Susan Polgar: especially once your King has already
castled to the Kingside. However, here
White by playing energetically will justify Calculate deeper! the aggressive play. 15...fg4 16.hg4 Shf6 There are two types of positions in chess, This is another key moment in the game. ones which require precise calculation, and XIIIIIIIIY others where you can largely rely on intuition and judgment. One of the 9r+lwqr+-+0 common mistakes many players make is 9zpp+n+-vlk0 that they try to calculate everything, even at times when there is no need for it. By 9-+-zp-snpzp0 doing so, they spend a lot of time on the 9+-zpP+-+-0 clock. This then cause them to end up in time trouble, which in turn results in 9-+P+-+P+0 mistakes or even blunders on the board.However, in this article, I would like 9+-sNLvLN+-0 to share with you some of my personal 9PzP-wQ-zP-+0 experience where actually calculation is crucial. In fact, the point is to calculate 9+-+-tRRmK-0 deeper and more precisely than the xiiiiiiiiy opponent.The first example is from a game 17.g5 of mine which I played in a small open It was clear that White has significant tournament in Oklahoma in 2004. This was advantage in development, and especially my first tournament after a long break in view of the rather committing 15.g4, I since my World Championship match have to find to right follow-up to it. In this against Xie Jun in early 1996. position, I had three tempting lines to choose from. Each of them requires Polgar S. : Hulsey M. substantial deep calculation. In addition to Stillwater 2004 the move I played, I also considered XIIIIIIIIY 17.Dc2, and even 17.Lh6. Let's first examine the interesting 9r+lwqr+-+0 complication that can arise starting with 9zpp+n+-vlk0 17.Dc2. Black's only response to defend the Pawn on g6 is 17...Sf8. Now, there are 9-+-zp-+pzp0 two logical roads: 9+-zpP+p+n0 a) 18.Sh4 to simply attack the Pawn on g6 9-+P+-+-+0 the third time, but Black seems to be OK after 18...Sg4 19.Lg6 Kg8 20.Le8 Dh4 9+-sNLvLN+P0 21.Lf4 (21.f4 Lc3 22.bc3 Lf5–+) 21...Se5 9PzP-wQ-zPP+0 or b) first sacrificing with 18.Lg6 Sg6 and 9+-+-tRRmK-0 then 19.Sh4. Here Black is also surviving xiiiiiiiiy after 19...Lg4 (but not 19...Se4 20.Sg6 15.g4! (20.Se4 Dh4–+) 20...Lc3 21.bc3 Lg4 22.f3 This is a very important move. Otherwise Lh3 23.fe4 Tg8 24.Tf7 Kg6 25.Df2 Kh5 the Black Knight returns from h5 to f6 and 26.Kh1 Lg2 27.Kh2 Le4 28.Lg5 Dg5 Black has a decent position. At first glance, 29.Te4+-) 20.Dg6 Kh8 21.Lh6 Tg8 22.Lg7 a move such as g2-g4 looks rather risky, Tg7 23.Dh6 Kg8 24.Sg6 Sh7, with complications. FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR 1 17.Lh6!? was also not bad, with a strong XIIIIIIIIY attack after 17...Lh6 (17...Sg4 18.Lg6 Kg6 19.Te8+-) 18.g5 Lg7 19.gf6 Lf6 20.Se4±. 9r+lwqr+k+0 17...Sg4 9zpp+-+-zP-0 It was my top choice. After 17...hg5 9-+-zp-+p+0 18.Sg5 Black is lost. 18.gh6 Sde5 9+-zpP+-sN-0 The key variation that I spent a 9-+P+-+n+0 considerable amount of time calculating was 18...Se3 19.hg7 Sf1. At first I was 9+-sNQvL-+-0 trying to make one of the forceful moves 9PzP-+-zP-+0 such as the sac with 20.Lg6 or 20.Sg5 work. Those ideas did not work. But it was 9+-+-tRRmK-0 quite pleasurable when I finally noticed the xiiiiiiiiy hidden quiet move 21...Lf5 XIIIIIIIIY My opponent actually thought he was doing OK, until he realized that after 9r+lwqr+-+0 21...Se3 I don't have to recapture on e3. I 9zpp+n+-zPk0 can play 22.Dg6! instead. 9-+-zp-+p+0 22.Sce4+- The rest was easy. 9+-zpP+-+-0 22...Se5 23.De2 Kg7 24.Kg2 De7 25.Lf4 9-+P+-+-+0 Sf7 26.Dd2 Dd7 27.Dc3 Se5 28.Sd6 1:0. 9+-sNL+N+-0 9PzP-wQ-zP-+0 The next position came from one of the 9+-+-tRnmK-0 games which I played only a few month after the game above. In this game, my xiiiiiiiiy opponent was my old rival (and friend), the 20.Dg5!! that unexpectedly wins the game! legendary former World Champion Maia For example: 20...Dg5 21.Sg5 Kg7 22.Te8 Chiburdanidze at the Calvia Chess and the Black Knight on f1 gets trapped, Olympiad. After only 13 moves we have after 22...Sd2 23.Te2 Kf6 24.f4. Black also reached the following position: loses after 18...Lh6 19.Lh6 Te1 20.Te1 Sh6 21.Lg6 Kg6 22.Te6 Sf6 23.Dg5 Kf7 Polgar S. : Chiburdanidze M. 24.Dh6 Le6 25.Sg5 Ke8 26.Se6 De7 Calvia, Olympiad 2004 27.Dh8+-. XIIIIIIIIY 19.Sg5! This in-between move wins a piece. After 9rsn-wq-trk+0 19.Se5 Le5 Black would still get some 9zpl+-+p+p0 counter chances. 9-zp-zp-+p+0 19...Kg8 Moving into a discovery with 19...Kh6 9+-zp-zpLzP-0 would be deadly too. 9-zPP+-sn-+0 20.hg7 Sd3 20...Se3 21.De3. 9zP-wQ-+N+-0 21.Dd3 9-vL-zPPzP-zP0 9tR-+-mK-tR-0 xiiiiiiiiy FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR 2 Maia had just played 13…g6, after a 15.Sf7!! lengthy thought. She clearly anticipated the A second sacrifice! If now 15...Kf7, then upcoming sacrifice but misevaluated its 16.Dg7 Ke8 17.Lf6 and the Black Queen is outcome. trapped. Therefore 17...Tf6 is a must, but 14.Se5!! after 18.gf6 Black is lost. Of course this is an easy combination to 15...Sc3 spot. After 14...de5 15.De5, Black's XIIIIIIIIY position is rather hopeless, due to the weakness of the dark squares around the 9rsn-wq-trk+0 Black King. However, the more 9zpl+-+N+p0 challenging part during the game was to 9-zp-zp-+p+0 find the various resourceful counterattacking moves that Black had, 9+-zp-+LzP-0 and not less importantly, their refutations. 9-zPP+-+-+0 14...Se2 The idea behind this sacrifice is that if I 9zP-sn-+-+-0 capture 15.Ke2 now, then after 15...de5 9-vL-zP-zP-zP0 16.De5? Black can pin the White Queen with 16...Te8. 9tR-+-mK-tR-0 However, before continuing further with xiiiiiiiiy the game moves, let's look at some other 16.Sh6! interesting options that Black had. I had to This was an unexpected check. If I decided calculate very carefully before going to play 16.Sd8 (instead of the game move forward with the sacrifice in my last move. of 16.Sh6) 16…Td8, then White would 14...De7 is one of them, with the idea to end up being a piece down. Even after "pin" the Knight to e5. Fortunately, I found 17.Le6 Kf8 18.Lc3 White would still lose the elegant because of the pin with 18...Te8. XIIIIIIIIY 16...Kg7 17.Lc3 Tf6 18.Lf6 Df6 19.gf6 Kh6 9rsn-+-trk+0 My opponent actually saw everything up to 9zpl+-wqp+p0 this point. In the post game analysis, she 9-zp-zp-+p+0 told me that she totally forgot that in this position, she no longer has her Rook on f8 9+-zp-sNLzP-0 anymore. White has a significant material 9-zPP+-sn-+0 advantage. Therefore, the position is already winning, no matter what. 9zP-wQ-+-+-0 Unfortunately, this was one of the painful 9-vL-zPPzP-zP0 moments of my career, where I missed the 9tR-+-mK-tR-0 final touch to a "perfect" game. What I played also wins, but it was not as precise. xiiiiiiiiy Being happy with a technical win, I 15.Le4!! move which unpins my Knight. played: After that White wins. For example, 15...Le4 (15...de5 16.Lb7 Se2 17.Ke2 Db7 18.De5 f6 19.De6 Tf7 20.gf6) 16.Sc6 Sd3 17.Kf1. Also after 14...De8 the same idea prevails: 15.Le4!! Le4 16.Sg4. After 14...de5 15.De5 Sg2 16.Tg2 f6 17.Le6.
FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR 3
XIIIIIIIIY 9rsn-+-+-+0 9zpl+-+-+p0 9-zp-zp-zPpmk0 9+-zp-+L+-0 9-zPP+-+-+0 9zP-+-+-+-0 9-+-zP-zP-zP0 9tR-+-mK-tR-0 xiiiiiiiiy 20.Le6 and missed the outstanding finish to this beautiful game with 20.Tb1!. After 20...gf5, followed by 21.Tb3, when it would have been "game over" immediately. Here are the rest of the moves of the game. 20...Sc6 21.Ld5 Tf8 22.f7 Sd8 23.Lb7 Sb7 24.Tg3 Tf7 25.Te3 Sd8 26.b5 Tf4 27.d3 d5 28.Te7 dc4 29.dc4 Sf7 If 29...Tc4 30.Td1 Td4 31.Td4 cd4 32.Ta7. 30.Td1 Sg5 31.Ta7 Tc4 32.Ta6 Tc2 33.Tb6 c4 34.a4 Ta2 35.Ta6 Sf3 36.Kf1 Sd2 37.Td2 Td2 38.Tc6 Tc2 39.b6 But how would you know when to stop your calculation during a game? When did you calculate deep enough? Well, there is no magic rule. Generally speaking, when there are no more forceful moves (such as check, capture of attacking a piece) in sight, it is a good time to stop and evaluate the position at the end of the variation. Remember, many games are decided by who calculates further. And indeed in sharp and tactical positions, this could prove to be decisive. 1:0.