Getting The King In!

[David Hirst]

There is often nothing more beautiful in chess than when the attacking prowess of the most vulnerable chess piece decides the game. Even when there are still many pieces left on the board, the attacking king can tip the balance. In this article - Getting the King In – the king shatters the resistance of the opponent in dramatic style.

[Mike Truran]

......and of course the famous Short-Timman game may have been worth including.

[David Hirst]

Yes, agreed. I think using the king aggressively especially when there are still many pieces on the board shows real confidence in one's calculating abilities and as well as a logical outlook. In the game Kramnik v Leko from the article Getting The King In , Kramnik works out that he cannot improve any of his major pieces to attack Leko, and therefore deduces that the only attacking unit left is his king - ergo the formation of a winning plan using just the king. It is the old Sherlock Holmes dictum of once all other possibilities have been eliminated, whatever remains must be the answer however improbable.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

This reminds me of a game I played where I sailed my king up the board, with visions of a Short-Timman-like finish, and ended up getting mated.

[Event "ICSC Europa Cup (Primorsko)"] [Date "01.06.2007"] [Round "3"] [White "Kreuzer, C"] [Black "Klasan, V"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 a5 10.a4 Nb4 11.Nd5 Nfxd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.Rc1 Be4 (13...Na2 14.Ra1 Nb4 15.Rc1 Na2 16.Ra1 Nb4 {Black declines the chance to take a draw}) 14.f3 Bxd5 (14...Nxd5 15.Bf2{±}) 15.c3 Bg5 {White overlooked this move} (15...Bxb3 16.Qxb3 Na6 17.Qxb7 Nc5 18.Bxc5 dxc5{=}) 16.Bxg5 Qxg5 17.Kf2 (17.Kh1{= there are several ways to meet the threat of Qe3+, but this is probably the safest.}) 17...Bxb3 18.Qxb3 Na6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6 {Black misjudges the endgame. Recapturing with the pawn gives Black's rooks room to roam on the b and c files. In the game, White has no weak points to defend, and two backward pawns to attack, and has an easier position to play, despite being a pawn down.} (19...bxa6 20.Qd5 Rab8 21.Rb1 Rb6) 20.Rcd1 Qe7 21.Rd5 Kh8 22.Rb5 Rb8 23.Qd5 Qc7 24.Rd1 Rb6 {?} {Allows White the chance to equalise, but White misses the tactics.} 25.Rd2{?} (25.Rxb6 Qxb6+ 26.Kg3 Rg8 (26...Qxb2 27.Qxd6 Rg8 28.Qxe5{=}) 27.Qxd6 Qxb2 28.Qxe5{=}) 25...Rxb5 26.axb5 Rd8 27.c4 Qb6+ (27...b6 28.Qc6 Qxc6 (28...Qb8{=}) 29.bxc6 g5 30.Rd5 Kg7 31.Rb5 Rc8 32.Rxb6 Kf6 33.Ra6 Ke6 34.Rxa5 Rxc6{=}) 28.Kg3 (28.c5 Qxb5 29.Qxe5 b6 30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Qxd6 Qxc5+ 32.Qxc5 bxc5{+-} {the game move (Kg3) allows Black a chance to protect e5, but he overlooks the threat.}) 28...Kg8 (28...Qe3) {and} (28...f6) {are some of Black's other options} 29.c5 Qxb5 30.Qxe5 {now the position is equal, but Black, who has been defending a difficult position for the last few move, makes a blunder. Having overlooked the bank-rank mate tactic that won White a pawn, Black now fatally weakens his kingside in an attempt to avoid future back-rank mate tactics.} 30...g6 31.Qf6 Rd7 32.Rxd6 a4 33.h4 h5 34.Qd4 {and White is now winning} 34...Rxd6 35.cxd6 Qd7 36.Qf6 Qe8 37.Kf4{?} {still winning, but White, with 5 minutes left to Black's 1 minute (Fischer timings with 30s/move), plays to the crowd gathered around the board and attempts to emulate the finish of Short-Timman, where Short marched his King up the board to deliver mate. Unfortunately, White, who is not a super-GM, failed to spot the easier win.} (37.Qe7 Qf8 38.Qc7 Qe8 39.d7 Qe1+ 40.Kh3 Qh1+ (40...Qe6+ 41.Kh2{+-}) 41.Qh2{+-}) 37...Qe1 38.Kg5 (38.Qe7 Qb4+ 39.Kg3 Kg7 40.Qe5+ f6 41.Qe7+ Kh6 42.Qf8+ Kh7 43.Qxf6{+-}) 38...Qe3+ {Black repays the compliment and misses the better continuation.} (38...Qc1+ 39.f4 Qc8{±}) 39.f4 Qe8 {realising that 40.Kh6 no longer works, White tries the 40.Qe7 plan (which still wins!), but is now in time trouble himself. Because of the Fischer timings, he now has less than 1 minute, while his opponent now has over 2 minutes of time on his clock. The finish to the game was an absolute tragedy for White who will never again march his King up the board to deliver mate while the queens are still on the board.} 40.Qe7 Qf8 41.Qf6?? (41.f5 b5 ({a)}41...Qc8 42.Kh6 (42.d7 Qc1+ 43.Kf6 Qc6+ (43...Qxb2+ 44.Qe5 Qb6+ 45.Ke7 Qb4+ 46.Kd8 Qxh4+ 47.Kc8 Qc4+ 48.Qc7{+-}) 44.Qe6 fxe6 45.d8Q+ {is another lovely finish}) 42...Qc1+ 43.Qg5 Qxg5+ 44.hxg5 Kf8 45.fxg6 fxg6 46.Kxg6{+-}) ({b)}41...gxf5 42.Kxh5 b5 43.Qg5+ Kh7 44.d7) 42.fxg6 fxg6 43.Kxg6{+-} {and White's King march is finally justified!}) 41...Kh7 {and White, stunned by the sudden change in fortunes, and facing mate, was put out of his misery by losing on time a few seconds later. If White moves his queen, he gets mated.} (41...Kh7 42.Qe5 f6+ 43.Qxf6 Qh6) (41...Kh7 42.Qe7 Qh6+ 43.Kf6 Qxf4)

[Geoff Chandler]

Perhaps David thought the Short game (One of the best games ever played played by a Brit.)
was too well known.

Has Nigel ever said which game gave him the idea. Alekhine, Tarrasch and Teichmann
also supplied famous examples.

I know I've said this before (and I'll say it again) but I despair thinking that Nigel does
not receive any further payment for this game.
The same goes for any player who has played a masterpiece.

If it was a naff poem, a crap piece of music then it's copyright and the author
gets some form of payment if it's used.

This game has brought pleasure and been enjoyed by thousands of players,
(Also no doubt authors have been paid for witing a book using this game.)
But the creator of this game is entitled to and gets nothing.

It just seems wrong.

[David Hirst]

Geoff, the reason that I did not include the Short-Timman game was because I included it in another article - Just Short Of Perfect - which looks at this game as well as the 'just short' of being masterpieces that he played in his world title match against Kasparov. Game 8 in the article nearly went down in the annals of chess as an immortal game. An incredible double rook sacrifice against the greatest player ever!