D Howell vs A Gupta, 2008>

Good.

Next time you and I will both think _TWICE_ before allowing a harmless, little ol' <CHECK> like Howell did here with 32 ♕h5-g4?? ♕f6-h6+! 0-1.

Clearly Howell just _ASSUMED_ that <BLOCKING> the <CHECK> along the h-file was possible without really looking into it. Then when push came to shove, he found that he had no defense due to that incredibly active Black f1-knight.

Have you thought about entering the Lovely Girls contest at all, at all?

I think you should tone it down a bit and show more respect to the game of chess and to Grandmasters in particular.

jessicafischerqueen (2011) v. Uncle Bum (1861)

I'm posting this because <for once in my life> a plan I made in the early Middle game actually worked out in the ending part.

Themes: <HALF-OPEN H-FILE>, <FAWN PAWN>

OK my whole strategy has been to castle long and make a <HALF-OPEN FILE> in front of Bum's King.

So I was very happy to see him play

9...b5

giving me this position:

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Allowing me to play

10.hxg4, giving me a <HALF-OPEN H-FILE> to work with.

And now FAST FORWARD to the end of the game--

He has just played

20...c5 threatening my Queen. NOT! (heh)

My Move- and I don't have to move my Queen. Not yet anyways.

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Thanks to my pressure on the h-file, and my <FAWN PAWN> on g6, Black is already lost. His effort to stave off disaster by blocking the h-file with his Knight is in vain--

21.Rxh6! gxh6
22.Qd2!

And no matter what, Black cannot protect the h6 square now. My Queen can capture there with <MATE> the next move. All Black can do is try for a perpetual, but as you can see from the position, Black's Queen runs out of checks and then it's mate.

So he resigned after 22.Qd2

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/donne...

Episode One:

Kasparov vs Govaslisvili, 1978

Two <EXQUISITE MOVES>:

White <Kasparov> to move--

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32.Nxf5!

Black's bishop on e6 is both <OVERLOADED> and <LOOSE>.

Consequently, the bishop cannot recapture 32...Bxf5

Because the Bishop must guard the f5 pawn <AND> the a2-g7 Diagonal. It cannot do both.

So, if 32...Bxf5 then 33.Bd5+ with <FORCED MATE> to follow next move.

Adding insult to injury, Black's poor bishop wouldn't even be able to return to the e6 square to block the check, because the e6 square is <LOOSE (undefended)>.

And now the finale--

White to move-

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Notice that Black's King on g8 is <LINED UP> with White's Rook on g1.

NO matter how many pieces interpose between the <LINED UP> King and Rook, it represents a <LATENT THREAT>.

Watch the tactical magician <Kasparov> make the <LATENT THREAT> a <DEADLY REALITY> by force:

36.Qxg7+!!

<REMOVING THE GUARD>-- removing the piece that protects the Black King from the <LINED UP> White Rook on g1.

Black resigned here for obvious reasons.

36...Kxg7 <forced>
37.Bf3+!!

After 37.Bf3+

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37...Qg6 is <forced>

And now White wins easily since Black's Queen is helplessly pinned to her King.

White could now play (almost anything and win, actually)

38.Bxb7 for example, since there is no way for Black to avoid giving back his Queen for the White Rook. White can gobble up Black's Queenside pawns at leisure and create an advanced passer, not to mention he already has two other connected passers on f2 and e3.

White trades down <BY FORCE> to an easily won endgame through the <SPECTACULAR> tactic of <SIMULTANEOUS DISCOVERED KING CHECK WITH QUEEN CHECK>-- perhaps every chess player's dream.

I've only ever found that tactic ONE TIME in the last year. I sure remember it though- I posted it in my house and <Dr. Euwe> analyzed the position for me.

It would look like this:

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<<<Correction>>> (courtesy of <Dr. Max Euwe>)

Ok I was wrong- Kasparov's forcing sequence does not compel Black to surrender his Queen.

But it DOES force him to exchange his Rook, Bishop, and Knight for Kasparov's Queen.

Look at the FEN <Niels> posted directly above this post--

It is reached from the end of this game:

Kasparov vs Govaslisvili, 1978

The move sequence is:

36...Kxg7 <forced>
37.Bf3+!! Bg4
38.Bxg4 Qe6 (the Queen cannot save Black's Knight since the Queen has to stay off any light square where White's bishop can deliver Queen check with tempo-- due to discoverd check on the Black king)

39.Bxd7

And now the FEN <Niels> posted is reached.

I ran my Shredder for 9 hours last night from this position.

"It" insists that White has a "won game" (+4.58)--

But as <Niels> pointed out in his post, this is not easy to convert--

Black could make it a long struggle still since White has to watch for Perpetual check and <FORKS> on every single move due to the semi-exposed White King and the fantastically powerful scope of the Black Queen.

It's almost certain that Kasparov's opponent saw the correct analysis (as opposed to my INCORRECT analysis) in his head and realized that he was forced to Exchange his Rook, Bishop, and Knight for Kasparov's Queen, and he didn't want to play on.

That's me alright. What if I wore a T-shirt with that text? Would it make me an even bigger hit with the ladies? Instantly? And for how...?

<I ran my Shredder for 9 hours last night from this position.

"It" insists that White has a "won game" (+4.58)-- But as <Niels> pointed out in his post, this is not easy to convert-- > It is not, and I will go as far as to say that a comp eval is almost merely of symbolic value... Just plain Chess Understanding will convince the White player he should very likely win this, but ONE SINGLE MOVE, a loss of attention, one SLIP, is enough to throw the advantage, and thus the win, away.

Even from the position in that last FEN you posted there are a lot of things that can go wrong for White, and due to that pressure, it would be a good test of nerve and mental toughness, as well as professionalism, to play this out smoothly to a win. Of course at GM level the margins for such errors are small, yet in every Super tournament I have watched this year, these type of mistakes have been made.

In this case, as you pointed out, the mobility and the scope of the Black Queen to fork a Bishop, my dear Bishop, are always present, and dangerous.

In other words: It is quite HARD to find a SAFE ROUTE to victory, for White, in that position.

You know, I don't see how I can post Part Two of <ADVENTURES IN THE ENGLISH OPENING> (my new life! heh I played it again OTB- I played a Kortchnoi pet line I read about and it gave me a sweet position)-- until this matter of the <DREAD ENDGAME NEITHER SIDE WOULD EVER WANT TO PLAY OUT> is resolved somewhat.

Imagine trying to play it out from the Black side.

You know- I bet <kortchnoi> wouldn't have resigned the Black side here- out of pure orneriness.

Even when he was 3, the other kids feared <Kasparov>.

Apparently.

Maybe we should try to figure out a line for White?

That's like saying, OK let's go for a nice 3 day outing to <Greenland> this December. You know, camping.

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Both Qe4 and Qd5 are threatening to win material, and White needs to watch his step here... My instint had me pulling back my LSB here to G4 - which will then be followed by the forcing line:

1... Qe4+
2 Kh2 Qxa4
3 Bb6 Qxb5
4 Bd4

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And the Qside pawns are gobbled up, and my engine values the position as +2.40 -- What does shreddy say?

Here White has his DSB at the perfect square, threatening EG Bd1 with the Rg7+ threatening to win the h-pawn.

But Black's a-pawn is mighty fast, and after another 6 moves, this is what I would aim for, with White firmly in control

Last move: a3-a2 --

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f4-f5 just played...

So how to finish Black off??

I'm going out now.

Black has just played 14 ... ♕d5-d7.

White to play: 15 ?

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Notice the <ALIGNMENT/CONFIGURATION> of the Black heavy pieces and king: Black a8-rook, Black d7-queen, and Black e8-king.

White would -love- to place his light-squared White f3-bishop safely on the c6-square, where it would <FORK> the Black a8-rook and d7-queen as well as <PIN> the Black d7-queen to the e8-king.

In Weteschnik's outstanding "Understanding Chess Tactics", page 77,:

<But here is a little trick for you: it helps a lot to be on the lookout for squares you wish to place your pieces on, even if your wish doesn't seem possible. The dream square might become reality by moving another(!) piece to that square first, paving the way for you to occupy it once more; this time with the piece you initially envisioned for that glorious square.>

So to occupy the c6-square with the White f3-bishop, Salov (White) first occupies this square with his White d4-knight: 15 ♘d4-c6!! (Burgess).

Position after 15 ♘d4-c6!!

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Good work! If you have them recorded, would you please post all the moves from the line you played out in our <ADVENTURES IN THE ENGLISH OPENING> analysis?

To answer your question, I was looking at <Rc1> with the idea of saving at least one of my QS pawns and capturing one of Black's QS pawns, but I kept running into a lot of Queen checks-- if the Rook leaves the King too early I think there might be a perpetual maybe.

I haven't looked at it in depth yet.

I read and enjoyed all of your posts and replied to them all. I'm just cleaning house to keep <chess analysis> on the "front page"--

So feel free to continue posting here anytime on any topic.

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6

hence the term English Four Knights Variation

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now I have had success with this move

4.a3

(4.g3 seems to have been played a bit more but the Dragon reversed positions after 4...d5 don't seem as good to me than with 4.a3)

4...g6 (4...d5 is often played and I like 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3)

5.e3

Opening Explorer

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now both against 5...Bg7 and 5...d6 I think White gets a nice game