[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The superfluous piece, tactics edition

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The superfluous piece, tactics edition
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1222415492.shtml


   When many of hear or read the phrase "the superfluous piece" -
   especially "the superfluous knight", we think about über-trainers
   Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov and their discussion of positions
   like this:
   [superfluousknight.jpg]
   This position is from the game Zukertort-Blackburne, London 1883.
   Zukertort went on to win in spectacular fashion, but his decision to
   play 13.f3 here was a small inaccuracy. The point here is that Black's
   knights are doing the job of one, as they are competing for the same
   squares rather than complementing each other. One knight is thus
   superfluous. White's best move, therefore, as Yusupov points out in
   Secrets of Chess Training (p. 68), was the paradoxical 13.Nb1!, avoid
   the exchange and threatening f3 followed by Nc3 and a well-timed e4.
   That's the sort of "superfluous piece" we're more familiar with, but
   there are other ways in which a piece can be just so much excess
   baggage. In the latest issue of New in Chess Magazine (2008/6),
   Grandmaster of endgame composition Oleg Pervakov has a wonderful
   article entitled "Superfluous pieces and how to jettison them (Part
   1)." He starts the article with some real-game examples to illustrate
   the concept, but I think it will be best for our purposes to start
   with the first (and easiest) study he provides:
   [d_gurgenidze_1988.jpg]
   D. Gurgenidze 1988
   White to play and win.
   (You may wish to try to solve this on your own; when you're ready to
   read on, click below.)

   ([1]show)

   The first move, as is often the case in studies, is pretty obvious:
   1.f8Q. Likewise, Black's rejoinder is equally obvious: 1...Nf7+. Now
   if White doesn't take the knight, Black will just seesaw to and fro
   from f7 to h6 and back again, so let's continue: 2.Qxf7+ Kxf7 3.b6.
   Black can't prevent White from queening, but he has another defensive
   resource: 3...Nd5 4.b7 Ne7 5.b8Q Ng6+ 6.Kh7 Nf8+ 7.Kh8 Ng6+, with
   perpetual.
   What's the problem? The rotten, superfluous h-pawn! If that weren't
   there, White could have played 7.Kh6 with an easy win. Once we notice
   that, it takes but a very small imaginative leap to realize the
   solution: 2.Kg8! Nxh6+ 3.Kh8! (Not 3.Qxh6+? Kxh6 4.b6 Nd5 5.b7 Ne7+
   (oops, check!) and 6...Nc6.) 3...Nf7+ and only now 4.Qxf7+ Kxf7 5.b6
   Nd5 6.b7 Ne7 7.b8Q Ng6+ 8.Kh7 Nf8+ 9.Kh6 and wins.
   As we saw, the h-pawn was not only unnecessary, it was a positive
   hindrance to White's winning plan. And now, let's see an example of
   jettisoning a superfluous piece from an actual game:
   [vajda_georgiev_2008_1.jpg]
   (Once again, we'll continue this below the fold. See if you can work
   it out, and if you need to, of course, use the "superfluous piece"
   theme as a hint. Ready? Got it? Click click click!)
   ([2]show)
   Ok, there are two moves that should spring to mind here: 16.Bg5 and
   16.Nf6+. The obvious value of the first move is that swapping
   dark-squared bishops would highlight and increase Black's problems on
   the dark squares; the drawback is simply 16...Bxe4. On the other hand,
   16.Nf6+ looks wonderful, but after 16...Bxf6 17.exf6+ Be6, Black is
   going to castle next move, and once he does White's attacking
   aspirations come to an abrupt end.
   But let's take a closer look. After 16.Bg5 Bxe4, White can play
   17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Qh4+ and recapture on e4 with the rook, with a
   terrific position. Black could try to be clever with 18...g5!?, the
   point being that 19.Rxe4?? is now impossible, 19.Qxe4 is a queen trade
   and 19.Qxg5+ lets the bishop on e4 live. Yet the matter isn't closed -
   White's attack lives on. After 19.Qxg5+! Kf8 20.Rad1 Qc4 21.Rd8+ Rxd8
   22.Qxd8+ Kg7 23.Qf6+ Kg8 24.Rd1 Bd5 25.Rd3 (Golubev in Chess Today)
   White wins!
   So going back to 16.Bg5, we should next consider 16...Bxg5. Now
   17.Nxg5 allows queenside castling, while 17.Qxg5 prevents castling
   (for a move) but allows 17...Bxe4. There is a third option, however,
   and here we tie back in to the 16.Nf6+ line and the theme of this
   post. After 16.Bg5! Bxg5 White plays - and played - the fantastic
   17.Nf6+!! After 17...Bxf6 18.exf6+ Be6 White now has 19.Rad1.
   [vajda_georgiev_2008_2.jpg]
   When White's bishop was on c1, such a move was impossible, but now it
   works. Black is up a piece, but despite this White's attack is too
   strong. White wants to continue 19.Qg7 Rf8 20.Rxe6+ (when the Black
   queen can't recapture) 20...fxe6 21.Qe7#. The remaining moves are
   easily understood: White wants to make that happen, and Black tries
   desperately to prevent it, and it's a battle White wins. The game
   concluded as follows: 19...Qf5 20.Qg7 Rf8 21.h3 (threatening to kick
   the queen away from the defense of the Be6 with g4) 21...h5 22.Rd4
   (same idea) 22...h4 23.f4 (new threat [24.Re5] with the same idea)
   23...c5 24.Rdd1 (Black is out of defensive tricks, and gives up the
   queen) 24...c4 25.Re5 Qxe5 26.fxe5 c3 27.bxc3 Bxa2 28.Qh6 Be6 29.Qd2
   Rh8 30.Qd4 b6 31.Qb4 c5 32.Qxb6 1-0.
   A beautiful conception by Levente Vajda, accurately calculated, and
   made all the more impressive by coming against a player as strong as
   Kiril Georgiev. More importantly for us, it's a remarkable practical
   illustration of the theme "jettisoning the superfluous piece". So add
   this idea to your bag of tactical tricks, and if you're able to put
   the idea into practice, please let me know.
   ([3]hide)
   ([4]hide)

References

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