I’ve got a new tactical trick for you! Of course, there is nothing new under the sun in chess, but this is a sneaky trick involving two rooks that I don’t think has ever been given a name before. (I hope someone will correct me if I’m wrong.) I’m going to call it the Van Damme Truck Trick, until somebody comes up with a better name.
Let me set the stage. Last night I was playing against Shredder, with its strength set at 2275. I know, a few months ago I swore never to do that again, because I was so infuriated at its “Coach” feature, where it tells you, “I think your last move was not so good. Are you sure you want to do that?” Well, in this game the Coach actually taught me something. I still hate it, because it destroys any semblance of real chess, but anyway, here is the position. I’m playing Black.
Position after 40. Bc6. Black to move.
FEN: 1r6/p5p1/2B1k2p/2P1p3/3bR1PP/P7/5r2/2RK4 b – – 0 40
As you can see, I have a wonderful position, and I played the move 40. … Rc8, which wins a pawn.
Shredder: “I think your last move was not so good. Are you sure you want to play it?”
Dana: What has that computer been smoking? Oh, I see! It thinks I should play 40. … Rd8, threatening checkmate.
Shredder: “I think your last move was not so good. Are you sure you want to play it?”
Dana: Okay, of course. On 40. … Rd8 it could just play 41. Ke1, and on 41. … R8f8 42. Bb5 what have I gained? Hmm… There must be something else in this position that I’m not seeing. It’s kind of a shame to take my rook off the b-file, where it’s already so well placed. Wait! I have an idea! I don’t even have to move the rook to c8! I can just take the pawn on c5 right away, with 40. … Bxc5!!
Shredder: “I think your last move was not so good. Are you sure you want to play it?”
Dana: Are you ****ing serious? 40. … Bxc5 is a brilliant move! That computer needs to be punished. Would turning it from a Mac into a PC be punishment enough?
Of course, there is a problem that after 40. … Bxc5 it doesn’t have to accept my sacrifice. It could just play 41. Ke1, and after 41. … Bb6 yes, I’ve won a pawn, but it’s only a pawn. Somehow there must be a way to get even more out of this idea.
And then the light dawned on me. Have you figured it out yet?
The absolute best move in the position is 40. … Bc3!!
Position after 40. … Bc3!! White to move.
FEN: 1r6/p5p1/2B1k2p/2P1p3/4R1PP/P1b5/5r2/2RK4 w – – 0 41
The main point of this move, like 40. … Bxc5, is that it sets up the Van Damme Truck Trick. You remember the Volvo Truck commercial from 2013, when Jean-Claude Van Damme is standing on top of two trucks that are driving down a road, and they gradually move apart until Van Damme is doing a split between them at 60 miles an hour?
Well, here the White rooks are the trucks and the White king is Van Damme. After 41. Rxc3 (which Shredder played) Rb1+ 42. Rc1 Rf1+ 43. Re1 (which Shredder didn’t play) we arrive at the following amusing configuration.
Position after 43. Re1 (analysis). Black to move.
FEN: 8/p5p1/2B1k2p/2P1p3/6PP/P7/8/1rRKRr2 b – – 0 43
Here we see the point of the Van Damme Truck Trick. It looks as if White has successfully defended against both of Black’s rook checks. But now his king is like Van Damme doing a split between the two trucks — and if they move just a little bit too far apart, well, you can figure out what happens. 43. … Rxe1+! 44. Kxe1 Rxc1+ and White loses an exchange and a pawn and the game.
As I said, Shredder elected not to go into the pure version of the Van Damme Truck Trick and returned the rook immediately with 43. Kd2. I actually took the wrong way — 43. … Rbxc1? (43. … Rfxc1 was better) but I eventually managed to win the game anyway.
You might wonder, why was 40. … Bc3 better than 40. … Bxc5? The reason is that it’s more forcing. Black threatens mate with 41. … Rd8+, and White is forced to take the bishop one way or another. (He could alternatively play 42. Re2 Rd8+ 43. Kc2 Rxe2+ 44. Kxc3.) However, I really think that 40. … Bxc5 should get full credit too, provided that Black sees that 41. Ke1 can be met by 41. … Bxa3!, winning a second pawn. It’s really a matter of taste: do you prefer to be two pawns up in an OCB endgame, or do you prefer to be an exchange up? I think that the reason Shredder gave me the dreaded Coach message is that it evaluated the position after 40. … Bc3 as +4 pawns for Black, while the position after 40. … Bxc5 was only +2 pawns. Therefore it considered 40. … Bxc5 a bad blunder.
Anyway, to me the main point of the position is to see the Van Damme Truck Trick. Whether you set it up with 40. … Bxc5 or 40. … Bc3 is secondary.
Question for my readers: Do you know any examples of the Van Damme Truck Trick in master play? It’s one of those things that I know I’ve seen, but I don’t know where. I did lose a game a few years ago to a similar trick, but it’s not quite the same.
Position after 21. Rxh6. Black to move.
FEN: 3rkr2/pp2p3/2p1p2R/4P1p1/8/6P1/PPP2PP1/2K4R b – – 0 21
This position occurred in the 2003 U.S. Open in Los Angeles. I was playing Black against a class-A player named Patrick McCartney. I think that I would have pretty close to equal chances after 21. … Rd5, thanks to my active rooks, but instead I got careless and played 21. … Rxf2??, thinking it was a free pawn. Too late, after he played 22. Rh8+!, I realized that I lose a whole rook after either 22. … Rf8 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. Rh8+ or 22. … Kd7 23. Rd1+, and so I resigned. This trap does have elements of the Van Damme Truck trick in the sense that Black’s king gets checked from two different directions. Each check by itself is harmless, but the combination of the two is fatal.
Finally, if anyone can think of a better name than the Van Damme Truck Trick, I’d be glad to take suggestions. I’m looking for a metaphor that conveys the idea of being pulled in two directions at once.
I briefly thought about the Levi’s Jeans Trick, because their logo shows (or used to show?) a pair of jeans being pulled in two directions by two horses, as a way of emphasizing their toughness (the fabric is held together by rivets). But I didn’t like that name as well because I didn’t think anyone would get it. Another possibility is the Magdeburg hemispheres, a physics experiment designed by Otto von Guericke in the 1600s to prove the existence of the vacuum. He placed two copper hemispheres together, pumped out the air between them, and then a team of 24 horses pulling in opposite directions was unable to pull them apart. As wonderful as this example is, if I called this the Magdeburg trick no one would have the slightest idea what I was talking about. So for the time being, it’s the Van Damme Truck Trick.
Update, 2 hours later: Paul b. suggested the Three Stooges Trick. The king is Larry, and the rooks are Curly and Moe. Smack Curly on the left and Larry will look that way, and then you can whack Moe on the right. I like it!
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