It may sound like the chess equivalent of “Babe Ruth’s Best Bunts,” but Swedish IM Thomas Engqvist’s new book “Ulf the Attacker” shines an unexpected light on one of his country’s best and most popular players of the modern era.
At his playing peak in the early 1980s, GM Ulf Andersson was ranked fourth in the world, famously relying on a solid, often dry positional style that made him one of the toughest players to defeat over the board. He took a high number of draws against his playing peers and became known for squeezing out victories over lesser players with his tenacity and endgame ability.
But “Ulf the Attacker,” published by NewInChess, offers up dozens of games in which Andersson channeled his inner Fischer or Tal. It’s a good reminder that the very best players only get that way by being proficient in all parts of the game and being at home in all styles of play, even if they strongly prefer to play a certain way.
Take, for example, Andersson’s famous win over Belgian GM Luc Winants at the strong Tilburg Interpolis Tournament in 1993, an Open Catalan in which the reserved Swedish star managed to sacrifice both rooks and checkmate his strong opponent in just over 30 moves.
With 14. Qc3 Nd7 15. Rfd1, Andersson as White has managed to stop for now Black’s hoped-for breakout with c7-c5, and signals his own aggressive intentions with 17. Nc5 Nxc5 18. dxc5 Qc7 19. Ne5!? (solid Ulf could have sucked the life out of the position with 19. Qe5 Bd5 20. Qxc7 Rxc7 21. b3 Rd8, with a likely draw on tap), pressuring Black into an immediate mistake.
Thus: 19… Bxg2? (b4! first was the way to go; e.g. 20. Qe3 Qxe5 21. Bxe4 f5 22. Bd3 Qxe3, and Black is still fine) 20. Rd7! b4 21. Qd4 Qx5 22. Rxe7, when 22…Rcd8 falls to 23. Qg4 Bd5 24. e4 Bxa2 25. Nxc6. Still, the battle is not over until White craftily induces his opponent to stash all his assets in the wrong corner of the board, setting up a crushing attack in the other corner.
On 22…Bd5 23. e4 Bxa2, White opts for the spectacular over the solid and is rewarded with a stunning combinational payoff after 24. Ra1!? (White had a risk-free path to a big edge on 24. Nxf7 e5 [Rxf7 25. Rxf7 Kxf7 26. Qd7+ Kf6 27. Qxc8] 25. Nxe5 Qd8 26. Nxc6 Qxd4 27. Nxd4 Rfd8 28. Nf3) Rcd8 Qa4 26. Kg2 Rd1? (see diagram; Black misses a last chance to put up a defense with 26…f6 27. Nd7 Rf7, though White still holds an edge; it’s forgivable that Winants did not see the deeper point of White’s play) 27. Qf3!! Rxa1 28. Rxf7 Rd8 29. Rxg7+!!, sacrificing both rooks in the space of three moves for a devastating mating attack.
Black’s queen, rook and bishop make for a pathetic spectacle lined up on the a-file while their king is left to fend for himself. It’s over on 29…Kxg7 (Kh8 30. Rxh7+! Kxh7 31. Qf7+ Kh6 [Kh8 32 Ng6 mate] 30. Qf7+ Kh8 [Kh6 31. Qf6+ Kh5 32. Qh4 mate] 31. Qf6+, and Winants resigned. Mate in waiting in the wings after 31…Kg8 32. Qxd8+ Kg7 33. Qe7+ Kg8 34. Qf7+ Kh8 35. Qf8 mate.
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Andersson’s great Scandinavian rival, Danish GM Bent Larsen, by contrast, had a reputation as a far more forceful and dynamic player. At the great 1966 Second Piatigorsky Cup double round-robin tournament in Santa Monica, California, Larsen defeated reigning world champion Tigran Petrosian with a spectacular queen sacrifice in 30 moves.
But the Danish great, in his own recent game collection “Bent Larsen’s Greatest Games” reveals he got far more satisfaction over his second win against Petrosian at the tournament, a subtle positional battle out of a King’s Indian Defense that featured not tactical fireworks but a strategic outplaying of one of the best defenders in the history of the game.
Despite some classic Petrosian-like maneuvers (17. Qd1 and 18. Nb1 most particularly), Larsen as Black secures a clear positional advantage out of the opening after 19. Nd2 e4 20. f4?! (Larsen said later he was more concerned with 20. d5 Nc5 21. Rxc5!? dxc5 22. Bxf6, with White getting a centralized pawn for the exchange and more freedom for his pieces) 20. Nf4 d5 21. Qe2 Qd6 22. Rc2 Rec8 23. Rfc1 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 h4 25. Nf1 hxg3+ 26. fxg3 b4 27. a4 —  White’s bishops are badly boxed in while their Black counterparts have strong diagonals at their disposal.
With 41. Nf2 Nf5 (the sealed move) 42. Qd2 Bb8 43. Nd1 Ng4 44. Kg1 f6!, Black makes a small but crucial advance, preparing to push the g-pawn and open new attack lines on the kingside. White’s passive pieces can do little but shore up the weak points and wait.
The grand strategy comes to fruition on 58. Bf2 Qa8! 59. Ke1 Qh8!, and White is helpless against the Black queen’s invasion along the h-file: 60. Qc6 Bxg3! 61. Bxg3 Nhxg3, and Petrosian resigned just ahead of lines such as 62. Nxg3 Qh3+ 63. Kf2 Qxg3+ 64. Ke2 Qxe3+! and wins.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Andersson-Winants, Tilburg Interpolis, Tilburg, Netherlands, November 1993
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bg5 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Rc8 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Nb3 Be4 14.Qc3 Nd7 15.Rfd1 c6 16.Rac1 Qb6 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.dxc5 Qc7 19.Ne5 Bxg2 20.Rd7 b4 21.Qd4 Qa5 22.Rxe7 Bd5 23.e4 Bxa2 24.Ra1 Rcd8 25.Qe3 Qa4 26.Kg2 Rd1 27.Qf3 Rxa1 28.Rxf7 Rd8 29.Rxg7+ Kxg7 30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.Qf6+ Black resigns.
Petrosian-Larsen, Second Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica, Calif., July 1966
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. e3 c6 7. Nge2 a5 8. b3 Na6 9. O-O e5 10. Bb2 Re8 11. a3 Rb8 12. h3 h5 13. Qc2 Be6 14. Kh2 Qc7 15. Rac1 b5 16. cxb5 cxb5 17. Qd1 Qe7 18. Nb1 Bd7 19. Nd2 e4 20. Nf4 d5 21. Qe2 Qd6 22. Rc2 Rec8 23. Rfc1 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 h4 25. Nf1 hxg3+ 26. fxg3 b4 27. a4 Rc8 28. Rxc8+ Bxc8 29. h4 Nc7 30. Bh3 Bxh3 31. Nxh3 Bf8 32. Kg2 Qc6 33. Qd1 Bd6 34. Nf2 Ne6 35. Bc1 Ng7 36. Bd2 Nf5 37. Kh3 Qc8 38. Kg2 Kg7 39. Nh1 Nh6 40. Be1 Qa6 41. Nf2 Nf5 42. Qd2 Bb8 43. Nd1 Ng4 44. Kg1 f6 45. Kg2 g5 46. Nf2 Ngh6 47. hxg5 fxg5 48. Nd1 Kg6 49. Nh2 g4 50. Qc2 Bd6 51. Nf1 Ng8 52. Nh2 Nf6 53. Nf1 Kh5 54. Nh2 Kg5 55. Nf1 Nh5 56. Bf2 Nf6 57. Be1 Nh5 58. Bf2 Qa8 59. Be1 Qh8 60. Qc6 Bxg3 61. Bxg3 Nhxg3 White resigns.
• Got a chess tip or a good game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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