Giving is not always selfless or proof of a good heart. In chess, it can be born of malice and evil intent.
Such is the evil that lurked in Dutchman Jan Timman’s heart in 1979, when, in this week’s position, he offered a gift as Black that doomed his opponent.
With this hint in mind, please try to find Black’s winning move.
White’s knight and e3 pawn keep Black’s king off the fourth rank. The Black king is much closer to the pawns and looks to circle around the pawns to e2 and gobble up White’s pawns. The knight and pawn stop the Black king from moving to the d4 and c4 squares and crossing White’s invisible fence.
The more immediate issue for Black is that the bishop is under attack by White’s king. The bishop has many safe squares it can move to. And giving the bishop away on a6 benefits nothing for Black.
However, Timman saw that sliding his bishop across the board to f1 and putting the bishop in reach of the knight’s back legs was like a Trojan horse. White cannot let the bishop escape capture. Otherwise, the bishop takes White’s h3 pawn and Black’s h5 pawn queens quickly, and White will soon be stomped to death.
On the other hand, taking the bishop with the knight lures the knight away from its defensive post. Black’s king penetrates the position on c4, and inevitably one of Black’s pawns queens long before White could promote (see next diagram).
White’s knight cannot thwart the Black king’s path to f2 and so on.
The lesson this week is that giving is not always nice.
Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.
