Chapter 43
The king in a mating net
To get to the enemy king, one must create a mating net around him. This can consist solely of one’s own pieces and pawns, or can include some of the opponent’s own units, interfering with their king’s mobility. It often happens that the side creating the mating net loses material in the process, and then the question is whether the attacked king can escape from the net, whilst keeping his material gains, or whether he will fall victim to a deadly blow and the game ends. In practice, things work out in various ways, but textbooks usually only contain those examples that end in a beautiful mate, and show the triumph of spirit and beauty over material.
251 *
Training position
Konstantin Landa
It is obvious that Black has a fine concentration of pieces around the white king. But where is the mate? Players with a sharp tactical vision will have no trouble spotting the finish.
1…♗g2+ 2.♖xg2 ♕f1+ 3.♖g1 ♘g3+!
The key idea.
4.hxg3 ♕h3#
252 *
Konstantin Sakaev
2669
Yuri Yakovich
2560
Kazan ch-RUS sf 2005 (9)
White has excellently-coordinated pieces, a far advanced passed pawn, and a lovely knight in the centre. With the help of…
30.b6!
a mating net is created around the black king. The threat of 31.♕f7+ and 32.♕f8 is unstoppable, and so Black resigned. On 30…♕xb6, the game ends by force after 31.♕f7+ ♔d8 32.♕f8+ ♔c7 33.♕xe7+ ♔b8 34.♘d7+.
253 **
Efim Geller
2620
Anatoly Karpov
2695
Moscow ch-URS 1976 (3)
The black king is boxed in on all sides by its own pieces, and this makes possible a tactical blow, which White had undoubtedly seen in advance:
25.♕xe6!
Whether the queen is taken or not, there is no defence against a deadly knight check on g6.
25…fxe6 26.♘hg6+ ♕xg6 27.♘xg6+ ♔e8 28.♘xh8 ♖a4 29.♖d1
Having extra material, it is better to defend the ‘base’ pawn, to win the game without undue adventures.
29…♘e7 30.♗xe7 ♔xe7 31.♘g6+
Even simpler is 31.h4+–.
31…♔f7 32.♘f4 ♗xe5 33.dxe5 ♖xf4 34.♖c1 ♔e8 35.c6 ♔d8 36.c7+ ♔c8 37.g3 ♖a4
In the pawn endgame after 37…♖c4 38.♖xc4 dxc4 39.♔f1, the king is in the square, and the passed a-pawn brings White victory.
He also loses after 37…♖f5 38.f4 g5,
analysis diagram
because of 39.a4!, and the rook’s pawn promotes: 39…gxf4 40.a5 fxg3 41.a6 gxh2+ 42.♔h1 ♖f2 43.♖a1+–.
38.♖c6 ♖xa2 39.♖xe6 g5 40.♖d6 ♖d2 41.e6 ♔xc7 42.e7
1-0
254 **
Vasily Smyslov
2530
Lembit Oll
2585
Rostov-on-Don 1993 (9)
Black’s bishop on g5 is hanging, as is White’s ♖e4. But the black king turns out to be surrounded by white pieces when it takes on e4.
29.g4+! ♔xe4 30.♘f2+ ♔xf4
And now the key move of the variation:
31.♖g1!
Black resigned, because there is a threat of 32.♗d2#, and on 31…e4 there follows 32.♘h3#.
255 **
Ivan Salgado Lopez
2626
Rauf Mamedov
2660
Moscow 2011 (6)
Black has an extra piece, but the pawn on a7 is very dangerous, and is impossible to capture with checks. For example, after 53…♕c1+ 54.♔h2! ♘f1+ (54…♕b2+ 55.♕g2!) 55.♔g2 ♘e3+ 56.♔f2 ♕d2+ 57.♔g1 ♕e1+ 58.♔h2 ♘f1+ 59.♔g2 ♘e3+ 60.♔h2 ♕d2+ 61.♔g1 ♕c1+ 62.♔f2 ♕d2+ 63.♔g1, the game ends in a draw.
53…♘e2+! 54.♔f1
54.♔h1 ♕e1+ 55.♔g2 ♕g1#.
54…♘xf4!
The white king has no protection, and Black obtains a winning queen endgame.
55.a8♕ ♕c1+ 56.♔f2 ♘d3+ 57.♔g2 ♘e1+ 58.♔h2 ♘xf3+ 59.♕xf3 ♕xg5
With a winning position.
256 **
Training position
Konstantin Landa
Both kings face mating threats, but White succeeds in constructing his mating net more quickly.
1.♘b5! ♕e5
Other queen retreats allow White to bring the rook into the mating attack at once:
A) 1…♕b6 2.♖d1! d4 3.h4 ♗g3 4.♕d3 ♗e5 5.♕xh7 ♕xe6 6.♕xc2+–;
B) 1…♕c5
analysis diagram
2.b4! (a necessary move) 2…♕b6 (2…♗xb4 3.♕h5+ g6 4.♕xh7+–) 3.♖d1 d4 4.h4 ♗g3 5.♕d3 ♗e5 6.♕xh7 ♕xe6 7.♕xc2+–;
C) 1…♕c6 2.♖d1 ♗a5 3.♕h5+ g6 4.♕xh7 ♕xe6 5.♘xc7+ ♗xc7 6.♕xc7, with a decisive attack.
2.h4 ♕g3
2…♖f5 3.♕xe5 ♖xe5 4.♘xc7+ ♔f8 5.♖c1 ♘d4 6.e7++–.
3.♖d1!! ♖f2
3…c6 4.♖d3! ♕b8 5.♖f3+–.
4.♕xf2! ♗xf2 5.♖xd5
Black has no satisfactory defence.
257 **
Vlatko Kovacevic
2555
Jan Timman
2610
Bugojno 1984 (7)
We have a very sharp position on the board. White has already practically queened his d-pawn, but Black is attacking the king:
25…♘f4!
Bad is 25…♕h4? 26.♕e5 ♕xh3 27.♕g3
– White defends against the threats.
26.♖xc8
He loses at once after 26.exf4 ♕h4 27.♖d3 ♕xh3 28.♖xf3 ♖xc1+ 29.♕xc1 ♕xf3 30.d7 ♕xg4+.
26…♘xh3+! 27.♔h2
Also bad was 27.♔f1 ♖xc8! 28.d7 ♖d8 29.♔e1 (29.♕d4 ♕h4–+) 29…♕xg4 30.♕d4 ♕g2 31.♔d2 ♘xf2–+.
27…♕h4!
But not 27…♕xg4? 28.♖xe8+ ♔h7, because of 29.♖g1!. Now, it is Black who needs to be accurate:
analysis diagram
29…♕h4! (29…♘xg1? 30.♕f1!!+–; he also loses with 29…♕h5?, because of the calm 30.♕f1!! ♘f4+ 31.♔g3 ♘e2+ 32.♕xe2 fxe2 33.♖e4+–) 30.♖g4 ♕xg4 31.♕f1 ♘g5 32.d7 ♕h4+ (32…♕xd7? 33.♗e7 f6 34.♖d8 ♕xe7 35.♖d4
) 33.♔g1 ♕g4+ (33…♘h3+? 34.♕xh3 ♕xh3 35.♖h8+ ♔xh8 36.d8♕+ ♔h7 37.♕g5) 34.♔h2=.
28.♖xe8+ ♔h7 29.♕xg7+ ♔xg7 30.♗b2+ f6 31.♖e7+ ♔h6 32.♗xf6 ♕xf2+ 33.♔xh3 ♕g2+ 34.♔h4 ♕h2#
258 ***
Boris Grachev
2682
Rainer Buhmann
2606
Germany Bundesliga 2011/12 (4)
Looking at the position, one undoubtedly wants to take the bishop. However, it would also be nice to keep the g6-pawn and put the knight on f5! And there was such a possibility:
53.h5!!
Strengthening the g6-pawn, and creating the threat of bringing the knight via h4 to f5. At the same time, the black bishop still hangs. Even if White was not totally certain that the move was winning, he needed to play it, as with such a domination of the light squares, he cannot possibly lose. From a practical viewpoint, the most Black can hope for is perpetual check, but in fact there is not one.
In the game, White grabbed the piece with 53.♕xc3, but after 53…♔xg6, the black king breathed easier, and the black pawns all round the board started to have their say. There followed 54.♘d2 (more energetic is 54.♘d4 – by coordinating the queen and knight, there are still some chances of organising an attack) 54…♕e6 55.♕c2+ ♔h5 56.f3 ♕e2+ 57.♔h3 ♕e6+ 58.♔g2 ♕e2+ 59.♔h3 ♕e6+, with a draw.
53…b4
Nothing is changed by 53…♗b2 54.♔h3.
54.♔h3!
There is no defence against ♘f3-h4.
259 ***
Troitzky
Study 1916
One can see the most beautiful and accurate mating nets in endgame studies. It seems that White clearly has insufficient resources to win this position, but by exploiting mating possibilities and the fact that he has the move, he manages to win:
1.♕d4+ ♔g5
1…♔f5 2.♕d3++–.
2.♕f6+ ♔g4 3.♕f3+ ♔g5 4.♕g3+! ♗g4
Otherwise, the queen is lost. But what now?
5.♕h4+!!
Drawing the king into the trap.
5…♔f4
5…♔xh4 6.♗f6#; 5…♔f5 6.♕f6+ ♔e4 7.♕d4+ ♔f5 8.♕d3++–.
6.♕f2+ ♔g5 7.♕f6#
260 ***
Viswanathan Anand
2817
Pavel Eljanov
2683
Germany Bundesliga 2011/12 (12)
Despite the fact that we have an endgame, the white king is badly placed. As well as possible checks and forks, the potential passed pawn on the queenside is also dangerous.
41…b4!
Certainly, straightforward play with a series of checks brings no immediate dividends. Therefore, Black strengthens his pawn position, retaining the full power of his piece set-up.
In the game, after 41…♖e8+ 42.♔f5 ♘e3+ 43.♔g6, the king ran from the danger zone and after 43…♘d5 44.♖xb5 ♘xf4+ 45.♗xf4, the worst was already behind White, and the game ended in a draw.
42.cxb4 c3 43.♖c5 c2
The pawn is just one step from promoting. The white pieces lack coordination, and because of the unfortunate position of the king, decisive material losses are unavoidable.
44.♖c3
He loses quite simply after 44.♖f3 ♖e2+ 45.♔f5 ♖f8+.
44…♖e2+
There is also a more beautiful, although at the same time more complicated, way to win: 44…♖e8+ 45.♔f5 ♘e3+ 46.♔g6 ♖d6+ 47.♔f7 ♘d5 – both rooks are hanging, and 48…♖e7+ is threatened.
45.♔f5 ♘e3+ 46.♔g5 ♘d5 47.♖fc4 ♘xc3 48.♖xc3 ♖d5+ 49.♔g6 ♔g4 50.♖c4+ ♔f3 51.h5 ♖d1 52.♗f4 ♖e4
He has to give a piece for the c-pawn, and Black wins.
Additional material
Kasparov-Karpov, Leningrad Wch match/22 1986 – White’s 41st move