Double Fianchetto Domination - GM Damian Lemos

Question 1.

White has an extra pawn but

has problems developing.

Find Black’s threat and choose

the best defense.

Question 2.

White controls the center and

queenside. How can he
increase his advantage?

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Question 3.

White has a weak pawn on a3

and Black has one on c6.
Which is weaker and how
should White continue?

Question 4.

White to play. What is the

thematic plan in this position?

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Question 5.

White to play and win

material.

Question 6.

What is White’s plan in this

position? What move should
he play next?

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Question 7.

How can White make full use

of the only open file?

Question 8.

Black has just played

21…Nxc5!? trying to confuse
us.
What is the correct response?

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Question 9.

Black has just played

28…Qb7. What is wrong with
this move?

Question 10.

White has an extra pawn but

cannot bring his King to help.

How does White win?

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Question 11.

Evaluate this typical position

and find the correct maneuver
for White.

Question 12.

Black has advanced his g-

pawn. How should White
continue?

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Question 13.

How can White create a

strong attack?

Question 14.

White to play.

The f6 Bishop is the best

defender of the castled King.
Can you find a way to remove
it to ensure a powerful attack?

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Question 15.

An important thematic
position. Black has offered the
exchange of dark-squared
Bishops.
What should White do?

Question 16.

The Black Queen is in deep

trouble. Find a way to take
advantage.

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Question 17.

What is the standard

maneuver for White to
improve his position on the
Kingside?

Question 18.

White has many pieces close

to or pointing at the Kingside.
How can you use this to
create an attack?

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Question 19.

What should White play here?

Question 20.

Black has good activity and

White must play very
accurately to avoid being
worse.

What did the great Kasparov

play as White here?

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Question 21.

Black just played 9…Qd7.

What is Black’s idea and how
should White respond?

Question 22.

Black’s pieces are

uncoordinated and White can
use this to win material.
How?

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Question 23.

White has a great positional

advantage but Black is very
close to exchanging Rooks
and achieving equality.

How can White win?

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 Solutions

1 The Black threatens both ...Nb4 and ...Nd4, so the best way to avoid
problems is to get rid of the Knight with 12.Bxc6!, which also weakens
Black’s pawn structure.

2 19.c5 creates serious problems for Black. It threatens to create an

isolated pawn at d6 and, if Black takes on c5, we can recapture with the
Knight, attacking the Bishop on d7 and putting pressure on the b7 and
a6 pawns.

3 The fine positional move 27.Qc1!! shows that a3 is well-defended,

which cannot be said about c6. This is clearer after the game
continuation 27…Ne8 28.e5! Qd7 29.exf6+ Nxf6 30.Rc5! Qd6 31.Rdc3
tripling heavy pieces on the c-file, after which the c6 pawn is lost.

4 White must use the strength of the g2 Bishop to increase pressure on

the Queenside with 12.b4, intending 13.b5.

5 21.Cxd5!! wins a pawn for White after 21…Nxd5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.dxe4
Nf6 24.e5. Therefore, in the game, Black tried 22…Nxe3, but after
23.fxe3 Nxg7 dxe4 White still won material.

6 White plans to play Nc4 to put pressure on the weak e5 pawn and d6
square. However, this move isn’t possible because the e4 pawn falls so
the correct move is 11.Re1.

7 19.Rd6! takes control of the outpost on the open file and prepares to
double Rooks.

8 With 22.Rxf6! Bxf6 23.Qxc5 and White wins material. Neither 22.bxc5?
Qxa5 or 22.Qxc5 Nxe4 work.

9 After 29.b4! the Nc5 must move leaving the Qb7 without defenders.
This can be exploited by, for example: 29...Ne6 30.Nxe7+! Rxe7
31.Qxb7 winning. We must always pay close attention to the long
diagonal!

10 65.e4! fxe4 66.Ke3 opens a path for the king, deciding the game. It
was not possible to play 65.Kd2 Kb5 66.Kc3 Kxa5 67.Kd4? Nf3+ as the
h4 pawn falls.

11 13.Nh4 maneuvers the Knight to Black’s weakest square, d5. The game
continued 13 ...0-0 14.Nf5 Rfd8 15.Ne3 Rxd1 16.Rxd1 Rd8 17.Nd5,
with a clear edge for White.

12 The 18...g5 advance has weakened all the light squares on the
Kingside, which should be immediately seized upon with 19.Bf3! After
19...Bd6 20.h3!! Kg6 21.Bg4 Black is faced with a difficult decision: to
swap his good bishop for a White’s bad bishop clear or play 21...Bf7 and
allow White an active Bishop as happened in the game.
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13 19.g4! Bc8 20.Qg3! Qe7 21.g5!! This gets White open lines against his
opponent’s King, giving him a powerful initiative. After 21...hxg5
22.fxg5 Bxf5 23.Ndf3 Bf6 we reach the position in the next diagram.

14 With 24.Nxc6! bxc6 25.e5! White regains the piece and, more
importantly, eliminates Black’s best defender. After 25...Bh4 26.Nxh4
Nxc2 27.Rc1 Bh7 28.Rg1 White has a decisive attack and won a few
moves later.

15 White has more space and the Be5 is in a delicate position where it can
be attacked by a Knight (winning the Bishop pair) or kicked by our f-
pawn. Therefore, the right thing to do is avoid the Bishop exchange
with 12.c3!

16 With 26.Rb4! White threatens 27.Rxa4 Qb5 28.Ra5, winning the Queen.
If 26...Ra8 then 27.Nd6 threatens Re8 and Bd4, wins at least the
exchange.

17 With 13.Nh4! the Knight heads for the strong f5 square where it will be
a strong attacking piece. In addition, it makes way for the Nd2 to
improve its position.

18 26.Rxf6! is very strong here, destroying the King position. 26...gxf6 is

met by 27.Qh6 threatening mate on g7 and the Bh5, and if 26...Bxb4
27.axb4 Bxf3 (so the Bishop isn’t threatened after Qh6), we still have
time to get our Rook out of danger.

19 28.Bxf3! is very strong, because if 28...gxf6 then 29.Qh6 Ne6 30.Qxf6+

Kg8 31.Bh5 wins. White has 3 pieces attacking a king with few
defenders and 32.Nh6+ followed by capture on f7 is threatened.

20 In a difficult position, White played 29.exf5!, to answer 29...e4 with

30.f4! Bxe2 31.fxg5 with a pawn for the exchange, but also getting two
passed pawns to march against the opponent's King.

21 Black wants to exchange our mighty g2 Bishop g2 and therefore we

should deny him this with 10.Re1 Bh3 11.Bh1!

22 First it’s important to weaken the Ng4 with 24.h3 Nh6 and now White
wins with 25.e5! dxe5 26.fxe5 attacking both Knights and winning one.
Therefore Black played 25…Nh7 but after 26.Nd5! (threatening a fork
on e7) …Rfe8 27.exd6 exd6 (27…Qxd6 28.Nxe7+! wins) 28. Ne7+ Rxe7
29.Rxe7 wins the exchange.

23 29.Nd6! wins a pawn by force: 29...cxd6 30.Rxb7 and Black cannot

defend both b6 and d6 pawns at the same time. 29...Rxd7 30.Nxe8+
Ke7 31.Rxd7+ Kxd7 32.Nf6+ Ke7 33.Nxh7.

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