es S ye ° ot eee sy : J, Je Liu WenzheThe Chinese School of Chess Liu Wenzhe Translated by Jiwu Wang Edited by John Sugden B.T. Batsford. London ANN. OT4Q-OXxT-XTZiFirst published in 2002 © Liu Wenzhe 2002 ISBN 0 713487739 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 publishers, B.T. Batsford Ltd, 64 Brewery Road London N7 9NT A member of Chrysalis Books pic A BATSFORD CHESS BOOK Copyrighted materialFOREWORD TO TRE EXGLISK ENITNION n 1981, B.T.Batsford Ltd sponsored a British chess team on a visit to China. This opened a new chapter in the history of chess relations between the two countries, At that time I was a player in the Chinese team. Afterwards 1 often wore a good-quality blue T-shirt with “Batsford” printed on it. I never suspected that twenty years later, Batsford would gladly agree to publish my book. Surprisingly, my life is once again connected with them. I find this exciting and count myself fortunate, Allow me to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Batsford publishing house and its hard-working editors! Liu Wenzhe Copyrighted materialABOUT THE AUTHOR iu Wenzhe is Head Coach of the Chinese National Chess Team. He is Vice-President of the Chess Association of China, and Director of its Technical Committee. He is also Vice-President of the Beijing Chess Institute. He is the founder of the Chinese School of Chess. Liu Wenzhe was born in Harbin on 7 October 1940, His original family home was in Dalian city, Liaoning Province. In 1961 he became a chess coach in Beijing Chess Research Centre, Later he became a member of the Beijing chess team and a coach in the Beijing Chess Institute, Liu Wenzhe ‘was the first Chinese player to hold the title of International Master. He is also a Chinese Grandmaster. He won the National Championship in 1980 and 1982. He was appointed to his post of Chief National Coach in 1986, and has been a recipient of a special government grant since 1992. Liu Wenzhe is well known as an expert on Go, XiangQ and Bridge as well as chess. His main contributions to chess consist of founding the theory and philosophy of the Chinese School, achieving tremendous advances in the international performance of the Chinese Team, and fostering many world-class chessplayers. Under his coaching, the Chinese Women’s Team won the Chess Olympics in 1998, and successfully defended the title in 2000 and 2002. ed material Copyriga ) © CONTENTS Foreword. About the Author List of Games In Place of a Preface The Art of Thinking Strategy in Action The Origin and Nature of Chess Models of Chess Thought Opening Principles The Theory of Training The Strategy of Competition The Chinese Phenomenon The New Millennium Postseript Page 30 59 98 131 160 191 219 269 287 Copyrighted materialINDEX OF GAMES Liu Wenzhe - Donner Alterman - Peng Xiaomin Liu Wenzhe - Krogius Ye Jiangchuan - Short Zhu Chen - Tiviakov Korchnoi - Ye Jiangchuan Wang Zili - Portisch Xu Jun - Shirov Qi Jingxuan - Liu Wenzhe Kasparov - Suba ‘Speelman - Liu Wenzhe Kasparov - Khalifman Gheorghiu - Liu Wenzhe Qi Jingxuan - Liv Wenzhe Liang Jinrong - Torre Chiburdanidze - Xie Jun Zhang Zhong - Asrian Volkov - Zhang Zhong Xie Jun - Korchnoi Tosel Xie Jun Matveyeva ~ Wu Minggian Toseliani - Liu Shilan Galliamova - Xie Jun Xu Yuhua - Zhukova Zhe Chen - Smirin Gaponenko - Wang Lei Wang Pin - Marié Qin Kanying - Galliamova Xu Yuhua - Goletiani Xie Jun - Skripchenko-Lautier Zhu Chen = Cosma Vo Hong - Xu Yuhua Wang Lei - Sikorova Xie Jun - Zhukova Qin Kanying - Peptan Zhang Pengxiang - Karpov Zhu Chen - Kosteniuk 197 206 223 247 256 259 262 264 266 271 271 22 273 274 276 278 283 Copyrighted materialWN PLACE OF A PREFACE BY Y) SHU alf a century ago, Mikhail Botvinnik published his work The Soviet School of Chess. From that time on, nobody dared to mount a systematic challenge to the theory of the Soviet School—until Liv Wenzhe’s The Chinese School of Chess was published by Shu Rong Qiyi publishing house, The book is a theoretical summary of China’s chess practices, It is based on a solid foundation of experience, the experiences of Chinese players, coaches and researchers. I believe that Liu Wenzhe’s achievement in building up the theory of the Chinese School of Chess is insepar- able from his deep philosophical understanding. While still at elementary school, Lin Wenzhe spent “big money” on The Complete Manual of XiangQi. The term XiangQi denotes the Chinese version of chess—a relative of standard or international chess. He won the title of Beijing Junior XiangQi Champion at the age of fifteen. He studied the game at the feet of Zhang Dekui, Hou Yushan and Xie Xiaoran. He also became acquainted with Xie Xiaxun, Yang Guanlin, Hu Ronghua, Guo Tishen, Chen Zude, Nie Weiping and other great XiangOQi masters of his generation, and kept up close relations with them. It is also worth mentioning that when he was still at middle school, Liu Wenzhe thoroughly read Mao Zedong’s On Practice, On Contradiction and On Issues of Strategy in the Chinese Revolutionary War, in addition to other philosophical and military works. He also studied Zhou Gucheng’s Formal Logic and other writings on aesthetics. From 1964, prompted by the need to develop chess in China, as well as for reasons of his own ambition, Liu Wenzhe shifted his focus to “standard” chess. He began to show his talent for this game in 1965. When he played against 2 Soviet Grandmaster in that year, Liu Wenzhe applied some modes of thinking from XiangQi to a game of chess, and won the game like floating clouds and flowing water. For well-known political reasons, he was deprived of the chance to play chess from 1966 to 1976. At that time, moreover, he could not even feed his family and himself. All his food for a day was two steamed buns. He would go in his shabby clothes to Beijing Library to translate Russian writings on chess, and would study them when he came back home at night. During those years, he translated more than a million words in total. Copyrighted material8 In Place of a Preface After the “Gang of Four” was de- stroyed, Liu Wenzhe returned to the chess world. He made a remarkable impact on the international scene in 1978, im his first major contest since the Cultural Revolution. He achiev- ed China’s first International Master title. Nonetheless, approaching the age of forty, he realized that his main duty would not consist. in winning honours for himself. He decided to use his chess knowledge and experience to train gifted young Chinese players to become world champions. At the beginning of 1979, Liu Wenzhe published an arti: cle entitled “The Art of Thinking” in Hong Kong’s “Da Gong Bao”. ‘The article discusses his famous game with the Dutch Grandmaster Jan Hein Donner, which Liu Wenzhe won in just twenty moves with a fine queen sacrifice. This article may be seen as the earliest manifesto of the Chinese School of Chess. After the Third Plenary Session of the th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Wenzhe's scope was incteased. He succeeded in blending Chinese modes of chess thought with foreign ones, and constructed the initial theoretical framework of the Chinese School. In 1986 Chen Zude, head of the Chinese Institute of Chess and Chairman of the Chess Association of China, had the unique insight to appoint Liu Wenzhe head coach of the national chess training team. Liu Wenzhe has held that position for fifteen years now. It is in this capacity that he is able to practise the theory of the Chinese School, to examine it constantly and develop it. In 1988 and 1989 he gave a series of speeches to a symposium of the Chess Association of China and the National Chess Coaching Confer- ence. He laid particular emphasis on “methods of playing chess by patterns of thought from XiangQi”, namely the issue of Chinese thinking, In 1991 Liu Wenzhe published an article in the Chinese Journal of Physical Education, entitled “The Chinese Phenomenon Arrives by Moving Mountains and Sweeping Back Seas.” In Beijing in September 1992, at the first national training course for chess coaches, Liu Wen zhe taught “basic concepts”, “basic technique”, “positional theory”, “the theory of strategy” and other sub- jects including computer chess and the history of the game. In 1994 and 1998, similar courses were held in Beijing and Shenyang respectively. More than 150 students attended these three training courses, which produced many outstanding coaches for China. Liu Wenzhe lives for most of the time in his training office. He treats his chess equipment and his com puter almost as family members. He immerses himself in hard work to scale the pinnacle of chess theory. Liu Wenzhe believes that chess originates in the Book of Changes, just as firmly as he believes that the Book of Changes is the source of the binary number system used in computing. The centre of gravity of the chess world is moving east- wards; in the twenty-first century, all eyes will be on the “Chinese phenomenon”, Copyrighted material4 THE ART OF THINKING nthe twenty-third Chess Olympiad, held in the Argentine capital in October and November 1978, the Chinese team — achieved notable success, although this was the first time we had taken part in such an intemational event Among other things, I beat the Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner with a fine move sacrificing my queen. The game lasted only twenty moves, which caused a stir in the tournament hall. I would now like to annotate the game. The impact of psychological factors on the players’ performance willbe specially emphasized, Liu Wenzhe (China) White Jan Donner (Netherlands) Black Buenos Aires, 3 November 1978 Pirc Defence 1 e4 d6 2 d4 D6 3 De3 g6 4 Bed Bg7 5 gd I cannot claim for sure that this was a new move, but I don’t know of anyone who used the same attacking method against the Pire Defence before I tried it with success in the 1978 Chinese Championship. After that continued to study this method and decided to use it in the Olympiad. This game was just the opportunity to do so, especially since my ‘opponent was a famous grand master. 5..h6 Faced with a new challenge, Donner spent half an hour on this move, which is unusual at such an carly stage of the opening. During that half hour I had nothing to do, and was just curious to know what Donner was thinking. Recalling the game now, I think [ was quite pleased with the psychological success of my novelty. An unexpected move ususlly puts a heavy strain on the opponent. Donner was awarded the grand- master title in 1959. He was well known for his defensive technique. When I saw him move his h-pawn, I felt he was putting me in an awk- ward situation. When investigating this plan of attack, I hadn’t antici pated such a straightforward defens- ive strategy. To this day I think Donner’s move was an effective one, although it was censured in some newspaper commentaries. pyrighted material10. The Art of Thinking This was the first time he had played me, and he didn’t know me very well. Still, he should have presents itself as the target for a mating attack, theory is beside the point. 8...06 9 g5 hxgS 10 hxgS eB 11 ‘waa Tcould checkmate Donner in a few more moves AL..exdS 12 Dxds De6 13 Wes 14 Wha “My first thought was to move my queen to h4 in order to give check- mate. I knew my opponent had to play {7-f5 to parry the threat, and I Copyrighted materialthought about continuing the attack by playing the white bishop to c4. Then all of a sudden the idea of a queen sacrifice dawned on me. My excitement took complete control of me. The expectation of victory nervousness at the thought of bo ing it, my responsibility to the team—all these factors crowded into my head at once. If a doctor had been there, he could have known my thoughts by checking my blood pressure and pulse. An experienced player may be sitting at the table looking _ completely self-assured, while his inward state of mind is totally different. To calm myself down, I calculated every detail of the combination again and again, When I felt confident that the sacrifice was sound, I played the queen to hd, then quickly finished the next moves: 14...£5 15 Wh7+ O17 At this point Donner still seemed optimistic, in view of his threat to win the queen with 16..22h8. This was the first time in my life 1 had sacrificed my queen on g6. The move received a good deal of praise after the game. However, Donner didn’t seem too perturbed by it. He The Art of Thinking 11 made his next moves quickly; 1 thought he was trying to rush me into making a mistake. 16..Gxg6 17 &hs+ wh? 18 67+ Bh6 19 g6+ This is where White had the chance to go astray. After 19 Bxh6+ g7, Black would win 19.,.8g7 20 Rxh6+ Donner stopped the clock and resigned; the conclusion would have been 20...+h8 21 S4g7+ dexg? 22 Bh7 mate. After Donner and I signed the scoresheet, my team mate Qi Jing- xuan and the Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman were the first to come to our table. “Splendid!” said Qi; he was full of excitement at the result Donner looked at the board and Timman, and shrugged. | looked at Timman. He was shaking his head Meanwhile, many players came to see what had happened. Max Euwe, then President of FIDE, came and shook my hand to congratulate me on my victory. So did several reporters, On that day the Chinese team won one game, lost one and drew two; so we drew our match with the Netherlands, who were seeded sixth It was through this game that the world had its first chance to become acquainted with Chinese chess- players, the chess movement in China, and me. That is why [ start my book with this game. However, the game is less important than the title of this chapter. I like to call chess the art of thinking, and believe that this phrase expresses Copyrighted material12. The Art of Thinking the soul of the Chinese School of Chess. What does the phrase sig- nify, and when did I first tum my thoughts in this direction? Obvi- ously my ideas on the subject could not have been generated all of a sudden when commenting on one particular game, especially in my mid-forties, I was introduced to board games in my early childhood. 1 started leamimg to play WeiQi (Go) at the age of four or five. At the same age, T often watched adults playing XiangQi (Chinese Chess). After my family moved to Beijing in 1951, 1 played XiangQi almost every day after school, on the ground outside the school gate. I was a top student, so my classmates gave me a nickname—‘little Guo Moro”. XiangQi was my out-of-school leisure activity. In 1955 I gained the tile of Beijing Junior XiangQi ‘Champion. At the time I had the impression that the tournament was ‘very competitive, because all the players were selected by their performance in preliminary contests. Even by today’s standards, the tournament was a big event. I first. came into contact with “standard” chess in 1956, when a National Chess Championship was hheld in Beijing. In the following ‘years I spent a large amount of time in Beijing Library studying various theoretical subjects, especially sues of strategy and methadology. I began systematically studying the theory of chess in 1958. Why did I start then? Probably it was a time for liberating thought and dispelling superstition; furthermore 1 was 18 years old, an age at which people want to show their maturity to oth- ers. It was from that time that the general concept of “strategic think- ing” took shape in my mind, and I felt I should connect it with chess. The topic is so big and important for me that I still work on it today It is my philosophy not just to leam from others but also to criticize their theories. At that time, the Russian theory that chess is “a combination of ‘science, art and sport” was well known in China. After studying their theories, I was very appreciative of the Russians’ contribution to the study of the game, and yet I felt that their ideas failed to grasp the inner essence of chess. This feeling was strengthened when I read The Soviet School of Chess. The thought occurred to. me that I ought to develop a Chinese School of Chess, although I had no clear idea of how to do it at that time, My instinct to criticize every- thing, together with the weak posi- tion of China in the world, encouraged me to do my best for my country. In order to study strate- gical issues, I developed an interest {in war strategy, military thought and science, which, I believe, represents a pinnacle of human ingenuity. 1 hhave always been interested in these topics; studying them has become part of my life. Within the limits of the library resources of that time, I studied most of Mao Zedong’s philosophical and military works. 1 also studied some other Marxist works on methodology and strategy. My researches were thorough and I took copious notes. Finally | under stood the theory of strategy comprehensively The game of chess is basically a competitive application of thought, which also includes many elements of art. Science exists in art, and this Copyrighted materialscientific element—given _ its connections with such topics as psychology and the “thinking” of computers—reaches far beyond the confines of a game, However, as a human activity, art is more difficult than science and stands above it. We have fewer geniuses in the arts than in science. This may be the reason why people regard the artistic gift as most important. Many important scientific issues are solved with the help of art, The pattem of thinking in chess is different from general thinking. It transcends it and rises to the level of art and creativity INTRODUCING THE CHINESE SCHOOL OF CHESS In the last few months of the year 2000, the Chinese women’s team won almost all the available gold medals in major chess contests—a heroic feat signalling a glorious future in the new millennium! On 25 December 2000, the China News Agency took the lead in reviewing China’s ten greatest sporting stories of the past year, Seventh on the list was the story of the 34th Chess Olympiad, which finished on 12 November in Istanbul, and in which the Chinese women defended their title as the World Champion team. Afterwards, in the individual World Championships, the __ first-ever all-Chinese final took place, between Xie Jun and Qin Kanying. The world of women’s chess had entered the “Chinese era”, On the day after this report, Xinhua News Agency similarly commented on ten major Chinese sporting events of 2000. This time, The Art of Thinking 13 the triumphs of Chinese female chessplayers were placed third on the list. On 29 December a further list_ was announced jointly by a leading sports journal and a television station, and the same chess successes—including Xu Yuhua’s victory in the FIDE World Cup in Septernber—were mentioned in second place. These comments from authoritat- ive media organizations suggested that the achievements and dominant status of the Chinese women's team were well recognized. This recogni tion was echoed throughout the chess world. There is a feeling that the fortunes of chess are moving towards the east, and many people want to know how and why this has come about. Ever since the day when the national chess team’s training centre was established in 1986, I have held the post of head coach. It is my re~ sponsibility to look back on the past 15 years and sum up the experience of our training programme Here I want first to say something that is not irrelevant to the topic Traditionally, in Chinese athletics, the bulk of the interest is focused on champions. Yet in Europe and North America, where there is a strong tendency to “regard men as superior to women,” the Chinese men’s chess team actually attracted more attention than the women when it finished fifth in the 1998 Olympiad. In the chess world, people are apt to think that only the men’s performance represents a nation’s chess level, Fifth place was the best that the men’s team has obtained since it started participating in world team Copyrighted material