11/5/2023 – Marking Guy Fawkes Day in the UK, Jon Speelman goes over a number of suitably pyrotechnic games. Three correspondence-chess marvels from the 1980s are followed by recent games from the Qatar Masters and the FIDE Grand Swiss. Fire on board!
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Pyrotechnics
[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]
A fortnight ago, I noticed that my next column today would be on November 5th — Guy Fawkes Day in the UK — and asked readers for any suitably pyrotechnic games to mark it. I’m very grateful to the Portuguese Correspondence Grandmaster Alvaro Pereira for heeding my call by bringing my attention to three splendid examples.
I’ve always been too impatient to play correspondence chess myself, and also too consumed by games when they are in progress to contemplate having a number hanging over me for months and years. But before modern engines, top-class correspondence chess was a marvel, and the three games he has chosen from the 9th Correspondence Olympiad in the early 1980s all very much fit the bill. They are a draw between Jonathan Penrose and Pereira, and their two wins as White against Yugoslav Borislav Vukcevic.
I’ve finished with some recent games which you may or may not have seen. The first is a victory by Nodirbek Yakubboev, who went on to win the Qatar Open after beating his fellow Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a rapidplay play off. And I’ve got two games from the FIDE Grand Swiss, which finished today on the Isle of Man: Jan-Krzysztof Duda’s heart-pounding win against Iranian Pouya Idan in the first round, and a truly mind-blowing endgame between Arjun Erigaisi and Rinat Jumabayev.
[Pictured: A Guy Fawkes wax model burning on the bonfire at the Billericay Fireworks Spectacular in Lake Meadows Park, Billericay, Essex | Photo: William Warby]
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1.e4
1,174,618
54%
2421
---
1.d4
952,919
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
283,849
56%
2440
---
1.c4
183,334
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,804
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,464
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,926
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,855
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,775
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,239
54%
2405
---
1.e3
1,075
49%
2409
---
1.d3
961
50%
2378
---
1.g4
669
46%
2361
---
1.h4
465
54%
2381
---
1.c3
436
51%
2426
---
1.h3
284
56%
2419
---
1.a4
117
59%
2462
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
43
60%
2477
---
Please, wait...
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bb5a64.Ba4Nf65.0-0b56.Bb3Bb77.Re1Bc58.c3d69.d4Bb610.Bg510.Be3and the immediate10.a4are more common
today.10...h611.Bh4Qd712.a412.Bxf6gxf613.Bd5controls the
white squares, but Black has the g-file and the ...f5 break.12...0-0-013.axb5axb514.Na3g515.Bg3h516.h4gxh417.Bxh4Rh618.Ng518.dxe5Nxe519.Nxe5dxe520.Qxd7+Rxd721.Rad1Nxe422.Rxd7Kxd723.Rd1+Nd624.Bxf7Rh725.Bg6Rg726.Bf5+Ke827.Bh3Kf728.Nc2Bf329.Rd2Bg430.Kh2Ne431.Rd5c632.Rxe5Bc733.f4Bxe534.fxe5c50-1 (34) Kanatov,A-Belozerov,
A (2460) Tomsk RUS 199818...Rg619.Qf3Rf819...exd420.Bxf7Ne521.Qf5Qxf522.exf5Rg723.Be6+Kb824.cxd4Bxd425.Nxb5Bb626.Rad1Rh827.b4Nh728.Rxe5dxe529.Nxh7Rgxh730.f6Rf831.Nc3Rh632.f7Bd433.Be7Rxe634.Bxf8Rf635.Bc5Rxf736.Bxd4exd437.Rxd4Rg738.g3Re739.Kf1Ka740.Nd5Re541.Ne3Ba6+42.Ke1Kb643.Kd2Kc644.f4Re845.Rd5Rg846.Rc5+Kd747.Nf5Bb748.Ke3Ra849.Ra5Re8+50.Re5Ra851.Kd4Ra152.Ng7Rd1+53.Kc3Rc1+54.Kb2Rg155.Nxh5Bf356.Nf6+Kd657.Rg5Ke658.Ne8c659.Nc7+Kf660.Na6Be461.Nc5Bf562.Nb3Rg2+63.Ka3Be664.b5cxb565.Nd4Ra2+66.Kb4Ra4+67.Kc3b4+68.Kd3Ra3+69.Ke4Bc470.Rc5Bd3+71.Kd5b372.Rc6+Kf773.Rb6Ra5+74.Kd6Bc475.Nxb3Ra376.Nc5Rxg377.Rb4Ba278.Ke5Re3+79.Ne4
79...Bb3??80.Kd4!1-0 (80) Van Kampen,R (2447)-Van
de Oudeweetering,A (2337) Netherlands NED 200920.Nxb5exd420...Kb8
defends a8, and so threatens to take on d4 without being hit by e5.21.cxd4Bxd422.e5!Nb822...Nxe5??23.Ra8+!Bxa824.Qxa8#23.Nxd4
Stockfish actually prefers Qd4 but it's immensely complicated - and the queen
sacrifice is much more aesthetic.23.Qd3Qg423...dxe524.Nxd4Qxd425.Qxd4exd426.Bxf7Rxf727.Nxf7Rxg2+28.Kf1Nbd729.Rec1Bd529...Rg430.Bg330.Ra724.g3Rxg525.Qxd4Qf326.Nxd6+!cxd627.Rec1+!Bc627...Kd728.Qxd6+Ke829.Qxb8+28.Rxc6+Nxc629.Qb6Nd730.Qa6+Kc731.exd6+Kxd632.Rd1+Qxd1+33.Bxd123...Bxf3
24.e624.Ndxf3!Ng425.Nxf7d525...Rxf726.e626.N7g5White only has two pieces and a pawn
for the queem. But his king is completely safe while Black's is not and the
e-pawn is immense. Apparently this is winning for White.24...fxe625.Bxe6Bd526.Bxd7+Nfxd7
27.Ra7Now it peters out. Dredging his memory,
Alvaro Pereira ressurrected a very nice line after 27.Re7,
ending in a king fork of White's two rooks:27.Re7Nc628.Nxc6Bxc629.Rc1Ne530.Ne6Nf3+31.Kf1Nxh432.Rxc6Rxe6
A very honourable end to a ferocious batlte.
Obviously this is close to equal, and in correspondence games, they were able
to verify that it's completely so:34.Nh6Bd535.f5Nd336.f636.Bg3Kc637.f6Kd736...Ne5½–½
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
Jonathan SpeelmanJonathan 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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