a masterpiece of strategic chess

[carldaman]

Back in the early 1930s a marvelously talented player made an impressive, but meteoric appearance on the grand chess scene. His name was Sultan Khan, and Capablanca himself dubbed him a genius - I guess it took one to know one. He learned modern-rules chess late (when older than twenty), having grown up with the much more ancient chaturanga, the Indian version of chess where pawns could move up one square off the starting rank. He had to pick up modern opening theory from scratch and throughout his brief career he was still perfecting his openings.

Since sadly, SK left the chess world way prematurely, having to return from Britain to India, wouldn't the next best thing be resurrecting him in the form of a machine, SultanKhan 2.0, capable of strategic chess in closed positions unlike any other(?) I was going to post some games sooner or later, but today's masterpiece has prompted me to do it right away.

To appreciate the beauty of SK2's conception, let's take a look at this diagram and contemplate how White could continue...

[d]1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w - - 0 32

Of course, there are viable alternatives to this move, but the original way the attack was carried out is exemplary.

[pgn]
[Event "15m10s"]
[Date "2020.06.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "SultanKhan 2.0"]
[Black "Texel 1.08a13"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "CL"]
[PlyCount "103"]


{[%evp 0,103,29,18,12,-7,13,8,9,12,0,16,13,13,19,13,13,19,19,22,39,45,46,46,51,
47,47,47,48,21,59,59,66,23,86,82,82,75,75,67,80,80,89,89,93,72,74,86,90,91,79,
74,93,87,87,67,64,69,118,69,68,70,181,180,180,32,24,25,45,45,41,39,43,44,44,0,
225,237,248,225,320,301,302,302,325,325,325,287,321,310,320,361,361,416,425,
294,885,921,929,933,1004,992,29987,29990,29991,29992]} 1. Nf3 {100} Nf6 2. c4 {
Khan remembers that it's ok to push the c-pawn two squares } c5 3. g3 {60}
Nc6 4. Nc3 {66} e5 $6 {not the best line, though Shirov and J Polgar have
attempted it before} (4... d5) (4... g6) 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O d6 7. b3 $5 {
Giri chose d3 here} h6 8. Bb2 Bg4 $5 {probably the best try} 9. h3 Bf5 $6 {
I don't like this retreat since the Bishop can become a target here} (9... Be6
$5) 10. Ne1 $5 {a novelty, allowing the plan with e4 and f4 to be carried out}
O-O 11. Nc2 Qd7 12. Kh2 Bd8 $6 {too slow} (12... Rae8 $5) 13. d3 Bg6 14. e4 Nd4
15. f4 $1 Bh5 $2 {101 this Bishop is very badly placed and in danger of being
trapped} 16. Qd2 Nxc2 17. Qxc2 Bg6 18. Qe2 a6 $6 {kind of pointless at this
point, but Black is a sitting duck} ({if} 18... exf4 19. gxf4 {and White's
onslaught still rages on}) 19. f5 {this leads to a crushing attack} Bh7 20. h4
b5 21. g4 {White's now playing a reversed King's Indian against no counterplay}
Ne8 22. Kg3 $5 {choosing the slow buildup} Nc7 23. Bc1 $1 {[#]} f6 24. Rh1 b4
25. Na4 Ne8 26. Bd2 $5 {173 better than Be3} Rb8 27. Raf1 Be7 28. Kf2 $1 Nc7
29. Ke1 Qd8 30. Rfg1 {preparing g4-g5} g5 $2 {Black desperately wants to avoid
g4-g5, but this fails to work} ({a better try was to bail out with} 30... Kf7)
31. hxg5 hxg5 {[#] now White is about to uncork a series of stunning sacs
against Black's pawn structure} 32. d4 $3 {75 the point of this sac becomes
apparent later} (32. Bf3) 32... exd4 33. Rh5 Qd7 34. Rgh1 Rf7 35. Bf3 a5 36.
Qh2 Bf8 37. Bxg5 $3 {one more drop of the hammer} fxg5 38. Rxg5+ Kh8 39. Rh5
Ne8 40. g5 Rb7 41. g6 Nf6 42. gxf7 Qxf7 43. Rg5 Qe7 {[#]} 44. Nxc5 $3 {the
final sac of the triad} dxc5 45. e5 $1 {the crowning idea behind White's sacs
is now very clear, as White has destroyed Black's control of e5, and the e4-e5
push becomes devastating} Bh6 $5 46. Rg2 $1 ({not even allowing} 46. Qxh6 Qxe5+
) 46... Rd7 47. Kd1 Bg7 48. Bd5 Rd8 (48... Nxd5 49. Qxh7#) 49. exf6 Bxf6 50.
Qh6 d3 51. Be6 Rf8 52. Rhg1 1-0
[/pgn]

I'm only a tester of this magnificent engine. It's quite a departure from the all-out attacking genius
of Nezh, but a fascinating one, nonetheless. The Sultan is back!

[carldaman]

1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w - - 0 32

Of course, there are viable alternatives to this move, but the original way the attack was carried out is exemplary.

[pgn]
[Event "15m10s"]
[Date "2020.06.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "SultanKhan 2.0"]
[Black "Texel 1.08a13"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "CL"]
[PlyCount "103"]


{[%evp 0,103,29,18,12,-7,13,8,9,12,0,16,13,13,19,13,13,19,19,22,39,45,46,46,51,
47,47,47,48,21,59,59,66,23,86,82,82,75,75,67,80,80,89,89,93,72,74,86,90,91,79,
74,93,87,87,67,64,69,118,69,68,70,181,180,180,32,24,25,45,45,41,39,43,44,44,0,
225,237,248,225,320,301,302,302,325,325,325,287,321,310,320,361,361,416,425,
294,885,921,929,933,1004,992,29987,29990,29991,29992]} 1. Nf3 {100} Nf6 2. c4 {
Khan remembers that it's ok to push the c-pawn two squares } c5 3. g3 {60}
Nc6 4. Nc3 {66} e5 $6 {not the best line, though Shirov and J Polgar have
attempted it before} (4... d5) (4... g6) 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O d6 7. b3 $5 {
Giri chose d3 here} h6 8. Bb2 Bg4 $5 {probably the best try} 9. h3 Bf5 $6 {
I don't like this retreat since the Bishop can become a target here} (9... Be6
$5) 10. Ne1 $5 {a novelty, allowing the plan with e4 and f4 to be carried out}
O-O 11. Nc2 Qd7 12. Kh2 Bd8 $6 {too slow} (12... Rae8 $5) 13. d3 Bg6 14. e4 Nd4
15. f4 $1 Bh5 $2 {101 this Bishop is very badly placed and in danger of being
trapped} 16. Qd2 Nxc2 17. Qxc2 Bg6 18. Qe2 a6 $6 {kind of pointless at this
point, but Black is a sitting duck} ({if} 18... exf4 19. gxf4 {and White's
onslaught still rages on}) 19. f5 {this leads to a crushing attack} Bh7 20. h4
b5 21. g4 {White's now playing a reversed King's Indian against no counterplay}
Ne8 22. Kg3 $5 {choosing the slow buildup} Nc7 23. Bc1 $1 {[#]} f6 24. Rh1 b4
25. Na4 Ne8 26. Bd2 $5 {173 better than Be3} Rb8 27. Raf1 Be7 28. Kf2 $1 Nc7
29. Ke1 Qd8 30. Rfg1 {preparing g4-g5} g5 $2 {Black desperately wants to avoid
g4-g5, but this fails to work} ({a better try was to bail out with} 30... Kf7)
31. hxg5 hxg5 {[#] now White is about to uncork a series of stunning sacs
against Black's pawn structure} 32. d4 $3 {75 the point of this sac becomes
apparent later} (32. Bf3) 32... exd4 33. Rh5 Qd7 34. Rgh1 Rf7 35. Bf3 a5 36.
Qh2 Bf8 37. Bxg5 $3 {one more drop of the hammer} fxg5 38. Rxg5+ Kh8 39. Rh5
Ne8 40. g5 Rb7 41. g6 Nf6 42. gxf7 Qxf7 43. Rg5 Qe7 {[#]} 44. Nxc5 $3 {the
final sac of the triad} dxc5 45. e5 $1 {the crowning idea behind White's sacs
is now very clear, as White has destroyed Black's control of e5, and the e4-e5
push becomes devastating} Bh6 $5 46. Rg2 $1 ({not even allowing} 46. Qxh6 Qxe5+
) 46... Rd7 47. Kd1 Bg7 48. Bd5 Rd8 (48... Nxd5 49. Qxh7#) 49. exf6 Bxf6 50.
Qh6 d3 51. Be6 Rf8 52. Rhg1 1-0
[/pgn]

I'm only a tester of this magnificent engine. It's quite a departure from the all-out attacking genius
of Nezh, but a fascinating one, nonetheless. The Sultan is back!

Edit: for some reason fen's are no longer displayed - after [d] is typed in the whole subsequent text disappears.

[Ovyron]

Thanks for sharing the game and your commentary on it, looking forward to seeing more from SultanKhan in the future!

[carldaman]

I'll be happy to do it when I have time. I promise at least one game with the Saragossa opening.

In the meantime, could someone please kindly post this fen position for me? The browser isn't letting me.

1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w - - 0 32

Thanks!

[Ovyron]

Do you mean adding fen tags so the board appears? I so:

[d]1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w -

[carldaman]

Thanks, Ovy,

If I add the fen tags, the board dis-appears for me. Go figure...

[Ovyron]

I just cut the - 0 32 part at the end.

[carldaman]

Maybe a website bug, if not the browser...?

Anyway, this is the position before the breakthrough begins to emerge. It looks like White can only get in thru the h-file, with everything being locked up elsewhere, but that's about to gradually change. Try to think of what you'd play here.

[d]1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w -

[AdminX]

That was a beautiful game. All three sacs worked cohesively together even though they came many moves apart from one another. That 1st sac on move 32 was the hardest for me to spot, but hell move 44 was so far away at that point!

[zullil]

I just cut the - 0 32 part at the end.

No need to do that.

[d]1r1q1rk1/2n1b2b/p2p1p2/2p1pPp1/NpP1P1P1/1P1P4/P2BQ1B1/4K1RR w - - 0 32