Devastating Rook Pin Along your Opponent's 2nd Rank

 I was reminded of a former chess buddy J.P. Hyltin who resided in Austin Texas and often played in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. He once drew with legend Joe Bradford after memorizing Big Joe's Benko Gambit line if I recall and wore a T-Shirt about his pregnant wife's GM candidate fetus. 

He was probably a genius in many regards including his profession in some branch of engineering, but I remember him saying that an overwhelming number of decisive tactics involved exploiting or creating a lethal pin. I also respected his views on the absurd DWI laws in our country where way too many repeat offenders end up killing people never having spend a day behind bars!!! His Austin friend and lawyer Mike Simpson Esquire defended many of those types usually the weekend when the Longhorns played the Sooners. I think  Victor Yaward  and Luis Salinas had strong opinions on vehicular homicide as well.

The following position involves the latter. See if you can figure out the winning move in the following position with White to play:

ICC player Danifrani had just withdrawn his Queen to the f6. Can you see how this move is a losing blunder due to the presence of the White Rook on the c7 square? I missed it in the game, but eventually won on time in a 3 minute no increment time control blitz game.

Pawn Queening Deflection

The following 3 minute blitz game played at the internet chess club is an excellent example of a deflection sacrifice leading to the promotion of a pawn to a Queen. The opening was a Benko where White managed to create a passed d pawn due to a Benoni-like e5 thrust before Black's queenside play manifested.



chichi1950 from Spain, playing with the Black pieces, must have been feeling quite comfortable with  his Rooks doubled at b2 and d2 with the threat of Rook captures pawn at f2 either drawing easily or perhaps winning.

White's trump is his passed d7 pawn which is a single square from Queening. With White to move, see if you can find a deflection move which either leads to the pawn promoting to a Queen or  the loss of a Rook.

Benko Gambit Accepted: Re2

The following chess position is from the Benko Gambit accepted or the Volga Gambit. Victor Korchnoi used to play the White side of this opening with extraordinary results. The White rook at e2 supports the e5 thrust and guards the sensitive b2 square.

This is one of the castle by hand variations where White has to be careful about his King residing on the h1-a8 diagonal in the lines where Black plays e6. GM DeFirmian recommends that White play this like a regular Benoni "forgetting" he has an extra pawn.

I like this accept the gambit pawn variation in an opening where there are so many decline the gambit pawn lines.

Jacob Aagaard from Denmark, in his excellent magnum opus titled Excelling at Positional Chess uses this tabiya to show that Black need not prove that there is compensation for the pawn he "sacrificed as the positional trumps are self-evident with the the rooks occupying the half-open a and b files, exceptionally, active pieces, and a compact pawn structure as chef John Fedorowicz describes it.

Aagaard does a remarkable job of proving that  the nebulous notion of material is just another aspect of any chess position and that one should be prepared to part with it if the position demands it!

Also Jacob, like many chess players, has a sensitive and restless mind as characterized by a John Shaw article at Quality Chess Blog. Chess was that outlet that allowed him to channel that unchecked energy into becoming a world class chess author.

Benko Gambit Accepted: Castle By Hand

A rather dogmatic and not particular pragmatic quote by Tarrasch claims the best way to refute a gambit is to accept it. I have about decided that is the case for the Volga Gambit or as Americans like to call it, the Benko Gambit. Black gives White a passed a pawn directly out of the opening for pressure on the Queen Side.

 Black often is willing to exchange Queens a pawn down due to his confidence the attacking chances and pressure on the Queen Side will pay dividends.

Rapaz of Spain, who loves the Benko Gambit, did just that in this game that was played at The Internet Chess Club. Black played his Queen to the a5 square inviting Bd2 and a discovered attack on his Queen. After Rfb8 and Qc2, Black played Qa4 followed by a3 for White which lead to an exchange of Queens at b3.



In this USCF expert's view, Black is down a pawn and struggling to draw. I am sure many Benko Gambit fans vehemently oppose this assertion. White happened to win this game which certainly is no refutation of Black's strategy.