First published 1992 Reprinted 1993, 1994 © Mark Dvoretsky 1992 ISBN 0 7134 7093 3 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission of the publisher. ‘Typeset by Latimer Trend & Gompany Lid, Plymouth and printed in «Britain by Redwood Books, ‘Trowbridge, Wilts. for the publishers, B.T. Batsford Ltd, 4 Fitzhardinge Street, London WIH 0AH A BATSFORD CHESS ROOK Adviser: R. D. Keone GM, OBE. Technical Editor: Graham BurgessContents Preface tL Combinations and the Calculation of V: Combinational Vision Sunspots Twin Combinations Prompting Candidate Moves Paying Attention to the Opponent’s Possibilities The Method of Exclusion ‘The Double Attack The Trapped Picce ‘The Strength of the Passed Pawn Don’t Let your King get in the way of a Combination! You Learn by your Mistakes! Look Out~ It’s a Trap! Logic or Intuition? ‘The Examination of Does the Problem Hav How Many Roads I “Difficult to Teach --Easy to Do!” Combinations which are Impossible to Find A Game Played Several Times Over Practice in Playing-Our Exercises for Analysis , xercises a Solution? id to Rome? 2 Attack and Defence Sacrifice or Oversight? “Not all that Glisters is Gold” ‘Ten Years On Twenty Years On Giving Up a Pawn to Prevent Castling Was the Attack Irresistible? Is there such a thing as an ‘Id Science Fiction! Style? vii ul 15 19 22 oa 36 a2 47 3t 55 58 64 67 73 Bl at 88, 94 100. 108 U3 6 120 124 127 131 134 138, 147vi Contents Winning in Rom Two Attacking Dzhin Attacks! The Decisive Game The Spectators went wild with Delight A Chink in the Armour The Psychology of Defence Into the Eye of the Storm! Bluff! On the Edge of a Precipice Positional nie Style Exchange Sacrifices ‘Two ‘French’ Endgames It’s Better to Give Up a Pawn Form your Own Opinion Exercises for Analysis Solutions to Analytical Exercises Index to Questions and Exercises ames by Rainer KnaakPreface Friends of mine have on many occasions convinced me of the need 10 set doen in a book at Teast some of the rather voluminous material shat I have accumulated in the course of my training activities 1 agaeed with them in principle, but the most appropriate form that this idca could take was not too clear te me, | resolved that certainly had no intention of compihng « logical exposition of all ing like a new version of the famous My System by Nimzowitsch, But neither did T wish to confine myself to the description of some tiny province in the vast and rich kingdom of chess, Tfinally hit upon a concept for the sort of chess book L wanted co write, But when T sat down at my desk I quickly realised that this concept could not be accommodated within the framework of a single book. In 1991 my first work, Seirets uf Chevs Tramme ‘the Russian title is Iskuwsteo Analiza “The Art of Analysis’. was published by Batstord. [was very snecesshil and was 6s the Year’ by the British € The present book continues in a similar vein to the previous one; though specific knowledge of Secrets of Chews ‘Traine is not required But, before U discuss the contents of this new book, [ should like to explain the overall concept, which, iny ideas on training, of formulating somet acclaimed as ‘Book of ess Federation strictly speaking, contains not one but several ideas, 1. Fresh material. Thave mainly made use of the games of my pupils primarily of Antur Yusupo and Sergei Dolmatoy, who both began their chess careers some years ago in junior tonrnaments~and my own games, Examples from the nes af others have heen quoted only in cases when we (that is, Lor one of my pupils) have managed t sec something new, to formulate their analysis more Clearly or to add to it T invite the reader into our creative and analytical laboratory by offering here material which is original and unfamiliar, wot available from ather books 2. The art ofanalysis 11 is clear that, given such an approach to the selection of material, rather a lot of attentiin must he devoted to the process of chess analysis, to the technique of cargying it out, to typical errors in analysis ete, I do not wish to enlarge here on the importance to any chessplayer of analytical skill: I shall merely quote the opinion of World Champion Gary) Kasparov consider that the analytical approach, the analytical ncthod of studying chess, must give any chessplayer a colossal advantage over those who only have experience of practical play. all other thin ing equal. and that self improvement in chess is imposible without a 3. Exercises for training purposes Tr is simply not enough just 10 play chess you need to tan constantly, to develop qualines and szills which will help you to make decisions ever the board With this aim in mind, it is useful to work through excrenses easy and difficult, positional and tactical. 1 aining may take many forms solving exercises in yor head, analysing. moving pieces on the board, playing out specially selected positions, ete. AIL tkese forms of training arevili Preface discussed in this hook, and various examples to be worked out on your own are also given, ‘These have been divided into ‘Exercises’ (designated by the letter *ES), the solutions to which are given at the end of the book, sand *Questians Hotter *Q}, the answers to which follow in the text 4, Ways to approach the taking of decisions in the most diverse situanons, i.e the ‘pure’ chess approach, but also the approach based on the psychological aspects of chess, This, of course, is what ny basic concept is really all about. My ideas, the viability of which has been confirmed by the achievements of my pupils, at times do not coincide entirely with the traditional point of ew, T wish, to acquaint the reader with these ideas: When investigating one or other of the concrete positions examined in the text, you will discover the hidden springs governing the contest, ways of searching for the nght move, the reasons for errors and also procedures for avoiding them in future. Te was a pleasure to read the following words in a review of my book Sevrets af ‘hess Tramang by Grandmaster Murray Chandler. ".. Reading the test, and just attempting the analysis, will start you thinking in a new way", This is precisely what 1 was aiming for In order to solve the task at hand suflici the broadest possible mange of situ ntly fully, it is necessary to consider tions, But in my above-mentioned first book only positions with a limited amount of material were considered practical endings and studies. ‘This new book continues the theme, but taking ay examples middleganie positions involving Combinations and sacrifices in both attack and defence. The first half of the book is devoted to combinational *technique’ if this word may be considered appropriate. that is, the skill tw be able to find a tactical idea and calculate it accurately. | have examined vanous types of combination, methods which facilitate the calculation of varia develop the calculating abiliues every chessplayer needs. The examples analysed in the second half of the book are mainly of a problematic, irrational nature. ‘They involve sacrifices which dety accurate calculation, with a constructive risk in both attack and defence In order to realise my conception fully, still have one or two more buoks to write: to investigate the problems of positional play and of opening preparation, and also to analyse some most interesting and valuable games containing many of the ideas already studied But all this lies in the futures let us now move on to the study of tactics rons, and ways Fo1 Combinations and the Calculation of Variations A trainer | once knew liked to say, half joking but half serious: “Chess 1s just a simple boardgame played by moving the pices around”. With this ‘aphorism’ he wished to stress the role of tactics in chess. to express the idea that no science. no profound posi- tional considerations or strategic subtleties, can help a player if he is unable to find strong moves or to see and accurately calculate con- crete possibilities for himself and his opponent. Some people are of the opinion that tactical abilities are innate cither you have them or you don’t, and if you don’f there is nothing you can do about it. My experience as a trainer has con- vinced me that this is not the case. With targeted training methods it is possible to develop one’s abil- ities considerably in the sphere of tactical play (as, incidentally, in any other sphere). I remember a lecture = which = Grandmaster (Senior Master) Ostap Bender, hero of the immortal novel The Twelve Chairs by Mf and Petrov, gave to chess-lovers in the town of Vasyuka. “We see that the fair- haired man plays well, but the dark-haired man plays badly. And no lectures will ever change this state of affairs, unless each individual constantly trains at playing draug. ..- -thatis, | meant to say-—chess. ..” Bender, admit- tedly, did not explain how exactly one should train. [ have tried to rectify his omission in the third chapter of Secrets of Chess Train- ing. which was devoted to studies, and in this book we shall continue our discussion of this theme A. chessplayer’s tactical skill comprises two components— combinational vision and the technique of calculating varia- tions. These in turn may also be broken down into constituent ele- ments ~ various ways of scarching for and deliberating over moves, typical schemes and situations. Even if a player is, on the whole, an excellent tactician, it is always possible to reveal aspects of his2° Combinations and the Calculation of Variations tactical play which could be improved still further. Combinational Vision A game conducted logically and finished off with a beautiful com- bination —that is my chess ideal, Vladimir Simagin The term ‘combinational vision” should be taken to mean the abi- lity to rapidly discover ‘disguised’ tactical ideas— the sort of moves which do not immediately strike the eye and which usually involve sacrifices. In order to develop your chess imagination — combinational vision—you should solve exer- cises (studies and examples from practical play), the main difficulty of which consists in finding the right tactical idea. Note that I do. mean actually finding it and not just, say, calculating or evaluating it. For this purpose you may make use of any of the numerous books of problems which are pub- lished, it seems, in every country of the world. On the whole, such problems contain relatively sim- ple combinations, which a well- drilled player notices very quickly, even when playing blitz Here are a couple of examples from my own five-minute games which serve to illustrate precisely this point. Q. 1.1 What should White play? White has an overwhelming lead in development and all his pieces are placed as actively as possible. There must be a combination here. 20 xd7! 2 wea7!t Another winning move was 21 dl, Black resigned. wWxd7 Dvoretsky-Bogomoloy Moscow 1967 4 a4 3 2xe3 aed aB 040 xb3 Dest 4 5 Anen= BSc0erusCombinations and the Calculation of Variations 3 12 fxg6 hxg6 13° kxgS — wxe5 14 wxd6 eT Q. 1.2 What should White pl: Although he is a pawn down, it is possible for White to agree to exchange queens, but only because of a specific combina- tional idea 15 jyxe7+ = xeT 16 DdS+! db 16... exdS 17 d5 xa7 18 Kxf?+ and 19 3xxa7. 17 eSH! 8° It would be a mistake to play 17 x17? because of 17... exd5 18 xd5 e6!; also unconvincing is 17 Qb67! a7. 7. #xe5 18 Qe7 aT 19 axf7 ur White has obtained a clear ad- vantage, and he soon won. Even if such examples do not cause you the least trouble, it still makes sense to become well- versed in their solution from time. to time. Such problems are rather like the scales played by musicians at rehearsal—they are extremely useful for improving your form just before a competition. By rapidly finding the answers to a series of combinational exercises, you not only sharpen your per- ception of positions, you also sense a growing confidence in your own powers. Thave already had occasion to mention five-minute games, tak- ing the opportunity to show off two of my own beautiful victories {and over strong opponents at that). Both of those games were played during a training session for the Moscow team prior to a USSR. People’s Spartakiad. 1 came to this session immediately after taking part in another train- ing session, in which I assisted Valery Chekhov in his prepara- tion for the World Junior Cham- pionship. Our work together was extremely productive. Chekhov became World Junior Champion, and in the Spartakiad I performed rather well Petrosian-Dvoretsky Liepaja 1975 1c ale 2 33 26 3 3 eT 4 hg? 0-0 5 3B 46 6 0-0 5 7 d3 Deb4 Combinations and the Calculation of Variations 8 bl aS 9 a3 aS 10 3d27! Stronger is 10 b4. True to his prophylactic style, Petrosian wards off the threat of 10... e4, but this was not really a threat, since after 10 bd axb4 11 axb4 ed?! 12 Bhd! exd3 13 Dxf5 dxe2 14 2xe2 gxfS 15 bS White gets an advantage. 0... wd7 MU xel 4h3 12 ht Det If the white knight were on 13, Black would have had to waste a tempo in playing ... h7-h6. But now Black immediately begins a typical and very dangerous at- tack. The knight on g4 is very menacing. as will become clear afler the thematic advance ... £7 f5-f4. Much weaker is 12 2hS? 13 b4 £5 14 bS dB 15 cS! with advantage to White, as in the game Chernin: Levitt, Rome 1989. 13, b4 axb4 14 axbd 65 15 bS 2d8 16 25 =f 17 qb2 Deb 18 sal nats 19 ga Des 20 ab3 4 21 DxeS —_fxgd 22 xg} dxe5 23 8 Both players have carried out their attacks in consistent fashion, each on his own side of the board, but it seems to me that Black has made more progress. The position of the white king gives some cause for concern, and combinations are simply hanging in the air— Black has only to choose the best one. I found a beautiful idea, but was of course unable to examine it fully, given the limitations of blitz play. 23 4 24 axe? dG 25 4 axl 26 gxf4 xxl The former World Champion resigned, finding no defenceCombinations and the Calculation of Variations 5 against the threat 27... saxfl #rh2 mate. E. LL Was justified? ~ KET + 28 Petrosian’s decision Dvoretsky-Gulko Liepaja 1975 1 ed bn 2 af 06 - = d5 4 exd5 exd5 5 d4 Dcé 6 2e3 wy bO?t Better is 6... cxd4 7 Qa3t A very strong response. Much worse is 7 dxcS wxb2, or 7 wb3 c4. Now on 7... wxb2 White plays 8 bS, and on 7... a6--8 wb3!, forcing the transition to a better ending. If, however, 7... 4, then 8 Axc4! dxc4 9 d5 wxb2 10 dxc6 with advantage to White. Therefore Gulko’s reply is prac- tically forced 7. exd4 8 Dxdd axa3 9 Bxc6!? Also possible. of course, was the simple 9 bxa3. But White wants more. On 9... #xe6 he plans to play 10. gb3! (with the threat 11 Zb5) 10... #d6 1 QbS+ 44712 Sxd7+ wxd7 13 wexa3. 9 wexb2! 10 Add! —bxe6 Probably Black should have preferred 10... Bf Il abl wexa2 12 4650-013 sal wb2 14 c4 ied!. This at any rate had seemed to Chekhov and myself to be the main line when we analysed this variation during our training session M1 xbi! Not immediately 11 3.xg7? in view of 11... f6. 0 pexa2 12 ixeT ed This is where our preliminary analysis came to an end—we had only considered 12... xe5 13 welt. 13: wd7 The threat is 14... se8+. 14 wb7+ dé On 14... #8 there follows 15 a6. Here I noticed a spectacular combination and could not resist the temptation IS ges+% 16 Hdd + This is what White had been counting on. 17 what Or 17 a very dangerous attack exeS wd6? wecS .. Web 18 wxIT+ withMi “) ‘ 6 Combinations and the Calculation of Variations 18 gbS+! 19 we7 mate A so-called ‘epaulette mate’. Instead of) 16 ... #ed6? it was essential to reply 16... #e6!, not fearing the capture of the bishop with check: 17 gixg4+ £5. After 17 fxg4!?, intending 18 {d3, White would have retained quite good attacking chances, but there was, of course, very little point in going in for such complications. In fact, the crude 15 fxgd Ke8+ 16 Re2 would have won without any difficulty. Of course, considering the regu- lations for blitz games, it is ridicu- lous to reproach oneself for such a decision. But playing for a bril- liancy like this in a serious tourna- ment game would be totally unac- ceptable—the simplest route should always be preferred. As a child I once showed a similar combination to Grand- master Simagin, who gave lessons to young chessplayers in the Mos- cow Palace of Pioneers. Knowing Vladimir Pavlovich to be a player with a sharp, distinctive style, I hoped he would look upon my own ‘creative endeavours’ with approval, but I had miscalculated “Combinations for their own sake”, he concluded, “are not jus- tifiable from either a sporting or a creative point of view.” Later I came to realise that such games look attractive only until one has considered the position carefully exbS and begun to find fault with the underlying variations. Combinations look — much better, even if they are comparat- ively straightforward, if they are correct and represent the shortest (or even the only) way to achieve one’s aim. This is especially true when they are the logical conclu- sion of the preceding strategy. 1 shall now give two very nice ex- amples. Pushkinskiye Gory 1977 1 ed 5 2 ap afte 3 Axes d6 4 2 2xed 5 dd d5 6 Kd3 he7 7 00 Deéh 8 el Some time later 8 c4 became the main line for White. Bo... aed 9 3 £5 10 abd2 At the Wijk aan Zee tourna- ment in 1975 Enklaar tried 10 h3 against me. I sacrificed a pawn: 10 ... £xf3 (quieter is 10... 2h5) 11 gxf3!? @f6 (11 Qd6? 12 wb3) 12 Zxf5 0-0 13 wd3 2d6 14 Be5 2e7. Clearly mistaken now is 15 9 xf67 Mxf6 16 &xh7+ wT, as the bishop is trapped (or 16... @h8 with a strong attack).