It is no longer typical to see top-level players
playing
only
for the attack. In fact, Korchnoi
at the time of this game was one of the best
in the world, and his
forte
was defense.
Many fine players would attack him ingen-
iously, only to break up on his rock-like for-
tifications. Still, World Champion Karpov
crushes him in only 27 moves with a mating
attack! In a classic manner against Black's
Sicilian Dragon defense (so named probably
because of the "tail" of control Black's bish-
op makes from g7 to a1), Karpov plays the
St. George attack, castling queenside and
prying open the h-file to slay the dragon.
14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petrosian,
Moscow, 1969
Spassky won the world championship from
Petrosian in the match that produced this
game. In this English Opening that becomes
a Queen's Gambit, you'll see that once again
White gets a
strong center
and quick
devel-
opment
of his pieces. As early as 13. Rd1,
you can sense that Black is in danger. His
king has no piece defenders; his forces seem
passive while White's are aggressively coor-
dinated. As often happens in such situations,
White breaks through with a pawn push in
the center, in this case 15. d4-d5!. It clears
the board for White's more active forces.
Petrosian, one of the best defenders of all
time, tries repeatedly to trade queens, but
White wisely rebuffs these offers, which
would take much of the power off the board.
White's d-pawn becomes a star, advancing
all the way to the 7th rank. Because of this
queening threat, White is able to sacrifice his
queen for one of Black's defending rooks. In
the final position, it's hopeless for Black
because White will either promote his pawn
to a queen or capture whatever Black uses to
block on d8.
15. Robert Fischer vs. Reuben Fine,
New York, 1963
Nine years before winning the world cham-
pionship, Bobby Fischer played this Evan's
Gambit (a variation of the Giuoco Piano)
against his famous elder. Bobby sacrifices
two pawns in order to get his pieces out
quickly. Then he plays 14. h2-h4!, sacrific-
ing another pawn to force the Black queen
away from the g7-square. After that, Black's
king will be stuck in the center and in danger
of the h4-d8 diagonal. Bobby's final move,
17. Qg3!, forces Fine to resign, because he
must move his queen from the critical black
diagonal h4-d8. Even on 17. … Qxg3, White
ignores the capture of his own queen and
plays 18. Bf6 mate!
16. Lajos Portisch vs. Johannessen,
Havana, 1966
During the first half of this game, a Queen's
Gambit Slav, the great Hungarian grand-
master Lajos Portisch locks up the center
with a d4-e5 structure by move 14. This
gives him a "beachhead" on e5 and makes it
hard for Black to counterattack in the center,
which is the standard antidote for an attack
on the wing. The next stage starts with 16.
h4. Portisch announces his intention to
attack on the kingside. He refrains from
castling his own king into safety because he
knows it’s safe enough in the center, at least
for the time it will take him to break through
with his attack. When Black tries to trade off
pieces with 17. … Bxf3, Portisch sacrifices a
knight for an unstoppable attack with 18.
Bxh6 and then calmly moves his king to the
second rank to bring his other rook into the
game. His Rxh4 was another brilliant sacri-
fice that crushes any hope of defense. In the
final position, Black resigns because White
will simply play 26. Rxh6+, winning the
Black queen. If 26. … Qxh6, then White
plays 27. Qxh6+ and will mate on h7.
At any time during a game
when it is your move, you may
change the position on the board
by adding a piece or pieces,
removing one or more pieces, or
even changing any of the
pieces—for example, from a
knight to a queen. Obviously,
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7. Edward Lasker vs.
George Thomas, London, 1910
This masterpiece, a Dutch Defense, features
a famous example of the king’s walk to
mate. Edward, an American distant cousin of
the great world champion Emmanuel Lasker,
gets his pieces activated against Black's
kingside while the English champion
Thomas
develops
(gets his pieces off the
back rank and into play) too slowly. By 10.
Qh5, White is already threatening an all-out
blitzkrieg. His brilliant queen sacrifice 11.
Qxh7 is followed by a devastating
discov-
ered double check
, 12. Nxf6++. Then
Black's king has to walk the plank, all the
way across the board to g1, the normal spot
for the White king! Here he breathes his last.
8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A. Mongredien,
London, 1862
This game starts out as a Center Counter
(also called Scandinavian Defense). Black
loses too much time developing his pieces,
while White gets his into play aggressively.
Indeed, White's army dominates the all-
important center of the board as well as the
king's side. This sets the stage for a mating
attack. White's two-move maneuver 13. Rf3
and 14. Rh3 is called a
rook lift
, and is a typ-
ical attacking strategy. This rook then sacri-
fices itself on h7 in a way that allows Steinitz
to bring his other rook quickly into the fray.
White is a rook down, but all of his forces
take part in the assault, while the Black
queen's rook and bishop seem to be waiting
for the next game. They don't have long to
wait.
9. Aaron Nimzovich vs.
S. Alapin, Riga, 1913
Another French Defense. In this one, the
great Latvian player and writer Nimzovich
(after whom the Nimzo-Indian Opening is
named—see page 6) plays an opponent who
wastes time stealing a pawn with 9. … Qxg2.
"Nimzo" plays a punishing 12. O-O-O!, sac-
rificing his knight. He finishes up with a
convincing queen sacrifice that forces
checkmate.
10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman Steiner,
Los Angeles, 1933
The handsome Cuban World Champion Jose
Capablanca had a deceptively simple style.
Here we see him playing the old-fashioned
Four Knights' game and opening up his
opponent's kingside pawn protection by
move 11! His first rook sacrifice, 17. Rxf6!,
can't be refused and forces Black's king into
a deadly crossfire. With 23. Qxb7!, Capa
offers a second rook, which can't be taken
immediately because of 23. … Qxf6? 24.
Qb4 checkmate. But Black is forced to take
the rook a move later and mate follows on
the same square.
11. Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Paul Keres,
The Hague, 1948
Botvinnik won the world championship a
record three times. His opponent here is pos-
sibly the strongest 20th-century chess player
who did not become world champion. The
opening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's
doubled
pawns
are potentially a long-term weakness,
but in the short term they control a good
many all-important central squares. White
plays cleverly to keep a grip on the position
and breaks through on the queenside with his
pawn-push 17. c4-c5. This gives him a
chance to bring his queenside rook into
action. He swings it against the kingside,
sacrificing it on g7 to win. In the final posi-
tion, Black's king will be mated by the White
queen, supported by the bishop on c1. Where
did Black go wrong? Take a look at his
"unemployed" queen and rook on a8 and b8!
12. J. Banas vs. P. Lukacs, Trnava, 1986
In a Four Knights' Game, Black gets his king
into safety by castling and takes advantage
of White's awkward piece placement by sac-
rificing his knight with 9. … Nf3+. Then he
allows White to take his bishop on c5. But by
that time, White's king is surrounded. In the
final position, after 13. … Ng4, White's only
effective defender, his knight on e3, is forced
from its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.
13. Anatoly Karpov vs.
Victor Kortchnoi, Moscow, 1974
Twentieth-century chess perfected defense.
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