Answering back

The vast majority of winning blows in chess are delivered by a piece moving forwards. Powerful retreating moves are rare, but the very fact of going against the grain makes an aesthetic impact. Played for purely strategic reasons, such moves are all the more admirable, so I was duly impressed by a move played in the Varsity Match earlier this month. Ashvin Sivakumar, representing Oxford, holds the advantage, with pressure in the centre and the kingside, but it’s not obvious how to move forward. There’s the rub! By retreating his bishop from e3 to c1, he reroutes it to b2 to bear down on the kingside from afar – a fact which proves decisive a few moves later.

Ashvin Sivakumar (Oxford) – Cameron Goh (Cambridge)

Varsity Chess Match, March 2025

27 Bc1! Rhc8 28 Bb2 One future idea, which dovetails perfectly with the Bb2, is Nf4-h3-g5+. It is crucial that the Bb4 remains on the sidelines. 28…c4? Seeking counterplay is natural, but it was better to sit tight with 28…Rf8 29 Bxc4 Bxc4 30 bxc4 Rxc4 31 Rxc4 Nxc4 32 Nd5 Qe6 33 Nf6+ A strategic triumph for the Be3-c1-b2 manoeuvre. The kingside collapses, and White mops up easily. Kg7 34 Nxh5+ Kf8 35 Bg7+ Ke7 36 Nf4 Qc8 37 Qg5+ Kd7 38 Qd5 Qg8 39 Bd4 f5 40 Qxg8 Rxg8 41 exf5 Bd2 42 Nxg6 Rb8 43 h5 Rb3 44 Rxd2 Nxd2 45 h6 Black resigns.

Masterful stuff! And yet, though 27 Bc1! was deft, I discovered that the brutish 27 Bxf7! was even better. After 27…Qxf7 28 Rxd6 Black’s position collapses, e.g. 28…Bc8 29 Qg5! Re8 30 Nxg6 Nxg6 31 Qh6+ and wins. Sometimes you need a battering ram, not a lockpick.

This win helped Oxford to take an early lead in the 143rd Varsity match, which took place earlier this month at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London.