A Chess

Odyssey
Efstratios
Grivas



ChessCafe is pleased to welcome its latest
columnist, Greek grandmaster Efstratios
Grivas. He has established himself as a
respected author and analyst with more than
35 books, essays and studies to his credit.
Earning the grandmaster title in 1993, his
accomplishments over the board include an
individual silver medal at the 1988
Olympiad and a gold at the 1989 European
Championships. He is currently a Federal
Trainer with the Turkish Chess Federation.
Now, sit back and join ChessCafe readers
around the world as we take A Chess
Odyssey...
The King's March
Wilhelm Steinitz was a proponent of the king as a strong piece that can have
an active role in certain middlegame positions and even participate in an
attack. However, this motif is very rare in practice, because the attacking side
must be extremely careful that such an assault does not backfire!
Short, Nigel - Timman, Jan
Tilburg 1991
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bg7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.00
00 9.h3 a5 10.a4 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Re1 e6 14.Nd2 Nd5
15.Nf3 Qc5 16.Qe4 Qb4 17.Bc4 Nb6 18.b3 Nxc4 19.bxc4 Re8 20.Rd1 Qc5
21.Qh4 b6 22.Be3 Qc6 23.Bh6 Bh8 24.Rd8 Bb7 25.Rad1 Bg7 26.R8d7
Rf8 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.R1d4 Rae8 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.h4 h5
Our first example is well-known. In the
diagrammed position, Short surprised the
chess world with a beautiful idea. White is
dominating the position, but there seems
to be no way to improve the placement of
his pieces, as they are already on very
good squares. 31.Kh2! Well, all but one!
The king enters the battle, heading for the
h6-square, to assist in mating its black
counterpart! 31...Rc8? Black misses the
threat. Although his position is beyond
repair, he should try 31...Bc8, when White
would have to find 32.g4! hxg4 (32...Bxd7 33.gxh5 gxh5 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.
Qxh5+ Kg7 36.Rg4#) 33.Ng5 g3+! (33...Bxd7 34.h5 g3+ 35.fxg3; 33...Bb7
34.f3) 34.Kxg3 (or 34.fxg3 Bb7 35.Ne4 Qxa4 36.h5 Qxc2+ 37.Nf2 gxh5
(37...Qf5 38.hxg6!) 38.Rd3 Be4 39.Rd2 Qb1 40.Rd1 Qc2 41.R7d2 Qxc4 42.
Rd4+) 34...Bxd7 35.Kh2!!+. 32.Kg3! Rce8 33.Kf4! Bc8 34.Kg5! 10
The white king fulfilled its mission and
Black had to resign.
Deschapelles, Alexandre - De Labourdonnais, Louis
Paris 1836
Black is ready to queen his e-pawn among
others, but the attacking position of the
white king forces the result. 1.Nxh6+
gxh6 The other option is 1...Kh8 2.Nf7+
Kg8 3.Qxg7+ Kxg7 4.Bf6+ Kg8 5.Nh6#.
2.Qh8+!! Crowning an excellent
combination. A lonely king and bishop
prove stronger than the rest of Blacks
army. As is almost always the case,
quality is more important than quantity!
2...Kxh8 3.Kf7 Rf8+ 4.Kxf8 e1Q 5.Bf6#
10
Teichmann, Richard - Beratende
Glasgow 1902
White has the advantage, as all his forces
are well-placed. There is only one last
piece to be brought into play the king! If
it reaches g6, mate will follow. 1.Kh2!?
Instead, White gains a clear advantage by
1.Qe6+ Kh7 2.Qxd5 (2.Nxc4? Qc5++)
2...Bxd5 3.Rd2 Bg8 4.Kf2, but the text
move turns out to be more effective and
difficult to ignore! 1...b5! 1...h5 stops
the kings march, but loses to 2.Qe6+! (2.
Kg3 Qd3+ 3.Kh4 b5 4.Kxh5?? Qg3+) 2...
Kh7 3.Nxc4+. 2.Kg3?! White should
continue 2.b3 a6 (2...cxb3 3.axb3 a5 4.c4 bxc4 5.bxc4 Qd4 6.Re3 Kh7 7.Rg3
Rg8 8.Qc7+/) 3.Qc7 (3.bxc4 bxc4 4.Qe6+ Kh7 5.Nxc4 Qc5 6.Nd6 Rb8!
with compensation) 3...Kh7 4.bxc4 bxc4 5.h4 +=. 2...a5? Black bites the
decoy! He should play 2...Qd3+, when the position is unclear; for example, 3.
Re3 (3.Kh4 Kh7) 3...Qd2 4.Kh4 Kh7 5.Rg3 Rg8 6.Rg6 Bxg2 7.Ne8 Qf2+ 8.
Rg3 Qf4+ =. 3.Kh4! The king marches in to assist with the mating threats or
just prepare for the endgame! 3...g6 A waiting move such as 3...Ra8 allows
White to enter a winning endgame by 4.Qe6+! (4.Re3 is too ambitious, as it
gives nothing after 4...Kh7 5.Rg3 Rg8 6.Rg6 b4 7.g3 bxc3 8.bxc3 Qd2 9.Qc7
Bd5! (9...Qd5? 10.Rxf6+) 10.Ne8? (10.Nf7 Bxf7 11.Qxf7 a4 12.a3 Qc1! =)
10...Qg5+ 11.Rxg5 hxg5+ 12.Kg4 Rxe8 13.Qd7 Re5 14.h4 Bg2+, when it is
Black who is winning!) 4...Qxe6 5.fxe6 Rd8 6.Rd2! Kf8 7.e7+ Kxe7 8.Nf5+
Ke8 9.Nxg7+ Ke7 10.Nf5+ Ke8 11.Rxd8+ Kxd8 12.g4+. 4.Re3! Qxg2 The
other option was 4...Qc5 5.g4 Be4 6.Qe6+ Kh8 7.Qxe4 Qxd6 8.fxg6+. 5.
Rg3 Qf2 5...g5+ 6.Kh5 Qxg3 7.Kg6
The king triumphs! 6.fxg6 Qf4+ 7.Rg4
Qf2+ 8.Kh5 10 Mate is imminent. The
king fulfilled his middlegame duties!
Tarrasch,Siegbert - Rti,Richard
Vienna 1922
Whites king is active and compared to its
ungainly opponent it can enter the battle
and cooperate with the other pieces. 37.
Kg3! Nxc3 38.Kf4 Nb5 39.Ke5 Just
compare the kings! 39...Re8 39...Kg8 40.
Rg7+ Kh8 41.Rb7 Na3 42.Kxe6 Kg8 43.
Kxd5 and the d-pawn (among others!)
will decide. 40.Kf6 10 Black resigned, as
40...Kg8 41.Rg7+ Kh8 42.Rb7 Nd6 43.
Rd7 Nc4 44.Kf7 Rg8 45.Rd8 Rxd8 46.
Bg7# is nice and effective!
Tibensky, Robert - Franzen, Jozef
Stary Smokovec 1985
All but one of Whites pieces is ideally
placed! 27.Kh4! g6 28.Kg5 Rbb8 29.Kh6
Rfc8 The main alternative 29...Qc6 also
fails to save Black: 30.Nd2! (30.Qxg6+?
fxg6 31.Rg7+ Kh8 32.Rh7+ =) 30...Rb4
31.Nf3! Bc5 (31...Qe4 32.Rxf7! Qxd3 33.
Rg7+ Kh8 34.Rxd3) 32.Rxf7! Rxf7 (32...
Kxf7 33.Qxg6+ Ke7 34.Qg5+ Kf7 35.Qf6
+ Ke8 36.Rd8#) 33.Qxg6+ Kf8 34.Rd8+
Qe8 35.Ng5!+. 30.Rxf7! Kxf7 31.Qxg6
+ Ke7 32.Qf6+ Ke8

33.Nd6+! Also winning is 33.Qg6+ Ke7
(33...Kf8 34.Qg7+ Ke8 35.Nd6+ cxd6 36.
exd6+) 34.Qg7+ Ke8 35.Nd6+ cxd6 36.
exd6 Rc7 37.dxc7+. 33...cxd6 34.Qxe6+
Kf8 35.exd6 Rb7 There is no salvation:
35...Qc3 36.Qe7+ Kg8 37.Rd3 Qh8+ 38.
Kg6+. 36.d7 Rxd7 37.Rxd7 Qb6 38.Rf7
+ Kg8 39.Rg7+ 10 Black resigned, as he
will be mated on the next move.
Pedzich, Dominik - Ehrenfeucht, Wojciech
Poland 1992
Materially speaking, Black seems to be
doing OK. But his king is under heavy
attack by all of Whites forces! 29.Kg5!
Rf3 This is probably the only try, as 29...
Bxf6+ 30.Nxf6+ Kf8 31.Qh8+ Ke7 32.
Qxa8 loses plenty of material. 30.Bxg7
Rf5+ 30...Kxg7 31.Qh6+ Kg8 32.Nf6+
Rxf6 33.Kxf6 leads to mate on the next
move. 31.Kh6 f6 31...Rh5+ 32.Qxh5 gxh5
33.Nf6# is a nice finish to the kings
march! 32.Nxf6+ Kf7 33.Nxd7?! The text
move is sufficient for the win, but much
better is 33.Kh7! Bc6 34.Ng4 Rh5+ 35.Nh6+ Ke8 36.Qf6+. 33...Rh5+ 34.
Qxh5 gxh5 35.Nxe5+ Ke7 36.a3+ h4 37.Ng6+ Kf7 38.Nxh4 Rd8 39.Nf3
Ke8 40.Ng5 Rd3 41.b4 Ke7 42.h4 10
Pastor Montero, Rafael - Rodriguez Gerrero, E
Lorca 2005
White stands clearly better, as he has full
control of the only open file. There must
be many ways to win, but White chose the
most effective method: a king march! 1.
Kh2! h5 2.Qf4 Rf8 3.Rc7 a5 4.Kg3 a4 5.
Kh4? White is in too big of a hurry! He
should first play 5.bxa4 reaching a won
ending after 5...Qxa4 6.Rxb7 Qxa2 7.Kh4
Qc2 8.Kg5 Qf5+ 9.Qxf5 exf5 (9...gxf5 10.
Kxh5 Kg7 11.g4+) 10.Rb5! (10.Rd7 Ra8
11.Rxd5 Ra2) 10...Rd8 11.Kf6 Rd6+ 12.
Ke5 Ra6 13.Rxd5 Ra2 14.Kf6 Ra6+ 15.
Ke7 Ra2 16.Rc5+. 5...axb3 6.axb3 Qf1?
Black could save himself with 6...Qxb3! 7.
Kg5 Qb1 8.Kh6 Qf5 9.Qxf5 exf5 10.Rxb7
Rd8 11.Rb5 Kf8. 7.Kg5! h4 Or 7...Qxg2+
8.Kh6 f6 9.Rg7+ Kh8 10.Rf7! Kg8 11.
Rxf6 Rxf6 12.Qxf6+; 7...Qd3 8.Rxb7 Qf5
+ 9.Qxf5 exf5 10.b4 Rc8 11.b5 Rc2 12.
Kf6 Rxf2 13.Rxf7 f4 14.Rg7+ Kf8 15.
exf4 Rxf4+ 16.Kxg6 Rxd4 17.b6 Rb4 18.
b7+. 8.Kh6 Qe2 9.f3 f6 10.Rg7+ Kh8
11.Qc7 10 Black resigned, as 11...Qxe3+
12.f4 makes no difference.
The dangers for the side whose king is on the attack are never completely
eliminated. The following example from Vladimir Vukovic is proof of that:
Blacks weak pawn structure and king
cannot keep White from scoring the full
point. 1.Kh4? 1.Rd1 is correct. 1...Qxe1+
2.Kh5 Qxf1 3.h4 Qf3 4.Qg5+ Kh8
5.Kh6? It was time for perpetual check by
5.Qf6+. 5...Qxg4! An effective queen
sacrifice. Of course not 5...Rg8? 6.Qf6+
Rg7 7.Qxg7#. 6.Qxg4 Rg8 7.Qe2 Rg6+ 8.
Kh5 f5! 01 White loses material and the
game.
Of course, the king does not always have
to be in the middle of the battle, as shown
by the next two examples!
Grivas, Efstratios - Drepaniotis, Panayiotis
Athens 1982
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d5 6.cxd5 Bc5 7.N5c3 00 8.
a4 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.axb5 axb5 11.Ncxb5 Ne4 12.e3 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Qh4 14.g3
Qh5+ 15.f3 Nxg3+ 16.hxg3 Qxh1 17.Kd3 e4+ 18.Kxe4
Whites opening experiments have
proved disastrous and his king seems ill-
fated in the center of the board. But White
knew he had nothing to lose, while Black
felt obliged to score the full point, which
caused Black some mental duress. 18...
Ba6 19.Rb1 Qh5 20.Kd4 Rc8?! The first
inaccuracy. 20...Qg6! 21.e4 (21.Bc4 Nc6
+) 21...Qb6+ 22.Kd3 Bxa3 is simple and
effective. 21.e4 Bc5+ 22.Kd3 Qe5?! 22...
Nd7 23.b4 Bf2 is winning, as the
coming ...Ne5+ is a deadly blow. 23.Be3
Bxa3 24.bxa3
24...Qc3+? This is a well-known
predicament: when all the choices look
good, you make the wrong one. The
simple 24...Bxb5+ 25.Rxb5 Rxa3+ 26.
Ke2 Ra2+ 27.Bd2 Rcc2 would have been
enough for White to resign. 25.Ke2 Bxb5
+ 25...Qxa3 26.Kf2 and White is doing
OK. 26.Rxb5 Rxa3 27.Qd2 Qa1? The
ending after 27...Qxd2+? 28.Bxd2 Nd7 29.
Bh3 Ra7 30.f4 is pleasant for White, but
Black had to keep the queens on board
with 27...Qf6. 28.Bd4! Qa2 29.Qxa2
Rxa2+ 30.Ke3 Ra3+ 31.Bd3 Suddenly White has the advantage! 31...f6 32.
Rb7+/ Na6? 33.Ra7 10 This game was an example of how not to play in
the opening! Dont bring your king into the battle too early, because White
wont always be so lucky!
Karpov, Anatoly - Zaitsev, Alexander
Kuibyshev 1970
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Ne5
Bf5 8.c3 e6 9.g4 Bg6 10.h4 Bd6 11.Qe2 c5 12.h5 Be4 13.f3 cxd4 14.Qb5+
Nd7 15.Nxf7 Bg3+ 16.Ke2 d3+ 17.Ke3 Qf6 18.Kxe4 Qxf7
White handled the opening somewhat
inaccurately and as a result his king was
forced to occupy an unpleasant central
position in the middlegame! 19.Rh3
Whites weakest point, f3, must be
defended. 19...a6 20.Qg5 h6? A critical
mistake, throwing the win away. Black
could force a clearly better (if not
winning) position by 20...e5! 21.Rxg3 Nc5
+ 22.Ke3 00 23.Bxd3 (23.Rh3? Rad8 24.
Bd2 Ne4! 25.Kxe4 (25.fxe4 Qf2#) 25...
Qd5+ 26.Ke3 Qc5+ 27.Ke4 Rd4+ 28.Ke3
Rxg4+ 29.Kxd3 Rxg5 30.Bxg5 e4+ 31.fxe4 Qxg5+) 23...Qf4+ 24.Qxf4 exf4
+ 25.Kd4 Nxd3 (25...fxg3 26.Kxc5 g2 27.Bc4+ Kh8 28.Bg5) 26.Rg2 Rad8+
27.Kc4 Ne5+ 28.Kb3 Rd1/+. 21.Qe3! The only move; the alternative 21.
Qg6? loses to 21...Nc5+ 22.Ke3 (22.Kd4? 000+! 23.Kxc5 (23.Kc4 Qd7 24.
a4 Qd5+ 25.Kb4 Qb3+ 26.Kxc5 Rd5#) 23...Qc7+ 24.Kb4 Rd4+ 25.cxd4 Bd6
+ 26.Ka4 Qc4+ 27.b4 Qxb4#) 22...Bf4+ 23.Kf2 Qxg6 24.hxg6 d2 25.Bxd2
Bxd2+. 21...e5?! Black should force a draw by 21...Nf6+ 22.Kxd3 Nxg4 23.
fxg4 Qxf1+ 24.Kc2 Qxh3 25.Qxe6+ Kd8 26.Qd5+ Kc8 27.Qf5+ Kb8 28.Bf4
+ Bxf4 29.Qxf4+ Kc8 30.Qc4+. But he was still playing for a win and soon
came undone! 22.Kxd3! Bf4 23.Qg1! The white queen must keep an eye on
c5, the entry square for the d7-knight. 23...000 24.Kc2 Bxc1 25.Rxc1!
White returns the pawn, but completes the
mobilization of all his pieces. The
weaknesses in Blacks position (pawn
structure and worse minor piece) will
soon begin to count heavily. The finish,
while a little off-topic, is an impressive
piece of technique: 25...Qxa2 26.Rh2
Rhf8 27.Rd2 Qa4+ 28.Kb1 += Qc6 29.
Bd3 Kc7 30.Be4 Qb6 31.Qh2 Rde8 32.
Rcd1 Nf6 33.Bg6 Re7 34.Re1 Qb5 35.
Rde2 Nd7 36.Bf5!+/ Rxf5 37.gxf5 Qd3
+ 38.Ka1 Qxf5 39.Qh4 Nf6 40.Qc4+
Kd8 41.Qc5 Nd7 42.Qd5 Kc8 43.Re4 b5 44.Qa8+ Kc7 45.Qa7+ Kd8 46.
Qxa6 Qxh5 47.f4 Qf5 48.Qa8+ Kc7 49.Qa5+ Kc6 50.c4 b4 51.Qxb4 Re6
52.fxe5 Kc7 53.Qa5+ Kb7 54.Qb5+ Rb6 55.Qd5+ Kc7 56.Kb1 Qf2 57.
R4e2 Qf5+ 58.Qe4 Qxe4+ 59.Rxe4 Nc5 60.R4e3 Ne6 61.Kc2 g5 62.Kc3 h5
63.b4 Ra6 64.c5 Ra3+ 65.Kc4 Rxe3 66.Rxe3 h4 67.b5 Kd8 68.b6 Kd7 69.
Rd3+ Kc8 70.Rd6 h3 71.Rxe6 g4 72.Rh6 10
Copyright 2007 Efstratios Grivas. All rights reserved.

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