|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Mar-25-04 | | TrueFiendish: Nice--the Australian Wohl is an agressive player, as seen here. |
 |
Nov-27-09
 | | Benzol: A very well executed attack by Alek Wohl against the Soviet GM. |
|
| Dec-22-09 | | Jim Bartle: Great stuff. |
|
Feb-15-10
 | | Jonathan Sarfati: Fantastic game, against powerful opposition. |
|
| Feb-15-10 | | chillowack: This is stunning! It could have been played by Tal himself. |
|
| Feb-15-10 | | hstevens129: This needs to be a game of the day. "Great Wohl of Biel." |
|
Jan-05-11
 | | GrahamClayton: Gisplis has to accept Wohl's piece sacrifice of 17. h4, as 17... h6 18.  xf6+  xf6 19. xf6 gxf6 20. f3  g7 21. bxc4 leaves Black with a shattered King-side pawn structure.As previous kibitzers have mentioned, an awesome attacking performance by Wohl against a seasoned and experienced GM. |
|
May-08-11
 | | dzechiel: White to move (23?). Black has a bishop for a pawn. "Insane." Lots going on. I want to start immediately with some candidate move ideas. - 23 Rxe7+
- 23 Rxf6
- 23 Qh8+
- 23 Qh5
- 23 Nxe6
- 23 Rf8+
- 23 Bh3
This is all the stuff I can see that looks even a little bit likely to me. I want to look at two of these moves: - 23 Rxf6, and
- 23 Bh3
Let's try
23 Rxf6
first, and maybe we won't have to spend time on any other moves. OK, white has gone from a material deficit to material advantage (at least temporarily). White's knight is no longer threatened, and white will probably pick up the e-pawn next move. I think black needs to recapture. 23...gxf6 24 Qf7+
Decision time for black. He's going to lose the e-pawn with check on the next move. How does he want that to go down? We need to consider both - 24...Kd7, and
- 24...Kd8
Alright, first there's...
24...Kd7 25 Qxe6+ Ke8
On 25...Kd8 I think white can play 26 Bh3, threatening mate. If black plays something like 26...Qc8 then 27 Nf7+ Ke8 28 Nd6+ will win the black queen. 26 Qf7+ Kd8 27 Qf8+ Kd7 28 Bh3+ Kd6 29 Qf4+ Kc6 30 Qxe4+ picking up the knight, or possibly going for what's behind the curtain. There's a reason these positions are labeled "insane", and I'm convinced. Of course back on move 24 black could have instead played... 24...Kd8 25 Nxe6+ Kd7 26 Bh3
This probably looks scarier than it actually is. White threatens a discovered check by moving the knight, but the horse really doesn't appear to have a good square to take advantage of this situation. OK, enough time spent on this for tonight. Time to check and see how this game actually went down. =====
Wow! What a great combination for Whol. I'm impressed. |
|
May-08-11
 | | Phony Benoni: 
click for larger view<23.>
Can't say I solved it. Finally decided on 23.Rxf6 simply because everything else looked hopeless. Then I was seeing perpetual check possibilities after Qf7+, Qxe6, and Nf7+/Nd6+, but nothing that looked like a win. Time to cheat.
Hmm. Beyond me. I could see some possiblities with Nc5+, Nxb7 and Bxe4, but continuing the attack with b3-b4? Insane. |
|
| May-08-11 | | rilkefan: I don't have any idea what to do here beyond 23.Rxf6 gxf6 24.Qf7+ and hope to mate black on the qside. I think I can see the e7 knight falling, and if Kc6 then the g2 bishop can get in the act as well, so I'm happy enough to dive in. If ...Kd8 there's Nxe6+ and maybe Bh3 and Nc5+. If ...Kd7 then Qxe6+ and since a7 isn't a safe haven for the black king the open h3-c8 diagonal and the knight check on f7 or d6 should be enough, and if I screw that up I'm still up some material having won the knight with a bunch of pawns for the exchange. Back to ...Kd7 - no, it's too late. If this much is right I'd judge this a relatively easy Sunday, because white's already pretty committed and isn't trying to stave off disaster the whole time. |
|
| May-08-11 | | rilkefan: Well, I would have played b4, probably, but the rest was harder than I guessed. |
|
| May-08-11 | | VincentL: "Insane"
White is a a B for P down, and evidently this combination started still further back, at
an even more insane level.
An immediate 23. Qh8 Kd7 doesn´t lead anywhere. I think this starts 23. Qh5 or 23. Rxf6 Of these, I am beginning to prefer the latter.
After 23. Rxf6 gxf6 we have a king chase, in which there are many varations. One general
objective is to force the black king to c6 or d5 and bring the white bishop into play with Bxe4+
If the black king strays to Kb6 white wins the black queen with the fork Nd7+ 24. Qf7+ Kd8 25. Nxe6+ Kd7 26. Nf8+ . Then
(a) 26.....Kc7 27. Qxe7+ Kc6 28. Bxe4+ Kb5 29 a4+ Ka5 30. Qc5 mate. If black plays Kb6 on
move 28, 29 or 30 Nd7+, wins the queen. Black has no other alternatives on these moves. (b) 26.....Kc8 27. Qxe7+ Kc6 and we have the same position as above at move 28. (c) 26....`Kc6 27. Bxe4+ Kc7 28. Qxe7+ Kc8 29. Qd7 mate (or 28...Kb6 29. Nd7+ winning the Q). I could carry on, but it would take me about 30 minutes more to exhaust all possibilities.
Instinct tells me that black cannot defend.
I am going to check. |
|
| May-08-11 | | VincentL: I didn`t consider black´s best defence. |
|
May-08-11
 | | al wazir: I got the first three moves. For a Sunday special, I'll take that. |
|
May-08-11
 | | Once: There are some things in life that you can't put a price on. Stuff like love, honour, friendship and Pippa Hamilton's bottom. A child's smile. The continental ice shelf. Peace (or at least a temporary cease-fire) in the Nakamura-Goldsby page. A Royale with cheese, washed down with a tasty beverage. We know all these things to be good. In some cases, very very good. The trouble is, we don't know how good they are. And that gives us a problem. Just how much would we pay for each of them? How much of the specific stuff with a price tag would we give up for something intangible? How much would we be prepared to sacrifice? Oscar Wilde: "What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Or...
"I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend
If it makes you feel all right
I'll get you anything my friend
If it makes you feel all right
'Cause I don't care too much for money
For money can't buy me love"
Unless you are an analytical superhero, I think this is one of those "judgement chess" kinda positions. The main line sacs a rook for a bunch of pawns and an a attack on the exposed white king. Is that worth a rook? Maybe. If white's remaining pieces can track down and murder the black king, then certainly. And that leads us to our first two and a half moves:
23. Rxf6 has got to be our key move. It either recovers white's piece deficit or it allows white's queen to get to f7 with check. 23...gxf6 24. Qf7+
click for larger viewIt is at this point that the lycra-clad amongst you with those bobbly things on your otherwise flat stomachs (aka the superheroes) will get down and dirty with reams of analysis. But me, being somewhat lazy and the proud possessor of a one-pack will say - "surely black can't defend against the white attack?" I'll play the first lot of these moves and work out the rest later. I think the exchange is worth it. And anyhoo, this is a sunday insane, which normally means that I get to choose whether to be humbled quickly or slowly. Kudos to anyone who sees this through to the finish. I can only claim that I was distracted by a vision in white silk... |
|
May-08-11
 | | patzer2: For today's Sunday puzzle solution 23. Rxf6+!! the idea is that even though he's a piece down, White will sacrifice the exchange for an initiative that will enable him to pursue the King and pick off just enough pawns to compensate and ensure an advantage. This is one difficult puzzle where playing it out against a computer should be helpful. In the game Black missed the chance to put up max resistance with 24...Kd7! when 25. Qxe6+ Kd8 26. Qxf6 Bd5 27. Qf8+ Kd7 28. Bh3+ Kc6 29. Qxe7 Qd6 30. Qxd6+ Kxd6 31. bxc4 Bxc4 32. Nxe4+  to  seems to yield just enough to win. However, it is not easy and Black may have some practical drawing chances. |
|
May-08-11
 | | lost in space: got not more than the first few moves. |
|
May-08-11
| | patzer2: It's possible this Sunday's (23. ?) combination actually began with the sacrifice 17. Qh4! I'm putting it in my "true sacrifices" collection simply because I can't believe White saw exactly where it would lead, but figured he had to take a calculated risk to bust up Black's strong pawn center or suffer a slow but sure defeat. |
|
| May-08-11 | | JG27Pyth: Good lord... that is impressive. As for my performance on the position... less impressive by a wide margin. |
|
May-08-11
 | | Ghuzultyy: Insane puzzle time.
click for larger viewTwo candidates;
<23.Rxf6!?>
A sacrifice for good attacking chances but is it good enough? <23...gxf6 24.Qf7+>
Now the 7th rank is open for the queen.
click for larger view<24...Kd7>
(24...Kd8?? 25.Nxe6+ Kd7 26.Nc5+! followed by 27.Qxc4 is disasterous.> <25.Qxe6+ Kd8!!>
(25...Ke8? 26.Qf7+ Kd7 27.Bh3+ Kd8 28.Ne6+ BKnight is lost.) <26.Bh3 f5!>
click for larger view<27.Nf7+! Ke8>
(27...Kc7?? 28.Qd6+ Kc8 29.Qd8#)
<28.Bxf5>
Now that the black knight is pinned, bishop can get into the attack. 
click for larger view<28...Bc8!>
Other defences don't seem to work. I guess that this defence makes this puzzle insane. Let's see other defences. 28...Bc6? 29.Ne5! Qb7 30.Qf7+ Kd8 31.Qf8+ Be8 32.Nf7+ Kc7 33.Qe7+ Kb6 34.Qxb7+ Kxb7 35.Bxe4+ Final position of 28...Bc6? White to move.
click for larger view28...Bd5? 29.Nd6+!! Kf8
Actually this would be a good tuesday puzzle. Mate in 6 by force. Mate in 6. White to move.
click for larger view<Back to the main line> <29.Nd6+!>
You can feel that black is running out of defences here. 
click for larger view<29...Kd8 30.Nxc8 Nxf5>
In this position white might seem lost but one move can change so much. <31.Nb6!!>
Beautiful move. White has a knight and queen on attack but black just can't handle the pressure even with an extra rook. <31...Ra7>
Quite forced. Notice 31...Qd6? loses to 32.Qg8+(the in-between move) followed by 33.Nxa8. <32.Qg8+ Kc7 33.Nd5+ Kb7> 
click for larger viewNow things start to go wild. c pawn rushes to become a queen while white continues the attack. <34.Qf7+ Kc6 35.Qxf5 cxb3! 36.Qxe4>
(36.axb3 is playable but this variation is more exciting and white doesn't allow Qxb3) 
click for larger view<36...bxa2 37.Nf4+ Kc7 38.Qc2+ Kb7 39.Qxa2> Final Position;
click for larger viewWhite is clearly winning. No need for B variation which was Qh5. Post any of my mistakes or if you have questions. Cheers. |
|
May-08-11
 | | morfishine: I thoroughly enjoyed this test, especially after going through the entire game. I get the feeling that black was skating on thin ice before falling through. I wonder if there are viable improvements for black, like <27...Qf8>? Or was black doomed all along? |
|
| May-08-11 | | jaapvo: This is truly very nice. Almost a composed problem. Especially the quiet move 27.b4!! makes it all very hard to calculate at the board. |
|
May-08-11
 | | FSR: Simply gorgeous! I just knew Wohl as a guy who likes to play openings like 1.e4 c6 2.d4 Na6. He obviously knows something about tactics too. |
|
| May-08-11 | | cyclon: "Let's Dance". Couple of 'basic'-lines which may or may not elucidate the ideas behind Whites game. A); 23.Rxf6 gxf6 (-e3 24.Qxg7) 24.Qf7+ Kd8 25.Nxe6+ Kd7 (-Kc8?? 26.Qe8X) 26.Nc5+ Kd6 (-Kc8 27.Qe8+ Kc7 28.Qxe7+ Kc6 29.Bxe4 Kc6 27.Qxc4 and if -Kd6 28.Qd4+, or f.e. -Qg8 28.Bxe4+ Kc7 29.Nxa6+ Kc7 26.Qxe7+ Kc6 [-Kb6 27.Nd7+] 27.Bxe4+ Kb5 28.a4+, all these lines wins for White) 27.b4 and NOW the moves like; -e3/-c3/-B-/-Ra7 gets 28.Qxf6+ with most likely a winning game. Naturally if -Nd5 28.Nxb7+, or Nc6 28.Nxe4+ Ke5 29.Qxf6+ Kd5 30 Nc3X - still 27. -Qg8 28.Qxf6+ followed by 29.Qxe7+ (-Kd5? 29.Bxe4X), yet 27. -Qf8? leads to mate after 28.Qe6+. BUT a critical line of which I'm not sure is something like 27. -QE8 28.Qxf6+ Kc7 29.Ne6+ Kb8 (-Kd7, or -Kc8 gets 30.Bh3 with a severe danger for Black) 30.Qe5+ Ka7 31.Qc5+ Kb8 32.Qc7+ Ka7 33.BxE4 - so this is a critical position. B); (23.Rxf6 gxf6 24.Qf7+) 24. -KD7 25.Qxe6+ Ke8 (on -Kd8 White may even play 26.Nf7+ Ke8 27.Nd6+ Kd8 28.Nxb7+ Qxb7 29.Bxe4 Q- 30.Bxa8 Qxa8 31.Qxc4 having 4 pawns for the piece and quite safe position, but maybe there's a better line - who knows!) 26.Qf7+ (back and forth) -Kd8 (-Kd7 28.Bh3+, a point for Qf7+ again - clearing a h3-c8 diagonal for Bishop, it also releases e6-square for the Knight.) 27.Ne6+ Kd7 28.Nc5+ Kd6 30.b4 and via different move order it's the A-variation. It's interesting to see particularly on these more difficult puzzles what the others have found and what went wrong etc. |
|
May-08-11
 | | OhioChessFan: White's last 9 moves are 8 checks, and one quiet move that is the key- b4. Too hard for me, but very impressive. |
|
|
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
