FIDE December 2015 - Jansa

 

Vlastimil Jansa: Inscrutable knight The aim of this article is not a further documentation of what has been described many in chess literature and what forms times the foundations of the strategy. strategy . Indeed, the activity of the knight theoretically manifests itself best in the centre, in the blocked position or in cooperation with a queen, that is all gospel truth. We We would also definitely agree that the knight is the most peculiar piece on the  board. No lines and no diagonals (in contrast to the other pieces), but a strictly limited „jump“ over several squares. Not incidentally exactly the knight moves rank among the most wonderful secrets of the chessboard, their surprisingness is an inseparable component of our remarkable game and a sort of its „flavour“.  „flavour“.   The uniqueness of knight jumps is often a source of the most original ideas as well as manifold tactical oversights and gross miscalculations. Even at the highest level! 1. Blunders and oversights Many of you might recall the 6th game of the World World Championship Match Carlsen : Anand from Sochi, 2014.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + +rt r0 9+k+ +p+ 0 9 p zl+p+nz p0 9z p z p z P +R0 9 +P+ +R+0 9+ z P v L + 0 9P+L+ PP+0 P zP+0 9+ m K + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Carlsen, the future winner of the game and the match, continued 26.Kd2?? and completely overlooked overlooked a „typical“ knight

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

sortie 26…N 26…Ne5!, e5!, and if 27.Rg8, then 27...Nc4 28. 28. Kd3 Nb2 gives Black a material advantage. Still, Anand also missed this possibility possibilit y. He played pla yed 26…a4?? and after 27.Ke2 went on to lose the game. A remarkable mutual „chess  blindness“  blin dness“ in such a top-level top-level match! The complex game Khismatullin D. : Smirin I. from the recent tournament in Poikovsky 2015 came to the position of the next diagram:

XIIIIIIIIY 9rw qrv qrv ll+k+0 ll+k+0 9z p + +p+p0 9 n s z p +p+0 9+ +Pz p + 0 9Ns n +P+ +0 9+Ps N v LP+ 0 LP+ 9 + w QL+Pz P0 9t R + +Rm K 0 xiiiiiiiiy White has not realized the tactical fragility of the position, when he continued 21.Nb2? There followed a spectacular knight punishment: 21…Rc3! 22.Qc3  N6d5! and after the forced 23.ed5 Nd5 24.Qd2 Ne3 Black was close to winning. Knight jump might be insidious even in the „simplest“ endgames, as the further examples from the modern grandmaster  practice testify.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + s n +0 9+ + s N + 0 9 + + z P +0 9+ + + z Pk0 Pk0 9 + + m K +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 1

 

In the previous course of the game Grischuk A. : Polgar J., Biel 2007, White remarkably gradually outplayed his opponent, but a momentary carelessness cost him half a point. The only correct continuation was 61.f5!, with an easy win. Instead, Grischuk plays seemingly logical 61.Kf3?, overlookes a stalemate combination 61…Ng4! „Originally I thought that I would „somehow“ lose the game anyway“, says later Judit Polgar. „But when I saw how long the opponent was thinking, I realized that there was an an unavoida ble draw on the board!“ Indeed, it is impossible to overcome the blockade of the pawns and White had to accept a bitter draw after 62.Nd3 Nh2 63.Ke4 Ng4 64.Ne5 Nf6 65.Kf3 (65.Kf5 Kg3=) Ng4 66.Nc4 Nh2 67.Ke4 Nf1 68.Ne3 Ng3 69.Ke5 Kh2! 70.Kd6 Nh5 71.f5 Ng7 72.f6 Ne8 ½.  ½.  The elimination of Levon Aronian, one of the main favourites, was a big surprise of the 2nd round of the World Cup in Baku, 2015. The main cause was the loss in the 1st rapid game of the tie-break. Aronian got into a difficult knight endgame and his opponent A.Areshchenko A.Areshchenko increased his advantage, reaching a completely winning  position:

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + +N+p0 9 k m + + +0 9z p + + z P 0 9 + +n+ +0 9+K+ + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Black to move could quickly and easily win, playing playing 57…Kb3! White is in zugzwang after 58.Ka1 a2, as 59.g4 fails to

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

59...h4! 60.Nh4 Nd4… Instead, Areshchenko complicated his task with an unnecessary knight shift: 57…Nc3?! 58.Kc2 Ne4 59.Kb1 Kb3 Kb3 60.Nd4, after which the dramatic game continued for further 40 moves, featuring White's stubborn resistance and a big duel of both knight. Black still prevailed in the end. Knight jumps in Baku will probably remain a nightmare for Levon Aronian for some time ... „Knight tragedy“ tragedy“ took place at another World Cup in Khanty – Mansyisk Mansyisk in 2009. The match V. Laznicka –  Laznicka –  V.  V. Bologan came to a four-game play-off. Laznicka was leading 1,5: 0,5, but Bologan was very ver y close to levelling the score in game 3.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9PP+ + z ps + z p0 9z PP+ nP+k0 nP+k0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + z P0 9+ + + +K0 xiiiiiiiiy Black (Bologan) should have won after the correct 52…Kg5, which timely brings the king into play. For instance, 53.b6 Nd7 (Yes, (Yes, the knight has enough time to  blockade the White pawns.) 54.b7 54.b7 Nb8 55.Kg2 Kxf5 56.Kf3 Ke5 57.Ke3 Kd5 and Black wins. Instead, Bologan hurried to attack the White pawns with his knight: 52…Nc4??, which allowed Laznicka (who was down to seconds!) to excellently exclude Black's king from the play by means of 53.b6 Na5 54.h4! The game continued with 54…d5 55.Kg2 d4 56.Kf2 d3 57.Ke1! Nb7 58.Kd2 Nc5??  Black was unsettled by the sudden change of the situation and failed to find the salvation, which again consisted in the

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inclusion of the king: 58…Nd6 59.Kd3 Kxh4! 60.f6 Kg5. The knight will manage his role after both 61.f7 Nf7 62.b7 Ne5 with a draw and 61.b7? Nb7 62.f7 Nc5 and Black even wins. After 58…Nc5?? the game went downhill for Black: 59.Ke3 Kg4 60.f6 d2 61.Ke2! Nd7 62.f7 Kf5 63.b7 Ke6 64.f8Q 1:0. Even the best from the best frequently overlook knight sorties. In blitz games such a risk naturally increases. Next diagram features the game Kramnik V. V. : Dubov D. from the World Blitz Championship in Berlin 2015.

How to save the f2-pawn? White cannot win after its loss. The troublesome path to the victory leads through the brilliant action of the knight and its flawless cooperation with the rook and the king: 1.Nf8 Kf7 2.Ne6! Rd2! (The best defence. After 2…Ra4 3.Kd7 Ra7 4.Nc7 Ra7 4.Nc7 Ra2 5.Re7 White wins.) 3.Rd8! Rc2 4.Kd7 Rd2 5.Kc6 Rc2 6.Kd5 Rd2 7.Kc4 Rc2 8.Kb3!  (Only so, it is necessary to lure the rook to the e-file… e-file… 8.Kd3? Ra2.) 8…Re2 9.Rf8 Ke7 10.Nf4! The final accord of a splendidly played composition. 1:0. 

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + z pR+p0 pR+p0 9 + + +pm k0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + s n0 9+ + + + 0 9 +r+ + z P0 9+ + + t RK0 RK0 xiiiiiiiiy

The co-operation of the knight with a queen makes for an ideal combination, as it contains the whole motional potential –  potential –   lines, diagonals and also the unique movement of the knight. In the following example:

In the game White underestimated Black's knight for a moment and a severe  punishment followed: 1.Re7?? Nf3 0:1!  2. Cooperative knight and its i ts surprising and unrestrained movement

XIIIIIIIIY 9 +K+R+ +0 9+ + + +N0 9 + + +k+0 9+ + + + 0 9 + t r + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + z P +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Study by A. Gurvich 1953. White to move wins.

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 +Q+ + +0 9+ m K + + 0 9 + +N+ +0 9+ + + z p 0 9k+ + +q+0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy R. Réti, 1925. 1925. The White duo manages to put Black into a hopeless situation through the fine manoeuvres. Only so White can overcome the draw pitfalls on the way to the victory: 1.Nc3 Ka1! 2.Qa4 (2.Qg2 first stalemate) 2...Kb2 3.Qa2 Kc1 4.Qb1 (4.Qg2 second stalemate) 4...Kd2 5.Qb2 Ke1 6.Qc1  (6.Qg2 third stalemate) 6...Kf2 7.Nd1!  (The deplacement of the knight is essential.) 7...Kf3 (Or 7…Ke2 8.Qb2! Kd3 9.Qb3 …) 8.Qc3 Ke2 (8…Kf4 9.Qf6 Ke4 10.Dd4! –  10.Dd4! –  but  but not 10.Dc6 Kd3 11.Qg2 fourth stalemate –  stalemate –  10…Kf3 11.Dd5 +-) +-)

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9.Qb2! Kd3 (9…Kf3 10.Qb7 +-) +-) 10.Qb3 Kd2 (e2) 11.Qa2! Kd3 12.Nb2! (The decisive knight shift to c4.) 12…Ke3(e2) 13. Nc4 Kf3 14.Ne5 1:0.

In the 22nd  game of the World World Championship Match A.Alekhine –  A.Alekhine –   M.Euwe White demonstrated a fascinating „knight dance“. This famous game has  been a subject of numerous analyses of the leading players. Alekhine himself analyzed it in detail in his book „Alekhine's „Alekhine 's 300 Selected Games”, as well as Kasparov in his work „My Great Predecessors” much later. Knight jumps at the full board really make a huge impression and cannot be missing in my article. Even more so, that even after many years they evoke not only a justified enthusiasm, but also an ambition to discover the long-hidden truth… truth… 

XIIIIIIIIY 9 r t + +k+0 9+ + +p+p0 9 + + +p+0 9+ +N+ + 0 9 + v l + +0 9+P+Q+ +P0 9 q w + z PP+0 PP+0 9+ + +Rm K 0 xiiiiiiiiy Alekhine (playing with White) initiated the relevant part of the game in the t he position on the diagram. The game continued with 41.Ne7! Kf8 (The only sensible retreat, as 41…Kg7? loses to 42.Nf5 gf5 43.Qg3 ; after 41…Kh8 there follows 42.Nc6 Bf2 43. Rf2 Qc1 44.Kh2 Qc6 45.Rf7 and the spare pawn should decide.) 42.Nc6 Bf2 43.Kh2?!  (Kasparov later showed that the  prosaic option 43.Rf2 Qc1 44.Qf1 44.Qf1 Qc6 45.Rf7 Kg8 46.Rf3 “with a fifty per  cent  cent chance to win“ (Kasparov) was correct after all. Alekhine was reluctant to enter that endgame and he did well… Otherwise

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

the chess world would be deprived of the following enchanting rage of the White's knight.) 43…Re8? („ („If If 43…Rb7, then 44.Qf3 Bb6 45. Nd8 and White wins at least an exchange“, exchange“, says Aljekhine. Aljekhine. „ No, White overlooked an intermediate check 45…Q 45… Qe5!“, counters Kasparov. Indeed, Black saves the day after both 46.g3 Re7 47.Nf7 Qe2 and 46.Kh1 Bd8 47.Qb7 Bc7 48.Kg1 Dd4. I would like to add that in the current computer age there also appears one more defence: defence: 43…Rb6 44.Qf3 Bg3! Bg3! 45.Kh1 Qb3, even though not everything is clear after 46.Qf6!) The idea behind the move 43.Kh2 will fully manifest itself, now. 44.Qf3 Re2 (Forced. In case of 43.Kh1 Black could play 43...Re1.) 45.Nd4! Rd2 46.Ne6 (The tireless knight continues its journey through the centre of the board.) 46…Ke7 (An automatic retreat. Still, 46…Ke8 was more accurate in my view. It would have allowed Black to meet view. 47.Nf4 with another defence than 47…Qd4, namely 47…Qc2 47…Qc2  …) 47. Nf4!  (Threatening 48.Nd3! Now 47…Qc2 does not work. Instead of 48.Ra1 (Alekhine, Kasparov), White can execute a further knight manoeuvre 48.Nd5 Kf8 49.Nf6!, with a crushing threat of 50.Ne4.) 47…Qd4 

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + m kp+p0 kp+p0 9 + + +p+0 9+ + + + 0 9 + w q s N +0 9+P+ +Q+P0 9 + t r v lPm K0 9+ + +R+ 0 xiiiiiiiiy 48.Kh1!!  („A superingenious silent move“  –  Kasparov.  Kasparov. Another Another knight jump 49.Ne2! is threatening and on 48…Bh4 Alekhine gives the following line: 49.Qb7 Qd7

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50.Qb4 Ke8 51.Ne6! Be7 52.Qb8 Bd8 53.Nd8 Qd8 54.Qe5 Qe7 55.Qh8 Kd7 56.Qh7 Rf2 57.Rd1 Kc7 58.Qh8 and White should win. And Garry Kasparov adds: After 49…Ke8 the splendid knight will again have its say: 50.Ne6! fe6 51.Qf7 Kd8 52.Qf8 Kc7 53.Rf7 Kb6 54.Qb8 Kc5 55.Rc7 Kd5 56.Rd7 Ke4 57.Qb7 Kf5 58.Rd4 Rd4 59.Qh7+-.) 48…Ra2? (In my opinion, only this rook move is the decisive mistake. Alekhine and Kasparov agree with each other: „48…h5 49.Ne2 Rd1 50.Qb7 would have led to similar consequences as the game continuation.“ continuation.“ But it is not so! Exactly 48…h5! was was –   –  as  as we will see –  see –  the  the best defence. This fact was recently discovered at the training camp of the Czech national team. Moreover, Black's last move should have lost for a much more prosaic reason: 49.Nd5 Kf8 50.Nc3! Rc2 51.Ne4! –  51.Ne4!  –  thus,  thus,  because of the further manoeuvre of the inscrutable knight!) 49.Ne2 Ra1 50.Qb7! („More tenacious was 50…Kf8“, Kf6 („More agree the both greats of the world's chess in their annotations. Yet, Yet, this time they are not right … After 50…Kf8 51.Nd4 R ff1 1 52.Kh2 Bg1 53.Kg3 Bf2 White's king avoids the f-file by means of 54.Kg4! and Black cannot avert a huge material disadvantage:: 54…h5 (If 54…B disadvantage 54…Bd4, d4, then 55.Qb4.) 55. Kg5 Be3 56. Kh4 Rf4 57.Kg3 h4 58.Kh2 Rd4 59.Qb8 Kg(e)7 60.Qe5 +-. On the other hand, Black would definitely have decent chances for a draw after the above-mentioned and only correct 48…h5! 49.Ne2 Rd1 50.Qb7 Kf8! 51. Nd4 Rf1 52.Kh2 Bg1 53.Kg3 Bf2 54.Kf3 Bd4 55.Ke4 Bg1 or 55.Ke2 Rf5.) 51.Nd4 Rf1 52.Kh2 Bg1 53.Kg3 Bf2 54.Kf3 Bd4 55.Ke4 Rd1 (After the bishop retreat 56.Qa6 decides.) 56.Qd5?! (  („„An unsubstantial oversight in this extraordinary difficult game“, game“, Alekhine comments afterwards. Indeed, 56.Qc6 followed by 57.Qc2 would win on the spot,  but even now is the eventual pawn

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

endgame easily winning for White: White : 56… Re1 57.Kd4 Td1 58.Kc5 Rd5 59.Kd5 Ke7 60.Kc6.) 56…Ke7 57.g4 h5 58.gh5 58.gh5 f5 59.Kf3 Rd3 60.Ke2 Re3 61.Kd2 Re4 62.hg6 and Black resigned. resi gned. Alekhine's Alekhine's magnificent knight manoeuvres in this game make a great impression. Not incidentally,, shortly after incidentally afte r its end dr. Euwe reconciles himself with the defeat in the whole match shortly afterwards: „The tension of the fight has become simply unbearable for me!“. me!“.   3. Domination of the knight in the centre of the board A lot has been written about the relation  between the knight and the bishop, bishop, the advantages and disadvantages of the movements of both pieces have been documented in the literature countless times. The strength of the knight increases

when it is positioned in the centre.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 +k+ + v l0 9z P + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 +N+ z PKz p0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy

Richard Réti's Réti's study from 1922 is its proof in the most economic, but not less impressive form: 1.Nd4 Kc5 (The only sensible retreat. After 1…Kd5 1…Kd5 2.a6  2.a6 decides, also after 1…Kb7 2.Kh2 Bf4 3.Kh3 Ka6 4.Nb3 Kb5 5.Kg4 Bb8 5.f4 Kb4 6. f5 Kb3 7.f6 Kb4 8.a6 Kb5 9.f7 one of the White's pawns reaches the destination on the 8th rank.) 2.Kh1!!  and this beautiful „zugzwang“ finishes everything. It is perhaps the shortes study ever!

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The centralised knight in Richard Réti's Réti's hands became the decisive force also in the fight against the rook:

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+p+N+ + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + z P + 0 9 K m + + +0 9+P+ m k + 0 9 + + + +0 9+r+ + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Reti R., a study from 1928. 1.e6 Re1 (Black has a wide choice, but the other options are no better: better: 1…Ra1 2.e7 Ra8 3.Nf6: 3.Nf6: 1…Kd2 2.Ne5 Ra1 3.e7 Ra8 4.Nc4 and 5.Nd6; 1…Kd4 2.Ne5 Ra1 3.e7 Ra8 4.Nf7 Te8 5.Nd6: 1…Kf2 2.Ne5 Ra1 3.e7 Ra8 4.Ng4 and 5.Nf6 or 1…Kf4 2.e7 Re1 3.Nf6.) 2.Ne5! +In exceptional cases the action of the knight can overcome even the strength of the most powerful piece on the board! The study by M. Liburkin from 1939 is a  beautiful example of such a “miracle”:

XIIIIIIIIY 9 +N+ + +0 9z p + + + 0 9q+p+ z p +0

Grandmaster David Navara impressively describes in detail the course of many of his games in his remarkable book “My Chess World” (in Czech, Prague 2015). At the end of the book he annotates the encounter Navara D. : Caruana F., F., Rhodes 2013.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + m k + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ z P s NP+ 0 NP+ 9 P z +L+ +0 9+ + v l + 0 9 r t + + +0 9+ +K+ + 0 xiiiiiiiiy In an unusual but pleasant poetic way. way. Here is the very end, where exactly the centralized knight plays the decisive role: 52.Bc2! Navara aptly writes: „At the moment White is ready to give a fork with his knight, centralized steed is quite steady and might soon end up the fight.“ fi ght.“ 52…Bg5  (52…Ra2 53.f6 Kf6 54.Ng4¸52…R   b4 53.Nc6.) 53.c6 Ra2 (53…Kd6 54.Nc4; 54.Nc4; 53…Kd8 54.Nf7.) 54.Nf7.) 54.b5 and White easily won after 54…Be3 55.f6 Kd8 55.f6 Kd8 56.f7 Bc5 57.b6 Ra1 58.Ke2 Ra2 59.Kd3 Rb2 60.Nc4 Rb5 61.Bd1! 1:0.

9m k+ p+z 0 9kp+ P++++0 9z PP+ +K+ 0 PP+ 9 + + z P +0 9+ v L + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 1.Bd2 b4 2.Bb4 Kb5 3.Nd6 Kb6 4.Ba5! Ka5 5.Nc4 Kb5 6.Kf4 f5 (6…c5 7.d5) 7.Kg5! f4 8.f3 c5 9.d5  and Black's queen is lost!

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

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The study by A.Guliev (1928) shows a slightly different but also important role of the knight in the centre:

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9s N + + + 0 9 + +P+ +0 9+ + +K+ 0 9 + + + m k0 9+ + + + 0 9 lr+ l vr+ + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 1.e7 Re2 2.Nc6 Kh5! 3.Ne5!! Re5 4.Kf6  with a draw.

4. Knight manoeuvres, transfer of the knight from the one side of the board to the other 

Knight's limited ability, caused by the character of its movement and occasionally manifesting itself by knight's troublesome “transport” accross the board, is its undeniable weakness. The necessary shift always requires big attention and often also surprising but accurate decisions! The following position is a textbook case for this:

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + m k +N0 9 + + + z p0 9+p+ + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9K+ + + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Gurgenidze D., study 1970.

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

White to move has to annihilate the Black  b5-pawn as quickly as possible. However, However, the automatic 1.Kb3? (looking for 1…Kf7? 2.Kb4 Kg7 3.Kxb5 Kh7 4.Kc4 =) would have been an irreparable mistake due to the clever reply 1…Ke6! 1…Ke6! 2.Nf8 (2.Kb4 Kf5 3.Kb5 h5 -+) Kf5 3.Nd7 h5 h5 4. Nc5 h4 5.Nd3 h3 6.Nf2 h2 7.Kb4 Kf4 and Black wins. So what is the matter? Any square for the knight, even a seemingly unimportant one! Correct is only the thoughtful move 1.Ka3!! with the point consisting in 1…Ke6 2.Nf8 Kf5 3.Nd7 h5 4.Nc5 h4 5.Nb3!. The knight needs exactly this square for the drawing finale: 5…h3 7.Nf1=) 7.Nf1=. 6.Nd2! h2 (or 6…Kf4 7.Nf1=) Anatoly Karpov demonstrated a classical example of a very effective knight transfer in his game against Boris Spassky in the Candidates match in 1974.

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+ t r +k+0 9+ + w qp+ 0 qp+ 9 +p+ +p+0 9z p + z p +p0 9Ps nQ+P+ v l0 9+ s N v L +P0 9 PPt P zPt R +P+0 9+ + +Rm K 0 xiiiiiiiiy The passive knight on c3 and its active Black's counterpart inspired White to start the excellent manoeuvre with 24.Nb1!.  Not only White transfers the knight knight through d2 to f3, he also drives away the Black's knight to the rim through the subsequent advance c2-c3. Excellent strategy! The difficulty lies in the idea itself –  itself  –  the  the knight returns to its initial  position! This manoeuvre has has nevertheless  brought the decisive impetus into the further course of the game: 24…Qb7 25.Kh2 Kg7 26.c3 Na6 27.Re2! Rf8

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28.Nd2 Bd8 29.Nf3 f6 30.Rd2 Be7 31.Qe6 Rad8 32.Rd8 Bd8 33.Rd1 Nb8 34.Bc5 Rh8 35. Rd8! 1:0  (35…R d d8 8 36.Be7+-).

subsequent penetration via the f-file: 45…Qe8 46.Od3!+46.Od3!+- Navara.) 43…Kg8 44.R1d3 Rc6 45.Rf7 Qf7 Qf7 46.Qf7 Kf7 47.Rd7 Kf6 48. Ng6 Bd6  (Otherwise 49.Nf8 follows.) 49.Kg4 Rb6 

In the following example from the game  Navara D. : Caruana F., F., Reggio Emilia 2010/2011, 2010/201 1, White managed to conceal the significance of the knight manoeuvre accross the board from the opponent's sight until the moment, when Black was essentially helpless …

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + t r m k0 9+ + w q z p 0 9 lrz l vrz pp+ z p0 9z pp+ z pp+ p +P0 9 + +P+Q+0 9z P z PR+Pz P 0 9 P zN+ 9+PN+ +R++K+0 + 0 xiiiiiiiiy In the position of diagram White followed up with an interesting king move 36.Kh3!  And here is David Navara's comment: „I seem to prepare 37.Qh4 or 37.f4, but in fact I had a different intention which the opponent failed to detect …“ And further he explains: explains: „ …namely …namely the knight manoeuvre c2-e1-g2-h4-g6! If Black had found this plan, he would have probably chosen the correct continuation 36…Rf6 37.Ne1 Kh7 38.Ng2 g5! with counterplay.“ counterplay.“ Instead there followed 36…Rf7?! 37. Ne1!  a4? (Black could not prevent the knight invasion to g6, but he should not have deprived himself of the possibility to play  b5-b4.) 38.Ng2 Bc7 39.f4! Rc4 40.Nh4 Kh7 41.fe5 de5 42.Rd7! Qe8 43. Qg6  (White has already achieved a winning  position. Here 43.Ng6! was the quickest quickest way to finish the game, for instance 43…Kg8 44.R f7 f7 Qf7 45.Qe2!, with a

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FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil Vlastimil Jansa

9+r pz 0 9 t+R+ v lpm kz N p0 9+p+ z p +P0 9p+ +P+K+0 9z P z P + z P 0 9 P z + + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 50.Nh8! (This impressive jump right into the corner creates mating threats and consequently also brings the decisive material advantage.) 50 50… … Be7 51.Rd3 Bc5 (Or 51…g5 52.hg6 52.hg6 Kg7 53.Rd7+-) 52.Rf3 Ke7 53.Rf7 Ke8 54.Rg7 … 1:0. 4. The knight in the corner of the board. An unusual, but sometimes important role! A.Miles : S. Makarichev, Oslo 1984

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ z p +pm k 0 9 p z + +pz p0 9+P+ p 9 +P+z Q++ Pv l0 0 9+ + z P s NP0 NP0 9 + + z PK+0 9w q + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Diagram position depicts an unusual role of the knight, which operates extraordinary efficiently at the very corner of the board. The potential of the knight understandably manifests itself best in the centre, but there 8

 

are some exceptions! But those cases are rare and unusual, which makes it very hard to discover such knight moves. Not only the attacking knight sorties belong there, at times a „modest“ retreat of the knight or even its move into the corner might be the  best idea! To activate his queen, White needed to deal with two obstacles: the possible exchange of the knight and the eventual weakness of the f2-pawn. He resolved both issues  brilliantly: 1.Nh1!! Qb2 2.Qc6 Qb1 3.Qc7 Qe4 4.Kh2 h5 5.Qc6! and White easily won. The position of the next diagram ( Jansa V. V. : Bilek I., Polanica Zdroj 1968) is full of  pieces and danger. danger.

XIIIIIIIIY 9 +r+ +k+0 9z ppv lp0 lp0 9p++lz z pppv +p+0 9+q+P+ +P0 9 pr+ p zr+ +P+0 9+N+ v LP+ 0 LP+ 9Pz PPw PPw Q + +0 9+K+R+ +R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Sometimes the knight retreat has to be connected with an extraordinary strategic conception involving the other pieces as well. In the game Wang Y. : Navara D., Baku 2008:

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+r+ + +0 9+p+lm kp+p0 kp+p0 9p+n+p+ +0 9+ z P +p+ 0 9L+ + + +0 9+ z P z PN+ 0 PN+ 9P+ + z PPz P0 9+R+ +Rm K 0 xiiiiiiiiy Black chose a “logical” move move 17…Rc7?!, yet White maintained an initiative in the endgame after 18.Rfd1 Ne5 (18…Nb8 19.Rd4) 19.Ne5 Ba4 20.Rd4. It was definitely not easy to discover 17…Ra7! 18.Rfd1 Nb8!, after which Black pieces would co-ordinate well. Still, it would have  been the correct solution of the situation.

I got an idea to cover the vulnerable c2square with the knight from a1! White excludes his knight from play pla y, but opens up attacking possibilities to all the remaining White pieces. As it soon transpired, it was a good idea. It usually usuall y  pays off to care about a reliable defence ... 1.Na1!  (Much better than 1.Rc1 a5) 1…e6?! (True, the Hungarian grandmaster „helped me a bit“ with this move, but White's attack seems to be quicker even after the more resilient 1…Be5 2.Qf2 2.Qf2 followed by Qh4). After 2. hg6 hg6 3.Qh2 ed5 4.Qh7 Kf8 5.Bh6 White attack  became unstoppable.

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Vlastimil Jansa FIDE Surveys  Vlastimil

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