Before I begin this next do or die last round analysis, let me just say a few words about the absurd “scandal” regarding my two part article for Chess Life.

First of all, I never intended a scandal; I just wrote what I thought was an entertaining article, and I’m happy that the great majority of chessplayers view it that way.

Chess Life magazine handled the whole situation abominably; while promoting a vicious minority, they failed to follow their own policies about letters to the editor, and the right of the author to reply. In fact, since the first article came out, no editor at Chess Life has taken the responsibility to even contact me or reply to my numerous emails and snail mails.

I have been deprived of the well-recognized right of the author to answer his critics.

My full rebuttal, sent to Chess Life about a month ago, was completely ignored. Therefore, I asked Jeremy Silman if he would be kind enough to publish this on his website, and I am happy to say he agreed. To read my full answer to the extremely slanted selection of letters in the July Chess Life, please click HERE.

Now back to chess: it’s the last round in Kecskemet, Hungary – the KFT double round robin International – and I need a win badly!

In my first tournament in Hungary, as the world knows by now, I had come in dead last, scoring but a single win. But now I had a chance to win this tournament!

This was the situation: the Russian IM Sutorikhin had led throughout in Petrosian style: rock solid play, lots of draws, but no losses.

Sutorikhin had to get back to Russia for some reason, and so played his last round early – so when I came to play Stoecklin in the last round, Sutorikhin already had a complete, final score of 7-3 (four wins and six draws). I had 6-3 (four wins, four draws, one loss) going into this final encounter: I needed to win to catch Sutorikhin and tie for first.

One chance and there would be no more.

Timothy Taylor (USA) - Carlo Stoecklin (SUI)            

Kecskemet 2003

King’s Indian Defense, E70

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6

The interesting thing about a double round robin is that you get a second chance with each opponent! My first game against Stoecklin showed me that he was a tenacious defender: I had obtained a slight ending edge with the two bishops, but even though I pressed for about a hundred moves, I could not break through, and finally had to settle for a draw.

This time I resolved that I would sharpen the play early! 

5.Nge2

A DANGEROUS SYSTEM

The Hungarian Attack! White plans Ne2-g3, h4-h5, and mate! Not too subtle to be sure – but I didn’t want a boring position where Stoecklin could defend; I wanted madness, chaos, where a single mistake could be fatal.

5…0-0 6.Ng3 e5

I had played the Hungarian Attack earlier in the tournament, and had won a spectacular game with a Knight sacrifice (see Taylor-Mester in the May Chess Life). I could expect Stoecklin to be prepared …

7.d5 c6

And he was! 7… c6 is supposed to best here, approved as the main line in ECO, which claims Black equalizes.

This game is something of the reverse of the SEVILLANO-TAYLOR DEBACLE I presented last month. There, fearing a prepared variation, I played something I didn’t know, with horrible results. Now I play a line I know well, confident that my general knowledge and feel for the position will outweigh my opponent’s quick preparation.

Here’s an example of that experience: Taylor-Hinricksen, Los Angeles 2003, continued with the weaker 7...Nbd7 (instead of 7… c6) and I obtained a quick attack. 8.Be2 a5 9.h4 h5 10.Bg5 Nc5 11.Bxh5! This sac works in the Hungarian Attack when the black king-Knight is not well defended (here Black will need to bring his queen-Knight back to d7) and especially when White can quickly bring a Rook into the attack (usually Rh3-g3, but one can see the attack gets even stronger, as in this game, when the white queen-Rook comes into the attack too!) 11...gxh5 (Otherwise White is just a good pawn up, and still has attack). Play continued: 12.Nxh5 and now Black has three main defenses:

A THEMATIC POSITION

A.12...Kh8 13.Nxg7 Kxg7 14.Qf3 Rh8 (14...Ncd7 15.h5 Rg8 16.Qf5 a4 17.0-0-0 a3 18.b3 Kf8 19.h6 Ke7 20.h7 Rxg5 21.Qxg5 Qh8 22.Rh6 Kd8 23.Rd3 Ke8 24.Rf3 Nxh7 25.Qh4 Ndf8 26.Nb5 and Black’s dead) 15.h5 Ncd7 16.h6+ Kg8 17.h7+ Rxh7 18.0-0-0 and White crashes through on the h-file, e.g. 18...Rg7 19.Qh3 Kf8 20.Qh6 a4 21.Rd3 a3 22.Rg3 axb2+ 23.Kxb2 c6 24.Qxg7+! etc.

B. 12...Bh8 13.Qf3 Ncd7 14.Rh3 Re8 15.Nd1! One more attacking piece! Black has no real defense, as can be seen:

NO DEFENSE

B1. 15...c5 16.Rg3 Kf8 17.Ne3 with a winning attack.

B2. 15…Kf816.Ne3 Ke7 (16...Re7 17.Nxf6 Nxf6 18.Bxf6 Bxh3 19.Bxh8 Bc8 20.Bf6 c6 21.h5 Qc7 22.Bxe7+ Qxe7 23.0-0-0 Ra6 24.Rh1 Kg8 25.h6 Kh7 26.Kb1 Bd7 27.g4 with a winning position) 17.Nf5+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ Kg8 19.Rg3+ Kh7 20.Bg5.

C. 12…Ncd7 (played) 13.Qf3 c6 (13...a4 14.Rh3 Kh8 15.Rg3 Rg8 16.Nb5 a3 17.b3 Ra5 18.Nxc7! Rc5 19.Nb5 Qe7 20.Rc1 Kh7 21.b4 Rxb5 22.cxb5 Qd8 23.Qf5+ Kh8 24.Nxg7 Rxg7 25.Bxf6 Nxf6 26.Rxc8 Qxc8 27.Qxc8++-) 14.Rh3 Qb6 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 (15...Bxf6 16.Rg3) 16.Bxf6 and Black resigned. A possible finish is 16...Rd8 17.Rg3 Kf8 18.Rxg7 Qxb2 19.Nd1 Qb4+ (19...Qxa1 20.Qh5 and mates) 20.Kf1 Qxc4+ 21.Kg1 Ke8 (21...Be6 22.Rg8+ Kxg8 23.Qh5 and mates) 22.Bg5! and mates in at most four.

The idea of 7…c6 is that Black immediately opens up counterplay on the queenside and center, and so creates a counterweight to White’s kingside attack.

8.Be2 cxd5 9.cxd5 a6

This pawn can move two squares in one move! Probably safer is 9...a5 10.Be3 Na6 11.0-0 h5 12.Bg5 Bd7 13.Re1 (13.Bb5 Bxb5 14.Nxb5 Qd7 15.a4 Nh7 16.Be3 h4 17.Ne2 h3 18.gxh3 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.f4 e4, =) 13...Qb6 14.Qd2 Ng4 is Forintos-R Byrne, Monte Carlo 1968, and now White should play 15.Rf1, +=, but instead misplaced his Knight with 15.Nh1, and soon settled for a draw.

10.a4 a5 11.h4

The Crab strikes! I attack with both rook pawns, and leave my King in the center!

11…h5 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Ra3!

BURNING BRIDGES

Burning every bridge in sight, now I know I won’t castle queenside!

13…Nc5

And now it’s time for a story, actually two stories …

Once upon a time two brilliant and highly original players met in a Candidates Match leading up to the World Championship: Tal and Larsen: the game started like this.

Mihail Tal - Bent Larsen [B04]

Candidates (Bled), 1965

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nd7

This was the first time Black’s extremely provocative fifth move had been played in serious competition. As Tal comments, “If this had occurred in a simultaneous display, I would have decided that my opponent had simply missed the stroke 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qh5+ when, against his will, the Black King is forced to “go for a walk.”

Furthermore, I might add, this would be a “Tal position” when he could attack the wandering black King with all his renowned ingenuity.

But Tal did not sacrifice! Why? Because of the importance of the occasion; because he knew Larsen must have prepared this. Because he wasted endless time trying to find a defense for Black when he should have simply sac’ed the Knight without prejudice, and played according to his style.

In other words, Tal talked himself out of playing the only truly challenging move, felt terrible about betraying his own character, and so of course soon got a totally lost position, from which he was very, very fortunate to extract a “miracle draw” after adjournment.

Second story:

Again our hero is Tal, this time playing in the Soviet Championship against Vasiukov. The game starts like this:

Tal - Vasiukov [B17]

Kiev 1964

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Ng3 e6 7.Bd3 c5 8.0–0 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Nf3 0–0 11.Qe2 b6 12.Bf4 Bb7 13.Rad1 Nd5 14.Bg5 Qc7 15.Nh5 Kh8 16.Be4 f6 17.Bh4 Bd6 18.c4 Ba6

At this point Tal began thinking about a Knight sac on g7, but kept finding defenses for Black … then distracted himself with the couplet by Chukovsky: “Oh what a difficult job it was/To drag out from the marsh the hippopotamus!”

He considered rope ladders, jacks, even helicopters, then, as he says, thought spitefully, “Well, let it drown!”

And with that, he immediately sacrificed the Knight, since the sacrifice was in any case intuitive!

Tal went on to win brilliantly as follows:

19.Nxg7!! Kxg7 20.Nd4 Nc5 21.Qg4+ Kh8 22.Nxe6 Nxe6 23.Qxe6 Rae8 24.Qxd5 Bxh2+ 25.Kh1 Qf4 26.Qh5 Qxe4 27.Rfe1 Qg6 28.Qxg6 hxg6 29.Bxf6+ Kg8 30.Rxe8 Rxe8 31.Kxh2 Bxc4 32.Rd7 Re6 33.Bc3 Bxa2 34.Rxa7 Bc4 35.Kg3 Bd5 36.f3 Kf8 37.Bd4 b5 38.Kf4 Bc4 39.Kg5 Ke8 40.Ra8+ Kf7 41.Ra7+ Ke8 42.b4 Bd5 43.Ra3 Kf7 44.g4 Re2 45.Bc5 Re5+ 46.Kh6 Re6 47.Rd3 Bc6 48.Rd8 Re8 49.Rd4 Re6 50.f4 Ke8 51.Kg7 Be4 52.Bb6 Bf3 53.Rd8+ Ke7 54.Rd3 Be2 55.Bd8+ Ke8 56.Rd2 Re3 57.Bg5 Bd3 58.f5, 1–0.

What does all this mean for the last round, or indeed, for any crucial game? I say, “Let it drown!” Banish the hippopotamus of doubt! True sacrifices are incalculable at the board anyway. You have to trust your judgment, your knowledge, your feel; trust who you are as a player –

And don’t waste time on the clock worrying!

Now back to Taylor-Stoecklin, and you can imagine how many seconds I took on my next move – maybe one!

14.Bxh5!!

THAT THEMATIC SACRIFICE AGAIN

Yes, it’s true that because of Black’s more accurate opening (7… c6!) this sacrifice is not as strong as in Taylor-Hinricksen given above. But what is much more important is, this is my position. I understand this sacrifice, I understand this attack.

My opponent, the solid defender, sees only chaos on the board: is my queen-Rook suddenly coming all the way across to g3? What madness is this? He had prepared for my opening, but he didn’t have the feel for it.

Suddenly he had to make an incredibly important decision, and the right path was by no means obvious. The first thing he must have looked at is simply taking the Bishop.

14...gxh5 15.Nxh5 and now:

A. 15...Ncd7 16.Rh3 Qb6 17.Rg3 Nxh5 18.Qxh5 f6 (or 18… f5, see A1) 19.Bh6 Rf7 20.Bxg7 Rxg7 21.Rxg7+ Kxg7 22.Nb5 Kf8 23.Rg3 and Black resigned in Maki Uuro-Toikkanen, Espoo 1993 in view of 23...Ke7 24.Rg7+ Kd8 25.Qh8+ Nf8 26.Qxf8 mate.

A1. 18...f5 19.Bh6 Rf7 20.Bxg7 Rxg7 21.Qe8+ Kh7 (21… Nf8 22.Rxg7+ Kxg7 23.Nb5 f4 24.Qe7+ Kg6 26.Qxf8 as White has both material and a mating attack; Black could also try 24… Kg8 but after 25.h5! Qc5 26.Rc3 Qb4 27.Nxd6! White mates or wins the Queen) 22.Rxg7+ Kxg7 23.Nb5 f4 (23...Nf6 24.Qe7+ Kg6 25.Rg3+ Ng4 26.exf5+ and mates in 8) 24.Qe7+ and now:

A11. 24...Kg8 25.h5 Qc5 26.Rc3 Qb4 27.Qe6+ Kh8 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Qg6+ Kf8 30.Nxd6 winning.

A12. 24...Kh6 25.Nxd6 Nc5 26.Qf6+ Kh7 27.h5 Qb4+ 28.Kf1 Be6 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.dxe6 and mates

A13. 24...Kh8 25.h5 Qc5 26.Qe8+ Kg7 27.Qg6+ transposes to line A11

A14. 24… Kg6 25.h5+ Kh6 (25...Kxh5 26.Qh7+ Kg5 27.Qg7+ Kh5 28.Rh3 mate) 26.g4 Nc5 (26...Qc5 27.g5+ Kxh5 28.Rh3+ Kg4 29.Qe6+ Kxg5 30.Qf5 mate) 27.Qf6+ Kh7 28.h6 and mates;

B.15...Bh8 16.Qf3 Ncd7 17.Rh3 Re8 18.Rg3 Kf8 19.Nd1 Ra6 20.Ne3 Qb6 21.Bxf6 Nxf6 22.Nxf6 Bxf6 (22…Rd8 23.Rc3 Ra8 24.Rxc8! Raxc8 25.Rg8+ Ke7 26.Nf5+ Kxf6 27.Nh6+ Ke7 28.Qxf7 mate) 23.Qxf6 Qxb2 24.Rg7 Qb4+ 25.Ke2 Re7 26.Qh6 Ke8 27.Rg8+ Kd7 28.Qf8 Kc7 29.Qd8+ Kb8 30.Qxc8+ Ka7 31.Qb8+ Kb6 32.Rc8 and the threat of 33.Rc6 mate is decisive.

C. 15… Kh8 16.Nxf6 Bxf6 17.Qh5+ Kg8 18.Ne2! Nxe4 19.Rf3! Be7 (Black can’t take in any way on g5, as then the h-file opens with deadly effect) 20.Nc3 f5 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Nxe4 fxe4 (or 22… f4 23.g4! and the connected passed pawns, plus attack, are more than enough) 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24.Rg3.

Once again the Bxh5 sacrifice proves completely sound, indeed decisive, if accepted – it’s even more crushing here because of the participation of the white queen-Rook!

That’s a lot to think about right there – but there’s more!

Can Black get an acceptable game by declining? This is the critical question, and the critical line is 14… Qb6!

Best is 15.Bf3, holding e4 – 15.Bxf6 fails tactically to 15…Qxb2 16.Bxg7 Qxa3 17.Bxf8 Qxc3+ 18.Qd2 Qxd2+ 19.Kxd2 Kxf8 20.Bd1 Bd7 and Black wins a pawn.

After 15.Bf3, Black’s best is 15…Qxb2 (15…Nh7 16.Be3 and White keeps the pawn, at least ±) and then another critical position is reached after 16.Nb5.

 CRITICAL POSITION

Black has:

A.16…b6 17.Be3! Ba6 (or A1) 18.Bxc5 Bxb5 (18...bxc5?? 19.Rb3 Qa2 20.Nc3) 19.Bxd6, ± White has a huge passed pawn, while Black has a crippled pawn majority.

A possible continuation is 19...Rfd8 20.Be7 Bc4 21.Qa1 Qxa1+ 22.Rxa1 Rd7 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Be2 Bxe2 25.Kxe2 Rc8 26.Kd3 Rdc7 27.Ne2 Rc2 28.g3 Bg7 29.Rac1 and White wins the ending, adding better King and good Knight/bad Bishop to his advantages!

A1. 17…Rb8 (Black’s best try, indirectly holding b3) 18.h5 (White has an attack “for free” – White is better, but Black is certainly still playing.

A sample continuation is 18...gxh5 19.Bc1 Qb1 20.Nxd6 Qb4+ 21.Kf1 Rd8 22.Ngf5 Bxf5 23.Nxf5 Ncxe4 24.Rd3 Nc5 25.Ne7+ Kf8 26.Nc6 Qc4 27.Nxe5 Qa6 28.Ba3, ± with attack.

B. 16…Bd7 (best) 17.Bc1 Qb1 18.Be3 Qxd1+ 19.Kxd1 Nxa4 20.Be2! (20.Nxd6 b5 with good play for Black, as his connected pawns have got loose!) 20...Bxb5 21.Bxb5 Nc5 22.f3 Rfc8 23.h5 Nxh5 24.Nxh5 gxh5 25.Rxh5 and White's positional advantage is worth a pawn.

According to my analysis, White has all the winning chances in this position, though objectively Black’s extra material may give him enough “ballast” to draw. As near as I can tell, this is “best play” following the sac, and the position is still unclear!

My opponent was unable to fight his way through the jungle to that unclarity!

14...Qd7?

Spielmann’s famous “Sacrificial Shock” sets in! Reeling from the unexpected blow, my opponent settles for simply getting off the pin – but now the black Queen is misplaced, and White is simply a pawn ahead with an attack!

15.Be2 b6 16.h5 gxh5

During the game I was hoping for the completely unnecessary – and beautiful – Queen sacrifice that could occur after 16...Ba6 17.h6 Bxe2 18.hxg7!! Bxd1 19.Bxf6 and White breaks through on the h-file, but alas, I didn’t get the chance!

17.Bxh5 Ba6 18.Be2

“Inventing perpetual motion” ala Kholmov – Fischer!

18…Bxe2 19.Qxe2 Qg4

Leads to a lost ending by force, but nothing else is better.

20.Bxf6!

Forcing the win.

20...Qxe2+ 21.Ncxe2!

Activating the queen-Rook, which has been patiently awaiting his chance!

21...Bxf6 22.Nh5, 1-0.

This was a wise decision, in view of the following forced line, which gives White, depending on Black’s choice, either two Knights vs. a Rook, or two extra pawns and the better minor piece – a winning ending in either case. The variations go like this: 22...Bg5 – the only move, as the alternatives lose immediately:

A.22...Bh8 23.Rg3+ Bg7 24.Nf6 mate.

B.22...Bg7 23.Rg3+-

C.22...Be7 23.Rg3+ Kh7 24.Nf6 mate.

D.22…Nxe4 23.Nxf6+ Nxf6 24.Rg3+ Ng4 25.Rxg4 mate.

After 22…Bg5, the main line continues 23.Rg3 f6 (forced in view of 23...Nxe4 24.Nf6+! Nxf6 25.Rxg5 mate) 24.Nxf6+ Kf7 (not 24...Rxf6 25.Rxg5+ Kf7 26.Rh7+ Ke8 27.Rg8+ Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Rh8+ and White wins a Rook) 25.Nh7 and now there are two branches:

A.25…Bd2+ 26.Kxd2 Nxe4+ 27.Ke3 Nxg3 28.Nxg3 Rg8 (28...Rh8 29.Rh6 Kg8 30.Nf6+ Kf7 31.Rxh8 Rxh8 32.Nfe4 Rd8 33.Nf5; 28...Rfc8 29.Rh6) 29.Ne4 Rxg2 (29...Rh8 30.Nhg5+ Ke7 31.Rxh8 Rxh8 32.Nxd6) 30.Nhg5+ (but not 30.Ng3? Kg6 31.Kf3 Rxg3+ 32.fxg3 Rh8 33.Ke4 Rxh7 34.Rxh7 Kxh7 35.Kf5 Kg7 36.g4 Kf7 37.g5 Kg7 38.g6 Kg8! [38...e4? 39.Kxe4 Kxg6 40.Kd3 Kf5 41.Kc3 Ke4 42.Kc4 Ke5 43.b3 Ke4 44.Kb5 Kxd5 45.Kxb6 Ke4 46.Kxa5 d5 47.Kb6 d4 48.a5 d3 49.a6 d2 50.a7 d1=Q 51.a8=Q+, ±] 39.Kg5 Kg7 and Black draws, thanks to the protected passed pawn) 30...Kg6 31.Nf3 Rg4 32.Nxd6 Rxa4 33.Nxe5+ and the Rook plus two Knights easily beat the two Rooks, e.g. 33...Kf6 34.Ne4+! Ke7 (34...Kxe5 35.Rh5 mate) 35.Rh7+ and mates in four.

B. 25…Bf4 26.Nxf8 Bxg3 27.Ne6 Bf4 (27…Nd3+ 28.Kd2 Nxf2 29.Rh7+ wins) 28.Nxc5 bxc5 29.Nc3 winning.

Black has no counterplay (29... Rb8 30.Nb5) and White will win easily with his good Knight and two plus pawns.

And so I tied for first!

Conclusion: It’s very easy to “talk yourself out” of the best move, or perhaps better said, the most challenging move –

But if you want to win, forget the hippo and all those nagging doubts –

And make your play.