[Dr.AD]

Here is another set of exercises for the weekend. These are all from games of V. Anand!

There was a time when Anand used to have a lot of success with Black pieces, even at World Championship level. In reflection of those times, all three positions below have Anand playing Black and all three are Black to play and win!

None of these exercises are very hard. However, the key is to calculate the lines till the end, because there are some traps! It is not enough just to guess the first move, which is quite easy in most positions.

Problem 8. Black to play and win



Problem 9. Black to play and win



Problem 10. Black to play and win

[prakash24979]

Problem 8 : 1.. Rc1+. 2 Bf1, Ne3. 3 fxe3, fxe3 the pawn can't be stopped. If 3 h3 then black picks up the extra piece and wins e.g. 3 .. Nxf1, 4 g3 or g4 otherwise Ng3++ followed by mate.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by prakash24979

Problem 8 : 1.. Rc1+. 2 Bf1, Ne3. 3 fxe3, fxe3 the pawn can't be stopped. If 3 h3 then black picks up the extra piece and wins e.g. 3 .. Nxf1, 4 g3 or g4 otherwise Ng3++ followed by mate.

Correct!!

2. ... Ne3! is the winning move.

However, a minor improvement in your line: If 3. h3 then, instead of playing 3. ... Nxf1 and keeping the extra piece, Black can win the game more directly by 3. ... Rxf1+ 4. Kh2 Rxf2, and this is actually a mating attack!

BTW, this game is very famous too. The White player who missed 2. ... Ne3! move was none other than Vladmir Kramnik! And this game is from the 2008 World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik. This was Game 5 of the match.

Here is the link to the game: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1510508

[jkrishnakj]

Problem 9: Q moves to H2. Check mate.
I am now wondering if it can indeed be this simple. What am I missing ?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Problem 9: Q moves to H2. Check mate.
I am now wondering if it can indeed be this simple. What am I missing ?

No, Qh2 is not checkmate. White King goes to f1.

[prakash24979]

Problem 9. 1 ..Qf3!! Now if 2 Bxf3 then gxf3 and mate is unavoidable with Rh1#.e.g. 3. cxb7+ then not Kg5 but Kf5. If white doesn't accept the queen then Rh1,Bxh1,followed by Q or R to h1 with checkmate.

[prakash24979]

Problem 10. 1.. Rh3 threatening Rxg3 followed by d3 with a fork. If white defends with 2. Rg2 then Nxf4 wins on the spot with a pin and a fork.Note 3 gxf4 is useless as Qxg2 is check followed by Qxh1. If white decides to counterattack with Rh or e2 by capturing on h2 then again black doesn't capture on h2 but captures g3 pawn with Rook with a winning attack.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by prakash24979

Problem 10. 1.. Rh3 threatening Rxg3 followed by d3 with a fork. If white defends with 2. Rg2 then Nxf4 wins on the spot with a pin and a fork.Note 3 gxf4 is useless as Qxg2 is check followed by Qxh1. If white decides to counterattack with Rh or e2 by capturing on h2 then again black doesn't capture on h2 but captures g3 pawn with Rook with a winning attack.

You are on the right track, but why not first play Nxf4?

[prakash24979]

Yes, I think you are right 1..Nf4 is even better followed by the line discussed earlier.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Problem 9: Q moves to H2. Check mate.
I am now wondering if it can indeed be this simple. What am I missing ?

Yes, ofcourse. What did I eat yesterday! 🤦🏻‍♂️
Thanks.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by prakash24979

Problem 9. 1 ..Qf3!! Now if 2 Bxf3 then gxf3 and mate is unavoidable with Rh1#.e.g. 3. cxb7+ then not Kg5 but Kf5. If white doesn't accept the queen then Rh1,Bxh1,followed by Q or R to h1 with checkmate.

Correct!!

1. ... Qf3! is the winning move. Also, you are absolutely correct to point out that Kf5 is very critical and not Kg5. That was the "twist". With Kg5, the combination still goes wrong even if started correctly with Qf3.

I have given the exact answer below.

Originally Posted by prakash24979

Problem 10. 1.. Rh3 threatening Rxg3 followed by d3 with a fork.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

You are on the right track, but why not first play Nxf4?

Correct!! Nxf4 is the correct move.

Originally Posted by prakash24979

Yes, I think you are right 1..Nf4 is even better followed by the line discussed earlier.

Yes, the rest of the line works well after Nxf4 gxf4, however, even here, there is one trick! I have given the detailed solutions below.



Solution to Problem 8:

1. ... Rc1+
2. Bf1 Ne3!
3. fxe3 fxe3 and now the pawn can't be stopped. 0-1
(if 3. h3, then Rxf1+ 4. Kh2 Rxf2 is a mating attack)

As I mentioned this was Game 5 of the World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik, and in this particular game, Anand was black: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1510508


Solution to Problem 9:

1. ... Qf3!!

This is now threatening checkmate on h1.

2. cxb7+ Kf5! 0 - 1

This is a crucial move. There is a "twist" if Black goes wrong with Kg5.

( If 2. ... Kg5, then 3. Bxf3 gxf3 4. Qd8!! This is the counter-tactics that White has for Kg5. 4. ... Rxd8 5. Rc3 and Black's attack has vanished! )

After 2. ... Kf5, there is nothing for White. For example,

3. b8=Q Rh1+
4. Bxh1 Qxh1#

(or if 3. exf3 gxf3 and then the still there is mate on h1 which can't be stopped).

This game was also Kramnik-Anand, and also from 2008. But his was a Rapid game (and not standard classical chess).

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1487805


Solution to Problem 10:

1. ... Nxf4!
2. gxf4 Rh3!

This exploits the d3 fork after the Queen moves from d3.

There is nothing White can do about the d3 fork, so he tries to set up a counter trap!

3. e6+ Ke8! 0-1


Again, this is the only move that wins! There was a trap here if Black goes wrong with Kf6 or Kg7. The trap was, 3. ... Kf6 4. Rexh2 Rxd3 5. Rh6+ Kg7 6. Rh7+ and now you can see that there is no escape from these checks. White can keep checking perpetually on h6, h7, and h8!

4. Rexh2 Rxd3
5. Rh8+ Bf8

This is the idea behind Ke8. Ke8 wins because Bishop can come to f8 and shield the King from the checks. This was not possible if Black had gone Kf6 or Kg7.

This game was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave - Viswanathan Anand in a blitz game in 2016 : https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1825258

[SmartCat]

I'm playing black here. Just curious, what is likely to happen if I replicate/copy every white move?

[Sutripta]

What will you do at the first check? Lots of similar situations.

White - first move - always has a slight initial advantage.

Sutripta

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What will you do at the first check? Lots of similar situations.

I will let you know how it goes (I'm playing against an old friend). I think I will be forced to stop copying when there is a major piece exchange.

White - first move - always has a slight initial advantage.

Personally, I've done equally well playing Black.



My win rate playing white is 52.6% and win rate playing black is 53.4%, against equally ranked players.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

My win rate playing white is 52.6% and win rate playing black is 53.4%, against equally ranked players.

Wonder whether it tells us something of your portfolio management philosophy!

Sutripta