Alistair Compton vs Armin Gholami (2011)

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Alistair Compton vs Armin Gholami
Gibraltar Masters (2011), La Caleta GIB, rd 1, Jan-25
French Defense: Steinitz. Boleslavsky Variation (C11) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Jun-25-15		morfishine: I had <18.Bxh7+> and after 18...Kxh7 19.Qh4+ Kg8 20.Rf3 and Black cannot move quick enough to prevent catastrophic losses, much less mate *****

Jun-25-15		Shoukhath007: very interesting chess puzzle same like this puzzle in video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0E4... beginners can't solve this.

Jun-25-15		diagonalley: looks pretty much like a classic 18.BxRP+ (with most of black's forces shut out of the action) ... OTB it's an instinctive play... though there appear to be several lines. slightly easier for a thursday puzzle

Jun-25-15		jith1207: Yes, thankfully easier for a Thursday, straightforward analysis of some lines give way to the best possible line which seems to have been played in the game.

Jun-25-15		Moszkowski012273: Straight outta Compton!!!

Jun-25-15		alphee: I agree with diagonalley and this 18. ♗xh7+ ♔xh7 19. ♕h4+ ♔g8 20. ♖f3 sequence reminds me of the chapter seventh of Vladimir Vukovic's Art of Attack in Chess: "The classic Bishop sacrifice". The next chapter is a review of various ways to attack the casteled king. I bought this book twice as forgot the first one in a plane. I haven't seen many case where Black refuses to take the bishop and plays ♔h8.

Jun-25-15		Moszkowski012273: But would he have seen the mating 27.f5+!...

Jun-25-15		stacase: This was a cake walk. Every move was straight forward. 18. Bh7 was as obvious as the north end of a south bound goat as were all the moves after that.

Jun-25-15		wooden nickel: <We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature. -Spielmann> 18.Bxh7+ is certainly hard to resist here, the follow-ups are pretty much forced and clear. The alternative move 18.Qh4 looked dull at first but turns out to be a strong variation. 18.Qh4 h6 19.Rf3 Bb7 20.Rg3 Kh8 21.Rxg7 Kxg7 22.Qf6+ Kg8 23.Qxh6 click for larger view White is winning!

Jun-25-15		abstract: Well Black weakness is the white bishop. Its very usual for black when playing french defense that the white bishop becomes simply an extra bad positioned pawn.

Jun-25-15		jindraz: The important point is 20...Re8 21. Rf3 Kf8 22. Bc5

Jun-25-15		Mating Net: This is a sac first, ask questions later type of position. No need to calculate past 20.Rf3 because the mate, or overwhelming material gain will surely follow.

Jun-25-15		MindCtrol9: Yes, is a sacrifice that is easy to figure out knowing that after Rf3 is threatening mate in 2 movers.The rest comes by itself leaving the Black King without any hope.I find some pussles difficult, but this one is easy.

Jun-25-15		PawnSac: yep, the classic annihilation of defense with Bxh7 Qh5+ and Rf3-h3. The dark pawns and diagonal is sufficient to break open the rest. Easy attack to see, maybe a little difficult for some to see 6 or 7 moves into it, but one of those positions that screams out for the sac.

Jun-25-15		mel gibson: Black should never have castled with white having: a free Queen, a Rook that could come into play & 2 bishops bearing down on the castling position. It was all a mistake.

Jun-25-15		dfcx: My plan of attack is 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qh4+ Kg8 20.Rf3 followed by Rh3, black will find it very hard to defend the mate threat. A) 20...Re1/Rd1 21.Bc5 B) 20...f6 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Qxf6

Jun-25-15		Penguincw: Pretty easy Thursday. 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qh4+ Kg8 20.Rf3 I got. From here, I can't calculate what's next, but I can do it OTB. Here are the moves I would've played following black's response 20...Qc7 21.Rh3 f6 22.exf6 Rxf6 23.Bxf6 Qa7+ 24.Kh1 gxf6 25.Qh8+ Kg7 26.Rh7+ 1-0. So for probably the first time ever, I got a Thursday puzzle (no one said it has to all be done in your head).

Jun-25-15		kevin86: The procedure seems simple: bishop sac, queen check, advance rook to join with the queen. The massive control by the heavy pieces against a virtually undefended king is brutal.

Jun-25-15		gawain: The hoary old bishop sac on h7? That's it? OK then.

Jun-25-15		agb2002: White has the bishop pair for a bishop and a knight. The black castle doesn't have weaknesses but it is not defended. The dark square bishop could play a more active role with the maneuver Bc5-Be7-Bf6. These details suggest 18.Bc5: A) 18... Rd8 19.Qh4 f6 20.Bxh7+ Kf7 (20... Kh8 21.Bg6+ Kg8 22.Qh7#) 21.Qh5+ g6 22.Qxg6#. B) 18... Re8 19.Qh4 B.1) 19... h6 20.Rf3 B.1.a) 20... Nb2 21.Rg3 B.1.a.i) 21... Nxd3 22.Qxh6 g6 23.Rh3 wins. B.1.a.ii) 21... Kh8 22.Be7 and the threat Bf6-Qxh6+ seems to win an exchange at least. For example, 22... Nxd3 23.cxd3 (23.Bf6 Qb6+ 24.Kf1 Qf2+ 25.Qxf2 Nxf2 26.Bxg7+ Kh7 27.Kxf2 wins a pawn with a much better position) 23... f5 24.Bf6 Ra7 25.Qxh6+ Kg8 26.Rxg7+ and mate next. B.1.b) 20... Qd7 21.Rg3 (21.g4 is probably also good) 21... Kh8 22.Raf1 B.1.b.i) 22... Nb2 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.Qf6+ Kg8 25.Rf3 wins. B.1.b.ii) 22... Qd8 23.Qh5 Qd7 (23... f5(6) 24.exf6 destroys the castle) 24.Rff3 Ra7 25.Rxg7 Kxg7 26.Rg3+ wins. B.2) 19... g6 20.Be7 f5(6) 21.exf6 and the threat Qh6-Qg7# wins decisive material. B.3) 19... f5(6) 20.exf6 g6 21.Qh6 looks winning. For example, 21... Qd7 22.Bxg6 hxg6 23.Qxg6+ Kh8 24.f7, etc.

Jun-25-15		njdanie: 16 ... O-O??? Big mistake, castling right into it, no pieces defending the King. I learned the hard way once long ago to keep the king in the center in this kind of position...

Jun-25-15		mel gibson: Jun-25-15 njdanie: 16 ... O-O??? Big mistake, castling right into it, no pieces defending the King. I learned the hard way once long ago to keep the king in the center in this kind of position... Yes - as I pointed out. It was an idiotic move to castle. Black was trapped behind a closed position yet white was free to move on the castled King. Black didn't have a single piece in play to help the King.

Jun-25-15		bmcniece: 18.Bc5 works fine before playing 19.Bxh7! as well. Thought of this move first just to take the rook out of the defense and 18.Rd8?? forks both the rook and the h7 square. So 18.Bc5 Re8 19.Bxh7 and so forth, its actually a quicker win

Jun-25-15		bmcniece: I suppose this allows black to give up the exchange and at least play on for awhile with 18...h6 so nevermind. 18.Bxh7 is clearly better

Jun-26-15		patzer2: Here's my look at a few key moves in the game and the Thursday puzzle (18. ?) with the chessgames.com Opening Explorer and Deep Fritz 14: <7...a6> This is the most popular move in the OE. However, for those who like to open things up a bit earlier in the French an option worth considering is Fritz's first choice 7...cxd4 when play might continue 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O a6 as in Black's win in Karjakin vs D Andreikin, 2013. <8. Qd2 b5 9. a3 Qb6> Another good option here might be 9... Bb7 as in Y Yuan vs S Sanchez Castillo, 2014. <11...Bc5?!> After the practically forced <12. b4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Bxd4 > (+0.67 @ 23 depth), White with two active Bishops has a strong attacking position against the weakened Black position. Better is 11...Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qc7 13. Bd3 Be7 14. 0-0 = (+0.11 @ 25 depth), retaining the Black bishop pair with active counter chances. <16...O-O?> Black's position is already precarious, and castling into it facilitates White's attack. Unfortunately, the alternatives don't seem to be much better. For example the attempt at active counter play with 16...Nc4 17. Qf2 Bb7 18. f5 O-O-O meets with disaster after 19. Qg3! when play might continue 19...g6 20. fxg6 fxg6 21. Qh3 Qd7 22. Rf6 Rdf8 23. Qh6 Rxf6 24. exf6 Qf7 25. Bxc4 dxc4 26. Be5 Rd8 27. Qe3 Rd5 28. Re1 Qd7 29. Qf4 Qf7 30. Qf2! Bc6 31. Qb6 Qb7 32. Qxb7+! Kxb7 33. f7 Rd8 34. Bd6! . <18. Bxh7+k!!> This move, solving yesterday's Thursday puzzle, is the strongest option. My attempt was 18. Bc5, which wins strongly following the expected 18... Re8?, as play might continue 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qh4+ Kg8 21. Rf3 a5 22. Rh3 f5 23. exf6 Kf7 24. Qg5 Rg8 25. Qh5+ Kxf6 26. Qg5+ Kf7 27. Qe7+ Kg6 28. Rg3+ Kf5 29. Qg5+ Ke4 30. Qg6+ Kxf4 31. Qg5+ Ke4 32. Rg4#. The problem with 18. Bc5 is 18...Bb7, sacrificing the exchange for drawing chances, makes the win much more difficult. For example after 19. Bxc4 bxc4 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 play might continue 21. a4 d4 22. b5 axb5 23. axb5 Qd5 24. Rfd1 Rd8 25. b6 h6 26. h3 Qc6 27. Rab1 f6 28. exf6 gxf6 29. Rd2 Rd7 30. Kh1 Kh7 31. Kh2 Qd6 32. Re1 f5 33. Red1 Rg7 34. g3 Qxb6 35. Qxd4 Qxd4 36. Rxd4 Bd5 37. Ra1 h5 38. Rd2 Rb7 39. Kg1 Kg6 40. Kf2 Kf6 41. Ke3 Rb2 42. Kd4 Rb8 43. h4 Rg8 44. Ra3 Rd8 45. Kc3 Rg8 46. Kb2 Ke7 47. Re2 Kd6 48. Ree3 Rb8+ 49. Kc3 Ke7 50. Ra1 Kf6 51. Kd2 Rb2 52. Kc1 Rb7 53. Ra4 to (+3.39 @ 27 depth). <18... Kxh7 19. Qh4+ Kg8 20. Rf3! > (+4.60 @ 20 depth) Despite being a piece down, White has a decisive attack. <18...Qc7> If 20...f5, then White wins after 21. exf6 gxf6 22. Bxf6 Ra7 23. Rg3+ Kf7 24. Bg7 Qb6+ 25. Kh1 Qd8 26. Qh5+ Ke7 27. Bxf8+ Qxf8 28. Qh7+ Kd8 29. Qxa7 (+10.66 @ 20 depth). <21. Rh3 f6 22. exf6 Rxf6 23. Bxf6 Qa7+ 24. Kh1 gxf6 25. Qh8+ Kf7 26. Rh7+ 1-0> Black resigns as it's mate-in-nine after 26...Kg6 27. f5+ Kxf5 28. Rxa7 Rxa7 29. Qh5+ Ke4 30. Qg4+ Ke5 31. Qg3+ Ke4 32. Re1+ Ne3 33. Rxe3+ Kf5 34. Rf3+ Ke4 35. Qf4#.

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