Formation Attack Strategies

Joel Johnson

Edited by: Eric Hammond © Joel Johnson, June 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from Joel Johnson.

Edited by: Eric Hammond

Cover Photography: Barry M. Evans

Cover Design: Joel Johnson

Game Searching: Joel Johnson, Richard J. Cowan, William Parker

Proofreading: Joel Johnson

Game Contributors: Brian Wall, Jack Young, Clyde Nakamura, James Rizzitano, Keith Hayward, Hal Terrie, Richard Cowan, Jesús Seoane, William Parker, Domingos Perego

Linares Diagram and Linares Figurine fonts ©1993-2003 by Alpine Electronics, Steve Smith Alpine Electronics 703 Ivinson Ave. Laramie, WY 82070 Email: Alpine Chess Fonts ([email protected]) Website: http://www.partae.com/fonts/ CONTENTS

Preface 9 Kudos 9 Purpose of the Book 10

Harry Lyman 9 Education 10 Chess In The Schools 10 Chess Friendships and Sportsmanship 10 Eulogy for Harry Lyman (by Shelby Lyman) 10 Harry Lyman Games 10

Passing The Torch 9 Joshua Zhu 10 Richard Cowan 10 Matthew Miller 10 Luke Miller 10 Noah Raskin 10 Eric Hammond 10 Jimi Sullivan 10 Phil Terrill 10 Austin Terrill 10 Bailey Vidler 10 Clark Vidler 10 Michael Oldehoff 10 Bogdan Anghel 10 Jamie Aronson 10 Rich Desmarais 10 Nick Desmarais 10 Joe Range 10 Bernabe Garcia 10 Nancy Jones 10 Adam Nehmeh 10 Paul Nehmeh 10 Section A – Attack Philosophies 11

Personal Development 12

Frame of Mind 15

Dual Aspects of Chess 30 Chess Mechanics 30 Chess Strategy 32

Chess Openings 41

Work on Weaknesses 44

Player Influences 49

The Legend of John Curdo 49

Time Pressure 49

Intimidation 49

Relentless Attack 50 Out of Ammo? 50 Out of Control? 52 Section B – Attack Strategies 59

Computers 60 How do computers affect a game of chess today? 61 Using my computer as a tool 61 Checking your analysis 63 Working on new opening lines 63 Computer abuse 63 Interpreting computer output 63

Preparing for an Opponent 68

Most Thrilling Game Ever? 78

Amazing Endgame Mates 81

Section C – Attack Motifs 87

Opening Strategies 88 Games #048 - #088 88

Smothered Mate 88 Games #048 - #088 88

Knightmares 133 Games #089 - #093 133

Windmill Attack 139 Games #094 - #103 139

Back Rank Misery 151 Games #104 - #115 151 Minors for a Queen 165 Games #116 - #119 165

Fishing Pole 172 Games #120 - #125 172

The Wedge 177 Games #126 - #129 177

Separation of Forces 181 Games #130 - #150 181

Play My Opening 204 Games #151 - #251 204

Opposite Colored Bishops 204 Games #151 - #251 204

Fatal Weakness 204 Games #151 - #251 204 Capture on f6 (f3) or h6 (h3) Games #151 - #155 204

Capture on h7 (h2) Games #156 - #173 210

Capture on g7 (g2) Games #174 - #187 226

Capture on f7 (f2) Games #188 - #193 239

“Laying” a Bishop or Knight on f6 (f3) or h6 (h3) Games #194 - #211 245

Force weakness by threatening checkmate Games #212 - #235 262 Queen and Bishop Point at h7 (h2) Games #212 - #222 262 Queen and Knight Point at h7 (h2) Games #223 - #229 272 Queen/Rook and Bishop/Knight Point at g7 (g2) Games #230 - #235 279

f6 (f3) to weaken Pawn formation Games #236 - #241 284

Overwhelming force at the point of attack Games #242 - #251 291

Open f-File 303 Games #252 - #261 303

Indexes 467

Glossary of Terms 467

Players Index 470 Openings Index 488 attacking games was far more Preface extensive and led to the discovery of many relatively After completing my first book, unknown attacking players. In a three-year project entitled, addition, by writing the first Formation Attacks , I was book, I noticed that my own exhausted. The thought of attacking skills improved actually repeating the process greatly. I found myself of writing another book considering and implementing seemed insane. But, as time several of the new attacking went by and I started to ideas into my games. receive all of the awesome responses from readers and I As in the first book, many had several months to reflect different openings and eras on my accomplishment, I have been covered. This book understood that writing a book is organized by attack themes, is well worth the hard work. including a chapter devoted entirely to the Jack Young Even though my first book “Fishing Pole”. Players like Formation Attacks contains Jack Young, Brian Wall, Clyde 435 great games, to my Nakamura, Johnny Hector, dismay, I was forced to cut Eric Schiller, etc. make chess many incredible games worthy fun with their unusual and of being published. My focus unique views. Many of us in in the first book was to: the chess world truly appreciate their efforts, as 1) eliminate games not ending they provide us with a realistic in checkmate; method of taking down those seemingly invincible “Chess 2) keep all the “famous” Goliaths”. games and; Kudos 3) showcase many of the well-known attacking players, A book like this requires a along with several of my own great amount of time and effort games. from more than one person. I am grateful to all of those who In this book, my search for helped make this dream a

8 reality. One of the key issues 3) introduce attack strategy with my first book was editing and planning; and Eric Hammond has 4) provide more extensive stepped forward to fill the void information about the and done a marvelous job. I identification and cannot thank him enough for exploitation of his efforts. In addition, Richard weaknesses; Cowan and William Parker 5) illustrate many attack were extremely helpful in games and attack ideas by finding new games for the attack motif (Fishing Pole, book. Their contributions can Opposite Side Castling, be found throughout the book. Pawn Storms, etc.). Loads of games were passed along by Brian Wall, Jack Because of the infinite number Young, Clyde Nakamura, of positions in chess, it is Jesús Seoane, Domingos impossible to show every Perego, Hal Terrie, James possible attack. Instead, this Rizzitano, Keith Hayward, book tackles many of the most Richard Cowan, and William common attacking motifs with Parker. Thanks to all of you many great unknown attack and to the many others who games from the past and had a hand in creating this present in one convenient book, no matter how small. source.

“Thanks to all of you” This book is less concerned about the early part of the Purpose of the Book game, in which some games may include unsound play, as What I have attempted to long as the execution of the accomplish with this book is: attack is relevant.

1) explain the two views of My hope is that the contents of the chessboard; this book educate you on the 2) discuss many types of many types of attacking attack philosophies and strategies and further inspire provide some insight into you to expand your attacking the skills. head of a Chess Master;

9 Lay Down Sacrifice situations where the opponent can just leave the piece uuuuuuuu hanging and simply ignore your sDsdq4kd gift. Under that scenario your move would instead most likely DsDsDp0p fall into the Hope Chess sDsDpHsd category. DsDsDsDs The diagram at the top of the sDsDsDs! left column illustrates a basic example of a Lay Down DsDsDsDP Sacrifice. Black has no choice sDsDsdsD but to accept the Knight sacrifice because on the move DsDsDsdR Kh8, White can either capture llllllll the Black Queen with Nxe8 or Lay Down Sacrifice is one of checkmate with Qxh7#. the most dangerous attack weapons in chess. However in ------non-master games, this Simple Examples powerful maneuver is rarely ------seen. I must confess that prior to writing “Formation Attacks”, I ------Game #999 ------myself under-utilized this weapon. Since then, the Lay Black allows his Queen to be Down Sacrifice has become a pushed around by White fully integrated part of my minors (all free developing attack arsenal. moves) till he is defenseless against a Lay Down Sacrifice. The primary purpose of the Lay Down Sacrifice is to pry open (W) MassCarnage (2200) the defensive protection in front (B) thisurthat (1654) of the enemy King. The Lay [B03] ICC 15 0, 08/11/2010 Down Sacrifice works best when the opponent is forced to 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 accept the material. It is 4.Bc4 c6 5.Qf3 Na6 6.Bxd5 important to stay away from cxd5 7.Qxd5 e6 8.Qf3 dxe5 9.dxe5 Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Qxe5+

10 11.Nge2 Bb4 12.0 –0 0 –0 (W) MassCarnage (2200) 13.Bf4 Qf5 14.Ng3 Qf6 (B) LiberT (1997) 15.Nce4 Qd8 16.Rad1 Qe8 [B49] ICC tourney 372729 uuuuuuuu (5 0), (Round 4), 11/16/2010 rdbdq4kD 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 0pDsdp0p 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Be2 Nf6 8.0 –0 b5 nDsdpdsD 9.a3 Bb7 10.f4 d6 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.Bf3 Be7 13.e5 dxe5 DsDsdsds 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Bxc6+ sgsdNGsd Qxc6 16.fxe5 Ng4 17.Bg5 Bc5+ 18.Kh1 Nxe5 19.Rae1 dsdsdQHs Nc4 20.Qf4 0 –0 21.Ne4 Nd6 P)Pds)P) uuuuuuuu dsdRdRIs sdrds4kD llllllll dsDsdp0p 17.Nf6+! pDqhpdsD Generally, Lay Down Sacrifices DpgsdsGs work much better when the opponent is forced to capture, sdsdN!sd like here. )sdsdsds

17. … gxf6 s)PdsdP) dsds$RdK Black loses his Queen after 17. … Kh8 18. Nxe8. llllllll 22.Nf6+! gxf6 18.Nh5 Be7 19.Qg3+ 1 –0 Black is checkmated after declining the sacrifice with 22. ... Kh8 23.Qh4 h6 24.Bxh6 ------Game #999 ------Nf5 25.Rxf5 exf5 26.Bg5#.

Black leaves his King open for 23.Bxf6 1 –0 a Lay Down Sacrifice because of a lack of defenders.

11 ------Game #999 ------8.Bxf6 Qd7?

A Lay Down Sacrifice followed Black needed to return the by a timely Bxh7+ leaves piece with 8. … Bb4+ 9. c3 Qd5 Black’s kingside completely to protect the h5 square from shattered and wide open for what lies ahead. White’s other attackers. The 9.Bxh7+! Kxh7 10.Qh5+ amazing part of this game is Kg8 11.Qh8# 1 –0 how fast this attack happens. ------Game #999 ------(W) Kaj Blom (B) Vagn Jensen White turns a kingside space [C10] Denmark advantage and local material 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 advantage into a Lay Down 4.Nxe4 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 Sacrifice and a checkmate. 6.Bg5 0 –0 (W) MassCarnage (2200) uuuuuuuu (B) ClockWatcher (1822) rhb1s4kD [B23] ICC tourney 371495 0p0shp0p (3 0), (Round 2), 10/20/2010 sDsgpdsD 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Be7 6.d3 DsDsdsGs Nc6 7.0 –0 d5 8.Bb3 0 –0 sds)NDsd 9.Ne5 d4 10.Ne2 Nxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.Bf4 Bg5 dsdBdsds 13.Ng3 Ne3 14.Qf3 Bxf4 15.Qxf4 Nxf1 16.Rxf1 Qe7 P)Pds)P) 17.Nh5! $sdQIsHR The purpose of this move is llllllll twofold. First, it prevents a 7.Nf6+! gxf6 defensive move like f5 or f6 , which would enable Black to Black cannot turn down the reinforce his kingside along his “free” White Knight because of second rank. Second, it 7. … Kh8 8. Qh5 h6 9. Bxh6 prepares the upcoming Lay Ng8 10. Bg5 Nh6 11. Bxh6 . Down Sacrifice.

12 20...Qxf6 21.exf6 Rfe8 22.Qg5 uuuuuuuu gxf6 23. Qh6 Kg8 24. Rg3+ Kh8 rdbds4kD 25. Qg7#. 0pds1p0p ------Game #999 ------sDsdpdsD White forces open the Black Ds0s)sdN kingside with a Lay Down sds0P!sd Sacrifice and as a result wins dBdPdsds the Black Queen. P)PdsdP) (W) Von Der Lasa dsdsdRIs (B) Adolf Anderssen [C21] Breslau, Germany, 1845 llllllll 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nc6 17. … Kh8 18.Rf3 4.Nf3 Qf6 5.0 –0 d6 6.c3 d3 7.Bg5 Qg6 8.Bxd3 Bg4 The White Rook is required for 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.Bf4 Nh6 attacking the weak h7 square. 11.Qb3 Bxf3 12.Nxf3 Rb8 13.Rae1 Qh5 14.Nd4 0 –0 18. … b5 15.Bxh6 Qxh6 16.f4 Bf6 17.Nf5 Qh5 18.Rf3 Ne7 Another deadly aspect related 19.Rh3 Qg4 to Lay Down Sacrifices is the uuuuuuuu fact that defenders frequently fluff off the move as nothing to s4sds4kD worry about. 0p0shp0p

19.Nf6!! Bd7 20.Rh3 1 –0 sDs0sgsD DsDsdNds Black is checkmated on all replies, such as: sdsdP)qd dQ)BdsdR 20...gxf6 21.Qh6 fxe5 22.Qxh7#; or P)sdsdP) dsds$sIs 20...h6 21.Rxh6+ gxh6 22.Qxh6#; or llllllll 20.Nh6+! gxh6 21.Rg3 1 –0

13 ------uuuuuuuu Featured Game ------sDk4sgs4 0p0sdp0p ------Game #999 ------sDsdsdsD One slight opening error by DsDPDsDq White, leads to a punishing Black attack. Of course, the sdPhpDnD key move that ignites the dsdsGsDP furious Black attack is a Lay Down Sacrifice. P)sds)PD $NdQDRIs (W) Mikael Sixtensson (2245) (B) Guy West (2270) llllllll 12. … Nf3+!! 13.gxf3 [B00] Biel MTO Open, Biel, Switzerland, 1986 White cannot turn down the 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Lay Down Sacrifice because of 13. Kh1 Qe5 14. g3 Nxe3 15. Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 0 -0- fxe3 Qxg3 with a dominating 0 6.c4 Qh5 7.0 -0 Nf6 8.Be3 e5 9.d5? position for Black. 13. … Qxh3!! White had to play h3 here as all other moves lose. Many players would wimp out 9. … e4! 10.Nd4 Nxd4 here and play either 11.Bxg4+ Nxg4 12.h3 13. … Nxe3 or 13. … Ne5 with a winning edge for Black. At this point in the game, you 14.fxg4 Bd6 15.Re1 Bh2+ might think that White has 16.Kh1 Rd6 17.Qc2 Qf3+ everything under control and is about to repel Black’s 17. … Rg6 was crushing for aggressive forward advances. Black. But Black has many However, nothing could be winning moves including: further from the reality of the situation. 18.Kxh2

14 uuuuuuuu for the Black Rook on h8. sDkdsds4 19. … h5! 20.Qc3 Qxf2+ 0p0sdp0p 21.Kh1 f6 22.Qe3 hxg4+ 0 -1 sDs4sdsD uuuuuuuu DsDPDsDs sDkdsds4 sdPdpDPD 0p0sdsds dsdsGqDs sDs4s0sD P)Qds)sI DsDPDsGs $Nds$sds sdPdpDpD llllllll dsds!sDs Black is down two pieces but P)sds1sd has winning position because $Nds$sdK White has two pieces that are undeveloped, White’s King is llllllll naked, and there is no way for Black wins easily after 23.Bh6 White to prevent a Black Rook Rxh6+ 24.Qxh6 Qxe1+ 25.Kg2 from becoming involved in the Qe2+ 26.Kg1 Qxb2 27.Qg7 Qxa1 28.Qxg4+ Rd7 29.Qg8+ attack. Rd8 30.Qe6+ Kb8 31.Qxe3 Qxa1 32.Qd3 Qe5 0 -1. 18. … g5!!

This move guarantees an open ------file for one of the Black Rooks. Formation Attacks Examples The direct threat for Black is ------Rh6+ . In order for White to stop Rh6+ White must play Bxg5. ------Game #999 ------19.Bxg5 (W) Loek Van Wely (2681) (B) Peter Acs (2591) However, the move Bxg5 locks [E48] Essent Crown, in White’s g-pawn to the g4 Hoogeveen, Netherlands, square so that the move h5 by (Round 6), 10/19/2002 Black guarantees an open h- file 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0 -0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5

15 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.0 -0 Bd6 9.a3 Ng4 10.h3 Nh2 11.Re1 (W) KarloTurk (1970) Nf3+ 12.gxf3 Qg5+ 13.Kh1 (B) FearNoEvil (2225) Qh4 14.Nf4 Bxh3 15.Ncxd5 [A40] ICC 15 0, 02/26/2007 Re6 16.Nxe6 Bf5+ 17.Kg1 Qh2+ 18.Kf1 Bg3 0 -1 1.d4 b5 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bd3 a6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nbd2 e6 6.0 -0 ------Game #999 ------d6 7.b3 Nbd7 8.Bb2 Be7 9.Qe2 h6 10.Rac1 g5 11.c4 (W) Aron Nimzowitsch b4 12.a3 bxa3 13.Bxa3 Nh5 (B) Bjorn Nielsen 14.d5 e5 15.Ra1 Nf4 16.Qe3 [B17] Simul, Copenhagen, Rg8 17.Rfb1 g4 18.Ne1 Bg5 Denmark, 1930 19.Qg3 Nf6 20.Bf1 Qd7 21.Qc3 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 uuuuuuuu 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Ng3 e6 7.Bd3 c5 8.0 -0 Be7 rDsdkdrd 9.c3 0 -0 10.Re1 b6 11.h3 Bb7 0b0qdpds 12.Bf4 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nd5 15.Be4 N7f6 sDs0shs0 16.Be5 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Nf6 18.Rac1 Nxe4 19.Rxe4 Qd5 DsDP0sgs 20.Rc7 Bd6 21.Rd7 Rad8 sdPdPhpD 22.Rxd6 Rxd6 23.Qf6 1 -0 GP!sdsDs ------sdsHs)P) Model Games $RdsHBIs ------llllllll In the first set of games 21. … Nh3+! 22.gxh3 Bxd2 (Games #000 to #000) , a Lay 23.Qxd2 gxh3+ 24.Kh1? Down Sacrifice is used to bust open the defender’s kingside. White had to play 24. Bg2. 24. … Qg4 0 -1 ------Game #999 ------Game #999 ------White has no choice but to accept the Lay Down Sacrifice Black finishes off White with a which opens up the g-file in pair of sacrifices leading to a front of his King.

16 back rank checkmate. It is mate after 29. Kxf1 Bh3#.

(W) Eugenio Torre ------Game #999 ------(B) Jan Timman [D17] Hamburg-TV (1 h), 1982 Black has so much confidence in his Lay Down Sacrifice that 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 he gives up his Queen to reach 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 the position. Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Rd8 11.Qc1 Bd6 12.Nxd6+ Qxd6 (W) Serafino Dubois 13.Bg2 0 -0 14.0 -0 a5 15.Qe3 (B) Wilhelm Steinitz Nfd7 16.Rad1 Qe6 17.Qa7 [C55] London, England, 1862 Bc2 18.Rd2 Qb3 19.Rc1 Bf5 20.Bxe5 Nxe5 21.Rxd8 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Rxd8 22.Qxa5 Re8 23.Nd1 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0 -0 d6 6.Bg5 Bg4 24.Bf1 f6 25.Qc7 Qb4 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 h5 26.a5 Qe1 27.Rb1 9.Nxg5 h4 10.Nxf7 uuuuuuuu uuuuuuuu sdsdrdkd rdb1kds4 dp!sds0p 0p0sdNds sDpds0sD sDn0shsD )sdshsds Dsgs0sds sdsdsDbd sdBdPDs0 dsdsds)s dsdPdsGs s)sdP)s) P)Pds)P) dRdN1BIs $NdQdRIs llllllll llllllll 27. … Nf3+! 28.Kg2 10. … hxg3!? Black has loads of On 28. exf3, Black mates after compensation for his Queen in 28. … Qxf1+ 29. Kxf1 Bh3+ terms of highly active minor 30. Kg1 Re1#. pieces and a pesky pawn on g3. 28. … Qxf1+! 0 -1 11.Nxd8 Bg4 12.Qd2 Nd4

17 13.Nc3? (W) Igor Zakharevich (B) Jakov Geller White’s only chance for [E09] Russia Cup Open, Tula, survival rested in the line Russia, (Round 4), 2001 starting with the move 13. h3 . For example, 13. h3 Ne2+ 14. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.c4 e6 Qxe2 (Not 4.Nbd2 Nf6 5.Qc2 Be7 6.g3 14. Kh1?? Rxh3+ 15. gxh3 0-0 7.Bg2 Nbd7 8.0 -0 b6 9.e4 Bf3#. ) Ne6 with a slight Bb7 10.e5 Ne8 11.cxd5 cxd5 advantage for White. 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Qb3 Rc8 14.Bf1 Qc2 15.Qe3 Nc7 uuuuuuuu 16.Bd3 Qa4 17.b3 Qa5 18.a3 Ba6 19.Bb1 Nb5 20.Bb2 rdsHkds4 Nc7 21.h4 Rfe8 22.Qf4 Nf8 0p0sdsds 23.Ng5 Bxg5 24.hxg5 Qb5 25.Kg2 Qd7 26.Rh1 Re7 sDs0shsD 27.Bxh7+ Nxh7 28.Rxh7 Bd3 29.Rh2 Ree8 30.Rah1 Dsgs0sds Kf8 sdBhPDbd uuuuuuuu dsHPds0s sdrdrisd P)P!s)P) 0shqdp0s $sdsdRIs s0sdpdsD llllllll Dsdp)s)s 13. … Nf3+! 14.gxf3 Bxf3 15.hxg3 Rh1# 0 -1 sds)s!sd )Pdbds)s The next group of games (Games #999 to #999 ) are all sGsHs)K$ Queen Lay Down Sacrifices. dsdsdsdR

------Game #999 ------llllllll 31.Qf6! 1 -0 White utilizes his Queen as a Lay Down gift to prevent the White blocks the Black King Black King from escaping. from escaping checkmate via the e7 square.

18 ------Game #999 ------uuuuuuuu Lay Down Sacrifice or Qishing sdsdrgsi Pole? You make the call! dsdsdr0p (W) Jolanta Zawadzka (2404) pDs0sdsD (B) Lisa Schut (2224) dp1PdBdP [B90] European Individual Championships (Women), sdndsDsd Rijeka, Croatia, (Round 1), dsdsdsds 03/06/2010 P)PdsdQd 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 dKGsdRdR 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.h3 Be6 9.f4 llllllll exf4 10.Bxf4 Nc6 11.Qe2 30.Qg6!! Ne5 12.0 -0-0 Qc7 13.g4 Rc8 14.g5 Nfd7 15.Qg2 b5 Some kind of a cross between 16.Kb1 0 -0 17.Nd5 Bxd5 a Fishing Pole move and a Lay 18.exd5 Ng6 19.Bc1 Nh4 Down Sacrifice. Either way, the 20.Qe4 Rfe8 21.Bd3 Ng6 move is highly effective. 22.Qg2 Nc5 23.Nxc5 Qxc5 24.h4 Bf8 25.h5 Ne5 26.Bf5 30. … hxg6 31.hxg6+ Kg8 Rc7 27.g6 Kh8 28.Rdf1 Nc4 32.gxf7+ Kxf7 33.Be6+ Kg6 29.gxf7 Rxf7 34.Bf7# 1 -0

------Game #999 ------

Black ignores the White Bishop Lay Down Sacrifice so White “Lay Down Sacrifice or adds his Queen to the mix. Qishing Pole?” (W) Dragoljub Velimirovic (B) Galjovic [B89] Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1966 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 0 -0

19 9.0 -0-0 Qc7 10.Bb3 a6 11.g4 [B12] New York WFW, 1990 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.g5 Nd7 14.Qh5 Nc5 15.Rhg1 Bb7 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 16.Bf6 b4? 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Nge2 Nd7 8.0 -0 Black could not accept the Ne7 9.a4 c5 10.a5 Qc6 Bishop sacrifice without 11.dxc5 Nxe5 12.Qg3 N5g6 causing major defensive issues 13.Nd4 Qxc5 14.Be3 e5 for his g7 and h7 squares, for 15.Ndb5 Qc6 16.a6 b6 example, 16. … gxf6? 17. gxf6+ 17.Rad1 d4 18.Qh3 Nc8 19.Bxd4 Nd6 20.Rfe1 Nxb5 Kh8 18. Rg7 . However, Black 21.Bxe5 Be7 22.Nxb5 0 -0 had to move his kingside Rook 23.Nd4 Qc5 24.b4 Qc4 to provide an escape square 25.Nf5 Bxb4 for his King, thus avoiding … uuuuuuuu uuuuuuuu rdsds4kd rdsds4kd 0sdsdp0p db1sgp0p P0sdsdnd pDs0pGsD dsdsGNds dshsds)Q sgqdsDsd s0sdPDsd dsdsdsdQ dBHsdsds sdPds)P) P)Pds)s) dsdR$sIs dsIRds$s llllllll llllllll 26.Qh6! 1 -0 17.Qh6! 1 -0 ------Game #999 ------Game #999 ------This Lay Down Sacrifice is A well positioned Knight and fueled by a subsequent Bishop can work wonders for a discovery attack on the Black Queen Lay Down Sacrifice. Queen and some very interesting tactics. (W) Vasilios Kotronias (B) Daniel King

20 (W) Baira Kovanova (2380) uuuuuuuu (B) Natalia Pogonina (2472) [B50] Women's World Chess sdshshsi Championship, Antakya, 0bdsgpdp Turkey, (Round 1), 12/04/2010 s0qdp)sd 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 ds0sdsHQ 4.0 -0 Nf6 5.Qe2 e6 6.c3 Be7 7.Bb3 0 -0 8.d4 Qc7 9.dxc5 sdsdsDsd dxc5 10.e5 Nd7 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Nbd2 Nf8 13.Rad1 b6 dB)sdsGs 14.Bg3 Bb7 15.Ne4 Rxd1 P)sds)P) 16.Rxd1 Rd8 17.Nf6+ dsdsdsIs uuuuuuuu llllllll sds4shkd 22.Bd5!! 0b1sgp0p White finds an amazing s0ndpHsd Invisible Defender defensive ds0s)sds resource! sdsdsDsd 22. … Qe8 dB)sdNGs White wins after 22. … Qxd5 P)sdQ)P) 23.Nxf7+ Nxf7 24.Qxd5 Bxd5 dsdRdsIs 25.fxe7 where Black cannot prevent the White passed llllllll pawn from queening. 17. … Kh8 18.Ng5 Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1 Nd8 20.Qh5 gxf6? 23.Qh6 Bxf6 24.Qxf6+ Kg8 21.exf6 Qc6 25.Be5 1 -0

------Game #999 ------

White plays a Lay Down Bishop Sacrifice to prevent the Black King from escaping a mating net.

21 (W) Alan Goldsmith (B) Arvids Prods 23. … Qb8 [A01] Australian uuuuuuuu Championship, Melbourne, Australia, 1982 r1sdrdkd 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 dp0sdp0s 4.Bb5 d6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Be2 pds0sGbg Be7 7.d4 e4 8.Nfd2 0 -0 9.c4 Bf5 10.Nc3 Qc8 11.h3 Bg6 dsdNdsds 12.g4 h6 13.h4 Re8 14.g5 sdPdsDBd hxg5 15.hxg5 Nh7 16.Bg4 Qd8 17.Ndxe4 Nxg5 dPds)sdQ 18.Nxg5 Bxg5 19.Qf3 Nxd4 20.Qh3 Nc2+ 21.Kd2 Bh6 PdsIs)sd 22.Nd5 Nxa1 hsdsdsdR uuuuuuuu llllllll rds1rdkd 24.Qxh6!! gxh6 25.Rxh6 Bh7 dp0sdp0s uuuuuuuu pds0sdbg r1sdrdkd dsdNdsds dp0sdpdb sdPdsDBd pds0sGs$ dPds)sdQ dsdNdsds PGsIs)sd sdPdsDBd hsdsdsdR dPds)sds llllllll 23.Bf6! PdsIs)sd hsdsdsds In addition to threatening the Black Queen, White is actually llllllll closing the door on the Black White proceeds toward his goal King. As a result, the Black of checkmating the Black King. King will not be subsequently 26.Bf5!! fleeing the White attack via the e7 square. Black can only avoid mate by

22 losing his Queen like in the uuuuuuuu game. rhsdsdkd 26. … Re6 27.Rxh7 Rxf6 0s0pds0p 28.Nxf6+ Kf8 29.Nd7+ 1 -0 uuuuuuuu s0sdp4sD r1sdsisd Dsdsdpds dp0NdpdR sdP)bDs1 pds0sdsd ds)s)sds dsdsdBds PdsdN)P) sdPdsDsd $sGQdRIs llllllll dPds)sds 13. … Bf3!! 0 -1 PdsIs)sd hsdsdsds White faces a checkmate on accepting the Lay Down llllllll Bishop Sacrifice after 14.gxf3 Final Position Rh6 15.Re1 Qxh2+ 16.Kf1 Qh3+ 17.Kg1 Qh1#. ------Game #999 ------White’s best defense is no help A Bishop Lay Down Sacrifice either after 14.Qe1 Rh6 15.h3 exposes the weak squares Bxg2 16.Nf4 Bxh3 17.f3 Qg5+ 18.Kf2 Bxf1. around the White King. ------Game #999 ------(W) Evgeny Bareev (2663) (B) Laszlo Zsinka (2293) Another Lay Down Sacrifice [E44] Naestved Open, designed to expose the weak Naestved, Denmark, 1988 h7 square next to the Black 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 King. White places his Rook on 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ne4 6.Qc2 f6 to prevent Black’s best Bb7 7.Ng3 Qh4 8.Bd3 f5 defensive try, f5. 9.0 -0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 0 -0 11.Ne2 Rf6 12.Bxe4 Bxe4 (W) Robert Fischer 13.Qd1 (B) Pal Benko

23 [B09] US Championship, New 19. … Bxf6 20. e5 with Qxh7# York, NY, (Round 10), to follow. 12/30/1963 20.e5 h6 21.Ne2 1 -0 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0 -0 6.Bd3 uuuuuuuu Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nc6 rdsdq4kd 9.Be3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f5 gxf5 12.Qxf5 Nd4 13.Qf2 0pdsdpgs Ne8 14.0 -0 Nd6 15.Qg3 Kh8 16.Qg4 c6 17.Qh5 Qe8 sdphs$s0 18.Bxd4 exd4 dsds)sdQ uuuuuuuu sds0sDsd rdsdq4si dsdBdsdP 0pdsdpgp P)PdNdPd sdphsdsd $sdsdsIs dsdsdsdQ llllllll sds0PDsd Black resigned because his Knight on d6 cannot move in dsHBdsdP view of White’s reply, Qf5 . P)PdsdPd Refer to Games #999 to #999 $sdsdRIs for additional Bishop Lay Down llllllll Sacrifices (with Bxh7 ). 19.Rf6!!

The key to this offensive move by White is blocking the Black f-pawn and eliminating the move f5 as a defensive attempt to protect the h7 square along the b1-h7 diagonal.

19. … Kg8

Black is checkmated after

24