Candidate moves III
Good idea, bad execution? This is a common issue in everyday tactics. In order to make our ideas work, we must carefully consider the move order involved. Here are some examples on this topic.
Black to move. We immediately spot a motif based on the pinned rook on f2. A first impulse might be 1...fxe4 to clear the f-file. However, by 2.Nxe4 White keeps this file closed. What if we play 1...Ng4 first? Now after 2.fxg4 fxg4 White can save his rook in many ways, e.g. 3.Be3. But digging a little further, we find the pretty 2...Qxf2+! 3.Kxf2 fxe4+ and Black wins material. Interestingly, our first candidate move, fxe4, had to be played at last.
As you can see, my famous compatriot didn´t have any difficulty in establishing the right move order here. Also notice that playing 1...Qxf2+ first would be insane, as after 2.Kxf2 Ng4+ White has no reason to transpose to our main line by 3.fxg4?, but could simply retreat his king - move order logics.
Here is a more complex case.
White to move. The idea of a Bxg6 sacrifice soon catches our eye. Let´s check the straightforward 1.Bxg6. After 1...fxg6 2.Qxg6+ Black defends by 2...Qg7, when 3.Qxh5?? Qxg2 is mate. How can we improve this idea? As we scan the whole board, we find 1.Ba5, diverting Black´s queen from the 7nd rank. After 1...Qxa5 2.Bxg6 White must be close to winning, right? Oh no, by 2...Nf3+! Black makes a sacrifice himself, so that after 3.gxf3 fxg6 4.Qxg6+ Rf8, the white rook can´t reach g3. Also after 3.Rxf3 Bxf3, White´s attack runs out of fuel.
By now you can probably guess the solution: switch moves! Following 1.Bxg6, the analogous 1...Nf3+ from the 1.Ba5 line above no longer makes sense, as after 2.Rxf3 White, still having the other bishop on the board, wins loads of material. As for 1...fxg6 We obviously continue 2.Ba5, forcing 2...Qxa5. There follows 3.Qxg6+ Kf8 4.Rg3! and Black is helpless against the idea of Qg8-h7+ and Rg8 mate.
Very precise play by Mamedyarov! By the way, notice that he had to visualize 4.Rg3!, a blow in the spirit of Tal, before initiating the whole sequence.
Here is another example:
White to move. We have a lot of pieces directed at Black's weakened king, so there should be "something", at least according to human logic. We quickly spot a number of tactical resources: Nh5+, Rxe5, d6, Rf7+ etc... but how should these be organized? Think for a while, and then compare with the solution just below in the text. Be careful not to allow Black´s main defensive resource, Be7-f6. And as often happens, only one move order will do the trick.
As you can see, already in his teenage years, Mamedyarov was a fearsome calculator!
In the endgame, move order management often determines the final result, like in the next example.
White to move. Rook and knight against a rook is normally a draw, but we should of course look for practical chances. We quickly discard 1.Rxh3+ in view of 1...Kg7 2. Rg3+ Kh6 3.Nf6 Ra6+ and Black holds by checks in the back. But 1.Nf6+ Kh6 2.Kf7 is an obvious try. However. after 2...Ra7+ Black defends. Let´s try making our 2nd move in advance, i.e. 1.Kf7. Now 1...Ra7 2.Rxh3+ is mate, so is 1...h2 2.Rh3+, while 1...Rf5 obviously fails to 2.Nf6+ and mate next move. Finally, 1...Kh6 would be a draw without the h-pawn on the board, but here White mates by 2.Rg6+, 3.Nf6+ and 4.Rg4+. Nice!
By the way, it is interesting to go back one move in this game.
Here Cubas played 1...Ra5?, possibly overlooking Delgado's clever 2.Kf7! . However, by altering the move order he could have drawn: after 1...Kh6! first, 2.Kf7 can met met by 2...Rg5! (ruining the mating motif on g6) 3.Rxh3+ Rh5. As for 2.Nf6, then 2...Ra5 is just fine, as we already saw above.
By the way, moving our king in advance is a common tactical ploy. I plan to come back to it soon.
I hope you have enjoyed these examples! Here are a few related exercises.
1. White to play (3-4 moves)
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2. Black to play (3-4 moves)
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3. Here White played 1.Bh6. Was he right in doing so?
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4. White to play (4-5 moves)
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And here are the solutions to the exercises featured in the 2nd part of the article.
1. Black is alive after 1.Nd5 Qd8 or 1.Ng4 Re8, but 1.Nd7! decides in view of 1...Re8 2.Rf7 Rg8 3.Ne5! and 1-0 in V.Yandemirov - A.Mukhaev, Russia 1998, seeing 3...Qa5 4.Ng6+ hxg6 5.Qh4 mate.
2. Knight moves like 1.Ne4 or 1.Ng4 lead nowhere after 1...g6, but Kramnik found the ingenious 1.d5!. Black can´t take with neither pawn due to 2.Nxd5, and after 1...Rd8 2.Rfe1 Kh8 3.dxe6 Rxd1 4.Rxd1 fxe6 4.Ne4 heading for c5, White had a huge edge, V.Kramnik - S.Lputian, Debrecen 1992.
3. In the event of 1.Rxf6 gxf6 2.Bxb8 Qxb8 3.Nd5 Black has 3...Qe5!, while after 1.Rd1 Rxd6 2.Bxd6 Re8! the back rank motif saves him. However, the simple 1.Qd1! wins material in all lines. (example based on L.Psakhis - J.Polgar, OHRA-B 1989).
4. After 1...Ne5 2.Nf3 or 1...Qg5 2.Kf1, White is OK. But 1...Ra3! adds more power to Black´s initiative. After 2.Nf3 Nxb4! 3.Rxb4 Qa5 he soon regained the material with a better game, A.Zatonskih - N.Short, Gibraltar 2017. As for the prophylactic 2.Kf1, after 2...Rc3 and 3...Ne5 Black is on top anyway.
