Jacob Aagaard - Attacking Manual - Volume 2 5z1k4v

[email protected]

on the middleg~unc would mention parts of the positional basis for the attad:, I was unable to refer my -.rudents ro any book ns r!Je . .vork on anacking chess. Simply put, none of them explained well how rbe arrack came ro be, bur concerned rhcmsclves mainly with the sacrif1ce. This is whar I rried ro do in Volume One, and with son1e success, 1 thinl-::. -il1is volume is intended ro cover aH of arracking technique, by which I mean what to do once the .mack is up and running. Obviom.ly this cannot be done in 464 pages, bur: a decem attempt can be made, and 1 think I have managed ro do so. In this book I will discuss such concrete items a~ Dl'Stroyiug the dejhuit)e stmcture (page 253), The pin (page 148), Overloading (page 78), as well .1~ more abstract concepts such as Creatioe play (page 355) and Intuitive srtcrificej (page 391 ). Hopefully whar I h~1ve found \vorrhwhilc co say about these concepts will be useful for the reader. _\.lrhough 1 ;Hn a writer by nature, and place a high value on aesthetics, I am deeply aware that most reader~ will hnvc picked up chis book wirh the hope ofimproving their chess. My experiences .tnd conversariom wirh some of the besr players in the World have strengthened my belief that it i-> very useful to solve exercises regularly if you want to improve your play. Although a well-written hook can at1~cr your play positively, it .will do so much more if you are involved, rather than just re'ading ir. For chis t·e.\son f have included a diagram preview in chis book. I invire you to use up ro 10 minurcs on c~teh position before reading the subsequent chapter. For Chapre1·s 1, 3, 4 & 5 1 have selected H posirions Tfind inreresting, while Chapter 2 has 26 positions, as it is a rather big (hapter. 1 kno\v rhar not everyone will wane to spend chis amounc of cime on rhese exercises, but for those who have rhe discipline, rhe o~nion ls there. It is for che same reason that I have included 10 exercises rowards rhe end of this book and 24 exercises ar rhe end of Chapter 1. This double~volumc work has been seven years in rhe making; with rhe publication of the revised and expanded Volume One and chi~ volume, I have fulfilled a major person<.tl ambition. Quality Chess was founded to the publication of The Berlin 1\la!l, Questions of lv!odern Chess Theory and rhis work. Seven year:. afrer rhc first thoughts and conversations about these works, l am proud ro s:l)' that it was all worth it, and rhar all four books \vcrc wonh fighring for. Jacob Aagaard Glasgow, 22nd December 2009

Chapter 1 Understanding Mating Attacks

T!t!J~t~ tk thFU ;ieee- ~u.fe- tit ;~aetlee-.

Tk bt~M! ha~ ~ae~ifieult~e-~~

tk ilf(fht ~~ a~~~~tiHJ' tk 1u.ee-"' tit t!U~ ea~e- 1f c!efolflrlrj k~ aJtd b(f llftJmma e~e-ate.f telfe~al de-v-a~tatiolf.

Diagram preview On this page you find 8 diagrams with criticalmomenrs

from rhe coming chapter. I reconunend that you tilke up to 10 minutes to chink
rhc annotations

to the games.

Positions with a circled P can

be played against a computet

a b c d e

f

g

b

c

d

e

f

(see page 22)

(see page 29)

White co win (see page 25)

Calculate all rhc way

\XIhice to calculate very well (see page 26-27)

Accurate arrack (see page 36)

(see page 33)

g b

Black co \Vin in one move (see page 17)

White to play and win

h

\XIi n in the face of disaster (see page 15)

a

White wins, bur how?

Covered in this chapter • Typicallvlates & Focal Poinrs • 1hrce Piece Arracks • Insurance Policies • Transformations

ln this chapter we will discuss the basic mechanics of mating attacks. We will do so b)· looking ar some basic theme'> and rhen clabor::tting on them, ro sec how they work in practice. A good place to srart is wirh the ordinary. Typical Mates & Focal Points

I am nor sure if the notion of Jocal points has been used before in chess !ire.-ature, bur the place where I first encoumered it and where it continues to meet new readers, was in Vladimir \'ukovic's famous book Art ofAttack in Chess, which is considered by many ro be the best book ever written abour arracking chess. 'fl1c hook is an impre.<.sive looking brick, wri[[cn in 1965, which alternate.<. between giving bloated theoretical de.<.criptions in the tradition of Kmoch's PriWJI Power i11 C!Jt'SS (a book which by itself has decreased rhc numbers of chess players in the world!) and some sophisticated description of actual positions. \'ukovic's dd1nirion of a l·ocal point goes as f"illlows: "If rhe anacker threatens mare or ac1 ually mares on these squares, rhey arc matingjocalpoims, bur if he only harries the king from rhem or uses them as points from which ro break inro rhe casdcd position, rhcy are called strategic or twxilittl)' focrd-points. It may be that there is more rhan one mating focal-point, and in that case we speak of compmmd foCill-points. If there are many focal-point:. {both mating and .<.traregic) on

squares of rhe same colour, we speak of a

uetwork of weal< squares." I personally find this paragraph of definitions rather amusing, as ir is complex and nor particularly helpful for the practical player, if anyone ar all. 1l1e reason why I am srarring \Vith this quote is that I had wrirren a few pages rhar were going down the road of trying to define what attacking chess is, rather chan showing it, before I realised rhar I was smck and nor able to deliver my ideas in a format thar satisfied me. Despite the fact rhat rhe theoretical basis for the idea of focal points srands on this rather shaky foundation, which despite being technically con-ecr is of very lirrle use, it has had a great impact on how people talk about chess even today, more rhan forty years after the book was written. I think this is mainly because Vukovic manages to elucidate various aspects of attacking chess with great vitality and care, and leaves the reader with real insights. Bur we do nor need to know a lor of definitions w understand that, though it is usually easier to attack the opponent at h7 than g7 (mainly because of the easy access from rhe starring position for rhe king's bishop and knight), an attack on ..... g7 is in ueneral stronaer b ) because the king will have a greater chance of escaping if it is anacked on h7 than on g7. We do nor need to know a complex terminology to understand such insights, and luckily you do not need to do so to follow Vukovic's book. ~

Another chapter in Vukovic's book g1ves some generic rnating positions rhac may seem more suitable for a beginner's book than a sophisticated book on middleoame ~ strategy, bur they do have the purpose to build a foundation for the resr of the book. An example is the following configuration:

12

Attacking Manual 2

8 7 6

~S*R

--,Y., ~

•

5

~

'{ _.,/;

R

~if ... /JI

difficulr chess is. We need all the help we can ger ro play rhi~ game ju.sr on a decent level. Developing a strong intuition for rhe arrack by learning and mastering those seven principles will definitely do this.

-::

~

f

g

h

Only two chapters after presenring this simple position, Vukovic goe~ deep inro the Greek gift sacrifice with ~xh7t, ttJg5"1" and iWh5, in scenados char are !";,11· from dear. He ha.s his own points to make abour rhis and I ~rrongly recommend rhar you read his book to f-ind our what they are, as it i~ always useful ro sec a ropic discussed from various points of view. Nor surprisingly it 1s my intention in rhis book to present my understanding of rhe various rechniques and aspects of arracking chess. I am a strong believer rhat chinking in concepts can improve your chess and rhar to consider certain patrem.s or srandard reactions can greatly improve your playing strength. If you are f:lmiliar with a lot of rhemaric ideas, you will definitely find rhem more easily at rhe board. For instance, if you know that 1711 attack

on th£' flmdl is best mel by a strike ill the cmtre, vou will invesrigare this option with a good ~~cal more confidence chan if you had never cncoumered rhe concepr. In rhe first volume of rhis book I presented my seven global ideas, of which I am cerrain rhat we should have an inrimare knowledge, if we want co be good arrackers. ·n1ey were deliberately made so simple as ro make rhem seem almost comical, and for rhis reason I gave examples of very Hrong players viola ring them again and again. Obviously rhosc stfOng players had other ideas ~tnd somehow rhey did nor "mrk our, bur we should also nor ovcresrimare rhe human ability or undcresdmatc jusr how

lr is with rhis foundation rhar we progress w this, the ~econd volume. Here we will look at some of rhe typical scenarios that we encounter again and again when conducting a direct arrack on rhe opponent's Icing. 'lhe firsr discussion will be of a typical mating parrern, one also found in Vukovic's book. However, just like Vukovic, I am nor simply wishing to give a mare in one exercise, bur ro rake chis typical parrern and study it thoroughly, from the perspective of borh the anacker and rhe defender. 1he first panern is defined by a pawn on fG reaming up wirh a queen on h6 to attack rhe enemy king:

8 7

6

•• ~

,_____ ;.-;

i~i ®~~~ 0i~i- ; ~

~"'

Z., , /

f

()"

.:>

~

.-?

h

1his is the archetypal position. Ler us now f~1miliarise ourselves with some typical variarions on the posi rion, which we will be discussing in more detail over the nexr few pages (for case of reading I will always rake White as rhe attacking side, bur the principles will of course be jusr as relevant on rhe opposite side of rhe pitch).

f

g

h

Chapter 1 ~ Undersmnding ivlaring Anacks

13

\Vhitc has just played rhe knight ro g5 and Black wi11 h~tvc w give up hi~ rook in order co ,l\·oid mare.

d d

e

g

f

h

\X'hire has che- chance ro decide rhe game \\irh LWlg7t, winning a rook due to the hanging queen on d8.

8 7 6

~.~~~-- }~-~-/~-" -~

~m•" i~.t.ii

5 ~~----%~~{ .. /. -~~ ::#d e f g h

h

g

The final position shows a combination that arises rather infrequently. Here \'
David Berczes - Simon Widmer

Black cannoc defend f7 in this posicion, bm ~.:ven if he was able to do so, Whire would ltave che deciding tacric l ..§:c8!, diverting/pinning rhe rook on g8 and dms taking control over rhe g7 -square.

Bid 2005

~ ~ ~.~-

8 ~ :z ~~ / 7

f

e

~----'

.t.~i

;j:j'Y.->i$&:-"'' "

6 5

i~i__ j

%... J~~

,~fl~ ~

4 ~"" ~y f Black

:::;;;,;:

0

e>

h

m;.maged to comml the viral g7-squarc, bur if White is co move, he \vould have 1.iWxh7i"! ~xh7 2J~h4 mare. However, Black ro play would be able ro defend wich 1... g5! followed by 2 ... B:g6!, repulsing the queen.

a

h

b

c

d

e

f

g h

11le llrst example sraiTS at a point where the leading the black pieces is on rhe way m inflicting a big upset againsr an opponenr rated more than 300 points higher, when the following accident happens: play~r

14

Attacking Ivlanual 2

25 .. JMxf5? If Black had taken with the pawn on f5 he would not only have prevented anyrhing bad from happening, but would also have been able to use the open g-file for aggressive measures. 26.~h3! Wfhs

Black must have believed that he had everything under control ar rhis point. Great must his disappoinrmcnr have been, upon se~ing White's nexr move. 27.~g5!

'!here is no good way for Black ro defend f7. Taking the queen allows a smothered mare:

f

In rhe game White chose another srraregy, which can at best be called suicidal. He decided ro exchange probably his best piece, rhe knighr on d4, for what is surely an ineffective piece of wood on f3, albeit theoretically of higher value, and in the process promote the pawn on g4 from being in the way of the knighr ro being a cold-hearted killer on f3. You can argLtc rhar this was the basis of a miscalculation, bur Kaenel is nor a weak player and would nor have made this type of error if he had possessed a deep understanding of rhc relevant rhemes.

h

g

Objectively, White is probably doing rather well in this position. Black has no easy rargers lO attack around the white king, even if ir does look rather vulnerable. The best way ro conrinue would probably be to get the bishop to c6 and start undermining rhe black queens ide with the idea of eventually attacldng his kingside from the flank.

1-0 "lhis pattern is more olren seen in posmons \vhcre Black gets his queen ro f8 ro expel rhe white queen from h6, as we saw above, and as is rhe case in the following example.

Hansjuerg Kaenel- Meinrad Schauwecker Swiss Championship 2001

28.~xf3? gxf3 29.@hi White seems m be under the illusion rhar his king can be defended. But even if he had nor been losing ro rhe trick played in the game, it would srill be an error of judgement ro enrer such a volatile position willingly, considering rhar his position was so promising beforehand.

29 ••. Wfe6? Black commits an inaccuracy. Instead 29 ... ~h5! 30J~gl Wh3 would transpose to the game, wirhour allowing the possibility mentioned in rhe following nore. 30J~gl?

1his loses in the way we have already seen in the previous example, this rime wirh rhe queen on the more typical fl-square. lnsread ir was possible for White ro defend his king

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

15

Chaprer l - Understanding Maring Attacks b~- advancing

rhe g-pawn, something thac we

Ketevan Araldtamia-Grant- Stephen Peters

will sec is a quire common defensive possibiliry Port Erin 2000

from rhis generic position.

The line l have analysed includes a few nice racrics and eventually l~ads ro a draw: 30.g4!

::Jxg4 31.8:gl ~g6 32.~d2 ~xh2 33.~d7 ~~xgl 34.~xg4 1.f?-lh6t 35.~xgl 1Wg6 36.~h2 'gd6t 37.~h3 ®h6"1 .18.~g3 ~d6·;- with an odd reperirion of moves.

30 ... Wfh3 3I.1Wfl ~g4!

a

a

b

c

d

e

f

0

0

h

\Xlhite must have been horrified ro see this move. 1l1ough he had p1·obably seen a similar theme before, somehow ic had slipped his mind. He tried to give up a rook, bur the marerial ddicit was much too great for him w obtain any hope of survival.

32.gg2 fxg2t 33.1Wxg2 1Wxg2t 34. ~xg2 hal 35.gxal gxf2t 36.~h3 .tc8 37.~h4 gxh2t 38.~g5 ~g7

0-1 rimes a knight: jump ro g4 Gm ~eem so convincing that ir disarms us of our confidence, which I imagine is Olle of the ingredients in rhe foHowing disascer, rhe orher being possibly tirne rmuble.

:\t

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

\XIhite is faced with the strong rhreat of ... t!Jg4 and did not find an adequate reply. It was necessary ro disturb the black coordination for long enough to rurn rhe d-pawn from a mere player inro a match wi nncr. A bit of positive thinking was required, as White is surptisingly winning after 36.CLJf5!!. 'The relevant line goes: 36 ... CLJxfS 37.d7! and wirh rhe threar of ~xf5 it seems rhat Black has nothing better chan 37 ... 'LJh6. Bur here White has time for 38.~e8 or 38.~d6, both of which decide rhe game in White's £wour as the d-pawn is unsroppable. In \.vhar I suspect was rime trouble White followed a less convincing strategy.

36.Wfe6?? ~g4 37.1Wxg4 Wfxg4

0-1 One thing rhar surprised me when I was researchh1g our archerypal posirion was char rhe number of positions featuring the above parrern, involving a knight moving ro g5 (or g4), is very low. In the vasr majority of games, rooks were the main helpers in the arrack, eirher against h7 or by plnning the g8-rook.

16

Acracking Manual2

Juan Trejo -Mariano Fraschini Argemina (ch) 2000

I.e4 cS 2.CDf3 CDc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.CDxd4 eS s.lDbS d6 6.lDlc3 a6 7.lDa3 b5 8.lDd5 CDge7 9.c4 CDd4 lO.cxbS ~xdS ll.exdS ~e7 12.~d3 0-0 13.0-0 f5 14.ie3 CDxbS I;.lDxbS axbS I6.hb5 f4 17.~d2 f3 18.g3 E:b8 19.a4

20.axb51l:Vd7 2L hl lr is probable rhar White should have played 2l.~a3! ar this point. Our basic principle of including all rhe pieces in the attack or in the defence is just as valid in chis book as it was in the flrsr volume. A possible continuation could be 2l...e4 22.~hl when22 .. J~f5!? is likely to be rhe best move, although I have my doubts as co whether rhe final evaluation will be to Black's sarisfacrion afcer 23.~gl, preparing g3-

g4. Also 22 ... ~xb'5 23.ic3 feels like a slighr but secure edge for \Vhite. Black can still create an attack though, with the following rather nutty continuation: 23 ...e3!? 24.fxe3 .f2 25.~g2 ~d7 26.g4 ih4 27 .h3 h5 and although I do nor believe in Black's position, rhe game still appears ro be lively.

21. •.1l:Vh3? 1l1is is too oprimisck. After this Whice could ccrrainly have made more om of his b~pawns, as we shall see in rhe analysis.

19... E:xb5!? "TI1is is a very interesting decision, which i<> rewarded larer on in the game when Black obtaim serious attacking chances on che liglu squal'es.

21...\Wxb5 would have been a good move. Black is likely co follow up with ... ic8-f5-d3 to dominate che lighc squares. lr is possible rhar Whire would be able to demonstrate an adv;mrage with accurate play, but this would by no means be easy.

22.E:gl ~g4

Neverrhdcss, rhe alternative 19 ... id7! \>vas objectively preferable. I think the simpleH reply tor White would be ro aim at rhe f3-pawn immcdiarely with 20.!;a3!. ·n1en Black can mke on bS and be fully in the game, or gamble wirh rhe more ambitious, bm ultin1ardy weaker 20 ... e4?!, which brings a serious risk of overstretching his position. In rhe J,·mer case, afrer 2U~e I Black will nor have rhc time ro exchange the bishops and ger rhe queen ro h3, no matter how much he may desire it.

a

b

c

d

e

f

(J ~

h

Chapcer 1 -Understanding Macing Acracks

17

w 4~• 23.t::~a

24.®'fl??

'lhis oversighr (\vhich Black, in turn, rcdprocaces) is an indkmion rhar the players had nor seen the following racrical motif

"lhis mismke rclls a scory of a bad day, where even the most basic tactic is missed. There was no reason for things going this wrong.

before. White could have .~fl and rhc follo·wing beauriful line, in which Whirc combines the domina don of the black rook by pinnil'lg it down, and preventing rhe ... ~xh2·t combination by being rc~tdy ro give up the

24.gxg4! Ihis would have kept \Vhire in the game. 24 ... Wlxg4 24 ... .:Sh5? 25.:Bh4! would give White the

queen on h5:

25.b6

Instead

necessary time to eliminate the f3-pawn. and thus protect the king from g2. Boch players have rheir assets ar this point.

2J.Wc2! :Bf5 24.~c8"f .if8 (24 .. J~f8 25.VNc7 :Bf5 26.~xe7! and \Vhite wins) 25.~e6i' <;:t;h8 26.We8!
Black is hoping co deliver mate and White has a good extra pawn on b6. ~d8 In the view of a compmer rhis position is

25 .. J:!:h5 26.\Mffl

about equal at firsr glance, bu£ eirher you can assi.sc it, or allow ic ro think long enough to come up with rhis beautiful ·win:

27.b7 ic? 'lhis variation is of course nor forced, for example it was possible co play 2'5 ... :Bf7, bur \\/'hire rerains a winning advantage all chc same with 26.~e8, conrinuing w harass the black

pieces.

23 ... !3f5~ Bbck is seeking a smndard combination and on rhe way misses om on 2J ... '&g2t!:

28.ig5!! ·nli.s is a sensational move ro pur ir mildly. -?8 •.• 'Wxa)'8 :::1 28 .. J~xg5 29.~b5 is nor much different. 29.~c4

1h h would have won a piece and the game imrnediarely.

From here rhe queen is performing rhree fl.1nctions. 1) rc is ready to go ro h4 to defend the king. 2) Ir b arracking the bishop on c?. 3) lr is nor on fl, which means iris no longer blocking in rhe rook on gl, which will shorrly enter rhe game with decisive effect.

18

Arracking Manual 2

Robert Bator - Johan Andersson

A possibl~ line could be:

29 ... 1JYh6 30.h4 ibs 31.1JYcS·I @17 32.1JYd7'f 33.1Wds·;· ~f7

~fs

Sweden (ream ch) 2005

;:~'{if~~fi'~~*-- 32Y~ ~ 8---~

t~ -Ill~ ~~'

7 6 ... r.d'#~~-;A"~

~/~~.·~~r---v~~~

~~ ~W'"'~JP.WJ? ~~~~3~WA~i f.~·~ 2 ~~%~~ ~~ ,;.~

5 4

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

~-~~- ~.. _..,}; .. -~~ -~~· .. ?

h

34.;ga 1! And White wins.

1

~ a

•

b

c

d

~m:s=e

f

g

h

29. hl? Ler us rcmrn to the game.

29J!e3! with the idea of eliminating the annoying f~pawn would have won the game more or less instantly. It is interesting that rhe defenders often seem more happy ro endure a strong arrack, than to srop it in its infancy by returning a bit of materiaL

29...iWh3 30J~gl E:fS?

24 ••. \M/xh2t!

0-1 "lhe following game looks more like a comedy of errors rhan a serious game. \Y./e have all been there and you ~hould not be mistaken, Robert B;uor i~ a solid and knowledgeable int:ernarional master, rllDugh on rhis day he was E1r from his best. But, even though the game i~ not ct great oncj i r does hold some interesting variations ro our rherne.

Rarher !'nechanically played, jusr as in rhe previous game Trejo - Fraschini. 1his move should have cosr Black rhe game, bur instead claimed an aimosc insrant victory. Afrer rhc correct 30 ... g5! the threat of mate would have been quire serious, and \Y./hire would have ro come up wirh 3l.'lMle6! to keep the position unclear. The black attack would in other words be strong enough to claim a free queen, bm this is only enough to equalise the material count.

3l.E:e4? ·1 his is at least as bad as the previous rwo mistdkes in the game. \X'irh 3l.'IWe6! White could have achieved an ea . . ily winning position. 'fi1e rook cannot come

Chap[er 1 ~ UnJerstanding Mating Attacks

h5 withouc exchanging rhe queens and rhc normal combinarion wirh ... ~xh2t does nor work as \Xfhire has V:Yh3 to shield rhe king. After 3! .. )21f6 \'V'hirc would have plenty of freedom w play 32.g4! \vhen the gan1e is efl:cctivcly over because of 32 ... lbxg4 .33J3xg4 \Wxg4 34J~gl.

Bogdan Burlacu - Mihai Grunberg

to

b·en if Black was able w prevent rhc a~pawn from promoring, he would nor be able ro save rhe rook on f).

3I .. J~h5 32.~h4 ~xh4 33.gxh4

19

Brasov2004

8 7

6

5 4

3

2 1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

24...\ixe2 25.ixg7 \ie3t! An imporram incennediace move. \'V'hite is

denied rhe h6-squat·e, for now.

a

b c

d

e

f

g

h

26.'i!?h2 It is important to ger off' che firH rank, as we shall see, bm even on h2 the king is not ideally placed.

33...id6

26... 'i!?xg7 27.ffit 'i!?h8 28.~e7!

Ouch, whar .a cold ~hower rhis musr have bet>n. Whice complccely missed rhar when rhe g-pawn moves, rhis arrack becomes possible. :vlare h ncar, so he resigned.

Whire is harassing rhe black queen, fighring for the h6-sq uare.

0-1

28 ...\id2!

·lhe following game differs slighdy from rhe one jusr covered as Black has no other way ro play for an advantage than w accepc the cha1lengc. Again we shall see ow basic rhemes in a dyna.rnic serring. \\7hite has given up a few pawns, bur in rerum he hll.S a rook on chc seventh rank and a real atmck on the black king. Black com~crly

The white queen cannor be allO\ved to get to tht:! h6-square, as the attack would become very dangerous. 1he following Hne illustrates rhe point: 2S ... W'd3? 29.V:Yh6 ggg 30.E(x0 g5 31.gg7! should give White very realisric chances of winning r:he game. 'The rhreac is 32.17 wirh a rna[ing sequence, and the only move that blocks this idea, 31 ... ~g6, does not seem coo comfor·ting.

evalu.lfes char the only way ro fight for an advantage is ro accept the offered piece and cry

29.~dl! ~c3 Preventing 30.~h6 by nnacking rhe all-

to ride our rhe srorrn.

imponam f-pawn.

Anacking Manual 2

20

\'\/hire is winning and Black finally ceased his resisrance on move 61.

30.E:fl! Renewing the rluear of®'h6.

1-0 "lo understand all rhc tricks in these situations i~ jusr as important for rhe defender as it is for rhc attacker, sometimes even more so. Here is ,l good example:

Vladimir Talla - Jiri Kociscak Banska Sriavnica 2006

~; ~ ~~ ~---J ~*-~ ~///,'//. ~

8

7~ ~ ~-

6

5 4

30 ... h5? would bring rhc weakness forward and allow Whire to break rhrough with 31..§:f5! forcing rhe following line: 3l ... W/d3 32 ..§:e4! when Black has to give up his queen, but cannot mkc borh rooks. True, after 32 ...1Wxc4 33.1Wxe4 8c7 he does have some ngluing chances, but it would be an uphill sn·ugglc. He should, however, certainly
3l. .. WieSt

32.~f4

WlbS when rhe arrack

h

been repulsed, however unlikely it might seem.

~~-~-~~~j~ ~ ~ ~ L--~ o

~

~

~

~~-ti~-~~-~~

3~~i~i~if "'" ·"~ ~-- ""-®if· ""W~

-~f~~~ 1•~~ B ~~~

2

a

c

b

d

e

f

g

h

Even though White would .srill have a perpetual check after 33 .g4 ~d 1!, there is no reason to allow such tactics. White defended ag
31.1Mfh6 E:g8 32.E:e8! Black ftlr some reason simple move.

W

nor aware of this

34 ...i.f8 35.c5 @hg 36.a4 h5 37.a5 ~8d7 38.a6 h4 39.g4 ~xel 40.®xel E:g7 4l.Wlfl 1-0

32 ...1Mfe51' Sadly rhe only oprion.

1l1e following example combines the idea of vectincrrhe kni2:hr co g5 with an arrack on both b b rhe seventh and the eighrh ranks. u

33.E:xe5

.....

Chapter 1 -Understanding Maring Attacks

Thomas Oparaugo - Vitaly Malykin Bundesliga 2005

21

Black will eirher ny ro play ...a5 and ... b4 to obrain coumerplay, or .. .f6 ro improve his defensive capabilities.

21.£5!

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

20... e6~ Ir is maybe a bit hard to Imagine, but afrer rh is move Black is already in a lot of trouble. \\'hire's exploitation of his opponenr's mistake !) worthy of great praise.

The reason why rhis is a bad move and why T think very few grandmasters would have nude rhfs mistake, is char th~ dark square~ are now ~o weak char rhey resemble Swis.<. cheese. I can undet-scand why many players would rhink that rhc move secures the bishop's posicion in rhe cenrre, and if there is no faulr ro be found wirh ir, go ahead and play it. But chess has rwo dimensions, ont:: shore ~u1d nne long term. So even if, in rhe short term, rhcre is no fault ro be found with rhe move, rhe grandmaster would be a bit reluctanr weakening rhe dark squares around his king unnecessarily.

'lhe most: tenacious move was 2l...gxf5 even rhough White will keep a wlid edge wirh 22.exd6, when the d-pa:wn is likely to be a strong asser in what is ro come.

22.f6 Establishing our rheme, the exploitation of the dark squares around che king.

22 ... ~h8 23.~h6 ~g8 l11e first crisis has been averred.

24.llJf3! 'fl1e rhrear of lUg5 creares rhe second cl'isis

.20 ... dxe5 2l.fxe5 Wb6 wich chances both ways - rhoLtgh edly with a bir more acdon on rhe kingside than Bh1ck would ideally want - was che bcsr wav forward. J rhink Whire should play 22.E:f2 with ideas such as '&h6, ~dfl and h4-h5 in some combination, while

for Bbck .

24 ...~b6t 25. ~h2! hf3 The second crisis has been averted, buc a third one emerges from rhe horizon.

22

Armcking Manual 2

·n1e next example popped up serendipitously while I was edirirg Carlsen - Aronian for ChampiouJ of the New Millennium, which you will find on page 108 of rhar book. The opening is the same and the finale involves a nice linle trick based on our standard parrcrn.

Svetozar Gligoric - Evgeny Sveshnikov Sochi 1986

26 ... g5 1he most beautiful line ;uiscs afr~r 26 .. J!c7~ when we return to basics:

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

27.ia6!l Thb wonderful move not only diverrs rhe black pieces, it also clear-s the third rank for the b3-rook, which is ready ro deliver mate only three moves from now.

27 ... ia8 Black cannot cake the bishop, as his entire defence is based on tying down the white queen to the defence of g2. One typical line is 27 ... i.xa6 2SJWh6 ggs 29.1'Nxh7t! and Black is mared.

28..ixc8 27 ,gxf7 .ie4 28JU8! The path for the f-pawn is cleared.

28... gc7 29.f7 gxf7 30.g8xf7 And finally Black h~td to resign. 1-0

28J!g3 was even suonger, the computer informs us, but rhe text move was sufficient and Gligoric did not need any assistance to fini~h rhe job.

28 .. ,:gxc8 29.gfbl d3 30.:gxd3 ~c231.gdb3 ie4 32.gh8 Wfxhl t 33.gxbl bbl 34.~b5

Chapter l - Understanding iv1aring Attacks ~e4 3SJ~Yd7 gfg 36.Wfxa7 h6 37.g4 @g8 38.Wfe3 ~dS 39.f5 @h7 40.fxg6t @xg6 41.Wfe5 gas 42.Wfh5t @xf6 43.Wfxh6t @e7 44.1.Wf4 gc8 45.g5 g,4 46.\Wf6t @e8 47.h3 :Sc2 48.h4 gg2t 49.@fl gg3 so.Wfh8t @d7 51.a4 ga3 52.\WfS galt 53.@f2 eS 54.WfcS ~hl 55.\WxeS gxa4 56.h5 !c6 57.h6 1-0 In my early rwcmks I rcmernber watching rhe following gam~ live and being quire ~xcired wich rhc nice liulc combination I had found. Togerhcr with others I was debating Danielsen\ chances of ing che magical 2500 and claiming rhe grandma~ter title after he had won chis garne. "lhc proragonisr was rhinking and chinking, bur afrer a long rime he played something else.

25 ... hxg6 26.~b5 'l11c posicion is probably prerry balanced here, but wirh a subtle trick Danielsen still managed to omplay his opponenr in the rime scramble.

26... @g7 27.ge2 ghs 28.h4 gh5 29.Wff3 WffS 30.Wfxf5 gx5 3l.~c6 ~f8 32.f4 gh5 33.gbl e6?

8

:~~,~~'~ ~?! ~ ~

54!---~~~~ ... %

%•.. %

~lS~

3

Henrik Danielsen - Carsten Hoi Randers 1996

.. ~ ~~ ~1< .,. ~~L -~-~ ~

~£

~~~~'f. jr~--- ~ ~

~" ~~

f ... J

,~~~r

2 .. a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

34.a5! bxa5 35.dxe6! Wirh three unired pawns against the three separated pawns White has an advantage alr~ady, even rhough the black position does nor appeat· to be lost.

3S ...fxe6 35 .. J~e7!? 36.~f3 ghh 7!!

36 ... :!%f5 37.gxc6 rJ;f7 should be okay.

25.fxg6 Afrcr the game 1 immediardy ran co Henrik and asked: "Did you nor sec ir?" and burst our chc following moves: 25.gxc7 .!he7 26.f(l

''Of course I did,'' Hcnrik ~aid, "hut I also saw that after 26 ... ~e6! I would struggle even to be okay." J was stunned by chis move, which 1 still find greatly impt·e.ssivc to this d:ly.

37J~!xe6

gan

37 ... ~f7!? 38.~d5 :!%h5 was rhe bcsc defence, bur \Vhite is winning a pawn and has very real winning chances.

38.gxg6 a4 39.~d5 a3 40.gel gh8 4I.ge2 ~d442.gxd6

1-0

24

Attacking Iv1anual 2

There is only ont> fin<\1 parrern char remains for us to look ar. I was a hit surprised that ir has occurred so rarely in pracrLcal play, hut as I love it, I bent the pattern a bit to include two really b~auciflil examples, rhar unfortunarely did nor have a pawn on f6.

Manfred Hein - Heinz Thiele Bavaria 1996

Whire broke through with the follmving beautiful sacrifice.

Bur first, ler u.s see rhe standard panern in ~lC(IOJ).

Flavio De Mayolas -Alejandro Bernier u~huai:l

2004

27.f!h6t WxgS 28.f!lh5t ~f4 29.~fl! \'V'hite can win chi& position in several ·ways, bur chose rhe mare in rhree. 3I.~h6 f!g8 32.Wfxh7t! ~xh7 33.hxg6 mate,

1-0 A~

said, I cheated wirh the nr:xr rwo examples, as rhere are no pawns on f6, but (he pos[rions arc so inspiring rhar 1 hope rhe l'C
Black resigned. He is rnated by one of \XIhite's knights on rhe nex[ move.

1-0

25

Chapter 1 - Understanding Maring Anacks

I found the final example of rhis section in rhc dambase while doing a random ~earch on ~he queen sacrifice. T was and concinue w be urrerlv amazed rhar ic is not a complete classic ,md thar~ having pawed my way through 2.lmosr every classic book on combinations, I rud never seen ir before.

6

Bakalec- Viktor Shishkov

3

8

7 5 4

2 Dniprop~rrov.sk

1966

a b c d e f

g

h

29 .fxe8::::~ t!! Black resigned, as he is abour ro lose everything.

1-0 Three Piece Attacks

1 am not: sure where rhis idea was firsr put

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

26.\Wxh7t!! ll1b is of cour~e nor surprising

h

to us, bur

I

forward, but !like Colin Crouch's description of ir in Attacking Technique. As he gives no source it is nor impossible that he came up wirh ir hirn1.df, bur on rhe other hand ir was nor as common co give your sources ac the time the book was written. Anyway, what he says is:

h.n·e a feeling rhar it was a great shock for poor ~hishkov.

Given the chance, Black would play 26 ....~c6 .1nd be absolutely fine, so rhe queen sacrifice really is the only way co play for a win.

26 ... xh7 27.hxg6t g7 17 ... ~g8 28.gxf7 ITtare is a beautiful image .1)

"To conduce a successful kingside arrack, you musr be prepared to sacrifice, while being careful to ensure that you have enough material in 1·eserve m force checkmate. In general, a successful king.side arrack will need at least three pieces panicip~lring; one to be sacrificed and nvo ro give checkmate."

well.

28.gxf7t !1Jgs In rhis posicion there are no fe\ver than tour winning tnovcs, but che choice is an illusion. ·nlcy are ,tJ] ba.<.~d on chc ability w promore to .1 lcnighr. \XIirh a dear sen~e of aesthetics, Bakalec choose the mosr direct rourc ro \-icrory.

Ar first when you look at successful attacking games you will get the feeling that rhis is not as common a phenomenon as Crouch suggests in his book, bur once you dig deeper, you will see that it is accually quire common that rhere are three pieces that have tbis shal'ing of workload; one to sacrifice himself co open up ro chc king, one co assist and one co deliver

Arracking Manual 2

26

checkmate, The simplest example i.s the Creek gift !>acrifice, which we have already briefly looked at in irs generic form. Here it is with a bic more background, still very sim:ple ...

Sergei Ovsejevitsch- Christian Koeffner Erhendorr 2006

Murray Chandler- Dimitrios Anagnostopoulos London 1989

l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~c3 liJf6 4.i.g5 i.e7 5.e5 tlJftl7 6 ..ixe7Wxe7 7.f4 0-0 8.~f3 c5 9.Wd2 ~c6 10.0-0-0 a6 ll.dxc5 ®xc5 12.i.d3 b5? Ic is surpl'ising that this position has arisen quite a number of rimes. "I11e Greek gift !>acri flee is che overwhelmingly most popular move, bm with many orher moves played, it only makes up about half of the games. Of che rh rt'e grandmasters rhar ha.ve had rhis position, only one played the sacdficc, which proves jusr how hat·d it is w find rhe point as expressed on move 17 and 18. Mecking played 13.g4 in 1975, when his rating was ac ics peak ar 2610 (and rhac was a lot of money h~Kk then ... L \vhile Ivanchuk, che occasional World Number One, played l3.h4 against Tukmakov in 2006, albdt in a rapid game. A~

15.\WhS 1l1is is rhe three piece rule in pracrice. 1llc

bishop has sacrificed ir~elf~ the k n ighr is assisting rhe queen., in this case by dcf~nding her, and big rn.omma creates general deva.smdon.

15 .. J~e8 I6.Wxf7t ~h8 17.®h5t ®g8 18.'Wh7t ~f8 19.Wh8t ~e7 20.Wxg7 mate. 1-0 Ler's ;IdvQnce quickly from rhis clean version ro a more complex example,
as Black is not allowing himself co be mared wirhouc a fight, the arrack goes through srages. Eventually a third piece comes ro rhe arracl< wirh decisive cftecr, which seems co vindicnre the three piece rule.

chess databases were still in their infancy

in 1989 ir is unlikely char Chandler had pr<:pared dte sacrifice at home, which only goes ro resdfy ro rhe exrensive srrengrh he had in the lare 1980s. 11Iesc days he is of course mainly known as the money-man in Gambit chess publica.cions, although he condnues co panicipate in and win tournaments.

27

Chapter I - Understanding Maring Anacks

13..ixh7t! ~xh7 14.lDg5t ~g815.iWd3 The opening moves are nor roo hard to :lnd. I gave chis exercise to a group of juniors levelling from 2100 to grandmasrer, bur none of them managed ro find a way forward afrer Bl.lck's be.sr reply. ~ 8' b- ... t::!>e. The only junior rhar decided rhar rhe

~acrifice was indeed correct had overlooked

tenacious defence, which leave~> the dS-square vacanr for rhe Heemg Icing.

rhis

a In most games Black has prderrcd the lesser option of: 1=i ••• ~d8?!

16.®h7i" ~f8

L7.~h8t

@c?

1S.1Wxg7 :'-J"ow Black has to delend rhe 17-pawn wirh: 18 .. J~f8 1he following cacric has not been missed by .my of the white players fortunate enough to obw.in this posirion, and has in most cases led ro immediate resignation.

a

h

c

d

e

f

g

h

JlJ.CL\xe6! ~xe6 20.~xd) ~dt 20 ... %Vxd5 2 I .f5t 2l.~b 1 ct:Jb4 22.fhd7! 1l1is is the main line and also what happened in Scellwagen- Ma Yu. Groningen 1999. Now Black gave up his rook on fS due ro 22 ... ~xd7 23.\Wf6 mate, but tound no peace. I6.iWh7t ~f8

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1his is rh.e posmon that could have been rhe challenge for Mecklng and Ivanchuk. 1he standard method with checking on h8 does nor do rhe job, so it can be easy to give up on rhis entire tactical idea without inspecting the orher options more closely. 1here are no clear reasons why there should be a special solution in tb is position at first glance. However, upon closer in.<.pecrion this opinion changes. lhe cemre is pretty solid and the black pieces are not that well placed. lhe queen can only enter rhe garne via e3 and rhe queenside is simply om of play. Maybe this is what made Chandler think a bit deeper. Or perhaps he rook a gamble, reasoning rhar when you h e7 18.Wfh4 both 18 ... ~f8 and L8 ... f6 lead to a very murky position, where it is had ro say if rhe posicion is just balanced, or if it is better for one of the players. I honestly do nor know. 1l1e problem ror Whire is rhar the manoeuvre ... ct:Jc6-e7-g6 defends rhe k:lng brilliantly. Afrer the check White can also rake the pawn with 18.1Mlxg7, but in rhb case Black will nor rranspose tO rhe previous 11ore vvirh lS .. J~ffi,

Attacking Manual 2

28

but reply 18 ... ct?d8!, when either l9.l2Jxf7·! ~c7 20.CDd6 ge7 or 19.\Wxt7 VJ/e7 would result in unclear consequences. Wbire surely has compensation for rhe piece, bur Black has managed ro stabilise his defences and should be enrering rhe middlcgame with equal chances.

20.CDce4! d.xe4 2l.~xd7! !xd7 22.VJ/h8t @e? 2J.VJ/f6t ~f8 24.VJ/xf7 mace.

All in all, rhese lines only extend rhe iration I have- for Chandler's following moves.

18.VJ/h8t? ~e7 19.VJ/xg7 was played in K. Runirez- Nur Shazwani, Turin Olympiad (w) 2006. Here the accurare reply would have been 19 ... b4! 20.CDce4 Wfe3t 2l.ct?b1 '1Wxf4 22.ltJd6 VJ/xc5 23.ltJxeH V9xg7 24.ltJxg7 ~f6 with a complex endgame that I have a feeling mighr be a tad better for Black.

17.Wlh5!! 1l1 is quiet move is rarher .surprising, but at the same rime nor rbar LlllCOmrnon in rhe gantes with the Greek gift sacrifice. 1he poinr here is to attack the f7-poim:, obviout.ly, and thereby force Black to place his pieces awkwardly. 17 ... ttJd8 "There
18.~h7t! Even this move can be very hard to ~ee. "l11e point is revealed on rhe very next move.

18 ... '.i?g8 18 ... ~e7 does nor work on of 19.V9gSt.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Ir seems as if \Vhire has somehow executed the whole Greek gift idea the wrong way- the knight is supposed ro assist the queen, not the other way around! But just as we thought that the knight was a suppon:ing actor, we find out th,n he is a simple exrra that can be disposed of. Oh) rhe queen's favour is hard earned, but e;lsily lose. 19J~d3!

u b

c d

e

f

g

h

Onto rhe scene comes a powerful new as~istanr. From h3 the rook will the

Chaprcr 1 - Understanding Mating Attacks queen fl.dly ~md cogether the C\Vo will dance off into the sunset (burning down che villages).

19 .. J~tt'e7 Black has no defence. 19 ...1Wc4 can be mer with the simple 20.ItJd) and 19 .. l~f2 loses to rhc prercy 20.~8 1Wxg2 2I.~b3 1!t-fxhlt 2V1.Jcl 1, when it will be White's turn to deliver checks in just a momem; and his checks will hurt.

29

it sounds. 1 have given chis position co a lot of p{ayers; it takes a player rated about 2000 on average about six minutes ro find it. After 40 ...1Wxd4t 4I.g4 %Vb4 we ger to the following position, where we have our three piece phenomenon. 1his rime ir is rhe queen that will sacrifice itself, ro divert rhe black queen. 111en rhe \Vhite king will assist the g-pawn ro deliver mare. It might look as jf this position is very different from the standard Greek gift sacrifice, bur rhe building blocks are rhc same.

20J!h3 f6 21.lt1xf6t lLlxf6 22.exf6

1-0 TI1e three piece phenomenon can also happen in whar might seem co be a more w~1rped buc esscnrially identical scenario. In rhe follov~·ing position Morozt:vich was deariy in time trouble and missed a ractic he would have found in a few seconds if he had nor been in rhc timdi·ame of urgency.

Alexander Morozevich - Levon Aronian Mordia/Un.u·es 2.007

It should be said that White can also win with 38.@h4!? .\;xe3 39.1Wd8t ges 40.1Wxe8t ~g7 41.f6t @xf6 42.1Wh8t ~c7 43.ti.Jc6t as found by Keti Arakhamia-Gram. In the game \Xfhite played worse.

38JU3? ~fl 1 have no idea if Aronian saw the aroremenrioned combination and gambled that Morozcvich would miss it once again. Objectively better, bur as we can sec, practically much worse, would have been: 38 ... ~e8 39.fxg6 ~e1 t, where Black might hope to survive the ending. Bm hel'e Whirc has a great win in 40.~f2 fxg6 4I.tLle2!!, which

Attacking !V[anual 2

30

)Vforozevich undoulHcdly would have found, considering that the key move occur.'. on !llove 41, after the rime conrrol. 'lhe forced line conrinues: 41 .. ,ge3t (41...ga8 42.~h2 kave.'. Black wanting. e.g. 42 ... iWd2 43.iWc6! and rhe rook is losr.) 42.i">h2 iWb4 43.ttJf4 Wie7 44.'1¥!xb6 and Black's lasr drawing trump, rhe connected ed pawns, are no longer so connected.

39.fxg6? Whire could srill win as in the nore above, bur he was clearly our of time. 39 ... :Bxf3t 40.Wfxf3 Wfeli" 4l.~f4 hxg6 42.Wfxd5 Wff2t 43.ctJf3 ivlorozevich had had enough and offered a draw. 1

/z-lJ2

Understanding rhc rhrec piece principle on an intuitive level will no doubt be beneficial tor any arracker. 'lhere is clearly a difference between seeing the pieces simply as pieces, and being able ro see rhem as a team, where rhere are clear roles to be played: in rhis narrative, as a piece ro be sacrificed, a piece ro suppon and a piece ro deliver mare.

Magnus Carlsen - Sergei Movsesian lvfo~cow

(Blitz) 2008

i:~.t~ ~~-~ 7~ ~ ~i-i 8

6

i. ~i~ ..... ~ ~ /.~ ~ ,/

5~. ~ ~ 4 ~ ~ ~ ~

3~~mf~t;j~~

2

~~t;y~~~-~4J.l ;;;?~i

1 ~~

a

~\1Ur%,F=ri

~

d'§~ ~ b c d e f g h

16.hh7t! 1 am sure rhar when Carlsen played this, he was certain that he could always bail out with a draw in rhe event rhar his opponenr managed to parry the threats. 16.ttJg5 g6 17.tlJxh7 might look attractive, with the idea to play ~hSt and iWxc5. But Black can respond with a desperado sacrifice and claim back rhe pawn with 17... ~xf2t!, afrer which rhe position is close ro even.

16 ... ~xh7 17.ctJg5t ~g6 17 ... Wg8 18.l.Wh5 simply does not work.

Insurance Policies Anorher important idea, of grc~H pracrical value for the attacker, is rhar of rhe insurance policy. 1he idea is simple: once we start an arrack, iris useful nor ro burn all of the bridges and insread retain an oppomtnity to bail om, typically by forcing a draw by perperual check or some other form repetition. It is much et.'.ier to 'risk' a sacrifice when you know you will have at least a dn1\v.

or

ll1e first example of this is raken tl·om a recent blitz game.

18.Wfg4 f5 -lhis is rhe only move that offers any defence. Black has to rake conrrol of rhe e4-square. 18 ... @f6 is not an alrernative. It is nor clear which way is rhe srrongesr for White ro continue, bur either knight check on e4 would pick ttp the bishop on c5 and leave White obviously winning.

19.Wfg3 ~f6 19 ... Wh6 is not much different from the game. After 20.iWh3t <J?g6 21.gadl ~e7

Chapter l ~Understanding 1\1ating Attacks rhc sim.plesr move i~ 22.E:t;:5!. when Whirc is winning. ll1c rhrears are 2.).g4, which will lead srraight to marc, and 23.2:xc5 W/xc5 24.Wih?·;· ~f6 25.ltke4t, winning the queen. 1hcre is no way rhar Black can defend rhis position.

b

c

d

e

f

3l.ltle2 ®h4 32.ltlf4t ~f7 33.h4 ll:Vxb2 34.E:dl ll:Vb3 35.E:d3 \Mtc4 36J~d6 E:e7 37.~h2 aS 38.ll:Vg3 ~g8 39.:Sd8t 1-0 T do not want co go roo deeply in to this phenomenon, as I think rhe principle is easy to understand; obviously we are more likely ro risk the sacrince, when we know rhat we can always bail out wirh a perpetUal check or a repetition. At rhe same rime we should nor focus too much on rhis option, as this can distract us from nnding the best moves ar the board. One example is rhc game SmovskyPredojcvic, featured on page 323 in Chapter 4. Everything was proceeding as planned until rhe mornenr where rhe posslbiliry of forcing a repetition apparently blurred rhe Israeli grandmaster's evaluation of the position, and made him miss no fewer rhan three wins[

20.ltlh7t ~f7 21.ltlg5t ~f6

a

31

g

h

Carlsen has used rhc opcion of repeating the position once aucomarically. bur rhcn staned co rhink. Now rhat we arc here, it is obvious rhat White has a very promising arrack and iris not necessary ro agree ro a draw jusr yt:t. However, ir was useful ro have rhb option ar rhc lime where the investment had robe made. In rhe game the prodigy won rhe game with awesome precision, ing rhar this was a blirz game. 22J~ad U ll:Ve8 22 .. .11~c7 2_=>.®h4 @g6 24.E!d3 and 25.~g3 wim rarher ea~ily. '1 he black king simply cannot find any shdret·.

23J~e5! ~b4 24.:Sdel E:a7 25.ll:Ve3 With the double threat of\Wxb6 and ~xe6t, which Black cannot meer in any dignified way.

25 ... ~g6 26JMfxh6 ~b7 27.~e3 ~d6 28.ltlxe6 L:e5 29.lLlxf8t ll:Vxf8 30.fxe5 ~e6

Transformation An advanrage in a chess position can be either dynamic or static in character. An attack on the opponent's king \villusually fall under rhe first category, whilst an advamage in material or pawn srrucntre would be the opposite. Chess is a game of transactions, and somerimes ir is necessary to rradc one rype of advantage for another. When rhc defending side goes w great lengths to stave off the checkmating threats, the attacker may have the opportunity to 'cash in' his initiative ro obtain a different rype of advantage, most commonly one of material. 1 have chosen two games to showcase this idea. In the first White sacrifices a pawn for an initiative and continuous pressure on the light squares, bur at one poillt chooses to go for an endgame instead of continuing rhe attack. In the second game White has an overwhelming attack, bur great defence means that all he can get our of it is a positional advantage in rhe endgame.

Anacking Ivfanual 2

32

Oswaldo Zambrana- Guillermo Soppe Havana 2005

l.e4 tt.Jf6 2.e5 ttld5 3.tt.Jf3 d6 4.d4 ~g4 5 ..ie2 e6 6.0-0 ~e7 7.b3 0-0 8.c4 ttlb6 9 ..ib2 tt.JSd7 IO.tt:lbd2 ~f5 ll.exd6 cxd6 12.B:el aS 13.ttlfl a4 14.ttlg3 ~g6 15.~a3 Wfc7 16.b4 tt.Jf6 l7.ttlg5 axb3 18.a.xb3 tt.Jfd7 19.tt.JO tt.Jf6 20.lDgs ttlfd7 21.-ifl B:fes 22.~b4 ~xal 23.Wfxal h6 24.h5

mistake and lee it go. 27 ... d5!? 28.c5 €lbd7 29.1lxg6lilxg6 30.~xg6lilf6 was only a lirde bit better for \X!hite.

28.tt:le4 ~e7 29.ttlc3 Wfc8 29 ... ~a.S!? \vas perhaps berrer, but White has a firm grip on the position in any case.

\XIirh the moves 30.tilb5 ~d7 31.1la5 CLJc8 \XIhire could drive his opponcnr backwards,

24 ... ~xg5? Black mkcs an unnecessary risk, probably ovcrescim
bur his pieces would not be aiming at the biggest weaknesses in the black position: the pawn on g6.

30 ... d5 31.!xe7 B:xe7 32.c5ll:!bd7 1his loses by force, bur also afrer 32 ... lLI .lilb5tilc7 34.~d6 Whice's advantage would be crushing.

2S.hxg6 fxg6 26 ..id3 tt:lf8 27.1Wbl 27.lile4 fle7 28.CLJd was porcnrially more accurate, bm besides this small derail, rhe game i~ performed perfccrly by Whire.

33.ttlxd5!

27 ... ~h7?!

'lhough it may look as ifBlack has blundered away his extra pawn, rhe likelihood is that he returned ic deliberately, thinking ic would provide rhe best chance to save rhe game.

Holding on ro rhe ransom, but it was berrcr to accept rhar rakm.g the pawn had been a

33 ... ~f7

33

Chapter 1 - Understanding Mating Artacks

39...~e8

8

More resistance was offered by 39 .. J:Vd7 40.dxe6t 1:Vxe6, when Black would be a few moves up on rhe pawn ending. However, Whire can instead win the queen ending after 41.1:Vh7t ~e8 42.\Wxb7 ~el t 43.h2 ~xf2 44.1We4t ~d8 45.b4, when rhe connected pawns should decide.

7

6 5 4 3

2

40.V9h5t!

1

40.dxe6t was possible, but Whire has accurately evaluated rhc pawn ending, which is quite impressive.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

Black has a sham:red position, bur also a few ideas on how ro fighL For insrance, rhe pawns on d4 and c5 miglu become vulnerable. White obviously has a promising arrack against g6 and the black king, bur instead of betting on marc, he cashes in and rransirions ro a f.wourable ending.

40... i>e7 41.V9xe8t i>xe8 42.dxe6 i>e7 43.b4 i>xe6 44.bS! Only rhis wins.

44 .•. i>dS 45.c6 bxc6 46.bxc6 i>xc6

8 7

34J3xe6!! 34.l!.k3 e5 wa~ Black's idea. Also here Whire is better, but Black cannot think abour rhar - he has to remaining busy making tenacious moves.

34 ... ttlxe6 35.hg6t i>g8 36.~xf7t i>xf7 37.~f5t ttlf6 38.ttJxf6 gxf6 39.d5 'l11is is the poinr; Whire ends with an extra pawn.

6 5 4

3 2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

47.i>h2

8

·n1e king will seal rhe deal.

7

47 ... i>d5 48.i>g3 i>e6

6

48 ... f5 loses only to 49.~h4 f4 50.f3!! (after SO.h5? f3! 5l.g4 ~d4 52.~xh6 ~d3 53.g5 <j;le2 54.g6 ~xf2 55.g7 ~e2 56.g8=~ f2 Black makes a draw) 50 ... ~d4 51.~h5 e3 52.~xh6 ~f2 53.~g5.

5 4 3 2

49.i>g4!

l

Threatening ro go co h5.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

34

Attacking Manual 2

49 ..• ~f7 50.~f5! Bur going m f5 when rhe chanc~ is given. After 50.@h5? @g?! Black draws.

50 ... h5 -nlc difFerence is found afrer

so ... @g?

51.~e6, \vhcn White is in line ro win rhe f~pawn.

5l.g3! ~g7 52.~e6 ~g6 53.f4 Black resigned. After 53 ... ~g7 "54. f) he loses

the f-pawn.

1-0 'I his was Joe Gallagher's contribution ro rhc

One of rhc heroes of thl~ book is rhe Isa·aeli tornado Emil Surovsky, whose crearivicy
In the foUowing game he

~r;urs

off cre,uing

a brilliant
good opening preparation, where he was able m react wirh great intensity in the ft.ce of a novelty. After f.:1nrasric play he ended in a situation whe.-c rhere was no clear-cur W<W ro end the g:1me, bur where rhe rhl'eat agains; rhc king could be exploited to win material.

Emil Sutovsky-Joe Gallagher Bled (ol) 2002

l.e4 cS 2.llJB d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.llJxd4 llJf6 s.llJc3 a6 6.~c4 e6 7.~b3 b5 8.0-0 ~e7 9.Wff3 Wfc7 lO.gel CDc6 ll.CDxc6 Wfxc6 12.Ag5 ~b7

opening theory of this particular· line. He is a die-haa·d King's Indian and Najdorf player, and a dash between he and Sutovsky was never going ro be decided by subtleties in the pawn Stl'UCtll re. 13.~xf6

True ro his style, Sucovsky auns ar an immediate confronracion.

13 ... gx.f6 13 ....ixf6? is mer with a typical refutation: 14.~d)! \Wc8 15.e5! and Black is simply busted. \'{!hen you play positions like this, whet·e you spend a lot of rime on gerring your structure righr wirh pa\.vn moves, you need to be very

careful against a fully developed opponent; it only rakes one f1lse step ro rhc side for rhe steam roller co hit you head-on. The only way to conrinue the game with Black here is ro give up a pawn with 15 ...!xd5 16.ctJxd5 !d8 and hope for a bit of luck to come his way later in the game. 14J~e3

Sucovsky is basing his entire srrategy around rhe ~.dS punch. 1hough I like this active move quire a lor, I am nor entirely convinced chat \'V'h ice is actually better here. His atrack has potential, bur rhis alone is not enouPh w o::>

Chaprer 1 - Understanding Mating Attacks \'·!In; we musr also respect Black's dcfalsivt" resources.

14.. .'1Wc5 ISJ!ael ®f8?! TI1is move is slighrl>' artif-icial and ends up nor reducing the pre~sure down rhe c-f-ile sufficiendy. 15 ... 0-0? would also be b,\d. 1lte !>trucrme on rhe kingsidc b weakened and by cutting off

rhe black queen wirh 16.~d5!, Whire achieves a winning arrack: 16 ...cxd5 17.exd5 ~d8 18.\Wg4t @h8 19J!g} and Black is maced. However, afrcr 1 '5 ... ~e5! Black would have been reasonably safe. Afrer 16 ..td5 ~b8 17.ixh7 ~xh7 it w;l!l very difficult for \XIhite to break through in Golubev - Averjanov, Kharlov 2006. Bur Golubev is a great expert on rhese posirions and was able to exploir the chances he was given later 011.

35

16 ... ~c7 also is nor good enough. lr is nor at all bad for White co continue with preparatory moves such as 17.'.Wh5, but acmally \Xlhice is ready to break through and does not have ro wasrc time on manoeuvring: 17.e5!! exd5 18.exf6 d4! TI1is is of course rhe crirical test. 19.fxe7t 'Wxe7 20. 1~ff4! dxe3 21.'Wh6t and 22.~xe3, winning rhc queen with a decisive advanrage. As is ofren rhe ca&e in these positions with queen against t\VO rooks, the advalltage is primarily based on Black's inabiliry to ger his pieces organised. 17.exd5 Because of rhc lack of coo!'dination berween rhe black pieces, the price he paid for setting up his pleasant pawn structure, he is now sufFering huge problems down thee-file.

17••. .E:e8 18.We2 The pressure is intensified.

18 ... Wc7 18 ... ~c4 was possible, bm afrer 19.!%xe7 ~xe2 20.~7xe2 ~xe2 2l.~xe2 b4 22.ctJe4 ixd5 23.Cth:d6 the endgame should be a win wichour any gre
16..•exd5 16.. Jgf.b8 doe~ noc offer any J'esistanct!. ~n1e problem is that ;tfter 17 .~xb7 ~xb7 \XIhirc can play 18.e5 winning.

36

Attacking Manual 2

1l1e knighr is the leasr active piece, ~o he s rhe arrack rapidly.

19....id8! Th~ only defence.

After 19 ...ixd5 Whire wins wirh a simple double rhrear: 20JWh5! and rhe check on h6 will be deadly, unless Black just lers go of the bishop.

19...'Wd7 looked like a decent defence, bm Surov~ky gives 20.~f3! as a f.·mrastic refuradon.

111e rhrcar is 21.CZJxf6, when the recaprure would be met by 22.~xe8'! and 23.~g.it, winning. In the event of 20 .. .£5 he has the appealing 21.'.Wf4!, which wins after 21 ... h6 22.tlJf6! .ixf6 23.~xe8t ®g7 24.~xh8 ig5 25.~d4t ifo, and now for example 26.~h71". 20.~xd6 :E!e7! Again the roughest defence. Blttck cannot afford m ler go of rhe e-file. Af[Cr 20 ... ~xe3 21.~xe3 che rhreat of a check on h6 is deva.staring, so Black is forced imo 21 ... h5 22.CZJf)! when Whire is threarening checks on borh a3 and e8. Black may be able w resisr for a while, but uldmacely his posicion is fost.

move 15 Gallagher has defended with the urmosr tenacity. White has not managed to break through along the e-file and deliver a fatal blow, as could have been hoped, bur his position is S[ill very promising. It ls clear that this i.s the moment: where Whire should prove his advantage and Sucovsky manages to do this with absolute accuracy. Without being stuck in the idea chat the arrack has to culminate in mate he finds a way to transform his advantage from a dynamic one - a dangerous attack, to a static advantage - an extra pawn in che endgame. However, this is not the end of rhe story. Even attacking players have to play the ending ar times and they should be able to do so experdy if rhey wish m be successfuL The reason for rhis is £Wo-fold. First of all, some attacks do fail, and you will have co suffer some poor endings from time to time. Secondly, if you do nor have rhe opporruniry of transformation as a pan of your thinking, you will find many advantages hard ro converc. 2l.~xe7!

21.ll:\f5?! would have been £-wiry> as after 21 ... ~e5! Black manages to dose rhe e-fi.le again. Following 22J:he5 fxe5 23.1We3 i'e8! White scill has sufficient compensation for the piece to make a draw, and also create some problems for Black, but ir seems rhar with accurare pla.y a draw is all there is. (23 .. .f6? is rhc computer's move~ but 24.'.Wh6t @e8 25.ftlg7t @d7 26.~h3t @e? 27 .d6t! leads ro a winning actack.)

2I. .. ixe7 21 ... Vlfx.e7? 22.~d2 is just over.

22.tlJfS a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1l1is is che position that is mosc important for our cheme. After an inirial mistake on

1he knight occupies rhe ideal square, but without allowing Black ro close the e-file. But rhese .are of course very general considerations.

37

Chapter 1 - Understanding lviating Attacks 1here is also another aspect: rhe practical angle involving the calcularion of variations. Black's next reply is rhe only one rhat makes sense.

22 ....bd5 l11is prepares ro play ...!e6 and consolidate rhc k.ing's position.

8

26.E!.d7! forcing Black into a lost ending after 26 ...ic6 27.E!.d8t !e8 28.:!3a8! E!.e4 29.lild6, exchanging all rhe pieces.

25.~xc7 ~e6 25 ... :5!xg2t? is a very poor intermediate move. After 26:;!?fl ~e8 27Jk5! the bishop is unexpectedly trapped in rhe middle of the board. 'TI1e knight's domination of rhe imporranr squares b7, e4 and 8 is remarkable.

26.lt3e3

7

6

8

5

7

4

6

3

5

2

4

1

3

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

23J~Ng4!! Hats offi Sutovsky sponed that 23.\¥/xe?t? would be faulty. Black can play 23 ... Wlxe7 24.lthe7 ~.xa2! with che point 25.b3 ibl! and :ul of a sudden Black is in rhe clear.

The move he played in rhe game .sets up a more favourable scenario where he is able to rake wirh rhe rook on e? insread of the knighr.

23 ... ~g8 24J!xe7 ~xg4 24 .. .'19d8 loses borh ro rhe prosaic 25.Wlb4 and the amusing 25.:5!e8t, leading roan easily winning ending. 24 ... Wlxe?? is nor a useful desperado. After 25.Wlxg8t! White wins. 24 ... \¥/xh2t might look like a berrer desperado, bur after 25.@xh2 ~xg4 White has time for

2 1 a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

So here we are. The transformation has ended and we have an ending where White has an extra pawn and should be able to convert it wirh normal play. Ho·wever, Black sdll has a few acrive moves remaining before he must yield co the inevitable doom. In chis phase of che game we see why Surovsky is not a new Tal o1· Kasparov. An endgame a pawn up like this should be won on almost all s, and if rhis somehow does not happen, it should be because of gre;u resistance and only one mistake. Unforrunately Sutovsky missed several points in this game, bur also, what I consider far more imporranr, missed a number of points in

38

Auacking Manual 2

his annorarions in Chess b~/(mlJtiJ/1, especiall)' regarding the evaluation of the endg<\Ole. But

we will gc:r ro that.

26... ~a4! Black needs to sray active, brcausc if nothing happen~ the game will resemble being down 1-0 m Iraly in foorball.

27.a3 f5! "!his basically force11 White ro allow his pawns be split. 27 ... b4 28.axb4 ~a It 29.ltJf1 ~a2 30.c3 :§.xb2 was probably weaker, as Whire keeps his pawns on the k.ingsidc together. to

28.g3

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

3I.@g2? 1l1is misses a great chance. Gallagher cleverly

Afrct· 29.ltJg2, Black plays 29 ... f3 30.ltJh4 b4! , leading to an exchange of pawns and 11ome weak light squares around the white king.

protecced his pawn with the trick 31.:§.xa6?? :§.g6t 32.ltJg2 gg7!!, when White has to give up the exchange in order not ro lose a piece. Surovsky clearly spotted rhis, but wirh the short rime control used in the Bled Olympiad he is forgiven for nor finding 3l.:§.a8t!, when after either king move, the pawn can be taken. If the kincr00o-oes to e7 Whirc can put his king on h 1, as ...!d5"t?? will allow ltJxd5 wirh check. And after 31... Wg7 32.:§.xa6 :§.g6t 33.ltJg2! there is 1·eally no way for Black to get out of che pin on rhe sixth rank and exploit the fragile position of rhe knight.

29 ... ~xf4 30.~a7 So fa1· Surovsky has played the game perfccrly, and he is shortly rewarded wid1 a chance to finish rhe game \Vith a k.nockouc blow.

31 ... ~g6t 32.~f3 1l1c game continues. White is a pawn up with cxcellenr winning chances, however, Black i~ grart:ful for being able to activate the rook.

30... ~£6?!

32 .•. ~h633.~g3 ~g6t 34.~£4 ~f6t 35.~g3 ~g6t 36.~f3 ~h6 37.b4

I rhink chis is the srrongesr move, although 28. @fll? was possible. "TI1e concern is thar after 28 ... :§.h4! 29.~<17 :§.xh2 30. Wgl :§.h4 3l.~xa6 :gd4 l cannot see a sound \vay to avoid 32.g3 f4 33.gxf4 ~xf4 where Black has succeeded in creating a ed pa·wn and hangs in rhere wirh some drawing chances.

28 ... £4 29.gxf4

30... ~a4 was objectively hccrer, bur afrer ~g2-gJ and t2-f4, maybe wirh 31.c3 first, \'\/hire should win the game wirhout coo many difficulties. "lhe rook is simply roo ive on a4 and ir is impossible for Black ro create coun tcrplay. Ironically, rhc technically interior game conrinuation ma)' have been rbe besr practical

try.

Sutovsky is pleased with this move and I must it that it looks narural.

37... ~e8 38.h4 'it>d8 Another way to provide resistance was .)8 ... ~xh4 39J;xa6 ~d7 40.:§.b6 :§.h5. 1l1ere are fewer pawns on the board than before, and the h-pawn might prove to be an asset.

39

Chapter 1 - Understanding Mating Attacks

White could play 4l.~g3 gg6t 42.~h2!, when possibly the position is still winning.

41 ... gxf2 42,gxa6 After this natural move Whire manages

to

regroup the knight ro f4 and desrabilise rhe black position, which has recenrly been doing bcner based on rhe powerful bishop on c6.

s~jl~~ 7

6

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

40.@f4?! Surovsky i~ very pleased wid1 this active solmion to his problen.1s, bur 1 fear thar this comes from a mind~et char is torally focussed on dynamics. 1 -,.vas discussing his playing style with a well-known chess author who characterised him as an anist, nor a 'player', which is maybe a slighdy unf~lir porcrayal of the former European Champion, bur ar the same time one that conrains a gt.aln of rrurh. 40. h2 wa~ the best move, but \X!hirc will still have to play wdl to -...vin after 40 .. J~h6 41J~:xa6 ~xh4t 42.Wg3 gh3t 43.g2, when the position is getting simplified quite a bit.

40 ... gf6t 41.~e5? Smovsky is marching for..,vard, rdying on the king's acriviry co provide him wich victory, and it: was successful in the game. Ir would be a bit harsh co crirlcise such a decision based purely on rhe evaluation of the play in the game. \Y./e all make misrakes, especially when we are playing with an incremental rime control. Bur the problem is char Sm:ovsky did nor indicate in his annor;uions rhar things were going wrong around he,·e. 1 fear that he mayhe did not sense ir.

~~~"·'~:~: ~~~~'~,~~~ g~

s~i~

~-1~

~

~ ~ ~~~~---f.~~~ 3d-J~~~--J 2 f .. ~d~'ff ~~ 4

..

~~---Y~~ a

b

c d

e

f

g

h

42 ... gf3?! 1l1e correct idea was to activate the king. Afrer 42 ... c7! it is very likely that we will end in a rook or pawn endgame wirh three pawns against two, bur in borh cases the position turns our to be drawn with best play. As this is nor a book on the endgame, I will not delve into rhe analysis here, bur only say rhar I feel pretty confident that this posirion is no longer winning for White.

43.lDg2! Surovsky considers the postt1on winning after this move, bur I am nor entirely convinced thar this is so.

43 ... gf5t 44.@e4 gf.2?! 1 have a strong feeling that 44 .. J~h5 would have offered a better defence.

45.llJf4 icB 45 ... :axc2 is probably no longer sufficient to hold after 46.CtJxe6t fxe6 47.~e5!. White will

40

Anacki ng Manual 2

aim to keep his tV'm connecred pa·wns on rhe queenside while also keeping rhe black king ive. However, this was still the bcsr chance. In rhe ga.me Whire won easily.

char can play cenai n posmons faultlessly? I would instead recommend reserving your self-criricism to rhe moments when you actually know berrer, and leave the 'shoulds' ar che door ...

46.E:a7 E:xc2?!

4G . .J~h2 47 .~xf7 ~xh4 48.~e5 also looks lost, buc not lost by force.

47Jhf7 h5 48J3h7 .ig4 49.ltJxh5 ~c3 50.ltJf6 .if3t 51.sf7d4 :gxa3 52.h5 ~a6 53.i>e5 1-0 So, despire all, Sm:ovsky managed co secure

rhe poinr in rhe endgame, even rhough he did nor exploir aU of his chances to the full. Anorl1er scenario we have to consider is the one where we have ~m option to either conrinue rhe actack O!' to go into a tavomable ending. 1here is a tendency fur us to ft)llow the ev;.lluarions of Fritz and think rhat going fot· rhc ending when rhere was a lovely m;..Idng line is somehow faulry. It might be so finm an aesthecic viewpoint, but from a compedrive one, rhc quesrion is one of risk. \'V'hen you ha,•e a winning positionj you need tO find the safest way to securing your win. Even though one particular continuation may be objectively strongest, it does nm mean tbar this is the best \Vinning line for JOU. My first chess trainer Henrik N.Iorrensc11 was of rhc opinion chat you only had a winning position if you knew how ro win it. If it required Kat·pov~like rechniquc, the position was winning for Karpov, bur only advantageous for me. Technically this is probably a hit dubious, but pmctically ir does make a lor of sense. 1 can get quite" depressed by rhinking abom the amount: of tirnes l have set'n friends complain .:1.bour having had a winning posicion, bm then missed somerhing Fricz found, bur they would ncvet ever find. Why shred your own .self-confidence jusr because rherc ~ue machines

I will nor show any in-depth examples here) as l think the principle should be quire easy to understand. I will briefly mencion that one excellent example of this rheme can be found in rhe game Conquest-~ Arkell on page 155 in Chapter 2. In rhat game Conquest built: up a devastating attack and could have forced mare in a few moves, bLLr rather rhan risk anything he found a way to obtain an easily winning endgame, which he duly converted ro become Brirish Champion. It may not have been rhc Aashiest finish~ hut it was a sure-fire way of getting the job done. Greek gift exercises As an end ro this chapter I wanr ro offer you 24 exercises, which all have one thing in common, a l'elarionship wirh the following posirion:

8 7

6

5

~?}.~ii ~*• ~~ ~~---,..,_.-.:~

~.:

,,

~

f

g

h

Tn 22 of rhem White is winning, while in two Black is able ro defend {so 'White to win, Black to draw). 'These arc marked with Black ro pby. ll1e positions arc sequenced in order of escalating difficulty, from the simple to rhe reasonable into the complicated calculation exercises. I would recommend thar you do not bear yourself up if you give up on any of the exercises after trying to vvork them out:: for ten minutes, hut co he.~dbmr a shovel if you get one wrong after using less than ten minutes .

a

0s .i

~~~~~~--~~--~~

~e/:

9 ~:~~;;,

~Y./W

VS

-~}L

:~ ~ ~f!J

7

6 5 4

3 2

~

f'IJ ,J,/(~+JX~t :j:%i_{~ 6 a

0

1

b

c

d

c

f

g

h

r-~~~~~--~~--~~

8 7

6

5 4

}"::,iE

3 2

~,·:_-.:~-~- ~; t _:-:__.-__:·~.-:,-::_.-.-.-~~_/.;. ·,.:·_w~.u0!~f: __ _%'ffsr ~)~ 0;;_~ tJ.

,_-_·-,_. ,·_. 1 _~:r:,: -_:_=_: __ --: .... __

a

c

d

c

d

f

g

h

f

g

h

8 7

6 5 4

3 2

a

b

e

b

c

d

e

f

g h

a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

a

b

c

d

c

f

M h

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

a

b c

d

e

f

h

Solutions 3

1 Mchedlishvili - Amna Mohammad

Tseitlin- Dizdarevic Belgradl: 1999

12.~xh7tf ~xh7 13.tbg5t ~g8

1hc only real dificrence from OvsejevitschKoefi'ner on page 26 Is the option of playing 13 ... @g6, but here \Xfhite wins immediately wirh 14.W'e4t! (14JM/d3t and 14.h4 also win, bur in more subde ways and with more efforr. We don't like effort!) 14 .. J5 15.exf6t ~xf6 16.W!xe6 mate.

Again ·we enter a few moves after the queen has made it co h7, just to see another potencial follow-up.

36.~:x:g7t!

36.ctJxe6t fXe6 37.Wfxg7t We8 gives no advantage. The problem is rhat rhe rook cannot in. 1hc game should probably end with perpetual check.

14.~h5

ge8 14 ...W!xg5 is rhe only move

avoid immediate mate, bur not a real defence of course. to

36.. .<Jlxg7 37. tb:x:e6t White wins on material.

1-0

4

15.~xf7t ~h8 16.~h5t ~g8 17.~h7t ~f8 18.~h8t ~e7 19.~xg7 mate.

Ivanovic - Radulski

1-0

Panccvo 2003

2 Ovidiu -A. Hoffman

1l1e knight on hS is a bir loose. White exploits this with a temporary sacrifice.

Dos Hcrmanas (I nt<:mcr Blitz) 2003

\Xle enrer a few moves after the Greek gift ~acrihce co look at an imporrant little idea.

2l.~b4! 1nis nice lirrle move keeps rhc king trapped on rhe kingside. 2J.W!h7t? @f8 22.~b4t? @e8 \vould allow t:he black king to escape, when he would be winning.

16.~f7! gxf717.~xh5 g8 Black cannor avoid mare without losing material. 18.~xh7t ~f8 19.tbxf7 \'V'hite wins on points.

19 ... ~xf7 20.~h6 ~g8 21.~xg7t ~:x:g7 22.ixg7 ~:x:g7 23.f4 ~f6 24.tbe3 1-0

21. .. ~xg3!?

5

\\las rhis Hofi"man's way of demonstrating

Oleksienko - Chatalbashev

his sense of humour? fc was only an internet blitz game after all. .. 21 .. J~h6 22.Wie8t is no

bercer.

22. ~h7 mate. 1-0

Calvi 2005

25.f6t Whire opens up for rhe queen.

44

Anacking Manual 2

25 ...exf6 26.Wxg6 E!!d6 26 ... fxg5 27JH7 is an impormnr poi1u. 26 .. J~.e7 is also quire bad. After 27.Eht'D Black is mated.

27.Wff7t ~h8 28.W/x.h;t ~g8 29.Wfh7t ~f8 30 •.th4 1l1ere are many ways the bishop can enter the arrack~ all of which end \virh Black's resignacion.

30... Wfd8 3I.h5 1-0

unable to finish his development. 1he win is nor away. For example, 22 .. .'®'bG can be mer with 23J~b:.d5! exd5 24.eG ge7 25.~g8t ~e8 26.e7t! c;t>xe7 27.@'g7t c;t>ds 28.4Jf7t @e? 29.~el t ~me6 30.ctJg5t and so on.

r:lr

20.Cbxe6! l11is was che important momenr we were heading for. T guess ir is nor so famasric once we arc up close and personal, bur from afar ir is nor so easy to sec.

20 ... 'Lld7 2l.lilxf8 ltJx.£8

6 Campos Moreno - Garbisu de Goni

2l ... gxf8 22.'mg5t c;t>es 23.gfel gives \V'hite a winning position as well.

22.EUdl ~d8 23.Wif6t ~e8 24.~xd8t ·n1e endgame should win trivially.

14.J.xb7t!

lh; first rnove is nor roo hard, bur rherc is an imponanr point later, which you have ro find in order ro justify the sacrifice. 14... ~xh7 15.Wfh4t ~g8 16.ltlg5 E!!e8 17.Wfh7t ~f8 18.Wfh8t ~e7 19.Wfxg7 E!!f8

24 ...Wfxd8 2S.Wfxd8t ~xd8 26.f4 Cbg6 27.g3 J.d7 28.~f2 ~e7 29.~cl J.c6 30.h4 ~e6 31.h5 f£lf8 32.g4 ctJh? 33.~el .id5 34.a3 ~e7 35. ~g3 1-0

7

'l11is is the move that seems ro resemble a defence, bur actually ir is losing rarhcr quickly ro rhc main point of this version of the Greek

Smyslov- Timman

gifc.

lvlo.scow {blirz} 1993

19 ... ~d8 is a bir more tenacious, bur White ha~ several rernpdng cominuations. I like the look of 20.4Jxf7'! @c7 2I.l2Jd()t ctJd7 22.ctJxe8t .9:xe8 23.gfd1 @cS 24.gac1 as ir brings all rhe pieces into play, as well as leaving White wirh extra material. Now a move like 24.. J~d8 would lose immediately to 2S.h4!, when the h-pawn is roo srrong.

White did nor ~mack beautifully, but a big blunder by his opponent broughc him back in

business . 24.~xf6!

Eliminaring rhc defender.

24... exf6 25. Wfx.h7t ~f8 26.~el! 'TI1e poinr - nor too hard I guess.

l9 ... idS allows \V'hire ro continue his an:ack wirh rhe most logical moves: 20.@'xf7t WdS 2l.gfd 1 l11e threat is ll:Jxe6i'. 2l...ctJd7 22.gacl White is fully mobilised and Black is

26...J.e6 27. E!!xe6! Black resigned. 27 .. .fxe6 2S.@'f7 mate. 1-0

Chapter 1 - Under~canding Macing Attacks

8

45

17.e6!

Komarov- Kallai

Now rhe double attack is real.

h.mce 2005

In rhis position \Ve shall ~ce the attack on h7 used as a W;ly ro win mar~rial. 12.~xd5!

12.CDg5? would not lead ro anything afrer 12 ... ll:Jb4!. 12 .•. ltJxdS l3.ltJg5 White wins became ot' the double arrack on h7 and c5 (wirh '12k4). 13 .. J~d8 14.Y*fxh7t c;!;>f8 1S.ltJe4 Y*feS l6.ltJxcS ifS l7.Y*fh8t c;!;>e7 18.Y*fh4t f6 19.id2 Y*fxb2 20.Y*fg3 c;!;>f8 2I.e4 ltJdb4 22.exf5 1-0

17... ~g6! 18.V9h41 ll1e dreadful 18.exf7t?? would even lose f8 22.~c2 \Xlhice has won a pawn and wrapped up rhe game easily.

22... ig8 23.Y*fh3 Y*ff4 24.Y*fa3t ~e7 25.ltJf3 Y*ff6 26.~ael ie6 27 .~e4 idS 28.~e5 h£3 29.~f5 Y*fxf5 30.i:xf5 idS 31.~el ~ae8 32.h4 if7 33J:h:e7 ~xe7 34.Y*fxa7 ~d5 35.YNb8t ~e8 36.Y*fxb7 ~el t 37,c;!;>h2 ge2 38.ig4 1-0 11

9 Kramnik- Short

Soloviov- Lugovoi St Perersburg 2005

Dornnund l 995 19.~xf6

22..ixe6! fxe6 23.Y*fxg6 Black is lose. 1 here is no adequate defence against ®h71" and tL'lr4-g6.

1his initial sacrifice is not too difficulc to find, but it is rhe follow-up thar mighr be a lirde puzzling.

23 ... ltJxe5 24.YNh7t c;!;>fs 25.ltJf4 1-0

t9 ... ~xf6 20.~h7t c;!;>fs 2Lihs The approach of the bishop justifies the attack.

10 Kengis - Efimov

Jyvaskyla

21. .. Y*Td8 21...~d7!? was maybe a better

I 991

16.ltJg5! 16.e6? is rhe rrap. Black escapes with 16 ... g6!! ;md nlrhough his position unpleasant, ir is nor: dearly worse.

LS

defence, ald10ugh White is still on rap after 22.if7 )!xf7 23.4Jxf7 CDe8!? 24.)!fl !Df6 25.4Jh6 ixh6 26.Wxh6t c!?e8 27.~h8t ~f7 28.e5 dxe5 29.4Jc4 with a winning anack. Next comes 4Jxf6. 22.if7! rihe point behind rhc combination. Black

16 ... if5 -nle only move char ofl~rs resistance. 16 ... h6 also allows Whirc ro demonsuate his idea \Vi[h

has to give up his rook and White will be able

17.e6!.

to dominate the f-file.

46

A[[acking Manual 2

22 ...e5 22 .. J~xf7

23.~xf7

chxf7 24J3fl 't @e8 25. ®'xg7 d7 is dearly nor a det~nce. The mosr elegant winning line goes: 26.®g4t ~eS 27.'!Ng8t <;t>d? 28.§f8 lUeS 29.ftJbS! WaS .?OJfNg6! and Black is soon to be m;ued.

23.dxe6 gxf7 24.lDxf'7 .td4t 25.@hl 'W'f6 26.tDd5 'lhis is good enough co seal c:he deal, bur 26.e5! w«s even stronger: 26 ... dxe5 27.ftJe4 'Wg7 28.e7t! 26 ... lDxd5 27.exd5 @e7 28.tDh6t @d8 29.tDfs ie5 30.EU1 ~xe6 3l.dxe6 'W'xe6 32.lDd4 'W'e7 33.lDe6t @d7 34.E!f7 E!e8 3S.CLJf8t

1-0 12

Sherbakov -A. Sokolov Novgorocl 1997 1l1cre ar~ times \Vhen landing on h7 is only the beginning of rhe armck. lr is in1porram co co include some of che other pieces in the acrion, as can bt! seen from this example.

23.1Wh4! &g5 24.lDxg5 ~f7 25.~e31 lr is coo early m give rhe check on h7. Firsr the rook is heading for f3. \Vhite did nor play 25J~c4 because of 25 ... lbd5 1 am sure. lr is quire surprising rhac Whire ret;.tins an adva11rage with 2G.~e3!. 25 ... E!xd4 26.'\Wh7t @f8 27.'\Wh8t .ig8 28J3f3t @e8 29.'\WxgSt @d7 30.\Wf7 White wit1s as Black C
30 .. J~e8 3 I .®'xg6 gfg was maybe a bic 1nore renacious, bm rhe extra pawn should decide. 31.1Wxg6 .;gf4 32.~xf4?! 32J~b3! b5 33.ftJe4 was stronger. 1l1e black king remains exposed. 32 •.• tDxf4 33.E!dl t @c7 34.\Wfi '\Wx£7 35.€)xf7 ~f8 36.lDgS ~f5 37.lDf3 g5?! 38~@fl?! 38.g4! CtJh3t 39.<;t>g2 ~f8 40.@g;3 wou[d have increased White's advantage.

38... g4 39.lbh4 ~xeS 40.~d4 ~h5? TI1is just loses. 40 ... ftJh5 4I.§xg4 ab5 42.b4 a5 would still have offered counter chances. 41J~xf4 ~xh4 42Jt3! ~h5 43.~xg4 ~bS

44.gh4 ~c5 45.g4 h5 46.gd4 ~clt 47.@g2 c5 48.~d2 b4 49.g5 bxa3 50.bxa3 @c6 Sl.g6 ~hl 52.h4 1-0

13 Stefansson- Bj. Thorfinnsson Icdandic Championship, Reykjavik 2008

1l1c position looks dire for Black and in the game he found nothing, but this does not me;m rhat norhing can be found.

18.. J~e8? Afr.er chis \'<'hire sails straight through. 'lhe only move was l8 ...i.xf2t!!, where after 19.i>hl?! g6 Black is a pawn up for little. If Whice rakes rhc bishop, be it wich the rook or the king, Black will quickly be able to play ... Wd4t ro exchange the queens and ensure himself a pleasant endgame, where rhe e5-p
pawn.

19.'W'h7t @f8 20Ji'h8t We7 21.'\Wxg7 CLJxe5 2L..:5f8 22.li:Jh7 is no picnic either.

47

Chapter 1 -Understanding Maring Attacks

15

22.ltlxf7 ~xf7 23.ig5t ~d6 24.ixd8 ltlxd8 25.VMg3t ~d7 26.E;fdl t idS 27.VMg4 q;,7 28.a5 ia7 29J~acl t ltlc6 30.E;xd5 exd5 31.VMg7t 1-0

P.H. Nielsen - Collas 2005

14.ltlc7!! ~a6

14 Ivanov- Korneev Vilagarda 2000

16.~xb5!!

16.'Lld5? would be bad, 17.ixf6 %Vxf6 18.\Wxh7"f inconveniently blocked.

afrcr 16 ... cxd5 Wf8 rhe d-file is a$

l6 •.. axb5 Black has many moves at his disposal, bur

none of them are appealing. 16 ... 'Llxb4 17.axb4 ~xbS was also possible, bur Whire wins easilv afcer 18.ixf6 Wfxro ' 19.~xh7t i>f8 20.ixb5 axb5 {20 .. .'!9xg5 21.:gd7 %Vh6 22.'l:Vxh6 gxh6 23.:gxa6 wins [rivially) 21.'Wh8·1 i>e7 22.gxa7i"!.

Pure resignation. 14... %Vxc7 15.ixf6 hxg5 16.hxg5! is the initial poim of che combination. l4 ... hxg5 offered the most resistance, bur White has a decisive attack: 1'5.hxg5 (15.ixf6 gxf6 is not dear) 15 ... ltJe4 16.liJxe8 Wfxe8 17.'l:Ve2! 1he queen is transfened ro h5 where it will decide the game. The bishop will come ro d3 later, for example after 17 ... d5 18.%Vh5 ~tB 19.id3 when White is winning. Black cannot prevent ixe4 and if6 in any sensible way: 19 ... e5 20.~f3 i>e7 2Lixe4 dxe4 22.%Vf5 liJd7 23.:gh8! and Black is losr.

15.ltlxe8 ~xeS 16.VMh7t ~f8 17.VMh8t @e7 18.lilh7! A nice little finesse to finish rhe game.

17.hf6 VMxf6 IS.VMxh7t @f8 19.E;xd7! This secondary sacrifice was of course rhe rnain idea.

19...VMxal t 20.ifl q;e8 20 .. .CtJe7 21.%Vh8t lLJgS 22.gxt7t ~e8

18..• ~d6 19.VMxg7 1-0

16 Calderon Fernandez- Ronco

23.%Vxg8 mare.

2l.E;xf7 Good enough co win, bur ir was more accurare to play 21.:gb7! when the game would have been over immedia[ely.

2l. .. ~e7 22.:Bxg7 Wff6 23.hb5t q;d8 24.Wfd3t q;,7 25.VMd7t @b6 26.:Bxe7 E;d t 27.ifl ~xfl t 28.~xfl VMal t 29.~e2 VMa2t 30.@f3 E;f8t 3l.~f7 VMd5t 32.VMxd5 exd5 33.h4 ibs 34.q;e2 1-0

Berazaregui 2008

20.~g5! The bishop is nm: sacrificed on h 7 in chis version~ bm on e2. White is exploiting the facr rhar rhe bishop on g4 is exposed.

20... i.xe2 20 ... ltJc4 could be cried ro confuse matters, bur after 2l.~xg4 ltJxg5 22.~xc8 White has a winning position.

21.ixf6 VMxf6

48

Anacking lvlanual 2

Or 21 ... ~d3 22.\¥/xd3! and \XIhitc end~ with an cxn·a piece.

1l1e only move. 27 ... h6 loses a piece m 28.b3! fo1lowed by V£le6t.

22. Wfxh7t ~£8 23J~d7! 1he point. ·n1e black king is em ofF on rhc eighrh rank and \Xfhire i~ rhre
28.b3 Wffl 29.lLlg5 1l1e point behind the sacrifice. \Vhite gers to h7.

23 ...~e8 24J~xa7 Wfe7 ·n1ere is norhing berrer, although suH1ciem by any srandards either.

thi~

is not

25J~xe7t ~xe7 26J~el ~d3 27.Wfxg7 ~g6

28.e4 c3 29.e5 c2 30.Wff6t 'it>m 3l.CDxf7 hfl 32.e6 ~c7 33. Wfh6t ~e7 34.exf7t 'it>d7 35.Wfe6t

1-0

17 Mamedyarov - Heberla Istanbul 2005

"lhcre .uc rwo big weaknesses in rhe position: rhe e6-square and the h7-squarc. 1l1c reason why ir is exactly rhese squares that are weak i11 rhac rhc knight on e4 can go co d6, g5 and f6, rwo of which allow it to
29 ••• \W£6 30.Wfxh7t 'it>£8 3I.tLle4 Wfe6 Black is al~o lost after 31. .. \¥/f7 32.8:d3! llJf4 33.'Wh4 :ad? (or 33 .. J~a8 34.llJxd6 winning) 34.~f3 1l1ere is u?-o3 o::> •

no good defence against

32.~d3 d5

32 ... ltJf4 3.3.:af3 does

not

solve

any

problems.

33.~f3t ~e8 34.ctJg5 Wfe7 35.~f5 35 ..::::!£7 was also sufficient to win, bur Mamedyarov decides ro rely on the iniriative.

35 ... ~£6 36.\WgSt 'it>d7 37.Wfxd5t 'it>c7 38.\Wf3 ~df8 39.~xf6 gx£6 40.lLle4 f5 4I.Wfc3t ~b8 42.Wfc6

1-0

18 Short- Velikov Solingcn 1987

23.Wfxh6!! White of course has a winning anad: afcer 23 ..~.b3, bm as this is an exercise I relied on your sense of adventure. 23 ...Wfxc4 24.~xg7t! 1l1 is is a very beauriful way ro fin ish rhe game, but White was also winning afrer 24.'®'h5!? g6 wid\ eirher the cautious 25. \¥/hG or the more brural25Jhg6t lLlxg6 26.~xg6t CDg7 27.:ag1 :af7 28.lLlg5, winning. 24.•. lLlxg7 25.lLlg5!

Chapter l - Understanding lvlaring Attacks 25.~gl?

would be a grave mistake. Black has several good move~, such a1. 25 ... @£7 (probably best) and 2 5 ... 1!9g4!?, which keep the game very much alive.

25 .. J~e8

26J~:gu

With decisive threats.

26...1Mfd4 26 ...1Wg4 is no longer valuable, as there is no back rank mate. \Xfhite wins after 27Jhg4 fxg4 28.tlJce4.

27.1Mfh7t ~fB 28.ctJxe6t! ctJxe6 28 ... ®t7 lasts rhe longest. Amusingly White only mares direcdy wirh 29.tlJd8·i·! '1Wxd8 30.'1Wxg7t cJie6 31.'1Wf6t @d7 32.'1Wd6 mate.

29.1Mfh6t Black is mated on the very next move.

49

22.1Mfh4 ~fd8?! This is basically re11ignarion. Black had to find 22 ... h5 without fearing rhe sacrifice 23.1xh5, as he would have 23 ... \Wd4! 24.1g4 '@h8! as a legitimate defence (bur nor 24 ... ~g7? 25.ic3). After 25.'!Nxh8t ~xh8 \Xfhite can either play 26.ic3t and rake rhc pawn on e6 with check, having two bishops and two pawns against rook and knight, or play 26.1xe6 fxe6 27.ltJxe6, when Black is forced ro play 27 .. JU7 (27 .. J!fc8?! 28.:gdl ~g8 29.:gd7 looks way roo dangerous) 28.~dl ~g8. After the further 29 .ic3 \Xlhite's advantage is overwhelming, bur rhe knot has not yet been tied. White will play 30.:gd6 and rhe win should be within reach.

23.1Mfxh7t ~fB 24.~c3 ctJd4 25.ctJxe6t 1Mfxe6 1-0

1-0

20 Teske - Galdunts

19 Sturua- Housein

Baden-Baden 2002 Komorini 1993

23 .• J~~xdl t? Once again White wim by gerring his queen to h7 in a sequence rhar is probably not roo difficult. However, evaluating the position as overwhelming ar rhe very end of rhe line will cause some readers a bit of trouble, \vhich is why I have graded the exercise in rhc way I have. 20J~xd6! 1Mfxd6 21.ctJg5 g6 21..J~fcS

is not a berrer defence. After 22.\Wxh7"1" ~f8 \Xlhite ha11 rime to stop and reassec;s rhc situation. After 23.1c3 Black cannot keep his bits together. 1he following is nor necessarily rhe most overv-.'helming winning line, bm it i'i very simple: 23 ... tl:Jd4 24.tl:Jxc6!" tlJxeG 25.~xg7i" tlJxg7 26.~h8t and Whirc is rwo pawns up.

23 ... tlJc3t! is the only move. After 24.bxc3 2-).'Q'C ,+, 2 1'-t'-f5-'-I·1 (?5 ..!-. dl _ ... '1!1. ax fJ·" -f 26J.'z±tx :!:%d8i" ;1lso draws, as do a few other moves.) 26.~xd 1 'IWb 1t wirh perpcmal check. ~ dl..!-1 t=.X

1'::::{

24.~xa2~d5

24 ... \Wf5 looks like a better defence, bur after 25.exf7t @f8 White has 26.ttJh7t! ~e7 27.f8=~t! "TI1is is a powerful clearance sacrifice. After 27 .. J!xf8 28.~xg7t ~e8 29.'Wc3t ic4 30.~e2! White has a winning arrack with ideas such as !xdl, ttJg5 and ih5t.

25.exf7t ixf7 26.1Mfh7t ~f8 27.1Mfh8t ~e7 27 ... Jig8 fails to 28.tlJh7t.

28.1Mfxa8?!

Attacking lvfanua[ 2

'50

1l1e beginning of rhe dn1c trouble chaos w~ have in from of us. 28.f!.e4t was more accurarc.

28... c3t 29.'Llxf7 Wfe6t 30.b3? 1l1is b. a horrible miHake. Tnsread afrer

30.i.c4 White has a winning arrack. ·n1e main line (nor that we should require precise v;u·iations to assure us abour rhe potency of the arrack) goes as follows: 30 ... \Wxg4 31.Wla.7t ~f6 32.W/b6t @e? 33.i~:hc5t @f6 J4JWe5t ~g6 35J~Mxc3 and White is winning on all

30•.. Wfxg4 31..ic4 Wfd7 3 L.Wi£5! was stronger. Afrer 32.Wfb?·r f!.d7 .)J.~h l (33.~c6 ~d2·1· 34.c;!;>a3 c2) 33 ... a4 Black ha~ a winning ;mack, while rhe whiw queen has been forced inro an embarrassing position.

32.Wfe4t ~f8 33.'Lle5? [r is hard to believe in these moves, unless you know Henrik rhar i~ ...

24 ... dS 24 ... @h8 looks like a possible defence, bur \XIhire can decide rhe game to his advantage in many difFerent ways. My favourite is 25.f!.c6 tLlbd7 26.~e4!, when it is suddenly impossible to defend the f7-square. Here White has a slow, but unstoppable ·winning plan: he will simply walk the h-pawn ail rhc way to h7.

25.h4! 25.c5 can be played first, but why bother? 25 ... tLlxc4 26.h5 tLlxd2 After 26... tLld6 White has ro take a moment co prevem ... \W£5 with 27J~e6, when it is rime co resign. 27.h6 Black has to parr with his queen to continue the game.

24.c5 'Llc4 25.'Lle5 'Llxe5 26.dxe5 'Lle4 27J~xe4 dxe4 28.Wfxe4 g6 29.Wfh4 .ig7 30.e6 f6 31.Wlh7t 1-0

22 Gulko - Popovic

33 ... W/d4? Clichy 1986

TI1e only move was nor bad: 33 ... Wid2t 34. c;;t>a3 f!.a 1 mate.

34.'Llg6 mate. 1-0

21

\'
Sermek - Dive 25.g6!! f6 Auckl.md 2000

23.'Llxg6!! dS Black accepts che Iuss of a pawn and indirectly the game, hut accepting rhe offer held little hope. After 23 .. .fxg6 24.~xg6 ir is hard to find a move for Black.

Sidestepping rhe main line, but immediate mare is only avoided at grear cost to the black king's safety. The point behind Gulko's brillianr sacrifice is 25 ... hxg6 26.tLlg5 tLld7 27.\Wh4 tDfo 28.~g-4!!. Only in rhis way! Black has no .mswcr ro 29.~c5, after which rhe control of rhe h7 -square goes.

26.gxh7t ~xh7

Chapter 1 -Understanding Mating Attacks 26 ... ~h8 brings no rdieC Wh ire gers a strong attack after 27 ,li)h4!, with possible lines such a~ 27 ... ~xh7 28.~g6t ~g8 29.lt.Jf5! when the white anack is Cl'ashing through.

27.lL!e4 1his is strong enough ro win rhe game, bur I am a suckec for 27.!he6! !he6 28.~f5"1' ®g8 29.\Wh3 wirh devast g8 30.l?Iih4 g6 3Li.e5 i.g7 32..L:e6t gxe6 33.'1Mlh7t

51

all the way to rhe end. I am not sure if this is whar Kiriakov djd, or if he just saw enough to decide that it was worth the ri~lc

I4.ctJd5!! exdS lS ..ix£6 hf6I6.l?Iixh7t @f8 17.cxd5 \Xfith the idea of playing 18.d6. Black has only one reasonable reply. 17••. d6 17 ... ie5?! 18.f4 id6 is no better. 111e bishop is sadly missed on the kingside and White wins after 19JWh5 gG 20.~h7 wirh mate on f7.

1-0

23 Farkas - Gaujens e-n1.ail 200 l

Black \Vas probabl)' rhinking rhat cveryrhing was olmy and rhar White would nor do anything bad w his king. He was partly right, bm. the trouble hb queen is in is quite another marccr!

21.'1Mlh6t e7 21.. .~g8 would allow \Vhitc to organise mace with 22.tL1h7!. 22.Wfh4! Black resigned. Suddenly it is dear rhar after rhc forced removal of the king, for example wirh 22 ... \!/fB, \\!hire will play 23.!!cl and the queen is n·apped: 23 ... lZk4 24.ctJxc4 dxe4 25.tLJd4

1-0

24 IGriakov - Tiviakov Port Erin 1~99

1his posirion is nuybe not so difficulc in irse!(. but it: take~ a lot of brainpower ro calculare it

18.i.h5! After a normal move such as 18.£4!? Whire would certainly have a very strong atcack as justification for rhe investment, bur the move played in the game is simply stronger. 18.•. .L:g5 19.'1Mlh8t e7 20.l?Iixg7 E:f8 Black has no choice but to return the bishop. 2l.l?Iixg5t @es 22.B:cl? This does not throw all of the advantage away, bur it is by no means as deat'-cur as the position after 22.gd4!. ~Hte only defence imaginable for Black leads to a rather solemn position after che following forced sequence: 22 ... Wie7 23.®f5 tLJd7 24.ge4 ctJc5 25.f4 ixd5 26.fXe5 (26.gd4?! ltJf3t! with complications) 26 ...~xe4 27.l.Wxe4 fi:c8 28.e6 In the final position Black srilJ has an exchange For the rhree pawns> but rhis is mol'e or less the only positive thing rhat can be said abom the black position. White is dominating him completely and the difference berween the safety of thl;! respective Icings is exceprional. 22 ... V9d8 23.'1Mlf5 23.~h6 was probably stronger. 23..•l?Iie7?

Acracking Manual 2

~J )_

Afcer rhis Black is wmpped up and pur in rhe oven like a mrkey ar Christmas. 'lhc only bring tbe kmghr inro rhe game irnmedi:.l[ely wirh 23 ... t2Jd7. Here rhe only rhing r have managed ro find for \X!hire is

chance was

to

24.®e61' V!ie7 25J3;c7, bur Bbck is not in deep trouble anymore: 25 ...Wxe6 26.dxe6 ltlc5 lf White chooses to play 27.b4 rhere is 27 ... ~d8!, which f suspccc is rhc move Tiviakov

missed. Afcer 28.e7t Wxc7 29.exfB=W :gxf8 30.bxc5 dxc5 Whire is <1 pa.wn up, bur i£ is much easier co advance the black p
Kiriakov does nor miss such a chance twice.

24... tlld7 25J~c7! Nmv even this extra option exists.

25 ....1c8 26J~fcl sf?d8 27..1g4 1he rhrcar is 28.W/c2. 27 .. .VNe8 28J~Ic6 ~g8 29.h3 b5 30.1Hf4 VHfB 31.hd7 hd7 32J~ff6t sf?e8 33.~xd6 ~d8 34.~dxd7

1-0

Chapter 2 Typical Piece Play

It'~ at /1(0/f("-lft.r lr:le- t!w~ that tk attaeftlrj ;1~,. /f(ut.r lw~ rle.rttirj. ttlk tk~f; t'.f If(} ttlf'l(tirj bae~ tk ;ath- lf;(J.cltlrj fllf'tk~ tirt(J tk llfi?4Jf t'.f (Jfte-lf tk Pl(f; th-at llfalft b2; rfo!lotVu{

Diagram preview

On rhi:, page you find 26 diagrams with critical momems ~ram rhe coming chapter. I recommend that you rak~ up to 10 minures to rhink about each them. Tile salurions are found an rhc fallowing pages in rhe annonu:ians to the games. Positions with a circled P can be played against a compurer.

or

®a

c

d

e

f

g

Tnldare rhe arrack (see page 63)

a

h

A sudden chance (see page 72)

b

c

d

e

f

g

Get rhe parry starred! (see page 83)

h

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Black tO win {see page 128)

How ro conri nue (see page 1 19)

®abcde

a

fgh

\Vhere ro strike? {see page 113)

6

5 4 3

f)

c

d

e

f

c

d

e

f

g h

A nice winning move (see page 138)

Mare is near (sec page 122)

a

b

g

] mprove on Kasparov (see page 126)

h

b

a

c

d

e

f

b

g

\XIhirc is ready, arc you? (sec page 149)

b

a

c

d

e

g

f

h

Accurare arrack! (sec page 153)

s ~:tr?.~..t.~•B

a

h

c

d

e

f

g

h

Find rhe deep \Vinning move (see page 167)

®ahcdefgb

Typical arracking chaos (see page 176)

;~..,

%'1 i ':.1/ B i ;'It : ~--·>~1~-f~;~-F \~;

! !,:,r:lK'"xwlfJl~~~~

~ lftA ~,~Y!~~~Jtt!i!;rts: ~~ a

~~t~~~i~~}.: h

c

d

e

f

g

Only nine moves in ... (sec page 157)

b

a

b

c

d

e

f

Deci1.ion ci me

(see page 168)

g

b

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Win extremely eleganrly (see page 177)

Covered in this chapter • "lhc Assault Ratio • Deflccrion • Overloading • Tempo~gainers • Piece Sacrifices for rime • Tra nsi cion sg uares • Lines of Communicarion • Vacaring Squares • Ourposts • Launching •l1le pin • Improving rhe Circumstances • Prophylaxis • lhc f'5/f4~sguares

In this chaprer we will talk abour various techniques and siruarions that are ofrcn seen. While in the lasr chapter we talked a lor abom the acr of rnaring irsel~~ we will in this chapter discus~ rhe last piece of accion that precedes the macing combination. As in rhe previous chapter, ic shall be my objecdve co keep tt simple, bur nor be afraid of complcxiry.

more rhan one sguarc in order to make it char far, and in mosr cases, of a larger parr of rhe board. ~fhis could be rhc centre, the kingside or rhe guccnsidc, but also a sm•1ller territory. 1hc imporranr parr is rhat rhe enemy king is there! So, in order ro arrack, ir is a rop priority for us to seek exactly such a supcrioriry. When 1 ralk about rhe ~lssault ratio, I am talking about the difference between the number of pieces involved in the arrack and rhe number of pieces involved in rhe defence. "H1is simple idea is closely relared to rhe basic rule of the attack as given in Volume One, always bring a.J

many pieces into the attack a.J possible. Our first game in rhis chapter provides an excellent illustration of chis theme.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly- A. Samhouri Cebu City (Asi.m Ch.) 2007

I.e4 e5 2.~8 ~f6 3.d4 ~xe4 4 ..id3 ~c6 5.dxe5 d5 6.~c3 ~b4

1he tirsr irem on our list is, not surprisingly, the most basic.

The Assault Ratio Probably che mosr ba~ic preregu1S1CC for a successful arrack is a superioriry ac rhe scene of rhe crime. lf rhe police do nor show up in greater numbers rhan the villnins, rherc will be lirrle chance of making an arresr. "lhc Dutch like ro r~1lk about rwenry poinrs co rhe king, leading ro mate. 111is is of course a simplification of whar is going on) bur nor a stupid one. \X!hen we are actacking, we are looking for superiority on, taken co an extreme, only one square; rhe one on which we shall deliver rhe mate. !v[osr ofrt:n we need to be in charge of

7.0-0! l11is pawn sacrifice looks very dangerous. l11e problem for Black is rhar he cannor accept it without £1l1ing dangerously behind in development, and without accepting ir, he wiU find his centre under mounting pressure.

Attacking !vi an ual 2

7 ... hc3 8.bxc3 CLlxc3 "!his is probably a q ucstionable decision, but orhcrwisc White will play 9.c4 and enjoy the rwo bishops and a sliglu lead in development, as well as real pressure on rhe black centre.

9.'\Wel d4 9 ... lLle4 is probably best mer by regammg rhe pawn, even if ir is very <tppealing co play 1O.~a3 or 1o.gb 1!? , making i r harder for Black ro develop his queenside bishop.

10.i.d2li:lb4 ll.i.e4!? ll ..ixc3 wirh a slight edge was maybe rhe objectively besr way ro continue, bur ir is h<1rd ro offer anything bur praise cowards an inspired exchange sacrifice thar goes on to win the game only cighr mo\·es larcr.

Surely Ganguly would have played: 14 ..ig5! \!Md7 15.:Sadl ~e6 16.Wxc6t! winning.

12J3xa2! 1his was of course the idea. \XIhire now has developed all his pieces, and the only remaining developed black piece is the knight on a2, which in a strange way is occupying a ::.quare jusr as far from rhe cenrrc as when ir starred out. Having said rhar, rhcrc arc rhings ro rejoice for wirh Black as well. He has won the exchange and two pawns, and he has no obvious weaknesses in his position, aside fi·om the king being stuck in rhe ccnrrc. However, wirh vigilanr play Ganguly proved that he had sufficient compensation.

12•.. CLlxa2 13.i.g5 '\Wd7 ll. .. CLlbxa2? A. Iready rhis is rhe decisive mistake! Correct was ll ... lLlxe4 12.\!Mxc4 lLlc6, when Black should be ready ro give back the pawn afrer 13.c3

If nothing happened over the next move or ~o. White would nor be able ro justify his material investment. Bur he can make things happen, and thar makes for all rhe diftcrence.

8

7

6 5

4 3

2 I

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

14.e6!

However, be should not fall for rhe rrap and rake on c3 with 13 ... dxc3?, when \'(/hire does nor recapmre. His previous play ha.!> 1.hown rhar he obviously doe~ not care for material.

1l1is attacking idea (opening up the lines rowards the black king) would have been far less elfecrive if Black still had a strong knight on c3, hitting on rhe powerful bishop on e4.

14... fxe6!

Chaprer 2- Typical Piece Play Not such a strange move ro play, but none the less rhere w~re rwo moves duu might seem playable/natural
59

investment, ic is not so surprising chat \Vhite has no more than a perpetual check.

16.f4!, with the idea to bring rhe queen to h4, is the critical move.

14 ... \Wxe6? would be awkward after the prmaic, hut very effective. capture, 1'5.ltJxd4. More complicarcd is I4 ... ~d6, when Whire needs to play accurately in order to p1·ove his advanrage. The win com~s afcer IS.exf7i· @xf7 16..id5t! ~e6. Taking th~ bishop loses rhc queen, but 1nighr also offer a bir of resistance.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

17.VNxe6t! followed by l8.ctJc5t and White has regained some marcrial. And the attack rages on, despite the exchange of queens.

15.ttle5 'l&b5 15 ... ~dG! would have ofrercd a bir more rcsisrance, as the C.]tteen\, more ccncral locarion would enable her co excn a greater influence on the game. However, ir docs not appear that Black can hold the po!.irion.

1G.ix.h7 loob promising, bm Black ha~ a defence: 16 .. .:!~xh7 17.\We4 .!1h6! The r·ook is not wonh more chan the bishop, as it can find no way to inf-luence rhe imporrant squares around the black king. For rhis reason it is happy to bleed for king and country. 18.i.xh6 gxh6 19.~g6t Wr::7 and with his heavy material

a) 16 ... d3!? is a great defensive possibility. With this pawn move he manages to get the knight back lnro rhe game, eliminating the poisonous bishop. 1l1e rwo most: obvious line~, l7 ..ixd.~ lt:ib4 and 17.cxd3 ~eSt 18.ci>hl ctJc3, both a.ppear to be to Black's advantage. However, White has a beauriful winning line in 17.~h4!! when after the principled moves: l7 ... W/d4t 18.~h 1 ~xe4 19.\Wh5! g6 20.\Wh6 ~e2 21.:ggl

60

Attacking Manual 2

black king. This is an cxccllcm example of rhe attack ratio being in White's favour. Black i.;; dominating mosr of rhc board, bur rhe e7 -square, rhe focal square, is beyond his abilities to conuol.

in long lines after 22.\Wxg7, bur it is probably much simpler this rime to cash in with 20.CtJe7t!, winning the queen under more favourable circumstances.

16.f4! b) 16 ... ltk3loscs to a slower arrack: l7.~d3 0-0 1s.1Wh4 (18.~xh7"\? is significandy poorer here. 1he main idea 18 ... ~xh7 l9.~h4t ~g8 20 ..'~.e7 at this momcnr fails co 20 ... \Wxe5!, and our mosr imponant arcacker has gone ro the grave without rhe possibility of being avenged.) 18 ... !W:i 19.~c7 \Wd5 20.g4 We could srop here, bur l want to prove rhat White is indeed winning. 20 ... b5 2l.gxf5 exf5 (2l...~b7 22.:gf3) 22.:gf.3 ctJc4 23.\Wh5 ~d7 24.:gh3 h6 2'5.~.xe4 fxe4 26.~f6 \We6 27.ctJxd7 \Wxd7 28.~xg7 White is clearly winning.

Opening up for che white queen to emer the arrack on h4. 1he assault ratio is now immense, and ic is not a surprise that Black is busted. ln rhe game he went down rapidly, with a big bang, but by this rime there are probably no significanr improvements for him.

c) 16 ... 0-0 looks dangerous, and tt ts nor surprising that \XIhitc can break through the king's flimsy defences using brure force. 'll1e winning line is: l7.~xh7t! ~xh7 18.\Wh4t <±>g8 19.ctJg6! Clhcre is no reason to go materialistic now. 19.~e7 ctJc3!? gives Black a few saving chances.) 19 ... cS The only move. (Black can find no salvation after 19 ... ~d7 20.\Wh8"t Wf7 2l.ctJe5"i" or I9 ... :gf5 20.g4 ~f7 21.\WhS! ~f6 22.ctJh8t! Wg8 23.~xf6 gxf6 24.\Wt7t Wxh8 25.:gf3 and mate is ne.u·.)

17.Wlh4

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

16 ...g6 Black is also lost after 16 ... 0-0 l7.'!Mh4 ~f5 18.g4, ·winning rhe rook, or simply 16 ... ctJc3 17.~d3, when rhere is no defence against 18.Wh4, with a winning arrack.

White is anacking wirh fuur pieces, while none of Black's pieces are defending effectively. rThe result is obvious.

17 ... 0-0 18.hg6! After this final sacrifice rhere will be nothing between the killer queen and her prey. 18.•. hxg6 19.tLlxg6

h

2(LWfh8·r Wf7 2l.ctJxe5t We6 now leads co great complications, all winning for White

a

1-0

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Chaprcr 2

-Typical Piece Play

61

The final posmon of this game is a clear presentation of rhe idea I wanr ro bring across. The three white pieces arracking rhe black king are t~tr more importanc rhan rhe cncire black queen.side, which incidc:nrally is wonh 23 p
One of rhe true masterstrokes of the 20th cenrury. Whhe has alreJ.dy given up the exchange, and now he sacrifices his queen for a mere knighc.

I know rhis concepr is neither deep nor hard co understand. Chess is actually not char difficult ro under~rand - ir i~ jusc very hard to play. 1hink of rhe diltcrem:e between looking ar a cornbinarion for which you already l<11ow rhe solution, <111d one for which you do nor. 1r is a com plcrely di ffercn r ex pcriencc.

c-pawn wirh rhe rook. 1his also fails: 25 .. Jk7 26.~d 1! (but not 26.c7 \Wf7~, and it looks as rhough Black might escape) 26 .. J~e7 27.~b3

When we are talking about the a&sault ratio overpowering the defence, it docs not necessarily mean char the arracking pieces arc worth more than che ddending ones. In this classic example we see a scenario where rh~ attacking pieces are worrh le~s rhan rhe defenders, according ro our tradirional understanding of the piec.:s' value, bm arc srill abk ro carry rhe d~l)' rhanks to rheir superior positioning.

Gusev - Yuri Averbakh

24 ... fxe5 25.:Sfl

~c8

A simple waiting move. Black also had another defensive strategy, trying ro block rhe

8 7

~~. -~-.-~

B.& 6 ~.~ ~8~&~?. 5 ~~-"~w·a··'t 4

3 2

~

~ J.~

-~~ ~~-,-~~ ~~i

m-

~il~ A"~--· . . . ~~

- c..J~o~

¥ffJf ;p~

~

~a

.%~("' v.~:~ ri¥/~"'· ~

~ ~ ~)S(~

b c

a

~

~?f~

d

e

f

g

~

J

h

If the black queen were able to get ro g4, the counterattack would save rhe day. Alas, chis is not possible, so White can win comfortably, either by exch.mging rooks, or wirhout. 27 ... b5 28.~d5 a5 29.b3 b4 30.c4 ~d8

lvloscow 1911

8 7 6

~

~

~*~

~m~-'"· ~ ~ .x~,i{/Y-1~~--·v r-... ~ ~

~ ~cj~-~~ ~~~r¥~-B,..~e

'¥i8:~'[l,"~~- ; :!i~~~~3 .. , 5 4

w··f.~u~~-a~ ~ 0·/~~ ~/.w~·~r~>: ~

a

~

b

c

if~~ ~)a"f d e f g h

And here \\7hite wins with both 3l.c5, with similar ideas as in the ganle, and with 3l.:gf7 ~e8 32.:gxe7 'Wxe7, where the queen is the only black piece char can move, and as soon as ir does, thee-pawn will race to rhc finish line.

62

Attacking Iv1anual 2

26.~dl gc4 27.~b3 b5 28.~xc4 bxc4 29.b3 \'{/hire creates a ed pawn and wins slowly, bm steadily.

6.e3 i!l more popular, bur I am very sympathetic to the ambition of avoiding rhe doubled pawn.

29 ...a5 30.bxc4 a4 3l.~g2 a3 32.!Ul Wfe7 33.gfl g5 34,gf5 g4 35.c5 WI dB 36.c6 Wle7

6 ... cxd4 7.l2Jxd4 h6 8.~h4 tiJc6 9.e3

37.c7 1-0 Averbakh resigned, one assumes, \Vith rhe knowledge that this was far from the last rime he would have to look ar this position ... In om final example of this rheme, we will carefully observe how White, with hi~ every move, stfives to improve the assault ratio on the kingside, even if ir rneans making concessions in the centre or on the queenside. Like Ganguly, Sedlak does not allow his thinking w be constrained by material considerations.

Nikola Sedlak- Milos Perunovic Vrs:tc 2008

l.d4 tiJf6 2.c4 e6 3.tiJc3 ~b4 4.tiJf3 0-0 4... b6 and 4... c5
S.igS cS 6.gcl

1l1is pmition does nor look roo dangerous for Black, and should nor be. However, his play from here on works out poorly for him. He hopes that he can win a lor of material and at the same time weather the storm on rhe kingside. At rimes, this is of course a ~uccessful scrateg}', even in cases such as these where a bishop and rook are our of play.

9... hc3t?! Black is relying on racrics, bur as described, these do not work our well for him. However, rhis is only based on absolurely excellem play by White. Ir seems more narural to develop the c8bishop firsr. Mter 9 ... b6 10 ..!e2 .!b7 11.0-0 a draw was agreed in Marin - Andersson, Szirak 1987. I am nor entirely sure that Black just equalises, but it would not be completely un f.1ir if he did.

10.gxc3 g5 ll.~g3l2Je4 Black's prill1ary idea is of course ro fo\10\v up wirh ... WaSt, if allowed, bur he may also

Chaprer 2- Typical Piece Play

be glad ro elitninate the bishop on g3. ll1e downside is rhar, in order to break rhe pin, he has been forced ro weaken his kingside. l2J~~a3! Wfe7 This is •m improvemem on a previous game, probab1y analysed ar home by both players. rille difference is that Black follow~ rhe ~uggesrions of the chess engines, while \Vhire is going deeper and looks ac che assaulc ratio, and rhus manages to look beyond che horizon of rhe silicon beasc (by chc way, if you are 6 feet rail, che horizon at a beach is only 3 miles away).

12. ..1Wf6 13.~d.3 tLlxg.3 14.hxg3 b6 15.tLlb5 ib7 16.tLld6 led ro an advantage for \'(/hire i1l Moiseenko - Riazanrsev, Geneva 2004.

.~. • ~~~/ !%,,_ "("'""~~ ~~-~ ~''l;

7 6

~-~. ~i~}; ~ ~ ~~(~~~~1?fi''"/

5 3 2

Tn the event of 14 .. .lt:Jxd4 15.ixe4, Black musr eirher go backwards ·with his knight or play I 5 ... Wfxb2, transposing to rhe next note.

15..he4 1he same of course goes for White.

15.•.Wfxa3 1l1ere is no r:irne to Aick in important exchat1ge:. in this position. For example: 15 ... tLlxd4 is met with the powerful 16.id6!, when Black most likely will lose hi~ self-respect, as well as some material.

~~~;<'"'-~~~;i.··.'f~~~

~fj~~~ ~ "~0~/ ,/'/-, "' ";(( ~rffi;z;/, /. ~7~ ~~ f;@~ if!~ ~~~ /."

'iiy.~fj J///,~~Ni . . /.W!J"ti if(j ~

9.i

~ 0

--1

In for a penny, in for a pound ...

.!.. ¥~'~----~--- '

8

4

63

~ a

;2Lj~

~7

}~;&~~-. /~~

.,f.

~%'§Y~- -~~~11

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

13 ..id3!! Wib4t Black is going down the principled road. Ir i1. hard to condemn chis, as ir gave him rhe chance of winning an irnporranr game in rhe penultimate round. Such an approach carries obvious risks, alrhough this is a normal parr of the game. 13 ... tLlxg3 14.hxg:>
14. @fl Wfxb2

a

b

c

d

e

f

ecr

h

16.h4 Activating rhe rook on h 1 and putting pressure on the weaknesses around the black king.

16.. )l:~xd4 A natural m.ove. Black decides to exchange a piece from rhe queenside wirh a piece that is likely ro head for rhe kingside. Ar first I was thinking that this might be a loss of time, as che knight is the least important of rhe white pieces, and the tempo might have been more imporram, but analysis of che position suggest!> rhat chis is nor rhe case.

64

Attacking Manual 2

1l1e two main lines go

.1~ follow~:

deliver the final check of the game ro force Bhtck's resignation!

16 .. .f5 17 .i.xc6 bxc6 18. hxgS hxgS l 9 .i.e5 g4 20J;:hst ~f7 21.~h7't ~e8 22.tDxe6! dxe6 23 ..~.d6 winning. 16 ... d5 1l1is is a rougher nut to crack, but if you hir hard enough and long enough, it does: 17.~c2 I atn less than sure if the bishop is best placed here or on b1.

17 ... tDxd4 18.exd4 f5 19.hxg5 f4 20.i.h4 h'S 21. <;t>g 1! 1l1is move is important in many lines. "lhe king needs to be able ro go to h2 in the case of a subsequent check. 21...~g7 22.~h3 iWxa2 23.g6!

17 ... Cbf5 lhe knight moves to the kingside, bur ir cannot help there and \Vhite's arrack crashes rhrough, meeting lirrle resistance.

17 ... tDc6 18,:gxh6 8 7 6 5

.i~~_t~ @<~ W"~

~~·r~•~•~ .:-,~;Wia~

~~~~~~~ 5 ~;@;~~W'~~ W/ffi,Wfj~~~ .... ~ '~

kl

\\11} 3 ~BI

{~:~

4

c

d

c

f

g

h

Black is busted. \XIhite i'i ready to play 24.~x.h'S, and the arrempt co prevent the imrusion of the whiu~ pieces falls shun in a number of ways, for example: 2.) ...!;h8 24JH3 :gfs 25.~c7 And \'V'hite wins swifrly.

17.hxg5!! lr is more imporram ro play with the greatest po~siblc vigour on the kingside, than to count material in the centre. \X'hire opens up for the rook on hI as well as introducing the pawn it.sel f as an additional arr.tcking uniL In fact, it turns our thar this very pawn is destined w

~!¥'" ~~

;;}~

::1

~

'£(:}

:::

2 ! 8.~. lrfj~{!,- " a

b

i

~ L .. ~ "' l~8~j.t~ ~!-

1~

a

~~*~ ,..... v. ~

~if~~~ b

c

d

e

f

g

h

"l11is was rhe recommendation of Golubev in Chess Today, naming ir as wild complications J Ia Tal. Acrually ir was rarhcr obvious to me the firsr time I saw rhe posirion rhar White h winning, although I \Vas not roo sure abour how w prove it. 1l1e reason for my cerrainry is rhar rhe ratio of the attackers ro rhe defenders is simply ridiculous. 1l1e black queen will have to do all the defending on her own, wirh no help from the remaining four pieces. 111e fact rhat White is a mok down is of lirtle significance. 18 ... \Wc3 18 ... d5 19.cxd5 cxd5 20.\Wal! also leads co a decisive arrack. 19. <;t>gl! Again rhis move ts tmporranr. One of the diflerences rhar is ro "White's advantage in the position, is rhar of king safety. White only needs to step once ro the right, and he is safe, Black will nc:ed a different dimension to feel any safc:ry. 19 ... d5

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play

65

suggested the correct way of dea.ling with ir; alrhough he stopped a bir early in his main line. 18.ih7t! 1he point of rhis move is of course to win time, but ir is also to \Yin the rime without having a black pawn on e4, as would happen after ocher sacrifices of the bishop. 18 ... ~xh7 19.~xh6t ~g7 The king has ro go here, in order ro answer 20.ie5t with 20 ... f6, based on rhe point 2l.gxf6t ~x.h6!. So Whire does nor have time ro involve rhe bishop at this moment, but muse include rhe queen in rhe arrack, with check, and taking a piece, bur it is still a wasre, as she was set to be excellent at h5. 20.\Wxd4t f6 Ar chis point White can force a draw with the mok sacrifice 2l.gxf6t, bur rhis is not what he is looking for. 2l.@gl!!

s x~·~ 7

a

h c

d

e

f

g

h

6

~~

~

.

~'l• -~- .Y~ ~% 7.%·~~ ~ ~·~ ~~?. %

~~-r. 'rtt "i ~~ ~·:: ~

23.ixe5t 'IWxeS"I 24.f4 ~xe3 25J~f6 Black is mated. Soon comes a check on h6 with the queen.

4

17 ... d5

2~~;-; ~~-~ ~~ ~~~ -"'?'.-:.·~ ~

5

jfxti;

3~

~.

1~

~

a Thi~

·

§-:

~(]

~

§

~

l~

'"'"'~~~~~o;~-~~-~~c§

b c

0

d

7..

e

f

g

h

is the truly great move, once again. The king is seeking safety on h2, after which White can rake more time in order ro finish the attack off perfectly. The imponanr point for our theme is probably that as long as B!.1ck cannot bring in a lot of defenders quickly, White will have a positive assault ratio. At this point I have chosen to look ar no fewer than four alternatives. T would like you ro pay attention to rhe fact that, in all of rhese lines, the main reason for Black's demise is thar

Arracking Manual2

66

the number of attackers always exceeds the number of defender.). a) 2l .. .'l!ifb4 is one of the computer's many

suggestions. There arc ;\ number of ways to be.lt it, bur the main line i.) quite appealing, ~o I have chosen co mention it all rhe ::.amc. 22.'lNd3! White arracks the w~akesr spot in the black position, rhe g6-square. Black is swiftly run over. 22 .. .f5 23.'Wd4t ~f7 24.g6i' ~c8 25.g7 'fl1e g-pawn is dearly worrh more rhan the knight White ignored on d4 on move 17. 25 ... ~g8 26.~h8 ctff7 27.ih4! Only chis move wins, bm it leads srraighr ro the shaking of hands. Black has no answer to the crushing rhrear of'Wf6t. b) 2l...i.d7 22.~g4!

rhe white a-pawn. Although rhis does nor mauer much in a materialistic sense, it is rat·e char the disappearance of even a single pawn will not have some extra significance some\vhcre. Compared with the end of the long line, after 35.id8, you wHI see that \'{/hire is very happy to answer 35 ... @a6 wirh 36.'lNa4t, something that is more credible rhcrc, as it does not blunder the queen. Although lhis line is still very tempting, White has :1 simpler solurion in 22,!d6!, introducing rhe bishop inro rhe attack. 22 .. JU7 22 ... .td7 23.~g4! ~f7 24.ct/h2 '®c2 25.il.f4 and Black does not have any good defence against 26.gxf6t. 2.3.~h4 "iWblt 24.~h2 ~5 25.f!h8! 'Wg6 26.gxf6t ~xf6 27.ie5 White wins.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

'"n)b aggressive move is both threatening a

combination with 23.gx.f6t @xh6 24.if4t, with mare on rhe nexc move, and simply ro increa.)e rhe srrengrh of rhc arrack wirb 'Wh5. Black has nothing that looks even remotely like a sarisfacrort' deFence. For example:. 22 ... WI7 23.gxf6 ctfcB does nor work on of 24.ic7! and rhe black king will nor be able ro run away. c) 2l...\Wxa2 22.Ad6! 22.@h2 'lNxc4 23.W/d 1 looks like :tn even becrer version of the t(Jilowing line d). 'lhe difference is, of course, the disappearance of

d) 21. ..Wclt 22.@h2 'lNxc4 23.'Wdl ~e4 24.mrhs 'Wf5 25.il.h4 fxg5 26.g4 This \vas Golubev's (and Frirz's) line. He srops here with the sign for a clear advantage, which ~cems somewhat premature ro me, even if rhis i::. indeed whar my engine also tells me. If we push it a litde bir fmther the moves we end up with are: 26 ...'Wc5t 27.c.t>gl ~B 28J:~h8 ct/f6 29.gh7 '!Wa 1t 30. ct/g2 @e5 3I.'Wxg5t ctfd6 32.'Wd8'f @c6 33.!k7t c.t>b5 34.'We8t ~b6 35.id8


67

18.ixf5 18.ie5 was also strong, bur it is good to begin

Deflection

by removing Black's sole defensive piece.

One ofrhe ways to build up a superiority in the armck is ro eliminate some of the defenders, for example with deflection. Essemially rhe idea of deflecrion is tbar you in some \vay force one or more of the opponent's pieces ro leave rhe scene of the action, either by offering some kind of a sacrifice, or by threatening ro deliver some kind of damage. Ic is basically the carrot and rhe stick, or, ar rimes, the carrot as a stick.

18... exf5 19.ie5! The bishop s in che accack from an ideal square. Black is just lost.

19 ... f6 19 ... ge8 is no betrer. After 20 ..'2l.f6 geG 21.gxh6 gxf6 22.gxf6 mace is inevitable.

20.id6

1he classical type of deflection is where a defender is eliminated from a key square by a piece sacrifice. The following example is probably abour as standard as you can get.

Or 20.gxiD.

20 ... Wfc3 2l.~xh6 ~f7 More resistance was ofFered by 2l ... fxg5, bm Whire win.'> wirh check.., all rhe way: 22.'1!Nd5t ~g7 23.ixf8t Wxf8 24.Wxf5t ~e8 25.Wxg5 1! . \!11,..,;.... \!11• Wei t 26.~e2 8xc4t 27.'6'0 8f7i' 28.~g3 d6 29.gf6 \Wc4 J(UWg7

David Navara- Robert Rabiega Bundcsliga 2006

8 7

6

5 4

3 2 1

a

a

b

c

d

e

f

o-

!:>

h

22.~g6t

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Black eliminated his srar opponent through a series of f<mrasric deflections.

22.g6 wa::. also winning easily.

28 ... ltlb4!! 22 ... ~g7 23.Wfd5t ®h8 24.~h6t ~h7 25.~xh7t ®xh7 26.W/f7t ®h8 2?.Wfe8t ®h7 28.g6t 1-0

28 ... ih6t 29.~bl lLlb4 is also excellent, although it may give White a few additional options compared wirh rhe game continuation.

1he g-pawn was en prise for ten moves before striking rhe final dearh blow.

29.lDxb4

68

Actacking Manual 2

White is roasr afrer both 29.'if:Yd2 il.h6! and 29.'Wd.l ~e2!, so he has to accept rhc bait.

29 ....ih6t 30.
5 ...c5 6.d5 b5 7 .dxe6?! Along wirh rhc following move, this is probably the main cause ofWhire's subsequem problems in chis game. 7.e4!?, wich a complex game, was f.tr more energetic.

31 ... ~xel t 32.

7 ...fxe6 8.e4?! 8.cxb5 a6 9.e3looks more prudcnr. Whice is not ready for heavy acrion in rhe centre.

sE~.l.~ 7

6

~*~

--~if.--~~, "--"~ ~~---"ldl ~ ~r~~rJ$~ ~------z~ ~

5~ .. ~-~

~

~

~-~"~ ~---··"B >~~~ ~~-~ ,mf,\ilii~~~~ 0 ~;;; ~ ~z 0 ~LS~

4 3 ....

Black's combination would have been flawed, had he not had a second deflector.

2

/ . " " ' / ....

1

~~ a

32 ... .if5! Removing the queen from rhe defence, after which mare is near.

33.~xf5 ~d2t

0-1 One common type of deflecrion is ~een when rhe opponent posseloses one especi;tl!y wellplaced piece. Before we can be successful in our mischief, we will have ro remove such influential players from the centre of acrion.

Niels Christian Schiodt -Jacob Aagaard Copcnhag~n

1990

l.d4 ~f6 2.c4 e6 3.~c3 .ih4 4.~c2 0-0

s.igs 5.a3 is of course rhe main line.

b

'i§1

7.~

~~7. .... /:1~-- .. :?~

~ c

~~Wll

d

e

f

g

h

8 ... h6?! 1here was no good reason to flick this in, objectively, but it was nor played without an idea. I wanced che bishop to not be able ro rerum to the assistance of rhe queenside. 8 .. .'!Dc6! was the best move. See rhe note ro Black's next move.

9.~h4?! Taking on f6 was more prudent, but Whire is srill playing for an advantage.

9 ...~a5?! Here I missed a very strong option. EYen if 9 ... tt.:Jc6! I O.cxbS tt.:Jd4 ll.VJ!d3 Wa5 might look very strong to the eyes of a seasoned Grandmaster, for him to judgement on rhe play of an immature adolescent would be grossly unfair.

Cha~ner 2

69

-Typical Piece Play

10.e5

ll. ...ixc3t 12.®d1

1O.~xf6 .):!xf6 1 1.cxb) a6 gave Black good attacking chances in Zak- Averbakh, Moscow 1947, and is probably no berrer.

White's creative play has created a scenario of utter chaos. Black is hanging everywhere and is faced with the threat of ~fl-d3, indicating a ~light problem with his reckless fight for the in i dative.

8 7 6

5 4 3 2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

lO .•. lDe4! A very energetic response. \XIhire actually anticipated rhis and had a brill ianr idea of his own ready. Seldom does one see so much creativity in rhc lower ranks at a tournament. In a Iacer game Black played diflerendy: 1O... lL!g4 1 1.cxb5 lDxeS 1L~g3 ~f5 13.0-0-0 was vvildly unclear in Zylla - Schwcrrel, corr. 200 1. Imerestingly a lor of these moves are also rhe choice of my computer engine, which prefers Whice to some extent.

II.lJWxe4? This incredible idea is unfortunate!>' also the decisive mistake. ll.ltJge2 was rhe only move. Here rhere are many inceresting continuations ro investigate. Ic could be 11.. .~b7 12.cxb5 a6, it could be 1 l...ltJxc3 12.bxc3 ~a3 or even I l. .. tLlxc3 12.bxc3 ltJc6!?. I have nor found any obvious advantage ro either player in these lines. My instinct cells me rhar the second of rhese lines is probably rhe besr, but it i& hard ro know withour investing a day or two of your life.

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

This is the critical momenr, where it becomes clear that the white queen is immensely influential for both attacking and defensive ducies. It is at moments like rbis that the attacking player meets his destiny. When there is no turning back, the path leading further into the mess is often the one that must be followed.

12... ~b7!! I was very pleased with this move at the rime, and would still be proud ro find such an idea wday. The bishop is developed in an energetic way, simply to deflect rhe powerful queen fmm her centralised spot. 12 ... ~xb2? would lose the barrie for the initiative. \XIhire would first gain a tern po by threatening mare with 13.~d3!, when after 13 ... ~f5 he would start harvesting the black pieces on che back rank. After 14.1&xa8 1&a4t 15.~c2 \Wxc4 16.tLlf3! (an important prophylactic measure) 16 ... ~xa1 17.~xb8 Black does noc have enough for rhe piece.

70

Anacking Jvlanual 2

13.Wfxb7 \XIhite ha:. played his hand and is our of good cards. For example: 13.\We2 f"U4! with a devastating arrack.

8

7

.VJj.''t. w;~, .l.~tlf

~~

;~*~:?

--···";-~~~: ~~f~~;-~" .%~~-~: 0

4 /,. /.W~/~'~r~· .%~

13 ....iel!

::.>

0~ ~-~ f.';~~ \rnt·a··w~-· %~AA- "'~ ,~ 5 ~e~•r~ rd ~ v.· 6

'/.~

;.

.:::-~!t~1

3 2 0 1'0:;

~f a

~~'e(;{Q~ 0

,.•. c

b

;(Q,

%-~~%~'

d

e

f

g

h

Black can only reply in one way not ro lose rhe initiative. 15 .. Jhf2t !6.~xf2 ~d2t 17.~f3 \Wxf2t !8.~e4

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Thi~

move might be a bit surprising lO some. -n1e idea is simple - d2 is rhc weake~r !.qu•trc in rhe white position and it proves incredibly difficult to defend. 'TI1e queen is badly placed on b7, whereas it had previously been the most inAuential piece on the board on e4.

In the game \Vhite tailed ro defend in the mosr re~olute wayl although his position wa~ ;l.lready be\'ond salvation. 14.~c2?! 'TI1e mosr energetic defence ind uded a temporary knighr sacrifice wirh: 14/2Jf3! E!xB Obviously Black removes rhe ddendcr of d2. A move can hardly be called a sacrifice when ir threatens matd However> \XIhite has a very cle,•cr riposte. 1'). cJ?e2! \'V'hite has a strong double threat in ~xf3 and :gxe I. One might even say rhar rhe black rook has been deflected from its powerful position on rhc eighth rank.

Here there are several winsl bur I have some affection for the one \\'e found in our analysis back in 1990. Not only because ir is amazingly elegant, but aho because it makes use of the knight. 18 ... t2:Jc6 19.\Wxa8t ~h7 20.:gdl t2:Jd4! ·n1e tueat I ··~ ... '"'rf~ · ....;..&~ f2..1.1 an d ... \1_,, 'i:::!J )1", 9c 2 marc. White has no response but to give up the rook for the bishop> which looks like a fair rrade. 2l.:gxe1 tL:!c2!! 8

if~~J

~

~~

7 • . •/\~//'~%/ .. ·"'

~~ ~-0::.-

6

~

,WJ;i

~

~~~·

~~ a ~w~ %~ • %~

/.. /.

~A% 5 i{·~

./

;J

0

s •/'/r~<(< /:rL?: Z~%-- 1.

)1~(~/.-~J~z-, ~~ l' 3 ~;."//"/-~"///",~/' - · · ,., 3 ") A ~N~ I&~ ~\UJ{ A ~<'%

4 .w

l.

- o

a

%o?.~w~

~e~

o

%u~

f

g

h

J~Z' z~nf~l$/~

b

c

d

e

Again, nor rhe only winning move, bur by Eu the mosr amazing one. The only move nor to be immediately mated is a defensive deflection with 22.~f8 ...

14... Wfd2t 15.~b3 'Dc6

Chapter 2- Typical Piece Play l11c dual thr~acs of ... ctJa5t and ... i2Jd4t, are absolurcly decisive.

16.'@xc6 dxc6 17.a3 bxc4t 0-1 To rhis day, I remain very proud of this garne. Ir was only ro be a few mon.rhs before Niels Christian would find bloody vengeance ar rhe same vemt~, and if I correctly, even ar rhc same cable ... Of course lc is not only pieces, but also p~twns rhac c:1n be dcAecced. 1he following example provides <\ good illustration.

Alexander van Beek- Jon Speelman Gibral rar 2007

I.e4 c6 2.d4
Black has mi~playcd rhe opening, but was far from rhc only player ro make this misrak~. l11c combinat:ion played in tbis game arose in a tc':v games before black defenders of rhe Caro-I
71

l8,gxe6!! With this move White captures an important pawn, buc ofcourse also loses a rook. 1l1e reason for rhe sacl'ifice is to deAecr the pawn on f7, so rhar ir no longer defends the g6-square. lr should be said rhac two grandmasters have missed rhe golden opportunity to play this sacrifice rel="nofollow"> bur as they both won afrcr taking rhc bishop on e7, it is difficult to be too hard on rhem. Ironically, this is the only game in my database in which Black survived!

18... fxe6 19.~xg7! This is an old fashioned destruction of the king's shelter.

19...if8! Speelman is an experienced cat and rightly decides to do whatever he can ro fight for the key 1.quares. Thus we see rhc defenders rallying around their monarch. 19 ... c;!;lxg7 lost ro a beautiful bishop sacrifice in Decoster- Tiggelman, Belgium 2005:

20.ttJxe8 gxe8 2l.'@g6t ig7 Objectively this is~ slighr miscake.

Arcacking Manual 2

72

White is winning in all cases, bur the most resilient lme seems to have been: 2J. .. cj{h8! 22.~xh6

Peter Heine Nielsen - Nicolai Vesterba:k Pedersen

~xh6

23.'1Wxh6t CDh7 24.ltJg5 (24.'Mffq!? might be stronger) 24 ... ~c7 25.ctJxh7 ~xh7 26.'Wxc6 ltJf8 27J¥fe5"1 cj{ga 28.b3 and White is winning, bur some figluing remains.

22 ..ixh6 ~e7 23 •.if4 'bm 24.~g5 'b8h7

Danish League 2006

l.d4 'bf6 2.'bf3 c5 3.d5 h5 4.c4 g6 5.cxb5 a6 6.b6 'lMfxh6 7.'bc3 d6 8.e4 .ig7 9.'bd2 0-0 lO..ie2 'bbd7 Il.'bc4 ~c7 12 ..if4 :Sb8 13.~d2 ctJb6 I4.'be3

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

14... 'ba4!! After 30 seconds chis is rhe 22nd best move according to Fritz. Aftel' 60 it is on Instead he could have won with the nor so 11rraighrforward 25. '\¥/h4! '\¥/xc4 26.h6. For example: 26 ... .if8 27 ..ie5 and Black is dead. Bur although this is rnrher ~imple for a machine, it is acmally a very complicated win for a humJn being to find. 1hcL·e are simply wo many options for both players.

25 ... 'bf8 26.Wig5 'b8h7 27.~g6 'bf-8 ¥2- 1/2

rap, guaranteeing only equality, apparently. 'lbe reality, however, is chat it is completely winning.

15.'bxa4 ll1ere is nothing else.

15 .ltJedl does nor hold the position together. After IS ... :gb4 16 ..if3 (16.f3 is met with 16... 4Jh5! 17.~e3 :gxb2! and Black wins) 16 ... '\¥/b? and b2 falls, as after 17.~bl Black can play l? ... ctJxe4!! 18.ctJxe4 ~5 with a

Tn the next game we ~h,lll .~ee how a grandmaster with a raring of 2650 can be

dccic;ive attack.

toppled by a deflection. After wh
15... 'bxe4 16.Wic2 16.'\¥/dl ~a5t l?.@fl ~b4 is likely to transpose with best play.

16... ~a5t 17.®fl ~b4!


73

8 7

6 5 4

3

2 1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

23 .. J~xe2! 24.~xe2 ~c4t 25.~el ~c3t 26.~e2 !g4t 27.f3 ~xe3t 28.~flif5

0-1 18.~c4!

1his is the only move chac gives a fighting chance. Of course Whirc cannor recreat his knighr w c3, as the bishop on f4 would hang.

Also hopeless would be 18J'Llb6 iM'xb6 19.llJc4 E:}{c4 20.Axc4 Af5 21.®b3 ®c7 followed by .. J;b8 and ... id4, when Black's initiative should decide rhe gam~.

A tremendous achievement by Pedersen. Black lefr the World Champion's second without a chance, after no obviously bad moves had been played. Nielsen is of course a famasric player in his own right, who has a perfect understar~ding of deflection. In rhe following game White plays good atracking chess from the beginning. \Vhen Black takes a fevif liberties, as well as a pawn on b2, Nic1sen uses deAection as rhe basis of a fantastic winning attack.

l8 .. J~fxa4 19.~xe4 19.'Wxa4 ~xa4 20.aJ was possible, but even

Peter Heine Nielsen - George Michelakis

rhough rhe rook is potentially rrapped, Black is doing very '~·dl.

Copenhagen 2003

19 ..•1£5 Black continues m mobil be hi~ pieces. 20.~xe7 ~e8 21.~xd6 ~b2 22.~xb2 22.:Se1 ~xc4 23.ie3 id4 also wins for

Black.

l.d4 ~£6 2.c4 g6 3.~c3 i.g7 4.e4 d6 s.~f3 0-0 6.h3!? A modern line which has been made popular by Krasenkow.

6 ... ~a6 7.1g5 ~e8 8.g4!? White gains space on rhe klngside, -as well as increasing his control over rhc light squares.

22 .• J~xb2 23 ..ie3 Now Peder~on purs rhc icing on the cake wirh a final cacrical flurry.

8 ... c5

·111is is slightly unu~ual, bur nor bad.

74

Attacking Manual 2

8 ... e5 9.d5 tLJc5 lO.lL!d2 aS 11.\Wf3, a main line, is also possible here. Whire might be able to claim a slight edge here. 9.~g2 h5!?

A very principled move rhar erie~ ro exploi( che fact rhat White has weakened hi~ kingside with g4. Less ambitious is 9 ... cxd4 lO.lDxd4lDc5 when \XIhi(e is probably a bir becrer.

lO.obfG · An amazing game was played from rhis position. 10.gxh5 lDxhS 11.\Wd2lDc7 12.~h6 cxd413.lDxd4e5 [email protected] ~fS 16.exf5 lDf4 17.ixb7 ;gb8 18.ie4 d5 19.cxd5 lL!b5 20.~gl llJd6 2l.b3 ~b4 22 ..~c2 :8.d4 23.~e.3 ~h8 24.fxg6 f5 25.~dl ~xh3 26.0 g],2 27.~fl :5xc2 28.~xd4 exd4 29.\Wxd4i' g8 30.®xf4 Bxc3 3l.®h6 '!9e7 32.g7 :Sxf3t 33. ~g2 \We2t 34. cjrh I lDf7 35.\Wh7t 1-0 Krasenkow- Bobras, Glogow 200 L

1o... exfG ll.gxh5 f5! 'l11is is the only move; Black needs coun terplay.

to

Black is trying to make the position as messy as possible. Simpler and probably also berter was 12 ... fxg6 \vhen after 13.0-0 fxe4 l4.~el ifS 15.lDxe4 ixe4 16.lDg5 \We? 17.lDxe4 ixd4 18.\Wg4 \Wg7 Black does not appear to be at a serious disadvantage. 13.~g5 fxg6

During the game Michelakis seriously considered playing: 13 ... 5!? with the idea of 14.\Wh5 :Sf6 15.lDd5 cxd4! (bur not 15 ... :5xg6? I6.\Wxg6!)

create

12.hxgG

14.~cxe4

Forced as 14.0-0 e3! gives Black good play.

14... ~xd415.0-0 ~e5? Black loses his way completely. Here i( was necessary to create coordination and to complete the development of the fmce~. Better \vas 1S ...®e7 16.\Wd2 ifS though White ha1. rhc advamage after l?.~ael Wd? l8.lDg3!, when h appears thar the weakness of

75

Chapter 2- Typical Piece Play

rhe light squares around rhe black king is more significant rhan that of the dark squares around rhc white king. For that reason Black should prefer 18 ... ctJc7 with a slight disadvantage.

19.tLlh7! The key ro the combination initiated on the last move. It is inreresring ro note rhe interconnectedness between rhesc rwo moves, played in opposite corners of the board!

16.WI d2 ~xb2?! Black's po~ition already appears to be very dangerous, and it is hard to believe that pawngrabbing i1. rhe way to improve it. Still it is hard to find ,1 good continuation.

19 ... Wlf4 19 ... \Wd4!? 20.~h6 ~f5 2l.GLJxf8 gxf8 22.GLJg3 ~c2 23j~c7 ~h8 24.~e3 and White wins, although some play remains.

lhe players looked at 16 ... ~f4 17.gael ~f5 after the game, but here \Xlhite has the computer moves 18.ctJf7!?, 18.GLJxd6!? and 18.GLJe6!? ~.xe6 19".tiJxd6 with a clear edge.

6

17J~ael tLlb4

5

8 7

4

3 2 1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

20.tLlef6t!! The number of developed pieces decide the game.

20 .. J1xf6 21.tLlxf6t Wfx£6 22.~e8t

18.a3! A deflection that J"emovcs rhe bishop from the defence. Nor completely dear is 18.CtJh7?! ~xh7 19.GLJg5i"
mf7

Black also loses after 22 ... mg7 23.gfel gS 24JUe7t @h6 25.h4 and the king cannot be protected. 23.~fel ~b2 \XIhire has a menacing arrack after 23 ... g5 24.~e2 @g6 25.ggst ~h6 26.~e8 ~b2 27.~e4 where the computer gives 27 ... ~f5 28.~xa8 GLJd3 29.~x5 ~xf5 30.ghst ~xh8 31.~xh8"1 ~g6 32.'We8t ~f7 33.ge6t and

18... Axa3

WillS.

Objectively bcner wa~ 18 ... tt:lc6 19.ctJxc5 ~xeS 20.~d'5t @g? 2I.~xb2t \Wd4 22.tLle6t ~xe6 23.1;Wxb7t ~f7 24.\Wxc6 and White is a pawn up for nothing.

24.Wlh6! 1-0 Black is mated.

Attacking Manual 2

76

Overloading One of rhe most common ~ituarions where dcflecrion is useful is when a piece is overloaded. Acrually, deflection \viii always be exploiting some kind of overloading. In rhe rwo Nielsen games above, the defending pieces could be said ro be overloaded: rhe knight in charge of borh rhe pawn on e4 and rhe square on a4, and rhe bishop in charge of rhe kingside and rhc a3-square. However, we rend ro calk abour ovcrloadincr., onlv' in che scenarios where both squares rend robe imporranr. lr is a rhcoretical diflerence of linle importance r~ rhc practical pl,1yer, besides not wonh gening confused over ir when reading chess books ... In the following game we will see n1any ~itu;uions where rhe white queen is overloaded, and will have ro relinquish one of her responsibilities. 1he same also happens ro other pieces, but rhe queen is frequenrly in this situation in rhis game. 1l1e game is nor in itself so complex, but deep analysis of ir brought abour a lot of interesting moments, relevant ro our mpic, so I decided ro go a bir deeper than usual in the annotations.

Valeriane Gaprindashvili- Rasul Ibrahimov Urumia 2008

l.d4 ~f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 b5!? 6.~g2

b

a

d

c

f

e

h

g

I would personally be overjoyed if so111eone were to play like chis against me. White's last 111ove not only looks objectively unjustified, it abo lead~ ro a position rhat is subjectively far more difficult ro play wirh White.

8 ... g6 9.'We2 .tg7! Black should in rcrurn not be afraid of investing material in his arrack. With this move he ofFers both a pawn and a piece ro \Vhite, in return for the opening of files for his pieces. IO.e5 Whirc follows up on his plan and wins a piece by chis quick launch in rhe cenrre. I 0.1&xb5

0-0 11.ctJc3 E:e8 12.ctJge2 gb8 13.\Wd.) was successful for White in Milovanovic - Movre, corr. 1980, bur Black could have played much better ar rhis poinr.

Various gambits involving a quick e2-e4 h,tve been cried successfully over the la~r few years. After rhis quiet developing move Black is in rime ro finish his Benoni structure.

6 ... d6 7.e4 b2Jbd7 8.f4?

-n,e

beginning of a very ,lJnbitiou . . , but also very risky strategy. \'Vhire abandons dcvdopn1enr in favour of a quick cemral advance. a

b

c

d

c

f

g

h

Chapter 2 - Typical Piece Play 13 ...c4!! A beautiful rnagnet ~acrifice. \XIhite is losr ;.tfccr 14.'@'xc4 lbc5, when che queen is trapped; it will be forced ro go ro d4 and then ... tt.JfXe4 cornes, winning material. Also 14.~ c2 does nor save rhc posicion. Afrer 14 ... C2lc5 15.0-0 \Wb6 \'V'hite is C<mght in rhe crossfire of rhe black pi~ces, and
10 ... 0-0? was played in rhe srem gam.e. After 11.exf6 ~e8 l2.fxg7 i!xe2·1· l3.tt.Jxe2 \Wc7 l4.@f2 C2Jf6 15J~e1 i.b7 16.lila3! \Xfhite had slightly berter chances, even rhough ro call the po~irion a mess would be more appropriate, Plaskett- Groszpeter, 1l1essaloniki 1981.

ll.fxe5 0-0 l2.exf6 Jim Pla$kerr csrimared d1ar \'Vhire would be a little bcrrcr in hi!>. annor:.nions in (/.1eJ~· Informant 33, because now rhe bishop on c1 is in the game. Actually, nothing coukl he further Front rhc truth. I believe rhar Whirc is losr at this moment, si n1ply because rhe d~file 1~ open ... 12.•. ~xf6 13.\WxbS ~b8!

77

'lhe rook is immune, as the queen woutd soon be lost co a. discovered check with the

bishop. \Xlhite is probably already lost> btn: the proof of the pudding is always in the eating.

14.Wfd3?! 1l1e queen is unprotected at rhis spot and rhis ~imple face quickly leads w the demise of the white :trmy through a not roo difficult combination.

14.1!{Jc4 1l1is move was maybe the better defence, alrhough rhis does not mean rhat it can hold. Moves like 14 .. J~b6 and 14... tt.Jg4 are ve1-y atrracrive 1 but I decided to bring the queen into acrion quickly in my analysis and found a nice way ro decide the game.

l4 ... ~c8t 15.ctJe2 VNa5t! b2 is n weak spot in rhe whire position and

rhc bishop wants ro emerge on a6. This manoeuvre enable~ borh. t6.Ad2 ~b6 It was already possible to pm th~ bishop on a6, bur it seems even berrer ro keep the queens on rhe board. I7.~bc3.ia6 18.'@'a4 \XIhire has no chance of saving rhe game after 18.\Wb3 1xe2 19.C2lxe2 'Wa6 20.1&f3 :gxb2 either. 18 ... 'Wxb2

78

Attacking Manual 2

difterent points. Nor surpri~ingly \Xfhire will find himself overloaded on rhe undefended square in each line.

a) 19.!!dl 1his is refured with a brilliant jump. l9 ... l2Jg4!! White is suffe1·ing from the problem of nor being able ro rake more than ant: piece at a rime. Maybe his best chance is castling and being material down, but safe, as rhe alrernarivc leads to even grearcr prohlerns: 20.\WxaG 20.l.Wxg4? ~c3 is rrivi
b) 19.!!cl \Xfhite is defending the c3-kniglu, but this leaves d2 vulnerable, and Black is able ro exploir this overloading wirh a nice bit of deA.eccion: 19 ... ~xc2 20.tLlxe2 ~h6!! 8 7

J~.v.~~2:-r~~ ~~-·~ ;t··f-

~1%~ffii~~----~.i ~~.~~~5

~ /• . • ~ :; ·' ·g~ p;'-~:1......~---- z ·;[ 5 r~ r•~o~ ~ r;;·

6

4

~,$

~-~

11¥~

~ -~J

3~ ~

~~·

~

11 p., \mt w.M /'~~ ~ %f@ ~.-. ~Pr~ 2 o ~EM· 00t.z.J~~&fdi 1 . . . . hr~r·---¥.~.0.•:

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

~

h

'l11e bi1.hop s the attack from a surprising angle. This is of course less surprising if you

a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

Black has sacrificed a piece, bm his knight i~ sL1pcrior ro anything in the vvhite camp. "lbe critical line unsurprisingly includes massive material haemorrhaging from \\!hite. 23.~f3 ~F6 24. ~f2 ll1ese two last moves could have been played in reversed order as well. Black's response \Vould have been che same. 24 ... CZJg4t 25.~g2 B:b2 26 ..~xg4 Giving up rhe queen is
combine nvo ideas from the first volume, rhe idea of arracking rhe opponent where he is weakest (d2 and e2) and using all of your pieces. A bir general in tone indeed, but srill useful in a practical setting. 21Jk2 "lbe roughest defence. 2l.~c2 ~d2t 22.~xd2 ~xd2t! and Black wins back his material with interesr. 21 ... ~xd2t 22J~xd2 22. cj;Jxd2?! loses in one go to 22 ... We5! and \'\!hire is noc able to defend borh e2 and d.

22 ... ~a1 i" 23.~f2 ~e5 24.~f4


Whire seems to have defended everything, lntr in such desperate defensive situations, ic is common for the pieces to be overloaded. Here ir is rhe queen that has m defend borh e3 and g4, as well as the rook on d2, which has to defend borh the first and second ranks. Nor surprisingly, both line'! of defence are susceptible m deflections. 24 ... ttJg4t!! 'll1e knight is surrendered in order to pave che road for rhe remaining pieces.

a

b

c

d

c

f

g

h

At chis point White has two defences, both of which lose to absolutely fanrasric tactics.

79

White has successfully defended everything, but all his pieces are as ive as can be. 1l1is is an example of the oscillation between evolution and revolution described in rhe first volume. At first there was the initial developmem of rhe pieces, then a. pawn sacrifice, then a furrher build-up, then a piece sacrifice, then a furrher build-up, and then a second piece sacrifice. Even at chis point, because of the coral domination of the white pieces, Black is nor in a complete hurry, bur can make a slight improvement before he strikes. 28 ... ~c2!! This little move takes away the c4-square from the white queen, which will nor be able to defend the king for long. \'{/hire has only one chance. 29.d6! It turns out that che rook on e8 is both doing active and ive dudes and can be nudged. In turn Black will find his queen deflected. However, Black still wins in the end. 29 ... b5! 30.d7 hxg4 3l.dxe8=~i" Wfxe8 32.~d2 ~xd2 33.®xd2 ~e4 34.~g1 c4

b1) 25.~xg4 Wfdi' 26.~el ~bl t Basic deflection.

7

27.~dl ~b2

6

~ ~ ~!,rd-.~ ~0.~~*~ r~x~ %. r•~ ~ ~-~~ ~ ~ ~Aij~

4

~.~.-~~.~.~~·

1he point. Black is rhe king of the second rank now. 28.ifl

8

5~~ W@

~ ~.

3~ ~z~

2

8~::

~ ~-

~~ %'~

~"-.

~ ~~ ~ ~

.-.... ~:

~

~

~lZJ~

~~

~(.~~~- .?.~~f ··.!

~~~ a

~

b

c

j

~~~g

d

e

f

g

h

Black has kept his big advantage. If \'(/hire wa.s able co coordinate his pieces, he vmuld be doing well, bur rhey are thoroughly dominated and the c-pawn is a big asset. b2) If you (hink the previous line was nice, then you will be amazed by whar happens if \'(!hire declines rhe sacrifice:

80

Attacking Nfanual 2

14... ~e8t 15.~e2 ~g4 16.~bc3

25. t3 Here, again, Black only win~ after a mccquiet move: 25 ... gb2!! A point is rhar after 26Jhb2 '\Wxd5·1! there is a mare on rhe next move; for example: 27. r;t>xg4 'mh5 mate! As \Xlhite also cannor exchange rhc queen~ wirhout shedding material, rhe critical line goes: 26J~bdl

~~ ~~~*,~r~

78 . . . . .v. . . . 6

-~eim.~~~--,i~

~ ~0 -~~ ~..... fit@~ L

5~

-~~ 7

-~--- ~-~t~ •

3~m~~~~

4

2

!~~----~~-t~ t~-- 3~m~~~" r~ a

~

b

c

~~

d

e

~.!§.

f

g h

1l1e knight on c3 is responsible both for the well-being of rhe pawn on d5 and the safety of

a

b

c

d

c

f

g

the white king, through its proct!ction of the knight on c2. Not 1.urprisingly Black was able ro make the most of his lead in development with a sacrifice aimed at exploiting this overloading of the knight.

h

26 ... \Wxe2t!! Thls brilliant combin
111

After 26 .. .lbxh2t? 27. t2 \Wxe2't 28. gt! \Xfhire is al mosr bcrrer! 27.~xe2 ltJxh2t 2~U!if2 ~exe2t 29.<j;lgl e~ .!.. 2Q • ~I bXg2 I :} 'l;:i 11

<'i!:l ::::'.

t''

g -·

16 .•. CLlxd5!! 1he main point with this strike is co open rh~ diagonal for ... ~xc3 without wasting any rime.

17.CLle4 The toughest defence was 17.ixd5, when play continues 17 ... ~xc3t 18.bxc3 ~xc2"1 (18 ... ~x~2~ is poorer, as after 19 .~xf7t ~xf7 20.~xd8 gbxd8 2l.~f2 White has genuine saving chances) 19.~fl f!:e5!. Only rhis double attack wins the game, bur it is enough. White can still rake on f7 and exchange queens, and probably he should, bur the arrack is f:tr srronger, as rhe black pieces are far better coordina red.

a

b

c

d

c

f

g

h

And in view of rhe coming ... ltJO, Black wins.

17.•• ~b4?! I would personally have been very relucram to ex:ch~mge the queens in this posirion. White is in wo much rrouble, and a queen

Chapter 2 ~Typical Piece Play exchange must have come as ~H1 emotional relief, irrcspecrive of the facr that: his position remains objectively difficulL

81

26..ig2 .id4 27. dl gfg

17 ... f5 was stronger. For example: 18.0-0 txe4 19.ixe4 tLlfo and Black wins. Also 17 ... ixe2! is very attractive. If the king takes, Black will rake on b2 with the bishop, and after 1H.\Wxe2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

0-1 lr looks a lirde early to resign, so perhaps White lost on rime? ln any case, it is not so easy for him to find a useful move. lf he puts his bishop on f4, Black can deflect it with a pawn sacrifice.

18 ... id4! che white king is trapped in the cenrre and \Xlhi[c is utterly defenceless agalnsr 19... f5, so he even loses his cxtr
18.~xd8 gbxd8 19.
19.. J3dl t 20.®f'2 :f;xhl 21.~hl fS 22.h3

.:tJd3t! A good litrle in-benveen move.

23.
25 •.. c4! Preventing b2-b3.

Tempo-gainers The arrack is all about the posmon of the pieces. Ofren '''e will see positions where material is exchanged for quick devdopmem or just a rearranging of rhe pieces. 1l1is can be through ignoring the actions of the opponent or a variety of other methods. One of these is co chase the opponent's pieces, at times ar the cost of material, with the purpose of temporarily gaining bene1· coordination of rhe pieces, so a vo-o\den moment can arise.

1l1e following game illustTates tempo-gaining perfectly. After Black plays a risky move at move nventy, White chases the queen, offering a pawn on rhe way. Black decides the bounty is worrh the dsk, but misjudges the situation and is quickly sent on the run. White rhen wins several tempos against the black queen to acriva.te rhe rooks, leading to a tasty concluding

combination.

82

Acracking l\.1anual 2

Dimitri Reinderman - Paul van der Sterren Durch Champiomhip, Rorrcrdam 1999

J.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 'bf6 s.'bc3 e6 6)2H-'3 .ib4 7•.id3 dxc4 8.hc4 0-0 9.0-0 b6 lO ..igS .ih711.~e5 ctJbd7 l2J!Me2.ixc3 13.bxc3 Vl!c7 I4.tiJxd7 ctJxd7 lS.Mad h6 ~01e merits of this pawn move can be dispuccd. I do not see <1 great reason ro hurry wirh it, but it is probably fine. '1 he main move seems co be 15 ... ~fc8, when borh 16.~d3 and rhc slightly odd, bur smmgely appealing 16.~b3 borh give Whire a

plus score.

of b3. Here probably 18.!!fe1 \vas more prudent, bur what next? Mosr likely there is no advantage.

18 .. .'1Wd6 19.8!fel Wfa3 Thh is Karpov's ~rand.ard plan. TI1e advance of the a-pawn h.as caused the white queenside pieces ro lose some stability. 20.Vlfdl e5!?

8

7 6 5

16.J.h4 8!ac8 17..ib3!?

4 3 2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

'lltis move is quire doub~e edged, bur it would be unfitir w anribme Black's later troubles exclusively ro this move. However, it does put him under some extra obligations, which he did not take sct·iously enough during

rhe game. 2I.Mal! An optimistic move, which was mainly successful because Black rook the bait. Wh ire would also have done well by playing a simple waiting move, such as 2 I .h3, simply improving his position.

l7.•. 8!fe8 18.a4 'lhis is a standard plan in positions with rhis pawn srructure> although ir h.as been played more frequemly with rhc bishop on d3 instead

21. .. Vlfb2? ·n1is is the srarc of all the wOITies Black has later on. The queen is thrown around the board like a fox running from rhe dogs, before Whirc is able ro tum his artemion to the blf'lck king and smrt a devastating arrack.

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play 1hcre was no shame in returning the tluccn ro rhc centre with 21...\¥/d6!, when \X'hire could send an invimtion to repeat moves by rerurnlng the rook ro c 1. However, after rhe more aggres~ive 22.®h5 Black should react carefully with 22 ...~d5!, blocking the diagonal leading rm.vard~ rhc sensitive t7-point. (lnsrcad rhe reckless 22... g6~ 2.>.®xh6 gxc3 24 ..m.xf7·1· leads to a deva~taring attack and is thus co be avoided.) Ir seems rhar rhe posirion after 23.dxe5 'Wc6 24.~xd5 ®xd5 25.f4 \MfcSt 26.~f2 ®xc3 mighr '>till offer White a slight edge, with the bishop being sn·onger rhan rhe knight and the pawn on e5 looking massive, bur my initial analysis suggesrs rhar Black can l10ld his own.

83

It rurns om rhat this ive move i:, rhe final 11traw. Ir was already necessary for Black to find a more creative solution in order to stand a chance of saving the game. After 23 .. J3c4! White can try something invenrive. but perhaps the simple caprure of rhe exchange is best. However, after 24.~xc4 ®xc4 2S.dxe5 tiJc5 Black has reasonable counrerplay on the light squares and a lor of play rernains in rhe position.

24.i.e7 ~xd4 It would be unfair to label this move as a misrake. It b possible rhac there is already lirde rha.r can be done to save the black posicion. Here are some options rhat show the stare of

affairs. 24 ... lLlf6 25.~xf6 ®c6 Probably rhis trick was rhe best option, but White's arrack is still menacing: 26.f3 '®'xf6 27.dxe5 and now either 27 ... ~e7 28.e6 wirh a very strong attack, or 27 ... V£/g5?! 28.~xg5 hxg5 29.e6, winning. 24 ... exd4 25.~xf8 gxf8 26J~!e7 looks horrible and should never last, while 24 .. J~c6 25.d5 is awful as well.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

22.gbl! This was rhc poinr. \X'hitc wins a tempo to protect the bishop.

22... \Wxc3 After 22 ... W/a.) 23.®h5 Black i~ not able ro defend borh f7 and e5 ~arisfacrorily. 23.~h5 ~lhe

queen approache~ rhe king. rhrearcning dcarh and desrrucrion and rhus demanding attention.

23...gf8?

25.gbdl The nrsr ofrhree new tempo-gainers with rhe rooks. 'TI1e first two are threatening rhe queen.

25 ... ~c3 26.ge3 This also defends the bishop. of course.

26 ... ~c7 27.gg3 1hb one is also threatening \Mfxh6 as well as rhc more devious Wg6!.

27... \t>hs White has finally opcimised all his pieces, and for this reason it is nor surprising chat there is a winning combinarion.

84

Anacking Manual 2

Our first example of a piece sacrifice for rhc sake of rime features a classic combination in a complex serting. I found this pos.itiot~ whe~1 analy.<.ing an opening line and takmg It a btr too far. \XIhite wins with a beautiful long tactical sequence involving two rook sacrifices.

8

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

28J~xd7!! "i'xd7 29."i'xh6"t! gxlt6 30.i.f6t

~h7 31.~g7t ~h8 32.~xf7t ~g8 33.E;xd7t

1-0 Piece Sacrifices for Time

Deflection i.e. often an cxploilarion O f overloading. If this involves a piece sacri~ce, rhis is simply a piece sacrifice for rime. lf the opponent had one mme lllove, he would be able to return rhc deflected queen, mok, bi.!.hop or knighr. \XIhen we are atmcldng ir is quite common ro find that one or more of our pieces are comriburing nothing to our goab, bur can be used to disrracr our opponem, force him ro lose coordination of the pieces, or in anorher way inconvenience him. To be a succe~sfu\ attacking player, ir is imporranr to develop a good feeling for rhc appticarion of rhi.c. technique.

While we will ralk
l.~h8t!!

A known theme, bw: here in a slightly advanced version. 1he rook has to be taken by rhe bishop, ~\S there is a knight fork looming on f7 as well.

l. ..Lh8 2."i'h3 1he point of the sacrifice. 1lie bishop is inconveniently placed on hS and rhe check on h7 b very threatening.

2...!g7 2... Ek7 is technically speaking a berrer defence, but srtll awful. After 3.ia3 White wins rhe queen, 'vhich closes rhe discussion.

3.ia3! It i.<. important to win a rempo by raking concrol over the a3-f8 diagonal now. The queen check in itself is nor dangerous. (;!:;1 5'. 3 ... ~c

Seeing this potentially rJ.ther obvious defensive move (after all, White just parted ·with a rook for a simple cempo) is for some reason what is hardesr for most players. Only once

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play we start to look at the posmon one move ahead seriously, do we realise rhar the racrical sequence has nm yet reached ir.s conclusion.

85

7 .•. lbc4 lhere is nothing else.

8.c6! 3 ...iWxa3 is of course possible, bur once again, \'\!hire will win with rhe queen for only rwo pteces.

8.t"Llxe6t!? ~g8 9.c6 t"Llxa3 1o.t"Llxg7! also wins, but in a very quirky way it mmt be said.

s.. .Cbxa3 9.cxb7 9.tDh7t!?

4.dxc5 'W!e7

9...'W!xb7

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

5.~xe6!!

lhis is an absolutely famasric sacrifice. \X'hire wanrs ro get rhc queen close ro the black king, but the check 011 h7 would not achieve rhis without this blow to rhe black pawn structure. 5.c6? '1Wxg5 6.cxb7 tDxb7 is nor really clear. Only 5.Ji.c1 !~ bxc5 6.\Wh?·l @fH 7.t"Lle4 ixe4 8.Ji.h6 ~e8 9.~xg7 gives White an advanrage as well, bm it sri ll htils to decide rhe g;tme directly.

s... fxe6 Or 5 ... 1M"xg5 ()_ges·;· ~f8 7.c6 and \'\/hire \VlllS.

6.'W!h7t ~f8 7.'W!xg6 Black is completely losr. "!here is no defence against the advance of rhe c-pawn, exposing the crater on f7.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

IO.lbh7t! Even this move can be hard to spor.

1o.tDxe6t?? ~g8 is probably only a draw. 10 ... ~g8

I O... ~e7 IJ.'.Wxg7t d6 12.\Wxb? wins. ll.CLJffit ~f8 12.'Wfe8 mate! lhis was all fiction, of course, but delightful fiction! rn1e next example shows a normal fighting game, norhing (OO fancy. Bmh players -...vant ro \Vin, White is putting his faith in earthly posse~sions, while Black builds his treasures on heavenly inspiration. I might be biased towards aggressive chess, bur anyone would acknowledge that this is a grear achievement by the Greek grandmaster.

Arracking Ivfanual 2

86

'llte game smrcs with a ~!iglu provocation from \'V'hire; he ca<>tles queenside, into rhc half-open b-file. "lhe open file is enough for Black co become active, but alone it wonld nor have been enough m win the game. However, Black in.vires his opponcnr ro indulgt> his p;.lssion for maredal things and a rough fighr ~:n,.,ues. White might stan off bener, hut is unable to cope with rhc practical problems over (he board.

Andrei Orlov- Stellios Halkias European Championship, Dresden 2007

l.e4 e5 2.CDf3 liJc6 3.liJc3 liJf6 4.d4 exd4 S.liJxd4 ~b4 6)tJxc6 bxc6 7.~d3 dS 8.exd5 cx:dS

14.ig3 14.~f5?

no longer works,

tn

view of

I4 .. .\Wf4t. I4... ~b6 IS.CDb5 White is already wanting for sensible moves. Afre1· 15.~f5 Black can reply 15 ... ~xf5 16.\Wxe? d4!, when for example 17.~xc7 ®c6 wins material, based on 18.gxd4 gae8 and the rook on e 1 is hanging. IS .•. cS!?N 1S.. JHc8 16.lt.Jd4 gabS l7.c3 was seen in Deb Villa Garcia -Su. Polgar, Salamanca 1989. Here Black could have obtained rhe advantage with 17 ... ~d7!, as the knighr is exposed on d4. 16.c4! 11)b JnO\'e is absolmely essential. After I6Al:k:7? c4! \XIhite needs to arrempt the

desperare looking 17.~g6!, as after 17.t2lxa8? gx~18 l8.~f5 c3! Black wins.

16... ~ab8!?

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

9.~e2t

I am quire suspicious ahour the validity of rhis move. 'H1e main plan involves castling queenside, whlle rhc: b-flle is open. J do nor rhink rhis is appropriartt. "lhe usual 9.0-0 looks more sensible. 9 ...~e7 lO.~gS 0-0 I 1.0-0-0 ~e6 12J~hel h6 13.ih4 ~d6 13 ... c5 immediately would be met \-Virh eirh.er 14.~f5 or 14.~.c4!?.

16 ... gfc8! would h;we given chances for both sides, al[hough only one player has a king

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play rhar is in danger. ~lhi~ would be rhe standard approach ro chis position, bm Halkias docs nor rhink rhat he has any use for rwo rooks, when he has only one open file under his comrol.

87

20.. J~Ya1 2l.ctlxe6

17..ic7! The most principled move. After 17 ..ixb8 ~xb8 18.b3 Black V•muld have rhe move ... a6 at some rnorncnt and would generally enjoy good compc:nsarion for the exchange. There are cwo downsides ro rhc: queen being pushed co a6. One: is the absence of this pawn push, the orhcr is the: fork on c7. 17.. -Vffa6 18 ..ixh8 :gxh8 19. ctlc7?! I am a bir sceptical abom the value of this nwve. White is a rook up, bur Black gaim enough time ro wrcttk havoc near the white king. And as rhcre are no real targets in the: black posicion, it is difficulr ro use rhe rook positively. 19.b3! was rhe berrcr oprion, I believe:. I am nor entirely sure that Black can prove ndequarc compensarion for the exchange. At rhe momenr the knight on b5 is difll.culr to dislodge. 1hc threats of Ci:Jc7 and .ifS would make the simadon a bit: inconvenicnr for Black.

White has won a rook, however nor wirhour some concessions. The rook is active on b8, the opposite-colomed bishops favour rhe attacker (nor just traditionally, bm specifically in the present posicion), and rhe white king is exposed both from the side and on the diagonals from f() and gS. But then again, a rook is not
piece! Alrhough the position appears extremely unbalanced, analysis acrually shows rhar accurarc play should lead to roughly equal chances tor boch sides.

2I. ..ltJe4! 1l1e knight cakes an oA.ensive pose, and on rhe way indi1·ecrly attacks rhe knight on e6. 22.Vffc2~!

lr rurns our rhar W11ire's only way ofsraying fully in rhe game was 22..~xd5 fxe6 23.:gh5!,

where the rook is ready to give irself up for the bishop, rhe knight on e4 is hanging and the whire king has rhe d 1-squarc at his disposal. Both the check on g5 and 23 ...g6 lead to exchanges and a drawish position. After rhc slow 22.1Wc2, Black's arrack gains momenrum.

Attacking Manual 2

8H

24J~xe4?

\Xlhite could have offered greater resistance

with 24 ..l;e2, bur Black's advantage is srill mouncing after 24 ... ~xb2 25.~xb2 (25.'Wx:e4? leads ro mate afrcr 25 ... .l;xe2 26.Wfxe2 'Wa3t) 25 ... ~xb2t 26 ..l;xb2 lt:lc3 27.dxe6 lt:lx:bl 28 ..!;d8t ~h7 29 ..l;xbl '1¥1'a3t 30.~dl 'Wa4t 3l.~cl ~c4i', although h will not be so easy ro win this ending.

24.. J~xb2 25J~'d3 ~xf.l

22 ...fxe6I Alrhough we arc happy to sacrifice material, we do so only out of need, not om of some aesthetic principles. '1 he attacking player sri II ha~ to live in a material world, or h~ will go to bed hungry. 22 ....~J6?! is weaker. \XIhite is able to save rhe g.une wirh a long ractical sequence, balancing on the edge. 23 ..l;xc:4!
1 am nor really sure

wh~tt

rhc idea behind chis move was supposed to be. Maybe co give .1 final check?

a

b

c d

e

f

g

h

28.\WbSt!! ~xb8 29 ..l;xal .!;b2t 30.@e3 ~c2 3l ..l;xa7 .l;xc4 32J3c71his endgame should be a draw. Black can test the: defence, bur against dc:cc-nr pby, he will not be successful.

23.cxd5 if6! 23 ...iLg5t efFective.

24J~e3

would

be

t;tr less

\XIhirc's last hope was 27 ..Ehc6 with the dueat of ~eSt. Here it is imporrr.tnr for Black ro hold his horses and simply protect against this check with 27 ... ~f8!!, when he is absolutely winning. He needs ro take with the rook on d2, as after 27 ... ~xd2t? 28.~d 1 rhe white king is strangely .safe.

27... ixf4 28.~h7't @f7 29.~g6t @£8 30.dxe6 'W'c3t 0-1

89

Chapter 2 - Typical Piece Play

1here will hardly be a game in rhis book where we will not encounter a piece sacrifice for rime, at least in a line; so I \vill nor delve more deeply into rhe subjecr. Iris obvious rhar although the rheme is a common one, che pmsiblc variarions .ue more than we can ever learn. New tactical ideas are found continuously and the ambitious player has more and more to learn. Especially with the rise of computers, our understanding of tactics has expanded rapidly.

2S •• J~k4? 1l1is is the key mistake. 1l1e reason why rhis move is bad, is because White gets a transition square on c4 for his knight. Suddenly there is easy access ro rhe brilliant square on f6! 1his does not come through cleanly in rhe game, as both players were still a bit away from their prime, but still shines duough in rhc ann otario ns. ~il1e correct move was 25 ... h5, after which

Transition squares \\!hen I was a very young boy and played my first international tournament, 1 was deeply impressed by one of d1c rising Danish ~cars, 1-Ienrik Danielsen, who in this rournamcm made an IM norn1 and six years later made ir all the way to rhe coveted Gl'vl tide. His only loss in rhis rournamcnr made a deep impact on me, or ar least rhe explanation he offered of why be lost the game. We his suffering at the mornenr where be made what he considered rhe decisive mistake back rhen. Although the increase in playing strengths of the computers and rhc author reveals thar rhis i~ maybe inaccurate, rhe general exphmarion of why the next move is a mistake is just as valid roday as ir was twenty years ago.

Black is still somewhat worse, but still in the game.

26J!xc4! White immediately claims the square, even ar the cost of giving his opponent a pa~sed pawn.

26... dxc4

Jusefs Petkevich- Henrik Danielsen Lyna\w 1990 ~ 0 .

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Whire's plan is clear. He should focus all his eftorrs imo a kingside arrack, utilising the key e4~square in order to facilitate a knight invasion on f6. 27J~dl?!

White could either have starred the transition of the knighr with rhe powerful 27.t:t::lg5 or prepared it with 27.\¥1h6! :9:c8 28.~c1, when after 28 ... \¥1b6:

a

b

c

d

e

f

cr

0

h

90

Attacking Manual 2 go to the kingsidc via c 1, while Black is roo focused on ddence to appreciate the potemial to

disruption the c~pawn can cause in the white camp.

28.. J!e8 28 ...c3 29 ..tcl Cclc7!? would have given Black reasonable fighting chances. Compare this with the later lines where the bishop is still active on b2.

a b c

d e

f

g

h

White should not be decoyed and think

that one piece can son ir all our, by playing 29.~,g5?, when 29 ... Ccld4! would bring Black b
After 29.l'l3g51 llJfS 30.Cclc4 rhe threar of .~.gS is far srronge1'. Black can srill defend hin1self wirh 30 ... Ccld4, when White has a very srmng com purer move in 31.11Nf4!!. Black is threatened wirh the subtle Ccld6 followed by ~.e3, winning a pie<.:e. And ~1frcr .3 l ... t/.JfS White has 32.g4 Cclg7 33.tDd6 ~c7 34JWf6! a11d the knighl· is f~1.bulom on d6. Black has no defence against 35.~h6, winning the

29.~h6

29.tZJd4!? to change tack was probably a sound option, bur the game is nor anywhere near decided. Again 29 ... c3! is rhe way for Black ro fight on. 30.Cclxb5 cxb2 31.~d2 b 1;;;;;\W 32.~xb 1 Cclxe5 and Whi(e is somewhat better, bur nothing more .

29•.. ltk7? ll'l.is was rhe last chance ro play 29 ... c3! 30.~c l c2!} where Black remains active.

house.

Notice how all of thi~ was made possible because the knight was able to access rhe e4~square. Wirhom it Black would scill have encountered some problems on the dark squares, bur \XIhire would nor have enough firepower ar his disposal ro make ir count. . .

27... ~c8 27 ...1J:lic6! was probably even rougher. 28.~g5?! Once again \XIhite could have played more ilCCUI'ately. Bectcr was 2~L);cJ! and Black finds

ir hard to de~-\l wirh l/.Jf3~g5~e4·d6/R}. Bur in what follows both players seem ro be oblivious ro rhe importance of che bishop on b2. White does little ro preserve its .srrengrh, happy for ir

30.'t~g5

tlJf8 3I.tLle4 mack is busted. The knighr is supreme here.

31..J!d8 Black could also have fought: for rhe f6square, valiantly perh~ps, but nor succes~fully.

Chapter 2 -1)'pical Piece Play

91

Patrick Driessens - Friso Nijboer

After .3l...tt'ld5:

Leidcn 2008

a

h

c

d

e

f

g

h

White can of course give the check on f6, bur J prefer ro prove rhc: srrengrh of the long diagonal wirh 32J~xd5! exd5 33.~f6"!" ~h8 34.e6! c3 35.e7! ~xe7 36.ixc3 and Black i~ mated wirh tLle8"! in many lines.

32J3d6 ~bS 33.Wlg5 Whirc wins all rhc same, hut here he misses a nice litrle racric in 33.~f6·i· ~h8 34.ctJh5!.

33 .. J;d7 34.~f6t ~g7 35.~xd7

26 ... ~e6!

35.lDg4! would have decided rhe game insranrly, but one feels the rising of rhe Aag and the shaking of rhe hand in evefy move: \'ifhire makes in rhis phase.

Putting annoying pres~ure on d4, simply ionorino rhe threat ro che kni 0ohr. White was b 0 duly provoked and decided ro accept the

35 ... ~xd7 36J3dl c3 37.~cl c2 38J3d2 W/c6 39.Wfe7 ~xeS 40J3d8 W/e4 4I.W/f8t ~f6 42.~g5t ~fS 43.W/c5 W/el t 44.~h2 ~c3 45.f3 Wfxh4t 46.~xh4 cl=VN 47.g4t ~f4 48.~g3t ~xf3 49.Wfflt 1-0 Ever since seeing chis game T have been aware of the power of tfansition squares. 1l1is awarenes~ is important ifyou want to devdop a ouod intuition for the attack. In the following b u-a1ne a verv- srront0• attacking player rempred b his opponcm with a piece. Unccrcain of rhc consequence~, Black decided to accept the off-er, somcrhing he would live to regrc:t.

after.

27.exd5? 27.ic5 was bercer. The position is messy, bur probably in balance.

27... Wfxd5t 28.~gl gxc4! DeA.ccrion! 29.~xc4?! 29.'\Wxc? was more resisrant, bur afrer 29 ... ct.Jg5 White will have ro parr wirh his queen, and you would expect Black to be successful after 30.Wfxg5 '\Wxg5 31.ixf8 ~c2 alrhough rhea-pawn creates some uncertainty.

29 ... ~g5!

92

Attacking Manual 2

8 7

6 5 4

3

2 1

b

a

c

d

e

f

g

h

A brilliam uansirion square. The knight will come ro h3 or f3 with devastating effect. 30J~fdl

fx:g3

0-1 ln rhe next game we shall witness a brillianr arrack on rhe kingside, which relied upon a rramirion square on rhe opposite side of the board. Former World Champion Alexander Khalifman leaves his opponent wirh no chance. lr is nor easy ro guess how much of his play was opening preparation and how much was genuine over-the-board in~piration, bur the moves are illustrative of how a vicious acrack can be initiated wirh a grear ~wing across the fourrh, using an unlikely square as a transition poinr tor rhe queen.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

I am very sceptical about this line. 1he problem is that Black quickly £-llls behind in development. White's next six moves have only one decem answer, and then White is already ru\ly mobilised. ll.~xc4!

White's advantage should mainly consisr of a lead in development. Therefore this is be££er rhan 11.~c2 bS! with borh sides having chances.

ll. .. ~xe4 12.~xe4 ~xe4 13.~g5! 1l1is move ensures Whire the ini£ia£ive.1here is no pleasanr way for Black ro meet it.

13 ... ~f6 14.~d3 ~e8 8

Alexander Khalifman- Konstantin Maslak

7

Acrof-lor Op<.:n, Moscow 2007

6 5

l.d4 ~f6 2.c4 g6 3.~c3 ~g7 4.e4 0-0 s.~f3 d6 6.h3 cS 7.d5 e6 8.~d3 exdS 9.cxd5 ~e8 A typical move, although ideas wirh 9... l2Jh5 are not as smpid as rhcy mighr appear at first glance.

10.0-0 c4

4

3 2 1 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Chapcer 2- Typical Piece Play

93

~n,is

is the great 1110111enr of the game/ games. White has accunHllated a 11light lead in development, bur cannot .H chi~ moment ea!.ily find cargers. His most active pieces are pointing at the kingside, bur at rhe moment rbey are not suH1ciently ed ro creare real damage. All chis is changed with the next power move.

15.1!Na4!! Quick development is the only way for \'{fhite to prove an advantage. 1l1e queen uses the a4-square to bounce off, like a hilliard ball, ro reach the highly desirable h4-square, from where she can acc;tck the weake:.c .square in che black position: h7. In vie\v of the threat ro the rook on e8, Black only has one reasonable move.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

22.~xg6!! @xg6 23.~xf6 ctJxf6 24.~f5 @g? 25.%Vg5t @.ffi 26.~xf6 Wie7 27.ctJf5 Wie1 t 28.@b2 WieSt 29J4 ~xd5 30.~h6 1-0

]. Horvarh- C. Horvath, Bischwiller 1993.

1S ... ~d7 The problem is rhac after chis move it is next ro impossible to gee che rest of the pieces inro the game; ;u leasr within a reasonable cimeframe. This, and the prominenr placement of the white queen, prove ro be the decisive factors.

16.1!Nh4 .ixgS 1l1e alternative i~: 16 ... a6 17 .~ae 1 ~xe 1 18.~xe 1 bS 1l1is is best mer with: 19.~e4!

The rook plays an important role on the fourth rank. 19 ... ~b7 19... ~xg5 20.l2Jxg5 ctJf8!? wrvived for Black in Santoro - Kujala, Finland 1991, but 1 do nor crust the black pm.ition. 20.~f4 ~g7

2t.l2Jd4!

An improvement over 21.'\¥1h6t @gS 22J:l!h4 @g7 2,J.Wh6i· @gS 24.~h4 Y2-Y2 P. Cramling- \'V'edberg, Stockholm 1990. 21 ... h5

White was chrearening ~f5t winning.

Previously 17 ... ctJf6 had been played, but White gets a grea( arrack after: 18.£4! @g7 'lhis is in principle che best defence. 18 ... E:c3 was torn apart with 19.ctJxb7! @g7 20.f5 in Luch- Bednarek, \Xl;u·saw 2005. 18 ... Wib6t!? is the computer's favourite, but a human can see rhar it is not the tlueen

94

Attacking Manual 2

thar lacks options, bur rhc queenside. Srill ic i~ not so easy ro advance rhe f:..pawn after 19. ~h 1 ~b4! rho ugh \X/ hire should remain better. 20.1¥lh6! looks besr, freeing rhe f.. pawn. 20 ... ~xb2 21.f5 . 1hc winning line for \X'hirc is nor surprisingly associated with a c.l irecr sacrifice:

~l11ere is

no good defence ro 27.ie8!,

wi 1111ing.

18Jf!ael! Bringing in the rook must be good. 1H.f4 has been suggested, bur does nor convince.

18.. J~xel ll1e main aJrernanvc was: 18 ... ~e5 This is maybe better, but if White first develops fully, rhcn strikes, Black will find his position very difficult: 19.~xe5 dxe5 20.gel id7 2I.ic4 t7 is the weakness. 21 ... ~c8 22..ib3 ~g7 23.f4!

8 7

6

a

b c

d

e

f

g

h

5

20.~xf7! @xf7 21.1Wxh6 g5

4

21 ... gxf5 22.,\hfS !xfS 23.gxf5 ~h8 24JMf4 ~g8 25.:i~f1 gg6 26.h4! and rhcre is no defence against 27.h5, winning. 22.~g6t @fS 23.:gael! Bringing in rhc lasr piece for rhc kill.

3

23 ... ~xe1 23 ... :ge5 24.1¥lxg5 ~e7 25.~h4! rollowed by rhc exchange of rooks on c5 and gc 1 with an i rrcsisrible arrack. 24.B;xc 1 WbGt 25.c±>h 1 1¥lxb2 26.ibS!!

2 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Black is in trouble, for example: 23 ... h6 24.~xh6t! @xh6 25.ltJxf7t ~g7 26.l2Jxd8 gxd8 27.fxe5 Sometimes the attacker must setrle for a transition to a favourable endgame. 1l1e pawns are likely ro claim a victim and White will end material up rarher than material down.

19.gxel !d7 White b. fully de\·eloped and should srrike at the weaknesses.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

20.~f4 1l1e game is acmally already decided. Black never made it our of the opening and now has ro weaken his position badly.

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece 20.~g3!? h6 2l.ll:Je4 was another damaging (lor Black) approach ro the posirion.

20 ... f5 2I.&L:le6 Khalifman is a great technician and nacurally moves roward1. a lasting rather rhan a dynamic

advantage. Others might have played rhe posicion differendy.

2L •• tLlxe6 21 .. ."?!Je7 is slightly more accur~He, bur ab-o afrer 22.;ge3 'Lixe6 23.dxe6 ic6 24.Wd4 Black would be facing an uphill struggle for a draw.

Play

95

25.1Mic3 Wgs 26.1Mig3t wrs 27.1Mic3 Wgs 28.exd7 1Mixd7 29.ge3 1he endgame after 29.~g3t ~h8 30.~h4! ( rhrea ren ing ;ge7) 30 .. J~e8 31. mrfG t ®g8 32.~g5t! ®h8 33.;gxe8t 'l.Wxe8 34.~xf5 should win as well, bur any grandmaster will prefer the winning rook endgame over rhe winning queen ending.

29 ... £4 1he only move. 30.\M/c4t 1Mff7 31.\M/xf?t 31.ge6!? was also strong.

22.dxe6 \M/e7 -n,e different move order gives White additional opporrunirics.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

31. .. ®xf7 32.ge4

h

23 ..ixf5! 35 ... ~cl t 36.~h2 @d4 was a different approach, bur after 37.;ge7 White \vill win.

1he dearest.

23.\Wg3!? ;gf8 24JWe3 ic8 25.W/xa7 winning a pawn also existed.

36J~d2t

Pushing rhe king back.

23... gxf5 23 .. J~f8 24.Wc4! and \XIhire keeps his newly acq uil'ed extra pawn.

36 ..• ®e5 37.®fl! The king belongs in rhe cenu~.

24.1Mfg3t ®f8 24 ... '\&g? loses dcgantl)' 26.;gc8·! Wf7 27J~xa8!.

37... d5 38.®e2 d4 39.®d3 ®ds 40.f4 grs 4l.~tL hS 42.f5 ®e5 43.f6 ®ds 1-0

to 25.exd7

i&xg3

96

Atracking JVlanual 2

Black correctly decided rhar rurcher re~i~rance would be futile.

l his was an impre:.sive game on many levels, bur none of this would ever have happened h~l
Zoltan Almasi- Joerg Hickl German Bundesl iga 200.3

l.e4 g6 2.d4 ~g7 3.lilc3 d6 4.f4lilf6 A friend of mine was ralking ro a top grandmaster abom the difficulty he was experiencing in getting an opening advanrage. TI1e supcr-GM replied: "\XIcll, you cannot play against the Pirc every day:" 1, roo, tend co gc::r oprimistic when T am left wirh peace and quiet to use my extra tempo in rhe opening to establish a srrong presence in rhe cenn·e. However, objectively I am nor sure the Pirc is worse than any orh~r opening.

s.lil£3 o-o I suspect rhar tbi.s prob.1bly oives bc:rrer t> equalising chances dtan 5 ... c5. 6.~d3

llJ a6!?

9.f5! This is the critical resr. 9... ltk7 10.a4 a6?! 1o... gxf5!? here or on the next move 1~ the only way for Black to fight for equaliry in rhis line. It is berrer here than on the next move, as the pawn structure is impure afrer rhe dance with the a-pawtls.

ll.a5 llJbS? rfhis is designed to put pressure on c4, but it does nor work. 1l1e whirc centre is roo solid to be undermined in this way; it needs ro be attacked head-on.

l2.fxg6 hxg6 12 ... fxg6 leaves the c6-square vulnemble. \XIhire exploited this ideally in the following example: 13.ttJxb5 axb5 l4.ixb5 lbxe4 15.~cl l!Jt() 16.l!Jg5 when Black was busted, Smerdon - ReiHy, Queenscown 2006.

6 ... tl:Jc6 intending ... c5 is the main line, bur mosr of rhe real aficionados play rhe opening rhis way.

The queen .s rhc e-pawn and is on the way co h4. Black is in rrouble on the kingside

7.0-0 c5 8.ds B!b8?!

13... lilxc3 14.bxc3

l3.Wel!

Chapter 2 - Typical Piece

Play

97

22.~h6 iWb6 23.g4 :gbl

2.3 ... lL1xg4 24.~xg4 ~.xg4 25J:~g3 ~d7 26.~cl leads to mare. 24.:gh3 :gxfl t 25.!xf1 1-0 Aagaard- Galassi, Porro Mannu 2008.

a

b

c

d

e

f

a

1:>

h

14... t[}h7 Black tries ro counter rhe queen eaterging on h4. 1his move look11 odd, but it is very difficult to ~ee how Black can easily improve his position. One other game wenr: 14 ... iWc7 15.c4! White has complete conrrol over the centre and great arracking prospects. It ic; not a surprise that Black found ir hard ro pick a move here. 15 ... lL1g4 The long diagonal is nor a problem. If Black rakes a pawn, he will pay for it in valuable rime, used ~1gainsr his king: 15 ... lL1xc4 16.!h3! lL1f6 17.lL1gS gives White a great arrack. And 15 .. .l2Jxd5?! is simply bad. Whire surprises with 16.e5!! dxc5 17.cxd5 e4 18.lL1g5 and Black is losr. -lhc combination of 'Wh4 and ~f4 (in rhe event rhar Black captures on al) is roo much to meet. 16."\Wh4! -TI1c arrack supersedes everything.

16 ... ~f6 16 ... ~xa 1? 17.tLlg5 17.lL1g5 ixg5 \8."\Wxg5! This is slightly more prectse, keeping rhc bishop on c 1 flexible. 18 ... lL1e5 l 9.~f4 b6 20.~e2 bxa5 2l.ga3 ~b4

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

"lhis is rhe great moment in the game (which, by the way, will nor last roo long anyway... ). 'Xlhire has ser up a strong attacking position, all his pieces bur one are involved in rhe arrack, or ar least poised ro do so. k I never get tired of repeating, your chances of a successful arrack increase dramatically when you use all of your pieces. In this position Zoltan Almasi finds a way ro do exactly this; in only three moves from now, the least becomes the first, with the rook going from being out of play on al, to being the predominant attacking piece. In what follows I will ger a bit bogged down in rhe various lines, as I really want to prove rhe strength of rhe white arrack. In most of the examples in this book, 1 have conducted a far more extensive analysis rhan that which appears in the finished version. Despite knowi11g rhar 1 would never have enough space ro include rhe full analysis, I wanted to be sure rhat what I am saying is not founded upon a mere hunch or intuition, bur on undisputed fact. It is absolutely possible to advocate techniques thar appear convincing, but do nor work, simply

98

Attacking

becaus~ they are

builr on !~u1lry infornution. For rhis reason I h
15.e5!! Tn principle rhis is a pawn sacrifice, alchough in praccice this is not so imporcam, as caking rhe c-pavvn is ummracdve tor Black. What is remarkable abour rhis move, i~ rhar rhis cradirional break in rhe cenrre 1s norhing of rhe sorr, bur a cle~tl'<\nce sacrifice of the pawn, making it possible for rhc rook on a 1 ro the armed forces and lead che white men into barrie.

~1.anual

2

16."'dxe5 Before we ger into rhe 'proof pan of rhe game, ler us talk abour the strategy one last rime. White is transferring rhe rook to the kingside in order ro have a majority of forces rh<~te. If we look at this in of the assault racio, the rook shifts the balance heavily into \XIhire's favour. Just compare this piece \'i'ith its counterpart on b8, which is doing nothing w aid the defence. Only deep analysis can prove rhat this rheoretical poinr is accurate, so here we go!

'Ihe other opcion here is: I G... cxd5 17 .;gh4 j_xe5!

§~.2_~

8

I5 ... e6 Black is trying ro counter the white ccmre a~ well as caking contml over rhe h4-square.

1here ~1.rc not really
: ..... ><

~-~~~ '-----~ $~

. ,, ____ /-

~~il~ . -~~-'--~ i~~ W.l ~i~~ ~ ~'--~M-~x~~~-# 1 '··-·\P«t/'····'·W$~0-"'"~---~~~~~i~~ & 4 Wf% ~ ~ ;7~d~

7 6 S

3 2 1

~~,/-~~I~~~---

.

Y ;

%~~~~~?.~ ~~~ ft*[j

m , ~<>::0//.m·~-, @.:':\~~i:f~§ft:1-z-;.}. ~A ~ ~:$iM~ a

b

c

d

e

f

g

::

h

I think this is the toughest defence, although even this i~ nor sufficient. 17 ... dxe5 transposes ro the nexr note.

18.fEh6!! We wrll see rhls move in many positions. On<:: of the main reasons is that the g6-pawn is the only .srrong point" in the black posirion, once it go~s) rhe rest of the position goes. 11v: theory behind this idea was covered in

a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

16.E!a4!! 1l1e rook continues the journey. I apologise for my possibly cxcc~sive enthusiasm; I have inherircd. it from Avrukh (who annor;.ned the game for ChessBase:), bur fully share his feeling of awe about Almasi's play.

Chapter 6 ofVolume One. 18J~xh7? is less successful

h~?.te.

"l1le

problem is thar rhe bishop is no longer on g7. 18 ... cj;>xh7 19.lLJg5·r ~g7 20.~h4 gh8 21.~xf7t @gS 22J2:h7 ·n1e arrack does noc work. After 22 .. .'IM!e7!! Black is ~1.ble co

repulse rhc arrack.

t8 ... ~J6

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play White was rhreacening ~imply ro capture the bishop nmv. If 18 ... ~g7? then 19Jhh7 works. 19 •~(1l:J''2 More pre~~ure is pur on g6. Black is nor able ro finish his development as he has to pay arrenrion co idea~ ~uch as ~xg6t. 19 ... \We7 20.'Llh4 Another piece is attacking g6. White does not have ro hide his intentions or be Aexible abour rhem, as he has won enough rime in exchange tor his rwo pawns. IO t... - ... ~C) Irritating rhe queen is rbe best Black can do. Giving up the bishop wirh 20 ... ~xh4 allow \XIhire ro cur through on the dark ~quares. ·n1e following line is .1 good illustration of chis: 21.~xh4 c4 22.~xg6 fxg6 23.1Mfxg6t IWg7 24.~xf8! lLlxf8 25.\Wxd6 ~a8 26.~h6 \Wf7 27.~xfH Black cannot rec:tprurc as ~hHi" win~, while after a developing move such as 27 ... ~f) White can destroy rhc defences wirh rhe following fantastic move: 28.~g7!! 1hc main line is: 28 ...1Wxg7 29.\Wxd5t \Wf7 30.~h81' ~g7 3l.Wfxf71" cj;Jxf7 .'32.~xa8 and White wins. 2l.GtJxg6! 1l1e pieces are all in place now, so ir i~ rime for chis sacrifice. lhe move order is nor hugely imporram, bur sacrificing rhe knight here eliminate~ ~ome ideas with ... \W'g). 21 ... fxg6 22.~f4!

,.,ill

a

b c

d

e

f

g

h

99

'I he g6-pawn is lose, buc there is no reason co rake ir immediately. First White uses rhe inactive bishop to eliminate one of the most important defenders. Black's two best options both lead to joyless endings.

a) 22 ... ~g7 23.~xd6 Simplest. 23 .. J!xfl t 24.~xfl \Wf7 25.~xg6 ~f5 26.~xg7t ~xg7 27.~xb8 Wfxg3 28.~xg3 ~xc2 29.~d6 c4

30. @f2 White should win this ending. He bas blocked che opponent's pawns successfully and has rwo mobile ed pav. •ns of his own. On top of this he has rhe two bishops ... b) 22 ... ~xf4 23.~xf4 ltJffi White is fully builr up and ready to strike. 24.~xg6t! ~g7 25.~xg7i' \Wxg7 26.!hf8t! Winning back the piece. 26 ... ~xf8 27.\Wxd6t Wffe7 28.\¥!xb8 ®el t 29.~J1 Wc3t 30.@h 1 \Wc6 31.c4 dxc4 32.\Wc7 and 33.Wixc5 wirh a \vinning endgame. 17.~h4

'lhc rook has ed che arrack ro lead from rhc front line.

17... ~f6 Black is trying ro control rhe g5-square while ar the same rime disturbing rhe rook. 1l1e ot1ly alternative is to allow Whire to sacrifice on h7, bur ignore ir and play in rhe centre. However, chis is also nor sufficient: 17 ... exd5 18.~xh7! e4

Attack'mg lv1anual 2

100

19J!xg7t ~xg7 20.1W 3 20 ... exd3 211Wx g. 23.'1&e3 le aves . b8 dxc2 . 22 ·~e-) ...1 and Black compensation tor th . wtrh insufficient work rem . e piece, even . f . b' ?1 "' aws. l ·• tt of

~a8

- ."Z..le5 1l"lrearenino Ei:xf7·~ 2I...Wfe8 2?_,so-') ~~, : t. Esrablishin 1 8. g olnc tbrear ofW/f61. . and !lfl-f4'2h4~:

- ... se6 23.c4 · 1 1his move,is
26.~b2

24

·-

.cxcb

~dG 25.®h6t

to ~g8

Black is <::>oo ne.

l8 ...c4 1bis does n or succeed in d'lStracring the bish op. After

19.i.xg6! [he attack is ver . 19 ... F.
_2.'Lixe5 ~xo-6 ?3 'Li 1hc white:t~ck" xgb6t ~g8 24.W/u3 24. .. \!lfl 25.l2Je5t ' ~e7 1S a solute! . 2 ~ y d ecistve. After ~'hite wins l · 6.:9:xf6 • , rle que ·· acK pieces en, and rhe re st: of rhe

~

bl

to cover 1 18 ... ~c7 Wl working. . 1 t le seventh rani· . ch< k" . me '"' sudl a . ' IS not mgslde that he can ·tglear majorit)l on stn (e d'lrectly with·

18J~h6!

18 ... exd5

Other moves \vere: 18... Wlxd5 .IS turilc _O.j,b? . •viii. Aflrer . ! 19 ·c4•· fo ll owed bv . - \Y/lure I agonal co 'oniinate { . qwc exploi t t 11c long · che dy enem)' (Jos' . . mon. d '

19 w Mr.. e7 exposes rhc er: 20 ..txo-61 fx queen m a fork Black is

bust~d·.

g6 21

.~xg6t @h8 22·=~ ~n g666.. ~

!

Chapter 2 ~Typical Piece Play 19 ...1We8

101

This time rhe exchange sacrifice is pure deAecrion, raking the king away from f7.

1his is cur straight ro pieces with: 20J!xf6! l2lxf6 2I.1Wh4 Threaten.ing mare in 2. 21...~g7

20... ~xh7 20 ...ixe5 also does nor work. After 21.1Wxe5 ~xh7 White can choose between mating rhe king and simply taking the rook on b8.

21.ttlxf7 l-0

In this miserable posmon Black resigned. If he does nor capmre the knight, \Xfhire will play iWg3 and rake on g6 with rhe queen. And if he does remove the troublesome sreed, the material is equal, bur White is coming with :gxg7t, Wle5 and ~g3 anyway... 22.~g5!!

Puning the bi.<.hop on l4 is also possible, but this is a killer. 22 ... \WxeS 23 ..txf6t W'xf6 24J3h7t ~g8 25.~xf6 ~xh7

Black has rwo rooks for rhe queen, bur not for long. 26.~xg6t @g8 27 ..id3 White is chrearening mare in three moves.

27 .. J~!e8 This is the only move, but White has many ways tO cur the cake, including 28.h4 and 28.~h7i'!.

Lines of Communication Thinking back to our description of the assault ratio, it is clear rhat it is imporranr to keep our pieces in with the scene of action, and at the same time to cut off the opponent's pieces. Here we shall first look ar three examples where the attacker should fight to keep his pieces at rheir peak performance. Af~:er this, we shall look at four great examples of keeping the opponent's pieces our of play by disrupting their lines of communication.

20J!xh7! In our first example, we shall see a critical moment from an important game in the Russian Championship, in which the subsequent champion, Alexander Morozevich, misplays a promising position. In his notes he indicated rhat he had missed the route for rhe a8-rook ro enter the game. It seems ~:har he somehow had nor added enough importance ro this. We •..vill stan at the critical moment, bm follow rhe rest of the game to the end, even if ir has little to do wirh our subject:.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

102

Attacking Manual2

EvgenyTomashevsky-Alexander Morozevich

25 .. J~a7!! With .. J~h7 and ... ib7 on the way, Black has a strong arrack.

Ru.~sian Championship Supl:r Final, Moscow 2007

@f~ .IDi.~ ~~*-

71. ~~r'e<''~-/· ~~~ ~ s

6

~ ~- ~ ?..... ~

~

/,._.,Y./.

~

m

~.l~

---"-

:r-'~~~~ -J~~~•'~/.- -~ ~ /,.,.%/-

3~ ~b~~¥~~ ;.-; .... /.,y_.;,•J~-,..y,.-:7//;}J;fJ:,/Jj,'/.

Morozevich said in his annotations that it \vas this last move he had missed, the ability ro activate his worst placed piece effordessly to a brilliant square.

23.~g5r! Afrer chis slip rhe posicion is just unclear. Tomashevsky also did nor sense that f4 was rhe important square in the posicion.

z ... ,%

2 1

~ .. "r1~ ~ ..... J~~ ... ~~-;.:;-Jff@% ... J7'~ ~~

~

~if~~

b

a

d

c

~

g h

f

e

22... ~g7? This looks like a normal move, bur Momzcvich misevaluates the position. Tr is clear thar he believed he would have strong long-term compensarion. As it turns our chis is far from clear. Instead he should have exploited his slight lead in development to scan a direct

arrack.

1 think char 23.if4! was stronger. lf \Xlhire were able ro use rhe g5- and e5-squares as he pleases, he would be doing very well. Therefore it is likely rhat he can follow up with 'Wd2 and i.e5t, ~xeS and ~ae1 or t!:Jg5, wirh a strong position.

23 ...~c7 24.ttJh4! Making Black aware thac gG is a weakness too.

24.. J~f7 25.~e2 ~d7 2G.~cG would of course be a catastrophe, so Black needs to rake conrml over eG before entering the promised diagonal.

25 ... ib7??

Best was therefore 22 ... f4!, wirh rhe idea of creating further weaknesses in the white camp. '1he following line, inspired by my computer, illustrates thac .. .rJJg7 and .. J~!h8 is noc rhc optimal way ro take over rhe h-file: 23.l!Je5 !xg3 24.fxgj ~fG 25.if4

26.f4 ghs 27.~f2 Not obvious by any means. 27 ...~b7 28J~abl gh5 29.ttJf3? ·n,is retreat seems strange and rerribly time consuming. Suddenly Black has time w get all the pieces ro rhe right squares. lr seems likely rhar rime uouble was becoming a facror around here.

Whi[e misses his chance to fight for the

a

b

c

d e

f

g

h

initiative with 29.b4!, based on 29 ... a.xb4 30.a.xb4 cxb4 3l.c5!, when Black has to move backwards and give up rhe d-pawn. 1he position is simply wildly unclear.


103

29 ....ic6 30.:Sgl?

37...hhl

Was Whire dreaming of playing g4? Well, he was soon ro realise who is attacking here ... 30.~h4! was rougher.

Even berrer would have been 3 7 ... ~e7!, when afi:er 38.gh2 1Wxg4 Black wins everything.

38.:Sxhl hc5 39.Wfdl Wfe7 40.a4 30... :Sf8! 1l1e rook is headed for e3.

\XI'hite could have resisted a bit longer with 40.ttJg2, though afrer 40 .. J:~g3 41.1Mfel g5! his ourlook is grim.

3J.lt)h4 A pitiful rerurn.

4o ... :Sg3 41.lL!g2 .ih4 42.:Sh2 Wfe5 43.c5 f3 44.lL!h4 V!if4 0-1 1l1e next game revolves all around the clearance of rhe diagonal bl-h7. In the game Ivanchuk clearly wanted ro open up for the bishop, bur he did nor find the most energetic way ro do so, and for this reason he missed the win twice, on moves 27 and 28. The win on move 27 is simply fantastic, bur I am surprised that a player of Ivanchuk's calibre makes a meal of rbe option on move 28.

Vassily Ivanchuk- Lazaro Bruzon Bautista Skandcrhorg 2005

32.fxg5 f4 33.g4 33.!;ge 1 fxg3·r 34.<Jigl might look like a defence unril 34 .. J!f4! winning rhe knight is sponed. For exa!Hple: 35.ttJxg6! ~f2! 36.Wfe6 gh2 37.~e4 'Wf7 with a winni11g rook ending on the horizon.

33 ... :Se8 34J&d2 34.1Mfdl ge3 and Whirc is dominared.

34 ... :Se3 35.b4 V!fe7 36.bxc5 Wfxg5!? The racrical solurion. Also after the simple 36 ... ~xc5 White is completely domin.ued.

37.:Shl 37.ttJf5t gxf5 _18.gxf5 ~g3 leads nowhere.

l.e4 e5 2.lLif3 lL!c6 3 ..ib5 a6 4 ..ia4 lLif6 5.0-0 .ie7 6.:Sel b5 7 ..ih3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 tLla5 lO..ic2 c5 ll.d4 Wfc7 12.tLlbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 lL!c6 14.lL!b3 aS 15..ie3 a4 16.lt)bd2 .id7 17.:Scl Wfb7 18.tL!fl :Sfc8 I9.tLlg3 .ids

Acracking Manual. 2

104

Only three games have been played from this position, all between grandmasters.

20.Jkbl 1his nacural move is of course the one ro play. I personally played 20.@hl?! in a very imporranr game het·e, and duly lost (Aagaard - Haslinger, Grear Yarmourh 2007). When I say rhe game was between grandmasters, ir might nor technically h,we been rhe case. ·n1e game was played in round 8 our of I 1; 1 had ed the 2500 mark in round rhree, and rhus secured the tide, while my opponent had made his raring only the day before. Bur like me, he took no chances and secured a few more racing poims before dropping pieces ...

32.@g3!! .if5 33 ..id3 1-0 Black resigned in Surovsky- Werle, Dresden 2007, He is losing the exchange, since any rook move would lose the queen to a knight check on f6.

21.Wfe21h6 22.dxe5 he3? This exchange is completely unnecessary. I see nothing wrong vvith 22 ... 'Llxe5 when Black is dose to equality.

8 7 6

5 4

20 ... h6

3

Many moves are pby~tble here.

2 1he other game continued wirh: 20 ... ib6 2l.dxc5 'Llxe5!? 22.'1tWxd6 'Dxf3"! 23.gxf3 .ixe3 24.fxe3 !xh3 1he opening is very imeresring and White 111ight have a chance for a slight edge wirh ~omerhing like 'Dg3-e2-d4, due ro his cenrral control. 1he next few moves were maybe nor rhe best, bur rhe end was exquisite. 25.~~kdl 'Lle8 26.Wf4 ~e7 27.e5 ~c4 28.'Lle4 ~a6 29.@f2 ~g6 30J~gl 'ltWb4 3LE!:xg6 hxg6? 31...\¥/xb2t 32.E!:d2 Wxd2i·J \vou!d have more or less equalised.

1 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

23.~xc6!!

lvanchuk does not miss a chance like rhis. 1he exchange is sacrificed as a simple efficiency scheme. '!he rook is not hanging on cl anymore and White can stan an arrack on the kingside.

23•.•W/xc6 23 ... E!:xc6 would lead to similar lines as in rhe game, bur wirh the black queen out of play.

24.exf6 1l1is pawn is highly annoying for Black, bur at the moment he has even more pressing problems.

24...1f4?!

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

· fhis gives White rhe chance to earn another tempo for getting his pieces dose ro che king. Looking hard I have found rhar rhe black position is on rhe verge of being indefensible,

Chapter 2 - Typical Piece Play bm that he would have had. a real practical chance of saving rhe game after: 24 ... i.cl \X!hite ha~ no good alternative w raking the pawn.

25.fxg7 Here l am unsure about which is the best option for Black. Maybe iris 25 ... ~xg7 and maybe iris: 25 ... \Wc4

a

h

c

d

e

f

g

105

29.lLIH5t? would spoil most of the advantage. 29 ... @xg7 (29 ... :gxf6? 30.exf6 i.e6 3l.:gxcl! :gxc 1t 32. ~h2 and there is no defence against 33.~e3 with rhe idea of \Wxh6-h8 mare) 30.lLlxd7 \Wxb2 31.\Wxb2 i.xb2 32.ixb5 ~aS 33.i.xa4 :gxa4 34.lLlh6 :gcc4 35.lLlxa4 ~xa4 36.:gd 1 :ga5 Black is a pawn down, bur rhe e-pawn is a bit render. Probably the endgame is defensible. 29 ...ixb5 30.Wfxb5 1MI'c4 30 ... :gac6 3I.lLlf6t ~xg7 32.\Wd3 leads ro a deadly arrack.

h

As 1 find the brter ro be much the more imeresting, l have chosen m analy~e rhat one. 26.id3! This is the move I tru~r. The queen i~ banished to the outskirts of the board. \X'hite can also try a more strange approach wirh 26.\Wdl!?, bur after 26 ...ixb2 27.e5 d5 28.l2JhS ~b6! I have a feeling Black is alright. 26 ... \Wxa::! 27.e5! \'
31.\Wd7! This looks all gone to me, but some work remains. 31...\Wc7 Afrer 31...!xb2 32.c6 Black is quickly mated: 32 ... :gxe6 33.:gxe6 fxe6 34.\Wxe6t ~h7 35.\Wf7! :ggs 36.'~f5 mare! 32.\WxdS Black is facing 33.e6, which is anything bur reassurmg. 32 ... ~xb2 32 .. J;g6 33.lLld4 ixb2 34.lLlf5 ~h7 35.lLlf6t :gxf6 36.exf6 ixf6 37.lZle7! i.xe7 38.1M/xf7 :ggs 39.:gxe7 and Black cannot find any endgames leading to the end he wishes

tor. 33JWb51Wb6 33 ... :gb6 34.\Wxa4 is no better. 34.lLlf6t ~xg7 35.\Wd3 Finally rhe weaknesses around the king come ro light.

106

Attacking Manual 2

35 .. J!d8

~.~- ~·~ ·/~~~~~-j_~ '~ .~~~*'~ ~ ~-. 'm"'~"' J~'·~5

'1he only move, the rook ·wa~ hanging and there was a lcniglu check coming up on d7. 36.\hl.fh7t ~f8 37.tLlh4 One out of several winning lines- the king is roo open.

8 7 6

37 ... \hl.fa5

4 ,

Forced in view of various rhrt:ats. White now wins with a lor of checks. 38.\hl.fxh6t ~e7 39.ttJf'5t ~e6 40.lbc4t d7

4LttJc5t And next come~ 42.\hl!xa6. White has more material and a powerful ~mack going.

25AJh5 .ie5 26.fxg7 26.tLlxc5 dxe5 27.fxg7 \Vas also very srrong, bur the game concinuarion is not bad. 26.. J~a6!? 26 ...!xg7 27.e5!

5 3

2

0'/J

a J~ ~LZJ

~-· ~

t;·

/~~~~~f ~LZJ~~ fJ --

•••

~

~

~w~~~t ··"~8~ ~ ~}};,~WPJ~~¥ilt· .zYM~ ~~~ a

b c

~

d e

~

f

g

b

After this Black has a choice, between hell and fire. 27 ... !xg7 It is tempting ro eliminate rhe pawn, but rhe bishop was on e5 for a reason. Now White can open up for the bishop on b 1 wirh deadly effect. 27 ... <;i{h7 loses to a brilliant combination, designed to draw the rook m a bad square.

7.r~;~:@~l--~~ .• .% 8

~ -.~~ ~~~/, -~'///,'/'~ --~

-~--&~~

6

~

5 ~i~ ~ -

4 3 2

~

x,,,z

~

/.,,_,>~

~~'2J ~

.,,,_%

·~/0-·~~

-~~- ·'ZJ~b

fj~

~iff~fj·

I~,~.~~"-'=~ a

b

c

d

e

f

g h

27.liJh4?! appear~

rarher unn
1he first move is nothing rhreJ.t to the h6-pawn: 27.\hl.fe3!

~pecial,

ir is just a

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

28.g8=\Wt!! ~xg8 29.ttJf6t ixf6 30.c5t ~g6 31.exf6 wirh a winning arrack. 28.e5!! ~d5 1l1is move, a.ttempcing to get closer with rhe queen, seems like a good rry, but \XI hire has a devious \Vin. Hov;,rcver, also after rhe two other moves Black will have to give in. 28 ... dxd 29.tLlxeS and 30.Wi'g3 is quite

simple. And after 28 ... ~f8 Whire has a beautiful win with: 29.t2Jxg7 ®xg7 30.\hl.fd3 ~h8 3l.e6! A beamiful magnetic sacrifice. 3l...~xe6

Chapter 2- Typical Piece Play 32.c'bd4 \XIhitc will pby 3,,.l!.'lxe6t and 34.V9g6t, if
107

'?7 ~.tt ~, - .•. EIC). This is probably best answered wirh a little sneaky move. 28.~d2!

Now Black has no choice bur giving up his 1otrong bishop with: 28 ...ih2t! 28 ... V9d4 This loses in fabulous fashion to the following long and attractive combination: 29.Wlxh6 ixg7 30.V9g5! 11uearening e4-e5. 30 ... WleS 31.l!:lf5!! ixf5 .)2.exf5!

8

~.~~ --~ ~~~~~~~%~

:r~~-~,·~~ ~ ~z -~- a".."M ~·~ ~8~Cl)]. ..

5

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

~~ ~ m%~

-h~--J~

-

2:

:,~~~~~d~ r'D~~~d~~~ ~~- .)~ --~"?'~:·i~

h

2

w;. L ..

32.~b7!

1l1e black piece~ are duly punished ~or rheir lack of coordination, Whi rc wins.

27...~cH! 1l1is move is surprisingly a mistake:. Tn my first draft noces ro rhis game 1 considered it a '!!' move, because of the sensational finish. However, ir rums out that Black is still in deep trouble and, from a ~rdccly objecriv.: point of view, could have retained better defensive chances by playing something else. Tn rhc game rhc move worked wonders, against one of rhe besr pl.tyer~ in the world; so ic is hard to criticise it coo severdy. Both of the orher queen moves lead

••

bad positions, but they are nm completdy lost as far as I can see: to

I think rhe best way forward for Black is ro seek simp!ifications:

·-

~i.- f~ ~ a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

A great sacrifice. 32 ...'\Mfxe 1t 33.~h2 ~f8 111e only move (33 ...Wfe5t 34.f4 '1Mfxb2 35.f6 and mace emerges). 34.~xg7! ~e7 35J6t ~d8 36.®xf7 f!.c7 Black is tVv'O exchanges up, bur rhc white pieces are simply vasdy superior to rhe black ones. "Ihe f~pawn is a star and rhc black king is in deep trouble. White should win. 37.Y¥g8t We8 38.'19g4 This is probably an appropriate place to stop. 1l1e analysis may already have deviated from rhe path of perfection, as all long lines inevitable do. 29.~xh2 'Wxh5 30.l!:lf5 ixf5 3l.exf5 l/9h4! Black cannot allow the whire queen to make it ro d4, from where she would rule the waves.

32.ie4 d5 33.ixd5 1Ml'f6 34.\Wf4 White's advantage is lal'ge, but by no means decisive.

Anacking Manual 2

108

27 ...Wc4!? 1his is rhe other oprion. I rhink rhc riglH way to play for an edge is: 28.\We3 ~b4 28 ...§'d4 29.§'xh6 !xg7 30.\Wg5 rranspo~es

co rhe previous noce. 19.lbf3 ~xg7 30.e5! Opening up for rhc bishop, once again. 30 ... !eG 3L!e4!

28.ltJ5?? '1his awful move turns a winning position inro a lost one in a single fell swoop! It was imporranr to keep rhe initiative and to dislodge

rhc bishop from e5 at all costs. This could have been achieved wirh: 28.t4!

b

a

a

c

b

d

e

r

Here it is probably best

g tO

h

play 3l...d5

32.!d3; wirh a very strong arrack, bur the

c

d

f

e

g

h

Here Black can eirher give a check on J4, or give up the bishop in some way. Bur even rhis ends horribly. Lee us have a look ar both options, which are both truly spectacular.

direcr lines do have some arrraction: ,;,l!f'.l.l _,2 1... .a 3?..1 ,')') 2.s "±.

Using the indirect ;utack on rhc black queen ro get closer. 32 ... ~f8 33.tLlxg7 ~xg7 34.'Mff6t ~g8 35.~xh6! axb2 36.!h7'1' ~h8 37.cxd6 ~xd6 38.8:xe6! \\!hire wins.

a) 28 ... ®\:b2 29.fxc5 ®xe2 30.l:!xe2 dxe5 31.gd2! Eyeing rhc eighth rank, with gain of tempo. 3I...!e6 32.ttJf5! l11is is the flashy move, bur the simple 32.a3 is sufficient as well.

32 ...!xf5 33.exf5 b4 34J~d7!? Again a bit showy, but the fin ish is truly exceptional.

34 ... b3

~~

5

~

4

3

b

c

d

e

f

g h

~~~l~

;x~- %~

~~"-- -'"~~ 5

;{M~~~-~~~~w;r~;· ~~ ~

?.-~~lij ~-

4."~:,~~

~~& ~

• '·~·

W~

~%.-~

~-A

~~

~0

b~ ~ ~8~1 «' ~~21 ~2!:%' ~?'~·m" % 112.~~ ~ ~

2

a

fli~ -~~

8 7 6

0.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

a 3

Chap(er 2 -Typical Piece Play 35.~e4[! bxa2 35 ... b2 36.~b7 a3 37.tcl5 and White \Vins.

,36.j,d5! TI1e queen i1. unimponanr. "llte anacking ratio is overwhelming. 1il.r·•· 37 rihl ? .'..,6 ) ... a l-- B I . .'CI' L Black i!> n"tared no maHer wh;.u, bm let us see the main threat in action: 37 ... e4 38.~xf7t h7

109

go to d3, when the mating threat cannot be arrested in rhe same way. Black now has a lot of options, all of chem insufficient: bl) 30 ... ~xg7 31.e5 f8 32.~f5! ~xf5 33.ft:Jxf5 ~h8 34.exd6 and the anack will soon make it through. b2) 30 .. JWc3 This 1110\'e seems logical. TI1e idea is to prevent ®'d3. But Whire has orher ideas. 31.ft:Jf5 ~xf5 32.exf5 Surprisingly Black does not seem to be able ro save chis position. 'lhe white pieces are too close to (he king. One line could be: 32 ... b4 33.®'e2 ~aa8 34.f6! ~xf6 35.19e4 ~xg7 36.:ge3 ®'d4 37.®'h7t ~f8

39 .g8='.Wi"! ;gxg8 40.~gG1· h8 4l.:gh7 mare. b) 28 ... ~d4·[· 29.~h2 ®'xb2 llten: are no

better squares, but chi.<. one looks pretty solid anyway. .30.®'d ll!

38.!%d3! 38.!%g3 would allow counterplay with 38 ...!%cl, when Black survives with a perpetual: 39.~xg7 Wgl t 40.~g3 Welt Bm after rhis move, White's arrack is winning. 1his is Black walking the plank: 38 ... ~al 39.~g3 Ad4 4oJ~g8t ~e7 4Lmre4t ~d7 42.Wb7t ~e6 43.f5i· ~e5 44.Wc4 mate!

b3) 30 ... ~d8 This is one of many rook moves, all refuted in the same way: 31.e5! dxe5 32.®'d3 e4!? 33.~xc4! Axg7

110

Arracking .N1anual 2

Black wins, as the queen is trapped on rhe 11 r~ r rank.

3I.Wffl .E:cl 32..id3 b4 33 ..ib5 b3 34.axb3 a.xb3 3S ..ia4 .E:xfl t 36. ®xfl .E:b8 0-1

a

b

c

d

e

g

f

h

34J!e3! 'lhc rook is going to g3 with deadly effect. 111e alternative 34J:!e7 'Wc3 35J:!xd7 '.Wxd3 36J3xd3 E:xd3 37.~xd3 ~b6 38.GtJf5 ~h8 is berrer for White, bur not decisive. 34 ... ®f8 35.GtJxg7 Wxg7 35 ... \Wxg7 36.~a3t wins. 36.'Wh7t ®f8 37.E:e5! Black is defenceless against the rhreat of '.Wh8t. For example: .17 ... ~e6 38.~h8t ®c7 39.~xe6i'!

28 ... hf5 29.exf5

Our final example shows a rising scar from Italy paving the way to success in the B-group of the Dutch chess classic. In this game White is fighting hard to get to the h7 -square and al one point the bishop on d3 finds three (!) pieces between itself and this magic square. Nevertheless, it still exerts a deadly effect. Our focus in this game is the fight for this diagonal. The black novelty (nor through preparation, I expect) on rnove 19 was designed to rake control of the fS-square, by removing rhe e-pawn, but White saw further and followed up on his arrack down the diagonal, wid1 the brilliant justification hidden in the notes to the 21st move.

Fabiano Caruana- Krishnan Sasikiran Wi j k aan Zee 2009

I.e4 c5 2.'Df.3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.'Dxd4 'Df6 s.'Dc3 a6 6..ie2 e6 7.0-0 Wfc? 8.f4 .ie7 9 ..ie3 'Dc6 lO.hi 0-0 11.1Mfel 'Dxd4 12.hd4 bS 13.a3 .ib? I4.Wlg3 .E:ad8 lS ..E:ael .E:d7 16..id3 .E:e8

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

29 ... Wfxel t! How quickly the cables have turned! 'lhis temporary queen sacrifice i~ a beauriful way to srop the anack. 29 ... E:ac6!? would also have been good enough.

30.Wfxel .E:ac6


111

17JU3!? 1l1is is a rdadvely new idea. More common have been 17 .c5 and 17 .ctJd 1, hut after rhis game, rhe rexr is bound to arrract followers.

2l.fxg6! It is nor hard to guess whar Sasikiran missed; see the next note. However, Caruana does nor miss such chances.

17... W/d8 18.W/h3 Threatening ~xf6 followed by c4-e5.

2l. .. fxg6 This is forced. 1l1e h-file has to be kept closed, due ro some ~h8 mate issues, while after 2l...exf3? \Xfhire is able to show rhc first point of his combination: 22.\Wxh7t!! with mate in two moves.

18 ... g6 19J~efl d5? The first new move of rhe game, and one.

.1

bad

Only six weeks before rhe game Black had played betrcr with 19 ... ~f8. Afrer 20.f5 he reacted with 20 ... exf5 21 .exf5 g5! (21 ... ~xf3 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.~>.:f6 Wxf6 24.\Wxd7 would win for White) 22J~e3 ~g7. "Ibis eventually led to a draw in Fedorchuk - Jaracz, Dresden 2008, but 111.1ybe \X'hire is a bir better after 23.!!xe8i" V:'fxe8 24.~e2 .§:e7 25.'Wd3, when the better pawn srrucrure m ighr rell eventually.

20.f5! A very thematic break. Black was rrying to cake control over rhc f5-square with his last move, so this i~ perhaps the lasr chance \XIhite is given to play this move. 20 ... dxe4 20 ... exf5 21 .ext) g) Mrer 22.\Wh6! iris rime

doe~ to

llOt

resign.

work here.

22J3xf6 23xd4 23.23!7 The inrrusion on rhe seventh rank must have been very uncomfortable for the Indian Gr,1ndmasrer. 23 ... Ah4 24.~e2 ~c6 24 ... b4 25.axb4 !!xb4 would only act as a distraction. 1l1e direct win here is: 26.tlJb5! axb5 Black has ro rake the knighr, as it cannot be allowed to land on d6. 27 .!!xb7 and there is no good way to react to 28.g3.

25.g3! ~1 he bishop is simply lost. 25 ...e3t 26.~gl aS Black is trying to create counrerplay, bur rhcre is none ro be found. 26 ... \WgS loses to 27 ..§:a7 followed by 28.~ff7.

112

Arracking Manual 2

Josef Emil Krejcik -Konrad Korbot

27 .gxh4 b4 28.axb4 28.~xe3 with rhe point was also winning.

28 ... bxc3 29.'Wc5 Cafe Game, Vienna 1908

28 ... axb4 29.tLldl

8

Black has a bit of play tor rhe piece, but it is temporary and the young maestro converts his advanrage without difficulcy.

7

6 5

29.. J&d5 30.tLlxe3 ~c5 30 ... ~h 1t 3l.~f2 'Wc4 32 ..~.d3 'WeS 33.®gl

4

and wins.

3

3l.iid3 b3 32.~g3 bxc2 33..ixc2 gd2 34.g7f2 ged8 35.gxd2 .Eixd2 36 ..Eif2 gd4 Now a final sacrifice sc<\ls Black's Euc.

2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Whire would of course love ro play l8.gxh5, bur Black would be able ro play 1 8... d5! 'virh some defensive possibilities. To avoid chis Whire played a fantastic combination: 18.f!d6!! Other moves also 'vin, but none a:;, convincingly. Black cannot improve his position and might as well take the rook.

l8... cxd6 19.gxh5 gxhS 20.Jhg7t ~xg7 2l.ctJf7t tLlg6 22 . .Eixg6t! ~xg6 23.f5t ~f6 24.~h4t ®xf5 25.~g5t @e4 26.ctJxd6t ~d4 27.c3 mate!

Having looked at some ex;unples of how rhe lines of communication work for the aggre~sor (and only twice on the b 1-h7 diagonal), we shall now move on to obstrucdon of rhe deCender's lines of communication.

In rh~ first example vve 'lhall see a blocking of the diagonal fmm c8 ro h3 with a stunning rook sacrifice.


In the next example White is ready to arrack rhe king, as ;lll of Black's pieces are sin1ared far away on rbc queenside. However, ir is first necessary ro cur off rhc influential enemy queen by disrupting rhe lines of communication.

Karen Asrian- Tigran Kotanjian

113

23J3a3! when the superior firepower will tell.

19 ... CLJc2 is a bit more complicated: 20.~xg7 ~xg7 2l.CLJxg5 f5 22.'l9g3 CLJxcl (22 ... ~xb5 23.CLJf7t ~h7 24.1Wh4 with mare) 23J3xe1 ~xb5 24.t2Jf7t ~h7 25J1:Vh4 :9:xf7 26.exf7

hc4 27.'W.xe7 and White wins.

Arml.'n ian Ch,1 mpionship 2007

The most difficulr line is probably: 19 ... ~xc3 20.bxc3 CLJc2 2l.CLJxg5 f5 The only move. Together rhe knight on c2 and rhe pawn on f5 prevent rhe rook from swinging easily to rhe kingside. 22.~h5 hxg5 23.Wxg5t ~h8 24.W/h6t ~g8 25.Wg6t ~h8

s

X~~~~ ~~ & -~~ Y-~~~i'

7 ~~

rw ~-i'~ ~ 9?..\Uri%m~}-A.\~~~ ~ 0

6

-~~ft..

s ~~w~~~ ~ %%, Z .. ,Z

4

b

a

c

d

f

e

g

19.e6!!

2

A bcaurifuland classic move, which unleashes the bishop on c.) while al.so eliminating rhe queen's influence on the kingside.

19 ... f6 Giving up the d-pawn equals resignation, but no cldencc existed:

pure

19 ... dxe6 loses ro 20.~xg7 ~xg7 2I.l2Jxg5 ~h8 22.®h5 ~g7:

·l

~

~-/~ . .-- -~~vv~i

3~

h

a-

~.o~~-i§~ §..

~~

~ § -~~ ~!fi0'~,----/w.~ "":m[j~/--¥!j ... / t~~~~~ ..

/""%

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1l1e problem here is rhat ~a3 does nor make sense, but \Vhire can end the show with rhe beautiful: 26.~e2!!

This move is w[ nning. Mrcr: 26 ... CLJx
20.exd7 e5 2l.:Sedl .ib7 22.lt:ld6 lt:lc2 23.'We6t ~h8 24.a5 'Wc7 25.lt:lxe5 fxe5 26.Le5 Le5 27.'Wxe5t ~g8 28.'We6t ~h7 29.lt:le8 1-0 1he following g~une feature~ a brilliant piece of disruption of rhe lines of communication. With his powerful 28th move White circumvents rhe enemy defences completely. a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Arracking Manual2

114

Gudmundur Sigurjonsson - Leif Ogaard E~hjerg

1978

l.e4 cS 2.ctJf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ctJxd4 ctJc6 S.ctJc3 a6 6.ie2 VNc7 7.0-0 tlJf6 s.hi ie7 9.f4 d6 IO.ie3 0-0 Il.VNel id7 12.VNg3 hS?! 1his move is rather odd. 'lhe king is not necessarily safer on hS than gS.

·n,e main line ~rarrs with

11 ... lLJxd4 13.ixd4 ic6 wirh chance~ for both o;ides.

13.a3 bS 14.id3 B:ab8 IS.ctJxc6 hc6 16.id4 eS?! 1l1 is standard idea has never really appealed ro me, and here ir also looks poof. 'lhc blacl~ knight i& in trouble on h5 quite soon. 17.fxe5 ctJhS 18.VNh3 dxeS

20.B:xh5 h6 2l.ctJd5! \XThire should not get confused and lose his patience. 21.e5?! allows 2l...f5!, wirh a decent position. Black only needs to avoid 21. .. ig5?, ·which Vi.ras l'ecommendcd by one commentator bur loses to 22.~f5 g6 23.W/xg5!. 21. •• hd5 1l1e only move.

21...1Wb7 loses to a great piece of disruption. 22.gxh6l! gxh6 23.~xh6t ~gS 24.tLJf6t! ixf6 2S.e5 and Black cannot open the seventh rank and successfully defend both g7 and h7.

22.exd5 1Mff4 Defending against a quick gxh6. 22 ... ~d6 \Va~ probably a bit safer, bur after 23J~fl White still enjoys an edge. 23.B:fl VNe3 24.VNg4! 24.\Wd7?! g6 2S.gh3 would win a pawn, but after 25 ... ~e5 26Jhh6t ~g7 27J~h3 ~hS Black enjoys fine compensation on the h-file. 1l1is, combined with the oppositecoloured bishops, leads me ro evalu:ue the posirion as about equal. 24... B:b6 24... ~g8? was recommended somewhere, bur White can use the shaky pmtecrion of the h6-pawn with 25.~h3! ~g5 26.~c4!, when the h7-square is really tender. After 26 .. .f5 27.~e6t ~hS 2S.d6 White's advamage is overw·helming, despite the material equality.

19 ... exd4 Sadly forced in view of 19 ... t2Jf4 20.ixe5! and Whire ends up with an excra pawn.

25.B:hf5 g8 25 ... ~g6? was recommended as the way forward, but White can both take on f7 and play the srunning 26.1M!'d1 !!, with an indirect threar to the rook on g6, and 27 .~lf3 rrapping the queen, is coming as well.

Chapter 2 -Typical Piece Play The besr move \Vas 25 ... .if6!, \'V'hire is srill berrer afrcr 26.~5f2 or 26.g3, bur his advantage may nm be enough ro decide rhe game.

115

White immediately exploits his opponent's lack of coordination ro threaten 28.W/f5!.

27... ~c5?! 26.~Sf4?!

26J!5f2l wirh the additional idea of 27J!.c2 would have been very srrong here. ln rhis case I feel that \XIhirc would be able to pose insurmoumablc problems ro his opponent. After the game cominuarion Black was given a moment to find some son of coordination of his forces, an opporruniry which, unforrunarcly, he squandered.

1l1is moves fails immediately to a fantastic disruption of rhe lines of communication. 27 ... ~g5 was objectively better, bur also nm pleasant for Black. Mrer 28.\We4 g6 29.b4! White is in complete control. All rhe black pieces arc badly placed, pinned or pinned down. "lhc cxrent of his lack of communication becomes apparent in derails such as 29 ....ic7? 3fl.:gxf7! and White wins everything.

8

7

~~~~~,y.~ ~~*~

~

~z--·-- ~;.; ~z----

/" .. /.:0.

'0

:Vt.!·m~• ~~---,~r~~~

4

3

b

c

d

e

f

g

!1

26 ... ~d6? Black mi11ses his best chance in the g.une. Ifhe had played 26 ... .;;d6! he would have been dose to wdl coordinated. lr i~ true that Whire could rake a pawn then, but after 27J~!.xd4 Black has a nice counrerpu nch in 2 7 ... f5!. White can either play 28.,~1"f4, exchange queens and probably only m.1ke a draw our of the ending, or he can play 28 ..ixf5, ro which Black can reply 28 .. J~:xf5! 29.~xf) Wfxd4 30.W/f7t Wh7 31.Wfxe7 ~xd5. 1l1is ending is of course better for White, bur only slighdy. 1he extra pawn is compensated for by the very active black piece~.

27.:gf6!

t.D~~!~- -~.f~

1.

2 a

w~ ~-:j;~ ~~ ~ a

~ ~g~~

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

28.d6!! I was only twelve the first time 1 saw this game, and it still resounds in my memory. 1he term for this kind of double disruption of the lines of communication is a 'Novotny'.

28, .. :gxd6 No matter which piece Black cakes wirh on d6, he loses some level of control. Here, raking wirh the rook, rernoves the protection of rhe rook on f8 provided by the black bishop. Taking with the bishop would mean losing control over rhe sixth rank. White can exploit rhis i111mediarely: 28 ... .ixd6 29.'ll:Vf5 g6 30.~xg6t! wirh mare to come.

Attacking Manual 2

ll6

Ashot Nadanian - Melikset Khachian

28 ... 1W'g5 also does nor save rhe position. White can use rhe eighth rank issues wirh 29Jhf7!.

Armenian Championship 1997

29.\&fs "lhe rexr move is of course sufficient to decide rhe game, but there was anorher win, based on rhe back rank being weakened by rhe absent influence of rhe black bishop: 29 ..l:!xt7! .l:!xJ7 30.\WcSt and Black will lose a piece after 30 .. J!d8 31.1Wxd8t .l:!f8 32.\WdSt. 29 ... \&xd3 Black decides to end the game in di.sgt'ace. A true gentleman would have raken the ridicule of being mated and played 29 ... g6, when White wins best with:

l.d4 ttJf6 2.c4 g6 3. CDc3 d5 4.cxd5 tDxdS 5.CDa4!? "111is imaginative idea, transferred from orher openings, was a brainchild of the highly imaginative white player. This chess artist has rightfully earned the praise bestowed on him from top aurbor Tibor Karolyi in the recently published book, Genius in the Background. s ... Ag7 'S ... ctJfG G.ctJc3 ctJd5 could be a logical solurion to rhe misery chess can be at times. 6.e4 lDb6 7.Ae3 o-o s.lDB lDc6 9.Ae2 f5!? Ar the rime rhis was a new move. IO.exf5 gxf5 11.\&b3t ll.ctJxbG axbG 12.~c4t may have given better chances ro play for an advantage, according to Nadanian.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

30.Wxg6i"!! fxgG 3l.E!:xf8i" ~g7 32.Ei: I f7 mate!

30.Wxd3 ~xf6 31.~xf6 gxf6 32.\&g3t ~h8 33.\&c7 1-0 \XIhire pbm to ransack the quecnside, so Black defends his pawns by purring rhcm back in rhe box. ln the final game where we shall look ar this theme, it is especially rhe 16th move we should pay ;ltrenrion ro. 1l1e point of this move is to lock rhc white queen our of the g~\me. Ati:er rhis, Whirc wastes rime raking Black's bishop on g7, giving Black enough rime to unleash a surprising break rhar activates his mvn pieces and eliminates the fabulous defender on e2.

11. .• ~h8 12.~dl f4! I3.Acl Ag4 I4.lDc5?! Larer on Nadanian decided that 14.ctJxb6 axbG 15.d5! ctJe5 1G.a3 was rhe correct way ro continue. Maybe White is slightly berrcr, although I am not complerely convinced.

14 ... ix£3 15.\&xf3 CDxd4 16.\&xb7 8 7

6 5 4 3 2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h


16 ... c6!! 1l1is is a brilliant move, ignoring rhe threat of 'De6 and shutring ofF rhe white queen from the cenn·c and the kingsidc.

17.&lJe6 Whirc rake1. up rhe challenge. 17...®d51 This square is now conveniently available. 18.&lJxg7? This look~ ab1.olurely logical; Black's snong bishop is eliminated. However, the problem is that rime is much more important here. 18.'Dxf8? \Wxg2 19.~f1 ~e4! 20Jhd4 A.xd4 wirh rhe dHears of 21. .. 0 and 21...\Wbl was also poor. Later thar year Nadanian tried to improve upon this ga111e, bur found nothing more rhan a defensible posirion afrer 18.ttJxd4! ~xd4 19.~f3 \WeSt 20. @fl, with even chances. Nadanian- Yegiazarian, Kyiv 1997, eventually ended in a draw.

117

]he key poim is of course that White cannot stand losing the bishop in the defence. Instead 18 ... 'Wxg2? would be an error. White keeps his bishop and the rook is still om of play on f8, so it is no surprise rhat White can escape with a draw: 19J~xd4! Wfxhlt 20.~fl! "!here is a perpetual check after 20 ... @xg7 2I.W/xe7t ~f7 22.W/g5i" ~h8 23.~d8t.

19.gxf3? White had to give up the exchange to stay in the game, although even rben his position would remain difficult: 19.~xd4 fxg2! 20.~gl \Wxd4 21.~xg2 1We4! Black defends cG with gain of cempo and chus keeps the white queen our of the game. After 22.~g3 ~ad8 White's position would be highly vulnerable. 19 ... &lJxf3t 20.i.xf3 Forced. 20.@fltUd2"!! is jusr over. 20 ...®xf3

8 7

6

5 4

3 2 1

a

a

b

c

d

e

f

0

0

h

18 ... f3!! This is really rhe st,H move of the game. Black opem up tor the rook on ffi and creates real damage ro rhe white defensive structure.

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

21.0-0 lr seems very uncomrorrable ro castle into an open file, bur 21 .~fl also had a serious drawback. Here rhe problem i~ the open d-file, \Vhich is exploited as follows: 21 ... ~ad8! 22.~d2 W/e4i" 23.~e3 ~xdl t 24.@xd1 ~d3t 25.~cl gd8 and Whice is mated.

118

Attacking Manual 2

2I. .. ~g4t 22.~hl ~f3·t Black repeated rhe position once a~ he was running short of time.

23.~gl

~h6 32.Wf8t :Sg7 33.\Wf6t E:g6 34.~f8t ~h5

0-1 After rhese varied examples of how the lines ofcommunicarion are imporranr in the attack, we move to a closely related, but still quite disrincr ropic.

Vacating Squares One of the techniques we can use in the attack is w vacate squares for our pieces. ll1is can be done in several ways, bur the most common is rhe pawn sacrifice. A very generic, although maybe not roo cxciring example, is rhe following:

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

23 ... :Sf6! ~lhc

rook will come ro g6 unhindered.

Dimitar Donchev - Damir Kljako Trnava 1982

24.igS 24.4Jh5 is no bencr. \XIhirc wins with 24 .. JWxh5 25J::~d3 ~f3!, blocking the king in. 1l1erc is nmv no defence, so we enjoy Nadanian's non-cornpurer val'iarion: 26.ie3 ~g8t 27.~h 1 !he3! 28Jhe3 ~d5t 29.£3 ~d2 and Black wins.

'"ill

24 .. JWg4t 2S.~hl \Wf3t Jusr anocher repetition. 1l1e rook should take rhe bishop, nor the queen.

26.~gl :Sg6 27.~xe7 27.h4 ~xg7 and 28 ... hG is an e,1sy win. 1lu:-

S,lme

is the cr.tsc for 27.ctJh5 Wxh5 28.f4

h6.

\XIhire's nexr move was l7 .exfS, capruring an enemy pawn. 1his was good enough to win rhe game, but he could have serried marrers even taster by sacrificing three pieces, simply co gcr ro the h7-square.

27..• \Wg4t 28.~hl E:xg5 Black ends with an extra piece.

29J!d8t :Sxd8 30.~xd8t ~xg7 31.~e7t

17.e5!! is the most beamiful winning move. Onlv 17...dxe5 makes sense, but White maces ' after 18.ltke4!! fxe419.E:xf6.

Chaprcr 2 -Typical Piece Play 1his example mighr se~m a bir simplisric and you could easily gcr the sensation rhar such tricks are only u11eful among lesser mortals, if you have nor seen rhem in use among rhe besr players of the wodd. So, in the next example we shall sec Tvancbuk me rhis technique rearcdly in his srunning victory against the player vvho is number one on the rating lisr as l am wriring rhese lines.

Vassily Ivanchuk- Veselin Topalov

·n,is is rhe losing mistake, buc iris easy ro sec how Topalov, already rated 2750 and rhird in rhe world, could ger lost in the tangled lines:

24 ... fxg6 is a logical reaction, bur after 25.~g5 Black is lost. The bishop cannot go ro e7. \X!hite will take with the knight and play ~f4-h4, winning a piece becau&e of the pin. And after 25 ... ~c8 White has: 26J~k7 ~a6 27.~c3!! 8 7

Novgorod 1996

6

l.e4 c5 2.lLlf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lLlxd4 lLl£6 s.lt:k3 a6 6.ie2 e6 7.0-0 ie7 8.£4 0-0 9.
119

5 4

~~ -J:~~~

~ ~~ -~ -~~, ~ ~-- -~ !@~ L .. 7. ~~~JI)~ =?. '. ~2;1_ ~.... /, ~ ~- i . -~

~i~lLJ~

~

1· ~~~ ;;%.~~-~A~~· ~ ~ ::%%cr...

3~

>..

B..

• ?.

~

~A~~~~~ ~% 0 ~- . . . .~~~LJ;>

2

1 ~ ~

a

~ ~

b

c

~

*ff~F'!'~~ {f~.§-9

d

e

f

g

h

111e rhreat of Ehf8t forces Black to play 27 ... t2Je5, and White is winning in one move wirh 28.~aJ, trapping the queen. A very pretty line indeed, even if the fireworks were aU in White'1. hands ...

24 ... hxg6 is not surprisingly met wirh 25J3xf7!, when Black should consider giving up the queen. 1he reason for this is that he cannot accept such a rook on rhe seventh rank. And after 25 ... ~e6 White plays 26.~g5 ike?

27.t2Jxe7t t2Jxe7

24 ... lbxa7?

120

Arrack..ing Manual 2

28.~xg7t!! @xg7 29.'®c3"i" ~g8 (or 29 ... ®h7 30.gf4) 30.~h6 and Black will have ro shed material as if it is going out of style. 'lhc only move rhat offered a chance of ddcnding the posirion was rhe slightly humiliating 24 .. .f6!, which block:- the f-line and prevents ~g5, but also allows \Xlhirc to crcarc real weaknesses amuncl the black king. Afrer 25.gxh7t ~xh7 26.2:a3 \Xfhire will rransfer the queen ro h4 and the rook to g3 (maybe .th3 as ·well, ro win ~omc squares), and rhe arrack will be very dangerous, but we are not talking about a forc~d win yer.

28 ... h6 29.c5! is no better. Excuse me for not going deeply into the lines. I just wanr to menrion 29 ... hxg5 30.'®xf8t E:xf8 31.E:xf8t @h7 32.~e4t and 33.lDf6t, winning.

8 7

6 5 4

3 2

25.gxf7t @hs 26.~g5! A good intermediate move. 1he bishop is sirnply more active on g5. 26... \Wd7 27.fxe8=ltJ

1 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

We have reached the next great moment in the game. 1he only piece nor actively attacking is the bishop on g2, so fvanchuk uses another clearance sacl'ifice m bring it into play.

29.e5!! A great move, vacating the e4-square and prepanng to vacate the d5-square for the bishop.

29... h6 Black has no defence, bur rries to find one by creating a breathing space for the king. However, rhis move also weakens the g6square. 1he ocher lines are all based on rhe bishop coming ro d5 as well. For instance, 19 ... ctJc8 30.tilc7!! wins at once, and 29... dxe5 30.ctJc7! is the same story.

27 ... !he8 17 ... '®xe8 is no berrer. Whire can ->rill advance the e-pawn, bur also 28.tt:lf6! is good enough to win, as poinred om by fvanchuk.

28.\W£2 @g8

29 ... ie6 is slighrly more resilient, but still insufficienr ro save the game. 30.ctJb6 '®c7 3L~d5! 1xd5i· 32.tt:lxd5 mrd? 33.ie7! is winning. After 33 ... Le7 34.'®f7t @h8 35.ctJxe7 then~ are many ways co go. One of rhem i.'>: 35 ...1Wb7t 36J~f3 ~b8 37.@g1 and ;38.tt:lg6t is a winning rhreat.

121

Chapter 2 - Typical Piece Play 30.~b6

Ivanchuk proceeds with his plan and ir works quite well. However, \X!hirc can win in many ways at thi~ point. The computer of course prefers the lllOSt surreal, which is: _?O.~e7!?

34.~e7t! Disruption of the lines of communication. Black resigned in view of 34 ... ~xe7 35.~f7t
1-0 In the next example we shall see another knight vacating squares, this time opening up a diagonal for the queen and at the same time keeping the opponent's king in the danger zone, and then vacating the next square for rhc heavy pieces, once the king cannot escape. Coincidently, this was one of the games that brought Caruana his last GM-norm.

Zlatko Hinde - Fabiano Caruana Budapest 2007

30 .. :~c7 3L.id5t 3I.~xh6 gxh6 32.li:Jd5 was another win, but

it is good ro hold on ro your plans, e~pecially when they arc rhcmarically consistent!

31. .. h7 3I...
32..ie4t g8 33.~d5 ~d7 Black has a strong advantage on the kingsidc because of his high arrack ratio. However, he also needs to break through. A very young Caruana did this in splendid style.

38 ... ~h2t! Keeping the king ar rhe scene of the crime. We will remrn ro this theme later on.

39. g2 ~g4!? This move is absolutely fine, as we shall see, but 39 .. Jhgl t \vas perhaps a bit more direct, based on the same poinrs as in rhe game.

Arracking Manual 2

L22

40J!e3?! \'V'hire misses his chance to offer the best po1lsible resistance. 40.~xh 1 would lase to a slighdy longer and less interesting line: 4o ... itJf3t 4L~g2 };h2t 42.\!/fl E:hl 43.Wg2

4J ... ltJxgl! 44.~xh 1?! lljxe2 \XIhire ends with
Afcer rhis, let w. return ro rh~ game for rhe absolute highlight and rhe momenr rhar shows our theme in ics clearesr lighr.

4L.J~xgl t! 42.~xgl Wfh3 Whire resigned, as mare in

t\VO

follnws.

0-1 1he technique of vacating a square is a part of every strong chess player's arsenal. as Vi'ell as some weaker ones roo. The following example is one of the few of my own games that 1 have included in chis hook. lt was played ..vhen I was very young and rared about 2250. 1l1e opponent was one of my besr fdends and the g~nerallcvel of our

play was nowhere near the

rc:::sr of rhc games in this book. Nevertheless, I srill find the example encouraging, because it ~haws rhar you can still use :)UCh id.:as when yom overall game is far beneath the level of a Grandmaster.

Jacob Aagaard - Peter Roder l.yngby 1991

a

b c

d

e

f

g

h

40...ct:lfl !! ·n1h m;l.y nor be chc only route to victory, bur ir is surely rhc prettie~r!

I. Ci:lf3 cS 2.c4 g6 3.g3 i.g7 4.i.g2 't:lc6 S.lbc3 d6 6.0-0 e6 7.e3 't:lge7 8.d4 0-0 9.d5 exdS 1O.cxd5 't:la5 ll.e4 b6 12..Etel f6 13.h3 J.d7 14 ..ifl a6 15.a4 Wfc7 16.!f4 gS 17.!e3 g4

Chapter 2

~Typical

Black has not phtyed the:: opening brilliantly, but rhen again, we were only kids. 'vle have arrived at the moment of interest to us.

123

Piece Play

8 7

6 5 4 3

2

1

a

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

18.e5!! I am still bitter rhat this game was not awarded the prize for rhe best game of rhe day. Basically rhe judges did not think that rhi~ move deserved any merit. 'lo me it i~ ~rill one of the best ideas l had in rhe 1990s. l 8.hxg4 .®.xg4 19.~e2 v,rould lead ro an edge

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Looking ar the knight on e4 and how h ha~ forced Black to retreat his knight ro b7, it can e<.1sily be esrablished that the white strategy has been a success.

22.b4 gxh3?! ·n1is gives Whire free hands on rhe queen side, but 22 ... cxb4 23.~b5 illfd8 24.lt:Jc7 was also very dangerous for Black. One plausible line could be: 24 .. J~b8 2S.lt:Jxa6 ~a8 26.lt:Jc7 ~xa4 27.lt:Je6 ixe6 28.dxe6! wirh an advantage for Wl1ite.

for 'W'hite, bur rhis double pawn sacrifice seems as brilliam ro me now a.<. ic did when l was 18.

23.bxc5 bxc5 24.~bl .ig4?! 25.~b3 h2t

18 ...fxe5

Peter \Vas not liking the look of a pin emerging on the queenside.

lS ... gxB? loses straight off ro 19.cxd6 i¥fxd6 20.~f4.

19.&Zlg5 ~c8 19 ... gxh3 would have allowed Whire to take over rhe light squares completely. After 20.lt:Jc6 ixe6 2l.dxe6 \\/hire dominate~, e.g. 21 ... ~adS 22.lt:Jd5 lLJxdS 23.illfxd5 W/c6 24.~c4 illfxdS 25.~xd5 with a scriou~ ~tdvanrage. 20.~cl!?

20.hxg4 .~xg4 21.~c2 was <mother opdon, but I like what 1 did in rhe game.

One line was: 25 .. J&b8 26.ixa6 ~e8 (26 ... illff5 27.~h2 \Wf3 28J&g1 and rhe knight on b7 is really poor) 27. ct?h2 ~fS 28.ixb7 lt:Jd4 29.lt:Jxd6 ~xb3 30.lt:Jxc8 :Sxb7 3l.~d6 gb4 32.lt:Jce4 and Whire dominates. 26.~xh2 ~b8 27..L:a6 ~f5 28..ifl!? No·wadays I would probably prefer to cover rhe square with the knight: 28. ~g 1! illfhS 29.lt:Jd2lt:Jf5 30.lt:Jce4 wirh a big advantage for White.

28 ...~h5t 29.~gl .i6 30..ig2 .hg2 20 ... h6 2l.~ge4 ~h7

3l.~xg2

Anacking Manual 2

124

8 ~ ~~ 1~-~ 7 -~7,-~ ~!All: ~

f§f'~Ait~~~?~pj_?~r-·--?.~~

6

w~ti{ ~;~~-~~~·-- .twdf'"--~~tf.~

5

~W/ //.~1%"~'-~~f'''//-~ii

~~ ~

-

~-* ~- -~

~.8:0

~

/';,..

lA':::

~

~-~~;'"~-~.·~~ ~ ~~

43 ~'@~;~· 2

%/

~~t -~---~'?f[J~~

I

~~-f//4~[ "~~ ~~-~ ~ ~ a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

3L .. Vat After .3 J ... llJf5 32.\Wb5! Bbck is also in big trouble. Then~ seems ro be no way to prevent both ofWhire's rnain ideas, n:nndy a4-a5-a6 or ®'a6. Since rhe game l analysed rhe following line which is very funky, as well ~ts winntng

for \Vhire: :32.)l9g4 33.a5 llJh4t 34.\!Ifl ~h3t 35.~e2 \Wg4-l" 36.<j;>d3 llJf3 .?7.a6 t2Jd4 38.~<14 c4t 39.@xc4 lhc king i.!.< safe enough, and Whirc should win material soon.

\:vinning line. apparently tempted by purring the knight on the highly atrmcdve e6-square. Bur what he did not realise was the number of chances he missed further on. Most notably, on the 34th move, he probably more or less amomatlcally tOok the pawn on c7, missing a brilliam winning idea.

Garry Kasparov- Veselin Topalov Linares 2004

l.e4 e5 2.~f3 ~c6 3.!h5 a6 4.ia4 ~f6 5.0-0 ie7 6.~el b5 7.!b3 0-0 8.a4 ~b7 9.d3 d6 lO.~bd2 ~d7 1Lc3 ~c5 12.axh5 axh5 13.~xa8 ~xa8 14.!c2 b4 15.d4 bxc3 16.bxc3 ~d7 17.~£1 ~f6 18.d5 ~cb8 19.h4 tbc5 20.~g3 .ic8 21.~g5 h6 22.~h5 il,.e7 23.~h3 Wa2 24.Eie3 g6 25.~g3 ~hd7 26.Jhh6 1xh4 27 .~g4 i.e7 28.lg5 hg5 29.~xg5 f5?

32.stgl ~aS 33.1®'xb8 ~b8 34.B!xb8t sth7 35.~xd6 ~xdS 36.~xd5 WfxdS 37.~f5 c4?! 37 .. .C~3b3 was benet; bm afcer 38.gb5 \'(/hite Is s[ill on the winning rrack 38.~b5 1i'a8 39.B!cl stg6 40.~xg7 stxg7

4 L~xe5 1®'a6 42.B!b5 lt5 43. ~d 1 c3 44.~d7t @g6 45.B!b6t 1®'xb6 46 •.Axb6 1-0 1 v•.rant ro linish the discussion of this theme by showing a game where the opposire is rhe cas(~J whc1·e we don't want a square vacated. Kasparov was explaining in :1n interview ho\v he had pbyed badly in rh.is game. Our of ~heer curiosity 1 analysed rhe game} and came ro rhe surprising conclusion that the great man had missed far more chances rhan he had thotwhr. :::. From his perspective the great error \Vas on move 32J where he missed a not very difficult

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

'This move vio!ares rhc most basic of positionil.l principles: don'r move the pawns on the side of rhe board where you are \Veaker. Moreover, in d1c present po$ition it can be 1-efiaed by metical means. After 29 ...!a6 it would have raken a bit more for White to find a way through to the black king.

125


30.ex.f5 gxh5 3I..E!g3! 3l.ltJe6t only lead~ ro a perpetual check. White needs ro be cart:ful when he is giving up the rook

31. •• &2Jf6

31 ... h4 32J~g4 ibf6 33.l2Je4"f! wins in rhc same way as rhe next nore.

33.ibxf8!? ~xf8~! Objectively Black should bail our with 33 ... ~xd5, when \X'hice can either salvage the knight and be an exchange up in an ending, or play 34.~cl when he will be an exchange up in rhe middlegame. In eirher

case 1 feel confident in Kasparov's conversion technique.

34.Wc1!

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

White does not need to be in a hurry. His pieces are active and Black has no sudden counterplay on rhe way.

34... @e8 1l1is is the most tenacious. \XThire is entering on the kingside and Black's best shot is to run for cover. However, it is not enough. gone.

Kasparov's disappoinnnem is easy ro undersrand. Although rhe line js relativdy long, iris not especially complicated or difficult co calculate, and should be wirhin reach for a playea· rated 2831 ...

32 ••. ~fl 33.E!g7t ll1ere is nothing wrong with this move, but it i~ played without
35.®h6 ibcd7 36.id3! Threatening ib5 in some scenarios, bur mainly defending the bishop and preparing ifl in anticipation of a check on the first rank. .36 ... ~xd5 37.\Whst If this check had been delivered on rhe previous move rhen ... ibfS would have defended conveniendy. Bur in the presem position \"<'hire simply wins.

33... ~e8 \Xfe have arrived at the critical moment in

rhc garne, seen with our eyes, rha[ is!

126

Attacking Manual 2 36 ... ~d8 the pawn on c7 is a great liability, which can be exploited by 37.dxc7 mare!

34.. ,c;i{ds 35.CDe6t c;t>es 36.'Dc7t? Despite his many mistakes, White still had a very promising position, even at this point. 'TI1e method is the same as on move 34, bur not anywhere near as transparent: 36.tt::lxc5! dxc5 37.d6

a

c

b

d

e

g

f

h

34.'Dxc7t? Kasparov misses a very strong possibility, which could still have wo11 rhe game. 1 am cc:rrain rhar he decided ro rake rhe pawn on c7 before going deep in the position, bur rhis proved ro be a mistake. Usually you will rake the pawn in such a scenario Vi'ithom really thinking, bm there arc momenrs when having rhe pcl\'llll is nor an advanrage for our opponent, but a liability. 1 his is one of them.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

This is noc a~ dangerous as before, bm it rums out that Black is still in trouble. White has several pmmising avenues, for example:

27 ... lJ,!f ;J 8(i-! ). 'TI1e correct move was 34.tt::lxc5! dxc5 35.d.6! cxd6 36.~a4t ~d7 37.ixd7"!' CDxd7 38.~xd6 E"U7 39J~g8t ctJfR 40.'1Wxe5'!' ~d8 4Lf6 and \Vhire has a winning initiative. The reason ir is ·wrong ro rake on c7 is explained after 3"5 ... ~<.15.

'Titis is now the besr defensive move. Ar rhis poinr rhe check on a4 is nothing, as rhe king is quire safe on d8, but Whire has orher tricks up his sleeve. 'TI1e alternatives are severely weaker: .17 ... ~d7 38.~b3 ~a6 39.~e6 ~d8 40.~xd7 ClJxd7 41.~d5 ~c8 42.f6! ~xf6 43.~g8t ~f8 44.8:xf8t tt::lxf8 45.~xc5t ~d7 46.~c7t ~e6 47.~e7t winning. 37 ... ~d8 38.d7! ~xd7 39.~b3 ~a6 40.~a4!! ~xa4 41.'1Wd6 and White will play borh ~xf8t and ~xf6, winning, as afrer 41 ... ~e8?! he mares wirh 42.W'b8t i.c8 43.~c7 mare.

38.iJ,1!

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

White has a winning check on a4: 36.~
This is a key move, but by no means easy co understand - actually, ir might be humanly impossible to do so from rwo moves away. 38 ... ~£7 Other defensive tries exisr, but it seems they all have similar value.

Chapter 2- Typical Piece Play "(\

~ _);~.t:!.g

8'1 T.

"l11e key poim is char rhc X-ray w rhe queen on d5 is very effective. 39 ... !:5f8 40.~b5t ~f7 4l.l.Wa4! Planning the obvious ~c4. Black cannot do anything to prevent ir.

41 ... gxg8 41...1Wxd6 42.i,c4i·ll:Jd5 43.~g6 and \'(/hire wins.

42.ic4 ixf5 4.1.\¥fa7't! Chasing rhe king away before raking rhc queen. 4.~ ... ~g6 44.i,xd5 ll:JxdS 4).'M:xc5 i,e6 Black has reasonable drawing chance!>, bm the advancagc is dd1nirely wirh White.

36... ~d8 37.ltJe6t ~e8 38.ltJc7t?

127

Outposts

One of rhese instances is a piece that are placed solidly on a square, from where it can exen grear conrrol over viral squares in the opponent's camp. In the .first example we shall see rhe po. ..ver of the knight on e4, which is ~l part of all manoeuvres, as a shadow, affecting ail decisions.

Boris Gelfand -Miguel Illescas Cordoba Madrid 1996

Ld4 ~f6 2.~f3 e6 3.c4 Ab4t 4.~bd2 b6 s.a3 i.xd2t 6.'\Mfxd2 Ab7 7.e3 o-o s..ie2 d6 9.0-0 liJbd7 lO.b4 6lJe4

1/z-lf2 Kasparov was, in his own words, never a maximalisr. He did ac many rimes prefer draws over risky dccisjons. \XIhen you have rhe best opening repertoire in the world and such l1 sensational understanding of chess as Kasparov did, taking risks means something complerely dHTerenr rhan ir n1c~ms for a normal Grandmaster. In rhis po-'>ition Ka~parov must have been aware that there were many options rhar still deserved ~mention, including 38.ll:Jxc5!, bur decided chat: he had messed up hb posicion and rhat the momennun was against him.

I have myself taken draws in much bcner positions, when 1 felr that things were going \'ery wrong, and find rhar rhis sensihilicy can ~u rimes be rhe di.Hercnce bc:'£ween success and railure in a rounwmcnr.

Having deale wirh rhe clearance of line'>~ it is logical tO con cinue with squares. If we look ar rhe genera! rules of rhe anack, as discu'\sed in Volurne Ont:, ·we know that we wanr to rake our worst pl.tced pieces .lnd. put them on rhe besr possible square~. Bur how do we decide which square~ :lfc rhe besr?

ll.~d3 ll.~c2 was Gelfand's choice in latet games.

Maybe because of rhc indirect pt·orecrion the queen ofters g2 and h2?

ll ...f5 12..ib2 ~f6 13.d5 S:g6! l3 ... e5? had bee11 played in an old game.

128

Anacking Manual 2

After l4.ltJh4! g6 15.f3 ttJg5 l6.f4 ltJe4 17.Cl'Jf3± Black was under a lot of pre$surc down the long diagon,1l, lvliles - Mascarinas, Lugano 1986.

An ocher possible con ri nuarion was 17 .2!fd l,

e.g. 17 ... ~6g5 18.\Wb3t? ~h8 19.ttJe5 dxe5! 20J3xd8t .r;xd8 21.2!dl Cl'Jd2! 22.e4 ~xe4 23.~xc5 ~xg2 24.~g3 ~c6 with a dangerous

accack.

14.dxe6?! 14.g3! is pmbably an improvement. Opening the long diagonal turns our ro be risky.

However, White can improve on the above variarion wirh 18.~xg5 ~xg5 19.g3 and, with a piece exchanged, the attack is less dangerous. For this reason, Black should probably meet 17J3fdl with 17 ... \We7 co maintain the tension, when rhe chances should be about equal.

17... ~h8 17 ... a5!? also made perfect sense. ~The posirion is roughly even here, maybe even potentially a bit better for White, bur the knight on e4 is treacherous and in an instant it is all over.

IS.tlJel?? 18.h4!? was one of many playable moves, but for some reason I like ir best. 11Ie dream is of course h4-h5-h6, winning. After the move played, the game is suddenly all over. 111c power of the outpost is tremendous right to the end.

8 7

lS.ctJel ~xc6 16.f.) 'Wg'1! gave Bktek a rrcmendous arrack in Twardon - Nikolenko, Katowice 199.1.

6

15 .• )tJxe6?!

4

Black misscc; rhe chance ro gain an opening advantage. Ati:er 15 ... bxc)! 16.bxc5 ClJxc5 17.~xf5ttJfxe6 rhe black pieces are excellenrly placed and \XIhire is in t(n· a very rocky ride.

3

16.cxd6 cxd6!

5

2 1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

his importanr tor Black ro main rain conrrol over the e)-square.

18... tb6g5! 19.~hl lbh3! 0-1

17J.3adl

Ic is not often rhac Boris Gelfand is defeated .in less than 20 moves with rhe white pieces.

129


Ivan Sokolov - Levon Aronian Turin (ol) 2006

Ar the Wijk aan Zee rournamem in January 2006, Aronian won the final round game against Sokolov srn1igln 6:-om rhe opening using an idea of hi~ compatrior Sa1·g.issinn. In the presenr game he did something similar, using only 10 minutes on the dock! ln a way the result can probably be auriburcd co his soda! and networking skills, as once again the analysis was shown co him by <mother player. (Aronian cold me rhar it was a dilferent Armenian player, although l have since forgorten the n <. a funny .><

·

·

•••£

>

>··

®

&

··

··•

<>

¥

•®

•

>

®

®®

<

>>

•

•••

·

•

··

&¥··

·····

§

·

·•

&&&·

·<

®

·¥>¥>®

&&·

>

&

·

>·±>®·•·

•

&

¥£

£·

·

•

¥

&

······

»

>

>

£

•

•

···

••

•

·

•>>

••

£

•

§

>

§§
••§

£·

··

·

··

••

•

·

€

··

®

®

<

®

··

&&

&·

&

®

•

·

·

·

·

·

¥

<

&

•>>

••

<

·

··

•&

•·

·

·

>&

£

··

&

•

·

·>··

•

·&&£

·®

••·

£

•¥

<

&

••

··

·

·<

<

§>§

··

··

•

••

··

®

···®·

·<

>·

£

>

·········

····¥·

>·

>

§<

&·

<

···

>>

&&&&&

&

•

·

•

··

•

·®

••

·

&

¥

®

>

·

®¥

··

<·

<

>

&

<

<

······

&·®§

>

>

££

·

®

®

®

<

··

••

···>····<

•

<

·······<

•·••••

·

·

®

®

·•••

>

•

¥

•

•·

·

•

··

•

£

•

·

··

··

·

·····•

·····

·

&

¥

••••••

>>

·

·

··

········<••··&·&·<•

···•

•

§···&•·····

&&•

·

»

•

·®

&·£&

·

§

·»>

•

•

·

>£

·

£

•

>

•••

·

®

£>

•••

>

·

·

·£

·

•••

·

•••••

<

>

<

·

•

··•

···

®

•

&··

·

··

•

&•·

®

>&

·

¥

··

¥·····

·•·

<

•

®

<

&

•

<

¥&&

>·¥

•••<±>£

<±><±>®

••±>

±>±>

&&&&

&&

·

£&>&

•&·

•

•••

&··•·•&•>·

··•········

•

·

§

···

>

§

·

£

®<>>

•&®&

·

••®

·

•

••····

·

·

•···

···••

§

···

¥

·

¥

•

•¥

&&®

&&&

£

•

&

••

<

<

¥

<

•

··

·

·

§§

¥

•·

•

•

•

£

•

&

£

£

·<£

>>

£

><

®·

·

•

··<<<

•

•

£

•

•

>

<

•••<

••

•

•••

···•

<<

<

<>

<£

<

®

···>·

£

®®®®

>

&

£

¥¥>

&

•

···

·

•

·

&

£

>

··

>>>

>

£

>>••

·

·

©&<••

··<

•&

«•<·&·

·

•

••

·

•··

•

•

····

>

·

¥>

•

&

·

<

·

>

·••<

>>

•

·

§

·

•

¥

§

¥&

<<±>

<±><±>®<±><±><±><±>

·

·

>

£

®

·

®

·

·

<>

£

·

<><

®>®

•

•·

·

>

>

®

••

•

•••£

·

<><<>&><

·<>•

•

·

·

••

····•··

®

•

••

£

•••

·

&

£

•·

••·

®

·
···

•>

·

¥&

®

£

·

·

·

·

•

&···

·

>

·

·£··

···

§§

·

•

®

•

•

·•

••

•·

«·

••

®

&

<

·

·

<

¥

§

·§

·

·

<&

>

®

>

<·

·

·

·

>·

··

£

<

®

®

®

••

·

£

®

¥

®>

•

•

•

•·

•••

®

<

®

>

&&

··

·>>>

®

·

€•

•

&&

•>

&

>

>

•

>

·>

>·

••

£®<®·

•

·····

>

®

••••

&

·
·<

•

·

··>

<>

•••·

•

•

··

···»·

<·

<

<>>

·

¥

&

<

·······

&¥

<·

<

·•··

>•·>§&&&

&

<

¥·

·

®

>®

<

·

··•

·

•

••·

¥

&&

··

¥•·¥

¥

•

•

·

•

>

••

•

·

••

··

·

<·

<

><

®

··

®

•

®®®®®®®•

&&

>

<

>

<

···•

®

•

·¥

·

®

<

®®

>

£·

<<

·

·

••

·

·•&·······

·

·••

•·

····

§

•

·<·

<

<<¥

••

<

<

®

·

£®

•

·

•

•·

&·

»

£

•®

¢

·•••

·

®®£®£

·

¥§

·

···

£

®

<>

··

<

··

•

>

•

>

>

••

¥>

··

&

·

&®

>

·

···

·<

•

®

<

£

>·

•®

£

<

<>

•

•

·§

®

·

·

£

·

•

·

•

®®

·

®

&&

&

···&

§

·

®···

·

•

®®

®®®®®

·

·••

·

<<

®®

®£

····

··

·

•

···

•

•

·•

§

·

£·

··

·

·

•£•·

·

·

«•¥•

·

·

•

<

····

><·

·

¥·

·

·

•

¥

••<£

·

>&

&·

•••

·

•

·

<>

•

··

··

·§

&

·

§

®····

·

··

·•

•>

<

&

·

••

•

®

•

•

·

£

·

<>·

>

·

··

··§

··

><>

¥<>

·

&·

·

·

···

§

·

&&

¥

&

&

&

¥·

¥

•

•

••

•

·

&

>

>

··

··

®>

®

<±>

···

&·

•

¥<

·

····••···•··

·

•

·

§

•

·

§

£

·

®®

£·

·•·

··

·

¥

•

»

·

·

<

·

•

·£>

•••

··®

£

><
•

·£

&

·····

>·•·

··

•

£

>

·

§

··

·•

•

••

>

····<>

>>

<>

®§

§§

¥§

§

¥¥

·

··>

••

·

<

••··

··

&•··&

§

£

··<

£>

>>>>

··&&

·

····

·····••··

·

••>

£>

>

··

·

£·······

·

·

••

·

>&

··

··

·•·

§

<

§§

••

£·

··•

&

•
<

····

•

£<

®

®

•&

>

£

®

<

>

·>

<>

<

<

>

<

·

&

•

>

••

®·®

><

&

·

¥¥

¥

§§§

•••

§

••

··>®

®·

·

<±>

>

>

·

¥

£

®<·£®·®

<±>

·

•®®®®®®®

§

···

>

<

®

®

®

·

>

•

·>

·>

®·

¥¥

•

¥

••

&&&&&

&>

·

·

·

¥

¥

•

••

&

•®·

<

>

®®®®®®®

>

•

•

·

··

¥

·

•

>

·

®

<>

·®

£

>

·

·

·

•

>

®®

•£

£

>>··•

<

·<>§

¥

·

&

·

·

<

·§

<

·

••

>

£

>

<·

<

••·

££®

¥

<<>

·

<<

·

·

•

§«

«

·

•••••

>

®®®

<

®

&&£

··

·

&

·

®

<

•

££

•

••®·

§

•&·§£•

··

§«

··

·

§

>

·

·

••

®

<·<<><<<

•<

·®

<

±>

±>

·

<

·
·£

®>

···

<

·

•••

>

>·<<<<<<

•

<<

<<<

•

·

·

&®··

<

¥

>

·

<

£

<

£¥

•••

·

<>

•••>

<

••

•

·®

&£

<

>

¥¥·

¥¥

®<>¥

<>

·¥·<>

·

¥¥

&

<

•

£

··

·

·

•

>

£

>

··

••>

•

•

••

•

•·

•

·>

>

§&

<<

·

>

•®£®

£

®

<>

•

·

>

£

®·

•

®®

·····

··•

··

®&&·•·&

•

•·

•·

···

•

·

·•

>·

·•·

«

·

·

·

•

«·

···

<>

·•···<

>

·

·<<

••··

·

·•·

·

·

•

>

£

•

•····•···

••

<

£

®£

·

>

<

£·

§•·••

£

¥

<

···

¥·

£·

·

®

®

>

®<

£®>®

®<

·

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>£

>

••

·••

•

·

·¥§

·

•

·

<

•••

•••

•

•

><¥•

>

•

•»&£&

··

···

••••

•

·

•

·

•

®

•·

·

••

•

£

£

<®

•

®

··

·<

£

•

••

••

·

•

<

•

<·

<

·

·

·

·

£®

®

•

•

£·

•

·

·

>

··

&

•

>

·

&

«

·

&

®®®

•

®±>

±>

±>

•••

·

£

··

·

®

®

&

··

·

•

£

®

®

®

®

®

®

••<>

•

>>£

·

>

>

·

>

·

·

>·¥

>

·

·>

<>

•

••

·

···&

&

¥

>

£

•

··

<

<<

£

·

®®®

•••·

•®®<

·

&®

®

®

®

®®

•®

®

®®®®®®®®®

<

&

·

>

·

•

<<>

·

«

·

>®§

··

·

&<··

¥

£&&

&&£&&£&&

···

&

&&·

&

·

&

•®

®

®

®

>

®

>

·

·

>

••®>

®

®®·>®

••>>>®¥

·

••

>>>>>£>>

§

•>

>>§§

§

>>§§§§

•

>£

¥

£

¥

£

¥·

<

·

•

•••

·®

•

¥

·

·

•·

&·

·

•

§

·
•

<§

§

···

·

>

•

&

··

<

®

£

·

··

··>

£··

®

<<<<<

<

<

•

¥

¥

¥

®¥®

¥

¥

¥®

·

££·

·

¥

¥

&®

®

®

®

•

®®®

<®®

·<®>®

·®>®

•

>

>

••

•••

£<>

<

<

••••

&·

···

&

·&

·

·•····

6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u

6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
6g3p1u
©

Jacob Aagaard - Attacking Manual - Volume 2 5z1k4v

Overview 5o1f4z

More details 6z3438

6g3p1u

6g3p1u

6g3p1u

6g3p1u

6g3p1u

6g3p1u

6g3p1u