Chess
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.NOW HERE'S a position to gladden the heart of anyone who has ever thrown away a won game with a grotesque blunder. The diagram comes from a tournament in Hawaii this month with the American grandmaster Joel Benjamin playing White against the Georgian Edouard Gufeld. White had been on top for the whole game and finally reached this endgame two pawns ahead. His only task now is to evade the checks of the black queen (walking the king towards b3 is the best way) and the full point should slowly be reeled in. The game, however, continued as an exercise in suicide: 1.Ke5?? Qe6 mate.
Here is another disaster from a recent event played in Zurich. the contest pitted a team of the best Swiss players against a group of veterans including Viktor Korchnoi, Vassily Smyslov, Svetozar Gligoric and Bent Larsen. The old men did magnificently to rout their opponents by a large margin. In this game, however, the Swiss scored one of their few wins.
When White sacrificed with 21.Rxh6! Black declined the offer, calculating that after 21...gxh6 22.Qxh6 f5 23.exf6 Qc7 24.Qg6+ Kh8 25.Rf1 the threat of 26.f7 would give White a winning attack. As the game went, however, Black found it impossible to defend himself anyway. The end came with a neat interference.
White: R Forster
Black: B Larsen
Sicilian Defence
1 e4 c5 16 Nd2 Nxd2
2 Nf3 e6 17 Qxd2 0-0
3 d4 cxd4 18 f5 exf5
4 Nxd4 a6 19 Rxf5 Rae8
5 Nc3 Qc7 20 Rh5 h6
6 Bd3 Nf6 21 Rxh6 Rxe5
7 0-0 Nc6 22 Rh4 a5
8 Be3 b5 23 Bh7+ Kh8
9 f4 Nxd4 24 Bd3+ Kg8
10 Bxd4 Bc5 25 Bh7+ Kh8
11 Bxc5 Qxc5+ 26 Bf5+ Kg8
12 Kh1 Bb7 27 Qg5 Qe3
13 Qe2 b4 28 Bh7+ Kh8
14 Nb1 d5 29 Be4+ resigns
15 e5 Ne4
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments