Unity Chess Club
Kaido Külaots 2581 Michal Krasenkow 2628 Warsaw Ech rapid 2012 White to move
How can the rook ‘hurdle’ the knight and give a deadly check on d8? One needs to find the square where the knight will be most effective in the attack, even if that square is empty:
The knight is invulnerable (24...exf5 25.Qf6), and by comparison with other squares to which it could have jumped, from here it attacks g7 and e7.
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Alexander Alekhine Akiba Rubinstein Karlsbad 1923 White to move
It is clear that White needs to find a way to bring his queen to the h-file, but how can he do this, as his own bishop is in the queen’s way? The most convincing way is to remove the ‘unnecessary’ piece in such a way as to create additional threats:
A) 25...Bb7 26.Qc4 Rd4 27.Nxf7+ Kg8 28.Qxe6+–;
B) On 25...fxg6, there follows 26.Qe4 or 26.Qg2.
B) On 25...fxg6, there follows 26.Qe4 or 26.Qg2.
26.Nxf7+ Rxf7 27.Bxf7 Qf5 28.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 29.Rxd1 Qxf7 30.Qxc8 Kh7 31.Qxa6 Qf3 32.Qd3+
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Garry Kasparov 2715 Anatoly Karpov 2705 Moscow Wch match 1985 (11) White to move
Having momentarily lost attention, Black has just carelessly doubled rooks on the d-file, another illustration of the fact that even the very greatest players sometimes make childish mistakes. In reply, there followed a simple blow, which became possible because of the insufficiently strong black position on the light squares.
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Peter Svidler 2723 Alexei Shirov 2737 Plovdiv Ech tt 2003 Black to move
White has an extra exchange, but the Nd4 can be pinned, and the dark squares in his camp are not very strong. After the incautious:
it turns out that the opposition of the queens is in White’s favour.
It was essential to increase the pressure with 21...Bc5!. White would have to fight for equality: 22.b4! (he cannot solve his problems with 22.Rd2 Rd8 23.Qb3 (23.Rad1 Nxb2 24.Nc6+ Kc7 25.Rxd8 Bxe3–+) 23...Rxd4 24.Rxd4 Bxd4 25.Qxa4 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Qxb2 Black has the advantage, since the e5-pawn is also an object of attack) 22...Bxb4 23.Qb3 Bc3 24.Rac1 Bxd4 25.Qxa4 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Be3 27.Rc3 Rc8. The e5-pawn is weak, and Black’s chances are preferable.
It was essential to increase the pressure with 21...Bc5!. White would have to fight for equality: 22.b4! (he cannot solve his problems with 22.Rd2 Rd8 23.Qb3 (23.Rad1 Nxb2 24.Nc6+ Kc7 25.Rxd8 Bxe3–+) 23...Rxd4 24.Rxd4 Bxd4 25.Qxa4 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Qxb2 Black has the advantage, since the e5-pawn is also an object of attack) 22...Bxb4 23.Qb3 Bc3 24.Rac1 Bxd4 25.Qxa4 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Be3 27.Rc3 Rc8. The e5-pawn is weak, and Black’s chances are preferable.