Chess

BY PHILIDOR. No. 44. IL WEENINK

WHITE (6 men) to play and mate in two moves; solution next week.

Solution to last week's problem by Kt-Q 2. 1 P-B 4; 2 B-Kt 7.

Occasionally one sees games which leave a feeling at the end, 'Well, why did Black loser This is a game of this kind. Black plays one of the most popular defences of the day, follows the best authorities, and yet never seems to succeed in equalising. 1 do not know why he lost this game: perhaps chess is a win for White after all—or perhaps it was just that Keres was White.

White, P. KERES Black, E. GEREBEN Opening, K. Indian Defence.

Played in Amsterdam team tournament, 1954.

P-Q 4 Kt-K B 3 3 Kt-Q B 3 B-Kt 2

2 P-Q B 4 P-K Kt 3 4 P-K 4 P-Q 3

5 P-B 4 (a) P-B 4 19 P x P R X R 6P x P (6) Q-K 4 20 B x R B-Q B 3 7 B-Q 3 Q x BP 21 Kt-R 41 Kt-R 3 U Kt-133 Kt-B 3 22 P-B 5 Q-Q 5 (11)

9 Q-K 2 0-0 23 R-H 4 Q-B 4 10 13-1( 3 Q-Q R 4 (c) 24 B-K 3 P-K Kt 4(0

11 0-0 Kt-K Kt 5 25 H x Q P x 13 12 13-Q 21 Kt-Kr 5 (d) 26 P-B 6 (J) P x It 13 Kt-Q 5 Q-B 4 ch 27 P x B R-B 3 14 K-R 1 Kt x Kt (e) 28 Q-R 5 K * P

15 B P x Kt 13-Q 2 29 Q-10 5 ch K-B 1

16 Q R-B 1 (j) Q-Kt 3 30 Kt-Kt 6 ch P x Kt 17 P-K 51 Q R-B 1 (g) 31 Q x Kt ch K-Kt 1 18 P-K 61 P x P 32 13 x P Resigns (k) (a) The 4 Pawns attack about whose merits opinions have varied considerably: once popular, it then went out of fashion, because it was thought that Black could smash the White centre, and now shows signs of returning to favour.

(6) If 6 P-Q 5, then 6 . . . P-K 3; and White's centre gets disrupted.

(c) Black's difficulty is to find a good square for queen: if 10 . . . Q-K R 4; then 11 P-K R 3 gives White the better position.

(d) It' 12 ... Q-Kt 3 ch; 13 K-R 1,Q x P; 14 Q R-Kt 1 White has more than enough positional compensation for the pawn. I can find no wholly satisfactory move for Black hero—text may be as good as any.

(e) 14 . . . Kt x B; 15 Q x Kt, Kt-B 7 ch?; 16 It X Kt, Q x R; 17 R-K B I, Q-I3 4; 18 P-Q Kt 4, Q-B 3;

19 Kt x P ch winning queen.

(j) Beginning a very fine attack against which there seems to be no adequate defence: notice how he refrains from driving back the knight and is later able to exploit its exposed position. (g) 17 ... Kt-R 3; is better, but after 18 B-B 3 White still has the superior game. (h) A mistake: he tailed to see that after 23 R-B 4 he could not play 23 ... Q-K 4; because of 24 P x PI winning at least two pawns. However, even after 22 . . . Kt x E: 23 B x Kt, P x B; 24 Kt x P. Black loses K P (or worse) with hopeless position. (0 Or 24 . . • Q-R .1; 25 P x P, P x P; 26 Kt x P, winning easily. (I) Black having railed to resign, White finds the most rapid method of disposing of the remains of his position, (k) The threat or Q-R 7 eh and Q-R 8 mate is too mach for even his op•imism.