HOw TO EASE aS YouR = CHESS” BA oT JEREMY SILMAN© copy Jeremy Sinn 199 Al igs reserve. No pat fhe bok may be wed oF Teprobied i any nioner whiaoeer mit ween sma rom te plier, emcee in the eas fb Fe Sie es tin 987654 bray of Congress Cutoging--Pbeaion Data Siem, jeremy ow to eats your cess" crete chesrmasery cou / Seren ima I Ses Pree rig published: Expanded Se Ine Anges Sone Pu, ©1993 Tedd gnghl eeeer or14955555 197 WUIT—EAI SETS son soms.006 ‘ove en by Hest Peder Cone phar and tracy Dani Sh Sis Press 43624 Shannon Road 12s Angeles CA 90027 Dedicated to Steven Christopber—the kindest gentleman “Tue ever met in my ches travels, Tis book would not exist tutbou bis belp and encouragementCONTENTS Key to Notation and Symbols x Preface tothe Thied Edtion tt Introduction av PART ONE: BASIC ENDGAMES Chapter One—Understanding the King 3 (Chapter Two—King and Pawn Endgames 9 Chapter Thsee—Rook and Pawn Endgames 15 PART TWO: THINKING TECHNIQUES AND LIST OF IMBALANCES 23, Chapter One—What Is 2 Plan? 25 Chapter Too—imbalances and the ‘Silman Thinking Technique’ 27 PART THREE: CALCULATION AND COMBINATIONS 35 Chapter One—Caleulaion 37 Chapter Two—Rules of Combination 47 PART FOUR: MINOR PIECES IN THE MIDDLEGAME 53 Chapter One—The Bishop 55 Chapter Two—Undersanding Knights 79 Chapter Theee—Dogs vs. Cais/Bishops vs. Keights 93 Chapter Four—The Power ofthe Two Bishops 171 Chapter Five—The Two Knights Victorious! 127PART FIVE: SPACE AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 137 Chapter One—The Big Squeeze 133, (Chapter Toro—The Dark Side of Space 142 Chapter Three—Block Before You Punch! 147 PART SIX: THE MYSTERY OF THE CENTER 155 ‘Chapter One—The Center Under Siege 157 Chapter Two—The Indestuctible Center 162 PART SEVEN; WEAK PAWNS-STRONG PAWNS 167 ‘Chapter One—Doubled Pawns 169 Chapter Two—The Isolated Pawn 180 Chapter Thwee—Backward Pawns 189 Chapter FourPasted Pawns 196 PART EIGHT: WEAK SQUARES 207 (Chapter One—The Creation of a Weakness 209 Chapter Two Making Use of a Weak Square 213, PART NINE: MATERIAL LOSS AND SACRIFICE 223, ‘Chapter One—Exchanging Material for Other Imbalances 225, ‘Chapter TWo— Making Use of Extra Material 232 PART TEN: TEMPORARY IMBALANCES—DEVELOPMENT AND INITIATIVE 243 ‘Chapter One—Slow Play vs, Fast Pay-—Statie ws, Dynamic 245 Chapter TWo—A Lead in Development 254 Chapter Theee—Initiative 261 PART ELEVEN: OPEN FILES 269 ‘Chapter One—Penetation Down an Open File 271 Chapter Two—Domination of Open Files 280 PART TWELVE: THREE KEYS TO SUOCESS 285 Chapter One—Mastering Positions with Many Types of Imbalances 287 Chapter Two—Preventing Counterplay 296 Chapter Thre Ar of Fighting Back 302 PART THIRTEEN: USING IMBALANCES IN EVERY PHASE OP THEGAME 321 Chapter One—imbalances in the Opening 313 Chapter Two—imbalances in che Endgame 323 Chapter Three—Opening imbalances That Last. Tile Endgame 333 PART FOURTEEN: GLOSSARY 339 PART FIFTEEN: THE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS 363 PART SIXTEEN: RECOMMENDED READING LIST 395 INDEX OF GAMES 403,KEY TO NOTATION AND SYMBOLS ‘equality or equal chances ‘+6/Whie has a slight advantage White has a lear advantage +-/ White has a winning advantage Black has a sight advantage -/Black basa cleat advantage *+4/Black has a winning advantage excellent move wesiliant move Poor move PyBlunder interesting move A/Dubious move AL times you will ee a backslash standing between two symbols (like: +/=). The ist symbol stnds for the result i it is White to move. The second symbol is for Black to move. +%-/s means that White to move wins and Black 10 move draws. -+#/+s- means that Black wins if kis White to move while White wins iit Black to move,PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION | orginally wrote this book when I noticed that most ofthe instructional’ chess books really offered no instruction at all. Mos chess literature offers 2 bunch of positions that eater 103 theme but never explain how to implement the examples into your own game. I wanted to give the serious chess student (rom class D to Exper) a way to really improve his or her play-—a serious study ofthis book should enable the reader to achieve thie goal have been more than gratified by the many kind words sven to. How To Reasses Your Chess by players all over the ‘world, These positive comments show me that the book is doing its job—its helping people to beter understand chess For this thie edition Ihave created new chapters, added lots ‘of important examples to already existing chapters, and clari- fied any obscure language that might have detsacted from the instructional value ofthe text T hope How To Reassess Your Ches brings you many hours of pleasure and opens up new levels of understanding to the game that we all love Jeremy Sitman. Bevery His, 1993,INTRODUCTION ‘Often when I talk to players of D-A strength Lam surprised 10 find how litle they know about the game. Moreover, when | recommend a book for them to study they often tll me twas lover their head-—that they had difficulty understanding Is In pantcula, | have found that most players have problems swith the following subjects: 1) Alack of understanding concerning the tue purpose of the opening, 2) No knowledge of planning and the thinking processes ‘hat make ie happen 3). No understanding ofthe most elementary endings. D How all thee of these subjects are closely connected ‘This lack of understanding ofthe fundamentals often contin ues fr a hfetine. Typical isthe following soe: John Everyman was aught how to play chess by bis fate at the age of twelve At Fist he leaned the basic rules and thea, aller he gained some experience, he memorized vasious mating patcens. Everyman was toldthat he should learn some endgame Positions also and so, witha heavy heat, he took the time 10 Figure out how to matein such one sided situations as King and Rook King, However, he generally found endings boring and not Worthy of alfeniion. Everyman was an attacker, he loved chasing an opponent's King across the board. To this endhae studied chess problems and a few base texts on combina tion, Everyman reigned supreme on his block; few coule put up ‘even the (iniest resistance. His ego bursting with power, Everyman decided to extend his area of dominance—he joined a chese club. ‘Against these new, more seasoned adversaries, Everyman, could do litle. He would uy 10 atack, but his cowardly ‘opponents would take a pawn, ade all the pieces off, and ‘eventually win che resultant endgame. Obviously he had gotten involved in a club of wimps—real men would never play such chicken chess! Nevertheless, his syle slowly went through certain transformations. Everyman leamed to avoid weak pawns, develop all his pieces before attacking, try :0 avoid loss of| material, ete. Everyman dida' paniculaly like these changes, bu he liked losing toa bunch of wimps even less ‘The years rolled by with Everyman memorizing 2 few open- ing varations and refining the various postonal lessons he had been givea by the other members. Soon Everyman was top dog In the club. His ego soared to new heights t was time for further expansion. Everyman started to compete in wourna- ‘ments, AC fis his resuits were shaky: the chess clock unnerved him and, in general, he was looked down on by the top players. This proved tobe temporary though-—in a way twas arte of Initation. As he became more familar with the atmosphere of| ‘tournaments and ashe picked up afew new strategies, Everyman stared winning games with regularity. When he got his rating published he felt great pride—1802, 2 class‘ player! ‘More time swam by and Everyman continued to hone his skill When sot working of spending time with his family, Everyman would sit back and memorize a few more opening lines and, a times, leaf though a tedious middlegame mana Eventually Everyman achieved an Expert ranking and ty as he might he could never get beyond i ‘This did not have o be the case. Everyman was tuck because his foundation was rotten. His knowledge was sipshod and Incomplete. Most imporartly, he never viewed the game as hhomogencous whole, Instead, eventing was made of dis jointed fragments. Despite mediocre leaning techniques, Everyman had reached the expert level. Unfortunately, his same mediority as now acting as an anchor and was effectively preventing him from setting any beer, The tuth wasnt prety, but unless he ‘eseroyed that rotten foundation and lesmed everthing again from scratch he would never get over the exper hump, Everyman's stony is common. Most players teach peak and find themselves tapped there—A prsoner of their mind's erroneous dogmas ‘Are You in similar situation? Are you willing to rebuild your foundation, make a change, and reach new heights? Ifyou are, then empry your brain of preconceived ideas, open you eyes, and prepare to he the player you always knew you could be, ‘The purpose of this book i to offer a complete course of study 10 the serious student. You will be taught the basic endgames, middlegame concepts, and the rue purpose of the chess openings. You will be shown how to structure your thinking processes and how to come up with plans based on the needs of any given postion. Tests, basic rules, and other recommendations wil aso be included. You will earn how 10 train yourself and be given all the tons necessary to do this ‘This book is writen on many levels. Much very basle materi 's included, Stady it Even if you feet you know i, sill go over i again. Some ofthe material will be a bit advanced for many players Do the best you can with i Reread this book every’ six ‘months, You will ofen find thatthe material that ws once an ‘enigma becomes crystal clear with the passage of litle time. ‘This isnot simply another tome oa the middlegame Instead | ‘offer a method of contoled thought—we will examine many ferent aspects of chess, but always through the confines of ‘that method. Enough material is given in each chapter to get a point across. A complete explanation of each subject would {ake many thousanes of pages. list of recommended iterature is given atthe end of this book for those who wish to delvedecper into vaious topics Ts iy contention that any student who seriously studies this ‘book ancl continues the work schedules therein can eventually achieve a master ranking ‘One pitfall must be mentioned before we finish this trode. tion and get into the actual lessons, Most players have devel ‘oped a cenain proficiency with ther syle. They are skilled in theie mediocsty. When you start changing the way you think about the game, you may find your results will actually get ‘worse! Don't panic. AS you muster che materials inthis book your downward plunge will reverse iseif and you sill soon {ind youreelf ata point of understanding and achievement fae beyond anything you have previously obtained. OF course, fallin stenggh isnot necessary. Everyone will react eifferently to the information inside. One gentleman had an ‘A’ rating for years but had never won an “A’ section. After one lesson something ‘clicked! and he won 1Wo tournaments saigh, both swith 5.0 scores! May things go so well for you! PART ONE BASIC ENDGAMES ‘This par of the book is an anomaly-—it ealy should not be bere! 've struggled long and hard with the simple face that basic endgames have nothing to do with my general theme, Why then, have 1 decided to include this section? In a way the anstier is less a matter of reason and more @ question of Conscience. Quite simply: EVERYONE needs to know the bases of endgame play. Unforunately 1 have found that players of| every class have very litle Gf any) knowledge of this subject. Since the material in this section represents the building blocks ofall endgames, I feel compelled to offer it here and BEG you to take the time to master, Your reward will be many saves from poor positions and numerous wins fom endings that you ‘ever would have gone into in the past Remember that fam only giving basic endgame material that I think you simply must know. For a deeper study of the subject, there are numerous books on the market that just explore ths area of the game (See the recommended reading lise at the end of this book. Twill take i for granted tha the student is already Familie With the basic mates such as King and Queen vs. King, King and Rook vs. King. etc. More complex and appropriate) endgame considerations will be studied later (See Part Thineen: Imbal- ances In The Endgame)CHAPTER ONE UNDERSTANDING THE KING “Throughout a chess game a player hides his King away on the sidelines where ic quivers ina perpetual sate of eae. Of course {his is easy to understand—a state of marial law exiss on the chesshoard and a wandering King willbe quickly executed by a vindictive Queen and her cohons, Ths matriarch exiss as long. as the all powerful Queens roam. Eventually though, all goes ‘Quiet, the Warring factions have bludgeoned exch other into ‘oblivion and only the Kings anda few faithful pawns ae let (a remaining Knight, Bishop, or Rook may also exis, acting as seal dogs that bark 2nd saap at the King’s heel), ‘When the board is Finally cleared of hostile pieces the Kings finally become supreme, Now, sfe from attack from the extinct larger pieces, the Kings are free to leave their respective bunkers and go fora ssol. At times what’ lft of the two male run armies give up hostihies and make peace—a draw is declared, More offen than not though, the King, so recently freed from the bulying presence of the dominating Queen, finds himself lonely. He misses his lady and goes in seach of new one. Thus the queening of a pawn becomes his sole ambition and he roams the face ofthe boar in an efor to corn {this dream into reality In this chapter we will strive to understand the basic move: rents ofthe King nd the relation that the opposing Kings have tovcach other.“The fight between Kings to determine which one is stronger s eae the opastion agra Both Kings would like to advance but they are placed ina ‘way that prevens thelr counterpar rom doing so. In this type of stuation I is disadvantageous to have the move since you ‘must then give up conto of one ofthe ertical squares and allow the enemy King o advance. With hi in mind, we can see that White 10 move gives Black the opposition since 1.Kd3 allows 1.-Kb4, while 1Kb3 allows 1..Kd4. In both cases, black’s King is making headway into White's postion ‘This called the distant opposition The rule is: Whoever ss 10 ‘move when there san odd number of squares berween the Kings doesnot bave the opposition. The reverse i: Whoever ks to move when tbere isan even number of squares beswoen the Kings des ‘have the opposition. they coniaue to walk towards each other ‘we will arve at diagram #1 again These same rules aso aply to diagonals (gram +), If is White to move then who has the opposition? The answer is that White does since there is an even number of squares between the Kings. Thus White would play L.Kb2 ‘which would leave Black on the move with an odd number of| ‘squares between the Kings 1 now should not be dificult to determine who has the ‘opposition wien the Kings connect on a rank, file, or diagonal ‘But what if they fallto connect altogether? Docs one then need to ‘work out elficult mathematical formulas? Hardly Lets look at sdagram 24, | Jn non-comeding sustlons the rule is Mate the King to a “square oF rectangle in which each comer © tbe same color Diagram 5 (next page) wil lustrate ths.‘Whites jus played 1.Kb2. The connecting points b2, 8, 8, and f2 are all dark squates and form a rectangle. After LKb2 ‘White as the opposition. Lessee fm telling the truth: 1.KeS (..KI7 23 gives us direc diagonal opposition) 2.Ke2 KIB (2.k¢7 3 Kd oF 2..K08 3.K€2 both give us direct connections) 3.Kd2 KS 4.Ke2 Kh8 5.Kf2 Kh7 G.KfS Kh 7.KF4 and Black ‘an no longer avoid a direct connection (7..Kh7 BKDS; 7..KB7 8.Kg5;7.Kg88 Ke), Notethateach time someone moves, anew series of connection points ae formed. OUTFLANKING ‘Outtanking i simple but useful tool to know. With ta player ‘an make inroads into a position that were not otherwise pos sible. Admitedly, this often cos the opposition but it must be ememered thatthe oppasiion ss only a meas to.an end, not tbe Sai o A close study of diagram #6 ands coerec handing will each the student the finer points of oppostion and outlanking ‘White wo play as the opposition. His goal i to reach f8, g8 or bi in at most seventeen moves. Black will consanly try to sop this. L.Kaat The only way to take the oppeson. The moze clrect path als because i allows Blac to take the opposition: 1 Kb2? Kb8l2.Ke3 Ke? 3KeA Kd6 4.Ked Keb and White will not set close to his tages. 1..KB! A fine defensive move! Now 2.Kad? loses the opposition since Black has his choice of two squares oa the ale and thus can make i either odd oF even (2.Ka), White wil also fai 10 teach his goals alter 2Kb3? Kb7, 2.KD2 TTeading over to the target side of the boar 2..KeS Sill keeping Whie's options 1o a minimum. The seem- Ingly more acuve 2..Ke7 3Ke3 only ads White. 3.Ke2 Sill beading forthe kingside. Instead White could try to outlank ‘Black, but tthe moment this would fall to achieve the set goa. let's ook at an example of outanking: 3.Ka3 ies , 2 Se a ee ypuating a file benwcen the Kings, White prevents black from taking direct opposition while simltancously making forward progress. This process is called outlanking, After 3K83 Black ‘an ake the opposition with 3..Ke? (forming connecting points (09 7, €3, a3, and a7) but White wil be able 19 move forward Kad Ke6 5.KaS Ke5 6 KaG Kos, White has managed to make Inroads into Black's postion but he will never be able to get ‘over to the kings, To solve dlagram #6 White must fust goto the target side ofthe board (kingside) and only hen outlank his opponent. The logic for this is easy to understand: when you are on the keingside, any forward motion will allow Whice to land on bis (goal squares, RAB Ger 3KC2) 4.Kd2 KeB 5.Ke2 KM 6K Kg8 7.Kg2 White is now on the optimum fle siace his King stands In between the target squares. 7..Kh8 &.Kf3 The out Aanking process finaly takes place. 8..Kg7 Diack covld take the opposition by 8..K but afler 9KF4 Kh6 10.K95 Kh 11.06 ‘White would be able to conquer the target square on f8. This Idea of giving up the opposition fora higher prize is a major pan of outfanking, 9.59 Saised that he has advanced one rank, White reakes the opposition. Blunders would be 9K? iG and 9.%g42 Ka. In both cases White wil never reach bis ‘oul, 9..KET 9..Kh7 10.KE leads to the same type of ply 1OKhA! Another outflankiog maneuver. White once again| offers Black the opposition. 10..Kg6 And Black once again refuses to take it After 10.,KF6 1.KAS KIS Black would clearly have the opposition but White would dance forward with 12.6 and claim h8 for himself. 1.Kg$ Grabbing the oppos ton again. 12..KN6 Or 11.7 12.KF5 Kg? 13.K95 Kh7 14.6, ec 12KES Kg? 13.Kg5 KIT 14.Kh6 KyB 15.Kg6 KES 1G.Kh7 and White cannot be prevented from achieving his goal by 17K. Please study the information on the opposition and outank: ing carefully. Dont let the scientific names of the siange rumbers and lines in the diagrams scare you away from learning something that is both easy to understand and highly useful! should add thatthe position in dlagram #6 isa for one to show friends. They will not be able 10 solve it and will be amazed when you demonstrate how one King can actually be stronger than another just by understanding the basics of the ‘opposition and outanking CHAPTER T KING AND PAWN ENDGAMES In endgames with only Kings and pawns presen, the oppost Lon takes on 2 huge importance. This means that ifthe reader thas not fully grasped the material in the previous chapter, 1 recommend that he go back and carefully eread it ‘With King and pawn vs. King the batle revolves around the queening squate of the paw. If White can gain contol of this ‘square he will queen his pawn and win the game. IF of, then a daw will result The opposition will be the means by which White succeeds of fails in his quest (rook pawns form the ‘exceptions and such situations will be studied at the end of this ‘chapte. Diagram 8s an extremely common position, White isa pawn ahead and wishes 1o advance it to e8, Black means to prevent this and atthe moment isfy blocking its path. Nevertheless, White can force the advance of his pawn, Dlack’s ability to draw epends on his knowledge of the opposition and his keeping, control of the queening square (€8). LKEZ KeS I have oftenseen beginners play the atrocious 1..KdBP, Afier 2KP3 Black's king & no longer blocking the pawn and must sit on the sidelines and watch if promote. 2KP3 KIS eit KeS 4.Ke3 ‘White has the opposition and Black has to give round. 4..Ket fier this fine move White can only keep the opposition by playing 5Ke2 Gwhich does nathing 0 help advance the pawn) fr 5Ke Gobich is log. Black's plan i simple. He mens 10 akoays sump 01 front of the pawn when possible. When tis ‘impassibe, Black wil always move straight backwards so that ‘when Wits King comes up Blackcan step fron of wand ake the opposition. For example, i Black had played 4..K1% White ‘would play 5.KF4 and take the opposition. 5.KfS Else Black ‘would go back to 65. 5..KAS Once again, if Black had played 4oKG6 then SKE leaves Black to move and White with the ‘opposition. After the comet 4..Keét SKE KI6 we have the same ‘postion but with Whiteto movethus Blk lsthe ane who has ‘gained the opposition. GeS+ Ke6 7.Ked Temporal taking the opposition. 7..Ke7 Continuingto sep stnight back. Now White ‘would have to play 8 KeS inorder to rein the opposition. Since thisisleal, it will once again switch over to Black. 8.65 Kd7 Obviously not &..KIT? 9.Kd6 sehen White i allowed to come forward, 9.e6¢ Ke7 10.Ke$ KeSt When it coun the most Any tther move would lose. For example, 10..KUR? 1L.K6 Ke8 1327 KIT 13.Kd7 when White has gained contol of ef and wil easily queen his pawn. LLAKFS Hoping for 11d or 11K? ‘when 12.K16 would take the oppostion and win after 12..Ke8 he? followed by 14.K77. 1...Ke7 Always ump infront ofthe pawn when possible. 12.Ke5 KeS! 13.416 KMS 14.¢7+ Kes 15.Ke6 Sialemate and thus dren ‘Drawing this postion should become second nature 10 you, Gta fiend to take the King and pawn while you ty to save the same with the lone King, Use a chess lock and give yoursef twenty seconds he player with the King and pawn can take as ‘much time as he wants) for an infinge number of moves. ter a few practice sessions thought will not be necessary—your hand will know how to dav this in your sleep Wah King and pawn vs. King, White's main hope 10 win occurs when bis King 4 $1 front of the paten. Diagram #9 alstrates this poi White to move isa draw because Black has the oppostions LKd3 Kd5 e+ 2Kc3 Koi oF ZKed KeS are no better 2.Ke§ 3.Ke3 Ke6 with an easy draw as in diagram #8, Black to move (irom Diagram #9) is a diferent story. White ‘now has the opposition and wherever the Black King moves i ‘ill allow White's monarch to advance: 1..Kd5 The same type ‘of pla follows 1.5 2Kdl while 1..Kd62 KA Kes 3 Kes Kal6 “AXES 15 also not eifcul, 2.KFAY White wants to control the pawn's queening squate. The rule 10 follow is: Advance your ing as far as pale without endangering the pave, malsing sure to take the opposition atthe esical moments. With the king far advanced White can take the opposion at anytime because he wil always have tempo moves with his pawn. 2.KAG Other tes D 2uKdS 36 Ged+ KAS 4.5 Is also good) 3..KeS 4ke5! Gtopping Black from gesting in front of the pawn) 4..Ke6 5 Ke Ke? 6 Ke? followed by 65, 6, XI, 7, and e8=Q 2) 2.Ke6 3.Xelt Gand not 304 KIG with a basic daw) 3.KI6 4 KdS KES 5.of+ avoiding 5.Ka6? Kes when the ‘pawn will be eaten) 5..K16 6.6! e547 KeT) 6 .K07 7.65 Chreatening 8KG7) 7..Ke 8Ke6! (taking the‘opposition. A blunder would be 86” Kd8 967+ Ke8 10.Kes stalemate) &..K68 9KT7 winning, SKIS Ke7 Or 3..KAS 40% KdS 5 KE 4.KeS KET 5.146 KG 6.04 KI7 7.65 7.KA7 KIG 8 KAS wastes time. 7..KeB Hse White ‘would play SK? with contol over eB. 8.KeG Grabbing the ‘opposition, Naturally 8.6? would allow Black to gain the ‘opposition by 8..KdB with a draw. 8..KA8 9.K07 White has fined contol of the ceiial 68 square and will shorly queen his pawn, Diagram #10 is similar to diagram #9 but here White wins lnrespective of whose move lt is because he has the oppastion| (Ghanks to the pawn move available to him). White to move ‘would play 1.e3), taking the opposition and winning as in| slagram #9. ‘As player gals more experience he will discover that a Rook pawn will ofien provide exceptions to rules that we normally take for granted (see diagram #11. Usually sucha fine King postion for White would guarantee tim the win. fo this case however, Black will experience no sifficulties in drawing because he cannot be flushed out of the corner. Lh Kg8 2.h5 Kh8 3.Kg6 Kg8 4.86 Kh8 5.47 stalemate. Diagram #12 shows another strange Rook pawn result. Blac, ‘who has no material tall, stalemates the stronger side. 1Lh6 1LKhS Kg is also a basic draw, as was seen in dlagram #11 1.sKf8 2.Kh8 Or 2K@6 Kp8,e(6 2..KIT 3.47 KiB stalemate t's elear that the oppesition doesn't mean much when the only remaining pawn is a Rook pawn, White must cootrl the queening square and avoid having hls King trapped in the comer if he hopes to win, ‘To complete our discussion of King and pawn endgames,le’s touch upon an old fashioned pawn vs. King foot race. fa King is far away from an enemy pawn, how cin you tell if i wil arrive in time 10 slop i om queening? Is it a maker of Calculation? No, is actually ute a simple process. «aHDiagram #13 shows a quick and easy method. Create 2 20.hxg3 hxg3 2L.NB3 Reh3+ 22.gxhb Qxh3e and mates. 19.NK3 There is no doubt whose minor piece is superior’ 19..d4 Creating a passed pawn (he logical result of a pawn majority) and also creating a new and ‘even stonger support point on @3.20.exdl4exdé 21.Q43 Ne3, 22.RE2 QdS The siuation is growing steadily worse for White black’s Knight dominates the board and the Black Queen radites energy from ss powerful central location. 23.33 £6 (Opening up new files so that the Black Rooks can join in the fight. 24x16 gxf6 25.51 An excellent move. White fights to activate his Knight. Now Nimzovich recommends 25.. lhe! ‘vith a toilly centalzed postion, Play might then continue 25.Rfed (Q5.NI4 Neil) 26,.Neg2! 27-Rxe8 Nid+ 28.Qe4 xe ‘vith an immediate win, Analysis by Nimzovich ‘So everthing tamed out quite nicely for Black. The second, player succeeded in every strategic operation he sled: stopped White's majonty, activated his own, found # strong support point for his Knight and relegated White's to an obscure post ‘on h3 Such a lopsided zesulr ust be partly due to some Failing fon White's part—White must be able to do better than that! Let's go back to diagram #51 and ty to create a more belanced sategc struggle. We will allow the fist few moves: 12..Q87, 13.04 0.0.0 14.03 KS ‘white to play. {Look closely at diagram #58, Inthe actual game White played 15.Qb3, but what docs this do to stop Black's pawns or get his ‘own going? Nothing whatsoever, Much stronger is 15.b4 This prevents «.c7 and creates a fine post on dé for the White Knight. Play might continue 15..NI5 16.Qd3 Stopping ..Ne3 and eyeing the important f5 square. 16.ch 17.Nd4 And now Black isthe one who faces a dilemma. If he sceats his Knight {o6 oF€7 then 18,445 leaves White with all the trumps: active ‘majority and superior Knight IF Black captures with 17. then 18.cxdé leaves Black with a strategically lost poston: ‘White's majorty is strong and he has plenty of play on the ‘queenside also. Remember, the idea for both sides (0 activate thelr respective majorities, place their Knights on strong post, and prevent the opponent from achieving the same goals. With this in mind, Black must play 17..g6 Now f remains in Black's hands. Though White should keep the status quo in the mile and sike out on the qucenside wih 224, lets see what happens if White is tempted into doubling Black's pawns SNES QS! 19.Qxf5 gxf5 Black has a good positon. White must always tke a ..d5-d4 advance into account and i a lowed, Black wil ply .Kb8-<8-d7-e6 Ge central King defends £785, and d5) followed eventually by «.b6 and ..c5 when Black's majorty of pawns is nally making Weel fet while ‘White's majority i completely blocked. The play from diagram 158 was more indicative ofa balanced bate of ideas Also notehow the use ofthe msjoriy of pawns remalned a priory right Into the endgame. 9 Guimard Buwe, Groningen 1946, lack to move, In diagram #59 we have a blocked postion, Such pawn configurations are always quke aice for Knights and here Black's steed is the biter ofthe (wo. This is explained by the fact that White's Knight has no useful suppor points while Black’ has 65, b3, and d4. At ths point I can hear the reader saying that am mistaken and that White's Knight has @ nice home on o6 Cobinable by Ne2-bi-c6). Though o isavalable, it would be rather useless fo go there since nothing is happen ing onthe queensde. 1 ike having 2 millon dollars worth of sold in the desert—who want to lug that much metal around when you are dying of thst Here the queenside is a desert, while the sich rank (normally gold) is visually pleasing but totally lacking in effec since it doesnot attack any weak points and does not work withthe other pieces ‘What else is going on? Well t's an Important fact that # closed postions pawn breaks on the wings take on great impor tance imply because this isthe only way that the Rooks can be brought ito play. Here the queenside and center are totally blocked. This leaves both sides slavering tthe kingside. Given time, White will play h2-h4hS which could easly lead to a ‘completely blocked position Black closed things up by 86 85) and a resultant draw, Since a Black advance based on 7 {5 1s suicidal (opens the grile for White and is impossible anyway because of White's iron contol of that squat, that leaves him only one possibly: Black must play fr .h-h5 and subsequent play on the hile. Wih this mind Black's only Fogial candidates are 1) 1.55; 2) 1..KQ7; 3) 1..Rhf, all of "which aim to beeae open the hile, a's look at each one 1) 1.chS?fals io 2gxhS Qxhs 3.092 when nothingisto be done about 4 Rh3 winning the Black Queen, 2D LoKg? This walks into ANG! when 2.52 3x5 wins the Queen again. Bests 2..Kh? when White can trade Queens or return tothe original postion by 3.Ne3, -RhS! Correct—the Rook immediately situates itself 8 the desired fle. Now Black's King can go to g8 without Blocking the Rook's path to the hfe. 2.Q¢2 Getting out of the bothersome pin on the c1-h6 diago- nal, 2..Kg7 Now this s good since 3.NPS+ is met by the calm 3.8 and White must reteat. There is an impor tant lesson here, Don't be afraid of goss Make sue that a move like 3.N5+ rally does something for White before you bother 1o prevent it. Many players would void 2.K97 for fear of 3.NE5+, thereby missing the best move and not allowing White the chance o g0 wrong, Another way of puting t would be: Dea in Fass, not Paranoia! 3.Ng2 Preparing to ty to close the kingside With h2-hd. 3.5 Black beats Whi to # by one move! Tn the original postion (diagram #59) some players might have been tempted to move the Knight tod (via Nb3-d0) before undertaking any other action. This lazy approach takes the Knight into account but ignores ‘every other consideration. Dont get so engrossed In a Single piece that you ignore what the res of your army needs. 4.b4 nga Justin time, A Queen retreat woul hhave been met by 5.5 with a blocked poskion, 5.284Raxhée! sound sacrifice, Materilly Black gets a pawn and Knight for his Rook, With though, he also gets an attack and contol ofthe open Ivf, Black's Knight wil also gain in power since it ean no longer be challenged by is now nonexistent counterpart. 6.Nxh4 Rh! Get. ting the other Rook into play as quickly as possible Obviously 6..Qxhi? 7.Qh2 ‘would end Black's iniae Live. 7AKg2 Or 73 Ratt Rahs @&Qh? Rep ORT ‘IB 1O.RI1 RE also favors Black) 8..Qxh4+ 9.Ke2 Nat 10Qxc3 (Black threatened ...NfH+) 10..Qxel with @ Winning ending for Black. 7..Qxh4 8.gS Nb3 The Immediate &..Qh2+ 9.KF3 would not accomplish any. thing. Now, however, 9,.Qh2" 10.3 Nd isa disturbs ing threat! 9.Rg1 Making 11 available for his King 9..Nd2! Surprising but very logical. White had two squares to un to with his King (fl and f3). Now both squares are off limits and the threat of ..Qh2 mate looms. Of course the Knight cannot be captured be ‘cause the Queen would hang afer .Qh2s, This combi- nation is made possible by 2 weakened White King and hanging Queen, ‘A final point o consider: When attacking the King, don’ just check a King here and there, First cover the squares that it can ‘un to, This way your checks will econte mate, This technique iscalled building a mating net 10.KF2 & horible move to play, Dat there was no defense. 10..Nxe4+ White resigned, since he loses everything. The Knight became very busy at the end by ‘sing is suppor points as jumping off squares for an attack, CHAPIER THREE DOGS VS. CATS/ BISHOPS VS. KNIGHTS “The batle between Bishops and Knights is one of the most Inveresting, and at times subi, i chess. Games are often won for lost because of the superiority ofa given minor piece and this section should be studied carefully ifa mastery of the gare Is ever o be obtained As you have probably heard before, Bishops tend to be superior to Knighsin open psition, Conversely, a sed blocked postion |smore often than nat going to see 2 Knight triumph over a Bishop. [Risimponantto realize that Bishop or Knight arenotof themselves superior teach ether Somanyplayersfeelthat a Bishop issuperior, botthisissimply note. ltiswhat you do witha pasion, how you form it and ts pawn ssucture, that makes one pice songer than another. The poor maligned Kaight must 90 longer be thought Inferiorthere i no room for bigotry on the chessboard In this chapter I have interspersed superior Knights with superior Bishops and have not divided them. Ihave done this so that you can look at each diagram and decide for yourself which minor's beer—any otherlayout would ob you ofthe chance for this extea training, Before we look at specific examples though, season of Stein's ant-Knight rule might prove informativeThe Anti-Knight Technique Iwas Steinitz who frst demonstrated the correct technique for bauling Knights. He showed that you tae away all thetr ‘advanced support points the Knight willbe ineffective a the ‘Bishops will have an excellent chance of winning out. Because ofthis you must make some decisions beforeyou trade off nto 8 Bishop ¥s, Knight position, Ask yourself the following {questions whenever you face the possibilty of creating this type of imbalance: 1D Isthe postion open or close It's closed I may preferto lownthe Knights. 1f’sopenthe Bishops may bea good bet 2) Will there be suppor points 2vallable for his Knights? iF there are, then other questions arse Can bis Knights ge to them? 1) the Knights do getto these squares, does it matter? J other words, if bis suppor point Is on the queenside but al the play is taking place on the kingside then you would acwally encourage him to ‘Sick hls Knight on that faraway pos! © Cap the Bishops reach simlar or superior squares? ‘Once again, i's very important to answer these questions before you make the tride! Don't malke the mistake that $0 ‘many players do and unconsciously make a trade only 10 iscover that the opponent's Knight is a dominant force, If you're going o give im Knights make sure that you can take away al his advanced squates (a la Seinitz) and slowly create an atmosphere in which your Bishops will thrive e-Rudakovsky, Moscow 1945, ‘White to move. ‘we willbegin ou examination ofthe bate berwcen Bishopsand Xighis by looking at typical situation in the Siciian Defense (lagram #60). White has 2 nice suppor poiat on d5 but he snot sie 1 make ute of since iis well guarded by the Bshop on € andthe Knighton 6 His nea few moves revolve around getting rid ofthe Black defenders ofthis square. 1.5 Be4?? Ths seemingly azsive move isin realy a temble misake. As sated eater, Bishop is needed 0 guard the dS square, nd now Black sof, to trade it fora pice that snot influencing dS 2 all Comect vas 1..Bd7 followed by 2..Bo6 keeping an eye on dS and puting pressure on White's ef pawn. 2.Bxe4 White happily obliges 2.,Qe4 3.Bg5 White hurtes to get rid ofthe final defender of 5, Indoingso he wilbe givingupa Bishop fora nigh, butthe Bishop ‘Black wil be left with willbe much lnferior to the powerful Whe Knight which will permanently esablsh itself on d5. 3.fe8 4.816 Bxl6 5.NdSI dB Whive wins the Exchange afer 5. Qxe2 R12 Qe5 7 fllowed by BNCT. 63 The imbulance of minor pieces weighs decisive in White's favor, 6..D5 7.b3 QcS+ KAI Re89.Rf5 Win everthing in control onthe queensideand withthe cxnter in White's ron grip, White is eady to stata kngsie attack 9-8 10.6 gxi6 11.Qh4 Rg 12NXIG Rg7 13.RRS BxiG ¥4.Qxf6 Regs 15.nd1 d5 Back could do nothing about White's threat of Rxd6 followed by Rxg7 and Rd. 1GRxg7 Black resigned since after 16..g7 17.Rxd5 there is no answer to RASoy ‘Blohm Silman, San Francisco 1981 White to move. In diagram #61 Black threatens to play simply 1..Bb7 when his Bishop would be much superior to either White Knight. Add to thisBlack’suse ofthe fine dS square and the weakness of White's pawn on dé and you come to realize White's sad plight. To ‘counter this, White played 1.451? A very interesting dea. White sacrifices @ pawn but hopes to make his Knight better than the Black Bishop. 1.Aed52.NxdS exdS 3.Ndé Thingshave changed! ‘whites weak pawn on dis gone and Black is now the one who must defend a weak d-pawn. Previously Back had use of the dS square, Now that square is blocked wile White has avery nice poston 4, Finally, White's sacrifice has tured Black's active Bishop into an inactive, bad plece—White's once inferior Knight ‘ow sits Securely on dd where i radiates power over the board, 3.-QF6! Well, perhaps White's Knight isn't so securely placed afte all Black nips atthe Kright and offers the pawn back since itonly gets in the way of his Bishop anyway. To the untrained eye tmight seem that both playersare madly avingaway pawns, but in reality neither player is overly concerned with material a the moment. They are more concemed with the activity of tele respective minor pieces. Its clear hata vious battle fo minor piece superiority has been waged over the last few moves. This type of thing is typical of what the fight beeween imbalances is all about: Once you figure outthe differences the postion, you ‘must do everything you can to make your imbalance ourweigh ~ youropponeats. Don tgetdstacted rom thisdirectiee!4. Qxd? {White has reestablished material equality and even gosten sd of| his Weak di pawn, Unfomunately for him the board is now wide open. This means that the swt footed Bishop will prove its fuperiorty over the more ponderous Knight. White must also face the fact that his Knight, while nicely placed on d, is noe Gefended by 2 pawn. This spells rouble since a Black Rook on the efile could easlly leave Whie's panic stricken pieces banging. 4.6 Gaining aciticaltempo.n White's Rook. §.ReS Blocks the Black Queen's access to d4 and intends 10 meet 5. Rac with 6.Qe4 5. .BB7ICturss our that White's Rook on eS is as poorly protected a8 the Knight on oi, 6.Qb5 Rad The aight must move since 7 Rd just walks into a pin.7.NPBA very unhappy decision. White defended his Rook with the Knight because he ssw tha 7 Nb3 Ba6! picks up the poor Rook on eS 7.sBXE3 As Soon as the Bishop claims permanent supetionty it tries ilself away! In this case, however, a new imbalance is created: an exta, healthy pawn and a weakened King position. Sigxf3 BRIS Beb loses 4 piece, 8.Qxf 9-Rael RAZ 10.R65 Rxb2! Whites hopelessly los because his Queen isoverworked. 11.47 Qgét 12.KhI Hoping that Black falls into 12..RK2” 13.Qu7+! Rad? 14.ReB> RPS 15 Rexf¥ mate! Before making any ‘move alnaysask yourslf"Am {hanging anything? Doeshe have any checks?” This may seem silly but guarantee it wll save you ‘rical points and painful losses. Surely this is worth the few seconds it takes odo this! 12..Re2I13.Rd1 Qes+ 14.Kgl Ret fad Black easily converte his material advantage into win, In dlagram #62 (see next page) Black's Bishop appears fairy active while the White Knight is not doing alt. The big point is this. While the Black Bishop has reached its peak of activity, the ‘hike Knight has ‘not even begun to fight”owwinnkeFlobr, Moscow 1936 ‘White 10 move, ‘Whats the Knights optimum square Thase of you who sid 6 can pit a taro your forehead, On tht post teas the board alive and blocks Black’ acess othe weak pawn on df, Can it get here? “To answer this you must work backwards. The only uncovered square leading od sf. Our Knight can reach com 3, €2, 52, and a8 Since ore3 would allow the Bshopto exchange tsi for ‘ur Knighs, we must Find our way 10 b2 oa, The b2 square can cnly be reached from dor d3 but Rooks sand on bath thase Points at the moment. The a8 square, however, can easly be reached fom bi. Thus our move is ebvious! 1.NbI! The Knight stars is journey toward greatness. 1.Q(8 2.Na3 BAS 3.Ne4 BeT Black had 10 defend his a5 pawn, 4.Nd6 "The Knight now consittes a crushing advanage. Black does not want 10 take ‘since a powerful passed pawn would ake is place. However, such 2 Knight cannat be tolerated for long, an Black will eventual feel ‘compelled to hack tof. 4..Rb8 .Rb1 White prepares io open the befile and bring pressure to bear on Black's b? pawn. The Knight ‘lon wil not en te game. Only by eeating a target can White ‘ope to finish Black of. You can do all he right things ia chess but ‘without 2 point of atack you won’ find yourself winning many ames. 5. QUB Gb axbsé 7bxb4 Bxd6 The Kalght had to 20! B.exd6! Opening the ile and thus exposing 2 new weakness 00 6. Black i compleey lost because Whe has a long range endgame advantage sn his pawn on d5 (us pawn also cramps ‘lack’ pieces) plus immediate ages onb? andes The remainder ofthe game was marred by a big mistake on White's par, though fis advantage sso large that he sll gained the victory. For the curious the fish was: 8..QaS 9.RUDS ReB 10.Qe2 Qa 11.Re3 KIT 12.Qc472 12Kgi! would have prevented the following counkeepey, 12,-DS! 13.Qc2 Rxd6 14.cxd6 e+ 15.KB3 exbi 16.Q7+ Ky8 17.47 RAS 18.Qd6 h6 19.Qxe6+ KUT 20.Qe8 D3, 21,Qx28 Rea 22.axb§ RdB 23.Rxb3 Rd 24.6, 1-0. Alekhine Junge, Warsaw 1942 ‘White to move. Diagram #63 is not so easy to judge. No one has any really ‘weak pawns, material is even, and space is also not much of 2 factor. The main imbalance is Bishop vs. Knight, but who docs this favor? Black's Knight on d6 is doing a. good job by challenging White's fr the £5 square. This leaves a comparison to be made between the Black Knight on cB and the White Bishop. The Bishop is bad since is ef pawn sands on a white square fthe Bishop were chased back to €2 would be a poor Piece. As it sands though, i i quite active, On BS i affects Some central squares and sims at Black's kings, Now lets take a lok at Black's c8 Knight. Knights in genera fe poorly placed on the frst rank and should only go Uhre i they are in wansilon to a ier post. This means that at the "moment the o8 Knight i inferior to Whites Bishop. To counter this minor piece inferionty Black must place this Knight on a ‘square where i will overshadow the Bishop-—that square iOn et the Knight blocks the Bishop and atacks the pawn on b2 Once it reaches ¢4 © would abviously no longer be inferior to White's Bishop. Indeed, White might be well advised to chop it cf at that point. However, this Knight i not there yet. For rately for Black, ef can easily be reached by «.NDG-ef. This scans that White’ superior minor piece is only a temporary vantage —White must react quickly to take advantage of i Now that we know what Black is going 0 do (.NDS-), let's figure outa plan forthe White army. Which side of the Board should White play on? Doubling Rooks onthe afl accomplishes poshing since Black would just ade pieces by ..NDG and Ra (Goubling Rooks aso has nothing to do withthe imbalance—any plan must work with the Bishop on b3). Cental action also falls Since it dese take Black's plansinto account. Fr example: 12 Nb6 2 Rad Nees when White's strategy canbe seen asa complete ‘bust. The logial place for White to sec play’is the kings. The reason for this rater staighforward: White has tree pieces pressuring the ingside (Queen, Knight, and Bishop) while Black has no pieces there at al (other than his King) tis important for the student to realize that White's Bishop on 3 resides on the queenside but exens no real pressure there. Is influence, the ze of ts gun, pointed a the kingsde, To repeat YOU MUST MAKE USE OF YOUR FAVORABLE IMBALANCES In this case that ‘imbalance aims tthe kingside. When the Queen and Knight oin| ‘vith the Bishop they canal wor together towards a single goa [Note that the Rooks perform 2 prophylactic function: they ee the ‘pen files and prevent Black from geting counterplay there ‘Now that we know that Whites going to play on the kingside, we must determine which kingsde point White will choose 10 ack (7, g7,0€ 7). I not my intention to give an indepth explanation on how to attack a King here. A fantastic book that docs this to perfection is Vukovie's Art Of Attack Chess. Suice icto say that one does not rush madly atthe enemy King like a berserker, Instead you should pick one point and apply pressure to iin an effort to induce a weakening. In the present case is ‘leat that istoo well defended The h? point can be attacked by ‘our Queen oniy—ardly suicient to do anything wicked. That [eaves 7, a point that can be atacked by both Queen and Knight “To sum upr So far we know that Back intends (or shoul Intend? ..Nb6 followed by .Nbef. We aso know that we will sat a kingside tack and that g7 our main target. ‘Only a ths point, when we know eracly what both sides ace to do in the postion, do we decide on our candidate moves. ‘Which moves attack our target (g7) The only reasonable choices are: LQai; 2) LN; and 3) 1.NhS. To et down on our ‘workload we can reject 1,Qg because it can aways be played and we might prefer afer a Knight move) to move ito g3 instead (vith a double atack on e5 and g7). At this poit you should analyze NPS and 1LNh and choose the one you deem superior. Inthe game Alekhine played LLNS! Many players would reject, this because of 1..NxfS when after 2x5 the attack seems to have ended before i ever gotstared. However 1. NxISisan ee10r since White can play the surprising and strong, ZexfS!, The doubled pawns don’ hurt White's posiion at al in fact the 5 ‘pwn is an attacking force that threatens to push on to f6 and Continue the svike agsnstg7. The Bishop helps this atack by preventing ..715 de tothe pin oa the 22-98 dagonal. Actually, aller 1..Ne? 2.ex/5! Black would be unable to stop the pawns advance to 16 since 2.Qe7 3. Qxe6 hangs 2 pawe, while 2S 3 Red Qua 4.Rdi QF 5 RAT leads to a winning bid for White (ver and above al ofthis however, comes a suber fact, Wi the clearing ofthe ed square the White Bishop gains a permanent superiority over the Knight. Even It gets chased back toc2 i wil have the fine ef squareto ston, This makes t appareat that White ‘Snot just attacking the King and hoping for mate. He ialso tying, omakeistempocary advantageous Bishop a permanent advan ‘age. In this way be can carry his advantage ino the endgame fa Iidalegame knockout punch eludes him. 1..Nb6! Black wisely avoids geting distracted fom his logical plan of posting a Knight ‘nef. 2:Qe31A very hard move to find, and stronger than 2.Q93 186 31NhGe Kg7 4.NgG I, Aer he text move White threatens both 3.Nad6 winning apiece and 3.Qp NxfS 4 exf5 NA 5 Red Ru616 and mates. 2.NXFS? Black panks. He should have calmly played 2..Nbe when the final pot of 2Qe3 is shown: 2..Nbed| Brot Nxct 4.Qu5 gS Nh» Kg? 6.Ng6 and unlike 2.083, the Queen now sandsin font ofthe Knight and threatens 7 6 Kgs {SING mate, Ate the fonher6,.£67.Qhr White would rela jst a small edge. So White started with a small edge and perfect efense by Black would keep it at that tet me tll you a secret— very few people defend perfecly! 3.exf5€5 1F3,.Nd5 then 4.3 iG 5. with a permanently superior minor piece and 2 song, snack 4.{61 A wonderful thrust White has been constant trying to accomplish two goals to atack g7 and to make his Bishop ‘permanenily eter than the enemy Kright. This does buh wih tne move! Now the Black King is weakened and after 4..gx"6 “White's Bishop wil breathe firedown thebi-h7 diagonal. 4. Obvious 4.96 5.Qh6 must be avoided. 5.Qh6 At the moment the Bishop is sill doing a great job on b3. Now the threats are 6 Qulb and 6182, 5..f5 Here White, realizing that all she rules for 2 combination were present Gveakened King, hanging piece [black Queen, inadequately guarded pieces) played 6.BxfTHt and completely destroyed Black, For the conclusion see Part ‘Three, Chapter Two (rules of combination, diagram #34 oH co Poletayey-Hlobr, Moscow 1981, ‘White 1 move, A glance at dgram #64 gives a very favorable impression for Black’ cause. He isa solid pawn ahead, his Knights wel placed in the center, and White's pawn structure is inferior 1 Black's To make matters worse, Black i$ the superior playest Surpeisingly though lack is dead lost White's pan minus &2 negative, and bis pawn structure 1inferioe. The fcr that changes everyihing isthe fight between the Bishop and the Knight. In this case the Bishop wl prove to be far superior. Le this pawn had stood on b2 hereby ‘improving’ his spt pawn structure), then White trould indeed have ben los because the d5 square would be a permanent support pot for lack’ Knight However, alr Let the Knight must move and the newly opened diagonal fr the shop quickly tums out 1 be decisive. L..NET Black also loses after 1..N162.Qf3 RdB 3.25 wih 2 quick decision. 2.983 immed tly making use ofthe Bishop's power by teatening mate oa 18. Ins now clear that Black’ advantages (pawn structure and Inatera) were static. White's superior minor piece and the insiave tt confers isan acve or dynamic advantage. Is impor tant to sate that dynamic advantages are not necessarily better than static ones the Individual poston wl determine which one wil win out I the dynamic Gmmedate) advantage can be ruled, then the state ong range) plusses of the defender shoul lead to eventual victory. In this ase Black is no able to sc up a successful defense, and so his sate advantages will rove useless similar fe station is that of person wo puts all of| his money away for his old age—oaly to die at thity-fivel2..Qe6 Black would suffer afer 2..Ne6 too: 3. xa 4.Qe3+ KaB 5 RG followed by 6Qc5. %QXE7 So much for material dsparty 3..Qe5* 462 RAI Black acvaly threatens to mate by Qs. “White's King would be too open after 5, and 5.14 BS compl: ‘ates matters, The move White plays activates the only piece that 's not carying its load. 5.Re3! Intending to simply guard it next ‘move by 6.Qxe6, This eapeure would also open the efile forthe Rook, win a pawn, and create a double stack on the €7 Krigh ‘The Rook cannot be captured by 5..Qxe3 because after 6 Qre7* ate would follow. 5..b5 Trying to give the King 2 runaway Square on 86. Qxe6 Ne Now ales experienced player might Bet excted by 7.Q07+ Kb6 8.Qb7* KaS, but is wrong to jus ‘heck without 2 clear purpose i mind. Black's King is veryunhappy on a7 since it is tormented by White's Bishop, Queen, and Rook, Allowing ttorun to a5 would get it out ofthe Bishop's Influence. 7a! Very strong. AS mensoned in an earlier chapter, this technique is known 25 building a mating net! The idea is 0 close the doots ofthe King's escape routes and only then chase him, OF course—now he doesn't have anywhere {0 nun to 7..Qe7 Sopping 8 QI7+.8 Qed Threatening mate on a8. 8..QS 9.4 A sadistic move, The Rook on di hangs, and 10.Gxa7+ ‘would be a bone-cusher. Since 9..Ra7 sil leaves the Rooke en rise snd 9.6 bangs the Knighton <8, Black resigned. Instead ‘f 9.084, Whe could also have won more bray by 9.Qe7!+ Nxe7 10.Rx67+ QU? 11.RxD7* Geting up the Famous Windmill theme) 11,.KaB 1295+ Ka7 13.RD7* Ka8 T4.RDI+ oF 14RA7> and Black has been cleaned out (O'Kelly Naldrf, Dubrovnik 1950, Black wo play. Many of my students think that postion #65 is quite nic for White. He has a space advanage and two powerfully advanced ight. The bad Bishop on g2is aso serving 2 useful Fonction ‘guarding the pawns on h3 and ef, and can always become ative by an eventual eS advance. Though Black has pressure on the cf pawn, he cannot capure because a catasvophe is theentened (07. "hus, Black's ist consideration must be a way of dealing ‘withthis threat Reents by Na oF .Neb ae passive and space ‘Black’ best piece dhe Knighton 5). This leaves Black having to capaure one or both of the bothersome Knights—dont allow your ‘opponent to keep such fine looking beasts on the board IE Black takes on bS with his Bishop it wil create an imbal ance of Bishop ¥s. Knight. However, befoce doing 50, Black must decide if such an imbalance would be favorable to hie. He ca’ forget that aking on bS opens up the eile for White. ‘his means that if White ean chase the cS Knight away by an eventual b2-bé advance, then the pressure oo the backward &7| pawn might prove to be unbearable, ‘Nice taking in all the facors of the postion, Black hss upon the followinglong range plan: He wl capeureon dS fist Tis wil force ‘White recapaure with hs ef pawn (since ox would hang the BS ght and FaxdS would lose the e:pawn to ..Bc6). By making ‘White's e;pawn go 10 d5 he has made White's Bishop on 2 permanently bad Ge can no longer fee sel by ef e5). Next Black ‘wl capture the other Knight on b5, creating 2 Bishop vs. Knight ‘malance. The Kaight on 5 will then be stong, but can sill be chased away by the pan on 2 or captured by the Bishop on 3. ‘These two pubic enemsesmust be dealt with othe postion could ‘um against Black-White succweds in chasing the Knight from cS and opening up the cle, White would gan a lear advantage To revere this Black wil play 23%, planing the pawn on be by the ‘Bishop on g7. Whi wil then be forced to defend by Bor Be, ‘whereupon Black wil ade fist the pawns and then the Bishops, thas geting sd of both public enemies and leaving bimself witha ‘Beat Knighton 5 completely unaslable and permanent versus 2 emible Bishop on g2. This advantage shouldbe decisive les see how Black accomplished these goals: 1..Nxd5! The correct move order. 1..BxbS allows 2.NxI6» BxtS 3.xbS, and ‘Whit’ Bishop on g2 can eventually become active by an ei-e5| Advance. Now this Bishop will become bad without any active Potential. 2exd§ As sated earlier, 2RxdS Be6 wins material for lack, 2..Bb5 Creating the imbalance of Bishop versus Knight Black only di this because he realized that he could make his ‘night permanently superior to White's Bishop on g2. Note that, the alternative 2..BI5 was very tempting. However, ater 3Qd2 ‘Black hasan active poston but no way to cash in. This 8 a caseofthe stati, long term advantage (Superior Knight inated by 2..2xb5) being much beter than the dynam, shor term advan {age @..BIS), 3.exb$ a3! The pavin is atacked and cannot move ‘because the Rook onal would hang, appears that White has to ‘guard it with is Bishop Gf he doese't want to lose materi thereby allowing Black to trade the only two pieces that could bother his Knight. 4.844? Since this leads to a postionaly lost, ‘game with no active potential whatsoever, White should have ‘acificed the Exchange by bit Brat 5.Rxal, This would Force Black’ Knight to leave ats preat pos on 5. True, Black would enjoy an exra Exchange; but White would be lft with pressure on thei, wo Bshops, and threats against Black's King onthe 0-8 diggonal. tn this way White would have had sever favorable imbalances to play with. Whether this would have offset Black's material advantage is @ moot point—never leave “yourself witb no favorable smbalances or no chances to create ‘them. f you do you will surely ose It's much better wo sacfce material for some sort of compensation (inthis case both long, range [larget pawn on €7 and two Bishops) and shor term Ichances agains Black's King) than to st around passively with nothing whatsoever 10 crow about and lose like a dog Gs happens inthe game). Note that say that you must sacrifice for compensation—dont sacrifice for one or two cheap shots and then eesig if your opponent doesn fal for your taps. ‘After the Exchange sacrifice Black would haveto play very well to win and the slightest sip could easy lead to a White victory For mote information on material imbalance vs. various forms of compensation, see Part Nine, Chapter One, 4.BXd4 There woes enemy #1. 5.x axb2 And there goes enemy #2. 6.Qxb2 b6t ‘An urassuming but very imporet move! I gives adltonal suppor to the Knight, fies the bS pawn on a light square (hereby furter imiing the scope of the 2 Bishop), and prevents White rom gaining counterpay with BS-b6. In postions lf this kind tis always a good idea take time out and lini the opponent's active possibilties. 7.RA2 QI Bick has a strate cally won game thanks to his superior minor piece. Now many players in Black's poston would be tempted to triple the Rooks Te! Queen on the afle and try % Wie White's 22 pawn. However, this would fail 1 take into account possible White ‘Counterplay dawn the ele or on the kingsde. center les are pon a rarely a good sea wo decentralize one’ forces. must te realized that Blacks advantages inthis position are of lasting ature, His Knight wll always be beter than the useless eresture fon g2. White's pavins on 22,55, and d5 ae alla litle Toose, while Black's queenside pawns ae very secure. I's also important to pote that the Bishop versus Knight ending would favor Diack ‘Snoe no White pavin is safe from the Knight (which can go 10 fny colo). This means that Black & in 90 hurry; his advantages are not going vay. ‘Because ofthis Black decided upon thefellowing plan: He wil Play to ake contol ofthe open efile. When this done he will tffect a penevation into White's position along the seventh or cighth ranks. Ths, combined with his superior Knight, should lead to larger gins. The beauy ofthis plan i t keeps the Black pieces centralized and thus offers White vicvally no counter chances! 8. Re2 Nd3 The Knight doesnot intend to permanently leave 5, i just snipping at White's heels and inducing him 10 ve upthe efile 9.RxeS+ RexeB 10.Q¢2 Gest Geting Ou oF the pin by attacking the Rock on al. Now the efle Is firmly in Black's hands, H.Rd1 NeS 12.4 Qe2 The decisive penetration ‘white now loses material by foce. 13.942 13.Qxe2 Reis also completely hopeless, 13..Qxb5 The fist fits of his positional ‘concept The immesate Urea is4,.Re2. Heed Rxel 15.Qxe1 (Q2 16.44 Or 16.Qe8+ KgT 17.Q8 QUIZ 18QXCT Nef with 2 {ie decision. 16...K88 Preventing the Queen from entering oa Fores, 1745 A desperate bid for countesplay, 17..QeS 18.01 Also easy for Black ks 18.Qxe5 des followed by ..Ke7 and KdS. 18..QKI5 19.Qx5 gxf5 20.813 Net With the heavy Pieces gone, its no longer important to keep the ele blocked. Now the Knight cin roam in search of food, 2L.BxhS Ne3 22263 Nxaz, 0-1