Tal vs Larsen

 A really nice game by Tal. Everyone knows he played amazing sacrifices.

 The sacrifice in this game is however, based on positional factors.

 I don't know  a lot of players who would give a whole piece

just to control a file! 

1.e4 c5

2.Nf3 Nc6

3.d4 cxd4

4.Nxd4 e6 

5.Nc3 d6 

6.Be3 Nf6

7.f4 Be7 

8.Qf3 O-O 

9.O-O-O Qc7 

10.Ndb5 Qb8 

11.g4 a6 

12.Nd4 Nxd4
13.Bxd4 b5 

14.g5 Nd7 

15.Bd3 b4 

The next move is a shocker. Guess what it is! 

16.Nd5 ! exd5 

17.exd5 

 {The piece sacrifice is a positional one, since it has been used to
erect an invisible barrier on the e-file. A number of squares
on it (e5 and e6) are controlled by white pawns, and a white
rook will soon be moved to e1. -- Iakov Damsky} 

17...  f5  Closing the b1-h7 diagonal.

18.Rde1 Rf7
19.h4 Bb7 

20.Bxf5 Rxf5 

Even a piece up, black can hardly do anything agaisnt white's kingside attack!

21.Rxe7 Ne5 

Black probably gave back the piece to get time to bring his pieces near his king.

22.Qe4 Qf8  

23.fxe5 Rf4
24.Qe3 Rf3 

25.Qe2 Qxe7 

26.Qxf3 dxe5 

27.Re1 Rd8 

28.Rxe5 Qd6
29.Qf4 

{! The d5 pawn is immune. After 29 ...Bxd5 30. Re8+ White wins the queen.
White is now 2 pawns up, but Tal manages to finish the game in style 

29...  Rf8 

30.Qe4 b3 

31.axb3 Rf1+ 

32.Kd2 Qb4+ 

33.c3 Qd6
34.Bc5!

White has a mating attack! Nice deflection by Tal

34...  Qxc5

35.Re8+ Rf8 

36.Qe6+ Kh8 

37.Qf7 1-0

Black will be either be mated or suffer huge material loss.
The only try, in my opinion, to stave off mate for a couple of moves is: 37... Qf2+ 38. Qxf2 Rxe8 39. Qf7 Rb8 40 Qc7 winning the bishop, leaving black with a rook for a queen and 3 pawns.

Tactical puzzle #4

First of all, the answer of the last puzzle: Qc4!! If Rxc4 Rxf8 mates, otherwise white will either mate on g8 with the queen or win the c8 rook. Now, this week's puzzle:

Chess quotes

When you see a good move, look for a better one. Emanuel Lasker.

A fairly well known but pretty important quote. What chess players don't get, is that it also applies to your opponent's moves. When calculating a combination, or any variation, always look for powerful moves from your opponent. When it's done, look for better ones. This could save you many games. Bobby Fischer once said: My opponents make good moves too. Sometimes, I don't take these things into consideration.
This one too is important to keep in mind. Taking into consideration your opponents make good moves, and looking for them when calculating is the key to avoid blunders.

Alekhine-Ricondo (miniature)

Here is a short crush by Alexander Alekhine, played in a blindfold sim. Alekhine slowly brought his pieces on the kingside before dealing his final blow.

 Alekhine,Alexander - Ricondo,M [C84]

Santander blindfold sim Santander, 1945

 1.e4       e5

2.Cf3      Cc6

 3.Fb5     a6

4.Fa4      Cf6

5.Cc3      Fe7

 6.0–0       d6

7.Fxc6+ 

This move was played to enable d4 on the next move.

               7...bxc6

 8.d4        exd4

9.Cxd4    Fb7

10.Cf5     0–0

11.Te1    Te8

12.Df3     c5

13.Fg5     Ff8 

14.Ch6+!! 1–0

In this position, if black moves his king to h8 there is Nxf7+ winning the queen on d8. If black takes the knight on h6, there follows 15. Bxf6 and black has to sacrifice the queen for the bishop. If black moves his queen, say to c8, then follows 16.Qg3+ Qg4 17. Qxg4+ Bg718. Qxg7 mate!

Nice little combo by Alekhine!

Tactical puzzle #3

First of all, the answer of the tactical puzzle #2 was: 1Ng6+! fxg6 2.Qxg7 mate. I really like the next one. Enjoy!

Breaking stereotypes!

I've been away from my blog for a long timw, but now I'm back! I want to share another of Igor Smirnov's free lessons. This is the first video of 4 about breaking chess stereotypes. Pretty nice video!