CHESS

Leonid Kubbel (1891-1942) was one of the world's most prolific chess artists. The Russian composer produced more than 1,500 problems and endgame studies. Many of his masterpieces are known for their elegance, rich content and extraordinary beauty. He began to create the following study (White: Kh7,Rc5,Ne4,P:a2,d3,e5; Black: Kf8,Qa8,P:a7,d7,e7) in 1916 and finished it in 1921. Can you find how white wins? (Solution next week.)

Bobby Fischer to St. Louis

Rex Sinquefield, the sponsor of the 2009 U.S. championship and the founder of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, purchased Bobby Fischer's chess collection last Thursday in New York. Sinquefield and his wife paid $50,000 plus an $11,000 commission to the San Francisco-based auction house Bonhams and Butterfields. The collection includes hundreds of chess books and periodicals, galley proofs of Fischer's best book, "My 60 Memorable Games," and other personal items. It is encouraging that Fischer's possessions found a good home and eventually could be displayed to the public.

I am sure that more of Fischer's memorabilia is floating around the globe. For example, I have letters Bobby wrote to me in the 1970s and several books he signed for me. There is a tape of an interview we made together in Reykjavik in 1972; it was the first radio interview after he became the world champion. I still remember how he operated the tape recorder, making sure that everything he said was chronicled. And there is a rare drawing of Fischer made by a young German artist during the 1967 Interzonal tournament in Sousse, Tunisia. Bobby, who at that time complained about photographers in the tournament hall, did not object to having his portrait made and even signed it.

Karpov in Siberia

In 2000, the small Siberian town of Poikovsky decided to honor the former world champion Anatoly Karpov and began a strong, annual international tournament in his name. The 10th edition of this all-grandmaster event finished last week with the brilliant victory of Alexander Motylev of Russia. He scored a remarkable seven points in nine games, a full point ahead of Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan. Emil Sutovsky of Israel and Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia were the other players finishing above 50 percent.

On the other side of the tournament spectrum landed the world's most creative grandmaster, Alexei Shirov of Spain. His last place, with four draws, five losses and no win, was his worst tournament result. Last month, at the elite fifth M-Tel grandmaster tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, Shirov reached for the sky and grabbed first place ahead of such world-class players as Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. In Poikovsky, Shirov lost the first four games. His misfortune began in the first round, when he outplayed Motylev in the Four Knights opening, but Shirov let his guard down and blundered. Motylev created a splendid final combination.

Motylev - Shirov

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4!? (Shirov always liked the Rubinstein line against the Four Knights game.) 5.Bc4 d6 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Nd5 Nd7 (The more aggressive 7...Ng4 8.d3 c6 9.Nf4 Qh4 was played last year in the Poikovsky event in the game Rublevsky-Bologan. It ended in a draw.) 8.0-0 g6 9.c3 Bg7 10.cxd4 Bxd4 11.d3 (A bit slow. In the game Ivanchuk-Gelfand, Nice 2008, white tried to build a pawn center immediately with 11.Nc3 c6 12.Ne2 Bg7 13.d4 0-0 14.Bb3 Nf6 15.f3, holding a small edge.) 11...c6 12.Ne3 (An awkward retreat, hoping for a kingside break. But Shirov stays alert.) 12...0-0 13.Kh1 Nc5 14.f4 d5! (A strong central counter-jab, giving black better chances.) 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Bb3 (Black loses after either 16.Nxd5 b5 17.Bb3 Nxb3 18.Qxb3 Be6; or after 16.Bxd5 Bxe3.) 16...Re8 17.Qf3 Nxd3? (With just one unfortunate move, Shirov throws his previous hard work away. With a pawn sacrifice 17...Nxb3 18.axb3 f5!, white's aggression is stopped, and black takes the game over.)

18.f5! (Suddenly, in the nick of time, Shirov is facing an onslaught.) 18...Kh8?! (Black should have played first 18...Nxc1 19.fxg6 fxg6 20.Raxc1 and only now 20...Kh8, for example 21.Nxd5 Bf5 with a good game. But not 20...Bxe3? 21.Qf7+ Kh8 22.Rc7 and white wins.) 19.fxg6 fxg6 (After 19...hxg6? 20.Qxf7! Bxe3 21.Bxe3 Rxe3 22.Qxg6, threatening 23.Rf7 or 23.Qh6+, white wins.) 20.Qd1! Bxe3 21.Qxd3 d4? (A losing blunder, although the refutation is astonishing. Motylev was getting some advantage anyway, either after 21...Bxc1 22.Qd4+ Kg8 23.Raxc1 Qb6!? 24.Qxd5+ Be6 25.Qd7!; or after 21...Qe7 22.Bxe3 Qxe3 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.Rf8+ Kg7 25.Rd8!) 22.Bxe3 Rxe3 (On 22...dxe3 23.Qc3+ white mates soon.) 23.Rf8+!! (A shocking sacrifice, winning material. White dominates on two diagonals. After 23...Qxf8 24.Qxd4+ Qg7 25.Qd8+ wins.) 23...Kg7 24.Rg8+ (After 24...Kh6 25.Qxe3+ dxe3 26.Rxd8 white wins.) Black resigned.

The American grandmaster Alexander Onischuk has played in all 10 Karpov tournaments, winning in 2002. This year, he scored 50 percent after a slow start. Against Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, Onischuk fell under a vicious attack in the Spanish opening. His opponent finished the game, sacrificing two exchanges.

Naiditsch - Onischuk

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 (Onischuk, who in the past preferred 5...Bc5, tries to find comfort in the Delayed Steinitz variation.) 5...d6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 c5 9.Nc6!? (Against all logical rules, the knight begins a journey to the edge of the board. It was played by Max Euwe against Henry Grob in a match in Zurich in 1947, but the former world champion later thought that Capablanca's 9.Nf3 was stronger.) 9...Qd7 10.Na5 (The extraordinary knight maneuver, disrupting black's development, was later adopted by the Ukrainian theoretician Isaac Lipnitsky. The knight prevents black's light bishop from ending on the long diagonal h1-a8. Black also has a tough time on the kingside, for example 10...g6 is met by 11.e5.) 10...Qb5 (A sharp move. Grob chose 10...Be7 11.Nc3 c6.)

11.Bd2! (The pawn sacrifice is Lipnitsky's discovery, but the pawn can't be taken. After 11...Qxb2? 12.Nc3! Qb6 13.Rb1! Qxa5 14.Nd5 white wins.) 11...Bg4 12.f3 Be6 13.c4! (An improvement on the game Lipnitsky-Polak, Kiev 1955, where white had the edge after 13.b3 Be7 14.a4 Qd7 15.Nc3 0-0 16.f4!) 13...Qb6 (After 13...Bxc4? 14.Na3 white wins, but snatching the other pawn 13...Qxb2 is dangerous for black after 14.Nc3 Qb8 15.Nd5! Nd7 16.Qa4 with white's advantage.) 14.Bc3 (The bishop sits well on the long diagonal, but the natural development of the knight 14.Nc3!? is even stronger, for example 14...c6 [14...Qxa5? loses to 15.Nd5!] 15.Qa4 Bd7 16.Rae1 Be7 17.e5! breaking through.) 14...Be7 15.Nd2 0-0 16.f4 Ng4? (A jet-lag move that could have been countered with the simple 17.Qe2 and the black knight has to go back. But Naiditsch finds a more powerful continuation, sacrificing an exchange for a mating attack.)

17.f5! Ne3 18.Qh5 Nxf1 (After 18...Bf6 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Rf3 Rfe8 21.Qh6 white wins.) 19.Rxf1 Bd7 20.f6! (A decisive thrust.) 20...Bxf6 (White mates after 20...gxf6 21.Rf3 Kh8 22.Rxf6!) 21.Rxf6! (Off goes another exchange! White's dark bishop supplies more energy to the mating attack, for example 21...gxf6 22.Bxf6 Rfc8 23.Qh6 and white mates.) 21...Rae8 22.Qg5 Re7 23.Re6! (A pretty finish! After 23...fxe6 24.Qxe7 Rf7 25.Qd8+ Rf8 26.Qxd7 wins; and after 23...f6 24.Rxe7 fxg5 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Rxg5+ Rf6 27.Bxf6 white mates.) Black resigned.

Solution to Last Week's Puzzle

June 8: White mates in four moves by Ernest Pogosyants (White: Kf2,P:a6; Black: Kh1,P:f6): 1.a7 Kh2 2.a8R! Kh3 3.Ra4 f5 4.Rf4 Kh2 5.Rh4 mate. The tempting 2.a8Q Kh3 3.Qa4 f5 4.Qf4? leads to a stalemate. Correction: The correct task is White mates in five moves. Thanks "chessed" for pointing it out.