#Koblencs

🔸 Alexander Koblencs
🔸 Latvian chess master, trainer and writer

🔰 Alexander Koblencs was a Latvian chess master, trainer, and writer. In 1935, he took 4th place in Rosas. In 1936, he took 5th in Reus. In 1937, he won, ahead of Lajos Steiner, in Brno with 9/11. In 1938, he took 5th in Milan. In 1939, he tied for 13-14th in Kemeri-Riga.
Koblencs won the Latvian Championship four times (1941, 1945, 1946, 1949). Although he took 2nd, behind Vladimir Alatortsev in 1945, and behind Mark Taimanov in 1949.
As a trainer, he started to work with young Mikhail Tal in 1949, and coached him through his meteoric rise from the mid-1950s. Most prominently, he coached him in his World Chess Championship matches in 1960 and 1961 against Mikhail Botvinnik.
He also coached the team of the Soviet Union (e.g., 1956 in Moscow and 1960 in Leipzig).
Koblencs is also well known as a writer of chess books, many of which have been translated into foreign languages, in particular German. For several years, he was the editor of the Latvian chess magazine Sahs and of the German chess magazine Schach-Journal.

🔘 Country: Latvia, Soviet Union
🔘 Born: 3 September 1916
🔺Riga, Russian Empire
🔘 Died: 9 December 1993 (aged 77)
🔺Berlin, Germany
🔘Title: Master of Sport (1945) & Honoured Trainer (1960)

♦️ A memorable and short game in only 10 moves by Alexander Koblencs!!
His opponent, Zagorovsky, in this game is a GMC and has won 4th World Correspondence Championship(1965).👇
🔸 Alexander Koblents vs Vladimir Zagorovsky
🔸 Wilna (1946)
🔸 King's Gambit: Accepted. Schallop Defense (C34)

♦️ Review and download PGN file👇
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@unitychess

🔸 Alexander Koblents - Vladimir Zagorovsky
🔸 Wilna (1946)
🔸 PGN format
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@unitychess

🔸Russian Rapid Team Championship 2018
🔸Round 1
⚪️Kamsky,Gata (2666)
⚫️Shkurkin,Andrey (2201)
🔸1-0

22...h6?
A miscalculation. Black probably thought that White cannot take the d4-pawn because of 23...Bb4.
The correct continuation is 22...dxc3 23.Nxc3 Qb7 =
23.cxd4± Bb4 24.Nc3 Qa5 25.Bxe5! Kg8
25...N×c3 26.Q×h6+—->Q×g7#
26.Rc1 +-

🔸Russian Rapid Team Championship 2018
🔸Round 1
⚪️Romanov,Evgeny (2614)
⚫️Tenikashvili,Georgij (2361)
🔸1-0

23...Qc7?
23...Qf7!=
Offering an exchange of queens that In case of refusal, the white queen would force to give up her active position with the loss a tempo.
24.Qxf7+ (24.Qf5 Nc4) 24...Nxf7]
24.Bd4!+– Rb8? [24...Kh7 25.Qf5+ Kg8 26.Re3 (26.f4) ; 24...Qf7 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7 26.Nxb7]
25.f4 Qf7 [25...Nf7 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Qxf6+]
26.Rxe5 Bxe5 27.Qxf7+ Kxf7 28.Bxe5 Ra8 29.Nxb7 1–0

🔸Russian Rapid Team Championship 2018
🔸Round 1
⚪️Potkin,Vladimir (2597)
⚫️Kozak,Alexander (2262)
🔸1-0

28...Nd4??
This inaccurate move is refused by a simple tactic.
[28...Nh6 +/=]
29.Nxd4!
Kramnik is not the one who loses these opportunities!
29...cxd4 30.exd6! 1–0
[30.exd6 Rxe4 31.Rxe4 Rxe4 32.d7 +-]

🔸Russian Rapid Team Championship 2018
🔸Round 1
⚪️Shariyazdanov,Andrey (2526)
⚫️Artemiev,Vladislav (2706)
🔸0-1

32.Rxe8?+
White could have won the game with: 32.Qb3+! Kf8 33.Qb4+ Kg8 (33...Kf7 34.Nd6+ +-) 34.Qc4+ Kf8 35.Qc5+! Kg8 36.Rxe8+ Qxe8 37.Ne7+ Kf7 38.Nxc8 +-
32...Qxe8 33.Ne7+ Kf7 34.Nxc8 Qxc8 35.Qxa7=

Congratulations to Wesley So! Although Vidit Gujrathi made it competitive at the start of the bullet, he pulled away in the final minutes. 👏😀👏

So will now play the Polish surprise #speedchess star Jan-Krzysztof Duda in a semifinal match that is sure to be thrilling!

The last #speedchess quarterfinal match will be this Thursday between Hikaru Nakamura and MVL! ⚡️⚡️⚡️

The birthday boy is all smiles as he comes out ahead in a time scramble against Vidit Gujrathi!

#speedchess

"Bananas finish!!!" cries Daniel Rensch as vidit takes his second win in a row in a chaotic time scramble! 🍌🍌🍌

WOW! Who is winning this one in #speedchess?!

Tons of tactics and counterblows hit the board in this scramble.

🔹 chess.com Speed 2018
🔹 PGN format

@UnityChess

⚪️#28 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Wojtaszek,Radoslaw (2727)
🔸Fernandes,Antonio (2389)
🔸World Chess Olympiad 2018 Batumi

18.c5!? [A very interesting move to prevent Black from releasing the bishop on b7 by the freeing move ...c5.]

[18.Bc3 c5 19.Ne5 Nxe5 (19...cxd4 20.Nxf7+ Kg8 21.Nxd8) 20.dxe5 Be7 21.f4 Rd7 22.Be2 g6 23.Rxd7 Qxd7 24.Rd1 Qe8 25.Qc1 Rd8 26.Kf2 Bh4+ 27.g3 Qc6 28.Rxd8+ Bxd8 29.Qd1 Qg2+ 30.Ke3 Qe4+ 31.Kd2 Qg2 32.Ke3=; 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Be7 20.Qe2 c5 21.Bc3 g6 22.Qe3 Kg7 23.Be2 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rd8=]

18...bxc5 19.Ne5 [19.dxc5? Bxb2 20.Qxb2 Nxc5 with advantage for Black.]

19...Nxe5 [19...Kg8 20.Nxd7 Rxd7 21.dxc5 Bxb2 22.Qxb2 Rcd8 23.Be2 Qf4 24.Qc3 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 26.Bxd1 Qe4 27.h3 Qb1 28.Qc2 Qa1 29.Qd2 Ba6 30.f4„]

20.dxe5 Be7 21.Qc4 Bf8? [21...Rd5! 22.h4 (22.Be4 Rcd8 23.Bxd5 cxd5 24.Qg4 d4³) 22...h5 23.g4 Qd8 24.Qe4 Qg8!=]

22.h4! h5 23.g4 [23.g4 hxg4 24.Qxg4 Kg8 25.Qe4 g6 26.h5 Rd5 27.hxg6 Rcd8 28.Bc1 Ba6 29.Bc2 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 31.Bxd1 fxg6 32.Bg4! Qf7 33.Qxc6 Bb7 34.Qxe6±] 1–0