Practical Middlegame Tips

Edmar Mednis

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CADOGAN
chess
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Copyright © 1 998 Edmar Mednis

First published 1 998 by Cadogan Books pie,

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Conte nts

Symbols 6
Preface 7

Part One: Attacking the King 9

Section 1 : Attack and Counterattack 10

Game 1 : J.Waitzkin-E.Mednis, Reno 1 996 11
Game 2 : R.Kelson-E.Mednis, Reno 1 993 18

Section 2 : Attacking the Slightly Weakened Kingside 22

Game 3: V.Korchnoi-L.Polugaevsky, Evian Ct (7) 1 977 23

Section 3: Kingside Attack with the Centre Closed 27

Game 4: E.Mednis-D.Minic, Mannheim 1 975 29

Section 4 : King in the Centre 33

Game 5 : J.Hector-1.Zaitsev, Jyvaskylii 1 994 34
Game 6: E.Mednis-E.Ermenkov, New York 1 980 37

Section 5: Attacks with Reduced Material 41

Gan1e 7 : E.Kengis-U.Andersson, Pula Echt 1 997 42

Section 6: Solid does not Mean Safe 45

Game 8 : V.Cabrido-E.Mednis, Manila 1 99 1 46
Game 9 : Y.Pelletier-A. Karpov, Biel 1 997 49

Section 7: Speculative Sacrifices 53

Game 1 0: B .Kreiman-A.Shabalov, Philadelphia 1 997 54
Game 1 1 : E.Mednis-L.Vadasz, Budapest 1 976 58

Section 8 : Necessary Sacrifices 62

Game 1 2 : A.Shirov-G. Kasparov, Tilburg 1 997 63
4 Practical Middlegame Tips

Part Two: Defending the King 68

Section 9: Keeping the Castled King Safe 69

Grune 1 3 : S.Reshevsky-B.Malich, Siegen Olympiad 1 970 70
Grune 1 4: E.Mednis-J.Timman, Sambor 1 974 73

Section 10: Coping with Enemy Sacrifices 77

Grune 1 5 : Zhu Chen-I.Smirin, Beijing 1 996 78

Section 1 1 : Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks 83

Grune 1 6 : G.Sax-E.Mednis, Budapest 1 976 84

Section 1 2: Defending Lost Positions 88

Grune 1 7 : A.Hon-E.Mednis, London Lloyds Bank 1 992 89

Part Three: The Centre 94

Section 1 3 : White has the Superior Centre 95

Grune 1 8 : G.Kasparov-A. Karpov, New York Wch (2) 1 990 96
Grune 1 9 : V.Korchnoi-B.Lepelletier, Cannes 1 996 101

Section 1 4 : Black has the Superior Centre 1 04

Grune 20: T.Manouck-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993 1 05

Section 1 5 : Counterplay in the Centre 1 09

Grune 2 1 : A.Yermolinsky-V.Salov, Wijk aan Zee 1 997 111

Section 1 6 : Central Dynrunics 1 14

Grune 22: M.Maga-A.Wojtkiewicz, Manila 1 99 1 1 15

Part Four: Important Strategic Elements 119

Section 1 7 : Weak Squares and Points 1 20

Grune 23 : J.Lautier-P.Nikolic, Wijk aan Zee 1 997 121
Grune 24: J.Timrnan-1.Sokolov, Dutch C h play-off ( 1 ), Amsterdrun 1 996 1 25

Section 1 8 : Strategic Attacks 1 28

Grune 25 : V.Anand-V.lvanchuk, Las Palmas 1 996 1 29
 Contents 5

Section 1 9 : T he Slightly Superior Position 1 34

Game 26: G.Kasparov-V.lvanchuk, Las Palmas 1 996 1 35
Game 27 : A.Karpov-P.Leko, Dortmund 1 994 1 39

Section 20: The Value of the Bishop-pair 1 44

Game 28: P. Svidler-U.Adianto, Groningen FIDE Web 1 997 1 46
Game 29: S.Robovic-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993 149

Section 2 1 : Two Bishops aren't Everything (when the Knights are Better) 1 56
Game 30: A.Dreev-J.Piket, Dortmund 1 994 157

Section 22: The Misplaced Piece 1 60

Game 3 1 : E.Mednis-B.Laube, Wattens 1 993 161
Game 32: G.Kasparov-A.Shirov, Horgen 1 994 1 65

Section 23: Queen versus Two Rooks 1 69

Game 3 3 : A.Yusupov-T.Shaked, Linares 1 997 1 70

Index of Players 1 74
Index of Openings 1 75
Symbols

+ check
++ double check
# checkmate
!! a very strong move; a fantastic move
a strong move
!? an interesting or speculative move, worth trying
?! a dubious move, for theoretical or practical reasons
? a bad move; a weak move
?? a horrible move; a blunder
1-0 the game ends in a win for W hite
1h-1h the game ends in a draw
0-1 the game ends in a win for Black
Ch Championship
(n) nth match game
(D) diagram follows

Dedication
To Manuel and Carmen
Preface

Practical Middlegame Tips is the third and final book in my "Practical Tips" tril­
ogy. Published earlier were Practical Opening Tips and Practical Endgame Tips.
It aims to do for the middlegame what the others did for their subjects. My pur­
pose is to cover the most important aspects of middlegame play whether it be tac­
tics or strategy, attacking or defending.
This material is divided into four major parts :
• Attacking the King
• Defending the King
• The Centre
• Important Strategic Elements
Each of these parts is subdivided into sections, there being 23 of these in total.
Each section is organized in the same way: first a discussion of the principles in­
volved, followed by game(s) illustrating those principles . This way the reader
gains both the theoretical underpinning required for understanding the subject­
matter and learns from practical examples about real-life situations.
The book is about the middlegame. In each game I concentrate on that area of
the middlegame which the section features. As a corollary to this, I try to avoid
lengthy discourse on other parts . When a thorough knowledge of the opening
variation is important to follow the middlegame presentation, I spend substantial
time on that opening. Otherwise, I just give enough information to set the stage
for the middlegame discussion to follow.
The criteria used in selecting the illustrative games were:
l) the game course illustrated the principle clearly, and
2) the opening is one still popular in present-day play.
Twelve of the 33 illustrative games were played by me. I apologize to those
readers who think that this is too much. The simple fact is that a GM understands
his own games at a deeper level than those of other players and thus can present
his conclusions with greater confidence.
Some of the games have been previously annotated by me for various chess
publications. In each case I have updated the opening part and expanded the
middlegame to reflect more fully the subject under discussion . Most of the
games, however, are freshly selected and prepared for this book. In general the
following standard sources have been utilized in the preparation: personal
knowledge, personal contacts, leading chess periodicals and chess books. When
appropriate, direct credit is given in the text.
8 Practical Middlegame Tips

To ensure that the reader and the author are on the same wavelength regarding
the meaning of the question and exclamation marks as they are used in the char­
acterization of moves , please see the Symbols page for the presently accepted
meanings .
I n an undertaking o f such scope, some errors are almost inevitable. The author
accepts responsibility for all of these. Your assistance in bringing them to my at­
tention will be appreciated.
As always, deepest gratitude goes to my wonderful blonde wife, B aiba, not
only for typing the entire manuscript but also for never-ending physical and
moral support.
This is my fourth book for Cadogan . I am pleased to be associated with this
fine publisher.

Edmar Mednis
New York, 1998
Part One:
Attacking the King
Section 1 :
Attack an d Counte rattack

In chess - just as in life - you cannot expect to get something for nothing. If you
are Black and desire a reward (a win ! ) you have to take on some risk. In the early
stages of the 1 972 World Championship match, the reigning champion, Boris
Spassky, responded to Robert J. Fischer's 1 e4 with the classical l . . e5 . However,
.

when the match situation later on became desperate for him, GM Spassky
switched to the Sicilian.
When choosing the Sicilian Defence Black risks being mated ignominiously,
yet hopes that his counterattack comes first. I have selected two of my recent
games as the medium for discussing the principles involved.
Game 1 was played in the last round of the Western States Open at Reno, Ne­
vada in October 1 996. I needed a win as Black to get a prize. My opponent, IM
Josh Waitzkin, was a half-point ahead of me and wanted to win to get a signifi­
cantly larger prize. This resulted in a total striving for victory by both players .
Not surprisingly, the scene of the slugfest was a thematic and important variation
of the Sicilian Defence.
In Game 2 - played at the Western States Open at Reno in 1 993 - it was my
unsatisfactory tournament standing (at the start of Round 5 I had 2112/4 and
needed two wins in a row for a 'real prize' ) that again made a double-edged Sicil­
ian the order of the day.
In Open Sicilians Black's most promising road to counterplay is the half-open
c-file, with the key square along that file being c4 because it is in White' s part of
the board and often accessible to Black's pieces. These points become particu­
larly important when White has castled queenside. The best practical advice to
give to Black is get going as quickly as possible along the c-file and hope for
the best! It works in a large number of cases - including these games .
 Game 1
IM J osh u a Wa itzki n - GM Ed m a r M ed n is
Western Sta tes Open, Reno 199 6
S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , R i c hte r- Ra uzer Atta c k
1 e4 c5
2 tl:lf3 tl:lc6
3 d4 cxd4
4 tl:lxd4 tLlf6
5 tl:lc3 d6
We see so many Sicilians now and
hear so much about the Sicilian De­
fence that the impression is that it has
been so forever. In fact, respect for this
defence came slowly and grudgingly.
It was only in the late 1 920s that the
potential inherent in the above move­
order and the resulting position was
recognized. GM John Nunn in his out­
standing book Beating the Sicilian ap­
propriately named it the Classical
Variation. In its early history White's
usual response was 6 i.e2, but Black
started scoring impressively with
6 g6, the Dragon Variation.
. . .
6 i.g5
B ecause the Dragon was too suc­
cessful for White 's comfort, ways to
defang it were explored. The text-move
was introduced by Richter in Ger­
many and Rauzer in the Soviet Union
as the way to prevent the Dragon be­
cause 6 . . . g6 leads to a ruination of
Black's pawn formation after 7 i.xf6.
Of course, we learned long ago that
the move-order starting with 2 . . . d6 en­
sures that Black can reach the Dragon.
Nevertheless, the Classical Variation
has remained topical over the past
- 867
sixty years and the Richter-Rauzer
Attack a popular and active method
against it.
6 ... e6
7 'i1Vd2 a6
Black's safest variation is 7 . . . i.e7
followed by castling kingside. The im­
mediate 7 . . . a6 is spiritually similar to
the Najdorf: Black both prevents ac­
cess to b5 by White' s king ' s knight
and king's bishop and is ready to start
active play on the queenside with an
early . . . b5.
8 0-0-0 i.d7
Over the past five years the variations
after the text-move have been losing
popularity to 8 . . . h6, which currently is
the choice in the majority of games at
international level . The value of 8 . . h6
.
is that White 's queen's bishop cannot
retain the pin on Black's king's knight
(9 i.h4 ? ! allows 9 . . . tl:lxe4) and there­
fore has to retreat to either f4 or e3 .
However, Black pays a price : since he
will most likely have to castle king­
side, the h-pawn sticking out on h6
makes it easier for White to open lines
against Black's king.
9 f4 b5
During my ' Sicilian life ' (more
than 40 years ! ) I have been using both
this variation and 9 . . . i.e7 . The prob­
lem with the latter is that after 1 0 tLlf3 !
b5 1 1 i.xf6 ! , the pawn sacrifice
 12 Practical Middlegame Tips
1 1 . . ..txf6 1 2 'i:i'xd6 is not quite sound,
whereas l 1 . . . gxf6 leaves the king' s
bishop with less opportunity for active
play than if it remains on f8. From
there the bishop can reach h6 if White
chooses an early f5 . It is my current
opinion that the lines after 9 . b5 offer
. .
Black better prospects for counterplay . .
1 0 .txf6 !
This is the move that has taken
away some of the fun from playing
Black here. Now 10 . . . 'i:i'xf6? ! is dubi­
ous for tactical reasons: 1 1 e5 ! dxe5
12 tll d xb5 ! 'ikd8 13 tll d 6+ .txd6 1 4
'i:i'xd6 exf4 1 5 tlle4 ! 'f!ie7 1 6 'i!/c7 l:.a7
1 7 tll d 6+ �f8 1 8 'flib6 'flid8 1 9 'flif2
'i:i'g5 20 h4 'f!ig3 21 'f!ixg3 fxg3 22
l:.h3, when in E.Mednis-D.Grimshaw,
Canadian Open 1 956, White had a
strong initiative and went on to win on
move 34. Therefore, forced is . . .
10
... gxf6
The pawn-structure is thereby set
for the coming play: White will aim
for a properly timed e5 or f5 to under­
mine Black's fundamentally flawed
pawn-formation: Black on one hand
must be on the look-out for such threats
while on the other hand wait for the
proper moment to open the position
for his bishop-pair. Black's task en­
tails considerably more risk, yet the
greatly unbalanced nature of the posi­
tion does not allow for complacency
on White's part either.
1 1 �bl 'ii'b 6 (D)
Quite the normal move. However, I
was tempted to play 1 1 . . .b4 1 2 tll c e2
'jj' b 6, as in R.Hiibner-A.Dreev, Nuss­
loch 1 996. That game continued 13 f5
e5 1 4 tll x c6 .txc6 1 5 tll g 3 h5 1 6 .te2
h4 17 tllh5 .te7 1 8 .tf3 a5 19 g4 hxg3
20 hxg3 0-0-0 21 g4 a4 22 :he l 'jj'c 5 .
GM Dreev annotated this game in
lnformator 66 (game 1 85) and rates
this position as slightly superior for
Black. I agree: Black has good chances
for pressuring White ' s queenside,
whereas I don ' t see what White can
do. (The game ultimately was drawn
on move 70.)
However, in his notes GM Dreev
draws attention to 16 h4 ! ? in place of
the game's 16 .te2. During the game
(as well as now) I was worried that af­
ter a follow-up of 1 7 .te2 or 1 7 'i:i'e2
White would capture on h5 without
Black receiving any clear compensa­
tion in return.
After the text-move Black threatens
to exchange on d4, e.g. 12 g3 'flixd4 1 3
'jj' xd4 tll xd4 1 4 :xd4, when due to the
disappearance of the queens, Black
does not have to worry about king
safety. Since he has good central influ­
ence and the bishop-pair, Black has
gained approximate dynamic equality.
Therefore White has to do something
 Attack and Counterattack
ab out the d4-knight: exchange it,
overprotect it with ltJce2 or retreat it.
The answer is:
12 ltJxc6!
By far the most efficient way of
han dling the situation : White ex­
changes off his uncomfortably placed
knight. A paradoxical result is that
Black's queen 's bishop is not at all
placed better on c6 because it blocks
the c-file and does not protect e6 in
case White applies pressure on that
point with f5 . The sound alternative is
12 ltJce2 . I discuss that at length in
connection with my analysis of S .Ro­
bovic-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993 - see
Game 29.
12 ... .i.xc6
13 .i.d3
The traditional move, whereby
White first completes the develop­
ment of his minor pieces and will then
look at possible central breaks with e5
or f5. However, at the moment White's
piece-placement is rather passive and
this gives Black the opportunity for
counterplay. I believe that 1 3 'ii'e l !
(with the point 1 3 . . . b4 ? 1 4 liJd5 ! ) is
more annoying for Black, as played in
P.Wolff-J.Fedorowicz, USA Champi­
onship 1 99 1 . This game is annotated
by GM Wolff in Informator 52 (game
207).
13 ... b4!
That great scientific method known
as ' trial and error' has taught us that
B lack must strive for counterplay as
otherwise the weaknesses in his pawn­
stru cture will be a continuing hazard.
T he formerly standard 1 3 . . . 0-0-0? !
ju st does not measure up. The game
13
A.Matanovic-E.Mednis, Vienna (IBM)
1 986 ended satisfactorily for B lack as
my draw offer was accepted by GM
Matanovic. However, subsequently in
V.Jansa-E.Mednis, Luxembourg 1 990
Black ran into major difficulties after
14 a3 a5 ? ! 1 5 'ife2 ! b4 1 6 axb4 axb4
17 lDa2 ! �c7 1 8 .i.c4 'ifc5 19 l:the l
l:tb8 20 .i.b3 h5 2 1 l:tc l ! 'ii'b 5 22 'ifd2
�d7 23 c3, though I did succeed in es­
caping with a draw on move 4 3 . In­
stead of 14 a3, also good is 14 l:thfl .
14 ltJe2 h5!
It is also necessary to look out for
White's plans. The immediate 14 . . . a5 ? !
i s inferior because after 1 5 g4 ! fol­
lowed by 1 6 ltJg3 and 17 ltJh5 White
will get a dangerous attack.
15 l:.hfi
The most popular continuation: the
white king 's rook gets ready for play
along the f-file after a later e5 and/or
f5 advance. IM Waitzkin was obvi­
ously well prepared for this variation
as up to this point he had only used
three minutes. 1Two important alterna­
tives are:
a) 1 5 l:.he l a5 1 6 liJg3 a4 1 7 .i.c4
l:.a5 1 1 8 'ii'e 2 h4 19 liJfl l:tc5 20 liJd2
Tc? 21 b3 .i.h6 22 'ii'g4 axb3 23 cxb3
'it>e7 ! 24 'ii'x h4 'ii'a5 25 l:.c l .i.g7 26
'ii'g 3 l:.g8 27 f5 e5 28 .l:.c2 'ii'a 8 ! ,
R.Byrne-Z. Kofol, Palma de Mallorca
(GMA) 1989. Black has full compen­
sation for the pawn here, but lost even­
tually because he wanted more than
perpetual check and wound up with
less.
b) 15 'ii'e l a5 1 6 'ii' h 4 .i.e7 l 7 f5 e5
1 8 ltJg3 0-0-0 1 9 .i.c4 l:.h7 20 l:.he l
l:.g8 2 1 'ii' h 3 and now instead of
 14 Practical Middlegame Tips
2 1 . . .'i*'f2 ? ! 22 lDfl ! with a slight ad­
vantage for White, as in the game
M .Adams-Z. Kofol, Wijk aan Zee
1 99 1 , GM Adams suggests 2 1 . . ..l:tg4 ! ?.
For full analysis by him, please see In­
formator 51 (game 204).
15 ..
. as
16 c3!
The text-move serves both offen­
sive and defensive ends: White's queen,
queen's rook and knight will be able to
keep closer watch on the king and the
open c-file offers opportunities for
menacing Black's uncastled king.
The model case of what can happen
if White is overconfident was demon­
strated in N.Short-Z. Kofol, Belgrade
1 989. The game is annotated in full by
GM Kofol in lnformator 48 (game
288). Its course in brief: 16 f5 ? ! e5 ! 1 7
lD g l 'it'c5 1 8 'ife2 a4 1 9 .tc4 'iite7 ! 20
lDh3 .th6 2 1 :f3 :hc8 22 b3? (22
lDf2 is better, though Black retains a
clear advantage after 22 . . . .te8 ! - GM
Kofol) 22 . . . axb3 23 cxb3 :a3 ! 24
.l:tfd3 .l:tca8 ! 25 .l:te l (25 'ii'xh5 .tx�4 ! !
wins) 25 . . .'ii'a7 ! 26 'ir'xh5 .te8 1 1.27
'ir'xh6 .l:txa2 28 l:td2 :xd2 29 'i*'xd2
'it'al + 30 'iiic2 .l:ta2+ 3 1 'iitd 3 'ir'd4+ 0- 1 .
1 6 ... .l:tb 8
17 tiJd4 .td7 (D)
I was already familiar with this po­
sition from S .Conquest-E.Mednis,
Copenhagen 1 990. GM Conquest now
chose 18 .te2, leading, after 18 . . . bxc3
19 'i*'xc3 'i*'b4 20 'i*'c2 ! , to a most un­
balanced situation: Black has genuine
attacking chances on the queenside,
yet must watch out for trouble all along
the board - queenside, centre, king­
side. The thematic game course (with
some brief comments) was : 20 . . . :c8
21 'i*'d3 nb8 22 :d2 ! ? (playing to
win; after 22 'i*'c2 I would have taken
the move-repetition with 22 . . . .l:tc8)
22 . . . .tg7 23 :c l 'ii'b 6 24 .tf3 0-0 ! ?
25 g4? ! (this does not work out; the
critical continuation is 25 .t xh5 f5 ! ,
when I judged both 26 .tf3 e5 ! and 26
exf5 e5 ! 27 f6 .txf6 28 fxe5 dxe5 as
'unclear ' ) 25 . . . h4 ! 26 .td l .l:tfc8 ! 27
.l:txc8+ .txc8 28 a3 .th6 29 g5? (the
losing move; White misses Black ' s
tactical defence; 2 9 'ii'f3 ! is necessary,
when after 29 . . . .td7 ! I viewed B lack's
position to be somewhat more com­
fortable) 29 . . . fxg5 30 fxg5 .txg5 3 1
.l:tg2 �f8 ! 3 2 t2Jf3 .tf6 3 3 'ii'd 2 �e7
34 lDg5 'ir'd4 ! 35 'it'c 1 .td7 36 �a2
.l:tc8 37 'itf4 .l:tb8 0- 1 . After 38 'itc 1
.l:tc8, 39 'ii'f4 loses to 39 . . . 'it'xd l 40
.l:td2 e5, and 39 .l:tc2 to 39 . . . .l:txc2 40
.txc2 'itc4+ 4 1 �b l .tc6 42 'it'e3
'itb5 ! .
1 8 .tc4
With the primary point of enhanc­
ing pressure on e6 after the coming f5
advance and a secondary benefit in
 Attack and Counterattack
g uarding the b 3 - and a2-squares. Dur­
in g the game I was suspicious of the
tex t-move, because B lack can apply
pressure along the c-file with gain of
time, yet I found no immediate way to
take advantage of that either during
the game or in later analysis. For in­
stance, I could first play 18 . . . 'ii'c 5 and
a fter 19 'ii'd 3, 19 . . Jk8. However, 20
b3 seems satisfactory enough.
18 :cs
19 °ii'd3 bxc3
20 b3
White plays it safe by first increas­
ing the bishop's protection rather than
running into an immediate pin along
the c-file with 20 1i'xc3. Nevertheless,
Black has no way to take advantage of
that as the endgame after 20 . . . 'ii' b 4? !
21 '1Wxb4 axb4 22 �b3 leaves him
with a vulnerable b-pawn for no ap­
parent compensation. Black should
therefore continue developing with
20 �g7.
. . .
20 ... a4
Since Black must open lines against
White's king before White gets at his
ki ng, the thematic text-move is quite
in order.
21 'ii'xc3 axb3
22 axb3 h4! ? (D)
A very ambitious and self-centred
move: Black takes away g3 from
White's queen and gets ready to bring
his ki ng's rook to the queenside via
h5. My intention was to leave the
king's bishop on f8 and mate White 's
king before mine goes lost. In hind­
sig ht it was quite naive to hope that
Black's king and king's bishop would
be abl e to cope with White's thematic
15
central breaks . The standard move
would be 22 . . . �g7 - which is what IM
Waitzkin had expected. The chances
then are probably in dynamic balance,
but the resulting play nowhere as ex­
citing as what happens in the game.
23 f5! �g7
Better late than never ! 23 . . . e5? is
strategically dubious because of 24
tbc2 ! followed by 25 tLle3/tLlb4 and
26 tLld5 . Moreover, Black loses tacti­
cally after the careless 23 . . . cj;e7 ? : 24
fxe6 fxe6 25 tbxe6 ! .
24 °ii'd3 cj;e7
25 fxe6 fxe6
26 e5! ! (D)
Black is on the verge of being pun­
ished for his ' insolence ' in playing
22 . . . h4 ! ?. Witness these 'normal' con­
tinuations :
a) 26 . . . dxe5 ? 27 tLlf5+ exf5 28
'ii'x d7+ �f8 29 'ii'f7#.
b) 26 . . . fxe5 ? 27 'it'g6 ! .l:lxc4 28
'ii'x g7+ �d8 29 'it'xh8+ 1;c7 30 l:.c l !
.l:i.xc l + 3 1 l:.xc l + 1;b7 32 'it'h7 .
c) 26 . . . l:.hg8? 27 'it'g6 dxe5 28
tLlf5 .f. ! exf5 29 'ii'f7+.
16 Practical Middlegame Tips
d) 26 . . . fS ? 27 exd6+ "ii' x d6 (or
27 . . . �f7 28 "ii' xf5+) 28 �xf5+.
Therefore, Black must stop White's
attack, while getting his bishops into
the game. The cost, exchange and a
pawn, is relatively small in a double­
edged Sicilian position.
26 ... ltxc4 ! !
27 exd6+
Obvious enough, but in the few mo­
ments that White took before playing
this, I started considering what to do
after 27 "ii' g 6 ! ? . It appears that Black
has to run with 27 . . . cJi>d8 and hope for
the best.
27 ..
. cJi>f7
2S 'iWxc4 ltcS!
Of course, the threatened 29 "ii' c 7
must be prevented and 28 . . . fS ?? loses
to 29 ltxf5+. After the text-move, the
white queen only has two squares, 29
"ii' d 3 (the game continuation) and 29
"ii'e 2, after which Black plays 29 . . . fS
and gains an important tempo by
threatening 30 . . . �xd4 .
2 9 'iWd3 :as!
Black is now ready for a strong at­
tack along the a-file with 30 . . . "ii' aS,
while 30 �b2? runs into a most nasty
pin after 30 . . . fS. In any case, Black' s
bishops are ready to join the fray at an
opportune moment. Our post-mortem
showed quite promising counterplay
for B lack. White, therefore, felt more
comfortable in restarting his attack
with a rook sacrifice :
30 .l:.xf6+ ! �xf6
After 30 . . . �xf6? ! I had no confi­
dence that I could survive the attack
following 3 1 .l:.fl + 'iti>g5 32 'ife3+, nor
was 3 1 "ii' f3+ �g5 32 "ii' x a8 attractive
to contemplate.
31 'iYh7+ �rs
32 'iWxd7
White can ' t get too fancy. For in­
stance, 32 .l:.fl ?? loses to 32 . . . .l:.al + !
33 cJi>xal "ii' xd4+ 34 cJi>a2 "ii' b 2#.
32 ... �xd4 (D)
33 :n+
Or 33 "ii'e 7+ cJi>g8 34 "ii' x e6+ �h8
35 "ii'h 6+ 'it>g8 3 6 "ii' g 5+ �g7 37
"ii'd 5+ cJi>h7 3 8 "ii'e4+ cJi>h6 39 "ii' x h4+
�g6, etc. White will always have per­
petual check but no more.
33 ... 'it>gS
 Attack and Counterattack 17

34 'i!Vxe6+ 'ifi>h8
35 'i!Vh6+ �g8
36 'ii'g 5+ i.g7
37 'i!Vd5+ 'ifi>h7
38 'ii'e4+ 'ifi>h6!
Black must avoid 38 ... Wg8 ?? or
38 ...Wh8 ?? because of 39 'ili'xa8+.
39 'ii'xh4+
39 'ili'xa8 ? leads only to winning
chances for Black after 39 . . . 'ili'xb3+.
39 ... �g6
40 'i!Ve4+ �h6 (D)
lf2.lf2
Just as in the note to White's 3 3rd example: 4 1 'ii'h4+ �g6 42 'ii'g 3+
move, White has perpetual check, but 'ifi>h6 43 'ii'h 3+ �g6 44 'ii'd 3+ �h6 45
attempts for more lead to less. One l:.f3 ?? 'ii'g 1 + 46 'ifi>c2 l:.a2#.
 Game 2
FM R i c h a rd Kelson - GM Ed m a r M ed n is
Western Sta tes Open, Reno 1993
S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , R i c hter-Ra uzer Atta c k - 867

1 e4 c5 The most frequently played move :

2 lllf3 tll c6 the queen 's bishop is overprotected
3 d4 cxd4 and the kingside pawn-storm started.
4 tllxd4 lllf6 The most important alternatives are :
5 tll c3 d6 a) 1 0 g4 has been defanged by
6 .i.g5 e6 10 . . . d5 ! , e.g. 1 1 exd5 tll x d5 1 2 .i.xe7
7 'ii'd2 a6 ( 1 2 tll x d5 ? ! .i.xg5) 1 2 . . . tll c xe7 with
8 0-0-0 .i. d7 full equality.
9 f3 (D) b) 10 .i.e3 has the dual idea of re­
A popular alternative to the sharper capturing on d4 with the bishop and
9 f4 of the previous game. The move preparing 1 1 g4 followed by 1 2 g5 . In
has both defensive and aggressive char­ S.Sahu-E.Mednis, New York (Barclay
acteristics. By safeguarding e4 White I) International 1 984, I decided to
takes most of the sting out of Black's parry the second part of the plan with
planned ... b5 advance. On the aggres­ 1 0 . . . h5 ! ? , with the interesting course
sive side, White plans a direct attack being 1 1 c.t>bl 'fic7 12 'i!Yf2 b5 13 tll xc6
on the kingside starting with g4 and .i.xc6 14 .i.d4 b4 15 tll e 2 e5 1 6 .i.b6
h4. 'il'b7 17 c4 ! . The position here offers
equal chances, though Black went on
to win on move 36.
10
... h5 ! ? (D)
Of course, I knew that 1 0 . . . b5 1 1 g4
0-0 was 'correct' , with the important
continuations being:
a) 1 2 .i.e3 tll x d4 1 3 'il'xd4 'i!Ya5 ! ,
B .Parma-V.Liberzon, Athens play-off
(game 1) 1 976, when GM Parma gives
as White's best 14 <itibl b4 15 tll e 2 e5
16 'il'b6 with equality.
b) 12 tll x c6 .i.xc6 13 .i.d3 occurred
in L.Shamkovich-E.Mednis, New York
(Burger) International 1 980. After the
9 .i.e7 game' s 1 3 . . . tll d 7? 1 4 .i.xe7 'il'xe7 1 5
10 h4 .i.e2 ! White had a clear advantage
 Attack and Counterattack 19

(dr aw in 5 1 ) . Instead, the thematic 15 'ii'e 2? ! (D)

13 . . d5 ! should be roughly equal.
. This move turns out to cost a crucial
tempo and thereby any chances for an
advantage. The consistent 1 5 .ixc4
J:.xc4 1 6 e5 ! is in order. Then 16 . . . lllg4?
fails to 17 exd6 and therefore 1 6 . . . dxe5
17 fxe5 lll g4 is forced. White then has
two logical continuations : the imme­
diate 1 8 llle 4 ( 1 8 . . . lll xe5 ? 1 9 lll d 6+),
and 1 8 lllf3 l:.c7 1 9 llle4. In either case
Black will have to castle kingside,
bear the cross of the weak h-pawn and
look for counterplay on the queenside.
In our post-game discussion FM
Kelson and I agreed that the situations
are unclear. Still, I would give White
The chess point of the text-move is some edge as it seems to me that the
to prevent g4, though this comes at the risk that Black gets mated is greater
substantial cost of a serious weaken­ than the chance of the same fate be­
ing of the kingside and a development falling White.
tempo. However, if White is to play f4,
then he too will have squandered a
tempo and, moreover, the g4-square
will be weak. The practical purpose of
the text-move is to unbalance the posi­
tion some more in the hope of enhanc­
ing winning prospects while also
undeniably increasing the risk of an
unpleasant loss.
1 1 .ic4 llla5
The solid way is 1 l . . .'iVc7 followed
by 1 2 . 0-0-0.
..

However, my plan was to get an at­

tac k going against White's king as
quickly as possible. 15 lllg4!
12 .ib3 b5 Black immediately threatens to trap
13 l:thel l:tc8 the queen ' s bishop with 16 . . . f6; the
B lack follows the advice given in thematic 16 e5 is no problem after the
the introduction to this section: get go­ simple 16 . . . dxe5 , and after 16 .i xe7
ing and don ' t worry ! 'iVxe7 Black's chances on the queen­
14 f4 lllc4 side are no worse than White's on the
20 Practical Middlegame Tips

kingside. Nevertheless White should l:td2 is foiled by 20 . . . l:te4 . Therefore

have satisfied himself with the latter White must capture on e7. But how?
situation. 20 'ii'xe7+
Instead, he starts a very creative Instead 20 tbxe7 ltxc2+ 2 1 'iix c2
combination to take advantage of the J.xc2 22 tbc6+ �d7 23 tlJxd8 J.xd l
black king being in the centre. Unfor­ will lead to a heavily material-down
tunately for him, it just fails because endgame for White after both 24 tlJf7
of an unexpected counter-resource by .:tf8 and 24 tlJb7 lDf2 ! (if 25 l:.fl , then
Black. 25 . . . l:.c8+).
16 J.xc4? ! l:bc4 20 ... 'fixe7
17 lDfS ? ! exf5 21 tbxe7 ? !
18 exf5 f6 This also finds a refutation in the
19 tlJdS (D) form of a trapped knight. Better prac­
tical chances were offered by 2 1
.l:.xe7+ �f8 22 c 3 even though the
post-mortem showed that White's com­
pensation for the missing piece after
22 . . . fxg5 is inadequate.
With the text-move White attacks
the bishop, hopes for a discovered check
along the e-file and is ready to refute
2 1 . . ..l:.xc2+? by 22 �bl .l:.e2+ 23 tlJxf5.
Black's response puts a stop to all that.
21 ... J.e4!
22 tlJf5
If the knight stays put Black just
takes it off, while 22 tlJg6 loses to
White is sure to recover a piece on 22 ... l:tg8 23 l:td2 d5 .
e7 and then looks forward to having a 22 l:txc2+
overwhelming position, for example 23 'ittb l .l:.e2+
1 9 . .. 0-0? ! 20 tbxe7+ 'it>h7 21 .l:.xd6, 24 'it>cl l:tc2+
etc. Yet Black has a tactical shot, which 25 �bl lte2+
on an immediate basis stops White 's 26 'ifi>cl l:.xel
hopes for a mating attack, and for the 27 l:txel d5 ! (D)
longer term leaves White's queen 's The final point: Black's bishop is
bishop trapped. saved while White's is lost. Obvi­
19 ... J.xf5! ! ously, 28 tbxg7+ 'ifi>f7 doesn ' t make
This is it - the thematic counterplay White's situation any better.
along the c-file ! White has no time for 28 tlJd6+ 'iti>d7
protecting c2 since, for instance, 20 c3 29 tbxe4 dxe4
gives Black time for 20 . . . J.e4 and 20 30 l:he4 fxg5
 Attack and Counterattack 21

32 l:.xe8 �xe8 3 3 �d2 .!Lif2 (34 �e3

.!Lid l +) . With the rooks still on the
board, the knight gets to escape via e3.
This causes White to try a desperate
pawn advance on the kingside. B lack
parries it with ease and remains a
piece up. I ' ll say no more.
32 l:.d4+ � c6
33 rs .:.rs
34 .:.r4 °it>dS
3S r6 gxf6
36 g6 :gs
37 :rs+ 'it>e4
31 hxgS :es ! 3S l:.xhS 11xg6
Black's knight is almost trapped - 39 :cs .!Lies
but not quite. The text-move makes 40 11c2 .!Lid3+
things clear. The knight escapes after 0-1
Section 2 :
Attackin g the Slightly
Weake n ed Kin gsid e

The maj or purpose of castling is to bring the king to safety. Therefore 'everyone'
knows not to weaken the king 's position by an indiscriminate advance of the
pawns shielding the king. But, how about 'just a little weakening ' , say moving up
the g- or h-pawn one square when the king has castled kingside? Usually - on an
immediate basis - the risk involved is small. Yet the existence of a slightly weak­
ened kingside can turn out to be a ticking time-bomb. Therefore, be much more
careful than if your kingside is faultless. Otherwise the same fate could befall
you as happens to Black in the following game.
 Game 3
GM Vi ktor Korchnoi GM Lev Po l ugaevsky -

Semi- Final Candida tes Ma tch, Game 7, Evian 19 7 7

Queen's G a m b i t Decl i n ed , M e ra n Va riation - 04 7

1 c4 tbf6 13 'ir'c2
2 lbc3 e6 At the time of the game an unusual
3 tl)f3 dS move-order, the common moves being
4 d4 c6 1 3 e5 and 1 3 'i*'e2. As we will see, the
5 e3 lbbd7 creative mind of GM Korchnoi has
6 .i.d3 prepared a surprise for Black.
Via a transposition of moves we 13
... h6
have reached the traditional main line Forced because of the threat 1 4 e5 .
of t he Meran Variation. If Black pro­ However, as part of this variation, the
ceeds routinely, for example 6 . . . .i.d6 slight weakening of the kingside
or 6 . .i.e7, then White after 7 0-0 0-0
. . should not be a problem. It could be­
will open the position with 8 e4 and come so later on - yet GM Polugaev­
have a pleasant risk-free advantage. sky pays no attention to this potential
Therefore, modern opening theory has danger.
decided that Black should start activ­ 14 .i.e3 ! ? (D)
ity on the queenside by means of the Of course, with 14 e5 White could
coming sequence. transpose into conventional lines . The
6 dxc4 idea behind the text-move is to hinder
7 .i.xc4 bS Black in freely executing the thematic
8 .i.d3 .i.b7 . . . c5 advance.
9 0-0
One of the two historically popular
continuations. Sharper is the immedi­
ate 9 e4, when Black can immediately
get his play going with 9 . . . b4 10 lba4
c 5. The point of the text-move is first
to bring the king to safety and only
then to start action in the centre. GM
Korchnoi chose this way also in
matc h-games 3 and 5 .
9 b4
10 lbe4 .i.e7
1 1 lbxf6+ lbxf6
12 e4 0-0
24 Practical Middlegame Tips
14 l:i.c8
lS l:i.fdl cs
16 dxcS tllg4
17 .td4 eS
18 h3 exd4
19 hxg4 (D)
The previous moves were pretty
much forced by both sides. What we
see in the above diagram is a very in­
teresting, unbalanced middlegame - a
position that is not at all easy to evalu­
ate. That is, what may appear obvious
at first glance, may not in fact be the
truth. After the imminent recovery of
the c-pawn Black will have the bishop­
pair and a passed d-pawn, whereas
White's kingside has been weakened
by the emergence of doubled g-pawns,
the forward one being unprotected. All
this is true, but there is also the other
side of the coin: Black's king's bishop
has little scope, the d-pawn is more of
a weakness than a strength, and the ad­
vanced queenside pawns will be vul­
nerable. Moreover, White's forward g­
pawn has excellent prospects for ad­
vancing to g5, thereby menacing the
black h-pawn. If the h-pawn is ex­
changed off, then Black' s kingside will
be seriously weakened. The net result
is that it is Black who must strive to
keep the position in balance.
19 ... l:i.xcS
Playable, though not as strong as
Black may have expected, because it
does not gain a tempo thereby, since
White 's queen moves away while at­
tacking the b-pawn. In fact, the rook is
clumsily placed on c5 . I think that
Black's best is 19 . . . .txc5 ! and after 20
'i!Vd2, 20 . . . 'i!Vf6 ! . The d-pawn is then
adequately protected and dangers from
a g5 advance minimized. There is no
reason to fear 2 1 e5, because the cen­
tral diagonal for Black's queen' s
bishop is opened and, in addition, the
e-pawn can turn out to be weak.
20 °li'd2 as
21 l:.ac l ! °li'd7?
Thanks to hindsight (and GM
Korchnoi's fantastic play ! ) we can say
that this is the losing moment. GM
Polugaevsky either neglected or mis­
judged the strength of White's coming
g5 . In due course, subsequent analysis
and play demonstrated that with the
careful 2 1 . . .l:.xc 1 ! 22 .l:hc 1 .tc8 ! Black
can defend well enough.
22 .l:txcS ! .txcS
23 gS! (D)
The start of White 's attack, made
possible because Black's bishop has
been deflected from g5 and Black's
queen voluntarily gave up defence of
that key square. It is out of question for
Black to pass by with 23 . . . h5 ?: 24 g6 !
fxg6 25 .tc4+ 'it>h8 26 tlle 5 'i!Ve8 27
'iir'g5 l::tf6 28 .tf7 ! l:txf7 29 lll x f7+
 Attacking the Slightly Weakened Kingside
'Jiixfl 30 'ii'x c5 and White has won the
ex ch ange with a crushing position .
Therefore Black must capture, yet that
allows White ' s queen to come power­
fully into play.
23 hxgS
24 'ti'xgS fle7
There is nothing better since g5
must be watched and 24 . . . .te7 drops
the a-pawn for nothing after 25 'ir'xa5 .
2 5 'ii'h 5 g6
Another unwelcome weakening of
the kingside, but the threatened 26 l2Jg5
must be prevented and 25 . . .txe4 ?.
loses to 26 l:i.e l .i.g6 27 i.xg6 fxg6 28
'i°d5+.
26 'iVh6 'ir'f6
27 i.c4! d3
Since passive defence is bound to
be hopeless (27 . . . ftg7 28 ftg5 ! ) and
27 .txe4? is refuted by 28 l2Jg5, GM
. . .
Pol ugaevsky goes for counterplay. This
is B lack's best chance and fails only
be cause of GM Korchnoi's perfect play.
28 e5 ! 'iVrs
Again there is no hope in passivity:
28 'i'g7 29 't't'g5 ! .txf3 (29 . . . l:te8? 30
. . .
25
e6 ! ) 30 gxf3 .i.d4 3 1 f4 ! .t xb2 32
l:i.xd3 followed by l:i.d7 or l:!.h3 in con­
junction with e6.
29 l:!.xd3 .te4
Black must continue with activity
as 29 . . . .txf3 30 l:!.xf3 fkxe5 3 1 'llr'x g6+
is hopeless . However, GM Korchnoi,
with well over an hour left on the clock
before the time-control (the time-limit
was 40 moves in 21h hours), finds all
the right shots.
30 l:!.d6 ! !
Beautiful ! Now 30 . . . .txd6? loses to
3 1 l2Jg5 since the pressure on f2 is
gone and 3 0 . . . .txf3 ? allows the sim­
ple 3 1 l:.xg6+.
30
... 'ii'g4
31 :r6! .trs (DJ
Preventing the threatened 3 2 l':.f4
and attacking the bishop . If instead
3 1 . . .'t't'g3, then after 32 e6 ! fkxf2+ 33
�h l White mates first.
With the text-move Black hopes for
32 .!Og5 ?, when he has 32 . . . .txf2+ ! .
32 b3! .td4
White's simple reply has Black at
his wits ' end. There is no satisfactory
26 Practical Middlegame Tips

defence, e.g. 32 . . . i.e7 loses to 33 tl:ig5

and the tricky 32 . . . 'Wg3 is foiled by 33
'it>h l ! ! : 3 3 ... 'ii x f2 34 e6 ! i.xe6 35
.l:f.xg6+ ! etc.
,

Meanwhile White was threatening

33 e6 (33 . . . fxe6 34 i.xe6+ i.xe6 35
.l:f.xg6+).
33 tl:ixd4 !
The nice simple combination started
with the text-move leads to a position
that is not only won but also very easy
to play. Good technique in won posi·
tions means selecting that continua­
tion which is both risk-free and clear. 39 °iWf6
33 'Yi'xd4 GM Korchnoi chooses to show off
34 .l:txg6+ i.xg6 his calculating ability here. Simpler is
35 'iixg6+ �h8 39 'ii' h5 .
36 'Yi'h6+ 'it>g8 39 'Yi'bl+
37 e6! (D) 40 �h2 'Yi'h7+
The end of the combination and end 41 'it>g3 'Yi'd3+
of the game for Black. White will win 42 f3 'ir'xc4
back the exchange and remain two 43 '1Wd8+ 1-0
pawns up. The conclusion would be 4 3 . . . .l:f.f8
37 'iWe4 44 'iig 5+ �h7 45 'iih 5+! followed by
38 exf7+ l:xf7 46 bxc4.
Section 3 :
Kingsid e Attack with the
Centre Closed

One of the truly helpful principles in middlegame play is :

An attack on the flank is best countered by a counterattack in the centre.
Because the king has generally been brought to relative safety by castling, at­
tacks on the king are mostly attacks 'on the flank' .
Yet because in the middlegame the centre is the inherently most important part
of the board, the attacker would like not to have to worry about the opponent get­
ting back at him via play in the centre. Thus, both for less risk of danger as well as
overall comfort, you want to have the centre as closed as possible before starting
your attack. The most closed centre is where the centre pawns blockade each
other and therefore cannot move at all, e.g. (D) .

An example of the least closed 'closed centre' is the following one: a single set
of ce ntre pawns has been exchanged, the remaining pawns are pressing on each
either and there is no pawn tension . For instance (D):
28 Practical Middlegame Tips

The most important situation for discussion is the one in the middle: all pawns
are on the board and the centre is closed, yet not necessarily permanently so. Our
illustrative game shows how the attack is mounted as well as how the defender
obtains chances for survival if - even at the cost of material - he can generate
counterplay in the centre.
 Game 4
GM Ed m a r M ed n is - I M D rago lj u b M i n ic
In terna tional German Championship,
Mannheim 19 75
S i ci l i a n D efe n ce , Rosso l i mo Va riation - 852

1 e4 cS The knight is awkwardly placed

2 l2Jf3 d6
3 .ibS+
The primary purpose of this varia­
tion is fast development of the king­
side so that White can get his attack
going as quickly as possible. This shows
up in the variations after 3 . . . l2Jd7 4 d4
t/Jf6 5 l2Jc3 and 3 . . . l2Jc6 4 0-0. How­
ever, the move also has a strategic
side, which appears if Black selects -
here and accomplishes little. 6 . . . e5 ? !
i s also dubious, as that leaves Black
with the inferior dark-squared bishop.
According to current opening theory
Black's best approach in going for
equality is 6 . . . l2Jf6 7 0-0 l2Jd4 .

as in this game - the most solid re-

sponse.
3 .id7
4 .ixd7+ 'i*'xd7
5 c4 ! (D)
White has now achieved a Maroczy
Bind type of pawn-formation, thereby
making it difficult for Black to achieve
the thematic . . . d5 freeing break. More­
over, the set-up is without drawbacks

because the light-squared bishop - in­ 7 d3 l2Jxf3+

stead of being blocked in by White's
own pawns - has been exchanged off.
The tactical j ustification for the
te xt-move is that the greedy 5 . . . 'i\Vg4?
is me t by 6 0-0 'i!Vxe4 7 d4 l2Jf6 8 l2Jc3 ,
when White's tremendous advantage
in deve lopment presages a killing at­
tac k on Black's king, which is stuck in
the centre.
5 l2Jc6
6 l2Jc3 tlJeS?! (D)
As we shall soon see, this leads to
strong attacking chances for White
along the f-file. Yet Black has nothing
fully satisfactory, for example 7 . . . g6 8
0-0 .ig7 9 l2Jxe5 ! gives Black an un­
appetizing choice. After 9 . . . dxe5 1 0
.ie3 b 6 1 1 a4 followed b y 1 2 a5 White
has a queenside attack, while after
9 . . . .ixe5 Black has an inferior version
of the game continuation in which
White gets in f4 with gain of time.
30 Practical Middlegame Tips

Worse is 7 . . . 'ii'g 4? ! because of 8 Played with the idea of applying

'ii'a4+ ! 'ii'd 7 (8 . . . ll:lc6 9 0-0) 9 ll:lxe5
dxe5 1 0 ll:lb5 ! with the threat 1 1
ll:lc7+.
8 "ii'xf3 g6
9 0-0 J.g7
10 "ii'e2 ll:lf6
1 1 f4 0-0
12 J.d2
White completes the development
of his minor pieces before proceeding
with the attack. Even though e3 seems
like a 'more normal ' square for the
bishop, I didn' t want to be bothered by
a potential . . . ll:lg4 or . . . J.d4. This posi­
tion is pleasantly favourable for White:
he has kingside attacking chances af­
ter f5 , whereas Black's potential play
on the queenside is nebulous.
12 ... ll:le8?! (D)
The plan of bringing the knight to
the queenside to get in . . . b5 will fail.
Therefore 12 . . . e6 looks best, though
White's attack will still be dangerous
after 1 3 g4 ! .
pressure on the e-pawn since Black
cannot afford 14 . . . f6? ! as that would
lock in his bishop for life. However,
the direct 14 l:.f3 is equally good.
14 ... a6
15 1:.f3 J.d4+
Black changes his mind about con­
tinuing with 15 . . . b5 because there is
no threat associated with it and White
can continue his attack with 1 6 1:.afl .
Therefore Black switches into defen­
sive mode. The purpose of the text­
move is to be able to block off the f­
file with . . . f6 without deadening his
bishop.
16 J.e3! f6
Neither is 1 6 . . . J.xe3+ 1 7 'ii'x e3
'3;g7 18 l:th3 satisfactory.
17 fxg6 hxg6
18 J.xd4! cxd4
19 ll:ldS ! (D)

White 's advantage is on the verge

of being decisive: the obvious threat is
20 ll:lb6, the d4-pawn is chronically
1 3 rs ll:lc7?! weak, while 19 ll:lxd5 ? ! 20 exd5
. . .

14 J.g5 leaves Black unable to cope with both

 Kingside Attack with the Centre Closed 31

21 'i'e4 and 2 1 'ii'f2. However, start­ and White will have to spend a tempo
in g with his next move Black puts up to protect the c-pawn. The centrally
the best defence by looking for chances logical 27 'ii'c 3 ! would have kept the
in the thematically correct area: the win in hand.
ce ntre. White, on his part, over the next 27 ... f5!
t wo moves intensifies the pressure. 28 b3 l:.fe8!
19 l:tae8 Black now dominates both central
20 l:.g3 �f7 files, making White's prospects for re­
21 :n ltJxd5 alizing his one-pawn advantage bleak
With White ready to augment his indeed. Therefore, White must go for
attack with 22 l:tf4 or 22 'ii'f2 , Black Black's king, but Black now has suffi­
starts his activity in the centre. cient defensive resources - all thanks
22 exd5 e5! to his control of the e- and d-files.
23 dxe6+ ..Wxe6 29 l:th3 ..We4!
24 'ikf2 d5 ! (D) 30 'ikg3 l:td2
Only so. There are no prospects During the game I was afraid that
with 24 . . . 'ii'e 5 ? 25 l:tg4 l:th8 26 h3, Black can exploit White's first-rank
when White captures the d-pawn in weakness via 30 . . . 'ii'd4+ 3 1 'it>h 1 'ii'd 1 .
total comfort. However, this is not so because White
can successfully regroup with 32
l:.h7+ 'it>f8 33 'ii'f4 'it>g8 34 l:th6 ! 'it>g7
35 l:th3 ! and retain a clear advantage.
31 ..Wg5 'ikd4+
32 'it>hl 'it>g7
33 ..Wh6+ 'it>f7!
After 3 3 . . . 'it>f6 ? ! White has 34
l:thf3 with the threat 35 l:txf5+.
34 ..Wg5 'it>g7
35 ..Wh6+ 'it>f7
36 l:tg3 (D)
After saving some time by repeat­
ing moves, White continues the attack
and in the process sets a diabolical trap.
25 ..Wxd4 dxc4 Black's only defence is the passive
26 dxc4 l:ld8 36 . . . l:tg8 ! , after which I would have
27 ..Wf2? ! played 37 'ii'g5 , threatening 38 l:txf5+.
With this naive retreat White gives If Black tries to prevent that with
up the bulk of his advantage. I wanted 37 . . . l:.g7 ?, White gets excellent win­
to prevent a . . . °ifb6+ and dreamed of ning chances after 38 l:te3 ! 'iif6 39
getting the queen to h4. Yet the queen l:te7+ ! followed by 40 'it'xd2. However,
covers little important ground from f2 if Black plays the active 37 . . . l:tf2 ! he
32 Practical Middlegame Tips

36 ... l:t e6? ?

should draw without too much diffi­
culty.
Black has become too enamoured
of the centre files. It is true that in an
ideal world Black would like to pro­
tect g6 while keeping the rook active.
However, in open positions whe re
you r king is in potential dange r, you
must look out for all possible spe­
cific tactics. Black violates that im­
portant principle and pays the price
immediately.
37 .l:.xf5+ ! ! gxf5
38 'ir'h7+ 1-0
It's mate after 3 8 ... �f8 3 9 l:tg8# or
38 . . . �f6 39 'i'/g7#.
Sectio n 4:
Kin g in the Centre

In the history of the development of chess, among the latest improvements is cas­
t ling, the basic idea of which is some six hundred years old.
The reason for introducing castling was to get the king out of the centre so that
the course of the game could be speeded up. As long as the kings remained in the
,;cntre their safety required much attention. Therefore, opening central lines for
;1ctive play had to be delayed until the king was removed to some safer area. Thus
that most creative enhancement of chess - castling - came about.
Therefore it is obvious enough that one of the objectives of sound opening
play is to get your king to safety by castling. Of course, this is not to be followed
hlindly. There is even an expression 'White/Black castles into it' , i.e. castling
1nto an imminent decisive attack. This occurs when the pawn-chain in front of
r.hc castled position is ruined or the opponent's pieces are already well placed to
11111 at your king and you lack sufficient defenders . It is true that castling can gen-

· rally be delayed in closed openings. Moreover, no matter what the opening,

White can usually afford - in terms of king safety- to delay castling longer than
Black can.
Conversely, in 1 e4 openings Black should be exceptionally wary about leav­
ing his king too long in the centre. Untold numbers of players - including GMs -
have suffered because they were too unconcerned about their king safety. In
Game 5 a noted GM resigns as early as move 1 6 . A more sophisticated version of
the same disease will be illustrated in Game 6.
 Game 5
GM J o n ny H ector - GM I go r Za itsev
Jyvaskyta 1994
M od e rn Defe n ce - 806

1 e4 g6 7 h3! i.xf3
2 d4 i.g7 8 '1Wxf3 c5 (D)
3 lllc3 c6 Otherwise Black remains with a
Black could have transposed into centrally inferior, lifeless position,
the Pirc Defence by playing 3 . . . d6 fol­ e.g. 8 . . �a5 9 e5 d5 10 i.d3, J.Fichtl­
.

lowed by 4 . . . lll f6. Instead, with the
text-move he telegraphs his intention
of staying within the Modern Defence
complex. The strategic point of the
Modern is to apply direct pressure on
d4 with the g7-bishop. This entails a
delay in the development of the king's
knight. Black then retains more flexi­
bility than in the Pirc but risks being
M .Czerniak, Bucharest 1 967 . Yet the
problem after the text-move is that it
has taken Black two moves to play
. . . c5 and White can exploit this loss of
time by favourably opening up the po­
sition. Note that not only is Black's
king's knight undeveloped, but cannot
even be developed norm ally with
8 . . lll g f6? ! , because 9 e5 will chase it
.

overrun because of his backward de­ back.

velopment. The danger is greater if
White - as here - chooses the most ag­
gressive set-up.
4 f4 d6
5 lllf3 i.g4
6 i.e3
The main line now continues
6 . . . �b6 7 �d2 i. xf3 8 gxf3 lll d 7 9
0-0-0, with a normal opening advan­
tage to White.
6
... llld7? !
GM Hector commented t o m e after
the game that this move must be less
accurate than the standard continua­
tion 6 . . . �b6 because now White has 9 dxc5 ! i.xc3+
time to recapture with the queen on f3 . From a practical standpoint Black
For the coming play, the queen is is forced to part with his king's bishop,
much more useful on f3 than in front thereby both weakening his kingside
of the rook on d2. and the dark squares. The problem is
 King in the Centre
th at the 'more normal ' moves 9 . . . dxc5,
9 . . . tl'lxc5 and 9 . . .'it'a5 are all met by 1 0
c5 ! when without the slightest bit of
, b) 1 3 . . . tiJh6 is the best there is.
risk White has a fantastic position, for
ex ample 9 . . . 'it'a5 10 e5 ! dxe5 1 1 i.b5
( l l . . .ll'lf6? 12 fxe5).
10 bxc3 ..Was
11 i.d4 ! e5
12 fxe5 dxe5
13 i.c4 ! ! (D)
Recognizing that Black's position
is full of holes and suffers from in­
complete kingside development, GM
Hector goes directly for the vulnerable
f7-point. For the uncastled king, f7 is
alw ays the weakest spot because the
only piece protecting it is the king it­
self. Black now has two reasonable
ways of protecting f7 :
a ) l 3 . . . ll'lgf6? ! would serve rea­
so n ably well if the queen' s bishop had
to retreat. However, GM Hector was
planning 14 0-0 ! with the idea that af­
ter 14 . . . exd4 1 5 cxd4, with White' s
m iserable tripled c-pawns straight­
e ned out, he has two pawns and a dev­
as tating centre for the sacrificed piece.
35
Black' s position is indefensible, e.g.
1 5 ... 0-0 1 6 i.b3 ! followed by 1 7 e5 .
White has a clear advantage after 14
i.f2 0-0, yet Black has some chances
of wriggling out.
13 ... exd4?
Pure suicide. GM Zaitsev is a very
original, creative and excellent tacti­
cian . Because of these qualities he was
a long-term valued member of GM
Anatoly Karpov' s team of seconds.
Snapping off the bishop - and doing it
quickly - hardly seems in accordance
with his style. There really is no valid
chess explanation for the text-move .
Only what GM Zaitsev told me after
the game makes sense: "It is very diffi­
cult to play two games a day with
Black" (this had been the second, i.e.
evening game).
14 'iWxf7+ 'iltd8
15 0-0!
White ' s has brought his king to
safety and completed his development.
White has threats like 1 6 'it'g7 , win­
ning the rook, and 16 cxd4, obtaining
three fantastic centre pawns for the
piece. GM Hector reports that whereas
Black captured the piece quickly, he
now took close to an hour trying to fig­
ure a way out of the mess.
15 ... 'iWxc3? !
Black's best defensive try appears
to be 1 5 . . .'ii' x c5, when the direct 1 6
'it'g7 should be sufficient, e.g. 1 6 . . .'it'e5
1 7 l:f8+ �c7 1 8 'ii'x e5+ .!tJxe5 1 9
l:xa8 .!tJxc4 2 0 cxd4 followed by 2 1
:n , or 1 6 . . . 'ii'x c4 1 7 l:ad l ! 'it'e6 1 8
l:xd4 (or 1 8 cxd4) 1 8 . . . 'iltc7 1 9 'ii'x h8.
16 i.b5 (D)
36 Practical Middlegame Tips

1-0
GM Zaitsev could see what was
coming and didn ' t want to be shown.
According to my analysis the main
line is: 16 . . . lll gf6 17 .l:.xf6 ! 'iix al + 1 8
�h2 lllxf6 1 9 'ii xf6+ <J;c7 2 0 'iid 6+
(of course 20 'iie 5+ followed by 2 1
'ti'xh8+ also wins) 20 . . . 'ifo>c8 2 1 .td7+
'ifo>d8 22 .te6+ 'ifo>e8 23 'ti'd7+ 'ifo>f8 24
'iiif 7#. The final position should
hardly be considered surprising since
none of Black's pieces are able to par­
ticipate in the defence.
 Game 6
GM Ed m a r M ed n is - G M Evgeny Ermen kov
New York (Burger) In ternational 1980
S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , Ta i m a n ov Va riation
1 e4 c5
2 tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6
3 d4 cxd4
4 tt:Jxd4 e6
This is the starting point of the
Taimanov Variation. White's most fre­
quent response is the normal and irre­
proachable 5 l2Jc3 . However, because
Black is avoiding an early . . . tt:Jf6,
White has sound alternatives.
5 t2Jb5 (D)
In GM Karpov's 'king's pawn days' ,
the text-move was his favourite weapon
against the Taimanov. White aims for
a substantial space advantage and the
nature of the play becomes more akin
to Hedgehog positions than standard
Open Sicilians. Because White threat­
ens 6 l2Jd6+, Black's response is al­
most automatic on the international
circuit.
- 844
5 d6
6 c4 tt:Jf6
7 l2Jlc3 a6
8 tt:Ja3 i.e7
9 i.e2
Up to here the players have fol­
lowed the standard path . Then and
now that path continues 9 . . . 0-0 10 0-0
b6 1 1 i.e3 tt:Je5 , when White has the
choice of 1 2 f3 and 1 2 f4 . In further
play White will try to do something
with his spatial superiority while
preventing Black from executing the
thematic freeing . . . b5 and . . . d5 breaks.
9 ... b6
I did not understand why my oppo­
nent wanted to choose a move-order
whereby he would first fianchetto the
queen 's bishop, nor did I see any rea­
son not to continue with normal devel­
opment.
10 0-0 i.b7
11 i.e3 tt:Je5
By now I was getting somewhat sus­
picious about Black's 'refusal ' to cas­
tle. In any case, with Black's king still in
the centre I decided to sharpen the play.
12 f4 tt:Jed7
13 i.f3 'Vkc7
With 1 3 . . . 0-0 Black could have
transposed back into V.Tseshkovsky­
G. Kasparov, USSR Ch 1 979 a posi­ -
tion already well known at the time of
our game.
38 Practical Middlegame Tips
14 'ii'e2 .l:i.bS? ! (D)
I could not understand why this
move is important here. With the
known 14 . . . 0-0 Black still could have
reached Tseshkovsky-Kasparov. Again
I decided that White' s normal devel­
opment for positions where Black is
castled should be at least as good with
the king in the centre.
15 l:r.acl h6
Since the only purpose of the text­
move can be to prepare . . . g5, it finally
became completely clear to me that
Black was going to keep his king in
the centre and open play on the
kingside. Therefore, based on the
principle of Section 3 (attacks on the
flank should be met by counterplay in
the centre), White removes his king
from a potential check on the gl -a7 di­
agonal and gets ready for action .
16 �hl ! gS? !
17 i.hS!
Of course White is not going to
open the h-file with 17 fxg5 ?. On his
part White is now ready for 18 f5 ,
threatening 1 9 fxe6. Black therefore
has to capture on f4, though I expect
that the Bulgarian GM was happy
enough to do so since it was part of his
plan.
17 ... gxf4
18 i.xf4 lLieS ? !
If Black had a safe castled position,
the black knight would have a lovely
spot here. However, White now breaks
through in the centre. Neither is
18 . . . ..Wc5 satisfactory and for the same
reason as in the game : 1 9 lLid5 ! exd5
20 cxd5 and the queen will be trapped
(20 . . . 'iWb4 2 1 l:r.c4 'iWa5 22 i.d2). In the
post-mortem we concluded that only
with the ugly 1 8 . . . l:!.h7 are there some
chances of holding on.
19 tLldS ! ! (D)
In addition to the obvious plan of
opening lines, there also is an impor­
tant strategic element to the sacrifice :
to bring the inactive a3-knight power­
fully into the attack via c4.
19 exdS
20 cxdS 'ii'd8
21 i.xeS! dxeS
22 lLic4 0-0
 King in the Centre 39

Almost an embarrassing change of White to increase the force behind the

plans - and played after a long think. advance of his central pawns.
The king cannot be safe in such a 24 ... 'il/c7 (D)
busted kingside. Yet it is also mark­ Allowing the following combina­
edly unsafe in the centre. For instance, tion . Yet 24 . . . 'ii'd 6 loses to 25 eixf7 !
22 . . . .:.cs 23 d6 ! .i.xd6 24 :xf6 ! 'ii'xf6 .:.xf7 26 .i. xf7+ �xf7 27 e5 ; the
(24 . . . .l:txc4 25 :e6+ ! �f8 26 :xc4 blockading 24 . . . .i.d6 succumbs to the
fxe6 27 'ii'f3+ with mate to follow) 25 similar plan starting with 25 eixf7 ! .
nn 'ilie7 26 :xn 'ii'x f7 27 .txf7+
'l;e7 28 'ii'g4 ! and White wins.
23 eixe5! (D)
White now has two excellent pawns
for the knight to go with his active
piece placement against Black's 'Swiss
cheese' kingside. Recapturing the piece
by 23 d6? ! is inconsequent since after
23 . . . eixh5 24 dxe7 eig3 + ! 25 hxg3
'ilxe7 the worst is over for Black.

25 d6! .txd6
26 :xr6 .i.xe5
27 'ii'g4+ �h7
28 .i.xf7! (D)
As planned at move 25 . Three of
Black's defences are easy to crack:

After the text neither 23 . . . eixh5 24

'ilxh5 nor 23 . . . �g7 24 :c3 ! offers any
chances for a successful defence.
Therefore Black tries to get one pair of
rooks off the board.
23 ... l:tc8
24 :cd l !
White also retains his advantage after
2 4 %lxc8, but keeping the rook allows
40 Practical Middlegame Tips

a) 28 . . . l:t xt7 29 'if g6+ �h8 30 3 1 l:t fl +) 3 1 l:t h6#.

l:txt7. 28 ... 'iWxf7? !
b) 28 . . . �f4 29 l:t xh6+ ! �xh6 30 The only way to delay mate, but not
'Wg6+ 'it>h8 31 'ii'xh6#. of much practical significance. Only
c) 28 . . . �xf6 29 'ifg6+ 'it>h8 30 my mild time-pressure caused Black
'ii'x h6#. to continue the game for a few more
d) However, it took me consider­ moves.
able time to work out the variations 29 'ir'fS+ 'it>g8
after 28 . . . 'ii'c 1 ! ? , attacking/pinning 30 .:txf7 .:txf7
the rook while protecting the crucial 31 't:ixe5 �c6
h6-point. Yet 'truth' triumphs after 29 32 't:ie6 .:tcf8
'iif5+! 'it>h8 30 'i'xe5 ! lk5 (30 ... 'Wxd l + 33 h3 1-0
Se ction 5 :
Attacks with Reduced
Mate rial

For an attack against the king in the middlegame to be successful a lot of fire­
p ower is usually necessary. We have already seen that in the games presented so
I ar. It is therefore often assumed that when there is a substantial reduction of ma­
t e r i a l (in particular a queen exchange) the king is safe enough. Yes, you may have
r,1 worry about a pawn weakness somewhere. But the king - no problem !
However, chess is too inexhaustible to allow for any sort of mechanical deci-
1 0 0 - making. If the king sits on an open file - or a file that can be opened - there
; ; potential danger. This danger can become lethal if the enemy can marshal

'· ' ,r c es in the king's direction while the king himself is short of defenders.

That such inattention can befall even the strongest GMs will be witnessed
: rom our illustrative game. Swedish GM Ulf Andersson is acknowledged as one
' 1 f the most solid and careful players in the world, yet the 'attack with reduced
: n aterial ' will overwhelm even him.
 Game 7
GM Edvi ns Kengis - GM U lf Andersso n
European Team Ch, Pu/a 199 7
Engl i s h O pe n i ng - A3 1

1 lDf3 lbf6 Even less appropriate was Black's

2 g3 c5 play in E.Bareev-A. Shirov, B iel 1 99 1 :
3 i. g2 g6 7 . . . 'ita5+? 8 b4 ! 'itc7 9 cxd5 ltJg4 1 0
4 c4 i. g7 0-0 i.xal 1 1 lbxal 0-0 1 2 lDb3 ltJd7
5 d4 cxd4 1 3 'itd4 ltJgf6 14 i.b2. Black is busted
6 lbxd4 here although the game ended in a
A Reti Opening has been trans­ draw on move 6 1 . After the game GM
formed into an English Opening varia­ B areev suggested 7 . . . e6 as Black's
tion akin to the Yugoslav Variation in best, protecting the important d5-
the King ' s Indian, with Black having point. White then only has the normal
challenged White ' s d-pawn with his slight edge.
c-pawn rather than with the e-pawn.
The reliable moves for Black now are
6 . . . lbc6 and 6 . . . 0-0. Yet Black thinks
that he can get closer to equality by
aiming for symmetry in the centre
with . . .
6... d5! ?
Black hopes for 7 cxd5 lbxd5 ,
when White has not yet demonstrated
that having the move leads to an ad­
vantage. Instead White selects a prin­
cipled plan whereby Black has to
choose among unattractive alterna-
tives.
7 lbc2! dxc4?! (D) 8 'i*'xd8+ �xd8
GM Andersson trusts the stars which 9 0-0 lbc6
say that with the queens off, the king 10 .l:.dl+ Wc7
will be safe . Black's problem will be 1 1 lb ba3! �g4
that instead of reaching an endgame, At this moment Black must have
what results is a middlegame without been satisfied : his minor pieces are de­
queens . In the middlegame both king veloped, his rooks are connected, he
safety and active piece development has no structural weaknesses and White
are primary factors. even has to worry about his e-pawn.
 Attacks with Reduced Material
GM Kengis points out that 1 1 . . .i.f5
is also unsatisfactory, with White hav­
ing the pleasant choice between the
acti ve 1 2 lLJb5+ and the positional 1 2
l2Je3 l:.ad8 1 3 l:txd8 ! :txd8 1 4 lLJxf5
gxf5 15 lLJxc4 ! , when 1 5 . . J:td l+? just
gets the rook into trouble: 16 i.fl cJi>c8
1 7 lLJe3 l:te 1 ? 18 f3 followed by 1 9
�f2.
12 i.xc6! ! (D)
After the game GM Kengis referred
to the text-move as a "very difficult
decision". Indeed White is exchang­
ing off his perfectly developed and
menacing light-squared bishop for the
ordinary knight on c6. Yet the proper
way of considering the situation is the
following one : while it is true that all
four of Black's minor pieces are devel­
oped, only the queen's knight serves to
pro tect his king. Once that defender is
gone, Black's king will be alone in try­
in g to cope with White's three minor
pieces and the d l -rook.
12 ... 'it>xc6?
The losing move. GM Andersson
was loath to ruin his pawn formation
43
by recapturing with the pawn because
he has won so many endgames on the
white side with such pawn-structures.
Yet the king is more valuable than
anything else ! Therefore 1 2 . . . bxc6 1 3
f3 ! i.d7 ( 1 3 . . . i.e6 ? ! just helps White
after 14 lLJd4) is necessary, when
White is clearly better after 1 4 lLJxc4
but there are realistic chances for Black
to scrounge a draw with very accurate
play.
13 lLJxc4 l:tad8
At least helping to neutralize the
white rook. There are no chances after
1 3 . . . i.xe2? 1 4 lLJe5+ cJi>c7 1 5 l:te l .
1 4 lLJeS+ 'iii> b 6
Walking the plank is hopeless .
However, Black's position also looks
untenable after 14 . . . �c7 15 l:.xd8 !
l:txd8 1 6 i.f4 .
15 i.e3+ �a6
16 lLJb4+ cJi>bS (D)
16 . . . 'it>a5 runs into the knight fork
1 7 lLJbc6+.
17 lLJed3 !
The last difficult move in the game.
It is crucial to take away the maximum
44 Practical Middlegame Tips

number of flight squares from Black ' s

king. After 1 7 lbbd3? ! b 6 the king es­
capes to safety via a6.
17 ... .txe2
Since no satisfactory defence ex­
ists, Black might as well grab the
pawn and hope for the best.
18 a4+ �as
19 lbc6+! (D)

that 25 . . . .tc4 fails to 26 l:r.c l i.d5 27

lbxc6 ! .txc6 28 b5 .
25 ... �xd8
26 .l:r.xe2 lbdS ? !
Allowing White a passed a-pawn i s
suicidal. 26 . . . a 6 is necessary, though
after 27 .td4 (Kengis) the result is not
in doubt.
27 .txa7 lbxb4
28 .tcs lba6
Another super move on c6 ! How­ It is hardly surprising that after
ever, for a super-GM such as Kengis, 28 . . . lbd5 29 a5 the passed pawn runs
this is kid's stuff compared to the deci­ decisively. GM Kengis provides the
sion on move 1 2 . following variation : 29 . . . e6 30 a6 �c8
19 bxc6 3 1 a7 �b7 32 l:.a2 �a8 (or 32 . . . lbc7
20 b4+ �a6 33 a8'ii'+ ! lbxa8 34 l:r.a7+) 33 l:r.a6. Of
21 lbcS+ �b6 course the text-move is equivalent to
22 l:.xd8 l:.xd8 resignation.
23 lbe6+ �b7 29 .txe7+ �d7
24 lbxd8+ �c7 (D) 30 .tgs .tr8
25 l:r.el ! 31 l:r.d2+ �e6
Bringing the rook into the game 32 l:r.d8 .td6
while preventing any unpleasant dis­ 33 .tf4 1-0
covered attacks along the al -h8 diago­ In the not-too-distant future the a­
nal . The tactical point of the move is pawn will cost Black his knight.
Section 6 :
Solid does not Mea n Safe

Your king is safely castled, pawn-cover impeccable and pieces nearby. You have
an absolute right to feel that your king is safe, yes? Don ' t you believe it !
Nothing is safe forever - so much depends on the specific dynamics of the sit­
uation and this can change on every move. The player with Black is usually more
on the watch for potential attacks because he recognizes that the opponent has
started the game with the initiative . It is players with White - especially the
lower-rated player striving for a draw against a superior opponent - who often
tend to have an unjustified feeling of security.
Game 8 is a straightforward demonstration of this, and Game 9 a sophisticated
example.
 Game s
Victor Ca b rido - G M Ed ma r M ed n is
Philippine Open Ch, Manila 1 99 1
S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , Cl osed Va riat i o n - 830

1 e4 cS
2 lLlf3 l2Jc6
3 c4
This position can also arise from
the English Opening after 1 c4 c5 2
lLlf3 tLlc6 3 e4. After the game my op­
ponent said that he normally plays 3
d4, but had decided to play more sol­
idly against a GM. Cabrido is a strong
master (he finished with a 7 1h/ 1 1
score) but simply had the wrong atti­
tude for this game.
3 ... eS !
Black ensures that White can ' t
achieve a Maroczy Bind with 4 d4. Whatever advantage exists here, it
Though the pawn-structure now is is Black's. His central pawn-structure
symmetrical and blockaded, the dis­ is characteristic of King's Indian posi­
similar knight placements are in tions and Black has smoothly achieved
Black's favour: his queen ' s knight is the thematic .. .f5 advance.
on its perfect square while White ' s 10 exfS ? !
king ' s knight is blocking h i s f-pawn. Even though the text-move causes
Already White has no realistic hope some loosening of Black's kingside,
for an opening advantage. enhancing Black' s central superiority
4 i.e2 is much too great a price to pay. Of
The bishop is ' solid' here, yet has course, the threat of 10 . . .f4 had to be
no scope. It would be better to create a parried. White should respond with 1 0
slight weakness with 4 g3 and i.g5 and b e ready to exchange o n e7 .
fianchetto the king's bishop. Because Black's inferior minor piece
4 g6 is the king's bishop there is little point
5 d3 i.g7 in heading to exchange it off with 1 0
6 lLlc3 l2Jge7 i.h6.
7 i.e3 d6 10 gxfS!
8 0-0 0-0 11 i.h6 l2Jg6
9 ii'd2 fS! (D) 12 tLldS ? ! (D)
 Solid does not Mean Safe 47

Losing time to exchange off two down for genuine defence with 1 7
sets of minor pieces does not bring �h l , 1 8 tll g l and 1 9 f3 .
White closer to a draw. After the game
Cabrido correctly suggested the pro­
phylactic 1 2 g3 as better, but during
the game White was reluctant to create
any pawn weaknesses on the kingside.
Note that Black has to be very patient
about rushing the . . .f4 advance as that
would hand over e4 to White.

17 ... i.b7
18 i.dl l:tf6 (D)
A picture-perfect situation for
Black: he controls all the key central
squares and his pieces are purposely
directed against White 's kingside. I
don' t see a satisfactory defence for
White; even so he puts up little resis­
12 ... tlice7! tance over the following moves.
13 i.g5? ! 1i'd7
14 tlixe7+ tlixe7
15 i.h6 tllg6
16 .:aet b6
17 1i'g5? (D)
With two rooks and two minor
pieces ' guarding' the king and all
three pawns in front of the king un­
touched, White feels safe and decides
to send his queen into Black's king­
side for 'an attack' . Because neither
White's piece coordination nor the
pawn structure on the board give any
indication that Black's king is in po­
tential danger, the sortie will boomer­ 19 1i'h5 i.xh6!
ang. Instead it was high time to hunker 20 1i'xh6 .:taf8
48 Practical Middlegame Tips

21 %4 ltif4
22 1i'g5+ �h8
23 .:r.e3 h6
24 1i'g3 .:r.g8 (D)
White 's wayward queen has been
trapped. The concluding moves of the
game were:
25 .:tfel .:r.xg3
26 hxg3 ltig6
27 f4 ltixh4
28 gxh4 'iig7
29 g4 fxg4
30 fxeS .:e6
31 exd6 l:f.xe3 34 'ifi>e2 'ilxd6
32 .lhe3 'i:'kd4 35 'ifi>d2 'ilf4
33 'ifi>f2 'ilf4+ 0-1
 Game 9
I M Ya n n i ck Pel letier - GM Anatoly Ka rpov
Biel 199 7
Q u e e n ' s I n d i a n D efe n ce , Petros i a n Va riation - E12

1 d4 lllf6 G M Karpov, writing i n the Novem­

2 c4 e6 ber 1 997 issue of Chess Life, charac­
3 lllf3 b6 terizes the text-move as a "sharp
4 a3 i. b7 method of fighting for the initiative" .
5 tll c3 (D) It has come to the fore because the tra­
ditional approaches have led to posi­
tions that, though only somewhat
inferior for Black in theory, have been
unpleasant to defend in practice. The
four reasonable alternatives are:
a) 7 . . . tll b d7 ? ! 8 llle 5 ! , threatening
9 tllc 6.
b) 7 . . . tll fd7? ! 8 i.f4 ! with Black
having difficulties in efficiently devel­
oping the queenside.
c) 7 . . . c6 8 cxd5 tll x d5 9 i.xe7,
when 9 . . . 'ii'xe7 1 0 tll x d5 exd5 1 1 e3
leads to a superior middlegame and
9 . . . lll x c3 10 'if'xc6+ ! achieves a supe­
There are two sophisticated points rior endgame.
behind GM Petrosian's naive-appearing d) 7 . . . 'ii'd7 8 'ii'x d7+ lll bxd7 9 tll b5
4 a3 : necessitates laborious defending by
1) by preventing the pin on the Black.
queen's knight White makes it hard 8 �b3
for Black to achieve smooth counter­ Solid and harmless. Harmlessness
p lay in the centre as 5 . . . c5 ? ! is bad be­ comes from the awkward l ocation of
cause of 6 d5 ; and the queen on c4, which will lead to a
2) because 3 . . . b6 brought about a loss of time. 'Solidity' is gained by not
slight weakening of the queenside, the sacrificing the c-pawn. Nevertheless,
normal 5 . . . d5 leaves additional weak­ the only challenge to Black comes
nesses in its wake. from 8 'ii'c2 ! dxc4 9 e3 b5 10 a4 ! ,
5 d5 when analysis by GM R.Dautov con­
6 i.g5 i.e7 tinues with 10 . . . b4 1 1 i.xf6 ! bxc3 1 2
7 'tlt'a4+ i.c6 ! ? i.xe7 cxb2 1 3 ..Wxb2 'ii'xe7 1 4 i.xc4
50 Practical Middlegame Tips

ll'id7 15 0-0 �xf3 16 gxf3 0-0 17 queenside. White therefore should be

� b5 ! with a slight advantage to White
, aiming for a routine exchange of
due to the potential weakness of the pieces. Instead IM Pelletier thinks that
isolated c-pawn. since his position is safe and solid
8 dxc4 there is little risk in going for more.
9 'i*'xc4 0-0 16 �xe7 'i*'xe7
10 e3 �b7 17 dxcS ll'ixc5
1 1 �e2 a6! 18 b4? !
12 l:f.cl White, with gain of time, estab­
White's play is too routine in the lishes as much space on the queenside
first part of the game and foolhardy in as Black has done . However, the cost
the second part. There is no point in is too great: a permanent weakening of
rushing the queen' s rook to the c-file. c3 and increasing the range of Black' s
The perceptive move-order is 12 0-0 bishop. Instead 1 8 ll'id4, followed by
ll'ibd7 1 3 %lfd l !, making it harder for 19 �f3 , is appropriate.
Black to play . . . c5 in comfort. 18 ll'ixc3
12 ll'ibd7 19 l:r.xc3 ll'ie4
13 0-0 bS 20 l:.cd3? ! (D)
14 'iia2 cS There are no preconditions for suc­
15 l:f.fdl ll'idS ! (D) cessful activity by White along the d­
file. He should be looking at the whole
board and retain the rook on the c-file
with 20 lkc 1 . There is no question
that with a modicum of care White can
defend, for example 20 . . . l:.ac8 2 1
'ii' b 3.

White misevaluates this ' boring'

position. While it is true that only
White has his rooks well developed
(i.e. along the two central files that can
be opened), what actually matters is
that Black has the more active minor
pieces and a bit more space on the 20 �d5!
 Solid does not Mean Safe
GM Karpov describes this move as
follows: "This move appeals to my
sense of maximization as thanks to my
control of the d5-square, one bishop
and one pawn is able to neutralize two
rooks and attack one queen". Very
nicely put !
21 'jWb2 l:.ac8
22 lbd2 lbd6 ! (D)
Black wants no routine exchanges .
White on his part should strive for that
with 23 i.f3 . However, under the con­
tinuous misjudgement that he is ' solid
and safe ' , IM Pelletier decides to gain
central space and decrease the scope
of Black's bishop. Yet again the cost is
much too great: the weakening of e3
and in general the dark squares on the
kingside.
23 f3? i.c4!
24 lbxc4 lbxc4
25 tr'b3 lbb6 !
Black has turned the advantage of
the superior bishop into the advantage
of the superior minor piece, since in
the existing pawn-structure White's
bis hop has little scope . The text and
51
the next move are preventive : the at­
tempt at simplification with an a4
break is prevented, as are back-rank
mates.
26 i.fl h6!
27 l:.d6? (D)
The definitive losing move. White
keeps thinking that his king must be
safe, because he will have the queen,
rook, bishop and four sound pawns to
protect him. GM Karpov - with ex­
ceptional accuracy - shows that it is
not so. Fairly soon it becomes clear
that Black is attacking with the advan­
tage of a whole rook since the
sidelined rook on a6 is not able to par­
ticipate in the defence.
White's position is unpleasant, of
course. However, 27 l:r.c3 or 27 e4 of­
fered chances for resistance.
27 lbd5!
28 l:.xa6 l:.c3
29 �b2 .l:tfc8 !
Establishing a total bind on the po­
sition before starting definitive action.
There is nothing satisfactory for White.
30 e4
52 Practical Middlegame Tips

IM Richard Forster provides the J:.d l + 3 5 l:.fl J:.dd2. IM Forster analy­

following analysis of two alternatives: ses 34 �h l J:.dd2 35 J:.g l 'ii'd 8 36 h3
a) 30 i.d3 'il'b7 ! 3 1 l:d6 'il'c7 ! 32 J:.d 1 37 'ii'f4 g5 ! 38 'il'e5 (or 38 'il'e3
l:.a6 lLixe3 33 l:.d2 l:.c l + 34 � lLi<l l +. l:.xg l + 39 'iii> x g l 'it'd l + 40 'it>h2 'ii'f l )
b) 30 i.xb5 ? lLixe3 31 l:e 1 'ii g5 38 . . . �h7 ! 39 'it>h2 J:.xg l 40 �xg l
threatens both 32 . . . J:.c2 and 32 . . . 'il'xb5 . 'ii'd l + 4 1 �h2 'il'fl 42 'ii'g 3 J:.c l 43
30 ... lLie3 'it'e5 'il'g l+ 44 'it>g3 l:.c2.
31 J:.el lLixfl! (D) 34 ... J:.dd2
35 'iWb8+ 'iii>h 7
36 'iWg3 'iWd7 ! (D)

Continuing with the approach dis­

cussed earlier: Black's three maj or
pieces will overpower White's queen It is over since the weaknesses of
and rook. the back rank as well as the gl -a7 and
32 J:.xfl l:.c2 fl -a6 diagonals are immediately deci­
33 'it'e5 l:.d8! sive, e.g. 37 h3 'il'd4+ 38 'iii> h 2 't1Vd3 .
34 'ii'x b5 3 7 :as 'iWd4+
Strictly defensive measures also 38 'iii>h l J:.dl
fail . GM Karpov points out 34 l:.f2 0-1
Section 7 :
S peculative Sacrifi ces

S o far all the sacrifices presented have been sound ones. They either could be cal­
culated accurately to the end and led to an assured advantage or the position re­
sulting after the sacrifice just 'had to be good' - see Games 5 and 6.
Of course, there would be much less excitement in chess if there was no genu­
ine risk-taking. The objective of this section is to give some 'tips' on the subject
of speculative sacrifices . Looking up the word ' speculative' in Webster's Ninth
New Collegiate Dictionary we see two definitions which are applicable to our sit­
uation. The first deals with "assumption of business risk in the hope of gain"; the
second refers to "marked by questioning curiosity". Linking these definitions we
can come up with: "a speculative sacrifice combines the elements of questioning
curiosity and the willingness to take a substantial risk in the hope of winning the
game".
' Substantial risk' does not refer to sacrificing a pawn for some reasonable
compensation. It means risking a lot of material - sufficient to lose the game if
the sacrifice is not successful. Moreover, a speculative sacrifice is not to be con­
fused with a foolhardy one. If you sacrifice a rook and your calculation shows
that one response by your opponent gives you the win, yet the other nine continu­
ations refute your sacrifice, then obviously it is stupid to risk such a sacrifice.
Your odds of success - based on your objective evaluation - should be at least
50% that the sacrifice is either inherently sound or that your opponent will lose
his way.
The most successful practitioner of speculative sacrifices was GM Mikhail
Tai . I used to joke that in his prime GM Tai would sacrifice a rook for three
checks and his queen for five checks. Of course, only a tactical attacking genius
can create the kind of positions where the odds are so overwhelmingly in his fa­
vour. Many of his fantastic combinations were eventually found not to be 1 00%
sound, but the refutations took days, weeks or months to be discovered. No won­
der his opponents did not find them over-the-board.
I shall present two games where substantial risk is taken on. Game 10 is a fail­
ure; Game 1 1 is a success. In my analysis I will give guidelines to explain why
this was so.
 Game 1 0
I M Boris Kre i m a n -
G M Al exa n der S h a ba l ov
World Open, Philadelphia 19 9 7
Fre n c h D efe n ce , Wi n awe r Va ri ati o n - C18

1 e4 e6 players are opting for castling and

2 d4 d5 thereby risking White' s wrath.
3 tl:ic3 i.b4 8 �d3 tl:ibc6
4 e5 c5 9 'tli'hs tl:irs
5 a3 i.xc3+ There is nothing sly about White's
6 bxc3 tl:ie7 approach. Black must interpose the
7 'ii'g4 knight - the only question is whether
The position after Black's 6th on g6 or f5 . The way with the better
shows the characteristic landscape of reputation is 9 . . tl:ig6, though unques­
.

the Winawer: Black has permanently tionably White has a strong attack af­
damaged White's pawn formation but ter 1 0 tl:if3 'ilic7 1 1 h4 ! .
at the cost of the bishop-pair and weak­ 10 tl:if3 (D)
nesses on the dark squares. Moreover, The immediate 10 g4 is parried eas­
White has a clear spatial advantage. ily by 10 . 'ilih4 .
..

Nevertheless, the situation on the board

is most unbalanced and historically
Black has obtained good opportunities
for counterplay. Also, historically,
White's favourite plan has been first to
complete minor-piece development,
e.g. 7 tl:if3 tl:ibc6 8 a4 °ii'a5 9 i.d2 i.d7
10 i.e2 . However, immediate action
via the text-move has been preferred
by aggressive attackers . IM Kreiman
is very much in that camp.
7 ... 0-0
Some twenty years ago, the only
acceptable way for Black was consid­
ered to be giving up the kingside However, after the text-move 1 1 g4
pawns : 7 . . . 'ii'c 7 8 'ii'x g7 l::t g 8 9 'ii'x h7 is a major threat and, additionally,
cxd4 10 tl:ie2 tl:ibc6 1 1 f4 �d7 12 'ilid3 White 's knight is ideally placed for
dxc3 1 3 tl:ixc3 a6. The resulting posi­ joining the attack via g5 .
tion is thought to be satisfactory for There is much experience with the
Black. Nevertheless, more and more positions after 1 0 . . . f6 . The present
 Speculative Sacrifices
status is bad for Black: 1 1 g4 c4 1 2
gxf5 cxd3 1 3 l:.gl t'/Je7 ? ! 14 exf6 l:.xf6
1 5 l:.xg7+ ! ! �xg7 1 6 'i*'g5+ t'/Jg6 1 7
fxg6 hxg6 1 8 i.f4 ! with a murderous
attack by White, Kruppa-Komarov,
Kherson 1 99 1 .
10 ... c4 ! ?
GM Shabalov's novelty makes good
sense. Rather than losing a tempo
while also weakening his kingside
with 10 . . . f6, Black immediately aims
to chase away the attacking bishop.
White's normal, risk-free way is now
1 1 g4 cxd3 12 gxf5 , when 12 . . . f6 1 3
l:.gl transposes to the start of Kruppa­
Komarov above. GM Boris Gulko
considers Black's best to be 1 2 . . . exf5 ,
though after 1 3 l:. g l White has a dan­
gerous attack at little investment in
material.
Yet IM Kreiman wants more excite­
ment and plays . . .
1 1 i.gS ? ! (D)
The dubious mark is attached be­
cause we know - thanks to hindsight -
that it will fail. White's thematic plan
is to create a mating net on the dark
55
squares of the type : 'i*'h6, i.f6, and
Black' s pawn on g6 .
There are three reasons why it will
not work out:
1) White is forced to sacrifice two
rooks - an inordinate amount. In the
game White will get back most of the
material, but this will not be sufficient;
2) White 's attack is strictly one­
dimensional : dark squares with mate
on g7 ;
3) carelessness in calculating the
position after the intended 1 6 i.h3 .
When we consider all these factors
in an objective manner, we can see that
the odds of White 's creative, brave,
speculative sacrifice being successful
were not good.
11 'i*'aS
12 i.xfS 'i*'xc3+
13 i.d2 'ilfxal+
14 �e2 g6 (D)
15 'ii'h4
White's first problem is that he
must protect the d-pawn since after 1 5
'i*'h6 t'/Jxd4+ 1 6 t'/Jxd4 'i*'xd4 there is
no reasonable follow-up since Black
56 Practical Middlegame Tips

threatens both 1 7 . . . exf5 and to capture and Black only has a draw. The text­
on e5 with check. move deflects the knight from g5 and
15 ... 'ii'x hl (D) leaves Black too much material up.

A most frustrating situation for 18 tLlxd4 gxf5

White. He has available for attack 19 .txf8 .td7! (D)
queen, knight and two bishops. More­ White has perpetual check after
over, Black's kingside has permanent 1 9 . . . �xf8? 20 °ifd8+ cJ;g7 2 1 'ii'f6+.
weaknesses on f6 and h6. Yet nothing Now that Black's bishop and rook
works. GM Gulko provides the fol­ can j oin the action and the queen par­
lowing proof: ticipates in the defence, the material
a) 1 6 .th3 f6 ! 17 exf6 e5 ! 1 8 tLlg5 advantage of the exchange and three
tLlxd4+ 1 9 �e3 h5 . pawns is easily decisive.
b) 1 6 .th6 'if xg2 1 7 .th3 tLlxd4+ !
1 8 tLlxd4 'ife4+.
c) 16 °ifh6 'ifxg2 17 .th3 tLlxd4+ !
1 8 lLixd4 'ii'e4+ 1 9 .te3 'ii'xe5 .
d) 1 6 c3 exf5 1 7 'ii'f6 tiJd8 1 8 .th6
tLle6 19 tLlg5 ( 19 h3 'ii'x g2 20 tLlg5
'i\Vxg5 ! ) 19 . . . 'ii'xh2 20 .txf8 'ii'h 5+.
16 'i\Vf6
Realizing that there is no win, White
now goes for a drawing combination,
but will again be foiled.
16 ... 'ii'xg2
17 .th6 tiJxd4+! (D)
The hope had been 1 7 . . . gxf5 ? ! 1 8
tLlg5 tLlxd4+ 1 9 �e3 tLlxc2+ 20 �e2 20 .th6 'ir'g6
 Speculative Sacrifices 57

21 t2Jf3 .ia4 28 cxb4 c3

22 t2Jd4 :es 29 �d3 .l:.c8
23 f4 a5 30 t2Jd4 c2
24 c3 .id7 31 lZJxc2 .ibS+
25 t2Jf3 b5 32 '1te3 'i'gl+
26 'i'h4 b4 33 �d2 'i'g2+
27 axb4 axb4 0-1
 Game 1 1
G M Ed m a r M ed n is - G M Laszlo Vadasz
B udapest 1 9 76
Pi rc D efe n ce , A u stri a n Atta c k - 809

1 e4 d6 White has to decide how to react to

2 d4 tLlf6 Black's plan. With the text-move he is
3 tLlc3 g6 the first to start central activity. The
4 f4 .tg7 sound alternative is to prepare for
5 tLlf3 0-0 kingside action after 7 0-0 c5 8 d5 . At
6 .td3 tLla6 (D) the time of this game 7 e5 and 7 0-0
Within the main line of the Austrian were equivalent in popularity. At pres­
Attack (4 f4), this is the sharper of the ent the latter is more frequent because
two high-quality variations, the other White's attack is tough to cope with.
being 6 . . . tLlc6. The idea of the text­ 7 ... lLld7
move is to start to challenge White's 8 tLle4 ! ?
centre with 7 . . c5 and to be able to re­
. This was a new move a t the time. I
capture on c5 with the knight. The had analysed it some 1 8 months ear­
problem with the immediate 6 . . . c5 ? ! is lier. There are two ideas associated
that after 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 e5 lLld5 9 with it:
tLlxd5 'ir'xd5 1 0 'ir'e2 White has con­ 1 ) play on the kingside with the
siderably more space and Black lacks thematic 9 e6 ! ? fxe6 1 0 tLleg5 ; and
a satisfactory plan for developing 2) safeguarding d4 while cramping
counterplay. the a6-knight with 9 c3.
Subsequently the solid 8 .ie3 be­
came frequent in tournament play.
8 . . . tLlb4 ? !
When doing m y earlier research I
had thought that this was Black's most
thematic response. After this game we
know that this is incorrect. The critical
continuation remains 8 . . . c5 ! ?. During
the game GM Vadasz was afraid of 9
e6 ! ? fxe6 1 0 tLleg5 lLlf6 1 1 'ir'e2 . In·
deed after 1 1 . . . tLlc7 12 dxc5 ! dxc5 1 3
tLle5 White has excellent compensa­
tion for the pawn. However, I believe
that instead of 1 1 . . . tLlc7 , Black can do
7 e5 better with 1 1 . . .tLlb4 ! , giving back the
 Speculative Sacrifices
pawn. After 1 2 lll x e6 lllx d3+ 1 3 cxd3
i.xe6 14 'ii'x e6+ 'ii> h 8 the position is
unclear. On the other hand, White can
sharpen the play with 1 1 h4 ! ? instead
of 1 1 'ii'e 2. I am not aware that these
ideas have been explored in actual
play. Of course, White can also select
the safe 9 c3, but I doubt whether that
can lead to an advantage.
9 .i.e2 lll b 6
10 c3 .i.fS (D)
Hindsight tells us that Black should
play 10 . . . lll c 6 and accept a cramped
position. However, in my preparation
and play the text was the only move
that I considered.
11 lllfgS ! dS? !
Consistent with the previous play,
though in fact 1 1 . . .lllc 6 is necessary.
White then has a nice risk-free posi­
ti on where his secure centre and spa­
tial advantage mean a clear edge - but
that is all.
After the 'thematic ' text-move my
ho me analysis had continued 1 2 cxb4
dx e4 13 g4 followed by capturing the
e 4-pawn. At the board this did not
59
seem all that clear, particularly if
Black plays 13 . . . f6 ! ?. Therefore, I
started looking for something better
and after half an hour of thought
( 'questioning curiosity ' ) decided on . . .
1 2 lllg3! ! (D)
When I hit on this idea, my com­
forting thought was : "Well, the worst
that can happen is that I lose. On the
other hand, if it works I'll have a nice
game to my credit." It is truly a specu­
lative sacrifice, because there is no ob­
viously decisive follow-up, nor are
there specific variations to trust in.
I shall leave further comments on
this subject to the note after White 's
15th move.
12 lllc2+
13 'ii>f2 lllx al
14 lllxfS gxfS
This is not quite an automatic re­
capture as Black has the option of
1 4 . . . h6. I was then planning 1 5 lll x t7!
l:hf7 1 6 lll x g7 ! :xg7 1 7 .i.d3 . Indeed
White already has gained a ' good
pawn' and Black's kingside is very
vulnerable.
60 Practical Middlegame Tips
The text-move is therefore better.
At the board I was first tempted by 1 5
e6 since 1 5 . . . f6? ! allows 1 6 tl:lxh7 ! !
�xh7 1 7 i.d3 when White's attack is
strong enough for at least perpetual
check. However, my reason for reject­
ing 1 5 e6 was that Black can simply
capture 15 .. .fxe6. After 16 tl:lxe6 White
wins the exchange and will soon cap­
ture the al -knight, thereby establish­
ing material equality. I judged the
resulting position to be approximately
equal, but said to myself: "Why sacri­
fice a rook to be satisfied with a
draw?''.
15 i.d3 ! ! (D)
This is the position I had in mind
when considering 12 tl:lg3 ! ! . The odds
that the sacrifice will be sound are
based on the following factors:
1 ) Even though White has sacri­
ficed a rook, the chances are good that
it will only wind up as a sacrifice of
the exchange since the a l -knight looks
doomed;
2) The al -knight is no danger at all
to White's plans (note that Black's
queen on h 1 was quite a problem for
White in Game 1 0);
3 ) White has a powerful , stable
centre;
4) Black's kingside is seriously
weakened due to the doubled f-pawns;
5) Black's pieces are in no position
to menace White, nor efficiently lo­
cated to protect the king.
During the game I considered the
main line to be 15 . . . e6 16 g4 h6 1 7
gxf5 ! ! when Black has two choices:
a) 17 . . . hxg5 18 f6 ! ! i.xf6 19 �h5
l:te8 20 fxg5 ! i.g7 21 �e2 and there
will be no way for Black to defend his
king against the combined force of
White's queen, rook and two bishops.
One typical example : 2 1 . . J:te7 22 :n
�f8 23 g6 �e8 24 i.g5 �d7 25 i.xe7
fxg6 26 �xg6 �h8 27 h4 ! . In effect,
White is also now material up to go
with the crushing position.
b) 17 . . . exf5 has the disadvantage
that it opens up the position a lot more.
One thematic continuation for White
is: 1 8 �h5 hxg5 1 9 i.xf5 .l:!.e8 20
l:tg l ! f6 (or 20 . . . .:1e6 21 �h7+ �f8 22
.l:!.xg5 l:tg6 23 i.xg6 fxg6 24 .l:l'.xg6
�e7 25 f5 , etc . ; or 20 . . . 'ili>f8 2 1 l:.xg5
'ii; e 7 22 .l:l'.xg7 .:r.f8 23 i.g4 ! followed
by f5) 2 1 e6 �e7 22 fxg5 tl:lc4 23 gxf6
�xf6 24 �h7+ �f8 25 .l:!.xg7 ! �xg7
26 i.h6, winning.
In each and every case White car­
ries out the attack down a rook or more.
Black turns out to be defenceless.
15 ... h6
This move lets White immediately
get a pawn for his rook, but sort of par­
adoxically gives Black time to ward
off the immediate mating threats.
 Speculative Sacrifices 61

1 6 J.xfS ! e6 21 J.d3 (D)

The mate is easy and swift after
1 6 . . . hxgS ? : 1 7 'ii'h 5 .l:te8 1 8 e6 ! f6 1 9
J.h7+ �h8 2 0 J.g6+ �g8 2 1 J.f7+
�f8 22 'ii'h 7 followed by 23 1i'g8#.
17 J.h7+ �h8
18 J.bl ! (D)

Black's king is finally safe, yet the

situation is hopeless as after losing the
al -knight, Black will be two pawns
down in an inferior position.
21 cs
22 J.e3 cxd4
After this long retreat White threat­ 23 cxd4!
ens mate starting with 1 9 1i'd3 . Black's By keeping a strong centre White
only chance is 18 . . . 1i'e7, when 1 9 lDh7 minimizes Black's counterplay.
l:tfd8 20 'ii'd 3 is not so clear after 23 lDc4
20 . . . lDd? ! ( 2 1 iDf6 iDf8). I would have 24 'ii'x al lDxe3
taken a second pawn with 1 9 1i'd3 f5 25 �xe3 bS
20 exf6 J.xf6 2 1 lDxe6. There is little 26 'it'dl !
question that White's position must be First White consolidates his forces
considered winning, yet in a practical and then will start exploiting Black's
game Black has a few hopes. weaknesses on d5 and f5 .
Instead, as so often happens in posi­ 26 a6
tions under great pressure, Black col­ 27 g3 'ikf7
lapses immediately. 28 'ii'c2 hS
18 fS? 29 .!:tel h4
19 lDxe6 'flle7 30 'ii'g2 hxg3
20 lDxf8 .l:txf8 31 hxg3 1-0
Section 8 :
Necessary Sacrifices

A necessary sacrifice is one that you would prefer not to make but your best chess
judgement tells you is needed to realize your objective . It may be a follow-up
pawn sacrifice to previous pawn sacrifices to open up further lines or a pawn sac­
rifice to liberate your piece(s) which are cooped up behind your pawn(s). A ' nec­
essary ' sacrifice is of relatively small material value and is of the order of the
equivalent of one or two pawns. Larger sacrifices fall into the categories of cor­
rect/sound or speculative sacrifices .
In our illustrative game, two world-class players demonstrate what to them are
necessary sacrifices.
 Game 1 2
G M Alexei S h i rov - G M Ga rry Kas pa rov
Ti/burg 199 7
S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , N a j d o rf Va ri ation
1 e4 c5
2 lLlf3 d6
3 d4 cxd4
4 lLlxd4 lLlf6
5 lLlc3 a6
6 i.e3 (D)
This move was introduced into in­
ternational play by GM Robert Byrne
and the variation justly carries his
name. Its tactical point is that 6 . . . lLlg4
is met by 7 i.g5 , when it is unclear
whether Black has an effective follow­
up. The deeper strategic consideration
is to make it less comfortable for
Black to continue with the thematic
6 . . . e5 because in a number of potential
variations the development of the
queen's bishop to e3 is more useful for
White than the early development of
the king 's bishop to e2, which occurs
in the 6 i.e2 e5 variation .
- 890
6 ... e5 !
The exclamation mark is to ac­
knowledge that as long as he feels that
he is sufficiently well prepared, GM
Kasparov never shirks from a princi­
pled battle. The positives of the move
are to chase away White's knight from
the excellent central square as well as
to control the d4- and f4-squares.
There also is the inevitable negative :
d5 is permanently weakened.
Sound alternatives are the previ­
ously mentioned 6 . . . lLlg4 (which is
also part of GM Kasparov's reper­
toire) and 6 . . . e6, transposing into the
Scheveningen Variation.
During the next series of moves
both sides develop their pieces and be­
gin active play on the side characteris­
tic for this specific variation: White on
the kingside, Black on the queenside.
7 lLlb3 i.e6
8 f3 i.e7
9 'it'd2 lLlbd7
10 g4 h6
1 1 0-0-0 b5
12 h4 lLlb6
13 �bl b4 (D)
Up to here each player was doing
'his thing ' , yet now White has to de­
cide how to proceed further. The care­
ful way is 14 'i!ff2 .l:.b8 15 i.xb6 'ir'xb6
16 'i!fxb6 lbb6 17 lLld5 lLlxd5 1 8 exd5
i.d7 1 9 i.d3 h5 20 g5 f5 2 1 gxf6
64 Practical Middlegame Tips
i.xf6, with rough equality, Z.Almasi­
J.Lautier, Tilburg 1 996.
Characteristically, GM Shirov wants
more and keeps the queens on.
14 i.xb6 'iixb6
15 lLid5 i.xd5
16 exd5 a5
17 'ii'd3
White frees the d2-square for the
knight and lines up the queen on the
b l -h7 diagonal for a potential attack
on the soon-to-be-castled king. 17 i.h3
was previously known, when Z.Lanka­
G . Peshina, Vilnius 1 993 continued
17 . . . a4 1 8 tLic 1 l:ta5 1 9 g5 lLixd5 20
lLie2 ltc5 2 1 �al 'ir'c6 22 i.f5 and the
players agreed a draw in this most un­
clear position.
GM Lanka works as a part-time
trainer with GM Shirov and confirmed
after the game that GM Shirov was
prepared for this variation . Neverthe­
less - prepared or not - White did not
gain any advantage.
17
... a4
18 lLid2 0-0
As a general principle Black would
prefer not to castle kingside because
of the fundamental structural weak­
ness in having the h-pawn on h6 (see
Game 3 !). Yet there is no other way to
bring the king' s rook into the game. At
his moment Black does not have to
fear the immediate 1 9 g5 because of
19 . . . lLih5 20 gxh6 g6 ! (GM Lanka),
when the kingside is sufficiently de­
fensible for the foreseeable future.
Therefore, White moves to exchange
off Black's knight and will set up the
queen & bishop battery on the b l -h7
diagonal .
19 lLie4 (D)
19 ltfc8 !
20 lLixf6+ i.xf6
21 'ii'e 4
White took thirty minutes to decide
on the text-move. His problem is that
after 2 1 g5? the necessary sacrifice
2 1 . . .e4 ! is also demonstrably good.
GM Shirov provides the following
analysis: 22 'ir'xe4 b3 ! 23 cxb3 axb3
24 a3 i.xb2 ! (25 �xb2 l:tc2+ ). Instead
of 24 a3 , no better is 24 gxf6 due to
24 . . . l:.xa2 25 'i!Vg4 l:l.al + ! 26 'it>xal
'i!Va5+ . The ambitious 21 'iff5 is also
 Necessary Sacrifices
met by the same necessary and good
2 1 . . .e4 ! .
2 1 ... 'ii'c5
A normal enhancement of the pres­
sure. However, Black also had the tac­
tical possibility 2 1 . . .b3 22 cxb3 axb3
23 a3 i.xh4 ! (24 lhh4? loses to
24 . . . 'ii'f2 ). GM Kasparov was aware of
this, but expected to achieve more
with the text-move (as related by IM
Dirk Poldauf in the November 1 997
issue of Schach).
22 i.d3
White now has a winning combina­
tion in view : 23 g5 ! hxg5 24 hxg5
i.xg5 25 .r!h8+ ! �xh8 26 'ii' h 7#.
Therefore Black's king must flee.
22 �f8
23 g5! (D)
Truly a 'necessary' sacrifice. White
must open lines and create attacking
chances as otherwise Black will have
the necessary time to break through on
the queenside.
23 hxg5
24 hxg5 i.xg5
25 'ii'f5! i.h6
65
A most unpleasant necessity for
Black. The problem is that after the
'normal ' 25 . . . i.f6?, GM Shirov had
prepared 26 i.b5 ! ! . White then threat­
ens mate by 27 l:.h8+ �e7 28 'ii'd 7#;
Black cannot take the bishop because
27 l:th8+ wins the exchange and the
game. Therefore, Black has to resort to
defensive resources such as 26 . . . 'ii'c 7
or 26 . . . l:.d8 . In either case White can
capture the a-pawn and thereby end
Black's queenside dreams (26 . . . 'ii'c 7
27 i.xa4 ! ; 26 . . . l:.d8 27 .r!h8+ �e7 28
.r!xd8 l:.xd8 29 i.xa4).
26 .r!h4! �e7 ! ! (D)
White gets a dangerous attack after
26 . . . 'ii'x d5 27 l:txb4 'ii'e 6 28 'ii' h7 -
something that GM Kasparov is obvi­
ously not interested in experiencing.
Instead he prefers to sacrifice his
queen, both stopping White's attack
and keeping his own going. Clearly to
him the sacrifice was a ' necessary '
one.
27 l:.c4 'ii'xc4
28 i.xc4 l:.xc4
29 'ii'd3 l:.ac8
66 Practical Middlegame Tips

30 .l:r.el i.f4 (D)

The other problem is the specific

one: White has no satisfactory way of
In terms of a pure material balance, recapturing on e4 !
rook, bishop and pawn is equivalent to 31 ... 1:..x e4
a queen. In a majority of middlegame 32 fxe4
situations the side with the queen will After the text-move Black's passed
nevertheless have the advantage. In our g-pawn becomes unstoppable. White's
case the chances are in dynamic bal­ original plan had been to recapture
ance due to the active placement of with the queen, 32 'ii'xe4, but that is
Black's rooks and bishop, as well as unsatisfactory because after 32 . . . .l:r.h8 !
the lack of weak points in his position. 33 a3 b3 ! 34 cxb3 axb3 35 'ii'e l 1:.. c 8
After the game GM Shirov demon­ 36 a4 l:r.c 1 + the king & pawn endgame
strated that a drawn endgame would is lost.
result after 3 1 b3 axb3 32 axb3 .l:r.xc2 32 ... g5! (D)
33 �xc2 .l:r.xc2 34 'it>xc2 g5 35 'it>d3 f5 .
But in aiming for a 'safe' plan with
winning chances he plays something
atrocious.
3 1 1:.. e4?? (D)
There are two things wrong with
the move. In the first place White vio­
lates the strategic principle that even
though the queen is by far the stron­
gest piece, nevertheless its power is
enhanced if it has a helper. In our sit­
uation the rook is a useful helper both
for defending and for attacking if
Black is careless.
 Necessary Sacrifices 67

33 a3 bxa3 37 c5 g2
34 'ii'a6 l:.d8 38 cxd6+ l:.xd6
35 °ii'b6 g4 39 'iic7+ �f6!
36 c4 g3! 40 'iixd6+ �g7
GM Kasparov selects an elegant se­ 0-1
ries of moves to promote the g-pawn. The conclusion could be 41 1i'c5
Ordinary efforts also would have been i.h2 42 d6 gl 'ii'+ 43 'ir'xg l + i.xgl 44
good enough. d7 i.b6.
Part Two :
Defe n din g the Kin g
Section 9 :
Kee pin g the Castled
Kin g Safe

To have and retain king safety, the following must exist:

1) pieces nearby for protection;
2) sound pawn-cover;
3) a minimum of lines able to be opened against the king.
Of course, intuitively we can recognize that there must be some pieces near
enough to ward off attackers. The important question, however is: 'How many?'
Former World Champion J.R.Capablanca gave this elegant answer: "As few as
possible, so that you have more material available to attack the enemy in another
area." I do want to caution the reader: err on the side of king safety ! The chance
that a Capablanca will get the number of defenders exactly right is considerably
greater than you or I will do so.
The strongest pawn-cover is when the pawns in front of the king are on their
original squares. For castling on the kingside this means the f-, g- and h-pawns
have not moved; for castling queenside the corresponding pawns are the a-, b­
and c-pawns.
The most common applications of violent attacks occur when White attacks
Black on the kingside and when Black attacks White on the queenside. Game 1 3
will deal with White as the attacker; in Game 1 4 Black will attempt tr• storm the
white king castled on the queenside. An integral part of the proper defensive
technique will require keeping lines against one's king as closed as possible.
 Game 1 3
G M Sa m u e l Reshevsky - G M B u rkha rd M a l ich
Siegen Olympiad 19 70
S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , S c h eve n i nge n Va riation - 886

1 e4 cS
2 lLif3 e6
3 d4 cxd4
4 lLixd4 lLif6
5 lLic3 d6
6 i.c4
It is my opinion that in the 'pure '
Scheveningen, i.e. the position after
Black's 5th move, the development of
the king's bishop to c4 is not theoreti­
cally dangerous for Black. The reason
is that because Black's queen's knight
is undeveloped, he can get it effec­
tively to c5 via the manoeuvre shown best location and is ready to start
in the game. Nevertheless, the text­ queenside activities with 1 2 . . . b5 . At
move continues to be a popular line in the same time Black has no vulnerable
tournament play. point in his part of the board. His
6 i.e7 kingside pawn-cover is impeccable.
7 i.b3 0-0 Of course, it would have been crimi­
8 i.e3 lLia6! nal to play 1 l . . .h6??, as after 1 2 h4
9 f3 followed by 1 3 g5 or the immediate 1 2
Safeguarding the centre makes g5, White would get an open file for
good sense, yet we have learned that it nothing.
is insufficient for an advantage. There White will have to make two im­
is common agreement currently that portant decisions . The first is: where
the active 9 f4 is necessary to hope to to put the king? Castling queenside
get at Black. Yet in the thematic varia­ connects the rooks, yet makes Black's
tions after 9 . . . lLic5 1 0 'iff3 a5 ! Black is counterplay on that side more danger­
holding his own. ous - in particular due to the position
9 lLicS of the king 's bishop on b 3 . However,
10 'ii'd2 a6 leaving the king in the middle may
1 1 g4 'ii'c7 (D) make the king more uncomfortable
A characteristic moment in this later on when Black's development
variation: Black brings the queen to its has been completed. White also must
 Keeping the Castled King Safe 71

decide exactly how to carry out the Already a disadvantage of White's

kingside pawn-storm and how much uncastled king can be seen, i.e. the im­
material to risk in that operation. mediate 13 g6? ! is ineffective after
Indeed an exciting game is in pros­ 1 3 ... i.h4+ ! (blocking the h-file) 14 i.f2
pect. i.xf2+ 1 5 'ii'xf2 hxg6 1 6 h4 liJxb3 1 7
12 gS axb3 .!iJf6 ! and Black i s u p a sound
White could wait with this advance pawn in a safe enough position.
and instead start with 1 2 h4 . This 13... bS
worked out well in D .Minic-Van der 14 g6! ? liJeS! !
Weide, Amsterdam II 1 97 1 : 1 2 . . . b5 1 3 Only so ! Instead 1 4 . . . fxg6? drops
a3 .!iJfd7 1 4 g5 .!iJb6 1 5 h5 .l:.b8 1 6 g6 ! the e-pawn, while 1 4 . . . hxg6? ! 15 h5
hxg6? 1 7 hxg6 fxg6 1 8 'ii'g 2, when will yield two open lines for White.
White had two files open against the 15 gxh7+ �h8! (D)
black king and won on move 27. Of
course, Black should have used the
same approach as in our game to mini­
mize the opening of lines : 1 6 . . . liJc4 !
17 i.xc4 bxc4 1 8 .l:.bl i.f6. IM Minic
evaluates the resulting position as 'un­
clear' .
Needless to say, White could im­
mediately castle queenside and then
continue as in the game, e.g. 12 0-0-0
b5 1 3 g5 .!iJfd7 14 g6 ! ? . This position
is also 'unclear' .
12 ... .!iJfd7 (D)

Again the only way. Black wants to

use the forward h-pawn as a shield for
his king. After the text-move it is too
late for White to castle since after 1 6
0-0-0? ! b4 1 7 liJce2 a5 White's king's
bishop is in major trouble.
16 a3 l:.b8!
17 �f2 i.b7
18 l:tagl fS ! (D)
A multi-purpose advance : Black
will be able defend the g-pawn in
comfort while starting counterplay
against White's king, which is stuck in
13 h4 the centre. As a matter of fact, White's
72 Practical Middlegame Tips

king has to move back to the centre

since B lack threatens the decisive
1 9 . . . fxe4, while White can ' t afford to
capture on f5 : 1 9 exf5 ? i.xf3 ! 20 lllxf3
(20 i.h6 ! ? is parri ed by 20 . . . lll g4+ ! )
2 0. . . :Z.xf5 2 1 :Z.g3 l::tbf8 2 2 l::thh3 i.xh4 !
23 .l:.xh4 :Z.xf3+ 24 :Z.xf3 l2Jxf3 ! , win­
ning (analysis by IM Milic).
19 �el fxe4
20 ii'g2 i.f6
21 fxe4 l::t b e8! (D)
A lovely situation for Black: every
one of his pieces is in its optimum lo­
cation performing both defensive and decision very simply : "There is no
offensive tasks. Moreover, his king is reason to refuse the draw if GM
about as secure as can be expected on Reshevsky offers it."
the black side of the Sicilian. If GM Malich had refused the draw
What is White to do? There is noth­ what would have happened? No one
ing that inspires much confidence, so can foretell the result, of course. I ex­
the famous GM - without making a pect that the great fighter would have
move - offered his strong opponent a played 22 h5 and fought on with all
draw. It was quickly accepted . After the skill and energy in his possession.
the game, GM Malich explained his lf2 .lf2
 Game 1 4
G M Ed m a r M ed n is - G M J a n Ti m ma n
Sambor 1 9 74
S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , Scheve n i n ge n Va riat i o n - 88 1

1 e4 c5 an eventual . . . b5 advance. However, at

2 c!Df3 e6 present everything else has been sup­
3 d4 cxd4 planted by 6 . . . h6. Black has learned
4 c!Dxd4 c!Df6 that it is not advisable to allow the en­
5 c!Dc3 d6 croaching g5 .
6 g4
The Keres Attack was introduced
into tournament play by the brilliant
Estonian in the early 1 940s, yet re­
quired another thirty years to become
popular. Its point and purpose is dis­
armingly clear: because Black has
chosen an inherently passive (though
sound) set-up, White can gain valu­
able space on the kingside, at a mini­
mum risk to himself, by thrusting the
g-pawn forward. GM Anatoly Karpov
has been a very successful lifelong ad­
herent of it. In Game 1 of the 1 984/5
World Championship match, GM Kas­ 7 g5 c!Dd7
parov landed in such a passive posi­ 8 �e3 c!Dc5
tion that he has not allowed the Keres Also this knight move looks better
Attack since. He nevertheless man­ than it is. Though from c5 the knight
ages to reach Scheveningen positions covers valuable ground on the queen­
by using the Najdorf Variation move­ side and the centre, its role is never
order ( 1 e4 c5 2 tDf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 significant. Through experience we
c!Dxd4 c!Df6 5 c!Dc3 a6) and switches have discovered that completing king­
into . . . e6 if, e.g., White plays 6 �e2 or side development with 8 . . . �e7 fol­
6 �c4. lowed by 9 . . . 0-0 offers Black more
6 ... c!Dc6 hopeful vistas in the coming middle-
On the face of it this is a logical de­ game.
veloping move. Another historically 9 'ii'd2 a6
popular choice has been 6 . . . a6, avoid­ 10 0-0-0 �d7
ing any surprises on b5 and preparing 11 f4 b5 (D)
74 Practical Middlegame Tips

In the vast majority of cases the

castled king is safer on bl than on
cl. Therefore, if the position can af­
ford such a loss of time, it is good
practice to move the king over.

Now we can clearly see what Black

intended with 8 . . lllc 5 : he wants to ex­
.

ert pressure on White's e-pawn while

also attacking on the queenside. But
fundamentally there is little chance for
success, because White has no struc­
tural weaknesses on the queenside, his 14 ... 'ilic7
pieces are well coordinated for both 15 h4
defensive and attacking functions and, White has completed his develop­
moreover, an attack without utilizing ment, safeguarded his king as much as
the kingside pieces lacks sufficient possible and now starts to aim at
power. Black's king. White's attack is the
12 i.g2! more dangerous since all of his pieces
It is imperative that White smoothly are participating in the action, while
protects the e-pawn. However, there is Black's king's rook and king's bishop
no particular need for the queen's are bystanders.
knight to do this j ob. 1 2 a3? is wrong, 15 as
as that would compromise the pawn­ 16 hS a4
formation in front of the king. 17 g6 b3? !
12 ... b4? ! It is imperative to keep as many
Here and in the future Black per­ lines closed as possible on the king­
sists with his plan. Yet - especially side. Therefore 17 .. .fxg6 18 hxg6 h6 is
thanks to hindsight - IM Craig Prit­ required.
chett's suggestion of taking time out 18 gxf7+ 'iii>xf7
for 12 . . i.e7 and 1 3 . . . 0-0 appears more
. 19 cxb3 axb3
promising. 20 a3! h6
13 lllce2 .:tbs Black prevents the additional line­
14 'it>bl ! (D) opening threatened by 21 h6, but he
 Keeping the Castled King S afe 75

already has too many weaknesses on 26 'ii'g 3 ! i.xfl 27 'ii' g 6+ �e7 28

the kingside and the text-move creates
another one on g6. Note how White -
on his part - has in effect kept the a­
and b-files closed.
21 .l:hfl ! (D)
'ii'x e6+ �d8 29 .l:xfl , when Black is
absolutely defenceless against the
threats along the c-, d-, f- and g-files as
well as knight forks on c6 and e6.

25 f5! i.b7
Because Black's counterplay has 26 fxe6 dxe5
been stymied, White can concentrate 27 '*i'g3! (D)
on going after Black's king. Black's Pinning the e-pawn and threatening
position is inherently indefensible. the killing 28 'it'g6+.
21 ... tlJxd4
22 tlJxd4 �es
23 °iif2 !
I had been feeling pretty good al­
ready and Black's last move - which
seemed almost like an admission of
defeat - gave me additional confi­
dence. The queen is now ready either
for action along the f-file or to head for
g6.
23 ... i.c8
24 e5 .l:b6 (D)
Black succeeds in guarding c6, but
can' t prevent White from opening
more lines with decisive effect. The at­ 27 ... i.xg2
tempt to dislodge White' s king's rook I felt that the only reasonable try at
with 24 . . . i. a6 loses to 25 i.c6+ tlJd7 defence was 27 . . . g5, after which I had
76 Practical Middlegame Tips

prepared 28 hx g6 ! .txg 2 29 'ii'x g 2 �xe4 .!Dxe4 3 2 .txb6. Therefore Black

exd4 30 .txd4 l:tg 8 3 1 g7 ! (3 1 . . . i.x g7 p ayed . . .
32 'ii'g6+), winnin g . 29 .•. l:td6
28 'itg6+ i;jfd8 30 ..xg2 (D)
29 .!Db5+ ! (D)

The definitive end for Black. After
29 . . . 'it>c8 Black loses th e queen .· 30
� d6 drops
'ii'e8+ i;jf b 7 3 1 .!Dxc7 '· 29 . . . .a.
the rook on b6 after 30 .!D xc7 .te4+ 3 1
1-0
Af�er 30 . . . 'ii' b 6, one of many simple
;�.
ns is 3 � 'ii'a 8+. The second half of
�ame is. also a demonstration about
the msecunty of the uncastled ki ng.
Section 1 0 :
Cop i n g with E n emy
Sacrifi ces

Your opponent i s throwing the proverbial 'everything but the kitchen sink' at
your king. What should you do? The single most important principle is to remain
cool, calm and collected. Of course, if your position is poor and the sacrifices are
correct ones, you will lose. What this section is about is coping with sacrifices
when your position is healthy. Then the chances are that the sacrifices will not be
quite theoretically sound.
Keep in mind that your opponent is to a great extent counting on the psycho­
logical factor when he starts sacrificing. Use the following approach in your de­
cision-making:
1 ) Don ' t be afraid. S ay to yourself: "I' ll do my best, but the worst that can
happen is that I will lose".
2) Do not get into ridiculous time-pressure. It is likely that everything cannot
be calculated with 1 00% certainty, anyway. Thus such an attempt will leave you
ill-prepared for the complications that will inevitably follow.
3) However, do not go to the other extreme either. Playing without think­
ing/calculation will also lead to errors.
4) Aim for a sensible middle ground. Be careful, but do not demand 1 00%
certainty. If you keep in mind the principles of the following paragraphs, your
odds of success will be at least 90% .
5) Have confidence in the value of the extra material that your opponent's
sacrifices have enriched you with.
6) Make sure to use the extra piece(s). Otherwise you will not have the advan­
tage(s) that the material superiority 'entitles' you to.
7) Look for opportunities to simplify by exchanging pieces.
8) Do not be a pig. If you are far ahead on material, give some of it back to
break the attacking power by removing - at reasonable cost to you - some of the
opp onent's pieces.
These principles are wonderfully demonstrated in our illustrative game.
WGM Zhu Chen of China was only 20 years old and had a FIDE rating of 2420
when she defeated Israeli GM Ilia Smirin (2625 rating ! ) .
 Game 1 5
WG M Z h u Chen - G M I lia Smirin
Beijing 1 996
Ki ng's l nd i a n/Be n o n i - E90

1 d4 .!llf6 Indian: Black will be attacking on the

2 c4 c5 kingside, White on the queenside.
3 d5 g6 9 0-0 e5
4 .!llc3 J.g7 Black has got what he wants. Yet
5 .!llf3 0-0 the cost is a full tempo since the e­
6 e4 e6 pawn has taken two moves to get to e5 .
7 J.d3 d6 Moreover, the a6-knight will never be
8 h3 (D) of use for kingside play. I must admit
that I am sceptical regarding the prom­
ise of Black's plans. But - as we shall
see - it will require exceptional play
on White's part to thwart Black' s at­
tack.
10 a3 .!libs
11 l:tel h6 (D)

8 .!lla6
Though the order of moves is un­
usual, the result is that a theoretically
well-known position has arisen after
White's 8th move. If Black had con­
tinued with the normal 8 . . . exd5 the
game would have entered channels re­
sembling both the King's Indian and 12 J.n
Benoni defences. Instead, GM Smirin WGM Zhu has annotated this game
with his 8th and 9th moves decides to in full in Informator 68 (game 5 1 7).
transform the game into one where the There she suggests that 12 J.e3 would
characteristics are markedly King's have been better. The text-move seems
 Coping with Enemy Sacrifices 79

just fine to me : the king' s bishop re­ b-file. Noting that Black has not yet
treats from its ineffective location on completed the development of his
d3 to protect the kingside and play on queenside, WGM Zhu throws down
the queenside will start. the gauntlet to Black: I am ready to
12 tllf4 win material because of your precari­
13 b4 gS ously placed king ' s knight and you
14 tll h 2! rs will not obtain sufficient compensa­
15 .J::.b l 'iif6 (D) tion for it. GM Smirin accepts the
Throughout Black uses the fastest challenge.
and most direct approach for getting at
White's king. He never bothers to try
to fasten the queenside with . . . b6.
WGM Zhu here draws attention to
15 . . . b6 and evaluates the position after
1 6 exf5 .i.xf5 1 7 tlle4 as slightly supe­
rior for White.

19 ... fxe4! ?
There are no realistic prospects in
19 . . . tll hS ? ! 20 exf5 .i.xf5 (20 . . . 'ifxf5 ?
2 1 'ii' x h5 'ii'x f2+ 22 'ifi>h l 'ii'x g3 23
tll e4 is hopeless because of the weak­
nesses in Black's position and the non­
functioning g7-bishop) 21 g4 .i.xbl 22
16 .i.e3 'iig6? ! gxh5 °ii'f5 23 'ii'x bl 'ii' x f2+ 24 �h l .
Here too 1 6 . . . b 6 i s more solid, but White dominates the light squares and
Black's call remains : 'Give me your Black's king's bishop continues to be
king ! ' . a non-participant.
1 7 bxcS! tllxcS 20 gxf4 e3!
18 .i.xcS dxcS Analysis by WGM Zhu has shown
19 g3! (D) that after the routine 20 . . . gxf4+ 21
In terms of long-range benefits 'ifi>h l e3, White repulses the attack by
White has a powerful protected passed 22 .i.d3 ! . Note that the open g-file
d-pawn and on a near-term basis the then can be useful for an attack by
queen 's rook is well posted along the White.
80 Practical Middlegame Tips
21 i.d3!
Starting to use the extra piece to
disrupt Black's attacking plans. There
is no win after 2 1 fxe3 gxf4+ 22 �h l ,
due to 2 2 . . . f3 ! 23 lLixf3 e4 ! 2 4 lLixe4
'ii'xe4 25 i.g2 i.xh3 ! 26 i.xh3 .l:.xf3
27 i.g2 'ii' h 4+ 28 �g l 'ii'f2+ 29 �h l
'ii' h 4+, when Black has perpetual
check (analysis by WGM Zhu).
21 exf2+
22 �xf2 (D)
At this moment White is up a minor
piece for a pawn and her king's bishop
is attacking Black's queen. The only
black piece that is immediately in­
volved in the attack is the king' s rook.
That obviously will not be enough.
Therefore 22 . . . l:hf4+? ! is insufficient,
as that just chases the king to relative
safety : 23 �gl e4 (there is even less
potential after 23 . . . 'ii'f7 24 i.fl ) 24
i.xe4 'ii'f6 (worse is 24 . . . 'ii'f7 25 d6 !
�h8 26 lLid5) 25 .l:.b3 i.xh3 26 d6 ! .
White threatens 27 lLid5 , al l her pieces
are well-placed and White's position
is a theoretical win (analysis by WGM
Zhu).
To have genuine attacking chances
Black needs to get his king ' s bishop
into the game.
22 ... e4!
23 lLixe4!
I believe that - according to our
principles - it is easy to select this cap­
ture. After all, the king's bishop stood
well enough and it is in White's inter­
est to bring the c3-knight to a prime
central square. Moreover, the knight
comes closer to the king to assist in its
defence and removes itself from the
gaze of Black's king 's bishop.
In fact, the alternative, 23 i.xe4?,
allows Black sufficient counterplay.
WGM Zhu illustrates this with the
following variation, which represents
best play for both sides: 23 . . . 'ii'f6 24
lLie2 i.xh3 25 l:txb7 g4 ! 26 l:tgl 'ii' h4+
27 �e3 ! .l:.ae8 ! .
23 ... i.xh3 (D)
24 �g3 ! !
Unpinning the f-pawn and gaining
a tempo by attacking Black' s bishop.
The text-move conforms fully to the
advice: don ' t be afraid ! All of White's
 Coping with Enemy Sacrifices 81

pi eces are i n play, whereas Black' s Black remains a piece down with
queen ' s rook is still undeveloped and nothing to show for it after 27 . . . 'ifxf5
he is a piece down. 28 gxf6 11fxf6 29 �g2 ! 'iff2+ 30 �h l .
24 •.• .trs
25 fxgS (D)

28 l:xeS!
The start of the final phase: White
25 .•• l:ae8 returns some material to eliminate
Finally bringing the last piece into Black's attackers. The text-move is, of
play. Yet now White starts an instruc­ course, an integral part of the simplifi­
tive simplifying sequence. In any case, cation procedure initiated with 26
an alternative such as 25 . . . .ie5+ 26 ltJf6+ ! .
'1i>g2 .ixe4+ 27 .ixe4 11f xg5+ is rou­ 28 ••• 'ii'xgS+
tinely parried by 28 1i'g4. 29 'ii'g4! l:xeS
26 liJf6+ ! .ixf6 30 'ii'xgS+ hxgS (D)
Or 26 . . . l:xf6 27 l:xe8+ �h7 (White
wins after 27 . . . 11fxe8 28 gxf6 11fg6+ 29
ltJg4 .ixd3 30 l:xb7 .ixf6 3 1 'ife l !
.if5 32 1i'e8+ !) 28 liJg4 ! .ixd3 29 gxf6
i.xbl 30 l:.e7 and White wins (main­
line analysis by WGM Zhu). Do not
feel that you must calculate all such
variations to the very end when choos­
ing 26 ltJf6+. The odds are over 99%
that there will be something good for
White. Just leave enough time on the
clock to be able to look for the definite
wins.
27 .ixfS .i eS+ (D)
82 Practical Middlegame Tips

31 .ie6+ �g7 33 lllg4 .l:tel

32 .l:txb7+ 34 .l:tb3 l:.f4
White has the significant material 35 llle3 .l:td4
advantage of two minor pieces vs rook 36 lllc2 .l:tgl+
and the strategic advantage of a dan- 37 �fl l:tddl
gerous passed pawn, and now has the 38 llle3 .l:tal
technical task of preventing meaning- 39 d6! .l:thl
ful counterplay while coordinating her 40 l:tb8 l:.a2+
forces for the mobilization of the d- 41 �f3 l:.xa3
pawn. WGM Zhu performs this task 42 d7 .l:tel
well. I' II say no more. 43 .if5+! rj;f7
32 ... �g6 44 l:.e8 1-0
Section 1 1 :
Strategic Sacrifices to
Stop Attacks

Most of the time the person doing the attacking is the one who does the sacrific­
ing. However, the defender should not close his eyes to such a happening either.
There are plenty of times when the attacker has sacrificed a pawn (or more)
and/or taken on some strategic deficiency to get his attack going as quickly as
possible.
Under such circumstances it is often advisable for the defender to look for an
opportunity to sacrifice some material himself. Not only can this serve as an ob­
jectively valid way to brake the attack, but often enough this also has psychologi­
cal ramifications. The attacker may be unprepared for the maj or change on the
board and cannot cope with the need to look for the new truth in the position.
The next game illustrates these various aspects very well.
 Game 1 6
G M Gyu la Sax - G M Ed m a r M ed n is
Budapest 1 9 76
Fre n c h Defe n ce , Wi n awer Va riation - C l 7

1 e4 e6 6 ... tL'lbc6 (D)

2 d4 d5 Perhaps 6 . . . cxd4 is playable, but the
3 tL'l c3 i. b4 text-move seems more thematic to me
4 e5 c5 since the point of 4 . . . c5 is to apply
5 'fi'g4 pressure on White's centre and this
The main line in the Winawer has pressure should not be dissolved pre­
always been 5 a3 - see Game 1 0. Al­ maturely.
though that can lead to unfathomable
complications, for some players it is
not sharp enough. GM S ax is an ex­
ceptional attacker and thus 'naturally'
prefers the text-move. Black is forced
to respond aggressively since ' normal'
moves such as 5 . . . �f8 ? ! and 5 . . . g6? !
saddle Black with kingside problems
for which there is no compensation.
5 ... tL'le7!
6 tL'lf3
One of the two quality lines . The at­
tempt to transpose back into Game 1 0
with 6 a 3 ? ! i s foiled b y 6 . . . °iia5 ! . After
6 'iix g7 ? ! .l:.g8, 7 'ii x h7 ? loses to 7 i.d2
7 . . . cxd4 8 a3 °iia5 9 .l:.bl dxc3 1 0 axb4 Preparing to castle queenside while
'iia2 ! , while the required 7 °iih 6 leads, breaking the pin. Valid alternatives
after 7 . . . cxd4 8 a3 i.xc3+ 9 bxc3 'iic7 ! are:
1 0 tL'le2 dxc3, to situations similar to a) 7 'iix g7 l:tg8 8 'ii' h 6 (again re­
that in the main line (5 a3 i.xc3+ 6 quired) 8 . . . cxd4 is without danger to
bxc3 tL'le7 7 °iig4 'iic7 8 'iix g7 l:.g8 9 Black.
°ii x h7) except that Black still has the b) 7 dxc5 d4 ! 8 i.b5 °iia5 9 i.xc6+
h-pawn - something obviously in his bxc6 ! 10 'it'xd4 tL'lf5 1 1 'ii'c 4 i.a6 1 2
favour. °ii b 3 'ii' b5 ! gives Black a very strong
The other quality variation is 6 attack for the sacrificed material , B a­
dxc5 tL'lbc6 7 i.d2 0-0 8 tL'lf3 f5 with nal-Prandstetter, Czechoslovak Ch
approximately equal chances. 1 978.
 Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks
c) 7 a3 , when GM Malaniuk con­
siders both 7 . . .'ika5 8 i.d2 h5 9 'ikxg7
l:lg8 1 0 'ikh7 lLlxd4 and 7 . . . i.a5 ! ? 8
°iix g7 ltg8 9 'ikxh7 cxd4 1 0 b4
lLlxb4 ! ? to be 'unclear' .
7 0-0
8 i.d3 fS!
9 exf6
White must open the position, as
otherwise his attacking chances are nil
and Black will start annihilating White's
centre.
9 ... ltxf6 (D)
A position which in theory is fully
satisfactory for Black: White's centre
is still under considerable pressure,
Black threatens to mobilize his centre
with 1 0 . . . e5 and fundamentally his
king should be no less safe than
White's. Yet in real life, in a practical
game, it is clear that Black must be the
one more careful regarding potential
danger to his king - after all, White
ha s four pieces pointing in that direc­
tion.
10 'ir'hS h6
11 a3 i.aS
85
Also 1 1 . . .i.xc3 is fine, but retain­
ing the quasi-pin offers more opportu­
nities for active play.
12 0-0-0
The only viable course . Instead 1 2
dxc5 ? ! allows Black's central phalanx
to move forward ( 1 2 . . . e5 ! 1 3 lLlxe5 ??
lLlxe5 1 4 'ikxe5 :e6). 12 0-0? ! means
the end of the attacking prospects while
his centre will crumble after l 2 . . . cxd4.
12
.. . cxd4 ! ? (D)
Black's 'problem' here is that he has
a number of promising plans: 1 2 . . . c4
followed by a queenside pawn ad­
vance; 12 . . . i.xc3 1 3 i.xc3 c4 also fol­
lowed by a queenside pawn advance,
12 . . . lLlxd4, and the text-move. I chose
the text because it seemed to lead to
the most complicated and 'full' play.
However, I took too long to decide.
13 lLle2 i.b6 ! ?
Here too I select the most compli­
cated of the three irreproachable
moves : 13 . . . i.xd2+, 1 3 . . . i.c7 and the
text-move. Again I spent too much
time on the decision. When there is
no objective basis for making a
86 Practical Middlegame Tips
decision, decide quickly. The time
saved can be very valuable later on.
14 h4! ?
GM S ax starts his attack. White did
have an unusual way to force a draw :
14 .ig5 ! ? hxg5 1 5 'iih 7+ �f8 1 6
'ifh8+ tt'lg8 1 7 .ih7 tt'lce7 1 8 tt'lxg5
e5 ! 19 .ixg8 tt'lxg8 20 tt'lh7+ Wf7 2 1
tt'lg5 + ! �f8 . It is most dangerous for
either side to go for more. Of course, it
is understandable that at this stage
White is not satisfied with a draw.
14 ... .id7!
Completing Black's minor-piece de­
velopment and threatening 1 5 . . . .ie8
16 'ir'g4 e5 .
15 .ig5 ! ? (D)
White's attack is in full swing. Af­
ter 1 5 . . . hxg5 ? ! 1 6 hxg5 Black's king is
sure to come under the most intense
pressure. What to do?
15 ... 'i\Ve8 ! !
The response that I had envisaged
when making my previous move. Af­
ter 1 6 'iWxe8+ .l:txe8 1 7 .ixf6 gxf6
Black has for the exchange one pawn,
the bishop-pair and a strong centre
that he can mobilize immediately . I
was not sure that I stood better, but felt
confident that I would not be worse ei­
ther. In practice such positions are of­
ten easier to play for Black. During
our post-mortem Black was winning
in all the early analysis. Finally a
method was found which keeps the
chances dynamically balanced: 1 8
.ib5 ! e5 1 9 g4 ! �f7 2 0 .:r.dg l (20 g5 ?
.ig4 ! ) 20 . . . d3 ! 2 1 cxd3 .ixf2 22 l:tg2
.ie3+ 23 �b l ltg8 .
Soviet GM and noted author Alexei
Suetin was also playing in the tourna­
ment. After the game he told me that
the text-move had been an excellent
psychological stroke. He was right. Af­
ter 1 5 .ig5 ! ? White was looking for­
ward to playing an enjoyable attack, but
in the position just discussed, White
must defend very accurately not to
stand worse. GM S ax told me that my
move came as a 'big surprise' to him.
16 'ir'g4?
White made this move with the
kind of motion of the head and hand
that showed clear disappointment. Of
course, the text-move is a serious error
because White will not have an attack
and will be rolled up in the centre .
Therefore, 1 6 'iWxe8+ was mandatory.
16 ... e5
17 'i\Vg3 l:te6!
What is the score? Black has safe­
guarded everything, is a healthy cen­
tral pawn up, and threatens 1 8 . . . e4.
Objectively, White is lost and can only
rely on some swindling tries .
1 8 c4 dxc3
19 tt'lxc3 e4
20 tt'lxe4 lllf5 !
 Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks 87

From now on there is unquestion­

ably more than one way to win. As I
was somewhat short of time (I had two
minutes left when my opponent re­
signed), my approach throughout was
to select that move/plan which mini­
mizes White's practical ( ' swindling' )
chances.
21 'ii'f4 l:txe4
It seemed safer to remove White's
light-squared bishop than to allow
2 1 . . .dxe4 22 .i.c4 .
22 .i.xe4 dxe4
I was tempted by 22 . . . �xe4 23 pieces for a rook and the superior posi­
..Wxe4 dxe4 24 .l:.xd7 exf3 . Yet the text­ tion. In time pressure this is an excel­
move looked 'even better' . Both are lent practical approach as it is almost
good and winning. impossible to spoil the win.
23 g4 tiJfd4 30 .i.e3 .i.xe3
24 tDxd4 tDxd4 31 fxe3 �e6
25 �bl (D) 32 h5 :rs
Theoretically speaking it should be 33 .l:.g3 tiJg5
OK to play 25 . . . hxg5 , but I already 34 .l:.g2 l:r.f3
had enough material and it was time 35 l:tel a6
that I was short of. So . . . 36 b4 l:tf8 !
25 .tc6! 37 l:tc2 tDf3
26 l:th3 'ii'g6 Now after 38 l:tee2 or 3 8 l:tec l
27 'ii'e3 tiJf3 Black infiltrates with 38 . . . l:.d8 ! . White
28 'ii' b3+ 'ii'f7 ! is anxious to prevent that, but runs into
29 'ii'xf7+ <j;xf7 something worse.
Black satisfies himself with a won 38 l:r.dl ?! .i.a4
endgame where he has two minor 0-1
Section 1 2 :
Defen din g Lost Positions

Lost positions are a fact of chess life. World Champions get them, famous grand­
masters get them, you and I get them. Chess is much too intricate and difficult to
permit anyone to play faultlessly. Of course, the stronger the player, the fewer
lost positions he will get. But get them he will !
Therefore for best competitive results we need to save as many lost positions
as possible. The single most important principle is to be of stout heart and
never give up the fight. The very top players excel at this because they simply
cannot stand losing. GM Samuel Reshevsky was legendary for the number of
lost positions he saved. When in 1 984 he appeared on Shelby Lyman 's TV
programme which covered the Karpov-Kasparov World Championship Match,
the host alluded to this and asked what was GM Reshevsky's secret. The answer
was short and to the point: "Sit tight and hope for a blunder." Both parts of the re­
ply are important. It is indeed mandatory not to make a bad situation worse by
doing stupid things. At the same time, how can one keep concentrating every mo­
ment when there is no chance of some sunlight at the end?
In expanding on GM Reshevsky's answer, I would like to formulate the princi-
ples of defending lost positions as follows:
1) Tell yourself: I have only begun to fight !
2) Do nothing to make your position worse.
3) Prevent the obvious major threats.
4) Force your opponent to make decisions regarding how to proceed. Any
time he has to make a decision he may make a wrong one.
5) Look for opportunities for counterplay. If you do achieve genuine
counterplay, your opponent again will have to make decisions.
6) Hope for the best.
7) Remember that you have nothing to lose - the position is already lost !

This is the only section where I intentionally selected one of my games for il­
lustration. It seemed just wrong to show how someone who had played badly
enough to lose ' lucked out' in the end. If I decide to demonstrate bad moves on
purpose, then they should be my own.
 Game 1 7
And rew H o n - G M Ed m a r M ed n is
Lloyds Bank Masters, London 1992
S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , Sozi n Va riat i o n - 889

1 e4 cs Yugoslav grandmaster. This is by far

2 ll:if3 ll:ic6 the most violent variation within the
3 d4 cxd4 Sozin. With kings on opposite flanks,
4 ll:ixd4 ll:if6 very often just one tempo determines
5 ll:ic3 d6 who will mate first.
6 i.c4 GM Fischer only ventured the Veli­
This move characterizes the Sozin mirovic once, against GM Bent Larsen
Variation. With the bishop pointing at in the 1 970 Palma de Mallorca Inter­
Black's most vulnerable point fl it is
- - zonal (the only game he lost there).
clear that White has attacking in mind. GM Fischer's great contributions to
Yet the attack is far from easy to exe­ the Sozin were exceptionally well re­
cute and the variation languished until searched and executed attacks with
GM Robert J. Fischer resurrected it in White's king castled kingside.
the 1 950s. 9 a6
6 ... e6 10 i.b3 'fic7 (D)
Just as it was true in the discussion
of 6 i.g5 in connection with Game 1 ,
an immediate goal of the Sozin also was
to prevent the Dragon. That is, 6 . . . g6? !
is poor because of 7 ll:ixc6 bxc6 8 e5 !
dxe5 ?? 9 i.xfl+, winning the queen.
In any case, the text-move has always
seemed to me the most logical reply as it
shortens White's king's bishop's diag­
onal, strengthens d5 and allows the de­
velopment of the kingside to proceed.
However, GM Benko's 6 . . . 'ii' b 6 is
also theoretically sound.
7 i.e3 i.e7
8 'ii'e2 0-0 11 g4
9 0-0-0 The g-pawn must be mobilized to
White's 8th move prepared queen­ start the attack and the only question is
si de castling and the text establishes whether to push it immediately or first
the Velimirovic Attack, named after the to prepare it with 1 1 .l:.hg l . Both
90 Practical Middlegame Tips
variations are of roughly the same
strength . The advantage of the text­
move is obviously a tempo saved. Un­
fortunately there is also a disadvantage.
11 ... tl:\xd4 !
12 .:txd4
This is the disadvantage: the rook
must recapture and is rather clumsily
placed on d4 . The otherwise prefera­
ble 1 2 .i.xd4 ? ! allows 12 . . . eS ! 1 3 .i.e3
.i.xg4, when after 1 4 f3 .i.e6 White
has no compensation for the pawn.
12 bS
13 gS tl:\d7
14 .:tgl (D)
A critical moment for Black. I be­
lieve that Black's soundest plan starts
with 14 . . . .i.b7, which, by covering the
crucial e4-square, prevents White 's
knight from joining in the attack. Per­
haps also satisfactory is 14 . . . l:td8, en­
abling Black to chase away White 's
queen in a sequence such as 1 5 'ii'h 5
g6 16 'ii'h 6 .i.f8 .
Instead I selected a move and plan
which was recommended by theory at
that time but in fact is bad.
14 .:tb8?!
15 'ili'hS b4?
16 eS ! ! tl:\xeS
I continue with the recommended
variation. It is hardly surprising that
after 16 . . . bxc3 ? ! White wins with the
thematic 17 l:th4.
17 l:th4 h6
18 tl:\e4!
This should pretty much end mat­
ters. 18 gxh6? ! is premature, when af­
ter 1 8 . . . g6 the situation is not at all
clear.
After the text-move GM Wang Zili
analysed in Informator 50 (in the
notes to game 27 1 ) 18 . . . tl:\g6 as satis­
factory for Black on the basis of 1 9
tl:\f6+ .i.xf6 2 0 gxf6 l:tb5 2 1 fxg7
l:txh5 22 gxf8'ii'+ �xf8 . However, at
the board I noticed that 1 9 gxh6 ! ! is
considerably stronger, when the two
main lines are:
a) 1 9 . . . .i.xh4 20 hxg7 rj;xg7 2 1
'ii'h 6+ ! �g8 2 2 .i.d4 and White forces
mate.
b) 1 9 . . . .l:.bS 20 'ii'g4 ! .i.xh4 2 1
hxg7 l:te8 (2 1 . . .�xg7 2 2 'ii'x h4 offers
only a bit more hope) 22 'ii'x h4 ! tl:\xh4
23 tl:\f6#.
Therefore, I decided to do without
the knight move and play the immedi-
ate . . .
1 8 ... .:tbs
The first of my coming 'cheapoes' :
1 9 gxh6?? tl:\d3+. White prevents all
that nonsense with an elegant retreat.
19 'ir'e2! .i.b7
The bishop development comes too
late to be of help. 19 . . . tl:\g6 ! ? was a
better try, though after 20 l:th3 ! Black
remains in dire straits : 20 . . . .i.b7 2 1
 Defending Lost Positions
g xh6 ! i.xe4 2 2 hxg7 ! ; or 20 . . . e5 2 1
nh5 ! d5 2 2 gxh6 ! dxe4 2 3 hxg7 �xg7
24 i.h6+.
20 tLlf6+ i.xf6
21 gxf6 g6
22 i.xh6 (D)
An absolute dream position for
White. Without even being down as
much as a pawn, White threatens both
23 i.xf8, winning a rook as 23 . . . 'itxf8
allows 24 l:r.h8#, as well as 23 i.g7
followed by 24 l:r.h8#. These two most
obvious threats must be prevented.
Thus I play .. . 25 ...
22 ... tLlf3
The alternative is 'resigns' and
there was no need to hurry with that.
White does have a forced mate with 23
l:!.xg6+ ! fxg6 24 'ii'xe6+ 'ii'f7 (obvi-
ously hopeless are 24 . . . 'iii>h7 25 i.xf8+
lLlxh4 26 'ii'g 8# and 24 . . . l:r.f7 25 'ii'e 8+
cJr>h7 26 i.g7+ tLlxh4 27 'ii' h 8#) 25
i. xf8 ! ! 'ii' x e6 26 i.xe6+ 'itxf8 27
l:th8#. The final sequence is indeed
' beautiful ' , yet at the same time the­
matic . After the game Hon told me
th at he had looked as far as 24 . . . 'ii'f7
91
and then given up on the rook sacri­
fice.
Here I would like to add another tip
for those who are anxious to improve
their results. Compared to the depth
of calculation that you have been
doing so far, start looking one half­
move deeper. I guarantee that this will
bring results !
23 .l:.gg4
Not bad at all, but compared to the
immediate end I faced in case of 23
.l:.xg6+ ! , I felt relieved.
23 ... tiJxh4
24 .l:.xh4
White 's previous threats of i.xf8
and i.g7 are back again and must be
prevented. There is only one move.
24 ... 'ii'c5 !
The text-move is good for the mo­
ment because both threats are met by
25 . . . 'ii'g 5+, capturing White's rook.
25 'ii'd2
By guarding the g5-square, White
reintroduces the threats of 26 i.xf8
and 26 i.g7 . There is only one way to
prevent both:
g5
The opening of the kingside is ugly,
but for the moment (that is all that
Black should worry about ! ), 26 i.xf8?
gxh4 27 'ii'h 6 fails to 27 . . . 'ii'g 5+.
26 l:.h5
White retains the ' original ' two
threats and adds the new one of 27
l:.xg5+, winning the queen.
26 ... 'ii'c6 ! ! (D)
Black has one more tactical trick up
his sleeve. It turns out that both 27
i.g7 ? ? and 27 i.xf8 ? are foiled by
27 . . . 'ii'h l + 28 'ii'd l 'ii' x d l + 29 �xd l
92 Practical Middlegame Tips
i.f3+ 30 �d2 i.xh5 , when Black has
a decisive material advantage.
White should play the simple 27
l:txg5+ and after 27 . . . 'it>h7 ! , the pro­
saic 28 l:txb5 , when Black's only de­
fence is 28 . . . 'ii'h l + 29 'ii'd l 'ii'x d l + 30
�xd l i.f3+ 3 1 �d2 <j;xh6. After 32
.l:.xb4 White is two pawns up in the
endgame and has a theoretical win.
However, the position is very tempt­
ing for White as Black seems so close
to the abyss. In looking for something
immediately decisive, he thinks he
sees a brilliant mating combination.
27 i.d5?
White has in mind 27 .. J::.X d 5?? 28
i.g7 l:txd2 29 l:th8#. After this move
White had only 5 minutes left to reach
the time control at move 40. Since ob­
vious mates must be prevented Black
plays :
27 ... 'iixd5
This move came as a complete
shock to my opponent. It turns out that
the attempt at mating after 28 'ii'x d5
l:txd5 29 i.g7?? is parried by the sur­
prising 29 . . . l:td 1 + ! ! 30 'it>xd 1 i.f3+ 3 1
�d2 i.xh5 and Black wins ! Therefore,
White - with what to me seemed like a
look of great annoyance - reluctantly
played:
28 l:txg5+? !
White should have considered the
above calculation more carefully,
played 28 'ii'x d5 and after 28 . . . l:txd5,
the obvious 29 i. xf8 . Black then has
to worry about both being mated in the
rook + bishop endgame and losing a
bunch of his pawns on the dark
squares in the pure opposite-coloured
bishop endgame. I believe that Black's
best continuation is then 29 . . . .l:.d4 ! (30
i.g7 .l:.d l + ! ), with reasonable drawing
chances.
28... 'i!i'xg5
29 i.xg5
On a strictly material basis there is
equality, but Black is still in great dan­
ger since White has good prospects for
getting his queen to g7 for the mate or
perhaps even mating with his bishop
on g7 and queen on h8 .
29... i.e4!
One more absolutely necessary
move, both to start counterplay along
the c-file and to have the bishop help
close off the g- and/or h-files for the
defence of the king.
30 'Wi'f4
By now both of us had run short of
time so that deep accurate calculation
had become unachievable. I did not
see a way to prevent the manoeuvre
'ii'h 4-h6-g7#. Only much later - at
home - did I discover the move-order
30 . . . i.h7 ! 3 1 'ii'h4 �h8 ! , so that after
32 °ii' h 6 Black has 32 . . . l:tg8 . Black' s
chances ar e no worse than White's af­
ter 30 . . . i.h7 ! .
 Defending Lost Positions 93

30 •.• l:.c8?! chances Black wants to leave the c­

Because I saw no defence, the only pawn on c3, thus increasing the oppor­
practical approach was counterplay. tunities for back-rank mates .
However, White now can regain the ad­ 32 .l:.e5 !
vantage with 3 1 'ii'xe4 l:.xg5 32 'ii'x b4. 33 ti'g3 i.g6
Yet my counterplay 'gambit' worked 34 i.e3 l:.a5!
as White panicked and played . . . 35 a4 .l:.h5
3 1 c3?? bxc3 36 'it'xd6 l:.d5 ? !
32 b3 (D) I was happy t o have White take on
d6 as this gave me the opportunity to
double rooks on the d-file. However,
the text-move is rank carelessness be­
cause I hadn' t noticed that after White
takes on a6 he is threatening the rook
on c8. 36 . . . a5 is correct, transposing
into the game. After White neglects
this chance, he gets no further ones.
The concluding moves are:
37 'it'g3?! l:.cd8
38 'ikg4 a5!
39 h4 'it>f8!
40 'it'gl c;t>e8
41 'ir'el .l:.c8
Suddenly it is Black who has a win­ 42 'fke2 .l:.c6
ning middlegame. White's king is in a 43 i.g5 'it>d7
clamp; Black' s rooks, bishop and c­ 44 i.f4 'it>c8
pawn produce mating threats, thereby 45 f3 'it>b7
not giving White the time required to 46 i.e3 l:r.cd6
get at Black's king . For maximum 47 i.f4 i.d3
safety Black wants to send his king to 48 'ir'el l:r.b6 !
the queenside ; for maximum mating 0-1
Pa rt Three : The Ce ntre

Whether i t i s basketball, ice hockey, football (American o r Rest-of-World type ! )

or chess, the centre i s where the action starts. I n chess the centre i s paramount in
the opening and middlegame. As pieces are exchanged off, the importance of the
centre decreases. When an endgame is reached and few pieces are left, the centre
loses its fundamental importance and becomes just another part of the board.
The primary central squares are d4, d5 , e4 and e5 . Secondary central squares
are c3, c4, c5, c6, d3, d6, e3, e6, f3 , f4, f5, and f6. For ease of visualization please
see the following diagram.

Primary and Secondary

Central Squares

In fact, because the centre is so important, two of the three principles of sound
opening play are about the centre:
1 ) Develop your pieces toward the centre so that they are ready for
middlegame action; and
2) Control the centre, by either (a) actual possession or (b) short-range or
long-range action of pieces or pawns.
(The third principle is: Bring your king to safety by castling.)
Because White opens first, it is far easier for him to establish the superior cen­
tre. Therefore, I shall discuss the subject both from White's and Black's point of
view.
Section 1 3 :
White has the Superior
Centre

B ecause both 1 e4 and 1 d4 start off by placing a primary central pawn on a pri­
mary central square, as long as White selects a high-quality variation against
Black's response on move one, he is sure of keeping some central superiority. If
White chooses the equally perfect yet less pressing opening moves 1 c4, 1 llJf3, 1
g3, then the question of who has the superior centre is still left up in the air. For
instance, White can aim for the hypermodern set-up known as King's Indian Re­
versed. In this case, White has given preference to playing a high-quality open­
ing (King's Indian Defence) with a move in hand. In early opening play being up
one tempo is a meaningful advantage.
In Game 1 8 , I present a traditional situation : White starts off with a small, nor­
mal central superiority, Black intentionally enhances White's centre in the hope
of counterplay, the counterplay is snuffed out and White builds on the superior
centre to create a decisive kingside attack. A truly hypermodern demonstration is
seen from Game 1 9 . Black seems secure enough, yet when White finally is able
to mobilize his potentially superior centre, the pawn-mass just runs all over
Black.
 Game 1 8
G M Ga rry Ka spa rov - G M Anato ly Ka rpov
World Championship ma tch (game 2)
New York 1990
Ruy Lo pez , Za itsev Va ri ation - C92

1 e4 es Though in principle a most logical

2 l2Jf3 lbc6 developing move (the bishop is placed
3 i.bS a6 efficiently on its central diagonal), only
4 i.a4 lbf6 over the past twenty years has it be­
5 0-0 i.e7 come recognized as high-class. What
6 l:.el bS was missing previously was the cor­
7 i.b3 d6 rect follow-up.
8 c3 0-0 It is my opinion that the ultimate
9 h3 soundness of the Closed Ruy Lopez
For nearly one hundred years this depends on the soundness of 9 . . . i.b7 .
has been the main-line starting posi­ I think it is sound.
tion of the Closed Ruy Lopez. Be­ 10 d4 (D)
cause in the Ruy Lopez the early fight
revolves around e5 , White will have to
attack Black's e-pawn with the advance
d4. However, the immediate 9 d4 al­
lows the annoying 9 . . . i.g4 . Therefore
in the overwhelming majority of cases
White prefers to prevent that with the
preparatory text-move.
Black now has to decide how to re­
act to the coming 10 d4 . For most of
the century the preferred approach was
9 . . . lba5 1 0 i.c2 c5 1 1 d4 'ikc7 - the
Chigorin Variation. This has the stra­
tegic disadvantage of misplacing the
queen's knight on the edge of the board. This is the characteristic central
Other variations of varying popularity pawn structure of the Closed Ruy Lo­
have included 9 . . . i.e6, 9 . . . lbd7, 9 . . . h6 pez. Obviously White has the superior
and 9 . . . lbb8 10 d4 lbbd7 . I believe that centre. Yet how 'superior' is it? Let us
Black's most theoretically reliable way arbitrarily (yet reasonably soundly)
is . . . assign a value of two to a central pawn
9 ... i.b7! on the four primary central squares
 White has the Superior Centre
and a value of one to a central pawn on
a secondary central square. Thus
White has a value of 4 (i.e. 2 + 2) and
Black a value of 3 (i.e. 2 + 1) for cen­
tral influence. On an arithmetic basis
White is ahead by one unit (i.e. 4 - 3)
and on a relative or geometric scale he
is ahead 1 . 33 (i.e. 4 7 3 ) . Either way,
White is ahead, but in each case by a
small amount.
10 ... .:te8 !
1 1 tt:'ibd2 .tf8! (D)
Black's last two moves are the rea­
son why the logical 9 . . . .tb7 has been
rehabilitated. Since Black has quickly
lined up on White's e-pawn, White
c annot smoothly complete the devel­
opment of his queenside, i.e. 12 tt:'ifl ?
drops the e-pawn after 1 2 . . . exd4 1 3
cxd4 tt:'ixe4.
12 a4 h6
13 .tc2 exd4
This variation became popular in
the mid- 1 980s as a way of seeking
counterplay. However, it carries grave
strategic risks for Black. We shall see
why in a moment.
97
14 cxd4 tt:'ib4
15 .t bl
What is the central value count
now? White is still at 4 , but Black is
down to 1 ! Arithmetically White is
ahead by 3 and geometrically by 4.
These are huge numbers . That is why
we refer to moves such as 1 3 . . . exd4 as
'giving up the centre ' . Black simply
risks obliteration in the centre. Do not
give up the centre unless you have
no choice or get sufficient compen­
sation.
15 ... bxa4?
The losing move. GM Karpov had
had success with it previously and
thus felt confident enough to use it
also at the start of this match. Still,
normally we could expect him to be
the first one to appreciate its draw­
backs : after giving up the centre Black
ruins his queenside pawn formation
and all without any apparent immedi­
ate compensation. Of course, the plan
does have a point: Black expects to
keep White off-balance by continually
exerting pressure against White's e­
pawn . As we shall see Black's dreams
are not to become reality.
The thematic way to handle the po­
sition after 15 .t b l is 15 . . . c5 ! 1 6 d5
tt:'id7 . GM Karpov returned to this in
Games 4, 20 and 22. This variation re­
mains viable today. Black does have to
reckon with a dangerous kingside at­
tack by White, yet has a useful queen­
side majority, control of e5 and chances
to undermine White ' s centre with a
potential . . . f5 . Black is in danger but
has a future. In the game he has none.
16 .:txa4 a5
98 Practical Middlegame Tips
17 l:.a3 l:.a6
18 ti:Jh2
Not a new idea, but in conjunction
with the next, the correct plan. Previ­
ously it had been played with the idea
of quick kingside action with f4 and/or
tt:Jg4 . Black has sufficient resources
against that.
18 ... g6
19 f3 ! ! (D)
The refutation of 1 5 . . . bxa4?. After
the game GM Kasparov admitted that
he had prepared this for an unwary
opponent as early as 1 984. By safe­
guarding the key e4-square, White de­
nies Black any compensation for his
busted queenside and central impo­
tence. Black's prospects are so poor
that - to my knowledge - no one who
was familiar with this game has ever
ventured 1 5 . . . bxa4? again.
GM Karpov was no doubt looking
forward to something similar to a re­
peat of V.lvanchuk-A.Karpov, Linares
1 989: 1 9 f4 d5 ! 20 e5 tt:Je4 21 ti:Jg4 c5 !
22 tLlxe4 dxe4 23 dxc5 .i.xc5+ 24 .i.e3
.i.f8 25 ti:Jf6+ l:txf6 26 'ii'x d8 l:txd8 27
exf6 ti:Jd3 28 l:td l .i.xa3 29 bxa3 .i.d5
1h- 1h .
After the text-move GM Karpov
was on his own. Despite taking a lot of
time he never was able to come up
with a piece configuration that offers
reasonable prospects for either de­
fending or counter-attacking. In fact I
believe that Black has no satisfactory
options .
19 °iWd7
20 tt:Jc4 'ir'b5
21 l:k3 .i.c8
22 .i.e3 �h7
23 'Wei
With the completion of queenside
development White already threatens
' simple ' things like 24 ti:Ja3 followed
by 25 l:hc7 . Black should try to keep
the status quo as much as possible and
select 23 . . . 'ii' b 8. Of course, it was un­
attractive to shunt the queen to such a
'demeaning square' . So . . .
23 ... c6? !
The c-file is closed and d 5 guarded
at, however, too great a cost: d6 is
weakened, the way back for the b4-
knight is shut off and any hopes for the
queen's rook to join the fray are
snuffed out.
24 tt:J g4! ti:Jg8
25 .i.xh6 ! !
The mark o f a great champion and
an attacking virtuoso who always
strives for the initiative. GM Kasparov
took 1 6 minutes for the move . The
'problem' in the combination is that
White's knight gets trapped on e8 and
therefore he does not gain any mate­
rial . Therefore, the decision must be
made on the basis of whether the posi­
tion that results after White's 3 1 st
 White has the Superior Centre
mo ve offers better winning chances
than the risk-free strengthening of the
position after, e.g., 25 i.f4 . GM Kas­
paro v votes for activity.
2S ... i.xh6
26 lllxh6 lllxh6
27 lllxd6 'iib6
28 lllxe8 'ti'xd4+
29 q;,hl 'ti'd8
30 .l:. d l 'iixe8
31 'ti'gS (D)
The guideposts that GM Kasparov
used in evaluating this position are as
follows:
1 ) Black's kingside is seriously
weakened as a result of the missing h­
pawn and dark-squared bishop. White
can be expected to take advantage of
this by advancing the f-pawn to f5 ,
thereby also activating his bishop;
2) White's e-pawn (the only pri­
mary central pawn) takes away the key
d5- and f5-squares from Black's mi­
nor pieces;
3) Black's queen's knight on b4
l acks a viable route to get back to pro­
tect its king;
99
4) White has control of the only
open central file.
3 1 ... l:ta7
GM Kasparov points out that the at­
tempt to stabilize the d-file with
3 l . . .i.d7 fails to 32 f4 f5 33 .l:.c5 ! .
32 .l:.d8 'iie 6
33 f4 i.a6
Not a great square for the bishop,
but at least the queen is no longer
chained to protecting it. Two alterna­
tives are: 33 . . . :td7 34 f5 ! gxf5 35 exf5
'ili'e l + 36 q;,h2 'ili'xb l (36 . . . 'ti'e5+ 37
l:.g3) 37 l:th8+ ! �xh8 3 8 'ii'xh6+ q;,g8
39 l:tg3# and 33 . . . f6 34 'ti'c5 ! (Kas­
parov) 34 . . . .l:.d7 35 .l:.xd7+ 'ii'x d7 36
'ti'xa5 'ii'd l + 37 �h2 'ii'x bl 38 'ili'xb4 .
34 rs 'ike7 (DJ
3S 'fi'd2! 'ties (DJ
Again there is nothing satisfactory.
GM Kasparov presents the following
proof:
a) 35 . . . llld5 36 fxg6+ fxg6 37 exd5
'ti'xd8 38 i.xg6+ ! �xg6 39 lhc6+.
b) 35 . . . lll g 8 36 'ii'd4 l:tc7 37 e5
llld 5 38 fxg6+ fxg6 39 i.xg6+ ! 'l;g7
40 l:txd5 cxd5 4 1 l:tg3 .
100 Practical Middlegame Tips

ti:Jfl 40 l:.h5+ ! ! gxh5 4 1 e5+ i.d3 42

l:.xd3 ti:Jxd3 43 i.xd3#.
37 'ii'd4 ti:Jg8
38 e 5 ti:Jd5
39 fxg6+ fxg6
40 l:r.xc6
Simple and strong. During the New
York part of the match I was working in
the pressroom. The 'pressroom' pre­
ferred the more complicated 40 i.xg6+
�g7 41 .l:[g3 .
40 ... 'iWxd8
41 'iWxa7+ ti:Jde7
36 'iWf2! 'iWe7 42 nxa6 °iWdl+
The nice variation after 36 . . . ne7 is 43 'iWgl °iWd2
37 ncs "flc7 38 fxg6+ fxg6 39 �f8 44 'iWfl 1-0
 Game 1 9
G M Vi kto r Korc h noi - I M Benoit Lepe l l etier
Ma tch of Genera tions, Cannes 1 996
Engl i s h O pe n i ng, M i ke n a s Va riation - Al8

1 c4 tLlf6 6 bxc3
2 tLlc3 e6 Because the position after 6 fxg7
3 e4 cxd2+ 7 i.xd2 (or 7 'it'xd2) 7 . . . i.xg7
The Mikenas Variation is White's is fully satisfactory for Black, White
most ambitious attempt to present im­ must acquiesce to doubled pawns if he
mediate challenges to Black in the tra­ wants more than equality.
ditionally strategic English Opening. 6 ... 'i*'xf6 (D)
White threatens to build an over­
whelming centre with 4 d4 and at his
convenience can pressure the king's
knight with e5 . Of course, there is a
cost to such ambition: White can wind
up with weak squares (e .g. d4) or
shaky pawns. Still, because of the dy­
namic possibilities present, it is not
surprising that this variation is a part
of GM Korchnoi's repertoire.
3 ... d5
It is clear that Black must react to
White's plans and the text-move is the
counterplay approach to doing so. The
alternative is 3 . . . c5 , whereupon the 7 tLlf3
critical variation is the pawn sacrifice In conjunction with the next, this is
after 4 e5 tLlg8 5 tLlf3 tLlc6 6 d4 cxd4 7 a relatively new concept. Standard is 7
tLlxd4 tLlxe5 8 tLldb5 a6 9 tLld6+ i.xd6 d4 e5 8 tLlf3 exd4 9 i.g5 ! (9 cxd4
10 �xd6 f6 1 1 i.e3 tLle7 12 i.b6 tLlf5 . i.b4+ 10 i.d2 i.xd2+ 1 1 �xd2 0-0 is
Handled perfectly, Black will be OK, very comfortable for Black) 9 . 'ii'e 6+
. .

but this is only possible if Black is ex­ 10 i.e2 f6 (unfortunately for Black the
ceptionally well prepared. My opinion 'clever' 1 0 . . . d3 ? ! is foiled by 1 1 0-0 ! ,
is that 3 . . . c5 is the better way to go for when 1 l . . .dxe2?? allows 1 2 'i*'d8# and
equality, but requires a lot of knowl­ otherwise after 12 i.xd3 White has a
e dge. huge development advantage) 1 1
4 e5 d4 tLlxd4 'ii'f7 . This position is as yet ' un­
5 exf6 dxc3 clear' . White has a nice development
102 Practical Middlegame Tips
advantage as compensation for the
doubled isolated c-pawns.
7 ... e5
8 .i.d3 ! ?
This i s it: rather than rushing with
the d4 central advance White will first
complete the development of his
pieces so that a later advance will have
much more power behind it.
8 ... .i.d6
9 0-0 tiJc6
This central development looks ir­
reproachable to me; however, in the
game G.Milos-M .Tal, B uenos Aires
1 99 1 , Black played 9 . . . tba6, eventu­
ally equalized and drew.
10 ll.'.el 0-0
11 �c2 h6
12 .i.e4 .i.d7
Black is correctly careful here. Af­
ter 1 2 . . . .i.g4 ? ! White applies strong
pressure with 13 l:r.bl (IM Lepelletier).
13 .i.b2 (D)
The crucial moment in the game.
White is ready for 14 d4 and Black
must act against that with 1 3 . . . .i.g4 !
since with the b-file closed, 1 4 l:t ab l
would not have a threat. If 1 4 h3 .i.h5
1 5 l:r.ad l Black has 1 5 . . . .i.c5 ! fol­
lowed by 1 6 . . . l:tad8 when "Black is
comfortable" (IM Lepelletier). Instead,
Black thinks he has time for counter­
play and runs into a one-two punch:
13 ... tba5?
14 c5 ! ! .i.xc5
If 14 . . . .i.e?, simply 15 tbxe5 .
15 d4! exd4
16 cxd4 .i.b6 (D)
After 16 . . . .i.d6 1 7 d5 'ii'd 8 1 8 'if'c3
'ii'f6 19 'ii'xf6 White regains the pawn
with an endgame advantage.
17 d5
The central picture is:
1) For White : queen, king's rook
and minor pieces are centrally ori­
ented and the d-pawn takes away the
important c6- and e6-squares from
Black's pieces.
2) For Black: only the queen and
king's bishop have any central influ­
ence. The knight on the edge is even in
danger of being trapped and lost.
Moreover, Black has no central pawns
at all.
 White has the Superior Centre 103

Is it any wonder that Black's posi­

tion is untenable?
17 ... 'ii'f4? (D)
This loses the queen, but little better
is 17 . . . 'ii'd 6? ! , when 1 8 'ii'c 3 'ii'f6
(Black loses the knight after 1 8 . . .f6 1 9
J. a3 'ili'f4 2 0 .i.b4) 1 9 'ii'xf6 gxf6 20
J.xf6 is awful for Black. However,
even the required 17 . . . 'ii'd 8 will not
last long after 18 llle 5 with total dom­
ination. One sample line: 1 8 . . . .i.b5 1 9
a4 .i.a6 2 0 l:.a3, followed b y 2 1 l:.g3 .
18 .i.e5 'ii'g4
19 .i.h7+ �h8 21 gxf3 �xh7
20 .l:.e4 'ii'xf3 22 .i.c3 1-0
Or 20 . . . 'ii' h5 2 1 l:.h4; or 20 . . . .i.f5 The knight is lost after 22 . . . .i.f5 23
2 1 .l:.xg4 .i.xc2 22 .i.xc2. 'ili'a4, etc.
Section 1 4:
Blac k has the Supe rior
Ce ntre

There are three scenarios in which Black can wind u p with the superior centre.
The simplest situation is where White has played badly in the opening and al­
lowed Black to have the superior centre, at no cost at all to him. In effect, the
colours have been reversed and Black then has a slight opening advantage. The
second type is where Black is overeager and rushes his central pawns forward
even though White has played perfectly well. Black's strength will turn out to be
a mirage and either his centre will be demolished and/or there will be giant
' Swiss cheese' holes remaining in his once proud centre.
The important case is the third one. White selects a build-up where his pawns
are somewhat laid back, thereby giving Black the choice of advancing his centre
pawns forward farther than if White had been more aggressive in his pawn play.
In these situations Black's price involves giving up some squares and he has to be
very objective in his analysis to make sure that the losses are fully balanced by
the gains. These kind of evaluations are well demonstrated by our illustrative
game.
 Game 2 0
I M T h i erry M a nouck - GM Ed mar M ed n i s
Ostend 1 993
Cata l a n/Reti O pe n i ng - Al3

1 c4 tt:lf6 White should now capture, as after,

2 g3 e6 e . g . , 8 J.b2? ! e5 9 exd4 exd4 ! White
3 tt:lf3 d5 has no compensation for his spatial in­
4 b3 c5 feriority.
The French IM is known for favour­ 8 exd4 cxd4 (D)
ing solid double-fianchetto systems,
something which is a hard nut to crack
when trying to win with Black. There­
fore, I decided to use an ambitious
central approach, aiming for a posi­
tion reached in E.Lobron-Zsu .Polgar,
B iel 1 987. I had been very impressed
by GM Polgar's handling of the posi­
tion and had stored the information in
my ' memory bank' for use in a situa­
tion such as this one.
5 J. g2 tt:lc6
6 0-0 J.e7
7 e3
The main lines now arise after 7 . . 0-0
. This extremely unbalanced posi­
8 �b2 b6 9 'ii'e 2 J.b7 10 d3 followed tion is what Black is aiming for. Being
by 1 1 tt:lc3 . These are well analysed in White's territory, the advanced d­
and somewhat more comfortable for pawn can be both a strength (because
White. Therefore . . . it cramps White) and a potential liabil­
7 ... d4! ? ity (in case of being undermined it can
I n her annotations to the above game easily be lost) . To protect his outpost
i n Informator 44 (game 1 0) GM Polgar Black will have to get in . . . e5 while
aw ards the text-move an exclamation keeping good piece coordination. This
mark. Knowing of the professionalism will 'lengthen ' White's king's bishop's
of the Polgars , I took this evaluation diagonal and White will also attempt
very seriously. However, I feel that the to activate his queenside maj ority with
! ? evaluation is more appropriate for a3 and b4. All in all, an unbalanced
me to use as there is still a lot to learn strategic struggle is in the offing. Nev­
about the resulting positions. ertheless, in my opinion - unless White
106 Practical Middlegame Tips
is extremely well steeped in the fine
points of the position - the play is eas­
ier for Black than for White because
Black ' s central/spatial superiority is
here, whereas White ' s prospects are in
the future.
E.Lobron-Zsu.Polgar now contin­
ued 9 d3 lbd7 10 .ia3 a5 1 1 .ixe7
"i!/xe7 1 2 lbbd2 0-0, when instead of
the game' s 1 3 a3? ! , GM Polgar sug­
gests 1 3 'ii'e 2 lbc5 1 4 lbe4. A correct
evaluation of this position is difficult
to come up with. My best guess is that
chances should be approximately
equal after 14 . . . lbxe4 15 'ii'xe4 l:t d8 ! .
9 :tel 0-0
9 . . . ltJd7 seems more accurate, aim­
ing for . . . lbc5 - the perfect square for
the king's knight in this variation.
10 d3
The critical move is 10 .ib2, pre­
venting 1 0 . . . lbd7 and by transposition
reaching the position which usually
occurs after 1 c4 lbf6 2 g3 e6 3 .ig2 d5
4 lbf3 .ie7 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 c5 7 e3 lbc6
8 .ib2 d4 9 exd4 cxd4 10 :tel . To me
Black's best then is 10 . . . lbe8, with the
key game being A .Rotshtein-G.Flear,
Paris 1 992: 1 1 d3 f6 1 2 .ia3 e5 1 3
.ixe7 'ii'xe7 1 4 a3 a5 1 5 lbbd2 lbc7 1 6
lbe4. Now, instead o f the game's
16 . . ..id7, GM Rotshtein suggests as
better 1 6 . . . c.t>h8 with the idea of reply­
ing to 17 h4 with 17 . . . .ig4 . I think that
then Black is at or close to equality.
10 lbd7 ! (D)
11 .ia3 a5
12 .ixe7 'ii'xe7
13 a3? !
Often played in similar positions :
White guards b 4 and gets ready to
execute the b4 advance at some point.
Yet that goal is in the nebulous future
and the deficiencies are immediate :
one development tempo is lost and b3
is weakened. White has nothing better
than 1 3 lbbd2, when 1 3 . . . ltJc5 gives
B lack full equality.
13 .. . lbc5
14 l:ta2
The fact that White took 50 minutes
here underscores his difficulty in com­
ing up with a promising plan. Aiming
to develop the rook along the second
rank doesn' t bring any laurels. The
modest 14 'ii'c 2 followed by 15 lbbd2,
acquiescing to a slight inferiority, ap­
pears the best that White has.
14 ... f6!
15 l:tb2? !
The hope of getting in b4 remains
just a hope . Therefore the immediate
15 l:tae2 is better.
15 ... :td8!
16 J:tbe2
With Black' s d-pawn additionally
protected, 16 b4? just loses a pawn:
1 6 ... axb4 1 7 axb4 tl:la4 18 l:ta2 ( 1 8 ltb3
tl:lxb4) 1 8 . . . 'ii'xb4.
 Black has the Superior Centre 1 07

16 e5 d3-pawn and that is what Black will be

11 .:n i.g4 (D) aiming for.
23 b4 axb4
24 axb4 tiJd7
25 i.xb7 .:tab8
26 i.e4
26 c5 ? 'ii'e6 27 i.e4 .:txb4 just en-
sures the end of the c-pawn.
26 'ii'x b4
27 i.xg6 ltJxg6
28 ltJg2 ltJc5
29 h4! ? 'ii'b 3!
30 .:td2 'it'xdl
31 .:tfxdl .:tb3
32 h5 tiJf8 (D)

Black now is threatening 1 8 . . . 'iii'd7,

completely tying down White's pieces.
Therefore White is forced to weaken
his kingside to chase away Black's an­
noying bishop. Note how White - with­
out having done anything stupid - has
found himself in an unpalatable situa-
tion.
18 h3 i.h5
19 g4 i.g6
20 tDel 'ir'd6
21 i.d5+
Because normal moves won ' t do
(for example 2 1 'ii'c 2?, hoping to get As so often happens in inferior po­
in 22 tiJd2, is refuted by 2 1 . . .e4 ! ) , sitions, coping with the protection of
White has t o rejigger his kingside mi­ one weakness leaves other parts de­
nor pieces . fenceless. Thus Black is already threat­
21 ... �h8 ening 3 3 . . . l:db8 winning the undevel­
22 f3 t2Je7! oped queen 's knight for nothing. To
White is trying to set up a blockade save the knight, White must ditch the
of the central squares. Therefore Black, d-pawn.
to exploit his space advantage and su­ 33 l:a2 l:db8
perior piece placement, wants to open The strategic part of the game has
up the position as quickly as possible. been won and now it is important to
The ultimate vulnerable point is the ensure that White doesn ' t get some
1 08 Practical Middlegame Tips

attacking chances based on the cramp­ opening up the g-file for an attack by
ing effect that White ' s h-pawn has on the b8-rook.
the black king position. Therefore 40 tt::lxf4 tt::lfe4!
33 . . . .l:txd3 was safest, but I didn' t want 41 .l:te7
to allow White ' s queen ' s knight the The black knights control so many
good blockading square d2 after 34 key squares that White tries to break
.l:txd3 tt::l x d3 35 tt::l d 2. their bind, but Black now has a forced
34 tt::l a3 tt::lxd3 win . A bit better was 4 1 .l:[da l , though
With the queen's knight away from after 4 1 . . .d2 ! 42 'it>g2 (42 .l:ta8 d l 'i:f'+
d2, 34 . . . .l:txd3 ! has no drawbacks . wins) 42 . . . .l:td8 ! 43 tt::l d 5 h6 Black's
35 tt::l b 5 tt::lc5 win looks rather certain.
36 f4 d3 41 ... d2!
With White starting potentially dan­ 42 tt::le6 .l:te3 !
gerous counterplay, Black must ener­ Since 43 tt::l x c5 loses to 43 . . . .l:te l +
gize his strength, the d-pawn. 4 4 'it>g2 .l:txd l 4 5 tt::l xe4 .l:t g l + 46
37 .l:ta7 tt::lfd7 'it>xg l dl 'i:f'+, White tries a couple of
38 g5 exf4 jokes before resigning.
39 gxf6 tt::lxf6 43 tt::l d8 .l:txd8
The paradoxical-seeming 39 . . . gxf6 ! 44 .l:txd2 .l:tel+
is stronger, liberating Black's king and 0-1
Section 1 5 :
Counterplay in the Ce ntre

B ecause in the course of normal opening play White will have achieved at least
some central superiority, Black needs to generate at least a modicum of counter­
play in the centre. Otherwise he will be left in a situation where he is limited to
striving just to prevent White from increasing his advantage.
Since the two primary central squares in White's part of the board are d4 and
e4, these are the preferred points for Black to aim at. For instance, in the King 's
Indian Defence Black should aim at d4, with the usual weapons being the ad­
vances . . . c5 and . . . e5 . In the Sicilian Defence the rule of thumb is that if Black can
get in - at no cost - the . . . d5 advance, then he is assured of at least equality.
At present Black's most unbalancing method in closed openings where White
has delayed d4 and played an early c4 is the Hedgehog. The Hedgehog is a for­
mation used only by Black. Its characteristic pawn structure is shown in the fol­
lowing diagram.

The main features of it are:

• Black's c-pawn has been exchanged for White's d-pawn.
• Not one of Black's pawns is beyond the third rank.
• Even though Black's pawns are ' laid back' , they cover all the important
squares in Black's position right across the board. This makes it exceedingly
difficult for White to ' get at Black' .
1 10 Practical Middlegame Tips

• The white c-pawn on c4 is an inherent part of the formation.

• However, White's e-pawn can be either on e4 (as shown) or, less frequently, on
e2 or e3.
• Black's thematic prospects for counterplay come from a properly prepared
and executed . . . b5 and/or . . . d5 break.
The single most important middlegame tip to give to Black is: always look for
the opportunity to get in the ... d5 advance. Conversely the tip for White is: al­
ways look out for the . . d5 advance.
.

Our illustrative game shows off Black's opportunities very well.

 Game 2 1
G M Alex Yermol i nsky - G M Va lery Sa l ov
Wijk aan Zee 1 99 7
Engl i s h O pe n i ng, H ed ge h og Fo rm ati o n - A30

1 lbf3 lbf6 White ' s queen on f4 is somewhat un­

2 c4 c5 comfortable and the advanced e-pawn
3 lbc3 e6 a bit of a pain for White to defend.
4 g3 b6
5 .i.g2 .i.b7
6 0-0 .i.e7
7 d4 cxd4
8 ..Wxd4 0-0
White's set-up is the traditional one,
whereas Black has recently switched
to fast-development mode starting with
the text-move. Historically Black has
preferred first to build the Hedgehog
with 8 . . . d6, 9 . . . a6 and then 1 0 . . . lbbd7,
leaving the diagonal of the queen's
bishop open . However, the early at­
tack on d6 with 9 b3 followed by 1 0
.i.a3 has been difficult to cope with. 12 b3 lbe5
9 l:[dl lbc6 13 ..We3
10 ..Wf4 ..Wb8 Again, playable but not particularly
1 1 e4 perceptive. Strategically faulty is 1 3
Playable, yet not particularly per­ lbxe5 ? ! since after 1 3 . . . dxe5 Black's
ceptive. More exact is 1 1 b3 ! , safe­ massive control of the central dark
guarding the c-pawn and enabling the squares gives him a clear edge. The­
queen 's bishop to go to a3 in case matic and best is 1 3 .i.a3 ! , preventing
Black plays an early . . . d6. the convenient regrouping of the
11 ... d6! (D) queen's knight to d7 . In A . Khuzman­
The endgame after 1 1 . . . 'ir'xf4? ! 1 2 L.Yudasin, Haifa 1 996, White re­
.ltxf4 l:.fd8 1 3 e5 ! i s poor for Black, as tained some advantage after 1 3 . . . lbg6
demonstrated in T.Petrosian-L.Portisch, 14 'ilr'e3 l:.e8 15 .i.b2 ! .
Candidates match (game 5), Palma de 1 3 ... lbed7!
Mallorca 1 974. After the text-move 14 'iie2
B l ack reaches a satisfactory Hedge­ What's the hurry ? Apparently White
hog middlegame: d6 is secure enough, gives a high priority to developing the
1 12 Practical Middlegame Tips
queen' s bishop to e3 and thus frees
this square. However, the normal square
for the queen' s bishop is b2 and thus
14 �b2 ! looks like the right move to
me.
14 a6
15 tlld4 'iic7
16 �d2? !
White's single-mindedness regard­
ing getting in �e3 is difficult to
fathom. The immediate 1 6 �e3 ? is re­
futed by the thematic counter 1 6 . . . b5 ! .
Thus White loses a whole tempo s o as
to place the bishop exactly where he
wants it. Unfortunately, the proper
square is b2 and correct is 1 6 �b2,
with approximate equality.
16 .l:tfe8
17 .l:tacl .l:tac8
18 �e3 'iib8
19 f3 d5! (D)
While White has doodled his time
away and not even once challenged
Black anywhere, GM Salov has placed
all his pieces on the most flexible
squares for the Hedgehog formation.
It is hardly surprising that Black is
already able to execute his thematic
central break. White will be lucky to
maintain equality.
20 cxd5 exd5
21 exd5?
To play such a move, opening up all
of Black' s files and diagonals, is sui­
cidal unless you have calculated all
Black's reasonable possibilities ex­
tremely accurately. The game course
shows that White has not done so. GM
Salov points out that 2 1 �f4 ! �d6 22
i.xd6 'ti'xd6 23 'ii'f2 ! is necessary,
when "White can defend" after both
23 . . . 'i!Va3 24 exd5 tll x d5 25 tll d e2 ! and
23 . . . dxe4 24 tll d b5 'ii' b4 25 tll d 6 exf3
26 tll x e8 ! .l:txe8 27 �xf3 �xf3 28
'i!Vxf3 tlle 5 29 'i!Vg2 ! .
21 �a3!
22 .l:tc2 J:txc3 !
23 .l:txc3 tllxd5
24 .l:tcd3 tllc5
White 's centre has been demol­
ished and it is Black's pieces that con­
trol the area. In a poor position it is not
surprising that attempts at counter­
tactics fail, e.g. 25 tll c 6? loses to
25 . . . i.xc6 26 .l:txd5 �xd5 27 .l:txd5
i. c l ! . White does the best he can by
bringing back to life his long-buried
king's bishop.
25 f4 tllx d3
26 .l:txd3 �cs
27 i.xd5 �xd5
28 tllf5 !
White's king position is so draughty
that any attempts at strictly defensive
efforts must fail. GM Salov in Infor­
mator 68 (game 30) provides the vari­
ation 28 'ii'f2 'ii'c 8 ! 29 tll f3 'i!Vf5 30
:c3 �b4 31 :c l 'ti'e4 ! , winning.
 Counterplay in the Centre 1 13

28 i.e4
29 .i.xc5 .i.xd3
30 'iYxd3 bxc5
31 'Yi'c3 f6
32 'iYc4+ 'iii>h 8
33 'iYf7 l:tg8
34 h4
White has done his best to create
some counterplay on the kingside.
Nevertheless, his open king location
and the ability of Black's queen and
rook to control the central files will
eventually be decisive.
34 'iYe8! 41 l:td8
35 'i!Vd5 'Yi'el + 42 'if'c2+ g6
36 'iii> g2 'Yi'e2+ 43 'iYc4
37 'iii> h 3 h5 GM S alov has shown that White
After the game, GM Salov worked could have set more practical prob­
out the following forcing win for lems for Black with 43 t2Je4 ! , when
Black: 37 . . . °ir'fl + ! 38 'iit g4 h5+ ! 39 the only convincing way for Black to
'iii> x h5 'il'e2+ 40 <li>g6 'il'g4+ 41 <i;; f7 retain the win is with 43 . . . 'il'c8 ! ! . The
'i1Vh5+ 42 �e6 'ir'e2+ ! 43 'it>d7 'ir'e8+ main line is 44 t2Jxf6+ �g7 45 'if'b2
44 'iit d6 'if'c8 ! . He remarked in Schach, 'il'c5+ 46 'iii> e 2 'il'b5+ 47 'iii> e l 'if'b4+
No. 3, 1 997 that to ensure that all such 48 'iti>e2 'iti>f7 ! , when White ' s attack is
calculations in the head are accurate, over and Black threatens the immedi­
more than the two minutes that he had ately decisive 49 . . . l:td6 or 49 . . . 'i1Ve7+.
available to reach the time control at 43 'Yi'd7
move 40 are required. 44 t2Je4 'ill'e7 !
38 tiJd6 'iYg4+ 45 'ill'c3 'iii> g7
39 � g2 .:.rs 46 'it>f3 l:te8 !
40 'it>f2 'it>h7 47 °ir'd3 'ill' b7
41 'iYxc5 (D) 0-1
White has one pawn for the ex­ He cannot prevent the ultimate .. .f5
change, but there is no way to neutral­ advance and did not want to see the
iz e the combined power of Black's pretty finish 48 °ir'd4 �g8 ! 49 'ir'c4+
queen and rook. �h7 ! 50 °ir'd4 1:.e7 ! and 5 1 . . .f5 .
Section 1 6:
Central Dyn amics

The fancy heading refers to the following frequent situation: as an inherent part
of Black's central counterplay he has allowed White to wind up with an extra pri­
mary centre pawn in exchange for a viable secondary centre pawn. Black must
both mobilize his pawn majority while making it hard for White to do so with his
central majority. The resulting play is always dynamic. Whoever makes his case
better will be victorious. In our illustrative game it is Black.
 Game 2 2
M i ra bea u M aga - G M Alexa nder Wojtkiewicz
Philippine Open Ch, Manila 199 1
K i ng's I n d i a n Defe nce , Ave rba kh Va riation - E74

1 c4 g6 Black need not fear 8 dxc5 since

2 d4 �g7
3 tt:Jc3 lLif6
4 e4 d6
5 �e2 0-0
6 �g5
The Averbakh Variation has never
acquired main-line status, but retains a
significant following. Its main strate­
gic idea is to make it less comfortable
for Black to execute the thematic . . . c5
or e5 - advances necessary to chal­
. . .
lenge the key d4 point. Of course, on
an immediate basis 6 . . . e5 ? is a rank er­
ror because of 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 WVxd8
1hd8 9 tt:Jd5 .
6 ... h6
The maj ority of GMs have decided
that Black' s load is lighter if White's
bishop is immediately forced to make
a decision regarding where to retreat.
Yet there is the inevitable trade-off for
Black: the kingside is weakened and the
h -pawn vulnerable to capture. White's
res ponse is almost always the retreat
to e3, because on h4 the bishop risks
being left out of the game in case of
7 c5 .
. . .
8 . . .WVa5 ! provides sufficient central
counterplay (9 cxd6? ! lLixe4 ! ) for
equality.
8 ... a6
Normal is the immediate 8 . . . e6 fol­
lowed by opening the e-file with
9 ... exd5. However, the experienced Pol­
ish GM wants to test his opponent to
see how he reacts . White should pre­
vent Black's plan for counterplay with
the standard 9 a4 and retain thereby a
normal opening advantage. Instead,
seeing that he can gain a tempo by at­
tacking the h-pawn, White goes for
more.
9 'ii'd2? ! b5! (D)
Rather than defend, Black contin­
ues his thrust at White's centre.

7 �e3 c5 ! ?
The more dynamic of the two possi­
b ilities because after 7 . . e5 8 d5 both
.

si des will remain with primary centre

p awns.
8 d5 10 f3
1 16 Practical Middlegame Tips
Black gets very active play after 1 0
cxb5 axb5 1 1 .i.xb5 1i'a5 , e.g. 1 2
.i.xh6 ltJxe4 ! . 1 0 .i.xh6? ! is even less
attractive because after 10 . . . b4 fol­
lowed by 1 l . . .ltJxe4 Black recovers
the pawn with a slight edge in view of
his superior central position.
10 b4
11 tiJdl e6!
12 tl)f2
Another tactic characteristic of the
King 's Indian keeps White from tak­
ing the h-pawn: after 1 2 .i.xh6? ! Black
has 1 2 . ltJxe4 ! 1 3 fxe4 1i'h4+, recov­
. .
ering the piece with some advantage.
12 ... exdS
13 cxdS (D)
1 3 exd5 is absolutely without any
prospects for an advantage since only
Black has chances along the e-file.
Moreover, White's minor pieces are
too passively placed to do anything to
Black's weakened kingside. Therefore
recapturing toward the centre is White's
only way to go.
The pawn structure on the board is
actually more characteristic of the
Modem Benoni than the King's Indian,
with White having an extra primary
central pawn and Black the queenside
maj ority . The battle-plan is now clear:
White should find ways to get his cen­
tre going with f4 and e5 , while Black
needs to mobilize his queenside forces .
I n the game Black works steadfastly
toward his goal, whereas White fails
to set his centre in motion.
13 hS
14 ltJgh3 as
15 ltJgS .ta6
16 .i.xa6 ltJxa6
17 0-0 ltJc7
This dynamic position probably of­
fers equal chances. According to GM
Wojtkiewicz, White should now try to
inhibit Black's queenside play with 1 8
a4 ! . (He has another chance for this on
move 1 9.)
1s :rdl?!
For preparing a central pawn ad­
vance, the normal rook placements are
on d l and e l. Thus 1 8 :ad l is the
right rook.
18 :es
19 l:tacl?! a4!
20 a3? !
The principle i s very clear i n such
situations: be very wary of executing
pawn advances on the side where the
opponent already has more scope. The
text-move significantly weakens b3
and gets nothing in return.
Black already has a slight edge.
White's rooks are improperly placed,
while Black has good queenside pros­
pects - in particular his queen's knight
has good opportunities to get to d4 via
b5 . In any case, White must aim for
 Central Dynamics 1 17

ac tivity in the centre. Therefore 20 f4 by his attacking prospects against

is mandatory, always looking for the White ' s rather vulnerable kingside.
ch ance to follow up with e5 . 27 'ir'aS tt:Jb5 !
20 l:.b8! 28 'ii'xa4 l:.b4
21 axb4 l:txb4 29 'ii'a6 lt:Jd4
22 lt:Jd3 l:tb3! 30 l:tcd2? (D)
23 .tf2 tt:Jd7 (D) According to GM Wojtkiewicz, the
decisive error. The unappetizing 30
.txd4 was mandatory, when after
30 . . . .txd4+ Black's advantage is sig­
nificant but White retains some draw­
ing chances.

A multi-purpose move: it overpro­

tects e5 , opens the central diagonal for
the bishop and threatens to win mate­
rial with 24 . . . .th6 or 24 . . . .:txd3 .
24 h4? !
Weakening the kingside i s too pan­ 30 'ii'f4
icky a response to Black's threat. The 31 'itifl
retreat 24 lt:Jh3 is sensible since the A better practical chance is 3 1 g3
knight no longer has much of a future lt:Jxf3+ 32 cJi>g2, even though ultimately
on g5 . Black's rooks will overwhelm White
24 lt:Je5 after 32 . . . ii'xd2 33 l:txd2 lt:Jxd2.
25 tt:JxeS .txe5 31 'ir'h2
26 :tc2 'ir'f6! 32 'iVa7 :rs
Black continues his demonstration 33 'iVe7
of paying full attention to the whole Neither is there time for defence
board. The text-move prevents 27 f4 with 33 lt:Jh3 , since Black's knight -
and is ready to counter 27 g3 (plan­ allowed to live on move 30 - provides
ning 28 f4) by 27 . . . l:txf3 ! 28 lt:Jxf3 the winning 33 . . . lt:Jxf3 ! .
�xf3 when Black's slight material 33 'iVhl+
disadvantage is more than outweighed 34 .tgl 'ir'xh4
1 18 Practical Middlegame Tips

35 :at (D) threat, look twice to make sure that

he does not have a rude surprise in
mind. Doesn' t Black win easily with
35 . . . .i.f4, threatening both the rook
and knight while the knight remains
pinned? The answer is "no ! " because
if 35 . . . .tf4??, White wins after 36
:as ! ! .
35 ... .:bb8 !
There being no defence to the dual
threats of 36 . . . .:be8 and 36 . . . lDb3,
White now elects to go down in a
' blaze of glory ' .
36 g3 .txg3
37 :xd4 cxd4
Here is the right moment for a valu­ 38 .i.xd4 'iWhl+
able tip when you have a position 39 c;i;>e2 'iVxal
which by all rights must be won for 0-1
you . H it seems to you that your 40 'i!i'f6 is parried by 40 . . . .i.e5 and
opponent is ignoring your obvious 40 lDe6 by 40 . . . :xb2+.
Pa rt Four :
I m porta nt Strategic
E l eme nts
Section 17 :
Weak Squa res a n d Points

Everyone knows that the skills needed nowadays are much broader than they
were in the good old days, i.e. 1 5 0 years ago. Then it was attack, attack, attack.
Yes, the modern player has to know how to attack but also much more . One of
these important strategic elements deals with weak squares and points .
Though the phrase ' weak square ' may seem self-defining, there are two im­
portant aspects involved. In the first place we only refer to a square as weak if it is
in the defender's part of the board. Thus White only can have weak squares on
ranks 1 to 4, whereas Black only has to be concerned with squares on ranks 8 to 5 .
Secondly, a square i s only weak i f the opponent can make good use o f it.
Moreover, usually the important squares that we refer to as ' weak' are on the
third and fourth ranks and occur when they can no more be guarded by a pawn.
Weak ' squares' on the first or second rank are mostly what I consider points, e.g.
back-rank weakness, inability to guard the second rank, etc . I would define a
point as ' an area of at least two squares' which is important in that particular
phase of the game.
A weak (vulnerable) pawn is a special case of a weak square. It appears in a
number of our illustrative games and will not be especially considered in this sec­
tion. What I will be illustrating are the important practical situations where it
may not be immediately obvious which squares are weak and which are not. It is
such situations that chess computers find extremely difficult. The human mind
can grasp much better in a qualitative way which weakness is real and which is
inconsequential. The computer would have to solve the matter in some quantita­
tive way - always a much dicier task.
Since both White and Black are quite capable of creating weaknesses, I shall
demonstrate a game from each side - starting with a win by White.
 Game 23
GM J oel La utier - GM Pred rag N i ko l ic
Wijk aan Zee 199 7
N i m zo- l n d ia n Defe n ce , R u b i n ste i n Va ri a t i o n
1 d4 t2Jf6
2 c4 e6
3 lZJc3 i.b4
4 e3 b6
The text-move is the way that
Nimzowitsch himself treated 'his de­
fence' . The queen 's bishop will (nor­
mally) be developed to b7 to control
the key e4-square and at a convenient
moment Black may play . . . i.xc3+,
doubling White's pawns. Since Black's
plan is strategically sound, White has
mostly given up playing the standard 5
i.d3 i.b7 6 t2Jf3 .
I should remark that currently few
GMs trust the variation with . . . b6. The
main reason is that Black is doing little
to energize the c- and/or ct-pawns for
central influence. Moreover, in some
variations (as here) insufficient atten­
tion is paid to king safety.
5 lZJe2
The sophisticated idea behind this
awkward-looking move is to respond
to 5 . . . i.b7 with 6 a3 , when after both
6 . . i.xc3+ 7 lZJxc3 and 6 . . . i.e7 7 d5
. 10 0-0
White has more of the centre and a
blemish-free pawn formation. There­
fore, in the modern treatment of the
position, Black's queen's bishop goes
to a6 to press on c4, which is now un­
defended.
5 i.a6
6 lDg3 1 ?
- E45
Point and counterpoint ! White pro­
tects the c-pawn, controls e4, tries to
show that Black's bishop on a6 is mis­
placed, while preventing the immedi­
ate 6 . . . d5 ?? because of 7 'ir'a4+. Black
in turn continues his counterplay
against c4.
6 a3 is less ambitious. White risks
no weaknesses whether Black chooses
6 . . . i.xc3+ 7 lDxc3 d5 or 6 . . . i.e7 - but
at the same time there also are fewer
prospects for an advantage.
6 i.xc3+
7 bxc3 d5
8 i.a3!
All part of current main-line theory.
Instead of quibbling about the forward
c-pawn White prevents Black from
castling kingside. Black's king will
not be secure in the centre, while the
weakness of the queenside resulting
from 4 . . . b6 may cause problems in
case of castling there.
8 i.xc4
9 i.xc4 dxc4
li'd7
1 1 .:I.bl h5 ! ? (D)
This is our first interesting moment
in the discussion of weaknesses. Since
Black has little hope of castling king­
side, he thrusts the h-pawn forward ei­
ther to chase away the knight with
. . . h4 or else to cause White to weaken
his kingside by playing 12 h4. There is
122 Practical Middlegame Tips
a long-term vulnerability associated
with Black' s move: yet it is not on h5
but on g5. We should already be able
to envisage that square being gainfully
occupied by White ' s queen.
In any case, the text does not change
the basic contours of the strategic bat­
tle. If 1 1 . . .lllc 6, White will recapture
the pawn with a substantial advantage
after 12 'ii'e 2. 1 1 . . .'ii'c 6 1 2 e4 ! leads to
play similar to that to be discussed in
the note to Black's 1 3th move.
12 h4!
Yes ! The well-placed knight should
stand its ground. The important point
is that White runs no risk in playing
thus. This is because Black is in no
condition to threaten the h-pawn: his
queen 's knight is still undeveloped,
the rooks are not connected and his
near-term activity must be concerned
with completing development and en­
suring relative safety for his king.
12 ... 'ji'c6
13 e4! lllbd7
The chances of Black surviving af­
ter 1 3 . . . lllxe4 ? ! 1 4 lllxe4 'it'xe4 1 5
.l:te l are exceedingly poor, fo r exam­
ple 1 5 . . . 'ii'g4 1 6 'ii'a4+ ( 1 6 d5 'ii'x d l
1 7 l:r.exd 1 also is strong) 1 6 . . . c6 1 7
d5 ! . GM Nikolic had already played
the developing text-move in an earlier
game and probably felt secure enough
at this moment.
14 dS!
This thematic line-opening break
throws into question the whole varia­
tion for Black. Black survives after the
delaying 14 'ii'e 2: 1 4 . . . 0-0-0 1 5 J...e 7
.:.de8 16 J... xf6 gxf6 17 .:.b4 .:.eg8 1 8
.:.xc4 'ii' b7 1 9 .:.b4 .:.g4 20 a4 a5 2 1
.:.b5 , when, rather than 2 1 . . .'it'c6 ? ! , as
in M .Cebalo-P.Nikolic, Kavala 1 985,
GM Cebalo recommends 2 1 . . . .:.xh4
22 .:.fbt .:.g4, with unclear play.
14 ... 'ji'b7?!
This 'safety-first' retreat just does
not work out. Therefore, hindsight tells
us that 14 . . . exd5 1 5 exd5 'ii'x d5 1 6
.:.e 1 + 'iPd8 should have been risked.
After 1 7 'ii'a4 GM Lautier provides the
following analysis : 1 7 . . . .:.e8 1 8 .:.ed l
'ii'e 6 1 9 .:.b2 ! with the idea of 20 l:tbd2
or 20 l:te2. Perhaps 17 . . . a6 with the
idea 1 8 .:.bd 1 'ii' b 5 is a better try.
White can also play 1 7 .:.e7 - a sug­
gestion by GM Taimanov in ECO B,
2nd Edition. As always, practical tests
are necessary to get closer to the truth.
15 dxe6 fxe6
16 'it'a4 0-0-0
17 'iixc4 �b8
18 .:.fdl! (D)
It is time to take stock of the posi­
tion. Black has a permanent weakness
on e6 and advancing the pawn to e5
would create a new weakness on f5 as
well as denying Black's knight the
 Weak Squares and Points
e5-square. The absence of the light­
squared bishop stamps c6 as a weak­
ness and a6 as a potential weakness.
The weakness on g5 has become accen­
tuated. Black' s queen has been ' fian­
chettoed' - a poor location for a
queen. Little activity can be expected
from Black' s rooks.
White's inventory is as follows.
The e-pawn controls important central
space. The h-pawn remains secure;
White's queen is actively placed, as is
the queen's bishop. The split a- and c­
pawns are no problem because Black
cannot get at them. Overall White has
a significant advantage and Black needs
to make Herculean efforts to hold such
a position. In his analysis in lnformator
68 (game 48 1 ), GM Lautier devotes
considerable space to demonstrate
that after the materialistic 1 8 �xe6? !
B lack obtains sufficient counterplay
for eventual equality with 1 8 . . . .l:.he8.
Here it is appropriate to introduce the
following important middlegame tip -
thanks to the wisdom gained from
studying GM Karpov's games: in stra­
tegically superior positions do not
1 23
lessen your bind by the capture of a
stray pawn. Keep increasing the
pressure until the pawn(s) start
dropping by themselves as if over­
ripe fruit.
18 ... ltJe5
19 �b5 !
Again the sequences after 19 �xe6?!
and 19 .:.xd8+? ! lhd8 20 �xe6 only
lead to equality. With the text-move
White brings the queen with gain of
time to an active location in Black's
part of the board.
19 ... ltJc6
20 f3!
Safeguarding the e-pawn and pre­
paring to mobilize the knight via fl to
the excellent central e3-square. Black
- on the other hand - lacks a viable
plan to improve his position. In such
situations it is very easy to make things
worse.
20 ... a6? !
Weakening both a6 and b6 sepa­
rately and since Black's king is on the
queenside, lessening his king safety as
well. Moreover, White's queen is happy
to go to the useful g5 location.
21 'it'g5 l:.dg8
22 liJfl liJdS
23 ltJe3 �c6
24 c4
Comfortably protecting the c-pawn
while gaining central space. All Black
can do meanwhile is manoeuvre to
and fro in his part of the board.
24 ... lDf7
25 iVg6! iVeS
Such an abject retreat cannot stem
White 's initiative, yet the attempt at
redeploying the knights with 25 . . . lDe5
124 Practical Middlegame Tips

26 'i/Vg3 tl:ifd7 is also insufficient. GM
Lautier provides the following proof:
27 c5 b5 28 l:.b2 ! tl:if7 (the threat was
29 l:tbd2 followed by 30 f4) 29 tl:ic2 !
e5 30 tl:ib4 ! 'i/Vxc5+ 3 1 �h l (3 1 . . .�c8
32 l:tc2, etc.).
26 'ir'g3 'it>c8
27 c5 b5
28 c6! (D)
With the previous move White
loosened up Black's king shelter some
more and now is ready for the final
push.
28 ... l:.h6 ? !
Letting the forward c-pawn live i s
a cure worse than the disease. GM
Lautier feels that only with the para­
doxical 28 . . . 'iWxc6 could Black hope
to hold out longer: 29 l:.bc l 'iWb6 30
l:txc7+ 'iWxc7 31 %k l 'iWxc l + 32 i.xc l
�b7 33 i.b2 l:.h6. Still, after 34 'i/Vf4 !
(threatening 35 e5) Black's uncoordi­
nated pieces and open king will be no
match for White' s efficient forces.
29 l:.bcl tl:i d8
30 l:.c5 e5
Instead 30 . . . tl:ixc6 is refuted by 3 1
.l:f.dc l and in the meantime White was
threatening 3 1 'iWe l followed by 32
1ii'a5 . Yet opening up f5 for White's
knight is the proverbial straw breaking
the camel's back.
31 tt:irs 1-0
After 3 1 . . . .l:f.g6 the end comes by
32 1ii'x g6; if instead 3 l . . ..l:f.h7, then 32
l:.xe5 is crushing.
 Game 24
G M J a n Ti m m a n
Dutch Ch play-off ma tch (game 1), Amsterdam 1 996
Q u e e n ' s Ga m b i t Dec l i ned , S l a v Defe n ce - D 1 5
1 d4 d5
2 c4 c6
3 lLlf3 lLlf6
4 lLic3 a6
Over the past five years this varia­
tion has become hot stuff in interna­
tional play. Black plans to follow up
with 5 ... b5, gaining space on the queen­
side at the cost of development and
some weakening of the dark squares
there. There is as yet no agreement as
to White 's best course, but the 'pre­
ventative' 5 a4 is gaining in popularity.
5 g3 dxc4
GM Sokolov is one of the leading
practitioners of 4 . . . a6 and has preferred
the early capture on c4 . As White's
king's bishop is to be fianchettoed,
White will have to talce on some wealc­
nesses on the queenside to recapture
the pawn in comfort. Also playable and
thematic is 5 . . . b5 , when V. Korchnoi­
A.Shirov, Groningen 1 996 continued
6 c5 g6 7 .tg2 .tg7 8 lLie5 0-0 9 0-0
i.e6 10 h3 'ii'c 8 1 1 g4 h5 with approx­
imate equality.
6 a4 g6
7 .t g2 .t g7
8 0-0
Subsequently in the game V.Korch­
noi-1 .Sokolov, Groningen 1 996, White
improved with 8 a5 ! . After 8 . . . 0-0 9 0-0
lLld5 , instead of the game 's 1 0 lLle4,
with 1 0 tiJd2 ! .te6 ( 10 . . . i.xd4? ! 1 1
- GM I va n Sokolov
lLixc4 lLixc3 1 2 bxc3 .txc3 1 3 .th6 is
very dangerous for Black) 1 1 tLice4 !
White would gain a normal opening
advantage (analysis by GM Sokolov).
The strategic points of 8 a5 ! are: creat­
ing a permanent wealcness on b6 and a
likely weakness on c5, as well as not
allowing Black to establish a perma­
nent outpost on b4. The cost - one de­
velopment tempo - is well worth it.
8 ... 0-0?!
Thanks to hindsight we know that
Black should have played 8 . . . a5 ! , and
White should now have exploited
Black's inattention with 9 a5 ! .
9 e3? ! a5!
Black's b6-square is now safe for­
ever and most likely so is c5. In addi­
tion, it is easy to envisage the queen's
knight soon landing on b4 and remain­
ing there as long as desired.
10 lLie5 lLia6
1 1 lLixc4 lLlb4 (D)
White has recovered the pawn that
he sacrificed in cavalier fashion, but
that is about all that he has achieved
from the opening. Black is about to de­
velop his queen 's bishop and have full
equality.
As a matter of fact, it is White who
has to search for the proper coordina­
tion of his pieces. His queen 's bishop
is still undeveloped, while Black's
queen's knight is an unwelcome
126 Practical Middlegame Tips
boarder in White ' s part of the board.
GM Sokolov suggests as White ' s best
12 h3 ! and rates the chances equal af­
ter 1 2 . . . i.e6 1 3 'ii'e 2 lt:Jd7 .
12 'ii'e 2? ! i.g4
13 f3?
White wants to chase the 'insolent'
bishop back, yet pays no attention to
the harm the text-move does to his
own position: the king's bishop is
blocked in, e3 weakened and so is the
g l -a7 diagonal. Furthermore, Black's
bishop gets chased back to its very
best square - e6 !
GM Sokolov points out that White
should avoid weaknesses and be satis­
fied with modest but sound develop­
ment after 1 3 'ii'd 2 ! followed by 14 b3
and 15 i.b2. Black's freer position
would give him a slight edge - but that
is all.
13 ... i.e6
14 .:.dl c5 !
Because Black is better developed,
opening the centre can only be to his
advantage. A useful rule of thumb is
that tactics attempted from an infe­
rior position usually fail. Thus it is
hardly surprising that 15 d5? loses after
15 . . . lt:Jfxd5 1 6 e4? lt:Jxc3 17 bxc3 i.xc4.
15 dxc5 fic7
I have emphasized so far the valu­
able posting of Black's queen 's knight
on b4 . According to that discussion,
should not Black's 1 4 . . . c5 be branded
as faulty since White's queen 's knight
now has access to b5? The answer, of
course, is 'no' . In the first place, after
1 6 lt:Jb5 'ii'x c5 Black' s substantial
edge in development has justified his
opening the position. In addition, it is
important to keep in mind the admoni­
tion from the introduction of this section
that a square is only to be considered
weak if the attacker can make use of it.
White's knight on b5 does not have
much of a future because it can neither
disrupt Black's development nor have
access to key squares such as d6. On
the other hand, Black's b4-knight has
potential access to the permanently
vulnerable d3-square.
16 lt:Jb6 .J:r.ad8
17 .l:r.xd8 l:txd8
18 e4
White looks forward to 18 ...'ii'xc5+? !
1 9 i.e3, when the completion of mi­
nor-piece development and the secu­
rity of the b6-knight would mean that
the worst is over. However. . .
1 8 ... l:r.d3! ! (D)
Suddenly the weakness of d3 ex­
plodes in White's face. White can't de­
velop his queen' s bishop, for example
1 9 i.e3 ? loses to 1 9 .. Jhe3 20 'ii'x e3
lt:Jc2; 19 i.f4? fails to 1 9 . . . 'ii' x c5+ 20
'ii'f2 'ii'xf2+ 2 1 �xf2 lt:Jxe4+ ! 22 lt:Jxe4
i.d4+ and 23 . . . i.xb6; 1 9 i.g5 ?? drops
the bishop after 1 9 . . . 'ii'x c5+. Thus
 Weak Squares and Points 1 27

possible because of the second-rank

weakness (25 . . . l:d2), White has to go
for an endgame in which he is not only
a pawn down but also B lack retains
the initiative.
25 .:.a3 .:.xa3
26 bxa3 lllc 6! (D)
The last careful moment for Black:
he should not allow the opposite­
coloured bishop endgame after 27
i.xe5 .

White needs to guard d3, but B lack

continues his onslaught.
19 .tn lllg 4!
20 lll b d5
Everything else is worse. For exam-
ple, 20 fxg4? ! 'ifxc5+ 2 1 'i!ft2? i.d4.
20 ... 'ii'xc5+
21 �g2 i.xd5
22 lllxd5 lllxd5!
23 exd5
White is still playing without his
queen's rook and queen's bishop and
has permanent weaknesses on e3 and Black's knight has access to d4 (an­
f2 . Meanwhile, all of Black's forces other important weakness in White 's
are participating in the siege of position ! ), he has a valuable central
White's position . For example, 23 pawn, the superior pawn formation
'it'xd3? runs into mate after 23 . . . 'ii'f2 + and the active pieces. GM Sokolov
24 'iti>h3 'ii'x h2+ 25 'iti>xg4 'ifh5#, while concludes efficiently:
2 3 fxg4 gives Black the lovely choice 27 ..Wb5 'i!Va2+
between 23 . . . llle 3+ (24 �f3 lllc 2+ ! ) 28 'iti>h3 'ii'xa3
and 23 . . . lll b4 - i n each case leaving 29 i.d3 h6 !
White's position in shreds. 30 i.e4 'i!Val
23 ... llle5 31 'it>g2 'ii'a2+
24 i.f4 'ii'xd5 32 �bl 'i1Vf2
A new weakness has become ex­ 33 'ii'b l e5
pos ed on f3 . Since 25 i.xe5 ? is not 0-1
Section 1 8 :
Strateg ic Attacks

You have heard of players who are referred to as 'attackers ' . Such a characteriza­
tion invariably refers to those who energetically go after the enemy king and do
not hesitate to sacrifice material. Indeed this is a significant part of middlegame
play and is covered rather fully in the first two parts of this book.
Another important type of 'attack' is not about the king. Here the player tries
to create opportunities on the other flank. Many of these plans are well-known
and much-explored. As examples I can mention the Minority Attack in the Ex­
change Variation of the Queen 's Gambit Declined (1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 tt::lc 3 tt::l f6 4
cxd5 exd5 5 J.g5 J.e7 6 e3 c6 7 J.d3 tt::l bd7 8 tt::lf3 0-0 9 'ii'c 2 .l:te8 1 0 0-0 tt::l f8 1 1
h3 g6 1 2 .l:tabl tt::l e6 1 3 J.h6 tt::lg7 1 4 b4 a6 1 5 a4 J.f5 1 6 J.xg7 J.xd3 1 7 't!Vxd3
Wxg7 1 8 b5) and the Mar de! Plata Variation in the King 's Indian (1 d4 tt::lf6 2 c4
g6 3 tt::lc 3 J.g7 4 e4 d6 5 tt::lf3 0-0 6 J.e2 e5 7 0-0 tt::lc 6 8 d5 tt::le7 9 tt::le l tt::ld 7 1 0
J.e3 f5 1 1 f3 f4 1 2 J. f2 g 5 1 3 a4 tt::l g 6 1 4 a5 �h8 1 5 tt::ld 3 :gs 1 6 c 5 ) . I n each
case White works aggressively to create weaknesses in Black's queenside and
hopes that this ultimately will be more effective than Black's counterplay on the
kingside. However, such middlegame strategy is so much part of the opening
variations that these middlegames are covered fully in treatises on those particu­
lar openings.
There is yet another kind of strategic attack that is important in itself because it
depends solely on the particulars of the position and requires creativity both in
visualization and execution. In our illustrative game you will see sacrifices and
attacks - yet the safety of both kings is never in question.
 Game 2 5
G M Viswa nathan Ana nd - G M Vasi ly lva nch u k
Las Pa/mas 1 996
R u y Lo pez , M e l l e r Va riati o n - C 7 8

1 e4 e5 At present the GMs have returned

2 liJf3 liJc6 to the classical 6 c3, with the plan of
3 i.b5 a6 building a strong centre after a prop­
4 i.a4 liJf6 erly timed d4.
5 0-0 i.c5 6 ... liJxe5
Up until three or four years ago (I 7 d4 liJxe4
am writing this in early 1 998) the Here and over the next moves the
M0ller Variation was considered plain game proceeds along the main line .
inferior for serious international play. Ambitious types are exploring the
The reasons were logical : White may double-edged 7 . . . b5 ! ? .
gain a crucial tempo on the bishop when 8 l:.el i.e7
he gets in the d4 advance and Black's 9 l:.xe4 liJg6
kingside could be more vulnerable in 10 c4 0-0
the absence of the king's bishop. At 1 1 liJ c3 d6!
present the sunny side of the move is What is bringing the M0ller back
being successfully explored: on c5 the is the 'discovery ' of common-sense
bishop is potentially more active than moves such as the text. Previously
on e7 . Even sound strategists, includ­ Black either weakened his kingside
ing GM Karpov, have added it to their with 1 l . . .f5 ? ! or delayed development
repertoire. ( 1 1 . . .c6 1 2 d5 ! ) .
Nevertheless, I do not have enough 12 liJdS i.h4! (D)
confidence in the variation to say that
five years from now the Meller will
have stood the test of time.
6 liJxe5
This quasi-sacrifice is well-known
in variations of the Ruy Lopez where
Black plays an early . . . i.c5 . White
hopes that the early opening of the po­
sition will allow him to capitalize on his
su perior development. The drawback
is that after the disappearance of the e­
pawns White's prospects for a mean­
ingful central superiority evaporate.
130 Practical Middlegame Tips
Rather than acquiescing to the slight
inferiority after 1 3 tll x e7+ (slightly
superior centre and two bishops for
White), GM lvanchuk wants to chase
White 's knight away at no cost with
1 3 . . . c6. After the routine 1 3 g3 c6 1 4
tll f4, a s in I.Smirin-F.lzeta, Las Pal­
mas 1 993, Black could have achieved
comfortable equality with the simple
1 4 . . . i.gS.
13 'ij'bS! (D)
GM Anand explains in Schach No.
2, 1 997, p . 4, that this game was
played on his birthday (December 1 1 ) .
H e just did not feel like giving hi s op­
ponent an early draw as a present. This
induced him to consider the coming
creative strategic sacrifice of the ex­
change. GM Anand admits that he was
not, however, fully comfortable in
playing an endgame a whole exchange
down.
13 ... c6
14 l:f.xh4 ! 'ir'xh4
GM lvanchuk's expression after the
sacrifice signalled to GM Anand that
his opponent was surprised. Of course,
the alternative, 14 . . . tll x h4?, makes no
sense since White ' s attack is bound to
be very strong after 15 i.g5 ! : 1 5 . . . f6
1 6 i.xh4 ! cxd5 1 7 'il'xd5+ 'iii> h 8 1 8
i.g3; 1 5 . . .'iVa5 ? 1 6 tlle 7+ �h8 1 7 i.c2
h6 1 8 'iVxh6+ ! and wins (analysis by
GM Anand).
15 'ir'xh4 tllx h4
16 tll b 6
The start of White's strategic at­
tack. It is based on the following fac­
tors :
1 ) the weakness of b6, allowing
White's knight an unassailable future;
2) the vulnerability of the d6-
pawn, the capture of which by White's
queen's bishop would also fork Black's
rooks;
3) the undeveloped black queen­
side, denying the queen's rook a satis­
factory immediate location;
4) the white bishop-pair is a poten­
tial power if the position opens up
some more. We will see the power of
this in the final phase of the game.
Of course, Black can swallow his
pride and immediately give back the
exchange with 1 6 . . . i.fS . Yet after 1 7
tll x a8 l:f.xa8 White' s bishop-pair and
superior centre yields him a comfort­
able, risk-free advantage. Such a deci­
sion by Black would be a poor
practical approach.
16 l:.b8
17 i.f4 4-JfS
18 dS ! l:f.e8
White's d-pawn is very valuable
and must be preserved. Instead of the
text-move, 1 8 . . . cxdS ? ! is inferior as
after 19 cxd5 l:f.d8 20 l:f.e 1 ! �f8 2 1 h3 !
tll e7 22 g4, Black's pieces will have
 Strategic Attacks
extreme difficulties getting out of
their present box.
The idea associated with Black's
move is clear and good : the rook takes
control of the only open file and is
ready to infiltrate White's position
with . . . l:te2. For instance, 1 9 dxc6?
bxc6 20 i.xc6 l:te2, when GM Anand
evaluates this position as already
slightly superior for Black.
Therefore White has to take time
out to prevent Black's plan. White can
afford this time-loss because Black
still cannot complete the development
of his queen ' s rook and queen's
bishop.
19 �fl ! ! (D)
The crucial moment in the game.
White is now ready for 20 h3 followed
by 2 1 g4, winning. Black must do
so mething to prevent that. The active
1 9 . . . l:te4? ! is unsatisfactory since after
20 l:r.el ! the back-rank mate threat
forces 20 . . . l:txe l + and after 2 1 �xe l
the threatened 22 g4 is even more
powerful since Black's rook cannot be
defended by the other rook.
131
19... h6?
A truly unfortunate move. Black
threatens to lessen White ' s pressure
by chasing away the queen's bishop
with 20 . . . g5 and at the same time gives
the king a flight-square. Yet the key to
the position is to enable the f5-knight
to stand its ground long enough and
for this 19 . . . h5 ! is required. Detailed
analysis by GM Anand has shown that
best play for both sides is then 20 dxc6
bxc6 2 1 i.xc6 llxb6 ! 22 i.xe8 llxb2,
with approximate equality.
20 h3 !
This is the refutation. The bishop
can safely return to h2, and the deci­
sive g4 advance cannot be parried .
GM Anand gives the instructive line
20 .. Jld8 21 g4 lbh4 22 c5 ! . Therefore
GM lvanchuk tries some counterplay.
20 lle4
21 i.h2 cxd5
22 g4! llxc4
22 . . . dxc4 is worse because of 23
i.c2 ! . As played, Black hopes to get
three useful pawns for the missing
piece.
23 lbxc4 dxc4
24 :tel !
White continues with his dynamic
strategic play. Black's king is safe
enough, but his pieces cannot cope
with the superior coordination of the
enemy forces. As one example, if Black
tries to hold on to the knight, he loses
as follows : 24 . . . lbd4 25 lle8+ �h7 26
i.xd6 l:i.a8 27 i.e5 b5 28 i.dl lbc6 29
i.c2+ f5 30 l:txc8 ! l:txc8 3 1 i.xf5+ g6
32 i.xc8 lbxe5 33 i.xa6 b4 34 �e2
(analysis by GM Anand). White is up
a good kingside pawn, the centralized
1 32 Practical Middlegame Tips
king is ready both to stop and to men­
ace Black ' s queenside pawns, while
White will soon have in motion a pow­
erful passed a-pawn.
24 .te6
25 gxf5 .txf5
26 .txd6 .txh3+
27 �gl J::.d 8
28 .C.e8+! .C.xe8
29 .txe8 (D)
The position that White was aiming
for with his 24th move. Even though
three pawns for the piece is a correct
approximation of material value, the
distribution of the pawns is much in
White's favour. On the queenside
Black has no prospects of either ex­
changing off all the pawns or creating
a viable passed pawn . Just the oppo­
site: Black has to worry that he doesn 't
lose his pawns there.
On the kingside, where Black al­
ready has a passed h-pawn, White 's
king is properly placed to cope with
that. In this he will be assisted by the
queen's bishop. On the one hand, Black
must try to mobilize his kingside
maj ority, but on the other hand he
must be careful that the pawns do not
become overextended.
White has three objectives:
1) to make lame Black's queen­
side;
2) to prevent effective mobiliza­
tion of the kingside; and
3) to keep the king flexible so that
it can cope with the h-pawn while be­
ing ready to enter the fray via the cen-
tre.
Because the position is rather open,
White 's bishop-pair is a tremendous
potential power. GM Anand makes
virtuoso use of this power. This end­
game will serve as a marvellous intro­
duction to the coming Section 20, The
Potential of the B ishop-pair.
29 .te6
30 a4! gS
31 as
The first step was easy to achieve.
For the second step the king's bishop
needs to start becoming active on cen­
tral diagonals.
31 � g7
32 .ta4! �g6
33 .tdl! .tdS
The threat of 34 .tf3 forces Black's
bishop here (33 . . . h5? 34 .tf3 .tc8 35
.td5) and this allows White 's king's
bishop initial control of the b l -h7 di­
agonal . 33 . . . g4? ! is worse as after 34
�g2 h5 35 �g3 �g5 36 .tf4+ �g6 37
'iii' h4 Black's h-pawn will soon be in
mortal danger.
34 .tc2+! 'itf6
35 .tc7 !
White prevents 35 . . . h5 because of
36 .td8+.
 Strategic Attacks 133

3 5 ... �e6 view of 46 �d4+ �h7 47 �fl fol­

36 �h7! �f3 lowed by 48 �d5, winning a decisive
36 . . . f5 fails to 37 �g8+. pawn.
37 �h2 �d5 46 'iii>h 2 (D)
38 �c2!
White has improved his king posi­
tion while chasing Black's king away
from his pawns. Thus the king's
bishop returns 'home ' .
38 �e4
39 �dl 'itd4
40 �e2! �d3
41 �b6+ 'itd5
42 �dl rs
43 'itg3! 'ite5
White's king has again improved its
position by a square. Black could not
afford 43 . . . f4+ as White has 44 � g4.
44 �c5 �f6 1-0
White was threatening 45 �f8 so
Black's king runs back. Black must choose between losing
45 �h5! the h-pawn after 47 �f8 or the b-pawn
White re-establishes the threat. after 47 �f3 . As either choice is hope­
45 ... f4+ less in the long run, GM lvanchuk re­
Black is already at the end of his signed. Truly a well-deserved birthday
rope. 45 . . . � g7 is equally hopeless in present that GM Anand gave himself!
Section 19 :
The Sli ghtly Su perior
Pos ition

The modem grandmaster is not greedy. Whereas 150 years ago the only accept­
able way was to go king-hunting as soon as possible, the approach now is to
make the whole 64 squares available for the battle. If your position has certain
advantage(s) then the monkey is on the opponent's back. We have learned that it
is not at all easy to keep defending a slightly inferior position.
Thus the emphasis on the ' slightly superior position' (SSP) is an important
part of middlegame strategy. A SSP can occur from any reasonable opening. To
demonstrate that I shall present one 1 e4 game, played by World Champion
Garry Kasparov in his typical style, striving for the initiative, and a closed open­
ing featuring GM Anatoly Karpov, where the accent throughout is on apparently
small strategic elements .
 Game 2 6
GM Ga rry Kaspa rov - GM Vasi ly l va nc h u k
Las Pa/mas 1 996
A l e k h i n e D efe n ce , M od e rn Va ri a t i o n
1 e4 lLlf6
2 e5 tLldS
3 d4 d6
4 lLif3
White's sharpest line by far is the
Four Pawns Attack (4 c4 lLlb6 5 f4),
with the aim ofjust overrunning Black's
position. However, White's centre can
easily become overextended, with dire
consequences for White. Therefore
modem GMs tend to satisfy themselves
with the variations after the modest
text-move. White keeps a slight ad­
vantage for some time to come - and
with little risk.
4 g6
5 .i.c4 c6
6 0-0 .i.g7
7 h3
7 exd6 is usual, when Black has to
recapture with the queen as 7 . . . exd6? !
allows the annoying 8 l:e 1 +. After
7 . . 'ii'x d6 8 l:e l White has a standard
. 13 .i.b3!
' slightly superior centre' type of posi­
tion.
7 ... 0-0
8 exd6 exd6
By recapturing thus Black estab­
lishes more of a central presence than
is possible after 8 . . . 'ii'xd6. He does not
fear 9 .i.xd5 cxd5 because the doubled
isolated d-pawns control lots of key
central squares and are secure enough
for the coming middlegame.
- 804
There are also minuses to Black's
recapture: a permanent weakening of
the key f6-square and the risk that
White will turn out to be the master of
the open e-file. Both of these factors
will require very careful defending on
Black's part. GM Kasparov immedi­
ately starts to exploit this.
9 l:.el lLic7
10 .i. gS .i.f6
1 1 .i. h6 :es
Allowing the h6-bishop to live will
mean that Black's king will be a bit
uncomfortable for ever more. The al­
ternative is 1 1 . . . .i.g7, when GM Kas­
parov provides the following analysis:
1 2 .i.xg7 �xg7 1 3 d5 ! b5 1 4 .i.fl !
lLixd5 1 5 .i.xb5 'ii' b 6 1 6 lLla3 , with a
slight plus for White (superior devel­
opment and pawn formation, more se­
cure king).
12 .:r.xe8+ lLixeS
The idea behind 9 . . lLic7 was, of
.
course, to aim for central equality with
. . . d5 . GM Kasparov obviously sees
what is coming and prepares to under­
mine the pawn on d5 with c4. White
recognizes that this can lead to a vulner­
able d4-pawn, but trusts that dynamic
factors will be the more significant
ones. GM Yuri Dokhoian GM Kas­ -
parov's second at Las Palmas - reports
that White took a long time on the
1 36 Practical Middlegame Tips

text-move, but played the follow-up 15 ixc4 lbd6

moves quickly. 16 ib3 lbf5
13 d5 17 'ir'd2!
14 c4 (D) What now, Black? He can capture
the d-pawn in two ways, but neither is
attractive. GM Kasparov provides the
following proof:
a) 17 . . . ixd4? ! 1 8 ig5 'ii'd 6 1 9
lbc3 ! ig7 2 0 'ii'x d6 lbxd6 2 1 l:td l
if8 22 if4, when White's huge edge
in development places Black's future
in doubt.
b) 17 . . . lbxd4 ? ! 1 8 lbxd4 'ti'xd4 1 9
'i!r'e 1 'ii'e5 2 0 lbc3 ! ie6 2 1 'ti'xe5 ixe5
22 l:r.d l ! lba6 23 ixe6 fxe6 24 lbe4. I
believe that Black has better chances
to survive here than in the first varia­
tion, yet it is clear that for the small in­
Beginning now GM Ivanchuk started vestment of a pawn White's three
using large amounts of time and by pieces dominate the board.
move 22 was in serious time-trouble. Therefore Black decides to work on
Black's problem is that there is never his development.
any clear road to full equality and the 17 lb d7
search for the lesser evil is inherently 18 lbc3 lbxh6
time-consuming. 19 'ir'xh6 lbf8
For instance, here Black has to make 20 l:tdl ie6
the fundamental decision whether to 21 d5! cxd5
capture on c4 or try to hold the impor­ 22 lbxd5 (D)
tant d5-point with 14 . . . ie6. Then af­
ter the obvious 1 5 cxd5 Black again
has to choose between :
a ) 1 5 . . . cxd5 1 6 lbc3 lbc6, when
White has the more active piece place­
ment.
b) 15 . . . ixd5 1 6 lbc3 ! ixb3 1 7
'i!r'xb3 with obvious pressure on Black's
position (superior centre, edge in de­
velopment).
GM I vanchuk selects the capture on
c4, thereby enhancing White's centre.
14 ... dxc4
 The Slightly Superior Position
This is our next SSP for White.
B lack has no structural weaknesses
an d has the bishop-pair in an open po­
sition, yet again it is White who is
pressing on Black: the queen and king's
knight on the kingside and the rook,
bishop and queen 's knight along the
open d-file. Again Black will get no
pleasure by capturing White's loose
pawn, e.g. 22 . . . i.xb2 ? ! 23 'Wi'f4 ! i.xd5
(worse are 23 . . . l:.c8? 24 llle5 ! �g7 25
lllc4 i.f6 26 llld 6 .:f.b8? 27 llle 8+ ! and
White wins; 23 . . . 'Wi'b8 ? ! 24 lllc 7 ! ; and
23 . . . 'Wi'a5? ! 24 llle5 ! ) 24 i.xd5 llle6 25
'iVb4 'Wi'b6 ! 26 'ii'x b6 axb6 27 l:tbl .
Black has fair drawing chances here,
yet no GM would 'voluntarily ' choose
such a variation.
22 l::tc8
23 ir'e3 b6
24 llle5 l:.c5
25 lll g 4! i.xg4
26 hxg4 <i;g7
Black prevents any checks on f6 and
e7, yet GM Kasparov's energetic play
leaves his opponent in a practical sense
in a hopeless situation : short of time
and continually facing new threats.
Even though the annotator can say
with confidence that 'with perfect
play Black can defend ' , who is going
to come up with perfection? If one of
the top players in the world finally
errs, who would not? This is the plea­
sure of playing SSPs - and correspond­
ingly, the nightmare of defending
against them.
27 f4! h6
White was threatening 28 g5 , while
27 . . . i.xb2? ! fails to 28 'Wi'e2 i.a3 29
g5 . The text-move allows the king's
1 37
bishop to remain on the crucial a l -h8
diagonal. However, GM Kasparov
continues to ' lob grenades' .
28 f5! g5
Here again the b-pawn is taboo:
28 . . . i.xb2? 29 f6+ ! i.xf6 (29 . . . <i;h7
30 'Wi'e7 ! ) 30 lll xf6 'ii'xf6 3 1 l:tfl fol­
lowed by 32 l:.xf7+.
29 'Wi'e2! (D)
White keeps control of his SSP and
forces Black to come up with some­
thing that doesn ' t make his situation
worse. In Jnformator 68 (game 87),
GM Kasparov analyses this position
in depth. He shows that Black's only
satisfactory plan is 29 . . . ltc8 ! and after
30 'Wi'a6 i.xb2 3 1 'Wi'xa7 gives as the
main line 3 1 . . .lll d7 32 lll f4 ! l:tc 1 ! 33
l:.xc 1 i.xc 1 34 llle 6+ fxe6 35 fxe6
i.e3+ 36 �h l i.f4 37 exd7 i.c7 . The
control of d8 in conjunction with the
exposed condition of White's king
will allow Black to draw. However, to
reach this position Black must instinc­
tively avoid stepping on a large num­
ber of mines.
29 ... tiJh7?
138 Practical Middlegame Tips

In serious time-trouble, GM I van­ a) 35 . . . 'ii'x b2 36 'ii'd 8+ �g7 3 7

chuk overprotects f6, but neglects d7 . 'ii'g 8+ �f6 38 'ii'e 6+ �g7 39 'ii'f7 +
The trouble is immediate. �h8 40 'ii'g 8#.
30 lllxf6 'iixf6 b) 35 . . . 'ii'g7 36 'ii' b 8+ lll f8 3 7
31 l:r.d7 :es 'ii'd 8, followed by 38 f6.
32 l:.xf7+ 'iixf7 c) 35 . . . lll f8 36 'ii'xa7 .
33 'ii'x eS+ 'ii°f6 36 i.e6! 1-0
34 'iic7+ �h8 Not seeing a reasonable defence,
35 'it>hl ! Black overstepped the time-limit. GM
By preventing counterplay via Kasparov provides the definitive anal­
. . . 'ii'd 4+, White keeps a total clamp on ysis : 36 . . lllf8 37 'ii'x b6 'ii'e 5 38 i.c4 !
.

Black's position. 'ii'e l + 39 �h2 'ii'h4+ 40 �gl 'ii'e l + 4 1

35
... a5 i.fl . White is two good pawns up and
There was no defence: has the superior position.
 Game 2 7
G M Anatoly Ka rpov
Dortmund 1994
Queen's Ga m b i t Dec l i n ed , Ta rrasch D efe nce - D 3 2
1 tllf3 tllf6
2 c4 c5
3 tli c3 tlic6
4 e3 e6
5 d4 d5
6 cxd5 exd5
7 i.bS
From a likely Reti or English, the
game has transposed into the Tarrasch
Defence of the Queen 's Gambit De­
c lined and, moreover, into a variation
that is considered to be rather harm­
less for Black. (The move-order for
the ' normal' sequence is 1 d4 d5 2 c4
e6 3 tlic3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5 5 tllf3 tlic6 6
e3 tllf6 7 i.b5 .)
Therefore it is very instructive what
GM Karpov says about his choice in
the November 1 994 issue of Chess
Life, p. 1 4 : "White shifts to a Nimzo­
lndian Defence or Panov Attack (in
the Caro-Kann) with colours reversed,
as if playing the black pieces with an
extra tempo. This allows White to
hope for a minimal advantage." (my
italics).
7 i.d6
8 0-0 0-0
9 h3 ! ?
This is a very sophisticated con­
cept, originated by GM Karpov. As he
e xp lains "White is in no hurry to clar­
ify the situation in the centre and makes
us efu l prophylactic moves first." The
- G M Peter Leko
point is that White is interested in
forcing an isolated d-pawn upon Black
with dxc5, yet in the main lines Black
gets excellent development with ... i.g4,
for example 9 dxc5 i. xc5 1 0 b3 (the
queen ' s bishop must be developed ! )
1 0 . . . i.g4 .
After the text-move Black has no
great developing move and White is
ready for 10 dxc5 i.xc5 1 1 b3 . Thus
GM Leko (as GM Morovic did earlier)
prevents White from realizing his goal
by being the first to exchange off the c­
pawn. Nevertheless, the critical con­
tinuation is 9 . . . a6 ! ?, as played subse­
quently in G. Kaidanov-N.de Firmian,
USA Ch 1 995 and l.lvanov-W.Browne,
Los Angeles 1 997 . IM Ivanov erred
immediately with 1 0 dxc5 ? ! i.xc5 1 1
i.xc6 bxc6, while GM Kaidanov used
the move-order 10 i.xc6 bxc6 1 1
dxc5 ? ! i.xc5 . In each case Black's en­
hanced centre and bishop-pair gave
him the superior chances . Correct is
the thematic 10 i.xc6 bxc6 1 1 b3 ! , as
recommended later by GM Kaidanov.
White will apply pressure along the c­
file after 12 i.b2 and 1 3 l:tc l , while
expecting to recapture on d4 with the
e-pawn - as in our game.
9
... cxd4
10 exd4! (D)
Only so ! White needs to keep suffi­
cient central control . After 1 0 tll xd4
1 40 Practical Middlegame Tips
tLle5 B lack will have good counter­
play along the e-file and on the
kingside, which compensates fully for
the isolated pawn. Note that GM Kar­
pov is not aiming at a maximum ad­
vantage, but wants to ensure that
whatever advantage there is, is his.
Even though the position is almost
symmetrical , White's bishop on b5 is
more usefully placed than Black's
king's bishop on d6 because at the
proper moment i.xc6 can turn out to
be advantageous for White. 1 0 . . . a6? !
i s now quite inappropriate for Black as
after 1 1 i.xc6 bxc6 1 2 i.e3 he will
have a vulnerable c-pawn and perma­
nent dark-square weaknesses on the
queenside. GM Leko decides to imi­
tate GM Karpov's 9th move.
10 ... h6
11 l:el •c7
In the earlier game A. Karpov­
I.Morovic, match (game 3), Las Pal­
mas 1 994, White also retained a SSP
after 1 1 . . .i.d7 1 2 tLle5 l:c8 13 a3 a6
1 4 i.a4 b5 15 i.b3 ! i.e6 1 6 i.c2 !
'ii' b 6 1 7 i.e3 l:fd8 1 8 tLlg4 ! i.xg4 1 9
hxg4. Therefore, G M Leko overpro­
tects e5 .
12 i.e3 i.d7
13 l:cl a6
14 i.d3
After 1 4 i.xc6 Black now has
1 4 . . . i.xc6, when 15 tLle5 ? ! can be met
by the aggressive 1 5 . . . i.xe5 1 6 dxe5
�xe5 ! since 17 i.c5 'ii'g5 1 8 i.xf8 al­
lows the dangerous 1 8 . . . d4 ! (analysis
by GM Karpov).
GM Karpov therefore retreats his
bishop to an active central square.
White's SSP now comes from having
the slightly more active light-squared
bishop, both his rooks already being
on open files and the somewhat un­
comfortable location of Black's queen
in opposition to White's queen's rook.
14 :res
15 a3 :.ac8
16 b4
Here White's SSP is based on a bit
more space on the queenside, the awk­
ward location of Black's queen and the
d7-bishop being inferior to its coun­
terpart on d 3 . I believe that Black's
best now is 16 . . . °ii' b 8, awaiting devel­
opments. Instead he rushes to ex­
change bishops , but the result is that
his active bishop is exchanged for
White's passive one. This enhances -
at no cost - White's control of the dark
squares and increases his SSP.
16 i.f4?!
17 i.xf4! l:xel+
18 •xel �xf4
19 tLle2 •d6
20 •d2
White's enhanced SSP is now due
to maj or dark-square superiority both
 The Slightly Superior Position 141

on the queenside and in the centre, as 0ie5 GM Karpov evaluates the position
well as his better light-square bishop. as only "slightly better". However, I
Black's plan of exchanging rooks does want to add that this SSP is very annoy­
not affect this evaluation. ing and difficult to defend for Black.
20 ... 0ie7 26 0ie5! 'ii'd6
21 0ig3! 27 0ixd7! !
Preventing a potential . . . J.f5 so as The mark of a great strategist ! GM
to exchange bishops. Karpov is willing to exchange off
21 l::txcl+ Black's 'bad ' bishop to increase the
22 'ii'x cl 0ic6 power of his remaining pieces while
23 'ii'c5! (D) forcing Black's knights into a strictly
defensive crouch. Clearly 27 . . . 'ir'xd7??
loses to 28 J.b5 .
27 ... 0ixd7
28 J.b5! 0idb8
The only way to keep the a-pawn
(which is exposed due to 25 . . . a5 ?) pro­
tected.
29 bxa5 bxa5
The pawn is vulnerable here and the
crucial c5-square goes over to White.
Unfortunately the structurally desir-
able 29 . . . 0ixa5 allows 30 'ir'c8+:
a) 30 . . . 'iff8 3 1 'ir'c7 ! is miserable
for Black.
Starting to bore into the vulnerable b) 30 . . . 'itth7 3 1 J.e8 ! leaves Black's
dark squares. king defenceless on the kingside. Just
23 ... 'ii'b8 watch where Black's knights are !
After 23 . . . 'ir'xc5 ? ! 24 dxc5 White 30 0icl 'ii'c7
has a very dangerous queenside pawn 31 0ib3 'ii' b6
majority; if 23 . . . 'ir'c7, White makes 32 a4 g6
use of the pin to activate the king's 33 h4! h5
knight with 24 0ie5 . With the queens on the board Black
24 0ie2 b6 cannot allow 34 h5, yet now Black's g­
25 'ii'c3 a5? and h-pawns will be fodder for White's
I believe that this is the decisive er­ bishop in the coming minor-piece
ror. The generally correct way to play endgame.
slightly inferior positions is to keep 34 'ii'c 5! 'ii'xc5
'everything close to the vest' . In other 35 dxc5 (D)
words do not create new weaknesses ! Black could just avoid the exchange
2 5 . . . 'ir'b7 is necessary, when after 26 of queens on move 23 but not the
142 Practical Middlegame Tips

second time around. The endgame is
lost for Black as his knights cannot
move. Thus the king has to defend the
whole board - an impossibility. If the
king heads for the centre/queenside,
White wins as in the game; if Black ' s
king remains o n the kingside, White ' s
king will head for the centre t o chase
away the blockading c6-knight with a
properly timed lLld4.
35 �f8
36 f3 �e7
37 �f2 �d8
38 �e3 �c7
39 g4! (D)
Here we see very clearly the strate­
gic idea behind 33 h4 ! . If Black's h­
pawn were still on h6 he would have
some chances of defending the king­
side. Here he has none. The only choice
is whether first to lose the h-pawn and
then the game or to allow White a win­
ning passed h-pawn after 39 . . . hxg4 40
fxg4 followed by 4 1 h5 .
39 ... f6
40 gxh5 gxh5
41 �f4 llld7
42 �f5 lllce5
Black finally has his first chance for
activity in the game. White must re­
spect this. Rushing with 43 f4 ? ! is not
at all advisable since after 43 . . . lLlf3 !
44 �e6 tll f8+ 45 �xf6 lll x h4 the
passed h-pawn (now for Black ! ) gives
him dangerous counterplay. In the
coming play GM Karpov keeps snuff­
ing out all and any of Black's dreams.
43 i.e2! d4
44 lllxd4!
The d-pawn is becoming dangerous
so White eliminates it. GM Karpov
provides the instructive variation 44
f4? ! d3 ! 45 i.xh5 lLlc4, when White
will have to de-activate his king to
stop the pawn. He is not afraid of the
potential passed a-pawn because that
still will have a long road to travel.
44 lllx c5
45 f4 lLled7
46 i.xh5 lLlxa4 (D)
Though - as always - some care is
required, White 's position must be
won for these reasons:
1) his king can help the h-pawn
promote, whereas Black's king is far
away from the a-pawn;
 The Slightly Superior Position 143

3) White 's king should be able to

capture the f-pawn, thereby turning
White's f-pawn into a passed pawn.
47 J.e8! lbac5
48 h5 a4
49 h6 lbf8
50 �xf6!
Activity is the clearest way to win.
According to GM Karpov Black has
chances for a blockade after 50
i.xa4? ! �d6 ! ! 5 1 J.b5 �e7 ! followed
by . . . lbb7 and . . . lbd6.
50 ... a3
2) Black's knights are too far away 51 �e7 a2
from the passed h-pawn, while White's 52 lbc2 lbce6
knight is within one step of the a­ 53 J.f7! lbd4
pawn; 54 � 1 -0
Sectio n 20 :
The Value of the
Bisho p - pair

Grandmasters i n their talk often characterize their position a s superior because of

the 'two bishops' . In this book you will find that I have been using the same type
of description. It sometimes seems as if the 'bishop-pair' takes on some mytho­
logical strength of its own. Of course, it is inappropriate to exaggerate such
strength in every situation. Yet in open positions where the bishops have scope,
their power is undeniable. Since often 'one picture is worth a thousand words ' let
us look at such a picture (D).

Power of the Bishop-pair

When the bishops are side-by-side they do an awesome job of controlling the
board. In the diagram:
1) For attacking Black's kingside: the key squares f6, g7, h8, g6 and h7 are
under their control.
2) For attacking Black's queenside, the squares b6, a7, c6, b7 , a8 are reached
by them.
 The Value of the Bishop-pair 145

3) For controlling Black's side of the centre: the primary d5- and e5-squares
as well as the secondary c5- and f5-squares are in White's hands.
4) For defending White's part of the board: the dark-squared bishop takes
care of anything on the diagonals from al to c3 and gl to e3; the light-squared
one watches over the diagonals from bl to d3 and hl to f3 . How is Black to pene­
trate?
Therefore, as long as the board is not cluttered up with pieces thereby shorten­
ing the bishops ' range, their immediate and potential power must be respected.
Game 28 shows off the 'classical ' situation ; in Game 29 the potential power
makes its appearance.
 Game 2 8
GM Peter Svid ler - GM Utut Ad i a nto
Groningen (FIDE KO World Ch) 1 99 7
Ruy Lo pez , O pe n Va riation - C83

1 e4 es have been among the adherents of this

2 lDf3 lDc6 variation.
3 i.bS a6 The main lines have traditionally
4 i.a4 �f6 started with 9 'ii'e 2 and 9 c3. GM Svid­
s 0-0 �xe4 ler prefers a more recent move.
6 d4 bS 9 �bd2
7 i.b3 dS This clumsy-looking move gained
8 dxeS i.e6 full respect after the 1 98 1 World
This is the normal starting point of Championship match between GMs
the Open Ruy Lopez. Black sort of Karpov and Korchnoi, when White
stands the Ruy Lopez on its head: (GM Karpov) scored 2 1'2 out of 3
rather than laboriously protecting his games. The immediate obj ective is to
e5 strong-point, Black - in effect - ex­ chase the black knight away from e4.
changes it off for White's d-pawn and 9
... �cs
allows this pawn to reach Black's part 10 c3 i.e7
of the board on e5 . The strategic char­ In all three of the games referred to
acteristics are: above GM Korchnoi chose 1 0 . . d4 . It
.

1 ) Black has free piece-play, but is is playable but hardly offers any bed of
behind in kingside development. There roses to Black. A paradoxical point is
also is a certain looseness in his cen­ that grabbing the bishop-pair with
tre, i.e. the d-pawn; 10 . . . �xb3 1 1 lDxb3 i.e7 is not advis­
2) White has completed his king­ able either since White quickly mobi­
side development and his e-pawn is in lizes the f-pawn starting with 12 �fd4.
Black's part of the board. White will After the text-move the game trans­
aim to storm Black's kingside by ad­ poses into a 9 c3 variation (9 c3 i.e7
vancing his f-pawn to f4 and f5 . 10 �bd2 .!LJc5).
There is little question that at this 11 i.c2 i.g4
point White can expect a normal open­ 12 l:.el 0-0
ing advantage. Black will attempt to 13 �n l:.e8
capitalize on his extra pawn on the 14 h3 i.hS
queenside and is confident that he can lS l2Jg3 i.g6
hold his own in any tactical melees 16 lLJfS ! (D)
that occur. It is therefore no surprise that A relatively new and strategically
GMs Mikhail Tai and Viktor Korchnoi sound idea, whereby White will try to
 The Value of the Bishop-pair
gain the bishop-pair under normal
conditions. After the previously stan­
dard 16 i.e3 'Wd7 17 i.xg6, Black can
equalize with 17 .. .fxg6 ! 18 i.xc5 i.xc5
19 tlle4 i.e7 20 tlle g5 i.xg5 21 tll x g5
tll d 8 (analysis by GM M.Marin).
16 tlle 4? !
An ambitious plan: the knight returns
to its earlier outpost in White's part of
the board, while short-circuiting the
diagonal of White's king's bishop. Un­
fortunately, little of permanent value
is accomplished thereby. On the other
hand White will now have the bishop­
pair.
The modest 1 6 . . . i.f8 seems more
in the spirit of the position. Black's
king's rook then is in position to men­
ace the e-pawn and the c5-knight has
the opportunity to help solidify the
kingside by going to e6. In M.Wahls­
R . Htibner, German Cup 1 99 1 , Black
reached approximate equality after 1 7
i.f4 tll e 6 1 8 i.h2 tll a5 1 9 tll e 3 c 6 20
tl:id4 tll xd4 2 1 cxd4 tll c4 22 b3 tll x e3
23 l:txe3 c5 ! 24 i.xg6 hxg6 25 dxc5
i.xc5 26 .:i.d3 d4.
1 47
17 tllxe7+ l:txe7
18 i.f4 'ikd7? !
Black overvalues h i s position. He
feels that by bringing the queen's rook
into the game all will be well. Defen­
sive considerations should have been
attended to first by playing 18 . . . h6, al­
lowing the queen's bishop to retreat to
h7 and taking away the g5-square
from White's bishop and knight.
19 tllh 4! tllc5
The e-pawn is poisoned: 19 . . . tllxe5 ?
20 i.xe5 l:txe5 2 1 tll x g6 hxg6 22
.:i.xe4 ! wins a piece.
20 tllxg6 hxg6
This position had already occurred
earlier in the year in the game Van den
Doel-J.Timman, Dutch Champion­
ship 1 997 . The editors of Informator
70 characterize the position as 'un­
clear' , perhaps influenced by the later
course of the game. However, GM Svid­
ler shows convincingly that White has
a substantial advantage. He has more
space due to the e5-pawn, the bishop­
pair in a rather open position and
Black's kingside pawn structure, de­
valued because of the doubled pawns,
afford White prospects of opening
lines further with an f5 or h5 break.
21 i.e3!
The tempo gained on the knight en­
ables White to mobilize the f-pawn.
21 tlle6
22 f4 d4
Black understandably looks to
make use of his extra queenside pawn,
but the inevitable result is an increase
in the scope of White 's light-squared
bishop.
23 i.e4! .:i.d8
148 Practical Middlegame Tips

24 1.f2 l:.ee8 capture White ' s e-pawn: 30 . . . l:.xe5 ? !

Switching into defensive mode al­ 3 1 cxd4 cxd4 3 2 1.xd4 l:.e6 3 3 1.c3 is
lows White a free hand on the king­ crushing. Just look at the bishop-pair !
side. However, 24 . . . lllxf4 25 'ii'f3 llld5 30 'ii'e 6
26 cxd4 enhances White's centre 31 cxd4 cxd4
(26 . . . llldb4 27 l:.ad l ! ) . 32 1.xd4 llle7
2 5 'ii'g4 llle7 33 a3! l:.d7
26 h4! cs 34 1. c3 l:.ed8
27 l:.adl (D) 35 l:.xd7 l:.xd7
36 hS!
The squeezing of Black's position
continues. The c3-bishop has the im­
portant job of keeping the cramping e­
pawn protected and is well-placed to
menace g7 once Black's queen stops
its blockade on e6.
36 ... lllh7
37 'ii'g3 'ii' b 6+
37 . . . lll f5 is answered by 38 'ii' h 3
(38 . . . llld4 39 'ii'd 3 ! ) .
3 8 �h2 'il&'h6
39 'ili'g4 lllf8
40 An ! lll e6
White neutralizes Black's pressure 41 l:.f6 'ii'e 3
along the d-file. He is now ready to re­ With all four white pieces in the at­
sume his kingside attack by breaking tack and the e- and h-pawns taking
soon with h5 or f5 . While it is obvious away key squares from Black, the end
that the e4-bishop is powerful, the t2- is near. The spectators should be
bishop may as yet be seen as inactive. grateful to GM Adianto that instead of
However, it applies annoying pressure heading for the hopeless endgame af­
on d4, making it hard to improve the ter 4 1 . . .'ii'g5 42 'ii' x g5 lll x g5 43 l:.d6 !
coordination of Black's forces. l:.xd6 44 exd6 lll xe4 45 dxe7 , he in­
27 llldS stead allows us to watch a scintillating
28 fS ! gxfS finish.
29 'ili'xfS lllf8 42 h6! lllg S
30 'ii'f3 ! 43 e6! fxe6
Of course, White is not about to ex­ 44 'ii'x gS ! ! 1-0
change queens. Suddenly Black can­ The forced variation is 44 . . . 'ii'x g5
not protect the d-pawn, nor can he 45 h7+ �h8 46 :rs+ lll g 8 47 l:.xg8#.
 Game 29
I M Sa u d in Robovic - GM Ed ma r M ed n is
Ostend 1 993
S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , R i chte r- Ra u ze r Atta c k - 8 6 7

1 e4 c5 ( 1 2 . . . ttlxd4 1 3 ttlxd4 is in White ' s in­

2 ttlf3 ttlc6 terest) and Black ' s possible . . . b4 at­
3 d4 cxd4 tack already pre-empted. Of course,
4 ttlxd4 ttlf6 the move also has some disadvantages
5 ttlc3 d6 (otherwise it would be the universal
6 J.g5 e6 choice ! ) : development of the king ' s
7 'ifd2 a6 bishop i s hindered and the knight has
8 0-0-0 J.d7 retreated to a location obviously less
9 f4 b5 active than c3.
10 J.xf6 gxf6 12
.•. ttla5
1 1 �bl 'ii'b 6 This has historically been Black's
So far as in Gaine 1 , where White most popular continuation : since the
played the most popular line, 1 2 exchange on d4 has been made unat­
ttlxc6. Please see that gaine for my tractive, the knight now aims for the
discussion of the strategic themes for c4-square. Then, if 1 3 b3 (the usual re­
both White and Black. sponse), the dark squares on the
12 ttlce2 (D) queenside will have been weakened
and Black hopes to exploit this some­
time down the line. Black has three
important alternatives :
a ) 1 2 . . . J.e7 worked out well i n
J.Arnason-J.Waitzkin, New York Open
1 992: 1 3 g3 ttla5 14 b3 ttlb7 1 5 J.g2
ttlc5 16 'ire3 ( 1 6 e5 0-0-0 ! ) 16 . . .0-0-0
17 l:.hfl 'illc 7 1 8 f5 e5 ! 19 ttlf3 b4 20
ttld2 a5 with a comfortable position
for Black and a draw on move 32.
However, I don ' t trust 12 ... J.e7 be­
cause of 1 3 g4 ! , when the king's
bishop's location on e7 denies Black
the promising 13 . . . h5 14 gxh5 J.h6 re­
The text is White's most strategi­ sponse.
cally sound approach: the active d4- b) 12 . . . h5 ! ? is primarily played to
knight is allowed to retain its position prevent 13 ttlg3 (which is possible
 1 50 Practical Middlegame Tips
after 1 2 . . . lLla5). The interesting course
of J.Nunn-B .Damljanovic, Belgrade
1 99 1 was 1 3 g3 lLla5 14 b3 .:tb8 1 5
�g2 lLlc4 1 6 'ifd3 lLla3+ 1 7 c;i;ib2 b4
1 8 c4 � g7 . The position is unclear;
the game was drawn on move 29 - see
lnformator 53 (game 1 97).
c) 12 ... .:tc8 ! ?, as played by GM
Yermolinsky, is a most interesting
(and impressive ! ) plan. Firstly by re­
taining pressure on d4, the possible 1 3
lLlg3 i s parried. After 1 3 g 3 lLla5 14 b3
lLlc6 ! ? the weakening of White's
queenside has been achieved and the
knight returns to its central location.
15 �g2 �e7 1 6 .:the l 'ifa5 ! (the 'threat'
to exchange queens causes White to
weaken his queenside further) 1 7 c3
lLlxd4 ! 1 8 'ifxd4 'ifc7 1 9 'ifd3 h5 20
:te l (the weakness of the c-pawn pre­
vents the mobilization of the knight so
that White has to deactivate the
queen's rook) 20 . . . 'ifc5 gave Black at
least full equality in J.Waitzkin-A.Yer­
molinsky, New York Open 1 992. The
GM continued to outplay his youthful
opponent to score a 47-move win.
13 b3
An almost automatic reply, though
White was successful with 1 3 lLlg3 in
the two known examples :
a) P.Popovic-Z. Kofol, Yugoslav
Ch 1 99 1 : 1 3 . . . h5 ? ! 14 �e2 lLlc4 1 5
'ii'c 3 ! 'ifc5 ? ! 1 6 'iff3 ! .:tc8 1 7 lLlxh5,
with Black having no compensation
for the missing pawn ( 1 -0 in 29).
b) Petrushin-A.Beliavsky, Baku
1 97 7 : 1 3 . . . 0-0-0 14 'ifc3+ 'ifc7 1 5
'ii'xc7 + <i;xc7 1 6 �e2 and now instead
of the clumsy 1 6 . . . �c8 1 7 �h5 .:td7
( 1 -0 in 60), Petrushin suggests 16 . . .�e7
17 �h5 .:thf8 with approximate equal­
ity. However, 1 8 f5 ! , with the ideas 1 9
�xf7 ! and 1 9 fxe6 followed by 20
�g4, seems strong.
13 ... lLl b7
The redeployment of the knight to
c5 is the standard operating proce­
dure. 1 3 . . . .:tb8, aiming for . . . lLlc4 as in
Nunn-Damljanovic above, also needs
further investigation despite its lack of
success in the few tries so far.
14 g3 (D)
The ambitious 14 g4 ? ! is met by
14 . . . h5 ! 1 5 gxh5 �h6 (GM D . King),
when White's kingside play becomes
paralysed and Black starts operating
on the queenside.
14 .. . :cs
As a result of this game I believe
that the rook stands better on b8 and
that the accurate move-order is 14 ... lLlc5
15 �g2, when Black has the following
choices:
a) 15 ... .:tc8 - see the game course.
b) 1 5 . . . .:tb8 is my suggestion for an
improvement. If White opens the
queenside - as in the game - Black will
 The Value of the Bishop-pair
be a huge tempo ahead of the game
continuation.
c) 1 5 . . . 'ii' b7 is analysed by GM
Savon, who concludes that after 1 6
'ii'e 3 e5 1 7 lt:Jf3 .ic6 1 8 lt:Jc3 lt:Jxe4 1 9
lt:Jxe4 .ixe4 2 0 l:the l White has com­
pensation for the pawn.
d) 1 5 . . . l:.a7 was a new idea tried in
D.King-E.Mednis, New York (WFW)
International 1 990. The game quickly
sharpened: 1 6 'ii'e 3 'ii'c7 17 l:.he l .ig7
1 8 l:td2 b4 1 9 l:.ed 1 a5 20 lt:Jc l 0-0 2 1
lt:Jde2 l:.a6 2 2 g4 f5 ! 2 3 gxf5 exf5 24
e5 ! when after my suicidal 24 . . . l:.e8??
25 lt:Jd3 ! there was no defence ( 1 -0 in
38). Instead after the correct 24 . . .dxe5
25 l:.d5 l:.c6, the chances remain equal.
15 .i g2 tt:Jcs
16 'ii'e 3 'ii'c7
Preventing 1 7 e5 seems the prudent
course, even though GM Amason in
his notes in Informator 49 (game 242)
draws attention to the possible play­
ability of 16 . . . .ie7 ! ? 17 e5 0-0.
17 l:.d2 (D)
Not much more can be asked from a
move than the text provides: c2 is
15 1
protected, doubling of rooks on the d­
file enabled and the road opened for
the king ' s bishop to get to c l in case
White wants to open the c-file.
17 ... b4
This is my attempt to improve on
the 17 . . . .ie7 of J.Arnason-V.Tukma­
kov, Moscow (GMA) 1 990, when af­
ter 1 8 l:.c 1 0-0? ! 1 9 g4 �h8 20 lt:Jg3 !
White developed a decisive attack
against Black's king. GM Amason crit­
icizes Black's 1 8th but doesn ' t men­
tion a possible improvement. GM Byrne
suggests the start of queenside action
with 1 8 . . . a5, 1 9 . . . b4 and 20 . . . a4.
We have one of those interesting
situations where it is in Black's inter­
est to delay making the decision of
where to put the king (centre or king­
side) so that White doesn't know where
to aim his firepower. Since the modest
development of the king ' s bishop is
unimportant for the queenside activ­
ity, I decided to start it immediately.
White - who is better developed - re­
acts by preparing his own activity
there.
18 l:tcl as
19 c3 l:tb8
The rook belongs on the b-file both
for aggressive and defensive (guard­
ing b5) purposes. If, for instance,
Black plays 19 . . . bxc3 then after 20
lt:Jxc3 it is obvious that Black's rook
should be on b8 rather than c8. So, af­
ter cursing my 1 4th move ( 1 4 . . . l:.c8) I
swallowed hard and crossed my fin­
gers in the hope that I could afford the
lost tempo.
20 cxb4 l:txb4
21 l:.c3 .ie7
 152 Practical Middlegame Tips
With all of White's pieces mobi­
lized for attacks all across the board, I
have to rush to castle so that my king's
rook can be used on the queenside.
22 tllc l l:lb8
23 tlld3
Black can just get out of the pin
along the c-file now. During the game
I was wondering whether White could
play the violent 23 e5 ? ! dxe5 24
tll d 3 ? ! exd4 25 'ii'xd4. Subsequently I
discovered that the counter-sacrifice
25 . . . tll x b3 ! 26 axb3 'ii' b 6 gets Black
out of difficulties and with a good ex­
tra pawn to boot.
23 'i'b6
24 tllxc5 dxc5
25 tllc 2 a4!
Black has to loosen up White's
queenside as much as possible so that
later on there will be something vul­
nerable to aim at. White in turn
repositions his bishop to c4. From
there b3 will be protected and in con­
j unction with the f5 advance, e6 at­
tacked.
26 .i.fl axb3
27 axb3
It is in White's interest to keep the
b-file (rather than the a-file) closed,
because b3 can be easily protected
with the help of his bishop and Black's
attack along the a-file is not danger­
ous, i.e. even after doubling the queen
and rook on the file, . . . 'ii'a2+ is noth­
ing terrible because the king simply
escapes to c 1 .
Now I was faced with the problem
of what to do about the queen's
bishop. In order to castle I must either
move it or protect it. It seemed wrong
to offer the exchange with 27 . . . .i.b5
since I would not have the potential of
the bishop-pair in case the position
opens up and, moreover, my remain­
ing bishop can easily wind up inferior
to White ' s knight.
27 ... .i.c8
Chosen to keep an eye on the poten­
tially vulnerable e6-point. Yet this is
an inherently passive approach and
perhaps the audacious 27 . . . .i.a4 ! ?
leads to a more pleasant situation, e.g.
28 .i.c4 0-0 29 g4 %Xfd8 ! and Black's
forces will be more active than in the
game.
28 .i.c4 0-0
29 g4! %Xd8! (D)
White has started his attack and
Black must rush to exchange off his
passive king's rook for one of White's
rooks.
30 %Xxd8+ 'i'xd8
31 %Xd3 'i'c7
32 g5? !
White immediately starts a violent
attack, something particularly danger­
ous when time is growing short on the
 The Value of the Bishop-pair
clock. Yet a s a result o f having done a
considerable amount of analysis, I
have concluded that Black can parry
the attack and at one moment even
gain the advantage. Therefore White ' s
best approach i s a more strategic
kingside attack with 32 h4 and after
32 . . . i.b7, 3 3 g5 so as to be able to re­
capture with the h-pawn in case of
33 . . . fxg5 . The position is tough to call
after 33 g5 , with my best guess being
'dynamic balance' .
32 ... fxgS
33 eS! ?
This i s White's idea. O f course, af­
ter 3 3 fxg5 'ii'e 5 ! Black stands beauti­
fully. After the text-move, 33 . . . gxf4?
34 'ii'xf4 leads to a killing attack and
33 . . . if8 ? ! (with the idea 34 fxg5 ?
ig7 35 l:.d6 l:.b6) allows White to keep
the advantage after 34 'ii'g 3 ! 'ii'e7 35
h4 ! . Therefore Black again must rush
to lessen White's attacking power.
33 ... i.b7! (D)
34 rs
All part of White's plan . The rou­
tine 34 fxg5 leaves White with a
153
vulnerable e-pawn after 34 . . . :d8 fol­
lowed by . . . if8 and . . . i.g7.
34 exf5
35 e6 :dS !
36 exf7+ c:i;g7
I didn ' t trust 36 . . . �f8? because of
37 'ii'e 6 ! threatening mate on h6 and
refuting 37 . . . l:.d6 with 38 'ii'e5 ! . Black
also has no time to return to the game
course with 37 . . . c:i;g7 because of 3 8
f8'ii'+ ! ! i.xf8 39 'ii'g8+ ! 'iit f6 4 0 l:.xd8
'ii'x d8 4 1 'ii'f7+ c:i;e5 42 'ii'e 6+ rJif4 43
'ii'e 3+ 'iit g4 44 ie2+ 'iit h4 45 'ii'g 3#. It
should not be surprising that in posi­
tions such as after 36 exf7+ - where
Black is hanging by a thread - any lost
tempo is disastrous.
37 l:.xd8
Otherwise White can ' t hope to
make progress (e.g. 37 'ii'e 6 i.c8 ! ) ,
but now Black doesn ' t have t o worry
about the danger from White's rook.
37 ... 'iixd8
38 'iWeS+ 'iitg 6? !
I was fearful of allowing 38 . . . if6
39 'ii'xf5, when Black has no immedi­
ate attack (39 . . . 'ii'd l + ?! 40 'iit a2 'ti'c l ??
4 1 f8'ii'+ 'iit xf8 42 'ii'xf6+ 'iit e 8 43
i.b5+ wins). However, after the para­
doxical-appearing 39 . . . i.c8 ! Black
chases the queen off its ideal square
and after 40 'ii'f3 ! g4 ! followed by
4 1 . . .'ii'e 7 and 42 . . . 'ii'e 5 White would
be lucky to draw. In this variation the
bishop-pair as both a defender and ac­
tive attacker makes its first appear-
ance.
39 'ii'e6+ i.f6
Here I felt pretty good as 40 'ii'e 8?
allows 40 ... 'ii'd l + 41 'iit a2 'ii'x c2+ 42
'iita 3 'ii' b 2+ 43 'iit a4 'ii'a 2+ 44 'iit b 5
 154 Practical Middlegame Tips
�a6+ 45 'it>xc5 �a5+ 46 i.b5 'ii'c 7+;
after 40 tLle3, 40 . . . i.e4+ is adequate;
if 40 'it>c l , then 40 . . . 'ii'e7 4 1 tLle3 i.c8 !
is equal.
Yet on the last move before time
control, White sets a new challenge to
Black with . . .
4 0 i.d3 ! ?
This was quite unexpected and I
quickly analysed as follows: 40 . . . 'ii'xd3
4 1 f8'ii' 'ii'd 1 + 42 'it.?a2 'ii'x c2+ 43 'it>a3
'ii' b 2+ 44 �a4 'ii'a l + 45 'it>b5 , when
White wins as Black's queen doesn't
have access to a6. However, as subse­
quently pointed out by FM B urgess,
instead of 44 . . . 'ii'a l +??, Black wins by
44 . . . 'ii'd 4+ ! 45 'ii'c4 (other moves al­
low instant mate) 45 . . . i.c6+ 46 'it>a5
i.d8+. Therefore White has to go in
for 4 1 'ii'xf6+ 'it.?xf6 42 f8'ir'+ with a
perpetual check in the offing.
In the game I chose a ' safety-first'
move.
40 ... 'fle7
Now 4 1 i.xf5+ 'it>g7 and 4 1 'ir'xf5+
'it>xf7 are both pleasant for Black.
However, White has another trick up
his sleeve whereby he obliges Black's
forces to become temporarily poorly
coordinated.
41 f8tLl+ !
The automatic 4 1 f8°ir'? just drops a
pawn after 4 1 . . .'it'xe6.
41 ... �xf8
42 �xf5+ 'it>f7
Not 42 . . . 'it.?g7 ?? 43 °ir'xh7# !
43 �xh7+ �g7
44 �f5! �f8!
45 �g6+
Of course, White can draw with 45
'ii' h7+, etc . However, at this moment
his wish to play for a win can ' t be
faulted.
45 ...
46 tLle3
White has been doing all the press­
ing so far and thus is unprepared to
take a new objective look at the posi­
tion. As a result he both overvalues his
prospects and misunderstands the key
theme of the position. The disappear­
ance of White's passed pawn on f7 has
freed Black from any fundamental
problems. Material is even, the posi­
tion has opened up for Black's bishop­
pair and the inherent weakness of
White's king position should be obvi­
ous . Black's problem was the awkward
situation with his king. Therefore
Black first rushes to safeguard it and
then will start coordinating his forces
to attack White's king. White should
now satisfy himself with 47 i.e4 and
the resultant equal endgame after
47 . . . i.xe4+ 48 'it'xe4 °it'd6 .
4 7 tLlg4?! (D)
This is playable from a strictly the­
oretical standpoint, but wrong from a
 The Value of the Bishop-pair 155

practical viewpoint since i t enhances 49 ... 'ii'e8 ! (D)

White ' s losing chances rather than his
winning prospects. White now ex­
pects the routine 47 . . . J.. e7 and expects
to be able to enhance his pressure with
48 J.. f5 or 48 'Wb6+. Actually, in ei­
ther case Black' s position remains
fully defensible and his opportunities
for counterplay bright. However, as
Black ' s theme is to activate the
bishop-pair, rather than crawl into a
shell, I played . . .
47 ... !i.. d4! ! (D)

Black is ready to infiltrate on the

bottom rank either along the e-file or
the a-file. I doubt whether White can
defend. In the game, despite using
much time, he didn ' t come close to
finding a defence.
50 °fif4+ �b6
5 1 °fih6+ J.. c6
52 °fid2 °ii'g 8!
53 eie3
After 5 3 'ii'd l the win is provided
by 53 . . . 'tli'a8 ! 54 �c l (or 54 !i.. f5 !i.. f3 ! ,
48 'iixg5+ �c7 etc.) 5 4 . . . J.. f3 55 J.. e 2 'ii'a l + 5 6 'itid2
49 °fif5? 'iVc3#.
Continuing to play for the win 53 ... 'ii'x b3+
when he should be straining to draw. 54 �cl J.. b 5!
49 eie3 ! is correct, and after 49 . . . 'fif3 0-1
White should rush for the perpetual After 55 !i.. x b5 , Black wins the
check with 50 'ii'e 7+ ! �b6 5 1 °ii'd 8+ ! queen by 55 . . . J.. x e3 . A triumph for the
�a7 52 °ii'a5+, etc. long-dormant bishop-pair !
Section 2 1 :
Two Bishops a re n't
Eve rythin g (whe n the
Knights are Bette r)

I t i s well recognized that the knight - being a short-range piece - excels i n in­
fighting. Therefore it is the preferred minor piece in cluttered or blockaded posi­
tions.
There are, however, certain types of open positions where the bishop-pair 'by
rights ' should be the superior minor-piece combination, but in fact the knights
are better. This occurs when the following middlegame stratagem does not exist:
the bishops need stable and secure locations to do their best. B ecause this
truth is not sufficiently appreciated by the chess public, I have selected the fol­
lowing illustrative game. As the heading says, two bishops aren ' t everything in
all open positions - there are times when the knights are better. It is indeed very
important to become familiar with the principles involved in such situations .
Otherwise you can suddenly and unexpectedly find yourself worse off, just as
happens to the noted GM in our game.
 Game 3 0
G M Alexei D reev - G M J e roen P i ket
Dortmund 1 994
S l a v D efe n ce , Sc h l echter Va riation - 094

1 d4 tllf6 d 5 cxd5 1 3 tll x d5 tll b 6 1 4 tll xf6+

2 c4 c6 'it'xf6 1 5 b3 l:ac8 1 6 J.e3 l:fd8 1 7
3 lllf3 dS 'it'e l ! a 6 1 8 'it'a5 l:c6 1 9 l:ad l l:xd l
4 e3 g6 20 l:xd l . White' s bishop-pair indeed
5 tllc3 J. g7 guarantees him a small yet durable ad­
6 J.e2 0-0 vantage.
7 0-0 9 J.xf3
This position is something of a cross 10 1r'xf3 tll bd7
between the Grilnfeld and Slav De­ 1 1 J.b3 es
fences, i.e. the king's bishop fianchetto 12 l:dl 'fle7 (D)
as in the Grilnfeld and the c6-d5 cen­
tral structure as in the Slav. It is a solid
yet inherently passive opening. The
normal solid way continues with
7 . . . J.g4. B ecause this leads to inher­
ently lifeless positions for Black, more
and more GMs prefer the game con­
tinuation.
7 ... dxc4
8 J.xc4 J.g4
Black wishes to complete his minor­
piece development in smooth fashion
while keeping reasonable central in­
fluence. To do so he prepares to hand
over the bishop-pair. Just a quick look tells us that:
9 h3 • White has more central influence
White immediately takes up Black's and the potential of the bishop-pair.
offer. The slight disadvantage of this is • Black is slightly ahead in develop­
that White's queen will be somewhat ment.
awkwardly placed on f3 . I believe that Nevertheless, the position is very
the white position is easier to play af­ sensitive. White must find good loca­
ter 9 J.e2, as demonstrated in Y.Seira­ tions for his bishops. The right way
wan-Soylu, Moscow Olympiad 1 994 : now is 1 3 dxe5 ! , leading to these
9 . . . tll bd7 1 0 e4 J.xf3 1 1 J.xf3 e5 1 2 choices for Black:
 158 Practical Middlegame Tips
a) 1 3 . . . 'Wxe5 ? ! 1 4 e4 .l:r.ad8 1 5 i.f4
'Wa5 1 6 i.d6 .:tfe8 1 7 'Wf4 l:tc8 1 8
'ii'e 3 'Wb6 1 9 'Wf4 and the active bish­
ops give White a normal advantage:
a 1) 1 9 . . . lLJc5 ? (this is too optimis­
tic and runs into a series of tactical
shots) 20 e5 ! lLJxb3 2 1 exf6 ! lLJxal 22
fxg7 'Wxb2 23 i.e5 ! .:te7 24 'ii'f6 .:txe5
25 'ii'x e5 lLJc2 26 .:tbl ! 'Wa3 27 lLJe4
.l:!.d8 28 lLJf6+ ! <l;xg7 29 lLJe8++ 1 -0
L.Alburt-B .Finegold, New York Open
1 994.
a2) Black should satisfy himself
with repeating the position by 19 . . . 'Wa5,
putting to White the question of how
to continue. GM Alburt suggests 20
g4, 20 .l:r.d2 and 20 .l:!.d4 as viable
choices.
b) 13 . . . lLJxe5 ! is considered by
both GMs Alburt and Piket as Black's
correct recapture. GM Alburt then anal­
yses 14 'ii'e 2 l::t fd8 1 5 f4 ! ? as White 's
best hope for a slight plus.
13 e4? ! exd4 !
14 .:txd4 .:f.ad8!
The immediate challenge to White's
control of the d-file is more annoying
to him than the 14 . . . lLJc5 15 i.c2 l:i.fe8
of G. Kasparov-R.Htibner, TV Exhibi­
tion Game, Cologne 1 992. After 1 6
i.e3 .l:!.ad8 1 7 .:t e 1 .:txd4 1 8 i.xd4
lLJfd7 1 9 i.xg7 �xg7 20 'We3 lLJb6 2 1
f4 .l:!.d8 2 2 b 3 lLJe6 ! 2 3 e 5 'Wc5 an
equal endgame was reached.
15 i.e3 lLJc5
16 i.c2? !
It turns out that the position after
Black's 1 5th move is also a sensitive
one. After the 'automatic ' text-move
Black's knights start demonstrating
tremendous agility. Because Black
gains an important tempo by attacking
the rook on d4, the correct move-order
for White is 1 6 l:i.xd8 ! .:txd8 1 7 i.c2
(GM Piket) .
Also reasonable is the suggestion
by GM V.Epishin, 16 .:tad l , with the
follow-up 16 . . . .l:f.xd4 17 i.xd4 ! lLJfxe4
1 8 lLJxe4 lLJxe4 1 9 i. xg7 �xg7 20
'ii'e 3 (20 . . . .l:r.e8 2 1 'ifxa7) and equality.
Black can try to go for more, however,
with 1 6 . . . lLJfd7 ! ?.
16 ... lLJfd7
17 .:tddl
Neither is 17 .l:f.d2 attractive, for ex­
ample 17 . . . lLJe5 1 8 'ii'e 2 .l:!.xd2 ! 1 9
i.xd2 l:td8, when White's bishops look
rather pitiful, while Black has control
of the open file and is ready to sink a
knight into d3.
17 ... b5 ! (D)
Black has gained significant space
on the queenside and is ready to an­
chor a knight on c4, thereby applying
lethal pressure to White 's queenside.
White's situation is already close to
critical . GM Piket considers that
White 's only chance is to activate his
 Two Bishops aren 't Everything (when the Knights are Better) 159

queen via 18 'ii'g3 ! in the hope of some 'ii'x e2), GM Dreev tries the other
counterplay. flank. However, GM Piket is accurate
18 'fle2? to the very end. I do want to empha­
After this routine defensive retreat size that Black ' s defence ' does not
Black's knights just run all over play itself but requires accuracy and
White's bishops . vigilance. These qualities are always
18 tllb 6 vital in 'winning won positions ' .
19 l:.xd8 l:.xd8 29 ... i.e5 !
20 l:.el 30 f4 (D)
The queen 's rook must be devel­ This opens up White's king some
oped prior to the anticipated retreat of more to Black's pieces, but everything
the queen's bishop to c l . Neither is else is worse. For example, 30 'it'g5
there anything attractive about 20 l:.d 1 , l:.e2 ! wins a piece or 30 'it'h4 l:.e2 ! 3 1
as after 20 . . . l:.e8 ! Black's pressure in­ f3 (3 1 .l:r.xe2 'it'd l +) 3 1 . . .l:.xe l +, etc.
creases on the vulnerable e-pawn.
20 ... tllc4
21 i.cl tlle 6!
Just compare White's scopeless
bishops to Black's energetic knights !
The immediate threat is obviously
22 . . . tll d4. To cope with that White has
to deactivate his forces further.
22 'ii'n 'ires
23 i.b3 tlld 2!
24 i.xd2 l:.xd2
25 i.xe6 fxe6
Black's knights have 'sacrificed'
themselves for White's impotent bish­
ops to enable the queen, rook and 30 i.d4+
bishop to dominate the scene com­ 31 �h2 c5
pletely. Passive defence is hopeless, 32 'iWh4 l:.xa2!
e.g. 26 l:.e2 i.xc3 27 bxc3 'ii'x c3 28 33 'fle7 h5 !
'it'e l (28 l:.xd2 'it'xd2 29 'it'al 'it'd6, 34 'fle8+ �g7
etc.) 28 .. Jk2 ! , so White sacrifices a 35 'fle7+ �h6
couple of pawns to mobilize his knight. 36 h4 'fif5
26 e5 ! ? l:.xb2 37 tll g3 'fixf4
27 tlle4 'iWxe5 38 l:.xe6 l:.al
28 'iWd3 'iWdS 0-1
29 'iWg3 White is totally lost. GM Piket pro­
Because 29 'it'a3 is met nicely by vides the following clear proof: 39
29 . . . l:.e2 ! (30 l:.xe2 'it'd l + 3 1 �h2 l:.e4 'it'f6 40 'it'e8 l:.e 1 ! .
Section 22:
The Misplaced Piece

In the never-ending search for ways to obtain an advantage, an important mod­

ern-era strategy is that of the 'misplaced piece' . If you can force (or trick ! ) your
opponent into misplacing one of his pieces, then if the scene of action shifts to
another part of the board you will have the significant advantage of having an ex­
tra piece there. It is obvious that the fewer pieces on the board, the more serious
the handicap of having one of your pieces misplaced. Therefore, this can become
a particularly heavy cross to bear in the endgame. This is often also the case in
the early stages of the opening because when development is incomplete a mis­
placed piece can allow the opponent to overrun your position since your pieces
will not yet be sufficiently mobilized to prevent that.
Though the disadvantage of having a misplaced piece is usually less severe in
the middlegame as compared to the endgame or early opening, it is serious
enough to 'do that unto your opponent while avoiding it being done to you ' . The­
oretically any piece can become misplaced anywhere. However, by far the ma­
jority of examples in practice involve a knight either on or close to the edge of the
board. Game 3 1 presents a rather straightforward example; Game 32 shows off
the sophisticated skill of a world champion.
 Game 3 1
G M Ed m a r Med n is - Bern h a rd La u be
Wa ttens 1 993
Ki ng's I nd ia n Defence , S i magi n Va riation - E62

1 c4 lLlf6 apply the thematic pressure on d4. Yet

2 g3 g6 in the very specific position at hand,
3 .i.g2 .i.g7 the plan is difficult to execute without
4 lLif3 0-0 some resultant disadvantages.
5 0-0 d6 8 h3
6 d4 lLic6 The most critical response, with
7 tbc3 (D) White gaining the bishop-pair for fu­
ture use. I was interested in seeing
how it works out for me since I hadn' t
employed i t previously. According to
theory, White's strongest approach is
to transpose into a line of the Yugoslav
Variation with 8 d5 lLia5 9 lLld2 (or 9
b3 c5) 9 . . . c5 where the bishop has lit­
tle to do on g4.
8 .i.xf3
9 .i.xf3 tbd7
10 e3 e5
And so Black's attack on d4 is in
full swing, but the question remains :
so what? Again, theory plumps for
With the kind of transposition com­ maximum space control with 1 1 d5 and
mon in international play, we have evaluates the position after 1 l . . .tbe7
reached one of the most important lines 12 e4 f5 1 3 .i.d2 a5 14 'iPg2 h6 15 .l:r.bl
of the King's Indian Defence. Black's lLlf6 1 6 a3 'iPh7 17 'ife2 b6 1 8 'ifd3 f4
most popular plan after 6 . . . tbc6 is 1 9 b4 axb4 20 axb4 g5 2 1 c5 bxc5 22
7 . . . a6 and 8 . . . l:r.b8, aiming for queen­ bxc5 dxc5 23 'ifc4, F.Olafsson-Thor­
side counterplay via . . . b5 , which was bergsson, Reykj avik 1 974, as slightly
developed in the mid- l 950s by Argen­ superior for White. I agree with this
tine GM Oscar Panno. evaluation, but was interested in aim­
7 ... .i.g4 ing for a more open position where the
On the face of it, the text-move - bishop-pair could have more poten­
credited to Soviet GM Simagin - makes tial. Thus I chose the simple . . .
abundant sense : Black gets ready to 1 1 dxe5 (D)
 162 Practical Middlegame Tips
White's plan is to employ the c4-
pawn for a slight central superiority
and the bishop-pair for applying pres­
sure on Black's position - most likely
from the a- to d-files. Yet, because of
the awkward location of his king's
bishop, some consolidation will be re­
quired before White can start his play.
11 ... .!LJdxeS
Black has no fewer than three other
ways of recapturing :
a) l l . . .J-xe5 ? ! is silly, with White
consolidating comfortably after 1 2
J-d2 followed b y 1 3 J-g2 and retain­
ing a pleasant advantage.
b) 1 1 . . .dxe5 is thematic in signifi­
cantly increasing Black's central influ­
ence. Encyclopedia of Chess Openings
E, 2nd Edition ( 1 99 1 ) considers only
this move, giving as the reference
R.Lau-S.Kindermann, Beersheba Zonal
1 985 : 1 2 'ifb3 'ii'c 8 1 3 l:r.d l 'ith8 1 4
.!LJa4 f5 1 5 J-d5 l:r.e8 1 6 J-d2 .!LJf6 and
evaluating the position as 'unclear' . I
think that White 's most promising
plan is the simple 12 J-xc6 bxc6 1 3
'iff3 , when Black has to justify his rot­
ten queenside pawn-formation.
c) 1 l . . . .!LJcxe5 . The opening of the
position can only help White's bish­
ops. After 12 J-xb7 l:r.b8 1 3 J-g2
.!LJxc4 14 'ii'c 2 .!LJc5 15 l:r.bl a5 16 .!LJd5
White is comfortably better, Soloviev­
Titienko, USSR 1 966.
12 J-e2 .!LJaS
The ambitious text-move seems to
be a theoretical novelty. In Zita-Nei­
kirkh, Sofia 1 957 Black tried 12 . . . 'ii'd7
and after 1 3 f4? ! 'ii'x h3 had a strong at­
tack for the piece. Of course, the sensi­
ble response is 13 'ith2, when 1 3 . . . .!LJaS
1 4 'ii'd 5 b6 1 5 f4 ! is good for White :
1 5 . . . c6 1 6 'ii'e4 f5 1 7 'ifc2 .!LJexc4? ! 1 8
b4 ! l:r.ae8 1 9 l:r.f3 and White wins a
piece.
13 'it'a4 c6
14 l:r.dl l:r.b8
During the game I was more con­
cerned about 14 . . . a6 (with the idea
15 . . . .!LJaxc4 16 J-xc4 b5), but 15 c5 d5
16 'ii' b4 planning 17 .!LJa4 followed by
18 .!LJb6 looks good for White. In this
variation we see again the faults inher­
ent in the wayward position of Black's
queen's knight.
15 l:tbl !
White removes the queen's rook
from the diagonal of Black's bishop
and for certain tactical variations pro­
tects the b-pawn.
15
... b6
Following 15 . . . .!LJaxc4 16 J-xc4 b5
White has 17 .!LJxb5 .!LJxc4 1 8 .!LJxa7
and even after the complications of
l 8 . . . .!LJe5 1 9 f4 'iVd7 20 fxe5 J-xe5 ! 2 1
'itg2 i s sure to wind up a pawn ahead.
16 'it'c2!
This is third point behind White's
previous move . White uses simple
 The Misplaced Piece
tactics to enhance the coordination of
his forces .
16 ... f5
White's c-pawn is poisoned, e.g.
1 6 ... tbexc4? 1 7 b4 ! or 1 6 ... tbaxc4? 17
f4 ! - in either case Black loses a piece.
Black's inherent problem is the
poorly placed queen's knight and he
should start bringing it into the game
with 1 6 . . . tbb7 . Yet Black never seems
to realize this need.
17 b3 'fie7
18 .tb2 l:tbe8 (D)
19 .tn
The fianchettoed bishop needs to be
're-fianchettoed ' , both to protect the
king and to be on its natural central di­
agonal.
19 ... gS
20 tbe2 lDf3+? ! (D)
Black's attack will not be success­
ful, because he is playing it, in effect, a
piece down. Therefore, for instance
the sacrifice with 20 . . . f4 2 1 exf4 gxf4
22 lDxf4 lhf4 23 gxf4 lDf3+ is par­
ried by 24 �g2 ! lDh4+ 25 �h l . In­
stead of the text-move Black should
1 63
satisfy himself with a slightly inferior
position and play 20 . . . tbb7 .
21 �hl .teS ? !
Thanks t o the 'missing piece' Black
just can ' t strengthen the attack. Here
2 1 . . .f4? ! is answered by 22 exf4 gxf4
23 gxf4 ! when Black will soon have to
worry also about the open g-file and
the f3-knight, which is out on a limb.
With the immediate 2 1 . . . .txb2 Black
could have saved a tempo over the
game continuation.
22 .tg2 .txb2
23 l:txb2 tbe5
24 'fic3 l:tf6
25 .:r.bd2 .:r.cS?!
Black's only well-placed piece is
the e5-knight, and so he should safe­
guard its position by playing 25 . . . g4
even though this does hand the f4-
square over to White's knight.
26 f4! lDf7
27 tbd4 gxf4
Black's pieces have become so dis­
jointed that there are no good moves
left, but opening the e-file for White
can only make matters worse.
1 64 Practical Middlegame Tips

28 exf4 'ii'd8
29 b4!
White now is ready to allow the ex­
change of his ' great' d4-knight for
Black's 'bad' a5-knight, because in
the resulting position White's remain­
ing pieces will have total domination.
Black's response is forced as 29 . lllb7
..

loses to 30 lll x c6.

29 ... c5
30 bxa5 cxd4
31 ii'xd4 bxa5
32 .td5! (D)
White does not have to worry about
the exchange of queens since his re­
maining three pieces will be masters
of the board.
34 ... 'it'xd4
35 :xd4 a6
36 l:.a7 l:.c5
37 .J:[d3 'it>g6
38 :e3 1 -0
There being no adequate defence to
the coming 39 :ee7 (38 . . . :cs 39
l:.ee7 :fs 40 :xa6 followed by 4 1
l:.xa5 , etc.), Black allowed his time to
run out. Note how the originally way­
32 ... 'i;g7 ward queen's knight eventually led to
33 :e2 'ii'b 6 horribly misplaced pieces on the
34 :e7 (D) kingside.
 Game 3 2
G M G a r ry Kaspa rov - G M Alexei S h i rov
Horgen 1 994
S i c i l i a n Defence , Svesh n i kov Va riation - 833

1 e4 c5 permanent hole on d5 and he will not

2 lDf3 e6 be able to prevent a doubling of the f­
3 d4 cxd4 pawns, thereby seriously weakening
4 lDxd4 lDf6 his kingside pawn structure.
5 lDc3 lDc6 A major re-evaluation has come
6 lDdb5 d6 about as a result of the thousands of
7 .if4 e5 hours of research starting in the 1 960s
8 .ig5 (D) put in by Soviet GM Evgeny S vesh­
nikov. This work showed that though
indeed Black's risk is maj or, the op­
portunities for counterplay are also
substantial . And what is new about
dangers for Black in the S icilian De­
fence? In any case, the variation is
considered viable today and quite de­
servedly carries GM S veshnikov's
name.
8 a6
9 lDa3
The single most crucial develop­
ment by GM Sveshnikov that brought
Black back from the dead was in dem­
This is the main line starting point onstrating that in the line 9 .ixf6 gxf6
of the Sveshnikov Variation. The 'pure' 1 0 lDa3 b5 1 1 lDd5 , which was previ­
move-order for reaching this position ously thought to be overwhelming for
is 1 e4 c5 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 White, Black can afford to play the
lDxd4 lDf6 5 lDc3 e5 6 lDdb5 d6 7 fearless 1 1 . . .f5 ! ? . In hindsight it be­
.ig5 . However, the move-order of our came clear that the challenge to
game occurs approximately 25% of White's centre together with the a3-
the time, reaching the same position knight ( White 's misplaced piece in
one move later. this variation ! ) is sufficiently bother­
For a long time the variation was some that for now White does not have
considered to be downright inferior. sufficient time to get at Black's weak­
The reasons were logical: Black has a nesses.
166 Practical Middlegame Tips
Of course, the 9 .txf6 line does re­
main a maj or and popular method for
White. Nevertheless, many GMs - in­
cluding GM Kasparov - prefer the
strategic way associated with the text­
move. White retains solid control of
d5 while considerably limiting Black's
prospects for counterplay.
9 ... bS
The only logical approach: Black
needs to make the a3-knight remain
the 'misplaced piece' . Still, there is an
inevitable danger associated with such
pawn advances: White has the poten­
tial to undermine Black's queenside
with an eventual a4.
10 t'LldS .te7
1 1 .txf6 .txf6
There is neither a need nor a pur­
pose in recapturing with the pawn. Not
only will the counterplay with . . . f5
come one tempo later than in the vari­
ations after 9 .txf6, but Black's king's
bishop is more useful and active on g7
than on e7.
12 c3
The misplaced knight must be
brought back into action via c2. A tre­
mendous amount of effort has been
(and is being) put into developing the
best approach for Black to aim for
equality. The latest idea is that Black
should first get his kingside in order
with 1 2 . . . 0-0 and after 1 3 lllc 2 con­
tinue with 13 . . . .tg5 .
As befits his ambitious, energetic
style, GM Shirov first wants to im­
prove the coordination of his queen­
side pieces so as to have them actively
placed to threaten White 's centre.
The plan would have been successful
except for GM Kasparov' s brilliant re­
joinder.
12 .tb7
13 lllc2 lllb 8
14 a4 bxa4
15 l:.xa4 llld7
16 l:.b4! lllcS? !
Black must have been happy here :
his queen's bishop and queen's knight
are well placed and secure, while the
white rook is the piece that looks to be
out on a limb. Just two moves later ev­
erything will have changed drastically.
After the game GM Kasparov sug­
gested 1 6 . . . .l:.b8 as Black's best de­
fence. Subsequently this was explored
in Smolyar - Cheutshenko, Estonia
1 995 . After 17 lllc e3 0-0 1 8 h4 a5 1 9
l:tb5 lll c 5 2 0 'irf3 lll e 6 White had a
slight advantage. Instead of the time­
losing 1 8 h4, it is simpler first to work
on completing kingside development
with 18 .td3 and castling.
17 l:txb7 ! ! lllx b7
18 b4 ! (D)
The exchange sacrifice is based on
these five factors:
 The Misplaced Piece
1 ) White will have complete con­
trol of the light squares on the a-, b-, c­
and d-files.
2) White will have a dominating
and secure knight on d5.
3 ) This knight will have more po­
tential than Black's king's rook.
4) Because Black's d-pawn is so
securely blockaded, White will be in
effect a pawn ahead, since he can ex­
pect to create a passed pawn on the
queenside, whereas Black's extra pawn
on the d- to h-files is stymied.
5) Black's knight will have great
difficulties finding an active location.
Nonetheless, exploiting the above
factors is not at all a simple task. GM
Kasparov' s play is absolutely exem­
plary. Please do watch the paralysis of
Black's knight.
18 .. . i. g5
19 llla 3!
The formerly misplaced knight is
on the way to the great square c4.
19 ... 0-0
20 lllc4 a5
Even though this turns White's b­
pawn into a passed pawn, it makes
abundant sense. Since Black is the ex­
change ahead, he should strive to get
his rooks on open files . Activity on the
kingside with 20 . . . f5 ? ! is counterpro­
ductive since after 2 1 i.d3 ! f4 22 'ilr'g4
White's control of the light squares is
enhanced while the potential of Black's
bishop decreases.
21 i.d3 axb4
22 cxb4 °it'b8
The position now is sufficiently
open so that both sides must continu­
ously juggle strategic elements with
1 67
specific concerns. The fine idea be­
hind the text-move is to allow the
knight to reach freedom via d8. GM
Kasparov observes that after the ' au­
tomatic' 23 0-0? llld 8 ! 24 lllc b6 l:r.a7 it
is already Black who is slightly better.
23 h4! !
Black's bishop i s forced to move off
its best square. If it retreats to d8
(23 . . . i.dS), the knight is denied that
square and White gets a comfortable
plus after 24 g3 ! 'ilr'a7 25 0-0 'ilr'd4 26
'ifb3 (analysis by GM Kasparov). The
retreat to h6 - as in the game - restricts
the bishop to just one diagonal and
leaves e7 unprotected.
23 i. h6
24 lllcb6 l:ta2
25 0-0
25 llld 7? ! is nothing because of
25 . . . 'ifa7 threatening mate.
25 .:.d2
26 'ii'f3 'ilia7
27 lll d7 (D)
White has completed the develop­
ment of his kingside while retaining
the various pluses enumerated after
1 68 Practical Middlegame Tips

White' s 1 8th move. Black' s position GM Kasparov analyses the definitive

is extremely difficult to defend. GM end through to move 54.
Kasparov has analysed Black' s poten­ 30 'ii'f5! ! <j;e8
tial defences in depth in lnformator 61 30 . . . 'ikxd3 and 30 . . . .i:r.xd3 lose to 3 1
(game 1 78) and I have made grateful 'ikd7, while 30. . .g6 fails to 3 1 'ii'f6.
use of some of this material : 31 i.c4! (D)
a ) 2 7 . . . l:[d8? loses a s follows: 2 8
0ie7+ <j;h8 2 9 ilxf7 .i:r.xd3 30 0if8.
b) 27 . . . 0ic5 ? fails after 28 bxc5
'ii'x d7 29 c6 ! ila7 30 c7 .
c) 27 . . . :a8 ! is the only correct
way. The best play for both sides then
is 28 0i7b6 ! .::r. f8 ! 29 i.b5 ! 0id8 30
0id7 0ie6 3 1 0ie7+! 'Wth8 32 0ixf8
'ii'x e7 3 3 0ixe6 ilxe6 (33 . . . fxe6? is
bad due to 34 .::r.c 1 ! ) 34 i.c6. White
has a clear advantage, but the reduced
material and opposite-coloured bish­
ops do give Black reasonable chances
for a laborious draw.
27 ... 0id8? 31 :c2
Black is happy to bring the mis­ The c4-bishop menaces f7 in varia­
placed knight into the game, even at tions such as 3 l . . .g6 32 0if6+ �e7 33
the cost of surrendering the passive 'ii'd 7+ <j;xf6 34 'ii'x d8+ <j;g7 35 'ii'e7,
king's rook. Yet now the combination while being safe on c4 due to knight
of the powerful passed b-pawn, queen forks. For instance, 3 1 . . .'ii'c5 32 'ii'xh7 !
and rook will allow GM Kasparov to <j;d7 33 'ii'f5+ <j;e8 34 i.b3 ! l:[b2 35
mount an irresistible attack on Black's i.dl (GM Kasparov) when Black is
king. helpless against, among others, 36 b6.
28 0ixf8 <j;xf8 32 'ii'xh7 ! .i:r.xc4
29 b5! 'ii'a3 33 'ii'g 8+ <j;d7
Apparently pinning the bishop, but 34 0ib6+ �e7
now Black's queen will be too far from 35 0ixc4 'ii'c5
his king. The slightly better 29 . . . 'ii'd4 36 :al ! 'ii'd4
allows the following won endgame : 36 . . . ilxc4 allows 37 :a7+ �e6 3 8
30 l:[d l ! .i:r.xd l + 3 1 'ii'x d l 0ie6 32 b6 ile8+ <j;f6 39 'ii'x d8+.
0ic5 33 i.c2 ilxd l + 34 i.xd l <j;e8 35 37 :a3! i.cl
i.a4+ ! <j;d8 3 6 i.c6 0ia6 37 b7 i. c l 38 0ie3! 1-0
3 8 i. b 5 0ib8 39 h5 . While Black's Down the exchange and a pawn and
pieces are tied down on the queenside, facing both 39 0if5+ and 39 0id5+, it
White's king will infiltrate the kingside. is indeed time to lower the colours.
Sect i o n 23 :
Q u e e n ve rs u s Two Roo ks

It is the middlegame and you have the opportunity to trade your queen for two
rooks. Should you? Well, as is generally true for 'trick' questions, the correct an­
swer is 'it depends' . However, we do know much about the very important queen
vs two rooks trade-off. The facts and tips are as follows:
1) In a majority of real-life situations two rooks will be more valuable than
the queen.
2) The correct material balance is queen + pawn = two rooks .
3) Because of total diagonal, longitudinal and sideways abilities, the queen is
exceptional both for attacking and defending.
4) The rook is a major piece only in attacking. It is a clumsy defender. Even
the enemy king can attack it with impunity !
5) The rook needs open lines to be effective.
6) In cluttered positions the rook will generally be ineffective.

Our illustrative game shows how the queen, even when taking only small
steps, can tie rings around two rooks when they are denied open spaces.
 Game 33
GM Artu r Yusu pov - GM Ta i Sha ked
Linares Open 1 99 7
Ki ng's I nd i a n Defence - E 7 0

1 d4 l2Jf6 White (instead of the game' s 1 1

2 c4 g6 l2J f4? ! ) the natural 1 1 l2J g3 and calls
3 l2Jc3 i.g7 the position ' unclear' .
4 e4 d6 7 ... l2Jc6!
5 l2Jge2 0-0 8 'ii'd2? !
6 i.g5 White i s naively thinking only of
The usual follow-up to 5 l2J ge2 is 6 his own plans. 8 d5 is necessary, when
l2J g3. Instead GM Yusupov chooses a Black has the choice between the
truly offbeat line. Apparently he ex­ blockading 8 . . . e5 and the more lively
pects to launch a powerful direct king­ 8 . . . l2Je5 .
side attack after 7 'ii'd 2, 8 i. h6, 9 l2J g3, 8 ... e5! (D)
10 h4 and 1 1 h5. His youthful oppo­
nent - a specialist on the King's Indian
- will have none of that.
What we will be witnessing very
soon is that the king's knight on e2 be­
comes seriously misplaced: the im­
portant d3-square becomes vulnerable
and the knight gets in the way for the
safeguarding of f2. Do not assume au­
tomatically that a knight can only be­
come misplaced on an edge. Such a
misfortune can occur to it (or any other
piece) anywhere on the board.
6 ... h6!
7 i.f4 Yes ! Black follows the classical
This retreat - though perhaps obvi­ principle that an action on the flank
ous for retaining the pressure on h6 - should be countered by one in the cen­
is imprecise because it will allow tre. White cannot play the obvious 9
Black to get in . . . e5 with gain of time. dxe5 ? ! dxe5 1 0 i.xh6? i.xh6 ! 1 1 'ii'xh6
More perceptive is 7 i.e3 l2J g4 8 i.c 1 because of 1 1 . . .l2Jb4 . Here we see the
c5 9 d5 e6 10 h3 l2Je5 , as in B .Larsen­ first instance of the misplacement of
S .Giigoric, Leningrad Interzonal 1 973. the king' s knight. If it were on f3 then
GM Gligoric then recommends for 12 l:tc l would defend everything .
 Queen versus Two Rooks 171

9 �xh6 �xh6 ! 17 liJfi ? !

10 'ii'xh6 liJxd4 G M Shaked criticizes this retreat as
1 1 'iiid2 not helpful to the queenside defence
This retreat is hardly what White and suggests the regrouping 17 :ctn !
intended when playing 8 �d2? ! . Yet �f6 1 8 f3 and 1 9 .::t f2 , which allows
the queen also must head back after 1 1 White a more comfortable defence of
ltJxd4 exd4 1 2 liJdS ltJg4. Of course, the vulnerable b2-point.
1 1 0-0-0?? loses to 1 l . . .liJg4. 17 a5!
The net result of the exertions of 18 �c2 a4
White 's queen is that Black has ob­ 19 a3 'ii' b6
tained a valuable centre pawn for a 20 l:!.el l:f.tb8
flank pawn. It is White who must prove 21 �dl l:f.a7
that his chances are not inferior. 22 :e3 :ab7 ! (D)
11 c5
12 ltJg3 a6
13 �d3
The immediate 1 3 h4 ! ? is more in
the spirit of White's previous play. GM
Shaked evaluates the situation after
1 3 . . . 'iti>g7 1 4 h5 :h8 as "not so clear".
13 ... b5 !
14 h4? !
It turns out that White - after all - is
hell-bent on attacking. Yet after the
lost tempo of 1 3 �d3, the sound 14 0-0
�e6 15 b3 makes more strategic sense.
Black's superior centre gives him a
slight edge, but White's king is secure The attack along the b-file forces
- something quite different from the White to capture on a4 with the knight,
game happenings. thereby both misplacing the knight on
14 �e6! the edge and opening the a-file for po­
15 0-0-0 bxc4 tential future activity.
16 �bl liJh7 ! 23 ltJxa4 'ii'c6
A fine defensive resource. Now af­ 24 h5 g5
ter the immediate 1 7 h5 �g5 ! White's 25 ltJg3 ? !
attack runs into a dead-end and with White has indeed obtained a passed
the knight covering g5, Black will be pawn on the h-file, with a rook in the
in a position to respond to a later h5 'correct' location, behind the pawn.
with . . . g5 . Meanwhile Black's attack However, this applies strictly only to
on the queenside will take on alarming endgames and our situation is any­
proportions. thing but that. GM Shaked points out
1 72 Practical Middlegame Tips

that White had to play 25 h6 ! , length­ 33 <it>b2 ll'ib5! (D)

ening the scope of the king ' s rook.
White would then have retained cer­
tain practical chances for resistance.
After the text-move White has the
worst of both worlds : the king' s rook
lacks scope and the knight on g3 is too
far away to help its king. Black now
demonstrates nicely that he has a won
position.
25 ... c3! !
26 ll'ixc3
The only capture. 26 bxc3?? allows
26 .. .l:tbl#, while 26 l:lxc3 ? loses heavy
material because after 26 . . . ll'ib3+ 27
.txb3 .txb3 the knight cannot get White's best defensive piece is the
back to c3. queen's knight, so it must be removed
26 l:lxb2! for the queen to start penetrating
27 'ii'xb2 l:lxb2 White's position.
28 �xb2 'ii'b 6+ 34 ll'ixb5
29 <it>cl ll'if6! The retreat 34 ll'ibl is hardly feasi­
This is our thematic starting point ble since after 34 . . . c4 Black already
for the queen vs two rooks discussion. threatens the devastating 35 . . . c3+.
On a strictly material basis Black is a 34 'ii'x b5+
pawn down. Moreover, White's h­ 35 <it>cl 'ii'c4+
pawn is passed and secure. However, 36 .tc2 ll'ig4
the overriding considerations are dy­ 37 l:lf3 'ii'd4
namic ones. White 's king is without 38 ll'ie3 'ifal+
sufficient pawn-cover and his rooks This is an absolutely irreproachable
have no open lines. Therefore, Black's way to reach the time-control at move
queen is a much stronger force than 40 while retaining a won position. GM
White's rooks. For the queen to maxi­ Shaked remarks that 38 . . . ll'ixf2 39
mize its power, it needs helper(s). The l:lxf2 (39 l:lfl ll'ixe4) 39 ... 'ifxe3+ 40
text-move brings the king 's knight l:ld2 c4 was a faster way to win.
back to be ready to help. 39 .tbl 'ii'xa3+
Here both players were already short 40 <iii> d2 'ii' b 4+
of time. This explains the time-saving 41 <it>cl 'ii'a3+
move-repetitions on Black's part. 42 <it>d2 'ii'b 2+
30 ll'in 'ii'a5 43 .tc2 'ii'd 4+
31 <iii> b 2 'ii'b6+ Black's position must, of course, be
32 <it>cl 'ii'a5 won, yet the practical question always
 Queen versus Two Rooks 1 73

is: what is the best way to ensure the

win with 100% certainty? GM Shaked,
writing in the May 1 997 issue of
Chess Life (p. 42) has this to say: "I
took a long think before finding the
correct plan in this position. Black must
attack the white king as quickly as
possible before White' s pieces can co­
ordinate and create a strong defence."
44 c;iie2 tllxe3
4S l:lxe3 i.c4+
46 �f3 fS!
The threat is 47 . . . g4+ 48 �g3 f4+.
47 g4 rook reaches Black' s part of the board
47 exf5 ? allows 47 . . . 1i'f4#, while (h5 ! ) only on move 52, but has no role
after 47 g3 11t'b2 ! the play is similar to at all there.
the game course. SO l:leh3 c4!
47 ... 'ii'b 2! Keeping the clamps on full. There
Black continues his admirably ac­ is no sense in the greedy 50 . . . i.xg4 ? !
curate play. The queen controls all allowing 5 1 l:ld3 with some swindling
open files, preventing White from ac­ chances for White.
tivating either rook. Neither does Sl h6 �h7!
White's bishop have any good squares, S2 l:lhS 'ii'd2
e.g. 48 i.d3 is met by 48 . . . i.xd3 49 Also strong is 52 . . . f3+ followed by
l:lxd3 fxe4+ 50 �xe4 1i'e2+ 5 1 l:le3 5 3 . . . 'ii'd 2.
1i'xg4+, etc. S3 �h3 'ii'c3+
48 i.bl i.e2+ ! S4 �h2 'ii'f3
49 �g2 Coming closer and closer. In the
It's mate after 49 l:lxe2 fxg4+ 50 meantime White's rooks are comi­
�e3 'ii'd4#. cally lined up on the closed h-file !
49 ... f4! (D) SS l:lgl 'ii'xf2+
The final nail in White 's coffin. S6 l:lg2 1Vel
White's rooks are given no range at 0-1
all . The first step for White's king's After 57 l:lgl i.fl White's rooks
rook occurs on move 5 5 , when it are truly immobile. An impressive tri­
moves one square, while the queen's umph of the queen over rooks.
I n d ex of Players
Numbers refer to pages. If the second-named player appears in bold type, then
the first-named player had Black.
ADIANTO, U. - Svidler, P. 146
ANAND, V. - lvanchuk, V. 129
ANDERSSON, U. - Kengis, E. 42
CABRIDO, V. - Mednis, E. 46
DREEV, A. - Piket, J. 157
ERMENKOV, E. - Mednis, E. 3 7
HECTOR, I. - Zaitsev, I. 34
HON, A. - Mednis, E. 89
IVANCHUK, v. - Anand, v. 129;
Kasparov, G. 1 35
KARPOV, A. - Kasparov, G. 96;
Leko, P. 139; Pelletier, Y. 49
KASPAROV, G. - lvanchuk, V. 135;
Karpov, A. 96; Shirov, A. 63;
Shirov, A. 1 65
KELSON, R. - Mednis, E. 1 8
KENGIS, E . - Andersson, U. 42
KORCHNOI, V. - Lepelletier, B . JOI ;
Polugaevsky, L. 23
KREIMAN, B . - Shabalov, A. 54
LAUBE, B. - Mednis, E. 1 61
LAUTIER, J. - Nikolic, P. 121
LEKO, P. - Karpov, A. 139
LEPELLETIER, B . - Korchnoi, V. JOI
MAGA, M. - Wojtkiewicz, A. 1 1 5
MALICH, B . - Reshevsky, S. 70
MANOUCK, T. - Mednis, E. 105
MEDNIS, E. - Cabrido, V. 46;
Ermenkov, E. 3 7; Hon, A. 89;
Kelson, R. 18; Laube, B . 1 61 ;
Manouck, T . J 05; Minic, D . 29;
Robovic, S. 149; Sax, G. 84;
Timman, J. 73; Vadasz, L. 58;
Waitzkin, J. 1 1
MINIC, D . - Mednis, E . 29
NIKOLIC, P. - Lautier, J. 121
PELLETIER, Y. - Karpov, A . 49
PIKET, J. - Dreev, A. 157
POLUGAEVS KY, L. - Korchnoi, v. 23
RESHEVS KY, S . - Malich, B . 70
ROBOVIC, S . - Mednis, E. 1 49
SALOV, V. - Yermolinsky, A. 1 1 1
SAX, G . - Mednis, E . 84
SHABALOV, A. - Kreiman, B. 54
SHAKED, T. - Yusupov, A. 1 70
SHIROV, A. - Kasparov, G. 63;
Kasparov, G. 1 65
SMIRIN, I. - Zhu Chen 78
SOKOLOV, I. - Timman, J. 125
SVIDLER, P - Adianto, U. 146
TIMMAN, J. - Mednis, E. 73;
Sokolov, I. 125
vADASZ, L. - Mednis, E. 58
WAITZKIN, J. - Mednis, E. 1 1
WOJTKIEWICZ, A . - Maga, M . 1 1 5
YERMOLINSKY, A. - Salov, V. 1 1 1
YUSUPOV, A . - Shaked, T. 1 70
ZAITSEV, I. - Hector, J. 34
ZHU CHEN - Smirin, I. 78
I n d ex of O pe n i n gs

Numbers refer to pages.

Codes are from the ECO/Jnformator classification system.

Alekhine Defence B04 135

Catalan/Reti Opening A 1 3 105
English Opening A 1 8 JO 1 ; A30 1 1 1 ; A3 1 42
French Defence C 1 7 84; C 1 8 54
Griinfeld/Slav Defence D94 157
King's Indian Defence E62 1 61 ; E70 1 70; E74 1 1 5
King's lndian/Benoni E90 78
Modern Defence B06 34
Nimzo-Indian Defence E45 121
Pirc Defence B09 58
Queen's Gambit Declined D 1 5 125; D32 139; D47 23
Queen's Indian Defence E 1 2 49
Ruy Lopez C78 129; C83 146; C92 96
Sicilian Defence:
Closed Variation B30 46
N ajdorf Variation B90 63
Richter-Rauzer Attack B67 1 1, 18, 149
Rossolimo Variation B52 29
Scheveningen Variation B 8 1 73; B86 70
Sozin Variation B89 89
Sveshnikov Variation B33 1 65
Taimanov Variation B44 37
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The Nimzo-Indian Defence is one of the great strategic chess openings, full of
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The opening move 1 lZJf3 is one of the most subtle ways for White to open a chess
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This is Garry Kasparov's favourite fighting defence against 1 e4 - and for good
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