Power Play Show: A World Champion squeeze

by Daniel King
7/31/2020 – In this Power Play Show, grandmaster Daniel King shows the solution to last week’s mate-in-two problem, presents a new problem, and takes a look at an exciting game between Ding Liren and former world champion Vishy Anand. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. | Photo: Austin Fuller
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A grind and a missed mating attack

Not every great game of chess includes a sharp tactical finale — sometimes, the strongest players in the world simply outplay their also excellent rivals by slowly squeezing small advantages. That is precisely what Magnus Carlsen achieved in one of his encounters against Peter Leko at the ‘chess24 Legends of Chess’ tournament.

From the same event, we also look at a game between Ding Liren and Viswanathan Anand. In this case, Ding makes a couple of strange decisions in the middlegame and sees his legendary opponent creating a powerful attack on the kingside out of thin air. Plenty to learn from in these two top games.

But first let’s try to solve this problem by the prolific Czech composer Ladislav Prokes. It is White to play and win:

 

Once you have cracked that, put yourself in the shoes of Indian legend Vishy Anand. Black to play, what next?

 

This week

Previous shows

You'll find older broadcasts in the Power Play category. To watch these you'll need a ChessBase Premium Account.

Daniel King is the prolific author of the PowerPlay series which numbers 27 volumes to date.  The King's Gambit is the subject of his most recent DVD.

Here’s a teaser:

Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.

Links

Topics: Magnus Carlsen, Power Play Show
Daniel King is a regular on playchess.com. Commentating on live events such as the World Championship or analysing themes for his monthly Power Play Show. He also produces a DVD series called Power Play for ChessBase in the Fritztrainer format.

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