To Dominic and Jane

An Opening Repertoire
for White
RAYMOND KEENE
International Grandmaster

B .T.Batsford Ltd, London

 Symbols and Abbreviations

+ check
++ double check
good move
!! outstanding move
'! weak mov�
?'! blunder
!? interesting move
?! risky/dubious move
1-0 White win
0-1 Black win
�-� drawn game
=
the position is equal or balanced
;!; + White/Black has a slight advantage
± + White/Black has a clear advantage
±± H White/Black has a winning advantage
0-0 castles (kingside)
0-0-0 castles (queenside)
IM International M aster
GM Grandmaster
IQP isolated queen's pawn
Prologue

This book is an arsenal providi ng essential ammunition in hand

for all White players who wish to open with I d4. The outst
feature is its intention of reducing the areas of conflict to tho
which t he·reader is familiar and, t herefore, competent and confi
handle.
It would be wrong to claim that the variations exam ined confer
advantage on White, but the systems presented here all confor
basic solid but aggressive style. It is my belief that a reader who
is in tune with the patterns displayed in this book will feel happy v
lines I have recommended and will, therefore, score more poin
An Opening Repertoire for White (OR W) is the companion vol
An Upt•ning Repertoirefor the Allackmg Playu(URAP) by Keene ar
which performs a similar function for openings commencing wi1

Raymond Keene
Note on Algebraic Notation

The notation used in this book is algebraic, the only type approved by
FIDE, the World Chess Federation and the governing body of
international chess. If you can understand a London A-Z guide or a
Manhattan street map you will have absolutely no problems in
comprehending algebraic notation, which is more economical and less
prone to ambiguity than the alternative and outmoded descriptive
variety.
A brief examination of the following diagram will im mediately clear
up any possible confusion concerning the application of algebraic
notation.

a b c d e f g h
 Introduction

The aim of this book is to provide a complete repertoire for the White
player, based on the move I d4. I n analysing the material I have chosen
to develop from I d4, I have maintained several crucial principles: one
main line is demonstrated for White against all of the major Black
defences which the White player is likely to meet in competition; the
mai n lines selected are sound but a ggressive and do not rely on
memorisation of long tactical variations a nd su b-variations. In several
cases, they embody newly elaborated, relatively unexplored ideas which
allow plenty of scope for individ ual creative contribution on the part of
the reader. Furthermore, I have based each suggested line on annotated
illustrative games, so that the strategies outlined and attacking methods
proposed can be fully a bsorbed, right up until the endgame phase.

Advantages of a Repertoire
There is no need to feel concern at limiting oneself to an opening
repertoire. All chess players have restricted time and resources at their
disposal, and this is particularly true of social, club, league or weekend
competitors. In view of such constraints it makes excellent sense to work
out a tangible, fixed group of opening variations in which to carry out a
specialised study. O nce the reader feels thoroughly at home with this, it
will provide a firm platform for branching out and acquiring new
knowledge and expertise in other, broader areas of chess science.
It should not be forgotten that even such great players as Fischer and
Karpov have had their own selective repertoire, centred largely on I e4,
while Vi ktor Korchnoi and Gary Kasparov strongly favour openings
arising from I d4. A cu rious fact, in this context, is that of the twenty
games played in the World Cha mpionship semi-final at London 1 983, in
the matches between S myslov and Ribli and between Korchnoi and
Kasparov, no less than nineteen commenced I d4!
I d4 is a sound, solid move, aiming for central control and a restrained
but ultimately convincing attacking build-up. It does not lend iiself to
premature adventures and in general, by opening with it, you can avoid
colliding with too many devastating surp rises from your opponents.
xii inlroduction

Link with 'BCO'

OR W (An Opening Repertoire for White) is designed to give the reader

confidence and ideas for t he practical st ruggle. As I have already stated,
this is essentially a book of strategies, not an exhaustive reference work . I
have, therefore, taken the step of linking each variation analysed with
the related section in Botsford Chess Openings (BCO). This o ne-volu me
openings encyclopaedia, written by Gary Kasparov and myself, provides
a vast amount of detailed background information. It is a useful
companion to OR W, and one that will form a handy compact
compendium, both for expanding the repertoire beyond the confi nes of
the lines l have exami ned here and for last-minute rev ision before and
du ring tournaments or impo rtant games.
Good luck with improving your chess and your scores!

Raymond Keene
London, June 1 984
 Part I
Queen's G ambit: 1 d4 d5 2 c4

Chapter 1: Chigorin 's Defence 2 ... lbc6

Chapter 2: Albin Counter-Gam bit 2 ... e5
Chapter 3: Queen's Gambit Accepted 2 ... de
\�� ��h
-· ,
Chapter 4: Tarrasch Defence 2 ... e6 3 lbc3 c5
Chapter 5: Orthodox 2 ... e6 3 lbc3 lbf6 j Je-t.��J
Chapter 6: Slav 2 ... c6
 1 Chigorin 's D e fence
1 d4 d5 2 c4 tbc6!?
2 of the centre, exposure of the
w black queen and Joss of the bishop
This remarkable concept was
introduced in t he late 1 9th century
by the great Russian player
Mikhail Chigorin, who used it to
defeat such supermen as Lasker
and Pillsbury. This was at a time
when Dr Tarrasch was claiming
that his defence, 2 . e6 3 lt:lc3 c5,
. .
was the only correct antidote to
the Queen's Gambit, and even the
Slav, 2 . . .c6, was considered
highly unusual.
In spite of Chigorin's personal
success, his defence did not
capture the public's i magination,
poss ibly because Black is committed
to rather too many positional
��wr���u
concessions in the line 3 lt:lf3 .ig4
4 cd .ixf3 5 gf, such as surrender
pair. In return for all t his, Black's
counterchances against White's
slightly fragile king position seem
somewhat nebulous: Furthermore,
in the line 3 lt:lc3 Black has o �
survive an immediate onsl:�g �
which has claimed a number of
victims, including the author!
M y standard method in this
book will be to give just one line
against each Black alternative, but
against the Chigorin I mention two
White possibilities (here and by
transposition in Chapter 1 8), since
both are good but will appeal to
different styles of player.
In contemporary tournament
practice S myslov and Miles have
occasionally upheld the honour of
the Chigorin, but no modern
grandmaster is prepared to make
a living out of it - it remains,
essentially, a surprise weapon.
It is analysed in BCO on pages
54 and 55.
 Chigorin's Defence 15
.,
Keene-Cox
Lloyds Bank Masters' 1 983 J
1 d4 dS 8
2 c4 ltJc6
The Chigorin. Very rare alter­
natives at international level are:
a) 2 cS 3 cd ltJ f6 4 e4 ! ltJxe4 5 de
...

ltJxc5 6 ltJc3 e6 7 b4 'tlff6 8 'tlfc2

ltJca6 9 a3 ed 10 ltJxd5 'tlfe5+ I I
ltJe3 .ie6 1 2 ..ib2 'tlfc7 1 3 .i b5 +
ltJc6 1 4 ltJ f3 ±. Analysis b y
Bondarevsky, quoted i n BCO. 3 de
b) 2 ... g6?!.An incredible move, Black can also try:
tried in Stahlberg-Alekhine, Kemeri a) 3 ltJf6 4 lt:lO ..ig4 (4
... de 000

1 937. After 3 cd 'tlfxd5 4 ltJc3 transposes to the main game; 4 0 0 0

Black has a very suspect G rtinfeld, e6 5 ..ig5 .ib4 6 e 3 o r 5 ..ig5 ..ie7 6

while after 3 cd ltJf6 4 1ra4+ leavese3 are both passive for Black; 4 o o •

Black with problems in retrieving ..if5 5 cd lL!xd5 6 'tll b 3 e6 7 e4

his pawn.
c) 2 ... ltJf6. The Marshall or
American Defence: 3 cd ltJ xd5 4
ltJO, White's best method, is given
lL!xc3 !l ef favours White. This is
also mentio ned in the notes to
Alekhine-Marshall, Part V) 5 cd
lL!xd5 6 e4 ltJxc3 (6 ltJb6 7 d5
000

in the notes to Alekhine-Marshall ltJe5 8 lL!xe5 ..ixd l 9 .ib5+ is a

in Part V of this book. sta ndard winning sacrifice) 7 be e5
d) 2 .....ifS 3 cd ..ixb I (3 '@xd5
000 8 d5 lObS (8 . . . .ixtJ 9 1rxf3 lLJb!l
4 li:lc3 is natu rally excellent for 10 ll b l ± Keene-Rahman, Com­
White) 4 'ifa4t c6 5 l h b l 1Wxd5 monwealth Championship, Hong
6 ltJf3 lLJf6 7 e3 t; in a semi-open Kong 1984) 9 •a4+ lLJd7 10 ltJxe5
position Black has no tangible •r6 I I f4 ..id6 12 .ib5 ..txe5 13 fe
compensation for W hite's bishop .\ Wxc5 1 4 0-0 ± (M inev). White's
pai r. bishops loo k good.
3 lL!c3! b) 3 eS 4 cd lL!xd4 (4 ed 5 de de
oo• 0 0 0

For 3 ltJf3, see the section on 6 'W'xd 8+ $>xd 8 7 cb ±) 5 eJ lLJf5

I d4 lt!c6 in Cha pter 1 8 and the 6 ltlf3 .id6 7 .ib5+ ..id7 8 'tlfb3 ±
game Kasparov-Smyslov given on (G heorghiu).
page 1 7. 4 lL!f3! lLJf6f
 16 Chigortn's Defence
4 .A.e4 looks natural but 5 dS!
.•.
.A.xn 6 ef �e5 7 .A.f4 �g6 8
.A.xc4 !1 �xf4 9 .A.b5 + c6 10 de is
devastating; or 7 . . . �d7 8 .A.xc4
a6 9 0-0 �gf6 10 lie I ± Donner­
Keene, London 1971, the game
which taught me all about 3li:lc3!.
4 ... e6 5 e4 .A.b4 6 .A.xc4 li:lf6 7
Wd3 is very passive for Black,
although Chigorin played it.
4 ... a6!? 5 d5 10b8 6 e4 e6 7
.A.xc4 ed 8 i.xd5 U ± (Watson).
S e3
This is not the only move.
Excellent alternatives are:
S .A.gS h6 6 .A.xf6 ef 7 e3 .A.e7 8
.txc4 0-0 9 a3 li:la5 10 .ta2 b6 I I
•c2 li:lb7 12 lld l c6 13 0-0 10d6 ;!
Tisdall-Cox, Gausdal 1983.
S e4 .tg4 6 ..te3 .txn (6 . .. e6 7
.txc4 .tb4 S 1Wc2 1We7 9 lld I or 9
.ib5 , both� Watson) 7 gf 68ch
liJe7 9 h4 li:lh5 10 1Wa4+ Wd7 11
•xc4 li:lg6 12 .i.h3 ± ( Watson).
s i. e4
5 ... 10a5 ?! 6 Wa4+ c6 7 .A.d2!?
with either b4 or �e5 to come is
an interesting gambit which looks
good for White.
· 6 .txc4 e6
h3
1 i.bS
8 .i.bS
Otherwise Black plays ... a6 to
obtain a normal Queen's Gambit
Accepted.
See Diagram 4
4
B
8 ..td6
I f 8 . . . .tb4 9 g4 i.g6 10 �e5
1M5 11 ..txc6 + be 12 0-0 ±.
9 e4 .A.b4
1 0 1Wa4
10 g4 .i.g6 11 �e5 is no longer
desirable now that White has
occupied the '!:entre with 9 e4,
since the e4 pawn would hang .
10 i.xO?
1 had expected 10 ... 0-0 and had
calculated this variation: 11 .txc6
..txc3+ 12 be be 13 i.g5 h6 14 .th4
g5 15 li:lxg5 hg 16 .txg5 e5 17
Wxc6 with advantage to White.
If 16 . . c5 17 Wa5 ! (17 e5 ?1Wd7 �)
.
17 ... cd 18 .txf6 1Wxf6 19 Wxh5
and now 19 . . . de or 19 ... d3 200-0
should favour White because of
Black's shattered king position,
though the passed black d- or
c-pawn makes it difficult. Anyway,
the text is a tactical error.
11 J.xc6+ be
1l Wxc6+ �e7
13 gf Wxd4
 Chigorin's Defence 17

14 1fxc7+ /t)d7 24 llb5 ltle3+

15 .tg5+ f6 25 'iVe2 llcd7
16 ll d1 1 (5) 26 llbg5!
1-0
26 . . . lld2+ 27 �e l ltlc2+ 28
j
B �fl and Black is helpless.

Kasparov-Smyslov
Candidates ( 1 1 ), Vilnius 1 984
1 d4 d5 2 ltJO ltlc6 3 c4 .i.g4 4 cd
.txO 5 gf 11fxd5 6 e3 e5 7 �c3 .i.b4
8 .i.d2 .txc3 9 be "Wd6 Unusual.
Normally Black plays 9 . . . ed I0 cd
and then ... ltlge7 or ... ltJf6. The text
is probably designed to avoid
16 llbc8 White's exchanging queens with
Agreeing to the loss of two 11fb3 as recommended. 10 llb1 b6
pawns, but if 16 . . . .txc3+ 17 be 1 1 f4 A radical way of clarifying
llhc8 18 1llg3 1fxc3+ 19 .td2 and the central tension. 1 1 ..• ef 12 e4
20 11fxg7+. If 18 . . . 11fc5 19 .i.e3! or ltlge7 1 3 'lt"O 0-G 14 .txf4 1ta3
18 . .. Wa4 19 11fd6+ wins. With the threat of . . . 10xd4. 1 5
17 lilxd4 lhc7 .i.e2 f5 16 0-G I would play 16 e5.
18 ..ixf6+ q;,xr6 The text is very sharp. 16 ... fe 1 7
19 ll "M l<'\t>� Wxe4 Wxc3 1 8 .i.e3 Wa3 1 9 .i.d3
20 q;.e2 q;,g5 Wd6 20 1txh7+ �n 2 1 llb5 ltJxd4
The only way to get counterplay, 22 We4 White could also try 22
but the king position becomes 1th5+ g6 23 1th7+. 22 . llad8! ..

very risky. If 22 ... ltlxb5 23 .i.c4+ �6 24

21 llg1 + �4 Wh4+. 23 .txd4 1fxd4 24 llf5+
22 llg3 lld8 Settling for half a point. 24 ...
23 �n ltJxf5 25 1fxf5+ �g8 If 25 ... 1ff6
With the idea of ltle2+. If now 26 .i.c4+ �e7 27 lle I+ wins. 26
23 . . . lld3 even 24 lld4! is good. Wb7+ Wf7 Draw aereed. I t is
23 �c4 perpetual check after 27 1ff5+.
 2 Albin Counter-Gambit
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 !? 3 de d4
6 extra material and/ or distinct
w counterchances of his own against
The Albin is a sh�£� . wea�':>P
.
which has never bee � reYu�ml't
unlike the Benko Gambit, which
has fi rmly established itself as a
respectable black defence in inter­
national tournament play, the
Albin has never really caught on
at the highest levels. Part of the
explanation for this m ust be that it
does not offer Black permanent
structural compensation for his
invested pawn. I nstead, Black
acquires a lead in development
(which may eventually be neut­
ralised) and various tactical chances,
often directed against White's king.
If White survives Black's early
burst of activity. and there is no
compelling reason to believe that
he should not, he can look
·forward to a middlega me with
the black king.
The line I recom mend from the
d1agra m 1s: 4 zt:\fj llSc6 5 g3
(rather than 5 a 3 or 5 ll:lbd2), ulso
avoiding the obscurities of Spassky's
4 e4 ll:lc6 5 f4. Since Black usually
has to castle queenside in the
Albin, the development of the
white king's bishop to g2 can be a
useful asset for t he future. Even if
Black succeeds in recouping the
sacrificed pawn at eS. the opening
up of the h l -a8 diagonal for
White's king's bishop combined
·w1th a while queen sortie (either to
-a4 or 63) and an advunce of
White's queenside pawns, can
prove a senous threat to the black
kmg on c8 or 68.
The most exalted victim of the
Albin in recent years was U S
grandmaster a nd many times US
Champion, Walter Browne. He
lost, as W hite, to Mestel in the
1982 Interzonal at Las Palmas,
but the final result says lit tle about
the outcome of the opening phase,
which was in White's favour.

The Albin is covered i n BCO,
pages 54 and 55.
Korchnol-Velnger
Beersheva 1978
1 d4 d5
2 c4 e5
3 de d4
3 ... de 4 'ttx d8+ �xd8 5 lt::lc 3
(Pillsbury) leads to an uncom­
fortable queenless middlegame
for B lack; White will continue
with .tg5+ and 0-0-0+, harrassing
Black's king.
4 ltJ f3 lt::lc6
5 g3 (7)
5 .tg4
From the diagram Black's
sensible alternatives to 5 ... .tg4:
(a) 5 ... .te6 6 lt::l b d2! 'ttd7 7 .tg2
0-0-0 (7 . . . liJge7 8 0-0 lt::l g6 9 �g5
liJgxe5 10 10 xe6 11fxe6 I I lbf3
and White has the two bishops
and attacki ng chances, Hort­
Gasic, Sarajevo 1 972) 8 0-0 h5!?
9 b4 .txb4 10 :b l h4 1 1 11fa4 with
complicated play, Vladimirov-
Albin Counter- Gambit /9
Volfson , USSR 1 969. The simple
9 h4 merits attention.
b) 5 ... .if5!? 6 a3 1t'd7 7 .if0-0-0
8 0-0 j0h3 9 b4 h5 1 0 b_ ltdcs?
w h en Black has compensatjon fgr
the pawn in a complicated position,
typical of the Albin. This line
occurred m Chigorin-Aibin, Nurem­
berg 1 896.
Curiously, of these, 5 ... .tf5
may offer the best chatH.:cs
partly because It ts coos•derabl�
less explored than t he other m oves
and the most effect i ve white line
has not yet be en clanfied.
6 lg2 'ttd7
7 0-0 0-0-0
8 tt'IJ]! (8)
8
B
An excellent move, striking
directly at Black's most sensitive
poi n t, the b7 square. From the
diagram:
a) 8 . .th3. This natural-looking
..
move stumbles i nto an ambush -
9 e6! .t xe6 1 0 10e5 1t'd6 I I 10xc6
be 1 2 11fa4 1fc5 1 3 �a3 'ttb6 1 4
.txc6 .t xa3 1 5 b a ± Spassky­
Forin tos, Sochi 1 964.
 20 Albin Counter- Gambit

b) 8 ... h5 9 l:ldl b6 10 �f4 h4 I I 12 lt:Jxf4

lt::lc 3! �xfJ 12 �xfJ g5 1 3 1rb5! ±. Renouncing any thought of
c) 8 ... �c5 9 lt::l bd2 �h3? 1 0 e6! regaining the 'Albin pawn', Veinger
-
�xe6 and II lt::le 5 again c� nfers strives for counterplay by frac­
great advantage on White. turing the pawns around White's
d) 8 ... lt::la5 9 1Wd3 �f5 10 e4 de king.
I I thc3 ±. 13 gf g6
e) 8 ... •rs 9 l:ld 1 lt::l ge7 - this may 14 1rf3 f6
be Black's best chance but it looks More violence, but if Black
artificial. proceeds quietly with 14 . . . �c5,
8 lt::lge 7 then 1 5 �c3! is crushing, exploiting
9 l:ld1 �xf3 the d-file pin against Black's
If, in nocently, 9 . . . li:lgo'? 1 0 queen, to prepare lt:le4 .
lt::l x d4 �xe2 ( 1 0 . . . lt:lxd4?'! I I 15 ef t!t'fS
1rxb7 mate) I I l:ld2 ±± . It is quite 16 lt:ld2 1Wxf6
obvious, though, that this exchange 17 ltJe4 1rf5
of bishop for kn ight is an 18 b4! ( 10)
unwelcome one for Black, whose
sensitivity along the h 1-aH diagonal
is now accen tu;1tcd .
10 thO!
Commencing a manoeuvre which
holds his extra pawn.
10 lt::lg 6
II 1rh5
Threa tening �h3.
II �b8
12 i.f4 (9)
A move thoroughly conforming
\1
to the whole pattern of White's
H
attack - namely, a bn:a kthrough
at b7. If now 1 8 . . . lt:lxb4
1 9 lt:ld6 ±± or I H . . . �xb4
19 l:lab I and Black is clearly
finished. The blac k bishop on b4
can be n u dged away with a3, when
there would follow moves like
l:lb5 and i.Llg3, intensifying the
 Albin Counter-Gambit ��

)
pressure against b 7, on the b-file
and from the white queen a nd 11
bishop to in tolerable levels. B

18 d3
19 Uxd3
This way, at least, Black removes
one pa ir of rooks from the board .
19 �xb4
20 l:i:bl lihd3
21 'flrxd3 �e7
22 l":; Wxf4
He m1ght as wel l. There is. in If 25 ... �dM 26 'thc6 ±t.
any l:ase. no good defence to An imposing and highly instruc­
Wh ite's 11-lile at tack . l f 22 . . . i.xc5 tive miniature which I had the
23 'ikl �J-1 �-I W xc6 ±±-. privilege of watching since I
23 �.l.\b7+! ( 11) participated with Korchnoi in the
The logil:;tl culmination of 197M Beersheva tourna men t .
White's stra tegv - a sacrifil·ial For the record, Browne-Mestel,
bomb-blast on his theme s4uare. mentioncJ in my introduction,
b7. went, from diagram 7: 5 . . . i.g4
23 ct>xb7 6 ltJ bd2 tt'd7 7 i.g 2 0-0-0 8 0-0 h5
24 Wb5+ <t>c8 9 h4 ltJge7 10 tt'a4 ltJg6 I I ltJb3
2S .th3+ �b8 1 2 ltJa5 ltJ xa5 13 tt' xa5,
1 -0 which should have favoured White.
 3 Queen's Gambit Accepted
1 d4 d5 2 c4 de 3 ltJc3
I!
B
In principl e , acceptance of the
Queen's Gambit should cede
White precisely what he desires
after I d4, namely a majority of
pawns in the centre , plus speedy
mobilisation. The Iauer deri ves
fro m White's ability to recapture
the pawn on �:4 in one move
( i.xc4) placing the white king's
bishop on an aggressive diagonal, · lLlf6 4 e3 }g4, while attemi!:5 IO
without wasting an initial tempo e nter the standard""lilia n flne­
on .id3. In practice, the clearance
of pawns in the m iddle of
the board often leads to early
simplific ation and total equality.
On occasions, Blac k's fluid queen­
side pawns (especially if he
achieves the configuration: pawns
on a6, b5 and c5) may also be very
annoying to Wh ite, whose queen's
knight and king's bishop can be
ha rassed by their advance.
The variation I have decided to
recommend to combat the QGA is
an antiquated one that is only just
beginning to find favour amongst
modern grandmasters, but it
has already been enthusiastically
adopted by no less than Korchnoi,
Vaganian and the US Champion,
Walter Browne. The point is, that
after 3 �c3 Bla c k's most trusted
reply, 3 . . . e5, leads to an Isolated
queen pawn (IQP) sit uation,
where Black has no obvio��!l
brea ks, while White's very free
development confers a long-last i n�
·
initiative on him. After 3 lDc3
Black cannot implement the pin
line which can arise after 3 lDc3
(3 lDf3 lDf6 4 e3 e6 5 i.xc4 c5) are
n otreaily-oJ)erati ve:- i·l1bla grain
12, 3 . . . e6 can be met by 4 e4 in one
go, while 3 lDc3 lDf6 can lead to
u ncharted and dyna mic positions
a f ter 4 Ol g5 . Alternatively, White
can accept a modest e ndgame plus
with 3 ... ltJf6 4 e4 e5 5 lbf3!
The QGA as a whole is treated
in BCO, pages 56-59.

La Bourdonnals-McDonnell
Match, London 1834
1 d4 d5
2 c4 de
3 �c3! e5 (13)
13
B too weakening: 9 a4! b4 10 liJdl
The main alternatives are:
a) 3 . a6 4 e3 (4 e4 b5 5 �f3 is an
..
untested gambit, worth a try if you
are in frivolous mood) 4 . . . b5 5 a4!
and Black can not cling to his
pawn, viz 5 ... b4 6 111 0 ! c6 7 .bc4
be t! ..txf7+ 'it'd? 9 be with a strong
attack , plus two pawns, for the
piece. White will proceed with
moves such as J:lb l , e4 and ..tf4. I
should also point out the witty
forced dra w at White's disposal:
9 tiffS+ �c7 1 0 -.aS+ �d7
I I tiffS+ or even I I J.e6+ 'it>eB 1 2
..tf7+ *d7 1 3 J.e6+ etc.
b) 3 . li'Jf6 4 e4 (4 ..i.g5 is untried)
..
4 . . . c5 5 lined 6 \W xd4 tlf xd4 7
�xd4 J.b4 I! t1 a6 9 J.xc4 0-0 1 0
i.:f4 b5 I I ..i.e2 .i.c5 1 2 0-0-0 and_
White enjoys greater freedom of
movement: or 8 . . . .i.d7 9 l xc4
Queen's Gambit Accepted 23
�c6 1 0 lt::J xc6 .i.xc6 1 1 J.f4 0-0
1 2 0-0-0 also± ( 1 2 ..txc7 ? :U.ac8! is
too dangerous for White, of
course). This is Keres-Khalilbeili,
U S S R 1 960.
c) 31 .. c6 4 e4! a nd now:
c l ) 4 .... e5 5 liJb ed 6 Wxd4! tlfxd4
.
7 lL!Xd4 �f6 8 f3 J.c5 (8 . . . b5 is
..ta6 I I J.f4 J.c5 1 2 lll f5 0-0 1 3
:U.c l l:let! 1 4 J.e3 lll bd7 1 5 J.xc4
±) 9 J.e3 lL!bd7 10 J.xc4 0-0 I I
q;.r2 lll b6 1 2 J.b3 ;t m uch as in (b)
above, Portisch-Saidy, San Antonio
1 972. ( I n the above, Alek hine's
sacrifice 6 J.xc4?! is dubious).
c2) 4 . . bS 5 a4 b4 (5 ... tlfa5 6 J.d2
.
b4 r �a2 e6 8 ..txc4 regains
White's pawn and leaves him
with the superior pawn structure)
6 liJa2 liJ f6 (6 . . . e5 7 .ixc4 tlf xd4 8
'lrb3 tlfxe4+ 9 �e2 is a highly
promising ga mbit for White) 7 e5
llld 5 8 .ixc4 e6 9 1ll g4 ..ta6 1 0
.txa6 lll xa6 I I lt:\13 with fine
chances for a kingside a ttack,
Kotov-Enevoldsen, Jonkoping 1 958.
d) ... c 4 d5 e6 4 . . . lll f6 5 e4 b5?!
6 e b4 7 ef be 8 be lDd7 9 tlf a4 ef
1 0 .tf4 Wb6 I I ..txc4 ;!;) 5 e4 ed
(5 ... �f6 6 liJO ed 7 e5 liJfd7 8
..tg5 J.e7 9 ..txe7 Wxe7 1 0
liJxd5 ;t; o r 7 . . . d4? 8 ..txc4! liJc6
9 ef de 10 tlfe2+ *d7 1 1 J.f4 11ra5
1 2 lld l + lDd4 1 3 ..tb5+. l -0
U hl mann-Wade, Hastings 1958-
9) 6 liJ xd5 lt::J f6 7 ..txc4 lt::J xd 5 (7 . . .
J.e6 8 Wb 3 ! - Petrosian) 8 ..txd5
 24 Queen's Gambit Accepted
.td6 (8 . . . ll:ld7) 9 ..h 5 ! g6 10 'it'h6
.tf8, Petrosian-Radulov, Plovdiv
(Euro-Teams) 1 983. Now best is
I I 1ff4! forcing the horrid I I . . .
f6 ( ±). After I I ..f4 1fc7 White
wins out right with 12 .txt7+ 1fxt7
1 3 1fe5+ 1fe7 14 1fxh&- 'tt x c4+
15 ll:le2. Black has better in 9 . . .
..f6 ! when 1 0 ll:lf3 1fg6 I I 1fxg6
hg 1 2 ll:lg5 0-0 1 3 f4 .te7 slows
White's initiative.
4 e3 ed
5 ed ll:lf6
6 .txc4 ( 14)
14
8 Wh ite f-file prospects.
An ancient variation, wh ich has
recently become the height of
fashion! It was believed for
decades that White halrm" play
3 ll:l f3 in the Queen's Gam bit
Accepted to forestall . . . e5, but
this is no longer held to be true.
Given the disappearance of Black's
e-pawn, the white king's b1shop
on c4 can become a powerful,
unobstructed force. I f now 6 . . .
.tb4 7 lt:J O (7 .txf7+? �xf7 8
1rb3+ it:Jd5 H; or 7 1rb3 1fe7+
defending b4 and n with tempo)
7 . . . 0-0 8 0-0 .tg4 9 a3 .txc3 10 be
c5 I I h3 .txf3 1 2 ..xf3 cd
(stronger is 1 2 . . . ll:lc6 1 3 de ll:le5
with compensat ion for the pawn)
13 1fxb7lt.Jbd7 1 4 cd lt:lb6 1 5 .ta2
't!fxd4 16 .te3 ± Korchnoi­
Matulovic, Europa Club Cup,
Belgrade 1984. White won by
exchanging all of t he major pieces
and advancing his king towards
Black's a-pawn in the two bishop
v two knight ending.
6 · ... .tc7
6 . . . .td6 !? 7 ll:lf3 tle7 8 .ie3
lbg4 9 it:Jd5 ll:lxe3 10 fe gives
7 lt)IJ 0-0 {15)
/.1
II'
7 . . . ll:Jbd7 8 .txf7+ ! 'it>xf7
9 ll:l g5+ c.t>g6 10 'lt'u3+ ..t>h5
I I lt.Je6 ti is a pitfall to note.
8 .tc3
White's treatment is-interesting,
hut 8 0-0 is more acceptable to
m odern eyes, e.g. 8 . . . . �bd7 (8 ...
.tg4 9 h3 .txfJ - 9 . . . .th5 10 g4
.tg6 I I lt.Je5 followed by f4 - 1 0
 Queen's Gambit Accep ted 25

'ifxf3 lL!c6 1 1 �e3 lL! xd4 1 2 'ifxb7 the reader might expect to have
c5 13 �xd4 cd 14 li[ad l !) 9 �b3 one white move proposed at each
lL!b6 10 li[e I c6 1 1 .i.g5 lL!bd5 1 2 point, instead of three, as here
lL!xd5 cd 1 3 ltle5 ! Browne­ (8 .i.e3, 8 ()...0 , 8 h3). I have
Petrosian, Las Palmas 1982. Also adopted the policy of pointing out
I I . .tg4 12 'ifd3 .i.xO 1 3 1hf3
. . reasonable alternatives within the
lL!fd5 1 4 .i.xe7 lL!xe7 1 5 lite5 lL!g6 main recommended line here, as
1 6 li[e4 lL!d7 1 7 li[d I 'ifa5 1 8 li[e3 elsewhere in this book, since the
li[ad8 19 lL!e4 'ifc7 20 h4 ± three choices seem equally worth
Vaganian-Hiibner, Tilburg 1983. investigation.
Tartakower used to recommend 8 8 c6
h3 to stop . . . �g4, and this has 9 h3 lL!bd7
resyrfaced jn co,wemoora rygames: I0 .i.b3 ltJ b6
II 0-0 ltJfd5
12 a4 aS
13 lL!e5 .i.e6
If 1 3 . . . lL!xe3 14 fe .i.f6 1 5 'ifh5
.We7 16 llf3, summoning up h is
rese rves for a kingside offensive.
Bl ack would have gained the
bishop pair, but White's centre is
reinforced by the exchange of the
m inor pieces.
14 .i.c2
"Evading multiple exchanges
10 ... c6 I I li[e I ltlfd5 1 2 lt:le4 lile8 and stressing the high value of the
1 3 .i.d2 .i.f5 14 lL!g3 �e6 1 5 �c2 b l -h7 diagonal." (Tartakower).
lL!d7 1 6 a 3 ltJf8 1 7 .i.d3 g6 1 H .i.h6 �4 f5?! {1 7)
ltJf6 19 'ttd 2 .i.d5 20 lt:le5 lL!e6 2 1
.i.c2 lL!d7 22 ltJg4 ± Timman­
Panno, M ar del Plata 1 9H2.
Or in the above 10 ...ltJbd5 I I
li[e I c6 1 2 .i.g5 .i.c6 1 3 ltJe5 ltJc7
1 4 .i.c2 lle8 15 'ifd3 g6 16 'iff3
ltJfd 5 1 7 .i.xc7 Wxe7 1 8 'irg3 B:ad8
19 llad I ltJf6 20 f4 lL!h5 21 Wf2 f5
22 g4 ! ± Razuvayev-Bagirov,
USSR 19!!2. In a 'repertoire' book
26 Quun's Gambit Accepted

Up to here this game could have The planned defence to 1 9

been identified as a modern one .txf4, b u t White now concludes
between grandmasters. But the with a beautiful and typical
rash weakening manoeuvre intro­ kiQgside demolition.
duced with the text places it - 21 ...h6 �xfl
judged by contemporary Grand 22 �xg6! hg
Magisterial standards - firmly in 23 llJxg6 ( 18)
its 1 9th century contex t . Still,
there is no reason that your IH
opponents in club, league or B
weekend events should play like
grandmasters, and the reader may
well encounter such moves from
his own prospective vict i ms. 14 .. .

f5 must have been initially conceived

as a means of blocking the b 1 -h 7
diagonal , but Black soon change�
his mind and tries to use hi�
f-pawn as a battering ram. A rook and piece ahead , Black
Unfortunately, his pieces are has no salvation from White's
inadequately co-ordinated to justify mating attack. I f 23 . . . li!.f7
such ambition. 24 1thH mate.
15 1te2 f4? 23 llJc8
16 �d2 1te8 24 '*h8+ �f7
17 li!.ae I 25 1th7+ �f6
Threatening llJxg6. 26 llJf4! �d3
17 �f7 27 li!.l-6+ 'o!.>g5
18 1te4 g6 28 11t'h6+ <M5
19 �xf4 29 g4 mate
The refutation of Black's strategy. A splendid game by La
19 llJ xf4 Bourdonnais, the uncrowned world
20 .Wxf4 J.c4 champion of his day.
4 Queen's Gambit Declined
Tarrasch Defence
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 lbc3 c5

twice revived in modern ti mes,

/9
w
Under the infl uence of the
outstanding German player and
teacher, Dr Siegbert Tarra sch,
this defence was, more or less,
regarded as the norm at the turn of
the century. As I observe elsewhere
in this volume, Chigorin was the
main dissenter. Even Capablanca
and Nimzowitsch (Tarrasch's ideo­
logical rival) i ncluded this defence
in their repertoire. But with the
i ntroduction of the Schlechter­
Rubi nstein variation : 4 cd ed
5 l0f3 l0c6 6 g3, the Tarrasch went
out of fashion for many years and,
for a round half a cen tury, it came
to be seen as something of a
positional risk whenever it was
adopted.
N.:vertheless, the Tarrasch was
once by Spassky in his world t i tle
match against Petrosian in 1969,
and then agai n by Gary Kasparov
in his World Championship
Candidates' contests with Belyavsky
and Korchnoi during 1 983. The
effect of the contribution by
Spassky and Kasparov has been to
rob the Schlechter-Rubinstein g3
varia tion of some of its punch.
Intensive analysis has revealed
various ways for Black to generate
counterchances - for example,
Korchnoi-Kasparov, World Blitz
Tournament, Herceg Novi 1983:
4 cd ed 5 l0f3 l0c6 6 g3 l0f6 7 �g2
�e 7 8 0-0 0-0 9 �g5 cd 10 l0xd4
h6 I I �e3 ltc8 1 2 Wa4 .i.d7 13
ltad 1 l0b4 14 't!t'b3 a5 15 a4 (20)
 28 Queen's Gambit Declined Tarrasch Defence

This was a well known position, Chandler, London (Phillips &

which various authorities had Drew) 1 9S4. Karpov won this, but
assessed as favourable to White. the average mortal might have
Kasparov clearly held a different more trouble coping with Black's
opinion: 15 ... JileS 16 lt:\c2 b5! counterplay.
Ignoring the vulnerability of his In view· of such variations,
IQP, Kasparov extracts the maxi­ I have decided to i nvestigate
mum tactical advantage from the a somewhat forgotten treatment
active placing of his pieces: of the many times US Cham­
17 lt:\ xb4 ba IS lt:\xa4 .i.xb4 1 9 pion, Frank Marshall. Marshall's
lt:\b6 J:lxe3! 20 'ilt'xe3 .i.c5 2 l lt:\xd7 concept was to reduce the po­
.txe3 22 lt:\xf6+ 'ilt'xf6 23 fe 'ilt'xb2 tential of t he black position
and it is Black who has emerged . by i naugurating an immediate
on top from t he theoretical duel. exchange of dark-squared bishops
Another popular line is 9 de (via lg5) and then im mediately
(instead of 9 .i.g5 above) 9 . . . -inflict an IQP on Black by playing
.i.xc5 I 0 .i.g5 d4 I I .i.xf6 'ilt'xf6 1 2 dxc5. This gives White an ideal
lt:ld5 'ilt'dS 1 3 li::l d 2 (21) blockading square for a knight on
d4, fixes the black d-pawn an d5
11 as an endgame ta rget for Whit e's
8 -li- g ht-square btshop, and saddles
-Black with a queen's bishop_
restricted by its own d5 pawn. I t
- all soundS great, but the danger
is t hat premature simplification
increases the likelihood of a draw.
Proper study of the variations
given here should help to minimise
this problem, a nd it is noteworthy
and now after 1 3 .i.g4, t ha t Korchnoi - and Tal - have
pressurising e2, it is hard to see recently adopted it.
that White can make tangible Fg.r tbe Tarrasch, see BCO,
progress. Another interesting possi­ pages 70-74.
bility from t he above diagram is 1 3
. . . JileS 1 4 J:lc l .i.b6 1 5 J:le l .i.e6 Mltrshall-Schlechter
16 lt:\f4 .txa2! ? 1 7 b3 .ta5 1 8 J:lc2 Ostend 1907
.i.xb3 19 lt:lxb3 d3 20 J:lxc6 .txe I I d4 dS
2 1 llc l d2 22 J:lbl a5 K arpov- 2 c4 e6
 Queen's Gombil Declined Torrosch Defenu 29

3 �c3
]J
4 cd (22) w

22
B

with moves like �cb5, Wa41

llab I, llfc 1 etc. Also reliable is
An important branch from the 12 .td2 g5 1 3 0-0 �b8 14 llc l g4
main line of the Tarrasch (4 . . . ( 1 4 . . . .tf 5 !'!) 1 5 �d4 1We5 1 6
exd5) i s the von Hennig-Schara �cbS l0e4 ( 1 6 . .. a 6 1 7 .tc3 ! ) 1 7
Gambit. This is dangerous, but Wc2 � xd2 1 8 1Wxd2 a6 J 9 Wc3! ±.
White can hardly avoid facing i� 4 ed
unless he opts for th�Ap'mt.'lt1' do 5 lOQ . �c6
4 e3.}Vhite must therefore be aware 5 ... cd is pf\'��e and makes
of a good line against the the white kingside fianchetto very
Hennig-Schara. I recommend 4 ... stro ng indeed: 6 l0xd4 �c6 7 g3
cd 5 1ra4+ (5 1rxd4 �c6 6 1rd 1 ed Wb6 8ltJb3 d4 9/0d5 1rd8 1 0 i.g2
� , . �,d 5 i.d7 will probably .te6 1 1 e4 �ge7 1 2 .1g5 h6
trJll�se, but White also has to 13 .tf6!! ±±. Also inferior is 5 ...
learn what to do about the tricky �f6 6 .tg5 .te6 7 e4! de 8 .tb5+7
7 . . . .te6!?) 5 . . . .td7 (5 . . . b5?
or 6 . . . le7 7 de l e6 8 llc l 0-0 9.
6 Wd4 ! b4 7 �b5 a6 8 de ±; .txf6 i.xf6 1 0 e3 1ia 5 1 1 a3 �c6
5 . .. 1Wd7? 6 li:Jb5 �a6 7 d6 ±) 1 2 .1d3 ± Marshall-Rubmsiein,
6 1Wxd4 c:d 7 1Wxd5 �c6 (7 . . . lilf6 Lodz 1908.
8 Wd I ! tranposes) 8 2f!f3 �f6 9 6 i.gS .te7
Wd 1 .tc5 1 0 d 'ie7 1 1 le2 . .L:.:.. �f6? 7 i.xf6!_i��--���_ !_er
� _f o .!._ll
! � c_!c_. �:.L �-..: ·� . �6 � �xd5
See Diagram 23 :fQ8 � -�--.£Q_JO 1.1?_5 _.aS+
1 2 0-0 g5 1 3 lild4 g4 1 4 b4 .ixb4 1.!.-'cg !�f_ ter Z.:::.��lac:;�·�_pa..y n
•.

( 1 4 . . . .1b6 15 b5 �e5 1 6 1tb3 ±) position is smashed. The only

15 .ib2 and White's attac k on the . other move 6 . . . f6le�ve;- 8i��k
qucens id e -p roceeds more swiftly very loose after Yi.e3. --------
t.iiiiilB1ack.•s on the other wmg, ·- � -, .txe7 �gxe7
 30 Queen's Gambit Declined Tarrasch Defence
8 eJ (24)
8 0-0
Or 8 ... c4 (Svc:shnikov-Nunn,
Hastings 1 977): 9 .i.e2 0-0 10 ()..{)
b5 1 1 ltle5 ll:lxe5 1 2 de litb8 1 3 a4
b4 14 ll:lb5 ll:l c6 1 5 f4 and the
outpost on d6 for the white knight
gave him the advantage. White
actually won on move 2H. More
aggressive is 1 1 . . . b4, though the
disadvantage is that after 12 lt:lxcb
/(Jxc6 1 3 l0a4, a white k night will
settle on c5, and White may be
able to start a queenside attack
with moves such as 1Wa4 and a3,
also supported by .i.f3.
Widely recommended in most
theory books is 8 ... cd 9 lt:lxd4
Wb6, but my feeling is that W hite
keeps a s mall edge with 10 1td2! ,
e.g. 10 . . . .i.g4 (Tartakower's
suggestion) 1 1 h3 .1h5 12 .i.b5 0-0
1 3 ()..{) lt:lxd4 (if 1 3 . . . a6 14 .1a4
and then .tb3, attacking Black's
IQP) 14 ed li)c6 15 .txc6! -.xc6
( 1 5 . . . be saddles Black with a
weak c-pawn on an open file)
'
16 tfg5 ! Stronger is 1 0 . . . ll:l xd4
I I ed 0-0 White now plays .i.e2
and later .tf3. The position
with the two fixed IQP's may look
level, but White has a distinct pull:
the black IQP is fixed as a target
on the same colour square as his
bishop, White's rooks have slightly
easier access to the; e-file and ll:la4-
c5 may prove a � �":\ With all
these subtle nuances in his favou r,
White can make Black's life
unpleasant for some time to come.
After 10 . . . li)xd4 I I ed 0-0 White
can also consider the more
ambitious 12 .i.b5!? preventing . . .
liteH, a n d preparing .ta4-b 3.
9 de WaS
1 0 .i.d3
Slightly less active, though still
'J;'. is I 0 .te2 tfxc5 I I 0-0 :dH
12 1Wd2 lt:lf5 1 3 litfd l .tc:6 1 4ll:lb5
followed by occupation of d4,
Speelman-Chandler, H ong Kong
1 984. Or 1 1 . . . i.e6 1 2 ..a4 tfb6 1 3
..a 3 lt:lf5 1 4 lt:la4 Wa5 1 5 Hfd l
lilacS 16 l0g5 ;t Korchnoi-Chandler,
London (Phillips & Drew) 1984.
I I .. . .te6 1 2 lilc l litad8 1 3 l0a4
Wd6 14 lt:lc5 .tc8 1 5 1Wd2 b6 1 6
l0 b 3 .i.g4 1 7 litfd I followed by
lt:lbd4 a nd b4-b5 , also at least ;t,
was Tal-lvanovic, Bugojno 1 984.
10 1txc5
11 8-0
"Black is on the way to
achieving a very fair development,
but his position suffers from an
 Queen's Gambit Declilted Ta"asclr Defence Jl

ineradicable weakness: the I Q P.

Not only will White be able to
25
exert p ressure on this weakness, B
he will have strong pressure on the
central dark squares, d4, c5 and
e5." ( Marshall).
11 j,e6
Another example is 1 1 ... lidS
1 2 a3 j,e6 1 3 llc l tt'd6 14 lLl b5
ttd7 1 5 llJ bd4 lilacS 1 6 j, bJ lL!xd4
1 7 ttxd4 llxc I 18 llxc l ±
Marshaii-Spielmann, Ostend 1906.
Also 1 1 ... j,g4 1 2 ll e l lladl! into a whi rlwind attack. Here,
13 .te2 f5?! 1 4 h3 ..ih5 15 l0d4 abandoning the siege of Black's
j,xe2 16 l0cxe2 ll f6 17 'trb3 ! IQP, he goes straight for the
Marshaii-Em.Lasker, Match 1 907. throat. Black's only defence is
12 li[cl 1!rb6 20 . . . ll fd8 2 1 e5 ttg6.
13 l0a4 ttb4 20 b6?
14 hJ h6 21 eS ttd8
M ore solid is 14 . . . 1Hd8. Or 2 1 ... l0xe5 22 ttxe5 ttxe5 23
IS aJ ttd6 l0xe5 be 24 l0d7 :±±.
16 l0c5 li[ ab8 22 l0e4 1Wc8
If he parries . . . b6, as in Tal­ 23 lL!f6+! (26)
lvanovic, he may have difficulty
contesting the c-file, especially
}(J
si nce W hite would have .t a6 at his B
disposal.
17 'tlre2 j,fS
Schlechter reasons that a general
diminution of material, in particular
the s wap of his sub-standard
bishop, will increase his prospects
of a draw.
1 8 j,x£5 lL!dS
19 li[fdl lL!fc7
23 l0d6 is good , but this IS
20 e4! (25)
crushing.
Marshall's forte was the trans­
23 gf
mutation of a positional advantage
 32 Queen's Gambit Declined Tarrasch Defence )
24 ef li'lg6
If 24 . . . <tlf5 25 Wb5 or 24 . . . Endgame M aterial
We6 2 5 Wxe6 fe 26 fe li'lxe7 2 7 lit e I The line of the Tarrasch I have
<l;f7 28 lilc7 ±±. examined in this chapter tends
25 'ttd 2 11Vf5 towards an endgame where Black's
26 1hh6 Wxf6 queen's bishop will be hampered
27 lilxc6! ( 27) by the fixed nature of the black
IQP on d5. White, on the other
hand, will enjoy a measure of
dark-square control , including,
probably, the option of occupying
d4 with a piece. It is, therefore,
worth studying typical endgames
which conform to this pattern ,
and which may well arise in your
own games. Here is one fairly
standard but difficult exa mple. I t
Hammer-blow follows hammer­ d i d not , i n fact, proceed from the
blow. Tarrasch but judging from the
27 Wxb2 general configuration of both
If 27 . . . 1!t'xc6 28 li'lg5 ±±. sides, it could well have done.
28 lild4 't!t'bl +
29 �h2 wrs
30 llg4
1 -0
M arshall gives: 30 . . . Ii[ac8
3 1 lilcxg6+ fg 32 lil h4 l:Hd8 3 3
Wh8+ �f7 3 4 lil h 7 + <lJe6 35
<tld4+ ±± .
A splendid game b y the US
player, nominated by Czar Nicholas
I I of Russia to be one of the five
Petrosian-Benko
original grandmasters . (The other
Cu• ac.:ao (Candida tes) 1 962
four were: Lasker, Capablanca,
Alekhine and Tarrasch.) Of course, This ending is very important
the Marsh all Chess Club in New since even such an endgame artist
York still bears the great master's as Petrosian was unable to derive
name. the maximum from it. The game
 Queen' .r Gambi t Declined Tarra.rch Defence
,
concluded: 32 j, g2 j,t7 33 j, f)
j,e6 34 j,d3 g5 3 5 j,c2 �g4 36
j,a4 j,f3 37 j,b5 j,g2 38 fg fg 39
�d3 j,h3 40 j, g6 �e6 4 1 j,h7
ct>d6 42 a 3 \12-\12.
Back to the diagram, Petrosian
should have played 32 g4!! to
cause Black the most serious
problems. There is a natural
repugnance in bishop endings
against playing one's pawns on to
the same colour square as one's
bishop, but the important factor
here is the ongoing restriction of
Black's bishop. White t hreatens
(after 32 g4! !) to cont inue in some
cases with h4 and g5, locating a
furt her static weakness on g6, and
if Black reacts with the natural
32 . . . g5 the following variations
can occur: 3 3 f5 �f7 34 � h I �g8
35 i.g2 j,t7 36 j,f3 ! (29)
If now 36 . . . .ig!! 3 7 j,d I i.f7 38
J.1
j,b3 j,g8 39 e4 ±±; or 36 . . . �c6
37 j,d I <&d6 38 b5! j,e8 39 a4 j,t7
40 j,b3 j, g8 4 1 e4 i.f7 42 j,xd5!
j,xd5 (42 . . . j,e8 43 j,e6 ±±)
43 ed ct>d7 44 ct>d3 ct>e7 45 d6+!
ct>d7 46 't>c4 ct> xd6 47 't>d4 ct>e7
48 't>d5 c;t>d7 49 h3 winning the
king and pawn e nding.
JO
B
This is Szabo-Penrose, Bath
(European Team Championship)
1 973. The play from the diagra m
provides a second highly similar
example, this time with rooks
present. 30 ... ct>b7? Black fears
playing 30 . .. 'it>d6 since his king
will be cut off from his queenside
pawns, but this is worse. 31 g4! ( as
recommended in Petrosian-Benko)
31 ... l:Id6 32 a3 aS 33 h4 i.f7 34 f5
l:ld8 35 llc2 l:ld7 36 gS fg 37 hg hg
38 U.g2 l:ld6 (38 . . . 'it>c6 39 l:l xg 5
i.e!! 4 0 h 4 ±±) 39 l:lxgS g6 40 hg
l:lxg6 and 1-0.
 5 Queen's Gambit Declined
Orthodox
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 lbc3 lbf6
31
W cd ed I I 0-0 c5 (32)
This is the obvious reaction to
White's pseudo-offer of a pawn on
the second move, once it has been
appreciated that Black cannot
retain his booty after 2 . . . de .
With the sturdy 2 . . . e6 Black
maintains a dependable presence
in the centre, "the Balkans of the
chessboard", as Nimzowitsch des­
cribed this critical area, and
resolutely refuses to allow White
to play e4. The standard freeing
move for Black is . . . c5, and i n the
most solid variation of all, the
Tanakower, Black calmly develops
his forces, fianchettoes his queen's
bishop, and ultimately sets out to
equalise with the desired thrust of
his c-pawn. Thus from the diagram:
4 .i.g5 .i.e 7 5 liJf3 h6 6 .i.h4 0-0 7
e3 b6 8 Ik l .i.b7 9 .i.e2 liJbd7 1 0
J.?
w
This is Hon-Karpov, Amsterdam
1 9 8 1 and Korchnoi-Karpov, 1 st
game World Championship match,
Merano 1 98 1 . A lthough Karpov
lost the first of these, Black really
has little to fear, as was demon­
strated by the world champion's
willingness to rep:.-at against
Korchnoi. I n fact, Karpov won
the later ga me.
As a n historical aside I should
point out why 5 . . . h6, "putting the
q uestion" , as the cliche runs, is so
necessary as a prelude to . . . b6 and
. . . .ib7. From diagram 3 1 : 4 .ig5
.ie7 5 eJ 0-0 6 �f3 b6 7 .id3 .ib7
 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox 35
8 .i.xf6 .i.xf6 9 cd ed 1 0 h4 (33)
JJ
B 0-0-0.
Without the precaution of . . . h6
this bold advance grants W h i te a
vehement attack, e.g. 1 0 .•. g6 I I
h 5 lil e8 1 2 hg hg 1 3 -.c2 i,g7 1 4
iLxg6 fg 1 5 1hg6 ltl d 7 1 6 �g5
1Wf6 1 7 � h! H ! 1 -0 M arshall- Burn,
Paris 1 900; or 10 . . . g6 I I h5 c5 1 2
h g hg I J ltle5 ..ixe5 1 4 d e trg 5 1 5
1Wf3 1Wxc5 1 6 �0-0 with excd lent
attac k i ng cha nces, as i n M a rsha li­
M.trco, a Iso Paris 1 900. A fter I 0 . ..
cS White should not sacrifice w i t h
I I ..ixh7+?! l!.> x h 7 1 2 ltlg5+ \t>h6!
but play I I 1Wc2! h6 I 2 0-0-0 ltlc6
13 g4 ! cd 1 4 ed 1Wd6 1 5 \t>b I lb b4
1 6 1Wd2 ltlxd3 1 7 1Wxd3 " ± "
according to Soviet GM Taimanov,
since White threatens g5. This
notwithsta nding, the Tartakower
variation with . . . h6 is a serious
cl it
obsta e to a wh e advantage.
Indeed, the Lasker Defence,
4 .ig5 .ie7 :'\ c3 0-0 6 ltlf3 h6
7 .ih4 .!t:le4, is a ls o tough to c1 ack ,
a s is Capablanca's 6 . . . �bd7 7 lil c l
c 6 8 .id3 d e 9 .1xc4 ltl d S 1 0 .ixe7
Wxe7 1 1 0-0 �xc3 1 2 lil xc3 eS!
I therefore recommend here t h e
Exchange Vanat10n, ideally with
W hite fixes the pawn
struct u re in t h e m iddle of the
board and releases t h e Jock on
Black's queen's bishop rep re se n t ed
by the pawn on e6. Wh1 te1s a 1 m IS
to expl01 t the slat.c s c e n a n o ,
either to ning forwardhis kmgs lde
pawns i n the style of M a r s h a or ll.
advance m the centre w i th 13 a nd
e4, t he very thing the Orthodo x
QG D is designed to I m pe e . As d
men t i o n ed , W h i t e should. i n
t heory. castle queens1dc , bu t spcc 1 al
circ um�ta nces ma y dll' tatc tha t
0-0 1s m o re prudent. Th1s spe�.:.fic
d
t re a t m e n t ha s be e n ado pt e hy
Nimwwusch, Alekhine, Spielmann,
Botvi n n i k , Hronstei n , Kasparov
and Timman.
The QGD Ort hodox as a wh o l e
i:. examined in BCD, pages 60-69.
Spielmann-Sir George Thomas
Carlsbad 1 929
d4 d5
2 c4 eb
3 �c3 ltlr6
For 3 . . . .i e7 see t h e next ga m e ,
K orchnoi-Karpov.
4 cd ed
s .tgs
See Diagram 34
Now t he main l i ne is 5 . . . �bd7 ,
but Black can also select:
a) S . . . .te7 This o nl y has
 36 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox
independent significance if B lack
intends to switch into a Tartakower
with . . . h6, . . . b6 and . . . c5, for
which see Kasparov-Belyavsky in
Pan V.
b) S ... c:S? 6 -'.xf6! gf 7 e3 -'.e6 8
�ge2 l0c6 9 g3 cd 1 0 ed -'.b4 I I
-'.g2 1fb6 1 2 � 0-{)...0 1 3 l0a4
1ra6 14 a3 -'.d6 1 5 b4, Pillsbury­
Steinitz, Hasti ngs 1 895. Evidently
a strategic disaster for B lack,
whose doubled pawns are miserably
weak. White also enjoys the
unbelievable luxury of having
Black's king as an extra target for
his q ueenside attack.
c) S .•.c6 6 e3 -'.f5 7 'it'D ! -'.g6 8
.txf6 'tWxf6 ( 8 . . . gf 9 'tWd I ! 'tWb6 1 0
'tWd2 ltJa 6 I I ltJf3 0-0-0 1 2 a 3 ltJc7
13 b4 ± Petrosian-Barcza, B uda­
pest 1955, very similar to Pillsbury­
Steinitz) 9 'tWxf6 gf 1 0 \t>d2! l0d7
I I .id3 .td6 12 h4 h5 1 3 �ge2 V ±.
White has neutralised Black's
bishop pai r with the manoeuvre
'it>d2 and .td3, but the weak
doubled pawns remain .
d) S . . . c6 6 e3 h 6 7 .t h 4 -'.f5. Now
White could just play 8 .td3,
exchanging bishops, and later
playing to occupy f5 with a knight.
The fact that Black has played . . .
h 6 makes . . . g 6 a s well somewhat
less attractive for him. There is
also an ambitious and complicated
line available which tries to refute:
Black's play, namely: 8 WtJ
'W'b6!? 9 Wxf5 Wxb2 1 0 Wc8+ 'it>e7
I I li:l xdH ( I I ltJd I 'tth4 + 1 2 \t>e2
g5! is good for Black which shows
why 6 . . . h6 must be interpolated
before Black can meet tff3 with . . .
Wb6) I I . . . cd 1 2 We i 'tWb4+ 1 3
'.&.>c:2 Wb5 +?! 1 4 \t>D Wd7 1 5
-'. xl6+ 'Ot.-xl6 (35), Smyslov­
Pachman, Moscow 01 1 956.
Once White u nravels, H lack's
I Q P is very weak im.h:ed, B lack
should have sought further com­
plications with 1 3 . . . g5 14 .ig3 ltJc4
1 5 f) tfb5+ 16 \t>e l Wb4+ 17 c;t>d l
ltJcJ+ 1 8 \t>c2. If this is not to your
taste, by all means plays 8 i.d3.
e) S ... c0 6 eJ .ie7 7 .td3 -'.g4 8 f3
 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox 37
.i.h5 9 lt:lge2 helps White to
mobilise his cent re pawns.
5 lt:lbd7
This move sets a jejune trap,
which has, however, claimed a
number of unwary VICtims:
6 lt:lxd5?? lt:lxd5 ! 7 .i.xd8 .i.b4+
and Black wins .l pi ece.
6 e3 c6
But 6 . . . .i.b4 is out of pl a ce
since White can p rotect h is k night
on c3 with lt:lge2: 7 .i.d3 c5 8 lt:lge2
c4 9 .i.c2 0-0 10 0-0 1t'a5 I I a3
.i. xc3 12 ll:Jxd Jle8 1 3 1t'd2 h(l 14
f3 .ib7 1 5 ll:ac l w i t h e4 to come,
Portisch-Tringov, Plovdiv 1983.
7 .id3 .ie7
Uy playing 7 . . . .td6 H lack pays
insufficient ath:ntion to the pin on
his ki ng's knight, viz 8 ll:J ge2 lt:lf8 9
1t'c2 h6 1 0 .th4 1t'e7 I I a3 .id7
1 2 c4 g5 1 3 .i.g3 de 14 10 xe4 ll:Jxe4
1 5 .ixe4 .i. xg3 1 6 hg t l ±
S pi e l m a nn - Capa bl anca , Carlsbad
1 929.
8 1t'c2
Alekhine-Capablanca, 32nd game
1927 World Championship, Buc::nos
Aires, went 8 10ge2 0-0 (on 8 . . . h6
Ale k h i ne wanted to play 9 .i. f4
rather than .i h4) 9 lt:lg3 lLle8 (9 . . .
h 6 1 0 h4; 9 . . . Jle8 1 0 ll:Jf5 ) 1 0 h4
ll:Jd f6 ( after 1 0 . . . f6 White has
I I 1t'h 5, one rc::a son for keeping
the queen on d I for a move or so)
I I 'W'c2 i.e6 1 2 �.Jf5 .txf5 1 3 .i xf5
10d6 14 .id3 h 6 1 5 .tf4 llc8?
( 1 5 . . . lle8 1 6 04-0 lLJfe4 ! ) 1 6 g4 ±.
This was the game where Alekhine
invented the lt:lge2 system and
the reader may wish to pursue
Alekhine's idea of tll g 3 before
11Pc2. There has, however, been no
subsequent experience with i t .
8 �0
A common manoeuvre to ease
Black's position by e xchanges is
. . . tll fH-e6, . . . g6, . . . li'Jg7 and then
. . . .if5 . H ere, W hite's elastic
cc:: n t re easily copes with t h i s : 8 ...
10f8 9 tll g e2 lLle6 to .th4 g 6
I I 0-0-0 lt:lg7 1 2 f3 lilf5 ( i f 1 2 . . .
.if5 1 3 c4 ± ) 1 3 .tf2 1t'a5 1 4 ¢'b l
.ic6 1 5 h 3 0-0-0 1 6 e4 ±
Bronstein-Medina, Gi:iteborg 1 955.
H �)hS 9 .t xe7 1t'xc:: 7 1 0 �ge2
•.•
g6 I I h J Ci.Jg7 1 2 lbf4 and g 4 t was
Ti m m a n - L o bro n , Sarajevo 1 984.
9 lt:lge2 lieS
J6
w
10 0-0-0
The point of White's play, b u t if
you don't relish a sharp battle i t is
not too late to castle k i ngside.
White then has t h e choice -of the
m i no ri t y a tt ack ( Jlab I, b4, b5 to
u ndermine Black's quee nside) or a
 38 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox

central advance with f3, �ae I etc

and then e4. Botvinnik-Larsen, Jl
cited above, is an example of this, B
and I could also mention Botvinnik­
Keres, USSR Championship, Mos­
cow 1952: 1 0 0-0 lt:JfH I I �ab l
.id6 1 2 'it>h I (to meet 1 2 . . . ..ixh2
with 13 ..ixf6! ±t) 1 2 . . . lt:Jg6 1 3 f3
.ie7 1 4 � be I lt:Jd7 ( 1 4 . . . h6 1 5
..ixh6 gh 1 6 ..i xg6) 1 5 ..ixe7 �xe7
1 6 lt:Jg3 lt:Jf6 1 7 't!rf2 ..ie6 I ll lt:Jf5
..ixf5 19 ..txf5 't!tb6 20 e4 ±. out Black's centre. The conclusion
I0 li:Jc4 was: I ll . . . cd 19 lt:Jxd5 'it'c6 20
10 . . . h6 I I h4 'ita5 1 2 �g3 is 1Vxc6 be 2 1 lt:Jdf6+ gf 22 lt:Jxf6+
promising for White. A lso 10 .. . ' <;!.lhll 23 lt:Jxe8 .i.g4 24 lt:Jc7 llc8 25
ltJfH I I h3 ( I I f3 h6 1 2 h4 and llg5 .i.e6 26 lt:Jxe6 lt:Jxe6 27 �a5 1-0.
I I lt:Jf4 a5 1 2 f3 a4 1 3 a3 b5 14 lt:Ja2 An impressively powerful display
1Wb6 1 5 1td2 lt:Je6 1 6 h4 are good by N imzbwitsch.
alternatives - Hort) I I . . . .id7 1 2 13 1tb3+
g4 �c8 1 3 <;!.lb l b5 1 4 lt:Jf4 a 5 1 5 The queen check sets a very
.if5 a4 1 6 lt:Jd3 .ixf5 1 7 gf ltJ8d7 beautiful trap. Also worth con­
18 llhg l ..tf8 1 9 llg2 ± - sidering is 1 3 g4 !?
Christiansen-Spassk y, Linares 198 1 . 13 �h8
I I . . . b5!? 1 2 lt:Jg3 a5 1 3 lt:Jce2 .id7 14 lt:Jf4 (38)
14 l0 f5 is Hort-lnkiov, L ugano
JH
1 984. H
II ..ixe4 de
12 h4! rs
1 2 . . . .i xg5 1 3 hg 1fxg5 1 4 lt:Jxe4
1tg6 1 5 f3 lt:Jf8 1 6 lt:Jf4 1tf5 1 7 llh5
1fd7 1 8 d 5 !
See Diagram 3 7
This is Nimzowitsch-Spielmann,
Bad Kissingen 1 928, the game
which persuaded Spielmann to t ry The threat now is 1 5 lt:Jg6+ ! ! hg
the variation against Thomas and 1 6 h5 .i xg5 1 7 hg+ .ih6 1 8 ..17
Capablanca. White has clearly 'ite7 19 �xh6+ gh 20 g7+ 'it>h7
used his h-pawn as a decoy to wipe 2 1 g81lr mate. A bsol utely the only
 Queen 's Gambit Declined Orthodox 39

defence (which makes Spielmann's above game actually commenced

continuation an excellent practical 1 d4 e6 2 c4 i()f6 3 �c3 d5 4 .tg5
bet) is 14 . . . 'i:lf8! 1 5 d5 Wb6 �bd7 5 e3 c6 6 cd ed etc. I have
(Ta rtakower). standardised the move-order for
14 �r6? ease of assi milation.]
This does not hel p. In the next game we see what
IS hS �dS can occur if Black, by adopting a
Or 1 5 . . . h6 1 6 Wf7! hg 1 7 h6 :±± . cunning move-order, tries to
16 .txe7 li:Jxe7 avoid my recommended line against
17 �g6+ �xg6 the Orthodox.
18 hg (39)
Korchnoi-Karpov
39
1 3th game, Merano 1981
B c4 e6
2 lbc3 dS
3 d4 .i.e7!? (40)

40
w

If now 1 8 . . . h6 1 9 Jbh6+ gh
20 Wf7 :±±.
18 .i.e6
19 1Ixh7+ �8
20 dS cd
21 �xdS llc8+ This move-order. physica lly
22 �bl WgS stopping White's intended .i.g5 , is
22 . . �f8 23 llhiH .tg8 24
. intended to outlaw the Exchange
llxg8+ �xg8 25 lt:lf6+ :±± . Variation with �ge2, as seen in
23 lldhl Wxg6 Spielmann-Thomas. White's most
24 llh8+ usual response is 4 �0. bu t, as we
1 -0 shall see , it is still possible to
After 24 . . . 'it-17 2 5 Wxb7+ employ an aggressive fo rm of the
mates. Exchange.
[ For reasons of strict historical 4 cd eel
veracity, I should point out t he s .tr4 c6
 40 Queen 's Gambit Declined Orthodox
6 e3 .tfS!
Otherwise White plants his
bishop on d3, seizing control of
the b 1-h 7 diagonal and obviously
stands wel l . I n Timman-Karpov,
Bugojno 1978, White then succeeded
in i mplementing an attack similar
in many respects to Spielmann­
Thomas, viz: 6 . . . lt:lf6 7 .td3 0-0
8 1fc2 lil:e8 9 l0f3 l0 bd7 1 0 ��0
l0f8 I I h3 .te6 1 2 'iPb l lil:c8 1 3
l0g5 b 5 ( 1 3 . . . .i.d7! 14 .te5 h 6 1 5
l0f3 c 5 i ) 1 4 .i.e5 h6 1 5 lt:lxe6
l0xe6 16 g4 lt:ld7 1 7 h4! ±.
7 g4!
The best way of keeping up the
initiative. E xchange of light­
squared bi. � s hv 7 .td3 .i.g6 is,
of course,• ee �-le
·�¥�
m comparison.
7 .te6
Black would like to play 7 . . .
.tg6, but it fails for tactical
reasons: 8 h4! threatening g5 to
imprison Black's ki ng's knight,
as well as h5, trapping Black's
queen's bishop, 8 . . . .i.xh4 9 1fb3
b6 10 lil:xh4 1fxh4 I I lt:lxd 5 ! :i±.
8 h3 (41)
A lso i n teresting is Tony M i les'
idea 8 .i.d3, e .g. 8 . . . lt:ld7 9 1ff3
h5 10 h3 hg I I hg .bg4 1 2 lil:xhll!
or I I . . . lil:xh I 12 1fxh I .txg4 13
1fh8 'iPfll 14 .i.h7 lt:lf6 1 5 �e5
l0xh7 16 'tlhg7+ etc. M iles­
Georgadze, Po rz 1 98 1-2, went
instead: 10 . . . 'tlt'b6 I I 0-0-0 hg 12
hg lil:xh I 13 'tlhh I g5 14 .i.g3
.i.xg4 1 5 litd2 .i.e6 16 1fh2 0-�0
1 7 l0b5 cb 1 8 lil:c2+ with a
dangerous attack.
41
H
8 l0f6
A lternatives:
a) 8 ••• .td6 9 l0ge2 l0e7 10 'tlt'b3
.i.c8 I I .tg2 l0g6 12 .txd6 1hd6
1 3 h4 l0a6 14 g5 lt:le7, Korchnoi­
Spassky, match (2) 1 968. Here Tal
suggests 15 0-0-0 lt:lc7 1 6 e4! with
advantage to White.
b) 8 ... hS!? a vigorous attempt to
disrupt White's kingside structure:
9 gh ltJd 7 10 lil: h2 lt:ldf6 I I .i.e2,
Korchnoi-lvkov, Budva 1 967. Black
must now reson to I I . . . lLlh6 1 2
litg2 tl::l f5 1 3 i.g4 c;Pf8 t o hold his
g-pawn.
9 lf:lf3 0-0
The time-consuming 9 ... tl::l b d7
10 �d3 ll::l b6 I I 1fc2 ll::l c 4,
Botvi nnik-Petrosian , match ( I H)
1963, can be pa rried by 12 .txc4
de 13 e4 or even 1 2 ltJg5 �d7
13 e4!
I 0 .i.d3 cS
11 '.t'fl
Anificial castling is more efficient
 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox 41

than I I 0-0, since White may need The quiet 22 1t'e2 is also strong
his king's rook on h I for attacking and gives enduring pressure.
purposes. It also helps to keep the 22 /()e4
h 3 pawn continuously protected. 23 .g4
II �c6 Of course not 23 .i.xe4 de 24
12 �g2 llc8 lhe4 •d5, when Black has freed
Alternatively, 1 2 . . . cd 1 3 �xd4 hi mself at the cost of a mere pawn.
�xd4 14 ed �d7 1 5 •c2 :! 23 .i.b4
Botvi nnik-Petrosian, match ( 14), 24 lle2 llf'8
1 963. 2s f3 •n
13 llcl Karpov launches a counterattack.
Also 1 3 de J.xc 5 1 4 �e2 �e4 1 5 After all, he does control the f-file
Il c l J.e7 1 6 �fd4 �xd4 1 7 �xd4 and Whi te's kingside is porous,
1rb6 18 Wb3 i ( Bronstein). the penalty paid for the aggressive,
13 lle8 but loosening, 7 g4.
A possible im provement is 1 3 ... 26 J.eS
a6 to prevent �b5. Not 26 fe •xf4.
14 de J.xcS 26 �d2
IS l()bS J.f'8 27 a3 �d3 (42)
16 �rd4! �xd�
17 llxc8 1hc8
18 ed!
I ndeed , 1 8 l0xc.J4 maintai ns a
piece blockade over Black's J Q P,
but now White's knight on b5
threatens both to capture o n a 7
and to invade on c7.
18 .d7
19 lUc7
Here I 9 �xa 7 lla8 is pointless.
19 llc8 28 g6?
20 li:lxe6 re In a tense situation Korchnoi
Black would prefer to play 20 . . . overlooks a trick . Tal later gave as
11t'xe6 but i t fails t o 2 1 iLf5. The best 28 .ig3 ! ll:Jh4+ 29 �h2 �fH
text, however, leaves Black with a 30 �h I �h4 3 1 .ixh7+ �xh7
wea k pawn at e6 on an open file. 32 1fxh4+ and llf2.
21 llel a6 28 hg
22 gS . Hoping for 29 ab? �e l + 30
 42 Queen's Gambit Declined Orthodox
lhe l •fl+.
29 .tg3! .te7?
A disastrous move, immediately
losing material, though the position
is so complicated that the saving
line is almost impossible to detect.
The only correct pat h is the
resource 29 . . . ltlh4+ ! ! e.g. 30
•xh4 1hf3+; or 30 .txh4 •n + 3 1
�h2 .td6+ 32 ..tg3 lilfl+; or
30 �h2 ltlf3+ 3 1 �h i lt'lh4 ! ! (43)
and now:
a) 32 lilf2 � f5 3 3 i..x f5 g f; or
33 ab ltlxg3+ 34 •xg3 Wxfl.
b) 32 llc2 •n+ 33 •xn llxf1 34
.txh4 .id6 threatening . . . llxd3
and ... ll xh3+.
c) 32 ••h4 •n+ 33 lilg2 •xd3
34 ab llfl + 35 �h2 •d I with a
draw; or 35 llg l Wf3+ 36 �h2
We2+ 37 lilg2 1M I and White
must take perpetual check on d8
and h4.
The ga me wound up: 30 lilf2!
ltlel + 31 �h i •xfl 3l ..txfl ltlxd3
33 •xe6+ lilf7 34 .ig3 ltlxb2 35
•xd5 .tf6 36 ..td6 g5 37 Wb3
.ixd4 38 \!re6 g6 39 •e8+ 'it>g7 40
.teS+ .txeS 41 •xeS+ �h7
Adjourned and 1-0. 42 1hb2 a5 43
a4 ll f5 44 1hb7+ 'itr'g8 45 'i!lg2
'i!lh8 46 'i!lg3 'i!lg8 47 'it>g4 'i!lh8 48
•d7 'i!lg8 49 \!rxf5 gf+ 50 'i!lxg5
�17 5 1 'ltxf5 'i!lg7 52 �e5, with a
simply won king and pawn
ending. A splendidly contested
game which does enormous c redit
to both players.
 6 _ _Queen's Gambit: Slav
1 d4. d5. 2 c4 c6 .

up-to-the-minute openings magazine

44 which can continually register and
w u pdate the changing fashions and
emergent resources.
Here I suggest that Wh ite can
maintain a modest pl us with the
unassuming Exchange Variation.
It is not the sa me as the Exchange
against the Orthodox Queen's
Gambit Declined, since the pawn
structure in the Slav remains
A resilient defence to the symmet rical after the exchange on
Queen's Gambit, which mainta ins d5, so the margin of the draw is
Black's central bastions without increased. Still, with White's
temporarily locking in the black development edge, symmetry can
queen's bishop. One of Black's often be an advantage and t he
ideas is to� a su��!�?r brand of Exchange Slav is a trusted weapon
Queen's Gambit_ Ac'=.��d afte r · i n t he hands of Grandmasters
3 lLlf3 ll:lf6 4 lLlcJ de. White is now Portisch, Andersson and Seirawan.
obliged to play 5 a4 (weakenmg Chief exponents of the Slav from
Ji4}_!o rega!_!!_li_i!_ E_��n . s l��} �e:-= Black's point of view are ex-
gambit 5 e4 fal ls short of being World Champion S myslov and
totall y convincing. An aiten1alrve Soviet G M Yusupov.
h �i r-raising _!�ne can arTse-a �t���- For the entire Slav complex see
.
4 li:)cJ e6 5 .ig5 de 6 e4 b5 7 e5 �6 8 BCO, pages 77-!!8 .
__

.ih4 g5 9 lt:l xg5 and now either

9 . . hg or 9 . . lLld5!? generating
. .
Alekhine-Euwe
"unfathomable complications. n AVRO 1 938
yo-u wa nt to keep abrea."s tOJSu i:h I d4 dS
volatile regions of chess theory, it 2 74 c6
is probably wise t o subscribe to an -
3 00" lOft
44 Queen's Gambit: Slav

4 � cd J.. e7 I I ..te2 0-0 1 2 0-0 e5 1 3 l0b5

s liJcJ 'ik6 a6 14 l0d6 ..tg6 1 5 de l0 xc5 1 6
6 Af.4 -JJi llxc5 J.. x d6 1 7 J.. xd6 .,xd6 1 8
7 .,el (45)
., .,d4 ll fd8 1 9 ll d l a 5 20 .,c3
lldb8 2 1 b3 ...b6 22 J.. b5 f6
<15 23 llc l , G aprindashvili-Mokry,
B Reggio Emilia 1 982-3. Black's
moves have been exceedingly
natural, but White still has a
dominating position.
8 �e5! Jlc8
9 -..&41 (46)

46
8
"Like a good many sy mmetrical
va riations, this is less innocuous
than it appears at first sigh t . I n all
symmet rical openings the danger
for Black lies in the fact that he
cannot indefinitely continue to
imitate W hite, and is liable to find
himself confronted with a position
in which White makes a strong
aggressive move and B lack is A highly typical th rust . I t
forced to make a very humble is noteworthy that Botvinnik,
reply . . " C. H .O'D. Alexander,
. Korchnoi and Kasparov have also
Alekhine's Best Games, 1938-45 . developed a liking for this son of
7 a6 move, see, for example, the games
He wants to forestall il:lb5. Korchnoi-Karpov and Kasparov­
I ncidentally, contemporary sources Y.urtaev in this volume. When
indicate t hat Euwe avoided 7 . . . weighing up an unusual, aggressive
e6, upholding t he symmetry, move of this nature, it is also
because he was afraid of 8 .,b3. worth bearing in mind Alek hine's
The current view, though, is that own advice: ' if your opponent
after 7 .. . e6 White once more makes some strange move or
keeps the initiat ive with 8 l0e5 ! , moves which will give him a good
e.g. 8 . . l0d7 9 il:lxc6 b e 1 0 llc l
. game if you continue to play i n
 Queen's Gambit: Slav 45

standard fash ion, it is usually 14 liJf6

necessary to react yourself with ts .to .tb4
some exceptional solution.' Black's three aims now are:
Here, for example, 7 . . . a6 may reduce material; complete develop­
be considered a little strange, but ment; remove his king to safety. It
if White had contin ued urbanely is a measure of Euwe's prowess
with 8 .td3 or even 8 �e5 lilc8 (he was World Champion from
9 .td3, Black would soon have 1 93 5-37, having defeated Alekhine
escaped the worst. in their 1935 world title contest)
9 .td7 that in spite of the opening
As so often in such situations, disaster he more or less succeeds
the natural retreat 9 . . . .tg6 is no in these aims. Only very brilliant
good, e.g. 10 h4! h6 I I lt:lxg6 fg play by the World Champion
1 2 ..td3 ±±; or 1 0 . . . lt:lxe5 I I de (Aiekhine had regained the title
�e4 12 Wa4+ Wd7 13 Wxd7+ from Euwe in a 1 937 rematch)
�xd 7 1 4 lt:lxd5 llc5 1 5 ll d l ±±. If retains his advantage.
9 •.• �xe5 1 0 fg �c4 I I Wb3. 16 llcl 'iti>f8
10 .tg2 e6 Not 1 6 . . . 0-0 1 7 �h l ! and llg l ,
11 0-0 h6 followed by h6. As Alexander
To stop White playing g5. points out, White's extra h5 pawn
12 -'..:3 hS? is not just a token doubled rook's
But this is sheer panic induced pawn, but a dangerous advance­
by White's declared intention of guard which constantly t hreatens
establishing a 'super- Pillsbury­ to disrupt Black's king posit ion.
Attack' with f4 . Better, though For this reason, Euwe keeps his
miserable, is 1 2 . . . �e7, e.g. rook on h8.
13 l0xd 7 Wxd7 14 f4 ±; or 13 f4 17 a3 .txcJ
lt:lxe5 1 4 de followed by f5 . 18 lhc3 li.Je7
13 lt:lxd7 li:lxd7?! 19 'itb3
A fter this, Alekhine's vigorous 20 be
play proves that Black is objectively Or 20 . . . b5 2 1 a4!
los t. Stiffer resistance is offered by 21 Wb6 liJc8
the very humble 1 3 . . . Wxd7 ! 14 g5 Driving off White's q ueen
lt:lg8 ±. before he can increase the pressure
14 gh with llb l .
Not just winning a pawn. 22 \WcS+ 'it;>g8"
Alekhine also opens the g-file for 23 Ubi bS
later occupation. 24 b6! (47)
 46 Queen's Gambit: Slav

29 1re5+.
28 cd lt:lxd5
Or 28 o•• ed 29 ll b6 ti.
29 �hi
Not 29 .txd5? ed 30 ll b6 1fg4+
with perpetual check. Moving the
white king eliminates t his while
preparing to launch the rook into
action via g l .
29 liteS
30 lilgl + �h7
I njecting fresh and decisive 31 Wa3! (48)
energy into the white attack. Euwe
has acco mplished everything pos­
sible within the confines of hi�
meagre resources, but Alekhine
now blows him out of t he water
with four beautifully timed pawn
thrusts: h6, a4, c4 and fi nally e4.
The point of 24 h6! is either to
weaken the e5-h8 diagonal after
24 . . . gh (as occurs in the game) or
to lure Black's rook from its
defensive station on t he back
rank, when the knight on c8 will am deeply impressed by the
lack adequate protection. Thus if way that Alekhine finally smashes
24 . . . lhh6 25 a4! lt:la7 (25 . . . ba 26 Black's resistance by withdrawing
ll b8 ti) 26 Wb6 ba 27 1ha6 a nd his king to h I , a nd his queen to a3.
there is no answer to llb7. There is now absolutely no
"24 gh antidote to t he threats of e4 and
25 .te5 �g7 1fd3+. If 3 1 llc3 32 1ff8 tlo
00.

26 a4! ba The game concluded: 3l ooo llg8 32

27 c4 e4 lilxg l + 33 <t>xg l 1lb5 34 ed
Here 27 llb8 does not work , but 1tbl + 35 �g2 1t'g6+ 36 'it>fl Wbl +
the text is deadly, prising away 37 �g2 1fg6+ 38 .tg3 lt:lxd5
Black's final central bast ions. 39 .txdS ed 48 Wxa4 h5 41 h4 1-0.
27 li:Je7 "An original and forceful game"
Or 27 . . de 28 .txf6+ �xf6
o (Alexander).
 Queen' J Gambit: Slav 47

9 .id3 .td7 10 0-0 1rb6 I I a3 lt::l a 5

Portisch-Ljubojevit 12 b4 lt::l c4 13 lt::le 5 lilacl!! 1 4 .i.xc4
Indonesia 1983 de 1 5 .ig5 with some pressure,
I d4 dS Portisch-Pet rosian, Candidates'
Quarter Final 1 974. Also good is
-

2 c4 _£§.
3 cd cd 15 ltJc4! followed by lt::l c 5. Another
4 lt::l c 3 � line is Capablanca's 7 ... .ie7 8
s .tr4 . ltJr6 .td3!? ( not bothering to preserve
Or 5 . .76 6 e3 .td6 7 .i xd6 the queen's bishop from . . . lt.':lh5)
1Vxd6 8 f4 ! followed by lt::l f3 with !l ... 0-0 9 0-0 lLlh5 (9 . . . .id7 10
a menacing grip over the central lt::le 5 lilc!l I I '@f3 a6 1 2 tfh3 b5? 1 3
dark sq uares . lt::l x d5 ! ! ed 14 lLl xd7 'ihd7 1 5
6 lt:lf3 e6 .ixh7+ �h& 1 6 .if5+ .±± i s a trap
6 . . . tfoola:n .tf51! tria4 Wd8 9 well worth adding to your repertoire.
e3 lt::l d 7 10 .ib5 e6 I I 0-0 .ie7 1 2 Of course, if you prefer Portisch's
li[ c l lilc8 1 3 .ixc6 be 1 4 �e5 8 h3 to Capablanca's 8 .id3 , you
�xe5 15 .ixe5 0-0 16 ltJc5 U ± cannot t ry for it, si nce h3 is not
Ande rsson-Torre, Wijk aan Zee available for White's queen)
19 84. 1 0 .te5 f5 I I lilc I lt::l f6 1 2 .txf6 gf
1 �49) with a sharp struggle ahead,
Capablanca-Lasker, New York
49 1 924.
8 8 J.g3 0-0 :.
9 J.d3 a6
9 ... lile8 is Portisch-Petrosian,
M oscow 1967 (see final chapter)
9 . b6 10 lil c l .ib7 I I 0-0 .ixg3
. .

1 2 hg 'ire7 is Black's most solid

7 J.d6
Black can strike out with 7 .
ltlhS hoping to acquire the bishop
pair, but after 8 .ig5 tfb6 9 i.b5
h6 10 .ih4 g5 I I lt::l c 5! is ±. The
major alternat ive is 7 . .tc7: 8 h 3
..
( to meet . . . lt::l h 5 w i t h � h 2) !l . . . 0-0
defence.
10 llcl
Note that White plays as many
useful moves as possible before
.. committing h imself to 0-0
10 ,lxg3
A really dangerous exchange
while White can still utilise the
open h-file. Perhaps Black should
revert to the . . . Il e8 idea.
48 Queen's Gambit: Slav

11 hg g6 The winning move. Black cannot

12 e4 ! capture on d5 ( 1 9 . . . ed 20 �xd5)
Rupturing the centre activates since t h is would again invite the
all of White's pieces for i mmediate terminal check on f6, so W hite
transfer to t he kingside. wins a pawn and retains some
12 de i nitiative.
13 J.xe4 i.d7 19 fiJe7
Or 1 3 . . . lbxe4 14 lbxe4 20 de .ixe6
planning lbeg5. 21 .i.xb7 llab8
14 1Wd2 1We7 22 i.xa6 llxb2
He could fight against 1Wh6 23 0-0 (51)
with 14 . . . h5 15 1Wh6 ltJg4, but it
looks like an extreme measure. 51
15 1Wh6 llfd8 B
16 g4 (50)

50
B

A flexi ble attitude to castling is

the hall mark of many great
masters. White's h-file attack has
yielded its harvest, so Portisch
A singularly aggressive position now sensibly consolidates.
to have arisen from an Exchange 23 lla8
Slav. True, W hite often aims for Or 23 . . . .txa2? 24 1fa4 .ie6
dark-square control in this variation, 25 1Wa3 ::1:±.
but here Portisch would appear to 24 .i.b5 lbd6
have over-achieved in this respect. 24 . . . .ixa2 25 i.xe8 llxe8 26
16 "tlrfS 1Wa4 ::1:±. The game concluded:
17 1Wh4 "tlrg7 25 a4 liJef5 26 'tff4 llc8 27 lbe4
18 g5 �e8 �xe4 (27 . . . llxc l 28 lbf6+ 'it>fl!
Of course 1 8 . . . �xe4 19 �xe4 29 'tfxc I ) 28 llxc8 .ixc8 29 1fxe4
presages a deadly check on f6. lbd6 30 1We7 lbxb5 31 lld1 h5 32 gh
19 d5! 1txh6 33 lld8+ 'i&>b7 34 ltJg H 1 -0.
 Part II
Indian Defences

5!
8

Chapter 7: Old I ndian 2 . . . d6 3 lt:Jc3

Chapter 8 : K i ng's I nd ian 2 . . . g6 3 lt:Jc3 j.g7 4 e4 d6
Ch apter 9 : Grtinfeld 2 ... g6 3 �c 3 d5
C h a p ter 1 0 : :Nimzo-lndian 2 . ,. e6 3 liJcJ .tb4 4 �J. ..
7 Old Indian
1 d4 li:Jf6 2 c4 d6 3 li:Jc3
H istorica lly, the Old I ndian was
the prec u rsor of the Ki ng's I ndian,
fa voured i n the late 1 9th cent ury
and early 20th century by innovators
such as Ch igorin ( when not
adopting the Defence w hich bears
his own name) and N i mzowitsch
( before he invented the defence
which bears his ) . This was at a
period before master players had
realised that it was possible to
pe rmit White the central latit ude
conferred by the development of
Blac k 's king's bishop to g7 (the
K i ng's I ndia n ) . The Old I ndian
is usua lly distinguishe·d-·byihe
j?OsllW l gORJTack's. k.lni'sbistioo
iln
on e7, a more passive square than
g7, smce I rom there the bishop can
exert little pressure aga_m_st� 6 l!Jf) l!J fd7 (6 . . . l!Jbd7 7 Il: g l !
white cen tre.
From t he diagra m , Black has
Jhree moves: 3 ... eS allows W hite
to retain the initiative by exchanging
q ueens. d isplacing B lack's ki ng;
3 ... .i.f5 4 g3 followed by .i.g2
exploits the exposed position of
Black's queen's bishop t o conquer
the centre and gain time; while 3, .
l!Jbd7 4 e4 e5 5 d 5 (Spassky's
method ) leaves Black cra�ped.
W hite's plan will then be to castle
q ueenside and attack Blac k ' s k ing
on the opposite side of the board.
Note the similarities with Spassky's
way of handling the Czech Benoni.
Currently t he Old Indian is
favoured sporadically by Danish
G ra ndmaster Bent Larsen a nd US
G ra ndmaster Lubosh Kavalek; in
BCO it is covered on page 50.
Spassky-Ka�alek
Montreal 1979
d4 l!Jf6
2 c4 d6
3 10c3 l!Jbd7
Other ways of implementing the
Old I ndian a re :
a) 3 . . . eS 4 de d e 5 'W'xd8+ <,$·xdl.S

followed by g4) 7 .td2 c6 8 g4 (54)
54
B
This is Averbakh's idea, intending
h4, g5 and .th3, gaining space on
the kingside a nd exchanging light­
s4uared bishops to ac4uire domin­
ance over squares such as e4 and
f5 - 8 . . . a5 9 g5 �a6 10 h4 �ac5 1 1
.te3 f5 1 2 gf gf 1 3 0-0-0 'it>e8
1 4 .th3 at least !. Spassky­
Gheorghiu, Siegen 01 1 970. White
fol lows up by seizing the g-file
with his king's rook .
b) 3 ... ..trs 4 g3 ! (ra ther than 4 f3
which is usually given ) 4 eS 5
...
.tg2 c6 6 d5! with the makings of a
tremendous space advantage for
White. O r 4 ...c6 5 .i.g2 � bd 7
6 e 4 .tg6 7 lt!ge2 e 5 8 h3 1lrb6 9 0-0
0-0-0 1 0 d5 ± A lekhine-Janowski,
New York 1 924 .
c) After the amorphous 3 c6 I
...
suggest 4 e4 e5 5 d5 or 4 . . . �bd7
5 � [3 e5 6 d5, broadly emulat ing
Spassky's recipe.
4 e4 e5
5 . d5! (55)
Old Indian 5 1
55
8
A n unambiguous declaration of
intent . White will ossify the
centre , castle quecnside and then
try to blast B lack's king on the
opposite wing. Black can scarcely
consider . . . 0-0-0 himself, since his
internal comm unications are in­
adequate to bring over sufficient
ddensive pieces to shield his king,
either on c8 or b8.
5 Jle 7
Move-order now makes little
difference, since the contours of
the position have been fixed, but
here is one slightly divergent
example; 5 . . . �c5 6 1rc2 a5 7 .te3
.te7 8 h 3 0-0 9 g4 c6 10 0-0-0 cd I I
..txc5 de 1 2 ed ! Peev-Zeitlin,
Pernik 1 977. If 5 ... g6, heading
bac k towards a King's I ndian ,
White can play 6 ..te2 ..ig7 7 ..ig5
with a grip, since Black cannot
easily throw off the pin without
weakening his kingside (7 . . . h6
8 .i.h4 g5 9 .tg3 leaves f5 exposed,
and Black does not even have . . .
lll h 5 a t h i s disposal).
52 Old Indian

0-0
ILleS 56
aS w
To secure his knight against
eviction with b4.
9 .teJ b6
If 9 . . . lL!g4? 1 0 .ixc5 de I I h3
winning material.
10 h3 h6
Or 10 . . . g6 I I g4! The point of
Black's l i th move is to fight for
kingside dark square control (g5, Black adopts a classic defensive
f�. h4) impeding White's aggressive posture, with his pa wns abreast of
designs in that sector. each other on the third rank. He
I I 0-0-0 lLlh7 · can thus meet h5 with ... g5 or g5
12 g4 lL!gS with . . . h5, blocking position in
1 2 . . . g5 is much too passive, either case.
a nd would give White a free hand 19 :dn .ld7
with a later h4, e.g. after lldg l . 20 wbl 1We7
1 3 lL!d2 11 f3 wg7
A false trail . Bronstein calls Black's set-up
13 �h7 "the fire-resistant Kavalek wall".
14 �f3 lOgS Actually, that is t he maxi m u m it
IS lL!el ! can achieve. Black's position is
Finding a more profitable route going absolutely nowhere. The
for the k night. standard break-out attempts . . . b5
IS �h7 and . . . f5 are out of the question,
Black is willing to draw after so he m ust just sit a nd wait for
16 liJf3 liJg5 , but there is no need White's winning try. The next few
for White to conclude peace yet. moves resemble siege warfare -
16 ll:lg2 .lgS Spassky lines up his mangonels
An exchange which is 5trategicaUy and assa ult troops more or les:. as
desirable for Black, in that he he pleases, while Kavalek maintains
gives himself extra room in which vigilance along his defensive 'wall',
to manoeuvre and eliminates the shifting his troops to any area
more agile of White's bishops. where an im mediate thrt:at arises.
17 h4 .ixe3+ 22 l:l: fl lL!f6
18 liJxe3 g6 (56) 2J 9d2 llae8
 Old Indian 53

24 .tdl lUh7 calamities, Kavalek resolves to

25 .tel l:lb8 return the material for a measure
26 lUb5 l:lbc8 of freedom .
27 l:lfb2 l:lh8 32 e4
28 l:lgl l:lhfl 33 fe We5
29 g5 hS 34 g6 fg
30 lt:lf5+! (5 7) 35 fg l:lf4
36 gh .tg4 (58)
J7
B 5il
w

At last White storms the

fort ifi�:ations. This is the only way
to make progress, si nce playing
for f4 would, given the absence of
dark-squared bishops, tend to
u ndermine White's own posi tion
and give Black a splendid pie�:e
outpost on e5. It is worth
comparing the ope ra tions here
with Gl igoric-Petrosian in Part V
where White's f4 breakthrough
was feasible.
30 gf
31 ef 'ti;>h8
32 l:lhg2
White is now ready to smash
through Black's position with his
g-pawn. Another plan that comes
to mind is f6 fo llowed by We2 and
f4. In view of these i mminent
An interesting psychological
situation has arisen, and a common
one in chess . The White assault
has ended, but he is now one good
pawn (plus one doomed pawn)
ahead in material. So, White has
to overcome Blac k's cou nterplay
and adjust himself to a mental
framework of consolidation, rather
then aggression. Not everyone can
handle such i mportant transitions!
I t is also i nteresting, from a
positional viewpoint, that the
position in the diagra m could
have arisen from a crude assault
by White, involving a bru te-f<_? rce
onsla ught with f4. The diffe rence
is that, although Bla�:k's forces
have occupied t he weakened dark
54 Old Indian

squares (e5/f4), White's more

5Hu
subtle conduct of the assault has w
netted him material gain.
I give the technical part of the
game in brief; t he important th ing,
of course, is for White to e xcha nge
queens:
37 a3 Il:cf8 38 'W'd4 lil 8 f7 .19
'W'xe5+ de 40 �c3 '.t>xh7 41 'i!;>a2
lLld7 42 Il:d2 lilf2 43 llgg2 llxg2 44
lhg2 ll:lf8 45 b4 ab 46 ab \t'g7 47 t6 li:Jf5!! �r
c5 be 48 be li:Jg6 49 lih2 �1'8 50 17 er hg
.ia4 Il:f6 51 'i!;>b3 Il:f3 52 �e4 'i!i'e7 18 fg li:Jxg4
53 Il:b2 lH7 54 d6+ ed 55 ed 'i!;>f8 56 19 'W'gJ ll:lxr5
Il:d2 .id7 57 i.xd7 lixd7 58 'i!;>d5 1 9 . lLl f6 20 h5 <Jih7 2 1 h6 li:Jge8
. .

'i!;>e8 1 -0. 22 liLdg l liLg!! 2J 'W'g7+ ! ! li xg7 24

hg+ �gK 25 liL h K mate.
I give another example to show 20 '8xg4+ ttlg7
the typical style of attack. 21 'W'g3 r5
22 h5
Diagram 5!!a is timer Khan­ 1 -0
Solomo n, 2nd Commonwealth 22 . . . <Jihtl 23 h6 li:Je8 24 liLdg I
Championship, Hong Kong 1 984. ±± .
 8 King's Indian Defence
-t·�4- lL'lf6.2 .c4.g6 3 tbc3 $.g/;.� e4.g6
The King's I ndian is a tangled
pri meval forest , in which it is
··-
frighteningly easy to lose one's
pa th. There are so many different
ways of meeting it, leading
to vas tly varied structures a nd
scenarios. I f you choose one that
does not correspond to your own
preferences and strengths the
results can be fa tal - for exa mple,
the Fou r Pawns Attack (5 f4 0-0
6 lilf3 c5 7 d5 e6 8 i.e2) is not for
the faint-hearted, while the Orthodox
(5 .te2 0-0 6 lt:lf3 e5 7 0-0 lilc6 8 d5
lt:le7) requi res t itanium nerves a nd
a lot of precise analysis to weather
Black's inevitable kingside attack.
My feeling is that the main
points to bear in mind when
figh ting the K I D a re to blockade
the black position, clamp down on
the freeing breaks . . . b5 (after
Black has established a pawn on
c5) and . . . f5 (after Black has
played . . . e5) and, above :� ll , to
prevent the liberation of Black's
Draconian bishop on g7.
The chief blo(;kade system
against the K I D is the Samisch,
from the diagram: 5 f3 0-0 6 .td
o r lg5. The problem with the
Samisch is that it is very llea vily
documen ted indeed (see BCO,
pages 1 28- 1 3 1 , if you wish to delve
further into t his) and, therefore,
hard to lc:arn. The system I have
chosen with 5 2hge2 strongly
resemble s the Slim•sch, and may,
on occasion, tranpose into branches
of it. It has the same blockading
8lins, but is relatively unusual.
The reader 'can, therefore, rely
on his own judgment and i nstinct
to a much greater degree, secure
in the knowledge that his opponent
will not be able to hit him with
reams of devastating memorised
analysis.
5 �ge2 is given, in brief, in
BCO, page 1 24.
 56 King's Indian
Boh'innik-Smyslow
U SSR Ch a mpions hip 1941
Notes marked " " by Botvinnik
I d4 IL!f6
2 c4
16
3 IL!cJ .A,g7
4 e4 ' d6
5 :�pl ... d (60)
. 1 959: 6 ... 0-0 7 .i.g5 c6 8 1td2 11ra5
6 acs
"It would seem that this move
has not been met with before in
this particular position. It is not
easy for Black to free himself from
the pin. The solution S myslov
found is too pri mitive."
Theoretical obsenation
After � . . . e5 White also has the
option of transposing to an
i nteresting version of the Samisch
with 6 fJ. The advantages of such
a treatment are that Black has
already committed himself to
defence based on . . . e 5 (which
eliminates many of his more
exciting choices, such as . .. lL!c6 or
... a6) while White .Ul �taini the
possibility of developing the queen's
bishop to g5 rather than e3. Here
are some samples:
Benko-Fischer, Portoroi Inter­
zonal 195H: 6 . . . 0-0 7 .i.g5 ed 8
�xd4 �c6 9 �c2 .te6 10 .i.e2 h6
1 1 .i.h4 g 5 1 2 .tf2 lt:Je5 ( 1 2 . . .
lt:Jh5) 1 3 � e 3 c 6 1 4 0-0 1Wa5 1 5
1td2 llfd8 1 6 llfd I a 6 1 7 a 4 1Wc7
1 8 a5 tl ±. Fischer now played the
misguided 1 8 . . . c5? when 19 h4!
left no doubt of White's superiority.
Sanguinetti- Fischer, S antiago
9 d5 cd 10 cd ( 10 �xd5 9xd2+ I I
Wxd2 �xd5 1 2 cd ;!) 1 0 . . . .td7 1 1
g4 �a6 1 2 lOgJ �c5 1 3 llb 1 1Wb4
14 lL!b5 ! and once again the
exchange of queens favours White.
Fischer actually went on to lose
both of the above games .
Petrosian-Najdorf, Bled 196 1 :
6 . . . c6 7 .i.g5 �bd7 8 d 5 l0b6 9
�c l cd 1 0 cd 0-0 I I a4 a6 1 2 lL!b3
.i.d7 1 3 a5 �c8 14 .td3 b5 1 5 lt:Ja2
l0e7 16 ttlb4 White has a great
superiority on the q ueenside , and
eventually conducted a successful
campaign in the c-file. However,
Petrosian d id have to overcome
serious black counterplay based
on . . . lt:Jh5 and . . . f5. In view pf
this, White might have considered
the prophylactic 1 6 g4!? as a
preliminary measure before turning
his full attention to the q ueen's
flan k .
Tal-Tolush, U S S R C h , M oscow
 King's Indian 5 7

1957: 6 lL!bd7 7 .i g 5 c 6 8 Wd2

...

0-0 9 d5 c5 1 0 g4! a6 I I l0g3 �e!! 61

1 2 h 4 Wa5 1 3 .ih6 lL!f8 1 4 h5 Wc7 w

1 5 .id3 b5 1 6 0-0-0 be 1 7 .ib l ! a

standard device to halt Black's
counterplay. If anything, the extra
pawn on c4 obstructs Black's
counterattack: 17 ... .ih8 1 8 �dg l
�b8 1 9 l0f5 and White has a
m urderous attack.
6 h6
7 Ah4 .:S IS l hd7+!
.. Black weakens his f5 square "Of course, W hite wins only a
without any compensation." pawn as yet for the sacrifice of the
8 .i&3 �bS exchange, but his positional su­
9 . de periority gives him good chances."
.. Precisely as the result of this IS 'it'xd7
exchange and the subsequent " 1 5 . . .txd7 is followed by
.

forced manoeuvre, White occupies 16 .i. xe5+, which would cost

Black's f5 square." Black a piece."
9 de 16 .txeS f6
1 0 . •xd8+ �dl 17 .i.c3
I I 0-0-0+ . 10d7 " Another good move was 1 7
1 2 �dS c6 ..td4. Now Black must defend his f­
1 3 10e3 �c7 pawn in view of t he threat 1 8 g4. "
.. Black develops according to a 17 �e6
well known system, preferred by Ill g4?
U kranian masters in the King's "The advantage can be thrown
I ndian Defence, but in the given away with one stereotyped move.
case Black's weakness on f5 gives After 18 h4! g4 19 lL!ed4+ �f7 20
White the advantage. " [Hotvinnik .i.e2 (20 . . . �g8 2 1 c5) there would
is referring to the variation : I d4 be no doubt of White's superiority.
l0f6 2 c4 d6 3 lLJc3 e5 4 de.] This variation was pointed out to
1 4 li:lfS .tfl (6 1) me after the game by V . Rago zin,
"In all probability Black did not while G. Levenfish also noted it
guess White's inten tion or he in 64" (a well k nown So9iet
would have played 1 4 .i.f6 or
... theoretical journal).
1 4 ... lL! xg3." Ill 10f4
58 King's Indian

19 li'lxf4 gf "Smyslov took good advantage

20 Ad3 of White's errors. He retained
"When W hite played 1 8 g4 he the material advantage and, by
planned to open up the game simplifying the position, obtained
subsequently with e5 and to take serious chances of wi nning. Wh ite
advantage of t he adverse king's has no way of saving his f-pawn or
open position. But, unfortunately, avoiding t he exchange of bishops.
the king position turns out to be For instance, 25 h4 llad8 26 A xa5
quite secure." b6 27 Ac3 Ad4 is obviously in
20 aS Black's favour."
" Preparing . . . Ab4." 25 ll fi Ah4
21 a3 .icS "There is no point in 25 . . . .ic3+
22 eS �f7 since in order to win the f6 pawn
" If im mediately 22 . . . Axf2 t hen Black would have to attack
23 l H l ." · with the bishop."
23 er. 26 AdJ ?!
"Whereas White's 1 8th move led " White should have chosen 26
to t he loss of advantage, this move �c2 .ixf6 27 llxf4 .ixc3 2M �xc3
brings with it loss of equality. �g7 29 c5 and t he white king
Any other move (23 lii:f l or 23 f3) occupies a bet ter position than in
would have been bet ter. Black the actual con tinuation . "
now brings about an advantageous 26 llf8
endgame." 27 cS?!
23 .ixfS "Here too, 27 q;,c2 was the better
24 .ixfS move ."
"24 gf llad8 25 �c2 Ad4 is no 27 Axf6
better for White." 28 llxf4 �g7
24 Axf2 (63) 29- Axf6+ llxf6
30 AfS llff8
6)
w 31 q;,c2 llfe8
"Black again takes subtle advan­
tage of White's further virtually
imperceptible mistakes (26 Ad3
and 27 c5). Now he provokes b4,
after which the white king, cut off
on the fi rst two ran ks, is in a
dangerous position. White is com­
pelled to lose a tempo in order to

secure the safety of the h-pawn."
32 h4 JileS
33 b4 ab
"This is more consistent than
33 . . a4 since the black rooks are
. the continuation 54 . . . Jihd5 55
becoming very active. However, if
Black does not succeed in exploiting
the bad position of the adverse
king, his winning chances will be
al most nil since White has no
weak pawns. "
34 ab lild (64)
04
w
The ending which follows is of
no compelling relevance to the
opening variation. Black clea rly
has some winning chances but
these are nebulous. I n the con­
cluding p hase of the game, which I
give in brief, Black missed 37 . . .
lilacS! 38 lild4 lilh3, maintaining
some hopes of a win.
The remaining moves were:
35 �b2 lild8 36 c.t>c2 lia8 37 <&b2
lic2+ 38 c.t>b3 liae8 39 lid4 ll8e7
40 lid6 lif2 41 J.d3 lif6 42 lid4
lien 43 J.fS h5 44 b5 hg 45 .i.xg4
King's Indian 59
cb 46 .i.d7 lin 47 Axb5 lilbl + 48
'ittc4 licl + 49 ¢'b4 lle7 50 .i.d3
lie3 51 hS �h6 52 lidS llh3 53
c.t>bS lldl 54 Ae4 Yl - Yl in view of
Axd5 lhh5 56 .i.xb7. (Most of
the notes to the above game are
based on those of Botvinnik in his
book of selected games. )
Ma tulovic-Dednarski
Palma de Mallorca 1967
I e4 g6
2 d4 .i.g7
3 c4 d6
4 ll:Jc3 �f6
5 ll:Jge2 (65)
65
B
In the preceding game, Botvinnik­
Smyslov, I e xamined the con­
sequences of 5 . . . e5. I n this game I
survey the alternatives:
a) 5 ... ll:Jc6 6 d5 ll:Je5 7 lll g3 0-0 8
J.e2 c6 9 f4 �ed7 1 0 J.e3 cd I I ed
a5 1 2 0-0 ll:Jc5 1 3 f5 J.d7
14 Wd2 ;t; ± (space advantage)
Keene-J assc m, Dubai 1 984.
b) 5 ... ll:Jbd7, evidently playable as
 60 King's Indian
a transpositional route to main
l i nes, but in Barcza y-Ortega ,
Berlin 1 967, Black went rapidly
astray 6 li:lg3 c5 7 d5 a6 H a4 h5
- .ih6 .i h8 1 5 h 3 . At this moment,
9 .ie2 h4 10 �fl �h5 I I .ig5! ± .
c) 5 ... c6 6 li:lg3 a 6 ( 6 . . . h 5 ? ! 7 h4
e5 H d5 'it'b6 9 1Vc2 .ih6 10 .ixh6
lhh6 I I .ie2 llhH 1 2 li:lfl t
( Fori ntos); W hite will play 0-0
a nd t hen proceed with llab l and
b4 ) 7 a4 a 5 8 .ie2 li:la 6 9 0-0 0-0 I 0
.ie3 Wc7 I I f4 e5 1 2 c5! ± Szabo­
Lambert, K re ms 1 967.
d) S ... cS 6 d5 e 5 7 li:lg3 (7 de frees
Black's position) 7 . . . h5 (7 . . .
lLlbd7 H .ie2 a 6 9 0-0 h5 I 0 .ig5
li:lfll I I 'ttd 2 li:lllh7 1 2 14 lD xg5 1 3
fg li:l h 7 1 4 h 4 with an aggressive
post u re fo r White, who has f-file
pressure com bined with sacrificial
ideas agai nst h5 at his disposal -
Barczay-Bogdanovic, Sarajevo I IJ6H)
8 h4 �h7 ( t h reat . . . .if6 ) 9 li:lge2
li:la6 10 .ie3 �c7 I I aJ 0-0 1 2 li)c I
li:lf6 1 3 .ig5 Well 1 4 .ie2. As I can
personally testi fy ( the ga me is
Forintos-Keene, Caorle 1 97 2 ) it is
very difficult for Black to generate
coun terplay here.
s 0-0
The most popular !)Joice.
6 li:lg3 eS
6 . . c5 7 d5 e6 (7 . . . li:la6 ll .ie2
. a) 7
li:lc7 9 0-0 llb8 I 0 .ie3 a6 I I a4 b6
1 2 ll b l .id7 1 3 b4 ± Fo rinto s
Polgar, H ungaria n Ch 1 961S-9)
8 .ie2 ed 9 ed (9 cd is playable,
transposing to the Modem Benoni
but not the line I advocate in this
book) 9 . . . a6 1 0 a4 lleH I I .if4
1!tc7 1 2 'ttd 2 li:lbd7 1 3 0-0 b6 1 4
Szabo- Pe t rosia n , Sarajevo 1 972
ended as a draw, but I believe this
had more to do with the relative
stat us of the players than with the
position (good G M happy to draw
with ex-world champion). Black is
still c ra m ped and has no obvious
coun terplay ,while White has
dangerous plans such as .id l -c2
plus f4-f5 at his disposal . There is
· obviously no need to agree to a
draw if you reach this position
yourself as Wh1te.
7 dS (66)
61i
H
The ga me move here is 7 . . . c6,
st riving for c li le counterplay , but
-
the re are plenty o f others:
...�e8 8 h4 ! f5 9 ef gf 1 0 i.g5
1fd7 ( 1 0 . . . li:lf6 I I ..id3 e4 1 2 ..ic2
­ Wi t h fJ to come ; or 10 ... ..i f6 I I
11t'h 5 ph1s ..id3 and 0-0-0) I I .id3
li:la6 12 �h5 li:lc5 1 3 ..ic2 a5 1 4
, 'tte 2 ;t a t least - Wh ite will castle

queenside and attack with a
combination of f3 and g4.
b) 7 ... ltlbd7 8 .ie2 a 5 (8 . . . ltlc5?
.� b4! ±) 9 h4 h5 1 0 .ig5 ltlc5? and
npw Black is wiped out by a stock
sacrifice which may net you many
points i n your own ga mes:
I I .i x h 5 ! gh 1 2 ltlxh5 (6 7)
White is i ntending Wf3 and
ll:h3-g3 , w hile if 1 2 . . . ..tg4 1 3
�hf6+ and Wxg4 ::1:± . Th e main
defence is 1 2 . . . �hi! 13 f3 ! ltlcd7
14 11td2 't>g8 ( 1 4 . . . 11te8 1 5 .ixf6
ltlxf6 1 6 llJ x f6 .i.xf6 1 7 Wh6+ ±±.)
15 llJe2 1fel! 16 ltl xg7 'it;>xg7 1 7
.txf6+ � x f6 I I! Wg5+ ±± . A
valuable shot to have: in your
arsenal.
c) 7 ... �lg4 8 ..ie2 Wh4 9 lt:J b 5 !
ltl a 6 1 0 .i d 2 f 5 I I .ixg4! (only
now, when Black m ust allow a
pawn to settle on g4, reducing his
mobility and blocking his own
bishops) I I . . . fg 1 2 \te l 1fd8 1 3
b4 and then c5 ± , Forin tos-Dely,
Kecskemet 1 968.
d) 7 . aS 8 .ie2 ltla6 9 h4 ltlc5 10
. .
h5 c6 I I .ig5 h6 12 ..teJ cd 1 3 cd
King's Indian 6 1
g 5 1 4 0-0 .id7 1 5 .ixc 5 dc 1 6 a4,
Szabo-Klundt, Ba mberg 1 961!; ±
i n view of Black's diseased light
squares. G ufeld give s · as a n
illustration: 1 6 . . . ltl e 8 1 7 .ib5
ltld6 18 .ixd7 11txd7 19 Wb3 and
ltlb5.
7
8 .ie2 ltla6
Or 8 . . . cd 9 cd a6 1 0 a4 ltlbd7 I I
h 4 h5 ( Black avoids . . . h5 a t his
peril, e.g. I I . . . a5 1 2 h5 ltlc5 1 3
.ie3 .id 7 1 4 ll:a3 ll:c8 1 5 1td2 and
.ih6 ± ; o r I I . . . ltlel! 12 h 5 f5 1 3
hg hg 1 4 e f g f 1 5 .ig6 ±; fi nally,
I I . . . ltle8 1 2 h5 a5 IJ ll:a3 ltlc5 1 4
.ie3 f5 1 5 .ixc5 ! de 1 6 h g h g 1 7 ef
gf II! lL!b5 lt:Jd6 19 lt:Jh5 f4 20 ..Q.g4
and then ll:ah3 ±) 1 2 .ig5 11tb6
1 3 a 5 ! (68)
White has a clear advantage ,
e . g . 1 3 . . . Wxb2 1 4 ..Q.d2 ltlc5 1 5
ll:a2 WbJ 1 6 Wa I threatening 0-0
and ll: b l . A lso 1 3 . . . 1td4 14 1tc2
\!fc5 1 5 0-0 and ll: fc l . If Black
t akes posi tional risks on 1he
q ucenside to counter W hite's
a ttack on the other wing, it is quite
 62 King's Indian
clear that White can still switch
fronts to exploit such weak nesses.
This observation is further justified
by 1 3 . . . Vllc 7 14 Vlld 2 ll::lc 5 1 5 lla3
b6 16 b4 lt:lcd7 17 0-0 and llfc l ±
Forintos-Bogdanovic, Sarajevo
1 965. 8 . . . cd 9 cd lt:lbd7 1 0 h4 a5 I I
h5 lt:lc5 1 2 �g5 t ransposes to
Mat ulovic- Bednarsk i , but 1 0 . . .
h 5 I I � g5 VIlaS 1 2 iVd2 lt:lc5
1 3 0-0 a6 1 4 I!ab l Vllc 7 15 b4
-=t:lcd7 16 ll fc l again fa vours
White on the q ucenside.
9 h4 lt:lcS
9 . . . h5 once more permits the
white queen's bishop to sett le on
g5.
10 hS cd
JJ cd aS
12 �gS
A good alternative is 12 �d
(stopping ... a4 ) 12 ... �d7 1 3 a4 !
llc8 1 4 ll a 3 ;t, e.g. 1 4 . . . W'b6 1 5 h6
�h!! 16 lt:lb5 planning llc3, 0-0,
Vllcl and llfc l ; or 1 4 . . . ltJe8 1 5
1fd2 f5 1 6 h g h g 1 7 e f gf 1 8 .i.g5 ± .
12 .i.d7
13 Vlld2 a4 (69)
69
w
Now that Black is all ready for a
queenside blitz, I would suggest
that White reveal 0-0-0 as a feint,
and c u n ni ngly play 14 0-0! H e
then h a s powertul threats based
on f4, possibly with 'ith I as
prepara tion. Matulovic's choice is
bold, even foolhardy, castling into
Black's counterattack.
14 0-0-0!? \WaS
IS 'itbl bS
16 �d3 I!fc8?
Surely 1 6 . . . � x dJ 1 7 tVxdJ b4
is a dequa te for Blac k . A fter the
dilatory text, Black always appears
to be struggling, and has to rely on
a rtificial measures for his chances.
1 7 hg hg 18 �h6 lt:lb3 19 'ilrgS!
lt:lh7 20 iVe3 �f6 21 tt:'lf5! �xrs
22 ef llxc3 23 t'g fg 24 ·Wg3
(70)
Probably in desperate t i me­
trou ble, Bednars k i wuld find no
defence to White's threats: 24 ...
lt:lf8 2S .ixf8 �xf8 26 1i'xg6 llcl +
21 llxc l lt:ld2 + 28 'itc2 JileS+ 29
�1 ll xcl + 30 'itxcl 1 -0 .
 9 Griinfeld Defence
1 d4 lbf6 2 c4 g6 3 liJc3 d5
71
W such a s ta te of flux and innovation,
The G r unfeld, introduced i n the
1 920's, is one of Black 's most
reliable defences. It does not make
any structural concessions, main­
tains fl uid piece play and provides
Blac k with plenty of tactical
opport u nities, especially along the
a l-h8 diagonal. The only drawback
to the G r u nfeld is that in many
lines White establishes a powerful
pawn cent re, but such pawn
centres can also form a clear ta rget
for bombard ment from Black's
paeces.
The most popular anti-Grtinfcld
line in contemporary international
competition is the Exchange
Variation, i n its various mani­
festations. There are, however,
two good reasons for not selecting
this for the repertoire: the theory
o f t he Exchange V a riation is in
that a n ything I write now may
well be out of date b y t he time this
book appears. I n addition, the
Exchange is of such a fo rcing
nat u re that i f Black survives the
initial thrust, Whi te's initiative
may well burn itself out prematurely.
H ere are t wo examples in
popula r lines:
a) I d4 lt:lf6 2 c4 g6 3 lt:lc3 d5 4 tOO
i.g7 5 cd l0 xd 5 6- e4 lt:lxc3 7 be
c5 8 Jil b I 0-0 9 i.e2 i.g4! 1 0 l h b 7
..txf3 I I ..txf3 cd 1 2 cd .txd4
I ) 0-0 lt:lc6 14 9a4 llc8 1 5 .th6
lle8 (72)
72
w
A lthough W hite has the bishop
pair, 1 do not see t hat there is any
 64 Grunfeld Defence

way that the powerfully centralised but he was in itially responsible for
black position can be breached. the line's modern reintroduction,
More i nteresting is 10 0-0 cd I I cd while recent t heory has been
..txf3 1 2 .ixf3 ..txd4 1 3 e5 �c6 considerably enhanced by US
14 e6!? fe 1 5 11fb3 1lrd6 but how I nternational Master Jon Tisdall.
convincing is it? White may regain Black's · counter measures are
·
both pawns, but the black bishop much Jess definable here than m
on d4 is still imposing. the normal Exchange and there is
,P.)J d4 �f6 2 c4 g6 3 �c3 d5 4 cd scope for penonal input. The
lt:Jxd5 5 e4 lt:Jxc3 6 be .i.g7 7 ..ic4 Romanishin Exchange is mentioned
c5 8 lt:Je2 0-0 9 0-0 lt:Jc6 I 0 ..te3 cd briefly in BCO on page 27. The
I I cd ..tg4 1 2 f 3 ll\a5 1 3 .i.d 3 ..te6 main line Exchange Va riations are
14 d5 .txa 1 1 5 'tha i f6 16 lil: b l covered on pages 98- 1 02.
_$.dU_7 ..th�_ lil:l7 I H e5 fe 1 9 'itxe5
11'b8 20 't!*xbll+ lhb8 21 .td2 Tisdali-J ansa
..tf5! 22 .i xf5 ll xf5 23 ixa5 Aarhus 1 983
1xd5C (73) I d4 li:Jf6
----.-
2 C4 __gL,
3 Tc'3 dS
w 4 Ccr _ lLJxdS
s l0f3 __!&?___
6 Wb3 (74)

74
8

and White is nominally better,

with two mi nor pieces for rook
and pa wn, but I doubt if he has
real wi nning chances .
Accordingly, I have opted for
a httle known brainchild of Now B lack has to choose
the Soviet grand master Oleg oetweenthetra'dl 'llonaTC:i'r unfeid
'
R.omanishin, from Diagram 7 1 : Excha-nge-on c3 or wi thdrawal of
4 'tf3 .i.g7 5 cd � xd5 6 9b3 . ffiel(-nlgfit to b6, with a consequent
Romanishin dtd not mvent thts, direcCassault against White's d4 .

paw n . S o m e examples of t h e
former t reat ment :
/()xc3
a) 6 . . . 7 be 0-0 8 e3 c5 9 i. e2
cd 1 0 cd li:Jc6 I I 0-0 e5 1 2 i.a3 � e8
1 3 de �xe5 14 �ad l 2tlxf3+ 1 5
.txf3 1tb6 1 6 Wa4 ± Tisdall­
Ki ng, M olde 1 98 1 .
b ) 6 . . . li:Jxc3 7 be 0-0 8 e3 li:Jd7 9
i.a3 c5 1 0 .te2 Wc7 I I 0-0 b6 1 2
·
e4! :ib7 1 3 d5 ! ± or Tfe4lt:lf6 1 3
e 5 ! 2tlh 5 ( 1 3 . . . i.c6? 1 4 ef! )
.
J4 :fc4 With a veryact i ve -position ·
·
fpr Whtte.
6 �b6
7 i.gS (75)
The main line. A lso interesting
..
i_s 7 e 4!?-�_8�_(r::..:�·x d4 H i.h6 ! ;
_o_r 7_ � . . Q-0 8 i.c2 i.g4 9 d5 c6 1 0
i.e3 c d I I e d i. x c 3 + 1 2 b e Wxd5
- · - ·
13.tx b6 tl ) 8 d5 ..txf3 9 �
Romanishin-K orchnoi, -l..lss·R Team
Ch, Tinis 1 976. Now 1 0 a4! a5 I I
i.e3 li:J 8d7 1 2 lid I 0-0 1 3 i. h 3
"WCIT4lifcT-.t.
75
B
7 h6
Implementing a vigo7o'UScounter­
at tack . Black should not play wo
Grunfeld Defence 65
passively, otherwise White will
secure a grip over the centre which
can hardly be shaken. Other
examples are: 7 . . . �0 8 �d l h6 9
.th4 .tg4 1 0 e3 a5 I I i.e2 a4 1 2
'ttc 2 c6 1 3 0-0 � 8d7 1 4 h3 ..te6 1 5
e4 llc8 1 6 � fe I ( White has
defi n i tely a n nexed the centre,
while Black has been offered no
obvious ta rget for counterplay)
16 . . . i.c4 1 7 i.xc4 li:J xc4 1 8 e5!
( b isect i ng Blac k ' s position) 1 8 . . .
li:Jf8 1 9 d 5 Wbfo 20 �e2 a 3 2 1 b]
li:Jb2 22 � c l 'ira6 2 3 lld2 g5 24
i.g3 cd 25 �xd5 li:Jc6 26 li:Jd4
li'l xd4 2 7 �xd4 'ira5 28 b4 't!ta7 29
t!rd2 lii: a b8 30 lii: c 7 (preparing t he
fi nal spectacular invasion) 30 . . . c6
3 1 li'le7+ ct>h8 32 �dd7 't!ta6 33
Wd �ed8 (76)
34 li.Jg6+ fg 35 ll xg7 1 -0 ( J5
li:JJ3 36 :lih 7 + '>t>g8 3 7 lii: c g 7+ lt.tl8
38 'itc7 ±±). An a m azing ga me.
Tisda l l-Orset h , Molde 1 9 8 1_.
A nother Tisd all ga me, as W h i t e
v Thipsay, Bene d i c t i n e 1 98 3 : 7 . . .
i.cb 8 'i!t'c2 li'lc6 9 lid I li'l b4 I 0
66 Grunfeld Defence

1t'b I ll:l4d5 I I e4 lLl xc3 1 2 be 0-0

1 3 .te2 h6 1 4 .te l c5 1 5 de .t xc 3 + 711
1 6 'it>fl ll:ld7 1 7 .i h 6 i.g7 H ! i. xg7 w

'it>xg7 1 9 Wb2+ ..tig8 20 h4 Wc7

2 1 h 5 ±.
8 .-..&!!:!. i. eli
91tc2 �-
10 %fill !Eb4
Not 10 �ll:lxd4?"IJ ll:l xd4
i.xd4 1 2 e3 i. xc3+ 1 3 1!hc3 tl;
or 10 ... 0-0 I I d5 ll:lb4 1 2 1tc l t.
II "iltbl_ ( 77) IS ,tg3 rs
16 a3 f4
77 17 ab fg
8 18 hg I h f1
19 gf .t d 3
20 Ilh2 i.xdl
I n furman-Savon, U S S R 1 970,
Black preferred to stay the exchange
d ow n : 20 . . . ll:ld7!? 2 1 i.e2 lueS 22
1tc2 1td6 23 �f I . K otov assessed
this as "equal", but iho it m ust be
a dynamic balance where both
Now I I . . . c6 is insufficie n tly sides ha ve chances to win.
challenging: 12 e4 0-0 13 a 3 ll:la6 21 "iltxd l (79)
14 .te2 ll:lc7 15 i.g3 i.bJ 16 Ild2
ll:le6 17 0-0 lLl xd 4 I H ll:lxd4 i. xd4
19 We t c5 20 ll:lb5 'it>h7 2 1 .tc5
'tireS 22 ll:l xd4 cd 23 i. x d4 t
Keene-Small, Commonwealth Ch.
M elbourne 1 983.
II 0-0
12 e3 "'1:15
13 -;.r- "ii4
1 4 dS gS (78)
Violent counter mea.s-ure;i, design­
ed to detonate White's imposing This is a curious case, where
cent re. both players seem, in a sense,
 Griinfeld Defence 6 7

to be playing past each other 24 i.e6+ 'it'h8

- White dominates the light 25 'ith5 1ff8
squares while Black controls the Not 25 . . . lLlxb2? 26 'itg6 1!t'f8 27
dark square part of the board . i.f5 *&8 (27 ... 1rg8 28 llxh6+ ±±)
White's chances reside in a direct 28 llxh6 with the crushing threat
assault against Black's king, based of llh8+.
on the key moves i.h3-e6 and 26 1hg5
1t'h5, threatening to infiltrate on After the game Tisdall felt
g6 or 17 . In what follows Black has 26 ltJ d I migh t have offered him
to play very accurately to maintain better chances.
the bala nce . H ere is one attractive 26 li'Jxb2
trap concealed in the position: 27 'it'e2! (til)
2 1 . . . 'itd6? 22 .i.h3 'ff xb4 23 i.e6+
�h8 24 l hh6+ (80) il l
IJ

HO
8

Set ti ng a final t rap: 27 . . . litc5

28 'itg6 litxc3 29 i.f5 ±± .
All B lack's moves have been 27 1rf6
very natural, but now he is mated: Eventually Black has equalised ,
24 . . . i.xh6 2 5 ..h5 'it'g7 26 'itf7+ but it has been an uphill struggle.
�h8 27 .tf5 i.g7 28 'ith 5+ �g8 The game concluded: 28 1rxf6
29 i.e6+ ±±:. i.xf6 29 lLlb1 lLlc4 30 lhh6+ �g7
21 aS! 31 lithl lita2+ 32 'it'd3 lLle5+
22 ba lixa5 33 �e3 ll:lc4+ 34 'it'd3 lUeS+
23 ..thJ lLlc4 35 �e3 1!2 - \12 .
 10 �Nimzo-lndian
l d4,. �r�amJ.��-c3 £b4
champions Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian
and Spassky, as well as prominent
w gra ndmasters such as Browne,
H ubner, Timman and Miles.
Strangely, K asparov plays it rarely
as Black a nd fares badly when he
does, but is oftt:n to be seen on the
white side.
4f'" I suggest that White should
esc ew advent ures such as 4 �.
4 f3, 4 1tb3 or 4 g) (though 4 1tc2
lnvente<.l . introduced and cham- is quite playable) and adhere to
pioned by the great chess thinker the main lines emanating fro!!'
and w r it e r A r o n Ni mzowitsch
, 4 e3. In the coming middlega me he
( 1 !!86- 1 93 5 ) . the Nimzo-l ndian should strive to activate h i s
has beco me, perhaps, the most ce nt ral pawns en masseandnot�
-
widel y rt:spected defence to I d4. ·arratd of contracti ng doubled
It is the one I would recommend pawns on c4 and c3, if. i n retu rn ,
-
T<nnc reade r . whe n he himselfhas -ne can perceJve adequate at tacki ng,
to fa ce I d4 . I t c re a t es positions chances on the kingside aga ins t
�.Ire nch 1 11 w ct 1 c a l and Black's kmg. White: will o fte n los;
sifaicgi�- plaits-IOrooth Sldt:s, '1liCC4-pawn to an attack based . oii
whe-reBta.�C<>rten gi ve� .':P� . concerted black li re powt:r fro��
-

bishop pan 111 r e t u r n fo r co rre- bishop on a6, knight on a5 a nd

siwnJing adv a n t a ge s •n paw n rnok on c8. But Black may have t.�
.
structure. A dy n am 1 c unbala nced
, 1nvest so m uch time: in t his siege
e4uahty 1s the normal ou tcome,- that the white kingside offensive
whe re both s i<.l es can play for a � �1. m the meantime, gathe �
win. I t has, not surprisingly, been decisive momentum. I n this slate
enth usiastically a<.lopted by World of dehcate balance and counter-
Champion Karpov and former balance, a well developed chess-
 Nimzo-Indian 69

board seismic sense ca n be most Massive central pawn advance a

useful. I have given several Ia Botvinnik-Capablanca, A VRO
· illustrative games to help in 1 938.
acquiring this asset. The Nimzo is. I I Mating attack w&th thrust of
in fact, such an important black the f-pawn.
defence that I have devoted more I I I Attack aga i nst Black's king
space to it here than to any other on the q ueen s ide after ... (}.0-0.
black line ment ioned in this boo k . In the fun hcr part of t his
The N i m zo i s examined in fu ll chapter. I will s ho w recent games
in BCD, pages 1 40- 1 59. I f you with the deferred Samisch and
wish to em ploy the N i mzo as point to t he direction of current
Black and White sidesteps with investigat ions.
3 g3 (Cata lan) or 3 lll iJ b 6
(Queen's Indian) the n:aucr � h o u l d MaHive Centre Pawn Roller
consult BCO, pages 42-46 a n d
1 60- 1 7 1 . Bot"innik-Capablanca
A V N O 1 9.18
What I had been hoping fo r 1 1 1
t h e Kasparov-Korchnoi World 1 d4 � r6
Ch. semi-final match, wh i�:h 1 2 _� �
organised in london du ring t he J �c3 .ib4
winter of 1 9HJ, was a critical test 4 e3 'd5--
of the hyper-sharp 'deferreu For 4 .�6 see Res h cvsky­
Sami sch (4 e3 and then aJ as
' Fi sch c r Part V. A l s o 4 . . . ll:lc6
,

appropriate and if necessary). The 5 .id3 d5 (5 . . . c5 6 li:lc2 d 5 !?) 6 a3

omens were goOd: 11 surts Kasparov's de 7 lxc4 lu6 H f4 ! ;!: Keene­
razor-edge style (mating attack in Fedorowicz, New York 1 9M I .
exchange for weak pawns) and 5 -- a3 .ixc3+
-
Kasparov has recently used it 6 ..J!£.. -iL"
no less than four times: v 7 cd ed
Belyavsky tn t he S parta k ia d , 8 -:iifJ
____.
o:o-
Ivanovic at N i k � i c and v Timman
-

9 ll:le2 b6
and Korchnoi himse l f at the ��
An in_tcn:� ah ernatJVCOu;tbo d
Herceg Novi Wo rld Blitl Tourna­ of �rlg W h i te's c en t re ·�
men l . A l l wins. aparl from a very � �k 6 _!_!!9.£�_L?f!_ I_ ! Q:!l__�l a 5 1 2
fa vourable draw v Bclyav� k y . rJ li c K I ] Y a 2 lLl b7! i nt t: t:t_d i n g
There arc three main White-win - �5��1 -
ti ld6.
-
scenarios which attract players to 1 0 ..J!:.Q_
the deferred Samisch: I I �.ixa6
 70 Nimzo-Jndian
12 .ib2
A fascinating all US e ncounter,
Reshevsky-Fine, NY State Ch,
Hamilton I 94 I , reached the identical
position after Black's I I th. It was
very nearly Reshevsky's 'Immortal',
on a par with Botvinnik-Capablanca.
Since it is of outstanding interest, I
cite it up to the critical moment:
I2 Wd3 'tlt'c!! 1 3 .tb2 cd 14 cd !iJc7
I 5 lHc i �d7 16 f3 lHe!! 1 7 !iJg3
!iJe6 18 li:e l lilac!! 19 li:ad l ira4
20 li:d2 irc4 2 1 Wb I irb3 22 lt:lf5
lilc7 23 e4 li:ec!! 24 Ii:d3 'tlt'a4 25 e5
!iJe!! 26 !iJe3 tfb5 27 Ii:d2 irb3 28
li:d3 'trh5 29 lild2 'tra5 (29 . . .
11rb 3 ! ? 3 0 g 3 and f4 :t Reshevsky)
30 'trd l 'trb5 3 1 g3 g6 32 f4 f5 33
'trfJ li:d8 34 g4 lt:l 8g7 3 5 gf lt:lxf5
36 ltJg4 lil l7 37 !iJf6+ 'it7h8 38 lite I
lilxf6 39 ef li:f!! 40 lie I li xf6 4 1
a4! Wd7 4 2 li f2 li:Jc7 43 lic2 lin
44 li l c l li:Je!! 45 .ta3 li:Jf6? 46 lic8+
�g7 47 .tf8+ 'ittg 8 (83)
/JJ
w the knight has no retreat squares.
And at this ju nct ure Reshevsky
could have won bri lliantly with
48 'trxd 5 ! ! 'trxd5 Jor . . . !iJ xd5)
49 .i.h6+; or 48 . . . 'trxc8 49 lixc8
!iJxd5 50 .ih6+; finally 48 . . . li:Jg7
49 'trxd7 ±t. White actually
played 48 .td6+? and after
various fu rther i nexactitudes,
Reshevsky conceded the draw on
move 6 I .
12 Wd7
13 a4 life8 (84)
84
w
·
Black should play 1 3 . . . cd 1 4 cd
llfc8 with play on the c-lile. He
cannot prevent e4 i n the long run
and after White achieves this
advance he will be threatening e5
which is awkward for Black since
By leaving e8 open Black would
also prepare the long-term man­
oeuvre ... lt'le8-d6-c4.
14 Wd3 c4
Here Capablanca com mences a
very risky sequence to win White's
a-pawn.
IS •c2
16 ��� .
According to Botvinnik 1 6 lLlg3 !
is more accurate.
 Nimzo-Jndian 71

16 lt:lc6? 30 �a3!!
Botvinnik recommends 1 6 A double piel:e sacrifice which
�h5 ! the point being to stop �g3. has deservedly gone down in chess
17 -�€)&3 lt:la5 history.
After 1 7 . . . et'le4 White has 30 11t'x a3
1 8 et'lh I followed by 1 9 f3 . 30 . . . 11t'e8 3 1 11t'c7+ 'it>g8 32 i.e7
18 (3 li:lbJ et'lg4 33 11t'd7 wins.
19 e4 1fxa4 31 et'lh5+ gh
20 •. eS �7 32 1lt'g5+ <i;>f8
If 2 0 . . . et'l l: 5 2 1 :U. e 2 a n d White .B 1t'd6+ �g8
wins a piece. Now Blal:k is The effect of White's sacrifice is
threatening to play 2 1 . . . et'lbc5 to stri p Black's k i ng of all its
with adva n tage. defen �.:es. The ga me l:oncluded:
21 1Ul g6 34 c7 We i t 35 'itifl 11t'c2+ 36 'i!.>g3
22 ,r4 rs 'ff'd3+ 37 �h4 1t'e4+ 38 �xhS
23 er lilxf6 1i'e2+ 39 'it>h4 1fe4+ 40 g4 Wet +
24 f5 Ilxe t 4 1 'ot>h5 1 -0.
25 lit XC I Ile8
25 . . . :U. f'!! 26 1t'f4 1t'd7 27 lle6 Kasparov-hanovic
also lea ves Black in great difliculty. Nik� ic 1 983
26 lle6 llxcb 1 d4 et'lf6
If 26 . . . <,!;>17 27 ll x f6+ 'o!i>xf6 2!i 2 c4
fg + 'o!i>xg6 29 'it'f5+ �g 7 30 et'l h5+ 3 lDc3
'it>h6 3 1 h4 �gH 32 g4 11t'c6
--

4 e3
33 �a 3 is decisive . s --aJ
27 rc '.!/g 7 Very intereSti ng that Kasparov
28 Wf4 1t'e8 should s uddenly opt for the
29 1fc5 11t'e7 (85) deferred Samisch which was
generally abandoned by Russian
11.1
w
grandmasters in the 1 950's.
5 .ixc3+
6 _-.Jl£_ - 0-0
6 ... lDc6 7 ..td3 e5 8 et'le2 d 6 9 c4
ed 10 cd cd I I �0 1t'a5 ( I I ... � 1 2
i.g5! h6 1 3 i.h4 g 5 1 4 ..ig3 et'lh5
1 5 ltl xd4 lt:J xg3 1 6 li:l xc6 b� 17 hg
W'f6) 12 .tf4 .-cs 13 lDc l ll:la5
14 i.xd6! Wxd6 1 5 e5 with the
 72 Nimzo-Jndian

i nitiative, Kaspa rov-Belyavsky,

USSR Teams Ch 1 983. In this line, Petrosian-Ljubojevic
8 ... e4 9 .i b l b6 10 �g3 .ia6 I I f3 NiUil: 1 983
.ixc4 1 2 lL!f5 0-0 1 3 lL!d6 ..id3 1 4 I d4 lLlf6
.ixd3 ed 1 5 1txd3 marginally 2 c4 e6
favours White, Spassky-Tal, USSR 3 lt:lc3 .l b4
Ch 1 958. 4 e3 0-0
7 -'.d3 dS Against the move-order 4 . . . c5
This is n ot a real test of White's 5 ..id3 lt:lc6 6 lt:lge2 d5 ( before . . .
play and has been considered weak 0-0) White can also try 7 c d e d 8
since the Botvinnik-Capablanca a3, e.g. 8 . . . c4 9 ab cd 1 0 't!fxd3
game. Better is 7 . . . lL!c6. lL!xb4 I I 't1Vb5+ llJc6 1 2 tt:l f4 with
8 ...£!__ � pressure against d5. Or 8 . . . cd 9
9 ll'le2 b6 ab de 1 0 b5 cb I I ..i x b 2 , with
10 � � excel lent compensat ion.
II 0-0 "h6 5 ..id3
12 lLIG3 ..ixd.1 White could already play 5 a3
1 3 't!hd3 JC[: here.
14 lb2 c4 5 d5
15 't!fd2 "Td7 6 tt:lge2 c5
16 llael - 115 - ··
7 0-0 lL! c6
1 7 e4 (86) 8 cd ed
9 a3 ..ixc3?!
Stumbling directly into a position
where White can implement the
central pawn steamroller. Correct
is 9 . . . cd 1 0 ab de, or even 9 . . . c4!?
10 .l c 2 ..i d 6 I I f3 't1Ve7 when 1 2 e4
de 1 3 fe l"ii: d !l is n o t t o t a l l y clear.
JO be lle8
II f3 (� 7)
Black is a l re a d y i n a despe rate
Now B lack is overrun by s t ra t egic q u a n d a r y , since W h ite's
White's ce n t re p a w n s : 1 7 ... g6 1 8 i m p e n d i n g e4 c a n hardly be
.let lDh7 19 't!t'h6 lle6 20 f4 li:.e 7 prevented. The most so ph i s t ica te d
21 fS gf 22 'tlt'xh5 de 23 li:.xf5 li:.xfS defence is I I . . . b6 1 2 lL!g3 cd 1 3 cd
24 llxf5 ll ae8 25 lie3 llg6 tt:la5 1 4 lla2 �b7, inte nd i ng . . .
36. a,l l-0. lf 26 .. Jla7 27 :,Pl.
� li::l d 6 and . . . h5.
 Nimzo-Jndian 73

need to repeat moves.

11 .td7?!
12 lt:lg3 'tWaS 17 de
Or 12 . . . 1t'e7 1 3 lila2 h6 14 lle2 Or 17. . . cd 1 8 lilb4 de 1 9 'tlf4!
followed by ..ib2 and e4. This 'tic6 20 e5 ±±. H aving achieved
rook manoeuvre is worth noting. his major strategic objective,
13 'tld2 White's play now revolves around
If now 1 3 . . . cd 1 4 cd 1!hd2 1 5 a series of subt le tactics .
..ixd2 and the simplifications 18 fe cd
favour White; e4 is still in the 19 lilb4 1t'c6
offing, while W hite's bishops Once again, 1 9 de 20 1t'f4
control vital squares and may 1t'c6 2 1 e5 lt:ld5 22 11hf7+ �h8
even support a minority attack 23 lilh4 .
based on lillb I plus e4 . 20 cd (89)
13 1t'a4
A brutal attempt to raid the
slight weakness of the light
squares in White's camp, namely
c4 u nd b3. The drawback is the
eccentric and offside station oft he
black q ueen. Petrosian is quic k to
exploit this.
14 lib1 ltJaS
IS .ic2 't!tc4
16 .id3 'i¥34
17 e4! (88)
Of course, there is absolutely no White has a massive mobi le
 74 Nimzo-Jndian

pawn cent re , backed up by the II f-Pawn Scenario

bishop pair and the open f-file.
The fol lowing variation shows
j ust how these accumulated ad­
vantages can be transmuted i nto a
concrete win. In what follows,
note how Black is plagued by the
absence of his king's bishop: 20 . . .
]i[ad8 2 1 9f2 li[ f8 22 ]i[b5 b 6 23
]i[g5 (threa t - 9xf6) 23 . . . ¢>h8 (or
23 . . . h6 24 d5 1Wc5 25 ..ie3 1te7
26 ]i[ xg7+ �xg7 27 ..id4 with
demolition) 24 d5 9c5 25 9xc5 be Bronstein-Najdorf
26 li[xf6! gf 27 ..ib2 h5 28 ..ixf6+ Candidates' 1 950
�h7 29 e5+ �h6 30 ]i[xh5 mate. I d4 lt:lf6
This long variation is highly 2 c4 e6
typical and instructive, and well 3 lt:lcJ ..ib4
worth s tudy. 4 a3 ..ixc3+
20 �xe4 5 be c5
Giving up material to smash the 6 e3 lt:lc6
white pawn duo is Black's best 7 .td 3 0-0
chance. 8 lt:le2 d6
21 lt:lxe4 ]i[xe4 9 e4 �e8
22 91'2! 1'5 1 0 0-0 b6 (90)
If 22 . . . li[f8 23 d 5 ! or 22 . . . ]i[e7 1 1 f4 ..ia6
23 1th4 forking e7 a nd h7. 1 2 r5 e5
23 d5! 9xd5 1 3 f6 (91)
24 ..ixe4 fe
25 ]i[d4 9e6
· 26 ]i[xe4! 9g6
If 26 . . . . 9xe4? 27 9n+ wh8 28
9f8+ ]i[xf8 29 ]i[ xf8 mate.
27 l%e7 .tb5
28 1tn+
1 -0
I f 2 8 . . . 1Wxt7 2 9 li[fxf7 ±± . A
logical and convincing model
from the former World Champion. B.S.Vainstein, Bronstein's bio-
 Nimzo-Jndian 75

grapher, writes of this move: 7 be fiJc6

"Blockade of the f7 pawn, cutting Here 7 . . . d5? was played in
ofT communications between Black's Kasparov-lvanovic .
kingside and queenside forces, 8 lt:le2!
and the isolation of the h7 pa wn, To this square rather than f3,
these are the three ideas embodied since White does not wish to block
in this sharp advance." the advance of his f-pawn. This is
Black cannot take the f-pa wn: the reason that White's chances in
13 . . . lt:lxf6 14 i.g5 with a crushing the deferred Samisch are superior
pin, or 1 3 . . . gf 14 i.h6 lt:lg7 1 5 to those he obtains in the
lt:lg3. Also good is ( 1 3 . . . gf) 1 4 d5 variation: 4 e3 c5 5 i.d3 lt:lc6 6
lt:le7 1 5 i.h6 lt:lg7 16 lt:lg3 .icH 1 7 lt:lf3 ? ! i.xc3+ 7 be d6 8 e4 e5,
lt:lh5 lt:l xh5 1 8 1!hh5 lii: e 8 1 9 llxf6 which scores consistently well for
lt:lg6 20 lii: xJ7 ct>xf7 2 1 i.g5 tfd7 Black.
22 Wxh7+. 8 b6
13 ct>h8 9 e4 lt:l e8
Now Black is swiftly despatched. Sidestepping the pin i.g5 .
14 dS lt:laS 10 0-0 i.a6
IS lt:lg3 gf 11 f4 lt:laS
16 lt:lfS i.c8 Boldly ignoring White's kingsidc
11 1nas ..txrs demonstration. In contrast I I . . .
18 ef lii:g8 d6 fails t o hinder White's plan,
19 lii: l3 lii:g 7 e.g. I I . . . d6 1 2 f5 e5 1 3 f6 ! (jj xf6
19 ... fiJg7 fails to 20 1Wxh7+ 1 4 i.g5, followed by li:lg3, with
ct>xh 7 2 1 lii: h 3+ lt:lh5 22 lii: xh5+ carnage - as in Bronstein-Najdorr
c;t>g7 23 i.h6+ 'it>h7 24 .if8 mate. above.
20 .ih6 lii:g 8 12 rs f6! (92J
21 lih3
1 -0

Timman-Polugayevsky
Tilburg 1983
I d4 li:lf6
2 c4 e6
3 lt:lc3 i. b4
4 e3 cS
5 .id3 0-0
6 a3 .ixc3+ Correctly halting the fu rther
 76 Nimzo-lndian

push of White's f-pawn. I f 1 2 . . . ef The attack reaches its crescendo,

13 ef .txc4 14 f6! or 1 3 . . . 10 xc4? but it is bluff.
14 11ra4! ±:±:. 19 .txrs
13 10f4 20 'ttxh 7+ c;&n
GM Larry C hristiansen claims 21 ll g3 �e4
that 1 3 fe is good here. 22 10e5+
13 cd Or 22 lle 1 lbxg3 23 llxe8
14 'tthS?! llaxe8 24 .ih6 lbe2+ 25 'i&f2 llg8
Both 1 4 c d and 1 4 fe d e 1 5 e5! 26 lt:lh8+ �e6 winning.
come into consideration here as 22 'i&e6
possible i mprovements. 0- 1
14 ef
IS er? Keene-Helmers
Ch ristiansen says 15 cd! .txc4 Exhibition game
1 6 .txc4+ 10 xc4 1 7 'ttxf5 "wirh Arhus 1 983
good play for the pawn", while 1 d4 lbf6
Polugayevsky recommends 1 5 11rxf5! 2 c4 e6
10d6 1 6 1lrd5+ lt:ln 1 7 cd. 3 lbc3 .tb4
15 �d6 4 e3 cS
Or 1 5 . . . de 16 li'lg6! lln 1 7 llf3 5 ,a3 .txc3+
threatening 1 8 'ttx h7+ �xh7 1 9 6 be lbc6
llh3+ �g8 2 0 llh8 mate. The text 7 .td3 b6
prepares . . . 'tieS and seems to beat 8 �e2 0-0
off White's attack. On the k.ingside, Black's monarch
1 6 llf3 'tte 8 represents a clear target. Black
17 10g6 .txc4 can also try to arrange . . . 0-0-0
18 .tf4 .txd3 with 8 . . . d6 but then 9 e4 1lrd7 (9 . .
.

19 llh3 (93) .ta6? 1 0 'tta 4! i s a trap into which

Capablanca once fell against the
93
B
variation's inventor, Fritz Samisch)
1 0 0-0 .i.a6 I I .i.g5 0-0-0 1 2 lO c i !
lt.la5 1 3 l0b3 'tta4 14 lt.lxa5 'tt xa 5
1 5 'ttc 2, with advantage to White,
since the black queen is temporarily
out of action: For more on this see
Section I l l .
9 e4 l0e8
To forestall .i.g5.
 Nimzo-lndian 77

10 0-0 .ta6
Inaugurating the standard attack 94
against White's indefensible c4 B

pawn.
II f4 cd
I t is exceedingly risky to open
up the position like this. M ore
sensible is I I . . . f5 t hough after
1 2 ljj g 3 g6 1 3 .te3 ljj a 5 1 4 de llc8
( 1 4 . . . ljj xc4 1 5 .txc4 .txc4 1 6 llf2
ljj f6 17 1td4 b5 1 8 lld2 1tc8 -
1 8 . . . h5! - 1 9 h 3 1tb7 20 1te5 14 e5
ltac8 2 1 i.d4 fe 22 ljj h 5 ! ! ±± 15 �d5 lilc8
Christiansen-R . Rodriguez, Mos­ 16 1th5
cow IZ 1 982) fS ef ef 1 6 cb ab 1 7 At the cost of a pawn White
c5! .txd3 1 8 1txdJ 6c 1 9 c4 �f6 20 enjoys a free hand to throw all his
llad I followed by .td2-c3 White pieces into the assault against
still has a plus in my opinion. Also Black's king.
worth considering is the con­ 16 .txc4
tinuation of Tisdall-Kudrin, Gaus­ 17 .txc4 ltlxc4
dal l 98 3 : 1 3 ef ef ( l 3 . . . gf 1 4 .te3 18 llf3 ed
ltla5 1 5 de ltlxc4 16 .txc4 .txc4 1 7 19 lii: h3 ljj eS
llf2 is p romising for White, whose I f 1 9 . . . h6 20 .txh6 wins.
queen's bishop will ra ke Black's 20 1txh7+ q;,n
kingside from d4) 1 4 de be 15 .i.e3 21 .tr4 lii: c6
d6 16 .txf5 gf 17 1td5+ lii: l7 1 8 22 lii: fl (95)
1txc6 .txc4 1 9 lii: fe I 1Wc8 20 1111
lilbll 2 1 lld I 1ta6 and now best is
22 1th 5 !
12 cd ltJaS
13 f5! f6
White threatened f6 fol lowed
by .tg5.
14 l!J(4 (94)
Tranposing into t he position
whid1 could have been reached in
Timman-Polugayevsky after the
recommended 14 cd! 22
 78 Nimzo-Indian

This allows a quick finish but it his king's bishop to dJ.

is hard to see a constructive move 7 �bd7
for Black, e.g. 22 . . . d6 23 .!xeS de A perfectly acceptable move
24 Wg6+ �g8 25 Ilh7 with the in t he Reshevsky line, but here is
devastating threat of •hs and seems out of place. I nstead, Black
Ilh8. should put more pressure on the
23 1L'hS+ �g8 centre wit h 7 . . . cS.
24 li:Je7 maite 8 0-0 c6
9 f3 cS
Kasparol-Yurtaev A mending his previous move
Spartakiad May 1 98 1 displays definite signs of confusion.
1 d4 li:Jf6 However, after the normal 9 . . .

2 c4 e6 Ile8 Y urtaev doubtless feared

3 li:Jc3 .!b 4 10 e4, with a central initiative for
4 e3 0-0 White.
5 .!d3 dS 10 a3 cd
6 cd ed N ow 10 . . . .!xc3 I f be cedes
7 li:Jge2 (96) White a great advantage, since
Black would have squandered a
96 tempo ( . . . c6-c5) only to surrender
B the two bishops, strengthen White's
central pawn roller and misplace
his own queen's knight.
11 ed J.e7
12 li:Jf4 li:Jb8
At last Black recognises the
futility of having developed the
knight on d7, and decides to re­
route it to c6, from which square
Kasparov's move-order in the he can also threaten White's d4
opening is quite strange and seems pawn. Sadly, t hough, B lack has
to bemuse his less experienced lost so much precious time in the
opponent. It evinces a superficial opening that Kasparov can now
si milarity with the old Reshevsky floor him with a few well-aimed
variation: 1 d4 li:Jf6 2 c4 e6 3 li:Jc3 blows .
.!b4 4 e3 0-0 5 li:Jge2 d5 6 a3 .!e7 13 g4! (97)
7 cd ed, but the crucial difference Threatening to knock away the
is that White has already developed props of Black's d-pawn with g5.
 Nimzo-lndian 79

18 f4 g6
19 •n b6
20 rs
Naturally, White does not
capture on d5, which would only
invite trouble along the a 8-h l
diagonal. The standard f-pawn
thrust ensures White's advantage.
20 l:lb7
21 f6 .ic6
Interestingly, this aggressive thrust 22 lbel •d6
(g4) often features in Kasparov's 23 l:leS l:ld8
games. 24 •e3
13 J. d6 White's winning plan is straight­
14 'ii?h l l:le8 forward: play his bishop to e2 and
IS gS J.xf4 then destroy Black's kingside with
16 J.xf4 lt:lhS ('18) J.xh5. That was the point of 2 1 f6
(the culmination of White's f-pawn
offensive) - to strand Black's
k night.
24 bS
2S J.e2 b4
26 ab l:lxb4
27 J.xhS gh
28 g6! (99)

17 J.xb8!
A very fine move indeed . I t
breaks a n umber o f excellent rules
about not giving up the bishop
pair, not swapping an active piece
for a passive one etc . . . but
Kasparov has clearl y perceived
that the increased momentum of .

his attack fully justifies the A neat combination finishes off

exchange. the game. I f 28 . . . fe 29 l he6 wins
17 l h b8 at once, so . . .
80 Nimzo-lndian

28 hg Preparing . . . .la6, . . . �a5 and

29 lhe6 fe . . . 0-0-0. The immediate 9 . . . .ta6
O r 29 . . . 1rxe6 30 'tlrh6 with is met by the embarrassing 1 0
mate to follow on g7. 1ta4.
30 1Wb6 l::t b 7 10 e4 .ta6
1-0 11 .l gS 0-0-0
White wins with 3 1 l::t g l rt>n 32 12 �cl ! (101)
'tlrg6+ rt>f8 33 'tlrg8 mate and there
is no other sensible defence at
move 3 1 .

III Black tries to play ... 0-0-0

( Attack against Black's king
on the queenside)
Geller-Lisitsin
USSR Ch 1 9�S
1 d4 � f6
2 c4 e6 I mproving on an earlier game in
3 �c3 ..tb4 the same event, Geller-Spassky,
4 a3 .ixcJ+ which went 1 2 �g3 ? h6 1 J .lxf6 gf
s be cS 14 �h5 cd 1 5 cd �xd4 1 6 �xf6
6 e3 � c6 1re7 1 7 1ra4 ( better was 1 7 �g4
7 .idJ d6 followed by ll:le3) 1 7 . . . .lb7! 1 8
8 � ge2 b6 ll:lh5 l::t g 8 1 9 Wd l f5 ! 20 l::t e l (101)
An important position which
can a rise from a variety of move­
orders (4 e3 c5 or 4 e3 b6).
9 0-0 'tlrd7! (100)
/ 00
w

20 . . . 1rh4 2 1 f4 e5! (stronger than

winning the exchange with 21 . . .
1txe l + 2 2 1he l li.JfJ+. Now
22 l::t f l is met by n . . . fe 23 i.e2
 Nimzo-lndian 81

�f.H H) 22 lite I ef 23 .i.fl 1txe I ! 24 rs

24 Wxe l ltJf3+ 2 5 � � xe l 26 Black has no counterplay and the
llxe I f3 ! and Black soon won. central pawn advance is decisive.
12 li:la5 24 ltJc7
12 ... .i.b7 1 3 a4 a5 was possible, 25 .i.g3 .i.d7
but the b6 pawn would be a 26 1td2 ¢>b7
permanent target. 27 h5 lil:c8
12 ... cd 1 3 cd ltJxd4 1 4 a4 ltJc6 28 1tc2 f6?
15 liJb3! gives White value for the 29 e6 ( 104)
pawn, with a5 to come.
/04
13 ltJb3 't!fa4 B
14 ltJxa5 'li/xa5? (103)

29 .ic6
30 .id6 ltJe8
31 .ie7 ¢>a8
Better was 1 4 . . . 'li/xd I 1 5 lil: fxd I 32 ll:fbl lil: b8
ba, but after 1 6 e5 de 1 7 de h6 1 8 33 i.f3 1!ta6
i.xf6 gf 1 9 e f White has good 34 .cl ..., 7
winning chances in the ending. 35 t!ia3 ltJc7
15 't!fc2 h6 36 .id6 ll:hd8
16 .i.d2 dS 37 aS! ( 105)
U n thema tic, but While was
105
threatening ll: fb l followed by B
lil:b5 and trapping the queen.
17 cd c4
18 .ic2 cd
19 e5 l!J e 4
20 i.e I ltlg5
21 a4 .ib7
22 h4 lL!e6
23 f4 .ic6
82 Nimzo-Jndian

Preparing the final breakthrough. a) 5 •.. .tb7 6 a3 i.e7 7 d5 t space

Black ca nnot afford to a llow the advantage. White can continue
opening of the a-file. with g3 and .tg2 or si mply lt:lg3
37 bS and .te2.
38 a6 11t'c8 b) 5 ... lt:le4 6 1rc2 .ib7 7 a3
39 i.f4 ll b6 .ixc3 + 8 lt:lxc3 lt:Jxc3 9 1rxc3 0-0
39 . . . ll d � loses to 4 0 11t'd6 lt:lxa6 1 0 b3 d6 I I .ib2 li:ld7 1 2 .id3
41 .ixd5 � b6 42 �xb5! �d8 43 (sacrificing the g-pawn) or 1 2 0-0-0,
�xb6 �xd6 44 �bxa6 ±±:: . both ;!; since B lack has little t o
40 •e7! lt:lxa6 ( 106) show for White's aggressive
bishops, and hardly dare capture
/06 on g2, when given the chance.
w c) 5 ... cS 6 a3 i.a5 7 llb l .
Korchnoi-G urevich, US Open,
Pasadena 1 983, continued: 7 . . .
1!t'e7 8 .id2 0-0 9 lt:lg3 liJa6 10 d5
lt:Jc7 I I 1rf3 .ixc3 1 2 .ixc3 ed 1 3
cd �e8 1 4 lt:Jf5 ±.
6 lt:J g3 (107)

107
41 11t'xg7 .i b7 B

42 11t'xf6 b4 43 1re5 1rc6 44 cb

lt:lxb4 45 e7 �g8 46 f6 1re8 47
�xb4 ! �xb4 48 1!re6 11t'c8 49
1!rxc8+ �xeS 50 f7 1 -0.
Reshev!>ky-Santasierc
US Ch New York 1 951
I d4 li:lf6
2 c4 e6 6 .txc3+
3 li.)cJ i.b4 Or:
4 e3 b6 a) 6 ... hS 7 h4 .ib7 8 ..id2 a6 9 1rc2
After this move, White may not d 5 1 0 cd lt:Jxd5 I I lt:Jxd5 .ixd2+ 1 2
need to play a 1 s i nce Black often 1!rxd2 1rxd5 1 3 �ac I lt:Jc6 1 4 .ie2
exchanges voluntarily on c3. 0-0-0 1 5 .if3 and Black's position
5 lt:lge2 ! .i a6 is uncomfortable, Geller-Keres,
The main line. Alternatives are: USSR Ch Tiflis 1 959.
 Nimzo-lndian 83

b) 6 ... 0-0 7 e4 ltle6 (7 . . . d5 8 cd

.lxfl 9 'ii>x fl .lxe3 10 be ed 1 1 e5
ltle4 12 f3 !) 8 .ld3 e5 (8 ... d5?! 9
cd .lxd3 1 0 Wxd3 ed 1 1 e5 l0e4 1 2
a3 J.xc3+ 1 3 be f5 14 ltle2! ±
planning f3) 9 d5! .lxc3+ 10 be
lt!a5 1 1 .,e2 c6 1 2 lt:lf5, with the
makings of a kingside attack.
7 be d5
8 J.a3!
I used to like 8 •o . but have
now come to the conclusion that it Black's most active piece and
offers White very little. prepares to deploy his own queen
8 1Wc8 on the kingsidc dark squares, in
Fischer once played 8 . . . de? ! concert with the bishop on a3 .
(Black v Portisch, S iegen 01 1 970). 9 ltlxh5
It is playable, but exceedingly 10 •xh5 1Wd7
risky after 9 .e4 .,d7 10 .te2 ltlc6 Or 10 . . . de I I .,g5! forking e7
I I .,c2 0-0-0 1 2 0-0 followed by and g7.
lilfd 1 and d5 if possible. N ormal is 11 cd •xd5
8 . . . .t xc4, though Kasparov has 1 1 . . . J.xfl ? 12 de ! or 1 1 . . . ed?
recently shown a n improved way 1 2 .,e5 + .
for White to handle this, in 12 .g4 g6
Kasparov-P. Wells, London/Acorn I f 1 2 . . . lilg8 1 3 .,h4! White's
Clock S im ul, 1 984: 9. ·J.xc4 de 1 0 clever manoeuvres have per­
e4 1Wd7 1 1 0-0 1Wb5 1 2 Wc2! (the manently prevented Black from
new move superseding the old castling kingside and induced a
1 2 d5?! which does not work) general debility of Black's dark
1 2 . . . ltl bd7 13 f3 h5 14 lilfb 1 1Wa5 squares.
15 J.c l h4 16 ltlfl 1Wh5 1 7 a4 a6 1 8 13 J.xa6 ltlxa6
.,e2 h3 1 9 g4 1ltg6 20 ltlg3 0-0-0 2 1 14 0-0 0-0-0
•xc 4 a 5 2 2 .tf4 c 5 2 3 �f5 �h8 The only refuge for Black's
24 .tg3 ±±. king, but Reshevsky proves it is
IJ ltlh5!? ( 108) not a safe residence.
An interesting decision. One 15 1te2 c;i;>b7
might expect 9 cd .txf l 10 lil xf1 1 6 .te7! ( 109)
( 10 c;i;>xfl ? .,a6+) but Reshevsky's Economy of execution - the
move is deeper . . He eliminates bishop strives for a square "where
 84 Nimzcrlndian

fiJc7 26 ll b7 cd 27 1Wb2 ±±.

109 24 cb ab
B 25 de fe
26 llbl lla8 ( 1 10)

it will exert maxi mum pressure"

( Reshevsky). At the same time,
White unblocks the path of his
a-pawn which can now press
forward against Black's king. 27 1llg4?
16 ll d7 This looks like a time-trouble
17 .i.f6 l:lc8 error, failing to notice Black's
18 a4 1!fa5 coming resource. After 27 l:l ab3!
"The q ueen IS not a good l:la6 28 1lrb2 White increases the
blockader" (Nimzowitsch), but pressure to intolerable proportions.
there was no other blockader i n 27 l0f6!
sight. 28 "W'f3
19 llaJ c6 Suddenly White sees that the
Digging in; 19 c5 is too seemingly crushing and probably
loosening and atten uates Black's intended 28 1re6? fails to 28
defences along the h l -aS diagonals, 1lrd5! 29 1rxf6 1rd l + .
e.g. 1 9 . . . c5 20 llb l lt:Jc7 2 1 1Wt1+ 28 1td5
q;>b8 22 .i.e5 ! ± . 29 1re2 1Wa5
20 .i.e5 liJc7 30 l:lab3 l:la6
21 c4 31 h3
Keeping the kn ight from d S. White could st i ll play 3 1 1rh2,
21 ll:\e8 but he has already let Black's
22 c5 f6 k night onto a more active post.
23 i.g3 e5 The text avoids t he back rank
Desperately hoping to exclude tricks which foiled White's previous
White's bishop from the attack. I f attempt. "Always a good idea
2 3 . . . be 2 4 lib I + 'it>a8 25 llab3 when there is no particular
 Nimz�lndian 85

hurry." (Reshevsky)
Ill
31 �e4 B
It seems reasonable to transfer
the knight to c5, but W hite has a
tactical refutation. Still, with
Black's weak pawn on e5, his
unstable king position and White's
powerful bishop against the rootless
knight, Black should lose anyway.
32 1Wg4 lt:lc5
33 -'.xeS! hS mate. The game concluded: 34 ...
A s haft of hope, since White's 1Wxa4 3S 1We8 :c7 36 J.xc7 <Sxc7
queen must be deflected from d7, 37 1We7+ 1 -0.
and the rook on b3 is en prise. Apart from one minor inaccur.tcy,
34 1Wx g6! (I l l) a logical, compelling and instructive
A ll is clear. I f 34 . . . lt:Jxb3 3:t game studded with neat tactical
1We8 ! threatening 1Wxd7 and 1Wb8 points.
 Part III
Gambits and . . . cS Defences

ll2
B

Chapter 1 1: B udapest Gambit 2 . . . e5 3 de

C hapter 12: Benko Gambit 2 . . . c5 3 d5 b5
Chapter 1 3 : Czech Benoni 2 . . . c5 3 d5 e5 4 lbc3 d6 5 e4
Chapter 1 4: Modern Benoni 2 . . . c5 3 d5 e6 4 lbc3 ed 5 cd d6
6 e4 g6
 11 Budapest Gambit
1 d4 lLlf6 2 c4 e5 3 de
Hardly a true gambit, since
attempts by White to cling to his
extra pawn can expose him to
certain dangers. True, White
players have gained some impressive
victories by defending the e5 pawn
at all costs, such as this steamroller
by Yugoslav GM Svetozar Gligoric,
one of the world's leading exponents
of I d4 - Gligoric-Westerinen,
Venice 1 9 7 1 : 3 . . . lt:Jg4 4 .tf4 lt:Jc6
5 lll f3 .tb4+ 6 lt:Jc3 1re7 7 1rd5
.txc3+ 8 be
See Diagram 1 14
8 ... 1ra3 9 :tile I 1rxa2 I 0 h3 lt:Jho
I I e4 lt:Jg8 1 2 c5 1ra3 13 .ic4 li..l d 8
14 .id lt:Je7 15 1rd l b6 16 0-0 be
1 7 1fd3 1ra5 18 lilb l c6 19 lil a l
1!t'c7 20 .txc5 lt:Je6 2 1 .td6 1!t'd8 22
li..l d4 li:Jg6 23 lt:Jxe6 de 24 f4 f6 25
We3 aS 26 Wc5 .td7 27 f5 and
Black , who has been spectacularly
helpless for some time, now
resigned. O f course, his troubles
stemmed from the foolhardly
manoeuvre . . . 1ra3 and . . . 1fxa2,
destabilising his queen, just to
regain the irrelevant white a-pawn.
If we return to the critical
position after 8 be, it is pretty
obvious that Black should now
decide to stay a pawn in arrears,
but lift his cramp with 8 . . f6 ! 9 ef
.
lt:lxf6 10 ._d3 d6 I I e3 lt:Je4 12 i.. e2
0-0. Here the eminent Polish
grandmaster, Akiba Rubinstei n ,
advocated 1 3 Wc2 (BCO, page
50), assessing White's prospects as
 88 Budapest Gambit
superior, but with White's unwieldy
pawn constellation and Black's
active pieces, there are s t ill plenty
of pitfalls.
The approach I recommend in
this section is less a mbitious, but
succeeds in main taining a slight
but clear plus, without imposing
too much of a strain on the white
position. The st rategy is to give
back t he e5 pawn in return for
control of the d5 square, an
excellent post for the white
queen 's bishop on b2 and the
chance of annexing the bishop
pair, by tracking down Black's
king's bishop wi t h t he white
queen's knight. One advantage of
my recommendation is that all of
White's moves are si mple and
natural, so there is no need to rack
one's brains for half-remembered,
risky 'refutations' when faced
wit h the Budapest.
Keene-Haugli
Gausdal 1983
I d4 lt:lf6
2 c4 e5
3 de �g 4
A lso possible is 3 . . . lt:le4, the
Fajarowicz Variation. A fter 4 � f3
.i.b4+ 5 i.d2 .i. c 5 6 e3 �c6 7 lt:ld
lt:lxd2 8 'itxd2 0-0 9 lt:ld5 aS 1 0
.i.e2 l:t e 8 I I \!tc3! Black will have
to struggle to rega in his pawn . A n
important principle operates here:
the Fajarowicz is very u nusual,
tactical a nd t ricky. But White
stays ahead with natural and
sensible moves. The principle is,
when faced with a rare, tactical
l i ne, especially for the fi rst time -
don't panic!
4 �f3 (J J 5)
4 .i.c5
After 4 . . . d6?! 5 ed .i.xd 6 6 lLlc3
leaves Black without compensation
(but don't fall into the trap 6 g3?
lt:lxf2! 7 'ii>xf2 .i.g3+ H). Alter­
natively, 4 . . . lt:lc6 5 e3 .i.b4+ (5 . . .
.i.c5 transposes t o the column)
6 .i.d2 .i.xd2+ 7 'itxd2 lt:lgxe5 8
lt:lxe5 �xe5 9 .i.e2 0-0 1 0 llJc3 d6
I I O-O b6 ( 1 1 . . . ..te6 1 2 b3 ;!: ) 1 2 f4
lt:lg4 1 3 .i.f3 l:tb8 1 4 lLlbS a6
1 5 lt:ld4 ± due to the holes
in Black's q ueenside (K nezevic­
M estrovic, Y ugoslavia 1 980) .
5 e3 lLJc6
6 ..te2 lDgxcS
7 0-0
White can also delay committing
his king to this side of the board,
although there is no need to be

nervous about it, as we shall see.
The alternative is 7 /Oc3 d6 8 a3 a5
9 b3 'O xf3+ 10 gf <tle5 I I .i.b2
.i.d7 1 2 /Oe4 'fle7 1 3 Wc2 f6
14 0-0-0 .i.c6 1 5 llhg l 0-0-0
1 6 /Oc3 :t.l ± Franco-Aguila,
Argentina 1 982.
7 <tlxf3+
7 . . 0-0 8 a3 a5 9 �c3 lieS 10
.
�xeS lb xe5 I I b3 d6 12 .i.b2 t
gives White his standard positional
advantage - pressure on d5.
8 .i.xf3 'trh4
A bold attacking try, quite in
the style of those who are
attracted by the Budapest. However,
such adventures should make
little i mpression if White continues
solidly. 8 . . . ltJe5 9 .ie2 d6 or 9 . . .
0-0 would transpose into the note
above.
9 .i.e2
This retreat will be necessary
anyway, as soon as Black plays the
inevi table . . . lbe5 .
9 hS
Continuing in the risky style
exemplified by his previous move,
but if he does not, . . . Wh4 will be
pointless.
10 lbc3 lbeS
II lbdS
As so often in the Buda pest , the
occupation of t his square by a
white piece spells positional disaster
for Black.
11 lbg4
12 h3 .id6 (1 1 6)
Budilpest Gambit 89
To my total amazement , my
opponent informed me after the
game that this was a known
theoretical position. It had actually
been recommended as winning for
Black in a 1 982 monograph on the
Budapest, w ritten by a three-man
team comprising Staker, Glasscoe
and Stayart. White, however, has
committed no detectable error so
far, but has developed his pieces
calmly and efficiently. Over the
boa rd , it did not take me long to
spot the refutation of Black's
scheme.
13 r4! c6
Now White threa tens to capt u re
t he knight, but if 1 3 . . q-,h6.
14 c5 ! ±±. Or 1 3 . . . lb f6 14 c5!
�xd5 1 5 cd c6 16 e4 with
overwhel ming advantage. Black
cannot develop his queenside
pieces, his kingside is riddled with
wea k nesses and White dominates
the centre .
14 lDc3 ( I l l)
90 Budapest Gambit

This j ust nets a clear piece.

Ill Black ca nnot parry the double
8 attack against g4 and d6. Black's
position is now resignable. The
game concluded: 14 ... .ie7 IS hg
hg 16 .ixg4 11rh2+ 17 ct>fl .ih4+
18 o;i>e2 11rxg2+ 19 o;i>d3 bS 20 cb
..Q.f6 21 .il3 1lrg6 22 .ie4 1lrg3 1-0.
 12 Benko Gambit
1 d4 tt:Jf6 2 c4 c5
1 /8
w lt::l bd7 (1 1 9)
I do not advise White to accept
the Benko Gambit. After 4 cb a6
5 ba .txa6 6 lt::l c 3 d6 Black enjoys
unhindered, harmonious develop­
ment, plus two open files to blast
away at White's q ueenside pawns.
The standard procedure to adopt
when material ahead is to simplify
towards the endgame, when the
extra pa wn, or whatever, should
grad ually tell. I n t he Benko this
procedure is not foolproof, fo r
exchanges often intensify Black'!>
pressure against Whi te's a- and
b-pawns, in the line of fire of a
black rook operating from bl:l a nd
the bishop from g7. I n addition,
accepting the gambit encourages
Black to play a whole stream of
very natural moves, e.g. contmuing
3 d5 b5
from the sequence above: 7 lt::l f3 g6
8 g3 .tg7 9 .tg2 0-0 10 0-0
Black will now follow up with
more easy moves, such as . . . 1ta5
and . . llfb8. I f you are playing in
.
a tournament with chess clocks, it
is helpful to be able to play so
many black moves without thinking
and know that you are proceeding
actively and correctly. Bent Larsen
once wrote with acu ity about this:
"Some players find it boring to
play the same first I 2 mo ves over
and over again: others don't m 1 nd
Some are even happy if they
play t hese moves quickly, there is
less danger of serious ti me­
pressure. (The nasty part bf me
thinks this is why Benko likes the
92 Benko Gambit
gambit - ten moves for a pawn !)."
U S Grandmaster Pal Benko, chief
propagandist for the gambit which
bears h is name, is, of course, a
notorious time-trouble addict.
My solu tion, therefore, is to
play 4 lt:lO!?, politely declining the
Trojan pony on b5, and thus
throwing Black more or less on his
own resources. I have used this
successfully in my own games,
and, incidentally, felt very uncom­
fortable whenever I have grabbed
the pawn. It is also the recent
choice of Viktor Korchnoi, twice"
challenger for the World Cham­
pionship.
For more details on the Benko
in general, see BCO, pages 104 a nd
105.
Korchnoi-Sax
London Phillips and Drew 1 980
I d4 lt:lf6
2 c4 c5
3 d5 b5
4 lt:lf3 (/ 20)
110
B recent attempt to refute the
"Although we generally expect
Korchnoi to take pawns that are
offered to him, in the present
game he prefers to avoid any
sharp H ungarian theory. Better to
leave the opponent to his own
resources in a position where he is
less comfortable." ( H artston in
the Tournament Book).
4 be
A lternatives are:
a) 4 ... J.. b 7 5 a4 a6 (5 . . . b4 6 lt:l bd2
followed by e4 shuts Black's
queen's bishop out of play) 6 ab ab
7 lha8 J.. xa8 8 lt:lc3 1i'a5 (8 ... be 9
e4! while 8 . . . b4 9 lt:lb5 d6? leaves
Black struggling after 10 11ra4!
lt:lbd7 I I 11ha8 11rxa8 1 2 lt:lc7+
'i;>d8 1 3 lt:lxa8 h6 - to prevent lt:lg5
- 14 e3 'it>c8 1 5 b3 lt'b8 16 J.. b2
�xa8 1 7 J.. d 3) 9 Af41 d6 10 lt:ld2
b4 I I lt::l b 5 g6 1 2 e4 lt:lbd7 1 3 lt:lb3
1i'b6 14 11ra l J.. b 7 15 J.. e 3 J.. g7 1 6
11ra5 lt:l h 5 1 7 g4! lLlhf6 1 8 g 5 lt::l h 5
1 9 J.. h 3! ± Dorfman-Mochalov,
M oscow 191! 1 .
b) 4 . e6 5 de fe 6 cb d5 7 e3 i.d6 8
..
lLlc3 J.. b7 9 e4! de (9 . . . d4 10 e5 ±)
10 lt::l g 5 J.. d5 I I 11rc2 ± This is a
Blumenfeld Gambit, into which
4 . . . e6 transposes.
c) 4 . g6 5 lt::l bd2 be ( 5 . . 1lra5?!
.. .
6 e4! Keene- Bellon, Bali 1 98 2 . I f
6 . . . l"i:Jxe4? 7 b4! ti'Kb4 8 llb l 'tlt'a5
9 llxb5 11rc3 10 .ib2 ±t) 6 e4 d6 7
J.. xc4 J.. g7 8 0-0 0-0 I) l:tb I l"i:Jbd7
10 ll e l lt:lb6 I I b3 llb8 1 2
 Benko Gambit 93

.tb2 U ± Keene-Pytel, Benedictine lt:lb6 1 3 .te2 1Wc7 1 4 .tO .ta6 1 5

1 98 1 . lle l llad8 was u nclear, s o White
d) 4 ... a61? 5 a 4 b4 ! is less effective should i nvestigate the sacrifice
for White than variation (a), since 10 . . . lt:lfd7!7 I I � xf7!? followed
the black queen's bishop is not yet by 1 2 d6.
com mitted to b7 (Keene-I vanov, II 1lrb3
Commonwealth Ch, H ong K ong 12 llel lt:Ja6
1984). My feeling after that game 13 ..igS 1Wxb3
is that 5 11rc2! plus a quick e4 14 .txb3 llac8
keeps White's opening advantage. 14 � b4 may be the last
5 �c3 g6 chance to resist.
6 e4 d6 I S ltJc4 ( 122)
7 .txc4 .tg7
8 eS (121) /}}
B
121
B

White's pos1110n is crushing.

Black suffers from two very weak
The bold advance breaks up pawns on e7 and c5 while White is
Black's tidy pawn chain (c5-d6-e7) constantly threatening some tactical
and brings White's king's knight breakthrough based on d6, opening
onto a powerful post, w he n: it up the diagonal of his k ing's
menaces both c6 and e7. In bishop from b3 to f7. I f now 1 5 . . .
addit ion, Black is left with a weak llfeM 1 6 i.a4 ±t or 1 5 . . . ;g: t:7 1 6
backward pawn on e7. .i.f4 liL u 7 1 7 .i.a4 t± . Finally,
8 de 15 . . . .t xd 5 '! 1 6 .i xf6 tl . Sax's
9 lD xeS 0-0 choice l ose s the exchange.
10 0-0 .ib7 IS lt.:lxdS.
The ga m e Balashov-Stein, l\.los­ 16 (iJ xdS .i xdS
cow 1 97 1 , saw 10 . . . li:J fd 7 ! ? 17 .i xc7 Ilfe8
Balashov's 1 1 lt:lc6 lt:l xc6 12 d e 18 lt:ld6 ±± ( 1 23)
94 Benko Gambil
The theoretical debate is over. I
cite the remaining moves without
further comment, other than that
both sides were in time-trouble·
and their rush continued until
move 44. For those not used to
competition chess, the time control
is 40 ( ! ) moves in 21,1 hours for
each player, and then 1 6 per
player per hour thereafter. Korchnoi
could have killed more cleanly
during this mad scramble, while
Sax missed 42 . . . ¢'e3! complicating
White's winning process.
18 .. c4 19 �xe8 lhe8 l0 .ta4 llb8
ll .td6 lld8 ll .teS �c5 l3 .txg7
�xg7 14 .tel .te6 15 lladl llb8
16 llbl <M6 17 lle3 aS 18 c;t>n a4
19 c;i;lel lld8 30 f4 .!Oa6 31 ..txa4
�b4 31 lldl lh8 33 a3 llxa4 34 ab
llxb4 35 lldl c;i;lfS 36 liO llb5 37
llel 'M6 38 llfe3 ..trs 39 lla3 ..id3
40 llfl c;i;>f5 41 c;t>dl c;t>e4 41 �cl
llh5 � h3 llf5 44 lla7 g5 45 g4
llxf4 46 lle7+ �d4 47 llxf4 gf 48
�dl f6 49 lle6 ..tn so llxf6 c;t>e4
51 llh6 1 -0.
 13 Czech Benoni
1 d4 lLJf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e5 4 lLJc3 d6
5 e4
114
B pawns, backed up by massed
A closer relative to the Old
Indian than to the Modern
Benoni, the Czech Benoni erects a
solid, resilient, but ulti mately
passive position. Black's main
hope of active counterplay resides
in exchanging the dark-squared
bishops (B lack's king's bishop is
severely restricted by t he fixed c5,
d6, e5 pawn triangle) and then
achieving a bn:: a kt hrough with
. . . f5. If White is vigilant , however,
both of these objcdives can be
suppressed.
The most c1 iti<.:al test of B lack's
resources is the aggressive deploy­
ment of White's forces introduced
by former World Champion ,
Boris Spassky. White castles queen­
side, and then tries to smash Black
on the other wing with a general
advance of the white kingside
major pieces in the rear. It is
fortunate for White after 0-0-0
that if Black sacrifices with . . . b5
(a standard Benoni procedure) the
congested centre i mpedes the
efficient transfer of black u nits to
a q ueenside counter-offensive.
Lines of the Czech Benoni
appear i n BCO on page 1 07.
Spassky-Ghitescu
Beverwijk 1967
I d4 liJf6
l c4 c5
3 d5 e5
4 liJc3 d6
5 e4 i.e7
5 . . . lbbd1 makes little difference,
if Wh ite is intending to adopt t he
'Spassky Attack'. The exception is
the eccentric line: 5 . . . lbbd7 6 lbf3
i.e 7 ( 6 . . . a6 see G ligoric­
Petrosian in Part V) 7 ..id3 lbf!!
when White should play 8 a3 lbg6
9 g3 ! h5 1 0 h4 followed , if
necessary, by liJg5 and 0 , " when
Black's knights looks silly. A real
alternative, though, is 5 . . . g6,
 96 Czech Benoni
e.g. 6 ..1e2 �bd7 7 �f3 lt:lh5 (7 . . .
..lg7 8 ..lg5 h6 9 ..1h4 g 5 1 0 ..lgJ
�h5 I I h4 leads to a difficult line
of the K ing's I ndian, where the
move . . . c5 is premature) 8 0-0 lt:lf4
(8 . . . ..1g7 9 gJ !) 9 ..1xf4 ef 10 1td2
g5 I I e5! ± K eene-Mestel, Esbjerg
1 98 1 .
6 lt:\11 0-0
..1d3
7 1 5 0-0-0 ±. Black has simply
The most aggressive square for
the white king's bishop, leaving e2
for his queen .
7 lt:lbd7
8 1i'e2 (1 25)
/ }5
B /}6
8 lt:le8
A fter 8 . . . lt:lh5 White s hould
play 9 g3 to prevent ... lt:l f4. The
idea from Keene-Mestel is less
effective here, since White has
already moved his q ueen and
would have to waste a tempo on
1td2. W hen and where to allow
. . . lt:l f4 is a tricky business and the
proc ed u re crops up in notes to
moves 5, 8 and 9.
9 g4
Heralding a full-scale kingside
attack .
9 g6
M ore cunning is the attempt to
transfer a knight to f4, as
suggested in Hartston's Benoni.
H owever, I believe it can be
refuted. A sample variation is:
9 . . . lt:lc7 1 0 g5 ! lle8 I I h4 lt:lf8 1 2
llg l lt:'lg6 1 3 h 5 lt:lf4 1 4 ..1xf4 ef
squandered too much time with
his knight gyrations.
1 0 .th6 lt:'lg7
1 1 0-0-0 lt:\(6
12 h3 a6
1 3 lldg l (126)
B
Black has so few moves that it
does not matter much in which
order he makes them. H ere are
some samples of other move­
orders: 1 3 . . . 'it>h8 1 4 'it>b l ( l 4 .i.d2
.id7 15 tt:lh2 b5 1 6 h4 h5 17 g5
lt:lfe8 is a l s o no t bad, Keene­
Torre, Baguio City 1 980 ) 14 . . .
.i.d7 ( 1 4 . . . b 5 1 5 lt.ld2 b 4 1 6
li::l d I ll:lg8 1 7 .i.xg7+ 't>xg7
1 8 h4! , G h1 t escu-Popov, Siegen
01 1 970) 1 5 .i.e3! lt:lg8 1 6 h4 h5
 Czech Benoni 97

1 7 gh ll'lxhS 1 8 ll'lgS 1te8 1 9 1td2 A very important break, given

�gf6 20 .te2 �g7 2 1 f4 ! ± Popov­ that Black has held up t he march
Hartston, S k.ara 1 980. We can see of White's g- and h-pawns.
fro m this note that t he 'Spassky 18 rs
Attack' spread like a contagion. 19 gf lilxf6
First, Spassky beat Ghitescu, then 20 fe de
Ghitescu hit Popov with it, and 21 ltJfJ ltJg4
then Popov used it to defeat It may appear that Black has
Hartston ! also stemmed the second wave of
13 .td7 White's attack based on f4 , but
14 l0d2 <li"h8 Spassky proceeds to disprove
To expel the bishop with this notion with an astounding
�g8. sacrificial idea.
IS h4 ll'lg8 22 lhg4! hg
16 i.e3 hS 23 ltJ xeS ll'lh5
16 . . . i.xh4 1 7 g5 ±± or 16 . . . f5 24 ll'lxg4!! ll'lg3
1 7 gf gf 1 8 ef ±. Black can not 2S •g2 lilxhl
safely fight back on t he kingside 26 eS (128)
where White enjoys immense
superiority, but he should be
thinking hard in terms of a
diversionary . . . b5, even if it costs
a pawn. Of course, W hi te could
always ignore . . . b5 and drop his
king's bishop back to c2 or b l
after . . . be.
17 gS i.e8
18 f4! (127)
Ill
B
Spassky displays a curious
disregard for Blac k's moves, not
even pausing to recap ture the
knight which has devoured his
rook. Black's best defence now is
26 . . . i.d7 27 e6 i. xe6 28 �e5 .if5
29 lt:lxg6 + '1Ph7 30 ll'l xfH+ 1txf8
when White throws in his reserves
with 3 1 lile4 (analysis by Gligoric).
98 Czech Benoni

Gh itescu's choice goes down in 1fe7 31 �e4 lhh4 32 �ef6 1fc7

names: 26 ... llf7 27 1fxhl llh7 28 33 .ie4 1fa5 34 1lg3 g5 35 lOxeB
e6 .ig5 29 1le4 .ixe3+ 30 1fxe3 lhe8 36 9e5+ 1 -0.
 14 .M odern Benoni
J d4 llJf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 .ltl cl�
_
?:� ··cd. d6 6 e4 g6
..
/]9
w not except ionally rapid.
The M odern Benoni was tried
sporadically in the 1920's, notably
by H romadka and Marshall, but it
failed to attract public approbation
until the 1950's and 1 960's when it
was resurrected by those ambitious
warriors, Tal and Fischer.
In one sense, it is the most
strikingly anti-posi tional black
defence analysed in this book,
since Black immediately concedes
White a mobile central pawn
majority, combined with very free
development. Furthermore, Black
voluntarily submits to a weak
pawn on d6, which can be
particularly sensitive if White
plants a knight on c4 . Meanwhile,
Black's own piece development is
The point of the black counter­
play actually resides in the half­
open e-file, which can be used to
bombard the white e-pawn, plus
the volatile chances conferred by
the possibility of a sudden strike
( . . . b5, . . . c4) by Black's queenside
pawn majority. Once the black
i n fantry advances, it can prove a
potent force, backed up by the
black king's bishop in fianchetto
on g7. Still, amongst grandmasters,
there is a feeling that if one major
black defence is unsound, it is the
Modern Benoni. Danish Grand­
master Bent Larsen has written:
" When I throw the M odern
Benoni into the basket marked
'incorrect', Gligoric" (a noted 1 d4
expert) "will probably agree . . . "
Some years ago it was believed
that a refutation had been found,
namely (from the Diagram) 7 lL!t1
.tg7 8 .ig5 h6 9 .th4 g5 1 0 .tg3
�5 1 1 .tb:i+ Wf8 12 e5 !·(JJO)
 100 Modern Benoni

5 /Of) .i.g7 6 .i.b5+ .i.d7 7 a4 0-0

/JO 8 �0 lLJa6 9 lle I li:lc7 1 0 .i.fl e6
B I I i.f4 i (Kasparov).
2 c4 e6
3 �c31..J cS
4 dS ed
S cd d6
I ncautious is 5 . . . g6? 6 d6! 'tlrb6
7 .i.f4 .. xb2 8 i.e5 .i.g7 9 llb I
Wa3 1 0 �b5 :±± .
6 e4 g6
but later games demonst rated that 1 r4 .i.g7
the improvement 9 ... a6 (threatening 8 .i.bS+ (131)
. . . b5 and forestalling the annoyina
j,b5+) keeps Black alive. JJJ
The line I recommend in this B
chapter is the one currently held to
cause Black the greatest problems.
Favoured by world title aspirant,
Gary Kasparov, and · ex-world
champion , Mi khail Tal, it sets up
a large and menacing white centre
wi thout hesitation and throws
in the harrowing .i.b5+ (from the
above line) for good measure. Black has two natural-looking,
This is to jam up Black's develop­ but suspect, alterna tives to the
ment, since the unwieldy retreat main line of 8 ... li:lfd7, namely:
�fd7 appears to be obligatory. a) 8 .i.d7? 9 e5 li:lh5 10 li:lf3 de
··
..• ...

This l ine is covered in BCO, I I fe i.xb5 1 2 li:l xb5 �0 1 3 0-0 ±

pages 1 1 0- 1 1 1 .
Kasparov-Nunn
Lucerne Olympiad 1 9112
1 d4 �r6
I . . . c5 2 d5 �f6 3 c4 g6 4 li:lc3
.i.g7 5 e4 d6 6 li:lge2 t ransposes to
the King's Indian (Chapter 8).
Also good here is 3 �c3 g6 4 e4 d6
O'Kelly-Diez del Corral, M adrid
1 957; or I I . . . 0-0 1 2 0-0 .i.g4 1 3
.i.e2 .i.xf3 1 4 .txf3 .i. xe S 1 5 .i.xh5
'Wh4 16 g 3 1hh 5 1 7 ..xh5 gh 1 8
lH5 .td4+ 1 9 �g2 liJd7 20 i.h6
llfe8 2 1 Itafl and Black has many
problems.
b) 8 ... li:lbd7? 9 c5 de 10 te lLlh5
( 10 . . . We7 I I ..e2) I I e6 (132)

JJ1
B B
fe 1 2 de 0-0 1 3 ltlf3 :xtJ (in
Mestel-Hodgson, British C h 1 983,
Black played the amazing 13 ...
.td4!?. Mestel then won - eventuaUy
- with 1 4 'W'b3 , while IM Martin
has d rawn attention to 1 4 ..ieJ
.txe3 1 5 ed. M y feeling, however,
is that 14 .tc4 is the move most
li kely to refute . . . .td4!?) 14 1ihf3
.txc3+ 1 5 be ltlc5 1 6 1t'e4 1t'f6 1 7
e7! 'tfxe7 1 8 0-0 ± . I f, in the
above line, Black plays I I . . .
1t'h4+ then Kasparov suggested
12 g3 lLlxg3 ( 1 2 . . . ..ixc3+ l J be
"tre4+ 14 'ite2 ±±) 1 3 hg 'tfx h l
( 1 3 . . . 1t'xg3+ 1 4 \&d2 is harm less)
14 ..te J! ( 1 4 t:d+ i.xd7 is les.s
clear). The best line I can find for
Black here is.(l4) . . 0-0 1 5 ed ..ixd7
. Wil liams-Mecking, Nice 01 1 974.
16 .txJ7 lHeM 17 .ixe8 ll xelol l lj
'.t'd2 .ixc3+ 1 9 be 'W'xdH 20 ;!tc I !
1hd I + 2 1 �xd I l hd 22 �1e2 and
Black is probably lost m the
ending.
8 �fd7
9 a4! (133)
Alodern Benoni 101
JJJ
Clamping down on ... a6 and
. . . b5. True, Blac k's queen's
knight can now reach b4, but such
occupation rarely has much influena:
on events.
9 �116
Tht:re are various other moves:
a) 9 ... a6 10 .td3 (here 10 .te2
'tfh4+ ! could be annoying. I fee l
that White should only put his
ki ng's bishop on e2 when . . . 1t'h4+
is no longer possible) 10 . . . 0-0 I I
lL\fJ ltlf6 1 2 0-0 ..ig4 1 3 h3 ..txn
1 4 'Wxf3 ltlbd7 1 5 .id2 Ite8 and
now White establishes an advantage
by cementing his king's bishop on
c4: 1 6 i.c4 ! li.lb6 1 7 b3 l.Uxc4 1 8 be
li:ld7 1 9 ll ae I 'W'a 5 20 1t'd3 'ttc 7.
Nunn now recommends 21 e5!
The manoe uvre .tc4 plus b.1 I S
worth atte ntion.
b) 9 ... 0-0 10 l0f3 a6 I I .te2
(playable now Black no lorigcr has
. . . 'tfh4 + J I I . . . ltlf6 1 2 0-0 1tc7 1 3
c5 ltle8 1 4 e6 fe 1 5 ..ic4 'ii'c7 1 6 de
 /02 Modem Benoni
li:Jc7 1 7 f5 , Kasparov-Kuijpers,
Junior World Championship, 1980.
White is already winning, since
1 7 . . . ltxf5 fai ls to 1 8 ..ig5 .if6 19
g4 l hg5 20 liJ xg5 .ixg5 21
lU7 ±±. I n this line 12 . . . lte8 13
e5 ! de 1 4 fe li:Jg4 15 .ig5 f6 1 6 ef
..ixf6 17 ..ixf6 'tlrxf6 18 d6! also
favours White, Mestel-P.Littlewood,
H astings 1 982-3.
c) 9 .. . 0-0 I 0 ltJ f3 li:Ja6 I I 0-0 li:Jb4
1 2 li[e I a6 1 3 ..ifl li[e!i 14 h3
followed by .ie 3-f2 and the
inevitable e5, Ree- H ulak, Wij k
a a n Zee 1 983.
d) 9 . 'tlrh4+ 10 g3 lte7 I I li:Jf3 0-0
..
( I I . . . .i xc3+ 1 2 be 'tlrxe4+ 1 3 'iPf2
gives White a massive lead in
development, while Black will
also miss his vital king's bishop)
12 o-o li:Ja6 1 3 lte I .!Lib4 1 4 'tlrb3 a6
15 .ifl b6 16 h3 .ib7 17 ..id2!
li[ae8 18 li[ad l and Black is
deprived of active play. 1 4 e5!? a6
1 5 .ifl de 1 6 d6 'tlre8 1 7 fe bO 18 e6
fe 19 .ic4 ..ib7 20 li[ xc6 'tlrf7 ! 2 1
li[e4 'tlrxc4 2 2 li[ xc4 ..i xf3 23 'tlrb3
�h8 is, in contrast, very unclear.
10 li:Jf3 li:Jb4
II 0-0 a6
Or I I . . . 0-0 12 li[e I a6 13 ..ifl .
12 ..ixd7+
An excellent move , gaining time
and momentum for his attack.
12 ..ixd7
13 f5 (134)
If 13 ... gf 1 4 .tgs ..ito I S ..if4
0-0 1 6 e5! ( 1 6 ..i xd6 ..ixa4 ! ) 1 6 . . .
IJ4
B
de 1 7 liJxe5 ± or 1 3 ... c4 14 ..ig5
'tlrh6+ 1 5 �h 1 li:Jd3 16 f6 .tn1 1 7 aS
lt::l f2+ 18 li[xf2 'tlrxf2 1 9 li:Ja4! ±
and Black is paralysed; both
critical variations stem from
Kasparov.
13 0-0
14 .ig5 f6
1 4 . . . ..if6 I S 'tlrd2 does nothing
to hinder White's attack.
IS ..if4 gf
I f 1 5 ... gS 16 ..ixd6 ..ixa4 1 7
li[xa4 'tlrxd6 1 8 c5 ! fc 1 9 li:lxg5 b5,
Gheorghiu-Kertesz, Romania 1982,
and now 20 li[xb4 ! cb 2 1 li:Jce4 ±±.
Or 15 ... 'tlre7 16 fg hg 17 �h4 �h7
18 ..ig3 b5 19 'tlrb I c4 20 li:Jxg6
�xg6 2 1 .i xd6! ±± (Kasparov).
S uch variations pinpoint that the
very worst has befallen Black here
that can possibly go wrong in a
M odern Benoni - his king's
bishop is locked out of play, his
kingside pawn structure is hope­
lessly loose and he has no
queenside cou nterplay.
16 ..ixd6 ..ixa4
 Alodern Benoni /OJ

Black cenainly neem this resource, I f 20 . . llae8 2 1 1lrg4 �h8

.

but it doesn't help much. 22 �xc5 ±±.

17 llxa4 1hd6 21 lUxeS
18 l0h4! fe 1 -{)
19 lOfS 1rd 7 (135) If 2 1 . . . 1rxd5 2 2 1rxd5 �xd5
23 �e6 ±±.
/Jj
w
John Nunn's authoritative verdict
on 7 f4 and 8 .ib5+ should be
q uoted: " I n my view, this is one of
White's best lines against the
M odern Benoni. White secu res
good attack i ng chances at little
risk to himself. " This assessment
appeared in J o hn 's excellent book
on the Benoni which was publish­
20 l0xe4 �h8 ed before the Kasparov game.
 Part IV
Asymmetrical and Unusual Defences

/36
B

C hapter 1 5 : Modern Defence I . . . g6 2 c4 i.g7 3 lbc3 d6 4 e4

Chapter 1 6 : Dutch Defence I . . . f5
Chapter 1 7 : English Defence 1 . . . e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 i. b 7
Chapter 1 8 : M iscellaneous I . . d6 1 . . . b5 I
. . . . ll:l c 6 I . . . h6
 15 Modern Defence
1 d4 g6 2 c4 i.g7 3 e4 d6 4 ltJc3
IJ7
B fascinating, but, objectively, White
The Modern constitutes one of
the most fertile fields for investigation
of any opening complex. Remark­
ably, it is a defence that has only
emerged into prominence in the
past twenty years or so. There are
virtually no games with it in the
Romantic, Classical or Hyper­
modern periods in the development
of chess thought. Even progressives
such as N imzowitsch, Ret i and the
free-think ing Alek.hine, were reluc­
tant to go as far as I ... g6 as an
answer to I d4.
From the Diagram Black. has
three main possibilities: 4 ... lt:lc6
is the most consistent, since it
furthers the theme of attack
against d4. However, 5 d5! fo rces
Black's queen's knight into pre-
mature occupation of its target
square. The resulting positions are
should stand better. If 4 . . . lLlc6 is
too active, then 4 ... e5 is too
passive. After 5 de de 6 1Wxd8+
lt>xd8 7 f4! Black is inconvenienced
by the situation of his king, which
cannot castle into safety. This is
even worse for Black than the
comparable line of the Old I ndian.
That leaves 4 ... o!LJd7, which will
probably tranpose into the King's
I ndian. Adherents of the Modern
are Canadian Grandmaster Duncan
Suttles, ex-world champion Tigran
Petrosian and the author.
The M odern, and its close
relation the Pirc, are to be found
in BCO, pages 1 73- 1 84.
Agdestein-Keene
Gausdal 1983
1 d4 g6
2 c4 .ig7
] o!LJcJ d6
4 e4 ( 137)
From Diagram 1 3 7:
a) 4 . .. c6 5 o!LJf3 .ig4 6 .ieJ li:ld7 7
.ic2 .ixf3 8 .ixf3 o!LJgf6 9 0-0 t .
White could, of course, play
 106 Modern Defence

5 �ge2 as well, with l ikely Bank) 1 983.

transposition to the King's Indian.
b) 4 ... rs?! 5 ef .ixf5 6 l!JO �f6 7
..ie2 0-0 8 0-0 �a6 9 d5 c5 1 0 �g5
and White has the advantage
because of Black's s haky central
situation.
c) 4 ... e5 5 de! de 6 -.xd8+ ot>xd8 7
7 � gel 1rb6
8 l0xd4!?
For many years this capture
was not taken particularly seriously.
I ndeed, the old line was 8 . . . cd 9
lt:la4 'tta 5+ 10 b4 'ttx b4+ I I J.d2
1ra3 1 2 .icl 'ttb 4+ 13 J.d2 =.

f4! .ie6 (7 . . . �c6 8 fe .ie6 9 ..ig5 + Then in 1 982, Yasser Seirawan

\!i>c8 10 �f) is uncomfort able for played 8 lt:l xd4 cd 9 lt:la4 'tta 5+ 1 0
Black, whose displaced king jams .i d 2 'ttc 7 I I cS d e 1 2 ..ib5+ J.d7
his rook communication; 7 . . . 13 J.xd7+ 'tt x d7 14 lU xeS ±
�d7 8 �f) c 6 9 ..ie2 f6 I 0 0-0 'tt'e8 against me a nd won.
I I gJ is a lso :!: and a tedious 8 cd
position for Black to defend) 9 lLla4 de! !? (138)
8 lLl fJ lLld7 9 ..ie2 h6 10 0-0 lLle7
I I lLld5. Such positions may be
defensible for Black but they are
no fu n. I have tried them for both
sides, and believe me, it is more
enjoyable to be White.
d) 4 ... lild7, t he most rel iable of
Black's fourth move alternatives,
which will normally go into a
King's I ndian. If White wishes to
follow t he recom mendations in
this book he should play 5 lLlge2, My opponen t, t he 1 5 year old
but 5 �f3 e5 6 ..ie2 or 5 f) are Norwegian answer to N igel S hort,
obviously playable too. looked shocked, but this 'sac' is
4 l!Jc6 mentioned in BCO and I had
s dS �d4 analysed it in some detail with
S . . . �b8 is obviously very GM Jon Speelman after the
passive. Yasser deb4cle.
6 J.eJ d 1 0 � xb6 ef+
Or 6 . . . eS 7 �ge2 �xe2 8 J.xe2 II �xfl ab (139)
fS 9 ef gf 10 ..ih5+ 'it>f8 I I f4 ! ±; if We have reached an extra­
8 . . � h6? ! 9 g4! Wh4 10 ltg l ! ±
. ordinarily rich pos1t1on. My
Conquest-Keene, London (Lloyds conclusion from t he analysis with
 Modern Defence 107

position must now be rated ±.

IJ'J 12 ...cl?! .i.d4+
w To bother White's king. Another
plan is 1 2 . . . l!Jh6 followed by a
quick . f5 .
. .

13 �el lL!f6
14 .iel 0-0
15 lldl .ie5
16 a4!? h5
Played partly to restrict White's
king's bishop from use of g4.
Speelman was that the situation 17 b3 ..td 7
was not at all clear, though i t must 18 ...d3
be said that Speelman is a man I n tending to auack the b-pawns,
who would prefe r to start the diagonally from e3.
game with a couple of minor 18 e6!
pieces instead of his q ueen, and 19 de .ixe6
might, therefore, be biased. After 20 ..tf3 lL!d7
a l engthy investigation, it has been 21 �f2 b5! (140)
established that White should
play 1 2 1td2 ! here, to preve nt the
black king's bis hop from checking
on d4. The game D.Cramling­
Davies, played at Copenhagen
1 983, several months after my
game with Agdestein, sadly demon­
strated what is the likely death­
knell of the black q ueen sacrifice:
1 2 . . . l!Jf6 ( 1 2 . . . ..te5 13 ..id3 l!Jf6
14 h3 0-0 1 5 b3 ! i.d7 1 6 a4 e6 1 7
llhel b 5 1 8 cb ed 1 9 ed lL! xd5 20 The last difficult move of the
.ic4 l!Jf6 21 -.Pg I ±± Davies) game. If now 22 cb l!Jc5 wipes out
13 .id3 l!Jg4+ 14 �e2 0-0 1 5 h3 White's q ueenside pawns, so
lL!e5 1 6 b3 .id7 (after 16 . . . f5 White must submit to a variation
White m ust play 1 7 el1 but this is which permits the exchange of his
sufficient to keep his advantage) a�.:tive rook, and still leaves the
17 a4 lla6 18 llac l llfa8 19 'it'f2. k i ng's rook bottled up.
·

Wh i te is consolidating and the 22 ab ll:a2+

108 Modern D efence

23 lld2 IOcS Drawn by repetition of position.

24 1re3 llxd2+ I was tempted by various sacrificial
25 1rxd2 ll::l x b3 attempts to deliver mate, but
26 1rc2 .td4+ could not quite make this work .
27 'it>g3 ( 141) Black may still be better positionally,
but if he actually captures material
141 t he white queen may escape and
B become a nuisance.
The queen sacrifice in this game
was nominated as · one of t he most
important theoretical games of
the year by the prestigious Yugoslav
journal, Sahovski /nformator.
It should be mentioned that in a
later game Ginzburg-Arapovic,
Lugano 1 984, White also got
If White's king goes to the back nowhere by allowing the check on
rank he will not be able to develop d4 : 1 2 'trb3?! .td4+ 1 3 'it>d ll::l f6
his king's rook . 1 4 lld 1 ..ic5 1 5 .td3 0-0 1 6 ..i b 1
27 ..ieS+ b 5 ! 1 7 c b ( 1 7 'tlhb5 ..id7!) 1 7 . . .
28 ..id4+ .td7 1 8 h3 ll a 5 19 ..id3 llfa8 20 a3
29 e5 2 1 de .txe6 with more than
adequate compensation.
 16 Dutch Defence
1 d4 f5
/4}
w overcome Black players who have
Capablanca once denounced
the Sicilian Defence ( I e4 c5) as an
opening which "leaves Black's
position full of holes". There are
many who believe that the Dutch,
the mirror image of the Sicilian, is
a considerably more dubious
proposition. Indeed, t he move I . .
f5 stakes out some sort of claim
over t he e4 square, and also
prepares subsequent general activity
by Black on the kingside. On the
negative side, though, it is a
gratuitous weakening move, which
diminishes important support for
squares such as e6 and g6, and it
contributes little to Black's develop­
ment. A common way for Black to
suffer an accident in the Dutch is
to be deluded i nto the belief that
1 ... f5 is an immediately attacking
move. Frequent disasters have
launched inadequately supplied
kingside attacks, relying only on
their queen, king's rook , king's
knight and kingside pawns, for­
getting about their lines of com­
munication with underdeveloped
q ueenside units. Usually, White
can detonate the entire undertaking
with a timely central thrust, based
on f3 and e4, exposing all of the
weak nesses in the black structure,
especially in the e-file.
Black has three systems in the
Dutch - the Stonewall ( with
pawns on d5, e6 and f5); the Fluid
. (pawns on d6, e6 and f5) and the
Leningrad, where Black fian­
chettoes his king's bishop. All
three are playable, if Black is
cautious and avoids premature
adventures, and it should be
mentio ned that the Dutch has
been favoured by Botvinnik ,
Bronstein and former B ritish
Champion, Robert Bellin, who
has written an excellent book
about it.
There are various odp tries
 / / 0 Dutch Defence
against the Dutch: the Staunton
Gambit ( I d4 f5 2 e4!?); the
Korchnoi Gambit ( 1 d4 f5 2 h3
ll:lf6 3 g4 !?); al ternatively, I d4 f5
2 .i.g5 or 1 d4 f5 2 ll:lc3 ll:lf6
3 .i.g5 . . . Here, though, I
reco mmend t he solid, classical
variation based on g3 and the
fianchetto of White's king's bishop.
One good reason for this (apart
from the method's inherent sound­
ness) is that Black may in troduce
his Du tch via 1 d4 e6, inviting the
French Defence with 2 e4, but
avoiding the exciting ideas· men­
tioned above.
The Dutch is treated in BCO,
pages 36-4 1 .
Stonewall and Fluid Systems
Keene-Fuller
I Commonwealth Championship
Melbourne 1 983
I d4 e6
2 c4 f5
Or 2 . . . .i.b4+ 3 .i.d2! 1t'e7 4 e4
d5 5 ..txb4 1txb4+ 6 1td2 1rxd2+
(6 . . . �c6 7 li:lc3 ! ) 7 ll:lxd2 1
because of White's spatial plus.
3 lLlf3 li:lf6
4 g3
See Diagram /43
4 ..te7
Also worth considering is 4 . . .
..tb4+ 5 ..td2 to prevent White's
queenside fianchetto. This was
in vented by Alek hine and cham­
pioned by B ronstein. Possible
conti nuations are:
a) 5 ... .i.xd2+ 6 1txd2 0-0 7 ll:lc3
d6 8 .i.g2 lLlc6 9 lld l 1We7 1 0 d5
ll:ldll ( 10 . . . ltle5 I I ll:lxe5 de 1 2
d6!) I I d e ll:lxe6 1 2 ll:ld5 1.
b) 5 1We7 6 .i.g2 0-0 7 0-0 ..txd2 8
...
1!fxd2 ll:le4 9 1t'c2 d6 I 0 lLlfd2
ll:lxd2 I I 1t'xd2 e5 1 2 ll:lc3 c6
1 3 llad l 1 .
c) 5 ..te7 6 .i.g2 d5 (6 . . . d6 7 0-0
...
0-0 ll ll:lc3 1t'e8 9 1t'c2 1t'h 5 1 0 e4 c 5
1 1 de de 12 ll:ld5 ! Szaho­
Bronstein, Candidates' Tourna­
ment, Budapest 1 950) 7 0-0 0-0 8
l0c3 c6 9 1t'c2 Well 1 0 a3!
Introducing a highly sophisticated
manoeuvre making expert use of
White's bishop on d2, to trade
dark-squared bishops: 10 . . . 1t'h5
I I lLla2! lLlbd7 1 2 .i b4 l1e8 1 3
.i.xe7 lhe7 1 4 ll:lb4 lLlg4 1 5
ll:ld3 ± Flohr-Szabo, M oscow­
Budapest match, 1 949. As we have
seen, the following year Szabo

switched t o t he white side. Black
can also try to pla nt h is king's
bishop on the more aggressive
square d6, e.g. 4 . . . d5 5 ..tg2 c6
6 0-0 ..id6. This gives Black extra
influence in engineering the advance
. . . f4, but White retains a positional
edge by proceeding broadly as in
the main game - fianchetto both
bishops, play ltle5 and watch out
for Black's k ingside ambitions:
7 b3 1te7 (to prevent ..ta3,
exchanging Black's useful king's
bishop) 8 ..ib2 0-0 9 1tc2 ..id7 (9 . . .
b6 1 0 lt::l c3 lt::l e4 I I ll.he4 de 1 2
ltJe5 c5 1 3 llad I ..tb7 14 de :t
Gligorii:) 10 lt:le5 lt::l a 6 I I li:Jd2
..ie8 1 2 lt::l df3 ..th5 1 3 a 3 llac8 1 4
b4 lt::l b 8 1 5 .tel lt::l e4 1 6 lt::l d 3 g5 1 7
lt::l fe5 to be followed by f3 , and
White retains a l l the advantages of
his position, Kotov-Goldberg,
USSR Ch 1 949.
S ..ig2 0-0
6 0-0 dS
The main alternative is 6 . . . d6,
when I recommend 7 li'ld
11ret! (144)
Dutch Defence 1 1 1
8 b3 ! rat her t han 8 lle I 1tg6 9 e4!?
which is possible as a result of the
tactical t rick 9 . . . fe I 0 lt::l x c4 lt::l xe4
I I llxe4 1txe4? ( I I . . . lt:lc6! is best)
1 2 lt::l h 4 netting Black's queen.
However, the idea of open ing up
the f-lile so q u ickly seems, to me,
to be ra ther too co-operative. If
White develops his pieces sensibly
first, agai nst the nuid system,
Black's 'aggressive' queen on g6
or h 5 will become a target (e.g.
e3, lt::l e 2-f4) wh ile the thrust e4 will
evolve later, after due preparation
(first e3 then rook centralisation).
. Here is one example: 8 . . . a5 9 ..ta3
lt::l a6 1 0 llc l ..td7 I I eJ lt::l b4 1 2
..tb2 1th5 1 3 a3 lt::l a 6 1 4 lt::l d 2 1th6
1 5 lle l (also playable, though
more risky, is 1 5 ..ixb7 lt::l g4 1 6
lLlfJ lila 7 1 7 ..t xa6) 1 5 . . . c6 1 6 lLlfl
..ie!! 17 1td2 e5?! ( Black should
instead seek to close thi ngs up
with . . . d5!) 1 8 de de 1 9 lt\a4 lid!!
20 1txa5 lt::l d 7 2 1 b4 ± Portisch-
Corden , H asti ngs 1 969-70.
7 lt::l c 3
Substant ially similar is the
move-order variance: 7 b3, e.g.
7 ... lOeb!? H ..tb2 ..id7 9 lt::lc 3 .ie8
(such galvanization of the inferior
queen's bishop to h5 or f7 often
occurs in the Dutch) 10 lt::lg 5 ..tf7
I I e3 1td7 12 �x f7 ll x17 13 �a4
b6 14 llc I lt::l d 8 1 5 lt:lc3 IU1l I h fJ
lt::l 17 1 7 c4 ! Polugayevsky­
Spassk y, Tilburg 1 983; or 7 . cfl . .
8 'tWc2 ..td7 9 ..tb2 ..te8 10 lt::l c 5
 1 12 Dutch Defence

l0bd7 I I /Od3 .th5, Kasparov­ dark centre squares and tardy

Petrosian, Bugojno 1983, and now development of his queenside
1 2 /Of4! .tn 13 l0d2 followed b y forces. More solid is 9 . . . 10d7 10
10 0 1 according t o Kasparov. Wc2 .tf6, though W hite should
7 c6 prefer 1 0 e3, as in the game,
8 b3 intending /Oe2, 10e5 and then f3 .
I used to believe in Alekhine's 1 0 e3 WbS
pawn sacrifice: 8 llJe5 l0 bd7 9 1 1 /Oe2 g5
llJd3 de 1 0 l0f4 /Ob6 1 1 e4 until I To stop llJf4.
read Robert Bellin's book on the 1 2 liJe5 llJd7
Dutch which pointed out the 13 f3 ltld6
refutation I I . . e5! 1 2 de Wxd l 1 3
. 1 3 . . . 10 xe5 14 de 10c5 also looks
l hd 1 llJg4 H. good for White.
8 llJe4 14 Wcl llJ(7
Or 8 . . . b6 9 .tb2 .tb7 10 e3 llJa6 1 5 cd
1 1 llJe2 .td6 1 2 llJf4 We7 or course, the simple 1 5 llJxd7
1 3 lic l ;t Keene-Bellin, Benedictine .txd7 16 e4 is at least !, but I
1 98 1 . wanted to try for more.
9 .tb2 We8 (145) 15 ed
Or 1 5 . . . cd 1 6 liac l , good for
145 White.
w 16 g4 (146)

146
B

The standard Dutch attempt to

gain a kingside attac k . This can
prove very dangerous if White
isn't careful about how m uch The point of my idea, which
leeway he allows his opponent on leads to very interesting comp­
the kingside. Of course, to start his lications.
kingside play Black h as to make 16 Wh4!
certain concessions, such as weak After 1 6 . . . fg 1 7 liJg3 Black's
 Dutch Defence 1 13

queen is embarrassed for decent though 25 10 xf5 ll xf5 26 J.xd4

squares. m ust win.
11 er J.d6! 24 J.e4
Or 1 7 . . . �h6 18 e4 � xeS 1 9 de 25 �xe4 de
de when 20 •c4+ is annoying. 26 d71
1 8 f4 � f6 If now 27 . . . ef 28 1fd5 + :n 29
1 9 �£3! de'tt + or 2 7 . . . lle6 28 llg3 gf29 ef
The only move. e3 30 •s2 llxf4 3 1 lld I •d8 32
19 �xeS •d5 wins; or 3 1 lld I e2 32 dl!•+
Tempting, but the best defence •xdl! 33 ll xd8+ <3117 34 •xb7+.
is 19 . . . g4 to close things up. Even Note, however, that 27 . . . lle6 28
then 20 llad I or 20 llae I leads to d81W ef 29 1hg5+ •xg5 30 fg
better chances for White. f2 + ! is good for Black.
20 de 26 lld8
Possible also is the exchange 27 llh3! (14 7)
sacrifice 20 fe ltlg4 2 1 J.f3 � xe3
22 ..e2 � xfl 23 ll xf l .
20 �g4
2 1 J.xdS+!
21 J.f3 � xe3 22 •c) � xfl 23
ed wins for W hite, e.g. 2 3 . . .

Wxh2+ 2 4 q,> x f l but 2 1 J.f3 J.c5 !

is slightly annoying.
21 cd
22 ed J.xfS!
Not 22 . . . � xe3 23 •c3.
23 'ttd 2 Black lost on time 1 -0. I f 27 . . .
Of cou rse not 23 �xf5 l hf5 24 -.xh3 2 8 •d5+ : n 29 -.xg5+
Wxf5?? •xh2 mate. 'it;>f8 30 •xd8 mate; or 27 . . llxd7
.

23 llae8 28 1Wxd7 •f2+ 29 <tlh l •xb2

Setting a neat trap 24 llac I ? 30 •xh7 mate.
.td3 ! 25 ll f3 gf and White is in
trouble. Dutch Leningrad
24 llf3!
Setting a coun ter-trap into
l.hano�-Henley
which Black falls, alt hough he New \' ork 1983
didn't really have a good alternative. 1 d4 rs
The best defence is 24 .. . d4, 2 �f3 �f6
 J 14 Dutch Defence
Or 2 . . . g6 3 c4 Jl.g7 4 ll:lc3 d6 5
e4 ll:lh6 6 ..ie2 0-0 7 0-0 fe H �xe4
ll:l f5 9 d5 c5 I 0 lle I ;!: Gufeld­
Bilek, Kecskemet 196M; alternatively,
5 g3 ll:lh6 6 h4! li:',f7 7 h5 with a
vigorous attack, Steinitz-L.Paulsen,
Vienna 1 873.
3 g3 g6
4 ..ig2 Jl.g7
S c4 0-0
6 ll:lc3 d6
7 dS! ( 148)
I t is best not to allow 7 0-0 ll:lc6
8 d5 ll:le5 with black counterplay.
From the diagram Black has
t wo other choices to the main line:
a) 7 ...'ffe8 !! 0-{) ll:la6 9 ll:ld4 ..id7
. 10 e4 fe ( 10 . . . c6 I I b3 ll:lc7 1 2
Jl.b2 c 5 1 3 ll:lf3! t M alanyu k)
I I ll:l xe4 lthe4 12 Jl. xe4 li:',c5 1 3
..ig2 a 5 1 4 ..ig5 'ff l7 1 5 •d2 Jl.xd4
1 6 'ff x d4 e5 1 7 1!rc3, Van der
Sterren-Helyavsky, W ijk aan Zee
1 984; a lthough White lost this
ga me his position at this stage
looks very pro mising.
b) 7 ... c5 8 0-0 ll:la6 9 ll b l lil:b8
(9 . . . ll:lc7 1 0 a4 a6 I I b4 ±
Petrosian) 10 b3 ll:lc7 I I ..ib2 a6
( I I ... b5 1 2 •c2 be 1 3 be Jl.a6 1 4
ll:ld2 !) 1 2 e3 b 5 1 3 ll:le2 a 5 ( 1 3 . . .
•e8 1 4 ..ic3 b4 1 5 Jl. b 2 h6 1 6 a3 ba
1 7 Jl.xa3 g5 1 8 b4! ± Keene­
H indle, English Counties Teams
1 970; 1 3 .. . Jl.d7 14 Jl.c3 ll:la8 1 5
ll:lg5! Jl.h6 1 6 h4 ± since White
will soon play ll:l f4 and e4, Keene­
Ree, Paignton 1 970) 14 ll:lf4 a4 1 5
h4 a b 1 6 ab be 1 7 be ll b4 1 8 ll:ld2
.i.a6 19 •c2 ;!: Keene-Jansa, Nice
01 1 974.
7 c6
8 0-0 ll:la6
Or 8 . . . e5 9 de i.xe6 I 0 •d3 ll:la6
I I i. f4 ll:le8 1 2 ll:lg5 ! Keene­
Wi rthenso hn, Ha nover 1 976.
9 Jl. e3!
An interesting way of exchanging
the dark-squared bishops - an
undertaking normally in White's
favour. In this case, it looks
superior to an involved transfer of
Wh ite's queen's bishop to the
a l -h!! diagonal.
9 .i.d7
10 1!rd2 twaS
II ll acl c5
12 i.h6 liJc7
13 Jl.xg7 lt>xg 7
14 e4 (149)
St andard procedure against the
Dutch - deplete Black's k u1gs1dc
defences and then smash open the
central files with e4.
 Dutch Defence 1 1 5

this comment is ironic.

18 lila I ! 11hc4
19 lilxa7 lt:lcxd5
Or 1 9 . . . ll:ifxd5 20 ll:ixd6.
20 lilxd7! lt:lxd7
21 ll:ie6+ c;!,>h8
If 2 1 . . . c;!,>gH 22 lt:lxd6 ±± .
22 .h6 lilf7
23 li\4g5 (/ 5 0)

14 fe
15 lt:lxc4 ..Wxa2?
Wildly over-opti mistic. 1 5
1txd2 i s still n o worse than t.
16 lilfel lilae8
17 lt:lfg5
Aiming at e6, Black's perennial
wound in the Leningrad.
17 bS
Igor I vanov's note in lnformator White's cavalry tramples Black
gives the symbol here for 'with underfoot. A fter 23 ...:ers 24
counterplay', but since Black is lt:l:d'8 lt:Jxf'8 28 ll:ixn+ �8 Black
now swiftly demolished, I assume resigned.
 17 English Defence
1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 i.b'··.·

position started to slide downhill.

151
w
Nevertheless, Polugayevsky did
bypass one extremely interesting
and aggressive sacrificial possibility
in the early stages of this game and
that will form the topic of my
recommendation in this section.
For the English Defence see
BCO, pages 32 and 33.

So named after exploits by Polugayevsky-Korchnoi

English Masters such as Skipworth Candidates' Match Evian 1 977
and the Rev. Owen in the latter 1 d4 e6
half of the nineteenth century, and Or I . . . b6 (Owen's Defence)
its resurrection by P.N . Wallis, 2 e4 ! .ib7 3 .id3! (1 52)
Basman, M iles and myself in the
152
1 970's and 1 9 80's. This defence B
positively invites W hite to set up a
mega lomaniac pawn centre, which
Black will then snipe at with
guerilla shots, such as . �b4
. . • . . .

1fh4 and . . . f5.

While I was acting as Viktor
Korchnoi's second in the World
Championship semi-final versus
Polugayevsky at Evian 1 977, I And now:
succeeded in persuading him to t ry a) 3 cS (Chandler-Spee lman,
...

out the English Defence in game 6 UK 1 976) 4 d5! blotting Black's

of their match. Polugayevsky at first queen's bishop out of play.
looked unbelieving and shocked, b) 3 e6 4 t0f3 c5 5 c3 l.Df6 6 tfe2
...

later extremely worried, as his cd 7 cd i.b4+ 8 it) bd 2 d5 9 e5 !

 English Defence I I 7

r o;en, Bugojno 1 978.

1
/53
• -1 ef! J.xg2 5
w
e:h+ �ffi 8
... /:> ' " ... , , ] 1 0 ll g l

� Ait I I I W�J tl . l n this line,

4 efl wins. The comparable
variation (which I do not recom­
mend) I d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 J.b7 4
J.d3 f5 5 ef J.xg2 6 W"h5 + g6, is
less clear, the extra moves ... e6
ar ' c4 being helpful to Black . White then has an i ncontestable
Th-. related queenside fianchetto space advantage.
defence: I d4 liJ f6 2 c4 b6 is s l0d2 i.b4
inferior: 3 l0c3 J.b7 4 1rc2 d5 5 cd 6 J. d 3 f5
�xd5 6 liJf3 e6 7 e4 l0xc3 8 be 6 . . . 1rg4 !? could be tried here.
J.e7 9 J.b5+ c6 10 J.d3 ;!;/ ±. White m ust reply 7 c;Pfl and will
2 c4 b6 then gain much time by chasing
3 e4 Black's queen.
The strongest move, played 7 �f3 ..txd2+
with an air of disbelief by s �n ?
Polugayevsky who obviously re­ A fter t he text White gains a
garded Black's set-up as a bad pawn but loses the right to castle
joke. and also lets his pawn structu re be
3 i. b7 ruined. To be consistent White
4 1rc2! must sacrifice two pawns with
Polugayevsky's idea is to defend 8 i.xd2! 1rg4 9 llJe5 ! 1txg2
e4 without allowing a pin of the I 0 0-0-0 fe I I .ie2 ( 1 54) when vast
knight o n c3 which would risk compl ica tions ensue.
doubled pawns.
/54
4 11rb4!? (I53) R
Viktor had been analysing such
weird moves days before this
game, but to Polugayevsky it was
unpleasantly new. It is surprisingly
difficult to drive off the insolent
black queen. After the only other
plausible move 4 . . . i.b4+ White
plays 5 J.d2 i.xd2+ 6 lihd2.
 1 18 English Defence

Investigation by Korchnoi, Murei, 10 ef .i.xfJ

Stean and myself immediately 11 gf li:lc6
after the Polugayevsky game 12 .i.cJ 0-0
convinced us that White has truly 13 llel 'tlrhJ+
dangerous attacking chances in S passky advocated 1 3 ... 'tlrxf3
this position. So dangerous, in but pursuit of the attack is also
fact, that Korchnoi was reluctant excellent.
to repeat the entire defence. Let us 14 'itlel llae8
examine some variations: 15 'itldl e5! (155)
a) 11 ... eJ? 1 2 .i.xe3 1hh l 1 3
lbh l .i.xh l 1 4 .i.h5+ g6 1 5
/55
.i.xg6+ hg 1 6 'tlrxg6+ ±± . The w
trade of Black's q ueen for White's
two rooks is, of course, clearly a
disaster.
b) I I ... 'tlrxf2 1 2 .i.g5 (threaten ing
.i.h5+) 12 . . . 'tlrf8 1 3 llhfl 10f6
1 4 d5 with a terrific attack.
c) I I . li:lf6 12 .i.e3 threatening
..

both 1 3 li[dg l 'tlrh3 1 4 li[g3 and

1 3 h4, followed by lldg l . After
I I . . . li:lf6 1 2 .i.e3 'tlrh3 1 3 lldg l ! 16 de li:lxe5
threatens both ll xg7 and ll g3 17 .tel
plus .tg5 . I f 1 7 .i. xe5 ll xe5 1 8 ll xe5
d ) I I . li:l c6 is probably the best
. . 'tlrxO+ and ... 'tlrxh I =F .
defence: 1 2 10xc6 .i.xc6 1 3 d5! and 17 ll:l xfJ!
if now 13 . . . ecd 1 4 cd .i.xd5 1 5 P repari ng a neat combination
llhgl 'tlrxf2 1 6 .i.h6 threatening which brings a decisive advantage.
.i.xg7, a nd .i.h5+. If 16 . . 0-0-0 . 18 'tlrdJ llxel
then 1 7 .i.a6+. Or 1 6 . . . 'tlrxg l 19 li[xel
1 7 li[xg I li:lxh6 1 8 'tlrxc7 0-0 Or 19 �xe2 1rh5! and Black
1 9 'tlre5. wins.
e) 1 1 ... d6 1 2 llhg l 'tlrxf2 1 3 .tg5 ! 19 1tg2
again with the threat of .i.h5+, 20 li[he I ll:l xe 1
while lldfl may also prove 21 �xel
annoying.
8 'tlrh5 See Diagram 156
9 .txdl 10f6
 English Defence J J 9

2 6 llxn Wxg3 2 7 ll xg7+?? fails to

the retrogressive 27 . . . Wxg7!
26 fg llf1 (157)

/57
w

21
Jeopardising victory. B y inter­
posing 2 1 . . . Wg I + 22 �d2 and
only then ... Wxh2 Korchnoi
could have prevented the invasion
of his position which now occurs.
22 lle7!
From now until adjournment
(move 42) Polugayevsky plays
excellently and brings about a
dra wish ending.
22
23 'it>e2
Black stands better in the
ending, but White has chances to
draw, notably on moves 42 and
44: 27 ..ixf6 gf 28 lle8+ �g7 29
�f2 �h6 30 b4 �g5 31 lla8 �xf5
32 Iha7 d6 33 a4 c;t;>e6 34 aS ba 35
l ha5 f5 36 c5 llh7 37 cd cd 38 b5
h4 39 gh llxh4 40 lla8 llb4 41 llb8
c;t;>d5 42 'it;>fJ ( 42 ll b6! �c5
43 llc6 ) 42 ... llb3 43 �f4 'it>c5
=

24 �el 44 llc8+? (44 �xf5 ) 44= ... <&>xb5

25 "trg3! 45 'it>xf5 lle3 46 'it>f4 llel 47 Ild8
A difficult decision to make but c;t;>cS 48 Ilc8+ 'it>d4 49 �fJ d5 50
it is the right one. Exchange of �f2 Ile5 51 :t:la8 �c3 52 :t:la3+
queens eases the task of defence. 'it;>b4 53 Ilal d4 54 Ilcl d3 55 llc8
25 1hg3 d2 56 Ilb8+ 'it>c3 57 llc8+ 'it;>d3 58
M aybe 25 . . :n is stronger for
. lld8+ 'it>c2 59 llc8+ 'it>dl 0- 1 .
 18 Miscellaneous Black Replies

1 d4 bS (158)
159
158 w
w

around Black's kingside makes it

The Polish Defence looks weird, exceptionally dubious.
but is not so easy to crack. It
should be mentioned that in the I d4 �c6 (/60)
form I e4 a6 2 d4 b5 Tony Miles
used it (as Black) to defeat World
Champion, Anatoly Karpov in
the European Team Championship
in Sweden 1 980. Nevertheless, it is
difficult to believe that Black can
fully equalise by this eccentric
feint away from the centre.

I d4 h6 (159)
The most wildly outrageous
reply to I d4 , intending 2 . . . g5 to
reach the Basmaniac Defence.
Although this has been championed
by Basman himself, the superfluous
ventilation voluntarily created
An exceedingly rare defence
which is by no means easy to
refute. 2 d5 is obvious, but not
totally convincing, while 2 e4 d5
leads to the labyrinths of Nimzo-

witsch's Defence to I e4. Here I
propose the simple 2 � t1 . when
Black has nothing better than 2 . . .
dS, retu rning t o the paths of
Chigorin's Defence.
1 d4 d6 (161)
161
w I d4
. . . d6 has virtually no
independent significance and will
usually transpose to the Modern,
King's Indian or Old I ndian.
White can also choose 2 e4, to
transpose directly into the Pirc
Defence.
I d4 e5 (162)
/6}
w trouble: 2 c4 e5 3 �c3 ll:\c6 (3 . . . ed
Miscellaneous Black Replies 121
This ( Englund's or Charlick's
Gambit) is just an inferior Budapest.
The irregular answers to I d4
are dealt with on pages 47, 1 85,
1 86 and 187 of BCO.
Petrosian-Spassky
World Championship Matcb (22)
Moscow 1 966
b5
Here I examine the really rare
alternatives on move I for Black:
a) I ... h6 2 e4 gS 3 ,j,d3 d6 4 �e2
cS 5 c3 ll:\c6 6 0-0 � f6 7 ll:\d2 1tc7
8 b4 b6 :!! ±.
b) 1 ... �c6 is difficult to refute. I
recommend reversion to a line of
the Chigorin which I briefly
mentioned in Part 1: 2 �t1
( threatening dS in earnest) 2 . . . dS
3 c4 ,1g4 4 cd ,j,xt1 5 gf •xd5 6 e3
eS 7 liJc3 .1b4 8 ,j,d2 ,j,xc3 9 be ed
1 0 cd liJf6 (or 10 ... ll:\ge7) I I ,j,g2
followed by •b3 !
c) 1 d 6 can hardly avoid
...
transposing to one of the main
lines I have already analysed. If
Black insists on a sturdy indepen­
dence of spirit he can land in
4 1fxd4 �c6 S ..d2 transposes to a
line of the English, where White
controls d5 and has a small
advantage: 5 . . . ll:\f6 6 b3 ,j,e6
7 e4 ;!; H ubner- Balashov, Rio de
.
Janeiro 1 979) 4 d5 ll:\ce7 5 g3 fS
( more sensible is . . . g6) 6 �f3 ll:lf6
7 ,j,g2 c5 8 liJg5 ± Csom-Suttles,
 122 Miscellaneous Black Replies

Bali 1982. Hi.ibner-Seirawan, Tilburg 4 .te3 e6

19H3, we nt: I . . . d6 2 e4 g6 3 c4 e5 4 5 ti:Jd2 ti:Jf6
ti:Jc3 ti::l c6 5 d 5 liJce7 6 .td3 h5?! 7 6 c3
f4 il.g7 8 ti:Jf3 u ±. Petrosian does nothing to attempt
d) I ... e5 2 de ti::l c6 3 ti:JO 1re7 4 an im mediate refu tation . He
1rd5 f6 5 ef ti::l xf6 6 1rb3 d5 7 ti:Jc3 develops efficiently and establishes
d4 8 ti:Jb5 il.g4 9 ti::l bxd4 tt:Jxd4 1 0 rock-like central fortifications.
ti::l xd4 0-0-0 I I c 3 ± . 6 il.e 7
2 e4 .tb 7 7 il.d3 d6
3 f3 8 a4 ( 164)
Erecting a solid barrier in the
path of Black's queen's bishop.
164
Few world champions have been 8
faced with this exotic defence, so it
is worth quoting Ka rpov-M iles,
Skara 1 980: I e4 a6 2 d4 b5 3 ti:Jf3
il.b7 4 il.d3 ti:Jf6 5 1re2 e6 6 a4 c5
a nd now 7 ab ab 8 l ha8 il.xaH 9 e5
c4 1 0 ef cd I I fg il.xg7 1 2 1Wxd3
1ra5+ (Miles) ( 1 63) offers Black
compensation for his pawn. I n
the game, Ka rpov chose 7 d e and
after many fu rther vici�situdes The attack on b5 forces B lack
the world champion actually wen t to jam the diagonal of his queen's
on to lose. bishop.
8 c6
9 �e2 ti)bd7
/63
w
10 0-0 0-0
II ti::l g3 ne8
12 ab ab
1 2 . . . cb is more active, but
reduces Black's quantity of pawns
in the centre. There would also be
no obvious way for Black to
launch a 'minority attack' advance
of his a- and b-pawns.
13 lha8 1Wxa8
3 a6 14 Wc2 .tf8
 Miscellaneous Black Replies I 23

IS b4! (165)

title. He was, however, rcluctalll

An excellent strategic conception. to claim the draw by repeti tion
He puts a greater clamp on since he obviously stands bet ter.
Black's long term . . . c5 break, and Spassky, of course, was desperate
also prepares seizure of the sole to avoid a draw but now commits
open file via ltl b3 and :a I . hara-kiri in his misgu ided effort to
IS trb8 extract more from the posi tion
16 li:lbJ g6 than is objectively present. Of
17 :at eS course, Petrosian should have
18 'irf2 played 21 .i d4 ! ±, 23 .id 4 ! ± or
Further pressure against . . . c5, 25 .id4! ±.
without which Black can never 25 1fc8?
liberate his bishop on b7. 26 .id4!
18 dS At last.
19 de ltlxe5 26 h5
20 .ic2 .ig7 27 h3
21 .ia7 1Wc7 I ntending f4 and e5.
22 .ib6 1!t'b8 27 h4
23 .ia7 't!rc7 28 ttJn de
24 .i.b6 'irb8 29 fe ltJed7
25 .ia7 ( 166) 30 ltJfd2 cS
An i nglorious episode in the 31 ltJxcS ltJxc5
game - Petrosian was not unwilling 32 be ..Q.xe4
to pocket half a point, since this If 32 . . . ltJ xe4 .:n .ixe 4 ..Q. �4 34
would virtually assure him of ..Q.xg7 '.!txg7 35 Wd4+ ±±: .
match victory and retention of his 33 ..Q.b3 ( ifll)
124 Miscellaneous Black Replies

only had the adverse effect of

/67 wrenching open avenues for White's
B attack: the f-file and a7 for
White's rook.
33 j.f5
I f 33 . . . 1rc6 34 lla7 i.d5 35
i.xd5 'Wxd5 36 .txf6 ±±.
34 lla7 �d7
35 �13
Threatening �g5 and 11hh4.
35 'Wb8
Black's central clearance has and 1-0 ( 36 c6 ±±).
 Part V
The Top Ten with 1 d4 !

10 Svetozar Gligoric (Y ugoslavia)

9 A kiba Rubinstein ( Po land)
8 Samuel Reshevsky ( U S A )
7 Lajos Portisch ( H u ngary)
6 Vi ktor Korchnoi (Swi tzerland)
5 Tigran Petrosian ( US S R)
4 H arry Nelson Pillsbury (USA)
3 M ik hail Botvin nik
2 Alexander Alekhine ( Russia/France)
G ary Kaspa rov (USSR)
 126 The Top Ten with 1 d4!

Each of the top ten is represented by one game:

Kasparov- Belyavsky, Moscow 1 983

Queen 's Gambit. Exchange

Alekhine-Marshall, Baden Baden 1 92 5

Marshall's Defence

Bohinnik- Larsen , N oordwij k 1965

Queen 's Gambit, Orthodox Exchange

Pillsbury-Marco, Paris 1900

Queen 's Gambit, Pii/Jbury A ttack

Petrosian- Fischer, Buenos Aires 1 97 1

Griinfeld

Korchnoi-Karpov, Hastings 197 1 /72

Torre A ttack

Portisch-Petrosian, Moscow 1 967

Queen's Gambit, Exchange Slav

Reshevsky- Fischer, Los A ngeles 1 96 1

Nimzo-Indian, Ragozin

Rubinstein-Teichmann, Vienna 1 908

Queen 's Gambit, Orthodox

Gligoric-Petrosian, Belgrade 1 954

Czech Benoni
The 1 d4 Oscars
US G randmaster Andrew Soltis,
chess correspondent of the New
York Post, once asked me to
nominate the ten greatest players
of I d4. I never found time to
respond to his question directly,
but here, in my book devoted to
I d4, seems the appropriate time
and place to publish my list of the
I d4 Oscars. I have given them in
order, with one annotated game
each to demonstrate their prowess.
Of course, my list is controver­
sial. O bjections could be raised,
for example, that Alekhi.'l e was
also a major exponen t of I e4, or
that the list should embrace
Capablanca, Spassky, Tal, Polu­
gayevsky, Euwe, N ajdorf, Browne,
Bogoljubow . . . . However, in his
world title matches Alekhine was
a staunch adherent of I d4, while
Capablanca, Tal and Spassky, for
example, relied heavily on 1 e4 for
their i mportant competitions.
My choice of Kasparov for the
number one spot, in preference to
Alekhine or Botvinnik, also needs
some explanation. My own feeling
is that Kasparov's interpretation
of I d4 blends icy efficiency and
almost balletic artistry in a way
that excels the achievements of his
mighty antecedents. A t the mo­
ment, Kasparov's rating is 27 1 0,
the world's highest, and I believe
that, still only twenty-one, he has
the capacity to equal, or surpass,
Fischer's all-time rating Everest of
2780.
 Svetozar Gligoric

�h8 planning �e8-f6-g8,

G Jigoril:-Petrosian hounding Whi te's threatening
Belgrade 1 954 queen's bishop.
Czech Benoni 11 a4
1 d4 ll:lf6 He must not allow the liberating
2 c4 cS advance . . . b5 .
3 d5 e5 11 l:l:b8
4 � c3 d6 12 .ieJ .i.g5 ( 168)
5 e4 � bd7
/6/J
6 �n a6 w
7 .ie2
With this move White declares
his intention of castling kingside.
The scheme is not as overly
aggressive as the 0-0-0 based line I
analyse in the Czech Benoni
chapter, but it is an excellent
alternative option.
7 .i e7 This is positionally desirable
8 0-0 0-0 since Black's king's bishop is
9 ll:le1 restricted by his dark-squared
Heading for d3, from where the pawn chain, while W hite will be
knight can support either b4 or f4, left, a fter the bishop swap, with a
assaulting Black's twin defensive light-squared bishop slightly ham­
horns at c5 and e5. pered by his pawns at e4, d5 and
9 lLle8 c4. Significantly, Black waits to
1 0 � d3 � c7 play . . . .ig5 until W hite has
Heading the wrong way. Black expended a tempo with .ie3.
should prepare for . . . f5 to Black cannot, of course, expand
increase his kingside influence, with 1 2 . . . b5? because of 13 ab ab
e.g. 10 . . . g6 I I .ih6 ll:lg7 1 2 .d2 1 4 cb �xb5 15 � xb5 l:l:xb5 1 6
 Svetozar G/igoric 129

10xe5! unearthing an attack against 22 10f5! j.xfS

Black's rook. Unfortunately forced.
13 Wd2! 23 Wxf5 'tth 7
e3 will provide a fine square for 24 'tlt'g4
Whi te's queen. Obviously White does not
13 j.xe3 exchange queens. With Black's
14 'ttxe3 h6 kingside so full of holes it makes
15 aS! sense to keep the most powerful
If Black does not react, White aggressive unit on t he board.
will now roll him up with li[fb l 24 li[ae8
and b4. Thus we see t hat, in spite 25 li[ f5 10d7
of the strategically valuable bishop 26 li[afl li[e7
exchange, W hite is still at the 27 b4! (169)
controls because of his terrain
advantage. This permits him the /69
luxury of being able to choose B
either b4 or f4 as a means of
progress.
15 b5
16 ab 10xb6
17 b3 li[a8
Black's snail-like plan is . . . a5,
... j.d7 and finally ... a4.
18 f4! ef
Relying on use of the vacated e5 Black's fortress cannot be
square to aid his defence. breached by kingside action alone.
19 Wxf4 f6 This thrust creates the requisite
Securely squashing White's dream diversion to knock away its
of breaking down Black's barricades foundations.
with e5. 27 cb
20 10d1 We7 28 c5 h5
21 10e3 g5? Neither here, nor on the next
Gligoric rightly condemns this move, can Black capture on c5,
as an "impulsive move". Not only since the advance d6 wins a piece.
does it undermine Black's influt:nce 29 1Wg3!
over f5 , it also exposes the g5 Not 29 'tt x h5? Wxh5 30 .._xh5
pawn to later tactical operations. li[xe4.
Safer is 21 . . . c;i;>h8. 29 li[xe4
130 Svetozar Gligoric

30 c6 lil xe2
1 70
Or 30 . . . lLlb6 3 1 1fxd6! lil xe2 32
lilxg5+ ! a nd wins.
31 1fxd6
Much stronger than regaining
his piece. The sacrificial com­
bination which Gligoric has en­
visaged, and which now follows,
is spectacularly beautiful.
31 lLlbS
32 1hb4 lLlb8 34 'it'xf6
33 lilxg5+! 'it'll 35 1fxf8+ 'it'xgS
34 lilxf6+! (1 70) 36 h4+
A corruscating crescendo of 1-0
sacrifices. White gives up almost 36 . . . �xh4 37 1ff4, or 36 . . . Wg6
every piece to inflict mate. 37 lLlf4.
 Akiba Rubinstein

10 0-0-0 cS
Rubinstein-Teich mann 11 b4 c4? (1 72)
Vienna 1908
Q GD Orthodox
1 d4 dS
2 c4 e6
3 lt:lc3 lt:l f6
4 .igS lt:lbd7
S e3 .ie7
6 lt:lf3 0-0
7 'Wc2 (1 71)

17/
B The same category of error that
Rubinstein's patent, against
which the correct reply is the
active 7 . . . c5 ! . The choice of the
Marco committed against Pillsbury
in their game later in this section.
Black voluntarily crystallises the
central situation into a static one,
where he has little or no hope of
striking back in time with . . . a6, . . .
b5 , . . . b4 etc. It is rewarding to
compare this position with the
Botvinnik-Larsen game, where . . .
c4 i s a reasonable decision. In this
game Black should prefer 1 I .••

Austrian grandmaster allows White llc8, though 12 'lib 1 lle8 13 de

to initiate a superior form of the
Exchange Variation with 0-�0.
7 b6
8 cd ed
llxc5 14 lt:ld4 also favoured White
in the earlier game Rubinstein­
Teichmann, Carlsbad 1907.
Another example is 1 I a6 1 2
...

9 .id3 .ib7 g4 c4 1 3 .if5 g6 1 4 .i.xf6 .ixf6 1 5

 132 Akiba Rubinstein

g5 Jl.g7 1 6 Jl.xd7 1rxd7 1 7 lt'le5 Alternatively, 1 9 . . . c;!;>h6 20 gf

1re7 HI f4 ± Spassky-Bobotsov, Wxn 2 1 llg6+ �h7 22 /t) xe4
Havana 01 1 966. followed by a murderous check on
1 2 Jl.fS lle8 g5; or 19 ... fg 20 /t) xe4 de 21 lt'lg5+
13 Jl.xf61 �h6 (2 1 . . . �g8 22 'ti'xc4+) 22 hg+
An excellent move, dragging �xg6 23 /t) xe4+ �f7 24 1rxc4+
Black's knight towards f6, where and wins.
it is a target for White's soon-to­ 20 lt'lxe4 de
be-advancing army of kingside If 20 . . . 1rxe4 2 1 gf+ �xf7 22
pawns. White m ust first capture lt'lg5+.
on f6, before Black can consolidate 21 h6! (1 74)
with . . . lt'lf8.
13 lt'lxf6
1 74
14 g4 .id6 B
15 g5 lt'le4
16 hS 'ti'e7
Or 1 6 . . . lt'l xg5 1 7 lt'l xg5 1rxg5
18 .ixh7+ 'it>f8 19 h6 gh 20 lldg 1 ,
a variation given b y Tarrasch.
1 7 lldgl a6 (1 73)

/ 73
w
The climax of White's majestic
campaign. The most tenacious
defence is now offered by 21 . . . fg
when 22 llxg6 ef 23 ll xg7+ 'ti'xg7
24 hg .ie4! 25 9xc4+ c;t;>xg7 26
ll g l + 'it>f6 is not convincing fo r
White. Stronger is 2 1 . . . fg 22 h7+
<t>n ( 22 ... <t>h8 23 o.?lh4 spells
White's pos1t10n is obviously instant doom) 23 lll h4 g5 24 lll f5
very promising indeed, but what is 'tlt"e6 25 llxg5 g6 26 llh6,
the most accu rate way of clinching while most devastating of all,
matters? Rubinstein's solution is perhaps, is j ust 22 lt'Jh4! when
staggering. Black's king's shield inelu�:tably
18 .ixh7+ ! ! 'it>xh7 disintegrates, e.g. 22 . . . gh 23
19 g6+ �g8 lt'l xg6 or ll xg6+, while 22 . . . g5
 A kiba Rubinstein 133

loses to 23 lt:lg6 1t'f6 24 h7+ 'it>l7 24 li[h7+ �g8

25 h81t' litxh8 26 lt:lxh8+. I n his 25 1t'f5!
Art of A l lack Vukovic claims that Threatening 1t'h5 , g7 and litxe7.
Black ca n resist with 26 . . . rt/e7 27 It ma kes no difference what Black
1t'e2 c3 28 be ..ta3+ 29 c;i/b l 1t'f5, does now.
but after 30 lit h 5 ! I do not set: it. 25 c3
What Black plays encourages 26 litxe7
his opponent to bo w out with a 1 -0
rapid flourish. 26 . . . lit xe7 27 1t'xf6 li[d8 28 lith I
21 f6�! wins. A truly amazing game.
If 2 1 . . . ef 22 gf+ 'it'xl7 23 hg!
wins. "A dashing victory in the grand
22 hg ef mannt:r", said the noted critic and
23 li[h8+ rt/xg7 connoisseur Hans Kmoch.
 Samuel Reshevsky

A good alternative is 7 0-0 de

Reshevsky-Fischer (7 . . . a6 8 h3!) 8 ,j,xc4 .td6 9 lt:lb5
Match (7) Los Angeles 1961 .ie7 10 h3 a6 I I lt:lc3 b5 1 2 .td3
QGJJ I Nimzo-Indian (Ragozin) .ib7 and now 13 a4 and 1 3 11re2
I d4 dS (Gligoric-Fischer, Leipzig 01 1960)
2 �f3 lt:lf6 both favour White.
3 c4 e6 7 .txc3+?!
4 lt:lc3 .ib4 A dubious exchange . Greater
5 e3 0-0 tension arises from 7 . . . de 8 .t xc4
6 ,j,d3 fi:Jc6!? (1 �5) ,j,d6 9 b4 e5 10 d5 fi:Je7 1 1 ,j,b2
.tg4! and now either 1 2 Wc2!? or
175 12 h3 .td7 1 3 �g5 with the
w curious threat of 10e6 ! , e.g. 13 . . .
10g6? 1 4 �e6! fe 1 5 de �h8
16 ed ± . This was a line I analysed
with US GM Larry Christiansen,
while I was functioning as his
assistant at the 1 982 Moscow
I n terzonal.
8 be fi:Ja.S
9 lt:ld2 c5
There is nothing wrong with 10 0-0 b6
6 . . . c5, transposing directly into 11 cd eel (1 76)
the N imzo-I ndian, where W hite Black captures with the pawn to
no longer has recourse to 10ge2. maintain a foothold in the centre,
Fischer used to enjoy playing this thus discouraging white advances
obscure line which blocks his own such as c4 or e4. H owever, the
c-pawn, but several reverses structure before us can be recognised
ultimately persuaded him to from my chapter on the N imzo­
abandon it. I n dian and it is one which is
7 a3 excellent for White. The point is

that Black cannot ultimately
prevent White from marching
through the centre with e4;
meanwhile, Black is unable to
play quick . . . ..ta6, swapping
White's k ing's bishop, which now
stays on the board for some time
representing a powerful distant
menace to Black's king.
12 f"3 lle8
13 lle1 ..te6
Blac k's queen's bishop would
exert more influence on the centre
from b7. Another idea worth
considering is 1 2 . . . �b7!? followed
by . . . lt:ld6 and then . . . ..tb7 or . . .
..tf5.
14 lla2!
The standard 'Arabic' develop­
ment of White's queen's bishop,
the most efficient method of
bringing it into action on the
kingside, or in t he centre.
14 llc8
15 �n cd
S triving for counterplay down
the c-filc.
Samuel Reshevsky 135
16 cd hS?! ( 1 77)
An in teresting moment. I t
should not be forgotten that
White has two aggressive plans at
his disposal, either e4 followed by
e5 and a general advance of his
kingside pawns, or g4 and then
�g3, followed, perhaps, by g5 and
f4, pushing Black back. Fischer
must have been very concerned by
the second of these possibilities
and decided to stop it for good,
but . . . h5 proves very weakening
when White actually opts for plan
A. New York GM Edmar Mednis
recommends instead the con­
structive waiting move 16 ... •d7,
and he is surely right.
17 h3
Still threatening g4, so Fischer
continues with remorseless logic
to stop it.
17 h4
But now the h-pawn is hopelessly
cut off from Black's lines of
com munication.
18 llf2 •d7
 136 Samuel Re.shev.sky

19 e4! de
20 fe (1 78)

by lLJg3 is horrible. What Fischer

plays is a blunder which shortens
the process.
I f now 2 1 . . . Wxd4? 2 1 e5 27 1Wxa3
threaten ing to win Black's qu een 28 ...d7
with �h 7+ and after 22 . .. lii: e d8 1 -0
22 ef 1hd3 2 3 lii: d 2 ±t. Black cannot protect c6, e8 and
20 i.b3 f7 at once. Few people have
21 'ifd2 i.c4 dispatched Fischer so decisively.
Or 2 1 . . . ... xd4 22 e5 lii: fd8 23 ef Reshevsky has a phenomenal
... xd3 24 liteS+! ±t. record, having beaten Lasker,
22 i.c2 lL!b3 Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe,
23 .txb3 i.xb3 Botvinnik, Smyslov and Fischer.
24 e5 lL!d5 Of living players, only Botvinnik
25 'ifg5 ...e7 can surpass this achievement, but
26 'ilg4 lii: c6 at the age of 73 Reshevsky is still
27 �g5 (1 79) playing, while Botvinnik quit
Here Black is obviously lost, competitive chess for good when
since 27 . . . tfe6 28 ...xh4 followed he reached 60.
 Lajos Portisch

Black prefaces . . . 0-0 with 8 . . .

Portisch-Petrosian ..txg3 9 h g 'ttd 6, trying t o equalise

Moscow 1 967 with . . . e5, White has 10 .id3 e5 I I
QGD, Slav Exchange de �xe5 1 2 � xe5 1!txe5 1 3 1!fa4+
1 d4 dS ..id7 14 'tif4! 'tt xf4 1 5 gf, with a
2 c4 c6 very pleasant position based on
3 cd his mobile centre and ki ngside
With the i m mediate exchange pawns, general dark-squared con­
White: avoids any possible comp­ trol and play against Black's fixed
lications arising from . . . de. I QP.
3 cd 8 0-0
4 �c3 �f6 9 ..td3 liteS
5 �f3 �c6 10 �eS
6 jJ4 e6 A version of the: ' Pillsbury
7 e3 .i.d6 A ttack' , which is seen in its purest
8 ..i g3 (180) form in the game Pillsbury­
Marco . The knight on e5 is very
180 threatening and Black hastens to
B remove it.
10 ..ixeS
Of course not 10 . . . �xe5? I I de
winning a piece.
11 de lLld7
12 f4 1llb 6?
A superior alternative to the
pawn-snatching text is 1 2 . . lLlc5!
13 lLlb5 lLl xd3+ I H !hd3 'W'a 5+ 1 5
After Black has com mitted his �1'2 lLlb4 1 6 ire2 b6 1 7 lLld6 �a6
king to the kingside, it is dangerous J g 11fd l llJd3+ 1 9 �g l a v a r i a t i o n
,

to swap bishops on g3, op e n i ng up given by Varnusz, but doubt lt:ss

the h-file for attac k . I f, however, stemming from consultat ion with
 138 Lajos Portisclr

Portisch. This position is hard to 16 lU"3 li:lg6

evaluate, but probably favours Or 1 6 . . . 1i'xb2 1 7 ll b 1 tfxc3
White who will unravel with 1i'c2, 1 8 .i.xh7+ winning Black's queen.
h3, ¢>h2 etc. H is k night on d6 is 17 .i.fl (182)
more firmly entrenched than
/81
Black's on d3. B
13 0-0! (181)

181
B

White's a ttack seems to be

playing itsel f, but some intricate
tactical footwork is still requi red,
e.g. in the case of 1 7 . . . 1i'xb2 1 8
Calmly ignoring Black's demon­ llb l ! 'tltxc3 1 9 llh3 ¢>f8 ( 1 9 . . . h6
stration. If Petrosian does not 20 i.xg6 fg 2 1 1i'xg6 - 19 ... 1i'a5
take one of the two pawns on 20 1i'xh7+ 'it>f8 2 1 ll b5 and i.c5+)
offer, then his . . . 1i'b6 would be 20 1i'xh7 li:lxf4 21 .i. h4! and B lack
revealed as a total waste of time. is mated, since his k in g cannot
13 1i'xe3 + escape via e7.
Or 1 3 . . . 1i'xb2 1 4 <tlb5 ! ±. 17 1i'd8
1 4 ¢>hi 1i'b6 18 <tlbS
If Black tries to seal t hings up All white units swing sharp
with 1 4 . . . f5 t hen 1 5 .i. xf5! d4 right.
( 1 5 . . . er 16 lL!xd5 and li:lc7) 1 6 18 lL!ce7
.i.xe6+ l he6 1 7 li:ld5 1i'e4 1 8 li:lc7. 19 li:ld6 .i.d7
Such important tactical variations Praying t hat White will be
must be noted carefully, since they bought off with the paltry li:lxe!!,
often form the sole justification but White's k night on d6 is worth
for an initial sacrifice. If t he a whole regi ment of ca valry.
sacrificer misses such vital oppor­ 20 i. h4 1i'b6
tunities, his offensive may run out Or 20 . . . lt:lxh4 21 .ixh7+ ±±.
of steam. 21 llh3
I S 1i'hS it:lf8 Threatening .i.xe 7.
 Lajos Portisch 139

21 h6 23 lln!
22 .if6! 11rxb2 (183) Even at this late stage White can
spoil thi ngs with 23 llb l ? llec8!
/83
exploiting the back rank mate to
w
free hi mself. Black, naturally,
does not worry about giving up
the exchange on c8.
23 lt::l fS
24 .txrs
1 -0
I f 24 ef 2 5 .ixg7 'it>xg7
26 11rxh6+.
Viktor Korchnoi
Korchnoi-Karpo\'
Hastings 1971/72
Torre A llack
I d4 ll:lf6
2 ll:lf3 e6
3 .i gS b6
Korchnoi's choice of opening
was su rprising, at the time; his
i dea may have been to avoid. his
opponent's excellent k nowledge
of main line opening theory .
Though Karpov's 3 . . . b 6 cannot
be called a mistake, it may be a
psychological error, si nce it allows
White to create a position where
Black has the bishop pai r but is
otherwise passive. 3 ... c5 is more
combative, leading to u nfathom­
able complications after 4 e3 'lrb6
5 lll b d2 'tlrxb2 6 .id3 d� 7 c4 1fc3
8 �e2! � bd 7 9 'ira4. Karpov
needed only a draw from this
game, played in the penultimate
round, to clinch first place. This
explains his cautious approach.
4 e4 h6
5 .ixf6 'tlrxf6 (184)
/84
w
6 .idJ
Also interest ing is 6 a3!? e.g.
6 . . . .ib7 7 ll:lc3 d6 8 'tlrd2 ll:ld7
9 0-0-0 g5? ! 10 ll:lb5 �d8 I I h4 g4
12 e5 ± Korchnoi-Kcres, USSR
Championship 1 965.
6 .ib7
7 �bdl a6
Black fears that 7 . . . ll:lc6 H c3
0-0-0 would be met by 9 1re2
followed by .ia6. The text safe­
guards t he bishop from exch ange
but costs va luable time. Both now
and on the next move Black
should have considered regrouping
with . . . 'tlrd8. In the line played
Karpov's queen becomes exposed.
 Viktor Korchnoi 141

8 1t'e2 d6 16 g4!
9 0-0-0 �d7 Beginning an advance of pawns
10 ¢>bl to open lines for the attack on the
A useful move, wa1tmg for black king.
Black to commit h imself in the 16 1td8
centre, which he now does. 17 g5 h5
10 e5 After 1 7 . . . hg 1 8 lildg l ! ±.
Karpov should still play 1 0 . . . 18 g6! fg
1t'd8 followed by J.e7 and . . . 19 lilhgl trf6
0-0. 20 lOgS J.e7
II c3 �e7 21 lt:le6 lt:lf'8
12 �c4 0-0 An auempt to repel boarders at
13 J.c2 l:Ue8 the cost of t h e exchange. A fter the
If 13 . . . ed 1 4 cd lilfe8 1 5 e5! a l ternat ive 2 1 ... lilacS 22 lil g2 lt:lf8
14 d5! 23 lil dg I 'it'h 7 24 lt:l x f8 lhfll 25
By sealing the centre Korchnoi lilxg6 trxg6 26 lilxg6 <;ilxg6 27 lt:lf5
gives his pieces more freedom to White's attack breaks through.
manoeuvre as well as shutting 22 lt:lc7 1t'r7
Black's bishops out of the game. 23 lildn?
14 c5? After this Black obtains counter­
The decisive strategic mistake, play; better 23 a4 to hold up . . . b5.
permitting White full scope to 23 bS!
build up a powerful k i ngside 24 lt:lxa8 �xa8
attack. It was necessary lo retain 25 c4 lilb8
possibilities of counterplay with 26 �d3 We8?!
. . . c6, either immediately or after 26 . . . b4! renders Whi te's win
14 . . . �f8. p roblematic. K o n:hnoi felt he
IS ll:le3 would have to reorgan ise: w i t h a
k n 1gh t transfer to dJ a nd then pl ay
1115
w
f4 .
27 l:i:cl i.. f6
28 l:i:g2 llbb?
W i t h 2!! . b4 1 Black can s t i l l
. .

p u t up m u c h resistance:.
29 ll cg i ! ( /XoJ
T h r ea t e n i n g 30 ll xg6 ti 1 >.: g6 J I
�hh 5 Black prevents t h is by
.

defe n d i ng his queen, but he is too

 142 Viktor Korchnoi

34 ..tg4 otlf4
/86
B
35 1td1 b3
36 ab � b7
37 otlg2 ..tc8
37 . . . otl xg2 would be met by 38
�e6+ �f8 39 1th5.
38 ..txc8 lil xc8 39 1Wg4 lile8 40
otlxf4 ef 41 1W·xf4 ..te5 42 1txh4
lilfB 43 b4 ..td4 44 be 1 -0
Em boldened by this success,
late to avoid the collapse of his Korchnoi was later to try I d4 otlf6
king's position. 2 ..tg5 !? in game 1 9 of his 1 974
29 lib8 Candidates' Final v Karpov, the
30 1Wfl b4 match that was to determine the
If 30 . . . �b7 3 1 cb �c8 32 ba destination of the world title when
�h3 33 1We2 �xg2 34 lilxg2 :±± . Fischer defaulted in 1 975. After
31 �el! 2 . . . e6 3 e4 h6 4 ..txf6 'tlfxf6 5 otlf3
There is no antidote now to d6 6 otlc3 g6 7 1td2 'tlfe7 8 0-0-0 a6
lilxg6! 9 h4 �g7 10 g3 White stood
31 h4 slightly better. Korchnoi has won
31 lilxg6! 1Wxg6 I I competitive games against
32 otlxg6 33 ..th5 is even Karpov, more than any player
worse for Black. ever - six of these as White with
33 lilxg6 �xg(i I d4 openings.
 Tigran Petrosian
Pet rosian-Fischer
Match (2) Buenos Aires 1971
Griinfeld Defence
I d4 lt:lf6
2 c4 g6
3 lt:lc3 d5
4 .if4 .ig7
Petrosian has employed various
methods against the G rtinfeld, but
has tended to favour early develop­
ment of his queen's bishop, e.g.
4 lt:lf3 .ig7 5 .ig5 �e4 6 cd lt:lxg5
7 ltJxg5 e6 8 ltJf3 ed 9 e3 0-0 1 0
.id3 b 6 I I 0-0 c 5 1 2 .ie2 ltJc6 1 3
llc l c d 1 4 ltJb5 .i b7 1 5 lt:lbxd4 t
Petrosian-Benko, Candidates' Tour­
nament, Cura�ao 1 962. The ending
of this IQP game is given in my
chapter on the Queen's Gambit
Declined, Tarraseh Variation.
5 e3
When i n aggressive mood,
Petrosian has also had fascinating
experiences with the alternative
5 lt:lf3, e.g. 5 . . . 0-0 6 llc i e5 7 de de
(7 . . . .ie6! is better) 8 e4 'it'a 5 9 e5
lld8 10 .id2 lt:lg4 I I .ixc4 1txe5
1 2 �e4 1tb6 13 .ixf7+! 'it>xf7 14
llxc8 llxc8 I S lt:lfg5+ 'it>g8 1 6
1txg4 1tc6 1 7 ltJd6! 1td7 (187)
187
w
Here the game Petrosian-Benko,
.
Candidates' I 962 ( round l 2 ) con­
cluded: 18 1txd7 ltJ xd7 19 ltJxc8
ll xc8 20 f4 llc2 2I �e2 .ih6 22
lt:lf3 llxb2 23 g3 g5 !--S - !--S . At the
time, it was believed that White
might have won with I8 1th4 ! ? but
then Botvinnik indicated the
defence 18 . . . h6 I9 ltJ xc8 hg 20
1tc4+ e6 ! 21 ltJd6 ltJc6 22 ltJe4
�xeS!
5 c5
Black may also enter fearful
complications with the pawn
sacrifice 5 . . . 0-0, though currently
this wild line appears to be good
for White: 6 cd ltJ xd5 7 lt:lxd5
1txd5 8 .ixc7 lt:lc6 9 lt:le2 .ig4 I O
f3 llac8 I I �c3 1te6 I 2 .if4 ltJxd4
I 3 fg llfd8 14 .id3 lt:le6 I 5 1tb i
!De 5 1 6 .ie2 lt:lc4 I 7 0-0 lt:ld2 I S
144 Tigran P�trosian

1fc2 � xfl 19 �xf l ! .txc3 20 be With ten years of hindsight,

1ff6 2 1 g5 1fxc3 22 1fxc3 l hc3 Black's best course at this stage
23 l:td I ! ± Timman-Schmidt, was fou nd to be 1 2 . . . � xc5 1 3 0-0
I ndonesia 1983. I t seems that �e4 14 1fc2 �d6 with a complicated
Fischer also distrusted this position if White retreats h is
ambitious black strategy. king's bishop. I n the game Farago­
6 de 1taS Ceshkovsky, Banja Luka 198 1 ,
7 l:tcl �e4! White sought to attack Black's
The most pointed choice. After king with a manoeuvre of truly
7 . . . de 8 .txe4 0-0 Black can only Eolithic subtlety: 15 .txd6 ed 1 6
aspire to laborious equality. 1fe4+ 'it> f8 1 7 liJd4, but Black
8 ed unravelled easily enough ( . . . .tf6,
For a while White falls behind . . . �g7) when his passed a-pawn
i n development, but realises on proved exceptionally powerful.
"
gain of material or s trong centre 12 liJeS
to offset this. 1 3 .ta:Z .tfS?
8 �xe3 The transparent th reat of a
9 1fd2 1fxa2 black knight check on d3 is easily
10 be met, though Fischer may have
I would be tempted by exchange underestimated White's possibility
sacrifices based on 10 llxc3, of giving up his dark-squared
offering the queen's rook for bishop for B lack's knight - the
Black's strong king's bishop, but same course which brought disaster
somehow I doubt that such to Farago ten years latt:r. Correct
concepts can be proved sound. (again with much hindsight) is
10 WaS 1 3 . . . 1hc5 1 4 0-0 0-0 1 5 c4 a5 1 6
11 .te4 �d7 e4 1f b4 with a tough fight i n view,
12 liJel (188) Farago (the same)- Filipowicz,
Banja Luka 1 98 1 .
/88
B
14 .txeS! .txeS
IS liJd4! 'i!heS
Fischer must allow h is kingside
pawns to be shattered, if he wishes
to regain his pawn. The alterna tive
of 1 5 . J.d7 1 6 l:t b l is also
. .

unpleasant, while 16 c6 also does

not look ridic ulous.
16 liJxfS gf
 Tigran Petrosian 145

17 0-0 (189) shackles totally. The humble 19 •oo

tlc5 might b e in order, however

/89
B miserable it looks.
20 c5! ( / 90)

Black's position has become

quite wretched as a result of his
error on move 1 3. His king has no
safe refuge, and the pawn on f5 is
doomed if White sets about
besieging it. The best way of
A pawn is no price at all to pay
for the mobility White has achieved.
If, for example, 20 ef+ 2 1 Wxf2
oo•

solving the problems is Mednis' 0-{) 22 j,b I and either f7 or h 7 will

suggestion: 1 7 f4 ! ( if Black waits
o o • collapse.
White may fix the pawn on f5 with 20 Wd2
f4, and t hen pick off f5 at his 21 Wa4+ <iif8
leisure) 18 ef j,d6 followed by 22 llad1 ' !

0-0-0. A strict blockade by

0 0 . 22 llc2 is also good.
Black's queen and bishop on c5 22 tfe2
and d6 will shut White's k.ing's Or 22 e2 23 ll xd 2 j,xh2+
000

bishop out of play for some time, 24 �xh2 eftt 25 d6 ±±.

and with opposite bishops on the 23 d6
board, White will experience Si nce this thrust can hardly be
difficulty in converting his extra stopped, the preliminary 23 g3
pawn into a win. might have been safer.
17 1ra5? 23 1rh5
A further error, relieving the The last ditch defence is 23 . . .
blockade, which encourages White .ixh2+ 24 �xh2 'tlrh5+ 25 �gl e2
to revive the fortunes of his 26 de+ �g7 27 Jild5! ± .
temporarily muftled king's bishop. 24 f4 e2.

18 1rc2 f4 25 fe ed1r
19 c4 fe 26 Jilxdl 1rxe5
After this White breaks his 21 :n r6
146 Tigran Petrosian

28 'ftb3 �g7 Black's pieces are scattered and

29 1t'n+ �h6 his king hopelessly exposed. I f
30 de (191) 30 . . . llhg8 3 1 .i b I llg6 3 2 .ixg6
hg 33 1tf8+ ±±. The game ended:
/91 30 rs 31 :axrs 1td4+ 32 �hi 1 -0.
...

8 A beautifully flowing game, but

Petrosian's sole win in the match.
For any reader who wishes to
cultivate an alternative anti­
Grtinfeld method to Romanishin's
given in the G rtinfeld chapter, the
.if4 based lines mentioned in
this game are fruitful field for
investigation.
 Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Pillsbury-Marco
Paris 1 900
Queens Gambit Declined, Orthodox
I d4 dS
2 c4 e6
3 �c3 �r6
4 .tes
In the main text I recommend
the immediate exchange with 4 cd.
As it is, this game rapidly
transposes into a version of t he
Exchange Variation.
4 .te7
5 e3 0-0
6 �f3 b6
We know now that this move
should be prefaced by . . . h6.
7 .td3 i.b 7
8 cd
The alternative is 8 .txf6 i.xf6 9
cd ed 1 0 h4, as I mention in my
introductory comments to the
Orthodox QG D. The text is the
ina ugural move of the famous
' Pillsbury Attack' based on 'Lle5
and f4.
8 ed
Black could also consider 8 . . .
�xd5 9 .txe7 Wxe7, when W hite
wil l proceed with 10 llc l to
i mplement c-file pressure.
9 �e5 (192)
192
B
Pillsbury's trademark and t he
key move of his Attack. White will
cont inue to build up his pressure
with f4, establishing a 'Stonewall'
but with the importa nt difference
that Whi te's queen's bishop is
already outside the otherwise
restrictive pawn triangle on d4, e3
and f4. For the negative aspects of
the 'Stonewall', see by chapter on
the Dutch Defence.
9 !idb47
10 f4 0
Here 1 0 � 4 would block the
white bishop on d3, one of the
main actors in the looming
denoument.
11 o-o �""'
c4? 'if.t·
 148 Harry Nelson Pillsbury

Absolutely mistimed. I n an
193
endgame Black's pawn majonty B
would prove a decisive factor,
when we1ghed agamst Wh1te1s
centre pawns, wh1 ch are mcapable •

of producing a majority. However•

by relinquishing all of t he central
tension, M arco gives his oppo nent
,
a free hand, way before any
endgame sets m , to operate on the
kingside against Black's near 16 hg
helpless king. Correct 1s I I . . . cd 17 'W'h4! be
1 2 ed 25e4 ! jamming White1s A contemporary note states
avenues of attack. It is worth quite correctly: " Black is beyond
comparing this strategic situation salvation, whatever he does."
with t he one arising i n Botvinnik­ 18 �xd7 'W'xd7
Larsen which follows. There 19 J:hf6 aS
Botvinnik's pieces are less actively O r 1 9 . . .txf6 20 .txf6 and mate
.

placed (he has no knight on e5) on h8.

but his central pawn configuration 20 llan ll a6
(d4, e3, f3) is still dangerously 21 ..ixg6 fg
mobile. 22 llxf8+ ..ixf8 (194)
12 ..ic2 a6
13 'W'f3 b5
14 'W'hJ
All of White's attacking moves
are si mple, nat ural and logical.
Fi rst , by lining up against h7,
White provokc:: s . . . g6, which , in
turn, presen ts a target for 15.
14 g6
Js rs b4
16 fg! ( 1 9])
White displays no inclination to A nd here, after the custom of
salvage his knight. If now 1 6 . . . be his age, Pillsbury annou nced mate
1 7 g7 �xg7 1 8 ..i xf6+ lt:Jxf6 1 9 in six: 23 lld8+ �x f8 24 .._8+
llxf6 �xf6 20 ll f l + �g7 2 1 'W'xh 7 �n 2s 11fh7+ �ra 26 'thd7
mate. 1 7 ..ixf6 is also very strong. followed by .th6+ and 'W'g7 mate.
Bronze Medal - Mikhail Botvinnik

to stop White attacking with h4,

Botvinnlk-Larsen while the white queen's bishop on
Noordwijk 1965 g5. I ndeed, had Botvinnik not
Q GD Exchange Variation been so convinced of the virtues of
1 c4 '2. e6 t the manoeuvre i.h4-f2, he could
2 ltlc3 � d5 1 have struck out with 1 0 h4 !? and if
3 d4 l �f6 ) 10 . . . hg"! 1 1 hg lbe4 1 2 .ixe4 de 1 3
4 cd a.. ed 1.r W'xe4 f5 1 4 •e6+ IU7 1 5 g6, or
5 -'.g5 � c6 ' 13 . . . g6 1 4 'ith4.
6 e3 ' -'.e7 " 10 -'. h4 lile8
7 1fc2 r 0-0 i 1 1 f3
8 -'.d3 l ltlbd7 5 Preparing to advance with e4.
9 lt.Jge2 � h6 ( / 95J " . 11 c5
12 0-0
/ 95
w
Dictated by prudence; 1 2 0..0-0
is certainly possible, but Botvinnik
prefers to avoid such a committed
step when Black has already
achieved . . . c5.
12 a6
13 lilad 1 b5
14 -'.f2 (1 96)
/ 96
B
this move, since, in his opinion,
the white queen's bishop can now
drop round via h4 to fl, supporting
White's centre. Yet, when Alekhine
invented the lt.Jge2 line of the
QGD Exchange in 1927, he
regarded an early ... h6 ( best
before . . . 0-0, in fact) as desirable
 150 Mikhail Botvinnik

14 c4!?
A quite logical decision and
much better than in the comparable
games Pillsbury-Marco and Rubin­
stein-Teichmann. The difference
here is that White's powers have
not yet adopted a threatening
posture against the black king.
Nevertheless, Botvinnik was ob­
viously relieved by Larsen's decision
to resolve t he tension. H e wrote:
" Risky. Larsen was evidently 19 .th3 aS
concerned that with the white 20 e5
queen's bishop on fl, W hite was 20 ltlxb5 de! or 20 ed b4 !
threatening de, saddling Biack 20 b4
with an I Q P. This was, however, 21 ltlce2
not so dangerous for Black. A fter White must stay flexible, main­
. . . c4, though, White will inevitably taining his pawn on e5, while
advance with e4, and gain good rushing up reserves with f4-f5.
kingside a ttacking chances." 2 1 ef! be, on the other hand,
15 -'.f5 ltlb6 would soon leave White at a
16 ltlg3 -'.fl s tandstill.
17 a3 21 ll:'!h7
He may as well hold up . . . b4 for 22 f4
a while. If now 22 . . . bd23 ba .i.xa3 24 f5
17 -'.b7 grants White a tangible attack.
Larsen would rather have 22 .i.c6 ( / 98)
a white bishop on f5 t han a
1 9/J
white knight, after 1 7 . . . .i.xf5 1 8
w
�xf5.
1 8 e4 g6 (197)
U is worth noting the sacrificial
idea 19 .txg6 fg 20 e5, even
though it m us t be rejected on
account of 20 ... �h7 21 ef trxf6
=t=, since White will then have
no good way of continuing his
attack. Very interesting at this juncture
 Mikhail Botvinnik 151

is 23 f5!? .ta4 24 'trb l lt:lg5 ( 24 . . . no other visible counterplay against

.txd I 25 fg) 2 5 fg lt:lxh3+ 26 g h Black's predatory queenside pawns.
1fd7. This i s given b y Botvinnik 26 gf
who says: .. Black's chances are 27 .txrs 1fe7
better than in the actual game. " I 28 ltJg3
find this impossible to swallow. Having demolished the frustrating
After the simple 27 .te3! it seems barricade of black pawns, White's
to me that Black faces immediate hitherto oppressed pieces now
and total annihilation. The con­ u nfurl a searing energy.
clusion must be that 23 f5 is 28 .td7
exceedingly strong, and that Black 29 .txd7 lt:lxd7
should have tried 22 . . . f5; though 30 1fg6+ 1fg7
if we go back to that position it Natural enough, although
can be seen that White may then Botvinnik holds that 30 . . . �h8 is
try 23 ef 1fxf6 24 f5 g5 25 ltJh5 as superior. The pawn on d5 would
an alternative means of attack . not then hang with check after an
23 lhl ?! .ta4 eventual 1fc6.
24 'ifbl f5! 31 1fc6 l hal
He has to hold up W hite's f5. 32 Ilxal
25 ab After 32 1fxd5+ 1ff7 White
He needs the open a-file. m ust acquiesce in an exchange of
25 ab (199) q ueens which does not yet suit his
plans.
/ S/9 32 11n
w 33 Ila7 (100)

200
B

26 ltJ xf5!
If W hite does not sacrifice he is
positionally crushed, for his pieces
have curiously receded to the 33 lt:lxe5?
margins of the boa rd and he has A time-trouble blunder, over-
152 Mikhail Botvinnik
looking that White's reply defends
the rook on a7. Forced is 3 3 ...
�b8, when Botvinnik gives
34 •b6 �d7 35 •as lle7 36 f5
and White still wins.
34 del ±±
The rest is not so interesting:
34 ... •e6 35 •xe6+ llxe6 36 �f5
llc6 37 �fl c3 38 be be 39 ..te3
..tcs 40 ..txc5 :xeS 41 llal �1'8 42
�2 �e6 43 g3 h5 44 'it'd3 d4 45
lt:ld6 lld7 46 lt:le4 �h7 47 f5 �d8
48 �f6+ �h6 49 �d5 llb7 50 e6
�c6 51 lla6 �e5+ 52 �xd4 1 -0.
 Silver Medal - Alexander Alekhine

distinctly favours White.

Alekhine·Marshall 4 ll:lf6
Baden Baden 1 925 S i.d3 e5!
American or Marshall's Defence " I n my opinion this gambit is
1 d4 d5 completely correct." (Alek hine).
2 c4 �f6!? (201) Obviously not 5 ... 'lt'xd4?? 6
..tb5+.
201 6 de ll:lg4
w 7 ll:lf3
Not 7 f4? ..tc5 !! ll:lh3 'tth 4+
wit h tremendous compensation
for the pawn.
7 li:lc6
8 ..tgS
8 ..tf4 .!Lib4 is too dangerous for
White.
8 i.e7
3 cd lLlxdS 9 ..txe7 't!Vxe7
3 . . . 'lt'xd5 4 ll:lc3 'lt'd8 or 4 . . . 10 li:lc3 llJcxeS
'lt'a5 5 ll:lf3 i s a poor version o f the 11 lLlxeS (202)
Centre Counter.
4 e4 202
Quite in Alekhi ne's vigorous B
style, but it is too energetic. An
i mprovement is 4 lLl f3 e6 5 e4 li:l f6
6 ll:lc3 c5 7 d5! ed ( 7 . . . i.e7 8 do ! )
8 e5 d 4 9 ef d e 1 0 i. b 5 + �c6 I I
i.xd 1 + be 1 2 1Wxd8+ c;!;>xd8 1 3
..tg5 g6 1 4 0-0-0+ ±.
Also, 4 ll:lf3 i.f5 5 't!Vb3 e6
6 li:lc3 li:lc6 7 e4 ll:lxc3 8 ef
Which way should BlacR recap-
 /54 Alexander Alekhine

ture on e5? Alekhine believed that very kingside pawns are at Black's
equality would have arisen from throat.
I I . . . lt::l x e5 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 3 .te2 .te6, 13 .td7
an interesting vindication of Black's 14 1re3
unusual opening variation. Alekhine A 'creeping' move, imperceptibly
criticises Black's next move as an i ncreasing his dark square control
over-ambitious attempt to aggress and preventing Black from castling
while his development remains long.
imperfect. 14 .i c6
II WxeS? IS 0-0-0 0-0
12 h3 lt::l f6 "This is perilous, but does
l3 1rd2! (203) Black have a viable alternative? I f
1 5 . . . 'tta 5 1 6 .tc4 and now Black
!0.1 really has to play . . . 0-0 since his
8 k ing ca nnot castle qucenside and
certainly cannot risk a sojourn in
the centre." ( A iekhinc)
16 f4 1te6
If 1 6 . . . 1ra5 1 7 e5 lt::l d 5 1 8 lt::l xd5
.ixd5 19 .ixh7+ �xh7 20 Wd3 +
and 't!hd5. A minor, but significant,
tactical point.
17 eS lilfe8
Alekhine was a genius when it 18 llhe l ll adS ( 20./)
came to turning small positional
advantages into murderous attacks. !04
Her�. he has a marginal lead in w

developm ent , plus an as yet

dormant ki ngside pawn majority,
liquid assets which could easily
evaporate if White were not to
detect the correct move precisely
at every turn . For example, if
1 3 0-0 (a very natural choice ) 1 3 .. .
g5 ! followed by . . . .id7 and . . .
I I! . . . lt::l d 7 1 9 g4! is unpleasant
0-0-0 and White's ki ngside pawns
for Black but after the text
are stymied. Yet in the game,
Alekhine unleashes a brilliantly
within a further six moves, these
 Alexander Alekhine /55

calculated winning combination. by a strange rese mblance between

It is all the more i mpressive in that the decisive phase of this contest
his own king is somewhat open and Spassky-Ghitescu, from the
and Black has various ingenious Czech Benoni section of this
counterchances with check. book. In both cases, White
19 f5 'it'e7 conducts a slaughterous attack,
20 'ttg5 lLld5 apparently ignoring Black's moves,
21 f6 'it'f8 which happen to include several
22 ..tc4! captures of White's own pieces.
The key move of the combination. 26 ..te4+
22 lLlxc3 27 �at !
23 lhd8 lhd8 Continu ing in the same vein.
24 fg! 27 lhe4 ltd I+ is more murky.
Not 24 e6? li[d5! 27 fS
24 lLlxa2+! If 27 . . . fe 28 ..txe6+ 1Wxe6 29
Marshall fights well. White 'it'xd!H �g7 30 1td4+ and
can not play 25 ..t xa2 since Black litxe4 ±±.
then has a saving queen check on 28 e7+ lld5
c5. 29 1tf6 11n (206)
25 �bl ! 1te8 20t'l
26 e6! (205) w

205
B

And White an nounced mate in

three, beginning with 30 e81t+. 1-0.
A crystal-dear demonst ration
It is worth rereading my note to of Alekh ine's superla tive qualitit:s
1 3 1td2! at this stage. I am struck of vision, t:nergy and calculation.
 Gold Medal - Gary Kasparov

ll:lxd5, since the central pawn

Kasparov-Belyavsky configuration has already been
Game S, Candidates' match 1 983 determined.
Q GD Exchange Variation 9 ll:lf3
I d4 dS 9 ll:lge2 is also possible, of
2 c4 e6 course.
3 ll:lc3 ll:lf6 9 .ib7
4 cd ed 10 0-0
S .igS .ie7 There is very lit tle point here in
6 e3 h6 bold ideas such as 10 'tlt'c2,
Following Alekhine's advice, followed 0-0-0, since the straight­
Belyavsky hastens to drive away forward . . . c5 followed by . . . ll:lc6
the white queen's bishop, before would cause White im mediate
playing . . . 0-0. problems. In effect, Black has
7 .ih4 0-0 gained a defensive tempo by his
8 .id3 b6!? (207) early 6 . . . h6. This tempo is only of
significance if White adopts methods
107 of brute force, based on .ixf6, and
w then Wc2 plus h4. These now lack
all punch, since Black's h-pawn
would no longer be under a ttack
on h7. 1n my introductory comments
to t he Queen's Gambit Declined,
Orthodox Exchange, and in the
game Ru binstein-Teichmann, I
show just how dangerous these
brutal methods can be for B lack , if
An interesting attempt to convert he has not availed himself of the
a pure E xchange Variation into a requisite defensive tempo with
Tartakower, but one where Black . . . h6.
no longer has the option of . . . 10 cS
 Gary Kasparov 157

Or 1 0 . . . ll:le4 I I ..txe7 trxe7 1 2 12 lt:lxeS

ll:le5 l0d7 1 3 f4 l0 xe5 1 4 fe c 5 1 5 If 1 2 . . . cd 1 3 ll:lxd7 10xd7 1 4
tre 1 ! %lad8 1 6 %ld 1 f6 1 7 ..txe4 de .ixe7 11rxe7 1 5 't!Pxd4 ± with a
1 8 ef %lxf6 1 9 %l xf6 11rxf6 20 de be positional grip on the dark squares;
2 1 %lxd8+ 11fxd8 22 10a4! ;!: since 1 2 . . . Ji[e8, however, is t he most
Black's c-pawn is weak. Alter­ flexible course.
natively, 1 6 . . . 1!rg5 1 7 h4 1!rh5
18 ll:le2 ;t crowding Black's queen.
1 1 ll:leS ll:lbd7
13
.. de li:le8
If 1 3 . ll:le4 1 4 ll:lxe5! ±±, a
trick worth noti ng.
In an earlier · game of t heir 14 ..tg3 lt:lc7
match, Belyavsky played t he IS 1t'g4 'fte8
incautious I I . . . ll:lc6 and had to 16 .id7 1Wd8
suffer after the cle ver t actical blow 17 :ladl (209)
12 ..ta6! ( 1 2 ... ..txa6 13 ll:lxc6 ±).
1 2 ..trs r
.,1, ,_ (L
11!1 , )
.lOlJ l�
B

White has constructed a position

full of potential explosive energy.
A n excellent square for t he Bt:lyavsky now t ries to knock his
bishop, one a lso visited by t h e opponent off-course with a king­
k ing's bishops of R u binstein a nJ side demonstration, but the weaken­
B otvi n n i k . I n this case it i m p roves i ng of the pawn cover around
on Kasparov-Belyavsky, 3rd match Black's king which it involves
ga me, where 1 2 'ttf3 cd 1 3 ed permits a spectacular attack to
lt:lxe5 1 4 de lt:ld7 lead nowhcn: for u n told.
W h ite. White could also a i m for a 17 hS
pure Pillsbury Attack with 1 2 f4, 18 't!fh3 h4
when 1 2 . . . .!i:l xe5 1 3 fe ll:le4 1 4

.
.i x e 7 trxe7 1 5 'iWe I transposes
into my comment to 1 0 . . c5.
19
. ..if4 i. gs·
Or 1 9 . . g 5 20 .if5 gf 2 1 'tig4+,
a small taste of thi ngs to come.
 158 Gary Kasparov

20 .us �:6
21 o!Oe4! (210) 21 1
B
l/0
B

certainly fight on. Here, for

example, White must not rush
There is nothing wrong with lhe in with 27 f5? because of 27 ...
si mple retreat 21 .i.g4, which litd7! , when Whi te's best is 28
would have been the choice of Wg5+ and perpetual.
99o/o of the population. Kasparov's 27 e3
move is, however, vastly more If 27 . . . litac8 28 f5 .ta6 29 e6 fe
pointed. 30 f6 ±± and White immediately
21 .bf4 achieves his basic objective - to
22 ef gf nail Black down with h is pawns.
Belyavsky decides to be sporting 28 litel
and accepts the sacrifice. And not 28 Wxc7? e2 29 Wxb7
23 WxfS de litd 1 30 Wxa8+ q;>g7 H.
Giving up his queen to stem the 28 ef+
onslaught is the most sensible The best chance is 28 . . . e2,
decision. If 23 ... li'le8 24 li'lg5 ±± though White still wins with 29 f3
or 23 . . . f6 24 Wg4+ 'it>h7 25 litd 1 30 'l;>f2 .ta6 3 1 Wxc7 litad8
Wxh4+ 'it>g7 26 Wg4+ 'it>h7 32 Wxa7 lit xe 1 3 3 ti'xa6 118d 1
27 litd3 ±±. 34 f5 :±± . Black's choice deprives
24 Wg4+ �h 7 him of his e-pawn, the only real
25 litxd8 lithd8 counterforce at his disposal. The
26 t!hh4+ �8 game finished: 29 ¢'d2 litd2+ 30
27 't!fe7 (21 1) lite2 libel+ 3 1 'it>xe2 .ia6+ 32
In spite of the terrrible exposure 'it>f2 o!Oe6 33 rs lll d4 34 e6 :rs 35
of his king, and White's golden WgS+ 'i!t>h7 36 e7 liteS 37 f6
horde of pawns, B lack, with rook llle 6 38 'W'hS+ �g8 1 -0. ( 39 Wg4+
and two pieces for the queen, can �h7 40 Wa4 o!Oc7 4 1 Wd7 ±t).
Bibliography

The following is a list of the major sou rces I have found helpful in writing
OR W. The readc:r may find many of them useful in his own further
studies.

Botsford Chess Openings (BCO) Kasparov & Keene Batsford

ORAP Keene & Levy Batsford
How to Open a Chess Game Larsen's section RHM
5-Yolume ECO Ed. Matanovic Ba tsford
New in Chess 1970-81 Ed. Matanovic Elsevier
Chigorin 's Defence J . Wa tson Ba tsford
Albin Countergambit Lam ford Batsford
A Complete Defence to J d4 Cafferty & Hooper Pergamon
King's Indian Defence Barden, H artston, Batsford
Keene
Grunfeld Defence Botvinnik & Estrin RHM
How to Play the Nimzo-lndian Keene & Taulbut Batsford
Benoni for the Tournament PlayerN u nn Batsford
Modern Defence Keene & Botterill Batsford
Classical Dutch Bellin Batsford
Fighting Chess Kasparov & Wade Ba tsford
Alekhine's Best Games 193/J-45 Alexander Bell/Tartan
BotYinnik's Bes/ Games 1 947-70 Botvinnik B atsford
Pillsbury's Chess Career Sergeant & Watts Printing Craft
Petrosian 's Best Games Clarke Bell/Hyman