A King’s Indian Sprint
Ognjen Cvitan. Photo: Šahovski klub Draga
Ognjen Cvitan (born 1961) is a Croatian Grandmaster most notable for winning the 1981 World Junior Championship .
Our featured position comes from a game played during the 1997-98 season of the German Bundesliga , one of the top team chess leagues in the world.
In a wild King’s Indian Defense , typical of the evergreen Mar del Plata Variation , Cvitan reaches the finish line ahead of the renowned Lubomir Ftacnik .
How did Cvitan (Black) kick off a memorable combination on his 23rd move?
r5k1/ppP2rbn/3P2n1/P3p2p/2N1Pp1q/2N2Ppb/4B1PP/R2Q1RBK b - - 0 23
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Cornered!
[Event "Bundesliga 9798"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "1997.10.19"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Ftacnik, Lubomir"]
[Black "Cvitan, Ognjen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2585"]
[BlackElo "2570"]
[Annotator "Harding,Andre"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "1997.10.18"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.01.31"]
[WhiteTeam "Hamburger SK"]
[BlackTeam "Zaehringen"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 {
This locks the center, and a race on the wings commences!} Ne7 9. Nd2 Ne8 10.
b4 f5 11. c5 Nf6 12. f3 f4 13. Nc4 g5 14. a4 Ng6 15. Ba3 Rf7 16. b5 dxc5 17.
Bxc5 h5 18. a5 g4 19. b6 g3 {Now things get critical. (1) White usually can’t
play h2-h3 in such situations, because Black will sacrifice his light-squared
bishop on h3 soon, if not immediately. (2) The sequence hxg3, fxg3 doesn’t
work because Black will move the Nf6 and then play …Qh4, mating. (3) Usually,
as chosen here, the first player opts for Kh1 followed by Bg1, hoping to stave
off mate while the queenside attack breaks through.} 20. Kh1 Nh7 {This knight
aims for the g5-square to give the attack more punch.} 21. d6 Qh4 22. Bg1 Bh3
$1 {Black can play this move almost without thinking in the KID if they have
the chance, whether a White pawn is there or not! Exchange off this bishop before it lands on h3 if you can, even for a rook.} 23. bxc7 $2 (23. gxh3 $1 Qxh3 24. Rf2 $1 {is the only way to stay in the game … easy to say in hindsight! Who can blame Ftacnik for missing the following combination?}) 23... Bxg2+ $1 {This would have been anticipated by White.} 24. Kxg2 Qh3+ $3 {But THIS move …} (24... Ng5 {is probably what Ftacnik expected, when he would respond with} 25. Rf2 $1 Qh3+ 26. Kh1 {and there is no mate. The rook doesn’t matter, because White is about to crash through on the queenside, winning a ton of material.} Nh4 27. Bf1 Qd7 28. Rb2 {and it’s all over.}) 25. Kxh3 (25. Kh1 g2#) 25... Ng5+ 26. Kg2 Nh4+ (26... Nh4+ 27. Kh1 g2#)
0-1
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