
Marin on Tromsø – round eight selection
On the day of the Olympiad's eighth round, I travelled together with my son to Predeal, a high altitude Romanian resort, where he is gong to take part in an open tournament. In order to kill the boredom caused by the hours sitting in the train, and to put Victor into the playing mood, I took out my pocket chess and showed him the famous Lasker-Bauer game. The play of the second official World Champion was rather experimental (f4, b3, Bb2, e3, Bd3) but yielded him a winning position rather quickly, due to the fact that Black underestimated the force of the two bishops acting along neighbour (or, if you wish, parallel) diagonals.

Emanuel Lasker – portrait by Nette Robinson
1.e4 | 1,170,319 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 949,867 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 282,628 | 56% | 2440 | --- |
1.c4 | 182,731 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,745 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,347 | 54% | 2427 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,917 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,816 | 51% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,759 | 48% | 2379 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,222 | 54% | 2404 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,073 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 955 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 666 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 449 | 53% | 2374 | --- |
1.c3 | 435 | 51% | 2426 | --- |
1.h3 | 283 | 56% | 2419 | --- |
1.a4 | 114 | 60% | 2465 | --- |
1.f3 | 93 | 46% | 2435 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 90 | 66% | 2505 | --- |
1.Na3 | 42 | 62% | 2482 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.f4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.b3 e6 4.Bb2 Be7 5.Bd3 5...b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Ne2 c5 10.Ng3 Qc7 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Qc6 13.Qe2 a6 14.Nh5 Nxh5 14...d4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Qg4 Kh8 16...e5 17.Be4! 17.Rf3 Rg8 18.Bxh7! 15.Bxh7+! 15.Qxh5 f5 15...Kxh7 16.Qxh5+ Kg8 17.Bxg7‼ Kxg7 18.Qg4+ Kh7 19.Rf3 e5 20.Rh3+ Qh6 21.Rxh6+ Kxh6 22.Qd7! Bf6 23.Qxb7 Kg7 24.Rf1 Rab8 25.Qd7 Rfd8 26.Qg4+ Kf8 27.fxe5 Bg7 28.e6 Rb7 29.Qg6 f6 30.Rxf6+ Bxf6 31.Qxf6+ Ke8 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qg7+ Kxe6 34.Qxb7 Rd6 35.Qxa6 d4 36.exd4 cxd4 37.h4 d3 38.Qxd3 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Lasker,E | - | Bauer,J | - | 1–0 | 1889 | A03 | Amsterdam | 1 |
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Looking at the game made our voyage more pleasant, but somewhere at the background of my mind a question was looming: would this game have any relevance for the advanced technical stage of today? Would any reasonable strong player overlook the bishops' threats so easily nowadays? The first thing after entering our hotel apartment was to look for an answer among the eighth round games. You cannot imagine how happy I was to find three relevant games on this topic. True, the similarity with the classical gem is only partial in each case, but the main thing is that the players with black (quite strong ones!) overlooked relatively simple threats created by the bishops. This happened at a relatively early stage and, even though two of the games lasted for relatively long, they were practically decided shortly after the opening. And since yesterday we had Steinitz in the background, remembering his direct successor comes in very handy for today.
As a coincidence, the first two games of my selection took place in the same match: Ukriane-Bulgaria!

Paying royalties to Lasker? Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.Nh4 Be4 7.Be2 7.f3 7...e6 8.0-0 Bd6 9.g3 Nbd7 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bd3 Nef6 12.b3 0-0 13.Bb2 c5?! 13...Qe7 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.dxc5 Nxc5?! 15...Bxc5 16.Qh5 h6 16...N7f6 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Bxh7+! Nxh7 19.Qxc5 17.Rfd1 16.Bc2 16...Be7 16...Nf6? 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.b4 17.Qh5 f5? 17...g6? 18.Nxg6 fxg6 19.Bxg6 17...h6!? 18.Nf5!? 18.Rad1 Bf6 19.Ba3 Rc8 20.Nf5 g6 21.Nxh6+ Kg7 18...exf5 19.Rad1 Bf6 19...g6 20.Qxh6 Bf6 21.Rxd5 Qxd5 22.Bxf6 20.Qxf5 g6 21.Qxd5 Qxd5 22.Rxd5 Bxb2 23.Rxc5 Rac8 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Be4 b6 26.Bb7 Rc7 27.Bxa6 Ra7 28.Rb1! Be5 29.Bf1 Rxa2 30.Rc1 Rb2 31.Rc8+ Kg7 32.Bc4 18.Nxf5! exf5 19.Rad1! 19.Bxf5 Rxf5 20.Qxf5 19...Qd6 20.b4 Ne6 21.Bxf5! 21.Bb3 Nec7 22.e4 Bf6 21...Ng5 22.Rxd5! Qxb4 22...Qxd5 23.Bxh7+ Kh8 24.Be4+ 23.Bd4 Rad8 24.Rxd8 Bxd8 25.Qg4 25.Bc2 25...Qc4 26.h4 Qd5 27.Bxh7+! Kxh7 28.hxg5 Qxg5 29.Qe4+ Qg6 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Eljanov,P | 2723 | Iotov,V | 2553 | 1–0 | 2014 | D11 | 41st Olympiad Tromso 2014 Open | 8 |
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The second game features a different cooperation between the bishops. Rather than acting along neighbour diagonals, they will submit the black position to a crossfire attack.

Crossfire of bishops: Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Nbd2 c3 10.bxc3 0-0 11.Nb3 11.Ne1 11...Be7 12.c4 Bd7 13.Bb2 Rfd8 14.Nfd4 Rac8 15.Nb5 b6 16.Nd6 16.Rac1 16...Rc7 17.Ba3! 17...Kf8 17...Ne5 18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.Rxd8+ Bxd8 20.cxb5 17...a6 18.c5 Nb8? 18...h6 19.Nb5 Rcc8 20.Bxc6 Rxc6 21.Nxa7 Rc7 22.cxb6 18...Nd5 19.Nb5! Rcc8 19...Bxb5 20.Rxd8+ Bxd8 21.cxb6+ 20.Nxa7 Rc7 21.cxb6 Rc2 22.Nd4 Rc4 23.Rac1 Rxc1 24.Bxe7+ Kxe7 25.Rxc1 Kd6 26.Ndb5+ Bxb5 27.Nxb5+ Ke7 28.a4 Rd2 29.Nc3 Nfd7 30.a5 Rb2 31.Ra1 Rc2 32.Ra3 Rc1+ 33.Bf1 Nc6 34.Nb5 Nce5 35.b7 Nc4 36.a6 Nxa3 37.Nxa3 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Cheparinov,I | 2681 | Ponomariov,R | 2717 | 1–0 | 2014 | E04 | 41st Olympiad Tromso 2014 Open | 8 |
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Some readers may argue that, be it as it may, the previous games featured classical openings, making the similarity with Lasker-Bauer rather remote. At the height of year 2014, would there be any strong grandmaster willing to start the game with the extravagant 1.f4 or 1.b3?

There was: Hungarian super-talent Richard Rapport!
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Na3 a6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nc4 Qe7 8.a4 0-0 9.a5 Bg4 10.Ne2 Nd7 11.0-0 11...e4 12.Nxd6 cxd6 13.f3! exf3 14.gxf3 Bh3 15.Rf2 Ne5 16.f4 Ng6 17.f5 Qg5+ 18.Ng3 Ne5 19.Ra4 Bg4 20.Qf1 20...f6? 21.Bxe5 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Rapport,R | 2704 | Onischuk,A | 2659 | 1–0 | 2014 | A01 | 41st Olympiad Tromso 2014 Open | 8 |
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And now that I have paid tribute to the first two World Champions, I cannot help asking myself whether in the ninth round there will be something reminding me of Capablanca...
Photos by Pascal Simon and André Schulz
About the author: Mihail Marin
Born in 1965, GM Mihail Marin has several times been Romanian champion and first made the leap over the Elo barrier of 2600 in 2001. Marin possesses a rare gift for a grandmaster – he is able to explain in readily comprehensible terms the ideas behind moves, variations and positions. This ability is there for all to admire in his contributions to ChessBase Magazine. Marin has written some books which have earned the highest of praise, among which are "Secrets of Chess Defence" and "Learn from the Legends". He Marin lives in Bucharest and is married to women's International Master Luiza Marin.
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All you need to know about the Olympiad
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