Missed Chance

In the recently completed "Youth vs Experience Tournament" the following position was reached in a game between Ivan Cheparinov and Ljubomir Ljubojevic:

A kibitzer at one of my favorite chess web sites pointed out that here, Ljubojevic, playing Black, missed playing 58 .. e4! If White then plays 59. fxe4 then 59. ... Ne5+ 60. Kc3 Nxd3 Kxd3 with material advantage for Black. If, after 58. .. e4!, White plays say some rook move, then Black can play 59. ... exf3 winning a pawn.


The actual game ended in a draw, and had a somewhat absurd ending from what I understand: the players repeated the position from move 68 to 84.

Kramnik vs. Ponomariov

Vladimir Kramnik had a nice attack against Ruslan Ponomariov in the Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament. The game went: 1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Qe2 c6 6. e5 Nd5 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 dxe5 9. dxe5 Qc7 10. Re1 h6 11. Nbd2 Bf5 12. Nf1 Nd7 13. Ng3 Be6 14. Bb3 Nc5 15. Nd4 Nxb3 16. axb3 Qc8 17. c3 c5 18. Nf3 b6 19. Ra4 Rd8 20. Rh4 g5

Position after Black's 20th move

21. Bxg5 hxg5 22. Nxg5 Bf5 23. e6 Bg6 24. exf7+ Bxf7 25. Nxf7 Kxf7 26. Qh5+ Kf8 27. Nf5 Bf6 28. Nh6 Kg7 29. Qf7+ Kh8 30. Nf5+ 1-0

White To Win a Pawn In Five Moves

While editing this blog, I deleted one of my posts by mistake. It had to do with a position I reached against a program, set at a low level. I had the position saved on the computer, so I'm sort of able to redo the post. The position reached was:



Here, White can win a pawn in five moves: 1. Qa8+ QxQ 2. RxQ+ Kc7 3. Ra7+ Kc6 4. RxR KxR 5. Bxc5

Grischuk vs Kramnik blitz game

The Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament is in progress. A game between Alexander Grischuk vs Vladimir Kramnik went: 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Ne4 8. Nd2 Nxg3 9. hxg3 Bg7 10. e3 a6 11. Bd3 b5 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Rc1 Nd7 14. f4 Bb7 15. Nf3 Rc8 16. O-O g4 17. Ne5 h5 18. Ne2 Rxc1 19. Qxc1 f5 20. Qc2 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Qc8 22. Qd2 Kf7 23. Rc1 Qd7 24. Nd4 Qe7

Position after Black's 24th move


Here Grishuk played the sacrifice 25. Bxf5! and proceeded to win: 25. ... exf5 26. Nxf5 Qd7 27. Nd6+ Kg8 28. Qa5 h4 29. Rc7 Qe6 30. Rxb7 hxg3 31. Qd8+ Kh7 32. Qh4+ Kg8 33. Rb8+ 1-0

Sharp Win By Gelfand

In the Tal Memorial Tournament a sharp game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Boris Gelfand went: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. e5 Nd5 11. O-O Nd7 12. Nd2 Qb6 13. a4 a6 14. Nde4 O-O-O 15. Bh5 Nf4 16. Bxf7 Nxe5 17. Bxe6+ Kb8 18. Ne2 Bg7 19. Nxf4 gxf4 20. Bxf4 Rxd4 21. a5 Qd8 22. Qe2 Re8 23. Rad1 Ka8 24. Be3 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Nd3 26. Bf5

Position after White's 26th move


This position is like a chess problem. Here, what move can Gelfand make that can eventually give him a material advantage? The answer is 26. ... Qd5! Play continued: 27. Qg4 Bxb2 28. h4 Bd4 29. Bg6 Rg8 30. Bxd4 Qxd4 31. Qe6 Qd5 32. Qe7 c5 33. f3 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 Qg7 35. Qxg7 Rxg7 36. h5 b4 37. Kg1 Bxe4 0-1

How To Avoid Chess Blunders?

Recently I've been thinking, "How to avoid chess blunders?" Take, for example, the following position which occurred between Emanual Lasker and David Janowski in their World Championship Match:

Janowski blundered with 19. ... Rd6? Play went: 20.Rxd5 Rxd5 21.Qxd5 Qxb4 22.Rxc6 1-0

In order to avoid blunders, it may be useful to think, before the move is made, "After I make this move, are there checkmating threats against my king?" Also, it might be useful to think, "After I make this move, what would happen if exchanges are made?" It seems to me that not just this example, but in other examples, blunders are refuted after exchanges.

Sacrifice Leads to Opponent's Resignation Ten Moves Later

In the FIDE Grand Prix, which was held in Sochi, Russia and ended on August 14th, a game between Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk went: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Be3 O-O 12. Rc1 Re8 13. f4 Bf8 14. f5 h6 15. Rf1 Nbd7 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Bh3 Qc5 18. b4 Qxc4 19. Nd5 Qxa2 20. Rf2 Qxf2+ 21. Bxf2 exd5 22. Bxd7 Nxd7 23. Rc7 Bc8 24. Nf5 Ne5 25. Qh5 Re6 26. Bd4 Rf6 27. Bxe5 dxe5

Position after Black's 27th move



Here Gelfand started a combination with the knight sacrifice 28. Nxh6! and Ivanchuk resigned ten moves later: 28. ...... gxh6 29. Qxe5 Rd6 30. Qh5 Bd7 31. e5 Be8 32. Qf3 Rdd8 33. Qf5 Bg7 34. Qg4 Bf7 35. e6 Rf8 36. Rxf7 Rxf7 37. exf7+ Kxf7 38. Qd7+ 1-0