Brilliant attack on the castled king: Landa vs Shaposhnikov -Sochi 2005

Caro-Kann Defense: Konstantin Landa (2571) vs Evgeny Shaposhnikov (2550) [B19]
TCh-RUS Sochi RUS (3), 21.04.2005
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qa6 15.0--0 Rd8 16.b4 Ngf6 17.a4 b6 18.Rfe1 0--0 19.Nf5 Rfe8 20.Nxg7 Kxg7 21.Rxe6 fxe6 22.Bxh6+ Kh8 23.Bg7+ Kxg7 24.Qg6+ Kf8 25.Ng5 Ne5 26.Nxe6# 1--0
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[@Infam0usN0b0dy]

I love that moment in all of your videos... "White played ____ (PAUSE) and black (pause) resigned."

[@aliqatishat3790]

Haha! Same here!

[@tubewatcher38]

That was Akilla move for sure.

[@davids9885]

Mato I honestly love your videos. You get straight to the point and dont waste time. Your videos are short and I learn so much listening to you compared to these other guys who just ramble on about as if there so good and your voice, accent, its perfect to be a teacher. I would love to shake your hand one day in Toronto, Canada. You sound like a very honest man who loves chess and so do I but I suck. Getting better watching your videos so pls keep it up. Im a little drunk but I speak the truth when Im drunk.

[@spikeybevan]

nice comment, and i totally agree

[@brockobama257]

Hahahahaha I’ve totally watched a few mato vids when drunk

[@gigas81]

Mato's videos have helped me break down what I'm doing in my games. Now if I could only learn to stick to my gameplan.....

[@tkpawn]

"killer move" each of these games you "tell" us are great stories and you're a brilliant story-teller. Just love the use of "killer move" in each story at the critical point.

[@franckferrante6614]

Wow, just an amazing game ! At first glance, we have the impression that white only wanted to have less pieces on the board ! But, you must wait until the end to discover the brillant idea hidden behind these sacrifices. a pretty great combinaison ! Mind blowing !!!

[@MrKapeji]

Hi Mato, I watched quite a few of your videos now, they are first class, I am learning so much and my game is improving all the time, your explanations and alternative continuations are so easy to follow, they help a lot with thinking ahead in a game and seeing the bigger picture, this game was awesome for sure. Thanks for taking the time to make the videos. Unremarkably, I too am a descendant of Adam!!

[@RussMercer]

Mato- your videos are the best. I appreciate how you move through the games quickly, yet still analyze the killer moves. You have brought me back into the joy of playing chess. Thank you!

[@renehenriksen1735]

Fantastic game! Absolutely brilliant! Sharp and fearless attackingplay a la Tal, Kasparov and Morozevich at it´s very best. It is to play the "unthinkable" and triumph. Hacking through the Kings defenses. I don´t think you necessarily has to be what they call geniu, but determination, willpower, high energy, hard training and imagination is the key elements. But one must not forget the optimistic an sangvinian mindset. Chess should be fun. Even at the highest levels..... :) :) :)

[@isaacairoes]

I ve been learning a lot by watching your videos. Tank you very much

[@albertsandberg]

Love your videos Moto! Love how you show everything to the end even though the play ends earlier :) Kudos!

[@mrtampham]

Mato's vids are brilliant.

[@karjun53]

Thanks Mato, again a very entertaining Chess game - I really enjoyed!

[@Mr.DReed10]

Mato. You're the best. Thanks for all your videos.

[@renehenriksen1735]

Oh yes by the way Mato....I like the spooky Magician of Riga-voice of yours. Sinister and cheerful in one combination. Keep going like that!!! ;)

[@dospooks]

That was indeed a brilliant attack, great posting Mato (as usual).

[@zarron221]

The set up was chasing the bishop with H-Pawn, and he fell into his trap... Wat a game.. you're the best Mato Shalom peace be with you and your family

[@fporretto]

That was a pretty attack. The sacrifice of the Rook on e6 to further strip the Kingside of protection was particularly neat.

[@gildardomolina308]

Great game! thanks for sharing máster, greetings from Colombia South América.

[@gratitude62]

love the intelligence and creativity of this game

[@WhiskeyJim59]

One of my favorite games of all time. Absolutely brilliant chess.

[@alvinweasel]

Love your videos. Thanks for posting.

[@CopperheadUSA1]

All I can say is WOW! I don't ever remember seeing a game with 3 pieces being sacrificed for a mate. Thank you for all you do Mato!

[@MatoJelic]

Thank you

[@MatoJelic]

Thank you for your comment

[@muk8911]

Mato, i like your commentary on chess games. Cheers to you :)

[@thesavantart8480]

YOU MAKE CHESS SO EXCITING, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTARY.

[@Szabest1797]

That was one of the best attacking games I've seen! That was great! Thanks, Mato!!!

[@jeromeprince8370]

very nice game.. Great effort Mr.Mato Jelic

[@briankarcher8338]

Good attack. I could never see that many moves ahead to do three sacrifices!

[@dangerriff8304]

i love your chess videos mate!

[@cwoo10]

that game was insane. Thanks Mato.

[@BrujoHN]

I always like to attack the castling. Sometimes it is not safe, but maybe the psychological effect on some players is what gives you a slight advantage sometimes. I have had maybe a 60/40 success rate. That is because I'm not a good player, but even then, I have obtained some victories. Thanks for sharing, Mato. Best wishes. Elmer.

[@p.g.9370]

Awesome game Mato, great teacher, Shalom peace

[@MsDnutty]

Thank you for another amazing video, Mato

[@borisstain1881]

Great attack by Landa... Pure maestria!!!

[@alejandrosanchez7673]

it's one of the best attack games I ever seem. very nice 😎

[@woodstoney]

Nicely presented as always! Great game!

[@joeyp1636]

Thank you Mato great lesson.

[@youcefbouguerra]

many thanks for the nice comments.

[@molinamatador]

Congratulations for the excellent videos!

[@bulentakev1562]

Thank you very much for this nice video :)

[@guardrover]

This is a lesson that king must always have more pieces around him at any point.

[@berniepadilla8363]

Nice. Thank you for this video :)

[@mandovid]

what a game! i wish you good luck with your chess too

[@RubbinRobbin]

this guy thought 8 moves ahead...insane

[@ahmadjambu6538]

RubbinRobbin yeah..with different variations!

[@brettlyszkowski7483]

This is pretty depressing tbh. I felt proud today when I found a forced sequence in 5 that won the queen, but it pales in comparison

[@PigsNLemons]

Hi, how is your chess these days? Did you get any better in the last 9 months? Cheers.

[@ridwanpermadi8808]

best part in this video is " hii this is mato "

[@niazsiddiqui3825]

Brilliant attack and sacrifice and mate

[@pneumatic00]

Spectacular game, brilliant.

[@hpshovecraft]

Great game. I was going to say it reminded me of Tal, but the sacrifices were much more forcing. Tal's sacrifices always seem inexplicable at first.

[@ohmuchiha]

Mato Your Videos and Explanation is too good but Why Your video is not so Popular :/ ??

[@vinzanity68]

Even chess.com stockfish level 10 did not consider Nxg7! Landa was a visionary in this game.

[@yggdrasil9039]

My thought at the move that was gone back to at 9:07 that Bxh6 pxB; Nxh6 sacrificing just one piece and taking out two protective pawns. Even if the Bishop is not taken by Black, the pawn position has been severely compromised. I didn't really see Nxg7

[@brandonclackum2322]

At 7:13. I was looking at Knight to g5 checkmate sequence but the one shown works too!

[@melihfluous]

Excellent video! But my observation is, that your choice of words is almost identical in every video. You're already doing a great job as it is, but it may be even more interesting to watch if you slightly change your style. Thanks!

[@DemBlizzard]

Wow what a game. Beautiful attack indeed.

[@musungu79]

great to see you Mato!! :)

[@modsquad20]

At the 5:50 mark, white to move... Q to G6 check. Black king moves to either F8 or H8. White moves bishop to H6 taking pawn. A faster path to cornering the black king without sacrificing the white bishop.

[@dr_tlmk]

modsquad20 At first I thought that too, but after Qg6, Kh8 and Bxh6, black Rook to g8 will thwart the attack.

[@locutusdborg126]

Napoleon's motto was "Bold, bold, always be bold."

[@KJVWordofGod]

Excellent example of removing defenders to get at the enemy King. First, isolating Queen and then sacrificing everything but the kitchen sink to get at the King. Interesting it was not enemy pieces that needed to be removed but enemy Pawns. As Mato says, "very instructive".

[@KiehlHyre]

The attack on the castled king was nice, but I think the best part of the game was isolating the black queen from the entire battle.

[@benammarahmed4632]

Thank you Mato

[@stokd2surf]

It seems like Qg6+, rather than Bxh6+ at 6:21 transposes to the same thing, except without losing the bishop ( 22. Qg6+ Kh8 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Qg6+). I guess the extra sacrifice was just for style points.

[@serbianfighter9689]

Mato pretpostavljam da si iz Hrvatske? Pozdrav iz Beograda,redovno gledam tvoje klipove

[@kulvirsingh1623]

Nice Game, thanks mato

[@murkaratas]

Very nice attack indeed. But I'm always dubious with these kind of attacks. for example, is black forced to take the rook sacrifice? If he declines, there no forced mate in the horizon. White might be slightly better but that's it I guess.

[@eNSWE]

This seems like the equivalent of loading your catapults with your soldiers when attacking a castle!

[@Leberteich]

What about 23 Bg7+ Kg8?

[@drhosearmando]

FASCINATING!

[@marochaful]

Thanks a lot ..it helps a lot in improving my game

[@Nubian42]

Hi Mato! What happens if pawn doesn't take rook at 5:42? The rook doesn't look like threatening that much...

[@taimoonfirenk5652]

+Nubian42 I think rook a1-e1 is the best move, adding a piece to the attack and after black saves the bishop, rook takes pawn on c6 works out quite nice, white has 3 pawns for the piece and can continue the attack

[@wiseobs000]

No, because if 22. Qg6+ Kh8 23. Qxh6+ Nh7! and black should hold because his e7 bishop is covering g5 and his d7 knight is covering e5 (so white can't bring new pieces into the attack). It's amazing how quickly these sacrificial attacks can disappear if even one move is off.

[@JamesBill1217]

I would think bishop to h6 at 5:03 would be a good move. If pawn takes bishop, knight takes pawn and puts king in check. There are many more options after that.

[@fadiphilip2279]

Beautiful Attack.. Tal Style !

[@StewartMiles1]

Fantastic!!

[@Failucation]

great video

[@chandankumar-ir3cz]

I still think there was no need to sacrifice black bishop White should continue with Queen attack by placing it next to black bishop immediately since black bishop would have given extra attack then the pawn. Black bishop sacrifice was useless and unnecessary extend 1 move extra. What do u think Mato ?

[@TexasSizzle]

fabulous!

[@pneumatic00]

Truly a brilliant combination, excellent sacrifice attack. Somewhat like Tal, though not exactly.

[@joeyg617]

There is ño way to stop that!!! Love this guy......

[@dcan876]

Knight on f5 is great piece in attack.

[@mckill2007]

I think there is a defense, either Rxe6 or Nxg7 instead of taking the knight after Rxe6 or the rook after Nxg7, why not just Nf8?

[@PaaMusbatu]

was there a possible defense if black did not take the sacrificed rook??

[@bengann79]

very nice attack

[@patricegohier7187]

Brilliant !

[@Darxsys]

You named this video very similar to some other, if I'm right, just got confused :D

[@shailesh17111988]

After knight sacrifice Black really doesn't need to take the rook realising whats coming next

[@mihaichelcea4092]

incredible

[@HeadHunterzFan92]

excuse me Mato, at 6:20 wouldn't it have been ok if white moved queen to g6, and then moved the bishop to h6?

[@betulaobscura]

Impressive game!

[@omegazylon]

brilliant attack!

[@gambu4810]

Brutal attack

[@lowriderjams9062]

@Awesome91Rado then how to mate it? he sacrifice that bishop to kill the pawn so his knight can jump after his queen d3 to g6

[@tonyennis3008]

creetical... position

[@amittian09]

fascinating

[@murkaratas]

So the right order of moves should be with the rook sacrifice. Black cannot decline as the bishop on e7 is hanging. Black can ignore the rook sacrifice if white begins with Nxg7.

[@hasharoni]

Its amazing how much steps can high-rated chess players count

[@NavJaswal]

you've got to practice real hard to become great players like them :D :D

[@LarryT88]

What if 23. ... Kg8 was played instead of taking the bishop?

[@cz19856]

in 6:21 why white didn't just move queen to g6?