Analyze with KIMPLODES! Exchange Sac for Virulent Passed Pawn
KIMPLODES! is a human-oriented approach to analysis. In this post we use KIMPLODES! to analyze an exchange sacrifice that finds a passed pawn promenading to promotion. [Links providing additional information on KIMPLODES! are found after the post's end.]
The game is between Jesper Thybo and Boris Chatalbashev at Denmark's 2021 CC. Why this game? Because I was looking for examples where White sacrificed material to obtain a difficult-to-restrain, advanced passed pawn. In some games I examined White obtained that passed pawn for the sacrifice of a pawn. In the game presented here, White sacrifices an exchange to obtain a passed c-pawn. A set of puzzles is provided after the analysis to test your retention of the ideas presented in the full game.
You can skip the analysis and proceed directly to the puzzles if you choose!
INTRODUCTIONS!
Gentlepersons, chess connoisseurs, novitiates, masters of the 64 squares, and simple spectators! Let me introduce today's contestants!!
The Players
Jesper Søndergaard Thybo is a Danish GM born in 1999. His peak rating was 2604 in November 2021. He earned a gold medal in the 2017 European Youth CC U18 age group. He has seen a drop to 2549 as of October 2024. He is a coach who can be contacted via chess.com (@JTCoach) and has a YouTube channel where he talks about chess.
Boris Chatalbashev (Bulgarian: Борис Чаталбашев) is a Bulgarian and Danish GM born in 1974. He won the Bulgarian CC four times and won the Danish CC in 2023. His peak rating was 2613 in July 2020, and he still maintains a 2476 rating. He played for the Bulgarian team in three Olympiads as a reserve for either the first or second board.
The Scenario
We're pleased to restage this game from the 20 October 2020 Denmark CC! I discovered this game while gathering material for my third chess book, KIMPLODES! Analysis By and For Humans. That's just a working title. The book probably won't be published on chessable.com for at least a year. My co-author is IM Attila Turzo (@AttilaTurzo).
In this game, Black aggressively deploys their queen to a5 on move eight. The belligerence continues on move ten when a poorly conceived effort to seize the initiative by threatening the white queen allows White to grasp a nearly decisive advantage. But only two players have found that best move, and two players rated 2600+ FIDE did not see it in their game. Still, Black's pugnacity has not served them well. Even when White has not found the evaluation-changing response to Black's early ambitions, White still has a 6W-1D-0L record after Black's tenth. Despite the fact the comps say the position is equal if White does not find the best eleventh move.
When White has found the objectively best move the position briefly becomes calculation intensive. However, it then requires an incisive evaluation of positional factors to ascertain that an exchange sacrifice of a rook for a bishop and advanced passed pawn is required to secure the decisive advantage.
Let's jump to it!
Spoiler Alert: All following puzzles are based on the game and analytic lines.
Let the Puzzles Begin!
As noted above, in the seven games I found at this juncture White won six and drew one. Despite the fact a clear majority of them failed to find the best continuation in this position.
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #1
Can you find the best move? This should be easy if you played through the analysis above. If not, well, you'll probably get the first move correct since you know there's a trick involved.
Congratulations! You either have a good memory or superb calculating skills. But it's ultimately based on the realization that Black has been overly aggressive in their intent so White should be looking for a refutation to the false black initiative.
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #2
How can white gain a winning advantage?
In-between moves (intermezzos) can often be the key that unlocks victory's portal.
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #3
What is the strongest white continuation here?
You may have seen many games where a rook is sacrificed on a1 to denude the black kingside of the critical defender, the fianchettoed dark-squared bishop. This is a more intriguing example wherein offering an exchange for a strong passed pawn is more than worth the initial investment even though the issue of king safety is not immediately relevant.
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #4
Should White ignore the threat on f1 and capture on c6?
Black's best is not good enough. But Black can find ways to worsen their situation!
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #5
Should White change the pawn structure and capture on c6? Or find some other way to maintain the initiative?
Tricky stuff this offering of exchanges to receive a strong passed pawn in return. But careful study of multiple examples trains our brain to be more likely to choose the best path.
Thybo vs. Chatalbashev #6
In the game, White continued with the logical but slightly inaccurate Rd1. What was an improvement that best leverages the white assets?
Observing how White avoided immediately taking advantage of the pinned bishop on b2 is a great trick to be aware of. Bottom line? If a pinned piece cannot move, then it is worth looking around to see if there is a better way to win the piece.
We've reached the end. Hope you found it insightful enough to prove useful and challenging enough to be enjoyable.
Please let me know if you found any mistakes and whether you enjoyed this. I know I have fun finding the examples and putting them through the wringer to see what I learn along the way. If you did enjoy it and would like to see others, there are links to the KIMPLODES! series proffered below.
I should be posting another in this series either four or six weeks from today.
A post in my other series, Secrets of Trapping Pieces, will be available either two or four weeks from today. Here is a post in that series from two weeks ago Secrets of Trapping Pieces: Pillsbury's Mate.
Related links:
1. For a slightly deeper summary of KIMPLODES! concepts than offered below you can click here.
2. If you want a full blog on a specific topic, for example, E=Energy (a particularly complex topic, skip it unless you want to reach FM), then click the relevant link below.
3. If you'd like to see more puzzles from individual games, then please scroll to the end and click one of those links.
Specific KIMPLODES! Topics
M = Material Am I ahead or behind in material? The more insightful question is whether a material deficit or surplus matters.
O = Officers The minor pieces. Who has the better bishops and knights.
E = Energy Sometimes the owner of the pieces with less space enjoys tremendous latent energy, just waiting to explode in retribution for the opponent's audacity in trying to squeeze the other side.
S = Space/Squares Oversimplified, as pawns advance, they gain a spatial advantage, but frequently leave behind holes the other side will try to exploit.
Additional analyses and puzzles from specific games:
Analyze with KIMPLODES! Two games, 12 puzzles
Analyze with KIMPLODES! Early Black Pawn Sac Philidor's Defense
Analyze with KIMPLODES! An Evans Gambit Game & Puzzles
Analyze with KIMPLODES! K = King Safety in the Endgame! Attila Turzo beats a former World Champion!
