ODT110308

= **King of The Rock** =



**Problem:** White to play and mate in 3.

The British territory of Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop at the southern tip of Spain, hosts an annual international chess tournament. The Gibraltar Masters is a very large open Swiss and last month's edition boasted 232 players and dozens of top grandmasters.

The winner was the evergreen Ukrainian GM, Vassily Ivanchuk, who achieved an incredible score of 9/10 giving away just two draws. Chasing him all the way was English GM Nigel Short in a return to form after some recent poor performances. Short's score of 8½ would normally have been enough for first place and was a point clear of the rest of the field.

Today's game is from the fourth round at Gibraltar and features Ivanchuk playing White against Hungarian GM Viktor Erdos. media type="custom" key="25908380" **1.e4 e6** **2.d4 d5** **3.Nd2 a6** **4.Ngf3 Nf6** **5.Bd3 c5** **6.e5 Nfd7** **7.c3 Nc6** **8.O-O g5!?** A radical way of handling this variation of the French Tarrasch. Rather than be subject to White's kingside attack, Black launches a pawn storm himself. **9.Bb1 g4** **10.Ne1 h5** **11.Nc2 Rg8** **12.Re1 cxd4** **13.cxd4 f5** **14.Nf1 ---** Taking en passant would only feed Black pieces over to the kingside. White calmly untangles his pieces. **14.--- Be7** **15.Bd2 Nf8** **16.f4! ---** The drawback of Black's premature attack is that 16...gxf3 17 Qxf3 highlights the weakness of h5 and his uncastled king. The kingside is now closed and White can at his leisure pursue the initiative elsewhere on the board – especially along the open c-file. **16.--- b5** **17.a3 a5** **18.Bc3 Nd7** **19.Qd2 Nb6** **20.b3 Kf7** **21.Nfe3 Kf8** **22.Bb2 Kg7** **23.Rc1 Bd7** **24.Ne1 a4!** By attacking b3 Black can blockade the c-file with a knight on c4. **25.b4 Nc4** **26.Qe2 Qb8** **27.Nd3 Qa7** **28.Nc5 Rgf8** **29.Kh1 Rac8** **30.Nxc4 bxc4?!** Allowing White to set up a favourable imbalance in the pawn position. After 30...dxc4? 31 d5! White is better, but the zwischenzug 30...Bxc5! 31 dxc5 dxc4! opens up the long white diagonal and brings the kingside pawns back into play. **31.Bc2 Bxc5** **32.dxc5 Ne7** **33.Rd1 Bb5** **34.Bc3 Ng6** **35.Rd4 Bc6** **36.Rb1 Rb8** **37.Kg1 Bb5** **38.Rbd1 Qe7** **39.Qe3 Qa7** The position looks totally blocked and as if a draw is inevitable. Not so! **40.Rxd5!! exd5** **41.e6+ Kh6** **42.Rxd5 Rbd8** **43.Rxd8 Rxd8** **44.Bxf5 ---** For the sacrificed rook White has only three pawns, and Black's rook is active. But the key features are White's two pairs of connected passed pawns and the open diagonals to the black king. **44.--- Qc7** **45.g3 Rd1+** **46.Kf2 Qd8** Black must give back the exchange to defend the threats to his king. The counterattack with 46...Bc6!? 47 Bc2 Rh1 48 f5+ Nf4 (48...Kh7? 49 fxg6+ Kg8 50 Qh6! is hopeless) 49 Be5! Rxh2+ 50 Ke1 Rh1+ 51 Kd2 Qd8+ 52 Kc3 leads nowhere. **47.Bc2 Rd3** **48.Bxd3 Qxd3** **49.f5+! Qxe3+** **50.Kxe3 Ne7** **51.Ke4 ---** Black's two pieces are no match for the white king and pawns. The bishop on c3 importantly holds up Black's c-pawn and keeps the black king at bay. **51.--- Bc6+** **52.Ke5 Nd5** **53.b5! Nxc3** **54.bxc6 Nb5** **55.e7 Nc7** **56.Kd6 Ne8+** **57.Kd7 Nf6+** **58.Ke6 Ne8** **59.Kf7 Nc7** **60.e8=Q Resigns**

**1-0**

**Solution:** 1 Rxf7! f3+ (1...Rxf7 2 Rb8+ Rf8 3 Rxf8#) 2 Kh3! Re8 (else 3 Rxf8#) 3 Rg7+ Kh8 4 Rh7+ Kg8 5 Rbg7#.