Chess - The Scotsman 14/04/2012

The origins of the jolly saying “as happy as Larry” date to the very jolly Australian boxer, Larry Foley (1847-1917), but if you would like to experience complete, perfect contentment in relation to your chess openings, try The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White. In that beautiful New In Chess book (see www.newinchess.com), acclaimed author Larry Kaufman, a former senior world chess champion, guides the reader with superb clarity through a complete, sound and user-friendly opening repertoire.

I particularly liked the final win for White in the book: at Nakhchivan in 2011, the Spanish no.1 star, Francisco Vallejo Pons, scored an attractive victory over Hungarian super-GM Zoltan Almasi. Just before we enjoy that game, I have a bonus challenge puzzle for you and a solution given below: the position wKf1,Rd4,Bc8; bKg7,Be4,Ph2 with White to play and draw is part of a 2009 study by Dutch GM Jan Timman, and is taken from his delightful New In Chess book, The Art of the Endgame.

White: F Vallejo Pons; Black: Z Almasi. Opening: English Opening.

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3 6 Qxc3 d6 7 b4 a5 8 g3 e5 9 Bg2 axb4 10 axb4 Rxa1 11 Qxa1 Re8 12 d3 Bg4 13 Be3 Qc8 14 h3 “This move explains why White delayed castling” – Kaufman. 14…Be6 15 g4 Kaufman also mentions 15 b5! c6 16 Qb2, with a pleasant position for White. 15…Nc6 16 b5 Ne7 17 Ng5 Bd7 18 f4 Ng6 19 f5 Nf4 20 Bxf4 exf4 21 Qd4 c6 22 b6 Qa8 Here, Kaufman recommends hitting back quickly and actively with 22…d5!, and judges that Black would then get adequate counterplay. 23 Kf2 Qa2 24 Ne4 Nxe4+ 25 dxe4 Qa3? “25…c5! – since the d6 pawn was doomed anyway, Black should have obtained compensation for it this way: 26 Qxd6 Bc6 27 Qxf4 Qxc4 28 Rc1 Qb5 29 Qd6 Qxb6 30 Qxc5 and White’s extra pawn is doubled and backward, so his edge is small.” – Kaufman. 26 Rd1 “Now White just wins a pawn for nothing.” – Kaufman. 26…c5 27 Qxd6 Qe3+ 28 Kf1 Bc6 29 Qd3 f6?? Black was obviously in a bad way, but this fails to make any fight of it. 30 Qxe3 fxe3 31 e5! Black resigned, in view of 31…Bxg2+ 32 Kxg2 Rxe5 33 Rd7 h6 34 Rxb7 Kh7 35 Rc7 Re8 36 b7 Rb8 37 Kf3.

Solution to pre-game puzzle: Manon Heiremans, a young Belgian student of mine, quickly found 1 Rd7+ Kh6 2 Rh7+!! Kxh7 (or 2…Bxh7 3 Kg2) 3 Bf5+! Bxf5 4 Kg2 with a clear draw.