Solitaire Chess / Instruction The Great Gligo
Former Chess Review and Chess Life columnist Svetozar Gligoric shows his aggresive talents
in a variation of the King’s Indian Attack By BRUCE PANDOLFINI
One of the strongest players never to become world chess champion is the late Svetozar Gligoric (1923-2012). 12 times champion of Yugoslavia (no mean feat), “Gligo” was a great fighter in every phase of the game, but especially in the openings, where he was surely a state- of-the-art authority for many years. Here we see him in combat with another outstanding Serbian player, Boris Kostic (Black), in the 1951 Yugoslav Championship. From the very begin - ning, Gligoric’s deep appreciation for attacking possibilities in the opening is evident. An unusual variation of the King’s Indian Attack (A04), the game began:
KING’S INDIAN ATTACK (A04) Svetozar Gligoric Boris Kostic
Yugoslav Championship (4), Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, 1951
1. Nf3 f5 2. e4 fxe4 5. 3. Ng5
Black has a useful defense. 3.
… 4. d3 Par Score 5 White immediately goes for the pawn. But Nf6
Kostic defends his pawn and develops at the same time.**
Par Score 6 So Gligo makes it a gambit. Now if 4. ... exd3
5. Bxd3, Black must be careful. If 5. ... Nc6?, for instance, give yourself 1 bonus point if you saw 6. Nxh7! or 6. Bxh7!.
4. … e3 Offering the pawn back, Black declines the
gambit and tries to slow down the White offensive.**
5. Bxe3 Par Score 5 Gligoric takes back to develop a piece, while
avoiding the weakening of the e1-h4 diagonal, which would ensue from 5. fxe3.
… e5 Kostic prepares to get his own pieces
out, especially the king-bishop, to speed up castling.**
6. 6. Now make sure you have the above position
set up on your chessboard. As you play through the remaining moves in this game, use a piece of paper to cover the article, exposing White’s next move only after trying to guess it. If you guess correctly, give yourself the par score. Sometimes points are also awarded for second- best moves, and there may be bonus points—or deductions—for other moves and variations. Note that ** means that White’s move is on the next line.**
44 April 2016 | Chess Life d4 Par Score 6
Tempo lost or not, let’s try to open the center! …
e4 Not so fast. Kostic tries to keep the lines
closed for now, at least until his king has gotten to safety.**
7. f3 Par Score 6 Gligoric is not to be deterred. He wants to
attack, and so he plays to open lines. Neverthe - less, award yourself 1 bonus point if you consid - ered playing 7. Nxe4, when 7. ... Nxe4 is met by 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qe5+.
7. … exf3 9. By this capture Black aims to keep the
game under control. At least he gets a pawn for his pawn.**
8. Qxf3 Par Score 5 White continues his development and fuels
the attack further. After getting out his king- bishop, he hopes to castle kingside.
8. … d5
Now Black can follow with ... Bf8-d6 and kingside castling.**
9. Bd3 Par Score 5 Gligoric seizes an important diagonal and is
primed for kingside castling. Black already must proceed with caution.
… Bg4 This develops and gains a tempo on the
queen. Add 1 bonus point if you had seen that 9. ... Bd6 could have been hit with 10. Nxh7 Nxh7 11. Qh5+.**
10. Qf2 Par Score 5 A necessary retreat, but White’s attack is
only temporarily delayed. Castling is in the air. 10.
… Bd6
And now castling is in the air for Black, too. Clearly, the f-file is going to be critical.**
11. h3 Par Score 5 White puts something like “the question to
the bishop.” Is the g4-bishop going to retreat to h5 or move back to d7 or c8?
11. … Bh5
The question is answered. Black opts to strengthen the e8-h5 diagonal.**
12. 0-0 Par Score 5 Add 1 bonus point if you saw that 12. ... Nc6?
could now be answered by 13. Ne6, followed by 14. Nxg7+ winning a pawn.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76