YouRang: Nice move by Gligoric to get out of trouble. Here is the position Gligoric (white) faced on his 21st move:
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Black is up a pawn and now threatens to win the exchange with either ...Nxg3 or ...Nc3 (forking Q and R). What are white's options?
=== [#1] Move the rook:
<21.Rh3> threat Bxh7+ <21...g6> 21...Nc3 doesn't work: 22.Bxh7+ Kf8 23.Qd2 escapes the fok (23...Nxb1? loses to 24.Qb4+! with threat of Be4 & Rh8#). <22.Qf3> avoid fork threat with attack on N <22...Nc3 23.Qxd5 Nxd5> and black is cleanly up a pawn and will shortly have a strong rook battery on the c-file. ====[#2] Capture the knight:
<21.Bxe4 Qxe4> but again, black is up a pawn. But Gligoric found a third option:
=== [#3] Sac the rook!
<21.Rxg7! Kxg7 22.Qg4+>
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Now if <22...Kh8> (apparently black's best move), white has <23.Bxe4! Qxd4> not 23...Qxe4? Be5+ and black's queen falls <24.Qe2> guarding Be4 and threatening Rd1 skewer <24...Qc4> maintain attack on Be4 while threatening Q exchange (which favors black who is up a R+P for a B)
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<25.Qf3> avoid Q exchange and set up B+Q battery to win back the exchange. Also, white threatens Bxh7 leading to ...Kxh7 & Qh5+ to draw via perpetual check. <25...f5> avoids perpetual <26.Bxc6 Bxc6 27.Qg3> gets back exchange with threat of Be5+ and the game is now practically even. It might continue: <27...Qe4 28.Qc3+ e5 29.Bxe5 Nxe5 30.f3 Qxb1 31.Qxe5+> with perepetual check to follow. In the game, black opted for <22...Ng5 23.Bxg5> which also left white with enough initiative to draw easily. |