The first of (hopefully!) two parts looking back at some games and positions from the recent Kilkenny tournament.
First off, Brendan sent in a couple of positions from his games with tactical motifs. They’re of varying difficulty – though it would only help to point out which ones are easy and which are difficult! So let’s take them one by one…
Number one – In the below position, white has just played 1. Qb5 attacking the pawn on b7, I imagine hoping for 1… b6 weakening my queenside pawn structure. No hints, what should black play next? Answer below the diagram, so try and work it out before you scroll down.
If you said…
1… Rab8 or 1… b6 to protect the pawn, note that the pawn doesn’t need protection because after 2. Qxb7, 2… Rfb8 would pick up the knight on b3;
1… a6, driving the queen away or hoping to trap it on b7; then you’re missing something, including that white’s knight on b3 is not protected, so white must know that 2… Rfb8, even if he didn’t see that it traps the queen, would pick up the knight.
The correct move is 1… Ncxe5 taking advantage of the fact that the white queen on b5 is undefended by discovering an attack from the black queen. Although, in the diagram, the black queen is also undefended, by taking the pawn on e5, black not only grabs a pawn but defends his queen in the process. White has no time to retake on e5 because of the discovered attack by black’s queen on his own queen. If white plays Qxd7, black retakes with the knight and wins a pawn for nothing.
This tactic arises in many openings, positions and is worth watching out for, for example, where your opponent has an unprotected bishop on g5, pinning your knight on f6 against your bishop on e7.
Number two – White has just played 1. Rc2, to keep an eye on f2. What should black play? Answer below the diagram, so try and work it out before you scroll down.
1… Bxe3 is the correct move. After 2 Qxe3, black has 2… Ne5 relying on the fact that the white rook on c2 is no longer protected to gain a tempo allowing the knight to get to g4 with check, threatening a possible fork of king and queen, adding an extra attacker to the f2 square. Mayhem ensues:
3. Qc1 allows mate in 5: 3… Rf2+ 4.Rxf2 Rxf2+ 5.Kh1 Qe4+ 6.Nf3 Qxf3+ 7.Kg1 Qg2#
3. Qd2 allows 3… Ng4+, followed at worst (for black) by 4… Nf2+ and 5… Nxd1+ with a rook invasion along the f file to follow. If 4. Kg2, black again has a crushing check on e4.
3. Qe2 is followed by 3… Ng4+ and if
a) 4. Kg2, black has Qxc2, and a knight fork on e3 at the very least;
b) 4. Kh1, black has Nf2+, going an exchange up with an undiminished attack;
c) 4. Qxg4 brings 4… Qxc2+ picking up two rooks.
Our silicon friends take the view that giving up the rook with 3.Kh1 Qxc2 is best but even then the attack continues unabated after 4.Rd2 Qc1 and the black rooks invade along the f file, to reach the first rank.
The moral of the story is to watch out for the opportunity to unleash discovered attacks on unprotected pieces!
Number three – After white plays Nxe4, which move should black play next, Nxg2 or dxe4? Answer again below the diagram, so try and work it out before you scroll down.
Answer: dxe4 is the correct move. After 1… Nxg2, we have 2. Nxf6+ when black must retake on f6 and white can take on g2, a clear piece up. On the other hand after 1… dxe4, white must move his rook and black is still very much in the game. I, on the other hand, was living on 15s increments and saw a rook, thought take a rook! 1-0.
Finally for now, here – by request (honestly!) – is my only win of the tournament, a game which I was under no pressure at all to win because I was on ½/4 on Sunday morning…looking at a round 6 bye if I lost…against one of the bottom seeds…from Gonzaga…who’d lost to Seán Devilly in the O’Hanlon earlier in the month!
Kevin Burke (1647) v Andy Keenan (1515); Kilkenny Major round 5; 29/11/15
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Bd3 c5
Here, we depart from the masses of Pirc theory I know. Apparently 5. … c5 can be met with Bb5+, e5->e6 and a fun-looking pawn sac. 6. a6 7. 0-0 c5 is also playable; white can swap on c5 and push e5; a standard enough plan against the Pirc. The text is hidden away as a sideline in my openings book; it seems I should swap and play Qe2 to get some central control. I’m sure I’ll remember that the next time someone plays the Pirc against me – in about a year’s time…
7. e5?! de?!
If black just removed the knight to d7, my central pawn phalanx is overstretched and will start to fall, opening up the Pirc bishop on g7. Instead, black kindly directs me back somewhat towards book…
8. de Nd5 9. NxN QxN 10. c3?!
…and of course, if I didn’t know what book was the previous time, I was less likely to spot 10. Qe2 here, with the aim of Be4, improving my position with tempo.
10. … c4 11. Bc2 QxQ 12. KxQ Bg4 13. Ke2 Nbd7 14. h3 BxN?!
Swapping off bishop for knight here can be a common plan in the Pirc, with black looking to undermine the centre (and d4 in particular). But with the queens off and the central pawns swapped, the common plan is out the window, and this just gives white the bishop pair for nothing.
15. NxB Nc5 16. Ne3 Rac8 17. Rhd1 e6 (D)
Both me and my opponent thought this was forced, but instead f6! helps black break free a bit, with some pressure given black’s rook and my king are both on the soon-to-be-opened f-file. I wasn’t sure how to prevent this – Bf2, intending Bh4, can be met with g5, or even an immediate f6. But if there’s nothing I can do about the f6 push, how can I build on the advantage I have?
18. Rd2?!
Black has a couple of weak points here. The pawn on c4 is an obvious one. But the knight on c5 is also a weakness, needing constant protection. If the knight can be removed, I can get a rook into d7. Black can’t contest the d-file because of 18. … Rfd8?? 19. RxR+ RxR 20. BxN. And if the a-file opens, it’s hard for black to contest that too without hanging the knight again.
So while doubling on the d-file is the obvious plan, 18. Rd4 (with tempo) was a better move here. After 18. … b5 (Na6 allows 19. Rd7 and 20. Rad1, taking over black’s position) 19. a4 a6 20. ab ab 21. Ra5 Rb8 22. Rd2 Rc8 23. BxN! RxB 24. Ra7 and white takes over the seventh rank.
18. … b6
Again, black needs to break with f6 here.
19. Rad1 Rc7 20. Rd4 Na6 21. Rd6 Rfc8 22. R1d4 Bf8 23. Rc8 Kg7 24. R4d7 R8xR 25. RxRd8 Be7= 26. Rd1 Bc5 27. g4 BxB 28. KxB Nc5 29. f5
By swapping off instead of targetting black’s weaknesses, I’ve lost pretty much all my advantage. (Fritz scores this +0.5 compared to +1.8 in the diagrammed position). Even knowing my advantage was going/gone, I couldn’t really take the draw for the reasons noted at the start.
29. … Rd7??
Black, maybe sensing he’d been left off the hook, is happy to continue the swapping – but he should get rid of the pawns first. So 29. … gf 30. gf f6! and I’ve nothing left.
30. f6+ Kg8(D)
So now again – how to proceed?
31. Rd6!
Much better than swapping rooks and trying to win bishop v knight, even though then I’ve plenty of targets. With the text, black is starting to get completely tied down.
31. … Kf8? (D)
Black needed to either give his king luft with h6 or h5, or prevent my next move – which is…?
32. Ba4!
Black is completely overstretched. 32. … BxN?? 33. RxR is obvious. 32. … RxR 33. PxR NxB?? 34. d7 and mate next move. Had black played 31. … h6 instead of Kf8, he could escape with 32. … Rc7 here. The other option for black on his previous move was b5, stopping Ba4 – but in either event, I’m just much better.
32. … RxR 33. PxR Nb7
The rest is trivial. Black is tied down, my king invades on the dark squares, while my bishop cuts off any counter-play on the light squares.
34. d7 g5 35. Bb5 h6 36. Kd4 Kg8 37. Ke5 Kh7 38. Bc6 Nd8 39. Be4+ Kg8 40. Kd6 1-0
We’re hoping to have the big derby game of the weekend, Ciarán v Dylan, for the next instalment, along maybe with one of John’s quieter efforts…