ELEGANCE IN CHESS #2
Автор: Юрий Авербах, на английском языке.
On the first lecture you got to know with the most striking
masterpieces of chess studies.After that lecture any doubtful Thomas
could say: «It is possible to invent everything.What about real
games?»To convince similar sceptics now I will show you a few brilliant
examples from the master's practice.
Zuhertort-Blackburne
London 1883 Kg1,Qd2,Re3,Rf1,Bb2,Bd3,a2,b3,d4,f4,g2,h2
Kg8,Qe7,Rc7,Rc8,Bb7,Nf6,a7,b6,d5,e6,g6,h7 White to play
Black's kingside is weakened, but he ie pinnins all his hopes on his
knigt move to e4.However,White simply disregards this threat, having
seen that he will later gain exellent attacking possibilities. l.f5! ...
When playing this, Zukertort would have had to calculate accurately
all the consequences. 1...Ne4 2.B:e4 de 3.fg! ...
Played with Olympian calm:White is not afraid of 3...Rc2. 3...Rc2 4.gh
Kh8 5. d5 e5
white's attack appears to have come to an end.That, at any event is
evicdently what the commander of the black pieces thought,but it is here
that the full depth and beauty of Zukertort's idea is revealed .He
sacrifices his queen!
6.Qb4!! R8c5
Alas, the acceptance of the sacrifice leads to a forced mate -6...Q:b4
7.B:e5 Kh7 8.Rh3 Kg6 9.Rg3, and you can yourself establish that, after
bringing his second rook into play .White gives mate in a few moves. But
the move played also does not save Black.A new sacrifice follows:
7.Rf8! K:h7 If 7...Q:f8 than 8.B:e5 K:h7 9.Q:e4 Kh6 10.Rh3 with a
quick mate.
8.Q:e4 Kg7 9.B:e5 Kf8 10.B:g7!! ...
A spectacular concluding stroke! 10...Q:g7 allows 11.Qe8 mate, while
if 10...K:g7 1 1.Q:e7.Black therefore resigned.
The beauty of Zukertort's combination consists in the series of
spectacular sacrifices -queen,rook(twice),and bishop,but the most
beautiful move,of course,was the initial and quite unexpected queen move
to b4.No less important is the fact that the combination arose as a
result of a clash of ideas.
Steinitz
-Bardeleben Hastings 1895 Kg1,Qg4,Rc1,Re1,Ne6,a2,b2,f2,g2,h2
Kf7,Qd7,Ra8,Rc8,Ne7,a7,b7,d5,f6,g6,h7 White to play
The situation looKs rather complicated and unclear: Black is a pawn
up, and is threatening, after exchanging rooks, to win the Knight.It is
true that White has available a discovered check with his Knight, but
what does it lead to? 1.Ng5 Ke8 2.R:e7! ...
It begins! It is bad for Black to take the rook with his queen on
account of the obvious 2...Q:e7 3.R:c8 R:c8 4.Q:c8,while if he takes it
with the king then 2...K:e7 3.Re1 Kd6 4.Qb4 Kc7 5.Ke6 Kb8 6.Qf4 Rc7
7.N:c7 Q:c7 8.Re8 mate.
But the circumstance that the white rook at c1 is without cover
enables Black to make a paradoxical move,prepared beforehand.In this
manner he hoped to refute White's combination.
2....Kf8!
A worthy reply! 'Help yourself please' says the black: King smiling
ironically 'take the queen and get yourself checkmated on the first
rank!'However it transpires that Steinitz had also anticipated this.
3.Rf7! ...
Another brilliant move. The rook remains untouchable.
3...Kg8 4.Rg7! ...
The obtrusive rook feels at home in opponent's camp!
4...Kh8 5.R:h7! ...
At this point the game came to abrupt end.Realizing that he was
losing, Bardeleben lost his composure and stormed out of the tournament
hall never to return.Of course the game was adjudicated as having been
lost by him. This unsporting behavior of his opponent did not allow
Steinitz to conclude his brilliant combination, the finish to which he
promptly demonstrated:
5...Kg8 6.Rg7 Kh8 7.Qh4! K:g7
White's efforts have been crowned by success -he finally forced his
opponent to accept the rook sacrifice.But now the black King comes under
a series of deadly blows by the Queen and Knight.
8.Qh7 Kf8 9.Qh8 Ke7 10.Qg7 Ke8
After 10...Kd6 11.Q:f6 White gives mate next move. 11.Qg8 Ke7 12.Qf7
Kd8 13.Qf8 Qe8 14.Nf7 Kd7 15.Qd6 mate.
The spectacular final of Steinitz's magnificent combination. The
beauty of it lies not only in the fact that it extends for 14 moves,
involves the repeated sacrifice of a rook and ends in a mate.Perhaps the
most importand thing is that Steinitz anticipated the paradoxical King
move, on which his opponent was pinning all his hopes.But he will have
hardly calculated all possible variants It was obvious that the combined
attack with the three White pieces would lead to victory from the moment
White's Queen penetrated at h7.
But let us return to the position on diagram.Only in recent years was
it discovered that there was anothet line,although much more modest one,
that would have given White a win.Instead of 2.R:e7 he could have played
2.N:h7! With this simple combination White captures a pawn.After
2...R:c1 3.N:f6 Kf7 4.R:c1 Q:g4 5.N:g4 White should win this ending.
In the folowing position White's defences in the centre,under fire
from all sides by Black's long-range pieces,look decidedly shaky.The
question is, how to demolish them?
Rotlewi -Rubinstein Lodz 1907
Kh1,Qe2,Ra1,Rf1,Bb2,Be4,Nc3,a3,b4,e5,f4,g2,h2
Kg8,Qe7,Bb7,Bb6,Ng4,Rc8,Kd8,at,b5,e6,f7,g7,h7 Black to play
1...Qh4 2.g3 ... After this natural move overwhelming Black forces
closing on the enemy king like a pack of wolves.
1...R:c3!! 3.gh Rd2!!
This position looks fantastic! Four black pieces are exposed to attack
but none of them can be taken,because mate or loss of material would be
the inevitable consequence.
The entire white edifice,whose bishop e4 is much too weak as a
foundation, collapses like a house of cards. If for instance 4.B:c3 then
4...B:e4 5.Q:e4 R:h2 mate; but if 4.Q:g4 then 4...B:e4 5.Rf3 R:f3 6.Qg2
Rf1 7.R:f1 B:g2 mate; and finally 4.B:b7 is followed by 4...R:e2 5.Bg2
Rh3! 6.B:h3 R:h2 mate.
There remains orly one chance, and White takes it. 4.Q:d2 B:e4 5.Qg2
Rh3
White gave up, for there is no defence against mate on h2. Here, of
course, the queen sacrifice was very fine, and the position arising
after it extremely striking,but all the play was in one direction: White
could do nothing to oppose the powerful enemy blows.
Now let us return to initial position to see how Black's attack would
have developed if White had defended himself by 2.h3? There are two
lines here that lead to the goal. The first is a combinationalone.
2...R:c3! 3.B:c3 ... The best replay. White cannot escape being mated
after 3.Q:g4 R:h3! 4.Q:h3 Q:h3 5.gh B:e4 6.Kh2 Rd2. 3...B:e4 24.Q:g4 ...
Here too,4.Q:e4 Qg3 5.hg Qh4 would have lead to mate. 4...Q:g4 5.hg
Rd3 26.Kh2 ... The only defence against 6...Rh3 mate.
6...R:c3,and Black should win with two bihops against a rook. Perhaps
the second line is even simpler: 2. ..B:e4 3.N:e4 Ne3! 4.Rfc1 ( to
prevent 4...Rc2). 4...Q:f4 with material advantage.
Adams
Torre New Orleans 1920 Kg1,Qd4,Re1,Re2,Bg5,Nf3,a2,b2,d5,f2,g2,h2
Kg8,Qd7,Ra8,Re8,Be7,Nf6,a5,b7,d6,f7,g7,h7 White to play
At first sight this position looks quiet,and so after 1.B:f6 without
especially considering the consequences,Black replied 1...B:f6,although
1...gf came into consideration.The point is that in this case 2.R:e7
does not work on account of 2...Q:e7! (but not 2...R:e7 3.R:e7 Q:e7
4.Qg4 and 5.Q:c8.)
After the capture with the bishop,Black's queen is tied to the defence
of therook at e8,which allows White to carry out a wonderful
combination. 2.Qg4! Qb5!
It turns out that Black too has powder left in his keg! In moving out
of the attack, the queen in turn creates the threat of capturing on e2.
3.Qc4!! ...
I worthy replay! The queen is untouchable.It not only defends the rook
on e2, but itself threatens to take the opponent's queen,which has to
retreat. 3...Qd7 4.Qc7!! ...
Miraculous! The queen again offers itself,but due to the mate threat
it can.not be taken in either way. 4...Qb5 5.a4! ...
This move —the sacrifice of an insignificant pawn -is no less strong
than the preceding queen sacrifices. In a combination everything is
identically important-sacrifices, attacks, and even the most simple
moves. Incidentally,without this important move White's combination
would not have worked:on the immediate 5.Q:b7 Black can replay 5...Q:e2.
5...Q:a4 6.Re4! Qb5 7.Q:b7 ...
The triumph of the attack! The black queen perishes on the field of
battle. Black resigns. In this combination the four queen sacrifices are
spectacular, of course,but I think that the subtle move 6.Re4! is no
less pretty.
All the given combinations are characterised by originality of
thought, spectacular, deeply calculated sacrifices, and paradoxical
moves that are difficult to find -everything that in chess constitutes
beauty.
But I should like to emphasise one further important feature of the
real chess work of art.A game of chess is a clash of two personalities,
and this means two intellects and two characters,and an artistic chess
production is created in the course of the struggle between them.For
this reason, even a spectacular combination, that is unexpected for one
of the sides,where one of the players is given the role of a whipping
boy, by the laws of chess beauty must be valued much less than one where
there is clash of ideas, when both players go in for one and the same
position,but one sees a little further,when one sees a combination,and
the other sees its refutation. If from this viewpoint we examine the
examples given, the combinations in the Zukertort-Blackburne and
Steinitz-Bardeleben games should be rated more highly than, say, the
combination in the Rotlevi-Rubinstein game. In conclusion, as an example
of such a clash of ideas, I should like to give following ending from my
games.
Averbakh
Zita Szczawno Zdroj 1950 Kc1,Qf2,Rf8,Rf1,a2,b2,c2,g3,h5
Kg7,Qe7,Rb6,Rd7,a7,b7,d4,e4,h7 White to play
The position is extremely sharp.Black's king has no pawns covering
it,but as yet it is not evident how it can be attacked.White's king is
comparatively safe,but the central black pawns are ready to rush
forward. Who will be the first to create real threats?
1.Qf5 d3 2.Rf4 d2 3.Kd1 e3
Just three moves have been made, and the white king is in mortal
danger: there appears to be no defence against 4...e2.And on 4.Rg4 my
opponent had prepared spectacular replay 4...Rg6.
Why then did White nevertheless go in for this line? Can you find a
refutation of the Black's combination?
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