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e.g. <21.Nxe4 Nxe4 22.Rxe4 exf4 23.Rxf4 Rxc5 >

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Tremendous attacking play by Shirov!

However Shirov does not offer the Rook for nothing, for on 21 Bxh3 Rxh3 Shirov gains a bishop in return for the Rook, so that on 22 gxf5 Shirov has sacrificed "only" a Rook instead of a Rook and Knight.

This is an instructive point: when Shirov sacrifices his Rook in response to the fork, he offers to White not a Rook and Knight but only a Rook.

In return for this Rook, after 22...Qh8 Shirov gains a terrifying attack on the h file. However it is not enough for an attack to be terrifying. It must also be winning. I think that in the present case the attack is also winning.

Inarkiev declines the Rook by 21 gxf5 whereupon Shirov sacrifices the Rook a second time by 21...Rxc3! This time he offers a Rook in another way, by offering the exchange after having sacrificed a piece. This may be in Shirov's style. Ten years ago he may have had a reputation for playing like this, and he may have had it ever since as well.

After 25...Qh8 Shirov has an attack on the h file, but is it enough this time? One variation is 26 Kg1 Rh5 27 f3 Bg5 28 Qc2 Be3+ 29 Kf1 Rh1+ 30 Ke2 Qh4 31 Rxh1 Qf2+ 32 Kd1 Nc3+! 33 Qxc3 Qd2 mate. In this variation 27 f3 disturbs the King side pawns and invites the check ..Be3+. Another variation is 26 a3 Rh5 27 Ra2 Bg5 28 Qc4 Bf4 29 Rc2 Rh2 30 b4 Qh4 31 b5 Bxe5 32 dxe5 Nf4 33 f3 e3 and the threat of ...Rh1+ seems to have no answer.

One possible alternative for White is to attempt to return at least a part of the material by the manoeuvre Ra1-c1-c3 eg 26 Qc4 Bg5 27 Rc1 Bf4 28 Rc3 Rh2 29 Rg3

After 28..Qh4 29 Rc1 ( instead of 29 Ke2) 29...Bg5 30 Rc3 e3 declines the offer to return some of the material and on 31 Qe2 Nxc3 32 Qc2 Nxd1 Black has won material.

34...Rxf1+ sacrifices the Rook for the last time and White resigns.

Very nice work.

I had been discussing with <percyblakeney> how Kramnik seems to view playing the Black pieces, that the best Black can hope to achieve is equality and a draw.

<percyblakeney> showed that Kramnik has gone like <+0 -5 =23> in his last 28 Black games, an -INCREDIBLY- poor record for someone rated almost 2800.

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<Ulhumbrus: 20 g4 forks the R and N whereupon Shirov gives White a horrid shock by 20...Rxh3!! offering a Rook on h3 as well instead of losing a Knight.

click for larger view

However Shirov does not offer the Rook for nothing, for on 21 Bxh3 Rxh3 Shirov gains a bishop in return for the Rook,

click for larger view

so that on 22 gxf5 Shirov has sacrificed "only" a Rook instead of a Rook and Knight.

click for larger view

This is an instructive point: when Shirov sacrifices his Rook in response to the fork, he offers to White not a Rook and Knight but only a Rook.

In return for this Rook, after 22...Qh8 Shirov gains a terrifying attack on the h file.

click for larger view

Very aggressive and instructive play by Shirov.>

<
Chess

By Lubomir Kavalek
Monday, July 21, 2008; Page C10

At his best, Alexei Shirov is the most creative of chess players. He leaves his victims speechless with imaginative attacks, breathtaking and astonishing combinations, and elegant and precise endgame play. In 1998 Shirov defeated Vladimir Kramnik, qualifying for the world championship match against Garry Kasparov. A collapse of that match weighed heavily on Shirov for the next decade and affected his play. Not anymore.

Last week, at the ninth Anatoly Karpov all-grandmaster tournament in Poikovsky, Russia, Shirov shared first place with Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan and two Russians, Dmitry Jakovenko and Sergei Rublevsky -- each scoring 5 1/2 points in nine games.

We saw the old Shirovian magic in his game against Russia's Ernesto Inarkiev. <Sacrificing a knight and both rooks in the Slav defense, the Latvian-born grandmaster, who lives in Spain, created a wonderful attacking masterpiece.>>