King-pawn Opening Series



Here are some chess puzzles from the games of Ivan Popov.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.

Solutions are between the brackets under each puzzle.
Drag your cursor from one bracket to the other.

a)
Ivan Popov vs Konstantin Landa, Moscow, 2004
1n2r3/1N1q1pkp/p5p1/3rp3/1Q6/3R4/1PP2PPP/4R1K1 w - - 0 1
[ Nd6 if Rxd3 Nxe8+ ]

b)
White mates in 5.
Ivan Popov vs Elena Tairova, Kirishi, 2006
1r5r/1pR1nkpp/1p2ppb1/1B1p4/3P1N2/5P2/PP3KPP/2R5 w - - 0 1
[ Rxe7 if Kxe7 Rc7+ ]

c)
Ivan Popov vs Igor Nester, Lvov, 2006
8/6p1/2n1k2p/5p1P/1pK2B1P/2p5/2b5/6R1 w - - 0 1
[ Rg6+ Kd7 Rd6+ Kc7 Rd2+ ]

d)
Ivan Popov vs Dzhurabek Khamrakulov, Yerevan, 2007
2r3k1/1p3p1p/p2p1bp1/3r4/1P1p1PP1/3B4/P1P4P/1K1R3R w - - 0 1
[ a4 w/Be4 ]

e)
Ivan Popov vs Daniil Lintchevski, Kirishi, 2007
8/p7/1kp5/4Q3/1q6/7P/2b1B1PK/8 w - - 0 1
[ Qb8+ if Kc5 Qf8+ or if Ka5 Qxa7# ]

1c)
Ivan Popov vs Igor Nester

Ivan Popov Puzzles, Part II.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.
a)
Black mates in 3.
Pogos Nakhapetiane vs Ivan Popov, Kemer, 2007
r4b2/p5pk/6rn/2n2N1Q/5PP1/2Bq4/PP6/K1R4R b - - 0 1
[ ...Nb3+ ]

b)
Ivan Popov vs Murali Karthikeyan, Chennai, 2013
8/2k3p1/2pr3p/4RB1P/rP1p1P2/p2RnKP1/P7/8 w - - 1 0
[ Re7+ if Kb6 Rexe3 ]

c)
Black mates in 2.
Sergey Perman vs Ivan Popov, Zuerich, 2013
r2q1r1k/pp5P/4ppp1/2n1B1Q1/8/8/PPp2P2/K5RR b - - 0 1
[ ...Nb3+ ]

d)
Ivan Popov vs Enrique Colon Garcia, Benasque, 2014
2qb1rk1/R4p2/3pb1p1/7p/1p1BrN2/1P4PP/2P5/3Q1RK1 w - - 1 0
[ Nxg6 if fxg6 Rg7+ mates or if Rxd4 Qxd4 ]

e)
White mates in 4.
Ivan Popov vs Van Huy Nguyen, New Delhi, 2015
1r6/R4p2/1pk1p1p1/3p2q1/3Q4/2P2KP1/4BP1r/5R2 w - - 1 0
[ Qa4+ if b5 Qa6+ Rb6 Qc8+ or if Kd6 Rd7+ Ke5 Qd4+ ]

2b)
Ivan Popov vs Murali Karthikeyan

Ivan Popov Puzzles, Part III.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.
a)
Alexander Kozak vs Ivan Popov, Sochi, 2017
3r2k1/1p3ppp/2q1p3/8/1R6/PnP3P1/5P1P/2B1Q1K1 b - - 0 1
[ 1...Qf3 if Rf4 Rd1 ]

b)
Ivan Popov vs Juan Rodriguez Melendez, La Roda, 2019
1rb1rbk1/5p2/5Pp1/2pPp1P1/ppP3q1/1P2B3/P1Q3B1/R4RK1 w - - 1 0
[ 1.Qxg6+ if 1...fxg6 2.f7+ Kg7 3.fxe8/Q ]

c)
Ivan Popov vs Borko Lajthajm, Subotica, 2019
4k2r/1p1bqp2/1p1p1n1p/2p1n1p1/4P3/1NQ2PB1/rPP3PP/2KR1B1R w k - 1 0
[ 1.Rxd6 Qxd6 2.Bxe5 Qc6 3.Bb5 Qxb5 4.Bd6 Kd8 5.Qxf6+ ]

3c)
Ivan Popov vs Borko Lajthajm


Other Russian GMs
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