CHESS Friday 11 May 2012
David Ellis / 0439798607 1
Diagram 432:
Gurevich - Gelfand 2002:
Black to play & win
(5/6 moves)
Anand (left) v Gelfand
The 12 game World Championship match between
champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Boris
Gelfand begins today at the famous Tretyakov Art
Gallery, Moscow, home to 170,000 works of art.
Readers will be able to follow the match on various
internet sites.
Last week we saw a win by Gelfand playing 8.Rb1
in the Grunfeld Exchange. Here’s another with Black
taking the bait and winning White’s a pawn. The
endgame sees the unusual confrontation between rook,
bishop and knight against queen and four pawns.
Boris Gelfand – Alexy Shirov
Rubinstein Memorial 1998
Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
3. c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5
5.cxd Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3
7. bxc3 c5 8.Rb1(a) 0-0
9.Be2 cxd 10.cxd Qa5+
11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0-0 Bg4
13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4(b) a5(c)
15.Rxb7 g5 16.Bg3 a4
17.h4 a3 18.hxg hxg
19.Rc7 Na6 20.Rxe7 Qb2(d)
21.Bc4!! Qb4(e) 22.Bxf7+! Kh8(f)
23.Rd7!!(g) Bxd7 24.Nxg5 Qb6
25.Be6!!(h) Qxe6 26.Nxe6 Bxe6
27.Be5(i) Rf7(j) 28.Qh5+ Kg8
29.Qg6 Bd7 30.Bxg7 Rxg7
31.Qd6 Kh7 32.Qxa3(k) Nc7
33.Qe3 Ne6 34.d5 Ng5
35.f4 Nh3+ 36.Kh1 Ra2
37.f5(l) Ng5 38.f6 Rg6
39.f7 resigns
a) White is prepared to sacrifice his a pawn.
b) Not 14.Bxe7 Re8 / 15…Rxe4.
c) Black wastes no time in pushing his passed pawn towards the queening square.
d) Threatening to trap the rook ( 21…Bh5 was the safest move). White’s reply, allowing the fork of his rook and bishop, creates extreme complications.
e) If 21.Bf6 22.Rxf7! Rxf7 23.Bxf7+ Kxf7 24.Nxg5+ Bxg5 25.Qxg4 winning.
f) Not 22…Rxf7 23.Rxf7 Kxf7 24.Nxg5+ / 25.Qxg4.
g) This brilliant deflection sacrifice enables the queen & knight to join the attack on Black’s king.
h) And now more brilliance with an obstruction sacrifice – 25…Bxe6?? 26.Qh5+ & mates.
i) Depriving the Black king of needed protection.
j) Better is 27…Bxe5 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Qxe5 Bc4.
k) White is now ahead in material and Black will be unable to stem the pawn advance.
l) Not 37.gxh3 Rgg2 38.Qf3 Rh2+ 39.Kg1 Rxh3 and White loses his queen and material advantage.
SOLUTION: 1…Qxe6! (a deflection sacrifice allowing an attack on the back rank) 2.Qxe6 Rd1+ 3.Kh2 Bg1+ White resigns (4.Kh1 Bf2+ 5.Qe1 Rxe1+ 6.Kh2 Bg3#).