FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR

1

Susan Polgar:

Calculate deeper!

There are two types of positions in chess,
ones which require precise calculation, and
others where you can largely rely on
intuition and judgment. One of the
common mistakes many players make is
that they try to calculate everything, even
at times when there is no need for it. By
doing so, they spend a lot of time on the
clock. This then cause them to end up in
time trouble, which in turn results in
mistakes or even blunders on the
board.However, in this article, I would like
to share with you some of my personal
experience where actually calculation is
crucial. In fact, the point is to calculate
deeper and more precisely than the
opponent.The first example is from a game
of mine which I played in a small open
tournament in Oklahoma in 2004. This was
my first tournament after a long break
since my World Championship match
against Xie Jun in early 1996.

Polgar S. : Hulsey M.
Stillwater 2004

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqr+-+0
9zpp+n+-vlk0
9-+-zp-+pzp0
9+-zpP+p+n0
9-+P+-+-+0
9+-sNLvLN+P0
9PzP-wQ-zPP+0
9+-+-tRRmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

15.g4!
This is a very important move. Otherwise
the Black Knight returns from h5 to f6 and
Black has a decent position. At first glance,
a move such as g2-g4 looks rather risky,

especially once your King has already
castled to the Kingside. However, here
White by playing energetically will justify
the aggressive play.
15...fg4 16.hg4 Shf6
This is another key moment in the game.

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqr+-+0
9zpp+n+-vlk0
9-+-zp-snpzp0
9+-zpP+-+-0
9-+P+-+P+0
9+-sNLvLN+-0
9PzP-wQ-zP-+0
9+-+-tRRmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

17.g5
It was clear that White has significant
advantage in development, and especially
in view of the rather committing 15.g4, I
have to find to right follow-up to it. In this
position, I had three tempting lines to
choose from. Each of them requires
substantial deep calculation. In addition to
the move I played, I also considered
17.Dc2, and even 17.Lh6.
Let's first examine the interesting
complication that can arise starting with
17.Dc2. Black's only response to defend
the Pawn on g6 is 17...Sf8. Now, there are
two logical roads:
a) 18.Sh4 to simply attack the Pawn on g6
the third time, but Black seems to be OK
after 18...Sg4 19.Lg6 Kg8 20.Le8 Dh4
21.Lf4 (21.f4 Lc3 22.bc3 Lf5–+) 21...Se5
or
b) first sacrificing with 18.Lg6 Sg6 and
then 19.Sh4. Here Black is also surviving
after 19...Lg4 (but not 19...Se4 20.Sg6
(20.Se4 Dh4–+) 20...Lc3 21.bc3 Lg4 22.f3
Lh3 23.fe4 Tg8 24.Tf7 Kg6 25.Df2 Kh5
26.Kh1 Lg2 27.Kh2 Le4 28.Lg5 Dg5
29.Te4+-) 20.Dg6 Kh8 21.Lh6 Tg8 22.Lg7
Tg7 23.Dh6 Kg8 24.Sg6 Sh7, with
complications.

FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR

2

17.Lh6!? was also not bad, with a strong
attack after 17...Lh6 (17...Sg4 18.Lg6 Kg6
19.Te8+-) 18.g5 Lg7 19.gf6 Lf6 20.Se4±.
17...Sg4
It was my top choice. After 17...hg5
18.Sg5 Black is lost.
18.gh6 Sde5
The key variation that I spent a
considerable amount of time calculating
was 18...Se3 19.hg7 Sf1. At first I was
trying to make one of the forceful moves
such as the sac with 20.Lg6 or 20.Sg5
work. Those ideas did not work. But it was
quite pleasurable when I finally noticed the
hidden quiet move

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqr+-+0
9zpp+n+-zPk0
9-+-zp-+p+0
9+-zpP+-+-0
9-+P+-+-+0
9+-sNL+N+-0
9PzP-wQ-zP-+0
9+-+-tRnmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

20.Dg5!! that unexpectedly wins the game!
For example: 20...Dg5 21.Sg5 Kg7 22.Te8
and the Black Knight on f1 gets trapped,
after 22...Sd2 23.Te2 Kf6 24.f4. Black also
loses after 18...Lh6 19.Lh6 Te1 20.Te1
Sh6 21.Lg6 Kg6 22.Te6 Sf6 23.Dg5 Kf7
24.Dh6 Le6 25.Sg5 Ke8 26.Se6 De7
27.Dh8+-.
19.Sg5!
This in-between move wins a piece. After
19.Se5 Le5 Black would still get some
counter chances.
19...Kg8
Moving into a discovery with 19...Kh6
would be deadly too.
20.hg7 Sd3
20...Se3 21.De3.
21.Dd3

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqr+k+0
9zpp+-+-zP-0
9-+-zp-+p+0
9+-zpP+-sN-0
9-+P+-+n+0
9+-sNQvL-+-0
9PzP-+-zP-+0
9+-+-tRRmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

21...Lf5
My opponent actually thought he was
doing OK, until he realized that after
21...Se3 I don't have to recapture on e3. I
can play 22.Dg6! instead.
22.Sce4+-
The rest was easy.
22...Se5 23.De2 Kg7 24.Kg2 De7 25.Lf4
Sf7 26.Dd2 Dd7 27.Dc3 Se5 28.Sd6
1:0.

The next position came from one of the
games which I played only a few month
after the game above. In this game, my
opponent was my old rival (and friend), the
legendary former World Champion Maia
Chiburdanidze at the Calvia Chess
Olympiad. After only 13 moves we have
reached the following position:

Polgar S. : Chiburdanidze M.
Calvia, Olympiad 2004

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9zpl+-+p+p0
9-zp-zp-+p+0
9+-zp-zpLzP-0
9-zPP+-sn-+0
9zP-wQ-+N+-0
9-vL-zPPzP-zP0
9tR-+-mK-tR-0
xiiiiiiiiy

FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR

3

Maia had just played 13…g6, after a
lengthy thought. She clearly anticipated the
upcoming sacrifice but misevaluated its
outcome.
14.Se5!!
Of course this is an easy combination to
spot. After 14...de5 15.De5, Black's
position is rather hopeless, due to the
weakness of the dark squares around the
Black King. However, the more
challenging part during the game was to
find the various resourceful
counterattacking moves that Black had,
and not less importantly, their refutations.
14...Se2
The idea behind this sacrifice is that if I
capture 15.Ke2 now, then after 15...de5
16.De5? Black can pin the White Queen
with 16...Te8.
However, before continuing further with
the game moves, let's look at some other
interesting options that Black had. I had to
calculate very carefully before going
forward with the sacrifice in my last move.
14...De7 is one of them, with the idea to
"pin" the Knight to e5. Fortunately, I found
the elegant

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-+-trk+0
9zpl+-wqp+p0
9-zp-zp-+p+0
9+-zp-sNLzP-0
9-zPP+-sn-+0
9zP-wQ-+-+-0
9-vL-zPPzP-zP0
9tR-+-mK-tR-0
xiiiiiiiiy

15.Le4!! move which unpins my Knight.
After that White wins. For example,
15...Le4 (15...de5 16.Lb7 Se2 17.Ke2 Db7
18.De5 f6 19.De6 Tf7 20.gf6) 16.Sc6 Sd3
17.Kf1.
Also after 14...De8 the same idea prevails:
15.Le4!! Le4 16.Sg4.
After 14...de5 15.De5 Sg2 16.Tg2 f6
17.Le6.

15.Sf7!!
A second sacrifice! If now 15...Kf7, then
16.Dg7 Ke8 17.Lf6 and the Black Queen is
trapped. Therefore 17...Tf6 is a must, but
after 18.gf6 Black is lost.
15...Sc3

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9zpl+-+N+p0
9-zp-zp-+p+0
9+-zp-+LzP-0
9-zPP+-+-+0
9zP-sn-+-+-0
9-vL-zP-zP-zP0
9tR-+-mK-tR-0
xiiiiiiiiy

16.Sh6!
This was an unexpected check. If I decided
to play 16.Sd8 (instead of the game move
of 16.Sh6) 16…Td8, then White would
end up being a piece down. Even after
17.Le6 Kf8 18.Lc3 White would still lose
because of the pin with 18...Te8.
16...Kg7 17.Lc3 Tf6 18.Lf6 Df6 19.gf6
Kh6
My opponent actually saw everything up to
this point. In the post game analysis, she
told me that she totally forgot that in this
position, she no longer has her Rook on f8
anymore. White has a significant material
advantage. Therefore, the position is
already winning, no matter what.
Unfortunately, this was one of the painful
moments of my career, where I missed the
final touch to a "perfect" game. What I
played also wins, but it was not as precise.
Being happy with a technical win, I
played:

FIDE SURVEYS – SUSAN POLGAR

4

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-+-+-+0
9zpl+-+-+p0
9-zp-zp-zPpmk0
9+-zp-+L+-0
9-zPP+-+-+0
9zP-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-zP-zP0
9tR-+-mK-tR-0
xiiiiiiiiy

20.Le6
and missed the outstanding finish to this
beautiful game with 20.Tb1!. After
20...gf5, followed by 21.Tb3, when it
would have been "game over"
immediately. Here are the rest of the
moves of the game.
20...Sc6 21.Ld5 Tf8 22.f7 Sd8 23.Lb7
Sb7 24.Tg3 Tf7 25.Te3 Sd8 26.b5 Tf4
27.d3 d5 28.Te7 dc4 29.dc4 Sf7
If 29...Tc4 30.Td1 Td4 31.Td4 cd4 32.Ta7.
30.Td1 Sg5 31.Ta7 Tc4 32.Ta6 Tc2
33.Tb6 c4 34.a4 Ta2 35.Ta6 Sf3 36.Kf1
Sd2 37.Td2 Td2 38.Tc6 Tc2 39.b6
But how would you know when to stop
your calculation during a game? When did
you calculate deep enough? Well, there is
no magic rule. Generally speaking, when
there are no more forceful moves (such as
check, capture of attacking a piece) in
sight, it is a good time to stop and evaluate
the position at the end of the variation.
Remember, many games are decided by
who calculates further. And indeed in
sharp and tactical positions, this could
prove to be decisive.
1:0.