Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment
More from Wijk aan Zee 2015
More puzzlers from this year’s super- tournament at Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. The emphasis this time is on finding the fastest win. In some cases there are more than one way to skin a cat. Your task is to find the quickest. 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 Vassily Ivanchuk GM Wesley So
Problem II GM Vladimir Potkin GM Valentina Gunina
Problem III GM Liren Ding GM Baadur Jobava
BLACK TO PLAY
Problem IV GM Jan Timman IM Ari Dale
BLACK TO PLAY
Problem V GM David Navara GM Bart Michiels
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem VI GM Wei Yi
WIM Anne Haast
WHITE TO PLAY “The participation of a vivid represen-
tative of the American style—Hikaru Nakamura—was awaited with particular interest. By scoring more points than his positions warranted, he once again con- firmed the thesis that for the moment the practical player in him is superior to the scientist.” That makes it sound like winning equal
positions and drawing bad ones is evidence of a lack of sophistication. Bologan may have been thinking of his own experience: Nakamura outplayed him from an awful position and nearly won.
Or perhaps he had this game in mind:
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation (B97) IM Hikaru Nakamura GM Sergey Karjakin Pamplona, 2003
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O!?
A century ago Europeans dismissed
Americans as single-minded attackers. “The Americans Morphy, Pillsbury and Marshall represent in chess the character type of Hannibal and Napoleon. They achieved their brilliant victories by the great speed of mobilization and displacement of their forces,” wrote two European sophisticates, Georg Marco and Carl Schlechter, in the Karlsbad 1907 tournament book.
White begins to outplay his opponent,
the world’s youngest grandmaster, by using whatever means necessary. This approach was once considered strange— and strangely American. In his widely-read Chess Praxis, Aron
WHITE TO PLAY Times have changed. The attacking
move here is 9. Nb3, avoiding trades. Here White is willing to go into an endgame that is considered at best equal.
9. ... Qxd4 10. Qxd4 Nxd4 11. Rxd4 h6 12. Bh4 Be7 13. Be2 b5 14. Bf3 Rb8 15. Bg3 Nd7 16. Rhd1 O-O 17. Kb1 Re8 18. a4 b4 19. Na2 a5 20. Nc1 Nb6 21. b3 Bb7 22. Ne2 Rbc8
Black would have the better prospects
after 22. ... f5 or, as the game goes, with 23. ... Nd7 and 24. ... Nf6.
23. R4d2 d5 24. e5 Bc5 25. Nd4 Ba6 26. Bf2 Nd7 27. Re1 Rc7 28. Kb2 g6 29. h4!
WHITE TO PLAY
Nimzowitsch recalled a game in which he was in bad shape after 15 moves. His rem- edy was to remember what he called “the American motto.” “‘Make the best of it!’ Not to despair, to
find the relatively best chance in the worst circumstances! To make the win as difficult as possible,” he wrote. “So thinks the American, and this way of thinking has its points!”
29. ... Bf8?! 30. h5! Nc5 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. g3! h5 33. Be3 Rh7 34. Rh1! Ne4
White could start picking off pawns with
35. Bxe4 dxe4 36. Nc6 and Nxa5. He gives Black a chance to make a few lemons.
35. Rg2 Bc5 36. Re1 Bxd4+? 37. Bxd4 Rc8? 38. Bxe4! dxe4 39. Bb6! Rb7 40. Bxa5 Rbb8 41. Rd2 Rc3 42. Rd6 Ra8 43. Rg1 Bd3 44. cxd3 Rxa5 45. dxe4 Rac5 46. Rg2 Re3 47. Rd4 Rcc3 48. Rxb4 Rxg3 49. Rxg3 Rxg3 50. a5 Kg7 51. Ka3 Rg1 52. Ka4, Black resigned.
White’s king can shepherd the winning queenside pawns forward after 52. ... h4 53. Rc4 h3 54. Rc2 Rg2 55. Rc1 h2 56. Rh1, among others. Americans have been going their own
way since one of Benjamin Franklin’s Parisian opponents left her king in check. Franklin captured it. “We do not take kings so,” the U.S. diplomat was told. “In America we do,” Franklin replied.
www.uschess.org 17
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