Undermining (chess)
Encyclopedia
Undermining is a chess
tactic
in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice between recapturing or saving the underdefended piece. A possible response is to sacrifice the piece whose defence is being undermined before capturing the piece which just took the defender.
Kramnik
-Topalov
in the seventh round of the 2004 Linares chess tournament
reached the diagrammed position with White to play. The black knight on a4 is defended only by the black pawn on b5. White undermined the knight with 1.Bxb5. The game continued 1... Rxb5, 2.Rxa4, with a net material gain of a pawn for White.
The superior continuation is 1... Nxb2 disposing of the unguarded knight. If 2. Kxb2 Rxb5+. This regains the pawn for black.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
tactic
Chess tactic
In chess, a tactic refers to a sequence of moves which limits the opponent's options and may result in tangible gain. Tactics are usually contrasted with strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realized, and the opponent is less constrained in responding.The fundamental building blocks of...
in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice between recapturing or saving the underdefended piece. A possible response is to sacrifice the piece whose defence is being undermined before capturing the piece which just took the defender.
Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
-Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
in the seventh round of the 2004 Linares chess tournament
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
reached the diagrammed position with White to play. The black knight on a4 is defended only by the black pawn on b5. White undermined the knight with 1.Bxb5. The game continued 1... Rxb5, 2.Rxa4, with a net material gain of a pawn for White.
The superior continuation is 1... Nxb2 disposing of the unguarded knight. If 2. Kxb2 Rxb5+. This regains the pawn for black.