while the English champion Thomas develops
(gets his pieces off the back rank and into play)
too slowly. By 10. Qh5, White is already
threatening an all-out blitzkrieg. His brilliant
queen sacrifice 11. Qxh7 is followed by a dev-
astating discovered double check, 12. Nxf6++.
Then Black's king has to walk the plank, all the
way across the board to g1, the normal spot for
the White king! Here he breathes his last.
8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A. Mongre d i e n ,
London, 1862
This games starts out as a Center Counter (also
called Scandinavian Defense). Black loses too
much time developing his pieces, while White
gets his into play aggressively. Indeed, White's
army dominates the all-important center of the
board as well as the king's side. This sets the
stage for a mating attack. White's two-move
maneuver 13. Rf3 and 14. Rh3 is called a rook
lift, and is a typical attacking strategy. This
rook then sacrifices itself on h7 in a way that
allows Steinitz to bring his other rook quickly
into the fray.White is a rook down, but all of
his forces take part in the assault, while the
Black queen's rook and bishop seem to be
waiting for the next game. They don't have
long to wait.
9.Aaron Nimzovich vs. S. Alapin, Riga, 1913
Another French Defense. In this one, the great
Latvian player and writer
Nimzovich (after
whom the Nimzo-Indian Opening is named—
see page 6)
plays an opponent who wastes time
stealing a pawn with 9. … Qxg2. "Nimzo"
plays a punishing 12. O-O-O!, sacrificing his
knight. He finishes up with a convincing queen
sacrifice that forces checkmate.
10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman Steiner,
Los Angeles, 1933
The handsome Cuban World Champion Jose
Capablanca had a deceptively simple style.
Here we see him playing the old-fashioned
Four Knights' game and opening up his oppo-
nent's kingside pawn protection by move 11!
His first rook sacrifice, 17. Rxf6!, can't be
refused and forces Black's king into a deadly
crossfire. With 23. Qxb7!, Capa offers a sec-
ond rook, which can't be taken immediately
because of 23. … Qxf6? 24. Qb4 checkmate.
But Black is forced to take the rook a move
later and mate follows on the same square.
11. Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Paul Keres,
The Hague, 1948
Botvinnik won the world championship a
record three times. His opponent here is possi-
bly the strongest 20th-century chess player
who did not become world champion. The
opening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's doubled
pawns are potentially a long-term weakness,
but in the short term they control a good many
all-important central squares. White plays
cleverly to keep a grip on the position and
breaks through on the queenside with his
pawn-push 17. c4-c5. This gives him a chance
to bring his queenside rook into action. He
swings it against the kingside, sacrificing it on
g7 to win. In the final position, Black's king
will be mated by the White queen, supported
by the bishop on c1. Where did Black go
wrong? Take a look at his "unemployed"
queen and rook on a8 and b8!
12. J. Banas vs. P. Lukacs, Trnava, 1986
In a Four Knights' Game, Black gets his king
into safety by castling and takes advantage of
White's awkward piece placement by sacrific-
ing his knight with 9. … Nf3+. Then he allows
White to take his bishop on c5. But by that
time, White's king is surrounded. In the final
position, after 13. … Ng4, White's only effec-
tive defender, his knight on e3, is forced from
its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.
13. Anatoly Karpov vs. Victor Kortchnoi,
Moscow, 1974
Twentieth-century chess perfected defense. It
is no longer typical to see top-level players
playing onlyfor the attack. In fact, Korchnoi at
the time of this game was one of the best in the
world, and his forte was defense. Many fine
players would attack him ingeniously, only to
break up on his rock-like fortifications. Still,
World Champion Karpov crushes him in only
27 moves with a mating attack! In a classic
manner against Black's Sicilian Dragon
defense (so named probably because of the
"tail" of control Black's bishop makes from g7
to a1), Karpov plays the St. George attack,
castling queenside and prying open the h-file
to slay the dragon.
14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petro s i a n ,
Moscow, 1969
Spassky won the world championship from
Petrosian in the match that produced this
game. In this English Opening that becomes a
Queen's Gambit, you'll see that once again
White gets a strong center and quick develop -
ment of his pieces. As early as 13. Rd1, you
can sense that Black is in danger. His king has
no piece defenders; his forces seem passive
while White's are aggressively coordinated. As
often happens in such situations, White breaks
through with a pawn push in the center, in this
case 15. d4-d5!. It clears the board for White's
more active forces. Petrosian, one of the best
defenders of all time, tries repeatedly to trade
queens, but White wisely rebuffs these offers,
which would take much of the power off the
board. White's d-pawn becomes a star, advanc-
ing all the way to the 7th rank. Because of this
queening threat, White is able to sacrifice his
queen for one of Black's defending rooks. In
the final position, it's hopeless for Black
because White will either promote his pawn to
a queen or capture whatever Black uses to
block on d8.
15. Robert Fischervs. Reuben Fine,
New York, 1963
Nine years before winning the world champi-
onship, Bobby Fischer played this Evan's
Gambit (a variation of the Giuoco Piano)
against his famous elder. Bobby sacrifices two
pawns in order to get his pieces out quickly.
Then he plays 14. h2-h4!, sacrificing another
pawn to force the Black queen away from the
g7-square. After that, Black's king will be
stuck in the center and in danger of the h4-d8
diagonal. Bobby's final move, 17. Qg3!, forces
Fine to resign, because he must move his
queen from the critical black diagonal h4-d8.
Even on 17. … Qxg3, White ignores the cap-
ture of his own queen and plays 18. Bf6 mate!
16. Lajos Portisch vs. Johannessen,
Havana, 1966
During the first half of this game, a Queen's
Gambit Slav, the great Hungarian grandmaster
Lajos Portisch locks up the center with a d4-e5
structure by move 14. This gives him a "beach-
head" on e5 and makes it hard for Black to
counterattack in the center, which is the stan-
dard antidote for an attack on the wing. The
next stage starts with 16. h4. Portisch
announces his intention to attack on the king-
side. He refrains from castling his own king
into safety because he knows it’s safe enough
in the center, at least for the time it will take
him to break through with his attack. When
Black tries to trade off pieces with 17. …
Bxf3, Portisch sacrifices a knight for an
unstoppable attack with 18. Bxh6 and then
calmly moves his king to the second rank to
bring his other rook into the game. His Rxh4
was another brilliant sacrifice that crushes any
hope of defense. In the final position, Black
resigns because White will simply play 26.
Rxh6+, winning the Black queen. If 26. …
Qxh6, then White plays 27. Qxh6+ and will
mate on h7.