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Monday, June 16, 2014

Defending against that Haymaker

I remember one of the faint criticisms of former world chess champion Gary Kasparov was that he packed one big punch which was usually enough to overwhelm even strong grandmasters.



At a lower level I was reminded of that one big punch in the following game played at ICC. Black has just played g5 threatening g4 which could dislodge the f3 knight which is preventing mate at h2. This sequence looks extremely dangerous for White, but there is hope if you remember Lasker's principle of justice in chess.

Black's c8 Bishop and a8 rook are impotently placed for action. The Black Monarch is still uncastled in the middle of the board.  White can take advantage of a standard fianchetto defensive maneuver by moving his rook to e1 creating an escape square at f1. Note how the g2 Bishop guards h1 preventing checkmate.

Also there is another defensive line where the White Queen can get to e5 guarding the h2 mating square. 

So repelling Black's haymaker refutes his lack of queenside development and justice is served.





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