White to Play

Pete Tamburro on May 1, 2026

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Number 19 in our series of instructional games. This is a good one for beginners to learn from the early notes. Shilov - Razdobarin B28 19591.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 d5! (A good idea against c3 with the Sicilian Defense.) 4.exd5 Qxd5 (The knight can't come to c3 to attack the queen, so this is good for Black. An equal game,but...) 5.d4! (White has his own good d-pawn move. Now Black makes an error, forgetting about how his queen got to stay on d5.5...cxd4 (Best would be 5...e6 It's worth noting that Black's 2nd move puts him a move down in the normal c3 Sicilian, which goes 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5)6.cxd4 Bg4 7.Nc3 (This points out the problem with the exchange on d4. The queen is attacked and must move because, without e6, Black can't play Bb4, pinning the knight.)7...Qd8 8.Bc4 e6 (White wins a pawn after 8...Nf6 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Ne5+ Ke8 11.Nxg4)9.d5! e5 (Not 9...exd5 10.Bxd5 Nc6 (10...Nf6 11.Bxf7+! Ke7 12.Qb3) 11.Qb3 Qe7+ 12.Be3 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Nd8 14.0–0–0 and Black is in dire straits after Rhe1)10.d6 (Opening the diagonal to attack f7)10...Bh5 11.Nxe5 Bg6 12.Qd5 (Also good is 12.Qe2)12...Nf6 (The position is also hopelessly lost after 12...Qxd6 13.Nxg6 Qxd5 14.Nxd5 hxg6 15.Nc7+ Kd8 16.Nxa8 Nd7 17.Bg5+ Kc8 18.Bxf7 Kb8 19.0–0–0. Now, White wraps the game up in fine style.SEE DIAGRAM

13.Qxf7+ Bxf7 14.Bxf7 mate

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