Two Sveshnikov Hammerings

One week has already passed since I returned from Bad Harzburg but work and other stuff kept me too busy to write a new post. This shall now be mended.

The tournament was not a particular success for me, as I drew two games in the early rounds and then suffered a loss in the fifth round. In that game, I stubbornly refused to draw, pushing my luck in order to maintain contact to the table leaders. In the end, I ran into mate instead of giving perpetual check, thus effectively ending my bid for a prize rank.

Following this defeat, I set out to at least cut my losses in the remaining three rounds. Here, I was successful, scoring three quick wins, still taking a small prize and preserving my rating. In rounds 7 and 8 I had Black in two consecutive Sveshnikov Sicilians. I smashed my opponents up thoroughly.

Hannes Leisner (2182) - Oliver Uwira (2251)
Bad Harzburg Open 2011 (Round 8)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. c3 Bg7 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Nc2 Be6



So far, so good. This position was reached in both games. My opponent in round 7, however, didn't have a clue about how to deal with the 13..Be6 moveorder, which prevents White from playing Nce3 and Bd3. He had to learn that the hard way. Round 7 continued:

14. Nce3 Ne7 15. Nxe7? Qxe7 Black cannot prevent d6-d5 anymore after this. 16. Bd3 d5 17. Nf5 Qg5 18. Nxg7+ Qxg7 19. Qh5? Better is the exchange sacrifice 19. O-O e4 20. Bc2 Bh3 21. g3 Bxf1 22. Qxd5 O-O 23. Rxf1 Rfe8 where White has sufficient compensation. I probably wouldn't have taken the exchange. 19... e4 Also playable is 19... Qxg2 20. Qxe5 Qxh1+ 21. Kd2 Qxa1 22. Qxh8+ Ke7 23. Qxa8 Qxb2+ 24. Bc2 when White apparently does not have a perpetual check. Over the board, this was not clear enough to me and therefore I didn't take any chances. Even more so because my continuation is also almost winning. 20. Bf1 b4 21. Rc1 bxc3 22. bxc3 O-O 23. Qh4 Rfc8 24. Be2 Rxc3 Now White can't castle because Be6-h3 would win even more material. White is lost and the remainder of the game is agony. 25. Rd1 Rc2 26. Rg1 Rxa2 27. Qf4 Re8 28. Qe3 Ra1 29. f3 d4 30. Qd2 Rxd1+ 31. Bxd1 Bc4 32. Qb4 Bb5 33. Bb3 exf3+
34. Kf2 Re2+ 35. Kxf3 Qf6+ 36. Kg4 Re4+ 37. Kg3 Qf4+ 0-1

Back to round 8:

14. g3! 

This is the best move, because it allows White to take with the bishop after 14...Ne7 15. Bg2 Nxd5? 16. Bxd5 with a clear advantage for White.

14...O-O 15. Bg2 a5 16. O-O f5 17. Nf4?! 



After the game my opponent told me that his theoretical knowledge had been coming to an end around this point. The text move had caught his eye, and after some calculation, he considered it worth a try. I wasn't sure about the theory either, but I knew the antidote against stuff like this is usually: sacrifice and attack! Thus it didn't take me a lot of time to play:
 
17...exf4 18. Bxc6 fxg3 19. hxg3 f4! 20. Nd4?!

Even though the silicon brain likes 20. Bxa8, it would take balls of steel for White to play that over the board, as the Black compensation for the measly exchange looks massive. In fact, Houdini 1.5 evaluates the sequence 20. Bxa8 Qxa8 with only 0.18 in White's favour - which means I'm going to sacrifice three such exchanges before breakfast without even questioning my compensation.

The text move 20. Nd4, however,  makes things very difficult for White. Best would have been 20. Bd5, which halves the dangerous bishop pair. 

20...Bc4 

The bot still wants to eat the exchange after 20...Bc4, but in my opinion, the lecture about compensation from the above paragraph still applies here. Apart from that, Black can force a perpetual check with 20...fxg3 - this was out of the question for me, of course, as I have already explained in the introduction. 

21. Qg4 



22...Ra7!

A cute move in typical Sveshnikov style. It rescues the rook and prepares its swing to g7, where it will brutally join Black's kingside attack. Moreover, White can't play 23. Ne6 because of 23...Qc8 and Black wins.

22. Rfd1?!

I have a lot of difficulties in pin-pointing the exact moment where White goes downhill. Houdini says that the position is still equal after 22. Bxb5 but I have to admit that this too complex for me to evaluate without analysing for hours.

All I know is that Black's game is much easier, because the attack plays itself in most variations and disaster lies in wait for White at the slightest inaccuracy.

22...Kh8 23. b3 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Rg7 25. Qh3

During the game I thought the queen sacrifce 25. Qxg7+ Kxg7 26. bxc4 would offer White drawing chances. I had planned 26...b4! and the post-mortem confirmed that this move results in a definite Black advantage. The point is that White can't play 27. cxb4 because of the double attack Qb6 and therefore, Black will create a passed pawn at c3 which is too much for White to handle.

After the text move, the Black attack crashes through.

25...fxg3 26. f3 Qc7 27. bxc4 

A nice finish is 27. Be4 Bxb3! 28. axb3 Qxc3 29. Rad1 Qe3+ 30. Kh1 g2+ 31. Kh2 Qf2 and Black wins.

27...Qxc6 28. Rf1 bxc4 29. f4 Qe8 0-1

White resigned because of 30. Rf3 g2 31. Rd1 Qe2 32. Ra1 Re8 and White can't prevent the loss of heavy material after 33...Qe1+.

Checkmate!

Before I pack up my stuff and head off towards the Bad Harzburg Open, I'd just like to post my nice mating attack from yesterday, played in the first round of the French Club Championship for the Alsatian Club Cercle d'Échecs de Saverne. This game was the first strike of our 7-0 crush, which was a bit harsh on our opponents, who, although they had just gained promotion last season, deserved more than a single draw ouf of eight games.

With regard to the Bad Harzburg open, I will try to post updates, but noone knows whether this will work out, given that two games are to be played on most days and I'll also have some teaching duties there.

Oliver Uwira (2251) - Jean-Michel Kempenich (2089)
Saverne - Sarreguemines (Nationale III)


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 O-O

More precise is 6... b6! 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. f3 because with the pawn at f3 it is more difficult to bring the queen to the kingside, unless White commits to playing f3-f4. The resulting loss of tempo Bc8-b7-a6 is made up by White having to play f2-f3-f4. White cannot try to take advantage of the black moveorder by means of 8. Ne2?. This is an unsound pawn sacrifice, which is refuted by 8...Bxg2 9. Rg1 Be4! 10. Bxe4 (not 10. Rxg7? Bg6 and Black wins) 10...Nxe4 and Black is clearly better, as 11. Rxg7?! is followed by 11...Qf6 12. Rg2 Nc6 and White is in deep trouble.

7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 b6 9. e4 Ne8 10. O-O Ba6 11. Be3!?



This is a rarely played attempt to exploit the fact that Black has not forced the white f-pawn to advance yet. If Black plays 11...d6, White can prevent the blockade f7-f5 by means of 12. Ng3, which will give a subsequent advance f2-f4 a lot more punch than usual.

11...d6?!

Much better is 11... Nd6! when after 12. dxc5 Nxc4 13. Bxc4 Bxc4 14. Re1 Black has good play on the light squares.

12. Ng3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Na5 14. Qe2 Rc8 15. Rac1

Now White is ready for the push f2-f4-f5 which would yield a strong kingside attack.

15...Nf6

Black tries to improve the position of his knight, but by doing so he allows White to open the flood gates on the kingside. Nevertheless, this seems to be the best move for Black.

16. e5! dxe5 17. dxe5 Nd7 18. Rfd1 Qe7

Now White's queenside lies in ruins. Therefore, his success hinges on an exact conduct of his kingside attack.

19. Bf4!

Moves like f2-f4 are completely unacceptable. The dark-squared bishop would be dearly missed on the kingside.

19...Nc5?

Natural but disastrous. Black believes that he is winning a tempo, because the white bishop is seemingly too precious to give it up. This is not the case but White succumbs to the same illusion.



20. Bb1?

After 20. Nh5!! Black is stone dead, e.g. 20...Nxd3 21. Qg4 f6 22. exf6 Qf7 23. Rxd3 and Black's kingside will collapse.

20... Rfd8?

Black is not sensing the danger, as his previous move has already shown. Now the white attack gets going again - and this time Black will not be let off the hook again.

Houdini 1.5 likes 20... Qh4! - this move was also suggested by my opponent during the post-mortem. We then analysed 21. Nh5 for at least 30 minutes without finding salvation for Black. Houdini's suggestion is the apparently ridiculous 21...f5! with the surprising point that after 22. exf6 g6 the white knight does not have access to f6, turning the tables against White.

21. Qg4! Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rd8 23. Re1



23...Rd4

This accelerates Black's demise, but there was no rescue in sight in any case. Black has parked the bus on the queenside, leaving his king outgunned by five white attackers.

24. Nh5!

Either Black will be mated or he will lose heaps of material.

24...Kf8 25. Qxg7+ Ke8 26. Bg5 Qb7 27. Nf6+ Kd8 28. Nd5+ Kd7 29. Qxf7+ Kc6 30. Nb4# 1-0

Revilopedia is back!

A long time has passed since I have written something here, but as I handed in my final thesis two weeks ago and I'm technically not a student anymore, I feel quite relieved and am now ready to continue my blog. The way I feel at the moment is probably only comprehensible to folks who also had to work for earning a living while trying to get a degree. It's just sick, because you're never able to focus 100% on anything - everything gets mixed up, and priorities can't easily be set.

Now, however the ordeal is over and somehow my sporting form has returned out of nowhere. Last season, my club team eventually ascended to the Hessenliga, i.e. the 4th division of the German chess league system, and I managed to score 2/2 against strong opposition at the beginning of this year's season. I'm going to post my game from yesterday - a tense encounter against a fine player where I eventually got the best of it.

Oliver Uwira (2251) - Lothar Schnitzspan (2327)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5

I've been playing chess for 25 years now, but I still haven't got a clue about how to deal with the Grünfeld defense. The best I have in my armoury is the endgame variation, which Karpov and Kramnik used to torture Kasparov in their World Championship matches. This variation, however, is very drawish, but at least White can't lose so easily. 

4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 c5 8. Qd2 Nd7!?

Oh well... Black does not want to play the endgame which arises after 8...Qa5 9. Rc1 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2. Instead, he plays a move that I had never seen before. Now I am on my own! 

9. Bc4 Nf6 10. f3 O-O 11. Ne2 Qa5 12. Rb1 a6 

White is at a crossroads. If I don't do anything at all, Black will simply expand his queenside and should not have any problems at all. I therefore decided to gobble up the pawn at c5 after a couple of preparatory moves, thus ruining my structure while counting on the resulting passed pawn and the material advantage.  

13. e5 Ne8 14. f4 Nc7 15. dxc5 Ne6 16. Bxe6 Bxe6 17. Rxb7
 


Phase One has been accomplished. Now the hopes of White hinge on the passed pawn at c5. The other pawns on the queenside are most likely beyond rescue. White might also face trouble on the light squares.


17...Rfd8 18. Nd4 Bxa2

This move did actually surprise me because it allows a tactical simplification that should turn out to be in White's favour. The post-mortem analysis with my opponent convinced me, though, that this is Black's best try, as otherwise Black might find it well impossible to create enough compensation for his material deficit.  

19. Nc6! Rxd2 20. Nxa5 Rc2 21. c4 Bxc4 22. Kd1?

Overly ambitious, and likely to cause White serious trouble. I thought it would be a good idea to go and overload the black bishop with the defense of the rook and the promotion square at c8 - I didn't, however, account for the black mating ideas (seriously!) that show up once Black plays Bh6. This could have cost me dearly, but fortunately Black didn't find a safe path through the maze. Much better was 22. Nxc4 Rxc4 23. Ke2 after which Black has to fight for the draw due to the comic positioning of his bishop at g7.  

22...Bd3 23. c6 Rc8 24. Bb6 Kf8?



This is a serious mistake and probably loses already. The king runs to aid the rook in containing the white pawn, but Black sets himself up for various backrank mate tactics.  Much better was 24...Bh6! and after 25. g3 Be4 White is in dire straits. I haven't dug deeply yet but I believe this would have been the refutation of 22. Kd1.


25. c7 Rxg2 26. Re1 Bc2+ 27. Kc1 Bf5 28. Rb8 Ke8 29. Rxc8+ 1-0

Black resigned because of the point 29...Bxc8 30. Rd1 Bd7 31. c8Q+ Bxc8 32. Rd8#.

I am a positional chess player...

After a long break I have eventually found the time to post a new piece and it is a rather cracking one. You, dear reader, are about to see one of the most insane chess games I have ever played. Even though I would regard myself as a positional player, the title of this post is not without irony as I am also capable of conducting a sharp mating attack and I usually do not hesitate to sacrifice when the position at hand seems to require resolute action.

But what I have done in the last round of the Frankfurt Championship is without precendence in my chess career. Rudolf Spielmann or Mikhail Tal probably wouldn't have thought twice about my 8th move but for me it might have sufficed to just play on calmly and wait in open tournament specialist style until the ripe fruit falls into my lap at some point later.

But how could I have slept in peace if I hadn't played the way I did? First and foremost I'm not a professional but play chess as a pastime and who would not want to have a game such as the following on his or her record. So here is my own personal brilliancy:

Ramat Faqiry (1983) - Oliver Uwira (2248)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. dxc5 White chickens out. He had a good reason to do so because one of my students beat him in a Benkö gambit at the Rhein-Main open tournament two weeks ago. 3...Na6 4. e3 Nxc5 5. Nf3 g6 6. b4?! White's 4th and 5th moves were a bit tame. It is therefore not advisable to loosen up his position at the cost of development. In addition, Black is prepared to bring his bishop to the long diagonal, which White has just opened. After the following move, the square f2 will also be an issue. 6...Nce4! 7. Bb2 Bg7 8.Nbd2? White would have been better off after 8.Nc3 Ng4 9.Nxe4 Bxb2 10.Rb1 Bg7, which costs him the bishop pair but otherwise keeps his position intact. Now the hammer falls:

8...Nxf2!!



At the small cost of a knight, White's king is sucked out into the great wide open. I had convinced myself that the worst that could happen for Black is having to play with rook and pawn against two minor pieces in case no mate presents itself. My feeling told me, though, that there must be a win along the road.

9. Kxf2 Ng4+ 10. Kg3 Qc7+ 11. Kxg4 d5+ 12. Kh4 Bxb2 13. g4



White's last move was forced as it is the only defense against the direct mate Bf6. 13. Nd4 does not work because of 13...Bxd4 14.exd4 Qf4+ with mate. I had seen that before, but now my plan was to open the h-file and hunt my material back. It is a pity that I haven't found 13...d4!! or 13...h5 14.g5 d4!! which would have set up the Qf4 mate idea once again, this time without sufficient defense for White.

After the text move, the game enters a new phase. Black will gain material compensation for his piece and the white king will remain vulnerable on g2.

13...g5+?! 14. Kh3 h5 15. Kg2 hxg4 16. Nd4 Now here is the crossroads. I had seen that White wouldn't have time to save his rook for quite a while, but now he is ready to do so. I was a bit worried about a white queen at a1 and also about a possible Nd4-b5 so I decided to eliminate that knight while grabbing another pawn, levelling the score, materially speaking. Rybka offers 16...Bxa1 17.Qxa1 Qe5 and claims a black advantage. However, the little fish is also content with my game continuation, which is actually its first choice. 16...Qe5! 17. Rb1 Bxd4 18. exd4 Qxd4 19. Qc2!



White wisely prevented the black bishop from showing up on f5, which would have led to rapid black mobilisation after castling queenside. Now Black faces the task of how to bring his bishop into play. If it were possible to put it on the long diagonal the game would end immediately. Rybka now suggests 19...Bd7 and if 20.b5 then 20...Rh3 with a decisive advantage for Black. My next move almost throws the entire advantage away, and if Black isn't prepared for really bold action, it actually does throw the advantage away.

19...dxc4?! 20. Bxc4 Bd7 21. b5 Rc8 22. Qb2



A very natural move and practically the move that turns the tide against Black. Now it was necessary to play the very bold 22...Rxc4!! which enables Black to give check on e4 with a winning position, in spite of Black being a rook down after that.

I have calculated that sacrifice but haven't found the quiet, but killing point 23.Nxc4 Qe4+ 24.Kg1 Rh3!!, which prepares g4-g3 with a decisive attack. The white pieces are simply helpless as they lack coordination and Black covers all important squares.

This is the second sore point of this otherwise very exciting game.

22...Qxb2?! 23. Rxb2 Bf5? 24. Rf1? Understandably I didn't want to shut in my bishop but now White could have seized the opportunity to close the c-file by means of 24.Bd5! b6 25.Bc6+ when it should be him who is playing for the win. 24...e6 25. Be2?! Rc3



White has lost the thread completely. After the arrival of the black rook in White's camp, Black has sufficient counterplay and his position is not worse any more. White must now play very accurately in order to hold.

26. b6 axb6 27. Rxb6 Rc2?! Better is 27...g3 28.hxg3 Bh3+ 29.Kf2 Bxf1 30.Nxf1 Rc7 and Black has very good winning chances. But I was concerned too much with not losing the game... 28. Bb5+ Kf8 29. Rd6 Rxa2 30. Rf2 Kg7 31. Bd3 Bxd3 32. Rxd3 Rb2 33. Rd7 Rf8 34. Ne4 Rxf2+ 35. Kxf2 Kg6 36. Rxb7 Rd8 37. Rb5 f5 38. Nc5?



White voluntarily allows his knight to be pinned, when the unpinning manoeuvre will leave his pieces badly coordinated.

38. Rd2+ 39. Kg1 Rd5 40. Ra5 f4 41. Nb7 41.Nb3 was better because it doesn't allow the black rook access to the second rank, as happened in the game. 41...Rd1+ 42. Kf2 Rd2+ 43. Kg1 f3 44. Ra6??



Now we're in the 15 minutes sudden death phase of the game, and it has become difficult to calculate accurately. With the blitz phase approaching, White plays a natural move that should have proved fatal. 44...Re2? I returned the favour. With 44...Rg2+ I could have won the h2-pawn under very favourable circumstances, as 45.Kh1? Rb2 wins the knight at b7 due to the backrank mate. After the knight returns back home, a win is much more difficult for Black. 45. Nc5 Kf5 46. Nd3 Rg2+ 47. Kh1??



White falls for the same trick again. After 47.Kf1 Rxh2 48.Ra5+ Ke4 49.Nf2+ Kf4 50.Ra4+ Kf5 51.Nxg4 Re2 52.Nh6+ Kg6 53.Ng4 e5 54.Ra3 e4 55.Ra5 White should be able to hold the draw. 47...Rd2 48. Ra5+ Kf6 0-1

Insane...

Cut Down To Size (Part II)

Round 6 saw my play deteriorating as I had to resign with White after just 20 moves, most of which have just been ridiculously weak. Yesterday somebody even asked me why I was still playing in the tournament. Well, yes, I understand some people consider quitting a tournament a valid option but for my part I just think it's very unsportsmanlike. Instead I'm going to try to give my best again for the last three rounds. I also wouldn't want to be banned by the Hessian Chess Federation.

It's a bit hard to keep up with posting my games such that there would be at least rudimentary commentary. Right now I just have 30 minutes to write my post before I have to be on the road again. This time, because I want to visit my mother in the hospital before the 7th round starts today at 2 pm. So there'll be one game, only.

Round 3: Uwira, O. (2230) - Schmitzer, K. (2318)

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6 Too bad that he didn't try 4...f5 here against which I was armed to the teeth. 5. Ne2 Nb4 6. O-O Maybe 6. Nbc3 would have been more accurate. This would force Black to swap on d3 immediately as White is threatening to preserve the bishop with Bb1. Then I have seen some games where White played an early h2-h4-h5 before castling. That's definitely an idea but I haven't dug into it as of now. 6...g6 7. Nbc3 Nxd3 8. Qxd3 Bg7 9. Qh3!? An over-the-board inspiration. I wanted to prevent the development of the king's knight because it would always allow Bh6 to the benefit of White. The move also lends some support to the advance f4-f5 which now can't easily be blocked by f7-f5. The disadvantage is that the queen is decentralised.9...d6 10. f4 Qd7 11. f5 exf5 12. exf5 O-O-O (Diagram) Now it's time to reach a decision. Some of my fellow players claimed that White would have had a huge advantage after 13.d5 but my oppenent had planned 13...Be5 against that and it's not self-evident where the White advantage actually lies. I believe that White probably should move his queen, thus breaking the pin of the pawn f5. An idea would be e.g. 13.Qd3 Nf6 14.Bg5. What I did instead was preparing an ambitious exchange sacrifice, planning to lock the black pieces behind their pawns. 13. Bg5?! f6 14. Be3 Ne7 White could still apply the emergency brake with 15. Ng3 here. But my idea was tempting me too much. 15. d5?! The exclamation mark is only given for the vim to actually push through with the plan. 15...Nxf5 16. Rxf5 In for a penny, in for a pound! 16...gxf5 17. Nf4 Rde8 18. Nb5 Re5! (Diagram) Black had sunk into deep thought for half an hour and now presents the refutation of White's sacrifice. Passive moves would have led to the setup that I had envisaged, a.k.a plant a knight into e6, take back the pawn on f5, massage the rest of the pawn weaknesses. The fact that he didn't look too happy while searching for 18...Re5! told me that he probably didn't think that my sacrifice was complete nonsense and that he was well aware of the looming dangers. With the strong text move, Black brings one of his rooks into battle before the door is closed on e6. Moreover, the rook also supports the bind-breaking c7-c6. 19. Nxa7+ Kb8 20. Nb5 Rhe8 21. Bd2 c6 22. Nd4 cxd5 23. cxd5 Bxd5 Too bad, that 24. Nxd5 Rxd5 25. Qb3 is saved by 25...Qb7. Now White can only play on for tricks. 24. Bc3 Bf8 25. a4 Be4 26. Nb5 d5 27. b4 d4 28. Nxd4 Bxb4 29. Nb5 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 Rc8 31. Qb4 Rec5 32. Nd4 Qd6 33. Qd2 Rc2 34. Qe3 R8c3 35. Nb5 Rxe3 36. Nxd6 Rec3 37. g4 Rf3 38. Rf1 Rxf1+ 39. Kxf1 fxg4 40. Nh5 Bd3+ 0-1

Cut Down To Size (Part I)

After I already hinted here that my campaign at the Hessian Chess Championsship 2010 is not running as well as a good start had promised, I'll now be a bit more specific and give a little roundup of my games played so far.

Of course it's impossible to provide real in-depth analysis here as there's simply not enough time for that and the post would always grow seriously large. I'll leave it two games per post.

Round 1: Uwira, O. (2230) - Euler, G. (2348)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. e4 Re8 11. Nd2 a6 12. a4 Rb8 13. Nc4 Ne5 14. Na3 Nh5 15. h3 Rf8 16. f4?! (Diagram) This is an adventureous idea that is nevertheless not sufficient to obtain the advantage. Opinions as to the quality of the move differed considerably between the players. While I thought the move was worth a try, my opponent considered it to be a severe blunder. The other extreme was maintained by IM Reschke who thought that White is better. The main move is 16.Kh2. 16...Nxg3 17. fxe5 Nxf1 18. Qxf1 Bxe5 Now White has to find something against f7-f5, which will yield Black a very strong attack. Driving the black rook off the f-file is strong but also quite natural. 19. Bh6! Re8 Maybe Black should have played 19...Bd4+ 20.Kh1 Re8 to prevent the tactical trick White has prepared. 20. Nc4 Bd4+ 21. Be3! At first sight this looks as if White has blundered a piece after 21...b5 but this in fact allows White to simplify by tactical means, thus reaching an endgame that is about equal. However, Black doesn't really have a choice because White's minor pieces are becoming very active while Black's Rb8 is still asleep. 21...b5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Bxd4 cxd4 24. Nxb5 Rxb5 25. Nxd6 (Diagram) Here Black must play 25...Qxd6 26.Qxb5 Bd7 27.Qd3 Qb6! 28.Rd1 Qxb2 29.Qxd4 with an equal endgame. Black, however, is struck by a bout of chess blindness. 25...Rxb2?? 26. Qxf7+ 1-0

Round 2: Grabarczyk, B. (2433) - Uwira, O. (2230)

The finish of this encounter has already been talked about. We'll focus on the events that led up to said finish.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. Qh5 I had never faced that line over the board and also didn't expect to see it at all because almost everybody plays 12.0-0 here. This is probably not because 12.Qh5 is weaker but because 12.0-0 was hyped by various authors as the antidote against the Sveshnikov. 12...Rg8 13. g3 Rg4 14. f4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Rxf4 16. gxf4 Up until now it's all in the books. My next move is a rarely played alternative to the main move 16...Qa5+ and likely isn't worse.16...Qf6 17. exf5 Bd5 18. O-O-O (Diagram) An important crossroads. Black could get his exchange back with 18...Bxh1 19.Qe2+ Kd7 20. Rxh1 when he should not be worse after 20...Bh6!. The text move sacrifices the exchange for good but takes aim at the White king. Again I'm playing creatively but too aggressively, which is a pattern that up until now characterises my play during the whole tournament. 18...Bg7?! 19. Rhe1+ Kf8 20. c3 b4? That should have lost the game immediately due to a miscalculation after 21.Bc4! when the White king will hide behind a Black pawn at b2 and the exchange will begin to tell. Better would have been 20...Nb4 when Black is only slightly worse according to the silicon monster. 21. Nc2? Bxa2 22. Qg5 bxc3 23. Qxf6 Bxf6 24. bxc3 Bxc3 Dark clowds loom above the White king but with his next move White manages to exploit the temporary disorder in Black's army, thus defending against the imminent danger. 25. Re3! Rb8? I calculated this very far, but not far enough. Better would have been 25...Na5! with the idea of 26.Bc4? Bd2+!. 26. Bb5 Ba5 27. Ra3 axb5 28. Rxa2 b4 29. Rxd6 b3 30. Ra4 Rc8 31. Rc4 Ne7 32. Rxc8+ Nxc8 (Diagram) I've seen this far but missed the strength of 33.Rc6! here which would have won for White. The little detail that got lost in the inevitable fuzzyness of a long calculation is that Black can't play 33...bxc2 because then the zwischenzug 34.f6!! decides the game (instead 34.Rxc8+? Kg7 looks drawish). 33. Ra6? Bc7! 34. Nb4 Bxf4+ 35. Kb2 Kg7 36. h3 Nd6 37. f6+ Kg6 38. Kxb3 Ne4 39. Kc4 Ng5 40. Nd5 Be5 41. h4 Ne6 42. Ra3 Nf4 43. Rg3+ Kf5 44. Rg5+ Ke6 45. Nxf4+ Bxf4 46. Rh5 Kxf6 47. Rxh7 Kg6 48. Rh8 Be5 49. Rg8+ Kh6 50. Rf8 Kh5 51. Kd5 Bf6 52. Ke4 Kxh4 53. Kf5 Bd4 54. Rd8 Bf2 55. Rd3 Bg3 56. Rd7 Kh3 57. Ke4 f5+?? You already know that one. Nevertheless a tremendous tactical battle. 58. Kf3 1-0

The Moron

Hessian Chess Championship 2010, second round. No more explanations required )-:

Grabarczyk, B. (2433) - Uwira, O. (2228)



57...f5+?? 58.Kf3 1-0

What a howler...

Mating Mode

These are very busy days and I'm hardly able to post because writing a piece that satisfies my self-imposed quality standards simply takes considerable time. Surprisingly, despite the lack of time my chess has apparently recovered from the abyss that led to a loss of 70 ELO over a short period of six months.

In the next to last league match against SK Gernsheim I was able to beat an old companion of mine, whom I battled against almost from the beginning of my chess career. As of Sunday, I had never won a game off him under tournament conditions, and I also had to swallow some painstaking defeats, e.g. when he beat me in the next to last round of the Hessian youth championship in 1997 and proceeded to win the title while putting me out of the race.

Understandably I went into Sunday's game with mixed feelings as I feared that playing black against my skillfully attacking nemesis could well be a too heavy burden. Fate plays funny tricks, however, and I was quite surprised when I was able to launch a raging attack after a White inaccuracy right out of the opening.

Müller (2304) - Uwira (2228)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Qc7

Kramnik's antidote against the Rossolimo, which was eventually able to cure my inability to play against this system. Part of my problem might have been that I used to employ the Rossolimo very successfully during my youth time when I was still playing 1.e4.

5. O-O Nd4 6. Ba4 e6 7. d3 a6 8. Nxd4 cxd4 9. Ne2 b5 10. Bb3 Bc5

Up until now play appeared to be normal. As far as I know, 6.Re1 is the main move, developing instead of preserving the bishop. I believe the position resulting from 6.Ba4 is equal, but of course Black has to be cautious because it is easy to succumb to a kingside attack once the Black king has arrived there. Right now the Black king still resides in the middle, though, and this is what makes White's next move a serious inaccuracy.



11. Ng3? h5!

Of course, Black takes the opportunity to harrass the White knight. The text move also prevents White from implementing his main idea of Nh5, exchanging the Nf6 and securing squares on the kingside to bring the White queen into action. Now, however, White has to sound the retreat, rather unorderly.

12. Bg5 h4 13. Nh1 Bb7 14. f4 O-O-O?

This is an error, but not because of 15.e5?, which can be met by either 15...Rdg8 when the Nf6 is taboo, or 15...h3 going for the throat directly. The text move allows White to consolidate by means of 15.Nf2! when he has regained some control while the position of course remains unclear. After his next error, I didn't allow White a second chance to save his game.

15.h3? Rdg8 16. Qe1 Nh5



Now White should at least play 17.Bxh4 immediately, when the g-file will stay closed for the time being after 17...Nxf4 18.Bg3 g5.

17. a4?

In his struggle for counterplay White allows a pawn sacrifice that opens all the gates on the kingside.

17...f6 18. Bxh4 g5!

I didn't bother about the pawn because opening attacking lines first has priority.

19. fxg5 fxg5 20. Bg3 Nxg3 21. Nxg3 g4 22. Ne2 Bxe4

Here it was obviously better to play 22...gxh3 first and only after 23.g3 Bxe4. For some reason I rather wanted to allow White to play h3-h4 than blockading with g2-g3 and Kg1-h2. However, a pawn is a pawn, so my text move is inferior, although Black is still winning.

23. Nf4 Bb7 24. Nxe6



White is desperate for counterplay but the position of his king is too weak. Black is able to finish the attack with an elegant queen sacrifice.

24...gxh3 25. Rf8+

If 25.Nxc7 White is mated by 25...h2+ 26.Kf2 (26.Kh1 Bxg2 mate) 26...Rxg2 mate.

25...Bxf8 26. Nxc7 h2+ 0-1

The rook has evacuated f1 for his king but it is still mate because Black promotes his h-pawn after 27.Kf1.

The Empire Strikes Back

Yesterday, this year's chess season brought a decisive league match for my team SC 1961 König Nied. We played the league leaders SV Griesheim who were leading us by two points. With only three matches to go we had no other option than to win. Not winning would almost certainly have meant that our campaign to ascend to the Hessenliga was over.

Taking our hardly stellar performances of the previous rounds into consideration it rather looked like a tough job for us. Nevertheless we eventually pulled ourselves together and delivered our best performance since almost two years, blasting the opponents off the boards. The final tally read 6:2 which is just insanely high, given the fact that we were the rating favourites at only three boards out of eight.

I had the pleasure to fight a theoretical battle in a line of the Accepted Queen's Gambit, where my book just ended with "White's attack develops smoothly" but without any further lines to learn by heart. This meant that I actually had to play chess, which I haven't really done sucessfully during the recent weeks. This time it was going to be different...

Uwira (2228) - Dietz (2304)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Bb3 Nbd7 8. e4!

This is the most testing move. It is recommended in Boris Avrukh's book Grandmaster Repertoire 1. d4. Before playing the move I took myself ten minutes to recollect some of the theory. However, there was not a chance that I wouldn't play the move (-:



8...Nxe4 9. Qe2! Ndf6

Black tries to hang on to his pawn. Avrukh gives 9...c4 as the mainline, which returns the pawn while keeping the central lines closed. If instead 9...Nef6, Black gets overrun by 10. d5, this thrust being the main point of White's sacrifice. After the text move, Black will have to spend an awful lot of tempi and if he doesn't finally manage to castle things look sore for him.

10. Bc2 Qd5 11. Re1 Nd6 12. Nc3 Qh5?



Avrukh gives 12...Qc6 13.Be3 and says that White's attack runs very smoothly. When I analysed the position this morning, the best I could find for Black was 13...cxd4 14.Bxd4 Be7 15.Ne5 Qc7 16.Ng4 where White has an overwhelming position. It is certainly enough for the pawn, and the real question is whether Black will be able to survive.

The text move, however, leads to dire consequences for Black. I again took myself some time here but eventually decided to continue the race for development, relying on not allowing Black to castle at a cheap price.

On an even better day, I might have found the paradoxical 13.Qd1! which immediately exposes the weakness of the black queen's position. White threatens 14.Re5 trapping the queen while also renewing support for the d4-d5 thrust. Black has huge problems here. The best he has is 13...Nd7 14.d5 e5 15.Nxe5 Qxd1 16.Bxd1 Nxe5 17.Rxe5+ when the black king will be stuck in the centre and there isn't any clearcut way to finish development.

After my game continuation, White still has very strong pressure, so I won't go as far as tagging it with a question mark.

13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. Be3 Qa5 15. Bf4



After driving the black queen to the edge of the board, White now prepares to hit the Nd6, which doesn't have good retreat squares. If Black tries to castle he'll either has to give up material or allow White to build a completely dominating position. For example 15...Be7 16.Red1! Now Black loses at least an exchange, if not the queen, after 16...Nb5 17.Qe5 Qb4 18.Na4 encircling the queen. Therefore he must protect the knight: 16...Qb6 17.Ba4+ Kf8 18.Rac1 when Black is tied up nicely.

After the game continuation, new tactics emerge at White's horizon, especially the knight sacrifice at f7, followed by the removal of the Bd7 by Rxd7. It's hard to find sensible moves for Black, so I venture the thought that he might be lost already.

15...Bd7 16. Rad1 Nb5 17. Ne5 Nxc3 18. bxc3



If now 18...Qxc3 then Black is taken apart by 19.Nxf7 because he can't play 19...Kxf7 20.Rxd7+ Nxd7 21.Qxe6 mate.

Black is also doomed after 18...Bc5 19.Nxf7 0-0 when the big hammer 20.Rxd7! exposes the king. If now 20...Nxd7 then 21.Bxh7+ Kxh7 22.Ng5+ Kg6 23.Qe4+ Rf5 and Black is helpless after 24.Qxe6+ Rf6 25.Qe4+ Rf5 26.g4.

With the game continuation Black at least defends e6 but the queen is now vulnerable to discovered attacks.

18...Qxa2 19. Nxf7

Rybka suggests that the simple 19.Rd2 is even stronger.

19...Bb5 20. Qd2

After 20.Nd6+ Bxd6 21.Bg6+ hxg6 22.Qxa2 Bxf4 23.g3 Black has three minor pieces for the queen. I had around 20 minutes left to make the time control and didn't want to spend the time needed to evaluate what is going on here. Instead, I opted to let Black keep his queen but only at the price of a very strong attack.

20...Ne4

The only move. Black must block the Bc2 in order to save his queen.

21. Rxe4 Kxf7 22. Be5

Now Black's queen is far away from the raging battle on the kingside. At this point I think had around ten minutes left and my opponent had even less, probably not more than two or three minutes. In a situation like that, pragmatism must usually prevail over beauty, so my opponent tucked the king away instead of returning the queen immediately with 22...Qa3.

After the game it was claimed by a kibitzing opponent, who obviously believed that there is nothing in chess he doesn't know, that my whole attack was badly conducted because Black now allegedly could have saved the game with 22...Qa3. I was completely perplexed by such a coffee house attitude as it must be very obvious that Black is still in deep trouble. In fact, Rybka tears Black apart after 22...Qa3 23.c4 Bc6 24.Rf4+ Kg8 25.Qe2 with the idea of swinging the queen to h5. Now 25...Re8 26.Qh5 Qe7 27.h3 - we even have time for this, as Black has no moves - a5 28.Bd6 Qd7 29.Bxf8 and White wins a piece.

22...Kg8 23. Rg4 Qa3 24. Qh6 Qe7 25. Bb3 g6 26. Rxg6+ hxg6



Now it was my time to be pragmatic. With maybe three of four minutes left I first calculated the endgame of the game continuation and then only had a quick look at whether 27.Qxg6+ would win. Unfortunately I didn't look long enough and therefore I missed 27.Qxg6+ Bg7 28.Bxe6+ Kf8 29.Bd6 and Black will be mated at f7.

Thus, the game missed the culmination it was due. White now enters an ending two pawns up, which should easily be enough to win after the time control.

27.Qxh8+ Kf7 28. Qh7+ Ke8 29. Qxg6+ Qf7 30. Qxe6+ Qxe6 31. Bxe6 a5 32. g4 Ra6 33. Ba2 Be2?

Black blunders a piece and now it's really over. The game ended with Black's resignation once both players were sure that they had reached the time control.

34. Re1 Bxg4 35. Bd6+ Kd8 36. Bxf8 Bh3 37. Be7+ Kd7 38. Bh4 Rb6 39. Rb1 Rxb1+ 40. Bxb1 Be6 41. Bg5 Bc4 42. h4 a4 43. Bc1 1-0

Hangover Chess

The league match against Bensheim unfortunately brought about a major drawback in my team's bid for promotion as we lost 3.5:4.5 to our strong opponents. We were well on course after taking an early lead but got turned down in the end because of two gross blunders under time pressure, which cost at least one point, if not even one and a half.

This outcome is even more annoying because Lather and I came well prepared. Of course, when I say well prepared, I mean preparation as it was once understood by Fitschel's team SC Steinbach. That is, you simply get rascally drunk the night before the match and make an honest effort not to touch a chessboard while doing so.

I therefore made sure that my rucksack was tightly packed with various alcoholic beverages when I set out for Lather's place on Saturday. The obvious outcome of this enterprise was, of course, that we were badly hung over when we eventually awoke on Sunday. Thus prepared we managed to score two solid wins, although Lather had to work for almost six hours before he had finished the job. Needless to say that we were suffering the whole day from the vicious side effects of this kind of preparation...

I had the good luck to reach a won position very quickly and apparently was not hung over enough to spoil it:

Uwira (2222) - Kargoll (2201)

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O cxd4?!

This is not good because White is able to reach some kind of Grünfeld Reversed where Black has locked up his light-squared bishop voluntarily.

7. Nxd4 Qb6?! 8. Nb5!?



After Black's 7th move, White could also have kept things simple by 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Nc3 which sets up the Grünfeld Reversed theme. However, if you're still intoxicated at this crossroads, you might be getting adventurous ideas. My move does not seem bad, though, because it's also Rybka's choice. It relies on the assumption that Black can't really play 8...a6 because White should be able to make his better development tell.

To my delight my opponent didn't sense danger here and in fact played that move, instead of e.g. 8...dxc4 9.N1c3 when White still has a pull because of his strong development.

8...a6? 9. Be3 Qa5

9...Qd8 10.N5c3 dxc4 11.Qxd8+ followed by 12.Nd2 also doesn't look very promising for Black.

10. N5c3 dxc4 11. Nd2 Nd5 12. Nxc4 Nxe3



This zwischenzug must have been what Black had relied on, but White can now reach a decisive advantage in various ways. The simple way would be 13.Nxa5 Nxd1 14.Nxc6 Nxc3 15.bxc3 which I dismissed because I thought it was not a clear enough advantage. What I hadn't seen here was that Black has no sufficient way to defend his b-pawn in view of White's Na5 followed by Rab1. So 13.Nxa5 was the clean way to go. My move is also good, but the position becomes a little messier.

13. fxe3 Qc7 14. Ne4 f6 15. Rc1 Bd7 16. Ned6+ Bxd6 17. Qxd6



Black is done for, because either he'll lose his b-pawn after taking on d6 or he'll come under a deadly attack after 17...0-0-0 18.Rfd1 followed by Qc5. My opponent now went into the tank for almost a full hour and as I was wandering around waiting for him to move I suddenly felt an urgent need to find the bathroom and be sick.

So off I went and prayed to the porcelain god, thanking him that my position was clearly won already! The rest of the game is Black agony and not even a few second best moves on my part could spoil the party anymore...

17...Qxd6 18. Nxd6+ Ke7 19. Nxb7 Rab8 20. Nc5 Ne5 21. b3 a5 22. Rfd1 Bb5 23. Bf3 Rhc8 24. Kf2 Rb6 25. Nb7 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 a4 27. Rc7+ Nd7 28. b4 a3 29. Na5 Kd6 30. Rc3 Ne5 31. Rxa3 $18 Nxf3 32. exf3 e5 33. Rc3 Ke6 34. Nb3 Rd6 35. a4 1-0

Mate! Mate! Mate!

Tomorrow will bring the 5th league match of this year's campaign with my team SC 1961 König Nied. It's an away fixture against Bensheim, a town some 70 km south of Frankfurt and their team is quite strong, as they've only been relegated to our league last season and are now competing for first place in order to move up again.

Two years ago, both teams met in the higher league and I've got fond memories of this encounter. We managed to beat them 4.5:3.5 and I scored the first point after just about one hour of play by delivering swift mate against my slightly higher rated opponent:

Uwira (2293) - Petri (2316)

I had known my opponent for ages as we started our chess "careers" in the same region and also attended the same school. I knew he didn't know much theory due to his job and his other interests but that wasn't to fool me because I also knew that he is a very creative player capable of tenacious defending. In this game he screwed up badly, though.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. g4 Nxg4 8. Rg1



We're playing the Shabalov Attack of the Anti Meran System and now the main line is 8...f5 9.h3 Nf6 10.Rxg7 Se4 followed by Qf6. He'd been out of theory after 7.g4 though and had to think his way through from there.

8...Nxh2 9. Nxh2 Bxh2 10. Rxg7 Bd6

Here White might play 11.Bd2 and leave the h-pawn alone while completing development. Play would probably become very sharp, however, which is why I decided to play it safe and continue with a small but stable edge.

11. Rxh7 Rxh7 12. Qxh7 Nf6?!

In the post-mortem analysis, I was convinced that this is too risky. Nothing has changed my opinion since then. Black's king will be stuck in the centre and this will inhibit black counterplay by means of e6-e5 or c6-c5. I believe 12...Qf6 was the way to go.

13. Qh8+ Ke7 14. Qh4 Bb4 15. Bd2



White has played a couple of natural moves and has now got considerable pressure. Currently the threat is to win a pawn with Nxd5 and analysis showed that the best Black could do here is to play 15...Kd7, impeding his development even more. His position might hold, though, because the pawn triangle provides a solid shelter.

However, my opponent didn't have a good day and committed an incredible blunder by not only missing the threat of Nxd5 but by playing a move after which Nxd5 will even bring about direct mate!

15...Bd7?? 16. Nxd5+ 1-0

Black resigned because of 16...cxd5 17.Bxb4+ Ke8 18.Qh8+ or 16...exd5 17.Bxb4+ Ke6 18. Bh3+. He could not even try to bail out with 16...Kf8 because White will give mate anyway after 17.Qh8+ Ng8 18.Bxb4+.



See also my teammate Lather's preview (in German).

Ye Olde Crusher

Boris Gelfand of Isreal, who must almost be considered a dinosaur of world class chess with his 41 years of age, has become the first finalist of this year's World Cup after handing out a devastating crush to young Sergey Karjakin (19) in the second match of their semifinal encounter.

Gelfand, who had already won the first game yesterday by countering an opening novelty of Karjakin with an astonishing piece sacrifice, struck again with White today in an even more convincing fashion:

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Be2 Bb7 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Bd2 e5 13. Rac1 a6



Up until now play appeared to be standard. Black has achieved the freeing pawn thrust e6-e5 and White is now trying to take advantage of the central tension that has been created. While I was browsing through the game I thought the game would most likely develop into an endgame grind but then I saw Gelfand's next move...

14. b4!

I have not checked this with an engine but the move is certainly a very strong one if Black is not able to come up with a tactical solution pretty fast: White simply clamps down on the c5-square, exploiting the little tactic 14...Bxb4 15. Nxb5 followed by Bxb4, when White will still be clamping down on the key square.

14...Rfe8 15. Bd3 Bxb4?

After one preparing move, Karjakin is tempted into taking the pawn, as 16.Nxb5?? now allows 16...axb5 17.Bxb4 e4 which wins a piece for Black. Gelfand, however, has seen far ahead - very far indeed and I can only guess where Karjakin stopped calculating. I'd put my money on White's 21st move, which is a very nasty one and easy to miss, too (at least from my point of view).

16. Ng5! h6

16...Bxc3 17.Bxh7+ would leave Black in even deeper trouble.

17. Nxb5 axb5 18. Bh7+

The first point: After the forced reply, White can capture the bishop with check.

18...Kf8 19. Bxb4+ c5 20. dxc5 Bc6



It seems as if Black is in control again. He has blocked the pawn on c5 and threatens to take over the initiative, e.g. 21. Nh3 e4 22. Bf5 and now the Black king would be able to safely return to g8 while Black could start the siege of White's a-pawn. However, Gelfand has seen further than here...

21. Be4!!

White has just produced one of those moves that we're calling "A...lochzüge" in German, i.e. "a..hole moves" in English. It decides the game because it allows White to keep the initiative with Black not having had a chance to consolidate yet.

21...Nb8

Neither 21...Bxe4 22.c6+ nor 21...hxg5 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Rd6 followed by a discovered check offer Black chances of survival.

22. Nh7+ Nxh7 23. Bxh7 g6 24. Rd6 Re7 25. h4 h5 26. Bxg6 fxg6 27. Qxg6 Rxa2 28. Rcd1 Rf7 29. Qh6+ Rg7 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Rd8+ Kh7 32. Qf5+ Rg6 33. Qxh5+ Rh6 34. Qf5+ 1-0

An absolutely beautiful game!