The Power Chess Program Book 2
Nigel Davies
B.T. Batsford Ltd, London.
First published in 1999 © Nigel Davies 1 999
Contents
ISBN 0 7 1 34 8420 9 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission of the publisher. Printed in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale for the publ[shers D.T. Batsford Ltd 9 B lenheim Court Brewery Road London N7 9NT
lIP' A member of the Ch�J'saJis Group pic
A B ATSFORD CHESS BOOK
5
Introduction
7
The Art of Attack 2 The Initiative
23
3 The Art of Defence
39
4 Winning 'Won Position s
'
56
5 Endgame Themes
71
6 Endgame Battles
87
7 Masters of Attack
103
8 The Strategists
120
9 The Technicians
136
10 The Tacticillns
152
11 The Opening
167
12 The Elements of Mastery
183
Key Moyes Solutions
201
Anal ysis Positions Solutions
215
Symbols
Introduction Welcome to year two of the
Power Chess Program which can be
+
# x !! '? ?! ? ?? 1-0 0- 1 '/1-'/1
Ct Cm Ch WCh Cht
tt 01 Izt
Zt corr m
check mate captures a brill iant move a good move an interesting move a dubious move a bad move a blunder White wins Black wins draw Candidates tournament Candidates match Championship World championship Team championship Team tournament Olympiad Interzonal tournament Zonal tournament Correspondenc.e game Match
studied either together with or inde pendently from Book I. What is it that makes a strong chess player? Is it a knowledge of opening theory Cas many people seem to believe) or perhaps being able to calculate more moves ahead than the opponent? A quick eye per haps, fierce will to win or just patience? Through my work as a chess trainer I have come across all sorts of theories as to what it is that makes someone good at chess, not all of them very sound. As a result it is quite difficult for an amateur player with a limited amount of time to know exactly how to improve. With these thoughts in mind I set about developing a training program which would target the two main areas in which stronger pl ayers dis tinguish themselves. The first is their ability to see ahead clearly and deeply and be able to make disci p lined calculations. The second is in recognising a large number of stra tegic patterns and being able to apply this to similar positions with good j udgement and creativity. The Power Chess Program is a two year course in which month by month I p resent different strategic themes and issues and then back this up with thematic test positions to
get the reader actively invol ved. It is only through jhis active involve ment that the strategic ideas really hit home, simply reading about them is not enough! I have arranged the chapters in terms of 'weeks' and 'months' with the aim of encouraging a regu lar weekly study session of about 3-5 hours. For each week's lesson you should firstly read through the ootes and then set about the test positions. These positions are divided into two types. The 'key move' positions C KM 1 311: to KM24/4 are fairly l ightweight and you might allow yourself around 1 0 minutes each to find the next move. The analysis positions CAl3/I: to A24/4) are much more difficult and I suggest you spend around 30 minutes on these. r recommend that you do not take more than the al lotted time so as to avoid frustration and en ...our age quick, disciplined decisions. I also suggest that you try not to move the pieces as this will help de velop visualisation skills. You should also note that these positions are not necessarily tactical forced wins. Sometimes it is a good positional move that is required, sometimes you may be called on to find the best chance in a losing posi tion. This conforms much more to the reality of chess than the standard two-movers we see a l l the time in
newspapers. These lack any kind of challenge because you know there is something there! I will not try to kid you that this course is an easy option and that merely opening this book will im prove your chess. Several of my stu dents have fahen by the wayside after a few months. What I can say is that everyone. who has persevered and worked systematically through it has exper ienced an upswing in their results, sometimes a quite dramatic improvement.
,
The Power Chess Program can also be studied in conjuntion with a personal tuition package. For more details you can contact me at my web site (www.checkerwise.co.uk). It remains for me to wish you well with the Power-Chess Program and leave you with the words of John F. Kennedy: "There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."
GM Nigel Davies, Manches ter, June 1999.
1
The Art of Attack
In Book 1, month one, we looked at various aspects of king safety and attack. This month we will look in more detail at the art of attack using the games of some of its greatest exponents. In week one we will see the attack on the king in the most basic form in which the hapless monarch is being pursued by a number of the opponent's pieces. In week two we will see examples of direct attacks upon a king's fortress, in week three we see how a preliminary softening up process can be effective. Last but not least I will give a rather more philosophical view of the attack by comparing chess strat egy with the views on warfare ex pounded by the Chinese general Sun Tzu in his book The Art a/War. The greatest genius of the attack was, in my opinion, Alexander Alekhine who amazed his contem poraries with his ability to generate attacking positions. He seemed to have a unique ability to bring about attacking positions against the strongest of opposition and from all kinds of positions. For this reason I have featured Alekhine's games this month more than those of any other player.
Month l3/Week I : The King Hunt There is nothing more dramatic or easily comprehensible in chess than the sight of a king running across the board whilst trying to evade blows by the opposing pieces. This is romantic chess in its purest form though in today's scientific era it is rather more difficult to bring about such scenarios than it was in the past. The reason is that players are much more careful about the safety of their king and would prefer to make almost any concession rather than suffer the indignity of having their king hunted down. All the same thIS does sometimes happen ... The. first game this week sees at tack ar.d defence in balance with White having enough for a draw by perpetual check but not more than this. In the second game there is the rather more common scenario of the hunted king getting cut down in the cross-fire.
O'Kelly - Penrose Varna Olympiad 1 962 1 e4 c5 2 lbf3 lDc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lDxt14 e6 5 lbc3 'itc7 6 iLe2 a6 7
8 The Art ofAttack
The Art ofAttack 9
0-0 ltJr6 8 �e3 .ltb4 9 ltJxc6 bxc6 1 0 .ltd3 d5 I I exd5 cxd5 12 .ltd4 �e7 1 3 .!:[el 0-0 With White's pieces pointing menacingly towards the kingside this could be described as 'brave'. 14 'iff3 �b7 1 5 l:le3 .!:[re8 1 6 l:r.ae1 .!:[ad8 1 7 'Wh3 liJe4! If 17 ... g6 there is 18 l:r.O ltJe4 1 9 'i'xh7+ Wxh7 2 0 l:lh3+ �g8 21 l:r.h8#.
1 8 'ifh5! There are several tempting possi bilities, none of which brings home the bacon. 18 �xg7 fails after 18 . . . 'it>xg7 19 l:r.g3+ �h8 2 0 'tth6 .!:[g8, 18 ltJxe4 allows 18 ... dxe4 19 .ltxe4 �xe4 20 .!:[xe4 'i'xc2 and 18 o is met by 1 S ... 1'5! 19 txe4 dxe4. 18 ... .ltf6! The only dt:ft:Il(;t:. Tilt: plausible 18 ... g6 loses to 1 9 jfxh7+ �7 20 l:r.h3+ �g8 21 .!:[h8# and 18 ... f5 is met by 19 .!:[h3 h6 20 �xg7 ltJg5 21 jfg6. 1 9 ltJxe4 Both sides are finding their best moves. After 1 9 .!:[x e4 Black can de fend himself with 19 .. dxe4 20 i.xf6 gxf6 21 .lixe4 f5. 1 9 ... �xd4 .
20 'ifxh7+! Not only spectacular but at this stage rather necessary. 20 ltJg5 al lows Black to take the initiative with 20 ... h6 21 .!:[h3 'ilr'f4 etc. This sacrifice is reminiscent of a famous game between Edward Lasker and Sir George Thomas played in London in 1910 which went 1 d4 f5 2 ltJc3 ltJf6 3 ltJO e6 4 �g5 �e7 5 �xf6 .ltxf6 6 e4 fxe4 7 lOxe4 b6 8 �d3 .lib7 9 ltle5 00 10 'ifh5 'ike7 11 'Wxh7+! 'it>xh7 12 ltJxf6+ 'it>h6 13 liJeg4+ �g5 14 h4+ 'it>f4 15 g3+ 'it>O 16 .lte2+ 'it>g2 17 .!:[h2+ 'it>g1 18 'it>d2# In the present case it only leads to a draw. 20 ... Wxh7! Black has to sail into the eye of the storm. ;''J ... Wf8 21 liJg3 .ltxe3 22 .!:[xe3 We7 23 fixg7 gives White a ferocious attack. 2 1 lOf6+ 'it>h6 22 l:lh3+ �gS 23 ltlh7+ �g4 And not 23 ... 'it>f4? because of 24 l:r.h4#. 24 �e2+ <3?f4 25 .ltd3 White must repeat moves as 25 .!:[h4+? is met by 25 ... 'itte5 and 25 �h5? by 25 ... �xfl + 26 �xfl "xc2+ 27 �gl 'ilr'xh7!. 25 ... <Ji>g4 26 .lte2+ 'it>f4 27 .ltd3
27 ... 'it>g4 Black has little choice but to re peat moves, 27 ... i.xfl+ 28 Wxfl 'ilr'c5+ 29 Wf1 fie7 30 .!:[O+ <Ji>g4 gives White the chance to search for a win. White too has to accede to the draw as 28 Wf1 is met by 28 ... .ltxfl! 29 'it>xfl "f4+.
with a winning attack. The best try was 15 ... 0-0-01 but then White has a very dangerous attack after 16 ltJb5 'i!fb8 17 lOe4. If Black con· tinues with 17 ... lOxe4 18 'ilr'xe4 a6 there follows 19 �f4 e5 20 .!:[xd7 llxd7 21 �xe5 'Was 22 lOc7 llxc7 23 'ilr'f5+ 'ittb 8 (Or 23 ... nd7 24 .!:[d 1+-) 24 'Wxf7 or if 18 ... lOf6 there is 19 if'e3 a6 20 lOa 7+ Wc7 21 .lta5+ b6 22 lhd8+-. 1 6 ltJxe6!
IIl:l!l
Evans - Berger Amsterdam Izt 1 964 I e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 1Oc3 d xe4 4 ltlxe4 �f5 5 lOg3 �g6 6 ltlf3 ltld7 7 h4 h6 8 h5 i.h7 9 �d 3 .ltxd3 1 0 'Wxd3 'We7 1 1 i.d2 ltlgf6 1 2 0-0-0 e6 13 <Ji>bl e5 1 4 c4 cxd4?! This proves to be very dangerous for Black with his king still hanging around in the middle of the board. It would be wiser to castle queens ide at this point. I Sltlxd4 a6 This allows White a winning sacrificial breakthrough but the position is already very difficult for Black. He had originally intended 15 ... ltJe5 but then White can play 16 'ilfe2 ltlxc4 17 liJxe6! liJxd2+ 18 llxd2 fxe6 1 9 'ilr'xe6+ fie7 (Or 19 ... .lte7 20 lOf5 'iti'f8 21 .!:[C1+-) 20 'ilr'c4
16 fxe6 1 7 'ilr'g6+ Wd8 18 nhel ""c8 White's attack keeps coming in all lines. If 18 .. e5 there is 19 i.c3 'ittc8 20 f4! and 1 8 ... 'ilr'xc4 is met by 19 i.c3. 1 9 l:r.xe6 b6 20 'WfS! Quiet but deadly. The threat is 2 1 .ltf4. 20 �b7 2 1 � f4 'ilfc5 Black no longer has any prospect of defence. After 21 ... 'iVc8 there is 22 ltJe4 ""a7 (Or 22 ... ltJxe4 23 'ifxe4+ 9;a7 24 .!:[c6! etc) 23 liJxf6 liJxf6 2411xf6 gxf6 2511d7+. 22 .!:[xf6 1 :0 Upon 22 ... lOxf6 there follows 23 nd7+ Wc6 24 l:r.c7#. ..•
.
..•
J 0 The Art
ofAttack
KM 13/1: I) White to play
,: : .",
KM 1 3 1 1 : 3) Black to play
The Art ofAttack 11 KM l 3/I: 2) White to play
KM 1 3/l: 4) Black to play
Month 1 3/Week 2: Direct Assaults With the great rise in the standard of technique, players of all stan dards are only too aware of the. danger, of an exposed king. Accord ingly they will attempt to construct some sort of fortress and then bolster it at the slightest sign of trouble. It is relatively rare for a direct at tack to succeed when the defender concentrates all his efforts on beat ing back the attack. Successful di rect attacks may come about m situations in which the players castle on opposite wings and are engaged in violent mutual attacks. Or they might occur when one side has a considerable lead in mobility or de velopment, as for example in the following encounter.
Ahikhine - Eliskases Podebrady 1 936 1 e4
AD/I: a) White to play.
A l.v l : h) RI�r.1r to play.
Alekhine was equally adept at playing both 1 e4 and 1 d4. Now adays most players are able to adopt a wide range of openings, in Alek hine ' s time it was more usual to specialize.
1 ... eS 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 lDf6 5 0-0 �e7 6 l:le l b5 7 �b3 d6 8 c3 lDa5 9 �c2 c5 1 0 d3
The most usual move is 10 d4 but the modest text also has its points. Perhaps Alekhine, with a subtle in sight into his opponent's psychol ogy, knew that Eliskases would react in the way that he does. 10 . . . lDc6 11 lDbd2 0-0 12 lDn
l:le8 13 lDe3 dS?
This 'liberating' move gives White's pieces more scope than
those of his opponent. The patient 13 . . . �f8 was in order.
1 4 exdSli)xdS I s lDxd5 'tWxdS 16 d4!
The refutation of Black's impa tient thirteenth move. The position is opened up before Black has co� p leted his devel?pment and whIle . his pieces, especIal ly the knIght on c6, are on vulnerable squares. 16 ... exd4 17 �e4 'ii'd7 Black's knight on c6 is giving him major problems. After 17 . . . 'ii'd6? there is 1 8 � f4 . 1 8 cxd4 �f6 After 1 8 .. , �b7 White would create a powerfully supported passed pawn with 19 d5 lDd8 20 lDe5 'tWd6 21 �f4 . But now light ning strikes from another direction.
19 �g5!
12 The Art
ofAttack The Art ofAllack 13
A very unpleasant move for Black Fischer - Stein to meet as it threatens to remove a Sou sse Interzonal 1 967 key defender whilst further advanc ing White's development. 1 e4 eS 2 lLln lLlc6 3.ibS a6 4 After 19 ... .ixd4 there is 20 .if5! .ia4 lOf6 5 0-0 .ie7 6 nel b5 7 l:txe I + 21 'i'xe 1 'i'd6 22 'i'e8+ 'i'fS .ib3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 .ib7 10 d4 23 .ixh7+ w inning the queen wh ile lLla5 11 .ic2 iLlc4 1 2 b3 iLlb6 1 3 19 ... .ixg5 20 lOxg5 g6 2 1 dxc5 lLlbd2 lObd7 1 4 b4 exd4 1 5 cxd4 leads to a hopeless endgame for a5 1 6 bxa5 c5 1 7 eS Black. So the following exchange White's attack starts to take sacrifice is forced. shape, the first step being to drive 19 ... Itxe4 20 l:txe4 .ixd4 2 1 Black's knight from f6 lOxd4lOxd4 2 2 'i'h5!.ib7 23 l::th4 1 7 '" dxeS 18 dxe5 iLldS 19 lLle4 lLlb4! Fischer gave 19 ... Itxa5 20 lLleg5! h6 21 'tid3 g6 22 iLle6! as an example of the danger Black faces in this position. Stein's move drives White's bishop to bl which helps to keep his queen's rook out of play. 20.ibl nxa5 2 1 'tie2 iLl b6? Black should safeguard his k ing with 21 ... l:te8 fol lowed by ... iLlfB. 22lOfgS
23 ... 'ii'f5 23 ... h6? loses immed iately to 24 .ixh6 lOf5 25 .ixg7 �xg7 26 'ilJ'g5+ etc. 24 .ie3! Itd8? Losing on the spot but by now the position is hopeless. After 24 ... 'tixh5 25 Itxh5 lOc2 26 Itd1 lOxe3 27 fxe3 c4 28 llc5 the endgame is quite hopeless for Black. 2S l:txd4 1:0
In the following game we see Bobby Fischer on the attack against the Soviet Champion of the time, Leonid Stein. Stein made the mis take of pursuing h is queenside counter-play rather than falling back into defence.
22 ... .txe4 After 22 ... h6 there is 23 lOh7 l::t e 8 24 lOhf6+! .ixf6 25 iLlxf6+ 'tixf6 26 exf6 w inning the exchange and 22 ... g6 23 e6 f5 24 lOf7 24 lOf7 followed by 25 .ib2 gives White a crushing attack. 23 'iWxe4 g6 24 'iWh4 hS 25 'i'g3 iLlc4 26 liJ n
Accord ing to Fischer h imself it was more precise to play 26 e6 f5 and only then drop the knight back to O. The point is that this would side-step the tougher defence that Black should have adopted on his 28th move. Keres gave 26 lLlxf7 l::t xf7 27 .ixg6 but 27 ... Itg7 is not very clear. 26 ... Wg7 Keres recommended 26 ... lLld3 27 .ixd3 'tr'xd3 but after Fischer's 28 .igS' White comes in on the dark squares. 27 'tif4 l:th8 28 e6! fS According to Fischer Black should have tr ied 28 ... .lif6! after which 29 exf6 .lixa 1 30 fB=�+ 'iWxfB 3 1 'i'c7+ Wg8 32 .ixg6 lLld5 33 'ib7 lLlf6 34 .if4 Ith7' 35 .ixh7+ lLlxh7 36 'tid5+ �f7 37 'i'xf7+ �xf7 3 8 Itxa 1 leads to a position in which Black could still put up tough resistance. Now White uncorks a cracking move. 29.idS!
29 . 'i'fB The bishop is immune as after 29 ... gxf5 there follows 30 'i'g3+ 'it'h7 ..
(Or 30 . . . 'it'fB 31 'iVg6 'iWe8 32 .ih6+-) 3 1 lOg5+! .txg5 32 .lixg5 �d3 3 3 �c7+ �g6 34 'iW f7+' Wxg5 3 5 'i'g7+ 'it'f4 36l:tad 1 +-. 30.lie4? White should have clinched matters w ith 30 iLlh4! .lixh4 31 'i'xh4 �xf5 32 'iWe7+ Wg8 33 'i'd 8+ �g7 34 'i'c7+ 'it'g8 35 e7 . 30 ... 'iWxf4 3 1 .lixf4 Ite8? Missing his chance, 31 . . . l::txa2 was much better. Now White w ins materia l . 32 Itadl J:!.a6 3 3 J:!.d7 l::t x e6 34 iLlgS J:!.f6 If 34 J:!.a6 there is 35 .lib I <;!i>f6 36lLle4+ 'it'f7 37 lOxc5. 35 .in J:!.xf4 36 lLle6+ <;!i>f6 37 lLlxf4 tbe5 38 Itb7.lid6 39 <;!i>f1
39 ... lLlc2 39 ... lOxO is met by 40 l::t x e8 lOd2+ 4 1 <;!i>e2 .lixf4 42 UfB+ Wg5 43 l::t xf4 Wxf4 44 'it'xd2 etc. 40 Ite4 lLld4 4 1 J:!.b6 l::td 8 42 liJd5+ �f5 43 lLle3+ �e6 44 .te2 'rt>d7 45 .ixb5+ lOxb5 46 .Ihb5 c;t;c6 47 a4 .ic7 48 �e2 g5 49 g3 Ita8 50 llb2 J:!.fB 5 1 f4 gf 52 gflLlf7 53 l:le6+ liJd6 54 f5 J:!.a8 55 J:!.d2 Itxa4 56 f6 1 : 0
14 The Art ofAttack
KM13/2: I) Black to play
KM13/2: 3) White to play
The A rt
KM 13/2: 2) White to play
KM13/2: 4) White to play
Month 13/Week 3: The Softening Up Process It is rather difficult to win games with a direct assault due to the fact that the opponent will normally do his very best to briog over reserves for defence. Usually it is necessary to set about weakening the pawn structure around the opposing king and exchange off the key defensive pieces. This area of attacking play tends to require a higher level of skill than that of a simple breakthrough. The pieces must often be arranged so that they exploit the emerging wea knesses in the opponent's structure.
Keres - Unzicker Match, Hamburg 1 956
A 131?: a) White to play
A13/2: b) White to play
1 e4 e5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 �b5 ttJf6 4 0-0 ttJxe4 5 d4 �e7 6 "i!fe2 lbd6 7 �xc6 bxc6 8 dxe5 ttJb7 9 ttJc3 0-0 10 ttJd4 �c5 1 1 l:td l �xd4 1 2 Ihd4 d S 1 3 exd6 cxd6 1 4 b4! An excellent move which fixes Black's pawn weaknesses, may eventua.lly Black's knight out of play. 14 ... ne8 15 �e3 �e6 1 6"i!ff3
1 6 ... 'ilVd 7 ?
ofAttack
15
A poor move which moves the queen away from the defence of the kingside dark squares. Keres recom mended 16 ... d5! after which White should keep a small advantage with 17 �f4! rather than play 17 bS cS! 18 nddl d4 19 "i!fxb7 'iVaS when, Black wins back the piece with good chances of equal ity. 17 ttJe4 �r5? A further mistake after which Black's position becomes desperate. He should play 17 . .. �dS after which 18 ttJf6+? gxf6 19 ng4+ <&t>f8 leaves White with no good follow up. The best would be to play 18 c4 �xe4 19 l:txe4, retaining an edge due to the poor position of Black's knight on b7, though Black could still obtain some counter-play with 19 ... as. 18 ttJg3! A very strong pawn sacrifice after which another Black piece is decoyed from the defence of the kingside. After 18 �g6 White can play the powerful 19 h4!, so he is obliged to capture the pawn on c2. '"
1 8 ... �xc2 1 9 ncl �a4 20 ttJh5 20 lbfS was even stronger be cause it would prevent Black's next move.
16 The Art ofAttack
20 ... fS! 2 1 1:1f4 1:1e7 After 2 1 ... 1:1f8 there follows 22 d4! lIf7 23 �xg7! with a fork on f6 should Black take the bishop. So he has to let the pawn on f5 go. 221:1xfS lIf7
The Art ofAttack 17
'it'xf8 28 'it'g4+ �h8 29 'itd4+
g8 (29 ... 'itg7 30 'ii'x a7) 30l:tc3. 271:[c4 1 : 0 A n impressive game by Keres i n the way that h e built u p an attack with minimal means. In the next game we see something even more remarkable with Alekhine conjuring up a devastating attack from what seems like thin air: Alekhine - Sterk Budapest 192 1 1 d4 d 5 2 ttJrJ It'lf6 3 c4 e6 4 ttJc3 ttJbd7 5 e3 i.d6 6 ttJbS Not one of Alekhine's happier ideas. Although it can claim to be original, it just loses time. 6 ... �e7 7 �c2 c6 8 ttJc3 0-0 9 �d3 dxc4 10 �xc4 cS! 1 1 dxc5 White's opening has not been a success ·and he can only claim to have a rather sterile equality. After 11 0-0 ltJb6 1 2 �d3 cxd4 1 3 exd4 �d7 White would have inadequate compensation for his isolated . d-pawn. . 1 1 ... jLxc5 12 0-0 b6
23 ltJxg7! A very unpleasant surprise for Black. After 23 . . . <jo>xg7 White wins with either 24 �h6+ or 24 'it'g4+ and the attempt to bring reinforce ments over with 23 ... l:taf8 is ans w ered by 24 It'le6! l:txf5 (If 24 ... 'ii'xe6 there is 25 'itg4+ 'i!Vg6 26 l:tg5+- or if 25 ... �h8 then 26 �d4+ ];[[6 27 ];[xf6 'it'xg4 28 ];[xf8#) 25 'it'g4+ r;t;>h8 26 It'lxf8 etc. Accordingly Black has very little choice. 23 ];[xg7 24 �h6 'ii'e7 After 24 . . . 1:1f7 there is 25 l:tg5+ <jo>h8 26 'itc3+- and 24 . . . lIe8 25 h4 is decisive due to the threat of 26 �xg7 and 27 1:g5. 2 5 �xg7 'it'xg7 25 . .. �g7 doesn't help either after 26 'ii' c3+ �g8 27 1:10 threaten ing 28 ];[g3+ and 28 ];[e 1 . 1 3 e4!? 2 6 h4 h6 Typical of Alekhine in that he There was no longer a good de tries to create complex problems fence to 27 ];[g5. 26· . . . 1:1f8 is ans despite h is unsuccessful opening. 1 3 wered by either 27 1:1e I or 27 1:1xf8+ b3 was the safe move.
a devastating blow on the other side 13 ... jLb7 14 �g5 of the board. Afte r It'lg4! 15 It'lg5 g 6 1 6 lDxe6 'ith4 1 7 h 3 'it'g3 followed by mate. 1 4 ... 'iVc8! 15 'ii'e2 jLb4! 16 �d3 16 e5 is still poor because of 16 . . . It'lg4 and 1 6 1:1ac l would b e met by 16 ... �xc3 1 7 �d3! It'lc5! 18l:txc3 �xe41 1 9 �xf6 �xd3 with a clear advantage for Black. Watch how Alekhine now creates problems from a position which seems to otTer him nothing. 16 ... �xc3 17 1:1fct! The saving resource, the point of 23 �f6! which is that after 1 7 . . . ttJc5 1 8 An unexpected and quite beautiful 1:1xc3 �xe4 1 9 �xf6 jLxd3 White idea which commences a mating at can play 20 �e31 (the point of 1 7 tack. The immediate threat is 24 l:tfc I rather than 1 7 l:tac I ) 20 . . . l:tg4! 'itxe2 25 l:txg7+ followed by gxf6 2 1 b4 jLg6 2 2 bxc5 bxc5 2 3 mate next move. l:txc5 After Black's queen moves 23 ... l:tfc8! 24 'ii'e5 there is 24 h4 with attacking chances for the pawn.
•..
24 1:1c5 There is no longer any defence for Black. After 24 ... "xc4 there is 25 'ifg5 �f8 26 "xg7+ '1t>e8 27 �g8+ c;t>d7 28 ltJe5+ �c7 29 "xf7+-, 24 ... 1:1xc4 is answered by 25 'fkg5 1:1g4 26 'ii' xg4 g6 27 'fk xa4+- and 24 ... gxf6 25 1:1g4+ leads to mate in two. 25 'ii'g 3! g6 26 ];[xa4 'ikd3 271:10 l:tac8 28 ];[d4 'ikf5 29 'ii'f4 'ikc2 30 'ii'h6 1 : 0 .•.
17 ... ttJxe4? Aft culties due to the exposed position of his knight on c5. 1 8 �xe4 �xe4 1 9 'ii'xe4 ltJc5,20 'ite2! �aS 2 1 lIabl "a6 22 nc4 ttJa4 An ingenious attempt to save the game, 23 b4?! would be met by 23 . . . ttJc3. But Alekhine has prepared
18
The Art ofAttack The Art ofAttack 19
KM I3/3: I ) White to play
KM 13/3:
2) White to play Month 1 3/Week 4 : The Tao O f Attack
KM I 3/3: 3) Black to play
A I 3!3: 4) White to play
who would crown masterly posi tional play on one side of the board with a sudden switch to the other flank.
"When you are concentrated into one while the opponent is divided into ten, you are attacking at a con Alekhine - Asztalos centration of ten to on e, so you out Kecskemet 1927 number the opponent. If you can strike few with many, you will thus 1 ttJrJ d5 2 c4 e6 3 d4 ttJf6 4 �g5 minimise the num ber of those with h6 5 .i.xf6 'i!i'xf6 6 ttJc3 c6 whom you do battle. These days this l ine is known as "Your battlegrou/ld is not to be the 'Moscow Variation ' and gives knowll, for when it cannot be Black a solid position with a pair o f known, the enemy makes many bishops but a certain lack o f mobil guard outposts, and since multiple ity. It is fascinat ing to walch how outposts are established, you ollly Alekhine keeps Black's position under control whilst gradually pre have to do battle with small squads. So when the front is prepared, the paring an attack. 7 ifb3 ttJd7 8 e4 dxe4 9 ttJxe4 rear is lacking and when the rear is prepared the front is lacking. Pre 'i!i'f4 10 .i.d3 �e7 1 1 0-0 0-0 1 2 paredness on the left means lack on nfel : d 8 1 3 nadl 'i!i'c7 1 4 ttJg3 the right, preparedness on the righ t ttJrs 1 5 We3! The idea behind this is to play means lack on the left. Prepared n ess everywhere means lack every ttJhS fol lowed by d4-dS Black where. " (Sun Tzu in The Art Of parries this threat but only at the cost of queenside weaknesses. War) 1 5 a5 1 6 a3 a4 1 7 4:JeS1/I'a5 1 8 Sun Tzu's book on military strat egy, The Art of War, contains many 'i!i'c1 � d 7 1 9 c5! useful insights for chess players. The passage above describes the concept of attacking the opponent where he is at his weakest. Translating this Into chess terms one o f the most effective weapons of attack is to decoy defenders away from their king. The normal method of doing this is to set up p ressure on one part of the board before sudden ly switching the direction of the at tack when the opponent's p ieces are tied down. Intending to plant a knight on b6 This is one of the most advanced strategies of attack which very few which virtua lly forces Black's reply. players have mastered. The greatest But new problems now arise due to exponent of this art was Alekhine the weakness of the c6 pawn . •••
AI3!3;
a) White to play
A13!3:
b) White to play
20 The Art of Attack
19 ... b5 20 �e4 'i!Ve7 21 'We3 �e8 22 tt:le2! Beginning a new and deadly plan. The idea of bringing this knight to b4 forces Black to exchange ofT one of the pieces attacking c6 (the knight on e5) with ... tt:lfS-d7. But this knight is needed to defend the kingside. , 22 ... 1:1a6 23 .!Del liJd7 24 liJxd7 1:1xd7 25 tt:ld3 1:1d8 26 liJe5 .ltfS i7 h4! 1:1aa8 28 .lt b l h5 29 'i!Vf3 g6 30 g4!
The Art of AlI(lck 21
Rather than having to actively decoy the opposing forces, similar effects can be obtained by simply having superior mobility. In his writings Sun Tzu expounded the benefits of superior mobility at some length: "Appear where they cannot go, head for where they least expect you. To travel hundreds of miles without fatigue, go over land where there are no people. To ·unfailingly take what you attack, attack where there is no defence...
In the next game Alekhine takes on one of the great masters of de fence, the Hungarian G randmaster Geza Maroczy and launches a dev astating attack simply because Ma roczy' piece� lack enough mobility to counteract Alekhine's sudden kingside a ssault.
Black should try to get his queen side developed with II . . . b51? 12 .ltd3 c5 or 1 2 ... ·.ltb7 A1ekhine's next move exploits this omission o f 1 1 ... b 5 and makes it difficu lt for Black to develop. 12 a4! 'i!Va5 13 'i!Ve2 exd4! 14 exd4 tt:lb6 15 .ltd3 ! �d7 16 LUeS 1:1fd8 17 f4 With Black's pieces rather pass ively deployed on the queens ide, White plays very sharply for an at tack on the opposing king. Alekhine pointed out tha t White could also try 17 'i!Vf3 !? in this position. 17 .ltc8 18 liJg4 1:1xd4 19 .ltxf6 .2.xf6 20 LUxf6+ gxf6 2 1 tt:le4 ...
Alekhinc Maroezy -
Bled 1 93 1
Finally Alekhine commences his attack, but just at the moment when Black is too passively placed to offer any real defence. 30 ... hxg4 31 'i!Vxg4 .ltg7 32 .lta2! b4 If 32 ... 'i!Ve7? there is an immedi ate win with 33 ltJxg6 fxl:6 34 1:1xeo etc. 33 �e4! bxa3 34 bxn3 'i!V1I5 35 'i!Ve4 'i!Ve7 36 'fi'f4 1:1ab8 37 h5 gxh5 38 �hl 1:1b7 39 1:1g1 "fie7 40 1:1xg7+! �xg7 4 1 1:1g1 + c;t>h7 42 liJxf7! 1 :0 After 42 ... 'it'xf7 there is 43 �d3+ 'iVg6 44 .ltxg6+ �xg6 �5 1:1xg6 Wxg6 46 'ite4+ Wg7 47 'i!Ve5+! which would soon pick up one o f Black's rooks.
1 d 4 d 5 2 tt:lf3 liJf6 3 c 4 e6 4 .ltg5 ltJbd7 5 e3 h6 6 .i.h4 .lte7 7 ltJc3 0-0 8 1:1e1 c6 9 �d3 a6 1 0 0-0 dxe4 1 1 .ltxe4
11
...
e5? !
2 1 ... 1:1ad8? Black should have held onto the f-pawn with 21 . .. f5'? 22 ltJf6+ c;t>f8 though after 23 b3! White nevertheless has very dangerous at tacking chances. Now his king gets driven into the m iddle o f the board. 22 liJx(6+ �fS 23 ltJh7+! C:;e7 Maroczy may have missed Alek hine's last move which has the point that 23 ... �g8? is answered by 24 'i'g4+ ct>h8 25 'i!Vh4 1:1xd3 26 'i'xh6 etc. 24 f5! 1:18d6 25 b4!
Typical Alekhine, the attack is crowned with a blow on another part of the board. The point of this move is that White's queen wIll penetrate the opposing position via e5 in the game or h5 after 25 ... J:!.xb4. Alekhine gave the line 25 J:!.xb4 26 'i'h5 ! e5! 27 f6+ ct>d8 28 'iVxh6 J:!.xd3 29 'IlffS 1:1d7 30 J:!.c5 'i!Vxa4 31 1:1xe5+25 ... 'Ilfxb4 26 'Ilfe5! ltJd7 27 'Ilfh8! J:!.xd3 If 27 ... �6 there is 28 a 5!+- or if27 ... 'Ilfa5 then 281:1c8+-.
28 (6+! 1 : 0 Black is mated after either 28 ... ltJxf6 29 'it'xf6+ Wd7 30 ltJfS# or 2 8 . . . c;t> d 8 29 "ihe8+! ct>xe8 3 0 J:!.c8#.
22 The Art ofAttack
KM 1 3/4:
I) White to play
KM J 3/4: 2) White to play
2
KM13/4: 3) Black to play
KM 1 3/4: 4) White to play
The Initiative
The initiative in chess roughly
initiative even if it meant taking cer
equates to possession of the ball in
tain positional risks: "When he gets
soccer. The player who holds the
even the smallest initiative he starts
initiative is able to make threats and
to feel himself very good."
force his opponent onto the defens
There are a number of players like
ive. This may prove to be a tempor
this who simply love to force the
ary effect which dissipates after a
pace and the names of attacking
few accurate defensive moves or it
players such as Tal, Alekhine, Kas
may be the prelude te a genuine at
parov come to mind as well as those
tack. To use a hackneyed old prov
of lesser lights such as Gofstein,
erb, it all depends on the position.
Kupreichik and Denker.
In week one of this month's ma
The greatest of them all was, in
terial we will look at positions in
my opinion,
which one of the players takes the
His games involve a restless striving
initiative with decisive effect.
Alexander Alekhine.
In
for the initiative with either colour
week two we will look the concept
and to this end he was prepared to
of gambit play in which possession
take great risks.
of the initiative is paid for with material.
Here
are
two
masterpieces
in
which Alekhine took the initiative in
In week three we will see a fierce
the early middle-game and never let
struggle for the initiative in which. it go. both sides eschew defence in favour
A J 3/4: II) IJlack to plllY
A13/4: b) White to play
of pursuing their own threats. Week four
features
the
generation
Alekhlne - Euwe Amsterdam Weh 1935
of
another type of initiative which is more a case of supercharging the potential of your pieces rather than achieving any kind of direct attack.
Month 14IWeek I : Taking The Initiative
1 d4 d5 2 e4 e6 3 1t.If3 It.If6 4 It.Ie3 dxe4 5 a4 �f5 6 4Je5 4Jbd7 7 lll xe4 'ife7 Sg3 e5 9 d xe5 1t.1xe5 10 �f4 lllrd7 11 .i.g2 �e6 1 2 It.Ixe5 lllx e5 13 0-0 �e7 In view of what happens it looks sensible to firmly defend the knight
The Israeli Grandmaster Valery Beim once described our colleague, Leonid Gofstein, as an 'initiative player' and he felt that it was im portant to deprive Gofstein of the
on eS with 13 . .. f6.
1 4 ..we2 l:[dS 1 5 l:[fd 1 0-0 16 lObS :xdl+ 1 7 l:[xdl 'WaS I S liJd4 .i.eS The position seems quiet enough but
now
Alekhine
takes
the
24
The Initiative
initiative and keeps it. His next move sets about undennining Black's important pawn on c6 whilst gaining time on the queen.
1 9 b4! 'iVe7 After 19 ... �xb4? White wins with 20 �b3 'iVc7 21 'ilVe4 �c3 (21 ... �d6 22 'ilVd4) 22 11c l �b2 23 l:1c2 f5 24 'Wb4. So Black is forced to retreat. 20 b5 e5 2 1 �f5 f6? It is quite understa ndabl e that Black want� to def�nd his knight on e5 securely but now White's advan tage assumes dec is ive proportions. 21 ... �f6 was relatively best though still unpleas!!nt after 22 �d6 l:1d8 23 �c4. 22 �e3 �e6 23 �dS! �xd5 24 l:1xd5 �a5 After 24 . .. l:1d8 there is 25 �xe5 beeS 26 W't:S+- . 25 �rs 'iVel + 26 'iti>g2 �dS 27 �xe5 fxeS 2S l1d7 i.f6 29 �h6+! 'it>hS 30 'iVxeS 1 :0 If 30 ... 11e8 there is 31 �d5 gxh6 32 'Wf7 �e7 33 Ihe7 etc.
Aaron Nirnzowitsch wrote a lot about restric. ting his opponent's pussibilities and the concept o f zug zwang. It must have been embarras sing for him to find his own
The Initiative weap?ns used against him as they were In the following encounter. Alekhine - Nirnzowitseh San Rerno 1 930 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 �c3 .ltb4 4 e5 eS 5 .ltd2 �e7 6 �bS .ltxd2+ 7 'it'xd2 0-0 S e3 b6?! Rather than his somewhat passive move Black should probably prefer 8 ... �f5. Now White takes a lot o f space without having to worry about being counter-punched. 9 f4 �a6 1 0 �f3 'iVd7 I I a4 tDbe6 12 b4! cxb4 13 cxb4 �b7 1 4 It)d6 f5? Nimzowitsch might have felt that a blocked position would not suit the ferocious Alekhine but now White takes the initiative. He should have stopped the advance o f White's a-pawn with 14 ... a5!? after which Alekhine \\Tote that he would have preferred 15 �b5 axb5 16 0-0 to1 5 b5ltJb4.
15 as! l£le8 And not 15 ... bxa5? because of 1 6 b5! when Black's pieces would find themselves in an even more parlous state. Black hurries to ex change off White's monstrous
knight on d6 but finds h imself under tremendous pressure on the c-file. 16 �xb7 'iVxb7 1 7 a6
17 ... 'iVn If 17 .. . 'iVe7 there is 1 8 �b5! It)xb4? 19 llb I, trapping the knight. In the game continuation Black is unable to defend both the c6 and c7 squares in the long run. IS �b5 It)Se7 19 0-0 h6 20 l:1fct lUe8 2 111c2 'iVeS If Black tried to exchange rooks on the c-file with 21 ... lOd8 there would follow 22 llac1 llxc2 23 llxc2 llc8 2 4 llxc8 lOxc8 2 5 ""'c3 fol lowed by 'Wc7.
22 11ac1
25
White could have trebled major pieces on the c-fiIe more effectively by starting this process with 22 lla3. In any case Black cannot defend against this plan in the long run. 22 ... llab8 23 'il'e3 llc7 24 llc3 ! 'iVd7 With the desperate idea of making room for the king on d8 so that it can protect the rook on c7. Unfortu nately for Black even this cannot save him. 25 J:rle2 r;;t>f8 26 'iWc 1 J:rbeS Has Black managed to defend himself? White's next move pro vides the answer.
27 �a4! The threat of 28 b5 forces Black to give up a pawn in order to gain time to defen d the rook r1 c7. But then he finds himself in zugzwang' 27 .. , b5 28 �xb5 'it>e8 29 .ta4 'it>d8 30 h4! hS 3 1 Wh2 g6 32 g3 1:0 Black can play a couple of irrel evant moves but will then be forced to play ... 'ilVe8. After that b4-b5 will win a p iece because the rook on c7 is unguarded.
The Initiative
26 The Initiative
KM 14/ 1: I) White to p lay
KM 14/1 : 3) Black to p lay
A14/1 : a) White to play
KM 1 4/1
KM 14/1: 4) Black to play
A14/ 1: b) White tn piny
Month 1 4/Week 2 : Gambit Play
It is of course unlikely that any one will give you the in itiative on a plate and usually you have to fight for it. There is also the option o f paying for the initiative by sacrific ing some material though in this case you need to judge that your compensation will be adequate. Sacrificing material for the in itiat ive in the opening is called a gam bit, the best-known examp les of gambit being the King's, Queen's or Evans Gambits. It is also worth not ing that there are often gambit op portunities in many other openings which have no official name but offer the means of taking the initiat ive. Such lines are stock-in-trade for many masters o f the attack. As I noted in the previous section Alexander Alekhine eagerly sought the initiative with either colour and to this end would occasionally try out daring gambit lines. In the fol lowing game he plays a gambit of dubious merit but the suprise effect turns out to be devastating.
27
0-0 g5 1 3 b4!?, returning the pawn in order to open lines against B lack's king. Yet some p layers are still quite happy to play Black. 8 . . li:lf6 9 'it' d 2 h6 10 �xf6 'it'xf6 1 1 e3 0-0-0 1 2 O-O-O? White's king is very insecurely placed on the queens ide and Black quick ly develops a decis ive initiat ive. White should try Kotov's rec ommendation of 12 lZ:ld5! 'it'g6 13 li:le2 intend ing li:le2- f4, and 'it'c3. 1 2 ... �g4 1 3li:ld5
Pire - Alekhine Bled 193 1 1 d 4 d 5 2 e 4 e 6 3 tOe3 e 5 4 exd5 exd4! ? The Schara-Hennig Gambit which aims at fast development. The fol lowing queen manoevre leads to the same position as 5 'i!fxd4 tOc6 6 it'd I exd5 7 'it'xd5 �d7. 5 'it'a4+ �d7 6 'i!fxd4 exd5 7 'it' x d 5 li:le6 8 �g5 The accepted means of meeting this line is with 8 li:lf3 li:lf6 9 'it'dI �c5 10 e3 'it'e7 II �e2 0-0-0 12
.
13 ... l'bd5 ! 14 'it'xd 5 �a3! The briliiant poin t of Alekhine's exchange sacrifice which piles up the p ressure. Recovering the ex change with 14 ". �xd l I S 'it'xdl would be far less effective after 15 ... 'it'xf2 16 'it' g4+ f5 17 'it'e2.
1 5 �3!
:2
28
The Initiative
The best try. After 15 bxa3 Black wins with 1 5 ... 'li'c3+ 1 6 'it>b I lld8-+ and 1 5 lld2 is met by 1 5 ... ..Itxb2+ 16 llxb2 �c3+ 17 'it>b I �e l + 1 8 �c21ld8-+. 1 5 ... � xdI 16 �xa3 �xf2 1 7 W'd3
The Initiative 29 such openings. He recently brought back the Evans Gambit to the sur prise of some of his world class opponents:
a choice between 1 1 ... �c7 and 1 I ... b5!? 7 ... exd4? 8 �xd4! lDr6 9 c5 lDc6
Kasparov Anand Riga 1995 -
I e4 e5 2 lDo lDe6 3 ..Itc4 �c5 4 b4! This move distinguishes the Evans which for years has been the Cinderella of chess openings. White takes the initiative on move four at the cost of a pawn. 4 ... �xb4 5 c3 ..Ite7 6 d4 lDa5
1 7 ... ..Itg4! And not the immediate I 7 ltd8? because uf 1 8 lDh3 'li'f6 1 9 �c3. 18 lDo ..Itxo Once again timing is everything. After 1 8 ... lld8?! White has 1 9 'iWe2. 1 9 �f5+ c;t>b8 20 �xO iYe1 + 21 'it>c2 Or if 21 �u I there follows 21 ... 'i'xe3+ 22 'itd2 'WWe6 23 �f4+-+. 21 ... lle8 22 �g3 lDe5+ 23 'it>b3 �d 1+ 24 'it>a3 lle5 0: 1
Amongst the series of Soviet World Champions who foHowed Alekhine none of them were to in corporate traditional gambits in their opening repertoires, not even the brilliant Mikhail Tal. It was only Bobby Fischer who followed Alek hine's example by reviving the Evans and Bishups Gambits and more recently Kasparov has shown an appreciation of the benefits of
7 �e2! In conjunction with his next move this constituted a new idea at the tillle uf the game. In an earlier quickplay game against Nigel Short, Kasparov tried 7 lLlxe5 though this probably doesn't trouble Black too much after 7 ... .lDxc4 8 ltJxc4 d5 9 exd5 �xd5 IO ltJe3 'ii'd 8. It is difficult to believe that 7 �xf7+ Wxf7 8 lDxe5+ Wf8 will give White enough for his piece. After 7 ..Ite2 Blal:k's safest optioll may well be the solid 7 ... d6 after which 8 'ii'a4+ c6 9 dxe5 dxe5 I O lDxe5 lDf6 I I 0-0 leaves Black with
10 W'h4 ! Another improvement on theory from Kasparov's arsenal of ideas, this time improving on a game Melts-Gajewski, USSR 1 98 1 in which 10 �f4 lDh5 I I �a4 g6 was played. 1 0 ... lDd5 1 1 �g3 ! g6 12 0-0 lDb6 13 c4 In addition to this move White might try an immediate 1 3 �h6!?, preventing Black from castling kings ide. If Black then challenges the e5 pawn with 13 . . . d6 then 1 4 ..Itb5 will make it difficult for Black's king to find shelter. 13 ... d6 14 .l:[dl lDd7 Another possibility is 14 ... ..Itd7 when once again White can prevent Black from castling kings ide with 1 5 ..Ith6! ? White could now try 1 5 ..Itf4 with the idea o f meeting I S . 0-0 with 1 6 exd6 ..Itf6 1 7 �g5! but Black can play the irritating 1 5 ... dxe5 16 lDxe5 � h4! when 17 �e3 can be met by 1 7 ... lDcxe5 18 �xe5 0-0. 1 5 ..Ith6! ? lDcxe5 1 6 lDxe5 4Jxe5 1 7 lDc3 f6 18 c5! ..
Kasparov continues to pursue his initiative with great energy and in his notes did not comment on Black's next move. Yet according to GM Ian Rogers Black can play 1 8 ... ..Itd7 and emerge unscathed. If this is true it might be worth considering different methods of playing the at tack, Kasparov mentioned 17 c51? without further comment. 1 8 ... lDf7(?) 1 9 exd6 cxd6 20 �e3 lDxh6 21 'li'xh6 Ars 22 'tIVc3+ 1;f7 23 lDd5
23 ... Ae6?! The last chance to stay alive was with 23 ... ..Itd7 but then Kasparov gives both 24 ..Itc4+ 'it'g7 25 lld4 and 24 llac I �c6 25 �c4+ as being clearly better for White. 24 lDr4 �e7 251lel 1 :0 After 25 ... �h6 there is 26 .ltc4+ or 25 ... d5 then 26 �f3+-.
30 The Initiative
KM l 412: J ) White to play
KM 1 4/2: 3) Black to play
A 1412: a) Black to play
The Initiative 3 1 KM 1412: 2) B lack to play
KM 14/2: 4) White to play
A I 412: b) While In [liay
Month 1 4IWeek 3 : Diamond C u t Diamond So far we have looked at examples in which the initiative is the exclusive property of only one of the players whether or not he has to offer material for it. Yet such cases are not really the nonn in the modem game, todays players tend to dislike purely defensive roles and will try to counterattack. In order to obtain a position with cou'nterplay your choice of opening can be quite important. Modem Grandmasters rarely choose the most orthodox fonns of the Queen's Gambit Declined not because of any intrinsic defect with this defence but rather because Black is striving only to equalize. More aggressive l ines such as the King's Indian, Nirnzo Indian and Gruenfeld are far more frequently played. The most chal lenging opening of all may well be the Sicil ian Defence which accounts for its massive popularity. The following two games show why. The first features one of the great pioneers of the Sicilian, Mark Tai manov, use it with success in a criti cal Soviet Championship game. The second is the game in which GaIT)' Kasparov won the World title from Karpov and persuaded him to switch to the move I d4.
10 'We2 lLle7 1 1 f4 b 4 1 2 lLlbl lLlg6 1 3 iif2 i.d6!
Immediately glvmg White prob lems with his f4 pawn-after 1 4 e5 there follows 14 ... i.e7 IS 0-0 lLlh4 with tremendous pressure on the long diagonal whilst 14 i.xg7 is met by 14 .. lbxf4 15 i.xh8 lLlxd3 + 16 cxd3 iic l + 17 'it>e2 'iix h 1 . 1 4 i.e3 070 1 5 lLld2 l:tac8 1 6 .
h4!?
The struggle for the initiative is in full swing, White playing for the at tack in spite of the strong pressure on his game.
1 6 ... 'i'c7! 17 eS i.c5 1 8 hS i.xe3 19 iixe3 lLle7 20 lLle4
20 lLle4 lLlf5 2 1 'ilia d6 22 exd6 lLlxd6 23 lbxd6 ..wxd6 24 0-0-0 il'c5 would leave Black with an ex cellent game. White has no attack and his position has been seriously weakened.
20 ... lLlf5 2 1 'i'd2
Lutikov - Taimanov USSR Championship, Moscow 1 969
After 2 1 i.xfS Black could choose between the solid 21 . . . iixc4 22 i. d 3 'i'd5 and the more adventurous 2 1 ... exf5 ! ? 22 lbd6 il'xc2 23 lLlxc8 Itxc8.
1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 lLle6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 e6 5 lbc3 ..we7 6 �e3 a6 7 �d3 b5 8 lLlxc6 'ilixc6 9 i.d4 i.b7
After 24 iVxc5 l:txc5 the endgame would favour Black. Rather than
2 1 ... i.d5 22 lLle3 lLlxe3 23 'tIVxe3 'ifc5 24 'ifg3
32 The Initiative The Initiative 33
surrender the initiative in such a way, Lutikov plays for the atUick. 24 h6 25 lih4 ! ? 'it'g l+? Throughout his career Taimanov was prone to impetuous decisions and here he gives a thoughtless check. 25 ... �h8 26 l:tg4 lig8 was stronger when White's is unable to strengthen his attack. •..
27 ... lixc2+ ! ! 28 �xc2 b3+ 29 �dl After 29 axb3 .txb3+ Lutikov probably assumed that 30 �xb3 was forced whereupon Black' s atUick continues with 30 . . . lIb8+. What he must have missed was that 30 �d2 'iWxb2+ 3 1 'it>e3 was possible when the outcome still isn't clear. A fter 29 'it>d l White's pieces lack coordination. 29 ... 'Wgl+ 30 'iWel �xg2 ! White's pieces are so poorly placed that Black can afford the lux ury of quiet play with one rook less. 3 1 .fl .tfJ+ 32 q.,e1 'ii'x b2! 33 lib! 'ii'xe5+ 34 �f2 bxa2 35 l:tel 'iWf6 36 �g3 .ig2! A study-like idea. If 3 7 'iWxg2 there follows 37 . . . a l =. or if 37 �xg2 then 37 ... .xh4. 37 'ii'g l edS 38 tvd4 'ire5 I· 39 �h2 .te4 40 nhxe4 fxe4 4 1 'i'xe4 'ii'x h5+ 0 : 1
26 'it>d2?! After 26 We2 Black would have to play 26 ... lixc2+ 27 �xc2 �c4+ 28 �d2 (28 �f3? 'irxa 1 29 lig4 'iW£1+ 30 �e3 'it'e2+ 3 1 �d4 'irxc2-+) 28 . . . 'ii'd4+ 29 'it>c 1 'it'g l + with a draw by perpetual check and not 26 ... 'ii'd4? 27 f5 'Mi'xb2 28 f6 l:l.xc2+ 29 �xc2 'Wxc2+ 3 0 1V£1 . 26 ... 'iWd4 Retracing h is steps. White's attack lJl !Jab thruugh nfter either 26 ... 'ii'xg2+? 27.'iWxg2 �xg2 28.11g1 i.d5 29 lihg4 or 26 ... 'Wxa I? 27.ltg4 whereas now Black can Karpov - Kasparov meet 27 ltg4? with 27 ... �e4 28 Moscow weh 1 985 ltxg7+ 'it>h8. 27 f5! 1 e4 c5 2 iLlfJ d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Lutikov ct;Jfltillu!Js tu play with iLlxd4 lDr6 5 ltJc3 a6 6 .i.e2 e6 7 gusto and the game now approaches 0-0 .te7 8 f4 0-0 9 �hl 'We7 1 0 a4 its climax. With his queen attacked iLle6 I I .te3 lie8 and 28 f6 threatened, Black has only This is al l rather wel l-known one saving clause. theory which featured in the later
between Anand and match Kasparov. 1 2 jt,fJ lIb8 13 �d2 jt,d7 1 4 lLlb3 b 6 1 5g4 The battle- l i nes are now c l early drawn, W hite is aiming for a king side attack and first wants to drive Black's knight from f6, Black meanwhile must regroup his pieces in preparation for queenside or cen tral counter-play. This is the kind o f position i n which you must play act ively. 1 5 ... iLc8 16 g5 lLld7 1 7 �f2 iLfS 1 8 jt,g2 jt,b7 1 9 liad I g6 20 iLcl libc8 Kasparov later rccommended the immediate 20 . . . ltJc51 as being more precise. 2 1 lid3 lLlb4 22 lIh3 iLg7
A critical position which was sub jected to serious analytical scrutiny after the match. Without going into too much detail it emerged that 23 f5 would subject Black to serious pressure, Kasparov's intention of 23 . . . exfS 24 exf5 ltJe5 being strongly met by 26 1:f4! .txg2+ 27 �xg2 'i'c6+ 28 �g l gxf5 29 lLld4 'Wc5 30 .ie3 rather than the precipitous 26 'Ct'xh7+ 'it>f8 27 lLld2 jt,xg2+ 28 'it>xg2 �c6+ 29 ltJf3 gxf5 30 'i!lVxf5 ltJd5 3 1 �g l ltJxc3 32 bxc3 'iWC?+
33 lIf2 lIc7 when Black has counterplay. Yet in his notes to the game Karpov held that his move is also good. 23 iLe3 lIe7! 24 'it>gl lIce8 25 lidl f5 26 gxf6 ltJxf6 27 lIg3 According to Karpov White should play 27 .txb6 'Wb8 28 a5 I lIf7 29 'iWd2 lLlh5 30 ltJe2 followed by 3 1 c3 with a very unpleasant position for Black. 27 ... lIf7 28 .txb6 'it'b8 29 .te3 lLlhS 30 l:tg4 lLlf6 3 1 lIh4 And here 3 1 lIg3 lLlh5 would lead to a draw by repetition. However Karpov rejected this because he had to w i n .
3 1 . . . g S ! 3 2 fxg5 ltJg4! After 32 ... lLlxe4 White can sacri fice his queen with 33 'it'xf7+ 'it>xf7 34 lLlxe4 and obtain a dangerous attack. 33 'ii'd 2 ltJxe3 34 'Wxe3 lLlxc2 35 'i'b6 jt,a8 36 l:txd6? 36 'iWxb8 l:txb8 37 iLh3 I (Agzamov) was sti l l quite playable for White but Karpov bums his bridges in a final attempt to win. 3 6 ... lIb7 37 'it'xa6 lIxb3 38 lhe6 l:txb2 39 'Wc4 ..t>h8 40 e5 �a7+ 41 'it>hl .txg2+ 42 'Otxg2 iLld4+ 0 : 1
34 The Initiative
KM I 4/3 : I ) White to play
KM t 4/3: 3) White to play
The Initiative 35
KM I 4/3 : 2) Black to play
KM t 4/3 : 4) Black to play
Month 1 4fWeek 4 : Charging the Currents
In this last section I will attempt to deal with a rather less tangible form of the initiative in which a player 'charges the currents' of a position rather than sets up direct threats. When the sacrifice of ma terial is involved this is especially difficult to judge and very few players have really mastered this most difficult aspect of the game. I think that the greatest exponent of this art was Leonid Stein who would frequently give up light ma terial such as pawns or rook for bishop without any clearly visible return. Yet after a few moves it would become apparent that an in itiative was starting to develop and ultimately this would be trans formed into an attack.
Had it not been made by a great master such as Stein, this move would be condemned as a mistake because it gives White the e4 square as a base of operations. Yet Stein sees it as the start of a process of un deTIl'!in ing White's pawn structure. t t lbxe4 lbf4 1 2 �c2 lbr6 In a later game against Hort, Stein varied at this point with 1 2 . . . lbb6 1 3 b3 as 14 g3 lbh5 15 g4 lbf4 1 6 lbe2 a4 1 7 liJ2c3 �d7 t 8 Wb2 and should now have played 1 8 . . . 1!Vb81 rather than 18 . . lbc8. This would lend weight to the idea that his play in the present game was not entirely reliable. 13 lbc3 .
Korchnoi - Stein USSR Ch Tallinn 1965 ,
1 d4 lbf6 2 c4 g6 3 lbc3 �g7 4 e4 d6 5 1'3 0-0 6 �e3 e5 7 d5 itJh5 8 1iVd2 f5 9 0-0-0 lbd7 1 0 �d3
13 b5!? A brilliantly imaginative pawn sacrifice for which there seems to be very little return. A more normal way to prepare ... b7-bS would be with I 3 ... a6. 1 4 lbxb5 After 1 4 cxbS Black would gain a strong initiative with 1 4 ... a6, but it is difficult to see much compensa tion for Black after 1 4 g3 lb4hS 1 5 lbxb5 �a6 1 6 lbe2. 1 4 ... �a6 IS lba3 Apparently quite solid but this is not an attractive square for the ••,
KM t 4/3: a) White to play
A t 4/3: b) Block to pl.ay
10 ... fxe4 !?
?6
The Initiative
knight. At this point I S g3 is a move too late, Black can play I S . . . liJ4xd5 because the knight o n b5 is hanging. 15 . . . 1::I.b 8 16 g3 lll4 h5 17 b3 .ib7! Clearly announcing his intention to undermine the d5 pawn with 1 8 . ., c6 ! . By now it is becoming clear that Black has compensation for his pawn but this has been a distinctly gradual process. I s lll b l c6!
1 9 dxc6 .ixc6 20 �xd6 White goes a second pawn up but there are serious weaknesses around his king. Black also has pressure on both of the long d iagonal s. 20 ... �eS 21 1::I.e l 1::1. f7 22 Ji.d2 .irs 23 'i'd3 Sllatdlillg anuther paw l l wuuld be too much, 23 �xe5 l:te7 24 �c3 1::I.x e l + 25 �xe l .ib4 26 'i'xb4 lhb4 27 .ixb4 lllg 4 28 fxg4 �xh 1 29 gxhS 'i'e3+ picks up the knight on g l as well. 23 ... c4 24 'i'c3 Stubbornly refus ing to give back :my booty. 24 fxe4 lOg4 25 "00 lllf2 26 'i'el liJxh l 27 lhh l was White's best practical chance. 24 ... .ig7! 25 lll h 3
The Illitiative 3 7 25 'i'a5 l:te7 ' would increase the pressure.
quietly
25 ... lllg 4! 26 fxg4 White finally admits that he must return some material and gives up his queen in order to try and stem the tide of Dlack's attack. After 26 'lWa5 there would follow 26 ... llxD 27 liJg5 (Or 27 'i'xa7 e3 28 Ji.d llV) 27 . . . llf5 28 'ir'xa7 llxg5 29 .hgS 'i'e5 30 �d2 �2+ 3 1 �d I lla8 32 'i'b6 1ha2 etc. 26 ... Ji.xc3 27 liJxc3 liJf6 2S g5 liJd7 29 ltJxe4 'i'rs 30 �c3 lln 3 1 �b2 .!:reS 3 2 <;Pb l I f 3 2 liJf6+ there is 32 ... liJxf6 33 gxf6 11xf6 34 Axf6 Axh I etc. 32 ... Ji.xe4 33 �xe4 l:txe4 34 1:1xe4 l:tO + 35 llel 'i'f5+ 36 �a l 1::I.x hl 37 1::I. x hl 'i'xh3 3S �d4 'ir'g2 39 :\:1 'i'd2 40 �XlI7 lbe� 41 .ics liJd3 42 Ji.a3 liJb4 43 Ji.xb4 'i'd4+ 44 �bl 1i'xgl+ 0 : 1 I found this and other Stein games truly inspiring, there was something in this form of sacrifice th at wcnt beyond the conventional idea of compen5Dtjon. In my own games I have tried to emulate such play, as for example in the following encounter.
Davies - Manor Israeli League 1 995 1 lll n liJf6 2 g3 b5 3 .ig2 .ib7 4 0-0 e6 5 d3 d5 6 liJbd2 lllb d7?! After White plays e2-e4-eS Black's other knight will need this square. Black ·probably thought that my next move would lose a pawn. 7 e4! c5 It turns out that 7 . . . dxe4 8 dxe4 lllxe4 9 lllg S 'i'xg5 1 0 lllx e4 �d8 I I liJ f6 + gxf6 1 2 Ji.xb7 l:tb8 1 3 .ic6 �d6 1 4 �e3 recovers the pawn at the very least. S l:te l d xe4 Rather than have his king's knight shut out of play after 8 ... .ie7 9 e5 lllg4 1 0 h3 liJh6 I I g4 Black tries to lend the position some original touches. But the text has the draw back that after White plays e4-eS his knight will be able to use the excel lent e4 square. 9 dxe4 c4 10 e5 liJd5 1 1 a4 a6 1 2 llle4 liJc5
1 3 ltJfg5! h6 After 1 3 ... .ie7 there is 1 4 ltJxc5 �xc5 I S llle4 �e7 1 6 'i'g4 when Black cannot castle because of 1 7 .ih6. After 1 3 ... liJxa4 I intended 1 4 1i'h5 ! g6 (Or 1 4 . . . 'i'd7 I S lllx h7 0-0-0 1 6 lllx f8) IS 'i'o 'i'd7 1 6 lll f6+ liJxf6 1 7 'i'xb7 ! ( 1 7 �xf6
1:1g8 1 8 �xb7 'i'xb7 1 9 lllxe6 iLe7 20 lllg7+ Wf8 2 1 llle 6+=) 1 7 �xb7 1 8 �xb7 1:1a7 1 9 �xa6 llxa6 20 exf6 with a clear advantage in the endgame. 1 4 lll xc5 iLxc5 15 llle4 �e7 1 6 'i'g4 w rs 1 7 axb5 axb5 1 8 �d2 g6 1 9 liJd6! Another pawn sacrifice which this time Black accepts rather than try to live with the knight on d6. 1 9 ... 1::I. x a l 20 llxa l .ixd6 2 1 exd6 'i'xd6 2 2 'i'd4 ! e5 23 �b4 ! !
Certainly one o f the nastiest moves I have played, with the queen already hanging White puts a bishop en prise as well! Taking the queen is bad for Black because of (23 . . . exd4) 2 4 .ixd6+ We8 (Or 2 4 .. Wg7 25 �eS+ f6 26 na7 fxe5 27 llxb7+-) 25 lla7 �d7 26 �eS lle8 27 nxb7+- so he goes for the bishop instead. 23 ... 1i'xb4 24 'i'xe5 'it>gS Or 24 ... f6 25 'irb8+-. 25 1:1a7! The point of White's combina tion. After 25 ... �c6 there follows 26 iLxd5 iLxd5 27 'i'xd5 We I + (Or 27 ... 'i'f8 28 1i'xb5 etc) 28 'it>g2 �e6 29 1!t'xe6 fxc6 30 WO+-. 25 ... liJe3 26 'i'xe3 SLxg2 27 �xg2 'i'd6 28 'i'e8+ 'i'rs 29 'i!fxbS c3 30 bxc3 h5 31 h4 'it>g7 32 'i'e5+ Wh7 33 'i'f6 1 :0
38 The Initiative
KMI 4/4: I ) White to play
KM 14/4: 2) White to play
3
KM 1 4/4: 3) White to play
A 1 4/4: a) White to play
KM 1 4/4: 4) White to play
A 1 4/4: b) Black to play
The Art of Defence
Good defensive play requires all round chess ability, from calculating ability to positional judgement, im agination and a cool nerve. Whilst chess literature has lavished atten tion on the art of attack, relatively little has been written about de fence. Yet good defensive play has been one of the outstanding hall marks of every World Champion since Steinilz. This month we will look at vari ous aspects of defence. In week one we will examine the simple method of exchanging off pieces whilst in week two we will see how it is poss ible to neutralise threats before they arise with the art of prophylaxis. In week three we shall look at the con cept of blockade of which Tigran Petros ian was the greatest master. Week four is devoted to what may be the most effective defensive strategy of all, taking the initiative away from the opponent with a timely counterattack.
the most dangerous opposing pieces for those which are relatively poorly placed can lead to a general im provement in your position and neu tralise any danger. Such a strategy is commonly used when one player gives up a pawn for piece activity. If his active pieces can be exchanged off he will be left with little or nothing for the pawn as, for example, in the follow ing encounter: Boleslavsky - Kotov Zurich Ct 1 953 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 lbf3 lbf6 4 e3 e6 5 �xc4 c5 6 0-0 a6 7 'i!l'e2 cxd4 8 exd4 i-e7 9 lbc3 bS 1 0 �b3 �b7 1 1 �gS 0-0 13 lladl
Month 1 5fWeek I : Arms Reduction
One of the most simple and effec tive methods of defence is simply reduce the number of arms. I do not advocate indiscriminate exchanges in which pieces are exchanged just for the sake of it and in fact this can lead to disaster. But to exchange off
13 ... lba5 Bronstein commented in his notes that everyone thought that this was a mistake as it allows White a break through in the centre. Yet perhaps
40
The Art ofDefence The Art of Defelice 1 1
Kotov saw that 1 3 . . . liJb4 is ans wered strongly by 1 4 dS! liJbxdS? I S liJxdS �xdS 1 6 i.xdS liJxdS 1 7 �xe7 'itxe7 1 8 l:txdS whilst after the text move he could give up a pawn and obtain compensation. 14 d5! liJxb3 1 5 dxe6 'i!ib6 1 6 axb3 fxe6 1 7 liJd4! iL d 6 I S �xe6+ 'it'hS 19 tLlf3 l:tadS It looks as if Black has excellent compensation for the lost pawn in the fonn of open lines, a menacing bishop pair and weakened White queenside pawns. But Boleslavsky neutral ises the danger by initiating a series of exchanges.
liJe4 ..t;g6 41 iLe5 iLd5 42 liJd2 'it'n 1 : 0
In a way this was a rather straight forward example, the next one is far more complex. After getting a poor position from the opening we see Bent Larsen fight for his life against Boris Spassky, who at the time of the game was the reigning World Champion. On move 1 3 we see a brilliant offer of an exchange sacri fice which forces the exchange of queens. And then Larsen fights for the full point in a complex endgame. Spassky - Larsen USSR-Rest of the World, Belgrade 1970 1 d4 liJf6 2 c4 e6 3 liJf3 b6 4 liJe3 i.b7 5 �g5 i.e7 6 e3 0-0 7 i.d3 c5 S 0-0 liJe6 9 d5 liJb4 10 d6 i.xd6
20 �f4 ! iLxf3 21 l:txd6 l:txd6 2 2 'ifxd6 �xd6 2 3 i.xd6 l:teS 2 4 l:txeS+ liJxeS 25 �e5! An excellent move which pins Black's knight to the back rank. Without this possibility the opposite coloured bishops would give Black excellent drawing chances. 25 ... i.e6 26 b4! h5 27 f3 <Ji>h7 2S liJe2 g5 29 'it>f2 h4 30 g3 hxg3+ 31 hxg3 ..t;g6 3 2 g4! iLb7 Or if 32 ... liJf6 there is 33 i.xf6 'it'xf6 34 'it>e3 'it>eS 3S lDc3+-. 33 '.t>e3 �e6 34 liJe3 �b7 35 liJe4 �d5 36 liJe5 'it>n 37 liJxa6 We6 38 i.e3 �aS 39 liJe5+ wn 40
A brill iant defensive idea which aims 1 0 exchange Black 's public enemy number one, the queen on d6. In playing this way Black offers an exchange sacrifice which Spassky quite rightly declines.
14 'tWe7! Spassky rightly makes a bee-line for Black's d-pawn rather than going for bigger fish. After 1 4 i.xd8?' liJxd6 I S �e7 liJxc4 1 6 iL x f8 lhf8 Black has excellent compensation whilst 14 �xf8 is met by 14 ... fixgs+ I S ..t;h I �fS after which rejecting a draw by repitition with 1 6 l:tg l looks too risky because of 16 ... 'i'xf3+ 17 l:tg2 tLld3 . 1 4 . . . 'itxe7 1 5 i.xe7 .l:[gS 1 6 l:tfd I tLlc6 1 7 .l:[xd7 tLle5 I S l:tb7 tLlxc4 19 tLle4 liJa5 20 l:td7 lDe6 2 1 f4 .l:[eS 2 2 l:tcl as 2 3 a3
A very risky move which aims to activate Black's king with the board sti ll full of pieces. In doing so he turned down the safe 23 '" tLlxe7 24 l:txe7 l:tc7 which would probably lead to a draw. Larsen is renowned for his fight ing qualities and given the choice between a safe line and taking a risk to try and win he would generally take the risk. On this occasion it pays off but it could so easily have backfired. 24 'it>g2 l:th8 25 'it>f3 In his notes to the game Spassky felt he could have put Black in seri ous trouble with 2S .l:[g I liJxe7 26 'it>f3+ ..t;h6 27 .l:[xe7 l:tc7 28 .l:[xc7 tLlxc7 29 tDd6 .l:[f8 30 liJ::4 .l:tb8 3 1 .l:[d l which ties up Black's pieces whilst preparing to infiltrate. 25 l:txh2 26 tDg5 e5! 27 .l:[g l exf4 2S i.d6! tDxd6 29 .l:[xd6+ f6 30 tDe6+ 'it>f5 3 1 tDxf4 tDe5+ 32 ..t;e2 .l:[eS 33 .l:[xb6 And here White could have played 33 tDe6! tDc4 34 tDxg7+ ..t;eS 3S lDxe8. 33 ttJc4 34 .l:[b3 g5 35 ttJd5 l:te5 36 .l:[dl g4 37 'it>n ?? A time-trouble blunder, giving away. a rook. Larsen's brinkmanship triumphs. ..•
.•.
I I i.xh7+ This appears to lead to a very at tractive position for White but I I iLxto gxio ( 1 1 . . . 'itxf6'l'l 1 2 i.e4+-) 1 2 i.xh7+ ..t;xh7 1 3 'i'xd6 was probably even stronger. Spassky might have overlooked Black's 1 3th move. 1 1 ... 'it;xh7 1 2 �xd6 �xf3 1 3 gxf3 tLleS! 23 ... 'it>g6?!
37 ... .l:[hl+ 3S 'it>e2 .l:[xd I 0 : 1
42 The Art ofDefence The Art of Defence 43 KM 1 5/1 : I ) Black to play
KM 1 5/ 1 : 2) White to play Month l S/Week 2: Prophylaxis
KM 1 5/ 1 : 3) White to play
KM I 5/l : 4) White to p l ay
In his brilliant writings on chess, Aaron Nimzowitsch introduced some rather mystical concepts such as overprotection and prophylaxis. In this section we shall look at prophylaxis, the art of inhibiting the opponent's active possibilities be fore they really arise. In a sense this is a kind of chessboard vaccination rather than attempting a cure once the disease has already developed. To some extent it is rather diffi cult to put such ideas into words. In stead let me show you one of the most famous of a l l prophylactic moves after which I really started to understand this concept. The player who played it was Anatoly Karpov, whose flair for snuffing out danger is legendary. It is taken from the 1 974 Candidates final which, because Fischer did not defend his title, effectively proved to be a World Championship match. Karpov - Korchnoi Moscow em 1 974
A I 5/ 1 : a) Black to play
A 1 5/ l : b) Black to play
1 e4 cS 2 tOo d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ltJxd4 tOr6 S ltJc3 g6 This choice of opening . was dic tated by Korchnoi ' s wish to test Karpov out in sharp and murky positions. 6 .i.e3 .i.g7 7 0 tOc6 8 1i'd2 0-0 9 .i.c4 .i.d7 10 h4 Ac8 1 1 .i.b3 ltJeS 12 0-0-0 ltJc4 13 .i.xc4 :txc4 14 hS ltJxhS IS g4 tOf6
A well known Dragon position in which it was felt that the game would be won by whoever got their attack in first. Prior to this game White had tried various attacking moves such as 16 e5 or 1 6 �h6 though this latter move can be met by 1 6 ... �xh6 17 'fIxh6 Ihc3. In fact the c3 square is the focal point of Black's pressure on the h8-a I di agonal, which goes a long way to wards explaining White's next move. 1 6 ltJde2! Very untypical of the Dragon in that White usually goes hell for leather at Black's king. But the point is that it reinforces the c3 square and goes a long way towards neutral ising Black's attack. 16 ... 'i'aS A natural enough move but later on it was discovered that Black should also take prophylactic measures of his own with 1 6 . . . l:te8. preventing the exchange of his cru cial dark-squared bishop with 1 7 .i.h6. 17 �h6 �xh6 18 'iVxh6 llrcS 19 l:td3! l:t4cS 20 gS llxgS
44 The Art ofDefence
The A rt of Defelice order to meet them hal f way. This kind of thinking is rather typical of my favourite Modern Defence in which Black tends to adapt his strat egy to White's chosen set-up.
Baker - Davies Crewe 1 996
2 1 1:rd5! 1:rxd5 22 llJxd5 1:re8 Neither 22 . . . �d8 23 llJef4 'i'if8 24 llJxf6+ exf6 25 �xh7# nor 2 2 . . . llJ h 5 23 llJxe7+ � h 8 2 4 llJxc8 helps Black very much. 23 llJef4 �c6 23 ... �e6 is met by 24 llJxe6 fxe6 25 ltJxf6+ exf6 26 'Wxh7+ �f8
An unpleasant move for W hite to meet �fter which 1 2 e5 is answered by 1 2 . . . llJf5 and 1 2 �d3 by 1 2 . . . c4 ! . Rather than go for a passive and miserable defence White gamely sacrifices two pawns for piece activ ity. But it can never really be enough.
I e4 g6 2 d4 �g7 3 llJc3 d6 4 f4 e6!?
45
White's play. Not only does it de fend against the threat of 1 9 �xc5 but it prepares to ej ect a White bishop from d3 with the push c5-c4. 19 l:rfJ ltJg6 20 �h5 .!:!:I!! 2 1 l:rh3 �f8 22 1:rgl c4 23 g4 f4 24 �d4 eS 25 �c3 'ir'e8 ! Another key prophylactic move after which Black's defences are very solid and his central pawn mass can start to move forwards. 25 . . . d5 would be premature and could have been met by 26 g5 1" 5 2 7 �xe5 " ltJxe5 28 g6 .!:!:g7 2 9 �xh7+" etc.
27 'tIi'xh7+-.
24 e5! The coup de grace. 24 ... dxe5 is met by 2 5 llJxf6+ exf6 26 ltJh5 gxh5 2 7 1:rg l + followed by mate.
24 ... �xd5 25 exf6 exf6 26 'it'xh7+ �f8 27 'iWh8+ 1 :0 Games such as this, and Nimzo witsch's books, have made quite a big impression on my own style of play. In my ' mature' years I have become very conscious of trying to gauge my opponent's intentions in
Already a prophylactic idea against the possibility of White playing f4-f5. The way I see it is that if I prevent White from moving h is f-pawn forward his bishop on c1 will never be able to exchange itself for my bishop on g7. And in that case my king position should keep a v i llil ddt:lult:r. 5 llJfJ ltJe7 6 �e2 ltJd7 7 0-0 b6 8 fr'el ? ! The start of a somewhat primitive plan to mate Black on the kingsid e. I an!iwer thi3 charge 011 thc OHm. by hitting back in the centre. S ... �b7 9 �hl 0-0 10 'ir'h4?! White himself should adopt pro phylactic measures and try to pre vent the coming . . . c7-c5 lever with 1 0 � e3 and ) I l:rd 1. 10 .. c5 1 1 �e3 llJf6 ! _
12 l:radl �xe4! 13 llJxe4 ltJxe4 14 f5 gxf5! Assuring central control by cap turing towards the centre. In this particular position this is more im portant than the integrity of the kings ide pawn shield. I S dxc5 bxc5 16 ltJg5 ltJxg5 1 7 �xg5 f6 1 8 �e3 .!:!:c8!
A very important prophylactic move which effectively neutralises
26 g5 f5 27 �f3 �e6 Once again Black carefu l l y se cures his defe'· ces. He should not play 27 . . . e4 because o f 2 8 �xg6+. 28 .!:!:el �d7 The last prophylactic move which finally puts an end to any mating combinations b3sed on 'fr'xg6. The rest is fairly simple. 29 �gl d5 30 �h l e4 31 �g2 'WI! 32 �f6 fJ 33 �xfJ exfJ 34 'ii'x fJ d4 35 'itxf5 'itd5+ 36 �xd5+ �xd5 37 �d 1 .ltg7 38 1:!.fJ �xf6 39 gxf6 �I! 4 0 b3 cxb3 41 cxb3 nc6 42 1:!.h3 hS 43 1:!.hd3 1:!.cd6 0: 1
46 The Art of Defence The Art of Defellce 4 7 KM I S/2: I ) Black to play
KM I S/2: 2) White to play Month 1 5/Week 3 : B l oc ka d e
KM I S/2: 3)White to play
A 1 5/2: a) White to play
� I 5/2: 4) Black to play
A I S/2: b) White to play
One of Nimzowitsch's most fa mous phrases was: "First restrain, next blockade and lastly destroy." Whilst this was coined primarily with regard to enemy pawn wea knesses the same process can apply in part to the art of defence. Prophy laxis might be seen as restraining the opponent's aggressive intentions and this can develop into a block ade; the construction of a truly im pregnable position into which there are no inroads. A counterattack may or may not be the next development. Nigel Short put this process quite picturesquely in his book New Ideas In The French Defence: "More cau tious players like myself prefer to nullify our opponent's play and then blow their heads off." But the greatest master of this art was un doubtably Tigran Petrosian who sometimes seemed to understand N irnzowitsch 's ideas better than Nirnzowitsch himself. Petros ian had a rare gift for con structing quite impenetrable posi tio�.s and he would often find a delicate positional sacrifice of a pawn or the exchange in order to do exactly that. Witness for example this game against Polugayevsky in which he sacrifices the exchange to . construct an impenetrable line of defence on the dark squares.
The start o f a n interesting plan by Petrosian which he was later to cri ticise in his notes to the game. 8 �e2 c5 The consistent fol low-up to Black's last move though it does leave the d-pawn backward. Black is playing for an outpost on 44. 9 lLlc2 �e6
1 0 lLld5? After this Black gets time to im plement his plan. White should have taken this opportunity to play the dynamic 1 0 f4 after which 10 . . lLlxc4 I I fS gxfS 1 2 exfS �xfS 1 3 0-0 (and not 1 3 �xc4? 'ii'h 4+) would give White a winning attack according to Petrosian. Black would in fact be forced to retreat with 10 . lLlc6 after which I I iLe3 would leave him unable to occupy the d4 square. 10 �xdS 1 1 exd5 Whichever paWn White recaptures with he plugs the hole on dS. 1 1 cxdS lLle7 is also far from clear. lLle7! 12 0-0 0-0 13 l:tb 1 11 lbrs 14 b4? 14 b3 would have been better as now Black acquires an outpost on cS. Polugaevsky no doubt felt he should punish Black for his pro vocative opening play. .
.
...
.••
Polugaevsky - Petrosian Moscow 1 983 I lLlo g6 2 d4 �g7 3 c4 d6 4 lLlc3 e5 5 e4 lLlc6 6 dxe5 iDxe5 7 iDd4 a6! ?
.
48
Th e Art of Defence The Art of Defence 49 14 ... exb4 I S 1:xb4 'fie7
Preparing the fatal blunder. 23 ' 1:[b I is correct. 23 ... 'ii'e7
16 �b2 1:fe8 1 7 1Od4?! Continuing to play a mbitiously but probably already missing Petro sian' s 1 9th move. White should play 24 1:b6?? simply 17 g3 . Here it is, the losing move. Polu 1 7 ... lLlxd4 18 �xd4 lOd7 1 9 gayevsky was hoping for 24 ... �e3 �xe3+ 2 5 J:rxe3 'fixe3+ 26 'ii'xe3 After 1 9 �xg7 �xg7 Bhick 1:xe3 27 �f3 when White lifts the would simply stand better because blockade of dS. of his dark-square outposts. It now 24 ... lOa4 0: 1 seems that White is well placed with Here's another example of this two bishops and pressure on the b kind of exchange sacrifice which file. But with the sacrifice of the ex also shows what happens when an change Bla<.:k sets up a complete irresistible force meets an immov blockade of the position . able object. The master of attack, M ikhail Tal, meets one of the greatest masters of defeace. Tal - Petrosian USSU Ch, Uign 1958
19 1:xe3! 20 fxe3 lOeS 2 1 ir'e2 1:e8 22 1:f3?! 22 1:[bbl is the best, in order to centra Iise the rook with J:rbe I . 22 , .. �h6 23 'fie3? ! ..•
I e4 eS 2 lOf3 lOc6 3 .i.b5 a6 4 �a4 lOf6 5 0-0 �e7 6 1:[el b5 7 �b3 0-0 8 c3 d6 9 h3 llJa5 1 0 .i.e2 c5 1 .1 d4 'iI'�7 1 2 lObd2 Ad7 13 llln llle4 1 4 lDe3 tLlxe3 1 5 Jtxe3 .i.e6 16 liJd2 1:[fe8 ] 7 f4 1:ad8 1 8 fxe5 dxe5 1 9 d5 .i. d 7 20 c 4 1:[ b 8 2 1 a4 b4 2 2 as J:r rs 23 � a 4 �xa4 2 4 1:[xa4 1:bd8 25 'iVf3 1:[ d 6 26 lOb3 lOd7 27 J:raal 1:g6 28 1:n .i.d6 29 h4 'fid8 30 h5 1:[f6 3 1 'ii'g 4
After conducting the early part of the game in excellent fashion White has a rather obvious positional ad vantage due to his passed d-pawn , greater control of space, better bishop and the weakness on cS. In addition to this White is preparing an attack on the opposing k ing and threatens 32 �gS J:rxfl + 33 1:[xfl �c7 (33 ... f6 34 'ii'e6+) 34 �h6 winning the exchange. Th ings look bleak for Petrosian but he has con ceived a bri l liant blockading idea. 3 1 ... 1:f4! 32 �xf4 It looks natural enough to take the rook but perhaps White should have played 32 J:rxf4' exf4 33 �xf4 a fter which his dark-square bishop can challenge for control of the eS square. Both 33 . . . lOeS 34 'fig3 lOxc4 3S eS and 33 ... 'fif6 34 �xd6 'fixd6 3S 1:[f l look better for White. 32 ... exf4 33 lOd2 1Oe5
This knight is really superbly placed and holds Black 's entire position together. Over the next few moves Tal ' s play betrays signs of growing frustration that he is unable to penetrate Black's position despite his material advantage. 34 'ii'x f4 lbxc4 35 eS 0xeS 36 lOe4 h6 37 1:ael ? He should settle for 37 lOxd6 'fixd6 38 1:[fe l f6 39 J:rad I . 37 ... �b8 3 8 1:[d l c4 39 d6 lbd3 40 il'g4 �a7+ 41 Whl f5 42 lOf6+ �h8 43 'fixc4 liJxb2 44 'ilkxa6 lOxdl 45 'i!Vxa7 'fixd6 46 '\I'd7 'fi xf6 47 'ilk xd I J:rb8
The tables have been turned and now Black has a materia l advantage. White managed to hang on for a draw-but only just. 48 1:[f3 1:[a8 49 'fiel J:rxa5 50 'fixb4 1:[e5 5 1 'fif4 Wh7 52 Wh2 1:d5 53 1:n 'iVg5 54 'ii'f3 1:e5 55 Wgl 1:[e5 56 "it'fl �e5 57 "it'f3 1:[a5 58 h2 'it>h8 59.'it>gl lIa2 60 'fid5 1:e2 61 "it'a8+ �h7 62 "it'f3 ll:cl 63 1:xc1 "it'xc1 + 64 'it>h2 'fie7+ 65 �h3 'i'eS 66 g4 fxg4+ 67 Wxg4 'fig5+ 68 Wh3 'fif6 69 'tWe4+ �g8 70 'fie8+ 'fifS 71 'ilkxfS+ WxfS 72 �g4 Wf7 73 'it>f5 '12-'12
50
The Art of Defence
KM 1 5/3 I ) Black to play
The A rt of Defence 5 1 KM IS/3: 2) White to play
Month 15IWeek 4: Counterattack
It would have been better to play I I nd l . Lasker meets this attacking fling with great poise . ..
K M I S/3: 3) Black to play
KM I S/3 : 4) White to play
A IS/ 3: a) Black to play
A 1 511 ' h) Black
to play
13 1t'xfS
1 1 , d5! 12 'ii'g4 iLxf5 that The well- worn clich e states 14 �f4 i.d4 ! ne8 ce defen att ack is the best fonn of as chess in true as just and this holds rather in many other spheres. The if that is this for obv ious reason the op off ing fend busy is one some the pone nt's threats he will not have own his of ts threa lop deve time to ed to and his forces will be oblig than r rathe sive defen a take up offen sive posture. In the field of defence and writ coun terattack I have found the tant cons a er Lask nuel ings of Ema l The first in a series of powerfu source of inspiration and especially sce h , whic book d es rrate mov e unde and instr uctiv his brilli ant and the was Lasker defend his kings ide with Lask er's Manual of Chess. It st d whil s rstoo piece unde of I ber that mini mum num through Lasker t dam least anen the penn ing t mak inflic of to out idea ng the setti that ulti oy age on Whi te ' s posi tion and poss ible concession whils t empl nce. ter defe coun into in back piece him other force ly every mate ing 15 nrel lLIc5 16 nad l iLxc3! 17 attack: the principle of economy. a t adop ders defen see I 'ii'c 8! 1 8 'ifh5 'ii'a 6! 19 ne3 often bxc3 Very the 'ii' x a2 completely pass ive posture in face of rather empty threats after ay which the attacker gets the leew iple princ The k. attac his to reinforce of economy indicates that the de fender should gauge exactly how d dangerous the threats are and defen ' ing noth and those st only again e more . This demands a cool nerv ty, and accurate calcu latin g abili both of whic h Lask er had in great abun danc e.
Winawer - Lasker Nuremberg 1 896 1 e4 eS 2 lDn lDc6 3 �bS lLIf6 4 0-0 lDxe4 5 d4 �e7 6 'i'e2 liJd6 7 iLxc6 bxc6 8 dxeS lLIb7 9 lDd4 0-0 10 lLIc3 �cS l l lLlf5?!
of A key mov e in Blac k's plan so not is t poin The tack. terat coun that it muc h that it wins a paw n but ls strol it As wn. a-pa d passe a creates dis down the board this pawn will k. tract White's forces from the attac
52 _
The Art oj DeJence
20 l:[cl 'iWc4 21 l:[fJ liJe6 22 i.d2 lIe7 23 l:[h3 'iWe4 24 fJ 24 f4 was a better try. �g6 25 'ifh4 l:[d7 26 f4 24 'fi'e4! .•.
The Art of DlJjellce 53 32 ... a2 3 3 h3 cS 34 'it>h2 d4 35 'fi'fJ c6! 36 e6 fxe6 37 fxe6 liJxe6 38 �xc6 l:[da7 39 l:[a l l:[fS 40 l:[fel lbd8 41 'ii'b6 l:[af7 42 i.gS l:[£1+ 43 �g3 'ifxc3+ 0: I The following game takes the idea of counterattack one step further, deep into the real m of psychology. In his brilliant book entitled Dynamic Chess Strategy Suba recommended two secret weapons to the defender:
27 g4 Winawer goes for an all-out at tack but in doing so weakens his position . According to Tarrasch . White should have tried 27 l:[d3 followed by l:[e I , but this would ease the pressure on Black's kingside. liJfS! 28 'fi'£1 as 29 lIe3 27 'it'c4 ]0 f5 a4 3 1 lIn a3 32 l:[eel ___
Retreating another piece frolll its aggressive posture in order to stop the a-pawn. Lasker's counter-attack is clearly bearing fruit and the rest of the game is l ittle' more than a mopping up operation.
" When the opponent has a strong attack on the king, his blood pres sure is getting higher and you call 'blackmail ' him with 'lost endings '. This can cause him to deviate Jrom the right path-it is unlikely that he will abandon the idea ·oJ mate so easily. 'The second one is complemen tary to the first. When your oppo nent has a strategic advantage and virtually controls the board, or when he attacks something that he cannot deJend by reasonable means, then the 'threat ' or 'blackmail ' with non-existant attacks on the king may induce a mistake. As you can see, in both cases a static principle is op posed by a dynamic one, and recip rocal(y the psychological Jactnr speculat�d upun is 'inertia ', the difficulty in switching from one to the other. .. In the fol lowing game we see Suba putting his ideas into practice when he fuunu himself in a poor position against Jan Timman. When Timman obtained a positional ad vantage he was clearly reluctant to get drawn into the complications which Suba o ffered and in his need for security made the fatal mistakes.
Suba - Timman Las Palmas 1 982 I c4 e5 2 g3 liJ r6 3 i.g2 d5 4 cxdS liJxd5 5 liJc3 liJb6 6 liJfJ liJc6 7 d3 i.e7 8 0-0 0-0 9 a3 as 1 0 i.e3 lIeS 1 1 l:[cl i.g4 12 liJe4?! A poor move by Suba which lands him in difficulties. Black's reply is very strong. 1 2 . lbd4! 13 i.xd4 e x d 4 1 4 lIel ?! White should try to simpl ify the position with '1 4 liJc5 i.c8 15 liJa4 but Suba, playing White, did not want to admit that he was already worse. 1 4 " , a4! I S �c2 c6 1 6 liJc5 i.cs 1 7 �d2 i.f6 1 8 l:rc2 g6 1 9 h4!? . .
A very in� .ructive moment from a psychological point of view. Black has control over the position and no doubt wanted to maintain this con trol and play a quiet and secure positional game. Suba on the other hand goes out of his way to create as much of a mess as possible. 19 ... h6 20 l:[bl �g7 21 b3! Suba made the wry comment that t h is move was heavily criticised in
the press because it weakens the queenside and added: "I apo l ogize to commentators for my attempt to breathe instead of waiting for a slow but sure death." 21 ... 'iWe7! 22 liJh2! Preventing Black's knight from going to c3 via d5. So Timman takes an alternative route. 22 . axb3 23 l:[xb3 liJa4 24 liJxa4 lIxa4 25 'fi'c 1 .1Le6? A blunder borne out of the d i ffi culties that W hite is creating for his opponent. Black should play either 2 5 . . . l:ra7 or 2 5 . . . i.f8. ..
26 lhb7! 'fi'xb7 27 i.xc6 �a7 2 8 i.xe8 l:rxa3 29 liJn?! 2 9 'fi'f4 was better. 29 ... l:ral 30 'l'i'f4 'fi'a5? The last m istake. 30 ... 'i!ia 8 ! 3 1 i.c6 'ifc8 32 g4 i.b3 3 3 IIc5 it,f8 3 4 i.d5 i.xc5 3 5 'fi'xf7+ Wh8 36 'ikf6+ forces White to force a draw. 3 1 �xf7+! �xf7 32 l:[c8+ i.f8 33 'ikd6 'fi'a3 34 l:[xfS+ �g7 3S 'it'xa3 l:rxa3 36 lIdS l:[a2 37 IIxd4 l:rxe2 38 LUe3 �e6 39 l:[e4 l:[el+ 40 liJn l:[xe4 41 d xe4 �f6 42 f4 g S 43 hxg6+ hxg6 44 Wf2 1 : 0
54 The Art of Defence
KM I 5/4: \ ) Black to play
KM I 5/4: 3) White to play
4
KM I 5/4: 3) Black to play
A 1 5/4 : a) Black to play
KM 1 5/4: 4) Black to play
A I 5/4: b) Black to play
Winning 'Won' Positions
How many times do we hear that someone was 'winning' but then fi nally drew or lost? People tell me about 'won positions ' all the time but' my normal reaction is to ask what the final result was and then brutally point out that this is really all that counts. I have noticed even at grand master level that there is in fact a very high percentage of 'won' posi tions that are not converted into actua l wins. In my own practice I have noticed that I o ften do much better in tournaments when I get poor positions out of the openir.g. This is probably due largely to the fact that my opponents become less vigilant whilst I on the other hand become fully concentrated in my ef forts to stave o ff defeat. As the Swedish GM Lars Karlsson l ikes to say: "It's easier to fight for your life than it is to kill someone". To win 'won positions' requires a cool head, not to overreach in the attempt to force resignation whilst being decisive enough to know when to pounce. In week one of this month's material we will see examples of the ball being placed quite firmly in the net whilst in week two we will look at the art of proceeding securely, the main aim being to deprive the opponent of counterplay.
In weeks three and four we will look at the defence of ',ery difficult and even lost positions . Week three is devoted to the so-called 'swi ndle' wh ilst in week four we see how one can create the most difficulties for the opponent and maximise his chances of sl ipping up. Month 1 6IWeek 1 : Deadly Finishing
From a psychological point of view the player with the 'won game' finds himself under all kinds of pressures including the thought that the point should be in the bag if only he doesn't 'mess it up'. This can lead to a desire to be careful which can manifest itself in excess ive caution. Opportunites to decide the game are m issed and before you know where you are there is no win at all. The greatest masters know when to pounce and finish their games with precision and energy when this is the kind o f play the position re quires. Amongst the World Cham pions I would single out Alexander Alekhine and Bobby Fischer as being outstanding exponents of the crisp finish. In the following two games we see Alekhine in action.
56
Winning ' Won Positions '
Alekhine - M a rshall Baden-Baden 1 925
1 d4 lDf6 2 c4 dS 3 cxdS lDxdS 4 e4 lDf6 S .id3 eS 6 dxeS lDg4 7
lDl1 And not 7 f4? because of 7 .ics 8 lDh3 'i!kh4+. 7 ... lDc6 8 .igS! Alekhine rejected 8 i.f4?! be cause of 8 . . . ltJb4 9 .ibS+ .id7 1 0 .ixd7+ �xd7 I I 'ilfxd7+ �xd7 with a better for Black. 8 ... .ie7 9 .ixe7 �xe7 10 lDc3 lDcxeS I l lDxeS �xeS ? ! According t o A lekhine Black should have played I I . . . LUxeS though even then White would maintain sl ightly the better game with 1 2 .ie2 0-0 1 3 f4 LUg4 (Or 1 3 . . . l:rd8 1 4 lDdS) 1 4 .ixg4 'ilfh4+ I S g3 �xg4 1 6 'i'xg4 .ixg4 1 7 �£2 l:ta d8 I R h]. 12 h 3 tt) f6 1 3 'iVd2! i. d 7 1 4 �e3! A quiet but very strong move by Alekhine which prepares to advance the f-pawn.
14 ... .ltc6? Alack should have played 14 . . . 'i'a5 1 in order t o defend his a7 pawn and prepare queens ide castl ing. The kingside proves to be uninhabitable
Winning ' Won Positions ' after Alekhine advances his e- and f-pawns. IS 0-0-0 0-0 16 f4 'i'e6 White wins a pawn after 1 6 ... 'ir'a5 17 e5 ttJd5 18 lDxd5 .ltxdS 19 .ltxh7+ xh7 20 'i'd3+ followed by 'ir'xd5. 17 eS l:tfe8 1 8 l:thel :tad8 After 1 8 . . . ttJd7?! White con tinues with 1 9 g4. 19 fS 'i'e7 20 'i'gS lDdS 21 f6 'i'fS
26 , .. .lte4+ 27 �a 1 Another precise move. 27 lIxe4 lId l + 28 �c2 'i'a4+ 29 b3 lDb4+ 30 �xd I +- also wins but the text is more convincing. 27 ... f5 27 . . . fxe6 is also quite lost for Black after 28 .ixe6+ 'i'xe6 29 'ir'xd8+ �xg7 30 'ir'd4+ -. 28 e7+ lIdS 29 'i'f6 'i'f7 30 e8='i'+ 1 :0
22 .1tc4! The first in a series of hammer blows which decide the game within the space of a few moves. Having obtained such a strong position many players would be tempted to want to keep what they have gained. nul Alekhille pursue� his attack with unrelenting precision. 22 ... lDxc3 23 l:txd8 l%xd8 24 fxg7! . A much more convincing l ine than 24 e6 l%d5 ! . 2 4 ... lDxa2+ If 24 ... 'i!kt:8 there follows 25 oixf7+ �f7 26 l:tfl+ cJte6 27 llf6+ �d5 28 llf8+ - . 2S �bl ! And not 24 .ltxa2 'iWcs+. 2S ... 'ir'e8 26 e6!
57
1 3 ... .icS? Black's first and probably decis ive mistake. According to Alekhine he had to play 1 3 . . . lDeS 1 4 �e2 1 �c5 and should White renew the threat of £2-f4 with I S �g2 he should try 1 5 ." hS ! . White would then be almost forced to play 1 6 h4 followed by 1 7 .igS when the posi tion is quite dynamic and there IS everything sti l l to play for. 14 lIel + �fS IS �f4 ltJb6 1 6 .i.b3 hS 1 7 h4 White is playing to prevent Black from coordinating his rooks. 17 ... �g8 18 dxc6 bxc6 1 9 lId .id4 20 lDe4 �xe4 21 l:rxe4 c5 After 21 . . . .ixb2 ? While wins with 22 lIeS lildS 23 .ixdS cxdS 24
lIxd5+ -. 22 'i'e2 g6 23 .i.g5 'i'd6 24 �11 'i'fS
Alekhine - Opocensky Paris 1 925 1 d4 dS 2 c4 c6 3 lDc3 lDf6 4 e3 jt,fS S cxds LUxdS After S . . . cxdS there is 6 'i!kb3 with the better game for White. 6 i.c4 e6 7 lDge2 lDd7 8 e4 ltJxc3 9 lDxc3 jt,g6 to 0-0 'i'h4 I I dS! exdS 12 g3 'ilff6 1 3 exdS 2S lIxd4! Once again finishing matters in . the most convincing fashion. WhIte eliminates Black's most important defender after which his game falls apart. 2S ... cxd4 26 lIc6! h7 After 26 . . . cJtg7 Alekh ine in tended 27 l:rxg6+ �xg6 (Or 27 fxg6 28 'i!kb7+ -) 28 'i'f6+ �h � 29 .i.xf7 l:rg8 30 'i'fS+ �h8 3 1 .ifo+ -. 27 .i.xf? l:rc8 28 llxg6 1 :0
58
Winning ' Won Positions ' Winning ' Won Positions ' 5 9
KM 1 6/ 1 : 1 ) White to play
KM 1 6/ 1 : 2) White to play
Month 1 6IWeek 2 : Ironclad Technique The British Grandmaster Jon Speelman has a number of fa ;ou�te . expressions, one of which I S trymg too hard to win'. This is one he uses when one side has a big advantage and then overreaches in his e fforts
to put the ball in the net. In the last section we saw Alek hine dispose of his opponents in
but it isn 't always advisable to try and win in such
short order,
quick and dramatic style. Some
KM I 6/ 1 : 3) White to play
KM 1 6/ 1 : 4) White to play
times what is called for IS the grad ual improvement of your position
whilst suppressing the opponent's counterplay. The greatest master of this art is undoubtably Anatoly Karpov who
often seems to win his games with the most minute advantages and without allowing his opponents the
h
slig test counterchance. The sup pression of his opponent's counter play is a characteristic feature of Karpov 's play. He will often carry a sl ight advantage into the endgame in which A I 6/ 1 : a) White to play.
A 1 6Il : b) White to pIny (Blnck has moved
his king)
the absence of queens
makes matters much simpler. In the following game :.e d isposes of Kasparov in the most convincing
style.
1 0 ... 'ilt'xd2+!? The main line is 10 ... 'i!t'aS . The text was rather new (It the time of
the game and has been far less well explored. 1 1 'it>xd2 ttJd7 1 2 �bS 0-0 13 �xd7 �x d7 14 e4 fS I S eS e6 The real novelty, evidentl y pre pared by Kasparov for this game. Black allows White a supported passed pawn on d6 but hopes to get counterplay with his bishop pair.
IS ... lIac8 had been tried previ
ously but then 16 c4 lIxcS
�e3
with the problem of how to find counterplay.
16 c4 1Ifc8 17 c6! bxc6 1 8 d6 c5? Black had to play 1 8 . . . gS but
19 �xgS St.xeS 20 cS ncb8 2 1 ltJf3 �b2 22 l:tc2 seems to leave
then
. Black without much play. 19 h4! h6 20 ltJh3 ! ! A
Karpov - Kasparov London Weh 1 986
17
lIaS 18 f4 e6 1 9 d6 leaves Bl ack
beautiful
ruins
move which
Black's plans.
Kasparov and his
seconds had apparently prepared the whole line up to this point but now
1 d4 iOr6 2 c4 g6 3 ltJc3 dS 4 �r4 �g7 S e3 cS 6 dxcS 'tWaS 7 Itcl ltJe4 8 cxdS ltJxc3 9 'Wd2 'i!ixa2 1 0 bxc3
they only looked at 20 ltJO . Over the board Karpov finds a stronger close the timely
idea
much
which prepares
a8-h 1
diagonal
to
with
f2 - 0 and manoevre knight from h3 to f2 and dJ .
a
the
60
Winning 'Won Positions '
Winning ' Won Positions ' 6 1 need to inhibit counterplay.
your opponent 's
from where it will intensify the pressure on d6.
28 ... 'i'g6
Stein - Bilek Moscow 1 967
28 . . . 4Jxf3 fails to 29 J:XfS ! . 2 9 'i'dl ltJe4 3 0 �d2 bS 3 1 axb6
J:Xxb6 32 nxb6 lDxb6 33 J:Xd3 fS
1 e4 c5 2 lDf3 g6 3 d4 �g7 4 d5 d6 5 lLlc3 ltJr6 6 �e2 0-0 7 0-0 �g4 8 lLld2 .be2 9 'ilt'xe2 lLlbd7
20 ... as 2 1 13 a4 22 J:Xhe l !
Another deeply instructive move by Karpov, protecting the e-pawn prepares lDh3- fJ . The immediate 22 lDf2 would have been met by 22 . . . gS.
22 ... a3 23 ltJn a2 24 lDd3 l::t a3 25 J:Xa l !
Another fine move. 2 S �e3 J:Xxd3+ 26 Wxd3 �xeS allows Black's king's bishop to breathe again.
25 ... g5
25 '" l::tb 8 was a suggestion of Ri cardo Calvo who gave the line 26 l::te c l gS 27 hxgS hxgS 28 Jixg5 J:Xbb3 29 lDxcs J:Xb2+ 30 �e 1 �xeS 3 1 tDxd7 �xd6 with complications. Probably this is all unnecessary as 26 We2! J:Xbb3 27 lDxcs looks good.
Black 's failure to get anything . lIke adeq�ate play in this game makes it necessary to look for im provements early on. 9 . . . ne8 is more interesting so that after 1 0 . . . e 6 I I dxe6 Black would b e able to put his knight on c6.
1 0 lLle4 ltJb6 I l ltJe3!
Avoiding the exehange of knights and preparing an advance of his a-pawn.
1 1 ... ne8 12 a4 e6 13 dxe6
And not 13 a5? ltJbxdS 14 exd5 exd5 which wins baek the knight with interest.
13 .Ihe6 14 as ltJbd7 1 5 13 J:Xb8 1 6 lld l .•.
By undermining the e4 pawn Black hope's to regain control of dS. But the further weakening of his pOSitIOn proves to be king intolerable.
A horrible move by Bilek which makes his position even worse. No doubt he was worried about his one well-placed piece, the knight on eS, being driven away with f3-f4. But the hole on fS is far too great a price to pay.
2 J l::ta 3 ltJc6 22 lLle3 Jid4
Black must eliminate the knight even at the cost of this vital bishop.
23 W h l �xe3 24 �xe3 'ilt'f6 25 l::td 5 h6 26 nb3
Threatening 27 a6, which could presently have been answered by 26 ... �xb2.
26 ... 36 27 h3 ltJeS
26 hxgS hxg5 27 �xgS
27 ... nb8 2 8 'i'e2 nbb3 29 lDxcs llb2+ 30 'it>[] is a l l t:asy enough win for White.
The game now reaches its tinal stage. B l ack has repaired the stra tegic weaknes s of his d-pawn but ultimatel y loses due to the weakness of his king and the superiority of bishop over knight in such a wide open position .
39 ... 'i'dS
Or 39 .. , dxc3 40 c6.
28 �f4 nb8 29 llec1 �e6 30 lle3 tta5 3 1 l:t:e2 l:t:ba8 32 l2Jcl 1 : 0
The next game also features vic tory by suppression but this time nn altogether different type of p!aye:r is the one doing the suppressing. Leo nid Stein was noted for his restless and dynamic style, he also under stood very well that at times you
34 nb3 lDd7 35 J:Xb7 J:Xe7 36 exfS 'i'xfS 37 �e3 dS 38 b4 d4 39 bxeS
An instructive position. White has obtained control of the dS square anel this � Ione. will cause Black grave difficulties. If White prevents Black from 16 ... ltJeS J 7 lLlc4
4Jxe4 1 8 'i'xe4 4Jd7 19 ltJdS 4JeS 20 �a4 g5?
40 ne7 'i'e5 41 llc8+ Wf7 42 'i'xd4 Wxd4 43 Jixd4 4Jrs 44 e6 lDe6 45 Jib6 ne8 46 Jid8!
28 'iVa I !
A powerful regrouping. The queen is en route for the d 1 square
The killer. After 46 ... nxd8 47 lhd8 lDxd8 48 c7 and 46 ... lDxd8 47 c7 both resul t in the pawn promoting.
46 ... as 47 nb8 a4 1 :0
62 Winning ' Won Positions ' Winning 'Won Positions ' 63 KM16/2:
I) White to play
KM 1 6/2 : 3 ) White to play
KM 1 6/2: 2) Black to play
KM I 6/2:4) Black to play
Month 1 6/Week 3 : The 'Swindle' ' Swindling' is generally regarded as a disreputable way to win your games. I could not disagree more and in fact rather dislike the tenn. The fact is that if your opponent loses his way in a winning position then it is entirely his fault and prob ably a reflection of his overall play ing strength. So don't apologise to your opponents if you outplay them from a lost position. There are no moral laws to say that it is right and proper that ' win ning' positions should be won. Emanuel Lasker was one of the greatest 'swindlers' in the history of the game. He believed that a posi tion could never be so bad as not to hold out the prospect of defence and he saved many positions in which others would have resigned.
I find it deeply instructive the way Lasker ultimately manages to 'swindle' his opponent. He doesn' t gamble everything o n one desperate charge but sets himself the task of preventing his opponent from winning. 18 ltJe4 -.h4 19 1i'fJ lOc4 20 c;t>al fS 21 lOgS i.d6 22 i.cl 1:.d7 23 1:.g2 i.e7 24 1:.hgl ltJd6 25 'We2 ltJe4 26 ltJf3 'Wh3 26 . . . 'i!i'h5 may well have been better but this isn ' t such an import ant point for the i l lustration of the theme. What matters is how Lasker sets about putting up resistance.
Lasker - Nirnzowitsch St. Petersburg 1 9 1 4
A 1 012: a) White to play
A 1 6/2: b) White to play
1 e4 e 6 2 d 4 d5 3 �e3 dxe4 4 lOxe4 lOf6 5 ltJxf6+ gxf6 6 i.e2 i.f5 7 i.f3 "'a5+ 8 c3 h5 9 �xh5 lOd7 10 i.g4 i.xg4 1 1 1i'xg4 0-0-0 12 ltJe2 e6 13 i.f4 'it'bs 1 4 0-0-0 lOb6 I S ltJg3? I S b3 would have left White with a safe but difficult game according to Lasker. Now Black regains his pawn with interest. 15 ... 'WdS 16 �bl 'it'xg2 1 7 1:.dgl 1hf2 Emerging a pawn up. In theory Black should no doubt be able to win this position in the end, in prac tice it turns out to be a very difficult matter.
27 a3!? Most players would probably have tried to free themselves w ith 27 lOgS but after 27 .. , lOxgS 2 8 i.xg5 f4! 29 'il'e4 (29 1:. f2 1:.g8 ! ) 29 . . . f3 30 1:.f2 1:.g8 3 1 'Wxf3 'Wxf3 3 2 l:txfJ i.xh2 Black retains h i s advan tage in a considerably simpler position. Lasker decides instead to await events because he saw that B lack must regroup his pieces in order to achieve anything. And during this regrouping procedure he hopes to get an opportunity to create counter play . . .
64
Winning 'Won Positions '
Winning ' Won Positions 27 ... a6 28 �e3 l:[hd8 29 �a2 Frank Marshall was another arch :h8 30 �al l:[hd8 3 1 Wa2 swindler, if not quite in Lasker's 3 1 tLlg5 'ith4! prevents White's overall class. In the following game bishop from taking up residence on we clearly see frustration creep into f6 which would in fact happen after White's play as an excellent posi 3 1 . . . tLlxg5 32 � x g5 . tion starts to evaporate. And in his . 3 1 ... l:[e8 32 l:[g8 l:[xg8 33 efforts to pursue an illusory ad vanl:[xg8+ %:rd8 34 l:[g7 %:rd7 35 %:rg8+ , tage he weakens his position . . . . %:rd8 36 %:rg7 %:rfS 37 c4 tLlf6? Nimzowitsch starts to lose his Vidmar - Marshall nerve and allows Lasker the chance New York 1 927 he has been waiting for. 37 .. . 'iVh8 ! 1 d4 ltJf6 2 ltJf3 e6 3 c4 �b4+ 4 38 1i'g2 (Or 3 8 %:rg2) 3 8 ... tLlf6 would have been good for Black �d2 �xd2+ 5 ltJbxd2 d5 6 e3 0-0 and would probably win in the long 7 1i'c2 lLlbd7 8 �d3 h6?! run. A dubious-looking move with a 38 �gS! tLlh5? dubious-looking follow-up. The sound course wa s to play 8 . . . c6 Black takes fright at the thought of 3 8 . . . tLle4 39 �e7 but then 39 .. . followed by 9 .. . 'fie7 %:re8 40 lhf7 1i'g4! threatening 4 1 .. . 9 0-0 c5!? 10 cxd5 tLlxd5 1 1 dxc5 1i'g8 would have been very unpleas tLlb4 1 2 �h7+ rlo>h8 13 'iVc4 lLla6 ant for White. Clearly Black had 14 �c2 lLldxc5 1 5 b4 lLld7 1 6 l:!.fd l missed the following stunning blow: lLlb6 1 7 'fib3 'ii'd 5 18 'fib2 �d7 1 9 lLl e4 'ib5 2 0 a 3 �c6
White's pOSition. He should have played 22 'iVb I when White sti l l has t h e better game. 22 ... 'iVc7 23 tLlxc6 bxc6 24 �d3 tLlb8 25 nacl tLld5 Beginning the cou nt erpl a y against White's weakened centre. 26 'i!Vf2 as! 27 b5 1i'b6! The th rea t against the b5 and e3 pawns forces White ' s reply and leads to a s i gni fi c a n t improvement
in Black's position.
28 bxc6 tLlxc6 29 tLlc5 lIad8 30 g4?
65
(35 . . . �xd3 36 fS exfS 37 exfS �g8 38 f6 gxf6) traps White's er rant knight. 33 fS exf5 34 gxfS lLle5! 35 �e2
35 'ir'xd4?? lLlf3+ would lose the
queen. 35 ... lIxd I + 36 lIxd l lId8 37 lIxd8+ 'ir'xd8 38 f6 tLl7c6 39 fxg7+ xg7 40 rlo>g2 40 tOd3 lLlxd3 4 1 'ir'g3+ <;t>h7 4 2
�xd3 'i'd4+ 4 3 f ) tOeS i s also very u np leasa n t . 40 ... lLlg6 4 1 rlo>h3 Or 4 1 hS figs + 4 2 rlo>fI lLlf4 .
White is finding it d i fficult to be l ieve that his advantage has d isap peared and tries to launch an unj ustified attack. In reality this just weakens his position. 30 ... tLlde7 3 1 h4? lIdS! Marshall strikes back, th rea t e n i ng the knight on c 5 . W hite's repl y is more or less forced a nd would have been good for him had Black been forced to retrea t. 32 e4 41 . . . �d6!
Threatening to win a piece with 42 . . . lLlf4+. White's position con tinues to get worse. 42 rlo>g2 tLld4 43 lLlb7 39 l:!.xf7! l:!.xf7 40 'ii'xe6+ l:!.d7 Nirnzowitsch might have been close to panic but then seen that he can draw. If 40 ... 'itb8 there follows 4 1 1i'e 8+! (and not 4 1 'ii'x fl "'x[3) 4 1 . . . �a7 (4 1 . . . �d8 42 �xd8) 4 2
'ii'x f7 etc.
4 1 tLle5 �xe5 42 'ii'e8+ 1/2_ 1/2 42 . . . �c7 43 'ii'x e5+ leaves Black unable to escape perpetual check.
43 tLld3 tLlxe2 44 �xe2 'iYxd3 1 wins a piece. 2 1 lLld4? It turns out that this loses most of White's advantage. As Alekhine pointed out in the tournament book White could increase the pressure with either 2 1 �d 3 or 2 1 lLle5 . 2 1 ... 'ii'e5 22 f4? Mistakes rarely come alone and this move seriously weakens
32 ... l:[d4! This must have come as a shock to White. The point is that 33 lLl d 7 'iVd8 34 lLlxf8 lIxd3 35 lIxd3 'ii'x d3
43 ... �e5 44 rlo>fl lOf4 45 fig3+ el 'iVc2 5 1 'tlr'f3 lOg2+ 52 fl lOef4! 5 3 g 1 tLlxh4 54 1iVfl 'ii'x e4 55 lOc5 �e3+ 56 rlo> h l �xc5 57 ..td3+ f5 ! 0 : 1
66 Winning ' Won Positions '
Winning ' Won Positions ' KM I 6/3: I ) Black to play
KM I 6/3: 2) White to play Month 16/Week 4 : Never S a y Die!
KM 1 6/3: 3) White to play
KM I 6/3 : 4) White to play
It started to become clear from the examples given l ast week that the best way to pull off a ' swindle' is not just to try an isolated trick. The right thing to do is to make it as difficult as possible for your oppo nent to win the position, to put as many obstacles in his path as possible. One of the most inspiring books J have read is The Art of the Middle Gome by Paul Keres and Alexander Kotov. Keres wrote a superb chapter entitled ' How to Defend Difficult Positions' . The advice contained withir. this chapter has undoubtably helped me save many lost positions:
" When the player with the upper hand is continually confronted by new problems, when, at every mo ment, one renders the win as diffi cult as possible, then it is likely that his powers will eventually weaken and he may make some mistake. " In the fol l owing game Keres prac ticed what he preached:
1\ 1 6/3: 0) B lack to play
67
A 1 6/3 :
b) Black to play
Bronstein - Keres Amsterdam Ct 1 956 1 e4 e5 2 liJf3 tDc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 liJr6 5 0-0 �e7 6 :tel bS 7 �b3 d6 S c3 0-0 9 h3 tDaS 10 �c2 c5 I I d4 �c7 1 2 liJbd2 cxd4 13 cxd4 liJc6 1 4 liJb3 �b7 IS .i.gS h6 16 .i.h4 liJh5 17 d5 liJdS IS �xe7 .xe7 19 liJfd4! Black's opening has hardly been a success and White's pressure mounts move by move. 19 .. , liJr4 20 tDf5 ..wr6 21 I.te3 Wh7 22 a4 bxa4 23 I.txa4 SJ.cS 24 I.tb4 liJb7 25 I.tc3 g6 26 liJe3 as 27
J:rb6 �dS 2S liJc4 J:ra7 29 liJc l 't!Vg5 30 I.tg3 �e7 3 1 liJe2 liJxe2+ 32 'Wxe2 ndS 33 na3 �d7 34 �e3 ncs 35 �d3 �e8!
36 b4! Keres tried to lure White into tak ing the d-pawn but after 36 liJxd6 liJxd6 37 J:rxd6 'ii'xd6 3 8 'ii'x a7 'i!ib4 he would get good counterplay (39 't!Vxa5 can be met by 39 ... J:rc I + 40 It>h2 'Wxb2 4 t I.ta2 'i!ib3). 36 " . a4 37 '.t>h2 �aaS 38 iLe2 J:rc7 39 b5! 'WdS 40 J:ra2 Wg7 4 1 I.tc6! Bronstein's sealed move which was undoubtably the best. Black can hardly accept the exchange sacrifice as 4 1 ... �xc6 42 dxc6 liJc5 43 liJxe5 is hopeless. So Keres tries to distract White with the lure of the a4 pawn.
68
Winning 'Won Positions '
41 ... nb8 42 lld2! An excellent move which simply maintains the advantages of White's position. R ushing in with 42 nxa4 .liLxc6 43 dxc6 would allow Black to gain a tempo with 43 ... lDc5 and bring the knight to e6 and d4. 42 ... h5 43 lId I The most effective way to win would have been with, say, 43 'i!J'c3 ' after which White i s threa tening things like 44 lDxe5, 44 lDxd6 and even 44 f4. But Bronstein was get ting into time-trouble and doubtless wanted to keep it simple. 43 ... �g8 44 �gl �h7 45 'i'a3 'i!J'e7
46 'ii'x a4? A serious mi
that the line 46 lDxd6 �xc6 47 dxc6 lDxd6 48 'i'xd6 (Or 4 8 nxd6 lId8 49 lld3 'iVxa3 50 llxa3 lld4) 48 . . . 'i'xd6 49 lIxd6 a 3 5 0 n d2 (50 �c4 a2 5 1 lId I lhc6 ! ) 50 ... lIa7 is far from clear. But 46 'itc3! would have bcen strong. 46 ... lDe5 47 'We2 47 �a5 was a better chance when Black should first go 47 . . . J::!:a7 ' rather than the immediate 47 ...
Winning ' Won Posilions ' .liLxc6 as after 48 dc the move 48 lDxe4 can be met by 49 �O ' . 47 ... �xc6! 48 dxc6 lIxb5!
.
49 lDxd6 Bronstein is unable to adjust in time to the change of fortunes and continues to play for a win. 49 lDe3 ! nb8 5 0 lDd5 �d8 5 I lDxc7 'i'xc7 would have given White an equal game. Probably he thought that Black has to play 49 ... lIaS 50 'i'c3 nxc6 1 5 �xa5 llxd6 with what is probably a drawn endgame 49 ... lIb6! 50 1Lb5? The losing move. 50 �xc5 llcxc6 51 �xb6 lIxb6 52 lDc8 'i!J'c5 53 lDxb6 �xb6 would still have held the game with careful play. 50 ... lDe6 5 1 �a4 On SI �c4 there is Sl ... llld4 52 �d5 lDxb5 53 ltJxb5 lIcxc6 etc. 51 ... llld 4 52 �e5 l:rbxe6! 53 i.xc6 lIxc6 0: 1 White lost on time but his position is already hopeless.
In the Iilst eXilmple ihis month we Bubby Fischt:r pC!rform a mir aculous escape against a Swiss ama teur. The message is that strong players make their own luck. st:t:
Walther - Fischer Zurich 1 959 I e4 c5 2 lDo d6 3 d4 cd 4 lDxd4 lDf6 5 lDc3 a6 6 �g5 e6 7 f4 �e7 8 �f3 lDbd7 9 0-0-0 'itc7 1 0 .liLd3 b5 1 1 �xf6 lDxf6 12 J::!:h el .liLb7 Fischer pointed out'that he should have played 12 ... b4 ' followed by . .. �b7 and maybe ... d5. This op portunity repeats itself on the next move because White omits the man datory 13 a3. 13 �bl J::!:c S1 Giving up the possibility of cas tling queenside. 1 3 ... b4 ' was still the right move. 14 g4 lDd7 IS gS lDb6? The very last chance to play b5-b4. 16 fS! eS 1 6 ... b4? 17 fxe6 is hopeless and 16 ... .liLxg5? is met by 17 .liLxb5+' �e7 18 fxe6 fxe6 1 9 lDxe6 ! etc. 17 f6! gxf6 1 7 . . . exd4 1 8 tbd5 �xd519 exd5 is absolutely deadly. IS gxf6 1LfS 19 lDd5 lDxd5 20 exd5 �d8 2 1 lDc6+! .be6 22 d xe6 �xc6 23 1Le4 �b6 Fischer is quite lost here but he hangs on by the skin of his teeth. 24 �h5 �c7 25 sH5! nd8 26 �xl7+ �b8 27 'llVe6 �c7 28 ne3! .liLh6 29 nc3 �b7 30 17 .liLg7 3 1 ned3 .liL fS 3 2 'itxe5! dxe5 33 nxd8+ �a7 34 ll 1 d7 h5 35 nxb7+ �xb7 36 c3
69
A simpler way would have been 39 na7+ <>t>f6 40 .liLd3. 39 ... Wxl7 40 J::!: xc5 b4 41 cxb4 .bb4 42 h3 'it>f6 43 J::!:b 5 .liLd6 44 .lie4 J::!:e8 45 llf5+ Wg7 46 .liLa llel + 47
54 a41 White misses his last chance. The Swiss endgame composer Fontana pointed out that 54 b4 ' �c7 55 �a5! Wb8 56 b5 .liLa3 57 b6 Wc8 58 �a6 �b8 59 .liLg2! · puts B lack in zugzwang (59 .. Wc8 60 �a7 .liLc5 6 1 a4). 54 ... Wc7 55 b4 �b8 56 as Wa7 57 Wc4 .liLg3 58 Wb3 .liLel 59 Wa4 �d2 60 �h5 .liLel 61 b5 .liLf2 62 .liLe2 �e3 63 Wb3 �d2 64 b6+ Wb7 65 Wa4 Wc6 66 .liLb5+ �c5 67 �e8 .liLel 1j2-1/z White's pawns are unable to ad vance any further. 68 b7 is met by 68 . . . .liLg3 69 a6 ..t>b6. .
70
Winlling 'Won Positions '
KM I 6/4 : I ) White to play
KMI 6/4: 2) White to play
5
KM 16/4 : 3) B lack to play
KM I 6/4: 4) White to play
Endgame T h e m es
Mony peopl e bel ieve that becau se the open i ng come s fi rst i t is more im porta nt to study t h is phase of n game before onyth ing else, A fter a l l , to i f you c a n ' t get good posi t ions start w i t h then what ' £ the usc of know ing hoI\' to c on vel1 a sl ight ad va ntage i n the endga me') [ se e this q u estion ra t her d i l'li:re n t Iy, In the open ing we stal1 o u t w i t h t h e most comp lex posi t i on and
throu gh excha nges g ra dually deriv e si mpler on es , If one is unabl e to un dersta nd ful l y how a few piece s coop erate toget her then how can we appre ciate positi ons with a fu ll or chest ra o f piece s? I t is no accid ent that many of the greate st maste rs, notab ly Karp ov and Capa blanc a, have recom mend ed study ing the endg ame before other aspec ts of
'S " A 1 6/4: a) Black �o play
A 1 6/4: b) Black to play
chess, The proce ss o f study ing the end game can have a profo und intlue nce on one's whol e game by devel oping a gener al under stand ing of chess and enabl ing playe rs to think in a meth odica l and logic al more confi dent is who r playe A mann er. in his ability to win in the endg ame can play both openi ng and midd le game in a more restra ined mann er. Being unafr aid to enter on endga me can mea!l that stra i n ing t o ploy for m a t e w i l l be J t hing o f the past. I n week one of this mont h I w i l l touch upon t h e a rt of know ing
w h ic h p ie c e to excha nge ,,' h i \ ,: "'c'd
t wo is conce mcd w i t h s t rctc h i n ..: t h e defence by a t ta c k i n g sc\'.:r al �\'.:;t kness es, In week t h re e w e w i l l look at the art o f redu c i n g the oppon e n t ' s active poss i b i l i t i es rather t h n n i m media tely p u rs u i n g o ne ' , o\l'n a c tive p l a ns , Week four i s de\'oh:cI t o the k i nd o f syst e m a t i c th i n k i l i � t h :l ; work s part i c u l a rl y we\ i In e l l d�all1 ':' :1 an d on bene ti t o ne ' s [! n ll1e :1 '; e, whol Mo n t h
l 7/Wcck
I:
The Art of E x c h a n g i n g Know ing w h ic h p icc.:s t o ex chan ge dnd w h ich ( 0 l e a v e 0 1 1 t h e board is one of (h e t h o n l lest issues ur p�rt icula r on the chessboard and i! impo rtanc e in the e ndg a m e w h ere r e c rc � There , e v i s i c can even be d e tain confi gurat ions of piece s "'hich have draw ish tende ncies , other s will simp ly suit the pawn s t ructu re better. Generall y speak ing the b es t way to explo it a mate rial advan tage is throu gh simp lifica tion but thoug ht l ess excha nges can l ead to a draw , rook or oppo site colou red bisho p endga mes w il l hove draw ish ten denc ies whi l st the simp les! end games are those with pawn s I n the follow ing g�ll1c w e s e e the former Wor ld Cham p ion \l i k h a i i Botv innik make � bri l l i a n t decis ion
72 Elldgame Themes
Endgame Themes 73
calculations.
to exchange the rooks seeing t h a t
confidence in h is
the res u l t ing p J w n endgame
be t h e simplest to win but this one requires g re a t subtlety and finesse. 37 lI x g4 hxg4 38 Wg2 g5! 39 h5 B l ack is also w i n n i n g after 39 Wg3 'it>g6 40 'it>xg4 gxh 4 4 1 Wx h 4 'it>f5 42 Wg3 'it>e4 43 'it>f2 a5 4 4 'it> e 2 a 4 4 5 a3 e61 4 6 Wd2 Wf3 4 7 Wd3 e5-+. 39 ... Wg 7 40 Wg3 �h7! And not 40 . . . Wh6 4 I �xg4 a5 4 2 e4 when it is While who wins. 4 1 'it>xg4 �h6 0: 1
IS
a
Wtn.
Taimanov - Botvi n n i k Moscow 1 96 7 1 d 4 d 5 2 c 4 c 6 3 tZlf3 tZl f6 4 tf'lbd2 g6 5 e3 .liLg7 6 .liLe2 0-0 7 0-0 b6 8 b4 .liLb7 9 .liL b 2 tf'le4 10 tf'lxe4 d xe4 1 1 tZld2 f5 1 2 e 5 tf'ld7 1 3 �b3+ '\t>h8 1 4 d 5 cxd5 1 5 .l:t.xg7+ W x g7 1 6 .2.1>5 bxe5 1 1 bxe5 !;Ie8 1 8 '&e3+ J::l: f6 1 9 tf'lb3 �g8 2 0 !lac l a 6 2 1 .liL x d 7 't!¥xd7 2 2 !;I fd l .liLe6 23 tZlaS f4 2 4 e x f4 !l x f4 25 tf'lxe6 I;txe6 26 �e5 IH5 27 'i'xe4 dxe4 2 8 J::l: x d 7 z:rfxe5 2 9 �el lIc I 30 �f1 �f7 3 1 1ld4 ? Accord ing
to
Botv i n n i k
endgames
Paw n
can
Fischer · Petrosian Aires em 1971
Buenos
1 e4 c5 2 tZlf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 It)xd4 a6 5 �d3 LDc6 6 It)xc6 bxc6 7 0-0 d5 8 c4! It)f6 9 cxd5 cxd5 1 0 exd5 exd5 1 1 It)c3 ·.2.e7 1 2 lta4+! "ii'd 7 1 3 l:[ell
Fischer heads for a clear endgame edge rather than taking a hot rook with 1 3 .2.b5 axb5 14 'i'xa8 0-0.
'i'xa4 14 LDxa4 .lte6 1 5 13 .2.e3 0-0 •..
White
shou Id ha ve p layed 3 I l:i:xc I !lxc I +
22 lt)xd7+!
Exchanging off B lack ' s bad bishop like this looks like a be gi n ner's move. In fact it al lows White to further penetrate his opponent's defences. 22 ... 1:[xd7 23 1:[c1 Threatening 24 1:[c6.
23 ... l:[d6 24 1:[c7 lt'ld7 25 lIe2 g6 26 'it>f2 h5 2 7 f4
3 2 We2 Jdc2+ 33 We3 Jdxa2 34 1Id4 1 with a l i k ely draw. Now he drifts into trouble.
3 1 ... I he l + 3 2 W x e l �c2 33 !la4? A t t h i s p o i n t 3 3 lhe4 lIxa2 3 4 g4 1 fol lowed b y Wfl - g 2 was the best ch an ce . . 33 . . . e3 ! 34 fxe3 Yxg2 35 h4 h5 36 Wfl ng4 ! !
A b r i l l i a n t l y worked out move by gre a t shows which Botvi n n i k
Taimanov sealed the move 42 e4 · but h e re s ign ed when Bo tvinnik demonstrated a win with 4 2 ... a5 4 3 a 4 e5 44 W f5 Ito> x h 5 4 5 Wxe5 g 4 4 6 c;t;f� � h '1 '1 7 e5 g3 48 c6 g2 49 c7 g I =� 50 e8='i' 'tikf2+ 51 �e5 'i'e I + etc. Had White played 42 a4 th e n 42 . . . a5 43 e4 e5 wou ld lead to the same thing and nol 42 . .. t:6? 43 a5 or 42 . . . e5 43 a3. I n the n ex t game we see Bobby Fischer d e mo ns trat e the art of ex ch a n g ing in classic style. Fischer was simply outstanding when i t came t o fluently translating o ne type of advantage into another, even by t he
h igh
Cha mpions.
standards
of
World
16 �c5!
The exchange of Black's good bishop is rather a standard proceed ure and White thereby gains control of an outpost on c5 Black should probably have answered this with 16 . . , �x(.j 1 7 LDxc5 1:[fb8 ! , trying for counter-play on the b-file.
16 ... 1:[fe8 1 7 �xe7 1:[xe7 1 8 b4! ..tof8 1 9 lt)c5 �c8 2 0 f3 l:[ea7
20 . . . l:txe l + 21 l:xel lDd7 looks better but would nevertheless leave Black facing White's queenside pawn majority and the weakness of his a-pawn and the d4 square.
2 1 1:[e5 �d7
Clearly intending 22 . . . .ltb5 and sho u l d White prevent this with 22 a4 the b4 pawn would be a target. Fischer's reply is just brilliant.
2 7 ... h4?
Petrosian's resistance starts to crumble. 27 . . . It)b6 28 1:[ee7 1:[f6 was more tenacious.
28 �f3 rs 29 'i!i>e3 d4+ 30 'it>d2 It)b6 3 1 1:tee7 lt'ld5 32 l:[f7+ ..toe8 33 l:[b7 lt'lxb4 34 �c4 1 :0
There is nothing B l ack can do about the threat of 35 lIh7 1:[ f6 36 lI h 8+ l:[f8 37 �f7+.
74 Endgame Themes Endgame Th emes 75
KM I 7/ 1 : I ) White to play
KM 1 71 l :
2) White to play Month 1 7IWeek 2:
On The Rack
KM 1 71 1 : 3) Black to play
KM I 7/1 : 4) White to play
It is usually not enough to attack a single weakness. Your opponent de fends it and then what do you do? One answer to ihis problem is to create a second weakness in another part of the board. The superior mo bility of the attacking side will en able him to switch from one weakness to the other faster than the defender can respond. In the following two games Alek hine puts his opponents on the rack as his uses this strategy of creating a second target:
White has obtained a clear advan tage out of the opening. His knight is a tower of strength compared with Black's bad bishop on g7 and Black has weak doubled e-pawns. Yet how is White to convert these advantages into a full point? . 16 ... b6 17 nfd l Wf8 IS 'it>f1 !
'it>e7 19 c4! h6 20 'it>e2 l:[xd l 2 1 nxdl
Alekhine - Euwe London 1 922 1 d4 tOf6 2 tOo g6 3 .ltf4 .ltg7 4 tObd2 c5 5 e3 d6 6 c3 tOc6 7 h3 O�O S .ltc4! neS 9 0-0 e5 10 dxe5 iUxe5 1 1 �xe5! dxe5 1 2 iUg5! �e6 An unfortunate necessity
as
after
1 2 .-. nf8 1 3 lUde4 Black is in ter
A17/l : a) Whill: to play
A 1 7/ 1 : h) White to play
rible trouble whether he chooses 1 3 . . . 'i'xd 1 1 4 nfxd 1 lDxe4 1 5 lDxe4 b6 1 6 lDd6, 13 . . . 'fie7 14 lDd6! or 13 ... tOxe4? 14 �xf7+! . 13 �xe6 fxe6 1 4 lDde4 lDxe4 I S
'iWxdS l:[exdS 1 6 lDxe4
21 ... n bS
By avoiding the exchange of rooks Black makes things much more difficult. Aleldtine noted that after 2 1 ... l:[d8? 22 l:[xd8 Wxd8 White plays 23 h4 ! intending to fix Black's kingside with g2-g4-g5. He can then play b2-b3 followed by 'it>d3, lDc3, We4 ; iUd3 and finally advance with f2-f4 ! . If B lack takes this pawn White recaptures with the knight and wins the pawn on g6. If Black doesn't capture he loses the e5 pawn.
22 l:!.d3 �hS 23 a4!
White sets about creating a weakness on the queens ide. Black cannot play 23 ... a5 since 24 nb3 would win his b-pawn. So he has to allow the opening of the a-file which White then occupies with his rook.
76
Endgame Themes Endgame Thellles 77
23 ... 1:tc8 24 J:tb3 �d7 25 as! �c6 26 axb6 axb6 27 1:1a3 iLg7 28 1:1a7! 1:1c7
Black now sees tlothing better than exchange the rooks but now White has a quicker way to win.
29 J:ta8! 1:1e7 30 J:tc8+ �d7 31 J:Ig8 �c6 32 h4!
systematical ly can White strengthen his position because Black has. no counterplay what soever. The idea now is to seal in B lack's bishop with g2-g4-g5
32 ... �c7 33 g4 �c6 34 �d3 J:Id7+ 35 �c3 1:1n 36 b3 �c7 37 �d3 J:td7+ 38 �e2 J:tn 39 4:lc3!
If 47 . . J:t£7 there is 48 l:tc8+ or if 47 . . . wb7 White wins with 48 4:ld6+ 'i;a7 49 J:tg8 . .
••.
White could also win by bringing his knight to h4 via e4, d2 and D. But he prefers to stick to the original plan.
42 ... J:td7+ 43 �e4 1:1c7 44 li'lb5 1:1e7 4S fJ �d7 The only move for after 4 5 . . . �b7 there i s 46 4:ld6+ fol lowed by 47 4:le8 winning the bishop.
46 J:tb8 �c6 47 1:1c8+ �d7
36 fxe5 fxe5 37 1:1a2 J:tb6 38 J:tb2 h6 39 �f2 �e6 40 �f3 4:ld5
In the next game Alekhine gives another masterful demonstration of this type of plan, this time setting about opening a second front on the kingside (32 g4! ) to exploit his extra pawn.
Alekhine - Vidmar Hastings 1 936-7 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 4:lc3 4:lf6 4 i.g5 4:lbd7 5 e3 Ji.e7 6 4:lfJ 0-0 7 lic1 c6 8 'itc2 a6 9 cxd5 4:lxd5 1 0 i.xe7 'itxe7 1 1 iLc4 4:lxc3 1 2 �xc3 c5 13 dxc5 �xc5?
1 4 i.b3! b6
39 lle7 40 g5 hxg5 41 hxg5 Wc6 42 �d3
It would have been better to ex change on f4 but then White would gain the d4 square for his rook.
48 J:tc7+ �d8 49 J:tc6! J:tb7 50 J:txe6 1 :0
Black should play 13 . . . 4:lxc5 after which 14 i.e2 4:le4 1 5 'itd4 4:lf6 16 0-0 leaves White with only a slight pull. An interesting a lterna tive would be 14 i.d5 ! ?
The beginning of the final stage. White intends to post this knight on b5, an even stronger square than e4. This latter outpost will be occupied by his king.
33 ... We7 34 b5! e5 3S f4! f6
After 1 4 . . . fr'xc3 1 5 .!:txc3 a White rook would cause B l ack seri ous problems by landing on c7. But now White pursues attacks his op ponent's queen until he gaims a ma terial advantage.
Reaching the kind o f position that Alekhine had in mind when he first played 1 6 SLd I . The bi�hop is very effective on this diagonal and B lack's queen cannot help come to the aid of his queens ide.
23 ... 1:1ad8 24 .!:td6 J:txd6 25 �xd6 �h4 26 a3 �c4 27 'i!¥xa6 4:ld5 28 a4! 4:lc7
Alekhine pointed out that 28 . . . �xb4 loses t o 29 iLxd5 exd5 30 �xb5.
29 �c6 'itxc6 30 SLxc6 bxa4 3 1 1:1a l .!:tb8 3 2 1:1xa4 � f8 3 3 g4!
15 �d2 fr'h5 16 i.dl !
4 1 ... 4:le7 42 Jt.e4 4:ld5 43 J:tb3 '>t>d6 44 g5! hxg5 45 hxg5 �e6 46 �d3 '>t>d6 47 na3 4:lc7 48 J:ta7 J:tb8 "9 �e4
49 ... g6 5 0 J:ta3 ! IIb6 51 il.c4 J:tb8 52 .!:td3+ 'iti>c5 53 J:td7!
Finally White's rook invades the opposing camp. Black is in no posi tion to defend the new weaknesses.
16 lDc5 17 b4! 4:le4 1 8 �d4 iLb7 1 9 0-0 •••
19 ... b5 20 4:le5 'iWh6 2 1 lDc6 i.xc6 22 J:txc6 4:lf6 23 i.f3
Natura l l y White avoids a rook endgame which would increase Black's drawing prospects. He chooses instead to consistently carry out his p l an .
The threat of 50 �f5 forces another weakness after which White begins the invasion.
The immediate 1 6 J:txc8? would have been bad because of 16 . . . .!:taxe8 1 7 'ir'xd7 .!:t fd8-+ but now it is a threat. B l ack's reply is forced.
Vidmar is trying to lure his oppo nent into departing from the logical path with 19 'iVxb6?! i.d5 20 a3 'i'g6 (2 1 0-0 li'ld2 ! ) . But Alekhine refuses to be tempted.
4 1 h4!
The start of the winning plan. White's b-pawn on its own can be blockaded so White sets about creat ing another weakness. He will achieve this objective with a gradual advance of his kingside pawns.
53 ... 4:le8 54 Jt.n li'ld6+ 55 �xe5 J:tb6 56 e4 li'lxb5 57 J:td5+! �b4 58 J:td8 lDa7 5 9 J:td6 4:lc6+ 60 ..t>d5 4:le7+ 61 �e6 4:lc6 62 'iPf6 '>t>c5 63 J:td5+ ct>b4 64 e5 �c4 65 1:1d l + '>t>c5 66 J:tc 1 + Wd4 67 e6 �e3 68 �xg6 4:ld4 69 iLn 4Je2 70 nel '>t>f2 7 1 1:1xc2+ 1 : 0
78
Endgame Themes Elldgame Themes 79
KM 1 7/2: I ) B lack to play
KM 1 7/2: 2) White to play Month 1 7/Week 3: Python Technique
KM 1 7/2: 3) White to play
KM 1 7/2: 4) Black to play
Last month we looked at the idea of restricting the opponent's counterplay in order to win won positions. This month we will take this idea one step further and look at the art of gradually running the op ponent out of decent moves, perhaps even going as far as to put him in zugzwang. This strategy of stran gulation is far from being negative, sometimes it can represent the only logical way to play a position and prove far more effective than a quick attack. If your opponent has no active moves it can have quite a depressing effect . Here are two examples on this theme, the first being a classic example of the minority attack in which Kotov gives Black a weak c pawn and then tightens his grip on the other side of the board. Pachman Venice 1 950
Kotov
A 1 712 a) Black to play
A 17/2: b) Black to play
-
1 d4 e6 2 e4 lbf6 3 lbe3 d5 4 itg5 ite7 5 e3 0-0 6 lbf3 lbbd7 7 1:.el a6 8 cxd5 exd5 9 �c:3 :e8 1 0 0-0 c 6 1 1 'iVc2 tlJ rs 1 2 a 3 g 6 1 3 b 4 tlJe6 1 4 itxf6 itxf6 1 5 a 4 lbg7 1 6 b 5 axb5 1 7 axb5 �f5 1 8 �xf5 tlJxf5 1 9 bxe6 bxe6 20 llJa4 A rather typical minority attack type position in which White has saddled Black with a weak c-pawn. The next part of the game shows White gradually trying to infiltrate the opposing camp. 20 ... :'c8 2 1 'iVc5 llJd6 22 llJd2 :e7 23 :bl :b7 24 :'xb7 lbxb7 25 �a7 llJd6 26 �a6 'iVc7 2 7 :el �d8 28 lbc5 'iVa5 29 �d3 'ifb5 30
g3 itb6 3 1 1:.bl �xd3 32 llJxd3 ita5 33 llJb3 .ltd8 34 llJbc5 .ltc7 35 lbd7 nc7 36 lbb8 llJc4 37 na t 1:.c8 38 lbd7 1:.c7 39 :a8+ �g7 40 llJ7e5 lbxe5 4 1 lbxe5 �d6 42 llJd3 '1t>f6? A serious mistake which al lows White to fix a second weakness. Had Black seen what was coming he would have pl ayed 42 . . . h5. 43 g4!
A very instructive move, reminis cent of Alekhine's 32 g4 in the previous section. White takes space on the kingside and sets about fixing a second weakness. 43 ... 'it>e6 White would meet 43 . . . Wg5 with 44 h3 h5 4 5 [4+ Wh4 46 g2. 44 'ot>g2 1:.b7 45 1:.e8+ 1:.e7 46 1:.h8 f6 47 h4 nb7 48 'i>f3 nf7 49 1:.e8+ :e7 50 nd8! Ib7 51 lbc5+ 'i>e7 52 1:.e8! After the immediate 52 nh8 Black would escape with 52 ... .ltxc5 53 dxc5 :a5 54 nxh7+ 'ot>f8. The point is that defending c6 with 52 . . . 'uc7 would be met with 53 1:.h8 so Black decides to go active in any case. 52 ... .bc5 53 d xc5 'ot>d7 54 : h8 '1t>e6 If 54 . , . 11a5 there follows 5 5 1:.xh7+ '1t>e6 56 11g7. 55 1:.d8 'ot>e7?!
80
Endgame Themes Endgame Themes 81
According to Speelman 55 ... l:c7 was a better defence. 56 �d6 1:a6 57 g5! Clearing the way for his king to enter the opposing camp. 57 fxg5 58 hxgs �f7 59 �g3 And not 59 �f4 �a4+ 60 �e5?? �e4#. 59 ... <J;e7 60 f3 l:a3 6 1 �f4 �a4+ 62 �e5 �a3 63 �xc6 �xe3+ 64 �xds �d3+ After 64 ... l:xf3 White wins with 65 �c7+ We8 66 �xh7. 65 �e4 �c3 66 f4 �c1 67 l:c7+ •.•
67 ... 'it'd8? The last mistake. Speelman pointed out that Black can still draw with 67 ... �e6 68 �xh7 nc4+ 69 �f3 lIxc5 70 1:g7 llcol 7 1 1:xg6+ (7 1 Wg4 Wd5 72 .tln l:re6 73 l:rf6 Wd6 fails to make progress) 7 1 Wf5 72 1:hc6 stalemate! 68 l:rxh7 nxcS 69 nf7 1 :0 The next example is a typical Kar pov performance-he gradually in creases the pressure until his opponent cracks. The exchange of minor pieces on move 57 is particu larly interesting. Rook �ntie�mes are traditionally thought of as having drawish tendencies but Karpov sees that it the way to penetrate his oppo nent's defences.
Karpov - Hort
Tilburg 1 979 I e4 c6 2 lLlc3 dS 3 lLlf3 dxe4 4 lLlxe4 lLlr6 5 ltJxf6+ exf6 6 i.e2 i.d6 7 0-0 0-0 8 d4 l:!.e8 9 l:!.el i.fS 10 i.e3 ttJd7 1 1 h3 i.e4 12 lLld2 f5 13 ltJxe4 fxe4 1 4 c4 'ifc7 I S i.n i.hH 16 �hl .i.f4 17 'iVd2 i.xe3 18 'iVxe3 This position looks fairly innocent but White has more space' and a bishop against knight. Slowly but surely Karpov sets about increasing these advantages. 18 ... lLlr6 1 9 l:radl nad8 20 nd2 h6 2 1 g3 'iVas 22 b3 l:[d7 23 i.g2 ned8 24 l:red l 'WigS 25 WgI a6 26 l:[e2 'it'fS With a bishop against a knight the exchange of queens favours White as queens work together well with knights. In this positon White would get added support for his d-pawn after 26 ... 'iVxe3 27 fxe3. 27 'ii'c3 'iffS 28 a4 �g8 29 'i'e3 l:re8 30 wn 'ii'a S 3 1 'ii'd 2
31
.•.
'i'xd2?!
Black should still decline the ex change of queens (with 3 1 ... 'ii'f5 for example) despite the fact that he no longer gives White and extra center pawn by doing so. Now
White is able to advance his king side pawns and improve the position of his king. 32 nexd2 e3 33 l:re2 exf2 34 nxe8+ lLlxe8 35 Wxf2 as 36 �e3 WfS 37 l:!.bl We7 38 g4 Wd8 39 b4 White has set gaining space on both sides of the board. His last move marks Black 's b-pawn out as a weakness. 39 ... l:!.e7+ 40 Wd3 axM 4 1 l:[xb4 We7 4 2 l:!.bl lLlf6 4 3 as Continuing the work started with 39 b4 by fixing Black's b-pawn to the.b7 square. 43 ... lLld7 44 l:!.al lLlb8 45 h4 lLla6 46 J:lb I lLlb8 47 .i.f3 lLld7 48 l:!.a l l:[e8 49 l:!.fl l:!.c7 50 i.g2 tUb8 51 lIf4 lLld7 52 l:fl lLlb8 53 i.e4 lLla6 54 l:!.b i lLlb8 55 i.fS lLld7 56 l:[a l g6?
The decisive m istake? Black should have avoided this weakening move and kept the m i nor pieces on the board with 56 . .. ttJbS. Karpov's reply must have come as a great surprise. 57 .i.xd7! l:!.xd7 58 ItO Wb8 59 l:!.f6 Wa7 60 hS This is the real point of W hite's exchange on move 57. His rook on f6 is powerfully placed to attack Black 's kingside.
60 ... Wa6?! Black shou ld play 60 . . . gxh5 6 1 gxh5 'it>a6 with chances to save the game. He might have missed White's reply.
61 gs! Deadly. Whether Black captures the g- or h-pawn White obtains a powerful passed pawn which lies Black's rook down to a hopelessly passive position. 61 ... hxgs 62 h6 �xaS 63 h7 l:!.d8 64 l:!.xf7 bs 65 cxbs Wxbs After 65 ... cxb5 White wins with 66 We4+-.
66 l:!.b7+! �a6 67 l:[g7 l:[h8 68 We4 'it'b5 69 Wf3 Wc4 70 nd 7 Wd3 71 <;t;g4 l:!.xh7 72 nxh7 Wxd4 73 l:[d7+ 1 :0
82
Endgame Themes Endgame Themes 83
KM I 7/3: I ) White to play
KM I 7/3: 2) White to play Month 1 7/Week 4 : Steadily Forward
KM I 7/3: 3) White to play
A I 7/3 : a) Black to play
KM 1 7/3 : 4) Black to play
A I 7/3 : b) White to play
Capablanca 's maste/y. alld sao II had further proof of the need 10 think schematically about Ihe ending. .. Kotov then went on to give a position from one of Capablanca's games in this tournament :
Calculation is an inefficient means of thinking about chess and computers are much better at it than we are. What hurpan players do have is an intuitive feel for where their pieces are best placed. Capablanca - Ragozin Smyslov has sometimes been called 'The Hand' because his finely Moscow 1 936 developed intuition would enable 1 d4 lbf6 2 c4 e6 3 lbc3 .ib4 4 him to play good moves almost without thinking at all. Other 1i'b3 lbc6 5 e3 d5 6 lbf3 0-0 7 a3 players with this kind of highly de dxc4 8 .ixc4 .id6 9 .ib5 e5 1 0 veloped feel for chess include Kar .ixc6 exd4 1 1 lbxd4 bxc6 1 2 lbxc6 'iWd7 13 lbd4 'i'g4 14 0-0 .ia6 1 5 pov and the legendary Capablanca. In his excellent book Think Like a h 3 'iWh4 1 6 lD f3 'iWh5 1 7 ne 1 nab8 Grandmaster Kotov recalls the fol 18 'ii' a4 �b7 1 9 e4 h6 20 �e3 nfe8 2 1 .id4! lOh7 22 .ixa7 na8 23 lowing story: "Once in a lobby of the Hall of 'i!rb5 'ii'x b5 24 lbxb5 nxe4 25 Ihe4 Columns of the Trade Union Centre �xe4 26 lbd2 .id3 27 lbxd6 Iha7 in Moscow a group of masters were 28 ltJ6e4 ltJrs 29 ltJc5 .if5 30 lbf3 analysing an ending. They could not ltJe6 31 nc1 'it>f8 3 2 lbxe6+ .be6 find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always fond of walking about when it was his oppo nent 's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to look at the position, said, 'Si, si, ' and suddenly redistrib uted tire pieces all over the board to . show what the correct formation was for the side that was trying to win. I haven 't exaggerated. Don After facing an interesting pawn Jose literally pushed the pieces round the board without making sacrifice in the opening Capablanca moves. He just put them in fresh has emerged a pawn up in the end positions where he thought they game. Yet how exactly should he go about winning? were needed. For Capablanca it would be rather "Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things easy to see a good configuration for had been set up alld now the win the White pieces by putting his was easy. We were delighted by knight on d4, rook on c3 and then
84
Endgame Themes
king up and set about improving the position still further. 33 liJd4 l:!:b7 34 b4 �d7 35 f4 'iile 7 36 'iti>f2 l:!:a7 37 l:te3 <;tt>d 6 38 l:!:d3 We7 39 We3 l:!:a4 4 0 l:!:e3
Stage one is complete and White has to decide how to advance his passed a-pawn still further. For this he needs his knight on c3 and sets about bringing it there. 40 ... 'it.od6 4 1 l:!:d3 'it.oe7 42 nc3 'iild 6 43 liJe2 g6 44 l:td3+ 'iti>e6 45 'iti>d4 l:!:a6 46 l:!:e3+ 'iild 6 47 liJc3
Mission accomplished. The a pawn is immune because of (47 ... l:!:xa3) 48 liJe4+ and Black is actual ly unahle to hring his king to a better square. This allows Whitt: tht: time to bring his king across to sup port his a-pawn which ensures its further advance.
Elldgal/le Themes 85
47 ... fS 48 b5 11a8 49 c4 �e6+ 50 b4 c5+ 51 bxe5 .ig8 52 liJb5+ 'iilxe6 53 lId3 g5 54 l:td6+ �b7 55 fxgS hxgS 56 11g6 11m 57 lhg5 f4 58 liJd4 ne8 59 l:tg7+ c,tb6 60 l:!:g6+ b7 61 liJbS l:!:m 62 liJd6+ Wb8 63\h4 1 :0 Throughout his career Capablanca used his bri ll iant understanding of where his pieces belonged to guide him. Whilst in his match against Alekhine this was not enough he was considered unbeatable for many years and his pieces always seemed to be in hannony. It was a lmost im possible to lay a glove on him and in his whole career he lost just a h andful of games. Here is another example of Capa blanca's schematic thinking.
counterplay Black has a free hand to build an attack. White h;]d 10 play 2 1 exd5 exd 5 22 f4 intending
support it on this outpost. Accord ingly he assigns his bishop to pre pare the advance of the b-pawn and moves it from what seems like the more active square. Had lanowsky understood what Black wanted he would have ans wered this with I I �b 5 I I �e2 e6 1 2 0-0 �d6 13 l:!:fcl We7 14 jLc3 l:!:hc8 15 a3? Now it will be d i fficu l t for White .
ever to play b2-b3.
15 ... liJa5 16 liJd2 f5! First of all Capablanca stops any counterplay based on e3-e4. 1 7 g3 b5 18 0 liJc4
_
liJf3-e5. 21 ... JLe7 22 f4 b5 23 \tof2 l:!:a4 24 'iil e3 nea8 25 nabl h6! Now Capablanc;] aims 10 open ;] second front on the kings ide. The defender is unable to dea l wilh threats on both sides of t h e board due to his lack of manoeuvrability. 26 liJf3 g5 27 liJel ng8 28 \toG gxf4 29 gxf4 naa8 3 0 lLlg2 ng4 31 ngl nag8 3 2 .tel White wants to defend his king side by bringing his bishop to f2 and playing liJg2-e3. BUI t he l oss of coordi n at ion between his rooks a l l ows Bl ack to pounce.
Janowsky . Capablanea New York 1 9 1 6 1 d 4 liJr6 2 liJ1'3 d 5 3 c 4 c 6 4 liJe3 .tf5 5 �3 'ib6 6 'ifxb6 axb6 7 cxd5 liJxd5 8 liJxd5 exd5 9 e3 liJe6 1 0 �d2
10 ... �d7! Beautifully thought out. Capa blanca sees that h is plan is to transfer his knight to c4 and he needs to play ... b6-b5 in order to
"Black's first plan is completed. White now will have to take the knight, and Black's only weakness, the doubled b-pawn, will become :. source of great ' strength at c4. Now for two or three moves Black will devote his time to improving the general strategic position of his pieces before evolving a new plan, this time a plan of attack against White's position."�apablanca. 19 .txe4 bxe4 20 e4 'iilf7 21 e5? Probabl y the losing move. With out the danger of any White
32 ... b4 33 axb4 33 JLxb4 JLxb4 34 axb4 hS leaves White helpless against the advance of the h"pawn. 33 ... .ta4 34 l:tal JLe2 35 �g3 JLe4+ 36 f2 h5 37 na7 �xg2 38 Ihg2 h4 39 JLxh4 nxg2+ 40 'iil1'3 Itxh2 4 1 .txe7 l:!:h3+ 42 \tof2 l:!:b3 43 �g5+ \tog6 44 l:!:e7 nxb2+ 45 G l:!:a8 46 1he6+ Wh7 0: 1
86
Endgame Themes
KM 1 7/4: I ) White to play
KM 1 7/4: 2) White to play
6
KM 1 7/4:
3) Black to play
K.M 1 714 :
4) White to play
Endgame Battles
This month we will continue looking at endgames and in particu lar some which can arise from major opening systems. In such sharp openings as the Si cilian Dragon and King's Indian Defence one would imagine that the endgame would be very far away. But in fact these lines can lead to typical endgame scenarios which we shall examine in weeks one and two. In week three we will look at one of the most common types of position is that in which both sides exchange their d and c-pawns. Finally in week four we will round off the treatment of endgames with two highly in structive games in which Karpov wins drawn positions.
more violent play which leads to an endgame in which Black has four pawns for a rook! Spassky - Stein USSR 1 967 I e4 cS 2 ttJO d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 ttJf6 5 ttJc3 g6 6 �e3 �g7 7 o lLlc6 8 �d 2 0-0 9 �c4 �aS 1 0 0-0-0 .td7 1 1 h4 l:rfc8 1 2 �b3 lLleS 13 hS lLlxhS 1 4 'it>b 1 l:rxc3 ! This exchange sacrifice is one of Black's mam resources in the Dragon.
Month 1 8IWeek 1 : Dragon Endgames A 1 714: a) White to play
A 1 7/4: b) White to play
The Sicilian Dragon is renowned as one of the sharpest of openings yet it typically leads to endgames with an unusual material balance. Such scenarios often come about when White sacrifices a pawn in an attempt to accelerate his attack (h4-hS) and then Black defuses it by giving up material of his own. Most typical of all is the sacrifice of the exchange on c3 by Black which we shall see in the first game between Boris Spassky and Leonid Stein. In the second we see even
J 5 "xc3
Keeping queens on the board with I S bxc3 can lead to a draw after I S . . . l:rc8 1 6 .th6 lLlc4 1 7 �xc4 l:rxc4 1 8 .txg7 9;xg7 1 9 g4 ttJf6 20 eS dxeS 21 lLlb3 �xc3 22 'Ci'h6+ ..to>g8 23 l:rxd7 �xc2+ 24 'it>a I �c3+ etc as in Klovan-Zaitsev, lurmala 1 969 rf White plays 22 'i'xc3 instead with the idea of winning material after 22
88
Endgame Ballles El1dgam e Battles 89
... lhc3 23 g5, Black can obtain an overwhelming mass of passed pawns with 23 ... �c6 24 gxf6+ exf6 25 llld 2 :xD ! 26 lLlxD �xG. 1 5 ... 'Wxe3 16 bxe3 :e8
22 .. lll f6 23 lLlxe6 .ltxe6 24 .!ld4 .
24 ... h5! Another instructive move which safeguards the h'pawn so as to bring his king to the centre. Coming down An important type of posItion the h-filc is one of White's only which deserves close examination. hopes if he wants to activate his Black has a pawn for the exchange rooks. and has created serious weaknesses 25 q;cl q;rs 26 q;d2 .!la8 27 :b4 in White's pawn stlucture. The maiH :lI5 28 �e3 e6! problem with this structural damage Another instructive move, making from White's perspective is that he room for Black's king on e7. is unable to organise any effective . Spassky keeps playing for a few pawn levers and penetrate Black's more moves but there is hardly any defences with his rooks. As we saw prospect of breaking down Black's in month two, rooks really need to defence. break into the enemy ranks in order 29 c4 llld 7 30 c3 iLf6 3] �bl to show their full strength. j,g5 32 j,c2 �xe3+ 33 �xe3 �e7 17 'it>b2 34 �f2 lbe5 35 :bbl lDd7 36 l:lb4 After 17 SLg5 .Black can take the' lDc5 37 l:lbbl lLld7 'A-'A initiative with 17 . . . �f6' 18 �xf6 tDxf6 1 9 �b2 b5. In a game Scholl Westerinen- Ernst Tatai, B everwijk 1 967 Black grad Gausdal 1 99 1 ually assumed the iniiiative after 1 7 llle2 a 5 1 8 a 3 a4 1 9 �a2 �b5 20 1 e 4 e 5 2 lLl o d 6 3 d4 cxd4 4 :hel lllc4 2 1 .hc4 �xc4 22 �d4 lllxd4 lLlf6 5 lLlc3 g6 6 �e3 �g7 7 lllf6 23 lllc 1 e5 24 �e3 d5 25 �g5 f3 0-0 8 'iVd2 lbe6 9 �c4 �d7 1 0 dxe4 26 fxe4 �e6 27 �b2 lLld7 28 0-0-0 :e8 1 1 �b3 lbeS 1 2 h4 lLlc4 Jie3 :c4 29 .fl.f2 5. 13 Jixc4 .l:lxc4 14 bS lLlxhS 15 g4 ' 17 115 1 8 113 lLif6 1 9 �f4 Q1cR li'If6 1 6 li'1h1 20 .i.g5 a4 21 �a2 lLle6! 22 lId2 This quiet move has been quite 22 lllxc6 :xc6 23 .fl.xe7 :xc3 24 popular in this position. Black's best 'Ot> b l 11xa3 favours Black. reply may well be 16 ... 'Wc7 as the .••
text commits him to an extraordi nary l ine of play. 16 ... :e8 17 e5 lLlxg4! Forced! 17 ... dxe5 18 g5 leaves the bishop on d7 hanging. 1 8 fxg4 �xg4 19 :dg l �xe5 Once again this is the only way to play it. 1 9 . . . h5 is bad because of 20 e6' .fl.xe6 2 1 �d4 �g4 22 .!lxg4! hxg4 23 .fl.xg7 q;xg7 24 tr'h6+ with a strong attack and 19 ... dxe5 fa ils against 20 'Wxd8 :xd8 21 li.Jd2. 20 Jid4 Trying to remove the Dragon bishop in order to leave Black's kings ide weak. Black's reply is remarkable. 20 ... l:lxd4 ! 21 li.Jxd4 h5 22 li.Jd5 e6 23 llle3 tr'b6 24 c3 .fl.xd4 25 '+lfxd4 �xd4 26 exd4 f5
Do Black's connected passed pawns give him adequate com pensation for the rook? It would be a brave man indeed to stick his neck out on that one, perhaps in some fu ture game White will demonstrate a way to activate his rooks and halt the advance of Black's pawns. One thing that does seem fairly clear is that Black's position is easier to play in practice. 27 'it>d2
White might have eliminated the bishop with 27 lLlxg4 though Black retains his dangerous pawn mass. 27 . 'it>g7 28 :cl �f3 29 :h3 �e6 30 lLlc4 Wf6 31 llla 5 .fl.g2 32 :h2 .fl.d5 33 :e7 :e7 34 l:lxe7 q;xe7 Now only the bishop remains to support the Black pawns. Actually it does an excellent job from its out post on d5 which makes me wonder if it shouldn't have been eliminated earlier on. 35 q;d3 b5 36 lL\b3 '>t>f6 37 lLlc l f4 38 '>t>d2 q;f5 39 lLld3 q;g4 40 l:le2 g5 4 ] li.Jb4 cJo>o 42 lL\xd5 exd5 43 q;el h4 44 l:lf2+ q;g3 45 '>t>n h3 46 cJo>gl g4 47 l:lc2 q;h4 48 l:lc7 g3 49 l:lxa7 Wg4 50 l:lg7+ q;O 51 a3 The only way to create a passed pawn. 5 1 b3 is met by 5 1 . . . b4. 51 ... q;e2 52 l:le7+ '>t>d3 ..
53 l:l£1? Falling at the last hurdle, White could have held the game by cold-bloodedly creating a passed pawn with 53 b3 ! . After 53 .. . 0 54 a4 bxa4 55 bxa4 h2+ 56 '1t>h l f2 57 l:l£1 We2 58 l:le7+ q;d2 59 l:l£1 we would see a draw by repetition. 53 ... q;e3 54 l:le7+ '>t>xd4 55 11£1 q;e3 56 l:le7+ '>t>O 57 l:le6 h2+ 58 Whl q;f2 0 : 1
90
Endgame Battles Endgame Battles 9 1
KM I 8/ 1 : I ) White to play.
KM 1 8/2: 2) B1ack .to play
Month 1 8IWeek 2 : King's Indian Exchange
KM I 8/2: 3) White to play
A 1 8/ I : a) White to play
KM 1 8/2: 4) White to play
',,-
A I 8/ 1 : b) White to play
One of the best ways for Black to play for a win after I d4 is with the dynamic and complex King's Indian Defence. It is no accident that this opening' has appealed to such fight ing players as Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. Some White players are loathe to get embroiled in the kind of com plex battle which the King's Indian usually leads to and instead have sought out simpler ways to p lay against it. One of these is to ex change pawns on e5 and then swap the queens as wel l. They hope for a slight initiative based on a lead in development and that Black's bishop on g7 will prove ineffective. But the downside is that by playing c2-c4 and d2-d4 White weakens his d4 square. In the following games we see Kasparov and then Fischer exploit this weakness, with a little help from their opponents of course!
Danailov - Kasparov Dortmund 1 980
In my own King ' s Indian days I l iked this move as well, inspired to some extent by the present game. Black develops another piece and the knight often heads for d4 via c5 and e6
1 0 ltJd5
A dubious reply after which Black is very comfortably placed. White should play 1 0 0-0-0 after whieh 1 0 . . . lIfB' 1 1 ltJd5 c6 1 2 ltJe7+ �h8 1 3 �e3 lIe8 14 ltJxc8 lIaxc8 1 5 c5 � fB 1 6 b4 b6 was about equal in Cvetkovic-Kuzmin, Linz 1 990. 1 0 ... c6 11 ltJe7+ �f8 12 lOxc8
lIdxc8
Black already stands very well as he can set about controlling the d4 square.
1 3 0-0-0?!
After Black's reply White is forced to capture on f6 which gives Black a clear edge. 1 3 ltJd2 1Oc5 14 f3 ltJe6 1 5 �e3 was relatively best.
13 ... l2Jc5 14 �xf6 �xf6 1 5 �d3 a5 1 6 lIhel lIe8! 17 i.n �d8!
The point of putting the rook on i:8-the bishop is being re-routed to a better diagonal.
18 g3 a4 19 �c2 �a5 20 lIe3 lIad8 2 1 lIxd8 lIxd8 22 �h3 f6
1 c4 g6 2 ltJf3 �g7 3 lOc3 d6 4 d4 ltJf6 5 e4 0-0 6 �e2 e5 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 'it'xd8 1hd8 9 �g5 ltJbd7 ! ?
A verj unpleasant move to meet, Black quietly protects his e-pawn
92
Endgame Battles Endgame Ballles 93
and asks White what he intends to do. White's problems stem from being unable to bring his rook round to challenge for control of the d-file. 23 l:te2 f6 0 : 1 White has no move. 3 1 'it>c2 is met by 3 1 ... g4, 3 1 iLh l by 3 1 .!:rd l + and 3 1
1 3 ... b6! At the time of the game this was a novelty. A fter 1 3 ... c6 Larsen in tended the brave 14 lLlxa7 Ad7 1 5
lLlxe6 .itxc6 1 6 D , though th is i s far from clear after 1 6 ... l:td7 intending ... .!:rd4! . The state of White's knight on a7 would give Black defi nite compensation for his pawn. 14 c5! ? Typical enterprise from Larsen, 14 liJxe6 followed by 1 5 f3 would be drawish. Black's reply is forced as 1 4 ... bxc5 is virtually losing after 1 5 lLlxe6 .itxe6 1 6 Axcs l:td7 1 7 f3 . 14 lLlxc5 I S l:td8+ .itrs 15 ... lLle8? is bad because of 16 .itxc5 bxc5 17 lLlxc7 l:txc7 1 8 .!:rxe8+ .itfS 1 9 lLlxh7+- and after 1 5 ... l:te8 White would play 1 6 .!:rxe8+ lLlxe8 17 .itxc5 bxc5 1 8 .itc4. 1 6 liJxa7 .!:rxa7 1 7 .!:rxc8 'i»g7 Black would do better to play 1 7 ... h6! after which 1 8 lLl f3 'it>g7 1 9 .txcS bxc5 2 0 Ad3 i s equal. 18 f3 lLle8 •..
1 9 33? Over the next few moves White gradually goes astray due to his re luctance to part with his bishop pair. 1 9 �xc:'i bxr.5 20 .!:rb8 would give White chances because of his a ' pawn though the opposite coloured bishops would make this very diffi cult to advance. 19 ... lLld6 20 .l:[d8
20 .!:rb8 ltJd7 2 1 l:td8 ltJb7 22 l:tc8 lLld6 would draw by repetition, Larsen typically wants to win. 2 0 ... h6 21 lLlh3 lLle6 22 l:tb8 .!:re8 23 .!:rxe8 lLlxe8 24 Ab5 White should bring his knight into play with 24 ltJf2. 24 ... lLld6 25 .itn lLlb7! 26 lLla .tc5! 27 �xc5 lLlbxc5 28 nd l h5! Keeping White's knight out of the g4 square. 28 . . . ltJd4 is met by 29 lLlg4 f6 30 f4. 29 .!:rd5 29 lLld3 lLlxd3 30 �xd3 lLld4 3 1 'it>f2 would probably still hold the endgame despite Black's powerful knight. 29 ... c;t>r6 30 h4 'itte 7! 31 .tc4 And not 3 1 nxe5? c6 . 3 1 ... c6 32 .!:rd2 lLld4!
Mission accomplished. Black is clearly better now and White makes matters worse by failing to bite the bullet. 33 �n r5! 34 b4 34 lLld3 was a better chance to hang on.
34 ... b5! 35 �g8 Both 35 bxc5 bxc5 and 35 �xb5 lLlcb3 would lose for White. 35 ... fxe4! 36 rxe4 lLld7 37 .!:rd3 l:ta6! 38 l:tc3 c 5 ! 39 g4? 39 bxc5 b4 40 .!:rc I ! was better. Now Black's c-pawn will decide matters. 39 ... c4 40 gxh5 gxh5 41 .td5 lLlf6 42 l:tg3 ltJxdS 43 exd5 l:tf6 4.t 'it>g2 lLlf5 45 l:th3 l:tg6+ 46 'it>f3 lLld4+ 47 'it>e3 · After 47 'it>e4 there is 47 . . . 'it>d6 48 l:th2 l:t g3 47 .. , l:tg2 48 l:th 1 xd5 50 lLlc3+ 'it>e6 .
Threatening 5 1 . . . l:tc2 and, after the knight moves, 5 1 .. , nc2 is mate. 51 .!:rcl .!:[-h2 52 a4 l:th3+ 53 'it>a lDb3 54 '1t �2 lDxcl 55 'it>xh3 bxa4 56 lLlxa4 lDe2 57 b5 c3 58 b6 c2 59 lDc5+ 'it>d5 60 lLlb3 60 lDd3 is met by 60 . . . lDf4+ 6 1 lDxf4+ exf4 62 b7 c I ='i' 6 3 b8='i' � h l # and 60 b7 by 60 . . . c 1 ='i' 6 1 b8='i' 'ii'h 1 #. 60 ... 'i»c6 61 g2 'it>xb6 0 : I
94
Endgame Battles Endgame Battles 95
KM 1 8/2 : I ) Black to play
KM 1 8/2: 2) Black to play Month 1 8IWeek 3: Open d-and c-files
KM 1 8/2: 3) Black to play
KM 1 8/2: 4) Black to play
Positions in which both sides have had the d- and c-pawns exchanged are very common indeed and often involve the exchange of queens as well . In many cases these positions will assume a drawish character be cause the exchange of rooks will also often follow. But should one side have a lead in development he might penetrate the opponent's de fences with a rook and develop a serious initiative. In the following two games this is precisely what happens.
Again very ambitious but rather weakening. 10 ltJf3 was better.
10 ... iLb6 1 1 'itxd8 1:txd8 1 2 ltJf3 iLd7!
Threatening to exploit the loose position of White's pieces with 1 3 . . . :'cS. Over the next few moves White has to be very careful.
13 iLd2 :'c8
Botvinnik - Balashov Hastings 1 966-7 1 c4 ltJf6 2 ltJc3 e6 3 d4 iLb4 4 e3 0-0 5 iLd3 dS 6 a3 dxc4 7 iLxc4 iLd6
A 1 812: a) Black to play
1 4 ltJeS
The only move, 1 4 iLd3 loses a pawn after 1 4 . . . iLxe3 Black's best move is now 14 ... iLeS! after which White could only keep the balance with 1 5 �e2 tOc6 16 ltJxc6 iLxc6 1 7 :'hg l iLxg2 IS iLxe6. The fol lowing simpli fication eases White's defence.
14 ... ltJg4 l S ltJxg4 :'xc4 1 6 4.JeS :'c7 17 4.Jxd7 ltJxd7 1 8 'it>e2 ltJf6 1 9 :'ac l :'d8 20 :'hd 1 :'cd7 2 1 iLel ltJdS?!
A I S/2: b) White to play
8 f4
An attempt to exploit the relative inexperience of his young opponent as Botvinnik admitted himself in his notes. In fact it turns out to be a psychological error as Balashov reacts very well . White should play
S 4.Jf3 .
8 ... c S ! 9 d xcS iLxcS 1 0 b 4
This loses time after which the ac tive position of White's king finally starts to become significant. Black should play something like 2 1 . . . 'it>f8 with a likely draw in prospect and not 2 1 . . . ltJg4 22 lhd7 Ihd7 23 ltJa4! etc.
22 ltJxdS :'xdS 23 :'xdS :'xdS
23 ... exd5 is better but Black didn 't want an isolated pawn. 24 a4 f6?
96
Endgame Battles Endgame Battles 97
This puts Black in serious trouble as White's rook now penetrates his ranks He should play 24 ... 1%d7 25 a5 �c7 with a defensible position.
35 e5+ �d7 36 ng8 (5 37 nxg7+ '>t>d8 38 J:g8+ d7 39 l:rh8 .lte7 40 �d4 ne2+ 41 'iii>d3 .l::{a 2 42 .l::{ a8 1 ;0
In the second game we see another World Champion in action, Anatoly Karpov. But on this occa sion we see the rare sight of him being on the receiving end of a masterly technical performance: Ribli - Karpov Amsterdam 1 980
25 as �d8 26 1%e8 �f7 26 ... a6 is met by 27 b5! axb5 28 a6 bxa6 29 �a5 etc. 27 e4 nd7 28 bS �e7 29 .id2 �d6 30 na8 b6 Now Black gets a weak a-pawn which with bishops on the board is hopeless for him. He should play 30 ... �c5 3 1 .lte3 .ltxe3 32 q.oxe3 b6 33 axb6 axb6 34 l:tb8 would offer better practical chances than the game. 31 a6 .ieS 32 .ie3 t>d6 34 ne8 l:te7? A time-trouble error which shortens Black's resistance.
1 d4 li::lf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 dS 4 �g2 fLe7 5 li::l fJ 0-0 6 0-0 dxe4 7 'ifc2 a6 8 �xe4 b5 9 'Wc2 �b7 10 �f4 li::ld 5 1 1 tLlc3 tLlxf4 1 2 gxf4 li::ld 7 13 l:tfd 1 'We8 14 tLle4! A significant improvement by Ribli which gives White an edge. 1 4 . . . .ixt:4 1 5 ifxe4 c5? 1 6 tLlg5! wins the exchange and I 5 ... li::lf6 16 ifc6 leaves B lack facing c-file pressure. 1 4 ... cS 15 dxeS li::lx eS 1 6 tLlxcs 'i'xcs 1 6 ... .ixc5 1 7 Ilacl .ie7 1 8 LDe5! also leaves Black facing seri ous difficulties. 1 7 1!VxeS fLxcs 18 Ilac l nfe8 19 tLle5!
In the later game Gavrikov Azmaiparashvili, USSR 1 98 1 , Black attempted to strengthen Karpov's play with 20 ... 1%c7 White neverthe less maintained an edge with 2 1 e3 nac8 22 .l::{d 7 a5 23 b3 f6 24 Ilxc7 Ilxc7 25 li::l o cj;f7 26 li::ld4 b4 2 7 li::lb 5 .l::{c6 28 O . 2 1 li::lfJ .its 2 1 ... cj;f7 22 .l::{d7+ �e7 23 ncc7 is unpleasant. 22 e3 g6 22 ... '>t>f7 23 .l::{d 7+ '>t>e8 24 .l::{cc7 is once again better for White. 23 b3
23 ... �b4 After 23 ... fLa3 White plays 24 nxc8+ nxc8 25 1%d7 .l::{c2 26 tLld4 and now 26 ... nxa2 is met by 27 tLlxe6 and 26 ... .l::{d 2 by 27 Ilb7' rather than 27 .l::{d 8+?! �f7 28 ltJxe6 Ilxa2! . 24 h3 24 .l::{x c8+ nxc8 25 Ild7 is no longer good as after 25 ... Ilc2 26 lDd4 nxa2 27 LDxe6 �e 1 · Black counterattacks a and 2 8 l:tg7+ �h8 29 l:rf7 can be met by 29 ... h5. 24 ts 25 tLld4 �f7 26 a4! bxa4 27 bxa4 fLcs ••.
1 9 ... .ltxg2 20 '>t>xg2 f6
If 27 . . . a5 there is 28 ltJb5 .l::{x c I (28 ... '>t>e7 29 tLlc7 nab8 30 nc6+-) 29 n xc I .l::{e 8 30 �O with advantage. 28 ne4! �a3 28 . . . �xd4 29 ncxd4 .l::{ e 8 30 nb4 is also very unpleasant for Black. 29 nxc8 nxc8 30 nb 1 .l::{ c4 30 ... nc7 3 1 .l::{b 8 sti ll sees White 's rook come in . . 3 1 .l::{ b7+ �e7 32 Ila7 es 32 ... nxa4?? 33 tLlc6 wins a piece. 33 fxeS fxeS 34 tLlfJ .l::{ x a4 35 lLlxes+ '>t>f6 36 tLle6 �cs 37 .l::[ x h7 JIa2 38 WfJ as 39 h4 a4 40 '>t>e4! Unexpectedly conjuring up mat ing threats.
40 ... �f8 40 ... JIxa 4 1 tLld8+- threatens mate with 42 JIf7. 41 JIa7 �d6 42 f4 JIh2 43 JIa6 �f7 44 tLleS+ fLxes 45 '>t>xes Wg7 46 JIa7+ �h6 47 JIxa4 nxh4 48 '>t>f6 Ilhs 49 e4 JIh4 SO es JIhs 5 1 e6 Ilf5+ 5 2 '>t>e7 '>t>g7 5 3 '>t>d6 nts 54 1%a7+ '>t>f6 55 JId7 1 ;0
98 Endgame Battles Endgame Ballles 99 KM I 8/3 : I ) W hite to play
KM I 8/3: 2) White to play
Month I S/Week 4: Winning 'Drawn ' Games
KM I 8/3 : 3) White to play
KM 1 8/3 : 4) White to play
This will be the final week de voted to endgames, I hope that the last couple of months have shown how difficult and interesting they can be. The greatest masters treat this phase of the game with the greatest care and attention and can often eek out wins from what seems like unpromising material. In the following games we see Karpov win two 'totally drawn' positions with logical and wel l di rected play whilst his opponents seemed to be somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed. There is nothing magical about what he did in these games, it was simply a question of patience, determination and excel lent technique:
Estevez - Karpov Leningrad Izt 1 973
A 1 8/3 : a) White to play
A 1 8/3 : b) White to play
1 d4 lOf6 2 c4 e6 3 �f3 d5 4 �c3 �e7 5 �g5 0-0 6 e3 h6 7 �h4 b6 S �e2 �b7 9 �xf6 �xf6 1 0 cxd5 exd5 1 1 b4 c6 1 2 0-0 a5 13 a3 'iVd6 14 1fb3 axb4 15 axb4 �d7 16 J:[fd l J:[xal 17 J:[xal �e7
Putting pressure on the b-pawn l ike this is a risky attempt to create some problems as it al lows White to activate his pieces. 1 7 ... J:[a8 1 8 J:[xa8+ �xa8 1 9 'it'a4 �b7 20 'it'a7 �8 would be rather drawish.
IS %%.a7 l:tbS 1 9 �a2 �cS 20 'ilrc2 �f6 21 lOci .!DnJ 22 �d3 �f5 23 'it'a4 tDd7 24 %%.as IhaS 25 'iVxa8+ c;i;Jh7 26 ika6 g6 27 ifb7 'it>g7 2S h3 h5 29 'iVa7 �dS 30 ikb7 'iVc7 3 1 'i'aS iLe7 3 2 �de5 iLxb4 33 'iVxc6?!
Assuming perhaps that a draw would be automatic after the queens come off; in fact it helps Black re lieve his position and the two bishops come inore into their own. 33 �xc6 was better when I prefer White.
33 ... 'iVxe6 34 �xe6 iLd6
The game has been simplified to what looks l ike a fairly even end game. White has the more harmoni ous pawn structure but Black's b-pawn is passed. Black has the two bishops though these are not es pecially effective given the clOSed nature of the position.
35 �b5?
The bishop proves to be a poor blockader of Black's b-pawn. White should play 35 tDa7 ! followed by tDb5 when the knight would be doing an excellent job.
35 ... �f6 36 �d2 ? !
White i s drifting. He should play 36 lOee5.
36 ... .!De8!
Setting about removing the b pawn's blockader in preparation for its advance.
37 f3 lOe7 38 �e2 iLc2 39 c;i;Jf2 iLa4 40 lLle5 b5 4 1 .!Dd3?
White's sealed move and another inaccuracy. He should play 4 1 g4!
100
Endgame Battles Endgame Hallies
and after 4 l . . . h4 advance his king side pawn majority with- 42 f4. Alexander Kotov suggested ariother good plan, the blockade of Black's b-pawn at b3 with 4l It:\c6 foil-owed by 42 lt:\a5 .
41
•..
h4!
Fixing g2 as a weakness.
42 lt:\b2?
Continuing to drift. Once again White can try to blockade the b pawn with 42 It:\c l . The other plan is a counterattack with 42 e4.
42 ... ..ib4! 43 It:\b l ..ib3 44 ..id3 �c4 45 e4? !
White finally understands that a plan is required but this rather be lated activity backfires. He should sit tight with 45 <;!;>e2 or 45 f4.
48 It:\bc3 ..id7 49 It:\c4 �c7 50 It:\c5?
45 ... g5!
46 exd5 �xd5 47 lt:\dl R.e6!
With the structure having changed Kalpov sets about ,naking a new rlan. Over the next few moves he arranges his pieces So that they put pressure on White's isolated d-pawn whilst preparing the advance of the b-pawn.
Once again a careless move by White and this time the decisive mistake. White should play either 34 �h6 or exchange one of the kingside pawns with 34 h5.
50 ..ixc5! 51 dxe5 It:\e6 52 It:\e3 b4 53 ltJe4 b3 54 It:\d2 It:\xe5 55 i.bl �f6! 56 �e3 0: 1 . .•.
Ljubojcvic - Karpov Milan 1 975 1 e4 e5 2 It:\f3 It:\c6 3 i.b5 a6 4 .i.a4 lLlf6 5 0-0 .i.e7 6 d4 exd4 7 eS It:\e4 8 It:\xd4 0-0 9 It:\f5 d5 10 exd6 i.xfS I I dxe7 It:\xe7 12 �b3 'iVxd 1 13 nxdl nad8 1 4 nel
Further restraining White's king side. With his next move White leaves himself with an isolated d pawn and opens the position for Black's bishops a l ittle more.
34 �e4 ?
White cracks under the prcssure this leads to the loss of a pawn. He had to centralise the king with 50 �e3.
After playing 56 �e3 White's flag fel l before he could press his clock. Black could win either with 56 ... ..if5 ! or aim to mop up White's kingside pawns with 56 . . . �c6 57 �d4 lt:\e6+ 58 �c3 lt:\f4 .
It seems quite surprising that a draw wasn't agreed at this point: presumably neither player offered one, could it have been out of pride? The position is really quite equal and should not be lost by a strong grandmaster.
14 ltJe5 15 It:\c3 nd7 16 i.e3 "Llxb3 1 7 exb3 lUd8 1 8 lbd l (6 1 9 :txd7 l:bd7 2 0 ndl nxd l+ 2 1 It:\xd l ltJd5 •..
All of a sudden it isn't equal any more. The text threatens to win a pawn with 22 . . . !lL'b I 2J a3 .\teL Ilnd if White prevents thin with 23 It:\c3 Black can play 23 ... It:\xe3. Lj\1bojevic mllkes the right decision in giving up a pawn to reach an endgame with opposite colour bishops.
101
34 ... a4! 35 h5 gxh5 36 gxh5 f5+ 37 �c3 'iti>d5 38 h6 �c4 39 f4 �b3
22 �d2 �bl 23 a3 �e2 24 It:\e3 It:\xe3 25 i.xc3 �xb3 26 f3 �f7 27 �f4 e6 28 �d6
This still doesn ' t lose but White is getting careless. He should probably central ise his king with 28 �f2. 28 ... <;!;>e6 29 �rs g6 30 �f1 as
31 'iti>e3?!
Again slightly careless as this gives Black the opportunity to put his pawns on dark squares. He should play 3 1 �c5 and 32 �b6.
3 1 ... b6 32 h4 e5! 33 g4?
This does l ittle but weaken the kings ide making it easier for Black to penetrate on this flank with his king. White should bring his bishop back into play with 33 �h6 fol lowed by 34 �f4.
33 ... i.d l
40 �g7?!
The best practical chance was 40 �d2 after which 40 ... �xb2 4 1 �xd l �xa3 4 2 �c2 �b4 4 3 �b2 holds on. Black needs to find 4 l . . . c 4 ! 42 �e7 b5 43 �f8 c 3 4 4 �g7 b4 ' 45 axb4 a3 46 �e2 �c2-+.
40 ... �c2! 41 �e5 �h5 42 .i.f6
iLf7 43 �e5 .i.b3 44 �g7 b5 45
iLrs
Or 45 .i.c3 b4 46 axb4 cxb4 47 i.xb4 �xb2 followed by pushing the a-pawn. .
45 ... c4 46 iLg7 b4! 47 �d4
47 axb4 c3 48 bxc3 iLc4 49 b5 iLxb5 would again cost White his bishop.
47 .:: c3! 48 bxc3 bxa3 49 c4 a2 50 �e5 Wbl 51 Wb4 a l ="ii' 52 iLxa l Wxa l 53 e5 Wb2 54 e6 a3 55 e7 .i.e6 56 'it>e5 a2 57 'iti>d6 �e8 0: 1
1 02
Endgame Battles
KM I 8/4:
I ) White to play
KM 1 8/4: 2) White to play
7
KM I 8/4 : 3) White to play
A I 8/4: a) Black to play
KM I 8/4 : 4) Black to play
A 1 8/4: b) Black to play
Masters of Attack
One of the best ways to improve talent with deep preparation and your chess is to study the games of a research. single great player whose style of Month 1 9IWeek 1 : play most closely resembles your own. In so doing you will get many Rudolf Spielmann-Gambiteer insights into how to deal with vari ous practical and theoretical Rudolf Spielmann ( 1 883 - 1 942) was the last gambiteer to be problems. The way that people think about successful at the highest levels of chess is extremely varied, in fact competitive chess. The construction everyone has their own way of try of Spielmann's games was old ing to find their next move. It can fashioned even by 1 920s standards, also be very difftcult to define his style being more reminiscent of someone's style of play as many the gambiteers of the romantic 1 9th great players are equally adept at all century. Spielmann ' s results were highly sorts of positions. In spite of this I have identified erratic due partly to his style of play what I consider to be the four main but mainly to his extremely sensi categori'es of player, masters of at tive temperament. He could easily tack, strategists, technicians and become depressed by a defeat and tacticians. i will look at each of sink to the bottom of a tournament these categories in tum, examining for good. But he could equally prothe styles of outstanding Grand . duce the most stunningly brilliant games: masters from each of them. My ' Masters Of Attack' are Ru Spielmann - Tarrasch dolf Spielmann, Leonid Stein, Mik Karlsbad 1 923 hail Tal and Garry Kasparov. This particular choice is designed to il 1 e4 e5 2 f4 lustrate the different ways in which Typical of Spielmann'S style. Tar players who like to attack set about building their game. In Spie lmann rasch declines the gambit in an at we have an old-fashioned gambiteer tempt, no doubt, to curb his whose methods were, to put it adversary's aggressive intentions. 2 �c5 3 lDn d6 4 c3 �g4 mildly, direct. Stein infused posi Opening theory doesn'! have a tions with tension, Tal would fluent ly pursue the initiative whilst very high opinion of this move, pre Kasparov backs up his great natural ferring 4 . . . ttJf6 instead. ...
104
Masters ofA ttack Masters
5 rxe5 dxe5 6 'ili'a4+ �d7 7 'ili'e2 ltJc6 8 b4 �d6 9 �c4 ltJf6 10 d3 ltJe7 I I 0-0 ltJg6 1 2 �e3 b5 13 �b3 as 1 4 a3 axb4 15 exb4 0-0 After 1 5 ... �xb4? White plays 1 6 ltJg5 0-0 1 7 ltJx f7 lhf7 1 8 �xf7+ h2 �a7 20 �g5 h6 2 1 �xr6 �xf6 22 ltJrd4 'ili'd6 2 3 ltJf5 �xf5 24 J:txf5 ltJf4 25 J:tn g6? Allowing White the chance of some remarkable pyrotechnics. Black should play 25 . . . ltJe6\ clos ing the a2-g8 diagonal.
26 J:tlxf4! exf4 27 eS! 'ili'e7 28 J:tr6! h7 30 d4 ! , forcing Black to give up his queen with 30 . . . 'ijxe2. But Black could detend more tenaciously with 28 . . . r.t>h8. 29 d4 �xd4 30 �xf7! �xe5 Or 30 ... J:txfl 3 1 'ifxg6+ 'iPf8 32 ltJxd4 J:txf6 33 exf6 'i'f7 34 'ii'xh6+ �e8 3S 'ifxf4-+-. 3 1 'i'xg6+ 1 : 0 Later i n his can::t:r Spielmann made a conscious effort to play in a more mature and restrained style. In
this respect the following game can be seen as an abysmal failure: Spielmann - S.Rubinstein Vienna 1 933
of A ttack 1 05
and Black missed it when it was right under his nose . . 1 3 ... g6 1 4 h5!
lLIb4 with excellent counterplay-a' nother reason why 1 3 �c2 was better. 18 'ike2
I I . .. �xg5 Black has little choice but to ac cept the sacrifice as 14 .. , r.t>g7 1 5 hxg6 J:th8 1 6 ltJxfl J:txh 1 + 1 7 'i.t>d2 J:txa 1 1 8 ltJxd8 �xd8 1 9 'ili'f5 �f6 20 �S is hopeless. Yet Black could have tried 1 4 ... 'i.t>xgS after which neither I S f4+ 'it>h6 1 6 hxg6 + 'it>g7 1 7 lIh7+ �g8 1 8 0-0-0 �g7 nor I S . . . 'it'g4 ! ? 16 ttJd l �h4+ 1 7 ltJf2+ �xf2+ 1 8 g7 16 lIh7+ 'it'f6 1 7 O-O-O! The best chance. Attempting to recover one of the p ieces with 1 7 f4 would be met by 1 7 . . . �h4+ 1 8 J:txh4 llh8, taking over the h-file. Had White played 1 3 'ifc2 he would have been able to meet this line with 19 'iff2! and maintained a strong attack. 1 7 ... e4? After this White's attack becomes irresistible. Black could have p layed 1 7 ... �a6! 1 8 'ifc2 ltJc6 1 9 dxc5
The decisive breakthrough. Black's king is now hopelessly exposed. 20 ... dxe4 Or 20 ... r.t>e8 2 1 eS �e7 22 gxfl+ 'i.t>d7 23 g4 with a massive attack. 21 lDxe4 r.t>d7 22 d5 ltJa6 23 g7! J:t g8 Or if 23 ... lIe8 there is 24 g8='iI' llxg8 25 J:txf7+ �e7 26 d6+24 lIh6! �xg7 25 lId6+ We7 26 'il'xc4+! An important check which de cides the game by breaking the coordination of Black's rooks. 26 . . . lLIcs i s met b y 2 7 llxd8 J:taxu8 (or 27 . . . 'it'xd8 28 lLId6+-) 28 b4+- so there is l ittle choice. 26 ... <;Pb8 27 llxd8+ J:txd8 28
1 d4 ttJr6 2 e4 e6 3 ltJc3 d5 4 ttJO ' �e7 5 .i.g5 0-0 6 e3 b6 7 �d3 �b7 8 �xf6 �xf6 9 cxd5 exd5
10 h4! ? The gambiteer in Spielmann shows himself with this undisguised threat to sacrifice the bishop on h7. Should Black play 10 ... h6 White would continue with I I g4 in order to prise open lines with g4-gS. After 10 ... g6 he would continue with 1 1 hS J:te8 1 2 hxg6 hxg6 1 3 'ifc2 ttJd7 14 �xg6! fxg6 15 'l'xg6+ �g7 (or 15 . . . 'iPf8 16 ltJg5 �xg5 1 7 J:th7!+-) 1 6 ttJg5 'iff6 1 7 llhR+ 'it'xh8 III 'ikh7/1. . Black would have been well ad vised to respond with the calm 10 ... J:te8 but instead he launches a cOllnternttack in the centre: 10 c5 1 1 �xh7+!? h6 13 'i'd3 1 3 'i'c21 would have been better in order to side-step the possibility of 1 7 ... �a6. Of course it was very difficult to foresee this improvement •.•
106
Masters ofA ttack Masters
KM J 91 1 : 1 ) White to play
KM 1 91 1 : 4) White to play
Leonid Stein ( 1 934-73) is one of my own favourite players. One of the leading Soviet Grandmasters of the 1 960s he came into prominence relatively late in life and then died tragically young. Stein's style of play was very dy namic and aggressive yet unlike Spielmann and Tal, he' did not so much try to attack right out of the opening as infuse the position with tension. So in the early part IJf the game he might avoid the sharpest lines and instead steer the game to wards tense and complicated posi tions which would suddenly ignite in the middle-game. It was there that h is tremendous combinative gift would show itself to advantage: Stein - Evans Amsterdam Izt 1 964
A 1 9/ 1 '
1I) White to play
107
KM 1 9/1 : 2) White to play Month 1 9IWeek 2: Leonid Stein-Dynamic Currents
KM J 9/ l : 3) White to play
ofA llack
. A 1 9!1 : b) White to play
1 e4 e5 2 lDfJ lDc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 lDf6 5 0-0 �e7 6 J:[el b5 7 i.b3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 lDb8 1 0 d3 A fairly restrained move ( 1 0 d4 is more usual) which in many ways is rather typical of Stc :n. He usually preferred to switch the main empha sis of the struggle to the m iddle game rather than indulge in theoreti cal discussions. 10 ... c5 I I lDbd2 �c7 1 2 iLc2 lDc6 13 lDn d5 A forthright but committal con tinuation. 1 3 ... ::re8 or 1 3 ... i.b7 would have been more solid. 1 4 lDe3 dxe4 More or less forced after which the d5 square is a serious weakness. After 14 ... d4 there is 15 lLxi5! and 14 ... nd8 can be met by 1 5 exd5
liJxd5 1 6 liJxd5 l:!.xd5 1 7 d4 threat ening 1 8 �e4. 15 dxe4 �d8 16 'iife2 g6 Defending against the threats of both J 7 liJf5 and 17 liJd5 lDxd5 1 8 exd5 lhd5 1 9 'iWe4. But neverthe less Black has serious latent wea knesses which Stein proceeds to exploit. 17 a4 nb8 18 axb5 axbS 1 9 liJgS h6 20 liJdS!
Just as Black might have hoped he was consolidating the position it ex plodes in his face. From here on Stein just never lets up landing one blow after another on Black's shaky defence. 20 ... !Dxd5 2 1 exd5
21 ... hxg5 There is little choice. If 2 1 ... l:!.xd5 White has 22 'iWfJ+- and 2 1 . . "'!
.
J08 Masters ofAttack Masters ofA ttack 1 09 �xg5 22 �xg5 hxg5 23 dxc6 �xc6 24 'ii'x e5 �b7 25 �xg5 (25 ... rId2 26 �e4) wins a pawn without any apparent compensation. 22 dxc6 'ii'x c6 23 �xe5 �b7 24 'ii'g3 'ii'f6 Necessary in order to defend the g-pawn but now comes the point of 20 ltJd5 which Stein must have seen in advance. '
31 �Ii+! xli Everything fits in perfectly. 3 1 ... 'it;f8 can be met by 32 iLc5+ and 3 1 ... 'it;h8 by 32 'ifh4+ 'ii'h 7 33 ii'xf6+ etc. 32 �c7+ 'it;g6 33 �xd8 �c6 34 iLd4 'Ii 35 'ifd6 1 : 0
The fo llowing game IS I n some respects rather similar but this time Stein is playing Black. Once again he conjures up a devastating attack, this time using his beloved King's Indian Defence. Eliskases - Stein Mar del Plata 1 966 1 d4 l2Jf6 2 c4 g6 3 l2Jc3 �g7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 �e3 b6
25 rIxe7! �xe7 26 �xg5 f6 27 �f4 The second point. White is hitting both the g6 pawn and the rook on b8. 27 ... rIa8 28 rIxa8 .i.xa8 29 �xg6 �g7 30 �e3 c4 After 30 ... rIc8 there is 3 I .i.h6 't1Vxh6 32 .i.f5+, winning back the exchange. Now comes the final point of White's attacking plan.
• .
A rather old-fashioned looking reply which would be more ap propriate in a Queen's Gambit De clined than the dynamic King's Indian. He should probably play 7 �d3 . 7 ... c5 8 l2Jge2 And not 8 �d3? 'Og4 9 fxg4 exd4 which recovers the pawn with a tre mendous position. 8 ... l2Jc6 9 g3? Another pedestrian developing move which shows a lack of ap preciation of the danger White faces. He should probably h:Jve played 9 d5. 9 ... e5 ! 10 dxe5 l2JxeS 1 1 l2Jg J ? A horribly retrograde move after which White's position goes rapid ly downhill. I I l2Jf4 was more natural though Eliskases might have been concerned about 1 1 .. . g5 1 2 l2Jfd5 g4. 11 rIe8 1 2 �e2 a6 13 t!J'd2 �e6 14 b3 l2Jc6 1 5 �d l
but, in the context of the King's Indian, Ihoroughly modem. 16 �xd4 cxd4 1 7 'Oce2 For the time being the pawn is im mune as 1 7 �xd4 loses to 1 7 ... l2Jxe4 18 'ir'xe4 �f5 etc. With his next move Stein offers it once again and this time it has to be taken. 17 ... d3! 18 'ir'xd3 If 1 8 l2Jf4 there is 1 8 dS, smashing open the centre. 18 ... b5 1 9 l2Jf4 After 1 9 cxb5 axb5 Black's queen 's rook would enter the fray. But White would have been beller advised to play 1 9 l2Jd4. 1 9 ... �f5 20 'iVn
•..
The double fianchctto l inc was popular at the time but has since been abandoned by most King's In dian players. This game was played in the days when it was assumed that Black had to prepare ... c7-c5 with something but in �urrent prac tice it has been discovered that 6 . . . c 5 can be played immediately. After 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 fi'xd8 rIxd8 9 �xc5 l2Jc6 Black gets a prolonged initialive for Ihe pawn. 7 rIel
I S ... l2Jd4! A blow reminiscent of Stein's 20 ltJd5 in the previous game. Over the next few moves he doesn 't count the cost in either pieces or pawns but plays single-mindedly to smash open the positon with White's king in the centre. The theme is very old
20 ... �xe4! The culmination of Black's play over the last few moves as the last ramparts of the defense are swept away. 2 1 fxe4 'Oxe4 is horrific for White since in addition to the vari ous dIscovered checks Black threatens 22 ... 'i'a5+. 2 1 'Oge2 �b7 22 'OdS White is staggering on in a hope less position and by now he had time-trouble to add to his woes. The rest is a massacre: 22 ... �xd5 23 cxd5 l2Jxd5 24 b4 l2Jxb4 25 �b3 l2Jd3+ 26 'it;d2 l2Jxel 27 l2Jxcl rIc8 28 �d3 'i'f6 0 : 1
1 10
Masters ofA ttack
KM I 9/2 : I ) Black to play ·
KM I 9/2: 3) Black to play
Masters ofA lfack 1 1 1 KM 1 9/2: 2) White to play
KM 1 9/2: 4) Black to play
Month 1 9IWeek 3: Mikhail Tal-The I nitiative Mikhail Tal ( 1 936-92) is thought by many to have been the greatest genius the game has ever produced. He c limbed to the chess summit in record time to ' become World Champion at the age of 24 but then failed to live up to his early promise due to persistent problems with his health. Tal 's sight of the board and speed of calculation was just phenomenal and this, combined with a natural instinct for the initiative and attack, made him, at his best, virtually un stoppable. Nobody could l ive with him in wild positions.
Tal - Geller USSR Ch, Riga 1 958 1 e4 e5 2 lLlo lLlc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 lbf6 5 0-0 �e7 6 net b5 7 �b3 0-0 8 c3 d6 9 h3 lLla5 1 0 �c2 c5 1 1 d4 �b7 12 b4 cxb4 13 cxb4 lOc4 1 4 lLlbd2 d5 1 5 exd5 exd4
IS . . lOxd5 16 lOxc4 bxc4 1 7 lOxe5 lOxb4 1 8 lLlxc4 lLlxc2 1 9 'ikxc2 l:I.c8 20 'ikd3 leaves Black with inadequate compensation for the pawn. .
•
A 1 9/2: II) White to play
A 1 9/2: b) Black to play
1 6 lLlxc4 bxc4 17 ii'xd4
1 7 ... �xb4
After 17 . . . lLlxd5 White has I 8 "e4 g6 1 9 �h6 lIe8 20 �a4 lLlc3 2 1 "xb7 lLlxa4 22 'i'c6! and after 17 ... �xdS 1 8 lLle5 gives him good attacking chances. Geller's choice is the most reasonable and gives White the problem of how to defend both the rook on e I and the pawn on d S . Tal's solution i s inspired, sacrificing the exchange for lasting pressure.
18 l:I.b) ! �xel
It's an ofTer Black can't refuse as 1 8 ... lLlxd5 is met by 19 �xh7+ 'iti>xh7 20 lLlg5+ ..t>g8 21 'ikh4 lOf6 22 nxb4+-.
19 lIxb7 ':e8
Black might have been well ad· vised to play 19 . . . ii'xd S ' ? 20 1i'xd5 lLlxdS 21 lLlxe l l:I.ab8 22 l:[xb8 llxb8 with a drawish endgame. GeI ler's move may be objectively cor rect but it is surely an unwise choice against Tal.
20 .d6 'ikc8
Geller is playing well and prob ably expected 2 1 l:I.c7 ii'e6 22 �g5 lLld5 23 l:tcS lLlc3 with good counterplay. Tal answers by throw ing gasoline onto the fire.
2 1 �g5 ! ?
A truly amazing move, giving u p a whole rook t o keep the initiative. Black in tum finds the best reply.
J J2
Masters ofAllack Masters
2 1 ... 11e2!
After 21 ... �xb7 Tal intended 22 .bf6 gxf6 23 �h4 �xf2+ 24 �xf2 'ilib6+ 25 liJd4 "fIxd 6 26 "fIxh7+ 'i!tfB 27 "fIh6+-.
22 11c7 "fIe6 23 ltJxel l::tx el+ 24 �h2 11d8! 25 J..xf6 gxf6??
A fier a maenific.ently c ondu cted defence, Geller finally slips up. He should have played 25 . .. "fIxf6 after which 26 �xf6 gxf6 27 d7 � g7 (and not 27 ... �fB? 28 J..x h7 11e2 29 �g3 11xa2 30 �f5) 28 �f5 11e5 29 11c8 11xf5 30 l::rx d8 l::rd 5 would probably be drawn according to Tal .
The following game was the first in which Tal unleashed onc of his famous speculative sacrifices. Would the mighty Botvinnik succeed in the defence where so many of his col leagues had failed?
25 J.. f3 b6 26 �d l fi'xb2 27 l:ta2 11xc3 28 11xb2 11xc l 29 �e2 (and not 29 �d2? �e4 ') 29 . . . 118c3 with compensation for the qu een.
Botvinnik - Tal Moscow Weh 1 960 1 c4 ltJf6 2 ltJf3 g6 3 g3 �g7 4 �g2 0-0 5 d4 d6 6 ltJc3 ltJbd7 7 0-0 e5 8 e4 c6 9 h3 fi'b6 1 0 d5 cxd5 1 1 cxd5 ltJc5 1 2 ltJel J.. d 7 13 ltJd3 ltJxd3 14 'i!fxd3 11fc8 15 11bl ltJh5 1 6 J.. e3 'ilfb4 17 fi'e2 l:tc4!? 1 8 11fcl l:tac8 1 9 <j;>h2 f5 20 exf5 �xf5 2 1 11al
ofA !lack
J J3
25 . . . J.. x b 1 26 11x b I �c2 27 J.. e4 ' 11xe4 28 ltJxe4 ' 'i!fxb l 29 tiJ x d6 11fS 30 'i!fe6+ 'i!th8 3 I ltJf7+ lhf7 3 2 �xf7 'i!ff5 33 �xf5 gxf5 34 'oPg3) 26 'oPg2 J.. x b I 27 11xb I 'i!fc2 2 8 J..e4 ' nxe4 2 9 itJxe4 'ilixb I 3 0 ltJxd6! ! J.. xd6 3 1 'i!fe6+ 'i!tg7 3 2 �d7 + ' etc.
25 ... fxe2 26 11b3 11d4! 27 �el
Or 27 J.. e3 11xc3 28 l:tbxc3 11d I decides matters.
27 ... J..e 5+ 28 'i!tgl
23 . . . � x b 2 ?
Black in turns slips up. He should
have played first 23 . . . .ITl.e5 ! after which 24 f3 'i!fxb2 25 ltJd I "fId4 (25 . . . �xa l ! ? 26 l:txa l J.. xa l is also worth considering) 26 11xc4 11xc4 27 11c 1 l::rx cl 28 J.. x c I 'i!fxd5 29 �fl is approximately equal.
24 11ab l ! f3 !
The only move. 2 4 . . . J.. x b I i s bad because of 25 :Ixb l �c2 26 �e4 11xe4 27 �xe4 'i!fxd2 28 fi'e6+-.
26 11e7 fi'xd6+
Geller had missed that 26 . . . "fIxe7 is answered by 27 "fIg4 +. Now he is simply left a piece down.
27 "fIxd6 11xd6 28 11xel 11d2 29 11et l:lxfl 30 .ITl.e4 l::rx a2 31 �xc4 05 32 :c8+ g7 33 l:tc7 1 :0
Tal's win over Botvinnik in their match in 1 960 was a tremendous clash of styles and personalities, the serious, scientific Botvinnik against the devil-may-care Tal. Many lead ing Grandmasters were hoping that the defects in Tal's 'tricky' style would finally be exposed but the public were oveIjoyed when he emerged the winner.
The position looks slightly better for White, he has more space, there is a hole on e4 ond Block's p i ccc ac· tivity luuk:; lilt: a tt:mporary phe nomenon. Rather than surrender the initiative Tal finds an extraordinary idea: Giving up a piece in order to acti vate his Icing's bishop and weaken White's kingside. 23 a3! "fIb3 24 �xa7 ! was better after which Black should play 24 . . . J..e5 ! (and not 24 . .. b6? 2 5 .fi'd l !+-)
•..
J.. f4
Black could have won much more quickly with 28 . . . 11xc3 ! after which 29 11 bx c 3 11d 1 30 11c4 is met by 30 . . . J.. f4 ! (3 1 11xf4 11xc 1 3 2 f3 11xe I + 33 'i!tf2 11g l !-+). Tal may h :l ve missed this because the noise from the spectators forced the ar biters to move the game to a closed room.
29 ltJxe2 l:txcl 30 ltJxd4 11xel + 3 1 J..O J..e4 ! 32 ltJe2 J.. e 5 33 f4 J.. f6 34 11xb7 J..x d5 35 l:tc7 Or 35 l:txa7 lhe2 36 J.. x e2 J..d4+
2 1 ... ltJf41?
22 gxf4 exf4 23 J..d 2?
28
etc.
25 l:txb2?
Botvinnik fails to meet the chal lenge. Salo Flohr pointed out that White could have obtained a clear advantage with 25 J.. x f3 ! J.. e 5+ (or
35 ... J..x a2 36 11xa7 J.. c4 3 7 11a8+ <j;> f7 38 11a7+ �e6 39 1133 d 5 40 'i!t fl J..h 4+ 4 1 'i!tg2 <Ji>d6 42 4Jg3 J..xg3 43 J.. x c4 d xc4 44 �xg3 �d5 45 1137 c3 46 11c7 �d4 4 7 l:td7+ 0: 1
1 14
Masters ofAttack Masters
KM 1 9/3: I ) White to play
Month 1 9/Week 4 :
Preparation
A I 9/3: a) Black to play
1 15
KM I 9/3: 2) White to play
Garry Kasparov-Heavy Duty
KM I 9/3 : 3) White to play
ofA ttack
KM I 9/3 : 4) White to play
A 1 9/3 : b) White to play
The talent of Garry Kasparov (born in 1 963) was spotted at a very early age after which he received the very best training the Soviet Union had to offer. The result was the development of arguably the strongest player in history. Kasparov is the leading represen tative of the new generation of chess -player that has taken opening prep aration to fantastic new levels of de tail, aided not only by computer databases but a considerable amount of Grandmaster-power. Over the years he has assembled a team of seconds and opening analysts to de velop the most thoroughly analysed opening arsenal and he wins many games with home analysis alone. This factor, the chess equivalent of a virtually unreturnable tennis serve, has given Kasparov a clear advan tage in his games against his leading rivals. In addition to the analytical excel lence of his preparation, Kasparov is usually able to find the most un pleasant openings for his opponents to meet from a psychological per spective. In this he reminds us of his idol, Alexander Alekhine to whom he bears a great resemblance in his style of play. Here is the 7th game of his 1 993 World title match against Britain's Nigel Short in which he outplays his opponent from the opening and fi nishes matters with some brilliant attacking play.
Kasparov - Short London Weh 1993 1 e4 e5 2 4JO 4Je6 3 .i.b5 a6 4 .i.a4 4Jf6 5 0-0 .i.e7 6 J:rel b5 7 .ltb3 0-0
Threatening to play a Marshall . Attack (with 8 c3 d S ! ) was certainly good psychology on Short' s part so as to put Kasparov into the less comfortable role of defender. But Kasparov is having none of it and sidesteps Short's intention with the anti-Marshall l ine.
8 a4 .i.b7 9 d3 d6 10 4Jbd2 4Jd7
1 1 e3 4Je5 12 axb5 axb5 13 Iha8
.i.xa8 14 .i.e2 �f6 15 b4 4Je6 16 4J0 ! .i.b7
Black might have done better to play 16 ... dS ! ?
1 7 tOe3 g 6 1 8 .i.b3 .ltg7 19 h4 .i.e8
It was also worth considering 1 9 ... h S in order to prevent the further advance of White's h-pawn.
20 h5 <;i>h8 2 l liJd5 g5?!
This turns out badly. Black should probably have tried 2 1 ... gxhS, pre carious though this may be.
II 4Je3 4Jf4 23 g3 4Jxh5 24 4Jf5 �xf5 25 ed5 'it'd7
1 16
Masters ofAttack
26 .bg5 ! h6 Probably a mistake. After 26 . . . 'fixf5 White wins with 27 .i.d5 ' but Black had two superior possibilities in 26 ... .i.f6 and 26 ... lDf6. In either case the outcome would have been far from clear. Kasparov claimed that his next move was also a mistake, suggest ing instead that he should have played 27 'Otfg2 !? intending 28 J:[h I . His analysis continued: 27 ... 'fix f5 28 J:[h I 'i'g6 29 'bxe5 dxe5 30 'i'xh5 ! "xh5 3 1 J:[xh5 'Otfh7 32 .1l.e3 when White has a clear advantage. 27 (Dh4 (Df6 28 .i.xf6 .1l.xf6 29 'fih5 'Otfh7 30 (Dg2 Once again Kasparov was critical of his own play and suggested 30 (DO 'be7 3 1 d4 exd4 32 cxd4 after which 32 ... (Dg8 is forced. After 30 lDg2 the position is far from clear. 30 ... 0,e7 31 0,e3 0,g8 32 d4! exd4 33 cxd4 �xd4? The losing move. Black has to play 33 ... �g5 ! after which both 34 lLlfi and 34 f4 Af6 3 5 lLlg4 'iJg7 leave everything still to play for. 34 0,g4
Masters
40 'i!Vxg8+1 according to Averba kh. Also after the text White's attack comes crashing through.
35 0,xh6! �f6 Or 35 . . . lDxh6 36 'i'g5+ 'Otfh7 37 f6 inteliding 38 �c2+. 36 �xf7! 1 : 0 Both 36 . . . lDxh6 37 'i'g6+ and 36 ... J:[xf7 37 'fig6+ lead to mate. The following . game is a scary example of the depth of Kasparov's opening preparation. I t looks to me as if White's entire concept of 1 6 nb4 and 1 7 nxb7 had been pre pared beforehand 2nd it left Black with a deeply unpleasant positiul!. Perhaps Shirov could have defended better but he was clearly under ter rible pressure after the initial surprise. Kasparov - Shirov Horgen 1 994
34 ... 'Otfg7 After 34 ... �d8 there follows 35 f6! iLxf6 36 �f5+ 'iJg7 37 �c2 ne8 38 J:[xe8 'i'xe8 39 'ffh 7+ 'Otff8
1 c4 c5 2 lLlo e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 0,xd4 0,f6 5 0,c3 0,c6 6 0,db5 d6 7 �f4 eS Shirov, like Short, chooses a line in which Black tries to take the initi ative early on, ihis time at the cost of certain structural weaknesses rather than a pawn . Kasparov's
reaction is quite similar in that he chooses a line which limits Black's play rather than attempting to refute it from the outset. As the game proceeds it turns out that Kasparov has prepared this l ine in great depth. His original rook ma noeuvre on move 1 6 is followed by an astonishing exchange sacrifice. 8 �g5 a6 9 0,a3 b5 10 0,d5 .1l.e7 1 1 �xr6 .bf6 12 c3 .tb7 13 lDc2 lDb8 14 a4 bxa4 15 J:[xa4 0,d 7 1 6 J:[b4! Kasparov finally unveils a nov elty, deviating from the mundane 1 6 lDce3 0-0 1 7 J:[a3 .tg5 I S 0,c4 .txd5 1 9 'i'xd5 .te7 as played in Tatai-Iruzubiela, Cannes 1 992.
16 0,c5 Had B lack fully appreciated the strength of the following exchange sacrifice, he might have chosen 1 6 . . . J:[bS ! ? instead. 1 7 J:[xb7! 0,xb7 18 b4 No dramatic follow up, just a simple pawn advance to control the c5 and as squares. Black's knight is now a truly miserable beast which can only reenter the game via dS. •..
ofA llack
117
1 8 �g5 1 9 0,a3 0-0 2 0 lZ'lc4 as 21 .td3 axb4 22 cxb4 'i'b8 23 h4 �h6 24 lZ'lcb6 J:[a2 2 5 0-0 J:[d2 26 'i'f3 'i'a7 27 lZ'ld7 •..
27 ... lLld8? One can understand Shirov 's de sire to improve the position of his knight on b7 but this is the decisive mistake. He should have tried to hang tough with 27 . . . J:[a8! as the return of the exchange brings little in the way of relief. 28 lZ'lxfS �xfS 29 b5 'iVa3 30 'i'fS 'ii'e 8 3 1 �c4 J:[c2 32 'i'xh7 J:[xc4 33 'i'g8+ c;tJd7 34 0,b6+ 'Otfe7 35 0,xc4 'i'c5 36 J:[a l 'fid4 37 J:[aJ �c1 38 lZ'le3 1 :0
1 18 Masters
ofAttack
KM I 9/4: I ) White to play
KM I 9/4 : 2) White to play
8
KM I 9/4: 3) White to play
KM I 9/4: 4) White to play
The Strategists
Strategically minded players aim to outplay their opponents using a superior understanding of positions. By knowing the kind of action a position requires they hope to be able (0 outmanoeuvre opponents who play in a less consistent way. The four players under review this munth were at times able to mystify their opponents with the depth of their positional insight. Month 20/Week 1 : Wilhelm Steinitz -Reason and Plans
A I 9/4: a) White to play
A I 9/4: b) White to play
Wilhelm Steinitz is regarded by many as being the father of modem positional chess. His insight into the nature of chess strategy was well ahead of his time and enabled him to triumph over players who were arguably more gifted In other respects. Steinitz's teachings were studied by a number of younger masters of whom Siegbert Tarrasch tried to put them into a series of rather simplis tic rules, a fonn which could be readily um;lerstood by the general public. Yet in my opinion this led to the real genius and meaning behind Steinitz's ideas being lost. In his superb book, Lasker 's Manual of Chess, Emanuel Lasker paid tribute to the man he succeeded as World Champion and came much
closer to describing Steinitz's revol utionary way of thinking about chess. Lasker rightly claimed that Steinitz was the first player to un derstand that victory is not won by strength of will and genius alone but by making sound plans that conform to the requirements of the position. I can only add that in this way one's growth in chess mirrors reaching maturity in life, that someone grows up when the self-centred will of the child is finally tempered by reason, and objectivity. In the following games Steinitz uses ·reason and good planning to triumph over two of the greatest masters of combination, Anderssen and Zukertort. Anderssen - Steinltz, London 1 866 1 e4 e5 2 tOo lOc6 3 �b5 lOf6 4 d3 d6 5 �xc6+?! bxc6 6 h3
J 20 The Strategists The Strategists 121
White's last two moves might be explained by the fact that An derssen, like Chigorin, is reputed to have preferred knights to bishops. First of all he made an unprovoked exchange on c6 and then safe guarded his knight on f3 against 6 ... �g4. There is no logical reason for this preference for the knight and I can only guess that it was the combina tive properties of this piece that ap pealed to him. 6 ... g6 Already thinking in terms of a pawn advance on the kingside. In support of this plan Black's bishop will be well-placed on g7. 7 lile3 �g7 8 0-0 0-0 9 .i.gS h6 10 �e3 eS Preventing d3-d4 which would gi ve upeu the centre and give White some chances. l l J:[bl?! Andersson wants to activate this rook with b2-b4 but this idea has no strategic hasis. He should have con tinued trying to play for d3-d4 and to this end he should play 11 lilc3-e2 followed by 12 c3. 11 lile8 12 b4 exb4 13 lIxb4 eS 14 1:I.a4 •..
White continues 'attacking' by taking aim at Black's a-pawn. Un fortunately for Anderssen there is no justification for this and the rook is simply misplaced on this square . Meanwhile Steinitz continues his plan of a kingside pawn advance supported by his bishop pair. 14 ... �d7 IS J:[a3 fS 16 'iWbl �h8 17 �b7 as 18 J:[bl a4 Safeguarding the queenside by quite economical means. With White's pieces offside Black's kingside attack is' much mOre effective than it would otherwise have been. 19 "ifdS 'ife8 20 J:[b6 lIa7
Black's kingside breakthrough. Note the contrast between Steinitz's steady play and Anderssen's attempts to make superficial threats. 3 1 .i.e! �h7 32 d4 Desperately trying to get the hapless rook on a3 into play, even. at the cost of a-pawn. Steinitz declines these meagre gains and brings his plan to a successful conclusion. 32 ... gxf3 33 gxf3 iDh3 34 �11 lilxgl 35 d xeS �h3+ 36 �el lilxf3+ 37 lIxf3 'ifxf3 38 lile3 d xeS 39 �xeS lIe7 40 lildS J:[xcS 4 1 �xeS 'ifxe4+ 42 �11 J:[e8 43 liJe7 �e3+ 0:1 In his matches against Johannes Zukertort, Steinitz faced one of the most gifted players of his day. Yet Zukertort lost heavily on both occa sions because, like Anderssen, he lacked the positional understanding of Steinitz and his ability to create sound plans. Zukertort - Steinitz St Louis, Weh 1 886
The rook prepares to swing over to the kingside to lend further force to Black's kingside pawn advance. This alsu has the illl.:iueJ1tal tlu eat uf 21 ... fxe4 22 dxe4 �xh3 etc. 21 ..&th2 f4 22 .td2 g5 23 'i'c4 'ifd8 24 lIbi lilr6 25 'it>gl liJ h7 Mcthodically protecting the g5 pawn in preparation for a further advance. 26 'it>n h5 27 lilgl g4 28 hxg4 hxg4 29 f3 'i'h4 30 iDd 1 lilgS Once again Black plays his pieces to squares where they support.
1 d4 dS 2 e4 e6 3 lilc3 lilf6 4 lilf3 dxc4 5 e3 eS 6 .i.xc4 cxd4 7 exd4 .i.e7 8 0-0 0-0 9 "We2 lilbd7 10 �b3 lilb6 I I �f4 lilbdS 12 �g3 As in the Anderssen game it is difficult to detect the thread which ties White's moves to the require ments of the position. It is as if he is playing his pieces to active squares in the hope that a combination will eventually present itself. Steinitz meanwhile pursues a logi cal plan to put pressure on White's isolated d-pawn.
12 . �aS 13 J:[ael .i.d7 14 ttJe5 J:[fd8 15 �f3 .i.e8 16 lIfe 1 J:[ae8 1 7 �h4 ttJxc3 1 8 bxc3 'ifc7 19 'ifd3 Even now Zukertort does not seem to have constructed any kind of plan. Lasker recommended 19 �g3 �d6 20 c4 at this point to gain ' space with the hanging pawns. 19 lild5 20 �xe7 'ifxe7 2 1 .i.xds lIxdS 2 2 e4?! ..
.•.
By now the adyance of the hang ing pawns lacks force due to the ex change of two sets of minor pieces. White no longer has the kind of at tacking chances associated with this structure and should content himself with quietly trying to maintain his position. 22 ... 1:I.dd8 23 lIe3? 'i'd6 24 lIdl f6 2 5 lIh3?! h6 26 lilg4 'i'f4 27 lile3 �a4 28 lIf3 'i'd6 29 lId2 �c6 30 J:[g3 f5 31 J:[g6 Over the last few moves Zuker tort's rook has drifted ever further offside. He should retreat with 31 lild l . 31 .i.e4 3 2 "ifb3 Threatening 33 c5. 32 . �h7 33 c5 lhcS 34 J:[xe6 lIc1 + 3s lildl 'i'f4 36 'ifb2 nbl 37 'ifc3 ne8 38 lhe4 'i'xe4 0: 1 ..•
..
122
The Strategists The
KM20/ 1 : ) White to play
KM20/ 1 : 2) Black to play
Month 20/Week 2: AaroD Nimzowitsch -Prophylaxis
KM20/ 1 : 3) Black to play
A20/1: a) White to play
Strategists 123
KM20/1: 4) White to play
A20/): b) Black to play
The 1 920s was a period in which established concepts in many differ ent fields were challenged and re-evaluated. Chess was no excep tion and the so-called 'hypermod em' movement came to challenge the establishment. The leading representatives of the were movement hypermodern Gyula Breyer, Richard Reti and Aaron Nimzowitsch. They preached ideas which were considered heresy by the likes of Dr. Tarrasch. Amongst their shocking views they held [hat the ct:ntre did not need to be occupied with pawns but could instead be controlled by pieces. In his original books on chess strategy, My System and Chess Praxis, Nim zowitsch also introduced words such as 'prophylaxis' into the chess vocabulary. Many writers have implied that Nimzowitsch was an opponent of the classical view of strategy as laid down by Steinitz but I don't think this was really the case. I see them as being remarkably similar in spirit, both Steinitz and Nimzo witsch were tireless researchers into the nature of chess and were willing to stand alone against the rest of the world. The following two games show Nimzowitsch's great originality and profound insight which was years ahead of its time. Even today Nim zowitsch is regarded as being re quired reading by the leading players.
Johner - Nimzowitsch Dresden 1 926 1 d4 lUf6 2 c4 e6 3 lUc3 �b4 4 e3 0-0 5 i. d3 cS 6 1Of3 lDc6 7 0-0 �xc3 8 bxc3 d6
A plan of blockade which retains its popularity to this day. Yet the modem interpretation of this plan is to delay castling with 4 . .. cS S i.d3 lOc6 6 lUG i.xc3+ which retains the option of castling queenside. 9 lOd2 b6 10 lOb3?! An inaccuracy according to Nim zowitsch who suggested that White should play the immediate 10 f4 after which 10 ... eS is met by II fxeS dxe5 12 d5 with a balanced game.
10 ... eS 1 1 f4
I I d5 is strongly by met by I I e4 12 i.e2 lOeS. 11
.•.
e4 12 i.e2 'it'd7!!
A really extraordinary looking move which must have been con sidered quite eccentric at the time. This is where we see real depth of understanding in that Nimzowitsch knew he must restrain White's king side pawns from advancing with g2-g4. If he achieves this White will be left wilhout a good plan.
13 h3?! lOe7 14 'i'el ? hS!
J 24
The Strategists The Strategixts J 25
Continuing his plan of restraint and if fact White is soon reduced to complete passivity. He should have tried 1 3 �d2 followed by 14 ..tel and 14 ..id2 was also an improvement. I S ..id2 'i'f5! 1 6 q;h2 'i'h7! By now it's becoming clear that White will not be able to play g2-g4. With his next few moves Nimzowitsch saps the remaining en ergy from White's position by blockading his a-pawn and inducing d4-dS.
17 a4 lDf5 18 g3 as! Preventing the exchange of White's weak a-pawn at the cost of a slight weakening of b6. White didn't play 18 as because of 18 .. . lDg4+ 19 hxg4 hxg4+ 20 'iPh l g3 but 19 ..ixg4 hxg4 20 axb6 might havt:: ut::t::l1 a ut::llt::l l:ha.llCt: than the game. 1 9lIgI lDh6 20 .to .td7 2 1 .tel lIae8! 22 d5 After this White can do nothing but wait to see how Black will try to break through on the kings ide. 22 ... q;h8 23 lDd2 Itg8 24 ..ig2 gs 25 lDn l::t:g7 26. na2 lDf5 27 .thl l::t:eg8 28 'i'd l gxf4
An important decision which had to be well judged. It opens the g-file for Black and the e-file for White. 29 exf4 ..ie8 30 'itb3 ..ta6
In the next game we see Nimzo witsch play against one of the earliest examples of the Modern Benoni. Thrown onto his own re sources Nirnzowitsch shows a re markable insight into the position. Nimzowltseh - Marshall New York 1 927
31 lIe2 White makes a bid for counter play by attacking the e-pawn. After 3 1 il.d2 Black could play an attract ive combination with 3 1 ... l::t:g 6! 32 �el l[jg4 + ! 33 hxg4 hxg4+ 34 'ito>g2 �xc4 35 'i'xc4 e3 with the decisive threat of 36 ... 'ii'h3 + . 31 ... lL'lh4 32 l::t:e3 [fWhite went for the e-pawn with 32 4Jd2 �c8 33 4Jxe4 he would fal l victim t o the beautiful 33 . . . 'i'fS 34 4Jf2 'ii'x h 3+ ! 3S lDxh3 lDg4#. If White varies with 33 'i'd l, Black has 33 ... ..ixh3! 34 �xh3 'i'f5+ etc. 32 .ieS 33 'i'c2 �xh3! 34 ..ixe4
I c4lL'lf6 2 d4 e6 3 lDfJ c5!? In this tournament the ingenious Frank Marshal l introduced this opening which later became known as the Modem Benoni. Black con cedes some �pace in the centre in order to obtain a half-open e-file and a queenside pawn majority. 4 ds d6 5 lDe3 exds 6 exds g6
..ixc4 iLg7. The modem preference is for 7 ... �g7 . 1 0 lDe3! 0-0 I I il.d3 4Jh5 This quite reasonable move by Marshall came in for a lot of unfair criticism. The real mistake came later. 1 2 0-0 �es 13 a4 lDf4 14 as lL'ld7 IS . A typical Marshall move which undermines White's centre and acti vates Black·'s pieces. Unfortunately it proves too loosening. 1 7 exfS lIxfS 1 8 f4: �d4+ 1 9 �e3 il.xc3 2 0 'ii' xc3 4Jf6 2 1 'it'b3! nxdS? This is refuted with an elegantly conducted attack and after 21 . . . 4JxdS White has 22 nae I ! when 22 . . . il.e6 is answered by 23 �xc5. The only chance was 21 ... lDg4.
.•.
34 'ito>xh3 'i'f2+ 3S �h2 lDg4+
leads to mate. 34 . .. il.f5 35 .bf5 lDxf5 36 Ire2 h4 37 ngg2 hxg3+ 38 'iitg l 'ii'h3 39 lDe3 lDh4 40 q;n lIeS! 0 : 1 Black threatens 4 1 . .. lbxg2 42 Irxg2 'i'h 1 + 4 3 q;e2 'ii'xg2+ and if White defends against this with 4 1 'it'e 1 there is 4 1 . . . lDf3+ followed by 42 . . . 'i!¥h 1 + .
7 lDd2! Disregarding the rules about fast development, Nimzowitsch brings the knight to c4 where he feels it is best placed. 7 ... lDbd7?! 8 lDc4 lDb6 9 e4 JLg7? Black should take this opportunity to rid himself of his badly placed knight on b6 with 9 ... lL'lxc4 10
22 fS! gxfS Or 22 ... ..ixfS 23.tgS etc.. 23 il.gS l::t:d 4 After 23 ... il.e6 White plays 24 'ii'x b7 lIeS 25 Itae I! etc. 24 lDb6+ c4 25 'ii'c3 axb6 26 'ii' x d4 q;g7 27 nae l ! buS 28 J:re8! 'ii' x eS 29 'i'xf6+ q;g8 30 ..ih6 1 :0
126 The Strategists The Strategists 127
KM20/2: 1) White to play
KM20/2: 2) White to play
Month 20 IWeek 3: Mikhail Botvinnik-The Scientist
10 ... b6?!
According to Botvinnik this was probably the decisive mistake, such is the strength of the pressure he now obtains. Black should first ex change knights on c3.
When the Soviet Union emerged as the world's leading chess nation, its champion was Mikhail Botvin nik. Approaching chess from the 1 1 ttJxdS! exd5 12 �b5 �d7 point of view of a research scientist 12 . , ttJa5 might have been a Botvinnik thoroughly analysed cer better try though after 13 lDe5. tain types of positions which were White retains a significant edge. previously simply 'played'. The text leads to exchanges but As a result of his research he de White retains a clear advantage. 131i'a4 ttJb8 veloped a thorough mastery of The only move as 13 ... nc8 is every aspect of the game. Not only did he discover many new systems met by 14 �d2! threatening IS of development but worked them nac\. out thoroughly before the game 1 4 �f4 �xb5 1 5 1i'xb5 a6 1 6 even started. This new kind of prep 1i'a4 �d6 1 7 �xd6 'i'xd6 1 8 nacl aration couid at times leave even his na7 19 'irc2 1:[e7 White's last move ensures control most illustrious adversaries looking of the c-file and leaves Black with like amateurs. In the following two games Bot the problem of what to play next. vinnik triumphs over two of the The text move leads to a bad end greatest players in history. In the game as would 19 . f6 20 1i'fS fol first he beats the reigning World lowed by 21 1i'e6+. 20 lhe7 "'xe7 2 1 'fie7 "'xe7 22 Champion, Alexander Alekhine. .
KM20/2: 3) Black to play
KM20/2: 4) Black to play
..
Botvinnik - Alekhine Amsterdam 1 938
A20/2: a) White to play
A20/2: b) Black to play
1:[xc7
i ttJf3 dS 2 d4 lDf6 3 e4 e6 4 ttJe3 e5 5 exd5 ttJxd5 6 e3 ttJe6 7 �e4 exd4 8 exd4 �e7 9 0 -0 0-0 1 0 nel
22
•••
f6!
Alekhine is defending well, with the text move intending to drive White's took from the 7th rank with to 23 1:[b7 23 ... 1:[f7. The answer . would be 23 ... 1:[c8 .
128
The Strategists The Strategists 129
23 �f1 lIf7 24 lIe8+ lIf8 25 lIe3! Leaving Black with nothing to do but try to bring his king to the centre. In order to do this he has to make the following weakening ad vance of his kingside pawns. 25 g5 26 lbel h5 26 ... h6 would be answered by 27 lbc2 Wf7 28 llJe3 'it'e6 29 g4 fol lowed by 30 lbf5, but now Botvin nik finds a very unpleasant move. 27 h4! lbd7 There was little else to be done as 27 ... gxh4 is answered by 28 lbf3, recovering the pawn with advan tage. After 27 ... cj;f7 Botvinnik in tended 28 lbf3 g4 29 llJe I cj;e6 30 liJd3 'it'f5 31 g3 followed by 32 liJf4. 28 l:re7 l:rf7 29 liJfJ g4 30 llJel f5 31 lbd3 f4 The only defence against 32 lLIf4. Botvinnik could now have won a . pawn with 32 llJb4 but he . place Black in zugzwang. 32 fJ gxfJ 33 gxfJ as 34 a4 cj;f8 3S lIe6 d8 38 ..te2 lLIb8 .••
39 llg6! Resisting the temptation to play 39 lIxb6 which could be met by 39 ... Wc7 followed by 40 ... liJc6.
39 ... We7 40 lbe5 liJa6 41 l:rg7+ 'it>e8 42 lbg6 lIf6 43 liJe7+ cj;b8 44 liJxdS lId6 45 lIg5 liJb4 46 liJxb4 axb4 47 llxhS lIe6 White would answer 47 ... lIxd4 with 48 lIf5 Wb7 49 lIf6 Wc7 50 h5 etc. 48 lIbS <3;e7 49 lIxb4 l:rh6 SO lIbS l:rxh4 SI Wd3 1:0
White's long-term plan of advanc ing his central pawns. He should play 13 ... cxd4 14 cxd4 l:rfc8 with counterplay on the c-file. 14 'i'd3 e4?
The following game was one of Botvinnik's most brilliant wins. To play it against the Cuban genius Jose Raul Capablanca must have been especially satisfying.
Botvinnik - Capablanea Amsterdam 1 938 I d4 liJf6 2 e4 e6 3 liJe3 �b4 4 e3 d5 S aJ Botvinnik specialised in this line against the Nimzo-Indian, accepting a doubled pawn in return for the two bishops and central control. After Black's fourth move it is particular ly effective because the doubled pawns will be dissolved. He should probably play 5 ... �e7. 5 ... �xc3+ 6 bxe3 eS 7 exdS exd5 8 �d3 0-0 9 liJe2 b6 10 0 -0 i..a6 Certainly it is a good idea by Black to exchange off one of White's bishops but White never theless retains a potentially danger ous central pawn majority. II �xa6 lbxa6 12 �b2 'i'd7 13 a4.l:rfe8? Black has found himself in the kind of position which Botvinnik studied thoroughly at home and over t:1e next few moves finds him self being thoroughly outplayed. The text move seems natural enough but it does little to challenge
26 ... lIxe6 The only move according to 80t vinnik who gave the refutation of 26 .. Wf7 as 27 l:txf6+ Wxf6 28 fxg6+ Wxg6 (or 28 ... We7 29 'i'f7+ Wd8 30 g7+-) 29 'i'f5+ 'i;g7 30 lLIh5+ Wh6 31 h4 l:rg8 32 g4 �c6 33 �a3+-. 27 fxe6 Wg7 28 'C!Vf4 'i'e8 29 'iVe5 'iVe7 .
According to Botvinnik this is a really serious mistake. Capablanca had evidently assumed that White would be unable to advance his cen tral pawns with e3-e4 whilst he could mobilise his queenside major ity. Just how wrong he was will soon be revealed. 15 'i'e2 liJb8 1 6 l:[ael lLIe6 17 liJg3 liJaS' White is systematically aiming for a central breakthrough with e3-e4 and there is little Black can do to prevent this. After 17 ... liJe4 Bot vinnik intended 1 8 lLIh I ! liJa5 19 f3 followed by returning his knight to g3 and playing e3-e4. 1 8 f3 llJb3 19 e4 'iVxa4 20 e5 liJd7 21 'iWf2 g6 22 f4 f5 23 exf6 White must keep the position open on the kingside. 23 ... liJxf6 24 f5 lhel 25 l:rxel lIe8 This meets with a strong reply but even after 25 ... llfS White would develop a" menacing attack with 26 'i'f4!. 26 l:re6!
prefers to
We have already met this position once in Book I of the Power-Chess program, month 5, week 1 . For a detailed commentary on the follow ing magnificent combination, please tum to these notes. 30 �aJ!! 'ii'xaJ 31 liJh5+! gxh5 32 'iVgS+ Wf8 33 'i'xf6+. cj;g8 34 e7! 'iVcI+ 35 Wf2 'i'e2+ 36 cj;g3 'iVd3+ 37 Wh4 'i'e4+ 38 Wxh5 'i'eH 39 Wh4 'iVe4+ 40 g4 'i'el + 4 1 Wh5 1 :0
130
The Strategists The Strategists 131
KM20/3 I) Black to play
KM20/3: 2) White to play
Month 20IWeek 4: Tigran Petrosian
KM20/3: 3) White to play
KM20/3: 4) White to play
In many ways Petrosian's style of play resembled that of Nimzo witsch. In the art of draining the en ergy from his opponent's position he was quite unparalleled and at his best he was regarded as being vir tually unbeatable. Petrosian became World Cham pion by edging out his rivals in the 1962 Curacao Candidates tourna ment and then defeating an ageing Botvinnik in 1963. Despite the fact that everyone was familiar with Nimzowitsch's teach ings Petrosian managed to baffie the strongest of opposition. In the fvl lowing game he outplays former World Champion Machgielis Euwe.
Petrosian - Euwe Zurich Ct 1 953
A20/3: a) Black to play
A20/3: b) Black to play
1 tDfJ tDf6 2 g3 d5 3 i.g2 i.fs 4 d3 e6 5 tDbd2 h6 6 0-0 i.cs 7 'it'el 0 -0 8 e4 dxe4 The modem interpretation of this position would be to play 8 . . i.h7 and then try to execute a queenside pawn advance. But here the bishop � c5 would be better placed on e7. 9 tDxe4 tDxe4 10 d xe4 i.h7 .
I l b4! Gaining time and space on the queenside. White has clearly gained the initiative from his seemingly quiet opening. 1 1 ... i.e7 1 2 i.b2 tDa6 13 a3 c6 14 :Id l ifc8 I S c4 tDc7 16 �c3 i.f6 1 7 tDes The opening has resulted in a clearly favourable position for White, he has more space and a choice of plans whilst Black's posi tion is cramped and passive. 17 e5 ?1 would allow Black's bishop on h7 to breathe again. 17 ... :Id8 18 i.fJ tDe8 19 %lxd8 �xd8 20 %ld l 1i'c7 21 c5 Increasing White's space advan tage and taking (;ontrol of the d6 square. 21 ... as 22 i.g2 axb4 23 axb4 %ld8 24 lhd8 .xd8 25 ifc2 tDc7 26 i.n tDbs 27 f4 'i.t>f8 . 28 'i.t>f2 AxeS? Ridding himself of the annoying knight on e5 but the cure is worse than the disease. Black might have made more of a fight of it with 28 ... gS. 29 i.xes f6 30 i.b2 'i.t>e7 31 i.c4 i.g6 32 We3 i.f7 33 g4 'i¥c7 34 e5!
After a lengthy period of prepara tion and manoeuvre, Petrosian
132
The Strategists
finally begins a direct attack. Hav ing had his position reduced to such a passive state Black is in little posi tion to resist.
34 ... 'i'd8 35 exf6+ gxf6 36 h4 CiJc7 37 'ifc3 lDd5+ 38 .bd5 Wxd5 39 'ifxf6+ q;,e8 40 'iVh8+ 'it>d;'7 4 1 'i'g7
The Strategists 133
In the next game Petrosian man ages to outwit the man who replaced him as World Champion three years later. Note the cunning delay of cas tling by Black.
In view of the way things tum out it would have been better to ex change bishops and play f2-f4 . On f4 the bishop provides a target for Black's coming kingside pawn stonn.
1 I ... 'ikc7
41 ... �e8
.If 4 1 ... �3+ there follows 42 �c3 q;,e8 43 h5!+-.
42 .i.f6 'ii'b H 43 .i.c3 'i'd l 44 'ifh8+ �d7 45 fkb8 'ifc1+
The checks also run out after 45 ... 'i'g l + 46 'it>d2 'iff2+ 4 7 q;,dl 'ito + 48 �c2 'iVe2+ 49 .i.d2. 46 .i.d2 "'g1 + 47 q;,d3 'iff1 + 48
<Ji>c2 'iVa6
Or if 48 ... "'c4+ there follows 49 �b2 'iVd4+ 50 �c3 'iVf2+ 51 �a3. 49 h5! "a2+ 50 'iPd3 'ii'b l + 5 1 'it>e2 "e4+ 52 ¢> f2 'ii'd 4+ 5 3 .i.e3 "'xb4 54 'ikrs 'ii'b2+ 55 'it>g3 'iVf6 56 'ifd6+ q;,c8 57 �d4 'i'd8 58 'itxd8+ It>xd8 59 �g7 It>c7 60 .i.xh6 b6 61 cxb6+ It>xb6 62 'it>h4 1 :0
2S CiJxg4 hxg4 26 e4
Spassky - Petrosian Moscow Weh 1966 1 d4 CiJf6 2 CiJf3 e6 3 �g5 d5 4 CiJbd2 �e7 5 e3 CiJbd7 6 �d3 c5 7 c3 b6 8 0-0 .i.b7 9 CiJe5 CiJxe5 1 0 dxe5 CiJd7 1 1 .i.f4
The game was adjourned at this point with Black in a virtually hope less position. His only chance is that the exposed position of White's king may pennit perpetual check should he be careless.
24 ... CiJxeS! Giving up the exchange for mass ive compensation, Black has two pawns and his forces stand at the gates of the enemy palace.
The immediate 1 1 ... gS 1 2 .i.g3 h5 was even better, but Petros ian used to like to disguise his intentions.
1 2 CiJf3 h6 13 b4
White feels things are turning against him and tries to stir up trouble. After 13 . . . cxb4 14 cxb4 �xb4 15 CiJd4 he would get good play for his pawn.
13 ... g5 14 �g3 h5 15 h4
1 5 h3 g4 1 6 hxg4 hxg4 would leave White unable to hold the pawn on eS.
15 ... gxh4!
15 ... g4 16 CiJgS CiJxe5 17 �bS+ leads to wild position with Black's king in the centre. Petrosian prefers a line which minimises White's counterplay.
16 .i.f4 0·0-0 1 7 a4 c4!
Most players would reject this move because it gives White the d4 square but Petrosian has judged that it is more important to keep the queensidc closed.
Attempting to get some counter play before things get even worse.
26 ... �d6
And not 26 . . . dxe4?? 27 .i.xe5 'itxe5 28 'itd8 mate.
18 �e2?
The key moment. White should have played 18 �f51 sending the bishop en route for the h3 square from where it would defend the pawn on g2 The point is that after 18 ... exfS 19 e6 �d6 20 �xd6 'itxd6 2 1 exd7+ llxd7 White can play 22 CiJd4! with superb play for his two pawn deficit. Spassky rejected this move be cause he didn't want his bishop on h3. It was more important to defend the g2 pawn.
1 8 ... a6!
The logical follow up to the previ ous move. 1 9 as b5 seals things up completely and would leave Black free to attack White's king. 19 'it>hl lldg8 20 llgl llg4 2 1 �d2 llhg8 2 2 as b 5 2 3 lladl �rs!
24 CiJh2
27 'ife3 CiJd7 28 �xd6 �xd6 29 lld4 e5 30 lld2
30 ... f5!
Mobilising Black's pawns with deadly effect. 3 1 exf6 CiJf6 32 'i'h6 �d8 intending . .. llh8 would give Black an excellent attacking position .
31 exd5 f4 32 'i'e4 CiJ f6 33 'i'f5+ 'it>b8 34 f3
After 34 'i'e6 there is a nice vari ation in 34 . . . 'ii xe6 3 5 fxe6 CiJe4 when Black threatens a pretty mate with 36 ... CiJxf2+ and 37 ... g3#.
34 ... .i.c8 35 'iib l g3 36 llel h3 37 .i.n llh8 38 gxb3 .i.xh3 39 It>gl �xn 40.'it>xfl e4 4 1 'iidl CiJg4! 42 fxg4 f3 43 llg2 fxg2+ 0 : I After 44 'it>xg2 there might follow 44 ... llh2+ 45 'it>g I 'i'h6.
134
The Strategists
KM20/4: 1) Black to play
KM20/4: 2) White to play
9 The Technicians
KM20!4: 3) White to play
A20/4: a) Black to play
KM20/4: 4) White to play
A20/4: b) Black to play
The tenn 'technician' may sound rather dull but it isn't meant to be. 1 am using it to describe players who, rather than straining to discover any great new ideas or launch ingenious attacks, set about making the most efficient use possible of the knowl edge of their day. I would actually include most modem professionals in the 'techni cian' category. Forty years ago there was still a pioneer spirit in chess in which new concepts were constantly being discovered. Nowadays it is not entirely true to say that there is nothing new to be found, but it is much harder to find origin,,1 ideas which are actually playable. Amongst club players there are very few who are technically orien tated, most will tend to rely on sheer brain power to win their games, irrespective of technique. This makes the 'technicians' such par ticularly valuable models. Month 2 1IWeek 1 : Jose Raul Capablanca Much has been written about the ease and fluency with which Capa blanca played chess and popularised the game with his personal chann. He rose to the summit in record time, beating Lasker in their match in 1921 and it came as a shock to the chess world when he lost his
title just six years later. How could this have happened to the 'unbea table' Cuban, the so-called Mozart of chess? The fact is that although Capa blanca had a truly brilliant chess tal ent he didn't work on his game. As a result his play became increasing ly cautious as time went by; he tried to win by technique alone, avoiding sharp theory and complications alike. The following game shows Capa- . blanca at his lucid best. His pieces always seem to be on the right squares at the right time as he stead ily moves forward: Capablanca - Vidmar New York 1 927 1 e4 e5 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 lDf6 5 0-0 �e7 6 Itel b5 7 �b3 d6 8 c3 lDa5 Nowadays it is generally accepted that 8 ... 0-0 is a more flexible ap proach after which 9 d4 is answered by 9 ... �g4. 9 �e2 c5 10 d4 'ike7 1 1 lDbd2 0-0
Black might have taken this opportunity to play I I ... �g4. 12 h3 lDe6 13 d 5 lDd8 14 a4 b4?! A serious positional mistake which concedes White a fine out post for his knight on c4. Black should play 14 ... l:tb8.
136 The Technicians The Technicia/1s 137
I 5 lLlc4 as? !
30 . . . na8 is met by 31 Jic7 but now there follows a decisive simplification.
After this Black finds himself in serious trouble. He should have taken the opportunity to exchange queens with 8 . . . dxc4. 9 'ita4+! 'itd7 10 lLlb5! lDc6 1 1 exdS exd5 B lack has little choice Qut to ac cept an isolated d-pawn as after I I . . lOxdS there follows 12 e4! fol lowed by 13 nd I . 1 2 .Jtf4 ne8 13 ncl .Jte5? Understandably Black wants to develop his kingside but this loses two pieces for a rook. 13 ... lLle4 was relatively best. .
16 lLlfxe5! A thematic tactical blow with 3 1 .Jtxe6 fxe6 32 nd8+ l:rxd8 33 which Capablanca forces a favour Jixd8 lLld7 34 i-xa5 lLlcs 35 b3! able endgame in which he has a lLlxb3 36 i.xb4 lLld4 37 as 1 :0 strong bishop pair and weak pawns to attack. Vidmar should have The tournament in New York was played 15 ... ltJe8 which avoids this one of Capablanea's greatest . problem and starts the preparation triumphs. His greatest defeat came for ... f7-f5. just a few months later when Alek 1 6 ... i-a6 1 7 i-b3 dxeS 1 8 d6 hine beat him in a gruelling �xd6 1 9 ifxd6 ifxd6 20 ltJxd6 struggle. lLlb7 Throughout this match Capablan Alternatively Black might have ca found himself at a considerable played 20 ... nb8 when White has a disadvantage in the opening where pleasant choice between 21 i-c4 Alekhine was much better prepared. �xc4 22 lLlxc4 lLlc6 23 f3 and 21 Only occasionally did the Cuban lOb5!? i-xb5 22 axh5 nxhS 23 reach a favourable middlegnme, ns �c4. In either cast White has a for example in game 3: clear advantage. 2 1 lLlxb7 �xb7 22 cxb4 cxb4 23 Capablanca - Alekhine f3 :Ud8 24 Jie3 h6 15 nedl i.c6 Buenos Aires WCh 1 927 2 6 l1acl Jie8 2 7 'itr>f2 nxdi 28 nxdl nc8 29 g4! 1 d4 lLlf6 2 lLlf3 b6 3 g3 i-b7 4 Staking out space on the kingside i.g2 c5 5 0-0 cxd4 6 lLlxd4 i-xg2 7 and threatening h2-h4 followed by '>t>xg2 d5? g4-gS and ndS. B lack defends A mistake which allows White to against this by hringing the hishop open the game while he holds an ad to e6 but this cure proves as deauly vantage in development. 7 ... g6 wa� as the disease. much safer. 29 ... i.d7 30 �b6 .Jte6 8 e4! e6
14 b4! i.xb4 14 ... lLlxb4 loses the exchange after I S lLld6+ 'iot>d8 16 �xd7+ Wxd7 17 lLlxc8. 1 5 l:rxc6! l:rxc6 16 ifxb4 lDe4 1 7 lLld2 lLlxd2 18 �xd2 A classic example of Capablan ca's tendency to avoid complica tions, even if they are favourable. It would have been even better to pre vent Black from castling with 18 .Jtxd2 as after 18 ... 'ife7 1 9 'ifb2 'ife4+ 20 f3 'ifxe2+ 21 �g l when there are too many threats. 18 ... 0-0 1 9 l:rd 1 nc5 20 lLld4 l:re8 2 1 lDb3 ncc8 22 e3 it'a4
23 'ifxd5! A finely judged decision. Capa blanca is planning to win with a di rect attack on Black's king and in exchange is prepared to give Black two united passed pawns on the queenside. The pawns in fact never really get going because of White's central control and active pieces. 23 ... nc2 24 l:rd2 l:rxa2 25 l:rxa2 it'xa2 26 it'c6! l:r18 27 lLld4 Wh8 28 i.eS! The first threat appears, that of 29 i-xg7+ Wxg7 30 lDfS+ followed by 31 'iff6. 28 ... f6 29 lLle6 l:rg8 30 .Jtd4 Continuing the restraint of Black's queenside and simulta neously threatening 31 lLlxg71 l:rxg7 32 it'xf6 it'g8 33 h4! followed by 34 h5 and 35 h6. 30 ... h6 31 h4! �bl 32 lLlxg7! A shattering blow. 32 ... nxg7 is answered by 33 'ifxf6 �h7 34 it'f8+. 32 ... 1!fg6 33 h5! �f7 34 lLlf5 h7 35 'ii'e 4 ne8 36 'iVf4 it'f8 37 lLld6l:re7 Or 37 ... nd8 38 �xf6! .trxd6 39 it'fS+ 'iot>g8 40 it'g6+. 38 i-xf6 1!fa8+ 39 e4 ng7 40 i.xg7 Wxg7 41 lLlf5+ '>t>f7 42 �c7+ 1:0
138
The Techn icians The Technicians J 39
KM21/\: I) White to play
KM2 11 1 : 3) White to play
KM2 l1l: 2) White to play
KM211l: 4) White to play
Month 2 1/Week 2 : Vassily Smyslov
Vassily Smyslov is one of the greatest post-war players and won a World Championship match against Botvinnik in 1 957 only to lose the return in '58 Since then he has re mained one of the world's leading players and at the time of writing is stil l an active competitor in tournaments. Smyslov's style of play is one of great technical brill iance yet there were also other facets to his play. Unlike Capablanca he has invented new plans of development in the opening and there are, for example, several l ines of the Gruenfeld De fence which bear his name. He was also noted for his combinative bril liance and would not be averse to a ferociously sharp struggle. The fol lowing two games show Smyslov's superb endgame tech nique in action as he beats former World Champion Max Euwe and the future champion Mikhail Tal. Smyslov - Euwe Groningen 1 946
A21 /1: u) White to piny
A21/1:
h) White to play
1 e4 e5 2 lLIfJ lLIc6 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 lll f6 5 d3 d6 6 c3 g6 7 0-0 �g7 8 l:f.el b5 9 �c2 0-0 1 0 �g5 h6 1 1 �h4 1!i'e8 Black is aiming for play on the kingside. The Breyer manoeuvre of II ... lllb 8 and 1 2 ... lLIbd7 is an alternative. 1 2lL1bd2lL1h5 13 lLIfl g5 14 �g3 lLIe7?! In view of White's reply this looks like a mistake. Black had in teresting alternatives in 14 ... lLIf4!? and 14 ... fS!?
1 5 a4! lLIxg3 An unfortunate necessity as 15 . . . �d7? i s met by 1 6 lLIxe5, 1 5 . . . �e6? b y 1 6 lllxgS lLIxg3 1 7 lllxe6 whilst 1 5 ... l:f.b8 surrenders the a-file. 16 hxg3! �e6 1 7 d4 f6 18 �b3 �xb3 19 �xb3+ �f7 20 �xf7+ q;x f7 2 1 lLIe3
Over the last few moves White has made a lot of progress. The ex change of light-squared bishops in particular has weakened Black's light-squares and left him with a 'bad bishop' on g7. Smyslov's willingness to go into an endgame is instructive; he felt that this was the best way to set about exploiting his anvantage. . 2 1 ... l:f.fb8 22 axb5 axb5 23 d5 h5 24 �fl An instructive move which brings the king nearer the centre. Such de tails are easily overlooked. 24 g4 25 lLIh4 �h6 26 lLIef5 lLIg8 27 �e2 l:f.a4 28 l::t xa4 bxa4 29 l::tb l l:tb3 Attempting to force matters with 29 .. , a3 would achieve nothing but a weakening of Black 's a-pawn after 30 b4. 30 �d3 a3 31 �c2 J:1xb2+ 32 l::t x b2 axb2 33 �xb2 ..•
140 The Technicians The Technicians 141
Euwe has been fighting hard to .i.cl 47 <;t>a6 <;t>c8 48 <;t>a7 Jil.gS (or repair the earlier damage to his posi 48 ... Jil.d2 49 'it'a8 �el 50 g4 .i.f2 tion and he probably felt he had 51 CiJe7+ ¢>d7 52 CiJg8 .i.h4 53 . good chances to draw this minor �b8! .i.g5 54 ¢>b7) 49 ¢>a8 Jil.c I 50 g4 �g5 51 CiJe7+ ¢>d7 52 CiJc6�c8 piece endgame. 53 CiJa7+�d7 S4 ¢>b7 etc.
19 bxc3 lIe8 20 c4 e4
Black couldn't allow White's pawn mass to remain intact but the position is still bad for him. He has some temporary piece activity but White's superior pawn structure and bishop pair must count in the end.
4 1 'it'a4 .i.xg3 42 CiJxg3 �f4 43 CiJh5+ �xe4 44 CiJxf6+
2 1 d xe4 llxc4 22 tLld2 llc2 23 .i.d 1 lle3 24 �n CiJeS 25 .i.d4 lld3 26 �xcS dxc5 After 26 . llxd2 27 �e3 lIb2 28 lIcl Black's pawns start dropping . _ _
A brilliant decision. Smyslov has correctly forseen that the exchange of queens allows him to infiltrate Black's position on the c-file whilst the damage to his structure is j ust a temporary phenomenon. One of the critical lines occurs if Black exchanges off the remaining two minor pieces with 33 ... .i.g5 34 'it'b3 �xh4 35 gxh4 CiJe7 36 liJxe7 'it'xe7. In fact White is winning this king and pawn endgame after 37 �c4 f5 (37 ... �d7 38�b5) 38 D! (38 exf5�f6 39 Wb5�xf5 40�c6 g3! 41 D e4 ! gives Black counter play) 38 ... f4 39 'it'b5 �d7 40 c4 �d8 41 �c6 �c8 42 cS dxc5 43 WxcS �d7 44 �c4 We7 4S Wb4 'it>d6 46 ¢lb5 g3 47 ¢lb4! q;e7 (or 47 ... c6 48 dxc6 'it>xc6 49�c4�d6 50 b5) 48�e4�d6 49�b5�d7 . 50�c5 �c8 51 d6 etc..
33 ... .i.d2 34 �c2 .i.e l 35 f3 CiJe7 36 CiJxe7 ¢>xe7 37 fxg4 hxg4 38 CiJf5+ q;n 39 c4 q;g6 40 �b3 �g5
Seeing that passive defence is hopeless Euwe decides to launch a counterattack. After '10 ... q;f7 White would will wil11 41 �'a4 Wc8 42 ¢>bS ¢>d7 43 CiJh6 .i.xg3 44 CiJxg4 .i.h4 45 liJh6 .i.gS 46 liJfS
15 ... lUeS 1 611fc 1 �xd3
44 ... �f5
Or if 44 ... c..t.>f4 there follows 4S �bS e4 (or 45 ... f5 46 CiJh5 �g 5 47 CiJg3�f4 48 lllfl e4 49 ¢>c6 e3 50 CiJxe3 etc.) 46 CiJxe4 �xe4 47 �c6 with White queening first.
45 CiJe8 e4 46 CiJxc7 e3 47 CiJb5! �f4 Or if 47 '" e2 there is 48 lLld4+
�f4 49 CiJxe2+ etc.
48 lOe3 \i>g3 49 c5 1:0
In view of the difficulties Black experiences in the endgame it mig h t have been better to try 16 .. e4 1? After) 7 .i.xe4 CiJxe4 18 �xe4 �f6 19 llab 1 llc4 20 CiJd4 .i.xd4 21 J1l.xd4 llac8 22 c3 CiJf6 Black has some counterplay for the pawn. _
_
27 �e2 lhd2+ .
The best practical chance. 27 lId4 28 f3 leaves Black facing threats such as 29 lIbI or 29 tLlc4. �
28 �xd2 lLlxe4+ 29 �c2 lbd6 30 J1l.e2 J1l.f6 3 1 IIbl Wffl 32 �b3 �e7 33 J1l.d3 Wd7 34 f4 .li.d4 35 lIn J1l.e3 36 f5 .i.d2 37 fxg6 hxg6 38 lIa 1 �e7 39 lla2 .i.b4 40 h4 Wf6 4 1 g4 �el 42 hS gS 43 llal jLd2 44 lIhl gxh5 45 gxh5 e4+ 46 �xc4 Wh6 4711f l !
17 exd3 g6
The attempt to block the c- file with 1 7 ... lllCS?1 is refuted by 18 CiJxcs dxcS 1 9 d6 J1l.xd6 20 _ltxb7.
Smyslov Tal Bled Ct 1 959 •
1
e4 e5
2 CiJf3
Smyslov was also a great connois seur of the Closed Sicilian with 2 lLlc3 and 3 g3.
2 ... d6 3 d4 exd4 4 lll xd4 lLlf6 5 �e3 06 6 .i.e2 e5 7 �b3 .i.e7 8 0-0 U-U 9 ��3 ifc7 IU a4 ��6 II as 'We6 12 J1l.f3 CiJbd7 13 tLld5! .i.xd5 14 exd5 �b5 15 �d3!!
Giving up the h5 pawn to break . through Black's defences.
1 811c3! llxc3
Strategic capitulation, but then what else can Black do about the doubling of rooks on the c-file?
47 ... xh5 48 llf6 lDe4 49 .i.e2+ 'iti'g5 50 lhn .1Le3 5 1 l:te7 �f4 52 .i.d3 lbd6 53 ¢>b4 b6 54 axb6 .i.xb6 55 .i.xa6 .i.d4 56 lle6 .i.e5 57 �e5 lDn 58 .i.d3 .i.b2 59- .i.g6 CiJg5 60 l:te8 SLa3+ 6 1 Wc6 CiJf3 62 lle4+ �g5 63 .i.h7 �h6 64 �f5 �g5 65 .i.g4 1 : 0
142 The Technicians The Technicians '43 KM2112: I) White to play
KM21/2: 2) Black to play
Month 2 1 /Week 3: Bobby Fischer
10 d4 iLlbd7 1 1 lbbd2 .ltb7 1 2 .ltc2 lte8 13 b 4 i.f8 1 4 a 4 lbb6 1 5 a Slbbd7 1 6 i. b 2 'ti'b8
It was Bobby Fischer's sensa tional challenge for the World
Spassky is playing in very solid style, maintaining his centre like the
Championship
best
that
fanned
the
flames of my interest in chess. At the
time
of
the
1972
Fischer
Spassky match in Reykjavik
I was a
Subsequent
17 Itbl
With the positional threat of 18
after a year or two. The Reykjavik
c4, when Black's queen looks un comfortable, staring down the b-file
chess was turned into a symbol of KM2112: 4) White to play
us.
whose interest might have faded
From being an interesting pastime
3) White to play
tell
however have tended to ' suggest that 16 ... llb8 is a better move.
boy of 12 who liked the game but
match changed everything.
KM21/2:
books
games
something much greater, the ideo logical
battle
between
East
and
West. In the mood of the time many young
players
developed
a
real
passion for chess which accounted
at a White rook. The immediate 17 c4 was also possible.
1 7 ... cS 1 8 bxeS d xcS 19 dxeS lLlxeS 20 lbxeS 'ifxeS 21 e4 'it'f4 22 i.xf6 'ii'xf6 Fischer's great U.S. rival, Samuel Reshevsky, suggested the ugly 22 ... gxf6 to keep the queen on its strong
for the boom in its popularity. brilliance allied to fanatical determi
position. Black would then threaten 23 ... ltad8 and ... i.h6 is also in
nation. He didn't introduce anything
the offing.
Fischer's style is one of technical
very new but applied existing knowledge with tremendous energy
23 cxbS l:[ed8 24 'ifcl 'ifc3 25 lDf3 •
and a hithertG unseen degree of per fection. Not even the might of the Soviet chess machine could stand against this one brilliant man. A2112:
a) White to [lI llY
A21/2: b)
Whitt: to play
The best game of the Reykjavik match was the tenth:
Fischer - Spassky Reykjavik Weh 1972 1 e4 eS 2 iLlf3 iLlc6 3 i.bS a6 4 i.a4 lLlf6 5 0-0 i.e7 6 Itel bS 7 i.b3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 lLlb8
25 ... 'it'xa5
The Breyer Defence is Spassky's
A serious mistake which puts his
lifelong favourite. It was discovered
queen offside. Either 25 ... axb4 or
by
25 ... c4 would have been better.
the
Hu.ngarian
master
Gyu\a
Breyer who discovered that Black's queen's
knight
is
placed on d7 than c6.
much
better
26 i.b3! axbS 27 'iff4 Itd7
Already·an 'only move'. After 27 ... c4 White has 28 i.xc4 dxc4 29
144 The Technicians The Technicians 145
1:[xb7 and if 29 . .. f6 there is 30 e5! threatening 3 1 �xc4+, or 29 ... 'Wft'h5 30 g4! 'ii'xh3 31 ltJg5. 28ltJe5 'ii'c7 29l:Xbdll:Xe7 Black is already losing material but he hopes that his connected passed pawns on the queenside will give him chances in any endgame. 29 ... lb:d I would lose immediately to 30 �xf7+ <3i>h8 3 1 ltJg6+ hxg6 32 'ii'h 4#.
30 �xf7+ 1:[xf7 31 �xl7+ 'i!Vxf7 32 ltJxf7 �xe4 Black would lose immediately after 32 ... f� 35 nb7 J:tal+ 36 �h2 �d6+ 37 g3 b4 38 q;g2 h5 39 l:tb6 J:tdl 40 r#;f3 e2 1:[d5 42 f4 g6 4� g4 hxg4 44 hxg4 g5 45 f5 i.e5 46 :b5 q;f6 47 :exb4 ..id4 48 1:[b6+ d4 56 1:[bl 1 :0
When the players sat down oppo site each other again some twenty years later it was almost as if time had stood still. Another R