Newsletter Issue # 4 Tactics Time 
Tactics on Steroids
Best play for white against the Sicilian? 1.d4! - Thomas Codispoti

tactics position 4
 
 
A
 
 
 
fter this game, my opponent and good friend, Anthea Carson, said to me on the facebook chat, "Your tactics totally wiped me out too. I should have realized you would be tactics on steroids after a month with that database."
 
   She was referring, of course, to my Tactics Time Database of more than 4000 tactical problems that I created.  See my Product Information page for more details on how you too can inject yourself with my barely legal, non-FDA approved, tactical steroids :-)
 
   In the position on the right it is white to move.
 
   Answer at the bottom.
 
   This was the last round of the Tribute to Bobby Fischer tournament.  There were four people tied for first with 2.5 out of 3 points.
 
   Anthea had just played an exhausting, grueling 6 hour game against Rhett Langseth that ended up in a draw, with both players only having a few minutes left on their clock.
 
   After their game was over, the TD told Rhett and Anthea that they could take a half an hour break, since the last round was starting for everyone else, and their game had just ended.
 
   Anthea and I had played lots of rated games against each other before.  According to the USCF MSA page we have now played 40 rated games against each other: http://main.uschess.org/datapage/gamestats.php
 
   But this game was different.   
  • It was a long time control. 
  • It was the last round. 
  • We were both tied for first. 
  • There was a lot of money on the line with 450 dollars for first, and 250 for second, and two other players with identical scores. 

   A draw wasn't going to cut it.  We both needed a win.

   Our ratings were almost identical.  We knew each other's playing styles.  I felt I had two advantages. 
 
  • One was that I was not as exhausted as Anthea due to her long third round game.  After my game I had a chance to eat lunch, relax, and even take a little cat nap. 
  • The second was that I had been working on my Tactics Time website, database, and newsletter in all my spare time for the past several weeks.  I had been seeing the board really well, and felt like I was in "the zone".
 
   In the above position there is a lot going on.  There is a battery of bishop and queen pointing at h7, where it can check the black king.  There is a bishop on the same diagonal as the queen, and a rook on a open file for white.
 
tactics position 4-2
   Here I used all of these ideas together.  I wanted to get the black queen on the same file as the rook, so I first played 19. Nxd6!
 
   Fritz 12 evaluates this move as +3 for white (white is winning by three pawns), and all other moves as even.  So this was the only move that gave white an advantage.
 
   Anthea recaptured with the Queen 19. ..Qxd6 (see second diagram).
 
   Now the second step of the plan - 20. c4!  This forces the dark square bishop to move to e6, and then allows white to play Bh7+, giving a discovered attack on the black queen, trading a bishop and rook for the queen.
 
   Anthea actually didn't allow this, and played 20. ..Qxb4 which nets two pawns for the bishop, but is still better for white.
 
   This was a complicated tactic, that actually contained several smaller tactics - pins, discovered attacks, batteries of pieces, uneven trades, removing the defender, and several other ideas.
 
   So don't feel bad if you didn't see it.  I spent quite a lot of time on this move, and preparing for it.
 
   You can see Anthea's very interesting analysis of the game and position here:
 
 
   There are also some good comments given by Brian Rountree, who was the 4th person tied for first place going into the last round, and tied for first place, after being Rhett Langseth.
 
   After all of the smoke cleared, I came ahead with a bishop for two pawns, and some positional considerations, like having the bishop pair, which I was able to convert into a win, and tie for first place.
 
   Hope you enjoyed this position!
 
[Event "Tribute to Bobby Fischer"]
[Site "The Inn at Palmer Lake"]
[Date "2011.05.22"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Brennan, Timothy"]
[Black "Carson, Anthea"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "1769"]
[BlackElo "1760"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[Source "MonRoi"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. e3 d6 5. Bd3 c6 6. c3 Nbd7 7. Nbd2 e5 8. dxe5
Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bh4 Be6 12. O-O Qc7 13. a4 Rd8 14. Rfd1 O-O
15. b4 Rfe8 16. h3 Rd7 17. Bg3 Bd6 18. Nc4 Bd5 19. Nxd6 Qxd6 20. c4 Qxb4 21.
cxd5 Nxd5 22. Rab1 Qa5 23. Rbc1 Rde7 24. Bc4 Nf6 25. Bh4 e4 26. Bxf6 gxf6 27.
Rd6 Qg5 28. Qb2 Kg7 29. Rcd1 Qf5 30. Qd4 c5 31. Qd5 Qxd5 32. R1xd5 Rc7 33. Rd7
Rec8 34. R5d6 b6 35. Bxf7 Kf8 36. Bg6 c4 37. Rxf6+ Kg8 38. Bh7+ Kh8 39. Rxc7
Rxc7 40. Bxe4 c3 41. Bc2 Rd7 42. Rxh6+ Kg8 43. Rc6 1-0
 
   Happy Tactics!
 
   Your Friend,
Tim
 
   P.S. I read each e-mail response personally.  They don't go into some customer service "black hole" like several chess companies I have dealt with!  I'm a software engineer by profession, so I am on the computer all the time, and will give you a fast, personal response to any questions that you might have!
 

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