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LCB, Issue #116 --, Attack with the Yugoslav February 01, 2025 |
Attack with the YugoslavChessorb Classic, Issue #116 -- GOTM #86 Chessorb Classic The Sicilian Defense is one of the most important opening complexes in the game. Maybe the most important. The Dragon Variation is one the the most important lines inside the Sicilian. A very popular idea. The Dragon Variation itself gives Black great solidity. He also gets plenty of scope for counter play in the center and on the Queenside. He controls many dark squares in the center while White is operating mainly on the light squares. How does White face the Dragon? The famous tactician Mikhail Tal, Botvinnik's 2nd Winter King, faced this dilemma in this month's game. Tal chose the Yugoslav Attack to combat the Dragon. A guy called Sviridov had Black. The game was played in Stuttgart in 1969. A short but explosive miniature unfolded with much food for thought for you to ponder. Attack with the YugoslavTal, Mihail - Sviridov [B75]GotM #86 Stuttgart, 1969 [Connaughton, Ken] 1.e4 King's Pawn Opening 1...c5 Sicilian Defense 2.Nf3 Open Sicilian 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 Dragon Variation 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Yugoslav Attack 7...Nc6 (7...0-0 is the most popular reply.; 7...a6 is another regularly exercised option.) 8.Qd2 Preparing to castle long and launch a Kingside attack. 8...Bd7 9.0-0-0 Qa5 10.Kb1 Securing a2. 10...Rc8 Black's
counter-attack is coming on the Queenside. 11.g4 h6 12.h4 a6 Preparing ...b5 and an attack against the King on b1. 13.Be2 Ne5 14.g5 He wants to open the Black Kingside. 14...hxg5 (14...Nh5 leads to 15.gxh6 Bf6 16.Nb3 Qd8 17.Nd5 Be6) 15.hxg5 Rxh1 (15...Nh5 16.Nb3 Qd8 17.Nd5 Be6 18.f4 Nc4 19.Bxc4 Rxc4) 16.gxf6! The perfect intermezzo! Handing his opponent the first double threat he must deal with, and to Black's great frustration, he will find that the following sequence is forcing and he must continually choose
between bad and worse. 16...Rxd1+ Seems to save time with the check but this can be parried with another double threat. 17.Nxd1 Qxd2 18.fxg7 And the third double threat in a row is the one to make Black finally resign. This time the loss of the Queen is the lesser threat. 1-0 P.S. If you do not have html based email software and you're using a text only system, you may find that the links are only partially highlighted and may not work. If this is the case, simply copy and paste the entire link into the browser and hit Enter. That should get you where you want to go. Comments, ideas, feedback? I'd be stoked to hear from you. Get in touch See you next month. Ken ![]() |
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