TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Key to symbols Editorial Preface Introduction Winning material Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Mate! Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Find the draw Silent moves Simplifications Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Tests Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6 Test 7 Test 8 Test 9 Test 10 Test 11 Test 12 Test 13 Test 14 Test 15 Test 16 Swipe left for next chapter CSABA BALOGH Tactics, Tactics, Tactics! Volume 3 Responsible editor Csaba Balogh Cover designer Milos Sibinovic Typesetting Piotr Pielach ‹www.i-press.pl› First edition 2015 by Chess Evolution Tactics, Tactics, Tactics! Volume 3 Copyright © 2015 Csaba Balogh All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. ISBN 978-83-937009-5-0 All sales or enquiries should be directed to Chess Evolution ul. Smutna 5a, 32-005 Niepolomice, Poland e-mail: [email protected] website: www.chess-evolution.com Printed in Poland by Drukarnia Pionier, 31–983 Krakow, ul. Igolomska 12 KEY TO SYMBOLS = Equality or equal chances ² White has a slight advantage ³ Black has a slight advantage ± White is better µ Black is better +- White has a decisive advantage -+ Black has a decisive advantage ∞ unclear © with compensation „ with counterplay ƒ with initiative ‚ with an attack … with the idea ™ only move N novelty ! a good move !! an excellent move ? a weak move ?? a blunder !? an interesing move ?! a dubious move + check # mate EDITORIAL PREFACE As a professional chess player, I know exactly how important it is to perform well in tactical calculations. We face them so often that after playing a great game, we can simply blunder something and throw away a safe point, causing ourself sleepless nights! For most of the players and chess fans, the biggest pleasure in a chessgame is to beat an opponent with a beautiful combination, of which we can be proud at. However to live with all the given oportunities and not miss any of the chances, we must stay in sharp shape all the time, what we can reach only by practicing puzzlesolving. Many puzzle books are based on artificial positions or selected only for their beauty. The concept of my book is different. The highest priority is to “use the practical side of the puzzles” and take the level of calculation to a completely new dimension. All the puzzles have been selected from recent games, trying to put the reader in the shoes of “the player”. The difficulty of the different sections might also give you a right evaluation of your current tactical skills and bring them further ahead. I tried to mix three things in my book: 1. a lot of fun in solving the puzzles, 2. a lot of different tactical ideas, 3. and of course, the direct practical use for your future games. A very important factor to keep in mind — all the practical motifs from the book can definitely be used in your future games! Enjoy! INTRODUCTION Useful information for the dear readers This book is the continuation of the successful series of the “Greatest 365 Puzzles” and “Greatest 501 Puzzles” from 2012. The book contains 551 puzzles divided into 6 chapters. You will find a huge range of tactical ideas, what you can use in your own games! All the puzzles have been collected from practical games from the beginning of 2013 to the middle of 2015. In each sections the puzzles are sorted according to the date of the game. The book consists of six chapters: 1. Winning material! (92 Puzzles) 2. Mate! (105 Puzzles) 3. Find the draw! (25 Puzzles) 4. Silent moves (27 Puzzles) 5. Simplifications (142 Puzzles) 6. Tests (160 Puzzles) All in all 551 puzzles. I advice you to finish the first five chapters before going to the Test section. You will get familiar with a dozens of tactical motifs and then you can test your tactical skills in the Test section, where the puzzles are mixed from the previous chapters and you don’t get the hint what kind of puzzle You try to solve. Show in Quiz Mode — WINNING MATERIAL — This is probably the most common theme in tactics, where one side wins material with the help of a combination. Later in the game this should be enough to convert the advantage into full point. Try your best! Enjoy! (1) A. ALEKSANDROV (2607) M. PANCHANATHAN (2580) DELHI OPEN 07.01.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 30...Ng4+! 31.Kg3 [31.fxg4 Nxe4+ 32.Kf3 Nxd6–+] 31...Qxd6+ 32.Rxd6 Nxe3–+ (2) A. STEBBINGS (2265) A. STEFANOVA (2491) BRITISH LEAGUE 13.01.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 49...Nxg3! 50.h4 [50.Qxg3 h5+ 51.Kxh5 Qxg3–+] 50...gxh4–+ [50...h5+ 51.Kxg5 (51.Kh3 Ne2 52.Qxg5+ Bg7–+) 51...Qxf3–+] (3) G. DE SCHAMPHELEIRE (2275) B. MICHIELS (2506) BELGIAN LEAGUE 13.01.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 21.Ne6!! Qb8 [21...fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.Rxd7+–] 22.Rxd7+– (4) P. NIKOLIC (2619) N. GRANDELIUS (2572) WIJK AAN ZEE B 20.01.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 14.Qxe5! Qxe5 [14...Bxe5 15.Bxe7 Rxe7 16.Nfxe5+–] 15.Nfxe5 Bxe5 16.Bxe4+– (5) P. NEGI (2638) R. FELGAER (2557) BADEN-BADEN OPEN 09.02.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 25.Rxf5! [25.Bxf5? Rxf5 26.Rxf5 Rxc1] 25.Rxf5! Rxf5 [25...Rxc2 26.Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Rxc2+–] 26.Bxf5 Qxf5 27.Rxc7+– (6) A. SMITH (2485) A. TARI (2263) REYKJAVIK OPEN 21.02.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 16.Bxg7! Bxd2 [16...Kxg7 17.Qb2+ Kg8 18.Qxb4+–] 17.Bf6 Ba5 18.Be4+– (7) D. SVETUSHKIN (2602) E. BACROT (2705) NANCY (RAPID) 09.03.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 28...Rxe4! 0–1 [28...Rxe4 29.Rxe4 g5–+] (8) E. GHAEM MAGHAMI (2568) N. SHORT (2697) BLITZ MATCH 12.03.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 32.Nf6+! Rxf6 33.Rxg4 Bd5 [33...fxg4 34.Rxf6+–] 34.Rgf4+– (9) M. ANTONSEN (2446) D. PALO (2551) DANISH CHAMPIONSHIP 24.03.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 28...Bxf2+! [28...Qc5 29.Qb3+!] 28...Bxf2+! 29.Kxf2 [29.Kg2 Bc5 30.Ra4 Qd5+–+] 29...Qc5+ 30.Be3 Qxa3–+ (10) A. MOROZEVICH (2756) D. JAKOVENKO (2734) RUSSIAN LEAGUE 08.04.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 40.Rd4! a5 41.Rxb4! axb4 42.Rxc6+– (11) V. TKACHIEV (2632) D. SVETUSHKIN (2588) BALAGNE RAPID 14.04.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 30.Rxd3! 1–0 [30.Rxd3 exd3 31.Bd5+–] (12) LU SHANGLEI (2562) R. SAPTARSHI (2426) BANGKOK OPEN 16.04.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 20...Rxb2!! 0–1 [20...Rxb2 21.Rxb2 (21.Rxd7 Rxb1+ 22.Kg2 Bxh5–+) 21...Qd1+ 22.Kg2 Bxh5–+] (13) I. NEPOMNIACHTCHI (2710) D. SHENGELIA (2546) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 13.05.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 21.Bxa6! Nxa6 [21...0-0 22.Bxb7 Rxc1+ 23.Bxc1!+–; 21...Qxd2 22.Bxb7+–] 22.Rxc6 0-0 [22...bxc6 23.Qxc6+ Kf8 24.Qc8+ Bd8 25.Qxd8#] 23.Rc2+– (14) M. ROIZ (2617) E. POSTNY (2637) BEER SHEVA RAPID 26.05.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 32...Nh4+! 33.Kh2 [33.gxh4 Nf4+ 34.Kg3 Nxd3–+] 33...Nb4! 34.Qe4 Nxf3+ 35.Qxf3 Nxa2–+ (15) E. POSTNY (2637) A. GREENFELD (2538) BEER SHEVA RAPID 27.05.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 15...Nd5! 16.Qe5 [16.cxd5 Bb4–+] 16...Nxe3 17.fxe3 Qc2–+ (16) R. VASQUEZ (2542) I. KHAIRULLIN (2658) WORLD RAPID CHAMPIONSHIP 06.06.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 19...Rxf5! 20.Rxf5 Ne7!–+ [20...g6? 21.Rf8+] (17) L. FRESSINET (2693) M. SEBAG (2527) FRENCH LEAGUE 06.06.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 29.g5! Nxg5 [29...Qxg5 30.Bxf3+–] 30.f4+– (18) D. NAVARA (2707) HOU YIFAN (2595) PRAGUE BLITZ 14.06.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 15...Nxe5! 16.Qxd7 Nxd7–+ (19) E. TOMASHEVSKY (2709) A. PREDKE (2492) EKATERINBURG 23.06.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 31.Nf6+! Kh8 [31...gxf6 32.Qxf6 Kf8 33.Qg7+ Ke7 34.Bf6#] 32.Qxe3 Bxe3 33.Nxe8+– (20) D. HARIKA (2492) T. KOSINTSEVA (2526) WGP DILIJAN 24.06.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 35...Rxd5! 36.exd5 [36.Qxe5 Rdxe5–+] 36...Qxb2 37.Rxe8+ [37.Rxb2 Rxe1+–+] 37...Kg7–+ (21) V. KRAMNIK (2803) Y. PELLETIER (2574) GENEVA BLITZ 28.06.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 26.Qxc4! b5 27.Qc5!+– (22) E. BACROT (2725) A. KOSTENIUK (2489) GENEVA RAPID 26.06.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 37.Be4+! Rf5 [37...Rxe4 38.Qb7+ Kh8 39.Qxe4+–] 38.Bxf5+ exf5+– (23) N. GRANDELIUS (2573) M. WIEDENKELLER (2475) SWEDEN 09.07.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 24.Rxd7! Kxd7 25.Ne5+ Kd6 [25...Ke8 26.Rc8++–] 26.Nc4+ Kc6 27.Nxb6++– Show in Quiz Mode (24) M. DEMIDOV (2465) I. KOVALENKO (2621) CORPORATION CUP 17.07.2013 1... –+ Show/Hide the Solution 37...Nxf2+! 38.Kg2 Nh4+! 0–1 [38...Nh4+ 39.Kxf2 Nxf5–+] (25) S. WILLIAMS (2481) R. WEAVING (2196) BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP 30.07.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 24.Nf6+! Kh8 [24...gxf6 25.Rg3+ Kh8 26.Qg4+–] 25.Rh3! h6 [25...gxf6 26.Qh5+–] 26.Qe3! 1–0 (26) M. ANDERSEN (2477) N. GRANDELIUS (2573) POLITIKEN CUP 03.08.2013 1. +– Show/Hide the Solution 24.Qxb6! [24.Rxc4? Rxb1 25.Nxb1 Qb8 26.Bxc6 Qxb1 27.Bxe8 Qb3!∞] 24.Qxb6! axb6 25.Rxc4 Qa6 26.Rxc6+– (27) A.