Invisible Chess Moves
Page 7
42. a3-a4 Ne7-d5
43. Re3-e1 Qd7-d6
44. Re1-c1+ Kc6-d7
45. Qb8-c8+ 1-0
White wins after 45…Ke7 46.Re1+.
On the same theme, here are some nice variations from the analysis of a well-known game between the two K’s, during their first world championship match.
Karpov,Anatoly
Kasparov,Garry
Moscow Wch m 1984/85 (4)
White has an undisputed advantage, because Black has no defence against the assault of the enemy pieces on his king.
58. … Qf7-b7+
The best move is a paradoxical self-pin:
59. Rf4-e4+!! Rf6-e6!?
In the game Black lost after 59…Kf7 60.Qc4+ Kf8 61.Bh7 Rf7 62.Qe6 Qd7 63.Qe5+−.
After the text, the quiet move
60. Qc5-c4!
ruins Black’s hopes: 60…Rxe4 61.Qg8+ Ke7 62.Qxg7+ and 63.Qxb 7.
Hoolt,Sarah
Martens,Martin
Netherlands tt 2008/09 (2)
How could White have won by exploiting a pin here?
1.b4?, as played in the game, lost part of the advantage. After 1… Bd8! White kept a slight edge, though Black won in the end.
Absolutely winning was the other pinning idea:
1. Qc4-a4!
Followed by 2.c4 this wins material.
1. Ba5-d8
2. c2-c4 Rb5-b6
3. Nd5xb6+−
Gvetadze,Sopio
Melia,Salome
Tbilisi ch-GEO 2009 (7)
Black, a pawn down against a strong initiative, could have won by exploiting a pin. Which one?
The game saw 1…Rad8? 2.Re5? White could unpin beginning with the crucial 2.Kg1! Qg5 3.c4, which would more or less have restored equality. Now the black win was simple after all: 2…Rxd5 3.Qxd5 Bxd5 4.Rxe7 Bxh1 5.c4 Bc6.
Black had a forced win:
1. … Be6-h3+!
2. Bd5-g2 Qe7xe1+!
3. Kf1xe1 Bh3xg2
4. Rh1-g1
And now
4. … Rf8-e8+
5. Ke1-d1 Ra8-d8
wins back the queen.
Here’s a curious final from the game Dreev-Sakaev, which we found with the relevant explanations in Dreev’s excellent collection of his best games.
Dreev,Alexey
Sakaev,Konstantin
Khanty-Mansiysk 2005 (6.1)
In this complicated position, the b6 pawn should be captured by Black, resulting in equality. However, White managed, on the last move before the time-control, to create problems for his opponent, creating great confusion with the extraordinary
1. Qf2-d4!?
A vicious trap, which exploits the pin on the e5 pawn while generating an attack against the opponent’s rook and bishop. Can you rise to the occasion and find the best move for Black?
Black was taken by surprise, and with very little time left he blundered with 1…Qh3? and resigned immediately after 2.Qxd5+.
The right counter was:
1. … Qe6xb6!!
Quite a difficult move to conceive of. 1…exd4!? 2.Rxe6 Nc3! was also playable, when White is only slightly better.
The only move for White after the text is 2.Qxb6! (2.Bxb6 exd4 3.Ba5 Nc3) 2…Nxb6 3.Bxb6 Rxb6 with a probable draw.
Another case of double blindness is this fragment, where the same Dreev faces Sadler, a top player in the 1990s who decided to quit competitive play at the age of 25.
Sadler, Matthew
Dreev,Alexey
Groningen 1997 (3)
This is a wild position from the Semi-Slav Defence, one of the more complicated modern openings. Material is equal and chances would also be equal had Black played his queen to b6.
But Black decided to leave the queen en prise and counterattack immediately:
1. … Re8xe4
None of the players managed to find the simple refutation (if you’re aided by the computer!)
2. Nf4-e2!±
Both major pieces are under attack, so White gains material. The knight retreats and self-pins at the same time: also, in this case, the move proved invisible for two of the strongest players in the world.
In the game there followed 2.Rxd6 Rxe1+ 3.Kf2 Rxd6 4.Rxc5+ Kd8 5.Kxe1 and now the important move 5…g5! and Black went on to win.
Hübner,Robert
Pesch,Werner
Detmold 1967 (7)
Another fragment where White missed a strong move, as well as a defence for Black. Let’s take the opportunity to recommend to our readers Robert Hübner’s great book Twenty-Five Annotated Games (Marco), where we found this example with Hübner’s sincere comments. White has an edge, and can now gain a clear advantage.
1. Nf3-h4
White could have exploited the circumstance that the bishop on e7 is unprotected with 1.Ne5! Nxe5 2.dxe5 Nc5 3.Bxc5 dxc5 4.b6 cxb6 (4…c6 5.f4±) 5.Nb5!? (5.f4±) and Black cannot develop on the queenside, 5…Rd8?! being impossible due to 6.Qxd8+±.
1. … Be7xh4
2. Nc3xe4
Black could now have obtained a good game with two accurate moves that were spotted by neither of the players.
2. … f5xe4
2…Bd8?! was played in the game, with a big advantage for White, who eventually won.
3. Bg2xe4
White is fine in all variations but one. Can you see the invisible move?
3. … Rf8-f5!!
And Black is OK! This is the very archetype of a hard-to-see move: Black’s queen is under attack, indirectly his bishop is, too, and in some variations the h7 pawn can be taken with check. And here Black puts another piece en prise with a very unnatural self-pin. Hübner confesses that neither in the game, nor during several analysis sessions afterwards, did he manage to see this move, which is instantly found by any computer program…
Now White should keep the position unclear with the strong 4.d5!.
G – Geometrical moves
There are purely geometrical types of move, like the one in Kramnik-Leko (p. 23). Did you notice that the move Qb2-a1 was also a backward diagonal move? Finding such a move, which kills several birds with one stone, requires a harmonic vision of the board. We extract the best from our pieces while depriving the opponent of any active response.
Bologan,Viktor
Milov,Vadim
Moscow 2003 (7)
Black is an exchange up, against a far-advanced passed pawn on b6. Most of the black pieces occupy unfavourable positions, like the hemmed-in bishop on g7 and the unprotected rook on c6. The black queen’s position is dangerous for two reasons: the queen is both ‘stalemated’ and at a knight’s fork distance from its king. All these tactical weaknesses are laid bare by the splendid
1. Qb1-d1!!
The main threat is 2.Nd4, attacking the rook, followed by 3.Nxf6 winning the queen. 1.Qb5 was played in the game, and it was good enough to secure White a big advantage, which eventually brought him the win.
1. … Rc6xb6
1…Qxf5 2.Nd4 Qe4 3.Nxc6 Qxc6 4.Qb1+!.
The best defence is 1…Rc4 after which two moves win easily: 2.Nd2 Rxg4 3.hxg4 Qg5 4.Qe2 or 2.Nfe5 fxe5 3.Nf6+ Bxf6 4.Qxh5+.
2. Nf3-d2!
Now White threatens to give check on f6.
2. … Qh5-g5
If 2…Kg8 3.Ne4! Ra6 (forced in order to cover the f6-square) 4.Qd3 Rc6 (only square) 5.Qd7 and White will win at least a rook on the next move. A clockwork-like mechanism!
3. Nd2-e4+−
The queen is dominated (see another entertaining collection: Victor Bologan: Selected Games 1985-2004, Russell Enterprises).
Plater,Kazimierz
Johansson,Ingi Randver
Moscow Olympiad 1956 (7)
A nice and simple geometrical move that would have won on the spot is
1. Qc3-b4!
A double threat that wins a piece.
1.Qe5? was played in the game and after 1…Bxe2 2.Kxe2 Qxg7 3.Qb8+ the ending led to a draw.
Van den Berg,Carel
Eliskases,Erich
B
everwijk 1959 (5)
Here is a classical example, where White must find the right way to exploit black weaknesses like the unprotected g4 bishop and the sensitive position of Black’s king.
1. Qh6-h4!
Thanks to the tempo-winning attack on the bishop, White reaches the ideal position where he can make optimum use of all his forces: queen, rook, bishop and the pawn on d5. A triumph of aesthetics and harmony.
1.Qg7 was played in the game, allowing 1…Bh5=.
1. … Bg4-d7
1…Be2 is the same.
2. Rf1xf6! Qd6xf6
3. d5-d6+!+−
A simple, yet beautiful theme.
Kryvoruchko,Yuriy
Thomassen,Joachim
Novi Sad Ech-tt 2009 (3)
Black’s advantage is overwhelming here, but what is the most efficient move?
1. … Qb8-b6!
Immediately winning 1…Bxf2+ was played in the game, which ended in a draw at move 53.
After the text White can try:
A) 2.Bxg3 Qg1+ 3.Bf1 Nxg3 will lead to mate: 4.Qc4 Rac8 etc.;
B) 2.Qc5 is the logical counter, and now another piece of geometry: 2…Rac8! 3.Qxb6 Rxc1+, leading to another checkmate.
Shirov,Alexey
Yakovenko,Dimitry
Foros 2008 (2)
1. Qg4-g2!
1. Queen backwards!
‘White should also win after 41.Kc2… but I liked the text a lot more because it combines the threats to win material with mating threats on the a1-h8 diagonal’ wrote Shirov (New In Chess Magazine 2008/5).
1. … a7-a6
1…Qc6 2.Rh1! Rxh1 3.Qxh1 Re6 4.Qh6+ Kg8 5.f5! (5…Bf8 6.fxe6 Bxh6 7.Rd8+ Kh7 8.e7+−) 5…gxf5 6.g6 (6…fxg6 7.Rd4 Kf7 8.Qh7+ Kf6 9.Qh8+! Ke7 10.Rh4) 6…Rxg6 7.Qxg6+ fxg6 8.Rxd6+.
2. Qg2-b2+!
2. The horizontal effect!
2. … Kg7-g8
3. Kd3-c2!
3. King backwards!
3. … Rh8-h2+
4. Rd5-d2!
4. Rook backwards!
4. … Rh2xd2+
5. Rd1xd2 b6-b5
6. Qb2-f6
Notice the beauty and harmony of White’s artistic manoeuvres, in particular the circuit Qg4-g2-b2-f6, and Kd3-c2, in order to let the rooks do their duty. The mark of a great artist for whom aesthetics is an integral part of his vision of the game.
‘I don’t feel especially proud of this game’ was Shirov’s comment…
6. … b5xc4
7. Rd2-h2
with imminent checkmate.
EXERCISE 1
**
Relative Pin
Baburin,Alexander
Jessel,Stephen
Dublin ch-IRL 2008 (7)
White’s last move, 1.a4 (1.Rd4 was better), allows Black to deal with the unpleasant pin on the d-file. Can you see how?
Solution
Solution 1
**
Baburin,Alexander
Jessel,Stephen
Dublin ch-IRL 2008 (7)
Unpinning with 1…Nb2? as played in the game brings no relief because the knight ending is lost after 2.Rxd1 Nxd1 3.Kg4! and White wins thanks to the outside passed pawn.
Black could have exploited the precarious position of White’s king by the pretty move
1. … Nd3-e1!!
2. Rd8xd1?
After 2.Nd2! Ra1 Black is only slightly better.
2. … Ne1xg2+
3. Kh4-g4 h7-h5#
What makes this an invisible move?
- The pin on the knight looks permanent, unless rooks are exchanged.
- The mating pattern is surprising, with a lone knight and pawns.
- e1 is an unusual square for a black knight.
Back
EXERCISE 2
**
Shooting Star
Waffenschmidt,Joachim
Eidinger,Helmut
Baden Baden 1998 (6)
The black queen is trapped after White’s last move 14.Bb4. However, she can find an unexpected refuge. Can you see where?
Solution
Solution 2
**
Here’s the complete game:
Waffenschmidt,Joachim
Eidinger,Helmut
Baden Baden 1998 (6)
1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6
2. c2-c4 g7-g6
3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5
4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5
5. e2-e4 Nd5xc3
6. b2xc3 c7-c5
7. Bf1-c4 Bf8-g7
8. Ng1-e2 Nb8-c6
9. Bc1-e3 c5xd4
10. c3xd4 Qd8-a5+
11. Be3-d2 Qa5-a3
12. Ra1-b1 0-0
13. d4-d5 Nc6-e5
14. Bd2-b4?
White thought that he could cage the queen, but a surprise was awaiting him.
Better was 14.Qb3 or 14.Qc2 after which White, although he is slightly worse, has a quite playable game.
14. … Qa3-f3!!
15. 0-0
After 15.gxf3 there is a cute mating pattern with bishop and knight: 15…Nxf3+ 16.Kf1 Bh3+.
15. … Qf3xe4
And Black won.
What makes this an invisible move?
- The queen moves horizontally
- There is a change of wings.
- The f3-square is available only thanks to a surprising checkmate.
Back
EXERCISE 3
**
White Lines
Illescas Cordoba,Miguel
Morozevich,Alexander
Pamplona 1998 (3)
White has just played the standard Rad1, putting pressure on the isolated pawn on d5. But his opponent demonstrated that the real problems lie elsewhere. What was Black’s strong point?
Solution
Solution 3
**
Illescas Cordoba,Miguel
Morozevich,Alexander
Pamplona 1998 (3)
Black exposed White’s weaknesses with the backward move
1. … Be6-c8!!
The bishops will rebound on a6, attacking White’s major pieces.
2. Nc3xd5
2.Qb4 Ba6 3.Nb5 saved the exchange, but not the game after the forced line 3…Qd7 4.Nxd6 Qxd6
(5.Rf2 loses after 5…Qg6 6.Ne1 Ne4 7.Rf4 Ng3+ 8.hxg3 Qh5+) 5.Rfe1 Re4! 6.Qc3 Nd3 7.Rf1 Ne5 8.Rfe1 Nxf3 9.gxf3 Rh4 10.f4 d4, winning.
2. … Bc8-a6
3. Qb5xb6 Ba6xf1
4. Rd1xf1 Ra8xa2
What makes this an invisible move?
- The backward bishop move, returning to its starting square, is difficult to foresee, especially since it was developed on a ‘normal’ square, and was protecting the weakness.
- This is a change of wings that changes the focal point of the position.
- The weaknesses on the light squares, especially along the a6-f1 diagonal, and the precarious position of the white queen are not immediately apparent.
Back
EXERCISE 4
***
Defence and Attack
Luther,Thomas
Ivanchuk,Vasily
Kusadasi Ech 2006 (5)
Though White is two pawns up, Black is attacking a bishop and has a dangerous passed pawn which ultimately won him the game. One move could have solved all White’s problems. Can you find it?
Solution
Solution 4
***
Luther,Thomas
Ivanchuk,Vasily
Kusadasi Ech 2006 (5)
In the game White played 1.b4 and after 1…Qc4 2.Rg3 (2.Be1 is better, with chances for both sides) 2… Rxd2 he was worse.
White had an unexpected, brilliant resource in
1. Rh3-d3!!
Both defending the bishop and attacking the opponent’s main weapon, the d-pawn. After this move, White is sure to win:
1. … Kc7-b8
The best move. The defence of the pawn by 1…Re4 fails to 2.Bb4!! Qc4 (or 2…Qxb4 3.Rxc2+ Kb8 4.Rxc8+ Kxc8) and at the end of this series of forced moves the winning double attack 5.Qf5+) 3.Qd6#.
2.
Qf6xd4+−
After 2…Qxd4+ 3.Rxd4 Black may try his last chance with 3…Rg8 but White replies with the cool 4.Kf1! and if 4…Rgxg2 5.Rd8+! Kc7 (5…Ka7 6.Be3+!)
Analysis diagram
6.Rxc2+! Kxd8 7.Ba5+.
Why was 1.Rd3 an invisible move?
- The rook is placed on a square apparently controlled by Black, which is possible thanks to a pin.
- It is a defensive move that attacks at the same time.
- The rook moves along an horizontal line.
Back
EXERCISE 5
***
End of the Line
Uhlmann,Wolfgang
Hennings,Artur
Weimar ch-GDR 1968 (7)
White enjoys a dominating position, with well-centralized pieces and some pressure against f7 and c5. Is taking on c5 favourable?
Solution
Solution 5
***
Uhlmann, Wolfgang
Hennings,Artur
Weimar ch-GDR 1968 (7)
1. Rc1xc5
Winning a pawn while keeping all his positional advantages. This move introduces a forced variation with a tactical trick further on, that was not foreseen by the East-German player.