A Chess Odyssey

Efstratios Grivas



Driving Forces
Nowadays, combinative motifs can be categorized according to theme and then
incorporated into our training methods. These motifs can arise during any part of the
game, be it the opening, middlegame or endgame, so a chessplayer that wishes to find his
Ithaca should be trained not only in positional and strategical themes, but also in the
combinative themes that can transform a positional advantage into a material one.
The motif that we will examine in this survey is quite basic, but it is one of outstanding
beauty and logic. The simplest version is represented in the following position:
Whites advantage is obvious because of his
material advantage, but the win may not
immediately be apparent. The g7-pawn could
soon be lost and the threat of perpetual check is
looming. However, an experienced and well-
trained player can easily discover the elegant
solution!
1.Rf8+!
Bad is 1.Qf6? Qd4+! (1...Qe8? 2.Qf8+ Qxf8 3.
gxf8Q+ Rxf8 4.Rxf8+ Kxf8 5.Kf2 +) 2.Qxd4
Rxd4 with a drawn ending.
1...Rxf8 2.Qh7+!!
The basic idea. The black king is forced to the ideal square.
2...Kxh7
2...Kf7 3.gxf8Q+ or 3.g8Q+.
3.gxf8N+ Kg7 4.Nxd7 10
White easily wins the ensuing ending.
This combination can be categorized by specific factors:
The knight (underpromotion) that delivers the final blow;
The opponents queen is driven to the ideal square;
The piece sacrifice that pushes the opponents king to the ideal square.
The following well-known game may be the first instance of this winning method:
Labone,O NN
1887
1.Rf8+! Rxf8 2.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 3.gxf8N+ Kg7 4.
Nxd7 10
This example may have inspired the following
study from the famous Russian composer Leonid
Kubbel (Petrogubkommuna Chess Paper, 1921):
1.Qe4+ Kb8 2.Rb6+! Bxb6
2...Kc8 3.Qb7+ Kd7 4.Ne5+ Ke7 5.Qxc7+ Ke8 6.
Qc6+ Ke7 7.Ng6+! fxg6 8.Qe6#.
3.Ka6! Rd7
If 3...Rd5 4.Nxb6 wins. But now comes the main
course of action!
4.Qa8+!! Kxa8 5.Nxb6+ Kb8 6.Nxd7+ Kc7 7.
Nxf8 10
Lets look at a famous example from practical
play:

Petrosian,Tigran Simagin,Vladimir
Moscow Ch 1956 [E91]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Be2 00 7.00 Bg4 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.Nd2
Bxe2 10.Qxe2 e5 11.d5 c5 12.Rab1 Ne8 13.f3 f5 14.b4 cxb4 15.Rxb4 b6 16.a4 Bf6 17.
Kh1 Bg5 18.Bg1 Nc7 19.Rbb1 Na6 20.Nb3 Ndc5 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.exf5 gxf5 23.g4 fxg4
24.Ne4 Bf4 25.Rb7 Nc7 26.fxg4 Ne8 27.g5 Qc8 28.Re7 Qh3 29.Rf3 Qg4 30.Qd3 Bxh2
31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Rxe8+ Rxe8 33.Bxh2 Re7 34.Nxd6 Qxg5 35.Qf1+ Kg8 36.Ne4 Qh4
37.Qe2 Rg7 38.d6 Qh6 39.Qd1 Qh4 40.Qe2 Qh6 41.Qf1 Rf7 42.Qg2+ Kf8 43.Ng5
Qxd6
44.Qa8+!
White cannot win material by 44.Nxf7?, as Black
can continue 44...Qd1+ 45.Bg1 Qh5+ 46.Qh2 Qf3
+ with a draw via perpetual check.
44...Kg7 45.Bxe5+!!
Driving the opponents queen to the ideal
square!
45...Qxe5 46.Qh8+!! Kxh8 47.Nxf7+ 10
Ten years later, Petrosian was able to repeat this combination in his world championship
match versus Boris Spassky:
Petrosian,Tigran Spassky,Boris
Moscow Wch m (10) 1966 [E66]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Bg2 00 5.00 Nc6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d4 a6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5
10.Qc2 e5 11.b3 Ng4 12.e4 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Nd1 b5 15.f3 e4! 16.Bb2 exf3 17.Bxf3
Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Ne5 19.Be2 f4 20.gxf4 Bh3 21.Ne3 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Ng6 23.Bg4 Nxf4
24.Rxf4! Rxf4 25.Be6+ Rf7
Alternatives fail to impress: 25...Kf8 26.Qh8+
Ke7 27.Qxh7+ Ke8 (27...Kf6 28.Qf7+ Ke5 29.
Qg7+ Qf6 30.Qg3 Qf8 31.Ng4+ Kd4 32.Qe3#)
28.Qh5+ Kf8 29.Qh6+.
26.Ne4 Qh4
26...Raa7 27.Nf5 Qf8 28.Qf6 +, as the coming
Nh6+ is hard to meet.
27.Nxd6 Qg5+
27...Qe1+ 28.Kg2 Qxe3 29.Bxf7+ Kf8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Nf5+ Kxf7 32.Qg7+ and 33.Nxe3
+; or 27...Raa7 28.Nef5 Qg4+ 29.Kf2 Qh4+ 30.Kf1 Qd4 31.Qxd4 cxd4 32.c5 are both
lost.
28.Kh1 Raa7
28...Qxe3 29.Bxf7+ Kf8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Nf5+ Kxf7 32.Qg7+ and 33.Nxe3.
29.Bxf7+ Rxf7
30.Qh8+! 10
Black resigned, as 30...Kxh8 31.Nxf7+ Kg7 32.
Nxg5 is too much!
Even a player of Anands caliber failed to foresee
this motif:
Polgar,Judit Anand,Viswanathan
Wijk aan Zee 1998 [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 00 9.00 Be6 10.
Qe2 b5 11.Bb3 Bxb3 12.axb3 Nbd7 13.Rfd1 Qc7 14.Bg5 Rfc8 15.Ne1 Qb7 16.Bxf6
Nxf6 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Rxd5 Rc5 19.Rad1 Rxd5 20.Rxd5 Rc8 21.c3 b4 22.c4 g6 23.g3
Rc5 24.Rd1 a5 25.Nc2 Kg7 26.Qd3 Rc6 27.Ne3 Qc8 28.Kg2 Qe6 29.Qe2 Bd8 30.Nd5
Rc5 31.Qe3 Be7 32.Rd3 Bd8 33.Qd2 Rc6 34.Qd1 Kg8 35.h4 Kg7 36.h5 Bg5 37.Qf3
Rc8 38.Rd1 Rc6 39.Qe2 Rc8 40.Rh1 Kg8 41.f3 Rb8 42.Qf2 Rb7 43.hxg6 fxg6 44.c5
dxc5 45.Qxc5 Bd8 46.Rc1 Kf7 47.Qe3 Kg7 48.Rc4 Rd7 49.Qc1 h5 50.Rc6 Rd6 51.Rc8
Qd7 52.Qc5 Kh6 53.Rb8 Bf6 54.Qe3+ Bg5
Whites position is obviously much better,
because of the strong d5-knight and the weak
black king. So, its no surprise that a winning
combination exists.
55.f4! exf4?
Black had to try 55...Bxf4, although he would
have few chances of surviving after 56.gxf4 Qg4
+ 57.Qg3 Qe2+ 58.Kh3 Qf1+ 59.Qg2 Qxg2+ 60.
Kxg2 exf4 61.Rh8+ Kg7 62.Ra8.
56.Rh8+! 10
Black resigned, because of the forced combination 56...Kg7 57.Qd4+ Bf6
58.Qxf6+!! Rxf6 59.Rh7+ Kxh7 60.Nxf6+ Kg7
61.Nxd7.
In the following example, the side with the
advantage uses this combination to exchange
pieces into a winning endgame:
Grivas,Efstratios Banikas,Hristos
Korinthos 1997 [E69]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 00 5.00 d6
6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.h3 c6 9.e4 Re8 10.Rb1 a5
11.b3 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5 13.Re1 a4 14.b4 Ne6
15.Nde2 h6 16.f4 g5 17.Be3 gxf4 18.gxf4 Nf8 19.Qd2 Ng6 20.f5 Ne5 21.Bxh6 Bxh6 22.
Qxh6 Nh7 23.Red1 Nxc4 24.Rd4 b5 25.e5 Nxe5 26.Rf1 f6 27.Bxc6 Ra7 28.Bxe8 Qxe8
29.Nd5 Rg7+ 30.Kf2 Bxf5
31.Qxh7+!!
The queen sacrifice is simple and obvious, but
still pleasurable. Black can accepted it with three
different pieces, but none of them guarantees his
survival.
31...Rxh7 32.Nxf6+ Kf7 33.Nxe8 Kxe8 34.Rxd6
Bxh3 35.Rh1 Rf7+ 36.Ke1 Bg2 37.Rh8+ Ke7
38.Ra6 Nd3+ 39.Kd2 Nxb4 40.Ra7+ Kf6 41.
Rh6+ Kg7 42.Rxf7+ Kxf7
42...Kxh6 43.Nc3 Bc6 44.Ra7 Kg5 45.Ra5 Kf4
46.a3.
43.Nc3 a3 44.Rh4! 10
The next example does not feature a queen sacrifice, but it is still instructive:
Skembris,Spyridon Grivas,Efstratios
Khania Ch-GRE 1987 [A52]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Be2 Ngxe5 7.Nc3 00 8.Nxe5 Nxe5
9.00 Re8 10.Kh1 a5 11.f4 Ng6 12.e4 Bb4 13.f5 Ne5 14.Nd5 Bf8 15.f6 g6 16.Bg5 d6 17.
Qd2 Be6 18.Bh6 Kh8 19.Bxf8 Rxf8 20.Qh6 Rg8 21.Ne7 b6 22.Rac1 Qf8 23.Nxg8 Kxg8
24.Qh4 a4 25.Rc3 Ra5 26.Rfc1 Nd7 27.Ra3 g5 28.Qf2 Re5 29.Rxa4 Nc5 30.Ra3 Nxe4
31.Qf3
Black can win by simply repeating our main idea;
driving the white queen to the ideal square:
31...Bg4! 32.Qxg4
There is no decent alternative: 32.Qe3 Bxe2 33.
Qxe2 Ng3+.
32...Nf2+ 33.Kg1 Nxg4 34.Bxg4 h5
34...Qe8 is much stronger.
35.Bxh5 Re6?!
Again, Black should play 35...Qe8 36.Rf1 Re1 37.Raf3 Qe5.
36.Rf1 Qh6?
36...d5 37.cxd5 Qc5+ 38.Kh1 Rxf6 39.Raf3 Rxf3
40.Bxf3 Qc4 is winning.
37.Rh3! Qf8 38.Bg4! Re4 39.Bf5 Rf4 40.Bh7+
After his adventure, White is now satisfied
with the draw. He could try 40.Re3 Qa8 (40...
Rxf1+? 41.Kxf1 Qd8 42.Re7 +/) 41.Rfe1 Rxf5
42.Re8+ Qxe8 43.Rxe8+ Kh7 44.Re7 Rc5 45.
Rxf7+ Kg6 46.Rd7 Rxc4 47.f7 Kg7, although
Black holds the draw without serious difficulties.
40...Kh8 41.Rxf4 gxf4 42.Be4+ Kg8 43.Bh7+
Kh8 44.Bf5+
In the last example, both sides utilized our theme:
Ilandzis,Spyridon Ivanov,Ivan
Burgas 1987 [D55]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 00 6.e3 b6 7.Qc2 Ba6 8.cxd5 Bxf1 9.Kxf1
exd5 10.Ne5 c6 11.h4 Nfd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7
13.Nxc6!
The prelude to the main combination.
13...Nxc6 14.Nxd5 Qd6
15.Qxc6!
An easy but effective follow-up to Whites
thirteenth move. Now he gets a winning position.
15...Qxc6 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc6 Rfc8 18.Rc1
Rc7 19.Ke2 Rac8 20.d5 g6
20...Ne5 21.Nxe5 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rxc1 23.d6+.
21.Kd2?
21.Rc4 +.
21...Nf6 22.f3 Nxd5 23.Nxa7 Ra8 24.Rxc7 Nxc7 25.Nc6 Rxa2 26.Rb1 +/- Kg7 27.e4
Ne6 28.Ke3 Nc5 29.Nb4 Ra7 30.Nd5 b5 31.Rc1 Ne6 32.g4 Ra2 33.Rc2 Ra1 34.Rc3
Rh1 35.Rb3 Rxh4 36.Rxb5 Rh3 37.Nf4?
White had to try 37.Nc3 +/.
37...Rxf3+!
The usual method!
38.Kxf3 Nd4+ 39.Ke3 Nxb5 40.e5 h6 41.Kd3
Nc7 42.Kc4 Kf8 43.b4 Ke7 44.b5 Kd7 45.Kc5

45...Ne6+?
Returning the favor. Black could draw by 45...h5
46.gxh5 gxh5 47.Kb6 (47.Nxh5 Nxb5) 47...Nxb5
48.Kxb5 h4 49.Kc4 h3 50.Nxh3 f6! =.
46.Nxe6 fxe6
46...Kxe6 47.Kc6 Kxe5 48.b6 +.
47.Kb6 h5 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Ka7 h4 50.b6 h3 51.
b7 h2 52.b8Q h1Q

53.Qb7+!
Achieving a winning pawn ending. The rest is
simple.
53...Qxb7+ 54.Kxb7 Ke7 55.Kc7 Kf7 56.Kd7
Kf8 57.Kxe6 Ke8 58.Kd6 10
2007 Efstratios Grivas. All rights reserved.

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