Viktor Korchnoi vs Jon Arnason (1987)

Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players ·

Kibitzing

Viktor Korchnoi vs Jon Arnason
Reykjavik (1987), Reykjavik ISL, rd 11, Mar-03
English Opening: King's English Variation. General (A20) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	1 more Korchnoi/J Arnason game
sac: 34...gxf4	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

TIP: You should register a free account to activate some of Chessgames.com's coolest and most powerful features.

For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.

PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 3 OF 3 · Later Kibitzing>
Nov-18-17		NBZ: <Younger NBZ: I thought the solution was Be4+ followed by Qh2+ and a check on the f-file with Rf8. Didn't bother to check it out though, and it probably doesn't work anyway.> Didn't get this in 2006, and didn't get it this time either! Ironically I again kept trying to make Be4+, Qh2 and Rf8 work.

Nov-18-17		saturn2: Very easy if you see that the white rook cannot leave the 2. rank. However I did not.

Nov-18-17		patzer2: Funny how the chessgames.com puzzle difficulty is working out for me this week. I got the Monday and Tuesday puzzles easy enough, but failed to solve the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday puzzles. Now along comes the Saturday (40...?) test, and I see 40...Rad8! at blitz speed because of the threat 41. Rxd8?? 42. Qh2+ Kf3 43. Qf2#. After the computer "best play" moves 40...Rad8! 41. Bxf5, Black's winning reply 41...Rxd2+ 41. Rxd2 Qxd2+ -+ (-9.87 @ 33 ply, Stockfish 8) looks obvious to me. P.S.: White's potentially decisive mistake was 40. Bg4? allowing 40...Rad8! -+. Instead, 40. Kg1 = holds it about level. After 40...Qh2+? White was winning until he let Black back in the game with 44. Rd7? Qg2+ =. Instead, White could have been immediately winning with 44. Rxf2 +-, 44. Rd8+ +- or 44. Ne6 +-. White's final mistake, which proved decisive in this game, was 46. Ne6?? allowing 46...Rd2+ -+. Instead, 46. Ne4 = was the saving move White missed. For an earlier White improvement, instead of 39. Kg2? Qh6! = (0.00 @ 30 ply, Stockfish 8) the first player could have maintained a strong and near winning advantage with 39. Ne4 ± to +- (+2.19 @ 30 ply, Stockfish 8).

Nov-18-17		Marmot PFL: Couldn't find the win, which seems to depend on white blundering on move 44.

Nov-18-17		Jimfromprovidence: Like others have said, the text 40...Qh2+ loses for black. As <Marmot PFL> stated, white gives the win away on move 44. The side puzzle is white to play and win, from the position after 43...Rf2, below. (There appear to be at least three winning moves, each winning roughly a rook's worth of material, per the CG Stockfish output). click for larger view

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4: 40.Kxg3 Rg8 = + (-0.30) Depth: 17 40.Kg1 Qe3+ 41.Kg2 Qh6 42.Kxg3 = (0.00) Depth: 17 40.Kg1 Qe3+ 41.Kg2 Qh6 42.Kg1 = (0.00) Depth: 25

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) +0.17 (36 ply) 2...d5 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qd7 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.e3 Qd3 9.Ne1 Qd7 10.f4 h5 11.fxe5 Nxe5 12.d4 Ng6 13.Qb3 O-O 14.Nd3 h4 15.Ne2 hxg3 16.hxg3 Qg4 17.Bf3 Qh3 18.Nf2 Qe6 19.d5 Qd7 20.e4 Rd8 2) +0.20 (35 ply) 2...Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nd5 O-O 6.Nxb4 Nxb4 7.d3 Re8 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.O-O a5 10.b3 d6 11.Nd2 Bd7 12.h3 Qc8 13.Kh2 Nb4 14.Bb2 Bc6 15.a3 Na6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.d4 exd4 18.Bxd4 Nc5 19.Bxc5 dxc5 20.e3 h6 60.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) +0.27 (29 ply) 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Be6 6.b3 g6 7.d3 h6 8.O-O Nge7 9.Bd2 Bg7 10.Qc1 g5 11.a3 O-O 12.h4 f6 13.Rb1 a5 14.Nb5 Qd7 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.e4 Kh8 17.Nc3 g4 2) +0.18 (29 ply) 3.Bg2 c5 3) +0.16 (28 ply) 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Be6 6.d3 h6 7.O-O Nf6 8.b3 Be7 9.Bb2 O-O 10.e3 Rc8 11.h3 Qd7 12.g4 Rfd8 13.d4 exd4 14.exd4 d5 15.Ne5 Qd6 16.Nxc6 bxc6 4) +0.12 (28 ply) 3.a3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Nf3 Nd4 6.Bg2 c6 7.O-O Nf6 8.d3 O-O 9.e3 Nxf3+ 10.Bxf3 Re8 11.e4 Be6 12.Be3 h6 13.Rc1 Qd7 14.Bg2 Ng4 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.b4 a5 17.b5 8.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		Gilmoy: So I doodled 40..Qh2+ 41.K(f1,f3), <whoops> I'm now under attack myself, and swiftly noted that if I <weren't> under attack, 41..Qf2#. Plus I was fully aware (from my first scan) that Qh3 is painting Rd2 with 1 point of attack (and Rd1 protects it once). Finally, I "always" know that a puzzle-worthy position is often solved by <unzipping the zipper> at the base of its chain. In graph theory terms, <most protection graphs are acyclic>, meaning somebody is not protected (enough). Converting into chess terms, <deflection can unzip>. So very quickly, the second thought to pop in was <Can we make Rd2 move?> Clearly, it is as stuck on 2 as Topalov's hapless Qc4 or Rotlewi's Qe2. Then I actually pondered the choice between 40..Rad8, which is good because it <isn't> check -- and 40..Red8?!, which might be even more tempting because it <is> check. <When is a check harmless?>, etc. Alas, 41.Rxd8<+> wins a tempo for Bxf5, and so we can prune that branch away -- but it still deserves a 1-second think. So <really want Rd2 to move-or-die> becomes, by elimination, <really want 40..Rad8>. Solve PotDs long enough, and you develop a feel for deflection-moves. In particular, every big proof has small proofs embedded within it, ergo if you make a small proof that's <almost mating except for one whoops>, that's perhaps a strong hint that you need to wrap it up into a bigger proof that includes 1+ prep moves. I enjoyed the annotation when it popped up :)

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) =0.00 (38 ply) 3...exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3+ Be7 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nf3 Be6 8.Qf4 O-O 9.O-O h6 10.Nc3 Nh5 11.Qe4 Nf6 12.Qf4 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) =0.00 (37 ply) 4...Nc6 5.Qe3+ Be7 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O Be6 9.Qf4 h6 10.Nc3 Nh5 11.Qe4 Nf6 12.Qf4 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) =0.00 (34 ply) 5...Nc6 6.Qd3 g6 7.Nh3 Ne5 8.Qe3 c6 9.b3 Bg7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.Qd2 Bxh3 13.Bxh3 d5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Bg2 Nc6 16.Bb2 d4 17.Na4 Rc8 18.Rac1 Ne4 19.Qc2 Nd6 20.Qd2 Ne4 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		Olsonist: I'm wondering what's wrong with 44. Rd8+ cuz I can't see it. It seems a mistake laden game. Was it blitz?

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) +0.37 (33 ply) 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Qe3+ Qe7 8.Nh3 a5 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.O-O Na6 11.Be3 Ng4 12.Nd5+ Kf8 13.Bd2 a4 14.Bc3 h5 15.Ng5 h4 16.Rac1 Bxc3 17.Rxc3 Kg7 18.h3 Ne5 19.f4 Nc6 20.g4 Bd7 21.f5 Ne5 22.f6+ Kh6 23.Ne4 g5 24.a3 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		Zhbugnoimt: I got 40...Rad8! winning on the spot in a few seconds, and was surprised Arnason missed it. Then again, nobody was telling him he had a forced win, and it was move 40.

Nov-18-17		cormier: Nov-18-17 Premium Chessgames Member cormier: <here i forgot if 4.Bg2> 1) =0.00 (37 ply) 4...Nc6 5.Qe3+ Be7 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O Be6 9.Qf4 h6 10.Nc3 Nh5 11.Qe4 Nf6 12.Qf4 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) +0.36 (34 ply) 6...Qe7 7.Qxe7+ Bxe7 8.Nh3 Na6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Nf4 c6 11.O-O Nc5 12.b3 Re8 13.Rd1 Bf8 14.Bb2 Bf5 15.f3 Bc2 16.Rdc1 Bxb3 17.axb3 Nxb3 18.Rcb1 Nxa1 19.Bxa1 b6 20.Kf2 Rab8 21.h4 Rbd8 22.Rd1 a5 23.Bb2 Bg7 24.e4 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		cormier: 1) +0.47 (36 ply) 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Nh3 Re8 9.Nf4 Bf8 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.b3 Bg7 12.O-O a5 13.Ba3 Rb8 14.Bb2 Nc5 15.Ncd5 Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Be6 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qd4+ f6 19.e4 Ra8 20.Rfe1 Bxd5 21.exd5 Re5 22.Qd2 Qd7 23.Red1 Rae8 24.Qxa5 f5 15.0 minute analysis by Stockfish 8

Nov-18-17		morfishine: Can't really blame either player, this was very nicely played by both sides *****

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4: d 24 1. = (0.12): 7...0-0 8.Nc3 Re8 9.Nf4 Bf8 10.Qd2 a5 11.b3 Nbd7 12.0-0 c6 13.Nd3 Nb6 14.Ba3 a4 15.Nf4 axb3 16.axb3 Nbd7 17.Bh3 Nc5 18.Bxc5 Bxh3 19.Rxa8 Qxa8 20.Nxh3 dxc5 21.Ng5 h6 2. = (0.16): 7...Na6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Nf4 c6 10.0-0 Nc5 11.b3 Ng4 12.Qd2 Bf5 13.Ba3 Qa5 14.Bb2 Rfe8 15.e4 Bd7 16.Rad1 b6 17.h4 Ne5 18.f3 Rad8 19.Kh2 f5 20.h5 fxe4 21.Nxe4 Qxd2 22.Rxd2 Nxe4 23.fxe4 and d 23 3. = (0.15): 7...a5 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Nf4 Ng4 10.Qd2 Bf6 11.0-0 Bg7 12.b3 a4 13.Rb1 axb3 14.axb3 Nc6 15.h3 Nge5 16.Bb2 Na5 17.Qd1 Nac6 18.Ra1 Bf5 19.Ncd5

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4 : d 24 1. = (0.10): 8.Nc3 Re8 9.Nf4 Bf8 10.Qd2 a5 11.b3 Nbd7 12.0-0 c6 13.Bb2 Nc5 14.Rad1 a4 15.b4 Ncd7 16.a3 Ne5 17.Qd4 Qe7 18.Nd3 Bf5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Qb6 Reb8 21.Nxa4 Qe6 22.Qd4 Rxa4 23.Qxf6 Qxf6 24.Bxf6 Rxa3 2. = (0.10): 8.Nf4 Re8 9.Nc3 Bf8 10.Qd2 a5 11.b3 Nbd7 12.0-0 c6 13.Bb2 Nc5 14.Rad1 a4 15.b4 Ncd7 16.a3 Ne5 17.Qd4 Qe7 18.Nd3 Bf5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Qb6 Reb8 21.Nxa4 Qe6 22.Qd4 Rxa4 23.Qxf6 Qxf6 24.Bxf6 Rxa3

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4 : d 24 1. = (0.14): 8...Nbd7 9.Nc3 Re8 10.b3 Bf8 11.Qd2 Nc5 12.0-0 a5 13.Bb2 Ng4 14.Rfd1 c6 15.h3 Ne5 16.Ba3 Qe7 17.Rac1 Ned7 18.Bb2 Ne5 19.Ba3 Ned7 2. = (0.14): 8...Re8 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.b3 Bf8 11.Qd2 Nc5 12.0-0 a5 13.Bb2 Ng4 14.Rfd1 c6 15.h3 Ne5 16.Ba3 Qe7 17.Rac1 Ned7 18.Bb2 Ne5 19.Ba3 Ned7 3. = (0.16): 8...c6 9.Nc3 Re8 10.0-0 Bf8 11.Qd2 a5 12.b3 Nbd7 13.Rd1 Ne5 14.h3 a4 15.Bb2 a3 16.Bc1 Bd7 17.g4 h6 18.Nd3 h5 19.g5 Nh7 20.Ne4 Bf5 21.Nxe5 Rxe5

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4: d 24 1. = (0.14): 9.Nc3 Re8 10.0-0 Bf8 11.Qd2 Nbd7 12.b3> Nc5 13.Bb2 Ng4 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Ba3 Bf5 16.h3 Qe7 17.g4 Bd7 18.Rfe1 f5 19.gxf5 Bxf5 20.e4 Be6 21.Nxe6 Qxe6 2. = (0.14): 9.0-0 Na6 10.Nc3 Re8 11.b3 Bf8 12.Qd2> Nc5 13.Bb2 Ng4 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Ba3 Bf5 16.h3 Qe7 17.g4 Bd7 18.Rfe1 f5 19.gxf5 Bxf5 20.e4 Be6 21.Nxe6 Qxe6 3. = (-0.02): 9.Qd2 a5 10.b3 a4 11.Bb2 Nbd7 12.0-0 Re8 13.Rd1 Bf8 14.Qd4 Qe7 15.Nc3 axb3 16.axb3 Rxa1 17.Bxa1 g5 18.Nh3 Nc5 19.Nxg5 Nxb3 20.Qd3 Nxa1 21.Rxa1 Qe5 22.h4 h6 23.Nf3 Qf5 24.Qd4 Ne4 25.Nxe4 Rxe4

Nov-18-17		cormier: click for larger view Analysis by Houdini 4: d 24 1. = (0.10): 9...a5 10.b3 a4 11.Bb2 Nbd7 12.Qd4 Nc5 13.Nd2 Ne6 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Ne4 e5 16.Qd3 Bg4 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.e4 Be7 19.c5 Qd7 20.Qe3 Ra5 21.cxd6 Bxd6 22.Qd2 Rb5 23.bxa4 Rb6 24.Bc3 Kg7 25.a5 2. = (0.16): 9...Nbd7 10.Nc3 Nc5 11.Qd2 a5 12.b3 Bf5 13.Ba3 Ng4 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Qe3 Ned7 16.Qd4 Bc2 17.Rc1 Bf5 18.Rfd1 Re8 19.Bb2 Ne5 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 a4 22.Nd3 3. = (0.16): 9...Na6 10.Nc3 Nc5 11.Qd2 a5 12.b3 Bf5 13.Ba3 Ng4 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Qe3 Ned7 16.Qd4 Bc2 17.Rc1 Bf5 18.Rfd1 Re8 19.Bb2 Ne5 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 a4 22.Nd3

Nov-18-17		JimmyRockHound: According to my silicon Black is winning and should play Rad8. Qh2 loses.

Jump to page # (enter # from 1 to 3)
search thread:
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 3 OF 3 · Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
Nothing in violation of United States law.
No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
No trolling.
The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.