Today we will analyze one of the most remarkable games of Rashid Nezhmetdinov where the deadly attack against the black king appeared almost from nowhere! Also at the end, as an added bonus, you'll learn a typical tactical pattern.

(The game is given as a quiz. Please remember that you can always replay the whole game from the first move if you click "Solution" and then "Move list".)

The position looks relatively quiet, so how can White start an attack against the black king?





Yes, the queen sacrifice was unbelievable, but Black has managed to protect the key f6 square and it looks like the worst is over for him. Can you find the idea that greatly enhances White's attacking potential? (Hint: we discussed this idea last week!)





Yes, just like in the game that we discussed last week, the rook lift adds ammo to White's attack and the first line of Black's defense (the f6 pawn) falls! How should White continue his attack?





Now find one of the most difficult moves in the whole attack. White is down a lot of material and yet he played a beautiful quiet move!

Yes, the Bc3 was the main personage of White's whole concept and therefore Black was about to eliminate it by Rxc3. The quiet move played by Nezhmetdinov keeps the bishop alive!

Finally, we come to the fun part! Find the final combination that wins the game.



If you found the final combination, then it will be a piece of cake for you to play better in the next position than the great Alekhine in one of his World Championship Match games:





Believe me or not, but the genius of combinations, Alexander Alekhine, missed this simple combo and played 26.Bb2?. His opponent gave him a second chance by playing 26...Bc6??, but Alekhine returned the favor and played 27.a3?? and at the end the game was drawn!

I hope, my dear readers, that you already noticed one typical feature of Nezhmetdinov's attacks: as a rule, he used all his pieces to hunt his opponent's king! Analyze any attacking game of Alekhine, Tal or Kasparov and you'll see that this simple technique helped them to annihilate even well defended kings.

To be continued...



