9. Nd2 King’s Indian Confuzzlement
Sometimes blitz games create confusion and in the cauldron of confusion bubble forth novelties and “brilliancies.” Here is a case in point.
IM Aries2 – GM Fier ICC 5 minute blitz
According to Fier’s finger notes, he is 22 years old, from Brazil, and has a 2581 FIDE rating. What does one do against a high rating? Just play directly!
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nd2! Somehow the most logical looking move. I recently made notes to Beliavsky-Nakamura, indicating where white could have played more strongly (Al reached a great game as white then went wrong in the complications).
9…Nd7 Kasparov’s “old” 9…a5 might be better.
10. b4 f5 11…a5 would transpose to a game I won vs GM Peter Biyiasis in Philadelphia 1982 after 12. bxa5 Rxa5 13. a4. White stands better there.
11. c5 Nf6 11…dxc5 12. bxc5 Nxc5 13. Ba3 offers white great play for the pawn.
12. f3 f4 13. Nc4 g5 14. a4
The course of the game suggests white might be able to do better dispensing with this move and playing 14. Ba3 straightaway.
14…h5 15. Ba3 Ne8 16. Nb5! a6
Pull the trigger!
17. Nxc7! The accidental blitz brilliancy! This doesn’t regain the piece back right away, but it does set black difficult problems.
Qxc7 18. b5 In blitz, this is almost impossible to solve as black!
18…dxc5 The problem is that a normal defensive move, 18…Rf6, (trying to get white’s dark square bishop off the board), is met by 19. cxd6 Nxd6 20. Nxd6 Rxd6 21. Rc1 Qb8 22. b6! establishing a crushing bind! A very aesthetic line – white disdains material and keeps his queen bishop. Feast your eyes on some more moves here: 22…Bf8 23. Qb3 Ng6 24. Rc7! Rd7 25. d6+ Kg7 26. Rfc1! and wins!
19. d6 Nxd6 20. Qxd6 Qxd6 21. Nxd6 b6 22. a5?! Too fancy. White had “chess memory” of Ginsburg-Christiansen, US Championship 2006, (see position after move 37W) where pawns opposed each other like this with great force for white (also, curiously, Ginsburg-Kriventsov, US Ch. 2006 – after move 23W). The correct line was the simple mundane 22. Nxc6 Rfxc8 23. bxa6 and white is completely winning.
22…axb5 23. axb6 b4 24. Bc4+ Kh7 25. Bb2 Rb8 26. b7?? Another huge lemon and this one more serious. The obvious 26. Ra7! won. The reason being 26…Rxb6 27. Rxe7 Rxd6 28. Bxe5! and wins.
26…Bxb7 27. Ra7 Rfd8? 27…Nc8! would have turned the tables and black would get good winning chances!
28. Rxb7 Rxb7 29. Nxb7 Rd2 30. Rb1 g4 31. Be6 Interesting technical note: the computer points out here 31. fxg4! hxg4 32. Bf1! not giving black ideas against the f3-pawn that happened in the game.
31…gxf3 32. gxf3 c4? Panicky. 32…Ng6 was tougher.
33. Bxc4 Ng6 34. Kf1? 34. Bf7! ended it because 34…Nh4 35. Bxh5 protects f3! At this point, white didn’t have much time left.
Nh4 35. Be2 Bf8 36. Na5? 36. Bxe5 won but white was just trying not to lose on time.
Ng6 37. Nc4 Rc2 38. Bxe5 Rxc4 39. Bxc4 Nxe5 40. Be2 Bc5 41. Rc1 Bd4 42. Rc7+ Kg6 43. Rb7 Bc3 44. h4 Kf6 45. Bd1 Ng6 46. Rb5 Nxh4 47. Rxh5 Ng6 48. Rb5 White should play 48. Rf5+ then run the king up.
48…Ne5 49. Ke2 Kg5 50. Bb3 Kh4 51. Rb8 Kg3 52. Rg8+ Kh3 53. Be6+ Kh2 54. Rf8 Kg3 55. Rg8+ Kh2 56. Rf8 Kg3 57. Rg8+ {Game drawn by mutual agreement}
1/2-1/2
A good blitz fight, don’t you think. And some possible theoretical importance in the Nd2 King’s Indian!
From The Archives of Chess Today
Try this study! (Golubev, 1984).
White to play and win.
Tags: 5-minute, Accidental Blitz Brilliancy, aries2, Beliavsky, Christiansen, Fier, ICC, Kriventsov, Nakamura
IM Mark Ginsburg Presents A Personal Chess History 
June 1, 2011 at 5:30 am |
Dear Dr.Ginsburg: You wrote:” I think it’s easy to dispute the notion that Tartakower was a “super GM of his day”. I think Tartakower was more of a coffee house player, extremely vulnerable in tournaments, who lost many one-sided games.
“Unhistorical” is not a word, of course, but your depiction of Tartakower IS a gross historical error. To call a “coffe house player” a man that has a plus 4 score against Marshall, a plus 2 score against Maroczy and and almost even (minus 1 in 50 games played) score against Reti is rather preposterous.Chessmetrics -not the last mathematical word, but one rather respected- gives Tartakower a plus 2700 rating and at least once Third in the world in strength. Although this could be questioned, the fact that Tartakower was one of the greatest players of his time is not at all in doubt.
We’re both stating the same thing. We both agree that he was one of the strongest players of his time. However he did not approach the study of chess scientifically and lost (see above) many one-sided games. He was a prolific journalist and did often have a coffee-house approach. To call the famous losses one-sided games is an understatement, he lost complete debacles not fitting a 2700 rating. (I take 2700 in the conventional sense of modern day 2700 ratings). That is why I dispute Chessmetrics. The strongest players of his day by today’s numbers would be in the low 2500s judging from the games. There wasn’t much in the way of defense and not even rook endings were elaborated yet. (Rubinstein being a pioneer to show the others the way in those). You mention Marshall. This was another fellow who played a bunch of really poor openings (essentially a tactical opportunist) and Capablanca, a natural talent, had no problem ripping Marshall apart even when very young. Are we to label Marshall 2700 as well because he was the elite of his time? I would say no. I think Chessmetrics gives bonus rating points to lack of quality in an era which isn’t right.