Table Of ContentLate Knight
by Richard Forster
Absurd Moves
If there were a 'Move of the Year' award, this year's
competition would probably be decided already by the
following brilliant entry (apologies to all those of you who have
seen the position a hundred times already!) :
V. Topalov - A. Shirov,
Linares 1998
Diagram
White:Kg1, Bc3; pawns - g2, h4;
Black: Ke6, Bf5; pawns - a4, d5, f6, g6
A typical opposite-coloured bishop endgame has arisen where,
despite Black's two extra pawns, his victory is far from
guaranteed. A king walk to the queenside doesn't hit the mark,
e.g. 47...Kd6 48.Kf2! Kc5 49.Ke3 Kc4 50.Bxf6 Kb3 51.Kd2
Ka2 52.Kc1, and White's defence holds. Another try is 47...Bb1
48.Kf2 Kf5 49.Ke3 a3 50.Bd4 Kg4 51.Bxf6 Kg3 52.Be7 a2
53.Bf6 Kxg2 54.Bd4 Kg3 55.Bf6 Bf5 56.Kd2 Kf4 57.Bd4 Ke4
58.Bb2 d4 59.Ba1 d3 60.Bb2 Kf4 61.Ba1 Kg4 62.Bf6 Kg3
63.Ke3 Kg4 64.Kd2 a1Q 65.Bxa1 Kxh4, but White easily holds
the draw in this theoretical endgame (66.Ke3 g5 67.Be5 etc.).
However, Shirov found a radical solution to the problem of the
opposite-coloured bishops:
47...Bh3!!
No typo! The idea behind this becomes clear after a few moves.
48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4! 50.Bxf6
50.Ke2 a3 followed by 51...d4 and the advance of the f-pawn
was equally hopeless. Now Topalov is a bishop up for only one
pawn, but he is lost nevertheless as Shirov shows with a couple
of exact moves.
50...d4 51.Be7 Kd3! (threatening 52...Kc2) 52.Bc5 Kc4!
53.Be7 Kb3 0-1
White can't prevent 54...Kc2 followed by the advance of
Black's d-pawn.
Now we recognise the merits of 47...Bh3: The bishop's
departure clears the way for the black king to the queenside via
f5-e4-d3, and at the same time (unlike e.g. after 47...Bc2) White
cannot defend with Kf2-e3, because he has to lose a tempo
capturing the bishop - otherwise the g2 pawn would be left en
prise. If White tries to ignore the bishop by playing 48.Kf2 Kf5
49.Kf3, Black must press his point with 49...Bxg2+! 50.Kxg2
Ke4 with similar play to the game.
47...Bh3 is one of the greatest moves I have ever seen. It looks
completely absurd, and only deep analysis can reveal the fine
point behind it. Indeed, unlike brilliant queen sacrifices, this
kind of absurd move occurs very rarely in tournament play. I've
made a small collection of similarly incredible moves.
Here is a small quiz for the scholars among you: The following
moves are all very famous. Do you recognise which games they
come from? (Yes, there are no diagrams; solutions are at the
end of this article.)
A) 14.Ke1-f1!!; B) 18.Ng3-h1!!; C) 47.Ne3-g2!!; D) 11...Ke8-
e7!!
The next example is less famous, but also deserves to be better
known:
M. Botvinnik - D. Bronstein
5th match game, Moscow 1951
DIAGRAM
White: Kg1, Nc3, Nf5, Bg2, Rd1; pawns - a3, b4, c5, g3, h2;
Black: Kg8, Nc4, Nf6, Bb7, Rf8; pawns - a6, b5, d5, d7, g7, h7
Botvinnik has just played 30.Rc1-d1?, rejecting 30.Nxd5 Nxd5
31.Bxd5+ Bxd5 32.Ne7+ Kf7 33.Nxd5 with an equal ending.
Apparently he hoped for more, e.g. 30...Nxa3 31.Nxd5 Nxd5
32.Bxd5+ Bxd5 33.Ne7+ Kh8? 34.Rxd5 Nc2 35.Rxd7 Nxb4
36.c6, and White wins. Better is 33...Kf7, of course, but White
retains a slight edge. White advantage also results from
30...Ne4 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.Ne7+ Kh8 33.Rxd7 and 30...Re8
31.Nxd5 Bxd5 32.Bxd5+ Nxd5 33.Rxd5 Nxa3 34.Rxd7, while
30...g6 is answered by 31.Ne7+.
In this unpleasant situation Bronstein found a cunning move
which turned the tables:
30...Kh8!!
Amazing sang-froid - in the heat of the central battle Black
spends a tempo to shift his king into the corner, quite contrary
to what he is supposed to do in an endgame! Instead of
undertaking anything active, Bronstein merely seems to add to
his problems, because now he has to be constantly aware of a
possible back-rank mate.
31.Re1?!
After this move White's position deteriorates rapidly. Why
didn't he simply take on d5? This was exactly what Bronstein's
last move was aimed against. After 31.Nxd5? Nxd5 32.Bxd5
Bxd5 33.Rxd5 there follows 33...g6 34.Ne7 Ne3!, and White
loses the exchange owing to the mate threat on f1! Who would
have thought that it was the white king who was in danger of
being mated... and it all worked only because 34.Ne7 wasn't a
check!
31.Ne7? isn't better, because Black wins a piece after 31...Ne3
32.Rd2 Nxg2 33.Rxg2 d4 or 32.Rd4 Rf7! 33.Nexd5 Nfxd5
34.Nxd5 Nxg2 35.Kxg2 Rf5. The best chance to fight for a
draw was 31.a4, but Botvinnik was already short of time.
31...Nxa3 32.Nd6 Bc6 33.Ra1 Nc2 34.Rxa6 d4!
Bronstein at his best. Instead of grabbing a second pawn with
34...Nxb4, he returns his extra pawn for a powerful attack.
35.Ncxb5 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 Ng4!
The threats against the white king combined with the dangerous
d-pawn prove decisive. A beautiful finish is 37.Ne4 d3 38.Nbc3
Nce3+ 39.Kh3 d2! 40.Nxd2 Nf2+ 41.Kh4 Ng2+ 42.Kg5 g6!
43.Rf6 (or 43.Kh6 Ng4+ 44.Kg5 Rf5+! 45.Kxg4 Ne3+ and
mate on the next move) 43...Kg7! 44.Rxf8 h6 mate.
37.Nf5 d3! 38.Rd6
This loses a knight, but there is no rescue, e.g. 38.Nc3 g6 39.h3
Ne5 40.Nd6 Ne3+ and mate follows soon.
38...Rxf5 39.Rxd3 Nce3+ 0-1
Unexpected king moves are always appealing. The next game is
unique:
Smekalin - Yegorov
Cheliabinsk 1983
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 e6 4.c4 Bb4+?
4...Nb6 was obligatory, but it's difficult to blame Black for
overlooking the next move...
5.Ke2!!
White wins a piece and the game, having brought out no piece
other than his king!
5...Nb6
After 5...Ne7 6.a3 Ba5 7.b4 Bb6 8.c5 the bishop is lost.
6.c5! Qh4
Or 6...Nd5 7.a3 Ba5 8.b4
7.cxb6 1-0
Admittedly these two players were not very famous, but even a
World Championship Candidate can be surprised by an
unexpected king move in the opening:
P. Keres - K. Richter
Munich 1942
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6
7.Bh4 g5!? 8.Bg3 d6 9.Rc1 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bf5!? 11.h4?
Both sides have played the opening in a very sharp style, but
this move is over-ambitious. Better was 11.a3.
11...Kd7!!
A great multipurpose move. Black defends against 12.hxg5
without surrendering the h-file or compromising his pawn-
structure (11...g4? or 11...gxh4?? 12.Bxh4). At the same time
he discourages a central setup with f3 and e4, because 12.f3?!
Re8! 13.e4? can be answered by 13...Nxe4! Furthermore the
rook h8 is defended now and Black is therefore ready to play
...Ne4, which - as a consequence of 11.h4 - forces White to
move his bishop or to spoil his pawn-structure by fxg3.
12.Rd1
Keres hopes to create some confusion with his queen on e5.
12.Be5? was weak because of 12...Bc5! (13.Qd2 Bxf2+!), but
12.e3 Ne4 13.Bh2 or 13.f3 Re8 14.hxg5 hxg5 15.Bf2 were
playable alternatives.
12...Ne4 13.Qe5 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Nxg3 15.fxg3!
After the normal move 15.Qxg3 Black has also a clear
advantage if he simply plays 15...b6 preventing white
counterplay with 16.c5. The text move sacrifices pawn-
structure for counterplay in the centre. Keres' defence is very
impressive.
15...Bg6 16.hxg5
16.c5 Qe7 or 16.Qb5+ Kc8 is not dangerous for Black.
16...Qxg5
Richter thought that he should have played the more natural
16...hxg5 with a big advantage, but according to Alekhine
(Legado!, Madrid 1946, pp. 172-174) White can hold the
position after 17.Rxh8 Qxh8 18.Qb5+! Kc8 19.Rd4 Qe5
20.Qxe5 dxe5 21.Rd5 f6 22.e3. The text move leaves Richter
with a pawn weakness of his own on h6, while Keres manages
to repair his kingside.
17.Qf4! Rae8 18.Rd5! Qxf4
An unusual decision for Richter, whom one would expect to
keep queens on the board with 18...Qe7. Instead he goes into a
favourable endgame.
19.gxf4 b6?!
A good positional move, but allowing Keres to organise his
position. Alekhine gives the improvement 19...f6!, 'and if 20.f5
Bf7 21.Rb5 (or 21.Rd4 Re5 etc.) 21...b6 22.Rh4 c6 23.Rb4 Re5
24.e4 Ra5 25.Rb2 Ra4 with an extra pawn'. In these variations
Black profits from the opportunity to activate his rook via e5,
but after e.g. 20.Kd2 Black also retains a strong initiative by
harassing White's rook with 20...Bf7 21.Rf5 Ke7 22.e3 b6
(threatening to win the rook after 23...c6 and 24...Bg6!) 23.Rb5
Reg8 or 21.Rd4? c5 or 21.Rb5 b6 22.e3 Re4! in all cases with
advantage to Black.
20.Kf2
Keres doesn't fall into the trap 20.f5? c6!
20...h5!? 21.e3 h4 22.Rg5 Be4 23.Be2!
Better than 23.Rg4 which allows Black to send a rook to eye up
the shaky white queenside, e.g. 23...Rh5 24.Rhxh4 Ra5 25.Rg7
Rxa2+ 26.Ke1 Bd3! 27.Rxf7+ Kc6 28.Bxd3 Rxe3+ 29.Kf1
Rxd3, and Black has a winning advantage.
23...Reg8 24.Bg4+ Kc6 25.Rxg8 Rxg8 26.Rxh4 Kc5
The king continues his mission begun with 11...Kd7. A sharp
race ensues.
27.Bf3 Bxf3 28.Kxf3 Kxc4 29.Rh7 Rf8 30.g4 Kxc3
Sources don't agree about the exact order of the following few
moves. 31.g5, 32.Ke4, 33.Kd5, 34.e4 or 31.Ke4, 32.g5, 33.Kd5,
34.e4 have also been suggested. I will stick to the one given in
the Deutsche Schachblaetter 1942 (p. 159):
31.Ke4!
The black king is not the only one that can wander!
31...c5 32.Kd5! c4 33.e4 Kb4 34.g5 c3 35.Rh2 Rc8 36.Rc2 b5
37.f5 a5 38.Kxd6?
Keres has defended very well up to this point, but now he falls
victim to a miscalculation. In Alekhine's opinion he was even
playing for a win now! After 38.Kd4! there is no winning plan
for Black, whose king is awkwardly tied to the c-pawn. For
example 38...Rg8 39.Rg2! c2 40.Rxc2 Rxg5 41.Kd5 Rg4
42.Re2 Kc3 43.Kxd6 Kd3 44.Rb2 or 38...a4 39.Kd3 Ka3
40.Rxc3+ Rxc3+ 41.Kxc3 b4+ 42.Kd4 b3 43.axb3 axb3 44.g6
with a clear draw. Pachman claims that Black can still win by
38...Rc5! 39.Kd3 Rc4!, but 40.Rc1 or 40.Rg2 allow White an
easy draw. Now Black can untangle his queenside forces. In the
coming race he is faster by one tempo:
38...Kc4! 39.e5 b4 40.Kd7
After the game Keres thought that here he could have saved
himself with 40.e6 fxe6 41.fxe6 a4 42.e7 b3 43.axb3+ axb3
44.Rf2, because unlike in the game position Black's rook can
be captured with check after 44...b2 45.Rf8 b1Q 46.Rxc8+. He
has 44...Re8! however, leading to a won endgame after e.g.
45.Rf4+ Kd3 46.Rf3+ Kd2 47.Kd7 Rxe7+ 48.Kxe7 c2 etc.
40...Ra8 41.e6 fxe6 42.f6 a4 43.g6 b3 44.axb3+ axb3 45.Rxc3+
Kxc3 46.f7 b2 47.g7 b1Q 48.f8Q Qb7+ 49.Kxe6
Ra6+ 50.Ke5 Qb5+ 51.Kf4 Ra4+ 52.Kg3 Qd3+ 53.Qf3 Ra8!
54.g8Q Rxg8+
After 54...Qxf3+ Keres would have resigned immediately,
whereas now Richter must find some more accurate moves to
avoid stalemate.
55.Kh2 Rh8+ 56.Kg1 Rg8+ 57.Kh2 Kc2 58.Qc6+ Kd1
59.Qf3+ Qe2+ 0-1
Did you recognise the following games?
A) Breyer-Esser, Budapest 1917
B)Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein, Dresden 1926
C)Karpov-Kasparov, 9th match game, Moscow 1984
D) Kamsky-Karpov, Dortmund 1993
