Games: 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.There were some terrific scraps in the early rounds of the world championship, as the knock-out format forced players to play for wins at all cost. I particularly enjoyed the following game in which both players went for each other's throats for the entire game. Just as Black got within range, however, he lost his way and was garrotted himself.
White met his opponent's Dutch Defence in recommended fashion, taking a firm grip on the black squares, kicking the visiting knight out of e4 with f3, then pushing forward in the centre with e4. Meanwhile, however, Black's K-side attack was growing in force, and when the black rooks doubled on the g-file, White was in mortal danger.
After 31...Qh3, White's 32.Rxc7 looked almost desperate, but left Black a tricky choice. He can win the queen with 32...Rg2 33.Rc2 (33.Qe3 Rxh2+! or 33.Qf1 Rg1+ lead to mate) 33...Rxf2 34.Rxf2, but instead took the rook, planning to return to g7 later. He may have missed 33.Bg3! and 34.Bh4! giving White just the time needed for his counterattack.
41.Qd7! was a nice winning move: 41...Rxd7 42.Rg8 is mate.
White: Zurab Azmaiparashvili
Black: Mikhail Krasenkov
1 d4 d5 22 Bxf4 Qh5
2 c4 e6 23 Qf2 Ba5
3 Nf3 c6 24 Rab1 b6
4 Qc2 Nf6 25 cxd5 cxd5
5 e3 Ne4 26 Rfc1 bxc5
6 Nc3 f5 27 Bb5 Bxb5
7 Ne5 Nbd7 28 Rxb5 Bc7
8 Nd3 Bd6 29 Rb7 Rg7
9 Nf4 Ndf6 30 dxc5 Rag8
10 f3 Nxc3 31 Rxa7 Qh3d
11 bxc3 0-0 32 Rxc7 Rxc7
12 Bd3 Kh8 33 Bg3 Rcg7
13 0-0 Bd7 34 Bh4 Rg6
14 c5 Bc7 35 Bf6+ Rxf6
15 c4 g5 36 exf6 Qh6
16 Ne2 g4 37 Qb2 d4
17 Nf4 Rg8 38 f7 Rd8
18 Kh1 Qe8 39 Rg1 Qf6
19 e4 gxf3 40 Qb7 d3
20 gxf3 Nh5 41 Qd7 h6
21 e5 Nxf4 42 Qe8+ resigns
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments