Hello Chess lovers
In the second part of this series I would like to go back in time to the year 1962. That was a year in which the Caribbean had a lot of historic moments. There was the Cuban missile crisis.Then there was the independence of Jamaica and in chess the controversial Curacao Interzonal tournament where Fischer went on to give a rant on Soviet cheating. Prior to that there was a magnificent performance by Robert Fischer in the Stockholm Interzonal which won in impressive style. In the following game taken from that tournament, we see how Fischer played across the entire board and then finish with an efficient attack.
Fischer v Bolbochan Stockholm 1962
1.e4c5 2.Nf3d6 3.d4cd4 4.Nd4Nf6 5.Nc3a6 6.h3Nc6 7.g4Nd4 8.Qd4e5 9.Qd3Be7 10.g5Nfd7 11.Be3
A slight inaccuracy. 11.h4Nc5 12.Qf3 was better.
11....Nc5 12.Qd2Be6 13.0-0-0 0-0? A nearly decisive mistake. Fischer now has the address of the opponent's king and starts to prepare an assault.Black had to try 13...Qa514.a3b5 15.Nb1Qd2 16.Nd20-0 with no problems.
14.f3Rac8 15.Kb1Nd7 16.h4b5 17.Bh3 as always white seeks to remove defenders in any Sicillian.Black makes the decisive mistake.
17...Bh3?? 17...Re8 18.Nd5Bf8 was called for.
18.Rh3Nb6 19.Bb6 Fischer removes the counterattacking threat of the knight. 19....Qb6 20.Nd5Qd8 21.f4ef4 22.Qf4Qd7 23.Qf5Rcd8 23...Qf5 24.Ne7 is a big mistake. 24.Ra3Qa7 25.Rc3! Fischer's play all across the board is an example of boardwide vision.
25...g6 26.Qg4Qd7 27.Qf3Qe6 28.Rc7Rde8 and Fischer is taking over more squares.
29.Nf4Qe5 30.Rd5 and the absence of black's light square bishop is keenly felt.
30...Qh8 31.a3h6 32.gh6Qh6 33.h5Bg5 34.hg6!!The way is forward 34...fg6 35.Qb3Rf4 36.Re5Kf8 and now Fischer finishes with an efficient move 37.Re8 after seeing that 37...Ke8 38.Qg8 was hopeless black resigned. 1-0
So what can be learnt from this game.
1) Black's castling was very wrong.In the Sicillian black needs to always consider what is the right moment to castle.It is an opening requiring immense accuracy.
2)17. Bh3 was a crucial part of white's strategy.Removal of key defenders is paramount in the Sicillian.
3)The use of d5 as a transit square for pieces.
4) The switching of pressure with the rook on the third rank and the infiltration on the c-file.Fabulous boardwide play by Fischer.
5) Finishing of the attack efficiently.Fischer was really interested in winning and never gave a lot of thought to beauty.
I hope you found it instructive.
Thursday 5 May 2011
Crisis Point in the Sicillian Defense: 6h3 in the Najdorf Variation#1
Hello Chess Lovers
Today I wanted to share with you a wonderful attacking game by the super talented Russian GM Nepomniatchi
who caused Carlsen serious problems from the black side of the Sicillian earlier this year. In this game we will look at the 6h3 line in the Najdorf which has been played by some of the giants of chess from the time of Fischer to Carlsen and Karjakin. The move 6h3 is intended to prepare g2-g4 and differs from the Keres attack in that the white rook on h1 is not committed to the g1 square and white preserves the option of castling.It has a similiar intention to the English attack and 6.f3.The advantage is that f3 is left for a piece and as we shall see the the f-pawn goes to f4 instead.
Lets take a deeper look.
Nepomniatchi vs Frolyanov Russian Team championship
1.e4c5 2.Nf3d6 3.d4cd4 4.Nd4Nf6 5.Nc3a6 6.h3e6 7.g4b5 8.Bg2Bb7 9.0-0Nfd7 this is quite new.
In Carlsen v Gelfand 9...h6 10.Re1 was played. In Carlsen v Dominguez 9...Nc6 10.Nc6 was played.
In Karjakin vs Van Wely 9....b4 10.Nd5!? was played. We will take a look at these games in the future.
10.f4Be7 11.f5 and now we see the concept of white: he assaults the focal point e6 as a result of the black bishop leaving c8.Its often a rule of thumb that when the black bishop goes to b7, white assaults the e6 point.
11....e5 A critical moment.The pawn structure has changed and d5 and f5 are now inviting squares for white.
At the same time black keeps the centre closed. 12.f6!! Nepomniatchi continues with an equal or stronger threat rather than retreating the d4 knight.Time is always of the essence in the Sicillian.It is also a square clearance move. f5 is now free for the knight.
12....Nf6 13.Nf50-0 14.g5 -g-force!! The defender is removed and white now invites everyone to the party.
14....Ne8 15.Qg4Nbd7 16.Be3Rc8 17.Rf2! very good as it anticipates ..b4 by black but also blocks annoying checks by black along the a7-g1 diagonal.
17.....d5!? A very committal move which is understandable.Black is cramped and would like to get some room for the pieces to breathe.Black wants the d6 square for a piece.
18.ed5Nd6 19.Nd6!Bd6 20.Ne4
Inviting the knight to the party.Removal of defenders will always be a theme for aggressive 1.e4 players no matter which opening they face.
20....Nc5?! The first crisis point for black.The knight on e4 is an influential piece and it really is understandable for black to get rid of such a piece. Black's only other decent move seemed to be
20...Qc7 21.Nf6Nf6 22.gf6g6 23.Qg5Rfe8 24.Be4Qc4 25.Qg2Red8 26.Rd2Bc5 27.Bc5Qc5 28.Kh2Qd6 29.Raf1Rc4 30.h4b4 31.h5Rd7 32hg6hg6 33.Kg1Qc5 34.Rff2)
21.Nf6Kh8 22.Qh5gf6 23.Rf6Rg8 black tries to defend h7. 24.Rf7Rg7 25.Rg7Kg7 26.g6!! A beautiful line clearance sacrifice. 26...hg6 27.Qh6Kg8 28.Qg6Kh8 29.Rf1Bf8 30.Rf7Qh4 black finds resources but to no avail. 31.Bg5! bringing up the last reserves and black had enough. 1-0
To summarize here are the main points:
A) 6.h3 allows the f2 pawn to go to f4. In this game it went all the way to f6!
B) After d6-d5 by black the game got easier for white as e4 was used as a transfer point for white's pieces.
C)From move 20 to move 31 black was put under enormous pressure with a long series of forcing moves where all the white pieces just went forward. Wonderful attacking game.
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.
Today I wanted to share with you a wonderful attacking game by the super talented Russian GM Nepomniatchi
who caused Carlsen serious problems from the black side of the Sicillian earlier this year. In this game we will look at the 6h3 line in the Najdorf which has been played by some of the giants of chess from the time of Fischer to Carlsen and Karjakin. The move 6h3 is intended to prepare g2-g4 and differs from the Keres attack in that the white rook on h1 is not committed to the g1 square and white preserves the option of castling.It has a similiar intention to the English attack and 6.f3.The advantage is that f3 is left for a piece and as we shall see the the f-pawn goes to f4 instead.
Lets take a deeper look.
Nepomniatchi vs Frolyanov Russian Team championship
1.e4c5 2.Nf3d6 3.d4cd4 4.Nd4Nf6 5.Nc3a6 6.h3e6 7.g4b5 8.Bg2Bb7 9.0-0Nfd7 this is quite new.
In Carlsen v Gelfand 9...h6 10.Re1 was played. In Carlsen v Dominguez 9...Nc6 10.Nc6 was played.
In Karjakin vs Van Wely 9....b4 10.Nd5!? was played. We will take a look at these games in the future.
10.f4Be7 11.f5 and now we see the concept of white: he assaults the focal point e6 as a result of the black bishop leaving c8.Its often a rule of thumb that when the black bishop goes to b7, white assaults the e6 point.
11....e5 A critical moment.The pawn structure has changed and d5 and f5 are now inviting squares for white.
At the same time black keeps the centre closed. 12.f6!! Nepomniatchi continues with an equal or stronger threat rather than retreating the d4 knight.Time is always of the essence in the Sicillian.It is also a square clearance move. f5 is now free for the knight.
12....Nf6 13.Nf50-0 14.g5 -g-force!! The defender is removed and white now invites everyone to the party.
14....Ne8 15.Qg4Nbd7 16.Be3Rc8 17.Rf2! very good as it anticipates ..b4 by black but also blocks annoying checks by black along the a7-g1 diagonal.
17.....d5!? A very committal move which is understandable.Black is cramped and would like to get some room for the pieces to breathe.Black wants the d6 square for a piece.
18.ed5Nd6 19.Nd6!Bd6 20.Ne4
Inviting the knight to the party.Removal of defenders will always be a theme for aggressive 1.e4 players no matter which opening they face.
20....Nc5?! The first crisis point for black.The knight on e4 is an influential piece and it really is understandable for black to get rid of such a piece. Black's only other decent move seemed to be
20...Qc7 21.Nf6Nf6 22.gf6g6 23.Qg5Rfe8 24.Be4Qc4 25.Qg2Red8 26.Rd2Bc5 27.Bc5Qc5 28.Kh2Qd6 29.Raf1Rc4 30.h4b4 31.h5Rd7 32hg6hg6 33.Kg1Qc5 34.Rff2)
21.Nf6Kh8 22.Qh5gf6 23.Rf6Rg8 black tries to defend h7. 24.Rf7Rg7 25.Rg7Kg7 26.g6!! A beautiful line clearance sacrifice. 26...hg6 27.Qh6Kg8 28.Qg6Kh8 29.Rf1Bf8 30.Rf7Qh4 black finds resources but to no avail. 31.Bg5! bringing up the last reserves and black had enough. 1-0
To summarize here are the main points:
A) 6.h3 allows the f2 pawn to go to f4. In this game it went all the way to f6!
B) After d6-d5 by black the game got easier for white as e4 was used as a transfer point for white's pieces.
C)From move 20 to move 31 black was put under enormous pressure with a long series of forcing moves where all the white pieces just went forward. Wonderful attacking game.
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.
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