Going for Broke

John Henderson • Nov 10, 2022

The mercurial Bobby Fischer, although admitting that he did like to break a player’s ego, once said that he did not believe in psychology, instead preferring good moves. But chess is above all a battle, and often a player’s spirit can be crushed by a timely psychological blow; even more so when the psychological blow comes in a matchplay scenario.


The most famous recent example came in December 2021, with Magnus Carlsen winning the longest game ever in World Championship history, and a sore loss that his challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi, just never recovered from. Nepo was portrayed by the global media as being a broken man after the psychological blow of losing that fateful game six that lasted 136 move game and over nearly eight hours of intense play.

And that, in a nutshell – though on a lesser scale and timeframe – is basically what happened with Wesley So’s victory in the first-ever Chess.com Global Chess Championship, as he easily dominated his opponent, Nihal Sarin, to take the inaugural title and $200,000 first prize. So won the opening game of the scheduled two-day, eight-game match, and that win set the tone for the rest of the final.


And perhaps sensing his opponent’s insecurity by losing the opening game, things got just that little bit more ‘interesting’ in game 3, as So went for a speculative early exchange sacrifice that led to lots of complications for the 18-year-old Indian prodigy. Sarin weathered the early storm and looked for a fleeting moment to be on the cusp of winning to tie the match — but after allowing his big material and positional advantage to slip through his fingers, Sarin just couldn’t accept that he was no longer winning the game, and suffered a further psychological blow of, somehow managing to alchemising over the space of just a few moves first the win, a draw, and then a loss.

Yet despite the organiser’s putting a brave spin on the fact that it was a two-day match that consisted of eight games, and that he Indian teenager was known for making comebacks, Sarin just looked forlornly like a broken man after he failed to convert that fateful game 3.



And come the second day, it took So just two almost effortless games to wrap up the biggest financial win of his career, as Sarin was unable to land a blow.

GM Wesley So – GM Nihal Sarin
CGC KO Final (1.3)
Pirc Defence, 150 Attack
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 This is the standard position of the so-called “150 Attack”. In the 1980s, a new generation of English players – notably GM Michael Adams – began to experiment with this sharp line against the Pirc. The main idea being Be3, Qd2, Bh6, advance the h-pawn and then deliver mate. Naturally, this seemed too good to be true, and it was quickly dubbed the 150 Attack (a quirk of the English grading system, with 150 equating to an 1800 Elo), since it seemed that only a club player would use such a blatant caveman attacking system and expect the game to finish in checkmate. Over the years, there have been various refinements to the 150 Attack, mainly whether to play an early f2-f3 or h2-h3 and Nf3. 4…a6 5.Qd2 Nd7 6.h4 Here comes Harry! 6…h6 7.0-0-0 b5 8.f3 Bb7 9.a3 Rc8 10.Kb1 c5 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Nge2 Nd7 13.Nd5 Ngf6 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.h5! Ripping open the h-file early-doors is often seen in the 150 Attack – but the big key to winning is the follow-up. 15…Nxh5 16.Rxh5!?! This is a very puzzling sacrifice in many ways from So, though a thematic one in such positions that does enough to bamboozle Sarin into eating up valuable time on his clock. The engine doesn’t rate it, but when it comes down to the psychology of the game, the exchange sacrifice does the job as it is just not that easy for Sarin to co-ordinate things. The safer option was 16.g4 forcing 16…Nf6 17.Bxh6 Nd7 18.Nd4 Be5 with a complex struggle ahead for both sides – but where’s the fun in that? 16…gxh5 17.Ng3 Rg8 A more spirited way to continue was with 17…h4! 18.Nh5 Rg8 19.Nxg7+ Rxg7 20.Bxh6 Rg8 21.Qf2 h3 22.gxh3 Rc5! 23.h4 Qc8 and Black’s rooks here are very active. 18.Nxh5 Bh8 19.g4 Qc7 20.c3 Rd8 Admittedly it is easier to play White here than the Black side – and when h6 does fall, Sarin needs to quickly organise a way to break his pieces out from the bind, otherwise he’ll just get overwhelmed. 21.Bd4 e5 Not an easy move to have to play, as it looks like it is locking the dark-squared bishop in on h8 – but the alternative 21…Bxd4 22.cxd4 Qb6 23.d5! is just going to lock the light-squared bishop out of the action and White will soon pick-off that h6-pawn for a likely winning-advantage. 22.Bf2 d5! Sarin has to strive to open the game up, otherwise So will just pick off the weak h6-pawn and take control. 23.Bh4 Rd7 24.Qxh6 It looks scary for Black, but Sarin seems to have it all under control… but it takes just one slip for disaster to lurk. 24…dxe4 25.Rxd7 Qxd7 26.Nf6+ Bxf6 27.Qxf6 exf3 And with that, everyone and their dog just accepted that Sarin was easily winning…but what chess can be a cruel game! 28.Kc1 Qc7 Nothing wrong with Sarin’s move per se, but killing was 28…e4! as there’s no answer to pushing on with …e3 and …e2 etc. 29.a4 Bc6 Sarin is now being uber-cautious here, and this just gives So hope of finding some tricks. 30.Bg3 Rg6 Best now was the little messy option of 30…bxa4 31.Bxe5 Qd7 32.Bc4 Bd5 33.Bxa6 Rg6 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qh4+ f6 36.Qh7+ Bf7! and Black has everything covered and his pieces working together as a unit ,and should go on to easily win. 31.Qh8+ Ke7 32.Bd3 f2? The one slip that So was looking for, and suddenly he’s back in the game again. The only winning try for Black was 32…Rf6 33.Bh4 Qd6! 34.g5 Rf4! 35.g6+ Rxh4 36.Qxh4+ Qf6 37.Qb4+ Ke8 38.Kd2 fxg6 and the three connected passed kingside pawns should lead Black to victory. 33.Bh4+ Kd6 34.Bxf2 What a reversal of fortunes for Sarin! He’s lost his game-winning f-pawn and now his king is left wandering dazed and confused in no-man’s land. 34…Re6 The rook has to stay on the third rank, as grabbing the g4-pawn with 34…Rxg4?? leads to instant disaster after 35.Qf6+ Kd5 36.Qf3+ e4 37.c4+!! bxc4 38.Qf5+ Qe5 (If 38…Kd6 39.Bc5#) 39.Bxc4+ Kd6 40.Qxg4 with an extra piece and a winning advantage. And note also that 34…e4?? loses on the spot to 35.Bg3+ etc. 35.Qf8+ Qe7 36.Qb8+ Qc7 37.Qf8+ Re7? Admitting that you no longer have a win is one of the toughest things to do in chess – and here, Sarin really had to bite the bullet and accept the draw by repetition with 37…Qe7 38.Qb8+ Qc7 39.Qf8+ etc. 38.Bf5 It’s hard to be critical of the players in view of the mutual time-scramble – and not to mention whilst sitting in a comfortable armchair in front of an engine kibitzing all the winning lines to your scribe! – as it calmly points out the star move of 38.b4! is a clever computer fantasy looking to snare the Black king into a mating net, with the only escape being 38…Kd5 39.Qh6 Bb7 40.Bc5 Qd7 41.axb5 axb5 42.Qf6 Re6 43.Qf1! and the noose tightens, forcing 43…Ba6 (If 43…Bc6 44.c4+ bxc4 45.Bxc4+ Ke4 46.Qf5#) 44.Qg2+ e4 45.Qa2+! Ke5 46.Bd4+ Kd6 47.Qxa6+ Ke7 48.Bc5+ Kf6 49.Bxb5! winning. 38…bxa4 39.Qh6+ Kd5?? Sarin walks right into the minefield! The only way to survive was with 39…Re6! 40.Bxe6 fxe6 41.Qf8+ Kd7 42.Qf7+ Kc8 43.Qxe6+ Kb7 44.g5 Qg7 and the opposite-coloured bishops should see a draw. 40.Qd2+ Kc4 41.Qd3+ Kb3 42.c4+ Kb4 43.Qc3# 1-0

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • 02 Oct, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • 29 Sep, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • 27 Sep, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • 25 Sep, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • 22 Sep, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • 19 Sep, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • 14 Sep, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • 11 Sep, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • 08 Sep, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • 04 Sep, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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