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13…♗e7 14.♗xf6 gxf6 15.♘xd5 ♗xd5 16.♗xd5 exd5 17.♘d4 ♔f8 18.♘f5 h5 19.♖xd5 ♕xd5 20.♕xe7+ ♔g8 21.♕xf6 1-0
Anatoly Ufimtsev-Ilya Kan
Moscow 1945
The knight capture 14…♘xe4 fails to 15.♗xe4 ♗xe4 16.♘d2. What should Black play instead?
14…♗xe4 can be answered with 15.♘d2 as well, or with the simpler 15.♗e2. After the suggested continuation:
14…♘xe4 15.♗xe4 ♗xe4 16.♘d2
Black should just continue with:
16…♖xc3 17.bxc3 ♗xc2
when Kan concluded that Black is just fine with two pawns for the exchange, the pair of bishops and a superior pawn structure, and White should play accurately to maintain the balance. In the game, Ufimtsev was not up to the task, and Kan won, thus qualifying for the USSR Championship.
Oleg Korneev-Sergey Yudin
Khanty-Mansiysk 2013
White to move
And not 20.♕b7?? c6!, when the queen is caught!
20…♖xe5 21.♗d5! ♖b8 22.♕c4
Attacking both a6 and f7, and forcing the following exchange anyway.
22…♘xd5 23.♘xd5 c5 24.♕xa6 ♖xe4 25.♕d3 ♖e6 26.c3
Now, White has a powerful knight on a strong square against Black’s darksquared bishop. The bishop is not a traditionally bad one, due to the pawn structure, but it has no real use or target for now. Korneev brought home the win when the pressure became too much for the weak b6-pawn:
26…♗g7 27.♖ab1 ♕d7 28.♕b5 ♕b7 29.b4 ♖e5 30.c4 ♖e2 31.bxc5 dxc5 32.a5 ♗d4 33.♕xb6 ♕xb6 34.axb6 … 1-0 (63)
Jack Easton-Irina Krush
Philadelphia 2018
Should White go for the queen exchange or grab on b7?
Unity Chess Club
Jack Easton-Irina Krush Philadelphia 2018 Should White go for the queen exchange or grab on b7?
No queen exchange! The black kingside pawns are on the wrong color, and so the presence of queens gives White excellent attacking chances, due to the opposite-coloured bishops. Tactics fail to compensate for that here: 35.♕xb7 ♕xa3 36.♖xc4, when 36…♗xe3 can be met by the cool 37.♕f7, for example: 37…♕a6 (37…♗xf2+ 38.♔g2!) 38.♗e4 ♗g5 39.h4 ♗f6 40.♕g6 ♔g8 41.♖c6.
35.♕xc5? ♗xc5 36.a4 b6 37.♖xc4
Here, White is also a pawn up and is also clearly better, but the technical task is much more difficult. With the queens on, just creating mating threats would have done it. Krush even achieved a theoretically-drawn position when White exchanged the rooks … ½-½ (71).
Pavel Ponkratov-Grigoriy Oparin
Yaroslavl 2018
Black to move