Wednesday 4 July 2007

Ivanchuk's Brilliant Combination

As reported below, Vassily Ivanchuk was the winner of the Aerosvit Tournament, much to the delight of the local Ukrainian fans. On the way to first place he score a win over Alexi Shirov, with a brilliant combination that no doubt will turn up in puzzle books and coaching manuals for years to come.

Shirov,A (2699) - Ivanchuk,V (2729) [C91]
Aerosvit-2007 Foros (10), 28.06.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d4 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.Re1 Bg4 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 d5 12.e5 Ne4 13.Nc3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Qd7 15.h3 Bh5 16.g4 Bg6 17.Nd2 a5 18.f4 a4 19.Bc2 Bxc2 20.Qxc2 f5 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Nf3 Rae8 23.Bf2 h5 24.Qg6 Re4 25.Rxe4 dxe4 26.Nh2 (D) Now here is where the action really starts. Spotting that d4 is the focal square in the position, Ivanchuk sacrifices his knight to take control of it. 26...Nxd4! 27.cxd4 Bxd4 28.Rb1 [Obviously not 28.Bxd4 Qxd4+-+] 28...e3 29.Bg3 [29.Be1 Qd5 30.Rd1 e2+ 31.Rxd4 Qxd4+ 32.Kg2 Qd5+-+] 29...h4!! This is the real star move in the combination. By forcing the bishop away from protecting f4, Black gets all his pieces into the attack. 30.Bxh4 Rxf4 31.Qd3 Qd5 32.Nf1 Rf2! 33.Nxe3 Rg2+ 34.Kh1 Qf3 Mating on h3, or winning the Queen on d3 (after Nxg2) 0-1

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