más impor tante que la obesidad tante que la obesidad
DEFORMACIONES DE LOS PIES CIONES DE LOS PIES
Tomashevsky’s Shoes
This month we’re in Chita. Im- agine yourself sitting next to a strong player. You have the Black pieces alongside Grand- master Evgeny Tomashevsky. Enter Grandmaster Denis Khismatullin, your opponent, at this year’s Russian Super Final. Start trying to predict the Black moves starting with move four. You know the drill: cover the moves, reveal them one at a time. Try to predict, jump on the train of thought. Extra credit for predicting moves 10, 13, 29, 37 and 39. Before starting, would it help to jot these numbers down? Try to watch for coming plans, attacks, ideas, themes. No- body said it would be easy.
G D Khismatullin O EY Tomashevsky
LXVIII Russian Championships, 2015 English, Four Knights A29 [Taulbut] 1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3
Begin!
4…Bb4
3 points; this bishop development leads to a reversed Sicilian Bb5 and is an active choice. 2 points for 4…g6 followed by a kingside fianchetto.
5 Bg2 5…0–0
2 points; a most straightforward move, waiting to see how Denis Khismatullin might develop. 6 0–0
6 Nd5 is worth considering, whereupon after 6…e4 7 Nh4 d6 8 N×f6+ (8 N×b4 N×b4 9 a3 Nc6 10 d3 Re8 11 0–0 Qe7) 8…Q×f6 9 B×e4
Re8, Black has play for the sacrificed pawn. 6…e4
2 points; a disruptive thrust in the centre. 1 point for 6…d6.
7 Ng5 7…B×c3
defenders. 8 b×c3
White can also play 8 d×c3 Re8 with a slight edge. 8…Re8
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2 points; Black overprotects the pawn and pre- pares to drive the knight away with …h6, if White does not react immediately.
This is not a popular system, though the text, back in the day, was blessed by Smyslov: 8… Re8 9 f3! e×f3 10 N×f3 d5 11 c×d5 N×d5 12 e4!! (TN) 12…Nb6 13 d4 Bg4 14 h3 Bh5 15 e5 Nd5 16 Bd2 Qd7 17 g4! Bg6 18 Ng5! Na5 19 h4 h6 20 h5 (‘..and White came crash- ing through.’ – Povah) 20…h×g5 21 h×g6 f×g6 22 Qf3 c6 23 B×g5 Nc4 24 Qh3 Qe6? (24… Rf8) 25 Rf2 Rf8 26 Bf3! N×c3 27 Raf1! R×f3
28 Q×f3 Nb5 29 Kg2! N×d4 30 Qf8+!! 1–0; W Uhlmann–VV Smyslov, Hastings, 1972/3. Possibly Vasily’s only loss to Uhlmann, at his worst Hastings ever (the Soviet finished ninth). 9 f3
White decides to liquidate the centre be- fore advancing pawns. There are two similar alternatives:
(a) 9 Qc2 d5 10 c×d5 Q×d5 11 d3 Bf5 12 N×e4 N×e4 13 Be3 Qe5 14 d×e4 B×e4 15 B×e4 Q×e4 16 Q×e4 R×e4 17 Rfd1 Rd8 18 R×d8+ N×d8, when 19 B×a7 b6 20 Bb8 Re7 21 Rb1 Nc6 22 B×c7 R×c7 23 R×b6 Kf8
would be good for Black and (b) 9 d3.
9…e×f3
1 point; Black cannot maintain the pawn on e4. The pawn sacrifice 9…e3 10 d×e3 Qe7 11 f4 is not good and does not score.
10 N×f3 10…Qe7!
3 points; a good positional move putting pres- sure on the White centre. 2 points for 10…d6. 11 e3
11…Ne5
2 points; Black decides to exchange the knights by attacking c4. 1 point for 11…Qc5 12 Qa4 d6 13 Rb1 with an edge for White; or 11…d6 12 Rb1.
12 Nd4 This move is a positional trap; White could continue with 12 N×e5 Q×e5 13 Rb1 Rb8 14 Rb5 Qe7 15 d3 d6 with an edge for White because of the two bishops and healthy pawn centre.
12…d6
3 points; a good defensive move. If 12…N×c4 13 Nf5 Qe5 14 e4! is very strong since af- ter 14…N×e4 (14…d6 15 d4 Qe6 16 d5 Qd7
17 Bg5 N×e4 18 Qd4) 15 B×e4 Q×e4 16
d3 White wins. So, no points for this knight capture. 13 d3
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White defends the pawn on c4; relying on the bishop pair to give him an edge.
13…c5
3 points; Black must play actively before the bishops come into their own.
14 Nf5 14…B×f5
1 point; Black must exchange that dangerous knight. 15 R×f5
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15…d5!?2 points for this interesting sacrifice. 1 point for 15…Qe6 when 16 e4 leaves White with the edge due to his two bishops.
16 c×d5 16…c4
2 points; the key to the Black play: breaking up the White centre.
17 d4
Also consider: 17 d×c4 N×c4 with good play for Black against the white pawn centre. 17…Nd3
2 points; a knight on the sixth is the reward for Black.
18 R×f6
White decides to sacrifice to expand in the cen- tre. Again 18 Bd2 Ne4 19 B×e4 Q×e4 20 Qf3 Rad8 21 Q×e4 R×e4 22 Rb1 b6 23 Rb5 Rd6 24 a4 is good, with a positional struggle. White has the edge.
18…Q×f6
1 point; the only move to score. 19 Qe2
19…N×c1
2 points; a difficult choice giving up the knight. Also 2 points for 19…Rad8.
20 R×c1 20…Qg5
2 points; pinning the e-pawn against the rook and, obviously, attacking e3.
21 Re1 21…Rad8
2 points; Black lines up his rook against the White centre.
22 e4 22…R×d5
2 points. Exploiting the pin on the e-pawn. 23 e5
After 23 Q×c4 b5 24 Qb3 Rd7 25 e5 Qd2 26 Rf1 Qe3+ 27 Kh1 Red8 Black is slightly better. 23…Rd7
1 point for this steady retreat. 2 points for 23… Rb5 24 a4 Rb3 25 Q×c4 Rb2 with an active rook.
24 Q×c4
Diary
Dyfed Congress, 26th–28th February,
2016. Open and U1600. Near to Pembrokeshire National Park. tony@
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White has good compensation for the ex- change in terms of a pawn and active pieces. 24…g6
2 points; a useful waiting move giving the Black king an escape square.
25 Qe2 25…Qd8
2 points; regrouping to attack the White pawns. 26 Bh3
26…Rde7
2 points; steady play. 26…Rc7 27 Qb2 f6 is worth 2 points also.
27 Qf2 27…b5!
2 points; the key to breaking down the White position.
28 Bg4 28…Rc7
2 points; taking the initiative by attacking c3. 29 Qd2
29…b4!!
4 points; sacrificing a pawn to break into White’s pawns. 30 c×b4 30…Rc4 2 points. 31 Re4 31…Qb6
2 points; this forces White’s hand. 32 Bd7
32 a3 is met by 32…f5. 32…Re7
2 points; attacking the white bishop wins back a pawn.
33 Ba4 33…Q×b4
2 points; the best capture. 34 Q×b4
34…R×b4
1 point; now the queens have been exchanged Black is much better.
35 Bb3 35…a5
2 points. A key move planning to attack the bishop.
36 Kf2 36…a4
2 points; forcing back the bishop to an awk- ward square.
37 Bd5 37…Rc7
4 points; another good move, aiming to invade down the c-file.
38 Ke3
If 38 e6 f×e6 39 B×e6+ Kf8 40 Ke3 Rc3+. 38…Rb5
3 points; a neat move attacking the bishop. 39 e6
3 points; stopping the white pawn 40 Ba8
40…Ra5
2 points. Trapping the bishop, so White resigned.
0–1
Now, total your points:
67+ Grandmaster standard; 55–67 Interna- tional Master; 45–54 National or FIDE Mas-
ter; 35–44 County Player; 25–34 Club Player; 15–24 Novice; 0–14 Never mind. There’s al- ways next year!
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