An isolani trap catches another victim
In my ChessBase show from six weeks ago, I presented a Smyslov-Karpov game in which both players missed a known tactical trick that gives White a large advantage.
Here Smyslov played 14.Bg5, but 14.d5! exd5 15.Bg5! would have given him a serious advantage. Not surprisingly, if two players of that caliber could miss that trick, there's a good chance that more ordinary players will, too. As an example, here's a recent game between Spanish IM Manuel Granados Gomez and Georgian GM and erstwhile Anand second Elizbar Ubilava from the Spanish Team Championship earlier this month.
It's White to move, and he chose the very natural 14.Rfd1. There are some differences between this game and Smyslov-Karpov, but once again the dynamic advance of the d-pawn carries the day: 14...d4! See if you can figure out the lines yourself, and then have a look at the game in full, with my notes, here.
Here Smyslov played 14.Bg5, but 14.d5! exd5 15.Bg5! would have given him a serious advantage. Not surprisingly, if two players of that caliber could miss that trick, there's a good chance that more ordinary players will, too. As an example, here's a recent game between Spanish IM Manuel Granados Gomez and Georgian GM and erstwhile Anand second Elizbar Ubilava from the Spanish Team Championship earlier this month.
It's White to move, and he chose the very natural 14.Rfd1. There are some differences between this game and Smyslov-Karpov, but once again the dynamic advance of the d-pawn carries the day: 14...d4! See if you can figure out the lines yourself, and then have a look at the game in full, with my notes, here.