Unity Chess Club
Wojciech Moranda 2568 Grzegorz Gajewski 2616 Warsaw ch-POL 2012 White to move
Similar positions frequently arise in the Queen’s Indian Defence, and the device used now by White is a typical one:
In this case, the knight jump leads to a gain of material, but sometimes it is played just with the intention of transferring the knight to a5 or e3, or to attack an enemy queen on b6, exploiting tactical motifs as the knight cannot be captured, because the d5-pawn is pinned along both file and diagonal.
16...a4 17.Nxb6 Qxb6 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 axb3 21.axb3 Qc6 22.Qc4
Unity Chess Club
Viktor Kortchnoi 2695 Anatoly Karpov 2700 Meran Wch match 1981 Black to move
Black has the advantage of the two bishops and his pieces are actively placed, excellently supporting his pawn duo. Now, there follows a break, which crowns Black’s build-up:
25.exd4 Bc6! 26.Qc4 Bxf3 27.gxf3 cxd4 28.Na4 Qb5 29.Qe2 Rc7! 30.b3 Qxb3 31.Qxa6 Qxf3 also offers no hope of survival.
Black had many ways to win, but this prophylactic move, defending against a possible fork on f5, is the most technical.
30.Ndf3 Qxg3 31.Rxd8+ Bxd8 32.Qb4 Be4 33.Bxe4 Nxe4 34.Rd4 Nf2+ 35.Kg1 Nd3 36.Qb7 Rb8 37.Qd7 Bc7 38.Kh1 Rxb2 39.Rxd3 cxd3 40.Qxd3 Qd6 41.Qe4 Qd1+ 42.Ng1 Qd6 43.Nhf3 Rb5 0-1
Unity Chess Club
Lajos Portisch 2630 Tigran Petrosian 2620 Lone Pine 1978 Black to move
Hanging pawns are good when they are supported by their own pieces, but in this position, the Ra1 is ‘sleeping’, and the Nd2 is under an X-ray attack along the d-file.
Hit by a sudden blow, White does not find the inner strength to put up serious resistance, and he loses easily. More tenacious was 24.d5, although here too, after 24...Rh6 25.Nf3 (on 25.e5, there follows the simple 25...Bf8, and the pawn on d5 is undefended) 25...Nd3 26.Re2 Nxb2 27.Rxb2 Bc5+ 28.Kh1 f5, Black breaks up the white centre and wins a pawn.
24...Nxe4 25.Rac1 Bf8 26.Ne5 Nd6 27.a4 f6 28.Nf3 Rxe1+ 29.Nxe1 Rd7 30.Nf3 Nf5 31.Kf2 h5 32.Rc2 g5 33.Rc4 Bd6 34.g3 Kf7 35.Ng1 Ne7 36.Ne2 Nd5 37.Bc1 Ke6 38.Rc2 Kf5 39.Kf3 g4+ 40.Kf2 Rh7 41.Rd2 h4 42.Kg2 Ke4 43.Rd1 Ne3+ 44.Bxe3 Kxe3 45.Nc3 h3+ 0-1