Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Defensive Trick

There are games where one of the players reaches an apparently favourable setup and any casual observer would say the advantage is clear. Only after a meticulous inspection, a hidden resource appears which allows a satisfactory defence.

That is what happened in today’s game.
Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev, conducting White against GM Hikaru Nakamura, managed to point his pieces against Nakamura’s castle. Both white bishops, together with rook and queen threatening pointed towards the black king. But Black had everything under control. He allowed White to proceed with his plan and uncork a final trick with which his position was safe.

Sometimes, pieces which apparently are away from the main battle, join up unexpectedly the fight contributing in a decisive way to defensive tasks.