1Ponomariov,Ruslan 2727Ivanchuk,Vassily 2717

FIDE−Wch k.o. 2002[solution]

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In order to create the TO DO LIST we first haveto evaluate the position.Black has a large advantage due to the freepawns from the "a" file. To promote one of thetwo doubled pawns is not an easy task becauseboth sides have pair of bishops which add asupplementary balance to the position. Bothkings are exposed (when the queens are still onthe board).TO DO LIST:-advance a6-a5-trade the queens-build a "ladder" with pawns and bishop in orderto clear the path to promotion Bc2, a5-a4,Bc2-b3 and the second "stair" a3-a2, Bf8-a3-c1, a4-a3, Bc1-a2-because White has a free pawn on c3, Black'sking should control it (square rule)-avoid neither interferences nor other moveswhich leads to a lack of cooperation if thequeens are still on the board and the king canbe the subject of a direct attack.The game continued:

47...Kg7?Black missed White's next queen move (thepiece with the longest rays of action) whichcreates counterplay and played an important

psichological factor in the game.After:

[ 47...Be7 controlling the entrance squaresfrom the Black's camp. 48.Bc1 Kg7 49.Qxb3

Bxb3 50.Bd3 a2 51.Bb2 a5 52.Kf2 Ba3 53.Ba1 Kf7 54.Ke2 Bc1 55.Ba6 a4 56.Kd3 a3 57.Bc4+ Bxc4+ 58.Kxc4 Bb2or ]

[ 47...a5 48.Bc1 Qxa2 49.Bxa2 Bc5 50.Bd5 Bc2 51.f4 a4 52.Kf3 Bd1+ 53.Kg3 Bb3 54.Kf3 a2 55.Bb2 Ba3 56.Ba1 exf4 57.Kxf4 Bc1+ 58.Kf3 Kg7 following the square rule 59.Ke2 Bxd5 60.exd5 a3 61.Kd3 Bb2Black is winning ]

48.Qd2! threatening Bxh6+, Qd8 and Ba2 g5 [ 48...Qxb1 49.Bxh6+ Kg8 50.Qd5+ Kh8 51.Bxf8 Qc1= ]

49.Ba2 Qb7 50.Qd3 Be8 with idea Bf7 [ 50...Bb3?? 51.Qb1+- ]

51.Qd5 Qxd5 52.exd5 a5 53.c4 Bb4 54.c5 Kf8 55.Kf2 Bb5 56.c6 Ke7 57.Ba7 Kd8 58.Bb6+ Kc8? 59.Ke3 a4?? 60.Ke4 Be2 61.Kf5 e4 62.Ke6 exf3 63.d6 Bxd6 64.Kxd6 Kb8 65.Be6 Bc4 66.c7+ Kb7 67.c8Q+1-0

Istratescu,Andrei 2570Nevednichy,Vladislav 2537

ROM−ch Iasi 1999[solution]

(Diagram)

White is a pawn up and we will consider thiswhen we create TO DO LIST:- trade the queens and the bishop from a6which stops the free pawn- threatening to promote the pawn will force theblack rook to take a passive position on a6- approach the king in order to create piecesuperiority on the queenside- avoid massive pawn trades or a Black's freepawn on the kingside- if it's the case, give up the a6 pawn reaching awon pawn-endgame.

2

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39.Qxb5 Rxb5 [ 39...Bxb5 40.Bb7! and the a-pawn is free toadvance ]

40.Ra1 Rc5 41.Bf1 Rc6 [ 41...Bb7 42.a6 Ba8 43.Bg2+- ]

42.Bxa6 Rxa6 43.Kf1 Ke5 44.Ke2 f5Black is threatening by f5-f4 to trade two pairs ofpawns or to create pawn weaknesses on g3 ande3, so white must remeber TO DO LIST!

45.f4+ gxf4 46.gxf4+White stabilized the pawn structure on the kingside (trading just one pawn) and the base of thepawn chain e3 can be defended with Ra3.

Kd5 [ 46...Ke4 47.Rd1 Rxa5 48.Rd4# ]

47.Kd3 h4 48.Ra3! Kc5 49.Kc3 Kd5 [ 49...Kb5 50.Kd4! Kb4 51.Ra1+- Rxa5 52.Rxa5 Kxa5 53.Kd5 and White wins ( 53.e4 is also good )]

50.Kb4 Ra8 51.a6 Ke4 52.Kb5 d5 [ 52...Kf3 53.Kb6 Kg2 54.a7 ]

53.Kb6 d4 54.exd4 Kxf4 55.a7 Ke4 56.Kb7 Rxa7+ 57.Rxa7 f4 58.Kc6

[ 58.Kc6 Kxd4 59.Rh7 Ke3 60.Rxh4 f3 61.Rh8 f2 62.Rf8+- ]

1-0

Minasian,Artashes 2510Dreev,Alexey 2610

URS−ch58 Moscow 1991[solution]

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White has a small edge due to:- queen side pawn majority (where White cancreate a free pawn)- better pawn structure (no obvious weaknesses,while Black has a7 and f7)- Nb5>Na6.

TO DO LIST:- restrict black pieces activity with b2-b4 (Na6)and g2-g3, f2-f4 (Bh6)- ...and, at the same time, fixing black weakpawns on f7, e6, f5- keep Black's rook passive on the 7th rank toprotect a7- improve knights' positions, trying to reach theideal foreposts d6 and e5

23.b4!RESTRICT FIRST, GRAB LATER

[ 23.Nxa7 Nc5Suddendly, all Black's pieces became veryactive; the counterplay is based on the firstrank weakness: Rd8-d1, Nc5-d3 and Bh6-c1. ]

23...Rd1+ 24.Nf1 Rd7 25.g3Followed by f2-f4 restricting Bh6 for good.

3

Kf8 [ 25...f4 26.g4!Followed by f2-f3 and Kg1-f2 and Bh6 is out ofplay either. ]

26.f4 Ke7 27.Rd2! Rb7 [ 27...Rxd2 28.Nxd2 e5 29.Nxa7 Kd7 30.Nb3 exf4 31.b5 Nc7 32.c5 bxc5 33.Nxc5+ Kd6 34.b6! ]

28.Ne3 Bg7 29.Kf2 Nc7 30.Nd6 Rb8 31.Nxf7! a5

[ 31...Kxf7 32.Rd7+ ] 32.b5Fixing the weakness on b6 and avoiding pawntrades (as in the previous example, the player inadvantage should avoid pawn trades in theendgame).

Nxb5 33.cxb5 Kxf7 34.Rd7+ Kf6 35.Nc4 Bf8 36.Ne5 Bc5+ 37.Kf31-0

Short,Nigel D 2660Timman,Jan H 2630

Tilburg 1991[solution]

(Diagram)

White has just exchanged the dark-squarebishops creating a weak square complex aroundthe black king. White is also dominating "d" fileand the 7-th rank but for a win, TO DO LIST isnecessary:- emerge with Rd1 on the 4-th rank defendingc4 and e4 (releasing the queen from defendingit and avoiding queen-trade) which also createsa piece superiority on the king side- force Black to push the h7 pawn, leaving g6weak- defend g2 in order to bring Nf3 in attack- threat to double the rooks on the seventh rank

28.R1d4 Rae8 29.Qf6+According to our TO DO LIST, even better was:

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h6 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31.Nh4The threat is f2-f3 (defending g2) followed byNxg6.

h5 32.f3 Qc5 33.Nxg6+- ]

29...Kg8 30.h4 h5Forced. White managed to determine newweaknesses on the king side.A brilliant idea occurred to create piecesuperiority: White brings the monarch into thebattle!

31.Kh2 Rc8 [ 31...Bc8 32.Re7 Bb7 33.Kg3 Rxe7 34.Qxe7 Kg7 35.Kf4 Qxa4 36.Ng5 Qc6 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38.Nxf7 Kh7 39.Ke3 Qe8 40.Ng5+ Kg8 41.Rd8+- ]

32.Kg3 Rce8 33.Kf4 Bc8 34.Kg5 [ 34.Kg5 Bxd7 35.Kh6 ]

1-0

4

Petre,NZhadko,V

Deva 1998[solution]

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21...Nb6Which are the CQS of Black's last move?Black is threatening Nb6-c4 and b5-b4 to trapthe Ba5. Is this a real threat? The answer is no,because a6 and b4 will be weak and the bishopcan escape after b5-b4 and Qb7-b5 on c7 or d8(depending where the black dark-square bishopwill be).

TO DO LIST:- push b2-b3 to stop Nb6-c4- allure Black to push b5-b4 in order to make thequeen side pawns, a6 and b4, vulnerable- prepare Nc1-d3 to take under control the darksquares b4 and c5- trade the dark square bishops- besides a6 and c-file, White must create a newweakness in Black's camp

The game continued: 22.b3 Nc8 23.Bf1 Bd6

[ 23...b4 24.Nd3 ] 24.Nd3 Ne7 25.Bb4 Bxb4 26.Nxb4 a5 27.Nxc6 Qxc6 28.Qxc6 Nxc6 29.Bxb5 Nb4 30.a3 Nc2

White is trapping the knight and preparing asecond weakness on the king side:

31.Bd3 Nxa3 32.h4 f6 33.g4 e5 34.f3 Kf7 35.g5 Ke6 36.gxf6 Kxf6 37.Kf2 exd4 38.exd4 Ke6 39.Ke3 Kd6 40.Kf4 h6 41.Kg4!

[ 41.Bxg6? Nb5 42.Ke3 Ke7 43.Bd3 Nc7 44.Bf5 Nb5 45.Kd3 Nd6 46.Bh7 Kf7 47.Ke3 Nb5 48.Bd3 Nc7 49.f4 Ne8 50.Bb5 Nd6 51.Bd7 Ke7 52.Bh3 Kf6 53.Kf3 h5= ]

41...Ke6 42.f4 Kf6 43.h5 gxh5+ 44.Kxh5 Kg7 45.f5 a4 46.bxa4 Nc4 47.Bf1+-1-0