Yelena Dembo

The Very Unusual Book About Chess

ISBN 960-630-606-2

2005 Yelena Dembo. The Very Unusual Book About Chess

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 author.

Printed by POL YENTYPO EDITIONS

I am very much obliged to my parents Vladimir Dembo & Nadezhda Fokina and to my husband Sotiris Logothetis for their big help in the creation of this book.

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Contents

Symbols and Abbreviations

About the Author

Preface

Chapter 1

A Special Chapter

Chapter2

Chapter3

Chapter4

ChapterS

Check Your Answers

Epilogue

Index of Players

Bibliography

Gifted Moves (Gifted Ideas)

"Easy, But Nice!"

"Kasparov's Rook"

g6 followed by h6 with Opposite-Side Castling

Kings Can Do Even The Impossible!

f4-f5 in the Sicilian Defence

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4

5

7

9

73

76

88

93

103

128

131

132

135

;;\; + + +-+ =

00

00

c 0

t 0 # ! ! ! ? ?? ! ? ? ! ll D 0 :::;; EEl )) X j_

(D) Ch(T) WCh OL izt

Symbols & Abbreviations

White is slightly better Black is slightly better White is clearly better Black is clearly better White is winning Black is winning equal unclear with compensation for the material development advantage space advantage attack initiative counterplay zugzwang checkmate strong move exceptionally strong move weak move blunder interesting move dubious move with the idea only move better is worse is line (file) center kings ide queens ide weak point ending time see (see) diagram championship (team championship world championship Olympiad Interzonal tournament

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About The Author

Yelena Dembo was born in Russia in 1983. She is a Women's International Grandmaster since 2001 and Mim 's International Master since 2003. She is a multiple prize-winner of European and World Youth Championships, the silver prize-winner of the European Women 's Teams' Championship in 2003, the winner of the European Championship U20 in 2002 (rapid), a participant of two World Chess Olympiads (in 2002 on the second board for Hungary; in 2004 on the first board for Greece), international chess journalist and a chess trainer since 1996.

Yelena has played for various clubs in Germany, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Israel, Hungary, Greece, UK, Turkey (on men's and women's boards).

She now lives in Athens, Greece.

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Preface

The Very Unusual Book About Chess

You are holding a very unusual book in your hands. Properly speaking, I even don't know which title would be more precise: "The Book About Chess" or "The Textbook of Chess". Or maybe "Chess Anatomy"? The reason is that I try to penetrate into the essence of chess, to understand "what it is made of', although it is very difficult to understand what such an inexhaustible subject comprises of. I try to throw light on its conformities to natural laws as well as its distinction from the norm, and to formulate laws, which are the basis of gifted and strong chessplayers' games, and methods used by them.

But if we are only acquainted with method (and there is absolutely no difference if we are talking about chess or music or a heart operation), it doesn't mean we have become proficient in it and will be able to successfully use it throughout our life. No! A method can become our property - and even our favourite -only after reiteration! I offer exactly this to my readers.

The most important is that I teach the reader to think correctly during the game!

There are many books with titles such as "The Textbook of Chess", "How to Play Chess" etc. with examples like "35 '!Wd2 - only move!", "29 . . . h6 ! The most exact!".

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Sorry! Why the most exact? It is probably clear to players rated 2600-2700, but it is far from clear for somebody around 2300. And absolutely unclear for chessplayers below 2000. But this is the level of the majority of chessplayers.

I try to explain everything in my book, to make each move clear to the eyes of the reader.

The book is basically dedicated to middlegame problems and a little bit to endings. Why do I "ignore" openings? The matter doesn't lie in underestimation or shortage of ideas in the opening. I attach great importance to openings. There are many novelties of mine in the Chess Informant and the Yugoslav Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. I have found them either while preparing at home for a game, or already during a game. But I am fully confident that the result of the struggle depends on playing the middlegame successfully (for about 80-90%), and my coach experience confirms this! Many chessplayers can obtain a decent or even a good position from the opening. It is difficult to lose a better or a winning ending, although everything is possible . . . The conclusion? I have been hearing chessplayers for all my life commenting: "I had a good position after the opening, but after that . . . " And what is necessary to do? Get to work

on the middlegame - and my book, I sincerely hope, will offer you a strong helping hand.

I have been working as a trainer for a long time already. Chessplayers from more than 30 countries come to study in my Chess Academy. They are from USA and Denmark, Germany and Kuwait, France and Mexico, Spain, Norway, UK, Brunei, Finland, Malaysia, Italy, Turkey . . . Among the material I offer to them there are fragments from my special collection of more than 1 0000 examples of grandmaster and master games.

My students and I are always very glad with the results of our joint work! Their level is raised by working on many examples of the same theme, examples that are sparkling and stick to their memory. You will see the most interesting of them in this book. In passing, I would like to mention that working on these fragments will change your style to a much more active one. This is indispensible if you want to win! And please pay attention to the special

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rules and/or aphorisms ("Demborules") mentioned in the text, which will help you to subsequently come up with strong and nice moves quickly.

But excuse me, I am writing about the "Dembo-rules" without explaining what these are. "Dembo-rules" are . . .

Ah, but I guessI have written (and you have read) enough for a preface. Let's get on to the chess!

I don't lay claim to the absolute truth (whoever is able to claim so, "let him cast stones at me"!). I herewith cite MY thoughts, MY opinion on chess. I see it in exactly this way - it is a wonderful art, where the best results can be achieved by utilising several hundreds of concrete methods in the middlegame and the endgame (the opening is the subject of another discussion!). I offer you . . . chapters explaining these methods. And when you study and play over them again and again, you will certainly play much better than before encountering this book. I guarantee you so!

So, let's move on to our examples!

Chapter One Gifted Moves (Gifted Ideas)

We start this book with a very interesting and quite challenging chapter, perhaps even the most important one. This chapter is about gifted moves. More precisely - about gifted ideas, since every gifted move contains a very interesting idea in itself. And this idea will not necessarily be immediately obvious; sometimes it may be revealed only after 3-5 moves! Its source, its mineral spring, is the first (gifted!) move. Without it we will not be able to realize our interesting idea. Without finding the first move it is impossible to uncover the subsequent, perhaps even stronger moves of the variation!

This is a very interesting and important moment: a gifted move is not always the strongest one! And this really is so! It does not have to be the initiator of a variation with moves worthy of one or even two exclamation marks. The gifted move can even objectively be not the strongest in the particular position; it is fully possible that a stronger move exists. Also maybe there is a simpler move leading to a much better position or a winning one. All this is possible. The moves will depend on the level of the chessplayer, on his rating. But not all chessplayers are rated 2700-2800 (luckily! !). And thousands of players can come up with gifted moves (luckily again! !). Gifted means very

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interesting, deep, nice, sudden, paradoxical. Moves that your opponent does not expect. Moves after which a crowd gathers around the board -interesting! It is necessary to see it, to experience it, like you experience art.

Why do I consider this theme as "perhaps the most important"?

I think that players should devote a significant part of their work on chess to studying such games, special gifted examples.

Of course, many thousands of hours must be dedicated to opening study, endgames, the problems of the middlegame, improvement of your tactical skill, studying games of the best players of the past and of our time, etc. There are 25-30 different concepts which you have to include in your work if you want to become a very good player.

But this concept - the gifted move, gifted ideas - is a special one. The point is that every chessplayer who has seen many gifted ideas becomes more gifted himself! This is an axiom! A chessplayer that has studied hundreds (even better thousands!) of gifted fragments starts thinking nicely, originally. And his results, naturally, improve! His opponents do not see those gifted ideas (moves) that he sees during the game and therefore cannot struggle against them. A gifted idea, sometimes even executed in an

inferior way, often wins. You can see this in many games.

More specifically, I want to mention a problem concerning gifted moves in the work of young chessplayers.

Of course, moves that are played by 10-14 year-old children cannot be of a 2600-2700 level! But some of these moves can be very gifted, although of course not the best. But often trainers don't understand that such a move is gifted and criticize the student for not making a stronger (from the trainer's point of view!) move! And, as a result, a young player with . brilliant talent - and sometimes OM-level potential grows up without fulfilling this early promise and ends up being a player of average chess ability who makes "correct" and uninspired moves.

I will never forget one episode from my chess life. I was eleven years old and played in the Israeli Girls U20 Championship. I finished clear first with 1 0 points out of 11 games and in the process sacrificed a queen, two rooks, some minor pieces and many pawns. The games were very sparkling and interesting, and I was very satisfied both with their quality and the result.

But then, I showed these games to a Grandmaster rated around 2550-2600. He looked at them quickly and said: "This is hooliganism and not chess (??)! It was not necessary to sacrifice, you had to make nonnal moves. You cannot play chess like this!"

What do you think, would our

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lessons be successful if he was my trainer? What would become of me if he wouldn't let me play my sparkling chess? If he wouldn't let me sacrifice often and make unusual, risky and maybe (maybe!) second-best moves! How would I rise my level if he would interfere with my style? Maybe I would become an average female chess player? And maybe I would stop chess, just as many gifted teenagers around me did.

So lets come back to the theme, a very important theme: gifted moves, gifted ideas. What is that?

(1) Steinitz,W - Von Bardeleben,C Hastings 1895

[Variations by ChessBase]

I would like to start with one of the most. famous games of the 19th century. There jnitially was no reason why this game should become famous. First of all, neither combatant played in the best way possible. But if Steinitz just missed some STRONG moves (from .our modem point of view!), Bardeleben made one BAD move already in the opening and had to give up any idea of castling. Then, there was a significant difference in the players' respective chess strength, although Steinitz had lost his World Champion title the previous year.

The game acquired its fame (and I think forever!) thanks to the incredible events that took place between moves 17 and 25 (and could last until the 35th move, had Curt von

Bardeleben not disappeared from the tournament hall in a terrible emotional state, without even infonning Steinitz of his resignation! And deep down inside I understand his . ") reaction ...

Naturally it isn't difficult for a chessplayer with an attacking style to make Steinitz's 17th move, but JUST this one move. It is clear that after this move there MUST EXIST good compensation for the sacrificed pawn. But Steinitz converted a good positional IDEA (the pawn-sacrifice, 17 d5!!) into a detective story with an exciting scenario, the outcome of which (the "last move" of Black) would not fail to attract anyone!

Here we are starting our discussion of "Dembo-rules", a set of original and very useful chess rules. The first of them will be the rule about gifted moves.

17 d5! ! This move is gifted according to

my classification system. What do I mean?

Moves can be classified in three different levels.

THE FIRST LEVEL - a reasonable move. It is evident from this

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move that the chessplayer invests some thought on it and tries to conduct a plan, to improve his pieces etc.

THE SECOND LEVEL - a competent move. It implies that the chessplayer understands the position, is a serious student of the game, reads chess books, has a good trainer. Overall, that he has strong chess foundations!

THE THIRD AND HIGHEST LEVEL - the "gifted" move. It is a move with an unusual, original idea, often involving a certain degree of risk; a move which many chessplayers would reject for one very simple reason: it wouldn't come to their mind! To avoid any misunderstanding, let me clarify that this move does not necessarily lead to a win, it is not necessarily the objectively strongest. No! But it is very interesting, it is gifted. I would also like to clarify that such a move may often contradict the principles that characterize moves of the first two levels! Such contradiction is however absolutely logical! Something gifted is often extraordinary and therefore provokes arguments ...

So, we start with a gifted move, 17 d5!!

This GIFTED MOVE offers White prospects for a brilliant attack and brought world-wide fame to this game. White opens files towards Black's uncastled king and at the same time obtains an excellent square for his lazy knight!

This move brings us to the first "Dembo-rule": "don't be afraid to

sacrifice a pawn for the initiative!" And this move (pay attention!) also showcases another "Dembo-rule": "if it looks impossible but you want to do it VERY MUCH, it is possible! " What do I mean by that? Of course you understand that after the move 1 7 d4-d5 your pawn will be captured (so it looks impossible to push the pawn!), but you VERY MUCH want to get rich piece-play, therefore this move turns out possible.

17 .. cxd5 17 . .. 'i:fif7 18 dxc6 tLlxc6 19 cd 1 -+ 18 d4 The knight looks excellent on the

blockading d4-square! I think it is safe to assume that this position was studied very carefully by A.Nimzowitsch and had great influence on the development of his views. This is high-level positional play!

When I show this game to my students, I usually tell them (before showing the move 17 d5!!): "Look here: your knight on f3 has no good moves, no good squares, it doesn't do anything, and at this moment you play as if you are a piece (or three pawns) down. But after the pawn sacrifice on d5 your knight enters the play with great effect and at the formal cost of only one pawn. What a strong centralized piece you have obtained in return! AT THE MOMENT it is the most dangerous and threatening piece on the board!" By the way, White has two immediate threats: 19 tLlf5 and 19 tLle6.

18 ... mti 19 e6 (820 c7) hc8 The struggle for control of the 6th

and 7th ranks is swinging in White's

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favor. Thus, Black tries to create counterchances based on White's back rank; you see, White now has to consider an exchange on c 1 in every variation.

1) 19 ... ac8 20 Wfg4 ; 2) 19 ... tLlc6 20 tLlc5 V9c8 21 Wfb5

b8 (21 ... tLld8 22 tLld7 tLlc6 23 Wfxd5+ 'i:fig6 24 g4-+) 22 tLla6 a8 (22 ... bxa6 23 Wfxd5+) 23 V9xd5+ 'i:!ig6 24 c5 E:d8 25 V9e4+ f5 26 V9h4-+

20Vg4! White increases the pressure by

threatening a mate in two. 20 ... g6 21 gS+ The knight merrily behaves like a

"hooligan", but now in addition White has the e-file. Hence began miracles ...

21 ... me8 (2l...fxg5?? 22 V9xd7+-) 22 xe7+

This blow is crying out to be played, but no.w White must carry out his entire operation with checks, as the c 1 is hanging. Is it possible? 22 ... mf8

1) 22 ... V:he7 23 E:xc8+ xc8 24 Wfxc8+ +-

2) 22 ... xe 7 23 E:e l+ d6 24 Wfb4+

a) 24 ... c5 25 V9f4+ (25 tLle4+ +ChessBase dxe4 26 E:dl + e6 -+ Dembo) c6 26 e6+ +- Dembo;

b) 24 ... c6 25 cl#; c) 24 ... mc7 25 tLle6+ mb8 26

Wff4+ +-23 !ti+! You can call this rook a nuissance,

a fly in your milk, a pain - whatever you like! But what to play with Black? He makes all the best moves,

but his misfortune lies in the fact that Steinitz's conception is not only long, beautiful, colourful; it is forced too!

23 V!!xd7?? E:xc 1 + -+ 23 mgs! 23 ... V!ffxf7 24 E:xc8+ E:xc8 25

V!!xc8+ V!ffe8 26 lLlxh7+ +-24 gg7+! mhs! 24 ... f8 25 lLlxh7+ xg7 26

txd7+ +-25 gxh7+! That's all! The black king has

reached the edge of the board and now has to return. But now White can use the h-file for his attack - the key to victory.

Black actually didn't make his next move and his reaction was quite unusual: he left the tournament hall without notice! Al}d, I repeat, . it is possible to understand him.. . 25 i!xh7+! g8 26 E:g7+ h8 (26 . . . Wlxg7 27 xc8+ +- Dembo) 27 th4+ xg7 28 Wfh7+ f8 29 Wfh8+ rlle7 30 Wfg7+ rlle8 31 Wfg8+ rlle7 32 tf7+ rlld8 33 Wff8+ Wfe8 34 lLlf7+ rlld7 35 Wfd6# ... and Black got a zero.

1-0 It seems to me that it was not the

variations themselves that prompted Black to disappear from the playing hall. One can lose a game, especially if the opponent has, until a year before, been World Champion!

It seems to me that Black couldn't provide any more resistance to the combination's titanic flow of energy; a superhuman, cosmic energy indeed.

Play LIKE THIS! Two questions come to mind after

going through this game: 1) Who can put into words what

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was going on in Bardeleben's heart and mind as he was leaving the playing hall? The conclusion of the game greatly resembles murder, thus his nerves collapsed.

2) From which move had the brilliant tactician Wilhelm Steinitz seen the variation all the way to its conclusion (35 Wfd6#)? Perhaps from the GIFTED MOVE 17 d5(! !)?

(2) Tai,M - Pasman,M Latvian Ch, 1953

[Variations by Tal,M]

It is hard to name another player that could provoke so many arguments as Tal did in the 50s and 60s of the previous century.

He had a spectacular style, full of stunning sacrifices; his brilliant successes in the USSR championships, in international tournaments; and above all his great achievement in his match against such a giant as M.Botvinnik was at that time.

But the return match in the 1961 turned out to be a terrible blow to Tal and his numerous supporters! And what is more, with such a score! People reverted to comments such as that his style is too risky, that the results of many his games are illogical and that he is simply very lucky. That the "chess of Tal" is opportunistic and "it is impossible to play chess like this!"

Certainly Tal was a genius. One should not have any doubts about this, despite the fact that he did not play all of his games at the highest level. Such an accomplishment is

utterly impossible! And maybe his main achievement is not the World Champion's title, although of course millions of chessplayers cannot even dream of such success.

His main achievement is that he introduced an absolutely new and original playing style, and raised chess to the highest level of art. In 1959, in his article "Modem Chess", ex-World Champion Max Euwe wrote: "It is impossible to speak of modem chess without mentioning the name of Tal in the first place. Wonderful combinations, that appear in his games as if by magic, represent something much greater than simply brilliant fireworks. This is the expression of a new style.

Grandmaster A.Kotov, himself a creator of several brilliant gaines in his career, wrote: " ... the games of Tal will help our youth to see the beauty of chess, to understand in which way one must play chess".

What can one add to these words? A person who had originated A NEW STYLE in chess art. A person whose games have taught us IN WHICH WAY one MUST play chess!

Studying the games of a great master (the more so if this master is of Tal's level!) it is always interesting to know how it all started; how his style was conceived, how it evolved.

Let's watch one of the games of the young Tal, when he was 17. I think it is very indicative of his games at the time. (D)

23 exf5! This is a very interesting and

courageous move! Tal sacrifices a

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piece (though this is just the first one!). The difficulty of this move lies in the fact that it is impossible to calculate all variations to a win. And is there a win after 23 exf5? Who can guarantee this? The entire game lies ahead! But Tal is attacking. He is continuously creating threats to his opponent, he is stripping the black king of all protection, he is leading his connected pawns till the 6th and 7th ranks. And in the end he sacrifices his queen.

The last moves need no commentary .. .

23 ... Yixd5 23 .. . gxf5 24 .ixf5 Ylxd5 25 .ixh7! 24 fxg6 E:xf3 Of course, being one piece up,

Black tries to exchange pieces and, by doing so, to reduce his opponent's attacking potential.

25 g7+ This pawn is a future queen! Now

the main task is to remove all defenders of the g8-square! How to achieve this? We start learning from Mikhail Tal! This game is a great example!

25 g8 26 J.xh7+ Now there is no safety around the

black king, despite the fact that White has "lost" two pieces! But then with what does White intend win the battle? With talent (and some luck)!

26 ... xh7 27 xf3 e4 (! A.Koblenz, Tal's trainer)

28 hS df6 29 'e'g6+ g8 30 h6 a7

Black's first and last mistake! He could have drawn the game at this -and only this - point. 30 ... lLJh7!D 31 !U8+ lLJxf8 32 gxf8Y:Y+ @xf8 33 Y:Yg7+ @e8 34 h7 'Wdl+ 35 @h2 Y:Yh5+ =

Now Tal nicely finishes the game. 31 h2! A very strong move! Now the

rook acquires new prospects on the 3rd rank!

31 ... e7 32 h3!. Another strong and at the same

time tricky move! Tal is dreaming of pushing the h-pawn right away, thereby queening the neighboring one, or to enforce the promotion by giving check on d8 with the rook! There was no sense however in playing 32 d3 straightaway, as after 32 ... Y:Ya8 Black parries all threats, having a winning position. So what does Tal do? He makes a brilliant move, forcing the knight to leave the f6-square, from where the steed was performing the important double function of protecting both the lLJe4 and the e8-square.

32 .. h7 The only move. And now a new

"Dembo-rule": "if you can't come in through the door, climb in through the window!"

33 d3

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White tried to push the h-pawn (the door!), but when the knight "closed this door", the rook immediately switched to the d-file (the window!).

33 ... Y:Ya8 34 Y:Yxe4! Play continues according to the

"Dembo-rules". In this case it is the rule "I would like ... , but... is preventing this. Which piece can play against ... ? So . " that applies.

"I would like to queen the pawn, but the black king and queen prevent this. Which pieces can play against them? My queen and rook. So" 34 Y:Yxe4!

34 ... Y:Yxe4 35 d8+ fi 36 g8'%Y+ ci>f6 37 d6+ cit>fS 38 'Wg6+ f4 39 g3+ e3 40 d3+ Y:Yxd3 41 Vlxd3+ ci>f2

1-0 The entire phase of the game from

move 23 onwards feels like having been executed in one breath!

(3) Byrne,D - Fischer,R New Y ork. l956

[Variations by Shipov,S]

Ancient aphorism: "It is possible to identify the lion by its claws."

Sometimes in my pedagogical work I set a small test to my students: I show them this game without revealing the names of the opponents. It is very much desirable that these students are serious people, impressionable and not so young. I show them this game and wait for their reaction.

While we are studing this game

everything is clear for them. Black made a very strong II th move; after that White played reasonably (making good moves without mistakes), but already couldn't save the game.

Of course it is clear that behind the black pieces was a great chessplayer, somebody belonging to the chess elite: the depth of his ideas, his brilliant sacrifices, his rampaging fantasy, his faultless calculation of variations, the exemplary conversion of his advantage - there can be no doubt about that! Who was that?"

Your appraisal of the play is absolutely right", I say. "I understand this game in the same way, adding one little but significant detail: the genius winner (Robert James Fischer) was only 13 years old."

And there is nothing but silence in reply ...

l l . . .tia4!! A wonderful and gifted move! The

method used by 13 year old Fischer will later become his trademark: outstripping the opponent in development, not letting him castle, even at the cost of material.

You can say that Fischer was not

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the only one to play in this way; other chessplayers also did.

This is correct, although in fact only few can play in this manner! It is necessary to have a specific talent, a specific style etc. And there is no reason to be ashamed to admit that it is not simple to play (and to win!) in such style. This is one of the reasons why NOT EVERYBODY plays chess in THIS WAY.

Let us now move on to another topic. Fischer's sacrifices are significantly different than those of the overwhelming majority of chessplayers. ONE CAN actually CALCULATE these sacrifices to the end and REACH A definite CONCLUSION IN FISCHER'S FAVOR! This is their essential difference when compared with everyone else's sacrifices ...

This is a very important observatjon! Undoubtedly Fischer's chess style classifies him as a classical active-positional player. In spite of this (a paradox?) many of his games are crowned by sacrifices! But these sacrifices lack the element of uncertainty, they are representative of Fischer: they don't lead to "unclear, but interesting" positions as we see in the thousands of games of other chessplayers (a small part of which is my contribution ... ). Fischer's sacrifices are always very concrete, it is always possible to conclude all resulting variations with CONCRETE SIGNS such as , + etc. The current game is no exception.

Fischer's opponent hasn't castled yet, so Black commences a powerful

attack, with checkmate not its sole objective; a material advantage and a promising position will suffice. Fischer's excellent technique (even at such a tender age!) leaves his opponent no chances.

Fischer won many games playing against a king on e 1 or e8. One can quote as examples the games Fischer - Geller ( 1 96 1 ), Fischer - Dely ( 1 967), Fischer - Camara ( 1970), Fischer - Addison ( 1970), Fischer -Rubinetti ( 1 970) and others. But this long string of such games commenced (at least on a high level, such as the US Championship) with the current game!

12 Ua3 As can be easily verified by sim

ple calculation it. is not possible to capture the knight.

12 tt.Jxa4 tt.Jxe4 a) 1 3 c l a5+ 14 tt.Jc3 ixt1 1 5

gxt1 tt.Jxg5 + b) 1 3 xe7 a5+ 14 b4 xa4 1 5

Bxe4!Ue8 16 ie7 ixt1 1 7 gxt1 if8 -+

12 ... xc3 13 bxc3 xe4 Pay attention to the black knight!

It will make 1 1 of Black's remaining 28 moves, capture a rook and three pawns and finally help to create threats against the white king. Quite a day at the office!

14 ixe7 Ub6 + C Three moves after the brilliant

l l . . .llJa4! ! Black has a large advantage. As you can see there is no lack of clarity in the position; all its attributes can be clearly assessed.

15 ic4 1 5 ixf8 .ixf8 16 b3 llJxc3 ! +

1 7

15 ... xc3! Another gifted move! 16 .ic5 This move introduces a very

typical method of attack: "blow back!" - "on the first blow to answer with a stronger one!". What does this term mean? There are two interpretations of this rule:

1 . When your opponent attacks one of YOUR pieces, you attack a MORE VALUABLE PIECE OF HIS. Pawn-Bishop (Knight), Bishop (Knight)-Rook, Rook-Queen. This is the first meaning: THE STRUGGLE FOR MATERIAL.

2. When your opponent attacks you, assuming that you have to defend yourself first of all, you suddenly strike a counterthreat, stronger and more dangerous. This is the second meaning: THE STRUGGLE OF IDEAS.

In our case Black attacked the white rook with his knight (blow), but White attacks a more valuable black piece (the queen). It is a perfect example of the first interpretation of "blow back!".

1 6 xc3 :!!fe8 1 7 ixf7+ (1 7 e3 c7 -+) rJdxf7 1 8 tt.Jg5+ rtlxe7 1 9 0-0 ixd 1 20 :gxd 1 m5 -+

16 JUe8+ But here comes another "blow

back" ! With his last move White attacked the queen, and Black now attacks the white king in reply. The second interpretation of the term.

After this check White no longer has to concern himself with castling . . .

17 rtin ie6! ! And once more a "blow back!",

which is one of Fischer's favorite methods. To say that this move is gifted is an understatement! What is remarkable is that Fischer could find such moves already at the age of thirteen! It really IS possible to identify the lion by its claws!

1 7 . . . lt:lb5? 1 8 ixf7+! xf7 (18 . . . h8 19 ixb6 lt:lxa3 20 .be8 ) 1 9 'iMb3+ .ie6 20 lt:lg5+ +-

18 .ixb6 a) 1 8 ixe6 'iMb5+ 1 9 g l lt:le2+

20 fllt:lg3+ 2 1 Wgl fMfl+! 22 !!xfl lt:le2#

b) 1 8 fMxc3 fMxc5 ! 1 9 dxc5 .ixc3 20 .ixe6 !!xe6 -+

c) 1 8 .id3 lt:lb5 + 18 . J.xc4+ 19 gl tl)e2+ 20 fl

tl)xd4+ 21 gl 21 !!d3 axb6 22 'iMc3 lt:lxf3 -+ 21. .. tl)e2+ 22 fl tl)c3+ 23 gl

axb6 24 'iMb4 a4 25 Yfxb6 tl)xdl -+ We already have mentioned that

Fischer calculated variations very quickly, very accurately and very deeply, each time opting only for concrete and healthy moves. Had he seen THIS position when he made his winning 1 1 th move ( l l . . .lt:la4! !)?

26 h3 For the moment White is playing

without his rook. 26 Jha2 And Black captures everything

that can be captured. 27 g;,h2 lt:lxfl 28 el :bel 29

Vd8+ it'S 30 tl)xel J.dS The time for Black to convert his

large material advantage is coming. 3 1 tl)f3 tl)e4 32 Yfb8 bS 33 h4 hS

34 tl)eS g7 35 gl As 35 . . . J.d6 was threatened.

1 8

3S J.c5+ 36 fl tl)g3+ 37 el .ib4+

A small inaccuracy; 37 . . . !b3 was more exact. I am sure that this lapse was the result of Fischer's emotional state and his great expenditure of effort during this game. Try to invent and to create something like this !

38 dl J.b3+ 39 cl tl)e2+ 40 bl tl)c3+ 41 g;,cl 'i!.c2#

0-1 Brilliant!

(4) Petrosian,T - Spassky,B Moscow WCh, 1 966

Informator 1 143 1 [Variations by Bulletin]

The World Championship, Moscow 1966. The first match between two famous Soviet grandmasters, the lOth game.

Of course at that time Spassky was not yet the .Spassky who dominated the World Championship match in 1 969. The Spassky who once again emerged victorious from the Candidates' matches and earned the right to challenge the World Champion again; that was already a great achievement. He wasn't yet the Spassky who would play so strongly that it would be very difficult to find errors in his games, even if very slight; the Spassky who would demonstrate a wonderfully harmonious mixture of positional play and tactics. But he already was BORIS SPASSKY, the second-best chessplayer on the planet!

Petrosian's 2 1 st move did not surprise many people. It was what he

always liked to do and could do very well: he had sacrificed an exchange for rich minor-:-piece play. One can say that he showed his "visiting card".

But some moves later he sacrificed a second exchange, and after that his queen! The final position merits a diagram. In itself, the amount of sacrificed material (and, moreover, against Spassky himself!) is not as spectacular as the impression created by this game from move 2 1 onwards - the impression of great art!

21 tL!e3! Here i t is, a typical exchange

sacrifice of Tigran Petrosian, a GIFTED MOVE! Now all of White's pieces, major and minor, are ready to attack the exposed black king. Meanwhile, the rook on a8 and the knight on a5 are rather crippled in this context. This is the main factor supporting Petrosian's exchange sacrifice. In fact he has a large material advantage on the kingside, i.e. on the really significant part of the board.

21 ... .lxfl 2 l . .Jxf4? 22 gxf4 YMg5+ 23 gg4!

1 9

(23 rllhl YMxf4 24 ggJ+ +) 23 . . . lLlxg4 24 lL\xg4 ixg4 25 ixg4 YMxg4+ 26 rllh l YMd4D 27 ggl + rllh8 28 YMxd4+ cxd4 29 gg4 l_

22 xfl tL!g6 o22 . . . lLld7 23 ig4 YMf6 23 .lg4 xf4? a) 23 . . . gxf4? 24 ie6+ rllf8 25

gxf4+ lLlxf4 26 YMh8+ +-; b) 23 ... YMf6 !D 24 ie6+ h8 25

YMxf6+ gxf6 26 f5 lL\e5 27 lL\e4! Black missed the last chance to

maintain a simply BAD position and keep fighting. It was essential to contest the critical a 1 -h8 diagonal !

One of the most important chess principles runs: "ALWAYS TRY TO EXCHANGE YOUR BAD PIECES FOR YOUR OPPONENT'S GOOD ONES!" The queen on b2 is not MERELY a GOOD piece. It is the STRONGEST one ! The queen on the long diagonal, in combination with White's knights, is extremely dangerous! Of course White retains a big advantage in the variation 23 . . . YMf6 as well, but the resulting complicated position may not be so easily converted to a win. And, let us not forget, anything can happen during a multi-hour playing session, even in the games of World Champions . . .

24 xf4! Again a brilliant move! This po

sition is a perfect example of a new "Dembo-rule" concerning the cooperation between queen and bishop: "if you have a queen and a bishop try to create positions where these two pieces could play on squares of opposite colour!".

Control all the squares! Here the white queen is attacking

the dark squares and the white bishop is playing on the light ones. The two of them together control a huge part of the board. They "shoot" through either dark or light squares, resembling two machine guns in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hands!

24 . Jbf4 25 ie6+ The guns are taking action! 25 .. JUi 26 lLle4 And now the second knight is

entering the fray. Could it possibly already sense the glorious journey it was to complete?

26 ... Vh4 The queen is the only black piece

that can move freely but, unsupported by other pieces, is unable to create any serious threats.

26 .. Jaa7 27 lLlf5 f8 28 f6 +-27 lLlxd6 Winning this position is not a

complicated task, but Petrosian makes it beautiful in addition!

27 ... Vg5+ 27 . . . Wfe 1+ 28 g2 Vxe3 29 ixf7+

@f8 30 Wfh8+ e7 3 1 f5+ xf7 32 Wfg7+ i\33 lLlxe3 +-

28 hl gaa7 28 . . . Wfxe3 29 ixf7+ f8 30 Wfh8+

e7 3 1 f5+ xf7 32 Wfg7+ i\33 xe3

29 ixti+ One of the most important

"Dembo-rules" : "first is to take, especially near the king!" I mean that if you want to win and win beautifully, always search for captures near the king. You see now a very good example of this rule.

20

29 Jbti 30 Vh8+!

What a brilliant conclusion! Now follows another very important "Dembo-rule": "the knight strikes the last blow!" By that I mean that if a knight takes part in your attack, look for tactical variations such that in the end the knight can strike the last blow (usually with a double attack) and win material. A very useful rule!

1-0 A great finale! And now a little surprise.

(5) Petrosian,T - Simagin,V Moscow 1956

Look at this position. Does it remind you of anything? Once more T.Petrosian is playing White. Once again we see that the white queen and

bishop are operating on squares of opposite colour, once again there is a black rook on f7 and the king nearby. Once again we see the white knight casting a glance at this rook with great appetite, dreaming about. . .

44 Ua8+! Gifted move - gifted idea! 44 .. ci>g7 45 AxeS+! VxeS 46

'8h8+! xh8 47 xfi+ 1-0 Powerful, bright, elegant! Have

you seen a chessplayer who decided a game in this manner (h8+) even once in his life? Petrosian did so twice!

Returning to the PetrosianSpassky game, I would like to add that even in his younger years Spas sky didn't allow. his opponents to defeat him with beautiful sacrifices and attacks on his king.- But Tigran Petrosian managed to achieve this.

And a little question: we have often heard that Petrosian liked to keep things quiet and avoid risk in his games. Maybe this is so; he did play this way sometimes. But what was he deep down at heart: an adherent of complicated positional play or a brilliant tactician?

(6) Kasparov,G - Palatnik,S USSR 1978

Informator 26/ 159 [Variations by Kasparov, G}

When this game was played it stunned the entire chess world. In their meetings all chessplayers were discussing the great talent, style and future of the rising chess star - Garry

2 1

Kasparov. O f course by just this game alone it was impossible to assess the full potential ofhis gift yet. His first place in this tournament however, where he left many strong and well-known chessplayers behind, speaks volumes about that. Years of intensive work were required so that Kasparov fully developed his enormous chess talent. Even after two matches against A.Karpov, the matches that brought Kasparov the World Champion title (the highest achievement!), his unique potential had not displayed itself in its entirety. This was accomplished later, thanks to his endless desire for improving his play and the valuable experience gained by participating in tournaments of the highest level. It was only then that Kasparov reached his greatest heights, unattainable for the rest of the chess world.

However, even just after this game it was clear for everybody that this 1 5-year old boy was already an extraordinary member of the chess world, that he ALREADY had developed his own chess personality and that his play was branding a new trend in chess art.

Please go through this game and you will be convinced of that yourself. (D)

There were already several interesting points in the opening and early middlegame, but the main events are only now starting. I think it isn't complicated to assess this position. Black is hopelessly weak around his king. Almost all black

pieces are passively placed. All of them, with the exception of the !a6, are suffocating, standing on the last two ranks.

White on the other hand has an excellent pawn centre and, consequently, more space. Both bishops take aim at the black king and are only waiting for a signal to attack. The rook is shooting through the ffile. The queen is ready to come to g4 or h5 with great force. And his knights control almost half the board.

The conclusion: White has big advantage.

You can say: "But what to do with the al ? It isn't clear how to introduce it into the game." No, no, it was absolutely clear to Kasparov! ALL the pieces must take part in the attack!

Let's look at the position once more. It is easy to see immediately that the pawns on g5 and h6 defend the king very badly. And if these pawns were to disappear, White's attack would be irresistible and his queen will sooner or later land on h7 ! Of course the idea to sacrifice on g5 and destroy the black king's pawn cover comes immediately to mind.

22

Which piece is necessary to sacrifice: the knight or the bishop? For answering this question we have first to ask ourselves: which of these pieces will come in more useful in the resulting attack? Certainly the knight. Its best square is g5 . So . . .

23 .ixg5! A very strong move! But do you

see what to do after that? Already at this moment the future World champion had calculated some incredibly long and pretty variations, ultimately leading to victory!

This is a wonderfully gifted idea and the move 23 ixg5 ! is just its first stage.

23 h4 gxh4 24 fig4! f5 (24 . . . l!Jg6 25 fih5) 25 exf6 l/Jxf6 26 l/Jxf6+ xf6 27 xf6 fixf6 28 fie4! d8 29 fih7+ cj{f8 30 l!Jb5 !

23 ... hxg5 24 Ylh5 f5! 24 . . . f6 25 l!Jxg5 fc8 26 !h7+

cj{f8 27 l!Jce4 +-25 xg5 Now please pay attention to a new

"Dembo-rule": "the point of intersection". What does this mean? "Search for that point in the opponent's territory where the operation of your pieces intersects, strike a blow at this point and after deal an additional blow!"

Here the point of intersection was on g5 . At first White struck the first blow (23 ixg5 !), and after that came an additional one (24 fih5 and 25 l!Jxg5).

Please remember this rule as it is among the most important in modem chess. It is used by the strongest players and gifted games are created

in this way! 25 .. JUi! a) 25 . . Jfd8 26 E:xf5 ! +-; b) 25 . . . E:fc8 26 'Wh7+ @f8 27

xe6+ 'Wxe6 28 ixf5 +-Once more you see the point of

intersection, now it is on f5 . Two white pieces (the rook and the bishop) look at it, and soon the white queen will join them.

My advice to you: always search for points of intersection and calculate variations with blows on them; very often a win lies in the end of these variations.

26 ixf5! ! hf5 26 . . . exf5 27 lLld5 'We8 28 e6! E:f6

29 'Wh7+ @f8 30 e7+ 27 xf5 exf5 28 d5 Look at the beautifully placed

white knights and the miserable state ofBlack's pieces!

28 . . 'We8 Only move . . . 29 'i'h7+ g;,f8 30 'Wxf5+ The queen not only struck the last

blow on the f5-square (the point of intersection) but also opened the ffile. Have you already understood for which piece?

30 ... g;,g8 30 . . . lLlf7 3 1 lLle6+ @g8 32 'Wg6 31 Wfh7+ Poor King! 3l. .. g;,f8 32 a3! This is one of Kasparov's trade

marks! The rook moves to the 3rd, 4th or 5th rank with the aim of swinging across it to a direct attack oo the opponent's king. Of course, chessplayers used this method to win pmes before Kasparov's era as well.

23

But this manoeuvre was used by Kasparov so often that I dubbed it "Kasparov's rook" !

Now all white pieces take part in the attack and, even being two pieces up, Black has no chances to escape.

32 lLlc7 +-32 Jc8 32 . . .'g6 33 E:f3+ @e8 34 'Wg8+ a) 34 . . . if8 35 lLlc7+ @d8 (35 .. .

@e7 36 E:j7+!) 36 lLlce6+ @e7 (36 . . . @c8 37 'Sxj8+) 37 'Wxg6 lLlxg6 3 8 E:f7+ @e8 39 lLlc7+ @d8 40 lLlge6+ @c8 4 1 lLlxa8

b) 34 . . . lLlf8 35 E:xf8+! ixf8 36 lLlf6+

33 f3+ f6 33 . . . lLlf7 34 E:xf7+ 'Wxf7 35 lLlxf7

E:c l + 36 g;,f2 E:fl + 37 @g3 E:xf7 38 'Wh4! +-

34 h3! +-1 would like to ask you to always

keep in mind this, typical for worldclass players device! Before the decisive storm prepare a shelter for your king or even move it there. After that, all your strength can be directed to the opponent's king, while there no longer exist any worries about your own!

This leads to another "Demborule" : "before a mating attack it is very important to create a shelter for the king with h2-h3 (h7-h6) and sometimes even g;,h2 (g;,h7)!"

34 E:xf6+ ixf6 35 lLlxf6 E:c l + 36 @f2 'Wg6 37 'Wxh8+ @e7 38 lLld5+ @d7 39 e6+ +-

34 .. 'Wg6 35 xf6+! Again played according to the rule

"blow back"! Black attacked the white queen, but White attacked the

black king in reply! 3S .. ixf6 36 e6+ g;,e8 37 xf6+ 1-0 Amazing position! The future

World Champion played this game with great energy!

(7) Tal,M - Simagin,V 23rd USSR Ch, Leningrad 1 956

[Variations by Tal,M]

This tournament was Tal's debut in the finals of the USSR Championship. One of his games from this tournament immediately became famous although, as Tal himself said, " . . . only one move was difficult in it" ! The fairy-tale adventures started from this position.

12 xti! The first GIFTED move, but it

will be followed by an even stronger and more gifted one! Another important "Dembo-rule": "if one of your pieces is attacked, you have three possibilities:

1) to sacrifice it near the opponent's king and start an attack;

2) to leave it under attack in order to utilize the tempo otherwise;

24

3) to move the piece away from the attack, but not backwards if possible!"

Naturally Tal chooses the first option! Now the opponent's king will take a long walk around the board, a walk lasting for almost the entire remaining part of the game! What could be more attractive for Tal?

ll .. ,g;,xti 13 fS And now I ask you to return to the

position before 12 ttlxf7 ! Did you notice the applications of the "Dembo-rule" "the point of intersection"? Of course the f7-square is a point of intersection. At first we strike A BLOW ( 12 llJxf7!) and after that we make a move ( 1 3 f5) preparing an ADDITIONAL BLOW (with the E:fl). All according to the rule!

13 ... dxe5 14 fxe6+ g;,xe6 15 B:b1 ! ! This i s the second gifted move, a

move of .enormous strength and uncommon beauty. Tal's coach A.Koblencs wrote: "Simagin didn't expect this move. He considered the variation 1 5 V9g4+ ci>d6, thinking that he could put up stiff resistance". Of course it is difficult to see a GIFTED MOVE beforehand, and this move was complicated even for Tal !

1S ... Yxb1 1 5 . . . Wfa6 16 W/g4+ ci>d6 1 7 dxe5+

ci>c7 1 8 if4! ; 1 5 . . . Wfa5 1 6 xb7 16 Uc4+ g;,d6 17 ia3+ Do you remember the "Dembo

rule" about positions where you have a queen and a bishop? "If you have a queen and a bishop, try to create positions where these two pieces could play on squares of opposite

colour!" Once more I ask you to pay attention to this rule and to remember it! It will help you in your games !

17 .. /jjc7 18 xb1 i.xa3 19 Vb3! Here we see a transformation

typical of Tal : he ends up with a queen against 2-3 pieces, but his queen is rampaging around the whole board! It is certain that Tal had reached this position in his calculations while thinking about his sacrifice ( 12 ltlxf7!).

19 .. . ie7 20 Y!Yxb7+ The wandering King is forced

back to its natural hide-out! 20 ... d6 21 dxeS+ xeS 22 d1+

ifle6 23 Y!Yb3+ Take another look at the queen!

In itself it is a strong, indeed the strongest piece; bJ.lt when Tal is handling it, the queen moves around so swiftly that it reminds one of a butterfly. But this butterfly does not only fly around . . .

23 ... fS 24 fl+ e4 2S e1+ \f1f5 26 g4+ r6 21 n + g6 28 ee6+ h7 29 VxeS he8 30 S:ti .liB 31 Y!YfS+ g8 32 f2

Unfortunately some of Tal's subsequent moves were not the most accurate. Instead of a simple 1eehnical conversion of his material advantage he drives his king up all 1be way to g6 in order to force checkmate.

32 ... J.cS+ 33 g3 e3+ 34 h4 Rae8

How to reach g6 now? JS xg7+ Another sacrifice, another winning

uy! But after this Black could have saved the draw.

25

3S ... xg7 36 Y!YxcS 8e6 o36 . . J8e7 37 Vxc6 f7 . . . ft1

Ragozin,V 37 Uxa7+ Now White has an important

passed pawn. 37 ... cbg6 38 Ua8 f6 39 a4 eS

40 aS dS 41 Vd8+ e4 42 a6 f3 43 a7 e2 44 Ud3+ S:2e3 4S Y!Yxe3+

1-0 A very complicated, interesting

and beautiful game. A.Koblencs recalled: "After this

game chess fans from Leningrad gave the winner a standing ovation. They expressed their gratitude to the master from Riga for the real aesthetic pleasure derived from his work of art" .

(8) Castaneda,N (FM) (2340) -Dembo,Y (WIM) (2390)

"First Saturday", Budapest 200 I Informator 82/( 1 84)

{Variations by Dembo, Y]

As is ordinary, I am playing in a men's event (I am only sixteen) but, in contrast to previous tournaments of mine, this one is much more complicated. Mostly Grandmasters and International Masters are participating.

The first round starts. I am ready for an uncompromised struggle! Maybe that's why the game was so complicated, tense and interesting. (D)

17 ... xh6! ! A very interesting move, for the

sake of which I decided to aim for this position earlier. In the years

since this game was played I have encountered several grandmasters and masters (male of course !) who insisted that my queen sacrifice was not correct. I didn't argue, but asked them to refute my idea with concrete variations. As it turned out, after 2-3 hours of sometimes very intense analysis they had to concede that Black had plenty of compensation in all lines and that the position was unclear. Black enjoyed an enduring initiative and plenty of tactical possibilities. What else can one wish for Black? These factors greatly appealed to me during the game! Moreover, this unexpected tum of events drove my opponent to serious time-trouble.

I7 . . . YMf6? I8 !g5 a) I 8 . . . YMe6 1 9 .ixf4 ;!; b) 1 8 . . . YMxg5 1 9 gxg5 !xg5 20 h3

f3+ 2I b I .ie3 22 llJd5 ! ! +-

18 xeS dxe5: How to evaluate this position? The

material is about equal . Everything will depend on the potential of each side's pieces and the coordination between them.

For the moment the only active White piece is the knight, but it can

26

immediately occupy the best square on the board (d5) and control a lot of territory from there ! This piece will probably tum out to be Black's "enemy number one"! The white queen is presently passive, but at the same time Black must not forget about his pawn on a7. White's rook and bishop have for the moment no clear perspectives.

What can we say about Black? I) Black has I 2 "battle units"

against I 0 of White. This can prove important at some moment!

2) Black's bishop-pair helps to control squares of both colours.

3) At some point the advance of the frontal f-pawn may become possible, with the aim of queening it.

4) Black may also use the c-file for attacking purposes.

5) Unfortunately, for the time being both rooks are inactive and the future of t]J.e llJh6 is unclear. In any case, as a whole there is nothing bad in Black's position!

19 d5 Yes, the knight has occupied its

best square! 19 ... .id8 The only move. I9 . . . .id6 20 YMg5 xg7; I9 . . . .ih4 20

llJc7 gb8 2I YMxa7 20 'Bc5 The queen has reached a very

active position. 20 ... .ie6 Black wants to exchange the white

knight. Of course it is a pity to give up the advantage of the bishop-pair but the white knight, controlling many important squares from its

centralized position, is very strong. 21 J.e2 A logical move in accordance with

another "Dembo-rule": "don't allow your opponent to make a good move!" From here the bishop underlines the unsuccessful position of the knight on h6 and prevents its emergence.

21 ... b6 Black solves the problem of his a

pawn and asks the white queen to clarify its intentions . . .

2 1 . . .ib6!? 22 tL'lxb6 axb6 23 %Yxe5 lha2 oo

22 Wfd6 . . . which tum out to be very aggressive!

22 ... ixd5 This exchange was planned sev

eral moves back. 23 Wfxd5 Of course White doesn't want to

recapture with the pawn as then he would lose control of f5 and allow Black a couple of protected passed pawns.

23 .. Jc8! Again a very interesting move or,

to be exact, a move with a very interesting idea! Have you already spotted it? The rook is ready to come 10 the fifth rank and attack the white king from there.

24 gl Now %Yxe5 is a real threat. 24 %Yxe5?! c5 a) 25 %Yd4 if6t b) 25 %Yxf4 ?? i.g5 -+; c)25 Wfd6 J.f6 (25 . . . .ig5 26 h4) 24 ... if6 24 . . . c5 25 'I!Mb7 a) 25 . . . ih4 26 V!fxa7 (26 fl feB

27

27 c3 5c7 ) fc8 27 c3 if2 28 d 1 a5 ;

b) 25 . . . c7 !? . . . ih4 25 Wfb7 And again about the rook on c8: it

now commences its glorious career. It will make 1 1 out of Black's next 1 7 moves and, in the end of this sequence, Black will be winning! But all this is still a long way off and for now the position remains very complicated. I spent several minutes trying to decide what to play here. How to defend the queenside pawns? Maybe . . . not to defend them? Of course!

25 . Jc5! Once more "Kasparov's rook"

comes to my aid! The rook proves very dangerous on the fifth rank!

25 . . . fd8 26 %Yxa7 (26 bl !?) a8 27 V!fxb6 xa2 oo

26 Wfxa7 :Sa5 It is too late to care for pawns! 27 Vxb6 :gxa2t Intending 28 . . . .id8 29 V!fc5 J.e7!

30 V!ff2 i.h4! and if 3 1 %Yxh4 then a1 =

28 d2 Threatening %Yxf6. 28 V!fxf6 a1+ 29 d2 xg l 2s ... mh1 Once and for all evading the

afore-mentioned threat. 29 J.c4 :gaa8 The naive 29 . . . d8+?? would lead

to a drastic conclusion: 30 V!fxd8 ixd8 3 1 i.xa2 +-

30 b3?! My opponent was in time pressure

and it was difficult for him to find the best moves. This one had the idea of pushing the passed pawns.

30 .. Jad8+ 31 e2 3 1 .id5 llJf5 !? xd4,e3 31..Jd4!? The restless rook once again

charges forward! 32 .id5 1) 32 id3 E:fd8 A) 33 'Sal lLlg4; B) 33 h3 lLlf5 34 exf5 e4 B1) 35 ixe4? E:xe4+ 36 f3

E:dd4! +; B2) 35 ic4? E:d2+ 36 fl E:dl +

3 7 g2 E:8d2+ 38 h l id4 -+ B3) 35 E:dl f3+ a) 36 e3 .ig5+ 37 f2 ih4+ 3 8

fl e3 (38 . . . exd3!?) 39 g l e2 -+ (39 . . . E!xd3 -+)

b) 36 fl O exd3 37 E:xd3 E:xd3 3 8 cxd3 E:xd3 ;

C) 33 Ma5 ! g6 34 f3 .ih8 (34 . . . .ig7);

2) 32 f3 !? E:fd8 (32 . . . E!d2 33 !!g2 'Sdl )

The move 32 .id5 looks like it will bring a happy end to the game in view of the threat 33 c3, but. . .

32 . .tl:f5! . . . i t suddenly turns out that Black still has a knight, which joyfully announces its presence!

33 Uc5 Why not 33 c3? It would be met as

in the game, one move later . . . 33 S:d8 The other rook joins the play. 34 c3 It is very dangerous to take the

pawn on f7 as then all of Black's pieces would attack the white king with great vigour.

34 .. f3+! Again "blow back" ! It is pleasant

to make moves like this when the

28

opponent has just about one minute left until the 40th move.

35 chxf3 a:d2! xf3 Of course not 35 . . . 'Sd3+ 36 e2

and White wins easily. 36 h3 h4+ 37 che3 37 g4!? 37 Jh2 38 S:g3e> g2+ Just some time ago this knight was

on h6 ! 39 bg2 39 d3 ih4t 39 . S:xg2 In time-pressure White decided to

get rid of the bothersome knight and Black's attack against his king.

40 chf3 40 ixfl ig5+ 4 1 f3 'Sdd2 -+ 40 .. Jc2 Evidently my opponent was tired

because of the furious time-pressure he had just been through and the unusual course of the game. He immediately made his next move . . .

41 Y!fc7?? Here I had seen a very interesting

idea! The square c3 is a "point of intersection". The rook on c2 and the bishop look at it. If there were no white pawn on e4, I would be able to strike a blow on c3. So the pawn on e4 is my "enemy". How to force it to evacuate the e4-square? Of course,

41 ... S:xd5! ! And again the R is on the fifth

rank! The black rooks act like "hooligans" in this game!

42 exd5 S:xc3+! The first blow on the point of

intersection. 43 Y!fxc3 e4+ And the additional blow.

44 g;,xe4 ixc3-+ 45 d6 g;,g6! 46 d7 f5+ 47 g;,d5 ia5 48 b4 idS 49 b5 f4 50 g;,c6

50 g;,e4 g;,g5 -+ 5o .. o 51 b6 n 52 b7 nv 53 bSV

8c4+ 54 g;,b7 'i'b5+ 55 g;,c8 Vxb8+ 56 g;,xb8 g;,g5 57 g;,c8 if6 58 g;,c7 Wh4 59 d6 xh3 60 e6 idS! 60 . . . @g4?? 6 1 @f7! =

0-1 Admittedly, Black played this

game in a style resembling piracy. I am sure this is beneficiary in a younger age.

Here is some homework for you: please count how many pieces and pawns were sacrificed by Black in this game and in the accompanying variations!

In this game Black sacrificed the queen, two rooks, the knight and six pawns . . .

(9) Dembo,Y (WIM) (2342) Driamin,D (IM since 2003) (2281)

' 'First Saturday'' , Budapest 2000 [Variations by Dembo, Y]

It is hard to believe, but the opponents reached this complicated position on the 1 9th move only ten minutes after the start of play. This variation of the French Defence, involving the sacrifice of my dpawn, had occured before in my pmes. My Muscovite opponent knew that of course and had prepared fOr the game very meticulously; in particular he spent about one-and-allalf minutes for the first twelve moves . . . Naturally, this did not appeal to me but I did not want to

29

refrain from my variation. I had great faith in my ability to checkmate the opponent's uncastled king! For this it is necessary to bring about a very sharp and complicated position . . .

19 ie3! The first move leading to this aim.

At last my opponent thought for 40 minutes! Before this move White already was a pawn down and now offers two more; Black even has the choice ! Now there is no question "to take or not?": the black queen has no other moves. The question is only which pawn to take and what to do after that. After prolonged thought Black decided to take the central pawn, an understandable decision.

19 . Vxe5 1 9 . . . Wfxb2 20 b l Wfxe5 2 1 if5 oo 20 if5!! After the game my opponent

admitted having missed this move -also understandable . . .

At this moment 30-35 chessplayers gathered around our table and one grandmaster said to my father and coach: "your daughter is either a genius or crazy! " "Of course the first !" was the prompt answer of my father, but his hands were still sha-

king even some hours after the game, due to the emotional strain . . .

White has achieved her aim: the position is becoming totally crazy. White's idea is now .id4 or ixg5 .

Here Black once again sank into thought, calculating several variations; as a result he ended up in serious time-trouble.

20 .. Jh4!? An interesting move. But what

about material? How will the position be after mutual captures?

21 .ixg5 ftxb2 22 .ixh4 .ixh4 The captures have finished, so let's

sum up! For WHITE: 1) the material balance: White has

a rook against a bishop and two pawns.

2) the white king is deprived of protection and the f-pawn is under attack, but there is no way for Black to increase the pressure on it.

3) the bishop on f5 is very unusually but nicely placed, but it is not clear how to make use of it.

4) the white queen and the rook on al are out of play.

For BLACK: I) the material situation is OK. 2) Black has the bishop-pair. 3) the queen and the ih4 are very

active. The f2-square in particular can become a very dangerous point of intersection.

4) the rook and the knight are inactive.

5) the id7's situation lies somewhere in between.

6) but the main feature of the position is the king on e8. It is true

though that an immediate attack against it is not apparent.

Therefore the conclusion is: it is necessary to improve the activity of my pieces.

23 ftf3 There are three ideas behind this

move: 1 ) the queen is more active now; 2) the f-pawn is protected; 3) the d 1-square can be used by

one of the rooks (I don't know which yet!).

And we come to a new "Demborule": "if there are two or more ideas behind your move, then it is usually a good move!"

23 ... 9f6 24 E:acl ?! I am trying to prevent the black

king from castling, but 24 lt:Jg3 with an idea of lt:Jh5 was much stronger.

Of course it would have been a blunder to play 24 ftxd5?? because

. of 24 . . . 1!Bxal - "blow back" !

30

24 ... i.c6 My opponent, just like me, didn't

see the move 24 . . . @d8. It is hard to say how the game would have ended after that move. . . But Black was already in serious time-pressure.

25 g3 The pin on the f-file is very dan

gerous for White, as Black constantly has at his disposal threats to win the bishop or exchange queens. Therefore the knight is in a hurry to drive away the black queen.

25 ... d7 Black brings his knight into the

game as well. 25 . . . 1!Bh8 26 lt:Jh5 ie7 27 ib l llJd7

28 VBe3 oo

26 tl:\h5 Wg5 27 tl:\f4 The knight's route from b 1 to f4

was long and complicated, but it now consitutes a source of danger to the black king.

27 .. 0-0-0 Black managed to beat back the

first wave of attack.

But a second wave is forming . . . 28 tl:\xd5! A very interesting idea! Much

worse was 28 .ixe6? fx.e6 29 ltJxe6 Bf6! 30 %Ye2 lL!e5 3 1 ltJxd8 liJf3+ +

28 .. exd5 28 . . . exf5 29 ltJe7+ 1)29 . . . %Yxe7 30 E:xc6+ bxc6 3 1

ftxc6+ i>b8 32 E:b 1+ +-; 2)29 . . . i>b8 A) 30 ltJxc6+ bxc6 3 1 E:c4 Al)3 1 . . .%Yg6 ! 32 E:b 1 +; A2)3 1 . . . %Yf6? 32 E:xc6 %Yb2 33

ftf4+ +-; B)3 0 E:xc6 bxc6 3 1 E:b 1 + ltJ b6

(3l . . . i>a7 32 lDxc6+ +-) 32 xb6+ 1la7 33 E:a6+ i>xa6 34 %Yxc6+ i>a7 35 %Yc7+ i>a6 36 %Yc6+ =

29 Y6xd5 Now White has rook for two

minor pieces. The genius Mikhail Tal very much liked to bring about and use this material correlation . . .

3 1

29 . . . 6h6 After this move my opponent had

1 5-20 seconds left until the timecontrol on move 40. People around the board were already holding their breath . . .

Instead of 29 . . . %Yh6 Black had at his disposal a brilliant idea, sacrificing a bishop: 29 . . . .ixf2+!?

A) 30 i>fl Al) 30 . . . i>c7 3 1 i>xf2 Wf4+ 32

i>g1 %Yg3+ =; A2) 30 . . . %Yf4 Threatening . . . .ic5

3 1 E:xc6+ i>b8 (3J . . . bxc6 32 Mxc6+ i>b8 33 E:e4 ) 32 E:c4 id4+ 33 i>e2 e8+ 34 i>d 1 E:xe 1 + 3 5 i>xe 1 %Y e3+ 36 i>d 1 YMg l + 37 i>c2 %Yf2+ = ;

B) 30 i>xf2 %Yf4+ 3 1 i>g1 (31 i>g2?? %Yd2+! -+

I don't know which lines my opponent calculated but I am still curious if he had seen this unique position before making the move 29 . . . %Yh6. What a position! I wouldn't want to lose this way.) 3 1 . . . %Yg3+ 32 i>fl =;

In case of 29 . . . Wff6 I was seriously contemplating 30 E:e6 with a possible draw. 30 E:e6 fxe6 3 1 E:xc6+ bxc6 32 %Yxc6+ i>b8 33 %Yd6+ i>c8 (33 . . . i>a8 34 ie4+) 34 %Yc6+

30 S:edl It appears that the bishop is about

to start working: 3 1 .ixd7 is threatened.

30 . g;,b8 31 hc6! Unfortunately this last sacrifice

only leads to a draw, but luckily for me my opponent was intent on winning!

31. .. bxc6 3 1 .. .'xc6 ! 32 'Mfxc6 bxc6 33 E:xd7

(33 ixd7 c7 -+) gxd7 34 .ixd7 c7 35 ie8 =

32 B:b1+ rjjc7 32 . . . c8 would lead to a nice

finish (nice for White, that is!) after 33 1M'e5 ! +-

33 9a5+ Again inviting the black king to

c8. 33 ... rjjd6 33 . . . c8 34 1Mfe5 ! +-34 B:d1+ e7 35 Bc7 rjjf8 My opponent had only a few

seconds left, but still dreamt of winning!

36 B:xd7 B:xd7 37 9xd7 'Mfcl + 38 g;,g2 9xa3 39 9xc6 '!Mfa2??

A terrible blunder in time pressure. After 39 . . . g7 the position would be equal .

40 'Mfh6+! rjje8 41 1M'h8+ Never offer the opponent a tempo! 41. .. rjje7 42 'Mfxh4+ 1 :0 After the game my father told me:

"I lost some kilograms during these few hours ! " I think I also did . . .

(1 0) Rotlewi,G - Rubinstein,A Lodz 1 907

[Variations by Chess Base]

Playing in a tournament in 1 992 I

32

was mildly surprised to find out that the surname of an elderly opponent of mine was Rotlewi. A person bearing the same surname or . . . ? This question was so stuck on my mind that after approximately 20 moves I couldn't restrain myself anymore (I was only 9 years old!) and went to the arbiter to satisfy my curiosity! As it turned out, "my" Rotlewi was a close relative of the same Rotlewi against whom the famous Akiba Rubinstein had played his best game ever.

All of us know very well that A.Rubinstein was a great expert on endings, especially rook endings. His endgame technique was of such high level that he often won endgames that were initially equal.

It is also known that Rubinstein made a valuable contribution to opening theory. Several variations that are often ptet in our days bear his name, in many different openings: French Defence, Ruy Lopez, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Queen's Gambit, English Opening etc . ! It is difficult to find an opening where Rubinstein's deep and original ideas did not leave their mark.

However, it seems to me that if we wish to show how great a chessplayer Rubinstein was we have to start not with all this but with his game against Rotlewi, played about a century ago; with his trademark; with a position that became the logo of the 1 7th Rubinstein Memorial tournament in 1 979 in Polanica Zdroj . (D)

There are only four moves remaining until the end of the game. Of

course one would like to achieve something on the h 1 -a8 diagonal and on the h2-square but how? Three of Black's pieces are under attack, thus something must be done immediately. Rubinstein solves the problem in an extraordinary way: he sacrifices a rook, and now four black pieces are attacked!

22 J::!:xc3 ( ! ! Dembo) Perhaps this move is not the

mongest among the final four moves, but it is extremely gifted. Two aclamation marks for the IDEA !

23 gxh4 As if losing the queen IS not

:BOugh, three black pieces remam ..ter attack!

I) 23 ixc3 ixe4+ 24 xe4 #;

2) 23 ixb7 xg3 24 f3 (24 ij3 h2 -+) xf3 25 ixf3 lLlf2+

A) 26 @g 1 lLle4+ 27 @fl lLld2+ 28 -;!2 xf3 29 xf3 (29 @xj3 h5+) :.P+ -+

B) 26 @g2 h3+ 27 @g l e4+ ""i h l g3#

23 Jd2 (! ! Dembo) ...\nd now the attacked pieces are

ilur! Incredible! 24 Bxd2

33

1)24 xg4 ixe4+ 25 f3 :gx3-+; 2) 24 ixc3 xe2 25 :gf2 ixe4+ 26

@g l ixf2+ 27 @fl if3 28 d l xh2#;

3) 24 ixb7 xe2 25 ig2 h3 -+ 24 ... ixe4+ 25 g2 S:h3!! 1) 25 . . . h3 ! ! 26 f3 (26 j2 hj2

27 xe4 xh2#) ixf3 27 xf3 xh2#;

2) 25 . . . c2 ! ! 26 g l f2# Dembo 0-1 Akiba Rubinstein played many

beautiful games during his career and received several beauty prizes. But this game is certainly the very best. Rubinstein's "Immortal Game"!

(11) Anderssen,A - Dufresne,J Berlin 1 852

[Variations by Kasparov, G}

One of the most famous games of the XIX century. In the chess world it is known as the "Evergreen". And M.Chigorin once wrote that the final combination is one of the most brilliant combinations to be found in the games of well-known chessplayers of the past.

17 tilf6+?! One interesting detail : this

GIFTED (an understatement!) move IS NOT THE STRONGEST! The IDEA of Anderssen is miraculous, but this miracle could not be realized without help from the opponent! If you check one relatively uncomplicated variation you will see that the game could have been won with quiet positional moves. That could be achieved by many good chessplayers.

1 7 ltJg3 'Wh6 1 8 .ic 1 'We6 1 9 .ic4 liJdS (19 . . . 'Wg6 20 liJh4 'Wg4 21 ixj7+) 20 ltJgS 'Wg4 2 1 E:e4

But. . . Would you remember the game afterwards? Would it go down in history? Of course not! Only the astonishing imagination of the professor of mathematics and German language, only the move 17 liJf6?! (GIFTED MOVE!) turned this game into a brilliancy, "Evergreen" !

17 ... gxf6 18 exf6 E:g8! It seems that Black obtains good

counterplay: he threatens captures on f3 and g2. What is Anderssen hoping for?

19 E:ad1 ! A quiet move.. . but the situation

becomes even more tense. As in detective movies: an experienced director brings the anxious spectators slowly to culmination, to the denouement. . . What will happen?

19 .. JWxf3? This move gives Anderssen the

possibility to finish the game brilliantly. After 1 9 . . . E:g4 or 1 9 . . . i.d4, leading to very sharp and murky variations, Black's position would be tenable.

20 E:xe7+! The fireworks start! Do you rec-

34

ogmze our favourite rule "blow back"?

20 .tixe7 Of course Black had another way

to lose, a longer and more complicated one. 20 . . . @d8 2 1 xd7+

A) 2 l . . .@c8! 22 E:d8+! @xd8 (2 2 . . . ltJxd8 2 3 'W d7 +!! with the same motif; 22 . . . E:xd8 23 gxj3) 23 ie2+ liJd4 24 ixfl ixfl 25 g3 i.xd 1 26 'Wxd1 with a winning endgame.

B) 2 l . . .@xd7 22 if5+ @e8 23 i.d7+ cj;Jd8 24 ixc6+ with mate

But maybe, seeing this, Black decided to become the co-author of eternal beauty?

21 Vxd7+!! This is a "point of intersection" and white delivers a blow on it.

21 . . @xd7 22 J.f5+ Additional blow!

22 .. e8 23 J.d7+ f8 24 J.xe7# 1-0 And no}V let's think once more:

which evaluation sign is really worthy for the move 17 ltJ f6?

(12) Paal,A (2200) -Dembo,Y (WIM) (2269)

Hungarian ChT 2000 {Variations by Dembo, Y]

It always bears great responsibility to play on the first board for a team, especially for a men's team. Therefore, before sacrificing the rook on a3 (which looks very tempting!) I analyzed the situation on the board and calculated variations for a long time. I liked some variations but couldn't find a win in others. And, little by little, I came to the conclusion that I needed to bring my queen to c3 to complete the attack successfully. But the white queen on e3 is preventing my scheme. After that, my move, which looks strange and incomprehensible on the face of it, proves to be logical and simple. Probably you already understood which "Dembo-rule" helped me to find this objectivejy difficult , and original move - "I would like . . . , .. t. ". What does Black want? To anack the white king with the queen from c3 . Which piece is preventing dris idea? The white queen on e3 . Which piece can fight against it? Only the h-pawn and the darksquared bishop. And only from h6! Great! Let's get on with it!

21 h6! The only really difficult moment

the game! This is one of the .-uiations I calculated before making 2 1 st move: 2 1 . . J3xa3 ! 22 bxa3 ftxa3+ 23 E:b2 VNal+ 24 tLlb l ixb l 25 bb I Here I stopped my analysis .d decided that the queen on e3 mccessfully parries my attack. Unfortunately I could not see during 6e game that I could win easily in 6is position. 25 . . . V9a3+ 26 b2 c3 27 Wxc3 VNal + 28 E:b I V9xc3+ 29 tLlc2

35

V9xc2# Naturally White could choose

another path after 2 l . . .E:xa3 ! For example 22 tLlxd3 , but his position would then be lost as well. But in that case we wouldn't see such an interesting game with a very nice last move!

22 tLlxd3 This exchange of the very dan

gerous bishop seems natural: White just got rid of some unpleasant variations!

22 cxd3 23 ixf6 After analyzing other options, one

comes to the conclusion that this is the only move.

1) 23 ixh6 ixh6 24 V9xh6 E:xa3 25 bxa3 V9xa3+

A) 26 'it>b I E:a8 27 tLla2 bxa2+ 28 a l E:b8 ! ! -+;

B) 26 'it>d l VNal + -+; C) 26 E:b2 d2+ 27 'it>b I E:a8 28

tLla2 bxa2+ 29 a I V9f3 -+; 2) 23 ih4 g5 24 !g3 E:xa3 25

bxa3 V9xa3+; A) 26 'it>b l a8 27 tLla2 bxa2+ 28

'it>a l V9c3+ 29 E:b2 ltlxe4! 30 xe4 E:b8 -+;

B) 26 E:b2 d2+ 27 b I E:a8 28 tLla2 bxa2+ 29 'it>al V9xe3 30 fxe3 tLlxe4 -+

23 J.xf6 Of course it is necessary to recap

ture with the bishop; the black queen has to be at hand to follow through the attack immediately after . . . E:xa3 . And the white queen has once more received an invitation to leave its post and to take the h-pawn, which is however poisoned ! Moreover, a new and very unpleasant threat has ap-

peared: 24 . . . ig5 . 24 h4 White is making only moves but 1

had calculated all this, inlcuding my last move in the game, before playing 2 l . . . h6.

24 '.Wxh6 xa3 25 bxa3 '.Wxa3+ A) 26 b2 d2+ 27 @b 1 a8 28

lt:la2 bxa2+ 29 @a 1 '.Wf3 -+; B) 26 @b I a8 27 lt:la2 bxa2+ 28

@a1 b8 ! -+ 24 .. .'e7! A strong move and - an interest

ing detail ! - the only move in the game where a piece of mine moved backwards! All other moves were only forward!

25 Y*fg3 Can you suggest anything better? 25 '.Wxh6 xa3 26 bxa3 '.Wxa3+ A) 27 @b l a8 28 lt:la2 bxa2+ 29

@a] b8 -+; B) 27 b2 d2+ 28 @b 1 a8 29

lt:la2 bxa2+ 30 @a] '.Wf3 -+ 25 .. J:!:xa3! And now don't spare cartridges! 26 bxa3 Y*fxa3+ 27 S:b2 27 @b 1 a8 28 lt:la2 bxa2+ 29

@a l '.Wc3+ 30 b2 b8 -+ 27 ... d2+ 27 . . . '.Wa l+ was winning too but I

wanted to finish the game beautifully . . .

28 b1 S:a8 29 tlla2 bxa2+ 30 a1 ti'xb2+! !

Even now I still like this move! 30 . . . '.Wxb2+ ! ! 3 1 @xb2 a1'.W+ 32

xa1 xa l 33 @xa1 d1'.W+ 0-1 For the first time in my life I

encountered this situation: not only the winner's teammates, but also

36

those of the opponent's congratulated the winner.

(13) Dembo,Y (WIM) (2342) Zalkind,K (FM) (2250)

Budapest (rapid) 2000 Inforrnator 80/(8 1)

[Variations by Dembo, Y}

This game had an enviable destiny: its first part was published in "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings" and the Yugoslav "Informant", and the second part of the game in this book! Probably it's hard to demand more from one game!

White already sacrificed a pawn for attack, made the promising advance f4-f5 and, in general, is trying to get at the black king. But, despite all this, Black hopes that White's attack will not prove that dangerous after he captures the bishop on d3 . But unpleasant surprises were in store for Black. . .

22 ttlxti! An interesting move with two

ideas: 1) to open the f-file; 2) to annihilate the base of the

pawn-chain - the pawn on f7.

22 ... cbxti 22 . . . tLlxd3 23 tLlxh6+ ixh6 24

8xh6 A) 24 . . . tLlc6 25 Wfh8+ f7 26

8g7+ e8 27 'iMg8#; B) 24 . . . tLlxf5 25 VMh8+ f7 26

8h7+ cbe8 27 VMg8#; C) 24 . . . f7 25 fxg6+ tLlxg6 26

ih4+ tLldf4 27 YMh7+ e8 28 VMg8+ f8 29 xf4 +-

23 fxg6+ +-Now Black can't oppose anything

to the attack on the f-file. 23 fxe6+?! YMxe6 24 .ixe7+ g8 23 .. lllxg6 24 Bh5?! One more interesting move, but

(sorry!) not the strongest. More precise was 24 ig5+! g8 25 ixg6 +-

Rapid chess has its own rules:. it is necessary to make moves quickly. However, I went too far: instead of 1he allotted 20 minutes I only spent 10 for all the game. The attack carried me away!

24 ... lllxd3 The first impression is that White

forgot about this capture. No, White's attack ends quickly and successfully.

25 Ah8+ Props to the knight - a true hero -

for opening the f-file! 25 ... g8 26 Bxg6+ J.g7 26 . . . h8 27 f7 YMxf7 28 VMxf7

b2 29 VMxe6 +-27 .ixg7 Bxg7 28 Bxe6+ h8 29

llf6! A very unpleasant move for Black

10 face, and what to do now? 29 ... h7 30 gn lllf4 Unfortunately the knight has no

zood moves.

37

30 . . . tLlb2 3 1 afl g8 (31. . . j8 32 xg7+ xg7 33 'iMe7+ Wg8 34 f6 +-) 32 l f6 VMxf7 33 YMxf7+ g7 34 xh6+ Wxh6 35 VMh5#

31 gxg7+ xg7 32 Bf6+ The struggle is finished. 1-0

(14) Karpov,A - van der Wiei,J Amsterdam 1 980 Informator 30/399

[Variations by Cabrilo, G]

Many years ago, when Anatoly Karpov was still very young, it was sometimes written in newspapers and magazines that his style was too rational, too "dry". Probably this was true. But watch this beautiful game! What huge work the Champion of the World had done over himself, over his own style !

The black king hasn't castled. What is necessary to do? Immediately open up the position!

21 f5! We see typical ideas of the blow

f4-f5 against the pawns on e6 and g6. White is creating a conflict near the opponent's king and tries to open files for a direct attack.

21. .. gxf5?! 2 l . . .e5 22 fxg6 fxg6 (22 . . . exd4 23

gxj7+ ctld8 24 Wixd4 'Bh7 25 Wif6 g6 +-) 23 b3

22 exfS eS 23 f6 exd4 24 S:xd4 What a big difference between the

white and black major pieces! And did you understand where all this came from? From the gifted move 2 1 f4-f5 !

24 ... .le6 25 fxe7 .lg7 2 6 S:e4 VaS?

The peculiar impression is created that Black is underestimating the attacking capabilities of the World Champion. Of course, the name A.Karpov doesn't mean an attack at any cost. But when A.Karpov is convinced that he has to attack in a concrete situation, he does it excellently!

26 . . . .ie5 27 S:xe6! +-"First is to take near the king!" 27 ... Uxa6 27 . . . fxe6 28 Wixe6 Wifl +-28 S:xti! A.Karpov concludes the attack

powerfully and nicely! 28 ... xti 28 . . . ie5 29 'Bf8+ 'Bxf8 30 exf8Wi+

ctlxf8 3 1 Wixe5 +-29 e8Yf+! S:bxe8 30 g6+ c;gg8 31

S:xe8+ .lf8 32 Ue6+ 1-0

(15) Morphy,P - Allies Paris 1 858

[Variations by Chess Base]

I was very lucky - I had seen this game for the first time when I was

3 8

only five. The most wonderful i s that all of it, each move in it, was crystal clear. There could only be one reason for this: the genius Paul Morphy had played this game either fantastically well or fantastically simply.

Of course, both of Morphy's opponents weren't strong chessplayers and, moreover, the game itself was friendly (this small detail reminds us of the also friendly and also famous game Fischer,R-Fine,R, another masterpiece!). But very often the opponents of Fischer, Tal, Karpov, Kasparov looked weak, despite sometimes being well known grandmasters. No, they didn't play badly, they played normally. But World Champions played too well, too strongly! And only because of that the play of good and sometimes even very strong grandmasters looked weak. The play of any of us can look eak when pitted against the level of a genius, and we have to accept this calmly. But also - to learn from them!

I would like to show this (only this) game from the beginning. Such a game merits this. In addition to that, the game is not too long - there were only 1 7 moves in it. But what moves !

1 e4 eS 2 lilf3 d6 3 d4 By opening the center White

obtains greater possibilities. 3 ... .lg4 After this move Morphy achieves

a big advantage with the most simple (and strong!) moves. Of course 3 . . . exd4, 3 . . . f6 or 3 . . . d7 were much better.

4 dxe5 "First is to take!" 4 .. i.xf3

Morphy! 9 . . . b5 Black's dream came true: the

Only move. "enemy number one" is attacked! 4 . . . dxe5 5 Wfxd8+ xd8 6 lLixe5+- What to do, "to run away"? No! 5 Bxf3 dxe5 6 i.c4 When my father-coach showed Each of Morphy's moves contains me this game for the first time, he

some concrete threat. mentioned a legend saying that 6 . lL!f6 "Morphy didn't know how to retreat This looks normal, but . . . 7 Bb3 his pieces" ! You can see the confir-Two moves out of the first seven mation of this legend. 100%!

ae with the queen! It goes against all 10 lL!xbS! chess rules! Immediately we recall one of Tal's

Do you think Morphy caught the favorite aphorisms: "the time we opponent in a double attack? No, no, obtain in exchange for a sacrificed k is not even thinking about the b- piece means much more than this pawn! He is thinking about the black piece" ! ting. 1 0 i.e2 Wfb4 =

Of course it is better not to take 10 . cxb5 1 1 ixbS+ lLibd7 111e e-pawn: 8 i.xf7+ and 9 Wfe6# l l . . .d8 12 0-0-0+

7 . Be7D With a faint hope for 8 12 0-0-0 ftxb7 Wtb4+ and a long resistance Let's recall the move 9 ig5 once de the queen's are exchanged. more! By the way, did you already

8 1llc3! identify the d7-square as the POINT There are several ideas behind this OF INTERSECTION? If yes, it is not

.uve: White has protected the e- hard for you to find the next two pawn, making the move 8 . . . Wfb4 moves! -.possible (weakness on f7) and. . . 12 ... gd8 13 gxd7! Soon we will see another brilliant Certainly! Once you see the point idea! /:f intersection, it is very often

8 . c6 necessary to strike a blow on it first Probably the opponents of Morph. and, after that, to strike an additional

were very glad: the material remains one (one of the most important a,W! And it will be possible to drive "Dembo-rules"). 111e bishop away on the next move ! 13 . Jhd7 14 gd1 Be6

9 J.gS I am afraid Black had small choice A very good move: long castling here, and the wish to get away from

ril be much stronger than short! The the pin is absolutely natural. But now IDOk will immediately enter the game - attention! 6rough the d-file and will "stare" at Have you already spotted a new 6e black king. Time, time is one of point of intersection? Yes, it is the 6e most important factors for square d8. Has it occurred to you to

39

deliver mate on d8 with the rook, helped by the dark-squared bishop? The "Dembo-rule": "I would like . , but ... is preventing me." Which piece prevents? The rook on d7. The conclusion:

15 .ixd7+ t!lxd7 Once more: "I would like ... "

What is preventing? The knight. Which piece can play against it? Only the queen! Therefore . . .

16 Ub8+!! t!lxb8 17 gd8# 1-0 One of the best games in chess

history. A model game. There are four levels in art (and

chess is certainly an art too !). The first level: simple and bad. The second level: complicated and

bad. The third level: complicated and

good. The fourth level (the highest one):

simple and good. I would like to come back to my

words before the game: "Morphy played. . . fantastically simply". Really, what can be more simple?

White occupied the centre and, having achieved better development, opened it up; brought the pieces

40

quickly into the game, pinned the opponent's pieces, didn't allow him to castle, castled quickly himself, took control of the only open file with his rook, made all his moves only forward and each time with concrete threats; sacrificed a minor piece and gained a lot of time, created points of intersection ( d7 and d8) and used them correctly. There is nothing unclear here!

Ex-champion of the World V.Smyslov wrote: "Undoubtedly chess was an art for Morphy, and Morphy was a great artist for chess . . . Such great talent that Morphy had cannot possibly have reached its limits in his time. Some examples of his art remain unsurpassed even now."

It is hard to say anything more flattering . . .

(16) L.arsen,B - Spassky,B USSR vs Rest of the World,

Belgrade 1 970 Informator 9/25

[Variations by Bulletin]

If I call this game the best one in 1 970, I am pretty sure there will be no disagreements. And if there will be, then only a few. It was already recognized as the best in the Yugoslav "Chess Informant" - number 9, but I consider it is even greater worth.

It is a model of how it is necessary to play chess. The model of severe punishment for positional mistakes. The model of rich imagination and exact calculation. The model of the

World champion's play in the prime ofhis creative forces . . .

1970, Belgrade, the 2nd round of lhe "Match of the Century" - the match USSR-Rest of the World.

Eye-witnesses convey that the chess world went crazy during those days ! And it is natural ! The chessplayers who confronted each other here were not only great, but people with historical names! And how many of these names were there! B.Spassky, R.Fischer, M.Tal, M.Botvinnik, T .Petrosian, V.Smyslov, B .Larsen, V.Korchnoi, LPortisch, L.Polugaevsky, E.Geller, S.Gligoric, P.Keres, D.Bronstein, LStein, M.Najdorf, M.Taimanov, S.Reshevsky . . . Two geniee (in my opinion!) and also _the most prQmi-8ellt men of talent in the world played in one and the same hall!

Each move provoked enormous imerest to thousands of chessplayers all over the world. Each novelty was written down in special notebooks ..t received the most careful study. Every result was mentioned in amsands of crosstables and 6scussed for a long time.

In general it was the number one nent in the chess life of all the 1d!

Only 1 7 moves were played in the pme Larsen-Spassky. It is an estremely rare occurence when a pme between players of the highest kvel ends so quickly with the victory .r one of them! And it is necessary to add that Larsen made only one (but way serious!) positional mistake ( 1 0 M?).

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It i s possible that several of the strongest chessplayers in the world could win this position against Larsen too. Quite possible! But Spassky did it in 1 7( ! !) moves! And some of these moves were brilliant, wonderfully gifted.

10 ... g4! Spassky,B (=S) The first of these moves! As

Spassky wrote: "th!s move places White in a critical situation".

Of course this move looks very good. Now White must take VMh4 into account, as well as the sacrifices llJxe3, ixe3 , E:xd2.

The king is uncastled and the queenside creates a gloomy impresSion.

1 1 g3 1 1 0-0 E:xd2-+ (1 1. . . Wi h4 12 h3

h5 Larsen,B (= L)J; 1 1 ixg4 Wih4+ L

Larsen tries to parry one of the threats, but l l ... h5

Immediate reaction by Spassky! And a new "Dembo-rule": "let's run to open the door!" What do I mean? If your opponent has played g2-g3 (or g7-g6), immediately think about an attack with your h-pawn! It is also possible to use the same method for

attack with the a-pawn after b2-b3 (or b7-b6). And thi aek may prove very effectiv: , even if there is no rook on- - or h-file!

I tell my students about such moves: "your friend came and called for you (g2-g3), let's run to open the door (h7-h5) ! " Chessplayers always smile when they hear this joke and easily remember this method ! So, always remember the rule "let's run to open the door!" Chessplayers with an attacking style use this method very often.

Spassky rejected the vanatton 1 1 . . Jhd2 12 tl:Jxd2 tl:Jxe3 1 3 %Vc3 E:d8-+ and chose the most exact and clear-cut (and extremely beautiful !) way to win.

12 h3 12 tl:Jc3 xd2 ! S It is easy to understand White's

wish to drive away the annoying knight, but. . .

12 ... h4 ( !S) Again the "Dembo-rule: "blow

back" ! Let me cite this rule once more, as it is one of the most useful rules in modem chess! "THERE ARE TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS RULE. WHEN THE OPPONENT ATTACKS ONE OF YOUR PIECES, YOU ATTACK A MORE VALUABLE PIECE OF HIS IN RETURN. THIS IS THE FIRST INTERPRETATION. THE SECOND ONE: WHEN THE OPPONENT ATTACKS YOU, THINKING THAT YOU HAVE TO DEFEND YOURSELF FIRST OF ALL, SUDDENLY YOU CREATE A THREAT TO HIM, A

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STRONGER AND MORE DANGEROUS ONE! "

Certainly in this case we imply the second interpretation of our rule. The threat of opening the h-file is stronger than the threat of capturing the knight! Spassky conducts his idea (to open the h-file) with an iron hand. The knight may be sacrificed (look at the pieces on a 1 , b 1 , b2 and c2 !).

13 hxg4 After thinking for an hour on this

move Larsen couldn't find anything better. Had he seen the coming fantastic idea of Spassky and understood that the game h