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Leslie Ault - The Genesis of Power Chess

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Leslie Ault - The Genesis of Power Chess

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KCCI RS)| POWER CHESS Effective Winning Technique fale ide lae hy and Tactics aCe MERCI MERHall ewenbos "Weare group of ssf whose rade chess mati: We ane Sever projc end as. Weave meres fom snd the wel, belgie to ieee and speaking lero gages ll fax jned by ‘common ve fr ches” We hope jouw ej cur werk! Somer un grap denies del ajeder, que entmos rtando de produce material de sedrer,desarolando ZA wa" 2-54c ANSWERS (a) Smyslov—Kortchnoi, U.S.S.R. Ch., 1960. Black simply takes the opposition and forces White away from the pawns: 53... Ke3 54. Kf3 Kd3 and White resigned (if 54. Kf4, 54... Kd4, etc.). (b) Kasparov—Yusupov, U.S.S.R. Ch., 1979. Push ‘em! Having stopped Black’s majority, White has only to push his own: 36. b3 a3 37. c4 bxe4 38. bxc4 Kf5 39. Kxh5 Ke4 40. Kxg4 Kd4 41. h4 and Black resigned. (c) Larsen—Fischer, Monaco, 1967. First things first! Fischer stopped the pawn, and after 60... Ke6 61. Kg2 Kxb6 White resigned, though against an ordinary player one should make Black play out at least through 62. Kf3 cl=Q 63. Nxcl Nxcl 64. Ke4 Nd3! (the pawn is more important than the Knight here—after 65. Kxd3 Ke5 Black protects the e-pawn and wins by capturing White’s h-pawn. at the right moment). (d) Berg—Petrov, Kemeri, 1937. The game was adjourned at this point, and White resigned without resuming play. With I... a5 Black creates a protected passed pawn (otherwise White can advance his own a-pawn and cut off Black's b- pawn) and after 2. g4 Kg8 eventually gets his King to f4. 51The Genesis of Power Chess H Here White has an extra pawn, but his pawns are in grave danger. What should he do? 2-55. Lunna—Hiort, NJ 1983, at White’s 49th move. ANSWER If Black gets both pawns for free he will win, as after 49. Kc3? Kxf4 50. Kd2 Kxg4 51. Ke2 Kg3, etc. But how can White save them? He can’t, but with 49. £5 he takes out Black’s remaining pawn, since 49... g5? in reply leaves White with a protected passed pawn and a won game. After 49... gxf5 50. gxf5 Kxf5 only Kings were left, and the game was drawn. & At this point, White’s move here should be obvious. 2-56. White to move. —_—__ ANSWER _ Liquidate to a draw with 1. Bxf3 Kxf3, insufficient material. So what if you must give up your Bishop? This is the last chance to stop the pawn from queening. 52The Fight to Win or Draw—2 © Here, the situation is more criti- cal for the defender trying to stop the pawn. Can White win? How? 2-57. White to move. ANSWER Yes indeed, by screening off (or chasing off) the black Bishop’s cover- age of 7. The first move is 1. Be5, to be followed after 1... Bg5 or 1... Bd8 by 2. Bf6. Black’s Bishop can no longer cover e7, and the trade 2... Bxf6 3. Kxf6 Kd8 4. K{7 offers no hope; one way or the other, the pawn queens. The closest Black can come is 1. Kd8 2. BE6t Bxf6 3. Kxf6 Ke8—one more move to f8 reaches a drawn position, but White wins with 4.e7 Kd7 5. Kf7, etc. & Can White, to move, draw here? How? 2-58. Velikov—Hazai, Vrnjacka Banja, 1985, at White’s 53rd move. ANSWER It should be obvious that Black wants to devour White’s a- and b- pawns while keeping his own last pawn (with the right-colored Bishop). White can’t let this happen, so he played 53. a5 Ke5 54. b6, and a draw was agreed. Black now has no choice but to liquidate pawns (54... axb6 55. axb6 Kxb6), for 54... 6? loses to 55. b7 Bf4 56. h6 Ke6 57 h7, queening a pawn. 53The Genesis of Power Chess E Now let us switch from Bishops to Queens contending over a passed pawn. Can White save the game here? How? 2-59. White to move. & Here things seem even more criti- cal for Black trying to save the game. What do you think? 2-60. From a study by G. Lolli, 1763. Black to move. 2-60 e ANSWER With Queens there’s no salvation in sacrificing for the pawn (1 Qxa27?), which leaves your opponent his Queen to mate you with. But recall another way to draw—repeating moves. White draws easily by simply checking over and over again: 1. Qe5+ Qb2 2. Qe1f Qb1 3. QeSt, etc. In these cases the resulting repetition is known as “perpetual check.” ANSWER Black’s only check allows White to queen his pawn. But as Lolli showed over two centuries ago, perpetual check still works, even against two Queens, with the King stuck in the corner: 1... Qd8t 2. g8=Q Qd4#, and Black will always be able to check somewhere (on d8, d4 or £6, h4) no matter how White covers his King. Black could also stop the pawn by pinning with I... Qd4, and will be able to hold the game by checking or pinning as needed to stop the pawn. However, White can play on for doz- ens of moves, and one careless move by Black will lose the game. 54The Fight to Win or Draw—2 8 Often perpetual check is resorted to earlier in the game when one side falls behind. Here is an example from a game between the then-World Champion, Mikhail Tal, and the future World Champion, Robert (“Bobby”) Fischer. What would you do here for Black? 2-61. Fischer—Tal, Leipzig Olym- piad, 1960, at Black’s 21st move. ee rANSWEREEESS Clearly Black is in trouble, being down a Knight for a Rook (the “exchange”); in the long run, Black will lose. But Tal saved himself with 21... Qg4t, which sets up a perpetual check. The players agreed to a draw at this point without bothering with 22. Kh Qf3t 23. Kgl Qe4t, etc. 55 BH Here is another example, from one of my games. How should White continue? 2-62. Ault—Cole, NJ 1984, at White’s 44th move. White is down two pawns for a Knight, so I took the perpetual check with 44. Rh8} Ke7 45. Rh7#. At this point we agreed to a draw, since Black must return to the starting position by 45... Kd8 (if 45... Ke8?, 46. Rc8#). The only way to avoid the perpetual check would be to give up the Knight by 44. Rh8t Nf8 45. Rxf87, and White is winning. By the way, the attempt by White to win back his piece by 44. Rd6 fails because Black can defend his pinned Knight, as by 44... Rxc4t 45. Kd3 Rc7, for example.The Genesis of Power Chess In this position, Black is threatening to queen as well as to capture White’s Rook. What can White do? 2-63. White to move. Can you find salvation for White here? 2-64. Pilnik—Reshevsky, U.S. Ch., 1942, White to move. ANSWER Finding White’s drawing idea requires some foresight, but there are few choices to consider. The drawing move is 1. RaZ, so that after Lo. c1=Q White can check forever on the a- and b-files (2. Rb7t Ka3 3. Ra7t, etc.) with the Rook protected by the King. If at any point Black should move his King onto the c-file, then Rc7? skewers the King and Queen. 56 ANSWER This is a well-known position in which Samuel Reshevsky, many times U.S. Champion, went astray. Reshevsky had carefully guarded against any possible perpetual check, but overlooked something else. White played 1. Q£2!, which leaves Black no reasonable move except for 1... Qxf2 stalemate. Just in case you wanted to take the loose pawn, it doesn’t work. I'll show you why in the next chapter.The Fight to Win or Draw—2 & Previously, the stalemates we saw were the result either of clumsy play while trying to checkmate a lone King (Chapter 1) or of a lone King steadfastly blocking a pawn about to queen (earlier in this chapter). The last position, however, represents a third category with more pieces on the board, where the stalemate is produced “out of the blue” by a losing player. Here is another example— can you save Black? 2-65. Nikolayevski—Taimanov, Tallinn, 1966, Black to move. ANSWER Black’s position seems desperate despite the momentary material equality. Moving his King abandons his c-pawn, and if he pushes his a- pawn White simply shuttles his King between d6 and d5 until Black runs out of pawn moves. But there is a saving stalemate hole: Black played 1... Ka5! Since 2. KxcS is stalemate, White can make no progress and the game is drawn. 57 & Can you save Black here? 2-66. Fichtl—Hort, Kosice, 1961, Black to move. ZO 7 i ANSWER You might think about the Bishop and h-pawn, but should realize the Bishop is of the “right color,” so no hope there. But there is one of those “stalemate holes.” Black played 1... Kh3 and a draw was agreed, as 2 Kxf3 is stalemate and there is no other way for White to do anything constructive.The Genesis of Power Chess 3 What do you make of this position, White to move? 2-67. Middleton—Tassmati, at White's 51st move. ANSWER Black’s King, as you should notice, is in the comer with no legal moves, and Black was expecting to shed his Bishop and pawn to produce a stalemate. Sure enough, White took the Bishop and Black pushed his pawn: 51. Nxh4 a2, and now 52. Bxa2? is stalemate. But White produced 52. Kh6! instead, and Black resigned, realizing that 52... al=Q 53. Ng6 is mate. 58The Fight to Win or Draw—2 EXTRA PRACTICE: Here are four additional positions on drawing themes if you're interested. In each, it is White to move 2-68a 2-68b Ay YU: wm eM 2-68¢ | Vie ee L, , Ui a a 2-68d ANSWERS (a) Obviously hard-pressed, White can force an immediate draw by 1. Qe6t; either capture leaves White stalemated. (This position is based on the game Korichnoi—Ljubojevic, Tilburg, 1985, agreed drawn at Move 62 with Black's King in check on f6 and a White pawn on f5; had Black played 62... Kxf5, we would have it.) (b) An earlier variation from the same game. Again White forces stalemate by 1. Qa8i Kh7 2. Qe4, leaving Black no real choice but 2... Qxe4 stalemate. (c) Dzindzichashvili—Timman, Tilburg, 1985. White played 84. Na3, and after 84... Bg3 85. Nb5 Bf4 86. Nxa7 was close to the win. Wrong of course would be 84. Kxc7? stalemate, and likewise 84. Nd6? Bxd6 85. Kxd6, leaving a “wrong-colored” Bishop that can’t win. (d) This is the conclusion of the same game. Black resigned after 96. Ka6, in view of 96... Bxd4 97. Nc7# (other Bishop moves, save for 96... Bc7, allow 97. NB6#. Naturally 96. Bxe5? is stalemate. And after the cautious 96. Be3 Black has 96... Bd4t 97. Ka6 Bxa7 with a draw in store). 59The Genesis of Power Chess MORE EXTRA PRACTICE: Haven't had enough? Then help the desperate side to draw in these positions. White to move in (a) and (b); Black to move in (c) and (d). 2-69a 2-69¢ ANSWERS (a) Reveron—Villegas, World Under-14 Ch., 1985. Black was thinking about winning, but White produced 84. Bh2! and the game concluded 84... Kxh2 85. Kf2 Kh1 86. Kg3 h2 87. Kf2 stalemate. (b) Study by E. Cook, 1864. White starts with 1. Rb7+ Ke8, which looks hopeless; but then 2, RbS!, and when Black queens, 2... c1=Q (White was threatening 3. Ref, and taking a Rook won't win), 3. Re5t QxeS is stalemate. (c) Najdorf—Curtis, Mar del Plata, 1984, Black completed a nice stalemate combination by 46... Qh4¥ 47. Kxh4 (the only other move, 47. Kf#, loses the Queen) g5t and drawn; any White move leaves Black in stalemate. The alternative 46... Qd2# fails to achieve perpetual check after 47. Qf4 Qxd5t 48. Kh4. (d) Analysis by Benko and Pinter. Black draws with 1... Kf8 and White's King can never get out of the comer (2. Ne K{7 3. Nh6# Kf8), or also by 1... Kf7 2. Ne# KjB 3. Nh6 gf 4. Nxgd Kj7 5. NAG Kj8. In either case White's Knight must give way before Black’s King, and the Knight can never lose a tempo to correct the timing. Of course, itis obviously hopeless for Black to grab the Knight: I... Kxf62? 2. Ke8 and queens next move. 60The Fight to Win or Draw—2 & Sometimes the maneuvers involved display real artistry, as in this position from a composed study. Save it for White. 2-70. Part of a study by A. Troitzky, 1895. White to move. OW OLE 1, pa, Jl Za07 ANSWER White can’t stop the pawn from queening, but he can create a stalemate position starting with 1. Kh3! Now on 1... g1=Q, 2. Rg5t compels Black to capture the Rook (other wise 3. Rxgi), but either 2... Qxg5 or 2... Bxg5 is stalemate. Since 1. Kh3 threatens the pawn, Black has little choice but to push it and promote. From a practical point of view, his only hope is to promote to a Rook, hoping to be able first to win White's pawn and then manage to win the ending of Rook and Bishop versus Rook. But Troiteky didn’t leave this loose end. After 1. Kh3 gl=R White can force a simplication with 2. Rf2 Bg5 3. Re2, and there is nothing left to play for after 3... Reg? 4. Kxg2. Note, however, that White cannot transpose moves: if first 1. ReSf? Bxg5 2. Kh3, Black promotes not toa Queen or a Rook (stalemate), nor to a Bishop (two Bishops mate, but not when they're the same color), but to a Knight, and wins. 61The Genesis of B Inconcluding this chapter | have selected three positions, each illustrating something worth emphasiz- ing. You may or may not find them difficult; they can be easy if you catch on to the right idea and work it through, and thinking logically and flexibly about each position will help you to the right idea and the right move. The first position illustrates the various drawing themes shown in this chapter. Use them to save Black. 2-71. Part of a study by V. Smyslov, 1976. Black to move. ANSWER White has just queened a pawn at f8, but Black can capture it. That is the first thing you should look at. Unfortunately, after 1... Bxf8 2. Brf8 Black can’t succeed with his passed pawn (2... Kd2 3. Bb4f stops him cold), and the attempt to liquidate all the pawns with 2... el=Qf 3. Kxel Ke3 fails to 4. f4 Kxf45. Kf2, or even to 4. Kfl Kxf3 5. Bd6, Note that in these resulting positions White’s Bishop is on the “right color.” If you can't save the game by taking off your opponent’s Queen, something drastic is called for. The key move is 1... Be5¥. Of course the Power Chess Bishop can be captured, but 2, Qxc5 el=Qt3. Kxel is stalemate. If White declines to capture the new Queen and instead moves away with 3. Kg2, Black has a perpetual check starting with 3... Qe3t Finally, White can decline to take the Bishop in the first place and play 2. Kel, but then Black gets a crucial extra step in the race to liquidate the pawns: 2... Bxf8 3. Bxf8 Ke3 4. f4 Kxf4. 5. Kxe2 Kg3 followed by 6... Kxh3, leaving insufficient material. & In this second position, it is again Black with the move and a passed pawn at e2. What should you do? 2-72. Galic—Vukcevic, Yugoslavia, 1975, Black to move. ANSWER Black’s pawn is ready to queen, but if 1... el=Q White promptly wins the Queen with 2. Re37, and after 2... Qxe3 3. fxe3 White wins the ending with his extra pawn. Black can queen the pawn safely by first playing I... 4, but after 2. Rd4 e1=Q 3. Rxff White can set up an impenetrable barrier with his Rook and pawns, and hold the game. The correct move, simple once you think of it but hard with the wrong 62The Fight to Win or Draw—2 mental set (the white player in the game missed it), is 1... el=N¥. The underpromotion to a Knight creates a simple Knight fork. Black saw it, played it, and White resigned, for 2. Kg3 Nxd3 is an easy win. What I want to stress is that the outcome of this game depended on the particular configuration of the pieces, allowing the Knight fork to be both necessary and to work. (Place Black's King on 6, and Black can queen the pawn safely; place White's King on g3 or Rook to c3, and the fork doesn’t work.) While this book concentrates on less tan- gible strategical aspects of chess, if youare to have good results in practical play you must be able to see tactical combinations when they arise— and play them or avoid them. Remember: use Rules and Principles, but don’t be a Slave to them. 63 ® Finally, what can you do for White here? 2-13, End of a study by A. Troitzky. White to move. ANSWER With a pawn on the 7th rank plus a Bishop, White should hope to win. The trouble is that the obvious way of proceeding runs into a “stalemate hole”: 1. Ke5 Kg8 2. Ke6 is stalemate. A different plan is needed, but there seems no way to coax or force Black out of this hole. Well—besides reminding us again of the beauty of chess—the solution requires discarding, for this special position, a basic mental set, one we have been operating under in these first two chapters. That limit- ing set is that we need the pawn to win, since we can’t force mate with just a Bishop. Right!? (If you haven't yet found the solution, try again now.) White wins by turning the “stalemate hole” into a death trap, which requires sacrificing the pawn to set it up: 1. g8=Q7! Kxg8 2. Ke6 Kh8 (the only legal move) 3. Kf7 e5 4. By7#.A couple of diagrams back we dismissed the position below as easily won for Black. Indeed, in the game White resigned upon being forked rather than bother playing out this position (reached from position 2-72 after I... el=Nt 2. Kg3 Nxd3 3. K¢3). It is an easy win, but for now let’s not take this for granted. B Your task here is not simply to select a move or two, but—more important—to work out and describe Black’s winning plan. Describe what Black should do to win the game. 3-1. Cashing In at the ANSWER The winning process for Black involves the following: (a)Secure the remaining pawn, which is needed to win. (A good start is 3... Kf6, whereas 3... f42 4. Ked loses it.) (b) Block White's h-pawn, using the Knight. (It is not really necessary to take the time to win this pawn.) (c)Penetrate with the King, using Knight moves to gain tempos when needed, and capture the f-pawn. (This is the key ob- stacle.) (d)Push forward the now-passed f- pawn, supported by the King, and queen it. (c) Checkmate White with the new Queen. If you have any doubts about this process, set up the board and play it out (with a partner, a computer, or by yourself) until you can win smoothly.Cashing In B Asa further illustration, here is another position from the Capa- blanca—Corzo game (see position 2- 52). Black, an established master, was not yet ready to resign toa twelve-year- old boy, and played on to this position. What should White do now? 3-2. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 11, 1901, at White’s 56th move. ANSWER We already noted that the careless/greedy capture of Black’s pawn results in a drawn ending with the “wrong-colored” Bishop. Another lemon is 56. Ke2?, which allows Black to liquidate both White pawns by 56... axb4 57. axb4 Ke4 58. BcS gl=Q 59. Bxgl Kxb4. As in the last position (3-1), White need not capture Black’s passed pawn; it is enough to restrain it while penetrating with the King and capturing Black’s b-pawn. For that purpose Capablanca played 56. Bh2, which keeps Black’s King off e5. Black retreated immediately with 56... Ke6, perhaps still hoping the kid would take the a-pawn. Capa- blanca, however, played 57. Kd4, continuing with the correct winning process. at the End—3 HB. Here is the finalé to that game, a few moves later. Note how White has progressed with his King. What now? 3-3. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game L1, 1901, at White’s 60th move. 33 WZ ANSWER Now the b-pawn is ripe for plucking; Capablanca played 60. Kc5, and Black decided it was time to give up, for the b-pawn falls followed by the a-pawn. But Black had one last trick: if instead 60. Ke6?, Black saves the game with 60.. gl=Q 61. Bxgl stalemate! 65The Genesis of Power Chess The key to winning these endings is to create a passed pawn, push it, and promote it, thereby turning a modest advantage into a big one. With a piece ahead, this process is usually easy. With a smaller advantage, like a pawn or just a better position, the process is the same but often harder to carry through, for the opponent can resist more effectively. In this chapter we will examine this winning process, concentrating on positions with more pieces on the board and equal or nearly equal material, # In preference to further exposi- tion, let's get down to cases. What does Black do here? Black to move. 3-4, ANSWER Material is even, each side has several pieces, and each side has a passed pawn. White's passed pawn is securely blocked from queening, even though it can move forward a couple of squares. Black’s passed pawn has nothing blocking it, and when it moves forward, 1... ¢2—oh, my!—nothing can stop it. This position is from an un- played variation of one of the games from the Spassky—Fischer World 66 Championship Match (1972). World champions usually don’t per- mit such a position to actually occur. However ... & ... here we have an actual position from a game between two average club players. What happens with White to move? 3-5. Heath—Ruderman, NJ 1986, at White's 60th move. ANSWER Black had just played 59... Ne7- Ne6, attacking White's d-pawn. Un- fortunately, she forgot the a-pawn (59... Nc7-Na6 was necessary, and sufficient to draw). White ignored his d-pawn and pushed his passed pawn, 60. a5. There is no way to stop it; the pawn queened, and White won. Create a passed pawn, push it, and promote it—turn a “modest” advantage into a big one.Cashing In & And take a look at this, White to move. 3-6. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 9, 1901, at White’s 59th move. Ci at the End—3 This next position may well require more mental effort than the fast three, but the aim is the same— just find the means for White. 3-7. Engels—Maroczy, Dresden, 1936, White to move. I, 787) @7 | ANSWER Though Black was a master, he had been through Capablanca’s endgame-grinder and was lost any- way, even if he had stopped the passed pawn. As it was, nothing is stopping it except the illusion it must protect the Bishop; so Capablanca played 59. g7, and Black resigned. ANSWER The direct |. d7 leaves the pawn blocked and doomed after 1... Rd8 (when 2. Rdl fails to 2... Rxd7 3 Rxd7 Nxd7, and now 4. Qxd7? leaves the back rank vulnerable and Black mates). White needs another way, and has it with a little combination involving the Knight's clumsiness at very close quarters: 1. Qxc8t! Nxc8 2. d7. The pawn threatens to queen in two ways, 3. dxc8 and 3. d8. Mov- ing the Knight won't stop the latter, while Black's Queen can stop one or the other, but not both (though if the Queen were on a3 or b4 instead, then 2... Qf8 would cover both prospec- tive queening squares, and the combination would fail). As a result, White gets a new Queen for his old one and emerges with a clear material advantage (Rook for three pawns after Black saves his Knight). 67The Genesis & In the last position the defender was keeping an eye on the passed pawn, so that a simple advance of the pawn would not work. Such is the case most of the time, for most players quickly learn to pay close atten- tion to stopping passed pawns. Con- sequently, the struggle usually rages over control of the remaining square(s) in front of the passed pawn, and in relation to the pieces covering or occupying the crucial square(s). In the last position, White succeeded by disposing of Black's covering Rook. In the stripped-down position below, White must use a different method. Can you find it? 3-8. White to move. ANSWER To win, White must do something about Black’s Bishop, which cannot be allowed even to sacrifice itself for the new Queen. The right start is 1. Nf5 with the double threat of capturing the Bishop (2. Nxh4) and cutting it off (2. Ne7). Black can meet both threats by 1... Bd8, but then 2. Ne? leaves him squeezed to death—a King move abandons the Bishop, while 2... Bxe7 3. Kxe7 is hardly better. The alternative 1. Nd5? Kd6 leaves White with no effective con- 68 of Power Chess tinuation, and Black can draw by keeping his King on d6/e6 where it helps control e7. Can you see what to do here? Make sure to work it all out 3-9. White to move. ANSWER All White has to do is drive the Bishop from the short a6-c8 diagonal so he can get a new Queen and keep it. There is just enough time to carry out this plan after 1. Ke6 K{6 2. Kb6 Ke7, and now 3. Kxa6! Kxd7 4. Kb7 does the job directly, though 3. Bet Kd6 4. Bh3! (not 4. Kxa6? Kxc7 draw) leaves Black in a losing zugzwang. Note that the alternate plan 1. Ke7 Kg? 2. Kd8 Kf6 3. Bc8 does not work. Black must move his Bishop away, but returns to cover c8 when White unblocks it; eg., 3... BBB 4. Bb7 Bf (or 4. Bd7 Ba6).Cashing In & Now we'll add a few pawns. What difference does that make for Black to move in this position? 3-10. Smejkal—Larsen, Leningrad Interzonal, 1973, at Black’s 40th move. ANSWER It makes it easier—with the extra pawns for each side, Black need not worry about insufficient material (to mate); so he simply cashes in his advanced pawn for White’s Bishop. Larsen played 40... Ba2 and White resigned, for there is no way to prevent 41... b1=Q 42. Bxb! Bxbl with an easy win. (Note that Black cannot delay ...Ba2, for otherwise White approaches the pawn with his King and wins it.) at the End—3 8 In this position White is two pawns down, but has the obvious asset of the passed pawn at h7. How does White “cash in” this asset? 3-11. Capablanca—Kupchik, Havana, 1913, at White's 61st move. ANSWER It is not feasible to screen out or drive away Black’s Rook, but it can be traded for the h-pawn. Capablanca played 61. Re8* Ka7 62. h8=Q Rxh8 63. Rxh8. Now even though Black gets White's last pawn (63... Kb6), White's King is close enough, and Black’s pawn flock not far enough advanced, that White wins with little difficulty. (First he captures all of Black’s pawns, then he has a Rook left to mate.) 69The Genesis of Power Chess & What can you do with White's passed pawn here? 3-12. Gruenfeld—Christiansen, World Open, 1985, at White’s 42nd move. 31 nD & Again it is White on the move with a passed pawn. 3-13. Ault—Weeramantry, NY 1974, at White's 42nd move. 3 ANSWER White's passed pawn has two squares to cross: c7 is controlled by Black’s Bishop but also White's Rook; c8 is not controlled at the moment. While Black’s Rook can move to control <8 (42. c7 Rc3), White then can use the same maneuver as in the last position (43. Ra8t Ke7 44. c8=Q). That is why in the game White played 42. ¢7, and Black resigned. The best Black could do would be to give up his Bishop at once, but after 42... Bxe7 43. Rxc7 Rxe3 44. Rxh7 it is hopeless against a competent player. By the way, you probably noticed there are various “loose” pawns; but taking one (42. Rxh7 or 42. Rxa5) or protecting another (42. Kf2) is trivial—win the piece first, then deal with the pawns! 70 ANSWER With advantages in both mate- tial and position, White can win at leisure; but the quick way to finish is 42. a7 Rc8 43. Nb8, which cuts off the Rook. With no way to stop the pawn, Black resigned.Cashing In at the End—3 B Once again, it is White wanting to score with his passed pawn. 3-14. Ault—Platt, Dumont Futurity, 1985, at White's 44th move. 3 This time White has given up a Knight for two threatening pawns. Was he right? 3-15. Capablanca—Beynon, NY 1913, at White’s 39th move. ANSWER If White can’t convert to a winning advantage at once, he'll lose. Fortunately for me, with 44. e7 the pawn can only be stopped at the cost of the Rook: 44... Rh8 45. e8=Q Rxe8 46, Nxe8t, and since 47. Nxf6 follows, White wins with no trouble. Black can resist better with 44.. Kxd6 45. e8=Q, but the Queen will soon pick off a pawn or two, and White still has his own pawns to use to win (unlike position 2-72 after 1... f4). In the game, Black played 44... Rh3t+ 45. Ka4 and then resigned (if 45... Rh47, 46. b4 shelters the King from further nuisance checks, leaving Black the alterna- tives explained above). ANSWER Yes, for White now won quickly: 39. d7 Nxd7 40. Rxd7 Resigns, for Black has no way to stop 41. Rd8t and 42. c8=Q. Also, there was no hope for Black after 39. d7 Kxe7 40. dB=Qt Keb 41. 8=Q. 7The Genesis & Here, for a change, it is Black to move. 3-16. Spassky—Fischer, World Ch. Match, game 13, 1972, at Black’s 60th move. a aANSWEREES= Black has a bunch of passed pawns, but White has one, and is threatening to play 61. Bf8 and 62. g8=Q. Black must give this threat priority over pushing his own pawns (eg., 60... h2 61. B/S hl=Q 62. RxhI al=Q 63. Rxal Rxal 64. g8=Q leaves White with one live Queen while Black’s two are dead and gone). Accordingly, Fischer played 60... Rg8 (the only way, even though the Rook gets entombed). The game continued 61. Bf8 h2, with Fischer in effect fighting with five pawns against a Rook. (Eventu- ally Fischer won, though Spassky missed a drawing line.) of Power Chess B How should Black proceed here? 3-17. Leonhardt—Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911, at Black's 51st move. 31 wr Z W/), "ee 8m a Joy, A, Jl a ANSWER Leamed your lesson? Black isn’t ready to cash in his two beautiful pawns quite yet, while White is threatening 52. Ba7. Thus Capablanca played 51... Bb8. Wrong are 51... g2 52. Ba7 and 51... f2t 52. Bxf2 gxf2t 53. Kxf2 (which eliminates the pawns Black needs to win). After some maneuvering ... 72Cashing In & ... this position was reached. Fin- ish it off for Black. 3-18. Leonhardt—Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911, at Black’s 59th move. 3-18 wa ANSWER Black is momentarily stymied, so Capablanca played a waiting move to force White to move: 59. Be7. Even though this allows 60. Ba7, Capablanca had calculated it out: 60... Kh2 61. b8=Q g2#! White resigned here, trusting Capablanca to carry through with the forced variation 62. Kel Bxb8 63. Bxb8t Kh 64. Ba7 gl=Qt 65. Bxgl Kxgl, and Black queens his last pawn. at the End—3 In this position, White has an extra pawn but some problems—can you solve them? 3-19. Capablanca— Dus-Chotimirski, St. Petersburg, 1913, at White’s 35th move. ANSWER White’s real advantage lies in his advanced e-pawn, but it must be pushed immediately, as Capablanca did. (“Passed pawns must be pushed!”—an old adage that often applies.) After 35. e7 the pawn threatens to queen supported by the Bishop, and Black loses material: 35... Kf7 36. Rel (no need to give up the pawn yet) Re8 37. Bxe8t Kxe8 38. Re6 and White won easily. On the other hand, the immediate 35. Rel allows 35... 3 36. 7 d2 and Black is winning. 23The Genesis of Power Chess Here, for a change of pace, is a little teaser. 3-20. End of a study by Saavedra. White to move. & Now consider this position. Is there a way for White to win? ... quickly? 3-21. White to move. ANSWER Don’t forget the lessons of the previous chapter. To win here you must avoid stalemate by under- promoting, then use a double threat. The obvious 1. c8=Q only draws to 1... Re4#! 2. Qxcd stalemate. And 1. Kc3 is answered by I... Rd, when in view of 2. c8=Q? Rclt White has nothing better than 2. Ke2 Rd4, re- turning to the original position and another chance to find the right move. The winning move is 1. 8=R; normally Rook against Rook is of course drawn, but in this position Black can’t get untangled. Black’s only defense to the threat of mate (on a8) is 1... Ra4, whereupon White plays 2. Kb3 with the double threat of 3. Kxa4 and 3. Rel#. 74 ANSWER White’s Rook is well-posted, protecting both his pawns. Black’s Rook, on the other hand, is blocking White's advanced pawn, but has much less scope. Black’s King and pawn, moreover, cannot move at all. For White these facts mean stalemate dan- get, but also opportunity. By playing 1. Kh3, White compels the Rook to move. Naturally Black wants to keep the pawn blocked, and so replies 1... Ra; but when White continues 2. a7, the Rook is squeezed out. After 2... Re8 3. a8=Q Rxa8 4. Rxa8, ‘White wins easily with his extra Rook. As for the stalemate danger, whenever Black captures the a-pawn or its descendant, the new Queen, White’s Rook in recapturing releases the stalemate by permitting -..Kxg5. There is a more clever try after I. Kh3, namely I... Re7 2. a7 Re5, which is worth further examination ... (PS. The alternate first move 1. Kf4 is OK, though not as quick, and is worth a separate look too—stay tuned.)Cashing In at the End—3 B ... in this resulting position. Black is trying to sneak a draw—how should White react? 3-22. White's 3rd move. ANSWER Black’s hope is either 3. Rxc5? stalemate or 3. a8=Q Rxa5 4. Qxa5? stalemate. Furthermore, he may envi- sion that if White doesn’t fall for the second stalemate, he can capture White’s g-pawn and set up a drawing fortress with his Rook and pawn against the Queen. But if White is awake he can win in either of two ways, one thematic and the other tactical. The thematic win is simply to retreat the Rook and leave Black dangling. Most conve- nient is 3. Ra3 (it stops annoying checks); now there is no possibility of stalemate, and White threatens to queen the pawn. On the last-ditch stalemate try 3... Ra5S, White responds simply 4. a8=Q (naturally not 4. Rxa5? stalemate) . The tactical win arises after 3. a8=Q Rxa5. With the Rook “immune” to capture for the moment, White must strike quickly before Black can set up his fortress. A short combination does the job: 4. Qh8* Kxg5 5. Qd8t and White safely captures the Rook. 75 %& You may recall that in reference to the original position (3-21) [ mentioned that 1. Kf4 was plausible. If Black then moves his King, 1... Kh4, we get the position below. Now squeezing the Rook doesn’t work, so White must pursue another plan, and that’s up to you. 3-23. White’s 2nd move. 3-23 ANSWER White should cross over to the 6th rank with his King, but the immediate 2. Ke5 allows 2... Kxg5 and Black draws with little difficulty. Even if White then moves his King over to b6/b7, Black can be pushing his pawn so that when he must give up his Rook for White's pawn, his own pawn will soon require White to give up his Rook in turn. To win, White should first force Black’s King away from attacking the pawn, which can be done by 2. Ral threatening 3. Rhi#. Black has two lines of defense, but neither stops White. One is 2... Kh3, which allows 3. Ke5 Ke4 4. Kf6, whereupon Black's g-pawn is dead meat. The other is 2... R{7t 3. Ke5, but then 3... Ra7 4. Kf6 is essentially the same as the first defense, while 3... Kxg5 4. a7 requires Black to give up his Rook right away, at a point when White'sThe Genesis King is still close to Black’s pawn, allowing White to stop it easily. of Power Chess In this position it is the King blocking Black’s passed pawn, with help from the Rook. How does Black break this blockade? 3-24. Fedorowicz—Ault, World Open, 1974, at Black’s 48th move. 3-24 ANSWER With 48... Kd3, White is squeezed. His King cannot move, and the Rook must guard the first rank and so has no safe moves. That leaves only the pawns. White tried 49. h3 g5 50. h4 g4 and resigned. In this case Black didn’t have to worry about running out of pawn moves first, which would happen after 51. hS, because he can lose a move at will by 51... Rc3 52. RbI Ra3. At this point, which White preferred not to face, the zugzwang is complete—any move White makes loses. 76Cashing In at the End—3 REVIEW: Here is a set of review positions for you to solve. White to move in (b), Black to move in all others. i ANSWERS (a) Euwe—Lilienthal, Stockholm Olympiad, 1937. White, the reigning World Champion, had just blundered by 71. B{7-Bd5. Black seized his opportunity with 71... £2, and Euwe resigned; the pawn queens, though some finesse is still needed: 72. Kxc5 fl=Q 73. Bxb7 Qf2t 74. Kd6 Qxa7 75. Be4 Qd4?, etc. If Euwe doesn’t “blunder” then 71. Kxe5 (the Bishop at £7 is immune) f2 72. Bef Kxh7 drawn. (b) Timman—Ribli, O.H.R.A., 1986. A typical sacrifice to clear the pawn’s way: 36. Rxa6 and Black resigned (36... Rxa6 37. c7, and the Rook can’t stop it). (c) lvkov—Kortchnoi, Yugoslavia-U.S.S.R. Match, 1966. Black simply covered the queening square by 39... Rd1, and after 40. Rb7+ Kg8 White gave up, for the checks soon run out. (d) Campomanes—Cassidy, Havana Olympiad, 1966. White’s ambitions were squelched by 59... Bd4, and a draw was agreed (if 60. f6, 60... Bxf6 61. Kxf6 Kd5, etc.). 77The Genesis of Power Chess EXTRA PRACTICE: Often, cashing in your passed pawn becomes a matter of striking the right blow to collapse your opponent’s defense. Here are four positions for your practice. Black to move in (c), White to move in all others. 320| JY Y Ver ee CY Y q @ 3-26a WwW Af 3-26¢ 3-26d ANSWERS (a) Smyslov—Konstaninopolsky, Moscow, 1939. White won at once by 56. Rb7+ Kc8 57. Ra7 Resigns. Mate is threatened, and on 57... Kb8 White gets a new Queen after 58. c7# Kc8 59. Raf Kd7 60. Rxe8. White needn't bother to take the f-pawn, but 57. Rf7 still leaves Black helpless. (b) Dzindzichasvili—Beliavsky, Thessaloniki Olympiad, 1984. Black resigned on 93. Kh6, for he can’t stop both pawns. If 93... Ke8 94. Kg7 Bd5, White simply pushes and gives up one pawn, then pushes and queens the other. The slovenly alternative 93. Kxe4 does win, but in time and with effort. (c) Prokhorovich—Kortchnoi, U.S.S.R., 1953. Black induced resignation with 35... BES. Since the Knight is pinned (36. Naf5? Rxg/#), White has no counter to the intended 36... Rxglt followed by 37... bI=Qt. (a) Shamkovich—McCarthy, NY 1985. White has no time for 1. Kd6 Kxh5 2. Ke7 @5 and both pawns queen, so he blasted the way open with 1. e6! bxc6 2. b¢ axb4 3. Kd4 Resigns. Now White queens his a-pawn in four more moves, while Black requires six to queen his g-pawn, and that’s too slow. 718Cashing In at the End—3 MORE EXTRA PRACTICE: Here are four more positions if you want them. Black to move in (a) and (c), White to move in the others. 3-27a 3-27b I, 3-276} 3-27¢ |¢ ANSWERS (a) Fischer—Tal, Candidates’ Tm., 1959. White resigned after 51... b2, since 52. Kxc3 bl=Qt wins by the discovered check, while 52. Ka5 Rel collects the Rook for the passed pawn. (b) Botvinnik—Schmid, Leipzig Olympiad, 1960. Don’t get fixated on the passed pawn—here White must deal with mating possibilities on the back rank and at gl: 29. RD8?? Rel#, or 29. ¢3?? Qh3 or 29. d5?? Qu4 30. g3 Qh3 with mate next at g2 in either case. So Botvinnik played 29. gxf3 Qh3 30. Qc6, and Black resigned. A good continuation could be 30... Re8 31. Rb8 followed by 32. Qb7. (c) Christiansen—Shirazi, U.S. Open, 1981. Black should first attend to White's pawn, which otherwise could become dangerous; so he played 72... Ke5. Since 73. BbI Rd6 bags the pawn and White's last hope, White resigned. (d) Petursson—Bellon, Hastings, 1985-86. It’s another Bishop and wrong edge-pawn if White plays the straightforward 57. 6? Bxf6. Instead, White played 57. Be Bf6 58. Bxb4 and won shortly by bringing his King over to help the f-pawn. 79The Genesis of Power Chess 8 Here White’s passed, and only, pawn is not so far advanced; but consider what is stopping it. 3-28. Drindzichasvili—Strenzwijk, Baltimore, 1984, White to move. 3-28 = NSWEREES With Black’s King so far behind, the Rook is at present the only effective hindrance for White’s pawn. By 1. Rg5 White forces the exchange of Rooks and wins in a walk (1... Kh2 2. Rxg3 Kxg3 3. h5, etc.). Exchanging the Rooks can be seen to win directly here, but also conforms to the general principle of exchanging pieces (but not pawns) when ahead. 80 B_ With the previous example in mind, solve this one. 3-29. White to move. —___ ANSWER ___ White wins at once by 1. Qf6t Qxf6 2. exf6+ Kxf6 3. d7, and only by giving up the Rook can the pawn. be stopped. To reach this winning position, you have only to realize that you can remove the blockader of the passed pawn (Black’s Queen) by forcing the exchange of Queens at the trivial cost of a pawn.Cashing In at the End—3 & Now then, what should Black do in this position? 3-30. Tan—Ault, NJ 1974, at Black’s 44th move. & How should White finish it off here? 3-31, Ault—Shure, World Open, 1974, at White's 39th move. ANSWER Black is comfortably ahead in material, but the white Queen can cause a lot of aggravation. The simple remedy is 44... Qb3+ 45. Qxb3 Bxb3. White resigned here, for Black wins easily without Queens on the board. ANSWER Again, the superior side, White in this case, can win eventually with almost any move; but the way to in- duce immediate resignation is to trade everything off: 39. Re3 Rb7 (if 39... Ke8, then 40. Rc37Kd8 41. Red3 brings us back to the main line) 40. Red3 Ke7, and now 41. Rxd7+ Rxd7 42. Rxd7* Kxd7 and Black resigned. 81The Genesis of Power Chess B_ Now find Black’s winning move here. 3-32. Braga—Geller, O.H.R.A. II, 1986, at Black’s 40th move. ANSWER Geller didn’t mess around with 40... R2t 41. Kh Rxf2+ (winning a second pawn but leaving a lot of work still ahead), but instead forced immediate simplification by 40... Rh4. After 41. Rxh4 gxh4 42. £4 a5, White realized the futility of trying to stop the distant passed pawns and resigned. A The position below is what Reshevsky had in mind in his game against Pilnik (position 2-64), to which I promised to return. Instead of playing 1. Qf5-Qf2 and drawing because of the stalemate, suppose instead White had simply grabbed off Black’s pawn on g4. Now what? 3-33. Black to move. ANSWER Black liquidates the Queens with L.. Qelt 2. Kg2 Qg3t 3. Qxg3 hxg3 4. Kxg3. Black could spare the pawn it cost to trade Queens, for he still has two-to-one lefe. Let’s consider that too ... 82Cashing In at the End—3 & ... in the position below (after 4. Kxg3). What should Black do now? 3-34. Black’s 4th move. 3-34 Bi ANSWER If you keep on liquidating with 4... b6 5. axb6+ Kxb6, the game is only drawn. White's King can get close enough to prevent the pawn from queening—it gets at least to cl, blocked by the black King at a2, which is sufficient to draw (refer back to position 2-28). Instead, Black wins by stepping around with his King and nabbing White’s pawn before White’s King can get over to help: 4... Kb8 5. Kf4 Ke7 6. Ke4 Ke6 7. Kd4 Kb5, etc. ‘As exemplified in this and the previous position, trading pieces when ahead is usually a good idea, but not trading pawns. B Here White has a slight material advantage plus a threatening passed pawn. How can he cash in these as- sets for an easy win? 3-35. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 11, 1901, at White’s 41st move. ANSWER Well, let's try “passed pawns must be pushed” and play 41, d7. Black responds 41... Rd8 and threatens the pawn, which seems lost. Was the pawn push foolish? No, for we are following Capa- blanca, who now played 42. Ng8t. Black might as well take the Knight, for if 42... Kg6, 43. Nf6 protects the pawn and 44. Bc7 follows. But after 42... Rxg8, White continued 43. Bc7 Kg6 44. d8=Q Rxd8 45. Bxd8. In a material sense White gains very little: he gets a Rook for a Knight and pawn, and when you consider that it wasa strong passed pawn, the transaction by itself seems questionable. However, the broader picture is that White has reduced the position to an easily won ending where he has a Bishop and two pawns against three pawns. In a few moves position 2-52 was reached, and shortly thereafter positions 3-2 and 3-3. 83The Genesis & Now what should Black do here? 3-36. Seirawan—Beliavsky, Rest of World-U.S.S.R. Match, 1984, at Black’s 64th move. of Power Chess How should White proceed here? 3-37. Adelman—Feuerstein, Bergen Futurity, 1985, at White’s 57th move. Ly V7, ag ANSWER The same principle applies Black forces the trade of Rooks by 64... Nd3t. After 65. Kf5 Rxe4 66. Kxe4 Nel, White has only his King and an extra pawn to resist Black’s Knight and King. While it still takes a while, for any reasonably competent player the win is sure and fairly simple. ANSWER Again liquidation is the key, though here you must realize that after 57. Rg7t Kc6 58. Rxb7 Kxb7 59. Kg3 Black’s King is too far away to save his g-pawn (and once that disappears, White’s h-pawn starts running). It also helps to realize that after the thoughtlessly greedy 57. RxgS Keb White has at best a long, hard struggle to convert his extra pawn into a win, and in fact he can’t, with best play. In the actual game, Black resigned after 57. Re7t. 84Cashing In at the End—3 B _ In this position, it would seem This time decide what to do for that White is winning easily; but the inferior side. think carefully. 3-39. Kasparov—Karpov, World 3-38. Benko—Averbakh, Portoroz Ch. Match, game 40, 1984- Interzonal, 1958, at White’s 85, at Black's 59th move. 78th move. T., Hi Cs / Cal ANSWER ANSWER If trading down is good for the Again, trading down is the an- superior side, it must be bad for the swer;as long as a winning position is inferior side. Here it should be ap- reached, it is fine to get the short parent that if Black allows the ex- end of an exchange—here a pawn for _ change of Knights, he will soon lose a Knight. After 78. Nxf7! (Black (59... Nxd4? 60. Kxd4 Ke6 61. Ke5 resigned at this point) Kxf7 79. Kd7 Ke762. Kd5, etc.). So the right move the remaining pawn is escorted is 59... Ng7, removing the Knight smoothly to promotion. Indeed from the possible trade and also pro- White’s liquidation is needed to win, tecting the pawn. Karpov made it, for otherwise Black can force hisown and the game was eventually drawn. liquidation and draw: 78. Ne4 {6 or 78. Ne4 Ke6. (If the above is not completely clear to you, it may help to realize that White must have his pawn, but not necessarily his Knight, to win the game.) 85The Genesis of & Do the same considerations apply here? In deciding on your move for Black, please evaluate 1... Bxb5, 1... Bb7, 1... Ke7, and 1... Bd7. 3-40. Lombardy—Gliksman, NY 1985, Black to move. Power Chess Ei Suppose that after 1... Ke7 in the previous position White makes a reckless attempt to win by 2. e6 Kd6 3. e7, bringing us to this position. What should Black do? 3-41. Black's 3rd move. ANSWER White has an extra pawn, but the position is sealed up; so there is no way for his King to penetrate and secure the victory. As a result, there aren’t many ways for Black to lose, but one way is I... Bxb5? When White recaptures, 2. axb5, he has two passed pawns, separated and far enough advanced that Black’s King cannot deal with both of them (2... Kc7 3. e6 Kd6 4. b6 Kxe6 5. b7 and queens). In the game Black played 1... Bb7, and after 2. Ke2 Ke7 White conceded the draw. Black followed the principle for the inferior side of keeping pieces on the board, which is fine here, even though not necessary to draw. In fact Black can allow the exchange of Bishops, as long as he doesn’t disturb the pawn position; either I... Kc7 2. Bxc6 Kxc6 or 1... Bd7 2. Bxd7 Kxd7 leaves White unable to win (for, as mentioned above, his King can never penetrate into Black’s position, and Black has only to keep an eye on the e-pawn). 86 ANSWER Now Black turns the tables with 3... Bxb5 4. axb5 Kxe7. Black’s King, having picked off the e-pawn, is still in the “square” to get the b- pawn, too. Then ...Cashing In at the End—3 3... Black brings his King to b5 and pushes his a-pawn, producing a position such as the one below. What should he do next? 3-42. Black to move. ANSWER Don't play I... a37, which gives Black a beautifully protected passed pawn he can admire from a distance, as the pawn barricade keeps out the black King just as it kept out White's King when he was hoping to win in the previous diagram. Instead, Black must open a path for his King by 1... axb3. After 2. Kxb3 KaS 3. Kb2 Ka4 Black works his way forward, and after 4. Ka2 b3t 5. Kb2 Kb4 6. Kb1 Ke3 Black gets the d-pawn and the win is easy. Note that this time, contrary to the general principle, the win requires trading off a pair of pawns. B Time for a new position. Here Black is a Rook up but his King is a fugitive, and there are various threats. What should he do? 3-43. Bouaziz—DeFirmian, Gammarth Interzonal, 1985, at Black’s 31st move. ANSWER Black played 31... Rf8 and White resigned. After 32. Bxf8 Qxf8 33. Qxf8 Nxf8 the game is reduced to a simple endgame that Black would win easily with his extra Knight. Naturally, Black is quite happy to trade his Queen and Rook for White’s Queen and Bishop to achieve this result. 87The Genesis & Here White is on the move with an extra piece. How should he proceed? 3-44. Dzindzichashvili—Timman, Tilburg, 1985, at White's 49th move. ANSWER Trade down? Wait a minute! If 49. Nxb6?, there is only the a-pawn with the “wrong” Bishop left for White. White must keep his Knight to win, so he played 49. Kd3. The game continued 49... Kb4 50. Ba3+ Ka4 51. Bd6 and White is making progress. For the last phases of this game, look back to positions 2-68c/d. of Power Chess In this position Black is only slightly ahead in material, but he does have an advanced passed pawn. What can you make of it? 3-45. Goldenov—Kortchnoi, USSR. Ch., 1952, at Black’s 45th move. ANSWER The key is in controlling the pawn’s file. The immediate 45... d2 is stopped by 46. Rd6, but by first placing his Rook behind the passed pawn with 45... Rd8 Kortchnoi induced his opponent to resign. Now of course 46. Rd6 is met by 46... Rxd6 47. cxd6 d2, etc., while 46. Bf4 runs into 46... Rxf4f (better than the prosaic 46... d2 47. Bxd2 Rxd2) 47. Kxf4 d2 and queens. The only way to stop the pawn is (45... Rd8) 46. Rb6 d2 47. Rbl dl=Q 48. Rxdl Rxd1, but that is really hopeless. 88Cashing In at the End—3 & Material is even below, but White’s pawns look much better, don’t they? Can you show why? 3-46. Symslov—Lilienthal, Moscow Ch., 1938, at White's 52nd move. a oa, oy flay YU UT. & How do you make progress for White here? (Any similarity between this and the previous position is not coincidental.) 3-47. Smyslov—Lilienthal, Moscow Ch., 1938, at White's 46th move. 3-47 ANSWER This time the correct process is to push the d-pawn and get the Rook behind it: 52, d7 Ra8 (note that if 52... Rd4, 53. Rd6 ends any resis- tance) 53. Rd6 Rd8. At this point Black has stopped the passed pawn, but in doing so he has had to immobilize his Rook. However, White must be sure he can support his advanced forces before they become vulnerable. Smyslov continued 54. £4 Kf8 55. £5 Ke7 56. f6t, forcing back Black's King and putting him into near paralysis, whereupon Black resigned. ANSWER Both general principles and perhaps a sharp memory can help you here: the correct move is 46. Qf4 in order to force an exchange of Queens. (If Black declines, by 46... Qd8, we have position 3-29, where White wins quickly.) After 46... Qxf4 47. Rxf4, White has a fairly easy time, with the finish shown in the previous position. The wrong move, though, is 46 47, which would be good in principle but fails here because of Black’s counterattack with 46..... Ral. With 47... Qgl# threatened, White has no salvation in either 47. Qg2 Qxe5t 48. Qg3 Qxd4 or 47. h4 Qel t 48. Kh3 Ra3t 49. f3 Ra2, etc. Thus, forcing the exchange of Queens makes it much easier for White to exploit his advantage without hindrance. 89The Genesis of & Then what do you do for White to move here? 3-48. Botvinnik—Lilienthal, Moscow, 1936, at White’s Power Chess For emphasis, let’s go back over applications of this principle of trading pieces when ahead in the next few positions. 33rd move. 3-49. White to move. 3-48 Pe J, ag aaa ah fs Y ret Y UV, Y, Ya “2 aa “eC ANSWER The principles of trading off when ahead (White’s menacing a- pawn is a considerable advantage, even though material is even) or to clear the way for your passed pawn apply here. Botvinnik played 33. Re8} Rxc8 34. Nxc8, and now the a-pawn threatens to queen. Black continued 34... Ne8 35. a6 Nc7 36. a7 Na8 (the threat was 37. Nb6) 37. Nxd6 and White won easily. Thus the move that is good on general principles (33. Re8t) turns out to be the start of a five-move forced variation resulting in the gain of a pawn. We can expect a good player with time for thought to work this through, but we can also expect any experienced player (and this book aims to make you such) to find the starting move quickly on general principles (it must be good to elimi- nate the Rooks in such a position). 90 ANSWER The Queens on the board would make all sorts of difficulties, but White wins in a walk by forcing their exchange with either 1. Qd4f or I Qb3F. (This position is analysis from Cayford—Zagarovsky, U.S.A.- U.S.S.R. Correspondence Match, 1984-85, where Black resigned before reaching this position.)Cashing In at the End—3 B Can Black (to move) cash in on his slight material advantage here? 3-50. Cirino—Shvartsman, U.S. Amateur, 1985, at Black's & Here, a similar opportunity is presented to White; should he take it? 3-51. Yuchtman—Ault, NY Open 53rd move. 1974, at White’s 47th move. 3-50] Yi ‘A we ANSWER This is a typical position where the Rook must be given up at the right moment for a Bishop and pawn. in order to win. Here, after 53... Rxg3 54. Bxg3 Kxg3 Black gets a second pawn right away, and—most important—wins the ending with his remaining pawn. White tried 55. h5 gxh5 56. Kd2 Kg2 before resigning. Also futile is 54. Bf6 Rh3 55. Kd2 Rxh4 56. Bxh4 Kxh4 57. Ke2 Kg3, and Black’s King is still placed so as to escort the pawn to paydirt. Note that these winning lines depend on White’s King being far enough away so that Black has time to gobble the last pawn and get his King back to a sufficient escort position. ANSWER He should: 47. Rxe6 Bxe6 48. Kxe6 produces a winning position, as Black can’t hang on to his pawn after 48... Kg6 49. Ke5. I persisted with 49... Kg? 50. Kxf5 Kf7 51. Ke5 Kg6 52. Ke6 before resigning. Most important in the decision to give up a Rook for Bishop and pawn is seeing that White wins a second pawn after that. It may also help to realize that White has reached an optimum deploy- ment of his pieces and can’t really improve his position, so it’s time to take the plunge with the Rook 91The Genesis of Power Chess & How should White continue 4 Well then, what should White do here? here? Be careful! 3-52. White to move. 3-53. Capablanca—Janowski, San Sebastian, 1911, at White’s 65th move. ANSWER White wins at once by 1. e8=Qt Rxc8 2. Rxc8 Kxc8 3. Ke6, collect? _____ANSWER ing Black’s pawns. Naturally White Capablanca won with 65. Qh8t is pleased to give up his passed pawn Ke4 66. Qe8t. With a little fore- toreduce the position to such aneasy sight, White ends up a Queen ahead, win. (In the first game of the second whereas 65. Qc5# only trades Kasparov—Karpov World Champi- Queens into a hairy ending, and the onship Match, 1985, Karpov re- crude 65. Qxb8 lets Black out signed at adjournment rather than through perpetual check (65... have this or a similar position arise. Qc2t 66. Kal Qcl7, etc.). within a few moves.) Always be on the lookout for opportunities to liquidate into winning King endings. 92Cashing In & Can you find a good move for White in this position? 3-54. Dzindzichashvili—Timman, Tilburg, 1985, at White’s 45th move. at the End—3 & What would you do for Black here? 3-55. Leonhardt—Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911, at Black’s 24th move. 3-55 ANSWER With a Knight for two doubled pawns, White is ahead and would like to trade off pieces, especially Black's active Rook. That opportunity is present, and White forced the exchange with 45. Rg4 Rxg4 46. Nxg4. It may seem surprising that Black’s Rook on an open board can be confined, but you might have noticed to start with that the Rook has nowhere to move on the 3rd rank. With the Rooks gone, White domi- nates the board; later stages of this game are shown in positions 2-68c/d and 3-26b. ANSWER Black can force the trade of Rooks, which should be easy to spot; and he should do so following the principle of trading pieces and reducing to a simpler endgame, even though Black's advantage is small and the win a long way off. The game went 24... Ral 25. Rxal Bal, and Capablanca won in another 36 moves. (Later positions from this game are shown in positions 3-18 and 3-19.) 93The Genesis of & And how should White, two pawns up, wind up this position? 3-56. Ault—Kappler, NJ 1974, at White's 34th move. DIZ aoe ee ti = ANSWER The immediate liquidation by 34. Qb7t results in the crippling of White's pawns after 34... Qxb7 35. axb7 Nd7 (meeting the threat of 36. Bb4). White now would have a lot of work to do to win, and that is too high a cost unless Black has real threats for counterplay. Accordingly, White should look to exploiting his threatening forces while taking care that any counterattack can be controlled. That leads to the correct move, 34. Ba5, which both threatens and covers Black’s only immediate counterattack: if 34... Bxf4 35. exf4 Qxf4 White now has 36. Qc77, trading Queens. In the game Black tried the slower 34... g5, but had to resign after 35. Bb6 gxf4 36.a7. 94 Power Chess B Bring home the win for White here. 3-57. Kavalek—Portisch, Thessaloniki Olympiad, 1984, at White's 53rd move. ANSWER White uses his passed pawn and the possibility of trading down to finish the game: 53. {6 and Black resigned. If now 53... Rxgt, 54. Rg6 compels the trade of Rooks, leaving nothing to stop the fpawn. Or if 53... Rxa2, 54. {7 Ra8 55. Rf6t wins the Rook for the pawn. The most sophisticated defense is 53... R2t 54. Ke6 Rxa2 55. {7 Ra8 56. Ke7 Kxg4, which brings us to the next position ...Cashing In at the End—3 ... Black now hopes, after giving up his Rook for White’s pawn, to use his own remaining pawn to the same effect. How can White finish off the game most easily? 3-58. White's 57th move. aw on Ui, ju, ju, jl Sata & How should Black proceed here with his one-pawn advantage? 3-59, Menchik—Capablanca, Hastings, 1931, at Black’s 31st move. 389] YU, (v8) BA YG wre xm as ANSWER By 57. Re6, White threatens both to screen the pawn with 58. Re8 and to simply capture Black's pawn with 58, Rxe5. Black has no way to counter both threats; for example, after 57... Ra7 58. Rxe5 Black will soon have to give up his Rook. The best practical chance is 57. Kf5 58. Re8 Ra7 59. Kg8 Rxf? 60. Kxf?, where White must demon- strate a little technique in stopping the pawn (which you can practice playing out, if you're interested). ANSWER In general, Black should be happy to trade off Bishops so as to more easily exploit his extra pawn with only Kings left. Here he can force this exchange by 31... Bg5, but there is another important factor that must be considered, too. White’s King is already in the center, well- posted for the endgame, while Black’s King is still tucked away from, the action. Trading Bishops at this point would be disastrous, for White’s King turns vicious: 31. Bg5? 32. Bxg5 hxg5 33. Ke3 (uh-oh!) Kf8 34. Kd4 Ke7 35. Kc5 a6, reaching a position worth coming back to. But first, the correct move: Capa- blanca played 31... a6 32. Be3 Kf8 (the reverse order of moves is also OK), bringing his King to the center to oppose White’s King, and won in another ten moves. Remember, trading pieces when you're ahead is generally good strategy, but don’t follow this or any other principle blindly. 95The Genesis of Power Chess As just mentioned, this hypo- thetical position is worth a further look. How should White proceed? 3-60. White's 36th move. memeeiee YY a ae 2 BS ANSWER Clearly White's King is poised to erase the material deficit, but playing 36. Kb6 at once would be a greedy blunder. The reply would be 36... b4! and Black queens a pawn. Seeing this, you can take preventive action first and still go pawn-gobbling with your King. After 36. a3 4 37. Kb6 Kd7 we reach the following position 96 A... 61. White's 38th move. for you to play for White. ANSWER Once again a little patience is called for—think before you grab! If 38. Kxa6 Black defends his b-pawn with 38... Kc6, and while White can still win, it will take clever play for many moves (work it through, if you're interested). However, it is much simpler to exhaust Black’s pawn moves right here and force his King back, like so: 38. h3 gxh3 39. gxh3 g5 40. £3 Kd8. Now White’s King can pluck all three pawns (41. Kxa6 Ke7 42. Kxb5 Kb7 43. Kxc4), and the win is easy as pie. Note also that if Black tries 40... a5, the correct procedure is 41, Kxb5 first.Cashing In at the End—3 REVIEW PRACTICE: Let us pause and conclude this chapter with four sets of review positions. See how easily you can solve them. Black to move in (c), White to move in all others. 3-62a 3-62b YG,7 cal “ Pag 4 Z \Y g 27, as oD 3-62d | JA a, 127), 3-62c w ANSWERS (a) Kasparov—Short, London Speed Match, game 1, 1987. The pawn marches: 61. e7 and Black resigned. (b) Popovic—Bellin, Hastings, 1980-81. Another unstoppable pawn, perhaps a little harder to see because a sacrifice is necessary: 1. b4 and Black resigned. (c) Browne—Alburt, U.S. Ch., 1986. The straightforward 83... hl=Q 84. Bxhl Rxhl isnot sufficient to win. Instead Black gives up his Rook to protect his new Queen: 83... Rg2 84. Nel h1=Q 85. Nxg2, and after 85... Qalt 86. Kd3 Qd1t 87. Ke4 Qd2 Black soon won. (d) Kortchnoi—Tal, Wijk aan Zee, 1968. Just as you want to guard and push through your own passed pawns, you want to block and capture your opponent's. Kortchnoi played 44. Ra7 Rb8 45. h5 Kg8 46. Rxad and won the ending. If White messes around, such as by 44. Rd6, then 44... Ra8 and the pawn becomes a menace. 97The Genesis of Power Chess REVIEW PRACTICE: Here are four more—can you use your passed pawns? Black to move in (a) and (b), White to move in the others. 3-63a| 3-63b| 77 B ae3d| 2 ANSWERS (a) Kasparian—Simagin, Sochi, 1952. Cash in your passed pawn: 1... Bb5 2. Bxg7 f1=Q 3. Rxf1 Bxfl 4. Bxh6 Be2, and Black collected the pawns and won. (b) From analysis by Kasparov. The knightmare strikes: 1... c2 2. Re5 Nd3 3. Rxc2 Nel # and wins. (c) Sax—Fedorowicz, NY 1986. White blasted through with 31. Qxe8t Qxc8 32. d7 Qa8 33. Rxc6 Re8 34. Rdel and Black resigned. (d) Fischer—Euwe, Leipzig Olympiad, 1960. Fischer finished with 34. Re7t Kd3 35. Rxc3# Kxc3; and now the key move, which hopefully you saw, 36. Be5!, and Black resigned (the a-pawn queens). 98Cashing In at the End—3 REVIEW PRACTICE: Another four, to queen or not. Black to move in (a) and (d), White to move in the others. 3-64a 3-64b 3-64c 3-64d Y ANSWERS (a) Gold—Dlugy, National Open, 1987. Black won by 37... 3 38. K£3 (hopeless, but so is 38. dxe3 Bxc3 with 39... d2 next) e2, and White gave up here (if 39. Kf2, 39... Bh4t). (b) Petrov-—Grau, Buenos Aires Olympiad, 1939. Black seems to have everything closed up and covered, but, as often happens in such positions, a temporary sacrifice rips it open: 35. Nxb7 Rxb7 36. Rxb7 and Black resigned, seeing that 36... Qxb7 37. Qa7 has no answer. (©) McKay—Hort, Lucerne Olympiad, 1982. White is comfortably ahead, but the correct way to cash in is 46. Bd4¥. Black resigned here, since the e-pawn must queen whether he takes the Bishop (46... Rxd4 47. Rxd4 Kxd4 48. ¢7) or not (46... Ke4 47. e7 Re8 48. Rd8). As you should see, the immediate 46. ¢7 allows 46... Re4, which the correct Bishop sacrifice blocks. (d) Fischer—Tal, Candidates’ Trn., 1959. Black should want to win this position, and needs his b-pawn to do so; Tal played 45... b3 and won in several more moves. In general, as here, avoid trading pawns when ahead. 99The Genesis of Power Chess REVIEW PRACTICE: And finally, finish off with these four. White to move in (d), Black to move in all others. 36a] J BERT, 7) A, 3-65c ANSWERS (a) Short—Kasparov, London Speed Match, game 2, 1987. Black is winning, but White's doubled Rooks can cause all sorts of trouble. Kasparov played 51... Re#t 52. Ke5 Re4¥ and White resigned. Not only does a pait of Rooks go off, but White's King will get cut off from the pawns (53. Kd5 Rxe8 54. Rxe8 Rd3#) (b) Unzicker—Botvinnik, Amsterdam Olympiad, 1954. Black has two ways to get a pawn back, and Botvinnik correctly chose 67... Re4t 68. KF1 Rxe5, keeping Rooks on the board and soon drawing. The altemative is suspect on general principles and wrong by specific analysis: 67... Rxf6? 68. ex{6 Kxh6 69. Ke2 Kg6 70. Ke3 Kaf6 71. Kf Ke6 72. Kxg4 and with his King in front of the pawn, White wins. (c) Speelman—Timman, Mendetaxco Interzonal, 1985. Ahead but bothered, Black liquidated with 30... Rel t 31. Kg2 Qe4t 32. Qxe4 Rxe4 33. Bxh6 Re6 and won. (d) Alburt—Speelman, U.S.U.K. Match of Champions, game 4, 1986. White can trade Queens at any time, so the urgent business is to support the d-pawn. Alburt played 35. Rd3 RhSt 36. Kg? Re2t 37. Kf3 Rexh2 38. d7 and eventually won, Various move orders will win, but the key idea is for White to get a Rook behind his passed pawn. 100As we have seen, the key to winning in the endgame is to queen a pawn. In the last chapter we looked at examples of pushing and support- ing a passed pawn, ways of clearing the way for the pawn, and the principle of trading pieces, but not pawns, when ahead. In this chapter we will look further at issues involving getting to queen a pawn, concentrating more on some of the pawn- play techniques involved. EB Lecus start with a position requir- ing some clear thought, perhaps aided by what you have learned previously. How should Black proceed? 4-1. Englisch—Steinitz, London, 1883, at Black’s 41st move. Using “technique” to win when materially ahead is emphasized in Genesis. Do not assume you know what in reality you neither know nor practice, ANSWER Most obvious is the capture 41... Kxh4, but after 42. Kf4 White gets the pawn back and his King is closer to the remaining pawns on the other side of the board, the typical advantage resulting from the “outside passed pawn.” With this understand- ing, you can quickly judge Black is in trouble in this line, and if you go into it further, analysis will show Black in fact loses. So something else is needed. Steinitz, the acknowledged World Champion at the time, played 41... £441 Now if 42. Kf2, 42... Kxh4 43. Kf3 Kg5, and Black holds on to the extra pawn and wins easily; so White tried 42. Ke4 to stay next to the pawn. But that doesn’t stop it, and after 42... {3 43. Ke3 Kg3 White resigned, for Black queens well ahead of White's h-pawn. 101The Genesis of Power Chess & Now figure out what to do for White in this basic position. White to move. 42. ANSWER The correct move, which may or may not be obvious, is 1. g4! Mate- rial is even, but the position is unbalanced with each player having a two- to-one majority on one side of the board. In general, each player wants to advance his own pawn majority and create a passed pawn. Also each player should hold back his oppo- hent’s majority, if possible. Here White has a golden opportunity, for 1. g4 cripples Black—for a while at least, White's one pawn holds back Black’s two. Meanwhile White will be able to use his own pawn majority and win the game. It is hopeless for Black to go to the aid of his pawns: 1... Kf6 2. ba Kg6 3. a4 hS 4. gxhSt Kxh5 5. b5, etc.—Black is too late. Instead he must hang around in the center with 1... Kd5. Now White must think carefully, for 2. b4? allows 2... Ke4, and 2. Kd3 Ke5 threatens to penetrate at 4 and obliges 3. Ke3 Kd5, repeating the position. But 2. b3! marks time constructively (keeps Black out of c4) and leads to a win, though White must still play accu- rately: 2... Ke5 3. b4 Kd5 4. Kd3!, and the extra tempo gives White a win in the race resulting from 4... Ke5 5. a4 Kf4 6. b5 Kxg4 7. a5, etc. 2. b3 also works against I... a5 # And here is a practical example, Black to play. 43. Friend—Ault, NJ 1973, at Black’s 48th move. ANSWER The usefulness of crippling the opponent's pawns applies here, too, and takes precedence over cashing in the advanced pawn for the Bishop. The correct move is 48... h5, and after 49. c6 b1=Q 50. Bxb1 Bxb1 51. 7 Bf5 Black wins. In real life 1 must confess [ played the hasty 48... bl=Q 49. Bxbl Bxbl, but now 50. g4! allowed White to draw, since Black cannot preserve his last pawn. 102More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 This time it might appear that White has crippled Black’s extra pawn. Is that really so, or can Black do something to win? 4-4. Martinez—Cobo, Havana Olympiad, 1966, at Black’s 47th move. Ui, ANSWER In fact the Epawn is not really stopped; Black played 47... £4! and White resigned. Either way White captures allows Black to quickly queen his e-pawn: 48. Bxf4 Buf 49. ex{4 Kd2 50. f5 037 or 48. exf4 e3¢ 49. Kel Bb4j. If White declines to capture, say by 48. Bh6, Black can win as he chooses by either 48... 3 49. BgS Bg3t 50. Kfl (keeping the pawn blocked, while if 50. Kxg3, 50... Ke2 and the f-pawn queens) Kd2 and something must give, or 48... fxe3t 49. Bxe3 Bg3t 50. Kxg3 Kxe3. Obviously here White wants to queen one of his pawns. The question is, how? White to move. 45. ANSWER Neither direct push of a pawn works: I. e77 allows Black to liquidate to a draw by 1... Bxe7 2. fxe7t Kxe7, while 1. {7 allows Black to set up an unbreakable blockade, most simply by 1... Ke7 followed at some point by ...Kf8 (essential when White threatens to bring his King to g7 or g8), after which Black can move his Bishop ad infinitum as long as it controls e7. The winning process, quite simple once you realize the pawn pushes don’t work yet, is to bring up the King: 1. Kg6 followed by 2. Kf7 and 3. e7f. 103The Genesis of Power Chess Here it’s two connected passed pawns against a Rook. What should White do? 4-6. White to move. oetANS WERE Here White must push right away, and the one to push is clearly the b-pawn: 1. b6. Now either pawn threatens to advance, and if 1... Rh6 White gives up one to queen the other: 2. a7 Rxb6 3. a8=Q or 2. b7 Rxa6 3. b8=Q and White can play on to win with Queen against Rook. Al- ternatively, Black can try to get his King on the scene to help, but it is just too late: 1. b6 Kd6 2. a7! (but not 2. b7? Kc7 and Black wins) Rh8 3. b7 Kc7 4. a8=Q and wins (but not 4. b8=Q7? Rxb8 5. axb8=Qt Kxb8 draw). As shown here, two connected passed pawns on the 6th rank win against a Rook, in the absence of Kings. Since the pawns can do it on their own, White doesn’t need to bring over his King to help by 1. Ke4? In fact, that would be fatal, for it lets Black’s King get close enough too, and the game turns in Black’s favor: 1... Kd6 2. b6 Kc6 3. b7 Rh8 4. a7 Kxb7. & Material is even below, but White has two advanced pawns. Can he make use of them? 4-7. Benko—Gruenfeld, NY Open, 1986, at White’s 33rd move. yg Y 4 ANSWER Yes he can, in two ways. Benko played 33. Rxa7 Rxa? 34. b6, and Black resigned. As you have seen, the Rook alone can’t deal with the two advanced pawns, though note that after 34... Ral White must play 35. b7 Rbl 36. c7 to win, while 35. 7? Ka7 loses. Alternatively, White could win by 33. 66, for after 33... axb6 34. Ra8t Ke7 35. c7 (35. Ra7t Ke6 36. Rxf7 also wins) R/S 36. Raf8 Kxf8 37. 8=QF. 104More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 A Here are two variations of the previous position. In each, decide whether one (which?) or both or neither of the methods works to win for White to move. 4-8a HX White's advantage here lies with his passed pawn. What should he do with it? 49. Capablanca—Villega, Buenos Aires, 1914, at White's 30th move. ANSWER In (a) only the Rook sacrifice works: 1. Rxa7 Rxa7 2. b6, etc., as before. With the Rook on e7 instead, 1. b6? axb6 2. Ra8t Kf7 leaves White looking foolish and having to fight for the draw. Ie’s vice versa in (b), where the winning line is 1. b6 axb6 2. Ra8t, etc. With the King on gl instead, the Rook sacrifice fails because Black gains a vital tempo by checking: 1. Rxa7? Rxa7 2. b6 Ralf 3. Ke2 Kd8 and Black’s King holds the pawns. __ ANSWER _____ Push it! While after 30. 6 the pawn is not going any further in the near future, the closer it is to queening, the more of a threat it is. By contrast, most other moves allow Black to play 30... Qc6 and blockade the pawn one square further back. The importance of this difference can be seen in the game continuation: 30... Kg7 31. a4 Rd6 32. Qe5t £6, bringing us to .. 105The Genesis of Power Chess 24 White? this position. What now for 4-10. Capablanca—Villega, Buenos Aires, 1914, at White’s 33rd move. ANSWER Capablanca continued 33. Qxd6 Qxd6 34. 7 and Black resigned, for he can’t stop the pawn except by giving up his Queen for it and leaving White a Rook ahead. (Now you see why Capablanca played 30. c6.) B In this position White has the possibility of a similar combination that could end the game quickly. Can you see it? How about it? 4-11. Tal—Kortchnoi, U.S.S.R. Ch., 1958, at White’s 33rd move. —___ ANSWER ____ Tal, probably under time pressure, saw “it” and played 33. h6#? Rxh6 34. Qxh6t? Kxh6 35. g7, but resigned when Kortchnoi played 35... Qxg3t (obviously after 36. fxg3 Kxg7 it is hopeless). Correct was 33. Of3 Qd5 34. Qf4, which will quickly produce a draw by repetition since Black cannot let White’s Queen penetrate to the 7th rank, while White cannot afford to lose his h-pawn. A point of unusual interest here is 33... QbS. For example, 34. Qf4 5 35. h67 Rxh6 36. Qxh6+ Kxh6 37. g7 QbIt 38. Kh2! Qxe2! If White goes 39. g8=N7 he's probably lost. On the other hand 41. g8=Q obliges Black to take a perpetual. Also, 33.. Qb5 34. a4 pretty much forces 34... Qd5 etc. 106More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 In this next position pawns are even, and White's only advantage seems to be his more advanced passed pawn. What can you find to give White a decisive advantage? 4-12. White to move. I, Uj), nm eset 2 ANSWER With 1. b4! White forces two connected passed pawns on the 5th rank, by either I... bxc4 2. bxc5 or L... exb4 2. c5 (in the latter case at the cost of a pawn, which here is trivial). Black is then helpless to stop the “pawn roller”—e.g., 1... cxb4 2. 5 Rh4 3. d6 Rd4, and now ... & ... in the resulting position, how can White win? 4-13. White’s 4th move. ANSWER White has two ways to win. One is to make use of a checking possibility to queen one of his pawns: 4. Re8t (this check can be made now or on either of the next two moves) Kg7 5. c6 Rxd6 6. c7 Re6 7. c8=Q Rxc8 8. Rxc8 and White wins easily enough with his excta Rook, though some care is required. The other method involves putting White's Rook behind one of his passed pawns: 4. Rel (or 4. Re2 with similar intent) Kg7 5. Re] and Black can’t stop the c-pawn, not even by giving up his Rook for it (5... Kf8 6. 6! Rxd6 7. c7, etc.). 107The Genesis of Power Chess B How should White proceed in this position? 4-14, Chiburdanidze— Akmilovskaya, Women’s World Ch. Match, game 5, 1986, at White's 36th move. ANSWER The pedestrian 36. gxh5? leaves White stymied after 36... h6, but White, the Women’s World Cham- pion at the time, played 36. g5! This leaves Black’s h-pawns as sitting ducks to White's King, and Black resigned after 36... Kd8 37. Kh4. A simple continuation is 37... Ke7 38. Kxh5 Kf8 39. Kh6 Ke8 40. Bxh7 Kh8 41, g6 Bud5 42. o7#. B Here Black's pawns are menacing, but White seems to have enough forces to hold them back. In fact, Black can force a decisive advantage. How? 4-15. Marshall—Capablanca, Match, game 23, 1909, at Black's 31st move. BOE) BAS: Bae “E Z ANSWER Capablanca played 31... b3 32. Rd2 (if 32. Re3, 32... Rxb2 33. Bret Rc2 wins) Rel 33. Bdl (necessary to stop 33... Re2) and now, with White's pieces disorganized ... 108More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 & ... just in case you didn’t see this far, what next? 4-16. Marshall—Capablanca, Match, game 23, 1909, at Black’s 33rd move. 4-16 ANSWER Capablanca bagged a piece with 33... 3 34. bxc3 b2 35. Rxb2 Rxd1. Even so, Marshall with two pawns for his lost Bishop wasn’t ready to resign, and put his Rook behind his passed pawn with 36. Re2, giving us ... ... this position. True, Black has enough of an advantage that he can afford some sloppy play and still wins but it’s so much easier to bear down now instead of relaxing, and finish off the game. That's what Capa- blanca did; how about you? 4-17. Marshall—Capablanca, Match, game 23, 1909, at Black’s 36th move. ANSWER The passed pawn will be an an- noyance, and it can be blocked by 6... Bed; but this leaves Black’s pieces rather unaggressive. There is a much better move, which Capa- blanca played: 36... Bf5! First of all, this drives away White's Rook and allows Black to attack the c-pawn from behind with his own Rook: 37. Rb2 Rel. When White defended with 38. Rb3, Capablanca continued 38... Be4t 39. Kh3 (the alternative 39. 3 Re2f loses a pawn at once) Re2. At this point White's Rook is “off in left field,” while Black's Rook and Bishop create serious threats to White’s King. In the game, Black soon won. 109The Genesis of Power Chess & Turing to a new position, we again find some menacing pawns. But this time consider for the other player—what should Black do about them? 4-18. Henley—Ault, World Open, 1976, at Black's 43rd move. 4-18 ANSWER In order to stop the pawns Black must blockade them, which must be done with one pawn ahead of the other, not when they are next to each other. Because of White’s light- squared Bishop, a successful blockade must be on the dark squares with the pawns on the light squares. But White will not willingly allow this; instead he will seek to advance first on the dark squares, using his Bishop to remove any blockade on the light squares—e.g., 43... Bxa3 44. f6 Reb 45. BS Re8 46. e6 is hopeless for Black. So Black must take forcing action, specifically by attacking the e-pawn at once to force it forward to a light square. This can be done by 43... Bd4 or 43... Bd6. | played the latter, relying on the tactical pin (44. exd6? Rxe2t), and after 44. e6 Kg7 the pawns were blockaded and the a- pawn was still under attack. The blockade, along with the opposite- colored Bishops, pretty much nulli- fies White’s material advantage, and the game was agreed drawn in another few moves. In this position, again with opposite-colored Bishops, Black has two extra pawns but White appears to have them securely blocked. True? How should Black proceed? 4-19, Jarecki—Benko, NY 1964, at Black’s 52nd move. ANSWER Black exposes the blockade as a sham with 52... a5! After 53. bxaS (obviously the Bishop must stay on the gl-a7 diagonal), Black has a second passed pawn. True, Black gives up a pawn and allows White a passed pawn, but that one pawn is easily stopped. On the other hand, Black’s two passed pawns are more than White can cope with. The game concluded 53... b4 54, a6 b3 55. Bd4 £2 and White resigned (of course 56. Bxf2 lets the b-pawn through). 110More Fun at the Cashier’s Window—4 This time White has one extra pawn, but Black, helped by the opposite-colored Bishops, is hoping for a blockade. Can he get away with that against Fischer? Play for White. 4-20. Fischer—Sandrin, North Central Open, 1957, at White's 35th move. eel Li, - yg As in the last position, one passed pawn can be blocked success- fully, but not two. Fischer played 35. fxg5 hxg5 36. h4 exh4 37. exh4 and soon won by penetrating with his King. Here’s how: 37... Bd4 38. a4 Bf6 39. h5 Bg5 40. Kd3 Kb6 41. Ke4 Be3 42. Bf3 Ke? 43. Kd5 and Black resigned. Here the pawns are even, and each side has a passed pawn. What should Black do? 4-21. Power—Ault, NJ 1974, at Black’s 35th move. 421) 7 Y ANSWER Black can’t race with the passed pawns, for 35... a4? 36. c5 a3 37. c6 is winning for White. But he can take the opportunity to block White first: 35... Be5 is the move. Now Black can advance his a-pawn, while White is throttled—an important feature of the position is that White’s Rook is tied down to protect his back rank, and so can't be used to bother the blockading Bishop. It took some time, but Black eventually won. iiThe Genesis of Power Chess B. This time not only are the pawns even, but neither side has a passed pawn. What should White do about this? 4.22. Smyslov—Konstantinopolsky, Moscow, 1939, at White’s 31st i move. ANSWER Create a passed pawn—Smyslov played 31. c5 dxc5 32. dxc5, giving him a clear advantage. Of course the game is far from won, and Black re- sisted for another 25 moves, but getting a passed pawn to threaten and tie down the opponent was the first step. & Here White to move has a choice, but you can figure it out. 4-23. Fischer—Spassky, World Ch. Match, game 16, 1972, at White’s 33rd move. W “eC a Re ANSWER The choice is between taking off Black’s a-pawn or saving the h-pawn (in which case Black will then protect his a-pawn). Fischer played 33. Rxa6 Rxh2, reducing the pawns and producing an easy draw (which could have been agreed at this point, but for other reasons Spassky played on for another 27 moves). With the correct move, White eliminates a distant passed pawn and leaves himself easily able to deal with Black’s only remaining potential threat, getting a passed h-pawn. More generally, the right move follows the principle that the inferior side should exchange pawns, but not pieces. 112More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 & Then what should White do here? 4-24. Euwe—Alekhine, World Ch. Match, game 17, 1937, at White’s 44th move. ANSWER Liquidate the pawns on the left side of the board. Euwe played 44. b6 for that purpose. Now 44... axb6 45. Rxb6? clarifies to an easy draw, so Alekhine tried 44... Ra3¥ 45. Kf2 a6 46. Rb8 Rb3 47. b7 Kg7 (necessary, for White threatened to win by 48. Re8t and 49. b8=Q). Euwe per- severed with his plan: 48. Ra8 Rxb7 49. Rxa6, and the draw was agreed. E In choosing your move for White in this position, first decide who has the better position. From this judgment follows what you should aim for. 4-25. Regan—Benko, U.S. Ch., 1978, at White’s 45th move. ANSWER First of all, Black has the better position, based on his outside passed pawn. This difference is of lasting importance, but the fact that White's King is better placed is only temporary and cannot be exploited to White’s advantage. Therefore White should be playing to draw, and it serves this purpose to exchange off pawns. He played 45. h4 Ke7 46. hxg5 hxg5, eliminating one pair of pawns. (Note that Black allowed White to make the exchange so as to keep better winning chances, rather than doing the trading himself by 45... gxh4 and leaving h-pawns.) Black still had the advantage and played on for another 15 moves, but White was able to hold the draw. The full principle, applicable here and in several previous positions, is: When ahead, trade pieces but not pawns; when behind, trade pawns but not pieces. 113The Genesis of Power Chess & Now what about here, with White to move? 4-26. Karpov—Vaganian, Budapest, 1973, at White’s 37th move. & ... with Black to move. Should he trade Queens or run away? 4-27. Karpov—Vaganian, Budapest, 1973, at Black’s 49th move. im a Y ae oe a a Vay cell ANSWER First off, it does White no good to play 37. Qxh6, for Black just gets the pawn back with 37... Bxf2; so you must look further. Then how about taking off the Bishop first? With 37. Nxc5 bxc5 38. Qxh6, White not only trades off pieces (following the principle) but also wins a pawn. How can this be wrong? Well, it is, because Black is left with a passed c-pawn, and after 38... c4 itis so menacing that White will have to force a draw by repeated checks. Karpov himself commented, “Black's passed pawn easily secures the draw;” so in the game he played 37. Nel Kg7 38. Nd3, preserving his winning chances and improving the position of his Knight. Subsequently it was Black who was obliged to trade his Bishop for the Knight on f4, and this next position was reached ... ANSWER He should run away. Here the principle holds, especially so in that Queen endings are usually very difficult to win, whereas the King ending resulting from 49... Qxb4 50. axb4 is fairly easily won for White with his extra pawn. The fact that the extra pawn is doubled makes little difference here, because among other things Black can’t keep them doubled. In the game Black played 49... Qf6, but after 50. £3! was in difficulty, went wrong, and lost (50... Qh4t 51. Kgl Qh5? 52. Qe7, leading to a forced exchange of Queens (e.g., 52... Qd5 53. Qe8t followed by either 54 Qe4t or 54. QeSt depending we the King goes). 114More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 & In this position, Black is behind and faces a decision. How should he resolve it? 4-28. Alekhine—Réti, Vienna, 1922, Black to move. ANSWER Again we have an illustration where you can't follow principles blindly. If you avoid exchanging Rooks and play 1... Re5 to protect the f-pawn, White continues 2. g5— of course White prefers not to exchange pawns, especially when he can establish two connected passed pawns on the 5th rank and steam- roller you. However, Réti saw that he could liquidate down and still draw, and played 1... Rxg4 2. Rxg4 fxg4t 3. Kxg4 Kg?, and a draw was agreed. Despite his extra pawn in the King ending, White can’t win. His only try is to leave the h-pawn as a decoy, go over and grab Black’s b-pawn, and queen the a-pawn. But Black has just enough time to grab the h-pawn and get his King back close enough to foil White. (Play it out if you wish; the main line runs 4. Kf4 Kh6 5. Ke4 Kxh5 6. Kd4 KgS 7. Ke4 Kf 8. Kxb4 Ke6! 9. KeS Kd7 10. Kb6 Ke8 11. Ka7 Kc7, etc.) BH Here Black has the only two pawns in a Rook ending, but one of the pawns is under attack. What should Black do about it? 4-29. Yusupov—DeFirmian, Thessaloniki Olympiad, 1984, at Black’s 67th move. LO 8 og 4-29 ANSWER Black has only two ways to protect his g-pawn, by placing his Rook alongside it or behind it. Correct is 67... Rg6, behind, following the general principle: place Rooks behind passed pawns. (From behind the pawn, the Rook can support the pawn’s advance and increase in mobility as the pawn advances.) The game proceeded 68. Ke3 g4, and Black won in another seven moves. 115The Genesis of Power Chess In contrast, this time Black is seriously behind. Is there hope? 4.30. Burger—Alburt, NY (Kavkasian), 1983, at Black’s 50th move. & And how should Black proceed here? 31. Ostermeyer—Dueball, German Ch., 1975, at Black’s 51st move. 4-31 ANSWER You bet! Although behind, Black does have a dangerous passed pawn which should be supported at once from behind—the principle in action again. After 50... Rb4! White's only way to stop the pawn is 51. Ral (not by 51. Nd3 b2) b2 52. RbI, but then White's Rook is immobilized, and Black cannot be prevented from exchanging off White's last pawn (by ...Kg7 and ...h6) while White takes the time to win the b-pawn. In the game, White realized this and simply took the immediate draw by perpetual check with 51. Ra8t (51.. Ke7 52. Ra7t, etc.), which suited Black fine. ANSWER White’s King protects his pawns, but Black’s pawn is in the hands of the Rooks. White is going to get behind it (which is the place to be, whether it is your own or an enemy pawn) before Black can. That leaves Black a choice of defending it from in front or along the side. Black correctly played 51... Rel, prepared to defend with 52... Rc4t, alongside. There Black will have chances to harass White with checks along the ranks without giving up his pawn, whereas in front of the pawn the Rook will have a more limited mobility (which decreases if he pushes the pawn). White still has adifficult win, but in this game Black managed to cause enough trouble and gained a draw. When stopping or pushing a pawn, the best place for the Rook(s), friendly or enemy, is behind the pawn. Get there first! 116More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 & Here is a similar position for you to think about. 4-32. Salomon—Kretzmer, NJ 1983, Black to move. How does Black deal with White's winning attempt? 4-33. Variation, at Black’s 3rd move. . i Y ANSWER Black can defend his pawn with 1... Rg2, but that would leave him in a passive position, and he would lose. To hold the game, Black must now harass to the fullest, starting with 1... Ret, and a draw was agreed shortly. Since Black is able to give checks on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ranks, White’s King can seek shelter either below on the 2nd rank or above on the 6th rank. But neither of these havens works; let us see why: (a)below, 2. Kc3 Re3t 3. Kd2, Black attacks the b-pawn and draws easily after 3... Ref 4. Rxf2 Rxb5 5. a5 Ke6, etc. (b)above, 2. KeS ReSt 3. Kb6—you solve it, in the next position... 117 ANSWER White’s last move was a mistake, punished by 3... Rg6!, leaving White no choice but to play 4. Rxg6 f1=Q. Now it is White who must play carefully, to hold the draw with his Rook and pawns against the Queen (5. Re6 to start with).The Genesis of Power Chess & Here isa position I faced as Black. 4.34. Feuerstein—Ault, Bergen Futurity, 1985, at Black’s 50th move. ANSWER The “obvious” move is to protect the pawn, and that’s what I played— 50... Rb2? Unfortunately, this Rook ends up doing little but protecting the pawn while White rolls forward. The game continued 51. Ke4 Rb4t 52. K£5 Rb2 53. f4 and White soon won. The correct move is to keep the Rook and King active and blockade White's pawns. Achieving these aims is worth giving up a pawn, so 50... al=Q! 51. Rxal Ke6 52. f4 Kf and White is unable to win. (Chess players typically can offer some good excuse for their losing move, but here it has some broader value—I “knew” I should be able to draw by sacrificing the pawn; but I had only a few seconds to make my move before the time control, and was afraid to make the plunge. Fool- ishly I told myself “Don’t give up the pawn yet—cover it and make the time control and then you'll have time to think it all out.” So I quickly made the “safe” move, and then had plenty of time to think about my lost position.) In this position White is trying to hold back the pawns and save the game. Can you help? 4-35. Part of a study by Chekhover. White to move. ANSWER Black is threatening 1... Kal followed by 2... b2, after which White has no way to stop both pawns. Therefore White must stop this threat now, and there is a way: 1. BE7. Obviously now 1... Kal abandons the b-pawn, but Black has two other tries. One is 1... Ka2, but that moves into a pin that prohibits the pawn from advancing, and White need only keep his Bishop on the diagonal by 2. Beé (or equivalent moves) and wait for Black to try something else. The other try is 1... Ka3, which clears the path for the pawn and doesn't move into a pin. You saw what to do now, didn’t you? If not, look again before proceeding... . After 1. Bf7 Ka3, White saves himself with 2. Bg6, ready to answer 2... b2 by 3. Bbl with a safe blockade. Of course 2... Ka2 is met by 3. Bf7, establishing the pin. 118More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 8 Can White win here? How? 4-36. End of a study by A. Troitzky. White to move ANSWER White has an advantage, but must “strike while the iron is hot.” Here that requires a tactical stroke based on combining the threat to queen the f-pawn and an attack on the Knight. White wins by 1. 7! Ke? 2. Ke3. Surprisingly, there is now no safe place to move the Knight, for 2... Nc5 gets zapped by 3. Bd6+, and similarly 2... NgS 3. B/6t (in either case the Bishop is immune to capture on pain of letting the pawn promote). Again here, decide how White should proceed—both his immediate move and the follow-up. 4-37. Ribli—Smyslov, Tilburg, 1984, at White's 36th move. ZWD oes y Os J, a"a"aa ___ANSWER__ White played 36. Qd4 and Black resigned. The resignation may seem surprising at first glance, but consider Black's problems. White is offering the trade of Queens (to Black’s unprotected Queen), and also sets up a two-against-one attack on Black’s pawn at a7. This pawn is blocking White's advanced pawn at a6, and its loss would be cata- strophic. If Black moves his Queen away White captures the pawn (e.g., 36... Qb5 37. Qxa7), and there is little to hinder White from clearing the way for his pawn and queening it, in particular since 37... QbIT 38. Kh2 leaves Black no more checks. On the other hand, trading Queens leads to ... 119The Genesis of Power Chess & ... this position, after 36... Qxd4 37. Bxd4 Bd6. What next for White? 4-38. White’s 38th move. ANSWER White simply takes off the a- pawn and uses his own: 38. Bxa7 Bxf4 39, Be3 Bb8 40. a7 Bxa7 41. Bxa7, winning easily. Obviously (I trust), the alternative of preserving the f-pawn by 38. Be3 and allowing Black to protect his a-pawn (by 38... Bb8) hardly merits consideration. & Now back to Rooks—what should White do here? 4-39. Kasparov—Karpov, World Ch. Match, game 48, 1984- 85, at White’s 64th move. ANSWER White has two extra pawns, but his g-pawn is under attack. He can take Black’s pawn in trade, but 64. Rxh7 Rxg4 leaves White’s position too disorganized to win (e.g., 65. Rh8 Rd4t 66. Kc5 Rh4 67. h7 Kg7 68. Rb8 Kxh7). Nor does checking help after 64. Re6t Kf7. That leaves defending the pawn, which can be done in two ways: 64. Re4 or 64. Rg7. The former is rela- tively passive, and once you realize that 64. Rg7! Rxg7 65. hxg7 Kxg7 66. Ke7 wins at once, the attractions of the latter become clear. Besides covering the g-pawn, it chases Black’s Rook, maintains the attack on Black’s h-pawn, and keeps Black’s King out of g5 where it would be troublesome. Kasparov played it (64. Rg7!). In reply, Karpov didn’t want to play the passive 64... Rh8, so he tried 64... Rd8t 65. Ke5 R54, bringing us to... 120More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 &... the position below. What should White do now? 4-40. Kasparov—Karpov, World Ch. Match, game 48, 1984- 85, at White's 66th move. 4-40 Here White has just captured on b3, and Black has three ways to recapture. Which one? Monokrousos—Lief, U.S. Junior Open, 1985, at Black’s 31st move. 441. ANSWER Of course you wouldn't play 66. Kxd5?? stalemate! Kasparov played 66. Ke4 Rd4f (one more offer) 67. Kc3, exhausting the checks (67... Rd3t 68. Kxd3 is not stalemate). At this point Karpov chose to resign rather than play on to the bitter end. (With this win, by the way, Kasparov brought the score to three wins for him and five for Karpov in this marathon match. But this turned out to be the final game, for the match was aborted without conclusion a few days later.) ANSWER The clear choice is with the pawn, creating a dangerous passed pawn. That's what Black played, and White's game quickly collapsed: 31... axb3 32. Qb2 Bxe2 33. Rxe2 c4, and White resigned in the face of the impending transfer of the Knight one6 toc5 to d3.The Genesis of Power Chess & What should Black do here? 4-42. Friend—Ault, NJ 1973, at Black’s 42nd move. ANSWER A pawn down, Black wants to draw, and must deal with the immediate threat of 43. Ke4. There is an incisive solution, supported by a tactical trick: 42... b3! Now 43. cxb3 loses the Bishop (if not the game) to 43... BAST, so White is more or less obliged to allow the exchange of pawns (43. Ke3 bxc2 44. Bxc2). Asa result, Black carries out the principle of exchanging pawns when behind, and furthermore re- moves the pawns entirely from one side of the board, producing an easily drawn position. (With no distant liability to worry about, Black can simply keep his King on or about g7 and glide his Bishop around the board for as long as White wants to keep trying.) In the actual game, I missed 42... b3! and played instead the unimag- inative 42... Be6. This induced White to try to win, but in doing so he almost lost (see position 4-3) before the game was eventually drawn. 122More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 REVIEW: The four positions below illustrate some of the principles covered in this and the previous chapter. Can you handle them? Black to move in (a) and (b), White to move in the others. 4-434 4-43b B 4-43c 4-43d ANSWERS (a) Nimzovich—Capablanca, Riga, 1913. White is just barely hanging on by stopping Black's passed pawn, so get another one: 57... h4 (this pawn is immune) 58. Ke3 g3 59. hxg3 h3! and White soon gave up. (b) Capablanca—Janowski, NY 1916. Black faces the choice between trading Bish- ops and giving up his only pawn, Here the former is equivalent to resignation, so Black played 76... Bf2. Capablanca did manage to win, but only after Black missed a problem-like draw. (c) Kortchnoi—Karaklajic, U.S.SR. vs. Yugoslavia, 1959. White, having just captured one Rook on f8, can now take the other, but that would be suicidal (21 Qua? Qxg2t 22. Kd3 BST 23. Kxd4 Qd2F, etc.). Kortchnoi correctly liquidated to a winning ending with 21. Qd6+ Qxd6 22. exd6 Kxd6 23. Rhfl. (d) Spassky—Fischer, World Ch. Match, game 1, 1972. To win, White must keep pawns on the board; so Spassky played 39. b6, and after 39... £52 (later analysis showed 39... e5! leads to a draw) 40. Kh4 £4? was on his way to a win. 123The Genesis of Power Chess EXTRA PRACTICE: Here are four more positions for some extra practice if you would like it. Black to move in (b), White to move in all others. Aa J), ANSWERS (a) Petursson—Bellon, Hastings, 1985-86. A pawn ahead, White forced the exchange of Rooks by 39. Rd4 Rxd4 40. Bxd4t KE7 41. Kg3, leaving a won Bishop ending. (b) Ed. Lasker—Capablanca, NY 1915. With even material, some judgment is needed to realize Black's superiority in the King ending after 30... Bxe4 31. bxc4 Ke5 32. Kd3 e5. Capablanca played this, and won in another eight moves—play it out and see how for yourself. (c) Fischer—Reshevsky, U.S. Ch., 1962-63. A simple example of putting the Rook behind the passed pawn: Fischer played 54. Rel and Reshevsky resigned. (d) Novak—Rye, Czechoslovakia, 1978. A curveball, for 1. Ra8 a3 2, Rxa3 Rb7 follows principle while snaring a pawn, but leaves White unable to proceed effectively. Instead White used a mating net for a pretty win: 1. Rh8! a3 2. Rxh6 a2 3. Rg6, and Black resigned rather than be mated by 3... al=Q 4 ReS#. 124More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 MORE EXTRA PRACTICE: Want some more? Missed a couple? Well, try these. Black to move in (d), White to move in all others. 4-45a 4-45b| 77 URS ‘9 yf Vi, Ui 4-45d 4-45¢ | aa Yh, €L, Z ‘e ‘al ANSWERS (a) Sax—Smyslov, NY Open, 1987. Black resigned on 42. Nxh?, for White simply helps himself to all of Black’s pawns in the King ending after 42... Kxh7 43. Ke4. If you thought preserving your Knight was prudent, do penance by analyzing exactly how you're going to stop that h-pawn later. (b) Beliavsky—Salov, USSR. Ch. Playoff, game 4, 1987. A simple case of reducing to an easily won ending by trading Rooks: 46. Re6 Rxe6 47. Nxe6 Bd5 48. Nc5 (keeping the two extra pawns), and White soon won. (c) Dlugy—Suba, NY Open, 1987. Push that pawn: 41. d6 and Black resigned, for 41... RdB 42. Ke5 a6 43. BfS Na7 44. d7 strangles Black. (4) Pachman—Lundin, Leipzig Olympiad, 1960. But don't always push! Black did here with 41... £3, but resigned in the face of mate after 42. Re8. Obviously, some preventive move like 41... Kh6 was needed. 125The Genesis of Power Chess B In concluding this chapter, let us look first at a fairly simple illustrative sequence, played by Capablanca. How should White proceed in the position below? 4-46. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 9, 1901, at White’s 30th move. ANSWER White is temporarily a pawn down, and he should capture it immediately by 30. Kxg4, which Capa- blanca did. Taking the time to first defend the d-pawn with 30. c3? would not only be unnecessary, but also cause White real problems after 30... g3 (ifnow 31. Bxf5??, 31... g2). After 30. Kxg4 Black cannot hold the Knight's position by 30... Ke6 because 31. Bxf5t gxf5 32. Kf4 leaves Black lost, for he will have to aban- don his f- pawn after a few more pawn moves (work it out if you're interested). Therefore Black continued 30... Nxd4 31. Bxg6, maintaining material equality but unbalancing the position. As should be clear to you by now, this imbalance favors White, for he is left with an outside passed pawn whose advance will force Black to divert his pieces to stop it. Soon ... E_... this position was reached. What next? 4-47. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 9, 1901, at White’s 37th move. EC mo Ea a ‘Y I, t an ff to o & y ANSWER White has tied down Black’s pieces stopping the g-pawn, and now should immobilize Black's pawns. Capablanca played 37. b3 Kg8 38. a4, preventing any possible counterplay from Black’s pushing his pawns. (Usually, by the way, pawns should be placed on the opposite color of your Bishop, but fixing Black’s pawns is much more important here.) After this, Capablanca worked his King back to the center, reaching .. 126More Fun at the Ci ... this position. What now? 4-48. Capablanca—Corzo, Match, game 9, 1901, at White’s 49th move. ANSWER Just as in King and pawn endings, the outside passed pawn diverts the opponent and leaves his pawns vulnerable. Capablanca continued 49. Ke6 Ng? 50. Kb? Kd6 51. Kxa7 Ke7 52. Ka6, and Black is on his last legs. The conclusion is shown in position 3-6. cashier's Window—4 B Andlastly, let us follow a game by Smysloy, illustrating some of the concepts from this chapter. 4-49. Smyslov—Rudnev, Gorky, 1938, at White’s 40th move. ANSWER Clearly the immediate question is how to capture the pawn on b5, for which there are three choices. Smyslov chose 40. axb5, which advances a pawn and reconnects two of White's pawns (pawns like com- pany). It’s true that 40. cxb5 does these things too, but the difference is the greater ease in advancing White's lagging pawn (to c5 after Smyslov’s choice, or to a5 after the alternate; but a5 is firmly controlled and hard to contest). The game proceeded 40... Re6, giving us ... 127The Genesis of Power Chess & ... the position below. While material is even, White has an advantage based on Black’s vulnerable pawns, White’s more advanced pawns, and White’s more active pieces. Now how should White exploit his advantage? 4-50. Smyslov—Rudnev, Gorky, 1938, at White’s 41st move. ANSWER Smyslov now eliminated the Rooks with 41. Rd6 Rxd6 42. Nxd6. White carries out the principle of exchanging pieces when ahead, and furthermore eliminates the Rooks, which are often a source of frustration to the superior side trying to win. And more specifically, Black’s Rook was defending both the b-pawn and the h-pawn along the 6th rank. When Black continued 42... Kg7, the next position was reached ... & ... with Black trying to organize a defense. Can you find how Smyslov wrapped it up? 451 Smyslov—Rudney, Gorky, 1938, at White's 43rd move. ANSWER In such positions, the possibility of creating and pushing through a passed pawn should always be considered. Here it works, based on the tactical support of various Knight forks. Smyslov played 43. c5 and Black resigned. To see why, note that on the natural 43... bxc5, 44. b6 BaS (or 44... Bg3 45. Nf5t forks) 45. b7 Bc7 46. Ne8t forks the King and Bishop. Black could also try 43... Bb4, and probably should have in the game before resigning, for it makes White find a winning line ... 128More Fun at the Cashier's Window—4 8 ... in this position. Can you? 4-52. White's 44th move (after 43... Bb4). ome SU, & 452| J] as Y ANSWER There are ways to go wrong, like 44, Ne? f5 45. Ke4! bxc5!, but 44. NE£5¢ does the trick. After 44... Kf6 45. c6 Ke6 (the King must stop the pawn) 46. Nxh6 Bd6 47. Ke4, White’s two passed pawns are more than Black can cope with (next comes 48. Nf5, 49. Ne3, and 50 Nd5) 129The Genesis of Power Chess The Care and Feeding of The importance of pawns, through their unique power of promotion, should be quite clear by now. In addition, pawns serve other ctitical roles. These include protecting your own pieces and driving away the enemy's (for which their low individual value makes them well-suited), providing cover for your King, and defining the terrain on the chessboard (open, closed, blocked, etc.) through which other pieces operate with varying degrees of efficiency. But a single pawn is the weakest unit on the chessboard. Its mobility is much less than the other pieces’, and its inability to move backwards has great consequences for how chess is played. So, too, does its inability to capture onto the square it could otherwise move to. What all this means in practice is that you should deploy your pawns carefully and wisely. Forexample, every pawn hopes to make it to the end of the board and be promoted. Can you manage that here for White? 5-1. Fellner—Ault, NJ 1983, at White's 38th move. ANSWER Despite his pawn minus, White wins if he uses his pawns right. He played 38. a6! Kf6 39. b6, leaving me helpless. Neither 39... Kxe6 40. bxa7 nor 39... axb6 40. a7 doesn't work for Black, so | tried 39... Nc6. But 40. Bd5 chases the Knight, and after 40... Nd4¥ 41. Kd3 axb6 42. a7 I resigned. 130The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 E. This position should also be of a familiar type. Consider whose pawns are better and why in selecting a move for Black. 5-2. Lombardy—Fischer, U.S. Ch., 1960-61, at Black’s 38th move. & Here is another basic situation, which should be familiar. How should White proceed? 5-3. Dlugy—Zuckerman, NY Open, 1987, at White's 49th. move. ANSWER Black has the better pawns because he can create an outside passed pawn. King endings of this sort usually lead to an easy win, and this time is no exception. Fischer played 38... a5 39. bxa5 bxa5 40. Kb2 a4, using the typical winning procedure of diverting the opponent's King. White could just as well have resigned here, but played on for a few more moves (41. Ka3 Kxc3 42. Kxa4 Kd4 43. Kb4 Ke3). ANSWER Straightforward play is 49. Rxa5 Rxb3 50. Kg2 Ra3, when White is still a pawn ahead but has traded pawns and left Black’s Rook well- placed behind the passed a-pawn, leaving White little chance to win. Instead White gave himself good winning chances by 49. Re5t Kd7 50. Re3! Re2 (obviously Black must avoid trading Rooks) 51. Kg2, and managed to win a long ending. 131The Genesis of Power Chess E Here White is two pawns behind, but can get one back. Take your pick. & Again White has a choice Which way this time? 5-4. Botvinnik—Fischer, Varna 5-5. Kortchnoi—Botvinnik, Olympiad, 1962, at White's Leningrad-Moscow Match, 55th move. 1960, at White’s 39th move. | OO 7D W ‘a UE) ANSWER Given the choice, White should not leave Black with two connected passed pawns. So Botvinnik played 55. Rxb5 and succeeded in drawing the game. The alternative 55. Rxh5? 4 puts White in dire straits at once. ANSWER Playing to win in the face of opposite-colored Bishops, White wants connected passed pawns, which are harder to blockade when advanced properly. Kortchnoi thus captured, 39. Kxh5, and after 39... Brad 40. £5 Bdl 41. Kg5 b5 42. Bc3 Botvin- nik resigned. Had Black chosen to play on, White's winning process would be slow but sure, as White can gradually force his connected pawns forward while Black’s separated pawns are easily restrained on the dark squares by White's Bishop. 132The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 & What should Black do here? #_ In this position White is obviously going to recapture the Queen; 5-6. Larsen—Fischer, Monaco, the question is, which way? 1967, at Black’s 39th move. 5-7. Christiansen —Root, US. Open, 1983, at White’ 31st move. 57| FG Ag WY, ____ANSWER Establishing a strong protected passed pawn by 39... c4, Fischer se- cured the advantage and went onto. _____ANSWER win, White played 31. Nxe4, in pref- Note that 39... cf also deprives erence to 31. bxe4 which presents White’s Knight of the c5 square via Black with a dangerous passed a- 3B. pawn. Besides keeping the b-pawn to watch Black’s a-pawn, the recapture with the Knight places the a-pawn under attack and sets up the unstoppable threat of 32. Nd4 (removing the a-pawn’s guardian). 133The Genesis of Power Chess In this position, consider carefully the relative health of the pawns and select a move for White. 5-8. Kasparov—Vukic, European Team Ch., 1980, at White's 37th move. ANSWER Kasparov played 37. Rdl, forcing the exchange of Rooks, and Black resigned. On casual observa- tion it might seem that Black’s doubled f-pawns are of minor signifi- cance, for he can quickly establish a passed pawn (by ...e5), and also he can quickly harass White’s pawns (by ..-K¢5, etc.). But there is a fatal weakness in Black’s pawns—they cannot defend against a break- through. After 37... Rxdl 38. Kxdl Kc5 39. g5! White queens at h8 before Black can do anything serious (39... fxg5 40. fxg5 hxgS 41. h6 and bound for glory). Realizing this, Black can manage to cover h8 just in time by 37... Rxdl 38. Kxdl Kd6 39. 25 fxg5 40. fxgS Ke7 41. gxh6 Kj8, but then White simply advances his pawns on the other side starting with 42. b4 and queens a pawn there Note that with one of the doubled f-pawns shifted to 7, Black’s pawn line would be solid. & What should White do here? 5-9. Ault—Platt, NJ 1985, at White’ 21st move. U3U, A A nee ANSWER ‘Again, Black’s weakness is the doubled pawns. In particular here, the front pawn is difficult to defend. At the moment, it is subject to capture; but White’s Knight is also defending the g-pawn, so the immediate capture (21, Bxf5 Bxf5 22. Naf Rxg2) helps Black by exchanging off his weak pawn. Instead 1 played 21. Rd2, putting another defender on the g-pawn (so would 21. Re2). Now the threat to capture on f5 is valid, and Black can neither defend his pawn another time nor add another attacker to White’s g-pawn. Note that the other f-pawn (at f6) is not only unable to defend its companion, but also blocks the King from defending it. The game proceeded 21... Bd? 22. Bxf5 Bxf5 23. Nxf5, and White has an extra pawn and a good position as well. 134The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 E Another point is illustrated in this simplified position. Play for White. 5-10. White to move. 5-10 V8), YJ, J. OUuawdy ANSWER Material is about even, but the unbalanced pawn position and an open board favor Black's Bishop over White’s Knight. Bur White changes all that with 1. Nf4¥ Ke5 2. Nxg6t hxg6. Now Black’s doubled pawns effectively cripple his pawn majority, and with care White wins the King ending. & What should White do here? 5-11. White's 16th move. ANSWER In fact this position is from the same game as the next-to-last position (Ault—Platt), six moves earlier. My continuation, 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nf3, should be fairly obvious, for it leaves Black with awkward doubled and isolated pawns. Within a few more moves, White captured the pawn on f5, as shown previously. If you were reluctant to make this move, perhaps because it means giving up a well-posted Bishop, look ahead more clearly. At the moment Black can play 16... Nxd5, and while White can recover the pawn by 17. Bxg7 Bxg7 18. Rxd5 Be6 19. RaS, the whole transaction helps Black. If White avoids this by 16. Bc3, then Black gradually develops by ...Be7, h6, ...K{7, etc., reaching a fairly sound position where White has weaknesses to worry about (the pawn on d5, the square e4). 135The Genesis of Power Chess ®& And what about here, White to move? 5-12. Capablanca—Burn, San Sebastian, 1911, at White’s 32nd move. &% What should White to move do here? 5-13. Botvinnik—Tal, World Ch. Match, game 1, 1961, at White’ 23rd move. = Already a pawn up, Capablanca widened the gap further by 32. Bxe6 fxe6 33. Ne3. Black is left with doubled isolated e-pawns which can be troublesome to defend, and, even more important here, the diversion of the f-pawn gives White two connected passed pawns. Capablanca won easily in another 13 moves. ANSWER Black’s position looks rather good, but Botvinnik created a lasting structural weakness to work on in the ending. Indeed after 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. b4 Black was unable to save the game, and Botvinnik was on his way to regaining the title he had lost to Tal the year before. 136The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 & Once again, move for White in this position. 5-14. Browne—Ljubojevic, Tilburg, 1979, at White's 19th move. B Now take a different perspective, and play for White in this position. 5-15. Simagin—Keres, Moscow, 1963, at White’s 22nd move. ANSWER Again the answer is to double Black's pawns by 19. Bxf6 gxf6. This time the purpose is not an endgame advantage, but rather to weaken Black's King position. In fact, Black’s situation is desperate, and after 20. 5 exd5 21. Qb4 Qd7 22. Qh4 Ke? 23. Nd4 he gave up. ANSWER White’s pawn structure is sound while Black's is fragmented, with two pairs of doubled pawns. But Black threatens to mess up White’s pawns, t00, so the logical thing to do is move the Knight. White chose 22. Ndl, which protects the b-pawn and fa- cilitates the Knight's return to action soon via e3. By contrast, 22, Ned Bxb2 23. Nxc5 a5 trades a good pawn for a weak one, and 22. Naf puts the Knight out of play. 137The Genesis of Power Chess 8 With the principle of not letting your pawns get doubled unnecessar- ily in mind, decide what to do for Black here. 5-16. Fischer-—Gheorghiu, Buenos Aires, 1970, at Black's 16th a Bey a Z ANSWER White threatens 17. Nxfét, breaking up Black’s pawns, as well as 17. Qxb4, winning the other Knight outright. If Black focuses only on the latter threat and plays 16... Nxd3, White replies 17. Nxf6t (with check!) gxf6 18. Qxd3. In the game, Black played 16... Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Naf and kept his pawn structure in- tact. & Now play for White in this position. 5-17. Gelb—Ault, NJ 1977, at White’s 17th move. —____ ANSWER ___ As you should notice, Black has just captured (a Knight) on 3, so White needs to recapture. Of the two choices, one is positionally good but tactically poor, and the other is the reverse. In the game, White, a better- than-average club player, chose the former with 17. Qxf3? So concerned was he not to allow the doubled pawns in front of his King that he neglected my simple reply 17... Nd2, forking Queen and Rook and gaining a decisive material advantage. The lesser evil was 17. gxf3. True, White still loses a pawn after 17... Nxc3 18. bxe3 Bxc3 19. Radl; but White's control of the light squares with the opposite-colored Bishops means serious difficulties for Black trying to exploit his extra pawn. 138The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 H_ Assess this position and play for White. 5-18. Smejkal—Smyslov, Wijk aan Zee, 1972, at White’s 25th move. ANSWER Pawns are equal in number, but not in quality—Black’s doubled pawns give White a clear advantage. White logically played 25. Rel, de- clining to trade Rooks and putting the doubled pawns under pressure. Naturally 25. Rxd5? would be a positional blunder, for it undoubles the pawns and gives Black a strong passed pawn in the center. Yet some players (not you!) would unthink- ingly grab the Rook, “because it’s there!” B_ Black to move in the position below has various possibilities. Which would you choose? 5-19. Zuckerman—Hiartarson, NY International, 1984, at Black’s 21st move. Pata q 5-1 =n mice ANSWER An important feature of this position is that White already has a set of doubled pawns, and would like to dissolve them by f4. Black stopped this by 21... g5 and eventually won. Perhaps you noticed that Black could give White another set of doubled pawns by 21... Nxb3, and then play 22... g5. But Black refrained from this exchange, for sound reasons. For one thing, as we will soon explore further, White’s three Queenside pawns will still be clumped together and not be particu- larly vulnerable, while White gets in return a useful semi-open file for a Rook. In addition, Black needs the Knight to exploit White’s weak Kingside pawns, for the King alone can’t manage it after the likely exchange of all the Rooks on the open d-file. 139The Genesis of Power Chess & This time a slightly different issue is involved. How should White proceed? 5-20. Barde—Quinteros, Lone Pine, 1979, at White’s 13th move. ANSWER It should be clear that Black suf- fers from the defect of the doubled f- pawns, and since White is a pawn down he will need to exploit it. Black can't dissolve the doubled pawns, but he will have a mobile and menacing center if he can safely play .. .f5. So it is important for White to prevent this move by controlling the f5 square himself. Thus White played 13. Qd3 Qd7 14. Nh4 (the reverse move order has the same effect), putting the clamp on f5. Black now tried to stir up a little trouble on the g-file with 14... Qg4, but White smoothly repulsed this with 15. g3 h5 16. Re4 Qd7 17. Q£3, with a good game despite his pawn minus. & What should Black do here? 5-21. Pogrebyssky—Borvinnik, US.S.R. Ch., 1939, at Black's 22nd move. Te) mae Y ANSWER White’s doubled c-pawns really cramp his game, so Black should not willingly straighten them out. But this time even as great a player as Botvinnik couldn't resist the tempta- tion of getting rid of White’s useful Bishop, and played 22... Nxb4. Botvinnik called this “a positional blunder,” giving away most of Black’s advantage, and would play 22... Qc7 next time. 140The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 & In this position Black has been defending a pawn-down ending, and has just captured a pawn on e4 from £5. White’s reply should be easy to choose. 5-22. Ault—Friend, NJ 1974, at White’s 51st move. # Here material is even, and White has the two Bishops but doubled c- pawns. What should White do? 5-23. Chiburdanidze—Aleksandriya, Women’s World Ch. Match, game 7, 1981, at White's 24th move. 5-22 ANSWER Obviously 51. fxed straightens out White's doubled pawns and keeps Black under pressure, for White needs to play {5 himself to make progress (note that a future Kd6 is stymied by ...Ne8t). To recapture with the Bishop or the King would leave square £5 in Black’s control and cripple White's extra pawn. You might wonder then why Black played 50... fxe4 on the previous move. The teason is that he could not maintain the £5 point much longer, for White can use his dark-squared Bishop to threaten Black's Knight and undermine the defense. ANSWER White played 24. Bxg? Nxc5 25. Rhi. With the exchange of pawns White gets rid of her advanced c-pawn, which could become troublesome to defend. Also, by eliminating Black’s g-pawn she leaves Black’s f-pawn isolated and potentially vulnerable. Finally, the transaction opens the position to the advantage of the Bishops and allows White to take control of the only open file (the h-file). 141The Genesis of Power Chess & See what you can find for White to move in the position below. 5-24, Quinteros—Larsen, Americas- Europe Match, 1981, at White’ 19th move. ANSWER White has a nice position except for his doubled a-pawns, and he solved that by 19. Qb4. The attack on the Bishop, which has no place to tun, induced 19... Qxb4 20. axb4, and White went on to win. It is not feasible for Black to support his Bishop by 19... Nc5?, for then 20. Nxc5 Qxe5t 21. Qxe5 bxc5 22. Rxb8 wins a Rook. The only real choice is 19... b5!?, an awkward-looking move leading to a complex position but in White’s favor after 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21. NaS bxc4 22. Rxb8 Nxb8 23. Be3 or 23. Bd2. Interested readers can try this out on their computer. The position is murky and hard to generalize about with variations. & You may be thinking that doubled pawns, especially doubled isolated pawns, are real liabilities. That is often true, but there are several types of positions in which the doubled pawns are not only no particular weakness, but even confer certain advantages. One example is shown below; play for Black. 5-25. Tal—Botvinnik, World Ch. Match, game 18, 1961, at Black’s 21st move. fetatee us ANSWER It might appear that Black's extra pawn, in the form of a doubled isolated a-pawn, is practically useless. Botvinnik showed otherwise by playing 21... Rb6, using the pawns to support a build-up on the b-file. With ...Rhb8 to follow, White will have to either cede control of this important file or undouble the pawns. Tal chose the latter after 22. Kg3 NaS by 23. Rxb6 axb6, but the healthy extra pawn allowed Botvin- nik to win. 142The Care and F & Try this position for White. 5-26. Larsen—Matanovic, Biel Interzonal, 1976, at White’s 10th move. 5-26 | ANSWER White could of course give Black doubled e-pawns by 10. Bxe6 fxe6, but the resulting configuration generally favors Black because of the additional central control and the possibility of using the semi-open File. Experienced players don’t play Bxe6 in this type of position without a specific reason that outweighs the general considerations. Larsen accordingly played 10. Ne2, inviting Black todouble his pawns by 10... Bxe4 11. dxc4., Black declined, for that would give White a firm grip on d5, choosing instead to fight in the center by 10... g5 11. Bf2 d5. However, the price for this choice was weakening the Kingside, and after 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qd2 White maintained a slight advantage. eding of Pawns—5 & Here White has exchanged Queens, giving Black a choice of how to recapture. How? 5-27. Capablanca—Janowski, NY 1916, at Black’s 11th move. ~ Y Y Y te “S\Prwasiat ANSWER Black chose to double his own pawns by playing 11... axb6 (rather than 11... Nxb6). pawns are still clustered together, they are not susceptible to attack. Meanwhile, the opening of the a-file for Black’s Rook helps him. The game continued 12, Nxd7 Kxd7 (centralizing the King for the ending) 13. Bd2 b5, with a good game for Black. 143The Genesis of Power Chess & What would you do for Black This position is to some extent here? 5-28. Taimanov—kKristinsson, Reykjavik, 1956, at Black's 22nd move. 5-28 Black mistakenly played 22... Bxb5?, doubling the pawns. But after 23. cxb5 Q£8 24. Qc3 White is ex- erting pressure along the c-file. On the defensive and cramped, Black is in no position to threaten the doubled b-pawns, and the pawn on bé keeps his Knight off the otherwise desirable square c5. While White still has an advantage if Black refrains from this exchange, making something of it would be much harder. similar, with White facing a choice of how to recapture on d5. How would you? 5-29. Smyslov—Veresov, USSR. Ch,, 1940, at White's 17th move. L,, Ml, MEE —___ ANSWER ___ While the obvious 17. Bxd5 is not bad, Smyslov made what he called a “non-routine decision” and played 17. exd5. After the forcing moves 17... Na7 18. Bg5 Rfe8 19. Rfel the purpose is evident: Black is subjected to uncomfortable pressure defending the now-fixed weak pawn, on e7, and White has a clear advantage. 14The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 In this position White has doubled isolated c-pawns; but, properly exploited, the pawn structure actually favors him. How would you show this? 5-30. Botvinnik—Chekhover, Leningrad, 1938, at White's 18th move. 5-30 __ANSWER___ Botvinnik played 18. Rd5 b6 19. Rfd1, using the d5 square as an anchor to build up on the d-file. Should Black capture, White can recapture, cxd5, straightening out his pawns and establishing a strong passed pawn. Black would like to chase the Rook with his Knight, but 19... Nb4? loses it to the c3 pawn. (better here than at b3), and 19... Ne7? cuts off one of the Rook's de- fenders. In sum, Black has troubles. B Here is a similar position; do similar considerations apply? Move for White. 5-31. Vaganian—Katalimovy, 1971, at White's 13th move. 5-31 ANSWER Yes, for again White can use d5 to planta piece, this time his Bishop. First he needs to dispose of a pair of Knights, then deploy the Bishop: 13. Nxf6t Qxf6 (Black naturally maintains his pawn structure, but in so doing loses control of d5) 14. Be4 Na5 15. Bd5 with advantage to White. 145The Genesis of Power Chess & This time White has to do something about his Bishop, and his decision may affect the pawn structure. What would you do? 5-32. Keres—Tamowski, Helsinki Olympiad, 1952, at White’s 21st move. E_ In this position, White has an obvious move exchanging Queens and doubling Black’s pawns. Is it correct? 5-33. Benjamin—D. Gurevich, U.S. Ch., 1985, at White's 19th move. 5-32 ANSWER Since White cannot protect the Bishop on b3 (and would never, ever willingly entomb it by 21. c4), he must move it. There are five choices. The most obvious is to exchange it by 21. Bxe6; but we have previously noted that this type of exchange generally should be avoided, and here the reply 21... fxe6 both strengthens Black’s center and chases White's well-posted Knight from f5. On the other hand, the retreats look dismal, and ... Keres played 21. Be4. Black accepted the invitation to double White’s pawns by 21... bxc3 22. bxc3 Bxc4 23. dxc4, but the resulting position really favors White because of his pressure along the d-file and his strong Knight. ANSWER It would be routine to play 19. Qxf5 and double Black’s pawns rather than allow Black to do the same, but there is a specific tactical reason not to do so. At the moment, Black’s forces are disorganized and should be vulnerable somewhere. The soft spot is d6, exploitable by a Knight via e4. Since 19. Qxf5 gxf5 covers that square, White played 19. Ne¢4 directly. Now Black can neither protect the pawn on d6 nor maintain the pin on the Knight. He tried 19... Qxf3 20. gxf3 NgZ, but after 21. Nxd6 White was well on his way to victory. 146The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 & What should Black do in this position? 5-34. Smyslov—Antoshin, Sochi, 1963, at Black’s 15th move. ANSWER ‘Attracted by the prospect of doubling the pawns in front of White’s King, Black played 15... Bxf35 but after 16. gxf3 b6 17. Khi it was White who had the attack. In this case Black is in no position to exploit the weakening in White's King position, while White is able to make quick’ and effective use of the opened grfile to attack Black’s King. So 15... Bxf3 was a positional error, begun by moving the Bishop to g4 on the move before; a redeployment was called for, starting perhaps with 15... b6. 147The Genesis of Power Chess REVIEW: Below are four positions illustrating various considerations involving doubling, Can you solve them all? Black to move in (a), White to move in all others 5-35b | 77 5-35a, 5-35¢ 5-35d ANSWERS (a) Del Campo—Dlugy, World Junior Ch., 1985. Black played 12... Bxf3 13. gxf3 Be7 and won the ending. (b) Botvinnik—Kann, Team Match, 1930. Black has just “put the question” to the Bishop on g5, and White should preserve it rather than exchange it for the Knight. Botvinnik played 11. Bf4, since the routine 11. Bk4 allows 11... Bxc3t, forcing White to accept doubled isolated pawns by 12. bxc3 at once or by allowing the sequence 12. Qxc3 Nxe4 13. Bxd8 Nxc3 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. bxc3 (c) Bohatitchuk—Botvinnik, Moscow, 1935. White cannot lightly allow his ¢- pawns to be tripled, but properly refrained from 15. Bxe6 fxe6. Instead he played 15. Bb3, allowing Black to capture and improve White’s pawn structure—more on this shortly. (d) Smyslov—Stahlberg, Ziirich Candidates’ Tmn., 1953. This time it is White who gets the attack. Smyslov played 18. Nxf6t gxf6 19. Qe3 Kg7 20. Ne5! with a fierce attack. 148The Care and Feeding of Pawns—5 The position below arose in one of the games just mentioned when Black captured on b3. Which recapture would you choose? 5-36. Bohatirchuk—Botvinnik, Moscow, 1935, at White's 16th move. 5-36 ANSWER Let us examine the three recaptures in turn. First, 16. Nxb3 takes the Knight off to the side where it doesn’t look effective, and it leaves the a-pawn “isolated” all by itself. Second, 16. cxb3 restores White's pawn position (back to one pawn per file) and is reasonable. Third, 16. axb3 leaves the c-pawn doubled; yet it is the move White played, and which most experienced players would choose. Why? It opens the a-file for White's Rook, which might prove useful in the future. As for the pawns, it reunites the isolated a- pawn with the others and (compared with 16. cxb3) exerts more influence on the center, without compromis- ing the security of the c-pawns. More generally, White was following the principle of recapturing toward the center, B_ Here is another example from a game seen before. How should Black recapture? 5-37. Capablanca—Janowski, NY 1916, at Black’s 15th move. ANSWER Here, too, the principle of capturing in clearly applies. The grue- some 15... fxg6 would leave Black with an isolated e-pawn and three “pawn islands.” Black naturally played 15... hxg6, with a fine game. Black’s two sets of doubled pawns present no liability, and having the semi-open a- and h-files for his Rooks is a plus. 149The Genesis of Power Chess & While the in-capture is almost automatic in many positions, there are many others where careful judgment is required, as illustrated in the next several positions. Start thinking, with this one, Black to move. 5-38. Hort—Spassky, Candidates’ Match, game 10, 1977, at Black's 17th move. ANSWER This time we have a fairly clear out-capture; the benefits of un- doubling the c-pawns make the difference. Spassky played 17... cxb5, though after 18. a4 b4 19. d4 exd4 20. Nxd4 White still had an advantage. Now use your judgment here for White. 5-39. Regan—Benko, U.S. Ch., 1978, at White’s 37th move. 5-39 2 A js zo “aa” ANSWER Again, the principle is less important than specific reasons in the position, White needs to keep the Kingside pawn position balanced, and succeeded in drawing the game after 37. fxg3. The alternative 37. hxg3 would allow Black to establish another outside passed pawn by 37... AS, etc. Then the outside passed pawns on either side of the board would be too much for White to hold back. (See position 4-25 for a later view of this game.) 150

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