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Play Better with
Leonard Barden Foreword by Viktor Korclinoi �
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CONTENTS 8
Before You Start
30 Top Ten Checkn1ate Attacks
16 Top Ten Novice Pitfalls Scholar's mate; forks; copycat chess; back row mate; poisoned pawn; hanging bishop; pinned knight; the master check
22 Top Ten Opening Traps Ruy Lopez; Cambridge Springs; Caro-Kann; Stonewall; Vienna; Blackmar; Morra Gambit; Anti-Dragon; Pi re/Modern; Grunfeld
First published in 1980 by Octopus Books Limited 59 Grosvenor Street, London Wl. C
19HO
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Octoru-; Books L1mited
T054380
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Pnnted m Spa1n by Artes Graflcas Toled(
g6 pawn; f6 wedge; attack on h7; dark diagonals; queen and knight; back row mate; smothered mate; heavy piece attack; Greek gift; rooks on the seventh
38 Top Ten Endgames Active rook; active king; outside passed pawn; pawn charge; one pawn win; wrong colour rook pawn; zugzwang; bad bishop; FischerjKarpov endgame; Petrosian endgame
106 Winning Plans for White
46 Test Your Chess IQ 50 Learn from the Champions
92 Winn ing Plans for Black French Defence; Sicilian with 2
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.
.
Nf6; Ruy Lopez
Schliemann; Mestel Philidor; Old Benoni; King's Indian Defence; Tarrasch Gambit; Mestel' s Defence; Catalan; English King's Indian; King's Indian Attack
Italian Game; Ruy Lopez; Vienna Gambit; French Defence 3.Nd2 �Sicilian Cutty Sark Attack; IQP system; Caro-Kann; Queen's Gambit Accepted; PircjModern Defence; Alekhine Defence; Queen's Bishop Attack; Orang-out ang
122 Pro Techniques for A111ateurs 136 Chess for Cha111pions 150 Glossary of Chess Ter111 s 152 Index Index of complete games; Index of openings
Foreword byViktor Korchnoi Improvi ng one's ability as a chess player is not an easy task. The physical development of muscles on arms or legs can be easily achieved by training with weights. Training will also hel p improve speed a t running o r swimming. But how much time and effort must be spent at chess to have any effect ? Thousands of people play chess regularly but never improve their game at all . At one time I studied the text-books of Lasker, Capablanca and Euwe. I admired Euwe's lectures for their consistent and logical approach, but I particularly remember Lasker's manual. He was a rea l optimist, writing that in just 1 20 hours he could teach a novice to such a high standard that he would be able to stand up to a master. I don't know how many players have followed Lasker's advice but, frankly, there is still a great distance between those who know how to avoid blunders and those who think independently, who can play openings, who appreciate the subtleties of chess strategy - I mean masters. ' One does not have to be a grand master to tutor young chess players successfully. The ab il ity to teach is something quite special . I never really managed to teach my own son to play chess. He would pester me to play, but I would point to a book on the shelf and say ' First, read th is book and then we will play .' For a ten year old like him, chess was a game, l ike an electric train, but for me it is a profession, my work. I could not understand his att i tude to chess, nor could he understand mine. The task of a teacher is to discover talent in a pupil, to rouse his enthusiasm and only then to make him an expert by keeping him regularly occupied with new and increasingly complex problems. I would like to introduce the author of this book- well-known as a teacher of British juniors. In 1972 money was made available for chess education for j un ior players in London, and it was Leonard Barden who worked with them. In 1976 I had an opportunity to become an inspector of thi s 'kindergarten' . I played a simul taneous display with London schoolboys on 30 boards. The dis play lasted over seven hours and was exhausting, although enjoyable, work. I was held to a d raw by no less than ll players and lost to one. In 1979 Boris Spassky also put Leonard Barden's work to the test. Spassky won 13 games, lost five and drew the rema inder ! In 1978 and 1979 the young generation of British chess players, tutored in part by Leonard Barden, received the highest accolade, winning the World School boys' Championship . I do not want to intrude into Leonard Barden's field of teaching, for in education he i� a respected expert. But as a leading chess player I am often asked the same questions. At the risk of repeat ing the contents of this book, I will attempt to answer some of them . Perhaps the main point which troubles the beginner is the extent to which abil ity w i ll depend on natural talent. In an age where chess books and instruction are widely available, talent
is not such a vital factor. The ability to work hard is more impor tant. I know of several grandmasters with no specific talent for chess. One of them, Botvinnik, was World Champion for 15 years ! To compensate for lack of talent, he possessed an exceptional capacity for work and an iron wilL So is studying chess useful and, if so, when should one begin ? Clearly, it is not something to rush into headlong at any serious level. To play chess seriously can involve considerable stress, and chess can become a passion that interferes with other studies. But in moderate doses chess is generally useful. It is usual to begin at 10 or 12 years old and studies have shown that at that age chess develops perseverence, increases attentiveness, en courages the ability to think logically and teaches objectivity. Indeed, in some schools where chess has been introduced along side other subjects, the level of achievement has been raised. I am sometimes asked how to perfect one's game. Learning how the p ieces move is a simple matter, b ut knowing this is no more than knowing a few words of a foreign language. You would be foolish to claim to be able to speak it. And, like a language, chess can be studied for a lifetime - there are always new things to learn. Not even World Champions can exhaust the possibilities. If you have mastered the basic science of chess and want to take your ability further, it is a good idea to note down your games to analyze them later. You can do this with a friend or teacher, but better still by yourself. You should be really thorough and write a commentary on all your games, whether you have won or lost. In this way, you can investigate your own thought processes and discover the errors made by both you and your opponent. It is more useful to play with a partner who is better than your self. If he is much better, you will not understand why you lose. But if he is much weaker than you, the game will only serve to boost your ego. The occasional boost to the ego does have its value, however! It is worthwhile studying a few games in detail - perhaps in volving an opening that interests you or the style of a particular grandmaster. A memorized opening is a weapon you can use in practical play. And by imitating grandmasters you can bring yourself up to their level. Don't feel ashamed to copy the play of Capablanca or Fischer. They, champions of the world, began the same way . I t i s only necessary to learn one o r two openings, and perhaps some essential positions in the endgame. There is no point in endless learning of countless variations. What is important is the development of flair, the understanding of your chosen openings and a feeling for the delicacy of strategy. Chess is both simple and complex. Armed with this knowledge, you are ready to proceed to develop your chess skill, with the help of Leonard Barden' s splendid book.
BeforeYou Start
Chess is a game for two people, played on a board of 64 squares coloured alternately light and dark. The l ight squares on the board are 'white' squares and the dark ones 'black'. Both you and your opponent may use a ll the squa res during the game. For p lay, the board is placed so that each p l ayer has a white square on his right at the end of the row nearest him (fig. 1). Re m e m ber 'Wh i te on the right' and you will n ever face the embarrassing
moment common to many novices when an experienced player comes to look at the game and says scornfully 'You' re p layi ng with the board the wrong way round!'
fig. l
The line-up
At the start of the game, the chess pieces or men are placed on the board as shown in fig. 2 (illustrated).
Each player has l king 2 bishops l queen 2 knights
2 rooks 8 pawns
You may only have one piece on a square at any time. Note that the white queen always starts on a white square and the black queen starts on a black square. White always moves ·first, then Black, then White again and so on until the end of the game.
Chess diagrams in this book are printed with White at the bottom of the board, moving up. This is usual in chess books as well as in magazine and newspaper articles about chess. How to win and draw
Chess starting position. Note the white square in the bottom right-hand corner. The white queen always starts on the white square and the black queen on the black. With millions of ways to play the first few moves, novices should try to control central squares.
The ultimate object of a chess game is to capture the king, or more precisely to force your opponent's king into a position where it is inescapably trapped - a situa tion called 'checkmate'. If it is no longer possible for either side to win, the game ends in a draw. To win at chess, you must be more skilful than your opponent in moving and manoeuvring your pieces. Sometimes this may mean gaining an overwhelming material advantage so that checkmate of the enemy king becomes inevitable. On other occasions a strong player will sacrifice some of his men so that the other pie
9
There are s ix types of chess piece, each with its own way of moving over the board . This probably derives from the ancient Ind ian game of Chaturanga, one of the precursors of modern chess, in which dice were thrown to determine which piece moved . Each of the six sides of the d ice corresponded to a particular piece, so that if you threw a one you moved a pawn, two meant a horseman (the predecessor of the knight) could move, and so on.
moving your own man into its place. In fig. Sa White has the choice of capturing either the rook or the pawn with his bishop. The bishop cannot jump to the squares beyond the black men. The player of White may, if he wishes, make a non-
Bishop a nd Ro ok moves
The bi shop may move any number of squares along one diagonal in any one move. It cannot jump over other chess men. A bishop moves on squares of one colour only, and each player has one bishop for black squares and the other for white squares (fig. 3). The rook can move any number of squares alorig one verti cal column ( ' file ') or horizontal row ('rank') in any one move. It moves on straight lines only, and cannot jump over other chessmen. The rook can land on both black and white squares (fig. 4).
fig. 7
can take the powerful queen. It is im portant to keep pieces guarded when possible, so that if your opponent takes one of your pieces you can retaliate by capturing one of his. capturing move with the bishop, or decide to move a different piece. In fig. 5 b, White has taken the rook with his bishop and removed the captured rook from the board. This all counts as a single move.
fig. 6
The white rook in fig. 6 can take the black knight but cannot go to the square beyond it. The rook cannot move to the square occupied by its own pawn, nor to the three squares beyond it. Quee n moves and captures
Ca ptures
A chessplayer can choose whether or not to capture an enemy piece. You do not have to capture and there is no penalty for not capturing. You capture by taking the opponent's p iece off the board and 10
The queen is the most powerful of the chess pieces and can move like a bishop or a rook. The queen can move along d iagonals, ranks or files, but must keep to one diagonal, rank or file on any one move. In fig. 7 the queen can move to any of the squares marked by crosses. Fig. 8a shows a capturing move of the queen. She can either move like a bishop to capture the rook, or like a rook to capture the bishop. The queen has cap tured the bishop in fig. 8b - but watch out ! Now it is Black's move and his rook
fig. Bb
Knight moves and captures
The knight moves differently from all the other chess pieces in that (a) it can jump over other pieces and (b) it does not move in a straight l ine. The knight's move is always L-shaped (fig. 9a). It goes either two squares up (or down) the board and then one square across, or alternatively two squares across and then one square up or down. If a piece of your own or your
opponent's l ies between the knight and i ts destination. the knight simply jumps over it. In fig. 9b the white knight can jump over either bishop.
fig. llb
can move to any of the squares marked with crosses on the next move (fig. llb) . By promoting pawns i t i s possible to have two or more queens, or three or more knights, bishops and rooks. In theory, a player can have nine queens on the board - the original one and eight promoted pawns. If the promoting pawn captures an opposing man on the pawn's final, pro moting move, this still counts as part of the same move. If you need a second queen and your set has only one, use an upturned captured rook, a lump of sugar, or anything distinctive to hand. King moves and captures
square marked by a cross.
fig. lOb
Pawn p romotion fig. 9b
The knight can jump over any piece in the path of its move without taking it. If you find its move a little hard to remember, note that it always travels from a white square to a black one or vice versa . The knight captures any enemy man on the square where it lands. In fig. 9 b, the white knight can capture the black pa wn.
A pawn slowly inching its way up the board will normally be blocked or cap tured before it reaches the opposite side. But any pawn which does reach the far side is immediately promoted into a queen, rook, bishop or knight (but not a king) as the player wishes (fig. l l a) .
The king moves one square in any direc tion and it can generally capture opposing men in the same way as do other pieces. In fig. 1 2a the king can move to any of the starred squares while in fig. 1 2b the king can capture either the rook or the bishop.
Pa wn m o ves a nd ca ptures
The pawn is unique among the chessmen in that it may move forwards only. Normally a pawn's advance is limited to one square at a t ime, but for its first move the pawn is allowed to move either one or two squares. The pa wn is also the only man whose capturing move is different from its 'normal' move. Pawns can only capture enemy men which are one square diagonally ahead of them. The white pawn on the left of the board in fig. lOa has the option of moving one square or two for its first move. The two middle pairs of pa wns block each other and none of them can move. Either of the pawns on the right can advance one square. The white pawn in fig. lO b has the option of ca pturing the knight or advancing to the
fig. l2a
Check to the king!
fig. lla
Removing the pawn from the board and su bstituting the chosen piece is all part of one move. The player usually decides to promote the pawn into a queen because that is the strongest piece. The new queen
The object of chess is to capture the king. When the king is attacked it is said to be 'in check' and it must get out of check immediately. Figs l3a and l3b show two examples of check. In both these positions the attacked king must move immediately to a square where it is not in check, that is, not being attacked by an opposing piece. 11
Getting out of check
You can escape from check in three ways: (a) by blocking your opponent's threat to your king (b) by capturing the checking piece or (c) by moving the king out of check. In fig. 1 5a Black can escape from check in any of the three ways.
Mo re o n ch eck
The king is never allowed to move into check, nor to stay in check. In fig. 1 4a the king can take the bishop or move one square diagonally north-east. All other moves would still leave the king in check and are not allowed under chess rules . Kings cannot move to squares next to one another since this would effectively be a move into check (fig. l 4 b).
fig. l6b
fig. l5b
Black has captured the checking rook in fig. 1 5b with his bishop. He could also have escaped from check by interposing the bishop between the king and rook, by capturing the knight with the king, or by moving the king to one of the two other squares not attacked by the rook. Discovered and double check
fig. l4b
If White advances his pawn or moves his white-squared bishop, the black king is in check from one of the other white pieces - a discovered check (fig. 1 6a). Discovered checks can be strong because the moving piece has the chance to attack another opposing man. If White moves his rook to either arrowed square in fig. 1 6b the black king is in check from both white pieces - a double check. It is impossible to meet a double check by interposition or capture, so the king has to move. Check mate
You have won the game when your opponent has no way to move out of check. 12
The capture of the king on the next move is then inescapable and the king is check mated. Figs. 1 7a and 1 7b show two checkmates. In the first the black king is checked by the white queen. The queen cannot be captured because the king would then be in check from the rook - and there is no other way to escape from the queen check. In the second example, the black king is in check from the white rook. It cannot retreat up the board because its escape squares are guarded by the white knight or bishop or blocked by the black rook. The black king cannot of course move next to the white king.
Draw by sta l e mate
Not all games end in checkmate. When a player is not in check, but has no legal _ move available, he is said to be stalemated, and the game ends in a draw.
fig. 20b
fig. 17b
More checkma tes
Checkma tes _occur most frequently with , the loser s kmg on the edge or the side of the board. Figs l8a to l 8d show typical checkmating (wh ich experienced players call 'mating') finishes. In the first two, the black king is hemmed in by i ts own pawns and so has no escape square when attacke� by the white rook or knight. The other d _Iagrams show two white pieces . combimng for the final attack.
fig. 19
The situation in fig. 19 is not checkmate the black king is not even in check. But if the black king tries to move, it will either be in check from the white queen (not allowed) or directly next to the white king (also not allowed). If Black had another piece in the diagram it would not be stalemate because he could move that piece. It is only stalemate when the player on the move has no move at all he can make, and when his king is not in check.
White plays the arrowed bishop move Black has no legal reply but is not in check, hence a draw by stalemate. In fig. 20b White's queen keeps check ing on the arrowed squares and Black's king cannot escape the checks. Black is ahead on pieces and would win if White did not give perpetual check. Draws by agreement
If the material is even, with very few _ pieces left, and there is no reasonable chance of mating or promoting a pawn, the players generally agree to draw the game. One player says 'Draw ?' and the ?ther accepts his offer. Only a bad blunder m fig. 21 could permit a win for either side.
Othe r ways to draw
If neither you nor your opponent has enough pieces to bring about a checkmate, the game ends in a draw. For instance, a lone king can never checkmate another l �ne king. A king and a bishop against a _ k� ng, or a kmg and a knight against a kmg, are also situations where checkmate is impossible. If your king can be continually checked b � t not � heckmated by an opponent's piece or pieces, the position is a 'perpetual check' and the game is drawn. In fig. 20a White's king and bishop cannot checkmate Black's lone king. If fig. 21
fig. l8d
fig. 20a
The scoring system for chess games in matches and tournaments is 1 point for a win, t point for a draw, and 0 for a loss. There are very few d �aws among begin ners, but the proportiOn gradually rises as the players become stronger. In tourna ments and matches among grandmasters the world's leading players - as many as two games in three may be drawn. Two rare methods to reach a draw happen when the same position occurs three �imes with the same player to move each t1me; a�d when both players make 50 moves Without taking anything or moving a pawn. 13
Wha t a r e the pieces w o rth?
A
but more i f l ikely I to become a queen -
then jumps over the king to the square immediately on the other side of the king. This all counts as a single move. Castling may be done once only by either player d uring a game. In castling, always move the king first.
�
one move. An en passant capture is optional, but can only be made on the move succeeding the captured pawn's two square advance as shown in figs. 24b and 24c.
Rul es about castling
�
You are not allowed to castle if there is any piece occupying a l squa re between the king and rook. 2 if you are in check. If you get out of check without movi ng your king, then you can castle later in the game. 3 if your king has to cross a square where it would be in check. 4 if you have already moved your king, even if you later moved it back again. 5 if you finish up in check. 6 if the rook intended for castling has already moved during the game. If one rook has moved, you are still allowed to castle with the other rook.
No attacking value \j;; in the opening and middle stages of the game, when the king must be safeguarded from checkmate. However, when only a few pi eces remain, attack ing value ra pidly increases up to 4 or S
Usual ly, though by no means al ways, the stronger army wi ns a chess battl e. Novi ces will find it useful to keep a point count of the pieces on the board . An advantage of two points or more (two pawns ahead, or rook against bishop or kn ight) is sufficient to win games between reasonably experienced players. In an endgame where few p ieces remain, a one point lead may be enough . But you can afford to be ten or twenty points behind, or eveR more, if you are certain to check mate your opponent's king. Castling
Castl ing is a special move made by the king and the rook, before they have moved from their starting posi tions on the board .
fig. 24b
fig. 23
The white king cannot castle on either side in fig. 23 because it would mean crossing a square where the black knight would give check. The black king cannot castle on the short side because he would be in check from the bishop, but he can castle on the long side even though the castl ing rook is attacked. The castling rook can jump from or through an attacked squares even though the king cannot do SO.
Pawn takes e n passant
The special pawn en passant ('in passing') capture is the least understood rule of chess. It ensures that a pawn advancing two squares on its initial move can still be captured b y an o pposing pawn on an
adjacent file.
fig. 22
In castl ing, the king moves two squares in the di rection of the rook. The rook 14
If the black pawn in fig. 24a advances one square, White can capture it. When the black pawn advances two squares, White's pawn can capture ' en passant' just as if the pawn had moved only one square. The capturing pawn has to be on the fifth square of a file, and the en passant capture can only be made if the opposing pawn advances two squares in
fig. 24c
The moves summarized
I
Straight line ranks and files for the rooks; criss-cross diagonals for the bishops ; the queen moves like a rook or bishop; L shaped jumps (two up or down and one across, or two across and one up or down) for the knight ; and one cautious square for the king. A pawn advances forward one or two squares on its first move, and one square at a time after that ; it captures
one square diagonally forward; and at the far end it is promoted . Attacking the king is check, and attacki ng the king so that it cannot escape is checkmate. If you are pieces or pawns ahead you are on the way to a win if your king is safe. Remember the point cou nt, and don't give away pieces for those of lesser value without a good reason.
Notations compared
1 . e2-e4 2. Ngl-f3 3. Nbl-c3 4. Bfl-b S 5. Nf3xd4 6. e4-e5 7. e5xf6 8. Bclxd2 9. 0-0 1 0. Bd2-c3 l l . Rfl-e 1 1 2. Re 1 -e5 1 3. Bb5-d3 1 4 . Qd 1 -g4 1 5 . Qg4xg7+ 1 6 . ReS-gS mate
Writing the mo ves
Every square on the boa rd has i ts own unique com bina tion of reference number and letter.
e7-e5 Nb8-c6 Ng8-f6 Nc6-d4 e5xd4 d4xc3 c3xd2+ Qd8xf6 Bf8-e7 Qf6-g5 0-0 Qg5-f6 h7-h6 Qf6-h4 Kg8xg7
l. e4 eS 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. BbS Nd4 5 . Nxd4 exd4 6. eS "dxc3 7. exf6 cxd2+ 8. Bxd2 Qxf6 9. 0-0 Be7 10. Bc3 QgS 1 1 . Rel 0-0 1 2. ReS Qf6 1 3. Bd3 h6 1 4 . Qg4 Qh4 1 5 . Qxg7 + Kxg7 1 6. RgS mate (fig. 26)
1. P-K4 2. N-KB3 3. N-B3 4. B-NS 5. NxN 6. P-KS 7 . PxN 8. BxP 9. 0-0 1 0. B-B3 1 1 . R-K 1 1 2. R-KS 1 3 . B-Q3 1 4. Q-N4 1 5 . QxPch 1 6 . R-NS mate
P-K4 N-QB3 N-B3 N-QS PxN PxN PxPch QxP B-K2 Q-N4 0-0 Q-B3 P-KR3 Q-RS KxQ
a bly best ? ! probably not best pro motes to, e.g. fxe8 Q + means 'the f7 pawn takes a piece on e8, promotes to queen, and gives check'. =
=
Rules o f play
fig. 25
If the white bishop moves from cl to gS we can write this as Bc 1 -g5 or just BgS. The letter B is used for the bishop, R for the rook, N for the knight, Q for the queen and K for the ki ng. If there is no prefixing symboL it means a pawn move. A piece being played from one square to another constitutes one move. In writing the move the piece symbol comes first followed by the square of departure. The square of departure is l inked to the square of arrival by a hyphen if the move is a non-capturing one. In condensed notation used in this book the departure square is omitted . A capture is wri tten with an x rather than a hyphen, so that Nxf7 means that a knight takes whatever man is on f7. Pawn c aptures a re written giving the file _ from which the pawn starts and the square where it arrives, e.g. fxg6 means a pawn on the f file takes on the g6 square. If both rooks or knights can move to the same square, the move actually played is indi cated by the rank or file from which the piece departed . An example: White's rooks on a2 and f2 can both move to e2. If the a2 rook moves, it is wri tten Rae2, if the f2 rook moves, it is written Rfe2. If both pieces are on the same file a similar procedure is used . An example : Whi te's rooks a re on e7 and e 1 and can both move to e 5 . If the e7 rook moves the notation is R7e5 and if the el rook moves it is descri bed as R l e 5 .
Nota t i o n s compare d
The notation just described is called the algebraic notation and is used in most countries of the world for chess publica tions. The descriptive system, in which each square is indicated by two combina tions of letters and numbers depending upon whether White's or Black 's move is being recorded, is favoured in English speaking countries but is increasingly being replaced by the algebraic system. The popular BBC2 Master Game chess tournament uses the algebraic system, and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced that it will recog nize only algeb raic as an official notation from 1 January 1 9 8 1 onwards. For readers who are already familiar with descriptive notation but not with algebraic, the game above (Posch v Dorrer) is in full algebraic, condensed algebraic, and descriptive notation. Summary of abbreviations
(king) Q (queen) R (rook) B (bishop) N (knight) P (pawn) 0-0 Castles short (on the k ing's side of the board) 0-0-0 Castles long (on the queen's side of the board) + check - moves to x takes ep en passant ! good move ! ! brilliant move ? poor move ? ? blunder ! ? pro bK
As well as the moves of the pieces, there are rules of beha vi our during a game which also form part of the international laws of chess. If you touch one of your pieces, you must move that piece if possible, while if you touch one of your opponent's pieces, you must capture that piece if you can. This rule is interpreted in a common sense manner, and a player whose sleeve brushes against his tall king as his hand reaches out to move a pawn is not penalized. If a piece is slightly dislodged from the centre of its square, and you want to replace it properly, you have to tell your opponent before you touch the piece. The conventional way to do this is to say 'J'adoube' ('I adjust') which allows you to make any necessary adjustments. Piece adjustments should only be made when it is your own turn to move. Once you have moved a piece, placed it on a new square and let go ofit, you cannot take the move back or put the piece on a different square. Novice players, worried about the touch-move rule, can often be seen to pick up a piece, put it hesitantly on a new square, then keep a finger on top while peering around the board to see if the move is safe. This isn't illegal, but it is bad manners and your hand blocks your own view (.)f the board. If you suddenly notice you are making a mistake while the piece is stil l in your hand, replace it on its original square and think again. You must stil l move the piece you have touched, but at least there is a chance to find a better square for it. If you castle, you have to either pick up your king first, or the king and rook together. If you touch the rook first you may have to move just the rook. 15
TOP TEN
Novice PitfallsPitfatl one - Scholar's mate
Almost every novice falls at least once for the Scholar's mate: e5 1 . e4 Bc5 2. Bc4 3. Qh5
How to avoid Scholar's mate Black should play 3 Qe7 in the dia .
.
.
.
fig. 27
The begi nner now decides to chase away the annoy i ng white queen and plays 3. . Nf6 ?? 4. Qxf7 mate. The check mating queen is protected by the bishop, and the atta cked black king has no escape. .
.
Scholar-'s mate z s the basrc beginner's pitfall. Whrte threatens instant checkmate by his queen capturing the pawn next to the black ).:inf!_. w11h the white queen f!_Uarded by the t)[shop If Black knows how to meet thzs attack. he can gazn the znitzative.
16
.
gram. Then 4. Qx£7 + ? Qx£7 . 5. Bx£7 + Kx£7 leaves Black a bishop for a pawn ahead with a winning game. And 4. Bxfl + ? Qxf7 5. QxeS + Qe7 6. QhS + K d8 is little better. If White answers 3 Qe7 with 4. NO then 4 . . . . Nc6 5 . Nc3 Nf6 and White's queen has i ts retreat cut off. If 6. Qh3 d S ! and the black pawn, advancing to attack the white bishop, at the same time dis closes an attack by the black bishop on the white queen. In that event, White's premature attack leads to decisive mater ial gain for Black . .
.
.
Pi tfall two Schola r's rook fork
A variant of Scholar's mate, which also claims a large number of novice victims, is:
l. e4 2. Bc4 3. QhS
eS BcS g6 ? ?
Black knows he must stop Scholar's mate, but hasn't learnt that he must protect his f7 pawn with his queen. So h is 3. . . g6 ? ? : is an instinctive forward defensive prod which White answers by 4. QxeS + and 5. Qxh8, winning a rook and the game . How to a void Schola r's rook fork
There are two simpler ways to stop Scholar's mate attacks than in the solu tion to Pitfall One. Once White plays 2 . Bc4 in a novice game, he telegraphs his intentions. So Black can counter at once by 2 . . N c6 ! and if 3. Qh5 g6 (now the eS pawn is protected by the knight) or if 3 . Q O (again threatening Qxf7 mate) then Nf6. If Black suspects a Scholar's mate is coming, he can take evasive action even on move l. Simply, l . e4 e6 2. Bc4 ? d 5 ! controls the centre of the board and drives off the white bishop at once. .
.
Pitfall three The weak f7 p a w n
Another elementary attack which baffles many beginners occurs when White's kn ight and bishop combine to attack the f7 pawn. This pawn is the weakest defence poi nt in the early stages of a game, protected as it is only by the king. The pitfall runs: eS l. e4 Nc6 2. B c4 Black stops Scholar's mate. 3. NO Nf6 4. NgS
18
White threatens 5 . Nxf7 with a 'fork' (a double attack against two pieces) of the black queen and rook. What should Black do? Certainly not 4 . . . . Qe7 ? 5 . Bxf7 + K d 8 6. B b 3 Ke8 7. d3 when White has won a pawn while Black has had to move his king and so cannot castle. Also risky is 4 . . . . d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 ? 6. d4! If then 6 . . . . exd4 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Nxf7 ! Kxf7 9. Qf3 + Ke6 10. Re1 + and White has a crushing attack. If instead 6 . . . . Nxd4 7. c3 wins one of the knights. How to avoid the weak f7 paw n
Black may be able to survive with absolutely correct play after 5 . . . . Nxd 5, but this particular game is not for novices. Instead meet 4. Ng5 with 4 . . . . d5 5 . exd5 Na5 6. BbS + c6, and though you will be a pawn down your pieces come into action quickly. Pitfall four- Th e copycat trap
Copying your opponent's moves when you play Black may sound a pla�sible idea so what can go wrong? Sometimes, not very much. When White starts the game with a non-committal opening move - say 1. c4 or 1. ND which are less forcing than 1. e4 then Black may be able to mirror his opponent's plans for half-a-dozen moves without disaster. However, if you try copycat chess when White opens with l. e4, you could quickly be in trouble. The pitfall goes: eS l. e4 Nf6 2 . NfJ 3 . NxeS -
A master game i n progress. White pieces aim at the central squares, the clock indicates that it is White's turn to move.
Nxe4 3. . . . N f6 7 4. Qe2 Now Black notices that i f 4 . . . . Qe7 5. Qxe4, but that would be better than what happens. 5 . Ne6 + Discovering check from the white queen, while at the same time the knight threatens the black queen. White wins queen for knight. How to avoid the copycat trap
Black should play 3. . . d6 ! first, chasing away the dangerous white knight. Only then should he recapture the lost pawn by 4 . . . . Nxe4. .
Pitfall five The back r o w mate
The novice who has held his own against an experienced opponent for many moves may finally be caught out by leaving his king behind a row of unmoved pawns. It's a common situation, and one to guard against.
fig. 31
Here material is almost level. Black has a bishop and four pawns to White's rook and three pawns - just half a point down on the point count. Black sees a chance to restore the material balance, and seizes it without a final safety-first look round the board . 19
1. Qxb2 7 2 . Q e8+ ! Bxe8 3 . Rxe8 mate
How to avoid the poisoned pawn
Black should have played 7 . . . B d7, which prevents the white b ishop on d3 movi ng away with check. Black would then be threatening to capture the pawn with no i mmediate danger. .
How to a v oid the back row mate
Black should have played 1. . . h6! maki ng an escape hole for his king. In the early and middle part of the game, pawn moves in the v ic inity of the king can create serious weaknesses in the defences. In the late stages however, with few pieces left, it is important to provide agai nst sudden raids on the back row. .
Pitfall six The poiso n e d pa w n
It i s a famous chapter in chess lore that at the world championship match in Reyk javik Bobby Fischer captured Boris Spassky's b2 pawn with his queen and within a few moves found his queen trapped in ignomin ious fashion. There is also the story of the millionaire who left his fortune to his nephew on condition that he never took the b2 pawn with his queen. This would be a useful hint for novices to remem ber, but in actual play there are few instances where one side has the chance to take off the b2 pawn with the queen. A more likely poisoned-pawn pit fall occurs where the queen greedily captures the d4 pawn like thi s : e6 l. e4 d5 2 . d4 3. e5 c5 N c6 4 . c3 5 . NO cxd4 6. cxd4 Qb6 Black is eyeing the d4 pawn and expects to build an attack against it by means of N(g8)e7 and Nf5, 7. Bd3
Pitfall seven The Vienna push
Many chess nov ices become famili ar with just one basic openi ng - a routine and stodgy development of the pieces on the l ines of l. e4 e5 2. NO Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 d6 and so on. Such players can be thrown mentally off balance when White does something different and unfamiliar as early as move two. The 'somethi ng different' is 2. Nc3, known as the V ienna Game. White can fol low up with a pawn advance w � ich induces some 80-90 per cent of novices into a weak and panicky response. e5 1. e4 2 . Nc3 N f6 3. f4
Ho w to avoid t h e Vienna push
20
Novices like to develop bishops early. The more experienced player prefers in most cases to bring out the knights first, � i nce the bishops have a greater variety of choice and it can pay to commit them late in the opening. But an early bishop move is not bad in itself. What the novice must guard against when playing Black and developing h�s king's bishop (the one at f8) on the queen s side, is that the bishop may become unguarded and vulnerable to a white queen check. An example of this kind of pitfall : Nf6 1. d4 e6 2 . c4 Bb4 3 . Nc3 d5 4. e3 5. N O b6 7 7 ·
fig. 34
3. . . . exf47 Qe77 4. e 5 ! Black does not like the idea of retreating his knight back to g8, but the text is worse. 5. Qe2 Ng8 6. d4 d67 Black should swallow his pride and play 6 . . . . Qd8. 7. Nd5 Q d8 If 7 . . . . Qe6 8. Nxc7 + wins the queen. 8. Nxc7+ Kd7 If 8 . . . . Qxc7 9. exd6 + wins the queen. 9 . Nxa8 and wins.
but White takes no notice, apparently leaving the d4 pawn to its fate. 7. . . . Nxd4 7 7 8 . Nxd4 Qxd4 9 . B b 5.ot- Kd8 10. Qxd4 and w ins
Pitfall eightThe hanging bishop
Black should play 3. . . . d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4. White can still stir up complica tions with 5. d3 (see page 110) but there is no question of a forced loss for Black.
Black plans to put his bishop on a good square at b7. 6 . Qa4 + and wins the bishop or (if 6 . . . . Nc6) the knight .
How to avoid t h e hanging bishop
Black here set up the pitfall for himself. Before his 5 . . b6 77 White's Qa4 + was no threat, as the black knight could inter pose at c6 protected by the b pawn. Simplest for Black was 5 . . . 0-0. .
.
.
Pitfall nine- The pin n ed knight
Pitfa ll ten - Th e ma ster che ck
Many novices, after a little experience with chess, settle on a routine opening, both for White and Black, bringing out the knights and bishops in the centre. This is an understandable choice for players lacking wide experience, but even this apparently harmless openi ng contains hid den pitfalls. Variants of one such snare catch many novices each year. e5 l. e4 Nc6 2. NO Bc5 3. Bc4 d6 4 . d3 5. Nc3 Nf6 So far there is complete symmetry, but remember pitfall four and the dangers of copycat chess. 6. B g 5 0-0 7
Some experts would include this final pitfall among the traps to catch exper ienced players which are described in Chapter 3. But this trap has now been in circulation since the year 1943 and has occurred so often and been described in print so many times that regular match and tournament competitors have little excuse for allowing it. Its great danger is to the novice, who takes up the Sicilian Defence 1 . e4 c5, the most popular open ing in chess, and is attracted to the 'Dragon' system where Black develops his bishop at g7, on the promising long d iagonal from h8 to al. c5 l. e4 d6 2. NO 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 g6 5. Nc3 6. f4 This pawn advance is a signal that White is hoping to set the 'Levenfish trap' named after a Russian who popu larized this opening. Usual moves are 6. Be2, 6. Be3 and 6. f3. Bg7 6. . . . This natural move is already inferior. Somewhat better is Nc6. dxe57 7. e5 A better practical chance is 7 . . . . Nh5
7 . Nd5 1 Black's knight is pinned aga i nst the queen and can be attacked by two white pieces. This weakness is made worse because the pawn front defending the king will be weakened . 7. a6? 8 . Bxf6 gxf6 f5 9 . Qd2 1 0 . Qh6 Threatening 1 1 . Nf6 + , winning the queen or mating by Qxh7 . 10. f6 1 1 . Nxf6+ Kh8 12. Qxh7 mate
8. Bb5 + (8. g4 ? Nxf4 ! 9. Bxf4 dxe5) Bd7 9. e6 fxe6 10. Nxe6 Bxc 3 + 11. bxc3 Qc8 though a 1979 British Championship game J. Littlewood-Mestel showed this, too, as favourable for White. Play ended 12. Bxd7 + Kxd7 13. Ng5 Qc4 14. Rb 1 Kc7 15. Rb4 Qxa2 16. Qe2 Nc6 17. Ne6 + Resigns. If 17 . . . . Kc8 18. Rxb7 ! with mate in three if the rook is taken. Can you work out the mate ? 8. fxe 5 N g4 7 8 . . . . Nd5 also allows the unpleasant 9. Bb5 + . Best, in a poor position, is 8 . . . . Nfd7 9. e6 Nf6 10. exf7 + Kxf7. 9. BbS + setting Black a dilemma, for both Nd7 and Bd7 now lose a knight to 10. Qxg4. The best chance now is 9 . . . . Nc6 10. Nxc6 Qxd1 + 11. Nxd1 Bd7, but in practice if Black reaches the position after 9. Bb5 + he looks round for a way to avoid losing material and thinks he has found it with . . . 9. . . Kf8 10. Ne6 + and wins the queen. .
How to avoid the master check
Black should. play 6. . . Nbd7 ! This is the simplest way to a sound game while avoiding trappy lines. The game might continue 7. NO Qc7 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Kh1 a6 11. a4 b6 12. Qe1 Bb7 1 3 . Qh4 e 5 . .
fig. 36
Ho w to a v oid the pin n e d knight
Black should have played 6 . . . . h6 ! chasing away the attacking bishop and if 7. Bh4 gS. This pa wn advance is safe while Black still has the option of long side castling, although too risky once the black king has castled short. Black wasted a further move with the irrelev ant 7. . . a6. Instead he should play 7 . . Be6 when, if 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qd2 Bxd S . Then Black still has the inferior position because of his weakened pawns around the king, but he has avoided any early mate threats. .
.
21
Opening tra ps a re a more advanced form of novice pi tfa l ls. Pitfalls are there for the player new to chess who has only a hazy idea of text book moves and general stra tegy. It is possible, however, to fall into standard opening tra ps even after two or th ree yea rs experience, and in positions with which a player thinks he is familia r. The secret of a good openi ng trap is that the loser's moves should be natural
a nd plausi ble. There may be only a small difference between the trap situation and one where the loser is adopting the classi cal tenets of the masters. But that d iffer ence is crucial, and it means quick victory or defeat.
Many weaker players are less familiar with the Ruy Lopez 3. BbS than with 3. Bc4, and therefore choose what looks a solid defence eschewi ng tactical risks. 4. d4 B d7 Nf6 5 . Nc3 6. Qd3
T r a p o n e - T h e master sta n d by
When chess masters give simultaneous displays against 20 to 40 opponents at once, their usual plan is to win many games on technique. This means picking up a pawn or two, exchanging pieces, and simplifying into an endgame where the ultimate victory comes by promoting one of the extra pawns to queen. B ut how to win a pawn or two in the first place? One way is by a standard trap against a defensive set-up chosen by many average chess club members. 1 . e4 eS Nc6 2. NO d6 3. BbS 6. . . . Be7 7 B lack continues to develop normally, but here this is a serious m istake. 7. Bxc6! Bxc6 8. dxeS dxe S 9 . NxeS
White has won an important pawn. The purpose of 6. Qd3 was to protect the e pawn so that Black cannot regain the lost material. For maximum effect, such moves as 7. Bxc6 and 8. dxeS should be made rapidly and with a flourish, to indicate to Black that he has blundered. Not i nfrequently players of Black become demoralized by the unexpected turn of events and continue 9 . . Qxd 3 ? 1 0 . c x d 3 0-0 11. Nxc6 bxc6 1 2 . K e 2 when White has further assets to add to his extra pawn. He has weakened the black queen's side which can be pressurized by moves like D, Be3, Rhcl and Na4 when the pawns at c6 and c7 are vulnerable. .
Attack formation against the Sicilian Defence is the most popular black opening. White prepares a queen side castling then a pawn storm on the black king. Only precise play keeps Black in the game ;
.
23
How to a void the master sta ndby In place of 6. . . . Be7 ? Black should exchange pieces by 6 . . . . Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4 Bxb 5 . Strictly speaking, White's 6. Qd3 is inaccurate and he should first play 6. Bxc6 and then 7. Qd3. The problem with that order of moves is that Black is more likely to notice the threat tt> his e5 pawn and to take measures to protect it - so White has to weigh up his opponent and decide whether to play it strictly by the book or to maximize the chances of the trap .
T ra p two- Springing the Ca m b ridge Springs
the queen. There are several variants of this basic trap - for example if White plays 7. Bd3 (instead of 7. Nd2) Bb4 8. Qc2 Ne4 9. Rc1 ? (White should play 9. Bxe4) Nxg5 10. Nxg5 dxc4. How to a void t he Ca m b ridge Springs
.The simplest counter for White is to anticipate the Cambridge Springs once Black plays 5. . . . c6 and exchange pawns by 6. cxd 5 . Later on, White can still avoid material loss by 9 . Bxf6 instead of 9. Bd3. T ra p three
The Queen 's Gam bit Declined is a popular opening in club and social chess. One of Black's possible formations, an early queen development introduced at a 1904 US tournament at Cambridge Springs, contains a trap which always has a chance of success against opponents unfamiliar with this sligh tly offbeat line. 1 . d4 d5 2 . c4 e6 3 . Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 Black already sets a trap: if White tries to win a pawn by 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nxd 5 ? Nxd5 7 . Bxd8 Bb4+ 8. Qd2 Bxd2+ 9. Kxd2 Kxd8 Black has won a piece. Perhaps this looks too much like a trap, for it ra rely occurs in practical play . c6 5 . e3 Qa5 6 . NO A logical move, for i t removes the black queen from the pin by White's bishop and starts a counter-pin on White's knight. 7. Nd2 Bb4 8 . Qc2 0-0
-
4. fig. 38
9 . Bd3 ? A natural developing move, which eyes Black's h7 pawn, but . . . 9. . . . dxc4 Black now w i ns a bishop after both 10. Nxc4 Qxg5 or 1 0. Bxf6 cxd 3 attacking 24
Caro-Kann knights
A defence often preferred by solid and conservative players, but recently gain ing fashion as a weapon of counter attack, is the Caro-Kann 1. e4 c6. It is almost routine to meet this defence by 2. d4 but in doing so White passes up the chance for a double trap which is well worth a try at club and social level . c6 1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 3. Nf3 dxe4 P ushing on the d pawn is not very good 3 . . . . d4 4. Ne2 c5 (d3 5. cxd3 Qxd3 6. Nc3 followed by 7. d4 and White controls the centre) 5. Ng3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e5 7. 0-0 fol lowed by d 3, Ne 1 and f4 with attack ing prospects for White. If 3 . . . . Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 (Nfd7 5. d4 and Black will soon have to advance c5 with loss of a move) 5. Ne2 and Black's knight is driven back by d 3 with gain of time for White. 4. Nxe4
.
. .
Bf5
Another move here is 4. . N d 7, intending to play Ngf6 without allowing Black's pawns to be weakened. Then the trap is 5. Qe2 Ngf6 ? ? 6. Nd6 mate ! This trap has succeeded in a master tourna ment and world champion Alekhine once brought it off against four opponents who were in consultation. Bg6 5. N g 3
6 . h4
h6
to provide a retreat square for the bishop. 7. NeS In the usual order of moves with this variation, White has played d4 rather than Nf3 and so cannot bring his knight quickly into the attack. Now White threatens to weaken Black's pawns ser iously by 8. Nxg6, so the bishop retreats. Bh 7 7. . . 8. Bc4 threatening 9. Bx£7 mate. e6 8. g6 9. QhS N f6 10. Qe2 After countering two successive mate threats, Black is usually only too happy to snatch at what appears to be a breather with the chance to develop a piece by this knight move or by Nd7. 11. Nxf71 Kxf7 1 2 . Qxe6 + Kg7 13. Qf7 mate This useful trap has occurred in a master tournament and has also enjoyed practi cal success at lower levels. .
How to avoid the Caro-Kann knights
Black can avoid the main line trap by 4. . . . N f6 or 4 . . .. B g 4, and he can side step the trap in the note to 4. . . . B5 by playing Ndf6 or e6 instead of Ngf6. T rap four - The Stonewall
The Stonewall Opening is considered a regular opening by many books, but it is really just a practical trap. White sets up an attacking formation which depends for its success on Black countering with conventional development rather than with moves designed to offset White's wall formation. It is inadvisable to try it against strong opponents, but at the lower levels of club chess and in friendly games it can prove a devastating weapon. The Stonewall's name describes White's strategy. The first player sets up a wall of pawns in the centre, behind which he masses his pieces for a full-scale attack on Black's castled king. A great advantage of the Stonewall in social chess or at the more modest levels of club play is that it is a system type of opening which can be prepared in a single evening, is easy to understand, and not likely to be forgotten when the player reaches the board. Admittedly there is a disadvantage when meeting stronger opponents. The stonewaller sig nals his intentions at an early stage and thus gives his opponent time to switch into a defensive formation designed to reduce the impact of White's wall. So if your chess is of the friendly variety, in the club third or fourth team or in the minor or novice section of a weekend congress, the Stonewall attack/ trap can prove a useful point scorer.
Higher up on the c hess lad d er recom mend i t .
l . d4 2. e )
I
don ' t
dS
N f6 If Black bri ngs h is b i shop into action by BfS W h i te does best to a bandon h i s projec ted wall forma tion a n d attack on the quee n ' s s i de by c4, Nc3 and Q b 3 . 3 . Bd3 e6
4. Nd2 5. c3
cS
a necessary precaution to prevent the bi shop be i ng cha sed off its good d iagonal by c 4 . 5. . . . N c6 6 . f4 Wh i te's last move compl etes the wall of pawns on the black squares and gives the open i ng i ts name . 6. . . . Be7 7. N g f3 It is tec hn ica lly more preci se, but psycho logically unnecessary, to play 7. Qe2 first - to stop Black sett i ng up a wall in turn by 7 . . . . Ng4 8. Qe2 f5 . But in a c l u b o r so cial game Black will rarely consider such a non - routine manoeu v re, and it is wo rth the sl ight r i sk of a l lowing i t to ga in an ex tra move for W h i te's a ttac k .
7.
8. NeS
0-0
Now White's outpost k night, supported by the pawn wall, is ready to spearhead an attack against the black king.
8.
c4 7
Bd7 bS aS
9. Bc2
1 0 . 0-0
1 1 . R f3
12. Rh3
b4 7
Black reasons that he can advance on the quee n ' s flank w hile W h i te is attacking on the other side of the board, but in most such situations it is the threats to the k i ng which are the more dangero u s . 1 3 . Bxh7 + Stonewall p layers have real chances of rea c h i ng this winni ng sac rifice against u n p repa red opponents . 13. . . . Nxh7 1 4 . Q h S and wins.
W h i te threatens 1 5 . Qxh7 mate ; if the k n ight moves then 1 5 . Qh8 mate ; while i f 14 . . . . ReS there is mate in two b y e i ther 1 5 . Q x h 7 + o r 1 5 . Q x f7 + .
How to a void t h e Stonewall Black c a n make W h i te ' s attacking p l a n more d i ffi c u lt in t h e accompanying d i a gram b y playing 8 . . . g 6 ! i ntending Ne8 and f6, d r i v i ng away the attacking knight or for c i ng i ts exchange . But simpl est of all, if you t h i nk your opponent plans a S to newall, is to counter it on move 3 by 3 . . . . g6 ! and Bg7 when the white b i shop ' b i tes on the granite' of a sol i d ly defended k ing' s position. If White's Stonewall a tta ck d oes not succeed, he h as a long term stra tegic handicap in that h is bishop on c 1 remai ns blocked in by its own pawns. .
How to avoid the Blackmar Ga mbit
T r a p fiveT h e Vie n n a que e n check
Trap six The Blackmar pawn snatch
The Vienna queen check is a more ad vanced snare from the same opening as pitfall 7 - the Vienna push. It has two distinct advantages over many opening traps in that the Vienna is an unfashion able opening which will often be virgin territory to the opponent ; while the move which sets up the trap appears a blunder.due to White making two routine moves in an unusual order. e5 1 . e4 Nf6 2 . Nc3 3. f4 d5 For 3 . . . . exf4 ? see pitfall 4 . Nxe4 4 . fxe 5 5. d3
The Blackmar Gambit is one of the dashing by-products of chess opening theory which catches a goodly haul of victims in club and social play though it has few successes in master tournaments. Like most pawn sacrifice gambits, whose object is rapid piece development, it depends for its results on Black becoming too greedy and capturing irrelevant pawns. 1. d4 dS dxe4 2 . e4 3 . Nc3 N f6 exO 4. 0 Black can decline the gambit by 4 . . . . BfS or 4 . . . . e3, but these enable White to gain a slight edge without risk and taking the pawn is best. 5 . QxO 5. NxO is a sounder line, but the capture with the queen poses the question of whether Black really knows the opening. If he does not, he may be swept off the board . Qxd4 5. 6. Be3
5. . . . Qh4 + looks natural to 'punish' White for not preparing d3 by 5. Nf3 . However, con trary to appearances, Black's queen check is a losing blunder. Nxg3 6. g 3 7. NO Qh5 8. Nxd5 White counters the threat to his rook by a counter-threat to the black rook. If Black now defends his c7 pawn by Na6, Kd8 or Kd7, White wins the g3 knight by 9. Nf4 Qh6 1 0. Nh3 . Nxh 1 8. 9 . Nxc7 + Kd8 10. Nxa8 Be7 1 1 . Bg2 Bh4 + 1 2 . Kfl Nc6 1 3 . d4 ! Less good is 1 3. Bxh 1 NxeS ; but after 1 3. d4 White remains at least a pawn up with the better position (N£2 1 4. Qe 1 and the black knight remains trapped). It
How to avoid the Vienna que e n check
Black has two better plans in the diagram, 5 . . . . Nxc3 6. bxc3 d4 7. NO Nc6 8. cxd4 Bb4 + simplifying, or 5 . . . . Bb4 6. dxe4 Qh4 + 7. Ke2 Bg4 + with complications. For these, see page 1 10. 26
fig. 4 2
Q b4 7 6. 7. 0-0-0 Bg4 7 8 . NbS I e5 B lack i s already lost. I f h e tries to stop 9. Nxc7 mate by 8 . . . . Na6 then 9. Qxb7 Qe4 (Rb8 10. Qxb8 + ) 10. Qxa6 Qxe 3 + 1 1 . Kb1 Bxd1 1 2. Qc6 + Kd8 1 3. Qxc7 + Ke8 14. Nd6 + Bxd6 1 5. BbS + wins. 9. Nxc7 + Ke7 10. Qxb7 1 This final coup closes the trap. If 1 0 . . . . Qxb7 1 1 . BcS mate, or if 10 . . . . QaS 1 1 . Be 5 + Qxc5 1 2. N a6 + wins the queen.
Black has chances to refute the gambit by 6 . . . . Qg4 7. Qf2 e5 with the threat Bb4. A move later, 7 . . . . c6 may still be · a defence. If Black is completely unfamiliar witl:t the gambit and wishes to duck all White's homework, he can transpose into completely different openings by 2 . . . . e6 (French Defence) or 2 . . . . c6 (Caro-Kann). Trap Seven - The mazy Morra
The Morra Gambit ( 1 . e4 cS 2. d4 cxd4 3. c 3) has an attraction for many young players when they start to meet the fashionable Sicilian Defence. The Sicilian is the most analysed of all openings, and to choose the trappy Morra against it avoids the burning of much midnight oil. The gambit can certainly be defended; but isn't easy to counter at the board, and features trap variations which continue to claim victims in match and tournament chess. l . e4 cS cxd4 2. d4 dxc3 3. c3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 The plausible 4 . . . . d6 5. Bc4 Nf6 ? fails to 6. e5 ! Qc7 ( dxe5 7. Bxf7 + Kxf7 8. Qxd8) 7. Bb5 + Nfd7 8. Nd5 Qd8 ( if Qa 5 + 9. b4 ! Qxb5 9. Nc7 + ) 9. Qc2 ! and Black cannot avoid heavy material loss. If Nc6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 1 1 . Qxc6 threatens both Nc7 + and Qxa8. d6 5. NO Another apparently safe line which gets Black into difficulties is 5 . . . . g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. e5 ! Qa5 8. 0-0 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 BxeS 1 0. Nd5 e6 1 1 . Re1 f6 1 2. Bb3 K£7 1 3. Rxe5 ! fxe5 1 4 . Qf3 + Ke8 1 5. Bh6 Nxh6 1 6. Qf6 and wins. 6. Bc4 e6 Again 6. . . . Nf6 ? runs into trouble after 7. e5 ! and if dxe5 8. Qxd8 + Kxd8 (NxdB 9. Nb5) 9. Ng5 Kc7 10. Nx£7 Rg8 1 1 . Nb5 + Kb8 1 2. Nxe5 Nxe5 1 3. Bxg8 Nxg8 14. Bf4 and wins, or if here 7 . . . . Ng4 8 . e6 Bxe6 9. Bxe6 fxe6: 10. Ng5 Nf6 1 1 . 0-0 Qd7 1 2 . Re1 e5 1 3. Qb3 d5 14. f4 e6 1 5. fxe5 with advantage. 7. 0-0 Nf6 8 . Qe2
Geared up - many experts arrive at the board a few minutes early. The aim is self'"motivation for tough four or five hour playing sessions and a final mental rundown on opening plays. Preparations for major matches may start months in advance with the aid of trainers and files on opponent's games.
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,... __ \' ,''-
_ _...,
· �:..
0
g6 4. cxd4 dS 5. exdS Nf6, when Black regains his pawn with a reasonable game and - most important - the gambiteer is diverted from the lines he knows well. T rap e ight - The anti-dragon
8. . . . a6 ? This last is a plausible move, since It IS normal in the Sicilian Defence for Black to ad vance his queen's side pawns. The pawn move also allows the black queen to go to c7 without risking harassment by 9. Nb5. Nevertheless a6 is a mistake which falls into another of the mazy Morra 's traps. 9 . Rd 1 Qc7 Be7 10. B f4 I f 10 . . . . e5 1 1 . Nd5 NxdS 1 2 . exdS Be7 1 3 . dxc6 exf4 1 4. cxb7 Bxb7 1 5 . Rac l with fine open lines for White's pieces. If 1 0 . . . . NeS 1 1 . BxeS dxeS 1 2 . Rac l Bd7 1 3. Bxe6 ! Bxe6 1 4. NdS Qb8 1 5 . Nc7 + Ke7 1 6 . Qd2 with a winning attack against Black's exposed king. 0-0 1 1 . Rac1 Rd8 1 2 . Bb3 If 1 2 . . . . eS then again 1 3 . NdS ! with advantage . 1 3 . Nd5 1 This is a typical idea in the Morra Gambit White takes advantage of the concealed attack along the c file by his rook against the black queen to regain the gambit pawn with advantage after a temporary knight sacrifice. 13. exd5 h6 14. exd5 1 5 . dxc6 dxc6 Bd7 1 6 . Nd4 1 7 . Nxc6 ! Bxc6 1 8 . Ba4 followed by R or Bxc6 with a distinct advantage for White : he has two bishops against bishop and knight, while the isolated black d pawn and especially the a pawn are targets for the white pieces. How to avoid the M o r ra Gambit
A better defence to the Morra Gambit from the diagram is 8. . . . Be7 and 0-0. But many players who adopt this gambit do so regularly and know its nuances and subtleties even when Black defends well. This also applies to declining the gambit by 3 . . . . Nf6 or 3 . . . . d S . Therefore I recommend club players confronted with the Morra Gambit to sidestep it by 3 . . . .
28
At the average club player level, few opening traps have enjoyed such con sistent success as the special anti-Dragon attack employed against the Sicilian Defence. The Dragon (named because Black's pawn formation d6-e7-f7-g6-h7 has a vague resemblance to the outline of the mythical beast) is one of Black's most popular systems, but it can blow up in its owner's face if even one or two moves are too slow or inaccurate. Such inaccuracies give White the chance to carry out a standard system which has brought success in hundreds of games. It is easy to understand, to remember, and carry out, and the Anti Dragon can therefore be recommended as a very good trap for club play and in the lower sections of weekend congresses. l . e4 c5 2 . NO d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6 . Be3 Bg7 Nc6 7. 0 8 . Qd2 0-0 9. Bc4 Bd7 1 0 . Bb 3
played, but weak, is 10 . . . . a6 ? when White continues as in the column. Ne5 l l . h4 Nc4 1 2 . Bh6 Qxc4 1 3 . Bxc4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 1 5 . hS I It is an important part of the Anti-Dragon trap that this advance should be played at once and not delayed until White has pushed g4. If now 1 5 . . . . NxhS 1 6. g4 Nf6 1 7 . Qh6 + Kg8 18. NdS Rfe8 1 9. gS NhS 20. RxhS gxhS 2 1 . Nf6 + exf6 22. gxf6 and mates. Kg8 15. Rac8 1 6 . 0-0-0 b5 1 7. Qh6 1 8 . g4 1 e5 If 18 . . . . e6 19. QgS Ne8 20. Qe7 followed by 2 1 . hxg6 wins. 1 9 . gS Nxh5 20. Rxh5 gxhS 5 2 1 . Nd5 22. g6 Resigns. The finish is similar to the note to Black's l Oth move : 22 . . . . hxg6 23. Qxg6 + Kh8 24. QxhS + Kg7 25. Rgl mate. How to avoid the ant i-dr agon Black has two reasonable plans at move 1 0 : the simplifying 10 . . . . Nxd4 1 1. Bxd4 b5 (when White should continue by 1 2. h4 aS 1 3. a4) and 10 . . . . Rc8 11 . Bb3 NeS when White continues 1 2. Q-Q.;.O with complicat-ed play. This main lime of the Anti-Dragon system can also be reached with 1 0. 0-0-0, but by adopting the less familiar 1 0. Bb3 White takes little risk while giving Black the chance to go badly wrong on move 10. ·
Trap nine Pieces beat the queen
Judging · by the point count table on page 14, three pieces (two knights and a bispop, or two bishops and a knight) shoula : prove stronger than a queen. And -� "it.'· usually happens in practice, e�<;:ept � a, � minority of occasions when there �'�111*.,:· tactical chance favouring th.� player . .... mfl\ the queen or else when the quee, . . · 11)11p freedom of action to capture pa.���':::�f';i�� ·' One good example of putf;ing·�\:' of three pieces against : the qu� . · . practical· use occurs in a promising c " · ·: to the Pirc Defence ( 1. e4 d6) and : th� Modem Defence ( 1 . e4 g6l These pop�ar: systems are often played in contemp:�r·�t tournaments. Black can and slllould'ava· the queen v pie�es situation, but strategy has brought good re�ults, •• when Black has avoided the trap.· -' : ' g� l . e4 2 . d4 B g7 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 5. Qe2 This position can arise Just the sam:e if Black begins 1 . . . . d6 and continues ·· ·. · .
Here 1 0. 0-0-0 is the more usual move, but the immediate bishop retreat has in practice often caused Black to go wrong. 10. . . . Qc7 7 One of several plausible but inferior moves in this critical position. Another example from actual play is 10 . . . . NaS ? 1 1 . · Bh6 ReS 1 2. Bxg7 Kxg7 1 3. h4 Nc4 1 4. Bxc4 Rxc4 1 5 . hS ! eS 1 6. N4e2 NxhS 17. g4 Nf6 18. Qh6 + Kg8 1 9. gS Nh5 20. RxhS ! gxhS 2 1 . NdS fS 22. g6 hxg6 23. Qxg6 + Kh8 24. 0-0-0 Resigns, for White's rook will join in the attack at g l or h 1 with decisive effect. Also frequently
·
.. -
· .
-·
���. .
·
··
2
N f 6, 3
g6 a n d 4
).
B�7
:\ e h 11 l' l h J .x c "i d .x c "i I H g "i . a n d i 1 , (l h . c "i J :-: c '1 ; l x e 'i N J S R B d 2 ! < d l < ) \ \· ed h · 0 - 0 - 0 , 1 n h o t h c a ses w i th g( ) ( IJ ,J t t ,l l{ J n g c h a n c e s fo r W h i t e . A n 1 n t c r - L I u h g a m e ( R H a r rn a n --0. H i l l ) w e n t ) 0-0 h . c S d x e 'i 7 . d x e 5 N e8 8. f4 c 6 9 :\ 1' 3 B g 4 1 0 Be 3 B x f3 ? 1 1 . Q x f3 K h 8 ? ( \\'eakcns t h e f7 sq u a r e ) 1 2 . Rd 1 Qc7 1 3 . � e4 b6 1 4 . N g 5 c6 1 5 . Q h 3 h6 1 6 . 0-0 Qe 7 1 1 . B x e 6 ' fx c6 1 8 . N x e6 R g8 1 9. fS ! g x fS 2 0 . N x g 7 Q x g 7 2 1 . R x f5 Q h 7 2 2 . R h S R e s i gn s . 6. eS
IS
B g 'i
fo l l o w ed by
N f6 + or ( b ) l l .
0-0-0 1 4 . R h e 1 K hH ( 1/ H / 5 1 5 . Bc4 e6 1 6 . fJ in ten ding g4) l S . B h S c6 1 6 . Ba4 h 5 1 7 . N x e6 fx e 6 1 8 . B h 3 d S 1 9 . B f4 + Ka8 20. N e4 . B c6 1 2 . B d ) Q d 7 I 3 .
Nd4
Ho w t o a v o i d this t ra p B l a c k c a n s i d e s tep t h i s o p e n i n g by p l a y i ng 4 . . . . N c6 or 4 . . . . c6, al tao ugh White
c a n then a v oid wel l-analy zed. variations by 4 . . . . N c 6
5�
5.
dS N d4
6.
N ce2 or 4 . . .
B b 3 N f6 6 . f4 . (See a lso pa-ge
.
c6
1 1 8.)
I f B l ack reac hes d iagram 45 his best Nd7 7. Nf3 N b 6 ! $. Bb3 0�0 9 . B f4 a S 1 0 . a4 Bg4 1 1 . 0-0-{} Qc8 1 2 . Qe3 d x e S 1 3 . d x e S Be6 with a solid position ( K . A r kel l�Chandler, Manchester Bene d i c t i n e 1 9 79) . l i ne is 6 . . . .
Tra p t e n Ca t c h i n g t h e m a st e r s M o st o p e n i ng traps find t h e i r v ic t i ms am ong pl ayers in c l u b matc hes and
6. I f 6.
. . .
N x d4 ?
N g4 a ga me N i g el S h o r t- D .
.J e r s e v 1 9 78, c o nt i n u e d 7 . e 6 ! :\ x d 4 8 . Q x g4 N x c 2 + 9. K d 1 N x a l \ 0 . c :-: G + K f8 1 1 . Q h4 d 5 1 2 . Bd 3 Be6 I 3 . :\ 1' 3 A x fi 1 4 . R e i d4 1 5 . B g 5 ! B f6 1 6 . N e4 B x g S 1 7 . N e x g S B x a 2 1 8 . N x h 7 + Kg8 I 4 R :-: e7 Q x c l ") (a b e t t e r t ry is B f7 ) 2 0 . () x c l R x h / 2 1 . QJ � Bd 5 2 2 . Qx a l a n d \ \ ' h i t c s o o n \\· on \\' i th h i s e x t ra p i ec e . A l so i n s u ffi c i e n t i s 6 . . . . N h 5 7 . B b S ! Sikkel.
dxeS ( Black's
b e s t c h a n ce is 7.
. . 0-0 8 F3.\ d) bxc6 9 . s4 dxC'5 w i th so me L' P mpe n sa t i o n for t h e k n i g h t ) 8 . d'i 0-0 ( i l cih 4 . J\ d) c�xh 5 1 0 . cxh 7 B.\ h 7 1 I . Qxb5 + Will ' ) 9 . d :-: c6 h x cb I 0. B x c6 R b8 1 1 . Q d 1 8 .1 6 1 2 . Q x d 8 a nd W h i te won on ma te r i a l ( R ega n -- S h a m k o v i c h . N ew York 1 97 8} C pnn t h e retreat 6 . . . . N d 7 there can fo l l ow 7. N f3 d x e '5 ? 8 . B x f7 + ! K x f7 9 Ng 5 + a nd wins. 7 . e x f6 ! N x e2 8 . fx g 7 R g8 9 . N g x e2 R x g 7 10. Bh6 R g8 1 1 . 0-0-0 T h i s p o s i t i o n h a s o c c u r red s e v e r a l 1 1 m es i n m a t c h and tou r n a ment chess hL·l· ,w ..,c p l a ye rs w i th B l a c k have been ,J t t r J L t cJ hy B l a c k ' s t wo e x tra p a w n s in <; u p pn rt of t h e q u een. B u t p r a c t i c a l p l a y h ,1 .., '> h n w n t h J t W h i t e c a n u se h i s p i e c e s 1 < 1 b rea k d n w n A l a L" k ' s pa w n b a r r i c a d e .
w e e k e n d c o n g resses. Ma sters, better p r i m e d , u s u a l l y know enough to sidestep c1 nd a v o i d them . B u t a trap in the Grun fe l d Defe nce ( w h e re Bla ck a ll o ws W h i te a pawn c e n t re then tries to u nd e rm i ne it w i th p ie c e s) i s unusual in that it bagged four ma sters in n a ti o nal and i n t erna t ional p l a y in under a yea r. It has the e s sent i al fea t u re for a ll practical traps. n a me l y that t h e op ponent falls in to it by making
a p p a r e n t l y natural and 1. 2. 3. 4.
d4 c4 Nc3
cxd s
5 . g3 6. B g 2 7 ; N f3 8. e3
9. 0-0 10. dS 1 1 . e4
sensi ble mov e s . Nf6
g6
dS NxdS
Bg7
I n the earlier moves, W h i te h a s s u p p o rte d
h i s centre p a w ns w hile Black has trie
b l o c ka de the d pawn and o rg aniz e l o n g d i stance coun terplay with b ishops and k n i gh ts . It is natural for White t o try and e l im i na te the p i n on h is k n i ght - but a fter 1 2. h 3 ? the trap is sprun g . BxD 12. c6 13. Bxf3 1 4 . Qb3 If 1 4 . dxc6 Nxc6 and the b l a ck krfig'ht reaches the outpost square Gi4. 14. cxd S 1 5 . Nxd5 Nbxd5 NfJ 1 6 . exd5 1 7 . Qxb7 7 1 7 . Bg2 held out longer in Murra y�iHbli. Reykjavik 197 5 : 1 7 . . . . Nd4 18. Qd3 fS 1 9. d6 Qxd6 20. Bxb7 Rad:S 2 1 . 1Bg2 f4 2 2 . Be4 Qe6 2 3 . Kh2 hS 24 . b3 (24. JBel2 Bh6 threate.ns fxg3 +) Kh$ 2 5 . Ba 3 fxg3 + 26. Qxg3 Bh:6 2 7 . Qh4 Bf4 + 28. Kh l R:f6 2 9 . Rad 1 gS 30. R esi gns - the queen is lost. 17 . . . . Nd4 1 8 . Bg-2 Qd6 ! Now th€re is no good deFence to B.la,ek ' s threat to win the . queen b y Rfb-8 . In Lomba rd-Kirov and Sapi-Ri b l i , 1 9 7 5 , W h ite resigned at ortce . In . Gmmek Szymczak, 1 97 5, White made the gesture 1 9 . BgS f6 20. Rfcl Rab8 2 1 . Qxa7 Rf7 before he a1so gave up, faced w i th loss of queen or bisho p .
How to avoid this trap Since the natural 12. h3 turns out to be a l o s i ng m istake, White should try 1 2 . Qb3 or 1 2 . a4 - and .much earlier in the opem i ng h e could transpose to another regu:la.t va r iation by 4. e4 .
. N b6 N c6 0-(l)
eS
Ne7 Bg4
12. h3?
gnud \\· i n n i n g c h a n c e s . P t l S S J b lc c o n t i n u a t i o n s a re : ( a )
\\ J t h
c) I 2
h 4 lkh I 3
1 1. . . . B x e6 fx c6 I 4 . N e4 K d 7 29
TOP TEN
Chec ate Attacks
C h e c k m a t e on t h e c h e s s bo a r d is fi n a l t h e re is no r e c o v e r y . A n d some t y pes o f m ,l l L' a n d '-· n t a m p a t t er n s o f p i ec e s LTO P u p l r c ej u c n t l y a t a l l l e v e l s o f p l a y . I n n o \' l 1 · e ( h e s s t h e v m a v oc c u r i n a n e l e m e n t a ry fo r m . fac"i l i ta ted by poor d e fe n c e ; at t h e m a s t e r a n d e x p e rt l e v e l w h e re bo t h p a rt i c i p a n t s a rc a l e r t t o t he i m p l i c a t i o n s of sta n d a rd a t t a c k s, t h e y have to be ( a re fu l l y p re p a r e d l o ng i n a d v a nc e an d p e r h a p s c r e a t ed by i m a g i n a t i ve fi n e s s e s -
.
,
a n d '>a n i fi c e s
a c c i d e n t t h a t a l most a l l t he i n \ · o l v e t he q u ee n , t he most p o \\ C r lu l c h e s s bo a rd p i e c e . a s s i s t ed by ( l nt' or m o re l e s s e r u n i t s . T h e seco n d a rv p l C( C n l l r m a l l y mo\TS i n f i r s t to co n t r o l O'r
lt 1s ,l ! t J ( k s
no
The c h ess student who b€comes fami
l i a r w i th t h e mechan ics of these m a ti n g
c o n s t e l l a t i o n s is i n p os s ess i on o f a re l i a b l e po i n t s c o r e r . O n c e the a t ta c ker has h i s c o m b i n ed fo r c es l i n ed up aga i n st the k i n g , it i s o ft en i m poss i b le to fi nd a d e fe n c e .
Check mate attack one The f6 wedge
Tht�re are some middle games where one s i de p lays for space on the queen's wing
w h i le his opponent has a free hand to o rganize an attack on the king. A strong attac k i ng dev ice in suitable positions is to a d vance the f pawn to f6 where it co,m trols the g7 square and also acts as a wedge stopping defe nders coming to aid the k i n g . T h e basic pattern : t h e white queen w i thin range, no b lack piece availa b le to guard g7. White w i ns b y 1 . Qh6 and 2. Q g7 m a te If the b l a ck b i shop was at c5 i nstead of c6, Black would have the defe n ce Bf8 (fig. 47). .
o L· ( u py a k e y s ll u a rc n e a r t h e e n e m y k i n g, t h e n t h e q u ee n c o m e s i n
fo r t h e k i l l .
' �-�·. ;
fig. 4'8
Here B lack p l a ns to d efen d both g7 aind. h7 against mate threats by 1 . Qh:G :Rg8 a·n61 if 2. Rh3 · NOS. White in ste ad plays a b rillia nt but standard sacrifice from the f6 wedge : 1 . Qha ltg8 2. Qxh 7 + ! Kx.h7 3. Rh3 mate . .
The
game
Szabo-Hartoch,
AmsterGi·am
1 9 72 ill us tra tes a more complex posit;:i;CD·m, but with exactly the same idea as in fi�.
Qb6 Rg8 2. Bg4 Nxc3 3. it<\13 Qfr8 4 . Qxh7 + Kxh7 5·. Rh3 + Qh6 6. Rxh6
48 : 1.
mate .
The f'6 wedge. The white pawn has penetrated to the heart of the black game and the pieces prepare a checkmate attack. In master chess Black tries to avoid such passive positions.
:n
C h e c k m a t e a t ta c k t w o
C h eck mate attack three Q ue e n and b ishop aga inst h7
T h e m a t i n g g6 pa w n
h a s i c pa t t ern o f t h i s s i t u a t io n i s t he p a \\" n on gb. t h e q u een w i th i n s t r i k 1 n g ra n ge a n d t h e b l a c k k i ng u n a b l e I l l r u n ta r . W h i te m a t e s by 1 . QhS + K gR 2 . Q h 7 + K f8 3 . Qh8 m a t e .
The
,l d ,· a n c ed
fi g . 5 1
m o re a d v a n ce d e x a m p l e comes from a l i g h tn i ng game. at H a s t i ngs in 1 94 8 . T h e re a re m a n y p i eces on t he boa rd a n d B l a c k . m a t e r i a l a h e a d . t h reatens Q x f2 + . h u t e v e n a t t e n se c o n d s a m o v e W h i t e ,· i s u a l i zed t h e c h a n c e t o fo rc e h i s q u e e n to h 7 I . R h 8 + K x h 8 2 . Q h 1 + K g8 3 .
A
H e re ( J . Benj a m i n-G . Carter, London A m a te u r Cha m p i o n sh i p 1 9 7 5) we see W h i te c r e a t i n g t he g6 pawn several moves in a d v a nce. The key is the p u sh w i th the h pa wn to a t tack B l a c k ' s c a stled pos i t i on w h i le the w h i te kn ight w a i ts at e 5 . Once t he pa wn can reach h5 the knight is sa c r i fi c ed a t g6 to set up the mating p a tte r n . For a sports pa ra l l e L i lT!agine a long p u n t hy a r u g b y ful l - back d eep into the opp o s i n g tea m ' s 2 2, w i th the p u n te r ' s t h ree-q u arter l i ne fo l l ow i ng th ro ugh i n s u p por t . The ' sa c r i fi c e ' of seve ral a ttac k e rs t o ta c k l i ng d e fend e rs matte rs not so l o ng as t h e re is a spare man to ta ke the h a l l a c ross the l i n e . H e re t h e b a l l is t h e g 6 pawn at move 1 4 . The b i shop (mo ve 1 5 ) and the rook ( 1 7) a re ta c k l ed but then t he queen go es t h ro u gh to score t he w i n n i n g try by the right-hand post . l . e4 e5 2. N f3 N f6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nc3 N f6 5 . N xe5 d5 6. Bb3 Be7 7 . d4 0-0 8 . Bg5 c 6 9 . Qd3 N fd 7 ? 1 0 . h 4 f G 1 1 . N xd 5 ! cxd5 1 2. Bxd 5 + K h8 (see fig. 5 2 ) 1 3 . N g6 + ! hx g6 1 4 . h 5 ! Q a 5 + 1 5 . c3 Qxd5 16. hxg6 + K g8 1 7 . Rh8 + Kxh8 1 8 . Q h 3 + Kg8 1 9 . Qh7 mate .
fig . 5 3
B e fore the k i ng is cas tl e d , f7 is the most v u l n e r a ble sql!lare, as we saw in Scholar ' s Mate and other early attacks. After castling, the squares h7 and g7 (b7 and c7 in the case of l ong castling) are often pro te c ted o nly by the king and are thus p ri me ta r ge ts for the checkma te atta cker . Fig. 53 is an example of a qu ee n - bi sh o p a ttack on h7 which a ris es from a usefu l open i ng trap : l. e4 e6 2. d4 d.S 3 . Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 N d7 5. NO N gf6 6 . N x f6 + N x f6 7 . Bd3 Be7 8 . Qe2 0 -0 9. B g 5 b 6 ? 1 0 . B x f6 Bxf6 1 1 . Qe4 and if Black moves or p ro te cts his att a c k ed rook then 1 2 . Qxh7 mate .
Qh7 mate.
fig. 54
useful manoeuvre to know is a device where the queen and b i sh op combine to attack first h7, then f7. Here the o b v i ous l. Qxh7 + 7 allows the bl ac k king to escape, but White instead fo r c es mate by 1 . Bxh 7 + Kh8 2 . Bg6 + Kg8 3. Qh 7 +
A
K£8 4. Qx£7 mate .
12
c h a nged . I n t h e s ev eral p o p u l ar defences w h e re t h e b l a c k b i shop is d eveloped at g7. it ra r e l y p a ys to e x c h a nge it for a w h i te k n i g h t . A ba sic pattern for a dark d iagonal a t t ack i s : White mates by 1. Rg8 + Kxg8 2. Q g 7 or 2. QhS . ·
fi g . 58 F\ d l77f'/,·
C t 1 C h r a n e- - S ta u n to n ,
London
I X� 2 . H n \\ Jrd S t a u n t o n . t h e h e s t p l a y e r
i n t lw \ \ t 1 1 1 d .J t t h e t 1 m e . k n e w a l l a bo u t t he y u l' c n b i s h o p a t t a c k on h 7 ( i n t h i s ( J SC h 2 ) . H e f i n i s h e d t h e g a m e b y l . . . . � x h 3 � ! 2. g x h 3 R g 4 + ! 3. h x g4 Q h 2
fig. 57
mate.
C h e c k m a t e a t t a c k fo u r T h e da r k d i a go na l s
The d a r k - s q u a r ed b i s h op
1.
K u p reychik-Romanishin, U SSR championship 1 97 6 . Black has sa c r i fi ced a pawn for th is prom i sing a t t a c k o n W h i t e ' s k i n g, but the obv ious ND + a l l o w s N x f3 a n d i t i s not easy for t h e l i g h t d i ago n al attack to bre a k through . W ha t B l a c k really wants is to get h i s qu e en i n fron t of t h e b i shop as in the basic pattern : so he plays 1 . . . . Qf7 ! (attac k i ng W h i te ' s a7 bi shop) 2. Rxe 8 N f3 + ! a nd W h ite resigned. If 3 . N xf3 Q x f3 4. R x f8 + K x fB wi th no d e fence to Qh I mate. Example
Example 2. I . D. Wells-G . Kenworthy, Cum bria v. Yorkshire 1 9 7 8 . Here i t isn 't c l ea r how the dark d i agonal b i shop on c 3 c an g e t at t h e w e a k g 7 square (protected only by Black ' s k ing) with other p ieces in the way. The 1 4-year-old play�n� W h i te settled the game with l. Nd7 ! Qxd7 (if Nxd7 2. Rxg7 + KfB 3. Qxh7 w ins) 2. Bxf6 Be7 (if g6 3. Qxh7 + ! Kxh7 4. R h 3 + Kg8 5. Rh8 mate) 3. Rxg7 + K f8 4 . Rg8 + Resigns. I f Kxg8 5 . Qg5 + and 6. Qg7 mate.
l u r k i n g near
t he b l a c k k i ng a t f6 or h 6 , or fu r t h e r back a l o ng t he o pen d i a g ona l
a
l -h 8 , p ro v i d es
m a n y o p po r t u n i t i es for ma t i ng attacks i n c o l l a b o ra t i on w i t h t h e qu een or other p i ec e s .
W h en
Black
is atta c k i n g, then
t h ere a re e q u a l l y goo d outposts for his l i g h t - s q u a red b i s h o p at n or h 3 . or any
u se fu l s q u a re o n t h e a 8- h I d i a g o n a l . D a r k d i a go n a l a t t a c ks J re pa r t i c u l a r l y s t r o n g \"\ h e n t h e o p po n e n t ' s b i s ho p o f t h e s d m l' c o l o u r h a s b e e n c a p t u red or e x -
33
Exa mple 2 . P l a c h etka-S veshnikov,
Du bna
1 9 7 9 . An i d eal pos i tion for a queen/knight ma te ex c e pt th at the wh i te queen is d e fend i n g . So l . . . . Rc4 ! 2 . Qe3 Qh3 + 3 . K g l R x h4 ! 4. gxh4 N f3 + . W h i t e has to g i ve up h is queen by 5. Qxf3 to avoid m a te, a nd Black t h en w i ns easily o n m a te r i a l .
C h e c k m a t e a t ta c k fi v e Queen a nd knight
C h e c k m a te a t t a c k s i x B a c k r o w m ate
fi.g. (;i 3 Example 1 . M i les-Bennett, Totnes 1 97 4 .
l : g u re \ \ h e re l l l . l ( L' cl
fi g . 1 9 ) 9 s h o w s t h ree bas i c pa t te r n s q u ee n ,! rd k n i g h t c o m b i n e to ( J '-. t l eJ k : 1 g .
Missing a b a c k row mate in t h i s game c0st £ 5 00. Gerald Bennett (Black, to move) was a point in front of his rival in the race for the £ 1 , 000 Cutty Sark Grand Prix as both e xperts h urried their moves to reach the t i me c o n trol . Black played 1 . bxc3 2. bxc3 Rb8 3. Reb l Rxb l ?? (expecting W h i te to reta ke the rook w i th a d rawn e nd ing) 4. Ra8 + and Black is mated . M iles ca ught up with his ri val by this game, and they shared the £ 1 , 000 . .
fi g . 6 2
We
ha ve a l rea d y
.
.
seen a n elementa ry
e x a m p le of a b a c k r ow mate in P itfa l l h ve ( pa g e 1 9 ) . B u t ta k i n g a d v a n tage of a c ra m p ed k i ng on the b a c k row is an i m p ort a n t aspect of many mating d e v i c e s . For e x a m ple , all t h e b a s i c q u een and k n i g h t ma tes ( fi g . 5 9) show a back row
k i n g a l t h o u gh the d istinctive fea ture of th ese posi tions is W h i te's c h o ice of a t t a c k i ng pieces. A g o od pia yer is on the alert for a mate a n y t i me the board is ope ned up and the enemy back row is unguarded or under p ro t ec t e d . Here ( S i magin-Kholmov, Mos cow 1 966) W h i te has made a bolthole for h i s k i n g i n t he ap p ro v ed manner, b u t h e is s t i l l s h o rt of n i g h t squa res and th e b a c k row is u n g ua rd ed . W h i te innocently took a pa w n by l . Bxc7 ? Ng4 + ! and re s i g n ed beca u se of 2 . h xg4 Rh6 + 3. Kg 1 Rd l m a t e . ,
fi g . 60 r, u mplt' 1 . S p a s s k y -- A v t o n o m o v , Len i n g r ,1 J 1 9 4 9 . Bo r i s S p a s s k y. wo rld c h a m p i o n t 1 1 h e . \\· o n t h i s p o s i t i on as W h i te ( t o nw n· j a t t \\' e l v e v e a rs o l d hv a c o m b i n e d -1 u e cn a n d k n i g h t a t tac k . H e pl a y ed 1 . R x d 'l ! Q x d 5 2 . Q x e 7 + K g8 3 . Q x f6 a n d B l a c k re s i g n ed as i f R h 7 ( to s t o p 4 . Q g7 ma t e ) 4 . N e / + w i n s t he q u e e n .
fig. 64 2. Bernstein-Ca pa blanca, St Petersburg 1 9 1 4. A classic example of the back row mate . Both kings are vulnera ble, e . g . i f B lack plays the obvious l . . . . Q.b l + 2. Q fl R d 1 ? 3. RcB + mates . Capa ' s startl i ng solution was I . . Q b2 ! If 2. Q x b 2 Rd 1 mate. If 2. Q e 1 Qxc3 3. Qx·c3 R d 1 + mates. If 2. Rd3 Q b 1 + 3. Qd 1 Qxd 1 + 4. Rxd 1 Rxd 1 mate . Example
.
fi g 6 1
34
.
John Nunn of Oxford University, in 1 MO Britain 's first winner at Hastings for 26 yeers. Hast i ngs is the world's longest-running grandmaster annual. Mathematician Dr Nunn says there's no direct link between his two · interests : 'in maths you need to be right, i'n chess only more right than your opponent '.
fi g .
6 'i
Exl1 mple 3 . T a i --O i a fsso n . L a s P a l rnas 1 9 7 5 . E x - wo r l d c h a m p i o n M i k h a i l Tal i s a fa m o u s t a L· t i c i a n . b u t h e re h e i·s on t h e rece i v i n g e n d . T h e key to t h e pos i t i o n i s B l a c k ' s p o te n t i a l bac k r o w m a t e R d l . A t p r es e n t t h i s i s harm l e ss beca use of Ne 1 \v hen t h e \v h i te q u een g u a r ds t h e kn i g h t, \\· h i l e r em n v i n g t he k n i g h t by B x f3 w o u l d be m e t by g x fJ w h en t h e w h i te k i ng h a s a h o l e . B l a c k won b r i l l i a r.tl y by c o r.1 h i n i n g t he b a c k row t h e m e w i th a t h re a t to t h e r ook a t e 7 : 1 . . . . R d l + 2. N e ! Q g '> ! ! a n d T a l r e s i g n e d . If 3 . Q x g ) R. x e l m a t e . o t h e r w i se W h i t e l oses t h e e"7 roo k .
C h e c k mate atta ck seven S m o t h e red mate
A k i ng be h i nd u n moved pawns and bo xed i n bv his o w n d e fe n d e r on the ra n k can
' be a s i g n a l for a smothe red mate attack by a k n i g h t . H e re W h ite's kn ight gi ves t he mo st usual mate - at f7 - while the b l a c k k n i g h t c an mate because the white p .n-v n is p i n ned by the queen.
-
Exa mple 1 . Cap abla n c a M att i s o n
,
Examp le 2. Unzicker-Sarapu, Siegen 1 970. White (to move) seems to have g-r eat difficulties despite being a bishop ahead, as Black threatens to win by Rxd6. But the game ended l . Bf4 ! N xf4 2. Q x £7 + Kh8 3. Q gS + Rxg8 4. N £7 mate . White needed to visualize this possibility several moves before fig. 68 was reached . C h ec k mate atta c k e ight Heavy piece atta c k
Example 1 . Alekhine-Borochow, . Holly wood 1 932. With queen and both rooks all threatening the white king, it looks easy for White, but the obvious 1 . Rh3 can be met by BfS. Alekhine (playing a blindfold simultaneous exhibition) found l. Ne6 ! which blocks the line of Black's d7 bishop while removing the knight from the g file. Black resigned because of l . . . . Bxe6 2. Qxh 7 + Kxh7 3. Rh3 mate .
fig. 71
Cads
bad 1 9 2 9 . White to move. The great Capa 's o p ponent resigned rather than a l l ow t h is position ! Why ? Beca u se of 1 . c S + Kh8 2. N fi + K g 8 (if Rxfl 3. R d 8 + with a back row mate) 3. N h6 + K h8 4 . Qg8 + ! Rx g 8 5 . N £7 mate . This fo rm of the smothered mate with a queen sac r i fice is known as Philidor's Lega cy after the great eighteenth century chesspla yer. musician and unofficial world c h a m p i on of his time.
T h e basic pattern o f this manoeuvre o c c u r s with White's queen and rooks poi sed for attack while the black pieces
are stranded on the other side of the board . White (to move) wins by opening up the black king and checking with queen and rook to force mate : l . Rxb6 + axb6 2 . Qxb6 + Ka8 3 . Qa6 + (i10t 3 . Ra 1 + ? ? Qxa l + ) K b8 4 . Rb 1 + Kc7 5 . Rb7 + Kc8 6. Qa8 mate .
Examp le 2. Hi.ibner-Petrosian, world championship interzonal, Biel 1 976. This diagram (fig. 7 1 ) will go down in chess history as a remarkable grandmaster blunder where West Germany's best player had an easy win with a heavy piece attack but failed to see it. Black's king is hopelessly exposed ancl ex-world champion Petrosian's last move Qd6 was a desperate attempt at bluff with a threat of his own. Hi.ibner staTed at the position and didn't hear even when the audience started to discuss the right move. He played 1 . g3 ? ? lost the game a few moves later, and with it a possible world title chance. White can win by I. QeS + K g 7 2 . R e 7 + K h 6 (Qxe7 stops mate but loses on material) 3. QfS + K hS 4. R x h7 mate .
Check mate attack n i n e The G re e k G i ft The sa c r i fi ce B x h 7 + was first worked out 300 yea rs ago and has continued to claim v i c t i m s e v er s i n c e . Often called the 'Greek G i ft' it c an become possi ble w h en the w h i te b i sh o p is on the b 1 -h7 diagonal w h i le the defending knight has left its best sq u a re at f6 a nd
cannot return. A and knight may follow ; White may win b y bringing his rook i n to t he a t ta c k v ia the thi rd rank . Somet i mes t h e b l a c k k i ng is driven round the board so h a rd t h at he has to g i ve up dec i s i v e m a t e r i a l to stave off mate.
quick m a te by q u een
sacrificed a knight to reach this position and, with b ishop pinned against the queen, forced a spectacular win. The final checkmating position is nine moves deep, but White knew the Greek Gift idea and worked it out accurately : 1 . Bxh7 + Kxh7 2 . Qh5 + Kg8 3. Bd2 ! (not 3. Rf3 ? ? Rd 1 mate) Rxd2 4. RO Rxg2 (hoping for 5 . Kxg2 Q c 6 ) 5. Rh3 ! K£8 6. Qh8 + R g8 7 . Qxg8 + Kx g 8 8 . Rg1 + Kf8 9. Rh8 mate .
fig. 74
fig. 7 2 Example 1 . The basic pattern can be seen from Y a t e s - Marin, Hamburg 1 930. The pos i t i o n was reached from the opening by l . e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 N f6 4 . Bg 5 Be7
5. e5 Ne4 6. B x e 7 Qxe7 7. Qg4 0-0 8 . B d 3 Nxc 3 ? 9 . bxc3 c5 1 0. N f3 c4 ? and now 1 1 . Bxh7 + and Black resigned . If 1 1 . . . . Kxh7 1 2. Qh5 + Kg8 1 3. Ng5 and B l a c k either has to surrender his queen o r be mated by 1 3 . . . . Rd8 1 4 . Q h 7 + Kf8 1 5 . Qh8 mate . Declining the Greek G i ft does not help : 1 1 . . . . KhS 1 2. Q h S f S 1 3 . B g 6 + Kg8 1 4 . Qh7 mate.
The basic pattern - the white rooks in command, the black king's flight barred by its own rook, and mate in two by 1 . Rxh7 + Kg8 2 . Rdg7 mate .
Example 3. Kuzmin-Sveshnikov, USSR championship 1 97 3. Sometimes the Greek Gift sacrifice involves giving up both bishops. Here Bla,k' s pieces are cramped b�hind a row of pawns while his knight is far away exchanging on the queen's wing. White ignored the obvious capture of the knight and played 1. Bxh7 + ! Kxh7 2 . Qh5 + Kg8 3 . Bxg7 ! Now White threatens 4. Qh8 mate, while 3. . . . f6 would be fatal because of 4 . Qg6. So Black took the second bishop by 3 . . . . Kxg7 and the game ended 4 . Qg4 + Kh7 5. RO threatening 6 . Rh3 mate. Black could stop the mate only by crippling material loss (5 . . . . Qd8 6. Rh3 + Bh4 7. Rxh4 + Qxh4 8. Qxh4 + ) so resigned the hopeless position . C h e c k mate atta c k t e n R o o k s on the seventh
A more complex example has White offering a draw in this postal game position, suggesting l . . . . Rg2 + 2. Qxg2 Rxg2 + 3. Kxg2 when White's pair of rooks balance Black's queen. But Black refused, played 1 . . . . Qxd4 !, and White resigned. If2. Qxd4 Rg2 + 3. Khl Rxh2 + 4. Kgl Rbg2 mate .
fig. 77
Chess is not just a matter of applying general principles - every position is liable to have its individual quirk. H�re (Capablanca-Wohlbrecht, St Louis 1 909) the great Capa, knowing about rooks on the seventh, casually played 1 . Qg5. It brought an instant resignation when Black saw that if QxgS 2. Rg7 + Kh8 3. Rxh7 + Kg8 4. Rbg7 mate. Capa graciously accepted the resignation, then pointed out 1 . Qg5 Re l + 2. Kf2 Rh l ! when Black can defend . Said Capa, 'I should have played l . Nd l ! threatening Qb3 + . '
fig. 7 3
Examp le 2 . P . G . Large-J ;M. Ripley, Aaronson Masters 1 978. White (to move)
37
TOP TEN
En games
World champion Anatoly Karpov was once asked by a group of chess club players what they should do to improve their results. Karpov replied, 'I don' t know what you d o a t the moment. ' The club players said they played a lot of match ga mes, and stud ied the openings. 'But the endgames not very much ?' asked Karpov . 'Do the opposite - study end games ! ' Endgames are a weak spot for many players, largely due to the common practice in British team matches of stopping play somewhere between move 30 and move 4 5 and letting an expert adjud icator decide what ought to happen with best play. N ot having to fight his own battle, and rarely making enough moves to reach a standard ' technical' endgame, the average club player pays little attention to it. But times are changing, and more and more competitive chess is played at congresses where games continue to a fi nish. Even in inter-club chess, the trend is to require more moves before play is stopped for the adjud icator's verdict. 38
Thus endgames are becoming pro gressively more important. Many endgame books list the nuances of slightly differing positions in knight, rook or queen endgames. Studying end games this way is a great mistake as wel-l as being both hard work and boring. Only when you reach a 'theoretical' ending across the board should you consult the reference books and compare your method of play with that of the masters. With that exception, concentrate on the basic principles emphasized in this chapter. Endga m e one T h e active rook
Rook endgames are the most frequently met in endgames in practice, and the key principle is to maintain the rook as an
Wrong colour rook pawn. If Black's king can reach h81 White can never win as his bishop does not control the q ueening square.
ac t i ve p i ece ready to attack enemy
pa wns
rather than pa ssi vely d e fe n d i n g your own pawns . The best acti ve rook posi tion is on t h e seventh row w here i t often attacks
off
pawns and cuts t he enemy ki ng on the back row. I f y o u r rook is passive, it frequen t l y pays to sacrifi c e a pawn to esta b l i sh the rook in a better pos itio n . F i g . 7 8 shows a typical c a se of acti ve aga i n st p a s s i ve rook where White ' s rook atta c k s the a pawn w h i le Black is tied
d own to d e fend i ng it. I f - B la ck does nothi ng, W h i te bri ngs his k i ng to b7 a n d captu res t h e pawn with a s i mp le w i n . B l a c k ' s best c h a n ce t o m a k e it more d i ffi cult for h i s o p p o ne nt is to give up the a pawn at once by 1 . . Rb8 2. Rx a7 R b 3 + 3 . K d4 Ra J B l a ck still loses, but th ere i s more c hance for W h i te to go .
.
wron g .
.
fig. 7 9
Examp le. Alekhine-Capablanca, 34th match game 1 927. Another important a ctive rook situation is behind an 'out s i d e' passed pawn, distant from the
enemy king, with the opponent's rook forced to . passively blockade the pawn. The classic endgame in fig. 79 decided the wo rld championship in Alekhine' s . favour by 1 . Ra4 1 Kf6 2. KO Ke5 3. KeJ h 5 4. Kd3 Kd5 5 . Kc3 Kc5 6. Ra2 ! ( th i s is the important 'zugzwang' - compulsion to move - technique ; Black has no useful choice so must retreat and allow White's king an entry route) Kb5 7. Kd4 Rd6 + (RxaS gives White an easily won pawn endgame) 8. Ke5 Re6 + 9. Kf4 Ka6 10. Kg5 ReS + l l . Kh6 R£5 and now the quickest win was 1 2 . Kg7 RO 1 3 . Rd2 ! Kxa5 14. Rd5 + and if Kb6 1 5. Rd6 + KcS 1 6. Rf6 or if Kb4 1 5. Rd4 + KcJ 16. Rf4. Note that the value of the rook sup porting a passed pawn is less if the pawn is still in its own half of the board. If the white pawn in fig. 79 was at a4, a3, or a2, then the black rook blockader would be progressively more powerful. Its hori zontal action along the rank would make it difficult for White to improve his king's position and would also give Black's king more opportunities to become an effective fighting piece. 39
E n d ga m e t w o T h e a ct i v e kin g
Look aga in at the point count for the pieces on page 1 4 . The king's value r a p i d l y increases when only a few men remain, and in an endgame the more active king can be decisive. The ki ng is rarely in da nger, and can usually be employed aggressively to attack the enemy pa wns.
Examp le. A verbakh-Suetin, . USSR cham pionship 1 954. S ometi mes the active king is used to attack its opponent rather than win material. Here Black's king is coralled by the white queen, so by joining in the attack White's king forces mate. The game ended 1 . Kg5 ! Qd2 + 2. f4 ! exf4 (the pa wn endgame after 2 . . . . Qxf4 + 3. Qxf4 exf4 4. Kxf4 is a standard win since White's king can pressurize his rival into surrendering the g pawn) 3. Q£'7 + K h 8 4. Kh6 R es i g ns. If 4 . . . . f3 + 5. g5 parries the check, and mate by Qf8, Qg7 or Qh7 cannot be stopped.
black king, while the black majority advances smoothly. The game went 1 . . . . g5 ! 2. h4 h6 3. d5 Ke7 4. Kd4 Kd6 5. hx g 5 hxg5 6. a4 a5 7. b3 g4 ! 8. Ke3 (if 8. Kc4 f4 ! 9. gxf4 g3 and Black's outside passed pawn will queen) Kxd5 and Bla c k won .
End g a m e t h ree The o utside passed pawn
fig. 8 3
fig . 80 Fig. 80 is a basic example of how the more acti ve k i ng wins. Such a king is usually centralized like White's here so as to move rapidly to the scene of action. The action in fig. 80 is on the queen's side and White simply eats up the black pawns by Kc5-b6xa6. Black should have activated his own king earlier to keep the white monarch out of his position.
An outside passed pawn, that is a passed pawn far distant from the enemy king, is strong in all kinds of endgames (see the Alekhine-Capablanca rook ending, page 39. But when there are only king and paw ns left, then such a pawn, actual or potential, is usually decisive. Many inexperienced . p�a}',en . are de · ceived in pawn endgarp es ' by' ·' believing that any passed pawn, wh:erev�r situated, is a great asset. But a .pass ed' pawn in the centre is often less' effective than a maj ority of pawns on the flank which tie down the opponent's forces on one edge and open up the rest of the board to invasion . Examp le 1 . Evans--Reshevsky, US Championship 1 969. Here White already has a passed pawn and Black only a potential one with a 3-2 king's side majority. But White's pawn is easily blockaded and indeed attacked by the
Example 2 . G ulko-D voretsky, USSR championship 1 97 5. In complex endings, a fast running passed- pawn can clarify the result with dramatic effect. Think of this position as like a soccer match : while Boris Gulko (White, to move) sprints down the left wing with his a pawn, Mark Dvoretsky's striker rook slips behind the sweeper knight and his midfield bishop gets ready for a cross by the far post. But the black forwards are stranded upfield and the outside pawn combines with White's striker rook to score : 1 . a6 1 (not 1 . Nfl ? Bd5 threatening Rxg2 + ) Rxe3 2. Rb8 + I (not 2. a7 ? Bd5 draws) Ke7 3. Rb7 + Resi gns . If 3 . . . . Kf6 4. a7 and the pawn scores the winning goal.
Israeli chess master Zilber, at the /CL Hastings Premier, ponders the aggressive white queen. Note White's scoresheet to record moves. Hastings runs a promotion system enabling any good player to reach the grandmaster group. 40
Endgame four The p awn char g e
fi g . 84
classical type of breakthrough to queen can occur in a pure pawn endgame. It is well known, and opportunities for it occur rarely ; but the practical player has to know it so as to be able to take measures against it well in advance. Here White wins by 1 . g6 ! and if hxg6 2. f6 gxf6 3. h6, or if fxg6 2. h6 gxh6 3. f6 and wins. It is virtually impossible to force this break through : White's intentions are tele graphed as his pawns charge up the board and Black should put a stopper on the idea before it happens by a suitably timed . . . g6 or . . h6.
A
.
fig. 85
Example. Etmans-Tilstra, Holland 196 7 . More practical than the 3v3 classical pawn charge is a similar opportunity to break through in a 2v2 situation. Here White (to move) has a distant passed pa wn and two bishops against two knights. The one distant passer cannot make much progress, so White creates another by 1 . Bxc7 ! Nxc7 2. g4 1 hxg4 3. h5 KfB 4. h6 Na6 5 . c6 Nc7 6. KgJ and, with Black's king and knight tied down to stopping the pawns, the white kiag is free to simply stroll up the board and eat up all the black pawns by K�g4, KfS, Kxf6 etc. 41
E n dga m e five The o n e pa wn w i n A basic endga me w h i ch every p layer needs to know even at nov i ce l ev el is king and pa wn a ga i n s t k i n g It can occur q u i te frequentl y if a game is played out. The four d iagrams show the essentials. .
Fig. 85c - this is where most player-s go wrong. Black must go straight back by 1 . . . . K£8 2. Ke6 and now confront the white king by 2. . . . Ke8 3 . f7 + K£8 4. Kf6, d ra wn by stalemate. If . he plays instead l. . . . Ke8? then 2. Ke6 Kf8 3. f7 Kg7 4. Ke7 and White has reached the shepherd position. Fig. 85d - an a pawn or an h pawn vastly improves the weaker side's draw ing chances. Here White has an id eal situation akin to (b), but can make no progress. If l . Kb6 Kb8 2. a6 Ka8 3. a7 is stalemate.
Example. Golombek-Pomar, London 1 946. The technique of pawn promotion can be tricky and require tactical finess ing, even in such a simple position as shown here. Play went 1 . f7 + K£8 a nd now 2. Kf6 ? would be stalemate (fig. 85 c ). But the presence of another pair of pawns gives White a win by 2. Kd7 ! Kxf7 3 .
Fig. 8 5a - an easy w i n for W h i te . The K shepherds home the pawn v ia b6, b7 a n d b8 a n d B l a ck can o n l y watc h . F i g . 8 5 b - another i d eal position to a i m for if you have the pawn. W h i te w i ns, n o matter whose turn it i s to move. I f it i s Bla c k ' s move then l . . Kg8 2 . Ke7 and W h i te shepherds home the pawn as i n ( a ) . If it is White's move, then 1 . Kg6 Kg8 2. f6 Kt8 3. f7 Ke7 4 . Kg7 w i th a nother shepherd s i tua tion . .
42
.
Kd6 K f8 4. Ke6 K g 7 5 . Ke7 K h8 6. Kf6 Kh7 7 . Kf7 Kh8 8 . Kxg6 Kg8 (now White has reached fig. 8 S b) 9. Kh6 K h8 10. g6 Kg8 1 1 . g7 Kf7 1 2. Kh7 reaching the familiar shepherd situation and forcing Black to resign . Endga me s i x T h e w r o n g c o l o u r r o o k pawn
O ne o f t h e u ne x pec t ed e n d g a m e draws can occur w h en o n e player has a bishop and a rook p a w n (a or h pawn) whose queen i ng s q u a re i s a different colour to th at of the b i sh o p . Then there is a real danger for the superior side that his oppo n e n t ' s k i ng m ay be a ble to reach t h e quee n i ng s q u a re from which it can never be d i s l odged .
Endgame seven The Zugzwang trick
The b o a rd s h o w s the basic drawing reso u rc e . Black s i m p l y p la y s 1 . . . . K g 7 fol lowed by 2. . . Kh8 and White can only
the king osci llating ad g7 a n d h8 at the price draw b y stalemate.
prevent
i n fi n i t u m b e t w ee n o f a l l o w i ng
a
fig. 8 8
Despite the simplicity of Black's drawing plan, there are a few surprising excep tions to the wrong colour rook pawn ending. West German grandmaster Klaus Darga stumped players all round the world with this little ending 'Fo• a long ti me, nobody found the solution, ' claimed Darga. ' Everyone was beaten, whether in Havana, in Belgrade, in Tel A viv or in Moscow. Even Tal and Spassky gave up, after they tried in vain for three-quarters of an hour to work it out' . The chess magazine edi tor who published the posi tion after hearing Darga' s story tried l . Bg2. 'That's the same first move as S pa ssky p l a y e d , ' said Darga laughingly . This story has probably gained in the telling - i t ' s ha rd to credit that grea t players of the cali bre of Tal and Spassky c o uld fail to crack such a p uzzle. Unusual ly, for the wrong colour rook pawn, White can manoeuvre his three men so as to stop Black getting to the corner square h8 in front of the pawn : 1 . Bd7 ! KO 2. h4 K e4 ( i f Kf4 3. Kd4 ! Kg3 4. h5 and the pawn has a stra ight run) 3. h5 Ke5 4. h6 Kf6 5. Be8 ! and the black king must move away, allow ing 6. h7 and 7. h8 = Q.
Knowledge of zugzwang - German for ' compulsion to move' - is essential for the chessplayer. Zugzwang crops .up quite often in pa wn endings when ·one··or both kings attack or protect a p.awn and the game is decided by who . ha5 to give way first. A tip for sucn endings : try to keep as many spare pawn moves in hand as possible, away from the scene of action. Often the player who uses up his pawn moves first will be 'in zug;zwan•g ' and compelled to make a losing king move. Example 1 . Popov-Dankov, Bulgaria 43
1 97 8 . Here the first player to move his king loses his central pawn and with it the ga me. White (to play) can easily go wrong by the routine 1 . a S ? h S ! and White soon runs out of waiting moves. Instead he plays l. g4 ! a6 (if g6 2 . gS ! hxgS 3. g4 or l . . . b6 2. bS) 2. aS g6 3. g5 ! hxg5 4. g4 Kd6 5 . Kxe4 K e6 and Black resigned. After 6. d S + the white king either shepherds his pawn home or penetrates the black position and eats up the pawns on either wing. .
Example 2. N. Stone-G. Waddingham, national junior squad under- 1 4 champ ion ship 1 97 9 . This is a critical zugzwang position, but White didn't realize it and, without much thought, played l . b4 ? ? b 5 ! 2 . a S Kg2 3 . Ke4 K x h2 4 . Kf4 KhJ and White resigned . He has no spare moves left. is in zugzwang, and has to allow Black to win the g pawn and the ga me. I nstead I . bJ ! keeping the spare move would have won : 1 . bS 2. aS Kg2 3 . Ke4 Kxh2 4. K f4 Kh3 5. b4 ! and Black has to abandon the g pawn. Black could try l . . . . aS 2. c4 bS (hoping for 3. cxbS b6) but then comes 3. axbS b6 4. c S ! and w ins.
The ' bad ' bishop is not a case of episcopal sinnin� but merely describes a bishop whose mobility is seriously handicapped by its own pawns. These pawns offer targets for the combined action of the opposing king and bishop (or king and knight) which can often invade via squares of the colour not controlled by the bad bishop. If you have the 'good bishop' whose action is not impeded by your own pawns, then you try to stop the inferior side making pawn breaks which might free the restricted bishop. Once the bad bishop player is tied down to passive defence then the player with the advan tage can shift his attack from wing to wing until he breaks through. Examp le 1 Schelfhout-Menchik, 1 9 3 S . This i s a typi cal bad bishop position. Three of Black's four pawns are on the same coloured squares as his bishop and, just as important, the white king and bishop can combine against them. Though White has doubled pawns and one of Black's pawns is passed this means little beside a classic bad bishop weakness. The game ended quickly by l . Bg2 Bd7 2 . Bh1 Be8 3. BO (zugzwan� now Black must unguard one of his pawns) Bd7 (if B£7 4. Bxc6 Bxc4 S. Be8 ! and the c pawn advances) 4. BxhS Bc8 5. Be8 Bb7 6. Bd7 K g6 7. Kg3 Kf6 8. KO Kg6 9 . Ke3 Kf6 1 0. K d4 Ba8 1 1 . Bc8 Ke7 1 2 . KeS and wins easily.
Endgame e i ght The bad b i s h o p fig. 92
fig. 9 1
44
Examp le 2. A verbakh-Lilienthal, Mos cow 1 949. This is an example of winning w i th a knight against a bad bishop. Note that four of Black's five pawns are on white squares, restri cting the bishop ; the knight is ideally placed on a central black square whence it cannot be dislodged ; and Wh i te's only real problem is how to create a route for his own king into the black camp. This explains White's first move I . g S ! after which Black has two choices : if I . . . . f5 2. Nf3 Be8 3. NeS Kd8 4. Kf3 Ke7 S. Ke3 Ke6 6. Kd4 Ke7 7. Nd3 Ke6 8 . N b4 aS 9. Nd3 Bd7 1 0 . a4 Be8 1 1 . b4 axb4 1 2 . Nxb4 and White wins with his
a pawn ; if 1 . . . . fxgS 2. fxgS BcS 3. Kf4 aS 4. KeS Bg4 5. Kf6 BhS 6. Ke7 Bg4 7. a3 Bd 1 8. Ne6 + Kb7 9. Kd6 Bxb3 1 0 . Nd8 + Kc8 1 1 . Nxc6 a4 1 2. Ne7 + and wins. In both variations, what matters is not e SO. much the individual mov s, but the overall method by which White's K and N combine to squeeze the black K. The decisive material gain comes only when Black has no counterplay at all. Endgame nine The FischerfKarpov endgame.
fig. 9 3
Both Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov, en route to becoming world champions, proved particularly formidable in the end game balance of rook, bishop and pawns against rook, knight and pawns. It was not the material itself which did the trick, but the ability of Bobby and Anatoly to create positions where the board was open, with good diagonals for the bishop which could be shown as superior to the knight. The principles for playing the Fischerj Karpov endgame are partly those relevant to all good endgame play : activate your pieces, especially the king and rook ; restrict the opponent's pieces, especially here the short-stepping knight; and look for opportunities to infiltrate the oppo nent's position with the king. But there are also some special prin ciples for the FischerjKarpov endgame. You should avoid situations in which the knight can be swapped for the bishop to reach a rook endgame when the clefeneler then often has good drawing chances ; look instead for opportunities to eliminate the rooks when the B v. N en dgame is clearly won. The attacker should use his rook to control important files an:d stop counterplay, and try to fix some of the defender's pawns on the same colour square as the bishop. Such 'technical' endgames can take a long time to win, and this . brings . il\1 another special factor : the stronger . side must be alert for chances to make use of
adjournment when this w i l l ena ble h i m to analy se the position i n d epth, a n d o f adj u d i cation, i f t h e game i s not con ti nuing to a fi n i s h . This i s n o endgame for novi ces : i f y ou have not a l ready had some years chess exper ience a nd become q u i te a strong player, then it i s enough i f you s i mply note the general pri n c i ples and fo llow them as best y ou can. A fterwards try to find some of the games of the two champ ions a nd see how they ta c k l ed a simi lar pos i tion to yours . The game Fischer-Petrosian, 7th match game, 1 97 1 , was one classic o f this endgame type. F i scher's b i sh op controls the open board, he has a 2- 1 quee n ' s side majori ty, a nd Bl a c k 's a pawn i s weak. Further, the useful move D has deprived the black k n i ght of a possible outpost square at e4 and cleared a path for the w h i te k i ng to adva nce rapid l y towards t h e centre. Fisch er won by economi cal and precise play w h i ch made the ga me o ne of h i s most a d m i red v i cto r i es : 1 . R c 1 (threat 2. Rc6) Rd6 2. Rc7 Nd7 3. Re2 g6 (Black cannot move h is k n ight because of 4. Ree7) 4. K £2 (the k i ng heads for the centre and an a c t i ve pos i t i o n ) h 5 5. f4 h4 6. Kf3 () 7. K e 3 d4 + (othe rw i se c omes 8. Kd4 and B la c k has no play at al l) 8. Kd2 N b6 (hoping to create a d i vers ion by attacking the b pa wn, but this gives White the c h a n ce to d ou b le rooks on the seventh ra n k ) 9. R2e7 N d5 1 0. R£7 + K e 8 1 1 . Rb7 N x b4 1 2. Bc4 R esigns. There is no an swer to White's threats of 1 3. Rh7 and 1 3 . R x b4 . ( For the full ga me see page 77.)
Example 2. Ka rpov-Pomar, N i c e 1 9 74. Anatoly Karpov, Fi scher's s u c cessor as world champio n, has a l so made a spec i a l i ty of th i s en d i ng. The board shows an unusual examp le of the Fischer/Karpov endgame i n that White plays for mate rather than win of materia l ; but Karpov still keeps to the princ i p le of u s i ng a ll his th ree pi eces -- k i ng, rook and b i shop - i n t h e de c i s i ve atta c k . l . RfB + K c7 2. Ba 5 + ! ( forc i ng a
weakness, for if now 2 . . . . Kd6 3. Rd8 + Ke7 4. Ra8 a6 5. Ra 7 and Black loses a key pawn) b6 3. Bd2 ! Ne4 4. Bf4 + K b 7 5. R f7 + Ka8 (not Ka6 ? 6. Bb8) 6. Rf8+ Kb7 7 . b4 (starting to aim for mate, and red u c i ng the chance of Black simplifying towards a d raw by . . . c 5 ) Rxg4 8. Rf7 + Ka8 9. Kc2 (remem ber the principle of the acti ve king) h5 7 (Black e i ther over looks what is comi ng or feels despair a bout his position. 9 . . . . c5 is a to ugh er defe nc e) 10. a4 h4 1 1 . Kd3 ! (driving a way the knight and tightening the mating net) Ng5 1 2 . R£8 + Kb7 1 3. Rb8 + Ka6 14. Bd2 ! Rg3 + 1 5 . Kc2 R e s i gn s . W h i te will mate, either by 16. b5 + or, if Bl a c k plays b5, by cxb5 + . Endgame ten P etrosia n ' s e ndgame
The converse of the FischerjKarpov end game is Petrosian's endgame, also a speciali ty of a world champion. On his way to the title, Petrosian won several games by the technique of e nti c ing his o p ponent to advance pawns on one flank (h6 and g S or a6 and b 5-b 4 ), then aiming for a p ositi on where these pawns would • be fi x ed in a rigid chain with a b i sh op semi-immo b i l ized behind it. Meanwhile, Petros i a n ' s k n ight would occupy the holes c rea ted by the pawn advance, espec ially f) on the k i ng's s i de or c4 on the oppo s i te fla n k . Techni ques to prepare for Petrosian 's e ndgame include developing a b i s h op at gS in front o f a fianchettoed enemy bishop at g7, to encourage h6 a nd g5 ; and to a d vance a n a or h pawn to a4j5 or h4j 5 , again to encourage the opposing b or g p a wn to push forward. Once the rigid pawn front is esta blished, Petrosian and his imitators play for the
endgame. They a void giving the opponent any chance to exchange his restricted bishop, b ut willingly exchange other pieces w hen possi ble. Eventually, the k ni g ht a ndjor k i ng w ill infiltrate along the squa res of the opposite colour to the bad b i shop a nd into the e ne my c a m p .
Petrosian-Belyavsky, 1. Example USSR Cha mpion ship 197 3 . Petrosian spots the way to his ending : L Bxe 5 ! (at first sight this is a mistake because Black can straighten out his pawn front by fxe 5 . However, then comes 2. e4 ! and either dxe4 3. Nd 2 and Nxe4 or 2 . . . . d4 3. Ne 1 followed by Nd3 accentuates the lack of scope of Black's B) Bxe5 2. 1Ucl ReS 3. Rc5 (threat 4. Rxd5)' Rd6 4. R1c2 K£7 5. Kfl (the active king again !) Ke6 6. Ne 1 d4 (if Black awaits events, White switches his knight to b4 with decisive pressure against the weak pawns) 7. f4 d3 8. Rd2 Bb2 9. RxdJ (avoiding the trap 9. Rx b 2 ? d2) Ra8 1 0. Rxd6 + Kxd6 1 1 . N d3 a5 1 2. Rc4 BaJ. The Petrosian ending has done · its jo b : White is a pawn up, Black .still has an inactive bishop and rook together with pawn weaknesses, while White's three pieces remain active and in control. The game finished 1 3 . Ra4 Bc5 14. Nxc5 Kxc5 1 5 . b4 + Kc4 (Kb5 1 6. RxaS + with a won pawn ending) 16. Rxa5 Rb8 17. a3 Kd3 18. Kf2 Rb7 19. Rc5 Ra7 20. Rxc6 Rxa3 2 1 . KO Resigns. ·
Example 2. Petrosian-Najdorf, Bled . 1 96 1 . Petrosian's endgame cm be cre ated far in advance d uring the middle game. Black's queen's side pawn advance has weakened the dark squares, the white k n i g ht has a useful outpost on b4, and the central pawn structure has left both black bishops with little scope. The key to the position is that after the exchan� o f queens White's rook and knights are already poised to pour into the badly d efe nded dark squares : 1 . Qb6 ! Qxb6 2. axb6 Rb8 (otherwise 3. b7 will win a piece) 3. Rc7 B£8 4. Na5 Rxb6 5. N4e6 Nxc6 6. Nxc6 Resigns. After 6 . . . . Bb7 7. NaS Ba8 8. Rc8 Bb7 9. Rb8 ! White wins a piece, an eloq uent demonstration of the weakness of the Petrosian endgame bad bishop trapped behind its pawn wall. (For another example, see page 69.) The Fi sc her and Petrosian endgames are both important in expert chess. For further examples see How to Play the Endgame in Chess. 45
Test b o a r d 1 W h a tever y o u r s k i l l level at chess, y o u c a n o bta in an idea of your natural a p t i t u d e for the game by looking at fig. 97 for ten seco n d s only and then setting up the pos i t i o n, as far as
you can recon
s t ru c t it. on a c h es s bo a r d .
fi g . 9 7 T he po s i t i o n
was shown
in Holland
t o fo u r c h e s s p l a y e r s : t o Dr M a x E u w e , l o r m c r w or l d c h a m p i o n ; to a c he s s m a s t e r ; to a n e x p e rt a nd t o w n c h a m p i o n ; a nd to an a v e rage c l u b p l a y er . E u w e e a s i l y d i c ta t e d t h e p o s i t i o n without a s i ngle m i s t a k e ; t h e ma s ter added a pawn on c2. The l o c a l champion omitted the black b i shop.
transferred the rook on b4
/ ) u t eh p s \·c h o l n,r.: t s / A J n u n Jc G roa t 's chess I Q r ,·,c '.., ho u ·n t h,· pos 1 1 10 n f(J r 1.1 f e w seconJs. t o rmer wo r/,/ c h u m p w n IJr A1ux Eu u •e rcco n s t ru c t eJ 11 pc,ji'ct ly. b u t avera�e players co u iJ only recall l 'l.lf:UC o u t lines.
46
b8, misplaced or left out half a dozen pa wns, and i magined an extra white bishop. The average player could only set up half a dozen of the p ieces correctly, though he rightly j udged within the seconds at his disposal that Black has a ma terial plus . Readers who succeed i n reconstructing this position w i th fewer than four mis takes after ten seconds probably have
to
d i s t i nct natu ral gifts for chess v i sua l iza t i on - not the only aspect of chess talent but a n i m po r tant one . Dr Euwe, in h is comments on the posi t i o n, rema r ked that he a l ways saw p i eces in c l usters rather than i n d i v i d ually ; for example he saw the e n t i re cram ped b l a c k k i n g ' s posi tion as a whole. It is c l ea r from this ex peri ment, set up by the psychol ogist Ad rian de G root. that great r hessplaye rs have an outsta n d i ng a b i l i ty to v i sual ize the boa r d . Possession of this fa c u l ty d oes not e l i m i na te h u man error, and d u r i n g his play i n g career Dr Euwe wa s noted for gross over sights.
counted as great e x agg e ra ti on by Hort, but in general this is a test w here good players find their way ro und the board q u i c k l y . A mong lea d i ng British m en players, Jonathan P en ro s e, ten times
nati onal c h a m p ion, took two minutes to complete the k n ight tour, Bill Hartston took th ree m i n utes, Ray mo nd Keene four, Peter Cl arke 4 ! and m y sel f five. Strong c l u b players may take 5- 10 minutes, and anyone who beats six m inutes is likely to have a bove average chess talent.
Test board 3
Test boa r d 2
fig. 99
fig. 98
Fig. 98 can be treated both as a chess party game and as a serious test of skill. It can be tried by anyone who knows the moves of a knight and a pawn. You need a chess set and board, and a friend with a watc h . The o bj ect i s to transfer the knight, making legal k n ight moves only, from a l to aB. stoppi ng en route at every square w h ich is not oc cupied by or gu a rded b y a b lack pa w n . Thus the knight v isits every squa re al ong the bottom row from a1 to h l , tu rns at h l up to h2 then leftwards alo ng the second row, and so on. The b l ack pa w ns stay on their d i agrammed squa res and can not be capture d . A d d l 0 seconds t o your total time whenever the k ni ght lands on a square occu pied or control led by a black pawn. As an exa m ple, your first series of moves would be to m o v e the knight from a l to c 2, to a 3, and then to b1 - th en you have to find a route to c l . This l i ttle test measures quick sight of the board, flexible thinking patterns, and quick recall of patterns of play - all aspects of chess s k i ll . The test. and some others, were said in a German magazine to be used in evalu ating new y ou ng talents in East Germany and C zec hoslovak i a . The claim that this test had shown up the future gran d masters Hort, S m ej ka l . Kavalek and J a nsa at an ea rl y age in Pra gue w as d i s48
N a ti onal chess coach Robert Wade has p o s ed t h is simple test of endgame judg ment at a number of junior tournaments. At the London under- 10 championship n one of the youngsters found the correct answer although their general standard of pl ay was good for their age. Strategic p l a nn i ng is also involved in the puzzle, which is simply to decide the best way for White (to move) to improve his position. The answers to this and the following five d i a gr a ms ( figs. 99-104) are given at the end of this chapter. Test board 4
•
This puzzle has the unique feature of five d i fferent ver d i cts given by players ran g i ng from a b e gi nner to a grandmaster : the test is to see how many of the moves in the five sections below you can fill in. Ea ch of the blanks denotes a missing move. If there are two blanks after a move number, both a white and a black move h a ve to be found . (a) A novice watching this game thought that Black must win on material. Black's threat of 1 . . . . cannot be stopped. (b) His friend, an average club player, thought that White could allow the threat and win the game by 1 . . . . . . . 2. . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 4 . . . . when White wins easily through his advantage on material. (c) White looked at the position hard, then resigned the game. He was an expert p la y er, and foresaw that after 1. . . . , which the second spectator anticipated,
Black could reply 1 . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . and if 3. . . . renewing the threat of the second move then 3 . . . . and White no longe r has any saving resource. (d) Black, a stronger expert, accepted White's resignation. But then, to White's horror and the astonishment of the two kibitzers, he pointed out that after White's anticipated first moves of 1. . . . . . . White could improve his play dramatically by 2 . . . . and after 2 . . . . reply 3 . . . . followed b y 4 . . . . winning on material. (e) This game was played in 1 9 14 and casually noticed by the Hungarian grand master Szabo 36 years later. Szabo pointed out that the spectators and both players had all been wrong in their assessment. Szabo said : 'After 1 . . . . as given in the last variation, Black can improve on one of the previous lines of play with 1 . . . . 2. . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . and White can only choose between 4 . . . . and 4. . . . ' . If you fill in the blanks correctly, you will see why the spectators and players thought that White or Black won, what the grandmaster noticed which the lesser players overlooked, and the true result of the game with best play on both sides. Test board 5
fig. 1 0 1
Petrosian-Gulko, USSR championship 1975. The ability to calculate moves ahead is not the mostimportant item in a
may not possess this faculty to any marked degree . As an illustration, look at this diagram from Furman-Smejkal (both strong grand masters) played at Tallinn in 1 97 1 . Furman (White, to move) saw no serious prospect of halting Black's w id el y separated passed p a wn s with the short-stepping knight and, as a gesture before resignation, play ed l . Ne 4 + KO 2. Nxc5 . After 2 . . . . a2 3. N b 3 Ke4 4. Kg2 Kd5 White res i g n ed, since the black king soon chases the knight away from the a pawn which then queens.
chessplayer's IQ. In many positiOns, a strong master or grandmaster simply 'feels' that the best move is the right choice, subconsciousl y weighing up the pros and cons of the numerous different factors. But in the endgame, where many of the great champions like Capablanca, . Fischer and Korchnoi have been at their best, you someti mes have to work out move sequences very precisely . Petrosian (White, to move) did so h ere, and it was the decisive game of the championshi p. It isn 't easy, but a potential chess expert should be able to demonstrate a win in under five minutes, working just from the diagram without board and men.
Test board 8
Test boa r d 6
Grandmaster moves which perplex the ordinary player usually turn out to have a rational and explica ble basis when exami ned closely. Occasionally, however, someone makes a move so deep that even fellow-masters would not consider it. When I demonstrated this position from the Karpov-Spassky match at two leading London chess clu bs, it took in each case a full ten minutes for any of the 30-odd members present to spot Karpov 's next move as Wh ite, and then only by desper ate guessing after other more obvious possibilities had been discarded . The move and its idea were hailed in the Russian chess magazines as a world champion calibre plan. The pu zzle is to decide White's next move as well as the reasoni ng behind it. If you succeed on both counts and the game is not already known to you, then your strategic vision ranks anywhe r e between strong expert and gra ndma ster .
Test board 7
One of the rarest elements in the mental make-up of a great chess master is what the public calls ge niu s' and the psycholo gist knows as creativity, flair or instinct for the unusual. Even ou ts tan d ing players slightly below world championship class '
After the game, ex-world champion TaL one of the most imaginative p lay ers in chess history, asked grandmaster Smejkal 'What would you have done after l . Nb3 ? ' . ' Wh y , a2 of course'. 'Then you would only have drawn. ' Smejkal could not understand Tal's r ea soning. If you can see what Tal meant in less than a minute, your chess equivalent of 'la te r al thinki ng' is highly developed. Test board solutions
Test Board 3: l. Ra2 1 (or l. Ra3 or l. Rb2), is best, planning to double rooks before exchanging the a pl wn for the black b pawn. Black then has to remove his own rook from the a file to avoid losing a pawn, a fter which White exchanges pawns and infiltrates the black position with his rooks. He will then double rooks on the seventh rank and decide the game b y mating threats to the black king. Test Board 4: (a) l. . . . al = Q (b) 1. Rh7 a l = Q 2 . Rxb7 + Ka3 3. Ra7 + Kb2 4 . Rxal (c) l . Rh7 Ka5 2 . Rxb7 Ka6 3. Rb8 Ka7 (d) l . Rh7 Ka5 2. Rh8 al = Q 3. Ra8 + and 4. Rxa1 (e) l . Rh7 a1 = Q 2 . Rxb7 + Ka5 3. Ra7 + Kb4 4 . Rxa 1 (draw by stalemate) or 4. Rb7 + (perpetual check). Test Board 5: l. Qd5 + and if (a) KfB 2. QO + exchanges queens (b) Kh8 2. Qd8 + Kh7 3. Qd3 + transposes to (c). (c) Kh7 2. Qd3 + Kg8 3. Qb3 + Kh7 (KfB 4. QO + ) 4. Qh3 with a won pawn endgame. Test Board 6 : 1. Nb 1 ! plans to regroup
This position, with Black to move, is a test of long-term planning and ge neral judgment. Five verdicts on the d i agra m were given by five different players : (a) 'Perhaps Black can ciraw if he plays weB' (b) 'Black has a positional advantage' (c) ' White wins because of his outside a pawn which his king can support' (d) 'Black has a decisive advantage and wins mateFial by force' (e) 'The position looks about equal, perhaps with a shade of advantage to Black' . The verdicts come from a grandmaster (grading 240), an expert (grade 1 90), a county strength player (grade 170), and two club players, one slightly above average (grade 1 50) and one rather weak (grade 1 20). The puzzle is twofold : to decide which player gave which verdict, a nd to decide why the grandmaster's assessment was correct.
the knight via d 2 to f3 where the extra pressure on Black's eS pawn forces a decisive weakening of the pawn defences in front of Spassky's king. Play continued l . Nb1 Qb7 2. Kh2 Kh7 3. c3 Na6 4. Re2 R£8 5. Nd2 Bd8 6. NO f6 7. Rd2 and Karpov's attack won in a few moves : 7. . Be7 8. Qe6 Rad8 9. Rxd8 Bxd8 .
.
10. Rd1 Nb8 11 . Bc5 Rh8 1 2 . Rxd8 ! Resigns. If 1 2 . . . . Rxd8 1 3. Be7 wins. Test Board 7: l . Nb3 a27 2. Nc l ! draws. If 2 . . a l = Q or R White f5 stalemated, if a 1 = N 3. Nb3 ! forces a .
.
draw and if a l = B Black has the wrong colour rook pawn shown on page 43. Test Board 8: (a) above average club (b) expert (c) weak club (d) grandmaster (e) county strength. Grandmaster Waiter Browne played Black and continued 1 . . . . Ra4 1 which wins an important pawn after 2. Nd2 Ne5 3. Kfl Nd.J 4. Rb7 K£8 followed by N c l or Nb4 winning the a pawn. In the game, White gave up a pawn by 2. eS but still lost. 49
Learn from the
Each of the great pla yers of the past, and the leading grandmasters of today, has his individual approach to the technique and psychology of chess. Some aim to control events and reduce the risk tak i ng element in the game to a minimum, while others try to randomize the position and create scope for their flair in calculation or judgment. Some are purely interested in the game and its mechanisms, others play the man as much as the board . One reliable method of improving your chess is to choose one of the great masters, replay and study a large number of h is games, and try to use him as a model for your own style and chess board tactics. T h is chapter looks at 2 1 past and present champions and highlights their outstand ing qualities. -
The white knight on f5 outpost square is the key to the R uy Lopez attack preferred by reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov (page 78) . Capablanca and Fischer also favoured the Ruy Lopez.
Paul Morphy 1 83 7-84
The 'pride and sorrow of chess', Morphy was a great player but his true status when compa red w ith other c ham pions remains an enigma even today, nearly lOO years after his death. A mo ng all those recognized as best in the world for their time he had the shortest active career and he never met an opponent who threatened to beat him. His fame rests on fewer than 75 serious games plus a larger number of brilliant offhand victories. Morphy was hailed as a prodigy at the age of 12 when he defeated the master Lowenthal, who was visiting Morphy's home city of New Orleans, in a series of friendly matches. Then, in 1 857, an event occurred which substantially advanced Morphy's name and career. This was the first American chess congress held in New York, and by good fortune it took place at a time when Morphy was. technically ready for it. Similar strokes of fortune occurred in the careers of some later players, notably Lasker and Fischer. The congress was staged as a series of knock-out matches, and Morphy out classed his first three opponents before defeating Louis Paulsen 6-2 in the fin�l. Paulsen later proved himself an e:x:ceHent match player and a deep strategist, many of whose ideas in the openings were
taken up by grandmasters a century later. . That Morphy could defeat this master of defence may be a better indica tion of his strength than his more highly praised victory over Anderssen. Morphy's successes rested on his un derstanding of open positions, · the need to d evel op pieces rapidly in. the classical king's side openings and to take the initiative in an economical way without wasting moves. Generally, Morphy's con temporaries either attacked without the support of a sound development or played manoeuvre chess with wasted and irrelevant moves slowing down their plans. Morphy's economy of effort and
51
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\\' h i t c : P . .\ l o r p h y B l a c k : D u k e o f B r u n sw i c k a n d Cou n t I so u a rd
P h i l i d o r D e fe n ce ( Pa r i s . 1 8 5 8 ) I . e4 N f' J 3. d4
2.
e5 d6 B g 4 '?
f h t '> p t n on t h e k n i g h t . i n d i re c t l y c o n t n J I ! t n g t h e c e n t r e , i s goo d i n ma n y < l f' C n t n g'> h u t h e r e a l l o w s \.Y h i te a fo r c e d '>L'Lj U L' Il l l' ga t n i n g t h e a d v a n t a g e 4. dxc) H x l3 -I d :-: l' ) ) () x d K + a n d b N x e ') w i n s a ) . () x f 3 h . Bc4
dxc5
:\ I 6 ?
t • l· I l L' r I . () h ) ! \1 ( 1 \ t n .� ,1 p t l' l.· c . a n d p a r t t c u l a r l y the cj ll l' l' n l \\ l c l' 1 11 t h e u p c n t n g I S u s u a l l y
l i l l l t r a t\
Ill
-,o u n d p l a y . h u t g r e a t c h a m
f' t u n s k n 1 1 \\ \.\ h e n t o b r e a k g e n e ra l r u l e s . H L· rc \\' h t t c t h r ea t e n s b o t h 8 B x fl + l ( t l l � � \\ l'li h \· lJ C)eb m a t e a n d a l so 8 Q x h 7 7. . . . () c 7 8 . :\ d \ l l i l l l f!, LT t h a n K () x h 7 Q h4 + e x c h a n g 8.
Y.
c6 Bg 5
b5 '?
Paul Morph v. t he 'pride and sorrow o f chess', beat all corners i n a career of only t h ree years.
1 3 . Rxd7 !
14.
Rd 1
Rxd7 Qe6
N o w W h i te c o u l d w i n s i m p ly b y 1 5 . B x f6 ,
but
Mo rphy
chooses
the
most
artistic fi n i sh .
fi g I O 'i N o t e t h a t \V h 1 te h a s b e e n b ri n g i ng h i s p i c �.· cs i n t o a c t i o n a s q u i c k l y a s p o s s i b l e , \\: h i l c B l a c k h a s m a d e q u e en a nd p a w n m o v e s a n d e x c h a n g e d o fT h i s d e v e l o p e d
h 1 s h o p N mv W h i t e i s a l re a d y s e t u p f o r a d c v a s t a t tn g sa c r i f'i ce - B l a c k s h o u l d h a v e pia vcd Y Qc7
against champions of later generations ?
1 5 . Bxd7 + ! Nxd7 N xb8 1 6 . Qb8 + 1 7 . R d 8 mate
Knowledge of opening play a round 1 8 60 was still rudimentary aad Morphy would
Mo rphy travelled to Europe in 1 8 5 8 a nd d e feated all corners i n cluding an 8 - 3 margin over A n d er s sen, who had won the fi rst i nternatio nal tournam'ent at London 1 8 5 1 . The E n g l i sh champion, S ta u n to n , d u cked Morphy's at tem p ts to a rr a n ge a m a t c h - w i sely, for Staunto n ' s b e st
s u c c e s ses
were in t h e
1 840s and
11.
Bxb5 +
N bd7
th ere i s no d o u bt Morphy would have w o n . But a ft e r prov ing his supremacy o v e r h i s c o n temporaries M o rphy q u i ckly
1 2.
0-0-0
Rd8
l o st i n te r e s t in c h ess and his later l i fe was
1 0.
N xb5 !
cxb5
marred by mental i l l ness which l e ft hi m reel use, shunning the ga'llile f0r the 1 5 yea rs before his death . How would Morphy have perfl!Jrlil'led
a
need an intens-ive course of N"ie>derl'l theo ry to have any chance of competil1lg w i th present-day masters . He would c e rtainly have been a ble to ab.se>rb S'\'.H�h i nformation quickly, for he knew tM.e theory of his time and one of his v i cte>r-ies over Anderssen came through a prepared variation of the Ruy Lopez. In h is a uthor i ta tive book The Rating of
Chessplayers Past and Present (Batsford) w h i ch i ncludes comparative performances of modern grandmasters and their p rede cessors, Profe ssor A rpad Elo a ssesses
Mo r phy with a rating of 2690, sufficient In present-day terms to make him stronger than any player except the world cham pion and his challenger. I doubt this verd ict. which depends on a small number of games and does not allow for Morphy' s illness wh ich would have affected his results in later life as it did with Rubin stein. But the assessment makes it worth while examining the games of Morphy's match with Anderssen, another confirmed great player. Anderssen had not com peted si nce 1 8 5 1 and handi capped h i m self w i th inferior openi ngs such as l . a 3 and the Centre Coun ter which prov ided Morphy's best win of the matc h . White : P. M orphy . Black : A . Anderssen Centre Counter ( 7th match game 1 8 58) I . e4 dS 2. exdS Q x d S 3. Nc3 QaS 4 . d4 e5 5. dxe5 Qxe S + 6 . Be2 B b4 7. Nf3 Typical of Morphy's style - he has an advantage and sacrifices a pawn to in crease his lead in d evelopment. B xc 3 + 7. QxcJ + 8 . bxc3 9 . Bd2 QcS N c6 lO. R b l 1 1 . 0-0 N f6 12. B f4
.
rega ining the pawn but allow ing simplifi cations. 1 2 . RbS Q d 6 1 3 . Re i 0-0 14. Q c l , keeping u p the pressure, was recommen ded later, and is more what would have been ex pected from Morphy . 12. 0-0 1 3 . Bxc7 N d4 1 4 . Qxd4 Qxc7 1 5 . Bd3
solved most of Black's problems. 1 6. N g5 1 Now Black's game is difficult because White threatens N or Bxh7 and also pressurizes the two Q-side pawns. 1 6. . . . Rfd8 If 1 6 . . . . BhS 1 7 . Ne4 Ng4 1 8. NgJ b6 19. RbS wins, while moving the other rook to d8, which is positionally natural, loses a pawn to 1 7 . Qxa 7 . Bc8 1 7 . Qb4 1 8 . Rfe 1 aS I f 1 8 . . . . h 6 1 9. Re7 R d 7 20. B h 7 + , but as played all Black's pawns are weak and are easy endgame victims to White's active rooks and minor pieces. 1 9. Qe7 Qxe7 Nd5 20 . Rxe7 2 1 . Bxh7 + K h8 22. Rx£7 NcJ Nxa2 2 3 . Re i 24. Rf4 Ra6 Resigns 2 5 . BdJ Anderssen's wry comment after his match defeat was, 'It is impossible to keep one's excellence in a little glass casket, like a jewel, to take it out when ever wanted. On the contrary, it can only be conserved by continuous and good practice . ' In his later matches against Kolisch and Steinitz, Anderssen eschewed both 1 . a3 and the Centre Counter and did m u ch better. As for Morphy, his last act before quitting tournament chess was to offer pawn and move odds to anyone in the worl d . There were no takers - an . incon ceivable event if any similar offer was made by an established grandmaster today. The nearest modem parallel was Fischer's offer to give knight odds to any woman player in the world, a proposal which he quickly abandoned when the Soviet chess authorities showed eager ness to match the women's world cham pion, Nona Gaprindashvili, against him for a substantial stake.
Wilhelnt Steinitz 1 8 36-1 900
fig . 1 06
15. . . B g4 ? This cannot be good since the bishop has to return miserably to c8 twG> moves later. 1 5. . h6 ! (stopping White's next) 1 6 . Qb4 b6 and if 1 7. Rfe 1 Be 6 would have .
The first recognized world champion, Steinitz was a chess thinker and innovator whose insights into strategic and defen sive play and the accumulation of small positional advantages were as great as were Morphy's contributions in open games. Whereas Morphy was an in stinctive natural who taught by example rather than writing, Steinitz evolved his ideas gradually over a period of years, after a false start in which he tried to make his name by traditional gambits. By world championship standards, his play was not devoid of weaknesses and he lost many games by his stubborn loyalty to inferior lines despite previous defeats. Steinitz was the youngest of a large Jewish family (a fact he liked to reveal
whenever Malthusian population control was discussed) and a cosmopolitan who was born in Prague, studied in Vienna, and settled in London. He had only fair success until some enterprising backers supported his 1 866 challenge to Anders sen, who was again the recognized best p l ayer in the world following· Morphy's retirement. Steinitz surprisingly won 8-6 and from then on was a consistent high prizewinner in the big tournaments of the 1 870s and 1 880s. Steinitz expounded his theories in his chess column in The Field and his book Modern Chess Instructor. His basic ap proach was that the quick victories against weak defence shown in many games of Morphy and Anderssen were not possible if the opponent resisted simply, brought his . own pieces into action quickly, and declined irrelevant pawn offers. Steinitz showed that against sound play it was incorrect to aim for rapid attacks and that instead you should build up your game quietly, looking for small advantages such as bishop against knight, play against doubled or isolated pawns, outpost squares, open files, a queen's side pawn majority, as well as seeking greater command of space. His theory of defence was obstinate : he thought that if the defender could avoid structural weaknesses then his game would remain sound. Thus in a number of well-known Steinitz games he retreated forces to the back ranks solely to avoid pawn weaknesse.s . Another of his controversial ideas was that 'the kiug is a fighting piece' even in the middle game. From this he developed the Steinitz Gambit 1 . e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. d4 ? ! Qh4 + 5. Ke2, the idea being that in trying to mate the centralized white king Black will over-commit his own forces which can then be driven back with losi of time, e.g. the white knight at g1 comes to f3 with gain of tempo on the black queen. Later generations have accorded these more controversial Steinitzian ideas a mixed reception. His favourite defence to the Evans Gambit brought him several heavy defeats against one of his con temporary rivals Tchigorin ; but his idea for White against the Two Knights' Defence 1. e4 eS 2. NfJ Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 dS 5. exdS NaS 6. BbS+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nh3 (instead of 9. Nf3 allowing the time-gaining 9. . . . e4) was successfully taken up by Bobby Fischer and is now preferred to 9. N f3 by several grandmasters. Steinitz realized the importance of ad vanced knight outposts : he wrote that if he could establish a knight on d6 or e6, he could go to sleep and let the game win itself. He also showed later generations how to use a constriction motif when the opponent was hand_icapped by a 'bad' bishop locked in by its own pawns ; the 53
following game is a good example of this : Wh ite: W. Ste i n itz . Black: A.G . Sell m a n Fre nch Defe nce ( match, 1 885) l. e4 e6 d5 2. d4 3. Nc3 Nf6 Nfd7 4. e 5 5. f4 cS BxcS 6. dxcS 7. NfJ a6 Th is and h is tenth move already carry some strategical risk since they place pawns on light squares, ha nd ic app ing t he queen's bi shop which is al read y hemmed in by the central pawn chain. Modem masters prefer 7 . . . . Nc6 with the possi bility of a more fluid game by a later . . . Qa S, . . . Qb6 or . . . f6 . 8. B d 3 Nc6 N b4 9. Qe2 10. Bd 2 bS Nxd3+ 11. N d 1 12 . cx d 3 Qb6?
17.
Nd4 18. o-o
Nf8
h5 ? Black fears the a tta c king g4, but this move places yet another pawn on a white square and means that gS will be available as a white knight outpost if and when Black's dark-squared bish op is exc hange d . 1 9 . Nc3 !
h ea ding for aS, where the knight will st rengt h e n White's overall bind and prepare for a piece invasion along the c file, the o nl y open line. 19. 20 . Nb1 2 1 . Nd2
K£7 g6 Nd7
2 1 . . . . aS looks more logical, to try to gain some freedom before the knight settles on a S, but Steinitz was then ready to open up the game in his own favour by 22. NxbS a x b4 23 . axb4 Bxb4 24. Nd6 + Bxd6 25 . exd6 Qxd6 26. Bd4 Rg8 27 . N O with great adv antage due to control of the central a nd K-side dark squares. 2 2 . N2b3 R eS Ba8 23 . Na5 Qxc8 24. Rxc8 Qb8 25. Rcl B d8 26 . Qc 2 27 . N 5c6
reasonable move left. If R b8 36. Rxd7, or if Nb6 36. Re7 + Kf8 37. Nh7 + wins. Finally if d4 then 36. Nxe6 Rb8 37. Ng7 + Kd8 38. e6 and Black's game collapses. Lasker, who succeeded Steinitz as world champion, said after beating him that 'the thinker was defeated by the player' and this has led to the belief that Steinitz succeeded only because of his advanced theories and had little under standing of psychological chess. Results, however, do not completely bear this out. Except when Steinitz was involved in defending his pet variations, he could be a shrewd observer of his opponent's state of mind and could tailor his play accordingly. Thus before starting his play-off against Blackburne at Vienna in 1 873 he saw that the English grand master, who had gone in for a wild coffee-house style in his final round defeat from Rosenthal, was in a low state of morale for the tie-match. Steinitz therefore went in for trappy cut-and thrust play and was rewar ded when Blackburne replied poorly in both games. In the first official world championship match, Steinitz-Zukertort, 1 886, Steinitz began badly and was soon 1 -4 down. But he kept his head as well as his title chances with a mixture of defensive and strategic chess which provoked Zukertort's. ner vous temperament into a succession of unsound an:d positionally weakening attacks. Steinitz finally ran out the champion by a score of 12!-7!. The psychologically de.cisive game was the seventh which showed Zukertort as out . of his depth in a subtle positionalfight. White: J H Zukertort. Blac k : W. Steinitz Queen's Gambit Declined (7t h match game 1886) d5 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5 . NO dxc4 6. a3 cxd4 7 Bxc4 Be7 8. exd4 0.:.0 9. o..;o .
This is a serious positional mistake since White's next move imme diately estab lishes control of the dark square and further restricts the bad bishop. Instead Black should pl ay 1 2 . . . . b4 intend ing aS and Ba6 . Be7 13. b4 ! If 13 . . . . Bd4 ? 1 4. R b 1 threatening Nxd4 and Be3 winning the queen. 1 4 . a3
f57
This blocks the position, but further h an diCaps the bad bishop. A modern master would recognize the QB as Black' s problem piece and try t o look for ch ances to play . . . f6 and regroup the bishop via d7 and e8 to h S . The move f5 also leaves the e paw n backward a n d vulnerable at a later stage to attacks from the white knights at d4 a ri d gS which will tie a black piece down to protection of the pawn. Bb7 1 5 . Rc l 16. Be3
White's bishop has ample scope on t h e g l-a7 diagonal even though five of White's seven pawns are on dark squares. 1 6. . . . Qd8 54
.
.
27. . . . Qb7 On purely strategic grounds, Black would like nothing better than to. exchange his dud bishop, but 27 . . . Bxc6 28. Qxc 6 Nf8 29. Nxe6! Nxe6 30. Qd7+ Be7 31. Rc6 is hopeless. But as played Steinitz exchanges off Black's 'good' bishop and makes a decisive invasion on the dark squares. .
28.
Nxd8+ Rxd8 Qb8
29. Qc7 30. Bf2
This threatens Bh4, change of queens.
30. 31. NO 32. Rxc7 33. Ng5
so
forcing the ex Qb6 Qxc7 Ke8 N f8 Nd7
BcS 35. Bd6 ! Resigns Black is in virtual zugzwang, with no 34.
•
.
The plan of i solating W h i te's central d pawn and then b lockading and attacking it was ha rdly known in 1 886 so it is small wonder that in the ensuing p lay Zuker tort �"'ai ls to find the optimum squares for his pieces. Best is 10. Re 1. W h i te has to combine the possi bi l i ti es of l i n i ng up queen and bi shop against h7 with open ing up the centre by dS. E i t her way the likely hest squares for the queen 's b i shop and queen's rook are gS and d L so that two of Zukertort's next three moves are inaccurate. However unlike a modern master, who would a l r eady be very familiar with fig. 109, Zukertort had little or no p re c edent to draw upon as the basis for his planning.
10 . 11. 12 . 13 . 14 . 15. 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 .
B e3' ? Q d3 Ra c 1 7 Ba2 Rfe 1 B b1 Qe2 Rfd l Ba2 Qd2 ?
The only point of this
32 . . . . Be5 + ! An attractive finish. If 33. QxeS Qh l + 34. Kg3 Qg2 + 3 5 . Kh4 ( 3 5 . Kf4 QO mate) Qxf2+ 36. Qg3 gS + wins the queen. 3 3 . f4 Bxf4 + Qhl + 34. Qxf4 3 5 . Kg3 Qg l + 36. Resigns And now if 36. Kh4 Qe l + 37. Qg3 gS + w i ns the queen .
Bd 7 Rc8 Qa5 Rfd8 Be8 g6 Bf8 Bg7 Ne7
seems to be
the
tactical idea 20. NdS Qxd2 21. Nxe7+
23. B b4 + K d7 24. NeS mate - hut this is easily prevented and White is left with his queen in an awkward position vi s-a- vis the d8 rook. Superior is 19. BgS, intending to meet Nf5 by 20. dS, after which Wh ite's piece formation would be simi lar to that favoured b y modern masters on the white side of an .isolated d pa wn . 19. Qa6 NfS 20. B g 5 2 1 . g4 ? This is an unsound move which weakens the wh ite ki ng's defences (see the later stages of the gam e ) and preci pitates a combination which Black in tends any way. 21. Qe L sti l l hop i ng for d 5 , was now best. 21. Nxd4 2 2 . Nx d4 e 5 23. NdS Rxc1 24 . Qx c1 exd4 25. Rxd4 Nx d 5 26 . Rxd 5 If 26. Bxd8 Bxd4 27. BxdS Qe2! wins quickly. Rxd S 26. 2 7 . Bxd S Q e2 28. h3 h6 29 . Bc4 ? This loses b y force. W h ite could not play 29. Bxh6? Bxh6 30. Qxh6 because of Qd1 +, but 29. Be3 would fight on . 29. QO 30 . Q e3 Qd l + 31. K h 2 Bc6 32. Be7 Kf8 22. Bxd2 K x e7
Einanuel Lasker 1 868-1 941
Lasker l ived in Berlin for most of his life but in old age emigrated first to Moscow then to New York. He was world champ ion for 27 years ( 1 894- 1 9 2 1 ) and his chess longevity was exceptional : his fi rst brilliancy was a double bishop sacrifice in 1 889 and his last great ach ievement was third prize at Moscow 1 9 36 when approaching 70. Despite his many successes in tourna ments and matches, his style has remained controversial and something of a mystery. One v iew of Lasker is that he was a fine strategist who added an extra tactical dimension to his play, combining this
with superlative endgame ability. The alternative picture is of Lasker the fighter, playing the man as much as the board, deliberately accepting inferior but com plex positions in order to build up the tension. However, he avoided strong opponents in matches and enjoyed pheno menal luck in critical games. There was even a suggestion that Lasker's partiality for strong cigars was a ploy to wear down the physical resistance of his opponents. Tht truth is that no player could possi bly remain world c hampion for so long or achieve such repeated tournament successes without an enormous measure of all-round skill. In most of his games, opponents were outplayed by Lasker's understanding of positional and strategic c hess, which in many respects was well ahead of his time. His mastery of weak squares, outpost play, and switching the attack between two fronts was achieved long before Nimzovitch formulated these concepts in his classic primer My System. Lasker applied Steinitz's principles and refined them for the practical warfare of tournament and match chess. Lasker possessed exceptional stamina and display ed a cool and pragmatic approach to his most critical games. His 'black magic' reputation arose because he proved himself a stronger and tougher personality than his opponent in some of the most critical games of his career - for example in his victory over Schlechter ih the final game of their 1910 match which Lasker had to win to keep the world title; in his defeat of Capablanca at St Peters burg 1914 which gained first prize ahead of his main rival, and in the second game of his 1908 match with Tarrasch. In all of these wins Lasker demonstrated his skill in producing tension in opponents who were not playing their best. His stamina is also evident from his good record in last round games and. the frequency with which he overhauled rivals in the second half of a tournament
'I have only two words, "check" and "mate",' said Tarrasch, left, but his enemy Lasker won.
-
for example at Hastings 189 5 and the three St Petersburg tourname n ts of 1896, 1909 and 1914. Lasker' s stamina provides an important lesson for the ordinary club or social chessplayer or the ambitious yo u n gs te r. I n theory a ll chess games carry equal weight and a win in the first round has the same value as a victory at the end but this is not so in pr act i ce . For instance, in S w i ss System tournaments, players meet opponents with similar scores, and a poor start or a loss in the mid d le rounds can be compensated by wins over weaker opponents late in the tournament . Wins in the final rounds of a Swiss and e s pec ial ly in the last round in effect carry extra weight because they decide the pr iz e s . Lasker' s career shows that h e realized the importance of games towards the end in all-play-all tournaments. In the open ing rounds of an event every player is fi ghting for a good result, but towards the end some w i ll lose interest or confidence w h i le others in contention for one of the top places may suffer from und ue tension. In such a s i tuation the strong and experienced player, accustomed to success, can use his superior technical skill or h i s tactical powers to pressure the opposition into mistakes. Thus one of Lasker's most important qualiti es, th oug h one v irt ua lly unmentioned in all the many commentaries on his st yle and results, was his a b il i ty to pace himself dur i ng a long tournament or match. The game shown here is from the final round of St Petersburg 1 90 9, and while �ot one of La sker's best known games, it exempl ifies his cool competence. White: Em. Lasker. Blac k : R. Teich mann Ruy Lopez (St Pete rsburg 1909) eS l. e4 2. N O Nc6 3. Bb S a6 Nf6 4. Ba4 Be7 5 . 0-0 6 . Qe2 This is the Worrall Attack, later a fa vourite of Keres but at the time an unknown system. It illustrates Lasker's unpretentious approach to the openings he disli ked sharp and double-edged lines and preferred to aim for a fluid position with possi bly a small advantage in space or mobile pieces, so giving him a base for the middle game and ending where he excelled. His opponent Teichmann wa s an expert on the favourite lines of the time with 6. Re 1 or 6. dJ and his over eager counter-attack on move 14 suggests that he was trying to 'punish' Lasker for his novel but still perfectly sound move. 6. b5 7. BbJ d6 8. cJ 0-0 9. d4 exd4 10. cxd4 Bg4 56
1 1 . Rd 1 d5 N e4 12. e 5 NxcJ 1 3 . NcJ 1 4. bxcJ f6 ? This is a serious mistake which enables Lasker to gain a great advantage in space and hams t r ing the bishop. Correct is 1 4 . . . . Na5 first. 1 5 . h3 Bh5 15 . . . . BxfJ 1 6. Qxf3 loses a pawn, while 15 . . . . Be6 fails to 1 6 . exf6 Rxf6 1 7 . Bg5 Rg6 1 8 . Bc 2 . 1 6 . g4 Bf7 16 . . . . Bg6 1 7 . Nh4 is also good for White. 17 . e6 Bg6 18. Nh4 N a5 1 9. Nxg6 hxg6 f5 20 . Bc2
21. Khl l Lasker seize s o n the winning idea of exchanging pawns on f5 and then attack ing along the open g file. 21. 22. g x f5 2 3 . Qf3
24. Rg1
Bd6
Qh4 gxf5
threatening both BxfS and :Bg5 . f4 24. 25. Rg 4 Qh6
Bxe7 26. e7! 27. Bxf4 Qe6 and Bla ck resigned without waiting for the finish 28. Rxg7 + ! Kxg7 29. R g 1 +
and mates. Lasker had an unequalled record in set matches, winning 1 9, drawing 2 and losing only to his successor as world champion Capablanca. This was partly due to his skill in choosing opponents, notorious} y so in the period 1 900- 1 9 14 when three times he took on the weaker Janowski who had a rich patron, while ducking the ·dangerous challengers Maroczy, Rubinstein and Capablanca. But the matches he did play showed his extraordinary skill in man-to-man com bat, notably his � wins over Marshall and Janowski and his 6-0 victory over Blackburne. Lasker was the first chess master to try seriously to establish the game as a
profession ; but ironically for a man who was a tough bargainer for high appearance fees, he was twice financially ruined, first by th e inflation of the 1 920s and then by the rise of the Nazis. Without these personal setbacks it is doubtful if he would have kept his career going for so long. In the late 1 920s he began to take his mathematics studies seriously, re ceived a doctorate for his work on abstract algebra, and was praised by Einstein ; he dabbled in philosophy which he preferred to discuss rather than analyse chess. In his simple approach to the openings Lasker established a model followed by some of his world title successors such as Capablanca, Petrosian and Karpov who also preferred a baseline approach in the early stages. We have already looked at his handling of the Ruy Lopez, and his treatment of the French Defence with White showed a preference for ideas like 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. NcJ Bb4 4. Ne2 or 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 dS 3. NcJ Nf6 4. BgS B b4 5. exdS Qxd S 6. Bxf6 gxf6. One problem of such a non-bookish approach with the white pieces is how to meet the Sicilian Defence l. e4 c5, the most double-edged and well analysed of all openings, but Lasker coped with that too in his later years. Playing the black pieces, he favoured simple rapid development with a mini mum of pawn moves, as in the Lasker Defence to the Queen's Gambit 1. d4 d5 2 . c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5.. e3 0-
White: M. Porges. Black : Em. Las)te,r Ruy Lopez (Nuremberg 1896) e5 l . e4 2. NO N c6 Nf6 3. Bb5 Nxe4 4. 0-0 Be7 5 . d4
Modern theory prefers 5 . . . Nd6 6. Bxc6. dxc6 7. dxe5 N£'5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 h6 10. 0-0-0+ Ke8 when Black has good drawing chances de spite his uncastled king. .
6. Qe2
Nd6
8. dxe5
Nb7
7. Bxc6
bxc6
Temporarily the knight is misplaced, but it can soon regroup via c5 to a good squa·re at e6; while Black also intends to under mine the white centre by ... f6, opening up for . his pair of bishops. , . Therefore White should now utilize his temporary development advantage by 9. Nc3 0� 10. Nd4 Bc5 1 1 . Rd l . The less forcing line in the game quickly concedes the initia:.. tive to Lasker. 9. b3 10. Bb2 11. exd6
e.p.
12. Nbd2
1 3.
Rfe1
14. Ne47
0-0 d5 cxd6
ReS Bd 7
Wh ite should play 1 4. Qfl . By wasting time he allows Lasker an unchallenged pawn centre and the rest of the game is a model of how to use this type of ad van ta ge to create opportunities on both sides of the boa rd . 14. . . . d5 1 5 . N (4 )d 2 Both 15. Ng3 Bb4 a n d 1 5 . N c 3 B a 3 win materia l for Black. Ba3 1 5. f6 1 6. Be S fxe 5 1 7 . Qa6 1 8 . QxaJ 18. Qxb7 allows e4 followed by Bb 2 18. . . e4 1 9 . N d4 Q f6 ! This is t he key to the attack. White's queen is t e m po ra r i ly stranded far from the threatened K-side, so Black can now build up his attack rapidly. Note how the strong pawn at e4 deprives White of the normal defensive m o ve N f3 . Rf8 20. c3 2 1 . f)
Harry Nelson Pillsbury 1872-1906
.
.
27 . . . . Nxg2 ! A neat combination crowns Lasker's fine play and forces a mating finish . 28. K xg2 exO + 29 . RxO Bh3 + 30 . Kxh3 or 30. Kf2 Bg4 3 1 . Rxf8 + Rxf8 + 3 2. Ke3 h4 33. Nfl Qe4 + 34. Kd2 R f2 wins. 30 . Qg4 + 3 1 . Kg2 QxO + 32. K g l h4 33. N h l Qe3 + 34 . Resigns for if 34 Kg2 h3 mate . Was Lasker the greatest chessplayer of them all as some commentators claim ? Certainly - as is supported by Elo's historical ratings - he ranks in the top half-dozen world champions alongside Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer and probably Karpov. It is reasonable to suppose that the top grandmasters of today would be able to exploit Lasker's predictable opening repertoire more than did his contemporaries. Some of his wins from dubious positions would have been unlikely against players familiar with 'playing the man' and psychological chess. But his judgment of position and his analytical skill more than held their own against contemporary players in the 1 9 30s; whether or not Lasker was the ' greatest' he ranks as the first of the moderns and as a supreme ex ponent of practical chess. .
g.
112
A further weakness, but if 2 1 . Rfl QgS 22. Qc 1 Bh 3 wins rook for bishop . 21. . . . Qg5 ! Lasker handles this and the later attack mos t precisely. Now the d2 knight cannot move because of c5 followed by exf3, while if 2 2 . Rad 1 c5 23. Ne2 exf3 24 . Nxf3 R xf3 . 22. Qcl N c5 2 3 . Nfl Q g6 Nd3 24. Re3 This recalls Steinitz's motto that i f you esta bl ish a knight at d3 or e3 the game w ins itself - although it is not quite that s i m pl e . For the rest of the play Lasker's attack runs very smoothly. 25. Qd l Nf4 26. N g 3 hS 27 . N 4e 2
Pills bury is one of the enigmas and might have-beens of chess history. He wen only oae major first prize outright in his'short career, but that was at Hastings 1895, th'e stronge-st event held up· to hi.s time; His feats of blindfold chess and memory ·are in a class of their own, and· hi·s best games including his last victory over lla.sk·er have the stamp of a g.reat a·rtist. . PiHsbury learnt chess at B'0s�e>Pl, �Jla::S� sachusetts late, at sixteen, which m. oar day would be consider.efbeaom.il'lg a strong grandmaster. But he developed rapidly and was only 22 when. he scored his upset victory at Hastings ahead of Lasker, Steinitz, Tarrasch and Tchigorin. In the following years Pillsbu:ry w a-s a consistently high international prize winner without quite establishing himse.lf as Lasker's natural challenger. He gained worldwide acclaim with his exhibitions of blindfold chess which included a then world record of 22 games at once. He gave blindfold performances of chess and draughts (checkers) while simultaneously taking part in a hand of whist. Perhaps his most remarkable mental feat occurred when two professors gave him this list of words to memorize : Antiphlogistine, periosteum, takadia stase, plasmon, ambrosia, Threlkeld , streptococcus, staphylococcus, micrococ cus, plasmodium, Mississippi, Freiheit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, athletics, no war, Etchenberg, American, Russian, philosophy, Piet Potgelter's Rost, Sala magundi, Oomisellecootsi, Bangmanv:ate, Schlechter's Nek, Manzinyama, theo sophy, catechism, and Madjesoomalops. Pillsbury looked at the list for a few minutes, repeated the words in the order given, and then in reverse order. He was able to recall the list the following day. One of the chess curiosities of the late nineteenth century was the so-called ..
.
57
' au tomaton' A JEEB, a figure colourfully robed as a Moorish potentate which worked by levers and had in its interior a variety of gadgets and machinery which were supposed to enable it to play at master level . In fact a human expert was concealed in the interior and operated the levers. The trouble was that AJEEB's first owner and operator was a diminutive man who designed the machine to fit his own measurements. But he found it physica l ly too tough a job - the air inside AJEEB's interior rapidly became stale and he became exha usted on hot summer days. Hence chess masters were engaged to sit inside A JEEB but they too found the physical conditions intolerable and there was a rap id turnover of staff. Pil lsbury took over the AJEEB assign ment in 1890 and operated the machine, with b reaks for international tourna ments, till 1 900, an incredi ble feat of endurance surpassing even his blindfold feats. But he was six foot tall and his muscles suffered badly in the machine's interior. It is said that Pillsbury drank up to a quart of whisky a day and that the alcohol relieved the physical pain. The challengers to AJEEB, and they were numerous, included the writer 0. Henry, the actress Sarah Bernhardt and the base ball pi tcher Christie Mathewson . Ma ny commentators and friends of Pillsbury beli eved that his blindfold and mnemonic feats took too much out of him and depri ved him of his chances for the world ti tle . Pillsbury d ied a t onl y 3 3, after a long i l l ness. Ma y be his drinking habits con tri buted , but the English grandmaster B l ac k bu rne ( 1 84 1 - 1 924), who was also a heavy whisky drinker, li ved in good heal th to a ripe old age. It is al so said that Pillsbu ry contracted a form of syphilis during the St Petersburg quadrangular of 1 895-6 where at the half-way mark he led the four players with 6! out of 9, in clud i ng two wins over world champion Lasker, but collapsed in the second half where he scored only 1! from 9 games. If Pil l sbury's first-half results at St Petersburg are added to his score at Ha stings, it i s evident that he was of world championship stature at his peak. Like the other great American geniuses Morphy and Fischer, Pillsbury marred hi s own talent by not looking after hi m sel f. Pil lsbury was a deep and original player and his special system with the white pieces in the Queen's Gambit Declined can be effecti vely used by the cl ub player of today . The basic concept is si m ple: Whi te esta blishes his 0 knight at eS, sup ports it with f4, lines up his b i shop on the b 1 -h7 diagonal, and then brings over queen and fl rook to attack the black king. Until Pillsbury's time many grandmasters believed that a rou tine Queen's Gambit favoured Black
58
because of his majority of pawns on the queen's side. Dr Tarrasch, the leading theoretician of the time, held this view and when the new system defeated him at Hastings 1 895 the effect of the Pillsbury Attack in chess was as revolutionary as the Fosbury Flop in the high jump. In this later game Pillsbury used his attack to win brilliantly. White: H.N. Pillsbury. Black: S.R. Wolf Queen's Gambit (Mo n te Carlo 1903) d5 1. d4 2. c4 e6 Nf6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bg5 0-0 5. e3 Nbd7 6. NO 7. Rei b6
As a result of Pillsbury, this move has been largely abandoned in favour of 7 . . . . c6. 8 . cxd5 e x d5 8 . . . . NxdS loses a pawn to 9 Nxd S . 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
NeS f4 Bd3 0-0
Bf5
Bb7 a6 c5 c4 b5
RO!
26. Bxg61
The brilliant climax to Pillsbury's attack. Neither pawn can capture because of mate in one, while if 26 . . . . Nx g6 27. Rxg6 + hxg6 2 8. Rh4 forces mate. Rb6 26. 27. Qxb61 Nxg6 28. Qf6 ReS If 28. . .. Nxf4 29. exf4 followed by f5, QgS + a nd f6 with a mating attack. Be6 29. Rfl Kh8 30. Qg5 Nf8 31. QhS Rxe6· 32. Nxe6 Resigns 33. Rxe6 for if 3 3 .. . . Nxe6 34. Rx£7 .
Pillsbury's premature death makes it hard to assess his real standing in chess history. Elo gives him a rating for his best period of 2630, the equivalent of a world title candidate in present-day terms. M.ore significantly, he had the best personal record against Lasker (S-5 with 4 draws) of any of the latter's rivals in the pre- 1 9 1 4 period, and his final victory, at Cambridge Springs 1 904 when he was already a sick man, was one of his best, although the story often told about it and quoted below is patently untrue.
fig. 1 14
This is the key to the attack. White heads his pieces straight for the king's side to force weaknesses in the black· defensive pawn front. For a modem refinement of this attack, see page 1 2 1 . 14.
16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.
Bb1 fxeS Bxe7 QO Rfl Qf6
Re8 g6 NxeS Nd7 Rxe7 Nf8 Qd7 b4 7
22. 23. 24. 25.
Na4! NcS Rh6 Rf4
Qc7 Bc 8 aS Rb8
1 5 . Rh3
White has a strong game, but Black could still defend with 21 . . . . Re6. The weak pawn ad vance allows the knight to join the attack, for if 22 . . . . Qxa4 23. Qxe7 .
White: H.N. Pillsbury. Black: Em. Lasker Queen's Gambit Declined (Cambridge Springs 1904) dS 1. d4 e6 2. c4 3. Nc3 Nf6 cS 4. NO cxd4 5. BgS Nc6 6. Qxd4 7. Bxf61
an earlier game Pillsbury-Lasker, St Petersburg 1895-6, Pillsbury played 7. Qh4 ?, castled long, and was crushed by a brilliant sacrificial attack. The story was that Pills bury found 7 .Bxf6 immediately after the St Petersburg game and patiently hoarded it for eight years until he got another chance to play it against Lasker. Unfortunately for this nice tale, there were three intervening games between the opponents where Pillsbury had White and didn't try to play his 'eight year In
move'. But certainly the knight capture is a big improvement: Black cannot all ow 7. . . Nxd4 8. Bxd8 Nc2 + 9. Kd 1 Nxa1 1 0 . Bh4 when the a 1 knight is trapped, and so has to allow the K-side to be perma nently weakened. 7. . . . gxf6 8 . Qh4 dxc4 8. . . d4 would be met by 9. 0-0-0. Bd7 9. Rd 1 N e5 ? 10. e) A fur th er wea kening of the pawn front, and perhaps one of Lasker's psycholo gically second-best moves which didn't come off. Better is 10 . . . f5 1 1 . Qxc4 Bg7 aiming to open lines for the pieces in compensat ion for the weakened pawn fron t. fxe 5 1 1 . Nxe5 1 2 . Qxc4 Qb6 1 3 . Be2 ! sacri fic ing an unimportant pawn to bring all Whi t e' s pieces into action against the black king. Qxb2 13. Rc8 1 4 . 0-0 Rc7 1 5. Qd3 Be7 1 6 . Ne4 1 7 . N d 6 + Kf8 The king becomes a ta rget on this square, as shown by W hite's moves 1 9-20; and yet there was n o thi n g better. If 17 . . . . Bxd6 1 8. Qxd6 Qb6 1 9. QxeS 0-0 20 . Q gS+. QbS 1 8 . N c4 .
.
al ways a useful pair in attack - to corn bine for the final mate. 26. QxB Qxfl + 27. Rfl B d7 28. Kxfl 29. Qh5 + Kg8 30. N e 5 Resigns
Jose Raoul CapablancaJsss-1942 Capablanca was the finest natural chess p layer in the game's history. His genius in position play and subtle endgame skill inspired a legion of contemporaries and successors from Flohr and Smyslov to Fischer and Karpov. Uncharacteristically for chess, where compliments to rivals are often few and grudging, he gained full recognition from the other world cham pions who p layed and knew him. Euwe called him ' without peer in the endgame and in pure position p lay ; as a tactician unsurpassa ble' ; Botvinnik wrote that 'Capa blanca was the greatest talent, he made the best impression on me of all the c ha mp i ons I have met' ; Alekhine, though not on speaking terms with Capa for fifteen years, praised him as 'the greatest gen i us of chess. There will never be any one to equal him'; while Lasker said 'I have known many chessplayers, but only one genius, Capablanca . ' Capa blanca came first o r second in 30 out of the 35 tournaments in which he played, and lost only 35 tournaments and match games out of a total 567 in his whole life. This included a period of eight
years ( 1 91 6-24) without a single defeat, · while his overall loss ratio - around st per cent - was about half that of Lasker and Alekhine, and was matched in later times only by the peak periods of Fischer and Karpov. Capa, as the chess world called him, was blessed by nature not only with extraordinary talent but with personal magnetism and charm. This made him a natural ambassador for Cuba, his native land, which appointed him a roving plenipotentiary to spread goodwill for his country through his chess exploits. Capa was brilliantly equipped for this function. He had an air of effortless superiority and confidence in his own genius, as well as being both elegant and handsome - an intellectual Valentino. Until Fischer came along half a century later Capa was the only chess grand master in the West whose name the public knew and would come to watch in large numbers. For decades he gave regular worldwide simultaneous tours, playing very fast and scoring high percentages even when the opposition was strong. By chess standards, Capab lanca was born with the proverbial silver spoon. He learnt the moves, self-taught, at four, and at twelve won a match with the champion of Havana. At eighteen, before playing a serious international event, he defeated the then US champion Marshall 8-1 in a match. On the strength of this result he was invited to the great international tournament at San Sebastian 1 91 1 . Dr Capablanca 'the chess machine' at the zenith his career, 1919. Unbeaten for several years, many rate him the greatest chess genius.
of
1 9 . f4 ! e x f4 20 . Qd4 t em p o to decis i ve l y strengthen
gaining a the f- file attack.
20. 21. 22 . 2 3. 24 . 25.
f6 Qc5 Be8 f5 Kf7 Rc6 Not 25 . Qxc4? 26. NeS +. 26. R x f5 + ! A clever sacrifice t o wind up Pi l l s b u r y s convincing play. The point is not to win the queen for two rooks b ut to set up the position for W hite's queen and k n i ght.
.
Qxf4 NeS Ng4 Qh6+ Bc4 !
.
'
5_9
Bernstein, one of the established com petitors, protested at the inclusion of this u nknown and in storybook fashion Capa beat him brillia ntly in the opening round. A i ming to establish himself as Lasker' s challenger, Capa then went on a whirl wind tour of Europe taking on leading masters in two-game mini-matches. He beat nearly all of them and the game shown here i llustrates the Capa style of playing for the endi ng whi le being alert to every tactical chance. White : J . R . C a p a bla nca . B la ck : F. D us-C hoti m i rsky Ruy Lopez (St Peters b u rg 1 91 3) The opening w as 1 . e4 e5 2 . Nf3 Nc6 3 . BbS a 6 4 . Ba4 N f6 5 . 0-0 Be7 6. R e l b 5 7 . Bb3 d6 8. c3 N a S 9. Bc2 c5 1 0. d4 Qc7 1 1 . N b d2 Nc6 1 2 . Nfl Modern theory prefers 1 2 . h3 or 12 . d S, avoi d i ng the pin that follows. cxd4 1 2. 1 3 . cxd4 Bg4 14. dS N d4 0-0 1 5 . Bd3 15 . .. . N h S ! to p lay against the f4 square, wou l d be good for Black. The openings were never Capa ' s strong point ; he used to boast that he never read a chess book until he became a world title candidate .
16. Be3 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.
Bxd4 a4 a;xb 5
h3
Qxf3 Reel
23. b4
Average p layers should try to look out for such snap attacks whenever the opposing king position with unmoved pawns lacks a knight guard. g6 25. . . .
Rac8 exd4 Qb6 axb 5 BxO Nd7 Nc5 Na4 7
26. e6
R£8
27. Ng3
Qb7
29 . dxe6 30. Qc6 1
Qc7
34. Bxd7 35. e7 36. Re l
Rb8 K£7
or 26 . . . . fxe6 27. Qg4 threatening both Qxe6 + and Bxg6. Again if fxe6 28. Qg4, while f5 is met by 28. Bxf5 ! gxf5 29. Nxf5 with a winning attack. 28 . NfS I Another fine move. If now gxf5 2 9. QxfS, or if Kh8 29. Qe4. fxe 6 28 .
Aiming for the c3 square, Black overlooks Capa's tactical p lan. Better was Nxd3 followed by Bf6 . Rxc8 2 4 . Rxc8 25. e5 !
The poin t, gaining time for a king's side attack because if 25 . . . . dxeS 26. Qf5 attack i ng both the rook and the h7 pawn.
This is not j ust a flashy sacrifice (Qxc6? 3 1 . Nxe7 + and 32. Nxc6). Capablanca is already planning ahead to the endgame and taking control of his e pawn's queen ing square. Qd8 30. 3 1 . Nxe7 + Qxe7 N c3 32. Bxb5 33. Qd7 1 Qxd7
36. e8=Q+ Rxe8 37. Bxe8 + Kxe8 38. Kfl should also win, but the text is
Capablanca, left, and Lasker, Moscow 1 925. Acclaimed as a hero in Russia Capa starred in the film Chess Fever and may have played in 'he Kremlin.
. '" I I
•
I• . ... " ... •
.. 11 1 11 t 1 • '
�
•
\'H·J,
ll·& lit·
I ' . ... ' '
simpler. Black could resign now. The remaining moves were 36 . . . . ReS 37. Bxe8+ Kxe 8 38. Re6 dS 39. Kfl NbS 40 . Ke2 Nc7 41. ReS Na6 42. bS N b4 43. b6 d3 + 44. Kd2 Kd7 45. e 8 = Q+ Kd6 4&. Qe7 + Kc6 47. Qxb4 Resigns. Lasker, sensing the risk to his title from this dangerous young rival, managed to avoid a match despite inc reasing public clamour for one until World War I temporarily ended chess activity. But when international play resumed the Havana Chess Club made a $20,000 offer which Lasker, impoverished by the war, accepted. He played the whole match listlessly and Capa became world cham pion by a margin of 4---0 with 1 0 d raws in a series originally scheduled for 24 games. Capa blanca's easy success was followed by convincing victories at the big tourna ments in London 1 922 and New York 1927, while his challenger Alekhine was a distant runner-up in both events. Their title match at Buenos Aires lasted 34 games, the longest series in any world championship. At the end of it A lekhine was the surprise winner by 6-3 with 2 5 draws, Ca pa 's legend o f invincibility was tarnished, and the two men rapidly ceased to be on speaking terms. The conventional explanation for the result is that Capa, whose previous lifetime score against Alekhine was 8 --D with 7 draws, took his opponent too lightl y. while A lekhine prepared with manic intensity. But in fact the match proved to be a mixture of dull, mostly short dra ws and decisive games marred by inaccuracies.
1 920s. What he continued to show was his mastery and elegance of planning and his know-how in exchanging pieces. The most important lesson from Capablanca's games is the value of small advantages such as an active king, file control and superior pawn formation. The following game illustrates how to meet an opponent who tries to swap off all the pieces for an early dra w. White : E . D . Bogolyubov. Black: J . R. Capablanca
17. Ke2
fig. ll8
In the very first game Capa fell for a variation of the back row mate. Instead of 16. Nd3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 when the endgame might be tena ble despite doubled pawns, he played 1 6. Rac l ? overlooking Nxc2 17. Rxc2 Qxf4 ! winning a pawn because of 1 8. Bxf4 Rxe 1 mate. Capa was never con vinced by his defeat, and spent the rest of h is l i fe speaking of 'my title' and v a i nly arguing his right to a retu rn . In 1936 he was first a t Moscow and tied first at Nottingham, but could not re establish his a b solute supremacy of the
Rhb8!
p reparing to meet 1 8. b4 by bS 1 9. cS aS opening up the a file with a useful out post on a4. White chooses a different tack, but the result is only to switch Capa's target square to c4. bS 18. Ne4 19. cS 20. cxd6 e .p.+
2 1 . f4 22. f5
dS! cxd6
ReS
sti ll trying to open lines for his own rooks, but Rhc l was a better chance. 22. NaS N c4 2 3 . Kd 3
dS
26. fxe6 27. gS
fxe6
27. 28. RhS 29. Rh3 30. Na2 31. RO + 32. g4
hxgS Kf6 Rac8 a5 Kg6
32. ...
Nd61
33. Nc3 34. axb4 35. Ndl
b4 axb4
35.
37. Ra1 38. Re2
Rc2 b3 Ne4 R8c61
39. Rbl
e51
More obvious is 25. NcS, but then eS ! undermines the knight. Rc6 25. Already a desperate measure: Black threatens both to double rooks on the c file and to attack the K-side pawns with Kf6-g5 .
Queen's Indian Defence (Bad Kissin gen 1928) The opening moves were 1. d4 N f6 2. c4 e6 3.NO b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. BgS Be7 6. e3 Ne4 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Nxe4 Bxe4 9. Nd2 Bb7 10. Be2 QgS ll. BO BxO 12. Qx0Nc613.Qg3 Qxg3 14.hxg3Ke7.
White's pacific intentions are c lear, but he has fundamentally misunderstood the position. White's pawn centre, potential ly valuable in the middle game, is here a target for a b lack pawn advance (a6 and b 5) which will open lines of manoeuvre for th,e,,rooks andjor establish a knight outpost. Meanwhile White's own line op�ning advance on the other wing by g4-g5 is easily stopped. Modem masters and strong players have learnt the tech niques for such positions from Capa. Few today would diagnose fig. 1 1 9 as an easy draw. h6 1 5 . g4 a6 16. a3
24. Rabl 25. Nc3
A surprise resolution to the problem of finding a breakthrough meth od - for the rest of the game Black aims for mate. The i mmediate intention is Ne4, Rc2 and Rd2 mate.
or 35. Na2 Ne4 36. Nxb4 Rc4 37. Na2 Rc2 and wins. 36.
Rf2
Putting White into near-zugzwang. If 39. Re 1 R d2 mate, or 39. Rxc2 Rxc2 mate, or 39 . Nc3 Rxc3 +. so
that if 40. dxe5 R6c4 and NcS mate.
R6c4 40. Ral Nc5 + I 41. Ra5 42. Resigns For if 42. dxc5 e4 mate - an attractively economical finish with such a small
striking force. Capablanca died in 1942 aged only 54 after a heart attack at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York. He is commemo rated in his native Cuba by the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament, and his games will always be models for young players seeking to master the art of positional chess. 61
5. Bg2
Alexander Alekhine 1 892-1 946 Al ek h i ne was one of the most original and tactically bri l l iant grandmasters of all t ime a n d , w i th the po ssi ble exception of Fisc her, the most dedicated to chess. He had the hunger for achievement possessed by a ll great players . He spent five yea rs prepa ring for h is v i c tory over Ca pa bl a n ca and his col lections of his best games and book of the New York 1 924 tournament are models of strateg ic ap pra isal and detailed, probing analysis. At the peak of h is powers around 1 9 30-34 he d omi na ted his ri vals and at San Remo 1930 and Bled 1 9 3 1 finished respecti vely 1� and 51 points ahead of world class fiel d s . His later years were c l ouded by excessive d ri n k ing and his warti me col la bora t ion with the Nazi s, but h is legacy of bea uti ful games and his many contribu tions to ch ess theory make him one of the most interest ing of the world champions. Alek h i ne was born in Moscow of ric h, ari stocra tic stock. His older b rother Al exsei was a l so a chessplayer and , since bovs were not a l lowed to attend c hess d� bs at tha t time, they developed thei r ta lent v ia postal c hess. Alekhine was not a prod igy by the standards of Morphy or Ca pa blanca but his game progressed ra pidly during adolescence and by 1 5 he was winning matches with masters. By 1 9 1 4, he was already thi rd to Lasker and Ca pa bl anca in the great tournament at St Petersburg, but then came the war and revol ution. He won the first Soviet championsh i p in 1 920 th en left for the West and became a French citizen. Alekhine is said to have been looking ahead to an eventual match with Ca.pa blanca even as earl y as 1 9 1 4 and before Capa pl ayed Lasker. He won a series of big tournaments in the early and mid dle 1 920s and gradually won attention, publ ic acclaim and - most important- financial backing for a challenge to Capablanca. The charisma surround ing Alekhine came from his daring yet logical tactical play which was often based on exploiti ng his. opponent's lagging development; his I uci d and articulate annotations, and his driving personality w ere the perfect counterpoint to Capa's lazy elegance. He was pa rticul arly severe on the conven tional strategists l ike Rubinstein and Tarrasch and this game is a typical win from his peak period. White : A .K. Rubinste i n . Black : Dr. A. A. Alekhine Queen's Indian Defence (Semme ri ng
1 926)
l . d4
2. c4 3. NO 4 . g3
62
Nf6 e6 b6 Bb7
Bb4 +
6. N bd2 Somew hat passive compared with 6. Bd2 . 0-0 6. 7 . 0-0 dS Be7 8. a 3 9. b4 cS Typical Alekhine ; when Black he liked a war of movement, opening up diagonals for bishops and creating chances against the w h i te king. White's game is not yet inferior, but in sharpening the position Alek h i ne is also playing the man as well as the board . In his later years Ru binstein beca me l ia ble to tactical oversights, and here more calculation is required than with a blocked pawn centre. 10 . bxcS 11 . dxcS 12. Bb2
bxcS BxcS
12 . 13 . Ne5 1 4. Bxe S 1 5 . Bc3
Nbd7 NxeS Ng4 Rb8
The b i shop is exposed on this diagonal; an alternati ve is 1 2. R b 1 fol lowed by Nb3, a i ming to control d4 and c 5 .
QcS 26 . Qc2 aS 27. Kf2 gS 28 . Be2 f4 1 29 . Bd3 Here White overstepped the time limit,
but his position is resignable. A l ikely fini sh is 30. Bxh7+ Kh8 3 1 . Qe4 Qxe3 + 32. Kg2 f3 + 33. Kh3 Qe2 34. Qg6 g4 + 3 5 . Kh4 Be7 + 36. Kh5 Qxh2 mate . After Alekhine won the world title from Capablanca his urge to dominate other players increased . Alekhine's peak was at San Remo 1 9 30 where he scored 1 4 out of 1 5 yet still sweated for several hours in a heat-wave in the final round to win a rook ending a pawn up. At Bled 1 9 3 1 his play was less convincing but he triumphed by 5� points and won this typical game against Flohr. The play seems to follow a positional course, but then comes a sud den tactical bolt from the blue which immediately decides the i ssue. Alekhine never specially sought such combinative traps but they occurred naturally as he i ncreased pressure till the opposing defences broke .
White : D r . A.A. Alekhine. Black : S. Flohr Queen's Gambit Accepted (Bled 193 1) The opening moves were 1. d4 dS 2. c4 d�c4 3. NfJ Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. 0� Nc6 7. Qe2 a6 8. Rd1 bS CJ. dx·c5 Qc710. Bd3 BxcS H. a4 b4?
A positional error which gives Whit � cont rol of the useful ,b3 and c4 squares. Nowadays masters capture by· 11. ·· bxa4 to keep the pawn formation f'ltiicl· rath'er than static;
12. Nbd2 13. Nb3 14. e4 Be3
15. 16.
Nxe5 17. Racl
�0
..
Be7
Nd7 N7e5 NxeS
QbS
16. R b1 1 This routine move gives Alekhine the chance to switch the game into his beloved tactics. l6. cxdS! would still keep White well in contention, since Q or Bxd5 allows 17. e4 a ttacking the knight while 16 . . . . exdS 17. NbJ again gives black square counterplay. .
16.
d4!
1 7 . Rxb7 18. Bxb7
Rxb 7
19. Kxf2 20. e3
dxc3+ cxd2 Qb8 Rd8 Qd6
Nx£2!
This is the kind of ta,ciical coup which gave Alekhine his reputation . The piece sacrifice is temporary and ensures Black the decisive adva.ntage of a pas sed pa wn on the seventh. 21 . 22 . 23 . 2 4.
Ke2 BfJ Qb 1 a4 2 5 . Rd1
f5
Bb4
18. Bc51
A standard manoeuvre to increase an advantage in a blocked p osition. The natural invasion points into the black camp are c7, c5 and a S, all dark squares ; so White exchanges the piece which best
gu a r ds these squares. There is also a good possibility of a fu rther weakness : the black bishop at c8 is tied to the a pawn and to free that b i shop Black may well have t, advance the pawn to aS w here it becomes another dark square liabi li ty . Bxc5 18. 19. Nxc5 Qb6 20 . Qh5 Nd7 21 . Be2 g6 22 . Qg5 Nxc5 a5 23. Rxc5 An u nwi l l i n g concess ion, but White threatened to spl it the Q-si de pa wns by aS. 24. h4 Another instructi ve feature of dark square control ; White intends h5 -h6 to force g6 and c o n s eq ue n t mate possi b i l i ties at g7 . 24. Ba6 2 5 . B f3 f6 26. Q e 3 Rad8 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 � 28 . e 5 ! •
for twenty minutes while the latter fo u g h t inwardly to escape the psycholo gi cal pressure. It was a vital game for both players, the fi rst between the reigning Soviet cha mpion and the White Russian em igre . In h i s last years Alekhine was a leading participant in wartime Nazi tournaments and a series of anti-Semitic articles was publi shed un der his name. His play deteri orated further after 1 94 3 . When, in 1 946, he accepted a title challenge from Botv innik, few gave him any chance; but while preparing for the match, Alekhine died suddenly in Lisbon . He played in 87 tournaments in his l i fe, and won 62 of them - a record; after 1 9 1 2 he was only once - at Nottingham 1 9 36 - out of the top four in any event. If you l i ke tactical chess and can a lso cope w i t h stra tegy and positional play, Alek h i ne is an excellent chess hero.
Mikhail Botvinnik
1 91 1Botv i n n ik wa s the pioneer of the Russian domi nation of world chess which, the brief re ign of Bobby Fischer apart, has lasted for most of the twentieth century . But, more important for the ordinary player, he was the first to treat chess as a scien ce and a sport and to formulate a method ical training programme for com peting in a major tournament. T h is serious attitude to chess contrasted
with Steinitz, who stuck to unsound openings after defeats, with Lasker and Capablanca, who rarely prepared for tournaments, and even with Alekhine, whose detailed planning for opponents was not matched by care for his own physical condition. The role of chess in Soviet society made Botvinnik's approach not only sensible for himself, a potential world champion, but for others. Lenin was a keen p layer, so was Krylenko, one of his lieutenants. Under their influence chess became an officially recognizecl Russian sport and masters had the op portunity to earn a state salary. Botvinnik learned to play chess at twelve - late for a world champion. But at fourteen he beat Capablanca in a simultaneous and in 1 927 he made his first appearance in the USSR champion ship. He graduated from Leningrad as an electrical engineer and kept up his scientific work even after winning the world title. His big breakthrough came in the middle 1 9 30s when he won two strong events at Moscow, then tied with Capa blanca at Nottingham ahead of Alekhine, Lasker and other strong contenders. One of his first acts after this success was to put his name to a cable ghost�written by Krylenko thanking Stalin and the Soviet nation for their support. In the following years it became a prime goal of the USSR chess organization to secure for Botvinnik a chance at the world championship. When Alekhine died and left the title vacant, the World Chess Federation staged
A p p a re n t l y j u st fu r t h e r s t r e n g t h e n i n g of t he d a rk s q u a re c o n t r o l : if 28 . . fxe5 29. Q x e 5 i so l a t i n g B l a c k ' s e p aw n . But the move a l so sets a n A l e k h i n e t ra p . f5 ? ? 28 . . . 29 . R c8 ! R esigns Beca u se d 6 i s n o lo nger a va i la ble to the black q u ee n , Bl a c k loses at least a roo k . A l e k h i n e ' s la st great success i n h i s peak period was a t Zurich 1 9 34, a fter which h is resu l ts beca me more patc h y . H i s d r i n k pro b l em b e c a m e more a cute, and a ffect ed his p l a y and behav iour d u r i ng h i s unex pected l oss of the world title to Eu we in 19 3 5 . Shoc ked by d e feat, he w e n t i n to s t r i c t a nd a bstemious trai n i ng a n d rega i n ed t h e championsh i p two y e a rs l a t e r . H e w a s s t i l l a d i ffi c u l t opponent for .
·
a n y o n e . Bo t v i n n i k h a s d e sc r i b ed h o w , a t N �t t i n g h a m i n 1 9 36 w h e n i n c o m p l ex pos i t i o n s . A l e k h i n e w o u l d g et up a ft e r m a k i ng h i s m o v e a nd s t a rt c i r c l i n g rou n d a nd ro u n d t h e ta b l e l i ke a k i te. Playing Bot v i n n i k . he k e p t up his k i te i m i tation
Mikhail Bot vi nnik, first Soviet chess star. He twice regained the world title.
a ma tch tournament from which Bot vinnik emerged the clear victor over Smyslov, Keres. Reshevsky and Euwe. Botv i n n ik was at his peak in the period before he won the world title, and during the l imi ted chess activity of the war years and after. Al though he kept the champion ship. w i th i nterm i ss ions. from 1 948 to 1 96 3 . he lost ti tle matches to Smyslov and Tal before w i n ni ng the return and only drew h is 1 9 5 1 series with Bronstein. After his 1 96 3 defeat by Petrosian, and with the return ma tch cla use abolished, he aban do ned ti tle competi tion and grad ually transferred his chess interests to two projects for the future : devi sing a success ful chess computer program and dis coveri ng and teach ing a future USSR world c hampion. A t the time of writing, the first project has made only limited progress but the second has been bril l iantly successful. Both Karpov, the reign ing ch ampion and Kasparov, widely re ckoned a future champion in the 1 980s, are pu pils of Botvinnik . Botv innik's grea t strength as a player was h is command of strategy . but it was not the clear-cut and endgame-orientated s t rategy of Capa blanca . He li ked com plex positi ons w i th c hances for both sides, rel ying on h is a b i l i ty in manoeuvre cou pled w i th a sense of wh-en to swi tch to end games. Botv i n n ik was tl1e spec ialist in the French Defence ( l . e4 e6) and later the Caro-Kann ( l . e4 c6) as Black, and in queen 's side openi ngs like the Ni mzo lndian ( I . d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4) and Slav Defence Exchange ( l . d4 dS 2. c4 c6 3. cxd 5) as White. Two ideas often seen in his games are a sacrifice of rook for bishop or knight so as to create a mobile pawn centre and th e e ffec ti ve use of a bishop at long distance in the late midd le game after the exchange of several pieces. This last idea can be pa rti c ul a rly useful for the average player.
1 4 . bxc5 1 5 . Re i 16. Nh4
N d7 Qe7
threatening f4 to open up the centre and also attacking the g6 square which was weakened by 1 1 . . . h6 . .
1 6.
Q f7
1 8 . gxf4 1 9 . Qe 1 20. Bh3 1
Rad8 B d5
1 7 . f4
1 5 . axb3
f6 1
16. exd6 7
Nxd6
Botvinnik intends to bring the knight to d5 or fS to support the long d i agonal bishop. White should try to prevent thi� by 1 6. Qe2, because as played his own bishop is restricted by the f4 pawn. 1 7.
Rd3 18. Ra 4
exf4
Nf5
A voiding exchanges, and placing the bi shop on a diagonal where its scope will gain immensely after the eventual e4 . 20. Ne7 2 1 . Qg3
g6
·
White : M.M . B o tvinn i k . Black : 0.
Be nk n e r E n g li sh O pe n i ng (Moscow 1 956) The opening moves were 1 . . c4 e5 2� g3 N f6 3. B g 2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. N c 3 Nb6
6. NO Nc6 7. O;.Q Be7 8. a3 o <:n Black's castling is pr em at ure ; he should ..
play 8 . . . aS to stop White's Q'-side pawn advance. 9. b 4 a6 .
1 0 . d3 1 1 . N e4 1 2 . Bb2
Be6 h6 ? f5 ?
Botvinnik writes that after B1ack's last two moves he is already lost . because . of the a c ti v ity of White's b2 bi shop on the long dia gonal. Really Black m isunders tood Botvinnik' s strategy and thought that the e4 knight was h ea d i ng for gS rather than c 5 . In the next few moves Botvinnik makes sure of the pair of bishops and then masses his pieces in the centre rea dy for a dec i s i ve break with e4 . B xc 5 1 3. Nc5 64
fig. 1 2 5
This i s White's best chance aiming to put R or N on e4 but Botvinnik' s next move continues his theme of white square play and makes sure that his b i shop -
-
reaches its
2 2 . e4 1 Botvinnik has p repared this advance admirably and now opens the game with decisive e ffec t fxe4 22. Bxe4 2 3 . dxe4 24. Reel Qc4 U nfortunately for Bla ck the natura 24 . . . . Bd5 fails to 2 5 . Rxe7 Qxe7 26. Qxg6 + fol lowed by mate, but as played he loses two pieces for a rook and the white rook reaches the seventh rank with the d ea d l y threat of R g7 + 2 5 . Rxe4 Qx e4 26. Rel Qxf4 2 7 . Rxe 7 Resigns W hite : 0. Neikirch. Black: M . M. Botvinnik Sicilian Defence (Leipzig 1960) The opening moves were 1 . e4 c5 2. NO Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. ()..() 0-0 9. Kh l . The stronger move is 1 0. Be3. Bot vinnik now chooses an economical me th od of starti ng counterplay, br;inging his QN a nd QB into active posi tions with a mini mum of pawn moves. Na·5 9. 1 0 . f4 b6 Ne8 11. e 5 .
l
·
.
�
It is dangerous to open up the position yet : if dxe5 1 2. fxe5 N d 7 1 3 . Rxf7 ! Nxb3 12. RO Qd 7 1 3 . Nc6 1 4 . Nxe7 + Qxe7
best diagonal
11. . . . .
Qel:r
Mysteriqus at fir>st sig ht, Q�t.qui•te Iog!eal. An i mmed iate Bb7 woul el allow 19. R�v·� bs 19. Ne.4 20. Ra5 7 White still tries to attack, but here the rook proves fatally exposed. 20. Rb4 fa ils to a5, but he should try 20. Ra l . Bb7 2{). . . .
2 1 . Nd6 Or 21. Nc5 Bxg2 + 22. Kxg2· Qc6 + . 21. . . . Nxd6 22. Rxd6 Rds r t hreatening Qc6 and exposing Whiti(s back 'f"ow.
so
hd6 23. Qd2 24. Qxd6 Qd8 ! that if 25. Qx'a8 Rxd• 26. BeJ �dl+
27� Bgl Rd2 wins .
.
2 5 . Qxe6 + Rf7 Re7 ! 26. Qe l 27 . Resig ns
A pretty finish. Black'·s long-distance attack leaves White helpless, for if 2 7 . Qgl Qxa5, 27. Be3 Rxe3 or 27 . Qd2 Rd7. The winner's powerful yet artistic play in this game is typical of Botvinnik at his best.
Salllu el Reshevs ky 1 9 1 1 Reshevsky, the greatest American player before the rise of Bobby Fischer, has established a record for chess longevity as a strong and active player which sur passes even Lasker . Born in Poland, he was touring Europe giving simul tan eou s d isplays at the age of eight and by the age of ten was already playing at the level of at least a national expert. 50 years later he is still a strong grand -master. Reshev�ky \\ J '> t h e s t r o n g e s t \\' e '> t e rn player between 1 945 a n d 1 9 5 5 and his outstanding record in set matches would have given him a real chance against Botvinnik had he been able to challenge for the title. He was six times US champion and a regular high prize winner in the internationals of 19 3 5- 1 960. Reshevsky's special qua lities as a player are his competitive resi lience, his tactical skilL and his ability to survive time pressure. The three qualities go together. At the height of his career Reshevsky would get into severe clock trouble game after game and would then outplay his opponent even from dubious positions. Reshevsky also became the world expert in utilizing the white side of symmetrical openings such as the Engli sh 1 . c4 c5, as well as the sma ll advantages from the Queen's Gam bit Exchange Varia tion ( 1 . d4 dS 2. c4 ·e6 3 . Nc3 Nf6 4. BgS Nbd7 5. cxd S) and the Nimzo-Indian with 1 . d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 cS 5 Ne2. He has been called the greatest player in boring positions and his tech nique of gradually grind ing down an opponent after hours of patient manoeuvre has gained him disciples on the inter national circuit, e . g. Andersson and Hort. In playing over the two Reshevsky games following, note how he is co ntent to coast along with strategic p lay, aiming for a small advantage like the p air of bishops, and how quickly he switches to tactics when the chance comes. White : S . Reshevsk y . Black : J . H . ..
Donner Nimzo-I nd ian Defence (Santa Mon ica 1966) The opening moves were 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 d 5 6 . N O 0-0 7 . 0-0 dxc4 8. Bxc4 N bd7 9 . B d3 b6 10. a3 cxd4 1 1 . exd4 BxcJ 12. bxc3 Bb7 1 3. Re 1 Qc7 1 4 . Bd2 Rfe8 15. Qe2 Rac8 1 6 . Racl Bd5 .
This is well-known opening strategy . Black has conceded the pair of bishops, and in return has play on the light squares and against White's hanging pawns at d4 and c4 . Reshevsky probes his opponent's position and tries to gradually open the game for the bishops. 17. c4 18. a4
Bb7 Qc6
Bf4 Qxa4 Ra1 Qc6 Rxa7 Ra8 Rxa8 Rxa8 h3 Reshevsky likes such wai ti ng moves, tucking away an escape square fo r the king while Black decides how to commit · 19. 20. 21. 22. 23 .
himself.
23 . . . .
RaJ ?
Nxd5 Bxd5 10. Bd3 Bb4 + 11. Ke2 Bd6 12. Bxd6 cxd6 13. Qc2 h6 . The opening system with 4. Bf4 is a favourite with Miles - he has twice beaten Boris Spassky with it. Reshevsky counters by simple means, conceding White the edge in the centre but keeping open the chance of counterplay against the white king. Bc6 14. Rhcl If White could force an ending by Qc7, his centralized king would be an asset. 15 . Qb3 7 This underestimates Reshevsky' s counterplay. More natural is 1 5 . Be4, to swap bishops andfor force d5 fixing the central pawns and eliminating any danger to White's king. 15. . . Bb7 1 6. Rc37 White could still recognize his error by 1 6 . Qc2 encouraging Black to repeat .
moves .
fig. 126
Donner ruefully commented later 'I would never have played this move if Reshevsky had not been in time trouble . '
Nd7 16. . . . e5 1 1 7 . Racl Miles either underestimated this advance or missed Reshevsky' s next move. Sud denly White's king in mid-board is a vulnerable target. N c5 1 18. dxe5
2 4 . d5 !
Reshevsky's intuition in such positions is excellent. He had to see that the pawn sacrifice could be followed up by the bishop offer three moves later.
exd5 24. . . . Qxd5 2 5 . cxd5 or Nxd S 2 6 . BbS Qe6 27. Qb2 winning
material.
26. Bc4 Qc5 . 27 . Bx£7 + I Kx£7 7
Taken by surprise, Black misses the better defence Kh8 ! 28. Qe6 +
not Kf8? 29. Bd6 +
Kg6
29 . Bd6 1
Every move is accurate despite having to be made w ithin seconds. An immediate 29. Ne S + ? NxeS 30. RxeS would fail to Bc8 .
29. . . . Q a5 30. Ne 5 + I And here if 30. Nh4 + ? KhS 3 1 . NfS B lack h as B xg 2 Nxe5 30. Ra1 + 31. Rxe5 32. Kh2 Qa8 33. Qf5 + K£7 34. Re7 + Kg8 35 . Be5 Re1 36 . Rxg7 + ! Resigns White : A.J. Miles . Black : s. Reshevsky Queen's Indian Defe nce (Lone Pine 1 979) The opening moves were 1. d4 N f6 2. N O b6 3. c4 e6 4. Bf4 Bb7 5 . e3 Be7 6. h3 0-0 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. .
dxe5 19. Qc2 20. Bb5 Within a few moves, White's position has worsened from favourable to desper ate. If 20. Nxe5 Qg5 followed by Qxg2 and White's king is wide open. If 20. e4 fS ! again exposes the king further, while in any case Black threatens . . . e4. 20. a6 axb5 21. b4 b4 22. bxc5 23. Rb3 If 2 3. Rc4 Ba6. 23. . . . bxc5 24. Qxc5 7 blundering more material, but Reshevsky is a pawn up in the better position. 24. . . . Rc8 25 . Resigns If 2 5 . Qxb4 Ba6 + Black wins a rook and soon mates. 65
Paul Keres
1 9 1 6-75
Born in Estonia, and becoming a Soviet citizen after that country was absorbed into the USSR, Keres was one of the unluckiest players i n chess history in h is attempts to win the world championshi p. From 1 9 37 to 1 96 5 he was a lw a y s among the top three grand masters yet the right to a t i tle match contin u a l l y na rro w l y eluded h im. He won the Avro tourna ment 1 9 38 ahead of Botvinnik, Alekhine and Capa blanca, but the war put paid to the chance of a match with Alekhine. In the 1 940s Keres found Botvinnik too good for h im and in the candidates tournaments of the fifties and sixties he was runner-up four times consecutively . In 1 959 he made a h igh score only to see Tal do still better and i n 1 962 a defeat right at the end put h im beh ind P e tros ian . Keres was a fine c hess s tyli st . A bri lliant tactician i n his younger years, he later developed an all-round game. His most trusted opening w as 1. e4 a nd he won many elegant games with the Ruy Lopez as well as agai nst the S i c il ian and French Defence. Another of his speciali ties was in mid d le games with a central pawn majority aga inst a queen's side pawn majority for the opponent, where Keres demonstrated the op p o rt u n i ti es for a breakthrough on t he d file or for a king's side attack. White : P. K e res. B la ck : E. Geller Que e n ' s G a m bit, S e m i-Ta rrasch ( ma tch 1 962) The opening moves were l. d4 N f6 2 . c 4 e 6 3. N O d S 4. N c 3 c S 5 . cxd5 Nxd5 6. e3 Nc6 7. B c4 Nxc3 8. b xc3 Be7 9 . 0-0 0-0 10. e 4 b 6 1 1 . B b2 B b7 1 2 . Q e 2 N a 5 1 3 . B d 3 Rc8 1 4. R a d 1 cxd4 (safer is Qc7) 1 S. cxd4.
the white camp with a rook, but White gets in first. The best move for Black is Bf6, ai ming to entice e5 which would fix White's pawns . 15. 1 6 . d5 ! 1 7 . exd5
Bb4 7 exd5
17. . . . 18. Ne5
Qe7 f6
1 9 . Qh5 20 . Nxg6 ! 2 1 . Bxg6
g6 hxg6 Qg7
Now the bishop pair are a direct menace and White threatens to win a piece by 18. Qe4. If 17 . . . . Bxd5 (Qxd S ? 1 8 . Bxh7 + ) 1 8 . Qe5 f6 1 9. QhS h 6 2 0 . Qg6. If 17 . . . . Re8 1 8. NeS again threatening Qh S, while if Geller continues his original plan by 17 . . . . Bc3 then 1 8. Bxc3 Rxc3 1 9. Rfe1 and White controls both central files. 1 8. . . . Bd6 would lose to a standard sacrifice : 1 9. Qh5 g6 20. Ng4 ! gxhS 2 1 . Nh6 mate.
Keres' knight sacrifice has left the black king position in ruins with no time to organize a defence before White brings up decisive reinforcements. If 2 1. . . . Rc7 22. d6 Bxd6 23. Rd3 or 2 1 . . . . Ba6 2 2 . BfS . Bd6 2 2 . Rd3 23. f4 Qh8 24. Q g4 Bc5 + Rc7 2 5 . Kh1 2 6 . Bh7 + + ! so that if Kxh7 27. Rh3 mate. 26.
2 7 . Qe6 +
28. Rg3 +
out of 24 games. He and Schlechter (who drew with Lasker) are the only players to have challenged for the world title and tied the series . Bronstein has had many tournament successes since 1 9 5 1 without getting back to the very top. But his reputation rests more on his many remarkable games, which bear a special quality of genius. One of his pet openings was the King's Gambit l. e4 e5 2. f4 which he adopted regularly despite criticism from Soviet colleagues (before the USSR v. USA match in 1 946 Botvinnik warned him at the team meeting against playing this 'reckless' opening). Bronstein continued to play it, and his attractive collection of wins con vinced others, notably Spassky, that the gambit should be rescued from its nine teenth-century museum.
White : D . Bronstein. Black : V . Panov King's Gambit Declined (Moscow 1 947) The opening moves were 1 . e4 e5 2 . f4 Bc5 3 . N O d 6 4. c 3 Bg4 7 (known to be
inferior to fS, Bb6 or Nf6, but Black wanted to avoid pre-analysed lines) 5. fxe5 dxe5 6. Qa4 + I (releasing the pin without loss of time) Bd7 (not Qd7 7. BbS c6 8. Nxe5) 7. Qc2 Nc6 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bc4 Nf6 10. d3 Qe7 1 1 . 0-0 .
K f7 Kg7 Resigns
White mates by 29. Qh3 .
·
The lines of battle are d rawn. W hi te's bi shops aim towards the black k ing, while Black hopes to gain play against the d pa wn and a l ong the c file. Geller's next move aims to e xc hange bi sho ps by Be 3 and increase his chances to invade 66
David Bronstein 1 924Ukrainian-born Bronstein, one of the most creative and imaginative grandmasters, is a player whose style is difficult for ex perts, let alone lesser lights to copy. His games, like those of other great tacticians, show that all kinds of strange sacrifices and unusual positions are pas si ble on the chessboard as long as a player keeps the initiative and control of events . Bronstein nearly became world cham pion and would have done so with a little more steadiness and a little better e nd game technique. Already recognized as one of the most promising younger Russians, he won the interzonal and candidates tournaments in 1 948-50 to become Botvinnik's official challenger. Their title match took place in 1 9 5 1 with Botvinnik completely out of practice after no tournaments since 1 948, while his rival played incessantly not only in regular events but in blitz games in the Moscow clubs. · After a fluctuating struggle, Bronstein was one up with two to play, but both his nerves and his end game technique failed in the vital 23rd
fig. 1 29
The attention which strong players give to opening analysis is often misunder stood. Here, after only eleven moves, Black is already in a dilemma because of his choice of an inferior line. If 1 1 . . . . 0-0, then the pin 1 2. Bg5 is strong and cannot be relieved by 1 2 . . . . h6 1 3. Bh4 gs because of the sacrifice (which is often possi ble when the defender's dark-square bishop is not at e7 or g7) 1 4 . N xgS hxgS 1 5 . BxgS. Castling long runs into a pawn storm as in the game, while 1 1 . . . . h6 (to prepare short castling) is powerfully met by 1 2. Nh4. 11. . . . 1 2 . a4
0-0-0 a5
Already weakening the pawns in front of the king, but otherwise White's attack makes rapid progress by aS and b5.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.
b5 Nbd2 Nb3 Be 3 Rae 1 Bxe6 Kh1
N b8 Bg4 b6 Nbd7 Be6 Qxe6
Tigran Petrosian
to keep the bishop on its best diagonal after Black plays Ng4 .
19. 20. Nbd2 21 . Bg l 2 2 . Nc4
Qe7 Ng4
h5 g5
Slightly better was h4-h3, to try and create a potential mate at g2. Now Bronstein breaks through by force . 23. 24. 25. 26.
Nxd6 + cxd6 Nd2 f6 Nc4 Kb7 Bx b6 !
This is the dec isive sacrifice, which restores the mo bility of White's pawn roller which Black temporarily stemmed at move 1 2 . Nxb6 26. 27 . Nxa 5 + Kc7 28 . Nc6 Qe8 Nd7 29 . a 5
Petrosian, left and Bronstein train with five minute chess for the 1 970 USSR v World Match. In blitz, the clocks are set five or ten minutes to the hour and the flagfall decides.
30 . b6 + !
Kb7
3 1 . a6 + !
K x b6
A stri k ing illustration of the power of a pawn roller against a bare king. If 30 . . . . Kxc6 3 1 . Qa4 + K b7 32. a6 + Kb8 3 3 . Qc6 forces mate. If Kxa6 32. Qa4 + Kb7 33. Qa7 + Kxc6 34. Qc7 + and mates. If Kxc6 32. Qa4 + Kxb6 3 3 . Rb 1 + Ka7 34. Qc6 Nc5 3 5 . R b 7 + Ka8 3 6 . R d 7 + K b 8 3 7 . Qc7 + Ka8 38. Qa7 mate . 32. R b 1 +
B la ck lost on time, but he could j ust as well have resigned. If Kc7 3 3 . Rb7 + Kc8 34 . Na7 mate.
1 929Petrosian, an Armenian and world cham pion from 1 963 to 1 969, has often had a bad press from chess critics. He has been denounced as lacking fighting spirit, of making too many short draws, and of preferring a negative, defensive style. But no-one becomes world champion without great talent and skill, and Petrosian' s chess has some highly instructive ele ments for average players. Although a talented young player in his teens, he was no prodigy and rose to the top slowly and steadily. From the age of 24 he was a regular competitor in the world championship candidates but it was not until 1962 that he nosed into first place j ust in front of Keres and Geller. He reached a world title match in 1 963 j ust as the years were catching up with Botvinnik, then aged 5 1, and Petrosian' s patient strategy and better stamina proved decisive in the second half of the series . Petrosian models his chess style on the tradition of Capablanca and Nimzovitch. The emphasis is on manoeuvre, on slow build-ups to control key squares, and on transition to marginally favourable end games. He is accurate in calculation, and
li kes simple posi tions where there are few or no accidental and random factors. He prefers to sacrifice for a clear-cut win rather than as a speculation like Tal or Bronstein. Rather than commit himself to a premature attack he will opt for a quiet spatial advantage where he can graduall y squeeze his opponent s position until the decisive break can be made without risk. This is a pragmatic, profess ional style, and it is nota ble that Petrosian was the first Soviet grandmaster to criticize the official ethic of the 'Soviet school' which claimed to prefer fi ghting, daring chess. He proved the value of his own approach when he defeated Spassky in the title match of 1 966 though losing to the same opponent three years later. But the d raw back of Petrosian's style is that it tends to earn high places in tournaments rather than outright first prizes. In the opening and midd le game he sometimes seems purely negative and spoiling, doing noth ing and doing it well until his opponent loses patience and weakens his position. The most useful aspects of Petrosian' s chess for the ordinary player to follow are his constriction games, where the opponent's piece acti v ity is gradually wea kened and throttled, and his favourite endgame where a rook and an active knight tri umph over a rook and a bishop made passive by its own pawns . Fi rst, an exa mple of constriction tech nique - a refined version of Ni mzovitch's ' prophylaxis ' . Petrosian's special treat ment of blocked positions includes alter nati ng and switching the attack between the wings, together with delayed castling. 'Castle if you will and if you must, but not j ust if you can' is good chess advice . Petrosian's logic is that in blocked posi tions the action and opening of l ines which spells danger for a king takes place on the flanks. Therefore the usual proced ure, where the king seeks safety away from the centre, is reversed . In this game, Petros ian castles only after the ki ng's side is also blocked - and by then his forces are pouring into the enemy position on the other side of the board . Wh ite : T. Petrosia n . B lack : J . Ba rendregt Benoni D e fe nce (Beverwij k 1 960) The opening moves were 1 . c4 g6 2 . d4 B g7 3. N c 3 d6 4. e 4 c5 5 . d5 e 5 6 . Be2 Nh6 (Nf6 allows a favourite Petrosian opening system 7. NO 0-0 8. BgS h6 9. Bh4 gS 1 0. Bg3 when Black's many pawns on dark squares allow White's knights excellent play on light squares especially fS) 7. h4 ! This is not really an attacking mov e , but a scheme to provoke weaknesses. If Black castles, 8. h5 is unpleasant, so Black tries for active play by pawn advances which leave gaps for Petrosian's knights . 7. . . f5 '
-
.
68
8. B g5 9 . Rbl
Qb 6 N£7
10. Bd2 · Retreating the bishop, . but setting up another threat - a3 and b4. Black stops this at the price of more holes in his pawn front. a5 10. . . . 1 1 . NO h6 Now Black hopes for f4 and gS - Petrosian counters by a stopper move. Na6 1 2 . g3 Qd8 1 3 . a3 1 4 . Qc2 threatening 1 5 . hS undermining the K side pawns, and so provoking yet another weakness. h5 14. gxf5 1 5 . e x f5
22. Bxa5 23. Qdl l
0-0
f3 Loss of the h pawn would spell the rapid collapse of Black's pawn. But n:ow the K side is blocked and Petrosian can · at last plan to castle. Nh6 24. b4 ·
2 5 . Rb3 26. 0-0
N g4
Bf6
27. QxO I
Black was hoping to play Bxh4 and if gxh4 Qxh4 with mate at h2. Petrosian's neat counter-idea is 27 . . . Bxh4 28. Qh 1 ! Be7 29. Qxh5 Nf6 30. Qg6 + Kh8 3 1 . Kg2 and it is Black who gets mated by Rh l . .
fig. 1 3 1 In a similar position, the British master Hugh Alexander once captured with the bishop and his opponent Botvinnik sank in a knight at e4 and made use of it to dominate the whole board. Bronstein made a comment afterwards that has gone down in chess lore : 'Every Russian school boy knows you have to capture with the pawn in such positions. ' But here Black's game is so full of holes that the Petrosian knights now have a field day exploiting the weaknesses .
1 6 . Ng5 1 1 7. Na4 1 1 8 . Nb6 19. Bd3 20. Qxd3 2 1 . Ne4
Qf6 f4
Bf5 Bxd3 Rb8
Petrosian has achieved his main strate gic obj ective. The exchange of white squared bishops has given his knight absolute control of the e4 square. White is now about to win a pawn, but more significant is the contrast between the active positions of the white knights and bishop and the hopeless lack of scope of Black's g7 bishop confronted by a wall of its own pawns on dark squares. This ' knight against bad bishop' theme is one of the most reliable winning methods in strategic chess. 21. . . .
Qd8
27. 28. Qf5 29 . Qxh5 30. 0
Qe7 Rf7 Rg7
3 1 . fxg4 32. Qf5
Rh7
trapping the knight . . . 30. Bxh4 . . . and the bishop . . . 32. . . .
Resigns
This is a good example of how a correct strategic approach can cause the quick collapse of the opposing position once the game is opened up. Petrosian's skill in immobilizing his opponent's bishops is reflected in his choice of openings. The note to move 6 in the last · game mentioned the 'Petrosian system' against the King's Indian, and he also favours openin gs such as the Sicilian Defence 1 . e4 cS and the· English Opening 1 . c4 where knight v. bishop situations often occur. Petrosian's endgame target is often a rook and an active knight against rook and passive bishop. His techniques for exploiting it are to drive enemy pawns on one flank into a rigid, immobile formation on the same colour as the bishop on that side of the board. This usually means that as White he tries to lure Black's K-side pawns to dark squares and the Q-side pawns to light squares. He avoids giving the opponent any chance to exchange the handicapped bishop, but swaps off other pieces, especially the active bishop which
is not restricted by the pawn chain� If all this is successful, Petrosian' s king and knight can infil trate the opposing posi tion via squares of the opposite colour to the hand i capped bi shop. All this may sound complex, but Petrosian's games often show the winning process to be al most automatic. Here is a class ic example : White : T. Petrosia n . B la c k : S . Schweber K i n g ' s I ndian Defe nce (Stockholm 1 962) The open i ng moves were I . d4 Nf6 2. c4 g 6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d 6 5 . Be2 0-0 6. BgS h6 7. Be3 e 5 8. d5 c6 9. h4 . cxd5 1 0. cxd5 N bd7 1 1 . h 5 . Petrosia n ' s scheme i s to entice the oppo nent to ad vance the K-side pawns and so create holes and li mit the g7 bishop. Thus 6 . BgS provokes h6 and gS and when Black is rel u c ta nt to play the latter move then h4-h5 is an ad d itional i nducement to Black to advance his g pawn. Black's
game is already difficult but he should now play Kh7 rather than weaken his pawns further. ll. 12. 0
1 3 . g4
g5 7 a6 b5
24 . . . .
fig. 1 34
admission of defeat. If 24. . . Bxc4 Rxc4 Bd6 White would break thrm,1gh systematically but surely as follows : (a) placing the knight on £5 and the king on e2 (b) placing the rooks on c2 and c l , the queen on d3 and the pawn on b3 and (c) advancing into the black camp by Qa6 or Qb S .
An 25.
Now the V-chain of white pawns deprives Black of all serious counterplay, while White can prepare at leisure both to attack on the Q-side and to occupy the strong outpost square £5 with a knight. I happened to be present at the Stock holm interzonal when this game was played and recall Petrosian's world weary expression which mixed apparent contempt for his opponent's poor strategy with a sense that the game was pure routine. Petrosian often looks like that when he's winning.
25 . 0-0
Again late castling, as in the previous game.
undermining the Q-side pawns and aim ing to create white square outposts at c4 and b5. There is also a long-term thought for the endgame : if the position is simplified there may be queening possibilities with the advanced a and h pawns. 14. 15. Nb1 16. Nd2 1 7 . Bxc 5 1
b4 aS Nc5
17. 1 8 . Bb5 1 9 . Ne 2 20. Bxe8 1
dxc5 Bb7 Ne8
White exchanges his 'good' bishop (the one not restricted by his pawn chain) because he gets an additional Q-side weakness to attack and a potentially valua ble passed d pawn.
Now the position is very blocked, and White has two bishops against two knights, the Petrosian endgame in its most favourable form. If White did not exchange, the black knight would reach the good blockading square d6. 20. Rxe8 21. 22. 23. 24.
Nc4 Qb3 Rc l Ng3
Ba6 Qf6 B£8
25. 26. Kg2 27. Rf2 28. R2c2
Rd8 Ra7 Kh7 Qa6
29 . Nxe5 30. Nc4 3 1 . QdJ 32. Rd2 33 . es 1
Rc7 Bg7 Kg8 Re7
Black is hamstrung and gives up the e pawn in a vain attempt to give his g7 b ishop some freedom.
14. a4
Petrosian st udies game a nalysi s at home. When he became champion, Armenian fans invaded the Moscow stage and showered him with bouq uets.
Bc8
returning the pawn endgame. 33.
to
reach a winning
Bxe5 34. Nxe5 Rxe5 35. Qxa6 Bxa6 Bc8 36. Rxc5 If Bb7 37. N£5 Kh7 38. RxaS RdxdS 39. RSxdS Rxd S 40. RxdS BxdS 4 1 . aS and the
passed a pawn will win Black's bishop. This is a good example of Petroshm' s long term thinking (see the note to move 1 4). Petrosian thinks in constellations and long-term planning rather than individual moves ; I have seen him during a post mortem analyse an ending by moving his king straight from g1 to b8 - the inter vening technical process of getting it there he considered pure routine. 37. Rxa5 5 38. gx5 Bx5
If
39 . Nx5 40. Rb5 4L d6
Rxf5 Rd£8 Rxb5
42. axb5 43. d7
Kf7
RxO 42. d7 wins a rook.
Resigns
for if Rd8 44. b6 Ke7 45. b7 b3 46. Kg3 is zugzwang. 69
Viktor l(orchnoi 1 931-
V i ktor Korch noi captured the i magina t i on of c hess fans everywhere, and of many non-players besides, when, fol low i ng h is defec tion from the Soviet U nion i n 1 976 a nd h is publ ication o f h i s i nsider's autob iography Chess is My Life (Bats ford), he succeeded aga i n st all the odds at the age of 46 in becom i ng the world t i t le challenger a nd in recoveri ng aga i n st Karpov from 2-5 down to wi th i n one game of the championsh i p . Korchnoi i s a man o f great physi cal strength a nd nervous energy - you have to be to reach your p ea k at an age when most chess masters are settl ing for a lessened activity prior to retirement. But
Korchnoi 's talent, though marked even in his teens, took many years to reach full maturity . It was 1 9 54, at 2 3 ; before he won his first m ajor tournament at Bucharest ; and 1 962, at 3 1 , before he first reached the world t i t le candidates. His b r e akth r ou gh to the very top came in 1 97 3-7 5 when he reached the candidates final against Kar pov. Soviet officials clearly favoured the younger man and Korchnoi, an indiv i dualist i n c r easingly frustrated by the mores of Soviet society, took the drastic step of leaving for the West. The change in his lifestyle restored his e n ergi e s , which he channelled into a b u rni ng desire to prove himself against his enemies in the USSR by taking the title. In the candidates matches of 1 977 he defeated Petrosian, Polugaevsky and Sp a s s ky in impressive style and was
within one game of beating Karpov for the world championship. Korchnoi's acknowledged chess hero is Einanuel Lasker which makes his play full of dynamic movement and resource fulness in difficult positions. This is not a style with which the ordinary player can cope easily and indeed many fellow grandmasters admit they find Korchnoi 's thought processes . difficult to fathom. But one theme which is typically Korch noi and which can be learnt from study of his games is his ability to combine the queen with minor pieces in an all-court attack. A good example of this Korchnoi approach is an unusual gambit opening which puts the opponent under sustained pressure and eventually cracks the defences.
White : V. Korchnoi . Black : M . Udovcic French Defence (Leningrad 1 967) The opening moves were 1 . d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5 . c3 c5 6. Ngf3 ( n o r m al is 6. B d 3 : the text already has the pawn sacrifice in mind) N c6 7. Bd3 Qb6 8 . 0-0 cxd4 9 . cxd4 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 1 1 . NO Qb6 1 2 . Qa4 Qb4 1 3. Qc2 h6 ?
'
Best are QcS when White would con tinue in gambit style with 1 4 . Qe2, or NcS (see page 94). 1 4 . Bd2 Q b6 1 5 . Ra c 1 Be7 1 6. Q a4 ! Now White is well on top, with the immediate threat of 1 7. Ba S Qxb2 1 8 . Bb5.
16. . . . Qd8 K fB 1 7 . R c2 A major concession ; Black a bandons castling. If i n s t e a d 0-0 18. Qg4 fS 1 9 . Qg6 with a powerful attack. N b6 1 8 . R fc l 1 9 . Qg4 Bd7 R c8 20. Ba 5 2 1 . Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Bb4
In any gambit opening where the return is not immediate, the gambiteer has to keep up the pressure lest his opponent gradually consolidate the extra pawn. Here Korchnoi plans to cramp his opponent further by a4.,;a5 and also has some tactical ideas to keep the black king in t he centre. He could also attack by h4-h 5, and either way it is difficult for Black to counter the simultaneous pressure from both flanks . 22 . . . . 2 3 . Qh4 !
g6
23. . . .
g5
This takes advantage of the pin on the bishop. Black's last chance now to avoid losing by direct attack is Kg8 2 5 . Bxe7 Qxe7 26. Nf3 although White then has a clearly superior ending - his bishop is more active than Black's and his rook threatens to reach the seventh rank. 24 . . . .
Ke8
forcing a no t her weakness ; if Black could post his K at g7 and bring his h8 rook into play, he would be out of danger. But now the threat is 24. Bxg6 . Desperate measures, but the natural Bd7 is met by 24. Qf6 Rg8 2 5 . Rc7 Qxc7 26. Qxe7 + Kg7 27. Qf6 + Kh7 28. Qxf7 + and wins. 24. NxgS
fig. 1 3 5
2 5 . Bb5 + Starting a brilliant tactical fini sh - but the point for the average player to note is
how all the white pieces combine with the queen in the attack and especially h0w the black king is caught in the crossfire from the bishops. 25 . . . . 26. Nxe6 1
Bd7 fxe6
27. Qh5 + 28 . Rc3 1
KfB
28. 29. Qg6 30. Qxh6
Rh7 Rg7 Bxb 5
26 . . . . Bxh4 fails to 27. Ng7 mate, and Bxb5 to 27. Ng7 + KfB 28. Nf5 . Bringing the rook into action via the third rank is often a good device for finally breaking the defences of an exposed king. Black's best practical chance now is 28 . . . . Be8 but then 29. Bxe8 Qxe8 30. Qh4 (intending Qf6 + , Rf3 + or Rc7) is a sure win.
Little better is Kg8 3 1 . Rh3 K£7 32. QhS + .
31.
RgJ !
Resi g ns
Korchnoi, left, and Karpov, final candidates match, Moscow 1 9 74, watched by thousands of spectators. Korchnoi lost 3-2 with 19 draws; he later claimed Soviet officials arranged conditions to favour younger Karpov. When they met for world title in 1 9 78, Karpov won 6-5 with 21 draws. A Soviet parapsychologist staring at Korchnoi caused new controversy.
71
Bent Larsen 1 935-
Larsen, of D e n m a r k, has been one of E u r o pe ' s l ea d i ng p l a y e rs for many years, and a re g u l a r though u n lu cky con tender for the world c h a m p ionsh i p . He has a n u nj u s t i fi ed repu ta t ion as a poor m a tch p l a y e r. c a u sed m a i nly by wel l - k nown d e fea ts by Spas s k y , who beat him h ea v i l y , a nd F i scher. who w i ped h im out 6 - 0 . La rsen fre qu ently uses unconventional ope n i ngs, not j u st for their surprise val ue, but beca u se he believes they are b a s i c a l ly sound and underestimated by other gra n d ma sters. Thus he has revived or pop u l a r i zed the B i rd Opening l . f4 , the B i s hop ' s O pe n i ng 1 . e4 e S 2. Bc4 and also w h a t is now w i d e l y termed the La rsen O pe n i ng I . h 3 . Larsen 's grea test strength is in the m i d d l e game and in h is i n v e nti ve a p p r o a c h vv h i ch ena b l es h i m to p la y aggres s i v e ! \' for t he w i n . He h a s s a i d that h e d i s l i k es t h e s ta n da rd p rofe s s i on a l ta c t i c of p l a y i n g for a w i n w i th W h i t e , a d raw vv i th B l a c k ; he doe s n ' t m i nd the oc ca s i o n a l l o ss i f h is d raw percen tage is lower t h a n o t h e r con t e n d e r s . T h e re a re more fl a n k a t t a c k s i n h i s ga m es than in those of m o st g r a n d ma sters, and th i s is d e l i berate : t he fl a n k a t ta ck is l e ss l i k el y to lead to s i m p l i fi c a t i o n a nd a draw ; if it fails, th ere i s t i me t o regroup. But ' flank a t ta c k s' i n Larsen games refer not to a cr ude p a wn ru s h , but normally to com b i ned operat ions with the heavy p ieces. O ne o f h i s fa vou r i te p i ece combinations is q u e e n , k n i ght and h p a w n a t ta c k i ng a c a s t l ed k i ng ; a nother is queen, rook, and a long- d i stance b i sh op .
Wh ite : S . G l i goric. Black : B. Larsen N i mzo-In d ian Defe nce ( Havana 1 967) The ope n i ng moves were 1 . d4 N f6 2 . c 4 e6 3. N c 3 Bb4 4. e3 b 6 5 . Bd3 Bb7 6 . N D N e 4 7 . 0-0 £5 8 . Bxe4 ? T h i s o b v ious
move i s the ca u se of W h i t e ' s l a ter trou b l e s . B l a c k ' s e4 pawn w i l l not be s o w e a k as it loo k s . Better is 8 . Q c 2 .
fxe4 Bxc3 0-0 R f5 ! The p o i n t . w h i c h L a rs en had prepared before the game. N ow i f 1 2. Nxe4 h S, s o W h i te has to open up the cen tre to the benefit o f La r s e n ' s long d i a g o n a l b is h o p . 12. d5 Rg5 1 3 . Q f4 exd5 Bxd 5 14. cxd 5 l 5 . c4 B c6 T h i s is better t h an B b 7 beca use i t a l lows the b i shop and d pawn to p rote c t e a c h other w h i le t h e knight comes into a c t ion at a 6 . Mutua l l y p rot ec t i ng u n i ts on 8. 9. Nd2 10. bxc3 1 1 . Qg4
t h e c h e s s bo a rd s pe l l good c o- o r d i na t i o n . 1 6 . N x e4 Rg6 Na 6 1 7 . B b2 N ow W h i t e ' s Q - s i d e p a w n s a re s p l i t, w h i l e B l a c k has c h a n ces of K - s i d e a tt a c k . 72
not yet a winning position - White should defend by 1 8. Ng3. Nb4 ! 1 8 . f3 ? Ey e i ng the f pawn as much as the d 3 square - for instance if 1 9. Rfd l o r Nf2 then Qe7 is strong. Nd3 1 9 . Bc3 It's
Mikhail Tal i 9J6-
World champion 1 960-6 1 , the La tvian Mikhail Tal is regarded by many connois seurs of chess as one of the most brilliant tactical geniuses in the game's history, Tal has remarkable powers of calculation, memory, and visualizing unusual posi tions. When he was a child of seven, he went to a lecture given by his father, a medical school professor, and repeated the lesson almost word-for-word when he got home that evening. Tal reached the world championship with a dazzling record of success : taking the USSR title in 1 957 and 1 95 8, he went on immediately to win the interzonal tournament, the Candidates, and the world title from Botvinnik. It was not only his results but his dashing style which captured public imagination, and his d efeat by Botvinnik in their return match in 1 96 1 caused a sense of shock. Only later was it revealed that Tal had played the match only a few weeks after coming out of hospital - a 20. Q £5 chronic kidney ailment has troubled him Qh4 ! all through his playing career and pre Befo re playing the queen here rather than the sa fe square e7 Larsen already foresaw vented a longer reign at the very top . the rook sacrifice at move 25 which Tal's appetite for chess exceeds that of d e c i d es t he game. Without that resource, any other grandmaster. He participates White's followi ng play would weaken in post-mortems, reports for newspapers, the black pawns and move his own king annotates his games, and in between in to safety. rounds and tournaments plays blitz chess 2 1 . N f6 + at five minutes per game. He has been called the Paganini of chess, and his 2 1 . Rad 1 Nc S ! 22. NxcS Rf8 ! also gives Black a decisive attack. Note how well reputation for winning from even poor Black's queen, rooks, and bishop com positions, plus his hypnotic stare at opponents, caused the American grand bine against the white king - a trademark master Benko to don dark glasses before of Larsen' s style at its best. 21. . . . meeting Tal in a candidates tournament. gxf6 Tal's brilliant flair for combination can 2 2 . Qxd3 Rh6 hardly be learnt by a strong master, let to stop White consolidating with Be 1 -g3. alone an average player. But there are K£7 23. h3 some important lessons from his play : ma k i n g room for the other rook. White's first, plunging . the game into obscure best chance now is the endgame 24. Qd4 complications will unsettle most oppo Qxd4 2 5. exd4 but after Rh 5 ! followed by B b 7 -a6 his Q-side pawn on white squares nents and a sacrificial attack in such conditions may work even if not objec are weak and Black has chances of making tively sound ; second, as with Alekhine, u se of his own 4-3 pawn majority on that a competitive will to win is of great s i d e . White of course has a 3-2 majority importance ; and third, practice and on the K-side, but it is the majority distant testing of variations in quick chess, from the kings which carries most weight. frowned on by some experts, is a practical 24. Rf2 ? Rg8 and rewarding method of training for 2 5 . Kfl bigger events. tryi ng to run to the Q-side. The Tal game here ends with fireworks Rxg2 ! 25. . . . and sacrifices but is not one of his best the point, which White saw too late. known. I choose it because the type of 26. Rxg2 Qxh3 attack - a breakthrough on the king's Now White cannot stop all the three side against a half-open defence ( 1 . . . . threats of Qxf3 + , BxD and Rg6. Origin c6 or l. . . . e6) is relatively easy to play ally White had planned to defend by 27. and a case where the student can model Kg1 but missed that after 27 . . . . BxO the his game on an attacking genius. white Q defends the d7 pawn. It is worth White : M. Tal. B lack : B . Gurgenidze noting for avoiding or inducing blunders C a r o-Ka nn Defe nce (USSR chamthat long d iagonal moves backwards a re p ionship 1 968-69) among the hardest to visualize . c6 l. e4 Rg6 27. e4 d5 2. d4 28. Resigns bS 3. Nc3 If 28. Qe2 Qh 1 + wins.
1 6.
11 • .
..
1 7 . g3
Bxh4
Be7
18. Kg2
A l r e a d y threaten i ng 1 9 . B x h 7 + ' K x h 7 20. Q h 5 + K g8 2 1 . Rh 1 . 18. . . . g6 19. Rh l Now the threat is 20. R x h 7 ! K x h 7 2 1 . Qh '3 + Kg8 2 2 . B xg 6 . B f8 19 . 20. B g S
Q c7
2 1 . Rxh7 ! sa c r i fi c e has b>een l oom i mg for several moves a nd i t was pro·ba bly almost a re l i e f to B lack to see it a c t u a ll y p layed . The rook still c a n n o t be taken : 2 1 . . K x h 7 2 2 . R h 1 + Kg8 2 3 . B f'6 N x f6 2 4 . e x f6 Qe '3 2 5 . B xg6 Qxf6 2 6 . B h 7 + an d mate. 21. Qx e 5 22 . R x f7 ! K x f7 2 3 . Bxg6 + The t h i rd sa c r i fi ce can not be a c c e p ted be c a u se of 2 4 . B f4 + w i n n i ng the queen 23. . . . Kg8 24 . Bxe8 Bg7 The b i s h o p i s s t i ll i mm u ne beca u se of t h e d i s c o v ered c he c k .
T hi s
l't'l rO.' l 'i ll ll 'cl l d ; t ' \
r,i /
,u
A /, ·k h PJ C :\1 c rn on u l . M n sco u.· / 9 7 /
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g .J 111 h l l 1 > \ ! C I 1 t ll ( ll i "S 1r1 lfh l) x d 4 7 . :'\: 1 3 ,J n d .� l ) L· 2 I \ : : h � I H lll p i ,! \ . ! t l r t he p .l \\' n . l ' '- \ ,· i J , > J , ' C: il d l i \ . B l a d i. · .., L h o i LT o l a , · ,J u t : , , t : > ,k ! t ' l l c" l ' l 1 k L· 1 l.h m e .ms h e 1 \ u n l : k l· ! \ 1 1 1 .l L l l' fl l t h e � J m h i t <-� n y w J \' . ,J n d t h e i l l' t r c > u l t I '> \X h i t c o h t ,u n s cl .\ Jll t i i l l h l· : d L' \ l' l P p m c n t 1 d h 1 " p i e c e s t h a n ! \
f ll' t • l
\ l lll i l <� : l ) ' l " l ! l t > ll '->
, , : · t h , l d l ) \.; l i l 1 l' '-> lhc4 h. :---; r h 7 . H x e4 H. BJ 3 c6 \ \ . h I l l' ' t d I ( ) ! I c r· .., t h l' p d \\' n a nd H I a c k · ·� : l , l i l"., 1 1 l � t : t t l ! '-> J i r c ,hl.' · d i ! Ti t" LJ i t Co r : : : . 1 , k l < • , : . r : ; , , 1 l l ll 1 L' lT' I .l \· . t lw l l t l l· m ,J I
i ll ll l ! l l " l '
i d ea i n s u c h posi t i o n s . . c '5 h e r e fa ils tlo . H x h ') + , and by the ti me Bla·ck hroM> p r e pa r ed t h i s ;;ld v a n e€ Tal is poi se@ fo·r a k i ng ' s s i de a ttac k . :5-@ "7 'J . N'f3 1 0 . Qrdl '(\�"lb·<�f'Y @.:.()) 1 l . 0-'0 1 2 . l:t€1 Re:$ I 3 . N€ 'J ,\ rw t h er J r a w b-ca c k bo 3 . . . . b'3 ; the c6 " q u <� r e is weak . H o w e v e r, !Ma ck ' s ex l· hJ n gc of k n i g h t s on the n e xt mo v e Llc i l i t
2 5 . Bd7 Nc7 26. Bxc6 U n u suall y for Ta L his c omb i r.1ative s eq u en ce ends not w i th a mate but w i th a s im p l e g a i n of two pawns. The rest is easy . R f8 26.
2 7 . Rc;i l
28. BD 2 9 . Rd7
Rd8 + 3 1 . Bf6 3 2 . Be4 33. Bg5 34 . Rd7
30.
QcS Qxc2 R f7
R fB
Qh7 Qh6 Q h8
Resigns
Cor i f 3 4 . R f7 3 5. R x c 7 ! R x c 7 3 6 . Q x e 6 + K f8 ( R f7 3 7 . Bg6) 3 7 . Qd6 + . Th is game s h o w s t h a t , c o n t r a ry to po p ul ar be l i e f. m o s t of Tal ' s sa cr i fi c ial a ttacks are ba sed on lo g i ca l posi tional ideas. The k i ng's s i d e brilliancy was th e natl:lral w ay to p l a y the p o s i t i o n o n ce W h i te had li x ed B l a c k ' s ga me i n a p e r m a n e n t sta te of c ra m p w i th the pa wn on e S .
73
Boris Spassky 1 9 3 7-
Spassky wears u·orld c h a mpio n 's la u rel wreath and medal after beating Pet rosian , 1 96 9 .
Spa ssky, from Len ingrad, became chess's most famous and popular loser following h i s dignified man ner of defeat in the world t i t le match with Bobby Fischer at Reykjavik in 1 97 2 . He was noted as a boy prod igy in his early teens and the USSR chess fed era tion awarded him the rare honour of sel ection for an i nternational to urnament ab road before he had played in the national c hampionship fi nal. This \vas at Bucha rest in 1 9 5 3, and Spassky made a story book debut by defeating S myslov, at that time the lead ing player i n the world al ong w i th Botvinnik. The game is interesti ng not only for its cir cumstances but because it illustrated a plan which average players can also fo llow. W h ite uses his two advanced pawns in the centre to b isect the black defenders, then uses hi s extra pi eces a v a ilable for k i ng's side attack to score a dec isive w i n . Wh ite : B. Spassky . Black : V . Smyslov Ni m zo-I ndian Defe n ce (Bucha rest 195 3) The opening moves were 1 . d4 N f6 2. c4 e6 3. N c3 Bb4 4. Bg5 (the Leni ngrad system, much analysed in Spassky's home c i ty and here mak i ng its international debut) h6 5. Bh4 c5 6. d5 d6 (nowadays this move is thought slightly pass ive, and Black prefers to react w i th the ener getic 6 . . . . bS ! ) 7 . eJ exd5 8. cxdS Nbd7 . 9 . Bb5 An unu sual but deeply j udged move. It prevents Qa5 because of 1 0. Bxf6 and Black ei ther loses pa wns or has his pawn stru c t u re w rec ked ; and it prepa res to meet a6 by Bxd 7 + followed by Ne2 and a g r a d u a l b u i l d - u p of W h i t e ' s forces in the 74
not Qxe5 3 1 . Ng4. 3 1 . Nf5 threatening Ne7 + followed by Rh4 + and so forcing the reply. Rfe8 31 . 32. Re3 Rad8 33. Nxg7 ! A brilliant and decisive coup. If Kxg7 34. Rg3 + KfB 3 5 . Rxf7 + ! Kxf7 (Qxf7 36. Qh6 +) 36. Qf4 + and mate next move. 33. . . . Rxd6 34. Nxe6 Resigns for if Rxd2 35. Rg3 + and mate next move. Around the mid- 1 9 50s many expected Spassky soon to become world champion. But his nerves let him down in decisive games during the USSR championships of 1 958 and 1 9 6 1 which were also world title zonals. In a taped interview some years later, Boris described to me his feelings during his critical game w ith Tal in 1 9 58 where both the USSR title and an interzonal place were at stake : 'The game was adjourned, and I had a good position ; but I was very tired from anal yzing and went to resume next morning unshaven. Normally before I played important games I tried to bathe, to put on a very good shirt and suit, and in general to look comme il faut. But this time I had analyzed incessantly and arrived at the board looking very dishevelled and fatigued. Then I was like a stubborn mule. I remember that Tal offered me a draw, but I refused. Then I felt my strength ebb away, and I lost the thread of the game. I in turn proposed · a draw, but now Tal refused. When I ' ·resigned, there was a thunder of applause, but I was in a daze and hardly understood what was happening. I was certain the world went down ; I felt there was some thing terribly wrong. After this game I went on the street and cried like a child . ' The personal crisis which enveloped Spassky around 1 960 - he broke with his longtime trainer, was banned for a year from travel abroad for alleged mis behaviour at the student chess olympics, and divorced his first wife saying 'we were . like bishops of opposite colours' was resolved for a time when he took on a new coach, the calm and unem()tional Bondarevsky. Spassky succeeded in win ning through the world title eliminators for a match with Petrosian in 1 966, but unexpectedly lost ; he was still not quite mature enough to be world champion. fig. 1 38 But in 1 969 he defeated Petrosian. deci 25. . . . dxe 5 ? �ively in the final games of the match, the key victory coming with an example A poor move which gives White a passed of the Spassky attacking style - control d pawn and opens the f file for White's the centre, then launch the pieces on a ttack. Best is 25 . . . . Rad8. After this open lines - which we already saw in the mistake Spassky brings off a fine tactical previous game. finish. White : B . Spassky. Black : T. Bg6 26. fxe 5 Petrosian h3 27. Re i Sici lian Defe nce ( 1 9th m atch game Be4 28. d6 1 969) Qe6 29 . N e 3 The opening moves were 1 . e4 c5 2. Bxg2 30. Rf4
centre. However the s impler 9. Bd3 is now more popular. 9. . . . 0-0 Possi bly Bxc3 + and then a6 is best. Ne5 1 0 . Ne2 1 1 . 0-0 Ng6 1 2 . Bg3 Nh5 1 3 . Bd3 Admitting that his bishop was mis placed ; now White's new plan is to start a mobile K-side pawn roller without allowing too many exchanges. Nxg3 13. 14. Nxg3 Ne5 Bxc3 15. Be2 Q h4 16. bxc3 N g4 1 7 . f4 1 8 . Bxg4 B xg4 1 9 . Qa4 threatening 20. fS, so Black safeguards his b i shop's retreat. 19. Bc8 20 . e4 Qg4 2 1 . Qc2 h5 7 A weak move. Smyslov understandably feels obliged to attack his young opponent, but this advance lacks piece support and leaves Black's K-side full of holes. After the simple 2 1 . . . . Bd7 and mobilizing the 3-2 Q-side pawn majority Black would be well in the game . 2 2 . Rf2 b5 23. e 5 ! While Smyslov tri�s to operate on both wings, Spassky makes the classical ans wer to a premature flank attack - a break in the centre. h4 23. 24 . Nfl Bf5 2 5 . Qd2
N O d6 3 . d4 cxd4 4. N x d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a 6 6 . B g S Nbd7 ( u sual a n d a l i ttle better i s e6) 7. Bc4 Q a S 8 . Q d2 h6 9. B x f6 Nxf6 1 0 . 0-0-0 e 6 .
1 1 . Rhe l
Be7 ?
A fu n d a m e n ta l
m i s ta ke ; P e t ro s i a n i s d eceived b y W h i te ' s b u i l d - u p a l ong the centra l fi l es i n to bel i e v i ng that S pa ssky d oes not plan a K-side a t t a c k . Better i s Bd 7 and 0-0-0 . 0-0 1 2 . f4 Rc8 1 3 . Bb3
14. K b 1
A n o r m a l m o \' c a fter c a s t l i ng q u een ' s side i n a po s i t i o n \\· here B l a c k t h re a tens a cou n te r- a tt a c k w i t h p i e ce s . Black h a s t o watch for t h e s u r p r i se N d '5 ! ta k i ng a d v a n tage of h i s l oo se LJ U ee n .
14. . . . 1 5 . g4 !
B f8
S w i t c h i ng t he a t ta c k Ta k i ng the pawn opens t h e g fi l e for W h i t e ' s p i e ces, b u t Pet ros i a n h a s I i t t l e c h o i c e : i f I '5 . . . b5 W h i te c o n t i n u es s t rongly 1 6 . g 5 h x g 5 1 7 . fx gS N h '5 1 8 . g 6 .
If e5 1 7 .
15. 16. Nf) 17. 1 8.
. . . Qg2 d r i ve s
Rg 1 f) !
Nxg4 Nf6 Black into defence. Bd7
W i th con trol of the
ce n t r e a nd po i sed
to attack the b l a c k K, S p a s s k y opens a l l the l i n e s . N ow t h e t h reat i s 1 9 . fx e6 fx e6 20. N f5 .
1 8.
1 9 . Rdfl
Kh8 Qd 8
. e 5 w o u ld o n l y p ro v o k e 2 0 . 1 9. . Ne6 ! fxe6 2 1 . fx e6 i n ten d i ng R x f6 .
20 . fxe 6
fxe 6
fi g .
1 39
2 1 . eS ! Blac k ' s k n i g h t is pa rtia l l y t i ed to p re ven t i ng R x f8 + and Qx g7 mate, a n d a l l W h i t e ' s p i ec e s a r e now ready fo r the fi nal assa u l t . S p a ssky now breaks through w i th a fo rced w i n .
21. . . . 22. Ne4
dxeS NhS 2 3 . Rx f8 + .
N o t 2 2 . . . . N x e4 ? Eq ua l l y 2 2. . . . e x d 4 2 3 . N x f6 R e 7 2 4 . Qg6 l ea d s to ma t e , a nd so d oes 22 . . . . e x d4 2 3 . N x f6 g '5 24 . Q h 3 R e 7 2 '5 . R x g 5 B g 7 2 6 . R x g7 .
Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky at the ' Ma t ch of the Century', USSR v World, Belgrade 1 9 70.
2 3 . Qg6 ! exd4 I f 23 . . . . N f4 24. Rxf4 exf4 25. Nf3 Q b6 26. N e 5 wins. 24 . Ng5 ! Resigns I f 24 . . . . hxg5 2 5 . Qxh 5 + Kg 8 26. Qf7 +
Kh7 2 7 . Rf3 ! wins quickly. One of the most attractive finishes in a world title match. W h en Spassky duly clinched the title, chess fans expected a brave new era to sweep away the arid style of Petrosian. But they were generally disappointed : Spassky found the title a burden and the only memorable victory of his reign was his win over }3obby Fischer of the US at the chess olympics of 1 970. When Fischer finally qualified for the championship match of 1 972 and, after early threats to w i thdraw, settled down to play, Spassky o ft en seemed gripped by a fatalistic re s ign at i o n to defeat. He lost the cham p i o n ship a nd also his favoured place in Soviet society ; eliminated from the next t wo title series by Karpov and Korchnoi, he settled with his French wife - his t h i rd - near Paris, although he remained a Sov i et citizen and continues to represent the USSR in tournaments . It sounds paradoxical to speak of a world champion as a wasted talent, but Spassky's natural gifts for chess were such that he should have won the title earlier in his life and kept it for a longer period. There is a touch of laziness and a touch of indecision in his intellectual make-up ; with the dedication to chess of A l e k h i ne or Tal, for example, Spassky c o u l d h a v e been one of the greatest ch a m p i o n s.
Bobby Fischer
1 943TA.e most eontroversial ancl q.u ite possibly the g-rea:test player of all ti'me, Robert J . ('Bobby') Fischer dominated his CGI'I. ternporaries and es·tabl·isned .Aimself as ' a l iving legend before · abaf!�O-r:tin� tou·f-� ment and ma�cl1 flay af-ter wi'lll'Pl4im�· bme world title from Spassky. Before th,illt ,he established. the highest· ev_er . _ EiDDEH�jl o rating of 2780 based on evc:!-rall ·re.s\!1<11$ ; he won successive candidates matches against Taimanov and Larsen, both world class grandmasters, by 64) and 6---0 , and, by a crude blunder and a default, he effectively gave Spassky two games start in the world championship before defeat ing him with some ease. Fischer learnt the moves at six, but h:is biggest break as a young chessplayer came when his mother decided to seft1e in B rooklyn. Chess life in New York, with the thriving Manhattan and Marshall clubs and many chess cafes, has pre>vea a stimulating environment for a number of potential US grandmasters and Fischer honed his game with incessant blitz games combined with a study of Soviet chess literature. The result of this hothouse training, coupled with total neglect of school work in favour of chess, was a unique tournament result : Fischer was men's champion of the United States at 1 4 . Probably a t that time Fischer did not realize how steep were the remaining steps to the championship, at that time held by the ageing Botvinnik, when he qualified for the title candidates tourna ment at the first attempt and became the youngest-ever grandmaster at 1 5 . The solid phalanx of So v iets easily outpaced their less inexperienced rival in 1 9 59 and ·
75
1 9 6 2. a n d F i sc her t h en s u c c e s s fu l l y d e m a n d ed that the s y s tem be cha nged from a to u r na m ent to a se r i e s of e l i m i n a t i ng k nock-out ma t c hes between t he fi n a l eight c h a l l e ngers . I t w a s u n d e r t h i s sy stem that he rou ted h is r i v a l s i n 1 97 1 a n d defea ted S p a s s ky t he fol l o w i ng yea r . The gene ral p u b l i c w i ll remem ber B o b b y even m o re for his ec cen t r i c i t i es a nd d i s p u tes than for his g reat p l a y . H i s m a t c h w i th Reshev sky i n 1 9 6 1 ended in a s c a n d a l a n d a l a w su i t, and he q u i t the 1 96 7 i n te rzonal when i n the l ead after a d i s p u te a bout the p l a y i ng sched u l e . He was o n l y persuaded to fly to Iceland to meet Sp assky wh en the B r i t i sh fi n a n c i e r J im S l a ter doub led t h e £ 5 0 , 000 p u rse ; he w as only persuaded not to walk out of t h e Spassky match by the personal i n te r vent i on of US Fore i gn Sec reta ry Henry K i s s i nger. And fi n a l ! y Fisc her gave up h i s world c h a m p i o n s h i p w i th o u t a fi ght w h en FIDE tu rned down h i s stip u l a ti on t h at h i s m a t ch w i th Ka rpov shou l d be for t he fi r s t to w i n ten games, the c h a m p i o n r e t a i n i n g h i s t i tle a t 9- 9 . F i sc h e r ' s fi n a n c i a l d e m a n d s were i n c red i b l e . Both the proj e c ted m a tch w i th Ka rpov and a comeba ck m a tch w i th G l igo r i c in 1 9 7 9 , w h i c h a l so c a m e to n o t h i ng, w e re for a m i l l i on d o l l ars or m o r e . Desp i te c l a i ms that Fisc her' s figures benefi ted ord i n a ry c h ess m a s ters, there was an e n o r m o us contrast be t w een these s u ms a n d those at s ta ke i n normal i n te r national . t o u r n a m e n t s . T h en there were h i s i n c rea s i ngly fi n i c ky d e m a n d s re l a t i ng to l i ght. spec t a tor n o i se, a nd a s socia ted p l a y i ng d e ta i l s . It i s ev i dent that F i s c h er fi n a l l y rea c h ed a s ta te w h e re fear of d e fea t a nd fear of p l a y i ng in p u b l i c d o m i n a ted his th i n k i n g. I n d eed, it i s d i ffi c u l t to s ee how anyth i ng other t h an a v i c t o r i ous match w i th Ka rpov could e n h a n ce h i s legen d a ry re p u ta t i o n . Perh a p s stra i te n ed fi n a n c i a l c i rc u m s ta n ces w i ll o ne d ay fo rce F i scher to play aga i n , but m o re l i kely he w i ll r e m a i n a l o ng w i th Morphy as the only other great m a ster to have given u p chess c o m p l e tely at t h e height o f h i s fam e . W hat c a n t h e ordi n a ry p la y er lea rn from B o b by Fische r ? First, will to w i n . Fi s c h e r ' s k i l ler i n stinct m e a n t that h e c o n t i n u ed t o look for w i n n i ng o pportun i t i es in posi tions which most m a s te rs would long a go have g i ven up as d ra w n . H i s reply t o a q u i ck d ra w offer w a s ' Of c o u r se not ' . It was p h y s i ca l l y d i ffi c u l t to play a g a i nst h i m ; h i s deep-set and h y p n o t i c eyes a nd h a w k - l i ke fa ce s ta red pa s s i o nately a t the board from w h i c h he ra rely rose to l oo k a t other games. F i scher has long a r ms a nd fi ngers w h i ch he u s ed to c l u t ch o p po s ing p i eces w h en c a p t u r i n g, in the man ner of a b i rd of prey . The w i l l to win e n a b led h im to fi n i sh a h ead of o p p o n e n t s by record m a rg i ns a n d a 1 00 per cent s c o re was a l w a y s on t he c a r d s . O n l y A l e k h i n e h a d a s i m i l a r fa na t i c i s m , b u t u n l i ke A l e k h i n e F i sc her kept h i s 76
hea l th in good s h a pe as long a s he w a s a n a c t i ve p l a y e r . Tec h n i c al l y , Fischer had a d e ep know l e d ge of the s h a rp opening li nes which h e a n a l y zed in depth before h i s tournaments ; in si m p le p o s i tions h i s stra tegy was as p u re a nd c l ear i n rea c h i ng the o bj ective a s was Capa blanca ' s . He used his opening knowledge especially well w ith the w hite p i ec es w h ere h e would typically gain the i n i t i a ti ve and space control then u se it e nergetically to d r i ve his opponent i nto ever-deeper defence until resi stance c ra c ked . B e t w een 1 968 and 1 970 h e was i n v i rtual retirement but w hen he emerged a t the ' Ma tch of the Century ' , w h ere the U S SR narrowly d e fea ted a Rest of the World tea m, he a t o n ce p l ay ed a game c h a r a c te r i s t ic of his style at its best. W h i te : R.J. Fischer. Black : T . P e t r os i a n
Ca r o-Kann Defe nce 1 .. e4 2 . d4 3. exd5 4 . Bd3
1 5 . NeS ! Once Fischer's k n ight is en s�onced on t h i s strong outpost square the game i s strategically decided : B l a c k ' s forces are effectively cut in two. Petrosian, of course, k new this b u t he had planned to p lay 1 5 . NxeS 1 6 . dxeS B c 5 overlook i ng u ntil too late that 1 7 . a S Qc7 1 8 . g4 wins the k n ight for insuffic ient compensa tion .
15. 16. h3 1 7 . 0-0
Nf6 Bd6 Kf8
Already Petrosian is reduced to a desperate Steini tzian schem e of back rank defence. The normal 1 7 . . . . 0-0 would be easily met by 1 8 . f4 followed by g4 a nd a pawn storm a ga in st the b lack k i ng fa c i l i t a ted by the weakening 1 4 . . . . h6 .
1 8 . f4 19. Bf2 2 0 . Bh4
(Be lgrade 1 970) c6 d5 cxd5
Be8 Qc7
Ng8
In his y ou nger years Fischer h a d d i ffi c u l ty meeting the Caro-Kann and un s u c c e s s fully used 2 . N c 3 before switching to the atta c king l i ne 4. c4. Around 1 9 70 he successfully i roned out o ne of the few w ea k nesses in his game by adopting a more v aried a nd less stereotyped opening repertoire. He had played 4. Bd3 only o n ce before and it o b v iously came a s a s u rp rise to P etrosian. The move is j ust s i mple piece d evelopment but p rovokes B l a ck to a prema ture bi d for the initiative.
4. 5. c3 6. Bf4 7 . Qb3
Nc6 Nf6 Bg4 Na5 ?
A s a result of the p resent game this fe int at the queen has been abandoned in ma ster chess in favour of the solid Q c 8 . 8 . Qa4 + Bd7
9 . Qc2
e6
B l a c k ' s plan of Q b6 and Bb5 to exchange the white-squared bishops is refuted by Fischer's reply, so he should prefer a 6 again intending B b S .
1 0 . NO Qb6 ReS 1 1 . a4 ! Now Black finds that if he goes hunting the advanced pawn by Qb3 then White has 1 2 . Qe2 Bxa4 ? 1 3. Rxa4 Qxa4 1 4 . Bb5 + .
1 2 . Nbd2 Nc6 Nh5 1 3 . Qb1 B l a c k intends another ' wing plan' w h i ch also fails. Fischer recommends g6. h6 14. Be3 Petrosia n 's intention was f5 to block the position, but then comes 1 5. g4 ! fxg4 1 6 . NgS Bd6 1 7 . Bxh7 w i th a strong i n i t i a t i ve. However Petrosian should h a v e t r i ed 1 4 . . . . B d 6 ! w hen 1 5 . Bxh7 g 6 1 6 . B xg6 fxg6 1 7 . Qxg6 + Kd8 l e a d s t o an u n c l ea r position w h e re Black would h a ve c o u n ter-chances.
fig. 1 40
2 1 . fS ! classical break-through, using the combined force of white pieces to open up the black king. Note how even the distant queen at b 1 plays an im p o rta nt role in the attack, eyeing the g6 square soon to become a target. Petrosian now chooses the best chance in such situations, exchanging off as many attacking men as possible. Nxe5 21. Bxe5 22. dxe5 23. fxe6 Bf6 Bx£7 24. ex£7 B xh4 25. NO 25 . . . . gS wouldn't help because the white B comes back into action by f2-d4 and Black has only weakened his position further. 26. Nxh4 Nf6 27 . Ng6 + 27. Bg6 to bring the queen rapidly into the attack might be more precise, but
A
Fischer was al ways a strong believer in the v a l ue of b i shop against k n ight on an open board . 27. . . . Bxg6 2 8 . Bxg6 Ke7 ! A desperately ingenious i dea u nder
pressure - Black's king tries to escape
the Q - s i d e safety across the fire of Fischer's p ie ces . Kd8 29 . Q fS
30. Rae l 31. Khl
QcS + Rf8 7
T h is loses in t he m i d d l e game, w herea s 31. Rc6 3 2 . QeS Qd6 Petro s i a n cou ld have l a s ted i n to F i sc her's fa v o u r i te en dgame ( 3 3 . Q xd 6 + R x d 6) w h ere..rook(s) and a c t i ve b i s h o p on an op en board are stronger t h an rook(s) a n d k n i g h t : White cou ld con t i n ue t hen 34. R f4 w i th fu r t h er pressure on the w e a k pa wns, but Black could sti ll fight o n . Note that 3 1 . . . . Kc7 is met by 32. QeS + Qd6 3 3. Qe7 + w i nn i n g at least a p a w n . 32. Qe5 Preparing t o o pen t h e central fi l es a n d cutting o u t the escape square c7. Black can ' t offer a qu een s wa p by Qc7 because of 3 3. QxP e h 1 or 3 3 . R x f6 ! w i nn i ng . 32. . . . Rc7 by
Qc6 3 3 . b4 ! 34 . c 4 ! The dec i sive l i n e-ope n i n g. The black k i ng is now ex posed to an overwhelming attack from t he com bined w h i te pieces . 34 . d xc4 3 5 . B fS R ff7 3 6 . Rd l + R fd 7 I f N d 7 n . R fe l i s w i n n i n g . 3 7 . Bxd7 Rxd7 38 . Q b8 + K e 7 or 38. Qc8 39. R x d 7 + N x d 7 40. Q d 6 . 3 9 . R de l + Resigns for i f Kf7 40. Qe8 mate. As Petrosian resigned, two thousand c hess fans in the hall erupted with applause. Part of the rea son for the im mense pu b l ic i n terest in Fischer was his ability to prod uce his best and most crowd pl ea s i n g games on the most important occasions. This happened when he again met Petrosian the fol lowing year in Buenos A i re s for the final eliminator i n the world t i tle s e r i es to challenge Boris Spassk y . As Fi s c h er w e nt ahead in t h e m a t c h , g l o b a l p u b l i c i ty i n c re a s e d , a nd c r o w d s e s t i m a t e d at u p to 10, 000 d a i ly h e s i e g ed t h e p l a y i ng h a l l for a g l i m p se of
the grandmasters. Fischer responded with one of the best games of his life, the final stages of which illustrate the strength of F i s c h e r ' s favourite end-game : rook(s) and b is h o p on an open board outgunning rook(s) and knight. W h ite : R . J . Fischer . B la ck : T. Pet rosia n S i ci l i a n Defe nce (7th match game 1 97 1 ) The opening moves were l . e4 cS 2. NO e6 3 . d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5 . BdJ N c6 6. N xc6 bxc6 (better d xc6) 7 . 0-0 dS 8 . c4 ! I l lustrating another of Fischer's strengths. Studying chess constantly day and night, he had - a magnificent armoury of innovations in a variety of openings. An earlier Spassky v. Petrosian game continued 8. Nd2 which is less effective. 8. N f6 8 . . . . dxc4 9. B xc4 Qxd 1 1 0 . Rxd 1 is unappealing because of the weakness of Black's Q-side pawns, but Black could c on t i n ue Nf6 1 1 . Nc3 Bc5 1 2. Bg5 e5 with a better ending than he gets in the game . cxdS 9 . cxdS 10. exdS exdS Both Nxd5 1 1 . Be4 and QxdS 1 1 . N c 3 are good for White since Black has n o compensation for h i s pawn weaknesses. Be7 1 1 . NcJ 1 2 . Qa4 + ! Qd77 Petrosian is dissatisfied with 12 . . . . Bd7 l 3 . Qd4 or 1 3. Qc2 and so plans to offer a positional sacrifice : 1 3. BbS axb5 1 4 . Qxa8 0-D 1 5 . Q a S d4 1 6 . Nxd4 B b7 with attacking chances. But Fischer finds a clear line which gives him a lasting bind on the dark squares with his 2-1 queen's side pawn majority still in reserve. 1 3 . Re 1 ! Qxa4 Black is forced to exchange, thus bringing the white knight to an ideal square where it eyes the weak b6 and c 5 . Castling would lose a piece to 1 4. Qxd7 . 1 4 . Nxa4 Be6 15. Be3 0-0 ·.
.
.
for White.
1 6. BcS ! An important move for the keen chess student. Elimination by . exchange of the most active enemy minor piece is one of the keys to successful posi tional play. Here White exchanges off Black's dark squared bishop, leaving him with the light-squared bishop restricted by the pawns on d5 and a6. Rfe8 16. 1 7 . Bxe7 Rxe7 18. b4 ! Prevents . . . aS and so fixes the weak a pawn firmly where it can be attacked by White's knight and bishop. K£8 18. 1 9. NcS Bc8 20. 0 ! Another strong multi-purpose move which deprives the black knight of a possible e4 outpost, opens a route for the white king to advance smoothly to the d4 central square, and keeps Black firmly on the defensive. The best chance now is 20 . . . . Nd7 so as at least to exchange or drive back the strong knight, but Petro sian instead tries to bring his bishop to b5 to neutralize the good-bad bishop situation. R7a7 20. 2 1 . ReS Bd7 22. Nxd7 + ! This move took all the watching grand masters by surprise, but it is perfectly logical. White does not want to allow . . . b5 strengthening Black's defences, while 22. a4 would permit the defensive plan Bc6 and N d 7. So Fisc her goes for the 'Fischer endgame' where his bishop is vastly more powerful than the black knight and where his rooks are active, Black's passive. The remaining play is also analyzed in the FischerjKarpov end game, page 44. Rxd7 22. . . . 23. Rc l Threatens 24. Rc6 increasing the pressure on the a pawn. 23. Rd6 24. Rc7 Nd7 25 . Re2
fig. 1 42
Slightly better would be Nd7 to con test the dark squares, but 1 6. f4 g6 1 7 . Bd4 0-0 1 8 . Rac 1 i s sti l l a permanent bind
fig. 1 4 3
77
..\ ( l a s s i c a l p o s i t i o n for th e 'Fi scher end '.!,,l m c · W h i l e B l a c k ' s r oo k s a re t i ed to ; ) r c J t e l· t i n g h i s vv e a k pa w n s, W h i t e ' s
o pen fi l es and o n e is o n the
l n n t ru l t h e
<> n· e n th ra n k .
B l a c k ' s k n ight c a n not move
Ree7 w h i le he cannot offer t h e e x c h a n ge of J pa i r of ro o k s by Re8 h ec a u se o f R x eR + a nd Ra7 w i n n i ng the a p a \\ n . T h u s P c t rosian can only w a tch a n d \\ d i t \\ h i l e F i s c h e r centra l i zes h i s k i n g . h e c a u se o f
g6 h5 h4 ? D e m o ra l i ze d , P e t ro s i a n c rea tes a nother \\Ta k n e s s A better defen ce i s N b6 28. 25.
26. K f2 27. f4
K 2 e 7 1-\ (6
28. K D pick u p
t h r e a t e n i n g to JnJ
t he
pa v'.:n by Kg4
so fo rc i n g the re p l y .
28 . f5 d4 + 29. K e 3 N b6 30 . K d 2 Nd5 3 1 . R2e7 3 2 . R f7 + K e8 N x b4 3 3 . Rcb7 3 4 . B c4 ! Resi gns T h e r e i s a d o u ble th reat : to take the k n i g h t or to w i n by 3 5 . Rh7 Rf6 36. Rh8 + 1-\ fR 37 B fl + Kd8 38 R x f8 ma te.
Anatoly l(ar p ov 1 951-
Ka rpo v. the re ign i ng world champion, i s
a player whose c hess career h a s advanced fro m learn i ng the moves to w i n n i ng the
\\'Orld title w i th scarcely a d iscern i ble set ba c k . K arpov lea rnt chess at four, and though l i v i ng far fron1 _ the main Sov iet c e n t r� s . in the sma l l town of Zlatoust i n t h e U ra l s, h e m a d e r a p i d p rogress. At e l e v e n he w a s a cand i d a te master, and \\' as g i ven spec i a l tuition by Botv i n n i k . H is fi rst senior i n ternational v i ctory, at 1 'i, came a bout by a c c i dent ; the Russians t hought the i n v i tation to Czechoslovakia w a s for a j u n ior event. Thereafter Karpov \\'ent on to w i n the under-20 world championship, the grand master title, and a place in the 1 9 7 2-7 5 ser i es to decide Fischer ' s c h a l l e n ger. He succeeded at his fi rst a ttem pt. beati ng Spassky and Korchnoi and taking the title by default when F i sc her refused to play. Ka rpo v ' s sustai ned record of first prizes in tourna ments as world champion e c l i pses h i s predecessors. H is style i s rem i n i scent o f Capa blanca, b u t in a more s u b t l e way than Fisc her. Unlike the Ameri c a n, he d oes not go all out in every game a nd w i th the black pieces he some t i mes ta kes early d r a w s . But w i th the e x c e p t ion of the fi nal stages of his 1 9 7 8 t i tle defe n ce aga i n st Korc hnoi, when fa t i g u e got o n top of his p l a y, K arpov has h e e n o n e o f t he most d i ffi c u l t grand masters ever to defeat. It i s rare for h i m t o lose more t h a n o n e game i n a ny event. 78
Ka rpov 's great r ival V iktor Korchnoi has descri bed the world c h am p i on as a computer- l i ke cold fi sh, and to strangers he often g i v es an i m p ression of detached a l oofness. S l ightly built, he looks too fra i l for the pressures of tournament ches s, but h i s results show the opposite. As c h a m pion he has taken on the best players all over the world and c learly ra tes on a par w i th the greatest masters of the game - Lasker, Capablanca, Alek h i ne, Botv i n n ik and Fischer. In his personal l i fe, Karpov is a private man. He collects stamps, and wrote a thes i s 'on problems of leisure activities' for Len i ngrad U n i v ersity. He was married i n summer 1 979 to an attractive secretary (desp i te chess's reputation as an essential ly sol i tary acti v i ty, all the world cham pions bar Fischer have been or have become ma rried men). In the USSR Ka rpov is a national hero and in 1 978 he topped the poll for Sovi et S portsman of the Year fol l o w i ng h is v ictory over Korc h n o i . He was personally decorated by P res ident B rezhnev . What can the ordinary player learn from the c hess of Karpov ? First, his skill w i th the Ruy Lopez. Like Capablanca and F i s c her, for whom this opening was also a front l i ne choice, K�rpov is sensitive to its fines�es and relies on it heavily to score a h igh percentage of points with the white p ieces . It is useful in chess to have a reperto i re of opening v a r iations you know rea l ly well and which have a good chance of com i ng up i n play. Karpov's approach to the Ruy Lopez i nvolves what has been called his ' spider' technique. He aims at space control on the queen's side and p i ece play on the king's side, aiming to g radua l ly deprive his opponent of useful squares, box the enemy p ieces into a c ra m ped position, and then break through on either flank. Often the result is that Karpov's pawn web controls the enti re board. This game from the 1 974 chess olympics illustrates Karpov's Ruy Lopez approach. White : A . Karpov. Black : H. Weste rinen O peni n g : Ruy Lopez (Nice 1 974) The openi ng moves were 1 . e4 eS 2. N O N c6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d 6 .
Black chooses a strongpoint defence, aim i ng to keep his centre intact. Another game Karpov-Unzicker, Milan 1 97 5, shows how Karpov counters one of the main l i nes of the opening : 4 . . . . Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. R e 1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Na5 1 0. Bc2 c5 1 1 . d4 Qc7 12. N bd2 Bd7 1 3. N fl Rfe8 1 4 . d5 Nb7 ? (better N c4 fol l owed by Nb6-d7 to control the e5 squa re) 1 5 . N 3h2 g6 16. Ng3 c4 1 7. f4 ! exf4 1 8 . Bxf4 Bf8 ? (he should try Bc8 and N d 7, still trying to hold e5) 19. Bg5 ! Be7 (or Bg7 2 0 . R f l ) 20. Qd2 Bc8 2 1 . Rfl Nd7 2 2 . Ng4, Resigns. The threat of Nh6 + w i ns at l east a pawn with a continuing attack, so Black p refers to recognize that
Anatoly Karpov, reigning world champion . Continual brilliant tournament victories confirm him as the No 1 .
his position has gone.
5 . 0-0 Bd7 6. d4 N £6 7 . c3 Be7 8. N bcl2 9 . Re 1 Re8 1 0 . Nfl h6 1 1 . N g 3 B f8 1 2 . Bd2 b 5 .
0-0
Black's strongpoint defence aims to keep his centre solid and intact. But this plan works better with b5 instead of Bd 7, keeping the option of putting the QB at b7 and the KN at d 7. Once com mitted to Bd7, the move b5 is illogical and Black should switch to a different strategy, opening the centre and freeing his game with piece exchanges after 9 . . . . exd4 1 0. cxd4 Nb4. 1 3 . Bc2 !
Karpov has a good eye for little finesses. He saves a move on the routine 1 3. Bb3 Na5 because B lack needs to regroup his knight in any case to mobilize his queen's side pieces. 1 3. 14. 15. 16. 17.
b3 dS h3 N£5
Na5 cS Nh7 Be7 Nb7
fig. 1 44
The white QN a t f) is on i ts best Ruy Lopez S CJ U a re for hel p i ng a k i ng's side attack, b u t Black is sol i d in defence and ex peri e n c e shows that W h i te can rarely brea� t h r o u g h o n a s i ng l e n a nk i n t h i s b l oc k ed o p en i n g s y s te m . Instead, K a rpov takes a dvan ta g e of the badly posted b7 kn ig h t a n d t h e a b s e n ce of the bl ack h7 kn igh t rrom t h e q u ee n ' s side to s w i tch the a c t i o n t h e re . 1 8. a4 ! bxa4 1 9 . b4 ! A n o t her d e l i c a t e c h e s s d ropshot . The o b v i o u s h x a 4 w o u l d a l l ow N a 5 - c 4 w i th c o u n t e r p l a y , w h e r ea s in the game the b7 kn ight rem a i n s a p a s s e n g e r t i l l the end . 19. aS a x b4 2 0 . Bxa4 2 1 . cxb4 B f8 If 2 1 . . . B x a4 2 2 . Rxa4 Rxa4 2 3 . Qxa4 Qa8 2 4 . Ra I and W h i te's queen or rook penetrates to the seventh row w ith a wi n n ing advantage . 22. B c6 !
rook and bishop against rook and k night. But he is no dogmatist and can switch w i th equal fa cility to knight against b i shop w hen that becomes a ppropriate. At Montreal in 1 979, Ka rpov tied for first w i th Tal in one of the strongest tourna men ts ever held, with a p r i ze fund of £ 50, 000 and £ 1 2 , 5 00 for the w inner. During this event Ka rpov played a game where he demonstrated first the sup eriority of bishop against knight, and then the a d vantage of knight against bishop. W h i te : B . Spassky. B la ck : A. K a rpov O p e n i n g : Q u e e n ' s I n d i a n Defe nce ( Montrea l World Cup 1 979) The opening moves w ere 1 . d4 N f6 2. c4 e 6 3 . N O b6 4. Bf4 B b7 5 . e3 Be7 6. N c3 ? (Spassky had earlier twice lost to Tony Miles against this 4. Bf4 system, so decides to try it out for himself. Unfortu nately he doesn't know it well enough 6 . h 3 is necessary to preserve the bishop) N h 5 ! 7 . Bg3 d6 8. Bd3 Nd7 9 . 0-0 g6 ! Karpov 's long-term strategy is based on his active e7 bishop. This piece will be transferred to the long black diagonal where it will have more future than any of White's minor pieces. Nxg3 10. h3 0-0 1 1 . fx g 3 1 2 . Rc l Bf6 1 3 . Rc2 Bg7 Qe7 1 4 . R c f2 1 5 . Kh2 a6 1 6 . Qe2 Rae8 17. B b 1 c6 f5 18. a3 1 9 . e4
fi g . 1 4 5
Typical o f the posi tions Ka rpov l i kes to aim for. The strong b4 and d 5 p a w ns, supported by mi nor p ieces here and on moves 2 5 - 2 6 , stop any counterplay and prepare the fi nal attack on the a file. The rest of the game, to a K a rpov, is a routine m o ppin g - u p . The rema i n i ng moves were 22 . . . . Qc7 2 3 . b5 N f6 24 . Qc2 R e b8 25. N e ) Bc8 26. Nc4 Be7 2 7 . b6 Q d 8 28. Ra7 N d7 29. Qa4 Rxa7 30. bxa7 Ra8 3 1 . Q a 6 Q c 7 32. Bxd7 Qxd7 3 3 . N b6 N d8 34. Q a 1 Qxa7 White w i ns a Resigns. If 34. piece by 3 5 . Qxa7 and 3 6 . Nxc8, wh ile i f 34. Q b 7 3 5 . Nxa8 Q x a 8 3 6 . R b 1 a n d Black is hamstrung . The second strength of Ka rpov w h ich ca n be fol l o w ed is his rel iance on the endgame. In an i nterview in London in 1 97 2, he was a sked by a group of club players 'Can you advise us w hat we must do if we wa nt to improve ? We study open i n gs a lot we p l ay a lot . ' ' But e n d g a m es not very much ? ' h e r e p l i ed . ' Do t he o p p o s i t e - study endgames I ' L i ke h i s p r e d e c e ss o r F i s c h e r . K a r pov i s a n e x p e r t in h a n d l i n g t h e e n d gam e of
fig. 1 46
19. . . . c5 ! This is the key move of Karpov's deep strategy, played just as White was hoping to gai n space in the centre and keep the bishop pair under restraint. Now White is forced to exchange into Karpov's favourite endgame phase and the black bishops gain considerably more scope. 20 . exfS exfS Rxe7 2 1 . Qxe7 bxc5 2 2 . dxc5 23. R d 1 Bxc 3 ! Another su b tle move. The bishop pair
is abandoned, but the white Q-side paw ns on the c and a files become we�k and are targets for Black' s rooks and minor pieces. 24. bxc3 Rf6 Re3 2 5 . Rfd2 26. N g 1 K f8 ! This also had to be seen and assessed well in advance. I nstead of defending the w eak d pawn, Karpov gives it up and in return gets very active play for all his rem a ining pieces - including the centra lized king. 2 7 . Rxd6 Rxd6 28. Rxd6 Ke7 Re 1 29. Rd3 30. Ba2 Rc 1 31 . NO
fig. 1 47
Bxf3 ! 31. . . . Karpov is still a pawn down but can make this exchange in the confidence that the R + B v. R + N ending is a clear win. The white bishop has no scope, his king is still out of play, and his rook is tied to passive defence of the Q-side pawns ; on the other hand Black's rook, knight and king are all either poised to invade the white camp or are already doing so. Ne5 32 . RxO Kf6 3 3 . Re3 a5 34 . B b 3 3 5 . Ba4 Capitulation - White returns the pawn with lOO per cent interest in a vain attempt to get some play. Attempting to hold the material by 3 5. Ba2 or 3 5 . a4 would fail to Rb l and Rb2. 35. Nxc4 Rxc3 36. ReS Ne3 37. Rc8 c4 38. B b 5 39. K g l Rc2 c3 40 . Bc6 g5 41 . Bf3 f4 42 . g4 43. Resigns The passed c pawn will soon force the win of at least the bishop since the white king is unable to help the defence. A third, and particularly important, lesson to be learnt from Anatoly Karpov's 79
c l-.ess ca reer
is the great value of a serious a n d d i s c i p l i n ed approach to chess stu d y . T h e c h am p i o n w o r k s a t the game for a t l ea st a c o u ple of hours a d a y even when h e is not compet i ng in a tournament, a n a l y s i n g the games of potential rivals, l oo k i n g for open ing improvements, a n d k e e p i n g i n touch w ith new ideas .
S t i l l a y oung man and al ways on peak fo rm, K arpov could be set for a long r eign
as world champ ion. I shall be surprised if h e is toppled before the late 1 980s .
Tony Miles 1 9 5 5 Brita i n ' s fi rst gra n d ma ste r, fi rst British p layer t h i s c e n t u ry to have a rea l i s t i c chance o f c o n t en-d i n g for t h e ind i v id ua l w o r l d c h a m p i o n s h i p He i s a tough and success f u l y o u ng pr o fe s s i o n a l who plays al most c o nt i n u o u s l y in tournaments a l l over the world, a nd he has an excellent track record aga i n st most of the lead ing Rus s i a n s except for Karpov. M i l es lea rnt c hess at fi ve but developed rather s l o w l y : even w hen he won the British under- 1 4 c hampionship in 1 968 h e d id n ot gai n instant recogni tion as a s pe c i a l ta lent. But when he became the l e ad i n g pla yer in the M i d l ands w h i le s t i l l i n h i s m id d le teens and won a junior i n ternational in Fra nce, the decision was ta ken that E n g l and should bid to stage the 1 97 1 j u n ior world cha m pion s hip so t h a t M i l es and a nother strong young p layer , M i c hael Stean, should have the optimum opportunity . M i l es won on l y t h e s i l v er medal in that event beh i nd the Russian Belyavsk y ; this followed a European j unior c hampionsh ip where he was also second to the Russian, m a k i ng Mi les determined to win the gold medal the fol low ing year. In the j un ior world championship in Manila he was clearly the best player, decisively beating h is Sov i et opponent in a brilliant game, and w i n n i ng both the c hampionship and an au tomatic international master title. It took Miles less than two years after the j u nior world championship to become a grand m aste r . The year 1 977 was his a n nus m z rabilis when he successively won fi rst prize at Lanzarote, Amsterdam and Biel, came second to world champion Karpov in the powerful Til burg inter national in Holland, and then repeated the achievement in BBC 2 ' s televised Master Game tourna m ent . On becom i ng a grandmaster Miles decla red that ' the only thing left is to have a go at Karpov ', and in late 1 977 he seemed on the brink of becoming esta b l i shed. as the leading Western c hallenger. But 1 978 and 1 979 brought him uneven r esult s , and the question now is w hether he can break through the form i dab le pha l a nx o f Ea s t European grandma sters in the i nterzonal and candi d ates tourna-
T o n y M i l e s, is a l so the
80
men ts to qualify for a title match . What can the average player learn from Tony M i les? Above alL a practical a pp roach to winning. In his early career Miles l iked to open l . e4 and, as Black, used to play the sharp Dragon variation of the Sicilian defence with cS and g6. But some heavy defeats against well primed opponents convinced him that he should have a more positional reper toire whereby he could play for a win against sli ghtly weaker opponents with out too much risk. Standby openings for p l ayers who choose such a style are often the English l . c4 and the n on-committal l . Nf3. M iles has been making i ncreasing use of these moves and at the same time has been developing his own special ideas in the openings - for instance a queen' s pa wn system with Bf4 which twice hel ped h im to beat Spassky. In the 1 977 IBM tournament Miles was fi ghti ng for the first prize in a tight finish w ith two other grandmasters. The fol lowing game is from the penultimate round and illustrates Miles's cool pro fessional efficiency. W hite : A . J. Miles. Blac k : S. Tatai O pe n in g : Catalan (IBM Amsterdam 1 977) The opening moves were l. N f3 N f6 2 . c4 cS 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5 . B g 2 N c6 ? 6. d4 e6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a 3 . Black's early d 5 and recapture o n that square with his knight was a reasonable idea, but led to difficulties because of h is routine move 5 . . . . Nc6. He should have played 5 . . . . Nc7 to meet 6. d4 by cxd4 7 . Nxd4 eS. In the actual game however, the bishop on c5 is now a target for attack which Miles uses to bring his heavy pieces quickly to the centre files. 9. aS Be7 1 0 . Qc2 1 1 . e4 Nf6 Nd7 12. Rd1 0-0 1 3 . Nc3 Qc7 7 1 4 . Be3
fi g . 1 48
Now White can increase his- advantage by an instructive little combination which
often occurs in similar positions. Black should have tried Bf6 . 1 5 . NdS ! If Black doesn't take this knight, then Miles continues Nxe7 + w hen h is pair of bishops are a distinct advantage once the position opens up. The problem for Black in such positions is not immediate loss of material but chronic weakness in his pawn structure. The weak c pawn becomes an easy target on the open file for Miles' s pieces. 15. exdS N 7b8 1 6. exdS 1 7 . N d4 1 Much better than taking the knight at once, w hen Black would recapture with the b8 knight and avoid any pawn weaknesses. 17. Bd7 1 8 . Rac l QeS 1 9 . dxc6 Nxc6 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 2 1 . .Bxc6 bxc6 22 . B d4 QbS
2 3 . Re 1 ! Another example of a move which spells the difference between a grandmaster and a strong club player. It was possible to play an immediate 23. Qxc6, but the pawn will not run away and meanwhile the pin on the e file will ensure further exchanges to help Miles win the ending. 23. Rfe8 24. Qxc6 Qxc6 a4 2 5 . Rxc6 26. Rc4 K£8 Bf6 27. Bc3 W hite threatened to simplify into a pawn ending by R4e4, Rxe7 and Bb4. 28 . Rxe8 + Kxe8 29. Bxf6 gxf6 30. Rh4 1 Without this final touch Black would still have drawing chances as his a pawn holds White's two on the Q-side. 30. . . . Rb8 3 1 . Rxh7 Rxb2 K£8 32. Rh4 Ra2 33. Rxa4 34. Kg2 Resigns
Another M il es technique is h i s abil ity refute i n ferior opening play. Inter national chess can mean up to ten hours t i r i ng work a day. and most experts find it essent i a l to have a num ber of shorter ga mes w i th l ess mental effort. The sim p lest way to achieve this i s by quick d ra ws which often occur on the world c i rc u i t . B u t this means only h a l f a point for each side. and the player a im i ng at a high place has to be a ble to defeat weaker opponents without excessive labour. In the fol lowing game M i l es' opponent makes a passive fifth move, conce d i ng the cen tre to the white pawns and pieces. Many would be content to exploit this by a slow b u i l d -up. but Miles instead goes for a s h a rp gambit approach, sac ri fi c i ng fi rst a pawn and then a bi shop. In re t u rn he gets a fine a ttack, the oppo n e n t ' s defences collapse qu i c kly, and the gra n d m a ster departs the board w ith h i s ene rgy still fresh for t h e next round . White : A . J . M i l e s . Black : E. to
P r e i ss m a n n Opening : S lav O l y m p i a d 1 976) l . d4
D e fe nce
(Hai fa
d5 c6 N f6 d x c4 5 . a4 e67 A poor move which hems in h is queen' s bi shop just when this piece should be developed by BfS or Bg4 . Bb4 6. eJ N bd7 7. Bxc4 8. 0-0 0-0 9. QbJ ! Forcefully attacking Black ' s weak e6 pawn as well as the bishop. Already there is a ta ctical trap. for 9 . . . . Bd6 should be met by 1 0. Bxe6 fxe6 1 1 . Qxe6 + and 1 2. Qxd6. Qe7 9. . . . BxcJ 1 0 . e4 ! Accepting the pawn sacrifice is risky. but otherwi se W h i te ·has a strong centre . Nxe4 1 1 . bxcJ c5 1 2 . BaJ N ef6 1 3 . R fe 1
2 . c4 3. N O 4 Nc 3 .
If 1 3 . . . . Ndf6 1 4. Bd3 undermines the black knights and regains the c5 pawn with great advantage. 14. aS ! A subtle move whose significance Black fails to appreciate. Miles would like to sacrifice on e6, aiming to create a winning d iscovered check. But the immediate 1 4 . Bxe6 ? fxe6 1 5 . Rxe6 is m e t b y Qf7 1 6. Ng5 c4 ! 1 7 . Qxc4 N b6 ! and the counter-attack on the white queen re futes the combination. Black does not see t h is at a ll and ju dg i ng b y his reply he thinks that 1 4. aS is j ust a positional move a iming to gain queen's side space.
9. eS NdS Be7 1 0. N e4 1 1 . 0-0 Nc6 12. B d2 Qc7 bxcJ e . p . 1 3 . c4 1 4 . NxcJ NxcJ 1 5 . BxcJ N b4 1 6 . Bxb4 By the simplest means, Black gains the advantage of the b ishop pair, but other wise his knight has a fine outpost at d 5 . 16. Bxb4 1 7 . Racl Qb6
Correct is h6, denying the w hite knight the gS square. 1 5 . Bxe 6 ! fxe 6 1 6 . Rxe6 Q f7 17. Ng5 c4 1 8 . Qxc4 Nb6 1 9 . Qe2 ! Qg6 Now 1 9 . . . . Bxe6, aiming to get material compensation for the queen, is refuted by 20. Nxf7 Bxf7 2 1 . axb6. 20. Bxf8 QxgS Or 20 . . . . Bxe6 2 1 . Qxe6 + Kxf8 2 2 . Qd6 + and 2 3. Qx b8 wins .
Fresh loss of time. White should prefer 20. Bxb7. 20. . . . Kh 8 Be7 2 1 . Bb1 N ot hxg5 ? ? 2 2 . Qh5 + mates. Rac8 22 . N e4
14. . . .
2 1 . Bd6
Rb8 7
bS
More for c i ng is 3. a4, but Karpov and some other great masters make a principle of ta king no risks in the first round of an event. 3. 4. Bd3 5. Qe2 6 . a4 7. dxcS
fi g . l 5 0
1 9 . NgS
20. Bh7 + 7
0-0
h6
2 3 . Qd3 7
Resigns
For if 2 1 . . . . Nbd7 22. Bxb8 Nxb8 2 3 . R e 8 + mates or wins material. This game was typical of Tony Miles, showing good strategic assessment backed by precise calculation of tricky variations. The year 1 980 brought a milestone in Miles' s career : for the first time he beat world champion Karpov, and that in an opening so bizarre it was nameless. For some weeks the Russian chess magazines could not bring themselves to publish Black's first move. White : A . Karpov . Black : A .J . M i le s O p e n i n g : B i r m i n g ha m Defe nc e (Skara 1 980) a6 l . e4 The round 1 pairings were announced before the tournament, and Miles, at home in Birmingham, decided on this rare defence to combat Karpov's com mand of orthodox theory. Its strategy of early queen's side play is an extension of l . . . . b6 which Miles chose in an earlier encounter with the champion . 2. d4 3. Nf3
1 8 . Be4
Bb7 N f6 e6 cS
Again Karpov avoids an ac ti ve line (7. c3) and Black's opening choice is vindicated. 7. BxcS 8 . N 1 d2 b4
fig. 1 5 1
Hoping to attack h7, but this never materializes. Black now wins a pawn and already White gets a lost ending. 23. 24 . 25. 26. 27. 28.
Rxc l Re 1 Qxd7 Re3 QxdS
Rxc l Qxb2 QxeS Bb4 QdS BxdS
From now on the game is won. Miles plays the final stage accurately as his king, bishop pair and active rook force the world champion back. The remaining moves were 29. Nc3 Rc8 30 . Ne2 gS 3 1 .
h 4 Kg7 32. hxgS hxgS 3 3 . Bd3 aS 34. Rg3 Kf6 3 5 . Rg4 Bd6 36. Kfl Be5 37. Ke 1 Rh8 38 . f4 gxf4 39 . Nxf4 Bc6 40. Ne2 Rhl + 4 1 . Kd2 Rh2 42 . g3 Bf3 43 . Rg8 Rg2 44. Ke l Bxe2 45 . Bxe2 Rxg3 46 . Ra8 Bc7 and White resigned as Black's
two pawns will push through. This was only the second win this century by a British player against a reigning world champion.
81
Y asser Seirawan
J CJ o OY a s se r S e i ra w an is the !!"lost s u c c e ssful o f a n ew ge n e ra t i on o f young American p l a y e rs w ho h a ve made t h e i r m a r k on the i n ter n a t i o n a l scene. B o rn in B e i r u t, Y a s s e r ' s fa m i l y e m i gra ted to Cal i fornia w h en h e was a sma l l boy and, inspired l i k e many by the pu b l i c i ty for the F i scher S p a s sky m a t c h , he s ta rted to t a ke c hess s e r i o u s ly w h en i n h i s early tee n s . S u c cesses c a m e q u i c k l y . A t t h e a g e o f 1 4, he b e a t grand ma ster B i sgu i er i n a t o u r n a m e n t g a me and at 1 6 he won t h e US N a t i o n a l O p en t i t l e . H i s p l a y c o n -
tinued to develop and two results in 1 979 showed he was a likely future grand master. In April of that year, he achieved a grandmaster result in the famous Lone Pine tournament in California, losing only one game despite contending every day w i th world class opponents ; and in August he won the junior championship of the worl d at Skien, Norway, half a point in fro n t of a Russian rival. In complete contrast to Fischer, Yasser is one of nature's gentlemen and is a fine am bassador for the US at every tourna ment he attends. A few years ago he p l a y ed a t Hastings, England, and fol low i ng t h at gave an exhibition against 2 5 y o u n g ju niors a t the London Eveni ng
Standard c hampionships. He made sure to shake hands with each one before the game and h ad a pleasant word of commis eration or congratulation for all his opponents as they finished . One young ster had been eating a jam doughnut but nevertheless held out his hand at the end ; Yasser looked at it, smiled, shut his eyes and shook the hand, spending the next round of play wiping his fingers clean. W hat can be learnt from Yasser Seira wan's games is forceful position c hess typical of the American style at its best. In the tradition of Pillsbury and Reshev sky, he plays mainly strategic openings. But w hereas Pillsbury aimed for his own pre-analysed formations with NeS and f4 and Reshevsky liked the Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange variation w here the w hite c4 pawn is swapped for the black d5 pawn, Seirawan's strategy is more complex. His favourite is the English l . c4 w hich is increasingly popular in master c hess because of its flexible, non-committal qualities. Seirawan likes to use t he English to gain space on t he queen's side then outflank t he defenders via the back rank or switchi ng to the king's side. This is grand strategy if the concept works, and how well Seirawan handles it is demon strated by this game w hich helped him win the world junior title.
White : Y. Seirawan. Black : G. Barbero O pening : English (Junior World C hampionship 1 979) e5 l . c4 Nf6 2 . Nc3 Nc6 3. NO Bb4 4. e3 Bxc3 5. Qc2
Unnecessarily premature, losing time. This exchange can wait till White forces it with a 3 . 6. Qxc3 7. a3 8 . b4 1
Qe7 aS
A mark of Yasser Seirawan's chess style. He advances on t he Q-side as fast as possible, aided by a tactical nuance. 8. 9. axb4 1 0 . Qxa 1
axb4 Rxa 1 e4
Yasser Seirawan at Hastings, 1 980. Victory a few weeks later at Wijk aan Zee established him as the brightest US prospect since Bobby Fischer retired.
82
Bd6 1 6 . Qe4 1 7 . h4 1 With ideas of g4 -g5, NgS, or hS and Rh4. 17. QfS Qa 5 I S . Qe2 Ne7 1 9 . Bb3 20 . h5 b6 Ba6 2 1 . Qe4 22. d5 ! Offering two pawns to open up all the lines against the black king. 22. exd5 f6 23. Qh7 Bxc4 24. K g 1 Bxb3 2 5 . Rh4 1 Kf7 26. axb3 27. Rg4 R g8
fi g. 1 5 2
Both 1 0 . . . . Qxb4 1 1 . N xe 5 and 1 0 . . . . Nxb4 1 1 . QxeS a re exchanges which clea r the boa rd o f pawns and s o i ncrease the potenti al scope of the pa ir of bi shops which Black casua l l y conced ed on move 5 . W ith h i s actual move, Black a i ms to create weaknesses in the w h i te k i ng's side which his pieces can i n filtrate, but another result of this approach is further opening of l i nes favouring White. 1 1 . b5 ! Crea ting more potential scope for the bishops, and completing the ultra-rapid demolition of Black's queen's side. In another half-dozen moves, the w h i te queen is i n fi l trati ng the rear of Black's position. 11. e x f3 1 2 . b x c6 bx c6 1 3 . gxf3 0-0 1 4 . Bb2 N e8 The threa tened Rg l fol l o wed by Bxf6 forces the kn ight to move, but N h 5 is more ac t i v e . 1 5 . Bd3 Q h4 T h i s w a s Black's plan : g i ven ti me, he will ad va nce f5-f4 to open up the w h i te k i n g But Sei rawan's bi shops a re a l rea dy d i rected for attack and in the next few moves Black's K-side comes under heavy pressure. 1 6. Ke2 cS 1 7 . Qa8 ! En route to the ki ng's side. Backward diagonal retreats or captures by a queen or bishop a re often hard to v i sualize in advance as many players h a ve a mental block a bout such moves. 17. . . . Nd6 Stoppi ng Qe4, but W h i te fi nds another way to transfer the queen to the other fla nk with ga in of time . 18. Rg1 ! f6 1 9 . Q d S + Kh8 20. Q x c 5 Qxh2 2 1 . Rg3 ! S h u t t i n g out the queen from protection o r t h e th rea tened c7 pawn, a n d i n d u c i n g t he fo l l o vv i n g fa t a l w e a k n e s s . 21. . . . hS ?
22. Rxg7 1 There are o ther ways to win - White could simply take the c pawn - but the move played is the most elegant and forc i ng. The average player is unlikely to be able to calculate such positions in advance but should not be d eterred. Tactical vision is a matter of experience and training so the sensible policy if you don't see a clear win is to continue to increase the pressure or capture material here by 22. Qxc7 . 22 . Kxg7 23. Qg5 + Kf7 24 . Qxf6 + Ke8 25. Bg6 + Nf7 26. Be 5 ! A fine, original conclusion. If the queen moves, 2 7 . Bxc7 with unavoidable mate on d 8 . 26. . . . Resigns The important Wijk aan Zee inter national of 1 980 showed that Seirawan could become America's greatest player since Fischer. He tied for first prize with three-time US champion Browne, reached the grandmaster score w ith three games to spare, a nd outplayed Korchnoi. W h ite : Y. Seirawa n . B la c k : V . K o rchn o i Opening : Engl ish (Wij k a a n Zee 1 980) . The opening moves were 1 . c4 Nf6 2 . N c 3 e6 3 . e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5 . exf6 dxc3 6 . bxc3 Qxf6 7. d4 c 5 . Book theory i s one o f Korchnoi's weaker points : 7 . . . . b6 is superior. h6 8. Nf3 9. Bd3 ! Intending the gambit 9 . . . . Nc6 1 0. 0-0 with active piece p lay for the pawn. 9. cxd4 Bb4 + 1 0 . cxd4 1 1 . Kfl ! The king is safe here since it is White who has the initiative and attack. Nc6 11. Bc5 1 2 . Bb2 0-0 1 3 . Bc2 1 4 . Qd3 Rd8 K £8 1 5 . Rd 1 .
28. Re l l The winning move. It cuts off the black king's escape, and threatens 29. Bxf6 Kxf6 30. Rg6 + or if 28 . . . . Rad8 2 9. Ra 1 followed by Rxa 7 . 28. d4 29. Rxd4 Be5 30. Rd7 Qxe 1 + Korchnoi hopes to fight on with rook, bishop and pawn against queen, but the a ttack is too strong. The game ended 3 1 . Nxe 1 Bxb2 32. Nd3 Ba3 3 3 . Nf4 Rgd8 34. Qg6 + Kg8 3 5 . Qd3 Rxd7 36. Qxd7 ReS 37 . Kh2 Kf7 38 . Ng6 Ra8 39 . Nxe7 Resigns. If Bxe7 40. QdS + wins the rook.
83
Gary Kasp arov 1 963-
Kasparov is the new young hope of Sov iet chess, a teenager whom experts the world over are already forecasting as the �uccessor to Karpov and whose achievements at the age of 1 5- 1 6 outstrip everyone bar Bobby Fischer and the Brazi li an Mecking. Ka sparo v ' s family name was Weinstein but they changed it, for it was rumoured that the Soviet authorities did not want their new star to sound Jewish. His early games at ages 1 0-1 1 already showed unusual gifts, so much so that I wrote an article in the 'Guardian' newspaper at that time predicting that Kasparov would be world champion in 1 990. Kasparov studied c hess at the famous ' Botvinnik school' where Karpov also learnt from the ex-world champion. At 1 1 , he scored well against the top Soviet grandmasters in a clock simultaneous match, and gave Karpov and Korchnoi a hard game: Then came a relative setback : he competed twice, at age 1 3 and 1 4, in the under- 1 7 world championship but fa i l ed to win it. There was no news of him for some months, and it seemed possi ble that he was not fulfilling his promi se . But his achievements i n 1 9 78 provided the answer. Fi rst Kasparov won a strong the tournament, Soviet invitation Sokol sky Memorial ; then he won a 64man S wiss tournament again.st masters and grandmasters whi ch qualified him directly for the fi nal of the Soviet Championship. His de but caused an international stir : he scored 50 per cent and defeated Polugaevsky, a world title candidate, by an imaginative bishop sa cri fice. As a result of this success, the U SSR Chess Federation sent him to a strong grandmaster tournament at Banja Luka, Yugoslavia, in the summer of 1 979, where, a part from the local champion, he was the only non-grandma ster . Kasparov ' s score a t Banja Luka out paced even the early achievements of Spassky and Fischer. He led from the start, rea c hing the international master nonn with five rounds to spare, won the tournament with three rounds in hand and achieved the grandmaster norm, which the World Chess Federation had rai sed , two roun ds before the finish. His tournament performance was such that if repeated consistently it would already bracket him with Korchnoi as the leading contender for Karpov's throne. Leading scores in this historic event were Kasparov (USSR) 1 1 ! out of 1 5, Smejkal (Czech) and Andersson (Sweden) 9!, Petrosian (USSR) 9. In summer 1 9SO Kasparov won at Baku to become the worl d ' s youngest grandmaster. When Kaspa rov was still an unknown,
84
his mentor Botvinnik said that 'the future of chess lies in the hands of this boy ' . Botvinnik' s forecast and m y o wn that Kasparov would be the 1 990 champion were laughed at by the experts when they were made, but not so after Banja Luka. Kasparov, meanwhile, kept his feet on the ground. He admitted that he dreamt of the world title, but in the tradition of self criticism favoured by Botvinnik said that he considered his weak points to be his defence and his play of simple positions. Botvinnik commented that even when only 10 he had been impressed by Kasparov 's ability to quickly assess a number of complex variations, as well as by his desire to achieve perfection. What are the technical secrets the ordinary player can learn from Kasparov' s phenomenal success ? Variety of approach is one of his characteristics : in the USSR championship and at Banja Luka he opened successfully with 1 . P-QB4, 1 . P-Q4 and 1 . P-K4. A few years ago Bot v innik criticised players all over the world, and particularly young ones, for being interested only in practical games and not in work on new ideas at home or writing commentaries for chess maga zines. After each of Kasparov' s successes the j ournal ' 64' printed a game with in depth, self-critical notes by the young master . It is clear that Kasparov is not afraid to a dopt crucial lines in highly-analyzed openings. When he does, he often demon strates evidence of his own homework. If the game becomes a tactical melee, he is able to thread his way through the complications and find a line providing maximum difficulties for his opponent. Below is a good example from Banja Luka. Incidentally I published this game in my Guardian column without notes and asked for young English players to send in their annotations. Many of the comments which follow are based on the winning entry, sent in by Stuart Con quest of Hastings who was already men ' s champion o f this famous chess town at the age of 1 2. My opinion is that young Conquest will become a master or grand master within ten years . White : G. Kasparov. Black : S . Marj anovic Opening : Queen's Indian Defence (Banja Luka 1979) I . d4 N f6 2. c4 e6 3. NO b6 4. a3. The variation 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. Bg5 B b4 is not bad for Black, so Kasparov prefers this temporizing move which has been in creasingly popular in recent years and is now the basis of some deeply analyzed theory. 4. . . . Bb7 Another natural idea is 4. . . . c5. If then 5. d5 Ba6 1 is immediately favourable for Black : an example is Huss-Korchnoi, Biel 1 979 which went 6 ._ b3 d6 S. Nc3 g6 9.
Re8 1 2. Rb1 Bxfl 1 3. Kxfl Na6 14. Qd3 Nc7 1 5 . e4 b5 1 6. b4 cxb4 17 . .axb4 aS 1 S. Ba3 axb4 1 9 . Bxb4 Na6 20. Qxb5 QcS 2 1 . Qc6 Nxb4 2 2. Rxb4 Qg4 23. Qb7 Qf4 24. Ne2 Ra 1 + 2 5 . Rb1 Qxe4 26. Rxa 1 Qxe2 + 2 7 . Kg 1 N e4 i S . Rfl Bd4 and White resigned (29. Nxd4 Qxfl + I mates). But there is a mystery attached to this game. Book theory considers that 4 . . . . cS is in fact inferior because of 5. e 3 ! A drastic example is the game Gheorghiu Skrobek, Warsaw 1 97 9 , which continued 5 . . . . Bb7 6. Nc3 dS 7. cxd5 Nxd5 S. Bb5 + Bc6 9. Bd3 cxd4 1 0. exd4 Be7 ? (better Nbd7 to keep the white knight out of e5) 1 1 . Ne5 0-0 1 2. 0� Bb7 1 3. Qc2 Nf6 1 4. R d 1 Nc6 1 5 . Qa4 ! ReS ? (Nxe5 1 6. dxe5 N d5 would avoid material loss, though Black's game remains difficult) 1 6. Ba6 ! Qc7 1 7 . Nb5 QbS 1 S. Nxc6 Bxc6 1 9. Bxc8 RxcS 20. Qxa7 Bxb5 2 1 . Qxe7 and wins . How would Korchnoi have met 5. e3 ? Chess theory is full of such intriguing posers. Perhaps Korchnoi had some smash ing innovation ready, maybe he was bluffing, maybe he simply forgot why 4 . . . . c5 was supposed to be inferior. The answer may only be known when some one else plucks up courage to follow the same system as White against Korchnoi or another such grandmaster. 5 . Nc3 d5 Other alternatives are Be7 and Ne4 . Nxd5 6. cxd5 A maj or decision, since from now on Black suffers the consequences of White's mobile central pawn majority. In another Korchnoi game at Biel 1 979, played in an earlier round to the Huss game quoted above, Wirtensohn-Korchnoi continued 6 . . . . exdS 7. Bg5 Be7 S. e3 Nbd7 9. Bb5 c6 1 0. Ba4 0� 1 1 . 0� ReS 1 2 . Rc l Rc8 1 3. Bc2 c5 1 4. Bf5 RaS 1 5. Qc2 g6 1 6. Bh3 Ne4 1 7 . Bxe7 Qxe7 1S . . Bxd7 Qxd7 1 9 . dxc5 Nxc5 20. b4 Ne6 2 1 . Rfd 1 RacS 22. Qa4 Qxa4 23. Nxa4 d4 1 and Black later regained the temporarily sacrificed pawn and went on to win the endgame. I find this not altogether convincing, and it is likely White's play can be improved. Be7 7. e3 8. Bb5+ To force S . . c6 blocking out Black's queen bishop. Now both S . . . . Nc6 9. Ne5 Qd6 1 0. Ne4 or S . . . . Nbd7 9. Nxd5 Bxd5 1 0. Ne5 are bad for Black, while 8. . . . Bc6 9. Bd3 leaves the bishop on c6 badly placed . 8. c6 0-0 9 . Bd3 10. e4 The game Petrosian-Rechevsky, Santa Monica 1 966, went 1 0. Bd2 Nbd7 1 1 . .
.
.
Nxd5 cxd5 1 2 . 0-0 Bd6 1 3 . Qa4 with advantage for Whi te, but a do-nothing move like Bd2, though quite in Petrosian 's style, should not really be dangerous. Black should reply 1 0 . . . . c 5 . 10. Nxc3 1 1 . bxc3 cS 1 2 . 0-0
fi g . 1 5 5
12. . . . h6 7 This is one of the critical positions of the opening and arises naturally from White's 4. a3. More natural for Black than the obviously weakening h6 is to put pressure
on White's centre by 1 2 . . . cxd4 1 3. cxd4 Nc6. An early game Ghitescu-Hort, 1 970, continued 1 4 . B b2 Rc8 1 5 . Qe2 Bf6 1 6. Rad 1 Na5 1 7 . Rfe 1 Rc7 with a com fortable game for Black, but a better plan for White is to direct his forces against the underguarded black K-side. Thus a later game Furman-Panno, Madrid 1 97 3, went 1 4. Be3 Bf6 1 5 . Bb 1 Rc8 1 6. Qd3 g6 1 7. Ba2 and White has the advantage because of the chance of breaking through in the centre by d 5 . Black i n t u rn may b e able to improve on this by 1 4 . . . . Rc8 (instead of Bf6) 1 5 . B b 1 Ba6, while from White's side an alterna tive is Bc2 instead of B b 1 with ideas in some l ines of regrouping the bishop at b 3 or a4 . In any event, the play with 1 2 . . . . cxd4 l ooks a more stringent test of the 4. a3 sy stem than the suspect 1 2 . . . . h6. The analysis of 4. a3 is given here in extended form because the play and ideas are easy to understand. An inexperienced player could well consider adopting 4. a3 as one of his openings standbys rather than get involved in the more complex and highly analysed lines which result from 4. g3 or 4. Nc3. 1 3 . B f4 ! .
Not j ust a simple developing move, Kasparov is already planning the further advance of his d pawn which the bishop will aid by tactical means. 13. . . . cxd4 Nc6 1 4 . cxd4 Virtually forcing d5 which White plans anyway. Black could restrain this advance by Nd7 or even by Bd6 to entice 1 5 . e5 Be7 when White's pawns are more static . Na5 1 5 . d5 ! Not exd5. 1 6 . exd5 Na5 (Qxd 5 ? ? 1 7 . Bh7 + wins the . queen) 1 7 . d6 ! with the point that Bxd6 ? fails to Bxd6 and Bh 7 + . fxe6 1 6 . dxe6 ReS 17. Bg3 Hoping to play Nc4 and force ex changes . 1 8 . Ne5 1 Black has paid an expensive price for his weakening 1 2 . . . . h6. The light squares around his king are now natural targets for the white pieces. 18. . . . Bf6 Gary Kasparov with one of his coaches, Sakharov. He was also taught by ex-world champion Botvinnik who said 'the fu ture of chess is in the hands of this boy ' .
1 9 . Qg4 I n c r ea s i n g his ad v a nta ge w i th the t a c t i ca l p o i nt 1 9 . B x e5 20. B x e 5 Q x d 3 1 1 2 1 . Q xg7 m a te, or i f 20 . . . . Qe7 2 1 f4 i n t e n d i n g f S . 19. . . . Qe8
Black prepares a cumbersome plan to Or Kc7 3 2 . e 6 + Bd6 3 3. Bxd6 + . drive off the annoying horse, but mean 3 2 . RxdS + BxdS Rc l + 33. Qd3 w hile Kasparov has time to build up a 34. K f2 Resigns king's side attack. 1 5 . Nxc6 ? or 1 5 . Nxe6 ? would be basic For after 34 . . . . Bc5 + 3 5 . Ke2 Black's strategical mistakes. White is ahead on queen's bishop is pinned and he cannot space because of the c4 and e4 pawns play B c 4 . which control the centre and the general The a bove game shows t h e strength of rule is to aim for exchanges when you are Kasparov 's style and how similar it is to cramped but avoid them if the opponent that of h is teacher Botvinnik. For Bot lacks room. Of course Black could have vinnik also used to maintain strategic himself exchanged pieces by 1 3 . . . . N xd4 control of his games and to use sufficient on the previous move but that would tactics to keep on top at the decisive incur another drawback. The black moments, as happens in the Kasparov squared bishops would almost certai nly game at moves 1 3, 1 8 and 2 3 . be exchanged after 1 4. Bxd4 Bxd4 1 5 . Another Kasparov game at Banja Luka Qxd4 and then White has good attacking showed this same theme of mature chances based on N d S and f4-5-6, aiming strategy backed by the ability to sense eventually to create mating threats with the moment for a tactical decision. the queen against g7. White : G . Kasparov. Black : M. Re8 15. . . . V u k ic 1 6 . Qc1 Opening : King's.: �lfttl�an Defence Threatening to weaken the d pawn (Banja Luka 1 979) . further by 1 7 . cS, and so forcing the The opening moves were 1 . c4 N f6 black queen to move away. Note that 2 . N cJ g6 3 . d4 Bg7 4 . e4 d6 5. N f3 0-0 controlling a file with your rook opposite 6. Be2 Bg4 7. Be3 N fd7. the enemy queen is generally a good The opening is t he Simagin variation, technique even if several other men are named after a late Russian grandmaster, between the rook and queen. which plans to attack the dark squares in 16. the centre by BxD and c5 or Nc6. Qb8 8. Ng1 1 7 . Bh6 Bh8 N b4 Crossing Black's idea. The knight move 18. Nd5 19. a3 Na6 is not new, but indicates Kasparov's preference for imposing h is own strategy At last Black is ready to kick away the on the game rather than simply neutraliz a nnoy i ng knight by c6, but h is queen, QR and a6 knight are far from the king's ing his opponent's manoeuvres. side battlefield while Kasparov, with his 8. . . . Bxe2 superior space control, can easily switch 9. N gxe2 eS his pieces between flanks. So White now This does not turn out well, and 9 . . . aims to break through on the f l in e, which c 5 looks a better way of attacking the · is the most p romising to open up because centre. his rook occupies it and his bishop 1 0. 0-0 aS controls f8 . N c6 1 1 . Qd2 20 . f4 ! c6 1 2 . f3 exd4 1 3 . N xd4 N c S 1 4 . Rad 1 Ne6 ·
'
fi g . 1 5 6
20 . N g 6
I n t rod u c i ng t a c t i ca l c om p l i c a t ions i n v\' h i ch K a s p a rov sees fu rther than h i s ,
oppo n e n t . S i m ply moving t h e rook o n a 1 may be b e t t e r, eg. 20. R a d l w i th the idea of B b l -a2 a nd R d 7 , al though Black can t h en ga i n some s p a ce by 20. . h5. 20 . . . . Bxa1 B b2 ? 2 1 . N x f8 B l a c k does n ot h a ve t i me to c h a se the a p a w n , as becomes clear on move 2 3 . Better is Be 3 so that the w h i te queen cann ot retreat w i th gain of ti me, or Kxf8 w h en B l a c k s posi tion is inferior because of W h i te ' s strong bishops, but at least he i '> not a pa wn down. hS 22. Nxe6 2 3 . Qe2 ! K a s pa rov a v oids the trap 2 3 . Qf5 ? g6 ! 2 4 . Q h 3 R c 3 threatening both Bc8 a n d B a 6 , a nd h i mself sets a d ou ble tra p. If now 2 1 . . . . B xa 3 ? 2 4 . Q a 2 ! B e 7 2 5 . Ng5 + a nd B l a c k l oses after both Kf8 ? 2 6 . Nh7 m a te or K h 8 2 6 . N f7 + K h 7 2 7 . e 5 + g6 Q x e6 2 4 . Q x b2 2 R Q e 6 . A nd i f 2 3 . H :--.: c4 , 25 R e i w i n s . 23. B f6 24 . Nc7 Q f7 25 . e 5 ! Qxc7 '
·
,
,
.
Or 25. Rxc7 2 6 . e6 Qe7 27. Qh5 2 R . B x c 7 wins.
Q :--.: e6
2 6 . Qxh S !
M u ch better t han simply 2 6 . exf6 . 26. . . . Qc6 In a l o st posi tion, i t makes sense to p l ay f'or traps. Admi ttedly there is not m u ch c h a n ce of the worl d 's best young p l a yer overlook i ng mate in one, but in a ny c a se B l a c k h a d noth i n g else - W h i te t h rea t e n s Q h 7 + fol l owed by exf6 . Be7 2 7 . f3
Bh7 + 29 . QfS + � 0 . Bg6 + � 1 . Rd l +
28.
Kh
K f8 K e8 Kd8 QdS
fig. 1 5 7
1 5 . NdbS ! A manoeuvre to note in similar positions the knight outpost is strong because Black cannot easily dislodge it without losi ng h is d pawn. In the next few moves
2 1 . f5 ! So that if NecS 22. fxg6 hxg6 2 3 . Qf4 with a winning attack, or if Nd8 22. fxg6 hxg6 2 3 . N f6 + Bxf6 24. Rxf6 cxbS 2 5 . Qc3. cxdS 21. Rxe6 22. fxe6 Re7 2 3 . exd5
Nigel Short
24.
B f4 !
Now Wh i t e ' s ad van tage becomes dec i s i ve,
for if
BxeS d xeS 26. d6 or here R x e S 26. Rf6 . 24. . . . Rd7 25. Nxd6 ! W i nn i n g a key p a w n , for i f Rxd6 2 6 .
25.
cS
BeS 2 5 .
wins.
25. 26. 27 . 28
.
29 .
30 .
31. 32 .
Nb5 Qe3 b4 a xb 4 Bg5 d6 Be7
Q d8 N c5 b6 a x b4 Na6 Q b8 N x b4 Q b7
fi g . 1 60
The d6 pawn cuts the black defenders in two. Now comes the final attack. 3 3 . Rxf7 ! 34 . Rfl +
Kxf7 Bf6 If 34 . . . Kg7 3 5 . Qe5 + forces mate. 3 5 . B x f6 Resigns If 3 5 . . . Kg8 36 . Qe6 + Rf7 37. Be7 Raf8 38. Rxf7 R x f7 39. d7 wins. Going into the 1 980s, Kasparov already looks on his way to the world title. International ch ess j ournal ists voted him into fifth place for the 1 979 Chess Oscar, ahead of many lead ing grandmasters : and at the 1 980 European team finals he made the best score of St out of 6, then went on to win first pri ze a t Ba k u . .
1 965-
In his middle teens, Nigel Short is already talked about as a young chessplayer with a real chance of stopping the Russian master plan of the 1 980s and the domination of world chess by Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov. His achieve ments at the age of 14 are ahead of Kasparov's and comparable ·only with Fischer and Mecking, who were both na tional champions and qualifiers for the world title interzonal at that age. N igel Short tied for the British men's champion ship at 1 4, though beaten on tie-break, and he obtained his first international master resul t a few months younger than d id his great rivals. One aspect of N i gel Short's chess wh i ch most surprises non-players is that he is a normal, friendly outgoing young ster w i th none of the temperamental qui rks which, due mainly to Fischer, people ascribe to all chess prodigies. Another surprise is that he is British prodigies in music as well as chess tend to be Slavs, Jews or Latins. N igel has an instinctive natural grasp of chess principles which w ould have ensured his rapid development under any circumstances, but he was also lucky to be born into a family which did its utmost to help him in such vital practical matters as regular transport to matches and tournaments, and fortunate also to emerge coincidentally with a successful English programme to spot young talent. At the age of nine, he was recommended for a place in a national junior squad coaching tournament, and as a result was able to play in a whole succession of events against older boys. Before the talent-spotting programme began, it was rare for British nine-year-olds to p lay outside their own age group, but now we emphasize the value of hard competition against older j uniors as well as adults. By spring 1 965, less than a year after joining the national squad, he competed success fully in the annual Jersey Open. One of N igel' s early characteristics which set him apart from other talented juniors was his belief in his own ideas. At Jersey he lost a narrow rook ending and the referee, Peter Clarke, a master player, suggested a different line. N igel did not take this advice as gospel and demonstrated his own analysis. This would be a normal reaction from an adult expert but showed unusual self-confi dence from a ten-year-old. Then for quite a long time he countered the Sicilian Defence by the gambit l . e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c 3 . Theory says this is harmless but N igel used it successfully, analyzed it in detail, and even p layed it against Karpov in the L loyds Bank match where the world champion met juniors. He was
also an avaricious reader of chess l itera ture : for his tenth birthday he got a copy of David Hooper's book The Unknown Capablanca which told how the young Cuban took E uropean chess masters by storm. Within a week, Nigel had played through Capa's entire European tour games. When N igel was nine, partly as a joke, I sent him a copy of a 'progress report' which showed how earlier prodigies had become strong players or masters by eleven or twelve. By the time he was eleven, he had equalled or surpassed most of the other prodigies by qualifying for the British men's championship final, the youngest to perform such a feat. In the final he went further, and defeated Dr Jonathan Penrose who had won the title a record ten times. It is typical of chess prodigies that they concentrate on the strategical aspect of chess, can do the simple things well, and are strong in the endgame. How success fully N igel mastered this approach is shown by the game which ensured his British Championship place. When Lud gate, the 1 976 Irish champion, adopts a cramped formation, Nigel counters by the classical recipe of softening up the black defences by probing attacks (see the advance of White's KRP on moves 8 - 1 2) before going for a decisive break in the centre to open up the black king. White : N igel Short . Black : A . T .
Ludgate Opening : Modern Defe nce (British championship semi-finals, North- West England zone 1 977) l . e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6
Black hopes to switch to a Caro-Kann Defence (normally starting l . e4 c6) if White now plays 4. Nf3, but Nigel likes to play positions with a space advantage and now plays to control the centre. 4 . Bc4
d6
More active is bS followed by b4. 5. Qf3 !
Played by many 1 1-year-olds, this move would simply denote a wish to give Scholar's Mate by Qxf7 ; but here it is part of White's plan to keep the black game under restraint. 5. . . . 6 . N ge2
e6 Ne7
Black is still playing passively; better dS. 7 . Bg5 !
To force weaknesses in the black pawn front. 0-0 7. . . . 8. h4 !
Aiming at restraint rather than mate. Quieter and more routine play would enable Black to counter by Kh8 followed by f5 . 8. f6 d5 9 . Be3 87
N d7 1 0 . Bb3 1 1 . h5 g5 1 2 . h6 Bh8 1 3 . Qg3 N igel S h ort ' s only i m p rec ision in th is game. B lack's knight now reaches f5 with ga in of t i me so more accurate is 1 3. 0-0-0 a t once . l 3. Nb6 dxe4 1 4 . 0-0-0 Nf5 1 5 . Nxe4 Nxe3 1 6 . QO Nd5 ? 1 7 . fxe 3
fi g . 1 6 1
Here f5 1 8. Nc5 Qe7 intending . . . g4 gi ves B lack some play and could cause Wh ite to regret his 1 3th . 18. Rh5 ! This unu sual move puts everything back in order for White. Black's counterplay i s stopped, and Wh ite prepares to d i s lodge the d5 knight. 18. Bd7 19. Nc5 b6 20. Nxd7 Q x d 7 2 1 . e4 N c7 22. d 5 ! cxd 5 Rad8 23. exd5 If 23 . . . . exd 5 24. Rxd5 ! 24. N c 3 Qe7 2 5 . dxe6 Rx d 1 + 2 6 . Qxd l ReS 27. Nd5 Nxd5 28 . Qxd5 Kf8
2 9 . Rh 1 ! In conjunction with the previous dia gram, this move reveals a refreshing freedom from dogma. Now it is right to bring back the rook and regroup for the fi nal attack. Rd8 29 . 30. Qc4 f5 f4 3 1 . Rfl Bd4 32. g3 33. gxf4 Be3 + 34. K b 1 Bxf4 Kg8 3 5 . Qc3 36. Qg7 + ! Qxg7 3 7 . e7 + Resigns A poor game by Black, but Nigel's direct logical play is reminiscent of the young Capablanca whose games influ enced his style. Since his promising debut in the British Cham pionship, Nigel Short's progress has continued with few breaks. At the age of 1 2, in his first international event, the 1 978 Aaronson Masters, he totalled S-! out of lO and only the top players could beat him. On his second appearance in the British Championship he finished in the top half and then he won in successive years the bronze and silver medals at the world under- 1 7 championship where he was one of the youngest competitors. True he didn't win the gold medal, but neither did Kasparov . For a while in late 1 978 and early 1 979 Nigel's progress slowed ; then he suddenly progressed within a few months from national expert to international master strength. The organisers of the Geneva open invited him to Switzerland for the publicity. When, on his fourteenth birth day, he lost to grandmaster Nunn, few could have guessed what would follow, for he beat his next five Swiss opponents, and in the final round defeated France's No. 1 in the 1 976 world team champion ship. Victory brought him a share of the first prize of 3, 500 Swiss francs (about £ 1 ,000) with Nunn, and the decisive game once more had the hallmarks of the style of early Capa blanca - clarity, rapid development, and a small combination to clinch the strategic advantage. White : N igel Short. Black : E.
Preissmann Opening : Ruy Lopez (Geneva 1 979) l . e4 eS 2. NO Nc6 3. BbS f5 4. d3 fxe4 5 . dxe4 N f6 6. Qe2 1
Black has chosen an unusual defence to Nigel's favourite Ruy Lopez (3. BbS f5 where 3 . . . . a6 is normal) in the hope of catching him by surprise. Instead, he is himself surprised - the usual sixth move is Nc3 when Black has good play by Bb4. After the text Black has no good waiting move and has to lock in his f8 b ishop. 6. . . . 7. Nc3
fig . 1 62
88
d6
Bg4 Trying to make White lose time by capturing on D with the queen which has already moved, but the weakening of the
light squares is serious. Better is Be6. 8 . h3 Bx£1 Be7 9. Qx£1 a6 1 0 . Qe 2 If 1 0. . . . 0-0 1 1 . Bxc6 and 1 2. Qc4 + wins a pawn, while if 10 . . . . Qd7 1 1 . Nd5 is unpleasant to meet. 1 1 . Bxc6 + bxc6 12. 0 0 c5 1 3 f4 ! -
.
This forcing move puts Black in a dilemma. 1 3 . . . . exf4 14. Bxf4 0-0 1 5 . e5 is good for White, but in trying to keep his pawn front intact Black risks rapid defeat. 13. 1 4 . QhS + 1 5 . Qg4 1 6 . Bxf4
Nd7 ? g6 exf4 0-0
1 7 . Qe6 + 7 1 7 . Bh6 ! wins quickly, for if Rxfl + 1 8 . Rxfl White either invades by Qe6 + and Rf7, or if 1 8 . . . . Nf8 1 9 . Nd5 and Black is move bound. Kg7 17. Bh4 18. Nd5
1 9 . Nxc7 !
Nigel demonstrates that White is still winning despite his slip a few moves earlier. This 'small combination' in Capa blanca style leads to a forced sequence and to a decisive advantage for White. 19. Qxc7 20 . 21 . 22 . 23. 24 .
Bxd6 Bxf8 + Q£7 + Rad 1 QdS
Qd8 Nxf8 Kh8
Qe7
Ra7
Nigel Short became the world's youngest international master at 1 4, Hastings 1 980. He beat Viktor Korchnoi in a Slater Foundation simul at 10 years old. Short has been bracketed with Capablanca and Fischer as one of the great chess prodigies - can he and Tony Miles take Britain to the world title in the 1 980s ?
f'i g 1 64
!::Sl ack is j ust hol d i ng h is but . 2 5 . Qd8 !
A p p a re n t l y ga me toget h e r,
D c ( i s i \ 'l' , for i f R x fR -t- a nd 2 8 .
Qxd8 2 6 . R x d 8 B x d8 2 7 . Rxd8.
25. Kg7 Q x e4 2 6 . R x f8 Or Q x f8 2 7 . Q x h4 vv i n s .
27. RgB + Kh6 2 8 . Q fB + Resigns A fter Kh 5 comes 29. g 4 + fol lowed by Q x c 5 + a nd Qxa7 . In the 1 979 Briti sh Cha mpionsh i p, N igel made an other big advance : he defeated Mi les, the national No. l , and S peel man, the defending champion, and sha red first prize though missing the title on t i e-break rules. His result qual i fied as one of the two or three norms needed to become an i nternational master, a nd a few weeks la ter he only narrowly missed a n other norm at the Bened ictine Inter nati onal i n Manchester. W i th i ts emphasis on space control and classical strategic play, N igel's chess is i n t h e trad ition o f Morph y, Capa blanca, F i sc h e r a nd Karpov ra ther than the more t a c t i c a L complex, psy chologically-orien ta ted and counterpunc h i ng style charac t e r i s t i c of Lasker, Tal and Korchnoi. L i ke m o st of t he other class i c i sts he favours 1 . e4 a nd the Ruy Lopez as his stand by ope n i ng with White, although when play i ng Black his speciality is the French Defence 1 . e4 e6 which n ever found much fa vour with the other classicists. Capa blanca and Karpov were sometimes rather negative w i th the black pieces, content to d raw and reserve their major efforts for the games with White, w hile Short fol lows Korchnoi in using the Wina wer variation of the French ( l. e4 e6 2. d4 dS 3. Nc3 B b4) as a counter-attack weapon. As another example of his flair with the Ruy Lopez, here is one of the games wh ich won the world under- 1 7 championship silver medal . W h i te : N ig e l S h o rt . B l a ck : T. Utasi ( H u n g a ry) O p e n i n g : Ruy L o pez ( B e l fo rt 1 979) The o pe n i ng moves w e re 1 . e4 e5 2 . NO 90
N c6 3 . B b 5 a 6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6 + bxc6 6. d4 f6 7. Nc3 N e 7 . Short came unstuck against 7 . . . . g6 i n h i s game w i th the Finnish grandmaster Westerinen at the 1 978 Lloyds Bank Masters, and if B lack knew of that game he was proba bly right to presume that N i gel would be able to improve on h i s ea r l i er play. 8 . Be 3 Ng6 fxe S 9 . dxe5 9 . . . . dxe5 1 0. QxdB + fol lowed soon by N a4 and Bc5 l eaves B lack with weak Q-side for the endgame. 10. Qd3 The best square for the queen, threat en i ng in some lines to go to c4. 10. . . . aS To d rive away the queen b y . . . Ba6, but experience shows that this b i shop is better developed by Bd7 or Be6 . hS 1 1 . h4 Be7 12. NgS Ba6 1 3 . g3 BxgS 14. Q d 2 1 5 . hxgS Qb8 1 6 . f4 !
Gai ning ground on the king's side w ithout delay. The b pawn is immune because of Q x b2 1 7 . R b 1 Qa3 1 8. R b 3 trapping the queen. 16. Q b4 Nf8 1 7 . fS 1 8 . Rh4 ! An echo of the Ludgate game quoted earlier : 1 8 . g4 would be met by 18 . . . . h4, b ut now White threatens g6 followed by g4 winning a pawn and collapsing Black's K-side. Black manages to stop the threat, but at the cost of a fresh weakness. 18. . . . g6 19. b3 The b pawn i s still safe, b u t Nigel wants to castle long without allowing Black the counter-chance of . . . a4-a 3 . Rg 8 19. 20. a 3 Qb7 2 1 . 0-0-0 a4 B lack still hopes to create counterplay against the white king, and indeed he has no other constructive plan available. BbS 2 2 . N xa4 2 3 . Q b4 1 cS
24. BxcS ! Judging the right moment to switch from strategy to tactics. With Black's king opened up in the centre and the black pieces scattered and passive, the sacrifi ce - and it is scarcely that when White gets three pawns for the piece - must be promising. 24. bxcS Qc6 25. NxcS K£7 26. RdS Hoping to get some play by 27. Rxe5 Qd6, but White has better in mind . Nxe6 2 7 . Ne6 ! Black returns the sacrificed piece in desperation. If 27 . . . . Ba6 both 28. ReS and 28. N dB + are strong. 28 . fxe6 + Kxe6 Ra7 29. Rxb S 30. a4 Rd8 3 1 . RxeS + ! A final elegant touch. 31. Kxe S 3 2 . Qe7 + Qe6 3 3 . QcS + Resigns
fig. 1 66
For if 3 3 . . . . RdS 34. exdS and Black's position falls apart. At the ICL Hastings international of 1 979 - 80, Nigel made a decisive break through to prove his remarkable talent. He defeated four grandmasters including the tournament eo-winner Andersson of Sweden and fin ished a prize-w inner with
8 o u t of 1 5 . It was not only h i s result, but t h e style of h i s wins which impressed all the ex perts. Here is his vi ctory over a lead i ng A m e r i c a n G M .
Wh ite : N i ge l S h o rt . B l a c k : P . Biyiasas ( US ) O pe n i n g : R uy L o p e z ( I CL Hasti ngs, 1 979 - 80) T h e o p e n i ng m o v e s were 1 . e4 e 5 2 . N O N c6 3 . BbS a 6 4 . Ba4 d 6 5 . d4 b S 6 . B b 3 N x d4 7 . N xd4 e x d4 8 . c 3 .
16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Bc2 dS Qg3 a3 f4
Nd7 g6 Qc7 B g7 N c5
·
T h i s p ro m i si ng g a m b i t i n c i d e n t a l l y a v o ids a t r i ck worth k n o w i n g in cl u b c h e s s a nd so a n c i e n t a s t u he n a m ed t h e ' N oa h ' s A rk T ra p ' . I f 8 . Q x d 4 � c S 9. Qd S Be6 1 0 . Qc6 + B d 7 1 1 . Qd S c4 t r a ps t h e b i shop a nd w i n s . 8. . . . Bb7
9.
9. cxd4
N f6
B xe4 ? 1 0 . 0-0 fo l l o w ed by R e 1 puts the bi shop in a near-fa tal pin.
1 0.
f3
Be7
1 1. 12. 1 3. 14.
0-0 Bc3 N c3 Qel
0-0 cS Re8
An i m m ed i a te 10 . . c S stops W h i te conso l i d a t i ng h i s c e n t r e .
S h o r t ' s p a w n c e n tre sh i e l d s h is a t ta c k ing p i e c e h u i l d - u p a ga i n st t h e king.
14.
1 5 . Rd 1
Bf8 c4
undermine the centre and win the d pawn. He succeeds, but White's attack is too fast. Bc8 bringing an extra piece to defence is a better chance. Rd6 27. h 5 28. fxg6 fxg6 29 . h6 Bf6 Bxg5 30. BgS 3 1 . Qxg5 W hite i s angling for one of two basic mates : back row (page 34) or pawn on h6 with queen on g7, a variant of the f6 pawn attack on page 3 1 . b4 31 . Rxd 5 32 . Nd 1 3 3 . Ne3 QcS 34 . Rdf2 W i th terrible threats : Rf7, Qf6, Ng4f6 + and NxdS are all in the air. R5d8 34. 3 5 . N g4 Rf8 36. N f6 + Kh8 Qd4 37 . Ne4 38 . Qxe5 + ! Resigns. The back row theme triumphs ; logical finishes in c hess always please. How near will Nigel Short approach to the world champions h i p ? To be recognized, at 1 4, as t he most promising young talent other than Kasparov carries both advantages and drawbacks. Advan tages, in that he already has enough reputation to be i ncluded in very strong tournaments and thus an opportunity to h one h is game at an early age as did the last maj or Western contender, Bobby Fischer. Drawbacks, in that he will already be recognized as a danger man by established masters. At the Philli ps and Drew Kings in London, spring 1 980, Tony Miles tied for first in an elite field but N igel S hort was in last place . For decades, however. Britain has been considered a second or third rank power in world chess, and the non-chessplaying public here has not regarded chessplayers h ighly. When Capablanca became Cuba's first world champion, Euwe won the title for Holland and Bobby Fischer defeated Spassky, the entire status of the game in their countries was raised. And in terms of world public interest a Western c hallenger means far more than an all Soviet match between the similarly named Karpov and Kasparov. It is likely that if you are a Brit i sh reader buying this book in the m iddle or late 1 980s, it will be partly because your i nterest has been aroused by Britain's world title conten ders - Tony Miles and Nigel Short.
fig . 1 67
2 1 . e5 ! Strategically dec i sive. If 2 1 . . . . dxeS 22. fS ! opens up the black king's defences. So the grandmaster tries to b lunt the attack by exchanging one of the dangerous b ishops. Nd3 21. cxd3 22 . Bxd3 dxe5 2 3 . Rxd3 24 . f5 ! Qc4 25 . Rd2 Rad8 26. h4 aS Not 26 . . . . Bxd S ? 27. Rfd l w ins the bi shop. W i th the tex t, Black hopes to
91
There is much to be said in fa vour of a novice chessplayer keeping to a narrow repertoi re of sol id openi ngs to red uce the risk of quick d i sasters and ena ble him to build L ' ? his ex perience of m i d d le ga mes and endgames. But for the a m b i ti ous player who wants to win money pri zes in congresses, and who a i ms to get i n to h i s club and county team and eventua l ly to make his mark at national leveL it i s desirable to b u i l d up k no w l edge o f a range of aggress i ve and c u rrently popu lar fo r m a t i o n s . These can g i ve a sub-
stantial a d v antage against a less w e l l primed opponent even if he is a stronger p layer. It is particularly necessary in tou rna ments, where winning a prize re quires a high percentage, to a im to do very well with the w hite pieces . It is important, too, to be realistic a bout the open ings in your repe rtoire. Check as far as possi b le in the literature (games collections, tournament bulletins, and your own observations from the score sheets at congresses) whet her the opening has a good practical record . By this I mean it should score 6 5-70 per cent or m ore in a variety of over-the boa rd play, regar d less of whether the system is assessed as strong and theoreti cal ly watertight by books and articles. You should be interested in winning, not just theoretical advantage. If you a dopt a sl ightly unusual l i ne regul a rl y, you w i l l not al ways have t h e supposedly best reply played against you. Opponents will ei ther not know it a nd fear being 'out booked ', or be so impressed by your
��· · f:�
�·
The Tarrasch Gambit (page 101 ) . Black offers
h is d5 isola ted pawn, a n d hopes to develop fast a t t acking play by forcing the exposed wh i t e q ueen to ret reat wi t h loss of t i m e .
knowledge that they will duck into a less critical side-variant. You should be prepared to p lay a chosen opening fairly regularly for at least one chess season. It takes time to get the feel of a new l i ne of play and to be a ble to deal successfully using general principles with d ivergences from the analysis prepared at home. Recommended techn ique i s that after each game with your repertoi re opening you refresh your memory with the book references and try to find out where you and/or your opponent went wrong. Another valuable form of pra ctice is to find a friend of similar chess strength and to p lay a succession of quick games on the clock ( 5- 1 0 minutes per p layer per game) a imed principally at deepening your knowledge of your opening system . Because W hite always starts the game, it is easier for him to prepare attacking, theoretical openings than for Black. Un less you a re a l ready a strong and ex perienced player, it is sensi b le to limit your Black repertoire, a iming to reach a solid a nd comfortable middle game. The strong p layer who knows a variety of openi ngs can a dopt a bolder, more varied approach. He can take on some of the sharp theoretical l i nes (for example the currently fashiona b le l . e4 c 5 2 . Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 N f6 5 . Nc3 e6 6. N d b5 d6 7. Bf4 e5 8. Bg5 a6 on which there are a lready many articles and at least one book) knowing a lot of the theory and a l so being well prepared for
white a l ternatives between move 2 and move 6. The inexperienced player, how ever, should know at least a couple of b lack openings where the worst that can happen is a somewhat passive position . Which of the openings do you choose ? Paradoxically, it would be a disservice to readers of this book to recommend one in parti cular. Several books have gone into detail on one or two l ines of play for Bla c k, but their drawback is that White can also consult such literature and take appropriate counter-measures. Thus in d iscussing a black repertoire I shall in most cases not analyse the openings in great deta i l . But it is possible to describe the type of p l ay that results, and this may help readers d ecide on particular defences for their own reper toi res . 93
T h e French D e fe n c e
T h e French Defence 1 . e 4 e6 has kept its reputation as a sound if slightly passive opening for a full centu ry . In p lay i ng it, the best method is to avoid the main lines such as the Wi nawer 2. d4 dS 3. Nc3 B b4 and to prefer an active plan which is less heavily analyzed . I recommend two ideas. The first is 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 cS - a slightly inferior but still playa ble move. It has the advantage that it can lead to simi lar formations to the defence 1 . d4 cS which can also be adopted by those requ iring a reasona ble defence with a mini mum of book. After 3. d5 (if 3. Nf3 then cxd4 is objecti vely best, transposi ng into one of the main l ines of the Sicil ian Defence l . e4 c5, but in games between inexperienced players I recommend Black to continue 3 . . . . d 5 accepti ng a weak i solated queen 's pawn by 4 . exdS exd5 5 . Nc3 fol lowed soon by d xcS but gai ni ng in return acti ve piece p lay) exd5 4. exd5 d6 5. Nc3 Nf6. 6. N f3 Be7 7 . Be2 0-0 8. 0-0 Na6, Black can fol low up with the plan Nc7, Rb8, a6 and b5 to gain space on the queen's side. The second, more conventional ap proach is 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 dS and now there are a num ber of possi bil ities which at any level B lack has to know in some depth. Before looking at these, it is worth noti ng the system l . e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3 . N c 3 (delaying d4), which has become popular in tournaments in recent years . Black's best answer is to open up the centre quickly by 3 . . . . Nf6 4. eS Nfd7 5 . d 4 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Bf4 B x c 5 8. Bd3 f6 ! not 0-0 ? 9. Bxh 7 + ! with a winning attack) 9. exf6 Nxf6 1 0. 0-0 0-0 e.g. 1 1 . Ne5 Bd7 1 2 . Nxc6 Bxc6 1 3. Qe2 Ne4 ! 1 4. g3 ( better Bxe4) Nxf2 ! 1 5 . Rx£2 Bxf2 + 1 6 . Kxf2 ( 1 6 . Qxf2 e5) Q b6 + 1 7 . Kg2 e5 1 8 . Qh5 h6 1 9. Bxe5 Qe 3 ! 20. Qg6 Rf2 + and W h i te resigns (V ogt-Fa rago, Kecs kemet 1 97 9 ) .
modem attempts to infuse some life into the system. However Black can avoid symmetry by castling on the opposite side to White and then has good chances of achieving a lively game. Examples are : (a) 4. Bd3 N c6 5. NO Bg4 followed by Qd7 and 0-0-0. ' b) 4. B d3 N c6 5. N e2 Bd6 6. N bc3 (6. c3 Qh4 ! with initiative) N b4 7 . BbS + c6 8. Ba4 Bg4 (prevents 9. Bf4 exchanging White's inferior bishop) followed soon by 0-0-0. (c) 4. N c3 B b4 5. QO Qe7 + ! 6. Ne2 Nc6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. h3 Bxc 3 + ! 9. bxc3 Ne4 and White's queen's side is weak. (d) 4. N c3 Bb4 5. B d3 Nc6 6. a3 Bxc3 + 7 . bxc3 Nf6 8. BgS Qe7 + 9 . N e2 Bd7 10. 0-0 h6 1 1 . Bf4 0-0-0 1 2. c4 Be6 1 3 . cS g5 ! and Black's attack proved stronger in Miles-Short, British Championship 1 97 9 . Another maj or plan i s 3 . N d 2 . I f then 3 . . . . c5 4. exd S Black is soon faced with an isolated queen's pawn which Korchnoi had difficulty in defending during his 1 974 match with Karpov. This system is recommended for White and is analyzed later in the chapter. From the Black side I recommend two counters to 3. Nd2, one hardly analyzed at all and the other aiming to restrict White to a marginal plus. The hardly-analyzed plan is 3. N d2 N e 7 4. NgO Ng6 (provoking White's repl y : also possible is Nd7 fol lowed by cS) 5. h4 c5 6. hS Ne7 7. c3 cxd4 8. cxd4 N bc6 9. BbS h6 10. 0-0 Bd7 1 1 . Re 1 Qb6 and, though cramped on the K-side, Black has counterplay in the centre and later castled queen's side (Plaskett-Taul but, Lloyds Bank Masters 1 979). Of course White has alternative plans to 5. h4 in straightforward development ; but if the knight is not chased away Black can strike at the centre by f6. A more conventional reply to 3. N d2 is 3 . . . . Nf6.
fig. 1 69 fi g . 1 68
3. Nc3 The Exchange va riati on 3 . e x d 5 exd5 normally i n d icates that White i s playing for a draw, though there have been some 94
4. e 5 I f 4 . Bd3 c S 5 . exdS NxdS gives Black few problems. N fd7 4. . . . 5. Bd3 5. f4 is a modem plan designed to build
a firm pawn base in the centre before a later advance on the K-side. One reason able counter is c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ndf3 Qa 5 8. Ne2 bS 9. Bd2 or 9. Be3 b4 opening lines for Black's pieces : if cxb4 Black retakes with the knight. Also playable is the Korchnoi Gambit 5. NgO c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Qb6 8. 0-0 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 1 1 . Nf3 Qb6 1 2. Qc2 (or 1 2. Qa4 Qb4 1 3. Qc2 Nc5) NcS 1 3. Be3 Bd7 1 4. Bxh7 Rc8 (Soltis-Root, Lone Pine 1 979) when White has pressure but Black can hold the game with careful defence. For another example of the Korchnoi Gambit, see page 7 1 . 5. c5 N c6 6 . c3 cxd4 7 . Ne2 f6 8. cxd4 The other main alternative is 8 . . . Qb6 9. NO f6 1 0. exf6 Nxf6 1 1 . 0-0 Bd6 1 2. Bf4 Bxf4 1 3. N xf4 Qxb2 1 4. Re 1 0-0 1 5 . Nxe6 with a slight edge for White . 9. exf6 Qxf6 Better than 9 . . . Nxf6 10. NO Bd6 1 1 . Bf4 when the exchange of bishops leaves Black with the inferior bishop and weak dark squares in the centre . 1 0 . NO An alternative is 10. 0-0 when accept ing the pawn by Nxd4 1 1 . Nxd4 Qxd4 1 2 . NO Qf6 1 3. BgS allows White's pieces too much activity, but Black can decline the gam bit safely by 10 . . . . Bd6. 10. . . . Bb4 + Black exchanges off his 'good' bishop, the one not restricted by his pawn front, with a view to gaining time for his later . . . eS which will give scope for the other bishop. 1 1 . Bd2 Bxd2 + 1 2 . Qxd2 0-0 1 3 . 0-0 e5 N dxe5 14. dxe5 1 5 . Nxe5 Qxe 5 White has a marginal advantage be cause of the isolated central pawn, but Black has free play for his pieces and in practice usually holds on comfortably. The third important alternative to 3. Nc3 which Black needs to know is the direct advance 3 . e 5 setting up a pawn centre which Black must try to undermine or eliminate. Play generally continues : 3. . . . c5 Also reasonable is 3 . . . . N e 7 (compare the similar idea 3. Nd2 Ne7 quoted earlier) 4. NO (more flexible is 4. cJ to keep open the option of developing the knight at h3 or e2. On the other hand 4. BdJ would allow c5 5. c3 Nec6 6. Ne2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nb4 ! eliminating White's active bishop) b6 5. c3 Qd7 6. a4 aS 7. Na3 (more natural is 7. Nd2) Ba6 8. Bxa6 Nxa6 9. 0-0 c6 10. Ne1 NfS and Black soon plays hS and g6 with a solid light-square barricade (Kos ten-Bednarski, Manchester Benedictine 1 979). Nc6 4 . c3 5 . NO .
.
fi g . 1 70
5. . . Bd7 This innovation pioneered by Korchnoi and others is at least as good as the older moves Qb6 and N ge7 and carries less risk to Black of becomi ng embroiled in ta ctical gambits. 6 . Be2 Other poss i b i l ities are (a) 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Rc8 and if 8. 0-0 ? N b4 gains the bi shop pa ir or ( b) 6. dxcS Bxc5 7. Bd3 f6 8. b4 Be7 9. b5 N x e 5 1 0. Nxe5 fxe5 1 1 . Qh 5 + K f8 1 2 . Qxe5 Bf6 1 3. Qd6 + Ne7 (Svesh n i kov-Sa von, Lvov 1 978) when Black has a strong cen tre to com pensa te for mov i ng h i s k i n g . Nge7 6. . . . A more active and dou ble-edged p l a n is 6 . . . . f6 7 . 0-0 fxe 5 8 . dxe5 Qc7 9. Na3 (Hartston recommends 9. R e 1 fol lowed by c4) a6 ( Nxe5 is risky) 1 0. Bf4 Nh6 ! 1 1 . Nc2 N t7 1 2 . c4 d4 1 3. Bd3 Be7 1 4. Qe2 g5 1 5 . Bg3 0-0-0 1 6. b4 h5 w i th a strong attack for Black (Kupreychik Gulko, USSR cham pionship 1 976). 7. Na3 O r 7 . 0-0 Rc8 8 . Re 1 c xd4 9. cxd4 N f5. cxd4 7. NfS 8. cxd4 N b4 9 . N c2 Nxe3 1 0. N e 3 Be7 1 1 . fxe 3 Better might b e 1 1 . . . a S to stop the followi ng advance. Nc6 12. a3 1 3 . b4 W h i te has a sl ight advantage, but Black eventu a l l y won the game (Spassky Korchnoi, match 1 978). The m a in l i ne of the French Defence from which 3. exd5, 3. Nd2 and 3. e5 are variants is ( 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 d S ) : Nf6 3 . Nc3 More fashionable, but too complex and h ighly analyzed from the ordinary play er's viewpoint is 3 . . . . B b4, the Winawer variation. The knight move can also start a pro m i s i ng counter-attack while Black can more easily lead the game into lines he knows well . 4. BgS Steinitz' s old move 4. eS i s sti l l played, and after 4. N fd7 5. f4 cS W h i te has two .
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.
,
moves which require precise defence from Black : (a) 6. dxcS Nc6 7. ND (7. BeJ Ndxe5 ! ) BxcS 8. Bd3 f6 ! (challenging the centre) 9 . exf6 Nxf6 1 0. Qe2 0-0 1 1 . a3 Nd4 1 2. Nxd4 Bxd4 1 3. Bd2 Bd7 followed by b5 (b) 6. NO Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 ! (exchanging pieces and pawns on d4 would help White to control that square firmly and to use it as an outpost for a knight or even, in the endgame, for the king) 8. Na4 Qa5 + 9. c3 cxd4 1 0. b4 (1 0. Nxd4 Nxd4 1 1 . Bxd4 b5) Nxb4 l l . cxb4 Bxb4 + 1 2. Bd2 Bxd 2 + 1 3. Nxd2 b6 1 4. Rb l Ba6 (Bronstein-Portisch, Amsterdam 1 964) when Black's three pawns and active position compensate for White's extra knight. B b4 4. . . .
The McCutcheon variation (invented by a US amateur who played it successfully against Steinitz), launching a queen's side counter-attack with the intention of creating doubled pawns for White. Black has to defend carefully on the K-side, but the onus is on White to prove an advan tage since exchanges usually give Black the better ending. 5. e S I f 5 . exdS Bxc3 + 6 . bxc3 exd5 with simi lar play to line (c) of the Exchan ge variation. If 5 . Bd3 h6 gai ns the pair of bishops . 5. . . . h6 6. Bd2 There are three important alternatives : (a) 6. exf6 hxg5 7 . fxg7 Rg8 8. h4 gxh4 9. Qh5 Qf6 1 0 . Qxh4 Qxg7 and Black has safeguarded his two bishops. (b) 6. B h4 g5 7 . Bg3 Ne4 8 . Ne2 c5 9. a3 Bxc3 + 1 0. Nxc3 Qa5 1 1 . Qd3 Nc6 and Black's Q-side initiative leaves him a comfortable game. (c) 6. Be3 has become popular recently and requires careful defence : 6 . . . . N e4 7. Qg4 Kf8 (moving the king is preferable here to 7. . . . g6) 8 . a3 and now : (c l ) 8 . . . BaS 9. Nge2 c5 10. dxcS Nc6 l l . 0-0-0 or l l . b4 Nxc3 1 2. Nxc3 Nxe5 with unclear complications. (c2) 8 . . . . Bxc 3 + 9. bxc3 Nxc3 1 0. .
Bd3 c5 1 1 . dxc5 N c6 1 2 . ND d4 ! 1 3. Bxd4 Na4 1 4. c3 QaS (analysis by Caff.erty) when Black will soon regain his pawn and complete his development. Bxc3 6. 7 . bxc3 As great a player as Fischer got an inferior position in a few moves as White in this opening : 7. Bxc3 7 N e4 8. Ba5 0-0 9. Bd3 Nc6 1 0. Bc3 Nxc3 1 1 . bxc3 f6 (Fischer-Petrosian, Cura�ao 1 962) when White is handicapped by weak pawns. Ne4 7. . . . g6 8 . Qg4 In contrast to the note after 6. Be3, this now seems better than K£8. Black has to be careful about White's advance h4-h5 and also of a bishop sacrifice at g6, but both can be parried and meanwhile Black can counter against White's Q-side.
9. Bd3 White' s most promising move. If: (a) 9 . Bel Nxc3 1 0. Bd3 c5 1 1 . dxc5 Qa5 1 2. Bd2 Qa4 ! (Black offers the queen exchange to exploit White's weak pawns in the ending) 1 3. h3 (so that if Qxg4 ? 1 4. hxg4 and Black's h pawn is weak) h5 ! 1 4. Qxa4 Nxa4 1 5. BbS + Bd7 1 6. Bxa4 Bxa4 1 7. Rbl Nd7 1 8 . Rx b7 Nxc5 1 9 . Rc7 Na6 followed by 0-0 and Rfc8 and Black has an endgame edge. (b) 9 . h4 c5 1 0. Bd3 Nxd2 1 1 . Kxd2 Nc6 1 2 . Rh3 ( 1 2. Nf3 Qa5 1 3. dxc5 Bd7 and White's tripled c pawns are weak) cxd4 1 3. cxd4 Qb6 1 4. ND (the sacrifice 1 4. Ne2 Qb4 + 1 5. Kd1 Nxe5 1 6. Qj4 Nd7 fol lowed by Ke7 and Qd6 is unsound) Bd7 1 5 . Qf4 0-0-0 ! ( 1 6 . Qxj7 Nxd4) with the initiative for Black . 9. Nxd2 10. Kxd2 cS 1 1 . Rb 1 The best idea - White hopes that Black w ill swap pawns in the centre after which he can continue with the plan Nf3, Rhc l and c4 opening up lines against the black king. If instead : 1 1 . N O Nc6 1 2. Qf4 cxd4 (Black can also play for a blocked, drawish position with 12 . . . . c4 as in the column, but not 1 2 . . . . Qc7 ? 1 3. Qj6 when White's Q invades on the dark squares)
95
1 3 . cxd4 Bd7 Ke2 h6 ) Rc8 1
1 4 . h4 ( 1 4. Rab1 Qa 5 + 1 5 . 5 . Q f6 Q a S + and Black has enough central counterplay to meet W h i te's K-side attack . 11. . . . N c6 1 2 . N f3 c4 Black can al so go for the more active but more risky 12 . . . . cxd4 1 3 . cxd4 Qa S + 1 4. K e2 b6 1 5 . Q f4 Ba6 1 6. Rhc 1 Rc8 1 7 . K fl Qa3 (Ma tulovic-Zwetkoff, Va rna 1 96 5) w h en W h i te can gam bit a pa wn at a2 or d 3 for atta cking chances. 1 3 . Be2 Qe7 b6 1 4 . h4 1 5 . Q f4 Bd7 1 6 . h5 g5 S i m i lar posi tions occu rred i n some of Korch noi's early games. Black ' s game is sol id and he can even castle QR since the open b fi le is not enough on its own for W h i te to mount a successful a ttack . G a m b i t D e fence \N h i le recommending the French Defence as a sol id stand by aga i nst stronger opponents, it is not s u ffi cient on i ts own as an a n swer to l . e4 . Unless your know l edge and feel for this openi ng is very good, playing it every time runs you into too many special coun ters prepared by opponents at home . Aga i nst weaker players it is a l so par t i c ula rly i m portant to have some tactical, gambit counter-atta cks which may be unsound but w h i ch can score quickly agai nst i mperfect defence. Ma ny people rej ect inferior open in gs w ithout even bothering to analyze them, so it is l i kely t hat your opponent will be unfam i l iar w i th the resulting positions and w i l l soon be playing on his own instead of remem bering grandmaster analys i s . T h e sha rp g a m b i t nature o f such c o u n ter-a tta cks means that hesitations or passi ve moves can quickly enable the ' u nsound' system to blossom i nto a \"-' inning assault on the k i ng . There is also the psychologi cal angle to be consi dered : most a mateurs beli eve that atta cking chess w i n s . This may be so beca u se so many publ i shed games a re won by d irect attacks, perhaps because the ave rage amateur is a poor d efender and gets n ustered under pressure. Certa i n l y at the lo wer levels of compe t i ti ve chess a ttack i ng play makes an im pression, and can easi ly ind uce a defeatist atti tude in the opp o nent, thus lowering h i s resi stance and m a k i ng errors more l i kel y . T h e counter-attacks below a re a selec t i on of possi ble ideas w h i ch can d i scon cert a weaker opponent. Even m o re than in the French Defence, deta i l ed knowledge of t h em will pay off and you a re ad vi sed to cons u l t other reference sources for any cou nter-a ttacks you dec ide to take up regu larl y .
96
S i c i l i a n defe nce with 2
N f6 Worth a place in your repertoire because (a) after l . e4 c5 2. NO is normal for White and you are less l ikely than in other counter-attacks to have the frustration of finding the opponent doing something qui te different (b) the defence is reputedly unsound but in practice is difficult to play for White . The main line goes ( l . e 4 c 5 2 . Nf3) Nf6 3 . e 5 N d5 4. Nc3 (from the White side 4 . d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 e6 6 . Bc4 is more promising) e6 . .
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fi g. 1 74
fi g . l 7 3
5 . Nxd5 If 5 . d4 or 5 . Bc4, Black plays 5 . . . . Nxc3 followed by . . . d 5 and develops easily against the weakened Q-side pawns. If 5 . N e4 5 6 . exf6 (the retreat 6 . Nc3 is best, followed by Nc6 7. Nxd5 exd5 8. d4 d6 equalizi ng. In practice a weaker player is unlikely to think of moving his knight to e4 a nd then back again) Nxf6 with an open f file for counterplay, or here 6. Ng3 Nc6 7. b3 Qc7 8 . Bb2 Nf4 and White's e pawn is weak. 5. . . . exd5 Nc6 ! 6 . d4 Gambitting the d pawn for a complex attack. BxcS 7 . dxc5 8 . QxdS d6 ! The older move is 8 . . Q b6 but then W hite has a direct and strong line in 9. Bc4 Bxf2 + 1 0. Ke2 0-0 1 1 . R fl Bc5 1 2 . Ng5 Nd4 + 1 3. Kd 1 Ne6 1 4 . N e4 d6 1 5 . exd6 Rd8 (Bxd6 ? 1 6. Nxd6 Rd8 1 7. Bf4 ! Nxf4 1 8. Qxj7 + Kh8 1 9. �8 + w ith smothered m ate, Unzicker-Sarapu, Siegen 1 970) 1 6. Qh5 Bxd6 1 7. Bd3 5 1 8. Nxd6 ! Qxd6 1 9. Qx5 Qxh2 20. Qf7 + Kh8 2 1 . Bg5 Rg8 2 2 . Be3 with a winning attack (Pritchett-E. Gonzalez, Buenos Aires 1 978). 9 . exd6 Qb6 .
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A prom1smg posltwn to have against a weaker opponent : White is temporarily two pa wns up but likely to get worried by his exposed king and by the lack of a clear line of play . Possibilities now are : (a) 1 0. Qd2 0-0 1 1 . Bd3 Re8 + 1 2. Kfl Bg4 and the lead in development is worth two pawns. (b) 1 0 . Be3 Qxb2 1 1 . Qe4 + Be6 1 2 . d7 + Kxd7 1 3. Rd 1 + Kc8 1 4 . Bxc5 Qc3 + and Qxc 5 . (c) 1 0 . Bd3 Bxf2 + 1 1 . Ke2 Be6. (d) 1 0. Qe4 + Be6 1 1 . d7 + (or 1 1 . Qh4 Bxd6 1 2. c3 Be7 1 3. �3 0-0-0 with attack) Kxd7 1 2. Be3 Bxe3 1 3. Rd 1 + Kc7 1 4. fxe3 Q x b2 with unclear complications. (e) 1 0 . B c4 Bxf2 + l l . Ke2 ( 1 1 . Kf1 0-0 1 2. d 7 ? Bxd7 1 3. Qxd7 Rad8 1 4. �4 Rd1 + ) 0-0 1 2. R d 1 Be6 1 3. Qe4 Rae8 1 4. Kfl Bd7 (Bd4 is also good) 1 5. Qd5 (not 1 5. Qj4 ? Re6 1 6. �5 Rf6 1 7. Qb5 Re8 with a winning attack, Parma-Pri byl 1 974) Be6 1 6. Qe4 with level chances (analysis by Parma). (f) 1 0. Bc4 Bxf2 + 1 1 . Ke2 0-0 1 2. Rd 1 Be6 1 3. Qb5 Nd4 + 1 4 . Nxd4 Bxd4 1 5 . KO Bxc4 1 6. Qxc4 Bg 1 ! 1 7 . Kg3 Rac8 1 8. Qd3 R fd8 (Smith-Regan, USA 1 97 8) with unclear complications - in theory White is holding his own, in practice his i nsecure K is a problem. Even if improvements are found in some of these lines, an inexperienced White player over the board is likely either to hang on to both pawns, allowing Black a winning lead in development, or to have the worrying position of his king stuck in mid-board at e2 or fl . Either way Black w i ll have good practical chances. U ns o u n d ness p a ys
Another good example of a slightly un sound opening ideal for weaker opponents is the so-cal led Bulgarian variation of the Schliemann Defence, reached by 1 . e4 e S 2 . Nf3 N c 6 3 . B b S f5. For practical pur poses I recommend 4. d3 as the best reply to the Schliemann (see the game Nigel Short v . Preissmann p. 88) but most players know the regular book move 4.
Nc3 and prefer it si nce it develops another piece. Then the Bulga r i an variation is introduced by 4 . . . . N f6 .
create counterplay by bringing h i s knight to the strong square d 5 . The best reply for \tVhite to the Bulgarian variation is ( 1 . e4 eS 2 . NO Nc6 3 . BbS f5 4 . Nc3 N f6) 5 . exf5 ! But many White players unfami liar with the finesses of the opening remember that exf5 is bad on move 4 (because of 4 . . . . e4 and White's attacked knight has no good square) but fail to realise that after 5. exfS the black queen' s diagonal is blocked and White can meet 5 . . . . e4 strongly by 6. Ng5 or 6 . Nh4. Now after 5. exfS play continues 5 . . . . Bc5 6 . 0-0 0-0.
T h e Me ste l P h ilidor
Philidor's Defence l . e4 e 5 2 . NO d6 stil l h a s the image o f a defensive, second-rate open ing. The immediate reaction of many players is ' maybe I can repeat Morphy ' s opera box game (see p . 5 2 ) . ' I n 1 975 the Engl ish master Jonathan Mestel revived an old counter-attacking variant of the Philidor which looks another good try aga inst weaker opponents : 3. d4 f5 ! ?
fi g . 1 7 5
interest i ng exper iment, the New York ma ster and teacher Lar ry D. Evans recommended his students to play the Bulgarian variation e x c l usively aga i n st the Ruy Lopez and repo rt resu lts. He relates in Ch ess Life a nJ Review that the unexpected move 4 . N f6 p roved a psy c h o logical blow and a few opponents replied 5 . 0-0, soon losing a p iece to 5 . . . . fxe4 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7 . N xeS Qd4 . Most opponents put their trust in 5 . d3, which is here not so strong as in the Short Preissmann game beca use White has already developed his QN and Black can reply 5 . . . . fxe4 6. dxe4 Bb4. Soon many of the students reached a position like this diagram.
In an
fi g. 1 76
Here Black has a solid centre with both white bishops away from the critical action on the K-side. Black continues with Qe8 and then eith er Qg6 and Bh3 or Qh5 and Bg4. The pressure is i ncreased further by focusing the knights on the outpost square f4 : one knight goes via h5 a nd the other via d8-e6 or e7-g6. In due course the rooks will double on the f file and Black 's attack is l i kely to become d e c i s i v e . Note that it w a s important for Black t o p l a y B b 4 x c 3 s i n ce othe r w i se W h i te c o u l d
fi g . 1 7 8
fig. 1 7 7
Here there are several plausible continua tions but only one of them is a good one : (a) 7 . d3 d6 and BfS regaining the pawn with active play based on the attacking chances given by the open f flle. (b) 7. Re1 d6 with similar play. (c) 7 . Bxc6 dxc6 8 . Nxe5 Bx£5 9. d3 Bd4 ! 10. Nc4 ( 1 0. NfJ ? Bg4 and White can only escape the pin by allowing the pawn which guards his defences to be w recked) Ng4 (threat Nxf2 ! ) 1 1 . Ne3 Qh4. (c l ) 12. Nxg4 7 Bxg4 1 3. Qd2 Rae8 1 4. N e4 ( 1 4. Qg5 Qxf2 + !) ReS and RhS w ith a winning attack. (c2) 1 2 . h3 ! Nxe3 1 3. Bxe3 Bxe3 1 4 . fxe3 Bxh3 1 5. gxh3 Qg6 + with perpetual check . (d) 7. Nxe 5 ! Nd4 (better than Nxe5 8. d4) 8. N O ! It took several years of trial for masters to find this unexpectedly strong retreat as the answer to the Bulgarian variation, and an unprepared opponent is unlikely to find it. The more obvious 8. Ba47 shuts White's B out from the K side, and Black continues 8 . . . d 5 9. d 3 BxfS 1 0. Bg5 Qd6 with a powerful attack. After 8. NO c6 9. Nxd4 Bxd4 1 0. Ba4 d5 l l . Ne2 B b6 1 2. d4 Bxf5 1 3 . Bf4 (Un zicker-Nievergelt, Zurich 1 9 59) Black is a pawn down and has to fight for a draw with the aid of bishops of opposite colours. B ut when Black plays 3 . . . f5 against an amateur opponent, the per centage risk of ending up in this position is small . .
.
There are now four main possi bilities : (a) 4. exf5 e4 5. Ng5 BxfS 6 . Nc3 Nf6 7. 0 d5 8. fxe4 dxe4 9. Bc4 Qe7 1 0. Nf7 Rg8 and White's early attack may re bound . (b) 4. Nc3, usually given as good for White after Nf6 5. dxe5 or 4 . . . . exd4 5 . Qxd4 or 4 . . . . fxe4 5 . Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe5 7. Qh5 + - but Black can instead play to hold his centre by 4 . . . . Nc6 . (c) 4. dxeS fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. c4 Bb4 + 7. Nc3 d4 8. a3 Bxc3 + 9. bxc3 e3 10. f4 c5 1 1 . Bd3 Ne7 1 2. 0-0 Nbc6 1 3. Ne4 0-0 1 4. Nxc5 NfS 1 5. Nb3 dxc3 1 6. Bxf5 Qxd 1 with the better ending (van der Sterren MesteL j unior world championship 1 97 5). (d) 4. Bc4 A frequent reaction in over-the-board play . exd4 4. . . . 5 . NgS If 5 . ex£5 d5 6. Bd3 Qe7 + 7. Be2 Bxf5 8. Nxd4 Bg4 9. 0 Bd7 1 0. 0-0 Nc6 1 1 . Re 1 0-0-0 ! 1 2. Nc3 Qh4 1 3. Nxc6 Bc5 + with a strong attack (Keller-Mestel, Berne 1 97 5 ) . 5. . . . Nh6 6. 0-0 Weak is 6. Nxh77 Ng4 ! (Mestel's improvement over the old theory move Nxh 7 ? 7. Qh5 + ) 7. Nxf8 Kxf8 8. exfS Qe7 + 9. Kfl (9. Qe2 Qxe2 + gives Black a good endgame) BxfS 1 0. Qxd4 Nxh2 + 1 1 . Rxh2 Rxh2 1 2. Be3 Qe4 1 3. Qxe4 Rh 1 + 1 4. Ke2 Bxe4 and White resigned in Nurmi-Mestel, junior world champion ship 1 97 5. He is the exchange down and can't develop his Q-side. The column move is a later improvement prepared by the Hungarians. 97
6. . . . N c6 Though 6 . . fxe4 looks risky it may be better : 7 . Qxd4 Nc6 8. Qxe4 + Qe7 followed by B f5 and 0-0-0. BxfS 7 . e x f5 8 . Re 1 + Kd7 9 . c3 Q f6 Be7 10. Qb3 Adorj a n-MesteL European team c ham pionship final 1 976. Black's posi tion is i n ferior, but he still has counterplay : 1 1 . Ne6 Rab8 1 2. cxd4 Qh4 1 3. Nxg7 Nxd4 and White won only a fter an endgame of over 80 moves. .
.
D e fe n d i n g 1 . d4 In choosing a main l i ne defence to l . d4 the amateur player should again try to opt for a sol id and rel ia ble plan whose variations w i ll not change much due to new theoreti cal d iscoveries. And as with defend i ng 1 . e4 it is importa nt to have one or two sharp and ta cticall y-orienta ted s�cond -l ine systems which can be used agai nst weaker opponents. I recommend as the ma in l i ne plan the 'Old Benoni' 1 . d 4 cS 2 . dS d 6, which d i ffers from the ' Modern Benon i ' where Black only ad vances . . . c5 when White has pushed c4. The Old Benoni has become unfashiona ble in recent yea rs, but this seems to be beca use t � o of its main exponents, grandmasters Schmid and Szabo, a re now less active in internati onal chess.
fi g . 1 7 9
From the d iagram play varies a ccordi ng to whether W h i te adva nces e4 and tries to use the c4 square for a knight ( l ine A) or transposes into more fashiona b le l ines by the pawn move c4 ( l i ne B). In either case Black's plan is a Q-side pawn advance. Line A 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Other moves are harmless, eg. 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 Na6 6. e4 Nc7 7. N f3 ? bS 8. 0-0 b4 w i th initiati ve (J imenez-Penrose, Varna 1 96 2 ) .
4. . . . N f6 Possi bly more prec ise than 4 . . . Bg7 5. Bb5 + Nd7 (exchange of bi shops favours W h i te) 6. a4 N f6 7. N f3 w hen the .
98
f6 knight may be a l i ttle m isplaced. How ever Tal-Benko, Bled 1 9 59, continued 7 . . . . 0-0 8. 0-0 a6 9. Be2 R b8 1 0. Re1 Ne8 1 1 . Bf4 Nc7 1 2. Bfl and now 1 2 . . . . b 5 should equalize, wh ile earlier Black could accelerate h is Ne8-c7 regrouping and leave the possi bility of counter-attack by . . . fS . Bg7 5. NO 6. Be2 N o w 6 . B b S + c a n be met by N fd7 7 . a 4 Na6 8. 0-0 N c 7 9. Be2 0-0 1 0. B f4 f5 1 1 . exfS RxfS with active counterplay (Lar sen - Browne, USA 1 97 2 ) . Na6 6. 7 . 0-0 Nc7
fig . 1 80
An important positiOn because it, or similar positions, c an occur not only after 1 . d4 but from two other openings ; from the S i c i l ian Defence a fter 1 . e4 c5 2. NO g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. dS d6 5. Nc3 N f6 6 . Be2 Na6 7 . 0-0 Nc7, and from the P i rc Defence a fter l . e4 d6 2. d4 N f6 3 . Nc3 g6 4. N f3 Bg7 5 . Be2 0-0 6. 0-0 cS 7. d5 Na6. This last order of moves occurred in the famous fi nal game of the Ka rpov-Korchnoi world ti tle match of 1 978 and the d i fference from the col umn is that Black has played 0-0 instead of Nc7. Korchnoi lost the game and beca use of th is the Old Benoni is li kely to have a poor reputation for a long time to come. That's your chance ! Little-known openings w h i ch are better than their reputation are ideal surprise weapons. 8 . a4 This is one of two logical plans. Here W h i te hopes to restra in the b lack pawn advance long enough to i n filtrate with his knight on the Q-side. The other plan is to play for a central push w i th an eventual e S . Si nce White in particular can still v a ry the order of his moves a nd switch from one line to another, the conti nua tions ap pear as exampl es of play rather than definitive lines : (a) 8 . Bf4 0-0 9 . a4 b6 1 0. R e 1 Rb7 1 1 . Bc4 N h S ? 1 2. Bg S N f6 1 3. Qd 3 and a fter B l a c k ' s loss of t i me W h i te is well on top (Karpov-Korchnoi, 3 2nd match game 1 978). Better was 1 1 . . . . Qd7 or a6. ( b) 8 . B f4 0-0 9 . a4 Bg4 1 0. Qd 2 a6 1 1 .
h3 Bxf3 1 2 . Bxf3 Nd7 1 3. Be2 Rb8 1 4 . B h 6 b S 1 5 . a x b 5 axb5 1 6. Bxg'l Kxg7 1 7 . b4 cxb4 (Speelman-Hartston, BBC Master Game 1 97 6) 1 8. Qd4 + w i th a slight edge. Black could proba bly improve by 1 2. R b8 at once. ( c) 8. N d2 0-0 9. a4 e6 ! 1 0. Nc4 Nfe8 1 1 . Be3 b6 and Black easily holds the central pressure. (d) 8. h3 0-0 9. a4 a6 1 0. Bf4 b6 1 1 . Re 1 Bb7 1 2. Bc4 (Sosonko-Larsen, Menorca 1 974) Qd7 1 3. e5 Nh5 1 4. Bh2 fS ! gaining k ing's side space. (e) 8 . Re l 0-0 9. a4 a6 1 0. Bg5 ( 1 0. Bf4 RbB 1 1 . e5 NfeB 1 2. a5 b5 1 3. axb6 Rxb6 1 4. Ra2 R b4 w i th play on the b file and the central dark squares, Kottnauer Keene, Hastings 1 969) h6 (also Bg4 is playable as in line b) 1 1 . Bf4 (Spassky Schmid, Va rna 1 96 2) when the routine 1 1 . . . . Bd7 1 2. Qd2 b 5 allowed the break through 1 3. eS ! but Black should play 1 1 . . . . g5 1 2. Bg3 Nh S . 8. . . . a6 Bd7 9. N d 2 Black could also castle as i n ( c ) above, but has this possi bly better option of a fa st Q-side counter . bS 1 0 . N c4 1 1 . eS 1 1 . N b6 7 is well met by 1 1 . . . . b4 ! 1 2. N xa8 Qxa8 1 3. N b l Nxe4 when Black's powerful pawn chain and centre out weigh White's small material edge. dxe5 11. . . . Nxb5 1 2 . ax b S Simpler than 12 . . . axb5 wh ich is also playa ble. 1 3 . N x b 5 BxbS 14. NxeS Bxe2 1 5 . Qxe2 Qxd5 Rxa6 1 6 . Rxa 6 1 7 . Q xa 6 0-0 The delayed castling has gi ven Black time for freeing exchanges, and now the game is level (analysis to Botvinnik Schmid, Lei pzig 1 960) . As can be seen from these examples, Black has several good plans available a fter the early moves in the Old Benoni. He can play for the adva nce . . bS, neutralize White's centre thrust by . . . Bg4xf3, or put his QB at b7 and wait for a suitable moment for . . . f5. Generally speaking the . . . bS Q-side pawn advance is the simplest plan for an amateur to adopt ; Black only has to watch that White does not esta blish his knights on blockad ing squares (eg. a4 and c4) or break into the centre with eS when Black is not ready to meet it. Line B (after 1. d4 c5 2 . dS d6). 3 . c4 N f6 g6 4. Nc3 .
fi g . 1 8 1
Thus the openi ng has now tran sposed into the K i ng's Ind i an Defence, w h ich is normally reached by the d i fferent move order l . d 4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7. However, by reaching the d iagram via the Old Benon i, Black rules out several popular variations where White leaves his pawn at d4 or only a d van ces to dS i n reply to Black's . . . e S . In pa rti c u l a r, the attacking l i nes with D , i ntend i ng a later g4/h 4, are neu tra l i zed, si nce in the d i a gram 5 . e4 Bg7 6. f3 0-0 7 . Be3 o r 7 . BgS are met by 7. . . e6 w i th an easy game for Black whose well-placed g7 b i shop guar antees good coun terplay a fter the ope n i ng of the e fi le. Thus the signifi ca n t l i n es Black w i l l meet in practice a re ( a ) systems where White plays g3 (b) systems where W h i te plays Nf3 and Be2 (c) sy stems where White plays Be2 and BgS and (d) attacking lines with f4. We w i l l look at each of these in turn . (a) g3 syste m s
fig. 1 8 2 Bg7 S . NO 0-0 6. g3 Na6 7. Bg2 8. 0-0 Nc7 Black 's plan is c lear : a6, R b8, Bd7 if necessary, and the space-ga i n i ng . . . b S . White cannot real ly prevent this and tries t o counter by a central a d v a n ce a nd/or probi ng for Q-si de k n i ght o utposts.
9 . a4 Probably best. s i n ce White norma l l y plays t h i s i r respective o f where h e puts h is pieces. Some other examples to show how Black should develop counterplay : (a) 9 . e4 ( th i s natura l advance w eakens the d4 square w h i ch often becomes a target for Black's knights or KB later on) R b8 1 0. a4 a6 1 1 . Qe2 ( better 1 1 . a5 b5 1 2. axb6 e.p. R xb6 though Bl a c k's roo k has a good ou tpost at b4) b6 1 2 . e5 N e8 I 1 . Bf4 b5 1 4. a x b5 a x b 5 1 5 . cx b5 Bd7 1 6. R fe 1 NxbS 1 7. N x b5 Bxb5 (Fil i p-Rad ulescu, Buc ha rest 1 9 5 3) and Black stands well. He has pressu re on the b file, and his remain i ng knight can eventu a l ly transfer to the d4 square from which Whi te's 9. e4 kindly removed a potential defender. (b) 9. h 3 a6 1 0. a4 R b8 l l . aS Nd7 (here 1 1 . . . . b5 is less good because of 1 2. axb6 e. p . Rxb6 1 3. Nd2 ! followed by Nb3-a 5) 1 2. Bd2 b 5 1 3. a x b6 e . p. Nxb6 14. b 3 e6 1 5 . dxe6 N xe6 1 6. Ne 1 (or 1 6 . Rc1 d5) aS 1 7 . RaJ Bd7 1 8. NdS N x d 5 1 9. Bxd5 Qf6 w i th a level game (Furman-Korchnoi,
Ulf A ndersson of Sweden on h i s way to joint first prize with Nu nn, Hastings, 1 980. A ndersson is a great endgame specialis t .
U SSR championship 1 9 S S). (c) 9. N d2 Rb8 1 0. a4 b6 1 1 . NbS (if 1 1 . Qc2 a6 1 2. NbJ then not b5 ? 13 axb6 e. p . Rxb6 1 4. Na5 but 1 2 . . . . e6 ! switch ing from Q-side to centre to exploit the white kn ight's absence) Rb7 (not 1 1 . . . . a6 1 2. Na 7 and 1 3. Nc6 ) 1 2. R b 1 a6 1 3 . Nc3 bS 14. N b 3 bxc4 ! 1 S. Na S Rb4 1 6 . Nc6 Qd7 1 7. N x b4 cxb4 1 8. N a 2 a S when Black's strong pawns compensate for h is exchange sacrifice. Rb8 9. . . . 10. Bf4 Now White's intention is to use the bishop to pressure Black' s d pawn and thus restrai n an advance of the black e pawn, w hile the QR guards the b pawn against the attack down the b file . a6 10. bS 1 1 . aS Rxb6 1 2 . axb6 e.p. 99
fi g . 1 8 3
Now the chances are bala nced : Black's game is sufficiently dynamic to ensure active counterplay. At the same time Black is forced to con tinue aggressi vely lest W h i te o bta in a restra i n i ng b i nd by Ra2, Qd2 and Bh6 neutral izing the strong bishop. Play can continue : (a) 1 3 . Ra2 Re8 1 4. bJ e5 1 5 . dxe6 e . p . Nxe6 1 6. Na4 N x f4 1 7. N x b6 Q x b6 1 8. gxf4 Ne4 1 9. QdJ ( Korchnoi-G ligoric, Buenos A i res 1 960) BfS 20. Nh4 NcJ regai n i ng the lost material w i th equality. ( b) 1 3. bJ BfS 1 4. Ne1 (weaker is the decentral izi ng 1 4. Nh4 Bd7 1 5. RaJ QbB when Black has strong pressure on the b fi le. Donner-Toran, Barcelona 1 95 2) Qd7 1 5 . RaJ BhJ 1 6. NdJ Bxg2 1 7. K x g2 Nh5 1 8. Bd2 e6 1 9. e4 exd5 20. exd5 (Vukic Tringov, Saraj evo 1 967). ( b) Syst e ms where W h ite p lays NO a n d Be2 Bg7 5. N O 0-0 6 . e4 7 . Be2 e6
command of the e file g i v es h im a com forta bly level game . White has several possi bil ities : (a) 9 . dxe6 Bxe6 1 0 . Bf4 N c6 ! 1 1 . Bxd6 Qa5 is a promis ing pa wn sacrifice, eg. 1 2. Nd2 ( 1 2. aJ RedS 1 3 . b4 cxb4 1 4. axb4 Qxa 1 1 5 . Qxa1 Nxe4 is unclear) Red8 1 3. N bJ ( 1 3 . e5 NeB) Qb6 1 4. Na4 Q b4 1 5 . N bxc5 Bxc4 1 6 . B xc4 Qxc4 and Black has the edge ( A l burt-Kasparov, USSR 1 978. In the game White first played Bg5 before Bf4 as in system (c) below so that Black had the extra move . . . h6.) ( b) 9 . Q c2 (to retake on d5 with the c pawn) Na6 1 0. Re 1 cxd5 1 1 . c x d 5 N b4 1 2 . QbJ Bg4 1 3. a J B x fJ 1 4. gxfJ Na6 1 5 . Qxb7 Nc7 and Black has good compensa tion for a pawn in White's b roken king side which he can exploit by N h 5-f4 (Kozma-Polugaevsky, K i slovbdsk 1 97 2) . (c) 9 . N d 2 Na6 (White is waiting for . . . exd5, but Black can also wait) 1 0. Kh 1 (or 1 0. Rb1 Nc7 1 1 . a4 b6 1 2. f4 and now Black can safely exchange by 1 2 . . . . exd5 1 3 . cxd5 Ba6 w i th a level game, Spassky Kavalek. IBM 1 9 7 3) Nc7 1 1 . a4 b6 1 2. f4 ( 1 2. jJ Ba6 ) exd5 1 3. c x d 5 Ba6 (so that if White swaps b ishops a black knight w ill reach a good outpost square at b4) 1 4. Re 1 Bxe2 1 5. Rxe2 Ng4 1 6 . hJ Qh4 1 7 . Q fl lSavon-Belyav sky, USSR c hampion ship 1 974) Bd4 (threatening N f2 + and perpetual check) 1 8. Q O N f2 + 1 9 . Kh2 f5 w i th at least a d ra w . Thus, against the Be2/N f3 system, the plan of hol d ing up exd5 unti l Black can mount active counterplay w i th his pieces y ields good results. ( c) Systems where White plays Be2 a nd Bg5 This, the A verbakh system named after a Russian grand master, is a popular approach in master chess. I t aims at a small but permanent bind on the position which aga inst inacc urate defence can lead to a fa voura ble end ing. The A ver bakh is reached by ( 1 . d4 c5 2. d 5 d6 3 . c4 N f6 4 . Nc3 g6) 5. e4 Bg7 6 . Be2 0-0 7 . Bg 5 .
fi g . 1 84
Th is is better than the prev ious 8 . . . . exd5 9. cxd 5 transposing into a Modern Benoni forma tion where White has good poss i b i l i ties of strengthening his b i nd by Nd2-c4. After Re8 Black has the posi tional threat of exd 5 when White can not retake with the c pawn and has to allow a symmetrical position where Bla c k ' s l OO
fi g . 1 8 5
An i l l ustration of Black's potential d i ffi culties in this variation i s the plausi b le
l i ne 7 . . . . e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. exd5 Re8 l 0. N fJ Bg4 1 1 . 0-0 N bd 7 1 2 . h J BxfJ 1 3 . BxfJ a6 1 4 . a4 Qe7 1 5 . Rae 1 Qf8 1 6 . Bd 1 Rxe l 1 7 . Rxe 1 Re8 1 8. Rxe8. So, best for Black is : Qxe8 1 9. Bf4 and after an eventual queen exchange White's bi shop pa i r are strong in the endgame. 7. . . . h6 ! Putting a question to the white bishop . If: (a) 8 . Bf4 e 5 ! 9. dxe6 Bxe6 1 0. Bxd6 Re8 1 1 . NO Nc6 transposing i nto the Nf3/Be2 system w i th the d i fference that Black has played . . . h6 as a useful extra move. ( b) 8. Bh4 a6 9 . a4 (9. NfJ b5) Qa5 10. Qd2 b 5 1 1 . cxb5 axb5 1 2. B x b S Ba6 and Black has the i n i tiative in return for the sacrificed paw n . ( c ) 8 . Be3 e 6 9. Q d 2 Kh7 1 0. dxe ( better 1 0. hJ exd5 1 1 . cxd5 Na6 1 2. NfJ Bf5 but Black develops his pieces without pro b lems) Bxe6 1 1 . 0-0-0 Nc6 1 2 . Qxd6 ? Qxd6 1 3 . Rxd6 Nd4 ! (Uhlmann-Byrne, Has ti ngs 1 970·- l ). Black's last surprise move wi ns mate ria L for if 1 4 . Bxd4 cxd4 I S . Rxd4 Ng4 when both Bxd4 and Nxf2 are threatened . ( d ) Attack i n g lines where White plays f4 This i s one of the most popular counters to the King's Indian Defence in amateur chess. Pla y goes ( l . d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3 . c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6) 5 . e4 Bg7 6 . f4 0-0 7 . NO e6 8 . Be2 exd 5 .
A critical position. This va riation is full of tactical ideas and, although consi dered here from the defensive v iewpoint of Black's l . . . . c5 system, it is possi ble i f you know it well enough to play it for either s ide with good effect. 9 . cxd5 Natural and most popular. The other ideas are : (a) 9 . exd5 b5 ! (Ta l ' s gam bit 1dea) 1 0. N x b5 ( i f 1 0. cxb5 a6 when the two open fi les, the pressure down the long dark d iagonal and the loosened White cen tre g i ve good compensation) Ne4 1 1 . 0-0 a6 1 2 . NcJ (after 1 2. Na J this knight is out of play as sh own in Thorbergsson -Ta L Reykja vik 1 964, which contin ued 1 2.
Ra7 1 3. Bd3 Re7 1 4 . Nc2 Rfe8 1 5. Re1 Nd7 1 6. NeJ Ndf6 1 7. Qc2 Nh5 1 8. g 3 Bd4 ! w i t h a strong attack) N x c 3 1 3 . bxc3 Bxc3 1 4 . R b 1 B fS 1 5 . B d 3 QcS 1 6 . Qc2 B x d 3 1 7 .
Q x d 1 B g 7 . W h i t e ' s K - s i d e a t t a c k sh o u l d be c o n t a i ned a nd B l a ck h a s s o me p l a y aga i n st the w e a k c e n t r al p a w n s . T h i s p l a n m i gh t b e fu r t h er i m proved b y 1 1 . . . . R eS at on ce, s i nce the w h i te knight h a s no where to go but hom ewa r d s . (b) 9. e S ! ? ( the G u n d e r a m G a m b i t dangerous t o t h e i n e x pe r i e n ce d ) d x e S 1 0 . fx e 5 Ng4 1 1 B g 5 Q a 5 ( best : many books g i ve 1 1 . . f6 1 2. exj6 Bxf6 a s equa l i z i ng but t h e n comes 1 3. Bxf6 N.\j6 1 4. cxd5 wi th a d v a n t a g e 1 4 . . . . Ne8 1 5 .
Qd2 Nd6 1 6 . h4 with a strong attack, Sheffield 1 962 or 14 . . . . Bg4 1 5 . 0-0 a6 1 6 . Ng 5 Bf5 1 7. Rxf5 gxf5 1 8. Ne6 rega i n i ng the exchange and leav in g B l a ck a w e a k f pawn, Taylor-Skill iter, London 1 96 6 . N a te t h a t 1 1 . . . . Qb6, the book move in s i m i lar po s i t i on s in the 9 . c x d 5 v a r i a t i o n i s ri sky d u e to 1 2. Nxd5 Qxb2 1 3 . 0-0) 1 2. Q x d 5 N xe 5 ( w i n n i n g the e x c h a n ge b y 1 2. . c4 ? turns out a b l u n d e r a fter 1 3. 0-0 Qc 5 + 1 4. Kh1 Nf2 + i 5 . R xf2 Q.,f2 1 6. Ne4 Qb6 1 7. Nf6 + Kh8 1 8. Qc 1 a n d w i n s) 1 3. 0-0 N x f3 + ( be t ter than 1 3 . . . . Nbd7 1 4. d6 ' or 1 3 . . . . ReS 1 4. Nxe5 Bxe5 1 5 . Bc4 Nd7 1 6 . d6) 1 4 . R x f3 N d 7 ' ( n ot Bg4 ? 1 5 . Rx(7 -' Rxf7 1 6 . Bxg4 w i t h m o re t h a n e n o u g h Ta y l o r-S m i t h ,
books. This i s best done gra d ually, by checking your play agai nst master chess ea ch time you come ac ross a new varia t i on of the sys t e m in q u e st i o n . T h e T a r ra s c h Ga m b it T h i s a c t i ve gamb i t is one of r e p l i es to 1 . d4 when meeting
the best a weaker player and particularly one who is d e fe n s i vely mi nded . For the system is only doubtful if White is pri med in a d v a nce a n d rea c ts a gg r e s s i v e l y . dS l . d4
e6 2 . c4 c5 3 . Nc3 cxd4 4 . cxd5 More usual replies until here are 3 . . . . N f6, the orthodox Queen's Gambit De c l ined , and 4 . . . . exd5, the main l i ne Tarra sch Defence. 5 . Qa4 + 5 . Q xd4 Nc6 6. Q d 1 e x d 5 7 . Q x d 5 B d 7 t ra n s po s es to t h e c o l u m n , w h i l e 5 . d xe6 ? B x e6 ( b ut n o t dxcJ ? ? 6 . exf7 + Ke7 7. fxg 8 N + ) 6. Ne4 Nf6 gi ves Black a good development and a d4 wedge in return for the pa wn . Bd7 5. 6 . Q x d4 e x d 5 =
for the e x c h a n ge sa c r i fi c ed ) . Fo l l o w i n g 1 4 . . . N d 7 W h i t e s t i ll h a s some pla y , b u t B l ack h a s a p a w n to console him a n d I d o n ' t t h i n k White's compensation ( v ia d6 a nd B e 7 ) i s q u i te enough . 9. . . . B g4 !
This should be the sa fest move. For merly 9 . . . . bS and 9 . . . . Re8 were u su al , but t h en 1 0. e 5 , effectively a Gun deram Gambit w i th an extra weaken i ng move for Black, has been shown to give good p ra c t i ca l c h a n c e s . 1 0 . 0-0 1 0 . e5 d xe5 1 1 . fxe5 N fd 7 1 2 . e6 fxe6 1 3 . 0-0 Bxf3 1 4 . B x f3 N e 5 (Li ptay-Geller, P rague 1 966) i s n ow u n s ou n d . Nbd7 10. 1 1 . h3 B x f3 1 2 . BxD c4 ! fo l l o wed by ReS, a6, N c 5 a nd N fd 7 , t h i s gives B l a ck e n o u gh c h a n c e s w i th his Q s i d e 3-2 p a w n m aj o r i ty to co u n ter W h i te ' s atta c k i ng p ro s p e c t s ( g 4 , h 4 ) .
Ga m b i t D e fe n ce t o l . d4
As i n K - s i de o pe n i ngs w h e re the F re n c h D e fe n ce is recommended as the mai n, sol i d l i n e , backed up by little-known ga m b i ts a n d other offbeat l i nes to use a ga i n st weaker opponents, so playing Black a g a i ns t l . d4 needs the same tw o fo l d a p p roa c h . As w i th the recommended
lines in the S i c i l ian, Schliemann and P h i l i d o r D e fe n c es to 1 . e4, you a re reco m m e n d ed to b u i l d up a more d e ta i l ed k n o w l e d ge
fro m
spec i a l i st
re fe re n c e
White can also try (from the d iagram) 7. NxdS N c6 8. Qd 1 but then 8 . . . . Be6 9. Nc3 Qxd l + 1 0. Kxd 1 ( 1 0. Nxd1 Nb4) 0-0-0 + 1 1 . Kc2 B c 5 1 2. Nf3 Nf6 r egaini ng the pa wn with advantage ( 1 3 . eJ ? Nb4 + 1 4. Kb1 Bj5 + ) . 7. . . . Nc6 8. N f3 Two weaker moves may be played : (a ) 8 . BgS N f6 9. Qd2 Uf 9. Bxf6 ? Qx{6 1 0. e3 0-0-0 1 1 . 0-0-0 Bf5 1 2. Qf3 Qxc3 + 1 3. bxcJ Ba3 mate) Qa5 1 0. B x f6 g x f6 1 1 . e3 0-0-0 1 2 . Nf3 BfS 1 3. N d 4 N x d 4 N x d 4 w i th a strong game. ( b) 8 . e4 ? (this makes f2 too weak) N f6 9. Qd 1 B c 5 1 0. N h 3 (or 1 0. Be2 Qb6 1 1 . Nf3 Ng4 1 2. Nd5 Bb4 + 1 3. Nxb4 Qxf2 + ) Qe7 1 1 . B b S 0-0-0 1 2. Qa4 Bxh3 1 3. gxh 3 R d 4 1 4. Q b 3 Rxe4 + ! with a winning attack (Wi nser-Sutton, Eastbourne 1 963). 8. . . . N f6 9 . Qd 1 Best. 9 . Q b 3 Bc5 1 0. Bg 5 ( 1 0. Qxb 7 ? Nb4 or 1 0. e3 Qe7 1 1 . Be2 0-0-0 with an i m proved version for Black of the column s ince White no longer has the counter b4) h6 l l . B h4 g 5 1 2. Bg3 QaS 1 3. e3 ( 1 3. Qb5 Bb4 1 4. Qxa5 Bxa5 also leaves Black an active position for his gambit pa wn) 0-0-0 1 4. Be2 ( 1 4. Qxj7 Ne4 i s strong) N e4 1 5 . 0-D Nxg3 1 6. hxg3 f6 . Black 's fi ne d e v e l o p m e n t and his th re a t to c o n t i n u e h 5 -h4 a re worth more than a pawn . BcS 9. 1 0. e3 Qe7
7 . Qxd 5 C a u t i o u s so u l s m a y d ec l i n e the p a w n w i t h 7 . e 3 . Black can then continue to offer h i s gambit for a few more moves, and even i f White continues to refuse the g i ft B l a c k h a s free attacking play : 7 . . . . Nc6 S. Q d 1 N f6 9. N f3 ( 9 . Nxd5 Qa5 + a n d . . . 0-0-0 is strong) Bd6 1 0. Be2 ( 1 0. Nxd5 ? Nxd5 1 1 . Qxd5 Qe7 and . . . 0-0-0) B f5 ! 1 1 . 0-D Rc8 . B l a c k ' s plan is simple : to line up his q u ee n and bishop against h2 and then
combine his other pieces in a d irect attack. The game G.N. Stokes-A. Hall, York 1 9 59 shows this succeed ing : 1 2. N b 5 Bb8 1 3 . Nbd4 Be4 ! 1 4. N x c6 bxc6 1 5 . B d 2 Qd6 1 6 . g3 h 5 ! 1 7 . B c 3 Bxf3 1 8. B x f3 h4 1 9. Rc 1 h x g 3 20. hxg3 Ne4 2 1 . Bxe4 Qh6 ! 2 . Re 1 d xe4 2 3 . Kfl Qh 1 + 24. Ke2 Qf3 + 2 5 . Kd2 Rd8 + 2 6 . Bd4 Rxd4 + ! and White re sig n ed beca u se of 2 7 . e x d 4 Q d 3 m a t e .
fi g . 1 8 8
1 1 . Be2 Natural and safest. Three other moves have been tried here unsuccessfully : (a) 1 1 . B c4 0-0-0 1 2. Qe2 g5 1 3 . a3 g4 1 4 . Nd2 Ne5 1 5. b4 Bb6 1 6. Bb2 Bc6 w i th strong pressure. B . H. Wood-Sutton, Bri tish Championship 1 960, concluded 1 7 . R e 1 Kb8 1 8. Rg1 Rhg8 1 9. N b 5 ? Nxc4 20. Qxc4 Bxe3 ! 2 1 . Bxf6 Bxd2 + 22. Kfl Qxf6 and White resigned . (b) 1 1 . a3 0-0-0 1 2. Qc2 Kb8 1 3 . Be2 (1 3. b4 Nd4 1 4. Nxd4 Bxd4 1 5. Be2 Ba4 ! 1 6 . Qb2 Be5 1 7. f4 Ne4 ! with a winning attack) g5 1 4. 0-0 g4 1 5 . Nd2 Rhe8 1 6 . N b 3 Bb6 1 7 . Bd2 Qe5 with strong t h rea ts (Gurev ich-Safonov, Moscow 1 960). 101
(c) 1 1 . B d2 0-0-0 1 2 . Q b 3 BfS 1 3. Rc 1 K b8 1 4 . Na4 B b4 ! 1 5. a3 Bxd 2 + 1 6. Nxd2 Nd4 w i th a winning attack : Chanov Gusev, USSR 1 9 55 ended 1 7 . Qc3 Rc8 1 8. Bc4 Rhd8 1 9 . N b3 Ne4 20. Qb4 Q x b4 + and White resigned (2 1 . axb4 N xb 3) . 11. . . . 0-0-0 By castling QR Black opts for an all-or nothing K-side attack. The attempted transposi tion 1 1 . . . . gS is met by 1 2. N d4 (not 1 2. Nxg5 Rg8 1 3. Nh3 Bxh3 or 1 3. NfJ Rxg2) g4 1 3. Nxc6 Bxc6 1 4. B b 5 , but Black can i nstead build up his position more slowly by 1 1 . . . 0-0 1 2. 0-0 Rfd8 1 3 . a 3 BfS 1 4 . Qa4 Ng4 1 5 . h3 N4e5 ( V I a d i m i rov-Ravinsky, USSR 1 95 5) . 1 2 . 0-0 A c t i ve defence. In practice, many wea ker players are overawed by the aggro of this type of attack and allow Black a fast K-side b u i l d-up. An example i s 1 2 . B d 2 ? g5 1 3 . Qc 1 ? g4 1 4. Nd4 h5 1 5 . N x c6 Bxc6 1 6. 0-0 h4 1 7 . Qc2 g 3 ! 1 8 . Rad 1 hJ ! 1 9 . fxg3 Rxd2 20. R x d 2 Q x e 3 + and White resigned ( D . Kerr-S . Fancy, London 1 97 2 ) . gS 1 2. . . . .
fi g . 1 89
1 3 . N d4 Too slow is 1 3 . a 3 g4 1 4. Nd4 QeS ! 1 5 . b4 N x d4 1 6. bxcS Nf3 + ! (Borisenko Spassky. USSR 1 9 59) w ith a winning atta c k . The move 1 3. b4 B x b4 tran sposes into the col umn after 1 4 . B b2 Rhg8 1 5 . Nd4, while if instead 1 4 . Qb3 Rhg8 1 5 . R b 1 Bf5 1 6 . R b2 Be6 ! 1 7. Bc4 Bxc4 1 8 . Q xc4 Qc5 keeps the game level ( 1 9. Qxj7 R d7) . ' R hg8 ! 1 3. . . . Most books give 1 3 . . . . g4 followed by hS but this attack i s too slow, eg. 1 4 . b 4 B x b4 1 5 . B b 2 hS 1 6. N c b 5 Kb8 1 7 . Q b 3 when Black's b 4 bishop is hanging and White threatens 1 8. Nxc6 + Bxc6 1 9. Bxf6 Q x f6 20. Qxb4 . One point of Rhg8 fol lowed by Rg6 is to avoid this variation by ena bling Black to recapture with the rook on move 1 9 . 1 4 . b4 If 1 4 . a 3 QeS i ntending Bd6 or Rg6-h6 with good play or 1 4 . B bS N x d4 1 5 . exd4 Bxd4 1 6. Qxd4 Bxb S . 1 02
14. Bxb4 1 5 . B b2 Rg6 16. R c 1 Kb8 1 7 . N x c6 + If 1 7 . Qb3 Nxd4 followed by Bxc3 and the e2 bishop is hanging. If 1 7. BO N xd4 1 8. exd4 g4 1 9. N d S Qd6 20. N x f6 gxO ! and wins. If 1 7 . N cbS then either 1 7 . . . . a6 or 1 7 . . . . Ne5 intending a6 or g4 . Bxc6 17. . . g4 20 . Q b 3 Black threatens R h 6 fol lowed by Qe5 and then if g3 Rxh2 ! forci ng mate. Undou btedly White's moves can still be improved, but this gambit remai ns a promising idea for the attacking player. The success or failure of such a gambit depends in great measure not on the book analysis but on the tactical abil ity of those invol ved - particularly Black.
quickly by . . . f5 if White allows. On the other hand, if White makes . . . f5 un attracti ve Black can still swi tch into a normal King's Indian formation by Ngf6 .
.
M est e l ' s D e fe n ce Waiting tactics form an important aspect of con temporary opening strategy. The theme of defences l i ke l. . . . g6 or l . . . . b6 is that B lack only commits his central pawns after seeing how White w i ll deve lop. These are slow, closed openings where a si ngle tempo is l ess important than in the open game with an early clash in the centre, and i deas are current now which would have aroused horror among the theorists of half a century ago . One example is the move ( l . e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3) a6 ! ? at first sight a beginner's push but in fact waiting to see whether White's formation is based on N f3 , f3, Qd2 or f4. If White's answer is an aggressive plan based on Q-side castl ing, then the a pawn is well posted to support the counter-attack . . . b5, while if White prefers a calmer plan Black can himself_ continue . . . b6 when the pawn has the function of stopping White bishop checks or pawn advances to b 5 . One option which Black keeps in the 1 . . . . g6 Modem Defence is to reta in for as long as possi ble the chance to bring his g8 knight into action at e7 or f6. This might seem just a psychological move, but the young Briti sh master Jonathan Mestel uses the system to reach a standard position in the better-known King's Indian Defence with two full moves in hand. Mestel's idea is not widely publi ci zed and offers good prospects against opponents who develop in a routine way . d6 1 . d4 g6 2. c4 3. e4 e5 4. d 5 Exchanging pawns and queens gives White no advantage . 4. . . . N d7 5 . Nc3 Bg7 Mestel's Defence aims to set up a dark square blockade on the queen's side and if possi ble to start K-side operations
6. B e 2 Van der Linde-Mestel, England v . Hol land 1 97 3, went 6. NO Ne7 7. Be2 0-0 8. 0-D f5 and Mestel won by a similar but more bri l liant attack to the col umn : 9. exf5 gxfS 1 0. Ng5 N f6 1 1 . f4 e4 1 2. Be3 c6 1 3. Qd2 h6 1 4. Nh3 Kh8 1 5. Rac 1 cS 1 6. a3 Ng4 ! (offering a pawn to open up squares and d iagonals for the other pieces hidden behind the pawn chain) 1 7 . Bxg4 fxg4 1 8. Nf2 N fS 1 9 . N xg4 Qh4 20. N f2 Nxe3 2 1 . Qxe3 Bd4 2 2 . Qxe4 Rxf4 2 3 . Qe8 + Kg7 24. Rc2 B h 3 ! 2 5 . g3 {25. Qxa8 Rg4 26 . Qxb7 + Kg6 2 7. g3 Rxg 3 + wins) Rxe8 26. gxh4 Rg4 + 2 7 . Kh 1 Bg2 + 28. Kg 1 Bxd S mate. 6. . . . a5 Black continues his Q-side play, waiting for White to develop his second knight. If at once 6 . . . . N e 7 White has attacking chances with 7. h4 followed by hS. 7 . N f3 Here the attacking 7 . h4 is ineffective because of 7 . . . . h5 8. NO Bh6 ! (Hay garth - Mestel, British championship play off 1 97 4 - 5) exchanging White's active bishop and thus helping Black's dark square play. A superior plan is 7 . a 3 (planning a Q-si de pawn advance and so depriving Black of waiting moves on that flank) Ngf6 (back into regular lines, but White is committed to the Q-side at an earlier stage than he would really like) 8 . Bg5 0-0 9. R b 1 (White delays castli ng, intending to use the extra move for progress on both wings) h6 1 0. Be3 Nc5 1 1 . Bf3 ! (1 1 . Bxc5 dxc5 followed by Ne8-d6 and 1 1 . f3 Nh5 followed by . . . f5 are both good for Black) Bd7 1 2 . b4 axb4 1 3 . axb4 Na4 1 4. Nge2 Ne8 (Speelman-Mestel. BBC Master Game 1 976) : White has more space, but Black has counter-play on the a and f files. 7. Ne7 8 . 0-0 0-0
A well-known variation of the K i n g ' s 1dian Defence r u n s l . d4 N f6 2. c4 g6 . Nc3 Bg7 4. N f3 0-0 5. e4 d6 6. B e2 eS . 0-0 Nc6 8 . d S Ne7 9. N e l N d 7 ; in ompa r i son w i th t h is pos i tion, Meste l ' s 1efencc h a s ga i ned B l a c k two moves ; he as played the u seful . . . a S w h ile W h i te .as not yet prepared to meet t he com i ng . . fS by Ne ! and f3 . 9. Q c2 f5 1 0 . e x fS gxf5 1 1 . NgS N f6 1 2 . f4 e4 1 3 . Be3 h6 1 4. Nh3 N g4 1 5 . Nd1 Nxe3 1 6. Nxe3 c6 !
' I·• · la!'
Black's last move stops any possibl e central b lockade w ith the knights. I f now 1 7 . dxc6 Qb6 1 8. Kf2 bxc6 with Bd4 and d5 to follow. The game V i ckery-MesteL Jersey 1 97 4 , now concl uded 1 7 . Kh 1 Q b6 1 8 . Qd2 Q x b2 1 9 . Qxb2 B x b2 20. Ra d 1 B a 3 2 1 . g4 B c S ! (preparing the decisive a ttack by the bishop pa i r) 2 2 . N x f) N x fS 2 3 . g x rJ B x rJ 24. Nf2 e3 2 5 . N d3 Be4 + 26. Kh l Kh8 a nd White resi gned . D e fe n d i n g flank o penin g s
In recent years the non-commi ttal first moves l . c4, l . N O and even l . g3 or l . b 3 have been gai ni ng ground i n club and tournament ches s . Similarl y in the Queen's Gambit Dec l ined l . d4 dS 2. c4 e6 Black may not get the opportu nity to go i n to the Tarrasch Gambit if Wh ite adopts the solid Catalan Openi ng 3. g3. Another gro w i ng fa s hion is for White to choose a black opening to take advantage of h i s extra move, and the most popular method is the King's I n d i an Attack, analyzed on p. 1 04 . The s i mplest way for the ord i nary player to meet these d i fficult and soph i s t i cated ope n i ngs i s, a s aga i nst l . d4 and I . e4, to have a solid l i ne w h ich w i ll give a reasona ble game agai nst all of them w h i le kno w i ng some sharper ta ctical ideas for u se particularly aga i n st weaker opponents . The great German teacher Dr Ta rrasch used to a d v i se playi ng l. . . . e6 and 2 . . . . dS aga i nst all these fla nk systems, and thi s does have the advantage of i m proving the chances of the game tran s posing i n to the Tarrasch Gambit wh ich we exami ned ea rlier in the book . Here are some basic variations. 1 . c4 e6 2 . NO If W h i te plays 2 . Nc3 or 2 d 4 then 2 . . . . d S w i th a l i kely transposition i nto the Queen 's Gambit. dS 2. 3. g3 Nf6 Be7 4 . Bg2 5. 0-0 0-0
. ·
.J n n u l h u n
Mes t l'i
-
vo u n,�est B r i t z s h c h a m p i o n a t I 9, a n d a n i n no v a t o r i n open ins play
fi g 1 9 2 I03
:\ow t h ere a re th ree m a i n l i nes of play: (a) 6 . d4 N bd 7 7. Nc3 (an unclear pawn sa c r i fi ce) d xc4 8. e4 c6 9. a4 aS 10. Qe2 Nh6 1 1 . Rd 1 B b4 1 2 . NeS Qe7 1 3 . Be3 Bd7 1 4 . N xc4 N x c4 1 5 . Q x c4 (Botv i n n i k La sker, Moscow 1 9 36) eS 16 . d x e S Ng4 when Black has freed h i s position w i th a level ga m e . (b) 6. b 3 b 6 7 . B b 2 B b7 8 . e 3 (if 8 . d4 Nbd7 fo l l owed by a cen tre strike with cS) cS 9 . Qe2 Nc6 1 0. R d 1 (10 Nc3 dxc4 I/. hxc4 Na5-' a nd the c pawn is a ta rget for Blac k ' s p i e ces) Qc7 1 1 . N c 3 Rad8 1 2 . cx d S (or 12. Racl Qb8 13. d J a6 w i th d4) NxdS 1 3 . Nxd S t he threat of Rxd5 1 4 . d4 cxd4 1 5 . N x d4 Nxd4 1 6 . Bxd4 ( so far V a ha n i a n-Ka rpov, USSR Cham pionsh i p 1 9 7 1 ) Rd7 ( in the game, KMpm hlundcrcd by RJ6? /7. Rclli.' when after Qb8 18. B e5 w i ns the exchange) 17. Rac 1 Qh8 w i th an even game. ( c ) 6 . d4 N bd 7 7. Qc2 c6 8. N bd2 . T h is is the most popular l i ne of play, w h e re W h i te gua rds h i s c pawn w i th a p i ece and then tries to gain space in the centre w i t h e4. If Black rea cts too eau ti ousl y. W h i te carries out his plan and t h en his g2 bi shop becomes e ffective on the long vv h i te d i agonal w h i l e Bla c k ' s c8 hishop is h a n d i ca pped by i ts o w n lig ht squa red pawns.
bS! 8. . . . T h e most energe t i c co n t i n u a t i o n . A . . b6 9. e4 d x e4 sequence l i ke 8 . 1 0 . Nxe4 N xe4 1 1. Qxe4 Qc7 ? 1 2 . B f4 Bd6 1 3. Bxd6 Qxd6 14 . Rad 1 B b7 1 5 . NeS Nxe5 1 6 . d x eS Qc7 1 7 . Rd6, on the other h a nd . would g ive W h i te eve ryth ing he wants - co mmand of central space, an open fi le . good aga i nst bad b i sh o p, and no count erplay for B l a c k . 9 . cS
9. c x bS c x bS lO. Q c6 looks menacing, but a fter 10 . . . . R b8 the queen w i ll soon be d r i ven back by R b6 or even by a6 followed by B b 7 . Equa l ly Wh i te can n ot ta ke a d v a n ta ge of Bla c k ' s pawn for mation by 9. c x b S c x b S 10. N b 3 because of B b7 a nd the rook comes to c8 w i th ga in of t i m e . aS 9. . . . Necessa ry, else Whi te m ight o b ta i n a b i nd by b4 follo wed by N b 3-a 5 . 1 0. e4 eS! Th i s ta c t ical stroke ta kes a d va ntage of White's tempora r i l y overstretched pawn fo rma tion to free Bla c k ' s ga m e com pletel y . If 1 1 . d xe5 Nxe4 1 2 . Nxe4 d xe4 1 3 . Q x e4 NxcS and 1 4 . Qx c 6 ? ? would be a losing blunder because of 1 4 . . . . Bb7 1 5. Qx bS Ba6 1 6 . Qc6 ReS tra pping the queen. The E n g l is h King's I ndian Another good plan agai n st 1 . c4 w h i ch is effective aga i nst a cautious op ponent is to set up a Ki ng's Ind ian fo rma t i on with the b i shop on g7 and then to atta c k the w h i te k i ng w i th a pawn advance. The great a d v a n tages of this system a re that it i s simpler to play than most of the su btle pos i t ional l i nes of the Engl i sh Open i ng and that it takes a good d efen s i ve player to meet it successfu l l y. As an exam ple of Bla c k ' s stra tegy we ana l yze the game Isa k sen-J . Kri stian sen, No rth Sea Cup, Denm ark 1 9 77: l . c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3 . g 3 d6 4. Bg2 eS 5 . d3 f5 6 . N f1 N f6 7 . 0-0 0-0 8 . R b l a 5 9 . a 3 N hS.
.
1 04
fig. 1 94
Blac k's ba sic plan here is to a d v a n ce h i s pa wn t o f4 , l i ne u p the Q B and q ueen on the d ia gonal to h 3 (eg. B at e6, f5 or g4 and Q at c8 or d7), play Bh3 to exch ange the b i sh op w h i ch d e fends White's k i ng, an d then to work w i th such poss i b i l i ties as a kn i ght sac r i fi ce on g3, f1 and Q h 3, and i f necessary d o u bling rooks o n the f l i n e . W h i te's best chance t o c ross t h i s plan i s J 0. Bg 5 a n d i f B f6 ll. B h 6 or i f Qd7 l l . B d 2 and i n either c a se Black's plans a re slo wed d o wn w h i le Wh i te a d va nces
on the other side with b4- b 5. In practice, Whi te o ften d e fends badly. 10. Qc2? f4 1 1. b4 ( if 1 1. e3 the pin Bg4 i s unplea sa nt) a x b4 1 2. a x b4 Bg4 (note that Black postpones the decisi on whether to develop his QN at c6 or d 7 ) 13. bS ( i f 1 3 . N d 2 Nc6 ! threatens Nd4) N d7 ( now the k n i ght has the c S square) 1 4. B b2 Nc5 15 . Ra 1 Rxa 1 16. Rxa l Qd7 ( all i n a ccordance w i th the ma ster plan a bove. So Whi te d ecides to cen tral ize h is kn ight at e4 and p rotect the g3 pawn) 1 7 . N gS Bh6 1 8. N ge4 N xe4 19 . Nx e4 Qf7! (threate n i ng fxg3 fol lowed by Nxg3 and h o p i ng to provoke f3 w h i ch c reates fu rther hol es) 20. Be l N f6 2 1 . N c3 Bc8! (otherw i se Wh i te gets play on the w h i te d i agona l) 22. Ra8 gS 23. N d 5 N g 4! 24. N x f4 (or 24 . Rxc8 R x c8 2 5 . Nb6 c x b6 26. B d S Qx d S ! ) g x f4 25 . Rxc8 fxg3! 26 . R x f8 + QxfB 27. BdS + (27. f3 Be3 + w i th a w i n n i n g a ttack) K h8 28 . 0 N e 3 ! 29. Qc3 ( 2 9 . Qa4 N x d S 30. Bxh6 Qxh6 t h reatens mate on h2) gxh2 + 3 0 . K h 1 Q g7 3 1. Bxe3 B x e 3 32. K x h2 Bf4 + 3 3 . K h 3 Qg3 mate . T h e King ' s Indian Attack In the King's I n d i an Atta ck, Wh i te develops his KB at g2 then builds up h is forces for a d i rect attack on the k ing . The i m porta nce of the openi ng is that it can be rea ched in several ways. It is a c h i eved via the S i c i l i an Defence after the moves l. e4 cS 2. Nf3 d6 (or Nc6 or e6) 3. d3 foll owed by N bd2, g3, Bg2 and 0-0. It can also be rea c h ed from the French Defence v ia l. e4 e6 2. d 3, or d i rectly v i a 1 . N f3 N f6 2. g3 or even by l . g3. Having esta bli shed th i s ba s i c fo r mation, W h i te ' s i n tention is to develop his pi eces, th en ad vance his e pa wn to eS to d rive a wedge in the black pos i tion. The QN i s m anoeuvred to the king's side from d 2 v ia f l a nd e 3 or h 2 , while the e5 pawn i s supported by Re L B f4 , Qe2 andjor c3 and d 4 . W h i te c a n t h e n proceed t o d i rect atta ck if B l ack has ca stled k i n g's s i de in the n ormal way. He ad vances h is h pawn towa rds h6, perha ps regroups h i s knight from e 3 or h2 to g4, and often exchanges the d a rk-squared b i shops at gS. If a l l t h i s is successful, there a re chances o f l a u n c h i ng a d i rect checkmate attack on the bla ck k i ng by d i recti ng White's q ueen and kn ights against f6 and g7. In pra ctice there a re many variations on th is basic stra tegy, but many games have fo ll owed the a bove ma ster pla n . Here a re two of them, showing Wh i te's attack succeed i ng w i th Blac k 's defensive bi shop first on e7 and then on g7 . W hite: Hulak. Black: N o n n e n m acher Yugoslavia v. West Germany, 1975 1. e4 cS 2.NO e6 3. d3 dS 4. N bd2 Nf6 5. g3 Be7 6. Bg2 0-0 7 . 0-0 Nc6 8. R ei .
Eve ning Stan dard junior cha m pion ships, London 1 9 7 S l. e 4 c S 2 . N O e 6 3 . d3 N c6 4 . N bd2 d5 5 . g3 g6 6 . Bg2 Bg7 7 . 0-0 N f6 8.c3 0-0 9. e5 N d 7 1 0.d 4 .
White: Ajanski. Black: Dontschev Golden Sands, Bulgaria, 1 978 1.e4 e6 2. d 3 dS 3 . Nd2 N f6 4. N gf3 b6 S . g3 Bb7 6. eS N fd7 7 . Bg2 cS 8 . 0-0 Nc6 9.Re 1 Qc7 1 0 . Qe2 Be7 1 1 . c3 ? ( better I I. N fl , though Black could still play gS as a pawn sac r i fi ce) gS !
fig. 195
8 . . .. R b8 ? Black should adva n ce 8 . ... bS w i thout delay, though even here there are prob lems. Bobby Fischer - M i agmasuren, Sousse 1 967, c o n t i n u ed 9 . e5 Nd7 1 0 . h4 aS 1 1 . Nfl b4 1 2 . Bf4 a4 1 3. a3 ( stopp i ng Black's cou nterplay by . . . a 3) bxa3 1 4 . bxa3 NaS 1 5 . Ne3 Ba6 1 6 . B h 3 d4 1 7 . N fl N b6 1 8 . N gS NdS 1 9 . Bd2 B xg5 20. BxgS Qd7 2 1 . Q h5 R fc8 2 2 . Nd2 N c 3 2 3 . Bf6' Qe8 2 4 . N e4 g6 2 5 . Q g 5 N x e4 26. Rxe4 c4 2 7 . h S cxd 3 2 8 . Rh4! Ra7 29. Bg2 d x c2 30. Qh6 Q f8 3 1 . Qxh7 + ! Resigns because of K x h7 3 2 . hxg6 + Kxg6 3 3 . Be4 mate - one of the great Fischer w i n s . 9. eS Ne8 bS 1 0. N fl 1 1 . h4 aS b4 1 2. c3 1 3 .Nlh2 B d 7 1 4.c4 ! Because Black retrea ted h i s k n i ght to e8 ra ther than the u sual d7, h is o ne c hance of counte rplay is N c 7-b5 fol lowed by Nd4 or a3 and Nc 3. W h i te noti ces the d i fference and n i ps the plan in the bud . 14. . . . a4 1 S .B f4 Ra8 A d m i tt i ng h i s eighth move was a m i s take, but now W h i te is two m oves a h ead of the usual KI Attack positi ons. N c7 1 6. NgS 1 7 . QhS and utilizes it for a d i rect p i ece attack rather than the slower h 5 - h 6 . h6 1 7.... 1 8.N g4 Threaten ing to sacri fi ce at h6, so B l a c k must take t h e other k n i g h t . hxg S 1 8. 1 9. hxgS Rc8 20.N f6 + ! g x f6 Resigns 2 1 . Be4 ! A pyrotechnic fi n i sh, but easi l y fore seen hv anvone fam i liar with KT Attack strat egy. I f 2 1 . . . . d x e4 2 2 . K g2 a nd R h 1 wi ns, or if 2 1 . fS 2 2 . g6 fxg6 2 3 . Qxg6 + Kh8 24. Kg2 B h4 2 5. R h 1 fxe4 26. Bg5 w i n s . Wh i t e : J. Anderson . Bla ck: S . Spi vac k
fig 196
1 0 ... . Qb6 ? ( the source of B l a c k ' s e a r l y defeat: correct i s 1 0 . . . . cxd4 1 1 . cxd4 f6 when W h i te has j u st a s light edge) 1 1 . N b3 (sta b i l i z i ng the centre befo re proceed i ng w i th the atta ck) cxd4 1 2. cxd4 h6 ? (a nother weakness) 1 3 . h4 Qd8 1 4.B f4 aS 1 5. Rei a4 1 6. N cS N xcS 1 7 . Rx cS Bd7 1 8 . Q d2 Kh7 1 9 . Nh2 N a 5 20. N g 4 N c 4 2 1 . Rxc4 ! (as in t h e two p revi ous games freei ng the e4 squ a re for t he b i shop p roves d e c i sive) dxc4 2 2 . B xh6 Rh8 2 3 . Bg5 Q c 7 2 4 . N f6 + B x f6 25. B x f6 Rhc8 26. QgS R g8 and Bla c k resigned beca u se of 27. Be4 and 2 8. Qh 5 + mat i ng. Several rea sona b le coun ters have been worked out to the KI Atta c k . Pro m i nent a mong these is for Black to s i m p l i fy by exc hanging h i s d 5 pawn for W h i te's at e4 and then d evelop his b i shop at c5. A typical move order is 1 . e4 e6 2. d 3 d 5 3 . N d 2 N f6 4 . NgfJ N f6 5 . g3 d x e4 6. d x e4 B c 5 when W h i te can make l i ttle of his control of d 5 and f5 . The d r a w back is that Black a l so has few prospec ts of w i n n i ng play. Dela ney N i gel Sho rt, Manc hester Bened ictine 1 9 79, con t i n u ed 7 . Bg2 e 5 8 . 0-0 0-0 9 . c3 aS 1 0. Qc2 Qe7 1 1 . N h4 R fd8 1 2 . N c4 Be6 1 3 . N e 3 B x e 3 1 4 . Bxe3 Ng4 1 5. N fS BxfS 1 6 . exfS N x e 3 17. fxe 3 Rd6 a nd the game was soon d ra wn by rook e x c ha nges on the d fi le. T he o utcome was n ot what N igel Short was seeki ng - at the e nd of the tou rnament he m i ssed a ma ster result by h a l f a p o i n t . A l i t t l e-known and more interesting answer to the KI A tta c k , s u i ta b le for atta c k i ng players, is where B lack avo i d s castl i ng and wai ts for W h i te t o commit his forces, par t i c u l a rly the q ueen and roo k, to p rotection of the e5 pawn. Then B lack counte r-attac ks aga i n st the wh ite k i ng by advan c i ng h is h and g pawns to open l i nes of atta c k .
fig 197
T h is s u rprise a nd original man oeuvre b rought a bout the sudden colla pse of W h i te's game: 1 2 . h3 h5 1 3 . Nb3? (he should at l east s a fegu a rd e5 by 1 3 . g4) g4 1 4 . hxg4 hxg4 1 5 . Nh2 Qxe5 1 6 . N x g 4 QhS 1 7 . B f4 d4! (opening up for the final attack and setting a trap into which w h i c h Wh i te falls) 1 8 . cxd4 ? Nxd4 19. N xd4 Qh 1 + ! and White resig ned. If 20. B xh1 R x h1 mate. A s i m i lar strategy won an i mporta nt game at Hastings. The opening here deviates from a pure KI Attack when W h i te advan ces c4 and N e), but a l tho ugh W h i te c rea tes more activity for his pieces than in the previous example the move g5 still p roves the key . White: Botterill. Bla ck: S peelman Hastings 1978-9 1 . e4 cS 2. NO e6 3. d3 d5 4. Qe2 Be7 S.g3 Nf6 6 . Bg2 Nc6 7 . 0-0 b6 8. eS Nd7 9. c4 N£8 1 0 . h4 (posi tionally threaten i ng 1 1 . BgS, but wea ke n i ng his own K) h6 1 1 .Nc3 Bb7 1 2 . Re 1 (bett er 12 . Rd i forcing Black to cl ose the centre w i th d4) Qd7 1 3.Bf4 ? (the B beco mes a ta rget here) d4 1 4 . N b S a6 1 5 . N a 3 g 5 ! ( if Whi te's B was on d 2 he could now keep the game closed by h5) 1 6 . hxgS N g6 1 7. Bd2 hxg5 1 8. B x gS 0-0-0 ! ( t h reat Bxg5 fol lowed by N xe 5 ) 19. Bf6 Rh6 20. N d2 ? ( 2 0 . N b 1 to b r i ng this kn ig ht to e4 i s the only c han ce) Rg8 ! (th reate n i ng N f4) 2 1 . Q g4 N cxe5 ! 22. BxeS Bxg2 (the poi nt: i f 23. Kxg2 N h4 +) 2 3.0 fS (tra p p i ng the Q) 24.Resig ns. Thus the KI Atta c k i s a usefu l add i tion to the repertoi re o f a player p repa red to take on the same l i ne w i t h bo th W h i te and B lac k . On the one han d, the attacking i d eas a re c l ear-cut and easy to und er sta nd: w h i le the l i ttle-known gS counter will prove a stro ng psychological blow to u n p repared oppone nts . 1 05
White 's extra move enhances the oppor tu nities for directing openings in to p re fe rred c h a nnels, and for intro d u cing sharp and u n fa miliar complications. On the other hand, W hite ' s sheer m ulti p l i city of choice c reates i ts own p rob lems. There are tales of grandmasters like Bron stein and Sa misch agonizing for an hour on their first move, u na ble to come to a deci sion as to w h i ch of the i r m a ny home- b rewed variations t o employ . Certa i nly in modern tou rnament play l. d4, 1 . e4 a nd l. c4 all h ave their firm ad herents . The generally recommended pa ttern of openings with W hite should be sim i l a r t o Black' s. Above a l l , i t i s importan t to restrict you rself to l i n e s which h ave a proven rea son a b le chance of occurr i ng in practice. It can be in furia ti ng to spend a couple of h o u rs before the game looking
at an interesti ng novelty on move ten, o nly to fi nd your oppone nt u p�tage you w ith his o wn a nalysis at move s i x . Within this p ra gmatic framework, the . overall plan with White should be to strike a balance between solid and relia ble systems where surprises a re u n likely, a nd complex tactical i d eas which a re especially su i table when going for a quick kill aga i nst a weaker opponent. But be cause winn i ng c hess tournaments nor mally require a h igh perce · n tage score with W h i te, it i s more i mportant than with B l a ck to h ave a n um ber of systems in your a rm o u ry w hich a re p roven point scorers. They should be successful in the hands of experts and also give you good results. It is u sual practice i n chess instr u ction books to recom mend variations which do well in gra n d ma ster c hess, but here the emphasis is d i fferent. Several of this cha p ter's systems a re favourites of ex perts i n the hurl y-burly of weekend tou r n am ents over a sprint d istance, whe re h u n d reds of pounds or d o l la rs are won by tho se who have mastered the necessa ry skills. Vienna Gambit - a tricky tactical opening where White invites a queen check and aims for a fast king's side attack.
1 07
The Quiet I ta l i an An ope ning which u sed to be thought only good eno ugh for routine equa l i ty is t he calmest form of the G i u oco Piano or Italian Game. Th is ope ning i s a sequence \\"hich many novi ces practice i n their e a rly games only to give it up for a less routine approa c h . Though it w i l l s urpr i se many to see it recommended as a winning wea po n, its increasing popu l a rity results fr om new ideas des igned to give W h i te u\·crall s pace control . The opening starts 1 . e4 e S 2 . Nf3 N c6 3. Bc4 .
fig. 198
two lines: ( A ) 3 . Nf6 follo wed b y (C) Be7 .
There now are
tBI 3
.
Line A
BcS
BcS 3. 4 . d3 N f6 5. c3 In no\·ice ga mes, White automati c a l l y plays t he symm etrical 5 . N c 3 and the game proceeds somet h i ng l i ke 5 . . . . d6 h BgS Be6 7. B x e6 fxe6 w h en victory goes to whoever m a k es the la st- b ut-o ne h i under. Here W h i te's plan is m ore definite: he i n tends a space-ga i n i ng Q sJdc adva nce with b4 and a4, and a l so pre pare'> ll) hring his QN over via Q2 to the nthcr fla nk to join in a K-side atta c k . Bla(k h as pro b l e ms i n crea t i ng room for his pieces to manoeuvre, so that W h i te (an gra dua l l y b u i ld up pressure without muc h risk . 5. . . . d6 T h e freeing 5 . . . . d S i s m e t by 6 . exdS NxdS 7 . b4 Be7 8 . 0-0 0-0 9. Bb2 Bf6 10. Nhd2 g6 1 1. N e4 w i th a space advan ta ge 6 . b4 Ano ther good sche me is 6. N bd 2 , aim ing to b ri ng this k n i g h t to c4 w here it eyes t he cen tre and menaces the bla ck K B, Bron stein-Ivkov, A m sterdam 1 96 9, con tinued 6 . . . . B b 6 7 . Bb3 Be6 ? (a6 is better to provide a b ishop retreat) 8. N c4 h6 q a4 0-0 1 0 . 0-0 Re8 1 1 . Bc2 Nd7 (if Bxc4 ! 2. J\c4 and W h i te plays on the w h i te syuares by eventually b ringing h i s k night t11 Js or fS) 1 2 . a S B x c4 1 3 . a x b6 ! Bc6 1()�
1 4 . b x c7 Q x c7 1 5 . d4 ! a nd the d elayed central advance, a theme of this ope ning, gives W hite the a dvantage. The ga me went on 1 5 . . . . Bg4 1 6 . dS B x f3 1 7 . Q x f3 Nd4 1 8 . cxd4 Q x c 2 1 9 . B x h 6 ! and W hite is well on to p, for if gxh6 20. Qg4 + and 2 1 . Qxd 7 . B b6 6. . . . 7. a4 The l ogi cal fol l o w-up to the l a st move . N ow B l a c k 's bishop is threa tened w i th 8 . a 5, a nd he has to make an esc a pe squa re .
7 . ... a6 M ore ne xible than 7 .... a S 8 . b S when (a) 8 . . . . N b8 9. 0-0 0-0 1 0. BgS h6 1 1 . B h4 gS (risky) 1 2 . Bg3 ( a l so the sacri fice 12 . Nxs,5 h xg5 13 . Bxg5 N bd7 14 . Khl followed by f4 gives a strong atta c k ) Be6 13. N bd 2 N bd 7 1 4 . Ba2 Kg7 1 5 . d4 ! ( Luti kov-van Schelti nga, A mster d am 1 969) and W h i te has a fi ne game : he has carried o ut a delayed centra l push , a nd still has t h e c4 square for his k night and p l ay on the K-side. The rest of the moves show the type of mid d l e-ga me attack which can resu l t from this open i n g: 1 5 . . . . Bg4 1 6 . Qc2 N h 5 1 7 . h3 B x f3 1 8 . N x f3 N x g 3 1 9 . fxg 3 Qe8 20. Kh2 Rc8 2 1 . Rad 1 c6 2 2. bxc6 R xc6 2 3. Qb2 Bd8 24. N d 2 ! ( the k n i ght m a k es no more moves but i ts th rea t to march via c4 or fl to e 3 a nd dS ind uces Black to com prom i se his posi tion in a b id for cou nter play) N b6 2 5 . Bg3 f6 26. Rf3 g4 2 7 . hxg4 Qg6 28 . Be6 ! hS 29. g x h S Qxh S + 30. Bh3 N x a4 3 1 . Q x b 7 + Rc7 3 2 . Q b 3 N x c 3 3 3 . g4 ! a 4 34 . Q x c 3 Resigns. ( b) 8 . . . . Ne7 9 . 0-0 0-0 1 0 . N bd 2 Ng6 1 1 . B b 3 c6 1 2 . N c4 Bc7 ( C a fferty-Bryans, M a n c hester 1 9 7 9) 1 3 . Qc2 Nh5 1 4 . d4 ! ( the d e la yed central push) w i th advantage for White . 0-0 8 . 0-0 9. Nbd2 Other good moves a re 9. Na3 and 9 . B g S. 9. . . . Qe7 . h 6 1 0 . Ba2 Ba7 1 1 . b S N a 5 Or 9. 1 2 . Ba 3 R e S 1 3 . Qc2 B e 6 1 4 . B x e 6 R x e6 1 5 . R fb 1 d S ( better Bb6 though W h i te is
still better a fter 16. Bb4) 1 6 . B b4 ! cS 1 7 . B x a S Qxa S 1 8. b6 ! wins material since if B x b6 1 9. Nb3 (Miles-Sanz, Man t i l la 1 97 8 ) . In Lj u boj evic-Furman, Por toroz 1 97 5 , 9. . . . Ne7 1 0. B b 3 Ng6 1 1 . N c4 Ba7 1 2. Ra2 ( better 1 2 . Qc2) h6 1 3. Re 1 Re8 proved l evel, but White should have improvements. Ba7 1 0. Bb3 N d8 l l . N c4 Kh8 1 2 . Ra2 1 3. R ei Lutikov-Ma lisov, 1 96 9 . White's space advantage e n a b l es him to regroup his rooks w h i le B l a ck rem a i ns cramped . If now 1 3 . . . . Ng8 1 4 . d4 ! ( the del aye.d central push) w h i le the game went 1 3 . . . . bS 1 4.a x b S a x b S 1 5 . N e 3 c6 1 6. NfS BxfS 1 7 . exfS a nd White' s l ight square control pl us his atta c k i ng chances on both wings put him on top. Line B ( l . e4 eS 2. Nf3 N c6 3 . Bc4) 3. . . . N f6 3 . . . . Be7 will normally transpose into the col u m n . Be7 4. d 3 4 . . . . BcS transposes to Line A. A tricky but not q uite sound pawn sacrifice is 4 . . . . d S 5. exd S N x d S 6. 0-0 Bg4 7 . Re 1 Be7 8. h 3 B h S (if Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nd4 10 . Qg4 ! Larsen-Berger. A msterdam 1 964. favo u rs W hite, since if Nxc 2 11 . Rxe5 Nxa1 1 2. R xd5 Qc8 13 . Qxg7) 9. g4 Bg6 1 0. N x eS N x e S 1 1 . R x e S N b6 1 2 . Bb3 0-0 1 3 . N c 3 Kh8 1 4 . Bd2 Bd6 1 5 . Re2 and White can hold the attack (analysis by Marshal!) . 5. N bd2 0-0 6. 0-0 d6 7. a4
fig. 200
Black threatened b i shop by NaS . 7. . . .
to
exchange the
Be6
Oth er i d eas a re: (a) 7 . . . . a S 8. cJ Nd7 9. Re 1 Nb6 10. Bb3 Bf6 11. Nfl Be6 1 2 . NgJ Qd7' (better g6) 1 3 . B c2 Qd8 14 . d4! (the delayed a d v a nce) exd4 15. Nxd4 w i th central control and a prom i s i ng K-side attack (Ca fferty-Pe l i tov, AI bena 197 1 ). (b) 7 . . . . a6 8 . cJ NaS 9 . Ba2 cS 1 0. d4 ( now the play i s s i milar to the Ruy Lopez, and Bla c k ' s best reply is 10 . . . . cxd4 ) Nc6? 11. dS Nb8 1 2 . b4 N 8d7 1 3 . Qc2 b S 14. B b 1 B b7 1 5 . NbJ w i th a usefu l Q-side space a d v a n ta ge (Harding-Ki slov, postal game 1 974-6 ) . (c) 7 . . . . B g 4 ? (the pin merely h e l ps a White K-side atta c k ) 8. hJ B h S 9. g4 followed by Nfl-gJ-fS . X. Rei
fig. 20 1
Th is pos i ti on is s i milar to the c losed Ruy Lopez w h e re W hite a l so tries to gain spa ce on the Q-side before s w i t c h ing to the oth er fla n k . W h i te ' s b i shops are more mob i le and he has a stra ightforward atta cking plan a v a i l a ble in N fl-g 3-fS along with g4, K h 2, Rg 1 a nd attack down the g fi l e . B l ack's centr al c o u n terplay is hard to get go i ng beca u se h i s e pawn can easi l y become wea k . Exa m pl e s of play from the d i agram a re: (a ) 8 . . . . N d 7 9. cJ Bf6 10 . b4 (10. a5 is more prec i se) a S 1 1. bS N c b8 ? ( since Blac k 's bishop is n ot on the Q-si d e he can better reg roup w i th Na7-c8- b6) 12. d4 (again this d e layed a d va nce) Re8 13. Bxe6 Rxe6 14. Nc4 Re8 1S . Ra 2 ! Q c8 16 . Ba 3 Re6 1 7 . R d 2 b6 (Botte r i l l -Tata i. M i d dl e s brough 1978) and now a ccord i ng to Botterill W h i te should c onsol i da te his edge by 18. g3 h6 19. Rd 3 inten d i ng ex changes at e5 fol l owed by f4 . (b) 8 . . . . Qd7 9. a S a6 10 . h 3 h6 1 1 . Qe2 R fe8 12 . B x e6 Q x e6 1 3 . N c4 and again W h ite's su perior m i nor p i eces and space control give h im the a d v antage (Cafferty-Pritchard , British c h a m pion ship 1971) . In summary, the Q u i et Ita l i an system g i ves White good c h ances i f he can su ccessful ly blend the three underlying themes of Q-si de b i n d , Ruy Lo pez sty l e K-side atta ck, and d e l ayed cen tra l d 4 push.
T h e Karpov Lopez The Q u iet Italian opening system dis cussed a bove has a dou b le val u e : n ot o n l y i s it strong i n itse l f. w i th good pra ctical res u l t s , but its tec h n iques and strategy a rc simil a r to, a nd thus a u sefu l i n tro d u c tory course, before, the more com plex i d eas of the Ruy Lopez. The d ra w back for the a ma teur p l a yer in ta k i ng up the Lopez is the wide range of defe n ces at B l a c k ' s d isposaL ra ngi ng from ta ctical coun ters like the Bulga r i a n variation d i scussed in t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p ter to the Ma rshal! l i ne w i th a d S pawn sacrifice. Then there a re the sy stems from Nxe4 w h i c h Korc h n oi popu l a r i zed in h i s world title match w ith K a rpov as well as the c l o sed va riati ons which have been fa vourites of Ca p a b l a n ca , Ka rpov and Fischer as W h ite and a re i l l u strated in the K a r pov b i ogra phy ( p . 7 8 ) . It is n ot possi ble or even d es i ra b le to deal w i t h a l l t h ese l i n es here. Rather the pla yer who i n c l u d es the Ruy Lopez in his repertoire with VVh i te should try to he come fam i l i a r w i th them gra d ua l ly, by c h e c k i n g o ut each one in a theory book a fter com i ng a c ross it in actual play . The Cl osed Defence is the most l i kely fo rm o f the Ruy Lopez to occ u r i n prac ti ce, a nd the best way to a b sorb i ts i d eas i s to p l ay over compl ete games by ma s te rs o r strong a m a teurs in w h i c h W h i te carries out the Karpov stra tegy shown in the two biography games. W h ite's basic i d ea in the Karpov Lopez is to plug the m i d fi e ld by the a d vance d 5, then a d va nce h is Q-side pawns to o pen l i n es for the rooks (as in Karpov-Wester inen, p. 78), gain space, a nd perhaps soften up the b l a ck game ready for a l a ter switch to the K-side (as in Karpov U n z i cker, p . 78). Black can prevent or d e lay the quee n ' s w i ng raid by h i m self cou nte ring in the centre, but this in turn opens up the board and crea tes chances for W h i te ' s piec es with their greater room for m a n oeu vre. It i s general ly im porta nt for W h i te to preserve h is Ruy Lopez b i shop - the w h i te-squared one s ince this can become very effec tive in an end ing or i f the board is opened up in the l a te m i d d le game. H ere i s an example. W h i te : Unzic k e r . B la c k : Wester inen Ruy L o p e z (Haifa 1 976) 1 . e4 e S 2. NO N c6 3. BbS a6 4 . Ba4 d6 S . 0-0 Bd7 6. c3 N f6 7 . d4 Be7 8 . N b d2 0-0 9. Re 1 Re8 1 0. N fl h6 1 1 . Ng3 B£8 1 2. h3 g6 ( if N a 5 1 3 . Bc2 keeps the key bi shop) 1 3 . Bc2 Bg7 1 4 . Be3 aS ( h o l d i ng up the Ka rpov-style p a wn advance b 4 ) 1 S . Q d2 K h7 1 6 . d S Ne7 1 7 . c4 Rf8 1 8 . Rab 1 ( now aJ, b4 and c 5 cannot be
d irectly stopped, so Black counters on the other flank) N 6g8 1 9 . N h 2 f5 20. f4 (Wh i te l oo k s for ta cti cal chances based on the Lo pez b i shop's si tuation on the same d i agonal as the black k i ng) fx e4
2 1 . fxe5 B xe5 2 2 . Nxe4 N£5 23. B£2 Nf6 24. NO N x e4 25. Rxe4 B f6 26. Ra e l Rf7.
fig 202
2 7 . Q d 3! ( even w i th th ree men i n the
way, it is good technique to l i ne up p i eces on the sa me d iagonal or fi le as the e n e my k i ng if there is reasona b le prospect o f ope n i ng the l i n e. Black's posi tion here is still defe n s i ble, though uncomfortable, but by gra d u a l l y increas i n g the pressure W h i te i m p roves the cha n ce of an un fo rced erro r) R g 7 28. Rf4 B g 5 29. Nxg5 + Q x g 5 30. Q f3 R f8 3 1 . Rfl ReS? ( . . . wh i ch now occurs. After 31 . . . . h S , keeping the d iagonal closed , there is noth ing c l ear for Wh ite) 32. h4 Q f6 3 3 . h S ! (now the Lopez bish op comes i n to its own and Black's ga me collapses) Re S 3 4 . hxg6 + Qxg6 35. Bd4 Rf7 3 6 . Bxe5 dxeS 3 7 . RxfS Resigns.
Q u i te often in the K arpov Lopez Black defends i naccura tely agai nst the Q-si de atta ck and W h i te can esta b l i sh a bind there w h i l e conta ining Black on the o pposite wing. Here is a good example where W h i te uses h is d5 m i d fi eld plug to create a n outpost square at c6. There his knight dom i nates the defences and shie l d s the w h i te rooks as they penetrate to the seventh . Wh ite : R. B e l l i n . B lack : A. P h i l l i ps Ruy Lopez (Eve n i ng Standard con g ress, London 1 97 3 ) 1 . e4 e S 2 . N O N c6 3 . Bb5 a6 4 . Ba4 Nf6 S . 0-0 bS 6. B b 3 B e 7 7. Re 1 0-0 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Nd7 1 0 . d4 Bf6 1 1 . a4 bxa4 ?
( i nconsistent with the strong-point defen s i ve system of Black's moves 9-10 : better is Bb7) 1 2 . Bxa4 Bb7 1 3. d S ! (the mid field plug is parti cularly good here since it shuts out the black QB) Ne7 1 4 . b4 N b6 1 5 . Bb3 c6 (necessary to prevent W h i te's c4-c 5, but now the i solated a p a wn becomes e xposed and weak) 1 6 . c4 cxdS 1 7. cxdS g6 (the position is l i ke some regular l i nes in the K i ng's Ind ian Defence but more favoura ble to White. He has made fast progress on the Q-side, w hile B l a c k ' s K -s i d e counter has sca rcely begun) 1 8. Be3 Bg7 1 9. N fd2! (to pre pare the K-side p a wn p rotection and s w i tch the k n ight to the other w i ng) f) 109
20. 0 KhB 2 1 . N a 3 N gB 22. N dc4 N xc4 2 3 . N x c4 B h6 24. Qd2 Kg7 .
25. Na5! (strategically dec i s i v e ; the white pieces take complete co ntrol of the Q-side) B cB 2 6 . N c6 Q h4 2 7 . b5 fx e4 2B. B x h 6 + N x h 6 29. R x e4 Qg3 30. Qf2 Q g 5 3 1 . h 4! (compl eting the K-side guard) Qf6 3 2 . b 6! ( 3 2 . B c4 w i ns the a pawn but the wh ite pa ssed pawn could be bloc kaded. N ow the k n i ght contro ls the queen i ng square bB) Rf7 ( if N g4 33. Qel) 3 3 . R cl B b7 34. N a5 Q d B 3 5 . R b4! NfS 3 6 . R c7 R bB 3 7 . N c6 B x c6 3B. Rxf7 + R es i gns. If K x f7 39. dxc6 + V\' i n s .
Vi e n n a Gamb it ln co ntra st to the Quiet Ita l ian a nd the closed Ruy Lopez, the V ienna is an attacking open i ng w h i ch gets particul arly good results agai n st weaker o p ponen ts. I have used it for m a ny years i n sim ulta neous displays at chess c l u bs a n d fi nd that m a ny a verage players g o wrong in the early stages. The o p e n i ng s tarts 1 . e4 e S 2 . N c3 N f6 3. f4 d 5 ( for 3 . . . . e x f4 ? s ee Nov i ce Pit fall N o . 7. A l so i n ferior is 3. . . . d 6 4. N f3 Nc6 5 . Bc4 when B l a c k 's KB has l i ttle scope with in its o wn pa wn chain) 4 . f x e 5 N x e4 5. d 3 ( 5 . NO is a l so play a ble but less forcing).
fig 204
1 10
5. . . .
N x c3
5 . . . . Qh4 + is analysed as O p e n i ng Trap No. 5 earl i er in the book. Another l i ne, com p l ex though h ardly ever e n cou ntered in a mateur chess, is 5 . . . . B b4 6. dxe4 Qh4 + 7 . Ke2 Bg4+ B. N f3 B x c 3 9 . b x c 3 dxe4 1 0 . Qd4 ! B h 5 ! ( exfJ + ? 1 1 . g xf3 w i ns the b i shop) ll. Ke 3 ! B x f3 1 2 . B b 5 + ( 1 2. g xf3 Qe1 + 13 . Kf4 Qh5+ is a draw by perpetual check) c6 1 3 . gxf3 Qh6 + (if cxb5 14 . Qxe4 Qxe4+ 15 . Kxe4 Nd 7 w ith fa ir dra w i ng chances for Black, tho ugh Wh ite's centra l ized K is strong) 1 4 . Kxe4 Qg6 + 1 S. K e 3 ex bS 1 6 . Qe4 (better than 16 . Ba3 Nc6 1 7. Qc4 Qh6 + 1 8 . f4 Na5!) Qh6 + 1 7 . Kf2 Qa6 1 B. Rg1 w i th chan ces for both sides. If you ta ke up the V ie n na a n d, rarely. your opponent c hooses th i s l i ne, look confi dent as you play the moves. In such a rem arkable variation w h ere the white k i ng moves quickly to a nd fro over the ce ntra l squares, a player's u nderlying confi dence tends to become fragile a nd your oppon ent w i ll be easily co n v i nced you know it better than he does. 6 . bxc3 d4 The a lternati ve here is 6 . . . . Be7 ( 6 . . . . cS pro bably tra n sposes) 7. N f3 (a lso 7. d4 0-0 8. Bd J f6? 9. Qh5 g6 10 . Bxg6 h xs6 1 1 . Qxg6+ Kh 8 1 2. N{ J! Qe8 13 . Qh6 + Ks 8 14 . 0-0 f xe5 15 . Bg5 with a strong attack . a n a l y sis by Ea les. but Black can stop the sacrifice by 8 . . . . f5) 0--0 ( B lack can also try 7 . . . . c5 fo llowed by c4 a nd castli ng l ong) B. d4 c5 9 . Be2 Nc6 1 0. 0-0 BfS 1 1 . Be3 Qa5 with comp lex play (Horsema n-Gl igoric. Hasti ngs 1 9 5 67). 7. NO
T he most popular posi tion for both sides in the V i e n na Gam b i t, although it may prove to be better for Whi te than the black a l ternatives analyzed earl ier . B l a c k c an n ow choose among: Line A 7 .. . . c5 and Line B 7 . . . . N c 6 . Line A 7 . . . . c 5 7 . . . . d x c3 B . B e 2 N c 6 9. 0-0 followed by Qe1 -g 3 gi ves a s i m i lar attack . Be7 B. B e 2
0-0 9 . 0-0 f6 10. Qe 1 N ot 1 0 . . . . N c6 1 1 . Qg3 Kh. 8 1 2 . Ng5 ! w i th a strong attack. Sax-Ci ocaltea, Vrn j a c ka Banja 1 974, concl uded 1 2 . Bxg5 1 3. B xg5 Qe8 1 4. Bh5 dxc 3 1 5 . Rae 1 N d4 1 6 . B f6 RgB ? ( Ne6!) 1 7 . e6! Bxe6 (R xf6 1 8 . exf 7) 1 B. Bxd4 cxd4 1 9 . Bxf7 Qxf7 20. Rxf7 B x f7 21 . Qf4 B x a2 2 2 . Qxd4 and a di scouraged Black res igned. 1 1 . Qg3 Better than 1 1 . e x f6 B x f6 1 2 . Qg3 when Black can reply 1 1 . . . : N c6 1 2 . Bg5 Ne7
Figure 21 3 has occ urred i n several games and White ' s threat of Bh6 followed bv e x f6 and Ng5 has proved hard to parr y . Some exa mples : (a) ll. . . . fxe 5 1 2 . Bh6 Bf6 1 3 . N xe5 ! Bxe5 (or d xcJ 14. d4! Qxd4+ 15 . Kh 1 Bxe5 16 . Bc4+ w i th a w i n ning atta ck) 1 4 . Qxe5 Rf6 (g xh6 15 . Rxj8+ Qxj8 16 . R(J Qd 8 1 7. B{J) 1 5 . B xg7! a nd wins (Mil ner Barry- H a n ninen, Moscow 1 9 56). ( b) ll. . . . N c6 1 2 . Bh6 Rf7 1 3 . exf6 B x f6 1 4. Ng5 RfB 1 5 . Ne4 Be5 1 6 . Bf4 (Noskov-Stolyar, Leningrad 1 966) and Whi te should w i n . ( c) 1 1 . . . . K hB is best but Wh ite keeps the adva n tage with 1 2 . e x f6 B x f6 1 3 . Bg5 . Line B Nc6 7. . . .
fig 207
Now there are two promising a pp roaches for White : ( B 1) the forcing 8. Be2 a nd (B2) the sim pl i fying 8. cxd4 . Line B1 8 . Be2 Bc5 d xcJ + 9 . 0-0 ! 0-0 1 0. Kh 1 1 1. Q e 1 Now W h i te has the standard attacking position we already saw in line A . Black's game m ay still b e defensi ble, but he has to be careful. The game N u n n Hebden, London L ar a 1 97 9, continued 1 1 . . .. N d4 1 2. Bdl N x f3 + 1 3 . B x f3 Be6 14. Q gJ ( 14.B x b7 may be playa ble, but Wh ite logically co ntinues to go for attack) Kh8 1 5 . Be4 B d 5? ( Be7! is neces sary) 16. Bg5 (gaining a v i tal te m po, for i f now f6? 17. exf6 g x f6 18. B x d 5 and Black cannot answer fxg5 because of 19. QeS + ) Qd7 1 7 . B x h 7 ! Kx h 7 1 8 . B f6! g 5 (if g xf6 19. Rf41 Bc3 20. Rh4-+- Bh6 21. Ql4 Bxg2 + 22. Kg I 1 forces m at e) 19 . Q x g 5 Bx g 2 + 20. Q x g2 ( n o t 2 0 . Kxg 2? Rg8) Rg8 21. Qc4 .+- Resig ns. If Rg6 2 2 . Rf'S with a winn ing a t ta c k for White. Lmc 12 3 N x d4 8. cx d4 Also playable is 8 . . . . Bb4 + 9 . Bd2 B xd2 + 1 0. Qxd2 Nxd4 11. c3 N x f3 + 12. gxf3 Qh4 + ( i f 12 . .. . Qd5 13 . QeJ followed by Be2 and 0-0 a nd White keeps a space and development adva ntage) 1 3 . Qf2 Qf4 14. QgJ Q h6 1 5 . Be2 ( QeJ 16. t4) but White ' s com m a nd of central squares alo ng with the open g a nd b fi les give him t h e edge . 9 . cJ N xfJ + Be7 10. Qxf3 c6 1 1. d 4 A bett er practical try i s 11 . Be6 but then 12. Qxb7 BdS 13. QbS+ c6 14.Qd 3 Bh4+ I') Ke2 lea ves Black not quite e nou g h for a pa wn . 12. B d 3 0-0 Be6 1 3 . 0-0 14. Qe4 g6 Re8 1 5 . Bh6 16. Q e J .
.
.
f'ig 20R White
n ow
has g ood
attack i ng
c h an c e s
against the weakened K-side, w hile it is d i fficult for Bl ack to orga nize central cou n t e rpla y si nce h is pieces, particula rly the b i s hops, a re needed fo r de fence. Two illu strati ve games : Ba rden-A ndric, Chelte nham 19 5 3 : 1 6 . Qd7 1 7 . R f4 c5 1 8 . Rafl cxd4 1 9 . cxd4 Rac8 20. Qf2 Bd8 2 1 . Kh 1 ? ( m i ssing the com bination 2 1 . Qb2! a6 22. d5 Qxd5 23. Rxf7 Bxf7 24 . e6 and wins) Rc3 2 2 . Qe2 a6 2 3 . h 4 B d 5 2 4 . K h 2 Qc6 2 5 . R 1 f2 f5? 26. B x f 5 ! gxfS 2 7 . Qg4 + ! Qg6 (f xg4 28. R/8 + m a t es) 28. R x fS ! Be7 2 9 . Qf4 Rec8 30. hS Q x fS 3 1 . QxfS Bf8 32. QgS + K h 8 3 3. Rxf8 + Resigns. J. Allain-R . Drricott, postal game 1 9 7 2-3 : 16 . . . . Bf8 (the best cha nce i s c 5 at once) 17. BgS Q a 5 1 8. Bc2 cS 19. Bb 3 c4' 20.Bc2 Rac8 21 .h4 hS 22. R f6 Bg7 2 3. R l f'l Rc6 24. R6f2 (2 4 . Bxg6 i s t e m pti ng but not quite sound) BdS 2':i. Qf4 lh·7 26 816 Bf'R 2 7. QgS Qb':i 28. g4 Qd7 (ln:..; 4 29. 175) 2 9 . gxhS Qh3 30 Rh2 Qxc3 31. hxg6 Qxd4 -r .3 2. R 2f' 2 Bg7 3 3. e6! R e s igns. Black's defences a re wr eck ed. .
.
.
Meeti n g the Fre n ch The most p ro mising line for the practical player a gainst the Fre nch Defence 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 d5 i s to fo llow the wo rld champion A natoly Ka rpov w ho aims for a small b ut pers i stent advanta ge by the solid 3. N d 2 . T h i s m o v e a v oids t h e pin on the white Q N w hich occurs i n the pop u l a r variation 3. Nc3 Bb4 or in the system 3. N cJ N f6 4. Bg':i reco mmended in this book as a b lack f o r m at i o n . There are two main lines of play after 3. N d 2 . One i s 3. Nd2 N f6 which was analyzed in the previous cha pter a nd where with the w hite pi eces I recom mend t ry i n g the Korchnoi Ga m bit (p. 94) which gi ve s a naggi ng pressure di fficult to cou nter. However the more popular variation i n present-day chess is t h e svstem 3. Nd2 cS w h ich o c c urred in several games in t he t w o Karpov- Korch noi m a t ch es of 1 974 a nd 19 7 8 . Although Korch noi ma naged to hold his own with Black, he was o ften under pressu re a nd u n like most players he is a superb defender. Few of your opponents are likely to have an equally resilient tem pera ment and a m uch m o re likely course of the ga me a t cl u b and tou rnament level is that Black's game will beco me in inc reas i n gly uncomfo rta ble a nd passive as he d efends the isolated quee n ' s pawn w h i ch is the normal ha llm a rk of th i s va ria t ion . l. e4 e6 d5 2. d4 3. Nd2 c5 Two ot her lines a pa rt from N f6 and Ne7, b o t h c1 na lysed m the prev ious chapter. '
should be men tioned.
(a)
usual
. . N c6 4. c3 (simpler than the 4 . NgjJ because Black has less
3.
.
choice of reply) e5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Ngf3 exd4 (if Bg4 7. Bc4 Bxf3 8. Qb 3 ! Qd7 9. NxfJ - Keres-Botvin nik , Moscow 1955 _:_ a nd White keeps the pair of bish ops beca u se if 9. . . . Na5? 10 . Bxf 7 +! If 6. . . . e4 7. Bc4 followed by 8. Qe2 a nd the e pawn is weak) 7. B c4 Qf5 ( after Qh5 8. 0-0 is a promising gam bit). ·
Now White ca n keep an edge by both : (a 1 ) 8 . cxd4 B e6 9. 0-0 0-0-0 1 0. Bxe6 + Qxe6 1 1. Re 1 Qd5 1 2 . Qa4 f6 (or Bd6 1 3. Nc4 ) 1 3 . Nb3 gS 1 4. Be3 K b8 1 5 . Rac1 Bd6 16 . Nc5 foll owed by b4-b 5 with attacking cha nces (Geller-Lein, Tiflis 1 967) and ( a 2) 8 . Nxd4 N x d4 9 . cxd4 Be6 � ( better Bd6 followed by N e7 and 0-0. though W hite keeps the initiati ve) l 0. Qa4 + ! and Black 's k i ng pos i t i on is un sa fe (Korch noi-Hug, Palma 1972). (b) 3 . . . dxe4 4. N xe4 Nd7 is the R u b i n stein vari ation, unpopula r in pre sent-day chess beca u se Black concedes too mt,{c h free s pace to his opponent: 5. Nf3 N gf6 6 . N x f6 + N x f6 7. BdJ Be7 8. Qe2 0-0 9. 0-0 (9. Bd2 followed bv 0-0-0, i n tending a K-side attack, is also good) b6 10. c4 B b7 11. Rd 1 a nd Black rema i ns cra mped. 4 . exd5 I f you want to get out of the books quickly, an i n teresting idea is Cafferty 's recommendation 4 . dxc5 B xcS 5. BdJ Nc6 6. N gfJ N f6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. c3 Bb6 9. Qe2, when White has a favourable form of what usually occurs from the Colle System in the queen 's pawn opening ( 1 . d4 d5 2. N fJ N f6 3. eJ e6 4. N bd2 fol l owed soon by d xcS and e4) . 4. . . exd5 4. . . Qxd5 allows the black queen to be cha sed a round too m uch a fter 5. N gf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd6 (or Qc5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. Qe 2) 7 . 0-0 Nc6 8 . NbJ N f6 (if Black tries to keep the pa wn by 8.. . . e5 then 9. Rcl is strong) 9. N b xd4 N x d4 10. Nxd4 a 6 ( t oo pass i ve i s 10 . . . . Be7 11 . b3 0-0 12 Bb2 c5 I 3. Nb 5 Qx d1 14. R(\J I 8(5 1 5. Rac 1 and White 's rooks control the o pen files, Tal-Uhlmann, Moscow 1967) .
.
.
Ill
11. B b3 Qc7 1 2 . Qf3 Bd6 1 3. h3 0-0 14 . Bg'S and W h i te has the pressure (anal ysis h y Ke res) . 5. N g f3
Th1s be came the fashionable move after the 1 9 74 Karpo v-Korchnoi match where the fo rmer played it seve ral tim es . But in the 1 978 wo rld t i tle se rie s Karpov, t o general surprise , pl ayed 5 . B bS + Bd7 6. Qc2+.
as in Ho rt-Ivkov, W ij k aan Zee 19 70) N e7 1 3 . N f4 (also good is 13 . Be3, Botv i nnik Euwe, world c ham pions h i p 1 948) 0--D 1 4 . 0-D Rfd8 l 5 . Nd 3 ( Karpo v-Korchnoi, 1 6 th game 1 9 7 8 ) . Black is uncomfort able he cause of the iso lated QP: Korch n oi managed to d raw but W hite has w hat chan ces there are . (b) 6 . . . . B c 7 7 . d x c'S N fn 8. N b3 0-0 9. Bd Rc8 10. Nf3 B x c 5 (al so good for W h i te is /0 . . . . a6 1 1. Bd3 Ba4 12 . N(J4 NbJ 7 13. 0-0-0 Nxc 5 14. Nf 5. TaiPort isch, Mont real 197 9 ) . ·
1 97 1 . The pressure in such positi ons is on Black s ince if the queens are e�c hanged h is isolated pawn and dark squares are v e ry weak ) Qa5 + 1 2 . Qd2 Q x bS I 3. 0-0-0 b6 ( the natural move is 1 3. . . Bs4 but then 14 . Bd4 Ne4 1 5 . Qj4 BxjJ - or Nxc5 16 . Qxg4 w i th ad vantage 16 gx{J Nxc5 1 7. Bxg 7! g i v es W h i te a mat i ng attack) 14. N x d 7 N b x d 7 l 5 Kb 1 Nc4 (a s i gn of Ko rc hn o i 's d issa tisfact i on \Vi th his game; he seeks the queen swap he avo i d ed on move si x ) 16 . Qd3 Q x d3 17. R x d3 with the better end i n g for W h i te The bishop is superior to the knight, an d W hite can increase the pressure on the iso lated d pawn by dou b l i ng rooks on the d file and then ad vancing the K-side pawn s to und ermine the defen ding knigh t . In the sequel, Karpov got a win ning position . -
.
fig. 210
The diagram occurred in two games of the match; in the first Korchnoi d rew after being und er p ressure, in the second he escaped from the jaws of d efeat after amazi ng lapses by Karpov . Continu ations were : (a) 6 . Q e7 7. B x d 7 + N x d 7 8 . d x c5 N x c 5 9 . N b3 Q x e 2 + I 0. N x e 2 N x b 3 1 1 . ax b 3 B c 5 1 2. B d 2 (may be better sti l l is 1 2 . Ne] w h i c h is favourable for W h i te after either 1 2 . . . . Nf6 13 . Na4 fo l lowed by Be] or 1 2 . . . . 0-0-0 13 . Ra5 .
.
.
fig. 211
1 1 . N x c 5 (une x pected: Wh ite can al so play 1 1 . Bxd 7 Nbxd 7 1 2. Nxe 5 r; xe 5 1 3 . Qb5 ReB 14 . 0-0 a 6 1 5. Qb4 Re4 16 . QJ 2 h 6 1 7. Rad 1 w i th a sl ight edge to W h i te in the Larsen-U h l mann match,
5. . . .
Nc6
6. 7. 8. 9.
Bd6 Ne7 Bxc5 Bd6
Not so good i s 5 . . . . c4 6. b3 c x b3 (or b5 7. a 4 Qa5 8. Ne5 !) 7. B b 5 + Bd 7 8 . Qe2 + when W h i te is ahead in development and w i l l have the use of the a fi le after reca ptu r i ng a x b 3 . 5 . . Nf6looks naturaL but the knight is rea lly needed on e 7 : 6. BbS + Bd7 (or Ne 6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. dxc5 Bxe5 9. Re 1 + Bt'7 10. Qe2 w i th advantage) 7 . Bxd7 + Nbxd7 8. 0-D Be7 9 . d x c 5 N x c 5 1 0 . N b3 Nce4 1 1 . Nfd4 Qd7 1 2 . Q f3 0-0 13. NfS Rfe8 1 4 . N x e 7 + Rxe7 1 5 . Be3 and White is better with his strong bishop p\us the u sual play aga i ns t the i solated pa\"-'n (Keres-Iv kov, Bam berg 1 968) . .
Bb5 0-0 dxc5 Nb3
fig. 21 2
1 0. Bg5
This posi tion produced a remarka ble theoretical battle in the 1974 Karpov Korchnoi match where the latter success ful ly parri ed Karpov's attempts to reach a posi tion where Black would be le ft w i th e i ther or both of a weak i solated pawn in a s i m pl i fied position or a ' bad' w h i te-squared b i s hop handicapped by the d and other pawns on l i ght squares. Korchnoi managed to hold all these 112
games by a c tive de fe nce - b ut at m ore modest lev els of c hess B l a c k ' s defe nce is more likely to falter tha n W hite's c l ear plan of strategy . 0-0 1 0. . . . Now th ere are two good idea s : (a) l l . B h4 a nd if Q c 7? 1 2 . Bg3 swa p ping off the dark-squa red b i shops or 1 1 . . . . B g4 1 2 . Be2 BhS 1 3. R e 1 Qb6 1 4. N fd4 Bg6 1 S . c 3 R fe8 1 6 . Bfl Be4 1 7 . Bg 3 Bxg 3 1 8 . hxg3 a S 1 9 . a4 N x d4 20. N x d4 N c6 2 1 . B b S R fd8 2 2 . g4 ! N xd4 2 3. Qxd4 Qxd4 24. c xd4 R a c8 2 S . f3 Bg6 26. Re7 ( Karpov- U hlmann, Madrid 1 97 3) and White utili zed the fa v o u ra ble factors in the position (out-of-play bla ck B, rook on the seventh , and weak bla ck b and d pa\.\:n s) to w i n a fine en din g . Best aga i nst 1 1 . Bh4 is t h e counter attack 1 1 Q b 6 w hen W h i te can sti l l try 1 2 . a 4 Bg4 1 3 . B e 2 (also interesting i s 13 . hJ Bh5 14 . a 5 Qc7 15 . Be2) N fS 1 4. a S Q c 7 1 S . Bg3 N xg 3 1 6 . h x g 3 when B l a c k has kept his m ore a ctive bishop b ut White still has pressure agai nst the Q side and the i solated paw n . ( b) 1 1 . R e 1 Q c 7 1 2 . c 3 Bg4 1 3 . h 3 B h S 1 4 . Be2 h 6 1 5 . Bxe7 N xe7 1 6 . Nfd4 Bxe2 1 7 . Qxe2 ( Karpov-Korch noi, 1 8th match game 1 974 ) . A few moves later, Karpov excha nged a pair of k n i ghts to rea ch a knight t'. b i shop situ ation- but this time Korchnoi's bishop was the ' good', dark squared one, wh ile the queens also re mained on the board In the sequel, W hite 's pre ssure aga i n st the d pawn proved insuffic ient for a win, but it took i ngenious defence by K orchnoi to hold the game a nd in pra ctical play the posi tion gives good chances with White . .
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.
.
Sici l i a n D efe n ce - t h e £2,000 Cutty Sark Attack One of the popular a n n ua l c h ess events in Britain is the Cutty Sark Whi sky G ra nd Prix which is decided on overall results o f tourna ments duri ng t h e year. F irst prize is £2,000 a nd there is extra weighting for good re sults in the most i mportant event. Many qua l i fy i ng tournaments on the Cutty Sark c i rcuit are weekend con gresses where a la rge e n try fi ghts it out over fi ve or six rou nds o f play. U nder these condit i ons a high percen ta ge is required to win and posi tive play is encoura ged. A freq uent p ro b lem for the competitor in such tournaments is how to counter the Sic i l i an Defence 1 . e4 c 5, the most frequently met reply to I . e4 . Da v id Rumens, who twice won the Grand P rix, relied on a little-known system a i m ing at sharp play a nd an early k i ng's side at tac k . Tony Miles used the variation several tim es on the way to becoming Brita i n ' s first grandmaster a nd g a i n i ng the £5000 S later award w h i ch went w ith the title . Other young e x perts were attracted by the success of Ru mens and
Miles a nd the system has at the time of writing become one of the most popular a nd successful ways to counter the Sic i l ian on the B ritish weekend circ u i t . T he overall i deas i s not n ew; a si m ila r plan w i th the black pi eces was played by Bob by Fischer in 1 969 a nd some of the variations also spring from the Dutch ma ster V i n ke n . But given the many refinements a nd e x a mp les from English congresses, the name 'Cutty S a rk Atta c k ' seems a n ap propriate title for t h e syste m . c5 I. e4 2. f4 Grandmaster Bent Larsen once made the provocative o bservation that 2. N f3 and .3. d4 ( t he cla ssical procedure aga i n st the S i cilian Defence) is ' so meth i ng like a cheap tra p' beca use it e xchanges a central pawn for one on the fla n k . O ne very clear plus for 2 . f4 agai nst 2 . Nf3 is that it dra stically cuts down the amount of book theory you need to know in the hig hly analyzed S i cilia n . The white system can also b e i n tro duced by 2. N c 3 w h i c h cuts out B la c k ' s option of 2 . . . . d S and a fter 2 . . . . N c 6 3 . f4 d 6 l e a d s t o positions a n alyzed below. However it has the d ra wback that Black n eed n ot play d6 and can i nstead adopt the formation ( 2 . N c 3) Nc6 3 . f4 g6 4. N f3 Bg7 5. Bc4 (if 5. B b S Nd4) e6 6. fS N ge7 which im proves his c ha nces of getting a good open i ng.
Be7 1 1 . Q b 5 + N bd7 1 2 . Qxb7 R b8 1 3 . Qxa7 Qc8 1 4 . Qa4 0-0 1 5 . O-O'N b6 1 6 . Q b S N c 4 ? 1 7 . N xd5 ! Resign s . (c) 2 . . . Nf6 3. Nc3 dS 4 . e5 d4 (if Nfd7 5 . Bb5) 5. e x f6 dxc 3 6. fxg7 c xd2 + 7. Qxd2 Qxd2 + 8. B x d 2 Bxg7 9 . 0-0-0 Bf5 1 0. N e 2 Nc6 1 1 . Be3 with adva ntage. si nce Bla c k ' s Q-side is wea k . M iles Plach etka, Du b na 1 976, fin i s h ed 1 1 . . . R c 8 ? ( better b6 though this weakens the a6 a nd bS squa res ; with his actual move Black sets the trap 1 2. B xc 5 ? N b4 !) 1 2 . Ng3 Bg4 1 3 . R d 5 ! Rd4 1 4 . Bxd4 cxd4 1 S . B b 5 Bd7 1 6 . N e4 Rd8 1 7 . Bxc6 ! bxc6 1 8 . R xd4 B fS 1 9 . Ra4 Rd7 20. N g3 Be6 2 1 . Rd 1 Rc7 2 2 . f5 Bc8 2 3 . Rg4 e5? 24. N e4 Ke7 25. f6 + Ke6 2 6 . h 3! Resigns beca use of Rd6 + a nd Ng3 mate . .
fig. 214
3. NO This is again more fle x i ble than 3 . Ne 3 beca use it lea v es W h i te the opti on to develop his b i shop at c4 or b 5 , wherea s the kn ight in this system rarely emerges at any squa re other than f3. This prin c i ple of mai nta i n i ng your options is fu nda mental in accu rate opening pla y . 3. . . . d6 Both 3 . . . . g6 and 3 Nf6 wi l l nor m a l ly transpose i nto l ines considered later, b ut may develop differently. After 3. . . . g6 4. NcJ Bg7 5. Bc4 Black can reply 5 . . . . e6! so as to advance . . . � 5 in one jump, but Whi te can a void this by ( 3 . Nf3 g6) 4. Bb5! Bg7 5. Bxc6 b x c6 6. d3 and Bla c k 's pawn front lacks fle x i bi l ity. An example is Hebden-Leow, Lloyds Ban k 1 979, which continued 6 . . . . R b8 7. Nc3 d6 8. 0-0 Nh6 ? 9. Qe l 0-0 1 0. f5 e6 ? ? 1 1 . f6 ! a nd wi n s . Another l i ne is 3 . Nf6 4 . N c 3 d5 5 . e5 d4 6. e x f6 d x c 3 7. fxg7 c xd2 + 8. Qxd2 Bxg7 9. Qxd8 + Nx d8 1 0 . B b S + Bd7 1 1 . Bxd7 + Kxd7 1 2. c 3 fs 1 3. Be 3 Kc6 1 4 . 0-0-0 Nf7 1 5 . Rhe 1 Rad8 ? (Rh e8 avoids the follow i ng tactic and keeps White's advantage m i n i ma l ) 1 6 . Rxd8 R x d 8 ? 1 7 . Bxc 5! K x c 5 1 8 . R xe7 RfB 1 9 . R x b7 with a w i n n i ng endgame for Wh ite ( M i les-G l igoric, T i l burg 1 9 7 7 ) . In this v a r iation ( 3 . . . . N f6 4 . N c 3 ) e 6? i s du b i ous a fter 5 . B b 5 Nd4 6. e51 .
fig. 213
. . . N c6 Several other moves a re possi b l e: (a) 2 . . . . dS 3. exdS Qxd5 4. N c 3 QdB 5. N f3 N f6 ( better 5 . . . . Nc6 6 . Bc4 Nf6 7. Ne5 Nxe5 8. fxe5 Qd4 9. Qe2- 9. B b 5 + at once may i m p ro ve - Bg4 1 0. Bb5 + Nd7 1 1 . Qe4 0-0-0 with l e v el play, Hodgson Fra nklin , Lloyds Bank 1 97 7) 6 . Ne5 ! e6 6. Qf3 Be7 7. b.3 a6 8. B b2 N bd7 9. 0-0-0 with good attacking chan ces ( Zinn Min ev, Halle 1 96 7 ) . ( b) 2 . . . . e 6 3 . N f3 d 5 4 . B b 5 + Bd7 5 . Bxd7 + Qxd7 ( better Nxd7) 6 . N e S Qc7 7 . exd 5 e x d 5 8. N c 3 with a d evelopment lead for White. Larsen-Br i n c k-Claussen, Danish c ha m p ionship 1 964, concluded 8 . . . . N f6 9. Qf3 Qd8 ? ( b etter d4) I 0. Qe2 2.
.
.
.
.
.
.
113
N x b 5 7 . N x b 5 N d 5 8. c4 ! ( a n improve ment on 8 . 0- 0? a 6 w hen Black sta n d s wel l . Hod gson-Waters. L l o y d s Bank 1 97 7) N x f4 9 . d4 N g6 1 0. 0-0 cxd4 1 1. N g 5 ! with a winning atta c k . T he ga me Hod gson-van Baarl e. Lloyds Bank 1 978. finished 1 1 . . . . f6 12. e x f6 gxf6 1 3 . N e4 Be7 1 4 . N b d 6 + B x d 6 1 5 . N x d 6 + Ke7 1 6 . Q x d4 Qa5 1 7 . c5 e5 1 8 . Qd 5 Qa4 1 9 . Q f7 + Kd8 20. Q x f6 + Kc7 2 1. N e8 + ! R xe8 2 2 . Qd6 + Kd8 2 3 . B g 5 + N e7 24. Bxe7 + Rxe7 2 5 . R f8 + Re8 2 6 . R x e8 + Kxe8 2 7 . Qxe5 + K d 8 28. Q f6 + Kc7 29. Qd6 + Resigns . Finally there i s t h e l ine ( 1 . e 4 c 5 2. f4 Nc6 3 . N f3) e6 4 . Ne) d 5 (if 4 . . . . a6 White can switch to a different atta ck scheme by 5 . g 3 ! e.g. d6 6 . B g2 B e7 7 . 0-0 Nf6 8. d 3 0-0 9. h 3 Qc7 1 0 . g4, H e b d en Quinn, Lloyds Bank 197 9). 5. B b 5.
concluded 1 1 . . . . N x g4 12. Rg1 N f6 1 3 . Be3 Rfe8 1 4 . Qh4 g6 1 5 . f5 ! e x f5 1 6 . N g 5 N eS 1 7 . N d 5 Qc6 1 8 . N x f6 + B x f6 19 . B x f7 + KfB 20. Bd5 Qc8 2 1 . N x h 7 + Ke7 2 2 . Q x f6 mate . 5. B c4 6 . 0-0
Bg7
8. . . .
a6
I n the game Rumens-Rooney. Thanet Open 1 978, Black tried 8 . . . Nd4 ? and the result was a nother cla ssic il lustration of da rk-square assault on the black k i ng: 9. Nxd4 c x d4 10 . Ne2 0-0 1 1. f5 ! exf5 1 2 . d 3 ! Nc6 1 3 . Bg5 Qc7 1 4. N f4 Ne5 15 . N d 5 Qa 5 1 6 . b4 Qa3 1 7 . Bf6 Be6 1 8 . Qh6 ! Resigns. I f Bxh6 1 9 . N�7 mate . .
The d i agra m is a fa m i l i a r pos1t10n to spe c i a lists in the Cutty Sark Atta ck . B l a c k ' s two lines a re ( A) 6 . . . . e6, n ormally assoc iated with devel oping the KN at e7 a nd (B) 6 . . . . Nf6. Line A
This is o ne of B l a c k ' s better d e fe nsive ideas. though W h ite retains good practi cal chances: 5. . . . N g e 7 (oth erwise Bxc6 weakens the Q-side pa w n s) 6. e x d S exd S? ( b etter Nx d5, Smyslov-O l a fsson. 19 59) 7 . Qe2 (anticipating . . . a 6) Bg4 8. Bxc6 + bxc6 9 . 0-0 Qd6 1 0 . b 3 Qe6 (if 10 . . . . Qx{4 . 1 1 . R aJ, w hile if 10 . . . . c4 1 1 . bxc4 Qc 5 + 1 2. Kh 1 and B la c k ' s K was ca ught in the centre of the board in Zin n-Doda. Lugano 1968) 1 1 . Qf2 Bx f3 12 . Q x f3 N fS 1 3 . B a 3 with fine atta c king chan ces. The fi nish of R u mens-J. Benj a min. Charlton 1 97 6 . was 1 3 . N d 4 1 4 . Q d 3 Q f5 1 5 . Rae 1 + Kd7 1 6 . Qa6 Kc7 1 7 . Qa 5 + Kd7 1 8 . N a4 Qxc2 19 . N b6 + a x b6 20. Qxa8 N e6 2 1 . Q b 7 + Nc7 2 2 . Re8! Kxe8 2 3 . Qc8 + Ke7 2 4 . Q x c 7 + K e 6 2 5 . Re 1 + K fS 2 6 . Qe5 + Kg4 27. Qg5 mate . 4 . Nc3
Once Black h as c o mmitted h i msel f to . . . d 6. W h i te can continue w i th N c 3 and Bc4 co nfident that the cou nter d5 will not slow d o wn his atta c k . 4. . . g6 At this stage 4 . . . . e6 is ra rely played a nd appea rs too slow : 5 . Bc4 N f6 6. 0-0 Be7 7. Q e l 0-0 8. d 3 a6 9. a4 B d 7 ' 1 0 . K h 1 Qc7 1 1. g4' with a powerful attack. Rumen s-B. Valentine. Surrey O pen 1978. .
114
6. . . . 7 . Qe 1
e6
O nce Black has a d va n c ed an early e6, this seems more pre cise than 7 . fS ex£) 8. d3 a nd now : (a) 8 ... . N f6 ? 9 . Qel 0-0 1 0. Qh4 Nd4 (better Be6, but W h ite keeps the edge by 1 1 . exf5 Bxf5 1 2. Bg5 h6 13 . Bxh6 Bxh6 14 . Qxh 6 Ng4 15 . Qj4 according to the Dutch ana lyst van Wijgerden) 1 1 . Bg5 Be6 ( Nxc 2? 1 2 . Nd5 Nxa 1 13 . Nxf6 + Bxf6 14 . Bxj6 a nd 15 . Qh 6 forc i ng mate. This da rk-square attack on the black king fo rms the underlying stren gth of the Cutty S a rk system) 1 2 . N x d 4 ! exd4 1 3. e x f5 ! d x c3 (Bxc4 14 . Ne4 or gxf5 14 . Nd5) 14 . fx e6 d 5 ? (cx b2 is a better c ha nce) 1 S. e7 Qxe7 1 6 . B b 3 c x b 2 1 7 . Rae 1 a n d White wins a pi ece and the game (Timman-Balj o n. Dutch cham pio nship 1 9 78). ( b) 8 . . . . Nge7! 9 . Qe 1 h6 ( a l so good is Ne5, as i n van Wijgerden-Reshevsky. IBM 1 9 7 7) 1 0. e x f5 B xf5 1 1 . g4 Bc8! and White ' s atta ck is repu l sed, says van Wijgerd e n . N ge7 7. . . . 7 . . . . N f6 will proba bly tra ns pose to
the previ ous note .
8 . Qh4
9. d 3 10 . B b 3 1 1 . f)
b5 NaS?
11. 1 2. 13. 14. 15 .
gxfS Qc7 Nxb3 b4
Decentralizing the k night. Rumens pre fers Bd7 or h6. O nce again the fa m i l iar gambit. It is still strong here because. as the con tinuation show s, the BK is no safer in the centre than castled short . . . . Bg5 Rae 1 axb3 Nd5 !
Rumens- Whiteley, Nottingham 1 978. The k night sa crifice shatters Black's position, for if 1 S . . . . exd5 1 6 . exdS Be5 1 7 . N x eS d xeS 1 8 . Bf6 ! The game con tinued 1 5 . . . . Nxd5 1 6. exd5 e5 1 7 . Bf6 Kf8 1 8 . Bxg7 + Kxg7 1 9 . QgS + K£8 20. Qh6+ Ke7 and now 2 1 . Qg7 Qd8 22 . Nxe5 dxe5 2 3 . Rxe5 + wins by destroy
ing the BK's defensive cover . Line B
6. . . .
Nf6
7. fS !
In this line the pawn is best adva nced at once before Black has the chan ce to go . . . e6 a nd recapture with the e pawn. However 7. d3 0-0 8. f5 often transposes. while 7 . d3 0-0 8 . Qe1 did well in Rumens- M . L. Roberts, Tha mes Valley 1 977:8 . . . . a6 ? 9. Q h4 Nd4 1 0 . fS N xf3+ 1 1. Rxf3 b 5 1 2 . B b 3 gx fS 1 3 . BgS fxe4 1 4 . N x e4 ! N xe4 1 5 . B xe7 Bd4 + 16 . Kh 1 B f6 ? 1 7 . R x f6! Qxe7 18 . Rg6 + hxg 19 . Qxe7 and win s. 0-0 7. . . . 8 . d3 gxfS If 8 . . . . N aS 9. fxg6 hxg6 1 0 . Qe 1 a6
1 1 . Qh4 threatening Bh6 fol l owed by Ng5. or Ng5 at once. with a powerful atta c k . 9 . Q e1
tern, I recommend the IQP system against the Caro-Kann Defence 1 . e4 c 6 . T h e normal sequence of moves i s 1 . e4 c6 2 . d 4 d S 3 . e x d 5 cxd5 4 . c4 N f6 5 . N c 3 e6 6. N O B e 7 7 . cxd5 N x d S 8 . B d 3 0-0 9 . 0-0 N c6 1 0 . R e 1 . Some players prefer t o m eet the Caro K ann by l . e4 c6 2. c4 when a fter 2 . . . . d 5 3 . c x d 5 e x d S 4 . exd 5 N f6 5 . N c 3 N x d 5 6 . d4 e6 7. N f3 Be7 the · same position occurs w i th l ess chance for Black to side ste p .
fi g . 2 1 8
9. . . . fx e4 Weak is 9 . . . . N a S 7 s i nce the knight is vulnera ble a fter 1 0 . Bd 5 ! fxe4 (e6 1 1 . Bg5 exd5 1 2. Nxd5 threatening 13 . Nxf6 + Bxf6 14 . Bxf6 Qxf6 15 . Qxa 5) 1 1 . Ng5 e6 1 2. R x f6 ! Q x f6 1 3 . Be4 h6 1 4 . N h7 Qd8 1 5 . Qg 3 and W h i te regai ns the sacrifi ced material with a continuing attack (Bellon Merino, Orense 1 974) . 1 0. dxe4 B g4 This plan was introduced by the Engl ish grandmaster John N unn to b l unt the impact of the Cutty S ark Attack by piece exc hanges . But his scheme was bril l iantly refuted in Hod gson-Nunn. Aaronson Open 1 97 8 : 1 1 . Q h4 B x O 1 2 . R x D N e S 1 3 . R h3 N g6 ( N x c4 ? 1 4. Nd 5 ) 1 4 . Qg3 Qd7 1 5 . N d 5 N x d 5 16. B x d 5 e6 1 7 . B b 3 d 5 1 8 . Q O ! c4 19. Ba4 ! (sacri fi c ing the bi shop for a winning atta ck) Q xa4 20. Q h 5 R fd8 2 1 . Qx h 7 + K f8 2 2 . Bh6 B x h 6 2 3 . R x h 6 R d 7 24. R fl K e8 2 5 . Qg8 + N f8 2 6 . Rxe6 + ! K d8 (fx e6 2 7 . Qxf8 m a te or Re7 2 7 . Q x f7 + ) 2 7 . Q x f8 + Kc7 2 8 . Q c 5 + K d 8 2 9 . R h 6 R e s i gn s . Sum ma ry : The Cutty Sark Attack needs to be known by any bo d y w ho plays for or a ga inst the S i c i lian Defence in congress or match play. It scores around 75 per cent for White on the British c i rcuit and the basic p l an ( f4-f5, Qe 1 -h4, B h6, NgS. N d S) is easy to under stand a nd memorize. H owever there are a va riety of p lans for White and i m p rove ments are l i kely to be found in such a sharp and tac ti ca l l ine. W hether you take it on for W hite, B la c k , o r both si des, detailed know l ed ge should prove very rewarding. Agai nst the Ca ro-Ka n n : the I QP system The ad vantages and d ra w backs of an isolated d or queen's p a wn (IQP) have been keenly d e bated for m any year s among masters a n d tou rnament p layers, but the pros and cons stil l remain to a considera ble extent a m atter o f ta ste . Fol low ing the p rinc i p le of m a x i m i zing the chance of reaching the prepared sys-
fig. 2 1 9
This i s one o f the key positions w h i c h can a l so occur by pla usi b le moves from a Q-side opening. It is often reached via the Tarrasch Defence : 1. d4 d 5 2 . c4 e6 3. Nc3 c 5 4. NO N f6 5. c x d 5 N x d 5 6. e3 Nc6 7. B d 3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Be7 9 . 0-0 0-0 1 0. Re 1 . W h ite strategy The strategy for both sides from IQP positions i s s i mple. White's assets are more s pace, chances for attack a gainst the black king, the IQP' s support for a knight outpost at e 5 , and the c hance of a central break with d 5 . The logic o f this inventory o f plus factors is that White should prepare for a mating a ttack against B lac k ' s K by d e p loying his Q at d3 and his k ing's b i shop at c 2 or b l, protected b y the pawn at a3 from harassment by . . . N b4 . White 's king's rook belongs at e 1, where it in creases the power of a d5 central b reak, supports the knight outpost square e5, and can perhaps j oin in the K-side atta ck via e 3 or e4. The queen ' s bishop nor m a l ly goes to g5 w i th ideas of B(g5)xN (f6) and Qxh7 mate. W hite's knights find support from the IQP at e5 or perhaps c 5 . . B lack strategy W h i le W hite thus goes for middle game atta c k, Black a ims for the endgame. He tries to b lockade the IQP with a kni g ht at dS, which not only stops the pawn ' s a dvance b u t may a l so force p iece ex c hanges to simpl i fy the d e fender's tas k .
F o r e x a m p le, if t h e w hite queen's bi shop goes prematurely to gS, Black · may be a ble to reply . . . N d 5 swapping not only d a rk-squared b i shops but also a pair of knights . B la c k c an atta c k the IQP d i rectly w ith pieces on the d file, and he can often start counterplay on the long b l ack d iagonal by . . . B b 7 . Final ly, i f B lack can rea ch the end game, he can expose W h i te's major l i a bi l i ty. When few pieces remain on the board, W h i te has to protect his weak IQP and stop the b l ack men, l ed by the k ing, inva d i ng his position. Often he can not manage both . W h i te ' s edge Most masters at p resent prefer to play with, rather than against, the IQP in the pa rticu l a r setti ng of the l ast d i agra m . Many I Q P games a r e deci ded b y White b rea k ing through in the centre before B lack c an prepare and execu te h is block ade. T h e main l ine of t h e I Q P sy stem inc l u d es a promising trap featu ring this central b reak . B lack's moves are so natural that the trap caught out one interna tional master and three grand ma sters - a mong them the grandest of alL world champion Karpov - within the space of four years. 10. . . . N f6 Intend ing to protect the K-side and home in on the IQP. There a re severa l a l ternatives : (a) 10 . . . . Bd7 1 1 . a3 fol lowed by Bc2 and Qd 3 as in the column. ( b) 1 0 . . . Bf6 1 1 . a3 (also 11. N e4 going for the two bishops is worth trying) Nxc3 (Nxd4 1 2. Nxd4 Bxd4 1 3. Bxh7 + is a favoura ble pawn s wap for White) 1 3. bxc3 b6 1 4. Qc2 with simil ar play to variation (c). (c) 1 0 . . . N xc3 1 1 . bxc3 and now : ( c 1) 1 1 . . . b6 was refuted in PenroseN i l s son, Varna, 1 962 by 1 2 . Qc2 g6 1 3 . Bh6 Re8 1 4 . h4 Bf8 (Bxh4 ? 1 5. Bb5 and Qe4 wins a piece) 1 5. BgS Be7 1 6. Bb5 Bd7 1 7 . Qe4 NaS 1 8. Bxd7 Qxd7 1 9. Ne5 Qd8 ? (better Qd5 although 20. Qxd5 exd5 2 1 . Nd7 wins at least a pawn) 20. N xf7 ! Resigns. If 20 . . . . Kx£7 2 1 . Qxe6 + Kf8 (Kg7 22. Bxe7) 22. B h6 mate . (c2) 1 1. . B f6 1 2. Qc2 g6 1 3. Bh6 Re8 1 4 . Rad 1 a l so proved very strong for White in Hutchings-Solmundarsson, H a i f� 1 976 : 14 . . . . Qc7 1 5 . h4 Bg7 (if 15 . . . . e5 1 6 . d5 or 15 . . . b6 1 6. h5 Bb7 .
.
.
.
.
1 7. hxg6 hxg6 1 8. Bxg6 fxg6 1 9. Qxg6 + Bg7 20. Ng5) 1 6. Bxg7 Kxg7 1 7 . d 5 ! Ne7
1 8. d6 Qxd6 1 9. BbS and Black resigned . (d) 10 . . . . N c b4 1 1 . B b 1 b6 only helps White' s attack a fter 1 2. a 3 Nxc3 1 3 . bxc3 Nd5 1 4. Qd3 N f6 1 5. N g 5 g 6 1 6. Qh3 (Sza b o-Pogats, Kecskemet 1 96 2 ) . 1 1 . a3 W h i te intends to esta b l i sh a battery o f B at c2 and Q at d 3, so stops B l a c k ' s resource 1 15
of
e x c h a n g i n g by N b4 . 1 10
0
0
0
b6
The a l terna ti ves a6 and Bd7 a re m et i n s 1 m i l a r sty l e 1 2 0 Bc2 1 3 0 Qd3
Bb7
fi g . 220 1 30
0 0 0
R e8 ?
T h i s n a t u ra l move i s a l ready a d e c i s i v e g6 m i s t a k e . A bet ter p l a n i s 1 3 . 1 4 . B h6 R e8 1 5 . Rad I ReS a l though W h i te s t i l l h o l d s t h e i n i t i a t i ve . Two e x a m p l es : ( a ) 1 6 . B b 3 N a S 1 7 . Ba2 N d S 1 8 . N e4 Rc7 1 9 . N e S B f8 20. Bg S Be7 2 1. B x e7 Rexe7 2 2 . B x d S e x d S 2 3 . Nf6 + Kg7 1 4 Qh 3 1 w i th a s t ro n g attack (Ch ristian sen- G heorgh i u , Malaga 1 97 7 ) . ( b) 1 6 . h 4 N d S 1 7 . N x d S Q x d S 1 8 . Q d 2 Q d 6 1 9 . B e4 N a S 2 0 . B x b7 N x b7 2 1 . N g S N a 5 2 2 . d 5 1 ( R i bl i -G heorgh i u . Wa rsaw 1 9 7 9) w he n W h i t e ' s a c t i ve roo ks m a d e t he d e fe n ce d i ffi c u l t . 1 4 0 dS ! 1 So
BgS
1 50 160
Nxe4
exdS
A n i m portant fi n esse in W h i te ' s ov era l l p l a n h a s been t o keep fo r a s l o n g as pas s i ble the o pt i on of d e v e lo p i n g t h i s b i s h o p at f4. gS or g6. The po i n t o f the t e m pora ry p a \v n sa c r i fi ce i s t h a t 1 5 . g6 l oses t o 1 6 . R x c 7 Q x e7 1 7 . N x d S - hence B l a c k ' s a n swer i s aga i n fo rced . N e4
1 7 0 Qxe4
d x e4 g6
1 8. Qh4
U n til h ere. a l l the four master gam es w e re ca r bon co p i es ex cept that in the other t h ree Black had Rac8 thro wn in a s a n e x tra m o v e because t h e d iag ram occu r red from a diffe rent open i ng on move 1 9 . T h e game Porti sch-Karpov, M i lan 1 9 7 5 , t h e m o st important for t his open-
J o h n N u n n con cen t ra t es a t H a s t i n:;:s
hcl l e t·cs
1 980 . H e
w a rc:-; u l a r rhyt h m . n u t m or e t h a n
f l t 'c m i n u i i!S a m o t 'l!, i o a vo i d poss i b l e b l u n J
cfu c l o I i m c p ress u re Ka rp o u is a l s o a q u 1 ck 1 /l i l � 'L'I , h u t Korc h n1J1 anJ o t h l! r wor/J s t li n r l / I L'IJ h li t 't' o n ! \' scco nJs t o he a t t h e c l o c k a t t h e 1 1 m c co n t ro l
1 16
ing because it fea tured the world cham pion and one of his l ea ding r i va l s, went l . d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3 . N c 3 B b4 4. e3 cS 5. Bd3 dS 6. N f3 0-0 7. 0-0 d xc4 8. Bxc4 cxd4 9. exd4 b6 1 0. R e 1 Bb7 1 1 . a 3 Be7 1 2 . Bd3 Nc6 1 3 . Bc2 Re8 1 4. Qd 3 R c8 1 5 . d S ! and so on. It m i ght be thought that the developing Rc8 would be a useful little extra for B l a c k, but in fa ct the roo k ' s different post does nothing t o stop W h i te ' s ensuing tactic s .
22. . . .
Rh8
Crea ting a fl ight square for the k i ng at e8. The other games a lso rea c h ed this position (w ith black rook at c8 instead of a8 and move 23 i nstead of 2 2). Black made different but equal l y hopeless a ttem pts to rescue his trapped k i n g . Petrosia n-Ba lashov, Moscow 1 974, went 2 3 . . . . Qd6 24. Qc4 + K f6 25. Rad 1 Nd4 2 6 . Qxd4 + Qxd4 2 7 . Rxd4 ReS 28. h4 Resigns, whil e S. G a rcia-Pomar. San Fel iu 1 97 5 , finished 2 3 . . . . Bd6 24. NgS + K f6 2 5 . Nh7 + ! Resi gns because of Qxh7 26. Qf3 + a nd m a te next move. The ga me in the column is Wi rtensohn -P ritc hett, Clevel a nd 1 97 9 . Pritchett, Scotla n d · s l ea d ing player, remem be red n one of the th ree precede nts, and his rook move a lso led to a d e b a c l e for B l a c k . 23. ended Wi rte n sohn-Pritchett Qe6 + K e8 2 4 . Rad l N d8 2 5 . Qxg6 + N f7 26. N g 5 Q c4 2 7 . N x f7 Q x f7 2 8 . R x e 7 + ! K x e 7 29. Q d 6 + R e s i g n s be
c a u se of K e8 30. Re I + and mates .
18. . . .
Qc7
This w a s move 1 9 in a l l t h e other games. To Karpo v ' s cred it, he now rea l ized the desperate nature of Black's position a n d played 1 9 . . . . h S 2 0 . R a d 1 Q c 7 to try a n d confuse t h e issue. The reply 2 1 . B b 3 threateni ng 2 2 . Qe4 should win the game (and in this case wou l d have put Portisch in line for a $ 1 2 , 000 fi rst prize) but W h i te misca l cula ted w i th the sac ri fice 2 1 . Bxg6 ? a nd only d re w . An expen sive rush of blood to the hea d ! 19. Bb3
Threa tening 2 0 . B x f7 + Qxh 7 + Kf8 2 2 . Bh6 m ate . 19. . . . hS 2 0 . Qe4
Kg7
2 1 . B x f7! 2 2 . B h6
K x f7
To stop 2 1 . Qxg6 + .
Kxf7
I QP sy stem - o t h er variati ons B l a c k ' s various m ethod s of sidetra c king W h ite from the m ain l i ne of the IQP sys tem a re d i scussed belo w . Chances for B l a c k to diverge occur after the basic moves l . e4 c6 2. d4 dS 3. e x d 5 c x d 5 4 . c 4 N f6 5. Nc 3 .
White, Fisc her-Euwe, Leipzig 1 9_6 0) 1 4 . N x d S + QxdS 1 5 . Qxd 5 exdS 1 6 . Be3 with endgame prospects d ue to the 2- 1 Q-side pawn m aj ority . (b) 5 . . . . e6 6. N f3 Nc6 (6 . . . . Bb4 is a l so slightly fa voura ble for White a fter 7. c xd5 Nxd5 8. Bd2 0-0 9. BdJ b6 1 0. Nxd5 Bxd2 + 1 1 . Nxd2 exd5 1 2. 0- 0 Ba 6 13 . Nf3 Bxd3 14 . Qxd3 Nc 6 1 5 . Rac 1) 7 . cS ! (W hite a i ms to combine a Q-side maj ority with exchange of Black's QN a nd a da rk-squa re bind) Ne4 (or 7. . . . Be7 8. Bb5 0-0 9. 0- 0 Bd7 10. a3 ) 8. Qc2 fS 9. B b 5 Bd7 1 0 . 0-0 Be7 1 1 . Bxc6 bxc6 1 2 . Bf4 0-0 1 3 . b4 ( V asyuko v - Pad evsky. Varna 1 9 7 1 ). W h i te has achiev ed his stra tegic o bj ective, with the Q-side pawns mobile and B l a c k ' s whi te-squared bish op tra pped behind the pawn chai n . (c) 5 . . . d x c4 6. Bxc4 e6 7 . N f3 Be7 8. 0-0 N bd7 d i rects Black's Q-side pieces on to the dS outpost but gives White too much scope on the other win g: Barden Brown, Oxford 1 9 5 3 went 9 . Bg5 N b6 1 0. Bd 3 0-0 1 1 . Rc 1 Bd7 1 2 . B b 1 Bc6 1 3 . Qd3 g6 1 4 . Ne5 Rc8 1 5 . Rad 1 Bd5 1 6 . Qh 3 ! N fd7 1 7 . Bh6 Re8 1 8 . f4 B f6 1 9 . Bg5 BxgS 20. N xf7! Kxf7 2 1 . Qxh7 + Resigns . .
6 . Qb3
Bg7
Black a l l ows his opponent an extra d o u b l ed pawn, hoping to regain it l a ter. Instead 6 . . . . d x c4 7 . Bxc4 e6 8. d 5 exdS 9 . NxdS NxdS 1 0 . Bxd5 Qe7 + 1 1 . Be3 Bg7 1 2 . Nf3 fol l owed by 0-0 and Rfe I i s fa voura b l e for W h i te d u e t o his active bi shops. 0-0 7 . cxd S 8. B e 2
21.
Th reatening 2 3. Qe6 mate. 5. . . . g6 The most popular a l ternatives to 5 . e 6 . Other ideas a re : (a) 5 . . . . Nc6 6. N f3 Bg4 aims at ra pid development to u n d e rmine W h ite ' s pawn cen tre. but W hite can keep the edge by fo rcing play : 7. cxd5 N x d 5 8. Q b 3 B x f3 9. gxf3 e6 ( 9 . . . . Nb6 10. BeJ ! e6 1 1 . 0- 0- 0 Bb4 1 2. d5 Nxd5 13 . Nxd5 exd5 14 . R xd5 Qc 7 1 5. Kb1 0- 0 1 6. Rg1 w i th a strong a tta c k . Donal d son-Ma d d iga n, U SA 1 97 8) 1 0. Qxb7 Nxd4 1 1 . Bb5 + N x b 5 1 2 . Qc6 + Ke7 1 3. Q x b 5 Qd7 ( NxcJ 14 . bxc J Qd7 1 5. R b l ! is stil l better for
8. . . . Nbd7 White's p l a n is to u s e t h e ti me Black spends i n regaining the pawn by speedy d evelopment and pressure down the e fi l e . If Black plays 8 . . . . b6 9. Bf3 B b7 1 0. N ge 2 N a6 1 1 . 0-0 Qd7 1 2 . Bg5 Rfd 8 1 3 . R fe 1 N x d 5 1 4 . B x d 5 Bxd 5 1 5 . Q a 3 wins t h e e7 paw n . 9 . B f3
fi g. 222
Nb6
aS 1 0. BgS Other lines which show how White keeps up the pressure are 1 0 . . . . B fS 1 1 . 1 17
Rd 1 Qd7 1 2 . h 3 hS 1 3 . Nge2 Rad8 1 4 . d 6 e x d 6 1 S . 0-0 dS 1 6. N g 3 a n d I O . . . . B g4 1 I B x r6 B x f3 1 2 . N x f3 B x f6 1 3 . a4 Qc7 1 4. 0-0 R fd 8 1 5 . a S Qc4 1 6 . Ra 3 1 1 . a4 Qd6 I2 . N g e 2 Rd8 1 3 . B x f6 B x f6 I4 . N e4 Black can regain the pawn o n ly at the price of wea k nesses elsewhere. D. K ing H i l lyard, Lloyds Bank 1 979, continued 14 . . . . Q b4 1 S . Q x b4 a x b4 1 6 . N x f6 + exf6 1 7 . 0-0 N x d S 1 8 . R fc 1 Be6 1 9 . R e S N b6 2 0 . R b S a nd W h i te w o n t h e b pawn and the game.
Q u e e n ' s Gamb it Acc epted Pla yers fa m i l iar wi th the i d eas, p l a ns and variations of the IQP system may have a cha nce to go i n to it from one or more of the sta n d a rd quee n ' s side openi ngs such as the Tarrasch Defence or the N im zo1ndian ( l . d4 N f6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 B b4 ) . Another s u c h ope n i ng worth spec i al note is the Quee n ' s G a m b i t Accepted l . d4 d S 2 . c4 d x c4 - because i t occurs a s early as move two a n d because those who adopt this defe nce to 1 . d4 tend to remain fai th ful to it over many games. Although I . e4 is recommended here as the main s ta n d by for W h i te, there can be occa sions when strong players espec i ally wa nt to vary for a pa rticular opponent or s i m ply to w i d en their all-rou nd e x pe rienc e . T h e QGA begins I . d 4 d S 2 . c 4 d x c4 3. NO N f6 4. e3 e 6 (the main a l ternative is 4 . . . . B g4 when S. B x c4 e6 ( but n ot 5 . . . . c S ? ? 6. B xf7 + ! K x f7 7 . N e S + ) 6. 0-0 Nbd7 7 . N c 3 Bd6 8 . h 3 BhS 9. e4 e S 1 0 . B e 2 0-0 1 1 . d x e S N x e S I 2 . N d 4 fol lo wed by Nd b S or Nb3 i s a system worked out by Hungary 's lead i ng gra n dmaster Porti sch g i v i ng W hi te a small a d v a n tage) S. B xc4 c S 6 . 0-0 a6 7 . a 4 .
e . g . N b4 1 1 . BgS 0-0 1 2 . NeS Re8 1 3 . R e 3 ! Bd7 ( i f Nd5 1 4 . Nxd5 Nxd5 15 . R h 3 Bxg5 1 6 . Qh S ) 1 4. Q b 3 a S 1 S . B x f6 B x f6 1 6 . N x d 7 Qxd7 1 7 . B b S Nc6 1 8 . d S ! open i ng up the ga me for h i s better d e v e l o pe d pi eces (Mi les-Clarke, BBC Ma ster Game 1 9 7 6 ) . cxd4 8. Qe2 Be7 9. Rd l Black c a n ' t keep the pawn b y 9 . . . . e S because o f 1 0. exd4 n o r b y 9 . . . . B c S because of 1 0. e x d 4 Nxd4 1 1 . Nxd4 B x d 4 1 2. Be3. 0-0 10. exd4 NdS I l . Nc3 It i s wise to blockade t h e p a w n , for i f l l . . . . N b4 1 2 . BgS Bd7 1 3 . d S ! (Botv i n n i k-Petrosian, match 1 96 3) I2. Bd3
fig. 2 26
Compa re this d iagram with the normal IQP system ; what's the d i fference ? White's d 1 rook is not quite so good as at e 1 in the main l i ne, but on the credit side his more a d van ced a pawn gi ves h im a potential rook squa re at a3 plus poss i b il iti es of cramping the black Q-side. Black for his pa rt can try to use the b4 square to c reate counterplay not availa ble when the a pa w n is at a 3 . N cb4 I2. 1 3. Bbl b6 bxa S I4. aS Or I 4 . . . . B d7 1 S . NeS bxaS I 6. Ra 3 (threatening a snap mate attack by Nxd S followed by Bxh7 + , Rh3 + a nd QhS) f5 1 7 . NxdS NxdS I8. Nxd7 Qxd7 1 9. RxaS with two bishops on open d iagonals (Gligoric-Portisch, I 97 I ). Bb7 1 5 . Ne5 ReS 1 6 . N e4 I 7 . RaJ
fig . 2 2 5
7. . . . N c6 Also possi ble is the immed iate 7 . . . . c x d4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. N c 3 Be7 when 1 0 . Qe2 leaves the d pa wn en p rise . Howev er, the pawn exchan ge seems prematu re s i n ce W h i te can con t i n ue strongl y . 1 0. R e 1 1 18
W h i te has good attacking chances for his sacrificed pa wn ( Browne-Porti sch, Lone P ine I 97 8 ) . T h u s far w e have looked at I. e 4 eS, 1 . e4 e6, 1. e4 cS, and 1 . e4 c6. There are th ree other principal defences to 1 . e4 li kely to be met in p ra ctical play 1 . . . . d6, 1 . . . . g6 and 1 . . . . N f6 . I n cou ntering 1 . e 4 d 6 (Pirc Defence) a nd 1 . e4 g6 (Mod ern Defence) I recom-
mend the 3. Nc3 and 4 . Bc4 system ana lyzed in Trap Nine (Pieces beat the Queen), page 28. One a d v antage of this method is that, unlike some other variations, it can be used equally well against both l . . . . d6 a nd 1 . . . . g6, substantia lly red u c i ng the a mount of preparation requ i red to coun ter this fa s h iona b le opening. In a d d i tion to the sub-variati ons a n al yzed on page 29, Black can try to a void the main iine of the system by early QN d evelopment at c6 : I . e4 d6 2 . d4 g6 3. N c3 Bg7 4. B c4 N c6 ( for 4 . . . . c6 see page 29).
Play from the d iagram again favours White : (a) 5 . B e 3 7 N f6 6. 0 0-0 7. Nge2 e6 8 . Bb3 b6 9. Q d 2 Ba6 (Kri stiansson-Keene, Reykjavik I 97 2) with probing attacks on the white centre. (b) 5. NO N f6 (not Bg4 ? 6. Bxf7 + Kxf7 7. Ng5 + ) 6. d5 NeS 7. Be2 or 6 . . . . Nb8 7 . 0-0 gives W hite a freer game . (c) 5 . N O N f6 6. h3 0-0 7. Qe2 Nd7 8. Be3 N b6 9. B b3 NaS IO. 0-0 c6 1 1 . Rae 1 a6 1 2. Nd 1 Nxb3 1 3 . axb3 aS 1 4 . c4 Nd7 1 S . Nc3 bS 1 6 . d S gives Black a passive, cramped game (Short-Ravikumar, Man c hester Benedictine 1 979). A l e k h i ne Defence The d e fence 1 . e4 Nf6, named after the great world champion Alekhine, a ims to lure the white central pawns into a pre mature a dvance which can be exploited by counter-attack and rapid development of Black's pieces. White can fall in with Black's plan and hope to maintain his centre, thus permanently cramping Black's game, or he can try to exploit Black's unorthodox play by opening lines for his own pieces. It isn't clear which is really the better approach, but from the practical amateur's viewpoint piece development is easier to handle and also greatly reduces the number of varia tions you need to k now . N f6 1 . e4 NdS 2. eS 3. Nc3
3. . . . Nxc3 If Black tries t o keep h i s k n ight in the centre by 3 . . . . e6 then 4. d4 d6 S. N O Nc6 (or dxe5 6. Nxe5 Bb4 7 . QjJ fol lowed by Bd2 and 0-0-0 w i th a p ro m i s i ng attack i ng set-up) 6. B b S ! N x c3 7 . b x c 3 dxeS 8. N x e S B d 7 9 . N x d 7 Q x d 7 1 0. Qf3 with pressure. If 3 . . . . c6 4. d 4, or i f 3 . . . . N b6 4 . a 4 a S S . f4 fol lowed by N O and d4 . 4 . dxc3 The normal rule of thumb is t o make pawn captures towards the centre rather than away from i t, but h ere ta k ing w i th the d pawn is better in the context of ra pid development . 4 . bxc3 is playable but Black then has a good l i ne i n 4 . . . . cS 5 . f4 d6 6 . N f3 g6 7. d4 Bg7 8 . Be2 0-0 9. 0-0 d x e 5 1 0 . fx eS N c6 1 1 . B f4 Bg4 when White ' s weak central pawns pushed h i m on the d efensive in Henni ngs-G i psl i s, Havana 1 9 7 1 . 4. . . . d6 If 4 . . . . dS W h i te can d i slocate Black's em bryo pa wn centre by 5 . c4 ! d4 6. f4 B fS 7. Ne2 Nc6 8. Ng3 e6 9 . N x fS e x f5 1 0. Bd3 g6 1 1 . a3 aS 1 2 . Q f3 (Ghizdavu Torre, N i sh 1 97 2 ) . 5. NO
how B lack c a n d rift into a poor game i s 5 . . . . Bg4 6. B c4 e 6 7 . Bf4 N c6 8 . B b 5 Be7 9 . h3 BxO 1 0. Q x f3 dS 1 1 . Qg3 Kf8 1 2 . Rd 1 a6 1 3 . Be2 bS 1 4 . R d 3 w i th a strong attack (Hutch in gs-Natt, Evening S tandard 1 97 2 ) . Other tries for B l a c k are : (a) 5 . . . . dxeS 6. Q x d 8 + K x d8 7. N x e 5 Ke8 8 . Be3 f6 9. N d 3 e5 1 0 . 0-0-0 fol l owed by f4 w i th some ini tiative. ( b) 5 . . . . g 6 6 . Bc4 N c6 7 . Bf4 and now : (b 1 ) 7 . . . . B g7 8. exd6 cxd6 9 . Qd 2 fol l o wed by 0-0-0, Bh6 a nd h4 w i th atta c k i ng c hances. ( b 2) 7 . . . . e 6 ? 8. exd6 cxd6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. 0-0-0 a6 1 1 . h4 a l so w i th attack (Keres-Westeri nen, Tal li n n 1 97 1 ) . 6. B b S E xchanging pawns a t d 6 would deprive W h i te of all chan ces of advantage. How ever W h i te can a l so support the e S pawn d irectly by 6 . B f4, a move which in Roos W. Sch m i d t, Bagneux 1 97 8, l ed to the defeat of Black (a gra n d master !) w i th remark a b le rap i d ity : 6 . . . . d x e 5 7 . Q x d 8 + N x d 8 8. B x e 5 c6 9 . 0-0-0 f6 1 0. Bg3 e 5 ? (Be6) 1 1 . B c4 Nf7 1 2 . Rhe 1 g6 ? 1 3 . B xe5 Resigns, for if 1 3 . . . . N x e S 1 4 . N x e S Bh6 + (fxe5 1 5 . R xe5 + Be7 1 6. R de l ) 1 5 . K b 1 fxe S 1 6 . R x e S + K fB 1 7 . R d 8 + Kg7 1 8 . Re7 + Kf6 1 9 . R f7 + Kg5 20. R x h 8 . 6. . . . Bd7 NxeS 7. Q e 2 7 . . . . a 6 d oes n o t ful ly relieve the p ressu re after 8 . Bc4 e6 9 . Bf4 d xe5 1 0 . NxeS Bd6 1 1 . Bg3 fol l owed by 0-0-0 . 8. NxeS dxeS 9 . Qxe 5 f6 More a c c u rate than 9 . . . . c6 played in Keres-Schmid, Zurich 1 96 L w hen Black beca me very cramped : 1 0 . Bc4 Q b8 1 1 . Qe4 e6 1 2 . BgS h6 1 3 . Bh4 Bd6 1 4 . 0-0-0. 1 0 . QhS + g6 1 1 . Qe2 eS Bd6 1 2. Be3 1 3 . 0-0-0 W h i te has the i n i tiative a nd a freer game ( M a rk l a nd-Ko rc hnoi, Bath 1 9 7 3). Korch noi ma na ged to hol d on and turn the ta bles, but at a less exalted l evel W h i te has p ro m i s i ng cha nces of attack, e . g . 1 3 . . . . 0-0 1 4 . B c 4 + fol l o wed b y h4-h 5 . M i n o r defe n ces
fi g . 229
,5 . . . . N c6 Wh i t e 's set-up l ooks at fi rst s i ght rather harml ess. but in p ractice B lack fin d s d i ffi c u l ty i n equa l i z i ng. One example o f
Th ree o ffbeat defen ces to 1 . e4 a re occasion a l ly tried in to urnament and match play. T he Centre C o unter 1 . e 4 d S 2 . exd5 QxdS (if 2 . . . . N f6 W h i te c an p lay for a s l i g ht edge by 3 . d4 N x d 5 4. NO g6 5 . h 3 o r transpose i n to the IQP system by 3, c4 c6 4 . d4 - it is risky to accept the pawn by 4 . d xc6 - cxd5 5. N c 3) 3. N c 3 Q a 5 4 . d 4 N f6 5 . N O B f5 (or Bg4 6 . h 3) 6 . B d 2 N b d7 7 . B c4 c6 8. Q e 2 e6 9 . d S ! c x d S 1 0. N x d S Q c S 1 1 . b4 Q c8 1 2 . N x f6 + g x f6 1 3 . N d4 (Spassky-Larsen, Montreal 1 97 9) gi ves W hi te control of the
centre w h i le Black's forces rema in un coord inated . That's the trouble with the Centre Coun ter - W h i te cannot directly e x ploit the prematurely developed b lack queen but can d ri ve it back w h i le gaining time for his own attac k . T h e N i mzovich Defence 1 . e 4 Nc6 should be favourable for White, but can be tricky in the hands of a player who k n ows it well even in the l i ne 2. d4 dS 3. N c 3 d xe4 4. d5 N e5 5. Qd4. I recom mend i nstead the quiet ( 1. e4 N c6) 2. NO when 2 . . . . e5 (pro bably best ! ) transposes i n to a n ormal 1 . e4 e5 o p e n i ng and thus thwarts Black's aim to escape from the books. Other possibilities a re 2 . . . . d 5 ? 3. e x d 5 QxdS 4. Nc3 with a favourable form of the Centre Counter for W h i te, or 2 . . . . d6 3 . d4 Bg4 4 . d 5 N b8 (not 4 . . . . Ne5 ? 5 . Nxe5 ! Bxd l 6 . Bb5 + c6 7. dxc6 Qa5 + 8. NcJ and White emerges with too m uch material for the queen) 5. Be2 fol lowed by h 3 with a small but c l ear advantage in space. The En g lis h Defence 1 . e4 b6 2. d4 B b7 3. Bd3 e6 was a favourite with the Engl i sh nineteenth-century p layer Owen, and has more recently been revived by the grand masters Keene a nd Mi les, also of Engla n d . W h i te can develop norma lly by 4. N f3 cS 5. 0-0 but a more interesting and c rucial l i ne is 4. c4 (threaten ing to shut both Black 's bisho ps out of the game by a3 fol l o wed by d 5) f5 5 . exf5 Bxg2 6 . Q h S + g 6 7 . fx g6 Bg7 (not N f6 ? 8 . g 7 + ) 8. g x h 7 + K f8 .
fi g . 2 30
N e 2 ! (stronger than the obv ious h x g8 ( Q ) + Kxg8 when W h i te's attack is not enough for the b1 rook) Bx h 1 1 0. B g 5 ! (the po i nt, forcing Black i n to an unwelcome pin) N f6 1 1 . Q h4 N c6 1 2 . N f4. I n this critical posi tion W h i te's main threat is not so m uch the o bvious 1 3 . Ng6 + as 1 3. Bg6 followed by Nh5 when the p in ned k night fal l s and the b lack game colla p ses. Black can now try : (a) 1 2 . . . . N b4 1 3 . Bg6 Qe7 1 4 . N h 5 N c 2 + 1 5 . B xc2 Qb4 + 1 6 . N d 2 N x h 5 ( if Qxb2 1 7. Nxg 7 ! Qxa l + 1 8. Ke2 wins) 1 7 . 0-0-0 ! a nd a helpl ess Black resigned (Fori ntos-Fernand ez, Cienfuegos 1 979).
9. 9.
1 19
( b ) 1 2 . . . . K f7 1 3 . Bg6 + Ke7 1 4 . N h 5 Q f8 (again B lack is trapped i n a per manent p i n ) 1 5 . N d 2 e5 1 6 . 0-0-0 ! N x d 4 1 7 . Rxh 1 N e 6 1 8 . f4 d 6 1 9. N e4 N x g 5 20. Q x g 5 Bh6 2 1 . Q h4 ( t h o u g h m a te r i a l beh i n d , W h i te w i ns easily as he brings rei n fo rcements to the p i n) Bg7 22. fx e 5 d x e 5 2 3 . R fl Kd7 24. N 4 x f6 + B x f6 2 5 . N x f6 + Kc8 2 6 . Be4 c 6 2 7 . Q h 3 + Kb7 2 8 . Bxc6 + ! Resigns ( B row ne-M i les, T i l burg 1 9 7 8 ) . ( c ) 1 2 . . . . N x d4 1 3 . N g6 + Ke8 1 4 . Qxd4 Rxh7 1 5 . N e 5 R h 3 1 6 . Bg6 + K f8 1 7 . N c 3 d6 1 8 . 0-0-0 w i th a c lear ad van tage . (d) 1 2 . . . . e 5 1 3 . Ng6 + K f7 1 4 . d xe 5 R e S 1 5 . f4 ! d6 1 6. N c 3 d xe5 1 7 . 0-0-0 and \'\T h i te is on top ( this and the last varia tion are a na l y s i s by B rowne) . T hese fa sci nating variations i l l u s tra te hov..: tact i cs ca n i n fl uence stra tegy at the chess boa rd . Beca u se they are so fa vour a b le for W h i te, few w i ll ca re to risk them again w i th Black and t h is means that W h i te can counter the Engl ish Defence with the centre-o c c u p y i ng c4, d4, e4 pawn fo rmat i on w i t hout fea r i n g that Black w i l l undermi ne i t. And t h i s in turn red uces Bla c k ' s w i l l ingness to venture the ope n i ng at al l . T h e £ 1 , 200 opening S l i ghtly offbeat but nevertheless sound and positi ve open i ng systems can some t i mes have a rema rka b l e tem porary effect. Al though in th i s c ha pter we a re largely anal y s i ng I . e4 openi n gs, the sto ry is wo rth rec ounting of how a qu iet but special i zed var iati on hel ped to w in Bri ta i n ' s r i c he st congress p rize. It happe ned at the London Even ing Sta n d a rd congress of 1 9 79, where a young Y u goslav, K l a r i c, d e c i d ed to u se the Quee n ' s B i shop A ttack l . N f3, 2 . d4 and 3 . BgS i n all his games w i th W h i te . The i ntention i s t o fol low u p soon w ith NeS and K-side atta c ki ng p iece p lay on s i m i l a r l i nes to the P i l l sbury A ttac k ( page 5 8 ) . This system i s harmless enough i f Black knows i t well and i s prepared i n advance. However, a l t hough Klaric p layed h i s system i n the very fi rst round of the to urnament, la ter r i v a ls n eglected to check u p on his play and e me rged w i th poor ga mes from the opening. K l aric u sed his system to win th ree games w i th W h i te and then had good fortune, w h i c h to u rnament w i n ners n e e d , w hen he sco red from a d u b i o u s posi tion agai n st the grand m a ster fa vourite J ohn N u n n . The net result - Klaric won the £ 1 , 200 p r i ze awa rded by the congress ' s major sponsor, the National Bank of D u ba i . N f6 l . NO dS 2 . d4 The sy stem i s a l so playable against 2 . . . . g6 3. BgS Bg7, al though that i s a s i m pler equa l i z i ng method for Black. 1 20
3 . BgS e6 K l a r i c -Shall c ross, Eveni ng Sta n d a rd 1 97 9, went 3 . . . . c6 4. e 3 Bf5 5 . B d 3 B x d 3 6 . c x d 3 N bd7 7 . 0-0 g 6 8 . N e 5 B g 7 9. N d 2 0-0 I0. Re 1 N e 8 1 1 . N x d 7 Qxd7 1 2 . f4 N d 6 1 3 . B h4 N f5 1 4 . B f2 e6 ( Black has eme rged q u i te well but should prefer 1 4 . . . . f6 i nten d i ng eS or e l se . . . h5 safe guard i ng the k n i gh t) 1 5 . N f3 Rfe8 1 6 . N e 5 Q e 7 1 7 . Q e l R a c 8 1 8 . K h 1 f6 1 9 . N f3 N h 6 ( e 5 w a s sti l l best) 2 0 . e 4 Q c 7 2 1 . e5 fxe 5 2 2 . fxe 5 R f8 2 3 . B e 3 ! (hoping fo r a ta ctical c ha n ce aga i n s t the underguarded kn ight . . . ) Q b6 ? 2 4 . Rc2 Qa6 2 5 . R c 3 ! Qxa2 ? ? 2 6 . Qc I ! ( . . . w h i ch co mes w i th the dou ble th reat of 2 7. Bxh6 and 2 7. Ra J) R x f3 27 . gxG Resi g n s . 4 . N bd 2 B e 7 5. e 3
Black has tried to fight back from his poor opening : pi ece exchanges d i mtni shed the force of the P i l l sbury forma tion, and the BQ has gone pawn h unti ng w h i le the N barricades the other flank. B ut White's next move defeats the entire plan and fin ishes q u i c k l y . 2 7 . R x fS ! exfS 28. Qxf5 g6 29. Qf6 + Kg8 30. e6 fxe6 3 1 . Qxe6 + Kg7 3 2 . Qe7 + Kh6 3 3 . N e6 Rfl + 34. Kh2 ! Resi gns because of the d o u b le threat Qh4 + and Qg7 + . ( b) Klaric-Cro u c h, Even i ng Standard 1 97 9 : 5 . . . . h6 6. Bh4 0-0 7 . B d 3 N bd7 8 . c 3 Re8 9 . NeS N xeS 1 0. dxeS Nd7 1 1. Bg3 cS 1 2 . 0-0 a6 1 3 . Qh S ! w i th a st rong attack in P i l l s b u ry style. Black now tried to c reate space for K-side defe nce but the w h i te p i eces exploi ted the res u l t ing holes : 1 3 . . . . Bf8 1 4 . N f3 g6 1 5 . Qh3 Bg7 1 6 . Bf4 gS 1 7 . Bg3 f5 1 8. exf6 Qxf6 1 9 . Q h S Rf8 20. h4 !
fi g . 231
Here W h i te is ready to set up the P i l l s bury fo rmation w i th N e 5 , and Klari c ' s £ l , 200 ga mes and others show how q u i ckly his attack can d evelo p : Klari c - Flear, Even i ng Standard 1 97 9 : (a) 5 . . . . cS 6. c3 b6 ? 7. B b 5 + N fd7 ( m o re natural is Bd7) 8 . Bf4 0-0 9 . NeS Nxe5 I0. d x eS Ba6 1 1 . Bxa6 N xa6 1 2 . Qg4 Kh8 1 3 . Rd 1 Qe8 1 4 . 0-0 Qa4 1 5 . e4 Nc7 1 6 . a3 Rad8 1 7 . b 3 Qa5 1 8 . Rae 1 d xe4 1 9 . Re3 R d 3 20. N xe4 Rxe3 2 1 . fxe 3 c4 22. BgS Qxa3 2 3 . b4 N d S 24. h3 a S 2 5 . B xe7 N x e7 2 6 . N g S N fS .
fi g . 2 1 3
W h i te c racks the defences. If now 20. . . . gxh4 2 1 . Bx h4 Qf7 2 2 . Bg6 wins the queen. Instead Black su rrenders a pawn but he cannot hold o ut long in such an open position : 20 . . . . g4 2 1 . Qxg4 eS 2 2 . QhS bS 2 3. e4 c4 24. Bc2 d4 2 5 . cxd4 exd4 26. Qd S + Kh8 27. e 5 Qb6 28. Nxd4 Bb7 29. Q x d 7 Rad8 30. Qe6 Qxd4 3 1 . Qg6 Kg8 3 2 . Qh7 + Kf7 3 3. Bg6 + Resigns . (c) Fuller-Dankert, Esbjerg 1 979 : 5 . . . 0-0 6 . B d 3 b6 7 . NeS B b7 8 . Qf3 N bd7 (a better chance is Nfd7) 9. Qh3 g6 (if Ne4 1 0. Nxe4 dxe4 1 1 . Ba6!) 10. Qh4 N b8 (or R e8 1 1 . Bb5) 1 1 . f4 c S 1 2 . c3 Nc6 1 3. N 2 f3 Rc8 1 4 . 0-0 . .
fi g . 23 2
squas hes White) 3 1 . exd 5 f4 3 2 . Qe4 N f6 3 3. Qf5 + Kb8 34. f3 Bc8 3 5 . Q b l g 3 36. R e 1 h 3 3 7 . Bfl R h 8 38. g x h 3 B x h 3 3 9 . Kg 1 B x fl 4 0 . K x f l e 4 4 1 . Qd 1 Ng4 ! ( the sea led move, a n d the p rettiest a nd qui ckest way to w i n) 4 2 . fxg4 f3 4 3 . Rg2 fx g2 + 44 . Resigns. If 44 . Kxg2 Q f4 a nd fi n i s h .
fi g . 2 34
classi cal a tta c k i ng posi tion fo r W h i te i n the P i l l s bury syste m . T h e w h i te queen and m i nor p i eces a re a l rea d y d i rec ted at the k i n g, the rooks can come i n to action v ia t he f fi le, w h i le black counte r p lay is far d i s t a n t . N ot surprisi ngly, the game end ed q u i c kly i n W h i te's fa vour : 14 . . . . Rc7 1 5 . Bh6 N h 5 1 6 . N g S N x e 5 1 7 . fxe S Bc8 1 8 . g4 N g 7 1 9 . R f6 ! N e 8 ( o r Bx.f6 20 e x f6 Qxf6 2 1 . Rf1 ) 20. B x f8 B x f6 2 1 . e x f6 Q x f6 ( Nxf6 22. Nxh 7 ! ) 2 2 . Rfl Qh8 2 3 . Nxf7 Resigns. (d) Spassky-Pet rosian, 7 th match game 1 966 : 5 . . . N b d7 6 . Bd3 c 5 7 . c 3 b6 8. 0-D Bb7 ( the right pla.1, demonstra ted by Petrosian here, is to castle long a nd use W h i t e's K-side F i ece b u i l d -up as a ta rget to a id a black pa wn a d v a n ce) 9 . N e 5 N x e 5 1 0 . d xe S N d7 1 1 . Bf4 ( better 1 1 . Bxe 7 Qxe 7 1 2. f4 w i th l evel game) Q c 7 1 2 . N f3 h6 1 3 . b4 g S ! 1 4 . Bg3 h 5 1 5 . h4 gxh4 16. B f4 0-0-0 1 7 . a4 ( better 1 7. bxc5 bxc5 18. R b 1 ) .
A
.
•'
fi g . 2 3 5
1 7 . . . . c4 ! (a bri l li a n t i d ea, conced i ng the d4 squa re but c l o s ing-up the Q-si de) 1 8 . Be2 ( better 18 . Bf5 ! so that i f e x fS 1 9 . e6 w h i l e other w i se the b i sh op can blockade the black pa wns at h 3) a 6 ! 1 9 . Kh 1 Rdg8 20. Rg 1 Rg4 2 1 . Q d 2 R8g8 2 2 . a S bS 2 3 . R a d 1 B f8 (threat f6 a n d i f exf6 e5) 24. N h 2 N x e S ! 2 5 . N xg4 hxg4 26. e4 Bd6 27 . Qe3 Nd7 28. B x d6 Qxd6 29 . Rd4 e5 3 0 . R d 2 f5 ' ( now the pawn p ha l a nx
Monke y b u s i n ess T he p rev ious section on the P i l l s bury formation a nd i ts contri bution to a £ 1 , 200 p r i ze i s one suggestion for the club player who wants a n easy-to-understand atta c k i ng method . H owever the P i l l sbury system, l i ke some others, h a s the d raw back that it can not be completely forced on an opponent. The only way to be q u i te sure that c hess opening h om ework w i l l n ot be wasted is to have a system w h i ch begins on move one. A poss i_b le a p p roach w h i ch used to be con s i d ered eccentric but is now trea ted w i th more respect is cons i d e red below . The move 1 . b4 was i n trodu c ed i n to master play by Dr Tarta kover in h i s game w i th Ma roczy at N ew York 1 9 24. A sked by reporters why he had considered such a stra nge move, the w i tty grand master repl ied that he had v i s i ted the N ew York zoo on the rest day a nd had ' fa l l en in love w i th the ora ng-outang enough to d ed ica te my next ga me to the a nimal . ' Tartakover had a reputation a s a ga m b ler both on and off the boa rd. This, coupled w i th h i s self-mo c k i n g comment on the new move which became d u b bed the Ora ng-Outang Opening, ensured that none of the other masters took the move 1 . b4 seriously . One p l ayer, h o wever, d i d pay atten t i o n . The W h i te Russian master, Alexei Sokol sky from M i nsk, one of a school of origi nal theorists, started to i n vestigate 1 . b4 in d e p t h . He found that if Black d e fe n d ed w i th a cautious positional move l i ke N f6, d5 or e6 W h i te could develop normally w i th his bishop well posted at b2 w h i le in the m i d d le game the b4 pawn cou ld have a c ra m p i ng effect on B l a c k ' s queen 's s i d e . Sokolsky m a d e a further i m porta n t d i sco v e ry. H e fo und that i n many varia tions after 1 . b4 e 5 the advanced pawn a t b 4 could b e offe red as a g a m b i t t o lure B l a c k ' s bi shop from d e fence of the king's s i d e . Further, a fter 1. b4 e 5 there a re a l so possi b i l i ties of p l a y i ng a kind of d elayed K i ng's G a m bit with f4 when the b i shop at b2 forms a n excellent back-u p . Sokol sky wrote a complete book i n Russian d escri b i ng h i s i deas a nd i n clud i ng many of his successful games. H i s pe rsonal resul ts with 1 . b 4 were i m p res s i ve and i n c lu d ed w i n s or d raws w i th grand ma sters l i ke Flohr and Geller. Sokol sky 's key variation of the open ing runs l . b4 eS 2 . B b2 f6 3. e4 Bxb4 4. B c4 .
fig . 2 36
Here both bishops a re on free d iagona ls and bear down on the squares surround i ng the bl ack king. There are poss i b i l i ties to o pen the game up further by f4, or to bri ng the w h i te queen i nto the attack by Qh5 + . T hree cont i n uations d emonstrate t he h i d den strength of White's offbeat fo r mation : (a) 4 . . . . N e7 5. Q h 5+ N g6 6. f4 ! e x f4 7 . aJ d 5 8. B x d 5 c6 9. Bb3 Qa5 1 0. e 5 ! Be7 1 1 . Bf7 + ! Resigns (Kata l i mov- I l v i tsky). If 1 1 . . . . Kxf7 1 2 . e6 + . A still more con v i n c i ng l i ne after 6. e x f4 is 7 . N fJ ! w h i ch Bobby Fischer pla yed in the o nly recorded instance where he chose the Orang-Outang (Fis cher-Gloger, simultaneous, Cleveland 1 964) : 7 . . . . N c6 8. N e) (threat N d 5 x f4) B x c 3 9. B x c 3 d6 1 0. N h4 Ne7 1 1 . N f5 K f8 1 2 . 0-0 Qe8 1 3. Bxf6 ! Bxf5 1 4 . gxfS d 5 1 5 . fxg6 gxf6 (if d xcS 1 6 . B xe7 + Qxe7 1 7 . R x f4 + with a w i n n i n g attack) 1 6 . Qh6 + Kg8 1 7 . g7 Resigns. After 1 7 . . . . d xc4 1 8 . gxh8 = Q + Kxh8 1 9 . Q x f6 + W h i te is winning on both material and position. (b) 4 . . . . N c6 5. f4 exf4 6. Nh3 Ngr�7 7. N x f4 N a 5 8. B x f6 ! w i th a winning a d v a n tage (Sokolsky-Struga tsch). If 8 . . . . gxf6 9 . Q h 5 + w h i le i f 8 . Nxc4 9. Bxg7 fol lowed by 1 0 . Qh5 + (c) 4 . . . . N c6 5. f4 d6 6. f5 Nge7 7 . Q h S + g 6 8 . fxg6 N x g6 9. N f3 Na S 1 0 . Nh4 (Sokol sky-Gurvitc h ) . If 1 0. N x b 3 1 1 . N xg6 . T he O ra ng-Outang or Sokol sky Open i ng as many now call it, can thu� be a useful su rprise weapon. It is best tci play such an opening rarely - but just enough to let the possi b i l ity of m eeti ng it become known a mo ng regul ar opponents. Few rel i sh the prospect of taking on a chess south p a w . Of course i f B lack plays sen si bly there a re several m ethods to secure a reasona b le game. One l ogical approach is l . b4 aS 2 . b5 d6 fol lowed by N f6, g6 a nd a K i ng's Indian Defe nce formation, followed l a ter by manoeuvri ng Black's QN to a good squ a re at b6 or c5 a n d jor usi ng the a d v a nced pawn as a ta rget to o pen up the a file by . . . a 6 . 121
Pro Techniques for ateurs
T h i s chapter I S i n tended for p l a yers who h a ve l ea rnt someth i ng a bout c h e ss from t h is a nd other books, enj o y ed soc i a l games w i t h fri e n d s , a nd w o u l d n o w l i ke to t ry their sk i l l i n c o m p et i t i o n s . How ever, w h i le you e x pect to b e r e a so n a b l y successfu L you d o n ' t w a nt t o spend m o n t hs in a d v ance p r e p a ra t i on b e fo re you enter y o u r fi rst to u r n a m en t . In t h i s c ha pter, t h e e m p ha s is i s on pra c t i c a l suggestions. Some a re s i m p l e common-sen se, others w i ll i n v o l ve work and study - how much d e pe n d s on you o t h e r'> a re b a s i c i n fo r m a t i on to ena b l e vou to fi nd y o u r w ay roun d the c h e ss c l u b � n d t he congress scen e . E l e m e n t a r y d o ' s and d o n ' ts
1 S u c c e s s fu l o pe n i ng p l a y means c e n t re c o n t ro l . At t h e s t a r t , ad v a n c e e i t h e r or both d or e pa w n � . two squa res w i t h w h i t e . o n e s q u a re vv i th b l a c k . I f you h a v e a c h a n c e to get both cen tra l pa w n s in l i ne a h rc a s t 1 n t he ce n t re o l t he boa r d . do i t u n less y o u s p o t some o b v i o u s s n a g . 2 B r i n g your p i eces i n to a c t i o n a s fa st a s pll'is i h l c T h i s m e a n s a m i n i m u m o f p a w n moves T h r e e pa vvn m o ves s h o u l d b e y n ur n o r m a l ra t i on d u r i n g t he fi rst t e n ' m O \" CS o f cl ga m e - t h e r e s t s h o u l d h e d n· e l o p i n g m cl \· e s w i t h p i ec e s . ) B r i n g k n i g h t s a n d b i shops i n to p l a y h c ! o r e q u e en a n d roo k s . In m a n y open i ngs t h e q u een b i shop is the l a s t m i n o r p i ece t o d e v e l o p . E a r l y q u een e x c u r s i o n s a re u s u a l ly ba d . B r i ng t h e k n i ghts a n d b i s h o p s to pos i t i o n s w h e re t h ey c o n t r o l o r lK c u py a c e n t ra l sq u a re. o r e l se rest r i ct a n e n e m y p i ece \': h i c h a tta c k s t h e c e n t r e . Ca s t l e e ar l v . · 1 A \" l l l d b l u n d e rs ' T h i s go l d en r u le o f n o \· i ce p la y sepa r a tes t h e beg i n ne r from t h e fi rst step up t h e c hess l a d d e r to weak c I u b l e v e l . To avoid b l u n d e r s a nd ta ke a d \·a n t a g e o f th ose o f your o pponen t . t ra i n vou rse l f t o l oo k round t h e boa rd hefort; m a k i ng any move. Look to s ee ( a ) i f y o u r o p po ne n t ' s last move c o n ta i n ed or u n c o v e r ed a n y t h reats aga i nst w h i c h y ou m u st guard ; ( b) if" your o p ponent has l e ft ungua r d ed p i e c e s you can take or a ttack ; (c) i f y o u r p l a n ned move w i l l leave a ny o f vour p i eces s u bject t o capture . S When there a re no o b v ious t hreats a n d \ ' O U don 't know w h a t t o d o n e x t, d e c i d e �v h i ch of y o ur p ieces i s w o r st p l a c ed a n d
1 22
least i n vol ved in t he game. Then t r y to move t h i s pi ece to a squa re w h e re it p l a y s a more a c t i ve pa r t . 6 T ry t o ta ke the i n i t ia t i ve. a n d press u re y o u r o p ponent. W a y s of d oi n g t h i s i nclude : ( a ) i f there is an open fi le, oc c u py it w i th o n e or both roo k s . ( h) d i rect y o u r b i shops on t o d i a gon a l s l ea d i ng t o t he e n e m y k i n g . ( c ) p l a ce k n i g h ts o n central squa res w h e re t h ey ea n ' t be atta c ked by p a w n s . 7 In t he ea rly stages, a v o id m ov i ng p a w n s i n front of your castled k i ng u n l ess d r i v i ng a wa y a n a tta c k i ng p i ece. But when the ga me has gone 30-40 m o v es a n d m a ny p ieces h a ve been s w a p ped o ff.
u s u ,1 l l y pa vs to m a ke a h o l e for yo u r k i n g b y a d v a n c i n g o n e of t h e t h ree pa vv n s w h ich p rotec t t h e c a s t l ed pos i t i o n . 8 Attack is ea s i er than d e fence, a nd nov i ces usu a l l y d e fend pa rt i c u l a r l y ba d l y . S o keep p u s h i n g y o u r fo rces to w a r d s the enemy k i n g . 9 W h en m a n y p i e ce s, a n d p a rt i cu l a r l y the q u eens, a re exc h a n ge d t h e k i ng i s i n l i t t le d a n ge r a n d m u st b e used as a n a c t i v e
it
The S t ei n i t z k n iy,h t
Wh i t e 's Q6 knzy,h t
do m i n a tes t h e black game, sh ields a rook build- up on the open l i ne and prepares for u l a t e r a u a ck nn t h e k i ny,
figh ting p i ece. Other poi nts for the e n d game : u se the rook as an attacker i n enemy terri tory rather than in defend i ng pa w n s ; a nd keep most of your pawns on opposite colo u red squa res to your b i sho p . Wh en down t o a pawn en d i n g, use t he k i ng to shepherd pawns thro u gh to qu een . G e n e r a l a pp r o a c h Y o u r a t t i tude t o chess c an h e l p sign i fi cantly i n d ec i d ing whether your p l ay im proves. That means trea t i ng a l l games, even fr ien d ly ones at home or in a c l u b, w i th rea sona ble seriousness. As a start, never take ba ck moves - this habit en cou rages slop py th i n k i n g and b l u n ders and is n ot al lowed i n serious m a tches. Buy a score book (ava i l a b l e from a ny chess equi pment s u p p l ier) and take down the moves of every ga me. A fter the game, ch eck to see wh ere you went wrong (even if you won it's h ighly l i kely you made m i stakes ) . I f your opponent is a stronger player, the s i m plest way is to a sk h im to go over the game w i th you - most w i n ners a re happy to o b l i ge a nd you get a free l esso n . Wh ether o r n o t y o u and your opponent h a ve a post-mo rtem, there is one fu rther i m portant tec h n i que you should pract ice a fter every game. Look u p . the o pe n i ng in an openi n gs book and the endgame (if there was one) i n a n endgame book and see how ex perts played s i m i lar positions to yours. This ' comparative learni ng' method is w i d ely used i n the USSR, the wor l d ' s strongest chess country . Chess is above all a game to p l a y, but i mm e d i a tely be fore and a fter each match or tou rna ment the moti vati on for further study i s at i ts strongest. T h a t w a y y o u gra d ually ac q u i re v i ta l techn ical d a ta even i f you a re not normally a booki sh perso n . W h ere t o p l a y Most s m a l l t o w n s have a chess c l u b, maj or c i t i es have several. Y o u r local l i bra ry w i ll p ro ba bly have i n forma tion ; if that fa i l s, w r i te to t he natio n al chess federat i on and they will a d vise you of local c l u bs (BCF, 4 The Clo se, Norwich, Norfolk in England . and U SCF, 1 86 Route 9W, New W i ndsor, NY 1 2 5 5 0 i n the U n i ted Sta tes). Mem bership fees v ary but are su bsta n t i a l ly less than for m a ny o ut door sports : ex pect up to £5 a yea r i n England and u p t o $ 20 a year in the U S . H owever, d o n ' t a s s u me that y o u r part i c ular chess c l u b w i ll a ns wer a l l y o u r need s. S o m e small cl ubs can h a v e m e m bersh i ps who play o n l y a m ong them selves and i gnore newcomers not strong enough for the c l u b team ; others lack good fac i l i ties for coffee, s a n d w i ches, or extra events beyond the c l u b night. On the o ther hand, many strong cl u bs run several teams and make a spec i al e ffort to make new m e m bers feel a t home. You sho u ld be a ble to j u d ge whether the 1 24
atmosphere is fo rbidd ing or welcom i ng before parting w i th your su bscri pti on money . Week e n d co n g r e sses If you a re i n terested in chess competitions but a re not i n terested in the i dea of regu lar a ttendance a t the local c l u b, the best method of fin d i ng op ponents of s i m i lar sta nd a rd to your own i s in the weekend congresses which a re held regularly a ll over the US and Brita i n . I n major cities s u c h as Lon don and N e w York there may b e a d ozen o r more such events each year. A l most a ll such con gresses cater for players of all standards and o ne of the features of the London Evening S ta n d a rd event, the l a rgest of i ts k i nd in E u rope, is a spec ial tournament for novi ces and beginners. Several hun d red people w i ll be tak i ng part so you need n't fea r that the ex pe rts will s pend their t i me sta n d i ng at your board sn igger i ng at the blunders. There is usua l l y a friend! y atmosphere at congresses and if by then you haven ' t fou nd a c l u b y o u w o u l d l i ke t o j o in there w i l l q u i te li kely be somebody at the event who can give you d i s i n terested ad vice. A sk at the control d esk or the boo k s ta l l . i f they don ' t know the msel ves they can o ften put you on to the right perso n . C o n gress te c hn i q u e M o s t c ongress tou rnaments a re o rganized on the S w i ss system, an ingenious hybrid of a l l - p lay-all and knock-out. Players meet o p pone n ts w i th the same or s i m il a r scores. s o t h a t winners keep o n meeting ot her wi nners u ntil there are only one or two perfect or near-perfect scores a fter fi ve or six rou n d s . Genera l l y there a re two or three ga m es on Saturdays, two on S u n day, and perha ps one on Friday n ight - fi ve or six games in a l l . P r i zes in the lo west secttm may be around £ 50 or $ 1 00, someti mes more or less d e pend i ng on the n u m ber of entries a nd the status o f the even t. There is no d i fference in chess between profess ionals and a mateurs as regards prizes : it i s nor mal to a w a rd cash for at l ea st first place i n jun ior tournaments. Chess professionals a re those w ho make a ful l-time l i v ing from the ga me, and this is rarely possi b le from w eekend a n d other tournam en ts a l one. It is n o rm a l for a l l the a dult events in a chess congress to be p l ay ed w i th clocks. A chess c lock consi sts of two clocks j o i ned together ; y ou p ush a button to stop o ne c lock a nd start the other, so that each clock records the thi n k i ng time of one player. If you a re a serious player, it is a good idea to buy your own clock (usually costing a bout £ 1 0-£ 1 5 or $ 2 530) which you can use for timed practice games. T i me l i m i ts in weekend congresses are normal l y someth i ng l i ke 40 or so moves
' in 1 l- hours, fol l o wed (in Briti sh events) by a bl itz fi n i sh where all the rema i n ing moves have to be made in 1 5-20 m i nutes. Begin ners normally play fa st a nd don't make use of the avai lable ti me. La ter on you may find yourself one of the many who go too far in the other d i rec t i on and run short o f time near the fi nish. Chess cl ocks have a flag which fa lls on the hour and i f you have fa i led to make the requi red moves by flagfa ll you au to matically lose the game . T ime pres sure A s i mple technique if you get very short of time is to note subsid iary time l i mits on your score sheet. Normally the book opening moves, which may be anything from the first three on each side up to a dozen or 1 5, a re made quickly . When you have reached the end of the opening and both players a re thi n k i ng hard, work out the number of moves and time rem a i n i ng a nd give yourself a schedule for each ten moves or so. For exam ple you m i ght find that you have rea ched the end of your book knowledge after move 1 0, w i th 30 more to go before the t i me control and 1 � hours left. Then, mark moves 20, 30 and 40 on the score sheet a nd note the clo ck t i me when you ex pect to reach these moves. Al low fi ve or ten m inutes ex tra for d i ffi c ult situations. Age and y outh Chess has become very m uch a young m a n ' s game i n recent years, a nd this is particularly so in congress play. Even in a nov i ce tou rn ament, you may fi nd that the unknown opponent on the other side of the board is a stu d i o us and ambitious looking youngster c l u tching a tome of o pe n i ng analysis. Whether you are also young or a re a comparative veteran, the question is how shoul d you tackle this type of perso n ? Young p layers at the chess boa rd have two a ssets. One is physical : in a four hour tournament game it is hard for the older pl ayer to keep h is energy a nd con cen tra t i on a t fu l l p i tch in that period when the game a p p roaches its c l i max. In evening l ea gue games, when the older player has proba bly had a hard day at the office w h i le the juni or has been cram m i ng c urrent master variations, age is sti l l more of a han d i c a p . Younger p l ay ers a re usual l y better at c a lculating tactics. The a b i l i ty to see ahead at the board, to spot hidden traps and i d eas in any position, dec l i nes after the a ge of 30. But an o lder p layer has h i s a ssets too. A c anny psychological a p p ro ach, which is beyond many young p l a yers, c an pay d i v idends. A mature attitude is valua ble in d e fence, where a young attacker may overlook a key resource . If he over reaches and the ga me sta rts to flow aga i n st h im then his volatile emoti ons can
make for d ispirited resistance against a counter-attack . When meeting a younger opponent try to stick to simple, strategic play, where judgment and general principles are more a t a premium. I n endga mes, too, younger players sometimes lose i n terest because of the lessened chance of ' inter esting' tactics . Even Tal, renowned as a tacti ci a n, has used the simple a pproach against young players. Here is an example : meeting an opponent twenty yea rs youn ger, Tal chose a simple variation of the Ruy Lopez, swapped off t hree sets of minor pieces to s top complications, d rove his opponent on the defensive and quietly made sure of the w i n . White : M : T a l . B lack : R � K na a k O p e ni n g : R u y L o p e z (Ha l le I 974 ) I . e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 (following the reci pe of Chapter 9 against Black's N imzovich Defence) eS 3 . B b S a6 4. Ba4 d6 S . 0-0 B d 7 6. d4 N f6 7. B x c6 Bxc6. This reca p ture already shows Black has been psychologically thrown by Tal's unexpected swap. He heads for the old Steinitz Defence which i s well-known to give Black a passive position (see Chapter 3, Trap I ). More a ctive is bxc6.
8. Re i B e 7 9 . N c3 e x d 4 1 0. N xd4 B d 7 1 1 . Q f3 B g 4 (better 0-0, but Black is try i ng to be tactical) 1 2 . Qg3 Qd7 1 3 . h 3 Bh5 I 4. N £5 0-0-0 I S . B g S N g8 1 6. Bxe7 Nxe 7 .
fig. 2 3 7
17. Qg5 ! This d ri ves Black compl etely on the defensive. The toughest way to res ist now is 1 7 . . . . N c6 1 8. Qxh5 g6, but Black, di scouraged, overlooks th is re source and Tal fi ni shes nea tly . 17 . . . . N x £5 ? 1 8 . exfS g6 1 9 . g 4 Qc6 20. f6 ! (clearer than taking the bishop) d5 2 1 . Re7 h 6 2 2 . QeS d4 23. N e2 RdS 24. Nxd4 ! Resigns. Neither Rxe5 2 5 . Nxc6 nor Qc4 2 5 . Rxc7 + ! gi ves Black any chance.
Ch o o sing opponents For purposes of rapid improvement, you should try to play w i th sl i ghtly
stronger opponents : weak ones will teach you little, good ones will beat you too easily. Many people, however, cannot easily find such an ideal tra i n i ng partner ; what a lternatives a re there a p a rt from the club and the weekend congress ? P ostal chess One poss i b il ity, useful mainly for those who live far from major cities or who for other reasons cannot compete in weekend events, is to play postal chess. This will help to develop your analysis and s tra tegy, though the fact that players can look up openings means that the games are sometimes unimaginative. Inter national postal chess is at a high level but the general run of domestic competitions a re wea ker than over-the-board chess. Both the BCF and U SCF c an put you in touch w i th postal organizations in B ri tain and the US. There is every possibility that the new comer to postal play will be a ble to find opponents of a s imilar standard from beginner upwards. Two special pitfalls a re present in this type of chess. One is the r i sk of blundering through setting up the wrong posi tion. It is only too easy, a fter a na lyzing the consequences of the oppo nent's latest move in depth on a pocket board, to leave the posi tion slightly altered w i th d i re consequences a few moves later. The rec ommended approach is to use at least two pocket sets for each game, one to show the actual posi tion and the other for analysis. Another risk to the postal pla yer is a blunder th rough ina ttention or boredom during a protracted game. Some oppo nents will s p in out a losing position longer than they would across the board, hoping for a c areless error or a c areless offer of a cond i tional move. W inning a routine, technical endgame can take seve "- 1 months at postal chess. It is no pastime for the i m pa tient, so only ta ke it up if you a re sure you have suffi c ient free time and will-power to carry the games through. There is a l ways a d rop-out in postal tour naments from players who simply a ban d on their games part-way through . A couple of games aga i n st each of s i x postal ch ess opponents is a good com p rom ise between too many games (when you ' ll fi nd high postage costs a deterrent) and too few. It bri ngs a bout one letter a day ; enough chess to keep your brain active and alert, but not enough to over whel m . H ome c omp ute rs Computers that anyone can purcha se and use for a home opponent a re a very recent chess development, and it i s too soon to say whether they will be a nine-day wonder or become a regular part of the scene. The earliest models d rew a lot of criticism as they allowed illegal moves,
could not castle, and lost easily to ele mentary mates. More recent versions seem a little s tronger, although they have been beaten by most of their h uman opponents in the lowest section of con gresses. Prices at the time of writing a re from a bout £ 50 or $ 1 00 upwards. They may be useful as long as you a re a real novice and a re una ble to find human opponents, but I think it unlikely that they will become good enough to be useful pra ctice for average club players. If you a re thinking of buying one, try to insist on a test run at home fi rst. Major computer programmes which c an be used on powerful IBM a nd Control Data machines a re a d i fferent matter. The best of these a re pa rticularly good at quick play and have already won several games against grandma sters. P la y i ng i n s imuls Simultaneous d i splays where a master takes on twenty or more opponents at once a re an i nteresting way to meet s tronger players - there is a real thrill the fi rst time you w in or draw. What takes place is that the players sit round the outside of a ci rcle while the expert moves from one board to another. A bout three hours is par for a 20-board exhi bition and the simulta neous giver rarely scores less than 80 per cent. The world record for such a d isplay was set up at Emmen, Switzerland, in the summer of 1 979 and was rema rka ble. Werner Hug, Switzerland 's best player, took 2 5 hours to meet 5 60 opponents, defeating 385, d rawing with 1 26 and l osing to only 49. A round 1 8, 000 people watched, and Hug walked over twenty miles. I should be interested to know how he dealt w i th what I have found to be the main d i fficulty of very long d isplays a fter some hours the expert is lia ble to develop cramp of the neck muscles through continual stooping down to the boa rd s . How should you beat the master in such an exhi bition ? Partly, it's l uck the expert usually makes one or two blunders and that can happen against the strongest player or the weakest. The technique for the master who commits a bad error in a simul is to race round the next move series so that the opponent concerned is p ressurized i nto a quick deci sion on whether the move is brilliant or is a blunder. If you think the ex pert may have blund ered watch to see whether he ha stens to get round to your board aga i n .
1 25
R o u lette c h e ss Blun ders a part, the m ost p ro m i s i ng chance to beat a s i m u l-gi v i ng ma ster, or i nd eed to d e feat a ny much stronger opponent, is by w hat i s k n o wn as ran d om i zi ng the position or roulette c h ess. Roulette c h ess is a position w h i c h a bounds in tac ti ca l chances and w here n e i ther p l a yer rea l ly knows what is happening. In such situations, the scien tific preci sion of c l osed posi tions, stra tegic play agai nst pawn weaknesses, tec h n i cal know-how and book endgames all have less i n fluence. Everything depends on ta cti cs, and if the expert m i sses a c heck or a ca pture in the m i d d le of a c ritical l i ne you have the c ha n c e of a n upset resul t . How do y o u c reate roulette situations ? Normally you d o it by sac r i fi c i ng a pawn or two so as to give the p ieces attack ing l i n es and chances for o pportun i st raid s . Most defea ts for the s i ngle player i n s i m u l s o c c ur i n m i d d l e g a m e m elees where the e xpert l oses the thread because of the p ressure of h av i ng to move quickly. On the other hand, let him have the i n i tiative, a quiet position or an ending and h i s tec h n i cal s k i l l will outplay you even i f h i s game is o bj ectively worse. G ra n d master Bent La rsen says a bout rook e n d i n gs in s i muls that ' pa w n down, I d raw ; level material, I w i n ' . Endgames in s i m u l s should in fact be avoided at a l m ost a ny price. N o t only is the ex pert's tec h n i que superior to yours, 1 26
but by the time an end i ng i s rea ch ed most games w i l l be over a nd the fi nal moves will be p layed at b l i tz s peed to the benefit of the master's better sight of the board . Moreover, the p ressure of b e i ng the last to fin i sh watched by a crowd of s pe c tators has caused m any b l u nders by c l u b p layers u n used to b e i ng the focus of attenti o n . Chess m a y be a game of pure skill i n theory, but i n pract ice ra n d om c hance i s a factor i n t h e form of u nex pec ted ta � ical shots which even strong players can easily m i ss, and sometim es do. Thus p racti cal a d v i ce on roulette chess is to encourage it when you meet a m uch stronger opponent. On the other hand you should m i n i m i ze it aga inst a weaker player whom you should beat on merit. Aga i n st him you a i m for a routine, tech n i cal a nd positional game fol lowed by s i m p l i fication to an e n d i ng . There a r e u n k i n d ways for clubs to d o w e l l i n s i m u l s . One i s t o p rovi de sets a n d boards of varying shapes and sizes a n d to u s e l ighting whose qual i ty varies i n d i fferent parts o f the roo m . Y o u a l so have a better c h ance if you a re on a corner ta ble w h ich j uts out i n to the m i d d l e of the c i rcle - s i m ul p layers l i ke to mai n tain a steady w a l k i ng rhy thm and the c heck to the master's stride will n ot help his gam e . S i m u l s prod u ce a quota o f p retty and i nstructive w i ns as the ma ster overcom es weak resistance. I ' ve commented earlier
World c h a mp i o n Karpo v t a kes on England's t op t en j u n i o rs in a Lloyds B a nk clock m a t ch ,
1 9 7 7, p a rt of t h e B a nk 's £ 1 4,000 0 1 d t o school
chess.
(see Chapters 2, 3 and 9) on the strength of the V i e n na against i n e x perienced o p ponents ; h ere i s another example, won by Horowi tz in a simul in 1 94 1 . W h i te : Ho rowitz . B lack : A mateur V i e n na O p e n i n g l . e4 e 5 · 2 . N c 3 N c6 3 . B c 4 BcS 4 . Q g4 Q f6 ? ( best i s K f8) 5 . N d S ! Qxf2 + 6 . K d l K f8 7. N hJ Qd4 8. d3 Bb6 9. R O N f6 1 0 . R x f6 ! d 6 (if gxf6 1 1 . Bh6 +
Ke8 1 2 . Qg7 wins).
fi g . 2 3 8
1 1 . Q x g 7 + ! K x g 7 1 2 . B h 6 + K g8 1 3 . Rg6 + fx g6 1 4 . N f6 mate .
Chess books There are hundreds of c hess books in print, so any player who w i sh es to im prove needs to be h ighly selecti v e . Below is a list of those I think most useful - but if you browse at a congress bookstall you may find others you prefer. General a d v i ce : Th ink like a Gra nd master ( A . Kotov) ; Chess for Tigers (S. Webb) ; The Chess Teacher ( A . P h i l lips) and Chess Mastery by Question and Answer (F. Rei n feld) . Openi ngs : How to Play the Openings in Chess (D. Levy a nd R. Keene) ; Chess Openings for You ( B . Ca fferty ) . M iddle G a me : The Pengu in Book of Chess Posit ions (C. A l e x a nder) . Endgames : A Pocket Gu ide t o Chess Endgames (D. Hooper). How to Play the Endgame in Chess (L. Barde n ) . Game Col lecti o n s : My 60 Memorable Games ( R . Fischer) ; La rsen 's Selected Games of Chess (B. Larsen ) ; The Master Game (J . James a nd L . Ba rden ) ; Capa blanca 's 1 00 Best Games (H. Golom bek) . Puzzles a n d P r o b l e m s : Leonard Bar den's Chess Puzzle Book ( L . B a rde n ) . Re fere nce : The Encyclopedia of Chess ( H . Gol om bek) ; Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, 5 vols. (Batsford Chess In formant). Chess ma g a z i n e s : Chess ( month l y , British ) ; Bri t ish Chess Magazine ( mon thly, B r itish ) ; Chess Life ( monthly, U S ) . New s pa pe r c o l u m n s : A m o n g t h e most in teresting weekly c hess columns in English a re those i n the Specta tor (R. Keene), the Ti mes (H. Golombek), the Guardian ( L . Barden) and the New York Ti mes (R. Byrne). Both London even ing papers run a da ily featu re . Eve n i n g
classes
and
indiv idual
t u i t i o n : Even i ng classes are available in Lo ndon from M orley College and indi v i dual cassette tuition from Audio Chess of Chessi ngton, Surrey. W a t c h i n g t h e masters
Perhaps the most enjoya ble of all the ways to i m p rove your c h ess other than w i n ning a b ig tou rna ment, i s to watch the masters and grandma sters in action in BBC2 ' s annual Master Game p rogra m m e w h i c h is normally screened between January and March in a 1 3-part series. The Master Game s hows the players th inking out their moves aloud w hile eve ry move and square discu ssed is indica ted on an electronic board. The programme attracts audien ces of up to two million - not only chessplayers, b ut others who e nj oy the contra sts of person ality and the tone of the comments w hich range between elation a nd despair. R u n n i ng commenta r i es on major games are a l so a feature at many big inter nati onal events, and a day spent in the audience at the a n n ual to urnaments like
Hastings or the Lloyds B ank Masters in B r i tain or the U S O pen w i ll be valuable e x perience. Chess can be an exciting game to watch for two rea sons : the knowledge that a single m i stake can be fatal a nd the slow b u i ld-up towards the ti me control. As the game p rogresses the clock steadily i n c reases the p ressure and the tension for both players and spectators. The spectator can best share this e x c i tement by watc h i ng a game where he has a parti san in te rest - for example a l eading Briti sh or US play er meeting a top Ru ss ian - and by working on the games h i mself. T h i s means ta k ing along a pocket boa rd and men and dec iding on two or th ree games to watch seriously. T ry to work out the best move on each tu rn, and then try to u nderstand w hy the e x pe rt may do someth i ng q u i te di fferent. Tack ling the games this way, not know i ng the result in advance, is more stimulating than pla y i ng over games from book s . I f y o u are u na ble t o attend a tou rna me nt, then the next best idea is to play over master games from books, covering up the next move and working it out. Time yourse l f w i th a clock as i f you were one of the players. I used to fi nd this valua ble as a young player and recom mend ma k i ng it more i n teresting by marking you rself on a 5 point sca le. You get 5 points for c hoosi ng the same move as the game w i n n er or a move wh ich the commentator says is j ust as good, 4 poi nts for a move which (after the ga me) still seems as good as the one that was played, 3 poi nts for a sl ightly i n ferior contin u ation, and so on down to 0 for an outright bl under. If you c heck your results over a period of weeks or months you can ex pect to record p rogressive improvement. P o ints of t e c hni q ue Successful m iddle game and e ndgam e stra tegy and ta ctics is largely a matter of experience as well as recognizi ng the su btle di fferences in c hess patterns - but some more general points will stil lt be h e l p ful. Castl ing Castl i ng can someti m es be delayed with adva ntage, but the i nexperienced player should castle rather than not i f in dou bt. The Yugoslav writer V u kov ic once analyzed the results of a n u m ber of sim ultaneous di s p la ys by masters. He fou nd one com mon feature in ' s i mul ta neous massacres' where th e ex pert won all or nearly all the games : late castl i ng by the opponents. While the begin n e r fails to castle quickly enough, the a ve rage player does so too mechan ically. V u kovic quotes th is diagram as a type-situation where club or county players castle unthinki ngly for either side .
fig . 2 3 9
Here, if Whi te castles KR, Black also castles short a nd White's obvious pawn attack w i th h3 and g4 will weaken his own king's defences. So Whi te does better with the more su btle 1 . Qe2 fol lowed by long castling - 2. 0-0-0. If Black thinks on routine l i nes and con tinues l . Qe2 0-0 ? then 2. 0-0-0 followed by h 3, Rdg 1 a nd g4 is now very strong W h i te h as a powerful attack, wh ile h i s o w n k i ng rema i ns sa fe . Thus a strong player w ith Black would spot Wh i te's intention a nd h i m self c hoose wa iting tacti c s . A fter 1 . Qe2 he could postpone the castli ng dec i s i on by 1 . a6. Then if 2. 0-0-0 0-0-0 ! Now the g4 attack is ha rmless, while if W h i te ad vances on the other flank by b4-b5, his own king is ex posed to the cou nter attack Qa 3 + . A sti l l more sop h i sticated refi nement a fter I . Qe2 is for Black to regroup by 1. . N d8 2 . h 3 Nf7 3. Qd2 ( now both sides are j ockeying for position) 0-0-0. By now Black has sufficie ntly improved h is position to ca stle long in sa fety, for if Wh ite castles short then the knight at f7 enables Black to play RdgS followed by g5 with a quick counter-stri ke. White would proba bly in turn avoid this l i ne by 4. 0-0-0 a fter which the game proceeds along a calm positional course . P i l l s bury is said to have been the first to summarize the rule on ca stling for strong players, 'Castle because you must or because you want to, never just be cause you can . ' .
.
P l anning and exchang ing W hether to compli cate or exc ha nge, and h ow to plan stra tegy, are com mon prob lems on the c hessboard. There is no uni versal answer, but there are some guide l i nes. Here are a few : (a) If you a re short of time on the clock it is generally better to simpl i fy ; if your opponent is pressed for time then keep the attack goi ng. ( b) If there is no definite plan, do not compl i ca te but make a non-committal move which makes your position soun der - often a plan will suggest itself in the 1 27
course of the next few moves. (c) If you can gain material by exchang ing, or if you are already ahead on mater ial, then it generally pays to go for the endgame. It may not be the quickest or the prettiest w i n, but your aim once in a favourable position should be to safe guard the full point without letting your opponent back into the game. (d) You should exchange if you are under attack or cramped, and avoid exchanges if you a re atta cking or command more space. This is particula rly so if an ex change would swap one of your well posted p ieces and bring a poorly situ ated opposing p iece i nto better play. A typical situation : you have rooks at d 1 and a l, your opponent rooks at dB and fB. If you play R( d 1) xdB then the reply R(fB)xdB changes a near-symmetrical situ ation to one where your opponent's rook is the better placed. Needless concession of an open line in this way can make the d i fference between v ictory and defeat. Better leave the opponent to exchange, or else look for an outpost s quare on the open file where your rook c an be pro tected by a pawn. Then you have the chance to increase the advanta ge by doubling rooks. A nother frequent case : you have a bi shop on g5 pinning a k night at f6 against a queen at dB. Your opponent attack s the bi shop with pawn h7 to h6 ; s hould you swap bishop for knight ? Normally the a n swer is no. The bishop, a developed p iece in good play, d i s appears, while the prev iously defensive queen comes into a ction. U sually in such cases it is better to retreat the bishop when the pawn ad vance will have weakened your opponent's king. But there are no a bsolute rules ( bar check mate) ; there are times when it is right to make the exchange because it gains a tempo or because it gives your remaining bi shop and knights command of the l ight squares. (e) If the game is being adj ud i cated (see page 1 32) you have to decide whether the simpl i fied position after an exchange is more l ikely to be given a win. L e v e l p ositi o ns , outp osts and initiative chess To become a successful match and tour nament player it is essential to have the ability and d etermi nation to win posi tions that you shoul d n' t ; to win from level positions and even bad ones. The art of swindling in bad positions is largely the ability to in trod uce unexpected com plica tions : but what a bout when material and position is level (though the game is completely simplified) and your natural instinct is to offer a d ra w ? The first step is to follow a rule already mentioned to look for out-of-play pieces and switch them to more useful squares. One recurrent and practical theme in 1 28
equal-look i ng middle games is to try and create outposts. This usually means a knight, rook, or bishop fi rmly esta b l i shed on a central square - it may not sound much, but a dominating outpost has the same effect as a tennis player in the net position or a soccer set-piece free kick j u st outside the penalty box . The special s trength o f an outpost i s that it enables a player to swi tch t o either side of the board for the most p romising attack. The outpost c uts the defending forces in two, j ust as in the soccer set p iece where the atta ck i ng team has the option of a direct shot at the lone goal k eeper or going round the outside of the wall of defenders. T h e square sq ueeze A single square in a blocked position can be enough for a dominating outpost. The a verage chessplayer doesn't understand how such squa res can dominate the entire game - w i tness the cool public response to the successes of Petrosian and Karpov who are essentially strategic, square control players. As an example, here is a game begin ning w i th a black defence - the Meran variation - which used to be a popular counter-attack line u ntil W h i te scored several successes with a Petrosian-style square squeeze . Polugaevsky, the winner, is one of the world top ten, and his grand plan is based on the simple concept of settli ng a k night at the c4 outpost. The kni ght constantly threatens to help the d pawn advance, and Black's attempts to blockade this pawn are sim ply stopped by ex changes . W h i te : L. P o lugaevsk y . B l a c k : P .
B i y ia sas Opening :
Queen ' s
Gambit,
Slav
M e ra n ( P et r o p o l is 1 97 3 ) l . d 4 N f6 2 . c 4 e6 3 . N O d 5 4 . N c3 c6
5. e3 N bd7 6. B d 3 d x c4 7. Bxc4 b 5 8 . B d 3 a6 9 . e 4 c5 1 0 . d 5 e 5 1 1 . b 3 B d 6 1 2 . 0-0 0-0 1 3 . R e i R b8 1 4 . B fl R e 8 7
Black's last is the culprit which allows Black's pawn front to be immobilized and concedes White the v i tal c4 square. Black should have tried 14 . . f. N e8 1 5 . a4 Nc7 keeping the Q-side pawns mobile. Spotting this, some experts cla imed after the game that W h i te should have played 1 3 . a4, when Black in turn c an try a square squeeze by 1 3 . . . . c4 1 4 . bxc4 b4 1 5 . Ne2 N c 5 while White can aim to eliminate this blockade by Be3xc 5 . W h o is really better is a matter o f tas te but the real lesson is that the player who is fa mil iar with square squeeze technique greatly improves his chances. .
1 5 . a4 !
The k ey manoeuvre. The slight loss of time by the N regrouping from c3 to c4 via b l and d2 coun ts for little beside the great value of controll i ng the c4 square. For the rest of the game, Black is al ways struggling. 1 5 . . . . b4 1 6. N b 1 N b6 1 7 . N b d2 Re7 1 B. Bb2 N eB 1 9 . R c l f6 20. a 5 N aB 2 1 . N c4 ! (at last occupying the outpost) Rc7 22. N fd2 (giv i ng support to the first k night and preparing the advance of the central pawn roller) Bd7 2 3 . f4 Qe7 24 . fxe 5 fxe5 2 5 . N x d6 N x d6 2 6 . N c4 Nxc4 2 7 . B x c4 R e s i g n s If 27 . . . . Qd6 28. .
Bxe5 ! Qxe5 29. d6 + wins.
The Steinitz knight Steinitz once made the arresting obser vation that if you c an plant your knight at d6 or e6 (d3 or e3 when playing Black) you can go to sleep and let the game win itself. The Steinitz knight is really an especially good form of the square squeeze ; set far in the opponent's pos i tion, it paralyses his forces by denying them co-ord i nation . The knight at e6 situation often comes a bout in the King's Ind ian or the Dutch ( l . d4 f5) Defence in queen 's side open ings or in K-side openings with l . e4 e5 where it is routine for Black to advance his f pawn for counterplay. If at that s tage White has a pawn on d5 there may be a tacti cal chance to seize the e6 square by advancing the k night there v ia d4 or g5. The knight at d 6 s ituation comes a bout more often with support from a pawn at c5 rather than at e 5 . A typical preamble is a Sicilian or King's Ind ian Defence which Black has handled too cautiously and permitted White a space gaining pawn advance. If the defender, t rying for some acti ve play, pushes his c and e pawns forward, then d6 is a natural target for a white knight. There are three cautionary points to note before you establish a Steinitz knight. It is essential to check the k n i ght can be ad equately guarded should the opponent try to expel the unwelcome
invader by a crossfire of bishops and rooks. Neglect of this p recaution can lead to a Steinitz knight unable to move being pinned against its guarding rook or queen . The Steinitz knight player also h a s to watch for defensive i deas based on sacri fice of a rook to elimina te the kn ight and its pawn guard. Thirdly, as Steinitz well knew despite his tongue-in-cheek aphor ism, no chess game really w i ns itself. The Steinitz knight s imply c reates an oppor tunity for a winning attack elsewhere on the board . The game below is a good example of how to esta bl i sh the kn ight and use it to force weaknesses a round the enemy king.
but a fter Petrosian's next move creating a Steinitz knight Black is already strategi cally lost) 1 0. N g S I Q x f5 1 1 . 0-0 N f6 1 2 . B d 3 Q g4 1 3 . Be2 QfS 1 4 . f3 B h6 1 5 . B d 3 Qd7 1 6. Ne6 !
White : J a nsso n . B lack : H e l mers Openi ng : K i n g ' s I n d ia n (Swed e n v. Norway 1 976) l . NO N f6 2. c4 g6 3. N c3 B g7 4. d4 0-0 5. BgS h6 6. B h4 d6 7 . e 3 c6 8 . Be2 Nbd7 9. Qc2 eS (now the d6 square has no
pawn guard and in the n ext phase of the game Whi te aims to create his S tei n i tz knight) 1 0 . R d 1 Qe7 1 1 . 0-0 R eS 1 2 . dxeS dxeS 1 3 . N d 2 Q f8 1 4. a 3 a S 1 5 . Na4 NcS 1 6. NxcS QxcS 1 7 . B x f6 Bx f6 18. Ne4 Qe7 1 9 . N d6 R f8 20. c S .
The Stein i tz kn ight i s esta b l i shed . Now White b a c ks it up w i th dou bled rooks before a d v a n c i ng h i s h pawn to open up the black k i n g .
fi g . 2 4 1
20 . 23. 26. 29.
. . . Be6 2 1 . B c4 Bxc4 22. Qxc4 Qc7 Rd2 Bg7 24. Rfd 1 K h7 2 5 . h4 ! Rab8 h S b6 27. cxb6 R x b6 28. Qe4 R 6 b8 g3 Ra d8 ? (B l ack blu nders under
pressure, but other w i se W h i te could continue Kg2 and s w i tch h is rook attack to the h fil e) 30 . N x f7 ! Resigns. I f Q or Rxf7 3 1 . hxg6 + w i n s . And n o w a n even c lea rer example by the great Steini tz knight p layer Petrosian : White : P et ro s ia n . B lack . I. Za itsev Opening : K i n g ' s I nd i a n (Moscow 1966) l . c4 N f6 2. N c3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 0-0 6 . N O e S 7 . d S N h S ? ( better Nbd7) 8. g3 f5 ? ( better N d 7 ) 9 . exf5 Qf6 (hoping for the gam bit 1 0. fxg6 Bg4 1 1 . gxh7 + K h8 w i th atta c k i ng chances,
(a) When you are one or two pawns ahead, exchange pieces but not pawns your obj ective is to reach a pawn end game w ithout pieces, the easiest of all to w in when you a re material up. ( b) When you are one or t wo pawns down, exchange pawns but not pieces. If you reach an endgame w i th one piece a gainst t wo they can be d i fficult or impossible to win w hen no pawns remai n . ( c) Always use the rook actively. Here a re two ideal rook si tuations for Black, w i th Wh i te's rook tied to passive de fence :
fi g . 242
16 .
. . .
Bxc 1
1 7.
Qxcl
Rf7
1 8.
f4 !
(threa tening 1 9. f5 to make the knight i mp regnable) e x f4 1 9 . Qxf4 (threats QgS followed by Bxg6, or simply doubling rooks on the f fi le) N x d S 2 0 . Q x f7 + Q x f7 2 1 . Rx f7 Bxe6 22. N x d S B x d S 2 3 . Rxc7 Na6 24 . R d7 R e s i g n s .
D i ffi cult positi o ns Most amateurs a re scared by defensive posit ions, but experts treat them w i th resil i ence a nd patience . The i mportant thi ng is not to make desperate or u nsound moves to escape trouble - that is often the qui c kest w ay to lose. The way to play the defence is to rei n force weak points, especia lly a round the king ( Larsen once sa id ' wi th a k ni ght on fl or f8 you w i l l never be mated'), w a t c h o u t for d irect threats, a nd look for weaknesses in the enemy camp created by his overstretched communication l i nes. It isn't always the obvious formations w hich are easiest to defend - th us b i shops of opposite colour (one p layer w i th a b ishop on light squares, h i s opponent w i th a bishop on d a rk squa res) wh ich ama teurs thi nk of as a d ra w ing si tuation, is very favourable for the attacker i n the m i d d le gamf. But even here you can make the best of d e fence - th i nk forward to the time when the attack fades, and then p repa re for the endgame, for example by march i ng the k i ng a l i ttle nearer the centre. Keep your pa wns in compact groups : ' pa wn islands' on their own a re easy targets for rooks. Endga m e h i nt s T h e end ing i s t h e weakest p a r t of many club players' game, and even reasona ble technique is . sure to reap dividends against many opponents. We have al ready stressed how essential it is to use the king and the rook as a ctive fighti ng p ieces in the endgame. A few more prin c i p les to remember :
fi g . 24 3
(d) Rook endgames are the most fre quent in pra ctical play, and there are two basic positions w h i ch it is essential to know. Many rook endings boil down to rook a nd pawn against rook. If the a ttacker's rook can then cut off the defender k i ng, there i s usual ly a w in by Lucena ' s method ; but if the defender's k i ng can blockade the pawn he can nor mally d raw by Phil idor's technique. Both these positions are hundreds of years old but they remain val i d .
The Lucena position . White's rook makes a barrier which stops the black K ap proaching the pawn. The winning method is called ' building a bridge' : 1 . R e4 R c l (if Kf6 2 . Ke8 wins) 2 . Rf4 + Kg7 ( if Kg6 3 . Ke8 Re 1 + 4. KfB Rd 1 5. Rf7 wins) 1 29
3. K e7 Re l + 4. Kd6 R d l + 5 . K c6 Kg6 (if Rc l + 6. Kd5 Rd l + 7 . Re4 completes the ' b ridge ' begun by l . Re4, and W h i te wi ns) 6. R c4 Kf7 7 . K c7 K e7 8. d 8 = Q + Rxd8 9 . R e 4 + w i n s .
fi g . 24 5
Philidor's d ra w . B lack keeps h i s rook at a6 to hold back the w h i te king. If the pawn advances, Black's rook goes to a l to threaten checks on the fi les which White can not escape w i th h i s pawn com mitted to the s i x th : l . e6 Ra l 2. K f6 R fl + 3. K e 5 R e l + 4. Kd6 R d l + with a d ra w . (e) Passed pa wns far from the opposing k i ng are very strong, passed pawns in the centre can more easi ly be stopped . ( f) If you have the ad vantage, t ry to keep pa w ns on both s i d es of the board it's easier to win if you can crea te th reats on both flanks. (g) Bi shops are general ly better than kn ights in the en d i ng except where the b i shop is bloc ked by i ts own pawn c h a i n .
M ore advanced p ract i ca l h ints This section of the cha pter is intended for those who a l ready have some experience in congress and match chess ; well routi ned c l u b players who k now what the game is a bo ut but are always on the l ook out for methods to i mprove their results. For such players, a few small improve ments here and there in p ractical tech ni que and approach can spell a d i ffer ence of fi ve or ten grading points at the end of the seaso n . C h e s s pi e ce s Some p layers still make do w i th a n anc ient fa m i ly wooden s e t w ho se knight heads have l ong si nce become d etac hed from the body, or wo rse sti l l w i th men designed in some un orthodox pa ttern. Nowad ays v i rtua l l y all major tourna ments u se plastic sets and rol l-up boa rds ava i la ble from any major c hess suppl ier for a few pounds or d o llars. It's a fa l se economy not to possess one. The very design of such sets ma kes it eas i er to 1 30
calcula te ahead and can thus help your improvement ; and it makes sense to keep your b ra in fam i l iar with the exact set you will have in front of you for several hours w hen you try to w in first prize in your next tournament. B lu nd e r avo i da nce An increasing number of players in i n te rna tional c hess write down their next move on the score sheet before mak i ng it on the board. M i k h a il Tal set the world fashion for this technique and Tony Miles took it up for Britain, w i th the ad d ed personal touch that Miles writes his move in Russian nota tion and puts h i s watch o n top of t h e score s he�t t o hide h i s move from t h e opponent. The real poi nt of writing down the move fi rst is to reduce the ever-present risk of a bl under. Thus you should think out your move, write it down, and then spend another ten or twenty seconds j ust l ooking at it sceptically to see if you ' ve missed anythi ng o b v ious. There is no need to write down every single move in advance - for example it is pointless to do so in a routine book ope n i ng w h i ch you have decided on before the game, silly to do so w hen you a re too short of time to k eep score pro perly at alL and perhaps a good idea not to w hen your posi tion i s totally lost, just to try and make your opponent careless. But in ord i nary c i rcumstances this tech n ique i s recommended and will margin ally i mp rove your resul ts - even if it only stops you b l undering away one winning position a year that will be worth, for the average player, some two or three grad ing points in B ri tain or some 1 5-20 Elo poi nts in the U S . W inning a w o n ga me Fa i ling to win won games is another common chess boa rd d i sease and is o ften another variation of blund ering too o ften. W i ns can a l so be mi ssed by indeci s i ve ness or by fri ttering away a b ig advan tage . The reason why some people are better than others at w inning won games is rooted in c h essboard psychology. It4i s o n l y too easy d uring a game for a player to give h i mself credit for gaining an ad vantage. The temptation is to relax and to assu me that the opponent's res i s tance w i l l crumble. B ut relaxation in the expectation of an easy win communi cates itself to the opponent and may well sti ffen his d eterm i nation to a rea rguard fight a ction to the fin i s h . A Russian ma ster, Romanovsky, once l i sted various psyc hological blocks to real izing an advantage. He noted exces sive ten sion caused by the ga me, im pati ence in antici pati on of an easy v i c tory, the w i sh to fi n i sh the game q u i ckly in a showy way, l oss of inte rest in the techni cal phase of the game, and irrita-
tion at the opponent for h is stu b born resistance. The remedies ? Romanovsky suggested severa l . Firstly, you must try to maintain your concentration right up to the mo ment of resignation. If the position gives a choice b etween a simple and a showy victory path , c hoose the simple one ; from the practical v iewpoint, you should reduce the risk of an analytical mi stake. Keep the initiative, delay w inning mater ial if you can do it w i thout permitting counter-c hances. If you c onstantly lose from winning positions, go over these games and l ook for a pa ttern in your errors. One strong p layer revealed that this search showed that several of h i s blunders arose through overloo k i ng a double attack by the opponent's queen ; another typi cal vi sual fa i l ing is to miss or underesti mate back ward ca ptures, particularly on a d iagona l . Th is is t h e c lassic in stance :
Reshevsk y-Savon, Petropol is 1 97 3. With only a few seconds to make his forti eth and fi nal move before the time control, Reshevsky pla yed l. Qxg6 and an nounced ' Mate ! ' A fel low-gran dmaster descri bed Reshevsky's move as 'the blunder of five centu ries' as Savon 's b i shop took the queen. The tragedy for Reshevsky was accentuated because W h i te h as a real mate by l . g5 + Kxg5 (Bxg5 2. Rh8 mate) 2 . h4 + Kxh4 3. Qf4 mate. Self-knowledge of how you bl under can be very useful in avoiding the experi ence of losing several ti mes by s i m i lar means . Finally, a typi cal mi sta ke when wi n ning is to rush your moves. There are some occasions when ' bl i tzi ng' can be considered (see page 1 4 3) b ut a wi nning posi tion is not one of them . You only r i sk your ad vantage . It pays to take your ti me working out a w i n . Two techniques which can help a re writing down the move before you make it ( see a bove) and the ol d-fashioned remedy advocated by Tarrasch of ' sit on your hands when the win is in sight' .
fi g . 247
This end ing from Bernste i n-Smyslov, Groningen 1 946, is a typical case of im patience jeopard izing a win, and the cul prit was a future world champion. Black is two pawns up, and winning ea sil y . He moved l . . . . b2 w ith the i d ea of 2 . Rxb2 Rh2 + and 3 . . . . R x b 2 winning. No solution is given - you should be a b le to work out for yourself w hat B la ck mi ssed . Look i n g fo r peace Proba bly well over half of a ll o ffers to draw a game are improper, that is made at the wrong time according to the laws o f chess. T h e relevant r u l e in t h e FIDE (World Chess Federation) code requi res a player to make his move, then propose the agreement to d raw, and then start his opponent's clock so that the o ffer is con sidered in the opponent's thinking time. The opponent can decline the offer e i ther verbally or by making a move. In the interval between the o ffer and the reply the offer cannot be retrac te d . I t is easy t o make a d raw offer at the w rong time in the heat o f the moment. The most important and frequent case of improper d raw offers occurs when a player makes a verbal d raw proposal while it is his o wn turn to move i nstead of after making the move. I f your opponent d oes this, it is important to rememb er you have the option of ei ther accepting or refusing at once or of requiring h im to make his move befo re you deci d e . Th is means, from a p racti cal player's viewpoint, that you s hould normally postpone the decision. If the move played is strong, you will still h ave the d raw option ; but sometimes your opponent will be thro wn mentally off balance by the sud d en requi rement to find a move to justify his o ffer. I f his move is un expec tedly weak, the d raw can be re fused with a d d ed psychological effect. Repeated d raw o ffers a re bad etiquette and il legaL but people still make them and there is o ften no c ontroller to rule that they are d i sturbing the other player. Two good ver bal c ounters to the un wanted d raw offer a re 'Of course not ! ' (Fischer) and ' I 'll say when i t ' s a d raw ' .
Some playe rs, particularly i n master tournaments, do not offer a d raw in so many words. A frequent euphemism is ' Are you playing to win ? ' At the 1 9 5 3 world title cand idates tournament in Zurich, Naj do rf used this phra se to Boleslavsky. ' N o ! ' replied the Soviet grand master. ' Are you playing to d raw, then ? ' asked Naj dorf hopefully. ' N o ! ' ' W hat a re you play i ng for, then ?' 'Just to play' , retorted Boleslavsky. The game c ontinued, and was later agreed d rawn Bolesla vsky had nevertheless out-talked his o pponent. D ra ws can, o f course, occur in o ther ways besides mutual agreement, such as lack of mating material or perpetual check. An i mportant d raw for practical chess is by threefold repetition o f the i dentical position with the same player to move each time. This exact definition is necessary since ignorance of it has cost even top grandmasters half a point. Somet_i mes a threefold repetition occurs wi thout the actual moves being the same - for example, when one player oscil la ted first a rook and then a bishop to and fro . It is only too easy for one side to check his score- sheet against repeti tion of moves and fail to notice that the position, though not the exact moves has been repeated .
forfeited his right to claim. The other typical error on threefold repetition is to forget that the same player has to be on move on each recur rence.
Keene v . Donoso, Haifa 1 976, Keene needed to w in this position to become a grand maste r, but though White is a pawn up it's d i fficult to make p rogress. Play continued 1 . Ra6 K c7 2. Ra7 + Kd6 3. Ra6 Kc7 4 . Ra7 + Kd6 5. Ra8 Ke7 6 . Ra6 ! N ow B lack should play Rc 3, alth ough he's still losing, but Donoso called o ver the controller, announced his intention of playing 6. . . . Kd6, and cla imed a d raw by repetition si nce the same posi tion occurred at moves 1 and 3 . H is claim w a s a t once dism issed b y the a r bi ter, since a d i fferent player was to move on the thi rd occasion. Moreover, by international rules, B lack is committed to his announced move. The game ended 6 . . . . K d 6 7 7. d5 Ke5 8. dxc6 Bc8 9. Ra8 K f4 1 0 . B d 5 Resigns.
fi g . 248
This diagram from Castro-Petrosian, Biel in terzonal 1 976 occurred ju st a fter t> et rosian, playing Black, o ffered a draw wh ich was turned down . The game con tinued 1 . Qb7 R ffi (Petrosian o ffered another d raw) 2 . N 5d7 R d8 3. N e5 RfB 4 . N 5 d7 Rd8 (again B lack suggested a d raw) 5 . Qc7 Ra8 6. Q b7 R d8 7. Re7 and White's attack b roke th rough to win. A rema rka ble la pse for a world c hampion -Petrosian should have a n nounced that he was going to play 6 . . . . Rd8 and cla imed a d raw under the th reefold repetition rule. Obv iously both sides were here con fused by the d i fferent o rd er of moves wh ich reached the same position. N ote that the d raw has to be claimed when it is your turn to move ; once Rd8 was made on the board, Black
Tacti cal o ffers of a d raw are an impor tant aspect of chess which few average players consider. If a poor posi tion is starting to improve, or to become un c lear ; if the opponent, with an ad vantage, is getting short of time and starting to look anxiously at h is clock ; then a d raw o ffer is good psychology . If it is accepted , you have esca ped lightly from your trou bles ; if the opponent refuses and his position then deter iorates fu rther the thought o f the d raw he turned down can d emoralize him compl etel y . At t h e 1 9 59 world title cand idates, Olafsson offered Petrosian a d ra w . The Russian, who is deaf, fai led to hear. He would have accepted if he had known a bout it, but instead played on and lost. Petrosian was leading the tournament, but never recovered from the upset . At New York in 1 949 there was a com plete conversation among four people using only one word . H orowitz had a won game against Najdorf, then a w orld ti tle contender, but the players had only a few seconds to reach the time control. Najdorf asked : ' D raw ?' H orowitz
I 3I
The other i m po rtant factor in ad j u d i cation c hess is that material a dvan tage gai ns in significance. A pawn up without compensation would still be a tough fight i n normal play, but on Adj u d i cati o ns adj u d i cation is worth the same as a roo k . S o the right styles for stronger players Someti mes it is necessary to d e c i d e the in l ocal leagues are sharp tactical-style result of a c hess game before it has gon e the full d ista n ce. T h i s occurs parti c ularly openings w here the weaker opponent in i nter-cl u b matches w h ich may not has plenty of pro bl ems to solve, and sta rt u ntil h a l f-way t h rough the evening favourable variations where theory shows the stronger side gai n i ng material . and have to finish some two or three Players i nvol ved in adj u d i cation who hours later. It is too awkwa rd to a rrange really want to improve their win per a second session a nd a normal arran ge centage must bear in m i nd that there i s ment is for the game to be stopped some where between moves 30 to 40 and for the n ormally a right of appeal aga i n st a result to be j udged by an independent decision. Some positions a re marginal and expert. the adj u d i cator w i ll normally settle them A dj u d i cation is more p revalent i n on general pri n c i ples. I f these general Brita i n t h a n i n other countries a n d h a s princi ples i n d i cate a d raw but your d eta i led analysis (or analysis i n con been harmful t o t h e stand ard of play a t club level. It · means t h a t m a n y people j un ction w i th the club top boa rd) shows never play an endgame and that games a win, then you ha ve to set the a nalysis are o ften stop ped just as the posi tion is d o wn on paper and be ready to send it becoming criti cal . o ff as the appeal as soon as the d rawn The adj ud icator's mandate is to decide verd i ct comes through . Another useful tip when the game for the result w i th b est play on both s i des, a dj u dication shows chances for both someth i ng w h i c h would rarely o c cu r i f the game was played out. In m y v iew sides : claim a w i n, even i f you don't think there i s n o d o u bt that it would benefi t you really have more than a d ra w . It i s British chess i f t h e national fed eration l ikely that t h e other team w i ll p u t i n for a took a lead and recommend ed that a w i n a nd the temptati on is strong for the three-h our club match session should adj u d i cator, confronted w i th a tricky consist not of 30 moves i n an h our and a position and u nsure w ho is really better, half fol lowed by adj ud ication but of 30 to award a d raw in the hope this w i ll make in an h our and a quarter fol lowed by a every body happy . What of a dj u d i cation w hen you have quick-play fin i sh w i th 20 or m o re moves in 1 5 minutes on the clock . There the edge on position b ut material i s level ? would be blunders at the q u i ck-play In this case the fi n al few moves b efore stage, t ru e ; but this wou l d be a small adj u d i cation a re v i tal. The rec o m mended d raw back compa red w i th the ad vantage tec h n i que i s known as ' w indow d ressing' : you put your pieces on the that players would be responsi ble for most active a nd i m pressi ve squares pos their own game ra ther than relying on s i b le, k n o w i ng that in ma rgi n al s i tuations the adj u d icator. a dj u d i cators w i ll be i mp ressed by the M ea n w h i le, adj u d ication is l i kely to general look of a position. If one side's continue for a w h i l e ; h ow should you p ieces are on a ct i ve squares while h i s make the best o f ga mes u nder these con opponent's a re passive, y o u m a y sneak a d i tion s ? Two spec i al c ha racteri sti cs are win even though material is l evel . And i t that the game lasts fewer moves tha n i n is h a rder t o mount a successful a ppeal normal tournaments and that t h e position agai n st such an adjud i cation than in at the end w i ll be j udged, assu m i ng the pos i tions capable of co n crete analysis. adj u d i cator knows h i s j o b, by the sa me Too many average players a ssume that h ighly o bj ective standards as a master an a dj u d i cator i s i n fall ib le or that it isn't contest. proper to appeal agai nst d e c isions. But an The i m p l i cations of t hese parameters a m b i tious player can make the best of are that a strong p layer should avoid adj u d i cations by analyzing every position highly strategical openi n gs or systems i n d epth. You should be h ighly motivated where the centre is l i kely to be blocked. to do the work - it's your game - and The risk i s too great that by move 30 any h o u rs spent exa m i n i ng the adj u d i cation advantage ga i n ed w i ll not be good position can give you e xtra i n si ght i n to enough for a w i n . For weaker players, the chess. W r i te down your analysis and reverse appl ies - good openi ngs for h i m conclusions so that i t i s ready to sen d i n league ch ess are t h e s o l i d defen ces to w ith t h e appeal against the verdi ct i f the Quee n ' s G a m b i t such as the Lasker n eeded . The tec h n ique o f such analysis ( w i th . . . N e4) and Tarta kover ( w i th w i ll be good expe rience fo r tournament . . . b 6 ) ; or the closed form o f the Ruy adjou rnments o r for postal ga mes where Lopez. Such ope n i n gs ena ble the weaker players often analyse ten or fi fteen player to p rogress a good part of the way moves a head looking for chances to reach towa rds move 30 adj u d i cation w h i le winning e n d ings. rema i n ing in the shel ter of the tex tbooks .
( pleased n ot to lose to a stronger oppo nent) ' D ra w ! ' Expe rt onlooker. noti c i ng that Horo w i tz was a b i sh op up : ' D raw ? ! ' Referee : ' D raw . '
1 32
Ga m esma nship Y ou don't have to be Bobby F ischer, turning up late to ga mes, or Vi ktor Korchno i , donning one-way m irror spec tacles, to u se o ffboard tactics. ln theory the two protagonists in a game should be emotionless automata w i th i mpeccable beha viour ; in p ractice some players adopt techniques designed to i mprove thei r o wn perfo r mance and m a r the oppon ent ' s . Stopping for tea or coffee i s a frequent courtesy in friendly games or club c hess, and it may help to suggest this b reak if you a re surprised by some unexpected corn b i nation. If there is no tea or coffee handy, it is a good plan after an up set move to spend longer than usual on your reply, pondering till your calm is res to red and you can v iew the position o bj ecti vely. Offeri ng to pay for tea or coffee c an also be a subtle ind i cation to your opponent that you l i ke your posi tion and feel ready to compensate h im for i m pend i ng d efeat. Mannerisms can be very d istracting d u r i ng a game and the problem is that the opponent never quite knows whether they are unconscious reactions or ploys designed to d i sturb him. You will cer tai nly m eet opponents with unpleasant manner isms and i t is d ifficult to a im for real chess success unless you c an seal off your thi n k i ng enough to avoid b reaks in your concentration. Smoking is the most o b vious form of d isturbance to a sensitive opponent, and the US Chess Federation now restricts smokers to a separate room at several major tournaments. Lasker was one of the fi rst great masters whose smok ing ha bits aroused ad verse comment, and some of h is opponents a rgued seriously that the aroma of his pungent cigars was a factor in his successes. Later Botvinnik, a non smoker, was bothered d u ring tourna ments by opponents w ho 'accidentally' blew c igarette smoke towards him ; he overcame the problem by arranging a tra i n i ng match w he re his coach Ragozin was under orders to smoke heavily ! Some masters try to d isgu i se a prepared o pening by thinking long over the first few moves as if they faced unexpected d iffi culties. The same technique can be u sed a fter a djournment. Botv in n ik on returni ng to finish an adjo4fned world c hampionship game that everyone be l ieved an easy win for his opponent, did not bring along h is usual _t hermos of coffee. During his home analysis he had d iscovered some promising resources which could nevertheless be stopped if the opponent played precisely, and he wanted to give the impression that he expected the game to last only a few more moves. His opponent played carelessly and Botvi n n ik held on to a d raw. A common practice is symbolic physi cal aggression . My first experience of
this technique was at a Bognor congress in the mid- l 9 50s w here as a young player I had a w i nn ing position against a veteran master. While I pondered over the best way to win, the floor began to shake. It was my opponent marching up and down beside the board ; the floor was uncarpeted and he was wearing hob nail boots. A more sophisticated version of this approach is described by Bot vinnik who watched Alekhine play against Bogolyu bov at Nottingham 1 9 3 6 . While Bogolyubov thought, Alekhi ne circled round the board like a kite, glar ing at his opponent. When Bogolu bov finally moved, Alekhine rushed to the board and, still stand ing banged down a surprise reply with such force that his opponent al most jumped out of his chair. There are ploys, too, to i mpress your opponent with your own strength . The former world champion, Smyslov, has the habit when making a move of screw ing down the piece into its new square with an air of finality as if no other move was reasona ble. Fischer, and following him N igel Short, has long arms and hands and stretches out to c apture enemy p ieces like a vultu re seizing its p rey. Botvi nn i k, and also Paul Keres who narrowly failed to become world champion, wrote down the moves slowly and exactly, as i f the score sheet i tself was part of a work of art. Petrosian has impressive eyebrows and frequently arches them as if amazed by his opponent's naive manoeuvres.
Karpov looks extremely cool and does not s weat even under television l ights . G randmasters and masters in general are used to giving simultaneous d isplays and exhi bitions, and acquire the flair of making moves and captures cleanly so that the taking piece operates with a kind of flick action. Even if you cannot always make good moves, you can train yourself to improve your physical pre sence at the board by watc hing the ex perts and copying them in these and other attitud es. Simply by acting like a good player, whether or not you really are one, will make some psychologi cal impression on your opponent. P ro b le m s A problem i s a n arti fi c ial si tuation where White has to mate Black in a stipulated num ber of moves, usually two or three, against any defence. The positions bear l ittle relation to practical play, but can have a charm of their own. The key move in a problem is seldom material istic or obvious, and is rarely a check or a pawn promotion. There should normally be only one possi ble solution. S pecialized problems are based on the illustration of particular themes in the play or in ' tries' which nearly work. It is hard now to produce enti rely original two-movers which the average solver enjoys, and largely for this reason many chess columns have gone over to game pos i tions wh ile others mainly publish the
Karpov prowls round the board as Spassky is under pressure in their 1 9 75 candidates match which Karpov won 4- 1 with 6 draws.
classic al problems of past years. From the viewpoint of the practical player who occa sionally glances at a prob lem d iagram, the most interesting chal lenges occur where only small forces remai n, the position looks rather game like, and the solution appears - but isn't easy. As a brief introduction to this speciali zed world here are three problems whose answers can be found at the end of this chapter.
fi g . 250
White mates in four moves at latest, against any defence (by 0. von Krob shofer) . 1 33
fi g . 2 5 1
White mates i n three moves a t latest, against any defence ( by T. and J. Warton).
fi g . 2 5 2
White ma tes i n th ree moves a t latest. against any defence. This puzzle defeats many solvers a nd can take a little of the credit for Russian chess successes - it was one of Lenin's favouri tes . W o me n ' s c h e ss Women 's chess has for years been the poor relati on of the men's game in Western countries. At international level, the Russians and East Europeans are far a head of everyone else. Within the USSR there is also the u n ique situation that the tiny republic of Georgia in the Ca ucasus prod uces more talented women players than the rest of the country put together. In fact, a women's team from Georgia would beat the rest of the world in a 5-a-side matc h . The poor standards of women's chess in the West have been variously attri buted to sex d i fferences in spatial a b i l i ty, related to hemispheric speciali zation in the brain, as well as to purely s o c i al causes such as the long tradi tion of c h ess as a male game. In contrast to b r i dge, a partner is not necessary to play c h ess and this often has the consequence t hat the i nterested woman or girl p layer has nobody to go with her to tournaments a n d c l u bs . I
34
Despite this d i scouraging background, there are hopeful signs in recent years for women players. Both i n the US and Britain, chess is gaining in popularity among women and girls. Lloyds B ank sponsorship of British chess includes a number of one-day ladies tournaments which are more practical for many com petitors than longer congresses. Entries for some of these events have totalled nearly l OO, a figure which would have been considered impossible for a women 's tournament only a few years ago. Grow ing numbers will almost certainly mean rising standards, and we may yet see a Western challenge to the domination of the women's game by the girls from Georg ia . G r a d i ng a nd rating Gradi ngs ( in Britain) and rati ngs ( in the US and other countries) essentially mean the same thing - a way of measuring performances of p layers in a tournament or over a period . The basic concept is simple. If you perform well against players better than yourself, your rating goes up ; if you perform badly against players worse than yourself, your rating goes down. Rating is based only on results - w ins, draws and losses - and no a ttempt is made to measure the quality of play or whether you won convincingly or only because of a blunder. Some 1 0, 000 British chessplayers have a publi shed grade. A newcomer who takes part in a congress and meets graded players will have his grade calculated by totalling the grades of his opponents, adding 50 poi nts for each game won and su btracting 50 for each loss, and aver aging the total . Example : Jones starts his chess career in a four-round tournament. He beats o pponents graded 1 20 and 1 1 0, draws w i th a player graded 1 1 6, and loses to one graded 1 28 . The total of his opponent's grades is 474, to which l OO is added for the two games won and 50 deducted for the loss, making 524. Divide by the num ber of games, four, and his grade based on his first event is 1 3 1 . Grades are normally published ann ually each autumn. They are based on at least 1 8 results to avoid distortion through too small samples. In calculating results aga i nst j uniors aged under 1 8, ten points are added to the j unior's grade to allow for improvement since the grade was cal culated, while differences bet ween players more than 40 grading points apart are calculated as i f they were 40 points. The system used in the United States, and in World Chess Federation ratings, takes a little longer to calculate but is more closely related to statistical pro babilities. The formula as stated by Pro fessor Elo is as fol lows :
Rn = Ro + K(W-We) is the new rating after a tournament. Ro is your rating before the tournament. W is the number of points scored. We is the number of points he was expected to score, based on the difference between his rating and the a verage rating of his opponents. K is a constant which is used to weight the most recent performance relative to past performance. This normally varies from lO to 30 according to the strength of the players : the higher figure enables ratings to change more rapidly, and is useful in the case of j uniors or of players who have competed in only one or two events. The number of expected points (We) is determined from a table, not shown here, which shows percentage expected against rating difference. Rn
P e rs o n a l chess a udits The sti mul us of the grading/rating system is one of the most i mportant assets in enabling a competition player to monitor his own improvement and spot weak nesses in his style. It is important to keep what I call a personal chess audit, for . which essential equipment is a good quality scorebook and a copy of the latest grading list. Rati ng lists contain published form a ssessmen ts for active players. There is a single list for the United States while each major region of Britain - North, South, Midlands, West, Scotland, Ireland and Wales - has its own list. If you play in congresses or sufficient inter-club matches, your name should eventually appear on the list for your area. If you have d i fficulty in tracking down your local list, ask the BCF, a congress official, or the USCF. In order to carry out your chess audit, make a provi sional assessment of your own rating when starting match games by asking a couple of strong players to assess your standard, or find out the ratings of players a bove and below you in the club team and assume you are m i d way between them. A fter each game, look up the oppo nent's rating in the list (in well-organized tournaments you will be able to find it d irectly from the pairings card or the wall chart) or ask him direct, then compare your results with the form expectation. You should score 60 per cent against players with British grades 10 points below yours, 70 per cent against those 20 points below, 90 per cent against those 40 points or more below, and so on. This should mean in pra ctice that most of your drawn games will be against players whose grades are not too d i fferent from your own. If you are improving, you should start to beat lower-graded opponents more regularly and take more frequent points and half points from higher graded ones.
Strength
British grade British title
International players
225
Congress winners
US
rating up
US
title
Senior Master
British Master
2400
2 1 3--224
Candidate Master
2 300--2 399
· US Master
Strong national player
200--2 1 2
British Expert
2 200--2 299
U S Master
County, club and state champions Strong club players
1 7 5- 1 99
2000--2 1 99
Expert
1 5 0-- 1 74
Candidate Expert Class A
1 800-- 1 99 9
Category I
Average club p layers
1 2 5-- 1 49
Class B
1 600-- 1 799
Category
Lower board club players
1 00-- 1 24
Class C
1 400-- 1 599
Category Ill
7 5--99
Class D
1 200-- 1 399
Category IV
Class D
Below
Category V
Weak club players Novices
up
Below
75
The next step in your audit is when you have at least 20 results and can sum marize what is happening. A re you doing a lot worse with Black than with W hite ? You may not be scoring so well as you should aga i nst weaker opponents (over confidence ?) or stronger ones (scared of their reputati ons ?) or it may be that you are performing below your grad ing ex pectation in partic ul ar openings, par ticular types of middle game, or endgames. You then have to try and isolate the re current errors in those games where your results are worse than they should be : the mistakes will exist as surely as a golf slice or a tendency to underbid at bridge, b ut in chess there is often a chance to avoid 'error-prone' situations by switching to a more suitable opening system. Grading t o u r na m e nts In Britain it is perfectly possible to keep constant track of your grade and to check at the end of the year w hether your calculations agree with those of the local or area grader (it is also possi ble to do this in the U S, though with a sli ghtly greater degree of approxi mation). The grading year is from 1 May to 30 April a nd the new li sts are publi shed between Septem ber and November. In most B riti sh weekend tou rnaments there is not only an open tournament where lead i ng players ta ke part but where anyone can enter, but al so lower sections limited to players below certain grades. If you take part in congresses, these events are another important reason for keep ing exact track of your grade . The upper grading l imits a r e o ften in the range 1 50- 1 60 and 1 2 5- 1 30. If you are a serious competi tor, this is something which you should consider as you ap proach the end of the grading yea r. For example, if your grade i s around 1 40 i n March but you feel you can improve a lot on th i s, it will probably pay to d rop out of tourname nts for a couple o f mon ths and then concentrate your improvement
1 200
11
in the following gradi ng year when you will be in contention to win the under1 50 and under- 1 60 tournaments. Of course the existence of such limits is a temptation to the really unscrupulous player to artific ially deflate his grade by losing uni mportant games, wh ich is why in the USA rating limited prizes are confined to those who have not been rated a bove the figure in question for two years or more. P r izew i nn ing arithmetic Masters and grandmasters often calculate the score required to w in a tournament or fin i sh among the prizes on the basis of percentages which have won in similar previous situations. The weekend con gress player should do likewise. An over all score of 7 5 per cent in a master invitation guarantees a high prize in that type of event but would probably put a player out of the money in a weekend Swiss. This a ffects the strategy, for while international regulars often take energy conserving d raws when Black it is neces sary to play for a w in with both colours in a weekend domestic event. The most common type of weekend Swiss runs for five or six rounds and has anyth ing from 50 to 200 participants. It is l i kely that you will need at least 4�/5 and 5/6 to w in substan tial sums in smaller events while 5 /5 and S!/6 will be requi red if the entries approach 200. Assume for the moment that you are one of the stronger players in the tournament and have chances to win i n your best form, how should you approach the tournament ? There are two especially promi sing ways of aiming to reach a score of 5 /6 or better. One is by starting slowly with one or two draws in the early rounds (a bad start w i th a loss has a si milar effect) and then coming from behind, meeting weaker opponents while avoiding the top players who are battl ing it out at the front. W hether this pol icy works really
depends on how many other strong players there are in the event. If there are qui te a few, the odds are that you will meet one or two of them in the later rounds anyway when they too have d ropped a draw or a loss. But if you are one of, say, half-a-dozen strong players in a field of a hund red, then the slow start method gives good chances of reaching a high score against fairly easy opposition . The other method of i mproving your chances of becoming a consistent money w i nner is if you can keep on winning for five of the six rounds. Paradoxically this may i mprove your chances of avoid i ng the strongest opposition in the middle and later rounds, when good players are paired together and may drop half a point. If you reach 5 / 5 in a six-round event you w i ll be probably paired either with another player on maximum points - when in many cases the opponents agree a quick draw to make sure of a high prize - or w ith a player half a point behind who will also be tempted to accept a d raw as it guarantees a reasona ble prize. Only rarely does a player with 5/5 find hi mself a full point clear and paired with a 4/5 going all out for a win. N ational titles Another opportunity given to you by rated and graded chess in Brita in and the US is to qualify for one of the national titl es open to lower-ranked players. Of course at the lower and middle levels many other people will hold the same title and it w i ll carry no great weight within chess ; but outsi de the game non players are impressed by such high sounding names as 'cand idate expert' and it may well gain you benefits in applying for a new job or a place at college . U n fortunately the US and British national ti tle systems are not standard i zed so that the same title refers to quite d i fferent levels of play in each country . A bove is a comparative gui de to the various rating and title equivalents . These titles form a valuable target for all chessplayers of reasona ble intelligence who are will ing to work at the game. Even without any spec ial talent for chess, a com bination of learning from the masters, frequent play, and use of the many practical techniques recommended in th is book should mean that the Class A/Category I level is a reasonable goal. If you have real ability, you can aim still higher. P r o blem s o l u t i ons (see page 1 3 3) (a) l . c8 = B ! b3 2. Bg4 b2 3 . Bd l ! Kx b l 4 . Bb3 mate . I f W hite's pawn had promoted to queen, his third move would draw by stalemate . (b) l . Ra3 f2 2. Rhxb3 Kxh2 3. Rh3 mate. (c) 1 . Qg7 Ke2 2. Qd4, and if K f3 3. Qe4, or if Kfl 3. Q f2 . I 35
The final chapter of this book deals w i th the mechanics of getting on i n the c hess world for those readers w ho feel they have the talent, the ambiti on and the dedi cat ion to succeed at h igh levels of play. If you are able to treat chess as serious work and to harness your energies to an unremitting search for improve ment, then you can start to think in terms of success in open competition, or i n ter national rankings and titles, and of the national championship of your country . There are ultimately no barriers except ability and results, to becoming the heir to Bobby Fischer and Tony Miles and proving yourself the best player of the
Black sealed his move in a master game here, then offered a draw. Would you accept as White ? Sealed moves are frequent in match chess - see page 1 4 5 for the answer.
US or Britain . The national US magazine Chess Life periodically publi s hes ranking l ists of the top 5 0 men, women and juniors based on performances in all rated events. Naturally you can only reach the top men's l i st if you do well in major events such as the US Open championship, the Eastern and Atlantic Opens, and the N ational Open. But if your results reach these exal ted levels, the doors w ill open. Selection for the dozen or so players in the US closed cha m pion ship is made on ratings as is the choice for the US team in the world olympics. Entry to the Lone Pine tournament, the most prestigious open in the world, is ba sed on m i ni mum ra tings. All you have to do is prove yourself by your results . In Britain, the national championship is open for anyone to enter on payment of a modest fee and joining the British Chess Federation (d etails from 4 The Close, Norwich) . The p rel iminary stages of the
event are organized in counties and zonals, w ith qualifiers from these tourna ments joining exempted players for the title d uring the annual congress in mid August. A bout 40 players normally con test the fi nal. Once there, you have the chance to defeat some of the leading masters and experts in the country, and the road to international chess opens both as a member of the England team and as an individual . Three of the best English players are chosen every three years to compete in the world championship eliminators. Winning the national ti tle along with other good resul ts may well win one of these coveted nominations to a zonal tournament with representatives from the Netherlands and other West European countries. In the US, the national cham pionship counts as an independent zonal . A p lace in the top two or three of the zonal ensures a place in one of the two i nterzonals, contested between w inners and h igh placers in world wide zonal tournaments plus exemp ted masters from the previous world title series. W ith travel expenses paid by the national federation and hospitality provided by the organizers, you prepare to take on the celebrated Soviet grandmasters. You, they, and the rest of the field of around 18 players settle down for a month-long ba ttle at the end of which you are again in the top three and qualify for a place among the eight world champ ionsh ip candidates.
Can d idates' matches l ast from ten to si xteen games agai nst the same opponent. The prizes for winni ng are becoming more valua ble but are sti ll probably not more than £ 5 , 000 or $ 1 0,000. You w in your qua rter-final, semi-fi nal and final matches, and you hit the jackpot - a series of perhaps 24 games against Ana toly Karpov or whoever suc ceeds him as world c hampion . You will now be the la test hope from the West w hom chess fans everyw here want to see fol low Bobby Fischer and chal lenge Soviet supremacy. T here is inte nse interest in the matc h between the the reigning champion and the u nknown from Britain or the U S . Many ci ties bid to stage the match and you and the cham pi on naturally choose the richest purse. Your payoff even i f you lose the match is unl ikely to be l ess than £ 5 0,000 or s 1 00,000 . . . J u st a d rea m ? Yes, but a d ream every young and ambi tious player should have. For to have the motivation to work at c hess and to win monotonous rook and pawn en dgames i n unhelpful surround i ngs, you need to have a v i sion of reach i ng the to p . Most c hess players a re too l i m i ted in their ambitions. W i n n i ng a club or area championship w i ll not be a suffic ient end in i tself to stir your latent effort and talent ; the effort of strai ning for ' im possi ble' targets brings out ability in players which they and their friends did not suspect. J u n io r co r n e r Many chess players learn the moves and become i nterested i n the game at primary or secondary schoo l . At that age the possibil i ties of becoming a strong player are much better than for the adult begin ner who, w hatever h i s ta lent, fin d s i t d i ffi cult t o fit in enough ti me for the game because of job and fam i ly commit ments . J u n iors have a great advantage in that t h ey are the ideal age for absorb ing the mass of deta i led information that is conta i n ed in c h ess theory , generally have a h ighly developed desire for com peti tion, and have th e time to s pe nd on chess until they get involved w ith the more d i ffi cult public examinations such as A-l evel or uni versity entrance. Lower standard exam i nations such as the B ritish 0-level present few d i fficulties to most young chessplayers since they are nor mally academic ally bright and fi nd the structure of chess tournaments simi lar to sc hool tests. To make 40 moves in I i hours is good train ing for w riting four essay questions in the same period . J u n i o r events J u n ior chess i n t h e U S is l imited in scope. The U S Ch ess Federation i ssues regular ' top 50' ra nking lists for players u nder2 1 . 1 6 and l 3 but apart from the ann ual
1 38
Schedule for grading performance Age
International sched ule
Age
International schedule
6.0 6.6 7.0 7.6 8.0 8.6 9.0 9.6 1 0. 0 10.6 1 1 .0 1 1 .6
50 61 70 78 86 94 101 108 1 14 1 20 1 25 1 30
1 2.0 1 2. 6 1 3 .0 1 3.6 14.0 14.6 1 5 .0 1 5 .6 1 6 .0 1 6.6 1 7 .0 17.6
1 35 1 40 145 1 50 1 54 1 58 161.5 165 1 68 . 5 1 72 175 178
U S Junior Championship and the National H i gh Schools Championship there are few cha nces for big all-j u n ior compet itions. This does not prevent the top players becoming very strong in their mid-teens but l imits their strength in depth in compari son to their counter parts i n England and Russia . Junior chess in England starts with p ri ma ry chess which includ es team events for schools and a reas, and a na tional c ham pionship for under- 1 1 s. At secondary level there is the Sunday Times nati onal school championship, i n w h i c h some 800 schools take part. a s well as annual British and London age group champi onships, and the nati onal j unior squad . The junior squad is unique to Britain a nd has had a marked influen ce on the develop ment of a continual stream of ta lented young players. Grandmasters such as Petrosian, Hart and Spa ssky have all rema rked that j u n ior strength here is greater in depth than in the Soviet Union . The ma i n emphasis of the squad is to spot ta lented youngsters early, guide them i n to suita ble tournaments, a rrange coac h i ng and give encouragement to ensure that they will gain opportu n i ties as ra pidly as their progress perm its. Thus N i gel Short at the age of 9 was sent to p lay in the interna tional open at Jersey w ith aid from the organizers and from the Slater Foundation, one of whose associates was eo-sponsor of the tourna ment. The squad emphasizes world perfor mance and issues periodic ranking lists showing the best j uniors in the world in ea ch age group and how the most talented B ritish youngsters compare w i th them . This immed iately provides the ' world championship' moti vation mentioned earl ier in this c hapter ; the s ight of h is name up in l i ghts as world no. 10 for his age immed i J tely fires any youngster worth h is salt to aim for the no. 1 spot . Juni ors are also encouraged to measure
Age
In terna tional schedule
1 8 .0 1 8.6 1 9 .0 1 9.6 20.0 20.6 2 1 .0 2 1 .6 22.0 22.6 2 3 .0
1 80. 5 183 185.5 1 88 1 90 192 1 94 195.5 1 97 1 98 . 5 200
their grading performance agai nst a sched ule d esigned to reach international standard by age 2 3. This schedule is rev i sed from time to time in the l ight of experience but has proved to have good pred i ctive value. A j u nior who reaches any of these inter med iate levels shows excellent promise. He has significant chances, if he ma in tains h is interest, to reach 200 grad ing strength (2 200 on the international scale) when he will be good enough to take part in i nternational chess and will be among the top 1 00 - 1 50 players in the country. Girls w ho achieve these standards are potentially international women masters. At the highest levels, world class p layers should be able to beat the schedule by a w ide margi n . Here are d eta ils of the ages at which outstanding players of the past, together with a few who may become outstanding players in the 1 980s, rea ched vari ous grading standards (Right). Of those players listed who do not al ready appear in the biograph ies chap ter, Maia Chi burdanidze is world woman c hamp ion and in the autumn of 1 979 was joint win ner of a men's grandmaster event in Barcelona. Cha ndler is New Zealand 's best-ever player, Benjami n and Litvi nchuk are bright young American ta len ts, while Hodgson, Wells, Conquest and Carr are promising British j uniors who could be future masters. Two further policy p lanks of the successful British j unior squad are also worth mentioning. The squad expects its players to compete wherever possible against older juniors and in adult events ; regular practice against such hard opp siti on encou rages a more controlled game with fewer of the errors through in attention which are frequent in all j un ior tournaments. S quad players are a l so expected to take part in a lot of competitive games a year : the squad agrees with several lead i ng grandmasters that frequent play is necessary for ach iev ing results.
An improving and ambi tious j u nior should play at least 80 competitive games a year and preferably l OO to 1 5 0. It is importa nt to acquire a s much chess information as possi ble w h i le your mem ory is at its peak and your enthusiasm is at its ma x i mum. Magazines like Chess Informa nt a nd The Chess Player a re good reference sources. Later on in school years it be comes more d i fficult to play so frequentl y beca use of the increasing pressures of the sc hool exami nation system . The break-th rough point for a junior is li kely to come when he rea ches around a 1 90 British grade or a 2 1 00 international or US rati ng. This is the level for en try to maj or events such as the Hastings Challengers and international Swiss system tournaments, or to become a contender for a p lace i n the national junior team . The IM sched ule shows that the poten tial ma ster needs to reach 1 90 strength by the age of 1 5 but this is a l so the time when exam i nation pressures start to slow the natural ra te of c hess improvement. Many parents of j u n i or players ask about coa c h i ng. In Bri tain it is only rarely pussi ble to a rrange for regular master coaching for i n d i vidual players, but this is by no mea ns a maj or ha ndica p . Such
talented masters as Miles and Short became strong with l i ttle or no regular coaching. It is a help however, to an a m bi tious j un ior if he can find a lead ing player in h i s club who is will ing to play with h im regularly and go through his games checking for m istakes. The p layer d oes not have to be a particularly good teacher, for the regular conta ct and sti mulus of a stronger opponent alone will help the youngster improve fast. S i m ulta neous play aga inst masters fur nishes a nother incentive. Ea ch year a fter the ann ual Hasti ngs congress the England j unior squad ta kes on the Russian grand masters who compete there. The matches a re helped by the Slater Foundation and ena ble 50 to l 00 youngsters to meet a strong GM across the board . The games vary i n quality but they give pa rti ci pants the v i tal moti vating experience of m eet i ng world -class com peti tion. In his fore word to this book, V i ktor Korchnoi descri bes his own match against the squad where N igel Short was the only winner. Other grandmasters have found the going hard in similar matches. In 1 978, Petrosian conceded nine losses and eleven d raws in h is 30-board Slater Fou ndation match against BCF squad and Central YMCA opponents - the best
Grading pe rformance of outsta nding players
Alekhine Capablanca Reshevsky Botvinnik Spassky Fischer Karpov M i les (b. 1 9 5 5) Seirawan (b. 1 960) Chandler (b. 1 960) Chi burdanidze ( b . 1 96 1 ) Kasparov (b. 1 96 3) Hodgson (b. 1 96 3) Benjamin ( b . 1 964) Wells ( b . 1 964) Short (b. 1 96 5) Conquest ( b . 1 967) Litvinchuk ( b . 1 967) Carr (b. 1 968)
1 50 ( 1 800)
175 ( 2000)
1 87 . 5 (2 1 00)
200 (2 200)
2 1 2. 5 ( 2300)
225 ( 2400)
2 37 . 5 ( 2 5 00)
250 (2600)
ll
9 7 13 9 9 8 12
13 i1 7 l3 11 12 10 l3
14 12 8 14 12 l3 11 14
14 13 9 14 12 13 12 14
15 16 11 15 14 14 14 15
16 17 19 17 15 14 15 17
19 18 23 19 16 14 19 20
25 20 24 23 18 16 20 22
12
12
l3
14
14
17
19
11
13
14
15
16
19
20
11
12
13
14
16
17
9
lO
11
12
l3
15
lO
12
12
13
14
11
11
12
13
13
15
11
12
l3
14
9
10
11
12
12
14
10
11
12
13
10
11
12
12
10
11
15
16
result ever against a world champion outside the USSR . How does a keen youngster get to join the national squad ? That's no real pro b lem. All congress results and j unior tournaments from everywhere in the country a re scrutinized and youngsters who do well are given the opportunity at an early date to take part in a squad event. In consequence of this policy, little chess talent in Engl and goes to waste or remai ns undi scovered , wherea s in many other countries offici als o nly start to take an i n terest when a j unior has already rea ched i nternational standard by his own efforts. J u n i o r games A common characteristic of junior games as indeed of most chess below strong ma ster level is that initiative counts for much and that players are relatively weak in defence. The overall standard in top j unior c hess is h igh, as shown by these two games w hi ch brought English victor ies in the world under- 1 7 and European under- 1 3 team c hampionships.
W hite : J . M . Hodgson (England) B la c k : L. Degerman (Sweden) O pe n i ng : S i c i l ia n , Cutty Sark At tack (Viborg 1 979) 1 . e4 c5 2. f4 g6 3 . Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 e6 5. d4 cxd4 6 . Nxd4 Ne7 7. Be3 0-0 8 . B e 2 a6 9. 0-0 d6 1 0 . Qd2 Qc7 1 1 . Rad 1 Rd8 1 2 . B e x B 1 3 . e x B B x B 1 4 . NxB N x B 1 5 . N d 5 Qd7 1 6. RxB ! gxB 1 7 . Bg5 N c6 18. N f6 + Bxf6 1 9 . Bxffi K f8 20. B c4 Q c 7 2 1 . Q h 6 + K e 8 2 2 . Qxh7 Ne5 23. B e6 Ng6 24. Re 1 Resigns W h i t e : S . C. Conq uest (England) B lack. P. Bezi lko (France) O p e n i n g : Reti (Eumig C h ildren ' s Cup 1 978) 1 . Nf3 N f6 2. c4 g6 3. b3 c5 4 . Bb2 Bg7 5 . g 3 0-0 6 . Bg2 Nc6 7 . 0-0 d6 8. e3 BB 9 . d3 N b4 10. Ne1 R b8 1 1 . a 3 Nc6 1 2. h3 Be6 1 3 . N c3 d5 1 4. Qe2 dxc4 1 5 . dxc4 Qc8 1 6. K h2 Rd8 1 7 . N d3 N a S 1 8. N c l a6 1 9 . a4 Qc7, 2 0 . e 4 N c6 2 1 . N d S B x d 5 2 2 . cxd5 N b4 2 3 . f4 N d7 2 4 . Bxg7 K x g7 2 5 . Na2 Nxa2 26. Rxa2 e6 27. dxe6 fxe6 28. Qg4 R eS 29. e5 Rbd8 30. Qg5 Qb6 3 1 . Rd2 Qc7 3 2 . R fd 1 bS 33. axb5 a x b 5 34 . B exB 3 5 . Rd6 c4 36. bxc4 bxc4 37. Bc6 NxeS 38. Qf6 + K g8 3 9 . B d S + Resigns
I n te rnati o n a l ratings and titles One objective of every strong p layer should be to qualify for a World Chess Federation (FIDE) rating, opening up the possibility of obtaining international titles. Rati ng and ti tle tournaments have to last at least nine rounds and more than half the p layers must have existing rat ings or titles as appropriate. You can normally quali fy for an international rating with nine games against players with existing FIDE ratings, provided that your performance in these games is better
1 39
than 2200 (equivalent to a 200 British grade). To convert a British grade to an international rating, multi ply by 8 then add 600 . International titles are also awarded on the results of FIDE tournaments ; to quali fy for a title you have to perform at the sti p ulated level over 24 games and two or th ree tournaments, and to include
among the opponents specified num bers of grand masters, international masters or FIDE masters. In both England and the US there are normally several inter nationally rated Swiss system tourna ments each year where anyone of 200 strength or slightly less can qualify for a rating. Current men 's titles are FIDE Master, for w hich the qualification is 24 games at a performance level of 2 3 5 1 (2 1 9 British grade) ; International Master, with a per formance level of 24 5 1 (2 3 1 British) ; and Grandmaster (260 1 , 2 50 British). There
a re also women 's master and grand master titles fixed at a lower level . In countries where the state supports chess, nota bly Eastern Europe, possession of an international title confers an auto matic salary and is therefore highly prized . The natural though unfortunate consequence of this over the years has been a rapid expansion of the num ber of titled p layers and devaluation of their importance . Only the title of world champion, because it is unique, has acquired progressively increased kudos. In Western countries at the present time this has led to a strange contra d iction : talented untitled players chase the lM title eagerly and are willing to take part in half-a-dozen tournaments a year to get it ; but there is an increasingly high d rop-out rate from regular tourna ment play among those who possess the master title and find it carries little fi nancial value. The grand master title is J u n i o r world c h a mpion Yasser Seirawan works on his next m o ve at H as t i ngs to the sombre backgro u n d of a black knigh t .
still rare. There a re a bout 200 holders i n the world, h a l f of t h e m pla yers from the USSR who almost never compete in Western Europe. G Ms have ample in vitations to play in tournaments or give simultaneous exhibi tions at tournaments at £ 50-£ 1 00 per session. But i n rela tion to the time invol ved - around two to three weeks for a GM or IM tournament competi tion pri zes are poor, w h i le events in Eastern Europe normally pay in un con verti ble lo cal currency . Assuming that you a re unlikely to become strong enough to be a grand ma ster - or even if you are - it is better, in the context of world chess, to have as your main ta rget a h igh rating rather than a title. As the IM title becomes devalued, ratings w i l l become more important as the true i ndex of strength . From the practi cal v iewpoi nt, it is easier to fi nd events w h i ch help your rating ra ther than those wh ich quali fy for a title. Tournaments w i th two rounds every day can count for ratings but not for ti tles ; you can a l so i m p rove your ra ting at purely national events l i ke the Bri t i sh Cha mpionsh i p . Rapid im provement can d ramatical l y alter a player's ra ting. T h e formula for interna tio nal rat ing, as explai ned on page 1 34 , is Rn Ro + K(W- We). In m i d - 1 97 1 Anatoly Karpov was, l ike several others, a promising young grandmaster and was consid ered a possi ble contender for the world ti tle in the late 1 97 0s. His rating was 2 5 40. In the 1 9 7 1 U SSR championsh i p, w h ich fi nished in mi d-October, Karpov fin i shed fourth with 1 3 out of 2 1 . The average ra ting for the tournament was 2 5 1 8, and by a ta ble of perce ntage expected agai nst rating d i fference (which I do not show) he was expected to score 53 per cent, that is 1 1 . 1 out of 2 1 . The sta bi l ising faCtor K c o u n ts as 1 0 for m a s ter p l aye rs ra ted 2400 or higher, so FIDE, the World Chess Federation, assessed Karpov 's perfor mance as 2 5 40 + 1 0( 1 3- 1 1 . 1 ) = 2 5 59, a rise of 1 9 poin ts . In the A lekhine Memorial tournament in Moscow from Novem ber to December 1 97 1 , Ka rpov scored 1 1 out of 1 7 and fi nished in a tie for fi rst place. The aver age ra ting for the event, w i th Karpov sti ll counting as 2 540 (ratings only change from year to year), was 2 5 8 6 . As a result he was ex pected to score less than 44 per cent represented by a score of 7 .4. Rn = 2540 + 1 0( 1 1 - 7 . 4) = 2 576, a rise of a fur ther 36 points. Karpov then went on to Hastings (December 1 97 1 -January 1 9 7 2) where he sha red fi rst prize with Korchnoi, scoring 1 1 out of 1 5 . The average rati ng of th i s event was 2498 and h is expected score was 56 per cent, that is 8 . 4 . Again using the ta ble, his actual score gained a further 26 points. Thus at the end of t he three e\'ents he had ga ined 1 9 + 36 + 2 6 = 8 1 =
points and his rating had risen to 262 1 , well into the group of super grand masters rated over 2600. Karpov' s results in other events d uring this period meant that his rating in the next p u b l i shed FIDE l i st of July 1 9 7 2 appeared as 2 6 30 . There is a n important p racti cal appl i cation of this for the ord ina ry strong player who manages to acquire a FIDE rating and wants to go h igher. The method of calculation, w i th the previ ous ra ting used as a consta nt, meant that Karpov ' s ra ting was 1 5 points higher than it would have been i f adjusted after each event. The ra tings a re calculated once a year, w i th a cut-off at the end of October. If a player's resul ts d uring the ra ting period are su bstantially better than h is publ ished rati ng, as was Karpov's, it w i l l benefit him to p lay as much as pos si ble because of the bonus effect of this calculation method. This fact is also rele vant to the cl uster technique for tourna ments recom mended on page 1 4 5 . Many even ts take place d uring the summer when most p layers have extra free time and it is possi b l e to make a deci sion on w hether to step up your tournament programme in the li ght of your previous resu l ts during the FIDE ra ting yea r . T h e basic mechanism o f internati onal chess, the system of ti tle tou rnaments w hich has encouraged a rapid e x pans ion of activi ty over the past d ecade, is a p proaching a crisis. There is no problem in mak i ng a l i v i ng if you are Karpov, one of the top dozen grand ma sters with a ra ting a bove 2600, or have regular newspaper w riting commi tments. But at lower levels the economics of infla tion are rapidly overtaking the willingness of unsalaried c hess masters in the West to continue on the European and US circuits. Chess tournaments attract li ttle or no spectator income and, apart from the special case of the BBC Master Game, li ttle or no television coverage. Occasi onally there is a genuine Maecenas l i ke the patron Louis D. S ta tham who sponsors the annual Lone Pine international in Cali fornia, but such weal thy and interested individuals are becoming rarer. Small master events a re usually depen d ent on busi ness sponsors or on towns who value the publi city. The sponsor, howe ver, sometimes does not get much in retu rn : one or two professional GM and IM columnists report international events with hardly a mention of the people who put up the money . They may not cover some national tou rnaments at all unless they or their friends are personally in volved in it. Thus the sponsor is only guaranteed a reasona ble publicity retu rn if he invites, say, Karpov, Korchnoi or Spassky - and that becomes very expen sive. The conclusion ? I nternational titles a re a nice tag to have before your name, but unless you are going a l ong way to-
wards the world championship or can com bine mastery with some other allied a b i lity such as chess journali sm or author ship they are not l ikely to pay the mort gage. The talented player at national level will do better making his name on the weekend congress circuit, while testing his a b i lity aga inst the toughest opposition in one or two major tournaments a year. Weekend Swi ss events have a friendly atmosphere but a re h ighly competitive. They give the keen amateur a chance to try h is skill against lead ing players, and are an e xcel lent proving ground for young ta lent. B r i t i s h and U S events If you are to make your name as a national chessplayer it helps to l i ve in an area of major tournament activity. This means South-East England or the Manchester area in B ritai n, and N ew York or Cal i fornia in the US. Though it is possi ble to operate from other regions, the wear and tear of constant travel i s a serious handi ca p . The most i mportant regular events in Brita in are geared to school and university h o l i days. This is no accident. Younger players are a high proportion of tourna ment regulars, w hile schools and colleges are frequently used as playing sites. However, there i s usually at least one congress somewhere in the country on al most every weekend of the yea r . The BCF publishes an annual tou rnament calendar. Major British tournaments include Hastings (Decem ber-January), the British Championship (mid-August), the Lloyds Bank Masters (late August) and the Bene d i ctine International (early September). In all of these except the British Champion ship there may be a chance to quali fy for an interna tional title. Prizes vary, but the top a ward is likely to be in the range of £400-£ 1 000, and esta blished in terna tional masters w ill often recei ve appearance money or a guarantee . The most i mportant US international is the Lou is D. S ta th am event in Lone Pine (March-Apri l) which has a generous prize fund of up to $ 50, 000 and attracts grand masters and masters from all over the world. But you have to be very strong al ready to qualify for this event whereas the US Open in mid-August is still a prestigious tournament and al lows any one to take part . An unknown winner l i ke Joe Bradford in 1 9 78 will not immed iately get on the national team, but his name is widely publicized in the med ia and ne can expect to be offered places in other strong events. The World Open in July also has a big money pr i ze fund, although its entry has never j u sti fied i ts high-sound ing name. Other regu lar national and international tourna ments are announced in advance in Chess
Life.
141
T o u r na m e n t t e c h n i q u e
W h at k ind of com peti tions should you e n ter if you a re a strong p l ayer hoping for fi nan c i a l rewards on the weekend c i rc u i t J That w i l l depen d on how strong you a re . At 1 90 strength, an upper boa rd cou nty team player, you are in the top 200 or so i n B r i ta i n but you will nor ma l ly fi nd several better players at any congress . However one of the d i fferen ces . betvveen US weekend to urnaments and · some B r i t i sh ones l ies in the pairing system. In US events p a i r i ngs are seeded ac cord i ng to ra t i ngs so t h a t the fa vourites only meet a fter d i sposing of two or th ree lesser lights. S i m i l ar methods are used in the most i m portant British events, but in some congresses, parti cularly outside south-east Engla n d , players may be pa i red by cha nce. Over a fi ve-round cou rse this makes for a reaso nable pos s i b i l ity, that the stron g players w i l l knock e a c h ot her o u t w h i l e a m i d d le ra ted p layer in the 1 80-200 range comes to the top aga i nst weaker opposition. Hence unseeded to urnaments are your best bet at a round 1 90 strength ; but if you are say gra de 2 1 0 or better you a re better in tournaments w i th seeded pair ings. Both the Bri t i sh and US congress circu i ts have as their c l imax a G rand Prix, sponsored respectively by C utty Sark and C h u rc h ' s Fr ied C h icken. The G rand P r i x, worth several th ousa nd
pounds or dollars, goes to the best overal l c ongress performance w i th extra we igh t i n g for the strongest tou r n a ments. To have a chance of w i n ning, you need to be both a very strong player (say at least 2 20 or 2 3 50 sta n d a rd) and to be profes s ional and o rgan ized not only on the c hess boa rd but in your travel a rrange ments. In the middle 1 970s one of the sights of the British congress circuit w as Gerald Bennett ' s Dormo b ile in w h i ch he travel led the country participating in a high p roportion of the available congresses. David Rumens, who twice won the G rand Prix and popularized the Cu tty Sark Attack (see page 1 1 3) on the circ uit, was a keen tra i n-spotter as a child and used his knowledge of rai l way timetables and connections to be another active com petitor. S t y l e fo r t h e w e e k e n d
A key fa ctor in d o i ng well in weekend events is to gear your play to the fast t i me l i m i t and the long d a i ly sess ions w h i c h c a n b e up t o twelve hou rs w hen t here a re three games in a day. Fatigue or trouble w i th the clock are likely to bring their toll of blunders to knock you out of
contention. The style for success in a sprint distance Swiss event of 5-6 rounds is s i m i lar to the method recomm ended agai nst ma sters in simultaneous di splays (see page 1 2 5 ) . Active, a tta c ki ng c hess w i th a s i m ple plan rea ps a high bonus. At 40 or 50 moves in two hours few opponents are capa ble of susta i ned precise defence. W ith two or three games in a day, you want to k eep down the num ber of long endgames which leave little time for rest before the next roun d . A strong player should a l so be a ble to beat wea ker opponents on tec hnique w i thout great mental exertion . One of the su ccessfu l Swiss system pla yers i s Australian open champion Ma x Fuller, who commutes between the N ovem ber-March circuit in his own country and the summer events in Europe. He derives a useful proportion of his weekend points from si mple, d i rect k i n g's side attacks which his opponent m i ght be a ble to defend a t a slower time l i m i t . This w in from the 1 969 Athen aeum Open is a good example of the style which suc ceeds in a weekend Swiss. W h i te : M . L. - Fu l le r . Black : R. F. Harman O p e n i ng : Sicil ian Defence 1 . N O g6 2 . e4 cS 3. d4 Bg7 4. N c 3 c x d 4 5 . Nxd4 N c6 6 . Be3 N f6 7 . Bc4 Q a S
8. 0---0 (Black has geared his d evelopment to the theoretical l i ne where White ca stles long, so White switches to a si mpler l i ne where he has a slight p l us in the cen tre) 0--0 9 . B bJ d6 I O. hJ Bd7 I I . £4 Nxd4
1 2. Bxd4 Bc6 1 3. Qd3 Nd7 7 (a typ i cal weekend imprec ision. Better is 1 3. . . . Rad 8 and if 1 4. Rad 1 Nd7 1 5 . Bxg7 Kxg7 1 6. Kh 1 Nc5 1 7 . Qd4 + e 5 ! and if 1 8 . fxe 5 Nx1:1 when B l a c k stands well) 1 4. B x g7 Kxg7 1 5 . R a e 1 N c 5 1 6 . Qd4 + Kg8 ( now e5 fa i ls to 1 7 . Qxd6. Consequently Black is unable to start the normal counterplay in the centre and for the rest of the game has to defend unsuccessfu l ly agai nst an easy-to-play king's side a ttack) 1 7 . B d S N d 7 1 8 . K h 1 Q b 6 1 9 . Q d2 R a d 8 20 . fS Kg7 2 1 . R f4 N f6 2 2 . R h4 h 5 2 3 . g4 R h 8 24. fxg6 fx g6 2 5 . g x h 5 N x h 5 26. Q g 5 N f6 27. R g 1 B e8 2 8 . R x h 8 K x h8 29. Qh6 + N h 7 30. R fl B c6 3 1 . R f7 Resign s .
Beatin g t h e c l o c k Han d l i ng the clock i s im portan t in week end Swi sses not only because the normal time limit is ra ther fast but because of the practice in Bri tish events of decid ing the final moves over a ' b l i tz fi n i sh' where the game has to be completed a fter four hours or so with ten or fifteen minutes on each player's clock . Therefore poi n ts will be won and lost ac cord i n g to how well you handle you r own time, can drive your opponent i n to severe time pressure, and exploit his time p ressure when it oc curs . Techn iques w h i ch can help i f you a re prone to time pressu re i n clude : 1 In less important games, make the clock the fi rst consi deration rather than the qua l i ty of the p l ay : try to develop an i n ner control mec hanism which s tops you agon izing too long over a 5ingle move a n d keeps you aware of how the time is go i n g . 2 I f you can not decide on a n y p l a n , or i f you are i n time pressure a n d your mind goes blank a fter a n unex pected move, concen trate on improv i ng the position of your worst posted piece. 3 If you have the chance to repeat moves any time once or twice d uring the game before time pressure comes along, do so - but make sure you u n derstand the explanation of the th reefold repe tion rule on page 1 3 1 . 4 Avoid repea ted calculation of the same l i ne of play - a fter two or th ree attempts assume you a re not going to fi nd sign i fi ca nt i m provements . 5 Use your opponent's t i me to keep track of general strategy, and your own time for concrete va riations. 6 Look at the clock when it is your oppon ent's tu rn to move, not yours. 7 If the posi tion is complicated a n d ·you don't have time to analyze, simply make the move which looks best on gene ral pri n c i ples. 8 Put ticks i nstea d of writing down the moves - this w i ll save precious seconds, a l though you must w r i te up the score properly as soon as the time scramble is over.
Some p layers a re notorious time pres sure a d d i cts. If you are a tournament regu lar you a re l i kely to k n ow some of them by repu te or personal experience. When meeting such p layers, i t i s worth tem pti ng them to go i n to the k i nd of tra nce wh i ch w i ll produce time pressure later o n ; the same a p pl ies i f you fi nd d u r i ng the game that your opponent is playing slowly . Tec h n iques which hel p : I f you know the open ing well a nd your opponent c l ea rly d oes not, try blitzing him. Make your moves fa st, with an air of great confi d ence as if it was all a nal y zed at home for weeks ahead . I remem ber once using this technique agai nst the late Hugh Alexander in the Briti sh Championship when a fter a dozen moves the clock showed Barden, l m i n ute ; Alexand er, 1 hour. Later he fought back both o n the board and the clock, but there was a dela yed action effect when he made the d ecisive m i s take la ter on duri ng time pressure. 2 Try to c reate posi tions w here your opponent w i ll have no clear l ine of play but i nstead a choice between several a pparently equal plans. If you can get h im to spend hal f an hour d e c i d i n g which rook to use to occupy an o pen fi le or which of four d i fferent pa wn ca ptures to make, you a re doing a l most as well as being a sound pawn up.
Botteri ll-N unn, _ BBC Master Game 1 97 5 . Normal here i s 1 . Bf4, but W h i te played l . Bg 5 ! a good example of a time pressure i nducing move. Black repl ied w i th the more-or-less forced l. . . . f6 and then 2 . exf6 leaves Black four plaus i ble ways to reca pture. Black settled for 2 . . . . N d x f6 - but the time spent put him l ater i n clock pressure . 3 There may be a chance to repeat the b l i tz i ng tech n i que in the opening i f the game i s adj ourned, a s happens i n major tournaments last i ng several days. Someti mes the player making the sealed move (see page 1 4 5 ) can do something unex pected ; then that move
should be made quickly and confi dently and the ensuing moves fol lowed up in a ba rrage. I was on the receiving end of this technique i n the 1 9 57 British Cham pionsh i p agai nst R. G. Wade, when I adjourned w i th a good position and expec ting to win and ta ke a clear tournament lead . But the pressures of b e i ng bli tzed with surprise moves a fter adjournment induced a losing blunder. A cla ssi c insta nce of this techn ique from world ti tle play occu rred i n Korch no i-Ka rpov, 5 t h game 1 97 8 .
J g 2 ') 4
B la c k 's game is proba bly lost, but Karpov sea led the unexpected l . . Nh7 1 at adjournment which Korchnoi's tea m · failed t o analyze. Korchnoi eventually found the correct plan in reply (2. Be5 QgS 3. QxfS Qd2 + 4. Kg3 N7f6 5. R g 1 Re8 6. Be4 ! followed by bri nging the WK to h4 to clear the g fi l e) but mea n while he was getting into acute time trou ble while Karpov replied quickly. The consequence : some moves later, j ust before the next time control, Korch noi mi ssed a n elementa ry ma te . It shouldn't happen in a world champion ship, of course, but some of the cred it must go to Karpov for his sea led move surprise/bl itz technique . 4 S i mon Webb in Chess for Tigers recom mends walking away from the board when your time-trouble add ict oppo nent is in a trance so as not to wake him up. Keep an eye on him from a d i stance and i f he looks a bout to move (p hysi cal signs are shifting of position and fl ex ing of the right arm muscles) then return to the board and appear to be concentrating hard aga i n . This can have the effect of sen d i n g him i nto another long t h i n k - your ac tion giv es the i mpression that you have suddenly noticed a hidden resource, so of course he has to look for it too . 5 As time goes on and you get further ahead on the c lock, try to make non forc i ng moves which mainta in the balance of the position. Pawn holes for 143
the k i ng or ' mysterious' rook re grou p i n gs a re i d e a l . b \\' he n y o u r oppone nt gets rea l l y short of t i m e, say ten moves or so i n a cou p l e of m i n u tes, t h e n open u p t h e g a m e a n d I f poss i b l e s e t h i m p r o b l ems of exact c a l c u l a t i o n . A t t h i s s ta ge, a vo i d posi t i o n s w h e re he c an m a ke non-fo r c i n g rep l i es s o as t o r e a c h the t i me contro l . I U s e the barrage c echniq ue. T h i s i s ano ther of W e b b 's s uggest ions, a n d has a l so been used e ffec t i v ely over t h e y e a r s by t w i ce Bri t ish c ha m p i o n B o b Wade i n i n ter n a t i o n al pla y . T h e bar rage tec h n i que consi sts of p l a n n i ng t \">'O or th ree moves a head, then m a k i ng them v i rtua l l y i n sta n ta n eous l y . If the s e c o n d or t h i rd move i s unexpe c te d , t h e effect can b e p s y c h o l og i ca l l y s h a t t e r i n g t o an o p po n e n t a l ready w o r r i ed a bo u t h i s c l o c k . R I f y o u a re s uffi c i e n tly a h ead o n t i m e , com b i ne t he b a r ra ge tec h n i q ue w i th the m riablc pace t echnique. W h en a p l ayer is v e ry s h o rt of t i me, he i s m en t a l l y gea red u p for a c t i o n , rather I i ke a comm uter r u s h i ng to fin is h h i s work before t h e l a st t ra in or a j o u rn a l i st w r i t i ng h i s p i ece before the copy d ead l i ne B u t such a h i gh p i tch of mental ene rgy can not be susta i ned for long and i s b i o l og i c a l l y fo l l owed by a l et d o w n Therefore, the exper i en ced p ro \\· i l l use h i s l o n g l ead on the clock t o s h oot o ff a s er i es of moves o n t h e bar r a ge t e c h n i que, a nd w i l l not move then a t a l l for fi ve or ten m i n u te s . vV a d e tel l s of a t o u r n a m ent game w h e re h e met the German g r a n d m a ster Sam isch, for y ea rs the most noto r i o u s t i m e press u re pl aye r i n the world w h o o n ce w e n t th rough a n e n t i re to u rna ment l osi n g every game on the c l o c k . \\. a d c w as an h o ur a nd a ha l f a h ead on t i me, and S a m i sch was s i t t i ng at the boa rd w i th h is clock O ag a l ready s t a r t i ng to r i se and 25 moves to go before the contro l . T he posit ion was l eTd an expectant crowd gathered ro und the board wa i ting for a scra m b le to start. W a d e m a d e a three-move b a rr a ge and then, as h i s o p ponent sat p o i s ed and e x pe c ta n t, got up w i th h i s own cl ock t i c k i ng a n d . . went o ff t o buy a coffee . He brought i t b a c k a nd s a t s l o w l y s t i r r i ng a n d s i p p i n g w h i l e h is o p poenent w i l ted . Some l a t er Sami sch 's clock d uly fel l . y o ur opponent h a s stop ped ta k i ng
m o v es
9 I!
d ue to h i s t i me p ressure, cover up your own sh eet. N e i th er you nor the co n t ro l ler has any obl igat ion to t e l l h i m h o w m a ny moves rem a i n u n t i l t he c o n t roL and if he has a l l oca ted h i s t i me s o that he has h a r d l y any l e ft for t he l a st few moves, t h a t ' s h is fa u l t . A l l these ti me-pressure tec h n i q ues o n l y apply as maj or weapons w hen the pos i t i o n o n the board rema i n s u n c l ear or is a t best only s l i gh t l y i n your favour. But s c o re
1 44
if y ou a re w i n n i ng h a n d s d own, i gn o re your oppone n t ' s c l o c k , concen trate on the most a c c u ra te method to v i ctory a n d a v o i d h i s t r a p s . S o m e ex perts w i l l d e l i ber ately get themse l ves short o f ti me, in a real ly p oo r p os i ti on, w ith the o bject of h ei gh te n i ng the nervous tension a nd i n c rea s i ng the c h a n ce of the player on top b l o w i ng the game. It i s n ' t easy to d e a l w i th such ta c t i cs a nd you may h a ve to consc i o u s ly work to keep your coo l . D i rty t r i c k s
There is a n a rrow a n d o ften u n c lear d i v i d i ng l i ne between l eg i ti m a te ta c t i cs in o r d er to wear d o wn your opponen t ' s psychological res i s ta n ce a n d other prac tices w h ich many would con s i der un et h i ca l . The l a w s o f ch ess g i ve con t rol l e rs power to a wa rd penalties up to loss of the game for i n fra c t i o n s of ' moral p r i n c i p l es ' . a nd a p l a yer's pos i t i o n i n t h e tou rn ament w i l l not s u r v i ve b e i ng caught i n the to i l et w i th a copy of an o p e n i ngs m a n u a l a nd a pocket set . But in m a n y other ca ses d i struba nce to the opponent when both s i d es a re u n d er tension d ue to c lock pressure is d i ffi c u l t to rule on . Here a re some i tems y ou may meet i n t he d i rty tricks d e pa rtm e n t . l Say i ng J a d o u be' as o ften as p o ss i b l e in t i me pressure, a n d a dj u s t i ng severa l p i eces so th at they a re centred exactly on the i r sq u a res. The opponent, gea red u p to reply i m med i ately to any move, gets u n d e r s ta n d a b l y rattled b u t t h e re is oft en too l i t tle t i me left for h im to prote s t . 2 C o n t i n ua l l y l e a n i ng o v e r t h e b o a r d t o l ook a t t h e c l o ck w h i le t h e opponent i s t h i n k i n g. th us o bstructing h i s v i ew of t he boa rd ; p i c k i ng u p t he c l ock to look a t the t i me j u st as the opponent i s rea d y t o move a n d p ress t h e c lock b u t ton . 3 W r i t i ng down an ex tra move for each s i de, then l e tt i ng the opponent see the score sheet so that he t h i n ks he has rea c h ed the con trol w hen t h e re i s sti l l a mo ve togo. 4 Lea n ing ri g ht over the boa rd so that the head i s over the central squa res - even more e ffec t i ve if the p l a yer is tall w i th l o ng ha i r. 5 H o v e r i n g near the edge of the board w i t h i n the edge o f the o p ponent's fie l d of v i s i o n . T h i s form o f sym bo l i c p h y s i cal aggression is u n p l easant fo r an o p p o n e n t in time press u re or w h en he is try i ng to res c ue a bad pos i tion . 6 M a k i n g an i l lega l move i n the opponen t ' s t i me p ressure ; the i l l ega l i ty is n a tu ra l l y o f the so rt w he re the presc ri bed pena l ty i s o n l y to m a k e a l ega l move w i th the same p i ece : R a y Keenc d e s c r i b c s o n e i n c i d e n t where h i s o p pon e n t ' s ' move' w a s to p l a ce h i s k i n g o ff the boa rd in an ash t ra y . The correct c o u n t e r to th i s pl oy i s to rea ct i mmed i a tely, w i th o ut mak i ng a coun ter-move or protest, a n d s i m p l y to
resta rt your opponent ' s clock : you a re not o b l iged to have time recorded aga i n st you u n l ess p resen t ed w i th a l egal posi t i o n . T he same cou nter I S a v a i l a b l e when y o ur opponent knocks over several p i eces, spi l l s coffee, e t c . C h e s s s w i n d l i ng
Contrary to fi rst i m p ressions. swi n d l m g at c h ess is more eth i c a l and normal t h a n the d i rty tri c ks d escri bed a bove. S w i n d l i ng m e a n s recog n i z i ng that the pos i ti on i s l o st a n d m a k i n g t h e d e c i sion t o look for acti ve resources rather than j ust get g round d o w n . Swi n d le tec h n i que nor m a l ly a p p l i es i n defens i ve positions and recogn i zes that the only real chance to fi ght b a ck is to ga i n an i n i ti a t i ve or counter-a ttack even at the p r i ce of more ma t e r i a l . To set u p a poss i b l e s w i n d le mea ns a ba n d o n i n g to their fate one or t w o weak pawns w h i ch tie your p i eces to passive d e fence ; perha ps g i v i ng up a rook . wh ich is most usefu l in the endgame, for a b i shop or k ni g h t, more v a l u a ble in a m i d d l e game c o u n ter-atta c k , a n d a l so to u se w ha t W e b b c a l ls ' controlled desperation ' . I f vou see several moves. most o f which gi � e your opponent a c l ear win, then c h oo se the one p l a u s i b le move left w i th out d eep a n a l ys i s . This method e n a b l es com p l i ca ted moves to be m a de q u i c k l y a nd pl a ces the o n us o n y o u r o p ponent of try i ng to work them o u t . T h e psychol ogy of s w i n d l i ng fa vours the sw i nd ler - it is u n pleasant for the opponent to h a v e to a dj u st from a sol id pos i t ional p l us to a war of movement and c o n fu s i on w h ere the c h a n ce of a d ec i s i v e m i stake is m u c h greate r . W e b b recommends s w i n d l ers to hei ghten the effect of the change of the board by fa c i a l e x p ression : to l ook com pl etely d o w n c a st and bea ten w h en on the d e fe n s i ve in the hope that t h e w i n n i n g player becomes c a re l ess ; then, once the p i eces get i n to a c t i on a nd the pos i t ion
becomes romp/ex Jnd uncleJr. to looi Js confi d e n t a s poss i ble to scare the oppo nent. If y ou a re setti ng a ta cti cal trap h o w ever, the co rrect fa c ia l i m p ress ion is e i t her a normal one or one that is a l i ttle nervous. It is i m po rtant not to overact but if possi bl e to feel the emoti ons you a re t ry i ng to con vey a c ross the boa rd ; th i s i s not too d i ffi cult b ec a u se a ny ch ess game a p p roa c h i ng i ts c l i m a x a rou ses powerfu l ten sions. F ! n a l l y , i f d espi te your efforts, your pos i tion rem a i ns c o n s i d e ra b l y worse a p proa c h i ng the time co n tro l . you can t ry ( s in ce you w i ll u n d o u bted l y be s ta r t in g to feel n e rvous you rse l D com municating t h i s f eel mg to the opponent Such bodv gestu res a s roc k i ng, g l a n c i ng a t the cloc k and back to the boa r d , h ove r i ng over the p 1 ece a s you a re a bout to ma ke a m o ve , c an be i n fecti ous a nd i n c rease your opponent's tension to the extent where he
sta rts to make errors. Of c o u rse the posi tion on the boa rd has to be such that there is ten sion to c o m m u n i cate : you w i l l feel and look ut t e r l y r i d i c u l o u s i f y o u try the tec h n iques when a p i ece d o wn i n a si mple en d i ng w i thout c o m p e n sa t i o n . But when you have t h e r i g h t occa s i o n . chess swind l i ng wor k s . p
Sea l e d m o v e a n d a dj o u r n m e n t s
I n maj or tourna m e n ts a t i n te r n a t i o n a l t i me l i m i t s i t i s n or m al for u n fi n i shed games to be adjou rned a fter fou r or fi ve hours and res umed e i ther l a ter the sa m e day or, more rarely, t h e n e x t morn i ng o r another d a y . The fi n al m ove o f t h e sess ion is not p l a yed on the board but w r it ten down on t he score sheet a nd p l aced i n a sea l ed move env e l o p e for reope n i ng w hen the game resumes. O ften t he p l a y ers rea c h the fi rst t i me cont rol r i g h t at the e n d of the sess ion and the s i de w i th W h i te has to readj ust h i s thoughts and emotions fro m t he b a t t le w i th t h e c l oc k to fi n d i ng t h e best a n d most p re c i se sca l ed m o v e w h i l e h i s op p o n e n t g oes o tT to a n a l vzc The pe r i od bet w een the t i m e c o n t r o l and t h e � e a l ed m o \T : s a t n c k v- o n e b ec a u se t i re d n e s s c a n i m pa i r buth s i d e s ' j udgment O n e of t he c l a s s i c m i sta kes i s t o r e a c h a '"·on ga m e a t t h e t : m e c o n t ro l a n d t h e n g') , m b l i t Z i n g m o v e s m s t ead o f s e a l i ng E \·en w o r l d c h a m p i o n s a r e n o t immune.
li g 2 ) ')
Ka rpov - K o rc h n o i . 2 2 n d m J t c h game 1 9 7 8 . This w a s t h e pos i t i o n a ft e r Korc h noi 's 4 0 th move as B l a ck R x d 6 . N o w W h i te sho u l d s u r e l y w i n by t h e o b v ious 1. Rxd6 N x d 6 2 . R xa 4 . Black h a s some cha nces by 2. h S but they sho u l d n ' t be e n o u g h : t he w h i te Q - s i d e p a w n s a i d ed by the w i d e- ra n g i ng b i shop r u n faster than B l a c k ' s pawns on the other w i ng . A l l t h i s w a s u n i m porta n t bes i d e t h e fa ct t h a t t he w o r l d c ha m p i on had the chance to a dj o u rn a nd w o rk out a win at l e i sure. Ka rpov was t i r i ng in t he l a ter st a ge s of the match a nd this m u st have a ffe c t ed h is norma l l y so u n d j u d gm e n t . · fo r p l a y c o n t i n u ed 1 . R x d 6 ? ( t he ? is because th i s was W h i te ' s i d e a l o p por-
tu n i ty to sea l ) N x d 6 2 . Bc7 ? ? (an ' i m provement' . . . ) R e l + 3 . Kc2 Ne8 ! ( . . w h i ch m i s ses t h i s reso u rce. Now d e m o ra l i zed by h i s ove r s i g h t , K a rpov con t i n u ed a t b l i tz s peed a l t hough he could s t i l l p ro ba b l y win by a d j o u r n i n g : 4. B a 5 a 3 5 . R h 8 R e 7 and n ow 5 . B b4 ? ( 1 . h x .1 3 1 ) R e 2 + 6. K d 3 a x b2 d rew for K o n· h n o i . A re ma rka b le esca pe. w i th a c l e a r m o ra l . A no t her p ra c t i c a l lesson was g i ven by the fo l l ow i ng pos i tion from K n a a k -Z i l ber s te i n , Tal l i nn 1 97 9 .
['i g 2 1 6
The d i a g ra m a ro se i m med iately before ad j o u rn me n t and B la c k had to seal h i s m cl v e . He i s m a te r i a l up w i th queen and t wo p a w ns aga i n st rook a n d b i s hop. but W h i te has some c o u n terp l a y . K naak, a gra n d m a ster. a na l yzed the pos i t ion a n d d e c i d ed that a fter 1 . K h 7 2. R x b ) he had good c h a n ces to d ra w . He w a s nevertheless r e i ie ved w hen Z i l be r s t e i n , c h a m p i o n of the R u s s i a n repu b l i c . came t o h i m and offered a d ra w s t ra i gh t a w a y . K n a a k a greed . But t h e n he fo u nd t hat Z i l berstein had sea l ed the d rea d ful b l u n d er I . Q b l ?? a ft er w h i c h W h i te w i ns at once by 2. R x h 6 + g x h 6 3 . Rx b 5 + and 4. R x d I � T h u s you normJ l l y never a c cept a d ra w d u r i n g t h e a d j o u rn me n t w i thout seei n g t he o p po n e n t ' s sea l ed move fi rst. I t m i g h t h e a h l u nder. as here. o r i t cou ld be i n fe n o r o r e v e n i l l ega l . the lat ter cost i n g t h e game. Remem ber t h a t you r o p po n e n t · -; d raw o ffer a fter a sca l ed move c a n n ot h e retra cted u n t i l you have rep l i ed to it or made your n e x t move on the boa rd . I have w r i tten ' norma l l y n ev er accept a d ra w · beca u se you have to c o n s i d er the p h y s i c a l c o n d i ti ons of the tou rn a me n t . I f the event i s i n a s m a l l town or re s u m p t i o n of p l ay is l a ter the same d a y t hen t h e r e ' s no d o u bt y o u should i n s i st on i n s pec t i ng the sea led move. But i n some very b i g events l i k e t h e w o r l d team c h a m p i on s h i p the p l a yers stay a l en gthy b u s j o u rney from the p l a y i n g s i te : at B u e n os A i res 1 978 t he u n l u c ky m a sters resu m i ng a d j ou r n me n ts had to r i se at
a t 7 a . m . fol l ow i ng a ha rd l a te n ight ma tch the pre v i ou s even ing. Under con d i ti o n s l i ke that. the e x perien ced pro has to j ud ge w h ether the poss i b i l i ty of fi n d i ng a bad sea l ed move i s wo rth the a bsol ute certa i n t y of ex tra fa t i g u e i n t h e n e x t rou nd . C l u s te r t e c h n i q u e u· y ou do u n e x pected ! y wel l in a n v tou rna m e n t a nd feel you a re in good fo r m . cons i d er cluster t ech niq ue. w h i c h m ea ns concen trati ng y o u r p lay so that you enter a n u m ber of other events in a � h art period . The ra t i o n a le for t h i s a p proa ch l i es i n t h e mecha n i cs o f chess i m p rovement demon strated by P rofe s s or E l o ' s work on perfo r ma n ce measuremen t . Deeper u n d e r s ta n d i ng o f new stra teg i e s a nd i d eas i n c hess comes not in a stea d v flow but in quantu m j u m p s m i xed w i t h l o n g per iods of steady conso l i d a t ion w h e re the pl ayer m a y not seem to be get t i n g be t t e r At t he m o s t elementa ry l e v e l . q ua n t u m j u m ps c a n be d e m o n s tra ted by t h e i m p ro v e m e n t a beg i n ner m a k e s \\ h e n h e u n d e r s t a n d s scho la r · s m a te o r h o \\ t o m a t e w i th a k i ng a nd roo k . A t a h 1 g h n a n d more c o m p l e x l evel . t h e c o m p r c h e n sinn of v a n o us c h e s s a t t a c k mg a n d d e fen s i ve pa t t e rns often seem s t o ' c l i c k ' i n to p l a c e . The player has pro ba bly read the correct a p p roach or techn ique in a bo o k but d ue to h i s l i m i t ed ex periences his fi rst few a t t e m p ts to apply it in h 1 s own games a re u n s u ccessfu l . Then. ra t h er in t he wav that a n ov i ce c vc l i st sud d e n h· ·stops fa l i'i ng off h is ma �h i ne. acqui re-s balance and co-ord i na tion. and in most ca ses never loses it. so t he ch essp layer su d d e n l y su cceed s in i ncorpora t i ng t he n ew techn ique i n to h i s e x i s t i n g game . Thus the u n e x pec ted l y good to urna ment resu l t can be a sign of a personal qua n tum j u m p . a n d it i s i m portant to ta ke a d va n tage of i t . In E n g l a n d and t h e US there a re p l enty o f ma tches and tourna ments o ffe r i ng compe t i t i ve c h e s s . a n d t h e q u a n t u m j u mp c a n b e ex p l o i t ed by con cen t ra t ed play - the c l u s ter t e c h n i q u e - in order to boost a pl a y e r ' s ra t i n g The conve rse of the c l us ter techn i q ue i s t h a t a fter an unex pected l y poor res u l t y o u should take a break. a n a l vze the " d e feats. a nd restru c t u re your ga me and open i ng reperto i re as necessa r y .
H o w m a n y g a m es ? The Soviet gran d ma ster G e l l er used t n say he felt rusty a n d out of pra c t i ce if he p layed fewer than 80 tourna men t and match games a yea r . Korchnoi has gone on record w i th s i m i l ar com m e n t s . S u c h ,1 level of act i v i ty i s n ot for every body -- fo r e x a m p l e, Botvi n n ik kept at h i s peak with a m u c h lower ou tput of games w h i c h he compensa ted for by espe c i a l ly meticu lous prepa ra t i o n . But for most st rong players. pa rt i c u l a rly if aged u n d er 30. a total of 1 4 ')
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ten-mi n u te tournament and then all n i ght fi ve-minu te games in his hotel room w i th Fischer. A bsta i ners from bl itz a mong the top G Ms, for in sta nce Bot v i n n ik a nd Portisch, are in a m i nority . From fa st c hess o ne lea rns tactical awaren ess, and a b i l ity to play fast under p ressu re is essential for good resul ts near the time control at s lower ra te s. Prolonged experience of fast chess hel ped i m p rove my own playing standard from p ro m i s i ng j u n ior to British cham pionship competitor. During the midd le 1 940s when orga n i zed chess in London began to rev i ve at the tai l-end of the wa r, the Lud Eagle c l u b in the West End staged weekly five- m i n ute tournaments. Compet i ti o n was fierce. After a few vi sits the masters k i n d ly accepted me into the top group where, o n pen a l ty of losing my small poc ket money in losi ng sta kes, I had to l ea rn to play well at speed . T h e conti nuous experience aga i nst these i n terna tional e l d ers p roved an exce l l e n t chess education and in today's terms I i m pro v ed a round 20 grad ing poi nts or 1 SO rati ng poi n ts in a bout a yea r . T h e most popu lar cu rren t form of fa st chess is the quickplay tourn ament. at t i me l i m i ts ranging from twenty m i n utes u p to one hour per player for the enti re game. Th i rty m i n utes per pl ayer per game seems the most successfu l . Like it o r n ot, this type of event seems d estined to gain ground i n the 1 980s. Strong economic forces fav our the one-day Saturday tournament. These i n c l ude the narrow cost margins of many weekend congresses, the pro h i b i ti ve costs of or gan i z i ng a master tournament wit hout a maj or s po nsor or spectator i n come , the d i ffi c u l ties w i th Sunday venues and traveL and the a wkward ness of over n i ght s ta ys for out-of-town entra nts . Rapid sight of the board, evid en ced by unusual a b i l ity at l i ghtn i ng and fi ve m i n u te c h ess, can be an early sign of ma stery. Olafsson, Icelan d ' s best-ever player, won a bl itz tournament ahead of many G Ms at the Staunton Centenary in Engl and in 1 9 5 1 w h i le he was s t i l l a n u n k nown j un ior. D a v i d B ro nstein, a n i nc essant fi ve-mi nute p layer i n the Mos cow c l u bs, surprised everyone the same year when he came through the world title e l i m inators at the first attempt and nearly took the c hampionship from Bot vinnik. Special ru les for quickplay a n d fi ve m i nute games are that each player must tap h is c l ock w i th the ha nd he uses to make h is moves. Opi n ion is d i v i ded on w hether a player who makes an i l legal move l oses automatical l y . S i nce games often continue t i l l mate, there a re various p rov isions to avoid r i d i cu lous resu lts. In Tension a t Hast mss a s . le(t t o ri,r.:h t , Mrchacl
Stean and I. Zither ponder wh zle Nr,�el Short wri t es his m o ve o n the score sheet
1 47
most q u i c k p lay tournaments a draw i s decla red when a p l a y e r w i th a c l early w i nn i ng position on the boa rd fin d s h i s fl ag g o down . In Brita i n , m ore than in other c o u n tr i es \'\' here fa st chess is popular, th ere are fears of vv hat fi ve- m i n u te ga m es w i l l do to the clocks. The B ri ti s h Chess Fede rati on pu b l i s hed a set of r u l es for fi ve- m i n u te ch ess, the fi nal rule being that ' u n d er no c i rcumstances s h a l l c l ocks ow ned by or in the care of the Bri t i sh Chess Federa t i on be used for p l a y mg fi ve-m i n ute c h ess . ' W i th c l o c k s cost i ng a t l east £ 1 5 o r $ 30 a time, avoi d i ng u n d ue wea r a nd tear is o b v i o u s l v essential in fast chess. How ever, it i s quite poss i bl e for experienced b l i tz players to get i nto the ha bit of hand l i ng the c l ock gently even in a c u te time pressure. For others it i s s i m p ly necessa ry to have a ru le ( w h i c h m u st be e n forced and not 1 ust be u sed as fa l se comfort to the clock o w ners) tha t u n d ue force on the clock is pena l i zed by several m i n u tes ha n d i cap on a fi rst o ffence and a u tomatic d e fa u l t on a seco n d . Q u i c k p lay events at 30 m i n u tes per player per game ena b le a seven or eight round tou rnamen t to be hand led in a day. I n Brita i n until now, o ffi c i a l fea rs of da mage to the c lo c ks have meant that the na ti onal b l i tz c h a m p io n s h i p is p l ayed w i th ten seconds for each single move. This sys tem req u i res no clocks but only a buzzer t i m i ng device. How ever, the fi x ed rhythm means that a player has to l i nger over fo rced captures w h i l e l a c k i n g extra secon d s t o perform d i ffi c u l t ca l c u la t i C' n s . I e x pect q u i c k play, rather t h a n fi ve m i n ute or ten- m i n ute ga mes, to p rove the boom fo rm of c hess in the 1 980s and 1 990s. It is slow enough for even average pla yers to t u rn i n a fa i r game a n d for c l ock wear a nd tear to be l i m i ted, yet fa st enough for a one-day tournament. A d v i ce on how to p l ay it m u st i n c l ude emp hasis on the d anger of lagging too fa r beh i nd on the c l o c k . Even in a strong pos it ion on the boa rd , ten m i n u tes in a ha l f-hour game is a big h a n d i c a p . I n i t i a t i ve chess p a y s off. s i n ce i t ' s hard to defend w e ll when moving fa st. Gener a l l y the best pia yers w i ll sti l l win - few peo ple re mem ber that Bobby Fischer's fi nal to u rna ment before he gave u p c hess vv as a 2 2-round b l i tz event in N ew York i n 1 9 7 1 w h i ch he won w i th 2 1 w i ns and a d ra w . That was his l a st p u b l i c tra i ni ng before bea t i ng S passk y . T h e i n h i b i t ions w h i c h a ffect B ritish chess orga n i zers a bout q u i c k p lay events da maging the c l ocks do not seem to a ffect their co unterpa rts i n Russia where fi ve m i n u te championships a re h e ld on the h i ghest level with the top gra n d ma s te rs ta k i ng part. The Soviet contro l le rs cheer fu l l y a ccept that there w i l l be occasional fl a re - u p s . O ne year there was a b i tter d i s-
1 48
p u te between grandmaste rs Kotov (a sen i or chess esta b l i s h ment mem ber and Com m u n i st Pa rty d ig n i ta ry) and K arpov (then a young n ew comer to the top fl igh t) over whose flag had gone d own first ; excited specta tors joi ned in the d ispute. The best k nown Sov i et fa st event is the a n n ual Moscow fi ve m i n u te c h a m pion s h i p wh ich has often been won by out sta n d i ng players such as Ta l , Bronstein a nd V a s y u ko v . Here is a quick v i ctory from t he 1 9 78 event where Black tries a new move 8 . . . . N f6 only to fi nd that it wea kens the c6 k n ight and the f3-a8 d iagonal too m u c h . T h e pin on t he e fi le p roved d ec i s i ve ( 1 4 . . . . Q x c6 1 5 . Rxe7 + w i n n i ng the game) so B l a ck resigns early. W h i t e : E . Vasy u k o v . Blac k : A . Sueti n O p e n i n g : R uy Lopez ( M oscow 5m i n u te 1 9 78) l . e4 e 5 2 . N O N c6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5 . c3 f5 6 . e x £5 B x £5 7 . 0-0 Bd3 8 . Re l N f6 9. N d4 Qd7 1 0 . Q O B x b l l l . N xc6 e4 1 2 . R x h 1 bxc6 1 3 . R x e4 + Be7 1 4 . Bxc6 ! N xe4 1 5 . Q x e4 R d8 1 6. d4 d S 1 7 . Qxd5 Resigns H o w w e l l Bo b by Fischer p layed a t fi ve m i n u te speed can be j u dged by this game from the Manh attan b l i tz event of 1 9 7 1 . Fi scher was an expert on the b l a ck side o f a K i ng's I n d ian Defence and here the only d i sc ern i ble b l e m i sh in h i s play i s the sl ight l o ss of time w i th the queen on moves 2 1 - 2 2 . If you d i d n ' t know the c i rc u m s t a n c es, it would be easy to c redit th i s as a normal slow rate tournament game . W h i t e : P . B ra n d t s . B l a c k : R. J. F i sc h e r O pe n i n g : K i n g ' s I n d i a n ( M a n ha t t a n 1 97 1 ) 1 . d4 g6 2 . c4 B g7 3 . N c 3 N f6 4 . e4 d6 5 . Be2 0-0 6 . N O e S 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. d S N e7 9. N e 1 N d 7 1 0. N d 3 f) 1 1 . e x B gxB 1 2 . f4 N g6 1 3 . Be3 N f6 1 4 . Qc2 Re8 1 5 . fxe S d x e S 1 6 . B gS h6 1 7 . B x f6 Q x f6 1 8 . Q b 3 e 4 1 9 . N f4 N x f4 2 0 . R x f4 Q g S 2 1 . R4fl Q e 3 + 2 2 . K h 1 QgS 23. cS K h8 24. Ra d l BeS 2 5 . g3 Rg8 26. N b l f4 2 7 . R g 1 f3 28. Bc4 Q h S 29 . Q e 3 R x g 3 30. Qxe4
30 . . . . Qxh2 + ! a nd Wh i te resigned because of 3 1 . K x h 2 R h 3 mate . An i l l u stration of ten seconds a move c hess is t h i s game from the 1 9 77 B r i t i sh. l i gh tn i ng championship. N igel Short here l oses to o ne of the country ' s leading ma ste rs, but the fol lo w i ng year the youngster won the l i ghtni ng title ou t right. The game shows the theme em phasi zed often in th is book that you have to take your chances for i n itiative chess. Short made an a utomatic pawn recapture on move 20 and lost w i thout a real fight : i n s tead 20 . . . . N fe4 ! would have brought h im out of d e fence i n to acti ve play. W h i t e : J. S pee l m a n . B l a c k : N. D. S h o rt Eng l i sh O pe n i ng ( B r i t i sh l i g h t n i n g 1 977) l . c4 c5 2 . N f3 Nc6 3 . NcJ g6 4. eJ Bg7 5. d4 cxd4 6 . exd4 d6 7. Be2 N f6 8 . 0-0 0-0 9 . d 5 N b8 1 0 . N d4 Nbd7 1 1 . R e 1 a6 1 2 . Be3 Ne5 1 3 . h 3 Qc7 1 4 . b3 N 5 d7 1 5 . R c 1 Nc5 1 6 . B fl b6 1 7 . Bg5 Re8 1 8 . Q d2 B b7 1 9 . R e2 e 5 2 0. dxe6 e . p .
fi g 2 5 1\
20 . . . . fxe 6 ? 2 1 . B x f6 B x f6 2 2 . b4 e 5 2 3 . N fJ N e 6 ? 24. N d S ! B x d S 25 . c x d 5 Res i g n s . T h e p ra ct ica l master I f you a sk a ma teur c hesspl ayers \·v hat books a nd maga z i n es they read regu larly, you w i ll get a great variety of an swers. M ost of them w i l l rely for their open i ngs knowledge on a l on g-possessed and out da ted manual such as the ele venth edit ion of ' M od ern Chess Openings' or some poc ket compen d i u m . For the middle ga me some w i l l swear by N i mzc, v ich , others l i ke the col lected games of such as Larsen and Fischer, most w i ll have a store of wel l - known o p e n i ng trap s .
Masters and grand masters tend to be more stand ard ized in the i r c h o i c e . If you are a very strong player you w i l l a l ready have a wide corpus of k n o w l edge at your fi nge1 � i ps and the pro b lem i s to keep abreast of new i d eas i n po p u l a r ope n i n gs and to get to know the repertoi res of future r i v a l s . Practically a l l ma sters w i l l u se the fi ve volume Yu g osla v - w r i tt en Encyclopaedia of Chess Ope n i ngs ( ECO) as the i r basic reference source. The books a re packed with data from games of t he 1 970s and contri butors i n c l u de many l ea d i ng grand masters. But the fi ve volu mes cost a round £ 1 00 or $ 200 and such expen d i tu re can only be logical l y j u s t i fi ed for a player who i s already strong and who i n tends to be an active tournament competitor. In o r d e r to s u p p l e m e n t ECO most G Ms an d I M s w i l l ta k e at l e a st one of these theoret ical journa l s : Chess Info rma nt ( t w i ce a yea r) The New Ch ess Player ( fo u r t i mes a year) Modern Chess Ope n i ns Th eory ( monthly theory maga z i n e ) Tak i ng s u i t c a s e s o f c hess b o o k s o n t h e tourna ment c i r c u i t c a n re s u l t in both armache and a i r l i n e e x c e s s l u ggage c h a r ges. Many i n te r n a t i o n a l players therefo re prefer to p i c k up fu rther i n fo rm a t i on as they go al ong, loo k i ng at i d eas gleaned from t he p o s t m o rt e ms of the i r own games a n d those of r i v a l s . If they spec i a l i ze i n a pa rti cular ope n i ng, they w i l l probably have the relevant Ba tsfo rd monogra ph or the loose-l ea f sec t i o n of the R HM open ings survey Players who enj oy read i ng and keepi ng a b reast w i th i d eas ma y a l so take one or more of such c hess j o u rnals as 64 ( R u s s i a n fort n ightl y ) . S h a a k h u l let i n ( D u t ch m o n thly theory magazi ne), Ch ess a nd Brit ish Chess Maxa : i ne ( both Engl i s h ) and Chess L i (e (US) . It is a l so p o s s i b l e to keep a head of th ose w ho on I v r e a d the t h eorv j o u r n a l s if y o u go d i �cc tly to t he prima ry sources, the b u l l e t i ns w i th a ll the games of parti c u l ar to urnamen ts. In B r i ta in for example, Hasti ngs, the Lloyds Bank Masters, and the Bened i c t i ne event all issue bul l e t i n s . H o w e v e r m u c h or l i ttle he reads, the wo u l d - be pro will fi nd it a u seful exerc i se to keep h i s own ga me fi les in w h i ch to note variations played by regular o p po nents and nove l ties in h i s own fa vouri te systems The point is not to have e a s i l y accessible refe rence materi a l . t h o u g h th i s i s importa n t . b u t t o g a i n su ffi c i ent fee l i ng for a system of play that you s ta rt to devel op yo ur own i d eas and i n novations. O n e e x a m p l e : the young N ew Zea land champion M ur ray Chand ler p l a yed a lot of games with the G ru n feld Defence l . d4 N f6 2 . c4 g6 3. N c 3 d S . Some o f h i s oppon ents r e p l i e d w i th the quiet syst em 4. � fJ B g7 5. BgS N e4 6. c x d S N x g S 7 . :'\i x g 5 e6 8 . N f3 e x d S 9 . e 3 c6 1 0 . b 4 .
T h i s pos i tion i s h a r d e r t h a n i t l oo k s for B l a c k . W h i te p l a ns the m i n o r i t y pawn a t tack where his a a nd b pawns run at the black Q-side trio w ith the o bj ect of c rea ting a weak isolated or backward pa wn w h i ch the w h i te rooks and m inor p i eces can then a tta c k . The conventional reply ma noeu v re i s 0-0 fol l owed by Re8 and B f8-d 6, regrou p i ng the black fo rces in the h o pe of a K-s ide cou nter-a ttac k . B u t t h e rook i s not s o w e l l pla ced o n f8 : B l a c k ' s c o u n te rp l ay often requ i res the pawn a d v ance f?-fS fol l owed ei ther by f5- f4 to o pen the f fi le or by N e4 a nd i f W h i te ta k es the k n ight to reca ptu re w i th the f pawn . From h is experiences w i th this prob lem Cha n d l er h i t u pon h is new i d ea : h e pl ayed at o n c e 1 0 BfB ! w i th t h e i n te n t ion of fi rst r e g r o u p i ng t h e b i s h o p , o n l y t h en c a s tl i ng, a nd p l a y i ng the K - s i d e attack w i th the rook employed on i ts best square at f8 . W h en C h a n d l e r i n trod uced his novel ty in the P h i l ad e l p h ia i n te r nati onal of 1 9 79, h i s opponent bu rst i n to la ugh t e r . Not for too l o ng : Chand ler won the game and h i s i n novation was w i d ely pra i sed in t he t h eo ry j ou rn a l s This type of c rea t i ve t h i n k i n g IS a p p l i c a ble to many o pen i ng s i tu a t i o ns. .
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R es u l ts a n a l ys is
At the USSR C ha m p io n s h i p fi nal of 1 97 8 , G a ry Kaspa rov scored 50 p e r c e n t in h i s fi rst attempt o n t h e ti tle a t t h e a g e of 1 5, a result a c c l a i med round the worl d . Howe ver a t h i s next tournament a few months l a ter at Banja Luka, Kaspa ro v d i d even bette r , o u t c l as s i ng a star fi eld o f gra n d m a sters. W h a t h a d o c c u rred in the mean t i me ? Someth ing w h i c h c learly h a p pened was that Kasparov and h i s tea c h er Bot v i n n i k rev i ewed the resul ts of Ka s parov's open i n gs in the c ha m p ionsh i p and d i scovered that h e d i d n ' t w i n a s i ngle game w i t h B l a c k . Careful not to do ba d l y o n h i s d e b ut Kaspa rov s t u c k to so l i d d e fe n c e s l i ke the Ca ro-Kann a nd a i m ed s i mply for equa l i ty from the o pe n i n gs. But s u c h u l tra-po s i t i o na l systems did not
rea l ly su it his style - a c ross between Fisc her a nd Tal with W h i te, vigorous and a c t i ve and generally str i v i ng for open play. A t Banja L u ka Kaspa rov revised h i s repertoi re a n d chose more posi tive sys tems w i th B l a c k . He was rewa rded with several fi ne v ic to r i es and evi dently bene fi t ted from h i s homework . Such con sta n t chec k i ng on open i n g systems to weed out those whose resu l ts a-re below par is a necessary exerc i se for any strong player. Just before writing t h i s cha p ter I happe ned to be ta l k i ng to the Engl i sh gra nd master Or John Nunn, who told me that he had d i agnosed the weak ness in h i s own reperto i re as the Tarrasch Defence to l. d4. N u nn d id not u se the gambit a n a l yzed on page I 0 I . i n s t ead p l a y i ng the more classical system w h e re B l a ck acce p ts an i so l a ted queen 's pawn in retu rn for p iece play. For some t i m e this gave h im good resul ts but N u n n ' s opponents grad ually came to ex pect it a nd i n i nternational games he had to contend continually w i th home brewed attempts at refu ta t i o n . The young GM told me h e was going to inc lude a more so l id d e fence. Co i n c ide nta llv or n o t . " a few months l a ter he became the fi rst B r i t i sh w i nner at Hasti ngs for 26 yea rs. The point i s to d e mon strate the import a n ce of keeping ta bs on your resu l ts and fi n d ing the systems w h i ch s u i t you best a g a inst opponents of s i m i lar or superior rating. The best way to a na lyze your resul ts a nd style is to consi der a ll your games for t h e l a st yea r or two a n d assess them in terms of o pe n i n gs, m i d d le game s t ra
tegy and ta ctics, time trouble and end i ngs. Try to p i ck out s i tuations where you d id wel L i . e. got results above your gra d i ng ex pectation, and put more em pha s i s on open i ngs which lead to the pos i ti o ns you l i ke. If there a re open i ngs d o i ng ba d l y, phase them o u t of y o u r repcrtoi re . Conclusion
A l l the h i n ts in this c h apter and through out this book a re des igned to have a c u m ul a t i v e e ffect. One becomes a strong c hesspla yer. as V i k tor Korchnoi says i n his fo reword, by trea t i ng each event and t he prepara tion for it as serious work . Chess is such a complex a nd many-sided game that a ny i n d i v i d ual p i ece of advi ce. no ma tter how fa i th fu l ly you fol low i t . w i l l o n l y ap ply to a sma l l percentage of your ga mes a nd tournaments. A working k nowl edge of a wide variety of strategic patterns a nd of their subtle d ifferences takes years to acquire. What can make i t a ll poss i b le is y o u r dedicati on a n d desi re to become a master or ex pert. In the pro cess you w i ll d i scover that the sub t l e t i es of c h ess a nd the comradesh i p of fello w players add an extra d i mension to your c u ltural and sporting l i fe . 1 49
