25.Bxh6!
Carlsen sets up an interesting trap.
If 25...gxh6, then 26.Rxf7! Kxf7 27.Qh7+ Ke8 28.Rd7+-
26.Qg4 Qxa2 27.e4 Qxb3 28.Be3 Rb7 29.R7d6 Be7 30. R6d5 Bf8 31.Bxc5 Bxc5 32.Rxc5 =

🔸Sinquefield Cup 2018
🔸Round 9
⚪️Carlsen,Magnus (2842)
⚫️Nakamura,Hikaru (2777)
🔸1-0

82.Rb3!
White's plan is very clear: transferring his king to the e6 or g6-square.
82...Kf7 83.Kb6 Rc2 84.Kb7 Rc1 85.Kb8 Kg8 86.Rb6 Kg7 87.Rb7+ Kg8 88.Rc7 Rb1+ 89.Kc8 Rb3 90.Kd7 Rxf3 91.Ke6 Rf4 92.h6 Kh8 93.Rb7 Kg8 94.Rg7+ Kh8 95.Kf7 Rxe4 96.Kg6 Ra4 97.Rh7+ Kg8 98.Re7 Ra8 99.Kxf6 e4 100.Kxg5 e3 101.Kh5 1-0

🔸Sinquefield Cup 2018
🔸Round 9
⚪️Aronian,Levon (2767)
⚫️Grischuk,Alexander (2766)
🔸1-0

29... Rd8??
Grischuk chooses a wrong way to cover the 7th rank.
29... Re8 30. h4 Qe6 31. Kd2 Qe7 32. Qxc4+ Qe6 =
30. Qe7 b5
30...Qd7 31.Rf8! +-
31.h4 a5 32. h5 Rg5 33. Rf6 Rxe5 34. Rg6+ 1-0

⚪️#659 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Stein,L
🔸Schweber,S
🔸Mar del Plata, 1966

White is a pawn down but the following bishop maneuver, typical in this French structure, will yield him a strong initiative.
19.Bc1!
Heading for the a3-f8 diagonal, where there is no black counterpart.
19...g6
Preparing 20... Nh7 in order to swap the strong knight on g5.
20.Ba3 Nh7 21.Nf3!
A logical retreat, by which White retains the knight for future attacking purposes and leaves its counterpart badly placed on h7.
21...Qd8 22.Qd2 Kd7?! 23.Rfb1 Nf5 24.Bc5 Kc6
In order to construct some kind of fortress on the queenside.
25.Qc1!+-
It is the queen's turn to exploit the a3-f8 diagonal.

⚫️#660 (Strategy-Black to Move)
🔸Raaste,E
🔸Yemelin,V
🔸St. Petersburg, 1996

Black is better thanks to his space advantage and more actively placed pieces. He now launches a strong bishop maneuver that will step up the pressure.
36...Be7!
Intending ...Bd8-b6 in order to seize the g1-a7 diagonal.
Also interesting was 36...Kh7!? intending ...Bh6, but the text is more aggressive.
37.N1d2
It is not easy for White to improve his pieces; e.g. 37.Qe2 Bd8 38.Ne3? Bxe4
37...Bd8 38.Kg1 Bb6 39.Qe2 Kg7
In such a superior position, Black has time for a few useful moves.
40.Nh4 Qd8 41.Ng2 Ng5!-+
Before White plays h3-h4.

⚫️#661 (Strategy-Black to Move)
🔸Ree,H
🔸Portisch,L
🔸Wijk aan Zee, 1968

Unity Chess Multiple Choice 661
public poll

A: e5 – 8
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 53%
@mehrchess77, @EhsanKhoeini, @soheil_hooshdaran, Nikhil, sana, @RichardPeng, Michael, Zhenrui

B: g6 – 5
👍👍👍👍 33%
@amirch_76, Vincent, @Sophia_Peng, @AryanLeekha, Sanjana

C: b6 – 2
👍👍 13%
Morteza, @chessnoob

👥 15 people voted so far.

⚪️#662 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Kramnik,V
🔸Gelfand,B
🔸Belgrade, 1997

Unity Chess Multiple Choice 662
public poll

A: Qc1 – 8
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 53%
Morteza, @hosssein_G, @soheil_hooshdaran, Nikhil, @YaminiG, @RichardPeng, @AryanLeekha, Michael

B: Bg4 – 6
👍👍👍👍👍 40%
@EhsanKhoeini, Vincent, sana, @Sophia_Peng, Zhenrui, Sanjana

C: Qb1 – 1
👍 7%
@chessnoob

👥 15 people voted so far.

❇️ Today is birthday of Bassem Amin!!
Egyptian chess grandmaster

🌺 🌹🌷🌸💐☘️🌹 Happy birthday Bassem 👏👏👏👏
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Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Mikhail Gurevich and Aleksandr Khalifman. USSR, late 1980s?

@UnityChess

Alexander Alekhine v. Karel Hromadka, 1st round, Prague, 5th December 1942.

@UnityChess

In the 1930s Frank Marshall captained the US team to four gold medals at four Chess Olympiads.

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#Sokolov_chess_quotes_002

❇️ Ivan Sokolov
Dutch chess grandmaster
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