Commonwealth Championships 2012 – ‘When it’s
Chennai, it’s fun!’
Hi all, Congrats to all of you for making it through Dec 21, 2012!
Commonwealth galatta!
By Arun Karthik
(Continuations for positions 1 and 3 will be published soon)
Hi all, Congrats to all of you for making it through Dec 21, 2012!
As you are all aware, the Commonwealth
Championship happened for the first time this year in the city of Chennai. The names of the players are not mentioned in any of the games just for fun! It doesn’t take away anything from the quality of the games! We
show here some of the most interesting games. In between, you will sometimes
get positions to ponder about.
Commonwealth galatta!
By Arun Karthik
NUMBER ONE.
White to move.
White to move.
Black is attacking f2. If White defends
it with the rook, Black takes on f2 anyway – thanks to White’s weak back rank. In
the game, White played 22.Qf3.
How can Black continue the initiative?
NUMBER TWO.
White to play.
White to play.
Here, White could have simply castled
kingside with an equal or slightly worse position. Unfortunately, White tried to be
a little fancy! (கொஞ்சம் "different ஆ " ட்ரை பண்ணா ... Chess doesn't always allow you that luxury!)
10.¢f1 This isn’t such
an attractive move at all. Things like "Complete the development" always hold good!
10…¤bd7
11.¦b1 Another fancy move. White’s position is
deteriorating.
11...¥c5
and Black did not look back! The game ended in under
30 moves.
12.¤b3 0–0–0 13.¤xc5 ¤xc5
Black’s
position looks overwhelming. White did not succeed in finding the best moves.
However, it's hard to blame White here. In positions like this, it’s particularly hard to play for EQUALITY with WHITE pieces... and that too, so soon! Just 13 moves have been played.
14.¥a3 ¦he8 15.£c2 ¤e6 16.£b2 ¦d7 17.¥d6 ¤g5
18.¦g1 ¤g4 19.¥xh3 £xh3+ 20.¢e1 £xh2 21.¦f1 £g2 22.¤d1 ¤f3+ 23.exf3 exf3+ 24.¤e3
¤h2 25.¥e5 ¤xf1 26.¤f5 b6 27.d4 £g1 28.¤xg7 ¦xe5+ 0–1
NUMBER
THREE.
We
have all looked at classical games where White has an isolani on d4 and attacks
kingside, finishing with a sacrifice! Time and again, they keep appearing in
tournament play.
In
this position, White does not have an isolani of course, but the pieces are
well-poised to finish the game.
Enjoy!
This position will definitely remind you of games played in the early part of
the 19th century!
How can White
continue?
NUMBER FOUR
“Misfortunes never come single!” (துன்பங்கள் தனித்து வருவதில்லை)
“Misfortunes never come single!” (துன்பங்கள் தனித்து வருவதில்லை)
You might have heard of this somewhat clichéd
phrase if you had read a good number of chess books. Here I give you an example
from 2012. This has happened to players right from the days tournament play came
into existence!
The position was in balance till Black’s
previous move – 14…c6.
This move has seriously weakened some
dark squares on Black’s queenside. Now watch the next move…
White played 15.0-0-0 and Black played
15…Qd7
This move simply walks into White’s
16.Na4.
Black was frustrated and lost without a
fight…
16...cxd5
17.¤b6 £e8 18.¤xa8 d4 19.¤b6 dxe3 20.¤xc8 £xc8 21.¤xf5 £c7 22.fxe3 ¤e8 23.¤xg7
¤xg7 24.¦hf1 ¦xf1 25.¦xf1 ¤c5 26.¥f3 ¤ce6 27.¥d5 1–0
NUMBER FIVE
Rook endings are
always complex. In most of the cases, it’s so easy to blunder and that’s what
makes it all the more intricate…
White has just
played 55.f6 in this position. All Black had to do was just wait. A move like
55…Ra8 or even 55…Rc7 would have drawn. In this position, Black’s a-pawn is not
really significant.
Instead Black played 55…Kg6?? Black wasn’t a weak player. It’s just that
sometimes it doesn’t ‘come off’!
White happily played 56.Rg4+ and won
soon…
56... ¢h7
57.¢f5 a4 58.¦h4+ ¢g8 59.¢g6 a3 60.¦b4 ¦a8 61.¦b7 ¦d8 62.¦g7+ ¢f8 63.¦h7 ¢e8
64.¦h8+ ¢d7 65.¦xd8+ 1–0
NUMBER
SIX
Blind spots! (கண் இமைக்கும் நேரத்தில்!)
Blind spots! (கண் இமைக்கும் நேரத்தில்!)
It’s very normal in contemporary
openings to temporarily sacrifice a pawn and regain it a few moves later. It
happens usually with c2-c4 (White) and …c7-c5 (Black)
However, be careful when you take the
pawn back. Chess is not always simple mathematics!
(as in the previous position, here too,
Black happens to be a strong player!)
Here Black played 19…Nxc5;
Only to resign a few moves later!
20. Bxc5 Qxc5 21.Rd8+ (Just twenty one
moves!)
1-0
NUMBER SEVEN
Blind spot 2! (அதே மறுபடியும்!)
Blind spot 2! (அதே மறுபடியும்!)
White just played 16.Nd4. Clearly, Black
has to take as there’s no option; there are double threats – Nf5 and Nxc6.
Black played 16…exd4.
17.e5.
Instead of accepting the inferior
position after 17…dxe5 18.Bxc6 Rc8 18.Bd7+ Nd7 19.Ra4, Black played
17…Bxg2
And resigned after 18.exf6!
1-0
NUMBER EIGHT
A series of unfortunate events! (சொதப்பல் காட்சிகள் !)
A series of unfortunate events! (சொதப்பல் காட்சிகள் !)
Sometimes, this also happens to chess
players. It doesn’t matter how high rated you are!
Have a look at this position.
Black is definitely better here. A pawn
up, Black simply has to bring the queen into play with 27…Qd6 and I am sure
Black could have won.
Instead, Black played 27…Ngf8. “Why?”
28.Nf5. Here, it is +=.
28…e3?? Oh no!
29.Qb2 and it’s all over.
29…f6
30. Qa2+
1-0
Show is over! (கதை முடிந்தது)
Until next time,
Merry Christmas!
Happy holidays! :)
மீண்டும் சந்திப்போம்! :)
(Continuations for positions 1 and 3 will be published soon)
