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Magaram Magomedov vs Jamshed Isaev
Dushanbe (1997), Dushanbe TJK
Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Zaitsev System (C92)  ·  1-0

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-14-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Wow. I was thinking of taking on h6 thrice, but it came a move too soon.

Anyway, black has 2 options in the final position: if 27...Kxf6, 28.Bg5 is lights out. If 27...Kxh6, then 28.Qh5+ Kg7 29.Qg5+ Kh8 30.Qg8# 1-0.

Aug-14-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: I got it, sort of. There were two difficulties: whether to sac the exchange first before throwing minor pieces at the ♙ on h6, and which ♘ to sac first. I got the first one right, but I wanted to play 24...Ngxh6+, in order to unblock the g-file, instead of 24...Nfxh6+.

I think my way still is a win, but it isn't as good as the one white played.

Aug-14-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Great combination, took a great deal of time to figure out the correct order of moves. Felt more like a rare solvable Sunday puzzle.
Aug-14-15  stst: One main route:
23.Ngxh6+ gxh6
24.Rxe4 dxe4
25.Qg4+ Kh8
26.Bxh6 if Bxh6 ===> 27.Nxh6 threatens Nxf7+ forks K & Q
Aug-14-15  Steve.Patzer: Penguincw, thank you for explaining 27...Kxh6
Aug-14-15  diagonalley: brilliant!! ... <diagonalley>: nul points :-(
Aug-14-15  amitjoshi79: I want to sacrifice nfh6 first then rook on e4 is it wrong?
Aug-14-15  Funology: I saw all the way up to Bxh6+, but then missed Qg5+ if Kxh6 (maybe a case of a phantom h6 pawn).
Aug-14-15  mike1: yes, nice... but Black does have some compensation after 25. Nf6 Qxf6. 26. Qxf6 Re6. sure better for White..
Aug-14-15  wooden nickel: Brilliant combination!
This alternative line isn't quite good enough, maybe that was his first idea... sacking the rook first is an improvement! 23.Nfxh6+ gxh6 24.Rxe4 dxe4?? (Re6!) 25.Nf6+ Kh8 (If Kg7 then Bxh6+! as in the played line") 26.Qf5


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Aug-14-15  wooden nickel: <mike1: yes, nice... but Black does have some compensation after 25. Nf6 Qxf6. 26. Qxf6 Re6. sure better for White..> oops, I corrected my post and now yours appears before mine... at any rate that would be another interesting line!
Aug-14-15  patzer2: Here's my look at the game and today's Friday puzzle with the chessgames.com Opening Explorer and Deep Fritz 14:

<1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Re8> This is a good move, but there are several more popular options.

Most often played is 9...Na5 as in M Szelag vs D Howell, 2015.

Other more popular alternatives are

9...Nb8 as in J Duda vs Adams, 2015,

9...Nb7 as in Grischuk vs L Dominguez, 2015,

9...Nd7 as in A Berelowitsch vs Naiditsch, 2015.

<10. d4 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5 Nb8 13. Nf1 Nbd7 14. Ng3 Nc5 15. Bc2 c6 16. b4 Ncd7 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Bb3 h6 19. Nh2 Nb6 20. Ng4 Nc4 21. Nf5?> This is a mistake.

Instead, the Fritz choice 21. a4 = is fully equal as evidenced by the draw immediately agreed upon in A Shomoev vs T Nyback, 2009.

<21... Nxe4 22. Qf3 d5?> This is Black's decisive error.

Instead, Black has a strong and likely winning advantage after 22... h5! when play might continue 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Rxe4 Bxe4 25. Nfh6+ gxh6 26. Nf6+ Kh8 27. Nxe4 Re6 28. Qxf7 Qe8 29. Qb7 Rb8 30. Qd5 Rb5 31. Qd1 h4 32. Be3 Rg6 33. Qf3 Rb8 34. Qf5 Be7 35. Kh1 Kg7 36. Nd2 Qc6 37. f3 Rf8 38. Qc2 d5 39. Rd1 Rg8 40. Nf1 Kh8 (-1.80 @ 20 depth, Deep Fritz 14).

<23. Rxe4!> This solves our Friday puzzle. My failed solution was 23. Nfxh6+? gxh6 which is at best only good for equality after 24. Rxe4 Re6! (not 24... Kh8? 25. Re1 Re6 26. Qxf7 Qe8 27. Qxe8 Raxe8 28. Ne3 Kh7 29. a4 Nxe3 30. fxe3 bxa4 31. Bxa4 Bxa4 32. Rxa4 ; also not 24... dxe4? 25. Nf6+ Kg7 26. Bxh6+ Kxh6 27. Qh5+ Kg7 28. Qg5+Kh8 29. Qg8#) 25. Qg3 Rg6 26. Rxe5 Bd6 27. Bf4 Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. Qxe5 Qd6 30. Qd4 =.

<23... dxe4 24. Nfxh6+ gxh6>

If 24...Kh7 White wins with 25. Qf5+! when play might continue 25...g6 26. Nf6+ Kh8 (26... Kg7 27. Nh5+ Kh8 28. Nxf7+ Kh7 29. Ng5+ Kh6 30. Qf7 Re7 31. Qg8 e3 32. Bxc4 Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Qxh5 34. Qh8+ Kxg5 35. Bxe3+ Kf5 36. g4+ Ke4 37. Qf6 Qh7 38. Qxc6#) 27. Qg5! Qe7 28. Bxc4 bxc4 (28... Ra7 29. Nhg8 ) 29. Nhg8 Bg7 30. Qh4+ Bh6 31. Qxh6#.

If 24... Kh8, then White wins after 25. Nxf7+ Kg8 (25... Kh7 26. Qf5+ g6 27. Ng5+ Kh8 28. Qxg6 Ra7 29. Bxc4 bxc4 30. Nf6 Bd5 31. Nf7+ Rxf7 32. Qg8#) 26. Qf5 Qh4 27. Qg6 Bd5 28. Ngh6+ Qxh6 29. Nxh6+ .

<25. Nf6+ Kg7 26. Bxh6+ Kg6>

If 26... Kh8, then 27. Qf5 .

If 26... Kxh6, then 27. Qh5+ Kg7 28. Qg5+ Kh8 29. Qg8#.

<27. Qg4+ 1-0> Black resigns in lieu of 27...Kxh6 (27... Kxf6 28. Bg5+ ) 28. Qh5+ Kg7 29. Qg5+ Kh8 30. Qg8#.

P.S.: In summary, 21. Nf5? was a mistake. Black could have punished 21. Nf5? with 21...h5! to . But Black missed the likely winning 21...h5! to , and instead made the not-so-obvious error 22...d5? which allowed White the decisive 23. Rxe4!

Aug-14-15  saturn2: I give myself half a point today.
The rook sacrifice Rxe4 became obvious after some thought. Otherwise black could interpose too much on g5. I also 'guessed' the right Knight to sacrifice on h6. 24Ngxh6 and afterwards 25 Qg4+ was a thought first, but somehow after 25..Kh7 I did not find anything forcing. So I settled on 24Nfxh6. After ..24gxNh6 25.Nf6 Black has Kg7, Kh8 and Kh7 and I thought that 26 Qf5 would also be decisive which it is not because of ...26Qxf6. White can win the queen then by 27 Bh6+ but that is not enough any more.
Aug-14-15  kevin86: The key move is to remove the knight from guarding f6...then black game will collapse.
Aug-14-15  agb2002: White has one pawn less.

White has five pieces to attack the black castle and several candidates, 23.Rxe4, 23.Nfxh6+, 23.Ngxh6+ and 23.Bxh6.

In the case of 23.Rxe4, eliminating the defender of f6, the queen is under attack after 23... dxe4, which may limit White's options.

In the case of 23.Nfxh6+:

A) 23... gxh6 24.Rxe4

A.1) 24... dxe4 25.Nf6+

A.1.a) 25... Kg7 26.Bxh6+

A.1.a.i) 26... Kxh6+ 27.Qh5+ Kg7 28.Qg5+ Kh8 29.Qg8#.

A.1.a.ii) 26... Kh8 27.Qf5 Qxf6 (else 28.Qh7#) 28.Qxf6+ Kg8 (or 28... Kh7) 29.Bxf8 K(R)xf8 (due to 30.Qg7#) 30.Qxc6 + - [Q+B vs R+N].

A.1.a.iii) 26... Kg6 27.Qg4+ Kxf6 (27... Kxh6 28.Qh5+ transposes to A.1.a.i) 28.Bg5+ Kg6(7) 29.Bxd8+ followed by 30.Bf6 + - [Q vs R+P] and attack.

A.1.b) 25... Qxf6 26.Qxf6 Re6 27.Qh4 +/ - to + - [Q vs R+N] and presumably a long fight ahead.

A.1.c) 25... Kh8 26.Qf5 seems to transpose to A.1.a or A.1.b.

A.2) 24... Bg7 25.Nxh6+ Bxh6 (25... Kf8 26.Qxf7#; 25... Kh7 26.Qf5+ Kh8 27.Nxf7+ Kg8 28.Nxd8 wins) 26.Rg4+ with a winning attack (26... Bg7 27.Bh6; 26... Kh7 27.Qxf7+ Kh8 28.Bxh6).

A.3) 24... Re6 seems to put up more resistance.

B) 23... Kh7 24.Qxf7 seems to win a pawn at least.

C) 23... Kh8 24.Nxf7+ followed by 25.Nxd8 wins.

-----

The defense in A.3 above, leads to reconsider 23.Rxe4 directly:

A) 23... dxe4 24.Nfxh6+

A.1) 24... gxh6 transposes to A.1 above.

A.2) 24... Kh8 25.Nxf7+ Kg8 26.Nxd8 exf3 27.Nxc6 wins B+N+P for a rook.

A.3) 24... Kh7 25.Qxf7

A.3.a) 25... Bd6(e7) 26.Qf5+ g6 27.Qf7+ Kh8 28.Bxc4 bxc4 29.Qxg6, with two pawns for the exchange and attack (threatens 30.Nf7#), looks winning.

A.3.b) 25... Qh4 26.Nf5 Qd8 27.Bg5 and the double threat Bxd8 and Nf6+ seems to win (27... Be7 28.Qxg7#).

A.3.c) 25... Re7 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Qg8#.

A.3.d) 25... Qe7 26.Qf5+

A.3.d.i) 26... g6 27.Nf6+ Kh8 (27... Kg7 28.Nxe8+ wins two pawns) 28.Qxg6 looks lost for Black.

A.3.d.ii) 26... Kh8 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Ng5 seems to win.

B) 23... d4 24.Ngxh6+ Kh7 (24... gxh6 25.Rg4+ and 26.Qxc6 + - [B]) 25.Nxf7 looks winning.

-----

I think I'd play 23.Rxe4.

Aug-14-15  brainzugzwang: Holy Christmas, I actually got a Friday puzzle almost to the end position!. Just jumped right out into my face for some reason that the sac at h6, knight check at f6 and queen check on the g file would do it if not for the N at e4 defending f6; hence starting the combination with Rxe4. Never thought I'd say this in all the years I've been on this site, but seemed rather easy for a Friday to me :)
Aug-14-15  Gilmoy: The Zaitsev hole is at g8 :=O we thought it was f7

The only thing worse than allowing the Nf5 tour ... is to allow Ng4 <first>. Knights are slow, but Black was slower.

15..g6, eh. c6 can wait, it's not going anywhere.

Aug-14-15  morfishine: <brainzugzwang> Congratulations! This one was hard for me to visualize though finally did settle on 23.Rxe4 as better than the immediate 23.Nfxh6+
Aug-14-15  Sniffles: 25 ... Resigns. If he didn't see that one coming he should take up tennis or golf.
Aug-14-15  dusk: <Sniffles> Actually he should have resigned at move 7. Dem newbies can't see mates in 23.
Aug-15-15  jffun1958: 27. ... Kxh6 28. Qh5+ Kg7 29. Qg5+ Kh8 30. Qg8#
27. ... Kxf6 28. Bg5+ skewers the queen.
Aug-15-15  CHESSTTCAMPS: White has active knights and active play for a pawn. Black's castled position is weakened and h6 looks like a juicy target. Three pieces can take on h6, but which one? A key observation is that f6 becomes weak after a black gxh6, therefore it makes sense to keep the Ng4. Now a winning combination comes together:

23.N5xh6+!! gxh6 (Kh7? 24.Qf5+ g6 25.Qxf7+ Bg7 26.Rxe4! dxe4 27.Nf6+) 24.Rxe4!! and now:

A. 24... dxe4 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.Bxh6+! Kxh6 27.Qh5+ Kg7 28.Qg5+ Kh8 29.Qg8#

A.1. 25... Kh8 26.Qf5 Qxf6 (Kg7 27.Bxh6+ transposes to main line) 27.Qxf6+ Bg7 28.Qxc6 is winning.

A.2 25... Qxf6 26.Qxf6 Re6 27.Qh4 with material advantage (Q for R+N) and the better position.

B. 24... Re6 25.Re2|e1 and white appears to have regained pawn with advantage because of weak black king-side

Time for review...

Aug-15-15  CHESSTTCAMPS: Right idea, wrong implementation. My line B shows why 23.Re4 is more accurate. I see that patzer2 has already covered this ground.

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