The Chess Mind

From the game Stefanova-Zatonskih in round 5; it's Black to make her 34th move:



White's up the exchange, but Black has compensation. The more minor bit of compensation is the hanging d-pawn; the more significant the relatively weak White king. Perhaps the U.S. women's champ was in time pressure, but she was able to find and execute an elegant drawing combination. What was it, and was there anything better?

Click here for the answers.

There was a rare invitational event in Indianapolis this past weekend, graciously arranged and funded by Drew Hollinberger of the Circle City Chess Club. It featured a strong mix of Indiana and out-of-state players, and was won by IMs Calvin Blocker and Jan van de Mortel with 3.5/5.

The game that most caught my eye from this event, however, was played by Indiana masters John Cole and James Mills. Let's start here:



(Position after 28...Nbc4)

Though the game was an Advance Caro-Kann, it has all the earmarks of the King's Indian Attack. White has commenced the traditional kingside pile-up, while Black is ready to break through on the queenside and gobble up the a-pawn. It's White to move; what should he do? Work it out, and when you're ready to see what happened and to take a look at the game in its entirety, click here.

It didn't affect the result of the game, but in this position from the Dubai Open, GM Tigran Petrosian (not that Tigran Petrosian!) missed something. It's Black to move: can you find it?



I assume you've succeeded; to see the whole game, click here.