Q.No.2
This position was seen in the 3rd and 5th Games of the Anand-Kramnik World Championship Match, Bonn 2008. Here Kramnik refrained from playing the obvious 13.Nxd4.What would you have played if you had to face 13.Nxd4? Remember,this was the variation that decided the World Championship.
Q.No.3
This is a standard position in the King’s Indian. For quite some time 13.c5 has been abandoned by White on account of a sharp counter by Black. Would you spot it for yourself?
Q.No.4
Here is a position from the analysis of a famous classic. Once upon a time 16…Rf7 was suggested as a reasonable alternative for Black. But this also fails to a beautiful variation.Can you find the combination?
Q.No.5
Here is a miniature of an opening variation that even grandmasters may not know about. It is an inspired creation of Wilhem Steinitz, the First World Champion. Can you see the finish?
The preceding part of this test must have been a disappointment to many readers. There was no win to be found in the first three positions.The solution indicated just an extra edge in the opening.But that is what really matters. You need to give notice to your opponent that you mean business in the opening itself,and then he is under pressure from the start.What if you are under pressure? Then you should know how to extricate yourself.So in this part of the test there will be questions on both attack and defence.
First, we begin with a combination that was discovered only in analysis long after the game.No,it was not found by the computers, but by Kondratiev, a Russian player who was not even a grandmaster.
Q.No.6 In this position White is under tremendous pressure with his insecure king and attack on the queen. Can you help?
Question No.7 Here you are invited to judge a contest of wills between two geniuses of combination.
I)Can Black knight capture the pawn on e5?
We live in a world of numbers.For many of us the GM rating is a magic figure that we cannot dream of. So a grandmaster who has attained that status is a rare human being. He sees and understands everything about the position.Now that is a contradictory statement. If he sees and understands everything, how does he lose a game?We all tend to forget that a grandmaster is also human, and it can be terrible for him to enter a mortal combat day after day in a gladiator contest.
Away from the tournament table, a grandmaster may be a friendly figure, and you can join him in a game of analysis. Who knows, if you are sharp, you may even find a better move than him.
So here is a test of 10 positions. It is intersting to note that the assessment of quite a few positions here changed because the kibitzers found something new.Who knows what you may find? It may change everything. In that case you deserve a trophy.
In this part there are 5 questions.Note that Positions, 1, 2 and 3 are not the usual White to play and win or Black to win variety.What you have to do is just to find the right idea with a few moves in the opening. Positions No. 4 and 5 feature combinations you may not have seen before.Each question carries two points.Enjoy!
Q.NO.1
This position was reached in a grandmaster game and Black played the obvious move, 9...Bf6.Although he won, he was reproaching himself for having entered this line with so many murky complications. Imagine that you are Black. How would you improve on his play?