| Mar-29-13 | | M.Hassan: "Difficult"
Black to play 21...?
Equal
<21.....Bxc4 gains one pawn at the end 22.dxc4 Nxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxd2 24.Qxd2 Rxd2> BUT
21.........Nxe2+!
22.Qxe2 Qxd3
23.Qxd3 Rxd3
24.Rad1 Bxc4
This line gains two pawns after exchanges |
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| Mar-29-13 | | SamAtoms1980: Pretty much got this..... the hardest thing to see is the Black bishop on g8 attacks the White knight after 23....Rxd3. After move 24, White has three pieces hanging; I would consider the position a kingtipper. In the actual final position, it seems like White's whole force is hanging. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | Abdel Irada: <<•>Two-van collision<•>> Van der Wiel broadsides Van Scheltinga, and when the smoke clears and the debris is tidied up, White's position is totaled. <<•> 21. ...Nxe2†22. Qxe2, Qxd3! >
click for larger view[The critical position: after 22. ...Qxd3]
This is better than the obvious 22. ...Bxc4 23. dxc4, Qxd2 24. Rfe1, when Black gains only one pawn. Here, however, no evasive maneuver seems to deliver White's bishop on d2, knight on c4 and queen on e2 from the rumpled steel skins resulting from this crash. The fundamental problem White faces is overwork: His knight is twice attacked; Black can exchange his bishop for it at his convenience, and it is needed where it is to defend the bishop. One piece or the other can be preserved, but not both. Black therefore wins two pawns. White can toss in 23. Bc6†, but after 23. ...Kf8 there is no effective continuation, and the knight on h3 is now undefended, a liability that will outweigh Black's loss of castling privileges. He can also try 23. Nf2, but this fails against 23. ...Bd4. (This puzzle is tricky only in that it tempts one to a simpler and seemingly clearer "solution" that may not actually win. Apart from that, I would rate it as easier than yesterday's.) |
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Mar-29-13
 | | scormus: <Abdel <•>Two-van collision<•>> Brilliant pun and commentary. Yes, the key is seeing that B can pick up the debris along the way. Nice puzzle too, which I missed out on concentrating too much on the more obvious but less decisive ... Bxc4 lines. |
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Mar-29-13
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: "Two-van collision" is a very good pun! As for the game itself, the tactics Black used were familiar motifs for me. When playing the English, White can allow Black to erect the Maroczy Bind and still win, but he must be *extremly* careful of the d4 square, as Black can use it to crush White in a variety of ways. Botvinnik used the square to win a few of his best games. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | mistreaver: Friday.Black to play. Difficult.21?
All i can see is that black can win a pawn as follows:
21... Bxc4
22 dxc4 Nxe2+
23 Qxe2 Qxd2.
I don't think there is any forced mate or anything, and i think winning a pawn is good enough.
Time to check.
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0.5 for me, since my continuation still wins, and i quickly went for it since it was good enough. I think that looking for brilliancies doesn't always pay off, and that it's most practical to choose something that is certain.
4/5 this week so far. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | morfishine: I felt <21...Bxc4> was sufficient to win; Clearly this is not as decisive as the immediate 21...Nxe2+ What I found interesting is while this was an 'English' from White's perspective (1.c4), Black constructed a 'Dragon' pawn structure (pawns on d6/e7/f7/g6/h7); Actually, this is a 'dragon' with an extra long tail including c5; In any case, normally this is not good for Black if White is allowed to set-up a Moroczy bind (having already play 1.c4, he is well on his way); However, White fails to grasp the requirements of the position and drifts, foregoing a necessary <e4>. Who knows what White was thinking; perhaps he thought he was getting good compensation foregoing <e4> by delaying or preventing Black from castling; Or perhaps, he wanted to keep the diagonal open for his WSB; In the end he was double-crossed as Black uses this tempo to first get in <d5> squashing any potential 'bind', and then arrogantly playing his WSB to <g8> gaining maximum piece activity; Fascinating indeed |
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| Mar-29-13 | | Abdel Irada: <mistreaver>: I'd rate the position after your line as  : a clear advantage, but not necessarily enough for a win.---
<morfishine>: I'm not sure I see when White could have established a Maroczy Bind, since if he played e4, he couldn't also get in d4. In fact, after 9. ...d5, it was Black who had the bind formation. After that point, White couldn't play e4 without critically weakening d3. There is an English formation in which White has pawns on c4 and e4 to deter ...d5, but the knight on f3 is incompatible with it, and it was Black who correctly deployed to play the opening resulting from a symmetrical (c4, e4; c5, e5) closed English. On the whole, White handled the opening passively and inconsistently and paid the price by handing over the initiative on move 9. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | morfishine: <Abdel Irdada> You are partially correct, or I'm partially wrong! Technically, the Moroczy bind has pawns on c4 & e4 with the White d-pawn exchanged off; The point here in this game is White did not fight for <d5> which is the idea behind the M-bind: preventing Black from getting in d5 |
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| Mar-29-13 | | Patriot: Material is even. It seems there are several ways to win a pawn: 21...Bxc4 22.dxc4 Qe6 OR 21...Bxc4 22.dxc4 Nxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxd2. 21...Bxc4 22.dxc4 Qe6 23.e3 seems to refute the line. So...
21...Bxc4 22.dxc4 Nxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxd2 24.Qxd2 Rxd2 
21...Bxc4 22.dxc4 Nxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxd2 24.Qe6 Qd6 |
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Mar-29-13
 | | chrisowen: I think eg have now ar good for knight in a,
21...Nxe2+ cement orange boom!
Ie the point is revealing hive mind centreed it book in d3 22.qxe2 you thin picking captain card it is horn blower in go 22...qxd3 23.qxd3 Rxd3, Indeed do it is allowing bd2 knight highball etc look in d4 to un-settled queen then kick knightg5, Total one together bind h3 off-side a link to e7 has brother black c6 huffed in d4 itz inclusive for cop er mind you coat in chapter d1 off capital g5 h3 exactly it mingles up on you d4xe2 it is ok in soothe checks again, A pedal ive rascal in wag life to ok 22.qxe2 otherwise a pawn downed d3 will finesse later d3s right off in ed 22...qxd3 23.qxd3 Rxd3 all you need to see five moves crum blessed c4 and d2 both rush to escape in biceps i centre eg rond 24.Nxb6 the rest is a mop up job. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | Abdel Irada: Your description of the Maroczy is correct, and that's exactly why it was never an option for White in this game: He couldn't get in d4 in order to exchange it for Black's c-pawn, creating the definitional pawn structure. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | Patriot: 21...Bxc4 is much easier to calculate but is not the best move. I would have to go with something like this OTB unless it was a long time control. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | kevin86: It looks like the key to this one is to simplify and win with your extra pawn. |
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Mar-29-13
 | | Jimfromprovidence: I liked 24 Nf2 as a better defense.
Now the rook has to retreat and the best move is 24...Rd8, cause it's the safest square from counterattack. 
click for larger viewBut even with this retreat, white still has the same problem and black will end up two pawns ahead. |
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Mar-29-13
 | | perfidious: <morfishine> This actually winds up as a Maroczy Bind with colours reversed; though v d Wiel took two tempi to play ....d5, his game was comfortable. Here is the typical Maroczy Reversed from the Symmetrical, a speciality of Gheorghiu: Opening Explorer |
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| Mar-29-13 | | agb2002: The material is identical.
The first idea that comes to mind is 21... Bxc4 22.dxc4 Nxe2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxd2, winning a pawn. Now, the dilemma is whether to follow Kotov or to follow Lasker because it looks as if it is possible to get more from this position. A change in the move order yields 21... Nxe2+ 22.Qxe2 Qxd3 attacking three white pieces so that it seems that Black will recover the piece and win two pawns instead of one. Therefore, 21... Nxe2+: A) 22.Qxe2 Qxd3
A.1) 23.Qxd3 Rxd3
A.1.a) 24.Nf2 Rd8 25.Nxb6 (25.b3 Bxc4 26.bxc4 Rxd2 - + [2P]) 25... Rxd2 26.Bc6+ (26.Na4 Bxb2 - + [2P]) 26... Kd8 27.Na4 (27.Rad1 Rxd1 28.Rxd1+ Kc7, etc.) 27... Kc7 followed by Bxb2 - + [2P]. A.1.b) 24.Bc3 Bxc3 25.bxc3 (25.Ne5 Bxe5 - +) 25... Bxc4 - + [2P]. A.1.c) 24.Rac1 Bxc4 25.Rxc4 Rxd2 26.Ra4 a5 26.b3 Bd4+ - + [2P]. A.2) 23.Bc6+ Kf8 doesn't improve anything for White.
A.3) 23.Rae1 Qxe2 24.Rxe2 Bxc4 - + wins the exchange. A.4) 23.Rfe1 Qxe2 24.Rxe2 Bxc4 25.Rf2 Bd4 - + also wins the exchange. B) 22.Kh1 Qxd3 - + [2P].
C) 22.Kf2 Qxd3 23.Qxe2 Qxe2+ 24.Kxe2 Bxc4+ wins the exchange again. Conclusion: forget Kotov and study Lasker... |
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| Mar-29-13 | | whiteshark: Friday humor came without warning. |
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| Mar-29-13 | | morfishine: <perfidious> Your comments are always welcome to me! The point that I was trying to make, and I probably shouldn't have mentioned 'Moroczy Bind', was in conjunction with Black's set up (Dragon formation) in response to an 'English' opening, <d5> is critical and White clearly neglected this square. In an offhand way, I was trying to compare the strategies of the English and Sicilian, while at the same time, trying to focus on the contrasts! Is this a possible thing? I think so, when if we look at this game and realize how White neglected <d5>, then its possible to both compare and contrast in this case. Frankly, I should have limited my comments to <d5> and not mentioned the 'Moroczy Bind' :( BTW: I am reading Gufeld's latest edition on the Sicilian Dragon (2011). An excellent book, especially for a Najdorf player like myself; Though the write-up is somewhat simplified, as admitted by the authors, the numerous diagrams are highly instructive. The Dragon is alive and breathing...again! Thanks again, Morf |
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| Mar-29-13 | | dark.horse: I saw most of the tactical motifs. but I didn't see how they went together. Black's key moves removed the supports to White's c4 knight. Then threats to the c4 knight + d2 Bishop became decisive. White's game collapsed like a house of cards. The difficulty is seeing/appreciating the weakness of White's N+B after the exchange of Queens, 3 moves into the combination. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 21...Nxe2+