chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Karen Grigorian vs Yuri Balashov
USSR Championship (1974), Leningrad URS, rd 4, Dec-04
Dutch Defense: Rubinstein Variation (A84)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening
find similar games 10 more K Grigorian/Balashov games
sac: 30...Nxe4 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: You can get computer analysis by clicking the "ENGINE" button below the game.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Nov-24-05  Dim Weasel: Didn't get, but this one was very educational, I think, for me at least.
Nov-24-05  peterk007: <black knight c6>: what is stopping you from mating your opponent or attacking him, and remove it. - nice way to put it. here it is the removal of the defender (f3 distracted to e4) of the defender (g4).
Nov-24-05  SamuelS: I had the line: 30...Nxe4 31. fxe4 (White should have tried 31. Qxg5 Nxg5 although yet an other pawn will drop with a winning position for Black) 31...Rf1+?! (little slower although winning) 32. Kh2 (32. Kg2 Qg4+ 33. Kh2 Qg1#) 32...Qg4 and I cannot find a defence to the mate threats: 33. Rg2 Qh3+ 34. Kg1 Qxh1# or 33. Re3 Qg1# or 33. Qe3 R8f2+ 34. Qxf2 (34. Rxf2 Qg1#) Qh3#
Nov-24-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  benveniste: <Eric Xanthus>, ♕e1 is met by ♘g3, followed by ♘xh1. The pawns on f3 and g4 fall soon thereafter.
Nov-24-05  wolverine199: <An Englishman>, very nice advice. This was exactly how i did it. I almost quitted, but then i tooked one last view of the board and thought: what pieces did white had that werent directly participating in the attack? After that, it was easy to find the knight move.
Nov-24-05  erimiro1: This game is a "handbook" for the Dutch. Balashov played it masterfuly, and very soon, white 2 bishops became passive, and stood sady on f2 and g2. In such close positions the knights feel G-O-O-D and the sac on e4 was a matter of time. The knight on c5 waited for 16 moves to smash the white defence.
Nov-24-05  Georgie Dubb: Can we call it a sac, or even a pseudo-sac, since white is not supposed to take the N (the worst move to play) ?

Nov-24-05  EmperorAtahualpa: For this puzzle, my first (wrong) idea was 30...Qxg4+. Then I saw the better move 30...Nxe4, but was thinking: "ok, 31.Qxg5 Nxg5......then what??". I didn't see how Black would continue after that, so I guess I only got a bit of this puzzle.

So I had a look at the position after 30...Nxe4 31.Qxg5 Nxg5 with Crafty:

First of all, Crafty gives Black at this position already a big advantage (-4.60 / depth = 15 ply), which is quite arguably already decisive. And Crafty gives the following line:

30...Nxe4 31.Qxg5 Nxg5 32.Nf2 Nxf3+ 33.Bxf3 Rxf3 34.Rbe1 h3 35.g5 Rg3+ 36.Kh1 Rxg5 37.Ne4 Rg4 38.Kh2 Rff4 39.a3 Rh4 40.Re3 Kg7, leading to this position:


click for larger view

Nov-24-05  patzer2: Today's puzzle solution is the pseudo-sacrifice 30...Nxe4! , which exploits White's weakened castled position for the win.

Declining the sacrifice leaves White a pawn down with a clearly lost position. So White graciously accepts the sacrifice for a neat mating finish. One little finesse is that if 30. Bg2, then the quickest win is the neat two-move mate 30...Rf1+! (the alternative 30...h3 wins slowly) 31. Kh2 Qg3#.

Nov-24-05  Tomtom: Very nice one, a good idea fur future games... :)
Nov-24-05  EmperorAtahualpa: <georgie dubb> I would go for "pseudo-sac".
Nov-24-05  monad: What a surprising position: All that heavy artillery, two Rooks, one Bishop, the Queen and her side kick on h4, all bearing down on the white King. And yet, in spite of all those riches, it takes the fairly distant Knight to set it up. I nearly overlooked it.
Nov-24-05  dakgootje: missed it...
Nov-24-05  TopaLove: I tried ♕xd2, ♕g4+ and only then I saw ♘xe4!
Nov-24-05  blingice: I would have said ♗g4 because it opens up the file, and no other piece could take it. Why couldn't the knight have been taken with the rook after the move? Wouldn't that have ended the combination?
Nov-24-05  jahhaj: <blingice> Don't forget that the two queens are attacking each other.

30...♘xe4 31.♖xe4? ♕xd2, Black wins

30...♗xg4?? 31.♕xg5, White wins

Nov-24-05  HannibalSchlecter: In this game black played the Dutch but played e6 first. I see this a lot. Does anybody know why they don't just play f5 (Dutch) right off the bat. Why do they often play e6 first?
Nov-24-05  esticles: <HannibalSchlecter> I think French players (the opening, not the ethnicity) like to play e6 first in the Dutch to allow white to transpose. So if you don't want the French f5 should be first.
Nov-24-05  erimiro1: < HannibalSchlecter >They want to avoid 2.Bg5. It's not a big threat, and black can answer 2. - Nf6, but after 3.B:f6 e:f6 it's not the Dutch anymore,
Nov-24-05  Knight13: I waw this one. Probably 31. Qxg5 is the best move. Lose the pawn, not the king.
Nov-24-05  psmith: <HannibalSchlechter> <ermiro1> I think they want to avoid the gambit 1. d4 f5 2. e4 (what's that called again?).
Nov-24-05  crafty: 30. ♗g2 h3 31. ♗xh3 ♖xf3 32. ♗g2 ♘xe4 33. ♕e1 ♖3f4   (eval -3.43; depth 15 ply; 250M nodes)
Nov-24-05  Doktorn: Yes, I got the actual line. In a game I would most likely have played this move also, but I wasn´t completly sure if white´s queen couldn´t move to a safe, good spot. Trading the queens would lead to two lost pawns and a lost postion for white. And as <black knight c6> said another queen move leads to Ng3 were black threatens the rock and the important bishop.
Nov-24-05  kevin86: I solved the key move-but was highly surprized on how white was mated so quickly.
Nov-25-05  humtydumpty: huhuhu hahahahaha ... i got this one ........
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC