games. For example, if you play the Sicilian then look at games with themes that repeatedly crop up, such as the ...:8xc3 sacrifice. The right skills fo r attacking a castled king will come from good knowledge. Look at the games of great attacking players, such as Tal and Shirov. Their games will improve your knowledge and increase your confidence when you have the opportunity to attack your opponent's king. 4) Sometimes a sacrifice will be purely a e intuitive and will not lead to a fo rced win, but bed f g h 26.ltJd5!! ltJf3t (26 ...'Wxe l 27.ltJxf6t \t>g7 the practical chances will be in your fa vour. The 28.ltJh5t \t>g8 29.:8xel ltJf3t 30.ltJxf3 ,bel defender often has to walk a tightrope, where 31.b3 is a simple endgame win fo r White) just one slip can lead to calamity. Tal was the 27.ltJxf3 �xel 28.ltJe7t White regains the master of the intuitive sacrifice and often won queen with an easy win. games with sacrifices that were considered dubious, because his opponents were unable 25 ... <;!;>g7 26.h4 llJO27. 11Je2 llJxe5 2S.dxe5 to solve the practical problems. Having your �c6 29.11Jf4 .te7 30.Wg3t <;!;>h7 31.Wf3 WeS king attacked is no fu n. Being several pieces to 32.g3 Wo 33.e6 Wf634.Wh5t <;!;>gS 35.WeSt the good is no consolation if your king is being WfS36.Wg6t Wg7 37.Wxf5�c 5 3S.We4 11Jc6 slaughtered by the rest of your opponent's army. Chapter 5

Breakthrough with Pawns

This chapter is all about pawns, and specifically how best to use pawns to break through to a castled king. As we have already discussed in Chapter 3, pawns can be very useful in an attacking sense.

Sometimes pawns can mate the king themselves, although admittedly this is quite rare.

Pawns are more often used to clear a path fo r our pieces to the king - like tactical nuclear weapons, clearing a way fo r the shock troops to filter in and dismember an already grievously wounded enemy.

Pawns can also be used to keep defenders away while assisting our attackers. Thisis true of a pawn on e5 fo r example, which keeps the opposing pieces away from the f6 -square.

Pawns can be used to provide staging posts. For example a pawn on h4 may create a useful post on g5 fo r the white pieces, as well as having the potential to be a useful attacking unit itself.

Pawns can be used as battering rams. A pawn can be sent right up the board to break down a seemingly impregnable defence - one pawn may be of little material value to the attacker, but it can cause irreversible damage to the defender.

In this chapter we'll study these themes while also looking at specificexa mples. I haven't tried to include every single way that pawns can break down an enemy king, because that would weigh down the reader with too much information, and in any case there is not enough space in this book. Rather I've aimed to show the most relevant examples - it's the general understanding that is important and hopefully this chapter will greatly increase the reader's knowledge.

No Pawns have been moved in frontof the enemy king Often we need a hook or some kind of weakness to latch on to, but even when the pawns in front of the enemy king have not moved, fa r-advanced pawns can spell trouble fo r the defending side. A classic example is the fo llowing game, in which Anand torments Timman with pawns on g6 and h6. This extremely dangerous white pawn configuration crops up repeatedly in Sicilian 260 Mating the Castled King posItlons, and more often than not spells his pawns, but this is terribly slow and by the doom fo r Black. time he has played ...a5 -a4 and ...b4-b3 , he may already have been mated on the kingside. ViswanathanAnand -Jan Timman 17... VNc8 18.h3 gc7 Wijk aan Zee 2004 l.e4 c5 2.tiJ£3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tiJxd4 tiJf6 5.tiJc3 tiJc6 6.i.g5e6 7.VNdla6 8.0-0-0 i.d7 9.£3i.e7 10.i.e3gc 8 11.g4 tiJa5 12.i>hlh5 13.i.d3 lbc4 14.i.xc4 gxc4 15.lbce2! 0-0 16.g5! tiJe8 17.h4!

5 a bed e f g h 4 19.tiJf4! 3 Thismay look purely an attacking move, but it's just as much a prophylactic move. Black 2 might have hoped to play ...e5 with some 1 counterplay, but by being ready to meet it with tLld5,Anand clamps down on that as well. a bede f g h We see here a classic Sicilian scenario which 19 ...gc 3 20.gdgl b4 21.h5! tiJc7 22.g6! i.f6 involves White thrusting his kingside pawns 23.h6! fo rward. Black has to try to generate effective The space invaders have landed! This g6-h6 counterplay, either with piece play or with a set-up is a typical attacking theme, and ensures pawn storm of his own, to distract White and that White will beat a path to the black king. slow down his attack. Essentially it becomes an issue of time, as both players race to land the killer blow before their opponent. 8

In the present game, something has gone 7 terribly wrong fo r Black. Timman's problem 6 is that he lacks any counterplay to distract Anand from his deadly intentions. White's 5 pawns are rampaging up the board, ready to 4 prise open the black kingside and deliver a 3 ruinous and likely-fatal blow to the black king. By contrast, Black has no such targets on the 2 white queenside. He could try to attack with 1

a bed e f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 261

23 ...fxg6 Thecase of the brave h-pawn The opening of lines on the kingside spells Theh-pa wn is a most useful attacking unit, fo r doom fo r the black king, as the fo llowing a couple of reasons at least: variations testifY: 1) It can be used as a battering ram to fo rce a weakness in the opponent's kingside. If it 23 ...hxg6 24.hxg7 i.xg7 25.'1Wh2 )"\eS reaches h6, it leaves Black with an awkward 26.ttJxg6! fxg6 27.)"\xg6 and the bloodbath can choice: to play ... g6, and be burdened with a commence. permanent weakness on g7 which may be used by White fo r a mating attack; or to take on 23 ...gxh6 24.gxh7t cj:;lhS 25.)"\xh6 i.g7 What h6, opening the h-file and being left with a else? 26.)"\xg7! cj:;lxg7 27.hS=Wt! A pretty way shattered pawn structure. Neither choice ever to fo rce mate, but doubtless there is more than seems promising. one way to skin a goose. 27 ...)"\xhS 2S.Wg2t 2) Playing h2-h4 can allow a rook to join cj:;lxh629.ttJfx e6t With mate to fo llow. the attack (we have already seen how White 24.hxg7 gO can play ),,\h3-g3 in a number of situations) and may also provide a staging post fo r White's After 24 ...cj:;lx g7 White has several ways to pieces, fo r example a knight on g5. win; perhaps the simplest is 25.ttJh5t cj:;lhS 26.Wh2! and Black cannot defend the h-file. VladislavTkachiev - Alejandro Hoffman 24 ...i.xg7 25.Wh2 is also disastrous fo r Black. Villa Martelli 1997

bed f g h a bed e f g h a e 2S.),,\xh7! 14.h4! Anand finishes offin typically crisp fashion. The plan is very simple and is common in similar positions that arise from the King's

2S •.. @xh7 26.�h2t @xg7 27.lLlxg6 Indian Attack. Whiteplays h4-h5-h6 and then Threatening Wh6t fo llowed by ttJe7#. aims to infiltrate on the dark squares.

27 ... )"\xe328 .lLle7t @f829.11Jx c8 14... aS Avoiding mate has cost Timman too much Taking the pawn is too dangerous: 14... i.xh4 material. 15.ttJxh4 Wxh4 16.)"\e3 and the rook will 1-0 swing over to g3 or h3 with a fe rocious attack. 262 Mating the Castled King

15.h5 �b8 16.h6! g6 After 16... gxh6 17.lLlf1! the white bishop will soon land on h6; not surprisingly, Black fo und this unpalatable.

a e bed f g h 29.�xg6! fXg6 29 ...hxg6 is worse: 30.h7t h8 ...(30 g 7 31.h8=Wt! xh8 32.Wh2t g7 33.Wh7#) 31.lLlxflt Ei:xfl 32.Wxfl Wf8 33.Wxe6 and Black's position falls apart. 30.lLlxe6 Ei:xf4 31.lLlxd8 �b5 32.Ei:al! The black minor pieces are all quite a bede f g h 17.lLlfl! ineffective, and White will infiltrate decisively Theknight is heading fo r g4, where it will along the a-file. control the important f6 -square. This knight manoeuvre is an important and thematic link in White's plan.

17 ...b4 18.axb4axb4 19 .1Lllh2 .td72o .lLlg4 �b7 21..tf4! Planning Wd2 and �g5 to exchange off the e7-bishop, the only black piece that is defending the horrible weakness on f6 .

2 1...lLla5?! Thisallows an immediate tactical shot.

Closing the queenside would not save Black a b c d e f g h either, although it might cause White more 22 . .tg5! practical problems: Breaking though to the f6 -square 21...b3 22.�bl Ei:a7 23.Ei:xa7 lLlxa7 24.Wd2 immediately. �c6 25.�g5 lLld7 26.Wf4 �xg5 27.lLlxg5 Ei:f8 27 ...We7 allows White to break through: 22 ....txg5 28.lLlf6t! lLlxf6 29.exf6 Wb7 30.�xg6! hxg6 Theonl y way to try and complicate matters 31.h7t h832 .Wh4 fo llowed by Wh6 with was 22 ...b3, but White wins by fo rce in any a quick mate. case: 23.�xe7 bxc2 (23 ...Ei:xe7 24.lLlf6t h8 28.f3 lLlc8 25.�b 1 Ei:a7 26.lLlg5 is pretty horrible fo r Black) 24.lLlf6t �h8 25.�xf8! Another reason Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 263 why the h6-pawn is so powerful. 25 ...cxd l=\W 40.gxb6! gxb6 41.ga8t .ie8 42.Wff6 Wfxf6 26.�g7# 43.exf6 White has achieved complete domination, 23.llJxg5 with his king now free to glide fo rward. White now wins the exchange. Since Black still has problems with the dark squares on the 43 ...gd6 44.cj;lf4 gb6 45.cj;lg5 gb7 46.f4 kingside, the rest is easy fo r Tkachiev. gd7 47 . .iO gd6 48.g4 gd7 49.£5 exfS 50.gxf5gd 6 51..ig4 23 ...Wfxg5 24.llJf6t cj;lh8 25.llJxe8 .ixe8 1-0 26J�xa5 b3 27J�a8 Wfe7 Canthe h-pawn be stopped? We've already seen how much damage the h-pawn can do if it is allowed to reach h6, so you may ask what happens if Black simply stops this errant march of the h-pawn by playing ...h6 himself, stopping the pawn in its tracks. The problem is that every pawn move in front of the king leads to a new weakness. In this case there are a couple of points worth mentioning. Firstly, it gives White the possibility of latching on to the h6-pawn by playing g4-g5 (possibly supported by a pawn on f4 or a rook on gI) and opening the g-file. Theother problem is that Black has weakened the bl-h7 diagonal, which may give White the possibilityof setting up a mating attack on the mate. light squares, fo r example with his queen on e4 and a bishop on d3. 29 . .idl cj;lg8 30.Wff4 cj;lfS 31..ig4 llJb6 32J�a6 .ib5 33.ga5 .ic634.geal .ie835.g 3 Pavel Eljanov - Mladen Palac .ic6 36.cj;lg2 .ie8 37.cj;lO.ic6 38.cj;le3 .ie8 Banja Vrucica 2009 39.ga6 .ib5

8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h 264 Mating the Castled King

30. .id3! Eljanov hits upon the right idea! Despite the reduced material, Black's king is in some danger as it is not clear how he can meet White's powerful plan of eventually playing �bl and �d3. With the white pawn lurking on h5, Black can hardly countenance playing ...g6 .

30... .ifS 31.i>g2 In good positions there is often more than one plan available. Here White also has the possibility of launching a pawn storm on the a bed e f g h kingside f4 -f5. Exchanging pawns on e6 would 36. .igG!! then undermine Black's control of the light Excellent! The best attacking ideas are squares even further, and he would also have always the simplest ones. It turns out that the to constantly defend a weakling e-pawn. "newborn" pawn on g6 will be worth at least a piece. 31 .. J:�c7 32.gxc7 Wfxc7 36 ...fxgG 37.hxgG This is the feared Tower of Te rror that I introduced earlier in the book. This citadel of chaos casts such a malign shadow over the immediate landscape that the enemy fo rces can but tremble and cower in its evil presence. (No prisoners have been known to return fr om the Tower of Te rror alive.)

6 a bede f g h 33 . .ibl! 5 White employs the first plan I mentioned. The deadly threat of � d3 fo rces Black to 4 jettison a pawn. 3

33 ...Wfc3 34.Wfxb6 c!LJc 6 35.Wfb7c!LJx d4? 2 Black has regained his extra pawn and it may look as ifhe is doing fine,bur Eljanov has a bed e f g h seen that bit fu rther. How does White break 37... Wfb4 38. Wff7t i>h8 39.hd4 Wfe7 through on the light squares? There is nothing better, but the ending turns Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 265 out to be hopeless as the g6-pawn completely 16... 'I1Na5 dominates Black. When I played this I was fe eling pretty comfortable. I had visions of playing ...ttJc 4 40.'I1Nxe7.ixe7 41.g4! and ...iWb4 and mating White in short White's plan is simple, to advance f4 -f5 and order. However, I had completely missed my overwhelm Black with the kingside pawns. opponent's next move!

41...cj;>g8 17.g6! 41...�g5 42.'kt>g3 fo rces the advance of the White decides to just get on with it, counting f- pawn. on the attacking potential of his bishops and the danger that can be created down the g- and 42.f4 @f8 43.f5 .ib4 44.£6cj;>g8 45.f7t @h8 h-files. 46 . .ib6 The bishop heads to d6. 17.h5 would have given me some breathing 1-0 space to generate play of my own. I had doubtless planned something crazy like 17 ...b4 IB.ttJe2 Theg5-g6 pawn sacrifice 1''lxc2!? 19.'kt>xc2 iWxa2, with very unclear play White's plan of breaking through with g5-g6 ahead. This line may not be totally sound fo r supported by a pawn on h5 is clearly dangerous, Black, but the crucial differencecompared with but White may even be able to speed up his the game is that at least I'd be on the attacking attack by playing the g5-g6 breakthrough as side. By playing 17.g6! immediately, Haslinger a sacrifice. The idea is to play g5-g6 directly never gives me any opportunity to attack. with his pawn still on h4, and then when Black 17... hxg6 captures on g6, White plays h4-h5. Thisleaves Forced, as the other captures lose immediately, Black fa cing a very tricky decision, to take this and Black can hardly leave such a dangerous pawn and open the h-file,or to play ...g5 . I fe ll pawn untouched on g6. victim to this idea a few years ago. 17... fxg6 IB.�xe6t is disastrous, of course. StewartHaslinger - Danny Gormally 17... ttJx g6 IB.h5 ttJe5 IB.f4 and White wins Blackpool 2003 material.

17... �f 6 IB.gxf7t 'kt>xf7 19.f4! (the simple 19.ttJe2 fo llowed by ttJf4 is also good enough) 19... ttJc 4

3 �m/u,",,,",///"�'",/

2 a bed e f g h

a e bed f g h 266 Mating the Castled King

20.�xe6t! �xe6 21.1Mi'g4t �f7 (21...�e7 has a strong continuation that wins on the 22.e5+-) 22.�xf6 gxf6 23.1Mi'd7tand 24.E!:dg1 t spot: leads quicklyto mate. lS.hS! gS! Theonl y reasonable defence.

Opening the h-file would be suicidal: 18... gxh 5 19.f4! ti:lg6 20.�xe6! and the black position collapses.

8 a e 7 bed f g h 20.�xe6!! fxe6 21.E!:xh6 Black cannot cope 6 with White's looming threat of1Mi'h3, and even 5 21...b4 is met by 22.1Mi'h3! with a winning attack. 4

3 20.i.xeS!dxeS 21.E!:d7! The killer. I was now regretting not playing 2 16... 1Mi'c7 earlier (instead of 16... 1Mi'a 5), as this 1 whole line would have been impossible fo r White with a black queen on c7 - but now I'm bed f g h a e just completely lost. 19.h6! g6? This attempt to keep lines closed backfires 21...E!:c7 horribly. I played this very quickly, perhaps in shock about how quicklyWhite had built up a fe rocious attack.

White's attack is already so dangerous that the only way to even stay on the board is with 19... b4!, although 20.hxg7 �xg7 21.ti:le2 1Mi'a4 22.ti:lf4! gives White an enduring initiative. However, I don't recall even looking at such lines during the game.

Other lines fail to convince, fo r example 19... �f6 20.hxg7 �xg7 21.f4 is indeed terrible fo r Black. bed f g h 22.E!:xe7!a e I dismissed 19... gxh6 on the general grounds Of course. White smashes through. that opening the h-file looked too dangerous, and analysis proves this to be correct. White 22..• E!:xe7 23.WxgS f6 24.Wxg6t

25 . .ixe6! resources to defend his kingside, fo r example At moments like this, you just fe el like he cannot bring the knight back to f8 as saying, "Please, haven't I suffered enough?" 22 ...ttJd 7? simply loses the e6-pawn.

25 .. .'IWc726. ttJd5 hd5 27.exd5 gh7 28.gg1 21.ttJ28 Wid722.h5! gxh523.ttJg 5 g6? I'd seen enough. The h-pawn completely Walking straight into a bomb. hamstrings Black. 1-0 23 ....ixgS 24.gxgS g6 2S.iWxhS gf7 was the only way to offer any resistance, even if the Milos Perunovic - Dejan Pikula weakness of the dark squares looks very scary Neum 2004 fo r Black indeed.

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2 1

b d f g h a b c d e f g h a c e In this example, White sacrifices with gS-g6 24.ttJxh7! to prise open the g-file. In this game White manages to combine two ideas we've seen in this book - the g5-g6 idea, 19.96! fxg6 and the ttJxh7 breakthrough as well. Clearly 19... hxg6 is likewise met by 20.eS! with h4- one attacking theme can be dangerous, but h5 coming next. two are likely to be unstoppable!

20.e5! Black has no defence: 24 ...�xh7 2S.gxg6! White switches to strategic play, depriving �xg6 26.gg1 t �h6 (26 ...�f7 27.iWxhS#) Black of any potential counterplay. 27.f5t fig5 28.gxg5 and mate fo llows. 1-0 The immediate 20.h5?! dxe4 21.hxg6 h6 would have given Black unnecessary counter-chances. Pawns on g5 andh5 - the Twins of Evil One of the most common and dangerous set 20 ... gm ups fo r Whitein the Sicilian is to get pawns to Clearly Black would like to remove the g5 and h5. TheseTw ins of Evil often represent looming threat of h4-h5 once and fo r all, impending doom fo r the poor black king, as a but 20 ....ixh4 is simply too risky: 21.ttJ2f3 subsequent pawn breakthrough with g5-g6 or fie7 22.iWh2 and ghl is coming. Black lacks h5-h6 may prove decisive. 268 Mating the Castled King

The 1992 rematch between Bobby Fischer and proves very difficultfo r Black to generate any Boris Spassky was mocked in some quarters, counterplay. not least by Garry Kasparov, who saw it as a match between two past-it players with On the other hand, 15.Wxb4?! would have little relevance to the current chess scene. fallen in with Spassky's plans: 15... �c6 16.Wc4 However, it did see some flashesof brilliance. 2:c8 gives Black tricky counterplay. In the fo llowing game, Fischer shows his great understanding of attacking themes, even in a 15... 2:bS modern opening line. Fischer's clever idea was that 15... tLlx b6 16.Wxb4 regains the piece with an advantage. Robert Fischer - Boris Spassky 16.tlJxd7 Wxd7 17.�bl Wc7 lS.i.d3 i.cs Belgrade 1992 19.h5 e5 20.i.e3i.e6 21 .2:dgl a5 l.e4 c5 V!lJc3 tlJc6 3.tlJge2 d6 4.d4 cxd4 Black's counterplay on the queenside is 5.tlJxd4 e6 6.i.e3 tlJf67JWd2 i.e7 s.a a6 looking painfully slow. White, by contrast, is 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.g4! tlJxd4 11.i.xd4b5 12.g5 primed and ready to go - the Tw ins of Evil are .!iJd7 13.h4 b4!? 14.tlJa4 i.b7?! about to do their stuff. Spassky hurries to get on with his counterplay, but his impatience backfires.

14... 2:b8! 15.b3 �b7 16.�bl �c6 17.lLJb2 d5! would have enabled Black to maintain the balance.

5 a bed e f g h 4 22.g6! i.f6 3 Trying to hold the fo rt at any cost. Neither of the captures offer any hope: 2

1 22 ...hxg6 23.hxg6 fxg6 24.2:xg6 and White crashes through on the g- and h-files. a bed e f g h 15.tlJb6! 22 ...fxg6 23.hxg6 h6 24.�xh6! would spell By the smart use of tactics, Fischer is able immediate disaster, and 22 ...h6 23.�xh6! is to swap the knight on a4 fo r the one on d7, similar. an exchange that proves favourable fo r White. Without a knight to head fo r e5 and then c4, 23.gxh7t!@hS creating attacking chances on the queenside, it 23 ...�xh7 would have been met powerfully Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 269 by another pawn push: 24.f4! E:bc825.f 5 W.c4 26.iWg2W.xd3 27.cxd3 with the huge threat of 8 h6, destroying Black's remaining fo rtifications. 7

a bed e f g h 33J3gSt! White's plan is simple - to fo rce Black to take both his h-pawns!

a bed e f g h It may look as if the pawn on h7 shelters the 33 ... cj;lxh734J 3g7t! cj;lhS35 .h7! black king and takes the sting out of White's White will play E:g8t again and Black can position, but Fischer proves convincingly that no longer keep the h-file closed, so Spassky this is not the case. resigned. A beautifully thematic attacking game from Fischer. 24.ig5! 1-0 Undermining the linchpin of the black defence (or mor e accurately Black 's only Pawnson g6and h5 defensive piece) ensures that the attack down White pawns advanced as fa r as g6 and h5 the g-file will be a deadly one. tend to cause a serious problem fo r Black. If the pawns are ignored, White may well play 24 ...iWe7 h5-h6 next, fo rcing open one or more files. 24 ...W.xg5 25.E:xg5 f6 is not much better The other choices hardly offer much comfort after 26.E:g3 fo llowed by E:hgl. either. Exchanging on g6 opens the h-file, usually with grim consequences. If Black plays 25J�g3 hg5 26Jhg5 Wif627J�hgl Wixf3 ...h6 then not only does this leave Black facing Desperate to generate some counterplay, the fe ared Tower of Te rror, but it also opens up Spassky takes this pawn in exchange fo r the the possibility of White crashing through with g7 -pawn, but the fa r-advanced h-pawns a sacrificeon h6. together with the open g-file offer too many combinational opportunities fo r White. Watching the fo llowing game live, I was seriously impressed by how quickly Alexander 2S.E:xg7Wif6 29.h6! a4 30.h3 axh331 .axh3 Morozevich overwhelmed his opponent's E:fdS 32.Wig2! defences. Jonathan Rowson has always been The tripling of pieces on the g-fileis killing. a very difficult opponent fo r me, and I could only envy how easy the Russian made it look! 32 .. JUS 270 Mating the Castled King

AlexanderMorozevich -JonathanRows on retreat. Good attacking play is often related to the question of time, and if we can slow down Birmingham 2000 our opponent's attack by a move or two, that's often just as useful as accelerating our own attacking ambitions. 8 7 16... �b7 17.h5! 6 Now White gets on with his own attack, confident in the knowledge that Black has 5 nothing on the queenside. 4 17... f5? 3 By opening up the game, Rowson effectively 2 commits hara-kiri. Although Black's task was 1 in any case difficult, he should have left the kingside alone. a bed e f g h 15.g5!? Theonl y chance to put up any resistance was: Setting Black a difficultquest ion. 17... �c6 18.g6! Thisas sures White of a serious initiative. 15... ttJd7? 18... �xa4 Rowson underestimates the strength of the 18... fxg6 19.�c4t �h8 20.hxg6 ttJf6 coming storm. 21.Wh2! d5 22. 1"i:xd5! is curtains fo r Black. 19.bxa4 Wc7 Black really had to try and throw a spanner in the white attack with 15... ttJh5!, trying to hold up the pawn storm fo r as long as possible. White does not have ttJe2-g3 here, which would be the standard method of dislodging the knight from h5. Thismakes it much more difficult fo r White to build up any kind of initiative on the kingside, while by contrast Black has easy moves to hand, such as ...Wc7 , ...�d7 and ...1"i:f c8. Mter 16.Wf2! �e6 17.ttJb6 a5 18.<;t>bl Wc7 Black would have decent play. a e bed f g h 20.h6!? 16.b3! Thetypical breakthrough. If I remember correctly, Rowson said he 20 ...fxg6 21.Wd5t <;t>h8 22.hxg7t �xg7 underestimated the power of this move, which 23.�h6t �h8 24.�xf8 1"i:xf8 takes the sting out any attacking designs Black White is certainly better, but Black has might have had on the queenside. Just in case managed to avoid an immediate rput. Black should manage to attack the a4-knight, say by ...�b7-c6, White opens up a path fo r its 18.�c4t Wh8 Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 271

a bed e f g h a bede f g h 19.96! h6 20.�xh6! Unfortunately fo r Black, this will not keep Morozevich smashes through in a blaze of the lines on the kingside closed. violence.

19.. .f4 20•.• fxe4 21 .Ei:dgl! e3 22.'?Nxe3d5 23.�xg7t This also leads to the swift annihilation of @xg7 24.h6t @f6 25.g7 dxc4 26.h7 the black king.

a e bed f g h 20.h6! a bed e f g h Opening files on the kingside is more The space invaders have landed! Not only is important than worrying about material. Black still facing a mating attack, but fo r good 20 ...hxg6 measure the pawns are about to promote. 20 ...fxe3 21.hxg7t cj;Jxg7 22.Ei:xh7t cj;Jxg6 1-0 23.'1Wh2 exposes the black king, with a speedy mate in prospect. Pawnon g5 supportingthe attack 20 ...gxh6 21.Ei:xh6 ltJf6 22.'1Wh2also leads to A pawn on g5 can be useful in many ways. As a quick end. we have already seen, it constantly threatens to 21.1Wh2! �h4 22.�f2 g5 23.�xh4 gxh4 torment Black by marching to g6, but it can 24.hxg7t cj;Jxg7 25.1Wg2t cj;Jh8 26.Ei:dg1 also be used as a bridgehead fo r the attack. This Black cannot avoid mate. pawn is especially useful when White decides 272 Mating the Castled King to attack down the h-file, fo r example with White signals his aggressive intentions. l:%h3and WhS. Thistype of attack is seen most Typically fo r the Sicilian, an extremely sharp often in the Sozin variation of the Sicilian situation has arisen with attacks on opposite (although it can turn up in any opening). The sides of the board, and the slightest inaccuracy pawn on gS adds to the strength of this assault or slip by either player may lead to sudden as it discourages any pawn moves such as ...f6 disaster. or ...h6, which might assist Black's defence. 13... bS However, there is an important defensive This line is in fact well known to theory, and resource fo r Black worth mentioning. When taking the bait with 13... exfS is considered to White plays l:%h3 and WhS, threatening mate be too dangerous. After 14.gxfS! White has a on h7, Black can meet this attack by playing nasty attack, with the moves ttJdS, l:%g3 and ...h6, responding to gxh6 with ...g6 !, blocking WhS all coming. the attack. 14.i.dS! i.b7 In the next game, Fedorov discourages this idea by putting his knight on fS . Black did not dare to take this knight, because to do so would expose his king to a terrible attack, but the presence of such a beast so close to the black king provides decisive support to the attack. Kasparov has even suggested that in attacking situations a knight on fS is worth at least as much as a rook.

AlexeiFedorov - ZigurdsLanka

Pula 1997 l.e4 cS 2.�f3tLlc 6 3.d4 cxd4 4.�xd4 �f6 S.tLlc3 d6 6.i.c4 e6 7.i.e3 i.e7 8.�e2 a6 9.0-0-0 Wc7 10.i.b3 0-0 l1.�hgl �d7 12.g4 tLlcs 13.tLlf5!

2 a e bed f g h 1

a bede f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 273

16.g6! hxg6 17.E1xg6 ltJe5 18.E1xg7t! i>xg7 19.1tJxg7! This is one of the points of having 19.E1g1 t ltJg6 20.exf5 Defending against such the knight on f5 , ensuring that the h-filewill an attack is extremely difficult,and maybe even not be blocked. 19... �f 8 20.ltJf5 White's impossible. In A. Sokolov - Salov, Nikolaev attack is crushing. 1983, White went on to win. 17... exf5 may be Black's best chance: 18.exf5! 16.E1g3! �e5 17.:ah3 (The immediate 18.�h5? is met by the important defensive resource 18... h6 19.9xh6 g6!.) 18... b4 19.�xb7 �xb7 20.ltJd5 �d8 2l.f4!

a bed e f g h a e f 17... �g6 bed g h It is quite fu nny how White has two pieces Who would want to defend such a position en prise fo r a number of moves and yet Black over the board? However, the all-seeing, resolutely refuses to capture them! However, all-knowing cybernetic monster points out this is quite normal fo r this variation in which that Black can return the material and be White tries to break through by brute fo rce. only slightly worse: 21...�d7! 22.fXe5 �xf5 There isn't a lot of subtlety involved, nor any 23.E1g3± deep positional manoeuvres, but this kind of caveman attack can prove extremely effective. 18.�h5 t[}f8

Taking the bishop with 17... exd 5 is best avoided: 18.�h5! h6

a bede f g h a e bed f g h 274 Mating the Castled King

What is the best way fo r White to continue to so many combinational possibilities fo r the attack? White. We saw in Eljanov - Palac on page 263 how this pawn can dominate Black even in 19.tiJxg7!! the ending, but in the middlegame it can lead White breaks through by fo rce. to any number of mating attacks. The Tower of Te rror seems an appropriate name fo r this 19... hdS pawn that can cast such an evil influence over White wins in all variations: the game.

19... exd5 20.�h6 dxe4 21.lLlh5 and it's I recall a game I played when I was about 16 curtains fo r Black. against Andrew Hon at the Charlton chess congress. I was completely outplayed by my 19... �xg7 20.�d4t �g8 (20 ...e5 21.�xf7t opponent, but I had a pawn on g6. At one point �h8 22.�g8#) 21.�h6 e5 22.�xc5 dxc5 Now I had only a queen and knight against a queen 23.Ei:g1is fo rced mate in nine according to the and two rooks, but he had to take care because computer, although I'm sure most carbon of my threats against his king; and then later based life fo rms would prefer the more obvious on, when I had only queen against queen and 23.g6, when the g-pawn plays a decisive role in rook, he blundered. I won the game because of the finalattack. the pawn on g6! It's a great shame that I fa iled to keep the score of this game, because it's the one game throughout my entire career that I remember with most affection.

FarrukhAmonatov - ViacheslavZakhartsov

Kazan 2007

5 a bed e f g h 20.�h6! eS 21.tiJhS 4 Theweaknesses on f6 and g7 prove to be the 3 deciding factor. 2

21...tiJce6 22.exdS b4 23.dxe6 ltJxe6 1 24.tiJf6t �xf62S.gxf6 bed f g h 1-0 a e 24.g6! Pawn reaches g6 - the Tower of Terror It's always enjoyable to play such positions, where your opponent has no pl�y whatsoever It's extremely dangerous fo r Black to allow a and you have a free hand on the kingside. white pawn to reach g6, because it can lead Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 275

24... fxg6 25.hxg6 h6 27 ...V*ih4 This is one of the standard methods of This has the idea of exchanging material meeting the ' g5-g6 breakthrough, but the with ...l:'i:e l, but it is easy enough fo r Whiteto problem is that the pawn on g6 now becomes a prevent this. However, Black was in trouble in permanent thorn in Black's side. Not only does any case. it set up various combinational possibilities fo r The attempt to exchange queens with White, but it also restricts the black king to the 27 ...�e4 can be met in a couple of ways. back rank, making most endgames unpalatable fo r Black.

a e bed f g h After 2S.�f2! l:'i:c4 29.§i.c1, the threat of tripling the major pieces on the f- fileis decisive. Perhaps it is even more efficient to play 2S.l:'i:xfSt! <;:t>xfS 29.§i.xd6t<;:t>gS 30.� xe4 l:'i:xe4 bed f g h a e 31.§i.xb4, with a winning endgame. 26J�h5! White comes up with an unusual but strong 28.V*if3!V*ie7 rook manoeuvre. An ignominious retreat, but the intended 2S ...l:'i:el no longer works: 29.l:'i:xfSt <;t>xfS

26•.• V*ie7 27J �f5! 30.§i.g5t wins on the spot. Preparing to double or triple on the f- file, targeting the bishop on fS .

8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1

a bede f g h a bed e f g h 276 Mating the Castled King

30.�g5! hxg5 20 ...gxf 6 21.gxf6 .ixf6 After ...30 We It 31.l'!xel l'!xeIt 32 . .ic1, This would have been the critical test White threatens mate on f8 and wins easily. of White's idea, even if it is clear that the open f- and g-files make the position highly 31.�hl dangerous fo r Black. 1-0 22.l'!dfl ! .ig7 Pawn reaches f6 22 ...Wd8 23.Wf2 .ig7 24.l'!hgl also gives White a dangerous initiative. A pawn reaching f6 oftenspells the beginning 23.h5! h6 24.l'!hgl cj;Jh8 of the end fo r Black. Especially when supported by a pawn on g5, it will tend to throw the black position into chaos. If the pawn is taken, then 8 the g-fileis ripped open, but leftunmolested it 7 will cause havoc when it takes on g7. If Black decides to play ...g6, then the white pawn 6 on f6 becomes a vital component of White's 5 attack and may set up various mating threats. 4 3 FarrukhAmonatov - ArtyomTimof eev 2 Moscow 2007 a e bed f g h 25.l'!xg7! 8 White can also break through with 25 . .ixh6! 7 .ixh6 26.l'!f6 .ig7 27.Wd2!, when the threat of 28.Wh6t! .ixh6 29.l'!xh6#is crushing. 6 25 ...cj;Jxg7 26.Wg2t cj;Jf8 5 26 ...cj;Jh7 27.l'!f 6 is terminal. 27.tt:lf5! 4 White has a killing attack. 3 21.h5 �b7 22.fxg7 2

1 8 a bed e f g h 20.f6! 7 We have already seen that Amonatov is an 6 extremely dangerous attacking player. Here he calculates that the opening of the g-file is 5 worth at least a pawn. 4

20 ...�d8 3 Not a happy choice to make, as White's 2 attacking chances are obvious after he takes on g7. 1

a bed e f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 277

22... h6 The pawns on g7 and h6 are too powerful Thereis an element of desperation about this, and they set up the possibility of a beautiful but Black is hoping to shelter behind the white mating finish. White is now threatening: pawns. In any case White was threatening g5- 26.ttJxe6! fxe6 27.Wg6t! ttJxg6 28.hxg6# g6, so Black had to do something. 25 ...'iNe7 26. lLlf3! i.b6 22 ...<;t>xg7 23.g6! 26... ttJx f3 allows a spectacular finish: The moves just play themselves! 23 ...fxg6 24.hxg6 ttJxg6 Mter 24 ...hxg6 2S.Wh2, Black is defenceless. 8 7

3 I'////,'/",//';;;j"�'",,,////=�

a e bed f g h 27.Wg6t! fxg6 28.hxg6# With such fa r advanced pawns, mates like this do not come a e about by chance, but are a natural consequence bed f g h 2S.:8xh7t! <;t>xh7 26.WhSt <;t>g7 27.Wh6t of White's strategic dominance. White has a mating attack, fo r example: 27 ...<;t>f7 28.Wh7t <;t>f6 29.:8fl t 27.tLlg5t @xh6 28.tLlxf7t@h7 The king will be mated in the middle of the There is more than one way to cook a goose board. here, but White findsa lovely finish.

23.gxh6@h 7 24J�hgl :8g825 .'\Wg2 8

a bede f g h 29.'iNg6t!! tLlxg6 30.hxg6t @xg7 31.i.h6t

a bed e f g h @f632.:8dfl t 1-0 278 Mating the Castled King

g4-gS witha black pawnon h6 14... h6? We have already discussed how a pawn on h6 Thisacts like a red rag to a bull. acts as a hook fo r White to latch on to. This particularly applies when White launches a It was necessary to take preventive measures kingside pawn storm, as playing g4-g5 may against the coming assault: 14... ctJf d7! 15.g5 then fo rce open either the g- or h-file. It is ctJc4 16.�xc4 �xc4 Withour the light-squared often the case, as in the fo llowing game, that bishop, White's kingside attack is not quite as the g4-g5 pawn thrust also attacks a black dangerous. However, 17.E1dgl b5 18.g6! still knight on f6 , making it doubly effective. looks better fo r White.

AlexanderGrischuk - Lubomir Ftacnik IS.gS! The g-file is fo rced open. Despite spirited Calvia (01) 2004 resistance, Black will not able to contain l.e4 cS 2.tlJf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.�xd4 tlJf6 White's attack along this file. S.tlJc3 a6 6.i.e3eS 7.tlJb3 i.e6 8.'?Nd2 i.e7 IS ... hxgS 16.i.xgS dS 17.�gl! 9.f3 �bd7 10.g4 0-0 11.0-0-0 �c8 1V;t)bl tlJb6 13.h4 '?Nc7 White's attack plays itself. Now �h6 is a big threat. In his notes to this game, Ftacnik pointed our that the attempt by Black to break our 17 ... �fd8 18.i.d3d4 in the centre with 13... d5?! doesn't work due After 18... dxe4 , White gets the job done to 14.�xb6! �xb6 15.g5 ctJh5 16.exd5 �f5 with simple chess: 19.�xf6 �xf6 20.ctJxe4 �e7 17.�d3 with a large advantage fo r White. 21.�h6! It's all very painful fo r Black.

bed f g h a e bed f g h 14.hS! a e 19.�dS! Grischuk advances his pawns in the right Thisenables White to unleash the attacking order. White now threatens to continue with potential of his light-squared bishop (as I g4-g5 and overwhelm Black with a kingside mentioned, Black should have strived to pawn storm. exchange it earlier). The rest of the game is easy 14.g5 ctJh5! would slow down the attack fo r Grischuk. considerably. Chapter S - Breakthrough with Pawns 279

26 .. J�d6 27.�h7t @f828 . .ic4ge8 29.lbe4 ge7 30.hd5! After 30 .. J''1xdS 31.ltJxf6 ! the threat of mate 78 '!J-WW.��'P_ _"� �5f� on g8 is lethal. 6 {_�""'; ' ''/_I��,�_''''/"",�,�� 1-0 W � � � Pawn reaches h5, fo rcing open the h-file : D� �DDj",,/ � In many opening systems, prising open 3_CZJ_�_ t3J _ the h-file is part of the overall strategy. It �'� r'e; tends to occur most often in systems where 2 � %"'''.� �j[j?�jWia � Black has fianchettoed his king's bishop, one 1 m��M�� ¥� fa miliar example being the Yugoslav Attack against the Sicilian Dragon. In his classic bed f g h a e My Memorable Games, Bobby Fischer 19... .ixd5 60 There aren't really any improvements to be was particularly dismissive of the Dragon, fo und: 19... ltJb xdS 20.exdS ltJxdS 21..�h6 J.f6 suggesting that White simply had to "pry open 22.J.xg7 J.xg7 23.h6 is not much different to the h-file,sac, sac ... mate!" the game, with White's attack both obvious and strong. Of course, in reality this kind of attack does not always lead to a fo rced mate, but the 20.exd5 lbbxd5 21..ih6!lbe 8 danger is always lurking, fo rcing Black to stay 21...J.f8 loses to 22.J.xg7 J.xg7 23.h6. on his toes. Black oftentries to stop this plan in its tracks by playing ...hS, stopping the march 22 . .ixg7! lbxg7 23.h6 .if6 24.hxg7 hg7 of the white h-pawn, but this involves its own 25.�h6 f6 dangers as we shall see later in the chapter. NikitaVitiugov - Denis KhismatuUin

Moscow 2009

l.d4 lbf6 2.c4 g6 3.tLlc3 .ig7 4.e4 d6 5.0 0-0 6 ..ie3 a67.�d2 In the Samisch variation of the King's Indian, White can carry out a similar plan to the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon. This plan is to play d2 and J.h6, fo llowed by h2- VIi h4-hS and opening the h-file by taking on g6. Then White will exchange bishops on g7 and bring in his queen with Vlih6, leading to mate. It all sounds too good to be true, but a bed e f g h 26.lbc5! this seemingly simple plan can be effective and Blow after blow. Theinfil tration on the light difficult fo r Black to counter. squares is decisive. 7 ...lbb d7 8.lbge2 c6 280 Mating the Castled King

14.0-0-0 8 White cannot smash his way through 7 immediately and has to show some patience.

6 Mter 14.hxg6 fxg6, the black rook could go to adding extra protection to the h7-pawn. 45 0, 3 14... �e7 2 8 I_-*- � ��*� 1 � � 7 _ % �%ifi� , bed f g h a e 6 9.i.h6! fllfll ', j�f� Thecorrect move order to ensure that White 5 1lIluf•• s will be able to carry out the plan outlined 4 �. f�8jll��llll above. 3 mWdffl""'%�WA��'WJj;:, ,, ,%'WJj m 9.h4 gives Black the additional option of 2 t3J�[!y lZJ t3J� playing 9 ...h5!. m m 1 E""'%m i� ;,� M 9 ...h5 10.h4! i.xh6 11.�xh6 e5 12.h5 b4 a bede f g h 13.ltJa4 d5! 15.�g5!? In such positions, playing g2-g4 is a standard option. There are two ideas behind 8 this move. The first is to play the direct g4- 7 g5, fo rcing Black to play ...4Jx h5, when White will sacrificethe exchange on h5 with a strong 6 attack. Theother idea is to continue with 4Jg3, 5 after which g4-g5 would be even stronger, while there is also the possibility of sacrificing 4 the knight with 4Jf5! to obtain a strong attack 3 down the g-file. 2 However, with the centre exploding, would 1 15.g4 work here? It turns out that Black has a strong sacrifice of his own: 15... dxe4! 16.g5 a bede f g h This allows Black to maintain the balance. As exf3! 17.gxf6 4Jxf6 18.4Jg3 4Jg4 19.\Wd2 e4 all the old classics tell us, a wing attack should Black has more than enough compensation fo r be met with a counter in the centre. (Although the piece. the wisdom of this and other well-known chess sayings was recently questioned by Hendriks 15... dxe4 16.ltJg3!? in the excellent Move First, ThinkLa ter.) Thisintr oduces the threat of 4Jf5 and makes the position a real mess. Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 281

Another option was to simply recapture with White now has a dangerous-looking attack. 16.fxe4 We6 17.Ei:h4 Wxc4t 1S.�b1, with Not only does he have possibilities of taking attacking chances fo r both players. on g6 or playing lZlh6t, he also has the option of playing Wh6. However, there is a defence

16•.• exd4 available fo r Black. It is very difficult to weigh up the consequences of all the possible captures on every move, but what is clear is that White has 8 excellent practical chances. 7

After 16... exf 3 17.gxf3 Ei:eS 1s.lZlf5 We6, I 6 think that continuing to attack with 19.j,d3! 5 is White's strongest option, although 19.dxe5 4 Wxf5 20.Wxf5 gxf5 21.exf6± is also possible, when Black's weak pawns can be targeted in 3 the endgame. 2

a bede f g h 18... d3? Short of time, Black crumbles under the pressure of having to findthe only move.

1S... exf 3! was the right way: 19.j,d3 (l9.Wh6? gxf5! 20.gxf5 We3t and the attack dies before it has even begun) 19... Ei:eS 20.hxg6 fxg6 It is not clear how Whitecan strengthen his attack, an important detail being that Ei:de1 is not an option fo r White.

a bed e f g h 17.lt:lf5?! 19.1Llb6?! White keeps playing fo r the attack. White misses a tactical opportunity: Objectively this should have backfired, but you 19.j,xd3! exd3 20.Ei:de1 lZle4 What else? can't win games if you don't set your opponent 21.Ei:xe4 Wf6 22.lZle7t �g7 The black king is difficult problems. Finding the right path fo r now drawn into a pretty ambush: the defender in such a sharp position isn't easy, and it proves beyond Black in this instance.

The comparatively sterile 17.lZlxe4 Ei:eS 1s.lZlxf6 t Wxf6 19.Wxf6 lZlxf6 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.Ei:h4 would have given White only a slight edge in the endgame.

17... 'l'Ne5 18.g4

a e bed f g h 282 Mating the Castled King

23.'Wh6t!! <;t>xh6 24.hxg6t <;t>g7 (24 ...<;t>g5 20.�h6! 25.l:'i:h5#) 25.l:'i:xh7# Thisidea works beautifully now.

19•.• 'We6? 20••. gxf5 21.gxf5�xf5 22.l:'i:glt An unfortunate square fo r the queen - a 1-0 subsequent gxf5 will hit it with tempo. Wang Hao - Zhou Jianchao Thecomput er points out that 19... <;t>h8! is the Danzhou 2010 only defence, but finding this move would be beyond the capabilities of most players.

6 L-;:-;o,r�" ,=,/'

a e bed f g h Black simply leaves the rook on a8 en prise, a bede f g h but it turns out that 20.ttJxa8 gxf5 is fine Theposition may technically fe ature attacks fo r Black, who has ...l:'i:g8 as an important on opposite sides of the board, but in reality defensive resource. it's a one-sided slaughter. The black king is Moving the king to the h-file also looks looking more exposed than a lone climber counter-intuitive because White can open up caught on the north fa ce of the Eiger in a this file by taking on g6, but a key point of winter snowstorm. The knight on f6 is the Black's defence is that 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.'Wxg6 only piece saving Black from immediate mate, l:'i:g8gets nowhere fo r White. while by contrast his own attack hasn't even got offthe ground.

13.0-0-0 �b4 14.e5! Undermining the defender on f6 is a crucial part ofWhi te's battle plan, because the removal of this knight will mean his attack inevitably breaking through. White systematically starts to destroy the support network of this beleaguered piece.

14 ... dxe5 15.d6! e6 After 15... ex d6, White smash�s through with 16.ttJd5!ttJx d5 17.hxg6.

a bede f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 283

Black plays ...h5 and White responds with g2-g4 Such is the danger that Black will face if the white pawn reaches h5, he will often try to stop the attack in its tracks by playing ... h5 himself. However, this idea also has its drawbacks. For one, it weakens Black's control of g6, making a sacrificeon that square more likely. It also gives White the possibility of a dangerous pawn sacrificewith g2-g4; if this sacrificeis accepted, White will then play h4-h5 and open up the h-file. The fo llowing game provides a good example of this. a bed e f g h 16.tlJh3! The knight joins the attack with decisive AngelosVo uldis - Sergei Tiviakov effect. White's central breakthrough has denied Plovdiv 2003 Black the chance to remove the knight with ...�x h3.

16... tlJbd7 16... tLlxh5 17.tLlg5 tLlf6 lS.tLlxh7 is curtains fo r Black.

a bede f g h 15.g4! This is a well-known theoretical posltlon and this pawn sacrifice has been played many times. I won't get involved in a theoretical discussion as that would be beyond the remit of this book, but sufficeto say, I would always prefer to play White here. He has a clear target a bed e f g h - the black king! There is no defence to the attack down the h-file. After lS... gxh 5, the simplest win is 15... hxg4 19.Elxh5! fo llowed by Elh3 and tLlxh7. White was threatening to open the g-file by 1-0 capturing on f6 fo llowed by gxh5, so Black feels obliged to take the g4-pawn. 2S4 Mating the Castled King

16.hS! Although 20.fxg4?! may well retain a large This is the point. White opens up the h-file advantage fo r White, it is hardly in the spirit by fo rce. of the attack.

16... tlJxhS 17. .!iJdS �e8 20 ...YNb7 Black leaves the h5-pawn alone, but we shall see that this leads to new problems. 8

7 Mter 2o ...lLlx h5, White can infiltrate down the h-file: 21.fxg4 lLlf6 22.Wh2! (22.ih6 is also 6 good enough to win after 22 ...lLlx g4 23.ixg7 5 <;t>xg7 24.ie2) 22 ...�eS 23.Wh4 lLld7 24.ie2 Wb7 25.Wh7t <;t>fS 26.�fl El:abS 4

a bede f g h 18.�xhS! gxhS 19.'�h2!�xdS 20.i.xdS YNc8 21.YNxhS White had a dangerous attack against the black king and went on to win.

a e f Vidar Taksrud- Marina Lein bed g h 27.El:xf7t! <;t>xf7 2S.El:fl t and Black is soon Davos 2006 mated.

bed f g h a e a bed e f g h 19.94! hxg4 20.hS! 21.h6! Thecrispest continuation. It's important not The bishop is fo rced back to h8, where it to give Black time to get her defence together. serves to suffocate the black king. Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 285

21...i.h822.h 7t tiJxh7 24J�xg7t!

Black plays •.• h5 andWhite sacrifices on h5 The other drawback of playing ...h5 is the possibility that White then has of sacrificing on h5, usually with either a bishop or a knight, exposing the black king to the onslaught of the white heavy pieces.

GarryKasparov - ViswanathanAnand

Linares 1994

a bede f g h 23J�xh7! 7 Removing an important defender. Once 6 again an exchange sacrifice proves to be the 5 decisive blow, as Black's hopes of putting up some kind of defence are quickly dashed. 4 3 23 ...i.g7 Akin to resignation, but the attack cannot be 2 resisted in any case. 1

a bede f g h 23 ...Wxh7 24.'1Wh2t

15 .. J�bS 16.g5 tiJd7 17.i.g2 geS 4 3

a bed e f g h 20 ... tiJb4? Black takes his eye off the d4-square, a decision that proves crucial later.

Black can hardly contemplate going down the line 20 ...e5 21.f5. Not only does it make the white pawns look even more threatening, but there is also the threat of a white knight

a bede f g h landing destructively on the d5-square. IS.ga! Preparing a standard attack that we have Kasparov would have a much harder task already seen a few times in this book: E!:h3 and proving a fo rced win against 20 ...�d 7!, simply iWh5,fo llowed by breaking through on h7. connecting the rooks. 21.iWh4h5 22.�f3 mg7! Black prevents the key �xh5 breakthrough, as IS... tiJc5?! this will now be met by ...E!:h8 . It is not obvious With the benefit of hindsight, this appears how White can make progress. to be too slow. 21.Wfh4h5 22.i.a! i.fS Given the fe rocity of the fo rthcoming white Black hurries back to try to defend the king, attack, Black should already be thinking but White crashes through in any case. about taking defensive actions rather than trying to chase some non-existent attack on 22 ...ltJx c2 23.�xh5! ltJxe3 24.�f3 leads to the queenside. This could have been achieved fo rced mate. with 18... g6! 19.E!:h3�f8 20.f5 ltJb4! tying the white queen to the defence of the c2-pawn. The idea from the previous note of playing After 21.f6 ltJe5, prospects are unclear. The 22 ...mg 7 would not save Black here. It is black knight controls the f3 -square, making it strongly met by 23.f5! exf5 24.�d4t mf8 difficultfo r White to set up the sacrificethat is 25.�xh5!. This variation would not be possible seen in the game. if the black knight was still on c6! '

19.9h3! g6 2o.Wfg4 Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 287

26 ...tiJ xe4 Black is utterly squashed in all variations, fo r example: 26 ...exd4 27.Wfh7t <;t>f8 28.f6 tLle6 29.Wfh8t! j,xh8 30.Elh8#

27.Wfh7t @f828.tiJx e4 � 29.Wfxf5 exd4 30.lLlf6!Wfxc2 30 ...Ele5 31.tLld7t <;t>e8 32. tLlxe5 j,xe5 33.Elel is an easy win fo r White.

31.lLlxd4 Wfxb2 32J:!dl �eS 33.tiJd7t @e7 34.tiJxeS �xeS 3S.Wfe4 1-0 a bed e f g h 23.hlS! gxhS24.WfxhS This sacrifice is not at all risky from White's Black pawnson g6 and h6 point of view; not only does he have a rampant Black sometimes manages to erect a seemingly attack down the h-file, but there is also the insuperable barrier on the kingside by placing possibility of f4 -f5 in the air, overwhelming pawns on g6 and h6. This set-up means that the black defences even fu rther. White cannot make progress with his g- and h-pawns alone: h4-h5 is met by ...g5 , and g4- 24 ...�g7 2S.�d4! g5 by ...h5, so White has to resort to other Kasparov has calculated everything, as usual. methods to fo rce through his attack. One of those ideas may be to fo rce ...g5 anyway and 2S ... eS attack along the weakened bl-h7 diagonal, another idea is to destroy the black pawn fo rmation with a timely push of the f- pawn.

DarmenSadvakasov - Viktor Korchnoi

Astana (4) 2003

a bed e f g h 26.f5! The beginning of the end; now f5 -f6 is a huge threat.

a bede f g h 288 Mating the Castled King

15... llJxf4!? threat of playing g4-g5 by concrete means. A lot of players will findthis exchange very However, this just leads to more weaknesses on surprising. Isn't the knight strong on d5? But the kingside, which ultimately prove decisive. of course Korchnoi understands strategic play better than most, so we should try and Whatever Black does, he cannot solve all understand his reasons. Although the knight his problems and equalize completely. For looks very strong, it is not obvious that it is example, 18... e5 19.dxe5 lLlxe5 20.Wg3 with doing anything at the moment, whereas it nagging pressure fo r White, who still has the can be argued that the bishop on f4 has just annoying threat of g4-g5. 20 ...Elad8 21.g5 as much long-term potential. For example, Elxdl 22.Elxd a White has a pleasant edge, t the bishop may be able to support a future although the reduced material should certainly offensive against the black kingside. help Black's chances of a successful defence - he is in less danger of being mated in an White retains slight pressure against other endgame. options, fo r example 15... lLl7 f6 16.Wf3 0-0 17.g4 lLlxf4 ls.lLlxf4 lLld5! 19.1Lld3! and it is 19.V!Je3! easier fo r White to attack on the kingside than Immediately setting his sights on the new it is fo r Black on the other wing. weakness that has been created on h6.

16.llJxf4 V!Jc717 .V!Ja0-0 18.g4 19 ..J:!£e8 The big difference in this position is the The central break only aids White now: kings. Thebl ack king is much more vulnerable 19... e5 20.lLld3! exd4 21.Wxh6 and with - it is obvious that White has a big attack on h4-h5 coming, White has an obvious and the kingside and he already has a threat of g4- powerful attack. g5. Black lack similar targets on the queenside, so he must generate counterplay in the centre 20.llJh3! �g7 to distract White from his attack, a task that None of the alternatives are convincing proves beyond Korchnoi. either, fo r example 20 ...c5 21.'lWxh6 cxd4 n.h5 Elac8 23.Eld2 lLle5 24.lLlg5 just looks winning fo r White. 8

a bede f g h 18... g6 ?!

Korchnoi decides to deal with White's large a bed e f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 289

21.hS! 32.lLle4t @h8 33.!!g7?! Once again we see one of the keys to good 33.�g3!, with the huge threat of �g7t attacking play - make every move a useful fo llowed by a white knight landing on f6 , one and don't give your opponent a chance to would have been immediately decisive. Despite breathe. his errors, White still retains a large advantage, due to the exposed black king and the huge 21...gS 22.f4! gxf4 pawn on h6. 22 ...f6 23.Ei:hfl would also greatly favour White. He could double rooks on the f-file, 33 ...VNf8 34.VNd4 lLlf33s .VNd3 lLIeS 36.VNe3 preparing an eventual sacrifice on g5, and f5? there is also the possibility of the white queen A final mistake. reaching g6 in many variations. 37.lLIgS! f4 38.VNe4 23.lLlxf4 1-0 The black kingside has been softened up by White, who will inevitably break through with Black pawns on g6 and h6 - broken down g4-g5 at some point. by sacrifice Another way of breaking down the solid 23 ... eS 24.lLlh3 exd4 2S.VNxd4t lLleS 26.gS! defensive pawn fo rmation that Black can erect hxgS 27.lLlxgS !!ad828 .h6t @g8 with pawns on g6 and h6 is by sacrificing a knight on f5 . Such a piece sacrifice on f5 (or h5) is more often than not played with the 8 intention of opening the g-file. In the right 7 circumstances, this can easily be worth a piece as we can see from the fo llowing game. 6

5 BlazimirKovacevic - Ognjen Cvitan

4 Stari Mikanovci 2009

2 8 7

6 a bed e f g h Can you find a fo rced win fo r White here? 5 29.VNc3? 4 The blunt 29.h7t! was killing immediately: 3 29 ...Wh8 30.�xe5t!! �xe5 (30 ...Ei:xe5 2 31.Ei:xd8t �xd8 32.ltJxf7t+- ) 31.ltJxf7ti>g 7 32.ltJxe5 Ei:xdl t 33.Wxd l White wins easily 1 on material. a b c d e f g h 2S.lLlfhS 29 ... !!xdlt 30.!!xdl VNe7 31.!!gl f6 290 Mating the Castled King

White now has an obvious threat of g4-g5, have seen the difficulty that Black fa ces dealing supported by the knight on h5. Black tries to with just the g-and h- pawns, the Tw ins of discourage this, but runs into danger from Evil, so throw the f- pawn in as well and these another direction. portents of doom can become the Tr iplets of Destruction. 2S ... g6 26.lLlf5! Taking either knight is obviously taboo, as However, White needs to bear in mind that an the opening of the g-filewould lead to a savage attack which involves flinging his f- pawn at the mauling of the black king. black king does have its drawbacks, because it weakens the defence of his e-pawn, which may 26 ...�ffi then become a source of counterplay fo r Black. 26 ...gxf5 27.gxf5t <;t>fS 2S.f6! l2Jxf6 29.'lWg7t Thee4-pawn can be targeted by a bishop on b7, is nothing short of a massacre. fo r example, and if this bishop captures on e4 then it may simultaneously target a rook on hI and the pawn on c2. So White needs to weigh up carefully any decision to push his f- pawn.

Peter Leko - Loek Wely van

Wijk aan Zee 2002

5 a bede f g h 27.gS! 4 White's attack casts an aesthetic impression. 3 Black can no longer keep the g-fileclosed. 2

27 ...hxgS 1 Mter 27 ...gxf5 2S.gxh6t 'lWg6, almost a bed e f g h anything wins fo r White, but 29.�xf5! 'lWxg2t 17.f5! 30J::ldxg2t hS31 .�gS# is an elegant finish. This move creates several problems fo r 28.WixgS Wid829 . .!lJh6t! �xh6 30.Wixh6 Black: not only does he have to watch out fo r 1-0 the possibility of White flicking in f5-f6, but there is also great pressure on the e6-point. White f5 andgS pawns on 17 .. .l:Uc8 In an ideal situation, White would launch Black certainly cannot put pressure on the as many pawns at his opponent's kingside as e4-pawn directly with 17 .. .tLlc5? because possible, because logic dictates that it increases lS.b3! would then trap his queen. the chances of his attack breaking through. We Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 291

Black also should be careful not to weaken the Putting huge pressure on the black kingside. d5-square with the tempting but fa ulty: Unless something is done, White will smash 17... e5? 18.ctJde2! through the whole kingside edifice by fo rce. This is pretty much killing. The threat of He is now threatening to take the f7-pa wn, ctJg3 fo llowed by f5 -f6 essentially fo rces after which the e6-point will crumble. Black's hand. The immediate 18.f6!? is not bad, but 18... fxg6 19.fxg6 Black can survive: 18... exd4 19.fxe7 dxc3!? (19.. Jlfe8 2o.,bd4 l"i:xe7 21.11*'f4;\;) 20.exf8=11*'t l"i:xf8 21.11*'xc3 11*'xc3 22.bxc3 ixe4 Black has some compensation fo r the exchange in the endgame. 18 ...ixe4 19.ctJxe4 11*'xe4

a bede f g h 19... h5? After this White keeps the nasty pawn on g6, the Tower of Te rror which we have already a e bed f g h seen in this chapter. This monster of a pawn 20.f6! gxf6 21.ctJc3! 11*'f5 22.ctJd5 11*'e6 almost always spells doom fo r Black, so we can 23,ctJxe7t 11*'xe7 24.11*'xd6 11*'xd6 25.l"i:xd6 confidentlysay this was a questionable strategic White has an overwhelming advantage in decision. the endgame. It is clear that White has a big attack, so what should Black do? When fa ced with such an attack the easiest thing to do is to panic and 8 make some horrible concession, which is what 7 Va n We ly did, even though he is a world-class 6 player. As a climber on Mount Everest might say, you have to accept a certain level of risk 5 if you want to reach the top. Yo u cannot play 4 completely safe because such an option does not exist. It was risky to open the g-file, but this 3 was what Van We ly should have done. 2 19... hxg6! 20.h5! gxh5 may look extremely scary fo r Black, and a human's natural instinct

a bed e f g h is to dismiss such a line on general grounds, but 18.g6! Black had already gone beyond the point where 292 Mating the Castled King he could afford to be fu ssy about his choice. 27.Ei:xe7!Wxe7 2S.CLld5 White's threats should After21 .Wg2 .tf6 22.Ei:xh5 'it>O23 .Wg4, White be decisive, fo r example: 2S ...WO 29 . .txf6 would have a strong initiative, but at least this gxf6 30.Ei:glt �h7 31.Wd3t f5 32.Ei:g5 Ei:fS line would have demanded accuracy from Leko. 33.Wf3 'it>h634.CLlf 4+- and the black king will In the game, it's just too simple fo r White. not survive.

20 . .tgS! tiJf6 24.'lWd4! After 20 ... .txg5 21.hxg5 CLle5 22.Wh2 Black's Controlling the centre. position collapses. 24 ... �ab8 2S.�O �xc3 26.�xc3 'lWalt 27.@d2 'lWxb2 8

7 8 6 7 5 6 4 5 3 4 2 3 1 2

a bede f g h 21.�h3! 1

With the simple but effective threat of Ei:f3, a bed e f g h fo llowed by Ei:dfl and smashing through on f6 . 28.�b3 'lWxd4t 29.tiJxd4 tiJxe4t 30.'j;lcl .txgst 21...b4 22.axb4 'lWxb423.tiJx e6 'lWaS? Perhaps earlier Van Wely had missed that in Now Black is just a pawn down with a bad the line 30 ...CLlx g5 31.hxg5 .txg5t 32.'it>bl, position. Black can't do anything abour the threat of Theonly option was to try and at least regain CLlc6, winning yet more material. some material with 23 ....txe4 24.CLlxe4 Wxe4, though with accurate play White keeps a 31.hxgS tiJcs 32.�b6 �d8 33.tiJb3 tiJxb3t strong attack: 25.Ei:e3Wxg6 26.CLlf4 WO 34.cxb3 .to 3S.�dxd6 �c8t 36.@d2 h4 37.@e3 .tg238.@fl h3 39.@g3 .tf1 40.�d7 �c3t 41.@fl 1-0

Thelustful advance of the d-pawn Good attacking play doesn't always mean just throwing your kingside pawns fo rward, effective though that strategy can be. Sometimes it involves something more subtle, and a well judged thrust with a d- or e-pawn can throw

a e bed f g h Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 293 your opponent's fo rces into disarray. Therehas long been a strategic debate in chess about the 8 merits of an i'solated d-pawn. Many players, 7 fo r example Karpov, are happy to defend against the isolated pawn, aiming to blockade 6 it, to exchange pieces and then try to win the 5 endgame. But as Black in such positions, you have to be constantly aware of the possibility of 4 a timely d4-d5 thrust, opening up the position 3 and leading to dangerous attacking chances fo r 2 White. 1

Gata Kamsky- Nigel Short a bede f g h Linares (5) 1994 White now has the idea of playing It:lc3 to undermine Black's control of the d5-square. How can Black possibly meet this threat? 8 To find the right solution you have to think 7 outside the box.

6 18... tiJb8? 5 The wrong way. Black's position may look secure enough when the knight reaches d7, but 4 unfortunately fo r Short, Kamsky is able to find 3 a clever way of breaking through. 2 If you could imagine a black knight reaching f5 , then this would solve many of Black's problems and take the sting out of the white a bed e f g h 14.J.h6! attack. To this end, the seemingly illogical Kamsky immediately sets out his intentions. 18... J.h4! was the right way to go. Not only He wants to mate the black king! Most of does this plan to send a knight to the useful the endings with an isolated d-pawn tend to f5 -square, but along the way it can reinforce favour Black, so White will naturally seek his Black's control over the crucial d5-square. chances in the middlegame. Mter 19.1t:lc3 lt:lce7! Black has solved all of his problems. 14... b6 15.:aadl J.b716 .:afe1 :ae8 17.J.b3! This may seem slightly illogical as fo r the 19.Wfa:ae 7 moment the d5-point is well-defended, but Always ask yourself "What does my this may not always be the case. Kamsky opponent intend to play?" If we consider what realizes that the bishop is redundant is on c2, Black is intending to play here, then the idea of so relocates it to b3 where it is potentially a ...It:lf 6! should be obvious, exchanging pieces much more powerful piece. and removing a lot of the danger inherent in the position. So Kamsky simply prevents this 17 ...a6 18.tiJ2g3 idea. 294 Mating the Castled King

bed f g h a bede f g h a e 2o.lilh5!lild 7 21.h4! 23.d5!! Kamsky burns all his bridges behind him. To Anyway! This stunning push completely borrow a somewhat overused poker analogy, he wrecks any hopes Black had of erecting a is clearly "all in". It may not be obvious what suitable blockade. His king will be exposed to White is threatening, but in fact it is difficult the full power of the white pieces, all of which fo r Black to finda useful move. Kamsky's last will take part in the final attack. move increased his control over the vital g5- square - at some point he might put a knight 23•• .ti he4 there. Black has many ways to capture but they all lose by fo rce. 21...tl�7f6 It is hard to offerBlack any advice. 23 ...lLlx d5 24 . .txd5 .txd5 25.l'hd5! exd5 26.lLlf6t! .txf6 27.�xe8t Wxe8 28.Wxf6 and 21.. ..txh4 is no better: 22.lLld6! �f8 23.lLlxb7 the bishop on h6 plays a decisive role. �xb7 24.lLlf4! lLl7f6 25.g3 and White wins material. 23 ....txd5 24.lLlxf6t .txf6 25 . .txd5 is also a simple win. The risky-looking 21...5 leads to a pretty finish:22.lLlc 3! lLlxc3 23 . .txe6t �h8 24 . .tg7# 24.dxe6! Putting the final seal on a beautiful attack. 21...Wa8 22 . .txd5 .txd5 23.lLlef6t is also catastrophic fo r Black: 23 ...lLlx f6 24.lLlxf6t 24•.• £5 25J!xd8 �hd8 26J�dl �h8 25.lLlxd5 Wxd5 26.Wxf7+- 1-0

22.lilhxf6tlilx f6 A white pawn reaches d7 Now it looks as if there is no danger, as the A pawn reaching the d7-square is extremely d5-square is defended by Black no less than dangerous, to say the least. Black has so much fo ur times, but ... trouble dealing with the threat of promotion that his pieces can become tied up and unable to protect his king. To use a fo otball analogy this time, it is as if a whole team decides to Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 295 man-mark Lionel Messi, leaving his Barcelona team mates free to score the winning goal. I 8 twice made the mistake of underestimating 7 such a pawn in games against Tiviakov; both 6 times his d-pawn reached d7, and both times I was unable to deal with the direct threats of 5 promotion. 4 3

In the fo llowing game, Black has the d7 -pawn 2 well blockaded, while his own passed pawns are threatening to march down the queenside. a c e b d f g h However, with the black pieces tied down by 30.Ei:xf7! This is the difficult idea to see in the d7 -pawn, White has time to orchestrate advance, because without this White would a decisive attack. Playing such positions just be losing. 30 ...�xf7 31.Ei:xg6t c;t>f8 well is less about general understanding 32.�d6t! �e7 33.Ei:f6t White has a mating and more about concrete analysis and pure attack. Themain purpose of the d-pawn in this calculation. Luke McShane is very good at variation is to cut the black rooks offfr om the this sort of thing, but his opponent did not defence of their king. prove up to the task and missed a golden opportunity. 28 ... hxg4 29J:�e8t @h7 Luis Comas Fabrego - LukeMcShane

Istanbul 2003

a bede f g h 3o.Wfc5?? The direct 30.Ei:xd8 Ei:xd8 31.Ei:e8 is good enough fo r a draw: 31 ...b3 32.Ei:xd8 �xd8 a bed e f g h 28Jkel? 33.�xf7t mh6 34.�e8 b2! 34.�xd8 bl=�t White would have won this game if he had with perpetual check. fo und the crushing 28.2''k6!, which breaks through on the kingside by fo rce. The main However, the computer points out that White point is: 28 ...�g7 29.Ei:e7 b3 could still win with the brilliant 30.h3!!. The idea is to deliver a lethal check on the h-file, 296 Mating the Castled King fo r example 30 ...b3 31.hxg4 and Black has example, may cramp the opponent and limit no answer to the threat of 'lWh t.1 Another his attempts to stir up counterplay. This pawn variation is 30 ...gxh3 31.l:l:e7 1 cj;Jg7 32.l:l:xf7t! drives a strategic wedge into the black position, 'lWxf7 33.'lWd4t cj;Jh6 and the removal of the controlling the useful d6- and f6 -squares and g4-pawn has cleared the way fo r 34.'lWh4twith keeping pieces away from the defence of the mate to fo llow. black king. Whether to try and break out with ...f6 can often be a problematic decision fo r 30 ...b3? the defender. 30 ...l:l:b7! would have prevented White's next move and given Black a winning position. Fouad El Taher - MartinPoulsen

31.fNc7ga 8 32.fNb7fNO Dubai 2004

bed f g h bed f g h a e a e 13.gfel! 33.fNb4?? Defending the important pawn on e5. The Thissim ply loses the d-pawn and the game. scene is set fo r an all-out assault on the kingside. If Black is not able to break successfully with White's last chance to draw was: 33.'lWc7 ...f6 at some point, then White's attacking 1'l:xe8 (33 ...'lWf 6 34.'lWb7 repeats the position) moves will have an inevitable flow to them 34.dxe8='IW 1'l:xe8 35.l:l:xe8 'lWdl t with - 'lWf4, 1'l:e3, lLld4 and 1'l:g3 all come into the perpetual check. equation. 33 ... gxd7 34.g8e3 fNfS 3S.geS fNf6 13 ...tiJ xcS 36.fNxb3 �g7 37.fNb4ga d8 38.fNxg4 gd4 39.gSe4 ge8 40.gxd4 gxel t 41.�g2 geS Given what has already been stated about 42.h4 gfS43.fNg3 fNxd4 the long-term dangers that Black is facing, 0-1 the question is whether he can try to create immediate counterplay with 13.. .f6!? The A white pawn on eS limiting Black c5-pawn is not going anywhere, so why not undermine the centre yet fu rther? However, A pawn does not always have to play a direct , given that he has already played ... h6, another role in the attack to have a decisive influence pawn push will create additional weaknesses on the game. A white pawn on e5, fo r Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 297 on the light squares around the king. White This is also a questionable decision as there can also get to work on the centre before Black was no need to clarifY the situation yet. This is able to complete his development. 14.exf6 merely resolves White's weaknesses on the :I"i:xf6 queenside fo r him. The threat of :I"i:g3was not yet so strong that Black had to turn to panic measures.

16.cxd3 .id7

a e bed f g h 15.c4! A useful undermining move in such situations. 15... tt:lx c5 16.cxd5 exd5? 17.:I"i:e8t :I"i:f8 18.�h7t! and Black is in trouble.

14.ttld4 a6?! In positions where Black needs to gain a bede f g h counterplay on the queenside before White 17.lLle2! lands with his attack on the kingside, every Not only serving a useful role in defending move counts and this turns out to be a waste the c-pawn, but also with one eye on a of time. kingside attack - the knight can often head to h5. It was important to get a rook to c8 as quickly as possible, which could have been accomplished 17•.• Ei:ac8 18.d4! b5? with: Black fails to understand the essence of 14... �d7! the position. It was vital to undermine the This may also save a tempo on ...a6, as in e5-bridgehead, lest White have a free hand some circumstances Black can just play ... b5 to attack on the kingside, so 18... f6 ! was without further preparation. essential: 19.exf6 :I"i:xf6 20.:I"i:e l :I"i:cf8 21.f3 15.:I"i:e3 :I"i:ac8 16.Ei:g3?! Although the clamp on the e5-square looks Thisdir ect approach is overambitious. visually appealing fo r White, it's not clear 16... tt:lx d3! what he can do with it. 21...'lWd6 22.tt:lc1 16 ...<;t>h8 allows White to draw with the �b5! and Black maintains equality. spectacular: 17.'lWg5! hxg5 18.Ei:h3t <;t>g8 19.�h7t= 19.1Llf4 17.'lWxh6? 'lWxe5-+ 19.Ei:g3! is a more accurate move order: Black successfully defends. 19... �h7 20.tt:lf4 f5 21.exf6 Ei:xf6 22.tt:lh5Ei:O 23.'lWd3t�h8 24.'lWg6Thisis clearly a strategic 15.Ei:e3 ttlxd3 disaster fo r Black. 25 ...�c6 25.Ei:el :I"i:e8 298 Mating the Castled King

26.lLlxg7! �xg7 27.Wfxh6t Wg8 28.�ee3! Black's extra piece on c6 resembles a big pawn, and White's attack is crushing.

19.•. b4!? Poulsen, who incidentally is a nice guy (and also one of those people that are annoyingly good-looking) , takes his chance to create some much-needed counterplay on the queenside. Nevertheless, White has a way to break through immediately - can you see how?

a bed e f g h 24 ...g6? 8 This gifts White the f6 -square, a decision 7 that will ultimately prove fa tal. 6 Black should have resisted the temptation to 5 touch his kingside pawns and continued with 4 his counterplay along the c-file: 24 ...�c2! 25.�xg7 �b5 Black's big threat of ...�xf 2 is 3 more than enough to keep the balance. 26.�d 1 2 Wfh4 Black is doing well. 1 25.�dl!

a bede f g h 20.cxb4? The all-seeing silicon monster points out 8 an astonishing possibility that White missed: 7 20.lLlh5!! bxc3 21.Wfcl! Thehu ge threat omg3 6 more than compensates fo r the disintegration of the white queenside. 21...f6 22.�g3 �f7 5 23.Wfxh6 White has an overwhelming attack. 4 Another great example of the unimportance of pawns when there is the higher purpose of 3 attacking the enemy king. 2

2o ...Wfc2!

Black does not fear the exchange of queens, a bed e f g h as his control of the c-filewould compensate White is once again much better, and this fo r his pawn minus. time he doesn't give Black a chance to escape.

21.Wfel Wfb2 22.ltJh5 �h8 23.�b3 Wfxd4 25 ...Wfh4? 24J�g3 An unfortunate square fo r the queen. Chapter 5 - Breakthrough with Pawns 299

25 ... Wa7! 26.Wd2 <;t>h727.ttJf 6t <;t>g7 was the 16... d5? only way to stay on the board. Stohl loses patience and attempts to fo rce matters in the centre, but this rebounds 26.ttJf6i.a4 tactically.

17.e5! Nunn is super-alert and seizes the chance to break through in the centre.

17... lLlxe5 To avoid the crushing possibility of a white pawn landing on f6 , Black has to shed material.

The only serious alternative was 17".ttJe4, but this would have led to a strategic rout after 18.�xe4 dxe4 19.f6 �h8 20.�f4!. Black is horribly restricted - with the bishop on h8 trapped by the white pawns he is effectively a bed e f g h 27.�g4! �xg4 28.lLlxg4 i.xdl 29.�xdl �c4 playing a piece down - and White threatens to 30.h3 gain a deadly attack along the h-filewith Wh4, 1-0 Ei:e3-h3 etc. The only way to break free from the vice would be to demolish the e5-f6 chain Breakthrough withe4-e5 but after 20".ttJxe5 21.Wh4! the pin would The e-pawn may also serve another useful cost Black his knight. purpose, as a central battering ram to smash a path through to the black king. 8 John Nunn - Igor Stohl 7

Novi Sad 1990 6 (01) 5

a bed e f g h 18.�xe5! d4 18".Wxe5 19.�f4 traps the queen mid board.

19.i.xf6i.xf6 20.fx gG fxgG a bed e f g h 20".hxg6 21.Ei:eel dxc3 22.Ei:xf6 <;t>g7 300 Mating the Castled King

23.8:f2 cxb2 24.We3 is also close to winning 23 ...Wg7 24J'hfSt�xf8 25 JWe3 fo r White.

8 6

7 5

6 4

5 3

4 2

2 a bed e f g h Matters are no longer so clear because of 1 the annoying black pawn on b2. Nevertheless,

a bede f g h Nunn went on to win a tricky endgame some 23.c4? moves later.

A fo rced, if complex, win was available with ..• 1-0 23.�xg6t! mh8 24.ttJd2 �e4 25.�gf6 Wc5t 26.<;t>hl 8:xe6 27.8:xf8 t Wxf8 28.Wxe6 �xd3 29.We5t <;t>g8 30.Wxb2 �g6 31.Wxb6, when White's extra pawns will decide the endgame. Chapter 6

Typ ical Pawn Breakthroughs

This chapter is essentially a continuation of Chapter 5, in which I discussed the theoretical relevance of attacking with pawns. Now we are going to look at typical examples of putting this theory into practice.

All the examples are taken from openings where attacking with pawns doesn't just happen by chance, but fo rms part of the strategic basis of the opening. For example, in the King's Indian, Black often launches a pawn storm against the white kingside at some point. It's important that the reader is aware of the themes inherent within specific opening systems that facilitate an attack on the castled king. The next step is to adopt these strategies and put them into practice.

have aimed fo r a balanced approach by presenting two games to illustrate each theme; typically I in the firstgame White's kingside attack is the predominant feature, while in the next game Black successfully attacks on the queenside.

White attacks on the kingside- Short the Sicilian killer The first game shows many of the typical characteristics of a Sicilian. The players have castled on opposite sides, but White has a free hand to attack, while Black has no serious counterplay. This scenario is a dream situation fo r Nigel Short, who in the 1980s fo rmed a fo rmidable reputation as a renowned Sicilian killer. To gether with fellow English grandmasters John Nunn and Murray Chandler, he greatly developed the theory of 6.�e3 against the Sicilian Najdorf, turning it into a fo rmidable attacking weapon. Characterized by the moves �e3, 1,1&'d2, f2 -f3 with queenside castling, fo llowed by g2-g4, h2-h4 and launching a deadly pawn assault against the black kingside, it rapidly became the fu nky and fashionable way of meeting the Najdorf, itself the most popular of all the Sicilian variations. White's system, which can be adopted against other Sicilian variations as well, was named the English Attack after these pioneering heroes. 302 Mating the Castled King

Nigel Short- VlastimilBabula Black's last move was designed to take the sting out of 19.h6, which can now be met by Istanbul 2012 (01) 19... fxg6 20.hxg7 CDxg7, when no immediate breakthrough fo r White is evident. However, Short's quiet king move merely emphasizes the helplessness of Black's situation. He has no counterplay against the white queenside, while he will soon be facing an attacking storm on the kingside.

19 ... El:fdB 2o.lLld5 �xd5 21.exd5 lLlc5 22.gxf7tWxf7

a bede f g h This position is not actually from a Najdorf, but there are obvious similarities. Black has a gaping hole on d5, which is readily exploitable by White, and the white pawns have already reached g5 and h5, spelling great danger fo r the black king. Short didn't need to be asked twice.

IB.g6! Yo u can play such moves on auto-pilot. There is now a threat to play h5-h6, ensuring that 23.f4! fileswill be opened on the kingside. White also By opening the position yet fu rther, Short has the option of El:dg1, or even 'it> b 1 fo llowed ensures the poor black king will never find a by CDd5,so slow is Black's counterplay on the safe haven. Just to add to its problems, White queenside. also has the option of throwing in h5-h6 at some point. IB... lLle6 Babula hurries back to protect his kingside. 23 ...�f6 24.fxe5 �xe5 25.�g4! El:bB The generally accepted way of meeting an 26.�xc5! attack on your king in the Sicilian is to launch Thereis no respite fo r the black king. an attack on your opponent's king, but this option isn't really open to him here. 26... �xc5 27.�e6t WeB 2B.�d3 Black's king is horribly exposed, and he IS... a5 is met by 19.. bc5 dxc5 20.�xb5, has no counterplay to compensate fo r this when Black is simply a pawn down with a bad dismal fact, so it's no surprise that White has a position. number of ways to win, fo r example: 2S.iWg5! b4 29.iWf5 El:b730. El:hfl �f6 31.iWxh7 with a terrible attack on the light squares. Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 303

Ljubomir Ljubojevic - Garry Kasparov

Belgrade 1989

l.e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tLlxd4 tLlf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6 . .ig5e6 7.£4 YNc7!? A double-edged method of meeting the extremely sharp 6 . .ig5var iation.

8.YNe2 8 . .ixf6 gxf6 9.1Wd2 is perhaps the critical method of meeting this line. Black has the bishop pair, but White can put pressure on the a bed e f g h centre with moves like f4 -f5. 28 ...

�fl 32.h6! 8 .•. tLlc6 9.0-0-0 tLlxd410 .�xd4 .ie7l1 .g3!? Black has suffered a complete calamity. .id7 12. .ig2 h6 13. .ih4 .ic6 14.£5 0-0 1-0 15.�hdl Kasparov now begins queenside operations Black attacks on the queenside - Garry in typically aggressive fashion. shows how it's done Clearly the Short - Babula game is an example 15... h5! of the horrors that can await Black if he fa ils to get sufficient counterplay against the white king. Generally speaking, in order to open lines towards a white king castled on the queenside, Black will push his a- and b-pawns fo rward at some point. Opening lines in this way will not only expose the white king to danger, but White will often be fo rced to curtail his own attacking plans in order to deal with the threats.

In an all-out race, where both sides are trying to destroy the opponent's king protection with a pawn assault, it is logical that White's a bede f g h attack should land first - after all, he does 16.g4? have the first move. Black must therefore When you play the white side of the carefully balance carrying out his own attack Open Sicilian, you have to accept that you'll with aiming to slow down White's attacking sometimes be fo rced to sacrificematerial if you ambitions. Kasparov, in the next game, is able want to fight fo r the initiative. If you prefer to juggle these problems to perfection. an easier life against that opening, I suggest that you play the c3 Sicilian, or perhaps some other dull system with .ib5. (By the way, my 304 Mating the Castled King next book, fib5 against the Sicilian, should be 19.i.xe7cxb2t 20.@b l Wl'xe721. �xd6 �fc8 available in all good bookshops soon.) Ljubo 22.�1d2 i.b5 23.WI'e3�a b8! decides to play it safe by giving his h4-bishop a Thewhite king may look safe on b 1, hidden line of retreat, but this turns out to be too slow behind the black pawn, but Kasparov, as and gives Kasparov enough time to work up an always, has seen deeper. Black's attack is fa r unstoppable initiative on the queenside. more venomous than it looks at first sight, as White has to deal with threats to his c- and It was time to throw caution to the wind a-pawns. For example, a bishop landing on a2 with 16.fxe6!. This would have involved the will likely expose the white king to a terrific sacrifice of a piece, and perhaps facing such onslaught. a fo rmidable opponent, Lj ubo fe ared the consequences of such a development, but after 16... g5 ?! 17.tt:Jd5! fixd5 18.exd5 gxh4 19.gxh4 the cramping nature of the white pawns on d5 and e6, and the exposed black king would have made the situation on the board most unclear. Instead 16... fxe6! would be a safer way to play, when 17.fixf6 2"1xf6 18.e5 dxe5 19.fixc6 Vf1xc6 20.Vf1xe5 2"1f2 gives Black a slight pull.

16... e5! Now Kasparov is given a free pass to attack on the queenside.

a bed e f g h 17J34d3 b4 18.i.xf6 24.�b6 i.c4!25.�dl �xb6 25... Vf1c7! was probably even stronger than Kasparov's choice: 26.2"1xb8 8

a e a bede f g h bed f g h 18... bxc3! 26 ...fixa2 t! 27.<;t>xa2 2"1xb8 28.Vf1d3 There 18... fixf 6? would be a big strategic error. After is nothing better. 28 ...Vf1a5 t 29.Vf1a3 Vf1xa3t 19.tt:Jd5!fixd5 20.2"1xd5, Black's assault on the 30. <;t>xa3 b 1=Vf1 Black wins the exchange, after queenside has come to a fu ll stop, while he has which White can resign. to deal with the immediate threat to his d-pawn. Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 305

26.�xb6 �a3 27.�xb2 �xa2t! 28.'it?al 28.'lWxa2 l::i:b8t 29.<;t>al 'lWc3tis curtains. 8 7 28 ...�a4 29.�xa2 �xa2t 30.'it?xa2 l::i:xc2t 31.@b3 l::i:xg2 6 The ending turns out to be a trivial win fo r 5 Black. 4

32.@c4 l::i:xh2 33.@d5 f634.g 5 hxg5 35.@e6 3 g4 36J:�d8t@ h7 37.@f7�h5! 0-1 2 This was a memorable tournament fo r 1 Kasparov - it was the one where he finally a bede f g h broke Fischer's fa mous FIDE-rating record of 8 ...tLlh 5 2785, which had stood fo r a remarkable 17 Ideally Black would like to try and break in years. the centre with 8 ...e6, but this loses material to 9.e5! dxe5 1O.fxe5. Assaultinga kingside fianchetto- the �el Perhaps Black should have tried 8 ...tLlb d7!? h4 method 9.�e2 h6 1O.�h4 tLlh5!? 11.�d2 �b6! with We have already discussed in some detail one unclear play. of the ways of attacking a fianchetto on the kingside - the idea of exchanging dark-squared 9.f5tLld 7 1O.�e2 �b8 11.0-0 bishops by �d2 and �h6, fo llowed by opening up the h-filewith a quick march of the pawn to h5. A no-less-dangerous method involves 8 pushing the f- pawn to f5 , placing the queen 7 on h4 and then playing �h6 fo llowed by tLlg5, leading to an extremely violent attack. 6 5 JulianHodgson -JohannHjartarson 4 Bermuda 1997 3

1.d4 tLlf6 2.�g5 2 Hodgson, who is now sadly retired from 1 playing chess to concentrate on coaching, was a great attacking player in his prime. He would a bede f g h invariably play the Trompowsky (basically 11... tLlh f6 l.d4 and then 2.�g5 against pretty much If Black does not advance his b-pawn then everything), which led to the kind of messy playing ...l::i: b8 was just a waste of time. The positions he revelled in. problem is that 11...b5 12.axb5ax b5 13.tLlxb5 �xb2 14.l::i:a2 �f6 runs into a strong rejoinder: 2 ...c5 3.d5 g64. tLlc3 �g7 5.e4 d6 6.f4!? 0-0 15.tLla7! �b7 16.tLlc6 �xc6 17.dxc6 �xg5 7.tLlf3a6 8.a4 18.tLlxg5 tLldf6 19.1::i:a7 with a big initiative fo r White. 306 Mating the Castled King

12.Wiel �e8 13.Wih4c4 14.i.e3 18.�h7! E1h8 19.�h5t �f8 20.�g6 E1xh5 It was possible to continue with the simple (20 ...tZle5?? 21.�e8#) 21.�xh5 White has method of exchanging bishops: 14.�h6!? regained material while keeping an attack. Wib6t 15.

14.•. Wic7

2 a bede f g h 18.i.d4!ltJe 5 19.tDxe5 dxe5 20.i.e3 The upshot of the exchange of knights on a bed e f g h 15.@hl e5 is that Black has even less counterplay than The pawn on f5 plays a useful role. It before. His bishop on g7 is horribly blunted, discourages Black from attempts to breakout while attacking ideas of f5 -f6, as well taking wi th ...e6, while acting as a shield behind which on g6, are always in the air fo r White. What White can plot his kingside attack. Hodgson fo llows is a gory attacking tour de fo rce. decides that he wants to grab some useful squares by thrusting his g-pawn fo rward, and firsttucks his king away on hI. 8 Thiswasn't the only plan available to White 7 - it was also possible to launch a direct attack with 15.tZlg5!?, intending E1f3-h3. If Black 6 tries to kick the knight away with 15... h6, then 5 White has 16.fxg6! hxg5 17.gxOt �xO 4

a bed e f g h

20.•. b5 21.axb5 axb522.Wif2! Double attack - the c5-knight 'is threatened while White is also planning to crash through on O. Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 307

22 ... llJxe4 28.�adl hdSt 29.�xdS Wfc630.�f dl @h8 22 ...l2ld 7 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.'IWf7t+- 30 ...exd 5 31.'IWf5 d4t 32.�gl �h8 33.'IWg5 , l:l:g8 34.�g7t leads to mate. 23.llJxe4 gxf5 31.i.g7t @g8 32.WfcsWfb7

8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a bed e f g h 24.i.g4! a bede f g h Rather than limply retreating the attacked 33.Wfgl! exdS 34.Wfxg4 d4t 3S.@gl Wfc8 knight, Hodgson continues in high-octane 36.WfgS mode. As stated elsewhere in this book, the 1-0 best way to prosecute a decisive advantage is to It is instructive to see how well Hodgson keep playing as aggressively as possible. used his pawns in the attack - not only the f- pawn, but the later march of the g-pawn also 24 ...e6 2S.llJf6t!? proved pivotal, giving White the possibility of 25.dxe6! is even stronger. Mter 25 ...fxe6 l2lf6t. 26.l2lf6t �xf6 26.gxf6, Black cannot take the g4-bishop and so White is simply winning. Drawbacks of the exchangeof dark-squared bishops 2S ... i.xf626.gxf6 fxg4 27.i.h6 i.b7 If this whole plan of playing to exchange does have a drawback, it is that it takes time. This can be used by Black to further his own 8 attacking ambitions, as we can see in the next 7 game. 6 AlexeiShirov - Peter Leko 5 Dortmund (3) 2002 4 l.e4 cS 2.tLlallJc 6 3.i.bS g6 4.i.xc6 dxc6 3 S.d3 i.g7 6.h3 tLlf67. llJc3 0-0 8.i.e3 b6 2 9.Wfd2eS

a bed e f g h 308 Mating the Castled King

possible because the g4-pawn would simply be 8 en prise, and g4-g5 gets nowhere after ...tLlh5. 7 Thisleaves only the possibility of some kind of attack with tLle2-g3, but this takes time and 6 Black is already well placed fo r an immediate 5 assault on the white king.

4 14.tt:le2 bS IS.tt:lg3 b4! 3 It's always good to make such moves. Black is safe in the knowledge he is guaranteed to get 2 chances on the queenside at some point. 1

a bede f g h 10.i.h6�d6 11.0-0-0 Shirov was in a must-win scenario (he was behind in the match), and so he elected to play as aggressively as possible. But when the irresistible object meets the immovable fo rce, there can only be one winner! (Yes, my writing reeks unbearably of lazy cliches.)

...aS 12.i.xg7 c;Yxg7 13.g4 H

8 a bed e f g h 7 16.�gS!? Of course, Shirov played this game before he 6 was able to read this chapter. Had he done so, 5 he would have realized attacking with pawns, not just pieces, is a viable option! 4

3 Thedir ect assault with 16.g5 might have given better practical chances of winning the game: 2 16... tLle S 17.h4 a3 1S.b3 ii.g4 19.'lWe3f6 ?! This 1 is a tempting way to try and exploit the pin bed f g h of the f3-knight. (The solid 19... Ei:dS 20.h3 a e 'it>gS is a more prudent defence.) 20.h5! fXg5 13••. a4! Black intends ...b5- b4 fo llowed by ...b3! 21.tLlxg5 ii.xd1 22.'it>xd1 White has decent breaking up the white queenside. There's also punting chances in return fo r the exchange. the option of throwing in ...a3! at some point, which is actually what happens in the game. 16.•. Ei:e8 17.tt:ld 2 By contrast, it's not so easy to see what White 17.tLlf5t?! ii.xf5 1S.gxf5 (1S.exf5 b3 19.cxb3 is doing on the kingside - h3-h4 is never axb3 20.a3 'lWd5 is also promising fo r Black) lS... b3! 19.cxb3 axb3 20.a3 c4! Thisju st looks Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 309 lousy fo r White. One attractive line is: 21.dxc4 19... �e6! Wffc5 22.ctJd2 :i:%xa3!-+ Perhaps Shirov had missed this move. The white knight is prevented from settling on the 17 ...a3 c4-square and the open a-file spells doom fo r the white king.

8 20.lLlb3 :gxa321 .'%Vxc5 '%Vb8! 22.@b2 lLld7 7 23.'%Ve3 lLlb6 For a measly pawn Black has a nasty attack 6 indeed. Thegame did not last much longer. 5

4 8

3 7

2 6

1 5

a bed e f g h 4 18.bxa3? Shirov opens the a-file, but this turns out 3 to be a suicidal decision as there is nothing to 2 quell the black initiative. 1

It was probably time to resign himself to a draw a bede f g h after: 18.b3 Wffd4 19.ctJc4 Wffal t 20.Wd2 Wffc3t 24.:ga1c5 25.@c1 c4 26.dxc4 .!Llxc427. '%Ve1 21.Wc1 (21 .We2 h6 22.Wffd2 Wffxd2t 23.:i:%xd2 '%Va7 28.'%Vxb4 '%Vrll 29.lLlfStgxf5 30.gxf5 is also close to equal) 21 ...Wff al t= :gc8! 31.fxe6lLle 3 0-1

18..• h6 19.'1We3 The'%Ve1 -h4 attackrevisited In this next game, Akopian provides another 8 good example of the kind of kingside assault 7 we saw in Hodgson - Hjartarson above. The Armenian manages to achieve the strategic 6 aims of opening the f- fileand exchanging dark 5 squared bishops, and he could have crowned his attack in spectacular fashion. Although he 4 missed this brilliant opportunity, the exposed 3 nature of the black king meant that White retained decisive attacking threats even in an 2 ending.

a bed e f g h 310 Mating the Castled King

VladimirAkopian - LevPsakhis 13.f5!b4 14.ttJe2 exfS lS.exfSdS 16.�h6 Akopian has completed step one of his plan, Manila (01) 1992 putting the enemy king under pressure. It is clear what White now intends - tLlg5 with a l.e4 cS 2.ttJf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ttJxd4 a6 mating attack. Realizing this, Psakhis rushes to S.�d3 ttJf66.0 -0 Wfc77. ttJc3 d6 8.f4! create counterplay in the centre. Gaining valuable space on the kingside and also demonstrating his desire to play aggressive 16 ... ttJeS 17.�xg7

8 ...g6 9.ttJf3ttJc 6 6

8 4

7 3

6 2

5 1 4 a bed e f g h 3 18.ttJf4? It was a pity fo r Akopian that, after 2 achieving so much strategically on the kingside 1 (exchanging dark-squared bishops, opening the f- file), he did not take the chance to crown a bed e f g h 10.Wfel! �g7 11.Wfh40-0 12.

12... bS 8 12... tLlb 4 might discourage White from 7 pushing his f- pawn, but trouble comes from ,,=jWW, a different direction: 13.e5! tLld7 (13... dxe 5 6 drops a piece to 14.fxe5 tLld7 15.'lWxb4) 5 14.tLlg5! (14.f5! tLlxd3 15.f6! is also strong) 4 ' 14... h6 15.tLlge4 dxe5 16.fxe5 White's 3 e"""',,, ,,,,,/'"' '''''''''' initiative is extremely dangerous. 2

a e bed f g h Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 311

21.l2lh5t!@f 8 22.l2lg5!gx h5 23.l2lxh7t @e7 2S ...�d 8 26.�e4 t 24.i'l:ad1! The black king is caught in a deadly 1-0 crossfire fro� which it will not escape. TheEmpire strikes back 18 ... ttJxd3!? In the next game, White is also able to This may appear to walk into a neat exchange the dark-squared bishops and gain combination, but in fa ct matters are not totally space on the kingside with f2 -f4. However, clear. there is the difference that the black king is much more difficult to get at, whereas the 19.Wxf6t �xf620.ttJx dSt �xf5? white king is posted on the queenside and is Psakhis understandably fe els he may as well therefore more vulnerable. Black is able to take grab a pawn, as he was going to be under advantage of this by quickly mobilizing his pressute in the ending in any case, but this fa ils pawns. fo r tactical reasons. ThomasEmst -JaimeSun ye Neto 20 ...@g 7 2l.f6t @h6! 22.l2lxc7 Ei:a7 23.l2ld5 ie6 24.l2le3 l2lxb2 would have limited the Manila 1992 (01) damage, though even here White can continue to attack with 25.g4!? l.e4 cS 2.ttJa e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lLlxd4 a6 S.�d3 �cS 6.ttJb3 �a7 7.We2 ttJc6 8.ttJc3 21.ttJxc7 �a7 d6 9.�e3 bS

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 bed f g h a e a bed e f g h 22.ttJd4t! �g4 10.0-0-0 22 ...�g5 loses material to 23.l2lce6t. With the benefitof hindsight, 10.0-0 would 23.ttJdS! have been safer. Black now makes the smart decision to leave his king in the centre fo r as Even in the endgame, the black king is long as possible. This means White lacks a caught in a mating net. clear target, while Black can quickly build up a 23 ... ttJeS 24.ttJf6t �h4 2S.�ae1! dangerous attack on the white king. If the black knight moves, White will mate 10... ttJ ge7! with 26.l2lf3#,so Black is losing material. 312 Mating the Castled King

Theknight is better placed here than on the 20.':Wh5 f5 21.':Wf3 may not be particularly f6 -square in several Sicilian variations, such as appetizing fo r White either, but at least Black the Taimanov. It is less vulnerable to a white would be fo rced to keep an eye on the centre. pawn attack with g4-g5. In the game, Black has a free hand to attack on the queenside. 11.£4 b4!

1 a bede f g h a bede f g h 17... �d7 1 bl? Another valid continuation would have v!lj This invites the black pawns to advance at been to play on the dark squares with 17... a3 !? incredible speed. IB.b3 ':Wb6fo llowed by ...':Wc5 .

I believe it is imperative to throw a spanner 18.Vfiflb3 19.a3bxc2 20.�xc2 0-0 in the works with 12.ttJa4!. Mter 12... i.x e3t The smoke has cleared and it is obvious 13.':Wxe3 l:!bB 14.e5, the a4-knight can always that White faces an uphill task. Black will find a way back into the game via the c5- retain pressure against the white queenside fo r square, though at the moment it is doing a many moves, although it must be said that no useful job of holding up the black a-pawn. immediately decisive breakthrough is in sight.

12... a5! 13.tiHd2 Vfic7 14.llJaa4! Storm clouds are already starting to gather over the white king.

15.tLlbd2 d5! 16.�xa7 l:ha7 17.e5? Mter this, Black's attack pretty much plays itself. When you are strategically worse it is not a good idea to close the position, as more often than not it will just aid your opponent even more. Here it was essential to keep some tension in the centre.

17.exd5 exd5 IB.ttJe5 0-0 19.ttJxc6 ttJxc6 a bed e f g h Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 313

2U�bl l:!b822.

&tdieDearing - Sergey Erenburg

Budapest 2004

l.d4 dS 2.c4 e6 3.lLlc3 c6 4.lLlf3ttJf6 S.i. gS h6 6.i.h4 dxc47.e 4 gS 8.i.g3bS

a bed e f g h 3o.lLld4? After emerging from the opening in poor shape, White had managed to outplay his opponent and get back in the game. Here though, he goes horribly wrong.

After 30.g4! matters would have remained highly unclear. 9.i.e2 3o ..•lLl xd4! 31.�xe7 314 Mating the Castled King

I have experimented with 9.e5!? here, but when the black king will soon be exposed to it must be said that Dearing's choice is much an overwhelming attack. more popular. In fact, the opening seen in this game is one of the most topical and fashionable in all chess theory. Black wins a pawn, but White hopes that his active piece play will more than make up fo r it. 8 7 9 ...�h7 10.lLle5 lLlhd7 I1.YNc2�g7 12J::&dl YNh6 13.h4ttJxe5 14.�xe5YNa5 15.0-0 0-O-O 6 16.h3! 5 This is a crucial undermining move, as 4 without it White would have no means of making progress on the queenside. We have 3 now reached a critical position - will Black 2 make the correct choice? 1

a bed e f g h 8 18.a3! 7 Undermining the black pawn edifice and fo rcing lines open on the queenside. 6

5 18•.. lLle 8 19.axb4 YNxb4 2o.lLlxc3 �xe5 21.dxe5 lLlc7 22.lLla4 �xdl 23.Elxdl Eld8 4 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.�xd8t c;t>xd826.YNd3t 3 Thewhite pawns lined up on the e-file may look weak, but in fact they play a useful role. 2 We have already spoken about the role pawns 1 may take in keeping away enemy pieces, and here the e4-pawn prevents the black knight bed f g h a e reaching its natural square on d5, while the e5- 16•.• b4? Mter this, White effectively washes away the pawn controls the d6-square. White can use black pawns, and gets a free hand to attack on this as a launching pad fo r his queen or knight. the queenside.

8 Thequestion fo r Black was whether taking on c4 was really such a big threat. If Black had realized 7 that it was not so terrible, he might have got on 6 with his own play with 16... gxh4! 17.bxc4 b4! 18.tLla4 Elhg8 19.tLlc5tLld 7, and he would have 5 gained some initiative down the g-file. 4

Incidentally, the tempting 16... c5? 17.bxc4 b4 3 is smartly refuted by 18.tLlb5!�xe4 19.�d3, 2

a bed e f g h Chapter 6 - Ty pical Pawn Breakthroughs 315

26 ... 'it>cS?! straightforward. As my chess level increased, A better choice would have been 26 ...'it>e8 , white players seemed prepared up to the even though Black's defensive task would have eyeballs, and I would have to memorize twenty been unenviable: 27.iWd6 iWel t 28.�fl �a6 moves of theory just to hope to get a playable 29.iWxc7 iWxflt 30.�h2 iWxf2 31.iWxc6t �f8 position. They'd be in the process of ruthlessly 32.iWxa6 iWh4t 33.�gl iWe1 t 34.iWfl iWxe4 massacring my queenside and taking all my 35.ctJc5!± pieces before my pitiful attack even left its starting blocks. Isn't life so much simpler when 27.iWd6! you're young?! Forcing an easily won ending. Nevertheless, played accurately the King's Indian remains a viable choice fo r Black at all 27 ...iWxd6 2S.exd6 ttJb5 29.e5 ttJd4 30 . .ic4 levels. The pawn storm that Black launches c5 31.ttJxc5 .iaS 32.0 ttJc6 33.ttJd3 ttJa5 against the white kingside will often create 34.'it>f2 'it>d7 35 . .ib5t .ic6 36.ttJc5t 'it>eS fresh weaknesses and open up pathways along 37.b4 hb5 3S.bxa5 which the black pieces will gladly flood. The protected passed pawn paralyses Black, who could have thrown the towel in at this VladimirEpishin - Dejan Pikula point. Biel 1996

8 l.d4 ttJf62.c 4 g6 3.ttJc3 .ig74.e 4 d6 5.ttJO 0-0 6 . .ie2 e5 7.0-0 tlJc6 S.d5 ttJe7 9.h4 7 tlJh5 6

5 8

4 7

3 6

2 5

a bed e f g h 3 3S ....ic6 39.'it>g3 .ib5 40.'it>g4 .ifl 41.g3 .ie242. ttJe4 'it>d743 .ttJxg5 f644.exf6 'it>xd6 2 45.ttJh7 1 1-0 a bed e f g h 10.�el Thelure of the King's Indian Kramnik has recently revitalized the line When I was younger, my favourite opening with 1 O.g3!? but as we know, any pawn move in was the King's Indian. I just loved the strategic front of the king is not without its drawbacks. simplicity of this opening; all you had to do was charge your pawns fo rward and eventually 10 ...ttJf 4 ll. .ifl a5 12.bxa5 �xa5 13.ttJd2 land some decisive tactical blow. Eventually c5 14.a4 h6 15.ttJb3 �a6 16.a5 b6 17.tlJb5f5 was to find that things weren't always so I 316 Mating the Castled King

18.g3 t£Jh5 22 ... t£Jf4!! A brilliant ambush! In return fo r the knight, Black will gain a dangerous pawn on f4 . So 8 dangerous in fa ct, that Epishin meekly declines 7 the sacrifice. 6 23.�xe4? 5 White is now faced with a major strategical blow, the loss of his fianchettoed bishop. 4

3 As scary as it was, the only way to test Black's idea was to take the piece: 23.gxf4 exf4 24.'lWb1 2

a bed e f g h 19.�d2 It may look as if 19.e xf5 is winning a pawn, as recapturing with a piece seems to lose a piece to g3-g4, but this is not the case: 19... ltJx f5! 20.g4? ltJh4 21.gxh5? ltJf3t 22.<;t>h1 'lWh4 and White will have to give up his queen to prevent mate.

19 ...fxe4 20.ax b6 �xal 21.�xal t£Jf5! a e Theknight stands excellently on this square. bed f g h Not only may it head to d4, but it keeps an eye 23 ...e3! (24 ...f3 ? 25.�f1 gets nowhere) 25.fxe3 on the kingside as well. f3 26.�xf3 'lWg5t 27.�g2 ltJh4 28.Ele2 �h3! Black's attack is certainly strong, but at least 22.�g2? this sequence would have demanded accurate Under pressure, Epishin blunders. play from Black, whereas in the game his 22.�xe4 'lWxb6 23.'lWa5 would have remaining moves are all quite obvious. maintained the balance. 23 ... t£Jxg2 24.'kt>xg2 �f6! 25.f4 g5 26.'kt>hl gxf4 27.gxf4 �g6! 8 Immediately taking aim at the weakened 7 light squares in the white position. 6 28.t£Jc3 t£Jh4 29.�e2 �g4 5 0-1

4 Queenside pawn storm 3 We have already seen the effectiveness of breaching the kingside with an all-out pawn 2 assault; but a similar strategy is just as dangerous 1 against a king posted on the queenside.

a bede f g h Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 317

Michael Adams- Sergei Tiviakov 1O ... axb5 11.ixb5 0-0-0

New Yo rk (2) 1994 l.e4 c5 2.lbf3 d63.ib5t Earlier in this chapter I half-jokingly suggested that this is quite a boring system, but Adams makes it look like an extremely dangerous attacking weapon.

3 ... lbc6 4.0-0 ig4 5.h3 ih5 6.d '?Nb6 7.lba3 a6 8.ia4 '?Nc79.d 4! Posing an awkward problem fo r Black.

White clearly has excellent play fo r the piece, as the black king has been stripped of all protection, and is more naked and exposed than a naturist on a wind-swept plateau. But what is the most incisive way fo r White to continue here?

12.h4! Of course. Whiteaims to open up even more fileson the queenside, as the black king, shorn of defenders, cannot possibly survive a full-on bed f g h a e assault by the white pieces. 9 ... b5?! This is really asking fo r it. 12 ... ixf3 13.gxf3 lbb8 14.'?Na4 c4 15.d5! Black would do better to try 9 ...0-0-0 lbf616. ie3 lbfd7 17.ic6! 10.ilxc6Wxc6 Il.d5 Wc7 12.Wd3, and at least he is not fa cing a fe rocious attack. Even so, White has a pleasant grip and will eventually 8 open lines on the queenside with c3-c4, ild2 and b2-b4, so I would advise Black to seek 7 improvements earlier. 6 1O.lbxb5! 5 Adams is as alert as ever and immediately 4 hits upon the Achilles heel in the black set 3 up - the light-squared bishop is marooned out on h5 and cannot come to the defence of vital 2 squares on the queenside. 1

a bede f g h 318 Mating the Castled King

Despite his extra piece, Black is now 31...g5! completely paralysed and unable to undertake A lot of players would be afraid to make such anything. White meanwhile has the a move, dismissing it because "moving pawns straightforward plan of marching his a- and in front of my king is too risky". But as I've b-pawns up the board to put the final nail in stated elsewhere in the book, you have to assess the coffin. each case on its individual merits. Lautier realizes that this is the only way to make 17... e6 18.b5 exd5 19.exd5 c!lJb6 2o.Wfb4 progress, and he does not fe ar a counterattack i.e7 21.a4 i.f6 22.a5 c!lJxc6 23.bxc6 c!lJxd5 as White's pieces are set up only fo r defence. 24.Wfb5�d e8 25.i.b6 1-0 32.Wfe2gxf4

A little imagination required We've all been there. Winning games with 8 Black always seems to be much harder when 7 you've got a solid opponent and you've both castled on the same side. Yo u try to generate 6 attacking play, but your opponent resembles a 5 veritable brick wall, and no way fo rward seems 4 to be available. This is when you often have to think beyond the obvious and cast your 3 stereotypes aside. A typical example of such 2 a situation occurred in the diagram position. Black certainly looks well placed here, the black knight on e4 casting an attractive shadow a bed e f g h and controlling many useful squares, but how 33. c!lJxf4 does he make progress? Lautier came up with A major strategic concession as now the black an imaginative solution. centre takes on an overwhelming appearance.

Hans-Ulrich Gruenberg -Joel Lautier However, the alternative capture was also New Yo rk 1991 unpalatable fo r White as Black can use the open g-file to decisive effect: 33.gxf4

a e bed f g h

a bede f g h Chapter 6 - Typical Pawn Breakthroughs 319

33 ...Wh8! fo llowed by ...:gg8! with an irresistible attack.

33 ... e5! 34 . .!lJd3 gd6 35.'iNh5 gfS 36.i.xe4 fxe4 37.'iNxe5 ge6! 38.'iNc5'iNg7! The upshot is that the pawns on e4 and d4 have become unstoppable. White did not last much longer.

a bed e f g h 39 . .!lJb4 gO! 40 . .!lJd5 gxg3t 41.Whl gg2 42.'iNc7'iNxc7 43 . .!lJxc7 e3! Now 44.tZJxe6 allows mate in one, and 44.tLJd5:gxa2 is also hopeless. 0-1 Chapter 7

Conclusion andExe rcises

I hope the reader has enjoyed this book. Certainly the process of writing it enhanced my own knowledge, and I enjoyed sharing this with the reader. I would like to believe that the reader will share my enthusiasm fo r putting this new-found wisdom into practice. What is clear is that certain methods of attacking the castled king repeat themselves again and again, and knowledge of these methods will give you a head start over your more casual opponents, and enable you to score many quick wins.

One example which struck me during the writing of this book is just how often the exchange of dark-squared bishops enables White to exploit dark-square weaknesses and bring about the downfall of the black king. Although I was vaguely aware that the exchange of these bishops was a strategic victory fo r White, it's only through seeing so many practical examples that I realized just how dangerous this exchange could be fo r the black king. Theac cumulation of little pieces of knowledge like this can make a huge difference to your attacking play.

To finish off, I've given you the reader a small selection of exercises to solve. Some of them are harder than others, but they all have one thing in common - they are related to subjects we have discussed in the book. So this is the real test to see whether or not you are now a master of mating the opponent's castled king. Chapter 7 - Conclusion and Exercises 321

Lautier - Koch, France 1994 Sandor- Kahn, Budapest 1996 8 8 8 CD 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

1 1

a bed e f g h a bed e f g h White to play and win. Where should the black knight go?

Marin - Kiselev, Bucharest 1997 Timman- Van WeIy, Breda (6) 1998 0 8 7

a bede f g h a bed e f g h

Assess ... �xc4, . . . W xj5 and . .. exj5. How would you continue here? 23 23 23 322 Mating the Castled King

Aagaard - Sverrisson, Glasgow 2012 Baburin - Adianto, Liechtenstein 1993 0 8 CD 7

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a bede f g h a bed e f g h How does White break through? ... CiJg3t looks tempting, but does it work? 21

Bacrot - Anic, Enghien les Bains 1997 Berczes - Porat, Budapest 2005 0 8 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

1 1

a bed e f g h a bed e f g h How should White continue the attack? White to play and win. Chapter - Conclusion and Exercises 323 7

Karpov - Ki.Georgiev, Tilburg 1994 Gordon - R. Pert, Sheffield20 11 0 8 8 ® 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

L 1

a bed e f g h a bede f g h How does White crown his strategic dominance? Can you sp ot the opportunitythat Black missed?

Howell - Nyback, Wijk aan Zee 20lO Carlsen - Wang Hao, Biel 2012 @8 8 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a bed e f g h a bede f g h What is the best way forWhite to attack? Assess the outcome of i2.xh6. 17. 324 Mating the Castled King

1. Joel Lautier-Jean-Rene Koch 23 ...Wxf5 24.El:xa6 Wb5 is also perfectly okay fo r Black. France 1994

31.lDg4! 8 Theweakness of the al-h8 diagonal is there fo r all to see. (We discussed this in Chapter 4, 7 attentive readers will recall.) 6

5 31.i.xd5t El:xd5 32. lLlg4 ! is also winning, though slightly less accurate as the white queen 4 cannot immediately land on the e5-square as 3 in the game: 32 ...Wc6 2

a bede f g h 24JWh6! If you saw this crushing blow in advance, then you really are a tactical genius. Black is mated by fo rce. 1-0

3. Christian Sandor - Evarth Kahn

a e bed f g h Budapest 1996 33.We4! Threatening Wxd5t! fo llowed by knight mates. 33 ...El:d6 34.We5 +- 26.•. lDxe4? This is a mistake, although it turned out 31... �h5 successfully in the game. 31...Wxe3 32.lLlh6# The correct square fo r the knight was 32.�e5 i.xg2 33.�g7# 26 ...lLld5!. 2. Mihail Marin - Sergey Kiselev

Bucharest 1997

23 ...hc4? ? Falling into a terrible trap. Black had to remove the dangerous f5 -knight immediately, both methods being of equal value.

23 ...exf 5!? 24.El:xa6i.b6 is roughly equal.

a c e b d f g h Chapter - Conclusion and Exercises 325 7

Mt er 27.'xh8 28.1:l:xh7t 'it>g8 31...�xe4 29.exd5 '

27.�xhSt 32.�hh7 �d4t 33.'it>bl i.dS34. �c7? White should play 27.'f8. The line-up of queen and bishop on the long diagonal may look lethal, but White has a 34 ...�b6t 3S.'it>a1a3 spectacular defensive resource: Now 32.ct:Jb3 '

4. JanTimman - Loekvan We Iy

Breda (6) 1998

16.�xf6! Clearly you have been paying attention! This is the only way to generate an attack.

16 ... i.xf6 17.�xf6gxf6 IS.�fl! This sacrifice may not be winning by fo rce, a e f g bed h but that isn't really important. The point to 29.'xhS 2S. �xh7t 'it>gS 29.fxe4 �xc3 problems and succumbed rapidly. Materially speaking, White is not too badly IS... 'it>g7? off, but in reality his king is too exposed to be able to put up much resistance.

8 30.�xe7 �b4t 31.'it>al 7

6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3

a bed e f g h 2 19.eS! fxeS20.i.x h6t! 'it>g6 20 ...�xh6 is mated by fo rce: 21.'h7

a bed e f g h 326 Mating the Castled King

22.�e4t �g8 23.Wg5t �h8 24.Wh6t �g8 31.VNxg2 25.Wh7# Ve ry well calculated by Jacob. 1-0 21.VNh4 Black is lost after 21...f6 22.Wh5t �h7 6. Etienne Bacrot - Darko Anic 23.�xf8t. 1-0 Enghien les Bains 1997

5. Jacob Aagaard - NokkviSverri sson 26.ttJe4! The knight heads fo r the f6 -square, and if Glasgow 2012 it is captured on e4 then the white rook will reach the h3-square, with fa tal consequences I was sitting on the next board to this game fo r Black. and I remember wondering if White's attack had hit a dead end, but White's next move White should not be tempted by 26.�f6t? convinced me it hadn't. tLlxf6 27.exf6 �g8 28.tLle4?dxe4 29.fxe4.

26J:hg6t! This breakthrough sacrifice strips the black king of any remaining pawn protection.

26... *xg6 27J�gl t *h7 A neat tactical point is that blocking the g-filewith 27 ...�g2 (or 27 ...�g4) simply loses to 28.Wxd7.

a e bed f g h White threatens �h3 fo llowed by Wxh7#, as well as Wxh7t! fo llowed by �h3#, but Black can defend: 29 ...g5! 30.�h3 Wxe4 and Black wins.

26... £5 With 26 ...dxe4 27.fxe4 �xg4, Black prevents the rook coming to h3, but allows the other

rook in: 28.�xf7+-

27.exf6 a bede f g h 28.VNg5! This is good enough, but 27.�f6t! is even Now mate can only be prevented by suffering stronger: 27 ...tLlx f6 28.exf6 Wd7 29.tLlg5 �g8 decisive material losses. 30.�xe8 �xe8 31.f7 and White wins.

28 ...�g2 29.VNxh5t *g7 30.VNxf3 *f8 27 ...:Bg 8 28.ttJxc3 Chapter - Conclusion and Exercises 327 7

By the neat use of tactics, White has removed the dangerous c3-pawn and now has a material 8 advantage, while his attack continues apace. 7 28 .. 29.Wfh4Wfb6 6 Jhf8 5

a bed e f g h 23 ...� e7! Clearing the back rank fo r the major pieces. 24.Wfel �hl t! Sacrificingboth rooks will enable the queen to reach the h-fileand deliver mate: 25.@xhl :8:h8t a bed e f g h 30Jhe6! 26.@gl :8:hlt! 27.@xhl �h8t 28.@gl 'Wh2# Smashing through fo r the other rook to 0-1 reach e7. 8. David Berczes- Ido Porat

30 ... Wfxe6 31.�el �xf6 32.�xe6 �xe6 Budapest 2005 33.tLlxd5 �b8 34.i.f4 1-0 17.hg5! Those readers fa miliar with the sections on

7. AlexanderBaburin - Utut Adianto breakthrough with the pieces, and the march of the h-pawn, should have fo und this idea Liechtenstein 1993 easily enough. 21...tLlg3t! 17... hxg5 18.h6! i.h8 It does indeed work, but you have to see a few moves ahead - a good test of your combinational vision! 8 7 22.hxg3 hxg3t The black g-pawn, the Tower of Te rror, will 6 play a decisive role. 5 23.�gl 4 3

a bed e f g h 328 Mating the Castled King

19.i.h7t! 10. David Howell - romi Nyback A Greek gift as well! Wijk aan Zee 2010

19.•. @xh7 20.ttJxg5t @g8 21.h7t @g7 21.f6! 22.�h5 Congratulations if you also fo und all the Mate will be delivered on h6. 1-0 fo llowing variations associated with this idea - you now have the combinational skill of a 9. Anatoly Karpov - KirU Georgiev 2600 player!

Tilburg 1994 21•.. i.xd4 The pawn on f6 makes White's attack 29.i.xf7t! irresistible, fo r example: Karpov only sacrifices when it is winning! All the white pieces now take part in the final 21 ...lLlx c422.Wh5! lLld6 (22 ...lLlx e3 23.Wg5+-) attack. 23.lLlxd6 cxd6 24.Wg5 Black will have to give his queen to prevent mate.

29•. J�xf730.ttJ eg5! hxg5 30 ...Ei:df B 31.lLlxf7 Ei:xf7 32.Ei:eBt is also an 21...g6 easy win. 8 31.ttJxg5 Ei:d f8 7

6 8 5

7 4

6 3 ,''''''''m"4''''''-'m",,

5 2

4 a e bed f g h 3 22.Wc1! lLlxc4 23.�gl! fo llowed by Wh6 and White wins. 2 1 22.fxg7! @xg7 22 ...�xe3 23.gxfB=Wt WxfB 24.Ei:xf7 is also a bede f g h 32.Ei:e8!�xd6 33.�xf7t @h8 34.ttJe6 decisive. 1-0 23.i.g5! 1-0 Chapter - Conclusion and Exercises 329 7

11. Stephen Gordon - RichardPert In the video interview after the game, Carlsen professed himself amazed that the Sheffield20 1 1 bishop sacrificewasn't just mating Black: 17.ii.xh6gxh6 18.:8hglt 'it>h8 19.Wd2! White has just played 20.g4?, which was a This looks devastating at first sight, but in huge tactical mistake. fact matters are not so clear. 20 .. J:�b8? Black could have completely disturbed White's coordination with the brilliant: 20 ...c4 !! 21.:8xc4 (2 1 .Wf3 c3! is huge fo r Black)

a e bed f g h 19... :8f7! 20 .Wxh6t tLlh7 21.:8e6 Wf8! It was this defensive option that persuaded Carlsen to refrain from sacrificing. TheNorwegian pointed out that the natural a e f g bed h 21...tLl e5 loses on the spot: 22.ii.xh7 :8xh7 21...ii.xe4t! This is the difficult move to see 23.:8e8t!Wxe8 24.Wf6t in advance, as it seems counter-intuitive to 22.Wh5 give up the sttong bishop. 22.tLlxe4 Wd5! Although White does not have a fo rced win, Black regains material with decisive effect, he retains genuine attacking chances, so this and White would have been made to regret was a valid alternative to what he played in the opening up the diagonal to his hI-rook with game. his unfortunate 20th move.

21.Y;Vd3 What I findfas cinating though is that Carlsen, who has a reputation as an endgame grinder, Black's fleeting possibility has gone. White was already looking fo r ways to mate his consolidated his material advantage and went opponent! I think this exemplifies one of the on to win. main points that I have tried to make in this 12. Magnus Carlsen -Wang Hao book - you're not going to get things right 100 percent of the time, but the important thing Biel 2012 is to think in the right way and be alive to opportunities to attack your opponent's king. What better way to finishthe book than with If you practise this approach, then a lot of a game from the Wo rld Champion? opportunities will fall your way.

17. .if4 Name Index

Bernstein 23, 26 A Bevers 137, 144 Aagaard 322, 326 Bisehoff, K. 54, 58 Aes 194, 195, 196 Bisehoff, U. 116, 118 Adams 65, 75, 97, 101, 317 Bitalzadeh 64, 71 Adianto 322, 327 Bjornsson 146, 151 Agnello 147, 156 Blarny 126, 130 Akopian 309, 310 Boadieea 235 Albarran 116, 120 Bogorads 127, 131 Albreeht 175, 176 Bojanie 250 Almasi 15 Bologan 55, 61 Amonatov 274, 276 Borges Mateos 256 Anand 226 , 237, 259, 260, 261, 285 Boroez 158, 161 Anastasian 116, 118 Bosboom 64, 71 Anderssen 137, 141 Brady 31, 38 Andersson 40, 44 Brenninkmeijer 214 Andreev 23, 28 Brown 49, 50 Andres Gonzalez 103, 111 Brulhart 146, 151 Anie 322, 326 Burstein 41, 45 Anoshkin 97, 98 Busto Prendes 103, 111 Antoshin 63, 66 Asehenbrenner 147, 157 c Astengo 145, 149 Cafferty 64, 71 Azmaiparashvili 9 Capablanea 23, 26, 27, 64, 68, 213 Carlsen 229, 230, 23 1, 323, 329 B Caruso 116, 118 Babula 302, 303 Carvalho 146, 154 Baburin 322, 327 Casafus 41, 46 Baeetie 23, 26 Cela 236 Baerot 322, 326 Chandler 301 Bakalee 185, 187 Chiburdanidze 65, 76 Bakulin 97, 98 Chigorin 24 Barlov 145, 148 Chilingirova 136, 138 Bauer 103, 114 Cioealtea 23, 27 Beeker 22, 25 Claesen 222 Beliavsky 196, 215, 216, 218 Cobo Arteaga 248 Benda 147, 157 Comas Fabrego 295 Berezes 322, 327 Costantini 127, 132 Bergvoll 17, 19 Cramer 30, 32 Name Index 331

Cruz Lima 80, 86, 87 Fox 136, 138 Cukier 169, 171 Frat 30, 33 Cvetkovic 80, 89 Ftacnik 278 Cvitan 289 Furman 102, 107, 108 Cwiek 17, 20 G D Galego 205, 206 Davies 208 Galic 250 Dearing 313, 314 Gelfand 57, 220, 221 Degismez 169, 170 Geller 102, 107, 108 De Jong 145, 148 Gelpke 239 De Vita 127, 132 Georgiev 323, 328 Dgebuadze 233 Gerhold 64, 70 Djurhuus 13 Gleizerov 11, 12 Dobosz 224 Glek 201, 202, 203, 220 Donner 127, 134 Glotov 63, 66 Douven 81, 93 Goldman 65, 76 Dressier 54, 56 Golombek 124 Durucay 169, 170 Golubev 167, 168 Dvoretsky 211 Gordon 323, 329 Gormally 6, 23, 27, 49, 53, E 198, 232, 243, 265 Ehlvest 40, 44 Gorzel 169, 173 Eljanov 263, 264, 274 Goudriaan 159, 162 El Taher 296 Gretarsson 226, 228 Emms 198 Grischuk 278 Epishin 315, 316 Gruenberg 318 Ernst 311 Gudmundsson 81, 93 Espinosa 55, 60 Gurevich, D. 40, 43, 44, 117, 122 Esquivel 127, 133 Gurevich, M. 41, 47 Esserman 61 Gurr 167, 168 Euwe 127, 132 Gusia 145, 148

F H Fairclough 145, 150 Hansen 185, 186 Fang 63, 68 Hartmann 54, 56, 65, 77 Fedorov 272 Haslinger 265 Fernandez 127, 134, 147, 156 Hebden 49, 53 Fernandez Novas 127, 134 Hector 117, 121, 122 Figler 49, 50 Hendriks 280 Filipovic 159, 163 Hernandez 30, 33, 49, 52, Fischer 45, 75, 80, 85, 86, 127, 132, 171, 80, 86, 117, 123 200, 213, 248, 268, 269, 279, 305 Hernandez Onna 30, 33 Flear 55, 59 Herzog 22, 24 332 Mating the Castled King

Hillarp Persson 208 Khalifman 15, 185, 187 Hilmer 158, 161 Khismatullin 279 Hinteregger 64, 70 Khmelnitsky 23, 28 Him 224 Kholmov 23, 27 Hjartarson 305, 309 Khusnullin 181, 182 Hodgson 10, 31, 35, 305, 306, 307, Kiefer 17, 18 309 Kiik 126, 130 Hoffman 242, 261 Kiriazis 79, 84 Holland 64, 71, 146, 152, 158, 160 Kirpichnikov 49, 50 Holmsten 207 Kiselev 321, 324 Hon 274 Klaic 175, 178 Houska 64, 69 Kobalija 197 Howell 323, 328 Koch 321, 324 Huzman 185, 187 Kohout 65, 72 Kokkila 64, 70 I Koneru 55, 58, 59 Illescas Cordoba 210 Kononenko 81, 95 Ivanchuk 9, 10, 196 Korchnoi 287, 288 Ivanov 254 Kosashvili 239 Kosic 159, 163 J Kostic 63, 66 Jacobs 117, 122 Kostlivy 79, 83 Jelling 13 Kotva 65, 72 Johner 41, 46, 55, 60 Kovacevic 289 Jonsson, H. 103, 112 Kovalev 126, 129, 130 Jonsson, J. 103, 112 Kramnik 215, 216, 217, Justen 175, 176 218, 230, 315 Krasenkow 238 K Krivoshey 167, 168 Kruchev 97, 98 Kahn 321, 324 Krumm 17, 18 Kaliksteyn 240 Kubicka 41, 44 Kalix 30, 32 Kuijf 31, 35 Kalka 146, 152 Kuligowski 147, 156 Kamsky 293, 294 Kunisch 137, 144 Kaplan 22, 24 Kunz 41, 46 Karpov 5, 159, 162, 163, 189, 190, Kviatkovska 79, 83 191, 192, 193, 194, 203, 211, 212, 213, 244, 293,323, 328 L Kasparov 75, 129, 159, 164, 165, 187, 189, 190, 191, 193, 196, Lagumina 147, 156 203, 211, 214, 220, 221, 222, Lagunow 103, 115 237, 241, 242, 245, 268, 272, Landenberger 22, 25 285, 286, 287, 303, 304, 305 Lanka 272 Kass 57 Laroche 145, 150 Name Index 333

Lasker, Ed. 80, 90, 91 Mitsakos 79, 84 Lasker, Em. 103, 114, 115 Mohr 210 Lautier 318, 321, 324 Mora Manez 102, 108 Lazarevic 23, 26 Morozevich 269, 270, 271 Lea 79, 82 Morphy 137, 141, 143, 144 Lehmann 169, 171 Movsesian 55, 61, 241, 242 Lein 284 Movsziszian 49, 52 Leko 290, 292, 307 Mubayiwa 40, 42 Letreguilly 30, 33 Mudrochova 147, 155 Levitt 216, 217 Murach 79, 85 Lichman 31, 34 Murshed 97, 99 Linskens 146, 154 Muse 103, 115 Liu We nzhe 127, 134 Lj ubojevic 303 N Lobron 54, 57 Najjar 181, 183 Loose 102, 105 Nakamura 219, 229, 230, 231 Lopez Martinez 81, 94, 243 Nalbandian 197 Lopushnoy 8 Nataf 11, 12, 13 Lovric 175, 178 Negi 245, 246 Luukkonen 40, 42 Neumann 30, 33 Nicevski 22, 24 M Niephaus 102, 105 Magomedov 22, 24 Nijboer 54, 56 Mahler 65, 77 Nikolaiczuk 167, 168 Maiwald 10 Nogueiras 127, 133 Maksimenko 137, 142 Norman 251 Manik 240 Norsoller 65, 77 Marin 321, 324 Nunn 136, 138, 139, 299, 300, 301 Marinkovic 116, 118 Nyback 323, 328 Masserey 222 Nyvlt 23, 25 Matzies 146, 153 McShane 295 0 Medvegy 158, 161 O'Brien 31, 38 Mendez 41, 46 O'Donnell 49, 50 Messi 295 O'Hanlon 251 Meyer 137, 140 O'Kelly de Galway 80, 91 Mgijima 40, 42 Okike 167, 168 Michiels 63, 67 Op den Kelder 159, 162 Micic 64, 70 Orlov 63, 66 Middelburg 63, 67 Mikenas 175, 179 p Milman 63, 68 Pachman 175, 176 Milner-Barry 117, 124 Pad 31, 37 Misailovic 137, 142 Palac 263, 274 334 Mating the Castled King

Pascual Arevalo 117, 123 S Paulsen 137, 143 Pavlov 81, 95 Sadvakasov 287 Penrose 80, 91 Salai 126, 130 Pert 323, 329 Salman 102, 104 Perunovic 267 Salov 159, 162, 163, 273 Petrosian 229 Sandmeier 167, 168 Petursson 81, 93 Sandor 321, 324 Pichler 54, 58 San Martin 117, 123 Piket 81, 93, 214 Sargissian 226, 227 Pikula 267, 315 Scalise 116, 120 Pinto 137, 140 Scerbin 158, 161 Piter 79, 85 Schmidt, H. 17, 19 Pitt 102 Schmidt, R. 169, 173 Plachetka 117, 121 Schmitt 175, 179 Plaskett 81, 94 Schnur 181, 182 Plazas Oliveros 117, 120 Schott 17, 20 Polgar 136, 138, 143, 185, 186 Sedlakova 147, 155 Polo 117, 120 Seirawan 54, 57, 254, 255 Polzin 137, 141 Serebriakov 17, 19 Porat 322, 327 Sergey Erenburg 313 Portisch 136, 139 Shaw 158, 160, 199 Poulsen 296, 298 Shirov 129, 211, 212, 244, Prasad 31, 35 258, 285, 307, 308, 309 Psakhis 310, 311 Shishkov 185, 187 Pyatirichenko 31, 37 Short 27, 217, 218, 220, 293, 301, 302, 303 Simonsen 64, 69 Q Sjoberg 81, 95 Skembris 236 Quinteros 127, 134 Skomorokhin 126, 129 Skripchenko 97, 101 R Smetana 31, 37 Radjabov 256 Smith 41, 46 Rafael Vasquez 256 Sokolov, A. 273 Ramon Pita 55, 60 Sokolov, I. 199, 200, 202, 203 Ravi 31, 35 Sokolov, S. 97, 98 Reinderman 199, 202 Solonar 31, 34 Reshevsky 80, 85, 86 Soltis 40, 43 Richter 54, 56 Soucek 23, 25 Ridameya Tatche 102, 108 Spassky 268, 269 Robatsch 248 Speelman 216 Rodgaard 158, 160 Spoelman 233, 235, 245 Rowson 269, 270 Spraggett 102, 104 Rozentalis 238 Stohl 299 Storey 120 Name Index 335

Storkebaum 136, 140 Vassaux 64, 68 Suba 41, 47, 48 Villing 136, 140 Suhle 137, 141 Vitiugov 279 Suhobeck 116, 119 Vladimirov 97, 99 Sulskis 207, 208 Vo loshin 137, 141 Sunye Neto 159, 164, 311 Vo uldis 283 Sutovsky 285 Vulevic 41, 46 Sverrisson 322, 326 Svidler 201, 202, 203, 220, 256, 257 W Wade 41, 45, 61 T Wagman 145, 149 Ta ksrud 284 Wallis 79, 82 Tal 10, 13, 189, 258 Wang Hao 282, 323, 329 Ta nguy 55, 59 Wa ng Yue 181, 183, 184 Ta rtakower 55, 60 Waters 55, 58 Te soro 116, 119 Webb 64, 71, 72 Thelen 175, 176 Weidemann 65, 77 Thesing 246, 247 Weiss 146, 151 Thiemann 181, 182 Wells 246, 247 Thomas, G. 80, 90 We nzel 80, 88 Thomas, N. 146, 153 Westervefd 145, 148 Timman 259, 260, 261 ,321, 325 Wiese 65, 74 Timofeev 276 Wilke 127, 131 Tiviakov 126, 128, 283, 295, 317 Williams, P. 232 Tkachiev 261, 263 Williams, S. 57 To llefsen 103, 110 Wocke 169, 170 To lnai 81, 95 Wucke 65, 74 To morhuyag 65, 75 Wulff 169, 170 To palov 205, 206, 242 To uzane 158, 160 y Ts vetkov 31, 37 Yagupov 181, 182 Tu ominen 126, 130 Yahya 23, 27 Yanez 117, 123 U Yurtaev 8 Urankar 80, 88 Z V Zakhartsov 274 Vagle 103, 110 Zakic 80, 89 Va isser 146, 151, 152 Zawadzka 41, 44 Va llas 40, 42 Zhirnov 146, 153 Va n Beek 146 Zhou Jianchao 282 Van den Bosch 117, 124 Zhukov 146, 153 Va n We ly 126, 128, 194, 195, 290, Zilverberg 30, 32 291, 292, 321, 325 Znosko-Borovsky 22, 24 Vaskans 17, 19 Zunker 30, 32 11 MIDDLEGAME BOOKS 11

cal>lsen'S PUMP UP JUDIT POLGAR YOUR c., -:From GH 'Ta p '1'6- RATING

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