Ultimate Blitz Challenge Tactics

Wesley So vs. Hikaru Nakamura. Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes.

Test your tactical skills with puzzles from the Ultimate Blitz Challenge, where the legendary Garry Kasparov competed against the top 3 American grandmasters. Want to challenge yourself? Recreate the blitz atmostphere---Use a chess clock to time yourself for each puzzle. Can you find the answer with the clock ticking down?

Tactic #1

Wesley So vs. Fabiano Caruana

Position after 48...Kd8

White to move.

Level: Warm-Up / Easy

Solving Time: 1 minute

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Ultimate Blitz Challenge"] [White "So, W."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2795"] [Annotator "Warm-up"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3k4/R7/5K2/1r2N3/p4P2/8/2b5/8 w - - 0 49"] [PlyCount "5"] [EventDate "2016.04.28"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "22"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2016.05.02"]49. Nf7+ {and Black resigns. No matter where the black king runs, the white knight creates a fork and win the rook.} Kc8 (49... Ke8 50. Nd6+) 50. Nd6+ Kb8 51. Nxb5 1-0[/pgn]

Tactic #2:

Missed Opportunity:

Fabiano Caruana vs. Hikaru Nakamura

Position after 33...g5

White to move.

Level: Intermediate

Solving Time: 3 minutes

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Ultimate Blitz Challenge"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Nakamura, Hi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2795"] [BlackElo "2787"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3n1r1k/1p2r3/p1p1p2p/2NpPPp1/PP1P1R2/3Q1N1q/5P2/2R3K1 w - g6 0 34"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2016.04.28"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "22"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2016.05.02"]34. Nh4 $3 ({In the game, Caruana played} 34. Nxg5 {,which also gains an advantage, and went on to win:} Qxd3 35. Nxd3 Rg7 36. f6 Rxg5+ 37. Kf1 b6 38. a5 bxa5 39. bxa5 Kh7 40. Nc5 Kg6 41. Nxa6 h5 42. Nc5 Rh8 43. a6 Rf5 44. Rxf5 Kxf5 45. a7 Nf7 46. Ra1) 34... Qxd3 35. Ng6+ {No matter which square black king chooses, White uses an in-between move to gain material and then recaptures the queen.} Kh7 (35... Kg8 36. Nxe7+ Kf7 37. Nxd3) (35... Kg7 36. f6+ Kxg6 37. fxe7 Re8 38. exd8=Q Rxd8 39. Rf6+ Kg7 40. Nxd3) 36. Nxf8+ Kg8 37. Nxd3 1-0[/pgn]

Tactic #3:

"The Immortal Blitz Game"

Wesley So vs. Garry Kasparov

Position after 21...Qb7

White to move.

Level: Advanced

Solving Time: 5 minutes

Show Solution

"My game against Wesley reminded me of a game of Morphy vs. an amateur---I was the amateur." -Garry Kasparov

Show Solution

[pgn][Event "Ultimate Blitz Challenge"] [White "So, W."] [Black "Kasparov, G."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A41"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2812"] [Annotator "Advanced"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1rn1k2r/pq2n1b1/2b3pp/4p3/Bp2P3/1Q2BN1P/P4PP1/2RR2K1 w k - 0 22"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2016.04.28"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "22"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2016.05.02"] 22. Rxc6 $1 {The rook clears away Black's defences, so that the white queen can come crashing into the position.} Nxc6 23. Qe6+ N8e7 24. Bc5 $1 {It's difficult to find a slow move in an attacking position. Even though the legendary Kasparov has a move to defend, So's threats are overwhelming.} Rc8 25. Bxe7 {Black resigns.} 1-0[/pgn]

For more on Ultimate Blitz, see the official site and watch day 1 and day 2 on YouTube. Also see frequent US Chess contributor Greg Shahade's blog on instructional moments from the event.