|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Aug-16-14
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Kept getting stuck until I had the "bright" idea that this was one of those trick positions CG sometimes uses to trip up players who see only the first move and give themselves full credit. For a moment I thought 22.Rxc6,Qxc6; 23.Nd4,Qd7; 24.Bxh7+,Kxh7; 25.Qh4+,Kg8; 26.Rf3 might be a solution. But I doubt it. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | offramp: A routine standard Greek Gift. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | beatgiant: I was studying 22. Qh4 h6 23. g4 Re8 24. g5 Bf8 26. gxh6 gxh6 27. Rg2+ Kh8 28. f5 which looks like an easy win. That's not all forced, but I don't see anything much better for Black either. What am I missing? |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Nick46: I guessed the Saturday sacrosanct first move :) |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Nick46: but don't think it's of much credit <An Englishman> |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: I thought White would sacrifice the exchange at c6 as part of the solution. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Caissas Clown: <Nick46:> I guessed the Saturday sacrosanct first move :) Me too ! I didn't bother with solving it any further than 24.Ng5 - too easy :-). Seriously , wonderful attack by Alexei.
Rc7 was a stunner!
I doubt I will ever understand some of his preparatory moves - and that's exactly why he enthralls me.Great entertainer. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Nick46: <Caissas Clown:too easy :-)> Reinderman, aka reindeer-man, was probably giving Shirov a Xmas present. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | Penguincw: Wow. This has to be one of the easiest Saturdays either. 22.Bxh7+ Kxh7 was obvious, but is there a difference between 23.Ng5+ or 23.Qh4+? I would've played the former, followed by the latter a move later. Unfortunately, I didn't see followups such as 24...Re8 and 25...Ne7. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Lighthorse: Yeah, I saw the obvious Bxh7 also, and then obsessed with that black Bishop on a3 keeping me from blocking off the King's escape to e7. It never dawned on me to go the other way with f5. But that white Rook lift to f3 really fooled me as I played through the game. I never saw that either. It seemed like a total tempo waste. But now I see it becomes useful on g3 many many moves later. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | Once: A slightly odd puzzle, methinks. The Greek gift sacrifice is pretty obvious. Then white has a fair few choices about how to proceed. Fritzie finds plenty of alternative moves and transpositions. Even Shirov's main plain of f5 and e6 doesn't seem obligatory, or necessarily the strongest moves. It's all a bit meh. Nice attack. Fun to play through, but not really a puzzle. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | kevin86: I had the bishop sac- after that, it's everyone on their own! |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | vajeer: How about 30...Bb2. It protects the g7 pawn. And if Rxb2, White cannot play Rc7 later which is a key move for White. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | Jimfromprovidence: This is no run of the mill Greek gift game.
Two moves come to mind. The first is 25 Rf3!, below. (Most would just play 25 Qh7+). 
click for larger viewThere is a beautiful threat here, Rh3, seeing ...Kf8 Nh7+ Kg8 Nf6+, winning black's queen. This forces the response 25...Ne7. I also appreciated the subtle 30 Rg3.
click for larger view The threat is 31 Nh7+ Ke7 32 Rg7+. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | SpiritedReposte: <Reindeer Games> |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | WDenayer: This was incredibly easy. I do not want to sound arrogant - there have been Thursdays and Fridays that I did not solve. But this one: in a real game I would play 22.Bxh7 immediately. Of course it cannot be all worked out. It is not necessary. 22. Bxh7 wins, it's just something you know. The rest makes perfect sense. 35.Rc7 is a nice move, but very easy to find, just a basic tactic. This was the easiest Saturday since I am on this site. |
|
Aug-16-14
 | | agb2002: The material is identical.
Black threatens ... Rxb3.
White seems to be ready for a greek gift, 22.Bxh7+:
A) 22... Kxh7 23.Ng5+
A.1) 23... Kg6 24.Qh4 Nxe5 (24... Rh8 25.Qxh8; 24... Kf5 25.Qh3+ Kg6 26.Qh7#) 25.fxe5 and mate in two. A.2) 23... Kh6(8) 24.Qh4+ and 25.Qh7#.
A.3) 23... Kg8 24.Qh4
A.3.a) 24... Rd8 25.Rf3
A.3.a.i) 25... f5(6) 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qxg7+ Ke8 29.Qg8+ Bf8 (29... Ke7 30.Qf7#) 30.Qg6+ Qf7 31.Qxf7#. A.3.a.ii) 25... Kf8 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Qxg7 Rf8 (27... Qe8 28.Rxc6 + -) 28.Nh7 Bb7 (28... Re8 29.Qf6#; 28... Rd8 29.Qf6+ Ke8 30.Rg3 followed by Rg8 + -) 29.f5 and the threat 30.Bg5+ seems to win material. A.3.a.iii) 25... Rxb3 26.Rh3 Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qxg7 Rf8 29.Nh7 Rd8 (29... Qd8 30.Rxc6) 30.Qg5+ seems to win (30... Ke8 31.Nf6+; 30... f6 31.Qg7+ Ke8 32.Nxf6#). A.3.b) 24... Re8 25.Rf3 looks similar to previous lines. B) 22... Kh8 23.Qh4 looks winning. For example, 23... Rd8 24.Bg6+ Kg8 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Qxg7 Rf8 28.Ng5 wins material. |
|
Aug-16-14
| | Jimfromprovidence: This is what Nunn says about this game.(After 22 Bxh7 concerning the Greek gift concept). "Here however, it is far less clear cut. Black is immediately mated if he plays ....Kg6, but the ...Kg8 defense proves a tough nut to crack". "White is able to win, but he must display considerable creativity to do so". As to 25 Rf3 he says; "White finds an original concept that you won't find in any textbook of attacking play". I strongly agree with his assessment. |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | Marmot PFL: It seems 22 Bxh7+ is strong, but to calculate all the lines of attack and defense is extremely hard. Up to move 24 it's all forced and I saw 25 Rf3, which stops 25...Kf8 due to 26 Nh7+ Kg8 27 Rg3 and Nf6+. Now 26 Rh3 is threatened so 26...Ne7 27 Qh7+ Kf8 28 Qh8+ Ng8 29 Nh7+ Ke7 30 Qxg7 is typical, with 2 pawns and an attack for the piece (Ng5 and/or f5 are threatened). |
|
Aug-16-14
| | Once: <Jim> Maybe, maybe. Far be it for me to quibble with you or the mighty Nunn, but... Playing a rook to the third or fourth rank so that it can swing across in front of the pawns isn't exactly a new concept. I'm not even sure if it is the only way to win or the best move in the position. After four hours on infinite analysis, Fritzie marginally prefers 25. Qh5 to 25. Rf3, although the difference is tiny (+4.39 to +4.34). Fritzie also finds five other moves which give white an advantage of +2 or better - Rfc1, Bf2, b4, Ra1 and Qh7+ 25. Rf3 is a nice move, but we may be in danger of writing history to favour the victor. 30. Rg3 does appear to be the only way to win at that point in the game. But between moves 26 and 29, Fritz is currently saying that Shirov played less than optimal moves which allowed his advantage to slip back. I'm letting him chew on the position after 25...Ne7.
Don't get me wrong - it's a strong attack. I couldn't have played it OTB. But Dr Nunn's enthusiasm isn't currently being matched by Herr Fritz's. |
|
Aug-16-14
| | Jimfromprovidence: <Once> I like the move 25 Rf3 for a couple of reasons. It's a novel move, and prevents black from playing say 25...Rxb3. The consequences of the move 25...Rxb3 lead to the cool combination 26 Rh3 Kf8 27 Nh7+ Kg8 28 Nf6+. 
click for larger view |
|
| Aug-16-14 | | jimx: For such an "easy" Saturday puzzle, everyone (including Shirov) seems to have missed 34.Nf6! Crafty has a forced mate in 9 moves with either 34..e5 or 34..Nxf6 in response: 34. Nf6 e5 35. Qh7+ Ke6 36. Nxd7 Bb7 37. Nxb8 Be7 38. Qxg6+ Nf6 39. Bxf6 Bc5+ 40. Rxc5 Kd6 41. Be7+ Kxe7 42. Rc7+ Kd8 43. Qd6# 34. Nf6 Nxf6 35. Qxf6+ Kg8 36. Bh6 Bb2 37. Rxb2 Qa7+ 38. Rf2 Rb7 39. Rxg6+ Kh7 40. Bf8 Qxf2+ 41. Kxf2 Rxf8 42. Rh6+ Kg8 43. Rh8# |
|
May-07-17
 | | saffuna: Shirov in FOB2 on 22 Bxh7+; "A simple, known, but still a nice, sacrifice." Then he writes of 32. Bh6: "I saw this move when playing 22. Bxh7+. And you, my German friend?" |
|
May-07-17
 | | perfidious: <saffuna....Then (Shirov) writes of 32. Bh6: "I saw this move when playing 22. Bxh7+. And you, my German friend?"> Far as I know, Reinderman is Dutch. |
|
May-07-17
| | saffuna: I think Shirov is referring to Fritz, which he is using to analyze and found him out with a couple of second-best moves during this sequence. |
|
 |
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Kibitzing
sac: 22.Bxh7+