Judit Polgar Teaches Chess 2
From GM to Top Ten
by
Judit Polgar
with invaluable help from Mihail Marin
Quality Chess
www.qualitychess.co.uk
Contents
Key to Symbols used 4
Preface 5
1 Reminiscences from my Childhood 9
2 Solving 1 31
3 Dynamic Pawn Play 43
4 Positional Sacrifices 77
5 Thunder from a Blue Sky 103
6 Endgames 117
7 My KID 145
8 Fluid Attacks 215
9 Solving 2 231
10 My Matches 237
11 Solving 3 311
12 My Memorable Games 321
Records and Results 381
Name Index 383
Game Index 386
Chapter 8 – Fluid Attacks 223
Attacking the French The event was known as the Najdorf
tournament and rightly so. Apart from
I have always felt at home against the French organizing it, Don Miguel was the heart
Defence. This opening has something in and soul of the tournament. He came to the
common with the King’s Indian, especially in playing hall every day and often had a close
the positions with a blocked centre and pawn look at the games... closer than customary. I
chains. remember an amusing incident.
The French is mainly a strategic opening and On returning to his game after a short walk,
I usually build up my attacks on a strategic Morovic found his chair occupied by Najdorf.
basis. True, after having accumulated enough Everything in Najdorf ’s appearance and
positional pluses, I frequently finished things behaviour suggested he was thinking about
off tactically. what to play next!
In the first fragment of this section, Black The clock was ticking, so at some point
could not stand the positional pressure and Morovic could not avoid disturbing Najdorf
tried to free himself with a typical pawn break. by gently touching his shoulder and kindly
This had a tactical flaw, which I immediately asking: “May I sit down?”
took advantage of.
My opponent in this game was Oscar Panno,
Judit Polgar – Oscar Panno a very friendly man with an excellent sense
Buenos Aires 1992
of humour and a great love for chess. He had
played Fischer more than once, as there were
This was my first longer visit to Buenos Aires. times when he was the strongest player in Latin
On the previous occasion I had stayed there America. In addition to playing, he spent a lot
for just one day, on my way to the 1986 of time teaching, and his former students love
Under-16 World Championship (please see him even today.
my game against Majul in the first volume).
Besides, I remember that it had been a rainy
day, so I did not have time to see much of this
beautiful city.
In a closed Winawer line of the French, Black
managed to exchange queens at the price of
weakening his kingside structure. My space
A quick game with advantage offers me chances of a lasting kingside
Argentinian President Menem attack, even in the absence of the queens.
224 From GM to Top Ten
20.g4 French this is relatively normal. In fact, Black’s
Blocking the weakness before attacking it, ...f7-f6 was just asking for ¤g1-f3-h4.
and also forcing the knight to a passive square.
24...¦af8 25.¤h4 ¥e8
20...¤h6 Both sides have regrouped in accordance
Forced, since 20...¤e7 would allow 21.¦f3 with the necessities of the position. It can
followed by ¤g1-h3, when Black would not be felt, though, that Black has reached a
be in time to defend the g5-pawn. maximum of coordination, while I can still
improve my position.
On h6, the knight is passive, but at least it
prevents 21.¦f3 due to the hanging g4-pawn. 26.¦h1!
At the same time, the knight safely blocks The rook enjoys the greatest mobility on the
the h-pawn, so I felt I should start my attack first rank. My plan was ¦b1 with the threat
without any delay. of a3-a4. Black would be practically forced to
block his queenside on the light squares with
21.f4! ...a5-a4 and then I could switch to the kingside
Immediately challenging the stability of the with ¦b1-g1, looking for the best moment to
black knight. play g4-g5 (possibly after a previous exchange
on f6).
21...gxf4 22.¦f1 f6 Black can choose between a policy of
A typical break in the French. In this exact neutrality, or preparing ...fxe5 or ...g7-g5.
position, it also fights for a blockade on the None of these possibilities guarantees a
dark squares. At the same time, it weakens successful defence, but Panno’s decision was
the g6-square. You can rarely get something the worst. This is one of the cases when the
without giving something else away. persistent threat of a attack is worse than its
execution, inducing Black to go wrong.
23.¦xf4 ¢e7
26...¦hg8
Preparing the mistaken ...g7-g5.
If 26...fxe5 27.¦xf8 ¦xf8 28.dxe5 ¦g8 29.g5
¤f7 30.¤g6† ¢d8 31.¦g1 ¢d7 32.¢e3
24.¤f3
It may seem strange that I develop the knight
only on move 24, but in the closed lines of the
Chapter 8 – Fluid Attacks 225
White’s advantage is obvious in practically Overlooking a small tactical detail.
every sector of the board. Breaking through is
not easy, but there should be a way to combine If Black wanted to break with ...g7-g5, he
the threats of h5-h6 and a king invasion on the should at least have inserted the exchange on
queenside. e5: 27...fxe5 28.dxe5 g5 29.hxg6 ¥xg6 30.¦xf8
¢xf8 True, I would retain an advantage with
27.¢e3 31.¦f1† due to the possibility of invading
through f6, plus my passed pawn.
28.hxg6 ¥xg6?
It was not too late to look for an emergency
exit, but Panno played quickly, after only two
minutes, without realizing the seriousness of
his mistake.
True, 28...fxe5 does not promise Black an
easy life: 29.¦xf8 exd4† 30.cxd4 ¢xf8 (or if
30...¦xf8 31.¤g2 ¤g8 32.¤f4 with complete
domination) 31.g5 ¤f5† 32.¤xf5 exf5 33.¥f3
¦xg6 34.¢f4 With a clear advantage despite
the temporary material disadvantage.
27...g5? 29.exf6† ¦xf6 30.¦xf6
It was a great pleasure to meet Don Miguel
226 From GM to Top Ten
the h-pawn, but opening files requires some
imagination.
17.h5! ¤xa4
After eight minutes, Gdanski decided to
carry on with his own attack, without paying
attention to mine.
17...¥e8
This could lead to fascinating play:
18.¤h4
Creating several threats: ¤g6†, ¥f6 or h5-
h6.
18...¤xd4
Panno suddenly realized what was awaiting
him: 30...¢xf6 31.g5† ¢xg5 32.¤f3† winning
the knight. Therefore, he resigned.
The next game features mutual attacks on the
opposite wings. Time is essential in such cases,
so tactics play an important role. In this case
they worked out well for me, mainly because I
had a strategic advantage in the first place.
Judit Polgar – Jacek Gdanski
Budapest Zonal (playoff) 1993
The only way of trying to punish my last
move.
19.¤g6†!
The knight is taboo since Black cannot
afford to open the h-file.
19...¢g8 20.¤e7† ¢f7
If 20...¢h8 the prettiest win is 21.¥f6 gxf6
22.exf6 and Black cannot parry the mates on
g8 and g7 at the same time.
Both sides have an advantage on “their”
wing. It may seem that Black’s threats are
more concrete, including ...¤xa4 followed
by ...£xc3†. My attack is based on advancing
Chapter 8 – Fluid Attacks 227
21.¥h4!!
A fantastic move, threatening 22.£g6†!!
hxg6 23.hxg6 mate!
21...¥xa4
Clearing the e8-square for the king.
22.h6
Preparing ¥h5, which Black cannot avoid,
for instance:
22...g6 23.¥h5! gxh5 24.£g7† ¢e8 25.¤g8
£c5 26.¤f6† ¦xf6 27.exf6
White wins.
21.£xg6†! leads to a spectacular mating
17...h6 would be unappealing strategically and set-up: 21...hxg6 22.h7† ¢f7 23.h8=£ ¦xh8
bad tactically: 18.¥xh6 gxh6 19.£g6 followed 24.¤g5† followed by ¦xh8 mate.
by £xh6† and ¤g5.
21.exf6
18.¦xa4! Black’s dark squares are desperately weak
I was delighted to give away this passive rook and his king remains in danger.
to gain time.
21...¢g8 22.£c7
18...£xa4 19.h6 g6 A decisive invasion.
19...¦f7 would allow a similar combination 22...¤b4
as in the next comment, based on opening the Desperation. Black could not hold the
h-file: 20.hxg7† ¢g8 21.¦xh7! with mate in position after 22...¦d8 23.¤e5 either.
sight.
23.cxb4 £xb4† 24.¢e3 g5
20.¥f6†
Hoping for 25.£xd7?? f4 mate! No thanks!
20...¦xf6
A sad necessity. 20...¢g8 is worse. 25.¤xg5
1–0
228 From GM to Top Ten
The next game is one of the most spectacular Throughout his career, Nigel has shown
in the whole book, but I would hardly call it sympathy for all kinds of romantic lines and
tactical. Calculating all the possible variations gambits, especially in the open games. This
was virtually impossible, especially as it was a time, he will find himself on the material-
rapid game. Therefore, I believe I owe my win grabbing side, and he did not sense when it
mainly to better long-term planning and better was time to stop.
vision regarding the trajectory of the pieces.
9.¤f3 ¤b6 10.h3 ¥e7 11.g4 ¥h4† 12.¤xh4
Judit Polgar – Nigel Short £xh4† 13.¢d2 £f2 14.b3 ¤xd4 15.¢c3
New York PCA (rapid) 1994
I examined the first game of my mini-match
against Nigel on page 49. After a few minutes’
break, we sat down for the second game.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.e5 ¤fd7
5.¤ce2 c5 6.c3 ¤c6 7.f4 cxd4 8.cxd4 f5
I was well aware that Nigel suspected I had
gone mad. Indeed, he has an advantage, but
his problem was the wide choice of tempting
continuations. His next moves will prove too
greedy.
15...£f3†
The safest way to an advantage was: 15...¤f3!
The French is one of Nigel’s biggest specialties 16.¢b2 (or 16.¤d4 ¥d7 followed by ...¦c8†,
and greatest chess loves. By choosing a closed winning) 16...0–0 (16...d4 is also good) 17.a4
position he probably hoped that I would lose d4
my patience and give him chances to equalize
the score. He was right about the former, but
wrong about the latter...
I played the next phase in an adventurous
way. One might well think that the game
was played in the 18th century. Please do not
be too critical of my play during the first 18
moves; I did not do any special preparation for
rapid games in those days, and was focusing
more on having fun.
Chapter 8 – Fluid Attacks 229
Black is a pawn up and I would find it True, his position remains very dangerous.
difficult to coordinate my pieces. 20.¦a2 £g3
20...£h1 would practically lose two tempos:
16.¢b2 £xh1 17.¤xd4 21.hxg4 ¦xf4!? The only way to try to justify
At this point I felt I had entirely adequate the previous move. Disrupting my structure
compensation for the big material deficit – an certainly has some point. 22.¥xf4 £e4†
exchange and a pawn! My knight is a fantastic 23.¥d3 £xf4 24.a5 ¤d7 25.¤xe6 £xe5
blockading piece, the bishops can be activated 26.¦e2 £d6
rapidly, while most of Black’s pieces are passive.
The only exception is the black queen, which
however is more exposed than active.
17...£h2†?!
As will soon become clear, this is not a good
square for the queen. Black should have castled
at once.
18.¢b1 0–0
My lead in development is so great that
tactical solutions are now available.
27.¥xh7†! ¢xh7 28.¤g5† ¢g8 29.¦e6
followed by £f3 with a decisive attack.
21.¦g2
19.a4!
A very strong move, threatening 20.a5
¤d7 21.¤xe6, but also planning the radical
activation of my rook with ¦a1-a2-g2. Now
we can see how unfortunate the last check was.
Another tempo gained!
21...£c3
19...a5?
Or 21...£h4 22.¦xg4 £e7 23.¥d3 with a
This natural move wastes an essential tempo
powerful attack with the participation of all
on parrying what actually should be considered
my pieces. Even my king could prove useful
the secondary threat.
with ¢a2 followed by ¥a3!
Black’s only chance of staying alive was:
22.¥d3 gxh3 23.¦g3 g6 24.£g4
19...fxg4!?
230 From GM to Top Ten
22.gxf5
I decided now was a good moment to open
the g-file and prepare to open the long diagonal
with e5-e6.
22...exf5 23.¥b2
Black is helpless. The pressure against g7 will
soon become unbearable, while his queenside
pieces (a small army in fact!) are completely
out of play.
23...£c7 24.e6 ¦f6
24...¦f5 I felt the main difficulty was choosing
The only way to prevent ¥xg6. between several winning moves.
25.¥xf5 exf5 26.£h4
Followed by ¦h3 with a winning attack. 25.¤xf5! ¦g6 26.¥e5 £d8 27.¤xg7 d4
28.f5 ¦xg2 29.¥xg2
20.¦a2 £g3
20...£h1 21.¤f3 would soon trap the I guess Nigel kept playing because he was
queen. not ready yet to resign. He could not have had
any real hopes of saving the game.
21.¦g2
By now, we both knew the truth about the 29...£g5 30.£h5 £xh5 31.¤xh5 ¦a6
position. It was obvious that Nigel did not feel 32.¥xd4 ¤a8 33.¥d5
comfortable at all, while I was sure to win the And Nigel finally had had enough.
game and the match, unless I did something 1–0
really stupid.
The spectators could follow live commentary
21...£c3 on their headphones. The highly entertaining
Or if 21...£h4 22.gxf5 exf5 23.¥a3 £xf4 Maurice Ashley commented on this game, and
24.¥xf8 ¢xf8 25.e6 and Black is completely many times he made the audience laugh out
paralysed. loud.
