Getting out of a simple diagonal pin can be far from simple.
Vlastimil Jansa White
Arthur Bisguier Black
Skopje 1972
English Opening A29
1 c4 e5 2 ♘c3 ♘f6 3 ♘f3 ♘c6 4 g3 ♗b4 5 ♗g2 0-0 6 0-0 d6 7 d3 ♗xc3 8 bxc3 h6
Black should have considered 8...e4 (9 ♘d4 ♘e5).
9 e4!
White freezes the center so he can open the kingside with ♘h4 and f2-f4.
9...♘e7 10 ♘h4 g5? 11 ♘f3 ♘g6
12 ♘xg5! hxg5 13 ♗xg5
But the sacrifice is stronger than trying for f2-f4 because of the lasting pin on the f6-knight, e.g. 13...♕e7 14 f4 exf4 15 gxf4 (15...♕e6? 16 f5).
13...♔h7
A better try is 13...♔g7 followed by a queen move and ...♘h7 or ...♘d7.
However, 14 f4 exf4 15 gxf4 threatens 16 e5 dxe5 17 fxe5 ♘xe5 18 ♗xf6+. For example, 15...♕e8 16 f5 ♘e5 17 d4 ♘xc4 18 ♕d3 and the attack is overwhelming (18...♘b6 19 ♕g3).
Question 259: Why not 15...♕d7 16 f5 ♘e7 ?
14 f4 exf4 15 gxf4 ♖g8 16 ♕e1!
White stops 16...♘f8 and 17...♖xg5 with 17 ♕h4+!.
16...♕e7 17 f5 ♗d7?! 18 fxg6+ ♖xg6 19 ♕h4+
In view of 19...♔g7 20 ♗xf6+ ♖xf6 21 ♕g5+ Black resigned.
Baadur Jobava White
Bosse Lindberg Black
Oropesa 2001
1 c4 ♘f6 2 ♘c3 e5 3 ♘f3 ♘c6 4 g3 ♗b4 5 ♗g2 0-0 6 0-0 ♗xc3 7 bxc3 d6 8 d3 h6 9 e4! a5 10 ♘h4 ♘e7 11 f4! exf4 12 gxf4 ♘g6 13 ♘xg6 fxg6 14 d4 ♗g4 15 ♕d3 c6 16 ♗a3 ♖e8 17 h3 ♗h5 18 ♖ae1 ♕d7 19 e5 dxe5 20 fxe5 ♘h7 21 d5 ♘f8 22 ♖xf8+ ♖xf8 23 e6 ♕e8 24 ♗xf8 ♔xf8 25 d6! ♔g8 26 c5 g5 27 d7 resigns.