Karpov's last bullet

by Oliver Reeh
4/19/2019 – After White's 49.Rd7 in the diagram position Black must find the right move with his attacked knight h7 to clinch victory. 49...Nf8 or 49...Ng5. What would have been your choice against a reigning World Champion?
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Split decision

Both knight moves in the diagram lead to a win, one for Black and one for White!

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 d6 7.b3 Be7 8.d4 cxd4 9.Qxd4 a6 10.Ba3 0-0 11.Rfd1 Ne8 12.Bb2 Nd7 13.e4 Nc5 14.Qe3 Qb8 15.Nd4 Nf6 16.h3 Rc8 17.g4 h6 18.f4 Nh7 19.Qf2 Ra7 20.Rd2 Ba8 21.Re1 Bf6 22.h4 g5 23.hxg5 hxg5 24.fxg5 Bxg5 25.Rdd1 Nd7 26.Rd3 Ne5 27.Rh3 Re8 28.Nce2 Rc7 29.a4 Qd8 30.Qg3 Ng6 31.Qh2 f6 32.Rd1 Rg7 33.Nf3 Bxe4 34.Rxd6 Qc7 35.Ba3 Be3+ 36.Kf1 Bc5 37.Bxc5 Qxc5 38.Rd4 Bxf3 39.Rxf3 Ne5 40.Rh3 Nxg4 41.Qd6 Qf5+ 42.Rf3 Qb1+ 43.Rd1 Qe4 44.Rg3 Ne3+ 45.Kg1 Nxg2 46.Rxg7+ Kxg7 47.Ng3 Qa8 48.Qc7+ Kh8 49.Rd7 After White's 49.Rd7 in the diagram position Black must find the right move with his attacked knight h7 to clinch victory. 49...Nf8 or 49...Ng5 - what would have been your choice against a reigning world champion? Nf8?? What could be more natural than this retreat, safeguarding the knight and hitting White's attacking rook at the same time? But now Karpov's last bullet finds its target. After 49...Ng5! (blocking the g-file) the game would have been over, e.g. 50.Nh5 Rg8! parrying White's very last threat. Which one? See below...
White to play and win.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karpov,A2690Csom,I25351–01977A30(GER-ch) International0412

88 times, IM Oliver Reeh leads you step by step through the most brillant game conclusions of the world champions - in interactive Fritztrainer format, enabling you to enter the winning moves yourself.

Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine

Do you like these lessons? There are plenty more by tactic expert Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine, where you will also find openings articles and surveys, endgames, and of course annotations by the world's top grandmasters.
 

Highlights of this issue

  • CBM 184Tata Steel — Analysis by Giri, Anand, Vidit, Svidler, Nielsen, Adhiban, Hübner and more
  • "One of the best games from 2018" — Go king hunting with Simon Williams — Move by Move!
  • Black has all the fun — Rainer Knaak presents the forcing piece sacrifice 5…Bc5 in the Ponziani Opening
  • Counter the King's Gambit immediately — Daniel King’s video instruction shows you what to do with Black after 2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5!?
  • Aggressive against the Dutch — Romain Edouard recommends the immediate provocation 2.Bg5!
    ...and much more!

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Oliver Reeh has been working for ChessBase for many years as a translator and presenter of the internet show TV ChessBase, and he also looks after the tactics column in ChessBase Magazine, for which he has also been responsible as editor-in-chief since 2019. The International Master has contributed to the CB "MasterClass" series and is the author of the DVDs "Strike like the World Champions" and "Master Class Tactics - Train your combination skills!" Volumes 1 & 2. Oliver Reeh lives in Hamburg.

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