Cross checks, deflections and stunning beauty

by Jonathan Speelman
8/8/2022 – Inspired by Gukesh’s remarkable win over Gabriel Sargissian in round 6 of the Chess Olympiad, star columnist Jon Speelman looked at a few more instances of cross checks and deflections that left a strong aesthetic impression. A beautiful study by the Danish composer Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen is included in the mix. | Photo: Stev Bonhage

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Splendid moves

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Of all the players in the Chennai Olympiad, the one with much the best result as I write on Thursday, the mid-tournament rest day, is India 2’s top board Dommaraju Gukesh.

It’s one of the perks of organizing this great event that you’re allowed a second team and, if (as somehow quite unaccountably always seems to happen) there appear to be an odd number of teams at the critical moment, a third. India 1 are the old guard, though not counting this time with Viswanathan Anand; India 2, the young guns; and India 3 are also far from weak. Indeed, as I write, all three have 10/12 match points.

Gukesh himself has thus far won every game, with victims including Alexei Shirov, whom he beat as Black, and Gabriel Sargissian in the splendid game below for a 3000+ performance!

In one of the variations, it set me thinking about cross checks, and I’ve added an amazing game incorporating the same move: ...Qe7-h7+ in answer to Qh6+.

 
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I'd already done some notes on this myself, before I picked it up off the Chessbase website which gave me a couple of games I didn't have in my database and some comments, most of which I've amended. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Bd6 9.Qc2 e5 9...a6!? 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Be2!? Nxf3+ 11...Qe7 12.Nd4 c5 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.Qxf5 Ng6 15.g3 a6 16.f4 b5 17.a4 b4 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.Qxd5 Rad8 20.Qc4 a5 21.Bf3 Bxf4 22.gxf4 Qh4+ 23.Ke2 Ne5 24.Be1 Rd2+ 25.Kxd2 Nxc4+ 26.Kd3 Nxb2+ 27.Ke2 Qd8 28.Be4 Re8 29.Kf3 Rxe4 0-1 (29) Kjartansson,G (2456) -Sebenik,M (2534) Hersonissos GRE 2017 12.gxf3! Opening the g-file to attack. a6 13.0-0-0 b5! 14.Rhg1
14...b4?!N 14...Bb7 15.e4 14...Bxh2 15.Rh1 Bd6 16.Ne4± 14...Qe7 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.fxe4 Be6 17.f4 f6 18.Rg3 Bb4 19.Bxb4 Qxb4 20.Rdg1 g6 1-0 (33) Zhao,J (2625)-Xu,Y (2516) Liaocheng 2021 15.Ne4 Nxe4! 16.fxe4 Qe7 17.f4 a5 17...f6= 18.e5 Bc5 19.Rg5 Ba6
19...g6 20.h4 20.Rdg1! If White is going to double, then he must do so before exchanging on a6, because otherwise Black could block with Ra6-g6. Instead, Bf3 was also good. 20.Bf3 Rad8 21.Be4 g6 22.e6 Bb6 23.exf7+ Rxf7 24.Re5 My engine quite likes this for White, but doubling with Rdg1 was much more natural. 20.Bxa6 Rxa6 21.Rdg1 Rg6 20...g6 21.Bxa6 Rxa6 22.f5 Threatens to win with Qc4. Ba7 Black should try 22...Rc6! 23.Kb1 Rd8 23...Qe8 24.e6 fxe6 25.fxg6 h6 26.R5g2 Qf6 23.e6 23.Kb1± aiming for Qc4. Rd8 24.e6 23.Qc4 Qc5 23...Kh8?! This turns out to be a mistake. However, the alternative 23...fxe6 24.fxg6 h6 25.g7 looks very scary, though in fact after... hxg5 26.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 24.Kb1!+- ...this excellent prophylactic move leaves Black in deep trouble. Indeed the variation-churning engines say that there's no defence. 24.fxg6? fxg6 25.Qc4 Rxe6 26.Rxa5 Bxe3 27.Bxe3 Rxe3 24...gxf5?
After this White has a pretty but fairly straightforward forced win. Instead, 24...h6 would have put much more pressure on White, though Stockfish does find a clear path: 24...h6 25.R5g3! 25.R5g2 g5 26.exf7 Qxf7 27.Rf1 25.Rxg6 fxg6 26.Rxg6 Rf6 25...g5 26.Rh3 Kg7
27.Rxh6! Of course everybody sees that this might work, but having the bottle to play it in a game would be something else. Kxh6 28.h4! and according to our lords and masters, there is no defence, e.g.: g4 28...Rg8 29.Qc4! g4 30.exf7 or simply 30.Qxa6 30...Rg7 31.Qxa6+ 29.Rxg4 Qd8 30.f6 Rxe6 31.Qf5
25.Bxb4! White just needs to open the path to g2 for the queen, and this is the best way to do it. 25.Bc3+ bxc3 26.Qxc3+ 26.Qg2 Qe8 27.Rg7? is what White wants to play, but at this exact moment c2+ puts a huge spanner in the works: 27.e7 Rg6 28.exf8Q+ Qxf8 29.Qc2 and White is better but the battle continues. 27...c2+! 28.Kxc2 Qc6+ 26...f6 27.Rg7 Qxg7 28.Rxg7 Kxg7 29.Qxc7+ Kg6 30.Qg3+ Kh6 31.Qf4+ Kg6 32.e4 Worse is 25.Rxf5 Rxe6 26.Rxa5 26.Rh5 f6 26...c5= 25.Qxf5 Rxe6 26.Rg7 26.Qxa5 c5= 26...Rg6 27.R1xg6 hxg6 28.Qxg6 fxg6= 25...Qxb4 25...axb4 26.Qg2 Qe8 27.Rg7 wins on the spot, as does 27.Rh5 26.Qg2 26.exf7? Rg6 27.Qxf5 Qd6 28.Rxg6 hxg6 29.Qxg6 Qxg6+ 30.Rxg6 Rxf7-+ 26.Qxf5? Rxe6 27.Qxf7 Here the defelection Qe1+! wins, but I also wondered about Rg6 Qe1+! 27...Rg6 28.Rxg6 hxg6 29.Qxg6 Qe7
Diagram after Black misses Qe1+! Here I noticed the cross-check after Qh6+ which led to the next example. I thought that Rg5 would draw, but in fact Black has a pretty win. Though the outstanding Ka1!!, avoding the check, wins. 30.Ka1‼ 30.Rg5 Rf1+ 31.Kc2 Rc1+! 32.Kxc1 Bxe3+ 30...Qh7 I started thinking about this while lying in bed on Friday morning and got up to 36 Qxc7+ Kf7, but of course couldn't work out the fine details of the king hunt in my mind's eye. 31.Qg5 Rg8 32.Qf6+ Rg7 33.Rg4! Kg8 34.Qd8+ Kf7 35.Qxc7+ Kg8 36.Qd8+ Kf7 37.Rf4+ Ke6 38.Rf6+ Ke5 39.Qd6+ Ke4 40.Qf4+ Kd3 41.Qf1+ and unsurprisingly White soon gives mate, though it's still pretty confusing to the human eye: Ke4 42.Qf3+ Ke5 43.Qf4+ Kd5 44.Rd6+ Kc5 45.Qd4+ Kb5 46.a4#
28.Rxe1 Rxf7
26...Qe4+ 27.Qxe4 fxe4 28.e7 Re8
29.Rg8+! Rxg8 30.Rxg8+ Kxg8 31.e8Q+ Of course the queen is now vastly superior to the rook and bishop. Kg7 32.Qe5+ Rf6 33.Qg5+ Rg6 34.Qxa5 Not 34.Qe5+ Kg8 35.Qxc7 35.Qxe4 Bb6± 35...Bb6 36.Qb8+ Kg7 37.Qe5+ Kh6 38.Qxe4 Kg7 39.Qe5+ Kg8+- 34...Rg1+ 35.Kc2 Rg2+ 36.Kb3 Bb6 37.Qe5+ Kf8 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qxh7 Re2 39...Rg6 40.Qh4+ Ke8 40.Qxe4+ Kf8 41.Qb4+! The rook now drops off to a light square check, so Black resigned.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gukesh,D2684Sargissian,G26981–02022D3844th Olympiad 20226.1
Gutman,L-Vitolinsh,A24300–11979E46URS

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I looked up cross checks and found an example of 37 half moves of checks in a row in an article by Gregory Serper. Obviously, it’s a task rather than chess as such, but still extremely impressive.

 
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1.Nh2+ f1N+ 2.Rxf1+ gxf1 3.Ngxf1+ Bg5+ 4.Qxg5+ Bg2+ 5.Nf3+ exf3+ 6.Kd3+ Nc5+ 7.Qxc5+ Re3+ 8.Nxe3+ c1N+ 9.Qxc1+ d1Q+ 10.Qxd1+ e1N+ 11.Qxe1+ Bf1+ 12.Nxf1+ f2+ 13.Ne3+ f1Q+ 14.Qxf1+ Qxf1+ 15.Nxf1+ Re3+ 16.Nxe3+ b1Q+ 17.Rxb1+ axb1Q+ 18.Nc2+ Nf2+ 19.Bxf2+
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ponzetto,G-- 37(!) consecutive checks

In recent weeks, I’ve been showing anybody who will listen a beautiful study by the Danish composer Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen. I thought I’d already done so in this column, but looking back apparently not. It was first sent to me by the English IM John Cox, but unfortunately I lost it in my inbox and when he resent it, it was only with the final move to find — and sufficient information for this to be quite easy. I therefore have no idea how I would have fared had I tried to solve it from the beginning.

Later, I managed to retrieve the whole study from Mr Nielsen’s Twitter feed and sent it to two former world solving champions, Jonathan Mestel and John Nunn. John had seen it before at a solving competition and Jonathan had not. Both said that they took quite a while to solve it. It’s an absolute gem, with pretty natural chess leading to the stunning finish.

 
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1.e7 Rc8 1...Bc6 2.Rc4 Be8 2...Bb5 3.g4 Bxc4 4.e8Q 2...Bd7+ 3.g4 Bxg4+ 4.Rxg4+ Kf5 5.e8Q 3.g4 2.Rf4 Nc6 2...Rxg8 3.Rf8 Rg7 4.f4+ 2...Bc6 3.Rf8 Bd7+ 4.g4 Bxg4+ 5.Kg3 Bd7 6.f4+ Kh5 7.Nf6+ Kh6 8.Nxd7 3.Rf8 Bg2+ 3...Nxe7 4.f4+ Kh5 5.g4# 4.Kxg2 Nxe7 5.f4+ Kg4
5...Kh5 6.Kh3 g5 7.g4+ Kg6 8.Nxe7+ 6.Rf5‼ Nxf5 6...gxf5 7.Nf6# 6...Kxf5 7.Nxe7+ Ke6 8.Nxc8 c4 9.Na7 9.Nb6 c3 10.Na4 c2 11.Nc5+ Kd5 12.Nb3 Kc4 13.Nc1 Kc3 14.Kf3 Kd2 15.Na2 9...c3 10.Nb5 c2 11.Nd4+ 7.Nf6#
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nielsen,S--1–02022Polish Chess Federation


Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.


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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

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