Friday, 28 October 2022

Entry points

 In Michael Stean's classic "Simple Chess" he points out that open files don't always operate on a "first come, first serve" basis. As Nimzovitch first pointed out, the role of the open file is to get your rook to the 7th or 8th rank. 

In this game from the current Bangkok Open, GM Hrant Melkumyan demonstrates this quite effectively, opening a file that his opponent already has a rook on, but one without entry points into Black's position. After the Black rook moves to b8, it is Black that not only takes over the b file, but also the 7th and 8th ranks. After that, White is forced to defend a host of weak pawns, which eventually, he is unable to do.


Markovitz,Neil (1962) - Melkumyan,Hrant (2645) [A37]
20th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2022 Shangri-La Chiang Mai Hotel, C (1.2), 22.10.2022

Start positionPrevious MoveNext MoveEnd positionPlay movesStop playing
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. O-O Bf5 7. d3 Qd7 8. Nd5 Nf6 9. Qa4 Nxd5 10. cxd5 Nd4 11. Qxd7+ Bxd7 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Bh6 b5 14. Rab1 a5 15. Rfc1 a4 16. Kf1 f5 17. Bh3 Kf7 18. Bd2 b4 19. a3 bxa3 20. bxa3 Rhb8 21. Rxb8 Rxb8 22. Rc2 Rb1+ 23. Bc1 e6 24. e4 exd5 25. exd5 Bb5 26. Ke2 Rb3 0-1

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