Think Like a Grandmaster Alexander Kotov Translated by Bernard Cafferty Algebraic Classics Series Series Editor: Dr. John Nunn GM B. T. Batsford Ltd, LondonFirst published in the USSR, English translation © BT. Basford Led, 1971 Fifth impresion 1978 Reprinted 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994 First algebraic edition 1995 Reprinted 2001, 2002 (ewice), 2008 ISBN 07134 7885 3 British Library Cataloguing:in-Publication Data, ‘A.cazilogue record for this book it available from the British Library All tights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission of the publish ‘Typeset by John Nunn and Pesra Fink and printed in Great Britain by (Creative Prine and Design for the publisher: BT Batsford Led ‘The Chrysalis Building Bamley Road London W10 6SP ‘An impint of Chrysalis Books Group ple United Seates and Canada by Sterling Publishing Co., South, New York, NY10016, USA ABATSFORD CHESS BOOKContents Symbols Preface Introduction: An Unusual Experiment 1 Analysis of Variations ‘Do you Know how to Analyse? Historical Digression ‘The Tree of Analysis Forced and Unforced Variations Different Types of Tree Bare Trunk A ‘Coppice’ “Thickets of Variations’ Selection of Candidate Moves ‘What is a Candidate Move? “Creeping Moves’ Gross Blunders Dizziness due to Success Conditioned Reflexes ‘The Blind Spot ‘Through the Eyes of a Patzer — Blumenfeld’s Rule ‘More Practical Advice ‘To Analyse or Not to Analyse? Positions for Analysis or Judgement ‘Trust your Opponent or Not? Time-trouble Exercises 2 Positional Judgement Open Lines and Diagonals ‘Modern Ideas on Open Lines Pawn Structure and Weak Squares Weak Squares Passed PawnsPawn Islands ‘Weak Colour Complexes ‘The Position of the Pieces Poor Position of a Number of Pieces ‘Space and the Centre Exercises ‘An Experiment Continued Imitate Botvinnik or Najdorf? ‘What is Concrete and What is General? General Questions and Preparation ‘The Opening Middlegame ‘The Ending General Formulae and Concrete Analysis 3 Planning ‘A Single Plan Panlessness Punished Be Flexible The Centre Closed Centre Open Centre Mobile Centre Fixed Cente Tension inthe Centre Exerises 4 The Ending 5 A Player's Knowledge Opening Study Possible to Study the Middlegame? 156 156 165 166 170 m 175 175 176 1m” 178 181 185Symbols Check Good move Brilliant move Bad move Blunder Mate )) Diagram follows, prsrstPreface ‘An immense number of books have been written on chess. Some chess writers annotate recent games, oth- ers compile and bring up to date works on opening variations, but, strange as it may seem, no one has had the idea of describing the meth- ‘ods by which the leading players of our time have reached the peak of their playing strength. Yet a study of, these methods would greatly facili- tate the process of mastering the in- twicacies of the game. Tm this book the author describes how Botvinnik, Tal, Smyslov, Pe- trosian, Keres, Bronstein and many other leading grandmasters studied cchess theory, and trained themselves to understand the mysteries of chess strategy and tactics, They them- selves have revealed some of their ‘methods in articles and game anno- tations, while I have become ac- quainted with others from personal Conversations with my fellow grand- masters. ‘The reader will also find an ac- count of my own personal experi- ‘ence ~ my achievements in the field of chess are the result of immense hard work in studying theory, and I flatter myself that this experience will prove to be of interest to the reader. Chess is a complex game, yet millions of enthusiasts are fas. nated by it. Some of them reach the playing strength of a first or second category player, while others are satisfied to be known all their life as ‘a beginner’. Yet surely even a weak player would like to win a chess title and be known ab master, or even grandmaster. If someone could only show them how to reach this goal, then many of these enthu- siasts would be prepared to set off along the long and irksome road of tournament play with all its exciting and nerve-racking experiences. How then does one become a grandmaster? Is it the case that a strong player's abilities are purely natural, and that hard work cannot change anything? Naturally there ‘must be some inherent ability, but as in other spheres of human endeav- ‘our the main factor is immense, un- stinting effort to master the skills of cchess strategy and tactics. ‘That great chess thinker Emanuel Lasker asserted that in the space of 100 hours he could produce a first- category player from a young man of average ability. Could one go fur- ther than that? Lasker never had ‘occasion to prove the validity of his claim; the question naturally arises:10 Preface could one by dint of careful study and hard work go as far as becoming ‘a master or in the end a grandmas- ter? My own experience tells me that such study and hard work do lead to immense improvements in one’s practical results. I would remind the reader that up to 1938 I had never ‘managed to reach master standard, ‘but my study of the game in the pe- riod 1936-37 led suddenly 10 a “great leap forward’. I gained the master title in 1938 and only one year later that of grandmaster. It fol- lows that one can become a grand- master by one’s own endeavours: fone merely has to work hard at it. How exactly to go about itis con- tained in this book. ‘A few points are worth noting: 1) My desice to make the book as. clear and helpful as possible has led me to employ new names for some strategic laws and concepts. ‘This was not done in an attempt t0 tay for an unnecessarily scientific approach, but merely to help the ‘memorisation of important points. 2) The book makes use to a large extent of the games and advice of those Soviet grandmasters who be- Tong to what is now called the older ‘generation. The reason for this is that all my chess career I have rubbed shoulders with Botvinnik, Keres and Smyslov. The younger grandmasters, on the other band, are busy with their current tournament battles and write less about their thought processes at the board, nor- ‘mally restricting themselves to giv- ing concrete variations. '3) The book contains games by ‘the author ~ again easily under- standable as, in aiming to describe the secrets of the chess mind, IT have naturally had to dig down deep into my own brain. ‘So, dear reader, forward into bat- lle, to storm the heights of grand- ‘master chess!Introduction: An Unusual Experiment We shall now try to describe the complex process of thinking which takes place in a grandmaster's mind during play. To explain his thought processes as clearly as possible let us try a little experiment that was suggested to me by the method of studying mechanics in high school First of all one studies Statics - the effect of forces on a body at rest — and then Dynamics, in which the same phenomena are studied in motion. So, too, we shall first con- sider how to think about moves from. the static point of view, and then later in the book from the dynamic. Let us then imagine the room where a top-class tournament is being played. Let us go on to the stage and ask one of the players, for example Polugaevsty, to give up his seat to us. Let us now ask Smyslov to tellus straight away without any further consideration the course of his thoughts as he studies a posi- tion in which he, White, isto move. can be certain that his first re- action would be count how many pawns there are. As arrule a grand- ‘master can take in at a glance, with- ‘out counting, how many pieces there are. However, he may at times also count the pieces. We now assume that Polugaevsky has not sacrificed anything and so material is level. ‘The next stage in Smyslov's thi ing will be to clarify the following points First, from which opening has this position arisea. If not many moves have been made, he will be able to ascertain this from the pawn con- figuration and the position of the pieces. If we are well into the ‘middlegame then one has to work on the remnants of the pawn structure, ‘on the open files and diagonals and ‘outposts forthe knights. Then there follows the question: hhave I ever had this position before, ‘or has it ever occurred in games by other grandmasters? This is an im- portant point in clarifying matters, as if one can call to mind similar po- sitions from earlier games, then itis ‘easier toreach an assessment of how things stand, and to hit upon the cor- rect plan or analyse variations. Such a use of accumulated knowledge is an excellent way of saving thinking time as well as avoiding errors or the wrong plan. This period of thought, which we call the clarification period, is very