Hector's Achilles' heel

by Oliver Reeh
6/1/2018 – With his king running in the middle of the board, Black's position seems to be completely lost, and 34.Qe7+! Kd5 35.Rf2 in the diagram would indeed have sealed his fate. The immediate 34.Rf2?, however, could have (semi-) backfired for White. How?

ChessBase Account Premium annual subscription ChessBase Account Premium annual subscription

At the airport, in the hotel or at home on your couch: with the new ChessBase you always have access to the whole ChessBase world: the new ChessBase video library, tactics server, opening training App, the live database with eight million games, Let’s Check and web access to playchess.com

More...

An unexpected escape

Shown this possibility, the very peaceful (at least away from the chess board) Swedish grandmaster Jonny Hector said: "If he had seen this, I don't know what I would have done!"

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nd2 a6 7.a3 d6 8.Nf1 Bg4 9.f3 Be6 10.Ne3 0-0 11.0-0 b5 12.Ba2 Rc8 13.g3 Qb6 14.Kh1 Kh8 15.Bd2 Rfd8 16.f4 Qb7 17.Ncd5 c4 18.Nxf6 Bxf6 19.f5 Bd7 20.Nd5 Ne7 21.Nxf6 gxf6 22.Qh5 d5 23.Qxf7 Ng8 24.Bh6 Nxh6 25.Qxf6+ Kg8 26.Qxh6 dxe4 27.dxc4 bxc4 28.Qg5+ Kf7 29.f6 e3+ 30.Kg1 e2 31.Qh5+ Kf8 32.Qh6+ Kf7 33.Qxh7+ Ke6 With his king running in the middle of the board, Black's position seems to be completely lost - and 34.Qe7+! Kd5 35.Rf2 in the diagram would indeed have sealed his fate. The immediate 34.Rf2?, however, could have (semi-) backfired for White. How? 34.Rf2? Giving Black an unexpected chance to save himself.
Can you spot Hector's Achilles' heel? Black to play and draw!
Show SolutionGet Help
  • 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.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hector,J2537Christensen,B22471–02008B30Politiken Cup 20083.18

Strike like the world champions

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.

ChessBase Magazine #184

The editor’s top ten:

  1. CBM 184The deciding moment in the candidates tournament: Fabiano Caruana annotates his final round victory over Grischuk.
  2. “Fresh and unexpected”: Vladimir Kramnik explains how he crushed Aronian with Black after innovating with 7…Rg8.
  3. A new plan against the Najdorf? Peter Heine Nielsen annotates Carlsen's successful experiment with 5.Qd2!? in Shamkir.
  4. “Fantastic fighting game”: Karsten Mueller analyses the endgame in the trail-blazing duel between Kramnik and Caruana (video)
  5. Salvation after a series of draws: Ding Liren comments on his win over Mamedyarov in the candidates tournament.
  6. Attack like a WCh challenger: Find the best continuation – “Move by Move“ with Simon Williams in the game Meier-Caruana!
  7. “Domination on both flanks”: enjoy Daniel King’s video analysis of the game Caruana-Aronian and let him whip up some enthusiasm for the Ruy Lopez!
  8. A popular weapon against the Najdorf: let Robert Ris introduce you to the secrets of the variation with 7.Nf3.
  9. “Like Karpov in his prime”: Rustam Kasimdzhanov annotates Caruana's win over MVL at the Grenke Chess Classic.
  10. Promising in the long term: Yannick Pelletier recommends 6…h6 in the Vienna Variation of the Queen's Gambit (video)

ChessBase Magazine 184

Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (Berlin, Baden-Baden and Shamkir) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 10 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.

Links

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.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.