Attacking the King - types

Attacking the uncastled King

[Event "attack: uncastled king - rooks"]
[Site "attack: uncastled king - rook"]
[Date "1936.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wojciechowski"]
[Black "Weiss (Munich)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C15"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1936.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 f5 {[#] ?! The
only way to hang on to the pawn, but it would have been safer to let it go. 
(Black players do know this, but must have thought themselves capable of the
defence.)} 7. f3 exf3 8. Qxf3 Qh4+ (8... Qxd4 9. Qg3 Nf6 10. Qxg7 Qe5+ 11. Be2
Rg8 12. Qh6 Rg6 13. Qh4 Bd7 14. Bg5 Bc6 15. O-O-O Bxg2 16. Rhe1 Be4 17. Bh5
Nxh5 18. Rd8+ Kf7 19. Qxh5 Kg7 20. Nxe4 fxe4 21. Bh6+ Kf6 22. Rf8+ {1-0
Alekhine Alexander-Nimzowitsch Aaron/Bled 1931}) 9. g3 Qxd4 10. Be3 Qg4 11. Qg2
{[#] White must preserve the Q having sacrificed two pawns} Nf6 12. Be2 Qg6 13.
O-O-O Nc6 14. Nb5 Qf7 15. Bc5 a6 16. Bf3 Nd8 17. Qd2 Nd5 18. Bxd5 axb5 (18...
exd5 19. Rhe1+ Ne6 20. Qxd5 Qd7 21. Rxe6+ Qxe6 22. Nxc7+) 19. Rhe1 {[#]
White's major pieces are the main artillery in the attack against the
uncastled King} Bd7 20. g4 Nc6 21. gxf5 Qxf5 22. Bxe6 Bxe6 23. Qd7# 1-0


Attacking the castled King

Attacking with pieces

[Event "attack: based on more active c"]
[Site "attack: based on more active "]
[Date "1966.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hecht, HJ."]
[Black "Keene, R. (Brunnen)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "1966.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Bc4 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 7. Qe2 Nb6 8.
Bd3 h6 9. N5f3 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Ngf3 Nbd5 13. a3 a5 14. O-O b6
15. c4 Ne7 16. Rd1 Qe8 17. Bd2 a4 18. Bc3 {[#]} Nf5 19. g4 Nd6 20. g5 hxg5 21.
Nxg5 Bb7 22. Bc2 g6 23. Nd7 Qxd7 (23... Nxd7 {my poor computer couldn't figure
this out at all: neither could I! I think the right reply is} 24. Qh5) 24. Bxf6
Qc6 25. Rd5 exd5 26. Qh5 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Ne4+ 28. Nxe4 gxh5 29. Rg1+ Kh7 30.
Nc5+ 1-0


Attacking with the help of pawns

[Event "attack: pawn storm: both sides"]
[Site "attack: pawn storm: both side"]
[Date "1993.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "NN"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B70"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1993.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8.
Be3 a6 9. f4 {!?} Qc7 10. g4 e6 11. g5 Nfd7 12. f5 {[#] there are lots of
published short White wins in the Sicilian, but the longer games where Black
survives and/or wins the endgame are not so often published!} Ne5 13. f6 Bh8
14. Qe1 h6 15. Qh4 h5 16. Rad1 b5 17. Bxh5 b4 18. Nce2 gxh5 19. Qxh5 Nbc6 20.
Rf4 Nxd4 {!} 21. Nxd4 Ng6 22. Rf3 e5 {[#] provokes the final phase} 23. Nf5
Bxf5 24. exf5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 exf4 26. Rh3 Qc5+ 27. Kf1 Qc4+ 28. Rdd3 {1-0 (28)
Lambert,H-Puc,S Dubrovnik 1950} 1-0


Opposite-side castling

[Event "attack: pawn storm: opposite c"]
[Site "attack: pawn storm: opposite "]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Farre"]
[Black "Gudmundsson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B75"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1958.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2
a6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. Be2 O-O 12. h4 {[#] opposite-side castling and
asymmetric pawns/files usually adds up to a race to mate the opponent's King.
Both sides will throw pawns forward to open up lines for the attack.} Nxd4 13.
Bxd4 Qa5 14. Kb1 e5 {!} 15. Be3 Be6 16. a3 Rfd8 17. Bg5 Rd7 18. h5 Rdc7 19. h6
Rxc3 {!?} 20. hxg7 R8c6 21. Bxf6 Rb6 {[#] ! exciting stuff!} 22. Bb5 {!!} Rxb5
23. Qxd6 Rc8 24. Qf8+ Rxf8 25. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 26. Rxh7 1-0


Using weaknesses: sacrifices and pawn levers

[Event "Berlin"]
[Site "Logical Chess"]
[Date "1907.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "von Scheve"]
[Black "Teichmann"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C53"]
[Annotator "Chernev"]
[PlyCount "36"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O (5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4
Qxe4+) 5... d6 6. d4 Bb6 7. a4 a6 8.
a5 Ba7 9. h3 Nf6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 {The swaps have brought Black's Queen into the game, and the Bishops are distant but menacing} 12. Nd2 Bxh3 13. gxh3 Qg3+ 14. Kh1 Qxh3+ 15. Kg1 Ng4 16. Nf3 Qg3+ 17. Kh1 Bxf2 {and White resigned} 18. Rxf2 {gets mated } ({but}18. Bxf7+ {Saves the game for white; it's either perpetual or Bf4 and Bh5 defends}) 18... Nxf2# *


[Event "attack: a weakened K-side=chan"]
[Site "attack: a weakened K-side=cha"]
[Date "1928.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "liubarski"]
[Black "soultanbieff (liege) in CHERN"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C53"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "1928.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6 5. d4 Qe7 6. O-O Nf6 7. d5 Nb8 8. Bd3
d6 9. h3 {a weakening, defensive move (cf. sacrifices on h6)} h6 {[#] a strong
attacking move!} 10. Qe2 g5 11. Nh2 g4 {Black levers open the K-side} 12. hxg4
Rg8 13. Bxh6 Nxg4 14. Be3 (14. Nxg4 Bxg4 15. Qc2 Bf3 16. g3 Qh4) 14... Nxh2 15.
Kxh2 Qh4+ 16. Kg1 Qh3 (16... Qh3 {[#]} 17. g3 Rh8 {now 18. f3 Bxe3+ 19. Rf2
Qxg3#} 18. f3 Bxe3+ 19. Qxe3 Qh2#) 0-1


Using weaknesses

[Event "Simpler Chess (Cambridge Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1980.05.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Charity, A."]
[Black "Teichmann, EOMC."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B09"]
[Annotator "DR (Dragon 1980)"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1980.??.??"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O {[#] White plays a direct
attacking line against Black's hypermodern opening.} 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. e5 dxe5 8.
dxe5 Nd5 9. Bd2 Nb6 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Ng5 e6 {[#] (Wild cheering
from crowd, etc.)} 13. Nxh7 Kxh7 14. Qh5+ {(at this point Erik ceremoniously
tore up his score sheet)} Kg8 15. Qxg6+ Bg7 16. Qh7+ Kf7 17. Bg6+ Ke7 18. Qxg7+
Kd6 19. Ne4+ Kd5 20. Qc3 Qe7 21. Qb3+ Nc4 22. Qb5+ Kd4 23. Bc3+ {(Resigns)} (
23. Bc3+ Ke3 24. Rae1#) 1-0


Making weaknesses

[Event "attack: weakening Pawn shield"]
[Site "attack: weakening Pawn shield"]
[Date "1983.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ermenkov, E."]
[Black "Gruen, GP."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B03"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1983.??.??"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. f4 dxe5 5. fxe5 Nc6 6. c3 Bf5 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8.
Qxd3 e6 9. Nf3 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Nbd2 Nb8 12. Ne4 Nd7 13. Neg5 g6 {White's attacking move produced a pawn weakness} 14. Qe4 Kg7
15. c4 Nb4 16. Qh4 h5 17. Qf4 Qe8 18. Ne4 Rh8 19. Nfg5 Rf8 20. Nf6 Qd8 {
( and resigns)} 21. Nxe6+ fxe6 22. Qh6+ Kf7 23. Qh7# 1-0


Attack with a closed centre

The Very Slow King's-side Attack

[Event "attack: very slow K-side attac"]
[Site "attack: very slow K-side atta"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fischer, Robert J"]
[Black "Miagmarsuren, Lahmsuran(sousse)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A08"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Ngf3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. e5
Nd7 9. Re1 b5 10. Nf1 b4 11. h4 a5 12. Bf4 a4 {[#] White's attack is slow but
has an important target! Fischer's next move was considered an innovation at
the time, making a pawn move in the area of Black's attack, but actually it
slows Black up a bit.} 13. a3 (13. Kh1 a3 14. b3 c4) 13... bxa3 14. bxa3 Na5 (
14... Nd4 15. Ne3 Ba6 16. c4 dxc4 (16... Nb3 17. cxd5 Nxa1 18. Qxa1 exd5 19.
Nxd5 Bxd3 20. e6 Nf6 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Ne5 Bg6 23. Nc6 Qb7 24. Bd6) 17. Nxd4)
15. Ne3 Ba6 16. Bh3 d4 {[#] Obviously White must move the Knight, but where?
99% of players would choose g4...} 17. Nf1 {The d1-h5 diagonal is left clear
for the Queen.} (17. Ng4) 17... Nb6 18. Ng5 Nd5 {[#] With the centre closed
White has been quietly shifting over towards the lonely Black King, but he
does not want to lose the Bf4.} 19. Bd2 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Qd7 21. Qh5 Rfc8 22. Nd2
Nc3 {[#] Black is definitely getting somewhere with his attack, but White is
ready for the big push.} 23. Bf6 Qe8 (23... gxf6 24. exf6 Kh8 25. Bf5 exf5 26.
Re7 Qd8 27. Rxf7 Qg8 28. Rg7 Qxg7 29. fxg7+ Kxg7 30. Re1 (30. Nf3)) 24. Ne4 g6
25. Qg5 Nxe4 26. Rxe4 {[#] Black's attack has ground to a halt, while White
powers on.} c4 27. h5 cxd3 28. Rh4 Ra7 29. Bg2 {An unobvious move, preparing
to go to e4.} dxc2 30. Qh6 Qf8 31. Qxh7+ (31. Qxh7+ Kxh7 32. hxg6+ Kxg6 33.
Be4#) 1-0


[Event "attack: very slow K-side attac"]
[Site "attack: very slow K-side atta"]
[Date "1886.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Steinitz Wilhelm"]
[Black "Zukertort Johannes (WCh, New Y"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1886.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {a modest move but not without point} d6
5. c3 g6 6. d4 Bd7 7. Nbd2 Bg7 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 {keeping the e5 point
closed} dxe5 10. Qe2 O-O 11. f3 a5 {[#] to discourage O-O-O, but costs time
and a square or two.} 12. Bd3 Qe7 13. Nf1 Be6 14. g4 Rfd8 15. h4 Qd7 $5 (15...
h5) 16. Bc2 h5 17. g5 Ne8 18. Ne3 Qc6 {[#]} 19. c4 {White sees no prospect of
an immediate King's-side breakthrough but still subordinates his development
to other strategical goals.} Nd6 20. Bd3 Rab8 21. Nd5 Bxd5 $6 22. cxd5 Qd7 23.
Bd2 Ra8 24. Rc1 c6 {[#]} 25. Rc5 $1 cxd5 26. Rxd5 Qa4 27. a3 b6 28. Bc3 Qe8 29.
Qf2 Nc8 30. Bb5 Qe7 31. Rxd8+ Qxd8 {[#] With his strategical goals realised 
(two Bishops and a bind on each wing), White takes the time to castle!} 32. O-O
Na7 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Bd5 Rc8 35. f4 Qd7 36. f5 Ne7 37. Ba2 gxf5 38. exf5 Bf8 39.
Qf3 e4 40. Qxh5 {[#] and the King's-side attack at last succeeds} (40. Qxh5 Ng6
(40... Rxc3 41. Bxf7+ Kg7 42. f6#) 41. Qxg6+ Bg7 42. Qxg7#) 1-0


The King Hunt

[Event "attack: king hunt"]
[Site "attack: king hunt"]
[Date "1910.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "lasker, ed"]
[Black "thomas, g (london)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A80"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1910.??.??"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4 fxe4 7. Nxe4 b6 8.
Bd3 Bb7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Qh5 Qe7 {[#] the idea is easy to think up but hard to
play!} 11. Qxh7+ Kxh7 12. Nxf6+ Kh6 13. Neg4+ Kg5 14. h4+ Kf4 15. g3+ Kf3 16.
Be2+ Kg2 17. Rh2+ Kg1 18. Kd2# 1-0


[Event "attack: king hunt"]
[Site "attack: king hunt"]
[Date "1953.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Averbakh, y"]
[Black "Kotov, a (SWZ izt)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A55"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "1953.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Nbd7 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2
Re8 9. Rd1 Bf8 10. Rb1 a5 11. d5 Nc5 12. Be3 Qc7 13. h3 Bd7 14. Rbc1 g6 15. Nd2
Rab8 16. Nb3 Nxb3 17. Qxb3 c5 18. Kh2 Kh8 19. Qc2 Ng8 20. Bg4 Nh6 21. Bxd7 Qxd7
22. Qd2 Ng8 23. g4 f5 24. f3 Be7 25. Rg1 Rf8 26. Rcf1 Rf7 27. gxf5 gxf5 28. Rg2
f4 29. Bf2 Rf6 30. Ne2 {[#] and then the move that made Kotov's reputation...}
Qxh3+ 31. Kxh3 Rh6+ 32. Kg4 Nf6+ 33. Kf5 Nd7 34. Rg5 Rf8+ 35. Kg4 Nf6+ 36. Kf5
Ng8+ 37. Kg4 Nf6+ 38. Kf5 Nxd5+ 39. Kg4 Nf6+ 40. Kf5 Ng8+ 41. Kg4 Nf6+ 42. Kf5
Ng8+ 43. Kg4 Bxg5 44. Kxg5 Rf7 45. Bh4 Rg6+ 46. Kh5 Rfg7 47. Bg5 Rxg5+ 48. Kh4
Nf6 49. Ng3 Rxg3 50. Qxd6 R3g6 51. Qb8+ Rg8 0-1