1)

WHITE TO MOVE

WHITE TO MOVE

V Bhat - Wang Yue, Shanghai 2002.
1.Be7! (A shock, but sometimes the god of tactics smiles on you. Note that 1.Bd2 Qxa5 2.Qc1 Kh7 3.Nab5 looks tricky, but Black can’t complain after 3…Qb6 4.Na4 Qxb5 5.c4 Qb3 6.Ra3 Qxa3 7.bxa3 b5 8.Nc3 b4 9.axb4 cxb4 10.Na4 a5 11.Be3 Ba6 12.Qc2 Rfc8) 1...Re8 (In the actual game, Black – who didn’t see 1.Be7 coming – gave up the Exchange and, though he was completely lost, managed to hold onto a draw.) 2.Nab5! axb5 3.Nxb5 and Black loses since 3…Qb8 4.Bxd6 is horrible.
Four tactical points (you needed to see the position up to 4.Bxd6).
3)

WHITE TO MOVE

Zhang Zhong - Gulko, Shanghai 2002.
After killing Black’s counterplay, White can calmly go about picking apart his opponent’s structural weaknesses. 1.Ke3! (White’s King might look exposed here, but it’s critical that he keep Black’s Rook off of d2. Other moves give Black too much counterplay. For example: 1.Na4? Rd2+ 2.Ke3 (better is 2.Kf1 fxe4 3.fxe4 Nxg2 4.Nxg2 Bh3, though White would not be particularly happy) 2...Nxg2+ 3.Nxg2 R8d3 mate) 1...Kf7 2.Na4 and White’s advantage is clear. The game continued: 2…fxe4 3.fxe4 Nd3 4.Nxd3 Rxd3+ 5.Kf2 Rd2+ 6.Ke1 (Now that Black’s Knight has been exchanged, the Rook on d2 no longer has much punch.) 6…Rxc2 7.Rxc2 Rd4 8.Nc5 (White’s Knight dominates the board, and is clearly superior to Black’s Bishop.) 8…Bc8 9.Rd2 Ke7 10.Rxd4 exd4 11.e5! (Forming a blockade that keeps the enemy King at bay. The game is now a sure win for White.) 11…g5 12.Kd2 Bf5 13.g3 h6 14.a4 Kf7 15.b4 axb4 16.a5 Bc8 17.Kd3 Kg6 18.Kxd4 Kf5 19.g4+, 1-0.
Four positional points (you only needed to see White’s first move. Take an additional 4 positional points if you saw – and correctly assessed – the position up to 6.Ke1).
4)

WHITE TO MOVE

Morozevich - Akopian, Moscow 2002
White plays sharply and proves that the Black King is far from safe. 1.b4! cxb4 2.d4! with a strong initiative for White. The finish: 2…a5 3.a3 Ra7 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.g5 fxg5 6.Qg4 f6 7.Qc4 Nd8 (also bad for Black is 7...Kf8 8.Rd3 Ne7 9.Rbd1) 8.Rd3 Rh4 9.Qg8 Rf4 10.Rb2 Nf7 11.Rbd2, 1-0. Nothing can be done about White’s threatened Rd7+.
Three tactical points AND three positional points since White’s play caters to the needs of the position and couldn’t be figured out by calculation alone (you only needed to see White’s first two moves).
5)

WHITE TO MOVE

Bareev - Short, Moscow 2002
White is a pawn up but he’s behind in development. If he can get his kingside pieces into play, the extra material should prove decisive. 1.h4! Rfd8 2.Rh3 and White’s advantage is obvious. After 2…Be4 3.Re3 Bg6 4.g4 h6 5.Bg2 White had complete control and easily converted his advantage into victory.
Four positional points (you needed to see White’s first two moves).
6)

WHITE TO MOVE
Tkachiev - Korchnoi, Biel 2002
1.Nb3! (Sacrificing a pawn for tremendous positional compensation.) 1…Qe5 2.Nd4 Qxd5 3.f4! A very important move that dooms the Black Knight to permanent passivity. Remember: White’s sacrifice of the d-pawn wasn’t about threats. It was about pressure against b6, d6, and f5, and the slow asphyxiation of the Black position. After 3…Nh6 (7...Rac8 8.Qa4 leaves Black badly tied up) 8.R1c6 White was in complete control and eventually won a nice game.
Three positional points if you saw 1.Nb3. Three more if you also noticed 3.f4.
7)

WHITE TO MOVE
Rowson – Ehlvest, World Open 2002
1.Bxc7! (Decisively opening up Black’s King.) 1…Kxc7 2.Qf4+ Ne5 (And not 2...Kc8 3.Nb6 mate.) 3.g4 g5 4.Qg3 Black has no defense. The finish: 4…Kb8 5.Nfxe5 fxe5 6.Qxe5+ Ka8 7.gxh5 (Even stronger was 7.Rd7!) 7...Rf8 8.Rd7 Bd8 9.Qd5, 1-0.
Six tactical points (you needed to see White’s first three moves).
8)

BLACK TO MOVE
Gelashvili - Sargissian, Batumi 2002
White threatens a quick win down the b-file. However, Black turned things around by 1…Nb4! 2.Rb5 (Of course, 2.cxb4 Rc2+ isn’t acceptable for White, while 2.Rxc6 Rxc6 3.Ne1 Qxc3 is a technical win for Black.) 2...Qxb5! Exchanging into a winning endgame. The finish: 3.axb5 Nd3+ 4.Ke2 Nxb2 5.bxc6 Nc4 6.Ne1 Rxc6 7.Nd3 Rc7 8.Nc5 Rh7 9.Ke1 a4 10.Rb4 (Also hopeless is 13.Nxa4 Rxh2 14.Rb4 g3) 10...a3 11.Nxe6 Rxh2 12.Nd8 (Hoping to get a perpetual check by Nc6+, but Black’s next move ends that hope.) 12…Rb2, 0-1.

Take three tactical points if you saw 1…Nb4. Take four more tactical points (for a total of seven tactical points) and three positional points if you noticed 2…Qxb5 and understood that it gave Black a winning endgame.
9)

CAN WHITE WIN?

M Gurevich - M Marin, Batumi 2002
White can win by 1.Kh2 Bxg3+ 2.Kh3! after which White’s King goes for a long walk, but Black’s check will eventually run out: 2…Qh1+ 3.Kxg3 Qg1+ 4.Kf3 Qh1+ 5.Ke2 Qe4+ 6.Kd2 Qxb4+ 7.Kd3 Qb1+ 8.Kc4 Qb3+ (In the actual game Black played 8…Qf1+ and resigned after 9.Qd3 Qc1+ 10.Kb5.) 9.Kc5 Qc2+ 10.Kb4 Qb1+ 11.Kxa4 Qa2+ 12.Kb5 Qe2+ 13.Kc5 Qxa6 14.Qd6+ Qxd6+ 15.Kxd6 and White wins the King and pawn endgame (analysis by M Gurevich).

Take 4 tactical points if you saw White’s first two moves. This position asks for pure calculation, with a dollop of intuition tossed in (i.e., White just “knows” that his King will eventually escape the checks). If you saw the first two moves and had no doubt that White could avoid the perpetual, take one positional point in addition to your tactical points.
10)

BLACK TO MOVE

O. De La Riva Aguado - Bologan, Pamplona 2001/02
Black wins nicely by 1...Bxh4! (The flashy 1...Rg4 doesn’t get the job done after 2.Qe3 Rxh4+ 3.Rxh4 Bxh4 4.Qe4) 2.Qxh4 Rg5 when White has no satisfactory defense: 3.Qh3 Rh5 4.Rd8+ Kh7 5.Rh4 Qc2+ 6.Kg1 (Black also answers 6.Kh1 with 6…Rg6 when White must resign) 6…Rg6+ 7.Kf1 Rxh4 8.Qxh4 Qg2+ 9.Ke1 Qxf3 10.Qh2 Rg2, 0-1.

Take 5 tactical points if you saw Black’s first two moves. If you saw through to 6…Rg6+ (or 6…Rg6 in answer to 6.Kh1) then take an additional 3 tactical points for 8 total.

POSITIONAL SCORES:
0 to 3 – We’ll pretend it never happened.
4 to 8 – You have nothing to be ashamed of. These problems were tough!
9 to 13 – Impressive! Your positional skills are beyond that of ordinary chessplayers.
14 to 19 – Are you a master?
20 to 25 – Is this Karpov?

TACTICAL SCORES:
0 to 3 – Run, don’t walk, to the nearest store and buy a book on tactics. Now!
4 to 10 – It’s time for you to study the games of Tal, Shirov, Kasparov, etc.
11 to 18 – A solid result! You are probably 1800-2100 tactically.
19 to 27 – You have a talent for tactics. Congratulations.
28 to 32 – Many masters will have trouble keeping up with you tactically.
33 to 39 – I never want to play you; I just don’t need the humiliation!