Lessons From Bregenz IV

I HAVE mentioned before on this blog that one of grandmaster Nigel Davies's favourite pieces of advice is that the most important factor in chess is the safety of the kings.

This was well-illustrated by two moves in quick succession in round four, where I was Black against Josef Nussbaumer (1742).

The following position was reached after 15 moves.

Black has just made a recapture on d7

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

All 11 games to reach the position in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database continued with White getting the king to safety by castling kingside.

The wisdom of this was shown in our game, after JN started pushing his queenside pawn-majority with 16.a4?, only to be met with 16...Qc6, when it is not easy to decide what to do about White's bishop.

The game saw 17.Bf2!?, which may be best - Stockfish18 and Dragon1 are unsure.

I now played 17...e4?!, and JN wisely, if belatedly, got his king to (relative) safety with 18.0-0, even though this allows 18...exf3.

The engines much prefer 17...Qc4, keeping the white king in the centre, when best might be the engines' 18.b3!? Qxb3 19.0-0, although Black is well on top.

After 27...Qc4, the problem with the natural-looking 18.Qe2 is Black has 18...e4!, when 19.Qxc4 exf3+ gives Black a winning advantage, according to the engines, eg 20.Kf1 dxc4! (this is much stronger than 20...fxg2+ 21.Kxg2 dxc4 22.Rhe1, according to the engines) 21.gxf3 Rab8 22.Ra2 Rbd8! 23.Ra1 Rd2!? 24.Rb1 Ree2!? 25.Bxa7 Rxb2. Admittedly, Black has to find some sharp moves in this line, but they do highlight the danger of a king being uncastled and exposed, even with queens off the board.

LESSON: king safety trumps everything.