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LCB, Issue #123 --, Choose the Paulsen for Sacrificial Play September 01, 2025 |
Choose the Paulsen for Sacrificial PlayChessorb Classic, Issue #123 -- GOTM #93 Chessorb Classic We're going to look at the Paulsen Variation for the second month in a row. This option gets the Queen's Knight into the game quickly. It's a good line for White if instead of overprotecting d4, he decides to swiftly get his pieces over to the Kingside for a middlegame attack. White can play for quick attacks, the position rich in potential for sacrificial, tactical play. Common threads found in these games will see the Black Kingside ripped open by minor piece sacrifices. Attacks are then continued with tempo. This month's Paulsen game was played in Valjevo, Serbia in 2007. There the former World Champion Anatoly Karpov faced local favorite Mihajlo Stojanovic. Karpov played this line with the White pieces and Stojanovic had Black. Choose the Paulsen for Sacrificial PlayKarpov,Anatoly (2668) - Stojanovic,Mihajlo (2588) [C10]GotM #93 Valjevo, 2007 [Connaughton, Ken] 1.e4 King's Pawn Opening 1...e6 French Defense 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Paulsen Variation 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 (4...Bb4+ was played in last month's game between the two Walls.) 5.Nf3 (5.Bd3; 5.c4; 5.c3) 5...Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.0-0 Ngf6 8.Ng3 Be7 9.Re1 0-0
After the opening we can see that the middlegame will play out predominately on the Kingside. 10.Qe2 b6 11.Ba6 Rb8 12.c4 Bb7 13.Bxb7 Rxb7 14.Ne5 Qc8 15.Nc6
Nice post for the Knight as White works to cramp Black. 15...Re8 16.Bg5 Bf8 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Nh5 Nd7
Black wants to keep pieces on the board, but this is ceding ground to White. We are always advised that if we have less space then exchanging pieces is good. (18...Nxh5 may have led to something like 19.Qxh5 Bd6 20.Rad1 g6 21.Qb5 Qd7 22.Re3 Kg7) 19.Qg4 Now the Kingside attack begins. 19...Kh8 20.Re3 Nb8 21.Rg3! Offering Black a minor piece in sacrifice but he has no time to take. The numbers piling up on the Black King are mounting. 21...f5 22.Qh4 The Queen is pushed off the g-file but Black's defenses look a little frayed. 22...Nxc6 Was there time for this? (22...h6 had to be played here. After the textmove, only a forced # lies ahead.) 23.Nf6 Sacrificing a second Knight, the one that should have been exchanged a while back. 23...h6 Stopping the mating threat but now he runs into (Of course 23...gxf6 wasn't a real sacrifice as # would have quickly followed: 24.Qxf6+ Bg7 25.Qxg7#) 24.Qxh6+!! And this "sacrifice" should make it clear that there is only one development imminent. 24...gxh6 25.Rg8#
And a pretty # to finish. 1-0 Karpov,Anatoly (2668) - Stojanovic,Mihajlo (2588) [C10] 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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