ROOK.....Rook.....rook.....! Karpov - Hou Yifan, Harbin 2018

"Strictly speaking, the life of Chess armies consists in the art of switching from one position to another" - David Bronstein



Mulla Nasrudin went to see a psychiatrist.
He said: "My trouble is that I can't remember anything, Doctor"
"When did this start?" asked the Doctor
"When did what start?" said Nasrudin

When did what start!  Though this is part of the joke.....it hides great depths.....!

Learning is such!  The truth is we don't learn anything.....anything new at all!!
We learn to unlearn......forget......relearn.....forget.....

......do we learn anything at all....!?

....'knowledge' is a form of delusion.....


When The Buddha attained enlightenment, people came to him and asked, "What did you attain?"
The Buddha said, "The question is meaningless, I attained nothing."
"Does that mean your labour, all these years, was in vain? Your years of penance, years of seeking, did they not yield any result?", they asked.
The Buddha replied, "If  you ask me in terms of attainment - my efforts have certainly been in vain, because I attained nothing! I did not achieve anything, of course. 
But I lost something for certain! I lost something that was not really there......something I had believed to be there.

 What I found was something I always have had, which was already found, something which did not have to be found. But being surrounded by lies, I had assumed that to be nonexistent...
...that's what I found"


Are we not taught to contest the open file with our Rooks!?  Are we not taught to give more air to our pieces......especially the long range ones......

Yet, on how many occasions we find ......

Came across this beautiful game.......which happened a few weeks back......


Anatoly Karpov - Hou Yifan, - Harbin, 2018


1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bf6 Qf6 7.Qb3 c5 8.cd5 ed5 9.a3 Bc3 10.Qc3 b6 11.e3 OO 


12.Be2!? 

In the past, White had played 12.dc5 right away with good result.

Perhaps, it may just be better that way....and after the Queen exchange on c3, continue with long castle and play on Black's weakness on the Queens wing.  The long castle enables the King to play its mite in controlling some vital squares on the b-file in particular.

12......Nc6 13.dc5 Qc3 14.bc3 bc5 15.Rb1 Rd8?


The Rook move is not a mistake.....but why at all?  And why not 15.....Rb8!? to contest the b-file.....

Well, perhaps....Hou Yifan did not expect the great old warhorse to do what he did know the most!

But do we not know that.....Class is permanent!





16.Rb5! c4 17.OO Ba6 18.Rc5! Ne7

This gives entry for the Knight to his permanent abode on d4!  But Black cannot deny that in any case.... 18.....Rac8 19.Rd1 Ne7 20.Ra5! etc

19.Nd4 Rac8 20.Ra5 Rd6 21.Rb1 Ra8

The a7 pawn was in danger!

22.Bf3!

"The greatest advantage in Chess is to have the next move" said Bronstein. In effect, what he means is that the moves should flow effortlessly.....not needed to be arrived at through hard labour!

The moves that Karpov played in this game.....begged to be played.....as if the pieces decided where to go!

Now the c4 pawn comes under the firing line.



22.....Kf8 23.Rb4! Bc8

Hou Yifan tries to get some action and fightback....it was a choice between a or c pawn......

24.Rc4 Bg4 25.Rc7 Bf3 26.gf3 a6 27.Ra4!

The Rook intends to reach b7

27......Rc8 28.Rc8 Nc8 




29.Ra5!!

Karpov makes his Rook dance! This move is to keep an eye on 'a6' and 'd5'

29......g6 30.f4 Ke7 31.h4! Kd7 32.Kg2 Ne7 33.Ra4!

After tying down Black pieces to the defence of the Queenside weakness and use the time to gain space on the other wing, the Rook turns back to attack new areas!

"......the life of Chess armies consists in the art of switching from one position to another"

33......Ng8 34.c4! 

So as to secure the e4 square!

34......dc4 35.Rc4 




This great Rook travelled a lot!

35.....Nf6 36.Kf3 Rb6 37.f5 h5 38.fg6 fg6 


39.Rc2!!

The move which frees the White King from the duty of defending f2 and to advance.

The Rook move reminds me of Anand's Ra2!! against Caruana in Tata Steel 2018!



Both the Rook moves are meant to deny any active role for opponent Rook in the second rank!

Rest is matter of routine technique......as the cliche goes.....!

39.....Ng4 40.Kf4 Rb1 41.f3 Nf6 42.e4 Rd1 43.Rc4 Ke7 44.Nc6! Ke6 45.Ne5 

One by one the ripe Black pawns fall into the hands of White pieces.

45......Rg1 46.Rc6 Ke7 47.Ra6 Rg2 48.a4 Rh2 49.Ng6 Kf7 50.Kf5 Ne8 51.Ra7 Kg8 52.e5 Rg2 53.Ra8 Resigns 


Yet another positional masterpiece by the great Karpov!






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