Mastering the King’s Indian Defense Robert Bellin and Pietro Ponzetto Collier Books Macmillan Publishing Company ‘New YorkCopyright © 1990 by Robert Belin and Pieto Poazetto All sights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced, by any means, electronic ‘or mectanicat. Including photocopying rsording by or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in waiting from the Publisher. Collier Books Macmillan Publishing Company 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publisation Bellin, Robert “Mastering the King's Indian defense/Robort Ballin and Pietro Ponzsto, — Ist Collier Boods ed pcm — (A Batsford chess book) ISBN 0.02-030621-0 5, Chess—Openings. 1, Ponzetto. Pietro. 1952. Title UL Series GVI4502B364 1989 9.22170 CIP PAID ded ‘Macmillan books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales ‘promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details contact Special Sales Director Macmnitian Publishing Company 866 Thied Avenue New York, NY 10022 First Collier Books Edition 1990 wos76sa324 Printed in Groat Britain Contents Preface vit Introduction ix 1 ‘The Mar del Plata Centre 1 2. The Petrosian Centre 28 3. The Samisch Centre 58 4 The Averbakh Centre 87 5S. The Simplified Centre 118, 6 Orthodox Centre 131 7 Samisch Variation: the Modern Centre 145 8 The Orthodox Centre against 22-3 158 9 Yugoslav Centre 172 10 The Panno and Kavalek Centres 185 Table of Variations 200Preface With this work we have set our- selves a very precise goal: to teach the understanding of the opening not by cataloguing variations but by explaining the key ideas and plans of each player quickly and easily with the Read and Play method and, in such a way, more- over, that the reader can follow the greater part of the text without a chessboard Vo achieve this ambitious aim, wwe have been guided by the princi- ple that once the central pawns have assumed a stable configur- ation there exists a greater stra- tegic and tactical affinity between diverse variations with the same central pawn structure than between different lines of the same variation which lead to different pawn structures. This simple approach enables us immediately to understand the basic idea of any position whatsoever. ‘This is in stark contrast to what happens in normal books of opening the- ory, where the exigencies of sys- tematization end up making the process of understanding very difficult, Having established this starting point the continuation is logical we divide the opening not accord ing to variations but according to “type of centre’ (which normally retains the name of the principal variation) so that different lines of the same variation will be exam- ined in one or other type of centre according to the configuration of the central pawns which sooner o later becomes established, Con sideration of each type of centre is, then divided into three parts: a deep analysis of the strategic ideas (with particular attention to the most modern), and overview of the recurring tactical themes, and finally some illustrative games, meticulously annotated, especially in the opening, in examining which (and here it is necessary to use a chessboard) the reader will find not only 2 practical correspon dence with the two theoretical parts, but also a certain number of ‘exemplifying variations. Attentive reading of the illustrative games is indispensable for the full compre-Preface hension of the strategic concepts previously expounded Of course, it has not been poss: ible to consider all the types of centre which can arise from all the opening variations. ‘The central structures considered are the most important and the most common, and comprise at least 85 per cent of possible eases. For those possi: bilities not considered (which all derive from minor byways) the reader can refer to traditional monographs, In theelaboration of our subject we have tried to maintain as objec- tive a viewpoint as possible without taking one side or the ‘other. We hope thereby to have ‘obtained an impartial exposition of the ideas of each type of centre, the knowledge of which is indis- pensable whether one intends to play the white side or the black side, This oewre can be used by a wide range of players: it can be used by beginners in order to learn the fundamentals of the opening, or by experts needing to expand their range of variations quickly or even to acquire an entirely new sddition to their opening reper~ toire. OF course, strong players, for whom a more profound know- ledge of the varistions and latest wrinkles is essential, must use this ‘work in conjunction with a syste~ matic text. We hope that readers will find our exposition clear, that they learn, that they enjoy themselves, and that they quickly improve their playing standard: only then will our Read and Play method hhave hit the mark. Introduction The King’s Indian Defence is a system of playing against the basic ‘Queen’s Pawn Opening (1 dé fol- owed by c2-o4) characterized by the moves ... ©f6,... 26... £87 and ... d6. Black’s strategy almost always features kingside castling and cither ... 5 or ... 65. In the most general sense, White’s response can. be classified accord- ing to whether the KBis developed on its original fl-a6 diagonal or is fianchettoed. Given that we have not divided the material into variations, as is usually the case, but have intro- duced the concept of type of cen- te’ it will be useful to provide the reader with a summary of the contents of the ten chapters in this book. The first three chapters examine the various closed centres which can arise when Black plays ... e5. Chapter i Mar del Plata centre: White’s KN is developed on £3 and the centre closed after ... @c6; Black's QN goes to 7. Both sides almost always castie kingside. Chapter 2 Petrosian centre: White’s KN is developed on 13, the centre closed, and Black’s QN placed on either 7 of a6. Both players often castleIntroduction Inroduetion short, but White retains more The fifth and sixth chapters Chapter 7 Alexibilty than in Chapter 1 ‘examine central pawn exchanges daher Black plays. 5 Modern centre versus. Simisch Chapter 3 Variation: Black initiates quecn- Chapter 5 side action before declaring his Simisch centre: White's KN is not developed on 1 (in order not to obstruct the f pawn), The centre is closed; White retains maximum flexibility regarding casting. Simplified contre: the d-fle is opened by dxeS dxeS. Chapter 10 Panno centre: Black pursues queenside action; central flexibility reserved. ‘The last three chapters deal with centres where White plays 22-83. Chapter 6 ‘The fourth chapter deals with Orthodox centrs: Black plays the closed centre which arises exd4 when Black plays... 65. Chapter 8 Orthodox centre against g2-g3: Black plays ... e5 followed by exd4, Chapter 4 Averbakh centre: Black plays 5 and the centre is closed. ‘The seventh chapter gives Black’s options against the Chapter 9 Samisch not covered in Chapter Yugoslav centre: Black plays 3 eS and the centre is closed. -_-Kavalek centre: the e-file becomesIntroduction open after d4-d5; the contre is fixed. Which variation should 'play? To help you decide which vari- ation is most appropriate for your style we have compiled a table of variations (see page 200) which indicates their level of strategic and tactical complexity. In addition, we have used a survey ‘of nearly 2000 games played in tournaments of FIDE category 7 and above to extract statistical data concerning the frequency and results percentage of each vari- ation so as to provide a useful overview oftheir level of risk. Thus you are given all the information necessary to make the most suit abie selection according to your needs. 1 The Mar del Plata Centre ‘Main Line: Mar del Plata Vari- 7 0-0 06 8 @e3 Dg4 9 £5 ation 1 dé @f6 2 c4 g6 3 Qc3 &g7 4 4 d6.5 O13 0-0 6 £e2 e5 7 0-0 06 8 dS Ge7 (1). f6 10 Sct h8 11 d5 Ge7, 1. Strategic Ideas The main strategic ideas can be deduced from the pawn structure and the position of the kings (2) A similar structure can arise from other lines, eg. 1 dé {6 2 of 6 3 Ac3 Lg7 4 of d6 5 OS (1) Closed centre wit 040 6 &e2 e5 and now: ; Serer eee ; (2) White's space advantage on Gligorie System the queenside 7 &e3 Dg (or 7... c6 8d5 (3) The central pawn chains De) 8. Bp5 16 9 Ahé 06 (4) White's weakness on the d4 40 d5 Se? and £4 squares“The Mar del Plata Centro Closed centre with same side castling With the centre closed and the 3 castied on the same side it is clear that the game can easily develop into one of respective flank attacks, White exploiting his spatial advantage on the queen- side and Black his natural ... £7~ ‘The mutual mobilization of flank pawns is also indicated by the position of the 2e7 and the 13. Black’s QN is, in fact, ideally placed to support the advance 7-45 and then join in the attack via g6 or g8. White, on the other hand, normally chooses to support the e4 point by 12-13 in response to Black’s attack, and therefore it is natural to transfer the knight to the qucenside by f3-cl-d3 or DB-d2-c4, in positions with _ mutual attacks, Black will generally avoid exchanging pawns on 4 after the sequence ... [5, 13 as this would 2 increase White's defensive space, and prefers instead to cramp the opponent's king by ... {5-f4, rely- ing on the g-pawn to effect a breakthrough later on. The manoeuvre 2f3-e1-d3 Having a spatial advantage on the queen’s wing, its clear that White will try to organize an attack in that sector. Black’s pawn structure is very solid, however, and in order to make progress itis necessary to open lines and ereate weaknesses Both these goals can be achieved by attacking the ¢7-d6-e5 pawn cchain with the advance c4-e5, and the manoeuvre best suited for its preparation is the simultancously offensive and defensive @f3-el— 3). Sometimes, White chooses to increase control of eS by linking this manoeuvre with the develop- ment of the QB on e3, intending to withdraw the bishop to 2 in case of... {5-f4. The manoouvr £6 (On his side, Black must free the path of his fpawn and thus it is natural to move the knight to U7 in order to hold up the ¢5 advance at the same time (5) = O67 However, should White show himself reluctant to weaken his king's position and create a break through point on the kingside by playing 13, then the 2d7 must retum to 16 in order to force the defence of e4 by [2-13. It is also important for Black to force f2-13 in order to be able to play ... I5~ {4 in the conditions shown in the above diagram without allowing White to get rid of his bad bishop by e2-24 Black has an alternative to returning with the knight to 16 The Mar del Plata Centre in the capture ... fSxe4 with the intention, as we shall see later, use £5 for his pieces and occupy as. Ie will be remembered that after the moves ... 6, 13 Black obtains nothing from the exchange {Sxed and instead claims his own space advantage on the king- side with ... 15~f4 entrusting his chances to the advance of the g- pawn. The opening of the c-file and the weakness of the pawn on dé The main aim of the advance e4- cS is to follow up with the exchange c5xd6 so that after the recapture ... c7xd6 White obtains the c-file and weakens the pawn ‘on d6 as a basis for his queenside play (6). ‘The pressure along the c-file can be reinforced by doubling the 3‘The Mar del Plata Centre heavy pieces, and that against the d6 pawn by £b4 and/or Wb3- 3. Two other ideas are the disrup: tive sally @c7-e6 (generally linked with Wb3 after which White does not fear... &xe6 because the opening of the d-file, weakening of the light squares in the enemy camp and enhanced ynamiso of the a2-g6 diagonal would all work in his favour) and winning the a-pawn alter o2 by means of the deflection ©xa7 since .., Bxa7 would leave the bishop on c8 insufficiently protec- ted. Black may either choose to abandon the a-pawn to its fate, contenting himself with ... Stc8- 47 after xa7 in the hope that the time lost by White will help his attack, or simply prevent the capture by playing -.. a6. The advance a2-a4 Its just for this last reason above that White plays a2-a4 (see Diag ram 6), securing the position of the bS in order to be able to meet ..a7-a6 with the manoeuvre DbS-al-of looking to fix the weakness on b6 by a subsequent ad-a5 (7). Although Black can attempt to resolve the development of his queenside by the manocuvre ... c8-d7-bS, it is lear that once 4 White has occupied b6 he will have total control of the e-file. ‘This paralysing manoeuvre can sometimes be effectively halted half-way if Black succeeds in organizing the advance ... b7-b5 before White can fix b6 with a4 a5 (8). In such types of position White’s attack may be slowed up sufficiently to allow Black to shift the emphasis of the struggle to the opposite flank. The defensive manoeuvre s+ Of6-08, ... HFB-47, ... Ag7-48 Clearly, though, Black cannot afford to be solely preoccupied with the a-pawn and/or b6 square ziven that White's two main objec- fives are pressure on d6 and pen- stration on c7. To protect these two weak points Black normally retreats the Of6 to 8, bringing the rook to £7 and completing the defence of the d6 pawn by... £8(9). In this manner the points 7 and d6 are defended three times and the square g7 is simul- taneously made available to the KR, from where itis ideally placed to support the advance of the g- pawn, The ... g4 breakthrough Black's hopes on the kingside arc closely bound up with the breakthrough ... g4: the opening ofthe gfile(...24x13) will evidently ‘The Mar de! Plata Centre seriously endanger the safety of the white king. Thus it is logical that White will try to control g4 as much as possible with moves such as h2-h3 and 43-12. Nat- urally, given the key importance of the Kingside breakthrough, Black, for his part, will not hesitate to enlist the h-pawn for support (10) Here, Black does not yet have sufficient control to effect the advance ... 25-4, and therefore if he cannot play ... e815 he sometimes has tecourse to the manoeuvre... Se7-g8-h6. Normally, however, the ¢7 will be transferred to hd via g6 and the breakthrough with ... e4 played anyway, evenat the cost of a pawn, especially since the opening of the 48-h4 diagonal will enable the queen to join in the attack. One defensive method White may use to help prevent ... g5-24 is to withdraw the queen to dl, Tt will be readily understood that if White has played 03-0 5‘The Mar del Plata Ceatre he will have more difficulty in preventing the ... g4 advance (1/). In this type of position Black quite often achieves a decisive opening up of lines of attack by means of the pawn sacrifice... 26 8. Defence by the major pieces along the second and third ranks Given the battle centred around control of g4 (see Diagram 10) it follows that when Black plays ... ‘95-n4 a series of exchanges could ‘occur which would free White's third rank. In such circumstances White quite frequently attempts to profit from this factor by rapidly transferring a major piece to the Iefile, especially seeing as Black's king is usually placed on h8 (12) In playing Wh3 White aims to tum the tables on the kingside; note that Black cannot reply with vos Hxg]+ because after hi he 6 R would have two pieces en prise. Sometimes this clearance of the third rank can be exploited by a rook which has previously been stationed at ¢3 or a3. ‘Another methed of defending the g-pawn from the attack shown in the last diagram is with the prophylactic 22 (which is also useful for doubling rooks on the efile) coupled with the clearance of the second rank by £d2-c1 (23), By Ad2-cl White not only defends g2 but also makes it poss- ible to eliminate the dangerous knight on ha. Occasionally these two defens- ive ideas can be combined, in which case it is by no means impossible for White to achieve his aim of turning the tables on the kingside, The weakness of the d4 square In the situation illustrated in Diag- ram 5 Black may, in piace of forcing [3 by ... 47-16, opt for @ more simplified type of game by playing ... fSxe4. This would create the following pawn struc- ture after the recapture Sc3xe4 an. This structure can also arise after ...£7-f5 when White chooses to capture on f5 and Black decides to recapture with a piece. How- ever, it isclearly in White's interest to wait, as whoever makes the exchange of pawns loses a tempo and helps the centralization of the enemy pieces, ‘The Mar del Plata Ceatre Alter the exchange ... fSxe4 the struggle essentially revolves around the squares d4 and ed Black has opened up a route to the weak d4 square (for example by ... Ge7-f5-d4) whilst White hhas use of the strong base e and can keep a degree of control over d4 by the manoeuvre S.c1—d2~c3 13). Black can bring about some simplification by ... Oh4, Oxf6-+ Wxi6, Bot 215, we2 xed, Wxed and may also offer the exchange of queens with ... WIS. However, in the ending White maintains a slight but enduring advantage due to the possession of the e4 square, the strong centra- lized position of the ©43, and the possibility of launching ‘a pawn assault on the queenside against Black's rather rigid structure, In addition, seeing as White's king's position is not at all weakened, itis difficult for Black to drum up any ‘meaningful play on the kingside.‘The Mar del Plata Centre Recently, after the thematic advances... f5-f4 and cd-c5, Black has tried opening up an alternative route to d4 by attack- ing the d5 pawn by ... c7-c6 (16) The inadequate protection of d5 obliges White to make the double exchange c5xd6 and d5xc6 which allows Black, after ... De7 xo6, to Took forward to occupying the square d4 (17), Such a strategy, however, has its defects, given that the ripping open of the centre does not fit in with the attacking thrust ... {5 8 {4 and the black queen becomes exposed. The attack against the pawn chain c4-d5, Another idea which Black can pur- sue is the dismantling of the pawn chain c4-d5 by means of the dual thrust ....c7-06 and ... b7-b5 (18). This idea finds its justification in the undefended position of the pawn on c4: Black will reply to ‘5x06 with ... bSxo4, and answer caxbS by ... c6xd5, utilizing the strength of his knights to destroy the enemy centre. To implement this kind of counterattack it is nearly always nevessary to play a prophylactic ... &#g8-h8 in order to avoid problems along the a2- 8 diagonal. Generally, in this type of pos- ition, White fights for possession of d5 either with @d3-b4 or d5xo6 bSxe4, d3-2 followed by ite obtains control of 45 his position is clearly preferable in view of the backward pawn on d6 and the queenside pawn majority. The advance b2-b4 If we return to reflect on the pos- jon shown in Diagram 1, it is clear that as an alternative to the manoeuvre 4f3-e1-d3 White ‘can also prepare the eS advance by playing b2-b4, The basic aim of this idea is to earmark the square e4 for the KN (@f3-d2- 4) and post the QB on a3 (after the move a2-a4) in order to exert ‘concerted pressure against the U6 pawn (20) If Black proceeds with his usual strategy, White does not intend to make the exchange cSxd6 but will increase the pressure on d6 by playing b4—bS with the further idea of breaking down Black's ‘The Mar del Plata Centre queenside structure by means of a subsequent a4-a5 and/or bS-b6. ‘The weakness of the £4. square Referring back to the position in Diagram 1 we observe that White can cither advance with b2-b4 immediately or first transfer the knight to d2 before proceeding with b2-b4. An anticipatory retreat of the KN (either to d2 or el) uncovers the action of the queen and bishop on the di-hS diagonal thus preventing Black from exploiting the weakness of f4 with a rapid ... A{6-hS-f4, This manoeuvre can be carried out if White decides to play b2-b4 immediately (21), Here White must choose between protecting £4 with 2-g3 at the cost of weakening his castled position and continuing his queen- side action by c4-e5 with the intention, after ... OhS-f4, of 9‘The Mar del Plata Centre eliminating the troublesome knight by ctxfi, In the first case, after Black's typical reaction of... 7-5, White can continue with b2-b4 and the consequent transfer @f3-d2-c4. However, the weakening of Wi te’s kingside means that Black's Kingside counterattack comes more quickly, especially with the natural arrival of Black’s QB on h3 (22), Black can increase the pressure ‘on the File by ....h7-hS followed by... @f6-g4 and leave the other knight to take care of the defence of d6 (.. Be7-c8). 10 Alternatively, White can ‘attempt to exploit the weakness ‘on e6 created by the advance 17-5 with the manoeuvre O1- 25 (-e6) (23). In this type of position the incursion into e6 often implies the sacrifice of a pawn after Bc8xe6, d5xe6, but White can find both strategic, and above all tactical, compensation in the general white square debility in the enemy camp, for example by exploiting the obvious possibility of occupying the dS square or utilizing the open d-file to exert strong pressure on ¢7 and dé after c4-c5 and Sc3-bs. When White decides against weakening his king’s position by 22-g3 in favour of continuing his queenside action with c4-c5, and consequently also plays Aclaf after OHS, the following stra- tegical outline arises (24), ‘After the recapture ... eSxf4 Black has managed to free the bad bishop, and in addition to the normal pawn attack on the king's wing (... h7-h6, followed by 26-25-24) he has also exposed the pawn to attack along the hail: open e-file. The He7 needs to be posted on g6 0 as to prevent the suffocating advance e4-e5, For his part, White will pursue his usual pressure along the e-file and against d6 (c3-b5) and also use the newly acquired base at d4, the ‘occupation of which may also be used to transfer a knight to 15 in the event of Black playing... g6— Bs. ‘The bad bishop One of the problems which fre- ‘quently obliges Black to play shar- ply and uncompromisingly is the fact that he cannot lightly enter an ending on account of his bad bishop. The exchange of the bad bishop thus represents a strategic clement which can be realized in ‘The Mar del Plata Centre various ways, according to how White plays. ‘When White goes (3-42, with the idea of continuing with b2~b4, c4-c5 and ©d2-04, Black can get sid of the bad bishop by ... g7— he (25). Black invariably aims to exchange his bad bishop for its good counterpart so as not to give White the opportunity, after the exchange ... &h6xd2, Lcixd2, of exploiting the weakness of the dark squares by opening up the position with the advance f2-f4, When White effects the manoeuvre ©f3-e1~d3, the elim ination of the bad bishop requires more complicated manoeuvres (26), Before blocking the position with ... {5-f4, Black can play the preparatory ... @g8-h8 which, in’ addition to aiding a possible attack on the pawn chain of-d5 (Gee p.8), can also contain the idea of getting rid of the badThe Mar del Plata Censre bishop with ... e7-g8 followed by £g7-h6. Finally, another method con- sists of playing the anticipatory thematic move ... 2f8-f7 to free the square f8 for the queen (27). ‘This is another way, albeit rare, for Black to carry out the exchange of his bad bishop. The prophylactic advance... 7-05 Given that White's attack is based almost without exception on the advance c4-c5, Black can effect a prophylactic strategy by 2 playing ... c7-c5 himself (28). Generally speaking, this plan is more usually employed when White plays 3-42, as it has the effect of depriving the knight of the important c4 outpost, but ‘oceasionally Black also employs this prophylactic idea when White plays the normal’ manoeuvre f3-el-d3. ‘Once Black has carried out the advance ... ¢7-e5, White must choose whether to take en passant or to stick with the opening up of the queenside by Eal-bl fol- lowed by b2-b4. In the first case, the strategic structure of the pos- ition changes considerably after 5x6 b7KC6 (29). Having weakened his control of the centre, White will try to develop the queenside and exploit his pawn majority in that sector with a quick b2-b4-bS, whereas Black will try to obtain counter- play in the centre by means of the thrust ... d6-d5. In the second case, on the other hand, White's queenside action will be based on the opening of the b-file (30), After ZbI and b4 (prepared by 2-23 in case of Black countering with ... a7~a5) Black's best strat- egy is to play ... b7-b6 in order to be able to recapture on cS with the b-pawn, The recapture with the d-pawn would give White a protected passed pawn and leave Black open to a flank attack after b7-b6 (Sooner or later Black is obliged to play this move in order to defend the pawn on c5) by a2- ad-a5. Similarly, even if Black ‘The Mar del Plata Centre captures the b-pawn by ... eSxb4 he will soon find himself exposed to the same attack as he will have to play ... b7-b6 in order to keep 5 under control After the opening of the b-fle, while Black is carrying on with his typical kingside counterplay, White will be looking to occupy the square e6 by the manoeuvre 2d2-b3-a5-c6 and to penetrate enemy territory by means of doub- ling the rooks on the open file. The prophylactic advance 204 White in his turn can take prophy- lactic measures against Black’s Kingside action The motivating force for these measures is that after the advance ...{5-f4 White's kingside suffers from a chronic lack of defensive space. Thus in otder to make the defence easier White will play g2-g4 before Black plays the restrictive ... £5- B‘The Mar del Plata Centre By applying this strategy White ‘obtains sufficient defensive space ‘on the kingside: if Black decides to block the position immediately with ... £5-£4 (hoping to continue with ... g6-g5 and subsequently prepare the breakthrough ... h7- hS) White can in fact prevent the opening of any lines by playing h2-h4, In this case the h4 pawn can be protected either by Set- 32 or sgi-g2 followed by Hfl— hil. Should Black decide to make the capture ... f5xg4, then after ‘Bxg4 itis clear that White's king- side is not restricted in the slight- est. This prophylactic strategy also contains another idea, that should Black try to get rid of his bad bishop as we saw in Diagram 26, White would continue the advance of the g-pawn by g4-g5 thus pre- venting the exchange. Normally, in the type of pos- ition shown in Diagram 31, Black, having been somewhat thwarted in his kingside attacking aspir- ations, redirects his attack to the pawn chain o4-d5, as we saw in Diagram 18. However, White, thanks to the move @d3-b4, has real chances of obtaining control of d5 (32) A position in which White is more concerned to contain the opponent's play on both flanks rather than initiate his own plans 4 2 Tactical ideas The presence of a closed centre, generally characteristic of the lines we have examined, militates against recurring tactical ideas at least during the opening phase. Of course, in the middle game, when the mutual attacks have reached their height ané the respective defences have consequently become somewhat stretched, the game can become rich in tactical ideas which, however, are too diverse to catalogue. Nor are there ‘many thematic, recurring tactical ideas to be foundin the lines where White weakens his king's position. with the advance g2-g3. Winning the a-pawn and the counter ... 207 In one of the better known theor- tical variations the following pos- ition arises after nineteen moves G3. Here White can exploit the pressure exerted against the Sc8 by playing Oxa7 although Black hhas the counter ... c7 available (it should be noted that Biack can also ignore the loss of the pawn and simply reply with ... 47) which forces a probably equalizing simplification: aS Bxc2, &xd8 Bxe?, Axc& Exad (34), Present-day understanding con- siders this position approximately equal, ‘The Mar del Plata Centre The knight sacrifice for two pawns The efficacy ofthe... Re7 counter comes seriously into question if White is able to capture on a7 after having played the advance b2-b4 (35), White plays ©xa7 and after the counter move... RcT he can reply with the sacrifice ®c6 because after ... bx06, dxe6, he obtains three connected passed pawns (36). The advance b4 rules out any danger of losing the c6 pawn and makes White's threats more immediate. 1s‘The Mar del Plata Centre The discovered attack on Black’s KN and the pseudo- fork 94 ‘When White allows the opponent to play... OhS and protects the ware by g2-g3 the following position can arise (37). Here White can play exf5 obliging Black to recapture on 15 with a piece (Since after... gxf5 there is a favourable discovered attack by xe5) although after ... ©xf5 he must not fall into the trap of playing a pseudo-fork: if g4? d4! and Black’s position is better in case of either Oxd4 exd4, or gxhS 16 because Black regains the piece with a very clear advantage. 3 Illustrative games Gane 1 Miles-Sax London 1980 ‘Mar del Plat Variation 1 af — f6 2 of 6 3 23 gr 4 ef An inversion of moves designed to avoid the Grinfeld defence. 4 wn 6 s a4 oo 6 82 7 00 This is the point where White declares his intentions regarding the king and 2lso permits the development ... ©b8-06. The principal alternatives are 7 d5 (Petcosian System; see Ch. 2)and 7 4e3 (Gligoric System). The latter, when it docs not revert to this type of centre, brings about those ‘considered in Chapters 2, 5, or 6. Aeebae Be6 8 ds De7 9 Bel ‘The most commonly used con- tinuation, with which White aims fo support the c5 advance by a typical transfer of the knight to 3, The alternatives are given in the notes to both White’s and Black’s ninth moves in the second ‘game. Doe a7 As well as freeing the path of the pawn and controlling the square c5, this move is also useful for maintaining control of 5. This becomes clear should Biack, in place of the usual manoeuvre 16-47, ... 11-{5 and ... O47 {6-c8, try to save two tempi by playing 9 ... e8, in which case White would instantly change plans and challenge the e5 point with the thrust f2-f4, eg. 10 d3 15 11 £4 exf4 12 xf4 with some advantage bearing in mind the possibility of occupying the e6 square. 0 23 868 1 a2 Note that White waits for the opponent's knight to return to {6 before playing 12-13 so as to facilitate the advance c4-c5. The old continuation 11 exf5 has fallen into disuse because the recapture 11... @xf5 helps Black to make use of the sensitive d4 square. Mow a6 ‘The Mar del Plata Centre Black must not continue with 11... f4 before having forced 13 as, this would allow White to rid himself of his bad bishop by play- ing 12 94. Moreover, in order to be able to open up lines of attack on the kingside Black needs to create a breakthrough point in White’s pawn structure: from this derives the need to force £3 in order to be able to make progress on the flank after ... 5-4 with the thrust ... g6-g5-24. An alter- native is found in the simplifying move 11 ... f5xe4 with the idea of exploiting the weakness of the d4 square with a subsequent e7-f5-d4 manoeuvre. But in this case White gains two vital tempi (id? and ©xc4) in com- parison with the old line noted above (11 exi5 &xf5) which ensure him a smail but enduring advan- tage, eg 11... fred 12 Oxed Of 13 Ac3 @f6 14 81 Dhd 15 Oxi5+ WIG 16 Bes 15 17 We2 xed 18 Wxe4 (Gee the commentary to Diagram 15). 12 13(39) At this point Black must choose aplan, There are three basic possi- bilities: (1) to continue the counterattack on the kingside with . 15-4, as we will see in this game; the classic and most popular ‘continuation; (2) to take prophy- lactic steps on the queenside by ”‘The Mar del Plata Centre playing ... ¢7-e5 either immedi ately or after ... $g8-h8, eg. 12 .. 05.13 Ebi M4 14 bd b6, or 12 Ph8 13 Bel c5, as will be seen in game 2; (3) to attack the ‘e4-d5 pawn chain (after... sg8- h8) without closing the centre by vo 5-4, eg 12... Bh8 13 Bel €6 14 bd b5 (see the commentary to Diagrams 18 and 19). Rn... ry Bs 85 This is Black’s last chance to ‘opt out of ‘the race to get there first’ by trying to open up a path to d4 with 13... €6, c 14 cxd6 Wxd6 15 dxc6 Dxe6 16 Ob5 We7 17 Sb4 with complicated play. 14 Bel In the present game this pos- ition was reached by a transpos- ition of moves: 10 £425 11 el Df 12 B {4 13 Od3 eS 14 5, Such transpositions are quite 8 frequent in this variation, but the move order given is the most logi- cal and most usual in practice. The text move is White’s most direct, method of commencing his the- matic pressure on the cefile. An alternative, although somewhat more tortuous plan, isto bring the KR to cl: 14 exd6 exd6 15 2 (to prevent .., g5-p4) followed by ‘Wd1-c2 and’ Bff-cl. Wo. Og6 Occasionally, when this pos ition has been reached with the additional interpolation of the moves ... g8-h8 and b2-b4, Black can use this knight (via g8— 1h6) coupled with the advance hT-hS to support the breakthrough ... g5-gt. The text move is equally useful for freeing the seventh rank for the defensi- vejoffensive manoeuvre ... BiR— M7, ... g?-f8 and ... BA7-27, and sending the knight to h4 from where, together with the X37, it will exert pressure on g2. 15 exd6 So far, the sacrifice 15 Ob5 a6 16 cxd6 axbS 17 exc Wd7 18 Wb3 has only been mentioned in analysis. Ss... exd6 16 bs Threatening &c7. 6... a7 17 We White supports the knight on b5 by renewing the threat of Oc7, as otherwise it could be chased out of the game by Black's queenside pawns, eg 17 @12 a6 18 a3 BS. Note that with the text move White does not yet_ threaten @bsxaT on account of ... WdB- b6-+ Wo. D8 Black can also consider permit- ting the penetration of the knight into c7 and ¢6, eg. 17... a6 18 DeT gx 19 gx} 3 20 Deb, but the solid text move is the most popular nowadays. 18 ad Necessary in order to prevent a7-a6 and ... b7=b5. Bo. 4s. 19 AR (40) ‘With the double aim of control- The Mar del Plata Centre ling g4 and covering the gl-a7 diagonal thus activating the threat of Oxa7, This classic position has been much analyzed. There are bas- ically three ways for Black to meet the ‘threat’ of @xa7: (1) to let White play Oxa7, having confid- cence in the simplification following the counter ... Be7, eg 19 AMS 20 xa7 Be7 21 Bas Exc2 22 Axd8 Exe2 23 Dxo8 Enad 24 Od3 g4 with a position currently considered balanced; (2) to sacrifice the pawn in order to gain time for the kingside attack, as we shall see in the present game; @) to prevent the capture of the a-pawn by playing ... &c8-d7 hoping to break free on the queen- side by ... a7-a6 and ... b7-b5, eg. 19... Rd7 20 Wb3 218 21 He2 a6 22 @a3 Bg? 23 h3 Ohd 24 Bfel Zbs 25 Sed gd 26 fked bS with an extremely complicated position, 9... 28 Now it is White who stands at the crossroads: to take on a7 of not? 20 43 Rg? ‘These two thematic moves merely postpone White's decision. 21 Oxa7 Quite apart fram the counter... 19‘The Mar del Plata Centre XcT, there is the danger associ- ated with this continuation that it will cost time to bring the knight back into play. 21 a5 and 21 Wb3 have also been experimented witb, Woe adT Deciding against the simpl- ification with 21 .., Bc7. The interpolation of h3 on the twenti- eth move provides the as yet untried possibility 21... &xh3!? 22 gxh3 Bxa7, 2 Obs — Oh4 23 wha White prepares to defend along, the third rank. B. hs Given that sooner or later Black will need to bring the Se8 into play on {6 in order to support the + 84 thrust, this sidestep is useful in cutting out potential dangers along the a2-s8 diagonal which could follow from the knight invasion @bS-c7-e6. If, eg. 23 f6 24 HoT gd 25 fred bxgd 26 ©e6 xe6 27 dxe6 d5 28 hxed and White stands better. Later games haye experimented with 23 vos 84 24 fixed hxgd 25 hxgd B16 with mixed results. 24 95 Removing the a-pawn from Black’s line of fire after the 20 impending sequence ... 6, et Wow. eft ‘A new move at the time, which takes Miles by surprise. Black effects the thematic breakthrough at the cost of a temporary pawn sacrifice. 25 fxd + xg 26 hxgt ‘The subtle point hidden behind Black’s 23rd move becomes appar- ent at this moment: on 26 xg would come 26 ... #f6! and now the capture on f6 would be without check, thus allowing the 2wischen- aug... Bxg2+. 2 oe ate 27 BT White continves logically. Tt would be very dangerous to pro- tect the g-pawn by 27 Wh3?! as Black would have the choice between 27 ... &h7 intending to continue with ... @g5 and. Hh7, and 27 ... 247 followed by ons. Me Oxgat Utilizing a clever tactical idea to remove the spawn and thus ‘open up the rook’s action along the file: 28 Oxa8? Qe} 29 Axe} Bxgl+ 30 hl wg5 with a winning attack 2 Sxeh axed 29 axed Not 29 x8? B+ winning. wo. Exgd (41) ; ‘The critical position of the game, which illustrates very 1 dlearly the pros and cons of this complicated and combative v: ation, Notwithstanding the multi- ple exchanges on g4, Black's king- | side pressure remains very strong, whilst his queenside hangs by a thread, and the presence of the bad bishop (quite apart from the pawn less) prevents him from entering almost any type of ending. 30 mM | ‘The decisive error. 30 Sel! had to be played, leading after 30 BI (but not 30... Rxg2+ 31 Sh B32 Bx Oxi 33 wad Exb2 34 Oxa8 Wra8 35 Wh3+ ‘The Mar dl Plata Contre Sg8 36 Ee8 and White wins) 31 EXP (if 31 Oxa8? Bxg2+ 32 Whi wes 33 Bed wit again winning) 31... Wg5 to an extremely complicated position, 30 ose wes 31 wh3 White is obliged to protect the pawn, since 31 Qxaf would be answered by 31... Bxg2+ 32 Sf (if 32 whl Bx 33 Bel GB! and wins) 32... Bxf+ 33 x2 We2+ 34 wel AB+ ete, Wo. Bg3 32 wh On 32 &e6 comes 32... WhS 33 Whi &h6 followed by Bags. Ro. eB 33 fel 33 Oe6 still does not work fon account of 33... Bxcl+ 34 skxel Wed 35 @x18 Sxe2+! 36 Exg2 Wdl+ 37 oh? O34 and wins, The text move activates the threat, eg. 34 De6 Excl 35 OxgS Exel+ 36 Rf Exg2+ 37 Wag? Oxg? 38 doxg? etc. BB h6 34 96 Again if 34 ©e6 Bxcl 35 QxgS Rxel+ 36 BM Oxfl-+ (not 36 ... Bxg2+ 37 Wxg2 xg? 38 Exel Orel 39 OA + a‘The Mar del Plata Centre and White can create dangerous ‘counterchances despite the picce Jess) 37 @xfl Gxg5 and Black has a winning position. 3. bxa6 35 Heb zee ‘The transfer of the QR to the ingside rapidly decides matters. 36 Bxd6 OD 37 BxaG xg + 38 Bxg? WH! 39 AD Ragd+ 40 Wxg? fxg? ot Game 2 Ftacaik-Nunn Vienna 1986 ‘Mar del Plata Variation 1 28 a6 2 of 26 3 Bg? 4 a4 00 3 et 6 6 £2 oS 7 00 Deb 8 as 207 9 Bet ‘This is the first important cross- toads for choice of variation as White can also play 9 Od2, 9 b4 and 9 42. The main aim of moving the knight is to prevent... i6-hS looking to occupy. f, 2 which would either oblige White to weaken the kingside by g2-23, ot agree to the exchange £olxFt once the knight arrives on F4. For example, 9 bd DS 10.05 Bf 1 axl exi4 12 Hel h6, or 9 2d? @hS 10 g3 15 M1 exfS xf 12 Ged Hf6. By contrast, in playing 9 @d2 White would prevent hS whilst intending to open up the queenside with b2-b4 and ot 5, teserving cf for the 242 Black's most direct method of countering this plan lies in the prophylactic advance ... e7-c5, eg, 9 Bd? ¢5 10 Ebi (or 10 dxc6 bxc6 11 b4 d5 12 5) 10... Bek 11 bd b6 ete. oe a7 (42) Im this classic position White essentially has wo methods of dealing with Black's intended Kkingside attack: to enter into opposite side attacks with mutual pawn storms, or to take preventive measures on the kingside in order to freeze the opponent's attack In the first case, the ¢5 advance can be prepared in two ways: (1)playing 2ct-e3 intending to answer the advance of the black Epawn with 243 and e312; further control of c5 can be brought about by b2-b4 and e1-d3, Nowadays this line is seen rather infrequently as after 10 e3 £5 11 13 (4 12 12 g5 the Position of the £2 is seen to be exposed during the middlegame to the breakthrough ... g4-g3 lead- ing to the dangerous opening up of lines of attack against the white monarch, albeit possibly at the cost of a pawn sacrifice. 2) Playing ‘Del-d3, as we saw in the preced- ing game. With the other method, White can implement his kingside pro- phylaxis by playing 10 (3 19 11 g4 and now Black can neither continue his attack by 11... fig 12 fxgd when White has no prob- lems, or 11... 14 fintending to continue with... g5 and a later. ‘hS breakthrough) because of 12 'h4 which prevents the opening of lines on the kingside. Therefore Black generally switches to queen- side play with an attack on the c4-d5 pawn chain, eg. 11... 16 12 O43 Wh 13 e3 06, with the idea of continuing with . b7-bs. ‘The Mar del Plata Centre 9 o8 = 6 ad? fe RB Phe This move constitutes the ‘modern alternative to the classical continuation 12 ... & which we examined in the previous game, Black can interpret the text move in three different ways: (1) to attack the e4-d5 pawn chain by means of ... 7-06 and ... b7-b5, in which case the king move serves to avoid problems along the a2 g8 diagonal; (2)to get rid of the bad bishop by ... @¢7-g8 and 4g7-h6; ()intending to play the prophylactic....c7-cS after having first lured the white rook to cl away from its natural post on bl. 13° Eel Now if 13 ¢5, the counter with 13... 66 would be more effective here than after 12.... {4 in place of 12... @h8. The point is that the king would already be tucked away from the exposed a2-s8 diagonal and the annoying press- ure exerted on e4 by Black's f pawn would tie down the knight on 3. 3. 5 Opting for the third possibility noted above, The alternatives are 13...€6 14 b4 b5 and 13... Begs 14 65 (White can hardly go in for 23‘The Mar del Plata Contre 14 gd fxg 15 fixed h6 16 hd xed 17 Sixes Wxh4 with a likely draw by perpetual check) 14 ... thé. 14 g4 (43) Usually when Black plays eT-¢5, White tends to open the b- file by Bal-bt and b2-b4, but in this specific position that would cost a tempo given that Hc! has already been played. This helps to explain the text move, which is also directed against preventing the exchange of the bad bishop. Instead of the natural plans of attack and counterattack, we now see prophylaxis and counter-pro- phylaxis leading to an extremely subtle strategical duel 4. Dees ‘Showing that he intends to con- tinue with ... @[6-e8 and .. skg7-h6. It is useless to try to force matters on the kingside, eg. 14... £415 hdl, or 14... h6 15 hd mM fxgd 16 fxgd g5 17 hS! smothering everything. 1S gat White gets ready to protect the h-pawn (when it is on h4) with Eft-hi, and at the same time prepares a subile transfer of the heavy pieces to the kingside. 1S. DB Black continues with his plan, not so much in she belief that he will be able to effect the exchange following ... &g7-h6, but rather to oblige the opponent to push on with g4-g5 thus obtaining the possibility of opening up the king- side (... h7-h6) The violent alter- native 15 ... % 16 hd Oxgét would not give Black sufficient compensation for the piece after 17 fred Wxh4 18 Sel We5 19 2 HS (if 19 ... Bh6 20 Dh3 WEG? 21 gS! Axh3+ 22 dxh3 ‘Waxg5 23 Ghd and wins) 20 Oh3 W{6 21 exhS g5 22 22. 16 65 4 Excessive confidence in White's inability to open up the kingside ‘could easily be shown to be mis- placed after, og. 16... Bf7 17 bd S18 18 exfS Sxfs 19 [4 with initiative, 17 bs mn 117... h6 18 Bhi 18 Bhi ry 19 wet Maximal utilization of the fi: teenth move, wo. Og? Improving the placing of his pieces and heading for g3 before ‘committing himself to ... h7-h6, 20 adit The beginning of an incredibly precise manoeuvre designed to confound Black’s plan of opening up the position. The clearest point is the freeing of e2 for the QN so as to prevent the occupation of g3 Note that 20 £f1 would not do ‘because White's king would then be forced to venture on to the dangerous dark squares, ¢g. 20... DHS 2 Oe2 Le7 22 G2 b6 with a strong attack, 20 nS 2 Der ht With the benefit of hindsight Black would have done better to abandon ideas of a kingside attack in favour of solidifying his position ‘on the opposite flank, eg, 21 Ag? 22 Rad Be7 23 b4 b6 with an edge for White. 2 wf ‘The white monarch withdraws on the light squares. ‘The Mar del Plata Centre 2 eT 2B If 23 gxh6 sbh7. Bow haxgs ‘Again with the benefit of hind- sight Black would have done better to play 23... #h7, even though after, e.g, 24 b4 b6 25 £6 bs 26 EbI a6 27 DS Rb7 28 c3 hxgS 29 hxgs Axes 30 BeS Eg? 31 OxeS dxes 32 BxeS White would have a strong attack, 24 bnxgS xg 25 eBlt (44) The point of White's manoeuvre, evidently underesti- mated by Black. Bown 97 Forced, because if 25... He7 26 2xg6 and the position collapses; equally if 25... Wxe8 26 WxgS Zh7 27 c3 with the decisive threat of Oxe5. 25‘The Mar del Plata Centre 26 Bxg6 Exe 26 ... ahd fails after 27 el! D+ 28 Bxg3 Bxg6 2 Exb4+ and wins, Note the importance of the king escaping fon the white squares. 27 ANhS+ sg If 27... @h6 28 Bexl4! ext 29 Axis 2xl4 30 wxgo and wins, 28 bed ‘The key move for activating all Whites pieoes. From here until the end Black must live with the continual nightmare of sacrifices on £4 and e3, as well as the po bility of the Sel coming into play via ©2 Bo. we7 If 28... Rd7 29 xeS+! dre5 30 QxeS with crushing consc- quences, or if 28... 216 29 Wh2 Dh 30 Bexfd ext 31 Oxfd x3 32 Oxg6 with a winning position. Relatively best was pro- bably 28 ... h6, even though after 29 Whi Of6 30 Eh2 it would not be easy for Black 10 prevent the idea of Ecl-c2 fol- lowed by Se2x/4 with a very strong attack. 29 Her Preparing a decisive sacrifice 26 on fi, Doe bho Once again Black has no time to bring his queenside pieces into play, og if 29... ad7 30 ex! xf 31 Bg? Bxg? 32 Wxg?-+ cbt 33 Gxfd exfd 34 Hh8 €17 35 Wg5 (with the threat of ede5) 35... Re8 36 Exe8+ Wxe8 37 Wh6+ with mate‘next move. 300 Wh2 | Gh7 Black tries to avoid the sacrifice on f4, but ... 31 Bexf ex 32 Oxf The sacrifice of a piece for two pawns leads to a decisive opening of lines: now all the white pieces actively join in the attack. 32 wer Black’s last hopes reside in an attack on 13, and in particular in the variation 33 Dxg6 as after 33 » ded or 33... Ox + 34 BD wd3+! 35 wel Wdl+ things would have become more compli- cated. A brilliant finish would fol- low 32... pS: 33. Bxh6+ @xh6 34 Wxh6+! and White 38 2f6 If 33... 4d7 34 Dxg6 wxe6 35 Kgl WIT 36 Be7+ wxg7 ‘The Mar del Plata Centre 37 Bxg7 chxg? 38 Wxd6 with a decisive advantage. 38 del 6S Moats axis Desperation as there are no 35 Hg? wdd more checks after 38... #e34 39 Be After 35... hd7 36 By6 wags 3 gee NOT 40 STL Wat 37 Qxg6 wxgé 38 Axh6+ A Dxh6 39 Wxd6+ White wins. 39° txts. wes 36 wes wats 4 ne 37 em wad i2 The Petrosian Centre ‘Main Line: Petrosian System 1 dd V6 2 of g6 3 cd eT 4 ef d6 5 13 0-0 6 Be 5 7 dS A similar structure can arise from other lines, eg. 1 d4 Of6 2 cf g6 3 He3 Bg7 404 d6 5 a1 0-0 and now: Petrosian System 6 he? e5 70.0 Obd7 8 ds Gligorie System 6 dtc? 5 70-0 (or 7 c3 We7 8 d5) 7... Dbd7 8 Ae3 06 9 as Orthodox System 6 fe? eS 7 0-0 Obd7 3 Hel (or 8 We2 06 9 Rdl for 9 dS] 9)... We7 10.45) 8 ... 06 9 fl 28 (or 9.45) 9... a5 10 Zb1 Bes 114s : Systems with h3 6 h3 €5 (or 6... 5 7 d5 65) 7 45 Other lines 6 Be2 Sgt 7 ke} Ofd7 & Bel 05 9-5 1 Strategic Ideas The most important feature in common in these variations, con- trasted with the preceding chapter, is the position of Black's QN, This apparently insignificant detail in reality has a profound influence on the strategy of both sides. In addition, the fact that White has not yet castled in some variations can also make an important diff erence as will be pointed out, although he will normally castle ingside. ‘Thus in general the type of cen- tre we shall be considering will present the following characterist- ics (46). ‘At first sight the strategic ele- ments here are very similar to those previously enumerated in ‘our observations on Diagram 2. Indeed, normally the game will feature attack and counterattack with castling on the same side, where a key role will be played by the respective offensive thrusts o4— 65 and... (7-15, However, the position of the QN means that although Biack may still choose to make the prophylactic advance ---€7-5 he will be able to contro} the square cS with greater ease than in the positions examined in the preceding chapter where the QN was placed on e7, The square cS Not only does Black exercise greater control over 5, he can also turn it into a strong outpost for his QN by securing it with a7-a8 (47), In this type of position itis clear ‘The Petrosian Centre that White cannot prepare the advance e4-e5 with the standard methods examined in the preced- ing chapter, especially considering that once the QN is directed towards ¢5 it can easily be reinforced by its partner (... &f6— a, To prepare c4-c5 White will need to employ his queenside pawns, but he will hardly over simply be able to continue with a2-a3 and b2-b4 because after an immediate 23 Black will gain permanent control of eS by fixing White's b-pawn with... aS-ad ‘Thus the battle for control of 5 must be prepared by first playing b2-b3 and only then a2-a3 and b3—b4 (48), Only by expending a certain number of tempi (among which will almost always be Zal-bl to bring extra support to ba) can White succeed in getting a pawn to bd which is the essential pre- requisite for the cS breakthrough. »‘The Petrosian Centre The closed centre Given Black's enhanced control of Sin the Petrosian type of centre, which naturally slows down Whi- ‘e's attack, he has no real need to resort to the prophylaxis of the advance ...¢7-¢5 to counter Whi- te’s queenside play. At the same time, however, it is true that reliance on Black’s extra control ‘of cS will merely hold up the opponent's attack whereas the more drastic solution of ....¢7-¢5 obliges White to adopt « different method of attack, In the type of situation illustrated in Diagram 46, then, Black may choose whether or not to play... e7=e5, thus bringing about the closed ‘contre, The closed set-up (¢5-d6-e5 » ‘o-d5-e4) arises most often from the following circumstances: (1) by inversion of moves, that is to say when Black first plays ... c7~c5 and after d4-d5 decides to close the centre with ... e7-e5; (2) when 30 White maintains the centrat ten- sion for some moves and fixes the centre after Black plays ... ¢7-c6 (49), In such positions Black often plays the logical alan of creating pressure against White's e-pawn by the exchange ... e5xd (pre- ceded oF followed by ... Z8-e8) and ... ©d7-c5 with the possi bility, should the occasion arise, of making the freting advance 46-45 (see Chapter 6) White can counter these ideas by closing the centre with d4-d5, often thus threatening to win the 46 pawn. This strategic decision may be taken either straight away orat any time durng maintenance of the central tension; sometimes, White waits for ... 5f8-e8 before losing the centre, thus luring the rook away from its natural sup- port of the Fpawn, ‘Afier d4-d5 Black often opts to fix the centre by ... e6-e5 since the opening of the e-file (as would be obtained after... e6xd5) gener ally favours White, which is not surprising given that this is one of the aims ofthe ote breakthrough. However, as we shall see, Black does sometimes ‘open the e-file with the intention, ofchallenging White on the queen- side. No matter at which stage the pawn gets to ¢5, White is obliged to change his mode of attack on the queen's wing (50). With both players having castled short, White will aitempt to breach the queenside by open- ing the befile while Black will pur- sue his standard counterplay on the opposite flank. It should, how. ever, be observed that Black ‘occasionally decides to confront the enemy head on with the advance... a7~a6 coupled with b7-bS. In this case White may react with the squeezing manoeuvre a2-ad—aS and Qc3— ‘The Petrosian Centre a4 followed by the advance b2- ba. ‘The only situation where Black can really take the initiative on the quoenside is when White wrenches the game out of the usual channels by castling long (51). In such cases the usual strategy is completely reversed due to the vital difference of being castled on opposite sides. The pin on the of6 With same-side casting, it is clear that White cannot simply adopi a pure attack/counterattack approach since, whether Black decides to control cS with his picces or block it with his e-pawn, in both cases White can easily find himself with the inferior chances, Itis therefore logical that White in turn seeks ways of slowing Black's kingside action, especially to pre- vent, retard, or weaken the advance of the black pawn. Once again we observe the influence 31‘The Petrosian Centre of the placing of Black's QN in ‘deciding this strategy: in contrast, to the variations examined in the previous chapter, the black knight does not support the ... f7-f5 advance, and on 7 it interferes with the action of the 2e8. The most direct method of obstructing the advance of the £ pawn isto pin the knight by Bel~ 85 (52). The principle aim of this pin is to induce Black to free himself by means of ... h7-h6 and 26-85, thus weakening his control of {5 and consequently enfeebling the advance of the {pawn which would now split the black pawns into two relatively harmless blocks after edxf5, Subsequent developments. will be determined according to whether Black places the QN on 86 or d7 (see Diagram 47) or plays 2 I-65. 2 Unpinning by ... h7-h6 and = 96-95 When Black develops his QN on. 47 we obtain the following type of position (53). It should be noted that in such situations White docs not threaten to prevent ... h7-h6 by playing Wdl-d2 because after ... 47 5 White would have the equally unpleasant choice between ste?~ 3 and Wd2-e3, both of which, in any case, would fail to prevent Black continuing with ... h7-h6. Consequently, this idea (wd1— 2) only works when Black has adopted a set-up with ... ¢7-c5. White's intention here, in fact, isto remove the KN to d2 in order to gain control of the diagonal d1— 1S and thus avert the simplifying follow-up ... @f6-hSxg3 after unpinning by ... h7-h6 and .. 26-25. Therefore, given that unpinning by ... Wd8-e8 would bbe met strongly by @c3~b5, it is casy to see that Black does best to react with an immediate advance followed by ... 2f6-hS (54), 4 FH ye) In such positions it will be read- ily understood that the occupation of f4 (... OhS-14) is only effective if White has already castled king- side. If, after ... @f6-hS, White has yet to castle, then he can try to exploit the enemy's weakened kingside by playing h2-hé, Such variations are often very compli- cated tactically and usually, after s+. g5-g4 and the exchange .. Bh5xg3, lead to the following pawn structure (55). Here the struggle mainly revolves around gaining control “The Petrasian Centre of £5; should White do so he will also gain a strategic superiority. Thus Black must accomplish the advance ... (7-5 even though it has lost its original counter attacking significance and become necessary liberation without which Black risks being slowly strangled. If Black manages to carry out the advanes, however, then after the exchange of the pawns on ef and f5 he can count on an ending with virtually an extra pawn, although his king will be open to attack during the middlegame. The square e4 Alter the moves ... h7-h6 and ... 26-25, the main reason that the advance ... £7-f5 loses the greater part of its attacking strength is that after eéxf5 White obtains the strong blockading square e (56). White can occupy e4 and take advantage of the general white 3‘The Petrosian Centre square weakness on the kingside. Black's only chance of combating this strategic inferiority is in sue- ceeding in playing ... e5-e4 and firmly defending it. An analogous situation also arises when Black plays... 17-f5, even with the sup- ort of a pawn on g6, and then for some tactical reason finds himself obliged to recapture on {5 with a piece. Uni ing by ... Wd8-e8 When Black’s QN has not been developed on d7 he has a less compromising way of getting out of the pin (57) After having played ... a7-a5 Black can unpin quite simply by s+ Wd8-e8 as Bc3-bS could be answered by the thematic develop- ‘ment ... Qb&-a6, In this case the move... h7-6 is not played with the intention of continuing with ++ 26-95 but in order to free h7 for the KN. After... Wd8-e8 it 4 is natural to move the KN so as to continue with ... f7-f5, and the square d7 is best reserved for the development of the QB, as we shall sce (58). After getting out of the pin, before continuing with ... [=f Black tends to bring his bad bishop into play via h6 with ... h6-hS, which also threatens to trap the QB and thus forces White to play 12-83 (59) In such situations, when White has castled Kingside he should be careful about withdrawing the bishop to R, which would allow Black to build up kingside press- ure too quickly by ... #e8-e7, hS-h4 and ... We7-g5. The square a4 ‘As we have seen, even though Black may eventually succeed in ‘organizing some kingside counter- play, the pin certainly slows things down. It is logical, therefore, for Black to augment his preventative measures on the qucenside in order to avoid being over-run there. ‘The combination of the unpin- ning... Wd8-e8 with the develop- ing ... &c8-d7 gives Black the extra option of implementing the simplifying manoeuvre ... e5~ a4 once White has managed to play b4 (60). Black can offer the exchange of his QN by ... 2cS-a4, either with or without capturing on b4, instead of consenting to its ‘exclusion from play by retreating to26. ‘The Peirosian Centre Unpi ing by ... Wd8-<7 As well as the methods already considered, when Black has played 7~c5 he can get out of the pin by moving his queen along the diagonal d8-a5 (61). ‘The best position for Black's queen in general is c7, given that the other possibilities (... Wb6 or .. a5) would be easily disturbed bby White's natural plan of opening the befle(Zal-bl and b2-b4). In. this case too, the move ... h7-h6 serves to prepare the retreat 16-b7, as going to 8 would impede the normal development of the QN on d7 because of h4~ 7 winning the exchange. The advance 12-44 Another method of countering the advance ... {7-15 (and especially the further .., {5-f4) is to play 12-4 cither before or after the exchange 4x15, x6xf5. The basic idea of this type of plan is to open. 35The Pettosian Centre the centre in order to weaken Black's attack on the kingside, at the same time hoping to profit from the somewhat exposed pos- ition of the black king. Such a strategy nearly always precedes the development of the QB on 3, and exhibits different nuances according to whether Black plays his c-pawn to c5 (62) a When Black has occupied 5, White can aim to open the centre and/or obtain control of d4 by playing e4xf5 g6x!S and [2-14 (63) In general, the closing of the position by ....e5~e4 is unlikely to upset White because the Ste3 is 36 already placed to block the pawn whilst the square dé will quickly fall into his hands (for example by d2-b3 or De}-bs) and the pawn chain e4-f5 can always be broken up by a later 22-84. Black’s best approach is to exchange on [4 locking for adequ- ate compensation for his inferior pawn structure in the centraliz- ation of his pieces ‘On the other hand, when Black thas played ... c5 White will norm- ally manoeuvre his KN to d3 via el (in order to support the advances b2-b4 aad 2-f4) rather than play Of3-d2 as in the pre- ceding diagrams, With the knight ‘on d3, however, if White takes with e4xf5 and afterwards plays 12-8 Black will be able to push ‘on with ... e5-e4 with gain of tempo (64). In such positions Black can play -e4 and after 243-12 immo- bilize White's pawns with the exchange ... 2g7xc3, subseque cently preventing the thrust g2-g4 by means of ... 7-16 and, if necessary, ....h7-hS. In this way he obtains a balanced game not- withstanding the loss ofthe bishop pair (and especially the fianchet- toed KB) thanks to the closed nature ofthe position and White's lack of pawn breakthroughs Consequently, when Black has played ... e5 White tends to post- pone the exchange e4xf5 and play an immediate f2-f4in order to try The principal aim of this advance remains the same, ie. to open the centre and try to profit from the exposed position of the black king. In this position Black has attempted to renew his king- side attack by playing ... g5, but after fheS OxeS (... f4, 06 fre3, exd7 xd7, €5 dres, Ged gives White a strategically superior pos- ition), xeS ixe5, exfS x!5, g4 White retains the initiative thanks to the rapidity of is attack on the g-pawn (Wd2 h6, h4). The Petrosian Centre Ideas associated with the advance h2-h3 Occasionally, White decides to play h2-h3 at some stage in the opening. This little move contains various ideas according to whether or not itis combined with the pin &cl-g5. When Black does nothing to break the pin, then h2— 3 serves to prepare ©I3-h2-e4 (66) White threatens to increase the pressure by @h2-g4, Should Black decide to play ... h7-h6, then the bishop can retreat to 03 and with a subsequent h3-h4-hS White can create a weakening of £Sand consequently of the advance 17-45. More often, however, the move h2-h3 (especially when played early on in the opening)isintended to prepare a later g2-24 (67). This is another system, fairly frequent in practice, which aims to draw the sting of ... {7-f5. Occasionally the g2-e4 advance 7‘The Petrosian Centre can be played without the support of the h-pawn by moving the KN to d2 thus supplying the support of the queen and KB. Itis obvious that this plan is almost always implemented before White has declared his castling intentions, as only in this way can he hope to reap the full benefit of @ possible ‘opening of the g-file following 17-45, By reserving the option of castling queenside White main- tains the possibility of sharpening things with opposite side castling. From Black’s point of view, it is not always easy to make the correct choice of plan, We will try to outline the pros and cons of the three possibilities. (1) Given that the opponent might castle queen- side, Black reacts by opening the e-file with ... c7-c6xd8, but this plan can only come to fruition if White has already committed himself to the g4 advance, other- wise nothing prevents him from giving up this idea in favour of 38 casting Kingside and trying to profit from the opening of the c- file; (2)Black reacts by securing ‘and occupying eS by ... aS and 45 or fixing the pawns with 65; this plan is only really effective when White has castled queenside as otherwise, protected by the closed centre, White’s king can remain in the centre and gain the initiative either on the kingside by e4 and hd, or on the queenside with a3 and b4, and this without allowing the opponent a clear object of counterplay; (3) Black reacts by exploiting the weak f% square (accentuated by h2-h3) With a rapid ... @f6-hS-f4 The square f4 Generally speaking, there are two ‘main situations where occupation, of the {4 square constitutes one of Black's mos: important aims: when White has played h2-h3, or when he has casted kingside. In the first ease, the diagram uundertines the fact that occupation of fis not dependent upon White having also castled kingside (68), White cannot afford any further weakening of the kingside pawns by g2-g3 as, in the first place, the aggressive aim of h2-h3 (to continue with g2-e4) would be nullified, and in the second, Black would acquire the dangerous ‘The Petrosian Centre breakthrough possibility of .. 5- 4 after... £715. Therefore, in onder to protect £4, White must have recourse to an artificial-look- ing manoeuvre: Qh2 @f4, 213 {5, and now, so as not to lose the h-pawn, hie must first play h4 and only then 23. It will readily be observed that the exchange Aoixf4 constitutes a strategic sucoess for Black given the liber- ation of the bad bishop and simul- taneous gain of dark square play. ‘An example of the second case (which we have already glimpsed in the commentary to diagram 54) comes about when White retreats the bishop to €3 after ... h7-h6 (6%. In this type of situation Black can cither choose to base his coun- terplay on ... £7-f5 by playing . {6-7 (or-d7), or on occupying {4 This latter plan gains in import- ‘ance from White castling kingside, and Black can proceed in three ways: (Ito play... f6-hS immediately if White's KN is still on £3; (2)t0 play... Re8-s4, if White's KN is on d2, with the id of gaining control of hS after 12~ 1B Ag4-d7; (3)t0 play... Ai hS immediately, even if White's KN has moved from {3, challeng- ing the opponent to give up the bishop pair in order to double Black's h-pawns. Cleatly, the idea of occupying 14 should not be seen as a totally separate alternative to the plan with ... {7-£5: the two methods are frequently combined The manoeuvre g2-93 and Of3-n4 White sometimes decides to play #2-g3 both in order to prever Black occupying f4 and to obtain the possibility of @f3-h4 to hold up or prevent the ... £5 advance (70). ‘The ideal (but not indispens- able) conditions for carrying out 39‘The Petrosian Centre this manoeuvre obtain when Black has played ... h7-h6 and ... 2f6— 5, In this case, after £34 the opening of the d1-h5 diagonal creates the threat of ste2xh5, and, moreover, the...f5 advance would simply lose the g-pawn. If neces- sary, White can increase the press- ure on £5 by e2-d3. White can also play this idea ‘whilst maintaining the central ten- sion (see Diagram 49), when he has placed the bishop on fi (0-0, Hfl-el, £e2-f1) since the weak- ening caused by g2-g3 is then almost irrelevant, and even if Black manages to play ... {7-15 the bishop will find useful work on h3, The h4 almost always comes back into play on g2 where it is well placed to support the advance 12-18 in answer to Black's ... [7 £5, as previously examined. 0 Tempting the @f6 (203 94) Another way for White to try to disrupt Black's standard kingside counterplay is to tempt him into 26-g4 by playing &cl-e3 without any preparation, e.g, h2- 83 (71), Following the attack e3-g5 and the logical response ... 17 16, White's main ideas are the ‘maintenance of the pin on {6 by g5-hé and/or the exploitation Of the exposed position of Black's KN. ‘The development of the bishop on €3, which is characteristic of the Gligoric system, is generally played before resolving the central tension, and can result in a divers- ity of plans according to whether or not Black opens the e-file and on which side White consequently decides to castle The retreat &g5-h4 The purest form of the idea of tempting Black’s KN is seen when the e-file is still closed and White retreats the bishop to hd after having provoked ... £7-16 (72). White prevents the standard development of Black’s kingside counterplay and threatens to util- ize the fact that he has not yet castled to seize the initiative on the kingside by h2-h3 and g2-24, followed by putting the king into safety on the queenside, In this type of position Black may choose from three difierent plans: (1) To try to prevent the advance 2-#4 by playing ... h7-hS (which threatens to encircle the White's QB). In this ease White can pro- vide an escape route for his bishop by playing ©f3-d2 followed by 2-1, but only after having first driven away the knight by h2-h3 (if Black has not atready votuntar- ily retreated), as otherwise it could be played to €3. The resulting ‘The Petrosian Centre positions are flexible for White in that he can either continue with his Kingside operations or once again turn his attention to the queenside and the advance c4-c5, {2)To assent to playing opposite side attacks by opening the e-file with ... e7-e6xd5. 8) To unpin the fpawn with the advance ... 96-x5 and retreat the knight to h6 in preparation for the advance ... f6-f5. In this way Black gives White control of e4 after the exchange e4xf5 Oh6xf5, but obtainsin return some chances of using d4 The retreat &g6-d2 (or -c1) When Black has already played ---€7-06, it would elearly be dang- erous for White to opt for opposite side attacks by castling queenside ‘because of the imminent opening of the cefile, and therefore in this case after ... Ou4, a5 16, White normally retreats to d2 (73).Phe Petrosian Centre Now if Black plays....{5 White's idea is to gain control of e4 by playing exf5 exf5, g5 followed by xed diverting the control of Black's pawn. Alternatively White can obtain a dangerous {queenside pawn majority in play- ing dxe6 bxe6 which can be mobi- lized immediately by b2-b4-b5, fat the same time aiming to gain control of d5. In addition, in the situation shown in the above diag- ram Black cannot lightly capture ‘on d5 because after... cxd5, Oxd5 White would have gained control of ds. ‘The best way for Black to neu- tralize these ideas passes through two distinet phases: (1) to open the fle before moving the 6, thus not losing control of dS; Q)to preface the... 5 advance with the retreat of the knight to h6, and further to {7 according to the necessity of controlling gS (alter having played ... gd, dg5 6, 44d2). A different approach for Black in place of playing for ... 15 is t0 try to get rid of his bad bishop and revitalize his kingside counterattack by retreating the knight to 7 and then continuing with ... 44g7-h6 and ... @{7-25. White, meanwhile, will try to take advantage of the open e-file, as we have seen in the preceding chapter. a The opening of the c-file In general, the opening of the cfile is in White's lavour (one specific exception, for example, being with opposite side attacks when White hhas castled qucenside), particu larly on account of the further weakening of Black’s queenside (€6) and the availability of o4 for the KN (@3-d2-c4), Ht can happen, however, that Black rad- ically alters his plans and decides to open the efile and confront White head on the queenside. With this approach Black will only obtain approxi chances if he succeeds in gaining space on the cueenside by ... a7— a5 and especially ... b7-bS (74) Thanks to his pressure on the «pawn Black is able to play... b7 5 gaining space and preventing occupation of e4, although White can still look to inerease the press- ure on Black’s b-pawn by playing bd axb4, Ext, ‘These kind of conditions gener- ally arise when White maintains the central tension for a long time (see Diagram 49) thereby discour- aging the opponent from pursuing 7-5 in view of the possible ‘opening of the centre The bad bishop Here too, as in the preceding chapter, the bad bishop can pre- sent Black with serious difficulties in a possible ending. We have already touched on the question of the bad bishop in passing (see commentaries to Diagrams 58, 68 and 73), a problem which Black generally attempts to solve by seeking its exchange along the diagonal h6-cl. Of course, the problem docs not exist when ‘White opens the centre by playing 12-44 (see: The advance (2-4). A typical case occurs, for exam: ple, when White transfers the KN to the queenside for a likely occu- pation of o4 (75) ‘The Petrosian Centre Of course Black will seck to exchange his bishop for its white counterpart as otherwise White ‘might be able to exploit the weak- ness of the black squares, The square e6 Normally White cannot exploit the weakness of the square o6 following the advance ... {5 because of the protection afforded by the c8 and often also by a Knight on 5. In a few specific cases, however, White can try to achieve something with the manoeuvre Af3-g5-e6 even at the likely cost of a pawn. The ‘most favourable circumstances for making this idea work exist when Black has blocked the centre with «-- 5 and obstructed the QB with the QN (76). Here is an except where White can gain an advan- tage from the weakness of e6: Black cannot respond to @g5 a‘The Petrosian Centre with ... De7 because after Hes Axe6, dxe6 DE, exf5 exh, se} ef, xed White wins material due to the vulnerable position of Black’s QR. Thus Black is obliged to reply to Og5 with ... Dis but alter De6 ixe6, dxe6 White's pieces develop a very dangerous dynamism through the attack on the pawn on [5 coupled with the general weakness of the light squares, The simplifying manoeuvre + de8-g4xt3 Sometimes the type of centre we are considering arises after Black has played ... &e4 followed by ... @ld7 and ... eS. White generally gains the two bishops in such ‘cases, playing h3 if necessary. Afier the exchange ... g4xf3 the fol lowing strategic characteristies arise (77). Black’s idea is to blockade cS With both knights whilst preparing “a the advance ... [7-15 as rapidly as possible. Although the greater part of the positional ideas remain the same, following the exchange of Black's lightsquared bishop White can try to gain some advantage on the light squares in general and on the diagonal h3-c8 in particular after a possible. f5-fil advance. ‘When White has yet to castle, hhe can magnify the white square weakness and try to take the initiative on the kingside by push- {ng the h-pavin (h3-h4-5xg6), 2 Tactical Ideas Apart from a few specific vari- ations which have a pronounced tactical bias, the Petrosian type of centre does not feature many recurring tactical ideas in the opening phase, We will mention the most important and the most common, The weakness of the h5-e8 diagonal When Black combines the devel- ‘opment of hisQN on d7 with the unpinning ... @d8-e8 he can sometimes fll nto trapsasa result of the congestion of his pieces (78). IfBlack plays... £5? there comes exfS gxl5 (.. ExfS does not lose material but is positionally hope- Jess) ths (79) and he will have to give up the exchange in order to save the queen. Black also needs to pay a lot of attention to h5 (which is considerably weakened after the recapture... g6xf5) when the square is occupied by, say, a pawn or knight as very similar motifs can arise based on discoveries by the knight on £3 ‘The Petrosian Contre The pseudo-sacrifice .. axed On the other hand, White must always be careful regarding com- binations based on the pseudo- sacrifice on the knight on e (80) Here, for example, Black can play ... Sse as alter Axed red, Wed SIS (87) +. he regains the material sacri ficed with interest, ‘Avatiation on this type of sacri fice, based this time on opening the hn8-al diagonal, can come about when White's QR is still on al ater sacrificing on e4 Black 4sThe Petrosian Centre attacks the pizce which recaptures with ... [7-5 and follows up with .. e5-e4 making a double attack on the 13 and Bai, Sometimes, however, this type of combination can rebound (82) Here, for example, Black can play the pseudo-sacrifice ... Oxed as after Ded £5, he will regain the piece. However, White can give up the bishop by @c3 g5, &g3 14, Bed txg3, hxg3 (83) obtaining a strategic superior- ity due to the domination of e4 and the accentuated bad bishop. 46 3 Illustrative games Game 3 ‘Weingold-Kasparov USSR 1979 Petrosian System 1 a4 ate 2 of 6 3 2g7 4 23 a6 Sof i) 6 &e2 Even at this early stage, if White intends to close the centre after €7-e5, he can immediately begin counter measures against a future «47-15 by preparing the advance 2-24 with 6 h3. Setting aside the fact that Black is by no means obliged to play ... ¢7-e5, let us take a look at some possible devel- opments following 6 ... eS 7 dS: (1)7.... Qbd7 8 Le3 Bes 9 Od2 a5 10 g4 eB 11 hd, and White begins to assume the initiative on , naturally reserving of castling queen- ide; (2)7 ... 68 e3 cxd5 9 oxd5 Bbd7 10 ke? Acs 1 Bd? aS 12 a3 and in this case White intends exploiting his regular queenside advantage; (3)7... a6 8 Le DHS 9 D2 WeS (a usoful move for threatening ... 7-15) 10 Re2 Of4 11 8:3 {5 and in order to get rid of the troublesome Knight White will have to play h3- hd and then g2-g3 6 3s Black can try to get in a quick {5 advance by playing 6 igh T ke} O17, eg: 8 Bel (this removes the rook from the 4I-h8 diagonal in order to be able, according to circumstances, to protect the c-pawn by b2-b3, which would not be possible after, for example, 8 h3 2x13 9 xf Deb 10 d5 a5) 8... e5 9 dS a5 10 h3 2x3 11 Bx13 Ba6 12 bd {5 13 BS, with the aim of highlight- ing the white square weakness created by the exchange of Black's QB. 7 4s This is the only move with which White can force the creation, of the Petrosian centre. Mainten- ance of the central tension gives Black the possibitity of bringing about an Orthodox centre (ee Chapter 6). White can either keep the central tension by playing 7 0-0 (Wor possible developments from this move see Game 4) or choose 7 £63 with the idea of tempting Black’s KN to g4, When this iatter possibility does not transpose to Chapter I (eg, 7... B06 8 d5 eT) or to Chapter 6 (eg. 7 exd4) it will develop this type of cenite, eg. 7... We7 8 dS Ags 9 42g5 {6 10 &h4 and now: (1)10 v5 11 @d2 a5 1243 OH6 13 ‘The Petrosian Contre £3 @a6 14.23 and White's position still retains a certain flexibility; (2) 0... eB LAS ONG 12 gd aS 13 g5 fxg5 14 xgs a6 15 wd2 intending to castle queenside and begin opposite side attacks. For cases where te} is played in conjunction with castling king- side see the commentary to Whi- te’s eighth move in Game 4 7 a5 The most flexible continuation and nowadays the most common. Black secures the ¢5 square and intends to continue with ... 26 thus slowing down the bé advance and preparing a possible unpin- ning by ... Wd8-e8, There are many other variations (such as 7 5, 7... BhS, 7. N6, 7 a6}, but the most important alternative to the text move is 7 ‘ibd7. Some possible develop- ments from this move: 8 &g5 h6 9 hd 25 10 fg} OS 11 hg and now: (1)11 ... Oxg3 12 fxg3 axhd 13 Oxhd Wes 14 gd with advantage to White even if he loses the right to castle and the g- pawn as well, og. 14... We3-+ 15 We2 Wxg3+ 16 dl ete; QT ~- O14 12 hxgS bxgs 13 We? £5 (afier 13... Oxg2-+ 14 a2 and White has a considerable advan- tage given that he ean transfer his QR to the kingside) 14 exfS eS with @ complicated position; (3) 11 aThe Petrosian Contre . B4 12 Od? (or 12 Dh2 Oxg3 13 fxg3 h5 14 0-0 and the control of f5 is the most important factor) 12... 13 13 exfS Odf6 14 dxgd Oxg3 15 fxg} Oxgd 16 Wxsd AxfS and it is unclear whether the bishop pair is adequate com- pensation for the sacrificed pawn. 8 kgs White pins the KN whilst retaining is options regarding the placing of the king. Another inter- esting idea is to tempt Biack’s KN to attack the bishop by playing 8 £3, cg. 8... Deh 9 @e5 (6 10 thd, with similar developments to those considered in the note to White's seventh, Boe 16 Necessary in order to free h7 for the KN. 9 ahs Oa6 10 @d2 We (84) Black has completed his unpin- 48 ning operation, while the ‘opponent has still to declare his intentions. AL this point White can choose between two diametrically opposed plans: to castle kingside and direct his efforts towards a queenside breakthrough (the stan- dard plan), or to try to gain the initiative on the kingside with 11 a4 keeping the option of casting queenside. 00 OWT The pseudo-sucrifice 11 Sxet? does not work here because after 12 Odxes £5 13 d2 95 14 ag} f4 15 ahS WaT 16 Oded, White obtains a clear advantage tharks to the domin- ation of ef. 2 3 White can play this move only when he has control of a4. If Black con the previous move had played 11... -4d7 then White would have had to preface a3 by 12 b3. Wow. i511 Black underestimates the importance of giving away e4 which this move implies. The nor- mal continuation would be 12... 7 13 b3 h5 (13... £517 is now possible, although after 14 exf5 axf5 15 2hS WHE 16 eT Hck the position is completely unclear) 1413 h6 and now White does best i with either 15 EbI or 15 thi rather than 15 81 which allows Biack to reply with 15... WeT with the idea of reinforcing the pressure on the kingside by ... hS~ hé and ... We7-g5. 13 exit axfS Black cannot recapture by 13 ext? hecause after 14 @h5! Wd7 15 bal he would remain behind in development and be very cramped, 14 gat White wants to gain control of e4 while avoiding too much simplification which would occur, for example, aficr 14 Dde4 Of6. “4. a7 15 Qded a4 (85) Black probably hoped that the blockade of the queenside would provide adequate compensation for the loss of e4. However, despite the blocking of the queenside, ‘The Petrosian Centre White's position is preferable as the acquisition of the e4 square and the opening of the bl-n7 diagonal gives him kingside attacking chances, whereas Black no longer has his standard counterplay available. 16 3 6 17 8d3 6 17... ©¢5? cannot be played immediately because of 18 xc5 bxc5 19 We2 and so on. 18 Oxf6+! With the disappearance of the fianchettoed bishop the weakness of Black's kingside becomes accen- tuated. Bw... Oxf 19 wer es 2 de dg? In a commentary to this game Kasparov opined that this king move is a mistake, and rec- ‘ommended instead the risky vari- ation 20 ... g5 21 2 17 22 ha EgS 23 hxgs hxgS 24 £e3 Ge7 25 ixgS WIT, judging that Black has sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. However, it seems to us that after 26 f4! Black's position is not easy to defend, to say the least. Consequently, the text move appears in fact to be virtually forced. 49‘The Petrosian Centre 2 Haet = ab3 W821... WET 22 4 ext 23 wats 5 24 faxes bxgS 25 Bxg5+ ®h8 26 2x16 and wins. 22 was Kasparov considered this move to be a mistake and suggested instead the continuation 22 xb3 axbS 23 14! This line is undoubt- edly very strong, e.g. 23... Oxed 24 W3 5 25 hxgd (25 fxgS?! whs! is very unclear) 25 ... gxh4 26 £5 with a virtually decisive advan- tage. It seems to us that the text ‘move is also sufficient to maintain, a sufficiently clear advantage. 2 2s Unable to find a satisfactory continuation, Black decides to prevent the f4 advance by drastic methods. Hoping for a repetition by 22... cS would not work due to 23 e3 threatening to push on with g4-g5. 23 agstt Beginning a dubious attacking plan, It would have been better to play 23 (2! in order to play h2 h4 and then 2£2-e3, thus bring- ing terrific pressure to bear on g5. White would thus have obtained @ dear positional advantage, whereas the text move risks letting slip the fruits of his hitherto preci 50 play. 2B. aes 2 wa WET Or 24... b3 25 e3, main taining the threat of h2-hé, 25 bd on Its clear that Black's position would be hopelssly compromised after 25... gxhd 26 fixhd 26 axh7 Because of Black’s pressure on 13 White is no longer able to rectify the placing of his QB, and must therefore continue with his plan. 26. gxhd 27 BxeS+ — dxed If 27... sbuh7 then 28 add with clear adventage to White 28 Abi WE (86) Black correctly forces the exchange of queens, as otherwise the threats along the diagonal bl— k 17 could quickly assume decisive proportions, c.g. 28 ... #16? 29 14 ext 30 We2 EIT 31 Bxi4! and 29 wit xf _ After 29... exf Black would not have even the slightest dynamic compensation for the structural Kingside weaknesses. 300 BxeS Ral After 30... Hxe4? the black king would fall into a mating net, eg 31 De7+ 16 GI... BB 32 h7 with advantage) 32 £h7 e533 Bel + 4 G3... 6 34 Ey6+ etc) 34 E+ shed (the alternatives would also have dire consequences, e.g. 34... $83 35 Oe2+ Gh3 36 BMD etc, or 34. SegS 35 ft exes 36 e7+ @h3 37 313 mate; or again if 34... Ge5 35 Bel + bd6 36 ENG otc) 35 Belt d2 35... d4 36 HI+ etc) 36 Be2+ Sel 37 Hed mate! 31oBeT+ BET? Black makes a mistake in time trouble, 31 ... bg, maintaining pressure on 13, would have given more hope: 320 mxt7+ ext 33 Deart White is also in time trouble and docs not appreciate that it ‘The Petrosian Centre would be much better to keep the knights by playing 33 e4, thus gaining a decisive advantage as the black king could not advance fon the black squares, eg, 33 .. 8816? 34 e2 and wins. Bow. abs? Black returns the favour. After the correct 33 .., xed 34 xed %f6 it would not be easy for White to break down the blockade on the dark squares, eg. 35 12 xg 36 Ge3 eS 37 Eel GhS! 38 Bg7 EIT etc. The text move permits a rapid conclusion. 34 en axgd 35 be? aS 36 AR ahs 37 Od6+ xd 38 axis IG 39 hed 5 40 hogs 41 Sal 10 Game 4 Plaskett-Nuon England 1982 Petrosian System 1c 26 2 23 ag 3 af ate 4 6 5s a4 0-0 slThe Petrosian Centre 6 Ber 5 7 oo White keeps the central tension, allowing Black to develop his QN on 6 if he wants, Tow baT ‘The positional alternative to the aggressive 7... Deb. 8 a5 By castling first before creating the Petrosian centre with the advance of the d-pawn White's position loses a certain amount of flexibility. On the other hand, having played ... Sbd7, Black loses the possibility of ... O26 and is committed to playing ... cS in order to complete his development, and thereby also offers White a clear target for the b2-b4 advance. In place of the text move White can continue to maintain the cen- tral tension by 8 3, 8 We2 or 8 Bel. Note that by playing 8 63 after casiling, White would again lose a little bit of the typical flexibility of the Gligoric system in comparison to developing the bishop on the previous move (see the note to White’s seventh move in Game 3). Let's ook at some possible vari- ations: 8 £e3 c6 9 d5 and now (1) 9... Og4 10 &e5 16 11 Sd? 2 (or 11 &h4 We7 12 We2 Bh6 13 Eadi g5 14 &p3 £5 15 exfs ©x15 with a complicated game) 1... We7 12 ba 15 13 Des ato 14 13 2hG 15 dxo6 bx06 16 b5 c5 17 4d5 with advantage to White; 2) 9... exdS 10 exdS Ogd 11 gS {6 12 £62 Oh6 (or 12 De5 13 b4 Das 14 a3 £5 15 Des 2c7_16 ext wxf5 17 Rxpd ies 18 B gx 19 Exf3 and White stands better due to the control of ed) 13 We2 with a position basically similar to those exam- ined in the first chapter, Alternatively, ater 8 23 6 9 5 Black may choose to close the centre completely by playing 9. 5, eg 10 Del Oe8 U1 O43 5 124 and here, in addition to other possibilities, 12... g5 has been tried A brief example of & We2: & 6.9 dS €5 10.43 HeB 11 bd b6 12 Ebl ete. White can opt to maintain the central tension a litle longer by 8 Hel c6 9 Aff, eg (1)9... Hed 10 d5 c5 11 g3 BIR 12 a3 Ged 13 Rl {5 14 Dg5 Odf6 15 exfS ext 16 De6 x06 17 dxe6 Dc? 18 243 with advantage to White because of the weakness of the white squares; 2)9.... a5 10 Zbl Re8 11 d5 H:5 12 b3 d7 13 Od2 Lh6 14 a3 exd5 15 exd5 b5 16 b4 axb4 17 Exb4 Rb8 18 Wed WaS with a slight advantage for White. 8 eS The attack on the e-pawn per~ mits Black to play this move without a preliminary ... a7~a5, 9 Wed ad 10 ags (87) Whether the pin is effected before or after castling causes con- siderable conceptual differences in White's plans. When White has not yet castled, the main aim of the pin isto provoke the response HT-h6 and ... g6-g5 (which is why the bishop retreats to hd) and then to exploit the resulting weakness and begin a kingside attack by h2-h4 (see the note to Black’s seventh in Game 3), The same concept lies behind the enticement of ... £6-g4 before having castled: in this ease, too, the bishop retreats to 4, and it is possible to commence an attack on the kKingside (see note to ‘The Petrosian Centre White's seventh in Game 3). ‘The implementation of cither of these ideas after White has castled Kingside naturally excludes the possibility of following up with fan alkout attack on that flank Instead, in this case White will withdraw the bishop down the el 16 diagonal (alter ... h7-n6 or .. 17-£6 accordingly) to help in the queenside attack (see the note to White's eighth move above, and the continuation of the present game). ‘Ofcourse, amidst all the turmoil of this variation, with various ideas and theoretical innovations, these concepts are not always respected, but nevertheless they provide a valid and valuable key to comprehending most things. 0. 16 1 bes ‘As we have explained, retreating to hd would greatly lose inefficacy seeing that White has castled king- side, Black could then exploit the weakness of ff without danger, eg. 11 dihd gS 12 &g3 @hS 13 @d2 | f¥ etc. Note the difference in comparison to when an analogous manoeuvre is attempted before White has castled (see the second illustrative line given in the note 10 Black’s seventh move in Game 3), With the text move, the bishop takes up the correct post for meet- 3‘The Petrosian Centre ing Black’s ... 5 counterplay with the exchange exf5 gxfS and then 2-14 Moo. efa7 If Black allows himself to be tempted into 11... &g4 White gains the advantage here with the following forced variation: 12 BneS dxeS 13 43 16 14 nod Bxd5 15 exdS (not 15 Oxf7? Db4 16 Dxd8 Oxc2 17 acl d4 and White's knight is trapped) 15... ixeS 16 f4 dd 4 17 h2 (afier 17 hi! wha Black has counterplay) and White threatens either 18 Abs followed by Bad! with advantage, or 18 e5 which opens the way to exploiting Black's weakened king's position. Although the text move han- dicaps Black’s development, it has the merit of reinforcing the knight on ¢5 and preparing the advance +. £7-45. Black can also play 11 DHS, eg. 12 g3 b6 13 Bhd b3 14 Blel Wd7 with a com plicated gare, or equally 11... b6 (the most usual move) 12 42, and now Black has tried various possibilities: 12... Og0 13 sexed saxgd 14 a3 @26 15 Babl 2d7, or 12... DAS 13 -&xhS gxhs, or 12... ed 13.09 Ad7 14 bd Obs, or 12... Oh7, or 12... S197. 1 aa White prepares the reply 22-4, 4 Row. 5 13° ext Anessential precautionary mea- sure to weaken Black’s pawns White must aot play 13 £4?! immediately as after 13... exf& 14 Sxl g5 15 863 4 Black would gain control of eS whilst also retaining the attacking potential of his pawns. 13a anf 14 4 (88) Here we see the implementation of one of White's standard methods of countering Black's advance, which also occurs in other variations. If Black now closes the centre with 14 ... e4, White's position would undoubt- edly be preferable because of the Jatent threat of breaking up Black's centre by g2-g4 and the possibility of gaining control of 4, eg 15 003 a4 16 @d4 with a clear advantege. ‘The intention behind the text move is to open up the centre to try to exploit Black’s shaky king's position. uw. ext Black's best policy is to accept a structural inferiority in the hope of obtaining adequate dynamic compensation in the activity and centralization of his pieces. en 16 Of3 ‘The alternative was 16 ©b3, 6. a7 Or 16... Bg6 17 fc} WeT 18 Wd? [4 19 2 OeS with approximately equal chances. n 1g we? A well thought out decision, White allows the reunification of the opponent’s pawns in order to increase his dynamic possibil in the centre, 1... dxe5 19 263 ‘The players will now try to find the best disposition of their pieces to fit the newly changed pawn structure. 9... b6 20 shi ths 2 wad wd ‘The Petrostan Centre 2 adit Commencing an nem interesting plan which combines keeping h6, £5 and d6 safely covered whilst also counterattacking against White's undefended c-pawn, B 24 Bed Der we Now White threatens 25 &g3 (intending to go to h3) and if 25, f4 then 26 xc WxeS 27 Wa3 with a strong attack 24 oT ‘The key to Black’s plan: the knight comes to the blockading square d6 from where it protects BS and attacks ¢4, 25 b3 af Instead of contenting himself With the solidification of his pos- ition following 25 .. 2d6, Black seeks counterplay at any cost and White accepts the challenge. 26 ca 28 2» 30 31 32 bs cS wed wxe3 bxe5 6 wart 2d6 Bed xe} eS East? BB BS Black sacrifices the a-pawn in order to keep the rook in an active position. 35‘The Petrasian Centre 33 txad = wd ‘The possession of the bishop pair and the pressure against the pawns on d5 and o6 should pro- Vide compensation for the pawn. Instead of simply hanging on to his material advantage White now initiates avery interesting and complicated tactical sequence, 34 Oba? Bxe6 35 3. Bb6 36 Deft WEB 37 6 zd7 38 Wed xd 39 Bxfs! Wak! Not 39... WxfS? 40 wxc8 + Gh7 41 4g3 and wins 40 Bel 40 BhS would have obliged Black to find 40... d5! 41 ©g5 ‘¥Wg8 with an unclear position 0. ab7 41 e2 what Both players take risks in order to play for the win. 41... xed 42 Wxe4 d5 would have given equal chances. 2 O38 Bhd 43° BRS WIG 48S wht 45 Bell Implicitly refusing the draw. Bo. ras 46 HRS Wed 47 -xfor (89) ‘An astonishing rook offer which should not have been accepted. White threatens mate by 48 Wxe4 Bxg4 49° Ehch6+ xh6 50 Exh6+ wg7 SI 215+ a8 52 Bh8+ etc AT oe bxf6? Alosing move, as are the follow- ing: 47... Wxe2? 48 hxh6+ Axh6 49 Bxh6+ hg? 50 {54+ i851 Bh8 mate; or 47 45? 48 Wxe5 with a decisive advantage; or also 47... ®h7? 48 ‘isl! BxXb3 49 Zhxh6+! wes 50 Se7 mate, Black can parry the opponent's threats only by protecting [5 either by 47... Sc8! or 47... BOB, with an equal game in each case. 48 Exh6+ — &g7 49 Wxgtt — Bxgd 50 OfS+ eB SL Haft eB 52 Axd6+? Returning the favour. The win- ning move was 52 h3!t Bxe? (it 52... txg2+ 53 h2 Hes 54 Bad Bd7 55 Bxd6 and wins) 533 dad+ EET 4 bxd7 + Bxd7 55 BIT+ heb 56 ExbT xa2 57 03 with a won ending Boe Bxd6 ‘The Petrosian Centre 53 Bxd6 — Axgh+ 34 hel dS + 55 ef axb3 56 axb3—ED4 37 Bd3 eT Be AA fitting conclusion to this no- holds-barred fighting game, 373 The Samisch Centre ‘Main Line: Siimisch Variation 1 dd 16 2 of g6 3 Qe3 &e7 4 et also arise in other variat wi d6 5 £3 0.06 £e3 e5 7 d5 (90) Similar strategic conditions can ns when fhite delays or even tries to omit the move {2-13 For example, 1 d4 O16 2 c4 g6 3 Ac3 97 4 et do ant Averbakh Variat 1d now: 5 Se? 0.0 6 gS h6 (or 6 @bd7 7 Wd? 5 8 dS) 7 Bed e585 Systems with h2-h3 53 0-06 &e3 eS 7 ds (Other Variations 58 5 Sige? 0-0 6 Og3 eS 7 dS 1 Strategic Ideas ‘The linking idee of all these vari- ations is simple: White closes the centre but does not develop his, KN on {3, thereby retaining the possibility of creating a strong attack on the kingside by advanc ing the h- and/or g-pawns. Thus we find ourselves with type of centre presenting the following characteristics: (97) ‘The fact that White has not yet castled gives him a very fiexible position: depending on Black's reaction he can either castle long and attack on the kingside or castle short andexploit his natural queenside space advantage. i | | | | | | | The kingside attacking plan with the KN on e2 White can rapidly create strong attacking threats against the ‘opponent’s king by following a very simple plan: placing the QB and the queen on the cl-h6 diag- onal (eg. 3, 8d2}, developing the KN on e2 with the intention of transferring it to 3 after the advance g2-g4; advancing the h- pawn to hS and swinging the ‘queen to the hefile (92) Evidently, such an attacking plan envisages completing devel- opment by castling queenside. Given the sharp nature of the game stemming from opposite side castling, tis clear that Black must promote his queenside counter- play as quickly as possible whilst also taking counter-measures on the kingside in order to upset the planned development of White's attack. ‘The Simisch Centre The opening of the c-file and the flexibility of White's plan Black's most logical counteraction on the queenside is to open the c- file as quickly as possible with the advance ... ¢7-c6 followed by the capture «,. e6xd5) (93). However, White is then by no ‘means obliged to keep to his origi- nai attacking plan and may instead count himself satisfied with having provoked the opening of a file in his naturally advanta~ geous sector, and consequently castle kingside in order to con- centrate on his queenside pressure, This explains why Black some- times develops his queenside coun- terplay without the opening of the efile. ‘Thus the game may feature ‘opposite side castling either with or without an open e-file, or same side castling with an open e-file. 9The Siimisch Centre Opposite side castling: Black's kingside prophylaxis IE White decides to go in for ‘opposite side casting, especially when the e-file is open, he is faced with a technical problem; (94) He must decide both how long to keep his king in the centre, and whether to first castle queenside and then play g2-g4 or advance g2-g4 while the king is still in the centre Black's kingside prophylaxis, (carried out, of course, alongside the essential queenside counter- play) may be affected to some extent by the order of moves employed by White. Generally speaking, we can say that when White castles queenside before playing g2-g4 Black tends to do best to ctoss White's attacking plans with the central counter 17-15, whereas when White advances g2-g4 with his king still in the centre Black normally ca counters on the kingside with ... h7-hs. This rule of thumb, whilst not rigidly adhered to in practice, nevertheless has a logical basis (which we will explain later on) and thus provides a useful guide to understanding and orientation, The central counter . .. 7-15 A. common counter measure adopted by Black against White's kingside attack is the central advance ... [7-f5. This advance is normally prepared by moving the KN to hs (95). ‘This strategy is generally designed to anticipate the advance g2-g4 which White would have in mind alter casting queenside, Black may then prevent the regular development. of the opponent's attack either by clos ing the position with ... f4, &f6 (96), in which case, after 24 ‘g7, hd se7, White cannot open lines on the kingside (especially if Black has the time to perfect the blockading structure with ... h6), or by exchanging in the centre ( fxe4), especially if White should be obliged to recapture with the & pawn (97). Here the advance g2-g4 is deprived of the natural support of a pawn on 3. In the implement- ation of this strategy Black need scarcely never fear the OHS being harassed by @2-g4: it is normal in fact for this knight t go to M4 without being in the least concerned that it might cost a ‘The Samisch Centre pawn (98). The dynamic compensation that Black would have after d.xt exld, Wxft 15, particularly from the liberated bishop on the long diagonal, is usually worth rather more than the sacrificed pawn, The same pawn offer also comes into consideration even when White has a knight on e2 and does not have to cede the bishop pair. Basically, White has two ways of meeting the ideas behind the... 17-45 advance: to continue the kingside attacking policy after the exchange exfS gxf5, or, in the event of the blockading advance ... {5~ f4, to transfer the play to the queenside. Tin the first case, after ext5 axt, the strategic character of the pos- ition undergoes a considerable change (99). ‘When White does not fear the reply... £5-f4 he can prepare the advance g2-g4 immediately with h2-3, otherwise he can first play Gr‘The Samiseh Centre g2-g3 and then h2-h3, He may also on occasion follow a more central strategy by playing f3-f4 with intentions not too dissimilar to those examined in the preceding chapter (see Chapter 2, ‘The advance 12-4’. For his part, Black has acquired considerable dynamism in the cen- tre stemming from the possibility of carrying out the advance. ..e5 e4 opening the long diagonal and freeing the eS square, In the second case the kingside blockade imposed by Black’s 15-14 advance generally induces White to transfer his attention to the queenside where he will attempt to open a file, notwith- standing the presence of his king there, Consequently, the imple- mentation ofthis blockading strat- egy is hardly ever mixed with the opening of the e-file as White would be able to exploit the open file plus the other weaknesses which can arise as a result of the e advance of the a- and b-pawns (100) Here we have two strategies which do not work well together: the blockading of the kingside, and the opening of the c-file. Black finds himself in a type of situation which we examined in the first chapter, but with an even weaker queenside pawn structure and without having an adequate point of counterplay on the kingside. The advance ... h7-h5 Sometimes, especially when the opponent opens the c-file quickly, White may continue his attack immediately by playing @2-s4 before casiling queenside. In this case the weakness of the h4-el diagonal permts Black to threaten the g-pawn with the forceful advance ... h7-h5 (101). This move, which must be played before White has time to bring his KN (o g3, contains two 101 diverse ideas (as in the ... 17-15 counter above), namely to block- ade or to exchange. After... n7-h3 White must decide how to defend the g-pawn, Basically, there are three possible reactions: (1)to defend the pawn with h2-h3; Q)to advance with 4-25; (3)to defend the pawn indirectly by pinning the 16 with mgs. The first case sees the realization of the blockade: after h3 Black plays ... Qh7 (not ... 4 immedi- ately because of gS) with the idea of continuing with ... hS~ hd and then exchanging the bad bishop by ... sig7-f6-25 (102) to i ‘The Simisch Centre This blockading manoeuvre is underpinned by the fact that after 12-3 the increased weakness of the h4-el diagonal means that White cannot open the gefile by gxhS because after... Wh4-+ the Knight cannot go to g3 and after the further £12 WxhS Black has advantageously crossed White's plans. This shows clearly why the H7-HS strategy is playable only when White has advanced g2~ #24 before castling queenside, and consequently why Black generally reacts with ... [7-5 when White has castled first before playing g2— 4. The Key point is that the black quoen must come to hd with check, In the second case, when White pushes on with g4-g5, the (6 retreats to h7 (103). Here Black may either content himself with the blockade he has obtained on the kingside and throw all his efforts into his queen- side counterplay or seek to acti- vate all his Kingside forces by a