Jon Speelman: The joy of innumeracy

by Jonathan Speelman
2/18/2024 – Today’s column is about sacrifices and the exchange in particular. If you’re shown a chess position cold, then the first thing you do normally is to count the pieces just to check that the material is fairly balanced. But the relative activity is at least as important. The “joy of innumeracy” might turn out to be a valuable (in)ability in many chess positions! | Pictured: Lu Miaoyi at the 2023 Rapid and Blitz World Championships. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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When 1 is greater than 3

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

Jon SpeelmanToday’s column is about sacrifices and the exchange in particular, which I imagined was a topic that I would have treated here fairly often. However, when I went back through my list of columns (and the titles are rather opaque, so I may have missed something) the first one I found which explicitly focused on this was #132 in October 2020, which I had entitled When 3 is greater than 5.

Following on from this, today’s explores the “joy of innumeracy”, which turns out to be a valuable (in)ability in many chess positions, especially as they are handled today.

If you’re shown a chess position cold, then the first thing you do normally is to count the pieces just to check that the material is fairly balanced. But the relative activity is at least as important, and exchange sacrifices often confer great amounts of energy as compensation.

I’ve got two examples today from the 4NCL: my own win last Sunday which followed an idea pioneered by Matthias Bluebaum against Markus Ragger at the Chennai Olympiad two years ago (and very possibly born of the beeping of an engine before that), and the brilliant upset win by William Claridge-Hansen against Constantin Lupulescu the day before.

To finish, a magnificently violent game which has been doing the rounds recently (so I guess you may have seen it already) in which a ferocious 14-year-old Chinese girl put an Italian grandmaster to the sword. She started by asserting (sacrificing a knight for a pawn) that 1>3, and he later made a good defensive exchange sacrifice. Near the end, the body count (under the conventional scoring) was 23 to 16 in Black’s favour, but she still crashed through.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.e5 4.exd5 4...d4 The critical move, preventing White from transposing into an Advance French. 5.Na3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bd7 7.0-0 g5!? This nice confident move puts pressure on White before he can unravel. 8.Qe2 8.Nc4 g4 9.Ne1 b5 10.Nd6+ Bxd6 11.exd6 c4 12.Be2 d3 13.Bxg4 is another very unclear line. 8...h5 9.Ne1 Qb8 10.f4 gxf4 11.Nf3
At the cost of a pawn (maybe temporarily) White has defended the e5-pawn. 11...Nh6 12.Re1 Stockfish much prefers to play b3 immediately, though I can't yet see why the difference is so great. 12.b3 Ng4 13.Nc4 b5 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 12...Rg8 13.b3 a6 14.Bb2 14.Nc2 was better since Black can't capture dxc3 with the bishop still on c1. 14...dxc3 15.Bxc3?! b5 16.Nc2 Qa7 17.Kh1 Rd8 18.Rf1?! so eventually Rf1-e1 has cost White 2 tempi. The annoying 18.Bh7 apparently kept the balance Rg4 19.d4 cxd4 20.Ncxd4 Nxd4 21.Bxd4 Qb7 22.h3 Rg7 23.Be4= Bc6 24.Bxc6+ Qxc6 18...Ne7 19.Ng1? 19.b4 fought for the d4-square, though apparently Nd5 is still better for Black. Nd5 19...c4 20.Be4 19...Bc6
20.Ne1? It was essential to challenge the diagonal with Be4 before it was too late. 20.Be4 Bxe4 21.Qxe4 b4 22.Bb2 Rxd2 23.Ne2 was unpleasant but maybe still defensible - though now Stockfish is telling me that Black should be winning after Qd7 24.Nxf4 Qc6 25.Qxc6+ Nxc6 26.Rac1 Ng4 20...Qb7 21.Nef3 Nef5 22.Rae1?!
Getting ready to play Be4 - it's too late. 22.Rac1 Rxd3 22...Rxd3! This beautiful thematic sacrifice maintains total hegemony over the long white diagonal, and with best play Black should be winning. 23.Qxd3 c4?! To bring the other bishops into the attack, but this was unnecessary and gives White a chance to fight back. Instead 23...b4 24.Bb2 Nh4 was winning after 25.Rf2 25.Re2 Nxf3 26.Nxf3 26.Rxf3 Nf5 26.gxf3 Bb5 27.Qe4 Qxe4 28.fxe4 Rxg1+ 29.Kxg1 Bxe2 30.Rxf4 Ng4 31.h3 Bh6 26...Bb5 25...Rxg2! 26.Rxg2 Nxf3 27.Nxf3 Bxf3 28.Reg1 28.Ree2 Bxe2 29.Qxe2 f3 28.Qf1 Bxg2+ 29.Qxg2 f3 30.Qf2 Ng4 28...Nf5 29.Qf1 Nh4 29...h4 30.h3 Bxg2+ 31.Rxg2 Nxg2 32.Qxg2 and f3 is even more decisive than 32...Qxg2+ 24.bxc4 Bc5? 24...b4 25.Ba1 Nh4 26.Re2 N6f5 27.Qc2 Rg4 28.Ref2 a5 29.Qb1 Be7 30.h3 Ng3+ 31.Kh2 25.Qe2 Missing the vicious 25.Ba5! when the main threat apparently allows White to defend Bd4 25...Kf8 26.Rc1 b4 26.Ne2 26.cxb5 axb5 27.Re2 26...Be4 27.Qa3 Bxe5 28.d4 Bd6 29.c5 Bb8 30.Nc3 Bxf3 31.gxf3 Ne3 25...h4?! Inaccuracy. Bxg1 was best. 25...Bxg1 26.Kxg1 h4 26.d4?!
26.Nh3 Rg3! 27.cxb5 axb5 28.Rc1 Rxh3 29.gxh3 Ng3+ 30.hxg3 Nf5 is Stockfish's magnificent main line continuing 31.Qg2! hxg3 32.Bd4 Nh4 33.Rxc5 Nxg2 34.Kxg2 "equal" Bxf3+ 35.Rxf3 Qe4 36.Be3! fxe3 37.dxe3 Qd3= 26...Bxd4! 27.Bxd4 Nxd4 28.Qd3 Nhf5 29.cxb5 29.Rf2 bxc4 30.Qxc4 h3 31.Nxh3 Nxf3 29...Bxb5 Stockfish thinks that h3 first is more accurate 29...h3 30.Nxh3 Bxb5 31.Rb1 Rxg2 32.Rxb5 axb5-+ 30.Qb1 30.Rb1 h3 31.Rf2 31.Nxh3 Rxg2 32.Kxg2 Ne3+ 31...hxg2+ 32.Rxg2 Rxg2 33.Kxg2 Qd5 34.Rxb5 axb5 35.Kf2 Qxa2+ 36.Ne2 Nxe2 30...h3! Deflecting the g1-knight to undermine the defence of his colleague on f3 31.Nxh3
31...Rxg2! The culmination of the attack - the rook is sacrificed on the focal point and all Black's pieces unite to dispatch the enemy king. 32.Nxf4 32.Re4 Nxf3 33.Rxf3 Rb2 34.Qxb2 Qxe4 35.Ng5 Qe1+ 36.Kg2 Ne3+ 37.Kh3 Qg1 38.Rxe3 fxe3 32.Kxg2 Nh4+ 32...Nxf3 33.Rxf3 33.Kf2 Nd2 34.Qd1 Qb6+ 35.Kg2 Nh4+ 36.Kh1 Bc6+ 33...Nh4+ 33.Kg1 Ndxf3+ The better way to capture since it opens the a7 to g1 diagonal. 34.Rxf3 34.Kf2 Qb6+ 34...Qxf3 35.Qc2 Bc6 32...Rg4 33.Nh5 Nxf3 34.Nf6+ Kf8 White resigned. A brilliant thematic game! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Constantin Lupulescu2589William Claridge-Hansen23450–12024B404NCL Division 1 2023-20245.1
Eggleston,D2414Speelman,J24870–12024B124NCL Division 1 2023-20246.19
Lu,M2252Stella,A24011–02024C1149th Seville Open 20245.7

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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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