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!, sac- rificing his knight. He finishes up with a convincing queen sacrifice that forces checkmate.
10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman Steiner,
The handsomeLosCubanAngeles,World1933Champion Jose Capablanca had a deceptively simple style. Here we see him playing the old-fashioned Four Knights' game and opening up his opponent'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 second 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,
Botvinnik wonThetheHague,world1948championship a record three times. His opponent here is pos- sibly the strongest 20th-century chess player who did not become world champion. The opening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's
are potentially a longdou-term-weakness,bled pawnsbut 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 queen- side 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!
In12a.FourJ. BanasKnights'vs. PGame,. Lukacs,BlackTrnava,gets his1986king into safety by castling and takes advantage
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of White's awkward piece placement by sac- rificing 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 effective defender, his knight on e3, is forced from its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.
13. Anatoly Karpov vs. Victor Kortchnoi,
Twentieth-centuryMoschessow, 1974perfected defense.
It is no longer typical to see top-level players
playing for the attack. In fact, Korchnoionlyat the time of this game was one of
the best in the world, and his was defense. Many fine players wouldforteattack 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 queen- side and prying open the h-file to slay the dragon.
14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petrosian,
Spassky won theMoscow,world 1969championship 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 aand quick strongof his piecescenter. As early as 13.
Rd1,develyoupmentcan 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 situa- tions, 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, advancing 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 Fischer vs. Reuben Fine,
Nine years beforeNewwinningYork, 1963the world cham- pionship, 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!, sacrific- ing 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 capture of his own queen and plays 18. Bf6 mate!
16. Lajos Portisch vs. Johannessen,
During the firstHavana,half of this1966game, a Queen's Gambit Slav, the great Hungarian grandmas- ter Lajos Portisch locks up the center with a d4-e5 structure by move 14. This gives him a "beachhead" on e5 and makes it hard for Black to counterattack in the center, which is the standard antidote for an attack on the wing. The next stage starts with 16. h4. Portisch announces his intention to attack on the kingside. 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.
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At anyUsingtimeSetupduring aModegame when it is your move, you may change the position on the board by adding a piece, removing a piece, or chang- ing any of the pieces—for example, from a queen to a knight.
RemovingPress the 2nda Piecekey, then the SETUP key. Use the DIRECTION keys to move the black shape over a piece. Press GO to remove the piece. Press CLEAR to continue the game.
Adding or Changing a
PiecePress the 2nd key, then repeated- ly press the SETUP key to select the correct piece. You will see the piece flash on a square. Use the DIRECThenION keys to move it to a
square. press GO to register the piece. Press CLEAR to contin- ue the game.
Setting Up Special
PositionsThis is another terrific feature that allows you to solve problems that you see in magazines or news- papers, or that you make up your- self. It also allows you to enter game positions you want to play, or that you want Electronic Chess to look at, perhaps using the Infinite Search level.
