Mastering Positional Sacrifices

Merijn van Delft

A Practical Guideto Vital Skill in Chess

New In Chess 2020
© 2020 New In Chess ISBN: 978-90-5697-883-5
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Contents
Explanationofsymbols
Introduction
PART DAMENTAL THEME:
Chapter:
Piecea.
fbyetiss
Opening files
Opening closed positions
Opening diagonals
Chapter 2 Pawn structure
2.1 Perfect pawcn entre
2.2 Pawn steamroller
2.3.Mighty.pawn
chain
Chepter 3 Colour complex
3a. Dark squares
ight squares
tion
4.1 Total domination
4.2 Domination in the endgame
PART TYPICAL POSITIONALSACRIFICE:
Chapter 5 Typical pawn sacrifices
S.Benke
5.2. Marshall Gambit
.
5,3 Powerplay with white
5.4.Counterplay with black
‘Chapter 6 Typical exchange sacrifices
6.1 Russian exchange sacrifice
6.2 French exchange sacrifice
6.3 Sicilian exchange sacrifice
S.4 Allowing...xa
G5 Thebishop snatcher
6.6 Ruilding a repertoire
PART TES THE LIM!
Chapter 7 Extremesports
7.1. Double exchangesacrifice
 7.2Queensacrifice
7.3 Rooksacrifice
Chapter 8 Heroes
8.1The
8.2 Fire on board
8.3 Contemporarychess,
‘ChepterSuperhuman
9.1 Man versus machine

9.2AlphaZero
gs.Leda
PART IV TRAIL 1G MATERIAL
Che Exercises
Chepter Solutions to exercises
Index ofplayers
Bibliogcaphy,
 Explanation ofsymbols king

4 +t HHH IW © 2m BOB
Thechessboard withits coordinates: Queen
Rook
RASWe oak Bishop
HN wk AN &

ashsbibi knight
White standsslightly better
Black standsslightly better
White standsbetter
Black stands better
White has a decisive advantage
ARAABABA
= P08 Co

Black has a decisive advantage

HALWORLA balancedposition
abcdefg good move
excellent move
White to move bad move
Black to move 2? blunder
 interesting move
al dubious move
Introduction
Welcomedear reader, you are holding in your hands a chess book on strategy. My
nameis Merijn van Delft, | am an International Master from the Netherlands, born
in 1979, and | havealways been a chesstrainer and coach, more than anything else.
| grew upin Apeldoorn, and havelived and worked in Amsterdam and Hamburg. |
will be your guide on a very exciting touralong the most important strategic topics
in chess. Wewill comeacross legendary battles and amazing concepts,covering
everything from theold masters until the most recent developments.
Thetitle of this book is Mastering Positional Sacrifices. My favourite themein
chess has always been thepositional sacrifice, so writing a book aboutit, about
three decadesafter| first learned about this theme,feels like a natural thing to do. |
amthrilled to share my thoughts with you on this exciting subject.
Definition
As opposedto tacticalsacrifices, positionalsacrifices are of a more abstract, non-
forcing and long-term nature. Positional sacrifizes often have something myste-
rious about them, and whenthey work out well, they are beautiful. The secret lies in
thefac: that in chess it is not enough to simply count the pieces. Material, time
and space are constantly interacting,
Speaking ofdefinitions,| do not believe in a strict definition ofwhat a positional
sacrifice is. | think it is a dimension,rather than a category. A dimension that runs
from purely tactical (concrete, short-term) to very positional (abstract, long-term) —
im the sameway that open/closec and dynamic/static are useful dimensions to de-
scribe chess.
Target audience
My hope is thatthis book will be a pleasant read for many chess players. | am try-
ing to write for as broad a readership as possible, butlet me give a mild warning to
beginning chess players:this boox may not bethe best place to start for you. How-
ever, | am sureit is worth returning to, once you have collecteda little more chess.
knowledge and experience. Please have look at the bibliography in the back of
this book for a number of books | recommend. Playing regularly and analysing
your own games with a chess trainer/coachis the well-established way to improve
in chess. Here is a mild warning for very experiencedplayers as well: you may
comeacross a fair amountof examples that you already know. | consideredit my
job to combine the most impressive classical games with new material, and to find
a nice balance there. Smileifyou recognize something, and contact meif | forgot a
‘great example that should have beenin the book. Who knowswe can add it in a fu
ture edition.
Reading guide
A feel-good book is whatthis is meant to be. It should be fun to play through the
‘games and the book caneasily be usedfor entertainment purposesonly. Ifyou are
simply seekinginspiration,feel free to open it at a random page and check the dia-
grams. The mostexciting moments are always covered with a diagram and de-
scribed in the text that follows
Having said that, my main intention has been to present the material as system-
atically as possible. My goal was to create a unique frameworkofpositional sacri-
fices. The structure should have aninnerlogic and should help the reader to build
uphis knowledge systematically. Reading the bookfrom start to finish probably al-
lows you to make the mostofit.
| do realize that most chess students and chess enthusiasts rarely finish a book.
They start full of ambition, but soonerorlater everydaydistractions prevail. My ad-
vice is 20 scan the diagrams, only play throughthe games that seem interesting to
you, and save the rest for some other time. Studying this book should be an
enjoyable experience, not a pain.
Bookstructure
Reading the book from start to finish is like time travelling from the old masters,
via the World Champions, to the latest engines. We have just entered a new
decade, and the most recent games | haveincludedin the book were played at the
Wik aan Zee 2620 tournament. Ihe book consists of four parts. Ihe first three
parts contain a total of 115 carefully selected games and Part IV contains 48 well-
tested exercises
Part | consists of Chapter 1-4 and discusses thefundamental themes:piece play,
pawnstructure, colour complex, domination. Theinner logic is that we look at
pieces, pawns and squares in turn, and the ultimate goal is domination. The first
part ofthebookis designed to be a basic course in mastering positional sacrifices.
Especially Chapter3 on colour complexes canbe a challenge forless experienced
players. Once you've madeit through the first part ofthe book, you should have a
g00d idea ofwhata positionalsacrificeis.
Part Il consists of Chapters 5-6 and systematically treats typical positional sacri-
fices: pawn sacrifices and exchange sacrifices. These are the two types ofsacrifice
that occur so frequently that they can be considered standard instruments of posi-
tional play. The second part ofthe book is designed to consolidate and deepen our
newly acquired knowledge. Knowing a few standard sacrifices makes it easier to
recognize the possibility ofsacrificing something in your own games and may give
you mere confidencein trying to do so.
Part Ill consists of Chapters 7-9 and is about testing the limits. Like with ex-
treme sports, we are going to examine how far we can go when we sacrifice mate-
rial. How much can wesacrifice, and what do we need in return? Wewill see how
thestrongest and mostcreative players in the history ofchess have been willing to
take considerablerisks to test the limits. If you want to become strongchess
player, you will have to risk something, and you haveto try out what is possible
and what is not. This leads to a deeper understanding ofthe way material, time and
space interact. Finally, we will look at what we can learn from chess engines and
how we can use them for ourtraining purposes.
Part IV consists of Chapter 10 (Exercises) and 11 (Solutions to exercises), and
contains ourtraining material. The 48 exercises in Chapter10 are divided over 4
sets of 12. Level 1 should be doable for every reacer, but with Level 2 and 3 the dith-
culty rises sharply. At Level 4, most readers will feel lost. In the introduction to
Chapter10, | explain how you can makethe most outofthetraining material. Read
theinstructions carefully to avoid a frustrating experiencel Finding the right
conceptor being on the right track is a great feeling, but it requires 2 certain
amountofdedication. This fourth part ofthe bookis the concluding step towards
mastering positionalsacrifices.
While the book focusses on positional sacrifices, along the way we will touch
upon several related subjects. Positional chess 1s not isolated from tactics. Chess
is still 99% tactics, and we will Fave a lot of fun coming across a broad range of
tactical motifs. Along the way, you will increase your general opening knowledge
and your knowledgeofattack and defence. We will also analyse the occasional
‘endgame. While we are working on thesedifferentfields ofchess technique, wewill
keep in mindthe tournamenthall and discuss the relevant psychological and prac
tical aspects. Whenever we are talking about positional sacrifices, psychology is
neverfar off, for both players.
Training advice
A final piece of advice: do not be afraid to make mistakes in your own games and
try new things. The average gameat the chess club orin the tournament arenais
not as smooth and impressive as thecollection of examples in this book. Try sacri-
ficing pawns and exchanges in yourblitz games, andbit by bit you will learn to
recognize new opportunities in ycur more important games.
A briefhistory
We are almost readyto start with the chess. Let megive a quick overview ofthe his-
tory of chess, just to set the stage and to enable you to view the games we are
going to study in the right historical context.
Ihe earliest documented chess game with the modern rules 15 believed to go
back as early a5 1475. Those were completely different times, and chess must have
developed very slowly
‘The first famous positional players were Francois-André Danican Philidor (1726
1798) and Howard Staunton (1810-1874). Very early examples of positional sacri=
fices from their games and analyses include themes like the pawn steamroller and
the exchange sacrifice. Seen through moderneyes, the games from the19°" cen-
tury were generallystill not very impressive. Positional play basicallystill had to be
discovered. Staunton,in his unofficial 1843 Worle Championship match with Piecre
de Saint-Amant, played for direct attack from anysituation
Only as the level of detence went up, positional chess became necessary as a
means to outplay the opponent. Thefirst official World Champions, Wilhem
Steinitz (18361900) and Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941), played a key role in formu:
lating she principles of positional chess. In che 1920s, the Hypermodernists
(Nimzowitsch, Réti, Breyer) gave chess important impulses with their creative
positional concepts. The 1950s seem to have been a crucial stage in the history of
chess as well, with players like David Bronstein (1924-2006) regularly making posi-
tional sacrifices.
‘A majorbreakthrough was Garry Kasparov's nise to the top in the 1940s. His dy-
namic approach to chess,his testing ofthe limits and his search for new ways,
facilitated the transition to modern chess as we know it today. After Kasparov re-
tired in 2005 and the computer engines becamestronger, Veselin Topalov im-
pressed the chess world with his trademark positional sacrifices. Today, positional
sacrifices are regularly played by many top players. MagnusCarlsen has lifted
chess to a next level, andthe latest revolution was caused by AlphaZero.
THE BISHOPPAIR
Before we start studying positional sacrifices, there are two topics I would like to
discuss, which are fundamental parts ofthe required prior strategic knowledge for
appreciating this book. The first of these is the bishop pair. Since a bishop can
only moveononecolour, two of them complement each other well. As a conse-
quence,bishops should notbelightly exchanged against knights. The bishoppair
canbea long-term force, as wewll see in the following classical game.
Game1
Berthold Englisch
wi 1m Steinitz
London 1883 (14)

1.e4 652.9% Ac6 3.265 26 4.d4 exdg 5. Axd4 Mg7 6. Me3 AF6 7.23 008.00
Ae7 9.-Md2 ds ro.exds Dexds 11. Axd5 Wxds 12.Me2 Og4 13. Axg4 Bixee
14. bg Bhxda 15. Axd2

RRAW BAA
g EG
This is a very clean early exampleof the bishop pair offering a large positional
advantage. Black's strategy in this type ofendgame can be summarized as follows:
1. Restricting the opponent's minorpieces;
2. Keeping onepair of rooks on the board;
3. Gaining space;
4, Preventing counterplay;
5. Opening theposi n if possible.
15. Had8 XE
Centralization can never hurt, but gaining space with 15..a5 would have been a
strong as well
16.c3 Ute8 17. b3 bél a 2a
Restricting the opponent's minorpieces. 4
18.h3 e619. fdr
19..2d4 would have beena less passive defence
&
19.651 a& &
Furtherrestricting White's minorpieces.
20. 8.95 f6l
AA AA
This may seemto leave g7 passive, but that is missing the point. Black's dark- & E &
squared bishop will be activated at a later stage.
ay Daath
In the endgame.the king should play an active part.
22.83 gst
Following through with thestrategy.
23.Hxd8 Hxd8
Exchanging exactly one pair of rooks suits Black perfectly well, as it reduces
White's counterplay, while keeping enough winning potential.
24. Re3 h6l

Co De» o> 0g:

‘Thematically preparing the advance ofthe fpawr
25. Her 26.44 M16
4

De
Keeping the tension. Gaining space with 26...g4 was also fine.
4

> bo de
27.83
27..2da wasa better defensive try.

D> De
27.85
Increasing the pressure. & &&
28.901 a4
Gaining more space. &
i @

SS
29.03 fhc4
Black is achieving total domination.
30thexffl
After systematically improving his position, Steinitz finds a concrete way +o break
through.
31. Axfg M95 32. Axes,
32.003 Axfy 33 ilixfs is well met by33.../f6 followed by
32hxg§ 33.ie3 6 The decisive move.
40.c4 gg 41. thes f4+ 42.heq f 43. hes gz 01
Conclusion: the bishop pair is 2 long-term advantage, which is often implicitly
presentin game analyses, and is therefore important to keepin mind,
THE ROLE OF THE KING
In the opening, we generally castle in orderto bring the king into safety. In the mid-
a dlegame we want to keep theking safe, while in the endgamethe king should play
an active role. Thevalue ofthe king in the endgameis estimated at 4 points, ie
stronger than a minorpiece and weaker than a rook. Sometimes the king can play
& &A an extraordinary role, as we will see in the following famous game.
Game2
& Nigel Short 2660
Jan Timman 2630
34-hg
This allows a completeliquidation to a winning king and pawn endgame. Tilburg 1991 (4)
34. Eh1 wesloses as well, due to 35.h4 f4+ and Black is crashing through. 1.04 Af6 2.05 Ads 3.d4 d6 4.08 26 5.Ac4 AE 6.23 Mg7 7.Me2 Acéb 80-0
34agxhd 35.echq HeBs 36.002 Hxer 37.ttixer ites 38. Ae2 Mixer 39.itixe2 thf4l 0-0 9.h3 a§ 10.04 dxes 11.dxes dg 12. Axdg Wrxdg 13. Her 06 14. Ad2 Ad5 15.93
Bics 16.Peg Mb4 17. M.c4 DBE 18.3 Axc4 19.bxc4 He 20. dr Wes 21.84 b6 3.itthal
22. fle; Wc6 23.Qh6 Bh8 24.Ld8 Mb 25.Ladr Mg7 26.08d7 WEB 27. Axg7 The start ofan amazing king march
thxg7 28. Hid4 Hae8 29.09f6+ ihg8 3o.h4 hs 31 HB
31. . cB loses to the impressive 32.2 g5! &xd7 and now 33.g4lleaves Black amaz-
Ex z ee) ingly helpless to White's direct mating attack
Sak & ete tes
aw aWa xRe
a & a Sak fb
& Af & aH aWa
a a & a
& && & Ak &
& Aw
Sofar the king has beenpatiently sitting on g’, while White kept improving his, A & &
otherpieces and created a dominant position.
Nothing special so far, you may think, but now the real pointis revealed:
33-ih fg
With a board full of pieces, the white king marches all the way to h6 to help check-
mating Black
33. RB 34.Me5,
Black resigned, as 34...ih7 loses to 35. Wxg6+.
Conclusion: this game was exceptional, and normally the king will have to wait
until the endgamebefore it can play an active role. Still, it is essential to under-
stand that the king is not just a liability, but has a certain hidden potential, which
can materialize at unexpected moments. By the way, this is a gamethat every ex.
perienced chess player has seena million times already, but will never cease to awe
new generations of chess players. Please bear with meifyou knew it already, since
there is amazing new materialin storefor everyone.
Meriin van Delft
‘Amsterdam, March 2020
PARTI
Fundamental themes
CHAPTER 1
Piece play
As we established in the introduction,tactical sacrifices and positional sacrifices
are not necessarily strictly separate categories, but can be seen as part ofthe same
dimension, running from highly tactical to highly positional. this first chapter
takes the domain oftactical sacrifices as a starting point and forms a kind ofbridge
to the special world ofpositional sacrifices. Someofthefirst examplesin this book
could just as well be classified as tactical sacrifices, but they have something posi-
tional to them, which sets us offon ourjourney.
The themeofthis chapteris pieceactivity. It is about findingcreative ways to in-
crease the activity ofthe pieces. In the first sub-chapterwe will look at the opening
offiles, then we will lookat the opening ofclosecpositions, and finally we will look
at the cpening of diagonals.
1.1 Openingfiles somemore subtle and elegant ways to openfiles. Thefirst exampleis a famous
The common,rathertactical way of openingfiles is some sort ofstraightforward very early positional sacrifice. Paul Morphy was considered the unofficial World
aggressive pawn orpiece sacrifice,to clearthe wayfor the other pieces to enter the ‘Championin his time, and he already played a bit more positionally than most of
attack, often directed at the enemy king. In thefirst part ofthis chapter, we will see his contemporaries.

Paul Morphy
New York 1858

eg €5 2.f4,
The romantic King’s Gambit was a very popular opening in those times. Today we
think that Black has just too many ways to get goodplay, due to White's early weak-
‘ening of his king.
ead
‘Opening theposition for theblack pieces. Taking the pawn is also good,ofcourse.
p.exds eq
This is called Falkbeer’s Countergambit. An impressive positional concept, de-
signed to disturb the development ofWhite's pieces. Taking on ff is still a good
alternative. 6.031
4.43 Thisis the star move ofthe game, a very early bird amongpositional sacrifices. For
The right wayto play for White is to start with 4.43, mepersonally, it is the earliest memory | have of seeing a positional sacrifice. |
4. OF6 5.43 M4 must have been about 12 years old when | saw this gamein an old chess book. The
Black quickly brings his pieces into play. elegance and clarity ofthe text move madea lasting impression on me. Black gives
6.0de up a healthy pawn, but wins time and leaves White with an ugly pawn structure and
E his pieces boxed in
x A 2w& Essential to a positional sacrifice is that the side that sacrifices does notprofit im-
aaa a aa mediately in a tactical way. Black does not regain the material any time soon and
A does not checkmate White any time sooneither. The compensation is long-term,
andBlack's position is easier to play.
& It is usually more fun to be the one who sacrificed something, than to be on the de-
& a & fending side.
7-x03 0-0
& ay The impres follow-up,typical for positional sacritices: just continue with your
& A& & B& normalmoves and act like nothing has happened. In this case, Black wan:s to de-

a We2AZ
fe
velopin the most straightforward way. cg
8.hd2 &xcz Holding onto the pawnis risky.
Giving up the bishoppair was not necessary. Starting with 8 8 or making ita White could have defendedbetter with 11.h3 and after the sharp 11...1Wxdél he has
double pawn sacrifice with 8.6 were good alternatives. theconfident 12./fal, which defends g2 and steps outofthe pin on the e-fle. After
g.bxc3 MeB+ 10.fe2 Neg 12...xe2 13.Dxe2 West the final point is that the white king escapes with
Active development. 14. iti ggl, when Black's compensation is a bit vague.
Tc
ZA WE & Thematically breaking the structure.
aia aa a r2.dxc6?
a Afterthis serious mistake, White's position is beyond repair.
Returning the material with 12.h3 &xe2 13. 2xe2 was thecorrect defence. From a
D>

AD
&
(EO D>)

& & &&

[Le D>

& “a &
thematic point of view, 12.46 was alsointeresting, as it echoes Black's 6.3, by 13. Hxeal
giving up a pawn to delay the opponent's development. Tactical opportunities usually result from purposeful positionalplay.
120, Ae 14. Axe2 Oda 15.191
Now Black’s lead in developmentis decisive. This moveis a bad sign, White's position is completely paralysed
33.0h 15.0 fhxe2s 16.12
83 9d414.& dg Wxda also gives Black a winning attack 16 lig?is refuted by the clever 16. dxcal
x Wk & 16... Ag4+ 17.1hgn
Now Black hasa pretty finish, which altogether makesthis one ofthe most remark-
aa aaa able games from the 1gth century:
Aa a 17 Bs Bagxty Mdg+ 19.18g2 Mas 20.08h3 BB+
and White realized he will be checkmated soon. 0-1

& AL
&
& ABS AA
a W eax
Manue| Bosboom is one ofthe most creative positional players in the history of Bind with c2-c4.
Dutch chess. His games often becomewildly tactical at somepoint, butusually 6... C7 7.04
start with interesting positional concepts. Thefollowing miniature is oneof his Here 7.£4 seemsto fit in better.
coolest creations. The amazing thing is that Manuel devised the entire set-up,in- 7ob6
cluding the surprising tactical sequence at the end, in home analysis without com- Goingforelastic development anda counterattacking strategy.
puter assistance. Even more amazing, the whole thing was actually analysed with 8.0-0 Mb7 9.Pez
colours reversed, from the English Opening (1.c4)
ZA eo
Game2
Fred Slingerland 2280
2Wa abd
Manuel Bosboom 2449 aa aA
Enschede 1993 (9)
1.e4 65 2. Of 26 3.d4 cxda 4. Oxdg a6
The Paulsen/KanSicilian is an ambitious fighting weapon,asit keepsall pieces on
& AA
the boerd in an asymmetrical pawn structure. White does get a lot of space forhis AQ
pieces. && WAAA
5.043 016 6.93
6.0-0 is a more flexible way to develop,to keep the option ofsetting up a Maroczy Ez 2 Eo
gahgl?
A trademark Bosboom move,never easy to deal with ZA & x
More conventionalis completing the Hedgehog structure with 9.6. 2Wah bb
10.h3,
10.¢5 “i g4 was thepoint, creating an active outpostfortheknight. aa a
10. es 2 8
Developingwith gain oftime
11.63 Agal
& a
The knight moveis played anyway. A fantastic move, with a nasty hiddenpoint. ADQ
rahxge??
Bravely accepting the challenge, but this meets with a beautiful refutation
&& WAA
White had to give up a pawn with 12.05 Wrxes 13.Wxe5 Axes and now the inspired E 2 Ee
14.25 would keep White in the game.
rahe This great intermediate movetotally disturbs the coordinationin White's position.
Opening the h-tle creates a simple mating threat Ofcourse, this is @ brutal tactical move, butat the same timeit has something very
13.65 positionaltoit, locking up White's kingside
The movethat Whiterelied on. 14.ex8
White doesn’t have much choice.
14...11481. 0-41 It is more common to start with €...c6, butoften that just transposes.
A supercalm, elegantlittle backward queen move,transferring the queento the h- 7-2.e3 0-0 8.0d2 Ac6 g.dxcs
file with lethal effect. The entire thing can be regarded as purely tactical, but for the 9.0-0-0 is a well-known opening mistake, since Black now closestheposition with
purposes ofthis book, we will enjoyits positional flavourand we will move on to 9...c4l, followed by sacrificing a 2awn with ..b7-b5 to open the b-file against the
morepurely positional examples. white king. Black thengets excellent attacking chances.
Thefollowing gamebetweentwo grandmasters is a very modern example ofa posi- 9...Blas 10.0-0-0
tional sacrifice to open files andis a relevantpart ofcurrent theory on theFrench 10.23, to delay queenside castling oravoid it altogether, is an importantalternative,
Defence. and certainly less risky.
Game 3
IvanSaric 2609
‘Sasa Martinovic 2551
Valpove 2017(5)
1.e4 262.d4 d5 3.23 AT
The Classical Frenchis an important battlefield in modern chess. Thetraditional
view is that White should be at least somewhat better, based on his space advan-
tage, but Black's position contains many hidden dynamic resources.
4.05 Afd7 5.f4 5 6.03 ez
 This confident knight jump was an important novelty at the time. In 2017 there
x 2 we must have been several people waiting for the chance to playit. | remember
aa aia aa analysing it, whenit was still unknown, with myfriend Steve Berger from Berlin.
a a 12.03
Questioning the knight.
hy &b& r2.bxest
& The same theme as in the previous game, now on the other wing: sacrificing a
piece for an openfile in a relatively positional manner.
DA QA 13. Axd7?
&AAW A&B White is going to accept the challenge by taking the piece, which turns out to be
very risky,
SE 2 £ The main line of my analyses with Steve ran as follows: 13.0b1 Zb8 14.axb4 cxb4
10...b61 15. 2xd5! (returning thepiece, in order to force the exchangeof queens) 15..exd5,
Instead oftaking back the pawn,Black prefers to sacrifice one. This wasfirst played 16. 8xd7 Bxd7 17. Wads Weds 18. Bxds 2 c6 19.Ba5 B fcB (up to this point, this
by Volkov in 2009and thentook a few years to catch on. Ihe purposeis to open has all been played in several games by now) 20.b3 9.4 21.2.c1. We thought that
files against the white king and start a direct attack, but its abstract long-term na- White might still be a bit better, but Black certainly has compensation with his
ture makesit a fantastic positional pawn sacrifice mighty light-squared bishop.
v1. fhbs Abal Ben Mixd7 14.axbg cxbg 15.061
White remains a pieceup this way, but now the true nature ofBlack's sacrifice is Subsequent tournamentpractice has focussed on 16. ada Wa2 17.Wd3 a5 18.0d2
revealed: with calm, natural moves, he increases the pressure and automatically 1Wxb2 and Black has nice play forthe piece.
keeps his compensation. 16...¥a2
15. BAB Black now simply wants to push his a-pawn down the board. This may take a while,
z z & but there is not much White can do about it.
7
a Lea beba Am attemptto create counterpla.
a 17-.exf 18. Adg a5 19.19d3,
Or 19. dixfs Sxfs 20. xfs a4 and Whiteis paralysed
uy as 19.04 20. Oxf Bxfs 21.5
a &
BA
AAW &&
ASE &
16.Rdh?
After this move, White’s defence becomesrather problematic.
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is one ofthe current elite players with a special liking for
xi: & positional sacrifices. Peter Leko has a more conservative approach, but ne does
Saha enjoy a challenge, which makes upfor an interesting style clash.
Game 4
AAW Peter Leko 2690
MaximeVachier-Lagrave 2780
aa Batumi ol 2018 (1)
& 1.e4 65 2. O63 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Axd4 AF6 5.2 a6
wA A B& The Najdorf Sicilian is a rich and complex opening, and a nice source ofpesitional
sacrifices.
AS EOE 68
21.0031 This little pawn movedefines the English Attack, which is a strong universal
Black does not need to waste timedefending f7, since there is too much hanging at weapon against the Sicilian that became popular in the 1980s. It is a multifunc-
White's side. tional move, since it supports White's centre and prepares a pawn storm onthe
22. Midg Beg 23.214 Mes kingside.
This bishop cannot be taken because ofthe mate on c2 ~ Black wins. 6.05 7.063 6 8. Leg
24.5 Bxfg 25, Oxf4 e604
 rexds g6 12. Me2 Mg713.0-0-0
ZA Wee More commonis to castle to the other side with 13.0-0 and workwith the queen-
4 aaa side pawn majority.
3.00
a aca 13.-b§ may have been a bit safer, to not commit to castling yet
a 14.84
& White immediate takes action on Black's slightly weakened kingside
145
AN BA Black needs to start his own attack on the other wing.
ABA AA 15.04 Ab6 16.gxhs Axhs 17. bs

& Wee Ff
B.uhsl?
A modern concept, stopping White's kingside arr bitions for the moment.
8... e7 is the mainline.
9.¥id2 Abd7 10.Ad5 Axds
Black gives up his light-squared bishop, and wants to dominate on the dark
squares. In Chapter3,1 we will have a more extensive look at this strategy.
 w cy 18.hg Bop?

De» [ime
Dut

It looks like Black shied away from taking the pawn onds
2
Ske BF De

18... dbxd5 19.8 g5 and 18... fxd5 19. 82 are very problematic for Black. Maybe
A a returning with 18... hg had to betried
19.hs!
a &4 Aa This pawnsacrifice is the way te go in such situations, to open files against the
A ‘enemyking.
19... xhs
BA
AAW &
SE xX
For the moment, it seemsthat both sides have secured their king positions.
17O68?
A step in the wrongdirection, since this knight 1s an essential blockader on the
kingside.
Ina later game, 17...l'c7 was met bythe remarkable 18. l'c3 and White went on to
win a good game, Wang Hao-Darini, Sharjah 2013.
 winningthe queen. Atfirst view this maystill look unclear, butit turns out to be
winning for White
20.Of 21. Oxf?
Giving up this important dark-squared bishop doesn’t lookpretty and must have
beenbasedon concrete calculations.
More in the spirit of the position would have been 21.2d4 and in case of
21... Axh6 22. xh6 buds White keepsa stronginitiative with 23. h2.
Dwexts 22.0xK4 HAE
In this situation with opposite-coloured bishops,it is essentialto fight forthe ini-
tative.
23.feq
SE XH
20. hd?
Leko hesitates and refrains from what he had probably focussedhis calculations

Very strong would have been the exchange sacrifice 2 xhsl_gxhs and then
au 16. Now Black needs to activate his seventh rank defence with 21..f6 and here
White has 22. 2xg7 Wxg7 23.lWe3l with the double threat oftaking the knight and
 24.8xaq bs
Dut

All les need to be opened!

ko BF De

25, flxbs 04
Everything with gain oftime.
D> De
26.2d4 a3
D> De

‘Opening up the a-file, after which the white king will neverfind a safe spot. The
Ww opposite-coloured bishops guarantee Black an enduringinitiative.
27.8.6 axb2+ 28.ihd2
&
SS

White needs to keepthe nasty b2-pawnalive

A& 28.ilixb2 Wb6+ 29.1N'e1 would have lost material due to 29..2xdq 30.Wxd4
1+ and Black remains an exchange up.
SE £
For now White seemsto have everything under control, but what follows is a true This is the introduction to yet anather amazing concept, but this timearound there
thunderbolt. is a tactical flaw downtheline.
Bun Bxagl It looks like the more natural 28... a3 gives Black sufficient compensationforthe
Vachier-Lagrave's handlingof the opening stage may have been unfortunate, but pawn.
now hedisplays very deep understanding ofthe position with a truly amazing posi- 29.Hb1
tional piece sacrifice. The b-pawnneeds to be blocked.
29...Pla5+ 30.3 This is too passive. 32.tve2 Weg+ (32... xd4 33.1l'd3 doesn’t work well) 33.Wd3
= & was thecorrect move-order.
3200s?
a 2 Blackis going for the wrong minorpiece
g& a a 32... &xd4l would have given him full compensation for the rook — a great picture.
33.the2 Wc4+ 34.19d3 Bxag
ay &

aw x .
A WA 7
a
Ha © A
way OF Z wo DB
aeplay, turning the piece sacrifice into a rook sacrifice. Unfor-tunately, it's
Fantastic wy &
minneneen
31. Axag Bhxcg+ 32. hdr?
AxX ie
35. Ac6?
What both players missed is 35.Zh4l Ec4 and now 36.Exb2 &xda 37.2dal wins
for White
35. MeB+ 36.12 A,
Now everything 1s in goodorderforBlack: he has full positional compensation for
therook
37-Hber??
White collapses, as this concrete move doesn’t work. Most neutral moves would
have been enough to keep the balance.
37 Hxer 38. Bxer Bh2+ 39.1f hrs 4o.thfe Wh2+ 41.08

Ee
4. Ml
Including the bishop into the attack, decisively tipping the scales in Black's favour.
42.Mdr hha
Now the white queenis forced to give up control over the br-square.
43-d4 Bez
Securing the bishop,before calmly picking upthe rook.
 54-13 25 55.iter 24 56.0g2 Mg6 57.0216 58.thes the7 59.7
White defends well, but the result is not in doubt.
59... 8d8 60.Mb2+ Why 61.Mha+ hg 62.Mb2 Las 63.Mg2 AbE+ 64.the2 g3
65. Der Mas 66. Ad3 1B 67.thes M1 b6+ 68.ihda Bigg 69.13 Meg
Black wins a second pawn and the gameis over.
yo.tiea Mxfg 1. Aer Besor

4gnbBF 45.Hxbr hrs 46.the2 Bxbr

Black 1s a pawn up and still has a positional advantage.
47. Ads Breas 48.ihh Bid2 49.Ple4 Mh4 50.%4 Mars 51.ihge Megs 52.00 HB
53-Ble3 Bfs
Black can regroup as he wishes.
1.2 Opening closed positions
Sometimes a positionis so closed,that openinga file becomesessential to beable x 2 Ze
to make anyprogressat all. In such cases, a positional piece sacrifice is often the 4a Aw 4
key corcept. We'll start with a famous example by the legendary World Champion
José Reul Capablanca, which is part ofthe collective memory as the prototype for & 2 bA
this kind ofsacrifice. a 4
Games &&
José Ratil Capablanca
Karel Treybal
BAA
Carlsbad 1929(10) &AWA A&A
1.4 d5 2.04 €6 3. Af 6 g EG
This is called the Triangle System. vn.abr
4.Q¢5 fez 5.Qxe7 Bxe7 6. Abd2 f
Whiteis preparing to gain space on the queenside,
With the dark-squared bishops already exchanged,the Stonewall set-up makes a 1. O46 12. Bes BH7 13.44
passive impression. 13. af would have been the simale solution
6. . 2looks more solid,with the idea to develos the & cB with ..b7-b6. 13.0. 8d7
7.83 Adz 8.2.43 Dh6 9.0-0 0-010.Bie2 g6 Maybe Black should have tried the active 13...5.
14.2d8 Hfd8 15.b4 MeB 16. fer a6 17.82 Axes 18.Axes Ad7 19.063 Hack 24. B.d7 25.He2 Wh8 26. Rg E98 27.95
20.5, Heis not afraid to close the position even further. The main thing is to kill all
Now Black is reduced to passivity potential counterplay.
20. O76 21.04 Ag4 22.er Dh6 23.h3 Af 27.88 28.h4 thg7 29.h5 Hh8 30. ha Wz 31.03 MAB 32.thfe cz 33. bh

iz
Er Er £ ee Mcg8 34.War Mb8 35.Waz bes

nonne awe Ags

a & b&b
Be BAA
AB &

GS Ce
2 y B&
&
24.84 X
Capablancaconfidently gains space on both wings. 36.b5,
‘Openinga file on the queenside before shutting down the kingside. 46.813
36...axb§ 37.h6+ 1B 38.axb5 the7 39.6 Thisis the right way to do it: with the queenbehind the rooks.
Not afraid to close theposition evenfurther. 46...t%g8 47.thg3 Bd7 48.i%h4 Wh8 49.Par stg’ 50.ig; PB 51.thg2 eB
39.818 4o. Har Whata picture. Now that the major pieces are all optimally placed,it’s time for the
White will now triple up onthe only openfile. minorpieces to be activated.
40..Hc8 41.%b4 Hhd8 42. Haz mB 43.Hhr M8 44. Whar tg’ 45.Lra4 iB 52. de Md7 53. Abg HeB 54. Aa5 dB
WEE oe WEHAR®
Ha a a Ha 2 a
Rb & b& Rb A b&
&
55-faél Black has closed the position, but White seems to be more comfortable, due to
Now this is not even a sacrifice; White crashes through his space advantage andbetter piece coordination
S5ubxa6 56. xd7 Hey 57. RxdB+ 8.Md3 Abd7 9. Ae2 AB
A simple tactic to finish the game.
57Uxd8 58. Axc6 We8 59. Dxe7 WMxe7 60.1xa6 +0 xX 2Wea
In the following game, Levtchouk found a very creative way to open theposition. aa aaa
Game 6 a A
George Levichouk 2330
Pascal Bergeron
add
Quebec 1993 (3) & &
1.d4 OF6 2.04 063.003 Bb4 &B A
The Nimzo-Indian is oneofthe most respected openings. & a A&A
48
This fighting option has recently gained in popularity at high level. E awe x
4enc5 505 Bxezs rohg
5..b5 is the dynamic alternative The logical way to win more space onthe kingside.
6.bxc3 85 7.04 d6 10... 847
Thecritical and common movein this position is 10...h5

od i
+
Do> Do» foo [mt
ahs

De

De
11.g4 is also interesting.
11.h6 12, Seg Bic7 13. ea Blas 14.thd2
More accurate would havebeento start with 14.4,
14..0-0-0 ahd
14.51 should have beentried, forbetter or for worse.
& A
& &

De
& LBA &
gE w gE
15.04
Now White hasfull control overtreposition and can start manoeuvringhis pieces
to better squares, in the same fashion as Capablanca did in the classical game we
just saw.
15. BBh7 16. Der Ags 17. Ab3 Wey 18.95
Another important achievement. At this point, Black is relying solely on the fact
that theposition hasa very closed character.
e

OR: > D> Do» foo

Ce D> be OE Dat
18...18b8 19,Ber Hdg8 20.0¥a3 a8 21. 0d3 HB 22. Labi g6?
It goes against human nature to simply wait and do nothing, but this move has a a4
tactical flaw.
23.hxg6 feg6 24. Mb2
Here White had the opportunity to strike with 24. xcs! dyes and now 2 & a
@ hg 26. Zhbt leadsto a winning position. White will take twice on b7 and pick up
thec5-pawn,after which his connected passed pawns will be decisive. In Chapter
&
2.2 we mill study more examples ofthe pawn steamroller. wy a B&
24 O47 25.Lhb1 AdB
iH &
z
It looks like Black has everything defended now, but White has not run out of ideas
yet
26.2d4l
The star move of the game. With this unexpected knight move, Levtchouk blasts
‘open theposition, and the dark squaresin particular.
26...exd4?
After the acceptance ofthepiece sacrifice, White's initiative becomes too strong.
Better chances were offered bydeclining, but then the white knight jumps to bs
with further sacrificial ideas ona7 and d6.
27.0xd4
Now White's position 1s 100% healthy, while Black's position 1s full ofweaknesses.
2 BhT
27..0xd4 28.2xd4 BB doesn't help either, since White crashes through with
29.8 b6! Wb8 30.26.
28.2b6
White calmly and confidently keeps improving his position, which reallyis the right
wayof playing after a positionalsacrifice
28... Dh§ 29.84 cxd4 30.Aixd4 DEH
Finally, some activity by Black, but White now strikesfrst.
31.061
ing as well, but was not necessary.
Br Med
If 31. . dxd3 32.axby+ Oxb733. Zxb7 winsas well
32.axb7+ Axb733. Exb7 Baby 34. xb7 Lxby 35,
Now the white pawns decide. The ChebanenkoSlav is a very solid opening, but the danger lies in its somewhat
35--. Axd3 36.{tixd3 Lb3+ 37. cz hg 38.gxh5 exhs passive nature.
Now Black has a passed pawn as well, but White's position is simply too domi- 5. Of bs 6.c5
nant This thematic pawn moveputs 2 serious bind on Black's position. Because the
39.25 hq 40.Me6 1-0 black b-pawn is already on b§, he no longer has the possibility to break with
After | selected both the Capablanca game and thefollowing Gelfand game forthe b7-b6.
current chapter, | discovered that Gelfand linked these two games as well in his 6.26 7.05 Me7 8.4
‘own book, Positional decision making in chess. At first | felt disappointed, since| White confidently secures more spacein the centre as well
thought | had created a nice link between these two games that are 81 years apart. 125 9, ez Bic7 10.0:00-011.3 feb 12.83 Abd7
Then again, it's only logical that Gelfand was inspired by the famous Capablanca
‘game too. The first time | wrote about this Gelfand game was a few days afterit
was played,for Chessvibes.
Gamez
Roris Gelfand 9741
Wang Yue 2752
Medias 2010 (1)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 63.93 Af6 4.03 06
 It is not easy to suggest somethingelse, but as we have learned from the previous
& games, purely passive defence is very risky, even when the position is almost en-
2 a tirely closed.
16.95 hxgs 17.hxg5
a

13.943
Whiteis avoiding the exchange ofknights. to emphasize Black's lack of space. &
Bu
‘Once the situation in the centre is under control, . further space
P:
can be 5gained on White has gained full control over the position.
the wii
She wing. a7thfy 18.tHg2
14. h7 15.h4 5
Now the typical lengthy manoeuvring starts, as we have seenin the other games.
18... ABB 19.8.d2 Dh 20. fer tteB 21.Aer MgB 22.0 Why 23.fd3 Ab8
24. ex WB 25. Ag3 e6 26.1
After first improving the coordination ofhis minorpieces, White now starts
tripling ontheonly openfile.
26... Qh27.Bc2 thfy 28.Hh3 MgB 29.Baht Haaz 30.ihfi Me8 31.01 Mh8
32.Hh6 S733. H6h4 Bh8 34. Hrhz Ley

i: queenbehindthe rooks.
35. Meby 36.Mh6 Me7 37.er
Now that the majorpieces are well positioned,it’s time forthe minorpieces again
to increasethe pressure.
37 Heby 38.1 He7 39.9b3 a4 40.Aca Reby 41. ez Hey 42. dg
Annice achievement: Black's queensideis fully paralysed. AdenOxy
42 Heb7 43.04, 44..ilixh7 45. Dxg6+ th g8 46.Zh8+ gives White a mating attack
‘Only now Whiteis looking for a wayto crash through. 45. Axg6 Ad7
43887 45... Wixg6is metby 46. 8 hs,trapping the queen.
46. Mhs Wd8 47. b4
A wA & Reminding Black that he is vulnerable on the queenside as well

eho
aE 2 47Hey 48. hal
There were certainly different good ways to play, but this is quite artistic.
4 4 4 48... dB
a& a& 18 Rahi met with uepowerplay 49.8074te 5.Soky+ &g7 and now
(S D> be

& 51.g6+1 with a direct mating attack.

Ere

49.0F71
& A The knight dances through Black's position and cannotbe allowed on d6,so it has
& 2
Q 3
to betaken.
49... x7 50. Bxty+
Here 50.2 xc6 We8 51.261 was a strongalternative
44.Hxh7l 50... By
The rernarkable thing is that the tactics seem to work automatically.
 53-Be2 Hz 54. hs wf 55.07
This pretty much forces the exchange of queens, after which White can win the
‘endgameatleisure. As Capablanca taughtin his day: don’t hurry.
4 55.MgB 56.Bixg8+ ttixg8 57.043 Lay 58.thea thfy 59.Ab4 De7 6o.itdr La8
61.Mc2 MgB 62. Ad WaB 63.Mh7 Des
a&a x
ad & eee
& & 2 a
& as a&

(‘S D> De
51. Bxhyl a &
‘Oneblow after the other. The second rook sacrificesitselfon hy. & &
51.
If 51. . dxh7,52.26 is winning, sincec6is still harging,
A®
52.h3 Agé &
Whiteis a healthy pawn up, while Blackis still playing for a fortress. 64.63
The time has come to open the position onthe other wing.
64... 9B 65. ha axb3+ 66.stixbs eB 67. a2 thd7
67... Bag 68. db2 does nothelp.
68.a4 bxage 69.Rxag Zxag 70. ttxag eB

RS
D> De
Still hooing for a fortress, but White just has too many active ideas

D> be
D> be
7. fas Ag6 72.Abg shd7 73.006 the8 74.M.c7
The bishop entering Black’s position decides the game
74BB
Winning the e3-pawn with 74...cih4 75.ta5 ga does not change anything after
76.8855
75-thas thb7 76.046 Bey 77.Axe7 Oxe7

78.Ab4
Initiating the final manoeuvre ofthe game.
78. 0g8 79. d3 Bey Bo. Aes @ gB 81.26 BI6 82.97 1-0
Black is completely tied up and further pavns will be lost.
Thefollowing game,played at the yearly wine tournamentin France, was shownto
me by the winner. It is certainly not without mistakes, but contains several
interesting positional sacrifices that fit nicely in this chapter. z 2w
Game &
Pablo Ollier 2373, 4
Miguel Angel Saenz Narciso 2173 a a
Vins Hourtin 2019 (8) a

1B AFG 2.04 65 3.63

‘Oneofmanypossibilities in the Symmetrical English. A
&B
3.86 4. Mb2 297 5.53 0-0 6. M.g2 Ac6 7.0-0 d6 8.d4 Med 9.h3
9.83 is recommended by Adrien Demuth in his book The Modernized Reti. A 2 2
oSrass EA W B®
nds
Pablo pointed out that already at this point he hadthe strategy in mind that we
learned in this chapter: closing theposition first and then opening it with a post-
tional sacrifice.
In thefirst part of the game this does not work out well atall, but watch what hap-
pensin the secondpart.
11.e712. Abd2 Axd2 13.Bhcd2 h6 14.4 b6 15. fdr
15. Dxe5l?dies 16.d6only leads to equality after 16.04
15.0 .d7 16.05?
Whiteis still dreaming ofa cleversacrifice on ¢§, but this simply does notwork.
16.85
Creating a square forthe knighton 6.
17.24 a§ 18. Aer 4
18...e4s also goodfor Black
rg.exf4 ef 20.84?
This is making things worse.
20.06
20...h5| 21.3 41 g6leaves Black completely dominating,
ar fles Bn hg?
This knight move is too modest and allows White to repair his position
21...to create a mighty square onf4 forthe knight, would still have given Black a
winning advantage, since 22. 2 xg6 Whg leavesthe white king remarkably helpless.
22.83
Thesituation has calmed down and theposition is approximately equal.
22. 816 E E
22...lg5 followed by ..h6-h5 and transferring a rookto theh-file would have been
more purposeful & w
23. Adj Ble7 24.thf2 g7 25.H_1 Me8 26.the2 Mg6 27. Af a a a
Now White's position is becoming more pleasant and Black has to rely on keeping
a&

de
the position closed as a
27.7 28. cz the7 29. .c3 thd7 30. afi Mxeq 31. Axeq Mes A
& a & A

& & &

w

eG
HE
Black's position is very difficult to break, but as we have learned, even very closed
positionsstill tend to contain dynamic potential.
32.fler Mg 33.Meg Mey34.0143 iMc7 35.iMdr Md736.23 Mge’ 37. Mer Maz
38.He2 Ag6?
A mistakein time trouble.
39. Axes?
The way to profit from Black's mistake was not to take a pawn,butto sacrifice one, =
as Pablo pointed out: 39.h4l &xh4 40. Zh1 followed by doubling rooks on the h-

i> D> de 1G
file was the way to make progress.
39nchxgs 40.BIG+ ttic7 41.Bixgs HhS

Ce De

D> De
Surprisingly, even though Black just lost a pawn, he still has every chanceto block

D> De
theposition com-pletely andthus create a fortress,
42.hn hy 43.iher Hag8 44.0 Dhg 45.Bxay> Hxh746.22
A

(HE D> De
&
& &
46... 25
The queens have been exchanged and Black has reached his optimal setup. Yet, as,
we have learned,the struggle continues.
47thd2 Hh6 48.ihd3 Hh8 49.iheq thd7 50. br thic7 51. Mer ttby 52.He2 the7
53-Ad2
White plays around fora bit, before playing his main idea.
53 54. 8.3 thb7 55.Hf1 ihhc7 56.id3 ttrby 57.thde tMic7 58.ther ihd759.ihf2 64.Axes!
HeB 60. Meg HB 61. fer Hf 62.L4er Finally, the positional sacrifice to openthe closed position. The posi-tion remains
Repeating movesfirst. dynamically balanced, but Black has to be careful
62... 118 63.Heq HS 64... Exes 65. Hxes dxes 66. Exes thd
Here Black should have played 63, 8 when there does not seem to be a way to It was more accurate to take control of the h-file with 66...h6. White should not
make progress for White. overestimatehis chances here with 67.2h§ since after 67... xhs 68.gxh5 25 the
knight will block the d-pawn and the king will go after the h-pawns ~ Black wins.
67. hs
& Now Black’s defence becomes tricky.
a4 67... g6 68.95 HfB 69.Zh6 Hg8 7o.h4
I

ahbSA
D> Dat

A A #
co
(RCo be

&
&
 7. Rhys thd6 72. Lh6 shez 73.h5?

ot
This seems to spoil the win.
White had to return to thepreviousposition with 73.Zh7+ id6 and now 74. 371
ites 75.h§is the optimalway. Black will lose his knight and White remainswith a
D> 0

c>
De De

Ce be
winning rook endgame.
D> De

D> De

73. Mes 74.86 Axc4 75.Lh7+ hd6 76.Rb7 tes 77.27 hE

a zx
& & &
& a

iG
a&bS&
7o... tic? & A

(RCo de
Passively defending the b-pawnis aninstructive mistake.
Active defence was called for with 70...itie5 wher after 71.h5 Black can save himself
with 71... f81 72.2f6 and now giving up the knightfor the kingside pawns with
72. Bxg§ 73.2xf8 Zxhs leaves Black with enough activity to compensate the
minus sawn.
A rather dramatic situation
78.461
The only move,since all other moves losefor Whitel
7B. xed?
After a heroic fight, Miguel makes thefinal mistake. Ihe correct defence was
78..ligs 79.47 itixhs and now after & 7 Black keeps the balance with
Bo... dé
79-Hxb6 Bxg7 80.Bxd6+
Now the rook endgameis hopeless.
Bo...thes 81.h6 Hh7 82.6 thdg 83.he2 c4 84.id2 3+ 85. ite Mex 86. Rxc3+
thea 87.b6 Hxh6 88.67 1-0
1.3 Opening diagonals 4u-Bb7 5.03 Meg 6. Axeg xe4 7.Ad2
After having seen eight games on the themeoffile-opening, we now tumto a re-
lated theme: opening diagonals. The sameprinciple applies: by giving up some ZA Wee E
material, the way is opened forthe pieces to be activated. Typically, a pawn sacri- 4 d£2 bbt
fice opens a nice diagonalfor the bishop. We will kick offwith a classical gameby
thelegendary World Champion Garry Kasparov. It was played a few years before he a a
gained the ultimatetitle, when he wasrising to the top and impressed the chess
world with highly dynamic and creative chess. His opponent, the famous UIf
Andersson, was notoriously hard to beat. SAD
Game
&
Garry Kasparov 2630 & BAAKA
UIFAndersson 2610
Tilburg 1981 (8)
EH 2Wee ££
1.dg Af 2.04 £63. AF bE Anexperimental approach. More conventionalis to simply return with 7...by.
The Queen's Indianis a solid positional opening. 8.g3 Ac6 9.03 a6?
Black wants to fight for control overthelight squares, but this hands White the ini-
483
Kasparov's favourite variation earlyin his career. tiative. Better chances were offered by 9.25,
10.b4 bs 11.cxb5 axbs 12. {bz
12. &xb5 Axbgis nice for Black
124.027
Creative positional play, with the idea to manosuvrethe knight aroundto better
squares. Ihese days, it's commonknowledgethat this typeofslow manoeuvring Is
often too risky. Kasparov's enterprising play in those years improved the under-
standing ofdynamic factorsin chess.
13.h4,
Gaining space while keepingtheinitiative
B.eh6

ag.d5l
A positional pawn sacrifice to open the long diagonalforthe bishop.
14..exd5 15. flg2 c6 16.0-0
Typical play: White continuesasif nothing has happened.
16...16 17. Her
Immediately opening the position with 17.e4 was also strong.
17Me7 18.8g4 thf 19.h5 Mh720.04
‘Opening theposition, while the black knightstill needs two moves to get back into
play.
20..dxe4 21. Axe4
Exchanging light-squared bishops,to gain accessto the gb-square.
Dn Bveg 22.Axe4 AcB 23. Hadi
An elegant and instructive move: before White really starts his attack, he brings his
final pieceinto play.
23..Re7

HE @
Beautiful powerplay, systematically breaking down the defence.
2g
After 24... 2x6 25. Wig6+ Wif8 26. af6 gxf6 White wins with the pretty 27. & e6l
25.g6+ 1B 26. Lal
This nicelittle bishop retreat leaves Black completely helpless.
26.45 29.:1heB
aw @ E 29...xh6 30. lig7+ winsthe house.
30.87 1-0
x 2 In the following game by my tearrmate Arthur van de Oudeweetering, diagonals are
A awa more importantthanfiles and rarks.

a 4 & Game 10
ZyonKollen 2179
& Arthur van de Oudeweetering 2307
& & Netherlandstt 2013/14 (2)

& 1.e4 65 2.0 Ac6 3. Ab5 06 4. Axc6

Thisis certainly playable, but normally White plays 4. 4.
REE & Aundxc6 5,0-0 £6 6.44 Bigg 7.dxes Pixdt 8. Exch fires 9.143 Ad6
27-Bdgl Black's isolated e-pawn may not look pretty, but his position has dynamic poten-
Ihis rook lift is the most convincing. Ihere was no need to cash in yet, by taking. tial, as we will see.
on hs, 10. Abd2bs
27. 946 28.4 Off 29. Axh6+1 Restricting the white knight.
Taking whenit hurts most. 11.3 e712. b2 Ag6
 x & x
a 44
Fe: a
4 a
& 2
& EF A”
ABAW A&&
a @
Now White needs to eitherallow the black knightto f4, or weakenthelight squares &
aroundhis king. im oY
13.830-0 14.ihg2 E16
White seemsto rely on Black not being able to take on f4. The more positional Walking backto the centre with 22. i gi wasthe best chance.
17.04 was better. 22 Oxf 23.2
a7next
This is only 2 minimal material investment, to force White to give up his remaining
bishop.
18.0265 gxf6l
A great move, increasing control over the importante5-square.
19.Def thy
Confidentpositional play: the king wants to be centralized in the endgame and
freesthe g8-square forthe rook.
20.02
Thisis too passive. Somethinglike 20.24 hadto betried.
20. g8 21.80h1
Keeping the king central with 21.ilifa offered better defensive chances.
DS 2 Beg
Blackis clearly in charge. Now the bishopsare coming into themselves.
22g? 24. Aer Ses
This allowsBlack too much activity. Everything with gain oftempo.
25.Hbr 03 26.2f2 hg This may look strange at first sight, but the knight is heading for £7, where is
Trappirg therook harmonizes well with the fianchetto bishop.
27-Hgz Mixer 28. Exe 2 7.3 0-0 8.h3
Black emergesa piece up. The immediate 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 is met by 9..d5 10.¢5 (6 with counter-play.
29.Ag3 At4gor 8.5 9.65 At7 10.44
Thefollowingis one of myfavourite games from 2019, asit is very thematic,has a Animportant alternativeis the more restrained 10.43,
nice flow, and is therefore a nice way to conclude this first chapter. r0..0d4 1.01d4 8b7 12.93
12. 23is also metby thethematic 12...c5)
Game nt
Vladislav Kovalev 2661
Hikaru Nakamura 2745
Douglas 2019 (9)
1.04.5 2.063 06 3..Ab5
The Rossolimo Variation is a popular way of avoiding the Sveshnikov.
386 4. Axc6
Just like in the previous game, White gives up the bishoppair at an early stage.
This changes thecharacterofthe position and requires inspired play by both sides.
4unbxc6 5.0-0 f.g7 6.Ler Ahél
 z w eR & Secor starts playing on the kingside.

a a aa A 2 a This turns out to betoo passive andis refuted in a creative way.

a a s oe critical.

ad Regaining the pawn, with two menacing bishops staring at the white king.
A 16.Rdq

A & “
&& A&A
H QWE ©
12.51
The concept ofthis chapter: sacrificing a pawnto create spaceforthe pieces. The
long diagonal pointing to the white king will play a key role in this game.
a3.dxe5
13.d5 €6is fine for Black
13.06 14. 8e3 g5
 18.ihgr 65
w Pushing back the bishop.
4 19. Be
‘And pushing back the bishop once more. In the remaining position with opposite-
coloured bishops, lack wall be dominating the board. Notice that the knight on f7
& is doing a great job controlling key squares and securing the kingside.
20.f.c1 Bixes 21.Pixd7 Habs
Calmly defending the bishop,before continuing the attack.
“A & 22.Mg4 DAB
AA RAD Centralization is the right strategy here.
23.h4 B43
& WE ©® Convincingly keeping the initiative.
24.004
16... xhael f24.hxgs, 24... g3 wins onthe spot
A fantastic, undogmatic move. Black gives up his dark-squared bishopfor very
24 Mixed 25.xeq Hbds
concrete reasons. An important rule: it is not important what is being exchanged,
Every move with tempo.
but what remains on the board
26.er
17. thixh2 Ble7+
The key intermediate move

26...d4
A triplingis always a pretty sight.
27-84
This moveillustrates how helpless Whiteis.
After 27.hxgs Black can choose between27,
2m Wdi 28.Pez Hxer+ 29.Bxer dr
Black systematically converts his winning advantage
30.hf Beal
Winning a piece and with it the geme.
31. Axty ect
White resigned.
Conclusion
In this first chapter we have seeneleven games in which a positional sacrifice
helped to increase the activity ofthe sacrificer’s pieces. Interestingly, the first four
examples (opening files) were all wins for Black, while the next four examples
(opening closed positions) were all wins for White. This is probably no coinci-
dence. Black tends to play counterattacking chess,so typically, Sicilian and French
games may see Black making a creative sacrifice to open files (as in Chapter1.1)
White starts the game and has much better chances to get a space advantage, and
whenBlack tries to closethe position,it will be White who tries to openit again (as
in Chapter1.2). | feel that opening diagonals tends to happenequally ofter with ei-
thercolour(as in Chapter 1.3)
Please note that this book does not make any scientific claims,if only because
this is just a small dataset. | am only summarizing what we just saw, and
developing some thoughts. Thelast thing we want is to become dogmatic about
such things. Certain things happen more frequently with a particular colour orin a
particu ar opening, butit is the exceptionsto the rules and the useofknownpat-
temsin new circumstances that is of particular interest. First and foremost, we
needto keep an open mind.
CHAPTER 2
Pawn structure
In this second chapter, we will move from piece play to pawn structure as the pre-
dominanttheme. Having a superior pawnstructure tends to be a long-term advan-
tage, and 1s therefore a natural theme in the realm ofpositional sacrifices. In the
samewaythat pieces become more dangerousif they work well together, pawns
gain added valueifthey are well positioned and coordinated,
2.1 Perfect pawn centre 1.e4 65 2.03 26 3.64
The best known pawn formation is the perfect pawn centre: pawns on e4 and d4 The Vienna version ofthe King’s Gambit.
with white or on e5 and d5 with black. If you get this for free, you tend to be au- 3enexf4 4.d4 Brhgs 5.ite2
tomatically better. Since your opponent usually will not give you much forfree, @
very interesting and fundamental method1s to make a small material investment in ZX & &BAak
order to gain the perfect pawn centre. Both the King’s Gambit (1.¢4 e5 2.f4) and the Se aaa
Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4) are based onthis principle. By studyinga few exam-
ples, both classical and modern, we will see how: these well-known opening strate-
gies have evolved overtime. Thefirst exampleis a famous gameby thefirst official
World Champion,Wilhelm Steinitz. It is a mostimpressive early bird among posi-
tional sacrifices, since it is daring, imaginative, has a great flow and eventually has Sia W
a truly modernlookto it. Keep in mind that his opponent, Louis Paulsen, was an- a
otherheavyweight from the early days.
&AA & AA
Game 12
1m Steinitz
H 2W 2A
Thisis the famousSteinitz Gambit. White gives up the right to castle in a fairly rad-
Louis Paulsen ical way, in orderto establish a perfect pawn centre. A truly amazing innovative
Baden-Baden1870 (13) idea. Our modern understanding of chess is based on whatthe giants of the past
have tried and tested. Of course, ways have beenestablished for Black to get nice
counterplay a long time ago, butit is important to understand where we come #k SA
from aad aaa
56
A promising alternativeis 5..b6 with theidea ...§a6+ and ..0-0-0. aa
6.9% Req 7. Axty yw
Regaining the gambit pawn
0-0-9 AAQD
7. Sixf3+ 8.0lixf was the confident idea. Steinitz was famousfor his handling of QA BA
theking, showingthat it is a strong piecein itself. 7..f5 8.exf5 0-0-0 was a healthy
alternative for Black, breaking down the perfect pawn centre and securing coun-
&A& 2 A&A
terplay. g w gE
8.itte3!
A fantastic trademark move,restoring the harmony in White’s position. A:serious mistake, which handstheinitiative to White.
hs 9. Ber With the pawn sacrifice 9...g5 10.“2xg5 16 Black could have secured good coun-
Calm development ofthe pieces, whichis in thespirit ofWhite's positional gambit. terplay.
10.931
Little pawn moveslike these can be highly effective. White prepares a pawn storm
onthe queenside Better fighting chances where offered by 17...dxe4+ 18. Axeq f, although White
10... Bx 1.3L can favourably return the piece in several ways.
A brillient recapture 18.ihgr
The automatic 11. £ xf3 would runinto 11..g5 12.8 g3 &g7 with a powerful attack Mission accomplished. Now it looks as ifWhite has castled, with a winning posi-
1.5+ tional advantage.
Now 11...g5 12.b4 wins for White. 18...81g7
r2.thes hg 13.b4? Modern players would have tried the more active 18... f4, butit does not change
Thisis a bit too early much
White should have secured his king first with 13.3 We7 14. if 19.1d2 h6 20.04
13.85? White dominatesthe entire board.
This weakens Black's position on the kingside, more than anything else. 20.08
13...f5l was Black's last chanceat counterplay.
14.81.23 hE 15.b5
From now onit is one-way traffic.
15. Dee7 16.0,
A pretty move, not only claiming control over thehalfopen File, but freeing the
way forthe king to walk back to g1
16... 916 17.182 Ag6
 £2 4 Blackis helpless.
& x 25.85
44,2 aw 25...b5 26.26wins as well, as Blachas no pieces to defend his king.
a A A a 26.axb6 cxb6 27. Axb6 Me7
On 27...4xg4, 28.1W!c3 checkmates.
& a 2B.exls 7 29.f6 Ac6 30.c4 Daz 31.a2
A & A The fight is over, all ofWhite's pieces are workingatfull strength.
31 Db§ 32. Ads Bxds 33.cxd5 Dxd 34.Ma7+ they 35. Lar Ae6 36. Exc6# 1-0
“A B Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov had a fierce rivalry during the second half of
& wy 2 & a wecee * oreFoswhem had White, would win in great style. The fol-
H HS g game 6 o

2.b6l Game 13
This pawn sacrifice has becomea standard procedure to openfiles. Veselin Topalov 2780
21.axb6 22. Hxt6] Vladimir Kramnile 9795
Gallery play. Wijk aan Zee 2008 (9)
The simple immediate 22.25 woneasily as well 1udg d§ 2.04 6
xf6 23. g4+ Wb 24. Ads Pig7 25.05 Taking immediately with 2..dxc4 is not as effective as against the King’s Gambit,
since White has no problems regaining the pawnand his king is safe.
3A AB 4.23 06
The Semi-Slav is a potentially very sharp opening, as wewill soon see.
5. B95 h6 6. Bhg dca 7.04 95 8. 2.93 b5
Ihis 1s the starting position ofthe Antr-Moscow Gambit. White has a perfect pawn
centre and the safer king, as long-term compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
9. fe2 {by 10.0-0 Abd7 1.465 Me7
Personally, | have always considered 11...h5to be the more practical option.

12. x7?
This spectacularpositional piece sacrifice made headlines around thechess world
in thosedays.
12. Oxd7 @xd7 13. 8 d6is the main line.
r2attind7 13.05 Ad5 14. eq
White is a full piece down, but he has a very dominantposition in the centre. It
feels as if Black's position is cut into two units that have trouble communicating
with each other.
14...the7 15. 046 BIE 16. Rg a2
‘Only ten years laterthey discovered that 16.24is the correct way to playthis highly
complex position. wa
16... eB a
Black can improvewith sacrificing a pawn first with 16..hs 17. xhs and only then
17. Bafa
4
1.
&AW
XH EG
170Bixd4?
Facing the new piece sacrifice overthe board was a tremendously difficult task,
even for a former World Champion. Returning the material does not work here,
since White keeps his dominant position.
Soonafter the game it transpirec that 17... hg8is the correct defence, which has
beentested in many gamessince.
18.g6 z x
This wins back thepiece.
18...Bhxg4 19.ixg7+ thhd8 20. @xb7+ ttic8 21.241 a &A w
White needs to keep acting quickly, before Black gets the chanceto consolidate. a ay a a
2aubg 22.Macr 3 23.bxc3 b3
Black desperately tries to keep the position closed, but White keeps attacking A & a
something with every move,keepingthe initiative. A &
24.c4 Wfg8 25. Ad6+ hey 26.7 HB a M4

&&&
iH HE &
27.0cxd5?
A spectacular positional queen sacrifice, but this is overdoingthingsa bit.
27.h3l turnsoutto bestrong,sinceafter 27... xt7 28.hxg4 White wins a piece. The
passed pawn on b3 does not provide enough compensation in the remaining
endgame.
2ne Hf 28. Rxc6+ hb8 29. Axi7 He?
Blacksll collapses under the enormous pressure.
x

De» i:
29...¥Weal suddenly would have given Black full counterplay, mainly based on the
idea oftaking on ft and queening the b-pawn.
30.046
Everything 1s back in order for White a AA a
30. h8 & &
Here 30...ltfe2 no longer works due to 31.23
&f
a &
31. Beg
Now that White has the b-pawn under control, he is winning.
31.Ble2 32.dxe6 06 33. Lb4 a8
WAAA
EG
This nicely illustrates Topalov’s dynamic approach to the game. Taking on b3 im-
mediately was perfectly fineas well, but he wants to includethe bishop in the game
‘as quickly as possible, so thatall his pieces are breathingfreely.
34Od5 35.Hxbg Axe7 36. fb1
Soonthe first mating ideas will become apparent.
36... Ads 37-h3 White has a perfect pawn centre, but Black will put it under pressure.
Neverforget about your own king. 6.887 7-08 0-0
37-h5 38.07 HB 39.26 Starting with 7...c5 is moreflexible.
Threatening mate. 8.03.59. fez Ad7 10.0.0 AE
39.06 4o. Axgs hg 41. 246
‘The e-pawncombinedwith threats against the black king decide the game. Zz 2W Ee
Ain He g8 42. 3b2 Wd3 43.07 O16 44.05 Dd7 45.006 ai asf
Black resigned
Let us examine another example from modern grandmaster practice. ad
Game 14
4
Zoltan Gyimesi 2651 &&
Jean-Pierre Le Roux 2551
Czechia tt 2012/13 (2)
& QA
& B&AA
1.dg Af 2.04 26 3.23 ds
The Grinfeld is a Hypermodern opening, as Black does notfight for the centre in x Ww HS
theclassical way.
gods Axds 5.04 Axc3 6.bxc3 This queen move may look a bit funny, but White keeps his perfect pawn centre
well guardedthis way. 18... Oxf
a1. eq 12.3
A.usefil move,taking the g4-square away from Black's minorpieces. Zz 2k e
12... .68 13.45 a Wa
A double-edged pawnpush, which probably should have been prepared by devel-
oping the rooks frst. Saab
13.06 14.c4 bs, aah
Black keepsattacking White's pawn centre with everything he has.
15.2
&
15. di was an interesting option. aA &
a5..exd5?
This gives up too much central control
& W BAA&
15...bxeg 16.dxe6 6 looks like a safer option, eliminating White's impressive & Ee
pawn centre 19.xb!
r6.ccds f¥e7 17. gs! Ihis was Gyimesr's idea, playing z positional exchange sacrifice. White gets a pawn
Energetically keepingthe centre defended in return and keepshis dominant pawn centre.
17h6 18. A 19... hxa1 20. xa1 HBB 21. eq
There is no wayback, White hasto give up the dark-squared bishop. In addition to his attractive pawncentre, White gets stable squares for his pieces.
Be
21...fS seems to offer better chances for active counterplay.
22. ixe6 BS
Winning back the piece with a double attack
23.Mdi
White keepsfollowinghis central strategy.
Picking up a pawn with 23. ct Bxa6 24.Wxh6was a good alternative.
2BB26 24.65
The knight has many attractive squares in this structure.
2dLbeB
24... €8 would have been a moreactive defence.

25.Acql
This stabi ing move emphasizes the strength ofWhite's pavn centre.
25.8 26.031
With this elegant little move, White prevents any counterplay based on bg and
keeps perfect control over theposition
26...IDS 27.05
‘Only now itis timeto moveforward.
Ex Ex &
27.BHb3 28.er
Whiteis notinterested in an exchange ofqueens, since his king is much safer. a a
28... e829. hhal
Ihere 1s voveedto hurry. Improving the king can never hurt aa
29H bd8 30.f4 3 31.eg BAA
Further centralization oY Ww &

mes Aw &

32.d3
White is close to getting perfect domination.
B25
The only way to keep some counter-play.
33-Bxb3
Now White can safely go for the endgame.
33--fceg 34. Me3 Hb8 35. cz IvanCheparinov 2718
‘An important rule for positions where you are an exchange down: don’t exchange Abu Dhabi 2018 (9)
the remaining rook
35M bs 36.04 bg 37. Rxcs DB
1udg Of6 2.04 £63.08 ds 4.63,
37-- vag 38.06 also wins tor White. TheCatalan is an important opening in modern chess White will install hie bishop.
onthe long diagonal, exerting pressure on Black’s queenside.
38.6 Bd4 39.Bcq??
A remarkable moment right before the time control. 39.2.6 was correct, keeping Andy,
full control. This tends to make the position sharper.
39. xe 40.Axeg thg7?? The main alternativeis classical development with 4...7
Returning the favour. After 40...031 41. xe3 xf Black would be completely back 5. fg2 a6 6.0-0 AG
in the game.
ghey 0
The following game makes a futuristic impression,taking things to the next level
Daniil Dubov is a strong grandmaster who has worked with the newest engines
(more on which in Chapter9) and has worked with World Champion Magnus
Carlsen, so he specializes in developing new concepts.
Game 15
Dani Dubov 2691
 x 2Wes E falling behind in development. An interesting continuation is 10. d1
9..8.b2 0-0 10. Abd2a5 11.23
aa aaa Taking timeto take away the b4-square from the black minorpieces, which empha-
4 & AA sizes the positional nature ofthe gambit.
1.Bd7 12.8.4 0413.82 as
Black hopes to ease his defensive task by exchanging a pair of pieces.
a& 14. Dfes Axe 15.Bxc4 Dds 16. fer c6 17.04
Setting up the perfect pawn centre.
a& 17. C7 18.Be2 Me8 19. di (6 20.Ac4 Hab
AA &ABA For now, Black has everything well defended.
21.fe2 ths
HASW ES
7.b30?
Dubov has a love for creative pawnsacrifices early in the game, as we will see in
Chapters as well
7.83 is the commoncontinuation.
7ocxb3 8.18xb3 Mey
Grabbing a second pawnwith &..xd4 9. xd4 Wxd4 looks scary, since Black is
 ee 25. Me3 bq 26.axb4 A xbq 27. act a3 28. ar
A creative set-up: this bishop functions as a blockadingpiece as well as an at-
a a tacker against theblack king.
a a 28... he7 29.e5 Dad
So far Black is not impressed; he supports his far-advanced passed pawn one more
time. White now goesall-in with Fis next moves.
a 30.0xi6 Mxf6 31.25 Ley

22.84
Broadeningthe pawn centre.
22...Sty 23.1tha Bhd24.84
‘One more pawn is added — an impressive picture.
24b5
Black confidently seeks counterplay onthe queenside
 a ‘Stepping out ofthe long diagonal with 35... ilig8 looks safer.
36.112?
A w a 2 aa Continuing the direct attack against the black king.
a a ‘With hindsight,the centralizing 36.1&/d2 wascalled for, with compensation for the
pawns,
& 36... bs
& A x e
a “A faa
W 2A Zz aw
2 HE & & & A&A
32.d5)?
Sacrificing a second pawn to open thelong diagonal towards Black’s king, after
which White's proud pawn centrets entirely gone a
32..exd5 33-Ac4 B46 We &
& g8 looks scary because of De:
pa dad6 Meld Hes “ a HE &
37-86
The third pawn sacrifice.
37achxeg6 38.8th4+ thg8 306
White is about to break through.
39--Mes!
But Bleck shows that he can sacrifice as well. This positional exchange sacrifice
completely turns the tables.
40. fxe5
y
If40.fxg7 hg wins onthe spot. &
40...Brees 41-6eg7 ‘hxg7
With three pawns forthe exchange, Black has a winning advantage.
4 &&
42.Bdg a2 43.h3 H &
Black eventually collapses under the continuouspressure.
Alterthe cool-headed 43... g8l 44.d8+ eB White can no longer strengthen his
attack and is lost.
44.0
Black can now get an extra queen, but he will lose both ofthem,
44000 45. Hxhs gxhs 46, xa1 Exar 47.0f1 Black has a kind offortress, butin a practical gamethesekindofpositions are hard
Materially, Black is OK, but he has trouble coordinatinghis forces. to defend, since White can simply try forever.
47M3 48.es+ the 49.then Bahi+ 51.IbBs thhg7 52.Mes+ hg 53.1e2 5 54.the3 4 55.thhdg c3 56.07 they 57.the5
Another exchange sacrifice,to play for a fortress. the8 58.1%c8+ they 59.0%c6 thy 6o.thdg sey 61.0c7 thd G2.thd3 they
49--d4 50.{l0#2 does notsolve Black's problems. 63.Mes+ Why 64.Nc2 Mes
so.thaft Deg So far Black has no problems.
ee 65.04 h7 66.1%b3 Me6
It seemsthat Black could simply stay put with 66... g8.
2 67.Mres hhg8 68.stbg thh7 69.ic7+ hh6 70.1f4+ thy 71.thb3 theB 72.hg thy
a 73-Wic7+ the8 74.thb4 dq 75.ihc4 c2 76.thxd4 Af2 77.thez Agg+ 78.ihf4 he
aw a 79.the5
 Go
D> De

79.BAP?
This sadly blunders the c-pawn.
79-843 would have kept the fortress.
80.ixc2
Black resigned
2.2 Pawn steamroller Lasker's trademark move in the QGD does not work well here, since White quickly
A kind of superlative version of the perfect pawn centre is the pawn steamroller. gets full control overtheposition.
Typically, a piece is sacrificed to get a bunch cf connected mobile pawns, that, Black can try to break onthe queenside with 6..b6 7.b4 a5 8.a3, and now after the
once set in motion,tend to destroy everything they meet on their way forward. This forcing sequence 8..axb4 g.axb4 Hxa1 10.1Wxai 2c6 11.ag Black has theinter-
1s a fur theme, and certainly one of my favourite themes in chess. Once more, we esting central break 11...§ 12.dxe§ d4 with tremendous complications and chances
will start with an example by the first official World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz for both sides.
He clearly was ahead of his time in both his chess thinking and playing. 7-Axe4 dxeg 8.12 f5 9. Beg
An excellent square for the bishop.
Game 16
9.6 10.03 216
wi 1m Steinitz
Emanuel Lasker
St Petersburg 1896 (4)
1.d4 ds 2.c4 £6 3.23 Af6 4.f4 Me7
The Queen’s Gambit Declined is a classical, solic reply.
5.€3 0-0 6.c5,
This attempt to set up a queensidebindis slightly premature, butplayable.
6. 4f leads to the mainline.
6.94
 xz Ww Ee ne
aad aa SEER.
aA a8 vote
A strong dynamic reply.
A a 13.83
S| & a 2 Accepting the pawn sacrifice with 13.fxeg runs into 13...e51 and Black takes over the
initiative.
& & 13.f?
A Ww & & & " re seve and nen with : fn ison
# S AF 05 was still the way to go, with a very sharp, unclear position.

n00-0l?
The most ambitious way to handlethe position. +1. 3 di would have secured a posi-
tional advantage withoutany risk.
1. 8
The alternative was 11... b8 to start pushing the b-pawn in a quest for counterplay
against the white king,
 Blackfeels obliged to give a third pawn.
> D> BB De foo zx c
De» [ime

15..h6 16. 8.43 would only have rradethings much worse.

aa
De» (EE
16.xg6 d7 17.64
The pawns are set in motion, which means that Black needs to act quickly.
2 Returning the queen with 17.lf'c2 to secure the queenside would actually have been
the most accurate.
a 17RY
Ce
D> De

Black had to lookfor counterplay with 17...a5,

&& 18.g4l
& AB A great move, sacrificing a pawn in orderto keeptheinitiative.
0G:

18...g7 19.1h6?
“AH
bre

19. 8c2 wasstill best, to combine attack and defence.

14.Bhxegl 19... Bxgq?
A greatpiecesacrifice, creating a pawn steamroller. Returning the piece with 19...e51was the way to break free and getfull counterplay.
14...Beg3 15.hxE3 20.43 Bg7 21.08
White now has a fantastic pawn mass, andin addition a very usefulh-file to work
with
15.26
 | 22... Rag8 23.g5 d8 24.Rh2
Conveniently tripling on the h-fle.
Eas 24Hg6 25.81hs 16g7 26.2dh
w The exchangeof queensdoes not changeanything, White is crashing through.
26...PMxh§ 27.Moxhs M18 28, Mxhy+ Moxh7 29. Mxch7+ MgB 30. Mxd7 47 31. Beg
Finishing in style, picking up a fourth pawn.
Black resigned
David Bronstein was very close te becoming World Champion and was one of the
& 2 A a most creative players ofall time. He had a specialliking for positional sacrifices
A A andreally enjoyeddaring experiments. The following gameis a good example.

SE Pt
Now thatall his pieces are activated, Whiteis fully in charge again
cine
David Bronstein
2A? Emst Rojahn
Ihis is too passive,allowing the pawn steamroller to moveforward Moscow 1956 (5)
21... 68 22.g4 e651 was the final chance to fight back, similarto 19...6. eg 05 2.0% 06 3.2.4 O46
22.84 The Two Knights Defence hasa longhistory andis still viable today.
White's position playsitselffrom this point on
4. gs ds 5.exd5 Aas
Theold theory books already indicated that 5...xd5 is met by 6.Oxf7 (or first
6.da)
HZ 2Wes =:
6.43 aaa aa
6.8 b5-is the main line
6..h6 7.263 €4 Bdxeq? a a
This piece sacrifice is not correct, but creative giants like Bronstein were never &
afraid to test the impossible. 8. We2is normal.
8...Axc4 9.044
awa
“A
BAA BAA
EAS ©@ gE
White has two central pawnsfor the piece and hopes to accelerate his devel-
‘opment.
9. DDE
9. . 2d6is also good,since 10.¢5 is met by 10... 9f
10.45
This gives Black's position somesort of stability, but giving White a defended
passed pawnis positionally risky. This is a serious mistake, after wnich White gets what he was playing for from the
10... Abd7!followed by.. c§ and ...0-0 would have been more dynamic. start: a vital pawn steamroller.
11.1943 gq 12. dbd2 12...2xf3 13. Oxf3 We7 with the idea to castle queenside wouldstill have been
12.85 4 fds 13.01d5 Wadregainsthepiece, but leaves Black with a clear positional clearly better for Black
advantage. 13.00.0014. 8e5 Shs 15.b3
Played in the spirit of a positional sacrifice: improving theposition with small
steps.
15. Abd7 16. bz Axes 17.Axes Adz
Black is exchanging somepieces to relieve the pressure somewhat, but White
keeps his mighty pawn mass.
18.03 2f619. Baer Bxc3
19. 8 20.f4 & g6 wasa better try to fight the advance ofthewhite pawns.
20.Phxc3

12.67?
 Increasingthe size ofthe pawn steamroller.
x w Re 25.1%g6 26.f5 BILE
ai A aa After 26... Dxe5 27.fig6 Axfy+ 28. Exf3 Axg6 29. dxch the endgameis lost for
a Black
27-g3 16
a& £ This does not make things better.
& & 28.06 Aes

AW
& a BAB
HE
20...6?
This definitely hands White the initiative. 20...f6 would have been more natural, al-
though White keeps coming with 21.f4
2r.e5 5 22.F4 8g6 23.204
The black queen is unfortunately placed
23. Heb8 24.08 Mh7 25.84
 As so often in this kind ofscenario, White is notin a hurry.
x

De ig:
Dat
31... dB 32.26 Axg6
ai

De-
Black starts returning material, but his position remains hopeless.
w (S BF D> 33:fcg6 bs 34.d6 TIb6 35.47 Axd7 36.exd7 Hcd8 37. DxfB

[> be
A fun moveto finish with
a& 37Bic6+ 38.1g2 1-0
& & The following game was played in the last round of the Dutch league. | remember
travelling to the venue in Rotterdam as a 14-year old boy with my father, to watch
& WwW the games and analyses. This game made a long-lasting impression on me.
& & Game 18
HE Viktor Kortchnoi 2605
Friso Nijboer 2505
As IM David Ross once remarked, when he was coaching me at the 1995 World
Youth Championship in Brazil: birds fly in a V. | think we were discussing a King’s Netherlands tt 1992/93 (9)
Indian position with white pawns running from a2 to d5 and back to g2. Here dg 216 2.4 26 3.23 Bez
White's pawns are even furtheradvanced and the V formation is even more impres- The King’s Indian is an adventurous opening,full ofpositional sacrifices.
4.04 d65, fe2 0-0 6.0% 05 7.0-0
29.h4 Wh8 30.85 Hbc8 31.ithn White cannot win a pawn with 7.dxe5 dxes 8.Wxd8 Exd8 9. dxe5 because of
oo
Tu D6 8.d5 DET x ow
This closed position is the starting point of the Classical Main Line ofthe King’s a
Indian. Black wants to advancehis pawns onthe kingside, while White is clearly a
supericr on the queenside. Kortchno1 famously always supported the white side of
this discussion,fighting greatbattles with Kasparov. a &
9. Aer De8 10. fe3 5 1.3.5 &
Black tries to block the queenside, but White has a fantastic concept in store to
deal with this. 11...£4 12.8 f2 gsis the normal way ofplaying. ay

12..21d3 £4 13. Af2 hs 14.b4 b6

Black keeps blocking the queenside
15.04 a5 16.bxc§ bres
At first sight it may seem that Black has been quite successful at neutralizing
White's queenside play.
17. bt gs,
 20. 0,661
&
{> D> de
\o-
&
bat

Da
White is not interested and focusses on keeping theinitiative and setting the pawn
2 steamroller in motion.
20.8xf8 2x18 would be a positional blunder, giving Black full control over the
S Pe
dark squares and, with it, control over the entire position. In the next chapter we
aa
(S D> De
D> De

will return to this theme.

20.16 21.65 24 22.46
{i> D> De
Central play is a mosteffective strategy against an attack onthe wing.
22h 23.0083
2 A&B The otherpossible recaptures werealso fine, but White hasa further amazing con-
cept in mind.
EW 8S 23.83
Nijboerstarts his kingside play, so itis time for White to act.
18. Axes
A fantastic positional piece sacrifice, breaking down Black's carefully constructed
blockade. White gets two mighty connected pawns,that give him the upper hand
1B.udxe5 19. xcs Ag6
Trying to tempt White with a positional sacrifice ofhis own.
 Winning back a rook, while keeping the position under control
26... 06 27.48HfxdB 28. Qxd8 Ad7 29.es He8
29...2xe5 would have restored the material balance, but the position is completely
hopeless after something like 30. 2 ds,
30.8ds
The simplest solution
30... DgfB
After30...xds 31.exds Black car choose how to take on c5, but the white pieces
are far superiorto their black counterparts in eithercase.
31. Bey Axes 32. Shy Beds 33. Axd5 1-0
Black can't avoid heavy material loss.
The following gameis a spectacular encounter between two guys | grew up with,
24.ithi since wewereall born in 1979. We always played and analysed a lot together. In the
A fantastic move, turningthe piece sacrifice into a rook sacrifice 1990s that wasstill mostly done without computers.
24... Sich 25. Sach
With full control over the light squares, White is completely dominating the posi- Game 1g
tion. Erik van den Doel 2485
25.6 26.47 Ruud Janssen 2230
Dieren 1998 (5)
 This variation is no longer considered playable.
1.e4 65 2. O63 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Axd4 216 5.0 86 9.05 is the mainline.
TheSicilian Dragonis a lovely openingfull of positional sacrifices. Ofcourse, there 10. Bxdg M6 11.stbr Bc 12.84
are many attractive ideas for White as well, which explains whythe opening is not The most convincingline starts with 12.h4.
to everyone's taste 12Htc 13.h4 Mas
6.2.e3 M27 7-6 M6 8.d20-09.0-0-0 Threatening the thematic exchangesacrifice onc3,
xz oW Ee 14.23 Hab8 15.h5
White typically attacks onthe h-fle.
aa aafa 15.b5
Mh Ab Black's counterplay is quickly becoming very dangerousthough, so White needs to
g0for the endgame.
16.ds Bxd2 17. Bxd2
«A 17. Dxe7+ 8 explains why Black neededto free the f&-square before going Was,
170 xd1B.exd5
A B&
&&AW &B
SE 2 &
Qn xdg?
 This allows Blackfull counterplay in the endgame,
Correct is 21.h4 iixg7 in order to include 22.h6+ iif8 and only then 23. Exg4.
a The pawn on h6can be very annoying, and it is more difficult for Black to activate
the pawn steamroller because his king is more passive than in the game.
DanMMxgy 22. Mga 5 23-093 IE
& Now the kingis doing a great job supporting the pawns.
24.hxg6 hxg6 25. 2h2

@ & ££
This is Black's concept: he gives up a piece, to get a promising pawn mass onthe
kingside.
18..2xd4 19.Exdg 247 leaves White with a pleasant space advantage in the
endgame.
19.fxg7 xf 20. hg Mxg4 21.193?
 RE
a A
a & a
a a
& a
A &
26... Exh27.fxb5 g5 28.b4 g4 29.6
White has found somesort of set-up ofhis own, buthis rookis a poor blockader.
gues 00404
30... li g5 would havebeen the mostnatural, notallowing any counter-sacrifice.
3.05?
White could have escaped to an equal rook endgame with 31. &xeq freg 32. Dxga.
31a thes 32.b5 1g8 33.b6 axb6 34.06
Creating a strong passed pawn, but the black pawn steamroller is the dominant
factor in the position
H 344 35-H.g1

& &
Exchanging a pair of rooks suits Black, as his pawns can more easily advance in
that case.
26. xh8?
White decides to win a pawn, but Black now quickly gets a dominant position.
White should havetried 26. hg.
 = being a rook and a bishop down
37 LB 38.0d1
Creating counterplay, which makes theposition dynamically balanced
38...g2 39. Hxd5+ 8 f6 4o. di
& a gQ a

& K x

ih a2 ee
& # aa
Anunfortunate move, after which the pawns lose mobility. & & a
Thematic would have been 35...13 36.27 lt when the black king is once more play-
ing a keyrole in supporting the pawns andthe steamroller decides the game. EX
36.a7 ds 37.shb2 40. .10...1he5?
thes:
Black must have counted on 37.081 Exa8 38. 2xa8 when 38.13 wins, despite A blunderjust before the time control
40...1¥5 would have keptthe positionbalanced. 1udg Of6 2.04 063.03 Mb4
4.Ber The Nimzo-Indian.
Winning an important pawn. 4.8 ds
gf 42. Hxege thd In Game 6 we saw 4...5.
42... 43, 8 eB! also does not work 5.03 Begs 6.bxc3 5 7.0cd5 Dxdg B.dxcs
oie
Now White queens as well, after which hewill simply be material up. Zaswe x
43Hxe8 44. Hxe8 g1 Pl 45.08% Bdge 46.1%b3 1-0 aa aaa
This effectively ends the checks. A dramatic finish for Black, butit has to be said a
that White fought well under difficult circumstances.
In the next game, Anandplays an important novelty, which was actually a leftover & A
from his World Championship match preparation against Kramnik a few years be-

:
fore.
AoA
von H Oweenk
Vessaathan Anand 2810 & & &

Wijk aan Zee 2001 (4) A fascinating positional battle has arisen: White hasthe bishop pair, but Black has
‘a very compact position and stable squares forhis pieces.
Aa &

bie

De» [mt
Mas 9.04 Ae7
aw a

De
9. xe3 10. d2 only leads to trouble for Black
10.300

(Sf Do Do» foo

10... xe3+ 1.142 would hand White the initiative.
BA

Se
11.113 icy 12. bs Bec6 13. Aer Aas 14.Mb4 €5 15.0-0 heb
This natural move is refuted in spectacular fashion.
First 15.16 16. &xa6 bxa6 17. Z adi and only now 17... 6 is the correct way of,
wW
&

>

bre
playing. White now has a fun try with 18. d5| after which Black needs to play accu-
rately to keepthe balance.
&&
&

te
16.Ad4l
A greatpiecesacrifice that looks logical once you see it.
16.nexd4 17.0004
Suddenly, White's crippled pawn structure is turned into a mighty pawn steam-
roller. Interestingly, the knight is sacrificed at the samesquare as in Game
17Abe6 18.813 Ae7 19. Hd
Systematically improvingthe position.
The hurried 19.45? would allow Black to return the piece with 19... 8xd5 20.exd5,
ands.
19... Hed8 20. ffal
Regrouping the bishop.
20...06:21.fh g3 BB 22. AFL
Instructive positional play, consolidating and keeping perfect harmony amongst
thepieces,
22ub623.Habr 03 AW &B
This exchange operation does not changethe situation.
24, Hxb3. 2xb3 25,Bhs bxcs 26.45,
&&
H 2
With his bishop pair and central pawns, White has a winning posit nal advantage
26... g6 27.Ib6 f5 28. Bxa6
Picking up a second pawn
28...B¥d729. Abs Bf 30.exf5 Bk 31.5
And pawn numberthree
Btu eB 32.0d4 HUB 33.04 1-0
Now that everythingis securely defended,Black hasran outofdefensive ideas. White should have countered in the centre with 11.c4l.
In oneof my favourite games of 2019, Alexandr Fier played in his trademark style 11.16 12.04
and created a nice pieceof art. As a sign of modemtimes, | first came across the This central counteris less effective.
‘gamewhen hepostedit on Facebook. 2d
Games z 2
Jost Deniel GemyVargs 237 aa
suo Pula209 a
AlexandrFier

1.98 2.83 Ac6 3. Mg? 26 4.0-0 B97 5.43 d5 6.3 O16 7.Bag a
In this King’s Indian with colours reversed,this queen manoeuvre does not have
thedesired effect.
7.2 bds is normal & a &
70-0 8.Pih4 e5 9. f.g5 Hd6 A A & 2
While unpinning the knight, Black consolidates his central space advantage.
seana E B®
10... Dhs| with the idea 11.c4 h6 would havebeen strong. Black increaseshis space advantage.
v1. @hé 13.24 Me7 14.04 DLE
Exchanging these knights conveniently consolidates Black's position.

be i it
15, Oxb6 axb6 16. hg Md7 17. Axd7 Bxd7

De De
Usually, exchanging pieces should give the side with less space some relief, but
the remaining white pieces are not very well coordinated

De
18.Utdr Qd8 19.cxd4 cxdg 20.63 At7
20... 2e6 would have been morestraightforward, creating the option of cs,
21. Q.d2 Me6 22. Rabi hé
Initiating pawnplay on the kingside.

DS
More conventional would havebeen to grab the open file with 22.
23.1g2 f5 24.813 BG 25.0xh5
This exchange is very double-edged,as it requires the right follow-up.
25.685
26.8.4?
26. Heil would have been correct, for example 26...Zae8 27.2b4 e4 wits a very
tensesituation
26...e41
Now Black has got what he was aiming for: the notorious pawn steamroller
27.da
27.dxe4fred 28. xd4 © g5 wins for Black becausef2 is hanging. 30.231
27. MES? Theartist is taking over. Black sacrifices a piece to increasethe size of his pawn
The immediate 27 8 would have been more accurate. steamroller. As Alexandr said at the Masterclass he gave recently in Apeldoorn,
28.fthg? during his early years as a chess player he was heavily influenced by Kasparyan’s
28. Whs would havebeen better, to keepthe option of playing ha-hg book with endgame studies on the theme ofdomination
28... Lf 29. Het He8 30.f4 30...exf3+ 31. x3 3 wasthe alternative.
31 -fegs hxgs 32.Bhs gq,
x & The key dominating move.
33.Ac4 218 34. RxB HexB
4 x2 Threatening to trap the queen.
a wis 35-fh4,
35.h4 would havebeen a good alternative, although that was by no meanstrivial.
aa 35...Bixhg 36.gxh4
&& ac WY
(S D> De

& &
eA
& &
 Re 39.Ag6 Bxh2 4o.ihgr
The immediate 40. 2x48 does not change anything,
a z 40.83 41. DXB £3 0-1
a ow &
a
& Db aad a
& &&
eA & a
& & & Abba
Now Black has a monster pawn steamroller.
37.
x
White understandablycollapses,in this very difficult situation. X EE
37. gil 3+ 38.100f1 was the hiddendefence,staying in the game A pretty picture, the ultimate pawn steamroller, reminding a bit of the famous
37 Hh7 38. Be5 Hxhg MeDonnell-De la Bourdonnais finish with black pawnson da, 2 and f2.
Allowing the knight fork, since the main thing is to eliminate the h2-pawn.
2.3 Mighty pawnchain Closing the positionlike this is another double-edged decision. Thechallenge for
As wehavejust seen, the perfect pawn centre and the pawn steamroller are very dy- both sidesis to manoeuvre thepiecestoeffective squares, since one daythe posi-
namic positional weapons. Thestatic equivalent ofthe superior pawnstructureis tion may very well become more open and dynamic again.
the mighty pawnchain. Typically, an exchangeis sacrificed to maintain an impres- 984
sive chain ofpawns, while the pawn structure ofthe opponent is weakened in one An ambitious move, as it comes down to a pawn sacrifice.
way orthe other. We will start with an exampleby World Champion Mikhail Botvin- 9. Ad7 10. ez
nik. The most promising way ofplaying these positions seemsto be the space-gaining
to.h4.
Game22
10... Ab6 11.0-0 Axaq
AlexanderTolush Black cannot claim to be a healthy pavmnup, since he does have weak squares in
Mikhail Botvinnik his position andless space on the kingside.
Moscow 1945

1.24 262.44 d5 3.23 fbg

The French Winawer leads to very unbalanced positions. | can recommend David
Miederna’s thought-provoking book The Modernized French Defense onthis subject.
4.05 55.03 Mxcz+ 6.bxc3 De7 7.0
‘The sharpest variations start with 7. g4.
Too Bhas 8.0.d2.c4
 z Black has consolidatedhis position on the queenside, but theposition tends to re-
a main unclear, with chancesforboth sides.
16.11 Hb8 17. Hebs 17 18.0.0
A thematic bishop manoeuvre, playing the bishop around to the promising 23-8
diagonal
a 18...05 19. 8.23 Lb6 20. g3 Bid8 21. 8d6?

& W de x
aa

D> De» fic foo

BAAAA x a a
& Ww ES aa &
12. hg A

De Co De
12.2 g5 h6 13. h3with the idea © f4-hsis a thematic knight manoeuvre. Once the
knight makesit to hs, it has a paralysing effect onthe black position. Ww
12... 0g6 13. Axg6 hxgé
& & &
This exchange seems to have made Black's task little easier
14-Her 0715.8 bs XH ZH 2 &
The bishop madeit to a very dominant square, but a nasty surprise awaits.
Closing the h-file with 21.h3 would have been betcer.
Du Hdl
A great positional exchange sacrifice, eliminating White's most promising piece
and with it taking the soul out ofWhite's positior
22.0xd6 M6
Here Black's mighty pawn chain gives him a large positional advantage. Note that
the white rooks do not haveopenfiles to operate on.
23.h3
White does not really have any pawn breaks left.
23..ihd7l
Another great move by Botvinnik. The closed nature ofthe position allows forthis, # aS
elegant king move. 27
24.Her hg Forcingtheexchange of queens with 27... fg 28. 2 f3 Wags 29.f:g3 Zegl turns out
The exchangeof queens would suit Black very well, as the d&-pawn would be lost to be strong as well. While White is picking up pawns on the kingside, Black does
25.les 6 26.1%g3 Hh4 27. Hey the same in the centre, after which his central pawn steamroller is the dominant
factor,
28. flea
28. Bet ixd6 29. lle3 wasa better fighting chance,
28...hg 29. £3 ba?

D> De C> Of
be
De De»
Thisis unfortunately timed
The simple 29... xg3 was called for.
2

be
30.Bxh4?
White could have taken overthe initiative with 30. & gal a
30... Rxch4.
BA’ x
& Ha A
& &

08 D>
a
Essentially, the battle is over: Black has a won endgame with his mighty pawn
chain, which still consists ofeight pawns at this point.
31-83 MB 32.cxb4 axbg 33. Mbr bE
Supportingthe b-pawnjust in time.
34ch4 Hb735.00h2 txd6
Finally picking up the second pawn.
36.24 0.63 37.Har Abs 3BF 4. OF £6 5.fer o5
Reminding White offurther pawn weaknesses. Black can also postphonethis pawn break with 5...9¢7.
38. di Baz 39-h5 25 6.f.e3 MIE
Keeping the position closed. White's position is simply unplayable. ThePoisoned PawnVariation is risky, but there is no clearrefutation.
4o.Mge Maz 41. fer 7-23 Wxb2
‘And White resigned without awaiting Black's reply. First 7....¢6is now considered to be the mainline.
A few decades ago, the Caro-Kann had a reputation of being a somewhat boring Babs
‘opening in which Black only triesto equalize. Times have changed, and today the This looks very menacingat first sight, but Black hasa fantastic reply.
Caro-Kannis just as much a counterattacking opening as theSicilian and the The pretty 8.Wbi! is problematic for Black. He cannot take the knight and White
French,as thefollowing gamenicelyillustrates. takes overtheinitiative.
8..c4l
Game 23
Niclas Huschenbeth 2457
Luka Lenic 2592
Chur 2010(3)
1.e4 6 2.d4 d5 3.05
The AdvanceVariation is now seen as the most critical test ofthe Caro-Kann. White
grabs space, while it is not easyfor Black to free himself.
 xA & £ A zx
4g... Bixc2 10.8ixc2 Mxc2
Exchanging queens and picking up a second pawn suits Black well
aa aaa vila flag
a Forcing White to proceed
12. Bes d7 13. Axa MB
a
An oman
asd 2 A key move. Black does not need any kind of piece activity. All he wants is to con-

AWA QAAA
XH We &
Stabilizing thesituation and setting up a mighty pawn chain. White can win the
rook on a8, but as long as Black manages to trapthe knight there,it will only be an
exchange,
9.Ebr
The immediate 9.4c7+ itid7 10. xa8 soon led to an overwhelming position for
Black after10... 8 xc2 in the stem game Hasangatin-Bayev, Moscow 1996.
 Az 16... 96 17. ea
aD & White now winsthe h-pawn, but Black is happy that heis close to consolideting,
4 a a aa 17. a6 18.2d2 b8 19. AE?
& White starts to lose track
After 19. xh7all results are still possible.
aA 19..axb6

£
a&é Black does not mind this structural transformation, as it accelerates his play on the
queenside.
2 ga 20.Axh7
A & A A 20. Exb6 Ac7 followed by ..itla7 also looks nice for Black.

H 26 # wee
15RB
Interestingly, more accurate would have heen 15 ofl to leave the cf-square as an
‘option For the knight to go to
16.985
16.h4l with the idea Zhi-h3 would have given White interesting play on the king-
side.
 23.thez 03 24.Rar
24, 2 xb6ilic7 trapsthe rook.
24a Bb2 25.046 shez
Black is not even in a hurry to take the rook.
26.4 Ma8 27.04 Mxar 28. xa1 bs
The mighty pawn chain is now turinginto a steamroller.
29.ttda b4 3o.h4 bs 31.5 a4 32. fhxag bxag

2
&
21. Bxh6?
Giving upthe dark-squared bishop is a serious positional mistake, after which
White 1s lost
After 21.4 gs Black hasthebetter chances, but thereis still everything to fight for.
Dangth6 22.1hd2 Abs
The same power knight as Botvinnik had in the previous game.
 39. Hgi a2 40. hr itic6 41.06 thb6 0-1
x | would like to conclude this chapter with a very inspired performance by David
a & Miedema,who managed to beat a super-experienced grandmaster.
bd a 2
& a& 2541
David Miedema 2373
aaah && Lund 2017(8)
1.08 €6 2.04
2 & The Réti Openingis very flexible, and caneasily transpose to other openings,often
with colours reversed
& aud 3.03 65 4.63 D6 5. Mg? D1 6.0-0d4
The black pawn chain becomes more and more impressive. Playing for a space advantage,which is more ambitious than the common 6. . €7.
33-h5 0334-85 hxgs 35-h6- 7.43 9.d6 8.04
White now also has a passed pawn, but it can be easily blocked The alternative was playing for a normal Benoni structure with 8.¢3,
35..c3+ 36.ihd3 Mbs+ 37.Me2 Me438.h7 LhB B.u85
The rook will take care ofthe h-pawn, the king will go after the a-pawn and then the
black pawns decide the game.
 11.Bler Pas!
The inspired follow-up. White now has to either allow the exchange of queens,
when Black enjoys a space advantagein the endgame, or acrifice a pawn,
12.Ad2 613.06

& ABA
EASY EG
This is basically a Czech Benoni with colours reversed.
9. Dhg g6 10.23
Black does not mind 10. 2h6 248 11. 2x8 ix since the king can sit comfortably
ongr HA
10..64 13.Bhxb3l?
Trying to provoke some discoordin:‘ation in White's position. Makingit a positional exchangesacrifice.
13. . 2¢7 and someotheroptions werefine as well
14.97 they!
The creative point ofBlack’s concept
15.h3 e616. xch8 Hxh3
Let us first make a few more moves, before we take stock.
17.Ble2 Mb618.Ada
Theimmediate pawnbreak 18.f4 can be met by the prophylactic 18...¢8 in order
to mee: 19.by 19...g5 and White has run out of pawn breaks.
18...1%7 19.182
Maybe White should havetried 19.f4 here, with the idea 19...exf4 20.¢5| to create
chaos. This can quickly lead to fairly irrationalpositions.
19...{8f8 20. Babi thg7 XH a
This is a good momentto take stock ofall that has happened For his minimal material investment, Black has gained full control overthe posi-
(ee diagram) tion. Without open files, rooks are hardly superiorto minor pieces. Black still has
all his pawns and no weaknesses in his pawn structure: the mighty pawn chain.
Now a lengthy period ofmanoeuvring starts.
21. Hba Ody 22.8dr Ob6
This knight is dreamingofsitting on a4 one day.
23.fc2 De7 24. fbr Bidz

SD De fo OE oat
Taking control ofthe ag-square.

Be UB
be
De
25. Dhh6 26.Ag gs
Black confidently keeps working against the f2-fa break.

fo
be
27. Adig @g6 28.Ae2 Bez 29.Wd2 M.c6 30.a5 WBE 31.h4

(‘SD De

D> De
White decides that he does not just want to sit and wait.
3184 A

(E> be

(Rho D> pe
Sticking to the strategy of grabbing space and keepingfull control overthe posi-
tion. &
Grabbing the pawn with 31...gxh4 32. Oxhq &xha 33.gxh4 Dxh4 would berisky be-
causeefter 34. 2 g3 the white pieces get interesting squares. Besides, the pawn on
&
Sis hanging.
32. fier hg 33.itgr cB 34. Ac2 16 35.Mer Aag 36. bz M6 37.0d2 Bez Black has made progress, since he now hasfull control over the queenside.
38.0 AP 39.3
White sticks to his strategy as well, and tries his last pawnbreak
39. .d7 40. fa bs
A surprisingly dynamic interpretation of theposition,after all the lengthy manoeu-
vring.
Preparing the pawn break with 40...a6 was also fine. trouble defending his weaknesses, in particular the c4-pawn.
41 feg4, 44.Bids Ob6 45.065
41.0205 c4l was the idea, when White has huge oroblems keeping his position to- White tries it with a positional exchange sacrifice himself, but Black is not inter-
gether. ested
Arncbxea, 42.decg ngs 43- Der Me6 45--Oh7
Creating a safe spot for the king in the corner. Incidentally, taking the exchange
x a would also have been very good for Black.
a W & 46.Bixg4+ 8h8 47.Ahs Be7 48.Hh3 Axcq

22s Now that Black has a pawn steamroller, the gameis over.
49-013 M7 50.15 He8 51.ih2 M6 52. Bxb6
Fr Yet another exchange sacrifice, but it does not change anything
a A&A BA 52...axb6 53.8d7 Bez

AH &
AW HQ
A &
The mighty pawn chain gives Black a winning positional advantage. White has
 be a weaponforBlack just as well. The total score in this chapter would have been

1 it
fod Dt
a bit betterfor Black if RuudJanssen had won his winning position.
i
De» fio
These themes seemto appear in a variety of openings and circumstances. The
mighty pawnchain (Chapter2.3) seemsto be a typical weaponfor Black, judging
from what we have seen. Later in the book we will come across examples where
D> De
White has a superior pawn chain
This secondchapter is the second important building block in understanding

ko b>
and mastering positional sacrifices.
&
ee
De

A
A
Just have a final look at Black’s pawn chain.
54. 2e3 dxe3 0-1
Conclusion
The main focus ofthis chapter was pawn play, and thetypical picture is a mass of
pawns dominating the position. The perfect pawn centre (Chapter 2.1) and the
pawnsteamroller (Chapter 2.2) maybe achieved more frequently by White, but can
CHAPTER 3
Colour complex
After studying pieces (Chapter_1) and pawns (Chapter2), we will now turn to
squares as the predominant theme. Training experience suggests that many people
find this subject more difficult to understand and to master. lo put it simply: you
can hold pieces and pawns in your hand,while squares are more abstract. What we
are about to see is one player sacrificing material in order to gain control over a
whole set ofsquares, which wecall a colour complex: either the dark squaresor the
light squares. In this chapter wewill study a few monumental, widely-knownexam-
ples that every chess player should know. In later chapters, the theme of colour
complexeswill keep showing up, which will deepen our understandingof it
3.1 Dark squares 4.4 exda 5. Axd4 g6?
In his book Beyond Material, Davorin Kuljasevic wrote that dark-square control
seems to be morefrequentthanlight-square control, something which sounds cor- Z SWeesak
rect intuitively. | have no idea whetherit is true, butit is an interesting thought. aad a 4
When youthink about it, since White starts the game, his most natural strategy
may beto play for a space advantage. Black, in turn, may need to find a more sub- aa a
tle strategy. Theprototype wewill studyfrst is Black putting his bishop on 7, with
theidea to systematically increasehis control of:he dark squares. Ofcourse, White
canalso dominate on the dark squares, and we will see examples ofthis in later A&
chapters. The first example is a gameplayed by a true pioneerof the dark-square A
strategy, Viadimir Simagin.
BAA BAB
Game25
Victor Liublinsky
EH 2Wee ££
Blackplays a truly experimental and risky opening set-up, whichis remindful ofthe
Vladimir Simagin DragonVariation ofthe Sicilian.
Moscow 1939
6.3
1.e4 62.03 M6 3.03 db 6.25] with the threat of7. 1b5 also would have beendifficult to meet for Black.
3.26, leadingto the FourKnights Game,is merereliable, 6... 097 7. Rez Age7 8.Bd2 0-09.h4)
Straightforward play: opening the h-file is the fundamental way of dealing with the
Ww ke

De» [int
fianchetto set-up.
4 a2 4

fo
Qud5,
‘Counteringin the centreis the classical reply, but after the following exchange,
White retains a superior pawn structure and a dominant position 4 a&
10. Axc6 bxc6 11.0-0-0 Reb 4
All the pieces are developed,the battle can begin.
A

Co
12.06
This is the standard way of exchanging dark-squared bishops, to eliminate the a
most important defender ofthe black king, but it meets with a creative reply.
In the currentsituation 12. 8 d4l would force the exchangeofbishops, with a stable
&AKWRAA
positional advantage. SE x
12... Ah81
Simagin’s trademark move, giving up the exchange to keep his important dark-
squared bishop. Ihe psychological impact ofthis moveis interesting, as it changes
thecharacterofthe position.
13, Ax PCB 14.03?
Apparently, White was worried about his a-pawn, but this is a serious mistake,
which handsthe initiative to Black x w&a
White had to continuehis plan of opening the F-file with 14.hs,sacrificing the a2-
pawn if necessary, and forcing Black to worry about his defence as well. If Black is a a Aa a a
going to recapture on g6 with his h-pawn, White can very effectively return the ex- £ a
change with Xxh8+, and after the other recaptures, Black's king position will be
weakened. In this kind of situation, fighting hard for the initiative is essential, aa
which often meansthat you needto sacrifice material. A &
1g.EBB
Now the pressure along the dark squares can be clearly felt & a2
wa
With the idea to recapture on e4 with the bishop, but the bishopis not very well
AAW BA
postioned here ee x
15.5 Blackis taking over completely.
rB.exds?
And White, unable to adjust to the new circumstances,rapidly collapses.
16... Axd5
Black is crashing through on the dark squares.
17.024 M47 18.Phas fxag 19.Pag Mh6+
Everything wins here, but this reminds White of yet another terribly weak dark 4.04 d6 5.98 0-0 6. Mer 57.83
squared diagonal.
20.f4 ZaAsw Ee
IF20. 12 Axba+ 21.ihid1 Qcz+ wins the queen. aiid a2a
20.4 Axtg 21.Ud2 Mxb2+ 22.Ndr Mcz 23. Miz Mbit
The next couple of games were played in one and the same World Championship & Aad
match and are amongthe most famous in chess history. Garry Kasparov's name 4
will always be strongly connected to thethemeof colour complexes.
BRA
Game 26
Anatoly Karpov 2730
A 2A
Garry Kasparov 2800 aA BREA
Lyon/New York 1990 (3) & We gE
dg f6 2.4 26 3.3 Bez
The Gligoric Variation.
Kasparov is famous for playing the ambitious King’s Indian at the highest possible Ihe main line 7.0-0 we saw in Kortchnor-Nyboer.
level. In his earlier World Championship matches with Karpov, Kasparov mainly re- Too?
lied on the QGD and the Griinfeld with black against 1.d4, but in their fifth match, This variation turned out to have been refuted. 7..exd4 8.axd4 Ze8 is waat Kas-
his match strategy was to strive for complex play with both colours. parov played in the 11th match game, which we will see next.
B.dxes dies 9.Ads dB
g...1Wd8 may beobjectively better, but is notin the spirit ofthe opening. zat e
10.8.5 Axegl caw 223
Sacrificingtheexchange
u.feyl a
A strong intermediate move, disturbing the harmony in Black’s position. Ds
1A 12.AB HB
& &
“a
&& BA&AA
x We gE
Just like in the Simagin game, Black has sacrificed the exchangeon f8, to get an
unopposed dark-squared bishop. It is the somewhat unfortunate position of the
black king that makes the idea risky in this case.
13.82?
Interestingly, in the stem game Scheeren-Baljon, played three years earlier in the
Netherlands, the right way to pay for White was already shown: 13.e3l 2d6
14.Waz Dc6 15.Bd1 Adg 16.4xd4 exd4 17.0-0 and White has completed his x ee
development, while Black is stil struggling to organize his position.
13AG 14-Hd1 Acél aa £ a 2a
wee ere :
The stakesareraised; Black is now even going to sacrifice his queen.
44 4&4 2
Karpov smells the danger and first brings his king into safety. a
15.. 026 &
Insisting on the queen sacrifice.
15...da was the reasonable alternative «A
acne sen AAW SAAA
16...axb6 17. Rxd7 &xd7 EH &
A truly remarkable concept: Blace has only two minor pieces and a pawr for the
queen, but his firm control overthe dark squares makesit difficult for White to
undertake something.
18.d2 Me8
Black's sacrifice is purely positional:it is not based on pieceactivity, but rather on
controlling squares.
19.63 ¢4 20. Aer
Black confidently moves forward, while White is not quite sure what his best strat- a
egyis. 4 afb
ar.fidr B05 22.2
Giving up a second pawn, which Black happily taxes. 4h @ &
Keeping the tension with 22. h1 looks like a bettertry. 4
22... xa2 23.145?
This active move backfires. & &
23.0tte7l &
Tactically defending everything and taking overthe initiative
ay BAB
& E®
24. Ab4
White is going to returnthe queen, after which his position remains problematic.
After 24.1Wxb7 & c6 25.lWeB Hal the queenis trapped
With two pawnsfor the exchangeand thebishoppair, Black still has a serious
24.6
positional advantage.
24...c61 25.Wxe6+ thxe6 26. )xa2 Qd3 looks very promising for Black
Maybe Black should have started with 26...g5 here, to gain space onthe kingside.
25,Fixe6+ Wxe6 26. Axa2 OF7
27. fer d6 28. Ab4 M3 29.02
Atthis stage ofthe game,Karpov is defending stubbornly and not simply giving in.
29...f4 30. Rdihs 31-F3 €3 32.83 85 33. Adz h4 34.08f 5
It is dificult to pinpoint where exactly Black lost his advantage, butit may behere. 44. Aga bs 45, Ha6+ they 46.Ra7+ the8 47. Ha8+ 2d8 48. Axe3
34.h3 was an interesting alternative. Giving upa piece, since Black will not be able to avoid the exchangeofhis last,
35. ite bs 36.cxbs Axbs 37. Aca they pawns.
4B..bxc4 49.Axed g4 50.1g2 Der 51. es gxfy+52.Hk g2 53. Lxdd+
2 Securing the draw. Possibly, Black's sacrifice was not entirely correct and he did
a & not win the game, butstill this game was hugely influential in testing thelimits of
whatis possible in chess. More on thatin Part IIl ofthe book
Eight match gameslater,thefollowing happened.
A a
(S> fod [to Doe

Game 27
a a Anatoly Karpov 2730
& a AB Garry Kasparov 2800
Lyon/New York 1990 (11)
& &
1.dg Of6 2.04 263.Mg7 4.04 db 5.08 0-0 6. Mer es 7. Nez exdg
EH Kasparovdeviates from 7...1&e7? which he played in the 3rd match game wejust
38.Hds
With admirable fighting spirit, Karpov has created counterplay. B.Axd4 He8 9.f3 <6 10.%d2
38.016 39. Hxcs Act go.Mg6 41.Aer thd6 42. Has fig3 43-hxg3 xg3 Prophylactically retreating the bishop with 10. & f2 is the main line.
 exds cxd5 12.0-0 c6 13.05 As a matter of fact, originally he tried to make 13..We7 14.8f Wxe5 15.06
x owE e Wrxf2+ 16. Exf2 &xe6 work, which would have been another queen sacrifice for
‘two minorpieces and 2 pawn. But 15. 4xc6l spoils all the fun. Kasparov's seconds
aa’ a 2a wittily referred to this as the ‘3rd game complex.
a aa 14.Wxe3 WB 15. Axc6
The immediate15, thtis interesting,
Aa AB.abxc6
“a Strengthening thecentral pawn and openingthe b-fle for the rook.
16.t8h1 Bb8
A B& 16... f5 was a good alternative.
&& We && 17.024 Bg
Anice rooklift
x Eo 18.63 eb
Emphasizing the harmonyin Black's position; is pieces are well coordinated.
Ihis iconic positional exchange sacrifice has played a majorrole in understanding 19.b2
colour complexes. By eliminating the opponent's dark-squared bishop, Black 19. di was an interesting alterrative.
claims control overall relevant dark squares. It is amazing that Kasparov played 19... dhs
two ofthese sacrifices in one match. Now the play gets a forced character.
20.93 Annice combination, securing a perpetualcheck.
23.fiixdg Kxh2+ 24.ttxha Bthgs eV
TheSicilian Dragon has in common with the King’s Indian that Black puts his bish-
‘opon g7 and is often willing to sacrifice somethingto increase his dark-square
control
Game 28
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 2675
TeimourRadjabov 2756
& DAWA Bazna 2009(9)

& & && 1.e4 65 2. O63 d6 3.d4 oxd4 4.Axd4 216 5.6
Entering theSi lian Dragon.
XH E & 6.203 Me7 7-6 M6 8.1d20-09.0-0-0 ds
20. hal 9. . xdq?is what we saw in Van denDoel-Janssen.
A great rook swing. 10.iibt
zB Bez 22.g41 to.exds Dxdg 11..Ax06 bxc6 12. 2 da is the main line.
Karpov keeps findingtheonly movesto maintain the balance. 10... xd 1.25
220dg! This is the tricky point of White's previous move, but Black has a gocd reply
available. Black happily gives upthe exchange.
11. OF 12.066 of 14. ALxfB BIXB 15. bs Deg
12... 2x6 13. Axd5 Wrds! is anotherpossible positional sacrifice: 14.lxds Axe3 A great square forthe knight.
15.Wida Axdi 16. Wadi &e6 with a solid position. 16.Her 65 17.44
Bhs 17. dxd4 ta gives Black sutficient counterplay as well
17.5 18.3 Axft
x ow x ee
a 2 a
Goingforthe complicated version
18..2€6 19. dxdg Dxft 20.Zhxfi {dsis also interesting, with two mighty bish-
aa
a a woes. QB 20.xdg Bibs 21.0148
Now Black needsto take somecare, to coordinatehis forces.
2 4 a Dan Oda22.12

a &
AAW &&
® 2 2 8
13.d4l
 23a xe!
Giving up the queen afterall, keeping three minorpieces in return
24.Bixe8 eg 25.Hd1 216 26.Bes Adz 27.MeB O16
Repeating moves, but White continues the fight.
2B8.Md8 eg 29. Md7
Forcingtheexchange of rooks.
29.Bixd730.BxaB M.c6 31.Bxay

&
LA&GA AB
gE
22.Page
The immediate 22...lxe8 23,xe8 Deg seems to be morereliable, as subsequent
tournament practice suggests.
23.ther
23.1xd2 was the critical move, and after the sequence 23...Waxfg+ 24.\tid1 Whé
1e2 Blackstill needs to untanglehis pieces.
 & 432. djs 33-tHbt Beg 34.thiar cs
Activating the dark-squared bishopafterall
a 35.Ib8> tthg7 36.148 Mer 37.he hs
a Black could have tried 37..e1
38.04 M2 39.05 Bxg3 40.Mdq+
At last White forces a perpetual
40.5818 41.BdB+ Yo-Y2
Interestingly, the previous three games with the dark squares themewe just saw
& finished in a draw, although Kasparov should have wonthe first one, and Karpov
A A & A hadto defend accurately in the second one. Now wewill look at an actual win, to
i avoid the impressionthat playing for a colour complexis only a drawing weapon.

White has picked up another pawn,but the black minorpieces are well enough co- Game 29
ordinated to create counterplay. lozefina Paulet 2250
p46 Nica Zwirs 236%
31. . 2c5 may have been more accurate though. Netherlands 206/17(3)
32-83 1.e4 5 2. AF d6 3. A b5+
White could havetried 32.b4 instead. Thisis a solid alternative to the OpenSi
3. A.c6 4.0-0 fd7 5. Her O16 6.c3 06 7.81.4 This pretty much closes thelight squares, and gives Black the possibility to play on
7.8 flis the mainline the dark squares.
Tou Bhgg 8.4 xd White can keep an edge by keeping the tension with 11.3
Immediately 8. . & xf3 is probably better. m1. dg 12. eg
Zz
“ i Wee ae a. a
a
rey A
A AL A ae
4
BAA
a
& AB
AB & &
HAQSWH @ .«ost ae
nds Sacrificing a pawn,to get control aver the dark squares.
13. Axdg

be iat
13.4 would have been met by13...6.

|to- pe»
De
13.nexd 14.Bid4 Bg5+ 15.01 fey 16.g1
White should have tried to fight back on the dark squares with 16.65,

D> De
De
16...8hg
16... 661 17.Bxg5 8xd4 would have been strong, since bais hanging. Black will
soon win back the pawnand keepa pleasant position,
17. Begs
BA

02 D>
Forcingtheexchange ofqueens, but Black does not mind that.
17ES 18.06 Bf
&&

0G: D>
Black now has a superior bishop anda nice initiative, which gives him more than
‘enough compensation for the pawn. x
19.93 He8 20.3 20...0-01
Anunfortunate square for the bishop, since White can no longer activate the rook Since Black's compensationis ofa positional nature, he is in no hurry to regain the
along the befile after Black takes on ba. 20. 8 d3l was a bettertry material and simply keeps improving his position.
21. Hagr?
The white rooks have no perspective onthe g-fle.
2g6 22. dd
At his point Nico realized that Black's main priority is to systematically preventall 28... Dhg 29. gf a5
White's threats, while improving his ownposition. Those two things combined is Black is completely dominating,
prophylactic play, as opposed to defensiveplay. 30. de Sg 31. Hd3 a4 32.041
22fhes
Stopping 23.f4 x © @&
23. A163 b5 a
Stopping 24. ca,
24. Of BFE a a
Stopping 25. 27>. a 4 a
25.Hdi Of
Stopping 26. dq.
a &
26.2e3, 2H A A
This retreat is a sad necessity; Black's strategy has prevailed.
26.2.dg runsinto 26..h5! and Whiteis forced to give upthe exchange.
& BAA
26..h5 27. Hggr fixb2 & £ ®
Picking up the pawn at theright moment 32hes
28.Ag2 Keepingfull control oftheposition.
28. 2.cz does not work because 28...a§ 29. 2 d4 ag trapsthe bishop. The careless 32...0h}g7 would runinto 33.f4, trappingthe knight.
33-f4,
Giving up a pawn to exchange knights.
33.Dk 34. Dretg, xf35.63,
But this only makes things worse.
35nu Mer 36.g2 MecB
Black can simply activate his rooks, after which the battle is over.
37-Hfa Ebr 38.08 ect 39.1her bg 40. gz bg 41.05 b2 42.06 Rxdi+ 43.the2
Beso4
3.2 Light squares Centralizing the otherrook with 14. adh was correct.
Positional sacrifices in orderto dominate on the light squares logically work in the 1g .d3 15,2?
sameway as with the dark squares. Once you manageto get firm control over a set
ofsquares,it will be very hard for the opponentto fight back. We'll start with a leg-
‘endary example ofa legendary World Champion.
Game 30
Robert Byrne
Robert James Fischer
Budapest 1963 (3)

1.d4 AF6 2.c4 g6 3.83 6 4. Mg2 d5 5.0cd5 cds

Am &
‘The Fianchetto Variation ofthe Griinfeld is very solid for both sides. W AAA
6.9 2877.93
Normal is 7.263, g & &
7u0-0 8. Age? Ac6 9.0-0 b6 10.b3 Ma611.faz HeB 12.Md2 Allowing the following combination, but the 20-year old future World Champion
Here White starts to slightly lose track. After 12. Z et the position is still equal has seen through the consequences more accurately.
v2.05 13.dxe5 Axes 14. fdr? 15. 0f4 was a better defensive try.
This leavesthe f2-square weak 15. Dxfal
A nasty blow.
16.thxf2 Agqr 17.1hgr Axes 18.d2 Axgal
This is what White must have underestimated. Black is not interestedin taking the
‘exchange,butrather eliminatesthe important light-squared bishop.
19.xg2 d4
‘Opening the a8-hi diagonal
20.Axd4 Mb7+ 21.0
aiiligh is refuted by 21..2xd4+ 22.xd4 and now the typical combi-nation
22. Retsl, winning a rook

2.87
An amazingfinal move.
White resigned becauseof 22.W'f2 Wh3= 23.1g1 and here Black has the tantastic
23... Bets! 24. Bxe1 &xd4 with a monsterfinish.
Kasparov has always beenvery successful with the King’s Indian, until in the 19905
Vladimir Kramnik appeared on the scene. Kramnik managed to confidently cope
with Black's ambitious play, as we will see. Conceptually, it is very exciting to see
that he countered Black's dream ofdark-square domination, by dominating onthe 2wW Ee
light squares himself, 4 BAoE
Game 31 x a a
Vladimir Kramnik:
a

(S D>
Garry Kasparov
inares 1994. A Sa
1.98 AG 2.04 63.9 Mg7 4.04 d6 5.d4 0-0 6. Mer es 7.5
The Petrosian Variation. ® BAA
Three years later, Kramnik scored another high-profile win against Kasparov in the
main line: 7.0-0 4c6 8.45 “e7 9.b4 (this is called the Bayonet Attack and through- EH SWEege
out the years it has replaced 9. e1 as the most critical way of playing) 9. . dhs analysis diagram
10. et 2 f4 11.81 (this steady bishop onfi is actually a more effective piece than 15. Za3l (another key move in White's set-up: this rook helps controlling squares
the seemingly active knight on 4) 11...a§ 12.bxag 513. d2 c5 14.04 Bab onthe ) 15.25 16.93 Dh3+ 17. Bxhz Axhg 18. Whs Wey 19. Wrgs (19.13 g4
20.2di followed by “fz was maybe best) 19..h6 (actually, after the immediate
19.-.5 Black seems to have enoughplay for thesacrificed pawn) 20. We3 f5 21.We2
4 22.2 bs (including the rook fiom a3 into play) 22...tvh7 23.exf4 exfg 24.ith1
(freeing the wayfor the other rook to cometo gi. The modeminterpretationofthe 31.Aicgl(the pretty, decisive tactic) 31. . Bxaq (31...Wxc7 32. Wixh6+ ixh6 33.2 h3#
King’s ‘ndian is that the kingside is not just Black’s territory: White also has the perfectly illustrates the triumph of White's strategy) 32 xf 1-0. Kramnik-
right to becomeactive there) 24.2 g4 25.243 Dg6 26.Egi A xf3+ (after this ex Kasparov, Novgorod 1997.
change White’s advantage becomes obvious) 27.llixf3 es 28. hs Wf 29. hg Tou @b47
Anca 30.43 (White's pieces start gathering onthekingside) 30... 25 7.25 1s the mainline.
8.25
x 8. 2.¢3 is an importantalternative
4 wie 8..h6 9. h4 g5 10.93 Dhs
x A a
ARAL
a
& & &
Co [re De

Ww
&
& Ee
analysis diagram
 This dynamic move is typical for Kasparoy, but its a bit risky.
De jo ze
D> de > iE
De [nt

14...2¢5, provoking 15.b4 247,followed by..27-25, looks good.

aa ag.exl5 es 16.b4 4
Raisingthe stakes with further dynamic play, instead of retreating the knight.
a wa
& 2A With the disruptive push 17,61 White could have taken overtheinitiative
A A 17Od 18. Mxd3 exd19.461
Playing the disruptive pawn move after all. After 19.lWxd3 WS the bishopswill
“4 AB dominate the knights.
&& B&&A 19. x6 20.1xd3 1B
20... e7 looks more solid, sinceit keeps ¢7 defended
gE Wwe Eg 21. Abs ffs
Blackis chasing the dark-squared bishop,but in the process heslightly weakens
the light squaresin his own camp. This leads to a tense andinteresting situation.
rihg gq 12. Dh2 Axg3 13-bxg3 5
Black has achieved his positional aim, but the situation remains very double-
edged
14.005
 Bu HB 24.006 BME 25. Of
zx w

ho (g-
25, Bet was an importantalternative
a 4a 25. Hes 26. dr Bis 27.Bc
A x Emphasizing the positional nature ofthe sacrifice: White does not mindthe ex
change ofqueens.
a & 2
bh
2oe Bh 28.65
AA 0B: D> D> Dee Avery tensesituation, but Black remainsin the game.
28... 2B 29, e3 HE
wW
&
SS

&
re

22. xf!
An elegant counterpart to all the thematic positional exchange sacrifices that Black
tends to make in the King's Indian.
22a Hxh 23. x7
When e white knight appears on c7 in the King's Indian,it is time for Black to start
worrying.
 White starts dominating the position.
33. He7 34.Hxhs Hefy 35.ith2 M1 36.He5 EA
Meanwhile,Black keeps finding only moves,to stayalive.
37-Heg Wdh 38. Dxgq+

aa x

30.Begl
Another fantastic positional sacrifice: Kramnik gives up a pawn, to stabilize the
situation and create a good squareforhis other knight.
30..dxc§ 31-b51 2k
The key follow-up. 38...08h7?
31. Mh6 32. er HeB 33. Hes Atlast, Black collapses and blunders.
After the correct 38...il)h8 the highly complex battle continues, since 39.25 2 ffl 8...a6 9. Maz bs 10.245 Mey
forces White to give a perpetual ~ otherwise he will be checkmated himself.
39.Me5 Bez
x 4£We x
Now 39 A is met by 40. 2 g7+, gaining an essential tempowith the rook. 2a a 4
40. B18+ 1-0
With the white pieces, Kasparov played an iconic positional exchangesacrifice aim- 4 4:2 A
ing at tre dominationofa colour complex as well & Db &
Game32 &
Garry Kasparov 2805
Alexei Shirov 2740
ay
Horgen 1994 (9) ABA BAB
1.24.5 2.963 06 xq Wee F
11. Axf6
2. . 9e6 3.d4 ord4. Dxd4 26 5.23 €5 is the other move-orderto enterthe Sicil-
ian Sveshnikoy, and after 6. dbs d6 7.2 g5 we reachthe same position as in the In the Sicilian Dragonit 1s a very bad idea to give up the dark-squared bisnop just,
game. like that, but here the situation in the centre is static and thelong diagonala1-h8 is
3.d4 cxd4 4. Axd4 O16 5. Ac3 Ac6 6. Adbs dé 7.24 €5 8.95 closed because ofthe pawnon es,
The position mentioned above has been reached. 1Ax
The Sveshnikovis a revolutionary opening, sirce Black gives up the important
square ds, seemingly for nothing, but decades oftournament practice have shown x W de x
that Black can reasonably play around this square. In recent World Championship 2 aaa
matches the Sveshnikov has played a majorrole.
12. Alby a a 2
This is a sideline. Black usually chooses a combination of ..0-0, ..2g5 and aDs
Eb8.
13.02 Ob8
& &
Regrouping the knight. &
14.04
Breaking the black structure on the queenside, to gain further squares for the
AA BAB
pieces. Wee Ff
1g.nbxag 15. Rxag Ad7 16. Rb4 17. Bxbyl
There was nothing wrong with 16.2 but Kesparov has something special in A greatpositional sacrifice. By e iminating the lightsquared bishop, White starts
mind his strategy of complete dominationon the light squares. A revolutionary concept
16...0¢5 against a revolutionary opening. Today there are several versionsofthe sacrifice of
‘a rook against the light-squared bishop in the Sveshnikov andit has become a
standard methodofplay.
17. @xb7 18.b4l initiative in thefollowing moves.
The key follow-up, completely domi-nating the unfortunate knight on b7. Black should havetried 27... a8.
18...g5 19. 943 0-0 20.04 28. AxfB shxfB 29.5
White is not in a hurry to develop his remaining pieces, but rather makes sure his It actually feels as ifWhiteis a healthy pawn up.
piecesreachthe best squares. 29...a3
20.0 21. 9.d3axb4 22.00b4 BIB.

(Sle

De
There is not much that Black can do. Maybe 22. .ivh8 was a flexible start, keeping

De
iO De
his options open.
23hg
A typical device, forcing the bishopto make a choice

D>

D> be
Bu Mh6 24. AcE Ha2 25.0-0
At last White has completed his development, and he dominatesthe position.

D>
25. Hd2

Dt ko

ire D> 1
(Oneactive rookis not enough to keep the balance
26.0983
26.Wbr Waz 27.2c4 was a strongalternative,
26...PMaz 27..d7 Ad
Returning the exchange does not save the game, as White developsa very powerful
30.81
A very powerful tactic, unpinning the bishop. London 2012 (5)
30...the8
After 30. xd3 31. d7 Black is busted. 1.d4 d§ 2.c4 63.9% Af6 4.23 06
The ChebanenkoSlav.
weg
Now the bishop makesitselffelt too. 5.6) deg 6.04 26 7.8.62
31 Hee 32.Bixh7l White plays the opening in Catalan style, with a powerful fianchetto bishop. He is,
Another tactical blow, deciding the game. not in a hurry to win back the c4-pawn, and ratherfocusses on development and
32Hxc4 33.g8+ Mdy34. AbE+ Me7 35. Axce Bics 36. Hail creating pressure,
With a pawn and an exchange up, many moves win, but Kasparov keepsfinding the 8.0-0 cxd4 9. Axdg Abd7
‘optimal moves. To completethe piece ofart, the final piece is broughtinto play. 9... €7 seemsto be more straightforward,to decide where to put the knightlater.
36..8d4, 10.92
36...Woe4 37.2 a7+ and White will pick up the knight with check. Regrouping the knight to eventua ly pick up the c4-pawn.
37-Hag fcr 38. De31 10...7 1.4
Tactics until the very end. 1-0 Forcing Black to weaken his position.
Let us conclude this chapter with another examp e by Kram 1.85,
11.1816 12.a51 and now 12...lxb2 13, 12 followed by bi wins the queer.
Game33 12.de 00513. Rg5
Vladimir Kramnik 2795 By putting the @f6 underpressure, White increases his control overthe light
Luke McShane 2713
squares.

€
be >
De» De» {co
Deiat

De» [i
Be he
Probably Black should have started with 13...b3 in an attempt to disturb White’s
plans.
14.85,

S
Just like in the Sveshnikoy, White gives up his dark-squared bishopto get control
overthe d5-square.

D>)
14.5 15, Ads BEB
A &

D>
15. . Bd 16. xdlooks very goodfor White
16.Aicez bg
& &&

b>
& wo &
A strongpositional exchangesacrifice, to create a queenside bind.
17KB
Accepting the exchange with 17... dxa1 gives White good compensation following
1B.lagel Adz 19.xar Bc5 20.Dxeq4 Reb 21.Zdh, butstill this line hed to be
tried
ae rooklift &2 x
1B. dg a x af
18... Axa 19. Axf6+ Wxf6 20. Zxa5 e4 21.lWic2 is also better for White, but gives a a) a
Black more chances for counterplay. i
19.66 He7 20. Hxc4l &
Kramnik insists with his positional exchangesacrifice. &
20.Bxc4 21. Mexc4
Now White has impressive control overthe light squares. &
21... Abs 22. bt
& & & g &
A harmonious move, keeping the queenson theboard.
224 23. BdBes a wy EH &
24.83
Thestrictly positional approach.
Regrouping the knight with 24.2e3l followed by eds would have been very
strong
2dMey 25.015 Hf 26. ds
‘Opposite-coloured bishopsfavourthe attacker.
26... g7 27.Blg4+ thé 28.04 A great second exchangesacrifice. The two knights will dominate the two rooks.
Playing for cq-e3-f5 mate graced 32. Aacss+ fB 33.0THE+ Me8 34. Mxtz+1
28... Ad4 29. 203 65 The attack continues with force.
A desperate attemptby theEnglishmanto fight back. 34efhhdB
30.0h3+ Mg7 34...lixt7 35. Wg7+ wins easily since the rook on h8 is hanging.
35.0g7 HIB 36.Axd4
x Threatening a huge fork on e6.
Az 2484 36.6
Black is forced to return an exchange.
aX 37. Axc6+ bxc6 38.4
& Weaa Keeping theinitiative with direct threats.
as 38...thie7 39.1Bd7+ thb8 40.da
A solid moveto reach thetime control.
“A AW 40.87 41.01d7+ hb
& & A
EH &
31. Hxdal
 Thelast fine point ofthe game,sidestepping all checks.
45-00d
45...lxfa 46.1d7+ picks up the bishop with check.
46.B+ BxcB 47.xB
47-Wb6+ Wa8 48. d5+ was the most accurate.
ATPIs 48.10g4 h5+ 49.1lxhs +0
Conclusion
In this chapter, we took on an important themethat many chess students struggle
with initially. Since a theme connected to squares is more abstract than a theme
mainly connected to pieces (Chapter or pawns(Chapter2), it may take more
‘examples to fully understand whatis going on. I decided to take a few strong proto-
types to start with, and to deepen our understanding of this theme as we come
42.thgal along further examplesin later chapters.
Black can barely move, therefore improving the posi with small steps is a good The most frequentfor Black seems to be dark-square control, with the big proto-
strategy. type being the flanchetto bishop on g7. Possibly,this is becausethe £8 normally
420 R46 needs to be developed fasterthan the £c8, in order to bring the king into safety.
42.86 43.xd6+ xd6 44. 947+ the] 45. 2x8 xfB 46.44 wins easily. The mosttypical scenario for White to play for domination on the dark squares |
43-b4 Bid4 44.18xc6 tha45.i8h3! can think ofis allowing ...xa1, which wewill study in Chapter 6.4
 White seems to be dominating onthe light squares more frequently. Again, this
may be connected to the earlier development of fi. The exampleof Fischer
showed that Black can just as well be very dominanton the light squares.
Let me emphasize that this chapter is not the last andultimate word on colour
complexes. It 1s a building block, containing nine games, which wewill use on our
way to understanding and masteringpositional sacrifices. Do not worry if you do
not fully understand everything immediately. Further examples will shed more light
onthe matter as we move along.
CHAPTER 4
Domination
In thefirst three chapters, we have looked at piece play, pawn structure and colour
complex, as fundamentalbuilding blocks in our understanding ofpositional sacri-
fices. In this fourth chapter, we will combine everything we havelearned so far and
look at the ultimate theme: domination. Now we will not just control a certain set
of squeres — we will dominate the entire board. This fourth chapter will conclude
thebasic course in mastering positional sacrifices, as all fundamental themes have
been discussed at least once. In further chapters we will consolidate our knowl
‘edge and broaden ourhorizon
4.1 Tote! domination This is oneof several options White has at this point.
While is not easy to achieve and it doesn’t happen regularly, it remains the dream b7 9.8 xf Mx 10.cxd5 exds 11. Ri cs?
strategy total domination. And even whentotal domination does not happenin ‘An interesting positional pawn sacrifice, typical for Kasparov's style.
your own games,this ideal picture and method ofplay maystill be very helpfulin The normal11... £8 is perfectly fine.
your general strategic thinking. And if nothingelse, in any case, the examples are r2.dxcs,

caneapnd oesatthaynpnmetomfee za W ze
youth ae aa
Game 4 a 2 &
oe
Elmar Magerramov & a

Baku 1977
1. A AG 2.d4 26 3.c4 ds 4.903 Bez Wa & D
The Queen's Gambit Declined always served as Kasparov's solid back-up weapon. A A A A A

sts
Today 5. & f4 is considered to bethe mainline. HSS =#
5...0-0 6.€3 h6 7. A hg b6 8.81b3 12. Adz
The imoressivepoint. 15.5 16.01d1 Deb
Black accelerates his development considerably. Everything with gain oftime.
13.06 17. da dal
A goodintermediate move. Insisting on sacrificing a pawn,to openfiles anddiagonals.
13.0186 2ic5 14.lW'c2 axb6 gives Blackinteresting positional compensation for the Baexd4
pawn 18. De2 We7 19. dxd4 Dxd4 20. xdg may look solid for White atfirst sight, until
1. xc you see 20... Zad8l. Black will exchange White's only active piece, after which
Black snould avoid 13... 5 14.0xby1. Black's remainingpieces will all be more active than their counterparts.Still, this
14.dq? had to be tried, since the gamecontinuation is worse
Thisis a serious mistake, which gives Black a stronginitiative. 18... eB 19.6
Correct was 14. Axd5 25 15, dxf6+ Waxf6 and now forcing theexchange of queens 19.05 is refuted by 19...0f4+ 20.8e2 Dxgat 21.18ift and now 21... d7l 22. ilixga
with 16.18'c3 Wxeg+ 17.bxc3, after which 17 acB gives Black positional compen- Wg5+ 23.00 A hg+ 24 ther and finally the knock-out 24...li'g2. Thecalculationof
sation for the pawn, but not morethan that. theselong forcinglines has always beensecondnature to Kasparov.
14Badal
Black did not fal love with his strong darkssquared bishop andrealizes that
keeping theinitiative is more importantthan anythingelse.
15. Bxdg
i5.exd4 Wigs gives Black a powerfulinitiative, for example 16.g3 Dcsl.
 x w EK @& aritien 2 fH is mate.
arn Oda 22. fer
a aa 22. Oxigh ic mate 22.04 Hegel 25.04 regewins the ook on ht
a £ A a 22... Oxf+ 23. fi Whz+ 24. g2 Ahg 25. Kher

x zx @&
A A aa
a OA 4 a
AR H AR
a Wees Ff 5) a
w
fantastic positionalpiecesacrifice, which by leads byforce to a position where & A 2
White 1s completely tied up. E
noes W of
If20. xfs 2 g5+ winsthe queen
20..hg+ 21. Efe 25. Had8l
Bringing thefinalpieceinto play.
26.8e Ramsgate 1984.
After 26. Wag very strongis 26... f5,
26... dg 27.0f2 AF 1.04 €5 2.4 ext 3.08 B5,
Black can play as he wishes, but this is the most convincing,in the spirit of the (Of many lines, this has always been regarded as the main one.
position. 28. &xd3 Axh2 is mate. 4hg 64 5-265
28.Rhr Hde3 5. Desis the alternative.
‘Completing the domination. Sah6 6. Axl?
29.Ehgr hs A daring piece sacrifice, which is still tricky to meet over the board,if you are not
Emphasizing that White can’t move. well prepared
30.Hh bslo-+ 6. ity
Finishing in style. Once the white knightis dislocated,everything collapses.
We will now look at one more game with the King’s Gambit, before weputit aside
as a museum piece. While the opening is objectively not very good,it did play a
majorrole in the history of chess,in exploring the limits of what is possible and
whatis not.
Game 35
Manuel Bosboom
Erik Teichmann
 zx Aa £ w 2 ax eee it is doubtfulthat Write has enough compensation forthe piece.
444i & . ?
a This is mistake, after which White gets very nice play for the piece. Cor-
rect Wxf6 and Black hasthe upper hand.

AAA “" 'ae fk

hak Oe
AWAA WA w a
HAQWS2 £
This position wasalready knownin the 18th century, maybe even earlier. A & a &

Pat
phe
development.
ical pa 7-5 AW AN
# aw BA
Q #
r2.thg3! Black's last chanceto fight back was 17... 847
The king is remarkably comfortable here and White's development will be very fast 18.4
Keepingfull control overthe position.
12.0. 6
12... €6 may have been the best try.
13.Bcqe
ZH fe @& E
The immediate 13.¢5 was strong. 44h A W
13.ite 14.05 dB?
This fails tactically, and gives White a winning position. a
Black could have more orless keptthe balance with 14... lig6. &
15,Bid3t
The key move, getting full control over the position. 2AW aA
15.07 &
15. . xd16. ig6+ itid7 17.26+ is a disasterfor Black if 15...xdg 16.8 g6+ ids
17. dil wins the queen because of17. . xd 18.
BAA &
16.1%g6+ EH 2 Ez
The immediate 1 Al was the most accurate.
16...18d8 17.21 Bey This is how it works: consistently take away squares from your opponent.
19... eB 20. Bez
x & 22w x
White is not yet interested in winning the quezn with 20. f7 but rather enjoys
dominating the position aaa
20.uh7 21. f7+ dB 22.26 & & a
Nicely usingtheoutpost on gé.
22.Bhg8 23.45 &
Taking away further squares from Black
Bu 847 24.06 Axg6 25.hxg6 MeB e é

BBA &
x Eg
26.2471
This move flows naturally from what happened before. White turnsthe piece sacri-
fice into a rook sacrifice.
26... xf 27.exf7 Md6+ 28.ihxg4 BB
Black canhardly breathe,
29..A.da cs 30.9.f6+ they 31.6
31.0%hs would have nicely fit in the picture as well standard way ofdoingso.
31h§+ 32.003 BNE 33.0 Khe8 34.87 Why 35. Les 5. Abs
White calmly finishes the game 5.21¢3 is the mainline.
35. Mxe§ 36.1xe5+ hb6 37.8E 1-0 5-.d6 6.04
Setting up a Maroczy Bind
Thefollowing gamecan be regarded as the ultimate Kasparov game. It wasthe key
6. 16 7.0163 26 8. Daz
game in his second World Championship match against Karpov and thus helped Because ofthe knight on a3, this version ofthe Maroczy Bind is considered fine for
him to becomeWorld Champion. Besidesthe irr portance oftheresult, its creative Black
content was of the highest possible level as well: innovative, daring, testing, in- Buds
structive with a greatflow, and resulting in total domination. This straightforward move was first played by Dely in 1965, but neverreally caught
Game 36
Anatoly Karpov 2720 Normalis 8. . 8¢7.
Garry Kasparov 2700 g.cxds exds t0.exds Db4
Moscow 1985 (16) Thelogical follow-up.
mfter
1.e4 65 2. Of 26 3.d4 cxdg 4. Axdg D6 Thecritical answer. 1.24 Seq 12.8¢2 Axe2 13.Wxer+ Wey happened four
Kasparov played this move-order to reach a Scheveningen structure,without allow- gamesearlier, in the 12th match game. Black regained the pawn and soon a draw
ing the Keres Attack (4... 6 5.413 d66.gal). Eventually, the Najdorf became his was agreed.
 Thisis not testing the black concept.
Z S2Wee E Critical is 12.8 31 Qxe3 and now the intermediate move 13.Wag+l. Following
4 aaa 13. . 247 (13...d7, as played one year later in Karpov-Van der Wiel, Brussels 1986,
a a is not good becauseof 14.fre3) 14.1Wixb4 WE 15, Wxb6 6, we can pause and
take stock White still has the extra pawn, but lack has reasonable drawing
& chances due to his superior dark-squared bishop.
A 12...0-0 13.46 fl
Black’s strategy is based ontaking away squaresfrom the white minorpieces.
ay A v4.fies
&& BA&A 14.2 ¢4 was an important alternative.
14. HeB
& AWS E
This imaginative move turnsit into a purely positional pawn sacrifice, the Kasparov
Gambit
Recapturing the pawn with 11... bxd5 is playable, but after 12.0-0 2 xa3 13. xd,
0-0 14.8 3 White's position remainseasierto play.
12.00
 x wz a 16. Hadi
16.d6 would have been the moststraightforward
4 aaa 16... 243
a a This kind of powerful knight is called an octopus.
17. @abi?
2A 22 Holding onto the material with this passive moveis a serious mistake
Aa 17.061was forced. After 17...lWxd6 18. xa8 Exa8 Black has compensation for the
‘exchange,but anything can still happen.
ae) 2 17 h6 18. hg b4
&& AAA The white pieces are being pushed to inferior squares.
19.04
& wW EG 19.2 was a more practical try, but after 19...Wb6Black still has a large advan-
15.Bid2 tage.
White should have activated his knight with 15.24 since 15, 13 (correct is 19... 846
15...2d3 with compens: sn) runsinto the positional exchangesacritice 16. e3!
xfi 17.ilixfi and suddenly White hasthe superior pieces.
15..bsl
Now the white knight remains stuck on a3
 suffocate White's position
wx ©& 21... 805 22. 2x05 Axes also would havebeenstrong.
a
[o> BF De
22. ixd6
2 a 22. b2 Axb2 23. Wxb2 g4 24. £2 loses a piece to 24..Ec2
22..Exd6 23.23 Adz!
& Keeping the bind,by regrouping the otherknight.
Das 2 24.8g2
24, b2 is met by 24...W6lwith the point 25, dxd3 Axd3 26.xd3 Des,trapping
a
IE Ce ft

the queen on an openboard

A& wW && 240BEI
Paralysing both white knights.
a H & 25.23 a§ 26.axb4 axb4 27.Ba2
Kasparovwrites that he'd still had this position on the board in his homeprepa-
ration, which is truly amazing.
20.fg3 UB
‘Completing development. Meanwhile, the white pieces can barely move
2.b3 gl?
Such a double-edged move requires confidence. The g-pawnis used to further
 Whiteis running outofideas.
29..1hg7
Maximizing the flexibility in Black’s position. IfWhite keeps doing nothing, Black
mayslowly but surely start an attack along theh-file.
30.85
Finally breaking free, butthis seriously weakens the white king.
30...xd6
Now that the character ofthe position has changed, Black quickly eliminates the
& & & pawn,before moving on.
wy ABA 31-fegg Bdge 32.10h1

A HH EG
27hg6
Emphasizing the posit nal nature ofthe gambit: as long as White does notthreat-
ento untangle himself, Black can consolidate his position.
28.46 24
Blackis not interestedin taking the pawn, and rathersticks to his strategy.
29.de
 For a moment,it looks like White will get a third piece for the queen, but he quickly
loses because of his weak back rank
»

fa
De
36...Be3 37-Hxd3 Ber
A cleankill

De
38.Mb2
If 38. xe3 Exdi+ 39.81 xe3 wins.
Aas 38.182 39. Ad2 Hxdi+ 40. Axdt Hers 0-1
+

fio Co Do White will be checkmated

& Wojtaszekis one of the current top grandmasters with a beautiful positional style
A and a specialliking fortotal domination

A EE ® Game37
Radoslav Wojtaszek 2711
32... 961
Played with fantastic accuracy: the secondknightis joiningthe attack and Blackwill Zbynek Hracek2631
soonwin lot of m:aterial, Ai les-Bains 2011 (7)
33- Mf Meg 34.xd3 1udg Of6 2.04 063.03 Mb4
A last desperatetry. The Nimzo-Indian.
34Of35, xt Mixd3 36. fd2
4-98 c5 5.63 cxd4 6. Axd4 Deg
The main ini 6.0 KAS &
7.Bie2 Bras x
7 8bKey is theslid akerative 4h 4 bf
8. Agel
Ihe desired move tums out to be tactically justified a
8B...AxeZ ray
B.A xcge 9.bxc3 Wxcg+ 10.8xc3 “xc3is notplayable, because Black is too weak £

b> 1 B b>
onthe dark squares.
&
& & AB &
& & E
9c!
‘Oncemore,fast developmentis tactically justified.

9. .ag 10.23 27 11.2b§ and White will soon win back thepiece, while keeping a
dominantposition, as happened in the stem game Shirazi-Zuckerman, New York
1990.
9. . 2xe2+ 10. xe? also makesit difficult for Black to get his remainingpiecesinto Winning an important tempo.
play. 15.17 16. M4 €5
ro.bxcg Mxc3 11. Ab3l
Keeping theinitiative x 2 xe
m1.dg 12. Axdg Bx AAWA Abd
12...xa1 13.263 Weg does not work because of 14. Dxatl Waar 15. 2b2 Bra
16. Hat, trapping the queen
13.Hbt Ee &
Thetactics are over for now; White has nice compensation for the pawn.
130-0?
& &
This natural move leads to trouble. &
Blackfirst had to secure a certain degree ofcontrol over the dark squares with 13,
6.
& BW AASA
14.Bd1 x &
White is not interested in taking back the pawn onby,but rather plays tor posi- 17. Hxesl
tional comination. The key move, a strongpositional exchangesacrifice.
14, Wdil may have been the most accurate. 17.0.Bes 18. Ed5 bq?
14.Be5 15.5, 18...Wxd5 19.0d5 exf4 is no improvement, since 20.d6 leaves Black paralysed
18...'We7 would have been thebesttry.
19.fixes He8 2 2 @
19...ifet+ 20. 8fi only makes things worse, since White is threatening to trap the a4 4 4
queen.
20.fheg x & 4
Creating a square for the king with gain oftime. a £
20..h6 21.246
Securing complete domination
& @
21... Pers 22.18g2 a5 &
Trying to bring the rook into play, but itisal too late.
23.0 Hab
& BW AASA
w
24.051
Systematically keeping Black boxed in
2a Me6 25.8.d5 Mar
Black cannottake on €2, because f7 is too weak.
26.A.xe61
Played fortactical reasons.
 the Caro-Kann has becomea very exciting opening.
The alternativeis the non-committal 8...W¥c7.
9.Aer
After 27...le1 White has timefor 28. 3f4l followed by 29. 8 c3,trapping the queen. ‘Animportantalternativeis to gain space on the queenside with 9.a4
Let us conclude this sub-chapter with another sparkling example from current 9.87 10.25 5
grandmaster practice A good momentforthe pawn break,although 10...a5 also cameinto consideration.
mfg cg
Game38 Closing theposition in this wayis fine, as long as Black follows theright strategy.
Eric Hansen 2582 12. Ada gxfg 13.xt
Yuri Gonzalez Vidal 2553
Baku 2016 (5)
1.24 6 2.d4 d5
The Caro-Kann.
3.05 M5 4. Of 06 5.Mer Adz
Black decides to postpone the thematic break ...c6-c5 for now.
The alternative 5...c5 was seen in Huschenbeth-Lenic.
6.0-0 h6 7.Abd2 Ae7 8. Ab3 g5
This inzeresting double-edged movehas becomethe main line, which showsthat
 thesituation.

Ire kD foo
Co De» po Og:
De» mt

Dat
14.16 15. ¢3
el From this point on, White starts to accelerate his development.
15..0-0 16. O63 £6?

ho be
Ihe thematic pan break 1s unfor-tunately timed. Ihe best fighting chances were
offered by 16... 24,
4 17. Oxf xk

ARRAY AB
ZH QWaA ©&
Here Black starts to lose track. It turns out that kingside castling is too risky here.
Correct was to start with 13...b6 and to play for queenside castling, whenthe
position remains razor-sharp.
14. fi!
A key move, after which the white piecesall find good squares and White controls
 Blocking the fpawns further paralyses Black's position.
20. De5
Blackis also well aware of the concept ofpositional sacrifices, hopingto get a
pawnsteamroller.
2.Ohal
This move is like a cold shower forBlack. In the following moves White consis
tently declines any material Black is offering andinstead fully focusses on further
domination. This is exactly in the spirit of positionalsacrifices.
Ba 6
21... g4 does not work, since on ¢3 the knight will soon belost.
22.0d2 Hac8 23.3
Making sure everything is firmly secured
18. Hof! 23.4leg 24.h3,
This positional exchangesacrifice is spot on and the only correct way of playing. Improvingthe king is often a good idea in such situations.
18...exf§ 19.061 24. Sf 25.82 Rife
This pesitional pawn sacrifice is again the only move, which buries theblack bish-
opalive.
19... Bixe6 20. 8 fy
 zx @&
aa zx 2
a
Ce

D> [SF fhe Do

4 4
AWQ
AB WA
q &
26.8g3
White very calmly executes his kingside attack and there is nothing Black can do
abouti
26... Ld7 27. g6 Ad8 28. xfs
White starts picking up material, and the gameis over.
28...We6 29. Axh6 Hee7 30. 0xg7 Hxg7 31.He +0
4.2 Dominationin the endgame 7-33 26 8.h4_
As we have seenbefore, often the side that pleys a positional sacrifice does not Both players show an experimental approach to the opening,
mind exchanging queens, since the long-term positional compensationtends to 8...e5 9.263 Mg7 10. Mes Mas
still be there in the endgame. Domination certainly is a famous endgame theme Black should have questioned the bishop with 10...h6.
and apzears in many endgame studies. In the following examples wewill typically. wn.Wd2 Bidz?
see queenless middlegames or endgames with most pawnsstill on the board,in " h6wasstill called for.
which onesidesacrifices somethingin orderto achieve total domination. As usual,
‘we will start with a classical example — a nice game bythe legendary David Bron-
stein.
Game 39)
David Bronstein
Fridrik Olafsson
Portorez 1958 (12)

1.e4 65 2.063 d6 3.44 cxd4 4.Axd4 016 5.a6

TheSicilian Najdorf
6.8.4 Abd7
Normalis 6...06.
12. Axl
White seizes the opportunity to go for a good endgame.

De De
12.hs] also would have beenstrong.
120x613, Ads Bixd2+ 14.H8xd2

Ol be

be
White immediately neutralizes the bishop pair and Black cannot avoid the weak-
ening of his pawn structure.
14. HB 15.Oxf6+ exf6 16. Hadi

oS
Centralization is a good default strategy.
16...the7 A&
After the exchange of queens,often it no longer makes senseto castle. The king
& &

ree

[=
needs to becentralized as well, and in this case the d6-pawn needs protection.
17.Md5 Bc6 18.63 x
Taking away the important c4-square from the knight. 19.0652
18, 2 xc bxc6 19. h3 was an important alternative SoonBlack will be stuck without counterplay, and this was the momentto do
18... Bods 19.xd5 something about it.
19...b5l was a difficult decision to make, butifWhite wants to make useof the c6-
square, he will need to weaken himself as well with f2-f4, which guarantees Black a
certain degree ofcounterplay.
20.c4

(Se Dom ie
Securing spaceon the queenside

bee
20.ihd7 21.8
Taking away anothersquare from the knight.

be
Dah§ 22.Mer Me7 23.04

D> be
Killing thelast hopes ofcounter-play.
Buu HeB

D>
De
23..a5 was anotherdifficult decision to make, but maybe Black should havegiven

D>
upthe 25-square completely and tried to set up some sort ofblockade.
24.Hher
Following the samelogic, White should have considered 24.25
ZH A
24.08 25, He2 Adz H
26. Bxe8+
Exchanging onepair of rooks often favours the superiorside in technical positions.
It limits counterplay to a minimum,while retaining enough winning potential.
26.1Mxe8 27.95
‘Completing the bind afterall
2ue D5 28. Bez
White row starts regrouping his knight and king, before setting the queenside
pawn majority in motion
28...thd7 29.she3 HeB 30.1hd4 He8 31.0% they 32.b4 thd733. Rca
The next mini-goalis to improve the rook
33.Mc7 34. Me2 Md7
Black can only sit and wait.
35.05 HB
After 3¢...'¢7 White has 36. ¢3 tld7 37.2 d3 and Black's position collapses.

36. Exes!
Even with limited material on the board, such a positional exchangesacrifice can
be highly effective
36..dxe§+ 37.Mxes HeB+ 38.18f6l
This is the highly instructive point: the king can be a very powerfulpiece in the
endgame.
38... Rez 43-8!
It will take Black a few movesto actually take a pawn ‘Oncemore,the remarkable role ofthe king. The passed pawncannot be stopped.
39.ttxty Hb3 40. Axg6 Hxb4 41. Bess eB 42.d6 43e0Hd2 44. Ag6 tbs
Probably, Bronstein had basically calculated everything until the end, when he On44... Beat, 45. De7+ wins.
sacrificed the exchange. 4583!
420. Rb2 Accuracy until the very end,
45.47 icy would completely spoil the win, and 45.27 f4 would complicate the

45--Hdh 46.27 +0
| was attending the following gamelive, after finishing my own game. In the end
Enwin Ami spoiled the win, but the imagination anddeep planning he shewed are
impressive.
Game 40
Niclas Huschenbeth 2542

Vlissingen2013 (6)
1.24 65 2.Ac6 3.d4
The Scotch Opening. 11. fh.g3 Axes 12.09% db
exd4 4. Axd4 Bc5 5. Axc6 bxc6 6. 2.3 hg 7.0-0 Keeping the pawn structure compact and bringingthe final minorpiece into play.
7.Wea 26 8.h3 ds 9.exd5+ iti d8l and now 10.0-0 & xh3lis a coolidea in this vari- 13. Axhg
ation 13.Wres! Axes 14. Bxhg Bxb2 15, d2 Bar 16. 1 is the critical wayto play.
Tun O16 8.13 0-0 9.05 Aga 10.Mt4 Mdg Yeu Bods 14. Bats Bxbe 15.Ada Mxa1 16. xat
This tactical sequence eventually leads to the exchange ofqueens. Becausethewhite bishopsare havingtrouble findingtargets to hit on,Blaccis fine.
Ex 2 z a 16... Rab8 17.23 Hfe8 18.f4 Ag6 19.8d3 Ae7 20. b3

& Ad bbs
4
&
2 2 A wy
2 YW
ABA &&&
HA B&
 get more scope. Altogether, it's still equal.

De (:
> ne
29..Heb7 30.822 Hey

De

De
Wehave browsedfairly quickly throughthe first part ofthe game, but now thereal
a action starts.
31. Reb
With 31. 8.4 White could have repeated moves.
é& x &
A QB & a x ba’
A&A BB 224
x & a &
20.465
The rightstrategy, playing against White's minorpieces.
21.03 Bc6 22. Mer Adg 23. Dxdg cxdg 24.05 Mey & 2
The position is balanced. A &
25.85 c§ 26.f 16 27. Mcgr HP 28.63 diez 29. Rxc3 # &
White has opened the position a bit more for the bishops, but the black rooks also
31. Hxe6! 4o.hs asl
A great move, which drastically changesthe natureoftheposition. Black no longer Black wants to dominate onthe whole board.
has to worry aboutthe powerfulbishoppair. gah
32.fce6 Hb333. fide ey! slag Beas 42.thfy a2 and White is not out ofthe woodsyet.
Iheking sits comfortably in front ofthe passed pawn. 41 hg 42.Mg2 Mb; 43. Miz
33, x23 was also possible, but it allowed certain counterplay starting with
34 Bb
34. ferds 35. Her gs!
The start offantastic strategy ofdominating the bishop.
36.1
36. sal Ebi 37. c2.c4 38.0bf2 itixeé 39. i'e3 would have solved all White's prob-
lems.
36..d4l
Now Black continues constructing a total blockade.
37.84
37. :2 still lookslike the way to play.
37 hg 38.ithg2 Hc3 39-h4 h6l
This calm reply fits in well with Black’s strategy. 43.04)
Now the bishopis completely dominated; an impressive picture.
44.He2 Hog 45.fb2 hg 46.thge 1b3 47.thfe hz
‘Again this move, to force the white king away from the centre
48.ihg2 Bd3
Ihe culmination of Black's strategy, completing the picture he had in his mind
many moves ago.
49a?
Returning the pieceto free his position.
Paradoxically, only ultra-passive defence with 4g. cil ¢4 50.Zetl would have al-
lowed White to save halfa point, for example §0...c3 51.002 Hh3 52.1g2 and Black
cannot make progress.
49.hxe6 50. xcs Hda+ 51.03 Hxba 52. Has
52..Hb1?
A greatpity, as Black was very close to completing his piece ofart.
The straightforward 52. aw x 55. ilindg
a7+ t2d6 56.2.a6+ tics and Black will queen one of his pawns) 55... g3!
3+ ilic7 and White is running out ofchecks.
Now Huschenbeth convincingly drew the rook endgame: 9.Ads 10.0cd5 €6 11. 8.4 bS
54-Hab+ they 55.itixd4 Hfg+ 56.thds Hxgq 57.az+ thd8 58.Lh7 Hg3 59. Exh6 Black wants to develop some counterplay on the queenside and try to get some
Hxa3 60. xf Hh3 61. Ha6 a3 62.\eq Hxhs Ye-Y2 pieces out with gain oftime.
The following game by Nakamura is a modernversionofthe classical Bronstein 12..0b3 21b7 13. Mes Hd7 14. Ber as
‘gamewe sawbefore. Same material balance, same scenario.
ZA e
Game 41
Hikaru Nakamura 2772
2 EK afa
AdhibanBaskaran 2567 4 a
Tromse2013 (3)
4a Sb @
dg f6 2.4 26 3.3 Bez
The Kir g's Indian.
&
4.04 d6 5.9% 0-0 6, Me es 7.dxe5, & “a
Because Nakamura had won the first gameof the mini-match with black, he de- && A A&&
cided to keepit safe and simple in this gamewith white, by playing the Exchange
Variation, qi @ &
dxes 8.FIxd8 Lxd8 9..2d5 15.theal
9. g5is the main line. In the endgame, the king needsto be centralized, so this movefits in well
1S.h6 16. Me3 a4 17.dxc6 Axc6 18. Ads Adg+19.fxdq Mxds
Easier was 19..exd4, to meet 20. 8xb7 with the intermediate move 20...d3+1 and
Black has solved all his problems.
2o.exds exdg 21. es Hb8
21...b4 wasa good alternative
22.ttid3l
The kirg feels great here, since it cannot be attacked and is ready to actively take
part in the game.
22 Kdd8 23.Bher AB

24. Aes)
A strongpositional exchange sacrifice, after which Black needs to work hard to
keep the balance.
ae xcs 25. xcs Hd6?
This moveis badly timed
The most accurate defence wasto start with 25.
27. Bxbs (27.\lixd4 Ze8,to play the rook around the passed pawn,gives enough
counterplay) 27....d6 and White lacks a convenient wayto take on da.
26.1txd
White now has a pawn and a perfectly centralized armyfor the exchange.
26.1018 27.44
Providing the knight with extra support
2 AteB
27..b4 may have been better.
28.h4
Here, starting with 28.4 c6 was an importantalternative
28.8B?
This weiting strategy does not work, as White can keep improving his position
28..£6 29. 2xg6 (White canstill go for 29. .c6) 29...a3 30.b3 Zdd8,with the idea 30.g5!
to offer the exchange ofrooks, was some sort of narrow path to stay in the game. White is starting to seriously dominate the position.
29.04 theB 30...
Exchanging a pair ofpawns with 20...hxgs seemed more logical here.
3r-thegl?
Anticipating Black's next move.
31.Ac6followed by 32. hes wasalso strong,
31anf6 32. Hc6l
Now Black cannottake on e5 with check.
325+
32... Hnc6 33. Axc6 t5+ 34. Nesis similarto the game.
33.tNde Hbd8 34. Hxd6 Wxd6 35. ites,
The remaining black rook is completely dominated bythe white forces.
35..the7

36.031
An elegantlittle pawn move, almost putting Black in zugzwang,
36...Ma6 37. Ac6+ Me’
37.-\tid7 38. 4 b&= nicelyillustrates White's complete domination.
38.thd6l
Underlining White's domination in the most impressive way, and very similar to
Bronstein’s king. 12.03 2813. Abs Hy
38...ihf 39.17 Ha8 40.d6
The pawncan no longer be stopped x 2 Le
Black resigned AahE bb
Game42 a a a
Erwin mi 2611
Sergei Movsesis 2671
QO &
Hersonissos 2017 (4) &B
1.dg Af 2.04 £63.8 ds 4.23 bg & RA
The Ragozin Defence. AH BAA
5.0.95 h6 6. Oxf6 Oxi 7.Blagr Ac6 8.03 0-09.La Mg6
8 8 is an important alternative.
10.8 aghg
This endgamevariation is a practical choice: White aims for a small, enduring White starts to gain space on the kingside.
edge 14.06 15.93 Hd8 16.54
10...Bhxc2 1. Bxc2 BAB Possibly, White should have changedthe timing ofthis move.
With 11..dxeg 12. 8xc4 8 d6 Black could aim fora different pawn structure. 16.26
Black could have countered with 16..dxc4 17.8xc4 es! whenfollowing 18. 2xe5
Axes 19.dxe5 & xga he has full counterplay.
r7.0xd5
At last,White decidesto stabilize the pawn structure.
r7exds 18.83 Be7 19. a4
White's positionis certainly easierto play.
19..c6 20.Ac5 Hb8 21.ite they
Black snould have considered 21...a5.
22.Ad3
Likewise, White should have considered 22.b4.
22eB

23.651
Securing the outpost on e5 for his knights.
Bouhs 24. Ate5 Be7 25. AxcB AxcB
25...5 xc8 would have been more natural.
26.03
So far nothing too dramatic has happened, but now Black loses track
26... 846? x x

D> De (8 Be
A positional blunder, which allows White to change to pawn structurein his favour.
26....d6 would havebeentheright wayto retair the harmony in Black’s position. a a
mas
Suddenly the following exchangeis forced 18.8 oO
a&

D> De
27ou Shxe5 28.dx051
Black must have underestimated this recapture.
28... De7 29.06
Thethematic move, and now youwill probably feel what is coming already. & a &
290-08 AX &&
30.f4l
A powerful positional exchangesecrifice.
30. x16 31.x46+
Whiteis creating an impressive pawnstructure.
318h6
Maybe 31... 8 offered better chances ofdefence
32.Her Hbe8 33.2g1
White should havestarted with 33. 2s
33Hes
Black missed his chance to go for33..<5.
34.5
Now White starts to dominate the entire position
34H c7 35.65?
Too hurried. White could havestarted with a movelike 35.9263,
3585?
This simply loses. Defending the rook with 35. cB and thus unpinning the g-
pawn would suddenly have been very unclear. White could try the spectacular
36.26 fre6 37.f:e6, but the resulting position looks dynamically balanced, as
Black will at somepoint return the rookfor a few pawns. 38.0
36.06 Total domination. Theblack pieces are all boxed in
A powertul breakthrough. Blackis helpless. 38..b6 39. 2.431
36..9437-e7 He8 White's only worry is to stop the black rook from coming to d6,attacking the f6-

7 40.2b4 B.d7 would have ruined everything

39-5 Dutch grandmaster Erwin I’Ami has a specialliking for domination in the endgame.
On 39..2.d7, 40. De5 wins. Total domination can be obtained with either colour, in any kind of opening, but
40.04 Hedy 41.Bdh dg probably a bit more often with white. Of course,it is not easy to try and achieve
If41... d6, 42. dixds defends (6 and wins. this in your own games,butit all begins with seeing a collection ofgood examples
42.04 hy and getting an idea ofwhatthis 1s all about.
a 46 43.¢5, same story. In the next few chapters we will systematically study further examples of posi-
43. Ads, tional sacrifices to deepen our understanding ofwhatwe already know and to learn
White can now win as he wishes. new patterns as well
43. Lb8 44.1 g3
Black resigned
Conclusi
Wehave come to the end of Chapter4 andwith that we have reached the end of
the first part of the book, which completes our basic coursein mastering posi-
tional sacrifices. By looking at piece play (Chapter1), pawn structure (Chapter
andcolour complexes (Chapter3) in turn, we have collected all the building blocks
for being able to understand the ultimate theme in strategy and positional sacri-
fices in particular: domination (Chapter4). Kasparov played a few really famous
games onthis theme, and some other great players quickly come to mind as well.
PART
Typical positionalsacrifices
CHAPTER 5
Typical pawnsacrifices
Now that we are equipped with the fundamentals of positional sacrifices, we can
start our study of thematic positional sacrifices that have becomestandard meth-
‘ods of play in modern chess. Ihe most frequent sacrifices are pawnsacrifices and
‘exchange sacrifices. In this chapter wewill look at typical pawn sacrifices and in the
next chapter at typical exchangesacrifices. Independent ofwhat your own opening
repertoire may be, itis very usefulto study the rrost important pawn sacrifices and
have a basic understanding of them, since their main ideas may easily flow from
‘oneopeningto theother. It is their sharp eye for these kind of cross-connections
that distinguishes experienced players.
5.1 Benko Gambit Betteris something more activelike 4... bg
We will start with one ofthe most imaginative pesitional pawn sacrifices in the his 5.dq 27 6.2xc6 &xc6 7.d31
tory chess, the Benko Gambit. We will follow our usual chronological method, by White has temporarily given uphis bishop pair,in orderto get a dominant position
lookingat past, present and future. This gambit usually starts with 1.44 06 2.c4 in thecentre.
§ 3.05 b§, but we will first study an old predecessor in which its basic ideas were Tousexda 8. Oxd4 26
developed in completely different circumstances. Next, we will see an early exam-
ple of the Benko Gambit by Benko himself and a model game by Germanexpert x Wee =
Zaragatski. Finally, we will see how thebasic ideas of the Benko Gambit have aad a 4
spread to anotheropening.
SA Ab
Game 43
Aron Nimzowitsch
José Ratil Capablanca wD &
St Petersburg 1914 (1)
AW
reg 052.D6 3.3 O16 BAA BAA
‘The Four Knights Game.
4. Bibs dé
E 2 @ &
Thisis rather passive. 9. Axcé
Here 9. &.g5 £g7 10.0-0-0 would give White the dominantposition he was aiming
for.
9..bxc6 10.1126
White goes pawn-huntinginstead, which is not withoutrisk.
10...dz 11.817
11. 8 ¢3 would beless consistent.
11... BB 12.8xa7 i g7
Black has acceptedthe loss of a pawn, but now quickly finishes his development.
3.0000
&
&
The immediate 14.f3 is more flexible and was played by Laskerin 1923 (drav) and
Baramidzein 2019 (win)
14. BAB
Blackstarts to develop certain counterplay,first by putting pressure on e4.
15,Bidz We6 16.63 Adz!
The start ofa great regroupingofthe knight.
17.Mde?
This unfortunate movespoils the coordination in White's position.
17.24 looks like a better move to start with
170 Des 18.We2 Ac4
Everything with gain oftime. Now White's queensideis under pressure,
19.Habi HaB
Capablanca starts occupying the open files on the queenside. 19...d5,or taking on
d2 immediately, would have been more straightforward.
20.04
White should have used the opportunity to retain his bishop with 20. e1
AAW &&
20. Oxd2 21.Bixd2 Beg HE &
Black now has the superior minorpiece and the pressure increases. This position is ofsignificant histo-rical importance. It is a basic picture of what
22.Hfd1 Heb& was later to be known as the Benko Gambit: pressure along the open a-ile and b-
file, combined with a strong bishop on g7.
23.Weg Hbg 24.Pigs?
White looks disoriented.
Thelast attemptto try and keepthe position together was 24. da
24. dar
24...} ab8 would have beensimplest.
25.ihh1 Kab8
The pressure has become too much, White is going to lose material
26. xd4 Bed
The bad news for White is that Black keeps a clearly superior position as well.
27.Hdh Beg 28.hg Hxb2 29.da Wes 30. Ler Bhs 31. Har

31aBeha
Black patiently picks up one pawn after the other, the gameis over.
32.iMg1 Ths 33.05 HaB 34.06 Wess 35.i8hr Weg 36.07 Wes 37.05 Mes 38. Mag
Prhs+ 39. ign Bless 4o.itha ds 41.h4 Bxaz 42. Adi 01
Wewill now study one of the early games by Pal Benko, who was notthe first to
play the gambit, but did a lot to promoteit, by playing it and publishing books on
it
ZASWee
Game 44.
Milan Vukic
a asbbai
Pal Benko Aa
Sarajevo 1967 (1)
ah
1.d4 F6 2.c4 c5 3.05 bs, &
AB ABRAA
EAQSWSRAE
The Benko Gambit, which is also known as the Volga Gambit.
4.cxb5
A practical way of declining the gembitis 4. Wea
4-06 5,bx06 Bxa6
5.86 6.263 &.g77.e40-0/is a very modern move-orderthat is currently popular.
6.3 d6 7.96 £6 8.3
The alternative approach8.e4 we will see in the next game. strong bishopon g7.
Mer 9.8420-010.0-0 Abd7 A.word on the pawn structure: Black has virtually no weaknesses and especially the
pawnonc5is very strong,
x Ww ze 11.Blea FIDE 12. Edi HAb8 13.b1
BAALA Both sides have played according to the above.
2 & &”db 13DB
13. . ga becamethe standard way ofplaying, to exchange a pair of minor pieces
a& ‘on e§ and to play the knight around to ca.
14.95 a8
14...h6l would have beena tricky reply, sinceafter15. 2 xe7 Wc7 the bishopis pretty
aA a much trapped. White can turn this into a piece sacrifice for a bunchof pawns, but
&&A AAA Black is doing finein that case.
15. Af
HE aw fo White could have confidently playedin the centre with 15.¢4
Both sides are about to completetheir development. White wants to consolidate A .h6 16. Md2 ez 17.63
his position as much as possible, while Black will start to increase the pressure A solid way of stabilizing the queen-side.
along the afile and b-file. Generally, Black does not mind the exchangeof a few 17.ABE 1B.e4 Mxfi 19. xf
minorpieces, as long as he keepshis major pieces on the semi-open files and the 19 .itixft followed byi g2 may have been the most economic recapture.
19...18d7 20. fer thhh7 21.i8g2 White. In the next game we will return to this strategy.
21.h4 would have offered interesting play on thekingside. 23.05,
The intended breakthrough, Black has solved all his problems
Ot 24. Of4
aWwaate 24.05 dd gives nice play as well
a ad aa 24udre4 25.Exe4 dg
Nicely using the outpost.
a& 26. Axd4 xd
&
AB AR
& WS AxvA
& &
21.061
Annice plan B in the Benko Gambit: switching from queenside play to centralplay.
22.dxe6 Axe6 23. 2e2
This knight moveis clearly too modest. 23.a4l lookslike the right way ofplaying for
 28. Oxag
‘And this was the second threat. Typical for the Benko Gambit is that when Black re-
gains his sacrificed pawn, he tends to keep a clear positional advantage
29.Hber
White should havetried 29.h4.
29. xb3
at” 29... ¢8 followed by.....¢3 would also be strong.
30.fixbs Hxb3 31. Hey Hb2?
& & The simple 31... g8 was called for.
& We AvA 32.HL1e2?
32. Exfyl 12+ 33.103 would have created amazing counterplay outoftheblue.
H 32... C3 33. Mxc3 dxc3,
Dueto Black's superior coordi-nation,his single passed pawn is no worse than Now itis all over, Black's big passed pawn will decide the game.
White's connected passed pawns. 34.Hofy Hae 35.00f 25
27.04? Winning material
A tactical blunder. 27. 2 bet wascorrect, with a balanced position 36.Hxg7+ shxg7 37. Me6+ thf6 38. dg Hxe2 39. Axe2 Rar
27.8671 White resigned
Threatening to win the rook. We will now look at a fine model gamewith the Benko Gambit, nicely showingall
the main ideas.
Game 45
Vitaly Kunin 2533,
Ija Zaragatski 2428
Maastricht 2009 (3)
1.dg AFB 2.04 5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 26 5.bxa6 g6 6.23 fxa6 7.04
7-23 46 8.g3 is what we saw in the previous game.
Tou Six 8.t8xh d6 9.23 £1.87 10.1hg2 0-0 1.93 Abd7

So far we have beenfollowing the main line

12.Her
v2.a4l 1s considered to bethe best setup for White, An instructive way of orga-
nizing White’s queenside was shownin thefollowing game: 12..Wb6 13.We2
fbB 14.Absl (using the newly created outpost) 14.. eB 15.8d2 De7 16. Axc7
Wxc7 17. Zhbil (including the final piece into play) 17...Wb7 18.
the b-pawn and gaining control over the b3-square) 18...f6 19.b4 (White has
x

De» [mt
taken over and is now a healthy pawn up) 19...cxb4 20. 2xbq Wd7 21. Bxb8+ Zxb8

>
22.a5 Zc8 23.WWd3 Wa24.803 Wad 25.Ad4 Ad7 26.9c6 Afb 27.06 WhfS 28.27
eg 2g. A xc§ dxc§ 30. lab 1-0 Miedema-Albadri. Vienna 2016.
12.85 ly a
12... a6, ..Wa8 and... b8 is anotherstandard way ofdeveloping. adh
13.Be

iS)
13.a4 BAB 14. 8.d2 and now 14... Zxb2 15. 25leads to a lengthy complicated line
thatin the end seemsto favour White &
13. Oe4
This is the thematic knight manoeuvre.
&AWR ABSA
14.B0d2 Ages 15. Axes Axe§ 16. 2e2 & X
This move does not reallyfit in. 16.24 should have been considered again. 17.Begl
16...1936 17. OF A very important theme:in the Benko Gambit, the endgametends to favour Black.
17.8.¢3 Wd3lwith similar ideas as in the game. After 18.ilhxd3 xd3 19. Zeb1 Black Ihe white queen1s actually an important piece in keepinghis position together.
gains the upper handwith the instructive pawn break 19...f5 18.Hect
White should have kept the queens on with 18.b1
18...0xc2
The immediate 18... a4 may have been most accurate. RA
19.Hxc2 Hag! x
Another key move, emphasizing Black's dominance. aa 2 a
8?
he increases the problems. 4 4
Givinga pn vith 0.55 n042.24 as re essere a&
aeTEsen
eg

3.445
21. Mer a3 2 . Her Lfa8
gOa A
A A&&
AB H GA
H 2
23. Abs!
Now the knight starts dancing through White’s position.
24.03
After 24. & fa Black could considerthe cool 24... a3,
2 dg 25.02 bz
This knight completely paralyses White's position, but things quickly become even
26.Rb Hdgl ee
The rook enters the position as well aa2a
27.4 Hedi 28. e2?
28. Kt had to betried, evenit after 28... Xxct 29. fect Dxct 30. Hxct {i xba Black a
remains a pawnup.
28... er
A
R&B
& ABSA
EQ &
‘A fantastic picture: total domination
29.f4 Bdgl
Winning matenal
30.Axd4 cxdg 31.0 Dxh 32.theft Le8
Trapping thebishop. Whiteis lost.
33.4 Axct 34.b4 Maz 35.b5 Ac3 36. Rb4 d3 37. her fl
The thematic pawn break in the Benko. 8.d5 Aas 9. Od2
38.0x5 ext 39.td2 Axds 40. dg Ab6 41.05 9.b3 c§ 10.dxc6 Axc6 11.2.3is the simple, modern wayofplaying and leads to a
41.xd3 a8 wins the pawn as well. more pleasant structure for White.
ginMege 42.ttindg Axas 43.Hag Dby 44.ihd4 Hes 45.HaB+ fy 46.2h8 9.5 10.82
ws
Now the restis easy. Zz £W Ee
soepin Bre a & Ab
47-Bxh7+ Heb 48.h4 Acs 49.tc4q Hbi 50.Kh6+ tidy 51.Rg6 eg 52.tdq a a a a a

‘The next game starts offas a King’s Indian, but then not untypically transforms to a
kind of Benko Gambit. A model game by DingLiren. In orderto be able to play the A a &
King’s Indian well, one needs to know the main ideas of the Benko. &

Game 46 a &
Levan Pantsulaia 2614 w
Ding liren 2459 &
Qinhuangdao 2011 (9) XH &
1.9% 96 2.04 26 3.83 Me7 4.2¢20-05.0-0 d6 6.d4 Ac6 7.93 a6 10...b5!
This is one ofthe basic positions ofthe Fianchetto Variation Avery energetic move,turningthe King’s Indianinto a Benko Gambit.
10... 8, to prepare ..b7-b5, used to bethe absclute standard wayofplaying. A greatidea, provoking weaknesses in White's position.
cbs axbs 12. xb5 BIDE 14.04 MB
Developingwith gain oftime Temporarily retreating to its initial square, regrouping the bishopto the a6-fi diag-
3.93 onal
Stabilizing the knight on b5 with 13.a4 does not work here becauseof 13... 8 47. 153
x £ =z a Preventing the ... 0 f6-g4-e5 manoeuvre.
15. a6 16. 0dr

Wa Aa te
a a 2 a White should have considered sacri-ficing a pawn himself with 16.e5|?.

A Blackis gaining good control over theposition.

17.08
This gives Black a free hand onthe queenside. 17. 1 makes a better impression,
with a more orless balanced position
& vrais
A a gg Ay The pressure on White's position increases.
8.br by
H ES uke restricting the white pieces.
3. MEL 19.Afi HAS
The perfect mobilization ofBlack's pieces. Anexcellent, counter-intuil fe move. Giving up the best piece in this fashionis sur-
20. f.xc4? prisingly often the key to make progress in the Benko Gambit. It needsto be well
Ifthis is necessary, then somethingis seriously wrong with White’s position. It was timed though,sinceit can only be doneonce and there is no way back.
still possible to sit tight with 20. 8 da. 22.bx3
20...1xc4 21. fg5 22.Wxc3 Wxc3 23.bxc3 #6 followed by 4 e2 wins an exchangeundervery favourable
circumstances,
xx fi Dm feo ie 22.Be2
D> Do» pS
be
be

De The second point ofBlack’s thematic exchange on c3.

2 23.Ad2 Ae5
After this logical follow-up it’s hardly possible for White to keep his position to-
1 SE be

gether.
24. Rxb8+
D>

24. Sxe7 2f3+ 25,0liga Hxb1 and no matter how White takes back, he will lose a
Doe
cS
1G Ce

large amount ofmaterial.

2d Hxb8 25.ag 16
be D>

Now that Black no longer has a bishop on g7,this move makes a healthy impres-
bee

sion, creating granite for the white bishop.

arBxcgl 26.83
 E & 27. AfZ+ 28.ihge Md3
Black hasa decisive attack
a a 29.flag Axd2 30.Hxd2
2 a a a 30. 2xd2 &xeq+ also gives Black a mating attack.
hs 0
BAA na guna br) 31..Whrs 32.thg4 Axeg 33.ibh4 BF and White will be
Ny & mated quickly.

& & AA
& Aw &
E &
26...FZ
Now that the king controls the eB-square, therook is readyto enter White's posi-
tion.
27.Ble
27.04 Ebal leaves White fairly helpless as well, since the Wa4 has to keep defend-
ing the Zh
5.2 Marshall Gambit
We will now turn to the second big positional pawn sacrifice, the Marshall Gambit.
Its basic ideais that with theactive ..d7-d5 pawn break, Black frees his position.
Interestingly, fouryears after producing a forerunner to the Benko Gambit, Capa-
blanca was also involved when the Marshall Gambit sawthe light of day. US.
champion Frank Marshall waited for this prominent encounter with the World
‘Champion to introduce his new concept. Next, wewill study a classical Marshall
style game by Spassky and a modern model gameby Gustafsson.
As with the Benko Gambit, the Marshall Gambit has gained universal value, as a
standard method of play for Black in many 1.e4 €5 positions. We will examine how
Gajewski created his own version ofthe gambit and how Dubov recently tested the
limits by insisting on the pawn sacrifice, even against the Anti-Marshall
Game 47
José Ratil Capablanca
Frank Marshall
New York 1918
1.e4 652.03 Ac6 3. Abs
The Ruy Lopez or Spanish Openingis well respected andrich in content.
26
‘The Berlin Variation 3... f6 is an importantalternative.
4 Rag
4.2uxe6is what we saw in Kollen-Van de Oudeweetering.
4-96 5.0-0 fey
5. Axeg 6.da b5 7.63 ds B.dxes & e6is the basic po ion ofthe Open Spanish
6.Her b57.8b3 0-0
This movesignals that Black mayactually push his d-pawn two squares.
7--d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 leadsto thestarting position ofthe Closed Spanish
83
8.a4 is the Anti-Marshall we will seelater.
 Marshall’s original interpretation ofthe gambit.
Later on, 11..c6 became the main line.
w2.Her
12.d4 is the most straightforward.
12.0.8.d6 13-43
13.d4 was still possible, since the standard sacrifice 13...Axha+ 14.tbxha D gage
15.itigi hgis refuted by 16.8963
13. g4
‘An inspired attacking move, but Capablanca wasin excellent shapethat day:
&& & B&A Here 13... Ze8! followed by.. & by would have given Black a certain degree of com-
pensation. This rook exchange, eliminating one of White's active pieces, nicely
HASWH © illustrates the positional natural of the gambit. Black’s piece activity is enduring
and is noteasily neutralized
A greatinvention,that turned out to havea greatfuture. 14.813
8..db1s still possible. The right move.
guexds Axds 10. Axes 14.0 15.44
Declining the pawn sacrifice does not make much senseat this point. It turns out that White's positionis able to withstand Black’s pressure.
10... Axe5 1. Exes O16 15.Oxf
This logical follow-up backfires. because 18... xf7+ is with check) and here 18..a5 with the idea a6 is a tricky
15...h5 was an interesting alternative to keep the tension. attempt
Ee Ee “te
16... ge is refuted by 17. 2dal 4 f6 18. Wxa8 A g4 and now the powerful 19. Weal
a aaa axe4 20 xe4 when White got more than enough for the queen: 20...Wg3 21.31
a £ Wd3 22. €3 Shae 23, Dxhe 1-0 Burg-Akhayan, Belgium tt 2013.
ayes,
a Goodjudgement, White can now safely start taking material.
& w 17... Bh2+ 18.18 Bez
After 18... dxg4 easiestis 19. hg.
& & w & 19. Ext
& & a A ovine seen
H & 19... th1+ 20. ez
ial Ak

16. Meal
Excellent defence.
16. xf is met by 16 hasl (the immediate 16... g3 runsinto the surprising
counter 17.1xf7+ 84) 17.00 2 g3 18.Wda (18. Whxt7+ no longer works
 2aBFR 25.018,
The queen still plays an importan: role in coordinating White's position.
25.0gi 26. Meds cs 27.dxc5 xcs 28.b4l
Confidentplay.
28... 2d6 29.04
White systematically improves his position and now includes the final pieceinto
play.
29.85 30.axb5 axb4 31. a6
BA wW Itis important to keeptheinitiative.
&A eas 31...bxc3 32. Axc3 Aba 33.b6
Passed pawns need to be pushed
ZAR wy 33. Rxc3 34. Mxc3 h6 35.b7
By taking away the c8-squarefrom the rooks, White creates total domination.
The final key move in Capablanca’s amazingly accurate conductofthe defence. The 35.0 ez 36. Axfz+
white king now has a perfectly safe square on c2. Ihe black attack runs out of Th soonleads to mate by force.
steam and White remains with superior minorpieces. 10
Dn Shag 22.17h3 HaeB+ 23.1hd3 B+ 24.12 World Champion Boris Spassky has always been an expert on the Marshall and
At last, the kingis safe. used the ...d7-ds break in different Ruy Lopez variations as well, as we will see
Game 48 The immediate15,..d5 can be considered as well
Robert Byrne
Boris Spassky
San Juan 1974 (3)
1.e4 652.03 M6 3. Mb5 06 4. fag Af 5.0-0 fe7 6. Her bs 7.f1b3 dé x WE &
7-0-0 8.c3 dsis the Marshall Gambit.
8.3 0-0 9.h3 AS
2ea afb
The BreyerVariation. This knight regrouping was one of the Hypermodern con- a & Ad
ceptsofthe 1920s.
t0.dg Mbd7 11. Abd2 Bb7
4 4
‘A commonRuy Lopez picture: White has a perfect pawn centre, while Black has a & BA
strong foothold on e5 as well
12. Mee He8 13.0
A& AA &
This knight manoeuvre, transferring it to the kingside,is typical for the Ruy Lopez. & BA
13.2B 14.Og3 6 15.63
Thisis oneofseveral interesting options atthis point.
EH 2WEk ©
15.887 The thematic pawn break is spot on and in this case played with the intention to
seessn meo a pawn. x X és

see caus tues nepequlue Oba bob

18...dxe4 19. £2 g5 ext!
A great positional queen sacrifice. More examp es of this theme can be found in
a
a
haeteena a &
19...f6 is actually fine as well. A
20. Qxd8 Haxd8 AR Bo) A

BA
a WH &
The two mighty fianchetto bishops, combined with the serious weakening of
White's king position, turns out to comfortably compensate for the sacrificed
queen.
2raxbs?
This sharp reactionis flawed. Afterthe correct 21.€6 Ses 22.exf7+ ilixfy 23.er
fag2 it is still White who has to work hard to keep thebalance. 21.W/c1 Dxes
22.18fis also playable.
Dan Axes 22.bxa6?
Returning the queen showsflexi-bility of mind, butit does make matters worse for
White. 22.ic1 fig2 had to be played and now 23. Exes Axes 24.bxaé Saf, al-
thoughBlack clearly keeps the upper hand.
22.Hxdi 23.Hexdr fa8
Black's position is more dominant than you may think at first sight.
2g.gxfs Axie 25.00 Mxc3
The two bishops are much stronger than therook and the pawn on a6 does not AB “a &
change that.
26.act Ad2+ 27.igt
a A
HE &
27m Mas
Heading forthe stable b6-square
2B.b4 B+ 29.10 Dha+
From this point on Black repeats the moves every now and then, to get closerto
thetime control. Generally, this is a trusted technique in superiorpositions: do not
hurry, takeit step by step.
go.ther ORs 31.1hh Bb6 32. co Dh2+ 33.ther ARs 34.10h shB 35, De2 Ah2+
36.ther 26+ 37.0hhi Beg
Activating the bishop.
38.Laz Ah2+ 39.the ABs go.thh hg
Admurable accuracy by Spassky.
gO
41.7 allows 41.8 g2+.
41... 243 42. Rd3 e5
This pawn move helpsin stabilizing the kingside
43.De2 Bers 44.ther Ae 45.ihdr Des 46.263,

46..d5
Nicely centralizing his forces.
47Hd2 Seg 48.003 Had
‘Only nowBlack is fully ready to eliminate the dangerous passed pawn. Impressive
technique, which is based on both patience and the accurate calculation of many
short variations.
49.44 ext50. Axf4 Hxa6 51. Hxa6 Mxa6 52. ds
At least neutral ing the bishoppair. xz 2W Ke
52heal Saba
Quickly making sure that the remaining pieces get stable squares, thus making
Black's position untouchable. a2
53. Axb6 cxb654. Hd6bs 55.ihd2 Ag6 56.ite3 hs 0-1 & AZ
‘Once everything is defended, Whiteis left without any hope.
Thefollowing gameby Jan Gustafsson, one ofthe leading experts on the Marshall,
was entirely prepared at home, but is nonetheless very pretty. It nicely illustrates BA
the main ideasofthe Marshall and the potential of Black’s kingside attack.
&& A BAA
sch 2654
ZAQLW &
2.Her
Jan Gustafsson2588 12.dg 246 13.Ze1 Wh4 14.93 hg used to be the main line andis fine for Black
Dresden 2007 (8) An portant point is 15.%e4 g5l, taking control over the ha-square, and now
1.e4 e5 2.043 Ac6 3.A.b5 a6 4.2.04 216 5.0-0 Me7 6. er bg 7.2.b3 0-0 8.03 ds 16. 2 xg5 would lose a piece to 16...
guexds Axds 10. Axes Axes 11. Exes c6 12.43 846 13. Her is the new main line: 13... 5 (13...lh4 14.93 Wh3 15. Zea is
1 . . 96 is what we sawin Capablanca-Marshall White's point. Since the rook is now defended, Black no longer has 15...g5) 14.3
Whe 1$.g3 Why 16. e3 Bxd3 17. Ada (07. Axd5 exdg 18.Wxds Had8 gives Black
typical Marshall compensation, based on the strong bishoppair) 17...Wf5 18. 2d4 ZE@
2 fd8 19.04 h6 20.h4 Back 21. Was xfs 22. Deg c§ 23. Axd6 Hrd6 24. Le5 Bd7 Ww aba’
and after a few more accurate moves Black fully equalized and drew in the recent
top game McShane-Adams, London 2019. & £2
12.66 13-83, a A
This is an independent line. Moving the d:pawn would transposeto oneofthe
main lines. &
3. MEL & 2 &
The right flexible set-upin this case.
14.dq Bid7
AWA & &
Black has basically completed his development, so White needsto quickly bring g x ®
somepiecesinto play as well
15, lez Hac 16.Ad2 Seq 17.2br M518. Rea Starting a direct attack on the kingside.
White manages to complete his development, but meanwhile Black has made 20.042
progress. This move leads to trouble.
18... ace 19.xc Correct was 20.2f3 f4 and now 21.2 gs! 2f6 22.Wb3+ Ads (22...tvh8 can be
nicely met by 23. Axf4 Axfy 24 De6l and White is doing well) 23.lc2 with a
repetition of moves.
20.ubxe4 21. Axc4?
This natural recapture happensto lose byforce,in an amazing way.
21. Wines f4 22. 2x4 xf 23. Bxe8 Wre8 24.gxf4 is notpretty either, but was the
lesserevil 4
Dank 22. 42 Bl
Black is now playing fora direct checkmate.
23.143
“a
23.1is met by 23...Wh3 24.2g1 a&
leadsto checkmate,
& & &

[8 D>
&

be
23.Heal

24.Mxe2 hg 25. Deg

This meets with a stunning refutation.
25. Wa} Exf3 26.226 61was also winningforBlack, after a few more accurate
moves: 27. ae1 hél (creating a safe spot for the king) 28. 23 29.f:e3 Ogee
30.2. White has managed to set upa typical second-rank defence, but here 25... Bf4l forced resignation because of 26.Wxa6 (26.gxf4 Sxf4 quickly leads to
Black has a winningtactic: 30... dxh2 31.Zxh2 Wxg3+ 32. g2 Wod6and because mate) 26... h4l27. Was itif7 and Whiteis running out ofchecks.
ofthe strong black kingside pawns, White has no chancesto build a fortress. The success of the Marshall Garnbit has inspired somecreative grandmasters to
develop new versions oft.
Game50
Viktor Kuznetsov 2448
Greegorz Gajewski 2556
Pardubice 2007(3)
1.e4 e5 2.03 Ac6 3.Mb5 a6 4.04 Af 5.0-0 Me7 6. Her bs 7.2163 dé 8.3 010
o.hg Aas
The Chigorin Variation
9. . 2b8 we saw in Byrne-Spassky.
w.8a2

25. fl
The ony winning move, and an absolutely amazing one. Instead ofrecapturing the
rook, Black sacrificeshis other rook.
 aw ee dxeq (1 . . dxe4 is also met by 12. 2xe5) 12. Axe5 c5 13.83 followed by -d2 and

p> de (int
int

possibly bt, after which Black suffers from his weak e4-pawn, while White does
a 2 a4 not have the usual problems with his development.
a nel
be

Ihis is the point, Black grabsthe initiative.

a a 12.085?
& 12. Sxe4 Dxeg 13.Exeq 27 gives Black nice control overthe light squares (com-
pare Chapter3.2)
& “A & 12.0, xd13. Oxe4.
&ARA AA White has won a pawn, but now the black fpawn races all the way down the board
with gain oftime.
HAQWE ©& .afl
10.45)? This does notleave White much choice.
This causeda stir at the time, Gajewski created his ownversion ofthe Marshall, 14.2183 £415.204 BI
the Gajewski Gambit Rememberthat Spassky and Gustafsson also got a strong pawnon 3 in the games
Normalis 10...c5 11.d4 after which Black can choose betweenseveral set-ups. we just saw.
mexds 16.d4 fxg2 17. Ag3
The best way of playing seems to be to decline the gambit with the healthy 11.d4l
 18...b7?
xz 4W Ee This is pushing thingsto thelimit.
a4 2 bt The simple 18...c6l gave Black a nice advantage.
a 19.0 Hox
Giving up the exchange was theplan.
as A 20. Axi BB
& Including thefinal piece into play.
2. Heb
& “A
RRQ ab
HAQWEH ©
17.6?
Black keeps playing in the spirit ofthe position, consistently making the most ac
tive moves.
The solid 17...g61 would have emphasized the successfulfirsttry of a new concept.
18. Req
This is not the optimalreply. 18.l&'d3 g6 19. e4 eads to complicated play.
 z & ofpositionis far from easyto play.
23.Bgl
£ a 2 a a Black keepsfighting for the initiative with everything he has.
a wi 46
24.4g3 fis is comfortable for Black, since he hasthe knight fork on b3 next. Still,
Aa a Aa 2 White has good drawing chancesin theresulting endgame.
2aRFQ
Avery accurate move, keeping the initiative
& & asaubs
AB &a
HAQLW &
Dan fl
Sacrificing the queen,forthe same kind ofcompensation as Spassky had.
22.Mxd6 Bxd6
Black has two pieces and a pawn on g2 for queen,justlike Spassky.
23.04
White would have had decent chances after a movelike 23.lle2, although this kind
 & White’s favour.
26... 0F4
@ a aa Tactically defending the bishop on c1 and supporting the g2-pawn as well
a 27.Wer?
A This loses on the spot. 27. “ida had to be tried,although 27....xd2 28.Wxda x3
A a x favours Black
& 2 27Bx
Black has achieved total domination.
& & & 2B.bxa6 Axhg+ 29.1hhe Migr
A a Black has spotted a pretty winning combination.

HaASwW & zm
25. Slxer?
This could have goneseriously wrong. Correct was the normal 25..axb5 with a
complicated, but dynamically balanced position.
26. Hxas?
White loses track himself.
After 25.lW/xc1, eliminatingthe strong dark-squared bishop, thetactics all work in
 & Some versions ofthe Marshall Gembit are notentirely correct, but can be very diffi-
cult to deal with over the board.
a aa Game51
& Jonas BuhlBjerre 2506
& x
Daniil Dubov 2699
Batumi 2019 (1)
& 2 -
A
2 & 1.e4 65 2.3 Ac6 3. M1b5 06 4. fag Af65.0-0 Me7 6.Her bs 7.163 0-0 8.4
Judging from everything we have seen so far, this classical Anti-Marshall may very
A a well be White's most practical cheice.
a) w Allowing the Marshall Gambit with 8.3 ds is what we have seen sofar. The mod-
‘em Anti-Marshall with 8.h3 8 b7 9.3 actually still allows 9..d5|, which could be
30.61 D1 called the Anti-Anti-Marshall and runs as follows: 10.exd5 xds 11. Axes Axes
‘A functional minor promotion,forcing White's reply. (1 . . d4is also interesting) 12. xe5 Wd6 13. Ret BaeB 14. 2 d2 § with the usual
31.Bixg1 positional compensation.
gr.itthg gsis mate.
31 Hxag 04
A beautiful final position.
 new main line, after which White has several interesting options, as besides 9.43
de jo w &
Im

i de (xt
he can go 9.4 or 9.85
a2 ai guexd5,
The right way of playing seems to be 9.axbsl dxeg 10.bxc6 exfy 11.1llxf and after
De

11.4 12.lWea 846 White needs to detendcaretully: 13.h3l(this Capablanca-style

4 a moveis a good start) 13. (13. WeB 14.d4l favours White) 14.3, | (this
& rooklift is a key attacking move) 15. Zaql (White replies in kind)
D>

2 a
BAA BAA
EAQSWE ©&
This version of the Anti-Anti-Marshall had been tried a few times in the old days,
but had never beenconsidered completely correct. Dubov decided to use it as a
surprise weapon,which worked outperfectly, as we will see.
8...2b7 9.d3, followed by @bd2, wouldleave the £ b7 biting on e4, whilethe bish-
opwould rather be on e6, neutralizing White's Spanish bishop. 8..b4 becamethe
 pawn
x aw & 9. Aas)
a aaa Temporarily sacking a second pawn.
a Af @ 10. Axe5
10. a2 e4 11.Se5 and now 11...c51 12.dxc6 Wid4 with a complicated, dynamically
z balanced position.
& a 10... xb3
Removingthe important bishop guarantees Black good play.
2A & obs
AAAWAA 11. 2 c6is best met bythe surprising 11... g4l and the complications favour Black
1.67 12.96
&2 £ © At least neutralizing the bishop pair.
analysis diagram 12.0 Bxc6 13.dxc6
15..Axh3l (2 scary piece sacrifice) 16. dxegl (the soberreply, eliminating the
dominant central pawn. 16.gxh3 allows 16... g5+ 17.i0We8 18.We3 and now
18... g3! 19-fxg3 Wxhg+ 20.ie2 Whs+ with a perpetual) 16..2g4 17.We3 Af
18.d3. White starts to consolidate, e.g. 18...dxeq 19.dxeq 26 20.28.04 We21.b3
Beg 2 6 23.8. ba and White has come out on top with a healthy extra
 w e&

p> de iat
Dia

a 2 aa
&
De

4
in Ke
D>

& a aaa
A A WAR ala
HAQWEH © 4
Tpeleapna
4s
A
& AE®
Acaresrovsvayofving 14.d4l was the safest way to equalize, actually in the A A A

1gvfs ° HA w
18... Lee8l
Exchanging the main defender, leaving the white king helpless.
19.Hez
19. Exe Exe8 20.2 6 is winning.
19... BH6+1
An accurate check.
20.1hgs gs!
Suddenly, another unit is joining theattack, while the white queensideis still boxed

2. Bf Md6+
Deciding theissue.
22.ithy
On22.iti g4, 22...Wdg+ wins
22.86 23.1hg4 BTh4+ 0-7
5.3 Powerplay with white
Ofcourse, the pleasure of playing positional pawn sacrifice is not just reserved
for Black. White can just as well play a whole rangeofdifferent interesting posi-
tional pawn sacri-fices, both in the 1.e4 as well as in the 1.d4 range. So far we have
seen the romantic King's Gambit, several examplesrelated to the Queen's Gambit
(including the Slav variations) and Kasparov's da-ds against Anderssonin Chapter
1. In the current chapterwe will add a few more concepts to ourrepertoire ofideas.
We will start with an interesting example ofthe French Defence,in which b2-bg is a
thematic pawnsacrifice. Next, we will study two entirely different examples of the
‘e4-€5 sacrifice, onein theSicilian and one in the Benoni. After that, we will look at
another example ofthe d4-d5 pawn sacrifice and we will conclude with the Réti
Gambit.
Game52
Kresten Schmidt 2330
Charles Lamoureux 2255
Paris 1990
1.24 262.d4 ds 3. Ad2
The Tarrasch Variation.
3.05is the best reply and gives Black full counterplay.
4.05 Dfd7 5. Ag6
Ihis move in fact already implies a positional pawn sacrifice.
5.243 c5 6.c3 Ac6 7.42 followed byplaying the other knight to f3 is the main
line.
5..c5 6.c3 Ac6 7.83 Rez
This position can also be reached bystarting with 3... e7.
Thecritical test is accepting the sacrifice with 7...W1b6 8.0-0 axd4 9.cd4 Oxdg
10. Dxd4 Wxd4 1.2 63 WBS. It was always thought Black should be fine, but White
may get interesting play, starting with thelittle pawn move 12.83.
8.0-0 gs)?
As far as | can see, this highly dynamic move was first played by Dutch grand-
master Hans Ree in 1984. Its main idea not to attack on the kingside, but rather
to put White's pawn chain under pressure bydislocating the white f3-knight.
8..a5 is thematically met by 9.a4l and often White plays his knight around to the
bs-square
 be able to stabil e his centre.

Sie
D> De» fuo- 18-
fo
De [i

be at
gncedg 10.004 Axb4 1 . fer

be
De

Interestingly, the bishop turnsout to be moreeffective from this modest-looking

square thanfrom the moreactive looking br-square. The concept behind the pawn
pes

sacrificets that Black no longer has pressure against d4, while his king alvrays has
ESO be

De
problemsfinding safety. This gives White long-term compensation, and as White is
not dependent on any immediate activity, itis a purely positional sacrifice.
1.96
D>

bre Ce (&

11... 6 12. 263 a5is a critical defensive try

&& && 12.63
Securely defending da.
x &
i>

12... 96
gal?
This pesitional pawn sacrificeis a great invention and we are now studying its stem
game.
g.dxc§ was always considered to be the main line, but in practiceit is very easy to
beconfused byall the complications. 9. 2 bil mayin fact refute the entire black set-
up as ¢...g4 10. Seteither leads to complications that favour White, or White will
 x aw 15. hs

D> De feo 0

De» [mt
At last, White is developing activity on the kingside.
a4
De
15.1.g8 16.1143
aa Now the gametakes a very specific course. The morepositionally oriented 16. ca
introduces the idea c2-e3-g4+6.
a a 16... 67 17.Bixh7 H.g7 18.0h8
& Whiteis going all-in.

a ae still looks like the solution.

a
19.8h7 Lg7 20. hs
& 2 & A A

ZH Q2W ES
This is very double-edged. 13. et Acq 14.f4 Wb6 15.vh1 worked well for me in
Van Delft-Oudewaal, Leiden 2018
Bgehg 14.9e1 2B
A straightforward solution is 14...2.cq 15.2 hs ikd7l, walking the king to safety and
aspiring to use theopenfiles onthe kingside himself.
 za Ww 2 wy 21..Ble7 22. Mes Ae4 23. eds

D> De BS Og
Suddenly, White enjoys fantastic harmony in his position.
aa az 23.66
a xX & &f aw
a & a ae
& a
A a &
& BA a 4
HE 2 ARS
20.0g?
ery unfortunate move. after which everything falls into place for White. If Black
ing with 20... g8 White can deviate with 21.Wf6. Best wasstill
20.71.
afgl
The thematic attack, against which Black is now remarkably helpless.
24..bxc§ is ofcourse met by 25.6 6.8.95 €6 7.0d2 Mey
25.261 7..a6 is the main line.
The pretty follow-up. 800000
25hdB Castling on opposite sides is one of the attractive features of theSicilian, as it
Now runningwith the king 1s toolate. If25,..bxcS, 26.exf7+ wins. leads to sharp dynamic play.
26.exfy 01627.Her 93
Everything flows naturally, the position playsitself. Playing in English Attack style, with this trademark pawn move, is a smocth prac-
27Deg 28. Lh6 1-0 tical option. The more concrete 9.f4 is the classical way ofplaying, as wewill seein
The following game is a very instructive one in many ways. Finding the right bal- Chapter6.6.
ance betweenattacking and positional playis its main theme. Additionally, we will 9u86 10.h4
discuss manythematic moves and ideas. For now this move mainly secures the bishop on g5, and laterit will prove useful
from an attacking perspective.
Game53
10... Axed 1.x b5
Viktor Bologan 2641
Ye Jiangehuan 9670
Beijing 2000 (6)

1.e4 65 2. Of3 d6 3.d4 ocd4.Axd4 216 5.04 ACB

The ClassicalSicilian.
 xz 2W
Ee 12.67 13.81d2
The queenis like a general, best operating behind the troops.
feb 13.87 14. Der
a aia Regrouping the knight to d4 increases the harmonyin White's position. In this type
ofposition, central control is most important, and attacking only comes second.
4 & 14... Hac8 15. Ad4 BFS
WA & 15. . Bfe8 with theideato start playing the knight aroundwith ...d7 looks like the
‘optimal wayof playing. Generally, c& and e8 tend to be the right squares for the
“A & rooks in Scheveningenstructures.
AAA & 16.8.3

SE 2 £
Likewise, this move mainly creates a good square for the bishop on b7,and may
later form thestart ofa pawn storm
v2.thbr
Thisis ahvays a useful move to include, when you havecastled queenside.
12,2448 2 xf6 13.lixd6 is hardly ever a good idea, since Black's dark-square con-
trol tends to comfortably compensate forthe pawn.
 & done everything he could to make his position safe and flexible.
1706 18. Seg
aa Retreating thebishop,to free the wayfor the pawn storm. The less thematic 18.c3
mayalso be strong.
1B..d5
gA ZEA @
ow aaa
A a a2
a 4
AA AA
2 god defensive move BRA
White. Keeping the status A a & Ww

@ #£ &
Now the time has come to start attacking on the kingside. Note that White has first A natural attempt to counterin the centre,
agesl
A very instructive and highly thematic positional pawn sacrifice. White wants to XRKA &
stabilize the situation in the centre,to facilitate his kingside attack. ow aaa
19.fixes 20.44
Ihekey follow-up,taking control over the e§-square. a
20...46 21.85 22 4 &
Another important move,taking control overthefS-square. White combines attack-
ing with goodpositional play. Often it is not necessary to burn your boats behind a &
you, once you've decidedto attack. 22
21.25
After21... ¢5 White can simply continue 22.h5.
AAW
22fxes Axes & #F &
It is essential that White has firm control over da, which seriously hampers Black’s 23.61
counterplay. This is a very important standard device to open files. Bologanis notafraid to
sacrifice a second pawn and trusts what the laws ofchess dictate
Bu B46
23...hxg6 24.hs5is thepoint, and 24...g5 can be metby25, Wg2since if 25.../6 26.h6l
‘opens the h-fle with decisive effect.
24.exty+
After 24.gxh7+ WhB the black king can typically hide behind the white pawn. There
is this saying: hiding behind your own pawnsis nice, but even saferis to hide be-
hind the pawns of the enemy, as he cannottake his own pawns. As always, also
this rule hasits limitations,since a bold piece sacrifice may change everything.
25. Ehfil
In accordancewith his restrained attacking approach, White keeps one rook in the
centre. This is usually theright division oftasks in these positionswith castling on
‘opposite wings: one rookin thecentre for central control and one rook on the king-
side for attacking, In this particular case, White forgets about further pushing his h-
pawn,and rather fights fortheinitiative with pure piece play.
25.08d7 26.Of
Whiteis centralized enough to be ableto redirect his knight to the kingside
26... 86 27.Dg5 Acq?
Avery sharp bid for counterplay, butthe tactics work in White’s favour.
27... Sxgs was necessary, for example: 28.hxgs (28. 2 xgs 8 29.h5is the decent
alternative) 28..d4l (thematically returning the pawn, to free Black's forces)
29.Axd4 Seg, which actually Icoks quite nice, but White does have theclever
30. 8'f4l after which the bishop pair remains superior.
28. Aixh7+ thh8 29.fea!
General considerations no longer help, calculation is the name ofthe gamenow.
29..Me8
Taking the piece with 29... x63 30. Wxez Axgs 31.hxgs xh7is refuted by 32.g6+!
th g8 (32...itixg6 33.1Wd3+ and the naked king has no chanceto survive) 33.l'g5 fol- dominates the entire board
31 Heb
ZEW e 31. . xe2 32. &xf6#is a lovely picture.
32. fa BB 33. Rd3
2 Af A calm retreat, emphasizing the complete hopelessnessofBlack's position.
a 2 33.Hd7 34.1He7 35. Ah7l
(Often | havethe impression that po: ionally, it works this way: bishops work best
a 4 from a distance (therefore 33. 2 d3),while knights needto be broughtinto the ac
a & tion.
35-8 36.1hs,
& Atlast, the queen is broughtin.
&AA WY 36...81f7 37.81.26 1-0
Animpressive finish to anultra-clean attacking game.
@® H EF Wewill now study the Benoni andits typical pawn structure, which is another
member of the & g7 family. Our main focuswill be on a thematic positional pawn
Eliminating theimportant dark-squared bishop. sacrifice for White, which is crucial to understanding this type ofposition. For a
30..gxf6 31. M.d4l change, we will look at a correspondence game which nicely shows the main ideas.
Absolu:ely beautiful: using pretty mating patterns, the unopposed bishop
Game 54.
Carol Peter Gouw 2572 4.2exds 5.ccd5 d6 6.e4 86
2d: law Sanner 2360
er 2005 HASWee E
ad4
aa 4 4
Leg DF6 2.03 g6 3.04 d6 4.d4 27 5. ge2 0-0 6.2g3 c5 7.d5 €6 8. er exds & Ad
g.ods was the actual move-order, which shows that Benonipositions can also be
reached from the King’s Indian. WheneverBlack plays with ...c7-c§ in the King’s In-
&&
dian, he will basically choose between a Benko (with ...b7-b5) or a Benoni (with &
7-26) approach.
1 216 2.04.65
a
2.06 3. Df 65 4.d5 exds 5.cxd5 dé6. 41c3 g6is the most accurate way to enter the && BAA
Benoni, as here White has committed himselfto a set-upinvolving f3, whichlim-
its his options. If Black wants to play this move-order, he needs to study the
H Q2Wegaz
Typical for the Benoni that Black has a weak pawn on d6 and White has a central
Nimzo-Indian and the Catalan as well. Understanding move-orders in the opening pawn majority. Black does have dynamic counterchances based on £i.g7, the semi-
is a crucial part ofstrategy in chess. ‘open efile and the queenside pawnmajority.
3.d5 €6 7-Ageal?
This move defines the Benoni. 3..b5is the Benko Gambit we sawbefore. This elastic set-up seems promising. Compared to the Samisch Variation of the
King’s Indian, involving an early f2-f3, White does not commit his fpawn yet and
zaAs Ww ke

p> de Dat
will decide later, according to the circumstances.
7 fer aa 2a
The rare 7..h5I? may be the right way to unsettle the white knight before it even
reaches 33, A a
8.963 A&
The knight may seem passive here, but its true purpose becomes clearlateron.
8..0:09. er
A
Now we have transposedbackto the actual move-orderofthegame. a a
&& BA&AA
ZH 2We E
After 9...a6 White plays the standard reply 10.a4l to stop Black's queenside expan-
sion. Following 10...bd7 11.0-0 eB White can play 12.431 with a favourabletrans-
position to the Simisch. The crucial point is that Black can no longerplay either
2 b8-a6-c7 or 21 f6-e8-c7, which is essential in achieving the thematic ..b7-b5
breakthrough, which Black now starts preparing.
10.00 c7 1.04 2612.5!

Pho

€
> Dm fo 0G
De» [mt

D> Dat
A key move,increasing thepressure on Black's position

De
12.8
After 12...h6 13. 2 €3 White will win back the tempo with Wd2 next. a a
33.41

be
Now this is well-timed, creating very difficult problems forBlack &

viteek hls & &

D>
0G D> (SF
Ss
A 2 &
H ow
ages!
This positional pawn sacrifice is a well-known device. completely disrup:ing the
structure ofBlack’s position.
1g.ndxes 15.651
The thematic follow-up, creating a strong square for the knights on e4 (remember
the knight being passive on g3), keeping the black pieces boxedin and generally
increasing the pressure. domination
15.1448 16.46 18... Bos 19. Dect
This pawn push is anotherpositive side-effect ofthe central breakthrough Decisively winning material
16... ce8 17. Ads th8 18. Deg 19...xd6
EOWAE & It1g... xt6 20.g4 winsthe piece as well
20.84
a 2a Thisis just one of many possible ways ofplaying. 20. 4h may have beenthe most
a practical
20. e6 21. Ha3l
A coolrooklift.
Dan Oxf 22. O66 Bidg+ 23.xc exdg
Black has three pawnsforthepiece, but Whiteis not yet doneattacking.
24. Hhhg Bxf6 25, AxiMgB 26.144 hs
A & && 26... fe8 27. Zxh7 ilixh7 28.25 vas the matingidea.
27-g3
& Ww ES The bishop onf6 is just too strong, the gameis over.
Only five moves ago,there were pawns on the squares that the white knights are 270 HFeB 28.gxh5 ds 29.hg6 Hxe2 30. Mes f5 31. Axb8 1-0
now proudly sitting on, emphasizing White's space advantage and total After Kasparov retired in 2005, for a while it was Topalov who took over as the new
number onein the world rankings. He did so with very active, dynamic chess and 5.b3 is the main line
very modern opening preparation. We already saw his xf7 against Kramnik, and b7 6. e265
we will now study his model game against Ananc
Game55
Veselin Topalov 2777
Viswanathan Anand 2798
Ibao 2008 (4)
1.dg Af 2.04 £63. AF bE
The Queen's Indian.
483
4.33 we saw in Kasparov-Andersson.
4 B06
The idea ofthis move is to provoke a slight disharmony in White's position, before
thebishopsettles onits natural square. 7-451
5.BcaP A great positional pawn sacrifice that becamevery popular after Valleio Pons
This becamean important modern alternative, onceits true dynamic potential was played it at the Turin Olympiad in 2006. The idesis to disturb the coordination in
revealed Black's position, while the backward d-pawn may also becomea factor.
Tosexd§ B.cxd5 Axds After straightforward developmentwith 12..0-0 13.2.¢3 2.¢6 White also keeps nice
8. . Axd5 9.2c3 is good for White, as Vallejo Pons showed in the stem game. play by doubling rooks with 14. & da.
9.00 fle7 10. Edi HB
The main line runs 10...¢6 11. Wag (11. Bxd5? Dba) 11... 6 12. hg (this knight ZaAW &
manoeuvreis one of thekey ideas in this opening) 12..0-0 13.5 ds 14. c3 and ae Saba
here Black caninitiate sometrades with 14..2dal 15. 2xd4 cxdg 16.lixda 2 c5
17. Wag and here Black can sacrifice a pawn with 17...llicB and get reasonable com- a
pensation. FF
11.33
Elegant little pawn moveslike this emphasize che positional nature of the pawn
sacrifice. White's strategy is to systematically control more squares and thus domi-
natethe position.
1.95
11...h6 may beworth investigating.
ra. es 13, Axt6l
Now the white pieces smoothly find their way into the game. Goodjudgment, temporarily givirg up the bishoppair.
12d 13. dalis also strong, based onthetactic 13..cxd4 14. Wxc8+ & xcB 15,
Blacksettles for returning the pawn,butthis does not solve all his problems. 16. Axds,
13. Axf6 14.83 Axc3
14..d4 fails to the tactic 15.0b5 Se7 16.Abxd4l which is based on 16..cxd4
17.WxeB+ &xc8 18. Dxd4, winning the rook
If 14..0-0 15, dxds regains the bishop pair as well, leaving White with a superior
pawn structure
15.bxe3 a6
Starting with 15...Wc7 offers better defensive chances.

E & &
16.Hhgl
Thisis the thematic knight manoeuvre,going for the dominantf5-square.
16...g6 17. Bixds xds 18. xd5
White has regained the pawn and will now quickly centralize his forces.
18...0-0 19. Hadi Ac7 20.Rd7 Ae6
Finally, the knight has found a decent square, but White dominates the position
with his possession ofthe only openfile
eB?
After this move, Black’s position is beyond repair
21... ¢8 does not work eitherbecauseof 22. Bxd8+ Axd8 23.WeBs itig7 24 Bd7
and Black is paralysed. [he immediate 21...c4 had to be tned
22. 963
We are now entering the final phaseofthe game: a direct kingside attack
2a
Now this moveis too late.
23.8thg Des

24.Reyl
The crucial intermediate move.
24. 2.g5 hg does not lead anywhere.
2dRAB,
24...Wc6 is refuted by 25. 2g5 (25.1Hh6 can be metby 25,..WWf6) 25..h5 26. Fal,
crashing through on f7.
25.0f
Avery quiet final move, with devastating effect. Black resigned because of25...1c6
26.2gs hs 27. Dxf7l (27.4 does not work here due to 27 47) 27... xf7
2B. 7 andthe rook on d8is hanging.
Wewill conclude this section with one ofthe most importantpositional pawn
sacrifices available to White: the Réti Gambit. 1.3 followed by c2-c4 is called the
Réti Opening, which is one of the famous flexible Hypermodern openings. The
positional pawnsacrifice we are about to see is a key concept that gives White's
setup a certain poison. “A &
Game 56 && &A&ABA
‘SabramanianArun Prasad 2514
EvgenyVorobiov 2584
HARWS E
This is the starting position ofthe Réti Gambit, which was already played by Réti
Moscow 2013 (9) himself in 1924 and has becomepretty popular in recent years. It is frequently
1.83 d5 2.983 Af6 3. Mee 6 4.cq
reached through both 1. 3 and 1.c4 move-orders, and occasionally via 1.g3
donde
Accepting the gambit is the main line. Black can also decline with 4.6 or by
bringing the & c8 into play.
5.00 with chancesfor both sides. Black went on to win a good gamein Timman-Pijpers,
This simple development is now the main line, but was hardly every played before Germany Bundesliga 8 2017. Finally, Black can play the simple andsolid 7..g6
the 1980s, 8. Axc4 Axcg 9.xc4 & g7 whick requires significantly less theoretical knowledge.
5. @bd7 6.Bc2 Ab6
Ihis pesition becameespecially topical after the game Kadjabov-Smeets, Wijk aan KX 2 @&& K
Zee 2009 aa ash
7-Aa3
7.84 a5 8. a3 has not stood the test oftime, as Black now does have 8. . ds since ad a
White does not have 9.b3in reply. w
ould5
This confident queen move does keepthe pawn, but meets with an equally confi 4
dent answer. 7....e6 is an importantalternative: 8.25 (8.2g5 Ags 9.2xc4 cy aA
Bxe2 10.205 Bhs 11. Ber h6 12. eq e6 13. DxfS+ gxfB 14. Axc6 buc6 15.8 xc6+
Qd7 16.8% &g6 17.Bxe6+ Bey 1.x Dg8 19 Ber WB 20.Zk
&AWAAABA
anilixh6s gz 22.Wh8+ Bg8 23.lh6+ Zg71l is a lengthy theoretical line | Zz 2 Eo
remember analysing in 2009; 8.b3 cxb3 9.2xb3 5is a better version for Black than
the one weare going to see in the game) 8..h5 9.63 (9.h4 ‘gql? ~ Pijpers) 9..cxb3 Avery dynamic solution to the position. White makes a real gambit of it, and accel-
to.axbg hg 11.Dacq Dxeg 12.bxe4 hxg3 13.hxg3 Wc8 resulted in a tenseposition erates his queenside development.
8...cxb3 9.axb3 g6 10. Ac4
x &w

De» [mt
Anice move, gaining moretime.
a a

be Ug
De
10... Axc4 1.bxe4 BAB 12. ba
In true Hypermodern Réti style, White prefers to control the centre with pieces
ratherthan with pawns. a 4
1a.dg & g7 13.¢4is also possible.
12..06713-8d4
&

0G: o> Co SF
Increasing the pressure against the black queenside and forcing a reaction.
&

CoS
13.006 14.1
White's compensation reminds of the Benko Gambit which we studied at the start
ofthis chapter.
WioaA &
1g..0-0 15.43 HE
White is not in any particular hurry. a.5h
15.994 16. Sxe7 White's positional compensation is becoming structural, as the black queenside is
16.66 also looks good. paralysed
16...xg7 17..f6 18. Bag
18.d4.was worth considering, to keep Black passive.
18...0817
18...¢5 was an important option. Paradoxically exchanging the good knight for the bad bishop, to create an entry
19.Adz point on theseventh rank.
Anice manoeuvre,playing the @ around to the bé-square 27Shxd7 28. Bxd7 Bas
19. e§ IF28... Wes, 29. Weg! leaves Black seriously tied up.
19.65 was still available.
20. Abs Af 21. a5
‘Convincingly blockading the queenside.
Dan8 22.44
Now this maynotbe optimally timed. Interesting alternatives include 22.2 b6 and
2ahg.
2285 23.004
Here 23, Wc3 exd4 24. xdwasthe alternative
23.exd4 24.66 HBB 25. Bxd4
So far Black has defended stubbornly, but now hestarts to losetrack.
25Seb?
This lookslike it develops a piece, but in fact it allows White to grab theinitiative.
After 25... 7 26.2 bd1 Zd8I Whitestill has full compensation, but not more 29.h4l
26.Rbdr Af 27. Ad7l It is time to switch play to the kingside
29.088?
29... bd8, to at least exchangeonepair of rooks, was a better defensive try. x ze
30.hs Mes a:
IF 30..xh5, 31.185 wins.
3ichxgé begs a4
31. . Dxd7 32. 2 xd7 and Black will be mated soon. wv A A
32.Mles thes
wW
&
& Ag
Eg &
33-f4l
This surprising move wins a piece
33.Mxcs+ 34.0 Beg
After 34... 9xd7 35.1Wxg6+ WhB 36. Zxd7 Black will soon run out ofchecks.
35-fxes fres+ 36.iNg1 Wxeq 37. Axe
Here the piece is stronger than the pawns.
37 Ay 40...b5 41.85 a4 42. eq Hb6
1f37...5, 38. 2h7+ Weh8 39.0% galfollowed by Zh wins. On 42...83, 43. Axc6 wins.
38.xg6 Hxd7 39. Rxd7 a5 43.86 0344. a7 b4 45.243 1-0
m de Black will be mated soon.

ac
4 &
a a

&
&
&
Instructive play: Arun Prasad does not worry aboutthe black passed pawns, and
continuesattacking onthe kingside.
5.4 Counterplay with black

D> fi Dm Fo
De» [mt
Wewill conclude this chapter with some more typical positional pawn sacrifices

De
for Black. Wealready saw the Benko Gambit and the Marshall Gambit. We will now
add the thematic ...b7-b6 pawn sacrifice in the Griinfeld, ..c7-c5 and ..e4-e3 pawn
sacrifices in the King's Indian, a typical ...f5-f4 break on the kingside, and finally
.d5-d4 in theSicilian Taimanov. In many cases, these are essential methods of
securing enduring counterplay.
A&A
Game57
Karoly Borloy
&
Levente Lengyel & ARAA
Budapest 1962 (8) XH WwW Ee
1.d4 FB 2.04 g6 3.23 d5 This is thebasic position ofthe traditional main line and here Black has to make an
‘The Griinfeld Indian Defence. important choice
4.ccds Axds 5.04 Axcz 6.bxc3 Mg7 7. 4 10... 95
7-2 wesaw in Gyimesi-Le Roux The immediate 10.6 was developed in the 1970s as a similar concept andis
Jn€5 8. Me2 0-0 9.0-0 A610. fe3 amongthebest options as well: 11.dxc5 Wic7 12. da (12.cxb6 axbéleads to typical
compensation, similar to the Benko Gambit: semi-openfiles on the queenside and
a strong bishop on g7. Additionally, Black will gain control over the key c4-square thebishoppair. Either way Black will be doing well
in the next few moves) 12... e513. bs WS 14.2.d5 (14.8 €2 bxc§ is similar to 18.Axcq Axcq
the game) 14... g4 15.83 Axe3 16.freg a6 17. dg 3 with good counterplay.
11.£1.43 b6l x zx &
Ihis great positional pawn sacrifice wasfirst played by Simagin in 1956. Remember a
that we started Chapter3 with an example by this pioneer of positional sacrifices
and dark-square play.
ra.dxes
Declining the gambit with 12.d2 &b7 13. 8 14. 2h6 6 15. 2xg7 thing?
16. e3 Be7 was fine for Black in the stem game Bannik-Simagin, Leningrad 1956.
12.ubxes 13. xcs Bc7 14. 8d4
The immediate 14. £ 3 8 gives Black good compensation as well
14.05 15.063 Hd8 16.02 eb
&
Taking control over the crucial c4-square, which secures long-term compensation E XE &
for the pawn. An amazing concept when you think aboutit, since at first sight Now the bishop pairis a good extra factor, securing the compensation.
White just seems to be a healthy pawn up ~a passed one,even. 19..g3 Blas 20.h3 a6 21. Rd2
17. Bfdt Acq 21.44 would have been a good wayto limit Black's options, althoughit is not easy
Now White has a difficult choice to make: accept the big knight on c4 or give up to judge when this type ofpawnmove is called for, sinceit can easily backfire
21... Mxd2 22. ixd2 28 Ez &
The position is balanced
23. Bes bE a
2
23... eB looks more straightforward.
£OW Obb
2

White could have started regroupingthe knight with 24. fi & a

24.66 25.05 Web 26.Re3 RB &
Both sides arestill in control.
27.466 &e6 2 & “WA
New po_ to become more concrete. w AA

Posing ee question, H &

29.Re2?
Holdingontothe pawn turns out to be a tactical blunder. Returning it with 29. Bd
Wxc3 30.lWe2 was called for, when the white bishop does a goodjob ot <eeping
theposition together.
29.163 30. Raz
This moveis probably what White relied on, butit is flawed
30..Ral For now White has defended every-thing, but the rook is too strong.
Winning theexchange, for which White does not get any compensation. 30... xa2 37-3 Hdg 38.thf2 Baz 39. e2 Hd7
31.Wxaa+ indeed does not work: This retreat is spot on. Blackfully controls the situation.
31.Bixct Mxa2 32.a3 fy 33.Ble7 itg7 34-h4 hy 40.18 Acq 41. Qh6+ thy
Calmly stoppingall counterplay. Ihefinal nuance; White resigned.
35. fez Mre6 36.04 Has We will now see one oftheearly gamesthat introduced a key conceptin the King’s
z Indian.
2& Game 58
Leonid Zaid
a
ko D> De

a a Elizbar Ubilava
& Soviet Union 1974
C= De

Ww 1.d4 Af6 2.c4 36 3.23 Mg7 4.04 d6 5.63

The Samisch Variation,
0+ D>

5.00 6. fe3
[=
 zAaw He
a a a a a £ a
sceananste
been exchanged, but White st
jent. The queens have even
Jquares to worry about.

AWWA mam mama

B BA ae
AWK ae
WHE 5 &
pen up the dark squares and to create long-term A & A&B
x SQQAK
10. Age2
Declining thesacrifice with 7. & ge2 is the main alternative. The old mai ins 10.5 d7 11.Axe7 (1. Axe7+ Axe7 12.Rxe7 Axba
&dg+ and White does notget the time to complete his
development) 11...xe7 12. dxe7+ WB 13.2d5 Bxb2 14.Bb1 8 g7 and the dark- Giving up the dark-squared bishoois a serious positional concession.
squared bishop guarantees long-term compensation, Subsequent games saw 13..c1 €6 with a roughly balanced position.
A high-profile gamefrom the early 1990sdid a lot to popularize Black’s concept. It 13. eas 14.02 x03 15. 1tixe3
was a quick dravy, but theoretically important: 19. 8.3 a5! (an important thematic
move, creating an outpost for the knight) 11.d1 Se6 12.2d5 bgl (the key xX 4k
move, after which the tactics work nicely for Black) 13.xe7+ eh8 14.2xd8+ aa
Exd8 15.d5 cas 16.thd2 Dxa3 17.bxag bg 18. Dh3 Ye-4h KramnikShirov, Ger
manyBundesliga 1992/93.
10... 047
10...b6l is the most accurate, since 11. f2 (after 11.2.3 the most direct way of
playing is 11.25)? 12.S.a4 Zb8 13. Edi 247 followed by ...bg)fails to 1 . . bg
and here White cannot castle queenside.
nes
Personally, | have lost two games with black after 11. f2 which may indeed bethe
mosttricky way.
1.Ades, 15. D6
11... bg does not work because of 12.0-0-0. This loses some momentum though
12.0f4 bq 13. Rb1? The most effective is straight forward development with 15, Bd.
16.2d5 a5 17. bq 27 Shes 2B.iKf2 Ada 29. Adz ac 30.b4 b6
White is defending well at this stage
17.Regs 18.idal
Sharp judgement, as Black does not have an effective discovered check 4 2
18... Les+ 19. Abds Db
Back to centralization, A a
19.26 20.b4 was the point. 2
20. Mag Md4 21. 2.43 e6
Kicking the knight out is psychologically nice AKA&
& &
22. fide3? & DQ &
This disturbs the coordination ofthe white pieces.
Correct was 22. 23
BA
22b4 23.Hhdr Bidz x &
Blackis the only oneleft attacking things. 31. AA?
24.b3 Mes Ihefinal mistake, losing material.
Regaining the pawn, since the &d3 needs defence. 31.c5 wasthe last fighting chance
25.thhez Mxh2 26.03 Ac6 27.82 Btu Ace 32. RBZ
27.12 would have been a better defence. Allowing a concrete finish.
32. Slxag 33. Hxd8+ Hxd8 34. Axaq Hd2+ 35.fe2 Hxerr 8.b3 is a flexible, modem approach that was introduced at the highest level by
Winning a piece becauseofthe fork. Kramnik in 2013
36.ttixe2 Ad4+ 37.tds Axb3 38.f4 Mxfq 39.183 Act go.ihe2 e204 8.05 9.03 HeB
Back ir 2001, | lost a particular gamein the Dutch league very quickly. It was a
painful experience, butafter I'd calmed down,| started properly studyingthepartic~ xX 2Wk ©&
ular middlegamestructures and two years later I got the chanceto show what I'd aad a2a
learned.
MA Ab
Game 59
Dorian Rogozenco 2519
a 4
Merijn van Delft 2341 &
Hamburg 2003(4)
& BAA BAA
veg & &ABA
The English Opening,
A116 2.9.3 263.8 Me7 4.830-0 5. gz db 6.0-0 Acé 7.43, EOw Be
With this move the game keeps an English character. 7.44 would transpose to the
Fianchetto Variation ofthe King's Indian. White is planning to give upthe dark-squared bishop in exchangefor increased
Tou8§ 8. bt control over the central light squares. A classical idea, but it doesn’t seem to be
very effective under the current circumstances, as the game will show.
10.b4 axba 11.axb4 was always comfortably met by 11...e4 but things may nolonger
be so cearin that case,so it is worth mentioning 11....d4 as a second option
Myearlier game went as follows: 10.2 d2 6? (correct is 10...dal 11.3 Deb
12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 cB, keeping a dynamic pawnstructure) 11. d5I (giving White a
nice edge, because Black won't be able to get the ..d6-d5 break in) 11..h6 12.4
axb4 1j.axb4 Eb8 14.65 Ae7 15,3 (preserving thebind) 15.5 16.3 Ad7
17.We2 9e7 18. 2a3 OF6 19,3 Wd7 20.b6l(White is breaking through) 20...c6
21.Oxf6+ Qxf6 22. 8 xd6l(this came as a shock) 22.
2 g7 25. &xe5 1-0Jadoul-Van Delft, Netherlandstt 2001
10.611. x66 Bxf6 12.b4 axb4 13.0xb4 Sg7
A good move, restoring the harmony in Black's pasition:
14.b5 e715. Der White wants to regroup his knight, butthis plan is too slow. Better was 15.763or
15. Wea.
15..c61
Central strategy is the best strategy in this case. The side that controls the centre,
controls the whole board
15...§ is a popularattacking planin this type ofposition, but it does weaken Black's
king position and can therefore easily backfire. Keeping control over the c5-square,
16.1.2 ds 22, HxcB+ Hxc8 23.8d1
Thelogical follow-up, taking control overthe cenzre.
17.Ab4? e x
Consistent, but an unfortunate choice. Better was the modest 17.bxcb bucb 18.cxd5, a AAS
cords 19.Uda.
T7e4 We aa
A pretty picture: the black pawns are positioning themselves on the diagonal that & &
was supposed to be under white control.
18.0%bg Me6l
DAD a
It’s the most effective to keep the tension and let White makethe concessions. & &
19.0005?
This makes things worse. 19.dxe4 duc4 is very good for Black, who exerts enor-
&ABA
mouspressure on the queenside. White also had to try and keep the tensionwith EW ©
19. Bch
19..cxd5 20.0.4 Md6 This thematic pawn sacrifice opens upthe dark squares around the white king. In
By keeping the c5-square undercontrol, Black keepsthe a4 out ofplay. fact | learned aboutthis theme from the model game Vaganian-Lautier, Manila
a. Bfa Heck 1990.
24.fee3 OFS
The logical follow-up, exerting enor-mous pressure on White’s position. 1.4 €5 2.3 Ac6 3.93 £6 4.8 e2 Be7 5.43 d6
25.0¥d2 hsl This English (1.c4) variation is a ClosedSicilian (1.e4 c5 2.23) with colours re-
Preparing ...h6 and adding the option of breaking with ..hs-ha. versed
26.04 6b a5 7.03 f 8.04.
After 25.2xd5 Axds 27. nds ads 28.26 Black has several good moves, but 8.¢3 is moresolid andelastic.
the most amazing way is 28...We6l 29. dxc8 Axegl 30.2b4 Seg 31.llhxc3 Bhs, 8...06 9. Ager 0-0 10.0-0
winning,
26... dg 27.08h1 Axg3+l 0-1
xz 2W
Ke
A nice uray to finish the game. The white king is completely helpless after 28.hxg3 aa 2a
Wag3 29.Ber Bf
Alexei Shirov is one of the most creative top players of all time, combining an im-
Sh
Ab
pressive sense for dynamics with a crystal-clear style of play. His oeuvre contains a aa
manyimpressiveposi nal sacrifices. Thefollowing exampleis not so well known, & &
Game 60 & BA &
Axel Bachmann 2533
Alexei Shirov 2706 & A &&
Istanbul 2012 (6) Hew oe
10...f4l
An instructive positional pawn sacrifice, standard for this type ofposition, creating xz 2W Ke
weaknesses aroundthe white king. aa 2a
rigetg Bhs!
Ihethematic follow-up,fighting for control over the essential f4-square. aa a
12.0d5 a A
va.fres can be met by 12..dxe5 when 13.44 exfa 14. dxf4 Wha gives Black a very
stronginitiative, based on 15. Axhs & gal.
& AQ
rawexfg 13. Denk Oxf14. Bf & &
14. Oxf hg again provides nice attacking prospects.
& ABA
q W Fe
14.Exfgl
A deep positional exchange sacrifice, claiming control over the dark squares.
14... d4 was the simple alternative, also giving reasonable compensation.
15, Oxf4 hg 16. Dez
16.25 2 gq 17.Wda(17.3? Bes winsfor Black) 17....idg leads to complicated
play that is roughly balanced.
16... 8e4
The rignt move to keepthe pressure on.
a7h3
17.Wda is met by 17....xe2 18.xe2 &e5 with good play over the dark squares fol-
lowing 19.44 Sxtg.
ryBxhg 18. Bixhg Bixhg
Black is now only an exchange down, with obvious compensation.
19.94 Mh4 20.9 ¢2 hg
Shirov decides to repeat moves once, which can be practical in order to gain time
on the clock.
21. 04f4 hg 22. 0g2 BE
w AA
Deviating from therepetition. H E®
23.e4 2B 26. br?
Bringing thefinal piece into play. White loses the coordination betweenhis forces.
24.fthg Bde Better would have been 26.f4, restoring harmony in White's position, with a tense
The only way to keep the queens on the board. battle ahead
25. Rbdr Bxb2 26...x03,
Bringing the queen backto the kingside with 26...Weal would have been even
stronger.
27-Hxb7
27.h3 may have been a better defensivetry.
27Dd4
Keeping the initiative
28.961?
Thisis too passive. 28. llg4 wasthe only wayto stay in the game.

ALS
The hectic phaseis over, and with this move Black gets nice control over the whole
posttion
29.ihg2
29.We7 Der+ 30.itige “fg 31.02g1 Bhs and White will soon be mated.
29.086 30. Rb1 a4
This strong passed pawn will soon distract a few white pieces from the kingside, Merijn van Delft 2425
after which Black can resumeattacking. Rhodes Ech-tt 2013 (4)
31.f4 03 32.fo a8
A pretty square for the queen 1.e4 65 2. Of 26 3.d4 cxdg 4. Axdg Dc6 5.03 Wic7 6.fez a6 7.%d2
33-Maz Deb 7.llwith the idea W'g3 is the new mainline in the Taimanov.
At last, gaining control overthe fa-square. 7» 06 8.0-0-0 ez

34-Hb3
8. . 8 bgis the conventional alternative
24.f5 exfs 35. ca was thelasttry to put up resistance. 9.63 bs 10.24 Axd4 11.xd
34.0 Dxfge 35.ttthy Sb2 11, Axd4 is the mainline
Effectively finishing the game. 11. b7 12.85 Bhs
36.0c2 Bag 37.01 This knight is doing a great job holding up White's attack on the kingside.
7. 1b2 axb2 does not work. x3.thb eB 14.2 g6l
37 xd 0-1 Since White is going to question the hs soonerorlater, this is a useful waiting
Let me conclude this chapter with another game of my own. At the time | was
studying and playing the Sicilian Taimanov for aw! and | got the chanceto play
an exciting gambitline
Beub4 16.2 ds
Game61 The thematic break in thecentre
Bjorn Moler Ochsner 2296
17.85 18.824
White should have grabbedthe chance to sacrifice a pawn himself with °8. dal
x x
D> Dm foo
Wes 19.8 g4, leading to a very tense position. This is very similar to the sacrifice
aw a 4 we saw before in Bologan-Ve Jiangchuan.
a a Bud!
This thematic positional pawn sacrifice is the keyto playing this position. All Black-
4 &a 's pieces cometo life. By opening upthe centre, White will not be able to dominate
a theposition and build up a kingside attack. Since White has already weakenedhis
position and has several soft spots in his pawn structure, Black's compensationis
& 2
ho

fairly automatic.
RAAWA & ‘On the contrary, grabbing a pawnwith 18...}&xe5 leads to a poorpositionfollowing
19.244 We (19...1Wxgs fails to 20. Wxg5 Axgs 21.8 xh5 exhs 22. Zhgi) 29.8 xh5
& & gxhs 21.f4. Additionally, 18... g7 19.2 d4 is too passive
An instructive law seems to apply to this type ofposition: the one who manages to 19.fixdg
get in his positional pawn sacrifice first, will dictate the course ofthe game. IF 19. xd fds 20.Wfe Qgz Black can start considering ...Wxe5 since all his
17.00 piecesare now developed.
Here 17...d4l should be played imme-diately. The merits of this move will be ex- 19... 088
plained in a moment.
 Since White can hardly move, Black can slowly increase thetension
a.BaBes!
The recapture ofthe gambit pawn is now well-timed
22. fbxes
22.Wxb4 axb4 23. 8 xe5 Si xgsis good forBlack.
22a xd? 23.h4 Acs!
Keeping theinitiative
24.Hedi Hed8 25. Rxd2 Hxd2 25.ther Mey
This move was just too tempting. Butthe best option was 26... dsl and White will
not beable to defend all his weakresses.

20. Bhar?
Usually, centralization is a good idea, but hereit 's too slow.
Black does not needto fear 20. Sixhs gxhs beceuse White needs to detend his +
pawnwith 21. Zhfi and after 21..a5 Black is left with only strong pieces, while his
king is remarkably safe. White should have gonefor 20.c3 and hoped for the best.
20.85
 27..Be2+ 28.ilid1 Z d2+ 29.the1is only a repetition of moves.
28.thbr
1f28. Zxe3, ce3 29. 8 c7 €5followed by 30... 8 xf is winning.
28... Hxd4 29. Rxdq &xdq
Ihe two minorpiecesare clearly superior to the rook.
30.Hdr Aes
This counter-intuitive movesolvesall technical problems, as will soon become
clear
31. Hd8+ 918 32.Rd7 fds 33.07
After 33. &.xhs gxhs the mighty bishopswill dominate the board.

27. Oda?
After this White can no longersavethe game.
The orly move was 27.‘)g3 and atter the loj
2B.ilid Zxer+ 29.1xer Axg3 30. 2xg3 hs! 31.gxh6 f5 32.2h3 Axf3 Black should
be winning, but White can still fight for a draw.
27ae B31
 38.c4 hxg4 39.00d5
39.fig4 8 e4+ also loses.
39.083 4o.dxe6 Axe6
‘And White resigned
Conclusion
We have cometo the end ofa large chapterfull of rich content. First we studied the
historical development and main ideas of the Benko Gambit. While the opening it-
self may be under some theoretical pressure today, the ideas are universal and
have spread to other openings.
ABA In the King’s Indian, Black regularly switches to a Benko approach and the
b7-b6 pawn sacrifice in the Griinfeld is very similar. In the Réti Gambit, White
also uses themes from the Benko. The next big positional pawn sacrifice we stud-
33Ofgl ied is the Marshall Gambit, which also has universal value, spreading through
‘Theposition I was aiming for. The white bishopis trapped. many 1.e4 €5 openings. For White we studied typical methods ofplay in the
34. Mxas ts French, the Sicilian, the Benoni and the Queen's Indian. Independently of what
Winning the bishopand with it the game. your ownrepertoire maybe,it is very helpful to know the fundamental ideas ofall
35.8x°6 hg 36.04 bxa3 37. Hag Ad6 main openings, since many openings and types ofpositions arelinked with each
Simply defending the knight. other.
 In the final part ofthe chapter wesaw further examples ofthe dark-square strat-
egy in the King’s Indian,the typical...,5-f4 sacrifice on the kingside and the remark-
able situation in the Sicilian Taimanov where both sides hope to get in their posi-
tional pawn sacrifice first.
Altogether, theseare a lotofideas and patterns to digest. lake your time to re-
peatthings that were not entirely clear the first time around, and when you are
ready, let's move onto Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Typicalexchangesacrifices
After we have systematically gone through the most important positional pawn
sacrifices that have becomestandard methods ofplay, we will now do the same
with the most important positional exchange sacrifices. Actually, exchange sacri
fices come in many ways, shapes and forms in modern chess and have becomein-
creasingly frequent. Whereas in the old days exchangesacrifices were seen as
something special or even exotic, today they have becomevery standard,
Wehave already studied a few instructive positional exchangesacrifices. In
Chapter 1, an exchange was sacrificed to open diagonals, and in Chapter 2 it was
done to get a mighty pawnchain. In Chapter3, a rook was exchanged for the dark-
squared and light-squared bishoprespectively, to gain control over a colour com-
plex. In Chapter4, an exchange was sacrificedto achieve total domination, both in
the middlegame and in the endgame
In the current chapter we will study six different types of standard exchange
sacrifices: to achieve a dominant position, to secure long-term play against the
‘opponent's king, to control a colour complex or to get a superior pawn structure.
As yousee, the themes ofthefirst four chapters keep recurring.
6.1 Russian exchange sacrifice The thematic move, gaining spacein the centre, but Black has a good reply.
We will start with a typical positional exchange sacrificethat has a long history and
is often referred to as the Russian exchange sacrifice, z= Wee =
Its defining feature is a rooklift on anopenfile,landing the rook on anoutpost, on 42 AbbS
which it can be taken by a minorpiece. [his typically results in a passed pawn and
a dominant position
We will start with an early example by World ChampionAlexanderAlekhine.
Game 62
Alexey Selezniev
AlexanderAlekhine
Triberg 1921 (3)
1.dg Of6 2.0% b6 3.93 Mb7 4. Ag2 dé
With this move Black is looking for new ways. 4...e6 would lead the gameback to sl
the main lines ofthe Queen's Indian Securing decent counterplay.
5.0-0 @bd7 6.24 9. Der a6 10.04
More natural here and on the next moveis 6.4. 10.4 was more to the point.
6.n6 7.2.3 65 8.45 to..b4 11. Ae4 Axeg 12. Mxe4 26
Here and on the next move, 12...e5 was possible, makinguse ofthe pin along the Now the big question is what happens with the open b-file.
long diagonal 20.43,
13.04 bxc3 14.bxc3 fhg7 15. bt Hb8 16.c4 0-0 White could have gotten his Russian exchange sacrificein first, but 20.265 is not
The unusual opening has come to an end andtheposition is more orless bal- correct: 20... &xb§ 21.0xb5(21.axb5 Z.a8 leaves Black with a strong passed a-pawn
anced. that is well supported) 21....d#6 and White does not have a superior pawn struc-
17.Be2 a5 18.93 Be 19. Rd2 Mab ture, while Black has a passed pawn of his own.
x Re 20... Eb4l
Black's Russianexchange sacrifice does work perfectly well
Wasa ar. fixb4
2 A aa This gives Black nice compensation and good play. The best option may have been
to look for counterplay on thekingside with 21.h4,
a £8 Da
& & QB Black now has a strong defended passed pawn, while White has a vulnerable back-
ward epawn.
“A 22.Ad2 Ags
Wea & This strong square for the knight, combinedwith the bishoppair, nicely adds up to
the compensation
x E® 23.b3 Adz
An unnecessary retreat, allowing White to repair his position. 23..c8 simply defended
would have kept a comfortable position 27-He3 HB 28.2a
Now the white rooks surely have enough targets to hit on.
28.0847
Better wasthe immediate 28... g4
29.44?
White starts to lose track. First 29.Weal xdand only then 30.44 would have
been excellent for him
29.2 g4 30. Leg?
Mistakes comein pairs, as they say. This allows Black to take over.
30. ee1 would have kept theposition dynamically balanced
30..€4 31. D5 BS 32.ez

24.051
A strongpositional counter-sacrifice.
2d xd 25,0xd3 dxcs 26. fer Aes?
Black starts asking a bit much from his position. 26...l8d6 keeps everything well
 x 33-Hxgq ba

D> Be foo
Winning back the rook, but losing the beautiful pawnsin the process.
ai 34.Bixb2 Bixgg 35. Bxcq
Afterthis tactical sequence,the situation has normalized
a 35hs
a2 Hh W Black does start the next wave ofattack.
& debt E 36.02?
After this modest move,it becomes one-waytraffic.
36.h4 was the standard reply. Black can initiate new complications with 36..g5 but
WA A the situation remains dynamically balanced.
36.h4
z & ‘Adding this pawn to the attack makesall the difference and heavily tipsthe balance
32.ub3? in Black's favour.
This tactical interpretation of the position ruins Black's positional advantage. In- 37-¥¥d3 2.48 38.6 Phs 39.Meg hxg3 4o.hxg3 Mes 41.tg2
stead, the amazing 32... ixtal 33, Wxt2 Wxds would have been theright positional White is detending with everything he has, but he keeps suHering from his weak
sacrifice. For the moment, Black has three pawns forthe rook, butin the long run king
hewill win more material, since his position remains superior in every possible 4ncBHd2+ 42.ithg
way.
 A pretty switch.
x e ay-the2
aif 47.lig2 Bbil and Whiteis helpless.
a AJHb4 48.Ld2 Bh2+ 49.ite3 Bigis 50.the2 Mxdg
Restoring the material balance, while the attack keeps raging,
a 4& 51. Od3 Hbr 52.00 Meg
& # AW It would have been simplerto keep the rooks on with 52 ba.
53.Bcbr Big2+ 54.thd3 Bhxd2+ 55.1tc4 Bidg+ 56.1%b3
RAD
w
420 B61
An excellent move, keeping every-thing defended, creating a square for the king on
27 and thus making way forthe rook's transferto theh-file.
43-Hez Bh6+ 44.ihg2 they 45.64 Bh8
Now that the rookis included, the differencein king safety is enormous.
46.thf2 Hb8
 White now has a passed pawn ofhis own, but the differencein king safety still
decisive,
63...0564.Bler Bc3l
Good judgment, simplifying the situation.
65.Bxc3 Mxc3 66.05 Bxas
Co De

The point, leaving Black with a straightforwardly winning endgame.

67. Axas g4 68. Ac4 23 69.Ad2
(€

Do
1f69. 2163, 69..\l'g6followed by _.f7-f5 wins.
oe & 69...hg6 7o.ihb2 hf 7.
If71.s8.c2, 71... 1kfollowed by ..g3-g2 wins.
Tranfg 72. Mgr thes 73.1he2 hfe 74. Dh3+ Hi o7
Wa A fascinatingfinal position,as the e7- and f7-pawns have never movedin theentire
game.
This pretty move was not essential, but it is the most accurate way of controlling In the next example,from the Betavia tournament in Amsterdam,it is White who
thesituation. managesto get in a very nice Russian exchange sacrifice
57.thag Wess 58.ita2 216
Now that the coordinationis restored, Black can start picking up pawns. Game 63
59.95 Wxds+ 60. bg Bigs 61.Ber Bg2+ 62.Md2 Pfs 63.Bxas Koen Leenhouts 2487
Tal Baron 2544
Amsterdam 2017 (8)
1.dg Of6 2.04 263.9 M7 4.04 db 5.13 0-0 6.3 657.Ager
7.dxc§ we saw in Zaid-Ubilava
<6 8.d5 05 9,263 06
gu-h§ 10.8 e2 hg 11. Di e6 (11...b5is a high-tech versionofthe Benko) 12.f4 Oxcq
13.Axcq bg is a complex alternative, introduced in Svidler-Grischuk, London
Candidates 2013.
10. fe exds
10...5 's another Benko version,played by Ding Liren in 2015.
mods 26 12.04

12.4.7
This may not be the mostpractical approach, asit takes away the d7-square from
theknights.
12..h§ 13.0-0 Dh7 14.Wd2 hg 15. 2h1 fy is a typical way ofplaying, when the e5-
knight can drop backto f7, securing the weak d6-pawn and generally provicing har-
mony to Black's position
33.h3
Ake

Ie
White interestingly delays castling for a bit and threatens to trap the knight in the
middle ofthe board. 2 2
13.b§ 14-14 Acq
Wa a

be
14..b4 is best met by the calm 15. @b1 although 15... e8 16.txe5 Sxe4 can lead to
&

(S Dm De
insane complications. &
15, Aixe4 bxeg
&

D>
Black has won the bishoppair, buthis position has lost dynamicpotential
16.0-0 68 17.Md2 & WA
Med, targeting the weak c4-pawn, would have led to a critical situation for A w A
ro HE®
Now the position is dynamically balanced. 19.685?
18. Hacer Bb A positional mistake, handing White the initiative on the kingside. 19... xf
18...freg would have been most natural. 20. 2ads gxts was much more solid
r9.exf5 20. hs
The knight is much strongerthanthe bishopon d7.
20.86
 &h8 21.2 flis not easyeither. The Russian exchangesacrifice is clearly the best movein the position and leads to
a decisive advantage.
21.g4l, based on 21...fig4 22.f51 with a winning attack, was remarkably strong. 22...x26 23.dxe6 cy 24. Hert
A great multi-functional move, both supporting the passed pawn and playing the
This retreat comes too late. 21 € g7 was thelast fighting chance rook around to the kingside.
Wake 24...Me7 25.2e3 &g7
25. xe6is met by 26.25 Wify 27. AdfS+ Wh8 28 Wxd6 and Black’s position
2 startsto fall apart.
a 26. 2ixg7 thxg7 27.Rg3+ Hh®
The crazy 27...dih6 may have been a better practicaltry.
& 28.2d5 Dxds 29.Pxds
White dominates the position
29..ae8 30.fet
A pretty bishop manoeuvre, with devastating effect
30..fixe6 31.Ac3+ BYE
 & Zagreb 2019 (9)

a 1.dg Of6 2.04 6 3. AF ds 4. 3 drcg

The Vienna Variation.
x eq Bbq 6. Bxcg
a This modern gambitoption only becamepopular in the past decade.
A 6.2 g5 is still the big alternative.
6. Axe4 7.0-0

32.thal
A very elegant wayto finish the game. Black resigned — heis completely paralysed
We will conclude this theme with a very recent game at the highest possible level.
Game 64
‘Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2774
Viswanathan Anand 2767
 ZAasWe x The most accurate defence may be first 11..h6 12.8 ha and then 12... e7.
12.83
aaa aa a After weakening Black's kingside with 12. 2 xf6 gxf6 it is not easy to make progress
a for White. Black looks fairly solid after moveslike 2 g6 and ...itig7.
12...5 13. adr h6 14. Bet
White's centralized position and bishop pair nicely compensate for the pawn.
S244 14...b6 15.c4 He8 16. fb2 bz
Black has also completed his development, with decent harmonyin his position.
a a 17.405
&A BA &
HE 2wW fo
76
Grabbing a second pawnwith 7. . 9x3 8.bxc3.& xc3 gives White excellentplay after
o.ub1
8.Bag~ Ac6 9. Re5
White quickly bringsall his piecesintoplay.
9. flxc3 10.bxc3 0-0 11. fer Be7
 Setting upa forceful battery on the br-h7diagonal. One needs nervesofsteelto
x play this kind ofposition with black
a2a B.S
Anand finds anotherwayto return the pawn and get his remaining pieces into play.
a 19.Wea We7 20.dxc5 Mad
20...bxe5 21.71 would give White a direct mating attack.
w AA 21.cxb6 axb6 22. Ag4 Beal
The only wayto stay in the game.
& BR
&& BAA Starting a forcing sequence.
235+ 24.stthr hg 25. Dh6+
HE @ An intermediate move that secures White a positional advantage.
25.xh6 26.fre4 ©§
With this retreat Black starts to losetrack. Trying to shut down theposition as much as possible.
17..b51 would have been a highly instructive positional pawn sacrifice: 18.cxb5
(18. Wx5 allows18... 2 xgal followed by 19... b8) 18....d5 with firm control over
the light squares.
18. Abi
 29.Rf Bey
29...5l, with the idea to meet the monster move30. Zxf7 with the cool 30... 246,
was oneofBlack’s resources.
30.8fa Hay?
Ihis does nothing to improve Black's position
30...b5|wasstill the way to go.
3r-h3l
Creating a square for the king is very useful, since 31.lxh6 Wxc4 is too eary.
31. Hd6 32.8xch6 Hey
32...Wxe4 is now refuted by 33. 2 cl
33.
White keeps preferring a restrained approach, counting on the long-term potential
27-BdsP ofhis bishop pair.
Mamedyarov cannotresist the temptation and plays the Russian exchange sacrifice 33b5 34.803
— from an artistic point ofview he is entirely right Forcing Black to give upthe pressure
27.2.c1 wasthe calm alternative, keepingthe advantage. 34-.b4 35-Ab2 a6
27 Sixds 2B.exds Dg6
Black's position does havedefensive potential.
 save the game, but was obviously hard to find.
& 39. Hxes fies 40. Bxaé
Za White remains tivo pawns up, which he consolidates starting with a few checks.
x A 40.0H 41.Bs thf 42.hg 43.Aes+ HB 44.stehe
Black can no longer improve his position.
WAa a 44h 45. 25
a& Taking overtheinitiative. Black resigned.

&
A&B &
2w E ©
36. Af
Now White can focus on the kingside again.
36.6 37.076?
37.Wfil would have kept an optimumbalance between attack and defence,
37 F438. Mixes Hxes?
Now White comes out on top,atlast. 38...fal was the unexpected andonly way to
6.2 French exchange sacrifice 9.4 fez 10.Abd2 Agi. he Age
‘Our next typical positional exchange sacrificeis Black playing ... xf3, thus ruining 11...d4 12. 2 b3 d3is currently seen as one ofthe critical variations.
White's king-side position. As this typically happens in the French Defence, | like to r2.h3 Shs 13.Ber
call it the French exchangesacrifice, but of courseit can occur in other openings This somewhat disturbs the harmony in White's position. The natural wayto break
aswell thepin is 13.e1 followed by da-f-g3,
The first exampleis an early historical game starting with 1.e4 e5. The Zxf3 sacri- 1BD6
fice could also be classified as an attacking theme,as in the second example, but it The knight has found a nice squareto settle on.
certainly has a positional touch to it, especially when White is not checkmated in 14.2
the next moves. Thethird example is the purest onein this respect. | imagine White was dreaming ofsetting up a pawn storm on the kingside, but
Black is much fasterin taking control overthe keyf5-square.
Game65
AlexanderAlekhine
‘Akiba Rubinstein
Vilnius 1912 (5)
1.e4 652. Of3 M6 3.065 06 4. Mag Af 5.0-0 Axe4
5....¢7 is what we studied in Chapter5.2.
6.d4 bs 7.0.63 ds 8.dxes Me6
The basic position ofthe Open Spanish.
 while the knight is looking pretty on e6, securely blocking the passed pawn. Supe-
x w
D> Be ho i:

Dm Dat
> De rior positional play by Rubinstein

De
De
15...hxg6 was actually fine as well
a 16. 9b3 g5
his movewas notreally necessary.
a 4
>
Moststraightforward was 16..0-0 since 17,f4 is leading nowhere and would only
weaken White’s position.
wy.fes
& (Sle Smootherwas 17.We2.
&AARA BA 17.00

ZH 2 WES
Winning an important tempo.
15, Bxg6
White should have considered keeping the tensicn with 15. 8 b1
15..6:g61
With this unconventional recapture Black takes full control over the f$-square,
 thestrict values ofthepieces (rook = § points, knight = 3 points) when theycould
x wz

be it
not calculate a sacrifice until the end. Today, more than a century later, itis widely
2

be
> De
known that sucha sacrifice does not need to becalculated until the end and can be
a A made on general grounds.
18... xt3l 19.gx43 Axes is winning tor Black, as the position plays itself: ..Wd7,
4 a& ade, £8, etc.
19.d2?
White even continuesto provoke thesacrifice.
“aA & (So> 19. Wee was called for.

&
& BA
19... x83!
Now Black gets an evenbetter version.
X wW gE & 20.ex83 Axes 21.Mer HB
18.08? The rook immediatelyjoins in
Sofar we have beentalking about details and nuances, but this is a serious posi-
tional blunder. What happensnext, 's just as amzzing, 1g the knightto the right squares.
18...167?
Black not automatically taking on f tells us a lot about the dogmatic thinking that
was still prevalent in those days. Even the world’s leading players were sticking to
 Consolidating after picking up a few pawns.
27.Ble2 Bf 041
Total domination, White will soon be checkmated
Wewill now turn to the main line of the 3.d2 46 French, in which the af
sacrifice has become a standard feature. Ihis particular concept was deve oped in
the 1950s and the legendary Mikhail Tal, who was later to become World Cham-
pion, was oneofthe first to be successful with Zxf3 in this opening.
Game 66
Dmitry Rovner
&& AWA Mikhail Tal
a EZ ® Riga 1955 (18)
23.8461 1.e4 26 2.d4 d5 3. Ad2 Af 4.05 Afd7 5.Ad3 «5 6.3 Ac6 7. Der
Played in the spirit oftheposition,calmly building upthe attack. Leaving the f3-square for theother knight. In Schmidt-Lamoureux we saw the gam-
2444 bit approach 7.4 gf3.
As this point Alekhine must have realized what he had done, but his position is ToeBID6
well beyond repair. Today this move is considered dubious. In the next game we will see the imme-
2a Dexts 25.01f1 Axhgs 26.1%h1 g4 diate 7..cxd4 8.od4 £6, whichis the mainline.
8.2cxd4 g.ccd4 (6 10.exf6 Axfé This approachis less convincing
12.8 f4l &xf4 13. 2xfy is good for White, since 13...lxb2 14. Ze1 leaves him with a
ZH 2 #8 E very active position.
aa aa 12..0013.Her fid7
Now Black is in the game — anything 1s possible.
Wa 2A 14, Abs Mb8 15.3 db
4 The moves are repeated once, but the game continues.
A 16. he
Now Black surely cannot takeeither pawn,
A 2 16... Lae8
A&A ARAA Bringing the final piece into play, while White is still working on finding tre right
squares forhis pieces.
HZ Q2We & 16...lxb2 does not work, because of 17.924 Wb4 18.8 d2 Wag and now 19. Ze3l
This particular pawn structure needs someexplanation. Both d4 and e6 aretargets. vy.Reo
If White manages to stabilize the situation and keep the most important squares This disturbs the coordination ofthe white pieces.
under control, his position tends to be easier tc play. Black does have certain dy- Correct was 17.1 in order to meet 17...2g4 with 18. &hg followed by & g3, which
namic counter-chances, as we will soon see. is a thematic bishop manoeuvre to securethe kingside.
10-0 £461.43 a7Ae
Black is grabbing the 19.9083
18.h3? 1g haga fails to 19... xd20.gxf3 Dxf3+ and & gsis hanging,
Allowing the typical exchangesacrifice. 18.2 d2 was essential, in orderto be able to 19... Dhak?
take back on f3 with a piece. Tal finds his own creative way of playing. 19... xd4l was strong,as the 2 gs is still
x x & hanging
20.1g2?
aa This does not work well. 20. e3l was the way to keepthefight going
20... xd
‘One ofthe main points ofthe exchangesacrificeis that the d4-pawn becomes very
Q vulnerable as well
A 21.Be3
f21. 8 ¢3 Dhxfy is winning,
a & Dnh6 22. hg.
&& 22.f4 was the way to try to create chaos.

&
18... Ex
The French exchange sacrifice
 24.fre3 defy also wins for Black
2h. Ahk
Picking up a second pawn in the process.
25, xd Oxhgs 26.18 Bxb2 01
loo muchis left hanging in White's camp.
We will now study the most critical line in this domain. Today, the right ways to
play for White have beenestablished, but back in 1990 Gleizerov played a model
gamein the true spirit ofthe positional exchangesacrifice
Game67
Fabrizio Bellia 2320
Evgeny Gleizerov 2470
Budapest 1990 (5)
22... Of
2... {8 would havebeenthematic, insisting on gaining control overthe f3-square. 1.e4 26 2.d4 d5 3. Ad2 Af 4.05 Afd7 5.8.d3 5 6.3 Acb 7. Der oxdg
23.086 7--lW'b6 we saw in theprevious game.
Finally, White attacks something as well, but tre tactics clearly work in Black's B.cxd4 (6 9.exf6 Axf6 10.0-0 45 1.4f3 0-0
favour. 11...e7is the other mainline.
23Sixes 24. Mxe8
vf
The exchangeofthe dark-squared bishopsis a positional achievement for White, in Mpa x
his attempts to stabilize the situation. It is not the end ofthe world forBlackeither, This is the most frequently played French exchangesacrifice, which has a history
as long as he keeps active counterplay. In general, thinking about so-called good that goes back to 1960, whenit wasfrst played by Vladimir Popov. After more than
and bad bishops has becomefar less dogmatic throughoutthe years. half a century of analysis and tournamentpractice, it seems that a few ways have
12. Baty 13. Oxtg Beg 14. D2 been found to secure an edge for White, but t remains interesting study material
14, Wel was a solid alternative 14.28.47 is a good alternative.
xz 42W Ee 53
Including 15. 8 xe4 dxeq makes things much worse for White
aa ai 15...5 16.001
16.4 Dh3+ and now 17.\l gal looks good for White: 17..Wh4 18.45 Wes 19.283
a a and White has managed to coordinate his pieces.
oh

16...5
a
rt b>

A
(2
 complicated sequence 19.g1 Acd4 20.Axf3 Bgq 21.9xd4 Bxdi 22. Zaxdr
& itixh7 a dynamically balanced position remains.
ai 8.5
18... Axha fails to 19. hs.
19.Wd2
A After this modest move Black keepsfine compensation for the exchange
19.£4 wasthe sharp alternative.
19.826

17.dxes
The eritical line is 17 Whgl SAAR IR Seo WR New White can stabilize with the typ-
ical 19.%4 exf4 20.f3 and hereit seems that Black does nothave full compensation
forthe exchange.
17Oxf 18. g1
The sharpalternative 18. xh7+ is met by the cool 18..\l/h8I andfollowing the
 24, Wb§ was the active attemptto try to keep the black bishop from the long diag-
onal
24a B.d5 25.Berg5l?
a & Very confidently played.
Ihe simple 25...hb was also good
a 26.hghs 27. fe Ws 28. Lge thifyl?
Creative play, stepping outofthe pin
29. RA?
Thisis toopassive. Better was 29 da.
&& BW A A 29... Le8 30.2

£ BAG
Black has a pawnforthe exchange and thesafer king.
20.8 6 21.63 HB
Theimmediate 21 Sxd3 was probably best.
22.adi
White should have considered keeping his bishop with 22. & c2
22Oed3 23,Bixd3 d4 24. Eder
 = 34-Her Hes 35.e3 fy
Now that everything is defended, Black can patiently look for a way to break
ha & wow ~~ .
A 36.8d2 Hxe3 37. fixe; BIE?
‘A movelike 37...il #6 would have been better.
£2 w aa 38.01?
a Returning the exchangewith 38.Zxds @xd5 39. Wxd3 was still not great for White,
but suddenly offered chancesforsurvival
& & & 38...1¥es 39.11
& We
BAS
3o..h4l
Instead ofopeningfiles, Black plays for total domination.
31. Meg d3
Taking thelast square away from the knight.
g2.thhe Mes 33.4 Agél
The knightis on its wayto the dream f4-square
 aa &
Ww iaé
De» [8 ro

a a
& & &
& wW
“a &
39... g6!
Whiteis basically in zugzwang,with still quite a few pieces on the board.
4o.Mag Woz 41.Md4 Wea 42.0 iG
A final king move, nicely illustra-ting the success of Black’s strategy. White re-
signed.
63 Si jan exchange sacrifice 6... 87 7.0-0 0-08.bg
In the previous section we saw ...Zxf3, to ruin the pawn structure on the kingside, 8. Bet with theidea & f1 is the medempositional treatment.
so now we will logically turn to . .xc3, ruining the queenside structure. This typi- 8...Abd7
cally happensin the Sicilian, in different ways, shapes and forms. Especially in the Black is going for a dynamic set-up involving a double fianchetto.
Sicilian Dragon,...}ixc3 is an essential tool for Black, and sometimeseventheonly Classical development with 8... 6is also fine.
way to stay in the game. g.tttha b6
Wewill start with an early historical example from 1947 in which White castled
kingside, but next we will see an important theoretical game from 1970, when xz 4W Ke
White started to focus on the sharp approach, castling queenside. The lessons a AAALSE
from theSicilian Dragonapplyin theSicilian Najdorf as well, as we will see in a
heavyweight model gameplayedin 2000. & & Ab
Game 68
Grigory Ravinsky
Vladimir Simagin
Moscow 1947

1.e4 65 2.063 d6 3.d4 ccd4.Axd4 216 5. AG 96 6.fer

We will turn to 6. £ 3 in the next game.
10.4
White's pieces are notpositioned well enough forthis active push. Black, on the
other hand,is perfectly well organized to increase the pressure against e4,
10.24 {b7 11.43 would have been more solid, butalso less inspiring.
10... 167 1.043 HB
Played with a clearintention, but probably his orponent simply did notseeit com-
ing.
12.Meg?
Continuing developmentasif nothingis happening,butallowing Black to strike in
‘a way that is now standard, though notyet in thoseearly days. Better was 12. Wet to
support both c3 and 4.

12. xcgl
As we already saw in Chapters 3.1 and 5.4, Simagin wasa true pioneerof positional
sacrifices. Studying his games is helpful in understanding the dynamic spint of
‘openings like theSicilian and the Griinfeld.
13.bxeg Axeg
Getting this important central pawnfor the exchange, on top ofthe superior pawn
structure and piece coordination,easily tips the balance in Black’s favour.
1g. fds
Better may have been 14.8d3, after which Black has several convenient ways to
support the knight.
14.281
Avoidirg thetrade ofdark-squared bishops and keeping theinitiative.
15,fres dxes 16.er?
An interesting attemptto confuse theissue
16. Het was thealternative defensivetry.
w6..exd4 17-8xe4

after the following sequence Black remains with superior pieces.

18. Qxb7 xe19. Maxer dxcg
At first view this position may seem unclear, but the queen and the two pawns out-
weigh the two rooks.
Closer inspection reveals that the white knight is out ofplay, and the black minor
pieces will support their queenin dominating theposition.
20.23
The attempt to get the initiative with 20.2 d5 is neutralized by 20...f6 21. 2c4
We7 and Black takes over.
20..h51
As sooften,the key move in such situations: creating a flight square for the king
and using the pawn to attack the opponent's king.
a. Mab

& & AB
x
21 Desh
Returning oneofthe pawns,since piece coordination is the mostimportant thing
here.
22. Hxc3 hy
Securing the king.
23.Hh3 Bids
Powerful centralization. TheSicilian Dragon basically appeared in the 1930s.
24. Adz gd 6.fe3 Me7 7-6 M6 8.d20-09.cg
The conventional choice. ‘Only in the 1950s White started laying this sharpest approach, which is based on
24... h6also feels good. castling queen-side, h4-hs to opentheh-file, and playing for a direct checkmate.
25. Meg Mh6 26. g3 hg Ihe other main line, 9.0-6-0, is morepositionally oriented
The white rook finds no peace 9.87 10.b3 He811.0-0-0 De5
27-H1h3, figs 28. Mer as The Topalov Variation 1 . . xd 12. 8 xdbsis an important alternative.
Total domination. w2hg
29.20 Bxct 30. Bxcr Bd2.04 The prophylactic 12. bt is the mostcritical variation
A few decadeslater, a lot of progress had been made as to how to handle these
sharp Dragon positions. Many importantattacking and counter-attacking ideas
were discovered,
Game 69
Mikael Nykopp
Andrew Soltis
Haifa 1370 (4)
1.e4 65 2. O63 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Axd4 216 5.0 86
 Be Mxh6
This has becomea very typical way to introducethe exchange sacrifice.
In this particular position though, the optimal defenceis 13... cal 14. cc Bxcg
15 1g7 ilixg7 and here Black can meet 16.g4 with 16..hxg4 17.h! h8l, beingjust
in timeto neutralize White's aggressive intentions along the h-file.
14.8xh6 Hxc3l
Black's trademark ideain the Sicilian Dragon
15.bxc3 as 16.F¥e3
16.itibil is the optimal move to start with, and ifWhite subsequently gets the tim-
ing ofg2-g4 right, Black will have somereal problems to solve.
16... 28

r2.hgl
Soltis was one ofthe first players to appreciate the importanceofblocking the
white h-pawnandto fully understand the defensive potential of Black's position.
13. Ah
13.5 Ecsl is an important theoretical branch, with the black rook playing an
important defensive role alongthefifth rank.

v7.thhde?
The confusion that positionalsacrifices causedin the old days is remarkable. Here
White starts to panic by runninghis king outofthe perceived danger zone.
‘Once more, 17.Kib1 was the correct way of playing, as the king is perfectly safe
there. Black's exchange sacrifice is a positional one,playing for squaresratherthan
playing for checkmate. Taking the pawn with 17. xc3 is actually risky for Black
after 18. ida.
17. 7¥a3
Preparing to march forward with the a-pawn.
18.24
Ihis is notcorrect, but it does succeed in confusingthe issue,
18...052
Afterthis reply, White is back in the game.
Black was not aware ofthe highly instructive defence 18...hxg4 19.h5 gs! with the
beautiful point 20.!W/xgs+ ilzh7! and the black kingis perfectly safe, hiding behind
the white h-pawn. White's attack has come to a hold andBlack is taking over.
ag.gxhs Axhs
19...a4 is met by the solid positional piece sacrifice 20.hxg6 axb3 21.axb3after
which White's king is suddenly very safe, while Black's king is suffering.
 2. Ehgi+
x e White could also start with 21. Wh6.
4 2 a
>
Dnthth7 22. g5 @f6 23. dg
a a Everything with gain oftempo.
Bou MgB
a A The only defence
“A & 24. Hxg8 Axg8 25.1di?
Thisis tactically flawed. 25. £ xg8 lixg8 26. llg5+ kept the balance.
Ny 2 A & 25S
& AG The exchange ofqueens would suit Black.
26.g5
x &
20.06?
In such tense situations, mistakes are easily made. 20.f4 would haveled to a very
unclear position.
20.65?
The open black king gives White enough counterplay. After 20... x5 21.exfs a4 the
tactics turn out to work in Black's favour.
 A
ee Giving Black full control over the position.
30.0ge Weg+ 31.00 Bxc3 32.04 Ah6 33.h5 e7
Black could simply continue attacking with 33.05,
4 W AAW 34.h2 ®e3
& & Possibly, Black wanted to keep things simple, but in fact the exchange of queens
complicates the win
B& & 35.Bxg3 fees 36.the2 Dfg+ 37.1hxg3 Axhs+ 38.0hf2 4 39.h1 es
AA The calm 39... g7 made more sense
40. fixfy
& E Blundering a piece. 40. d1 was ¢ last fighting chance.
40. Dh3+ 07
The only move, but 2 winning move at the same -ime. ManySicilian players have started with the Dragon in their youth, and later
27-Mer Aas 28.Me2? switched to the more universal Najdort. The instructive lessons on positional sacri-
This makes things worse. 28. \tid2 had to betried fices that one learns byplaying tre Dragon,still come in handy when playing the
28... hg 29,g3 Najdorf. As a general rule: ifWhite has castled queenside and needs to take back
At this point, offering the exchange of queens with 29.We3 was White's best ‘on c3 with the pawn, thepositional exchange sacrifice 2 xc3 can be made almost
automatically. The following gameby Kasparov helped a lot to makethis clear to a 9.84 is the most accurate move-order.
wider audience and to makeit part ofthe chess world’s collective memory.
ZH S2Wee
Game Jo
Sergei Movsesian 2668
& sbi
Garry Kasparov 2851 a iA
Sarajevo 2000 (11)
4
1.04 05 2.063 d6 3.44 cdg 4.Axdg O16 5.063 26
The Najdorf
D&
6.3 A BA
6.8 g5 wasthe absolute mainline in the early days ofthe Najdorf, andis still pop- &AAW &&
ulartoday.
6.06 SE 2
6...25 is the current main line
g.-hs| gives Black the best of both worlds: seriously delaying White’s attack on the
7
This mave defines the English Attack:it secures the central pawn and prepares the kingside, while having active play himself on the queenside. White would like to
break Black's queenside structure with a2-a4, but doing so while having castled
pawn storm g2-g4-85.
Jub 8.Bd2 Abd7 9.0-0-0 there is risky. Actually, there is this modern trend where White plays this anyway,
 but our classical knowledgeof the Benko, amongst others, teaches usthat Black
x

be FE
De- |i-
De

De [mt
‘can sacrifice a pawn on the queenside for enduring compensation.
2

De
10.g4 Ab6
Freeing the d7-square for the other knight.
ne aa
11.231 Zc8 12.0061 is a modemline, and following 12....fd7 13. g1 White has 4
achieved relative stability on the queenside and an interesting attacking set-up on

to
i> D>
Do
thekingside
v1. . fly 12.181 “A &
Thisis ahvays a good idea when you castle queerside.
12.0.8 13. 43?
ABA wa
White deliberately allows the exchangesacrifice, but Black's compensation will be ®& #£ &
automatic. 13. cea was the wayto preventit.
The perfect Sicilian exchange sacrifice. White has a lead in development ard mate-
rial, but Black’s superior pawnstructure 1s the dominantfactor. his was actually
already played by Belottiin 1991 and a few others afterwards.
1g.bxcg Bic7 15. Bez
15.g5, not yet wasting time on defending the c3-pawn, may have beenthe best try.
 na eg!
Eoohasting the positional nature ofthe sacrifice. Black continues as if nothing x &
happened and first completes his development, before undertaking any further ac- 2 w A 2 aaa
tion.
16.500 a a a

There is no need to fear White’s attack a &

a7ehg Mag A & A

ABBA
& & AW
& £ x
The problem with White’s queen-side position is that it is beyond repair. This
defensive move only loses time. Ihe only way was forward with 18.h5,
18... 05
Blackis gettingin all his natural moves.
1g.hsds!
The thematic central break
20.%h2 2d6
Keeping theinitiative
21.Pthg Axd3
Grabbing the bishoppair.
22.0003 bg
Followed by openingthe position.
23.0cb4 HB 24.1har deg
Further openingthe position.
25.req

25. Areal
The decisive blow.
26.26
If26.dxe4, 26... e5+ wins.
26... .xhn 27.xhr Bixby.
By now Black is material up, while his attack keeps raging,
2Bigetys Bl
Kasparov's incredible ability to calculate complicatedlines allows him to finish the
gamein style
28... lixf7 wasalso good enough
29.Wg2 Mb8
Playing for a direct checkmate
30.Mb2 Axba 31.Adq Axdil
Finishing with a cute mating idea.
32. Axe6s thay 0-4
6.4 Allowing .. Qxa1 The Grinfeld Indian Defence
The following theme is an important oneandis interesting from a psychological Aocrds Axds 5.04 Axc3 6.bxc3 657. Bic4 M97 8. Der 0-09.0-0 ord
pointofview. We are going to see White allowing Black to take the rook on at with The mainline 9... 6 we saw in Borloy-Lengyel
his dare-squared bishop. In the previous sections the rook was actively sacrificing ro.cxdg Ac6 11. e3 Be4
itself, whereas here there 1s merely a threat against the rook being ignored. Ihe psy- Black tries to increasethe pressure against the pawn centre as much as possible.
chological part is that Black may havebeen thinking that he wasthreatening some- 12. a5
thing, end when this threat turns outto be anillusion, this may be difficult to deal The modest 12...8d7 may be Black’s best option
with 13.843
Aswe learned in Chapter3.1, giving up the important dark-squared bishop leads to The typical sequence 13. Axfy+ Exf7 14.fcg4 Zxfi+ 15. xh is an important alter-
a weakened colour complex. In that chapter we studied games in which Black was native
dominating on the dark squares and now we edd two examples in which White 13.06
does so. We will also see a gamein which Black ellows & xa8,
Game 71
David Bronstein
Isaak Boleslavsky
Moscow 1950(1)
1.dg Af 2.04 26 3.23 ds
 5,
An interesting square for the queen. It maylook a bit modest, but the queenoften
likes to operate behind the scenes.
15.16
Ihis does consolidate the position for now.
16.8h6
Reminding Black that he no longer has a flanchetto bishop.
16...9b6+?
‘Only pushing the white king to a safer square.
16... 2€8is the best move, when a very tensesituation remains,in which White cer-
tainly has compensationfor the exchange, but possibly no more.
v7.stthal
ag.d5l This was actually the second gamewith this variation between the same players
The thematic move, happily allowing Black to take ona1. Bronstein was oneofthe and here Bronstein deviates from 17. 2d4, the move he had tried before.
very first ones to playit, and was the first one to win with it. By now, morethan a 17 RFd8?
thousand games have been played with this posi:ional exchangesacrifice Now Black’s position quickly goes downhill
1gBexar Returning the exchangewith 17... d7 was a better try.
If Black does not take, White remains with the more pleasant position. 18.Hb1
Winning a big tempo.
x x &
18...0c5 19. Rd
Nicely regroupingthe bishop. aw a
19.6 a Saab
19...L2c8 with the idea 20. X bs Wa3 had to be tried.
20. fbg Bey 21. Ba Aa &
The black queen keeps being pushed around
2.87
&
Q
&
a
wy &
22.bil
A very elegantlittle queen move, surprisingly attacking two black pieces at the
sametime
220 Hab&
2...18d723. 2.a6 8 f7 was the wayto save both pieces, but with the reply 24.9d4
White achieves total domination.
23.dxe6
A.sole rook is no matchfor two bishops.
Bu 6 24.0.3 Aes 25. Mb5 Hbc8 26. Axes
Aninteresting transformation, having a concrete bind in mind
26...Mxer+
26...fre§ 27.8. d7 does not change much.
27-Wxct fees 28.47
The aforementioned bind
28...a6

wW &
Bronstein confidently sacrifices his queenside, knowing that he will win on the
kingside.
29...Pixa2 30.h4,
Wehave seen this typical device before:creating a square for your own king, while
‘opening an attack onthe opponent's king.
30... 28 31.035, 6.bxc3 dxc§ 7.Bxd8+ itxd8
‘Oncethe queenfinally joins the attack,it is immediately over. ‘Ontopofthat, Black's king will remain a bit vulnerable.
3tan LS 32.8x6 1-0 8.Ae5
A cute Finish of a high-profile encounter. White can also consider starting with 8.g3,
Black can use the samedevice, sacrificing the exchange by allowing &xa8. In this 8...Me6 9.83 Dd7 10. Axd7
case, control ofthe light squaresis the prevalent theme. The optimal way ofplaying would have been 10.2 f4l Axes 11. Axe5 f6 12.844
Sxcq and now after 13. g2 White will mostlikely regain the pavn, while keeping
Game 72 strong bishops.
Etienne Bacrot 2594 10... tixd7 ge O16
Veselin Topalov 2702 1 . . 8xe4 12. btis problematic.
Sarajevo 2000 (7)
12.Ebr
1.d4 d6 2.06 263.04 87 4.93.5 logical move, but Black has a nice surprise in store. Better was 12.{1xb7
Topaloy chooses a relatively rare opening variation. 4. . f6 transposes back to the 13.8.6 and here Black needs to worry about how to equalize.
King’s Indian
s.dxcs Mxc3+
A double-edged decision: Black gives up the bishoppair, to weaken White's pawn
structure. This is normal in the Nimzo-Indian (1.d4 2f6 2.04 e6 3.2¢3 &bg), but
morerisky whenit involvesa fianchettobishop.
 14.8 eB

De» [im
Transferring the knight to the promising dé-square

be
15,24 Mxc4 16. ba
The white rooks lack open files.

De
16...96
Anexcellent square for the king, “tom which it can hope to become even more ac-
tive,
17. Reda
& 17.24 was worth considering as well.
& &ABA 170d6 18. xd
This exchangeis not obligatory, butit's a reasonable decision to simplify the situ-
E22 ©@ £ ation somewhat.
12..b61 18...exd6 19.12
The key move, a pretty positional exchangesacrifice. Starting with 19.¢4 wasthealternative
13, Axa Mad 19..d5 20.64
Black has achieved many things at the same time: keeping a superior pawn struc: Weakening the pawn structure this way does not look very pretty.
ture, el minating the enemy bishoppair and having a strong king forthe endgame Preparing this push with 20. 1 ooked more natural.
(Ontopofthat, the c4-pavnwill be lost as well 20.ndxe4 21.Fe4
 x 23.188 thbs!
There goes the black king.
a a 4 aa.they
Replacing the bishopon this attractive square.
& 4 25. Meg
a 5 1 looks like a solid defence =00.
A 25.05
2 Setting the queenside majority in motion.
& & 26.ihgs
& # & A White wants similar activity for his king, and the gamesoon reachesits crisis.
26.5 27.8h6
X White will soon get his own passed pawn.
27b4
21.He8 Thecritical moment ofthe game.
A fascinating alternative was 91 hs 29 Zhr+ itiag when the black king ends up
playing a very active role on the queenside, both in supporting the queenside
majority, as well as in attacking the weak white pawns.
22.Her feb
The bishop makes a mighty impres-sion, controlling all the key squares.
 The right recapture.
x 29.ttixh7 Ha8 30.the7 thbs
a 64 Making wayforthe big c-pawn to advance.
2 22% 31hg c4 32.84
White quickly tries to get a passed pawn himself.
a 4 32.063 33-Mg2 Hxa2
ae & ‘And White resigned, as it turns out that Black’s pawns are muchfaster.
Let us see one more example, wits White allowing... 8 xa1
& EF A Game73
& ££ & Erik van denDoel2573
Robby Kevlishvili 2354
2B.crbs? Amsterdam 2015 (3)
White must have been happyto finally get rid ofthis annoying weakness, but giving 1.04 05 2.03 db 3.44 cxdg 4.Axdg O16 5.263 26 6.53
Black a strong passed c-pawn Is too much. This is a solid way of meeting the Najdorf.
After the immediate 28.itixh7 the position would have remained super- 6.86
complicated Black decides to play Dragon-style, but more reliableis 6...65.
2B.naxb4 7-Rg2 &g7 8.0-00-09.h3!
A thematic little pawn move, taking away the g4-square from the black pieces.

i De Dat
9. Ac6 10. Beg, £W x &
Now White cannot be disturbed by . . g4 any longer. a £ a
10... Hb8 11. Ads,
Centralizing and working on setting up somesort of bind.
a
A a

11.47 12.3 4
Preventing all counterplay, byclosing the long diagonal
Aa

Do D>
12...06 13. Ab4l
& &

0G: > Co
Anice move, creating an unusual, but effective bind
Ben Oxbg 14.0064
&

Be D>
Now Black's b-pawn is going nowhere, while the pawn break ..d6-d5is also not
easyto achieve Wo
14.066 16.eal
Black insists on the pawn break. The thematic positional exchange sacrifice
15,b3 16... xar
‘Onceagain, taking away an essential square fiomthe knight, now onthe other By now we know that this gives White very nice compensation. 16.....47 17.
wing. 28 c6 may have been thebesttry.
15d 17.Bat
From the Bronstein gamewe know thatthe queenfeels well here
17 eB?
Black snould havereturned the exchange with 17...dxeq 18. £ h6 £6.
18.08da?
There was no hurry in bringing the queen in, as we know from the Bronstein game
as well. Including thefinal piece into play with 18. dil looks very good for White,
18... d7
At least improving the knight.
ag.exd5

19.05?
Now things quickly go downhill for Black. Correct was 19...exd5 20.2¢3 esand
Black can still fight back.
20.Bla7l
Goodjudgement, as the white queen will not be trapped, while it does help to
paralyse Black's position.
20..b6 21.46 e4 22. Her
Including thefinal piece into play.
22BT
If22...8 b7, 23.27 wins.
23.Wixe6
Picking up the second pawn
23.8 24.a7 by 25.Plag bs 26.Bas WE 27.03 Bxd6 28. Axbs FILS
29. Act HB 30. Mxe4
The third pawn.
30.16 31. Mg2 MF 32. A126 MAB 33. Acs Bxas 34.bxa5
The battleis over.
34Hey 35.84 Me6 36.014 Hec8 37.Qb7 HcdB 38.Axe6 fre6 39.8e5 Hd7
40.%c8 Hey 41.06 they 42.b41-0
65 The bishop snatcher After 6.d5 Black can go 6..d4
‘Oneof my favourite positional exchange sacrificesis the ‘bishop snatcher’. This 6... Axes 7.44
term was coined by Arthur van de Oudeweetering. It refers to playing 6 with This is comparatively slow, basically losing a tempo. 7.2xe§ would keep she nat-
white and xe3 with black. ural flow,
In Chapter3.1 we already saw Kasparov's tamous bishop snatcher against Karpov, Tou
although in that case Karpov was not forced to take back with the pawn. In its Petrosian has a special setup in mind. Thestraightforward 7...“e7 also gives,
purest form,the bishop snatcher causes damagein the opponent's pawn structure. Black a smooth game
Furthermore,it often leads to domination on a particular colour compl thelight BMercs
squares after (26 andthe dark squares after ..2xe3. In this section we will look The point ofthe previous move. Black accepts a backward pawn on dé, but gets
ata fev nice examples, starting with a classical game by Petrosian. theinitiative in return.
9.92 Me6 10.Ad5
Game 74
White should have played 10.£4l since 10... dxcg (betteris 10...<6) fails to 11.0-0.
Lev Polugaevsky 2625 10... Sxd5 11.exd5
Tigran V Petrosian 2605 11.Bxds would have kept the strong square on d5, but is bound to lose more time.
Moscow 1983 (13)
nn. Gey
1.3 26 2.44 897 3.c4 d6 4.23 65
In Bacrot-Topalov we saw 4..c5
5.04 Ac6 6.dxes
 13. OF 14.54
zx w
Fe

De» [ime
White decides to fightfortheinitiative, but this does weaken somesquares.
4 a2 1g.ncxb4 15. Exb4 Bley
A a Black has good control over theposition. Once he gets a knight on c5, his position
wall be untouchable.
a&
>
16.fb2
& This may be a step in the wrongdirection. The modest and restrained 16.h3kept
thebalance.
16... Bfe8 17. da?
&AD BAAA This is the real mistake. Now Black manages to exchange the right pieces. 17.h3
was still the right move.
ZH Q2We & 170 Oxd4 18. Oxd4 Adz
12.00 The knight is heading for the dream square, while the exchange ofdark-squared
12. 2.€3 would have kept the black knight from reachingf. bishopswould resultin a classical good knight vs bad bishop scenario.
12.00 19. eg
Black had to start with 12... Avoiding the exchange ofbishops, but allowing another exchange.
13.Hbt
Again 13.263.
 z =| & have any pawnbreaks. Black cannoteasily break either, but he can start by increas-
ing the pressure against the newly created weakness on €3.
Wa af ata tes
a a a Bringing thefinalpieceinto play.
22.3 Bho
& Giving White something to think about, with simple moves.
E & 23.83 Bez

&
& BA&&A
wW ES
The bishopsnatcher. The important dark-squared bishopis eliminated anyway and
Black gets full control overthe position. Petrosian was famous for his positional
‘exchange sacrifices.
20.f03 D5
The knight looks fantastic here. The white bishoois toothless and White does not
 psychological pressure that comes with a positional sacrifice is sometimes enor-

a Wa & We will now see a crystal-clear example ofWhite employing the‘bishop snatcher’
The remarkable thing is that only ten years ago, this strong positional exchange
a A ae sacrifice tooka strong grandmasterby surprise.
Aa & Game75
HA Alexander Grischuk 2736
W AE Alexander Riazantsev 2661
Moscow 2009(5)
& & &&
reg 06
& Alekhine’s Defence was one of the Hypermodern openings from the 1920s, but
Black looks beautifully coordinated, while Polugaevsky must have felt really un- today we know that White will sir ply be better, due to his space advantage.
happy. 2.05 Ads 3.44 d6 4.9% dxes
24.Mb6? 4-8 84 5.82 is the old mainline.
A terrible blunder, instantly losing the game.
5. Axes g6
2 Bag or 5.06 is the new main line.
Black is winning a full rook, since €3 will be hanging in the end as well. The 6.84 8267.00 Be7
Black will be able to finish his development without problems, but White keeps a A very instructive positional move. Black would like to exchange a pair of knights,
space advantage based onhis central pawn and active pieces, to makehis position less cramped. Therefore, White avoids the exchange and
8.Her0-09.Ad2 keeps the pressure.
White can comfortably find the best squares for his pieces. 10... 9716?
9.Ady Ihis 1s a serious mistake, after which Black's position may actually be beyond re-
pair
Correct was the stabilizing 10...6, after which Black is much better prepared to
deal with 11.2xe6 (White can go forthe simple 11.c3 instead): 11...fe6 and now
Black has good answers available to White's main tries: 12.0 g5 (12. We2 esl is a
good way to return a pawn) 12...Bb6Iwith the idea 13.xe6 &xd4, retuming the
‘exchange,with a dynamically balancedpositionin the end
11. Bxe6l
Avery strong version ofthe bishop snatcher.
11.626 12. 085
Now it dificult for Black to keep his position together, and even more prob-
lematic is that he does not get any counterplay.
12.1966
10. Def!
 material, and rather focusses on controlling the position. White could also have
x Re started taking material with 14. 8xb5 ga 15, Wxe6+
44h 2 2h 1485 15.04
This pawn move effectively keeps control overthelight squares.
Waae Beabxad
a “a Everything to distract White from taking on 6, butthis does not improve Black's
2A structure
16.24
Winning a big tempo.
RAAWA AAA 16...18c6 17. Bxaq
White hasfull control overthe position
Zz 2W 17a6 18. Bxas
33.erl The time has cometo start regaining material.
‘An excellent move, increasing the pressure, while sidestepping ...0f4 18. Des WE 19.2 c4,followed by “ef, picking up the e6-pawn, would have been
T3.b5, strong as well
Black tries to find a way to create counterplay. 18... Hfa8 19. 8d2
14. fibs Activating thefinalpiece.
Emphasizing the positional natureofthe sacrifice. White is in no hurry to win back 19... Uh6 20.h4
Stabilizing the knight. 23.005 24. fag
20. Sxgs 21.hxgs Adz Whiteis winning more material.
2dHay 25.Axd7 Hxd7 26.dxc5
x ee The newly created pawn steamrol er wins easily.
aaa a
SS
26... cq 27.4 Wa8 28.c6 1.43 29.213
Finally, the long diagonal turnsoutto be a problem for Black as well
KX Waa 29...08 30.Bes Hdr+ 31.1%h2 1-0
& &
>>

‘One more gamewith the bishop snatcher giving White beautiful control over the
a position. In my studentyears | played a lot online and | remember 2xe6 being an
automatic move in such positions
2 Game76
&& A&A
oc

Vadii Zvjagintsev 2671

Ww & Ivan Rozum 2500
St Petersburg 2012 (3)
22. Mxe6
22. Sag Wxea 23, 8 xd7 was the quickest way to decide the game. 1.04.65 2.063 06 3..Ab5
22... xa6 23. 9.95 The Rossolimo Variation
Maintaining the domination, byclosing thea-fle 26
In Kovalev-Nakamura we sav 3..26
4.00 Age7 5. Het a6 6.2f x sWe x
Thisis generally one of myfavourite moves. Thebishopis parked out ofthe way of abe
theother pieces, andit will return to the action whenthe timeis right.
6d 7.43
444 4 b86
7.2xd5 is the mainline aa
Touh68.04.
Gaining space on the queenside.
& &
8.86? A & #&
This bishop fianchettois too slow underthe currentcircumstances.
Black snould rather have keptthe position closed with 8..d4.
&& BAA
9.Abde Mg7 10.963, H QWES®
Grabbing theinitiative on the queenside. nas!
10...b6 This forces weaknesses in Black's queenside structure, which is a great achieve-
mentin the fightfor squares. |his kind of pawnbreakis a routinepositioral oper
ation for experienced players and thefirst keyideaofthis game.
11.00
After 1 . . dxag 12. 2 xag bxas White keepsa positional advantageas well
r2.axb6 Bxb6
Thefirst weaknessesin Black's position becomevisible.
13.0xd5 exds 14.Me3l
An excellent move, forcing Black to give up contral over the important c4-square.
Mand
14... 2xb2 canactually be metin manyinteresting ways by White, but still had to be
tried
15. Af
All ofWhite's minorpieces can look forward to a great future.
15. dB 16.do
Elegantly playing the knight around to eye several tempting squares.
16...e6
17. Hxe6l
The bishopsnatcher, leaving Black with zero chances for dynamicplay. From now
‘on White controls all the key squares.
17nfee6 18. D.C4
The knight looks beautiful here.
18...a7 19.94.46
Apart from many squares, Whiteis getting a pawnfor the exchange. a&
19... 45 20.g4
Attacking more weaknessesin Black’s position x
20M mx 4 A” £Waa
A reasonable choice, picking up the pawn. Continuing the fight for squares with
21.g31would havebeen nicely in the spirit ofthe position as well x
21... 0B 22.004. & aw
Both white knights are now on perfect squares.
22 16 23. xf6+ Bf 24. 87 & 2
First destabilizing the position of the black rook,before retreating. A & & A &
a dy 25, 0.93 Hay 26.0%
Censisingteucen x 22
26... 45 27.fte2l
Bringingthefinal pieceinto play - the unopposed bishop.
27chs 28. 2.43
With White's last piece broughtinto play, Black is almost paralysed.
28... Res 29.h4 e5
29...a5 would have been a better defence.
30.12?
White starts to hesitate a bit. 30.b4l Oxbg 31.8 xe5 would have been very strong,
as returning the exchange on e5 does not saveBlack.
30.887 31. Her
Concertrating his forces.
31na§ 32.09d1 x
As it turns out, the immediate 32.2 dal was possible, since 32..Zxc2 is met by
33.1 and now 33... 2xb2 fails to 34. d5+, followed by ea, winning the black
£44
knight.
32...1Me6 33.Ad2 Ab4?
This active play backfires. 33...9.¢71 would have been Black's chance to fully orga-
A&&
nize his defence.
34. Ace 35-Bidal
Reali ing thatthe knight was actually fine on c4. It is time to start moving forward again
348d 35.16 36. Req
White is back on track,calling the shots.
36... 20252
Black is cracking under the pressure. Better was 36.
coordinated
37-ibal
Winning at least a second pawn.
37 8B 38.18xa4 thy
38... c6 39.18" b3lwas also winningfor White.
39.b4 D6 40.xaz~
‘An elegantlast transformation ofthe position, parting with the queen.
40... Axaz 41.bxc5
Materially speaking Black is still OK,but his posizionis one big weakness.
4D6 42.Lar 0
Big losses canno longerbe avoided.
6.6 Buildinga repertoire Lembit Ol 2595
Howte build an opening reper-toire? This question is not exactly a central topic of Jul n Hodgson2625
this book, but still | can share some thoughts onit, based on my own experience. Groningen 1993 (3)
Firstly, there are several ways to decide which openings to includein yourreper-
tore. | guessthe most important thing1s that you choose openingsthat you enjoy 1104 65 2. OF dB 3adg andy 4.Andy O45 5.3 ACE
playing, which are in line with yourstyle. Personally, | have always enjoyed playing The Classical Sicilian was already played by Louis Paulsenin the 1880s and was
theSicilian with black, asto meit feels natural and like its dynamics. Secondly,it regularly played by Kramnik, Anand and Leko in the 1990s.
is nice to build your repertoire arounda certain idea or conceptyou have come 6.65
across, which truly inspired you This is the Rauzer Attack, which only caught on in the 1930s, and has been the
In my youth years in the 1990s,it was a certain positional exchange sacrifice that main line ever since
absolutely fascinated me and which was the core of myblack repertoire against 6.f3 is an interesting modemalternative
1.e4 for aboutten years. Togetherwith my frienc Joost Mellegers, | made an over- 6..06 7.12 Rez
view of all possible lines, using pen andpaper! That was before | had my first lap- 7.26 8.0-0-0 £47 is the main line nowadays.
top, and of course nowadays this work can be done much faster with a database 8.0-0-00-0 9.4
program, but we sure knew our lines well back in those days. Let us look at a few 9.f3 we saw in the gameBologan-VeJiangchuan.
games fromthis old Sicilian repertoire, starting with a fantastic classical gameby 9 Ad 10.Bid Bras
Hodgson
Game 77,
 This desirable move is possible, because the black queen indirectly attacks the
x 2

De Dat
& Ags.
aa 2 aa 14.fd2 @d7 15. Ads
a o
Whiteis gaining the bishop pair.
15.88
15...icg leads to the samething.
w
& 16.0xe7+ BF
Ce
The tactics are over for the moment. Both sides will try to find optimal squares for
a their rks
BAA AA 17-Hher Hfd8 18.4
Now that esis defended, the queen can switchto the kingside.
SH 2 18.18 19.843 , ,
neg Wehave reached what was con-sidered to be thecritical position for the entire
11.11 wewill see in the next game. Classical Sicilian.
1a M47 12.05 dxe§ 13-bee5,
13. Wires can be met by 13..b51? 14. Rxbs Qxbs 15.tlhxbs We7, giving Black inter-
esting play along the b- and cles.
13.6
 20...We5+ we will see in the final game ofthis chapter.
x z Ae za.ttibr
aa Wasa Better is 21.8 b4l 2 g6 (Kramnik twice drew the endgame after 21...ids 22. 8 xf8
2 & af 23.ilbr Wega 24 xg? A xg2but he was suffering in those games) 22.246
45 23,We2 when winning the g2-pawn is too risky for Black. White’s king will be
& safe on bi and the white rooks will start to become active.
wW 2Bxd3+ 22. 18a

2
&BAS ABB
SEE
This pesitional exchange sacrifice has taught me manythings aboutchess,includ-
ing positional play and therelative value of thepieces. It was first played by
Lisenko in 1984 and Kramnik, Anand and Leko have all playedit twice. Eventually, it
was decidedthat with bestplay, White keepsthe upper hand.
20.0cd3 d7
 23... hag 24. 8c3
x ae 24.b3fails to 24...dg+ 25,0hb1 Abs,
aa aaa aufbnd25.Rnd eg
£ a Nice centralization.
26.85
A (Offering the exchange ofqueens with 26. 18f3 looks safe
w 26...a5
Furtherlimiting the scopeofthe bishop andinitiating queensideplay.
w 27.d2
&& & && vay14 would have been moreactive.
fe] EH E thong is headingfor the great ds-square.
225! 28.63,
A thematic move,distracting the white queen, with the long-term advantageofcre- Starting with 28.a3 may have been the most flexible.
ating a square for the king. 28... De7 29.d7?
23.0xhs Thisis leading nowhere.
Returning the exchangeleaves Black with a comfortable position 29. Wd3 was the wayto limit the camage.
Better was 23. We2 with a dynamic balance 29... Adsl
Disconnecting White’s pieces, while all the tactics work in Black's favour.
30.Adg
30.Wxb7 Axc3 and 30. A FB 31.8.xa5 1e3 are both winning for Black
30...Me2 31. Her bs
Black has the superior minorpiece and the safer king.
32. fics dg33.6 Has
‘Only the rook has trouble finding a wayto join the game
34.846

&& A
‘2
This moveis played with a fantastic idea in mind.
35.8 g6l
A creative manoeuvre with the king, making it possible for the rook to enter the
game. Theadditional idea is that the king can quickly becomeactiveitself, in case
the queens are exchanged
36.h4 HhB 43-85 b4
The h-fle is closed, but there is another route available. ‘The standard attacking moveat lest.
37.83 Dhs 44.Bd3
Entering the rook via the fifth rank was the idea, but the timing is not right. 37..b4l
would have been strong,since 38. Wixasfails to 38... cBl with a mating attack. &
38.%g? aa
Thisis too passive. Going for the endgamewith 38. lc2 was obligatory.
38..08h7 g a
38...b4l wasstill very strong. a Aa A A
39.
39.1fi had to betried.
a
Zz A
39. aw x
Now everythingis in placefor Black. A
40.d2 Bf
The ook eters the game ow
ggg fg 42.0ibr+ thes 440031
The king returnsto its normal square, while the rook has amazingly made it from Crowning the game with a nice mating combination
ABto fe. a5.axb4,
45.bxc3fails to 45...Uxaz+ 46.Wa2 Z fis.
x 2 e

De it
45. Ba2e
Not essential, butstill pretty, giving up the queen, showing how strong the mating aa Saad
mechanism is. The work ofa true artist
45,..lle4+ wasthe sober version. aa a
46.ixa2 Efi+ 01 &
The following game was also a nice source ofinspiration and nicely illustrates
w&

b>
sometypical Sicilian ideas.
Game 78
a
Friso Nijboer 2580 BBA B&
Viswanathan Anand 2770
Wijk aan Zee 1998 (10)
& # 2 8
r2.hgl
1.e4 C5 2.3 d6 3.4 cxdg 4. Axd4 O16 5.03 Acé 6.Mg5 06 7.Bd2 Me78.0- A nice attacking theme: White maintains his bishopon the mostactive square and
0-000 9.f4 Axd4 10.xd Blas 11.ihbt starts pushing his kingside pawns
This consolidating king move is connected with aggressive attacking ideas. 11.8.4 12.08
is whatwe saw in the previous game 12.85 is the alternative; 12...hxgs 13.hxg5 simply loses, because White will quickly
ah6 transfer his queento the h-file
13. ler?
This move does not fit in very well
13.Wegl 2 d7 14.243is the optimal flexible set-up, whereas 13.g4 looks dynam-
ically balanced
130.847
The typical bishop development we know from the previousgame.
14.eg Hack 15.05
This direct approach does not work well. 15. hg would have been an elegant way
to neutralize Black's counterplay.
15.udxe§ 16.6re5 hes
‘Only now grabbing the piece, since there is a concrete follow-up.
ay.bxgs?
This actually loses, but only if Black plays the best moves. 17Rxe3l
First 17.exf6 2x6 and only then 18.hxgs wasthe right way to proceed, whenBlack TheSicilian exchange sacrifice.
gets good play starting with 18....xc3 since his king can walk out ofthe danger 18.243
with ti g8-18-e7, After 18.bxc3 2 d5 19. xd5 exds! Black controls the hg-square.
18... Bxd3l
Eliminating an essential attacking piece.
r9.cxd3 Deg!

OE G-
Black has found a way to shut down the h-fle.
20.%1h3 Dh6
This was the idea.
ai £
2r.geh6 Wxes aa

Co Pt OE >
At this point, Black finally had some margin of error. 21..g6 22.h7+ Wh8 actually
also wins.
22. Eder Bigs 23.hxg7 Bxe7
‘The black king has been rescued and the mighty sishoppair decides the game. &
24.He; Res
24.05 with the idea 17-f5-g6 would have been strong as well
&&
25.Hg3 6 @ a
This effectively shuts downthe gafle. 26...f71
26.4 A cool Sicilian theme:the king starts walking out ofthe danger zone.
27.Wd4 WB!
Avery effective move, defending therook and freeing thebishop.
28.Bheg
28.xaz & 6 changes nothing.
28... &c6 29, Lh7+ eB Herne 1998 (4)
Very cool-headed
30.8thg Mg6 1.e4 5 2.Af3 d6 3.4 cdg 4. Axd4 A16 5.03 Acé 6.Mg5 26 7.Bd2 fez 8.0-
‘Oncemore the only move,butitall works fine 0-0 Axd4 9.xd4 0-0 10.f4 Bag 11.fhc4 Md7 12.05 dxes 13.-fres M6 14. Ado
31.Bhg Hd6 32.03 Adz 15. Dd5 MdB 16. Axe7+ Wxe7 17. Lher Las 18.0g4 AB 19.8.d3 Lady!
White does not see wayto strengthen his attack and thus improves his king. The positional exchange sacrifice on which myrepertoire was based.
32.hd8 20.0cd3 Best
Meanwhile,Black can keep walking away with his king. This tricky deviation from the main line 20...'&/d7 was my secret weaponin those
33.thar BI34.0Md7 days.
Creating a square for the king on c7. za.thbr Bids
35.d4 Hc6 36.12 e5
Activating the light-squared bishop finishes the game; White resigned.
‘Ona few occasions, I have had the pleasureofplaying the trademark positional ex
change sacrifice myself. In thefollowing gameit helped me to beat a strong oppo-
nent.
Game 79
Thomas Henrichs 2445
Merijn van Delft 2203
 24.2 b4l 2d5 was played in Spoelman-Van Delft, Apeldoorn 2005, and here
25. 8 d6l actually would have been good for White. Afterthis game, | realized that it
becametoo risky to keep playing my favourite variation and | changed my reper-
toire.
24uh6 25.8 ds
lovely squareforthe bishop,attacking on both wings.
26.0f2
26.3 was a good alternative.

22.Pheg
22. bg 2 g6 23.93 (23.lWes is better) 23... xeslis good for Black, and following
24. Hxe5? (24.Weg is still playable) 24..Uxes 25. 8c3 the typical move 25...h51
quickly gave me a winning position in Doggers-VanDelft, Amsterdam 2000.
22...Md7 23. Mer Agé6 24.825
After this move, Black gets full counterplay.
 x de continued 30.2.1 We8 31.g4 with a serious attack of his own.
28..a5 29.8.3
4a W 22 Oncemore, 29h was the way to go.
A Aa a
Now Black has the initiative.
£ ray 30.Her dz 31.b4
Not a very pretty move to haveto make.
A Btn Axes

A&B WAA
S205
26...ag,
Provoking further weaknesses around White’s king. It's a risky approach though,
since it does lose time. 26..a5! would have been a more accurate move-order,
since 27.h4 Wa4 would be a double attack in tha: case.
27-b3 Web 28. Bd2
White should have started his ownplay with 28.h4l and after 28..a5 29.h5 “e7
 33.Zxd3 8 e4 is hopeless.
33:0 Oxb2
33... 8xa2+l would have won immediately: 34.txa2 Wxd4 35. 8xdq Auer fol-
lowed by 36...b3.
34.Waxb2 23 35.13 Hd6
Now Black has two pawns for the exchange and Whiteis still suffering from his
weak king.
36.23 Ha6
Including the final piece into the attack
37-Widg Bag 38. cs
Defending the bg-paw, but notforlong.
38...b6 39. bs Mc6l
This decides the game becauseofthe lethal bishop check: 0-1
Picking upthe first pawn, with a serious threat.
Conclusion
39. ho? In this chapter we have expanded our knowledgeof positional exchangesacrifices
This loses on thespot. 32. lfg3 was actually still more orless alright. from thefirst four chapters, by adding six standard types of positional exchange
32 Oxd3l sacrifices. The Russian exchange sacrifice, the rooklift that lands on an outpost,
Anasty tactic.
has a rich history that is well described in chessliterature, so I have focussed on a
33-Bde
few newexamples. The French (....xf3) and Sicilian (..xc3) exchange sacrifices
are similar, and can be highly effective when White is forced to take back with the
pawn. The white equivalents Zxf6 and especially Zxc6 are less common,but they
do occur. Allowing ..2xa1 (and 2xa8) instructively showshow relative the value
ofthepieces 1s. Whenthe opponent's threat turns out to beanillusion, this may
have a strong psychological effect. The bishop snatcher Exe6 (and xe3) is a
fantastic weapon,asits strength is easily underestimated. In the final section, we
saw thet a positional sacrifice can even be a key concept to base part ofyour open-
ing repertoire on. Working out the various variations of the repertoire is much
more fun when you feel inspired by the mainidea.
With the endof this chapter, we have concluded the secondpart of the book.
Very well doneifyou have madeit this far, because we have donea lot of essential
work in understandingpositional sacrifices. The third important step towards mas-
tering positional sacrifices is testing thelimits. We essentially want to know whatis
possible and how far we can go. More on thatin the third part of the book.
PART I)
Testing theli
CHAPTER 7
Extremesports
Now that we have studied the fundamental themes (Chapter1-4) and the typical
positional sacrifices (Chapter5-6), we are ready to start testing thelimits. We want,
to know how far we can go, how much material wecansacrifice and still get post-
tional compensation. In this chapter we are goingto sacrifice even more material
than in theprevious chapters, andthat is whyit is called ‘Extreme sports’
First we will look at the double exchangesacrifice. Then we will study the queen
sacrifice, typically for two minor pieces. Interestingly, it is not the queen sacrifice
that is the most extreme, but the sacrifice ofa full rook. Of course,all ofthese ex-
tremesacrifices are not everyday occurrences, but they are fascinating and they
show us how rich chessis,
7. Double exchange sacrifice 8. . Oxds is a good alternative.
Sacrificing not just one exchange, but even two, is simply a very coolthing to do. 9.fd3 Acé
The effect of studying this section maybe that you will feel much more comfort Here o...b6 with theidea...a6 has established itselfas the way to play.
able playing a single exchange sacrifice, as that suddenly does not feel so extreme 10.92 He8 11.00 26
any more. [here are circumstances in which minorpieces are not inferiorto rooks. Ihis 1s just one of many moves that Black has tried in this position.
If you have stable squares for your pieces, hardly any weaknesses, and maybe 2 ya.fer
pawn or two forthe exchanges, you may havefull compensation for the material in- White also has a wide choice, including the straightforward 12.24
vestment. As usual, we will start with a few historical examples. 12.5 13.0If2 eb
Game 80
AndorLilienthal
Viacheslav Ragozin
Moscow 1935(2)

1udg AF 2.04 063.03 Mb4

The Nimzo-Indian.
4.3 Mxc3z+ 5.bxc3 cs 6.f3 d5 7.€3
7.exd5 we saw in Anand-Wang Hao.
10-0 B.cxds exds
 16. fbr
x zx @&
€
Now the black queenis unfortu-nately placed and Black’s queenside is vulnerable.
aaa 16... Hae7 17.24 c4 18. .c2 MB 19. Ag3
White can play on both wings,while Black cannot do much,
4 A 2A 19...h5
aaa Anotherdouble-edged move.
& 20. Me2 M48 21. Laz
White can manoeuvre from this position as he wishes.
& ASAA Dun Bd7 22.0xb5 axb§ 23. Hbar cB
AWAA Black canonly react.
24.Rb2 Sd7 25.fh4 Ae6 26.thh1
E 2 E® ‘Optimalizingall his pieces.
26... 0B
It is timeto take stock. Black did not play the opening in the optimal way, and
Meanwhile,Black is waiting for his chanceto fight back
White has a few heavyweight trumps with his bishop pair and central pawns.
27-983
14.h3 Zaz
14...0xd4 15.00d4 a5 followed by ...d.c4 lookslike a solid choice.
15, Ade Wb6?
This loses a lot oftime. 15....a5 wasstill the way.
 eA 29. H baal with the idea 29... xc} 30. 2 a6 followed by sacrificing the exchange on

ore
i £6 would have given White a winning attack
ox 29.4. xh30.xhs B.c6
w The immediate 30... xc3 also would have givenfull counterplay.
31.5 Uxcz,
a4 a Suddenly, Black has two connected passed pawns, making the position verysharp.
a & wy 32.8d2

& AADA
Zag &
# &
White Inoks completely unworried and goes after the h-pawn.
27Bxegl
his mayvery well have comeas a surprise to White. While it still does notsolve
Black's problems,it was not necessary to allow this vague counterchance.
28. Mxe3 Hxe3 29. Axhs?
This careless move loses theinitiative.
 33.Hxc2 Ae6
The immediate 33..b4 was more accurate
34-Hdh
34 2, to activate the rooks, was stronger.
34-.b4 35- i b2 bz
Now the white rooks do not look happyatall
36.03 Dez 37. Lez Baz
‘The situation remains very tense.
38.bq Abs39. He7 Maz
Both sides are playing well at this stage; the position is dynamically balanced
40.fe 3

White must have been counting on trapping the rook, but Black has a good solu-
tion available:
32 Mxeal
Giving up a second exchangegives Black nice counterplay. Going through this
game, you get the feeling that back in those days, the conceptofthe exchange
sacrifice was not well established atall
 White is close to getting a perpetual check
& 43.281
Haa Blackfinds thebest move, creating further problems for White
& 44.He?
The losing move. White had to start with 44.l/f5+ althoughit is far from obvious
A 4 what the best way of playing is after 44...Wh8.
& 449d61
Effectively preventing the perpetual
Wad & & 45-Bic7 2

& The knight can sacrificeitself, as the pawns are deciding the game.
46.Bixd6 b247.094
EW &
The black pawnsare starting to look really menacing, and White needs to hurry
finding enough counterplay againstthe black king.
gets
The third exchange sacrifice of the game. 41 ‘al was an importantalternative and
may actually have been more accurate.
gnBhxe8 42.ixeB+ thy 43.Bbd7
 Bent Larsen
UlFAndersson
ae Manila 1974 (14)
1104 65 2. Of dB 3adg ord4.Axdg AF 5.03 06
a TheSicilian Scheveningen.
6.Ler
& W The Keres Attack 6.g4 is a serious problem forBlack
& & 6...06 7.64 Wc7 8.0-0 e7 9.04 @c6 10. fez 0-0
So farthese are all standard moves in theClassical Scheveningen.
aa & 1.
& & Here, 11.itvh1is the most accurate. Similar to iibt in case of queenside castling,
this is a useful move to makethe position more secure.
‘Oncemore,covering all the key squares. An impressive finish to a very tense game:
o4
The following gameis a true eye opener, as the double exchange sacrifice is used
as a purely defensive weapon, emphasizingits positional nature.
Game 81
 illustrates why White should havetaken care of his king first.

De» if
» iE jo
Dnt

De it
13next14. xt4 Me6

Dm foo
De

De
This bishoptakes care of the ds-square, enabling the knight to goto its dream
square e5,
De

be
15.1g3 Ad7 16. dq Des
A black knight on e§ in theSicilian makes the black position notoriously hard to
crack,
SS
fo > Doo
D>)

C=
17.3 Mas
D> &

17...1Wd8 was more to the point, asit increases control overthe kingside.
& A&B 18.ihh1
The typical sequence 18.45 &xd5 19.exd5 is met by the equally typical 19.26
a WES which effectively kills White's hope ofan attack.
m1.Axel 18... Lac8 19.222
The start ofa typical operationthat solves Black’s opening problems. White finds a different way of regroupinghisforces.
12.Bxdg es,
The thematic follow-up.
13.Me3
13.freg dues 14. Bg3 is nicely met by 14, 8 c§ as Ribli showedoneyearearlier. This
 Bent Larsen was knownfor his relentlessly ambitious play, but in this game he

De
ue

De [i
meets an equally determined defender in UlfAndersson.

D> FF fo fo

De
220xls
Keepingit simple. 22...g6 was the alternative, entering complications.
A 23.dbxts Bh
‘An important move, neutralizing White's initiative
& &
ire
24.8h3 26
Pushing back the white pieces, everything with gain oftime.
2 WW 25.04 Megs 26. f2 Bb6
AA &B Black could have continued with 26... hg but he had somethingelse in mind.
SS

27-Hafi
& &
Usually in Scheveningen structures, cB and e8 are the optimal squares forthe black
rooks:
20.84 dB
A goodsquare for the queen,asit helpsto activate the dark-squared bishop.
2.Ade Migs 22. Of
 e 29.¥%g3 2.48 30.b1
Switching play to the otherside.
a 30... Re7 31.13 Bc6
a w a a Black firmly defendseverything on the queenside as well.
32.Bb6
2 Black could have played 32...¥'xa4, but Anderssonis not interested in giving the
white rooks more scope

&2 wy a has found a stable square as well

A& HAA meta
Eq ©
27Bxe3h
The Si lian exchange sacrifice, in this case not only ruining White's pawn struc-
ture, but eliminating the dark-squared bishoptoo.
2B.bxeg Bis
White's remaining minor piece makes a sad impression and he hardly has any
pawn breaksleft. The mighty knight on e5firmly defends £7.
 39-h4 h6-
Keeping the kingside closed. 40.hs g5 is the idea

Dt
40.25 Bez 41.23 hs 42. igo
42.2fb1 would allow Black to attack with 42. 6.
foo
te

De
42D6
co
‘Aftersitting on e5 for half ofthe game, the knight movesat last, allowing the white
bishop to becomeactive
43-84
EAS WA
b> D>

The logical reply.

A
& @
The king feels good here, taking control over somedark squaresitself.
35.Mhe Me6 36.Mh dz
Everythingis defended,all Black's pieces are on stable squares.
37. Rez Bic6 38.0% Bey
Black simply waits a bit.
 still White could havetried this.
46..b6
a ee Shutting down the queenside.
a 47-Bg5,
D> Do fio fo
D> De

47-$4,was the last chance to try something on the kingside.

47DES
Ww & Shutting downthe kingside aswell.
48.0id2 as 49.fds eg
1G D>
Black has only one pawn for two exchanges, but the position is completely equal.
50.8idi Edy Ye

E
43. Axasl
‘A fantastic second positional exchange sacrifice.
44. fxe6 Bixe6 45. bb Acq
‘The knightis a fantastic piece in this typeof position.
46. fer
After 45. xb7 De3+ 47.\h2 Axf+ 48.xhi a5 the passed pawnreaches a3, but
 Levon Aronian 2752
Wijkaan Zee 2006(10)
1.d4 916 2.04 06 3.063 b6
The Queen's Indian
4.63 Ba6 5.b3
5.lf'c2 we saw in Topalov-Anand
5 Abgr 6.0d2 Me7 7.02 68.23
8.0-0 is an important alternative.
dy 9. De5 Dfd7 10. dxd7 Dxd7 1.94200 120-0
So far we havebeen following the old main line ofthe Queen's Indian.
E WH 12. 96
12...2¢8is the main move here.
An iconic picture from the 1970s, showing how relative the value of the pieces can
be. 13.€4 bs 14.exd5 exds
Let’s examine another lopalov gamefrom thepeak ofhis career, when his posi- 14..cxd5 15.c51 is a strong positional exchange sacrifice: 15..b4 16.fixbg Axi
tional sacrifices madeheadlines. 17.Bxh.
15. Her Bb8
Game82 15... c8, to immediately reroute thebishop,is aninteresting untried option.
Veselin Topalov 2801
16.c5 1817.08 18. D5 was Kramnik’s choice two years before.
17.b4 is a solid alternative, but Topalov has more dynamic play in mind 18...dxe4 19. 5 Mids 20.Fer
Whiteis exerting strong central pressure.
xeow Ke 20.0.5 21.84 Mig6 22.6
lopalov was still in his preparation.
a Saha 22d
A 22...xe5 23.dxe5 Wxc5+ was a good alternative, when after 24.itvhBlack should
continue 24...exf3 25. 8 xf b4 26. 2 b2 4 fe8 with counterplay.
Aha 23.ceq Me6 24. fb2
Sa White's position looks very impres-sive, but Black is still in the game.
2d216 25, Axc6l
AQ a& Picking up a second pawn in spectacularfashion.
& ABA 25.Mxc6 26.05 Mab 27.0xf6
Thecritical moment ofthe game.
XH WE ©
A prepared positional sacrifice, which was Topalov’s trademark thing to do in
those years,
 other rook would be hanging,
29.0if2 Bxg4
At least regaining one pawn.
x x

fom f-
a a

De
&
&
a &

1
&
2ne HAR?
&2 wW &

(ho
‘Only here Aronian seems to lose track. After 27...Wxf6 28. ll'f2 the white passed
pawns will be too strong. Correct was bringing the other rook to e8: 27... beB with X
theidea 28./f 8 d3 with counterplay. 30-h3
28.81 Bea Creating a flight square on h2forthe king with gain oftime
28...2.d3 29.f4l is problematic for Black — he cannot play 29...e2 since the 30...Mg5
30...lhs 31. Bet also favours White.
3u.Ra
Regrouping the bishop to f4, to make his king perfectly safe on ha.
31BIS 32. 064 Wbd8 33.06
Ihe pawns start rolling.
33Reg 34.c7 RB
Such a passive moveis not a good sign.
35-Her Mg6
135... bxga 36.2 xe8+ xe8 37. lxg2 also wins.

36. Hxeq!
After anyother move Black wouldbe fine, but this second exchangesacrificekills
all counterplay.
36... Hxeg 37.45
‘The white bishops are defending she king and supporting the pawns, and in this re-
spect they are not inferiorto the rooks.
37. Hce8 38.46 Hers 39.1%h2 If41...We6 42.47 Wad7 43.Wh6 wins.
White hasfully organized his position 42. Axgs Hdr 43.6 Leas 44.itg3
39.81 40.%g3 6 Black is running outofchecks: 1-0
m de We already know thatthe Sicilian Dragonis full of positional exchange sacrifices.
Now we will see that they can even be combined,
aA Game 83
&a Sersey Kaan 2727
wW TeimourRadjabov 2744
Sochi 2008 (13)
wA 1.e4 6§ 2.06 d6 3.d4 od4 4. Axd4 OF6 5.03 g6 6.Me3 Mg7 7.3 0-0 8.Mda
M6 9. fi.c4 M7 10.0-0-0 HB 1 . Abs Aes 12.1Hb1
& Q| 12.h4 we savin the game Nyképp-Soltis.
x 12.06
The more straightforward 12.94 13.2xc4 Hxca is met by 14.g4, and here after
4.g5 14.5 15.3 Eg White has the tactical blow 16.261 which started to put the
Keepingit simple Dragonunderserious pressure in thelate 1990s.
41Bags 1g.hahs 14-84
This is the hardcore approach,trying to slay the Dragon, as BobbyFischer used to x

pe o> 1g
De» [i
call it

S who
> De
14..-hxg4 15-h5, a
‘The standard follow-up, trying to open files against the black king. a

& [©
15.0 Axhs 16. dg
Usually, one rookis needed to keep central control, but here White is going all in. wy
16...25 17. Rh6

De
2D &
AAW
& HE
The exchangeofdark-squared bisnops would instantly give White a winning attack.
17.» A f61
Ihefirst thematic positional exchange sacrifice. Ihe minor pieces are more essen-
tial in the defence thanthe rooks.
18.feg4 Bxg4 19. xf?
A strange materialistic decision,after which all of Black’s problems are gone.
19.24 and 19.£g5 are the critical moves here, with highly complicated,inter- 20.4 Bxc3!
esting play. Soonafter the first typical positional exchangesacrifice, the second onefollows,
19...8B everything played in true Dragon spirit. Black eliminates the option ofa ids jump,
Thefirst relieve: having an unopposed dark-squared bishop makes Black's position takingthe sting out ofWhite's play.
fairly secure.
20.f¥e3 & g7 andallfiles on the kingside remain closed.
e x 21.Bez
Black has no problem exchanging queens, as his compensationis of a positional
4 aa nature,
a & 24 22.bxc3 eb
Further restricting White's minorpieces.
hy a a 23. eg
AK # Finding a creative way to defend.
Ban Oxe4 24. Hg Mes
2a WY Black has two pawns for two exchanges and a superior pawn structure. As long as
BAA the rooks do notfind anything to attack, Black is comfortable.

& HE
25. Mga bs
25...te7 is a natural alternative
26.22 28.tha2?
White could have tried the immediate 26.24. White's positionis difficult to play.
26...8 28. 2c6 &xc3 and only then 29.10 a2 was the right wayto play.
Black wants to prevent the white rook from entering, but the immediate 26... 6 28... 916 29, Hea ds
would have been strong, Now the tacticsstart to work in Back’s favour.
27.44 brag, jo.exds Axds 31.3
White is forced to return an exchange.
piAxdg,
Good judgement,giving up the strong Dragon bishop.
32.04 Af4 33.Leh2 Axh3 34. Exh3g5l
The black kingside pawns are starting to roll
35-He3
After 35.23 Ddal and now 36.2c8+ tlig7 37.¢4 it is amazing how strorg the g-
pawnis after 37..¢4].
35.16 36. Bg
 & king remains passive.
38.7 39.05 B4?
The correct move-orderwas 39...itie7 and the c-pawn is going nowhere.
a a a
i
40.6 the7 41.45
Karjakin 1s oneof the best defenders in the world, and finds a way to stay in the
game.
a & 4i.exds 42.7 d7 43. Rxd5+ texc7 44.165
D> De

Disturbing Black's coordination.

44-83 45- fy thd7
i
36... dal
The knightis working wonders.
37-Mdg Beg 38.c4
‘One would think that White should have enough counterplay with his own passed
pawn, and that his rook should be worth something. In reality the black knightis
doing a great job, and the black king can help stopping the c-pawn,while the white
 function ofthe knight.
47Hxeqs this 48. Her thes
Thanks to the a-pawns, Black wins.
49.the2 g250.ihida ihg3 51.the2
And now the finishing touch on the other wing:
51-03 52. Hat a2 04
Thefollowing gameis a special occurrence for several reasons. It is a recest game
at the highest possible level. Although the gamewas highly untypical right from the
start and relatively difficult for both players, they hardly made any mistakes. Ontop
ofeverything, they made a maximum amount ofexchange sacrifices.

46.thba?
This loses afterall. White could have made a drew with 46. Eyed f5 47. Ber f4 and MagnusCarlsen 2835
now theinstructive key move 48. gil, stopping the pawns trom moving any tur- Wijk aan Zee 2019 (1)
ther. Both kings will head for the kingside, and with accurate play White can hold. 1.9% Af6 2.93 b5 3.d4 e6 4. es
46...the6l With this move the game is quicky headingfor new territory.
Sacrificing the knight in orderto fully activate theking, who basically takes over the 4.22 &b7 is still normal
45 505
w

|
te
De Ia

De» [it
Grabbing some space, although White will not be able to maintain this outpost.
4

be
5.Bag+ 6.0.d2 IDG 7.dxe6 fre6
Keeping an asymmetrical structure

ss
Side
B.ag b4 9.05 MidB

D>
After this untypical intermezzo, both sides now continue their development, al-
thoughit does not take long for the next unusualthing to happen. a
ro. Mgr A665
DingLirenis not afraid to enter the complications. &
AABAABA
EA We gE
11.Oxe51
Carlsen takes up the challenge and sacrifices the exchange.
12. Blxa8 ds
A very uncommonsituation has arisen, which is difficult to judge. White's f-
anchetto bishopis cut offfrom the otherpieces, but will not be trapped
13.06 Qd7 14. 8b7
The bishop has found a stable square.
14.46 15.8.95 Of7 Re
From Kovalev-Nakamurain Chapter we havelearnedthat this can be a very good a2 2 aba’
square for the knight.
16.8x5, & aa
Giving upthe dark-squared bishop in orderto increase the pressure on thelight a&
squares.
16...xf6 17.d2 0-0 18.0-0
a w
At last, both sides have brought their respective kings into safety. &
18...Bxb2
Black now has a pawn for the exchange and theposition is dynamically balanced.
AA wa B&B &
19.64 EZ W fo
Maximizing the pressure on the light squares. 20.0
19.144 A positional pawn sacrifice, keeping the white bishop shut outofthe game.
Black has anothercreative idea in mind 21.Ab3 Weg 22.11d3 Meg
20.0xd5 Black keeps avoiding the exchange of queens,in orderto keep chances against the
white king.
23.8 Bhs 24. Ade
White is working hard to create stable squares for his pieces: z &
ay 6

25..8h3 & £
the logicalreph

ty S2hia AW
A positional exchangesacrifice in return. a
26... Axfi 27. Ax
w & A
AD &
He
Black now needs to do something,otherwise heis worse.
2 Bh
Ihethird exchange sacrifice ofthe game. Admittedly, it 1s tactical
28. Oxf e4 29.13
White keepsa cool head
29. Axis 30. x83)
The fourth exchange sacrifice ofthe game,neutralizing Black’s attacking play. 4. 25s the other main line.
30... Bich, 5-B1b3
Now the queens are exchanged as well, with complete equality. White's main alternativeis to start with 5.h3.
31.Bix ex 32.002 Yale 5.AD6 6. Ae5 M5 7.cxd5 Wxb3 B.axb3 Axds 9.Ad3 Mxd3 10. Axd3
At thevery start ofthe new decade,the running gag amongst my team-mates was: Ihis quiet position seemsto be a bit easierto play for White
youbetter hurry, if you still want to makeit into Merijn’s book. Obviously, Erwin 10... a6 11. 8.42 e6 12.1he2
Ami already scored a few hits in the previous chapters, but in the very first round Since the queens are exchanged, there is no need to castle anymore, and it is better
ofWijk aan Zee 2020,he played a beautiful game that fits perfectly in the current to keepthe king in the centre.
chapter, ra Bey
12... ab4 wasthe most consistent.
Game&5
13.923 00
Erwin [Ami 2606 ForBlack it also made sense to stay flexible with the king, and rather put one ofthe
Anton Smirnov 2604 knights onbg.
Wijk aan Zee 2020 (1)
14. Ae 05?
1.d4 d§ 2.04 63.9% Af6 4.03 This makes Black's problems considerably worse and meets with an instru:
This is called the Slow Slav, which is a solid universal weapon for White, to deal refutation.
with all different versionsofthe Slav Defence at once. 14... abg had to betried, although White is better after 15. cs,
4. Sea
 White already has one pawn for the exchange, and considering the fact thatthe a6-

De ig
De» at
> de» par

pawn will most likely fall at some point as well, the whole thing can hardly even be

De- {io

De
De

called a sacrifice. Apparently, we are so programmed to assign points to a rook

and only 3 points to a knight, that this kind of operation is easily missed by most
people.
iS Co
S De

16... Bfc8 17.64

Securing the cs-pawn. White's minor pieces are all very helpful in controlling the
key squares and keeping the entire queenside in check.
1G >
D> D>

17..f6 18.04,
AAA White starts to claim space in the centre as well
18..9¢7 19.83
x & According to somedefinitions this is a bad bishop, butit keeps White's position
15, Hxa6l together beautifully,killing all of Black’s hopes for counterplay.
A powerfulnovelty. 19... b5 20. Har
In a previous game by a 2300 player, 15.dxc5 was played and a draw was soon The logical rook switch.
agreed, which indicates that positional exchange sacrifices arestill not second na- 20... Re6
ture to most chess players.
1B.ubxa6 16.dxc5
 Also putting the last pawn on the so-called wrong colour, creating an impressive
pawn chain
2hMCT
Blacktries to put up a solid defence, but his position is very passive
25.Ne3
The king comfortably joins the game.
25.65 26. .d2
White now even chooses to prevent the exchangeofthis bishop.
26... {818 27.thd4 6 28.er
Manoeuvring the knight around to a better square, making Black feel obliged to
undertake something.
28... Ab5+ 29. Axbs
ares! Aless concrete movelike 29.tid3 was also good.
‘Onceagain, fixing the pawn on the wrong colour according to some definitions, 29.axbs 30. x07
but in reality increasing White's spaceadvantage. icking up a second pawn,although atfirst view it may seem difficult for WI
Dan dB 22. dE make progress now.
The knight immediately uses the newly created outpost 30... Rec8 31.2
22 BB 23.44 hs 24.83 The knightis heading for the excellent d4-square.
31 Ha 32. dy 34-2d61
The general rule when being an exchange downis that you do not want to exchange ‘An amazing second positional exchange sacrifice, once again using the outoost.
your remaining rook. 34a. Mxd6 35.exd6
32... Me7 33.the3 White has created a pawn steamroller.
Freeing the way for the knight. 35.--Md7 36. dq Mar
36... cb8 37.243 iicS is refuted by 38.itid4lfollowed by Desor even 38.ities
and Ddge.
RK @ 37-83,
Ha ‘Once again, cementing the white position. This game takes on a few old degmas at
the same time.
a4 37 Har 38.Oxb5 Zhi
& & dé a
[he

38..il'e6 39. dae it'ds fails to 40.d7 followed by c5-c6 and ba-bs.
& 39-h4
Stabilizing the kingside.
® A 39. gr go.thf
AQ & Keeping every little guy on board for now.
D>

40..Kd 41.Ad4 Ba
41. Bxd4 42. 2xd4 ilic6 is also hopeless after White starts bringing his king in
the game with 43. ites, Adu gar 45.thdg Hxb2 46.c6+ Mc8 47. Axe6
gather Zen Blackresigned
Thefinal position nicelyillustrates the superiority ofWhite's strategy.
x Po

&
D> be
D> be
&
S

& &
& &
x
43.b5,
Now everything is set to run the pawns down the board,
43... Hxg3 44. Mbg
The final key move.
7:2 Queensacrifice The LondonSystem
The queen is the most powerfulpiecein chess, and certainly the favourite piece of 2a 6 3.03 €6 4.21.43 c5 5.03 PIG 6.0lc2 Abd7 7.Ad2 Md6 8.Axd6 Bxd6 9.f4
beginners. Running around the board with the cueen,eating all ofthe opponent's gq 10.9
pieces, is typically their favourite strategy. Likewise, giving up the queenis not After a quiet opening,the position is about equal. Now play becomes mare con-
something that 1s second nature to many people. Iherefore, queensacrifices will crete.
always be something special, certainly when the compensation is abstract and r0..0d4 tod4 BIb4+
longterm. This check does notreally bother White.
In this section, we will start with a few historical examples and early experiments. ra.the2 06 13.03 Bey 14.
The first game,played at the famous 1924 New York tournament, was called the White smoothly continues his development.
most interesting gamein the tournament book. It is far from correct and maybe 14.86.47 15.3
does not even qualify as instructive, but mostlikely it will stimulate your imagi- 15.41d2 would have been the rrostnatural, as there is no hurry in pushing the
nation. knight back to better squares.
5.8
Game 86
Dawid Janowski
Edward Lasker
New York 1924 (21)
rudg d5 2.24
 ‘enough compensation.
x

be OE i

De» [xt
19.fixc4 dxc4 20. 142bs 21.05,
aa 2 a
be
Blackis stil better, but White is generating interesting play.
a 2f6 22.85 dB 23. Echt Me
23...hb was a good alternative
4 24.Exhy Hxh725. Boxh7 fees?
& &A This is unnecessarily giving the waite knights a lot ofgood squares.
Black should havefoughtforthe initiative with 25..b4.
& BA a & 26. Axgs itic8 27. Lh8 itb728.4 deg
AW & & The second knight enters the game
2B.AMb6 29. D5
& “a #
16. BxcB+?
This is an example ofa sacrifice thatis not good. It is aninteresting case oftesting
thelim'ts ofwhat is possible in chess.
16... Axc8 17.hxg4 d6 18. Her cg
This is unnecessarily complicated
If Black starts with the calm 18...d8 with the idea of bs, White does not have
 A better practical chance wasto set his pawn majority in motion with 31.38

De OE: fo
32.04 M6 33.1He3

Se
Played in thespirit ofthe position, going fortotal domination.
33-- M28 34. O43 b4 35. Mes Mbs 36.04
b> if

Neutralizing Black's pawn majority

be (SS

36... fhxag 37. Axc4+ thbs 38.Des

& &
& e A
29.f.c6?
Black is completely losing track. The pretty 29. .e5 would have kept the position
dynamically balanced.
30.Agxe6 Mids
3o...Axg2 31.28 gives White a mating attack.
31. Ags tas
White now hasfull control and is completely winning. 50.f.e4 51.2h5
38...te5 39. 268. 51. dxcg Wxc4 52.0’ g3 would have beena clean solution.
39.b3 & bs 40.24 would have beenthe moststraightforward 51. Me6 52. Les M7
39.-.b5 40.83 85 41. AF exf4e 42.exf4 Bh]
Now Black has some vague hopes for a perpetual
43.65 Bibt a w
43.h6+ 44.1l/f2 shows why the knight is called the king's bestfriend: Black does
not have a single check. a)
44. Abse tthag 45.Abd2 bat
Another royal guard
45h6+ 46.0hf2 Md3
& &&
Getting a bit of counterplay. 4 “Y
47-Tg8 Oty 48.2h81
Regaining control overthe position.
& Ba ®&
48...b3
On 48..8xe4, 49 14 wins. 53. Hxe6!
49. Hhq Bic7 50.f6 Eliminating the bishopafter all, but now at the cost of @ rook. Janowski certainly
Finally, the passed pawnsstart rolling. was ahead ofhis timein ignoring the official value ofthe pieces.
53.Mxe6 54.05 bg 55. tes,
55.24 followed by Degs and f6-f7 would have won. Now Black generates coun-
terplay once more.
55-05 56.14?
Too slow. 56. e4 wasstill the move.
56..a4?
56...¥471, sticking to the d4-pawn, would have been a strong move to include.
57-25 Bid7 58.f7 Be7
58...Wad+ 59.1 f5 works, because White threatens to promote with check
59.d5 a3 6o.bxaz+ she
60...ixa3 61.46also wins for White.
a 4
61.d6 PHB 62. Ageg+ thds 63.06 Mh6+ 64.i65
‘A mighty picture, White is back in control 69.the6?
64.2 65.47 THB 66.24 Ma8 67.7 Spoiling thewin,after a truly remarkable game. After 69. 'g6Ibrill 70.d8l Black
67.16 would have been easier. would run out of checks, e.g. 70...lbgi+ 71.2g5. Now Black forces a perpetual
67...¥¥d5+ 68.18f6 Tdq+ afterall
69...b1BF 70. Axbi Bixeg+ 71.1016 Whgs Ye-Y2
The kingstill doesn’t escape after the final try 72.il1g7 Wxe7 73.d8W+ Wxd8
74681 Wess.
In Chapter 2.2 wealready saw Bronstein testing the limits with a daring piece sacri-
fice. Now wewill study his famous positional queen sacrifice in the King’s Indian.
Game 87
Boris Spassky
David Bronstein
Amsterdam/Leeuwarden ct 1956 (12)

1.d4 OF6 2.c4 26 3.23 Mg7 4.04 dé 5.3 €5

5.00 6.863 e5 (in previous chapters we saw the modern main line 6..c5) 7.45
Shs 8.da Wh4s 9.g3 Dxg3 10.lf2 Axfi n.xh4 Dxe3 became the more com-
monversion ofthe queen sacrifice we are aboutto see.
6.d5 hs 7.Me3 a6 At second sight, Whiteis actually the one who wins material thanks to this pin.
Standardis 7..0-0, which can lead to the version just mentioned 10... Af
8.8id2 Bh4+ 9.63 Axe3 Only a third, creative look reveals that Black can turn this into a po: ional queen
At first sight, this seems to win material sacrifice
10.8 vn.Bhchg x03 12.102
12.182 is an important alternative.
120, eg
Black has two minorpieces and a pawn for the queen. This material investment can
be compared to an exchange sacrifice. Black still has all his pawns and minor
pieces, whichis helpful in keeping his position compact and ideally untouchable.
Both sides will now focus on improving the coordinationoftheirpieces.
13.63 Ob6
13. . a3is an interesting alternative, preventing White from gaining space on the
queenside.
14. Ai ge2f 15. Rhgt
Starting with 15, i ga was the mostflexible.
5.00

16.thg2
Bringing theking into safety.
16....d7
16...¢5 also came into consideration
v.04
Gaining space and restricting the black minorpieces on the queenside
17065 18.03

>

(8
Dat
De it
18, Wet was a natural alternative.

D> De [oo
be
18... Ab4 19.05 AB
Not a goodsquare forthe knight, butit can betransferred to the kingside.

D> ho
bm
20.exf5

D>
Thisis a risky move.
Securing the kingwith 20. ih looks best.
A
AA wy

C>
a S&
& a
20.SxS?
Untypically, Bronstein here misses a great chanceto grabtheinitiative.
Black could haveplayed thehighly dynamic 20... 371in orderto meet 21.b:g6with
21... fl with excellent counterplay. Here 22.gxh7+ ilih8 would actually give Black
a winning attack.
2. Hag!
Now Spassky actually gets the initiative with this strong rooklift and starts dic-

De
Co De int
tating the play.

>
be
be
Dn d3 22. Reg
Posing problemsforBlack.

D> eo Dg
Co De
22eS?
‘Oncemore, this is too passive.
22... b8I was theright wayto play, based on 23.E.xc7 248, regai ing the a-pawn,

Soe
23.Mex

re 0
b>
White now has firm control overthe position.
Bu B26
There was no good solution available. Black cannot avoid an unfavourable ex-
change.
24. Oxf6+ Hib 25,4 27-Her
Now that the dark-squared bishop has beeneliminated, White can start opening Bringing thefinalpieceinto play.
theposition, alter which his majorpieces are superior. 2ue Mal 28.64
25.04 26.93 Dey Restricting the black knight.
28.06 29. x04
Now is the moment for further exchanges.
29. f.xeq+ 30.Loxeg Oxd5

Co Dat FG
If Black could stabilize theposition, he mightstill be okay, but he cannot prevent
furtherexchanges.
31.He8

De

De
Exchanging a pair ofrooks seriously reduces Black's counterplay.
Bt Macy
31. . Dxfg+ 32.00h1 does not help, as White will soon start picking up pawns him-
self. The samegoesfor 31. . Daxb4 32.45)
wy
32. DscBe ttt8 33.thal
Very accurate play. The kingis perfectly safe, while the queen plus rook will do the
attacking
&
33.Hf 34.-Mhq A & &
35.2
The queen will simply keepattackingthings.
35... Abs 36.Me2 ds 37.06
An excellent pawn break.
37bxa6 38.e8+ thg7 39.Pxc6
Black's position lacks stability, therefore he will not be able to put up a fortress.
39--1h6 40.Bixa6 Dxbg 41.09b7 The FianchettoVariation.
Materially speaking, Black is actually fine, but White now initiates the final attack. B.g7 8.2.—2. 0-09.00 Abd7
41. 043 42. Rez 9. . 8 is the main line
This decides the battle r0.e4
42aMack 43. Ureh7+ Megs 44.Me7+ Meg 45.Mey Ihetiming ofthis move 1s unfortunate.
The most accurate move, controlling all the essential squares. 10.06
45nthgs46.hg+ theg 47.thha Black could have played 10..b5! immediately, since 11.xb5 Axeq leaves Black
A pretty finish, including the king into the attack with a superiorstructure
47 h§ 48.26 1-0 v1. fhf4 Mey 12. Her
Thefollowing gamefeatures a great positional queen sacrifice foronly a rook. Here 12.h3 is the instructive way to keep Black under pressure, as it would have
prevented the following manoeuvre.
Game 88
12.0.4
Gert Ligterink 2455 Weknow this manoeuvre from the Benko Gambit,in this casefighting forthe e5-
John Nunn 2590 square.
Marbella 1982 (6)
13. Ags PeB 14.05,
1.dg Af 2.04 5 3.d5 €6 Played in theright spirit, but it is not working very well here.
The Benoniis a daring opening. 1gnAdres 15. Axes Axes 16.14
4-9 axds5.cxds d6 6. A £67.23
 x 2
WE e weakened white king and the unfortunate position of the 2 gs provide Black with
interesting compensation.
4 aoa 18.e2
a A a Preventing thelethalbishop check.
18... Bez 19.Bd2 Beg
a S& 2 Including 19..h6 20.h4 and then 20...c4 was more accurate, as on ha the
& bishopis even more offside
20.812
“A & 20.Weil turns out to be the best way of playing, based on 20...xb2 21.1lxc4
&& && Bxa1 and now 22. 8 £3 with good harmonyin White's position.
20a
H WH & Now Black hasfull counterplay, as 21... 8 f5 is a big threat.
16... Ag4l 2184
A fantastic positional queen sacrifice A goodwayto gain controloverfi.
16..h6 17.2h4 g5l was a goodalternative solution, securing the important e5- Dn Bg 22.Og h6 23.hg Mxb2
square for the knight. Black has alreadycollected three pawnsto go with the rook,
17. HxeB Hxe8
The amazing thing is that Black only has a rock and a pawn for the queen. The
 x x eA Thisis played in the style ofthe famous Byrne-Fischer game we studied in Chapter
3.2, but hereit is actually not correct.
a Returning with 26...2.c4 would keepthe position dynamically balanced
Year. ne
aa A
Now Black does keep full counteralay.
27.ixgal is muchbetter, since 27.
a a £22
o)
20 28. 2 fl.
27.3 28.0 Hack

Asy B&
a &
Ligterir findsthe best defence.
24... Rdg+l
Nunnis notinterested in giving uphis strong dark-squared bishop for a rook. He
prefers to keep his initiative going.
25.ihh Qe3 26.0¥d2 Axg2?
 | ee 31. 2f5 fails to 31... h3.
31 .nhxgs 32. OFS
a ‘The last attempt, but now Black can simply exchangeeverything.
a a a a 32... Axfs 33. Rxi Bers 34. 2A Axi
Picking up another pawn.
aa a5ge ther
2 & 2 g& ‘The kingis now perfectly safe.
36.Hixer Hxer+ 37.thg2 4
Zz A White resigned
& Ww Fa Black is completely untouchable endwill simply queen the c-pawn.
Dutch grandmaster John van der Wiel once had to wait for 23years in order to geta
qq ©® second chance to play a strong positional queen sacrifice
Bringing thefinal piece into play, reaching the decisive pointin the game.
20? Game 89
Ihis blunders away the game. It was essential to first include 29.h3. John van derWiel 2493
29.9530. Wh Sipke Ernst 2521
Now White is simply losing a piece. Groningen 2004 (4)
31. Axes 1.e4 65 2. Af 263.84 BFE
The TwoKnights Defence. There are someinteresting other waysto sacrifice material:
4.285 d5 5.exds Mas 6. A bs+ A)8..2e7 9. AxcO+ Oxc6 10.Wxc6+ & 47 1.8 0-0;
In the game Bronstein-Rojahn we saw 6.43, B) 8.cxb5 9. xaWc7 10.846,
6.6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.143 in both lines with very interesting compensation.
8.8 dgis the modem mainline. 9. Rds
9.Axc6+ Oxc6 10. Wxe6+ 247 gives Black goodplayforthe pawns.
XZoWee uch?
This has been played very often,tut it favours White. Black should simply continue
4 aaa his developmentwith 9...¢7 followed by ...0-.
4 a 10.4 ds 11.b3l g6 12.3 Me7
Black’s developmentis not good enoughfor sufficient compensation.
AL A 4 13.Ab2 Of
13..0-0 14. Axes does not work.
w
RRAA BAB
HAS ©& x
8...bE
 x £w & x oleshe it does notsolve the problems. 15...f5 was the best defen-
a a2 ie
4 4 4 vee notinterestedin taking tre exchange. He prefers to play for domination.
A a 16... He8

D& xo WwW P4
wW a & &
& 4 Saab
a
a queen sacrifice, for two minorpieces and domination over the dark a 4
, & QB
1981, Van der Wiel played 14. 8.3 against Timman, only to dis
the game how strong the queensacrifice would have been. Actually, in corre-
& && B&A
spondence chess the scifie was alreadlayed in 1975 HA & &
17.00 Dries Wedda 2157
The proofofa convincing positional sacrifice: Groningen 2017 (1)
pened
r7athic7 18. Ber 1.B 5 2.04
The simple 18. 2 be3 would also have been strong, The Symmetrical English
18...19.123, 2a C6 3.83 26 4. M92 Me7 5.0-0 d6 6.93 AF 7.03
Several schemes ofdevelopment are working well here. Carlsen prefers 7.h3 in this position.
19...e6 20.283, Toe]
An impressive retreat, still ignoring the rook
20.4185 21.04.
Firmly keeping thestronginitiative
Dan Oeg 22.bxc4,
Blackis left completely helpless.
22. &.xcq was less convincing due to 22...Wxe.
22 AHAB 23. age 1-0
Manyyearslater, Sipke played a fascinating positional queen sacrifice himself,
Game 90
Sipke Ernst 2532
 g.axb4 cxb4 10. Dh4l
x & x

dd
The key move, gaining the bishop pair and making the bi-squareavailable for the
4a Waal rook.
aad ro.bxc3 1. Ax gx
This weakening of the kingside is a longterm problem. 11...llixt5 would leave the
a 2 by-pawn hanging,
& 12, Ebr Eb8 13.dxq3 Of6
Black doesn’t have timefor 13... xc3 14.c5 as he would be lagging behind in devel-
& “AR ‘opment too much,
& &&ABA 14.c5l
White has beautiful positional compensation for the pawn.
HE 2wW Fe 1gnd5
B&.b4l 14...dxe§ 15. f4 is thepoint.
A typical pawnsacrifice for this opening, similar to the Benko Gambit and Réti 14...0-0,to at least develop quickly, may have been thebest option.
Gambit we studied in Chapters, 15.4
8...Axbg Again the most dynamic move.
Accepting the pawn sacrifice is risky: 8.cxb4 9.axb4 Axb4 10.04 gives White inter- 15Deg
esting compensation. Better was to continue development with 8. . f6.
 overdoing things a bit
The simple 17.l'c2 xb1 18. l'xbt leads to an excellent po:
170 Oxdh 18. Bxg7 23?
This leads to a pleasant position for White. 18... g8 19.84 and now 19... dxf
20. 8xt2 8 was the right way to play. Here all Black's pieces are playing and his,
Rh & king is relatively safe for now. With best play Black may even be better, but in a
& & practical gameanything can happen.
19.84xc3 0-0
& 19.-46 wasthe alternative.
KABA 20. fe5 Hbe&

EQW 8
16.cxdst
Turning the pawn sacrifice into an exchangesacrifice
16...2¢3
After 16... xc§ White has many good moves, such as 17.8 a3,
17. bz?
Played with great imagination, even making a queen sacrifice ofit, but this is
 White could have just takenit with 22. 3 xb7.
x Re 22.6?
44 Wah 2 This only leads to further weaknesses and pushes thebishop back to stable
squares,
Correct was 22...Wasto stick to the c5-pawn.
&ASA 23.4 Pas 24. R03
Now the pawns are well supported,
24 ub6?
& This attempt to clarify thesituation backfires.
AABA Dries pointed out that at first he wantedto play 24..f4l 25.gxf4 Zb8, and indeed he
should have stuck to that.
& E® 25.6
2.fa This big passed pawnis too muchto handle forBlack.
Bringing thefinal piece into play. With two bishops and a superior pawn structure, eS
White has good compensationfor the queen. The exchangesacrifice 25... c7 26. {4 H fc8 was thebestfighting chance.
2Beg? 26.dxe6
Sacrificing the b7-pawn is not very convincing, Leaving Black with a very poorkingside structure.
22.9? 26.d6lookedinteresting as well, but White did not want to allow Black any strong
central pawns. This sole pawnis not going to give enough counterplay.
26...Me5 27. 0144 Bxe6 31. Hd6 Bixc7 32.b7
White has given up the big pawn “ora direct mating attack
x Re 32.Bag 33. d5+ Mh8 34. Hdd7 1-0
4 A Wewill nowlook at one of the most remarkable games of 2019,with a truly the-
ah Wa matic positional queensacrifice.

a Game91
Alireza Firouzja 2682
2 Murali Karthikeyan 2593,
B& Xingtai Asian Championship 201¢ (5)

&& & 1.d4 O16 2.c4 363.3 Mh g7 4.04 d6 5.h3

This is one of the modern main lines against the King’s Indian, keeping the king-
EE @ side flexible.
2B. 50-0
Excellent judgement. Sipkeis playing for total domination. White's position is now 5.05 6.d5 bd7is an intelligent move-order to reach the main line, bringing the
completely untouchable, while Black has many weaknesses. knight to 5 as quickly as possible. White's optimal set-up is ga-ga followed by
28.05 29.6 Bidz 30.1 bxb6 a4 © gea-g3, butif Black is very fast with attacking e4, White is forced to lose a tempo
mess KAS Fe
6...¢5 is the main line; 6...¢6 is what Firouzja played himself with black against aa aa a a
Caruana, halfayearlater at Wijk aan Zee 2020.
a A a
7-243 Was 8. Ad2
8.2 d3 2 fd7 9. Bealis the best wayto play, with an advantage for White wy

nehmastet
meee refutati Axd. bout I. ah ge A 4 &

AB Aa
Hh wees
A greatpositional queensacrifice
ro.bxc3 dxe3
Black now has two minor pieces and a pawn for the queen. White has many weak
pawnsand squares, which makes Black's position much easierto play.
n&
Firmly supporting the e4-pawn, but weakening even more dark squares.
11.8 d3 mayhaveoffered better chances. ZA Ze
1.D5, ai aa a
Immediately making use ofthe weakened squares.
2a a a2
Here, the move 12. dg looks more stubborn.
12.0. ANE
The e3-pawnremains quite annoying for White, & ABA
13.64 fq DA kA A
&
EH W 22 £
Threatening 14..22
ag.thd?
Movingthe king to the queenside 1s creative, but doesn't make things better.
14,c2 looks moresolid.
14.06
Illustrating the positional nature of the sacrifice. Black is notplaying for quick
development and anattack, but takes his time to play the pieces to the right z

D> De foo i
De Dat
squares.

(S Dev D> pS De

De
ag.thiea Ac6 16.hg OF aa £
A stable square forthe bishop, with full control overtheposition.
17.Widr Aes 18.0 dz A
Adding morepieces, while retaining great harmony in the position.
19.24 Rac8 20. Me2
Pushing back the bishop, but Black does not mind.
A
& &
20... Qh6 21.85 &e7 & &
&
a WwW 2 8
The bishopis back onits normal square, and White cannot avoid losing another
pawn
22.h3 Aad
Eliminating thewhite Fpawn gives Black the mighty e5-square forever.
23.11d3 Des 24.Pxe3 Axc4 25.02
25. xacan be met by 25...c6.
25.05
The harmonyin Black's position reminds ofa Sicilian Dragon gone really well
26. hb
26. dg is well met by 26...9b6.
26... 26
Now Black has a strong double fianchetto.
27-fig2 6
Now thatall his pieces have found optimal squares, Black can start the attack.
2B.gxf6 Mxf6 29.A
White decides to return the queen, but the endgamewill be lost.
29. Bxc3 30.xcs Axes 31. HBr MB 32.13 Des
Returning to the mighty square
33.a5 Axeq+ 35Ads,
Picking up 2 fourth pawn for the exchange. 35..a6 may have been more accurate.
34. Bxeq Bxeq 35.0dq 36. Abs
36.a6 lookedlike the best fighting chance
36..a6 37. 9c7
White does develop someinitiative here, but it will not be enough to put tre black
king in danger.
37Bc6 38. fi+ they 39. 2e6+ hE
The king will actually soon play an active role itself,
40.018 ths 41. 2h8 hé
Ihefinal accurate move, basically.
42.Rhp thixhg 43. Hxh6+ thes
Black still has the four pawnsfor the exchange, and can now start pushing his
passed pawns.
44.Adg thgs 45.Lh2 Mids
Nohurry though,it is worth keep-ing the bishop. Thebattle is over.
46.He2 shfy 47. Liar AR 48.Her o§ 49.02 Meg 50.263 ds 51.thby Adg
52.Her R01
73 Rook sacrifice on OBE 5.64
We will now turn to an even more extreme sacrifice: 1e rook sacrifice. In case of a The Four Pawns Variation, claiming a maximum amount of space.
queensacrifice, oneusually gets at least two minor pieces, so mathematically that Sondre 6.fre5 05?
resemblesa piecesacrifice or an exchange sacrifce. In this section we are goingto Black wants to attack White's broad centre, but this does not work well. 6.26 is
see rock sacrifices, in many cases for just a single pawn, which 1s an even bigger the right wayto play.
difference. This meansthat the amountof positional compensation likewise needs 7.45 €6 8.93
to belarge. The typical picture will be total domination, the theme westudied in White can consolidate his space advantagerelatively easily. The knight defends the
Chapter As usual, wewill look at a few classical games,followed by some mod- d:pan andprevents the ..Wh4-e4 manoeuvre.
em examples. Wewill also study a gamein which the sacrifice did not work. B..exd5 9.0cd5 c4
Creating squares for the dark-squared bishop.
Game 92
10.98
David Bronstein 2585 10.d6 was actually strong, shuttingin the dark-squared bishop.
Ljubomir Ljubojevic 2570 10.64
Petropolis 1973 (11)
1.24 OF6
Alekhine’s Defence
2.05 Ads 3.4 d6 4.c4
4.93 we saw in Grischuk-Riazantsev.
 z 13. Bixc4,
The complications after 13.¢6fre6 14. Wxg7 also favour White, based on 14..hg+
a 15.hd1
130-0 14. gt
Here 14. {1h6was a fascinating alternative
AB sa5es
a £ Whitestill has a promising position, butit is very complicated.
15. Bey 16. 2b3?
“a aD This allows Black a chance to get back in the game. Still, itis played with a fantastic
A A & A idea in mind.
16.8¢a1 Bs and now 17.1lh4 was strong, as Black cannot take on e5 with check.
H aw & 2 x After 17...2.xg1 18.6 White has a mating attack: 18...e3 19.£4 hg 20.18g5 thy
21.8.d3 and White will take on hg next.
10... b4 was a bettertry. 6... 5
dy
Furthercentralization.
11.d6 wasstill good.
1. xf 12.983 Bbg
Black now at least gets some counterplay.
 Too passive. 18...Wc5 19. eq Wdg and now 20.2 di Wxb2 was the corvect de-
fence, as Ljubojevic played six years later. White could have improved earlier
though, as we saw.
19.the2?
This is too creative. Thestraight-forward 19.0-0-0 wasstrong, and now 19.25
20.e61 with the idea 20...fre6 21.Wres,
19... es?
Thisis toopassive as well
Black could have taken overwith theactive 19...l'csl. Possibly, Bronstein wanted
to sacrifice even morewith 20..xg1 xg21.6 but then Black can defend with
21... 8d71 22.0xf7+ and now first 22...lig7 23.8 h6+ and then 23...ih8.
20.204
17.4 Now White hasall he was playing for: only one pawn for the rook, but a fantastic
Bronstein turnsit into a full rook sacrifice, based on his highly dominant central position
posttion 20. 08d7 21. Her
170 Bxgr 18.46 Bringing thefinalpieceinto play.
Black is now under enormous pressure. 21.6
18...8?
 x e After 25...1W'd3+ 26. it f2 Black soon runsout ofchecks as well.

De [mt
26. Axhs Bxb3+
a4 A 4 A creative way to prevent the immediate mate, but it does not change anything,
aws 4 27.axbz Adg+ 28.ihd4l
Anice double attack
2 & & 28... De6+ 29.xds Axgs 30. Of5+ they 31.Bxgs,
aW Black now only played on because White was in time trouble.
31a HEEB 32.06 fre6+ 33.tNxe6 LPB 34.47 05 35. Ag4 Habs 36.ites Hiss 37.Pixs
&
D> i>

xfs 38.488 fgg 39.0d7+ thé 40.Bixb7 Hg6 41.f4

& & & Andfinally, Black resigned
In the following classical game, White gets a truly amazing pawn structure, as posi-
& tional compensation for the rook.
22. xcs!
Now everything flows naturally: another exchangesacrifice, to gain access to the Game 93
black king. ley Polugaewsky 9620
22aDxe§ 23. MF6+ MB 24.Th4 Eugenio Torre 2550
The gameis decided,Black will be checkmated. Moscow 1981 (6)
24.0BTbS+ 25.103 hy, 1.d4 d§ 2.c4 63.9% Af6 4.23 06
The SemiSlav x Wee
5. Bes dxcq
5.-h6 we saw in Topalov-Kramnik. a
6.24 bs 7.€5 h6 8. Mh4 g5 9. Axgs hxgs 10. Bxg5 Abd71.x A a &
Ihis is the notorious Botvinnik Variation, known for its sharp and often irrational
poston. 4

(SF Dm De
11...7 12.93 6 13.45 BBE?
This variation was no longer considered playable after the current game. 13.6
ra fig2 000 50:0 bis the main ine &
&& & &
& Wee Ff
A greatpositional rooksacrifice.
1g..Wxd1+ 15, Macdt Shxht 16.27 26
16... 2h6 is impossible due to 17.2xbs.
a.h4l
This is the amazingpoint, turning it into a real rook sacrifice. Polugaevsky had
found shis fantastic novelty four years earlier, and in this game finally got the
chanceto playit. x e x
Previously 17.exf81'+ was played, but that does not give White an advantage. Aa
17.Bh6 18.4)
Ihe secondpoint, constructing a unique and impressive pawn structure. 44 2 4
18...b4 19. R461 4 &
Another key move, keepingtheinitiative andthus justi ing the whole concept.
19... 68
aa A
19...bxe3 20. xb6 c2 is nicely met by 21.itida &
20.4di
The right square forthe knight, securing the queenside for now, and it can easily
A&B
becomeactive again via €3 ABQ #
20. Sxgs 21-feg5
The right recapture, leadingto a pretty picture. The correct defence. Black needs 0 sacrifice the knight.
22. fhxcq
This capture completely dismantles Black's majority on the queenside
22...xe7 23.fce7 they
By returning some material, Black has normalized thesituation. White is still
better, but only with accurate play.

De» [ime
24. EEL
Dominationis still the theme.
2dLh25. Deg

o> De» (S
White has great harmonyin his position.

Do
De
25. Seg 26.0x06
Winning a pawn,butlosing time.
Starting with 26.h5 was worth considering as well af
26... Lbd8 27. (6 Hd6 28. 2f4
The most straightforward was 28. 2f5+ Sxf5 29.
kingside pawns will decide the game.
f5 H.dq 30.b3 and the white
A&
28...Rd4 &
Blackis aboutto develop counter-play. The decisive stage ofthe gameis reached,in which both players start to make mis-
29.h5 takes.
By now this was essentialto keep the 32. b3?
29... d3, The simple 32. &xd3 itixds 33.h6 was called for.
Better defensive chances were offered by 29...61 320 Mea?
30.Ads+ thd6 31. Bxd4 oxd4 32... Be8+ is about equal
33.Axa tds 34.0b3+? Alexey Dreev 2570
Goingfor thetactical solution. Tilburg 1993 (2)
Thepositional 34. itid2 was correct.
34---ihes 35.64 fg?
1.d4 d§ 2.c4 63.93 Af6 4.0F 26 5.03
After having defended very well, Black blunders. As it turns out, 35...d31 would have This is the other main line ofthe Semi-Slay In the previnus game we saw the sharp
kept Black in the game. 5.8 gs.
36.26 shes So. Mbd7 6. 2.43 deg 7. fxc4 bs
Interes:ingly, Black plays for a mating attack, but White has no problems defend-
ing, after which his kingside pawns run through.
KE £Wee x
37-87 KcB 38.0fi d3 a a” abs
1F38....0f3, 39. 8 di+ followed by 40.h6 wins. & aA
39.thez
White can easily give up his bishopforthe d-paum if needed a
39.1f4 40.h6 1-0
We will look at another fascinating gamewith the Semi-Slav. TI time around,
2A
Blacksacrifices up to a rookfor positional compensation. a Aa
Game 94 &B BAA
Boris Gelfand 2670 H Q2wWwe gE
The Meran. Black fianchettoes his bishop and thenprepares ..c6-c5,
x ae

pS de It
8.9.43 fb7 9.0026 10.04
Going forspace and piece activity. 2Wa 2
10.5 11.05 €4 12. See Bey 13. dg
First 13.dxebis the main line a a
13.05? a
&a
Betteris the more dynamic 13...c5, as was played in the famous game Kasparov-
Kramnik, Dos Hermanas 1996.
a &
14.0% 6 a
14.-hgis a bettertry
15, Dh6 Bhs
&AB BAB
HE 2wW fe
16.098?
HereGelfand starts to lose track
Later it was established that 16.g3 gives White an advantage.
16... 4 17. Oxf?
An attractive-looking move, but in the end this transaction weakens the white king
more thanthe black king. Correct was 17.0 g4.
aay 18.63
White wins back the piece.
18...85 19.exf4 exfg
The pawn structure has been established for now. White will not be able to attack
with a queen only, while Black may start directing his pieces towards the white
king
20.%ths+ they 21.0th4+ thf
Black could have started running to the kingside with 21...00€8.
22.Rdr
Activating a secondpiece.
22... g8+ 23.thh1 016?
23... g7 would have been strong, creating a square for the king on g8.
24. Mhs+ 24.0. g6l
A creative way ofshielding the king, with a positional exchange sacrifice.
25. Blxg6+ hxg6
His bishop pair and superior pawn structure on the kingside provide Black with
good compensation.
26.Bg1 Rez
Bringing thefinal pieces into play. 29... Axds!
27.8h6 Bg8 A great move, turning the exchangesacrifice into a rook sacrifice.
Blackis well coordinated jo.exds Sxds 31.2A?
28.6 ba, 31. whys 77 andthen retreating the queen with 32. lfh3 wasthe right defence.
Played only with a very concrete idea in mind. 3ta 16?
29.02 31...Wc8l would havebeen strong, threatening to trap the white queen.
32.09h7+ Hg7 33.1h3 Leb 34.eo
x The cheeky 34.18 h8 may have been more practical
2wW ae 34-85
a as,y The position is balanced, but Black's position is more fun to play, with pretty posi-
tional compensation for the rook.
Rd 35.83 84
aa & a
&
AB A &
E 2 ae
 38.Wxg7+ Axg7 39. Ixds loses as well after 39... cb
38....b7 39. Has Bd7
w ek Black has total domination,the battle is over.
a 22 40. Ads Mxds 41.d2 Bc6 42.Pxd7+ Bxd7 43.Rxa6 By,
Ihe exchangeofqueensdid not changeanything.
4 44.Bhgor
aa aa In the following game, Black plays a very risky opening, but the optima way of
dealing with it requires a proper understandingofposit nal sacrifices.
& & Game 95
& 4 WA ManuelBosboom 2410
EZ 2 EG Igor Khenkin 2575
Haarlem 1997 (2)
There is no time for this. White should have returned the piece with 36. 8 xf4 ext 1.4 d5 2.04 €6 3. 3 dxe4 4.8
when following 37-he4 Hxg4 38.3 Bes a delicately balanced situ 4.4 and 4.¢3 are the main lines ofthis particular Slav variation
36...8d5
4-b§ 5.04 bq 6. M04 Bids?
Now Black crashes through. Avery unfortunate move, leading to a losingposition.
37-3 exh 38.8 6. . 26 7. Dxf6+ exf6 is perfectly fine for Black.
 a “gag efaz
i i a bt
w ai a.
AkABar OE
A MARAR
5 &
a
BAB
ee
This moveis spot on,giving White a lethalinitiative. 9. Bxc4l
n Bwee 2
of this ‘ardly needs any calculation. Black will remain with
Not a pretty move to make, butthere was nothing better. Atleast this forces White
to show ivity,
7-216 loses to 8.265. White is almost donewith his development, while Black doesn’t know where to
 White has everything he can wish forpositionally speaking, and Black has nothing.
13.Bla6 14.81d1
In the spirit ofthe sacrifice — no rush
ZA ee = 14.047 15.0%
a A Aa Systematically bringing thefinalpreces into play.
2 & a 15.9616. Her &g7
Finally, some pieces are developed, but it's toolittle, too late.
ay «A 17 Bical
&bfRA Impressive replacementofthe front piece
17.Pas 18. D6

& BAA
HE 2wW fe
Turning the piece sacrifice into a rook sacrifice, resulting into total domination,
with a boardfull ofpieces.
12Ao 13,Bc
 21.06 22. Axe6+ they 23.98
&

p> de Int
be in

The battleis over.

aad 2 Bu Hack 24.05 Hc7 25. 8b3 AbS 26. Mess dy 27.6
a A 4 Mate.
Not all sacrifices always work. In the following game, a gifted young top grand-
CIE

mastermisjudged the situation.

22 A&B
& Game 96
Vasily lvanchuk 2732
Wei ¥i 2740
& BAA Hoogeveen 2017 (3)
aw & 1.dg Af6 2.04 263.03 Mb4 4.08 ds
The harmony in White's position has reached perfection, and Black can nolonger ‘The Ragozin Defence.
prevent heavy materiallosses.
5.ccd5,
18...1047 19.13 In Ami-Movsesian we saw 5.
Adding some morethreats, before cashing in. s.exds 6. M.g5h6 7. fh4 0-0 8.63 M59. 2a
19...1hs 20. Axh6+ Pek 21. Axg7+ g.iltb3 and 9. -2 are the mainlines.
Picking up two piecesin a row. 9. Abd7 10.0b3 Bxc3e
Black can also keepthe bishop with a movelike 10... 2a. 13... fe8 was more to the point, supportingthe ..c6-c5 break.
11. Bxcg c6 12. Ada Bras 14th
This gives the game a creative touch. The normal 14. .¢2 would have been per-
fectly fine
Vue Mac 15, fer o5
Developing the counterplay Black needed
dues Kxcs
16... xcs was more accurate, with good counterplay.
vy-Bher g5?
Played with a big idea in mind, but itis flawed.
The pawn sacrifice 17..44l was the right way to fight forthe initiative.
18.823

Ihe openinghas resulted in a relatively normal position that 1s more or less bal-
anced. White does have the bishoppair, so Black may need to develop some activ-
ity at some point, to keep the balance.
13.63 Dfes
 x @ &
4a 4 & 4a 4 2
a a a a
Ww HA 284 wy 2a
@
WE A&B We &B
&& ARBAA && @AQ A&A
&
Wei Yi must have missed or misjudged something,since the white king turns out
ice, drawing the white king into the wide open.
‘ec but White keepsthe upper hand

Thelogical follow-up. The cool defence,after which Black still cannot strike.
20.1hxdg Dan Be6 22.Bixby
Still keepingall essential squares undercontrol. This was always considered to be the main line, butit leads to highly uncleerplay.
22.uitigy 23.004 3..25 is a good reply and now just continue as if it is 1.¢4 €5, for example 4.9f3
Atthis point several moves were possible. Deb 5.8 b5 2F6,
Bu Od5 24. Axe5+ Axes 25.15 1-0 goexds Bhds 5.963 €5 6.c4l?
25. txe5 was winning as well Ihis leads to interesting play.
We will finish this chapterwith a cool rook sacrifice that was discovered in corre- The alternative approachis 6.axb4. &xb4 7.03.
spondence chess about ten years ago, but had never been successfully played in 6..e6 7.8.43,
over-the-board chess. Bram van den Berg scored a nice win with it in the Dutch Dynamic development, quickly br nging the piecesinto play.
league. Rez
7-84 8.0-0 will transpose.
Game 97
8.0-0 e4 9. Ler BG
Bram van den Berg 2214
Bas vande Plassche2386
Nether'ands tt 2018/19 (3)

eg 5 2.b4
The Wing Gambit is a fancy opening, but not very convincingif Black knows what
heis doing.
 hasa single pawn for the rook, but he has a largelead in development and is build-
ing up a dominant position.
12.0084 13.2 HB
13. . 0f6 14. 2x6 Waf6 is another important defensive option
14.05
Morelogical wasto bring the final piece into play with 14. 3.
14.016
14...97 15.44 4df6 would have beena very solid defence.
5.93
15, Lag] Dxeg 168x074 ilixe7 17. 93 would have given White excellentplay.

nOowE ®
The great point behind White's play, sacrificing a full rook.
10...War 11.PIb3
Threateningto trap the black queen
11.16 12.axb4,
A great move, patiently regaining the c3-square for the white knight. White now only
 z Exchanging Black's only active piece and increasing the activity ofthe white pieces.
e 16... Oxd5 17. xd5
FY a White now has a mighty attacking position.
a 17Ad7 18. xg7+]
Correctly judgingthatthe attack continues smoothly after this sequence.
18...ihixg7 19. Hxe7 LB
aw Blackis close to consolidating.
20.813+ thes
“a
&

This just loses time andis a serious mistake. In this type ofsituationit is a known
device to keepthe adventurous queen where it 1s, as it may actually hinder the
‘opponent's pieces, and only spend time on retreatingit when you are forced to,
15. . bd7I wasthe right defence.
16.Ads
 through.
Bou Hxly 24, Bxfy 1-0
Conclusion
In this chapter we started testing thelimits, by sacrificing even more material than.
before. In the first part of the chapter we saw somelovely gameswith double ex:
change sacrifices, ranging from 1935 to 2020. In Ding Liren-Carlsen, even four ex:
& changes were sacrificed.
In the secondpart ofthe chapter we saw queen sacrifices, which always remains
Ww «A fa special theme. Entire books have been written on this theme alone. | decided to
& A&B& select a few examplesthat were really on the edge and pushed thelimit oF whatis
possible. If you want to learn what is possible in chess, you sometimes need to
& take big risks, otherwise youwill never find out.
a.desl The final part ofthe chapter was devotedto the rook sacrifice, which is arguably
The final key move, leaving Black helpless. thelargest positional sacrifice that can be made. It only workswell in special cases,
2G and it is instructive to see where the limits lie
After 21..Wxe5 22. xe5 Axe5 23.lxe5 the queeneasily outperformsthe rooks. In the next chapter we will keep testing the limits by looking at somespecial
22.ig3+ Mh8 23. Oxfy> ‘games by someofthe most creative mindsin the history ofchess.
White now regains all the sacrificed material, while his attack keeps crashing
CHAPTERS
Heroes
In the previous chapter, westarted testing thelimits by examining how much mate-
rial can besacrificed, while still getting positional compensation. Normal is to
sacrifice a pawn,exchange orpiece, but we saw that sometimes we can sacrifice up
to a full rook in orderto create a dominating pos'tion,
In the current chapter, we will continuetesting the limits by studying the extraor-
dinary creationsof someofthe leadingplayers from past and present. Every chess
playerhas his or her ownheroes and | am glad to share some beautiful games that
have truly inspired me throughout the years. | am sure that | am forgetting some
great examples by great players, but who knows they can be added in a future edi-
tion ofthis book.
8.1 The mighty knight 7-fe3 06 8.Be2
Wewill start with some examples of the legendary Velimirovic sacrifice. In my
youth years I was very impressed by this conceptand wasalways hoping to be able xz 2Wee E
to playlike this with white. In previous chapters we have already seen some of Kas- 4 aaa
parov's most important games,butthere 1s one gamethat perhapsleft the deepest
impression on me, and it’s only appropriate to share it with you here. Both Ve- & 4224
limirovic and Kasparovsacrificed a piece in order to get a mighty knight.
BAS
Petar Popovic 2405
A 2
Novi Sad 1976 &&& WAAA
reg 652. 963 dB 3.44 cxdg 4.Axd4 O16 5.2.63 DCB & & £
The ClassicalSicilian. This movedefines the Velimirovic Attack. White prepares to castle queenside and
6.84 has aggressive intentions on the kingside.
In Chapter6.6 we looked at 6.2 gs. 8.87 9.0-0-0 fe7 10.2b3 Aas
6.06 In the next gamewewill see the mainline 10...0-o.
6...Ad7 is a clever, flexible alternative. 1.84
Thefirst part ofthe typical attacking schemeis to dislocate the knight from f6. 14.961
1.b5 12.95 Oxb3+ The famousVelimirovic sacrifice. Oneknight sacrifices itself, to create @ formi-
At least eliminating the bishoppair. dable square on dsforthe other knight. The Velimirovic sacrifice typically works in
case Black has played ...'&c7, since ds then wins an essential tempo.
1g.nexds 15. ds Wd8 16.ext5
x 2 @& x White now has one pawnforthe piece, a mighty knight on d5 and a menacing
Waeeba mass of pawnson the kingside. Theseare the typical ingredients ofthe Velimirovic
a ai sacrifice
16...67
a & Elevenyears before, in the stem game, 16...0-0 was played, which instantly gives,
Aa White a winning attack: 17.f61 (tearing open Black's kingside) 17..gxf6 (17... dxf6
1B.exf6 Axf6 does not work for several reasons — most convincing is 19.26)
Aw 2 14 De5 19.gx6 2x66 20. Zhgi+ (White's pieces all smoothly join the attack)
&& WA A 20...8.7 (20...0lh8 21.18hsalso leaves Black paralysed)

ee x
Positionally speaking, Black is doing very well, soif play continues neutrally, he will
befine.
 17696 18. her
xz 42W Ee Centralizing and attacking at the sametime.
ofa 18...ads 19. Hxds g8
Black does not have many moves to choose from.
a a
A DA z We =
& aAfs 2b
& a a4
&& WA A & &

pe
SE gE
&

D> D>
analysis diagram
21. Axe5 (White has seen a pretty mate. 21.Hxg7+ is strong as well) 21..dxe5
22. Wes #6 23. ey Wty (23..W0hB 24. kxdB fees 25.WxiB+ 2x8 26. x gH is the
& WA A
pretty mate) 24. lh5+ 1-0 Velimirovic-Sofrevski, Titograd 1965 @
17-61
This typical pawn break strongly discourages Black to castle kingside 20.666
20.h4 HcB 21.ilib1 is an interesting indirect way ofplaying, improving the position.
with litle moves and keeping the pressure on.
20. Oxf6 21.245 HbB We x
Subsequently, tournamentpractice focused or the lengthy sequence 21... g4 Eea A
22.2 g5 Des 23. Axe7 Wre7 24.f4 Dd3+ 25.0d3 Wre2 26. Zxe2+ iB and Black
holdsthe balancein the rook endgame. a a
22. May a &
22.h4is still interesting.
22Hb] 23.044
& A
Velimiravic keeps working with direct threats. & wW
Bun gg 24.813 Hd?
Fifteen years later, Popovic improved with 24..'¥/c8 and eventually won,although
Aa A &
he was in trouble halfway the game. @ £
White should really have taken the time to play the prophylactic 25.i%b'! which
leaves Black in serious trouble, with no counterplay. loday, this has becomea
standard procedureifWhite castles queensidein theSicilian.
25.Ae§ 26.F4?
Correct was 26.2xe5 dxes 27. ixh7 ce5 with a dynamically balanced
position 2 Hep?
26... hg? The right defence was27...itif8 28.fre§ dxes 29. 8 c5+ ilig7 and the king finds safety
26...Was! would have been highly unpleasantfor White,sinceall of a sudden Black in the corner.
has a winning position 28.fxes dues 29.85 Ags+
27. Mer Ih29... e6, 30. fees wins
We = 30.i%bil
.xgs also wins, but White has seena nice mate.
x a
C= ree
30.16
a a 30...WWdi+ 31.tia2 Wxe2 losesto 32. xg5 Exes33. Wi c8e.
31.Bihs+ H.g6 32.h4
4 a The battleis over, as White's attack keeps raging on
& 2 32.18 33.Alxe7 Bic 34. A b4 B14 35.8xh7 Hh6 36.Pept
Interestingly, the Velimirovic Attack remainsin great shapeuntil today. We will now
& yw study some more importantideas and variations, including a few recent games.
AA & & Game 99
@ Patrick Wolff2370
IvanSokolov 2525
Now everything is back in order, as the rookis nc longer hanging.
Baguio City 1987
 (E jo)

De» [it
Det
Teed c§ 2. OF 063.44 cxd4 4. Axd4 Ac6 5.23 d6 6. Meg AI 7.M.c4 Mey 8.er
26 9.0-0.0 fc7 10.£1b3 0-0

be fo
lUSlU
In the previous gamewe saw 10... a5.
wher
11.g4 Dxdg 12. Z xd4 is the other big main line
r1..b5 12.84 a5

(Ef D>
be
[> D> Do
12..b4is well met by 13. 2x6 Wre6 14. 2d
13.85 Oxb3+ 14.xb3 d7 15.64

0G: D> (S
The immediate Velimirovic sacrifice 15.25 exf5 16.2d5 Wd8 17.exf5 is not con-
vincing after 17. e8 18.65 & (8 19.fxg7 & xg7 andBlack is coordinated
&

“n
5b
16.9651
Now it is timeto strike with the Velimirovic sacrifice.
16..exf
16... dBis refuted by 17. 2 dsl exds 18. l/hs followed by the second piece sacrifice
Axg7. Black's king is helpless becauseall his pieces are locked in on the queen-
side.
17. Ads dB 1B.ext He8 19... AB
‘One yearlater, 19... f6 was refuted by the nice queen sacrifice 20. Wxe8-I Wxe8
x 2Wk @& 21.gxf6 and after 21..g6 22. e7+ iWifS 23. E.d3l White went on to win in Nijboer
aAfasba Winants, Wijk aan Zee 1988. 19...b7 20.g6 2 f6 21-gxf7+ Wixf7 22.1Whs=led to a
quick win for White in Bosch-Werle, Netherlandstt 2019,
a a 20.8hs Heq
a A& : 23, Boj! Was
a &
& & jl was also strong.
AA W & 2MB
21...Wag runs into 22.g61 fig6 23-fg6 and White will win the queen through a dis-
SE HE covered attack
19.fdal 22.c7 Oxf6 23.gxf6 dB
Ihree decadeslater, this improvement by Wolff keeps making victims amongst
Dutch grandmasters.
Velimiravic himself played 19.g6 back in 1978, but Black can defend with 19..figé
20.f4g6 2 6.
 if26... xd5, 27.3 hg wins
zx 42W ee 27-H1h3 Sixgy 28.8xh7+ 118 29.46
“a aaa 29. llxg7+ would have been a cute finish.
a a & 29... xf6 30. Bixeq Bas 31.9f5 1-0
In the following game, Kasparov sacrificed a piece for a square, which made an
& W everlasting impression on me.
a ZA Game 100
& Garry Kasparov 2595
Maia Chiburdanidze 2400
&& & Baku 1980 (11)
SF gE 1.d4 Of6 2.04 263.3 Mg7 4.04 d6 5.0% 0-0 6. Rez es 7. fez Bez B.d5
24.Adsl In Chapter3,1, we saw that8.dxe§is good for White with bestplay.
The mighty knight remains the dominant theme. 8...84 9. Ses 16 10. Aha hs
The mat istic 24. 2 xa8 allows Black to recoverwith 24...Wxt6, This loses dynamic potential on the kingside.
24.0. Bb7 25.697 Mey 26. g3! 10... h6is more flexible.
‘Oncemore,a rooklift decides. v1.h3 @h6 12. d2
26... 216 Now White will be the one playing on the kingside, which later became an
important trendin the King’sIndian,
121.6513 ZA &
The start ofa truly remarkable knight manoeuvre. ai Wad
13. OF 14.84 hea?
A serious positional mistake, giving White huge attacking chances on the kingside. a4
Keeping the position closed with 14..25 15. 4.83 h4 16.&.h2was forced, after which Acb b
White can regrouphis pieces with f2-f/ 8 g1/ hz and start playing on the queen-
side with ba-b4. & A &
15. Axed 5? “a &
This makes things worse. Black should have sat tight with 15...ith7 and hoped for
the best AA &
16.Axc8 Bx & Wea Ff
17. Ae3h
Aniconic positionalpiece sacrifice,for just one big square onf,
There was nothing wrong with 17.2 g3, giving White a winning positional advan-
tage for free, but the way Kasparov played shows his maximalist approach and his
willingnessto test thelimits in chess.
ryngxhg 18.05
Installing the mighty knight with gain oftime.

De
bint
18...108 19.8g4 Ags 20. axh4

Dat
As usualwith positional sacrifices, there is time to improve the position step by
step. In this case White can easily spend two moves on removing the black pawn.
20. he] 21. Af5 a6 22.4

S i> be
Removingthelast obstacle
22...0h7

AB &
x & &
White can systematically pile up on the g-file, and Black cannot do anything about
tt
23.1HB 24.1e2
White avoids castling queenside, as Black may try to get some Benko-sty e coun-
terplay in thatcase.
24.0 Hay 25.04 b6 26.07h5 Bringing up the final piece.
Making room forthe rooks. 33-8 34.F4
26...10h8 27.g6 Hd7 28. agi Haby 29.Mg4 Hbc7 30. Rg2l The simple 34. 9 ¢g3 also worked perfectly well
Whit in no hurry andfirst moveshis king to a safe spot on thekingside. 34-.b5,
30..Mb7 31.0h May 32.Mgr Mt Ihis 1s too little, too late.
a 35.axbs axbs 36.cxb5 Hab7 37.h5 Af 38.h3
‘Accuracy untilthe very end.
38... Oxg6 39.hxg6+ the8 go.exfy+ HB 1-0

33.Meal
8.2 Fire on Board The Queen's Gambit Accepted
‘One of mybiggest heroesin chessis Alexei Shirov. Fire on Board is the nameof his 3-04 C5?
well-known game collection. Shirov played at the highest possible level in the This is not the correct way ofattacking White’s centre.
1990s and is known for his daring approach to chess. Heis born in Riga, just as The main lineis 3. 246.
Mikhail lal. He has played many positional sacrifices, and what| have always liked 4.d5 At6 5, cg bs 6.2.14 Mas 7.Md2
mostis his crystal-clear style of play. He would sacrifice something andthen con- 7.a4 is strong as well
tinue asif nothing had happened, with strong, natural moves. The two games we Toubg 8.05 bxc3 9. xcz a6
are about to see do not reflect this clean style at all, but they are goodexamples of g..ltte7 looks more natural, but does not change much.
testing the limits. In the early nineties, Shirov beat Kramnik two years in a row in 10.exf6 exf6 11.b3 Me7 12. Mxc4 d6 13. Ae2 0-014.0-0
Linares. Whatthese two gameshave in commenis that from a perfectly normal
situation, Shirov willingly takes enormous risks, crosses every possible limit, and
in the end gets away withit
Game101
Alexei Shirov 9670
Vladimir Kramnik 2685
Linares 1993 (1)
1udg d5 2.04 deg
 4
&
&
& BAA
& w &
19.1d5?
Shirov is up to something,but this makes the position highly unclear.
The natural 19.llfe2, followed by bringing the rook into play, would have been
strong.
17...Bhxe7 18.46 Bh4 19... 68 20. Oxf
This was the spectacular idea White had in mind, making it a rook sacri fice,
20.He1 wasless convincing since after 20..{b7 21.d3 Hbe8 Black can ex
change a pair of rooks
20.345 21. Her?
White loses track, andit all becomes fishing in troubled waters. After the correct
21.lhds theposition remains very tense.
21.Ag4 22.B6
Black has survived the storm and now threaters to quickly bring his pieces into
play.
23.Hey fb7 24.0143 Ab6

25. fal
Basically the only way to continuethe fight.
2. xe4 26.83l
The point, keeping someinitiative.
26..f6 27.Pixc4> Mh8 28.18fal
Part of staying in the game,is neutralizing Black’s threats.
28...17h6?

De Uf
i
This makes the win problematic for Black.
28... g8l 29.3 Whé followed by . .g7 was the optimal wayof playing, when
Black can untangle, with a winning advantage.

be De
29.85 Me6
29... c6l was the only way to create problems for White, after which theposition 4
remains highly complex.
w
&B

(GD>
& A&B
30.47
At this point White hasfull compen-sation for the rook, based on the opposite-
coloured bishops, combined with the strong passed pawn
30... RbdB
30...£4 was an important alternative, here and on the next move.
31.Bixcs Bg8 32.23
Blackis running out ofactive moves andstarts walking a thinline 3.c4 £6 4.03 6
32.f4 33-84 HdfB? More accurate is 4....f6 in orderto be able to meet 5.183 with 5... 6.
The mistake that was bound to happen. 33. 77 was the correct defence. 5.13 BIG 6.c5 cy 7. Fal
34.dal A typical twist, enabling White to accelerate his development.
White has turned the tables and is winning.
34--11h6 35.h3 2.06 36.K%e1 7.x fails to 8.Wxb7.
Black has no checks and can no longerprevent White from promoting the pawn, 8.e3
followed by taking onf6, winning the house. White can hunt the bishop pair with 8. hg.
36...8th4 37.Bxf4 1-0 {6 9.Blaq Dbd7 10.b4 a6
‘One yearlater, both players met again in Linares and this time around the game
turned out even more bizarre.
Game102
Vladimir Kramnik 2710
Alexei Shirov 2705
Linares 1994 (12)

1. OR 52.44 Rts
The LondonSystem with colours reversed
 16.04 9c7 17.95 h6 18. Axf6 Dxf6 19.b5
White has a clear space advantageon the queenside, while Black can counterin the
centre.
19.05 20.66 Ab8
Black could have played 20...exd4 21.exd4 {i t4 straight away.
2r.as exd4 22.0xd4 fq 23.012
Black's idea was to m 23.93 Wxh3 24.8 g2 with 24. Whs 25.exf4 2 ga just like
in the game. Here 26.2 jy Wha+ 27. if Wats gives Black nice play for the piece.

BAB
a @2 #
w.hg
Thesituation has normalized, and both sides simply developtheir pieces.
a.fey 12.13 0-013. Mer Meg 14.0-0
14. dxeq was the obviousalternative.
1gBa 15. Oxf BABI
This wes Black's idea,rerouting the bishop,to neutralize White's bishoppair.
 The difference is that 27..Wha+ 28.ilifi Wf is now strongly met by 29.43 and

De
eS be £

De» Dn
D> be Dat

Black does not have adequateplay for thepiece.

D> De
28. Hd3 Phas 29.00f
Blacktries an alternative way to bring on more pieces, and has a few amazing ideas

be
in mind
D> De

29...Wxf4 30. Wida is similarto the previous note; White is in control

30.8id2 6 31.
We Co fac fo
The first idea was to meet 31.£h3 with 31..Eg6l when 32.Zxh2 loses to
De 32. Oxha+ 33.itigr As.
It may have been the most practical to start with 31. ds and following 31. . g6
(G+ D>

(31...cxd5 now loses to 32. h3) 32. & g3 Black is runningout of moves.
&
2347?
Black does notreact to the changed circumstances.
23...h5 was called for, with an equal position.
24.83 Bixhg 25. Aga Bhs 26.gxt4 Ogq 27. fdr
The same sequence as we just saw.
27Had
 & 32.fre4 freg 33. ea and now 33...exd3 34. Wxd3 waswinningfor White as well
32.025 33.06 Hoel
a Defending everything for now.
x 34.0007
34.7 8 was winning tor White, but it was still complicated
4
Sa
& a
aw &
&
sacrifice to open the File. There are

re
nik does not show himself impressed, and sacrifices a piece himself,
rough onthe queenside. 34--Heal
Playing the insane rook move one more time. Now that the f4-pawn is eliminated,
theblack queen stops the pawn from promoting,
35.Ha thy!
Black refusesto give in.
36.8
The cool36. b3!looks like the mostconvincingwin, but this was very hard to as- & 4
sess urder pressure.
36...Bxb8 37-fxe4 hal &
‘Once again, Black finds the only moveto stay in the game.
38.26
38.8 63) would havebeen a strong alternative, as 38...Uxd2 39. ida fegqloses to
wW
40. f2 and White will promote his b-pawn. & &
38... Bagg 39-b7?
At last, White cracks underthe pressure
39. fal tg6 40. 8 xd5 was correct, butall of this requires nerves ofsteel
39H fe6
Now Black's attack crashes through.
4o.He2 Hxge 41.Bixg2 Hxge 42. Bxge Bhi+
Black also picks up the dangerous b-pawn byforce.
43.thfe bt
And White resigned
8.3 Contemporary chess 1.d4 916 2.04 06 3.063 b6
In recentyears, chess has remained as interesting as ever and new ideas keep pop- The Queen's Indian Defence.
ping up, on top ofits already incredibly rich history. As we will see in the next chap- 4.03 &b7 5.23 d5
ter, the computerplays an interesting role in the developmentofnew concepts. 5.2 e4 we saw in the game Kasparov-Andersson
lotofcredit goes to the current World Champion MagnusCarlsen,for his relent- B.ceds Oxds 7. Ade Bd7 8.02 5
less fighting spirit and creative quest. Sometimes it seems asif he has single- This pawn thrust provides Black with certain counterplay.
handedly lifted chess to the next level. A widespread misunderstandingis that 9. Andexds ro.dxes fxc5
Carlsen is not very goodin the opening stage ofthe game. | suspect his often sur- 10...bxes is more common.
prising opening choices go beyond conventional wisdom and take into account 11.63 0-0 12. dz O16
many practical and psychological factors. Let us hope that Carlsen will reveal his 12...2¢8is an interesting and sharp alternative.
view on these matters, after his career. 3.00
Before westudy two of Carlsen’s recent games, we will look at the gamesof two Here White could grab some useful space with 13.b4.
other hero : one bythe ever-creative Baadur Jobava and two byLevon Aronian. 13Beg 14.bg)
Correct judgement.
Game103
14..fhe7
Baadur Jobava 2695 14...xb4 15.axb4, with the idea ba-b5, would give White strong pressure on the
Zoltan Almasi 2720 queenside.
Rijeka 2010 (8)
15, xcs bres
 Aninteresting positional choice, establishing a good knight vs bad bishop sce-
x ze
ae Waaad 20. 5 wasthe neutralalternative
20.udxe4 21.1963 Hf8 22.h4l
‘Opening a second front onthe kingside
aa 22.18!xb7 was impossible due to 22... Bers.
a 22..Re7
The principled defence was 22..h5 and after 23.2.a5 Zc7 Black can meet 24.2 g5
& BAA with 24...h7.
AW &&& 23.h5
The logical follow-up.
E E& 23.005,
23...gxh5 24. 2a should be avoided,
A creativepositional pawn sacrifice 24.11 a6
16...cxb4 17.axb4 Wxb4 18. tbr Bez 19.dq 24..lltxhs 25, xhs gxhg could have been considered though, as thelimited mate-
White's pieces areall easily finding nice squares and are well coordinated, while rial gives Black decent drawing chances.
Black has to work hard to keep harmonyin his position. 25.06 AB
19.86 20. f.xe4 Rerouting thebishop.
26.0ibr As 27HacB
This is not a stable square for the bishop. 26... h3 27.l'xe4 and now 27... Zac8l Retreating with 27... 8.d7 was called for.
was the more active alternative 28. Ais ext
x ee 28... Wixfs fails to 29. Wbal.
29.Wb2 Md8?
x a a ‘An imperceptible,yet decisive mistake. Correct was 29...f6.
a H a 30. H bxa6?
There was no hurry in picking up the pawn. The immediate 30.g31 would have left
£w & Black suprisingly helpless, due to a whole set ofmating ideas:

&
A&B
aw &
Now things are becomingtricky. This pawn is a pain for Black, both in the mid-
dlegame, and, as we will latersee, in the endgame as well
 White canstill try his luck in the endgame.
x & 35.0.Bixhg+ 36.exh4 f4
x a a Sacrificing a pawn to ruin White's structure. The immediate 36...0 8 was possible
ak & 37.extg 8 38.93 Mey
FY w
a
& &
wW &
& &
analysis diagram
30...Bcd7 (30...Wg4 is strongly met by 31.2d6l) 31.Zaxa6 Edit (31..Wg4is
again metby 32. & d6l) 32. liga Wega and here White wins with 33. g6+1
30... Red7 31.63 eq
Now Black survives the attack
32.016 Hdr+ 33, Hxdr Bhxdi+ 34.i@h2 Bhs 35,Bh4l
39-61
‘Opening the wayfor the white king to march forward, whichstill aves Black with a &
tricky defensive task

bh
39. d3+ a
39... d6 may have been a morepractical defence. &
4o.Mte Wigs 41.Mes Made? A
Thedecisive mistake.
The right defence was 41...f6+! 42.ilixe4 (42.E.xf6 is met by 42.631 43. Ze6+ ify £

bt
and White cannot make progress) 42... xf2 43. .a7+ if8 44. 2xh7 and although
this does look bad for Black, it turns out that he canstill hold with 44..2h2
45.ilds Zxhg 46.26 i g8 followed by some more suffering a E
42.Haz+ the43.1f61
Now White’s pieces are too dominant.
43..AKd8 44. Hag 3 45. Leg e2 46.itg7!
Winning the black h-pawnis the key idea.
4B. Urls 47.Uxe2 Wty 48.Mtixh7 Meg 49. Mes!
White finds a way to free the king from the h-fle.
49.-f6 50.2e6 thdy 51. x6 they 52.2451
‘Once more aimingfor the g5-square.
After 52. g6 Black could still put up toughresistance with 52... f4l as Karsten The idea ofthis moveis to quickly bring the piecesinto play, while keeping the c4-
Milller has pointed out. pawn defended
52.4 Hxhg 53.i8g6 10 The mainlineis 8.882
In the next two games, we will see Aronian at work with the white pieces, playing 8.Abd7 9. eq
several instructive positional sacrifices againstthe strongest possible opposition. Ihreateningto take the dark-squared bishop and preparing a Stonewall set-up with
7-45,
Game 104
10. leg Bxaz?
Levon Aronian 2780 Giving up the dark-squared bishop is a positional mistake. White does not worry
Anish Giri 2773 aboutthe weakening ofhis pawn structure.
Wijk aan Zee 2017 (8) In a subsequent game Karjakin wentfor 10...
1.d4 FB 2.04 €63. 083 d5 4.63 miibxaz 046
The Catalan. Playing the knight around to c4 was the idea
AeBbbge 12.5 eg
4..dxce. we saw in the game Dubov-Cheparinov.
5.Rd2 Bez
Black did not really lose a tempo here, since the white bishop is now in the way of
the otherpieces and will need to move again
6.2.g2.0-07.0-0 6 8.9.3
 14..b5 is met by 15. 9g5.

D> i:
BL de feo
be SIE

De» at
De [i

5, x4 bE?
After this move Black's position will remain very passive.
Black should have given up another pawnwith 15...e5 16.dxe5 We7,although White
remains better atter 17.2 d4.
16.8%
Playing the bishop around to the dominant dé-square.
16...He8 17.846 &b7
& BAA The bishop does not make a happy impression here
& AABA 18.205,
White had several goodoptionshere, such as 18. 2 b1.
HW ES 1B...bxc5,
Maybe Black should havetried 18....xe§ 19.dxe5 and now 19...1e8, to try and get
| suspect most people would be hesitant to give up the exchangelike this, but thebishopout.
eliminating Black's only active piece,plus a strong central pawn, 1s worth it rg.dxcs Axes 20. Axes
Bande 14,02
A multi-functional move,
14.h6
 & Back to the dominant square.
x wx 23. a8
ao a a This bishop, ontheother hand,is now buried alive.
a a 24. Seg f5 25. Re2
A Keeping the bishopdirected against the black king and preparing to break with
& & ees
wW 25..b7 26. di
Whiteis notinterested in exchanges, as he enjoys a large space advantage.
& & 26...Rd7 27.04 O16 28.04
A & & 2 A White prefers to keep his queen centralized, instead of making any concessions
taking a pawn (on a5). This kind ofdecision can be very difficult in a practical
ES game. The important thing is noto be too materialistic and, in case ofdoubt, to
White's pieces are shining, while Blackis left with a very passive position keep improving your position and postpone winning material
20..a5 21.by 28...h8 29.er
White bringsthe final piece into play. Increasing the pressure.
27 22.8913 29.887 30.183 f4
Provoking weaknesses aroundBlack’s king The alternative was to do nothing with 30... dd8.
22f6 23.066 arentes,
Black is trying to create some chaos. Black should have tried 33...lxf4 although White keeps a winning advantage with
£ x e 34.47.
34.0g3 Bxd6 35. Edit
x wa The key move, keeping a powerfulinitiative.
a2 4 35. BCs,
1F35...We7,36.fees wins, as Black cannot take back on ¢5.
& a
De

36.7
&& Starting the final attack.
36... g8 37.0 b3 exf4 38.26 3
Ww
De D>

The final bid for counterplay.

2 & & 39-h4 Big 40. xg8 Bers 41.i8h2
The king soon walks out ofthe checks.
& & gi Binea+ 42.itthg B+ 43.ihg4 +0
32.h3! Aronian was the undisputed number two in the world for quite a while, and on
Keepingfull control overthe position. somedays heis the strongest.
32Hxd6
If 32...exf4, 33.¢51is very strong Game105
33.0xd6 Mg6+ LevonAronian 2793
MagnusCarlsen 2832
Stavanger 2017 (4)

fe

De ig:
Soe
i
1.d4 d§ 2.04 €6 3.Af6 4. cg €6 5.03 26

bE
De

> be
De
A Semi-Slav/Chebanenko hybrid

be
6.b3 Abg7.Qd2 Abd7 8.8.43 0-0 9.0-0 Bez
9.88 is the main line.

he
10.Ra

D> fio
fo (Slo
A cleverprophylactic move, removingthebishopfrom any possible attacks.
10. l'cz is the standard move.

re Co
be
10... 48
&

De
gE
najl
Animpressive positional sacrifice.
1 xa3?
Accepting thechallenge, but this leads to trouble. With hindsight, 11... d6 had to
beplayed
12, Hxa3l
Adding an exchange to the invested pawn. Just like in the previous game, White
plays for dominationon the dark squares. Hox &
12.093 13.65 & sb'
Cutting offthe return route for the queen
13..b8 aad i
After 15..05 14.61 Waa White has several interesting continuations, while Black &
has to constantly worry about his queen.
14.b4 & &2
14.261 Baz and now 15. Wetl would havebeen strong. wy AD
14.Ae4
Returning a pawn, to free his position somewhat
& A&&
14...Wb2 was theother defensivetry. Ww &S
15, Axeq dxeg 16. A.xeq HS yy. fixhy+
This turns out to be too slow. Returning a second pawn with 16..bxc5 17.bxc5. a5 Entering a tempting longforced tactical sequence
was the best detence. 17.Weal would have been strongest, but alter 17....)16 it was not easy to see
18.2 g5 h6 and now thevery clever 19. b1l with the idea to trap the quzen with
Ba.
17.0Ahixh7 18. Og5+ hg
18...ilig6 would have been met by 19. ga. Materialis about equal now, but the string offorcing moves continues.
19.8hs Of6 20.Phxf7+ M8 21.Fic7! 26.41
The pointofthe combination; White starts regaining material White keepstheinitiative
Dan Bd] 22.Of7+ M7 23, AxdB 26...d3?
Ihetactics are still not over, as Black now winsthe knight. Losing track. Black could have stayed in the gamewith 26.16 27.2g5 Wxb4
Bun HB 24.Bxb6 Ads 25.Play Hrd when White winsback the piece with 28.¢5 Wxd4 29.exf6 gxfS and would havethe
x more pleasantposition after 30. e3, but the battle would continue.
27.0xd5 Bxd2 28.017
wy 2 ae ‘Onceagain,this strong queen move
a A a 2B. 185 29.dxc6?
A mistakein return,
Sa 29.d6l was possible, since 29...e5 30.dxes £h3 fails to 31.Wxc6,
& A 29-8 30.h3!
Aronian keeps his composure.
ay & 30...8d5
& &A& & 30...05is nicely met by 31.f4l exf4 32. Was, connectingall the white pieces.
31d
E®
 32.04 33.Eg3 Whxda is met by 34. Exgy+ Wxg7 35.Wxd8 andthe passed pawns
will decide the game.
33-Be7!
The most accurate move, putting the queen in a dominant position
33Mts?
Losing a piece. 33. 8 wasthe last chanceto continue the fight.
34-He3 M6 35.Hhg+
Black resigned
& Let us finish this chapter with two excellent wins by the World Champion himself.
A&B For his most recent World Championship match against Caruana (November
2018), Carlsen and his team had put in a lot ofwork preparing the Sicilian Svesh-
nikov. It gave him a trustworthy weapon with black throughout the match and
3105? helped him win the rapid tiebreak. In the period thatfollowed after the match, Mag-
Black makes the final mistake, after a super-tense fight. After 31 28 nothing nus continued to profit from the hard work and won someimpressive games.
would have been decided yet
32.31 Game106
A strongrooklift, which enables White to switch his attention to the black king. Sergey Karjakin 2753
MagnusCarlsen 2845
32.nexdg
Shamkir 2019 (8)
 ou Dds B.exd5 De7
1.04.5 2.03 D6 3.d4 cxdg 4. Axdg A165. A305 8...b8 is the other important option, which Carlsen also played in the World
The Sveshnikov. ‘Championship match.
9.c4 Agél
Iheposition ofthis knight may not seem all that impressive, but it contains some
HZ S2Wee hidden dynamic potential, like a secret weapon.
aa aaa 10.Bag Md7 11.Bb4 A
The second tiebreak game ofthe World Championship took thefollowing course:
ab A 1 . . WB 12.h4 hy 13.8.3 a6 14.43 a5 15, lbs a4 16.1 2 17.93 We8 18.82
a 4 Bg419. Ber &xe2 20.Wxe2 Ws 21.c50-0 22.c6 bxc6 23.dxc6
25.25
HfcB 24.tlc4 2 dB

&
a
BAA BAB
EH 2Wee ££
The classical main line 7.8 g5 we saw in the game Kasparov-Shirov.
 & 14...h5 15.8 g5 Wb8 16. Ler
At this point White has several alternatives.
a 16...0617..63 Mey 18.63
A This logical pawn movelookslike it kills the black knight, but it does have a down-
side.
a 18... e7 19.263 e4!
a w & Onceagain,the thematic pawn move, opening up the great dynamic potential of
the black knight.
& &A neve
&& &
EZ E
analysis diagram
25...e4l (the poorknight on g6 suddenly turns into a monster onceit gets to e§)
26.c7? (26.2.d4 wasthe only move) 26...{xc7 27.Axc7 Deg 2B.Od5 Why 01
Caruana-Carlsen, London WChtiebreak (2) 2018.
12.fag M.d713.Bb4 AG 14.h4
After one move repetition, the game continues.
 x
ho (g-

Dut
22... feB is a natural alternative.
aw
De
oh
23.ag HB
Black wants to keep the queens on, as White’s king is vulnerable.
a 24.05?
& fi
D> be
An improvement was to centralize the pieces with 24.Wd1 Axcg 25. 8.dq andafter
WA 25... xb2 26. dait is actually White whohassacrificed a pawn and enjoys certain
> fh Dee

positional compensation
“A & adres 25,4
&& &
x E®
20...0-01
A strong positional pawn sacrifice. Black no longer worries abouthis weak h-pawn
and simply gives it up, instead focussing on firishing his development,bringing
theknight to its ideal square and altogether fighting fortheinitiative.
a Bixhs Ae5
The knight looks beautiful here.
 x w Re 29.fidg Bf
‘The situation is becoming serious.
4 Saad 30.f4?
a ‘Once more, White should have given up a pawn with 30.6.
30...g6 31.tz Dd3l
aha Another great square for the knight.
wy a & 32.h5
32.1Wxcq loses to 32... dxfa 33. nda Eac8 with total domination
& A 3215 33. R94
&& BA This exchange ofbishops does nct help White.
33Bxg4 34.Bixeq Ad6
£ E®
White preferred to exchange a pair of pawns, but now Black gets a strong initiative
by pushing his newly created queenside majority.
25.004 26.23 b5 27.Mdibg
The white knight keeps being pushed around
28.fa4 Seg
Reminding White ofthe weakened light squares around his king,
 ‘exchange of queens.
xe 37-4 Bg6
aa Every black moveis spot on.
38.shhy eq
Everything with gain oftime.
39-Rf2 Bfes
Bringing the final piece into play, “orcing White to resign,
The following gameis one ofthe most extreme cases | came across while working
‘onthis book. The ultimate case ofthe World Championtesting thelimits ofwhatis
A& possible in chess. This is what Carlsen himself said aboutit: ve been inf uenced
by myheroes recently, which is AlphaZero and also one of myseconds from the
x ES World Championship, Dubov, who has a lot ofthese ideas with sacrifices in the
The posi nis starting to resemble the famous Karpov-Kasparov gamewe studied opening’
in Chapter4.1.
35-Mg2 Mack Game107
Why take a pawn,ifyou canactivate anotherpiece? MagnusCarlsen 2875
36. Aida Brxhs, Yu Yangyi 2738
Now, taking the pawn was functional, as 36 22. 37.83 would lead to the Stavanger 2019(8)
1.d4 d§ 2.c4 63.9% Af6 4.23 dea 5.04 2015 byJumabayev.
An old gambit tracing back to Staunton in 1842. 6.25 Dds7.24 hasalways been the main line, since Maderna beat Najdorfwith it at
The main line ofthe Slav is 5.24. Mardel Plata 1946.
Seb5 6..b4,
= A aw&& z Accepting the gambit is risky, for several reasons.
6...26 is the solid mainline.
a aad 1s
a A A remarkable move, whichis connected with a devilish idea.
Thestandard 7.2.a4 Axeg 8.Axcg gives White nicepositional compensationfor
a the pawn,
a & & 7oncbxc3 8.exf6

#& A
&& BAB
EH 2We2 £
6.Ler
This version of the gambit wasintroduced at grandmasterlevel only recently, in
 coxd2 13. xd2 Wadi 14. Zxdi with an amazing position after for example 14...Wag
ZASWes KE 15, 2h6 27 16.Shs,
a Asha xz 2 #8 WY
4 & a MAA A
A &
a& &
a a Ww OA
A&B B&&A
EH 2we & & BAA
8...exf62
Black settles for a normal position, in which White has a comfortable edge with no x &
risk analysis diagram
After thecritical 8..cxb2 Carlsen intendedto play the highly fascinating 9.fcg7
This is an interesting position to test in training games. The engines keep insisting
brat 10.gxh8 and now thepositional piece sacri-fice 11. dal(Black won
that Blackis winning with bestplay, but along the way severallogical moves lose
quickly after 1 .S8f1 B5c3 in Schoehuys-Pijpers, Groningen 2012) 11...c3 12.0-0
instantly. This is remindful of the way Mikhail Tal conquered the chess world
around 1960.
Wk &

ho De» Due
g.bxc3
Now beth sides will simply finish their development, while White has no problems £ aaa
regaining the pawn
9..1d5 10.00 0.01. Adal a4 a
‘An interesting twist, as the knight will recapture the pawn, while thelight-squared
bishop can moveto the long diagonal
11. eB 12. Her 047 13.Axcg Bez
&
13. . 28 looks more stable 2 & AQ
14.86 B26
Here the exchange of rooks with 14. fe1+ may have offered better defensive
& BAA
chances. x WE &
15, e3 Ab6 16.a3 16...4?
White systematically increases the positional pressure. 16. 2 xc6 fails to 16... d6. Blackinsists on tactical solutions, butthis backfires.
16...Wid7wascalled for.
17.143
As it turnsout, the complicated 17. &.xc6 waspromising as well
17.Hxe3 18. Hxe3 Axe
18...WeB 19. 8 byis difficult for Black as well, but had to betried.

De» i:
De» [mt
19.x26 Ac2 20. dr Axa3 21.xaz

De
De De
After a lengthytactical sequence, it becomes clear that Black will end uplosing a

moms ao
Keeping the queens on with 21... 8 d6 also leaves White on top after22. WY
22.0Ixd6 Axd6
&
&

0> ft
& &&
x &
Anessential move, setting up a dominating structure and fixing the weakness on
‘cb, which will be lost in the long run.
23. 2xc6 Ec8 24.d5 wouldbe a positional mistake, as Black has good chances to
block the pawns.
Bu HB 24.05 Me7 25.10fil
Centralizing the king.
25.5 26.shea gs 27.h3!
Holding back Black's pawn majority for the moment. a EH A
27.=1hg7 28.thd3 thg6 29. bil
Activating the rook. 2
29.h§ 30. by 0f6 31.Rd7 ea
Keeping the d-pawnsecurely defended
31g 32.0d
2 & ba
The bishopwill find other diagonals to work on. & &
32... thes33. Mag f4 & A&B
34.81
The last key move, neutralizing Black's pawn majority.
34Mel 35-bxg4 hepa 36.hxg4 eb 37. 8dr
Returning to theinitial dream square
37m Hegr 38.the4 a5 39.26 Has 40. Mxc6 Hxa2 41. eg
White's passed pawns are much strongerthan Black’s passed pawn.
41.04 42.06 Har 43.c7 a3 44.83
Convincingly neutralizing the final shred ofcounterplay.
Black resigned
Conclu:
Wehave cometo the end ofan amazing chapter. We have seen extraordinary con-
cepts developed by Velimirovic, Kasparov, Shiroy, Jobava, Aronian andCarlsen. It
would betotally understandable ifyou now were to think: this is all way too difficult
for me, how could | everplay chess like this? My adviceis not to worry aboutthat.
Enjoythe beauty ofchess and beinspired by those amazing games.
The one thing that everyone can actually de at his or her ownlevel is to try
something new sometimes and take some risk every now and then. It is not neces-
sary to go all wild, and you should always at least have an idea whenyoustart to
sacrifice something, but do try. The main thingis to keep an open mind and to
start recognizing possibilities.
Towards the end of th chapter, we touched uponthe role of computers in
modernchess, and this is the subject ofthe next chapter.
CHAPTER 9
Superhuman
In the previous chapter, we have seen what the strongest and most imaginative
chess players have been capable ofcreating anc howthey have been pushing the
limits. loday, it 1s obvious that the computeris even strongerthan they are, but
this has not always beenthe case. In this chapter we will look at the most impor-
tanthistorical highlights of computer chess and exciting recent developments, and
we will discuss how you can use engines foryour own training purposes.
Most chess players are nottoointerested in computer chess,but there are a few
things that can be ofinterest. | suspect that basically every chess player knows
something about computerchess, but very little people have a complete overview.
Somepeople will remember the man vs machine tournaments in The Hague in the
early 1¢90s. Theolderreaders will vividly remember how Deep Blue beat Kasparov
in 1997. Eversince, engines have becomestronger and widely available, from Fritz
to Stocktish. Twenty years later, in 2017, the appearance ot AlphaZero impressed
the chess world. Youngprofessionals have recently discovered howto work with
Leela. We will look at these developments, from a perspective ofthe mastering of
positional sacrifices.
9.1 Man versus machine Here 7. . dbd7 madesense,to prevent & es, In case White tries 8. Dhg instead,
The earliest chess computers were not very strong, but in the 1990s the battle on Black can consider 8..25,
the chessboard between man and machine became a hot topic. In The Hague, for 8. Abd2 0-09. Mes Abd7 10. Axgé fig6l
several years in a row, a selection of strong and interesting humanplayers faced a The right recapture. 10...hxg6 11.hd gives White a strong attack.
line-up of chess engines. |he legendary David Bronstein, ofwhom we have studied vi.gs Bhs 12.h4
several instructive games in the previous chapters, was a frequent participant at 12.gal £7 13.h4 would have been more accurate.
these events. Several grandmasters specialized in anti-computer chess by adopting 12.0.0d6 13. h3 Ble7 14.ez <6
a very static posi nal style, capitalizing on the weaknessesof the early engines. Black has survived the worst, but that does notreally stop Bronstein from playing
Bronstein, on the contrary, was not afraid to lose, and keptplaying his enterprising the most ambitious moves.
dynamic chess. We will now look at a fun example from the 1991 edition. 15.0-0-0 a5
Game108
David Bronstein
‘Comp Rexchess
The Hague 1991 (1)
1.b3 d52.b2 Req 3.h3 Bhs 4.24 Mg6 5. Af €6 6.63
‘The opening is somewhatunusual, but playable for both sides.
6... Af6 7.43 Lez
 to lose track

D> De Do» Of
19.04?

iE
pe ho

fo C> Fe
De

Rightidea, wrong timing.

19... 681 would have forced 20.1'xe7 Exe7 and now after 21.3 ft Black can open
De

upthe position with 21..a4

De

20.0% BB?
This meets with a fantastic refutation. 20... e8 wascalled for.
aahsl
& &
re Slo

Now the tactics are all starting to work for White,

&& & WA DEB
21...gxh5 loses to 22.6 hxg6 23. 2 g5; 21....c5 22 hxg6lis similarto the game.
@ £
16.442
This pesitional exchange sacrifice is asking too much from theposition, but watch
what happens.
16... 93 17.g4 Axh1 18.Bxe6+ Hy 19. Exh
After a forced sequence, the critical position has appeared. Sometactical possi-
bilities were clearly still behind the horizonforthe early engines. Black now starts
 25.651
The moststraightforward win. The cool thingis that White would still win, even if

bh
he skipped a move.
25.5 26.Oxf Bhxy 27.26+
Duly pickingup all the material

b&b
27.Bxg6 28. Axg6+ thixg6 29.1 gi+ thf7 30. Exg7+
Blackresigned
ff The man vs machinebattle reached its climax in 1997, when forthefirst time the
strongest human lost a match against the strongest computer. It was actually
close, and the generalfeeling was that Kasparov should not have lost the match.
(Ontheother hand,it was only a matter oftimefor the machineto surpass humans
ke

22.hxg6l in chess. The match score was 2¥-24/2 when Kasparov was very unfortunate in his
A pretty queensacrifice. ‘opening choice forthe final game.
22M xe6 23. Axehxg6 24. dh4l Game 109
The amazingpoint, Black is completely paralysec ‘Comp Deep Blue
24.0Athy Garry Kasparov 2785
24...We8 does not prevent25. dxg6 Wxe6 26. h8#. New York 1997 (6)
1.24 6 2.d4 d5 Tosh?
The Caro-Kann. A shockingchoice. Kasparov was relying on the fact that Deep Blue would notbe
3-3 dxeg 4.Axeq Ad7 5.85 capable of finding the positional piece sacrifice. That would require long-term
This is @ well-known mainline, based on the fact that h7-h6 can always be met by judgement, and not just calculation, something computers werestill struggling
the knight going to eb, openingthe h§-e¥ diagonal. with in thoseearly days.
5M gf 6. 8.43 €6 7.013 Kasparovknew perfectly well that 7...d6wasthe correct move.
8. Axe6!
ZH 2Wes = A nasty surprise: DeepBlue does play the strong positional sacrifice. It turned out
44 4 bb4 that the American grandmasters working on the DeepBlue project had added this
specific variation to its opening book well before the match, because they too
& 2A thought that Deep Blue might not find it onits own,
“A 8..8e7?
& This makes things worse.
After 8. fie6 9.2 g6+ itie7 Black's kingside is completely locked up. After 10. 8 f4
2 “A White has excellent play tor the piece
BAA
& &&& 9.00
The final move that Joel Benjamin remembered putting in the opening book, so
E 2We gE from this point on, Deep Blue was onits own.
9.nfke6 10.8g6+ thd8 12.0.7 13. Her Ads 14. M93 MB
ZR 22 8 KE Black can hardly move, as 14...ifS runsinto 15.8 ha.
a5.axb§ cxbs 16.8d3
4a AW 2 Activating all the pieces.
& A428 16.4.6
16....¢7 is well met by 17.¢4.
7.8
& Winning material, and with it the game.
r7nexh 18.Rxe7 Mxe7 19.04 1-0
“a
&B& BAB
H ow 8
nate
Ihis position is basically winning for White. He will just continue with normal
moveslike Ze1 and c2-c4, slowly but surely crashing through with his attack.
11.b5 12.84
A logical moveto opentheposition
9.2AlphaZero
In the roughly two decades after Kasparov'sdefeat at DeepBlue's hands, chess en-
gines became stronger, and new engines regularly appeared. This process con-
tinued, until eventually a stable top three was established: Stockfish, Komodo and
Houdini. Ihese engines all have their ownstrengths and weaknesses, so using @
combiration of engines has always been advisable. Having said that, Stockfish be-
camethe convenient default choice for most people andbasically started to repre-
sentthe truth in chess.
This status quo was suddenly broken by the end of 2017, when the AlphaZero
project was madepublic. This completely new engineis based on recent advance-
ments in artificial intelligence and has learned chess by playing against itself. |
remember playing in the London Chess Classic when the mindblowing news came
in. The hype that was created by AlphaZero,is nicely summarized by Kasparovin
anarticle published in Science by the end of2018:‘I admit that | was pleased to see
that AlphaZero had a dynamic, open stylelike my own. The conven-tional wisdom
was that machines would approach perfection with endless dry maneuvering, usu-
ally leading to drawn games. But in my observation, AlphaZeroprioritizes piece
activity over material, preferring positions that to my eye looked risky and
aggressive. Programs usually reflect priorities and prejudices of programmers, but
because AlphaZero programsitself, | would saythatits style reflects the truth. This
superior understanding allowed it to outclass the world’s top traditional program
despite calculating far fewerpositions per second. It's the embodiment of the
cliché, work smarter, not harder: In other words, AlphaZero likes long-term sacri-
fices, and mastering positional sacrifices has become morerelevant than ever.
Wewill now look at a few games that left a deep impressionin the chess world.
The complete AlphaZero story is nicely described in the book Game Chonger by
Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan.
Game 110
AlphaZero
Stockfish 8
London 2017(1)
1.4.26 2.04 d5 3.21c3 D1 4.05 Sfdy 5.£4 5 6.9 cxdg?
This early exchange gives White pleasant position for free. Normal is 6...c6 or
6 ‘Ae7, as we saw in Saric-Martinovic in Chapter1
7- Abs
The simple 7. dxd4 is also fine. queenside.
Bbg+8.Md2 Mes o.b4 Me7 10.Abxd4 A6 1.3 14.04 A415. 031
= &w& x White values fast development marehighly than anything else.
‘The more traditional approach would be to keep the bishop pair with 15.21 &ba=
a a AfA a a veittatoloued byfay, hana Wer ° -
A a 15.. Axd2
BA 15...ba 16.Wea Axd3e 17.lllxd3 was the other wayto gain the bishop pair, but
here White has a dominant position as well
A a A 16.ihxd2 &d7

& a
& & A&B
E Wee &
Black 1s stuck in a fairly passive position, andit will be difficult to breakfree. White
can conveniently bring his remaining piecesinto play and increase the pressure.
Tiana§ 12.5 Axd4 13.0xd4 AE
More practical seems to have been 13...a4, to at least gain some space onthe
 18...h5 19.8gul

fo
D> De fio 0
a

De Di
A key move, keepingfull control over the kingside.
De

De
De
19.chxg4 20.Plxg4 £18 21.h4
The fact that White has anisolated pawn does notplay a role here.
21.Wey 22. her g6 23.2
D> De
D>

(ER ko 0 pe
Doubling rooks ontheonly openfile. 2: 7 was also interesting.
23.ihd8 24. Hac Me8
Sle
This passive moveis not a good sign.
25. Hey HB 26.Rxc8+ Mxc8 27.Hc6 by 28.2
A& 28. Exb6 fails to 28.7
28..ihd729. g5
HE gE White's activity is reaching a maximum.
vy.thegl 29.0 fhe7
This confident handling oftheking leaves a futuristic impression
17..b6
The normal17...0-0 looks like a better try
18.24
Gaining more space on the kingside, with the sameconfidence.
 Ez 32. A gd

Co Dm ho 0
Asad necessity
(G:
D> De» foo

be
32...gxf5 simply loses material to 33.ll'g7+; 32..exf33. Wf6 leaves Black completely
paralysed. Even the exchange of queens does not help Black after :2..Eh5

eS be
33.lhng6 Wxg6 34.hrg6 Hxh4 and here both 35. 42 and 35. g2 are clean wins.
ho [> be
D> De

33.8Th6
& The immediate 33.f6 wasalso strong.
be)
33-7 34.f6
GQ

&
30.Axg6l
‘A magnificent positional piece sacrifice.
30... Rxgs
If 30...feg6, 31.18xe6+ wins immediately.
31. Bixgs fg6 32.651
The astonishingpoint.
 Exchanging queens is Black's last hope.
39. Bixb4 axb4 40. A gil
Keepingfull control over the position. The black bishopis buried alive and the de-
fended passed pawn onf6is simply too strong.
40.63 41.Me3 MB 42.Mxb3
‘The material balanceis almost restored, while Black can stil hardly move.
4208.47 43.Mb4 MB 44. Har
Preparing the breakthrough on the other wing.
Agnittc7 45.05 Bd7 46.axb6+ Mxb6 47.La6+ by

What a picture ~ total domination.

34nihd8 35.thde thd36.1
White can manoeuvre as he wishes, since Black can hardly move
36...td8 37.eg!
Switching to the other wing,
37. BB 38.81c3 by
 combinesfresh new ideas with truly classical concepts.

int
48... Ld8 49.Ha2 HeB+ 50.18d6 Me8 51.the7
(Bo>
D> De feo The king is ultimately dominating.
S1engs 52chxg5 1-0
D> De»
be
In thefollowing game, AlphaZero starts attacking right from the opening and man-
agesto keepits initiative alive for an amazing long period oftime.
Game 11
AlphaZero
Stockfish 8
London 2017(1)
1.Af6 2.04 063.04 b6 4.83 Ab7
48.thes! The thematically related variation 4 7 6.2 g2 c5 7.051 we saw in
Crowning the work. The white king is walking straight into Black's position. In the game Topalov-Anand.
modern chess, there are hardly any bad bishopsin the middlegame, since in open- 5.L2g2 Be7 6.0-00-0
ings like the French and the King’s Indian, there are always enough dynamics going
‘on. The notoriousbad bishop is therefore typically an endgame theme. This game
is an exception though. The charming thing about AlphaZero’s playis that it
 za W & Teds,

p> de (ne
Black can decline the gambit with 7. . 926.
a2hafbba 8. hal
a a The f-square is a dream square for the knight, as we have seen in the previous
chapter.
8.uc6 9.cxd5 Dxds
&& For the moment, Black is 2 pawn up.
10.9% cz 1.04 d5
AR But with this move Black needs to return the pawn,in orderto free his position.
AB AAA ra.exds Axds 13.263 Axcz
13... 6 14.2xd5 cxds is the main line. Here, White can win back the pawn with
HASW ES 15. 2.3or play something like15, 8 f4
7-451
This positional pawn sacrifice was first played by Guimard in 1944, butit took a
while before the optimalways to play were established for White. Kasparov played
it at the very beginningofhis first match against Karpovin 1984. There havealways
been new waves ofpopularity, and thelatest one was caused byAlphaZero.
7-23 Des is Black's basic idea in this opening.
 za W de 15..itig7 16.bx3 AB

(Sm Dat
16...£5 was thealternative, with a complex position.
ae 2 a a 17.09f4 O1d6 18.ag
aa ‘The main thingis to keep the queens ontheboard
18..85?
This weakens the black king and causes long-term problems. 18.2 d8 was the
moresolid alternative.

a &
AB ABA
E 2w fe
An interesting intermediate move, before recapturing the knight.
1486
14... £5 15.bxc3.& cB was soontried in a subsequent game.
15, Oh6+
White keeps aiming for complica-tions with anotherintermediate move.
 Black should also try to get somepieces into play.
ZA x 22.Hadi
4 2a&a Nice centralization.
eau a 22...Maz 23.Bic4 bs
23....247 wasstill problematic because of 24. x6.
a 24.hxg5+ fees

wy Now watch the following queen manoeuvre.

25.8thg+ thes
& &
& AB &
E 2 E®
19.Hell
An excellentpositional piece sacrifice.
19.2 ga bs 20. Wea 5 forces White to exchange queens with 21.Wes+.
19...fixh6 20.h4 f6 21. Meg!
White calmly finishes his develop-ment, before continuing the attack.
25
 27. Beal
Keeping theinitiative
27 eb
27... xeq 28. Wxes is also difficult forBlack.
28. fixg6 hxg6 29.0h3!
Amazingly, White finds the timeto double upon the h-file.
29... 16 30.\g2
Annice typical manoeuvre

30... h8 31.1g4 would not be sclving the problemseither.

31. Hhr Bg’

26.8h!
Just like in the previous game with itie3, AlphaZero is finding unusual squares for
its pieces. Although, putting the queen on such squares was already seen in clas-
sical games by Richard Réti and BentLarsen.
26...7
Black has everything defended for now, but new wavesofattack keep coming,
 a) RW “
33. Adg
a ee Exchanging another defender, while keeping theinitiative.
2 a 33Axdg 34. Hxdq BdB
a
Alter 34... 7 White keeps dominacting with 35.cxb5 cxbs 36. X d6l.
a a 35. Hxd8 Wxd8 36.eb!
The attack keeps coming from differentsides.
36... 0d7
& 2 & wy 36..a§ loses to 37.Wes+ Wf 38. Zh7+.
A&
& E
Every time Black has defended everything, White finds incredible ways to breathe
new life into the attack.
32HeB
The astonishing pointis that after 32..bxc4 Black no longer has coun-terplay based
on...la2 or...l'c4, which opens the way for White to strengthen his attack with
 4o.cxbs cxbs 41.1861
Centralizing the king.
4Adgs 42.1heg Deb 43-28 De7 44. Zb8 OF 45.24 D6 46.6 Af 47.LaB
Ad6+ 4B.thds eg 49. xa7
Now that White has won another pawn, the game is over.
49Me3+ 50.theq Deg 51.Labs they 52.Rc6 Why 53.Hes thes 54. Rxe5 tS
55-Hcs g5 56.itd4 1-0
The following AlphaZero game is a nice addition to the ‘opening closedpositions’
material from Chapter 1
Game 112
AlphaZero
37-Bdil Stockfish 8
The rook switches to the centre as well, winning material, with a technically won London2018 (255)
endgame. 1.08 €6 2.04
37m MCS 38.Rxd8 Axe6 39.Hxa8 sh6 The Réti Opening.
After 39..bxc4 40. xa7+ if6 White can pick up another pawn with 4 463 2a 96 3.1.63 Mb4 4.12 0-0 5.03 xc3 6.FIX3
This position wasa favourite of Kramnik twenty years ago.
6.46 16.0
More commonis 6.6, ‘Computer chess can be really strange. The rook returnsto the squareit just came
7-4 ۤ 8.03 eq. Mer Bhs 10.43 Abd7 1.Mb2 HeB 12.0-0 from, without any particular reascn.
Both sides have finished their development. White has the bishoppair, but Black is Apparently, theposition is fairly balanced. Almostall pieces are still on the board
very solid though,so the battle continues.
12...0Me7 13.Pez a5 14-h3 h6 15. fer b6 16...)e6 17. fer c5 18.b5 Had8 19. Hadi
x x @ Centralization from both sides.
19... 918 20.8h2 Mid7 21.04 Bic7 22. hg
aA Waa At last, White accepts thatthe bishoppairis no real asset here.
a A a a 22.0Shxer 23.Blxe2d5
Correctly gaining space in thecentre.
a a 2 24. OFS
A&
& && &
cS

&w & &

a & &
 XEXA® os
White happily agreesto closing the position.
a a 25. Ag6 26. har
A a logical rerouting ofthe bishop.
26... Bey 27.241
a a a a Setting the kingside pawnsin mozion.
& 27. Dh]
xfs 28.gxf5 would give White a very useful open file to work with, as wewill
B&B & =seein the game as well
& WA&ae® aan
The knight has reached a dream square, but onits own it cannot work wonders.
24.44?
A serious positional mistake. White now gets an attack on the kingside for free,
facilitated by the closed centre and queenside.
Blackshould have played 24.7 as well, follawed by doubling rooks on the d-
file. The main thing is to keepthe tensionin the centre
 about 32.25 Oxf33.26
x

de i:
>be Sm
32.gxts mB
w

& mS
Black needs to removethe king tco.
a 33-08 he7 34.f4!

S be
his pawn break 1s the reason why Black will not be able to keep the position
aca & closedforever.

& Ad De 34. O18 35.Heq HeB 36. hgr dB 37.fres fres,

Black would rather take back with a piece, but that did not work. White can now
& keep improvingits pieces systematically.
& 38.Rd2 Lez
€

GC
After 38..g6, the logical exchangesacrifice 39.Zxg6 Axg6 40.
2 z E an overwhelming advantage.
29.ihgal 39. fer thd7 40.h2 the8 41.h5,
‘Systematicplay. The white rooks are moving to the g- and h-files, while the king is Creating a new square for the bishop.
being moved out ofthe way. gaudy 42.8hq Bdé
29.18 30. Rin Hf 31. Heder Axis
Makingthe exchange afterall
It seems that Black did not want to play the immediate 31... 8 sinceit was worried
 & 45...We8 46. Zeg6l

Dat Be
Thenext rook entersin the samefashion.
OE Dat a 46... Axg6 47-hxg6 EAB

a a ws
a&a a > & & a

be
& & & a& a &a
D> De

Co De Ine
adh a&
wy & & &

D> be
ek
43-261
A pretty positional exchange sacrifice to enable the breakthrough. & wy
43S
43. Dxg6 44. Exg6 Wb8 45. Z e6is similar to the game. A greatpicture.
44.Hc6+ thy 45.the2 48. Heb!
A cleverwaiting move,since Black can hardly move anything. White's rook is trapped within Black's territory, but it energetically attacks all the
weaknesses.
48... IDB 49.Bxe5 Bixes 50. Exes
White does not mind the exchange ofqueens,since his pawn steamrollerwill easily
decide the game. Black’s only passed pawnis securely blocked and of no value,
50Mg8 51. Me6 MaB 52. xb6 Uc7 53. Md6 1-0
93 Leela
Just like Deep Blue at the time, AlphaZero has not been madepublicly available.
The interesting news is that this time around, several people have managed to
more orless reproduce this new type of engine by using the same artifical intel-
ligence principles. Ihe most successful ofthese 1s called Leela Chess Zero, abbre-
viated leo. Youngprofessionals were quick in picking up on this, and by now it is
becoming more widely known.
The interesting thing with Leela is that it has a very natural, positionally-oriented
humanstyle. After all thoseyears,it finally became possible to properly analyse 2
positionally complex openinglike the King’s Indian. Whereas Stockfish would usu-
ally claim that White is much betterin thosepositions, Leela has a more balanced
view ard gives better suggestions. The King’s Indian turns out to befully playable,
like every main opening.
Analysing your owngames is also much faster and morereliable with Leela, as it
always gives a very steady evaluation of theposition, while Stocktish is jumping in
all directions. As usual, Leela hasits limitations as well. Sometimesit misses a tac-
tic, and then Stockfish comes in handy. Theoptimal work setting is using Leela as
your main engine with Stockfish in the background as somesort of blundercheck.
For writing this book, | have used several versions of Leela and Stockfish from the
ChessBase engine cloud, which enabled meto quickly get reliable analyses of both
simple and complex situations. | tried to keep the amount ofvariations in tre game.
analyses to an absolute minimum, as the combination of mainly text and diagrams
makes for the most pleasantread
A final piece of advice, and some-thingthat has become even more clear dueto
theserecent develop-ments: never haveblind faith in what a single engine says.
Evenless so ifi t is an online engine runningona live game, since they usually run
onlittle capacity. Always keep thinkingfor yourself, use more than oneengine if
you have the possibility and otherwise be careful with your statements. Most
important ofall: keep an open mind.
We will now look at two impressive winsby Leela against Stockfish
Game 113
Leela Chess Zera 3404
Stockfish 3588
TeEC 2019 (63)
1.24 26 2.d4 d5 3.23 O16 4. Mes
Previously we looked at 4.25.
4. Ady
The MecCutcheon Variation, which is sharp and risky.
5.05 h6 6.M.e3 Beg 7.Peg
Foreing a concession byBlack on the kingside.
onB
7.86 is similarly met by 8.23; 7...'xc3 should be avoided altogether due to 8.18'xg7
ER o.Ada
8.93 Bags g.bxc3 Axcg
Black is a pawn up, but White's position seems to be morefun to play.
9...€5 is the alternative.
10. .d3 b6
mihgl
Leela is always a fan ofplaying with the h-pawn,just like AlphaZero.
11.66 12.h5,
White has secured a serious space advantage on the kingside.
120.047 13. Bez Axe2 14.Bxe2 Me7 15.041
Basically sacrificing a second pawn
15.05
Fixing the weak pawn, but Black hardly gets time to actually win it
16.f4)
Initiating a pawnstorm on the kingside.
16... O15
16...WeB is met by 17.g4 &xa4 18.f5 with a winningkingsideattack
17. Mf Axdg
Thisis thetactic Black wasrelying on, but it does not work well
18. Axdg o5 19.22 <4

Regaining thepiece, but in the subsequent opposite-coloured bishops scenario

White keepsa stronginitiative.
20.6!
Leela has a deep understandingofthis position and has some amazing concepts
in store.
To avoid any misunderstanding, the simple 20.8 xc4 dxc4 21.0-0 also would have
been good for White.
20..fcg6 21.hxg6 hg’
After 21...We8 22.Whs &xa4 White plays the very calm 23, Z.a2 followed by f4-f5
and 0-0,crashing through onthe kingside.
22.3
White takes the timeto stabilize the situation
22. 8B 23.Beg BI
Stockfish thoughtthat the worst was overafter the exchange ofqueens.
24. Bhs exs
Leela, on the contrary, has foreseen that both rooks can be quickly activated.
25. br
This one was easy.
25. DS 26.241
This second pawn sacrificeis far less obvious and was missed by Stockfish.
26..fg4 27.061
‘An amazing third positional pawn sacrifice, making room for the other rook to be
activated
27m Bxag,
27... xe6 28. Bhs! was the point and after 28. itif8 White has 29. dal with the
idea 29...\tie7 30.f5 followed by &xg7 and the white kingside pawnswill decide the
game.
28.1hdal
Keepingfull control overthe position by preventing 28... c2.
28... Re8 29.65
White is three pawns downin the endgame, but is close to achieving total domi-
ration.
29..b5 30. Han
Now the queensideis stabilized.
30.0.4 31. Bhbt RB
HE
32.fthal
This bishop, like the bishopin the previous game,locks up the kingside.
32.083 33-Me3,
‘As wehave seen in the first AlpheZero game,the white king can take an active part

33-- R.c6 34. Axe3 AB

1f34..hs, 35.2.4 keeps Black locked up. Game 114
35-Adé+ Leela Chess Zero 3589
Sticking to the plan with 35. 8 hg was also fine, but White now switches to direct at- Stockfish 3587
tacking mode. TeEC 2019 (36)
350MeB 36.16
The f5-f6 break will fnish the game. 1.e4 65 2. O63 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Axd4 AF6 5.2 a6
36... 1.d8 37.0 bg dgr The Najdort.
Black desperately returns another pawn, butit dees not change anything. 6.03 05 7.Ab3 2268.5 Bez
8.5 we saw in the game Leko-Vachier-Lagrave.
38.cxd4 Mds 39.46
The battleis over. 9.81d2.0-010.0-0-0
Castling on opposite wings leads to very exciting play.
39. Mxe6
Black will be checkmated after 39...gxf6 40.2 xf6. 10...ep?
40.f7+ thdy 4.82 the6 +0 This variation seemsto favour White
In the following game, White handles his king in a way that is very difficult for hu- The main line is 10... dbd7 11.24 bs.
mans, as mere mortals simply need king safety. So this may actually be a case of vg He8 12.95 Ohs
do nottry this at home. Still, it is fun to watch, and can be inspiring. Sometimes This conceptofholding back Whice’s English Attack with a blockading knight on hs
your king will end up being out in the open anyway, and then it is useful to under- has become popularin recentyears, but this is not an optimalversion forBlack.
standits potential 13. gt Ady 14.1hb1 bs
Playing this move in the Najdorf always has te be considered carefully, since it 17. Aas!
weakens the c6-square, as we will see in the game. This thematic knight manoeuvre comeswith a strong positional pawn sacrifice.
14... 96 15. WF looks more pleasantfor White as well 17486
15, Ads Mxds 16.exd5 After 17... xd5 18.Wxd5 Wxas White has the powerful 19. 2.cql Zf8 20. 8 b3 with
Now White hasa very useful outpost on cb. fantastic positional compensation.
18.4
Anotherinstructive manoeuvre, activating the rook. Now all white pieces are point-
zx e& ing at the queenside
Ww hha 18... Lab8
a a 18... is well met by 19. &.xf4 exfg 20. 1.c6 and now 20...dxd5 can be answered
1G D> Sm Be

by 21. Bxe7+ Axe7 22. f4 and White has a superior structure

Ks Aa 19.41
The key movein White's concept. It is actually White whois playing on the queen-
side, even whenoriginally this was supposed to be Black's territory. In modern
BA chess there are no fixed rules for that. Something similar we have seen in the
& AW & King’s Indian, whereboth players may end up playing on either wing.
19... Axc4 20.fhxc4
H 28 White gives up the bishop pair, sinceit is all about the c6-square.
20.nbxe4 21. Rxc4 Md7 22.06 Stockfish has trouble understanding thatthis kind ofposition favours White, while
This knight will stay here for anot-her 60 moves, that’s how stableit is. Leela seesit from afar.
22. H.a8 23.g2 218 24.Pe4 Me8 27.tta2 He8 28. bg f4 29.fo
z z wa a Black can at least make White worry aboutits kingside,
30.28
a a Stabilizing the queenside even further.
& Db a jon. 81e4
What follows is a bit ofback-and-forth manoeuvring.
A a & A 31Bice 32. gr IFS 33. Meq co 34.0Mgr BS 35. M2 tgs 36. her Dg7 37-hg
£ w This hadto beplayed soonerorleter, to secure the g-pawn.
37AS
B&
A&B &
& #
25.04!
Whiteis going to expandits bind on the queenside.
25.85 26.Big2 Bid7
 White keeps calm, nicely centra-lizes its queen, and plays around theactive black
xae@
C= De

knight for now.

ee
45-7

a& a After 45 Axc6 46.dxc6, the strong passed pawn gives White a winning advantage.
46.Mer Mh8
AAWA x ee &
& a wea
& a a& a
e& wy & &a &
EQ XH Aa Ww a &
38.thagl
With a lot offoresight, White starts bringing onthe king. && &
38... 97 39.b3 Md7 40. Miz M18 41. Meg Bg7 42.Ats 43.Me2 Mg7 44.Ub4
ada
&
For a momentit looks like Black has created counterplay. z
45.Bes 47-Becal
Great manoeuvringwith the rooks. If Black sticks to a waiting strategy, White will
double rooks on the b-file with 266 followed by Z.cb4 and then enter on the sev- x xo
enth rank. If we continue this train of thought, the rooks may even double on the & &
seventh rank. The rooks movelike a caterpillartrack.
47b5+ a) & a
Blackis not going to wait for that to happen and decidesto act. & Rd &
48. Bxbs!
A pretty positional exchangesacrifice. SA a &
48...axb5 49. H.c2 Wb7 50.tub4l &
The king plays an active role in the white queensde army — a most remarkable con-
cept
Hz We
50...98 51.1143 thhg7 52.Bxbs w
Duly picking up the pawn, giving White two connected passed pawns. 56.itbs!
52...%8d7 53.1haq hg The white king is actually going to help the pawns movingforward. If Black sacri-
53.4 34.fce4 Zxeq+ would still make humans nervous, but any engine just plays fices an exchange by giving a check on b¥, Whitestill has the bishop that can step
55. Rca. in between onb6. A unique picture
54.fez Wh 55.b4 thf 56... fe7 57.26 h6 58.07
Losing the g5-pawn is irrelevant.
58..hxg5 59-hxg5 fxg5 60.1%a6! Black was defending well, but now collapses, by agreeing to the exchange of
Consistently following through with the amazing plan. queens.
60...1h3 61.bs We8+ 62. has 83.thxa6 Hf7 84.2.05
Stepping back, now that the pawns have pretty much madeit. ‘Only now the timehas cometo play with the knight again.
62... 248+ 63.06 84...MeB 85. Ab7 MaB 86. Axd6 Md7 87.Ae4
Forcing Black to give up a piece. The knight has found a new dream square
63.Mxb6+ 64. 8xb6 87. Hxds
Sofar Leela has played an amazing game,butin the next 18 movesit strangely
does not see how to make progress.
64...88d7 65.0943
Centralizing with 65.Wea was a good start. Black can hardly move and will play
something like 65...\U/f6 after which White can start playing on the h-file with
66.2 h2. Now furtherprogress could looklike 65...lf7 67.\%1a6 Wd7 68. Wer and
Black will be outmanoeuvred.
65.86 66.Rg2 Hg8 67.Lha they 68.thaé HgB 69.Rg2 MBs 7o.ihas HE
7. Bgn th7 72.thbs BMby 73.ita5 Mh8 74.br Mhy 75. Mfe Bic7+ 76. Rb Bidz
77-Hhi+ they 78.g1 by 79.06 By 80.Fc4 Why 81.8d3 hE 82.6
Bha6+
 Stoofvlees.
0G: Co Dt

Game 115
Stoofvlees 3759
Ethereal 2767
TeEC 2019 (13)
S be

1udg Of6 2.04 063.03 Mb4

[> Dow
The Nimzo-Indian Defence.
483
Previously we looked at therelated 4.63
Aun Bxe3+ 5.bx3 C5 6.03 0-0 7.21.43 dB
The main line runs 7....¢6 8. 2e2 b6 g.e4 DeB 10.0-0 a6 11.4 f5 when White
88.i¢b7l wants spacefor his bishops, while Black wants a static position for his knights.
Fittingly, the king ends up beingthefront piece. B.eq Ac6 9. De bE
88... 148 89, Man 0 9...e5 looks more consistent with 7...d6.
Thelatest developmentis the creation ofnew experimental engines that try to com- 10.0-0 h6
bine thebest ofseveral worlds. One ofthem is called Stoofvlees, and we will finish A provocative move, giving White a clear target.
this chapter with a fascinating positional sacrifice that was recently played by nnf4 a6
 13.0d4 14.00d4 Aas,
Black has doneeverything in order to win the c4-pawn, but now the fun starts on
theother wing.
15.65 Axcq

12.2
An interesting rooklift, starting a direct attack against the black king.
12.85 has always been the preferred choice in tourn ‘amentpractice and still looks
good
12.28 13. 2h3 16. Axh6!
The straightforwardness ofWhite's playis refresting. This obvious piece sacri ifice contains several hidden points and is ultimately based
ona deep concept.
16..gxh6 17. Bxh6
17.Wd2 is met by 17. gal 18.2 g3 ilhh7 with a delicately balancedposition.
17. Ob7
Alter 17...\l1g7 18. Wd2 g8 White can play 19.fre6 in order to meet 19... xd3 with
the powerful 20. 14l with a winning attack
wBhg
‘An important move, preventing the black queenfrom comingto g5.
18... Bxd3,
18...dig7 is again met by 19.l'da &xd3 (19 28 20. Zhslis similar to the pre-
vious note) and here White wins with 20.f6+! il F8 21. gs.
xz WwW
A great way to strengthen theattack, and reminding meof a piece of advice that
Bronstein once gave at a training session in Apeldoorn:nevertake back eutomat-
ically, no matter how obviousit may seem. Creativity and having an open mind can
actually betrained.
After the normal19. Wixd3, Black managesto defend with 19...tig7.
19...6
w

DE
19..itig7 is impressively met by 20. Whs| andafter 20... h8 21.fre6lWhite's attack
a:

CoS re
crashes through
20. hs!
a2

Co De
Another forceful intermediate move,restricting Black's options.
20.4. Ee7 a a
By setting upa solid seventh-rank defence, Black prevents immediate disaster.
20.Bxd3
&&
‘Only now White findsthe timeto recapturethe piece. & wW
De
Stopping the white knight from coming to f4
&
g &
22.451
It’s becoming clear that White is nolongerplaying for immediate checkmate, but
ratherfor domina-tion of the position. White has only one pawn forthe piece, but
hasinteresting positional compensation
22a AY
Locking up the king in the comer with 22..00h8 23, g8 was the more
traditional defence.
23.Hf w
a

+
Bringing onthefinal piece. x

Do De» Dat
23... 8B
Ihe king ts trying to walk away from the danger zone.
a a
B
&

>So
24..¢6 Aa
White readjusts to the new situation by finding new squaresforits pieces. &
24... iMe7
24... b7 was an important defensive alternative. & wW
&
E®
25. Dg7l
The knight will turn into an octopus on e6.
25HB?
This passive move seemsto be a mistake. 25...1c8, followed by activating the rook
along the cfile, was moreactive, and looks dynamically balanced.
26. Ae6 Wd 27.261
The second rookislifted in the same way, fifteen moves after thefirst one. come from any side
27BhB 33.08
Black does not have any active counterplay and is restricted to passive defensive 33. 2 a5 is met by 34. Weal when 34... b7 runsinto the nasty pin 35. a6.
constructions. 34.04
28. Meg WB 29.e3 White needs to increase thepressure on both wings.
Slowly but surely, all White's pieces are includedin theattack 34 w
29..Ac4 30.Fifa!
This may seem a modestsquare for the queen, but White is holding an impercep-

Do De (SOG:
D> De» Dm
tively firm grip onthe position.
30... 08 31.87

be
be

D> De
At last, play is becoming more concrete again.
31 Why 32. Bxhy Axch7
After 32... Exh7 33.8 247 White also plays 34.itshal, leaving Black completely

D>
paralysed
33.tthal
An instructive improvementofthe king. Even though Black is a piece up, has man-
aged te exchangea pair of rooks and hasits own pawn majority on the queenside,
it can still hardly move. White is about to start the next wave ofattack, which can
35-351 40... Axe6
‘Openingup the queenside. After 40... We3 41.gxf7 Wet all checks can be prevented by theelegant 42. Zh8.
35.0 Das,
35.-bxag is impressively refuted by 36. 31 when 36...lxb3 37.Wa7+ leads to a
quick mate: 37... eB 38.Wa8+ Od7 39. dB #&k
36.fczl x
Both black knights are now helplessly sitting or the edge of the board, while the
white major pieces are about to enter the position aw BABA
36...b5 37.2 g8 a ash
Another nicetactic.
37OB
a & &
37-~ltlag8 leads to a quick mate as well: 38.lUc7+ itieB 39. WaB#.
38.g41
The time has cometo set the pawn steamrollerinto motion.
wW &
38... 6 39.25,
The pawn can no longer be stopped 43-Ble2l
39.Aic4 40.6 The final key move, keepingfull control overthe position. White no longer has a
Black is running outofoptions. queensideandits king is fully open, butits superior pawn structure androok on
the seventh rank secure the win ‘computerchess.
43.05 44.Hd7 Bez All ofthis may seem overwhelming, but we have discussed how this can be use-
Exchanging queens is like resigning. ful for your ownchess in simple ways: 1. do try new things yourself, and 2. do not
45.Bixe3 Axes 46.007 De4> automatically believe what the engine says. Let me add that the most important
If46..dxe4, 47-87 wins. thing 1s to enjoy chess and not to worry too much about the many challenges it
47-thhy Dh6 4B.exds Axf5 49.461 poses. Keepanalysing your own games and you will start to recognize new possi-
At this point everything was winning, but this way is nice. bilities.
49Axd6 50.97 Hg8 51.La8+ they 52. Bxg8 eg 53-HaB thred 54.281 The time has come to makethe final step, from understanding positioral sacri-
‘The battle is over and after a few more moves Black resigned. fices to mastering positional sacrifices. Let's go to the exercises in Chapter10.
Conclusion
With this high-tech chapter we have come to the end ofthe third part ofthe book.
We have thoroughly tested thelimits ofwhatis possible in chess.
In Chapter7 we examined upto how much material one can sacrifice for posi-
tional compensation.
In Chapter we saw that the greatest players have always beenwilling to risk
something in order to find out what is possible. Bronstein and Kasparov cometo
mind, end recently Carlsen has begun his creative quest.
In Chapter9 we saw how this is influenced bythe mostrecent developments in
CHAPTER10
Exercises
After having studied nine long chapters full of instructive games, we are now ready
to try the exercises. Maybe you have only read part of the book, or maybe you have
even jumpedstraight to this chapter. kither way, this 1s your chance to test and
train yourability to play positional sacrifices.
Before you get started, let me give you someimportantinstructions. These exer-
cises are differentfrom what you maybe used to and are notstandard exercises of
thetype ‘Whiteto play and win’. In this chapterthe question is always ‘What would
youplay?" and the aim can be anything, ranging from finding a forced win to find-
ing the best fighting chancein a lost position. There are a few positions that are of
a tactical nature, rather thanpositional, so | advise youto always try to calculate a
bit, justlike in your own games. The general aim ofthis chapteris to further broad-
‘en your horizon and to guide youin trying to find creative solutions,in both stan-
dard and non-standard situations.
In total there are 48 exercises, on four diffe entlevels, with 12 exercises each
Every reader should have fair chance at Level1, while at Level 2 things are already
becoming more difficult. Level 3 is serious business, and at Level 4 most people
will be running into a wall. Level 4 is mainly there to remind us how rich chess is,
and that we will not easily be done learning.
The goal ofthis chapter, however, is to inspire, not to frustrate. Whenever an
‘exerciseis too difficult,it does not matter at which level, my adviceis to put up the
position onthe board anddiscuss it with your chess friends. Enjoy the position
and feel completely freein trying things.
The solutions to all the exercises can be foundin the next chapter. Ofter the an-
swer will be very long, as | wanttoillustrate how play could con-tinue from a par-
ticular situation. You are by no means expected to have seenall of that. The ques-
tion remains simply ‘What would you play?” and the extensive answer is there to
provide as much instructive feedback as possible. Sometimes you may even dis-
agree with the givenanswer, andthat is perfectly fine as well. Do yourownresearch
and acquire new ideas along the way. Some positions are open for multiple inter-
pretation. Keepin mind that an important part of Mastering Positional Sacrifices is to
ply try
Finally, if you feel these exercises are too difficult for you, simply enjoy playing
through the answers. Still, frst thinking about every position for a few minutes
yourselfmakesreading the answers more enjoyable.
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48
CHAPTER 1 José Ratil Capablanca
Solutionsto exercises St Petersburg 1914 (7)
Exercise 1 1.e4 65 2.0% Ac6 3.Mbs 26 4. xc6 dxc6 5.d4 exdg 6.xd4 Bixd4 7. Axd4 6
EmanuelLasker BAcy De7 9.00 0-0 10.f4 Hef 1.0b3 (6 1265 b6 13. AAb7 14.Rdb ode
15, Ad4 Had8 16.%e6 Hd7 17.Ladi cB 18. Efe bs 19. fd2 Hde7 20.b4 thf

a
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In this position from a well-known classical geme between the second and the Exercise 2
third World Champion,Black is suffering. Capablanca indicated that he was plan- Vasily Panov
ring to sacrifice the exchangeon e6, but in the enddecided againstit. The best Vladimir Simagin
defensive try would have been to go forit: Moscow 1943
21... x6)
In the game Capablancaplayed 21.2.8 and wasstuck with a passive position, eg 65 2. Af d6 3.d4 cxdg 4. Axdg AVG 5.2c3 g6 6.83 Me7 7. 0-0 8.Ab3
whichhe lost. Me6 9.2 Abd7 10.0-0-0 AbE 11.g4 Hc8 12. Ah6

22.fce6> Hxe6 EW Ke
‘And here White has to work hard to make progress. hi hada

A £2oa442
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Here Black canprepare thetypical exchange sacrifice with Exercise 3
124. Axh6l Milko Bobotsov
In the game, Simagin, being a true pioneer, played the creative 12... hB 13. &xf8 Mikhail Tal
WB, after which White kept the upper handfor a while, but eventually Black took Varna 1958 (2)
overtheinitiative and went on to win. The immediate exchange sacrifice12. xc3
is less convincing due to 13.Axg7 and after 13.03 14. 8xf5 ixfo White has 1d 06 2.04 96 3.93 Me7 4.04 d6 5. 0-0 6. Ager cs 7. fe Abd7 8.Md2 06

vene x Oo) ue
15.5, forcing Black to give up the exchangeunderless favourablecircumstances. 9.0-0-0 Has 10.tebt bs 11.5

And nowt
aa 2a

Re > oe»
1B. Hxegl 14.bxc3 Bey
when nothing is decided yet, but Black has the more pleasant position. It may
seem scary to allow the white queen to cometo h6,butin case White's attack lacks
a aa
force, the queen may actually be out ofplay there Wa &
&

(Sf D>
D>
(G D>

De
[He Co
jo
In this position, the legendary Mikhail Tal was the first oneto sacrifice his queen: Exercise 4
11...Adsl 12.Beas Axe3 Rashid Nezhmetdinov
Black already has two minorpieces for the queen andwill pick up some more ‘Oleg Chernikov
pawns. Rostov-on-Don1962
rg.Mhea Oxcq 14.Ber
In the game, Black got very goodplayfollowing 14. Zxc4, bxc4 and went onto win. ted 5 2A Ac 3.d4 ocdg 4. Axd4 86 5.A3 Be7 6.Re3 AF 7.8c4 0-0
te 8.Mb3 gg 9.Bxgq Axd4 10.Bh4 Blas 11.0-0 216
Black has excellent compensation for the queen with twwo minorpieces, two pawns 4 £ E &
and strong pressure on the dark squares. hh Bhd B

2a
aly
a& wy
2H &
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& E®
12.01 13, xe2 exf6 14.93
This great queensacrifice is the best way to create problemsforBlack In the spirit of the positional sacrifice, White patiently manoeuvres his pieces to
‘Oneyear before, Bobby Fischer preferred the quiet 12.Wg4 d6 13.Wdi but after thebest squares.
13. . c6 his opponent Reshevsky did not have much to worry about. Their game 14. HeB
was drawn after 25 moves. 14...d615.3d5 £6is the alternative detence.
12. Beat 15, Ads He6 16.2.d4 they
This intermediate moveis essential, otherwise White gets a much better version. z &
12..exf6 13. 2 xd4 followed by dsis very difficult for Black
ai 4
17. Hadi Rafael Vaganian 2630
Systematically bringing onthe next piece. Joel Lautier 2570
snd Manila 1990 (8)
17.06 was a better defensive try.
wats 1.96 O16 2.63 26 3 Bee Me7 44 0-0 5,23 dé 6.0-0 05 7.d3 Ac6 8. Ib 05 9.03
‘A nice rook bit. eB 10.fg5 h6 1.Axi6 x5 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 Me7 r4.b5 e7 15.Ad2 eg
18....847 19.2 16.2
White is better and went on to win a remarkable game. E £w E &

sera Ah ALE
a aa
&
& &
wD & &
WAA ABA
& E®
16.031 Exercise 6
An instructive positional pawn sacrifice, opening up the dark squares. This is the TeimourRadjabov 2670
model game| referred to in Chapter5.4. MateuszBartel 2501
17.Fre3 Af 18. Adi hs Tripoli 2004 (1)
Black could simply play 18... xe3.
19. Bt 1.4 f5 2.04 16 3. Ac3 g6 4.h4 db
Anunderstandable try to change the character oftheposition, butit does not work
wel ZASWee KE
| actually had a game myselfwith this position,in which my opponent Michal Luch
played 19. Sea. I got goodplay after 19...06 but a few moves and someexchanges
aah ib 4
later | offered a draw, where | could and should haveplayed on. & Ad
The best defensive try may be19. 2 ds.
19..gxf5 20. Fi hg
4
AndBlack went on to win after a tough struggle. A&B &
a
&& BAA
EH 2Weeaak
chsh Exercise 7
First a pawn sacrifice Nana Dzagnidze 2550
So. Doxhs 6. Hoxhs Lilit Mkrtchian 2475
Followed by an exchange sacrifice. Doha 2001 (8)
b.e4 also offers very interesting play.
Gugrhs 7.04 fees 1.dg O16 2.€4 €6 3.065 b6 4.83 a6 5,b3 bs 6.cxbs Mxbs 7.Ac3 Mb4 8.Nd2 Acs
In the game 7...c6 8 Wxhs+ tidy 9. Wxf5+ was good for White. 9. Rg2 0-0 10.0-0 a5 11.c2 M8 12. Shes Wb713. Axf6 ext6
B.Bixhs+ thdy x A E ee
sewn can repeat moves with Whe ab b
or continue play with 9. ¢2. 2 ab
a
2 A
Aw &

hele &
& WoA B&
& &
14.451 Wei ¥i 2675
An elegant pawn sacrifice, locking up Black's pieces on the queenside Anne Haast 2352
r4nexds Wile aan Zee 2015 (12)
tga Binds 15. Axds exds (15..1Wxd5 16. hg does not work either) 16.3 adh is very
similar eg 65 OF 06 3.4 cxdg 4 Dndg Deb 5.05 Be7 6.Me3 26 7.H Des 8.1e3
asad hs 9.0-0-0 h4 10.1h3 bs 1.f4 eq 12.M.xcq Pxc4 13.65 b7 14.hA 65 15.063
Effective, straightforward play. Hcy 16.ihb1 HB
15. HeB 16.24 Ez &2A z
Afterthis rooklift White has a winning attack, and she wenton to win. 2w a a a

4 ah
& a
AYA & y
AAA A&B
®&® FH EF
17-61 After 21...1Wxhg22.gxh3 White's minorpieces will get superior squares.
A strong pawn sacrifice. 22.Ads)
17m xf 18. xf The only move, but a strong one
Justlike two exercises ago, White follows up with an exchange sacrifice. 22.4. Hxb7
18... 19. 661 22...lWixh3 23. 2 c7+ Me7 24.8 c5+ d6 25. Xxd6is an impressive variation,leading
In this case thejustificationofthe sacrifices is of a tactical nature. Because of the to matebyforce.
mate on d7, White is winning back a pieceby force && z
19...1%c6 20. Aas Be6 21.Axb7
The material balanceis restored, but the tactics are not overyet.
21. D8,
23.831 Thomas Willemze 2401
A pretty queen switch, Nargiz Umudova 2267
23.0016 24. AxB+1 Haarlem 2016(1)
The final point.
24..Me7
1104 65 2.03 d6 3. Bb5+ Ad7 4.0-0 26 5. Ads AgfE 6. Her b5 7.04 65 8. Anes es
fz... xf, 25.18eB+ wins. 9.BA bxc4 10.44 cxdg 1.44 Ag6 12. Axd3 h6 13.05 hxgs 14.exf6 Axfy 15. Oxf
25. 0d8+ xf 16.fre7 x07 17.03 Me6 18.Bags HB
Not the only win at this point, buta pretty one.
25.06
x We xz
25.. lind26. x6. 2a
26.0h3
Mate
a at
Exercise 9,
wy
AL
RA BB
x =)
19. Hxe6! Exercise 10
A strong positional exchange sacrifice, after which White will dominate onthelight Robin van Kampen2643
squares. Lukasz Jarmula 2465
19...f:e5 20.PIxfg+ the 21. Her Germany Bundesliga 2016/17 (10)
Bringing thefinal piece into play.
2han®¥d7 1.c4 €5 2.83 Af6 3.Mg2 h6 4.Mb4 5.43 Mxcz+ 6.bxc3 0-0 7.04 d6 8. Aer a6
After 21...lid7 White has several strong options, including 22.Zxe6! when 9.24 Dbd7 10.0.0 Acs v.f4 b6 12:h3 Mb7 13:84 Bd7 14. O63 Be6 15.fre5 axes
22...ilixe6 is impossible due to 23. fA. x Re&
22.Mgal aw aa
Claiming full control overthe light squares.
es
22...65 23. f5 leads to total domination.
ase A a
Ab
. Hxe6 dg 24. 265
Witte wong and afersome adventures inded won AWAWA
16. x6 Exercise 1
In Chapter 6, we studied the typical exchange sacrifices af and ...Bxc3. Here it Alina Kashlinskaya 2447
is White's turn to strikein that fashion. SamuelSevian 2634
16. 2xh6 does not work because of 16... xd3. Douglas 2018 (9)
16...gxf5 17.4)
Strong central play, instead of being fixated onthe kingside, 1.d4 d6 2. Of 26 3.c4 Me7 4.04 Ad7 5. Mer 5 6.0-0 Ah6 7..Ac3 0-0 8.h3 <6 9.dx-
rymexdg 18.0cd4 063 25 dxes 10. Me £6 11.05 A7 12. Aic4 Me7 13.b4 He8 14.03 AB 15. Hadi Mes
This counter-tactic can be refuted in several ways. Van Kampengoes for a pretty x xAae
19.8xb3! ai Waa
Sacrificing a second exchange
19...xd4+ 20.182
& S222
White's kingis perfectly safe. & &
20..xat 21. {b2
while Black's is completely helpless. Therefore Black r ned.
&B &
WA BA &
& &&
H EG
16.Ad51 Nico Zwirs 2407
A strong piece sacrifice, creating a pawn steamroller. Miguoel Admiral 2491
16..cxd5 17.0xd5 25 18.941 Netherlandstt 2018/19 (5)
White is not afraid to weaken her own king. The main thing is to keeptheinitiative
and dominate the position 1104 6 2.d4 d5 jrends ands 4ucg O16 5.3 D6 6. M65 Deg 7rards Axcj B.bxcy
18... eg Bixds 9.9% fg4 10.893 0-0-0 11. br xbg 12.axbz 16 13. Nez 5 14.dre5 Mxky
In the stem game Kobylkin-Berezovies, Alushta 1999, Black played 18. . cB after 15.gxf3 Axes 16. Rez Adg+ 17.1hF a6 18. Her 95 19.8.d4
which White should have continued with 19.46.
19.da
@#k & KE
Trappirg the bishop,forcing further positional cencessions. a 4
19.-f5 20.46 Wd7 21.Axe4 fieg 22.b5
White hasfull control overthe position and won easily.
Exercise 12
19... Bxd4l Ziirich 1953 (25)
This nice positional exchangesacrifice is the only way to keep the balance.
20.0d4 Df41 1.d4 Of6 2.04 26 3.0 M27 4.04 dé 5. 0-0 6.83 €5 7.d5 «5 8.843 DAhs
‘The right square for the knight, paralysing White’s kingside. 9. A gea f5 10.ex65 ext 11.82
a Kaew He
ae
The start of a nice rook manoeuvre.
aa oa a

23.Ad3 Hc7 24.804 Reg

Black has sufficient compensation, and the position is about equal. After a long a & a a A
fight, the game wasdrawn on move 96. &

Alexander Kotov & Aw oY & A

Svetozar Gligoric
& & £
A typical and famous positional pawn sacrifice. It takes away squares from the
white pieces and creates squares forthe black pieces.
rafreg f Leningrad 1957 (4)
The standard follow-up.
BAe 1.e4 5 2. Af Ab 3.d4 od 4. Axd4 O16 5.63 dé 6. figs €6 7.da a6 8.0-0-0
13.65 fre3 14. Axh7+ ilih8 15.26 is a fascinating positional piece sacrifice, although Bidz 9.f4 Me7 10.0% h6 11. 8x6 gxfB 12.6 Biz 13.1hbr 0-0-0 14.24 thbE
it does not seem to offer White full compensation, 15Mby HeB 16, Bee axfy r7.exfs Mnf 18.03 BB 19.Adg Andy 20.Fndg Hes
13B47 2.6 Mg6 22.02 Me7 23.404 Kge8 24.Ehh Leg 25.Ab6 Hee8 26. Ads
Black now has a beautiful strong square for the knight on e5 and a great long diag- Bics 27.Ay Mdg 28.0h4 Mes 20.83 a5 30.04 Rb4
‘onal forthe fianchetto bishop.
14.g1 Bigs
e x
Black's play flows naturally. a 4
15. Afi De5 16.05
So far this wasall first played in Kotov-Gligoric, from the famous Ziirich 1953 tour-
A 2a
namen:. That game eventually ended in a draw. Here, awe
16...Th6!
would have been the optimal move,gi 1g Black excellent play.
&x a wW
2 &
Exercise 14
Boris Spassky RA &
‘Samuel Zhukh @ H EF
White is under serious pressure and there is only one solution: Positions with opposite-coloured bishops have thetendency to turn around, once
31. Axg6l one side loses the initiative. Here the white pieces are starting to find good
This positional queen sacrifice neutralizes all the immediate threats.
3tou Hexhg 32. Axha £6 34.17 35. Es,
32...Wb4 with the idea to centralize the queen with 33 ‘e4 would have been best. Freeing the way forthe knight to cometo d5,
33. Of 35..b6 36. Ae3 dg
33.2 B seems to be moresolid
33h5
Here Black loses the initiative.
33.~ Tbwasstill called for.
34. Hd
37- Ads
Now White is having all the fun 1.9% O16 2.93 db 3. g2 es 4.c4 65.93 Mg7 6.d4 Abd7 7.0-0 0-0 8.04 c6 g.hg
3748 38.064 WIG 10. Her exdg 11. Axdg Ag4 12. Ace2 Ages 13.b3 Ach 14. Me3 a5 15.Kb1 HeB
‘And Spassky went on to win in the attack. 16.Bfi Bic7 17.2 Ded7 18.9 AB 19.bdr Afeb 20.Ade2 MIB 21.8d2
Adz 22.Qh6 Ag7 23.Hfer 16 24.803 Do5 25M Hd8 26.Adg Ady 27.2
Exercise 15 Ages 28.Nez He8 29.03
Mikhail Botvinnik
Ludek Pachman
‘Oberhausen 1961 (8)
x Zoe
awe a
aa 2b
a A 4
BAA
BaD B@ BA
wW &Q
HE @
30.Axis Whiteis notinterested in exchangingall the rooks, since he has more space.
A strong piece sacrifice, creating a pawn steamrcller. 30.b4also gives White a large 35-88
advantage.
30.85 31.exf5 Og7 32.84 2 x £ ee
Ihe natural follow-up. Black 1s now pretty tied up, while White can keep improving, A wy A A
his position. a a
a He
bik rou have considered returning the piece with 32... 2 xf5 33.exfWf a A &
33-Rde Hxers 34.Bxer He8 35.Rd1 & g &

RAD &
Ww Ag
z &
36.bq
Pushingback thelast active black piece.
36..axb4 37.axb4 a6 38. De4
And Botvinnik went onto win.
Exercise 16

D> be Dat
Boris Spassky

be fo

eS
De
Tigran V Petrosian
Moscow 1969 (11)

fie ho
1udg Af6 2.4 €6 3.Of b6 4.23 &b7 5.23 ds 6.03 Abd7 7.0xds exds 8.er M46
9.4 0-0 10.0-0 a6 11.993 ez 12. Lbr Meg 13.04 Ddf6 14.b5 Dxc3 15.x3 Deg

>

b>
16.c2 HFCB 17.ba c6 18.bxc6 Mxc6 19.1b3 Bidz 20. Har bg 21.05 Mb722. e5
dB 23. fdr Brh4 24.93 Be7 25.3 Ags 26.h4 Aeb 27.4 16 28.Af Ad8 29.1hf2 &

bode

b>
Aff 30. Ada
&

Ge
eS
&
30. Reg!
A convincing Russian exchange sacrifice.
31.3
31. Axe dea 32. Wer 8 would have given Black a very dominantposition.
31 eB
Bringing thefinalpieceinto play.
32.26 Mb4 33. M23 Mxaz 34. Mxaz Ad6
Black has full control over the position. Only many moves later White ended up x A£ w
taking the exchange and at one moment hewas sort ofclose to equal, but mostof aad
thetime Black wasdictating the play, and Petrosian went on to win.

actos
eta Od
ANA
Amsterdam 1996 (2)
1.dg Of6 2.04 263-03 Mg7 4.04 d6 5.9% 0-0 6. fer e5 7.95 h6 8.Ah4 MB
g.dxes dxes 10. Ads g5 11. 2 g3
& A &
EH We Zt
m1.Axed!
Temporarily sacrificing a rook, which basically ends up being an exchange sacri-
fice, since the white knightwill be trapped in the corner.
1 . . 26is solid alternative.
12. Axc7 We7 13. Axa8 A614. 0d2
Three years before, my opponenthadplayed 14.0-0 &f5 and here 15.13
16. Zad1 would havebeen best, with a tenseposition.
14 Aes x
E @
14... d8 allows the interesting queen sacrifice 15.xeq Exdi+ 1 xd but still a 22
seemsto bethe correct wayofplaying — the position is dynamically balanced
15.Bb1 4 £4242
Thisis serious mistake. 15.0-0 actually looks good for White. w
15. dg
Now Black hasa stronginitiative and eventually | won. A
Exercise 18
H WA
Peter Wells 2480 & BA
John Emms2545
Southend 2000 (1)
iH &
22. Hes!
1.OB 2.04 M6 3.93 £6 4.03 AFG 5.d4 cdg Buexd4 d5 7.cxd5 Axds 8.193 With this exchange sacrifice White claimsfull control over the dark squares.
Axcz 9. Meg Dds 10. Rxds e6 11. Mxc6+ buc6 12.0-0 Md5 13..2.F4 Mey 14.1 fer £6 22. 2.e5 was alsointeresting. Following 22...re5 23.dxe5 X ed8I White has compen-
ag.hg Adz 16.8e3 HB 17.H3 0-0 18.Qh6 Bfe8 19. Lact Bxaz 20.h5 Bids sation for the piece, but not more.
zaLhxgé bxg6 22aMixes 23. Hxcs Wd6 24.0¥d3 thf
24...itih7 is met by the strong 25.
25. Bese!
A powerfulpiecesacrifice, starting a direct matingattack
25.Ace§ 26.013+ thg8
26...the7 27.2 g5#.
27.16 Key
27...We7 28. Wxg6+ WhB 29.8 5 wins for White as well
28.Pixg6+ ths
Here,
29.8
would have been moststraight forward, but in the game Wells won convincingly as

Exercise 19 15, Oxbs!

Rustem Dautov 2595 The correct way to sacrifice the piece, as White remains with a strong bishoppair.
Jonny Hector 2534 Almost everyone| tested this position with, went for 15. 8xb5 exbs 16. 2xbs, but
Gothenburg 2005 (3) here Black has 16...tid8 17. xa7 ilic7 andthepositionis highly unclear.
1.dg ds 2.c4 6 3.98 AFB 4.03 215 5.Ac3 06 6.Ah4 Meg 7. Mg6 8.%b3 M6 15..cxb5 16. Axbs Meg.
9. Axg6 hxg6 10. M.d2 M.d6 11.4 Abd12.05 Bxb3 13.0xb3 Me7 14.b4 bs Now 16...0d8 is refuted by 17.8.c6 Z.cB 18.5 with total domination.
17.46 HB 18.65 White went on to win, as the tactics keep working in his favour.
x
oe be foe
Exercise 20
a Ves: in Topalov 2804
i> De
be
De De
Gata Kamsky 2671
& Sofia 2006(5)
B&B 1udg ds 2.04 <6 3.9% Of6 4.2. 06 5.05 Abd7 6.2% Ahs 7.Ad2 AhfS & Ra
26 9.h3 icy 10.93 Me7 1. M4 MdB 12.g2 Dhs 13.Mg5 h6 14.0d2 0-0 15.04
[>

dxe4 16.Axe4 Dhf6 17.83 HeB 18.0-0 AB 19.81b3 Deb 20.863 Acy 21.905
Afd5 22. Axds Ards 23.Md2 Mixes 24.dxes hg 25. fer Bez
&
&
Returning the piece does not work well here.
18... Axda is met by 1 a7 and White wins; 18...}.¢7 is the best defensive try, but
White is doing very well after 19. 2 a5,
19.Dxe7
 Putting pressure onthe newly created weakness.
zx x &
a Wa
a4 4 a
Aa a

26.261
Topalovis going for oneofhis trademark positional sacrifices.
White zlso gets good play with a movelike 26.Wa4.
but wa:
The bishop snatcher. 30. Hes 016 31.23
276:05 28. Ler Bid7 29,dg Annice multifunctional square forthe queen
31a ittg7 32. Leg. 33... E g8 was the best defence.
32. Wh6+ if7 is leading nowhereyet. 34-0h6 Hg8 35. M05,
320ify The bishopsstart to fully dominate the board
gE 35--.1dg 36. cz Hcg 37.2 b3
i w
OE; [xo DCE Do» Boe ine
ee -_

a 4 aa sthl8
igor
& a Alexei Fedorov 2590
Czechia tt 2012/13 (9)

A & 1.98 OF 2.04 26 3.93 Me7 4.flg2 0-0 5.0-0 dé 6.d4 Ac6 7.93 Mf 8.b3 05
g.dxes dxes 10.fb2 WB 1 . Ads Hd8 12.Ad2 Mh3 13.04 Mxge 14.tHxg2 Bhs
&& 2 A 15.Ble2 Hd7 16. Hadi eB 17.05 Web 18.Ac4 Adg 19. Mxdg exdg 20.Ab4 HeB
& 21. Hfer 0f6 22.2 hs 23.6 Dh7 24.043 Ags 25. Af4 Mab 26. Adz WG 27.02
b6 28. cr hq 29.exh4 Deb 30.0. ces
33M
Regrouping the bishop.
33: Had8
 x &
33-Mcdi i g7 34.h5,
Better wasthe prophylactic 34.vh1
a a x a2 34 h81
a
aw a A nasty surprise. White must have counted on 34...f4+ 35.i/h1 Axhs and now
36. g1 with good play.
& “A 35.Hd2 Bxhs
a& A
& WA 4x £@&
& WeA a a &b
H 2 x
30... xe! as
‘Animaginative queensacrifice, for only two minorpieces.
30... Dig 31. Dxt4 Hxe5 would have been more standard, but after 32.2143 White & &
keeps a strongblockadingknight & H wy & A
31. Axe5 Mxes 32.0xb6 axb6
Whiteis running out ofpawnbreaks, while Black's positionis nearly untouchable. H
White's defenceis remarkablydifficult.

(E |e
D> De eo

Int
Int
36.Rhr Ofg+ 37.08F1 dg

Ph
At some point Black got a very promising rook endgame, but eventually the game
was drawn.

SS be

De
be
Exercise 22
Fabiano Caruana 2823
&

&
o>
co
Hikaru Nakamura 2779
London 2016 (6)

(G- D> (S
&

o>
1.e4 52.06 d6 3.d4 cxdg 4. Axd4 AF 5.0 26 6. Megs€6 7.4 h6 8.Ah4 MIE
9.03 Me7 10.8f Bic7 1.81% Abd7 12.0-0-0 5§ 13.84 g5 14.4 gxts 15. Mer by
16.axbd4 Des 17.PIxi4 Dexgg 18. Axg4 es E &
Not longbefore, this impressive queen sacrifice had been introduced in corre-
spondence chess.
19... Axf6 20.Ads dB 21. O45
White has only two minor pieces for the queen, but they are on very dominant
squares.
2 DB
21... Bf 22. 2.xf5 is also very nice for White.
22. Oxi6+ W623. Hxd6
23. 2xd6+ would have been strong, since returning the queen with 23...Wxd6
(23..WHB is well met by 24.8 5I) 24. Zxd6 2xg4 leads nowhere alter 25. 8.5,
Bu Me6 24. Bhdr
Strong centralization.
2h 0-0
24... Bxb4losesto the pretty 25, xe6+1 and Black does not have a good recapture.
A& 2
SE
Duly switchinghis attention to the kingside
25.e5+
Black should havetried 25...xb4.
26.83
Everything is tactically defended
26...6 27. Dxh6+ Mh8 28. 245
28. Axf7+ was already anoptionhere.
28...We7 29.b5 eB 30. Axtz+
Striking at last
30... Maly 31. Mxe6 Bxbs 32. Lh6+ 1-0
Exercise 23
Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2706
PavelEljanov 2720
Dresden 2017 (1)
1.24 052.9 Ac6 3.fe4 Mes 4.c3 AF6 5.43 d6 6.2.63 0-0 7.h3 a6 8.Abd2 eb
9. f.c2 ds 10.Bez h6 11.84 Mh7 12. Rgr d4 13.Ab3 fez
White's ambitious opening set-up threatens to backfire, but Dudastill has an idea
uphis sleeve:
14. Dxes!
A piecesacrifice to create a pawn steamroller.
14.85 hxg5 15.h4 also looks interesting, but Black can sacrifice an exchange with
15..gxh4 16. 26 g6l
14.Axes 15. Ad o§ 16. 945

De i
(€
De» Det
Dat
IfWhite managesto bring his final pieces into play, his pawn steamroller will give

joho
be
him promising play.
16...8h8

le
be
16...c4 17.44 4d3+ was oneof the optionsto try to get the sting out of White's

CoS
play.
17.4 AB

De
co
17... Ah4+ is mostlikely met by 18.\i?di but still ad to be tried.

jo ho D>
D>
GE
De D>

be
1B. fe3
White is making serious progress.
18... 18 19. Dxe7
Collecting the bishoppair.
19...xe7 20.19f2 b6 21.h4
Creating an impressive pawn phalanx. White sooncastled queenside and crashed
through on thekingside
Exercise 24
Ding Liren 2804
Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2739
Batumi 2018 (10)
1.d4 Af6 2.04 26 3.96 ds 4..Ac3 dca 5.04 bs 6.e5 Dds 7.Axbs Ab 8.Me2 Acé
9.0-0 Re7 10.Md2 0-0 1.04 HBS 12.c3 13.%g3 WhB 14.Hdr Abg 15.63
cxb3 16.axb3 06 17. Mic4 Ace 18.Ha2 Abg 19. Har Ac220.La2 Abg 21. Her a5

2H &
22.451
Creating targets for the white pieces by giving up a pawn. Aninteresting positional
concept.
22.0xd§
After 22... 6xds 23. xd5 xds White has several options,including 24.h4.
23.06
Giving the white pieces even more space to breathe.
23. 846
The critical move was 23... (6.
Here White could have gotten a dominant position with
24. Rtg
In the game DingLiren played24. 73 and with creative play still managed to get a a
promising position and went on to win.
Exercise 25
‘Samuel Reshevsky
&
Tigran V Petrosian
Ziirich 1953 (2)
1.dg O16 2.04 £6 3.93 Mb4 4.03 0-0 5.43 45 6.08 C5 7.0-0 Ac6 8.23 Axcz With two central pawns,the bishoppair and active pieces, White is threatening to
g.bxc3 b6 ro.cxds exds 11.Ab2 <4 12.fc2 Meg 13.Mer Deg 14.Ad2 Anda run Black over.
15,Bixd2 Mhs 16.6 22617.04 Md7 18. Raerdxe4 19.f:e4 Hfe8 20.Pig bg 21.0di 25..Me6!
Hey 22.f.g4 Me8 23.05 a5 24. Nez dB 25, Hfer A fantastic positional exchange sacrifice by Petrosian, preparing ..c6-e7-d5, to
achieve a perfect blockade. This is one of the most famouspositional sacrifices
ever and hasbeenpublished so often,that | decided to make an exercise out ofit.
26.04
Whiteis notin a hurry to takethe exchange and tries to opentheposition.
The critical try seemsto be to take immediately with 26. &xe6 fce6 and then start
playing the pieces to the kingside with 27. g3 “e728.
26... de7!
An excellentreply, sticking to the plan.
26...bx24 27. 8.33is good for White; 26...b4 is met by the dynamic reply 27.d5l
27. fxe6 fre
Black is achieving his strategic goal.
28.8Ifi Ads 29.243

29... hd3
Now White needs to be careful
30. 3xd3!
Returning the exchange is the only correct way.
30...xd3 31.xd3 bg 32.cxbq axbg.
Black has positional compensation for the pawn with his good knight vs bad
bishop. After nine more moves a draw was agreed.
Exercise 26
Anatoly Karpov 2725
Boris Gelfand 2690
Linares 1993 (6)
1.dg Af6 2.c4 26 3.9 ds 4.263 dxcg 5.Bags c6 6.1xc4 bs 7.d3 Mb7 8.e4 bg
9.2.4 Abd7 10.2.g5 Was 11.63 c§ 12.Axi gxf6 13. Le2 0-0-0 14.0-0 HBB 15.45,
b6 16. Axb6 Bxb6 17. Hadi Mh6 18.Pic4 HS 19.dxe6 Hxe6

20.Hd51
A strong positional exchangesacrifice.
20. heB
Black is not eagerto part with his bishoppair.
After 20...xd5 21.exd5 Ze7 22. di White hasfull control over the position. Black
has many pawn weaknesses and a vulnerable king, while White’s position is nearly
untoucrable. &

Da
21.0dy Hd8 22. Hd1 Hedé

Do De
ho: be»
Black keepsrefusing to take the exchangefor as long as possible. aw
23.e2

Co Dt
Now Black hasto take, othenwise White will exchangeall rooks andstart picking up
pawnswith Wz. a
Bun Sixd§ 24.0xd5 Bb7
aw
&

CoS
B&
25.8thgl
A key move,gainingtime to get the bishopto c4.
25.0 BB
Thisis too passive
25... g5 26. g3 followed by 27. 2.c4 was the idea, although Black still should
have tried this.
26.8.4 Bxds
Returning the exchangedoes notsolve the problems, as Black will still be left with
manyweaknesses.
27.fxd5 Hxds 28. Her
Keeping the initiative
28... Rd8 29.6 Pz 30.63
And Karpov went on to win.
& &
Exercise 27
Alexei Shirov 2685
& X
Vladimir Kramnik 2710 ABA A&B
Groningen 1993 (8) &
1.e4 5 2.Of3 Ac6 3.d4 cdg 4.Axd4 AT 5.3 dé 6. Mg5 €6 7.8d2 Me78.0- This exercise thematically belongs to Chapter 6.6,asit is one of the most prom-
0-000 9.f4 Axd4 10.Pxdg Mas 11.fc4 Adz 12.Hd3 Had8 13.193 h8 14.0 inent gamesplayed with the repertoire outlined there. Shirov sacrificedhis queen
h6 15.05 des 16.fke5 MeB 17.14 Dhs 18.Mxh6 Axf4 19.Mxg7+ thy 20. Dxty and went forthis position, in which bothplayers missed that Black can also sacri-
Hg8 21. fe4 fice his queenwith
2x!
The gamewas drawn after 21
22.Bxc3
After 22.bxc3 White will be mated: 22... ag+ 23.(b1
22.0 xg
AndBlack remainsa piece up with an easily winningposition.
Exercise 28
Joel Lautier 2625,
Veselin Topalov 2700,
Elista 1398 (6)
1udg Of6 2.04 €6 3.0 Mb4 4.03 cs 5. Ager cud4 6.exd4 0-0 7.93 Me7 8.d5 exds
g.cds Mes 10. Ad4 d6 11. Mee a6 12.0-0 Abd7 13.ez Des 14.h3 eB 15.b4 M6
16.%b3 Md7 17.04 Hc818. Lact Ag6 19.0fdr
19... Hxe3!
The bishop snatcher, creating serious weaknesses in White's position.
20.403 Wey 21.02
Here, the most thematic would have been to keepthe remaining rook on the board
with
Au Le8l
which gives Black a winning positional advantage. Black will systematically move
his pieces towards the white king, using the many weaknesses in White's camp. x x
In the game Topalov went for the concrete 2°..Zxct 22.dxct Axa 23.Whxag WLeaea
Wxez+ 24.ilh1 andhere his 24...e4 wasactually a blunder, since now White
suddenly could have won with 25.We8+ 48 26.e6l. Anyway, Lautier missedthis a & Aa
chance and in the end Black wonafterall Mehdi,
Exercise 29, & &
Daniel Stellwagen 2622 &A QA®
Sipke Ernst 2554
Germany Bundesliga 2012/13 (7)
& 2A &
& x

oe
1.e4 €5 2.03 Ac6 3.Mb5 a6 4.0.04 Af 5.0-0 Me7 6. Her bs 7.2163 d6 8.3 010
9.h3 Aas 10.Mc2 og dg Bey 12.d5 Adz 13.b3 HheB 14.Me3 DeB 15. Abd2 g6 22. Dg5el
16.g4 %g7 17.1Htha hs 18. gr hxg4 19.hxg4 f6 20.193 thy 21.h1 Bh8 Animaginative and brave piece sacrifice, openingtheposi n, without getting any
concrete compensation
22ufegs 23.1+ hg’
23.2 f6 24. 2xg5 Af5+ may lock attractive for a moment, but White wins after
25.exfs A xgs 26.feg6+.
24.Hxh8+ tixh8 25, Lhi+ tg’ 26.2h6 27... cB was an important defensivealternative
So farthis was all forced. 28.Mdi Ab7
26... 218 27.80h1 Here, best would have been
29.08
In the game, 29.Zh8+ Wlt7 30. h7 Xi g8 was played, which ended in a draw alter
many adventures.
29.fixg4 30. Lxg6
With a highly complex, dynamically balanced position.
Exercise 30
Miklos Nemeth 2115
Richard Varga 1968
Hungary tt 2013/14 (3)
1.e4 6§ 2. Af db 3.d4 oxd4 4.Axd4 Of6 5.03 86 6.8 Mg7 7.fe3 0-6 8.4
M6 9.Bd2 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Be 11.0b3 Axd4 12.Axd4 b5 13.Axa7 b4 14.045,
White is not crashing through, but Black is not cut ofdanger. A tense situation for Axds 15.0xd5 Mas 16. dg
both players.
27AB
 17aBixa2
Thus, Black has sacrificed a full rook and now heslowly but surely incresses the

18.Wi2 cB 19. 8 xg7 can be met by the fascinating 19...161

18... 18 19.thd2
& z
Saala
AAW &A 4 a
SE £ &
In this -heoretical position from theSicilian Dragon, Black can strike with
a 2
WA
After 1.lixc2 cB the black queen will be stronger than the two white rooks,
WA a AA
which is typical for situations with a vulnerable king. E &
This attempt to run away with the king runsinto a nasty surprise.
19... Bxc2tl 1.dg Af6 2.04 263.3 Mg7 4.04 d6 5.9% 0-0 6. Mer es 7.0-0 exd4 8. Axdg HeB
The second rookis sacrificed on the samesquare, 9.8 c6 10.1%h1 Bhs 11.94 AF6 12. 0.F4 hs
20.1hxc2 Breg+
Picking up the second bishop.
ZASWE &
aathde Bxd4 aa ae
Now Black hasfantastic compen-sation with two bishops versus two rooks.
22.Pheg
hh Ad
This loses. The best defence was 22.lWxe7 but Black has excellent play after 4
22... 6,
2223H Age
ADABA
Winning the queen a &
24.bxeg Sxe4 25.freg bxc3+ 26.13 5 && & A
And White resigned
& WwW fe
Exercise 31
Boris Gelfand 2753 A typical piece sacrifice, openingthe g-file to get access to Black's king.
Farrukh Amonatov 2590 13.85 2his less menacing.
Tromse2014 (2) 13ets 14.exh
The difference with a tactical sacrifice is that White does not haveany special piece
activityyet. White's superior pawn structure gives him a dominant position
1gnd5
Counteringin the centre is Black's only try.
15.0005 oxds 16. Mgt
Blackis starting to feel the heat.
16..dxe4
In the game, Gelfand replied to 16...ivh8 with the straightforward 17. 2xg7, giving
White ¢ winning attack
17. Axeq

170Bid
17... Dxeg 18.fre4 doesn’t save Black.
18. Axt6+ Mh8 1g. Mardi Bxt6
And now the key move
20.Hd6!
wins back the piece:
20.247 21. 2b5 Hg8
And here, 2a We x
22. Heil ae
secures a large advantage.
A
Exercise 32
Boris Gelfand 2759
a& 4
Alexander Morozevich 2724 & BAD
Moscow 2014 (5)
a &
1.dg O16 2.0% ds 3.04 <6 4.03 a6 5. Ac3 bs 6.c5 g6 7.05 Afd7 8.Ad3 €5 9.04 BAA
Mb ro.axbs axb§ 11. Hxa8 MxaB 12.b4 e413. f4 Ley
R2WS2 #
The most accurate wayofsacrificing the piece, getting rid oftheslightly vulnerable
knight on f.
14, 2xb5 exbs 15.8.xb5is also good for White, but if play continued in the same
way as in the game with 15...0-0 16.0-0 6 17.8.2 Black would get sorre coun-
terplay starting with 17.5
14..ccd5 15. ALxbs 0-0 16.0-0 06 17. er
The bishop helps defending the kingside, and frees the way for the pawns on the
a

Do» [ic Dow Do

queenside.
170 B67 18.05
White has great compensationforthe piece andwenton to win. 2
Exercise 33
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2745 & x
Dmitrij Jakovenko 2714
Germany Bundesliga 2016/17 (3)
&
& AABA
1udg O16 2.04 6 3.9% d5 4.83 Me7 5.f.g2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7. M05 Ac6 8. Axc6
bxc6 9.423 x03 10.bxa3 a6 11.Ad2 Hb8 12.Pas Hb6 13.04 Md6 14.3 HB & He
15, Mag Bixdg 16.xd4 Hxdg 17. Acs
Avery nice double exchangesacrifice, which turnstheisolated tripled pawn into an
impressive pawn steamroller.
17.2 d2 wasalso playable.
18. Bxds ods
18..exd5wasalso good
19...xb6 axbé6!
Trying to further repair the pawn structure with 19...cxb6 actually loses, becauseit
allows White to openfiles for the rooks with 20.a5 bs 21. fbi followed by a2-a4.
20.Habt
20.25 bxas (20...b5 is also interesting) 21. X abt is no problem torBlack becauseof
21....¢71followed by centralizing the king.
20.188
20...21d7 is thesolid alternative and transposes to the previousnote after 21.35
bras,
21.05 bs

22.04
The standard wayto try to openfiles.
2206 23.0xb5 oxb§
White needs to act now, becauseif Black gets the time to play 1h fB-e7-d6-c5, his
pawnsteamroller will win the game.
24. Bxbs!
A rooksacrifice to openfiles. $g7 22.hxg6 hxg6 23. Zh
24. Axbs 25, br Adz!
Black finds the right set-up. zx & WE
26.26 De8l a2
Another accurate move.
27.07 heb a a a
The bishop can besacrificed forthe a-pawn. a4 &a& A
28.Hb6 Ma8 29. Lb Mc6
White cannotforce the bishop offthe a8-c6 diagonal aD
30.Rc8 Mb7 31.Hb8 M6 32. Xc8 Mb7 33. Lb8 Yet
Exerci &AA WY
Dani Gormally 2477
Merijn van Delft 2393,
@2H 2 F
Bun Oxbal
London 2017 (9) Ihis positional piece sacrificeis the only wayto get counterplay, otherwise White's
1.e4 65 2.0 d6 3.44 cxd4 4. Axdg Of 5.03 a6 6.Be2 €5 7.03 Me6 8. Ade attack along thehefile is simply too strong.
Abd7 9.0.00 Bez 10.1gr bs 11.84 AE 12.64 exf4 13.85 Afd7 14.Axf4 Deg 24.Axb2 Ac4 25.815
15, Ads Mxds 16.exds 0-0 17. dg Ades 18.t%b1 He8 19. fcr MB 20.h4 g6 21.h5 Critical was 25.8g4 Axb2 26.tlixb2 when Black gets certain counterplay with
26... e5 but still has something to proveafter 27. h3. Since material is ofsecondary importance, 26... cB wasan interesting alternative
27-Hh3 Hac 28.3,
x Wk & A mistake. Correct was 28
28..b4l
aa Ihis highly instructive move would havecracked open the dark squares, unith very
a a a nice compensation forthe piece.
In the game| played the materialistic 28.5 29.2.g3 Wxd5 30.Wxds Bxd5 and
a & & wenton to lose the endgame.
ay 29.04
Here Black has several moves, but
Ww 29..Hetl!
is the nicest wayto keeptheinitiative.

H 2 & Exercise 35
ucas van Forest 259%
Ihe material balanceis the same as in the Leko-Vachier-Lagrave game we studied
in Chapter 1. Opposite-coloured bishopsfavourthe attacker and therefore having Jan Werle 2553,
theinitiativeis essentialin this scenario. Amsterdam 2019 (3)
26...gs, 1B 216 2.04 06 3.63 d5 4. Mee ducg 5.Bag+ Abdy 6.0xc4 a6 7.02 5 8.0-0
Mey 9.d4 0-0 10.Rd1 M6 11.93 Maz 12.04 cxdg 13.Axdg Ags 14-h3 Acs
asshxg4 Mxdg 16.Bid2 05 17. Ads Ach 18.Be2 Aid 19.95 Had8
After 21. . 9 6 White can consider 22. 4 f6+ amongst others.
22.4
This bishopis starting a remarkable manoeuvre.
22DAZ
22... feB was an importantdetersivealternative
23.fic7 Seb 24. b6
Regaining the exchange with 2 xd8 is also good for White, but Lucas wants

240 PDB 25, xd

White hasfull control over the position. Instructive play: he is not fixated on attack-
ing onthe kingside, but wants to control the entire board.
25. Alxds 26.exd5 Hde8 27.Rdi Des

20.Uxd4l
A truepositional exchange sacrifice, as it grands White a lastinginitiative, but no
immediate gains.
20.Wexd4 21.05 hs
 339c6 34-exh6 Brxh6
134... dxd4, 35.hxB7 Sxg7 36.Wg4+ wins.
35-Qh7+1
Winning the queen
351h8 36.0xch6 Me2+ 37.10
Black resigned
Exercise 36
Jorden van Foreest 2644
MagnusCarlsen 2872
Wijk aan Zee 2020 (4)
1.e4 e5 2.0% D6 3.fc4 B16 4.Ag5 ds s.exds Das 6. fb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6
28.fea 8.Md3 Ads 9.0% Md6 10.03 00 m.fle2 Af4 12.00 Meq 13.03 Axerr
Centralizing and attacking at the sametime. 14.Fixe2 f 15.h3 Bhs 16.84 feg4 17.Mg5 WMd7 18.Aceq Me7 19.033 Ags
2B... g6 29.243 Aes 30.iMg2l 20.Bixg4 Blxg4 21.hxg4 ch 22. seq Ac6 23. Me3 Ad4 24.Hact Hack 25.ihg2 4
Bringing therookto the h-file 26. Axd4 exd4 27. Hc6 28.b3 az
30.0946 31. Beg h6 32.Rhr itg8 33.64
A moveonedoes not makelightly,as it weakens the white king, butit wins.
 29..B.xct 30. xr
ze Followed by dh, with a highly unpleasant defensive task for Black. Oncethe white
a ai pawns onthe queenside start rolling, they can hardly be stopped
x 2 Exercise37
Yuri S Gusev
E Auerbach
aa & Chelyabinsk 1946 (5)
2A A Aw 1.e4 65 2. Of d6 3.44 cxdg 4. Axd4 AE 5.23 g6 6. ez Ac6 7.9b3 Mg7 8.0-0
& A & M6 9.f4 BB 10.6 Md7 11.94 Mes 12.95 MgB 13. Ads 16 14. Mes b6 15.dg thf
16.3 HB 17.Ae6 Mxe6 r8.Fre6+ HIB 19.Axf6 Axi 20.gxf6 Axi 21. Ah6+
x & thg8 22. xf exf6 23.Bxd6 Hcé
Here, Jorden van Foreest could havegotten serious winning chances against the
World Championwith a positional exchange sacrifice:
29.dxcal
In the game29. 21 oxd3 30.cxd3 a5 was played, when the black bishoppair pro-
vided enough compensation for the pawn. Later on,it was actually White who had
to find a few accurate movesto securethe draw.
 &z W Bun LB
25...Rxe6 26. 2c quickly leads to mate; 25...We7 26. 2d1 is very similar to the
a 4 game.
ARWABAD 26.Adil
Ihe next point, rerouting the bishopto the a2-g8 diagonal
a 26... Keg 27. 8.63 b5
A Black has found a way to blockthe diagonal.
28.fxca
& This actually spoils the win.
&&A & A 28.a4l a6 29. 8 a2lwas the slow and correct way of activating the queenside pawn
majority: 29...We7 30.b4 WeB (30... Zxc3 31.2 fB+l quickly leads to mate) 31. &xcal
& & (now is the right moment to take) 31...bxc4 32.55. Thefinal thing that White needs
24.Fixes! to dois to sidestep a few last queen checks, and then he wins.
A fantastic positional queensacrifice. Most people havetrouble identifying this as 2B..bxc4 29.b3
a candidate move in the first place, as exchanging a queen for a minorpieceis very

2aafces§ 25. Al
This moveis the first point, paralysing Black’s position.
 Now White simply has more pawnsonthe queenside, which makesit more diffi

iE

be
4 De» Dac
cult forthe black queento play for a perpetual check,
30...B¥e7 31.ig2 Baz 32. Rf Me7 33.0A gs
Code C> IF 33...Wa3, 34. f7l now wins: 34..Wb2+ 35.0 g3 Wxc3+ 36.iig4 and there are no
more checks.
34. IL%5 4 35.05 Bd8 36.c6 Mey 37.7 1-0
a Exercise
A&B Yuri Averbakh
Boris Spassky
& & Leningrad 1956(3)
E® 1.4 O16 2.26 3.04 dé 4.d4 Me7 5.fe2 0-0 6. M85 5 7.d5 Mas 8.A.d2 a6
292.85 9.24 ۤ 10.94 eB 11.hg f5 12.hs f4 13.95 MB 14. M94 Ac7 15. Axc Mxc8 16.05
This returns the favour and loses.
29...exb3 30.axb3 a5| seems to be a draw: 31.c4 We732.ig2 Wa3l and dueto the
constellation on the queenside, the white king has trouble hiding from the per-
petual check
3o.bxcal
 proper exercise. But chessis also psychology, and my guessis that you will appre-
aw x

D> De» fio (8

Dat

ciate Spassky’s decision and comeback in this gameeven more after havinggiven
aA a this particular position some thought yourself,
The Benko Gambit style 16..b5 does notlead anywhere after the simple 17.axbs,
a
be

17.dxc6 bxc6
Ahab
& & Black now has the open b-fle for the rook and the e6-square for the knight. His
& &é positionis still lost, but you have to start somewhere,ifyou want to fight back
De

18.4
“A “A 18.a5 followed by a4 was the most convincing way for White.
& 2 & 18...Me8 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Big4 Eb8 21. Adr
White wants to bring the other rook to thehile.
E We g Pn Me6 22. Haz Ada 23.Lahg M7 24.Mc3 WfeB 25.zh2 Bixc4 26. Axg6
Weare looking at a King’s Indian gone horritly wrong for Black. After a long White has a winning attack, but at least Black has managedto make theposition a
thought, Spassky came with an amazingsolution: bit more chaotic.
16...61 26... eb
Animaginative positional piece sacrifice born out of desperation, and one ofthe
most amazing sacrifices in the history ofchess. | do not expect too many people to
find this move, and one could argue that mathematically speaking this cannot be a
 rolling.
x & 31-fg Hb3 32. hg c4 33.ihda Mg6 34. gr d4 35. Mas 2B 36. He4 Hd6 37.1he2
2 White is still winning, but an ole piece ofadvicefor the defender states: at least
& a4 D> De Dag &) makeit until move 40 andthen takeit from there.
37 Md7 38.g6 Mdb7 39. fer
4 a The most convincing seemsto be 39.27 £.xg7 40. 2g6.
& Wada 39.05 40. Rgh4 827

&
& &
AS gE
27. Bxdg
White refrains from the winning 27. B+ AxhB 28. ExhBs itig7 29. xb8.
27ue Mg 28.15 Web
Exchanging queens to neutralize White's attack.
29.Bxe6+ Hxe6 30.2.3 ds
Blackstill only has one pawn forthe piece, but now at least his central pawns start
 game was drawn
&
x 2 Exercise 39
SvetozarGligoric
a & Vasily Smyslov
ar Kiev 1959 (3)

& shth F 1udg 16 2.04 g6 3.23 d5 4.cxds Axds 5.04 Dxc3 6.bxc3 Me7 7.A.c4 G 8.De2
0-0 9.0-0 Ac6 10. fez Bey 1. Her Hd8 12.h3 b6 13.44 26 14.Ber Mby 15.02
x & & Aas 16. 8.43 f 17.05 c4 18. Mice Ac6 19.84 De7 20.1th2 Bc6 21. Ag3 bs 22.04 a6
&® 23.Hb1 Hab8 24. Ada bxag 25.Hat Ma8 26. fxaq Wc7 27.Ha2 Lb6 28.exh5 ext
29.Bcr Ads 30. e205 31. Bo
AL
a. Bas
A mistzke on the notorious 41st move.
Correct was 41.1 ¢3 42. ha,although the no longertrivial
41.03 42.bxc3 Haz
At this point the game has started all over again, and Black is back in business. At
somepoint Spassky even got a winningposition, but eventually on move 73 the
 Accepting the sacrifice is not good, since Black gets full control over the light

De foo (1g
Dut
€ squares,

De
32. 1 would have been the coolest defence, based on 32...ixc3 33..xb3 cxb3,
34. Axc3 Wxc3 35. 8 b2 and Whiteis still in the game
32.cxb3 33-Mag M18
C>
Che Regrouping the bishop.
34. b2
i> fio D> Dow

34.c4 is met by 34...llle6 35. Zxas Wxc4 with a dominant position.

& 34--. Bez
& aw & 34.8 c6 was a strong alternative. The black knight cannot be taken due to
ret

35.6.
35-Hfar Acq 36.963
31a Hb3L
A pretty Russian exchangesacrifice.
The attempt to get a pawn steam-roller with 31...) b4 32.cxb4 axbgis retuted by the
counter-sacrifice 33. 28! xa8 34.45 and White has the upper hand,thanks to
his central pawns and minorpieces.
32. xb3
 2 z && Now all black pieces are on optimal squares.
38. Hxcq hrs 39.13 hs
w a and White cannotavoid the mate
4 ccssasa
4 Ad Aleksandar Wohl2425
Valerio Luciani 2180
E a& & Arco 1997 (4)
a& “a & 1.98 d6 2.93 5 3..g2 AF6 4.d4 26 5.c3 <6 6.0-0 M97 7.0%b3 £68. £4 0-0 9.Ba3
& wW [o'a) eB 10. Abda eg 11.dxeg dies 12.181b3+ HhS
x
36...e7
Here 36... b7 was more convincing.
37-ah
This hands Black @ winning attack
White could have fought back with 37.12.
37-6,
 RAQSWAE © soso
4 fa 15...Wh6 fails to 16. dB.
a
4
2
WA AR
&& BKAQA
gE E®
This clean solution gives White an enormouslead in development in return for the
piece WA &
incing due to 13..g5; 13. .g5 does not work because of the A A ny 2 &
simple.
Ben Mxe§ 14. Axes Bhxd2 EE &
17. Bibs, 1.e4 6§ 2. Af db 3.d4 cdg 4.Axdg OF6 5.Ac3 6 6.0e3 Me7 7.8 0-0 8.8.4
Black is remarkably helpless in the endgame as well M6 9.d2 M7 10.0-0-0 HB 11.bz Aas 12.itbr Acq 13.Mxcq Bxe4 14.84 b5
Keeping the queens on the board with 17./a3 was the optimal solution, due to 15,B¥d3 IDB 16.25 Bhs 17. Dds e6 18. 16+ Axi 19.¢xf6 xf 20.h4 HEB 21.hs
Black's weak king. ds 22.hxg6 hxg6 23.exd5 exds 24.Pda Bes 25.<3 by 26.24
17..00b§ 18.dB
Setting up a pin on theback rankin two directions, x &
18... 126 19. Ad3l a 2 é
Positional play. White makes way for the rook to enterthe 7th rank
19... Mec] 20. Hey Hg8 21. Aes 2a
And returningthe knightto the optimalsquare. Black is fully paralysed. aw
Dank 22. OF
Picking up material; the gameis over. AED Q
22Atig7 23. 0d6+ Mh8 24. x281-0 & &
Exercisn 41 && BY
Zigurds Lanka 2525
Alexei Fedorov 2595
& #F &
Kishinev 1998 (2) Not just the most spectacularsolu-tion, but also the most accurate one.
26... {5+ also wins, but after 27.iHa1 bxc3 28.bxc3 Black would have to find

De
28...We7l (28... xc3 does not work here because of29. 2 xe5)

De D> J fed Dor

27. Oxks
After 27. liabxc3 28.bxc3 Black wins with 28. e329. Df
27 Sotg+ 28.Man bxe3
Blackis crashing through,with only one minorpiecefor the queenbut perfectly 4
organized pieces.
29.bxe}
x
&
& wW
& E
29... Exfgl
Patiently picking up the bishop.
The greedy 29. B xcge 30.Wxc3 Exc3failed to 31.2 65,
30. Her Exf3 31.1hba dg
The next wave ofattack.
324.
32.cxd4 Eb8+ 33.021 2 d3 winsas well for Black.
32.8+ 33.Mar d3+ 34.03 Bf2o4
Exercise 42
Denis Khismatullin 2653 ade
PavelEljanov 2727
Jerusalem 2015 (10)
1udg OF6 2.04 €6 3.23 Mb4 4.€3 0-0 5. Ager He8 6.03 218 7.Ag3 ds 8. Mer a6
9.0-0 6 10.dxcs Axes 11.015 exds 12.93 Me6 13.4 Rd6 14.fb2 Mes 15.004 a& &
Mxb2 16.Axb2 Ac6 17.Ad3 ME 18.1 a5 19.1b1 axb4 20.axb4 Had 21.b5 w BA
Aas 22.Ae2 Meg 23.Adf4 Acq 24.Axeq deg 25.Ad4 McB 26.Ra Aes
27-Ib3 WIG 28. es b6 29.Rd5 by 30.Hxd8 Hxd8 31.Hdi Megs 32.1Khi 26 qH ©
33.hg dg 34.Ac6 Mxc6 35.bxc6 Wes 36.Bag itig7 37.Bars hg8 38.Ma4 Hd6
39.Pla8+ they 4o.Blars sh6 41.Axd3 exd3 42h Bice 43.OB+ hes (One ofthe most amazing moves ever. White gives up his rook with check, just to
enable his king to walkto safety. Meanwhile, his queenis working wonders by con-
structing a mating net. Strictly speaking,this is a tactical position, butthe calm
king moves do have a strong positional flavour.
AnBcd
‘Only with the very precise moves 44.. Eds! 45, lh2 if6l Black could have stayed
in the game.
ag-thhe
The difference in king safety tips the balancein White's favour.
Moe xc
45..d2 46. Uxf7 is similar to the game; 45...f5 46.lxd6 is still complex, but win-
ning for White
46.Blep+
Repeating the moves once a& &
46.186 47.8HB+ thes
RAD
w
48.xf]
Black's extra rook and dangerous passed pawn are poordefenders,while the black
queenis misplaced as well
48...1L16 49.f4+ h6 50.xf
The rook has been regained, and the mating attack continues.
50...Bez 51.B+ itehs 52.Bg71
Closing the mating net.
52.h653. Mess tha 54.EG+ sths 55.651 x x &
The final breakthrough a£ a Afb
5x5 56. Bic tha 57.0g6 1-0
a a a
Beercise43
Matthias Blibbaum 2632
Ny
&
4 &
VishnuPrasanna 2534 &&
Sharjab 2017 (7)
2.
1. DV 2.c4 g6 3.Ac3 ds gcxds Axds 5.c4 Axcz 6.bxc3 Me7 7.faz Adz & w a & & &
8. Mer c5 9.0-0 0-0 10.44 Blas 11.F9b3 BG 12.05 e6 13.b5 Hd14Mfdr Mb7 om £ &
15. Ad2 Mids 16.c4 Mb7 17.2
As a matter offact, Black resigned in this position, becausehis queen will be lost
Wehave learned from Spassky that we should keep onfighting in this kind of situ-
ation and lookforcreative solutions. Black could haveplayed
17.06!
17. Dxes 18.dxe5, 3 fails to 19.b3.
18.63
And now after anything is possible, as Spassky showed usin 1956.
18...Phxa3l 19.003 axbs 20.0. bog 21.xc4
Black already hastwo bishopsfor the queen. Exercise.44
2B 26 22.13 cxdg 23. Axdg Axes Viadi Kramnik 281
A pawn 1s added Pentala Harikrishna2755
Ez E ® Shamkir 2017 (4)

& 2 a 1.e4 65 2. Af Ac6 3.Lbb5 26 4.2.04 Af 5.0-0 Se7 6.d3 bs 7.63 dé 8.23 010
9.Acg AB 10.2 Abd7 11.63 Mb7 12.493 5 13. Her HB 14.0% ca 15.dxe4
2a a4 2 fixeg 16.0xe7+ Brxe7 17.00b5 axbs 18.f1g5 Ac5 19. fha2 h6 20.fhh4 gs 21.863
A ‘Why 22.Pee thgy 23. Hadi Afes 24. ds 5

& E @
White maystill be winning with best play, but mistakes are easily made, and then
 The brave 26...itig6 looks like a good defence, with the idea 27. d4 & g8 and the
x x king can go back to h7.
27.xbs
#2 Ww Picking up a third pawn for the rook
a a White does not have full compensation, but the position 1s not easy to play for
4ataaa Black
a 27 Aceg 28.0d4 BAB
This may notbe theoptimal square forthe rook
& & AQ 29.h3
2A WAAA Emphasizing the positional natureofthe rook sacrifice. White takes his timeto im-
x @ provehis position with little moves.
29..Lb8 30.Ple2 Mg8
Black has been playing energetically so far and White needs to act fast. Outof sev- 30... eB followed by moves like ..Wd6, ..Ebd8 to take control over the e5-
eral possible sacrifices Kramnik decided to go for the mostextremeone: square, and then.. & g6 and...itih7 to improvethe king, looks like the correct plan
25. Mxes! tor Black. In the game Black keeps having problems consolidating, while White in-
25. Axes does not work very well because of25...{4; 25. &xe5+ is simply metby 25 creasesthe pressure.
dxe§ and White has no pressure onthe dark squares. 31. br Biby
25ndxes 26. Mxe5+ O16
 34.b2 Hbd8

be if: foo
34..ilh7 was essential
€
35-5
The pawn steamroller on the queen-side, combined with the pressure against the

be

De
black king, gives White the upper hand at this stage.
35-26 36.b5 188
&A This loses. 36...!b3 was the only move.
37.6 84 38.hxe4 fed 39. Rxeq
& A
CoS

D> The tactics are now working in White’s favour.

& w 39-gxh 40.Oxf Hd6 41.097+ shiz 42. e510
8+ D>

2 & Exercise 45
Nisha Mohota 2272
Thesituation is quickly becomingcritical Erwin PAmi 2634
32 eB 33.04 MB Reykjavik 2018 (1)
Blackis seriously losing track, whichin this case meansthat Whiteis aboutto take 1.e4 e5 2.03 Ac6 3.fc4 AFG 4.43 h6 5.0-0 d6 6.c3 g5 7.063 Mg7 8.Abd2 0-0
9.Ac4 De7 10.02 Ag6 14h3 Me6 12.3 MB 13.Hh2 AF 14.Ahg4 hy
Here 35...Wa6l was the correct defence. 15, Het hs 16. h2 5 17. 0d5 Mxds 18.exds
 = w z & aninteresting way to create counterplay.
19..gxf4 20.xhs LAS
a a a aa Black's position may not look toc impressive yet, but now he starts systematically
a bringing his major pieces to thekingside.
a.Me2
ada aa The active alternative was 21.44 e4 22.dxc5 Wxcs and now the interesting piece

a aes
A& & ies
RAB RADA
ft own ©
18...651
Anice positional pawn sacrifice, to keep theflow on thekingside.
The piece sacrifice 18....dxh3+ 19.gxh3 Wxh3is too optimistic after something like
20.8%.
19. xg.
19.h4 with the idea to answer 19.24 20. Sixf4 exf with 21.2 e6 would have been
 &| Here,
26...e41
a would have been strong,
x In the game l’Ami played 26... 8 f6 and also won,

- 4 M cs
Exercise 46
Carlse
David Navara 2741
a & Biel 2018 (1)

# #
A &
&
1.d4 216 2.08 ds 3.04 06 4.895 Abe 5.23 h6 6.0.x BB 7.03 0-0 8.21
dxcg 9. Bxeg cs 10.dxe5 d7 11.0-0 Axc5 12. Mb§ 26 13. Abdbs 14. er 65
23-83
This weakens the kingside too much. Better was 23.vh1, although White's position
ts already fairly passive.
23Hg8 24.thh2 fixg3+ 25.fg3 Hh6
Now that his rooks have been activated, Black is winning.
26g
 The position is dynamically balanced, which meansthat anything can happen. After

De ig:
(E be [at
avery long struggle, the World Championeventually won.
Exercise 47
5 mi 2636
aa a Viani DcunhaAntonio 2404
Dieren 2018 (2)
2 4 1.e4 e5 2.Af3 Ac 3..Mb5 06 4. fag DFE 5.0-0 bs 6.01b3 Me7 7. Her 0-0 8.h3 dé
AA 9.3 @bB 10.44 Abd7 11.Abd2 Ab7 12. Meo He8 13.0 MB 14.Ag3 26 15.04 6
&& BA&A 16.8.95 h6 17. Bez Wc7 18.Pc1 Hh7 19.b4 ABE 20. 2b3 Axaq
HW Eo
Carlsen finds a way to sacrifice his queen and make the gameinteresting,
15.2xe5 Wxes 16.23 is a reasonable alternative, with complete equality atter
16... 8x43 17.bxa3,
15.23 endg 16. dg 3 17.bxa3 is very similar.
VG. dB 16. Axb4 Hxdh 17. Hfcc
 Black should havetried 21...05 even if 22.0xb§ axbs 23.bxc5still favours White
22.05
After this move Black landsin a very passiveposition
22udxes 23.bxc5 exd4 24. Axd4
lwoof Black's minor pieces are out of play, while White increases the pressure,
both in the centre and on the kingside.
240 Had8 25.05 Ads
25... Zxda is well met by 26.exf6.
26.204
Now White’s position starts to play itself.
26.8 27.d6 Hey 28. Leg
And White went on to win in the attack.
Here the question is not whatto sacrifice and how, since White has already sac
ficed a pawn. The question is how to continue,and it turns out that Exercise 48
cal Alexander Grisehule 2759
is quite strong. White makes a real pawn sacrifice ofit, giving him a very dominant ing Liren 2811
position Khanty-Mansiysk 2019 (5)
21.67 1.d4 AF6 2.c4 06 3. Af ds 4.83 dxc4 5.f1g2 a6 6.0-0 Dc6 7.03 Hb8 8.Afd2 05
9. Axc6+ bxc6 10.dxes Ag4 11.Axc4 M6 12.Pez hg 13. Hdr BB 14.09, 14... 2xch2 is too optimistic and fails to 15. xc6+.
EW ee & a
15,24 is impossible due to 15... 8 xc4.
a aa paced6-Prads
a a £ At first view this looks nice for White, but Black has
16...651
& a allowing

“ a oceansoa that White has problems bringing more pieces to the attack, while
A wy & {2 has to be defended
AA AA tu
HAGE © Seceras suinggestion
14. dsl
Forcing White to sacrifice the exchange. Ihis 1s actually Black's best option here.
In the game Ding Liren played the creative positional exchangesacrifice 14. b6
15. xb8 cxb6, repairing the pawn structure on the queenside andleaving Black
with strong minor pieces. After a tense struggle the game was eventually drawn.
Index ofplayers B
(NUMBERS REFER TO PAGES) Bachmann 140
Bacrot 166, 170
A
Baljon 70
Adams 18 Bannik 135
Adhiban98,
Baramidze 105
Admiral 281, Baron 148
Akhayan 113 Bartel 277
Albadri 108, Bayev 62
Alekhine 145, 152, 154
Almasi 231
AlphaZero 243, 24 AT, 2485 53, 255-256 Benjamin 245
Amonatov 294 Benko 104, 106
Anand58,129, 150° 77. 179, 184, 189, 249, Berezovies 280
Andersson 34, 122, 129, 1R6-IRR, 231 Berger 20
Aronian 189-190, 231, 233, 235, 237, 242 Bergeron 26
Arun Prasad 131, 134
Bjerre 120
Auerbach 298 Blibaum 304
Averbakh 299,
Bobotsov 276 Chiburdanidze 225
Boleslavsky 165
D
Darini 22
Dautov 285
DeunhaAntonio 307,
Bosch 224
Botvinnik 60-61, 63, 282-283 Deep Blue 243, 245-246, 253
Dela Bourdonnais 59,
Breyer 10
Bronstein 10, 51, 94°95, 98, 100, 165-166, 169, 200-201, Dely 88
Demuth 31
263,
Burgi Dijkhuis
ikhus 224,
Byrne 76, 114, 198, 204 Ding ig Liren 10, 148, 8, 194, 220, 289,
89, 308308
Doggers 181
c Dreev 214
Capablanca 25, 27-28, 30, 104-105, 12-113, 116, 121, 275, Dubav 46, 12,120, 233, 240
Carlsen 10, 48, 194, 206, 220, 231, 235, 237-240, 242, 263, 298, 307 Duda 288-289
Caruana 208, 237-238, 287 Dzagnidze 278
Cheparinov 46, 233
E
Chernikov 278
Eljanov 288, 303 Gleizerov 156
Emms284 Gligoric 281, 301
Englisch 1 Gonzalez Vidal 92
Epishin 64 Gormally 296
Gouw 127
Grischuk 148, 172,
Guimard 249,
Gusev 298
Fedorov 286, 302 Gustafsson 11 U6,
Fier57
Gyimesi 44-45, 134
Firouzja 208
Fischer 76, 83, 191, 204, 276 H
Haast 278
c Hansen 92
Gajewski 112, 08 Harikerishna 305
Gelfand 28, 214, 290, 294
Hasangatin 62,
Gemy Vargas 57 Hector 285
Giri 235 Henrichs 180
Glazkoy 86
Hodgson 176
Hracek 90 Karthikeyan 208
Huschenbeth 62, 92, 96, 98 Kashlinskaya 280,
1
214, 221, 225-226,
Ivanchuk 21;
Kevlishvili 168
J Khenkin 216,
Jadoul 139 Khismatullin 303
Jakovenko 295 Kobylkin 280
Janowski 198-199 Kollen 35, 112
Janssen 54,86. 72 Kortchnoi52-53, 69
Jarmula 280 Kotov 281
Jobava 231, 242 Kovalev 37,173, 194
Jumabayev 24, Kramnik 42, 56, 76-78, 81°82, 129, 137-138, 1 16-177, 190, 212, 214, 227-228, 230, 251,
291, 305
K Kunin 108
Kamsky 285 Kuznetsov 118,
Karjakin 191, 193, 234, 237
Karpov 69-72, 74, 88, 17, 239, 249, 2: L
FAmi 96, 100, 102, 195, 217, 306-307,
 Luciani 301
M
Maderna 240
Magerramov 84
Leela 243, 253-259 Mamedyarov 150-151
Leenhouts 148 Marshall 112, 16
Martinovic 19, 247
Leko 21-22, 176-177, 257, 2968
McDonnell 59,
Lengyel 134, 185
McShane 1, 116,
Lenic 62, 92
Mellegers 176
Le Roux 4
Miedema 60, 63-64, 108
Levtchouk 26-27
Mkrtchian 278
Ligterirk 203-204
Mohota 306,
Lilienthal 184
Morozevieh 294,
Lisenko 177
Morphy 16
Liublinsky 67
Lubojevi Movsesian 100,162, 217,
Miller 233
Luch 277
 Pp
Pachman 282
Panov 275
Nakamura 37, 98, 173, 194, 287 Pantsulaia 110
Navara 307 Paulet 24
Nemeth 293
Nezhmetdinov 275
Nijboer 52-53, 69, 179, 224 Petrosian 170-171, 283-284, 289
Nimzowitsch 10, 104 Philidor 10
Nisipeenu 72 Pipers 132,24
Nunn 203-204 Polugaevsky 170-171, 212
Nyképp 160, 191 Popov 156
Popovie 221, 223
°
Prasanna304
Ochsner yo
Olafsson 94 R
ll 178 Radjabov 72, 132, 191, 277,
Ollier 32 Ragozin 184
Oudewaal 123 Ravinsky 158
Ree 122 Saric 19, 247,
Regan 245 Scheeren 70
Reshevsky 276, 289 Schmidt 122, 154
Réti 10,132, 250 Schoehuys 240
Rexchess 243, Schulten 16
Riazantsev 27 Selezniev 145
Ribli 187 Sevian 280
Rogozenco 138 Shirazi 93,
Rojahn 51, 204 Shirov 79, 137,
Ross Short.13
Rovner154 Simmagin 67-69, 135, 158-159, 275
Rozum 173 Slingerland 18
Rubinstein 152-153 Smeets 132
Smirnov 195
s
Smyslov 301
Sadler 246
Sofrevski 222
Saenz Narciso 31 Sokolov 224
Saint-Amant 10
Soltis 160,
Sanner127,
Spassky 112, 1 283, 299-300, 304-305 u
Spoelran 181 Ubilava 136, 1
Staunton 10, 24 Umudova 279,
Steinitz 10-12, 4
v
Stellwagen 292
Vachier-Lagrave 21, 23, 257, 298
Stockfish 247, 249, 251, 2!
Stohl 236 Vaganian 149, 277
Vallejo Pons 130
Stoofvlees 259-260
Van Delft 123, 138-139, 142, 180-181, 284, 296
Svidler14
Van den Berg 218
T Van den Doel 54, 72, 168
Tal 154-155, 226, 241, 276 Van de Oudewestering 35, 112, 170
Teichmann 86 Vande Plassche 218
Timman13, 132, 205 Vander Wiel 88, 204-205
Tolush 60 Van Foreest 297-208
Topalor 10, 42, 44, 129, 166, 170, 189-190, 212, 249, 285-286, 291-292 Van Kampen 280,
Torre 212 Van Wely 224
Treybal 25 Varga 203
irovic 221-223, 242
Volkov 20
Vorobiov 131
Vukic 106
Zaid 136, 148
Zaragatski 104, 108
Zhukhovitsky 282
Zuckerman 91
Zvjagintsev 173,
Wei Vi 217-218, 278 Zwirs 74, 281
Wells 284-285
Werle 224, 297
Willemze 279
Winants 224
Wohl 301
Wojtasrele 90, 295
Wolff224
Y
Ye Jiangchuan 124, 142, 178
Bibliography
Mastering Positional Sacrifices basically reflects the three decades ofexperience |
have gethered as a chessplayer, trainer and coach. It is a collection of my favourite
‘examples and training material. | would like to shank all of my chess friends who
have joined me on this long journey, at one point or another. Many thanks to my
students for testing the exercises. Special thanks to Arthur van de Oudeweetering,
Erwin Ami, Sipke Ernst and Jeroen Noomenfor thinking along with me, and com-
ing up with useful game suggestions.
In this sibliography | would like to describe a few books and projects that have had
a considerable influence on my chess development, previous projects | was in-
volved with, and two books that are directly related to the topic.
Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden — The Steps Method (1987-2020)
As theysay, chess is 999% tactics, so no study ofstrategy makes sense without =
decent education in the field of tactics. Back ir the 1980s, these two Dutchmen
started creating a phenomenally systematic and extensive course in chess tactics.
Rob Brunia unfortunately passed away too early in 2005, but Cor van Wijgerdenis
still developing and promoting the method today. By now, manygenerations of
Dutch chess players have grown up usingthis method,and honestly believeit is
thebest in the world. See wunu.stappenmethodenl for further information in four
languages.
Herman Grooten — Chess Strategyfor Club Players (1995-2017)
Herman Grooten was oneof my chess teachers. Hetaught me about positional
play in my teenager years. | truly enjoyed both the fantastic training camps and the
duo trainings together with Martijn Dambacher. Herman taught me to makelittle
moves and to play patiently. His series ofthree books on strategy, which were pub-
lished in Dutch in the 1990s, served as a basis fora later updated and la-gely ex-
tended great one-volume bookin English, published by New in Chess. I'm using a
few exciting examples from Herman's collection, not because ofa lack of material,
but because they are deeply engraved in my memory and have made a tremendous
influence on my chessthinking.
John Watson ~ Secrets ofModern Chess Strategy (1999)
This is simply oneof my favourite books. | feel this book modernized my view on
strategy. Aron Nimzowitsch and Max Euwe published groundbreaking books on
chess strategy in their time, but of course chess has developed quite a bit since
those cays and John Watsonnicely summarizes exactly that. What| like about the
strategy books of Grooten and Watsonis their systematic approach, and with my
‘ownbook| have tried to do the same.
Garry Kasparov ~ MyGreat Predecessors series (2003-2015)
Garry Kasparov has always been my greatest chess hero. | grew up with his phe-
nomenal games, and learned a great deal about positional sacrifices by studying
them. | remembercarefully reading Kasparov's analyses in New in Chess magazine
as a teenager. Especially his King’s Indian games and his dark-square strategy had
a considerable influence on me. His extensive series of books on chess history is a
must for every serious chess student. It was impossible to avoid using a certain
number of games in my bookthat have also been covered by Kasparov. In some
cases| first learned about a gamefrom his books, while in many cases it concerns
‘games that simply cannot be missing in anyserious collection of best games. In
somecases, like with Kortchnoi-Nijboer from Chapter2, | thought | had something
uniquein my book, as it was an old gamefrom the Dutch league, only to learn to
my astonishment that Kasparovhad it covered as well. In all cases, | had a fresh
look at the games, made my own analyses and told my own story. As I have
described in this book, modern tcols are very helpful in making solid analyses.
Karel van Delft & Merijn van Delfi - Developing Chess Talent (2010)
My father Karel has taught me a great deal about chess and aboutlife, and he
keeps stimulating me to work on chess in many ways. Ten years ago. we published
Developing Chess Talent, which is the English translationof the book Schaaktalent
Ontwikkelen we wrote together, on chess training and coaching, in the context of
creating a local chess culture. We basically summarized the mostinteresting things
we had donein this field in Apeldoorn throughout the years. Certainly one of the
highlights was when David Bronstein was visiting Apeldoorn in 1995. Hestayed at
‘our housein the smallest imaginable guest room, which has beencalled the Bron-
stein suite ever since. Karel specializes in journalism and science, has alweys been
a promoter of chess, andis still active as a dedicated chess teachertoday. Check
out his website schaakacademieapeldoorn.nl and subscribe to his free Niewws-
hriaven (Newsletters) to stay up to date
Karsten Miller & Merijn van Delfi ~ Chesscafe Puzzle Book 3 (2010)
This book onthetopic ofdefence is a co-production with the well-known endgame
‘expert from Hamburg, Karsten did the analyses and | wrote the text. We decided to
add a chapter on exchange sacrifices, because it intuitively felt like a related theme.
| could not avoid using a few ofthe best examples again, but have mostly used new
material. Karsten is one ofthe friendliest people | have ever met and if you want to
improve your endgame knowledge and skills, | warmly recommend his books and
dvd's.
Chessvibes Training (2011-2013)
Togetherwith a groupofcolleagues,led by Peter Doggers, we made a cooltraining
magazinein the early 2010s. | have used a few examples from my ‘Guess the
Move’ column in this book. With my teammateArthur van de Oudeweetering | still
regularly discuss various chess topics, just like in those days. Arthur has helped
mefind someimportanthistorical games with positional sacrifices.
Neil McDonald ~ Positional Sacrifices (1994)
only discovered this book very recently, after | decided to write a book on posi-
tional sacrifices myself. Only after | created the structure for my own book and
collected well over 100 games,I decided to read Neil's book, since | did not want
to be influenced by his work. His book logically focusses heavily on the period
1991-1994, expecially 1995. It less extensive, but lovely writing.
Mihai Suba ~ Positional Chess Sacrifices (2012)
Mihai Suba is one ofthe mostcreative grandmasters and thinkersin the history of
chess. In his understanding ofchess, he was ahead of his time, whichis reflected
in his most important book Dynamic Chess Strategy. While his later work Positional
Chess Sacrifices is certainly aninteresting read, both its structure and theselection
of games confused me. The bookis thought-provokingas usual, but in theendit
does not have a clear focus onpositional sacrifices. That is how the idea appeared
to write a more systematic book on positional sacrifices.
| wouldlike to express my deepest respect for Mihai Suba and all other chess au-
thors, who have made a serious effort in explainingtheir views on chess. They have
always madecollecting and reading chess books a joyful experience for me and a
passionforlife.