Step into Magnus’s shoes and play chess... no... basketball just like him.
Three puzzles to solve (clue and solutions in the blog. All are White to play.
Gaal - Vidic, Budapest, 2021
Krishna Teja, - Savic, Arandjelovac, 2021
Suarez Real - Sielecki Online 4NCL 2021
Then an in depth look at Anish Giri - Ding Liren, Superbet Chess Classic, 2023
Blog Post 568
@greenpawn34 saidYou're still thinking in descriptive notation, aren't you?
Thanks Shallow-Blue, corrected it.
(I would have spotted it eventually....but it was hidden. 🙂 )
I was looking at possible continuations after 19...Nbd7 20.d5 Ne5 (mentioned in Geoff's note to Black's 19th move in Anish Giri - Ding Liren). The following chess movie starts from 19...Nbd7.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 1 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move d5
[fen "6rr/bppnqpk1/3pbn2/p5B1/P1BPP3/4NQ1P/1P3PP1/2KR1R2 w - - - -"] 20.d5 Ne5 21.Bxf6+ Qxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kxf6 23.dxe6 {If now 23...Bxe3+, then 24.fxe3+ Ke7 25.exf7 Rxg2 26.Bd5, when Black's active pieces don't seem sufficient compensation for the two pawns.} fxe6 {Black now threatens 24...Bxe3 25.fxe3+ Ke7, which would leave White's bishop and g-pawn hanging.} 24.Be2 Bxe3+ {Here Black's activity need compensate for a deficit of only one pawn.} 25.fxe3+ Ke7 26.Rf2 Rg3 27.Kd2 Rd8 {Threatening 28...d5 29.exd5 Rxd5+, when White's king must abandon control of the e3-pawn.} 28.Bf1 {To clear e2, from which White's king can continue to protect the e-pawn.} d5 29.Ke2 Nc4 30.Rf3 Rxf3 31.gxf3 Nxb2 32.Rb1 Nxa4 33.Rxb7 dxe4 34.Rxc7+ Kd6 35.Ra7 exf3+ {If now, 36.Kf2, then 36...Nc3 37.Rxa5 Nd1+ 38.Kxf3 Rf8+ 39.Ke2 Nxe3 is a dead draw.} 36.Kxf3 Rf8+ 37.Kg2 Rf5 38.Bc4 {Threatening 39.Ra6+ and the capture of Black's e-pawn.} Re5 39.Kf3 Nc3 {Unblocking the a-pawn and preparing to harass White's e-pawn by ...Rf5+ and ...Re5.} 40.Ra6+ Ke7 {White cannot make progress.}
Conclusion: Black is indeed okay after 19...Nbd7 20.d5 Ne5, but maintaining the balance seems to require Black to exercise more care than one might have expected.
His David.
I never even considered Bxf6+ winning back the piece. That looks better. I went with
the original idea, the theme, the pin on the f6 Knight and exploit it. after 20...Ne5
I went with 21.Qe2 and f4 and e5 is in the wind.
21.Qe2 Bd7 22.f4 Nxc4 23. Qxc4 Kg8.
the e4 pawn is hit (Qxe4) , e4-e5 dxe5 fxe5 is not on because the g5 Bishop hangs
and that was that. Unclearish - Black has to be careful. The game is still in the pot.
But I'm thinking Black has weathered the storm.
I never even considered Bxf6+ winning back the piece. That looks better. I went with
the original idea, the theme, the pin on the f6 Knight and exploit it. after 20...Ne5
I went with 21.Qe2 and f4 and e5 is in the wind.
21.Qe2 Bd7 22.f4 Nxc4 23. Qxc4 Kg8.
the e4 pawn is hit (Qxe4) , e4-e5 dxe5 fxe5 is not on because the g5 Bishop hangs
and that was that. Unclearish - Black has to be careful. The game is still in the pot.
But I'm thinking Black has weathered the storm.