ODT091215

=**Carlsen blitzes world's best**=




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

The unofficial World Blitz Championship was held immediately following the Tal Memorial tournament reported on in the last column. The players from that immensely strong event were joined another dozen top-ranked contenders for a marathon 22-player double round-robin held over three days.

In spite of the huge expectations of his fans, Norway's Magnus Carlsen was somewhat subdued in the Tal Memorial. He was afflicted by a cold virus in the early rounds and drew his first seven games, only to revive with a brace of wins at the end to share second place. But by the time the World Blitz Championship started, he was fully recovered. He sewed up firrst place with a couple of rounds to spare, finishing on 31/42, three points clear of current world champion Vishy Anand (India) in second place.

Today's game is Carlsen's first win from the Tal Memorial, in round eight playing White against Ukrainian Ruslan Ponomariov. The game was considered by many to be the most “Tal-like” of the tournament – referring to the brilliant attacking style of the former world champion, Mikhail Tal. media type="custom" key="26337298" The English Attack has become one of the most popular methods of meeting the Najdorf Sicilian. The plan is simple: bolster e4 with the f-pawn, castle queenside and launch the kingside pawns forward. Black has to muster queenside counterplay to keep the balance. A new move apparently arrived at over the board – Carlsen just wanted a playable position. Forking the knights with 14...e5 would lead Black into disarray after 15 Nd5 Nxd5 16 exd5 exd4 17 Bxd4+ Kd7 (17...Be7? 18 Bxg7 is worse) 18 Qxb4 Ne5 19 f4! Nxg4 20 Re1! enclosing the king and winning material due to the deadly threat 21 Qa4+. Still taboo was 16...e5? owing to 17 Bxf7+! Kxf7 18 Qb3+ Ke8 19 Ng6 Rh7 20 Ne6 Be7 21 g5 with a crushing attack. White has been training his pieces onto the e6 square in preparation for a sacrifice of the type that made Tal famous for demolishing the Sicilian defence, and the move played hardly addresses this threat. The piece sacrificed does not lead to an immediate forced win, but instead exposes the opponent to prolonged attack. Even elite grandmasters lose their way in the myriad of complications in positions like this: Black could have defended the immediate threats by 22...Bb7! controlling key central squares, and while White missed the first opportunity for 22 g5! - he does not miss the second. After 30 ... Kh8 White wins with the pretty tactical sequence: 31 Nxe7 Rxd7 32 Qa8 Nf8 33 Qxf8+! Qxf8 34 Ng6+ Kh7 35 Nxf8+ Kh6 36 Nxd7. Black steps into forced mate on g8 instead.
 * 1.e4 c5**
 * 2.Nf3 d6**
 * 3.d4 cxd4**
 * 4.Nxd4 Nf6**
 * 5.Nc3 a6**
 * 6.Be3 e6**
 * 7.f3 ---**
 * 7.--- b5**
 * 8.Qd2 Nbd7**
 * 9.g4 h6**
 * 10.O-O-O Ne5**
 * 11.Qe1!? ---**
 * 11.--- Qc7**
 * 12.h4 b4**
 * 13.Nce2 Nc4**
 * 14.Nf4! Nxe3**
 * 15.Qxe3 Qb6**
 * 16.Bc4! Qc5?!**
 * 17.Qb3! d5**
 * 18.exd5 Bd6**
 * 19.Nfxe6! fxe6**
 * 20.dxe6 Be7**
 * 21.Qd3 O-O**
 * 22.Bb3?! Rd8?**
 * 23.g5 Nh7**
 * 24.gxh6 Qh5**
 * 25.Qe4 Qxh6+**
 * 26.Kb1 Ra7**
 * 27.Nf5 Rxd1+**
 * 28.Rxd1 Qf6**
 * 29.Rd7! Bxd7**
 * 30.exd7+ Kf8**
 * 31.Qd5 Resigns**


 * 1-0**


 * Solution:** 1 Rxd5+! Bxd5 2 Ng6+! Qxg6 3 f4#.