When in Doubt... Attack!
One of the best movies ever produced in my opinion is "Scent of a Woman". If you've seen the movie, then I don't need to explain why. In the very unlikely situation that you never watched the movie, stop right here and run, don't walk, to rent this exquisite gem. One of the best scene of the whole movie is the famous Tango in the Restaurant. I don't know what I love more there: the absolutely beautiful 'Por una Cabezo' Tango, gorgeous Gabrielle Anwar or unbelievable Al Pacino who plays a blind Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade. Judge for yourself:There are many memorable lines in the movie and one of them was said by Lt. Col. Frank Slade: " When in doubt...attack!" Well, I took the liberty of slightly editing his saying since the last word there is actually an expletive and this is a family-friendly web site. If you watched the movie, then you know the actual quote and if not... then this is one more incentive to watch the movie!
You may ask what does it have to do with chess and why there is a picture of GM Korchnoi on the top of the article? Well, in my eyes, Victor Lvovich has many similarities with Al Pacino's character. And one of them is you may like him or hate him, but you definitely respect him as a chess player and personality! Also the slogan of many of Korchnoi's games is exactly this: "When in doubt...attack!" And the next game is a good example.
This is our third game (you can see the previous one here: http://www.chess.com/article/view/victor-the-terrible) and I really hoped for revenge. I was very optimistic because the position in the next diagram looks very favorable for me. White has a strong initiative on the Queen's side and it is very difficult for Black to untie his pieces there due to the weakness of the 'a4' pawn. Note that the trade Bxa5 would be positional suicide since it would turn the 'b7' and 'c7' pawns into bleeding wounds on the open files. Even in a bad dream I wouldn't be able to imagine that just 13 moves later I would have to resign due to an unavoidable checkmate! So, can you play like Frank Sla... I mean Victor Korchnoi? Just remember: "When in doubt...attack!"
(I give you a chance to test your attacking skills and compare your moves to the ones of the legendary Victor Korhnoi, so the game is given as a Quiz. Please remember that you can always replay the whole game from the first move if you click "Solution" and then "Move list".)
Serper, G. (2540) vs. Kortchnoi, V. (2645)
New York
1996
ECO: A29 | 0-1
Black to move
16. Qc2
Serper, G. (2540) vs. Sokolov, I. (2665)
New York
1996
ECO: A24 | 1-0
White to move
25... Bh3
So when in your next game your opponent catches you in an opening trap or you have weak pawns or you are a piece down you know what to do. When in doubt... attack!!
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