Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment 2012 Aeroflot Open
America’s Ray Robson was among 80 international grandmasters who competed in the annual Aeroflot Open’s top section earlier this year in Moscow. Mateusz Bartel of Poland took first place on tiebreaking points in the nine-round Swiss system event. This month’s quiz features six positions from the tournament. In each one you are asked to find the fastest winning line of play. This will usually mean the forced win of a decisive amount of material, such as a rook or minor piece. For solutions, see page 71.
Problem I GM Markus Ragger GM Sethuraman Sethuraman
Problem II GM Alexey Aleksandrov GM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa
Problem III GM Alojzije Jankovic GM Chanda Sandipan
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem IV GM Ivan Popov IM Marani Venkatesh
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem V GM Parmarjan Negi GM Anton Shomoev
BLACK TO PLAY
Problem VI GM Sergei Zhigalko GM Sanand Sjugirov
WHITE TO PLAY
which White is usually scared out of 10. Nc7+ Kd8 11. Nxa8 Ng4! 12. Qe2 Nd4. Once you get through all that, it makes
sense that games with the once-sharp 7. Be3 now end with 7. ... Qxb2 8. Ndb5 Qb4 9. Bd2 Qc5 10. Be3 Qb4 11. Bd2 Qc5, Draw. In some drawing lines Black is calling
White’s bluff. For instance, in the King’s Indian Defense’s Saemisch Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3, he can try 5. ... 0-0 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 and 7. ... Nh5 8. Qd2! Qh4+!?. “Do you know the latest analysis of
David Bronstein’s queen sacrifice?” he is asking—that is, 9. g3 Nxg3! 10. Qf2! Nxf1 11. Qxh4 Nxe3. If the answer is no, the safe reply is 9.
Bf2. Dozens of games have ended with 9. ... Qf4! 10. Be3! Qh4+! 11. Bf2, Draw. Going back to the Najdorf Sicilian, a
popular line begins with 6. Be3 rather than 6. Bg5, Black often replies 6. ... Ng4, because the “Kasparov Dragon,” 7. Bg5 h6! 8. Bh4 g5!, offers him good chances. That’s why White often chickens out
with 7. Bc1—and why Black replies 7. ... Nf6 and the game ends with 8. Be3! Ng4! 9. Bc1 Nf6, Draw. In some drawing lines it looks like the
players go to ludicrous lengths to make a plausible repetition. Take 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 and now 6. Nh4!?. The attacked bishop doesn’t seem to have a good square since 6. ... Bd7 or 6.
Now 7. f3? Nxf3+! 8. Nxf3 e4 isn’t pleas-
ant to play and 7. Nge2?? is a helpmate. That leaves 7. Qa4+! Bd7! and then 8. Qd1! Bg4! 9. Qa4+! Bd7!, Draw.
BLACK TO PLAY
... Be6 blocks his other pieces, while 6. ... Bg4 favors White a bit after 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4! Bg6 9. Nxg6. The right move, all the smart people say,
is 6. ... Bc8!. The point is White gets nothing out of 7. e3 because of 7. ... e5! 8. dxe5. Thanks to the d-file being open (no ... Bd7), 8. ... Qxd1+! is a good ending for Black. So games (logically) end with 7. Nf3! and
then 7. ... Bf5! 8. Nh4 Bc8, Draw. As opening theory evolves, we’re finding
more and more cases in which the theo- retically best moves lead—seemingly by force—to a draw. One of my favorites runs 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nc6!? and then 4. g3 e5 5. d5 Nd4. White has nothing better than 6. e3 and then 6. ... Bg4.
WHITE TO PLAY Nine moves? Yes, these “forced draws”
are getting shorter. In the Modern Defense, 1. d4 g6 2. c4
Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nc3 c6, one of White’s most ambitious lines is 5. f4. But 5. ... Qb6 puts the center under fire and White may not like 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. d5. So, his solution is 6. Be3 Qxb2 7. Na4 and
he can rest up for the next round (7. ... Qa3 8. Bc1 Qb4+ 9. Bd2 Qa3). If Black prefers 4. ... Nc6 to 4. ... c6 he is
walking into a main line that goes 5. d5 Nd4 6. Be3 c5 7. Nge2 Qb6. But if White is the lower-rated player he hands his opponent a problem with 8. Nxd4! cxd4 9. Na4. Black can choose between an unsound
queen sacrifice 9. ... dxe3?!, the blunder 9. ... Qb4+?? 10. Bd2 and 9. ... Qa5+— which is a forced draw after 10. b4! Qxb4+ 11. Bd2 Qa3 12. Bc1. So if chess is ever solved by a computer,
it probably won’t be with a bang—analysis that shows White wins by force. It’ll be a whimper—a draw by repetition.
Chess Life’s look may have changed, but the same files are still available for you on
uschess.org: Click on the Chess Life Magazine link in the left column and you will find our online viewer for the magazine, a PDF download of this and archived issues, and .pgn game files for this and archived issues.
See Soltis’ latest book, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master, reviewed on page 10.
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